《Primordial Star Scripture》


 Chapter 1: Chapter 1 Ye Chen

    Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Qingyun Sect.


    Smack! Smack! Smack!


    The torrential rain poured down, enveloping the entire range of rolling mountains of the Qingyun Sect.


    Located at the foot of the outer mountain of Qingyun Sect were hundreds of small courtyards with green-tiled roofs, where the nominal disciples of Qingyun Sect resided.


    In a secluded small courtyard, Ye Chen sat on the bed, looking at the heavy rain outside the house and muttered to himself, "I had no idea that a Martial World truly existed, and that I would transmigrate to this new world, taking over the body of a young man who shares my name and looks exactly like me."


    Ye Chen glanced at the fine steel sword by his bed and still found it somewhat unbelievable.


    In his previous life, Ye Chen was an archaeology student at a university on Earth. During an outing, an accident occurred, and when he woke up again, he found himself in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Arriving suddenly in a strange world and in a new body, even someone as mentally strong as Ye Chen was stunned for a while.


    Only after thoroughly integrating the memories of his new body and knowing that nothing could be changed did he have to accept reality.


    However, beyond the shock, deep down Ye Chen felt a vague sense of excitement about arriving in this new world.


    In his previous life, Ye Chen was immensely fascinated by the bizarre world of Martial Arts and longed to wield his sword across the land, growing stronger and exploring the wonders of the world.


    Now that he had truly arrived in the Martial World of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, he was naturally thrilled.


    "After all, in my previous life, I was an orphan with no attachments."


    "Now that I am in this new world, let it be a brand-new beginning!"


    Ye Chen clenched his fists, bidding farewell to his past.


    Through the integrated memories, Ye Chen also learned a lot about this world.


    The world he was in was called the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, where Martial Arts were revered and strength was paramount!


    Here, the weak could only live at the mercy of others and be bullied, while a master of Martial Arts could lead heroes and command the world!


    Rumor had it that powerful martial artists could easily smash mountains, sever rivers, ride on giant beasts and soar through the skies, and some mighty ones with great magical powers could even comprehend life and death and become immortal!


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Martial Arts were highly respected. Citizens of various nations of the continent started to hone their bodies and train in martial skills from a young age.


    However, although everyone practiced martial arts, not many could truly step onto the path of Martial Arts and become Martial Cultivators.


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, to truly step onto the path of Martial Arts, one must open a point within the body called the "Qi Sea Acupoint."


    Only by opening the "Qi Sea Acupoint" could they gather "True Qi" within their bodies, thus stepping into the first major realm of Martial Arts, the "True Qi Realm," and become a Martial Cultivator.


    Ye Chen was a descendant of a significant family from Qingyang City in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    At the age of twelve, he successfully opened his "Qi Sea Acupoint," entered the first layer of True Qi, and was then accepted as a nominal disciple into the "Qingyun Sect."


    However, what was frustrating was that during the two and a half years at the "Qingyun Sect," Ye Chen remained at the first layer of True Qi, with little improvement in strength, and was even surpassed by many new disciples of the Qingyun Sect.


    It is known that the True Qi Realm is divided into twelve layers. Only the first four layers qualify one to be a nominal disciple in the Qingyun Sect. Only by stepping into the fifth layer of True Qi does one qualify to join the Outer Sect and become a formal Outer Sect disciple of the Qingyun Sect.


    Ye Chen, with only the first layer of True Qi, naturally had a very low status within the Qingyun Sect.


    With such low status, he was always oppressed and bullied. During the two and a half years at the Qingyun Sect, the original owner of this body had been beaten no less than thirty times, not to mention various other insults.


    What''s more, Ye Chen had even received the nickname "One of Qingyun Sect''s Three Fools."


    "The Martial World really is a place where strength reigns supreme, it seems I must hurry to enhance my strength. Without strength, one is subjected to mockery and bullying everywhere."


    Thinking of the nickname "One of Qingyun Sect''s Three Fools," Ye Chen felt speechless. In his past life, his intelligence was always praised, but now he had been given such a humiliating nickname.


    There were, of course, three people who were called the "Three Fools of the Qingyun Sect." In his memory, apart from Ye Chen, the other two were named Zhao Jing and Bai Kun.


    At the thoughts of the other two names, a surge of anger rose within Ye Chen.


    Apparently, being called "One of Qingyun Sect''s Three Fools," Ye Chen was already extremely annoyed.


    To make matters worse, the other two fools, Zhao Jing and Bai Kun, publicly declared their reluctance to be associated with Ye Chen and challenged him to prove that it was indeed Ye Chen who was the true fool of Qingyun Sect.


    As expected, Ye Chen was successively defeated by Zhao Jing and Bai Kun.


    For the sake of their reputations, Zhao Jing and Bai Kun publicized their victories over Ye Chen far and wide.


    Whether the original owner of this body''s demise was due to physical injuries from the successive defeats or the mental distress caused by the new title of "Qingyun Sect''s True Fool," right after coming back from the challenges, he passed away, allowing the current Ye Chen to take his place.


    Thinking back on being beaten more than thirty times over the course of two and a half years in the Qingyun Sect, recalling the curses and insults, thinking of the humiliations by Zhao Jing and Bai Kun, Ye Chen felt a surge of fury. "The humiliation of being bullied must be avenged!


    Zhao Jing, Bai Kun, those despicable people must be beat up properly!"


    He was, of course, furious, because after integrating the original memories, he took all the pain and scolding as his own.


    "In six months, Qingyun Sect''s entrance examination will take place," Ye Chen suddenly recalled a critical matter amidst his reminiscing.


    As a "nominal disciple," Ye Chen was not yet a formal disciple of the Qingyun Sect, just someone who cultivated there in name. According to the Sect''s rules, nominal disciples could only cultivate within the Qingyun Sect for three years.


    If they couldn''t become official Outer Sect disciples within that time, they would have to return from whence they came.


    If he really were to be sent back home from the Qingyun Sect, it wouldn''t just be a matter of losing face there; it would be a shame that followed him all the way back to his hometown!


    "No, I can''t be sent back to my family."


    "Strength, I must enhance my strength. To survive in this world, to no longer suffer humiliation, to gain respect, I need to strengthen myself!"


    A sense of urgency stopped Ye Chen from indulging in wild thoughts. He quickly sat down with his legs crossed, focused his mind, and entered into a state of cultivation, ready to seize every moment to practice diligently.


    "The True Qi Realm, the first major realm of martial arts, involves guiding True Qi into the body''s Qi Sea Acupoint and condensing a True Qi Vortex within the Qi Sea."


    "The more True Qi in one''s Qi Sea, the stronger their power. It''s said that masters of the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm can conjure up to twelve True Qi Vortices in their Qi Sea, making their True Qi incredibly dense. With just their True Qi alone, they could shatter a small mountain!"


    Ye Chen was currently at the first level of the True Qi Realm, with only a small True Qi Vortex in his Qi Sea.


    If he stepped into the second level of the True Qi Realm, the original vortex would split into two after growing sufficiently large. At the third level, he could cultivate three True Qi Vortices, and so on.


    The more True Qi Vortices one has, the higher their True Qi Realm.


    "I will practice the True Qi Skills every day from now on, striving to absorb more True Qi into my body," Ye Chen decided, adjusting his mind and entering a meditative state focused on his Qi Sea.


    This meditation brought Ye Chen''s entire consciousness into the space of the Qi Sea Acupoint; upon entering, he was immediately startled.


    Just like the Buddhist saying, "In every flower a world," the Qi Sea Acupoint was a marvelously mysterious acupoint for martial cultivators, seemingly an independent world that could harbor True Qi within it.


    However, for most martial artists, the Qi Sea merely served as a storehouse for True Qi and contained nothing else. Ye Chen, however, discovered a seven-tiered Pagoda floating in the world of his Qi Sea.


    This seven-tiered Pagoda, towering and vast, seemed to serve as the Sea-Calming Divine Needle within the world of the Qi Sea. Even more miraculous was that the Pagoda was shrouded in endless brilliance, as if garlanded with countless stars!


    "This Pagoda!"


    "It''s actually inside me!"


    Ye Chen almost cried out in shock.


    The reason he came to this new world was because of this Pagoda.


    In his past life, as an outstanding Archaeology student, Ye Chen had received an opportunity to travel to the Antarctic. While attempting to traverse the glacier, he accidentally fell into an ice cavern.


    Thinking the cavern wasn''t too deep, Ye Chen kept falling further and further until he eventually plummeted into a vast, ethereal abyss.


    In that space, infinite starlight shone, casting a surreal glow.


    Even more astonishing, around the space, colossal beasts prostrated themselves, worshipping towards the center of the space.


    These beasts were each over ten thousand meters long, making Ye Chen seem as minute as a speck of dust in comparison. Mysteriously, he was somehow able to see these massive creatures clearly.


    As a top student in the field of Archaeology, Ye Chen had never heard of such enormous creatures existing on Earth in either past or present records.


    Scanning around, he saw that there were as many as ten thousand of these beasts, each of them over ten thousand meters long, all worshipping in the same direction in the space.


    Below the Antarctic Glacier, within this boundless void, ten thousand colossal beasts lay prostrate, worshipping in unison.


    If he were to tell others about this, it was doubtful anyone would believe him.


    Ye Chen himself could hardly believe it. Following the direction of the beasts'' worship, he looked toward the center of the space and saw a seven-tiered Pagoda floating there.


    The size of the Pagoda was unimpressive compared to any of the colossal beasts, yet the aura it emitted confirmed its status as the absolute center of the space, the true master of that realm!


    Just as Ye Chen''s gaze fell upon the Pagoda, it seemed to sense his presence and spun around. Suddenly, Ye Chen felt as if he was being scrutinized by a deity.


    Then, the Pagoda emitted an endless surge of starry light. Within the brilliance, Ye Chen saw the Pagoda shrink smaller and smaller until, finally, it was the size of a thumb.


    The thumb-sized Pagoda flew straight towards him, and before Ye Chen could react, it entered his body.


    At that moment, Ye Chen only heard the roar of the beasts and was overcome by a powerful dizzying sensation before he lost consciousness.


    When he awoke, he found himself in a new body within the Qingyun Sect.


    Now, discovering this mysterious Pagoda within his Qi Sea, it was natural for Ye Chen to be incredibly shocked!


    He had not expected that the Pagoda, like him, had also come to this new world, and moreover, it was inside him.

 Chapter 2: Chapter 2: Star Tower, Divine Art

    "What is this Pagoda, exactly? What sort of treasure could it be?"


    "Ten Thousand Beasts bow down, it''s the master of the void, was it this that brought me to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent?"


    Ye Chen looked at the seven-storey Pagoda in his Qi Sea, cautiously sizing it up with his Mind and Spirit.


    Just as his Mind and Spirit touched the Pagoda, suddenly, he felt the first level of the Pagoda swing its doors open wide. A powerful suction force tugged at his Mind and Spirit.


    As the world spun around him, Ye Chen found himself entering another space.


    The first level of the Pagoda.


    This was a majestic hall, extremely silent without another soul in sight, with only Ye Chen himself there.


    On both sides of the hall, there stood five massive Fire Altars, with flames burning fiercely within them, illuminating the entire hall as bright as day.


    Ye Chen examined the hall and suddenly discovered dense, tiny characters on the wall.


    The characters shone with a strange light, instantly capturing Ye Chen''s gaze.


    As Ye Chen looked towards these characters, he saw at the very top five words¡ª"Primordial Star Scripture"!


    These five words, carrying an endless charm, made one unconsciously immerse themselves in them.


    Ye Chen, even in the instant he fixed his eyes on those five words, saw the galaxy change, saw endless stars, as if within those five words laid a vast universe itself!


    Magically peerless.


    It wasn''t until a long while later that Ye Chen awoke from the allure of these five words.


    His heart started pounding wildly.


    Fusing the memories of two worlds, he had never seen such magical script, and Ye Chen felt that this "Primordial Star Scripture" must be hiding great secrets!


    Ye Chen continued to look further below the characters.


    What he saw under the "Primordial Star Scripture", the accompanying text read: "The Primordial Star Scripture is a Supreme Divine Art that I created after traveling through the Endless Star Domain, stepping onto countless worlds, and just before joining the great war of the ''Azure Sky Star Sea'', I left it in my homeland, in the Divine Artifact ''Starlight Tower'', waiting for someone predestined."


    "The Primordial Star Divine Art, according to my thoughts, is divided into nine chapters. Unfortunately, even I have only managed to create seven chapters of this Cultivation Technique."


    "These seven chapters are hidden within the seven floors of the Starlight Tower, only those with sufficient strength will be able to obtain them."


    "Although there are only seven chapters, as long as one can cultivate up to the fourth chapter, they can dominate a whole world. Once all seven chapters are mastered, your power will be enough to dominate the Ten Thousand Realms, and you can be hailed as the Supreme Master among the stars!"


    To dominate the Ten Thousand Realms, to be hailed as the Supreme Master among the stars!


    These eight words, loaded with irrefutable momentum, completely stunned Ye Chen.


    He would never have imagined that the Pagoda that brought him to this Barbarian Wilderness World would hold such a huge secret. Divine Artifacts? Divine Arts?


    Although he didn''t know what these things were, the descriptions alone let Ye Chen know that this must be a treasure that the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent would go crazy for!


    "According to these inscriptions, as long as I can cultivate up to the fourth chapter of the Divine Art, I could reign over the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    "By then, not to mention becoming an Outer Sect disciple of Qingyun Sect, even the top experts of Qingyun Sect or the Heavenly Wind Kingdom would be no match for me!"


    If this Divine Art is truly this powerful, if he could really cultivate it, then Ye Chen''s days of being bullied and humiliated would be gone forever! His prospects in this new world would be filled with light!


    Ye Chen calmed his racing heart and continued to read further down.


    The text went on: "Within the first level of the Starlight Tower, lies the first chapter of the ''Primordial Star Scripture'', the ''Gang Yuan Chapter''!"


    "The Gang Yuan Chapter is divided into five layers, each hidden within the five Fire Altars."


    "Only by cultivating each layer to the utmost can one unlock the next, and only by completing all five layers of the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'' can one advance to the next level of the pagoda and unlock the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    "The spell to unlock the first layer of the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'' is as follows..."


    Ye Chen read these words, then lifted his head to look at the five massive Fire Altars in the great hall, "So these five Fire Altars each contain one of the five layers of the Cultivation Technique from the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture."


    "However, the writing on the wall also says that if one fails to obtain the first layer of the Cultivation Technique within three days, it means that one is not fated for the ''Primordial Star Scripture''."


    At the bottom of the wall''s inscription was the final message from the owner of the Starlight Tower: "Destined individual, although you have successfully entered the Starlight Tower, it does not mean you can cultivate the ''Primordial Star Scripture.'' Only by securing the first layer of the Cultivation Technique within three days will there be hope for you to go on."


    "Going on doesn''t guarantee that you will be able to cultivate all seven chapters to completion; If your cultivation stalls, or you die, then the Starlight Tower will fly away again, searching for another destined individual!"


    At the end, the name of the owner of the Star Tower was inscribed ¡ª Zi Ji Star Lord!


    "So this Star Tower and the Divine Art were left by Zi Ji Star Lord; I wonder just how powerful he was," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    However, based on the description in the inscriptions, Ye Chen feared that Zi Ji Star Lord''s strength had reached a level beyond his imagination.


    As for Zi Ji Star Lord''s point that one might not succeed in cultivating the ''Primordial Star Scripture,'' Ye Chen wasn''t too surprised.


    After all, such a Divine Art is so miraculous; it couldn''t possibly be an easy thing to cultivate.


    After reading all the inscriptions on the wall again and etching them firmly into his memory, Ye Chen walked over to the center of the five massive Fire Altars and sat down.


    "The Starlight Tower has brought me to this Barbaric Wilderness World, and I hope I have enough fortune to cultivate this ''Primordial Star Scripture'' and truly have the means to live and stand my ground in this foreign world!"


    "Now, let''s start with the spell to unlock and begin cultivating the first layer of the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'' of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    Ye Chen closed his eyes and silently recited the spell inscribed on the wall for unlocking the first layer.


    As soon as he completed the recitation of the spell, a gale surged within the first level of the Starlight Tower, and flames shot up from the five massive Fire Altars, burning furiously!


    Zi Ji Star Lord had explained that if the flames changed within three days, it meant one was fated for the "Primordial Star Scripture," within two days, it was very likely one would obtain the Gang Yuan Chapter, and if one could incite the flames of the Fire Altars within a single day, one would surely unlock the "Gang Yuan Chapter."


    Ye Chen had only just finished reciting the spell, not even a single quarter of a day had passed, let alone a day; it had been but an instant!


    And yet the flames within the five massive Fire Altars soared into the sky!


    This indicated that Ye Chen was even more fated for the "Primordial Star Scripture" than Zi Ji Star Lord had anticipated.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Boom!


    The five massive Fire Altars blazed fiercely as Ye Chen became fully immersed in the Flame Illusion Realm.


    He felt as if he were strolling through a sea of fire, with clusters of flames burning all around him.


    These flames, so warm, made his entire body feel cozily warmed.


    Involuntarily, Ye Chen reached out to grasp these flames...


    In the great hall.


    As Ye Chen reached toward the flames, a clear beastly cry suddenly rang out from one of the fiercely burning Fire Altars, and with that cry, the entire hall lit up with brilliance.


    Amidst the endless radiance, Ye Chen saw that all the flames transformed into words that flew into his mind.


    Scattered at first, these words quickly arranged themselves into a pattern, forming a spell.


    This was the initial spell of the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Gang Yuan Chapter" ¡ª the "Meridian Refining Art"!

 Chapter 3: Chapter 3: The Frenzy of True Qi

    "Primordial Star Scripture, Gang Yuan Chapter, Meridian Refining Art!"


    "The most fundamental level of the Supreme Divine Art!"


    Looking at the spell''s true text in his mind, Ye Chen''s heart thudded wildly with excitement.


    He had been worried that he wouldn''t be able to unlock the first layer of the technique within three days, but to his surprise, in just a moment, the first layer of the Divine Art was his!


    In the instant Ye Chen acquired the "Meridian Refining Art," an immense repelling force emanated throughout the Starlight Tower. This force directly pushed Ye Chen''s mind and spirit out of the Starlight Tower, back into the Qi Sea.


    Glancing at the seven-layer Pagoda still towering inside the Qi Sea, Ye Chen willed his entire mind and spirit to return to his body.


    Inside the cabin, Ye Chen opened his eyes.


    Now, the "Meridian Refining Art" was clearly etched in Ye Chen''s mind, assuring him that everything he had experienced was not a dream!


    "It seems I have acquired the first layer of the technique, but I am now unable to enter the Starlight Tower," he mused.


    "According to the inscriptions inside the tower, I can only unlock the next layer of the technique by cultivating this first layer to perfection."


    "Now then, let me begin cultivating this ''Meridian Refining Art''!"


    The Primordial Star Scripture was so miraculous that Ye Chen, who was urgently in need of strengthening his powers, naturally seized the chance to cultivate it.


    This time, he did not sit cross-legged on the bed, but instead got off the bed, quickly washed up, and sat down in the middle of the room to contemplate the "Meridian Refining Art."


    Snap! Snap! Snap!


    Outside the cabin, it was pitch-dark, and the rain was pouring down heavily.


    Sitting inside, Ye Chen''s mind was clear and tranquil.


    As the techniques of the "Meridian Refining Art" flashed through his mind, Ye Chen felt that the technique was incredibly profound and mysterious.


    "Brilliant! Absolutely brilliant!"


    "This technique completely breaks with the cultivation methods of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. It''s a brand new method of cultivation!"


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Martial Cultivators refine True Qi endlessly, allowing it to enter the Qi Sea Acupoint, thus empowering themselves through True Qi.


    But the first layer of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Meridian Refining Art," is about cultivating the physical body''s meridians directly through True Qi!


    "Meridian Refining Art consists of cultivating the body''s Qi Meridians in three major stages. The first stage is the cultivation of the ''Qi Meridian''; the second stage, the ''Eight Extraordinary Meridians''; and the third stage, the ''Thirty-three Meridian Wheels.''"


    "Only after fully cultivating all thirty-three Meridian Wheels to perfection can I unlock the next level of the Gang Yuan Chapter."


    Considering the technique''s description of the body''s meridians, a thought crossed Ye Chen''s mind.


    The "Qi Meridian" cultivation mentioned in the first stage of the Meridian Refining Art was also practiced by Martial Artists on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, who used this "Qi Meridian" to transfer True Qi into the Qi Sea.


    However, as for the "Eight Extraordinary Meridians" and the "Thirty-three Meridian Wheels," such notions were nonexistent on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, or at least Ye Chen had never heard of them.


    Ye Chen began to guide the True Qi from within his Qi Sea, cultivating the "Qi Meridian" by following the technique of the "Meridian Refining Art."


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Streams of True Qi flew out from the Qi Sea, rapidly circulating through the Qi Meridian. In just a moment, the True Qi had completed a full circuit within the meridian.


    The Qi Meridian meridian was already open, so there was no difficulty in this first stage of cultivation.


    Without any hesitations, Ye Chen guided the True Qi towards the "Eight Extraordinary Meridians."


    Next, he immersed himself entirely in cultivating the "Eight Extraordinary Meridians."


    Time passed indeterminately until suddenly, Ye Chen felt a jolt throughout his body as the True Qi slowly began to flow back into his Qi Sea, leaving him fully alert.


    Looking at the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, the "Ren," "Du," "Chong," and "Dai" meridians had been completely opened during this first cultivation session.


    Whether it was because of a reborn soul or the unique traits of his body, which had been unable to break through to the next martial arts realm, it now seemed to be perfectly attuned to the "Meridian Refining Art" ¨C accomplishing half of the "Eight Extraordinary Meridians" cultivation in his first attempt.


    Just as Ye Chen was about to feel the differences in his body after cultivating the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, something even more astonishing happened.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Inside the cabin, with Ye Chen''s body as the center, countless streams of Heaven and Earth True Qi began flowing towards him like rivers merging into the sea, wildly rushing into his body.


    This Heaven and Earth True Qi, a small portion entering through the Qi Meridian and the majority through the four opened meridians, enveloped Ye Chen entirely in a cocoon of True Qi.


    The volume of this True Qi was at least a thousand times more than what Ye Chen could draw upon during his regular cultivation!


    Ye Chen had never anticipated that the meridians opened by the "Meridian Refining Art" would make his body so incredibly attractive to True Qi.


    This was utterly unprecedented!


    As Ye Chen reeled from the shock, massive amounts of Heaven and Earth True Qi coursed through his "Ren," "Du," "Chong," "Dai," and "Qi" meridians, before thundering into his Qi Sea.


    The vast True Qi merged into Ye Chen''s Qi Sea causing the small True Qi Vortex within to rapidly expand.


    In an instant, it had increased by more than tenfold!


    Looking at it this way, the first True Qi Vortex clearly could no longer contain so much True Qi.


    This was evidently an attempt to break through to the "Second Layer of True Qi"!


    Ye Chen became extremely excited.


    During his two and a half years in the Qingyun Sect, he had never reached this step, and now, unexpectedly, just by practicing the "Primordial Star Scripture," he experienced this pleasant surprise.


    Restaining his wildly beating heart, Ye Chen followed the True Qi Technique, pressing the vast True Qi into the vortex.


    Accompanied by the suppression of the True Qi Technique, the entire True Qi Vortex boiled like water, and countless strands of True Qi began to jump wildly.


    Bang!


    In this flurry of activity, the whole True Qi Vortex split in two, directly forming two vortices.


    The second True Qi Vortex was clearly much larger than the first, and the True Qi inside continued to leap about wildly as if it couldn''t stabilize at all.


    It seemed that the "Second Layer of True Qi" was still not the limit.


    Ye Chen''s heart was about to leap out.


    "Could it be possible to even challenge the Third Layer of True Qi?" He could hardly believe it.


    In the Qingyun Sect, even among those top geniuses, Ye Chen had never heard of anyone instantly breaking through from the First Layer of True Qi to the Third Layer.


    Being able to advance two layers in a year was already considered a Sect genius, and advancing two layers in one day was simply unheard of!


    While Ye Chen could hardly believe it, the second True Qi Vortex within his body once again split, dividing into two.


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    Along with the first True Qi Vortex, three massive True Qi Vortices spun in his Qi Sea, finally stabilizing the vast amounts of True Qi surging into it.


    Three massive True Qi Vortices, the Third Layer of True Qi!


    Ye Chen had truly cultivated to the Third Layer of True Qi!


    At this moment, the amount of True Qi in his body had increased by more than ten times than before, and with just a thought, True Qi circulated throughout his body, filling him with endless vitality.


    Ye Chen clearly felt his strength increase.


    "The Third Layer of True Qi, I''ve entered the Third Layer of True Qi!"


    "With this speed, in half a year, entering the Fifth Layer of True Qi and achieving the dream of becoming an official disciple of the Qingyun Sect''s Outer Sect might really be possible!"


    Clenching his fists tightly and feeling the powerful force within his body, Ye Chen was filled with confidence.


    "All this is brought by the ''Meridian Refining Art''; the Primordial Star Scripture is truly a Supreme Divine Art. Just this first layer is so powerful."


    "It seems that just as the Zi Ji Star Lord said, cultivating up to the fourth chapter, dominating the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, could indeed be possible!"


    Looking at the three True Qi Vortices in his Qi Sea, and then at the towering Starlight Tower within, Ye Chen was filled with confidence about his future!


    "Let''s cultivate once more and see if I can absorb as much True Qi again."


    Ye Chen had heard that many cultivation techniques yield the best results the first time they are practiced, and subsequent practices would return to normal, so he did not think that breaking through two layers in a day would become the norm.


    Sitting cross-legged in the house, Ye Chen once again operated the True Qi Technique and began cultivating the Heaven and Earth True Qi.


    This time, just as he expected, not so much True Qi entered his body. However, compared to usual, the amount of True Qi attracted by the five meridians had also increased by more than tenfold.


    "Compared to the usual amount of True Qi, which is more than tenfold, this is already very impressive!"


    "Not to mention the nominal disciples of the Qingyun Sect, even compared to the official disciples, my cultivation speed is not slow."


    "And this is merely the result of having unblocked four of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians. If I continue to improve the ''Meridian Refining Art,'' I''m afraid the speed of True Qi cultivation will continue to increase!"


    After cultivating for a while longer, feeling some fatigue in his meridians, Ye Chen stopped cultivating.


    He stood up, feeling extremely satisfied.


    Pushing open the door of the house, it was already broad daylight outside, the heavy rain had stopped, and the air after the rain was exceptionally fresh.


    He took a deep breath of the fresh air and looked toward the world outside the small courtyard.


    This was his first time taking in this brand-new world outside the house, the world of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Just as he was observing, a series of curses came from outside the courtyard, followed by a loud "Bang" as the gate was kicked open.


    A large group of people walked in from outside the courtyard.


    Looking at the two leading individuals, Ye Chen''s mouth curled into a mysterious smile.


    I was just about to look for you.


    Perfect timing!

 Chapter 4: Chapter 4 Trying Out Skills

    The two who swaggered into Ye Chen''s courtyard, leading the way, were none other than Zhao Jing and Bai Kun.


    They were the other two people, who the Qingyun Sect''s nominal disciples called "The Three Fools of the Qingyun Sect."


    Qingyun Sect had a rule where, without the owner''s permission, no one should barge into someone else''s residence. Zhao Jing and Bai Kun kicked the door and barged into Ye Chen''s courtyard nonetheless, clearly showing no respect for Ye Chen as the owner.


    "Fellow junior brothers and sisters, this is our Qingyun Sect''s number one fool, Ye Chen."


    As Zhao Jing broke into the courtyard and saw Ye Chen standing at the doorway, he paused for a moment before looking at Ye Chen indifferently and then turned to the group that followed him and said.


    With a smirk, Bai Kun standing beside Zhao Jing added, "Yeah, junior brothers and sisters since you''ve just joined Qingyun Sect, it''s the duty of us senior brothers to introduce you to some ''noteworthy characters'' within the sect. You all should get to know this Ye Chen well."


    "In the future, you all must cultivate diligently, and not end up like him, always bottom-ranked within Qingyun Sect and getting beaten up like a stray dog every day, losing face for everyone!"


    The ones following behind Zhao Jing and Bai Kun were all young boys and girls around eleven or twelve years old. Judging by their curious looks, it was clear they were a new batch of disciples recently accepted by the Qingyun Sect.


    Ye Chen chuckled coldly. He understood why Zhao Jing and Bai Kun had suddenly shown up; it turned out new disciples had arrived at the sect, and they wanted to take this opportunity to humiliate him further, to cement his reputation as the biggest fool in Qingyun Sect.


    Not focusing on cultivation but instead obtaining pleasure from humiliating others, such people were truly shameless!


    Ye Chen had already been speechless from knowing about Zhao Jing and Bai Kun''s character through the memories of his current body, and now that he had seen them in person, he gained a deeper understanding of the phrase "shameless."


    "It''s time to settle this grudge," Ye Chen thought, watching as Zhao Jing and Bai Kun enthusiastically "introduced" him to the new disciples, a strange smile appearing at the corner of his mouth.


    If he was in control of this body, he would of course resolve any grudges from his predecessor. Since these two had come looking for trouble, he certainly wouldn''t let them off the hook.


    Lifting his feet, Ye Chen walked towards a corner of the courtyard.


    Ye Chen''s movement made Zhao Jing and Bai Kun, who had been speaking merrily, pause, and all the new disciples turned their heads to Ye Chen together.


    Among the new disciples, a pretty little lass in white garb with big eyes carefully observed Ye Chen and murmured to herself, "Why do I feel like this ''Brother Ye Chen'' is quite extraordinary?"


    It was not just this little lass; many of the new disciples found it strange too.


    Logically, Ye Chen, who was called the number one fool of Qingyun Sect by Zhao Jing and Bai Kun, should have been a completely incompetent and subservient person; however, strangely enough, these youngsters sensed an air of confidence that only strong individuals had in Ye Chen.


    In comparison to the shifty-eyed Zhao Jing and Bai Kun, all of the new disciples couldn''t help but feel that Ye Chen seemed more like an expert.


    They weren''t mistaken. Ye Chen had successfully broken through to the third layer of True Qi and possessed the powerful ace, the "Supreme Divine Art" called "Primordial Star Scripture." Naturally, his bearing was far superior to Zhao Jing and Bai Kun''s.


    Coupled with the experience and vision from his two lifetimes, he carried an air of the extraordinary.


    It was only because Zhao Jing and Bai Kun had never taken Ye Chen seriously that they failed to notice the dramatic change in him.


    "Brother Ye Chen, what are you looking for?" The little lass in white couldn''t contain her curiosity and called out to Ye Chen.


    At that moment, Ye Chen had just walked to a corner of the courtyard, picked up a stick from the ground, and weighed it in his hand.


    Hearing the lass''s query, he glanced over at Zhao Jing and Bai Kun and replied with a smile, "There are two noisy dogs that have slipped into the courtyard, and I don''t want to dirty my hands. I just need a stick to chase these two dogs out."


    Whir!


    Ye Chen''s words immediately roused the spirits of the new disciples.


    A show was about to start.


    The new disciples all turned their gaze once more towards Zhao Jing and Bai Kun.


    They certainly figured it out: the two dogs Ye Chen was referring to were Zhao Jing and Bai Kun.


    Zhao Jing and Bai Kun had come knocking, and now Ye Chen was responding with a sneer, clearly showing neither side was willing to back down, and a confrontation was inevitable.


    Ye Chen''s words made Zhao Jing and Bai Kun''s faces turn ugly in an instant.


    They hadn''t anticipated that Ye Chen, who usually didn''t dare to speak loudly, would now have the audacity to insult them to their faces.


    "Ye Chen, did the beating we gave you two days ago damage your brain?" Zhao Jing laughed in anger, "Fine, today my brother and I will loosen your bones a bit more!"


    "The number one fool of Qingyun Sect truly is a fool. If you had just recognized your own strength and stayed humble, in front of all these junior brothers and sisters, we wouldn''t have taken it further. But now, since you''re asking for it, don''t blame us for being impolite.


    Brother Zhao Jing, you don''t need to make a move; I''ll have this trash down within three strikes!"


    As Bai Kun spoke, he stepped forward and threw a punch at Ye Chen. His fist shone with True Qi, and the powerful Qi Force even made the air crackle and pop.


    This was the foundational "Tiger Fist," fierce and mighty. When unleashed, each punch carried a force of three hundred pounds. An ordinary man hit by one of these would at best vomit blood, and at worst, be killed with a single blow.


    Moreover, this set of fist skills grew stronger with each punch. By the third form, the power could reach a staggering eight hundred pounds. Ye Chen had previously been defeated by this very technique.


    As Bai Kun''s punch was about to hit Ye Chen, Ye Chen remained completely calm. He didn''t dodge or evade but instead swung the wooden stick in his hand directly towards Bai Kun''s fist, choosing to face the attack head-on.


    "My fist can even shatter greenstone; you think you can stop it with a stick?" Bai Kun sneered coldly as he saw Ye Chen brace for the punch, "Break!"


    True Qi surged within his body toward his fist, aiming to snap the stick in half.


    "You''re overthinking it," Ye Chen said calmly. The moment his stick made contact with Bai Kun''s fist, the True Qi Vortex inside of him vibrated slightly, and powerful True Qi was channeled directly into the stick.


    "Buzz!"


    The previously unremarkable wooden stick burst into a dazzling blue Qi radiance, which completely overshadowed Bai Kun''s whistling fist wind.


    Boom!


    In the next instant, everyone witnessed Bai Kun get struck as if by lightning, spewing blood from his mouth, flying backward, and crashing to the ground. He tumbled several times before finally coming to a stop.


    Just one move, just one, and Bai Kun was defeated, utterly powerless to fight back!


    "How is this possible?!"


    Lying on the ground, Bai Kun felt as if all his meridians had been severed, the pain was unbearable, but what horrified him even more was the strength of Ye Chen.


    In that brief exchange, he felt a force like a tidal wave crashing down on him, and he had no doubt that Ye Chen''s move could have killed him outright!


    Earlier, he boasted he would defeat Ye Chen within three moves; now, that seemed like a foolish dream.


    "How... how did you become so strong?"


    Seeing Bai Kun defeated with a single move, lying on the ground like a dead dog, Zhao Jing was even more shocked.


    He couldn''t believe that Ye Chen, who had been defeated by his hands just two days ago, had suddenly become so powerful, powerful enough to defeat Bai Kun in one move.


    When he looked at Ye Chen again, Zhao Jing realized that Ye Chen had changed completely from before.


    Even, he found it somewhat daunting to meet Ye Chen''s penetrating gaze!

 Chapter 5: Chapter 5: Brave New World

    Ye Chen''s sudden explosive strength struck Bai Kun and Zhao Jing like a thunderbolt, while the new disciples watching the battle stared at Ye Chen with shining eyes.


    "Such formidable power!"


    "I''m afraid this is the strength only a second-layer True Qi master possesses!"


    "Amazing, this Brother Ye Chen is incredibly powerful!"


    On the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, where martial arts are revered, these young people joined the Qingyun Sect to cultivate greater strength; seeing Ye Chen display such formidable power, it was natural that the youngsters admired him immensely.


    "I said it, Brother Ye Chen is extraordinary. It''s impossible for him to be as bad as they claimed; I knew I saw it right."


    The little girl in white had even brighter sparks in her big eyes as she looked at Ye Chen.


    After defeating Bai Kun with a single move, Ye Chen glanced at Bai Kun, who lay on the ground, then lifted his foot and walked towards Zhao Jing.


    "What do you want to do?"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen walking over, Zhao Jing backed away three steps in fear.


    "What do I want to do?" Ye Chen looked at Zhao Jing indifferently, "I said there were two dogs barking in my yard, so of course I have to throw them out."


    "Ye Chen, don''t be too arrogant. Do you think you can win against me just because you defeated Bai Kun?" Zhao Jing''s face turned red and white as he shouted loudly.


    Ye Chen continued walking towards Zhao Jing.


    He couldn''t be bothered to waste words on such a petty person.


    The best option was to teach him a direct lesson!


    As Ye Chen approached step by step, Zhao Jing''s heart felt like it was being hammered by a big drum, and he found it difficult to breathe. Finally, when Ye Chen was three steps away, he couldn''t contain himself and made the first move.


    With a "whoosh," Zhao Jing drew his saber and furiously hacked at Ye Chen.


    This strike unfolded like waves upon waves, creating several glimmers of saber light, its layered power growing continuously, and as the saber wind passed, it seemed as if a tide of fierce waves surged through the air.


    "Hmph, Ye Chen, you forced my hand. Today, I''ll let you witness the Yellow-rank lower-tier saber technique I''ve just cultivated¡ª''Nine Waves Saber Skills''!"


    Nine Waves Saber Skills, saber stacked with nine heavy waves!


    Observing the approaching waves of saber light, a spark flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    From the memories of his previous life, he knew that martial arts were divided into Internal Cultivation Methods and External Martial Skills; Internal Cultivation Methods focused on cultivating True Qi, while External Martial Skills were more oriented towards actual combat.


    Both internal and external skills have tiers, ranked from high to low as "Heaven, Earth, Mysterious, Yellow," each tier further divided into "upper, middle, lower" levels.


    Even the lowest tier, the Yellow-rank lower-tier skills, were very precious to martial arts cultivators.


    Having been a disciple for a little over two years, Ye Chen had only practiced some Basic Skills and had never cultivated any tiered skills.


    Unexpectedly, Zhao Jing had recently learned a set of Yellow-rank lower-tier External Martial Skills.


    Facing the oncoming "Nine Waves Saber Skills," Ye Chen was just curious rather than panicked. He raised the wooden stick in his hand to meet Zhao Jing''s saber.


    "A Yellow-rank lower-tier skill?"


    "This is a skill with a tier, far surpassing basic skills. I wonder if Brother Ye Chen can withstand it?"


    The new disciples who were watching the battle, seeing the expanse of saber light slashing towards Ye Chen, were nervous for him.


    While they watched intently, Ye Chen''s wooden stick had already clashed with Zhao Jing''s saber.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The collision of saber and stick caused an explosion of True Qi, and after Ye Chen and Zhao Jing passed by each other, they engaged in battle once again.


    In this exchange, the two seemed evenly matched.


    "Ye Chen, it seems you''re nothing special after all!"


    Originally, Zhao Jing wasn''t sure whether he could withstand Ye Chen, who had suddenly become powerful, using the "Nine Waves Saber Skills." After all, he had just acquired this technique and hadn''t grasped it deeply.


    However, after this clash, finding himself not suppressed by Ye Chen, he regained some confidence.


    "My ''Nine Waves Saber Skills'' can layer up to nine heavy waves, the power increasing ninefold."


    "Now we seem to be on equal footing, but once my saber momentum builds up in the later stages, let''s see how you withstand it!"


    Zhao Jing shook his treasured saber, and with a "whoosh," the saber light shot out like arrows, cascading down once again.


    This time, the power of the saber technique was three times greater than before.


    "A Yellow-rank lower-tier saber technique is indeed much more formidable than a basic saber skill."


    Facing the "Nine Waves Saber Skills" with its increased power, Ye Chen remained unruffled. While parrying the attacks, he observed the technique.


    Seeing that Ye Chen could still block his attack, Zhao Jing clenched his teeth, and his True Qi surged out, altering his saber moves once again.


    However, no matter how Zhao Jing changed his moves, Ye Chen could easily break all the offensive efforts with a single wooden stick.


    Gradually, the new disciples watching the battle realized that Ye Chen was not overwhelmed by Zhao Jing; he was clearly observing the saber technique without using his full strength.


    Zhao Jing, who was exchanging blows with Ye Chen, knew this all too well in his heart.


    When his saber technique reached its strongest state, peaking at nine heavy waves, his power multiplied ninefold, yet still being effortlessly blocked by Ye Chen, Zhao Jing felt like he was close to collapse.


    He completely understood that he was no match for Ye Chen.


    "True Qi Level Two, he must have entered True Qi Level Two."


    "No, perhaps it''s True Qi Level Three! Otherwise, with just Basic Skills, he could not possibly block my Yellow-rank lower-tier saber technique!"


    The more he fought, the colder Zhao Jing''s courage became. When he thought of the possibility that Ye Chen had stepped into "True Qi Level Three," even his hands began trembling with fear.


    By that time, Ye Chen also understood that Zhao Jing had no new moves left to use.


    "''Nine Waves Saber Skills,'' relying on the stacked power of the saber to increase the attack, indeed not bad," Ye Chen conceded.


    "However, this Zhao Jing, although capable of stacking up to Nine Heavy Waves, his fundamental strength is too weak. He can''t unleash the true power of this saber technique, and even within the moves, there are countless flaws."


    "I have also figured out this set of saber skills, now, let everything come to an end!"


    As this thought flashed through Ye Chen''s mind, the three vortexes of True Qi within his energy sea suddenly trembled violently.


    With a ''hum,'' the power in Ye Chen''s wooden stick surged enormously. This sudden increase in power was transmitted through the stick onto Zhao Jing''s saber blade, and finally, all of it flooded into Zhao Jing''s body.


    Just like how Bai Kun was sent flying earlier, without the slightest ability to resist, Zhao Jing was also directly blasted several meters away and ''bang''¡ªlanded on the ground with a crash.


    Quite coincidentally, Zhao Jing and Bai Kun fell together, turning into a pair of unfortunate brothers.


    Then, Ye Chen strode forward to the two of them. Looking at the two groaning on the ground, he kicked each one, sending them flying out of the courtyard.


    Clean and efficient!


    ...


    Inside the cottage.


    Ye Chen sat on a chair, holding a fine-steel treasure sword in hand.


    Thinking back to when he had kicked Zhao Jing and Bai Kun out of the courtyard like dead dogs, and the admiring yet frightened looks of the newly inducted disciples watching, he couldn''t help but shake his head with a laugh.


    "Brother Ye Chen, I will definitely become a formidable martial artist like you!"


    And the words of that white-dressed little loli, when she left, gave Ye Chen a strange feeling.


    Once upon a time, he was known as one of the "Three Fools of Qingyun Sect". Now, he had become someone whom the newly initiated disciples all admired and envied!


    Even becoming the object of worship and learning for many.


    All of this, because of the improvement of his strength.


    "Barbaric Wilderness Continent, indeed it is a world where martial arts are revered, and strength is respected," Ye Chen reflected, standing up.


    After closing his eyes for a few breaths, he reopened them, and then, the movements of the swordsmanship began to be practiced from his hands.


    From Basic Sword Skills to the "Nine Waves Sword Skills" derived from the "Nine Waves Saber Skills."


    Unlike Zhao Jing''s shallow saber moves, the sword moves of Ye Chen, who was practicing the sword for the first time, were incredibly smooth, filled with the spirit of the swordsmanship.


    After a good while, Ye Chen finally stopped and sheathed his sword.


    "This ''Nine Waves Saber Skills'' relies on stacking strength; it indeed seems more suitable for using a saber."


    "To improve strength, one must cultivate both Internal Cultivation Methods and External Martial Skills."


    "For internal cultivation, to refine True Qi, now that I have the ''Meridian Refining Art,'' my speed of cultivating True Qi has improved a lot. However, for external skills, I have only cultivated Basic Skills. It seems I need to find a battle skill that is more suited to me."


    Although he could use the "Nine Waves Sword Skills" with a sword, Ye Chen was still somewhat dissatisfied.


    After all, this set of skills was derived from saber techniques and was not particularly suitable for swordplay against enemies. He had practiced it out of curiosity; it was not suitable for him.


    "There''s half a year until the external disciple assessment of Qingyun Sect. During this time, I aim to raise my realm to True Qi Level Five and master several formidable External Martial Skills."


    "Only with a sufficient True Qi realm and enough combat ability can I pass the initiation assessment!"


    "After cultivating True Qi for a while, I''ll make a trip to the Martial Skill Pavilion," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    After he finished his practice and had breakfast, Ye Chen left the small courtyard and headed for the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    The main activity area for registered disciples of Qingyun Sect was at the foot of the outer mountain of Qingyun Sect.


    On the left of the mountain''s foot lay the living courtyards of the registered disciples; in the center, a vast and broad Mountain Gate Square; and on the right of the outer mountain''s foot, buildings like the "Martial Skill Pavilion" and "Pill Pavilion" were constructed.


    Passing through courtyards, Ye Chen arrived at the Mountain Gate Square.


    The Mountain Gate Square was extremely large, bustling with people coming and going.


    Walking on the Mountain Gate Square, Ye Chen saw groups of registered disciples, clad in the pristine white Training Outfits, practicing Basic Skills under the guidance of outer disciples.


    Bang Bang Bang! Punches whistled, Sword Qi vibrated, and the youthful disciples moved agilely and ferociously.


    These youngsters, mostly newly initiated or recently initiated registered disciples, practiced Basic Martial Skills diligently on the Mountain Gate Square every day, just like Ye Chen once did.


    Looking at each youthful face brimming with energy, listening to the sounds of their practice, and gazing at the blazing sun above the square.


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and exclaimed, "What a spectacular new world!"


    This was the world of Martial Arts he was about to embrace!

 Chapter 6: Chapter 6 Jiang Yao

    Passing through the crowd of people practicing martial arts, Ye Chen walked a bit further and saw various small circles gathered across the square, where many Qingyun Sect disciples sat together, discussing various martial arts rumors within and outside the sect.


    "Have you guys heard? Not long ago, our Qingyun Sect''s number one inner disciple, Brother Xiao Long, encountered the notorious bandit ''Crimson Source Light'' in Qingfeng Town, and the two of them fought fiercely for three days and nights.


    In the end, Brother Xiao Long successfully killed ''Crimson Source Light''!"


    "The notorious bandit ''Crimson Source Light''? It''s said that he committed all kinds of evil deeds, pillaging and plundering without restraint.


    But because his cultivation had reached the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm and he was incredibly cunning, many sects wanted to eliminate him but all let him escape. This time, he actually died at the hands of Brother Xiao Long?"


    You guys probably don''t know, but it was during that fierce battle that Brother Xiao Long broke through to the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm, transforming the True Qi in his body into True Qi Spiritual Fluid, stepping into the ''Spirit Sea Realm'' and becoming a high-level Spirit Sea master!


    Even if ''Crimson Source Light'' was at the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm, how could he be a match for Brother Xiao Long!"


    "The ''Spirit Sea Realm'', Brother Xiao Long actually stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm? Legend says that the masters of the Spirit Sea Realm can fly through the skies and tunnel through the earth, can inhale water and spit fire, and possess incredible magical powers.


    Our Qingyun Sect only has eight Spirit Sea Realm masters, and Brother Xiao Long actually became the ninth?"


    "With this, our standing in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s eastern domain among the thirty-six sects will see a big leap in strength!"


    Hearing these words, Ye Chen''s expression changed.


    From his previous memories, Ye Chen knew that the True Qi Realm was divided into twelve levels, and above the True Qi Realm was the even stronger Spirit Sea Realm.


    The Spirit Sea Realm was not divided into twelve levels like the True Qi Realm; it had only three stages: early, middle, and late.


    Upon stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, the gaseous True Qi in the entire Qi Sea would all transform into liquid Spiritual Liquid, turning the Qi Sea into a Spirit Sea. The amount of True Qi that the Spirit Sea could hold would increase by thousands of times.


    Correspondingly, the strength of a Spirit Sea Realm master would far exceed that of a True Qi Realm cultivator. It could be said that an early-stage Spirit Sea Realm master could easily slay countless True Qi Realm masters.


    "I wonder when I can become a ''Spirit Sea Realm'' master capable of flying and tunneling through the earth," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    To be able to fly and move through the earth was something mythical, and he, of course, yearned for it greatly.


    However, at present, Ye Chen was only at the third level of the True Qi Realm, still very far from the "Spirit Sea Realm."


    As Ye Chen was thinking, a voice suddenly came from another small circle not far away, "Speaking of the number one genius among the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain, that has to be ''Sister Jiang Yao'' without question!"


    "Although Brother Xiao Long has also entered the Spirit Sea Realm, he is already twenty-eight years old. Sister Jiang Yao, however, stepped into the ''Spirit Sea Realm'' when she was only sixteen."


    "It could be said that among all the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain, Sister Jiang Yao is the earliest to step into the ''Spirit Sea Realm,'' and she is truly the number one genius without a doubt!"


    The young man speaking clearly admired this "Sister Jiang Yao" immensely, his voice revealing an extreme sense of worship.


    "Sixteen years old and already in the ''Spirit Sea Realm''?!"


    Ye Chen was greatly startled when he heard this.


    Although he did not know this "Sister Jiang Yao," he understood how difficult it was to reach the Spirit Sea Realm. It could be said that among a hundred True Qi Realm level twelve masters, if even one could break through to become a "Spirit Sea Realm" master, that would already be quite remarkable.


    In the entire Qingyun Sect, with tens of thousands of cultivators, there were only nine "Spirit Sea Realm" masters, which illustrates just how rare Spirit Sea Realm masters are.


    It was rumored that reaching the "Spirit Sea Realm" before the age of thirty was the mark of a genius.


    This "Sister Jiang Yao" actually reached the "Spirit Sea Realm" at the age of sixteen, which was almost unthinkable.


    The circle that was initially discussing Brother Xiao Long suddenly heard someone interrupting them and was a bit disgruntled. However, when they heard the name "Jiang Yao," those who were about to react angrily suddenly became quiet.


    After a while, the people from this circle began to swarm towards the other circle, with many asking directly, "The ''Sister Jiang Yao'' you''re talking about, is she the one from the ''Taixuan Sect,'' ranked number one among the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain?"


    By their expressions, it was clear that they had also heard of this famous "Sister Jiang Yao."


    Ye Chen had previously been at the bottom of the Qingyun Sect in terms of cultivation, rarely wandered around the mountain gate square, and knew little about the various peculiar tales within and outside the sect. He had not heard of the renowned "Sister Jiang Yao."


    Seeing many people surrounding the place, he also moved closer and listened attentively.


    After all, newly entering this world, he was extremely curious about some legendary tales and mythical figures.


    "Yes, there''s only one Sister Jiang Yao, and she is indeed from the ''Taixuan Sect,'' ranked number one among the thirty-six sects."


    "That Taixuan Sect, being a sixth-rank sect, is a hundred times more powerful than our ''Qingyun Sect,'' an eighth-rank sect. Even within the most powerful Taixuan Sect, Sister Jiang Yao is the most talented!"


    The young man who had spoken earlier said.


    No sooner had he finished speaking than another young man added, "Sister Jiang Yao, she is the legend of the thirty-six sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s eastern domain.


    It is said that Sister Jiang Yao, who turned seventeen this year, is extremely beautiful, like a fairy descended from the heavens. If I could just see her once, I would die without regrets!"


    "Lin Yan, you said you have a portrait of Sister Jiang Yao, hurry up and show it to us," the young man urged the one who had previously spoken.


    "Alright, you can look at the portrait, but you have to promise me that if you get any news about ''Sister Jiang Yao'' in the future, you''ll share it with me," Lin Yan said.


    "Agreed."


    "No problem."


    The crowd promptly made their promises.


    It was then that Lin Yan carefully took out a painting scroll.


    As soon as the scroll was brought out, everyone crowded around, clearly very curious about this Jiang Yao''s appearance.


    Seeing the actions of this group of young men, Ye Chen smiled and shook his head.


    These youths looked just like he had in his past life when he was in school; whenever someone got a picture of the beauty queen from another school, everyone else would run over to admire it.


    However, as the scroll unfurled, revealing the image of a young girl, Ye Chen sighed to himself, thinking that even if all the beauty queens from his former life were combined, they''d likely not amount to one ten-thousandth of this "Jiang Yao".


    She was a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl wearing a simple yet elegant white long dress, her figure graceful and enchanting, with her black hair cascading down her waist like a waterfall.


    Her dainty nose, rosy lips, and the slight dimples that appeared when she smiled bestowed her an ethereal beauty; especially the eyes beneath her long eyelashes, like resplendent stars, gave off an indescribable aura of sanctity.


    Ye Chen had never seen such clean, such clear eyes.


    After the scroll was opened and the girl within was seen, the entire painting seemed to glow with a faint luminance.


    Surely, she was an exceedingly beautiful woman, so ethereal as if not of this world.


    All the young men watching the scroll were stunned, and only after a long while did they come back to their senses.


    "Is this Jiang Yao?"


    "She''s really... really too beautiful, I''ve never seen such a beautiful girl."


    Lin Yan, being very careful, put the scroll away again: "This painting was made by my sister after she glimpsed Jiang Yao from afar. My sister said she couldn''t capture Jiang Yao''s true essence, and that in person, she is even more beautiful than the painting!"


    Upon hearing Lin Yan''s words, the youths grew even more excited.


    One of them even said aloud, "Lin Yan, how about selling this scroll to me? I''ll pay three thousand taels of silver!"


    "Three thousand taels? This is an image of Jiang Yao, I''d buy it even for five thousand taels!" another exclaimed eagerly.


    But Lin Yan simply shook his head: "This painting is something I finally coaxed out of my sister, and I''m not selling it. Moreover, Jiang Yao''s image is not something that can be measured with silver."


    "Lin Yan, what about six thousand taels?"


    "Seven thousand taels, even seven thousand would be fine!"


    Many people still didn''t want to give up, raising their offers further.


    "Just for a painting, to sell for seven thousand taels, seven thousand taels... that''s enough to buy two or three sets of low-grade Yellow Tier martial arts!"


    "Such is the charm of ''Sister Jiang Yao''!"


    Ye Chen, watching the youths bidding against each other, sighed to himself and then walked out of the crowd.


    He came from the Ye Family, a large clan in Qingyang City and thus wasn''t short on silver.


    However, Ye Chen had no intention of spending his money in this way, although the girl in the painting also evoked a sense of marvel from the depths of his heart.


    "This painting, after all, is someone else''s work."


    "If I were truly powerful, I might one day meet this ''Sister Jiang Yao'' in person."


    Ye Chen thought to himself.


    "It''s more important to go to the Martial Skill Pavilion to select martial arts techniques first."


    "A towering building starts from flat ground; there''s still a long way for me to reach the ''Spirit Sea Realm'', and I can''t afford to slacken for even half a moment!"


    Half an hour later, after crossing the mountain gate plaza, Ye Chen finally arrived at the Martial Skill Pavilion.

 Chapter 7: Chapter 7 Torrential Rain Sword Skills

    The Martial Skill Pavilion is a three-story building housing all sorts of martial arts techniques and cultivation methods.


    On the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, cultivation methods are ranked from high to low as "Heaven, Earth, Profound, Yellow" grades, but within the registered disciple area of Qingyun Sect, the most precious ones in the Martial Skill Pavilion are only Yellow Class techniques.


    The first floor stores Yellow Class lower-grade cultivation methods; the second floor beholds Yellow Class mid-grade cultivation methods; and the highest third floor treasure Yellow Class upper-grade cultivation methods.


    Entering the Martial Skill Pavilion, the variety of martial arts manuals broadened Ye Chen''s horizons.


    "Tiger Leopard Thunder Fist, Yellow Class lower-grade martial skill, seven styles of fist technique, as fast as thunder, sold for two thousand and five hundred striped silver taels."


    "Cloud Dispersing Palm, Yellow Class lower-grade martial skill, when cultivated to a profound level, can strike out thirty-three palm shadows, sold for three thousand and three hundred striped silver taels."


    "Wind Piercing Finger, Yellow Class lower-grade martial skill, finger like an arrow, piercing wind with a flick, costs two thousand striped silver taels to borrow for one month."


    After browsing the first floor of the Martial Skill Pavilion for a while, Ye Chen did not find a cultivation technique to his liking, and proceeded to the second floor.


    The manuals on the first floor are placed on shelves, while those on the second are placed on stone pedestals, indicating the techniques on the second floor are much more valuable than those on the first.


    The second floor houses Yellow Class mid-grade cultivation techniques.


    The Yellow Class lower-grade techniques on the first floor could be purchased directly, whereas the Yellow Class mid-grade techniques on the second floor could only be borrowed by spending striped silver, not bought outright.


    As for the third floor''s Yellow Class upper-grade techniques, it''s specifically required that only disciples who have made significant contributions to the sect can cultivate them, and Ye Chen does not even have the qualifications to go upstairs.


    Ye Chen planned on carefully selecting one or two suitable techniques from the second floor of the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    "Streamflow Swordsmanship, Yellow Class mid-grade cultivation technique, swordplay like flowing water in motion, comprises thirteen moves, five thousand striped silver taels to borrow for one month."


    Looking at this set of swordsmanship, Ye Chen''s gaze lingered for a moment. Like his predecessor, he had a special fondness for swords, which was why his main cultivated martial skill was swordsmanship.


    However, this Streamflow Swordsmanship was not very appealing to him.


    "Gentle Wind Swordsmanship..."


    "Star Slicing Swordsmanship..."


    Ye Chen perused one technique after another until suddenly, by a pedestal in the corner of the second floor, he stopped.


    "Torrential Rain Sword Skills, an incomplete sword manual, accidentally acquired by a sect elder while traveling. Originally classified as a Yellow Class upper-grade technique, but only the first three moves remain, thus it''s categorized as a Yellow Class mid-grade technique.


    This set of swordsmanship has extremely strong attack power, ranking first in attack power among all the mid-grade techniques on the second floor! Borrowing for one month costs eight thousand striped silver taels."


    Torrential Rain Sword Skills!


    Attracted by the introduction to this sword technique, Ye Chen was captivated instantly.


    Torrential Rain Sword Skills, sword moves as fast as a torrential downpour. For some reason, just the name alone stirred his enthusiasm.


    After thoroughly reading the introduction beneath the pedestal about this set of Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Ye Chen finally made up his mind.


    "I''ll choose this one."


    Ye Chen took the Torrential Rain Sword Skills with him.


    "Now that I have an attack martial skill, I''ll pick a movement technique."


    Body Method Martial Arts assist in killing with attack martial skills, and they can save one''s life at critical moments, making them an extremely important supportive martial art, essential for martial artists.


    In the end, Ye Chen selected a movement technique called Startling Goose Steps, which, once cultivated to the Great Accomplishment Realm, allowed one to move as fast as lightning and as swiftly as a startled goose, granting incredible speed.


    Holding two martial skill manuals, Ye Chen left the building.


    "Cultivating techniques indeed consumes a lot, just borrowing these two sets of Yellow Class mid-grade techniques for a month alone costs nine thousand striped silver taels."


    Of course, Qingyun Sect wouldn''t provide manuals to registered disciples for cultivation for nothing; after all, each manual is precious to both the sect and the martial artist. Ye Chen understood the reason behind the cost of silver taels.


    "No wonder they say that in martial arts cultivation, extensive financial support is a must. And this is only for the Yellow Class mid-grade techniques; for the more advanced Yellow Class upper-grade, as well as the Profound and Earth Rank techniques, the expenses must be even higher."


    "However, as one''s strength grows, earning silver becomes easier. It''s rumored that hunting a high-grade demon beast in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain could even yield ten thousand striped silver taels."


    Martial arts cultivation involves investment but also provides returns.


    Ye Chen understood this principle.


    "Fortunately, the predecessor of this body left me with a good amount of silver taels, which should be enough for me to cultivate these two Cultivation Techniques," Ye Chen said with a smile.


    Born into the Ye Family, a major family of Qingyang City, his parents sent him silver coins every year, and at this moment, Ye Chen had over ten thousand patterned silver taels on him.


    After deducting necessary expenses for clothing, food, shelter, and travel, the surplus was worthwhile to exchange for the chance to cultivate two admired Cultivation Techniques.


    Holding two Martial Skill Manuals, Ye Chen went to register with the Pavilion Guardian Elder.


    "Startling Goose Steps, this Body Method is not bad," the Pavilion Guardian Elder took the manual from Ye Chen and nodded in approval as he reviewed the movement technique laid out on it.


    "Eh, you''ve also chosen the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills''?" he frowned when he flipped to the second manual, "The ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'', though powerful in attack, are extremely difficult to cultivate.


    Many disciples have been enticed by its power, only to fail to grasp even the basic first sword move within a month and waste thousands of silver taels. Are you sure you want to choose this manual?"


    Ye Chen knew that the Pavilion Guardian Elder was kindly reminding him, and he said with a smile, "Thank you for the reminder, Elder, but I will choose this swordsmanship."


    Ye Chen had a feeling that the "Torrential Rain Sword Skills" were extraordinarily suited for him to cultivate, a marvelous intuition that he certainly wouldn''t let others'' words sway his choice.


    "The young disciples of today always aim too high," the Pavilion Guardian Elder shook his head, "Well, if you insist on choosing it, I won''t stop you, but if there is no progress in a month, don''t blame me for not reminding you."


    "Also, I must remind you that the Martial Skills borrowed from the Martial Skill Pavilion must not be taught to others without permission, or you will face severe punishment from the Sect. Hand over the patterned silver, and make sure you return the manuals on time within a month.


    Failing to do so will also result in penalties."


    "Thank you for the reminder, Elder. I understand," Ye Chen replied.


    After paying the silver, he tucked the manuals close to his body and strode out of the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Not far from the Martial Skill Pavilion, a voice called out, and Ye Chen stopped in his tracks, looking up in the direction the voice came from.


    The one calling out to him was a fifteen or sixteen-year-old youth with a cold expression.


    Seeing this youth''s face, Ye Chen''s brows furrowed slightly.


    "Wang Yuan." After a brief recollection, he remembered the young man''s name.


    This Wang Yuan was also a registered disciple of the Qingyun Sect but quite an infamous character among the registered disciples. Not only was he known for his fourth level of True Qi, which put him at the forefront among the registered disciples, but also for his ruthless and brutal temperament.


    Wang Yuan liked to use the lower-ranking registered disciples as "human punching bags" in his cultivation, kicking and punching them. The former Ye Chen had also been called to serve as a human punching bag by Wang Yuan multiple times, taking quite a few hits.


    Wang Yuan was especially strong, and not following his arrangements meant more than just getting punched around as a human punching bag¡ªa lighter consequence would involve being bedridden for a few months, while the more severe one could even lead to broken limbs.


    Ye Chen did not have the slightest bit of affection for Wang Yuan.


    "This is the Martial Skill Pavilion, which houses only Yellow Class Cultivation Techniques. Ye Chen, you fool, what are you doing here?" Wang Yuan asked condescendingly, standing over Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen gave Wang Yuan a cool glance, ignored him, and walked straight ahead.


    The Ye Chen of the past feared Wang Yuan, but now, not in the slightest. Ye Chen had just begun his own cultivation, and his cultivation had already reached the third level of True Qi. Even if he couldn''t defeat Wang Yuan, he was quite confident that he wouldn''t be disadvantaged against him.


    What''s more, with the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Meridian Refining Art" and the newly selected Cultivation Techniques, given some more time to cultivate, Ye Chen was confident he could easily defeat Wang Yuan.


    "Are you deaf!" Wang Yuan''s expression darkened instantly as he saw Ye Chen ignoring him. He wanted to grab Ye Chen and teach him a lesson right there, but after glancing at the Martial Skill Pavilion, he stopped himself.


    "Hmph, if it weren''t for my hurry to exchange for the ''Blood Fiend Claw'', I''d teach you a lesson today!"


    "Ye Chen, in a month, come to my place dutifully and be my human punching bag. If you don''t come then, don''t blame me for not showing mercy!" Wang Yuan''s voice reached Ye Chen.


    "A month from now?"


    Ye Chen''s steps faltered ever so slightly, and then he continued forward.


    A month from now, it would be clear who would be showing no mercy!

 Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Firmly Subjugate

    Feiyun Peak, one of the mountains of Qingyun Sect''s Outer Sect.


    Ye Chen sat cross-legged atop a cliff platform, his hands forming spells as he was in the midst of cultivating.


    Next to him lay a fine steel sword, and not far ahead lay the vast sea of clouds between the cliffs, where the clouds and mist churned unpredictably.


    After selecting a cultivation technique from the Martial Skill Pavilion, Ye Chen spent every day here diligently cultivating his True Qi and techniques.


    Today marked the twenty-second day of his cultivation at this spot.


    After a long period of sitting in meditation, suddenly, Ye Chen''s body trembled as countless strands of Heaven and Earth True Qi rushed from all directions, swirling into a vortex as they poured into his body, finally all converging towards his Qi Sea.


    Some time passed before Ye Chen exhaled a breath of impure air and opened his eyes, standing up. As he opened his eyes, a sharp light flashed and then vanished within his pupils.


    "Twenty-two days, and I''ve finally made a smooth breakthrough to the fourth level of the True Qi Realm!"


    With a grand gesture, Ye Chen released a burst of cyan True Qi from his hand, which swept up a large pile of rocks on the edge of the cliff, scattering them around.


    Then, flipping his palm over, the four True Qi Vortexes within his Qi Sea suddenly shook violently, and a vast amount of True Qi burst forth directly, shattering the scattered rocks into tiny pieces.


    Ye Chen stood with his palms retracted, as the faint cyan Qi light once again flew into his body. At that moment, a gust of wind blew through the cliffs, causing Ye Chen''s hair to flutter and his robe to rustle loudly.


    Beneath his robe, his once scrawny body had now become exceptionally well-proportioned and was filled with tremendous strength.


    Just twenty-two days, and he had cultivated from the third level of the True Qi Realm to the fourth level. If word of this got out, it would probably shock all the official disciples within the entire Qingyun Sect!


    "The Primordial Star Scripture truly is a Supreme Divine Art; the first layer, ''Meridian Refining Art,'' is just too powerful!"


    Ye Chen looked at his own palm and then at the shattered rocks by the cliff, murmuring to himself.


    In these twenty-two days, with daily rigorous cultivation, he had successfully completed the cultivation of the Meridian Refining Art''s Eight Extraordinary Meridians and had also cultivated thirty-three of the Meridian Wheels to the fifth.


    On the day when the Eight Extraordinary Meridians were completed, Ye Chen clearly felt a qualitative leap in his physical condition.


    With astute hearing and vision, a moist mouth and tongue, within a few meters'' radius, every blade of grass and tree, even with his eyes closed, he felt as if he could sense their breathing.


    This was a sign of the body being in an excellent state!


    It wasn''t just the condition of his body that had leaped in quality. After opening up the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, his cultivation of True Qi saw unexpected gains.


    Not only was he refining more and more True Qi into his Qi Sea every day, but the speed at which he recovered after his True Qi was exhausted had also increased several times over.


    It was precisely because of this that he could cultivate longer and more effectively each day than others and enter the fourth level of the True Qi Realm within just twenty-two days!


    The further one went, the greater the quantity of True Qi needed to advance in the realm, but now Ye Chen had complete confidence that before the Outer Sect disciple assessment day of Qingyun Sect arrived, he could break through to the fifth, or even sixth, level of the True Qi Realm.


    "To have such an effect simply after opening up the Eight Extraordinary Meridians..."


    "I wonder, when I''ve completely finished cultivating the first layer of the ''Meridian Refining Art'' and all thirty-three Meridian Wheels are fully opened, what new changes will occur in my body when running the ''Qi Meridians, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and thirty-three Meridian Wheels'' together."


    Ye Chen was very much looking forward to this day.


    What he was even more looking forward to was entering the Starlight Tower again and acquiring the second layer of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Gang Yuan Chapter."


    He was curious to see what incredible methods of cultivation the Primordial Star Scripture would teach him after the "Meridian Refining Art."


    After feeling the changes that the breakthrough to the fourth level of the True Qi Realm brought to his body, Ye Chen picked up his fine steel sword, which was by his side.


    He began to practice the "Torrential Rain Sword Skills."


    The Torrential Rain Sword Skills, a set of incomplete cultivation techniques, clearly showed that the latter half of the manual had been torn off, leaving only a few pages.


    Within these pages, three moves were recorded, namely "Torrential Rainfall," "Torrential Rain Splashing," and "Torrential Rain Filling the Skies."


    During these days of practice, Ye Chen had gained a thorough understanding of this Yellow Class, mid-grade sword technique.


    Initially, in the Martial Skill Pavilion, it was stated that although the Torrential Rain Sword Skills belonged to the Yellow Class, top-grade swordsmanship was downgraded to mid-grade due to only the first three moves being left.


    Among all the techniques in the second floor of the Martial Skill Pavilion, its attack power was said to be the strongest.


    After actual practice, Ye Chen realized this statement was no exaggeration.


    The first move "Torrential Rainfall" of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, just as the first move, gave him a feeling equivalent to the power of a mid-grade Yellow Class technique.


    This was a fast killing sword technique, where the moves were extremely quick, and one must be able to stab out seven swords in the blink of an eye for the technique to be considered greatly accomplished.


    As the saying goes, "Among all the martial arts in the world, speed is the only unbeatable weapon." Being able to thrust seven swords in a blink of an eye, the opponent might well die under the sword without having the chance to react.


    This was a true sword technique''s killing move - like a torrential rain descending from the sky, striking to kill amidst a rapid fall!


    Such a powerful sword technique correspondingly was very difficult to master, and after practicing it, Ye Chen finally understood why the Pavilion Guardian Elder had previously said that this technique was extremely difficult to practice, and that many disciples of Qingyun Sect could spend a month without any progress.


    Indeed, this killing sword technique was incredibly challenging to master.


    Even after Ye Chen''s soul merged with this body and gained a wonderful comprehension power towards swordsmanship, it still took him thirteen days to complete the first move "Torrential Rainfall" of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills.


    Whoosh!


    On the stone platform on Feiyun Peak, Ye Chen, holding the fine steel sword, made a slight movement with his wrist, and the sword in his hand thrust out like lightning.


    In the instant of the thrust, the entire tip of the sword vibrated, and in a moment, the sword light shone like stars.


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Seven sounds of the sword rang out, and the fine steel sword pierced into the cliff face with an unbelievable speed.


    In an instant, seven small holes were pierced through the cliff face.


    These seven tiny holes, identical in appearance, were pierced into the cliff face, extremely fine and deep.


    They represented the perfect concentration of strength, without a bit of waste, as all force was transformed into lethal power.


    Looking up, one could see that there were many more such holes riddling the entire cliff.


    All these holes were the product of Ye Chen''s sword practice over the past few days.


    After completing the first move of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, "Torrential Rainfall," Ye Chen flicked his sword tip, and his technique instantly transformed.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Swoosh!


    This time, he did not confine himself to the strategy of One Sword Seven Cuts; his sword left no trace, the previous strike still hanging on the left, while the next had already pierced towards the top.


    Torrential Rain Splashing, rain falling in every direction, where the raindrops landed, the sword followed!


    This was the second move of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, "Torrential Rain Splashing."


    This technique, appearing as if stabbing wildly at will, was deceptively strange and unpredictable, and the speed of the blade was even faster and more astonishing than the previous move, "Torrential Rainfall."


    In the manual for "Torrential Rain Sword Skills," it says that when this move is mastered, ten sparrows could fly out of a bag, scattering in all directions, and with a single stroke of this technique, they could be slain.


    The difficulty of perfecting this move was even greater than "Torrential Rainfall." It took Ye Chen a full seven days of training without gaining any insight into it.


    It wasn''t until the day he unblocked the Eight Extraordinary Meridians that his body''s sensitivity to the external environment increased greatly, and he entered a mysterious state of swordsmanship, finally mastering the technique.


    The state of swordsmanship that enabled him to master "Torrential Rain Splashing" was called "Sword Follows the Heart."


    It is rumored that there are three realms in the practice of swordsmanship. The first realm is "Learn as You Go," where many sword cultivators, despite years of dedicated practice, still remain within this phase.


    The second realm is "Sword Follows the Heart." Upon reaching this state, wherever the sword points is a technique infused with understanding, each move fluid without a fixed shape, achieving the optimal effect of the swordsmanship.


    Ye Chen had stumbled into this realm by chance, which allowed him to succeed in the second move of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills.


    The highest realm of swordsmanship, the legendary third realm, "Comprehending Sword Intent," surpasses the sword technique itself, aiming at the very essence of swordsmanship. In such a state, everything can become a sword, a part of swordsmanship.


    This profound level of swordsmanship, as it is said, is so elusive that not many "Spirit Sea Realm" cultivators can achieve it, and among "True Qi Realm" cultivators, it is even rarer¡ªone in ten thousand.


    Although Ye Chen had attained the "Sword Follows the Heart" state, he was still far from "Comprehending Sword Intent."


    Atop the cliff, as Ye Chen practiced the "Torrential Rain Splashing" move, his fine steel sword seemed to vanish, leaving only fierce streaks of sword light across the expanse of the rocky plateau.


    After practicing for half an hour, Ye Chen finally stopped. Then, he began to train in another technique, the Yellow Class, mid-tier body method martial art called "Startling Goose Steps."


    In the following days, Ye Chen continued his training at Feiyun Peak.


    The days of practice flew by, and before he knew it, a month had passed.


    The day to return the two Cultivation Manuals to the Martial Skill Pavilion had finally arrived.


    After breakfast, Ye Chen left the courtyard, crossed the Mountain Gate Square, and headed towards the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    As soon as he caught sight of the Martial Skill Pavilion from a distance, a figure stepped out to block his path, "Ye Chen, Brother Wang Yuan is asking for you at his courtyard; hurry up and get over there!"


    The speaker was a young man with a horse-like face; Ye Chen recognized him¡ªit was one of Wang Yuan''s lackeys, named Ma Jiu.


    This Ma Jiu, in the third level of the True Qi Realm, usually hung around Wang Yuan, acting arrogantly, dominating among the nominal disciples.


    The past Ye Chen had suffered quite a bit of bullying from Wang Yuan and this Ma Jiu.


    However, Ye Chen was now at the fourth level of True Qi, had greatly accomplished the first two moves of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills and had some mastery over the third move, "Torrential Rain Filling the Skies." Compared to him, even Wang Yuan was insignificant, let alone Ma Jiu.


    "Wang Yuan sure has a good memory, having you especially wait here for me!"


    Ye Chen looked at Ma Jiu and sneered coldly.


    He still remembered, a month ago, when he went to pick a Cultivation Technique at the Martial Skill Pavilion and happened to meet Wang Yuan, who also came to choose a technique. Wang Yuan had said that in a month, he would use him as a human punching bag.


    Now the day to return the manual had come, and sure enough, Wang Yuan was not letting go, coming to find him.


    "Go if you''re told, what''s there to fuss about! Brother Wang Yuan has just finished practicing a technique and needs you wastes as sparring targets. Keep blabbering, and I''ll loosen your bones first," Ma Jiu rubbed his fists and stepped towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen glanced indifferently at Ma Jiu, "Scram; if Wang Yuan wants a beating, let him come himself."


    Both men had chosen new techniques a month ago at the Martial Skill Pavilion, and Ye Chen wanted to test his moves on Wang Yuan, both to avenge his earlier humiliation and to assess the power of his Torrential Rain Sword Skills.


    The manner of Ye Chen infuriated Ma Jiu, "You fool, telling me to scram? You really have no idea how tall the heavens are or how deep the earth is!"


    Slap!


    His hand clawed out, aiming a swipe at Ye Chen.


    Right as Ma Jiu''s hand was about to reach Ye Chen, Ye Chen made no move to dodge; instead, he struck Ma Jiu''s face with an open palm.


    "Slap!"


    The slap sent Ma Jiu flying several meters away, knocking out several of his teeth.


    Ma Jiu, his mouth full of blood, crashed to the ground with a thud.


    "You... you fool, how dare you hit me?"


    Touching his face, Ma Jiu was still dazed. He looked at Ye Chen, his eyes full of disbelief, hardly able to accept that he had just been sent flying by Ye Chen.


    "I told you to scram, and for Wang Yuan to come himself."


    Ye Chen walked step by step towards Ma Jiu, crouched down, and patted Ma Jiu''s face, "What''s the matter, not convinced yet?"

 Chapter 9: Chapter 9 The Astonished Elder

    ```


    "I...I''m going to kill you!"


    As Wang Yuan''s lackey, Ma Jiu followed him in bullying and swaggering among the registered disciples of the Qingyun Sect, acting unscrupulously. He was always the one who bullied others, and no one had ever dared to bully him.


    Now, sent flying by a slap from Ye Chen, Ma Jiu, who had never suffered such humiliation, of course wouldn''t stand for it.


    Ma Jiu, lying on the ground, let out a shout and clawed towards Ye Chen.


    "Kill me? You think you have that ability?"


    At the moment Ma Jiu''s claw was about to reach Ye Chen''s face, Ye Chen''s hand shot out like lightning, gripping Ma Jiu''s wrist in an instant.


    Then, with a "crack," Ye Chen showed no mercy as he shook his True Qi, and under the immense pressure of the True Qi, Ma Jiu''s wrist bone broke with a snap.


    "Ah, my hand! My hand is broken!"


    The intense pain of the broken bone made Ma Jiu scream shrilly, and the heart-piercing pain caused him to roll on the ground clutching his wrist.


    Meanwhile, an inexplicable fear struck him like thunder, one blow after another easily blocked by Ye Chen, and Ma Jiu finally understood that this previously insignificant Ye Chen of the Three Fools of Qingyun Sect was no longer someone he could provoke.


    Looking at Ma Jiu rolling on the ground and howling in pain, Ye Chen snorted coldly and stood up.


    He certainly would not show any mercy to Ma Jiu.


    He remembered once, also because of Ma Jiu, who had looked for a human punching bag on Wang Yuan''s behalf, and had set his sights on Ye Chen. The moment Ye Chen hesitated, Ma Jiu kicked him and broke several of his ribs.


    Not only did he have to spend a lot of silver to buy medicine for healing, but he also had to lay in bed for several months before he fully recovered.


    To deal with the ruthless Ma Jiu, one had to be even more ruthless!


    Breaking his hand was just being light on him.


    If not for the Sect''s prohibition on killing, Ye Chen wouldn''t mind killing Ma Jiu outright.


    Ye Chen glanced at Ma Jiu and then walked towards the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    He had to return the Martial Skill Manual, and he wasn''t going to waste time on the likes of Ma Jiu.


    Whether he went to call Wang Yuan or not did not matter to him.


    If Wang Yuan really dared to come, then he would be taught a lesson just like Ma Jiu had been.


    Only after Ye Chen had gone a long way did Ma Jiu climb up from the ground. His beady eyes fixed on the retreating figure of Ye Chen, filled with vengeful hatred: "Ye Chen, just you wait, Wang Yuan will surely avenge me! The pain I''ve endured, I shall make you pay back a hundredfold!"


    Struggling to his feet, Ma Jiu no longer hesitated and ran straight towards Wang Yuan''s dwelling.


    ...


    "Hey, isn''t that Ma Jiu? Why is he covered in so much blood?"


    Passing through Mountain Gate Square, several registered disciples noticed Ma Jiu''s pitiful state and began to talk amongst themselves in surprise.


    One glance from Ma Jiu shut one of the registered disciples up immediately, scaring him into closing his mouth.


    However, once Ma Jiu was far away, the registered disciples couldn''t help but resume their discussions.


    "Ma Jiu, he''s one of Wang Yuan''s men, a formidable figure among the registered disciples. Who dared to beat him up like this?"


    "Shh, keep it down. Neither Ma Jiu nor Wang Yuan are easy to deal with. We''re better off not interfering in such matters," said one of the timider ones.


    Yet, there were those unafraid of starting trouble: "Looking at Ma Jiu''s demeanor, he''s fired up with anger and seems to be going for backup. There might be some excitement to watch soon."


    "I really want to know, who dares to tug on Wang Yuan''s whiskers."


    In the heart of the registered disciple living area, within a spacious courtyard, Wang Yuan was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed, cultivating. Not far in front of him stood seven or eight registered disciples trembling.


    These seven or eight registered disciples had been called as human punching bags, waiting to be used by Wang Yuan for practice.


    Thinking about what state they might be in after Wang Yuan was through with them, their legs were barely holding them up.


    Run? They dared not.


    They were only at the first or second level of True Qi cultivation, nowhere near strong enough to escape from Wang Yuan''s grasp. If they dared to run, the beating they would get would be far worse than being a human punching bag; broken arms and legs were all possibilities.


    They could only wait, hoping the inevitable beating would be over quickly. The agony of waiting was almost unbearable.


    Bang!


    Just as they were in the throes of their anxiety, the door to Wang Yuan''s courtyard was suddenly pushed open.


    A bloodied Ma Jiu ran inside.


    "Hm?"


    Having his cultivation disturbed, Wang Yuan opened his eyes with a frown. When he saw the bloody Ma Jiu, his brows rose in surprise, "Weren''t you going to find Ye Chen? How did you get injured like this?"


    Seeing Wang Yuan was like seeing a savior for Ma Jiu. Pointing towards the outside of the courtyard, shaking either from anger or pain, he stuttered, "Brother Wang Yuan, it was Ye Chen who beat me like this. You must take revenge for me!"


    "Ye Chen?"


    Wang Yuan was slightly surprised but then his gaze turned icy, and he stood up.


    The registered disciples in the courtyard, who were waiting to be used as human punching bags, were deeply shocked: "Ye Chen? The same Ye Chen who''s called for the same purpose as us? He could actually injure Ma Jiu like this?"


    In fact, each registered disciple who was called to be a human punching bag had fantasized about becoming strong enough to trample on Ma Jiu and Wang Yuan, in order to avenge their grievances.


    But they knew it was just a fantasy, their strength was far too inferior to Wang Yuan''s, who was at the fourth layer of True Qi.


    Now, was this fantasy actually coming true?


    Had Ye Chen really become strong? Strong enough to defeat Ma Jiu, who was at the third layer of True Qi, and to show no fear of Wang Yuan who backed Ma Jiu?


    The seven or eight registered disciples stood with their mouths agape, disbelieving.


    "The Martial Skill Pavilion, here again." Ye Chen smiled as he walked towards the small three-storied building in front of him.


    A month ago, he was still at the third layer of True Qi and hadn''t practiced any proper martial skills.


    Now, a month later, not only had he successfully cultivated to the fourth layer of True Qi, but he had also mastered the exceedingly difficult and powerful "Torrential Rain Sword Skills" up to the third form.


    Ye Chen enjoyed the feeling of making progress every day, of his strength constantly improving.


    This feeling wasn''t just the satisfaction of avenging the humiliation dealt by the likes of Zhao Jing, Bai Kun, and Ma Jiu; what was more valuable was taking control of his own destiny.


    Only by truly becoming strong could he avoid being bullied by others and take control of his own destiny!


    Inside the Martial Skill Pavilion, at the Pavilion Guardian Elder''s place.


    As he looked over the manuals that were being returned, the Pavilion Guardian Elder remembered Ye Chen: "Oh, you are the young man who borrowed ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'' a month ago."


    The Pavilion Guardian Elder could remember Ye Chen partly because he chose such a difficult swordsmanship to practice, and partly because the confident manner of the young man when he was reminded had left a deep impression.


    "How is it, Torrential Rain Sword Skills are quite difficult to cultivate, aren''t they?" the Pavilion Guardian Elder asked with a smile looking at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded: "Indeed, they are difficult to cultivate."


    "I warned you before, but you wouldn''t believe me. Now you know," the Pavilion Guardian Elder sighed helplessly, shaking his head, "Young people only learn after suffering losses. Alright, go pick another martial skill to practice, I can give you a discount."


    The Pavilion Guardian Elder was sighing and lecturing Ye Chen, but what Ye Chen said next made him choke up.


    "Thank you, Elder, for your kindness, but I won''t pick a new martial skill for now. I haven''t fully comprehended the third form of Torrential Rain Sword Skills," Ye Chen said.


    "What did you say?" The Pavilion Guardian Elder suddenly stood up.


    "You haven''t fully comprehended the third form? Does that mean... you have successfully practiced the first two forms?" The Pavilion Guardian Elder''s face was full of disbelief.


    During his decades of serving as the Pavilion Guardian Elder, hundreds of people had selected the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'', and among them, the vast majority failed to even properly practice the first stance.


    Few could manage the second, and he had never seen a registered disciple manage to reach the third form in just one month.


    "Reporting to the elder, I indeed have successfully practiced the first two forms," Ye Chen acknowledged with a nod.


    He did not try to hide it¡ªafter all, even the first layer of the "Supreme Divine Art," "Primordial Star Scripture," specifically the "Meridian Refining Art" was cultivated by him up to the last step of the "thirty-third Meridian Wheel," which is the fifteenth meridian wheel, in just one month.


    The ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'' were merely a mid-level Yellow Class Cultivation Technique, so successfully practicing the first two moves wasn''t a big deal.


    Ye Chen spoke casually, but his words weighed heavily in the ears of the Pavilion Guardian Elder.


    After a moment of stunned surprise, the Pavilion Guardian Elder spoke: "Could you demonstrate the first two forms for me to see?"


    It wasn''t that he distrusted Ye Chen, but the claim was astonishing.


    If Ye Chen truly had such extraordinary comprehension power, he should have joined the Outer Sect long ago, and even among the registered disciples, his name should be well-known, yet the Pavilion Guardian Elder had never heard of a Ye Chen among the registered disciples.


    "Demonstrate the first two forms?" Hearing the Pavilion Guardian Elder''s request, Ye Chen hesitated for a moment but then smiled, "Why not."


    Zing!


    Ye Chen drew his fine steel sword, preparing to demonstrate the first form of the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills,'' "Torrential Rainfall."


    Just then, a stern shout came from outside the Martial Skill Pavilion: "Ye Chen, get out here!"


    Hearing this voice, Ye Chen frowned, and then shook his head with a smile.


    Wang Yuan really had come looking for trouble!


    Sheathing his sword, Ye Chen apologized to the Pavilion Guardian Elder: "Elder, I am sorry, but it seems I have some trouble to resolve first."


    The Pavilion Guardian Elder had also heard the voice coming from outside the Martial Skill Pavilion. He looked outside the pavilion and saw a crowd had already gathered.


    "Go ahead," the Pavilion Guardian Elder nodded.


    Fights were not prohibited in Qingyun Sect, and in the registered disciple area, the restrictions on disciples were even looser. Therefore, it was no surprise to the Pavilion Guardian Elder that someone was looking for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen bowed to the Pavilion Guardian Elder and then strode towards the exit of the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    "This young man is quite interesting."


    The Pavilion Guardian Elder stood by the window, looking down below.


    "If he really has cultivated the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'' to the third form, then what''s to come will be quite a show."

 Chapter 10: Chapter 10: The Earth-Shattering Sword

    Stepping out of the Martial Skill Pavilion, Ye Chen instantly caught sight of Wang Yuan, who was standing outside the Pavilion.


    By Wang Yuan''s side was Ma Jiu, who had just received a lesson from him.


    Clearly, Ma Jiu was not the type to tolerate being slighted, he really had brought Wang Yuan over, intending to retrieve some face from Ye Chen.


    Not far behind Wang Yuan and Ma Jiu stood a large crowd of onlookers. This group included not only the Qingyun Sect''s outer disciples who had heard the news and came but also those outer disciples from Wang Yuan''s courtyard who were previously turning themselves into human punching bags.


    Wang Yuan didn''t reprimand those who came to watch the excitement. In his heart, he actually hoped that more people would come to watch.


    After all, someone had bullied his subordinates, and it didn''t look good on him. He wanted to take advantage of the crowd to establish his authority, to show everyone an example. This would let the outer disciples know that opposing him, Wang Yuan, was asking for trouble.


    As for Ye Chen, Wang Yuan had never taken him seriously.


    Although he was somewhat surprised that Ye Chen could defeat Ma Jiu, as a fourth-layer True Qi Realm powerhouse, Wang Yuan had no one to fear among the outer disciples, especially now that he had just cultivated the new mid-rank Yellow grade martial skill "Blood Fiend Claw" to Minor Accomplishment, which made him even more arrogant.


    A mid-rank Yellow grade martial skill was something few outer disciples could successfully cultivate. Wang Yuan himself had mastered three low-rank Yellow grade martial skills and one mid-rank Yellow grade martial skill.


    Ye Chen? That Qingyun Sect''s third-rate disciple, even if he''s had some dog''s luck and his strength has improved a lot, can he surpass him?


    Wang Yuan had never imagined that Ye Chen could also break through to the fourth layer of the True Qi Realm, and had mastered the most formidable Yellow grade mid-rank martial skill, Torrential Rain Sword Skills.


    After all, such an occurrence that even the Elder guarding the Pavilion would be astonished by, he wouldn''t think would happen to Ye Chen.


    Looking at Ye Chen who had just walked out of the Martial Skill Pavilion with an indifferent expression, Wang Yuan sneered coldly, "Ye Chen, you''ve got quite the nerve to mess with my people."


    "I don''t know what kind of dog''s luck you''ve stumbled upon to beat Ma Jiu but even if you beg for mercy on your knees today, I will let you understand just how high the sky is and how thick the earth is!"


    As he spoke, Wang Yuan turned his head to glance at the onlooking outer disciples and with a step forward, he walked toward Ye Chen.


    Witnessing Wang Yuan approaching, Ye Chen''s expression didn''t change in the slightest, "I beg for mercy? Wang Yuan, I really don''t know what gives you such confidence."


    Whir!


    Ye Chen''s defiant words stirred excitement among the onlooking outer disciples.


    When they realized that the person standing up to Wang Yuan was Ye Chen, they didn''t hold much hope for this obviously lopsided confrontation, but little did they expect that Ye Chen would actually dare to challenge Wang Yuan.


    "Is this really that third-rate disciple of Qingyun Sect, Ye Chen?"


    "Since when did he become so formidable? Is he really not afraid of Wang Yuan?"


    Although Ye Chen had, apart from Ma Jiu, also taught Zhao Jing and Bai Kun a lesson, Ye Chen wasn''t one to show off, and Zhao Jing and Bai Kun certainly wouldn''t spread news of their own defeats; hence, these outer disciples had no idea that Ye Chen had changed radically from before.


    Ye Chen''s words incited a buzz among the onlookers, and Wang Yuan''s face turned unsightly in an instant.


    "What, you really think you stand a chance against me?"


    "Very well, then I shall let you witness the real strength of a powerhouse!"


    Wang Yuan gave Ye Chen a frosty smile, the more confident Ye Chen looked, the more Wang Yuan despised him.


    The thought of completely crippling Ye Chen bubbled up uncontrollably as he stepped forward with a draconian gait and reached out with a claw toward Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, aiming to completely destroy Ye Chen''s cultivation.


    Such a ruthless move!


    Seeing Wang Yuan directly targeting Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, many of the outer disciples watching couldn''t help but scream out loud.


    To rupture the Qi Sea was practically a death sentence to a True Qi Realm cultivator, far crueler than breaking a person''s limbs.


    Could Ye Chen block it?


    The hearts of the outer disciples hung in suspense.


    On the second floor of the Martial Skill Pavilion, by a window ledge, the guarding Elder, who was observing from above, furrowed his brows as he saw Wang Yuan''s move, "This Wang Yuan is so treacherous, daring to cripple someone''s Qi Sea right outside my Martial Skill Pavilion."


    The guarding Elder moved slightly, entertaining the thought of intervening, but then, he hesitated and stopped, "If Ye Chen really said he mastered the third form of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, he should handle this situation with ease.


    If he''s been boasting lies, then having his Qi Sea ruined serves as punishment!"


    With that thought, the guarding Elder suppressed the urge to step in and took up his position by the window again.


    "I hope Ye Chen isn''t just talking big."


    Amidst the gasps of the outer disciples, Wang Yuan''s claw had already reached above Ye Chen''s Qi Sea when suddenly, Ye Chen moved. In the blink of an eye, he dodged the claw and instantly flashed behind Wang Yuan. At the same time, his right fist shot out, targeting Wang Yuan''s back.


    "Startling Goose Steps! Great Accomplishment level Startling Goose Steps!"


    From the Martial Skill Pavilion above, the guarding Elder exclaimed with surprise as he saw Ye Chen''s movement technique.


    "If he has cultivated the Startling Goose Steps to Great Accomplishment, then there''s a real possibility he''s succeeded with the Torrential Rain Sword Skills!"


    The guarding Elder remembered that Ye Chen had once borrowed two sets of martial skills, and one of them was this mid-rank Yellow grade movement technique, the Startling Goose Steps.


    Though the Startling Goose Steps were not as difficult to cultivate as the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, compared to the low-rank Yellow grade martial skills, it was significantly harder. To have cultivated such a movement technique to Minor Accomplishment within a month would already be impressive.


    And since Ye Chen had managed to cultivate the Startling Goose Steps to Great Accomplishment, it was evident that his comprehension was extremely strong.


    The guarding Elder was already looking forward to Ye Chen demonstrating his sword skills.


    The guarding Elder could see Ye Chen''s movement, but those outer disciples watching could only see a blur before noticing Ye Chen had moved behind Wang Yuan.


    They hadn''t caught clear sight of how Ye Chen had moved.


    However, seeing Ye Chen evading Wang Yuan''s attack and counterattacking, they fully understood that Ye Chen truly had the strength to contend with Wang Yuan.


    "Hm?"


    Wang Yuan, who was suddenly outmaneuvered and attacked from behind by Ye Chen, was also taken aback. He had not expected Ye Chen''s movement technique to be so swift.


    Wang Yuan snorted coldly, turned his claw into a fist, and struck directly towards Ye Chen''s fist.


    Bang!


    Their fists collided with a thunderous impact, and the powerful explosion of True Qi sent both combatants tumbling backwards.


    Shuffle! Shuffle! Shuffle!


    After retreating seven or eight steps to stabilize himself, Wang Yuan looked at Ye Chen in disbelief and exclaimed, "True Qi Fourth Layer! You''ve actually reached the True Qi Fourth Layer as well?!"


    Only someone at the True Qi Fourth Layer could force him back without being at a disadvantage. It was impossible for Ye Chen, who was at the first layer not so long ago, to have done this.


    Ye Chen had only been at the first layer of True Qi recently. How could he have suddenly advanced to the fourth layer?


    "Is it so hard to believe that I''m at the True Qi Fourth Layer too?"


    Ye Chen said to Wang Yuan, speaking calmly.


    "True Qi Fourth Layer, how can Ye Chen possibly enter the True Qi Fourth Layer?"


    The onlookers, those seven or eight disciples who had often been used as punching bags by Wang Yuan, were most familiar with Ye Chen. They simply couldn''t believe that Ye Chen, who used to be at the first layer like them, had broken through to the fourth layer.


    It was an astonishing feat, unbelievable!


    Wang Yuan''s eyes were fixed on Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, you really surprised me. No wonder you were able to defeat Ma Jiu."


    "However, to have ascended to the True Qi Fourth Layer in such a short time, you must have used some special means. Perhaps you just happened to swallow a Demon Beast''s Demon Core, or forcefully consumed a Qi Boosting Elixir. I do not believe you''ve achieved this through your own cultivation."


    "Such methods are inferior and cannot compare to my True Qi cultivated through practice!"


    As a cultivator at the True Qi Fourth Layer, Wang Yuan had heard of many ways to enhance True Qi, such as swallowing the Demon Core of a powerful Demon Beast or consuming Qi Boosting Elixirs to leap several ranks in a short period.


    However, these methods also came with many drawbacks and could even prevent the cultivator from advancing further in the future.


    Only warriors with no hope of breakthrough would make such a choice.


    In Wang Yuan''s heart, Ye Chen must have used these means to reach the True Qi Fourth Layer; otherwise, he couldn''t imagine how Ye Chen could have suddenly increased his strength to such an extent.


    "How I''ve improved is none of your concern, Wang Yuan. If you have any techniques left, use them. Otherwise, I''m afraid you won''t have the opportunity to make a move," Ye Chen said to Wang Yuan, his voice steady.


    "How audacious!"


    Feeling belittled by Ye Chen, Wang Yuan was furious. The four True Qi cyclones within him shook, and his claws turned crimson in an instant.


    "Feel the sensation of having your Qi Meridians torn apart by my ''Blood Fiend Claw''!"


    Wang Yuan swung both his claws, shooting towards Ye Chen like lightning. The crimson claws, brimming with violent True Qi, clawed straight at Ye Chen''s Qi Sea and Qi Meridians.


    The claw wind was soul-shattering, tearing through the air with a fierce noise. The mere sight of the bloody glow on the claws was enough to change one''s expression.


    This was Wang Yuan''s newly cultivated mid-grade yellow-tier martial skill ¡ª Blood Fiend Claw!


    Ye Chen''s eyes grew cold. Wang Yuan kept using ruthless techniques, aiming to cripple his cultivation with every strike. Ye Chen wondered if Wang Yuan really thought him so easy to bully.


    If that''s how it was going to be, then he shouldn''t be surprised by a lack of courtesy!


    Clang!


    A clear unsheathing sound rang out, and all the onlooking disciples witnessed a scene they would never forget.


    A dazzling sword light exploded forth like a burst.


    What a brilliant sword light it was!


    The sword light was swifter than lightning. In a fraction of a blink, it pierced through the air and arrived in front of Wang Yuan.


    It was like slicing tofu. The unstoppable sword effortlessly severed both of Wang Yuan''s approaching claws.


    With a flicker of the sword light and a swift turn of the tip, even before the previous sword light had faded, the next stab had already reached right before Wang Yuan''s Qi Sea.


    Pff!


    With a muffled sound, the sword stabbed directly into Wang Yuan''s Qi Sea Acupoint.


    Wang Yuan, who was so intent on crippling Ye Chen''s cultivation, had his Qi Sea pierced in the blink of an eye, effectively crippling his own cultivation!


    "Ah!"


    Within Wang Yuan''s scream, he saw his claws flying off and the True Qi in his body rushing out, rapidly disappearing, followed by an agony that sent him straight into unconsciousness.


    "Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Torrential Rain''s Descent!"


    "It''s really the Torrential Rain Sword Skills!"


    "He really did succeed in cultivating the Torrential Rain Sword Skills!"


    At this moment, in the Martial Skill Pavilion above, the custodian elder didn''t pay any attention to Wang Yuan who had fallen to the ground; his eyes were completely fixed on Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s last strike had finally made it clear to him.


    Ye Chen hadn''t lied.


    This young man truly comprehended the Torrential Rain Sword Skills in one month''s time!

 Chapter 11: Chapter 11 Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain

    Martial Skill Pavilion Exterior.


    Having severed Wang Yuan''s claws with a single sword stroke and crippled his cultivation, Ye Chen flicked his fine steel sword.


    Hum!


    With a gentle vibration of True Qi, the blood droplets on the fine steel sword immediately fell to the ground, and the blade''s surface became clean and shining once more.


    With a "swish," Ye Chen sheathed his sword and then looked calmly toward Wang Yuan, who lay unconscious on the ground.


    If Wang Yuan had not repeatedly tried to drive him to his death, he would not have struck so ruthlessly. The usually cruel and brutal Wang Yuan had ultimately met such an end, truly embodying the notion "One reaps what one sows."


    Ye Chen''s expression was calm and indifferent, while all the registered disciples spectating were completely stunned.


    They had never imagined that Wang Yuan, who used to be so highly esteemed, would be defeated so quickly and so miserably!


    Both of his hands had been chopped off, and his Qi Sea had been pierced.


    This Wang Yuan had no more prospects for cultivation, no more capital to be arrogant!


    Thinking back to Wang Yuan boasting about crippling Ye Chen and now seeing him lying on the ground like a dead dog, this stark contrast resulted in a moment of dead silence outside the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    Then, incredulous screams and murmurs burst forth among the crowd of spectators in an instant.


    "Wang Yuan is defeated, truly defeated!"


    "Ye Chen, he actually defeated Wang Yuan who was at the fourth level of the True Qi Realm!"


    "His swordsmanship is so incredibly fast, it''s unbelievable. I''ve never seen such a quick strike, like a bolt of lightning tearing through the void! What swordsmanship is this?!"


    "A new powerhouse has emerged among us registered disciples, even stronger than Wang Yuan. It''s him, Ye Chen!"


    When the registered disciples looked at Ye Chen again, their eyes involuntarily carried a hint of awe.


    It was an awe for the powerful.


    They finally understood that the Ye Chen before them was no longer the same as before; he had truly become powerful!


    "You... you!"


    At that moment, Ma Jiu, who stood to the side, saw Wang Yuan crippled and lying unconscious on the ground. When he looked at Ye Chen, he was so frightened that his hands began to tremble uncontrollably, and he could not utter a complete sentence.


    Even a mere glance from Ye Chen terrified him so much that he stumbled several steps backward and collapsed to the ground.


    Shaking his head, Ye Chen paid Ma Jiu no further attention and turned to walk inside the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    ...


    "Elder."


    On the second floor of the Martial Skill Pavilion, Ye Chen returned to the Pavilion Guardian Elder.


    The elder had previously asked him to demonstrate the "Torrential Rain Sword Skills." He was about to perform them when he was interrupted by Wang Yuan. Now that Wang Yuan''s matter was settled, it was only polite for Ye Chen to make another visit.


    "I saw what happened just now, and you did the right thing. Against someone that vicious and ruthless, you must resolve the matter thoroughly to prevent future troubles," said the Pavilion Guardian Elder.


    "Ye Chen, your swordsmanship has truly opened my eyes. It seems I had misjudged you before."


    The Pavilion Guardian Elder waved his hands slightly in embarrassment and spoke to Ye Chen with a smile.


    "Elder, you are too kind," Ye Chen shook his head, "I have only cultivated an intermediate Yellow Class Martial Skill. There are still many in Qingyun Sect stronger than me; I must continue to train harder."


    He was not arrogant in victory nor discouraged in defeat.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s sincere demeanor, the Pavilion Guardian Elder held him in even higher regard.


    He rarely gave Ye Chen such earnest advice: "Ye Chen, there''s no need to be too modest. Your comprehension power in the way of the sword is the highest I''ve seen in the many years I''ve been here in the registered disciple area."


    "However, staying among registered disciples is indeed a waste of time. You must participate in the entrance examination in a little over four months, and strive to enter the Outer Sect."


    "Once you become an official disciple of the Qingyun Sect, you''ll find the environment vastly different from the registered disciple area. By then, not only advanced Yellow Class cultivation techniques but even Profound Class techniques will be within your reach.


    With more sophisticated techniques, aiming for higher levels in the True Qi Realm and even the Spirit Sea Realm becomes possible!"


    Hearing the Pavilion Guardian Elder''s words, Ye Chen nodded seriously.


    Even though he had defeated Wang Yuan, Ye Chen would not become the slightest bit complacent; after all, he was merely at the fourth level of the True Qi Realm. His most powerful Martial Skill cultivated to date was just an intermediate Yellow Class technique, "Torrential Rain Sword Skills."


    Even though this was quite impressive among registered disciples, compared to the strong ones among the Qingyun Sect''s official disciples, he still had a long way to go.


    Ye Chen remembered the various martial arts rumors he''d heard in the Mountain Gate Square.


    He aspired to catch up to figures like Xiao Long, the Sect''s number one Inner Sect disciple who had entered the Spirit Sea Realm, and Jiang Yao, the number one talent among the thirty-six sects in the Eastern Region, whose portrait he had once seen.


    Becoming a powerful martial arts master capable of flying through the skies and roaming freely across the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was his ambition for finding himself in this new world!


    "Thank you for the advice, Elder. I will strive to enter the Outer Sect!" Ye Chen said solemnly.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had taken his words to heart, the Pavilion Guardian Elder nodded in satisfaction, "Alright, I''ve seen your ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills.'' There''s no need to demonstrate it to me again."


    "You go and cultivate. Once you have mastered the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills,'' I will introduce you to a new Martial Skill."


    "Thank you, Elder."


    "Then, Junior will take his leave now."


    After bidding farewell to the Pavilion Guardian Elder, Ye Chen left the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    At this moment, the registered disciples who had been watching outside the Martial Skill Pavilion, the majority had not yet dispersed.


    When Ye Chen walked through the crowd, the registered disciples voluntarily cleared a path for him, with many even respectfully calling out: "Elder Brother Ye Chen!"


    Elder Brother Ye Chen!


    Being addressed as Elder Brother was something Ye Chen had never experienced before.


    Glancing at Wang Yuan and Ma Jiu, who were both unconscious on the ground, and then smiling and nodding at the reverent registered disciples, Ye Chen left the Martial Skill Pavilion.


    ...


    In the following days, as the news of Ye Chen defeating Wang Yuan spread amongst the registered disciples, Ye Chen clearly felt the change in circumstances that came with the improvement of his strength.


    The courtyard that once was deserted now saw many registered disciples visiting every day.


    First, it was those registered disciples who had been used as human punching bags by Wang Yuan, personally coming to thank him. With Wang Yuan incapacitated, they no longer had to live in fear of being picked on by him every day, and were naturally extremely grateful to Ye Chen.


    Following this, those registered disciples who had initially bullied Ye Chen, also came one after another to apologize.


    Eventually, even many beautiful female disciples of the Qingyun Sect sought opportunities to express their affection towards Ye Chen, with some fiery-tempered female disciples even running straight to his courtyard and refusing to leave, causing Ye Chen to be somewhat caught between laughter and tears.


    Three days later, Ye Chen closed the door of his courtyard to visitors and once again entered a period of intense training.


    Another seven days passed in this relentless training.


    That day, having just finished his training, Ye Chen put away his fine steel treasured sword and looked towards the outside of the courtyard.


    "These days, my True Qi has become even more robust; the fourth level of the True Qi Realm has now been firmly established."


    "The ''Meridian Refining Art'' of the first layer in the ''Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter'' has also been cultivated to the last step, the eighteenth meridian of the thirty-three Meridian Wheels; it''s only a matter of time before all the Meridian Wheels are cultivated."


    "However, the third move of the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'', ''Torrential Rain Filling the Skies'', still eludes my comprehension."


    Ye Chen shook his head.


    The third move of the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'', "Torrential Rain Filling the Skies", was even more difficult to comprehend than the previous two, "Torrential Rainfall" and "Torrential Rain Splashing".


    Even though he had reached the "Sword Follows the Heart" realm of swordsmanship, he still couldn''t achieve the requirement of the third move, "Within ten feet, sword rain fills every inch of space."


    Ye Chen even had the feeling that to achieve such a degree, he might need to at least comprehend a hint of Sword Intents.


    Sword Intents, a concept deeper than "Sword Follows the Heart", is a realm of swordsmanship that many Spirit Sea Realm experts can''t achieve. It''s hard to believe such a requirement would appear in the incomplete manual of the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills''.


    "Perhaps, it is because the manual is incomplete that makes the third move harder to comprehend."


    "It seems that to break through this sword technique, I must go out into the world. It''s said that martial skills evolve from nature, and if I only train alone, I might never comprehend this third move."


    Ye Chen had heard that many powerful cultivators trained their Martial Skills by venturing into nature, pushing themselves in real combat to deepen their understanding of their skills.


    Real combat is the only way to truly transform thought into Combat Power!


    "There are still over four months until the Qingyun Sect''s entrance examination."


    "These next four months I''ll head to ''Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain'' to train!"


    Ye Chen made his decision.


    Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain is a Giant Mountain over two hundred li from the Qingyun Sect. The mountain stretches across thousands of li and is the largest in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    Named ''Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain'' because it was home to countless Demon Beasts.


    The thirty-six sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s eastern region were all established around Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. The disciples from these sects often entered the mountain to hunt Demon Beasts, honing their combat capabilities.


    The Demon Beasts of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain were classified from First to Twelfth Order, corresponding precisely to the first to twelfth levels of the human True Qi Realm.


    Demon Beasts of the same order were significantly more powerful than humans, but humans had a slight advantage in cunning, so all things considered, a First Order Demon Beast and a First Layer True Qi Realm cultivator could be evenly matched.


    It was rumored that in the deep regions of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, there existed "Great Demons" that surpassed the Twelfth Order.


    Such Great Demons, not only roughly as intelligent as humans, but also immensely powerful, could match up against human "Spirit Sea Realm" experts without being at a disadvantage.


    For an existence like that, a True Qi Realm disciple like Ye Chen wouldn''t dare to provoke them. True Qi Realm disciples generally hunted Demon Beasts in the outer periphery of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    Having decided to go to "Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain" to polish his combat experience and strive to comprehend the third move of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Ye Chen began to prepare for his journey into the mountain.


    After two days, with preparations complete, he set forth toward "Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain".


    Woniu Town, a small town at the foot of the southern side of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    Owing to its proximity to the lower-order Demon Beast regions of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, disciples from several large sects would gather here before entering the mountain.


    Having left the Qingyun Sect and traveled for half a day, Ye Chen finally arrived at Woniu Town.


    "Precious herbs from within Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, the ''Purple Leaf Blue Bead Grass'', eight hundred silver taels per plant, going cheap!"


    "The pelt of the Third Order ''Golden Spotted Single-toothed Leopard'', three thousand silver taels each, come take a look!"


    "Maps of the outer regions of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, an essential item for entering the mountains, don''t miss out as you pass by!"


    Upon entering Woniu Town, Ye Chen saw the streets lined with stalls, passersby sifting through items at each vendor, pausing and moving along, the cries of hawkers, the haggling - all contributed to the bustling activity of the town.


    Alongside the street, there were all kinds of taverns and tea houses, iron shops, herbal pharmacies, and even a building known as "Hua Yue Tower", where quite a few charmingly beautiful women, with their bosoms half-revealed, were standing by the door, waving their scented handkerchiefs to attract customers.


    Indeed, it was a worldly small town, a veritable martial world!

 Chapter 12: Chapter 12 Fiery Lion Beast

    ```


    Walking on the streets of Woniu Town, Ye Chen found that ninety percent of the people coming and going were martial arts practitioners.


    In the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, thirty-six sects occupied vast territories surrounding Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, with the exception of the Taixuan Sect, which singularly dominated the massive tract of land to the west of the mountain.


    The remaining thirty-five sects were scattered across the east, south, and north.


    Of these, there were nine sects situated on the southern side of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, and the Qingyun Sect to which Ye Chen belonged was one of these nine major sects.


    Because Woniu Town was close to the southern beast region of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, most of the practitioners who came and went from the town were mainly disciples of the nine major sects to the south.


    Among them, the stage of True Qi from the third to the sixth level was the most common among practitioners.


    "Heavenly Net Sect disciple."


    "Tiegang Sect disciple."


    "Ten Thousand Swords Sect disciple."


    Many practitioners wore their sect''s attire, and Ye Chen could discern their origins.


    After finding an inn in the town, having some food and drink, and taking a short rest, Ye Chen headed straight to "Woniu Valley" on the northern side of the town.


    Before coming to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, Ye Chen had heard that Woniu Valley in Woniu Town was a gathering place for forming teams.


    The mountain was teeming with exotic beasts and was extremely dangerous.


    Courageous and skilled individuals would venture into Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain alone, but many more chose to form teams to enter the mountain.


    After all, many disciples from various sects had died in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain over the years. Entering the mountain in teams and looking out for one another was much safer.


    This was Ye Chen''s first trip to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, so he planned to find a suitable team in Woniu Valley to enter the mountain together, and after becoming familiar with it, then consider whether to act alone.


    Many shared Ye Chen''s thoughts, so the road leading to "Woniu Valley" was frequented by disciples from various sects.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    As Ye Chen was walking, a roar of a fierce beast suddenly came from behind him, followed by a rush of galloping beast hooves from afar.


    Clearly, a stampeding herd was approaching!


    Hearing the commotion, the disciples from the sects on the road hurriedly cleared the way, and Ye Chen stepped aside, looking back.


    He saw that a group of people were riding exotic beasts at high speed from dozens of meters away.


    In the group, leading the way was a white-clad youth in his late teens. The youth wore exquisite attire and had handsome features, but a red mole between his brows gave him a somewhat fierce appearance.


    What attracted Ye Chen''s attention, however, was the mount of the white-clothed youth.


    This was a lion-shaped exotic beast over four meters long, with each strand of its hair fiery red like flames. From a distance, it appeared as though a ball of fire was surging forward. Its four claws flashed with a dazzling cold light. Every time the beast ran, its paws dug large holes in the ground.


    Such a majestic exotic beast!


    Just one glance at the lion-shaped beast was enough for Ye Chen to feel its power.


    With his True Qi at the fourth level, even though he had practiced the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, he felt powerless against this exotic beast.


    "An eighth-rank exotic beast, the ''Fiery Lion Beast.'' That person is Zhou Hai of the Heavenly Net Sect!"


    A shorter youth next to Ye Chen recognized the white-clothed youth and his mount''s origins, exclaiming softly.


    "An eighth-rank exotic beast?!"


    "That''s equivalent to a human True Qi eighth level expert''s strength. To willingly serve as a mount to someone, could it be that this person is a high-level expert above the eighth level of True Qi?"


    Ye Chen looked at the white-clothed youth and his Fiery Lion Beast mount and couldn''t help but ask the shorter youth beside him.


    The Heavenly Net Sect was a seventh-rank sect, more than ten times stronger than the eighth-rank Qingyun Sect where Ye Chen resided, and it ranked first among the nine major sects in the southern part of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, so Ye Chen had heard of it.


    However, he didn''t know much about the disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s question, the shorter youth replied, "This Zhou Hai is not above the eighth level of True Qi. His cultivation is at the seventh level of True Qi."


    The seventh level of True Qi? How could he have an eighth-rank exotic beast willingly serve as his mount?


    Ye Chen grew even more curious.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, the shorter youth explained, "Although Zhou Hai is at the seventh level of True Qi, his father, Zhou Yuntian, is an elder of the Heavenly Net Sect and a well-known mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!"


    "It is said that Elder Zhou Yuntian dotes on Zhou Hai a lot. The ''Fiery Lion Beast'' was personally captured and tamed by him to give to Zhou Hai."


    "Every time Zhou Hai goes hunting in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, he rides the ''Fiery Lion Beast,'' and such a spectacle is not easily forgotten once seen."


    So that''s how it is.


    Hearing the shorter youth''s explanation, Ye Chen understood.


    While they were conversing, the white-clothed youth Zhou Hai, riding on the "Fiery Lion Beast," along with seven or eight other disciples from the Heavenly Net Sect also on exotic beasts, rushed past them and headed straight for Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to the north of the town.


    Clearly, they were headed for a hunt in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    Only after the exotic beast group was out of sight did the crowd start moving on the road again.


    Encountering the Fiery Lion Beast was just a minor incident.


    Afterwards, Ye Chen kept encountering several groups of riders heading towards Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. These groups were either riding powerful exotic beasts, or they were led by formidable individuals with eight or nine layers of True Qi.


    Even more, when he was almost at "Woniu Valley," a gigantic purple sparrow dozens of meters long flew swiftly across the sky. On the back of the purple sparrow, one could vaguely make out a figure in black sitting cross-legged.


    According to the gossip among the disciples of the various sects, the figure in black sitting on the back of the giant purple sparrow had at least reached the eleventh layer of True Qi, and it was very possible that they were a master of the twelfth layer of True Qi, just one step away from stepping into the "Spirit Sea Realm" and possessing divine abilities to fly through the skies and burrow through the earth!


    Throughout his journey, Ye Chen became even more aware of the vastness of the martial world.


    He had only just set out from Qingyun Sect, and he had already come across cultivating disciples of other sects, as well as powerful exotic beasts like the Fiery Lion Beast and the giant purple sparrow.


    Looking at the entire Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, looking at the thirty-six sects of the Eastern Domain, and even the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, who knows how many powerhouses and how many powerful exotic beasts he had yet to see!


    "My cultivation journey still has a long way to go."


    "The fourth layer of True Qi is far from enough."


    "This trip to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, I must make another breakthrough in strength!"


    Ye Chen thought to himself as he walked, and after a little while, he finally saw the Woniu Valley ahead.


    Woniu Valley was a huge valley bustling with noise and excitement, even busier than Woniu Town.


    Inside the valley, groups of people huddled together, some having seven or eight individuals, while others even had twenty to thirty people. Such small groups numbered over thirty, and as more people entered the valley, the number of groups continued to grow.


    After looking around a few groups, Ye Chen nodded to himself: "The information I gleaned before was correct; ''Woniu Valley'' indeed is a great place to form teams before heading into the mountain."


    Each of these small groups had organizers who would set various team formation requirements. Whoever met these requirements was invited to join, forming a team. Once a team was complete, they would set out together towards Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    Most of these teams were formed of members with similar cultivation from the same sect; after all, entering the mountain with fellow sect members felt more secure, and it was also easier to distribute benefits when everyone had similar cultivation levels.


    Ye Chen also planned to find a Qingyun Sect team to join.


    After searching in Woniu Valley for a while, Ye Chen finally stopped at one of the circles.


    In this circle, there were a dozen people, all dressed in Qingyun Sect disciple uniforms, clearly indicating it was a assembling place for Qingyun Sect members.


    At this moment, two individuals were sparring in the center of the circle, one wielding a sword, the other using a knife.


    In the innermost part of the circle, stood a tall and slender girl around sixteen or seventeen years old. She had a beautiful face, long straight legs, and was dressed in a green battle attire, wrapped in a fiery-red leather armor.


    Beneath the armor, her chest rose prominently, giving her an attractive figure.


    By the tall girl''s side stood a burly and honest-looking young man, both of whom were watching the two individuals sparring in the middle.


    Bang!


    Just as Ye Chen entered the circle, the sword-wielding youth slapped the flat of his blade, sending a great force that knocked the knife-wielding youth flying, who then crashed to the ground with a heavy thud.


    "Being only at the fourth layer of True Qi and unable to withstand my three moves, yet wishing to join our team? That''s way too overconfident, even worse than the one at the fifth layer of True Qi," the sword-wielding youth said coldly after looking at the knife-wielding youth who fell to the ground.


    "Zhou Mo!" the tall girl frowned upon hearing the sword-wielding youth''s words, stopping him from continuing.


    "Jing, when we''re selecting teammates, we can''t have anyone who will drag us down," the sword-wielding youth said, seeming somewhat afraid of the tall girl. He grumbled a bit but didn''t say anything more.


    "Hong Man, help him up," the tall girl instructed the burly young man beside her, and he immediately went to assist the knife-wielding youth to his feet.


    Seeing a few more people gathering, the tall girl said with a smile, "The three of us are preparing to hunt exotic beasts on Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain and are looking for two more teammates.


    All three of us are at the fifth layer of True Qi and are planning to hunt beasts between the fifth and sixth rank."


    "Anyone who plans to form a team to hunt fifth or sixth rank exotic beasts can try to join us," she continued.


    "Our only requirement is to last ten moves against Zhou Mo without being defeated," the tall girl said, pointing at the sword-wielding youth at last.


    Zhou Mo looked around at the crowd and raised his eyebrow: "Who else wants to challenge?"


    Amidst the chatter of the crowd, another young man stepped into the circle to challenge Zhou Mo.


    "Fifth layer of True Qi? It looks like these few are all formal outer disciples of Qingyun Sect," Ye Chen observed the trio of the tall girl in the middle of the ring.


    Being an honorary disciple of Qingyun Sect, he had never had dealings with formal outer disciples.


    "Currently, in Woniu Valley, there are only four Qingyun Sect team forming groups. Two are composed of second and third layer True Qi members, planning to hunt second and third rank beasts, and there''s another team at the seventh layer of True Qi.


    Only this team of fifth layer True Qi suits me better," he thought.


    Being at the fourth layer of True Qi and having mastered the powerful Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Ye Chen''s combat ability was not inferior to many fifth layer True Qi disciples, and in some cases, even stronger.


    Hunting second and third rank beasts wouldn''t serve to temper his practical experience effectively.


    The team of seventh layer True Qi, however, was a bit too high for him at the moment.


    "It seems this is the only suitable team for me."


    "Defeat this Zhou Mo within ten moves? Let''s give it a try!"


    Just as Ye Chen made his decision, the new bout in the ring came to an end. Zhou Mo''s treasured sword flickered with a cold light, instantly poised at the challenger''s neck, moving at extreme speed.


    "Huh, this sword skill..."


    Seeing Zhou Mo''s final sword move, Ye Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly, "It''s actually just like my Torrential Rain Sword Skills, also favoring speed."


    "It looks like I really need to take this challenge," he determined.

 Chapter 13: Chapter 13 Piercing Light, Flying Rain

    In the arena, Zhou Mo''s momentum grew even more massive after fending off another challenger.


    Twisting his Cold Light Treasured Sword, he looked around the ring and said, "Who else wants to try?"


    Having successively defeated several challengers at the fourth and fifth levels of True Qi, the others in the circle realized that Zhou Mo was a formidable contender among those at the fifth level of True Qi.


    He had at least attained great mastery in two formidable mid-grade Yellow Tier martial arts techniques!


    The dozen or so challengers in the circle, whose strength were all around the fourth to fifth level of True Qi, generally found it difficult to grasp high-grade Yellow Tier techniques and mostly practiced low to mid-grade ones.


    When the gap in True Qi levels was not significant, proficiency in martial arts techniques became crucial.


    After having watched Zhou Mo fight several times, these challengers were not very confident they could outperform him in techniques.


    For a moment, the dozen challengers were reluctant to step up.


    "No one dares to challenge me?"


    Zhou Mo shook his head and walked towards the tall girl, saying, "Jing, it seems like no one in this group can be our teammate..."


    He hadn''t finished speaking when suddenly a faint voice came from behind, "I''ll take the challenge."


    Ye Chen made his way through the crowd to the middle of the ring.


    Someone was challenging?


    Zhou Mo had just defeated several opponents and was at the peak of his momentum; to challenge him at this point was an obvious disadvantage, which was why they had not acted hastily.


    Yet unexpectedly, someone promptly stepped up for a challenge.


    People in the circle turned their gaze towards Ye Chen, and when they noticed the Qingyun Sect''s outer disciple uniform he was wearing, their looks became somewhat strange.


    Turning around, Zhou Mo also noticed Ye Chen''s attire and said impatiently, "An outer disciple? With only fourth level of True Qi, you dare to challenge me?"


    "The last few outer disciples were all defeated by me within three moves, and even several official disciples at the fifth level of True Qi didn''t last ten moves against me. Are you sure you want to try?"


    Ye Chen smiled, "There''s no rule that says outer disciples can''t try, is there?"


    The tall girl standing aside was taken by Ye Chen''s calm and composed manner.


    She rarely saw such confident demeanor from disciples at the fourth or fifth level of True Qi.


    "Anyone with confidence can challenge. We are indeed hoping to find a good teammate," the tall girl said to Ye Chen with a smile, pausing slightly.


    Ye Chen nodded and looked towards Zhou Mo, "In that case, please make your move."


    "I go first?" Zhou Mo chuckled, "I hope you can catch my three moves!"


    Whoosh!


    With a flick of his wrist, his sword didn''t even unsheathe, yet the sword and scabbard together created a wave over two meters tall, howling towards Ye Chen.


    The mid-grade Yellow Tier martial arts technique, Gale Sword Skills!


    This set of attacking techniques, driven by sword movements and True Qi, formed a roaring gale, using overwhelming force to suppress the opponent.


    Just now, it was with this technique that Zhou Mo had directly knocked down the challenging outer disciples within three moves.


    In the blink of an eye, the towering sword qi wave was about to crash down upon Ye Chen.


    "Can he block it?"


    In the circle, the tall girl, a burly young man, and more than a dozen challengers stared unblinkingly at the unfolding battle, their eyes fixed on Ye Chen.


    They wanted to observe Ye Chen''s move to see if his strength matched his earlier composure.


    As the Gale Sword Skills'' sword qi wave was about to hit, Ye Chen sprung into action.


    Like Zhou Mo, he also didn''t draw his sword. Instead, he pointed the sheathed sword into the wave.


    At the sound of a loud "boom," the towering sword qi wave burst apart, and as the wind dispersed, Ye Chen''s sword was already pressed against Zhou Mo''s scabbard.


    The Gale Sword Skills brought forth a tempest with the sword as its eye.


    Ye Chen had pierced through the eye of the tempest in an instant, immobilizing Zhou Mo''s sword and disrupting the flow of his technique.


    "What keen insight!"


    "He instantly saw through the critical point of the mid-grade Yellow Tier martial art ''Gale Sword Skills''!"


    The tall girl''s eyes sparkled as she saw Ye Chen''s maneuver.


    "It seems Zhou Mo has met his match," she nodded, her chest heaving under her fiery red leather armor.


    "He actually blocked it?"


    The several contenders watching the battle from outside the arena originally thought that this new name-only disciple would be suppressed by Zhou Mo, but they never expected that the name-only disciple would break Zhou Mo''s attack with just one move.


    To think that even the previous formal outer sect disciples couldn''t achieve this!


    When did this name-only disciple crop up?


    So powerful?


    The contenders couldn''t believe it, and Zhou Mo, who was in combat with Ye Chen, was even more taken aback. His sword scabbard was blocked by Ye Chen, causing his face to instantly darken.


    "I didn''t expect you to actually have some skill."


    "You''re the first name-only disciple who has forced me to use the ''Fierce Light Sword Skills''."


    "However, the game should end now."


    Zhou Mo flicked his wrist and the scabbard flew away, his sword unsheathed.


    "Fierce Light Sword Skills, Light Splitting Burst!"


    The sword Zhou Mo unsheathed surged with flowing light, and at his touch, instantly sent out five piercing beams of light, stabbing towards Ye Chen with extreme speed.


    This sword technique was extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, the five bursts of light had pierced to the front of Ye Chen, targeting five of his body''s vital points.


    One sword splitting into five lights!


    "The Fierce Light Sword Skills, it turns out to be among the top twenty most powerful Yellow-rank intermediate martial techniques!"


    "Rumors say that this sword technique is incredibly fast, and when perfected, it can even strike ten swords in the blink of an eye, making it virtually unavoidable."


    Hearing Zhou Mo announce the name of the sword technique, many of the contenders around exclaimed in shock.


    While these people were looking at Zhou Mo''s sword emitting the five piercing lights, the tall girl kept her beautiful eyes unwaveringly on Ye Chen.


    "The one who could see through the Gale Sword Skills at a glance, his comprehension of sword techniques must be extremely profound."


    "Five slashes in an instant might be difficult for others to defend against, but for him, it should be quite simple, right?"


    "I hope I''m not wrong."


    Just as the tall girl was looking towards Ye Chen, and Zhou Mo''s five bursts of piercing light were stabbing at Ye Chen, Ye Chen remained extraordinarily calm.


    He took a small step back with his feet, while simultaneously flicking his wrist.


    The fine steel sword in his hand had already shot out explosively.


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Ding!


    The tips of the swords clashed, sending sparks flying.


    The Fierce Light Sword Skills that the other contenders thought unavoidable were all blocked by Ye Chen in an instant.


    What''s more, while fending off the five piercing lights, Ye Chen''s sword flashed twice more, like a torrential downpour shooting forwards, two sword beams attacked Zhou Mo at an incredible speed.


    Seven slashes with one sword!


    Ye Chen''s move was even faster and more powerful than Zhou Mo''s "Light Splitting Burst"!


    This move was precisely the first technique of Ye Chen''s practiced Torrential Rain Sword Skills¡ªTorrential Rainfall!


    Ye Chen''s unbelievably fast counter-attack made Zhou Mo''s complexion drastically change. With his sword momentum exhausted, he had no time to parry and could only shoot backwards in retreat.


    Even so, two clear trails of blood emerged on Zhou Mo''s retreating body.


    Zhou Mo even felt that Ye Chen''s two slashes had no intention of striking his vital points; otherwise, he would have been seriously injured in that exchange!


    "How is this possible?!"


    Seeing Zhou Mo injured and retreating under the attack of a swift sword, the other contenders in the area were completely stunned.


    No matter what, they couldn''t imagine that this name-only disciple''s sword speed was faster and more terrifying than that of a formal disciple!


    For a name-only disciple to be inferior to a formal disciple was almost an iron law in the Qingyun Sect.


    Ye Chen, however, had shattered this belief!


    "The Torrential Rain Sword Skills, it''s the Torrential Rain Sword Skills!"


    At that moment, the tall girl outside the arena cried out loud, her bosom heaving rapidly and her beautiful face turning crimson with excitement.


    "You have actually managed to master the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, the strongest among the Yellow-rank intermediate martial techniques!"

 Chapter 14: Chapter 14: The Battle of A Single Move

    Torrential Rain Sword Skills?


    That''s one of the most powerful mid-tier Yellow-ranked martial skills in the Qingyun Sect''s Martial Skill Pavilion!


    Even among the official disciples, this set of skills is known for its fierce attack power and extreme difficulty in mastering, and its reputation is no less than that of the high-tier Yellow-ranked martial skills.


    Countless Qingyun Sect official disciples are rarely able to successfully cultivate this sword technique, and yet this young man in front of me has cultivated the Torrential Rain Sword Skills?


    And he has succeeded?


    Within the circle, upon hearing the tall girl''s exclamation, all eyes gathered on the figure of the young man holding the fine steel sword in the center of the arena, filled with disbelief.


    "No wonder he dared to challenge Zhou Mo with the status of a nominal disciple."


    "Such a strong swordsmanship comprehension, even the official disciples rarely have it. It''s just unknown which move he has cultivated the Torrential Rain Sword Skills to."


    "To fully comprehend the first move is already a rare feat, and if someone can understand the second, that would be even more unbelievable! Having him as our teammate would be more than enough!"


    The tall girl''s beautiful eyes shone brightly as she gazed at Ye Chen, her eyes filled with expectation.


    She was eagerly anticipating that this marvelous young man would shock her once again.


    ...


    "Torrential Rain Sword Skills, huh?"


    Zhou Mo, who had stopped his rapid retreat, caught the exclamations around him and a sharp light flashed in his eyes.


    As a martial artist who specialized in sword skills, he naturally had heard of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills. In fact, it was because of how notoriously difficult it was to master that he ultimately chose the Fierce Light Sword Skills.


    "Indeed, the first move of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills can reach One Sword Seven Cuts."


    "For you, as a nominal disciple, to comprehend it to this extent is truly eye-opening."


    "But, do you think that''s the limit of what I can do? One Sword Seven Cuts is nowhere near enough to stop me!"


    As Zhou Mo spoke, he pointed his sword downward, shaking his body slightly, and his raging true qi burst forth like a cyan flame, enveloping his entire body and the sword in his hand. In the next moment, like a gust of wind, he shot towards Ye Chen.


    Fierce Light Sword Skills, light pierces explosively!


    Hiss!


    The treasure sword, surrounded by the cyan true qi, stabbed at Ye Chen instantly and, in the final moment, split into eight blinding sword lights, bursting forth!


    One Sword Splitting into Eight Lights¡ªZhou Mo''s move was one level higher than Ye Chen''s previous One Sword Seven Cuts.


    "A contest of whose sword is faster, then?"


    "Let''s see what true speed in swordsmanship is!"


    As another of Zhou Mo''s sword moves struck in front of Ye Chen, the calm Ye Chen in everyone''s eyes suddenly underwent a change.


    His long hair flew without wind, and the true qi within his body surged out like cyan sword light, filling his entire body. Although this true qi was not as violent as Zhou Mo''s, it carried a uniquely sharp and unparalleled aura of a swordsman.


    The next moment, Ye Chen''s sword burst forth with a torrential downpour of sword light, meeting Zhou Mo''s sword move.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Clang!


    There was an even faster and more intense sound of clashing swords than before, echoing through the entire venue.


    The onlookers could no longer see the figures of Ye Chen and Zhou Mo, only Zhou Mo, who unleashed an extremely fierce offensive, turning into afterimages as he continuously struck at Ye Chen.


    And Ye Chen, under this wild onslaught, didn''t retreat in the slightest. He transformed into figures of afterimages as well, clashing with Zhou Mo.


    The two were competing in speed!


    "Zhou Mo has fully unleashed his power!"


    "Previously, he had never launched such an offensive, but now, he''s not holding anything back."


    "Even more terrifying is that this challenging nominal disciple can actually block every move without being defeated!"


    Outside the arena, the spectators stirred in astonishment. Zhou Mo''s constantly escalating attacks shocked them, but what was even more startling was that Ye Chen, whom they previously had not regarded highly, was able to match him without falling behind.


    "One Sword Eight Cuts, One Sword Nine Cuts, even reaching One Sword Ten Cuts, Zhou Mo has pushed the Fierce Light Sword Skills to the limit."


    "But he, he can still block them!"


    "Sword Follows the Heart, this is the realm only achieved by Sword Follows the Heart! No matter how the sword techniques come at you, where the heart moves, the sword moves, thousands of sword techniques, all can be blocked!"


    "He''s actually reached the ''Sword Follows the Heart'' level of swordsmanship! He has actually comprehended the second form of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills!"


    The tall girl watched the figure of Ye Chen in the arena with amazement and shock in her eyes. The rapid exchanges between Ye Chen and Zhou Mo had already surpassed ten moves, earning Ye Chen the sufficient qualification to join her team.


    Finding a teammate who has comprehended the ''Sword Follows the Heart'' level of swordsmanship was an unexpected delight for the girl!


    "How can he be so strong?"


    Zhou Mo, increasingly astounded as the battle progressed, had never anticipated that he could unleash the Fierce Light Sword Skills to their peak level and yet the nominal disciple before him could still ward them off.


    Ten moves had passed, well beyond the ten-move limit, and he had still not defeated his opponent, but his pride would not allow him to stop. He did not want to admit that he could not win against the other party.


    It was no longer a matter of choosing a teammate now; it was about upholding his pride!


    "Could it be, that I have to use that move?"


    A thought flashed through Zhou Mo''s mind, and quickly it occupied his entire thoughts.


    Boom!


    Following that, Zhou Mo in the middle of the battle suddenly retreated sharply backward, exiting the fight.


    Seeing Zhou Mo withdraw from the battle, Ye Chen also stopped, sheathing his sword.


    "Is it over?"


    The spectators, witnessing Zhou Mo''s action, all had this thought.


    The tall girl, upon seeing this, also smiled and walked towards Ye Chen.


    However, at that moment, Zhou Mo, fixating his gaze on Ye Chen, spoke out, "You, do you dare to take my final move?"


    Still fighting?


    Hearing Zhou Mo''s words, there was a stir among the watching crowd.


    It was just a selection of teammates, yet Zhou Mo seemed to have lost his temper.


    But after thinking about it, they could somewhat understand. Zhou Mo, a Level 5 Qi martial artist and official disciple, not being able to overpower a nominal disciple was indeed somewhat embarrassing.


    Seeing this, the tall girl''s brows furrowed, "Alright, Zhou Mo, it''s already over ten moves, he has the qualifications to be our teammate."


    "My name is Lin Jing, welcome to my team."


    The tall girl gave Ye Chen a gracious smile as she introduced herself.


    "I acknowledge that he can be my teammate, but Jing, I still want to challenge him, it''s a matter of my dignity!" Zhou Mo, regardless of Lin Jing''s attempt to stop him, kept his eyes firmly on Ye Chen, "You, do you dare to accept my challenge?"


    "Zhou Mo, you..." Lin Jing''s expression darkened, as she was about to speak again, Ye Chen smiled at her and shook his head, stopping her.


    Ye Chen looked at Zhou Mo, "Why not! I didn''t call a halt even after surpassing ten moves, did I?"


    The second form of Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Torrential Rain Splashing, Ye Chen had not used his full strength.


    He and Zhou Mo were competing with fast swords, always feeling the differences and similarities between the Fierce Light Sword Skills and Torrential Rain Sword Skills, paying no mind to winning or losing.


    If Zhou Mo wanted to decide on a winner, then let''s go again!


    "Good, good!"


    Seeing that Ye Chen had agreed, a flash of joy crossed Zhou Mo''s face, which then returned to calm, "I will only use one more move. If you can block this one move, I will admit that you are stronger than me!"


    One move?


    Ye Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly, his gaze sharp as a sword''s edge, "Make your move!"

 Chapter 15: Chapter 15 Victory and Defeat

    Zhou Mo suddenly proposed a one-move battle, and Ye Chen accepted the challenge. The tall girl Lin Jing looked at Ye Chen with some concern, hesitated for a moment, then retreated to the sidelines.


    "You will spar without taking each other''s lives, or else I will have to intervene."


    With a slight flick of her hand, the white ring coiled around her slender waist sprang into the air, turning into a snow-white soft sword in her hand.


    This Lin Jing, she''s a sword cultivator as well!


    Lin Jing''s final words were actually a warning to Zhou Mo. Like her, Zhou Mo was an official disciple of the Qingyun Sect. However, Lin Jing was not very familiar with Zhou Mo; she only knew of Zhou Mo''s two martial skills, Gale Sword Skills and Fierce Light Sword Skills.


    Now that Zhou Mo had suddenly proposed a one-move battle, it was clear he still had an ace up his sleeve, as official disciples had more opportunities to come into contact with various martial skills. In this respect, Ye Chen, who was merely a nominal disciple, was at a significant disadvantage.


    Seeing Lin Jing pull out the snow-white soft sword, a hint of wariness, mixed with a touch of jealousy, flashed in Zhou Mo''s eyes.


    How could he not see that Lin Jing''s words were biased and protective towards Ye Chen?


    "Don''t worry, Sister Jing, I won''t strike to kill," Zhou Mo said with a smile, suppressing the discomfort in his heart.


    Zhou Mo''s expression, unseen by Lin Jing from afar, was clearly visible to Ye Chen. This fellow was somewhat scheming. They would enter Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain together as teammates, and he needed to be cautious, Ye Chen thought.


    Lin Jing and the other candidates stepped back, leaving a large open space in the arena where Ye Chen and Zhou Mo stood.


    Zhou Mo had challenged Ye Chen, and the final move was about to begin.


    This time, Zhou Mo did not strike with lightning speed, but stood still instead.


    Whoosh!


    The True Qi swirling around the tip of his Cold Light Sword suddenly surged, and the originally bright blade turned an intense blue in an instant. Between heaven and earth, countless streams of True Qi seemed to be drawn towards the sword in his hand.


    This initial stance made Zhou Mo look much more mysterious than before.


    The onlookers, seeing this scene, all looked solemn. Zhou Mo''s challenge of a one-move battle against Ye Chen was obviously not going to be simple and had to be more than the previous Fierce Light Sword Skills.


    "Could it be that Zhou Mo has mastered a Yellow Class upper grade martial skill?"


    Lin Jing, dressed in fiery red armor, tightened her grip on the soft sword even more.


    With the stance ready, Zhou Mo gave Ye Chen a grim smile, then burst forward in a rush. In an instant, he split into five identical figures, each holding a bright blue sword and approaching Ye Chen in a pincer attack.


    "Yellow Class upper grade martial skill, Light-splitting Shadow-stealing Sword Skills!"


    "He really did learn an upper grade martial skill!"


    Lin Jing''s beautiful eyes widened in shock, and she quickly turned to Ye Chen, ready to intervene at the slightest sign of trouble to block the attack for him.


    She didn''t want to lose a good teammate to internal friction even before setting off.


    "Hmm?"


    Seeing the five figures Zhou Mo flashed out in an instant, Ye Chen furrowed his brow; he discovered that these figures had occupied all his options for movement in the blink of an eye.


    This seemed to be a sword skill that uses movement techniques to achieve a joint attack effect!


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s mind shifted, and he instantly found a way to break the move.


    He lightly tapped his toes on the ground and soared into the air.


    "There is no escape for you in heaven or earth!"


    "Light-splitting Shadow-stealing, joint attack!"


    Zhou Mo shouted loudly, and the treasured swords in the hands of the five figures emitted a dazzling blue light, shooting towards Ye Chen in the air.


    The five figures, with their five unparalleled beams of Sword Qi, killed Ye Chen from all directions. The magnitude of the scene caused the hearts of the onlooking crowd to tighten.


    The challengers could tell that this set of sword skills by Zhou Mo was likely an upper grade Yellow Class sword skill!


    An upper grade Yellow Class sword skill... Could this miraculous youth still withstand it?


    Everyone looked up at Ye Chen in the air.


    As they looked, everyone thought, "Oh no!"


    At this moment, as Ye Chen rose into the air, his upward momentum had already slowed, while Zhou Mo''s five Sword Qi figures had caught up with him.


    The momentum to rise had been exhausted, and he was surrounded in the air, leaving Ye Chen with nowhere to escape.


    Was he going to lose?


    Just as this thought crossed everyone''s minds, Ye Chen, who was in the air, suddenly stepped on the void and increased his speed again, propelling himself higher.


    "He propelled higher in the void, what movement technique is that?!" an affiliated disciple exclaimed.


    "It must be a Yellow Class mid-tier movement technique, and it has to be cultivated to Great Accomplishment!"


    "Could it be, this affiliated disciple has managed to cultivate not only the Torrential Rain Sword Skills to Great Accomplishment but also a Yellow Class mid-tier movement technique?!"


    The hearts of the formal disciples watching the battle were greatly shaken.


    Cultivating two sets of Yellow Class mid-tier martial skills to Great Accomplishment, none of them could achieve it.


    Meanwhile, Lin Jing, who had been ready to save the day, was also filled with surprise, "A Great Accomplishment-level Yellow Class mid-tier movement technique? Is his comprehension power for movement techniques also this high?"


    The chest beneath Lin Jing''s fiery red armor heaved violently, she knew the final exchange below would decide the victory or defeat between Ye Chen and Zhou Mo.


    At that moment, Ye Chen, using the "Startling Goose Steps" to propel himself higher in the air, seemed to pause for a moment at the highest point.


    In that instant, Ye Chen''s whole aura changed drastically, and he even closed his eyes.


    What everyone didn''t know was that at that moment, Ye Chen had entered a true state of confrontation with his enemy. The four True Qi Vortices within him vibrated simultaneously, and a massive surge of True Qi swept out.


    Additionally, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and eighteen out of the thirty-three Meridian Wheels, which were opened with the help of the "Primordial Star Scripture," suddenly expanded, giving him an extraordinary sensing ability of his surroundings.


    With his eyes closed, Ye Chen understood everything within a several-meter radius as if it were in the palm of his hand!


    Suddenly, Ye Chen in midair swiftly turned over, facing downwards, and his entire aura skyrocketed as he rushed towards the five figures coming at him, infused with surging True Qi.


    Ye Chen descending from the sky was like a true God of Killing!


    Ye Chen came down from the sky, while Zhou Mo''s five figures rushed upwards¡ªthe final move was about to collide, and the winner would soon be determined!


    The spectators held their breath in anticipation.


    "An ant trying to shake a tree, be defeated!"


    Zhou Mo saw Ye Chen daring to rush directly towards him and roared. The Sword Qi in his hand moved, and the five figures simultaneously launched an assault on Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen, however, remained silent. Just as he was about to collide with Zhou Mo''s five figures, his eyes suddenly burst open, and his extremely clear gaze focused on one of the five figures.


    Immediately, ignoring the other four figures, he gripped his sword and thrust it downwards at the figure he was staring at.


    Ye Chen, like a drop of rain falling from the sky, carried the momentum of a heavy downpour and a killing intent that could pierce through everything, and in an instant, struck the sword held by that figure.


    At this moment, four of Zhou Mo''s five figures turned into illusions as they passed by Ye Chen''s body, revealing only one real figure, which was, in fact, the one Ye Chen had aimed for!


    Having his true body found by Ye Chen, Zhou Mo''s face underwent a drastic change. Then, he horrifyingly discovered that the Fierce Light Sword Skills he had cultivated to the fundamental level couldn''t withstand Ye Chen''s attack at all, and he was being knocked down by the force of Ye Chen''s blow.


    All the spectators witnessed this incredible scene.


    The two figures met in the air with their swords carrying immense waves of True Qi. The figure on top surged with Sword Qi, overwhelming the aura of the figure below and slamming it down.


    In the end, more than half of the body of the figure below was pressed into the ground to stop the tremendous force coming from above.


    This figure buried in the ground was Zhou Mo.


    In this final exchange, Zhou Mo was clearly at a disadvantage!


    He, who had only cultivated his Yellow Class superior martial skill to the basic level, couldn''t withstand Ye Chen''s, who had cultivated the Torrential Rain Sword Skills to Great Accomplishment with the assistance of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    In the end, Zhou Mo, buried halfway into the soil, couldn''t even muster the strength to make another move!


    And the figure that had knocked him into the ground, Ye Chen, leaped gracefully and landed on the ground.


    Ye Chen walked step by step towards Zhou Mo, pointed his sword at him, and said indifferently, "You''ve lost."

 Chapter 16: Chapter 16 Silent Ridge

    You''ve lost.


    The three words spoken calmly by Ye Chen echoed through the venue like a clap of thunder.


    "He won, the honorary disciple actually won!"


    "He actually defeated Zhou Mo, who was at the fifth layer of True Qi, with only the fourth layer of True Qi!"


    "That Sky-Shocking Sword Force that descended from the heavens, it blasted Zhou Mo straight into the ground, what an immense power that is! Among the fifth-layer True Qi disciples of the Outer Sect, there are few who can achieve this!"


    "This honorary disciple truly has the strength to challenge those at the fifth layer of True Qi!"


    Seeing Ye Chen land on the ground with such flair and then gazing at Zhou Mo, half his body buried in the ground, the other contenders in the venue all opened their mouths wide in shock. Then, praises and exclamations swept in from all directions.


    The image of Ye Chen''s sequential leaps in the air and that sword strike from the sky was etched deeply into their minds, lingering for a long time. They had been skeptical about Ye Chen''s chances of a successful challenge as an honorary disciple. Now, they were eyewitnesses to this miracle!


    "I''ve lost?"


    Zhou Mo, with half his body blasted into the ground, felt dazed as he heard the buzzing discussions around him and saw Ye Chen pointing his sword at him.


    He had never expected that, even after he had deployed the Yellow Class superior martial skill "Light-splitting Shadow-stealing Sword Skills," he would still face defeat, and such a miserable one at that.


    This outcome even caused him to forget to extricate himself from the ground, as he felt a sense of disorientation and despondency overcoming him.


    "Your new sword skill is indeed powerful. If all five of your shadows had the power to attack, I might not have been able to withstand them. You must not have mastered this sword skill to Great Accomplishment," Ye Chen said slowly as he looked at Zhou Mo.


    Reflecting upon Zhou Mo''s swordsmanship, which split one into five and attacked from all sides, Ye Chen also felt admiration. He could sense that this martial skill had surpassed the category of a Yellow Class mid-tier martial skill, and it definitely must be a Yellow Class superior martial skill.


    If it were not for the fact that Zhou Mo hadn''t cultivated this superior martial skill to a state of Great Accomplishment, and if it were not for Ye Chen''s enhanced environmental awareness after practicing the Vein Refining Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, allowing him to discern the real shadow out of the five, he might indeed have been defeated.


    Yellow Class superior martial skill?


    Ye Chen looked forward to the day he would obtain an even stronger martial skill.


    Ye Chen''s words fell into Zhou Mo''s ears, and he recalled the strike directed solely at his real body by Ye Chen earlier, ignoring the other four shadows.


    He remembers what was written in the manual of the "Light-splitting Shadow-stealing Sword Skills": "When mastered to Great Accomplishment, all five shadows can strike as one." He finally regained his senses from his stupor.


    He finally understood the reason for his defeat.


    He had not truly mastered the Light-splitting Shadow-stealing Sword Skills. Against the formidable Ye Chen, he was unable to unleash the true combat power of a Yellow Class superior martial skill.


    Martial skills can be divided by mastery into basic comprehension, Minor Accomplishment, and Great Accomplishment.


    Ye Chen had cultivated both of his Yellow Class mid-tier martial skills to Great Accomplishment, while Zhou Mo had only grasped the basics of the "Light-splitting Shadow-stealing Sword Skills."


    "I''ve lost."


    "Your insight is indeed profound. Without having cultivated the Yellow Class superior martial skill to Great Accomplishment, I cannot defeat you," Zhou Mo admitted as he slapped the ground, leaping out from the earth to face Ye Chen.


    Although he admitted defeat, there was still a hint of resentment hidden in the depths of his eyes.


    Ye Chen looked deeply at Zhou Mo, shook his head with a smile, and then put away his treasured sword. He turned his head to look at the tall girl standing aside.


    "Lin Jing, how about it, can I join your team now?" he said with a smile, remembering that the tall girl had introduced herself as Lin Jing. Noting her slightly dazed look, Ye Chen spoke up.


    "Ah!"


    Lin Jing, still absorbed in the memory of Ye Chen''s graceful, descending figure, started slightly and then a faint blush spread across her pretty cheeks.


    The thought that she, known within the Qingyun Sect''s Outer Sect for her fiery temperament and straightforwardness, had been mesmerized by the young man before her, made her feel somewhat embarrassed.


    "Of course you can! If you can''t join our team, then what kind of teammates are we looking for?" she said as she regained her composure, smiling radiantly as she approached Ye Chen.


    "My name is Lin Jing. You''ve met Zhou Mo already. Another teammate of ours is named Hong Man," she said, pointing toward a burly and honest-looking young man sitting beside her as she introduced him to Ye Chen.


    The sturdy Hong Man, towering at 1.8 meters, had an honest and simple demeanor. He grinned at Ye Chen, saying, "Brother, you''re really impressive. I wouldn''t be a match for you. Only Jing can spar with you."


    Seeing the sincere manner in which Hong Man spoke, and feeling the same heartfelt directness from Lin Jing, Ye Chen felt a sense of affinity toward the two. He gave them a salute and said, "My name is Ye Chen. After we enter Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, I hope for your guidance and care."


    "Ye Chen."


    Lin Jing''s beautiful eyes glimmered as the name uncontrollably echoed through her mind.


    ...


    Ye Chen defeated Zhou Mo and successfully joined Lin Jing''s team.


    There was still one more team member left to pick for the small squad.


    After the battle with Ye Chen, Zhou Mo had some wear on his True Qi and body, so he sat down to recuperate, and Hong Man took over in continuing to pick team members.


    Ye Chen also sat down, beginning to reflect on the gains and losses of his recent battle with Zhou Mo.


    In the fight with Zhou Mo, they first exchanged blows with fast sword techniques.


    Ye Chen saw another set of rapid Swordsmanship beyond the "Torrential Rain Sword Skills": the "Fierce Light Sword Skills." Later, he witnessed the high-grade Yellow Class Martial Skill "Light-splitting Shadow-stealing Sword Skills."


    These two sets of swordsmanship gave him a vague insight into the third form of the "Torrential Rain Sword Skills."


    "The speed of the ''Fierce Light Sword Skills'' has similarities to my ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'' yet they differ."


    "Swift Sword, what is swiftness? One Sword Seven Cuts, One Sword Ten Cuts, at what point does it reach the pinnacle?"


    "Light-splitting, Shadow-stealing, combining movement technique and swordsmanship, what is the true essence of the Swift Sword, and what does it combine with?"


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit calmed as he thought deeply.


    While Ye Chen was immersed in his contemplation, the selection of team members continued in the arena.


    Challengers continuously engaged Hong Man to vie for the last spot in Lin Jing''s small squad.


    One would fail, another would take their place to challenge.


    And amidst all this, Ye Chen paid no attention, as he had become fully engrossed in his post-battle enlightenment.


    Not knowing how much time had passed, Ye Chen finally came back to his senses from his deliberations and opened his eyes, revealing a smile that suggested some level of attainment.


    "Ye Chen, have you finished cultivating?"


    Just as Ye Chen opened his eyes from his contemplation, he smelled a fragrant breeze and saw a pair of long, straight, and beautiful legs step up in front of him. Looking up, who could it be gazing down at him if not the beautiful Lin Jing?


    Looking around, he noticed that the crowd of aspirants had dispersed, and next to Lin Jing, Zhou Mo, and Hong Man stood a young man dressed in green.


    Ye Chen stood up: "Senior Sister Lin Jing, has the team selection ended?"


    "It ended some time ago, you''ve been cultivating for a good half hour. We''ve been waiting for you to come out of cultivation.


    You really are diligent," Lin Jing said with a light smile as she introduced the newly picked teammate, "This is our new teammate, an Outer Sect disciple with the fifth level True Qi, Fang Shan."


    "Hello, Ye Chen," the young man named Fang Shan greeted with a smile.


    "Alright, our five-person team is finally complete. Now, let''s set out to hunt Demon Beasts in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain!"


    With Lin Jing''s call, the five, including Ye Chen, left Woniu Valley and headed towards the first great mountain "Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain" in the eastern region of Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    Silent Ridge, a mountain ridge on the outer southern part of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    The ridge was filled with lush, towering trees, each of which was over a meter in diameter and over a hundred meters tall, reaching into the sky.


    Below the trees, there were dense bushes entwined with various vines, and scattered rocks strewn throughout the ridge, from where one could faintly hear the roars of Demon Beasts.


    This was a region where fourth to sixth grade Demon Beasts from Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain gathered.


    The location chosen by Ye Chen and Lin Jing''s five-person squad for their Demon Beast hunting in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain was this very Silent Ridge!


    Ye Chen and Hong Man, both experiencing their first hunt in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, hadn''t even had a chance to admire the scenery of the largest mountain in the eastern region of Heavenly Wind Kingdom when a large group of fourth-grade Demon Beasts, Black Bat Winged Beasts, swooped in, launching an attack on the five team members.


    "Swish!"


    All five team members, including Ye Chen and Lin Jing, drew their weapons to face the onslaught of the Black Bat Winged Beasts.


    Their mission to hunt Demon Beasts in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain officially commenced!

 Chapter 17: Chapter 17: Mirror Lake Snake Demon

    The Black Bat Winged Beasts, a group of fourth-rank Demon Beasts, stood no chance against Ye Chen and his four teammates, and within moments, they were all slain by the five!


    Afterward, the five continued to advance into Silent Ridge, beginning to hunt other Demon Beasts in the Mountain Region.


    Three days later.


    The team, having accumulated a great deal of combat experience, successfully killed a peak fifth-rank Demon Beast, the "Green-striped Leopard Demon," and directly entered the core area of Silent Ridge.


    Fourteen days later, the five of them even managed to collectively slay a sixth-rank Demon Beast, the "Fire-haired Demon Ape"!


    It was on that day, through the combination of battle experience and daily intense training, that Ye Chen made a breakthrough to the fifth layer of the True Qi Realm!


    At the same time, of the thirty-three Meridian Wheels within Ye Chen''s body, he had cultivated up to the twenty-fourth, drawing ever closer to the complete cultivation of the first layer of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Meridian Refining Art."


    The breakthrough in cultivation significantly enhanced Ye Chen''s strength. In the team of five, aside from Lin Jing, whose power was comparable to the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm, he had far surpassed the other three.


    After Ye Chen''s increase in strength, the team''s speed at hunting Demon Beasts accelerated even more. Eventually, they even consecutively hunted two more sixth-rank Demon Beasts.


    In Silent Ridge Mountain Region, there was hardly any existence they feared anymore, and the five ventured deeper and deeper into the region of Silent Ridge.


    A month later, Ye Chen and his team had reaped substantial rewards, and most of the team members began contemplating returning to the Sect.


    By chance, they discovered a massive Snake Demon, about fifteen to sixteen meters long, in a lake named "Mirror Lake" deep within Silent Ridge.


    If it had been an ordinary sixth-rank Snake Demon, it wouldn''t have been that surprising, but when they saw the silver patterns on this particular Snake Demon''s body, even the well-informed Lin Jing couldn''t help but burst into ecstatic joy.


    This Snake Demon turned out to be the "Silver-patterned Snake Demon," specially marked in the Qingyun Sect''s mysterious tome, the Compendium of Ten Thousand Beasts!


    The Silver-patterned Snake Demon, according to the Compendium of Ten Thousand Beasts, is eight meters long from birth, reaching the strength of a fourth-rank Demon Beast, and as it grows, it can easily increase its power.


    When reaching maturity, the Silver-patterned Snake Demon can grow over thirty meters in length and even transform its silver patterns into golden ones, evolving into the tenth-rank "Golden-patterned Snake Demon"!


    The reason it can easily increase its strength is said to be the "innate snake gall" within its body.


    The Beast Core of ordinary Demon Beasts is generally used for medicinal purposes, with many downsides to consuming it directly.


    In contrast, the "innate snake gall" of this Silver-patterned Snake Demon is the exact opposite; it can not only be directly ingested, but the one who consumes it can also significantly accelerate their True Qi Cultivation speed.


    Even if they couldn''t naturally grow to become a tenth-rank Demon Beast like the Silver-patterned Snake Demon, helping cultivators within the True Qi Realm to smoothly cultivate to the eighth or ninth layer of True Qi was extremely easy.


    Such a rare treasure was, of course, immensely valuable. An "innate snake gall" from a Silver-patterned Snake Demon could fetch as high as one hundred thousand taels of patterned silver, and it was priceless.


    The appearance of each "innate snake gall" would spark a frenzy among many low-level cultivators in the True Qi Realm. Yet the Silver-patterned Snake Demon was extremely rare.


    Even within Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, it''s said that only six or seven have been found over the span of several hundred years.


    Now, Ye Chen and his team had encountered a "Silver-patterned Snake Demon" that hadn''t yet reached maturity, how could they not be ecstatic?


    Upon seeing that the Silver-patterned Snake Demon was about fifteen to sixteen meters in length, which according to the records, was approximately at the sixth-rank Demon Beast stage, capable of battling, Lin Jing directly employed the Luring Snake Method recorded in the Compendium of Ten Thousand Beasts to lure the Snake Demon out of Mirror Lake onto the shore.


    Then, an inevitable great battle ensued.


    As a result, the strength of the Snake Demon was somewhat surprising to the strongest members of the team, Lin Jing and Ye Chen. This Snake Demon was indeed far more formidable than the sixth-rank Demon Beasts they had previously hunted.


    Lin Jing estimated that it had reached the peak strength only found in sixth-rank Demon Beasts.


    After a long and fierce battle, not only did they fail to capture it, but Fang Shan and Zhou Mo from the team were successively injured. They were forced to cease their attack and quickly flee.


    Fortunately, the Snake Demon did not pursue them but instead returned to Mirror Lake, which provided some relief to the team.


    Seeing the invaluable "Silver-patterned Snake Demon" right before them, they couldn''t just give up due to their failure to hunt it. Therefore, they started training in the woods not far from Mirror Lake, preparing to increase their strength before battling the Snake Demon once again.


    In the subsequent days, the team members exchanged cultivation insights, and all had some gains. The key to truly hunting the Mirror Lake Snake Demon fell upon Lin Jing and Ye Chen, the strongest of the team.


    Both Lin Jing and Ye Chen specialized in swordsmanship.


    Lin Jing had brought three sets of Yellow Class medium-rank Martial Skills to Great Accomplishment and one set of Yellow Class high-rank Martial Skills to Minor Accomplishment, whereas Ye Chen had cultivated the most powerful of the Yellow Class medium-rank Martial Skills, the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, to Great Accomplishment.


    Sect rules forbade the external transmission of Sect''s Martial Skills, but Ye Chen''s deep understanding of the swordsmanship realms allowed him to share some of his insights with Lin Jing.


    In return, Lin Jing also taught him her own set of Yellow Class medium-rank Martial Skills, the "Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills."


    Then, the five began another round of enhancing their abilities, preparing for another attempt to hunt the Silver-patterned Snake Demon!


    ...


    This was the thirty-third day since Ye Chen and his team entered the Silent Ridge Mountain Region of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    At that moment, on a large rock, Hong Man, Zhou Mo, and Fang Shan were sitting cross-legged. Beside them were several bulging parcels stained with blood.


    These parcels contained the hides, muscles, and bones of the Demon Beasts that the team had hunted since they had entered the mountains.


    Looking at the bulging parcels, the three who were resting during their intense cultivation and power-building phase, all smiled.

 Chapter 18: Chapter 17 Mirror Lake Snake Demon_2

    ```


    "I never imagined that in just over a month, our gains would be so huge!"


    "Just from fifth-tier monsters, we''ve hunted down twelve, and even three of the sixth-tier! The beast cores, bones, and hides of these monsters will sell for a large sum of money!"


    Hong Man said with a simple smile.


    At this moment, Fang Shan was also beaming with joy, "The haul from this month surpasses my previous visits to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain by far, thanks largely to Elder Sister Lin Jing and Ye Chen."


    "Yeah, if it weren''t for those two, how could we have possibly surrounded and killed sixth-tier monsters, and three of them at that! We''ve struck it rich, for sure.


    Once I get my share of this money, I''m heading back to the Sect to buy a set of top-notch Yellow-tier martial arts skills!" Hong Man grinned widely as he spoke.


    Zhou Mo, standing off to the side, was relatively silent and reserved. His eyes were fixed on two figures in the nearby woods¡ªhis gaze deep and ponderous, lost in thought.


    Noticing Zhou Mo''s quietness, Hong Man and Fang Shan glanced over. When they followed the direction of Zhou Mo''s gaze, they both smiled, "Elder Sister Lin Jing has had her heart set on Ye Chen for more than a month. It looks like if Ye Chen is willing, he''s likely to pluck that delicate flower."


    "Don''t say, among us Outer Sect disciples with fifth-layer True Qi, she''s easily ranked in the top three. With her being the daughter of an Elder within the Sect, there''s rarely been anyone she has taken a liking to. But this time, she''s clearly taken a liking to Ye Chen."


    "That''s true, Ye Chen has indeed impressed us all. While he was only at the fourth layer of True Qi, he was already more powerful than most disciples at the fifth layer. In just a short month, he broke through to the fifth layer of True Qi.


    His current strength must be close to Elder Sister Lin Jing''s."


    "In these days hunting monsters, I''ve seen that Ye Chen improves every day. His cultivation is like that of a prodigy unlike any I''ve ever seen. If I were Elder Sister Lin Jing, I too would be attracted to Ye Chen!"


    Hong Man and Fang Shan chatted back and forth, their words causing Zhou Mo to grow even more frustrated. He slapped his sword onto the ground and said, "Enough, don''t talk nonsense about this kind of thing. If Elder Sister Jing hears it, you two are going to get it."


    "We should focus on cultivation. If we can take down that big guy in Mirror Lake, then this trip to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain would truly be fruitful."


    "That big guy in Mirror Lake?"


    Upon hearing Zhou Mo''s words, the image of the giant Silver Stripe Serpent Monster flashed in the minds of Hong Man and Fang Shan, their eyes blazing with fervor, "The Silver Stripe Serpent Monster, a precious monster listed in the Sect''s Ten Thousand Beasts Index.


    To think we''d encounter it on this trip. We must take it down before it reaches maturity!"


    With that thought, the two fell into a rare silence and continued with their seated cultivation.


    Zhou Mo, casting a deep glance towards the two figures in the woods, also resumed his cultivation.


    In the woods, the two figures were none other than the lithe, beautiful Lin Jing, and the handsome, sharp-eyed Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the midst of the trees, Ye Chen''s sword danced as he practiced his sword skills.


    With each movement of his sword tip, in just a moment, a dozen trees over a meter thick were pierced with a cross-shaped mark.


    The speed of his sword draws and the power of his sword skills were hard to believe from such a young man.


    Watching Ye Chen immersed in practice, his face resolute and calm, Lin Jing''s beautiful eyes were filled with mirth.


    "Just three days to practice the ''Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills'' to this level, this guy truly is a monster."


    "With this pace of cultivation, we might really be able to hunt down that giant snake in Mirror Lake."


    "Ye Chen, you always amaze me."


    Lin Jing crossed her arms over her ample chest, her posture captivating, quietly observing Ye Chen''s practice without interruption.


    ...


    "The ''Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills,'' another set of Yellow-tier mid-grade sword skills that focus on speed."


    Ye Chen''s eyes carefully examined the cross-shaped marks on the surrounding trees, a glint of sharpness in his gaze.


    "Swift Sword, Swift Sword, Swift Sword! Whether it''s the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills,'' ''Fierce Light Sword Skills,'' or these ''Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills,'' they all strive for the ultimate in sword speed!"


    "With ''Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills,'' the sword serves as the bow, the target the bullseye, firing out rapid cross-shaped strikes! ''Fierce Light Sword Skills'' are derived from the speed of piercing light!"


    "And my ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'' are like torrential rains plummeting from the sky, the velocity of the pouring rain is the speed of my sword!"


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen''s stainless steel sword changed course, and in an instant, the vast True Qi from within his body surged out, his sword striking in all directions with incredible speed.


    In a mere moment, within ten meters, Ye Chen''s figure was obscured, sword lights and sword rain covering every inch of space.


    This was clearly the third form of ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills,'' "Torrential Rainstorm!"


    Puff! Puff! Puff!


    Where the sword lights passed and the sword rain fell, deep sword marks appeared on the large trees and the ground.


    The extreme sword speed even caused the sound of thunder to rumble faintly through this patch of space.


    It had been just three days since Lin Jing taught Ye Chen the ''Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills,'' and he had already mastered them to a great degree.


    In the Qingyun Sect Outer Sect, no one could achieve such rapid mastery of a Yellow-tier mid-grade martial technique in just three days.


    As the original owner of this technique, Lin Jing was, of course, overjoyed!


    The stronger Ye Chen''s strength, the greater their chance of hunting the snake monster in Mirror Lake.

 Chapter 19: Chapter 17 Mirror Lake Snake Demon_3

    After Ye Chen had mastered the Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills, he compared this set of swordsmanship with the Fierce Light Sword Skills and Torrential Rain Sword Skills, and in one fell swoop, he advanced the third move of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills to Minor Accomplishment.


    The Torrential Rain Sword Skills, one of the most powerful Yellow Class Martial Skills of intermediate grade, rumored to be an incomplete version of a high-grade Yellow Class Martial Skill, became even more formidable in Ye Chen''s hands.


    Once he reached Minor Accomplishment in the third move, Ye Chen felt that its power could even surpass many high-grade Yellow Class Martial Skills.


    Indeed, if the complete version of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills were compared among the high-grade Yellow Class Martial Skills, it would likely stand out as one of the best!


    With this major breakthrough in his swordsmanship and his continued cultivation during this period, Ye Chen''s Realm at the fifth layer of True Qi became more solid.


    He even cultivated the thirty-third Meridian Wheel of the ''Meridian Refining Art'' from the first layer of the Primordial Star Scripture to the thirtieth, just one step away from fully mastering the Meridian Refining Art.


    Now, Ye Chen''s full strength, when unleashed, was even stronger than Lin Jing''s, making him the undisputed leader of the five-person squad!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    During the crucial moment of his practice in the woods, the five great True Qi Vortices within Ye Chen''s body suddenly shook, and the thirty meridians of the thirty-three Meridian Wheels sprang open. In an instant, myriad swords rained down explosively.


    Wherever the sword rain passed, trees burst apart!


    With a "swoosh," his sword returned to its sheath, and Ye Chen, looking at the devastated forest with its burst trees and deep Sword Marks, nodded slightly.


    On Ye Chen''s handsome face, well-defined lines showed a maturity and a carefree spirit that belied his age.


    The breeze blew softly, and Lin Jing, watching Ye Chen approach her, was even momentarily mesmerized.


    It was not until Ye Chen walked up to her that the strong scent of masculinity caused her heart to panic and race "thump, thump, thump."


    Taking a deep breath, Lin Jing managed to suppress her suddenly racing heart.


    She looked up at Ye Chen, her pretty face blushing slightly, "Ye Chen, how is your cultivation going?"


    Ye Chen smiled and said, "Sister Lin Jing, maybe we could try fighting that ''Silver-Patterned Snake Demon'' once more."


    "Ah!" Lin Jing''s rosy little mouth opened slightly, instantly understanding Ye Chen''s implication, "Ye Chen, are you suggesting that we go to Mirror Lake to fight the Snake Demon again?"


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Lin Jing''s eyes suddenly sparkled with excitement, "Having trained for several more days, I''ve been eager to battle that Snake Demon once again!"


    "Good, then let''s call Hong Man and the others, and set out to Mirror Lake to confront the Snake Demon!"


    ...


    Mirror Lake, located deep within the Silent Ridge area of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, is a large lake.


    The vast lake, covering several hundred acres, is hidden among lofty mountains and ridges, and its surface is as tranquil as a mirror, hardly ever touched by the wind.


    "Mirror Lake, we''ve returned to Mirror Lake at last."


    Looking at the huge and tranquil lake before them, Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan all had unmistakably excited expressions in their eyes.


    The thought of battling the Snake Demon once more, and the great possibility of hunting it to obtain the "innate snake gall," filled them with a surge of excitement.


    "Ye Chen." Lin Jing''s beautiful eyes turned toward Ye Chen, also revealing some restlessness.


    Ye Chen nodded, "Let''s take action."


    "Okay."


    By the lake, Hong Man and Fang Shan spread out the predried grass they had prepared, and as they lit the grass, a pungent odor wafted through the air, accompanied by billowing smoke.


    No sooner had the thick smoke appeared than it seemed to be drawn toward the surface of Mirror Lake, drifting across the water.


    In a moment, a large area of the lake was covered in a haze of smoke.


    Ye Chen, Lin Jing, and the others stood by the lake, silently watching the surface, waiting quietly.


    It wasn''t long before the once placid lake suddenly began to surge with waves. Then, accompanied by the sound of splashing water, a giant snake, thicker than a water barrel, with a long triangular head, emerged from the water.


    This massive snake was covered in green scales, each large as a fist, and even more astonishing were the silver patterns running along these scales, shimmering with a dazzling silver light.


    The Silver-Patterned Snake Demon.


    This was exactly the target Ye Chen and his companions had come to hunt, a peak sixth-level Demon Beast, the Silver-Patterned Snake Demon!

 Chapter 20: Chapter 18: Fierce Battle

    On the shores of Mirror Lake, Ye Chen, Lin Jing, and their three companions watched the giant silver-striped snake rise from the lake''s center, their expressions subtly tremoring before a fiery zeal surged within their eyes.


    This silver-striped demon beast indeed dwelled within Mirror Lake!


    "Burn more ''Aixiong Grass'' to lure the snake monster onto the shore, then we''ll join forces to slay it," Lin Jing''s beautiful eyes glittered as she spoke in a low voice.


    "Mhm." Hong Man and Fang Shan nodded, carrying another large bundle of dry grass and tossing it into the fire.


    Boom!


    The dry grass ignited upon contact, and thick smoke billowed anew, blanketing the area over Mirror Lake.


    This smoke seemed to greatly agitate the silver-striped snake, and the moment the billowing gray plume drifted toward where the serpent hovered, it swung its triangular head fiercely toward the direction of Ye Chen and his group.


    Then, with a heaven-shocking shriek, the silver-striped snake slapped the lake water violently, and its fifteen to sixteen-meter-long body shot crazily out of Mirror Lake.


    Like a dragon soaring out of the water, the leaping demon beast possessed an incredibly formidable presence.


    In an instant, the snake monster shot onto the shore, following which, with a swing of its gigantic tail, it fiercely struck the pile of burning dry grass.


    Bang!


    Its tail, akin to a giant club, brimming with immense True Qi, tore the earth asunder with its impact, extinguishing the raging fire of the dry grass with several sweeps.


    Afterward, the silver-striped snake turned its head, setting its sights on Ye Chen and his companions who had retreated several dozen meters, its green eyes ablaze with a provoked fury.


    "Silver-striped snake monster."


    Ye Chen and his group of five, faced with this enormous creature ashore, appeared exceptionally diminutive beneath the fifteen to sixteen-meter-long serpentine leviathan.


    Now, they were to challenge this colossal beast with their modest statures, aiming to slay it!


    "Prepare for the encirclement and kill!"


    Ye Chen''s cool voice had just fallen when the enraged snake monster let out a fierce roar, its massive shape whistling out like a small mountain, sweeping toward Ye Chen and his group anew.


    A flick of its tail struck the spot where the five had previously stood, fracturing the ground to pieces.


    "Strike now!"


    Those who had dashed aside roared in unison, and then massive True Qi erupted from them, their silhouettes accompanied by tremendous power, launching attacks from all directions toward the central body of the snake beast.


    Ye Chen wielded a stainless steel sword, while Lin Jing held a snow-white soft sword, the pair shooting directly toward the snake''s rear. Not only were they the main force responsible for slaying the silver-striped snake, but they also aimed to cut off its retreat back to Mirror Lake.


    On the other three sides, Zhou Mo wielded his sword, Hong Man wielded a meter-long iron rod, and Fang Shan brandished a Mystic Iron Heavy Saber.


    All five burst forth simultaneously, their powerful True Qi reinforcing their martial skills, creating a tempest of sword glows and shadowed strikes that swept up toward the massive serpent at their center.


    Roar!


    The silver-striped snake monster, besieged by the five, roared skyward, its shriek more akin to a colossal beast than a serpent. Engulfed in surging True Qi, the beast collided violently with the onslaught of the five.


    Boom! Boom!


    The clash of immense True Qi forces tore the air with thunderous sounds, the resulting shockwaves gouging out several-meter-deep craters in the earth.


    This silver-striped snake monster, a creature of sixth-order pinnacle strength, remained unharmed under the five''s encirclement and even managed to send Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan flying five or six zhang (approximately 50 to 60 meters) with a single strike.


    "Attack with full force!"


    Ye Chen and Lin Jing were the only two not repelled by the snake monster. Ye Chen''s gaze grew colder as he watched the snake beast, and after issuing a chilling shout, he launched another assault.


    The five major True Qi swirls within Ye Chen''s body pulsed wildly, his massive True Qi sweeping his entire body like flames, wrapping him whole.


    His sword issued a clear ringing hum, and then blinding sword light burst forth, slashing like lightning at the snake''s massive tail.


    "Once more!"


    Clad in fiery red leather armor, her slender and alluring figure on full display, Lin Jing also demonstrated mighty combat prowess. With a sharp cry, her snow-white soft sword emitted a three-meter-long Sword Qi, slashing toward the body of the snake.


    The pair, undoubtedly the strongest among the five, teamed up in their attack, splitting the thick Protective True Qi of the fifteen to sixteen-meter-long snake, leaving sword marks all over its body. Numerous scales were blown off, revealing trickles of blood.


    Injured by the tiny humans, the silver-striped snake grew even more furious. Spinning its body around, roaring ferociously, it opened its massive maw and lunged at Ye Chen and Lin Jing.


    Whoosh!


    Unfazed by the gaping mouth larger than his entire body, Ye Chen planted his toes on the ground and leaped into the air. With a flick of his sword, the Cross Quickkill Sword Move shot straight for the snake''s eyes.


    Meanwhile, Lin Jing also unleashed her own mid-rank Yellow tier martial skill "Thunderclap Sword Skills," thrusting from below toward the snake demon''s neck.


    Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan flew back into the battle, their sabers and staffs creating flashes of light as they once again attacked the snake demon from behind.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The silver-striped snake demon, under attack by the five of them, truly became enraged. A surge of True Qi, like water from a fountain, suddenly swept through its body, turning its whole body a deep blue-green.


    Then, its massive body became more agile, its aura even stronger, as it lashed out at Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan, sending all three flying with a flick of its tail. With another fierce coil, it then went after Lin Jing.


    At the same time, its snake head suddenly leapt up, transforming the True Qi within its body into spears of Qi that shot toward Ye Chen, who was attacking it.


    This snake demon, continuously dishing out strange moves, was determined to suppress all five opponents under its might.


    Facing the suddenly explosive and terrifying offensive surge from the snake demon, the faces of all five, including Ye Chen, darkened; in their last encounter, it was this very surprise change in the demon''s tactics that had caused them to be defeated.


    Could it be that even now, they were still no match for this snake demon?


    Impossible!


    Through several days of grueling training, although Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan hadn''t made significant progress, Lin Jing and Ye Chen had made substantial strides each day.


    Especially Ye Chen, who seemed like a completely different person compared to when he had first fought against the snake demon.


    Would he let this silver-striped snake demon drive them back so easily again?


    "Torrential Rain Sword Skills third move, Torrential Rain Filling the Skies!"


    Ye Chen, soaring through the skies, tapped his toes and leaped up several dozen feet. His steel sword radiated an endless shower of Sword Qi. This deluge of Sword Qi enveloped the snake demon''s large body, hammering furiously against it.


    At the same time, Lin Jing, with her elusive movements, dodged the snake demon''s entanglement, shouting sharply as she soared up like a nimble sparrow. Her Soft Sword emitted a bright blade light, within which arcs of electricity danced.


    A high-rank Yellow tier Martial Skill, Purple Lightning Sword Skills!


    This was the most powerful martial skill Lin Jing had mastered to an elementary level, and now she displayed it in full force.


    With their three teammates flung away, Ye Chen and Lin Jing erupted with even greater power, charging together towards the silver-striped snake demon.


    Above the ground and in the sky, everywhere was now a blaze of sword light as Ye Chen, Lin Jing, and the silver-striped snake demon fought a life-and-death battle within this storm of blades.


    Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan, who had been sent flying, watched Ye Chen and Lin Jing taking on the sixth-stage pinnacle demon beast, the silver-striped snake demon without falling behind, and their eyes were full of shock.


    "Sister Jing, Ye Chen; they are on the same fifth layer of True Qi as us, but they''re able to directly confront a sixth-stage pinnacle silver-striped snake demon. In this short time, their strength has increased so much!"


    "Without them, the three of us meeting this silver-striped snake demon could only think of running for our lives, how could we hope to hunt down that ''Innate Snake Gall''."


    "They are the truly talented cultivators who will undoubtedly go much further in the future!"


    In the sky, the frenzied True Qi sword moves continued to bombard; hundreds of exchanges later, the two people and one snake separated once again.


    The silver-striped snake demon landed in one place, while Ye Chen and Lin Jing stood shoulder to shoulder.


    At this moment, the body of the silver-striped snake demon was marked with numerous sword wounds, including three deep cuts that had reached its flesh, gushing out blood.


    On the other hand, Lin Jing had a slight tear on the sleeve of her clothes, revealing a bit of her fair arm, but both of them suffered no other abnormalities.


    Especially Ye Chen, who seemed just as he had at the start of the battle; even his breathing was incredibly steady.


    Clearly, in this exchange, both Ye Chen and Lin Jing had taken the upper hand!


    "Sister Jing, Ye Chen!"


    Seeing such a result, Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan were overjoyed. This meant they had a good chance at killing the silver-striped snake demon.


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen did not show the slightest hint of happiness. He stared at the silver-striped snake demon covered in bloodstains and suddenly furrowed his brows.


    "Retreat for now!"


    Suddenly, Ye Chen grabbed Lin Jing''s fair wrist and shot back with her.


    "What''s happening?"


    Startled by Ye Chen''s sudden pull, a blush spread across Lin Jing''s cheeks. She had just looked back at the snake demon, her beautiful eyes widening with shock.


    In the very moment that Ye Chen pulled her to retreat, the silver-striped snake demon''s huge body, marked by those silver patterns, erupted with intense light. In the midst of this radiance, the fifteen-to-sixteen-meter-long body of the snake demon began to swell furiously.


    In an instant, it grew from fifteen-to-sixteen meters to twenty meters in length.


    At the same time, a bizarre pattern appeared between the brows of the silver-striped snake demon, resembling a sword yet not a sword, shining even brighter than the silver stripes.


    With the appearance of this mark, the now twenty-meter-long silver-striped snake demon''s aura increased to an incredible level, its intense brightness even blasting deep holes into the ground all around it.


    The silver-striped snake demon was undergoing a new transformation upon being wounded!

 Chapter 21: Chapter 19 Sword Intent Seed

    ```


    Moo!


    The mutated Silver-Striped Snake Demon suddenly opened its eyes, and from its emerald green eyes, two beams shot out, as tangible as real light, tearing through the air as they struck.


    "What''s happening?!"


    "How did this Silver-Striped Snake Demon suddenly grow so much stronger?!"


    "Its aura, my God, this must be the presence of a seventh-order Demon Beast! It''s clearly injured, so how did its strength surge again?"


    The strange transformation of the Silver-Striped Snake Demon caused Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan to be utterly shocked; they had never heard of such a change happening to a Silver-Striped Snake Demon before.


    A sixth-order pinnacle Demon Beast already made them hard pressed to resist; advancing to the seventh order, it could easily kill them with little effort!


    "Ye Chen, what should we do?" Lin Jing, who was pulled back by Ye Chen to dodge, looked at the bizarrely transforming Silver-Striped Snake Demon with shock filling her beautiful eyes, completely unexpecting such a sudden upheaval.


    "This Silver-Striped Snake Demon seems to contain a special power within its body, distinct from its original strength," Ye Chen said solemnly, watching the Silver-Striped Snake Demon still adapting to its newly transformed body.


    After cultivating the "Meridian Refining Art" from the Primordial Star Scripture, his perception of the surrounding environment had greatly increased. Although the mutation of the Silver-Striped Snake Demon shocked him, he still detected something special about the creature.


    Sword power!


    Whether it was the sword-like, yet not a sword pattern between its eyes or the energy it expelled, it all gave him the impression of a power unique to Sword Cultivators.


    This Snake Demon living in Mirror Lake actually exuded a sense of power akin to that of human Sword Cultivators, which was indeed very strange.


    "Another kind of power?"


    Lin Jing looked at the powerfully surging Silver-Striped Snake Demon but could not sense the other special power Ye Chen mentioned. All she felt was that the current Silver-Striped Snake Demon was somewhat frightening and intimidating.


    Boom!


    While the two were briefly conversing, the Silver-Striped Snake Demon seemed to have adapted to its suddenly augmented body. Its pair of emerald green giant eyes directly targeted Ye Chen and Lin Jing, who had wounded it.


    Then, the Silver-Striped Snake Demon, with its massive tail, sprung fiercely, propelling its entire body like an arrow toward Ye Chen and Lin Jing.


    "Dodge its sharp edge first!"


    The instant the Silver-Striped Snake Demon lunged, Ye Chen called out calmly to Lin Jing, and they moved in a flash, swiftly dodging the explosive lash of the Silver-Striped Snake Demon.


    Roar!


    The Silver-Striped Snake Demon, having increased in strength dramatically, was not willing to let go of the two who had injured it. It let out a loud roar, and its twenty-meter-long massive body, surprisingly agile, pursued Ye Chen and Lin Jing who were evading.


    During the pursuit, the Silver-Striped Snake Demon''s gaping mouth suddenly opened wide, and a flurry of sword-blade-like True Qi Storms swept out.


    Ye Chen pushed the Yellow Class mid-tier movement technique "Startling Goose Steps" to its limit, narrowly avoiding the sky-full of sword blades. Lin Jing also performed a set of "Shocking Cloud Body Skills" to dodge, preventing the sword-blade-like True Qi Storms from harming them.


    Instead, the storm hit a thick tree in the distance, severing it cleanly in two.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Trees collapsed, kicking up dust and debris. Along with the surging violent True Qi, the surrounding area was plunged into chaos.


    After half a day of chasing and Ye Chen and Lin Jing''s agile dodging of every attack, the Silver-Striped Snake Demon''s ghostly fire-like eyes suddenly turned back and focused on Zhou Mo and the others, who were scared stiff.


    "Quick, hide!"


    Just as Ye Chen''s warning reached their ears, the three of them saw the gargantuan body charging at them, hastily mobilized their movement technique to dodge but were still viciously struck and sent flying by the Silver-Striped Snake Demon.


    Spurting blood, the three of them were sent crashing into, and breaking, several large trees. Had it not been for Ye Chen''s warning, which allowed them to hurriedly defend themselves with True Qi, the impact could have killed them on the spot!


    Even so, all three were seriously injured by the collision, coughing up blood and quickly weakening.


    After just one strike had inflicted serious injuries on the three, the Silver-Striped Snake Demon leaped again, preparing to strike once more to finish them off completely!


    "No!"


    Zhou Mo and the others, sensing the movements of the Silver-Striped Snake Demon, had their eyes shrink in terror and felt a chill running down their spines, a sense of impending death enveloping their entire being.


    It was at that moment they saw a figure streak across the void, landing in front of them, directly in front of the Silver-Striped Snake Demon.


    Ye Chen.


    It was Ye Chen who had rushed over at this critical moment!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Lin Jing, witnessing this scene, had her eyes almost reddening in urgency. She knew Ye Chen wanted to save Zhou Mo and the others, but how could he, with merely the fifth layer of True Qi, stand up against the now immensely powerful Silver-Striped Snake Demon?


    She stomped her foot and with a movement of her body, she too flew to Ye Chen''s side.


    Even as the hand holding the snow-white soft sword trembled, she still chose not to flee but instead decided to face the terrifying silver-striped Snake Demon alongside Ye Chen.


    Seeing Lin Jing''s actions, warmth filled Ye Chen''s heart, but soon his gaze fixed firmly on the silver-striped Snake Demon, "Sister Lin Jing, take care of them; leave this Snake Demon to me!"


    Clang!


    The fine steel sword in Ye Chen''s hand was drawn, pointing at the silver-striped Snake Demon.


    "No, if we are to fight, let''s fight together! I can''t let you take the risk alone!" Lin Jing said in panic. Earlier, the two of them had barely managed to suppress the peak True Qi sixth level Snake Demon.


    Now that the Snake Demon''s power had drastically increased, how could Ye Chen possibly stand against it alone?


    "Believe in me!"


    "The power this Snake Demon now possesses is not its true strength. This force has subtly also given me some enhancement."


    Ye Chen''s incredibly calm voice momentarily stunned Lin Jing, whose mind was in total disarray.


    It would take too long to explain everything. In reality, from the moment Ye Chen confronted the Snake Demon to Lin Jing flying over, it was only a blink of an eye.


    Suddenly confronted by Ye Chen and Lin Jing, who had been evading all this while, the silver-striped Snake Demon also paused in astonishment.


    Then, the anger from the previous injuries inflicted by the two rekindled in the eyes of the silver-striped Snake Demon, which roared in madness and, ignoring Zhou Mo and the rest, shot straight towards Ye Chen.


    "First take care of them!"


    With a swirl of True Qi in his hand, Ye Chen pushed Lin Jing several meters back, then with the fine steel sword in hand, he directly met the oncoming silver-striped Snake Demon.


    Lin Jing''s voice was tinged with a hint of sobbing as she watched Ye Chen charging towards the silver-striped Snake Demon, her mind turning blank in an instant.


    Ye Chen, soaring into the sky, was engulfed by surging True Qi, seemingly wrapped in a green-hued Qi. His eyes shone brighter than ever before as he unleashed his strongest Torrential Rain Sword Skills towards the silver-striped Snake Demon!


    The silver-striped Snake Demon, with a particular venom for Ye Chen, thrashed and bit wildly, seeking only to brutally kill the tiny human before it!


    The sky erupted with True Qi, and the ground tore apart.


    In the midst of the fierce battle, Lin Jing, whose mind had been a blank slate, watched as Ye Chen, facing off against the drastically empowered silver-striped Snake Demon, didn''t fall behind at all.


    "The power of the sword!"


    "It''s truly the power of the sword!"


    "This silver-striped Snake Demon''s sudden increase in strength is because it has a force of the sword within!"


    In the midst of the intense battle, Ye Chen fought with increasing brightness in his eyes.


    All thirty of the Qi Meridians, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels within him that had been cultivated were now all open, sensing the strange forces permeating the sky.


    In that instant, it was as if heaven and earth came to a halt, and all sounds completely vanished.


    Above and below the heavens, there was only that peculiar force, the strange power of the sword.


    When that power resonated in a mysterious harmony with Ye Chen''s breathing, his hair flew without any wind behind him, and his eyes suddenly erupted with a compelling Divine Light.


    He raised his sword and swung down!


    This single stroke was like a deluge of heavy rain plummeting from the sky, carrying with it the power to obliterate everything, and cleaved a Qi edge over twenty meters long straight at the silver-striped Snake Demon that seemed to have frozen in mid-air.


    In absolute silence, the large body of the silver-striped Snake Demon was split in two, cleanly severed.


    After a moment, it was as though the world began to move once again.


    Boom! Boom!


    Amongst the spraying blood, the two halves of the serpent''s body thunderously crashed onto the ground.


    The silver-striped Snake Demon, which had surged in power to that of a seventh rank Demon Beast, was now dead at the hands of Ye Chen, slain by his single sword strike!


    The resounding crash brought Lin Jing back to reality from her blank mind, and Zhou Mo and the others, severely injured, looked on with utter astonishment in their eyes.


    And Ye Chen, who flew down from the sky, exhaled a breath that was sharp as an arrow.


    His eyes shone like stars, and in his mind, it felt as if a seed was slowly taking form.


    "Sword Intents, it''s as if I have touched the threshold of Sword Intent."


    "What exactly is inside this Snake Demon that it allowed my Sword Dao Realm to improve so greatly in an instant?!"


    Unable to contain his curiosity, Ye Chen walked towards the corpse of the silver-striped Snake Demon.

 Chapter 22: Chapter 20: Spiritual Instrument Fragment

    ```


    After the battle at the shores of Mirror Lake on the Silent Ridge in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, calmness had once again descended all around.


    Approaching the corpse of the Snake Demon, Ye Chen''s gaze shifted slightly as he looked at the colossal serpent body that had been cut in half with a single sword-strike.


    Within the flesh parted by Sword Qi, at the belly and head of the snake, lay two clusters of objects emanating a faint light.


    In the snake''s belly was a silver mass the size of a fist, marked all over with silvery patterns like those on the body of the Snake Demon. This was undoubtedly the innate snake gall Lin Jing and the others had described, capable of greatly increasing a cultivator''s True Qi Cultivation speed!


    However, at the head of the snake, Ye Chen''s heart began to race upon a mere glance at the other object, his attention completely captivated. Even the innate snake gall no longer warranted a second look from him.


    It was a palm-sized fragment.


    This piece seemed to be broken off from the blade of a sword, its color ancient, with sword patterns carved onto its surface.


    Just by looking at this fragment, Ye Chen''s mind was bombarded with countless insights into swordsmanship which began to rapidly advance.


    The aura emanating from this fragment was strikingly similar to that of the Sword Qi released by the silver-patterned Snake Demon, and to the bizarre power of the sword Ye Chen had sensed!


    "Could it be that the sudden increase in the Snake Demon''s strength was related to this tiny fragment?"


    "Could it be that my sudden contact with the feeling of Sword Intents was also related to this tiny fragment?"


    "What kind of divine marvel is this, possessing such astonishing functions?"


    Looking at the palm-sized fragment, Ye Chen was profoundly shaken.


    "Ye Chen."


    Just as he was about to pick up the fragment to examine it further, Lin Jing''s voice came from behind him.


    "Ye Chen, are you alright?"


    "You... you killed the Snake Demon?"


    Turning his head, Ye Chen saw Lin Jing running over in a flustered manner with Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan, limping along behind her.


    After running over, Lin Jing''s beautiful eyes looked Ye Chen up and down, then shifted to the snake carcass on the ground, her face filled with astonishment and shock.


    "I''m fine."


    Ye Chen replied with a smile.


    "The innate snake gall, that''s the innate snake gall!"


    Zhou Mo, who had walked over, spotted the silver-patterned snake gall radiating a faint glow at the belly of the snake and exclaimed with joy.


    Hong Man and Fang Shan also followed Zhou Mo''s gaze, and upon seeing that the snake gall was exactly like the one depicted in the Sect''s archives, belonging to the silver-patterned Snake Demon, they couldn''t help but swallow hard, their eyes burning with desire.


    Now that the silver-patterned Snake Demon was slain, what remained was the distribution of the spoil, and with the innate snake gall right in front of them, they couldn''t suppress their greed.


    "The silver-patterned Snake Demon was defeated solely by Ye Chen; if there''s an innate snake gall, it should belong to Ye Chen," Lin Jing suddenly said, her voice rising as she walked to the side of the snake corpse with her graceful legs, speaking slowly to Zhou Mo and the others.


    Lin Jing''s words brought a silence to the group, and after a while, Hong Man finally nodded and said, "That''s right, we have rules for distributing the spoils from hunting down demon beasts according to each person''s contribution.


    In this hunt of the silver-patterned Snake Demon, if anyone deserves the most credit, it''s Ye Chen, followed by Sister Lin Jing. We three didn''t contribute much, so we have no right to the innate snake gall."


    Fang Shan hesitated, staring intensely at the innate snake gall, and after swallowing his saliva, he said, "If not for Ye Chen, we might all have died at the hands of the silver-patterned Snake Demon. The snake gall should go to Ye Chen; I have no objections."


    Zhou Mo appeared hesitant, but seeing the firm expressions of the other three, he ultimately added, "Then the innate snake gall should go to Ye Chen. However, we could still share the snake skin fairly."


    "Ye Chen, what do you think of this distribution?" Lin Jing asked, nodding her head only after seeing the three men''s agreement. She gave Ye Chen a radiant smile.


    "The innate snake gallbladder... Sister Lin Jing, you can have it. I''ll just take this fragment," Ye Chen shook his head, walked to the serpent''s head, picked up the broken sword fragment, and spoke.


    "Fragment?"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, the others finally noticed the peculiar fragment in the serpent''s corpse. Their attention had been completely captivated by the innate snake gallbladder before, and they hadn''t noticed the fragment at all.


    "How can this fragment compare to the innate snake gall, Ye Chen? The innate snake gall can smoothly bring you to the ninth level of True Qi cultivation!" Lin Jing looked at Ye Chen with puzzled eyes.


    She had not cultivated the ''Meridian Refining Art'' like Ye Chen and lacked the peculiar sense for the fragment, failing to discern anything special about it.


    Ye Chen smiled and shook his head, "Although I don''t know what this fragment is, its value to me is much greater than the innate snake gallbladder. It might also be a rare treasure. I''ll take this fragment."


    While Lin Jing and the others could not sense it, Ye Chen, who had cultivated the ''Meridian Refining Art'' from the Primordial Star Scripture, could feel the extraordinary aura within the broken sword fragment.


    Could something that allowed him to touch upon the threshold of sword intents in such a short time be a mere trifle?


    Compared to the innate snake gallbladder which could only aid one in reaching the ninth level of True Qi cultivation, for Ye Chen, it was far less appealing.


    With the aid of ''Meridian Refining Art'', and the rotation of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels, his absorption rate of True Qi was already much faster than others.


    Taking an item that would only speed up True Qi cultivation wasn''t of much use; it was better to give it to Lin Jing.


    After all, Lin Jing had taught him the ''Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills,'' which had been a great help to him, enabling him to achieve Minor Accomplishment in the third stance of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills with ease.


    In the recent battle against the Silver Patterned Snake Demon, Lin Jing had also exerted a lot of effort.


    Ye Chen wasn''t the type to be greedy or consume all the benefits alone; he had no hesitation in offering the innate snake gallbladder to Lin Jing.


    "I don''t want it."


    Lin Jing shook her exquisite head, with the mind of a young girl wishing only for Ye Chen to receive more.


    She looked at Ye Chen with a sweet smile, "Ye Chen, don''t worry about me. I have my own methods for enhancing the speed of True Qi cultivation."


    "As for you, even though you''re so powerful, you''re still in the registered disciple area. With the innate snake gallbladder, maybe you can even take first place in the entrance examination for the Outer Sect!"


    The innate snake gallbladder, an item coveted by numerous cultivators in the True Qi Realm, was being modestly passed back and forth between Ye Chen and Lin Jing. This caused Zhou Mo, Hong Man, and Fang Shan standing by to feel somewhat amused and bemused.


    For a moment, the atmosphere at the scene became unusually relaxed, dissipating the oppression from the previous fight with the Silver Patterned Snake Demon.


    Just as the three were about to chime in with some teasing remarks, Ye Chen, who had been smiling a moment ago, suddenly furrowed his brows tightly.


    He abruptly turned his head towards the woods, clenched the fine steel sword in his hand, and shouted coldly, "Who''s lurking around sneakily? Come out!"


    Someone?


    Ye Chen''s sudden action startled Lin Jing, Zhou Mo, and the others, who then turned their gaze to follow Ye Chen''s line of sight into the forest.


    "Heh heh, quite capable indeed, to discover someone even with a ''Concealing Qi Formation'' set up.


    No wonder you could see the value in the ''spiritual instrument fragment.'' However, stop pushing it back and forth ¡ª I''ll take the innate snake gallbladder, and I want the spiritual instrument fragment in your hand as well!"


    With a "whoosh," a burst of Qi energy flew up, breaking the stillness of the woods.


    A group of people emerged from the forest. The one speaking at the forefront, dressed in splendid clothes with a handsome appearance and a red mole between his eyebrows, mounted a divine marvel lion beast over four meters in length, with fiery fur.


    Behind him followed seven or eight youths, each riding their own Exotic Beasts.


    "You are... Zhou Hai?!"


    "Zhou Hai!"


    On seeing this lead figure, the expressions of Ye Chen, Lin Jing, and the others all changed.


    This man, Zhou Hai, was none other than the one Ye Chen had encountered before in Woniu Town, a seventh-level True Qi cultivator from the Heavenly Net Sect, a Seventh Rank Sect!

 Chapter 23: Chapter 21 Pursuit

    ```


    Ye Chen had a deep impression of Zhou Hai.


    Back in Woniu Town, Zhou Hai had ridden through on the "Fiery Lion Beast," leading his squad down the main road and causing quite a stir.


    Ye Chen still remembered someone nearby saying that the Fiery Lion Beast Zhou Hai was riding had reached the level of a rank eight Demon Beast.


    A rank eight Demon Beast!


    That was even more powerful than the Snake Demon of Mirror Lake.


    Ye Chen remembered Zhou Hai riding the Fiery Lion Beast, entering Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain ahead of schedule, and now unexpectedly encountered him here by the shore of Mirror Lake.


    From what Zhou Hai said, it seemed he intended to snatch their recently hunted innate snake gallbladder and the sword fragment in his hand.


    "Spiritual Instrument Fragment?"


    Ye Chen''s mind stirred at Zhou Hai''s words about the broken sword in his hand being a fragment of a spiritual instrument. Judging by Zhou Hai''s demeanor, this fragment must have an extraordinary origin.


    "Zhou Hai, the son of an elder of the noble seventh-class Heavenly Net Sect, even you want to rob us of these trifles?"


    Lin Jing obviously knew Zhou Hai''s identity too. Her pretty face turned pale at this moment. With Zhou Hai''s group''s strength, if they really robbed them, they wouldn''t have the slightest ability to fight back.


    Let alone Zhou Hai himself with a True Qi seventh layer Realm, not to mention the rank eight Demon Beast Fiery Lion Beast he rode. Even the seven or eight youngsters following him were each at the True Qi sixth layer Realm.


    With such a squad in the Silent Ridge Mountain Region, it seemed they could walk sideways without any problems.


    "Rob? I am indeed going to rob you of your things, what can you do about it?"


    "Since you know my identity, better leave everything behind quickly! Out of the kindness of my heart, I might even spare your dog lives. Otherwise... heh heh, every year many Sect Disciples die in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, a few more because of you won''t bother me!"


    Zhou Hai, riding atop the "Fiery Lion Beast," said arrogantly after hearing Lin Jing''s words.


    The seven or eight youngsters following him laughed loudly: "Leave the things, and then beat it. Our Young Master is kindhearted and merciful¡ªfor sparing your dog lives, you should feel grateful!"


    The triumphant jeering of these people made Hong Man, Fang Shan, and Lin Jing''s expressions incredibly ugly. Zhou Mo turned ashen with fear, but only Ye Chen''s expression remained calm.


    "What are you hesitating for, what, thinking of putting up a fight?" One of Zhou Hai''s lackeys, seeing Ye Chen and the others not moving, spoke out sharply.


    Another youngster even brazenly provoked: "Young Master, how about we make a move and teach them a lesson?"


    Zhou Hai, sitting on the Fiery Lion Beast, seemed superior. He looked at Ye Chen and the other four as if they were playthings in his hand: "Look, my men are getting impatient. How about this¡ªI''ll count to three, and if you want to run, run fast. If not...


    then stay here forever."


    "One!"


    Zhou Hai drew out the word, calling out leisurely.


    "What do we do? What do we do?"


    "Jing, should we leave the items behind? We can''t provoke these people!"


    Knowing they were no match for Zhou Hai''s group, Zhou Mo grew so frightened his scalp tingled, and he quickly called out to Lin Jing.


    Seeing Lin Jing yet to decide, Zhou Mo could no longer bother about the others as Zhou Hai''s long drag on the word "one" ended, and he ran away like a startled rabbit, even seeming to have recovered from the injury caused by the Silver Patterned Snake Demon.


    "Haha!"


    "This kid sure knows how to make a fast getaway!"


    "But his antics, they are even worse than a dog..."


    Watching Zhou Mo''s frightful and disgraceful escape, the youngsters following Zhou Hai laughed loudly, enjoying themselves.


    They found it interesting to see the five-member squad before them falling apart.


    "Two."


    At this moment, Zhou Hai continued to call out the second number with a drawn-out voice.


    Seeing Zhou Mo run away and Zhou Hai''s squad behaving carelessly, Hong Man and Fang Shan also became a bit restless, continually looking towards Lin Jing: "Senior sister, what should we do?"


    "Ye Chen, you''ve got a plan, right?"


    Lin Jing too seemed unsure, anxiety clearly present in her eyes.


    Ye Chen glanced at the expressions of the others, then turned his gaze back to Zhou Hai and his group. Zhou Hai''s mocking gaze and the proud laughter of his subordinates caused a slight flash in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    No matter what Lin Jing and the others decided, the idea of him handing over the sword fragment was out of the question.


    This sword fragment could potentially allow him to truly enter the third major stage of the Sword Dao Realm¡ªComprehending Sword Intent. Was he to give up this rare opportunity just because of these people in front of him?


    Impossible!


    One at the True Qi seventh layer and eight at the True Qi sixth layer? Along with a rank eight Demon Beast Fiery Lion Beast?


    If it was on flat ground, he might really have no way to deal with them.


    But this was Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain!


    Ye Chen made his decision in an instant.


    Then, he looked at Lin Jing and smiled faintly: "Senior Sister Lin Jing, I''m afraid we won''t see each other again until next time."


    "In a moment, no matter what happens, you all don''t need to worry about me. Remember, focus on protecting yourselves."


    Ye Chen''s words gave Lin Jing a jolt in her heart, and she had a bad premonition.


    Her eyes hastily sought Ye Chen''s: "Ye Chen, you''re not thinking of..."


    Before she could finish, Ye Chen had already taken a step forward. His voice then clearly spread across the area: "I''ve never seen someone rob others'' belongings so righteously."


    "Such shamelessness, it truly broadens my horizons!"


    As Ye Chen spoke, his sword burst forth like a torrential rain, and he swiftly moved towards Zhou Hai''s location with great speed.


    Ye Chen actually launched an attack on Zhou Hai''s squad first!


    Lin Jing was stunned, Hong Man and Fang Shan were stunned, and everyone in Zhou Hai''s squad was stunned.


    They couldn''t believe that Ye Chen, with only the fifth level of True Qi, would take the initiative to attack, daring to challenge eight martial artists with the sixth level of True Qi, and one with the seventh level.


    This was simply like an egg striking a rock!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    However, the sword in Ye Chen''s hand proved that all of this really happened!


    In the moment Zhou Hai''s squad was stunned, Ye Chen''s sword had already reached in front of them, this instant of sword light even startled their minds and spirits, causing the Fiery Lion Beast to let out an angry roar.


    Torrential Rain Sword Skills'' third move, Torrential Rain Filling the Skies!


    Ye Chen swung his sword, producing nine sword lights, rapidly stabbing towards the nine people of Zhou Hai''s team.


    Not only did he attack, but his sword also chose to attack nine people at the same time.


    Not only did he attack nine people, but in the blink of an eye, Ye Chen had also wounded three of them!


    It was simply inconceivable!


    "Haha, if you want to snatch the fragment from my hand, come and try!"


    After stabbing three people with his sword, Ye Chen turned his figure, and like a bolt of lightning, he swept into the woods, leaving behind only his voice echoing by the side of Mirror Lake.


    From the moment Ye Chen made his move to the wounding of three people, and then to flying into the forest, it was all in the blink of an eye.


    However, what happened in this blink of an eye was unexpected to everyone.


    "Damn it, courting death!"


    "Kill him for me!"


    The eyes of Zhou Hai, who was on the Fiery Lion Beast, turned instantly frosty, and he, along with his mount, burst forth like a raging fire, hot on Ye Chen''s trail.


    "How dare he wound us, he''s outrageously bold! We can''t let him go, chase!"


    After their initial shock, Zhou Hai''s subordinates also burst forth, chasing after Ye Chen together, including the three who were injured.


    Ye Chen''s lightning-fast move successfully ignited their rage, and they were even too preoccupied to care about Lin Jing, the three others, and the innate snake gall.


    Lin Jing, Hong Man, and Fang Shan looked at the scene before them, still somewhat dazed.


    "Ye Chen... he''s really too bold," Hong Man said with a wry smile.


    "Admirable, I''ve never seen someone so free and easy. I truly admire Ye Chen; he even dares to provoke Zhou Hai," Fang Shan also wryly shook his head.


    But Lin Jing''s pretty face was still deathly pale, "No, Ye Chen took action to lead them away for our sake. I can''t let him face such great danger alone!"


    She stomped her foot and, clutching the snow-white Soft Sword in her hand, chased into the jungle as well.


    "Let''s follow and see."


    Seeing Lin Jing''s panicked expression, Hong Man and Fang Shan exchanged a glance. After a quick clean-up of the Snake Demon''s corpse, they followed behind Lin Jing into the forest.


    Deep in the forest.


    Ye Chen heard the roar of anger and pursuit from behind him, his eyes became even more serene.


    "I really didn''t guess wrong."


    "These people are all cultivators of the sixth and seventh layer of True Qi, it''s unlikely for them to have cultivated a powerful movement technique.


    I have cultivated the Yellow Class mid-grade movement technique ''Startling Goose Steps'' to Great Accomplishment; I''m not at a disadvantage in terms of speed."


    "That Fiery Lion Beast is somewhat troublesome, but in the forest, its large body is inconvenient. Once I find denser woods and shake off the lion, it''s not impossible!"


    Ye Chen''s action was not impulsive but fully planned.


    Except for the eighth-class Demon Beast Fiery Lion Beast, which he wasn''t sure about defeating, he had no fear of the others.


    Having successfully cultivated the "Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills" to Great Accomplishment and the third move of the "Torrential Rain Sword Skills" to Minor Accomplishment, and having touched the threshold of Comprehending Sword Intent, he found it incredibly easy to handle martial artists at the sixth level of True Qi.


    Furthermore, with the mysterious broken sword fragment in his hand and the strong recovery power and miraculous perception gained from cultivating the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Meridian Refining Art," he had some confidence in fighting Zhou Hai with the seventh level of True Qi.


    Therefore, he chose to make a move!


    "Spiritual instrument fragment, for it, it''s worth taking the risk!"


    Boom!


    The five True Qi Vortices inside Ye Chen''s body turned rapidly, the vast True Qi enveloping his entire body, and his speed as he fleeted through the woods was even faster than that of a Leopard Demon!


    While speeding along, Ye Chen, gripping the broken sword fragment, was feeling that marvelous sensation of Sword Intent, which made the Sword Intents he was vaguely touching clearer and clearer.


    "Chase, chase him for me!"


    "Fiery Cloud Arrow, bring it out, shoot him down!"


    About ten yards behind Ye Chen, watching him speed through the forest ahead, Zhou Hai''s eyes seemed about to shoot out fire.


    Ye Chen''s striking his subordinates in front of everyone and then fleeing was like openly slapping him several times in the face.


    Zhou Hai, who was always the one mocking others, had never suffered such humiliation before.


    Under Zhou Hai''s furious command, several young men behind him immediately took out several green bows and Fire Rune arrows.


    Drawing the bow, releasing the arrow!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    One arrow after another, bearing the glow of True Qi, shot out like torrential rain towards Ye Chen, who was speeding ahead in the forest.

 Chapter 24: Chapter 22 Battle!

    ```


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Fiery Cloud Arrows were immensely powerful, and even without hitting Ye Chen, they directly pierced through one giant tree after another in the forest, creating bowl-sized holes in the trunks.


    It even continuously shot through four or five giant trees, each over a meter in diameter, before the True Qi Power on the arrows was completely depleted, causing them to fall.


    If these arrows were to strike a person, even a cultivator at the sixth level of True Qi Realm would suffer severe injuries!


    Ye Chen, who was in the midst of a downpour of arrows, was incredibly agile; he managed to dodge these swiftly fired arrows every time, without even slightly reducing his forward fleeing speed!


    Ye Chen, while advancing rapidly, used the middle-grade Yellow Class movement technique "Startling Goose Steps", with each tip-toe touching the ground propelling him over ten meters forward.


    While running, he had fully opened up the Thirty-Three Meridian Wheel and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians that he had completed cultivating, and the extraordinary effects of "Meridian Refining Art" from the Primordial Star Scripture had greatly increased the recovery speed of his True Qi, with the True Qi spent using "Startling Goose Steps" rapidly replenishing.


    At the same time, his perception of the surrounding environment had greatly increased, and he had everything within a twenty-meter radius completely within his grasp!


    It was for this reason that he was able to predict in advance the direction of the incoming Fiery Cloud Arrows and dodge them every time!


    Fleeing!


    Ye Chen was rapidly advancing ahead.


    Chasing!


    Zhou Hai and his eight followers, riding on Exotic Beasts, were in hot pursuit behind.


    The incredible speed of True Qi, combined with the furious roars of the Exotic Beasts, echoed throughout the silent mountains. Moments later, this frenzied chase burst out of the silent mountains and into various regions of the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    Within these mountain regions of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, many cultivators were hunting Demon Beasts.


    When they saw this crazy scene amid the mountains and forests, each of them was stunned for a long time.


    "What''s going on? Why are so many people chasing one person?"


    "Fiery Lion Beast, it''s Zhou Hai!"


    "Zhou Hai is chasing that person in the front, who is he to have provoked Zhou Hai?"


    This great commotion caught the attention of many people around the perimeter of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, and even many followed to find out what was going on.


    However, soon many were left far behind.


    The speed of Ye Chen and Zhou Hai was simply too fast; most of the cultivators hunting Demon Beasts in these regions were at the fifth or sixth stages of the True Qi Realm and there weren''t many who could outpace either of them.


    Half an hour later, when Ye Chen entered a dense forest, even the eight followers behind Zhou Hai had lost track of him.


    Zhou Hai, whose mount was the Fiery Lion Beast, had already left it with his followers in a vine-dense mountain region earlier, and only he continued the relentless pursuit of Ye Chen.


    The longer the chase, the more Zhou Hai''s rage intensified, and eventually, his chilling intent to kill pervaded his entire being.


    He would not rest until he had personally killed Ye Chen!


    ...


    In a mountain region over eighty li behind Ye Chen.


    Lin Jing stood atop a mountain peak, looking ahead.


    Her beautiful eyes were filled with worry.


    Not only had she lost track of Ye Chen but also of Zhou Hai and his followers.


    "What should I do? Zhou Hai is at the seventh level of the True Qi Realm and is the son of an elder of the Heavenly Net Sect; he must have no shortage of formidable methods. With so many chasing Ye Chen, how can he escape?"


    "It was me who led him into Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain; if anything happens to him, then I..."


    Thinking of this, Lin Jing''s pretty face turned deathly pale.


    Behind her, Hong Man and Fang Shan were also looking ahead, their faces equally pale.


    "It''ll be okay, it has to be."


    "Ye Chen is so powerful, and since he made this choice, he must have a way to deal with it!"


    In another mountain region thirty li behind Ye Chen.


    Zhou Hai''s eight followers were lying atop their Exotic Beasts, gasping for breath, while Zhou Hai''s mount, the eighth-order Demon Beast Fiery Lion Beast, was sniffing the air in search of the track to follow.


    "This kid can really run!"


    "I''ve already lost more than half of my True Qi, and yet he''s still holding on! And running so fast!"


    Each of them at the sixth level of the True Qi Realm, they were unexpectedly outdistanced by Ye Chen, who was at the fifth level, leaving them feeling both angry and somewhat embarrassed.


    "Don''t worry, with the Young Master after him, he''s as good as trapped!"


    "The Young Master''s realm of True Qi is higher than his, and he has cultivated a powerful movement technique. Where can he escape to?"


    "Once we reunite with the Young Master, that kid will have likely already been sent by the Young Master to meet the King of Hell. Then, I''ll shoot my Fiery Cloud Arrows into his corpse a few more times and vent this rage!"


    After a round of complaints, the eight followers continued the chase, following the Fiery Lion Beast that had found the tracking direction.


    Ten li, twenty li, fifty li, one hundred li, three hundred li!


    The further Ye Chen fled, the more vigorous his breath became.


    With the five huge True Qi Vortexes operating at top speed, all his meridians opened up, and True Qi flowing crazily within him, he felt a sense of brazen and unfettered spirit.


    Martial Arts world, the rivers and lakes of Martial Arts!


    Now that he, having just reached the fifth layer of True Qi, could leave many stronger opponents who surpassed his realm far behind him, the day when he''d become a mighty cultivator in the Spirit Sea Realm, capable of flying and Earth Escaping, what a bold and unrestrained life that would be!


    It wouldn''t be in vain that he had descended upon this Barbaric Wilderness World!


    "You can really keep up with the chase!"


    Feeling the persistence of Zhou Hai''s aura still closely pursuing him from behind, Ye Chen glanced at the broken sword fragment in his hand.


    "Over three hundred li, the others have long been shaken off."


    "Only Zhou Hai remains."


    "Since you refuse to give up, then let''s test out the Sword Intent Realm I''ve touched upon!"


    Buzz!


    Ye Chen carefully stored the sword fragment and a flash of sharpness appeared in his eyes, with a sword light flashing across them.


    Immediately after, he stopped in the newly entered mountain valley.


    Boom!


    Just a few breaths after he halted, an astounding figure rushed over, and with the True Qi dispersing, the figure of Zhou Hai was revealed.


    "Not running anymore?"


    Zhou Hai looked at Ye Chen, hehe sneering coldly.


    His heart tightened with hatred; the youth before him clearly exuded the aura of the fifth layer of True Qi, yet he managed to keep up with him for so long without slowing down.


    Even his subordinates at the sixth layer of True Qi had been lost.


    One could imagine that this youth must have cultivated a powerful movement technique to Great Accomplishment, and he also cultivated an extremely powerful True Qi restoration Cultivation Technique.


    Just fifth layer of True Qi, yet able to give a seventh-layer individual a fierce chase, he truly was a genius.


    "However, a dead genius can no longer be called a genius," Zhou Hai said, his eyes turning grim as he looked at Ye Chen.


    In his heart, Ye Chen was already as good as dead!


    Zhou Hai, hailing from the seventh-ranked Heavenly Net Sect, with a father who was a mid-stage powerhouse in the Spirit Sea Realm.


    He not only mastered five sets of Yellow Class martial skills, but he had also achieved Great Accomplishment in two superior Yellow Class martial techniques.


    Moreover, he had a hidden trump card up his sleeve.


    In his eyes, Ye Chen simply wasn''t worth his consideration.


    In the midst of the valley.


    Ye Chen and Zhou Hai stood facing each other.


    "Kid, obediently hand over the ''spiritual instrument fragment,'' and I might leave your whole corpse," Zhou Hai said to Ye Chen, speaking coldly.


    "Leave my whole corpse?"


    "Let''s see if you have the skill for that!"


    Clang!


    Ye Chen drew his sword with a resonant sound; the steel sword sang as it was unsheathed. At the same time, the five True Qi Vortices within him stirred, and the surging True Qi swept out, surrounding him in a layer of azure aura.


    Fight! Even if you are at the seventh layer of True Qi, even if you are the son of an Elder from the Heavenly Net Sect, wanting my life, why should I hesitate to fight!


    Thinking that I would obediently accept death?


    In your dreams!


    "Quite stubborn!" Zhou Hai said as he saw Ye Chen draw his sword, shaking his head and sneering; yet his voice suddenly deepened: "Well then... die!"


    Thump! Thump! Thump!


    Zhou Hai flicked his fingers and six silver beads shot directly into the air.


    Next, he pinched a spell, and the six beads, originally the size of peach pits, suddenly swelled to the size of washing basins. Each bead shone with silver light and carried an immense force as they hurtled towards Ye Chen.


    The speed of these flying beads was incredibly fast, ripping through the air with the sound of thunder, and they struck right in front of Ye Chen in an instant.


    Such speed and power far exceeded that of any opponents Ye Chen had previously faced!


    Ye Chen''s eyes narrowed as he faced the six silver beads. His sword''s shadow flickered with dazzling sword light, meeting the silver beads with a counterattack.


    Then the sword light and silver beads collided with a loud clash.


    In the midst of the vast True Qi surge, the steel sword that Ye Chen wielded under his Torrential Rain Sword Skills was directly smashed into pieces by the silver beads, and even the massive backlash of True Qi sent Ye Chen flying more than fifteen meters, spitting out a large mouthful of blood.


    And yet, those six silver beads only slowed for a moment, before hurtling towards Ye Chen again.


    Ye Chen had no time to wipe the blood from his mouth; he struck the ground fiercely with his palm, evading the strike from the silver beads narrowly as he deployed the Startling Goose Steps.


    "These silver beads!"


    Watching the six silver beads, which had shrunk down and flew back to Zhou Hai''s hands, Ye Chen was shaken. He could feel that these beads were no ordinary objects.


    Seventh layer of True Qi, from the Heavenly Net Sect, Zhou Hai truly was terrifyingly strong!

 Chapter 25: Chapter 23 Life and Death

    "That''s all you''ve got, and you dare to run wild before me?"


    With six silver pearls in his hand, Zhou Hai looked at Ye Chen, who had just spat out a mouthful of blood, his gaze dark and gloomy.


    "You managed to dodge once, let''s see how you dodge a second time! To die under my ''Six Extreme Silver Pearls,'' you should close your eyes in resignation!"


    As his words fell, his eyes instantly turned piercingly cold and fearsome. Boundless True Qi violently swept out from him, and at the same time, the six silver pearls in his hands flew up again.


    "Six Extreme Killing Formation!"


    This time, not only did the six silver pearls grow larger, but they also formed a bizarrely shaped hexagonal array, permeated with terrifying killing intent. Carrying rolling waves of True Qi, they bombarded Ye Chen once more.


    The speed and power of the six silver pearls this time were faster and more astonishing than before!


    Even though Ye Chen had already discerned the direction of their deadly onslaught as soon as the silver pearls shot out, he still felt like there was no way to evade them.


    This was probably the might that only a superior Yellow-tier martial skill could possess!


    "Torrential Rain Sword Skills, Torrential Rain Filling the Skies!"


    With evasion no longer an option, and no need for further evasion, Ye Chen, who no longer had a sword in his hand, still executed his strongest killing move.


    With a flick of his fingers in the air, a fierce wind surged, as if a strange energy flitted across the field. In an instant, the fractured fine steel sword fragments on the ground burst into the air, now suspended in space.


    In the next split second, they exploded furiously into motion, forming a dense shower of sword fragments that collided with the oncoming six silver pearls.


    There were dozens of fragments, all manipulated by Ye Chen through empty-air control, a highly profound technique for sword technique manipulation!


    Facing Zhou Hai, whose True Qi Realm and martial arts were overwhelmingly powerful, Ye Chen finally ignited the Sword Intent Seed he had newly touched upon the threshold of mastering.


    Sword Intents, the most formidable means in the sword art realm. Even just touching upon the threshold and gathering a tiny Sword Intent Seed could greatly amplify the power of sword techniques.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Boom!


    In the sky, the formidable offensive moves of both sides collided in an instant, accompanied by the loud impacts of True Qi, and then the six silver pearls and the myriad fine steel sword fragments violently smashed into one another.


    "My Six Extreme Silver Pearls are specifically crafted for the Six Extreme Killing Formation. You think these lousy fine steel swords could stop me?"


    Seeing the two powers clash in the sky, Zhou Hai sneered coldly, his hand seals dramatically changing. The vast True Qi that enveloped the six silver pearls poured into them.


    In the blink of an eye, the beads suddenly emitted a whistling sound and once again ruthlessly pressed down on the fine steel sword fragments.


    Thud!


    The doubled force of the six silver pearls, coupled with the Sword Intent Seed-controlled fine steel sword fragments, collided fiercely, erupting into a thunderous explosion.


    Amidst the deafening blast, the fine steel sword fragments had completely disintegrated into powder, but this time, the torrent of sword fragments actually blasted the six silver pearls back in recoil.


    The rebounded silver pearls had lost much of their original silver brightness.


    Ptui!


    Zhou Hai virtually spat out blood the moment the silver pearls and the fine steel swords collided, clearly suffering from an internal injury due to the backlash of their colliding forces.


    And his body was swept away by the shockwave of the collision, tumbling backward to the ground with a crash.


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    The six silver pearls, rebounding back, fell beside him.


    Looking at the dimmed silver pearls by his side and still-standing Ye Chen, Zhou Hai''s eyes were filled with disbelief, "How is this possible!"


    He was at the seventh level of the True Qi Realm and had even used a well-crafted superior Yellow-tier martial technique. The Six Extreme Silver Pearls were much stronger in quality than Ye Chen''s fine steel sword.


    Yet, in this clash, he was the one who had been severely injured.


    This utterly shattered his understanding.


    Breathless, Zhou Hai struggled to his feet with trembling arms, gazing at the powdered fine steel swords falling to the ground. Suddenly, a thought struck him, "Sword Intents!"


    "Could it be that you have touched the realm of Sword Intents?"


    "No! Impossible! There are countless prodigies in the Heavenly Net Sect, yet none could touch the realm of Sword Intents at the True Qi Realm stage. You''re only at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm, how could you possibly have touched the realm of Sword Intents!"


    Zhou Hai stared at Ye Chen, his eyes red and incredulous.


    For the first time, facing the Ye Chen whom he had deemed unworthy, Zhou Hai felt a sense of danger.


    "Sword Intents, indeed the most formidable stage of sword arts. Remarkable!"


    "I''ve only just touched the threshold of Sword Intents, gathered a whiff of the Sword Intent Seed, and I could already enhance my sword technique power this much."


    "If I fully master Sword Intents, perhaps my Torrential Rain Sword Skills could reach the level of a Profound-tier martial technique!"


    Sword Intents, truly worthy of being a sword art realm that even Spirit Sea Realm experts rarely comprehend, mightily incomparable, enhancing the sword technique''s power many times over compared to the ''Sword Follows Heart'' stage!


    Looking at Zhou Hai, who lay on the ground spitting blood, unable to believe his eyes, Ye Chen was also somewhat surprised by the power of his last move.


    "Come again!"


    Ye Chen stepped forward, his fingers shaping the empty-air gesture once more, as a wind of Sword Intent once again spread throughout the heavens and earth.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Stones from the ground started to levitate and suspend in the air, and then, all at once, they hurtled towards Zhou Hai.


    Having gained greatly from his previous move, Ye Chen gave no chance for Zhou Hai to catch his breath, intent on completely defeating him!


    "Sword Intents! It really is Sword Intents!"


    Zhou Hai, watching the stones levitating, finally grasped the methods of Ye Chen.


    No wonder this youngster dared to challenge me. He had actually comprehended Sword Intents!


    Facing the furious barrage of stones, Zhou Hai suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahaha, to think that a mere disciple at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm would push me to this point. I really misjudged the situation!"


    "But now, it really should come to an end!"


    As he said these words, the crazed laughter came to an abrupt halt. Then, with a fierce slap on his waist, a piece of yellow talisman paper suddenly flew out.


    No sooner had the piece of yellow paper taken flight than it self-ignited without any wind, and following that, a terrifying sound of a speargun resonated in all directions.


    Amidst this sound of a speargun, the heavens and earth seemed to dim, and countless streams of True Qi from all around crazily surged into the burning talisman paper.


    At the same time, a thick blood light tumbled in the air, and a blood-colored spear, over thirty meters in length, appeared in the sky.


    The moment the long spear appeared, the countless stones flying towards Zhou Hai shattered as if they had hit a barrier, and then, with a turnaround of the spear''s tip and a fierce flick of its tail, it shot towards Ye Chen carrying a torrent of blood light.


    "What is this thing?!"


    Seeing the burning talisman paper and the Blood Spear emerge, Ye Chen was greatly alarmed in his heart!


    This was clearly not a feat that someone of the True Qi Realm could possess!


    "Could it be, the measure left to him by Zhou Hai''s Spirit Sea Realm master father?"


    In an instant, this thought flashed through Ye Chen''s mind.


    And at the same time, the colossal Blood Spear, as if slicing through the void, instantly pierced through the air to Ye Chen''s front.


    What to do?


    How to dodge!


    In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen almost subconsciously thought of the fragment he had obtained from the Silver-Veined Snake Demon''s body, the entity referred to as a spiritual instrument fragment by Zhou Hai.


    Facing this Blood Spear, whose origin he couldn''t fathom, his only hope lay in the fragment which had allowed the Silver-Veined Snake Demon to suddenly surge in strength and let him touch the threshold of the wondrous Sword Intents.


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen''s Sword Intent Seed swept up, and the palm-sized fragment, in an instant, shot out from his waist into the air, directly meeting the piercing long spear.


    Boom!


    As the fragment collided with the tip of the long spear, endless spiritual light burst forth, illuminating the heavens and earth.


    This endless spiritual light caused the True Qi vortex within Ye Chen''s body to whirr abruptly, making everything in the world pale in comparison.


    It seemed like a long time had passed, yet it also appeared to be just a moment.


    In the midst of the collision between the fragment and the long spear, the long spear shattered directly, turning into phantoms that dissipated completely in the air. The broken sword fragment, however, somersaulted and fell from the sky.


    Ye Chen reached out to catch the fragment and found it had faint spear marks on it. Apart from that, there were no other signs of damage.


    This broken sword fragment had actually withstood the Blood Spear unleashed by the burning talisman paper!


    "How is that possible!"


    Seeing even the Blood Spear smashed by Ye Chen, Zhou Hai had become completely dumbfounded.


    "This is the life-saving Spirit Talisman my father left me; even a strong man at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm would be blasted to death by the talisman!"


    "A spiritual instrument fragment, you can actually control a spiritual instrument fragment!"


    "Sword Intents, it''s from this spiritual instrument fragment that you realized the Sword Intents, which enabled you to activate it!"


    Zhou Hai yelled maniacally, screaming out the inconceivability in his heart.


    Ye Chen, watching Zhou Hai who seemed mad, went step by step towards him.


    "No, you can''t kill me, my father is a mid-level Spirit Sea Realm strong man, if you dare kill me, my father will personally slay you wherever on earth!" Seeing Ye Chen''s movements, Zhou Hai ran backward like crazy, shouting at the top of his lungs.


    A piece of the fragment flew up once again, like a whirling flying sword, slicing directly across Zhou Hai''s neck.


    Bang!


    A large head soared into the air as if frozen, with blood spurting wildly from the severed neck like a fountain.


    Afterward, Zhou Hai''s head, along with his body, crashed down onto the ground with a thud.


    "Can''t kill you?"


    "Damn it, you made move after move wishing to put me to death, if I let you go, could I really expect you to spare me next time?"


    "So what if you are a mid-level Spirit Sea Realm strong man, one day, I too will become a Spirit Sea Realm strong man!"


    Ye Chen looked at Zhou Hai''s corpse and retrieved the broken sword fragment.


    "This is not a place to stay for long." After looking around, Ye Chen turned and walked away.


    Having taken only a couple of steps, he seemed to recall something and returned to Zhou Hai''s dead body, searching it.


    "Unsurprising for the son of a Spirit Sea Realm strong man, carrying so many good things on him."


    After taking a large roll of Gold Banknotes, along with the two talisman papers which Zhou Hai had used just like the Blood Spear, several Manuals, and a few other items, Ye Chen turned into a lingering shadow and flew swiftly towards the next Mountain Region.


    Leaving only Zhou Hai''s head, along with his corpse, lying in a pool of blood.


    More than half an hour later, accompanied by the roar of a lion beast, eight young figures finally found their way into the valley.


    When they saw the headless corpse and the nearby rolling head in the valley, these youngsters instantly turned pale.


    "Heavens, oh heavens, our young master, this, this..."


    Then, a sharp scream rang throughout the valley: "A great calamity has befallen the young master, quickly inform the elders! We''re finished, we''re all finished!"

 Chapter 26: Chapter 24: Re-entering Starlight Tower

    ```


    The shrill screams of Zhou Hai''s followers echoed in the valley, but Ye Chen could no longer hear them.


    He had already crossed numerous mountain regions and entered a black pine forest.


    "The Spirit Sea Realm is indeed strong, just a single talisman was able to wield such mighty power, even capable of penetrating and killing a cultivator of the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm directly!"


    "And that spiritual instrument fragment, mysterious and unfathomable, it not only drastically enhanced the strength of the Silver-Patterned Snake Demon but also allowed me to touch upon the threshold of Sword Intents.


    Now I can even block the talismans crafted by strong practitioners of the Spirit Sea Realm, truly miraculous."


    Ye Chen flew swiftly, while touching the talisman and the broken sword fragment in his chest pocket.


    "I am currently at the fifth layer of the True Qi Realm, still far from the Spirit Sea Realm."


    "Sword Intents, I have only just condensed a wisp of Sword Intent Seed, and with this broken sword fragment, I must continue to comprehend Sword Intents, striving to completely grasp the full Sword Intents soon."


    "I must continue cultivating. Zhou Hai''s father is a strong practitioner of the Spirit Sea Realm, and I''ve already attracted this trouble, so I must keep improving my strength!"


    Countless thoughts raced through Ye Chen''s mind, and soon after, he flew out of the black pine forest.


    ...


    One day later, in a secluded cave within a mountain.


    The entrance to the cave was concealed by numerous stones, making it difficult to spot from a distance.


    Inside the cave, Ye Chen sat in quiet meditation.


    After running continuously, it was only after he was a few hundred li away from the valley where he had killed Zhou Hai that he found a cave to stop and rest.


    Following his battles with the Silver-Patterned Snake Demon and Zhou Hai, his cultivation in the True Qi Realm had not increased, but a pleasant surprise had occurred unexpectedly.


    The final three of the thirty-three Meridian Wheels that he had not yet refined started to show signs of loosening during the process of comprehending the battles.


    The thirty-three Meridian Wheels form the final step of the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Meridian Refining Art." If Ye Chen could complete this step, then he would have finished all the "Qi Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels" outlined in the Meridian Refining Art.


    That would qualify him to acquire the second layer of cultivation techniques from the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Gang Yuan Chapter" and would allow him to enter the Starlight Tower once again!


    The Starlight Tower, the Divine Tower with inscrutable depths, where the Primordial Star Scripture''s first layer "Meridian Refining Art" had already brought countless surprises to Ye Chen.


    It not only let him advance smoothly from the first layer to the fifth layer of the True Qi Realm, but it also greatly increased the speed of his True Qi cultivation and recovery.


    More precious still was that it was the Meridian Refining Art that greatly enhanced his body''s sensitivity to his surroundings, allowing him to escape perilous situations time and again, and even reach the threshold of understanding Sword Intents, thereby condensing a Sword Intent Seed!


    Ye Chen was extremely eager to obtain the second layer of cultivation technique from the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Gang Yuan Chapter," following the "Meridian Refining Art."


    Ye Chen was already looking forward to entering the Starlight Tower once again!


    Gathering his Qi and nurturing his spirit, Ye Chen sat quietly in the cave.


    Once his mind and spirit had completely settled, he finally began to tackle the last three Meridian Wheels of the thirty-three.


    Two hours later, the thirty-first Meridian Wheel was finally refined; after six hours, the thirty-second Meridian Wheel was also successfully refined.


    One day later, when the thirty-third Meridian Wheel was refined, the True Qi within Ye Chen''s body, even without being drawn upon, suddenly burst out from the Qi Sea and wildly circulated through his Qi Meridians, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels within his body.


    In the end, it formed a complete Great Zhou Heavenly Cycle.


    Just as the Great Zhou Heavenly Cycle was formed, and the True Qi flew back into the Qi Sea, Ye Chen felt that the magnificent Star Tower within his Qi Sea once again began to draw him in.


    It was the Starlight Tower calling him to enter.


    He was finally about to enter the Starlight Tower again!


    With a thought, Ye Chen entered his Qi Sea and in an instant, just like the first time he entered the Starlight Tower, the gates of the tower flung open, and his entire mind and spirit were drawn into the first layer.


    In the first layer of the Pagoda, in the great hall.


    He recognized the great hall and the five enormous Fire Altars.


    Watching the flames roaring within the Fire Altars, Ye Chen felt an indescribable sense of familiarity.


    As Ye Chen''s gaze swept over the five giant Fire Altars, a mysterious melody entered his mind.


    This was the activation spell for the second layer of the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Gang Yuan Chapter!"


    Indeed, having completely cultivated the first layer of the technique, he finally qualified to activate the second layer.


    Accompanied by the mysterious melody, Ye Chen sat down amongst the five giant Fire Altars.


    He closed his eyes and began to recite the activation spell for the second layer of the "Gang Yuan Chapter."


    As he recited, fierce winds swept through the first layer of the great hall again, and the fire inside the Fire Altars blazed into the sky!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Boom!


    Golden lights flickered, magical beastly howls sang, and thunder exploded wildly.


    In the midst of this miraculous scene, strands of light formed into words and flew into Ye Chen''s mind.


    Glancing at the neatly arranged words in his mind, the first thing he saw were nine bold characters: Gang Yuan Chapter, Second Layer ¡ª Gang Yuan Mantra!


    While Ye Chen entered the Starlight Tower and obtained the second layer of the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Gang Yuan Chapter," the "Gang Yuan Mantra," above the valley where Zhou Hai had died, a mournful howl pierced the air.


    This blood-curdling scream, which echoed in all directions, caused all cultivators within a hundred miles to experience a painful ringing in their ears.


    "What is this sound?"


    Countless cultivators in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain looked up into the sky.


    When they saw a blood-red Escaping Light flash across the sky at an incredibly fast speed, each of them was struck with terror, and dared not even breathe heavily, "A powerful elder from the Spirit Sea Realm has come to the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain!"


    Boom!


    In the midst of countless horrified gazes, the blood-red Escaping Light landed in the valley where Zhou Hai had died. The light faded to reveal the figure of an elder clad in a Blood Robe.


    This elder was extremely thin, resembling a skeleton, yet he radiated an immensely vast aura.


    Even without exerting any oppressive force, his breath alone was strong enough to make the leaves of trees that were more than a meter thick rustle wildly.


    "Elder, Elder, you have come... The Young Master, he, he..."


    Upon the arrival of the Blood Robe elder, the eight figures in the valley were shaking all over with fear, stammering, unable to complete their sentences; the eighth-ranked Demon Beast, the Fiery Lion Beast, was so frightened that it lay prostrate on the ground, not daring to move an inch.


    These eight figures were none other than Zhou Hai''s eight followers, and the elder in the Blood Robe was Zhou Hai''s father, an elder from the seventh-rank Heavenly Net Sect, a powerful mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm cultivator, Zhou Yuntian!


    Zhou Yuntian didn''t pay any attention to these eight people; his gaze was fixed on the decapitated corpse and the huge skull next to the body on the ground.


    Upon seeing the face on the skull, even Zhou Yuntian, a powerful mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm cultivator, stumbled backward several steps.


    "Hai''er!"


    Afterward, Zhou Yuntian let out a piercing scream of agony.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Amidst his screams of sorrow, he waved his hand through the air, and countless trees were uprooted and flung about wildly.


    Furthermore, with a single gesture, he sucked two of his followers toward him, and with a slap, he bashed them until blood flowed from their seven orifices, killing them instantly.


    "My Hai''er is dead; what use is there in keeping your dog lives!"


    After completely smashing the corpses of these two followers, he flung their bodies tens of meters away with a swing of his hand.


    "Elder, have mercy! Elder, please have mercy!"


    The six remaining followers had already lost all color in their faces and knelt on the ground, frantically kowtowing.


    Looking at the six people who continued to kowtow until their heads were broken and bleeding, Zhou Yuntian''s eyes were filled with a cold light, "Only my Hai''er should be killing others; who would dare kill my Hai''er!"


    "Speak, who was it? Who killed my Hai''er? I will tear him to pieces! Tear him to pieces!"


    While the six followers were repeatedly kowtowing, they hurriedly reported, "Elder, we were accompanying the Young Master hunting Demon Beasts on the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain when we suddenly heard the hissing of the Silver-striped Snake Demon."


    "The Young Master then went to the Mirror Lake area and encountered five people..."


    "That young man was too fast; we couldn''t keep up with him, and only the Young Master chased after him..."


    "By the time we found the Young Master again, he had already been killed by that despicable murderer!"


    Amidst their babbling, Zhou Yuntian''s gaze grew colder and colder.


    "The fifth level of True Qi? How could a youth at the fifth level of True Qi possibly kill Hai''er!"


    "I had provided Hai''er with three Spirit Talismans, three whole Spirit Talismans; unless it were a powerful cultivator from the Spirit Sea Realm, no one could have harmed his life!"


    "You are lying!"


    Whoosh!


    Zhou Yuntian stretched out his hand and sucked in four men, and with four consecutive "smacks", without even blinking, he slapped the four men to death.


    "Elder, it''s true!"


    "The other four who were with that young man can testify!"


    The two still alive were so scared they wet their pants and cried out in a panic.


    Zhou Yuntian, with a chilling tone, addressed the pallid pair, "Find me those four people, discover the identity of the one who killed my Hai''er!"


    "This blood debt, I will have it repaid with blood!"


    "Yes, Elder, we will definitely find out that person''s identity!"


    The two who narrowly escaped with their lives frantically kowtowed in agreement.


    Meanwhile, Zhou Yunhai''s gaze returned to Zhou Hai''s corpse once more, his complexion deathly white, remaining silent for a long time.


    ...


    "Gang Yuan Mantra, the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'' second layer of the Primordial Star Scripture''s cultivation technique."


    "This mantra is the most crucial layer of the Gang Yuan Chapter, it is the Profound Mystical Method for cultivating ''Gang Yuan True Qi''."


    "Practitioners who breathe in and out are absorbing the Heaven and Earth True Qi, and ''Gang Yuan True Qi'' is a further Refinement of this Qi to reach the degree of ''Extreme Gang Yuan''!"


    Inside the cave, Ye Chen had emerged from the Starlight Tower and his Mind and Spirit had returned to his body.


    Looking at the new cultivation technique within his mind, the more Ye Chen read, the brighter his eyes shone.

 Chapter 27: Chapter 25 Anomalies

    "Mysterious, oh so mysterious!"


    "The ''Gang Yuan Mantra'' says that ''Gang Yuan True Qi'' is a unique form of True Qi cultivation created by the Primordial Star Scripture, possessing unbelievable wondrous uses!"


    "After cultivation, not only does it greatly enhance the ''Essence, Qi, and Spirit,'' but it also allows one''s strength to surge dramatically!


    Once all the True Qi in the Qi Sea is transformed into ''Gang Yuan True Qi,'' one will have no rival within the same realm, and could even rely solely on Gang Yuan True Qi to slay those in higher realms!"


    As Ye Chen read the various wondrous applications of cultivating the "Gang Yuan Mantra," his heart surged with excitement.


    After the battle with Zhou Hai, he felt the importance of strength even more. Currently, he was only slightly stronger than others due to his comprehension of Cultivation Techniques and Martial Skills but did not have a significant advantage in True Qi itself.


    Once he cultivated ''Gang Yuan True Qi,'' the quality of his True Qi would far exceed that of cultivators who worked with Heaven and Earth True Qi, giving him a new trump card!


    Ye Chen suppressed his surging emotions and continued to look at the spell text of the "Gang Yuan Mantra."


    "Cultivating the ''Gang Yuan Mantra'' requires the ''Circulation of Refined Vital Energy Technique,'' which is to refine the Heaven and Earth True Qi in the Qi Sea into ''Gang Yuan True Qi'' by utilizing the ''Qi Meridian, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and thirty-three Meridian Wheels'' that are opened throughout the body, based on ''Meridian Refining Art.'' The ''Gang Yuan Mantra'' is truly cultivated to the extreme only when all the True Qi in the Qi Sea is transformed into ''Gang Yuan True Qi,'' which signifies the successful cultivation of the second layer of this technique."


    "At that time, one could enter the Starlight Tower again to obtain the third layer of the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'' of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    "The ''Circulation of Refined Vital Energy Technique'' consists of combining the three methods ''Qi Meridian''s Qi Moving, Eight Extraordinary Meridian''s Qi Running, and thirty-three Meridian Wheel''s Qi Transforming,'' and the method for the True Qi to circulate is as follows..."


    After reading the method of cultivating the "Gang Yuan Mantra" three times and thoroughly integrating it, Ye Chen began the actual cultivation of the "Gang Yuan Mantra!"


    In the cave, complete silence ensued, leaving only Ye Chen seated in meditation, and the Heaven and Earth True Qi circulating in his body in a peculiar manner.


    Three days later, among the countless strands of cyan True Qi undergoing the great circulation of the Zhou Tian meridians, a strand of True Qi suddenly began to tremble violently.


    In the midst of this violently trembling True Qi, Ye Chen''s mind, Qi Sea, and flesh throughout his body exploded simultaneously with a sound that seemed to split heaven and earth, and in an instant, Ye Chen felt his mind become extremely clear, his Qi Sea surged with True Qi, impurities rapidly expelled from his flesh, lightening his whole body!


    And that trembling strand of True Qi, amidst the thunderous sounds of the ''Essence, Qi, and Spirit,'' transformed directly into a strand of bright silver True Qi, flying back into the True Qi Vortex in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea.


    This strand of silver True Qi was precisely Gang Yuan True Qi!


    Ye Chen had finally cultivated the first strand of Gang Yuan True Qi!


    As soon as this strand of Gang Yuan True Qi entered the True Qi Vortex, it merged into the thousands of strands of cyan True Qi within, and although it was just a single strand, this bright silver True Qi was far more dazzling than all the cyan ones!


    It was so unique!


    After cultivating the first strand of Gang Yuan True Qi, Ye Chen did not stop there. He continued the ''Circulation of Refined Vital Energy Technique,'' and after the birth of the first strand, the speed at which he transformed Heaven and Earth True Qi into ''Gang Yuan True Qi'' also increased.


    Another day passed, and he had already cultivated hundreds of strands of Gang Yuan True Qi in his Qi Sea!


    So it went on, and after seven days, Ye Chen emerged completely from his cultivation of Gang Yuan True Qi.


    By then, his Qi Sea contained thousands of strands of Gang Yuan True Qi, which added a dazzling silver-white hue among the countless cyan True Qi in the five major True Qi Vortices in his Qi Sea.


    Upon opening his eyes, Ye Chen immediately felt that the world around him became clearer, the minute trembles of every grass and tree more than a hundred meters away, even the patterns and hairs on a small insect, he could sense clearly if he wished!


    While cultivating ''Meridian Refining Art,'' he could only control environmental changes within twenty meters around him. Now, having just cultivated the ''Gang Yuan Mantra,'' his environmental perception had improved to more than a hundred meters!


    Environmental perception has great benefits; it can help foresee environmental changes and, especially in combat, may even be used to anticipate and overcome the enemy. Ye Chen, having fought many battles, deeply understood these advantages.


    "How smelly, such a lot of impurities!"


    After sensing the changes around him and examining himself, Ye Chen smiled wryly.


    At this moment, his body was covered with a thick layer of black grime, which was the impurity expelled from his body during the cultivation of ''Gang Yuan Mantra.''


    "Time to get cleaned up!"


    Bothered by the foul odor of the impurities, Ye Chen quickly left the cave, found a pond, and began to wash his body and clothes.


    After thoroughly cleaning himself and putting back on his clothes which had been dried by True Qi, Ye Chen felt light and refreshed.


    His eyes were exceptionally bright, and his handsome face had well-defined lines ¨C his bearing had improved a lot since he had first arrived on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    "I''ve been so focused on cultivating True Qi these days; I haven''t kept up with Martial Skills and Cultivation Techniques."


    "Now, time to start practising Martial Skills and Cultivation Techniques!"


    After cultivating the ''Gang Yuan Mantra,'' Ye Chen found his mind to be clearer, and he had new insights into many Cultivation Techniques and skills he hadn''t fully understood before, so he couldn''t wait to begin his practice.


    Snapping off a tree branch, Ye Chen began to demonstrate various Swordsmanship techniques outside the cave. Basic Sword Skills, Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills, Torrential Rain Sword Skills, every move and form were infinite in their sword charm.


    After also practicing the ''Startling Goose Steps,'' Ye Chen sat down and took out the broken sword fragment.


    "Sword Intent, with the help of this broken sword fragment, I touched the threshold of Sword Intent."


    "Now, I will strive to further elevate my Sword Intent, aim for the Sword Intent Seed to sprout and grow, and completely enter the realm of Sword Intent!"


    Holding the broken sword fragment, Ye Chen closed his eyes to perceive the subtle power of the sword and its Sword Intent emanating from the fragment.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    As he comprehended, leaves from the trees on the ground around him began to fly up and suspend in the air, vibrating gently with Ye Chen''s breath.


    "Sword Intent, the true essence of swordsmanship, entering the realm of Sword Intent, everything can become a sword, become Swordsmanship!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes snapped open, and with a flick of his finger toward the front, thousands of leaves suspended in the air rapidly flew forward, "pfft pfft pfft," and finally, all of them pierced into the large tree ahead.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    These thousands of leaves even directly broke seven or eight giant ancient trees.


    The astonishing power would shock a True Qi Level Seven expert, who was two realms higher than Ye Chen, but he just shook his head.


    "This isn''t real Sword Intent, it''s still at the threshold of Sword Intent, not stepping through the door."


    "I can only control these leaves with the Sword Intent Seed, but I can''t turn these leaves into swords, into swordsmanship!"


    Ye Chen immersed his mind and spirit and continued to comprehend the sensation from the broken sword fragment.


    Once again, endless leaves flew into the air, hovering.


    This time, after three full days with the leaves suspended motionlessly in the air, Ye Chen, who sat in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes, and a brilliant silver light flashed across them.


    Next, these countless suspended leaves began to separate and drift upwards and downwards, each leaf moving to its own rhythm.


    In the end, all the leaves seemed to transform into swords and in the air, they stirred up a terrifying sword wind.


    These leaves were suddenly imbued with the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, turning thousands of leaves into a true torrential rain that burst forward.


    Each leaf could easily snap a giant tree, and if Ye Chen hadn''t controlled them, these leaves would likely have turned countless large trees into rubble!


    Sword Intent.


    It was undoubtedly the sensation of Sword Intent!


    "Gang Yuan True Qi, the wonderful Gang Yuan True Qi, has indeed brought me into the realm of Sword Intent!"


    Ye Chen looked at the collapsed and broken giant trees in front of him and extended his palm, where a strand of silver True Qi danced.


    Originally unable to truly cross the threshold of Sword Intent, Ye Chen had tried infusing True Qi into the broken sword fragment to comprehend the Sword Intents within it.


    When he merged the blue Heavenly Earth True Qi, his understanding of the broken sword fragment did not deepen. But when Ye Chen infused Gang Yuan True Qi into the fragment, sudden sounds of ten thousand swords chanting arose from within it.


    These chants transmitted into Ye Chen''s mind, and he felt as though the heavens and earth had exploded, with every mysterious insight becoming completely clear.


    In an instant, he had crossed the threshold of Sword Intent and thoroughly entered the realm of Sword Intent.


    Sword Intent, the highest level of swordsmanship cultivation, and even among the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, few could comprehend Sword Intent. Yet Ye Chen, at the True Qi Level Five, with the aid of Gang Yuan True Qi, entered this powerful state of swordsmanship!


    Truly mastering Sword Intent, Ye Chen had truly grasped the essence of swordsmanship. If the current him encountered Zhou Hai, relying on the miraculous Sword Intent, he could kill Zhou Hai in one unexpected move!


    Ye Chen was relishing this newfound marvelous Sword Intent when the fragmented sword piece he kept at his waist suddenly began to vibrate intensely.


    "What''s going on?"


    Ye Chen took out the vibrating fragment, looking at it fluttering in his palm with surprise.


    This broken sword fragment was profoundly mysterious, and Ye Chen had never been able to see through it. Even when using it to shield against the Spirit Talisman Zhou Hai unleashed, there had been no abnormality. But now, it was trembling incessantly, making Ye Chen wonder.


    Unknown to Ye Chen, as the broken sword fragment kept vibrating, a transformation was taking place a thousand miles away from his location. In the deepest part of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, within a domain surrounded by six Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks, there was a significant change.


    There lay a vast valley encircled by the peaks, and in the center of the valley, there was a large lake with countless lotus leaves, among which only one white lotus flower bloomed.


    Outside the lake, numerous Great Demons roared and ran amok. Among these demons, there was an Iron Tail Giant Lizard over fifty meters long, a Through-Back Demon Monkey towering eighty meters, and even a black giant eagle with wings spanning over a hundred meters!


    However, none of these Great Demons dared to approach the lake in the middle of the valley, nor did any dare set foot within a hundred meters around it.


    Just as the broken sword fragment in Ye Chen''s hand vibrated incessantly, the waters of the lake, which no demon dared near, suddenly surged wildly.


    The frantic waters even scared many Great Demons into screaming and fleeing in panic!


    Amid the chaos of fleeing demons and the surging lake, the lone lotus flower seemed to come to life, gently turning, its petals aligning with the direction where Ye Chen was located!


    Then, a murmuring voice emanated from within the lotus, "Huh, someone else has reached the qualification to enter the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''?"


    At the very moment this voice sounded, miles away from the lake, the broken sword fragment in Ye Chen''s hand shot forward. The fragment''s direction of flight was precisely that of the deepest part of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, where the lake and lotus flower resided.


    As Ye Chen watched the sword fragment flying away in astonishment, a voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "Congratulations, young man, you have acquired the qualification to enter the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''!"


    Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?


    Startled by this unexpected voice, just before Ye Chen, the indistinct figure of a hundred-zhang-tall (approximately 333 meters) Three-Eyed Giant Ape appeared out of thin air. As soon as the giant ape appeared, it reached out its huge hand toward Ye Chen.


    "What is this..."


    Before Ye Chen could even react, the colossal figure of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape grasped him in its palm.


    Boom!


    Subsequently, the figure of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape dissipated.


    And Ye Chen had vanished from his original spot.

 Chapter 28: Chapter 26 Thousand Lotus Cave Abode

    From the farthest western reaches of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, if one traveled another three hundred li westward, they would encounter a continuous range of mountain peaks, veiled by a sea of clouds.


    Within these cloud-wreathed peaks, majestic palaces were erected, and hidden beneath them lay mysterious caves abodes.


    If a disciple from a sect in the eastern region of Heavenly Wind Kingdom were to witness this sea of clouds and mountains, they would surely recognize it as the dwelling place of Taixuan Sect, the highest-ranking sect among the thirty-six sects of the entire eastern region of the kingdom.


    At this moment, on the grand square of the Taixuan Sect''s mountain gate, thousands of figures were seated and cultivating. These were all a group of somewhat naive young men and young women.


    After cultivating for a while, many among these young men and women would stealthily open their eyes and peer toward the high platform of the grand square.


    On the high platform of the grand square, a young girl clad in light blue garments sat in silent meditation, her eyes closed.


    She was an exceptionally beautiful girl, no more than sixteen or seventeen years old, yet she possessed a face that could bring disaster, delicate and ravishing. Her faint eyebrows were like a pair of crescent moons, and beneath them were gently closed eyes and long lashes, captivatingly beautiful.


    Her snow-like skin, upturned nose, rosy lips, and those small dimples when she smiled, all exuded an enthralling beauty.


    If Ye Chen were to see this young girl, he would undoubtedly recognize her as Jiang Yao, the prodigy who was worshipped by countless young disciples of Qingyun Sect and had stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm at just sixteen years of age, the foremost talent among the thirty-six sects.


    The gazes of the young men and women on the grand square who were stealthily looking at the high platform were all fixated on the young girl there.


    Admiration, excitement, and reverence filled their eyes.


    "Jiang Yao senior sister, I can''t believe that it''s you supervising our cultivation on the grand square this time!"


    "Jiang Yao senior sister is the youngest powerhouse in the Spirit Sea Realm of our Taixuan Sect; she stepped into this realm at merely seventeen years of age!"


    "I heard that when senior sister Jiang Yao was fourteen, she had already reached the tenth level of True Qi. I''m fourteen this year and am only at the fifth level of True Qi, far behind her."


    "Not only does senior sister Jiang Yao have unmatched talent, but her beauty is also breathtaking!"


    The young men and women whispered among themselves, yet suddenly, Jiang Yao, who was seated on the high platform, opened her eyes from meditation.


    The young men and young women on the grand square who were sneaking glances at Jiang Yao were startled, fearing that their lack of focus on cultivation had been noticed, and hurriedly closed their eyes to resume their practice.


    What they didn''t know was that the moment Jiang Yao opened her eyes was precisely when Ye Chen was grabbed by the hundred-zhang tall phantom of a three-eyed giant ape!


    As Jiang Yao opened her eyes, she looked toward the direction of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, and at the same moment, a faint blue lotus water pattern briefly flickered on her fair forehead, then vanished.


    "Another person has entered the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''? Although many have entered it over these three years, alas, none has managed to pass the ''Fire and Water Dao'' trial within the cave abode."


    "When will I find a companion to explore the inner sanctum of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode with me?"


    Jiang Yao murmured to herself, gently biting her lip.


    After a moment of hesitation, she stretched out her hand, flicking a talisman from her palm, which transformed into a streak of flame and flew towards the depths of Taixuan Sect.


    Watching the flame streak away, Jiang Yao rose to her feet from her meditative pose, "Perhaps a trip to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain is in order. Maybe this time, the individual entering the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode will become my future companion."


    As she stood, her cascading blue hair fell loosely around her, and the light breeze teased individual strands into a delicate dance, creating an indescribable charm.


    Soon after Jiang Yao had risen, a mystical white hawk flew in from the depths of Taixuan Sect, finally perching atop the high platform, beside Jiang Yao.


    "Senior sister Jiang Yao, you called for Chan''er, what instructions do you have?"


    A sword-bearing girl of about twelve or thirteen years old in white garments hopped down from the hawk, ran up to Jiang Yao, and sweetly asked.


    Jiang Yao looked at the sword-bearing girl and smiled slightly, "Chan''er, you shall oversee their cultivation here for me. I need to step out for a bit."


    "Of course!" The sword-bearing girl nodded enthusiastically, then glanced curiously at Jiang Yao, "Sister, where are you going?"


    "To Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain."


    Jiang Yao spoke softly.


    ...


    After a slight bout of dizziness, Ye Chen''s consciousness returned to clarity.


    Looking up, he realized he was within an immense cave abode, hundreds of zhang high and more than a hundred zhang wide.


    "Where is this?"


    "Could this be the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode'' that voice mentioned?"


    Ye Chen remembered the sudden voice that told him he had earned the right to enter the "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode." Then, he had been seized by the gigantic palm of a hundred-zhang tall three-eyed giant ape phantom.


    When he came to, he found himself in this vast cave abode.


    "Correct, this place is the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''!"


    A voice like thunder suddenly erupted within the cave abode, and Ye Chen looked towards the source of the voice, only to see a hundred-zhang tall fiery ape suddenly appear and begin to speak.


    This immense fire ape, with fur blazing like flames and a third eye on its forehead, was strikingly similar to the phantom of the three-eyed giant ape that had grabbed Ye Chen, except the former was a phantom whereas the latter was very much real.


    "You... you can talk?"


    Ye Chen was astounded that the giant fire ape stood a hundred zhang tall, and its ability to speak like a human added to his amazement.


    This talking hundred-zhang tall ape, and this abrupt arrival in an unknown cave abode, all contributed to Ye Chen''s sense of profound mystery.

 Chapter 29: Chapter 26 Thousand Lotus Cave Abode_2

    The giant Fire Ape bowed its head and looked down at Ye Chen, "I am the Three-eyed Ape King, of course I can speak, young man. State your name, and from now on, just call me ''Ape Elder''."


    "Ape Elder, the junior is called Ye Chen, Ye as in leaf, Chen as in the stars," Ye Chen replied.


    This Three-Eyed Giant Ape, capable of speaking like humans and possessing a hundred-zhang-tall body, and even more astonishing, the ability to fetch him from the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to this place - these divine powers were simply more terrifying than any of the Spirit Sea Realm cultivators that Ye Chen had heard of!


    "May I know why the elder has brought Ye Chen here?" Ye Chen looked at the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and asked aloud.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape''s three divine eyes glanced at the vast cave abode and then lowered its head to look at Ye Chen, "You were able to comprehend the Sword Intent Fragment I scattered and step into the Sword Intent Realm, meeting the qualifications set by my master to enter the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode,'' so I brought you here."


    "Sword Intent Fragment? Could it be that the fragment from before is yours, Ape Elder?" Hearing the Three-Eyed Giant Ape mention the Sword Intent Fragment, Ye Chen''s heart stirred, remembering the scene where the broken sword fragment suddenly vibrated and shot away.


    That broken sword fragment had vibrated suddenly at the moment he fully comprehended the sword intent, and at the very instant the shattered piece flew off, was also when the phantom of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape descended.


    With that said, it was really possible that the broken sword fragment was related to this Three-Eyed Giant Ape.


    "However, who is this master you speak of, Elder, and why did he allow me to enter this ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode'' after I stepped into the Sword Intent Realm?" Ye Chen had a myriad of questions in his heart.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape looked at Ye Chen and sighed deeply, as would a human.


    "Since you have entered the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode,'' I will explain everything to you."


    "My master was a strong cultivator from the Heavenly Saint Realm born in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. This ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode'' is what he left behind. Within this abode lies a tremendous legacy that only those with fate can obtain," the Ape explained.


    "My master asked me to find someone of fate, with the most basic condition being the comprehension of sword intent. Therefore, I shattered the ten Spiritual Swords I once wielded into one thousand and one Sword Intent Fragments and scattered them across the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    What you have obtained is one of these fragments."


    "One thousand and one Sword Intent Fragments!" Ye Chen gasped upon hearing that there were a total of one thousand and one fragments, like the broken sword piece he encountered.


    He had only obtained one fragment, and it helped him comprehend sword intent. The Three-Eyed Giant Ape had scattered a total of one thousand and one fragments, how powerful it must be!


    "Of course, I prepared one thousand and one fragments. Did you think my master''s legacy would be so easy to obtain?" the Three-Eyed Giant Ape huffed a little discontentedly.


    "Even though I have scattered so many fragments, in over three hundred years, only two hundred and fifty-six people qualified to enter the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode,'' and not a single one succeeded in obtaining my master''s legacy!"


    "Moreover, among those trials, only forty-seven have successfully completed the ''Fire and Water Dao'' challenge in the Outer Mansion!"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s puzzled expression, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape explained, "The ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode'' is divided into an Inner and Outer Mansion.


    There are three challenges in the Outer Mansion, all of which are conducted in the ''Fire and Water Dao.'' Only those who pass these three challenges are qualified to enter the Inner Mansion."


    "And inside the Inner Mansion, there are another three trials. Only by passing those can one ultimately obtain my master''s legacy."


    Boom!


    While the Three-Eyed Giant Ape spoke, its enormous palm stretched out towards one side of the cave, slapping the air, and suddenly, two circular entrances, each with a diameter of ten meters, appeared in the wall.


    From one of these entrances poured endless flames, while from the other streamed a gentle blue water light.


    "This is the trial area for the Outer Mansion ¡ª the ''Fire and Water Dao''!"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape pointed to the two circular entrances and spoke to Ye Chen.


    "Fire and Water Dao are divided into two paths, male cultivators take the ''Path of Fire,'' and female cultivators take the ''Path of Water.'' Only after passing through all three challenges in the paths can one pass the trial of the Outer Mansion."


    "According to the master''s rules, only a pair of male and female who have both successfully passed the ''Fire and Water Dao'' trials can enter the Inner Mansion together to face new trials."


    "So, even if you pass the Outer Mansion trial, you cannot enter the Inner Mansion without a suitable companion."


    Hearing this rule, Ye Chen found it strange; he hadn''t expected that not only did he have to challenge the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode alone, but he also had to find a partner for the Inner Mansion.


    "In that case, if one cannot wait for a suitable companion, doesn''t that mean they can never enter the Inner Mansion?" Ye Chen asked.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape nodded, "Indeed, in these past three hundred years, among the forty-seven people who have passed the Outer Mansion trial, only thirty-six have successfully paired up, forming eighteen pairs to challenge the Inner Mansion.


    However, not a single one among these eighteen pairs has succeeded."


    "The remaining individuals, throughout the years they lived, never found suitable companions and, in the end, could not enter the Inner Mansion."


    "However," the Three-Eyed Giant Ape looked at Ye Chen, "young lad Ye Chen, you''re rather lucky. There''s already a girl who has successfully passed the ''Path of Water'' and has been waiting for her partner.


    If you can overcome the ''Path of Fire,'' you could join her and proceed to the Inner Mansion together."


    "A female cultivator has already passed the ''Path of Water''?" Ye Chen was taken aback.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape nodded, "But whether you can enter the Inner Mansion with her as partners still depends on your skill. She has been waiting for three years, and during these three years, nineteen others have attempted the challenge, yet none have succeeded.


    I hope you won''t become the twentieth failure, causing the girl to miss another opportunity."


    "Alright, I have said all there is to say. Now, enter the ''Path of Fire'' and begin your trial! Acquiring the Sword Intent Fragment is not an optional trial; success or failure is all down to your destiny!"


    Ye Chen, not one to hesitate, took a deep breath and stepped into the "Path of Fire" within the Fire and Water Dao under the intense gaze of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape.


    Having gained benefits from the broken sword fragments, it was only right to follow the rules set by the master of this abode!


    Fire and Water Dao, give it your all!


    Not long after he entered the Fire and Water Dao, a streak of Escaping Light flashed in, entering this expansive cave abode.


    The Escaping Light dissipated, revealing a girl dressed in light blue garments.


    This girl was none other than Jiang Yao, who had left the Taixuan Sect and was headed to the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain!


    "Ape senior, has another come to try their hand at the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?"


    Upon entering the cave abode, Jiang Yao, noticing the glowing light from the pathway of Fire and Water Dao, asked the Three-Eyed Giant Ape with a slight sparkle in her eyes.


    "Yes, a youth has come." The Three-Eyed Giant Ape waved its massive hand, projecting a light screen in the air of the vast cave. On that screen, the figure of Ye Chen, who had just entered the "Path of Fire," appeared!


    "He''s so young and has already comprehended the Sword Intent Realm?"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s image on the screen, Jiang Yao was also slightly surprised, "The nineteen who came to challenge the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode before were all of advanced age."


    "The younger the age, the greater the potential. Little girl, perhaps this Ye Chen could truly become your partner, joining you in the challenges of the Inner Mansion," the Three-Eyed Giant Ape said.


    "I hope so." A hint of expectation flickered in Jiang Yao''s clear, large eyes, "It''s been three years, and I''ve yet to find a partner. I really want to see what the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode is like!"

 Chapter 30: Chapter 27 Fire Rune Chart

    "The challenge area of the outer abode of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the Fire and Water Dao!"


    As soon as Ye Chen stepped into the "Path of Fire," he began to observe his surroundings.


    Looking around, Ye Chen found himself in a vast corridor that was more than ten meters wide and tall, extending far into the distance.


    The corridor was flickering with flames, a deep red color pervading the area, and the heat was intense. It felt as though he had entered a fiery cavern.


    The five vortexes of True Qi within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea vibrated, and a green True Qi immediately enveloped his body, forming a layer of Protective True Qi that slightly mitigated the scorching sensation.


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen had entered the corridor, a loud booming sound came from behind him. The entrance to the "Path of Fire" slammed shut, locking the way back completely.


    "Ape said there are three challenges in the ''Fire and Water Dao,'' but I wonder what those three are."


    Ye Chen cautiously moved forward, continuously observing the corridor walls as he walked. His divine consciousness spread out, and he kept every change within a hundred meters around him under control.


    After a short while, upon turning a corner, Ye Chen suddenly saw the path ahead blocked by a massive fire pattern.


    This fire pattern, towering more than ten meters both in width and height, was immensely large, with countless lines and contours that emitted overwhelming brilliance. Standing beneath the huge pattern, Ye Chen felt even smaller than the lines themselves.


    "Could this be the first test?"


    "And how should I pass it?"


    Ye Chen examined the giant Fire Rune Chart.


    ...


    Outside the Fire and Water Dao.


    As Ye Chen arrived at the Fire Rune Chart, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao, who were observing Ye Chen''s test through the half-sky screen of the abode, became more spirited.


    "Ye Chen has finally reached the first challenge spot¡ªthe ''Fire Rune Chart''!"


    "The master of the abode set understanding Sword Intents as a condition for selecting an heir. Those who could comprehend Sword Intents were all individuals with outstanding talent. However, to be called a true powerhouse, talent alone is insufficient."


    "These three tests of the outer abode are designed to evaluate these candidates'' ''Combat Power,'' ''Wit,'' and ''Willpower,'' in addition to their talent."


    "And this first challenge, the ''Fire Rune Chart,'' is a test of ''Combat Power''!"


    "Now we''ll see if Ye Chen has enough Combat Power to move on to the second stage of the outer abode!"


    All three eyes of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape were fixed on Ye Chen through the half-sky screen of the abode.


    Next to the Ape, Jiang Yao''s clear eyes were also fixed on Ye Chen: "When I breached the ''Path of Water,'' the first challenge was the ''Water Pattern Chart,'' and I remember killing all 108 ''Water Armored Warriors'' to break through that challenge."


    "In these three years, the nineteen who came here to face the challenge all breached the ''Path of Fire,'' dealing with the Fire Armored Warriors inside the Fire Rune Chart. The most anyone has killed was eighty-three, and the least was forty-five. I wonder how many Ye Chen will be able to kill?"


    Having learned Ye Chen''s name from the Ape, Jiang Yao began to take an interest in this young man who might join her in breaching the Inner Mansion.


    While the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao were focused on Ye Chen''s test,


    As Ye Chen was sizing up the giant fire pattern, suddenly...


    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!


    Thump! Thump!


    Spheres of fire burst from the giant Fire Rune Chart, which upon hitting the ground, instantly transformed into warriors wielding swords and wearing fiery armor.


    With their Fire Armors gleaming, these suddenly-appeared Fire Armored Warriors numbered thirty-six!


    At the same time, a faint voice also echoed through the corridor: "Contender, to inherit my legacy within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, you must kill at least seventy-five Fire Armored Warriors within this challenge."


    "Fight now, use all of your strength, for the more Fire Armored Warriors you kill, the greater your reward will be! If you manage to kill all 108 Fire Armored Warriors, you will receive a special prize!"


    This voice was deep and resonant, clearly not the thunderous voice of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape.


    "The legacy within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode? Could the owner of this voice be the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?"


    No sooner had Ye Chen thought this than the thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors that had appeared rushed towards him with a war cry.


    "Hmm, True Qi Fifth Layer Realm? The same as my True Qi Realm?"


    With his divine consciousness, Ye Chen analyzed his surroundings as the Fire Armored Warriors charged at him. In a flash, he deduced their realm from the aura they exuded.


    At this moment, the first Fire Armored Warrior had already charged at Ye Chen. With a punch, Ye Chen unleashed a vast amount of True Qi directly at the Fire Armored Warrior''s body.


    With a loud "boom," the Fire Armored Warrior was sent flying backwards from Ye Chen''s punch and exploded.


    These Fire Armored Warriors were apparently spawned with reference to Ye Chen''s True Qi Realm, but they lacked Ye Chen''s various techniques and were clearly no match for a single move from him!


    Ye Chen''s combat power was now so formidable that not to mention a person at the fifth level of the True Qi Realm, even someone at the seventh level would be easily pierced through by him if they didn''t possess powerful techniques like his Sword Intent.


    Hum!


    Just as Ye Chen''s divine thoughts stirred, preparing to completely annihilate the remaining thirty-five fifth level True Qi Fire Armored Warriors, the one he had previously blasted to pieces reformed into a ball of fire and shot back at him.


    This ball of fire couldn''t be blocked and directly entered Ye Chen''s body, finally merging into his Qi Sea.


    The True Qi in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea suddenly increased by a fraction.


    "Could it be that these Fire Armored Warriors are made from True Qi? Killing them allows their True Qi to enter my body directly?"


    Feeling nothing but an increase in the True Qi within his body, Ye Chen''s heart stirred, and he recalled the low, thick voice from before.


    "The more Fire Armored Warriors you kill, the greater your reward will be! If you can kill all one hundred and eight Fire Armored Warriors, you will receive a special reward!"


    Eyeing the Fire Armored Warriors charging at him, Ye Chen saw them as bunches of refined Heaven and Earth True Qi, and a sharp light burst forth from his eyes, "If that''s the case, then I''ll strive to kill all one hundred and eight Fire Armored Warriors!"


    In an instant, the five great True Qi whirlpools within Ye Chen''s body violently shook, and countless strands of cyan True Qi swept out, turning into a flurry of sharp arrows in the air that shot towards the remaining thirty-five Fire Armored Warriors.


    Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!


    Thwack!


    The sky full of True Qi arrows flashed with a cross-shaped brilliance, instantly penetrating thirty-five cross-shaped holes in the foreheads of the thirty-five Fire Armored Warriors.


    Subsequently, with continuous "boom, boom, boom, boom" sounds, the thirty-five Fire Armored Warriors left in the corridor exploded all at once in that instant¡ªall were shot dead by Ye Chen! All turned into balls of fire, rushing towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s move was none other than the Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills controlled with Sword Intent!


    With the Sword Intent enhancing the Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills, they were utterly unstoppable. These fifth-level True Qi Fire Armored Warriors had no chance of resisting!


    After Ye Chen had instantly killed all thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape nodded in approval.


    "Reaching the fifth level of the True Qi Realm and comprehending the major achievement level of a mid-tier Yellow-ranked sword technique, along with Sword Intent, indeed, his combat power is not bad."


    "However, if those are all the techniques he has, the next batch of Fire Armored Warriors will be troublesome."


    Jiang Yao''s face also tensed, "The next thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors will have their strength directly surge to the level of Ye Chen''s power when he faced the previous batch. He must still have some techniques up his sleeve.


    Besides, there''s a third batch of Fire Armored Warriors that will be even more formidable. When they attack in a group, layer upon layer, many have fallen at the hands of these three batches of warriors."


    "I wonder how many more techniques Ye Chen has."


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao began to worry about the battles ahead for Ye Chen.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, having absorbed another thirty-five balls of fire True Qi, not only fully recovered the True Qi he had expended but also gained quite a bit more. His fighting spirit, like the firelight in the corridor, was blazing fiercely.


    "Come on!"


    "Bring on the next batch of Fire Armored Warriors!"


    As his fighting spirit ignited, thirty-six fiery orbs burst forth from the Fire Rune Chart.


    These fiery orbs, once they touched the ground, turned into thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors, just as before.


    However, this time the aura emanating from the Fire Armored Warriors was much stronger than before. With the thirty-six moving in unison, even the air currents became subtly tumultuous.


    These Fire Armored Warriors had reached the level of understanding Sword Intent!


    No sooner had the Fire Armored Warriors landed than they charged at Ye Chen with swords ablaze, executing the same Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills that Ye Chen had used earlier.


    These Fire Armored Warriors were capable of instantly comprehending the sword technique and Sword Intent that Ye Chen had previously used, which was nothing short of miraculous.


    Indeed, the Fire Rune Chart that gave birth to these Fire Armored Warriors must be an inconceivably magical artifact!

 Chapter 31: Chapter 28 Kill! Kill! Kill!

    "Another thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors!"


    "The Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills endowed with Sword Intent, it''s indeed the combat power means I used when killing the first batch of Fire Armored Warriors!"


    Ye Chen watched the second batch of Fire Armored Warriors charging towards him and with a slight shift in his gaze, he instantly comprehended the examination method of this first challenge.


    "To pass this challenge, I must kill a total of seventy-five Fire Armored Warriors."


    "In the previous round, I have already slain thirty-six. I need to kill thirty-nine more, meaning if I wish to pass, all thirty-six Warriors from this batch must be killed too!"


    "Moreover, I don''t just want to pass; the Cave Abode Master mentioned that by killing all one hundred and eight Fire Armored Warriors, I would receive a special reward.


    Considering how mystical this Cave Abode is, the reward it offers is certainly no ordinary item, I must strive to kill all one hundred and eight Fire Armored Warriors and secure that special reward!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes, gazing at the Fire Armored Warriors shooting towards him like lightning, burst forth with intense combat desire.


    "No matter what, all thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors from this batch must die!"


    Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s body burst forth, his Yellow Class intermediate movement technique "Startling Goose Steps" exploding out as he directly shot towards one of the Fire Armored Warriors.


    "Swordsmanship, Sword Intent!"


    "Swordsmanship is the technique of martial skills, whereas Sword Intent is the realm means of utilizing these martial skill techniques!"


    "My Sword Intent, obtained through comprehending the basis of Torrential Rain Sword Skills, aims directly at the origin of the ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills''¡ªtransforming all things into a torrential rain, obliterating everything!"


    "Although both the ''Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills'' and ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'' are swift sword techniques, my Sword Intent, when used with ''Torrential Rain Sword Skills'', is the most apt!"


    "How could Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills augmented with Sword Intent possibly compare with my Torrential Rain Sword Skills enhanced by Sword Intent!"


    "Torrential Rain, Annihilation Strike!"


    Ye Chen, who was speeding toward a Fire Armored Warrior, instantly dodged the attacks of the other warriors.


    With a flick of his fingers, thousands of strands of True Qi burst forth, turning into a drop of torrential rain that pierced through everything, aiming straight at the Fire Armored Warrior he had set his sights on.


    Fast!


    This droplet of True Qi Storm Rain, truly endowed with the annihilating essence of torrential rain, was unbelievably fast, having already surpassed the speed limit of Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills.


    The Fire Armored Warrior that was utilizing Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills and charging at Ye Chen hadn''t even launched an attack when the droplet of True Qi Storm Rain released by Ye Chen already flew in front of the Warrior''s head.


    Pfft!


    The power of the Torrential Rain Annihilation Strike, breaking through everything, this droplet of Sword Rain pierced directly through the Fire Armored Warrior''s head. The terrifying momentum of the rain violently erupted, a loud ''bang'' completely shattered the head of the Fire Armored Warrior.


    Bang!


    The Fire Armored Warrior exploded on the spot, turning into a ball of Fire Light True Qi.


    The thirty-seventh Fire Armored Warrior, dead!


    "Again!"


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    Ye Chen did not bother with the Fire Light True Qi that had entered his body. Surrounded by Fire Armored Warriors, there was no time for other thoughts; his entire focus was concentrated on the remaining thirty-five Fire Armored Warriors.


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    With each leap Ye Chen took, a droplet of True Qi Storm Rain blasted out, instantly obliterating a Fire Armored Warrior into nothingness.


    Thirty-eight, thirty-nine, forty...


    Moments later, the second batch of Fire Armored Warriors in the corridor had been nearly wiped out.


    And Ye Chen, having more room to maneuver, didn''t hesitate at all; millions of strands of True Qi burst from within his body, forming into more than a dozen droplets of True Qi Storm Rain.


    Torrential Rain Filling the Skies! Group Killing Skills!


    This time, the sky-filled torrential rain corresponded to one Fire Armored Warrior each.


    "The last thirteen Fire Armored Warriors, die!"


    Ye Chen stood still, while the thirteen droplets of True Qi Storm Rain he had unleashed shot out wildly, instantly piercing through the last thirteen Fire Armored Warriors.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Bang!


    Inside the corridor, thirteen Fire Armored Warriors exploded simultaneously, turning into thirteen spheres of Fire Light True Qi.


    Next, this large mass of Fire Light True Qi surged towards Ye Chen''s body.


    Ye Chen''s meridians opened wide, and the True Qi Vortex in his Qi Sea trembled slightly as he absorbed the huge mass of Fire Light True Qi into the vortex, replenishing the True Qi he had expended.


    "Having killed seventy-two Fire Armored Warriors, the absorbed Fire Light True Qi has brought me to the pinnacle of the fifth layer of True Qi!"


    At this moment, the five True Qi Vortices inside Ye Chen had swelled to their maximum, ready to break through to the sixth layer of True Qi!


    "Just thirty-six more Fire Armored Warriors to go!"


    "Upon killing all of them, I will be able to completely advance into the sixth layer of True Qi!"


    Ye Chen looked at the massive Fire Rune chart on the corridor''s ceiling, his mind and spirit intensely stirred.


    ...


    "Storm Rain Sword Intent, so the Insight he has comprehended is the Storm Rain Sword Intent."


    Watching Ye Chen swiftly annihilate another thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors in mere moments, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape nodded its head in approval.


    "Kill three more, and he''ll pass the first trial of the Outer Mansion."


    "Now, he has already unleashed Torrential Rain Sword Intent, yet it remains to be seen if he has any other means to deal with the subsequent thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors.


    According to the Fire Rune Chart laws forged by the master, the third wave of Fire Armored Warriors will each be capable of unleashing Storm Rain Sword Intent, just like he just did."


    The second wave of Fire Armored Warriors usually forces the challenger to reveal their strongest abilities, but the third wave represents the true test.


    Excelling in defeating the second wave feels gratifying, but without other methods, one would easily fail against the third wave of Fire Armored Warriors.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape greatly looked forward to Ye Chen''s performance in the upcoming challenge.


    "Torrential Rain Sword Intent?"


    Jiang Yao''s eyes brightened as she watched the True Qi Storm Rain instantly slay the Fire Armored Warrior before Ye Chen.


    "His Sword Intent is somewhat similar to the Purple Lightning Sword Intent I''ve comprehended!"


    "Sword techniques are derived from all things in nature, while Sword Intents return to the origin of all things. Torrential Rain Sword Intent captures the essence of rain''s rapid descent, just as my ''Purple Lightning Sword Intent'' is about the flickering of lightning''s glow..."


    "However, when I faced the ''Path of Water,'' I also comprehended a movement technique called ''Purple Lightning Wings,'' which allowed me to slay all one hundred and eight Water Armored Warriors. I wonder if he has any other means to confront the last wave of thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors."


    The young girl furrowed her beautiful brows, her gaze returning to Ye Chen.


    "The final thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled as he watched thirty-six fiery light clusters shoot out from the giant fire pattern for the third time, transforming into thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors.


    "This time, they''ll probably all use True Qi Storm Rain, won''t they!"


    "Then let''s have a true contest of strength!"


    From the second wave of Fire Armored Warriors, Ye Chen learned the trial rules of the giant fire pattern. Nonetheless, he did not hesitate to unleash his full Torrential Rain Sword Intent.


    What he wanted was to engage in a genuine battle with the powerful third wave of Fire Armored Warriors!


    Only in a true test of strength could he truly evaluate his ultimate combat power!


    "Fire Armored Warriors, born of True Qi fire orbs, possess great strength but are lifeless. However, they have one advantage: their overwhelming numbers."


    "And I have not only Sword Intent but also the Primordial Star Scripture, which they have never cultivated!"


    "We each have our advantages and disadvantages; it''s time for a real battle!"


    "Come forth!"


    Ye Chen''s heart surged with fighting spirit. The last thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors had already turned their swords into thirty-six drops of torrential rain, shooting towards him from all directions.


    A sky filled with swords, a sky roaring with death!


    The very strategy Ye Chen once used against others was now one he had to contend with.


    "Even if it''s a torrential downpour, there are still gaps!"


    "What I need is to weave through those gaps!"


    At that moment, Ye Chen no longer held anything back. His "Qi Force, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and Thirty-Three Meridian Wheels" all opened at once, and his control over his surroundings reached an inconceivable level.


    Each sword of the torrential rain aimed at him was anticipated in his predictions.


    And at the same time, the five great True Qi Vortices within Ye Chen''s body shook furiously, unleashing countless strands of azure True Qi. Between his fingers, a dazzling silver-white energy began to converge.


    This was indeed the "Gang Yuan True Qi" he had refined from cultivating the "Gang Yuan Mantra" of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Now, in this final battle, he finally used the Gang Yuan True Qi!


    Gang Yuan True Qi, as described by the "Gang Yuan Mantra" of the Primordial Star Scripture, is much more formidable than Heaven and Earth True Qi. Now was the time to test the true power of Gang Yuan True Qi!


    "Gang Yuan Torrential Rain!"


    Facing the onslaught of seven Fire Armored Warriors and their True Qi Storm Rain, Ye Chen''s hand shone with silver brilliance. In an instant, his finger became like a sword, and the silver energy on it like an unrivaled sword light!


    Amidst the flickering light, the sword light formed by Ye Chen''s finger clashed with the swords of the seven Fire Armored Warriors'' Storm Rain.


    In the blinding light, Ye Chen''s finger-turned-sword actually sliced through all seven fiery arrows in an instant!


    And there was more ¡ª the bursting silver radiance suddenly expanded, tracing a dazzling silver arc that immediately bisected all seven Fire Armored Warriors!


    With one move, seven Fire Armored Warriors fell!


    The Gang Yuan True Qi was powerfully overwhelming! Faced with the same level of martial skills and Sword Intents, the Heaven and Earth True Qi stood no chance against Gang Yuan True Qi!


    "What!"


    "What kind of martial skill is this!"


    Outside the Fire and Water Dao, both the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao were visibly shaken upon seeing Ye Chen slay seven Fire Armored Warriors in one move.


    The third wave of Fire Armored Warriors was the toughest challenge. In previous trials, challengers found it extremely difficult to slay even one of this final batch of warriors.


    Otherwise, it wouldn''t be said that slaying three Fire Armored Warriors in the third wave was enough to pass the trial.


    Now, Ye Chen had slain seven in the third wave with a single move, taking the total number of Fire Armored Warriors he had killed to seventy-nine, surpassing the required number to pass!


    Watching Ye Chen spring forth with arms wide as if a tiger leaping into a flock of sheep, towards the third wave of Fire Armored Warriors, Jiang Yao felt a surge of emotion for the first time.


    This young man named Ye Chen might indeed be the one who would accompany her into the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!

 Chapter 32: Chapter 29 Wind Thunder Movement

    "Gang Yuan True Qi!"


    "So this is the power of Gang Yuan True Qi!"


    Ye Chen, having killed seven Fire Armored Warriors with a single move, was also overwhelmed with excitement, the surging emotions prompted him to let out a long howl within the "Path of Fire".


    The long howl, stimulated by True Qi, reverberated, swirling and echoing non-stop within the entire corridor.


    There was a time when he was nothing more than a nominal disciple at Qingyun Sect, bullied by others. Now, with the help of "Meridian Refining Art" and "Gang Yuan Mantra" from the Primordial Star Scripture, he had grown to such an extent!


    Even the mighty Fire Armored Warriors could be slain by him in one move!


    "Come, the last twenty-nine Fire Armored Warriors!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes shone with extraordinary brightness, having confirmed the true might of Gang Yuan True Qi, he was absolutely certain that he could annihilate all the Fire Armored Warriors!


    With a perfect score, he would breach the first trial of the "Fire and Water Dao" at the Outer Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!


    He spread his arms wide and flew straight into the midst of the Fire Armored Warriors; dazzling silver aura burst forth again, drawing brilliant arcs within the entire corridor of the Path of Fire.


    Sword unleashed! Bodies severed! Heads fell!


    Within the corridor, the Fire Armored Warriors were continuously chopped down and exploded, the surging flame light orbs frantically rushed into Ye Chen''s body.


    And amidst the flame orbs, the green True Qi, along with the radiant silver Gang Yuan shining, Ye Chen reached a truly exhilarating level of combat feeling. His blood boiled, and the True Qi Vortex within him churned relentlessly.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment the last three Fire Armored Warriors were killed, Ye Chen, standing in the "Fire and Water Dao" corridor, was steaming with heat, like an invincible war god, emitting an awe-inspiring aura.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    At the same time, as Ye Chen absorbed the massive flame orb True Qi from the last thirty-six Fire Armored Warriors, the True Qi Vortex inside him began a new expansion and transformation.


    The five True Qi Vortices expanded rapidly, and when they expanded to a certain limit, the sixth True Qi Vortex was born.


    Six Vortices, the sixth layer of True Qi!


    After the events at Silent Ridge, the great battle with the Silver Veined Snake Demon at Mirror Lake, the life-and-death battle with Zhou Hai in the unnamed valley, and entering the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, Ye Chen had finally reached a new realm, breaking through to the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm!


    "Twelve layers of the True Qi Realm, and I''ve finally reached the halfway point."


    "At the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm, with my current strength, I can return to Qingyun Sect with absolute confidence to become an Outer Sect disciple!"


    There was an indomitable confidence in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Just as Ye Chen successfully killed all the Fire Armored Warriors and smoothly advanced to the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm, the giant fire pattern that had blocked his path suddenly dispersed, revealing the way forward once again.


    As the giant fire pattern dispersed, two orbs of light flew out from the fire pattern and hovered in the void.


    The deep and sonorous voice echoed once more in the corridor: "Congratulations, challenger, for you have successfully killed all one hundred and eight Fire Armored Warriors. As I said before, you will receive a special reward!"


    "These two manuals are your special reward. I hope you will comprehend them thoroughly!"


    At these words, the two orbs floating in the void slowly approached Ye Chen and finally landed in his hands.


    "Two manuals?"


    Ye Chen was curious as he looked at the two orbs in his hands.


    As the light of the orbs dissipated, two ancient-looking books were revealed.


    One of the books bore the title "Wind Thunder Sword Skills", and the other was titled "Wind Thunder Movement".


    "Wind Thunder Sword Skills?"


    "Wind Thunder Movement?"


    Ye Chen flipped through the books, looking at the introduction to these two cultivation techniques within.


    At that glance, his heart began to race with excitement.


    "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode is indeed a mysterious and powerful abode! The giant fire pattern that could manifest Fire Armored Warriors already evidences its extraordinariness!"


    "I had surmised that the special rewards would be extraordinary, but I never imagined they would be so precious!"


    In the introductions of these two booklets, it is clearly written what grade these two sets of manuals belong to.


    The Wind Thunder Sword Skills are upper-grade Xuan Class Cultivation Techniques, comprising three major subsidiary swordsmanship techniques, named "Wind Sword Skills," "Thunder Sword Skills," and "Joint Attack Sword Skills."


    Merely the Wind Sword Skills themselves surpass Yellow Class upper-grade Cultivation Techniques, reaching the level of Xuan Class lower-grade Cultivation Techniques.


    If all three subsidiary swordsmanship techniques are fully cultivated, this complete set of swordsmanship would directly be at the upper-grade Xuan Class Cultivation Technique level!


    Heaven and Earth, the four great grades of Cultivation Techniques: The reward from the first trial of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s Outer Mansion surpassed Yellow Class Techniques, reaching the level of Xuan Class Techniques and is even the most precious upper-grade Xuan Class Cultivation Technique.


    Ye Chen was overjoyed!


    Not only that, the second manual was equally extraordinary.


    Wind Thunder Movement, an upper-grade Xuan Class movement technique, designed to complement the Wind Thunder Sword Skills, likewise comprises three major subsidiary movement techniques, "Wind Movement Skills," "Thunder Movement Skills," and "Wind-Thunder Wings."


    Among them, Wind Movement Skills are of lower-grade Xuan Class movement techniques, Thunder Movement Skills are of middle-grade Xuan Class, and "Wind-Thunder Wings" is the final step, which upon successful cultivation, truly completes this upper-grade Xuan Class movement technique!


    When Ye Chen saw the introduction to Wind-Thunder Wings, his breathing tensed up.


    According to the manual, successfully cultivating the "Wind-Thunder Wings" would allow one to transform True Qi into wings, soaring in the sky like a giant bird with speed as swift as whirlwinds, as fast as startling thunder!


    This, undoubtedly, was a Flight Divine Ability only Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses could possess, yet this set of "Wind Thunder Movement" techniques was capable of achieving it!


    To fly in the sky is the dream of countless martial artists.


    Now, Ye Chen had the opportunity to realize this dream!


    "During my encounter with the Fire Armored Warrior, I felt that the Yellow Class middle-grade movement technique ''Startling Goose Steps'' was somewhat insufficient. Now, I''ve finally obtained a new movement technique!"


    "And it''s such a powerful upper-grade Xuan Class movement technique!"


    "Wind Thunder Movement, mighty as wind and thunder, one day, I will use Wind-Thunder Wings to soar among the skies!"


    Ye Chen carefully stowed away the two manuals close to his body and continued striding towards the pathway of the "Path of Fire."


    The test of the first challenge of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode had been passed, and the unknown second challenge still awaited him ahead.


    ...


    "I wonder what reward Ye Chen received from the Cultivation Techniques?"


    Jiang Yao watched Ye Chen, who had tucked away the manuals and was heading deeper into Fire and Water Dao, her delicate face revealing a slight smile with two shallow dimples, utterly charming.


    This contestant had performed so perfectly in the first challenge, giving her a pleasant surprise!


    This kind of delight, she had never felt with the previous nineteen contenders who had come to face the challenges of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    "When I passed this challenge myself, I received a set of True Qi Breathing Secret Method and a set of Flight Combat Skills. It was with the aid of these two manuals that I managed to attempt to break into Spirit Sea Realm at the age of sixteen."


    "Perhaps before long, Ye Chen too will, like me, successfully step into the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    Thought Jiang Yao in her heart.


    Meanwhile, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, watching Ye Chen head towards the second challenge of the Path of Fire, also revealed a rare smile.


    "To receive the special reward left by the master''s clone, this youth is indeed extraordinary!"


    "In these past three hundred years, less than ten have received the special reward. In recent years, other than the little girl by my side, this youth is the first to gain such an award!"


    "I''m truly looking forward to seeing if he can make it through the next two challenges and join this little girl in visiting the Inner Mansion!"


    "Speaking of which, it has been a long time since I have seen that old bird demon in charge of the Inner Mansion, I do miss it!"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape''s gaze passed through the deep corridor, looking towards the endless depths of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, with myriad thoughts flashing through its mind.


    "Is this the place for the second challenge?"


    After walking in the corridor for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the path ahead was once again obstructed.


    This time, Ye Chen was not blocked by the huge pattern of firelight from before but a piece of jade that was smooth as a mirror.


    Standing before the jade, Ye Chen''s own reflection could be seen distinctly in it.


    "What kind of challenge will this jade set?"


    As Ye Chen thought to himself, a voice came through: "Contestant, congratulations on smoothly passing the first challenge and arriving at the second challenge ¡ª ''Mirror Light Spirit Wall''!"


    This voice was unmistakably the same deep and resonant voice that had rewarded him with the "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and "Wind Thunder Movement" techniques!

 Chapter 33: Chapter 30: Observing Martial Arts through the Mirror and the Jade Disc

    The deep and resonant voice continued, "The first trial, ''Fire Rune Chart,'' tested your combat ability. This second trial, ''Mirror Light Spirit Wall,'' will test your enlightenment!"


    Enlightenment?


    Ye Chen was slightly startled.


    "Over these years, whenever a challenger arrived at this trial, I would demonstrate a Cultivation Technique for them to observe. After I have demonstrated the technique once, the challenger has three days to comprehend the Cultivation Technique I demonstrated.


    Within three days, if the challenger can perform this set of techniques in front of the jade wall to the required standard, the ''Mirror Light Spirit Wall'' will open the passageway forward, allowing them to enter the final trial of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s outer abode."


    The voice paused for a moment, then continued, "Challenger, at the first trial, you successfully obtained the special rewards ''Wind Thunder Sword Skills'' and the ''Wind Thunder Movement'' technique.


    Therefore, I will specifically demonstrate these two sets of techniques for you within the ''Mirror Light Jade Wall''!"


    "After my demonstration, nine faint lines will appear in the Mirror Light Jade Wall. If you can illuminate any three of those lines by practicing these two sets of techniques, you will pass this trial."


    "Challenger, I must particularly remind you that in order to light up three lines, you must at least cultivate one sub-technique from either of these two sets of techniques to a minor level of mastery within three days!"


    The two techniques Ye Chen had acquired, ''Wind Thunder Sword Skills'' and ''Wind Thunder Movement,'' were both of the profound-class superior-grade level, and even the sub-techniques within them reached the level of profound-class inferior-grade techniques.


    To cultivate one of the profound-class inferior-grade techniques to a minor level of mastery within three days was an extremely high demand on a challenger''s enlightenment and could be said to be immensely difficult!


    Keep in mind, even yellow-class techniques, which are much easier compared to profound-class techniques, take many people over a month to cultivate to a minor level of mastery.


    Three days to cultivate a profound-class technique to a minor level of mastery, in terms of enlightenment, would definitely qualify as a genius!


    This degree of difficulty did not intimidate Ye Chen; in fact, he became somewhat excited.


    "This voice must be that of the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode."


    "He said he would demonstrate ''Wind Thunder Sword Skills'' and the ''Wind Thunder Movement'' technique within the Mirror Light Jade Wall. Does that mean I will soon see the true visage of the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?"


    Ye Chen was exceedingly curious about the existence that even the hundred-foot-tall Three-Eyed Giant Ape would call master.


    Such a powerful figure personally demonstrating techniques to him was something impossible to achieve in a sect!


    Ye Chen was incredibly excited to see what the ''Wind Thunder Sword Skills'' and ''Wind Thunder Movement'' technique would look like when demonstrated by the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    "Challenger, I will only demonstrate these two sets of techniques once. Watch carefully!"


    As the voice faded, the immense Mirror Light Jade Wall suddenly emitted a startling light.


    Within the light, it seemed as though a world unfolded, revealing a realm of drifting fog and mist, and within this realm, a cyan figure stood with his hands behind his back in the void.


    "Is this the figure of the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?!"


    All of Ye Chen''s attention was fixated on the figure standing in the void within the jade wall''s realm.


    This was a somewhat slender middle-aged scholar. He was wearing a cyan robe, his hands clasped behind him as he proudly stood facing the misty sea of clouds between heaven and earth, his eyes alight with infinite wisdom, as if capable of piercing through everything in this realm.


    When he saw this figure, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape outside the Fire and Water Dao excitedly screamed, "Master, Master!"


    "The master normally shows only a shadow when demonstrating techniques for those challengers, and you can''t see his face at all. Only this little girl in front of me got to see the master''s face last time. I didn''t expect that this time, this young man would actually make the master appear in full!"


    "I haven''t seen the master''s full figure for so many years, it''s been over three hundred years!"


    "Master, I''ve finally seen you again!"


    The hundred-zhang-tall Three-Eyed Giant Ape, looking at the figure of the middle-aged scholar displayed on the light screen, actually let huge teardrops roll down one after the other.


    Jiang Yao''s eyes also revealed an expression of boundless admiration, "The owner of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode is said to be a legendary cultivator from the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "Heavenly Saint Realm, that''s a supreme realm that surpasses the ''True Qi Realm,'' ''Spirit Sea Realm,'' and ''Rotating Pill Realm!'' Even my master, ''Fairy Jia Luo,'' has not cultivated to the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    It''s said that there are currently no cultivators of the Heavenly Saint Realm level in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom!"


    "But who knows what happened to him, he only left behind this ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode'' here, along with the Demon King that followed him."


    Ye Chen was completely oblivious to the feelings of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape outside the Fire and Water Dao and Jiang Yao, his entire focus had merged with the Mirror Light Spirit Wall, and even the meridians throughout his body had opened up one after another, mobilizing all his observational power to look into the jade wall.


    Because inside the Mirror Light Jade Wall, the owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the figure of the middle-aged scholar, had begun to practice the "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and the movement technique "Wind Thunder Movement."


    The Mirror Light Jade Wall, the ethereal sky amidst the drifting clouds.


    The green silhouette standing in the void finally lowered his hands from behind his back, and with a grasp into the empty air with his right hand, a green longsword instantly appeared in his palm.


    The green figure glanced at the sword in his hand and, after three breaths, finally raised his head.


    Just as he lifted his head, the long hair trailing behind him rose without any wind, and his entire aura surged as if a divine sword had finally been unsheathed!


    "It''s starting!"


    Ye Chen stared intently at the green silhouette, watching his every move.


    As the sword intent and aura reached its peak, the whole figure took a step into the void, and in an instant, fierce winds raged between heaven and earth, with the sound of thunder faintly audible.


    Then, his sword, together with his entire being, turned into a hurricane!


    That hurricane was precisely the circulation of the "Hurricane Frenzy," the first form of the "Wind Sword Skills," which is part of the "Thunder Sword Skills" three major subsidiary sword techniques!


    When this hurricane''s circulation reached its ultimate point, instantly, the green silhouette reappeared, and this time, his swordsmanship changed.


    It was as if a gentle breeze swept across the land, far milder and less violent than the preceding hurricane, yet it made countless trees on the ground sway wildly.


    This was precisely the second form of "Wind Sword Skills," the Thirteen Wind Strips!


    Following "Hurricane Frenzy" and "Thirteen Wind Strips," the green figure transformed yet again, each form of "Wind Sword Skills" flowing effortlessly from his hands.


    By the end, Ye Chen felt that this figure had become a breeze between heaven and earth, demonstrating every aspect of the wind''s meaning.


    Until all nine forms of "Wind Sword Skills" had been practiced, the vision of the green silhouette practicing in the void lingered in Ye Chen''s mind.


    And the green figure didn''t stop there, his aura shifted, and he began to practice the "Thunder Sword Skills" from the "Wind Thunder Sword Skills".


    Wind Sword Skills.


    Thunder Sword Skills.


    Until the final combined sword technique!


    Countless techniques, each infused with boundless meaning, and even with all his focus, Ye Chen couldn''t capture their full essence.


    In the end, he even felt that the figure was not merely demonstrating the "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" but was explaining to him a profound dao of martial cultivation!


    Ineffably profound!

 Chapter 34: Chapter 31 The Great Tremor

    Ye Chen sat cross-legged beneath the "Mirror Light Spirit Wall."


    The thousand Lotus Cave Abode owner''s azure figure shifted and transformed endlessly in the reflections of the mirror wall.


    When the entire repertoire of the "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" was completed, the final move, "Wind and Thunder Change," of the azure figure''s sword combined strike of wind and thunder caused three peals of thunderous blasts directly within the mirror wall''s world.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    These three thunderous blasts were as if the owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode had tapped Ye Chen on the head three times with the azure long sword in his hand.


    In an instant, the endless fog in Ye Chen''s mind was blown apart by these three peals of thunder, and a remarkable enlightenment instantly suffused his entire mind.


    "Wind Sword Skills."


    "Thunder Sword Skills."


    "Wind and Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills!"


    "This is swordsmanship, as well as the essence of the sword path, the essence of the ''Wind'' and ''Thunder'' sword path!"


    "The owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode isn''t just demonstrating sword skills to me, he is clearly imparting the essence of ''Wind'' and ''Thunder''!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes suddenly burst with endless brilliance, and although the azure figure had ceased moving, he seemed to still see a phantom in the mirror wall, endlessly shifting its techniques, still seeing the Wind! Seeing the Thunder!


    Even when the azure figure resumed practicing the second technique, "Wind Thunder Movement," the marvelous phantom of wind and thunder in the mirror wall and the owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s azure figure seemed to merge together completely!


    Two techniques could actually merge completely in their essence!


    "I understand now!"


    "Be it ''Wind Thunder Sword Skills'' or ''Wind Thunder Movement,'' both encompass the essence of wind and thunder!"


    "I fear these two techniques are evolved by the owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, from the essence of wind and thunder!"


    "Practicing these two techniques, if one starts from the very essence of wind and thunder, there might be incredible gains!"


    In the end, Ye Chen was no longer watching the azure figure practicing techniques in the mirror wall; he had closed his eyes.


    Although he had closed his eyes, his mind was filled with the howling of wind and the roaring of thunder, and the countless techniques demonstrated by the azure figure sped through his mind, finally merging miracously...


    Even when the azure figure had completed both techniques and disappeared from the "Mirror Light Spirit Wall," leaving nine dimly lit assessment lines on the wall, Ye Chen did not open his eyes.


    "He has received enlightenment!"


    Outside the Fire and Water Dao, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, seeing Ye Chen suddenly close his eyes, spoke softly.


    "He has probably gained great insight!"


    At this moment, Jiang Yao, observing Ye Chen, had her eyes shining even more brightly!


    "I wonder how many of the nine dim lines on the Mirror Light Spirit Wall he will be able to illuminate. Lighting up three lines would allow him to pass this level, but I feel that he could illuminate at least six, maybe even seven lines!" the Three-Eyed Giant Ape speculated in his heart.


    "According to what Senior Ape has said, in over three hundred years, the most anyone has ever lit up on this level is eight lines. When I challenged the ''Path of Water,'' I equaled the record of eight lines.


    But why do I feel that Ye Chen could possibly break this record?" Jiang Yao thought as she looked at the tranquil Ye Chen sitting below the Mirror Light Spirit Wall.


    She had never seen anyone who could enter a state of enlightenment so quickly and remain so composed upon observing the owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode demonstrate movement techniques, not even herself back in her day!


    In the middle of the Fire and Water Dao, beneath the Mirror Light Spirit Wall.


    Under the watchful eyes of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao, Ye Chen sat quietly.


    One day.


    Two days.


    As the end of the three-day reflection period drew closer, the eyes of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao grew brighter and brighter.


    The longer the contemplation, the greater the potential gains!


    Finally, just as the three-day period was about to expire, Ye Chen, who was sitting in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes!


    In the instant he opened his eyes, two wondrous lights flashed across them.


    Had the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao been in the midst of the Fire and Water Dao, they would have realized that these two lights were infused with the endless charm of wind and thunder.


    It was as if, in that moment, wind and thunder had shot directly into Ye Chen''s eyes.


    The now wide-awake Ye Chen immediately stood up and walked to the base of the Mirror Light Spirit Wall.


    "He''s going to start practicing techniques now."


    "We will soon know how many lines he can illuminate,"


    Both the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao felt their hearts tighten.


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen, standing beneath the Mirror Light Spirit Wall, stretched out his hand, and countless strands of green Qi transformed directly into a green longsword in his palm.


    It was exactly as the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s previous owner had suddenly produced a green longsword in his hands within the Mirror Light Spirit Wall!


    Woosh!


    Ye Chen, holding the longsword, didn''t start practicing the fixed moves of the "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" or the "Wind Thunder Movement." Instead, he simply swung the longsword at the Mirror Light Spirit Wall.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Boom!


    In that single slash, the nine dim lines in the Mirror Light Spirit Wall lit up simultaneously in the blink of an eye, emitting an unrivaled radiance!


    This unrivaled radiance illuminated the entirety of the Path of Fire so brightly!


    Nine lines!


    Passing the second challenge of the Outer Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode required lighting up three lines, but Ye Chen had lit up all nine lines in a single move.


    This was simply a miracle that had not occurred in over three hundred years of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!


    "How is this possible?!"


    Outside in the Fire and Water Dao, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape even leaped up in the moment the nine lines lit up together, its thunderous hopping shaking the entire main hall of the Outer Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    It had anticipated that Ye Chen''s understanding following contemplation would be impressive, but never had it imagined that Ye Chen''s achievement would reach such a level!


    All nine lines simultaneously illuminated, this was directly the strongest performance in the history of the second challenge of the Outer Mansion!


    This was simply unheard of!


    "Three days of contemplation, and he lit up all nine lines! Could it be that he met the master''s highest requirement and cultivated both sets of techniques to Great Accomplishment?!"


    "Impossible, absolutely impossible. The two sets of Cultivation Techniques he received are both top-grade mystical methods. It''s definitely not possible for him to cultivate both to Great Accomplishment in three days!"


    "Could it be that he has discerned the true purpose behind the master setting this challenge and directly comprehended the sentiment behind the techniques?"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape''s three divine eyes turned towards Ye Chen in the Fire and Water Dao, filled with shock and disbelief.


    As the guardian of the Outer Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape knew better than anyone the purpose of its master setting this challenge.


    The second challenge of the Outer Mansion was a test of comprehension ¡ª it was meant to probe and assess the solvers'' insight!


    Its master''s decision to demonstrate the techniques to those being tested was not as simple as merely explaining the moves.


    Having the solvers mimic and internalize the moves was too basic.


    The essence and underlying sentiment of the demonstrated techniques, that was what truly mattered, and that was what truly tested one''s insight!


    If the solvers could fully perceive all of this, only then would they truly demonstrate their unique comprehension!


    Regrettably, among those who had entered the second challenge over the past three hundred years, very few had recognized this.


    "The sentiment, it must be the sentiment."


    "This Ye Chen, is truly a genius!"


    Jiang Yao, watching the nine lines in the Mirror Light Spirit Wall brilliantly light up, revealed endless brilliance in her clear eyes.


    "Initially, when I received the Cultivation Technique rewarded by the owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, I also began by following the demonstration of moves provided by the owner during this comprehension challenge."


    "It wasn''t until a day later that I suddenly realized that the comprehension challenge couldn''t merely be about practicing the technique; even pushing oneself to the limit wouldn''t achieve much in three days. What truly proved one''s insight was likely the sentiment behind the technique!"


    "Only by grasping the essence of the sentiment could one truly assert their exceptional insight."


    "Therefore, during the remaining two days, I focused solely on understanding the sentiment of the ''Flight Combat Skill'' I had received, and it was because I grasped the sentiment that I managed to light up eight lines in the Mirror Light Spirit Wall in the end."


    "Now, Ye Chen has directly lit up all nine lines. Doesn''t this mean that he didn''t take any detours and realized the owner''s intention right from the start, directly grasping the sentiment?!"


    "In the first challenge, at the Fire Rune Chart, Ye Chen''s combat power already earned my respect. Now, at the second challenge, by the Mirror Light Spirit Wall, his comprehension has left me utterly astonished. If he succeeds in the third challenge, a test of willpower..."


    Jiang Yao''s clear eyes gazed at Ye Chen in front of the Mirror Light Spirit Wall.


    "Then he, Ye Chen, as a companion who will step into the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode with me, I will feel immensely proud of his formidable strength! Together, we will strive to inherit the true legacy of the owner of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!"

 Chapter 35: Chapter 32 Fire Lotus Law Pattern

    Outside the Fire and Water Dao, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao watched Ye Chen, whose spirit was stirred by his success in passing the second trial of the "Mirror Light Spirit Wall".


    In the "Path of Fire" of the Fire and Water Dao.


    Just as Ye Chen had illuminated all nine dim lines on the "Mirror Light Spirit Wall", the giant "Mirror Light Spirit Wall", which was over ten meters tall and wide, saw those nine lines suddenly start moving rapidly. In an instant, bright light covered the entire Mirror Wall.


    And in the moment that the light covered the entire Mirror Wall, the Mirror Light Spirit Wall burst with a loud "boom", turning into faint firelight that scattered and disappeared, revealing once more the path forward in the "Path of Fire".


    "Finally, it''s time to enter the last trial of this Outer Mansion."


    Ye Chen gazed ahead, took a deep breath, and strode further into the corridor.


    Although the second trial did not yield as direct a reward as the first trial in the "Fire Rune Chart", where his True Qi Realm broke through to the sixth level of True Qi and he obtained two sets of superior mystical-grade techniques, his gains were even more significant and precious than those from the first trial.


    The ambience of the Wind-Thunder, the understanding of wind and thunder imparted by the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode within the Mirror Light Spirit Wall, was now deeply engraved in his mind¡ªthese were the ambience wielded by the incredibly powerful master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!


    With the insight into these two ambience, given time, Ye Chen was absolutely certain that he would be able to master the two superior mystical-grade techniques, "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and "Wind-Thunder Movement", to perfection, and from these ambience, he would be able to extract the true "Wind-Thunder Sword Ambience"!


    By then, with two sets of superior mystical-grade techniques and a new sword ambience even more fearsome than the "Raging Storm Sword Ambience" at his disposal, Ye Chen''s strength would elevate to an inconceivable degree ¡ª increasing his current power by more than tenfold was no empty talk!


    Ye Chen calmed his mind, pushing all distracting thoughts aside. With significant gains from the first two trials, he was brimming with anticipation for the challenges and rewards that awaited in the final trial of the Outer Mansion.


    After another quarter of an hour''s journey down the corridor, Ye Chen suddenly noticed a faint figure sitting cross-legged on the ground at the end of the passage.


    This faint figure, dressed in a green Daoist robe and appearing thin and hale, was unmistakably the middle-aged scholar who had demonstrated techniques to Ye Chen in the Mirror Light Spirit Wall¡ªit was the silhouette of the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!


    Outside the Fire and Water Dao, when the Three-Eyed Giant Ape saw the faint figure that had suddenly appeared at the end of the corridor, disbelief filled all three of its divine eyes, "How is this possible?


    The master''s avatar appearing in the Mirror Light Spirit Wall to demonstrate techniques is already extremely rare, but for it to truly emerge within the Fire and Water Dao is completely unprecedented!"


    "Now, why would it appear during this third trial, the challenge of willpower?"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape knew its master had left behind an avatar in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode to guard two astonishingly precious secret treasures in the Inner Mansion.


    Over these past three hundred years, those who undertook the trials of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode could only hear its master''s voice. Even within the Mirror Light Spirit Wall, they would see merely a hazy figure practicing techniques, unable to discern the face clearly.


    For Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to witness the true appearance of the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode within the Mirror Light Spirit Wall was already extremely rare, let alone directly prompting the master''s avatar left in the abode to manifest.


    This was an event the Three-Eyed Giant Ape had never encountered before!


    "Could it be that the master''s avatar has appeared to personally convey something important to this Ye Chen?" the Three-Eyed Giant Ape speculated.


    In the Path of Fire, Ye Chen''s heart skipped a beat when he suddenly saw the sitting figure at the end of the corridor ahead.


    "Elder, are you the master of this abode, the one who just now imparted the techniques'' ambience to me?"


    Ye Chen looked at the figure before him, which seemed both real and illusory, leaving him unsure whether it was a person or a manifestation of True Qi.


    The faint figure sitting on the ground looked at Ye Chen and chuckled lightly, "Indeed, I am the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, but I am merely an avatar that my true self left in the abode. My real body has long since left this place."


    "Ye Chen, that is your name, isn''t it? Just call me Qian Jizi."


    "Indeed, I am called Ye Chen," Ye Chen replied to the figure claiming to be Qian Jizi with a respectful bow.


    Although he did not know what Qian Jizi meant by an avatar, considering the term, it must be a powerful technique available only at a high level of cultivation.


    Qian Jizi looked at Ye Chen and nodded slightly, "It has been more than three hundred years since I have truly appeared. At most, I have projected myself onto the Mirror Light Spirit Wall just to observe trial-goers like you."


    "However, Ye Chen, it is you who have made me feel compelled to reveal myself!"


    As Qian Jizi spoke, a rare smile appeared on his illusory face, "At the first trial, your combat strength far exceeded your current realm, which surprised me.


    In the second trial, within a short span of three days, you understood the two ambiances that I demonstrated, which made me extremely delighted. Your aptitude and comprehension are the highest I''ve seen in over three hundred years! Even higher than that little girl I saw three years ago."


    "The little girl you saw three years ago?


    Could it be the one the senior Three-Eyed Giant Ape mentioned, the girl who passed the ''Path of Water'' three trials and is waiting to enter the Inner Mansion?" Upon hearing Qian Jizi''s praise of the girl, Ye Chen also became eager to meet her¡ªthe girl who had passed the three trials of the Outer Mansion three years before him!


    What Ye Chen didn''t realize was that the girl he wanted to meet was Jiang Yao, who was currently watching him take the trials from outside the Fire and Water Dao!


    "Originally, your performance in the first two trials was unparalleled, and even without this third trial, I was thinking about letting you enter the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode Inner Mansion.


    Unfortunately, the trials of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode are ones I personally set up over three hundred years ago.


    Especially this third trial of the Outer Mansion, it''s pivotal to whether you can truly receive the final inheritance, so I can''t just let you pass directly," Qian Jizi said with a sigh.


    "Senior, don''t mind it. The rewards you gave me in the first two trials are already plentiful. Let me pass this third trial with my own strength, just like everyone else!" Ye Chen said with a smile.


    Qian Jizi nodded, "Not arrogant or impatient, very good, very good! Since it''s so, I shall inform you of the method of the third trial."


    The method of the third trial?


    Hearing Qian Jizi say this, Ye Chen listened attentively.


    "This third trial is a test of willpower, aimed at assessing your fortitude!"


    "In this ''Path of Fire'' third trial, you will undergo the terrifying ordeal of ''Ten Thousand Flames Burning Body''. You must successfully cultivate the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern'' on your forehead amidst the boundless pain to pass the trial!"


    "Cultivating the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern'' is extremely difficult! You must have an immensely strong will to withstand the pain of the burning flames, and at the same time, you need to cultivate secret techniques for nurturing the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''!"


    "If you fail to cultivate the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern'' in this third trial, you will also fail the third trial of the Outer Mansion. At that time, all your memories within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode will be burned away by the flames!"


    At this point, Qian Jizi looked towards Ye Chen, "However, Ye Chen, if other challengers fail this third trial, their memories of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode will be burned, and I will send them away directly. But even if you fail, I will preserve your memories within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    Whether it is the mysterious grade techniques or the Wind-Thunder Ambience, all will be retained! That way, even if you have to leave the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode midway, you will still make significant gains!"


    "But, Ye Chen, I hope more that you can pass this third trial of the Outer Mansion and truly cultivate the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''. Then, together with the little girl from three years ago, you may enter the Inner Mansion and obtain the real Secret Treasure that I have placed inside!"


    Qian Jizi''s caring and expectant words warmed Ye Chen''s heart.


    Even if he didn''t pass the third trial, Qian Jizi still chose to preserve the rewards of the first two trials for Ye Chen. Such recognition was extremely precious to him.


    "Senior, I will certainly try my best to pass this third trial and not let down your expectations!"


    Ye Chen said with the utmost seriousness.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s earnest demeanor, Qian Jizi was even more gratified, "Good, good! Then I will impart to you the secret technique for cultivating the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''.


    I hope you can once again rely on your own strength to pass this ''Ten Thousand Flames Burning Body'' trial and cultivate the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''!"


    As Qian Jizi''s voice fell, the verses of the secret technique were transmitted directly into Ye Chen''s mind.


    Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the ground, committing the content of these secret techniques to memory.


    Once all verses of the secret techniques were imprinted in his mind and Ye Chen had memorized them completely, Qian Jizi''s booming voice came through, "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode Outer Mansion third trial, ''Ten Thousand Flames Burning Body'' ordeal, begins!"


    "Ye Chen, cultivate your own ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the midst of that resounding voice, countless flames burst forth from all directions within the Path of Fire corridor. In an instant, the entire corridor turned into a world of fire.

 Chapter 36: Chapter 33 The Lotus Appears

    Flames blazed fiercely, painting the world of fire a uniform crimson.


    And there, at the very center of this world of fire, was Ye Chen, with countless flames darting towards him, scorching his body.


    In an instant, Ye Chen was completely submerged by the omnipresent flames, and a pain that pierced his heart spread from his limbs and bones to the depths of his soul.


    Pain!


    Extreme pain!


    This pain, no amount of True Qi could block; it did not burn the skin and muscle but pierced straight through the body, scorching Ye Chen''s soul!


    Ye Chen''s soul felt as if it were being torn apart by a colossal force!


    Ye Chen''s spirit was like being viciously sliced by countless swords!


    This agony, worse than the pain of being burned physically, struck at the deepest part of the soul.


    Even as Ye Chen clenched his teeth, he couldn''t help but let out muffled groans!


    ...


    "Hang in there,"


    "To be scorched by myriad fires is to also have one''s heart set aflame; only through tempering one''s will amidst this boundless pain and allowing the spirit to transform can new vitality be nurtured, the vitality belonging to the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''."


    The avatar of Qian Jizi sat cross-legged above the world of fire, quietly observing Ye Chen in the flames, softly speaking in his heart.


    ...


    "Countless fires scorching the body is the final trial of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s Outer Mansion, and the most difficult one."


    "Who knows how many who were strong in combat and keen in insight have fallen at this trial."


    "Many at the moment of incineration by these myriad flames have had their souls severely burnt and fell into complete unconsciousness. Even more people have rolled, wailed, and screamed nonstop in these blazing fires, yet still could not withstand the pain and were ultimately eliminated."


    "Only by overpowering this endless pain with willpower, only those with truly powerful will, can succeed!"


    "Young man, I hope you can persevere,"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape sighed deeply as it watched Ye Chen engulfed in the sea of flames.


    ...


    "The third trial of the Path of Fire, myriad fires scorching the body."


    "It''s far more terrifying than the third trial of the Path of Water I experienced, which tested and refined the will."


    Jiang Yao''s crystal-clear eyes were filled with worry as she watched Ye Chen in the midst of the flames.


    She had witnessed the trials of nineteen individuals challenging the Path of Fire, and of those who had crossed the first two trials, nine had been defeated by this third one.


    The tragic state of those nine during the fire''s incineration had left a deep impression on her.


    She had yet to see anyone withstand this trial of myriad fires scorching the body, and she wondered, could Ye Chen become the first person she had witnessed who would pass this third trial of the Outer Mansion?


    Jiang Yao did not know.


    Her eyes were filled with concern but also with anticipation.


    She hoped that this young man, who had demonstrated miraculous prowess in the previous trials, could withstand the pain and once again create a miracle!


    ...


    In the midst of the intense scrutiny from Qian Jizi, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, and Jiang Yao, Ye Chen, who had just let out a muffled groan, lifted his head once more.


    "Pain, the pain of the soul being scorched, no matter how unbearable, must be faced! Must be endured!"


    "The soul, at its most fragile yet most powerful, if completely overpowered by this piercing agony of myriad fires, would be dominated by this pain! However, if the soul were to completely forget this piercing pain, then no agony could shake my innermost being!"


    "Willpower, use willpower to overcome this piercing pain of myriad fires!"


    "All of my spirit, focus on the cultivation, focus on nurturing the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''!"


    In the midst of the fire''s relentless incineration, Ye Chen''s eyes burst forth with an indomitable light, and the secret of nurturing the "Fire Lotus Law Pattern" flowed endlessly in his mind.


    When all his attention was focused on the secret technique, the pain from the myriad fires seemed to lessen considerably.


    In the world of the fire sea, Ye Chen became quiet once again.


    In the boundless sea of flames, amidst endless pain.


    He slowly closed his eyes and quietly began to nurture the Fire Lotus Law Pattern.


    ...


    "Good, he has quickly endured through the flames of the fire sea and entered a state of willpower,"


    Qian Jizi''s avatar above the sea of fire nodded slightly as he saw Ye Chen enter a meditative state, sitting peacefully.


    "I hope that you will get through the true refinement of myriad fires that comes next,"


    No sooner had his words fallen than countless burning flames in the world of fire surged like violent waters, and the entire world became even more brilliantly lit, with the power of the flames rising sharply once again.


    Even the air within the Path of Fire writhed and twisted under the abruptly intensified power of the flames.


    "Ah!"


    Ye Chen, who was sitting in meditation, was abruptly penetrated by the heightened power of the flames, and he tumbled to the ground in agony, crying out in pain.


    "No, I must not be defeated!"


    "''Fire Lotus Law Pattern,'' the first pattern!"


    Struggling, Ye Chen got up, once again composed himself, and entered the state of cultivation.


    Boom!


    Countless flames once again scorched his body, the pain piercing straight into his heart, knocking him down yet again.


    But Ye Chen, with fierce determination, propped himself up with his hands! He got back up!


    "Ye Chen, Ye Chen."


    Outside the Fire and Water Dao, Jiang Yao watched as Ye Chen was repeatedly brought down by the burning power of endless flames and then got up over and over again, her eyes welling up with tears.


    Her thoughts were utterly pure.


    Although she hoped that Ye Chen would succeed and enter the Inner Mansion with her, she did not wish to see him suffer so greatly. The pain he endured was so intense that it caused her own heart to ache.


    Nevertheless, Ye Chen persisted, holding on time and time again.


    This persistence touched her deeply.


    "Those who entered the third challenge before were knocked down by the pain of the burning flames at most three times before they completely fell."


    "Ye Chen, on the other hand, has gotten up for the eighteenth time!"


    Such perseverance was something Jiang Yao had never seen in anyone else, and it moved her even more than the miracles Ye Chen had previously created!


    "Now is the crucial time for rebirth through nirvana."


    "Either be vanquished by boundless pain, or rise from it, reborn anew!"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape watched Ye Chen in the sea of fire, witnessing his repeated falls and rises, and its three divine eyes began to shine brighter and brighter.


    Finally, after the boiling force of the flames had knocked Ye Chen down thirty-three times, when he struggled and rose up once more, he did not fall again!


    He even sat back down cross-legged in the midst of the sea of flames, his posture remarkably stable.


    "He''s withstood it! Ye Chen has withstood it!"


    Outside the Fire and Water Dao, seeing Ye Chen sitting cross-legged once again in the world of the sea of fire, unaffected, Jiang Yao burst into excited leaps.


    Earlier, each time she saw Ye Chen fall and get back up, her heart clenched with pain.


    She feared that Ye Chen would be grievously hurt in these struggles with the burning flames.


    She also feared, feared that the three years she had waited would end up being in vain once again.


    Now, this miraculous young man had truly withstood it, really withstood the burning of the thousand fires!


    How could this not fill her with immense excitement?!


    Seeing Jiang Yao''s uncontainable excitement, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape sighed.


    It knew this girl had waited for three long years, only to be disappointed time after time.


    In those three years, nineteen people entered the Path of Fire for the trial, and not one had successfully passed the test of the Path of Fire''s three challenges, not one could join her to brave the Inner Mansion of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    Disappointment after disappointment, the downcast look on the girl''s face each time she left the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode moved even the Three-Eyed Giant Ape with a tinge of sorrow.


    Now, this young man in the Path of Fire was the closest to success, closest to fulfilling this girl''s wish to enter the Inner Mansion.


    "Succeed, don''t make this girl wait any longer."


    "If we wait again, who knows how long it will be before someone else enters Thousand Lotus Cave Abode."


    "Succeed."


    "The trials you have faced are already enough."


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape awaited with hope in its heart.


    ...


    In the midst of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape''s expectation and Jiang Yao''s exhilaration,


    Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged in the world of the sea of fire, suddenly opened his eyes, his gaze becoming resolute and calm.


    The torment of the thousand fires, the repeated assaults of pain, the struggles and rises, seemed to renew Ye Chen''s will as well!


    "Incubate the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern''!"


    Within the world of the sea of flames, he roared, and the ubiquitous flames crazily converged towards the center of his forehead at his command.


    As the flames continued to congregate, a crimson lotus petal pattern slowly emerged on his brow.


    "The Lotus Petal Law Pattern, the first Lotus Petal Law Pattern has appeared!"


    Upon seeing the first Fire Lotus Law Pattern emerge successfully on Ye Chen''s forehead, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape cried out in surprise.


    The appearance of the first Lotus Petal Law Pattern indicated that Ye Chen had truly started the process of incubating the "Fire Lotus Law Pattern"!


    "Keep it up! Ye Chen, keep it up! You must succeed, you must incubate the entire Fire Lotus Law Pattern!"


    Jiang Yao clenched her fists tightly, her eyes fixed solely on Ye Chen.


    Before the delighted cry of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape could subside, and just after Jiang Yao caught her breath, a second Lotus Petal Fire Pattern appeared on Ye Chen''s forehead.


    With his will refined, Ye Chen was like a sharpened Divine Sword, exuding endless willpower.


    The burning flames could no longer bring him pain; instead, they accelerated his absorption of their immense power.


    Following that, the third, fourth, fifth...


    Ye Chen''s speed of incubating the Lotus Petal Law Patterns increased rapidly until finally, amidst a dazzling blaze, seven petals of a lotus fire pattern fully emerged on the center of his brow.


    This was unmistakably the sign of passing the third challenge - the Fire Lotus Law Pattern!


    As the Fire Lotus Law Pattern appeared on Ye Chen''s brow, a pale blue lotus water pattern also emerged directly on Jiang Yao''s brow, outside the Fire and Water Dao.


    Then, Qian Jizi''s voice echoed throughout both the inside and outside of the Fire and Water Dao: "Ye Chen has passed the third challenge! He will enter the Inner Mansion of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode together with Jiang Yao!"

 Chapter 37: Chapter 34 First Encounter

    "Ye Chen, you''ve passed the third trial! You will enter the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode with Jiang Yao!"


    The voice of Qian Jizi echoed within and beyond the Fire and Water Dao for a long time.


    "The third trial, I''ve finally broken through the third trial!"


    Ye Chen clenched his fists tightly and stood up from his seated meditation.


    After tackling the "Fire Rune Chart" against the Fire Armored Warriors and comprehending the Wind-Thunder Ambience in the "Mirror Light Spirit Wall," he had now also triumphed over the "Burn of Ten Thousand Fires," successfully tempering his will and passing the trial!


    All three trials, the entire Outer Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, he had completed them all and finally qualified to enter the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!


    "Jiang Yao, Elder Qian Jizi said that I will enter the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode with Jiang Yao."


    "Jiang Yao... this name sounds so familiar."


    When he heard this name in Qian Jizi''s words, Ye Chen felt as if he had heard it somewhere before. In a flash of thought, he remembered.


    "Is it her?"


    "The Senior Sister Jiang Yao everyone was discussing back in the Qingyun Sect''s disciple square?"


    Ye Chen still remembered hearing about the remarkable feats of Senior Sister Jiang Yao, how at sixteen she had advanced beyond the twelfth layer of True Qi and entered the Spirit Sea Realm, making her the top talent of all thirty-six sects in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    Back then, he had even seen a portrait of Jiang Yao, a girl of such beauty that it stirred a ripple in his heart.


    At that time, Ye Chen thought that perhaps one day, once he became strong, he''d be able to meet Senior Sister Jiang Yao herself in person. Yet now, inside the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, he had unexpectedly heard her name! Was she the one who would be navigating the Inner Mansion with him?!


    "Is it really that Senior Sister Jiang Yao?"


    Thinking of the beautiful girl in the portrait, and those enchanting, clear eyes, Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel a sense of anticipation.


    "Let''s go."


    "Ye Chen, come with me to the Inner Mansion and meet Jiang Yao."


    At that moment, in the corridor, the projected image of Qian Jizi appeared in front of Ye Chen. With a wave of his hand, the obstruction at the end of the corridor shattered, and a brilliant light flooded in from ahead.


    Qian Jizi strode forward, and Ye Chen took a deep breath, following closely behind, as they both stepped out of the Fire and Water Dao corridor.


    ...


    "Ape Elder, I can finally enter the Inner Mansion, I can finally enter the Inner Mansion!"


    Outside the Fire and Water Dao, in the Outer Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, as Jiang Yao heard Qian Jizi''s lingering voice, her snow-white face blossomed like a pear flower, her waterfall-like hair gently swaying. Her entire being became more vibrant, filled with boundless excitement and joy.


    After three years of waiting, and repeated disappointments, she hadn''t found a companion to enter the Inner Mansion with, unable to access the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    Now, this youth, Ye Chen, had finally realized this wish, and would enter the Inner Mansion with her. She could finally see what the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode was really like!


    "Ye Chen, thank you," Jiang Yao murmured with her rosy lips.


    Witnessing the girl''s excitable bounce, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape''s enormous face also showed a smile.


    "Let''s go and meet that Ye Chen!"


    "The Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode is very different from the Outer Mansion!"


    "Now that I think about it, it has been over twenty years since I last entered the Inner Mansion!"


    As the Three-Eyed Giant Ape spoke, on one side of the Outer Mansion''s wall, a massive passageway thunderously opened up. This passageway was the transport route from the Outer Mansion to the Inner Mansion.


    "Let''s go, Ape Elder!"


    "Let''s go."


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Jiang Yao, one after the other, flew into the passageway in the wall.


    ...


    Meanwhile, as Ye Chen passed the three trials of the Outer Mansion and was heading to the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode with Qian Jizi to meet Jiang Yao and explore the even more mysterious realm,


    over a thousand miles away from where the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode stood, on a mountain peak of Qingyun Sect''s outer region, a tall and beautiful girl was slightly furrowing her brows with worry showing in her eyes.


    "Ye Chen, he''s been missing for over ten days now, and we have no idea what''s become of him."


    "There are rumors that he killed Zhou Hai, Zhou Hai of the Seventh Layer of True Qi, could he really have been killed by Ye Chen?"


    If Ye Chen had seen this tall girl, he would certainly have recognized her as none other than Lin Jing, the Qingyun Sect outer disciple who had teamed up with him to enter Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    "That Zhou Hai''s father, Zhou Yuntian, is a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert, and is also an elder of the Seventh Grade sect, Heavenly Net Sect, a man even our leader of Qingyun Sect must show respect for! Now that Zhou Yuntian has completely lost his mind, he''s been frantically searching everywhere for Ye Chen.


    All of us who teamed up with Ye Chen to enter the mountain have been personally interrogated by him. If it weren''t for my father pleading for us, I''m afraid we would all have died at Zhou Yuntian''s hands!"


    Thinking back to Zhou Yuntian''s furious appearance, Lin Jing''s heart trembled.


    "What should Ye Chen do? Zhou Yuntian is looking for him, how can he possibly escape?"


    Whenever Lin Jing thought of the young man who hunted the Silver-striped Snake Demon with her, the same one along with the obsession of Zhou Hai, her eyes filled with worry.


    ...


    Heavenly Net Sect, hundreds of miles away from Qingyun Sect.


    At the moment, inside the cave abode of Elder Zhou Yuntian of the Heavenly Net Sect, he was extremely furious. His entire abode was oppressed by a powerful aura of True Qi, making it hard for anyone to breathe.


    "Useless fools, all of you are useless!"


    "A whole living man, and you all can''t find him, can he possibly fly to the sky or something?"


    At this moment, in the cave abode, a large number of Heavenly Net Sect disciples were kneeling, each of them all surpassing the Ninth Layer of True Qi. However, they did not dare to breathe too heavily, fearful of angering Elder Zhou and being killed by him in a fit of rage.


    Facing the furious Spirit Sea Realm expert, their realms of the Ninth or Tenth Layer of True Qi stood no chance at all.


    "Search, even if you must turn Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain upside down, find that Ye Chen!"


    "And keep a close watch on Qingyun Sect as well. If he shows up there, seize him immediately for me!"


    Zhou Yuntian''s eyes were bloodshot as he stared outside the cave abode, gritting his teeth.


    "Ye Chen, no matter where you flee, I will capture you and tear you to pieces, to comfort my son Hai in the spirit of heaven!"


    ...


    "This is the Inner Mansion of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?"


    The winds outside Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain surged, but Ye Chen paid them no mind. At the moment, following Qian Jizi, he had come to a world filled with fresh breeze and the fragrance of flowers, a chattering of birds.


    He had assumed the Inner Mansion of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode would be similar to the Outer Mansion, a sealed hall, but unexpectedly, this place turned out to be a different kind of beautiful world.


    Looking into the distance, he could see a vast expanse of beautiful green lotus leaves swaying in a lake. Further away, there even stood a towering mountain, rising into the clouds.


    As Ye Chen was taking in the sights of the Inner Mansion of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, suddenly there came the sound of flying from behind.


    He turned around as though sensing something and caught sight of a girl in a light blue robe flying towards him, near the Three-Eyed Giant Ape.


    Her waterfall-like black hair floated behind her, and her pure, flawless skin, delicate face, pert nose, and rosy lips all radiated breathtaking beauty.


    There were also her clear, starry eyes gleaming brightly, with a slight smile as she looked at Ye Chen.


    When he saw those eyes, Ye Chen''s heart exploded with a "bang," overwhelmed by an indescribable sensation that swept through his entire body.


    "Jiang Yao."


    "She truly is the Sister Jiang Yao whose portrait I have seen!"


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 Chapter 38: Chapter 35 Flying Sword Heritage

    Ye Chen''s mind was in turmoil when Jiang Yao and the Three-Eyed Giant Ape had already landed upon the ground of the Inner Mansion.


    No sooner had the Three-Eyed Giant Ape touched down than it excitedly ran toward the seated projection of Qian Jizi, all the while calling out loudly, "Master! Master!"


    Meanwhile, Jiang Yao, with a delicate lotus-like gait, walked toward Ye Chen.


    As the girl moved, her figure was lithe, and her waterfall-like hair gently swayed behind her, exuding an indescribable charm.


    "Ye Chen, I''ve finally seen you!"


    Jiang Yao arrived in front of Ye Chen, lifted her lovely head slightly, and with clear eyes looking at Ye Chen, she said with a light laugh.


    "Senior Sister Jiang Yao... she knows me?"


    Hearing the girl''s words and looking at the beautiful girl who had walked up to him, Ye Chen was slightly taken aback.


    "I saw your three trials at the Outer Mansion earlier." Jiang Yao noticed Ye Chen''s confusion, her attractive large eyes curving into a smile, dimples emerging as she spoke, "Your performance in the three trials was truly impressive; you even managed to draw out Senior Qian Jizi."


    "So she was in the Outer Mansion before."


    Ye Chen finally understood why this Senior Sister Jiang Yao, whom he had never met, was so familiar with him.


    Looking at her exquisite face and those clear eyes that twinkled with a gentle smile, Ye Chen''s heart also calmed down.


    He had thought this Senior Sister Jiang Yao, whose cultivation had reached the Spirit Sea Realm, would be aloof and proud, but to his surprise, she was as approachable and charming as the girl next door.


    "Senior Sister Jiang Yao, I''ve long admired your renown," Ye Chen said, looking into Jiang Yao''s eyes and smiling too.


    Being with this beautiful girl, he felt extremely relaxed; the feeling was really nice.


    "Ye Chen, just call me Jiang Yao. We''re going to be companions from now on, venturing together through the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode," Jiang Yao''s eyes sparkled, and her whole being seemed to leap with excitement as she looked at the beautiful scenery of the Inner Mansion.


    "Yes, we''re going to venture through the Inner Mansion, wondering what the three trials inside will be like."


    Ye Chen looked out toward the rippling lake in the distance and the towering mountains piercing the clouds, feeling some anticipation for the upcoming trials.


    "We don''t know yet." Jiang Yao shook her lovely head lightly, equally eager with anticipation.


    The two stood side by side, surveying the Inner Mansion of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    "It seems you two have gotten to know each other."


    At this moment, Qian Jizi, accompanied by the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, walked over. He looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao standing shoulder to shoulder and nodded with a smile.


    "Senior."


    "Senior Qian Jizi."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both bowed respectfully to Qian Jizi.


    "Alright, alright, there''s no need for such formality," Qian Jizi waved his hand to stop their respectful salutes, "Now that you''ve arrived at the Inner Mansion, let me inform you both about the trials here."


    Hearing Qian Jizi''s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao perked up and listened attentively.


    The trials of the Inner Mansion concerned their upcoming tests, and naturally, they wanted to know as much as possible.


    Qian Jizi said, "The three trials of the Fire and Water Dao in the Outer Mansion, be it the ''Path of Fire'' that you, Ye Chen, went through, or the ''Path of Water'' that Jiang Yao went through three years ago, all test your combat strength, understanding, and willpower."


    "Ultimately, you both passed the trials successfully and have come to the Inner Mansion together."


    "Your performances are also the best pair that Thousand Lotus Cave Abode has seen in its over three hundred years of history!"


    Hearing Qian Jizi''s praise, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance, excitement apparent in their eyes: "Thank you for the compliment, Senior!"


    "However, even if you performed well, within the Inner Mansion of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, you must still strive, strive to overcome the three trials of this Inner Mansion, and strive to obtain the true treasure that I''ve placed here!" Qian Jizi''s voice became serious, "The real treasure I''ve placed in the Inner Mansion is a set of ''Flying Sword Heritage''!


    This ''Flying Sword Heritage,'' over the past three hundred years, nobody has been able to successfully obtain it!"


    Flying Sword Heritage?


    Hearing that the treasure was the Flying Sword Heritage, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were taken aback.


    Ye Chen had never heard of what the Flying Sword Heritage was, and though Jiang Yao was from the Taixuan Sect and had reached the Spirit Sea Realm, she too had not heard this term and was somewhat puzzled.


    Seeing their expressions, Qian Jizi extended his hand, and a beam of silver light shot straight out from his forehead, falling into the palm of his hand.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked towards Qian Jizi''s palm and were startled to see a silver sword an inch long, throbbing slowly in his palm.


    This inch-long silver sword seemed to have life of its own.


    The next moment, Qian Jizi''s gaze shifted to the distance, and in an instant, the inch-long sword in his palm flew towards the distance. As it flew, the inch-long sword expanded with the wind, turning into a huge silver sword soaring through the skies of the entire Inner Mansion!


    Only after circling around the skies of the Inner Mansion did the silver giant sword fly back, turning back into the inch-long sword, and flew into Qian Jizi''s forehead, disappearing from sight.


    A sword that could enter the human body, that could grow larger or smaller as it circled around the heavens and the earth, was this a flying sword?


    Watching the show of skill that Qian Jizi had just revealed, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao became excited.


    They could sense the miraculousness of this flying sword!


    "I am but a shadow split from my true body left within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, only capable of displaying the transformations of the flying sword, rather than its true power. In time, you will come to understand just how precious this Flying Sword Heritage is!"


    "The flying sword is nurtured in the ''Flying Sword Palace'' within the forehead, appearing and disappearing in a blink of an eye. It can strike with its sword in an instant, catching one''s enemies off guard and can continuously cultivate within the Sword Palace Acupoint, constantly enhancing the quality of the flying sword.


    Once cultivated to a great mystical ability, it can even fly thousands of miles on its own to take the enemy''s head!"


    "This is the flying sword!"


    Nurtured within the forehead, unpredictable, capable of taking heads from a thousand miles away!


    Qian Jizi''s words gave Ye Chen and Jiang Yao a direct understanding of the power of the flying sword!


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao."


    Qian Jizi looked at the two of them, "In the third trial of the Outer Mansion earlier, you successfully nurtured the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern'' and ''Water Lotus Law Pattern,'' which was considered as passing the test. Do you know why?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both shook their heads.


    "Those Fire Lotus Law Patterns and Water Lotus Law Patterns were the marks left at the center of your brows. After entering the Inner Mansion, you will undergo the three trials of the Inner Mansion in preparation for obtaining the ''Flying Sword Heritage.''"


    "The first trial will take place in the ''Lotus Sword Pool,'' where your Fire Lotus Law Pattern and Water Lotus Law Pattern will directly absorb ''Sword Qi Spirit Liquid,'' eventually creating the ''Sword Palace Acupoint'' at the center of your forehead where the flying sword can be nurtured."


    "The second trial requires you to ascend Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, to constantly forge and expand your Sword Palace during the climb, in preparation for admitting the ''flying sword.''"


    "And the third trial will take you directly to the site of the Flying Sword Heritage, where if you manage to have the set of flying swords I left at the pinnacle of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain acknowledge you as their master, and they fly into the Flying Sword Palace created between your brows, you will have passed the trial successfully. That set of Flying Sword Heritage will then belong to you!"


    So that''s how it is!


    Hearing Qian Jizi''s explanation, Ye Chen suddenly understood.


    No wonder he had to nurture the Fire Lotus Law Pattern in his brow during the third trial of the Outer Mansion, it turned out, this was in preparation for creating the Flying Sword Palace.


    The Flying Sword Palace is a kind of acupoint related to nurturing and storing flying swords, similar to how the vital energy storage acupoints store vital energy. Only by creating the Flying Sword Palace would one be able to incorporate that immensely powerful flying sword into one''s body.


    And all three trials of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s Inner Mansion were designed to prepare for creating the Sword Palace and admitting the flying sword.


    Standing beside Ye Chen, Jiang Yao also came to understand and with shining eyes, she asked Qian Jizi, "Senior Qian Jizi, when do the trials of this Inner Mansion begin?"


    Qian Jizi is a rumored Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse. The Flying Sword Heritage he left behind was unimaginably precious.


    Jiang Yao could hardly wait to see what this Flying Sword Heritage was all about!

 Chapter 39: Chapter 36 Sword Pool, Lotus

    "The first two trials of the Inner Mansion, the ''Lotus Sword Pool'' and the ''Ten Thousand Swords Mountain'', will have dedicated hosts. Soon the Three-Eyed Giant Ape will take you to meet it, and it will instruct you on how to partake in the tests."


    "And I will be waiting for you at the peak of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, at the third trial. I hope that I will be there when you step onto the summit!"


    "At that time, I will tell you about the origins and the invaluable nature of the ''Flying Sword Heritage'' I left behind!"


    Qian Jizi looked at Jiang Yao and Ye Chen with hope: "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao."


    "Senior."


    "Senior."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both looked up at Qian Jizi.


    Qian Jizi nodded: "My astral projection stayed here to wait for the truly deserving recipient of the Flying Sword Heritage. I''ve been waiting for over three hundred years without finding the right person!"


    "I hope that you two will succeed this time!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, both their eyes filled with an inexplicable determination.


    No matter what, they were going to venture through the three trials of the Inner Mansion together and strive for the Flying Sword Heritage!


    "Senior, rest assured, we will definitely strive to reach the peak of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain to see you again!" Ye Chen said.


    "Yes, Ye Chen and I will not easily give up," Jiang Yao stated firmly.


    "Good," Qian Jizi nodded. He turned toward the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, "Giant Ape, lead them to the ''Lotus Sword Pool''."


    "Yes, Master!"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape replied respectfully.


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, I will be waiting to see you again at the peak of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!"


    As Qian Jizi''s voice echoed, he vanished with a sweep of his large sleeve.


    Watching Qian Jizi''s astral projection disappear, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both felt a sense of loss from parting. Whether it was Qian Jizi revealing his true form to teach them martial skills at the ''Mirror Light Spirit Wall'', or just now informing them about the trials in the Inner Mansion, they could both perceive Qian Jizi''s expectations for them.


    "Ye Chen, let''s both do our best," Jiang Yao said with a slight lift of her head, her clear eyes gazing at Ye Chen, cheering him on.


    "Yes, let''s work hard together!" Ye Chen looked at the girl''s pale face and nodded firmly.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape looked toward the towering mountains in the far distance of the Inner Mansion, heaving a deep sigh, "The master still refuses to see that old demon bird; he is afraid of remembering ''Senior Lian Yue''."


    "Those paired flying swords at the peak of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain are the astonishing treasures that the master and Senior Lian Yue obtained from the ''Sea God Palace'' during their journey to the ''Sea of Chaos'', capable of moving even the mightiest in the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "Unfortunately, Senior Lian Yue..."


    At this thought, all three eyes of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape dampened slightly.


    "What''s wrong, Senior Ape?" Jiang Yao noticed the Giant Ape''s unusual expression and asked with concern.


    Ye Chen turned to look at the Giant Ape as well and saw the tears brimming in its divine eyes.


    "It''s nothing." The Three-Eyed Giant Ape took a deep breath and smiled at Jiang Yao and Ye Chen, "Let''s go, I''ll take you to the ''Lotus Sword Pool''. There''s an old demon bird waiting for you there."


    "An old demon bird?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were both slightly startled.


    ...


    So it turns out, that''s the ''Lotus Sword Pool''!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao stood on the shoulders of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, and as it soared forth, they rapidly approached the lake with the endless ripples of verdant lotus leaves that they had seen from afar.


    A tea''s time later, they arrived beside the lake.


    Gazing at the vast lake stretching thousands of feet in every direction and inhaling the light fragrance of the green lotus leaves, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt their minds clear and refreshed.


    The lake and lotus leaves gave them an extraordinary feeling.


    Looking over the lake known as ''Lotus Sword Pool'', they saw many lotus leaves but couldn''t spot a single lotus flower.


    Just as they found it odd, a somewhat harsh voice came from the middle of the lake: "Twenty-eight years and only now has someone passed the three trials of the Outer Mansion? Quite disappointing, isn''t it?"


    Then, countless lotus leaves rustled as beams of light emerged above them, followed by the appearance of an extraordinarily divine ice-blue feathered bird.


    This gigantic ice-blue bird, with its wings spread wide¡ªeasily over two hundred yards long¡ªdemanded attention. Even more striking was its deep blue, watery plumage, each feather shimmering enchantingly, full of grace and beauty.


    A formidable pressure emanated from within it. Even from a great distance, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s expressions changed significantly.


    Both of them could feel that this giant ice-blue feathered bird could probably kill them with a single flap of its wings!


    "Is this the master of the first two challenges in the Inner Mansion?"


    "Is this the ''old demon bird'' that Ape mentioned earlier? But... this giant ice-blue feathered bird, where is it old? It''s clearly incredibly mystical!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were both stunned by the mysterious beauty of the giant feathered bird.


    At this moment, the giant ice-blue feathered bird''s divine eyes also turned to look at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Are they such a young pair? One in the Spirit Sea Realm, the other in the True Qi Realm?"


    As the ice-blue feathered bird spoke with a human voice, it flapped its wings and flew towards the edge of the lake.


    With every beat of its wings, the waters of the entire lake churned violently, and a hurricane formed right away, dragging up huge waves that followed the flying giant bird and assaulted Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Seeing this, Jiang Yao and Ye Chen''s expressions changed, and almost instinctively, they each grabbed the other''s clothes and retreated explosively backwards.


    "Alright, old demon bird, these are a pair of youngsters highly valued by the master. Perhaps they really might obtain the Flying Sword Heritage!" the Three-Eyed Giant Ape roared, and the hurricane "boom" crashed into the lake, and the storm finally settled down.


    "Your master is not my master!" the ice-blue feathered bird huffed coldly. However, it also retracted its aura and landed next to the lake. Its divine eyes once again looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "If Qian Jizi sees value in you, it seems you two really have some skills!"


    "What? Isn''t this feathered bird a Spirit Beast of Qian Jizi?"


    Hearing the ice-blue feathered bird''s tone lacking any bit of respect towards Qian Jizi, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were somewhat puzzled.


    After all, this was the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, where Qian Jizi, as the owner, should be the most authoritative.


    The pair were a bit confused.


    "Since you''ve made it here, I will not make things difficult for you," the ice-blue feathered bird continued to speak, "However, whether or not you pass the challenge of the Inner Mansion depends on your own abilities."


    "Before you, a total of eighteen pairs, thirty-six people, have entered the Inner Mansion, but all thirty-six of them were eliminated in the first two challenges! I do not hope that you will be the nineteenth pair to be eliminated!"


    The ice-blue feathered bird looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with its cold eyes and spoke chillingly.


    "Rest assured, Senior, Jiang Yao and I will strive to pass the test," Ye Chen said to the ice-blue feathered bird, "Please inform us about the first challenge."


    Though astonished by the giant feathered bird with wings spanning over two hundred zhang, Ye Chen felt no fear.


    For one thing, this was a testing ground in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode; for another, when he obtained the Starlight Tower in the void space beneath the Antarctic Glacier, he had seen myriad giant beasts that stretched for ten thousand meters, making this giant feathered bird seem quite small in comparison.


    Seeing that Ye Chen''s eyes were clear and showed no trace of fear while conversing, the ice-blue feathered bird was slightly taken aback. It then glanced at Jiang Yao again.


    "This little girl, reaching Spirit Sea Realm at the sclerotic age of seventeen, it''s no wonder Qian Jizi values you. It''s surprising that a True Qi Realm youngster like you would also be valued by Qian Jizi. But now it seems you do have some courage," it commented.


    "With that being the case, prepare yourselves to start the first trial, ''Opening the Sword Palace Acupoint,''" said the giant feathered bird before gesturing towards the lake with a flap of its wing.


    "This lake is called ''Lotus Sword Pool.'' When the lotus blooms, the water in the pool will transform into ''Sword Qi Spirit Liquid.'' Then, you shall enter the Sword Pool and draw the ''Sword Qi Spirit Liquid'' to open the Sword Palace Acupoint!"


    "The first challenge will only grant you three days. If you cannot open the Sword Palace Acupoint within three days, it means you have no affinity with the sword, and you will be directly eliminated!"


    "Moreover, within the three days, in addition to opening the Sword Palace Acupoint, you must also strive to absorb more ''Sword Qi Spirit Liquid'' into the acupoint. The more spirit liquid you absorb, the larger the opened acupoint will be, and the higher the quality of the nurtured Flying Swords will naturally be!"


    "If the Sword Palace Acupoint you open is too small, you will also be eliminated!"


    "Now, remember the secret technique for opening the Sword Palace Acupoint and prepare to start the first trial!"


    After the giant feathered bird finished speaking, two Jade Slips shot toward Ye Chen and Jiang Yao. Upon receiving them, they saw that the Jade Slips recorded the secret technique to turn the brow''s meridian seal into the Sword Palace Acupoint.


    Clenching the Jade Slips in their hands, they quickly committed them to memory.


    After communicating the secret technique to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the giant feathered bird gave another flap of its wings toward the lake. In mid-air above the lake, a huge lotus bud directly rose up.


    This lotus bud was a hundred meters in size, and once it appeared in the air, it began to rotate smoothly.


    With the rotation, the petals of the bud slowly parted, and in a moment, a lotus flower over three hundred meters in size floated above the surface of the lake.


    As the lotus flower bloomed completely, endless light cascaded from its petals, falling into the water below.


    The once placid lake suddenly radiated endless sword gleams, and strands of sword energy flowed ceaselessly within, instantly turning the entire blue lake into a sea of silver white!


    "The Sword Qi Spirit Liquid has formed!"


    "Go in and absorb it. Whether or not you can open the ''Sword Palace Acupoint'' within three days depends on your fate!" the giant feathered bird said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Let''s go, Jiang Yao."


    "Ye Chen, let''s go."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance, and then, with a flicker, they both flew into the waters of the Sword Pool.

 Chapter 40: Chapter 37: The Twin Prides

    Once they plunged into the Sword Pool Lake, the silvery Sword Qi Spirit Liquid surged toward Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    In an instant, their figures were wrapped layer by layer in the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid.


    "What a comfortable feeling,"


    Ye Chen sat crossed-legged in the midst of the lake''s waters, the Fire Lotus Law Pattern on his forehead faintly emerging. Strands of Sword Qi slowly flowed toward his Law Pattern and gradually penetrated inside, spreading a slight coolness throughout Ye Chen''s limbs and bones.


    This sensation was like when he cultivated True Qi, with his body enveloped by the True Qi of heaven and earth, extremely comfortable.


    "This feeling is quite nice!"


    Five or six meters away on the opposite side, Jiang Yao, who sat facing Ye Chen, also revealed a shallow smile on her delicate little face. Likewise, a faint blue lotus water pattern slowly appeared on her forehead.


    This faint blue Water Lotus Law Pattern was what she had nurtured after entering the "Path of Water" during the third trial in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s Outer Mansion three years ago.


    Jiang Yao''s Water Lotus Law Pattern, much like Ye Chen''s Fire Lotus Law Pattern, was also a preparation for opening the Sword Palace.


    The first trial of the Inner Mansion of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the Lotus Sword Pool, was not as perilous as imagined. On the contrary, it was extremely suitable for the two of them to cultivate.


    By the edge of the Lotus Sword Pool.


    The three-eyed giant ape and the huge feathered bird watched the two hazy figures enveloped in Sword Qi within the lake.


    "I wonder how long Ye Chen and Jiang Yao will take to open up the Sword Palace Acupoint," the three-eyed giant ape became somewhat nervous.


    Although Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had performed exceedingly well in the Outer Mansion, being regarded as the best pair of trial-takers since the founding of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode over three hundred years ago, with immense combat strength, comprehension, and willpower, the three trials of this Inner Mansion were all related to the inheritance of flying swords.


    If they were not suitable for flying sword cultivation, even with their excellence, they would have no connection to the ultimate flying sword inheritance.


    "I hope they can create the same miracles in the Inner Mansion as they did in the Outer Mansion!"


    The three-eyed giant ape was both worried and hopeful.


    Hearing the three-eyed giant ape''s words, the huge feathered bird spoke indifferently, "When the trial-takers enter the Lotus Sword Pool, the first day is generally about adapting to the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid within the pool. If they can open up the Sword Palace by the second day, that would be quite good."


    "These two little fellas, even if you think highly of them, you''ll have to wait. It won''t happen that quickly!"


    Before its words had finished, a sudden loud rumble came from within the lotuses of the Sword Pool.


    The noise was like raging waves and surging tides, abruptly cutting off the voice of the huge feathered bird!


    "What''s going on?"


    The three-eyed giant ape and the huge feathered bird both looked toward the Sword Pool, and what they saw next was incredible.


    Within the lake, where the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid had been calm, it suddenly began to churn violently as if ignited. Amidst the churning, the vast Sword Qi Spirit Liquid surged towards the figure sitting in the lake like a giant serpent or godlike dragon.


    That figure was none other than Ye Chen!


    Former trial-takers who entered the Sword Pool to absorb Sword Qi Spirit Liquid needed a day to draw it out, and even on the second day, they would only attract it in thin strands.


    Never before had anyone caused such a disturbance in the waters of the Sword Pool in such a short time!


    Never before had anyone attracted such an enormous amount of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid all at once!


    Watching the Spirit Liquid furiously rushing toward Ye Chen''s brow, the three-eyed giant ape revealed an ecstatic expression in an instant, and the huge feathered bird was also stunned, showing an incredulous look.


    While the two mystical creatures were still in shock, not long after Ye Chen had attracted the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, a major disturbance also occurred where Jiang Yao sat.


    Around the girl''s waterfall-like hair and her delicate body, countless strands of Sword Qi erupted with a heaven-piercing light!


    Within the radiance, another vast and inexhaustible column of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, in no way inferior to Ye Chen''s, furiously surged towards the Water Lotus Law Pattern at the center of Jiang Yao''s brow.


    Jiang Yao had, just like Ye Chen, attracted a tremendous amount of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid in a short period.


    When one person created a miracle, it was enough to astonish the three-eyed giant ape and the huge feathered bird, but the scene of two people creating miracles simultaneously was so astounding that the mystical creatures could hardly believe their own eyes!


    "How could this be?"


    "How could this be?!"


    The previously indifferent and even somewhat aloof huge feathered bird now swept away its former composure, even exclaiming in shock and disbelief!


    "What a surprise!"


    "A great surprise!"


    "Who could have thought that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had such an affinity with flying swords, to enter the state of opening the Sword Palace so smoothly!"


    "Only in the case of the former master and the predecessor Lian Yue have I seen such a miracle!"


    As it spoke, the three-eyed giant ape looked toward Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, sitting in the Sword Pool, and suddenly stopped mid-sentence.


    The youth in the Sword Pool, with a fair and handsome face, wore a steadfast expression, while the girl in the Sword Pool, her hair fluttering, was like a fairy.


    What a pair of heaven''s prides!


    What a perfect match!


    "Ming Que, looking at the two of them, doesn''t it remind you of our two masters cultivating in the Heavenly Pond all those years ago?" the giant three-eyed ape whispered to the immense feathered bird beside it.


    "Master?"


    At this word, the massive body of the feathered bird trembled greatly, and its eyes softened.


    It remembered the woman it had accompanied through the Four Seas and the Eight Wastes!


    "Master, my master."


    Its tender eyes now looked towards Jiang Yao and Ye Chen in the pool.


    "It really does look alike."


    "Our master had acquired the ''Twin Swords'' with Senior Thousand Mechanisms in the Sea of Chaos back then but couldn''t enjoy the fortune... Could it be that fate has already destined it, and the Twin Swords are finally about to find their rightful masters?"


    The immense feathered bird and the giant three-eyed ape both thought of that event from over three hundred years ago and fell silent.


    ...


    "So, this is the Sword Palace!"


    Within the Sword Pool, Ye Chen''s consciousness surveyed an acupoint at the center of his forehead, which was precisely located where the Fire Lotus Law Pattern had been before.


    By this time, the Fire Lotus Law Pattern had disappeared, replaced by a newly unblocked spatial acupoint.


    As if creating the heavens and earth, another spatial world was born within Ye Chen''s body!


    The Sword Palace Acupoint space!


    Just as when he had entered the True Qi Realm and cultivated the Qi Sea Acupoint, the Sword Qi Spiritual Liquid surged crazily into this Sword Palace Acupoint, and the inner space of the Sword Palace Acupoint expanded rapidly.


    An hour, two hours, three hours!


    The Sword Palace World kept expanding as myriad streams of Sword Qi Spiritual Liquid wildly flew into it, just like True Qi entering the Qi Sea!


    Elsewhere.


    Jiang Yao had also entered the grand opening of her Sword Palace Acupoint!


    Having stepped into the True Qi Realm, she was well-acquainted with the creation of internal acupoint spaces.


    After entering the Spirit Sea Realm and turning True Qi into liquid, she was extremely familiar with this world of Qi Sea, and now, as she entered the creation of the Sword Palace World, she crazily absorbed Sword Qi Spiritual Liquid, and her Sword Palace World continuously grew and stretched.


    With Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s frenetic absorption, the vast Sword Pool Lake''s water level even dropped significantly, and it was still falling!


    "To absorb so much Sword Qi Spiritual Liquid!"


    "This pair of young male and female, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, they are absorbing more Sword Qi Spiritual Liquid than all those who entered the Inner Mansion before them combined!"


    "The more Sword Qi Spiritual Liquid absorbed, the larger the Sword Palace that will be opened. Given the situation, it''s likely that the Sword Palace World of the two of them will be able to support the nurturing of ''Spiritual Artifact'' grade flying swords!"


    "No, not just Spiritual Artifact grade, their rate of Sword Qi Spiritual Liquid absorption has not slowed down at all. If this continues, ''Treasure Instrument'' grade, or even ''Sacred Instrument'' grade weapons could be nurtured!"


    "The Twin Flying Swords at the Peak of Ten Thousand Swords are of Sacred Instrument grade. If their Sword Palace World can be opened up to the Sacred Instrument grade level, then there will be no issues in nurturing those Twin Flying Swords when the time comes!"


    A day later.


    Under the unwavering watch of the giant three-eyed ape and the immense feathered bird, the surface of the Sword Pool Lake dropped by one-third, yet Ye Chen and Jiang Yao didn''t stop their progress in opening up the Sword Palace Acupoint.


    Two days later.


    The entire Sword Pool Lake was almost depleted when the immense feathered bird had to call forth seven giant snow-white lotus flowers again. Streams of Spiritual Liquid poured out from the lotus flowers, causing the water level in the Sword Pool Lake to rise once more.


    Three days later.


    Just before the final moments of absorbing Sword Qi Spirit Liquid at this first challenge arrived.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao in the Sword Pool opened their eyes in succession.


    Between their brows, it seemed as if endless sword qi radiance shone forth, and their presences underwent a drastic transformation.


    As the light converged, everything returned to normal. Yet, two vast worlds were now securely fixed between their brows.


    The Sword Palace World, completed!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao opened their eyes to find themselves looking at each other; they exchanged smiles and soared up from the Sword Pool.

 Chapter 41: Chapter 38 Ten Thousand Swords Mountain

    "Ye Chen!"


    "Jiang Yao!"


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao rising from the Sword Pool, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape greeted them with a laugh, "Congratulations to the both of you for successfully opening up the Flying Sword Palace!"


    "This time, you''ve set a record for the Inner Mansion; I''ve never seen anyone open a Sword Palace upon just entering the Sword Pool, let alone absorbing so much Sword Qi Spirit Liquid."


    "Do you know, if it weren''t for the replenishment of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid in the pool on the second day, I''m afraid all the Spiritual Liquid in the lake would have been completely drained by you!"


    Just thinking about the rapidly declining water level in the Sword Pool as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao absorbed the Spiritual Liquid, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape couldn''t help but express his amazement.


    "The Sword Qi Spirit Liquid was replenished? I was so immersed in opening the Sword Palace that I didn''t notice it. What about you, Ye Chen?" Jiang Yao said, slightly startled.


    Ye Chen also smiled, "I didn''t pay attention to that either, just focused on absorbing the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid."


    The sensation of opening up the Sword Palace Acupoint was incredibly marvelous; both the influx of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid into the Sword Palace and the constantly expanding Sword Palace World had completely captivated Ye Chen.


    Likewise, Jiang Yao had not noticed the changes happening outside.


    "How big is your Sword Palace now?" At this moment, the voice of the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow came through.


    Although the voice was still faint, it had shed some of its detachment, betraying a hint of concern.


    "How big?"


    Ye Chen looked inwardly at his Sword Palace Acupoint and saw that it had already formed a vast space of thousands of zhang in circumference, with the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid even forming a huge lake!


    "The space is over one thousand zhang in length and width, and it''s about three thousand zhang tall," Ye Chen reported to the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow.


    "That big!" Although the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow had expected the space within the Sword Palace Acupoints opened by the two to be vast, it was still deeply shocked when Ye Chen described it.


    "What about you?" the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow then asked Jiang Yao.


    Jiang Yao closed her eyes and looked inside the Flying Sword Palace between her eyebrows. To her surprise, she found that her Sword Palace Acupoint had also become about the same size as Ye Chen''s without her realizing it.


    "Mine is about the same as Ye Chen''s."


    "Senior, we should have met the requirements for this first challenge, right?" Jiang Yao asked.


    "Of course!"


    "If you couldn''t meet the requirements, then no one would have ever completed it!" the Three-Eyed Giant Ape interjected.


    The Gigantic Feathered Sparrow, unusually, did not retort but nodded lightly, "You''ve done it. You''ve done very well in this first challenge of opening the Sword Palace Acupoint."


    They had done it!


    They had passed the first challenge of the Inner Mansion!


    Hearing the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow announce the result, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were excited. This meant that they were one step closer to the Flying Sword Heritage!


    "The Flying Sword Heritage!"


    The thought of Qian Jizi demonstrating the Flying Sword techniques filled Ye Chen with an intense excitement.


    He was desperate to enhance his strength.


    The Flying Sword Heritage, he certainly had to strive for it! The more cards he had up his sleeve, the better!


    Martial Arts cultivation was filled with unpredictable dangers.


    In his battle with Zhou Hai in the Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, Ye Chen came to realize this fact.


    Zhou Hai, relying on his seventh level of the True Qi Realm, had dared to chase after him to kill and seize his treasure; if Ye Chen didn''t have the broken sword shard as his trump card, he might have already died at Zhou Hai''s hands!


    If he had really died, even having a heaven-reaching treasure like the "Primordial Star Scripture" would be useless.


    Not to mention entering the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode again.


    "To confront the dangers of Martial Arts cultivation, one must prepare more trump cards," Ye Chen thought.


    "Otherwise, one can only be at the mercy of others!"


    Now, Ye Chen faced a major dilemma.


    Having killed Zhou Hai, Zhou Hai''s father, Zhou Yuntian, a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, would certainly not let him off easily.


    Ye Chen had anticipated this at the time he killed Zhou Hai.


    However, if he were to return to that moment, he would still choose to kill Zhou Hai. Zhou Hai, for the sake of a treasure, had pursued him relentlessly; if Ye Chen had spared Zhou Hai, the latter might have devised new and more sinister plans to harm him.


    Such a treacherous person must be eliminated completely to prevent future troubles!


    As for the dilemma with Zhou Yuntian, it was because Ye Chen did not have enough strength. If he had been powerful enough, Zhou Hai would not have dared to provoke him, and if he had been more powerful than Zhou Yuntian, then Zhou Yuntian would have been even less likely to do anything to him!


    In the Barbarian Wilderness World, Martial Arts were supreme, strength was king!


    Everything comes down to strength.


    Now, faced with the Flying Sword Heritage and the rare opportunity to enhance his strength, how could Ye Chen let it slip away?


    He, of course, would strive with all his might!


    Ye Chen''s thoughts raced. At this moment, the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow continued to speak to him and Jiang Yao, "To open up the Flying Sword Palace and absorb the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid into the Sword Palace is to prepare for the future cultivation of flying swords. The Spirit Liquid that the two of you have absorbed is enough for cultivating flying swords in the future."


    "However, the more Spirit Liquid you have absorbed, the more difficult it will be to face the second challenge."


    Hearing the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow mentioning the second challenge, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances and listened attentively.


    "The second challenge of the Inner Mansion takes place in Ten Thousand Swords Mountain."


    "Within Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, there are more than ten thousand sharp swords. These swords were all used by martial arts experts and bear their Sword Qi and even their Sword Intents!"


    "Once you start climbing Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the Sword Qi and Sword Intents from these ten thousand sharp swords will launch attacks at you. The more Sword Qi Spirit Liquid you have in your Flying Sword Palace, the larger the number of attacks you will attract."


    "Moreover, the master of the past laid a Prohibition within the mountain. As soon as you set foot inside, all your True Qi will become immobilized, unable to be used."


    "Therefore, it doesn''t matter whether you, Jiang Yao, are in the Spirit Sea Realm, or you, Ye Chen, are in the True Qi Realm. Once you step into Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, your True Qi Cultivation Level will be of no use.


    To resist the attacks launched by those ten thousand sharp swords, you can only rely on the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid within your Flying Sword Palace and your understanding of Sword Intents!"


    "Previous challengers, who absorbed less than one percent of the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid that you have, couldn''t withstand the attacks of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain. Not a single person was able to climb to the summit."


    "Now that you have absorbed so much more Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, the attacks launched at you by Ten Thousand Swords Mountain will be tens to hundreds of times greater, and the difficulty of reaching the summit and proceeding to the third challenge will also increase by tens to hundreds of times!"


    Hearing what the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow said, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s expressions turned grave.


    Although they were confident, they had to be extremely cautious. The fact that no one had obtained the heritage of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode to date showed the difficulty of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    And they were to face difficulties tens to hundreds of times greater; they couldn''t guarantee their passage either.


    Seeing their grave expressions, the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow''s tone changed slightly, "However, you need not worry too much. Even if you cannot reach the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, your lives won''t be in danger."


    "Before you enter Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, I will give each of you a survival talisman. Should you face an irresistible fatal attack, this talisman will teleport you out of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain."


    "Of course, if that happens, the Sword Palace Acupoint that you opened during the first challenge will be utterly shattered by the Sword Qi and Sword Intents of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, and you will no longer have the chance to cultivate flying swords. Thus, your challenge within Thousand Lotus Cave Abode will also be completely over."


    "Alright, I have told you everything about the second challenge of the Inner Mansion. If you choose not to climb Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, I will erase your memories of the challenge and send you out of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode."


    "It''s up to you to decide whether to go to Ten Thousand Swords Mountain or not!"


    After the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow finished, it quietly watched Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Go, of course we will go!"


    "Having come this far to the second challenge of the Inner Mansion, I certainly won''t give up!"


    Ye Chen said without hesitation.


    "I''ll go too."


    "No matter how dangerous, no matter the difficulties increase a hundredfold, I will still choose to brave it!"


    Jiang Yao also spoke firmly.


    After speaking, they looked at each other and saw encouragement in each other''s eyes.


    They had joined forces to brave the Interior Mansion, and now they had chosen together to enter Ten Thousand Swords Mountain. No matter the challenges or difficulties, they still chose to continue the adventure together!


    Seeing that they did not hesitate to choose to continue the second challenge of the Inner Mansion, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow both nodded internally.


    Cultivating in martial arts requires exactly this kind of indomitable spirit!


    If one shrinks back in fear, it is difficult to achieve greatness!


    "Good, since that''s the case, I will take you into Ten Thousand Swords Mountain for the second challenge of the Inner Mansion!"


    "I hope you two will be the first ones to overcome the second challenge of the Inner Mansion!"


    As the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow spoke, its mystical blue wings slowly unfolded, each azure-blue feather shining with a captivating luster.


    It said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Climb onto my back. There''s a Grand Formation around Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, which you can''t reach on your own. I''ll take you into the mountain."


    "Thank you, Senior!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao bowed respectfully to the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow and leaped onto its back, sitting down cross-legged.


    Boom!


    Then, with a flap of its wings, the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow took off with Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, flying towards the towering Giant Mountain at the deepest part of the Inner Mansion.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape followed closely behind, flying toward the Giant Mountain.


    About half an hour into the flight, a torrent of Sword Qi surged forward.


    This Sword Qi immediately made the newly-opened Flying Sword Palace within Ye Chen and Jiang Yao rumble, with the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid coursing fiercely inside it!


    From atop the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked toward the source of the Sword Qi and saw a Sky-supporting Giant Mountain rising thousands of feet high.


    On the mountain, swords of all kinds were densely embedded. Looking up, the number of swords on the mountain obviously exceeded ten thousand. Furthermore, the peak of the mountain was shrouded within the clouds!


    Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!


    This was the challenge of the second challenge of the Inner Mansion, Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!

 Chapter 42: Chapter 39: Sword Fight, Lian Yue

    "We''re almost at Ten Thousand Swords Mountain."


    "Once we fly over the barrier of the Mountain Protection Array, we''ll be there."


    As the giant feathered bird spoke, its roughly six hundred feet long mystical wings suddenly flapped vigorously, and its speed increased once again. It carried Ye Chen and Jiang Yao straight toward the Sky-supporting Giant Mountain ahead.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After flying for a short time, a strange sensation of resistance came over them, and Ye Chen felt as though he were passing through an invisible barrier.


    Was this the barrier of the Mountain Protection Array that the giant feathered bird mentioned?


    While Ye Chen was experiencing this sensation, within a few moments, his body suddenly felt lighter, and his entire perception seemed to change abruptly, as if he had entered another world altogether.


    Around his ears, the sound of countless swords humming could be heard, and within the Sword Palace Acupoint on his forehead, the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid furiously surged. Lifting his eyes, the Sky-supporting Giant Mountain was now right in front of him!


    At that moment, the six great vortices of True Qi within his body seemed to freeze, ceasing their rotation.


    Previously, the giant feathered bird had said that upon stepping into Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, all True Qi would solidify and become unusable. It appears that was indeed true!


    "Such a powerful restriction, all the True Qi in my Spirit Sea is bound!"


    Jiang Yao, who was sitting in front of Ye Chen, also let out an exclamation of surprise. Her clear, bright eyes were fixed on the towering Ten Thousand Swords Mountain in front of them, her delicate face filled with wonder.


    To restrain True Qi with a great array, constructing Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, was nothing short of a divine feat!


    As the two of them were feeling the changes in their bodies after entering the range of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the giant feathered bird had already landed at the foot of the Sky-supporting Giant Mountain.


    They both jumped off the back of the giant feathered bird and looked up at the mountain. The densely packed swords covering the mountain became even clearer, sprawling from the base all the way up into the clouds at the summit.


    Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, it truly is the mountain of ten thousand swords!


    At the base of the giant mountain, not far from where they stood, there was also a huge sword-shaped stone stele.


    "Eh, there are characters on that stele!"


    Jiang Yao tugged on Ye Chen''s sleeve and pointed her delicate finger toward the sword-shaped stele, speaking up.


    Ye Chen had also seen the huge sword-shaped stele, which stood over two hundred meters tall. Piercing the sky like a sheathed sword standing upright, it was situated in front of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!


    "That is the ''Ten Thousand Swords Stele,'' which records the history of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain. If you want to enter Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, you should first take a look at that stele," said the Three-Eyed Giant Ape.


    It took the lead and started walking toward the Ten Thousand Swords Stele.


    When the giant feathered bird saw the "Ten Thousand Swords Stele," its divine eyes seemed to dim slightly. Without speaking, it also made its way toward the stele.


    "What''s wrong with Senior Feathered Bird?"


    Noticing the suddenly somber expression of the giant feathered bird, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were puzzled. Both followed behind the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the giant feathered bird, heading toward the Ten Thousand Swords Stele.


    There were characters etched on the Ten Thousand Swords Stele, and upon reaching its base, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked toward these characters.


    The stele read, "On the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the Sword Fencing Great Meet has been passed down through generations; countless sword cultivators gather, testing their swordsmanship against one another!"


    "The losers leave their treasured swords at the venue, while the winners take all the swords with them, earning the highest honor!"


    "The two of us, over the course of three Sword Fencing Great Meets, won a total of ''forty-nine thousand three hundred sixty-eight'' treasured swords, which we buried within the mountain of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode. Hence, we named this mountain ''Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.''"


    Reading the text about the origins of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain on the stele filled Ye Chen with overwhelming excitement.


    The Sword Fencing Great Meet, where thousands of sword cultivators compete, with winners taking thousands of treasured swords and establishing the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!


    The very thought was thrilling.


    "But I don''t know where the Ten Thousand Swords Conference is held."


    "One day, I too will go see this Ten Thousand Swords Conference!"


    Ye Chen thought to himself.


    "A swordfighting conference, so the swords on Ten Thousand Swords Mountain were won from the swordfighting conference!"


    "It was only after accompanying my master to participate in a swordfighting conference once that I began to harbor the thought of cultivating swordsmanship!"


    Jiang Yao''s delicate face brimmed with excitement; clearly, she knew the reputation of the swordfighting conference.


    "Jiang Yao, you know about the swordfighting conference? Where is this swordfighting conference held?"


    Ye Chen looked at the spirited girl beside him and asked her.


    "The swordfighting conference is said to have four levels.


    The True Qi Realm swordfighting conference is held at a place named Thousand Cliffs Cave in our Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s neighboring Heaven Departure Nation, the Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting conference is held inside the Immeasurable Mountain of the Great Qian Dynasty, the Rotating Pill Realm swordfighting conference on the Piaomiao Peak in the Middle Region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and the highest level, the Heaven Saint Realm swordfighting conference, is rumored to be held in the mysterious and chaotic Sea of Chaos!"


    With a soft smile, Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen and shared everything she knew about the swordfighting conference.


    The True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Rotating Pill Realm, and Heaven Saint Realm are the four major realms of cultivation in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    The four levels of the swordfighting conferences correspond to the four major realms, held in four different places on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, attracting elites to converge and compete in swordsmanship.


    Jiang Yao''s words gave Ye Chen further insight into the fascinating world of martial arts on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Competing in sword arts, crossing blades with heroes from all corners of the world!


    This is the martial world that Ye Chen was pursuing!


    This is the martial world that Ye Chen desired!


    "The four major swordfighting conferences, if I have the chance, I want to experience each and every one of them!" Ye Chen thought to himself.


    He and Jiang Yao continued to look at the inscriptions below the Ten Thousand Swords Stele.


    It continued to be written on the huge stele: "Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, from bottom to top, conceals swords of different levels."


    "The lower mountain region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain buries ''thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven swords,'' all won from the ''Thousand Cliffs Cave True Qi Realm swordfighting conference,'' these thirty-eight thousand nine hundred and twenty-seven treasured swords are all ''Mystic Instruments''."


    "The middle mountain region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain buries ''ten thousand and four hundred thirty-two swords,'' all won from the ''Immeasurable Mountain Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting conference,'' and these ten thousand and four hundred thirty-two are all ''Spirit Instruments''."


    "The upper mountain region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain buries ''nine swords,'' all won from the ''Piaomiao Peak Rotating Pill Realm swordfighting conference,'' and these nine are all ''Treasured Instruments''."


    "The two of us buried ''forty-nine thousand three hundred sixty-eight swords'' in Ten Thousand Swords Mountain to hone our swordsmanship, sword Qi, and sword intent, entering the mountain to forge swords and to comprehend the great path of the sword!"


    At the very bottom of the Ten Thousand Swords Stele, two names were carved, "Thousand Mechanisms" and "Lian Yue."


    The entire script on the Ten Thousand Swords Stele was flowing and graceful, the bone structure of the characters was sword-like, similar to the handwriting of the name "Thousand Mechanisms," but those two characters "Lian Yue" were in another style of handwriting, soft and beautiful, seemingly the work of a woman''s hand.


    Upon seeing the name "Lian Yue," the giant feathered sparrow was utterly stunned, murmuring in its heart, "Master! Master!"


    "This Ten Thousand Swords Mountain is a place where two people buried their swords together?"


    "Thousand Mechanisms, Lian Yue? Thousand Mechanisms must be the predecessor Qian Jizi, but who is Lian Yue?"


    Both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were shocked by the text on the Ten Thousand Swords Stele, neither of them had expected to see another name alongside Qian Jizi''s, appearing in Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, Thousand Mechanisms, Lian Yue...


    Could it be...


    A guess faintly formed in Ye Chen''s mind.


    Just then, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape sighed deeply: "You two probably don''t understand what the ''Lian Yue'' represents."

 Chapter 43: Chapter 40: The Divine Sword Seed

    "Please enlighten us, Ape," Ye Chen requested.


    Jiang Yao noticed the sorrow in the eyes of the great feathered bird deity. With a heart as clear and pure as her eyes, she felt uneasy at the sight of the deity''s somber demeanor.


    It was likely that the "Lian Yue" mentioned on the Ten Thousand Swords Stele had a significant connection to the great bird.


    "''Lian Yue'' was the old demon bird''s master, Heavenly Saint Lian Yue! Just as the ''Qian Ji'' mentioned above is my master, Heavenly Saint Qian Ji," the three-eyed giant ape had just revealed when the great bird suddenly let out a sharp, piercing cry: "Stop talking! You are not allowed to mention my master''s name!"


    "Alright, alright, I will stop," the three-eyed giant ape let out a wry chuckle.


    It turned to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "If you can climb Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, once you reach the summit, you will understand everything when you see the invaluable Flying Sword Heritage."


    Having said this, the three-eyed giant ape sighed deeply.


    "Lian Yue" was the master of the great feathered bird?


    Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, another powerhouse of the Heavenly Saint Realm?


    The hint of a secret revealed by the three-eyed giant ape left Ye Chen and Jiang Yao completely shocked.


    The Heavenly Saint Realm is a realm above the "True Qi Realm," "Spirit Sea Realm," and "Rotating Pill Realm," the legendary supreme sacred realm.


    Currently, there are no Heavenly Saint Realm experts in Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    Who would have thought that the founders of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain were two existences at the level of Heavenly Saints!


    "So the ''Lian Yue'' on the Ten Thousand Swords Stele is actually the real master of the feathered bird!"


    "No wonder when we first met the feathered bird, it did not show much respect for Qian Jizi. I thought it was strange for the bird to treat its master with such an attitude. It turns out it has another master!"


    "This Heavenly Saint Lian Yue did not appear in the Qian Lian Cave Mansion, and it is not known where she is now. Seeing the expression of the feathered bird, could it be that Heavenly Saint Lian Yue has..."


    Ye Chen was immensely curious about the "Heavenly Saint Lian Yue" who created Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, but since the great feathered bird did not want the three-eyed giant ape to talk about these things, it was not appropriate for Ye Chen to inquire further.


    The sharp cry of the great feathered bird that interrupted the three-eyed giant ape led him and Jiang Yao to secretly speculate that it might involve some past events related to their two masters.


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao."


    At this moment, the great feathered bird had calmed its emotions. It looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Regarding my master''s affairs, it''s not that I don''t want to tell you, but telling you now is useless."


    "If you can reach the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain and obtain the ''Flying Sword Heritage,'' I will tell you then."


    "My master put a great deal of effort into that Flying Sword Heritage, even... in any case, if you obtain the Flying Sword Heritage, you must not forget my master''s dedication!"


    Does the Flying Sword Heritage also involve Heavenly Saint Lian Yue?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked at each other, their curiosity about Heavenly Saint Lian Yue grew even stronger.


    "Alright, we''ve reached Ten Thousand Swords Mountain. This second trial, you may now begin!"


    The great feathered bird lifted its divine eyes to gaze at Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, then back to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "This is the Life-Protection Law Badge; take good care of it."


    With a flap of its wings, two palm-sized white law badges shot towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    The two caught the badges and examined them, noting that the front of each badge was carved with a lotus flower pattern, while the back bore a small character for "Lian."


    "Drop a droplet of your blood onto the badge. If you encounter a life-threatening danger on Ten Thousand Swords Mountain that you cannot withstand, this badge will teleport you directly out of the mountain."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao did as instructed, each dropping a drop of blood onto their badge. The moment their blood touched the badges, the badges shone with milky white light. Then, the entire badge transformed into a lotus flower pattern and flew into their wrists.


    "This is miraculous?!"


    "Could it be that this badge too was crafted by Heavenly Saint Lian Yue? Is this a Heavenly Saint''s method?"


    Ye Chen gazed at the faint lotus pattern on his wrist, entertaining the thought.


    "Now, prepare to climb the mountain."


    "Regarding Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, I have already told you a lot at the Lotus Sword Pool. Now, let me tell you the last thing."


    "Ten Thousand Swords Mountain is immensely dangerous and it is the second trial of the Inner Mansion. Once you reach the summit, you will be left with only the final trial, ''Flying Sword Acknowledgement.'' Whether or not the Flying Sword chooses you isn''t about anything else but whether you are destined for it.


    If you are fated, you won''t need anything; the Flying Sword will directly enter your Sword Palace Acupoint. If not, it''s all in vain, and don''t even think about forcefully making the Flying Sword acknowledge you; it''s simply impossible."


    "So, the real test for you is actually this second trial, Ten Thousand Swords Mountain."


    "Remember, in Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, you only have a month to reach the summit. If you don''t make it in a month, you fail. Whoever climbs the mountain within a month will be eligible for the final trial, ''Flying Sword Acknowledgement.'' Of course, if both of you reach the summit, that''s even better. You''ll both have a chance to try and get the Flying Sword to acknowledge you."


    "Remember, you only have one month to climb within Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!"


    The great feathered bird emphasized solemnly in conclusion.


    "One month''s time, to ascend to the peak of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!"


    Ye Chen lifted his head to look at the towering Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, took a deep breath, and clenched his fist.


    "The summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the Flying Sword Heritage!"


    Jiang Yao lifted her delicate face, also gazing at Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, her face showing a determined look.


    ```


    "Let''s set off!"


    As the giant feathered bird issued the command, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance and then stepped boldly into Ten Thousand Swords Mountain together!


    ...


    "Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the second trial is about to begin."


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao officially entered Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, at the summit, a figure seated in meditation also opened his eyes.


    This figure was none other than the projected shadow of Qian Jizi!


    At this moment, beside Qian Jizi, there were two glowing rings emitting bizarre light.


    Hovering above the rings, there were two tiny sword-shaped seeds, one crimson as fire and the other dark blue as water. The odd light of the entire ring was cast by these two sword-shaped seeds!


    Moreover, these two sword-shaped seeds were slowly rotating in the void of the rings. With each turn, they radiated countless sword beams that shot toward the entire Mountain Region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    The entire Mountain Region, with tens of thousands of treasured swords, vibrated with a buzz under the illumination of these sword beams.


    These two tiny sword-shaped seeds, unfathomably mystical, were clearly no ordinary objects!


    The seated Qian Jizi looked towards the two sword-shaped seeds inside the light rings with a complex gaze.


    In the end, all his complex expressions dissolved into a murmured whisper of two words: "Lian Yue..."


    ...


    "So many swords!"


    Outside of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, Ye Chen found the swords on the mountain densely packed. Once inside Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, this feeling became even more pronounced.


    Alongside the path they walked, countless treasured swords were inserted between rocks and stones ¨C there were snowy white flexible swords, ink-black great swords, blue slim swords, and dusky wide swords of various kinds, haphazardly stuck everywhere without any order.


    At the same time, these treasured swords were "buzzing" as they vibrated, occasionally emitting wisps of Sword Qi. Inside the whole Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, one could hear nothing but the sounds of swords singing and the presence of Sword Qi everywhere.


    "Ye Chen, be careful!"


    As Ye Chen was examining the treasured swords on the mountain, Jiang Yao''s cautious voice suddenly reached his ears. At that moment, the treasured swords within a radius of several dozen yards, as if sensing their intrusion, suddenly burst into radiant light and began to swing wildly.


    Instantly thereafter, a barrage of "whoosh whoosh whoosh" sounds erupted as numerous swords, previously embedded in rocks, soared into the air and lunged towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as if to strike them down.


    The suddenly airborne treasured swords amounted to at least forty or fifty, forming two massive waves of treasured swords, shooting towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao respectively.


    As over twenty of those treasured swords shot towards Ye Chen, within his Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows where Sword Qi Spirit Liquid was already tumultuously stirring, a small stream was seemingly attracted and burst forth as countless Sword Qi from within the Sword Palace Acupoint.


    ```


    The Sword Qi Spirit Liquid shot out from the Sword Palace Acupoint turned into silver-white Sword Qi, while the myriad of Treasured Swords flying towards him had Sword Qi that was inordinately mixed and impure.


    Ye Chen reacted extremely fast. As the silver Sword Qi was shot out, his mind moved, and under the control of the Storm Rain Sword Intent, in an instant, countless strands of Sword Qi transformed into droplets of sword rain that intercepted the group of Treasured Swords.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The silver sword rain clashed with the group of Treasured Swords, and those swords were actually pierced by the silver sword rain and immediately fell to the ground.


    Then, after vibrating with a "buzz" on the ground, these Treasured Swords flew back to their original positions, seemingly subdued, no longer attacking Ye Chen.


    On the other side, Jiang Yao also began to manipulate the silver Sword Qi that shot out from her Sword Palace Acupoint. Under her control, that silver Sword Qi astonishingly transformed into streaks of lightning that likewise knocked down large numbers of Treasured Swords, completely subduing them!


    As the girl made her move, her waterfall-like hair flew behind her, and her delicate face, fixed on the sky, looked serious and captivating.


    After subduing the first wave of attacking Treasured Swords, she retracted the silver Sword Qi back into her Sword Palace Acupoint, turned her head, and her starry bright eyes looked towards Ye Chen. When she saw that Ye Chen had already subdued the batch of Treasured Swords aimed at him, a smile flickered through her eyes.


    "Ye Chen, these Treasured Swords at the very bottom of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain were won by Senior Qian Ji and Senior Lian Yue during the ''True Qi Realm Sword Dueling Tournament''. They are all Mysterious Instruments commonly used by True Qi Realm warriors, quite easy for us to deal with," she said.


    Mysterious Instruments are weapons that can withstand the attacks of True Qi Realm warriors, a quality level higher than ordinary weapons but far inferior to Spiritual Artifacts, which can withstand the attacks from warriors in the Spirit Sea Realm.


    True Qi Realm warriors rarely manage to cultivate Sword Intents. Their Treasured Swords hidden within Ten Thousand Swords Mountain only contain faint remnants of Sword Qi that they had nurtured originally, unable to withstand the onslaught of silver Sword Qi under Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s control of their Sword Intents.


    "Jiang Yao, the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid we absorbed from the Sword Pool seems to be much stronger than the residual Sword Qi on these Treasured Swords. It looks like we don''t even need to control Sword Intents; just relying on the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid shot out and wielding sword techniques might be enough to repel these swords," Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao with a smile and a nod.


    "Yes, I have that feeling too," Jiang Yao''s eyes shone brightly. "I heard from my master that there are different levels of Sword Qi. The ordinary Sword Qi comes from sword cultivators using True Qi over the years, gradually blending it with their sword techniques, which then imparts some Sword Qi on the sword; this is all acquired Sword Qi."


    "There''s another type of Sword Qi that naturally arises from the heavens and earth, or that which naturally resides in spiritual swords, or spawned by nurturing from treasures of the world. Those types of Sword Qi are innate Sword Qi."


    "By the looks of it, the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid we''ve drawn from the Sword Pool is all innate Sword Qi."


    This second challenge, Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, was meant to temper Sword Qi, Sword Intents, and sword techniques. After a brief encounter with a group of Treasured Swords, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao gained a deeper understanding of the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid they had absorbed.


    "Let''s go."


    "We only have one month to climb Ten Thousand Swords Mountain. The lower part of the mountain region contains Mysterious Instrument-grade Treasured Swords used by True Qi Realm cultivators; they shouldn''t be too difficult. However, the midsection''s Spiritual Artifact-grade swords and the top section''s artifact-grade swords will likely not be so easy to contend with."


    "Let''s not waste time here!"


    Having taken a look at the surrounding Treasured Swords, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao continued on their way up.


    ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª


    Just a note, QQ Reading charges per thousand characters at the rate of five cents. Due to plot reasons, it''s not possible for every chapter to be of the same length. A chapter of over three to four thousand characters will be a bit more expensive; one with over two thousand characters will be slightly cheaper. This is system-priced and will average out over time. Please understand.

 Chapter 44: Chapter 41 Affection

    The higher they climbed, the stronger the sword attacks from the treasures on Ten Thousand Swords Mountain became.


    The swords at the very bottom, with their remaining sword qi mixed and easy to deal with.


    But after repelling more than twenty waves of sword groups'' attacks, the sword qi on the swords stuck along the mountain path began to fuse together.


    The sword groups attacked in unison, and the might of their combined attack also surged suddenly.


    As they ascended Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the pressure on Jiang Yao and Ye Chen also increased.


    Relying solely on the sword qi attracted by the sword groups'' attacks, which automatically flew out from the meridian points in the Sword Palace to execute swordsmanship, was no longer sufficient to withstand the attacks of the sword groups.


    Jiang Yao and Ye Chen began to use Sword Intents, commanding more sword qi and Spiritual Liquid from within their Sword Palace meridian points, to overpower the vast sword groups surging to kill.


    Ten Thousand Swords Mountain had an arcane formation that imprisoned True Qi, preventing them from using the True Qi in their Qi Sea; otherwise, Jiang Yao''s early stage in the Rotating Pill Realm alone could have swept the entire lower mountainous area of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain with her True Qi techniques.


    Now, Jiang Yao and Ye Chen had to rely entirely on the Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid drawn from the Sword Pool and their control over Sword Intents to execute swordsmanship to deal with the attacking sword groups.


    However, although they could not utilize their full strength, this special trial, designed to suppress the path of the sword, brought great benefits to Jiang Yao and Ye Chen.


    Originally, of the Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid they had absorbed into their Sword Palace meridian points, they could only control and use a very small fraction, not even one ten-thousandth of the total Spiritual Liquid, with the vast remainder simply surging freely within the domain of the Sword Palace.


    But now, after spending about four days, as they were about to finish ascending the lower mountainous area of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the quantity of Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid they could command from their Sword Palace meridian points using their Sword Intents had increased by four or five times, reaching one-thousandth of the total Spiritual Liquid, and the power of their attacks had also soared suddenly!


    Keep in mind, the vast amount of Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid drawn into their Sword Palace meridian points were enough to nurture a "sacred weapon" level flying sword; if they could control all of it, with the power of these Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid alone, they would be able to kill experts in the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Now, even though they could only make use of one-thousandth of the lake of immense Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid, the might of the Sword Qi they controlled was equivalent to the strength of a sixth or seventh layer True Qi expert!


    Moreover, after frequently using the Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid, the fraction within their Sword Palace meridian points that was used regularly began to undergo a transformation, gaining some wondrous innate spirit!


    The part of the Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid that Ye Chen could manipulate in his Sword Palace surged and roared, just like countless drops of storm rain converging together.


    For Jiang Yao, the portion of Spiritual Liquid she controlled within her Sword Palace meridian points seemed to be gathering countless streaks of purple lightning.


    This was precisely because Storm Rain Sword Intent and Purple Lightning Sword Intent were their most commonly used martial techniques!


    The Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid with innate spirit spread continuously within the domain of the Sword Palace, allowing them to command even more of it and thereby increasing their combat capacity. This became another killer move at their disposal apart from True Qi in their Qi Sea!


    In fact, Jiang Yao and Ye Chen''s previous speculations were not wrong; the Sword Qi and Spiritual Liquid they had absorbed was indeed a powerful form of Innate Sword Qi!


    This Innate Sword Qi was gathered by Heavenly Saint Lian Yue over eighty years from the Tai''a Sword Forest of the Great Sword Sect in the Tai''a Sword Qi of the great Dagan Dynasty.


    This Tai''a Sword Qi was extremely suited for nurturing flying swords and allowed Sword Cultivators that integrated their comprehended Sword Intents to continuously enhance the power of the Sword Qi.


    When Heavenly Saint Lian Yue was still in the Rotating Pill Realm, this Tai''a Sword Qi played a large role in enabling her to take the top place in the Rotating Pill Realm Sword Dueling Tournament!


    Now, while Jiang Yao and Ye Chen just began to harness the Tai''a Sword Qi in their Sword Palace, the amount of Sword Qi they could control and its might were far from matching Heavenly Saint Lian Yue''s. Yet given time, there was no telling how powerful they would become!


    Five days later, Jiang Yao and Ye Chen finally repelled all the sword groups attacking them, completely crossing the lower mountainous region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, stepping into the middle mountainous region filled with spiritual-grade swords.


    ...


    The middle mountainous area of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    It was already the eighteenth day since Jiang Yao and Ye Chen set foot on Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    In the midst of the mountains, the majestic Sword Qi lingered between heaven and earth. Although the swords here were not as densely inserted as in the lower region, the Sword Qi they emitted was tens to hundreds of times stronger!


    The pervasive Sword Qi even made the mountains appear slightly obscured, and mixed within the thick Sword Qi were strands of terrifying Sword Intents that shocked all who sensed them!


    In a clearing within the great mountains, a supremely beautiful girl sat cross-legged with her eyes closed in cultivation¡ªthe girl had brows delicate as the moon and skin fair as snow, her waterfall-like long hair cascading down to her waist. It was none other than Jiang Yao, who was braving Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!


    After a long time, the girl''s long eyelashes trembled slightly, and her eyes, as dazzling as stars, slowly opened.


    "I''ve finally comprehended the ''Storm Rain Sword Intent''."


    The girl murmured softly and lifted her beautiful eyes to the boy seated on a large stone about ten meters away.


    "Ye Chen is truly remarkable. It took me eight days to comprehend the Storm Rain Sword Intent he passed on to me, yet he grasped my Purple Lightning Sword Intent in just three days."


    "Although the Storm Rain Sword Intent and the Purple Lightning Sword Intent have similarities, being able to comprehend a new set of Sword Intents so quickly is something I have never seen before in the Tai''a Sword Sect!"


    "Now he''s directly comprehending the third kind of Sword Intents, the Wind Sword Intent. If he manages to grasp this Sword Intent as well, then he will possess three major Sword Intents!"


    In the girl''s eyes, looking toward Ye Chen, there was admiration, and even deeper within, a shy affection lay hidden!


    Jiang Yao, having stepped into the Qi Sea Realm at the young age of sixteen, was acclaimed as the number one prodigy among the thirty-six sects of the Eastern Region of Tianfeng Country. Now, she found herself admiring a True Qi Realm disciple.


    If this were to spread, all the disciples of the thirty-six sects would likely not believe it.


    What they didn''t know was this: in Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, where True Qi was restricted, and one could only rely on their Swordsmanship realm, the extraordinarily talented Jiang Yao had been completely impressed by Ye Chen, who possessed even greater comprehension in Swordsmanship.


    If the disciples of the thirty-six sects knew of Jiang Yao''s admiration for Ye Chen, they might just find it unbelievable, but if they knew of that hidden affection in Jiang Yao''s eyes when she looked at Ye Chen, the ones secretly in love with her might go completely mad!


    What they were unaware of was that during these days spent together, facing groups of Spiritual Swords that ambushed them time and time again, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, standing side by side and facing the danger, had slowly let each other into their hearts.


    What they were even less aware of was that eight days ago, when the two of them entered the last domain of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain''s middle region and suddenly encountered an attack by powerful swords containing three kinds of Sword Intents, the way Ye Chen fearlessly shielded Jiang Yao had quietly allowed that trace of affection to grow.


    Jiang Yao would never forget the words Ye Chen said as he held her hand to flee from the pursuing swords: "We''re comrades, aren''t we? If I don''t protect you, who will?"


    At that moment, Jiang Yao, whose hand was held by a boy for the first time, blushed on her delicate face. The warm and hot feeling penetrated deeply into her heart.


    Now, having awakened from cultivation, Jiang Yao quietly sat cross-legged, watching the figure on the large stone in the distance, silently waiting.


    Three more days passed.


    It was the twenty-first day since Jiang Yao and Ye Chen had entered Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, with nine days remaining until the end of the mountain''s trial.


    Ye Chen, who was sitting on the large stone, suddenly opened his eyes.


    The instant he opened his eyes, countless strands of Sword Qi flew out from the acupoint in the center of his forehead, instantly forming a terrifying Sword Qi storm.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The rampant Sword Qi storm swept across and within the blink of an eye enveloped hundreds of yards in every direction. While there was no change in the landscape as the storm passed, all the swords embedded in the rocks within the storm''s radius were forcefully lifted, hanging suspended in mid-air.


    Only after the storm passed did the swords thunderously fall to the ground, quivering incessantly.


    The Sword Qi techniques demonstrated by Ye Chen contained an extremely profound understanding of the essence of wind!


    "Wind Sword Intent!"


    "Ye Chen, have you actually comprehended the Wind Sword Intent?!"


    Jiang Yao exclaimed in surprise as she leapt up from her seated position and ran directly towards Ye Chen, who was still seated on the large stone.


    Just now, she had been within the range of the Sword Qi storm.


    Jiang Yao could clearly feel that the terrifying Sword Qi storm became incredibly gentle as it swept over her, like a caressing breeze, but when it moved towards the swords, it transformed into a violent whirlwind with terrifying power.


    This was exactly the realm that Ye Chen had described to her in seeking within the Wind Sword Intent!


    Looking at the beautiful girl with a face full of surprise running toward him, Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    "Let''s go, Jiang Yao."


    "It''s time for us to explore the last domain of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain''s middle region!"

 Chapter 45: Chapter 42 The Three Swords of the Domain

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    The final region of the central mountain area of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain was situated over two thousand eight hundred zhang in height, wreathed in clouds and fog.


    To further ascend, one must traverse this region flanked by valley clouds on both sides.


    Within this region stood hundreds of treasured swords, blocking the path forward.


    To continue up the mountain, one had to get past the blockage of these hundreds of treasured swords!


    Among these hundreds, there were distinctively three treasured swords¡ªit snowed atop one, water flowed over another, and the last was even wreathed in flames.


    Just over ten days ago, as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao reached this region, it was these three treasured swords that launched an attack with the other swords against them.


    Clearly, these three treasured swords had once been wielded by Spirit Sea Realm experts who had grasped sword intents, their formidable sword intents still clinging to them.


    The mere residual sword intents of these three swords, mixed with the sword qi of hundreds of other swords, launched a collective attack that completely defeated Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    At that time, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao realized that the original owners of these three swords must have been extraordinary figures even among the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Otherwise, the sword intents lingering in these swords wouldn''t have retained such power over such a long period.


    After these three treasured swords defeated Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, they pursued them relentlessly¡ªhad it not been for Ye Chen''s critical use of Gang Yuan True Qi from his Qi Sea to briefly obstruct these swords, he and Jiang Yao might have been ambushed and eliminated right there in the region!


    Gang Yuan True Qi was a special kind of True Qi refined from cultivating the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Gang Yuan Chapter," significantly stronger than ordinary Heaven and Earth True Qi. Although the grand formations within Ten Thousand Swords Mountain could restrain Heaven and Earth True Qi, they couldn''t restrain Ye Chen''s Gang Yuan True Qi at all.


    However, to hone his sword skills and sword intents, Ye Chen initially didn''t use Gang Yuan True Qi and only resorted to it when escape was absolutely necessary.


    Of course, the Gang Yuan True Qi that Ye Chen had cultivated was still too little; it could only briefly hold back the three treasured swords, allowing him and Jiang Yao to escape. To face the residual sword intents of the treasured swords head-on, his Gang Yuan True Qi was utterly inadequate.


    Blocked by the three powerful treasured swords and unable to pass through the region they guarded, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had no choice but to retrace their steps and find a secluded area to continue their cultivation.


    Their plan was to strengthen themselves sufficiently before challenging this final region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain''s central area once again.


    Now, after over ten days of arduous cultivation and sharing insights into sword intents, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally returned to this region!


    "Those three swords."


    Approaching the region, Ye Chen saw from afar the three treasured swords containing powerful sword intents among the group of swords.


    The Snow Glow Sword! The Water Glow Sword! The Fire Glow Sword!


    These three treasured swords stood proudly among the multitude, as if they were the chieftains of this vast array of swords.


    "The previous owners of these three swords were at least late-stage experts of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    Jiang Yao, though her True Qi was restrained, had profound vision and knowledge, and from their last encounter, she recognized the strength of the three swords.


    "It''s good that it''s not their original masters personally wielding these treasured swords, otherwise, even if we were to advance further, we couldn''t break through this group."


    "The residual sword intents and the attack power of this sword group are at the very least at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm!"


    In the past, with a flick of her delicate fingers, Jiang Yao could easily have shattered that level of True Qi.


    But now with her True Qi restrained and unable to use her strongest True Qi techniques, even with the recent assimilation of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid and sword intents, she was still no match for this sword group.


    "We must suppress these three Sword Intent Treasured Swords to defeat them."


    "Ye Chen, are you really confident?"


    Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen with her beautiful eyes, asking with some concern.


    "Let''s give it a try!"


    Ye Chen, his fighting spirit aflame, looked at the three treasured swords.


    Climbing Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, they had faced many barriers and even sword intent treasured swords, but Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had always made it through. Now, they were blocked by these three swords.


    Three mere wielderless swords held only by residual intents¡ªYe Chen found it unacceptable to be stopped by them.


    Now, after days of intense cultivation, he finally decided to brave the area guarded by the three swords.


    "Alright, then let''s battle this sword group once more!"


    With Ye Chen determined to break through the region guarded by the three swords, Jiang Yao naturally joined him without hesitation.


    The two stepped once more into the final region of the central mountain area of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    As they set foot in the region, the three treasured swords within sensed the intrusion and immediately flew up with a "whoosh."


    Together with the flight of the three swords, the hundreds of remaining treasured swords in the region also rose simultaneously.


    Instantly, a tremendous surge of sword qi unfurled, and within this vast sword qi, three varieties of sword intents circulated, as hundreds of treasured swords shot straight toward Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    ```


    Amid a sky full of treasured swords hurtling towards them at extreme speed, they shot towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao in an instant.


    Last time, it was this very move, a sky full of treasured swords, that completely overwhelmed the Sword Qi controlled by Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s Sword Intents!


    Now, Ye Chen certainly did not want to be defeated by the same move again.


    As the three treasured swords just began to fly, Ye Chen''s Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows burst out with countless strands of True Qi, which directly transformed into hundreds of treasured swords, each radiating with the glow of Purple Lightning, advancing towards the sky filled with swords.


    As Ye Chen made his move, Jiang Yao also acted simultaneously.


    She also manipulated Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, forming hundreds of treasured swords that also flickered with the light of Purple Lightning.


    Both their moves were directly using "Purple Lightning Sword Intent" to control the Sword Qi, to counter the swarm of swords.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the sky, the hundreds of treasured swords that rose from the realm below clashed directly with the hundreds of treasured swords created by Ye Chen and Jiang Yao through their Sword Intent-induced Sword Qi.


    This vast region was enveloped in rampaging Sword Qi, with every inch within miles churning wildly.


    Amid the frenzied clashing, the light of snow, water, and fire flickered rapidly on the three Sword Intent Treasured Swords, and in mere moments, the swarm defended by the three swords had gained the upper hand, already about to overwhelm Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s moves.


    At that moment, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao made another move without holding anything back, releasing all the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid they could control.


    This time, Jiang Yao unleashed the Storm Rain Sword Intent she had just comprehended from Ye Chen, while Ye Chen used the Wind Sword Intent and Wind Sword Skills he had gleaned from the Xuan-level martial skill "Wind Thunder Sword Skills."


    In an instant, fierce gales rose. This wind, evidently much stronger than Jiang Yao''s Storm Rain Sword Intent, spawned over three hundred Wind Blade Swords in an instant, shooting towards the sky full of swords.


    Among them, more than two hundred Wind Blade Swords drifted eerily next to the three Sword Intent Treasured Swords and then, those Wind Blade Swords suddenly gained weight, crashing wildly towards the Treasured Swords!


    While Ye Chen concentrated his main attack on the three Sword Intent Treasured Swords, Jiang Yao''s attack also converged with Ye Chen''s, targeting the sky full of swords.


    Suddenly, explosive sounds that shook the sky echoed throughout the middle of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain Mountain Region.


    The shockwave from the explosion even uprooted all the trees in this vast region from the ground, sending them flying away before they fell into the cloud seas on either side.


    And in the explosion, the three Sword Intent Treasured Swords, which once stood proud among the swarm, were no longer as haughty as they once were. They were struck by the myriad of Wind Blade Swords and flew backward, their lingering Sword Intents trembling, showing signs of dissipation.


    Seeing that the three Sword Intent Treasured Swords could not hold on much longer, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao certainly would not miss this opportunity to subdue them. With a movement of their Sword Intents, they pushed their controlled Sword Qi back against the swarm.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This counter-pressure drove all the hundreds of treasured swords deep into the ground, leaving only a small portion of their blades exposed.


    Not even the three Sword Intent Treasured Swords were an exception!


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao retracted their Sword Qi, none of the treasured swords in this vast region showed any further activity, no longer launching attacks at them.


    Clearly, after more than ten days of arduous training, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s strength had completely subdued this region''s swarm of swords!


    "We did it!"


    Seeing the three treasured swords buried deep in the ground, a glint flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes!


    Unlike Jiang Yao, who still had formidable True Qi Techniques that she couldn''t use, now, his Sword Intents and Swordsmanship were his strongest martial skills.


    And now, these strongest martial skills were already capable of battling without defeat against a sword swarm equivalent to the combat power of the True Qi ninth level!


    Even with Jiang Yao''s help, Ye Chen had also not used any True Qi Techniques.


    If this had been outside Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, and not a combat with others, Ye Chen''s current strength would have been enough to compete with those cultivators at the True Qi ninth level!


    After entering the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, his True Qi Realm had risen to the True Qi sixth level, and he acquired two high-grade Xuan-level Cultivation Techniques, as well as comprehending two additional kinds of Sword Intents, besides the Storm Rain Sword Intent, namely Purple Lightning Sword Intent and Wind Sword Intent.


    He even stored much Sword Qi Spirit Liquid in his Sword Palace Acupoint, capable of nurturing flying swords!


    These techniques, which he hadn''t fully cultivated yet, had already multiplied his strength several times over!


    This exploration of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode had indeed yielded a great harvest.


    "Only the final region of the mountain remains, the upper Mountain Region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!"


    Ye Chen looked up towards the peak of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain; the summit above was not too far away.


    "According to the records on the Ten Thousand Swords Stele, the upper Mountain Region of the mountain conceals only nine Treasured Swords."


    "Treasured Swords... Those are the weapons used by cultivators in the Rotating Pill Realm, and even just the remnants of these swords are likely to be incredibly formidable. I wonder what kind of challenge this last step will hold."


    "Once we overcome this final hurdle, we will be able to reach the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain."


    "The Flying Sword Heritage..."


    "If we can secure the last and most precious Flying Sword Heritage, then this trip to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode will truly be without regrets!"

 Chapter 46: Chapter 43: The Summit!

    Next to Ye Chen, Jiang Yao''s clear and beautiful eyes also sparkled with excitement.


    "Ye Chen, you did it, you really subdued the three Sword Intent Treasured Swords!"


    These past few days, she had watched Ye Chen relentlessly train every day without rest, without ever slackening, all in order to overcome this most difficult of regions.


    Now, Ye Chen had finally achieved it!


    He had finally subdued the three fiercest Sword Intent Treasured Swords, and defeated every sword in this toughest region!


    How could Jiang Yao not be thrilled, how could it not move her deeply?


    Looking at the heart-stirringly beautiful girl beside him, and into her clear eyes, Ye Chen was slightly mesmerized.


    "Ye Chen?" Being stared at like this by Ye Chen, a blush crept onto Jiang Yao''s pretty face.


    "Jiang Yao, thank you, thank you for your trust in me." Ye Chen looked at the delicate face before him, recalling how the girl had chosen to face the challenge with him without a moment''s hesitation when he decided to tackle the area defended by the three swords, filling his heart with warmth, "We did it, we subdued these treasured swords together, we overcame this toughest region together."


    "Yes, together." Jiang Yao''s eyes also softened with a touch of a smile.


    Seeing the soft smile in Jiang Yao''s eyes, Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel a stir in his heart, and on impulse, he reached out and grasped the girl''s slim hand. The softness and warmth he felt made him reluctant to let go.


    This was the second time he had held Jiang Yao''s hand, the first being when he led her away from the danger of being pursued by a swarm of swords. Now, it was a completely ordinary moment, with a completely different meaning.


    Suddenly having her hand taken by Ye Chen, Jiang Yao''s cheeks flushed slightly, she struggled gently but, seeing Ye Chen hold even tighter, her heart began to race, she turned her head away, revealing her equally blushing, snow-white neck. Her small hand no longer resisted and allowed Ye Chen to hold it.


    Although she had cultivated to the Spirit Sea Realm, 17-year-old Jiang Yao was still innocent when it came to feelings, having never been this close with any man before.


    She felt both shy and happy, feelings she had never experienced in her 17 years, now only surfacing with Ye Chen.


    Seeing the somewhat bashful girl and her gentle gestures, how could Ye Chen not understand their meaning, which eased his mind, which had been tense until now.


    He was suddenly filled with boundless grand ambition, "Let''s go, Jiang Yao, let''s tackle the last region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!"


    "Okay," Jiang Yao softly agreed.


    The two, hand in hand, continued their ascent up Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    ...


    At the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, Qian Jizi sat cross-legged looking down the mountain.


    When he saw Ye Chen and Jiang Yao walking hand in hand, an image of a woman crossed his mind.


    This woman loved to wear a light yellow dress, always riding a mystical ice-blue feathered bird, and always enjoyed, like Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, adventuring side by side with him.


    "Lian Yue, I failed to protect you back then."


    "Hopefully, Ye Chen can protect Jiang Yao!"


    "This last stretch of the mountain is the true test, a test of one''s inner heart!"


    As Qian Jizi spoke, he pointed a finger towards one of the two light circles beside him, at the floating, fiery, sword-shaped Form Seed within the circle. The Crimson Seed immediately emitted a bizarre fiery glow, propelling it downwards with great vigor.


    Not far below the summit, a row of nine treasured swords stood upright, and as the fiery red glow from the Crimson Seed reached them, all nine swords began to sparkle simultaneously. Endless streams of fire raged like a waterfall, cascading down Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, turning the entire upper region into an ocean of fiery cascades!


    ...


    "The final test!"


    At the base of the immense Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the giant feathered bird both looked up towards the gigantic peak.


    When they saw that the uppermost region of the mountain had been completely engulfed by the fiery waterfall, both the mighty magical creatures fell silent.


    "Can Ye Chen and Jiang Yao pass this test of the heart?"


    "Previously, pairs who journeyed together had reached this last stage, only to crumble and fall apart at the final moment."


    "What will happen to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao?"


    "If they fail the test of the heart, no matter how strong they are, they cannot inherit the flying swords of the two masters, nor do they deserve the invaluable legacy of the flying swords!"


    "We hope they won''t disappoint us!"


    ...


    It''s so hot! Unbearably hot, as if everything could be incinerated!


    The higher Ye Chen and Jiang Yao climbed, the more they felt a weighty pressure they could hardly breathe under.


    Especially Jiang Yao; she felt as though this heatwave was specifically targeting her, to the point where even the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid in her Sword Palace Acupoint ceased to leap.


    When the two reached the upper region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain and saw the whole area covered with the glow of the fiery waterfall, barely making out the row of nine treasured swords above, they knew that this waterfall of fire must be the phenomenon induced by those legendary nine treasured weapons.


    "Is this the test at the topmost area of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain?"


    Ye Chen observed the fiery waterfall of light that spanned a tremendous length of over a thousand yards from bottom to top. Crossing this vast fiery cascade would mean reaching the true summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!


    "Jiang Yao, how are you feeling?"


    At this moment, Jiang Yao''s small, snow-white face was engulfed in crimson; not the blush of shyness, but one brought on by the oppressive heat that made it hard to breathe.


    Jiang Yao''s slender eyebrows, curved like crescent moons, were tightly knitted together, and her delicate face showed signs of pain.

 Chapter 47: Chapter 43: Mountain Summit! _2

    Looking at the girl''s appearance, Ye Chen also felt some heartache.


    He sensed that the closer they got to the upper region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the more Jiang Yao seemed unable to bear it, as if there was something in the upper region that was restraining her.


    Ye Chen''s large hand tightly held onto Jiang Yao, while the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid from his Sword Palace Acupoint shot out, forming a protective barrier around Jiang Yao that slightly alleviated some of the heavy pressure she was under.


    "Ye Chen, it''s so strange,"


    "Why does this top area suppress me like this?"


    Jiang Yao''s brow furrowed tightly. She didn''t want to hold Ye Chen back, nor did she want to feel this peculiar sensation!


    "Perhaps it''s because of those nine Treasure Instruments, could it be that the Sword Intents on those instruments are restraining your Sword Qi Spirit Liquid?"


    Ye Chen was also somewhat baffled.


    "Let''s go, Jiang Yao, no matter how difficult it is, I will protect you, and we will move forward together!"


    Ye Chen held Jiang Yao''s hand even tighter, as he would not let go of her hand at this critical moment!


    Boom! Boom!


    Together, they flew into the upper region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, entering the midst of the Fire Waterfall''s glow.


    As soon as they entered the Fire Waterfall''s glow, Jiang Yao let out a groan, as the Fire Waterfall''s light that swept toward her even made the protective barrier formed by Ye Chen tremble intensely.


    Ye Chen''s heart tightened, and he summoned more Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, thickening the protective barrier around Jiang Yao''s body a few more layers.


    In this manner, the two slowly climbed towards the upper region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    After one day''s time, when they had painstakingly climbed more than a hundred zhang, the nine Treasured Swords at the very top of the mountain suddenly emitted a great red glow. The red light struck Jiang Yao beside Ye Chen, causing her to fall down, and Ye Chen, who refused to release her hand, fell as well.


    Boom! Boom!


    The two of them fell back to the place they''d just entered the upper region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    All of that day''s climbing was utterly wasted!


    Jiang Yao bit her red lips, and looking up toward the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, a resolute light flashed in her beautiful eyes: "Ye Chen, leave me be, it seems these nine Treasure Instruments are targeting me, and I''m probably not destined for the Flying Sword Heritage."


    "You go up the mountain on your own. With me, you simply cannot reach the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!"


    "Jiang Yao!" Ye Chen''s eyes stared intently into Jiang Yao''s, staring so hard that she didn''t dare to meet his gaze.


    "Don''t talk like that; we agreed to climb the mountain together. Let''s go, this is just the beginning; the two of us are not people who give up easily!"


    Ye Chen pulled, enveloping Jiang Yao with all the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid he could muster, and holding her hand, once more charged into the heat of the Fire Waterfall''s glow.


    This time, the two of them climbed continuously until they were three hundred zhang high, leaving only around eight hundred zhang from the summit!


    Boom! Boom!


    A terrifying cascade of Fire Waterfall glow surged toward them forcefully once again, knocking them back to their starting point!


    Ye Chen clenched his teeth, and without waiting for Jiang Yao to speak, pulled her into the midst of the Fire Waterfall''s glow again.


    Thus, he and Jiang Yao spent eight days'' time, charging into the Fire Waterfall over a hundred times, yet they were unable to cross the final region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!


    Just one more day until the month-long trial at Ten Thousand Swords Mountain would end!


    Only one last day remained.


    If they couldn''t climb to the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain in that time, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would be eliminated in this stage of the trial!


    At this moment, having been washed down once more, Jiang Yao shook off Ye Chen''s hand and ran down the mountain without looking back.


    "Ye Chen, leave me alone!"


    "There''s only one day left; I don''t want to be a burden on you!"


    "I''ve already reached the Spirit Sea Realm, and my primary combat skills also have nothing to do with the cultivation of the sword. Even if I don''t receive the Flying Sword Heritage, it''s fine; but it''s different for you!"


    Jiang Yao''s voice carried a sobbing tone.


    She wanted to reach the summit with Ye Chen, but this final segment of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain just wouldn''t let her pass.


    She didn''t want to weigh Ye Chen down. Every time Ye Chen insisted on pulling her up the mountain, only to be cruelly knocked back down, it hurt her more than falling herself.


    "It''s the last day."


    "Without me, Ye Chen still has hope of reaching the summit, I hope he can successfully obtain the Flying Sword Heritage."


    Jiang Yao thought as she ran, suddenly feeling light, she was scooped up around the waist.


    The person who held her, with a breath she was utterly familiar with, that steadfast gaze, that handsome face, who could it be if not Ye Chen!


    "Jiang Yao, being able to meet you inside the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode has already satisfied me," Ye Chen said.


    "My gains have been many indeed!"


    "As for the Flying Sword Heritage, let''s just leave it aside. If you want to go, I''ll accompany you."


    Ye Chen gave a light smile, exuding an indescribable carefreeness.


    What did it matter if he didn''t get the Flying Sword Heritage? Having Jiang Yao was enough. In Ye Chen''s heart, Jiang Yao, with whom he had spent these days, had become much more important than the Flying Sword Heritage.


    How could he possibly leave Jiang Yao behind for the sake of the Flying Sword Heritage?


    "Ye Chen..."


    Wrapped in Ye Chen''s embrace around the waist, Jiang Yao''s entire delicate body softened, her head spinning slightly. However, thinking of the imminent end of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain trial, she snapped back to her senses.


    "No, you can''t give up!"


    "That Flying Sword Heritage was left by a Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse. Once you obtain it, it will definitely be of great use."


    "Don''t worry about me!"


    Jiang Yao struggled in Ye Chen''s arms.


    "I don''t have to give up, but you have to promise me to try one last day with me," Ye Chen said, looking into her eyes and smiling.


    "If on this last day we still can''t make it, then it means we''re truly not destined for the Flying Sword Heritage, and then we can leave."


    Jiang Yao looked deeply into Ye Chen''s bright eyes and finally nodded.


    From Ye Chen''s gaze, she understood that if she didn''t agree, he might truly give up this last effort.


    "You... put me down! I agree, okay!"


    Jiang Yao''s face blushed, and she started to struggle again in Ye Chen''s arms.


    This time, Ye Chen let out a hearty laugh and set the girl down. Then, he took Jiang Yao''s hand and headed towards the upper reaches of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain once again.


    The two re-entered the brilliance of the fire waterfalls at the upper region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    Climbing! Falling!


    Climbing! Falling again!


    When the final day was about to end, when Jiang Yao sighed faintly, her gaze filled with affection as she looked at Ye Chen, and as Ye Chen shook his head helplessly,


    two awe-inspiring luminosities suddenly burst forth from the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    These two awe-inspiring luminosities, one red and one blue, poured down from the summit in a frenzy. The nine Treasure Instruments, the treasured swords, all trembled violently under the downpour of these two lights.


    Where the two luminosities swept across, all the fire waterfalls in the upper region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain extinguished, and then, the lights shot into the Sword Palace Acupoints between the brows of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    As the crimson light entered Ye Chen''s Sword Palace, a familiar and intimate feeling overwhelmed him. The fatigue from the past nine days dissipated under the invasion of this light.


    And Jiang Yao, who had been gasping for breath under the oppression of the fire waterfall''s light, felt her whole body lighten as the blue light entered her Sword Palace Acupoint, all the suppressed feelings vanishing, the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid within her Sword Palace Acupoint surged joyfully again.


    "What''s happening?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both looked towards the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    Then, they saw two small sword-shaped seeds, one red and one blue, suspended in the lights halfway up the sky, slowly rotating.


    The two small sword-shaped seeds, even smaller than a fingernail, yet the light they emitted enabled Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who were more than a thousand zhang away, to see them clearly.


    "The Flying Sword Heritage?"


    "Could it be, this is the Flying Sword Heritage that Senior Qian Ji spoke of?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao thought this as they looked at the two small sword-shaped seeds.


    Without any hesitation, they took hands and rushed toward the peak of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    Without the obstructing light of the fire waterfalls, they moved quickly, even faster than at the lowest region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain.


    One thousand zhang, five hundred zhang, three hundred zhang...


    Ten meters, eight meters, five meters, three meters!


    Boom!


    In the final moment, the two of them together reached the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain simultaneously!


    The second trial of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain was finally and completely cleared!

 Chapter 48: Chapter 44 Secrets

    At the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, there was a flat area spanning hundreds of zhang.


    It was as if a peerless powerhouse had leveled the peak with a single strike, leaving it flawlessly flat.


    Here was the site of the third trial of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode''s inner sanctum, the final challenge of the "Flying Sword Heritage."


    After "Lotus Sword Pool," where they absorbed Sword Qi Spirit Liquid to create the Sword Palace Acupoints, and after climbing the three massive regions of "Ten Thousand Swords Mountain," withstanding the assault of countless treasured swords, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, braving untold hardships, had finally succeeded in reaching this place!


    After the bitterness comes the sweetness!


    Now, only the last step, "Flying Sword Acknowledgement," remained for them.


    Upon reaching the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao immediately laid eyes on the seated phantom clone of Qian Jizi, and they noticed the two glowing rings beside him, along with the two miraculous sword-shaped seeds suspended in midair.


    "Senior Qian Jizi,"


    "Senior!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao greeted Qian Jizi with respectful bows.


    Splits from the inner sanctum at the beginning, they were finally seeing this Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse''s phantom clone once again.


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao,"


    The phantom clone of Qian Jizi also looked towards them, giving a slight nod and a smile.


    "You indeed did not disappoint me; you indeed succeeded in ascending the summit of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!"


    "Over three hundred years have passed, and you are the first pair to succeed in reaching the top of this mountain."


    As Qian Jizi spoke, he turned to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, during the external sanctum''s trials, you caught my attention.


    At the Fire Rune Chart spot, you battled the Fire Armored Warrior, showcasing your fighting strength; at the Mirror Light Spirit Wall, you comprehended the ''Wind Thunder Mood,'' your quick-wittedness surprises me; during the ''Fiery Trial of Intention,'' you continuously forged your willpower, successfully giving birth to the ''Fire Lotus Law Pattern.''


    "And you, Jiang Yao," Qian Jizi then turned to Jiang Yao, "You were merely seventeen when you stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, unparalleled in your natural talent for qi cultivation, and likewise extraordinary in sword cultivation.


    Three years ago, when you tested in the ''Fire and Water Dao,'' passed the external sanctum''s three challenges with the most outstanding achievements, I already anticipated that you would enter the inner sanctum with a partner."


    Hearing this, Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes couldn''t help but turn to Ye Chen.


    She remembered that at the time, she was also looking forward to finding a partner to enter the inner sanctum, and in the end, she waited for Ye Chen.


    Seeing Jiang Yao''s gesture, Qian Jizi smiled slightly, "As a result, you and the equally outstanding Ye Chen made your way into the inner sanctum together."


    "At that time, I predicted that the two of you were very likely to be the first pair to break through to the third challenge of the inner sanctum, and to think, my guess actually became reality."


    Indeed, it had become reality!


    Standing at the site of the third challenge, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were touched, having undergone the trials of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, especially the last three-sword guardianship area and the upper mountain''s fiery waterfall light challenges, they fully realized the difficulty of passing Ten Thousand Swords Mountain''s trials.


    Fortunately, they didn''t give up and persevered to the end.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, and a bit of delight and pride flashed in their eyes!


    "Now, having reached the third challenge, all that''s left is ''Flying Sword Acknowledgement,'' the final step!"


    "You must be wondering what the flying swords you''ll acknowledge as your own are like, right?" Qian Jizi asked the two with a smile.


    The flying swords they were to acknowledge?


    Qian Jizi''s words caused both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to shift their gaze to his side, looking at the sword-shaped seeds suspended in the glowing rings.


    "Senior, are these two sword-shaped seeds the flying swords we are to acknowledge as our own?" Ye Chen asked Qian Jizi.


    These two sword-shaped seeds, one crimson red as fire, and the other deep blue as water, emanated a mystical radiance as they slowly spun, highlighting their unparalleled preciousness!


    Watching these two sword-shaped seeds, Ye Chen faintly thought of the assignment of the "Fire and Water Dao."


    The Fire and Water Dao, the sword-shaped seeds of water and fire.


    Could it be that the reason for the two separate trials was because of this pair of sword-shaped seeds?


    At this moment, Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes were also fixated on the two sword-shaped seeds, particularly the deep blue one that resembled water. Previously, at the final moments of the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain trials, a deep blue radiance shot into her Sword Palace Acupoint, leading to the disappearance of the oppressive feeling within her.


    Could it be that deep blue seed that emitted that burst of blue light?


    The girl harbored this guess in her heart.


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both focusing on the sword-shaped seeds beside him, Qian Jizi did not hesitate to nod and confirm, "Yes, the flying swords you are to acknowledge are these two!"


    "These two flying swords, one named ''Crimson Fire'' and the other ''Ghostly Water,'' are incredible treasures born in the ''Sea God Palace'' of the Sea of Chaos, a pair of twin flying swords naturally formed by heaven and earth!"


    Flying Sword "Crimson Fire"!


    Flying Sword "Ghostly Water"!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, hearing Qian Jizi''s words and looking at the flying swords the size of seeds, were deeply stirred in their hearts.


    They had braved the trials of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode for so long, for these tiny twin flying swords!


    So, it was these!


    Heaven and earth born treasures, a pair of twin flying swords, born from the Sea God Palace in the Sea of Chaos, a place they had never visited, and now here, within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode of Heavenly Wind Kingdom, right before their very eyes.


    The thought alone filled them with wonder.


    "Since you have come here and have seen this pair of twin swords, it''s time to tell you everything about the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode."


    The gaze of Qian Jizi also fell upon the two flying sword seeds, his eyes filled with memories, and even more so, with sorrow.


    "Please speak, senior."


    Ye Chen looked towards Qian Jizi.


    "Is it related to that ''Heavenly Saint Lian Yue''?" Jiang Yao asked cautiously.


    Ever since the two of them had entered the inner abode, whether it was the strange expression of the giant bird or the words "Lian Yue" they saw on the Ten Thousand Swords Stele at the base of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, or even this pair of peculiar twin swords, they felt there must be a story ¨C a story involving both Heavenly Saint Lian Yue and Heavenly Saint Qian Ji.


    "Lian Yue..."


    Hearing Jiang Yao mention that name, Qian Jizi let out a long sigh and nodded, "Indeed, it has to do with Lian Yue."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao listened intently.


    Qian Jizi sighed wistfully, "At the Ten Thousand Swords Stele, you must have seen that Ten Thousand Swords Mountain was actually established by both my original body and Lian Yue."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both nodded their heads.


    "Lian Yue and I were originally a pair of martial siblings; I came from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and she came from a great dynasty in the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent," Qian Jizi spoke slowly.


    "Both of us followed the path of sword cultivation. We met at the Spirit Sea Realm Swordsmanship Contest on Immeasurable Mountain. That year, I won first place and Lian Yue took second, and from then on, we got to know each other. Later, we joined the sword cultivation ''Tai''a Sect'' together."


    "The two of us cultivated together, wandering the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, our sword cultivation growing ever higher, and our relationship growing increasingly close..."


    Qian Jizi lost himself in memories, as if recalling those beautiful days, a slight smile appeared on his face.


    "Lian Yue was stubborn to the core, refusing to accept defeat. After losing to me at the Spirit Sea Realm Swordsmanship Contest on Immeasurable Mountain, she pulled me into participating in the Rotating Pill Realm Swordsmanship Contest on Ethereal Peak once we entered the Rotating Pill Realm," he continued.


    "At that time, I didn''t want to compete with her, so I lost to her on purpose."


    "However, after that, Lian Yue became unhappy, claiming that I hadn''t used my real abilities to duel with her on the path of the sword. To appease her, I promised that once we stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm, we would have a true battle at the Heavenly Saint Realm Swordsmanship Contest."


    "Little did I expect that it would be during that battle at the Swordsmanship Contest in the Sea of Chaos that..."


    As he spoke, Qian Jizi''s voice began to tremble.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s hearts clenched, knowing that it was probably at this Heavenly Saint Realm Swordsmanship Contest where something went terribly wrong.


    Qian Jizi took a deep breath and continued, "In that battle, Lian Yue and I eventually became the final two contenders."


    "And between Lian Yue and me, we truly went all out in a contest of swordsmanship."


    "Lian Yue was incredible. In the end, she defeated me and took first place at the Heavenly Saint Realm Swordsmanship Contest. As for the first place prize, it was the Twin Flying Swords provided by the Sea God Palace, which are ''Crimson Fire'' and ''Ghostly Water'' in front of you!" he explained.


    Crimson Fire and Ghostly Water, the pair of twin flying swords, were actually the prize for the Heavenly Saint Realm Swordsmanship Contest!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hadn''t expected this at all.


    "Originally, Lian Yue won first place, and we received the first place reward. Everything was fine."


    "But on our way back, we were ambushed by three powerful Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists!"


    At this point, a deep hatred shone in Qian Jizi''s eyes.


    "On any other day, those three Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists wouldn''t have been a threat to us. Lian Yue and I, even amongst those in the Heavenly Saint Realm, were among the top rankers! But because of the injuries we sustained in our final battle, we were weakened," he recounted.


    "Those three were our friends, yet they betrayed us at such a critical moment and attacked us directly!" Qian Jizi seethed.


    "In the end, although we managed to kill two of the treacherous three and scared the third one away, Lian Yue... she fell into a perpetual coma in the fight..."


    "It was to protect me that she self-detonated her ''Life-Bound Flying Sword Palace.'' Since then, she has been in an eternal sleep!" he lamented.


    "Lian Yue''s injuries were because of me, her final act of self-detonating the Sword Palace and falling into a coma, also because of me!"


    "If I hadn''t been so set on competing with her, none of this would have happened!" By the end, Qian Jizi''s voice had become hoarse, filled with unbearable regret.


    "Senior Qian Ji..."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both felt saddened by the story, with tears even starting to form in Jiang Yao''s clear eyes.


    She could feel the kind of love that Lian Yue had for Heavenly Saint Qian Ji.


    "This isn''t your fault, senior Qian Ji," Jiang Yao gently said, "If Heavenly Saint Lian Yue made that choice, she surely wouldn''t have any regrets."


    "The ones to blame are those three betraying Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists. If not for them, none of this would''ve happened," Ye Chen added.


    "Those scoundrels!"


    Upon Ye Chen bringing up those three, Qian Jizi was awakened from his regret by righteous anger, "Two of them are already dead; it was the third one who got away!"


    Continuing, Qian Jizi turned his gaze to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "After ''Lian Yue''s'' Sword Palace was shattered, there was no longer any possibility for her to cultivate flying swords. My original body also refuses to use the twin swords that bring back painful memories, so the swords were hidden within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode."


    "The trial of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode was initiated by my original body to find a new master for the ''Crimson Fire'' and ''Ghostly Water'' twin swords and also for another reason."


    "That is, if one day, the owner of Crimson Fire and Ghostly Water becomes powerful enough, powerful enough to deal with that runaway scoundrel, then they must capture him and bring him back to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode! He mustn''t be allowed to continue roaming free, harming others!"


    "That is the sole requirement of the person who inherits the ''Flying Sword Heritage''!"

 Chapter 49: Chapter 45 Flying Sword! Flying Sword!

    "Originally, my main body decided to seek revenge personally, but he left early to save Lian Yue and has already gone to the ''Minor Spirit Realm.'' Even if he successfully finds the secret treasure to awaken Lian Yue, he''ll have to wait at least another three thousand years for the Minor Spirit Realm to open again before he can come out,"


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, if you can successfully make the flying swords acknowledge you as their masters, can you do what I have just mentioned as the sole requirement for the person who obtains the ''Flying Sword Heritage''?"


    The avatar of Qian Jizi gazed at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, and their eyes said it all.


    "Senior Qian Jizi, we accept this condition!"


    "Please inform us of the name and appearance of the person who fled!"


    Not to mention the tremendous benefits they had received from the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, even if they hadn''t gained anything, knowing the past of Heavenly Saint Lian Yue and Heavenly Saint Qian Ji made them feel profound hatred toward the person who had betrayed and fled.


    If they had the strength to capture him, of course, they would bring him back to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode for Qian Jizi to deal with!


    "Good, good!"


    "There''s no rush to inform you about that person''s details. It is not too late to talk about it after you have successfully made the flying swords acknowledge you as masters,"


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao agree without hesitation lightened Qian Jizi''s sorrowful mood somewhat.


    "I set up the waterfall of radiant fire at the highest area of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain to push you to the limit, all to test your characters."


    "In times of great difficulty, in the last moment, you did not abandon each other but chose to stick together. Only those with such character deserve the opportunity to have the flying swords acknowledge them as masters."


    "Only such flying sword masters deserve to be entrusted with that sole requirement!"


    "Now, begin the true final trial, the ''Flying Sword Acknowledgment,''"


    It turns out the waterfall of radiant fire was deliberately set up by Qian Jizi to test their character.


    Upon hearing Qian Jizi''s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally understood why the radiant fire waterfall was so difficult to overcome, and why it had suddenly disappeared.


    And when Qian Jizi mentioned starting the "Flying Sword Acknowledgment," both of them were invigorated at the same time.


    It was about to start.


    The Flying Sword Acknowledgment was finally about to begin!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both turned their gazes towards the two tiny, sword-shaped seeds floating within the light ring.


    "These ''Crimson Fire'' and ''Ghostly Water'' are twin swords, one male and one female, born together, mutually generating and accompanying each other. Ye Chen, you will acknowledge the ''Crimson Fire Flying Sword'', while Jiang Yao, you will acknowledge the ''Ghostly Water Flying Sword''!"


    "Above the flying swords, there are three prohibitions. Only by unraveling these three prohibitions can you begin to make the flying swords acknowledge you as masters. Now, I will teach you the secret spells to unlock the prohibitions on the ''Crimson Fire'' and ''Ghostly Water'' flying swords, listen carefully!"


    As Qian Jizi spoke, the incantations to unlock the prohibitions on the flying swords flew directly into the minds of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    They closed their eyes, recited the spell three times, clearly memorizing every step, and then opened their eyes.


    "Sit cross-legged one zhang opposite the ''Flying Swords'', and begin to make them acknowledge you as masters!"


    Ye Chen did as he was told, sitting cross-legged opposite the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword," while Jiang Yao sat opposite the "Ghostly Water Flying Sword."


    They gazed at the flying swords they were about to make acknowledge them, their minds gradually calming down as they entered into the preparatory state of regulating their Qi and nurturing their spirits before unlocking the prohibitions.


    After a short while, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s eyes snapped open, and they began to cast spells with their hands simultaneously.


    Hum! Hum!


    At the moment they cast their spells, the Crimson Fire and Ghostly Water swords started to tremble violently.


    On the tiny sword-shaped seeds, numerous wondrous patterns began to move, and three layers of divine light spread out like ripples.


    These three layers of divine light were the three prohibitions for acknowledging the flying swords as masters.


    The time to unlock the prohibitions had come!


    Ye Chen was quietly staring at the "Crimson Fire" flying sword when he pointed his finger, and a drop of essence blood flew straight out.


    The first prohibition, "Essence Blood Prohibition"!


    Whoosh!


    This drop of essence blood flew straight towards the "Crimson Fire," and at the perfect moment when the three layers of divine light on the sword rippled to a peculiar position, the essence blood directly entered "Crimson Fire."


    Hum!


    Upon contact with the "Crimson Fire," the essence blood completely enveloped the first layer of divine light. In an instant, the entire "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" vibrated wildly, bursting with brilliance, while Ye Chen''s hand movements continued, beginning to fully deploy the spell to unlock the first prohibition!


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    After a few moments, the wildly vibrating "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" suddenly stopped, hovering in mid-air, perfectly level with Ye Chen''s gaze.


    And the first layer of the divine light that ripples across its surface, had now disappeared.


    The first prohibition, "Essence Blood Prohibition," had finally been unlocked!


    Ye Chen''s hand movements changed as he immediately began the procedure to release the second layer of prohibition.


    From his Sword Palace Acupoint at his brow, three streams of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid shot out and flew towards the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword."


    This second layer of prohibition was, indeed, the "Sword Qi Prohibition"!


    Just like when he removed the first layer, the "Essence Blood Prohibition," at the precise moment when a halo of light circling the flying sword reached a mysterious instant, the three streams of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid struck the prohibitive halo.


    Puff! Puff! Puff!


    With this strike, the entire second layer of prohibition began to ripple crazily, and Ye Chen, manipulating the spell to remove the prohibition, had his hand seals moving in succession once again.


    A full tea time passed before the second layer, "Sword Qi Prohibition," was finally broken.


    Now, on the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword," the prohibitive halo that remained had been reduced to its final layer!


    Facing this last layer of prohibition, Ye Chen''s expression turned grave.


    According to the spell passed down by Qian Jizi, this final prohibition was the most difficult one!


    At the time of breaking this layer of prohibition, one must establish a wondrous connection with the flying sword; only then could the sword begin to recognize its master.


    Ye Chen closed his eyes, following the spell, as his Divine Sense began to unfold slowly, inching towards the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword."


    The third layer of prohibition was the "Divine Sense Prohibition"!


    The three layers of prohibition, "Essence Blood Prohibition," "Sword Qi Prohibition," and "Divine Sense Prohibition," correspond to the three aspects of Essence, Qi, and Spirit! This is to achive fusion with the flying sword based on these three vital signs of life.


    Now, Ye Chen was left with just the last hurdle, the "Divine Sense Prohibition"!


    Whether he could establish a mysterious rapport with the flying sword at this juncture rested on this single effort!


    Ye Chen dispelled all distracting thoughts, his mind focusing on nothing but the flying sword, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    As Ye Chen''s Divine Sense approached the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, the last layer of the prohibitive halo that remained on the sword suddenly expanded and contracted.


    And Ye Chen, following this rhythmic movement, began to enter a strange communication with the Crimson Fire Flying Sword.


    After an incense stick''s worth of time, Ye Chen''s eyes snapped open as the flying sword burst into light, and the last layer of prohibition ¡ª the "Divine Sense Prohibition" ¡ª vanished amidst the radiance.


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, with its three layers of prohibitive halos lifted, now revealed countless mysterious patterns on its small, sword-shaped seed even more clearly. These were the natural Divine Patterns of heaven and earth, the Divine Patterns of the flying sword!


    With his eyes open, Ye Chen''s gaze revealed a trace of joy as he felt the flying sword. He did not need to see it to sense the pulsating of the flying sword and its strange patterns!


    The Sword Recognition was happening now!


    In the Sword Palace Acupoint at Ye Chen''s brow, countless streams of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid surged violently; at the same time, the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword," located within the halo of light, shot out with a "swoosh" and flew to the forefront of Ye Chen''s brow.


    "Capture!"


    Ye Chen uttered the word softly, and at that instant, countless streams of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid flew out from the Sword Palace Acupoint, enveloping the Crimson Fire Flying Sword.


    In this moment, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword did not flee; on the contrary, it flew directly towards the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid that Ye Chen had generated.


    This was unmistakably the sign of successful recognition!


    At this final moment, Ye Chen''s expression was neither joyous nor sorrowful; all his focus immersed in the secret method of controlling the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" and drawing it into the Sword Palace Acupoint.


    After the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid had fully enveloped the flying sword, following the movement of his hand seals, there came a light buzzing sound as the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" and the Spirit Liquid completely merged, shooting back towards the Sword Palace Acupoint at his brow.


    Thud!


    As the Crimson Fire Flying Sword entered the Sword Palace Acupoint at Ye Chen''s brow, he sensed the life of the entire sword blossoming!


    He felt the Crimson Fire Flying Sword merging with his mind and spirit!


    The Sword Recognition was successful!


    By then, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, floating in the vast lake of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid within the Sword Palace Acupoint, was slowly being nourished by countless strands of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid. The tiny sword-shaped seed began its cultivation in the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid.


    When Ye Chen''s mind stirred, and his gaze suddenly shot towards a point next to the mountain peak, a crimson sword-shaped seed flew out from his brow, turning into a speck of red light, shooting in that direction at breakneck speed.


    With another thought from Ye Chen, the speck of red light began to circle and dance around the mountaintop.


    Ye Chen slowly extended his palm; the red light shot back and fell into his hand, revealing the original form of the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword."


    This was the very ability to control the flying sword with ease!


    "Flying Sword! This is my flying sword, the ''Crimson Fire Flying Sword''!"


    Ye Chen examined the flying sword in his palm as though he was looking at an intimate companion.


    From now on, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword would accompany him, joining him on his journey through the path of martial arts!


    After observing the Crimson Fire Flying Sword for a while, Ye Chen stirred his mind, and the flying sword returned to the Sword Palace Acupoint at his brow, resuming its cultivation.


    Ye Chen stood up from his meditative stance, turning to look at Jiang Yao beside him.


    At this moment, Jiang Yao was also at the last moment of recognizing the "Ghostly Water Flying Sword"!

 Chapter 50: 46 Chapter The Three Great Forces of the Flying Sword

    Just as Ye Chen stood up, the sword-shaped seed, a deep blue like water, floating before Jiang Yao''s snow-white forehead suddenly shot towards the center of her brow.


    A faint pattern of enchantments rippled on the spot between Jiang Yao''s eyebrows, and the entire "Ghostly Water Flying Sword" merged into Jiang Yao''s Sword Palace Acupoint.


    The Ghostly Water Flying Sword, likewise, had successfully acknowledged its master!


    Jiang Yao slowly closed her beautiful eyes, quietly sensing the "Ghostly Water Flying Sword" that had just accepted her as its master, and after a long time, she then opened her eyes.


    When she opened her eyes, a shallow smile appeared on her delicate little face, and her small dimples were irresistibly enticing.


    "Ye Chen."


    Jiang Yao turned her head to look at Ye Chen and saw his smiling gaze directed at her.


    From Ye Chen''s look, she knew that, just like her, he also had succeeded in having a flying sword acknowledge him as master.


    "Congratulations to you both!"


    At that moment, Qian Jizi''s voice came over, his tone also contained a trace of joy.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had obtained the Flying Sword Heritage, and Qian Jizi was genuinely happy for them!


    "Elder Qian Jizi!"


    Both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao stood up and walked towards Qian Jizi, bowing deeply to him.


    The "Crimson Fire" and "Ghostly Water" flying swords were originally obtained by Qian Jizi and Lian Yue in the Sea God Palace; these swords were imbued with their hard work and, to a certain extent, Lian Yue''s injury was even related to these swords!


    That Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had become the masters of this pair of flying swords, of course, they were extremely grateful to Qian Jizi and Lian Yue.


    "Elder, who is the person you mentioned earlier who betrayed and fled?"


    "Now that Jiang Yao and I have successfully made the flying swords recognize us as masters, we will certainly fulfill that requirement!"


    Ye Chen said to Qian Jizi.


    Previously, Qian Jizi had mentioned that the person who obtained the Flying Sword Heritage must capture the one who severely injured Lian Yue and then fled, and bring them back to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode when they could; Ye Chen had already agreed to this.


    This promise had never been forgotten by Ye Chen, and now he brought it up again.


    "Yes, please inform us about that person, elder," Jiang Yao also looked towards Qian Jizi.


    Qian Jizi had not spoken before because Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had not yet made the flying swords accept them as masters, but now that the two were the masters of the twin "Crimson Fire" and "Ghostly Water" flying swords, he no longer hesitated.


    "That person who fled is called ''Heavenly Saint Tuoshan''!"


    With a gesture from Qian Jizi''s hand, a figure appeared within the void.


    It was a somewhat hunched old man with white hair, full of wrinkles, leaning on a black cane; he appeared like a dying old man.


    But Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew that someone who could be called a "Heavenly Saint" was far from dying, and probably with just the flick of a finger, could turn countless True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses into ash.


    "Heavenly Saint Tuoshan!"


    The two of them memorized the visage and the name.


    Looking at the figure of Heavenly Saint Tuoshan in the void, Qian Jizi''s eyes revealed hatred, "This Heavenly Saint Tuoshan, also known as ''Elder Tuoshan'', lives on the chaotic sea''s Manduo Mountain and is the lord of Manduo Mountain. He usually presents himself as extremely modest and benevolent, no one would have expected him to be so ruthless and vicious!"


    "Lian Yue and I, we misjudged him!"


    "If you encounter him one day, you must not be deceived by him; you must be careful of that black cane! He has never revealed that he was a Sword Cultivator. Even when we went to the Heavenly Saint Realm for the sword fighting conference, he only said he was accompanying Lian Yue and me to watch.


    No one would have guessed that his black cane was actually formed by an array of eighty-six Spirit Swords. The techniques he had hidden were on par with mine!"


    Hearing Qian Jizi''s words, Ye Chen''s heart sank heavily; this Elder Tuoshan truly had deep schemes to hide his capabilities so thoroughly, revealing them only at the last moment to betray and attack his peers!


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, as for this Elder Tuoshan, you are not capable of dealing with him now. What I ask for is only a future," Qian Jizi then looked back at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "The flying swords I gave you are to be a hidden trump card for you. We may not be as treacherous and betray others like Tuoshan, but we must also have our own cards to play."


    "Having a hidden trump card like this could save your lives at a critical moment!"


    "At all times, you must prepare more thoroughly, only by surviving can you grow to a sufficiently high level!"


    Qian Jizi''s words made Ye Chen and Jiang Yao nod incessantly.


    They knew that these were the personal insights Qian Jizi had gained after many long years of cultivation.


    "Lian Yue and I, we trusted those three people too much, which led us to fully unleash our abilities at the Heavenly Saint Realm Sword Fighting Tournament. If not for that, we wouldn''t have ended up with the outcome we face today," he said with a sigh, looking at Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, I see that all your techniques are those of a Sword Cultivator. In the future, you must cultivate other martial techniques as well. You may treat Sword Cultivator techniques as your main discipline, but you must not make it your only one," Qian Jizi instructed.


    "Yes, thank you for your guidance, senior!" Ye Chen nodded in agreement.


    He also had thoughts in his heart to cultivate several other martial techniques in order to diversify his own methods.


    Qian Jizi then turned to look at Jiang Yao, "Jiang Yao, I''m not too worried about you; you''re only seventeen and already at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm. You have come far in the realm of True Qi, and it is evident that the Sword Cultivator techniques you use were learned halfway through your journey."


    "Yes, senior, after attending the Rotating Pill Realm Sword Fighting Tournament with my master, I began to cultivate a set of sword techniques," Jiang Yao replied, nodding her small head.


    Ye Chen had heard from Jiang Yao that her most formidable technique was actually a kind of Bloodline Secret Skill, an extremely powerful True Qi Secret Skill and exclusive martial technique; it was only after she turned fourteen that she began to train in Swordsmanship.


    In just three years of training, she had already grasped the Sword Intent Realm. Jiang Yao''s talent in the sword path was equally formidable.


    "Very well, I hope that one day you both can ascend to the Heavenly Saint Realm or even one day surpass the Heavenly Saint Realm and step into the legendary Supreme Divine Realm!"


    "Perhaps by the time my true body returns from the minor spirit realm, the both of you will have become incredibly powerful," Qian Jizi said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with a smile.


    "The ''Flying Sword Heritage'' of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode already has an inheritor. Before you leave, I will tell you a few more things about flying swords, which you must remember."


    "A flying sword is a treasured companion of a Sword Cultivator, which needs continuous nurturing to become more and more powerful."


    "The quality of a flying sword itself determines the final tier of the flying sword once it is fully cultivated. The pair of flying swords you''ve assimilated into the Sword Palace Acupoint are of ''Sacred Artifact'' grade; that is to say, once you''ve fully cultivated them, this pair of flying swords can become true Sacred Artifacts!"


    "A Sacred Artifact is sufficient for you to use all the way to the Heavenly Saint Realm, just like this Thousand Lotus Cave Abode of mine, which is a spatial Sacred Artifact."


    "To nurture a flying sword, you need Sword Qi Spirit Liquid. The Sword Qi Spirit Liquid you extracted from the Lotus Sword Pool comes from the Tai''a Sword Sect, the great sword faction that Lian Yue and I once joined. It contains ''Tai''a Sword Qi'', a tremendously powerful form of Innate Sword Qi."


    "The Sword Qi Spirit Liquid should be enough for you to nurture the flying swords you''ve assimilated. Of course, if you can find other types of Innate Sword Qi in the future, you can assimilate it into the Sword Palace Acupoint to continue nurturing your flying swords."


    "Lastly, I will tell you about the three major combat capabilities of a flying sword."


    Upon saying this, Qian Jizi''s expression turned serious.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who had been listening attentively, sensed the gravity in Qian Jizi''s tone and grew even more focused, realizing that what was to follow was extremely important for them as the owners of flying swords.


    "A so-called flying sword, hidden within the Sword Palace Acupoint, serves as a kind of secret technique, a powerful concealed method!"


    "Therefore, this secret should not be used frequently; reserve it for critical moments."


    "The three major combat capabilities of a flying sword are its ''Normal State'', ''Life-bound Flying Sword Breakage'', and ''Flying Sword Self-Destruction''!"


    "Under its Normal State, the flying sword can aid you in regular combat."


    "Life-bound Flying Sword Breakage involves sacrificing the flying sword''s own quality to boost combat power suddenly. For example, Ye Chen is now at the True Qi Realm, but if he uses the ''Crimson Fire Life-bound Flying Sword Breakage'', he can be a match for a Spirit Sea Realm expert.


    However, Life-bound Flying Sword Breakage must not be used lightly because once employed, the flying sword will fall into a deep slumber until it repairs itself, after which it can be used again."


    "If Ye Chen were to use Crimson Fire''s breakage against a late-stage Spirit Sea Realm individual, the flying sword would need at least a thousand years to recover. Even if used against a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm person, the sword would have to sleep for at least a century!"


    "Therefore, the combat power of Life-bound Flying Sword Breakage should not be deployed casually!"


    When Qian Jizi talked about Ye Chen being able to match Spirit Sea Realm experts with Life-bound Flying Sword Breakage, a flicker of sharp light appeared in Ye Chen''s eyes, but neither Qian Jizi nor Jiang Yao, deeply engrossed in their discussion, noticed his expression.


    "Lastly, we come to Flying Sword Self-Destruction," he said, his voice growing heavy.


    "Flying Sword Self-Destruction is an utter unleashing of the flying sword''s life-bound quality, releasing all its power at once! Under such circumstances, it can even exhibit the strongest state of a mature life-bound flying sword!"


    "But this should only be used in a life-and-death situation and not otherwise, because once a flying sword self-destructs, you, deeply connected with the sword in spirit, will also suffer a severe blow. At that point, not only will the flying sword be destroyed, but your Sword Palace Acupoint will also be completely shattered!"


    "Back when Lian Yue and I encountered betrayal and an attempt on our lives by Tuoshan and the others, Lian Yue''s flying sword self-destructed in the end. Although it killed two of them and gravely wounded another, from that moment on, Lian Yue fell into a deep unconsciousness."


    "You must remember that while ''Life-bound Flying Sword Breakage'' can be used once or twice, ''Flying Sword Self-Destruction'' must absolutely not be used unless it is a matter of life or death!"


    Qian Jizi looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao earnestly as he spoke.

 Chapter 51: Chapter 47 Farewell

    The flying sword''s normal state, its life essence damage, and its self-destruction!


    These three great powers of the flying sword become increasingly potent as one proceeds.


    However, correspondingly, the side effects of using them also grow greater.


    When a flying sword sustains life essence damage, it often requires the sword to slumber for hundreds to thousands of years. For a Sword Cultivator, this is tantamount to spending vast years or even possibly an entire lifetime without the ability to use the flying sword¡ªnaturally, this cannot be used lightly.


    And as for the self-destruction of a flying sword, it is even more terrifying: not only does it harm others, but it also harms oneself. Unless absolutely necessary, at a life-or-death moment, it must never be used lightly!


    The words of Qian Jizi gave Ye Chen and Jiang Yao a deeper understanding of the offensive power of flying swords.


    "Yes, senior!"


    "We now have an idea of how to use these three powers of the flying sword."


    Seeing Qian Jizi''s solemn instructions, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao nodded in agreement.


    "Good, I have told you the important matters concerning flying swords. As for the rest, you will continue to understand them as you cultivate and use your flying swords."


    "I have here a ''Thousand Lotus Sword Scripture'' that records the insights Lian Yue and I had from cultivating from the True Qi Realm to the Heavenly Saint Realm, including our experience in nurturing and using flying swords. Take it and have a look."


    As Qian Jizi spoke, his finger pointed to the void, and two booklets appeared in the air.


    Then, the booklets flew towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Upon receiving the booklets and looking at them, the words "Thousand Lotus Sword Scripture" were written on the cover.


    "Thousand Lotus Sword Scripture!"


    "The insights from countless years of cultivating and using flying swords by senior Qian Jizi and senior Lian Yue!"


    Qian Jizi gave it casually, but Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, upon obtaining the booklets, exchanged glances and revealed looks of joy in their eyes.


    Having just recognized the flying swords "Crimson Fire" and "Ghostly Water" as their own, they had no clue on how to better nurture the flying swords. This "Thousand Lotus Sword Scripture" was just what they needed!


    "Thank you, senior!"


    Holding the "Thousand Lotus Sword Scripture," both of them bowed deeply in gratitude to Qian Jizi.


    Inside the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the two of them received so much. The regard and care Qian Jizi showed them warmed their hearts.


    Unfortunately...


    Senior Lian Yue was seriously injured, fell into a coma, and senior Qian Jizi''s true body also went to that Minor Spirit Realm they had never heard of to seek healing treasures for senior Lian Yue, leaving only his clone''s shadow to guard the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    They wished to help the two seniors, yet both were powerless to do so!


    Even the thought of confronting Heavenly Saint Tuoshan, the one who had severely injured Lian Yue, was beyond their reach due to the vast difference in strength!


    How they wished to be powerful!


    Powerful enough to lend a hand when those who were kind to them needed it!


    Amidst these inexplicable emotions, Ye Chen''s desire to improve his strength grew even stronger.


    Being in the sixth-layer of the True Qi Realm was really... far from enough!


    ...


    In this world, where there are meetings, there are farewells between people.


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao received the final inheritance of the flying sword and after numerous cautions from Qian Jizi, the affairs within the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode were finally coming to an end.


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao."


    "You both have obtained ''Crimson Fire'' and ''Ghostly Water,'' and the trial of the Thousand Extremes Cave Abode should also come to an end."


    "In a moment, I will send you down Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, where Lian Yue''s and my two Spirit Beasts will escort you out of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode."


    "I have left a secret technique towards the end of the Thousand Lotus Sword Scripture for re-entering the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode. If one day you manage to capture Tuoshan, you can re-enter the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode using this technique."


    Qian Jizi looked at the young man and woman before him with a hint of reluctance in his heart.


    But he had to send them away.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were still young and needed to venture and cultivate in the outside world, while he had to guard the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, which also housed the comatose Lian Yue. He could not simply open the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode and could not leave at will.


    To meet Ye Chen and Jiang Yao again, it would only be possible if his true body returned and he could freely move the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, meeting them in the process.


    Or it would be when Ye Chen and Jiang Yao fulfilled the only demand of the true body''s inheritance by capturing Heavenly Saint Tuoshan and re-entering the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    "I hope that in the future, we will have another day to meet!"


    Qian Jizi''s clone sighed long and said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Senior Qian Jizi!"


    Ye Chen, looking at the clone''s shadow, said, "We will definitely have another day to meet!"


    Jiang Yao, with her beautiful eyes filled with the sorrow of parting, said, "We definitely will, Senior Qian Jizi. Ye Chen and I will certainly come back to the Thousand Extremes Cave Abode!"


    "Mhm." Qian Jizi smiled and nodded, "Alright, this matter is finished; you both should go down the mountain!"


    As his rolling words came to an end, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt a light and airy current wrap around them, and in an instant, they found themselves back at the foot of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, the place where they had once started to climb it.


    ...


    As soon as they returned to the foot of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, Ye Chen spotted the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and a giant feathered bird flying towards them.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Jiang Yao!"


    The thunderous voice of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape boomed as it instantly arrived in front of the two.


    "Congratulations to you both, for having obtained the flying sword inheritance! That flying sword is a shocking treasure acquired by your two masters back in the day. With them, your path in the martial world will be far more certain!"


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape said cheerfully.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao allowed the Twin Swords, "Crimson Fire" and "Ghostly Water," to successfully recognize their masters, the two great Spirit Beasts below the mountain sensed a change in the aura of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    Clearly, the inheritance trial of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode had come to a complete end, and there would be no further tests in the future.


    The Three-Eyed Giant Ape even retracted all the spirit weapon fragments filled with sword intent that still lingered in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, congratulations."


    The voice of the colossal feathered sparrow also reached the ears of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Its voice, previously indifferent, had vanished entirely, replaced by a rare warmth.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had received the inheritance of the flying swords, an inheritance left by the colossal feathered sparrow''s master, Heavenly Saint Lian Yue. It naturally felt a sense of closeness to the new masters of the flying swords.


    "Ape senior!"


    "Feathered Sparrow senior!"


    Seeing the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the colossal feathered sparrow, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt the same warmth.


    These two great Spirit Beasts had accompanied them through their adventures outside and inside the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode. To say they hadn''t formed a bond was simply impossible.


    In particular, upon seeing the colossal feathered sparrow and learning about its master Heavenly Saint Lian Yue''s condition, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt an even greater sense of compassion.


    Their master had been severely injured and lain in a coma. It was unavoidable for the Ape to blame Heavenly Saint Qian Ji. Its indifference and even alienation were only natural.


    "Feathered Sparrow senior, Heavenly Saint Lian Yue will surely get better."


    Jiang Yao walked to the side of the colossal feathered sparrow, looking into its divine eyes, her delicate face incredibly serious as she spoke.


    "You all know already..."


    A trace of sadness flickered in the divine eyes of the colossal feathered sparrow, but seeing Jiang Yao''s earnest expression, it very rarely smiled.


    "She will get better."


    "I also believe that my master will have the day of awakening again!"


    ...


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, after we leave the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, who knows when we will meet again."


    After catching up with the two demons, the moment for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to part with them had also come.


    Even the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, previously so excited, now had a much deeper voice.


    The colossal feathered sparrow stopped speaking altogether, falling silent.


    Without candidates to be tested, their days in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode would be even lonelier.


    "Ape senior, Feathered Sparrow senior."


    "I believe it won''t be long before we meet again."


    "By then, Heavenly Saint Qian Ji will have returned from the Minor Spirit Realm, and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue will have awakened. At that time, your forays into the Barbaric Wilderness Continent will be utterly thrilling!"


    Ye Chen spoke of his hopes.


    "Yes!"


    "The old Feathered Sparrow and I are demon king-level existences, equivalent to the Rotating Pill Realm experts among you humans. We have long lifespans; we can wait this out."


    "Both masters will get better, and we will meet again!"


    Ye Chen''s words swept away the Three-Eyed Giant Ape''s sorrow of parting, for it believed what Ye Chen said would truly come to pass.


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, looking at your sect garments, it seems you aren''t from the same sect. After you go out, don''t forget about each other! The Twin Swords, having recognized you both as masters at the same time, that''s an enormous fate."


    At this moment, the colossal feathered sparrow suddenly spoke.


    Hearing the words of the colossal feathered sparrow, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked at each other.


    They had traveled and tackled obstacles together, and feelings had developed between them. Although they knew this time of separation was inevitable, neither had wanted to think about it.


    Now, the words of the colossal feathered sparrow made them realize it was time to part.


    "Ye Chen."


    With her waterfall-like hair streaming down to her waist, a blush crept onto Jiang Yao''s exquisite face as her clear eyes gazed at Ye Chen, "You won''t forget me, like the Feathered Sparrow senior said, will you?"


    After saying this, the girl felt a hint of shyness warming her heart.


    Ye Chen grasped the girl''s soft hand, "The thirty-six sects are all in the eastern domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, not far from each other. You, a Spirit Sea Realm expert with the great supernatural powers to fly and escape, how could you be challenged by such a distance?"


    "Won''t you come looking for me?" Jiang Yao''s teeth gently bit her red lips, glancing at Ye Chen.


    "Taixuan Sect is the foremost among the thirty-six sects in the eastern domain, and I''ve long wanted to see it!"


    "What''s more, there''s someone I want to meet there, someone named Jiang Yao!"


    Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao and said with a smile.

 Chapter 52: Chapter 48 The Shocking News

    ```


    Boom!


    After a brief spell of dizziness, Ye Chen''s divine sense regained its clarity.


    Behind him, the hundred-zhang tall shadow of the Three-Eyed Giant Ape slowly dissipated.


    In Ye Chen''s fingers lingered the faint warmth of Jiang Yao''s small hand!


    After a reluctant parting from the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, Jiang Yao returned to the Taixuan Sect, while Ye Chen was sent out of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode by the Three-Eyed Giant Ape, returning to the spot from where he was initially taken.


    "Back again. After a month of braving the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, I''ve returned to this place."


    Ye Chen looked around. The cave where he practiced cultivation before entering the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode was not far away, and every grass and tree around seemed unchanged from when he had left.


    However, the Sword Palace Acupoint that had opened up between his brows, the immense Sword Qi Spirit Liquid within the acupoint, and the tiny Sword-Shaped Seed, "Crimson Fire Flying Sword", that was being nurtured inside the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, all clearly indicated that everything had changed fundamentally!


    One month of trials in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, and Ye Chen was completely different from before!


    Within his Qi Sea, the original five True Qi Vortexes had evolved into six. He had officially entered the sixth level of the True Qi Realm!


    Regarding martial skills, besides the Cross Rapid-Kill Sword Skills, the Torrential Rain Sword Skills, and the "Startling Goose Steps" movement technique, he had acquired two more powerful martial skills, two high-grade Xuan-level martial skills!


    Wind Thunder Sword Skills and Wind Thunder Movement!


    And what was even more precious was that, during the month spent in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, in addition to the "Storm Rain Sword Intent" he had originally comprehended, he had once again understood two more powerful Sword Intents, even more formidable than the Storm Rain Sword Intent¡ªthe "Purple Lightning Sword Intent" and the "Wind Sword Intent"!


    Understanding three types of Sword Intents in the True Qi Realm was not only unprecedented in the thirty-six sects of the Eastern Domain but also unheard of in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    And the most treasured of all was the Crimson Fire Flying Sword which was being quietly nurtured in the Sword Palace Acupoint at the center of his brow.


    The ultimate reward of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode trials, the most precious reward!


    All the improvements mentioned earlier had once again elevated Ye Chen''s combat power, from being able to crush practitioners at the seventh level of the True Qi Realm, to contending with mighty warriors at the ninth level of the True Qi Realm.


    Yet, the sacred artifact-level Crimson Fire Flying Sword bestowed upon him three major combat powers of a flying sword, possessing a real trump card.


    Even at the risk of life-bound damage to his flying sword, he could contend with late-stage warriors in the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Although such a method should not be used lightly, it was, after all, Ye Chen''s technique. Whether he used it or not, it existed. In times of absolute necessity, even at the risk of putting his flying sword to sleep for a hundred or a thousand years, Ye Chen dared to inflict heavy damage on Spirit Sea Realm warriors!


    "That Zhou Yuntian..."


    The father of Zhou Hai, Elder Zhou Yuntian of the Heavenly Net Sect, was an intermediate-stage warrior of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    When Ye Chen killed Zhou Hai, he anticipated that Zhou Yuntian would seek trouble with him!


    But Zhou Hai had to be killed. Ye Chen would never spare someone who relentlessly pursued and sought revenge against him!


    If he didn''t kill Zhou Hai, Zhou Hai would still want him dead! If he killed Zhou Hai, Zhou Hai''s father, Zhou Yuntian, would still want him dead!


    It was because his strength wasn''t sufficient, that he was trapped in this predicament with Zhou Yuntian.


    Now, with the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword," Ye Chen finally had the means to break this deadlock! Although he was reluctant to cause his newly acquired Crimson Fire Flying Sword to suffer life-bound damage and fall asleep, if Zhou Yuntian really pushed him to that extent, he would, risking the sleep of his life-bound flying sword, resolve the trouble of Zhou Yuntian once and for all!


    Besides the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, he had the "Primordial Star Scripture"¡ªan even more powerful and mysterious technique¡ªso he could afford it!


    "Strength!"


    "It''s the lack of strength that creates all sorts of predicaments!"


    "Only with great strength can one find opportunities and ways to breakthrough!"


    "I''ll put Zhou Yuntian''s matter to rest for now. With a plan for the worst-case scenario, I need not worry about it anymore."


    "Now, it''s time to continue enhancing my strength!"


    Ye Chen never believed that one could simply sit and yet gain an increase in strength.


    True powerhouses are all individuals of great resolve, perseverance, and sacrifice!


    "If I reckon the time, there''s just over a month left until the Qingyun Sect''s official disciple entrance examination."


    "Whether it''s to enter the Qingyun Sect''s Outer Sect, or to meet Jiang Yao at the Taixuan Sect in the future, only with great strength will I be respected by others."


    ```


    "This month or so, just continue to stay in the mountains and cultivate."


    Having made up his mind, Ye Chen returned to the cave where he had previously undergone bitter cultivation and resumed his training.


    Each day, he would start by cultivating his qi early in the morning, using the "Gang Yuan Mantra" from the Primordial Star Scripture to cultivate Gang Yuan True Qi.


    Afterward, he began to cultivate the two sub-techniques of the newly acquired high-grade Xuan-level Cultivation Techniques: the Wind Sword Skills martial skill and the Wind Movement Skills movement technique.


    Having understood the Wind Sword Intent, Ye Chen found both the Wind Sword Skills and Wind Movement Skills very smooth to cultivate.


    If he could continue to cultivate in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain like this, by the time the entrance examination day of Qingyun Sect arrived more than a month later, Ye Chen was absolutely confident that he could raise his strength by another level!


    However, an unexpected event suddenly disrupted his plans.


    ...


    This was the seventeenth day since Ye Chen had left the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    On this day, he had just managed to reach Minor Accomplishment in the "Wind Movement Skills" movement technique and was constantly darting through the mountains, experiencing the power of this newly-minted lower-grade Xuan-level movement technique.


    As he darted into a valley, voices from ahead suddenly made him stop.


    Since he began cultivating the "Gang Yuan Mantra," Ye Chen''s sensitivity to his surroundings had greatly increased, and he could hear the voices up ahead loud and clear.


    ...


    In a valley a few hundred meters from Ye Chen, eight young men were seated in meditation.


    These eight youths were dressed in the attire of disciples from the Heavenly Net Sect. Among them, six had attained the seventh level of the True Qi Realm, while two were at the eighth level.


    Six at the seventh level of True Qi, two at the eighth level¡ªsuch a squad was powerful enough to sweep through the peripheral areas of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. Yet, these people were sitting in the valley, showing no intention of hunting Demon Beasts.


    The eight of them were sitting together, casually chatting and drinking wine.


    "Brother Xue Lei, we have been patrolling this ''Blue Valley'' for over a month now and haven''t seen even a shadow of that Ye Chen. Where could he possibly be hiding?" one of the seventh level True Qi disciples asked.


    The ''Brother Xue Lei'' he mentioned was one of the two eighth-level True Qi disciples. He glanced at the speaking disciple: "Xiao Ming, don''t be complacent. The elder tasked us with guarding this place, so that once we find even a trace of Ye Chen, we must capture him. If you mess up the elder''s plans, you won''t have enough heads to lose!"


    "Besides, it''s not just us patrolling. The elder has set up over a hundred disciples throughout Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. Even disciples at the tenth level of True Qi are seriously patrolling. Compared to those brothers, we''re nothing special."


    From these Heavenly Net Sect disciples'' conversation, it was clear that they were one of the many teams that Zhou Yuntian had dispatched to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to capture Ye Chen!


    Zhou Yuntian really had no intention of letting Ye Chen go, and he had assembled such a large force!


    The disciple who spoke before, Xiao Ming, murmured, "Brother Xue Lei, I would never be careless. But, catching Ye Chen, who is rumored to be at the fifth level of True Qi¡ªdoes it justify mobilizing so many of us? Even disciples at the tenth level of True Qi have been disturbed!"


    As he was speaking, Xue Lei suddenly interrupted him: "What nonsense are you talking? Even though Ye Chen is at the fifth level of True Qi, he killed Elder Zhou''s son, Zhou Hai, who was at the seventh level of True Qi!"


    "A fifth-level expert taking down someone at the seventh level¡ªwhat does that tell you? It means Ye Chen likely has hidden tricks up his sleeve! The elder sent so many of us to capture him as a precaution. Although it''s easy for so many of us to catch him, we cannot afford to be careless."


    Xue Lei''s words made the murmuring Xiao Ming dare not utter another word. Then, another eighth-level True Qi young man beside Xue Lei spoke up, "Speaking of which, Elder Zhou''s son, Zhou Hai, has been using his father''s name to kill and loot in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, creating many enemies. Unexpectedly, he fell at the hands of a measly eighth-ranked Sect disciple."


    "It must be that Zhou Hai was trying to snatch that person''s treasure, but was killed instead. Alas, it''s a pity, he was Elder Zhou''s most beloved son. Now, even if that kid were more talented, he''s dead without a place to be buried."


    At this point, Xue Lei also sneered, "Not just without a place to be buried, but he has also implicated his mortal parents. I heard that the elder went to Ye Chen''s family clan in Qingyang Town himself, captured Ye Chen''s parents, and brought them back to Qingyun Sect.


    Moreover, he spread the news that if Ye Chen doesn''t show himself within three months, he will personally execute Ye Chen''s parents right at Qingyun Sect!"


    Xue Lei''s words shocked the others: "Ye Chen''s parents are mortals, not cultivators?"


    "Within our Heavenly Wind Kingdom, martial practitioners have a rule not to lay hands on mortals. The elder, he actually..."


    They all stopped talking at that point, not daring to fault their elder.


    "Zhou Hai was the elder''s most beloved son, and now that Zhou Hai has died, the elder has gone mad, not caring about such rules anymore. It''s unlucky for Ye Chen to have provoked the elder!"


    As Xue Lei was lamenting, a towering killing intent suddenly surged towards him.


    Before he could react, a figure appeared before him.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Upon seeing this person''s face, Xue Lei exclaimed in disbelief: if it wasn''t Ye Chen, whom the entire Heavenly Net Sect''s hundreds of disciples were searching for in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, then who else could it be?!

 Chapter 53: Chapter 49: Raging Fury

    The one who appeared in front of Xue Lei was none other than Ye Chen!


    Earlier, when Ye Chen comprehended the "Wind Movement Skills," he flew to this valley. Hearing someone mention his name, he stopped to listen closely to their conversation.


    After listening for a short while, Ye Chen learned the identities of the group speaking.


    It turned out these people were from the Heavenly Net Sect, sent by Zhou Hai''s father, Zhou Yuntian, to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to capture him as part of the many dispatched for this task.


    Ye Chen wasn''t surprised in the slightest that Zhou Yuntian would send people to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to hunt him down.


    Even if a large group of disciples, among them masters with level ten True Qi, had been sent, Ye Chen wouldn''t find it odd.


    Between him and Zhou Yuntian, one bore the grudge of being hunted, the other the hatred for killing his son!


    It was understandable for Zhou Yuntian to want to deal with him.


    However, when he heard from Xue Lei that his parents had been captured by Zhou Yuntian and taken to the Qingyun Sect, and that if he didn''t show up within three months, they would execute his parents, how could Ye Chen restrain himself?


    His soul had merged with that of his previous life, and their emotions coexisted; his previous life''s parents were his parents, and naturally, his affection for them was entrenched in his heart¡ªand it was deep!


    In Ye Chen''s memory, his parents were very kind to him. During the more than two years he had been in the Qingyun Sect, he felt too ashamed to return to the Ye Family at the end of the year due to no breakthroughs in his cultivation. But his parents, every year, would send him a generous amount of silver for his cultivation needs and letters full of concern, taking great care of him!


    His parents, who came from the Ye Family, a prominent family in Qingyang City, had never opened their Qi Sea Acupoint, never stepped into the world of Martial Arts cultivation, and were merely ordinary mortals. They managed the family''s business affairs on a day-to-day basis without ever getting involved in the vengeful world of warriors.


    And now, because of him, they had been captured by Zhou Yuntian and taken to the Qingyun Sect, their lives hanging by a thread because of him!


    Ye Chen felt self-blame; he was upset that his parents were implicated because of him.


    But even more so, he was furious that Zhou Yuntian had completely disregarded the rules of the Martial Arts world and targeted his parents!


    In the world of martial artists, no matter how great the enmity, it was acceptable to settle disputes with life and death, but one must never involve others, especially not non-cultivating ordinary mortals.


    This was an unspoken rule agreed upon by nearly all martial artists.


    That''s why even after Ye Chen killed Zhou Hai, while he had to be wary of Zhou Yuntian, he had never imagined that Zhou Yuntian would target his parents.


    Now, Zhou Yuntian had broken this rule. Not only had he captured his parents, but he also threatened to execute them publicly. How could Ye Chen not be enraged, how could he not be fuming with anger?!


    Thus, after listening to the conversation of those Heavenly Net Sect disciples for a while, Ye Chen could no longer hold back.


    He immediately charged out!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Is that really the Ye Chen that Elder Zhou wanted us to capture?"


    When Ye Chen suddenly appeared, all eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples were shocked. Then, when they clearly saw Ye Chen''s face, they burst into euphoria.


    They never thought that after searching for more than a month without finding Ye Chen, he would now appear right before them.


    Despite being shocked by Ye Chen''s ghostly movements, none of the eight disciples were worried¡ªwith six of them at the seventh level of True Qi and two even higher at the eighth level.


    Facing Ye Chen, rumored to be only at the fifth level of True Qi, they didn''t have the slightest concern.


    At this moment, in their eyes, Ye Chen had turned into a mountain of pure silver!


    "Catch him, and the Elder said that whichever team captures Ye Chen, each member will be rewarded with one hundred thousand taels of silver and a set of superior yellow-tier Martial Skills!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    All eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples drew their weapons, and instantly, True Qi burst forth as they launched their Martial Skills in a coordinated assault towards Ye Chen.


    Zhou Yuntian had sent these people into Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain with both stick and carrot¡ªon one hand, ordering strict surveillance of the mountain areas, and on the other promising substantial rewards.


    One hundred thousand taels of silver, plus a set of superior yellow-tier Martial Skills, was a reward so generous it was enough for these disciples to use for five or six years of cultivation!


    All these individuals in the Heavenly Net Sect were ruthless, and it didn''t matter if Ye Chen was unrelated to them; with such a promise of silver, they might betray even those they were familiar with on the spot.


    Now, facing Ye Chen, they wouldn''t show the slightest mercy.


    With a glance exchanged between them, they instantly agreed to collectively assault Ye Chen, aiming to shatter his Qi Sea, cripple him completely, and deliver him to their Elder Zhou Yuntian to claim their hefty rewards!


    "Each of you is rewarded with one hundred thousand taels of silver, plus a set of superior yellow-tier Martial Skills?"


    "Zhou Yuntian sure is generous! To deal with me, Ye Chen, he''s really gone to great lengths!"


    Facing the eight disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect converging on him, Ye Chen laughed in furious disbelief. He didn''t use the "Wind Movement Skills" to dodge their encirclement but instead mobilized his Sword Intents in an instant.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    In an instant, the terrifying Sword Intents swept across a hundred feet, and countless falling leaves rose up, shooting through the air and heading straight for the eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Radiant light danced upon the falling leaves. Seven of the eight disciples attacking Ye Chen were instantly decapitated by the leaves, their heads flying off, their eyes wide with disbelief and horror.


    Then, "Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!" the headless bodies, along with their severed heads, fell to the ground, raising clouds of dust as they hit the dirt.


    The seven who sought to kill Ye Chen were instead instantly slain by his hand and lay dead on the spot!


    The only person left in the arena was Xue Lei, the one with the eighth level of True Qi. His arm, which he had used to wield his sword in an attempt to kill Ye Chen, was severed by the flying leaves during the clash, and flew off, spurting a fountain of blood.


    But Xue Lei acted as though he hadn''t even realized his arm had been cut off; he was completely petrified with fear!


    How could he have possibly imagined that their formidable small team, composed of eight Heavenly Net Sect disciples, six at the seventh level and two at the eighth level of True Qi, would be annihilated by Ye Chen in an instant, with seven of them killed?


    It was completely beyond his comprehension!


    In that move, even the other disciple at the eighth level of True Qi, who was as strong as he was, had no time to react and was beheaded just like the others, Xue Lei knew that if Ye Chen had wanted to kill him, he would already be just another corpse like the rest.


    Could Ye Chen really be this terrifying?!


    This was akin to the technique of a True Qi tenth level expert! No, even those tenth level experts, despite their immensely powerful True Qi, had few martial skills as frightening as this. Those odd falling leaves were like deadly sword lights; they could not defend against them at all, even less so than against a tenth level True Qi expert!


    Of course, they couldn''t defend against it!


    Ye Chen''s previous move contained the terrifying "Wind Sword Intent." Against the most perilous barrier in the central region of Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, surrounded by hundreds of treasured swords, and even three sword intent treasured swords comparable to a ninth level True Qi expert, he could suppress them all.


    How could this eight-member team, with their highest member only at the eighth level of True Qi, stand a chance?


    Even if there were ten times as many members in such a squad, they would still be annihilated by Ye Chen with a single move!


    This was the power of Sword Intent, the power of decimating groups!


    Unless there was a tenth level True Qi expert among them who could withstand Ye Chen with the gap in their True Qi realms, the others were simply no match for Ye Chen!


    Looking at the severed heads and bodies around him, and watching Ye Chen approach step by step, Xue Lei collapsed to the ground. Looking at Ye Chen, fear was evident in his eyes, and his entire body began to tremble uncontrollably. Ye Chen''s resolute slaughter was like a death god, thoroughly crushing him!


    "Don''t kill me... Ye Chen, please don''t kill me!"


    "It''s Elder Zhou, Elder Zhou is the one who wants to deal with you, it''s not that we particularly wanted to kill you!"


    Xue Lei cried and wailed.


    Ye Chen walked up to Xue Lei, his face expressionless as he looked at him: "You just said that Zhou Yuntian has captured my parents and brought them to Qingyun Sect. Is that true or is it a lie you made up?"


    "It''s true! Absolutely true!"


    Upon Ye Chen''s questioning, Xue Lei dared not fail to answer, swearing to the heavens: "This news has already spread everywhere. Just ask around, and you''ll know!"


    "Right now, Elder Zhou is visiting the Qingyun Sect, waiting for you to walk into the trap! Elder Zhou is notoriously ruthless. If you don''t return to Qingyun Sect, he really will execute your parents himself!"


    "He is spreading this news to make sure you can''t hide. If you don''t go to your death, he will have your parents killed!"


    Boom! Boom!


    Xue Lei''s words obliterated the last bit of hope Ye Chen held onto.


    His parents were indeed implicated in this affair.


    Zhou Yuntian truly wanted to engage in a fight to the death with him!


    "Since that''s the case, it''s time to put an end to this matter once and for all!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes blazed with anger and his will to fight ignited as he looked in the direction of Qingyun Sect.


    "Crimson Fire, if your essence is damaged, don''t blame me! If you get injured this time, even if it takes hundreds or thousands of years to recuperate, I''ll search for heavenly treasures to bring you back!"


    Ye Chen''s mind delved into the Sword Palace Acupoint, where the small red flying sword, under his mental agitation, trembled wildly in the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid.


    As if the flying sword "Crimson Fire" was also preparing for its imminent first battle!


    ...


    What Ye Chen didn''t know, as his anger surged and his mind agitated the flying sword "Crimson Fire" into a frenzy,


    Thousands of miles away, within the most secluded peak cave of Taixuan Sect, the foremost of the thirty-six sects in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, a sitting girl''s glabella was marked by a dark blue flying sword that also began to pulsate.


    Just half a step behind the girl, seven or eight twelve or thirteen-year-olds girls with swords on their backs were sitting, and right in front of the girl, seated in the most honorable position, was a woman in her mid-twenties wearing a snow-white palace dress, who looked like a Nine Heavens Fairy.


    If the leaders of the thirty-six sects of the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom were to see this woman in the snow-white palace dress, they would recognize her as the strongest person in the eastern region, an intermediate stage master of the Rotating Pill Realm, Fairy Jia Luo!


    "Ghostly Water, what''s happening with it?"


    At this moment, the sitting girl noticed the pulse of the flying sword on her glabella and her fine brows furrowed.


    Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, she stood up abruptly.


    "Twin Swords, Ghostly Water and Crimson Fire. If there''s a disturbance with Ghostly Water, could it be that some major event is befalling Crimson Fire?"


    "Crimson Fire''s master is Ye Chen!"


    "Could it be that something has happened to Ye Chen?!"


    The name etched deeply in her heart came to mind, and the thought that he might be in danger...


    The girl''s heart tightened suddenly.


    In this cave, the girl who sat at Fairy Jia Luo''s feet was none other than Jiang Yao, who had separated from Ye Chen seventeen days ago and returned to Taixuan Sect!

 Chapter 54: Chapter 50: Turbulence

    The thought that Ye Chen might be in trouble rendered Jiang Yao unable to remain calm, and she immediately dashed out of the cave abode.


    Her delicate face was filled with panic, and her heart was in turmoil.


    She wished she could fly to Ye Chen''s side at once!


    "Sister Jiang Yao!"


    Jiang Yao''s actions startled the seven or eight 12- or 13-year-old sword-bearing girls sitting behind her, all of whom widened their eyes at Jiang Yao.


    They had never seen their graceful, beautiful, and genius sister, Jiang Yao, in such a flustered state.


    One of those sword-bearing girls ran straight up to Jiang Yao, looking at her worriedly.


    "Sister Jiang Yao, what''s wrong?"


    This sword-bearing girl was none other than "Chan''er," the girl whom Jiang Yao had asked to oversee the training of the Taixuan Sect''s outer disciples on the mountain gate plaza when she left for Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain''s Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    She also had the closest relationship with Jiang Yao among all the girls.


    Chan''er and the other girls'' voices snapped Jiang Yao out of her panic, and she then remembered she was in the middle of cultivating "Snow-Filled Universe," a minor mystical power, under the tutelage of her master, "Fairy Jia Luo," in the cave abode.


    "Master instructed me to stay in the cave abode during this time to cultivate the ''Snow-Filled Universe,'' and not to leave until I''ve achieved significant mastery!"


    Jiang Yao turned her head to look at Fairy Jia Luo, who was seated at the most prominent position in the cave.


    At the moment, this powerful figure, clad in a snow-white gown and at the intermediate stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, who was also Jiang Yao''s master, Fairy Jia Luo, was still cultivating with her eyes closed, as if she hadn''t noticed the unusual situation in the cave, oblivious to Jiang Yao''s distress.


    "Master doesn''t allow me to leave the cave during this time..."


    Jiang Yao''s master, Fairy Jia Luo, usually treated her with immense affection, but she was extremely strict when it came to cultivation. Without her master''s permission, Jiang Yao didn''t dare to step out of the cave.


    She had no choice but to stop her rush towards the cave''s entrance.


    "But, Ye Chen, he..."


    Torn between disobeying her master''s orders and her concern for Ye Chen, Jiang Yao''s eyebrows furrowed deeply, her delicate face filled with struggle.


    "Sister Jiang Yao..."


    At that moment, Chan''er called out Jiang Yao''s name with concern again. Hearing Chan''er''s voice, an idea suddenly flashed through Jiang Yao''s mind.


    "Chan''er, come here!"


    She hurriedly called the sword-bearing girl "Chan''er" over and took out an ancient looking token.


    "Chan''er, you must hurry to Qingyun Sect and see if anything has happened to Ye Chen. If Ye Chen is in any trouble, you must help him! And if you can''t solve the issue, take out the ''Taixuan Command''!"


    Having been separated from Ye Chen for over ten days, Jiang Yao suddenly sensed that something had happened to him. She thought Ye Chen must have returned to his sect, the Qingyun Sect, and encountered some difficult issue that caused the "Crimson Fire" flying sword to create such disturbance.


    If the Crimson Fire flying sword was causing such a commotion, it likely meant that Ye Chen was about to use it. Knowing Ye Chen''s capabilities made Jiang Yao even more worried.


    She remembered that the Heavenly Saint Qian Ji''s avatar had said that the flying sword should not be used lightly, as doing so could mean that a significant event had occurred.


    "Ye Chen... Which Ye Chen?"


    "Sister Jiang Yao, you even took out the ''Taixuan Command''?"


    The sword-bearing girl Chan''er, seeing Jiang Yao''s actions, was greatly surprised. Although she had never met Ye Chen, the way Jiang Yao spoke of him clearly indicated he had a significant relationship with her. Otherwise, her always composed sister Jiang Yao wouldn''t be so worried, so flustered, and even take out the Taixuan Command.


    The Taixuan Command could only be held by Spirit Sea Realm experts of the Taixuan Sect. Possessing it was akin to having a Spirit Sea Realm expert from the Taixuan Sect present in person.


    As the strongest and top-ranked sect among the thirty-six in the eastern region of Heavenly Wind Kingdom, the Taixuan Sect''s Spirit Sea Realm experts also possessed great renown across all the sects in the eastern region.


    With the Taixuan Command issued, many troubles could be resolved without difficulty!


    Jiang Yao took out the Taixuan Command to have Chan''er go help Ye Chen.


    Chan''er immediately understood that, no matter what had happened to Ye Chen, her sister Jiang Yao was determined to help him.


    "Ye Chen?"


    Chan''er grew increasingly curious about the person she had never met but who Jiang Yao cared about so dearly.


    "Yes, you haven''t met Ye Chen."


    Jiang Yao, worried and confused, realized upon hearing Chan''er''s words that she had never seen Ye Chen before.


    "Chan''er, I''ll inscribe Ye Chen''s situation on a jade slip. You''ll know all about him on your way to Qingyun Sect. Hurry!"


    Jiang Yao took out a snow-white jade slip, pressed it against her forehead for a moment, and then handed it to Chan''er.


    This was a jade slip capable of storing information with spiritual awareness, commonly used by Spirit Sea Realm experts.


    Chan''er took the jade slip and, with Jiang Yao''s urging, didn''t hesitate further. She nodded at Jiang Yao and said, "Sister Jiang Yao, don''t worry. That Ye Chen... he will definitely be fine."


    After speaking, the sword-bearing girl turned and left the cave. Soon thereafter, a majestic white eagle landed before her, and the girl mounted the eagle and flew off towards Qingyun Sect.


    Watching Chan''er fly into the distance, Jiang Yao returned to the cave abode and took her seat once more.


    However, her heart still couldn''t be stilled.


    "Right, I was only thinking of Ye Chen going back to Qingyun Sect. What if, what if Ye Chen encountered trouble on Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain?"


    "There are fierce beasts in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain that he cannot handle!"


    Considering the various troubles Ye Chen might face, the more Jiang Yao thought about it, the more her heart became chaotic.


    "No matter what, I mustn''t let Ye Chen meet with disaster!"


    In the end, she could no longer hold back, and could not heed her master''s order not to leave the cave abode, she bit her red lips tightly and stood up directly.


    Jiang Yao''s pair of clear, beautiful eyes glanced at Fairy Jia Luo, who was meditating with her eyes closed, and then, stamping her foot, she transformed into a stream of light and flew toward the outside of the cave abode.


    She only left a few sword-carrying maidens behind with shocked expressions, whispering among themselves.


    "Continue cultivating in peace and don''t worry about that girl Yao''er," a clear voice interjected, instantly ceasing the maidens'' whispers.


    The maidens looked up at the head of the cave abode, only to see their master, Fairy Jia Luo, clad in a snowy white, dignified and majestic palace dress, had awakened from her meditation without their noticing and opened her eyes.


    "Master!"


    The maidens were startled and hurriedly paid their respects to Fairy Jia Luo.


    However, Fairy Jia Luo''s eyes were looking past the maidens, toward the entrance of the cave abode: "Since that girl Yao''er returned from Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, she has been distracted."


    "I arranged for her to cultivate the ''Snow-Filled Universe'' minor divine technique in the cave abode to help her calm her mind."


    "Now, she has directly ignored my command. It was not enough that she arranged for Chan''er to go out, she has gone out herself."


    Although she had not opened her eyes earlier, she had been fully aware of everything happening in the cave abode.


    "Ye Chen?"


    "It seems I must also go and see what kind of person this Ye Chen is, to have such a hold on my disciple," she said.


    Fairy Jia Luo shook her head with a helpless smile.


    Then, without any visible action, she simply disappeared from her meditation spot in the cave abode.


    ...


    Within the main hall "Qingyun Hall" of Qingyun Sect''s inner peak.


    At this moment, all the great elders of Qingyun Sect were seated on both sides of the hall, and their sect master, Luo Kun, was talking to a gaunt old man in a crimson robe.


    This old man in crimson was none other than Zhou Hai''s father, Zhou Yuntian, an elder of Heavenly Net Sect, a deluxe sect, and a powerful figure in the middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Just as Xue Lei had said, he was visiting Qingyun Sect and was treated as an honored guest!


    Qingyun Sect, being an eighth-grade sect, didn''t have even one-tenth the might of the seventh-grade Heavenly Net Sect and, therefore, had to treat Elder Zhou Yuntian with the utmost respect.


    It must be known that the hierarchical division of sects meant that an eighth-grade sect was represented by its strongest being in the Spirit Sea Realm. At the same time, a seventh-grade sect implied that its most powerful members had already broken through to the Rotating Pill Realm. Only a sect with an early-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse could qualify as a seventh-grade sect.


    The Rotating Pill Realm was a more powerful realm beyond the Spirit Sea Realm, and an early-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert could annihilate countless Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses.


    Thus, the seventh-grade Heavenly Net Sect looked down upon the eighth-grade Qingyun Sect.


    Even an elder from the Heavenly Net Sect could sit on an equal footing with the master of Qingyun Sect!


    And the only sixth-grade sect among the top thirty-six sects in the eastern domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, the Taixuan Sect, was even stronger than the Heavenly Net Sect, with three mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts sitting at its helm.


    If an elder from Taixuan Sect were to visit Qingyun Sect, then Sect Master Luo Kun wouldn''t dare speak of sitting as an equal. Instead, he would have to greet the elder respectfully from a lower seat.


    This was the difference in strength between the sects!


    "Elder Zhou, have you received any news about that nominal disciple of our sect, Ye Chen, whom you want to capture?" Luo Kun asked with a smile.


    Upon hearing the name "Ye Chen," Zhou Yuntian''s expression darkened: "Hmph, that Ye Chen can''t escape the palm of my hand. I refuse to believe that he can keep hiding forever!"


    "I''ve already spread the news that I''m going to execute his parents, and I''ve had my disciples widely disseminate it throughout Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. I cannot believe that he won''t show himself after hearing this, that he will still hide!"


    Thinking of using this strategy to force Ye Chen to show himself, Zhou Yuntian gnashed his teeth in hatred.


    "Hmph, even if he neglects his parents'' lives and continues to hide, the secret treasure that another elder of my sect is refining is almost complete. With that secret treasure to search through Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, even if he''s hiding in an underground cavern, I will capture him!"


    By the end, Zhou Yuntian''s eyes were filled with murderous intent.


    The master and the elders of Qingyun Sect blanched a bit upon hearing Zhou Yuntian''s words about executing Ye Chen''s parents to force him to appear, and they offered several awkward laughs.


    To capture Ye Chen''s parents, who were untrained in martial arts, and force Ye Chen to appear was a breach of the unwritten rules of the martial world, and to have such an act occur within their sect, the elders and master of Qingyun Sect felt quite embarrassed.


    However, in the face of Zhou Yuntian''s actions, they dared not voice any complaints. With the backing of a Rotating Pill Realm sect master from Heavenly Net Sect, they could only cooperate with Zhou Yuntian''s plan.


    In fact, many elders, along with the master of Qingyun Sect, had even come to resent Ye Chen for causing them trouble.


    They could only hope that Ye Chen was captured soon by Zhou Yuntian to put an end to this affair.


    Yet one or two elders could only sigh in resignation, knowing that their sect''s nominal disciple, Ye Chen, was likely to die at Zhou Yuntian''s hands for nothing.


    ...


    While Jiang Yao had sent the sword-carrying maiden "Chan''er" to rush to Qingyun Sect and had flown out of Taixuan Sect herself heading toward Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain in search of Ye Chen,


    And while the most powerful figure among the thirty-six sects of Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Fairy Jia Luo, had mysteriously left due to Jiang Yao''s actions,


    And while Zhou Yuntian was a guest in the main hall of Qingyun Sect, waiting for news of Ye Chen, vowing not to rest until Ye Chen was dead,


    Ye Chen had finally returned to Qingyun Sect from Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    The winds were changing.


    A great battle was imminent!

 Chapter 55: Chapter 51 Taoer

    "Qingyun Sect, I have returned!"


    Ye Chen looked up at the Qingyun Sect''s entrance plaza not far ahead, his eyes filled with complex and indescribable emotions.


    More than three months ago, he left Qingyun Sect to go to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, in order to accumulate real battle experience and enhance his strength.


    In these three months, he had successfully broken through from the fourth level of True Qi to the sixth level, and his strength had increased by several tens of times or more! Now, with his many hidden techniques, he could even kill a ninth level True Qi expert without breaking a sweat!


    He had very well achieved his goal of entering Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain!


    But upon returning to the sect, Ye Chen felt not a whit of joy, but rather a surge of anger in his heart¡ªbecause, his parents were being detained within Qingyun Sect!


    It was all because of Zhou Yuntian, who had subjected his parents to such humiliation!


    It was because of Zhou Yuntian that his parents'' peaceful life had been shattered!


    "Zhou Yuntian, if it weren''t for your son pressing me relentlessly, refusing to stop until he killed me, I wouldn''t have killed him!"


    "He forced my hand first!"


    "Now, you''ve even dragged my parents into this. Do you really think I''ll just let you bully me?!"


    "Do you truly believe that, with your Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage cultivation, you can kill me?"


    "Well, let''s try then!"


    Whirring!


    Inside Ye Chen''s body, six True Qi whirlpools surged wildly, with robust True Qi enveloping him.


    At the same time, the flying sword "Crimson Fire" in the Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows also started to move ferociously, swimming in the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid.


    After fully opening his Qi Meridian, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and thirty-three Heaven Cycles, his Gang Yuan True Qi also flowed slowly, and Ye Chen became acutely aware of every change within a hundred yards around him.


    He had made all the preparations necessary to fully settle the matter with Zhou Yuntian concerning the ocean affair!


    Swoosh!


    Ye Chen''s figure moved, and the "Wind Movement Technique" turned him into a gust of wind as he shot towards the entrance plaza of Qingyun Sect.


    "There are so many Heavenly Net Sect disciples within Qingyun Sect!"


    As soon as he approached the outer peak''s entrance plaza, Ye Chen, with his senses extending in all directions, immediately noticed the change from the usual scene at the plaza.


    Normally, the plaza was filled with Qingyun Sect''s nominal disciples practicing their cultivation, and if there were others, at most they would be Qingyun Sect''s outer disciples coming in and out of the mountains passing through the plaza.


    It was rare for disciples from other sects to appear in the plaza.


    However, the plaza was now clearly filled with many disciples wearing Heavenly Net Sect''s uniforms, walking around inspecting various areas, as if searching for something.


    The Qingyun Sect disciples would hurriedly avoid these Heavenly Net Sect disciples and dare not provoke them.


    Yet, there were still many who were caught by patrolling Heavenly Net Sect disciples and interrogated, causing quite a few Qingyun Sect disciples to turn red with anger, yet not daring to speak out.


    "That Zhou Yuntian is so arrogant!"


    "To actually send disciples to search inside Qingyun Sect!"


    "This is like stepping on Qingyun Sect''s face with feet!"


    From the expressions of those Heavenly Net Sect disciples, Ye Chen knew they were probably looking for him, what he hadn''t anticipated was that the Qingyun Sect''s sect master and elders would tacitly allow this to happen.


    At this moment, Ye Chen felt utterly disappointed with Qingyun Sect.


    As a nominal disciple of Qingyun Sect, they should have stepped forward to protect him.


    Now it seemed that Qingyun Sect had no intention of protecting him at all; even more so, the fact that his parents had been captured by Zhou Yuntian and brought to Qingyun Sect was likely with the sect''s acquiescence.


    Even if he had caused trouble, the sect may not dare to interfere, but at the very least, they shouldn''t allow the parents of their own disciple to be captured by others and brought to Qingyun Sect.


    Even if Zhou Yuntian had forcibly taken his parents away, capturing them to Heavenly Net Sect, Ye Chen wouldn''t have blamed Qingyun Sect!


    Now, however, it was evident that Qingyun Sect didn''t regard him as one of their own disciples to protect at all!


    "Is it because of the difference in strength?"


    "Zhou Yuntian is indeed a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert, and I am but a nominal disciple in the sect."


    "But to simply give up on one''s own sect disciples, that truly is disappointing!"


    Ye Chen chuckled coldly.


    "Capturing a few Heavenly Net Sect disciples should lure out that Zhou Yuntian, right? He''s been hoping for me to fall into his trap, hasn''t he?"


    "Then, let''s fulfill his wish!"


    As Ye Chen''s figure moved, he darted towards the sect entrance plaza.


    Just as he was about to capture a few Heavenly Net Sect disciples to draw out Zhou Yuntian, his divine consciousness detected at the corner of the sect entrance plaza a group of Heavenly Net Sect disciples surrounding a little girl; Ye Chen''s eyes suddenly flashed with sharpness.


    "Eh, is that... Tao''er?"


    "What is she doing here?"


    Narrowing his eyes slightly, Ye Chen then flew towards the corner of the sect entrance plaza.


    ...


    In the corner of the sect entrance plaza, a little girl about twelve years old was encircled by six Heavenly Net Sect disciples.


    This little girl had a childlike face and a slightly immature figure, her hair tied into two braids, and she was dressed in the manner of a maid, but her eyes sparkled with vivacity.


    At the moment, surrounded by the six Heavenly Net Sect disciples, the little girl showed no fear in her eyes; instead, she shouted crisply at the six, "What are you trying to do? Could it be that even the mighty Heavenly Net Sect disciples intend to bully a little girl like me?"


    The little girl''s shouts attracted the attention of many Qingyun Sect disciples in the plaza, but when they saw it was Heavenly Net Sect disciples surrounding her, they quickly walked faster, steering clear of this problematic spot.


    The reaction of these Qingyun Sect disciples made the little girl pout her lips; seeing this approach ineffective, her eyes spun as she pondered another plan, thinking to herself, "When I visited the Qingyun Sect several times before to deliver silver to the young master, I never realized that Qingyun Sect''s disciples were such cowards."


    "What to do? Now these Heavenly Net Sect disciples have surrounded me; they probably became suspicious of me for inquiring about the young master these past few days."


    As the girl was considering ways to escape, the pale-faced youth leading the six Heavenly Net Sect disciples, watching the lively eyes of the girl they surrounded, huffed, "Little girl, stop thinking of tricks. We''ve been watching you for quite some time."


    "Speak, what is your relationship with Ye Chen? Do you know where Ye Chen is right now?"


    Upon hearing the pale-faced youth mention "Ye Chen," the little girl''s complexion subtly changed; she looked at the pale-faced youth, blinked, and said with a smile, "Ye Chen? Who''s Ye Chen? I''ve never heard that name before!"


    "Hmph, don''t play dumb with me. You''ve been asking Qingyun Sect disciples about Ye Chen in a roundabout way these past few days; you really think we don''t know?"


    "If you don''t talk, don''t blame me for not being polite!"


    "I don''t know, when I say I don''t know, I mean it," the little girl, standing her ground with a defiant look, responded to the six Heavenly Net Sect disciples.


    "It seems we must show you some color before you realize we''re not pushovers!"


    The pale-faced youth, with a clawing motion, reached directly for the little girl''s arm.


    In that claw, True Qi flashed like cold light, revealing deadly intent.


    The little girl had no signs of True Qi surging within her body, yet the pale-faced youth used a killing move, apparently intending to rip off the little girl''s arm with a single claw!


    How ruthless the pale-faced youth was!


    As the white-faced youth made his grab, the little girl cried out "Oh no" in her heart, finding herself unable to dodge. Terrified, she closed her eyes tightly, her long eyelashes trembling incessantly.


    After all, she was just a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl. Despite her sharpness, she was frightened in the face of this bloody killing move.


    However, as the little girl closed her eyes, she felt no pain in her arm but instead heard a mysterious cry of pain.


    That cry of pain... could it be from the pale-faced youth who tried to grab her arm?


    With this thought flashing through her mind, the little girl involuntarily opened her eyes. When she did, she was shocked to see the hand that was reaching for her now flying into the air.


    The pale-faced youth was covering his severed hand, screaming in agony!


    "Did someone save me?"


    The little girl widened her eyes and looked around. Then, she saw a familiar yet somewhat strange figure coming towards her.


    "Is this... my young master?"


    "Isn''t my young master only at the first level of True Qi? How did he become so powerful?"


    The little girl stretched out her hand, rubbed her eyes vigorously, and looked again at the approaching figure. When she saw the smiling face of the figure, she couldn''t believe her eyes and exclaimed in wonder, "Young master, is it really you!"

 Chapter 56: Chapter 52 Murderous Intent

    The disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect that had surrounded the little girl also saw the figure that suddenly appeared. When they saw his face, these disciples and the little girl alike revealed expressions of disbelief: "Ye Chen, is that Ye Chen?!"


    They had thought that Ye Chen would hide in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain and not dare to show his face.


    They had thought that Ye Chen was captured, his Qi Sea destroyed, and that he was brought back to Qingyun Sect in a miserable state.


    They even thought that Ye Chen, knowing he couldn''t escape pursuit, would obediently come back and beg for mercy, kowtowing and asking for their elder''s forgiveness.


    But they had never considered that Ye Chen would return to Qingyun Sect directly like this, all by himself.


    Not only did he return, but he also took action immediately, injuring one of them.


    This was clearly a provocation to all the Heavenly Net Sect disciples present! It was a direct challenge to Zhou Yuntian, the Heavenly Net Sect elder still in Qingyun Sect!


    Was Ye Chen actually this audacious?!


    These Heavenly Net Sect disciples couldn''t believe it at all.


    They wanted to shout, to call others to capture Ye Chen, to pass the news of Ye Chen''s appearance to their elder Zhou Yuntian, but none of them dared to speak.


    Just now, Ye Chen had easily chopped off the leading man''s hand, such a powerful attack that it frightened them into not daring to make a move.


    For a moment, all the Heavenly Net Sect disciples were as muted as cicadas in winter, bringing an eerie silence to the place.


    Even the fair-faced youth whose hand had been chopped off by Ye Chen, upon realizing who their assailant was, abruptly stopped his cries of pain and frantically retreated while holding his severed hand.


    The person who had lopped off the hand of that Heavenly Net Sect disciple and was now approaching the little girl was none other than Ye Chen!


    The moment he spotted the little girl, Ye Chen immediately flew toward her.


    Because, to him, this little girl was extremely familiar.


    This little girl was Tao''er, Ye Chen''s personal maid before he had joined Qingyun Sect!


    Over the years of Ye Chen''s absence from the clan, it had always been Tao''er who came to Qingyun Sect to deliver silver coins and letters to him. Seeing Tao''er now surrounded by several Heavenly Net Sect disciples, with one even attempting to snatch her arm, how could Ye Chen allow such a thing to happen?


    He struck instantly, sending that person''s hand flying off!


    Afterward, he paid no attention to the expressions of the Heavenly Net Sect disciples and walked straight toward Tao''er.


    "Young Master, is it you, really you?"


    Tao''er, the little girl, ran up to Ye Chen and excitedly looked him up and down with a glowing face.


    The sudden appearance of Ye Chen before her, with such formidable strength, was something she hadn''t anticipated at all.


    But just after she had taken a few glances at Ye Chen, Tao''er seemed to think of something, and her face abruptly changed: "Young Master, why have you come back? Run, run away!"


    "Tao''er is here to find an opportunity to tell you not to come back! Don''t let anyone discover your whereabouts! Your Lord Father and Lady Mother, they''ve all been captured and brought here to Qingyun Sect, the man can fly and burrow through the earth, he''s too terrifying!"


    "Young Master, he also wants to kill you..."


    Tao''er, who was speaking anxiously, was out of breath when Ye Chen suddenly interrupted her hurried words.


    Looking at Tao''er''s eyes, which were so anxious they had reddened a bit, Ye Chen smiled and said, "Tao''er, stop talking, I already know about these things."


    "It''s me who has brought trouble upon Father and Mother, and you."


    "This time I''ve come back is to resolve this matter."


    "But, Young Master!" Tao''er stomped her feet anxiously, "You can''t handle that man, the Martial Arts masters in our family say he''s like a deity who can fly and burrow through the earth, even they wouldn''t dare to provoke him!"


    Tao''er explained frantically about the terror that was Zhou Yuntian.


    Clearly, when Zhou Yuntian had gone to Qingyang City and captured Ye Chen''s parents, he had terrified the little girl greatly.


    But even though she was this frightened, Tao''er still risked danger by running to Qingyun Sect to pass on the message to him, which touched Ye Chen even further.


    This was the little girl who had grown up with him, who, like his father and mother, was extremely good to him!


    "This matter should come to an end!"


    Ye Chen looked at Tao''er, whose little face was flushed with anxiety, and patted the little girl''s shoulder.


    Then, he turned his gaze toward the Heavenly Net Sect disciples, who were as quiet as cicadas, and spoke indifferently to them: "Your Heavenly Net Sect elder Zhou Yuntian wants to capture me, right?"


    "Go tell him that I, Ye Chen, am back!"


    "Let''s settle our affairs directly, without involving anyone else!"


    Go tell him that I, Ye Chen, am back!


    Ye Chen''s words stunned the Heavenly Net Sect disciples for a moment, before they came to their senses.


    This Ye Chen was openly challenging their elder!


    "Has Ye Chen consumed the gall of a bear and a leopard to dare challenge the elder?"


    "Fine, he wants us to pass on a message, so we shall!"


    These Heavenly Net Sect disciples were simultaneously frightened and mocking of Ye Chen¡ªfrightened of another attack from him, and mocking his apparent ignorance of the harshness of reality!


    Soon, their loud shouts spread across the entire main gate square: "Ye Chen has appeared! Hurry and inform the elder, Ye Chen is right here in the main gate square!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Following their shouts, groups of Heavenly Net Sect disciples flew in from various parts of Qingyun Sect, landing on the main gate square and surrounding Ye Chen.


    And the news of Ye Chen''s return to Qingyun Sect also spread through the Outer Sect disciple area on the outer mountain of Qingyun Sect, reaching all corners of the Outer and Inner Peaks and to the main hall of the Inner Peak, "Qingyun Hall."


    ...


    Inside Qingyun Sect, within the main hall of the Inner Peak "Qingyun Hall."


    Zhou Yuntian was sitting in the grand hall chair, conversing with the elders and sect master of Qingyun Sect.


    "Report to the elder, Ye Chen has appeared!"


    A frantic reporting voice suddenly shouted from outside, and the content of this voice made Zhou Yuntian, who was seated, stand up abruptly.


    "Has Ye Chen appeared?"


    "Good! Good! It seems that capturing his parents has indeed forced him to show himself!"


    Zhou Yuntian laughed heartily, his blood robe swirling as he transformed into a beam of escaping light and flew outwards. Arriving outside, Zhou Yuntian grabbed the person who brought the news: "Where is Ye Chen now?"


    "He is at the entrance plaza of the outer mountain of the Qingyun Sect!" The disciple hastily replied.


    "The entrance plaza?"


    A chilling intent shone in Zhou Yuntian''s eyes as his blood robe swirled again, turning into a streak of blood light and shooting towards the Qingyun Sect''s entrance plaza!


    "Ye Chen is back?"


    In the Qingyun Hall, the Qingyun Sect''s sect master and elders looked at each other, their faces somewhat astonished.


    "Let''s go take a look!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    These figures also transformed into beams of escaping light, following behind Zhou Yuntian, heading towards the entrance plaza.


    ...


    "Jing, I heard Ye Chen has returned to the Qingyun Sect alone, and he''s at the entrance plaza!"


    "Now, the people from the Heavenly Net Sect have completely surrounded Ye Chen, and even Zhou Yuntian, an elder of the Heavenly Net Sect, has already gone to that entrance plaza!"


    In the mountain peaks where the disciples of the Outer Sect of Qingyun Sect resided, a tall young girl was about to walk outside with a food container when a sturdy young boy suddenly barged in and spoke to her.


    Bang!


    The tall girl''s food container fell straight to the ground: "Hong Man, are you saying Ye Chen... Ye Chen, he''s back?"


    "Yes! Jing, I''m afraid it''s bad news. Ye Chen is so smart, why would he suddenly come back? This place has become a dragon''s lair and a tiger''s den where they want to capture him!" The sturdy youth''s face was full of worry.


    The tall girl and the sturdy youth were none other than Lin Jing and Hong Man, who had once joined Ye Chen in hunting beasts at Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain!


    "I''m going to have a look!"


    Upon hearing the news about Ye Chen, Lin Jing could no longer contain herself. She picked up the food container, checked that the food inside was intact, and shoved it into Hong Man''s hands: "Hong Man, take this food container to my uncle and aunt, bribe those Heavenly Net Sect disciples guarding my uncle and aunt with some patterned silver. I''m going to the entrance plaza to see!"


    After speaking, Lin Jing hurried towards the outer peak''s entrance plaza.


    After running a few steps, she seemed to remember something and quickly turned to Hong Man: "Remember, don''t tell my uncle and aunt about Ye Chen''s return, to keep them from worrying!"


    The recipients of the food container that she wanted Hong Man to deliver were none other than Ye Chen''s father and mother, who were being held by the Qingyun Sect!


    ...


    "Ye Chen, you must not be in any trouble!"


    "You absolutely must not be in trouble!"


    At the moment when Ye Chen appeared in the Qingyun Sect''s entrance plaza and openly challenged Zhou Yuntian, an elder of the Heavenly Net Sect.


    High above in the sky of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, a dazzling beam of escaping light was streaking towards the Qingyun Sect at high speed.


    Within this beam of light was a beautiful young girl with hair cascading like a waterfall down to her waist.


    This girl was none other than Jiang Yao, who had left the Taixuan Sect to investigate news of Ye Chen in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain.


    After investigating around Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, she finally learned of the trouble Ye Chen had encountered through the words of the many Heavenly Net Sect disciples there.


    When she realized that Ye Chen''s opponent was Zhou Yuntian, a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm strongman from the Heavenly Net Sect, Jiang Yao''s heart sank into a panic.


    The only way for Ye Chen to deal with the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm strongman Zhou Yuntian was to unleash the second battle capability of his flying sword, causing it to suffer damage to its spirit.


    If Zhou Yuntian had other trump cards, Ye Chen might even have to use the third battle capability of his flying sword, causing it to self-destruct!


    Whether it was the spirit damage to the flying sword or a self-destruction, it would be a significant loss for Ye Chen, potentially leaving him seriously injured!


    How could Jiang Yao allow such a thing to happen.


    "Ye Chen, wait for me!"


    "You must wait for me!"


    "If that Zhou Yuntian dares to hurt you, even if he is an elder of the Heavenly Net Sect, I will make him pay with blood for blood!"


    "No, you won''t get hurt, you absolutely won''t be in trouble!"


    Jiang Yao, speeding through the sky toward the Qingyun Sect, had a look of concern in her beautiful eyes, and her hair that reached her waist flared wildly as she accelerated even faster.


    ...


    At the Qingyun Sect''s entrance plaza.


    "Young Master!"


    "I''m afraid..."


    Tao''er clutched Ye Chen''s robe tightly, her eyes full of worry as she looked at the Heavenly Net Sect disciples closing in on her and Ye Chen.


    "Don''t worry, Tao''er, everything will be alright."


    Ye Chen patted the little girl''s shoulder and said with a light smile.


    As he was speaking, he suddenly looked up towards the sky above the inner mountain of the Qingyun Sect.


    A streak of blood-colored light was rapidly approaching from outside the mountain.


    "Zhou Yuntian, is that you?"


    Ye Chen eyed the blood-colored light, a sharp glint flickering in his gaze.


    At the same time, the eyes within that blood light, sensing his gaze, also looked towards Ye Chen.


    In those eyes, there was a piercing intent to kill, bursting forth!

 Chapter 57: Chapter 53: Making a Move

    Boom!


    The vigorous True Qi surged like a blood-red flame streaking across the sky, and in a matter of breaths, it flew from the skies above Qingyun Sect''s inner mountain to the outer mountain skies.


    "Flying and Earth Escaping! A Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!"


    "The elder has come! The elder has personally come to this outer mountain; from heaven to earth, no one can save Ye Chen now!"


    In the sect''s gate square, thousands of disciples had also noticed the blood-red light speeding through the sky, each lifting their heads to watch.


    The disciples of Heavenly Net Sect were especially elated, their own Elder Zhou Yuntian, a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, had arrived in person. Surrounded by them, Ye Chen had even less chance of escaping.


    With the elder personally intervening to avenge the death of his son, they would surely receive rewards for their contribution.


    In their eyes, Ye Chen''s life meant nothing at all.


    "That''s him, young master, he''s the one who abducted the mistress!"


    Tao''er, the little girl standing beside Ye Chen, looked with both fear and anger at the blood-red light coming swiftly from the sky.


    While everyone''s attention was captured by the swiftly approaching blood-red light, as Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled towards it, a fierce wind howled in the sky and the light, burning like blood-red flames, was now above the square of the sect''s gate.


    The streak of light flew over the square and didn''t stop, instead, it charged towards Ye Chen in the crowd. A rumbling voice boomed, "Ye Chen, you killed my child; today, I will cripple you first, then have you slashed by a thousand cuts!"


    Just as the voice resounded, a mighty gust surged from within the light, flinging those around Ye Chen hundreds of feet away, and at the same time, an enormous hand that spanned dozens of feet formed instantly, smacking straight towards Ye Chen!


    Seeing the giant hand descending from the sky, all the disciples blown away turned pale with fright.


    "Is he intending to kill Ye Chen with a single blow?"


    All those knocked down to the ground didn''t bother to get up; their eyes were fixed on where the giant hand was descending.


    In that spot, there stood only Ye Chen!


    With his divine consciousness enveloping his surroundings, Ye Chen''s surging True Qi erupted from within him at the exact moment the blood-red light burst forth. His True Qi encircled the little girl Tao''er, whisking her a hundred feet away, to keep her from harm by Zhou Yuntian.


    Then, facing the gigantic hand alone, Ye Chen clenched his palm, and a yellow talisman paper appeared in his hand, before he shot it outwards.


    The talisman, catching fire without any wind, shot towards the sky with a shrill and terrifying whistle emanating from it, instantly resounding across the entire sect''s gate square.


    Just as the enormous hand in the blood-red light was about to land on Ye Chen''s head, a blood-red spear over thirty meters long formed amidst a backwash of surging True Qi and clashed explosively with the giant hand.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, the blood-red spear and the True Qi carried by the giant hand collided, setting off a thunderous explosion over the square!


    In the midst of the True Qi explosion, a terrifying wind swept through, visibly dispersing energy waves in all directions, even shattering the huge green stones of the square to pieces.


    The disciples earlier swept aside felt the terrifying energy wave approaching and their faces changed as they retreated hastily, fleeing the explosion''s radius.


    Afterward, they turned their gaze back to the epicenter of the True Qi explosion.


    When they saw Ye Chen, who had faced the gigantic hand''s assault unscathed, standing upright, every onlooker around the square''s perimeter opened their mouths in disbelief.


    "He blocked it?"


    "He blocked an attack from a Spirit Sea Realm expert?"


    "Looking at the clash of True Qi, Ye Chen didn''t seem at a disadvantage at all! He can match a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse?!"


    These retreated disciples stared at the center of the devastated area, spanning dozens of meters across the square, and at the young man standing at the heart of it, exclaiming in disbelief.


    In the sky, Zhou Yuntian''s attack reached the level of the Spirit Sea Realm, which did not surprise them, but the outcome of their previous clash clearly showed that Ye Chen was not at a disadvantage, demonstrating the same level of combat power as a Spirit Sea Realm expert.


    Ye Chen, a mere youngster in the True Qi Realm, had actually managed to unleash an attack equivalent to that of the Spirit Sea Realm. How could this not astonish the disciples of the various sects?


    "Spirit Talisman?"


    "Ye Chen, it was indeed you who killed my Hai''er! And you took the life-saving Spirit Talisman I gave him!"


    In the sky above, the blood-colored fleeing light dissipated, revealing a figure clad in a blood robe and resembling a desiccated corpse. It was none other than Zhou Yuntian, the elder of the Heavenly Net Sect!


    At this moment, around Zhou Yuntian, a mighty and terrifying True Qi churned and swirled. Merely the surging aura he emitted surpassed all the True Qi in the bodies of the disciples present in the True Qi Realm, not to mention the even more massive True Qi turned into Spiritual Liquid in his Spirit Sea.


    A Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!


    This was the terrifying individual who had surpassed the True Qi Realm and reached the Spirit Sea Realm!


    The mere presence of his True Qi aura caused countless True Qi Realm disciples to quake in fear, their bravery chilled to the core!


    Once Zhou Yuntian appeared, his bloodshot eyes turned towards the fading giant spear shadow that had shattered the towering palm, with cold light swirling in his gaze.


    He immediately recognized that the paper talisman Ye Chen had used to fend off his towering palm strike was one of the three life-saving Spirit Talismans he had once given to Zhou Hai, a talisman paper with the attack power of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    "So, it''s that life-saving paper talisman. What of it?"


    "Zhou Hai died by my hand. Naturally, I can take and use his belongings as I please."


    Standing in the square before the mountain gate, Ye Chen fearlessly looked at Zhou Yuntian and spoke out loud.


    Indeed, what he had used was exactly one of the Spirit Talisman papers he had taken from Zhou Hai. There were three in total, with Zhou Hai having used one, and Ye Chen had acquired the remaining two.


    Now, he had used one of those two paper talismans to block Zhou Yuntian''s first strike!


    "Ye Chen, you have succeeded in infuriating me!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s admission of killing Zhou Hai and announcing intent to freely use Zhou Hai''s belongings, Zhou Yuntian flew into a towering rage.


    "My last palm strike didn''t even exert one-tenth of my strength. Do you think, with a Spirit Talisman I made, you can block me?"


    Zhou Yuntian stared at Ye Chen, with murderous intent surging in his heart.


    He didn''t want Ye Chen to die too easily, yet Ye Chen''s words had provoked him so much he wished to kill him with a single palm strike!


    "Zhou Yuntian, you have succeeded in angering me as well!"


    Ye Chen looked up at Zhou Yuntian in the sky, with killing intent surging in his eyes equally.


    "I have never seen such a shameless person in the Spirit Sea Realm, someone who doesn''t even spare ordinary mortals. You truly disgrace the title of the Spirit Sea!"


    "Don''t you want to kill me? I''m standing right here. If you can kill me, then that''s your skill! Don''t drag my parents into this! Let''s settle our grudges between the two of us!"


    "Come on, don''t talk about using one-tenth of your strength¡ªuse all your strength, by all means!"


    Ye Chen looked at Zhou Yuntian, utterly unafraid.


    "Hum!"


    Ye Chen and Zhou Yuntian, one on the ground and one in the sky, their eyes met and murderous intent filled the air between them simultaneously!


    Such a scene, happening between an individual in the True Qi Realm and a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert, was truly unprecedented!


    Not only did it leave the onlooking Qingyun Sect disciples immensely shocked, but even the disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect couldn''t help but admire Ye Chen''s courage.


    Many of them were even at a higher stage in the True Qi Realm than Ye Chen, but none had the courage to speak to a Spirit Sea Realm individual like that.


    Ye Chen was truly audacious to the extreme!

 Chapter 58: Chapter 54 Madness

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen confronted Zhou Yuntian, eight streaks of light flew through the sky, landing next to the figure of Zhou Yuntian, who stood in the void, revealing their figures.


    These eight people were none other than the Sect Master and the seven Elders of the Qingyun Sect.


    As soon as the Sect Master and Elders of the Qingyun Sect landed in the sky, they all looked towards Ye Chen simultaneously.


    The terrifying wave of energy provoked by Ye Chen''s lightning-fast exchange with Zhou Yuntian had been clearly witnessed by all of them, who were following behind Zhou Yuntian.


    None of the eight had anticipated that this nominal disciple of their sect could react to Zhou Yuntian''s attack so swiftly and remain unscathed under his assault.


    Even if, as Zhou Yuntian claimed, Ye Chen had relied on a Spirit Talisman to withstand the attack, the time it took to activate the talisman and defend against the Heaven-Supporting Giant Hand was nearly instantaneous.


    Such a reaction speed, even among the strongest within the True Qi Realm, the twelfth layer of True Qi, there were few who could achieve it!


    They observed that Ye Chen was only at the sixth layer of True Qi, how could he possibly react so quickly?


    This truly shocked them!


    Seeing Ye Chen facing the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert Zhou Yuntian without fear, a thought even flickered through their minds, could this youth, in addition to his incredibly quick reactions, have other means to challenge Zhou Yuntian?


    Otherwise, how would he dare speak to Zhou Yuntian like this?


    "Impossible! There absolutely can''t be any other means that would allow someone in the True Qi Realm to contend with a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert."


    "I''m afraid that this Ye Chen is merely bluffing to the very end."


    After giving Ye Chen a deep look, these individuals all shook their heads simultaneously, finding the ridiculous notion that had just crossed their minds laughable.


    True Qi Realm challenging the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm?


    Such a scenario was something they had never witnessed happen.


    They also couldn''t believe such a situation would occur!


    "Presumably Ye Chen is just bluffing, waiting for us to back him up..."


    "However, he''s likely to be disappointed."


    The Sect Master and Elders of the Qingyun Sect looked at Ye Chen, murmuring in their hearts.


    "Sect Master!"


    "Elder Wan! Elder Lin! Elder Wang..."


    On the sect''s plaza, disciples of the Qingyun Sect, seeing their rarely seen Sect Master and Elders all appearing in the plaza''s sky, began to bow and salute them from below.


    Out of the nine Spirit Sea Realm experts of the Qingyun Sect, except for Xiao Long, the foremost inner disciple who had just entered the Spirit Sea Realm, the other eight had all gathered.


    Eight Spirit Sea Realm experts, together with Zhou Yuntian, the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm master, now stood in the sky above the plaza.


    This was a scene that the Qingyun Sect had never seen before!


    Watching the nine masters focus their attention on that youth, countless disciples felt their hearts surge with excitement. If they could, like Ye Chen, draw the gaze of nine Spirit Sea Realm masters, they felt that even dying would be worth it!


    In the sky above.


    With the Sect Master and the seven Elders arriving simultaneously, Zhou Yuntian couldn''t just attack directly anymore, though he had long since reached an understanding with these eight over the matter of Ye Chen. Still, at Qingyun Sect, in the presence of all these eyes at the sect''s plaza, he needed to show some respect to the Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master and Elders.


    "Elder Luo Kun, as for this nominal disciple Ye Chen of your sect, who killed my child, what do you think should be done?" Zhou Yuntian, standing in the void, boomed his voice in all directions, asking Sect Master Luo Kun of the Qingyun Sect.


    Hearing Zhou Yuntian''s question, all the Qingyun Sect disciples on the plaza turned their eyes towards their Sect Master.


    Ye Chen was a disciple of their Qingyun Sect.


    They too wanted to know, under such circumstances, whether their Sect Master would protect his own disciple or would he yield under the might of the Heavenly Net Sect and give up on Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also looked towards these grand figures of the Qingyun Sect whom he had never met before.


    Seeing these eight people standing alongside Zhou Yuntian, Ye Chen had already faintly anticipated some outcomes, but he still wanted to see how the Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master would respond.


    In the sky above, Sect Master Luo Kun of the Qingyun Sect, his eyes converging on Ye Chen.


    He was somewhat surprised and taken aback by this youth who was only a nominal disciple of their sect, a prodigy who was rumored to have slain Zhou Hai, a seventh-layer True Qi practitioner, with a mere fifth-layer True Qi, and who had enraged Zhou Yuntian to madness and just now had incredibly quick reactions to block Zhou Yuntian''s strike.


    He knew that Ye Chen was likely a genius that had been buried within their sect.


    However...


    What of it if he was a genius? Luo Kun had seen countless fallen geniuses.


    Compared to his relationship with the Spirit Sea Realm expert Zhou Yuntian, compared to a seventh-ranked sect like the Heavenly Net Sect, even if Ye Chen was as strong a genius as any, he was still an unripe one.


    To give up on him wasn''t such a big deal.


    After his gaze lingered on Ye Chen for a few moments, Luo Kun turned his head towards Zhou Yuntian, smiling lightly as he said, "Murder pays for life, this Ye Chen, I leave to Zhou to deal with!"


    "He is merely a nominal disciple, not even counted as a formal disciple of our sect!"


    "Now, I announce, Ye Chen is expelled from the sect, from now on, he is no longer a person of our Qingyun Sect!"


    Sect Master Luo Kun of the Qingyun Sect didn''t speak a word in defense of Ye Chen, and he didn''t even show a hint of pleading.


    With a wave of his hand, he had severed all ties with Ye Chen.


    Clearly, he had completely given up on Ye Chen!


    "Hum!"


    Luo Kun''s words suddenly swept a sense of sorrow through the hearts of the disciples gathered in the Qingyun Sect''s square, like a hare mourning the death of a fox.


    "The Sect Master... he..."


    Today, because of external pressure, their Sect Master could abandon Ye Chen, and tomorrow, he might just as readily abandon them.


    For a moment, the Qingyun Sect disciples eerily quieted down.


    Ye Chen, hearing Luo Kun''s words, clenched his fists abruptly, then relaxed them.


    "So be it!"


    "Such a sect, I have no reason to remain attached to!"


    With this thought flashing through his mind, the shadow that had suddenly arisen in his heart dispersed quite a bit.


    A Qingyun Sect like this, not worth joining!


    He, Ye Chen, from this moment forth, would have nothing more to do with Qingyun Sect!


    Ye Chen''s gaze shifted from Luo Kun, the Sect Master of Qingyun Sect, directly onto Zhou Yuntian.


    "Zhou Yuntian, all this you''ve said, isn''t it just to kill me under the guise of righteousness?"


    "Your son can chase after me to kill, but I can''t fight back to kill him? Does his life, by nature, have more value than mine?"


    "In the end, it''s all because you abuse your power, holding others'' lives in no regard. You want to let strength do the talking, then show me your strength. All else is empty talk!"


    Ye Chen directly addressed Zhou Yuntian.


    "Strength?"


    In the sky, Zhou Yuntian looked down at Ye Chen, his ridicule unceasing.


    By now, even the Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master no longer concerned himself with this Ye Chen. Zhou Yuntian didn''t care what tricks Ye Chen might still play.


    "Yes, I abuse the power I possess, so what about it?"


    "I''m a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse; my son''s life does, of course, have more value than yours!"


    "By killing my Hai''er, you should have known this day would come! Had you obediently accepted death back then, you wouldn''t have dragged your parents into this."


    "Ye Chen, let me tell you, today I will not only execute you, but also make your parents accompany you in death. The lives of all three of you lowlifes will soothe the spirit of my Hai''er in heaven!"


    Boom!


    As Zhou Yuntian spoke, he waved the sleeve of his blood robe, and a surge of True Qi enveloped the area. The immense pressure made it difficult for all the disciples in the square to even breathe.


    However, what made it even harder for the disciples to breathe was what Zhou Yuntian had said.


    Zhou Yuntian was determined to kill not only Ye Chen but also Ye Chen''s father and mother, completely!


    Even the disciples of the Heavenly Net Sect were shocked; they had thought their Elder captured Ye Chen''s parents to lure Ye Chen into showing himself, but now it seemed their Elder had intended to kill from the very beginning!


    Boom!


    As Zhou Yuntian uttered those words, Ye Chen''s heart felt as though it had been struck by a bolt of lightning.


    Zhou Yuntian had captured his parents and now, even after he appeared, planned to execute them as well!


    This completely crossed the line for Ye Chen; was Zhou Yuntian arrogant or mad, truly thinking himself unbeatable?


    "Boom!"


    Ye Chen''s complexion turned ashen in an instant, and from the energy center between his eyebrows, a vast and boundless sword qi spirit liquid crazily surged into the flying sword "Crimson Fire."


    "Zhou Yuntian, you are far too presumptuous!"


    "Even at the risk of damaging my life-linked flying sword, even if I can''t kill you, Zhou Yuntian, I''ll destroy it by self-detonation to take you down!"


    "Crimson Fire, prepare for battle!"


    True Qi roared around Ye Chen''s body, enveloping him like raging flames, preparing him for the fight.


    He was ready for battle, waiting for Zhou Yuntian''s momentary lapse to unleash the three great powers of the flying sword and slay Zhou Yuntian!


    Zhou Yuntian''s words had ignited Ye Chen''s resolve to risk everything.


    Even if he ended up injured by the self-explosion of his flying sword, he would not let his parents suffer or die at Zhou Yuntian''s hands!


    Heaven and earth.


    Zhou Yuntian and Ye Chen were already brimming with the intent to fight.


    The next instant could be the moment of the thunderous strike!


    But just then, suddenly, a clear and piercing eagle''s cry rang through the sky.


    Afterward, the voice of a young girl echoed across the entire Qingyun Sect''s square.


    "An Elder of the Heavenly Net Sect? What grandeur indeed!"


    "Even I, as the Sect Master of Taixuan Sect, would not dare to claim my life more noble by measure!"


    Boom!


    Accompanying the young voice that spread in all directions, a majestic and extraordinary giant white eagle, carrying a twelve or thirteen-year-old sword-bearing girl, shot across the sky, arriving above the square.

 Chapter 59: Chapter 55 Visitor from the Taixuan Sect

    All the people on the square at the mountain gate looked toward the eagle-riding girl who had suddenly appeared.


    Even the nine Spirit Sea Realm experts in the sky, Zhou Yuntian and the eight Qingyun Sect elders and sect leader, were no exception.


    The girl''s voice was still echoing in all directions, and the words "Taixuan Sect" brought a complete silence to the entire square at the mountain gate, which had been teeming with a murderous atmosphere.


    "Taixuan Sect?"


    "This girl, she''s actually from the Taixuan Sect?"


    Disciples from Heavenly Net Sect and Qingyun Sect on the square at the mountain gate, looking at the sword-bearing girl who rode the eagle in the sky, all had their hearts pounding.


    As disciples of the thirty-six sects in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, they were all too familiar with the words "Taixuan Sect."


    Taixuan Sect, the top-ranked great sect in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, was a place they all once dreamed of joining.


    Unfortunately, their strength was simply not enough to qualify for entry into the Taixuan Sect.


    Despite this, they often sought out news about the Taixuan Sect and recited stories about its deeds.


    The Heavenly Net Sect and the Qingyun Sect were located south of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain while the Taixuan Sect had an expanse of territory to the west of Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, with Taixuan Sect disciples seldom venturing south of the mountain.


    Now, seeing this sword-bearing girl from the "Taixuan Sect" with their own eyes, how could they not be shocked?


    Not only were these sect disciples shocked, even the arrogant and domineering Heavenly Net Sect elder Zhou Yuntian trembled at the mention of the "Taixuan Sect."


    His arrogance before Qingyun Sect was partly because he was a mid-phase Spirit Sea Realm expert and partly because he came from the seventh-rank Heavenly Net Sect.


    Qingyun Sect, being just an eighth-rank sect with its strongest expertise in the Spirit Sea Realm, was hardly worth mentioning in Zhou Yuntian''s eyes.


    However, no matter how arrogant and domineering he was, he would not dare to disrespect the Taixuan Sect because it was the number one sect among the thirty-six sects in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, a sixth-rank sect that was dozens of times more powerful than the seventh-rank Heavenly Net Sect!


    If Taixuan Sect wished to destroy Heavenly Net Sect, it would take no more than the turning of a hand.


    There were countless people within the Taixuan Sect stronger than Zhou Yuntian!


    To be arrogant in front of the Taixuan Sect, Zhou Yuntian simply didn''t have the courage!


    "Taixuan Sect, how could someone from there come here?"


    "Could it be she has come for Ye Chen?"


    "Ye Chen is nothing but a minor True Qi Realm disciple, and within Qingyun Sect, he is only a nominal disciple; how could he be connected with the Taixuan Sect?"


    The girl''s words clearly intended to protect Ye Chen, which made Zhou Yuntian dare not make any rash moves.


    For a moment, the murderous-looking Zhou Yuntian''s complexion became somewhat unpredictable.


    Not just Zhou Yuntian, but even Qingyun Sect Master Luo Kun and the other seven elders standing beside Zhou Yuntian, when they heard the words "Taixuan Sect" from the mouth of the sword-bearing girl who had ridden the eagle, and heard her defending Ye Chen, their faces all changed dramatically.


    Previously they could abandon Ye Chen because he had no significant backing, and was simply incomparable to Zhou Yuntian.


    But now, if Ye Chen truly had a significant connection with the Taixuan Sect, even with ten times their courage, they would not dare let any harm come to him within Qingyun Sect!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen''s earlier confidence and fearlessness, even in face of Zhou Yuntian, was because of the Taixuan Sect?"


    "But, he didn''t mention the Taixuan Sect earlier; otherwise, we wouldn''t have pushed him into such a situation."


    "Or is it that he has a connection only with this sword-bearing girl, with no substantial ties to the Taixuan Sect?"


    Luo Kun, the sect leader of Qingyun Sect, and the other seven elders sized up the sword-bearing girl and Ye Chen, speculating about their relationship.


    Heaven and earth were silent, and at this moment, Ye Chen, gazing at the sword-bearing girl who appeared suddenly on the back of a hawk, was also somewhat surprised.


    "The Taixuan Sect?"


    "Could it be because of..."


    Ye Chen was pondering when the girl riding the hawk, the focus of thousands in the sect square, lightly flapped the wings of the mystical white hawk beneath her, and flew directly next to him.


    And the girl riding the hawk jumped down next to Ye Chen, blinked her big eyes, curiously sized up Ye Chen, and asked in a soft voice, "Are you Ye Chen? The Ye Chen who entered the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?"


    "The Thousand Lotus Cave Abode?"


    Upon hearing the words "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode," Ye Chen was startled, and his thoughts immediately turned to a girl of incredible beauty. Looking back at the sword-bearing girl before him, he sobered up and realized, "Could it be that you were sent by Jiang Yao?"


    Apart from Jiang Yao, Ye Chen didn''t recognize anyone else from the Taixuan Sect. The sudden appearance of this sword-bearing girl led Ye Chen to guess she might be connected to Jiang Yao, and now, with the girl mentioning the words "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode," it further confirmed in his mind that the girl''s arrival must be related to Jiang Yao.


    "You really are that Ye Chen!"


    The sword-bearing girl''s big eyes lit up when she heard the name Jiang Yao, and a smile appeared on her face.


    "I have finally found you, Ye Chen!"


    "I knew it, the young man whom Sister Jiang Yao cares so much about couldn''t be an ordinary person. Indeed, even in front of so many Spirit Sea Realm experts, you remain so undaunted!"


    "Ye Chen, don''t worry, I am here under Sister Jiang Yao''s orders to find you, to ensure your safety! Whoever wants to be your enemy will become my enemy, Liu Chan''er''s enemy, and Sister Jiang Yao''s enemy!"


    The girl who suddenly appeared on the back of the hawk, was none other than Chan''er, dispatched by Jiang Yao from the Taixuan Sect to Qingyun Sect to seek out Ye Chen and ensure his safety!


    After Liu Chan''er left the cave abode, she hurried toward Qingyun Sect while learning about the young man called "Ye Chen" from the jade slip provided by Jiang Yao, which contained information about him.


    The more she read from the jade slip, the more she wanted to meet Ye Chen!


    From the information in the jade slip, Liu Chan''er learned that at just fifteen years old, Ye Chen was able to comprehend Sword Intent and had entered a mysterious cave abode, the "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode," with her sister Jiang Yao.


    Not only that, but Ye Chen had also broken through the trials of the cave abode one after another, creating great miracles, and had even comprehended several types of Sword Intent within the True Qi Realm!


    Even her sister Jiang Yao was not a match for Ye Chen in the cultivation of the Sword Dao.


    The more Liu Chan''er learned about Ye Chen, the more she wanted to see for herself what this young man, who even her elegant and beautiful sister Jiang Yao was moved by, was really like.


    When she arrived at Qingyun Sect and saw a young man standing alone in the center of the crowd in the square, surrounded by the oppressive presence of nine Spirit Sea Realm experts from a distance in the sky, she immediately knew that this was the Ye Chen she was looking for.


    As she flew closer and heard it confirmed, she realized that this was indeed Ye Chen, the one her sister Jiang Yao had sent her with the "Taixuan Command" to protect at all costs!


    Upon seeing Ye Chen enveloped by the murderous intent of Zhou Yuntian, a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert, as if the two were about to fight a battle of life and death, Liu Chan''er finally understood why her sister Jiang Yao had been so frantic.


    Her sister Jiang Yao must have sensed that Ye Chen was in danger, which was why she had sent Liu Chan''er to rush to Qingyun Sect.


    Ye Chen... he really was in great trouble!

 Chapter 60: Chapter 56 Taimysterious, the Hidden Hand

    Seeing this situation, Liu Chan''er of course did not hesitate anymore; she directly spoke out, using the name of the Taixuan Sect to intimidate Zhou Yuntian while also swiftly descending beside Ye Chen.


    Having confirmed Ye Chen''s identity, she naturally had to protect Ye Chen''s safety as her sister Jiang Yao had entrusted her to do.


    Even if Ye Chen faced a joint attack, she would stand shoulder to shoulder with him in battle!


    Though Liu Chan''er was only thirteen years old and her True Qi Realm was just cultivated to the seventh level of True Qi, as a disciple under Fairy Jia Luo, a supreme figure of the Taixuan Sect, and as Jiang Yao''s junior sister, she also possessed a few formidable skills.


    Even if she couldn''t help Ye Chen deal with Zhou Yuntian who was at the middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, she had some confidence in leading Ye Chen to escape unscathed.


    Now, faced with Zhou Yuntian whose killing intent was clear, Ye Chen finally had a significant reinforcement!


    "Jiang Yao sent you to find me? To protect my safety?"


    "How would she know that I am in danger?"


    Hearing the words of the sword-carrying girl in front of him who called herself "Liu Chan''er," Ye Chen was also taken aback.


    He had not expected that the danger he faced would be known to Jiang Yao.


    What Ye Chen did not know was that the Twin Flying Swords he and Jiang Yao had obtained in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, "Crimson Fire" and "Ghostly Water," complemented each other and possessed a mysterious connection.


    His agitated spirit caused "Crimson Fire" to react violently, which allowed the distant Jiang Yao to sense that something was amiss.


    "How would Jiang Yao know that you are in danger?" Liu Chan''er shook her small head, "I don''t know either, all I know is that Jiang Yao was very frantic, and she told me I must protect you!"


    Liu Chan''er''s words warmed Ye Chen''s heart.


    Jiang Yao, the girl who had joined him in braving the challenges of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, still cared so much for him even after returning to the Taixuan Sect!


    In the sky above.


    When Zhou Yuntian saw the girl on the eagle descend in front of Ye Chen and speak with him in a very close manner, his expression grew increasingly ugly.


    He had not expected that the person from the Taixuan Sect actually had a connection with Ye Chen.


    After a change in expression, Zhou Yuntian spoke to Liu Chan''er, "Little girl, you claim to be from the Taixuan Sect and have come here, but what for?"


    "This Ye Chen has a blood feud with me! If you have nothing else, please step aside, lest I accidentally injure you when I kill him!"


    Even if he feared the reputation of the Taixuan Sect, if Liu Chan''er had simply come alone to back up Ye Chen, then Zhou Yuntian wouldn''t fear much. His only concern was if big figures from the Taixuan Sect were implicated.


    If that were the case, he would have to carefully weigh his options before killing Ye Chen, even if he decided to kill Ye Chen, he would have to find another method.


    If no big figures from the Taixuan Sect were involved, then he, Zhou Yuntian, wasn''t afraid of anything.


    After all, the Taixuan Sect would not deliberate with him, an elder of the Heavenly Net Sect, over a stranger who had no relation to them.


    "I act under the order of my sister, the true disciple of the Taixuan Sect ''Jiang Yao,'' to protect Ye Chen!"


    "Anyone who opposes Ye Chen is opposing my sister ''Jiang Yao''!"


    Liu Chan''er looked at Zhou Yuntian and declared aloud.


    At the same time, she took out an ancient-looking token and held it high.


    This ancient token was engraved with the mountains and clouds of the Taixuan Sect on the front and bore the words "Taixuan, Jiang Yao" on the back!


    Hearing Liu Chan''er shout the name of Jiang Yao, many disciples from the Heavenly Net Sect and Qingyun Sect in the plaza exclaimed, "Jiang Yao? Someone came to protect this Ye Chen under the orders of Jiang Yao of the Taixuan Sect?!"


    "How does this Ye Chen know Jiang Yao?"


    "The fairy-like Jiang Yao actually cares so much about Ye Chen? What, exactly, is his relationship with Jiang Yao?"


    In the Eastern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, among the disciples of the thirty-six sects, there were countless who admired and worshiped Jiang Yao, and many who secretly loved her. They had never heard of Jiang Yao being close to any man.


    Now, suddenly hearing that the girl on the eagle had come to protect Ye Chen under the orders of Jiang Yao, they were completely dumbfounded.


    They could not fathom that this Ye Chen, pursued by a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, with a vow to never rest until he was dead, could be connected with their admired and worshiped sister Jiang Yao.


    And apparently, it was a very close relationship!


    This caused the hearts of many sect disciples to shatter.


    "Taixuan Command!"


    These sect disciples were utterly shocked by the name "Jiang Yao," while Zhou Yuntian and the eight great Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses of Qingyun Sect who stood in the air, looked at the ancient token in Liu Chan''er''s hand simultaneously.


    Upon seeing this ancient token, their eyes all flashed brightly.


    They directly recognized the token in Liu Chan''er''s hand.


    This token was unmistakably the Taixuan Command, a unique token that only the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses of the Taixuan Sect could possess!


    "Taixuan Command, this Ye Chen actually has the backing of a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, and from the Taixuan Sect no less!"


    "Zhou Yuntian is untouchable, but so are the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses of the Taixuan Sect! This makes things difficult!"


    Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master Luo Kun exchanged glances with the other seven elders, and silently communicated with each other through transmitted messages.


    "Jiang Yao?"


    "Could it be the rumored prodigy who entered the Spirit Sea Realm at just sixteen, Jiang Yao from the thirty-six sects?"


    Upon hearing Liu Chan''er''s words, Zhou Yuntian felt a sudden relief.


    As long as Ye Chen''s matter wasn''t linked to a big shot from the Taixuan Sect, he wasn''t too concerned about a young Jiang Yao.


    "If it were something else, I would have given that sister of yours, ''Jiang Yao,'' some face, but as Ye Chen and I have a vendetta of a killed son, even if Jiang Yao herself came today, I would still slay Ye Chen!"


    "Little girl, if you know what''s good for you, stand aside. Otherwise, if I accidentally harm you, don''t say I didn''t warn you!"


    Zhou Yuntian''s thunderous voice carried over to Liu Chan''er, and at the same time, the True Qi he had retracted into his body surged out once again.


    Liu Chan''er saw that Zhou Yuntian still intended to act even after she had taken out the "Taixuan Command." Her face flushed with anger, and with a "swoosh," she drew the bright treasure sword from behind her: "Harm me? Just try! Ye Chen isn''t afraid of you, and neither am I, Liu Chan''er!"


    "Hold it!"


    Just as Zhou Yuntian was about to make a move, and just when Ye Chen was preparing to tell Liu Chan''er not to interfere, Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master Luo Kun suddenly stepped forward, standing between Ye Chen and Zhou Yuntian.


    "What, Brother Luo Kun, are you trying to stop me, too?" Zhou Yuntian''s eyebrows raised in anger as he glared at Luo Kun.


    "How could I dare! Brother Zhou, you seek vengeance for your son, and we wouldn''t presume to stop you," Luo Kun said with a fist and palm salute to Zhou Yuntian, "However, Brother Zhou, given that the little girl has taken out the ''Taixuan Command,'' if you really strike down Ye Chen directly, our Qingyun Sect would be in a difficult position with that Spirit Sea Realm friend from the Taixuan Sect."


    "Brother Zhou, with your mid-Spirit Sea Realm cultivation, forcefully killing a True Qi Realm youth would tarnish your reputation even if it were spread out. How about this, Brother Zhou? Send a few of your True Qi Realm disciples to fight Ye Chen. If Ye Chen can survive against your True Qi Realm disciples, then it''s a testament to his abilities.


    If Ye Chen dies at the hands of your disciples, it means he was not skilled enough, and that friend from the Taixuan Sect presumably won''t blame us either. Brother Zhou, how does that sound?"


    Luo Kun''s words clearly meant to prevent Zhou Yuntian from acting directly.


    Liu Chan''er''s presentation of the Taixuan Command had failed to shake Zhou Yuntian but appeared to have shocked the Qingyun Sect''s members enough that they felt compelled to speak on behalf of Ye Chen.


    "Do the rest of you feel the same?"


    Zhou Yuntian then turned his gaze to the other seven elders beside Luo Kun. Although he was not afraid of Luo Kun''s interference, if the eight great Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses of Qingyun Sect were to stop him, then directly killing Ye Chen would become troublesome.


    "Brother Zhou, the sect master''s words are our collective sentiment."


    "We hope Brother Zhou will give us some consideration."


    Zhou Yuntian looked at Luo Kun who stood in his path, and then at the other seven elders, his gaze flickering.


    Suddenly, Luo Kun''s voice transmitted directly into Zhou Yuntian''s ears: "Brother Zhou, this matter involves a Spirit Sea Realm disciple from the Taixuan Sect, and we don''t take it as lightly as you do, we must show her some courtesy."


    "My earlier suggestion, if the disciple you send ends up killing Ye Chen, then the matter is settled. Even if Jiang Yao comes looking for trouble later, we can lay the blame on those individuals. Surely, without our direct involvement, she wouldn''t really come after us with a violent intent, would she?"


    "At the same time, we can also take this opportunity to observe Ye Chen. I always have the feeling that Ye Chen seems to possess hidden moves, otherwise, he wouldn''t dare to directly rush to Qingyun Sect like this."


    "Even if Ye Chen reveals his hidden moves and isn''t killed by your disciples, we will at least have learned of his techniques. Can he really hide them forever? Once he''s alone, killing him wouldn''t be difficult for you, Brother Zhou..."


    "Brother Zhou, please consider my words."


    Communicating through consciousness is a method only Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses possess. Nobody else overheard the conversation between Luo Kun and Zhou Yuntian.


    However, Ye Chen, looking up, turned his gaze toward the Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master Luo Kun and the other seven elders who suddenly stood up for him. His eyes flickered as if he had perceived something.


    "Good! Good! Good!"


    Zhou Yuntian sighed heavily, as if he was truly unable to act due to the intervention of the eight great Spirit Sea Realm masters from Qingyun Sect, "Today, I will give face to Brother Luo Kun and not personally take action."


    "However, vengeance for my son must be exacted. Jin Xuanlie, come forth and resolve this matter with Ye Chen for me!"


    As Zhou Yuntian''s voice faded, a youth dressed in the garb of a disciple of the Heavenly Net Sect leaped out from the crowd in the plaza, taking a stand.


    Zhou Yuntian then turned his attention to Liu Chan''er: "Little girl, don''t say I didn''t give due consideration to your ''Taixuan Command.'' I won''t personally make a move, so if Ye Chen dies at the hands of my disciple, nobody else is to blame!"


    Liu Chan''er glanced at Zhou Yuntian, who was blocked in the sky by eight people from the Qingyun Sect, and then at Jin Xuanlie, who had flown out of the crowd, her eyebrows knitted. She asked Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, what should we do? Shall we strike against this person together first?"


    Ye Chen smiled at Liu Chan''er and said, "Sister Chan''er, just cover me. Leave this person to me."


    With those words, Ye Chen stepped toward Jin Xuanlie.


    "Ye Chen!" Liu Chan''er called out anxiously, longing to follow him.


    At that moment, Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master Luo Kun stepped forward, appearing in front of Liu Chan''er from the void.


    Smiling at her, he said, "Since Brother Zhou has refrained from acting directly, this friend should also stay aside and watch for now."


    Liu Chan''er looked at Luo Kun, then at Zhou Yuntian, whose gaze was filled with dark clouds in the sky, and finally, she halted.


    More than the True Qi Realm disciple, she needed to be wary of any sudden moves from Zhou Yuntian.


    "Ye Chen, he''s all yours! If things go awry, I''ll step in to help you!"


    Liu Chan''er gently pinched her left hand with her right hand. On her left wrist, two silver bracelets suddenly started to emanate a faint glow that was difficult to detect.

 Chapter 61: Chapter 57: Demonstrating Great Divine Power

    At this moment, in the square in front of the sect gate, amidst countless gazes, Ye Chen and Jin Xuanlie stood facing each other, separated by over ten meters.


    Jin Xuanlie, at the age of around twenty-three or four, was not much of a talker, but his eyes, fixated on Ye Chen like a predator stalking its prey, emanated a chilling ferocity.


    Just from his gaze, one could tell that he had taken many lives with his hands!


    "Jin Xuanlie, at the ninth layer of the True Qi Realm, is said to not be innately talented, but he is extremely ruthless with himself! Rumor has it that he once ventured into Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain alone to hunt demon beasts and hone his True Qi, spending a full three years before emerging!


    He slaughtered thousands of demon beasts in the mountains and also killed numerous disciples from other sects!"


    "His hands are already bloodstained! This kind of person, with terrifying real combat experience¡ªElder Zhou Yuntian chose to send him out first. It looks like his aim isn''t just to kill Ye Chen but also to probe all of Ye Chen''s techniques!"


    Sect disciples who knew of Jin Xuanlie were quietly discussing his background.


    "I heard that not long ago, Ye Chen, with only the fifth layer of True Qi Realm, managed to counter-kill someone at the seventh layer. But no matter how powerful he is, it can''t be possible for him to fight against a ninth layer True Qi Realm expert so soon!"


    "If he no longer has that Spirit Talisman that can withstand the attack from a Spirit Sea Realm expert, I''m afraid Jin Xuanlie could directly kill him!"


    After Ye Chen returned to the Qingyun Sect, he had only made two moves: once to save his maid Tao''er by cutting off the hand of a seventh layer True Qi disciple and the other time was to use a Spirit Talisman to directly withstand a killing strike from Zhou Yuntian.


    As for Ye Chen''s true strength, not to mention the sect disciples, even Zhou Yuntian and Luo Kun didn''t know the full extent.


    The battle that was about to begin between Ye Chen and Jin Xuanlie was the best opportunity for them to gauge Ye Chen''s strength!


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen had stood firm, a sudden flash of cold light burst from Jin Xuanlie''s eyes, and the enormous True Qi in his body erupted violently. He stomped the ground so hard that a large chunk of bluestone shattered beneath his feet, and like a humanoid beast, he lunged at Ye Chen with explosive force.


    Jin Xuanlie''s eyes were fiercely brutal, and without uttering a single word, he launched his attack!


    Almost before many of the sect disciples had time to react, he had already charged to Ye Chen''s side.


    "Can he block it?"


    Jin Xuanlie''s horrifying charge tightened the chests of many sect disciples; they felt that if this charge were aimed at them, apart from those who were above the tenth layer of True Qi, not many could withstand it!


    These sect disciples all turned toward Ye Chen, eager to see how he would defend against Jin Xuanlie''s ferocious onslaught.


    Clang!


    Before they could get a clear view, they heard an extremely faint sound of a sword''s cry. Then, almost at the moment Jin Xuanlie, who was charging explosively toward Ye Chen, neared him, he swiftly retreated backward at high speed.


    Their advance and retreat seemed almost without interval!


    "What happened?"


    No one saw clearly whether Ye Chen and Jin Xuanlie had actually clashed, but when Jin Xuanlie leapt back to his original position like a cheetah, everyone noticed a faint trail of blood suddenly appeared on his forehead.


    And in Jin Xuanlie''s eyes, which previously brimmed with ferocity, fear surfaced when he looked back at Ye Chen!


    Jin Xuanlie was afraid; it was clear from his eyes that Jin Xuanlie was afraid!


    Could Jin Xuanlie, known as the Blood-handed Butcher, who had fought in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain for more than three years, and whose combat experience at the ninth layer of the True Qi Realm was incredibly vast, actually fear Ye Chen?


    The onlooking sect disciples couldn''t believe it.


    "Did you see it clearly?"


    "No, I couldn''t see anything at all. I just saw Jin Xuanlie charge and then retreat explosively! Did Ye Chen and Jin Xuanlie already exchange blows just now?"


    Many people whispered among themselves.


    At that moment, a True Qi Realm disciple at the twelfth layer, looking at Ye Chen, had a glint in his eyes: "Such fast swordsmanship!"


    "Just now Ye Chen already made a move, a sword move!"


    "Had Jin Xuanlie not been extremely experienced in real combat and keenly aware of the scent of death, he would have died at Ye Chen''s hand! Even so, he was still injured¡ªlook at the bloodstain on his forehead; if it had been a bit deeper, his head would likely have been penetrated!"


    The words of this twelfth layer True Qi Realm disciple made many nearby onlookers inhale sharply.


    So Ye Chen truly made a move?


    And with just one move, forced Jin Xuanlie into retreat and even caused injury?!


    Many still couldn''t believe it.


    At this time, Zhou Yuntian, standing in the void, snorted angrily at Jin Xuanlie, "Get down from there, you are no match for Ye Chen!"


    As a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert, Zhou Yuntian had a clearer view of the battle.


    Because he understood, he was annoyed; he wanted to see more of Ye Chen''s techniques, but Ye Chen had defeated the disciple he sent out with just one move, which was like a loud slap to his face!


    Jin Xuanlie, rebuked by Zhou Yuntian, wore a heavy expression, seemingly deep in thought, but as he stepped down, he suddenly raised his head to look at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, thank you for showing mercy. That move just now could have killed me, and even if I had tried to retreat explosively, it would be too late! I''ve lost, defeated by your hand!"


    After speaking, Jin Xuanlie didn''t stay at the sect gate square any longer, but instead swiftly flew away, heading out of Qingyun Sect.


    The words of Zhou Yuntian and Jin Xuanlie stirred a huge commotion on the square at the sect gate, and even those who did not understand the recent clash between Ye Chen and Jin Xuanlie came to know that in the span of that one move, Ye Chen had defeated Jin Xuanlie!


    Ye Chen turned out to be so powerful!


    It seemed he had the means to face mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert Zhou Yuntian head-on without fear!


    "Profound-grade swordsmanship?"


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has successfully cultivated a set of Xuan-rank sword techniques?"


    In the sky, the sect master Luo Kun and the other seven elders of the Qingyun Sect exchanged glances, their eyes filled with profound shock. They had never seen such a terrifying sword technique with such formidable attacking power from a disciple at the sixth layer of True Qi!


    Upon looking at Ye Chen again, after he had repelled Jin Xuanlie with a single sword strike and still maintained a calm demeanor, they felt that this young man was even more unfathomable.


    "Young master, you are so amazing!"


    From the sidelines, the little girl Tao''er waved her small fists high and shouted out loud.


    She had seen Ye Chen confront Zhou Yuntian, being oppressed by nine powerful figures standing in the sky, and then witnessed a sword-carrying girl riding a white eagle come to aid her young master.


    The little girl Tao''er felt that she had seen more things today than she had in the past twelve years combined, and it was even more exciting.


    Her young master, Ye Chen, had truly brought her too many surprises!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Sister Jiang Yao said that you could deal with opponents in the ninth layer of the True Qi Realm. I didn''t expect that now you could defeat a ninth layer True Qi expert with one move. Have you improved a lot these days?"


    "Impressive! Even within the Taixuan Sect, I have never seen anyone at the sixth layer of True Qi who is so formidable. You truly are worthy of being the person Sister Jiang Yao is concerned about!"


    Liu Chan''er, who had been paying close attention to Zhou Yuntian''s movements, looked at Ye Chen with indescribable surprise in her eyes.


    In the midst of being the center of attention from thousands, Ye Chen whispered to himself, "Wind Sword Skills, a Xuan-rank technique, is indeed powerful!"


    "Without the difference in True Qi, this set of sword techniques alone would probably allow me to dominate the entire True Qi Realm!"


    The sword technique Ye Chen used against Jin Xuanlie was the Xuan-rank lower-grade technique, Wind Sword Skills, which he had painstakingly studied after emerging from the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    "Shi Tian, go deal with Ye Chen!"


    "His martial skills are very powerful. Remember to use True Qi to suppress him; his True Qi is only at the sixth layer, and can''t compare with your ten layers of True Qi!"


    "After you exhaust his True Qi, then strike and kill him directly!"


    After Ye Chen repelled Jin Xuanlie with one move, Zhou Yuntian once again called upon a disciple from the Heavenly Net Sect.


    Boom!


    This disciple from the Heavenly Net Sect, with long hair scattered and a slender figure at the age of nineteen, vibrated with True Qi upon hearing Zhou Yuntian''s words and swiftly leapt from the crowd, taking a stance opposite Ye Chen.


    Just from his flying technique alone, one could tell that this person''s True Qi was much stronger than Jin Xuanlie''s!


    Shi Tian, a disciple of the Heavenly Net Sect at the tenth layer of True Qi Realm, another summoned by Zhou Yuntian to deal with Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen, your sword technique really surprised me!"


    "However, a fight doesn''t rely solely on martial skills; True Qi is equally important! Without sufficient True Qi, even the strongest martial skill won''t have a chance to be used! The gap between the sixth and tenth layers of True Qi is substantial. Today, I will let you see just how vast the gap in True Qi can be!"


    Shi Tian wasn''t as subdued as Jin Xuanlie before. From the moment he arrived, he tried to shake Ye Chen''s foundation with his words, making him a far more fearsome opponent than someone like Jin Xuanlie, who wore his killing intent on his face.


    Ye Chen glanced at Shi Tian and said indifferently, "No need for words, make your move!"


    This was Ye Chen''s first time facing an opponent at the tenth layer of the True Qi Realm, and he was more focused than before; yet, part of his mind was still alert to Zhou Yuntian''s actions.


    Ye Chen always felt that Zhou Yuntian would not simply send a few True Qi Realm disciples to deal with him.


    Shortly after the brief conversation between Ye Chen and Shi Tian, seeing that his words couldn''t stir any agitation in Ye Chen, Shi Tian made his move.


    Boom!


    He spread his hands and a vast amount of True Qi burst forth from his body, shooting ten or so meters high, enveloping him. Then, with a fierce bend at the waist, he punched down on the ground.


    "True Qi Piercing, Explosive Kill!"


    As Shi Tian''s fist struck out, the formidable True Qi around him poured into the ground, and in an instant, the land where Ye Chen stood collapsed, while more than thirty huge Spire of True Qi erupted from beneath Ye Chen, piercing towards him.


    The astonishing True Qi and the eerie martial skill left many of the watching sect disciples in shock.


    True Qi burst into the ground, passing through more than ten meters of earth, and suddenly launching Spire of True Qi; if caught off guard, one would likely be instantly pierced through by these spines.


    And the person who made the move was more than ten meters away, making it very difficult to counterattack.


    While many watching sect disciples were startled, Ye Chen, who was being targeted by the more than thirty huge Spire of True Qi, suddenly soared into the air, floating in the sky in an instant.


    At the same time, he reached out his hand towards the void, and instantly, more than fifty Swords of True Qi formed and hovered around him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With a terrifying violet light erupting from the more than fifty Swords of True Qi that had formed instantly, they smashed towards the more than thirty Spire of True Qi.


    These Swords of True Qi, in the blink of an eye, annihilated all the Spire of True Qi into smoke!


    And Ye Chen, who hung suspended in mid-air for a moment, reached out again, and after having shredded the Spire of True Qi, the more than fifty Swords of True Qi strangely changed direction, reflecting back towards Shi Tian, who was more than ten meters away.


    Afterward, Ye Chen landed back on the ground.


    Watching Ye Chen hang in the air for a moment, summoning more than fifty Swords of True Qi instantly, and then witnessing the swords emit the glow of sword techniques, Zhou Yuntian and Luo Kun, along with the seven great elders of the Qingyun Sect, all exclaimed in unison, "Sword Intent! This is Sword Intent!"

 Chapter 62: Chapter 58 Ye Chens Strength

    "Ye Chen has actually comprehended Sword Intent!"


    "How is that possible?!"


    Sword Intent, the highest realm of swordsmanship training!


    Once entering this realm, one can surpass the sword technique itself, breaking free from the constraints of the sword! One can turn everything into a sword, into swordsmanship! Sword Intent, compared to mere sword techniques, can increase in power by several times or even dozens of times more!


    Such a realm, rare amongst thousands of sword cultivators, even amongst Spirit Sea Realm experts, there are not many who can achieve it.


    To see Ye Chen, amidst his fierce battle with Shi Tian, wielding Sword Intent techniques, how could Zhou Yuntian and Luo Kun not be shocked and even astonished!


    Even though the few of them were Spirit Sea Realm experts, none had comprehended the technique of Sword Intent.


    Ye Chen had already surprised them time and again!


    As the Spirit Sea Realm experts shouted the words Sword Intent, the more than fifty Swords of True Qi unleashed by Ye Chen had already pierced towards Shi Tian.


    Watching the Swords of True Qi, shooting at high speed, and the Purple Lightning Sword Light that obliterated the Spire of True Qi in an instant, Shi Tian''s pupils suddenly contracted.


    Then, he burst into the air, clenching a spell in his palm with force. With a "boom," the ten True Qi Vortices in his Qi Sea shook violently, and a vast surge of True Qi, as mighty as a racing river, swept out of his body once more.


    This massive True Qi even formed a couple dozen meters long gigantic azure dragon, encircling Shi Tian, layer upon layer, completely enveloping Shi Tian within the phantom of the True Qi dragon.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Next, the Swords of True Qi controlled by Ye Chen collided with the gigantic azure dragon.


    On the Mountain Gate Square, numerous Sect Disciples saw an astonishing sight.


    Countless Purple Lightning Sword Lights, like dragon-slaying swords, kept slashing at the roaring True Qi dragon, with waves of sword light surging forth and emitting blinding purple electric glows, even making many Sect Disciples involuntarily close their eyes!


    And Shi Tian, continuously slashed at by the sky-full of True Qi Flying Swords, was like a living target, passively enduring the assault!


    Only after each Sword of True Qi had fallen no less than a hundred times, reducing the True Qi dragon that hovered around Shi Tian''s body to half its original size, did the True Qi on the Swords of True Qi finally deplete.


    Ye Chen reached out with a clutch in mid-air, and in the void outside his body, a large swath of True Qi Flying Swords emerged once more. This sky-full of True Qi Flying Swords even reached more than eighty in number, more than and denser than the initial Swords of True Qi!


    Then, the Swords of True Qi once again burst toward Shi Tian.


    Before Shi Tian could even catch a breath, he saw the True Qi Flying Swords blasting towards him again. He had no choice but to once again surge the True Qi from within his Qi Sea''s vortex, turning it into a dragon to protect his body.


    Shi Tian, who kept getting hit passively, reddened with frustration. He never imagined that with his ten-layered True Qi Realm, he would actually be suppressed by Ye Chen. This made him feel utterly disgraced, especially in front of the crowd and the several Spirit Sea Realm experts.


    "I can''t go on like this; I must counterattack!"


    Shi Tian gritted his teeth, and as he grasped in the air, a seven or eight-meter-long black spear suddenly appeared in his hand. Then, the True Qi dragon coiled around Shi Tian directly lunged with the spear in mid-air, and a dozen or so meters long gigantic spear shadow immediately emerged and sped towards Ye Chen.


    In an instant, the spear shadow pierced through a dozen-meter gap to appear right in front of Ye Chen.


    At the moment Shi Tian unleashed his spear skill, a spark flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes. True Qi surged out from his body once more, transforming directly into a sky-full of sword rain, clashing head-on with the gigantic spear shadow.


    In front of Shi Tian, Purple Lightning True Qi Flying Swords and the True Qi dragon violently collided. Around Ye Chen, a sky-full of sword rain engaged in fierce combat with the gigantic spear shadow.


    The entire area occupied by Ye Chen and Shi Tian had turned into a feral ocean of True Qi!


    The thunderous roars continued to resound in this wild ocean of True Qi. Merely from the sharp edges of True Qi shooting out of this area, the gigantic green stones laid in the Mountain Gate Square dozens of meters away were directly shattered!


    This terrifying battle caused the watching Sect Disciples to retreat dozens of meters again before they could settle down, lest they be inadvertently harmed by the randomly shooting True Qi.


    Looking back towards the center, seeing Ye Chen bravely fighting Shi Tian without any fear, they were all deeply shaken in their hearts.


    "Is this Ye Chen''s strength?"


    "Even against a tenth layer True Qi expert, he doesn''t fall behind at all?"


    Ye Chen''s formidable combat power completely surpassed that of a nominal disciple; he was far more formidable than many official disciples!


    "Ye Chen''s attacking martial skills are indeed extraordinary, able to resist Shi Tian''s powerful True Qi oppression with just his Sword Intent techniques!"


    "A four-level difference in True Qi Realm, and he''s still fighting to a standstill!"


    "Heavens... this... this..."


    In the sky above, Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master Luo Kun and the seven elders watched Ye Chen battling Shi Tian on equal footing, and in their eyes, a hint of regret flashed.


    Ye Chen was once their Sect Disciple but was expelled from the Sect by them personally!


    At the True Qi five-layer Realm, he was able to counter kill a seven-layer expert! With the six-layer Realm, he managed to comprehend Sword Intent and could even fight on equal terms with a ten-layer expert!


    This disciple, a genius that the Qingyun Sect rarely produces in hundreds of years, was actually pushed out by them!


    To comprehend Sword Intent, as long as the True Qi Realm keeps up and given time, there is even a great possibility of breaking through to the Spirit Sea Realm! They have pushed away a potential Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!


    "If we had been able to protect Ye Chen earlier..."


    "Then our Qingyun Sect''s strength might have soared to another level!"


    Many Qingyun Sect Elders now shook their heads and sighed.


    "However, fighting on like this, his True Qi is bound to be exhausted eventually, after all, the True Qi of someone at the sixth layer can''t compare to the vastness of the tenth-layer''s True Qi!"


    In the shock of their hearts, several looked for disadvantages in Ye Chen''s current manner of fighting to avoid feeling so regretful.


    "To continue fighting like this against Shi Tian?"


    "Seeking death!"


    Zhou Yuntian, who was on the sidelines, watched Ye Chen crazily attacking Shi Tian; he observed that both of their energies were continuously shrinking amidst these fierce attacks, and a glint of cold light flashed in his eyes.


    At this moment, Shi Tian, who wielded a long spear and drew shocking spear shadows in the air, stirred his spear tip again. The huge spear shadow, which was several meters long, suddenly split into shadows and turned into more than twenty spear lights, exploding towards Ye Chen once more.


    His entire attack power surged suddenly, breaking the tense situation of the battle.


    "Die, Ye Chen!"


    "To die under my strongest attack, the Blood Shadow Spear Skills, you should be content!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Within Shi Tian''s great roar, his huge spear in the sky traced countless shocking rainbows, causing even the void it pierced through to tremble violently.


    The sky-full of Sword Rains bombarding around Ye Chen were shattered by the spear light into many pieces, and Ye Chen''s True Qi also began to shrink considerably more than before.


    "Is he going to lose?"


    "For someone at the sixth layer of True Qi to fight to this extent against someone at the tenth layer, that''s already a record!"


    "But... in the end, it''s not enough."


    Many Sect Disciples watching the fight could see Ye Chen''s impending defeat.


    "Young Master!"


    "Young Master!"


    The little girl Tao''er, watching as Shi Tian suddenly burst forth and pressured her young master, was extremely anxious.


    "No... "


    "Ye Chen won''t lose so easily. I heard Sister Jiang Yao say, Ye Chen has mastered three Sword Intents, and also has the terrifying Sword Qi Spirit Liquid; he hasn''t used them yet. He still hasn''t employed many of his methods."


    "He''s simply showing the enemy weakness!"


    Liu Chan''er, seeing Ye Chen being suppressed by Shi Tian, had this thought flash through her mind.


    Just as this thought crossed her mind, as Shi Tian was crazily asserting dominance with his shocking spear shadows and as all the Sect Disciples thought Ye Chen was about to lose.


    Boom!


    Inside Ye Chen''s body, a surge of silver True Qi suddenly swept out.


    This silver True Qi was so dazzling, so brilliant, that as soon as it appeared, it completely overshadowed the spear shadows of True Qi filled skies from Shi Tian with its silver light.


    Then, this burst of silver True Qi suddenly transformed, turning into countless droplets of silver Sword Rain, directly confronting Shi Tian''s sky-full of spear shadows.


    Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!


    Shi Tian''s complete outburst, attacking with his strongest moves, was directly scattered by the silver Sword Rain. Even under the slicing of the silver Sword Rain, all the spear shadows of True Qi were burned to nothingness!


    Not just dissipating the True Qi, but directly burning it into nothingness. This was a clear indication that the silver Sword Rain was completely crushing the True Qi of Shi Tian''s spear shadows.


    Gang Yuan True Qi!


    This was none other than the uniquely powerful True Qi born from Ye Chen''s cultivation of the "Gang Yuan Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Gang Yuan True Qi that surpasses the Heaven and Earth True Qi by countless times!


    Ye Chen had finally unleashed his second method!

 Chapter 63: Chapter 59: Jiang Yao Arrives!

    From Ye Chen''s Sword of True Qi infused with Sword Intents pressing down on Shi Tian to fight, to Shi Tian''s counterattack with his spear causing both sides to engage in a tense battle that unleashed violent storm-like True Qi, and then to Shi Tian leveraging his robust True Qi to launch a counteroffensive and suppress Ye Chen.


    The battle between Ye Chen and Shi Tian underwent repeated changes.


    Now, Ye Chen had unleashed his second major tactic beyond "Sword Intents" ¡ª "Gang Yuan True Qi," turning the tide of battle once again!


    The countless droplets of silver sword rain formed from the Gang Yuan True Qi, after incinerating the oncoming spear shadow True Qi into nothingness, didn''t stop there; they shot directly towards Shi Tian with explosive force.


    This time, the silver sword rain was even faster and more terrifying than the previous Sword of True Qi.


    It reached Shi Tian''s face in an instant!


    The thought of the silver sword rain capable of incinerating the Heaven and Earth True Qi was enough to astonish Shi Tian.


    He found himself facing an onslaught like a deluge descending from the sky, with no possibility of escape!


    During the final assault, Shi Tian thought he had secured certain victory, having transformed the Protective True Qi dragon around him into an offensive True Qi to strike at Ye Chen; now, under Ye Chen''s counterattack, Shi Tian had no time to reactivate his Protective True Qi.


    Shi Tian panicked; he desperately retreated at full speed, but how could his speed possibly match that of the silver sword rain!


    The silver sword rain, an attack formed by infusing Gang Yuan True Qi with Storm Rain Sword Intent.


    Not only was it tremendously powerful, but its speed was shockingly fast!


    Just as Shi Tian had retreated only five or six meters, the silver sword rain had already covered more than ten meters, piercing Shi Tian''s body directly.


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    In an instant, the sky full of silver sword rain bombarded through various parts of Shi Tian''s body and then shot through it!


    In a flash, Shi Tian''s body was riddled with countless small holes, like a sieve, and streams of blood gushed out wildly from the holes!


    Afterward, Shi Tian, who was screaming in agony, crashed to the ground with a "boom" and died a painful death!


    From the look of it, there was no chance he could survive.


    From Ye Chen''s counterattack to piercing Shi Tian into a sieve, and finally dying painfully on the ground, it all happened within moments.


    The disciples from various sects who thought Ye Chen would die at the hands of Shi Tian hadn''t even had the chance to react before they saw Ye Chen turn defeat into victory and strike down Shi Tian.


    The second disciple sent out by Zhou Yuntian was once again defeated by Ye Chen.


    Even more miserably than the last one defeated!


    Jin Xuanlie of the Ninth Level of True Qi fell with a single move, and Shi Tian of the Tenth Level of True Qi was thoroughly killed; all of this happened at the hands of Ye Chen, a Sixth Level of True Qi cultivator.


    This completely overturned the understanding of all the disciples at the sect entrance plaza!


    Not just them, even the Sect Leader and the seven elders of the Qingyun Sect were gaping at this moment.


    They never expected that Ye Chen would have a second, even more potent tactic beyond his Sword Intents, capable of piercing through Shi Tian!


    What shocked them even more was Ye Chen''s composure and observational skills; Shi Tian''s miserable defeat was due to Ye Chen deliberately showing weaknesses, luring Shi Tian into a reckless all-out attack, enabling Ye Chen''s counter to pierce through his body.


    This meant that from the start, Ye Chen had a complete plan to defeat Shi Tian!


    Facing an opponent much stronger than himself, to remain so calm and composed, and even reveal flaws to trap the enemy - what level of cultivation genius, what level of combat monster was Ye Chen!


    The Sect Leader and the seven elders of the Qingyun Sect, who had only slight regrets about expelling Ye Chen, were now filled with intense remorse.


    Given Ye Chen''s state of mind, there was a high possibility he would surpass them in the future if he continued to grow!


    They themselves, when at the Sixth Level of True Qi, didn''t have even a tenth of Ye Chen''s current strength! Not to mention killing a practitioner of the Tenth Level of True Qi, they would probably lose even fighting against a practitioner of the Ninth Level!


    "Killing a practitioner of the Tenth Level of True Qi may not even be Ye Chen''s limit!"


    The Sect Leader and the seven elders of the Qingyun Sect even began to entertain this thought.


    Even now, they still didn''t know the extent of Ye Chen''s true strength, wondering if there was a third, or even a fourth tactic he had not yet revealed!


    After two great battles, Ye Chen still had not revealed all his cards!


    The Sect Leader and the seven elders of the Qingyun Sect were completely caught in regret, while Zhou Yuntian was now covered in goosebumps!


    Having sent two strong disciples who were both defeated by Ye Chen, Ye Chen''s performance had exceeded his expectations.


    Even during the moment Ye Chen killed Shi Tian, Zhou Yuntian flashed with the thought that if he allowed Ye Chen to continue to grow unchecked, he might very well be the next one to be slain like Shi Tian!


    Zhou Yuntian now felt an unparalleled sense of crisis; facing Ye Chen, who continually employed an endless array of fiendish tactics, he dared not let Ye Chen continue to grow.


    "I can''t miss this opportunity to kill him!"


    "This Ye Chen is improving too quickly! Unbelievably fast!"


    "Just over a month ago, when faced with an ambush by Hai''er and the others, he had to constantly dodge, and only managed to kill Hai''er when Hai''er was alone. Now, he dares to come directly to this entrance plaza, facing opponents of the Ninth and Tenth Levels of True Qi without any fear!"


    "If he were to cultivate for a few more months, I''m afraid that even I wouldn''t be able to ensure his death!"


    At this instant, the desire to kill Ye Chen surged once again in Zhou Yuntian''s heart. Before, he had been looking for an opportunity to make a move, but now, Zhou Yuntian was unwilling to wait any longer!


    Kill!


    Kill Ye Chen!


    Now is the time!


    While countless disciples from various sects were still immersed in shock over Shi Tian''s defeat, and the Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master and elders had their mouths gaping in regret, Zhou Yuntian, with a "boom," vanished from where he was, and in the next moment, appeared in front of Ye Chen.


    He spread his large hand open, and with an outburst of infinite True Qi, three fist-sized balls of light, which seemed to burn the very air into nothingness, were hurled directly at Ye Chen with fierce intensity.


    Zhou Yuntian had made his move again!


    "So you couldn''t hold back any longer?"


    While everyone failed to notice Zhou Yuntian''s movement, Ye Chen had already seen through every action Zhou Yuntian made.


    From the very beginning, Ye Chen had never overlooked observing Zhou Yuntian, even while he was clashing with Jin Xuanlie and Shi Tian, he didn''t show the slightest negligence.


    Regarding the greatest enemy in the field, he naturally wouldn''t let his guard down!


    Now, as expected, the ever-vigilant Zhou Yuntian, harboring the intent to kill, finally made his move!


    In the instant Zhou Yuntian launched his attack, Ye Chen showed no reservation, using the "Wind Movement Skills," a movement technique he had never used during his fights with Jin Xuanlie and Shi Tian. His speed soared to an unbelievable level, and within a blink, he dodged Zhou Yuntian''s frontal attack.


    At the same time, the Heaven and Earth True Qi and Gang Yuan True Qi within Ye Chen''s body whirled together. Instantly, more than three hundred Wind Blade Swords erupted around him, with each sword''s lethality even surpassing the silver sword rain he had used to defeat Shi Tian previously.


    This was, in fact, a powerful technique Ye Chen had yet to use - the Wind Sword Intent!


    Derived from high-grade mystical techniques and the Wind-Thunder Ambience refined by the master of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, Qian Jizi, Ye Chen''s Wind Sword Intent was even more formidable than both the Storm Rain Sword Intent and the Purple Lightning Sword Intent!


    From Zhou Yuntian''s attack to Ye Chen''s evasion, followed by the counterattack with the Wind Blade Swords, it all happened in the blink of an eye.


    By the time everyone on the field noticed the change in the situation, Ye Chen''s array of Wind Blade Swords had already furiously collided with the three balls of fire Zhou Yuntian had sent flying towards him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The three balls of light, though only the size of a fist, burnt as fiercely as a scorching sun.


    Even a tiny spark that shot out landed on the already dead Shi Tian''s body, instantly incinerating him to ashes.


    One could only imagine the astonishing power of these three balls of flame!


    Zhou Yuntian clearly had no intention of leaving Ye Chen a way out. His goal was to completely finish him off!


    If Ye Chen hadn''t been constantly vigilant and reacted swiftly, he might have already been turned to ash!


    The onslaught of Ye Chen''s Wind Blade Swords, powerful enough to grind all the bluestone within a fifty-meter radius into powder, just barely managed to extinguish the three balls of fire.


    Zhou Yuntian had not expected Ye Chen to be able to block his second assault. This time, he had not held back as he did with the previous attack. He had used his full strength, and still, Ye Chen had managed to evade it!


    Zhou Yuntian stood in the void, his bloodshot eyes fixed on Ye Chen, as he instantly readied himself for another strike.


    He had already perceived that, although Ye Chen had withstood his second move, he was at the end of his tether and would not be able to withstand another one!


    Just as Zhou Yuntian stood in the void preparing to strike again, Ye Chen also flew straight up into the sky, his brow furrowing in intense concentration.


    This was clearly the sign that he was about to use his ultimate technique, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Liu Chan''er was the second to react to Zhou Yuntian''s surprise attack. By the time she realized what was happening, Ye Chen had already exchanged a blow with Zhou Yuntian!


    Now, they were directly facing each other.


    Liu Chan''er screamed and flew towards Ye Chen; at the same time, two silver bracelets on her left wrist flew out, transforming into two large rings several meters across. One enveloped her, and the other was sent flying towards Ye Chen.


    "Zhou Yuntian!"


    "You''re seeking death!"


    As Liu Chan''er flew toward Ye Chen, and as Zhou Yuntian prepared to make another move, and just as Ye Chen was about to use the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword.


    In the sky above the sect''s main gate plaza, accompanied by a furious shout, a snow-bright escape light streaked across the sky with inconceivable speed, and in a flash, appeared right before Ye Chen.


    A girl with waterfall-like hair hanging to her waist and eyes as bright as stars, exuding exceptional beauty, revealed herself.


    The girl stood directly in front of Ye Chen, facing the mid-stage Spirit Sea realm expert, Zhou Yuntian!


    This girl was none other than Jiang Yao, who had traveled from the Taixuan Sect over a thousand miles to Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain in search of Ye Chen, and then rushed to the Qingyun Sect!


    Zhou Yuntian could no longer contain his killing intent, and at that very moment, Jiang Yao finally arrived!

 Chapter 64: Chapter 60: Battle of the Spirit Sea

    "Jiang Yao, Sister!"


    Liu Chan''er looked at the girl who had suddenly appeared and exclaimed with delight!


    Entrusted by Jiang Yao, she had come to assist Ye Chen, but Zhou Yuntian''s sudden sneak attack had taken her by surprise, leaving her somewhat frightened.


    Luckily, Ye Chen reacted extremely fast, dodging Zhou Yuntian''s recent move. If Ye Chen really had been harmed by Zhou Yuntian, Liu Chan''er wouldn''t know how to face Jiang Yao.


    Now that Jiang Yao had personally arrived to protect Ye Chen, Liu Chan''er no longer feared.


    With her elder sister Jiang Yao here, she no longer worried that Ye Chen would be in any danger!


    Liu Chan''er understood the true strength of her senior sister Jiang Yao better than anyone else!


    She even withdrew the two silver bracelets she had previously activated and effortlessly stood beside Jiang Yao.


    "Jiang Yao."


    Seeing the girl who had flown over and landed directly in front of him, blocking Zhou Yuntian for him, Ye Chen felt a warmth in his heart.


    Ever since Liu Chan''er came from Taixuan Sect on Jiang Yao''s behalf, Ye Chen knew how much he meant to Jiang Yao.


    Now, Jiang Yao had personally flown here, confronting the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage powerhouse Zhou Yuntian face-to-face, obviously fearing he might be struck by Zhou Yuntian''s sudden attack, and was here to protect him.


    He clearly understood the girl''s intentions.


    Having someone come all this distance to protect you from all storms was truly a warm feeling.


    "Senior Sister Jiang Yao?!"


    On the sect entrance plaza, countless disciples, seeing the girl who had suddenly flown down from the sky to stand in front of Ye Chen, rubbed their eyes in disbelief.


    The long hair that swayed gently in the breeze, the exquisite and stunning beauty, the clear eyes as bright as stars, the graceful figure and the pure and holy demeanor, if not their highly revered Senior Sister Jiang Yao, who else could it be?


    Many of them had only seen pictures of Jiang Yao and were smitten. Now, this girl, even more beautiful than any portrait, appearing before them, left their minds completely blank.


    "Is this the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse from Taixuan Sect, Jiang Yao?"


    "The girl hailed as the number one genius among the thirty-six sects?"


    The Qingyun Sect''s sect leader Luo Kun and the seven elders were also stunned by the girl standing in front of Ye Chen, but when they considered her identity, they became even more anxious.


    This was a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse from Taixuan Sect!


    She really came here for Ye Chen!


    Clearly, the relationship between Ye Chen and her was not ordinary!


    At this moment, Zhou Yuntian''s face was ashen. He hadn''t expected Ye Chen to escape his sudden attack, and he certainly hadn''t expected Jiang Yao, who was supposed to protect Ye Chen, to actually come in person.


    "Jiang Yao?"


    "It seems that your relationship with this Ye Chen really is extraordinary!"


    "You''re truly here to back him up to the end!"


    A Spirit Sea Realm early-stage powerhouse¡ªhe would be much more troublesome to deal with than Ye Chen!


    Jiang Yao''s gaze lingered on the ashen-faced Zhou Yuntian before turning back to Ye Chen.


    Once she saw Ye Chen, the worry and anger in the girl''s eyes softened.


    As long as he was fine, everything was all right.


    As for the rest, let me handle it for him, just like he shielded me from the storm beneath the fiery waterfall on Ten Thousand Swords Mountain!


    "Ye Chen, I know everything about your issue with Zhou Yuntian."


    "Let me take care of the rest, is that okay?"


    Jiang Yao asked gently, looking at Ye Chen.


    She worried that Ye Chen''s pride would prevent him from letting her take action.


    If that were the case... it would make her very sad.


    Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao, and from her eyes, he understood everything.


    "Jiang Yao, I want to see your true strength now that you''re no longer restrained by True Qi," Ye Chen said with a smile and nodded.


    He wouldn''t casually dismiss the intentions of the girl. There was no need for pretense and distance between them anymore.


    If Zhou Yuntian indeed could harm her, then it would be time to act!


    Ye Chen was absolutely confident that he could launch his flying sword before Jiang Yao got hurt.


    When Jiang Yao heard Ye Chen''s words, her eyes suddenly lit up, and a captivating smile spread in her beautiful eyes. Ye Chen was willing to let her take action, making her long journey here truly worth it.


    Jiang Yao''s delicate face broke into a slight smile: "Ye Chen, leave it to me."


    Then, she turned around to face Zhou Yuntian. Her clear voice spread across the entire entrance plaza: "Zhou Yuntian, as a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, you do not even abide by the rules of martial arts, capturing even Ye Chen''s father and mother!"


    "Today, I, Jiang Yao, challenge you to a life-and-death battle to settle this vengeance once and for all!"


    "Do you dare to accept this fight?"


    Jiang Yao had learned of the enmity between Ye Chen and Zhou Yuntian from the disciples of Heavenly Net Sect in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain. Knowing this, how could she let Ye Chen be threatened any longer?


    Might as well settle it all in one go!


    A life-and-death battle!


    As soon as Jiang Yao spoke, the entire plaza was shocked that she called for a life-and-death battle with Zhou Yuntian.


    A life-and-death battle meant that only one of the fighting parties could survive.


    Jiang Yao, for Ye Chen, was willing to gamble her life against Zhou Yuntian!


    They couldn''t believe that the bond between Jiang Yao and Ye Chen was so strong that she would call for a life-and-death battle with a Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage powerhouse¡ªfor Ye Chen!


    It should be remembered that Jiang Yao was only at the Spirit Sea Realm early-stage cultivation level!


    "Our Senior Sister Jiang Yao..."


    The sect disciples, looking at the unrivalled beauty, then at Ye Chen, felt a complex mixture of emotions.


    Jiang Yao''s words let everyone know the place Ye Chen held in her heart.


    Many disciples from various sects had bitter expressions on their faces.


    Jiang Yao was unafraid of death for Ye Chen; it was clear that her heart had no room for another.


    "A life-and-death battle?"


    Zhou Yuntian''s bloodshot eyes gleamed, "Do you think that just because you are from Taixuan Sect, I would not dare to kill you?"


    "Whoever backs Ye Chen today will die, and you are no exception!"


    "A life-and-death battle, I accept!"


    Facing the demonic talent that was Ye Chen, Zhou Yuntian''s determination to kill was unwavering; letting Ye Chen escape would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.


    Zhou Yuntian would not allow such a thing to happen, not even for Jiang Yao!


    As long as no high-ranking individual from Taixuan Sect came, he didn''t care; Jiang Yao, who had only entered the Spirit Sea Realm a year ago and was still in the early stages, was not yet enough to scare him off!


    Boom!


    Having spoken, Zhou Yuntian soared into the sky, ascending more than a hundred meters. His blood-colored robe suddenly swirled, and a thick surge of Astounding True Qi flame rolled out from within him, a roaring blaze swirling around his body!


    Around him for tens of meters, the area had turned into a sea of fire!


    At the same time, Jiang Yao also leaped into the air with a light tap of her toes.


    Jiang Yao, standing in mid-air, had her hair, reaching down to her waist, fluttering in the wind; the True Qi in her spirit sea also swept out, the surging green True Qi wildly expanding and ascending, extending tens of meters around her as well!


    From afar, Zhou Yuntian in the void was enveloped in a vast fiery blaze of blood-red light.


    On the other side, Jiang Yao was surrounded by a surging dense green mist.


    The fiery blaze and the green mist enveloped the sky for hundreds of meters around where the two stood!


    Two Spirit Sea Realm experts faced each other from a distance.


    A battle of the Spirit Sea was about to erupt!


    Seeing the two Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses opposing each other in the void, the Qingyun Sect''s sect master and the seven elders all helplessly shook their heads and stepped aside.


    Now, although they were within Qingyun Sect''s territory, they could not afford to provoke either Jiang Yao or Zhou Yuntian.


    These two were set against each other for Ye Chen, and it was better to resolve this battle!


    Meanwhile, the sect disciples in the plaza were all holding their breaths as they watched Jiang Yao and Zhou Yuntian releasing their True Qi in the void.


    This was a battle at the level of the Spirit Sea Realm, something none of them had ever witnessed with their own eyes!


    "The Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "Indeed, after the transformation of the spirit sea from the spirit ocean, the quantity of True Qi has undergone a qualitative improvement, allowing for the control of such vast True Qi!"


    Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao and Zhou Yuntian in the void, watching the vast fiery blaze and dense green smoke that covered hundreds of meters around, feeling his blood stir with excitement.


    His cultivation of True Qi was only at the sixth layer, still far from Jiang Yao and Zhou Yuntian!


    Although his swordsmanship comprehension was strong, he still had a long way to go in the realm of True Qi.


    Stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, or even the Rotating Pill Realm, the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Having enough strength to protect himself, to protect the ones he loved!


    To join hands with Jiang Yao, soaring through the heavens and exploring the vast skies¡ªthat was the life he desired!


    Now, he was still far from enough!


    "Sister Jiang Yao."


    Liu Chan''er, standing beside Ye Chen, also lifted her little head to gaze at Jiang Yao in the sky.


    Just as everyone''s eyes were fixed on the two in the sky, Zhou Yuntian, whose aura had reached its peak, made the first move!


    His blood robe fiercely waved, and dozens of fiery light orbs burst forth from him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment these orbs of flames appeared, they swiftly streaked across the sky, heading straight for Jiang Yao.


    The terrifying temperature of the fire orbs even burned the air into nothingness. Those standing hundreds of meters away in the plaza could feel the formidable power of the fire orbs.


    Even when a spark hit the ground, a large area of the plaza''s bluestone was scorched black!


    This frightened many to move even further away from the center of the battleground below.


    In the sky.


    In an instant, the skyful of fire orbs assaulted Jiang Yao''s front.


    At this moment, Jiang Yao''s snowy white wrist made a subtle move, and a several-foot-long Ice Ruler appeared in her slender hand.


    Wielding the Ice Ruler, Jiang Yao''s delicate figure twirled and vanished from the void; in the next instant, endless Ruler Skills burst forth amidst the torrent of fire orbs.


    Slap! Slap! Slap!


    Each streak of ruler light targeted a fire orb, and the skyful of ruler light directly struck at the skyful of fire orbs.


    Amid the countless explosions of True Qi, the fire orbs that burned the air into nothingness were, in an instant, extinguished one by one by the endless ruler light.


    Not a single fire orb escaped unscathed in the entire sky!


    Jiang Yao''s Ice Ruler skill was even more powerful than the flames that scorched the bluestone!


    Seeing Jiang Yao''s move, Zhou Yuntian''s eyes narrowed sharply, and in the next moment, he stretched out his skeletal hand, and a blood-colored bead the size of a fist burst forth.


    As soon as this blood bead was shot out, it split from one to two, and then from two to four; in an instant, it turned into countless blood beads that bombarded Jiang Yao once again.


    As the blood beads flew, their entire surface radiated with blood-colored light, and at the same time, infinite howling sounds emanated from them.


    This howling sound reverberated in all directions, causing many of the disciples with weaker True Qi standing in the plaza to be knocked to the ground, bleeding from all seven orifices.


    Clearly, the sound of howling from the blood beads held immense lethality.


    This was a more terrifying sonic killing attack!

 Chapter 65: Chapter 61: Ice Phoenix, Bloodline Ignition!

    "Sonic Killing Attack!"


    "Hurry and use your True Qi to block your ears!"


    Sect disciples with a slightly higher realm of True Qi turned pale in an instant amidst the wailing of the blood beads, but they quickly reacted. Each of them was surrounded by diffusing True Qi, forming protective qi shields around their bodies to guard themselves.


    At the same time, they also completely covered their ears with True Qi, preventing the wailing sounds of the dispersing blood beads from thundering into their ears.


    Ye Chen, as soon as the endless wailing of the blood beads had started, moved like a whirlwind, vanishing in a flash. In a moment, he was in front of the young maid Tao''er. With a sweep of his True Qi, he brought Tao''er back to where he had been standing. Then, a vast surge of True Qi enveloped Tao''er, Liu Chan''er, and Ye Chen himself completely.


    "Young Master!"


    It was only then that Tao''er saw many people on the sect''s grand plaza collapsing to the ground, wailing in pain, bleeding from all orifices. Even those who were standing looked deathly pale.


    The little maid realized that her young master had shielded her from a terrifying attack.


    At this moment, both Ye Chen and Liu Chan''er looked towards the sky, and Tao''er involuntarily did the same.


    On the ground, the mere diffusion of the wailing of the blood beads brought about immense killing power. Jiang Yao was facing the attack of the blood beads head-on. The onslaught and wails of the blood beads she had to withstand were more than that of everyone below combined, greater and more numerous!


    Could she withstand it?


    Not only the trio of Ye Chen were concerned for Jiang Yao, but the other sect disciples, after blocking the sonic attack, also looked up, refocusing on the battle in the sky.


    They wanted to see how Jiang Yao would withstand this terrifying attack of the blood beads.


    As the blood beads bombarded the sky, and the boundless wails of the blood beads thundered, Jiang Yao, standing in the void, slowly closed her beautiful eyes.


    Her long eyelashes fluttered slightly, and then, her slender fingers swiftly formed a spell gesture.


    The ice ruler that she had been holding in her hand vanished instantaneously.


    Jiang Yao herself was surrounded by vast cyan True Qi that began to converge rapidly. In an instant, it formed an eighty-meter-long giant cyan ruler illusion outside her body, into which Jiang Yao''s delicate body slowly merged.


    Then, with a "boom," Jiang Yao''s eyes suddenly opened wide, and the giant cyan ruler illusion she had shaped erupted with a heaven-shattering radiance. The eighty-meter-long colossal ruler illusion charged towards the blood beads in the sky!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Where the giant ruler shadow passed, the entire void shook. The crimson beads, wailing horrendously, exploded like they were electrocuted the moment they were swept by the giant ruler shadow.


    In the end, only a single blood bead remained, weakly shooting back towards Zhou Yuntian.


    However, the giant ruler shadow did not stop there and thundered towards Zhou Yuntian as well with a great sound.


    "This ruler technique..."


    "It''s completely a Xuan-rank superior technique that has reached the level of Spirit-God Unity!"


    Luo Kun, the sect master of the Qingyun Sect, and the seven elders, witnessing the giant ruler shadow sweeping through the void, were all deeply shocked.


    The sect disciples couldn''t discern the origin of Jiang Yao''s moves, only sensing the powerful momentum that blasted countless blood beads in an instant, guessing the strength of the ruler shadow''s attack.


    But Luo Kun and the others, also cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm, could see that this killing technique was extraordinary. An attack method that reached "Spirit-God Unity" was akin to a Sword Cultivator''s sword intent, a strong concept that surpassed the technique itself!


    This Jiang Yao had also reached the level of comprehending such intent!


    In the sky, in an instant, the giant ruler shadow streaked through the void and struck in front of Zhou Yuntian.


    Zhou Yuntian, clearly aware of the horror of the giant ruler shadow, saw his blood-eyes shining brightly. The rolling flames of fiery light engulfing his body also tumbled wildly. Finally, wrapped in the rolling flames, Zhou Yuntian collided furiously with Jiang Yao''s giant ruler shadow.


    Boom!


    This collision made the whole Qingyun Sect''s grand plaza tremble. Terrifying waves of True Qi swept the heavens, even destroying the buildings thousands of meters away!


    This was the destructive power of a battle between Spirit Sea Realm cultivators!


    In the sky, the two massive True Qi illusions that had collided head-on, on one side was a fiery light burning tens of meters high, and on the other side was an eighty-meter-long cyan ruler shadow.


    In this explosive collision, the fiery light raged and grew in size, clearly showing that Zhou Yuntian, with his deeper cultivation realm, had unleashed even more overwhelming True Qi power.


    On the other side, the giant cyan ruler shadow also started to stir with light, as various enchanting ruler techniques began to condense upon it.


    Then, the fiery light and the giant cyan ruler illusion clashed again in the sky.


    This round of clashes was not just a competition of True Qi but also included endless techniques. The sky rang with constant booms of True Qi explosions, and the two massive True Qi figures, amidst the furious sounds of True Qi blasts, had already exchanged over a hundred blows!


    In the end, the terrifying fiery light and the giant cyan ruler shadow, with their dispersed tremendous True Qi, had both lost much of their power.


    The two giant True Qi figures, the cyan ruler shadow, had shrunk to about fifty meters long, while the roaring flames that spread dozens of meters in diameter also reduced to a range of about fifty to sixty meters.


    Jiang Yao and Zhou Yuntian''s figures within the two energy spheres were faintly becoming visible.


    On the plaza in front of the gate, Ye Chen, Liu Chan''er, Tao''er, and all the disciples of the sect were staring intently at the two massive silhouettes of True Qi in the void, not even blinking their eyes.


    They knew that the final battle was likely fast approaching.


    Boom!


    As anticipated, just as the two massive silhouettes of True Qi had shrunk by nearly half, Zhou Yuntian, standing amidst rolling flames, burst forth with an infinite brilliance in his bloodshot eyes.


    "Hmph, a junior at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm," he muttered to himself. "To think you could push me to this extent despite being a whole minor realm below me is indeed impressive!"


    "Truly worthy of a disciple from the Taixuan Sect!"


    "But it all ends now!"


    Muttering these words, Zhou Yuntian''s Blood Robe suddenly radiated an endless scarlet light. Bathed in this blood light, Zhou Yuntian surged upwards into the sky once more, with the rolling flames surrounding him growing and soaring wildly.


    In the end, Zhou Yuntian, together with the rolling flames around him, even formed a giant Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger Illusion in the sky that was over a hundred zhang long.


    Roar!


    The Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger Illusion roared towards the heavens, the tiger''s roar shaking all directions as if a king of the forest stood proudly in the sky.


    This momentum was clearly even mightier and more colossal than all the force Zhou Yuntian had previously unleashed!


    "The Bloody-eyed Tiger King!"


    "Could it be... Zhou Yuntian, has he actually obtained the essence blood of the ''Bloody-eyed Tiger King,'' and can even summon the Blood-Eyed Tiger King''s phantom?!"


    "The ''Bloody-eyed Tiger King'' is an existence on par with the Rotating Pill Realm. The mere phantom alone is probably already at the level of the late Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "How could Jiang Yao possibly withstand this?!"


    The Sect Master of Qingyun Sect, Luo Kun, and the seven elders, watching the hundred-zhang-long giant Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger Illusion in the sky, all cried out in shock.


    And Zhou Yuntian, who had condensed the Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger Illusion, was diving crazily towards Jiang Yao with the colossal phantom and the boundless, burning flames.


    The terrifying flames turned the air they blasted through into nothingness, charging towards Jiang Yao with insurmountable ferocity.


    The hundred-zhang-long Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger, roaring madly, shook all directions, a titanic inferno descending from the heavens, tearing through everything.


    The astonishing scene made the disciples watching from afar unconsciously step back several paces.


    All eyes were now fixated on the gargantuan tiger shadow that Zhou Yuntian had launched.


    Ye Chen, however, was looking towards Jiang Yao.


    In the sky, facing the hundred-zhang-long giant Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger Illusion that was furiously diving down, Jiang Yao stood in midair without the slightest hint of retreat.


    She tilted her head up slightly, gazing at the giant Fire Tiger Illusion, and in her clear eyes, a mysterious ice-blue light slowly began to flicker.


    "Is Jiang Yao about to use that move of hers?"


    Ye Chen''s heart hung tight; Jiang Yao had once told him about a mysterious technique she had.


    While Ye Chen watched Jiang Yao and just as the giant Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger Illusion was about to strike her, Jiang Yao, standing in the sky, also underwent a change.


    The hair that reached down to her waist began to grow wildly, and in an instant, each strand had grown several zhang long.


    The waist-long hair waved in the sky, each strand carrying flowing ice-blue light.


    A cascade of endless hair fluttering, Jiang Yao''s body simultaneously emitted a clear ringing sound.


    Clang!


    Within this clear ring, a terrifying True Qi burst forth from Jiang Yao''s body to an extreme degree. This True Qi flashed with ripples of ice-blue light; amid the surging ice-blue brilliance, a similarly hundred-zhang massive phantom appeared around Jiang Yao.


    This humongous phantom was an exceptionally mystical Ice Blue Phoenix Illusion!


    The majestic Ice Phoenix Illusion, filled with dignity and extraordinariness, seemed like the true king of heaven and earth, looking down upon everything.


    The Blood-Eyed Fire Tiger Illusion, created through the "Bloody-eyed Tiger King" by Zhou Yuntian, seemed to become ordinary in comparison to Jiang Yao''s Ice Phoenix Illusion.


    Ice Phoenix, bloodline ignited!


    That was the Innate Secret Skill that coursed through Jiang Yao''s bloodline, which she had shared with Ye Chen!


    As Zhou Yuntian produced his trump card, Jiang Yao finally unveiled her hidden technique, her Innate Secret Skill!

 Chapter 66: Chapter 62: Kill

    In the moment when the wondrous Ice Phoenix illusion took shape, Jiang Yao, her boundless long hair flying like a waterfall, along with the grand Ice Phoenix illusion enveloping her, collided fiercely against the descending Blood-eyed Fire Tiger illusion.


    Roar!


    The Blood-eyed Fire Tiger illusion, carrying flames of terror that could incinerate everything, ignited a sea of fire that engulfed the heavens.


    Clang!


    The Ice Phoenix illusion shimmered with ice-cold radiance as endless frost burst from every divine feather, turning the expanse between the heavens into a world of heavy snowfall.


    Fire and snow clashed wildly, forcefully suppressing each other in an earth-shattering cacophony, as the entire sky was ablaze with a blinding light.


    All the spectators, even the few high-ranking experts of the Spirit Sea Realm, struggled to keep their eyes open.


    Within the clamor of the tremendous explosions and blinding brilliance, the roars of the enormous tiger grew more tragic and startling by the moment.


    While the divine Ice Phoenix''s clear cries that resonated through the heavens became louder and more piercing, echoing far and wide!


    When the dazzle of light reached its zenith and the sounds of explosions gradually faded,


    onlookers looked up to see that in the sky, where the two were clashing, Zhou Yuntian in the blood robe, along with the massive Blood-eyed Fire Tiger illusion that had swirled around him, had vanished without a trace, leaving only a downpour of blood that rained over his entire body.


    In contrast, Jiang Yao still stood proudly in the sky, the grand Ice Phoenix illusion outside her body shimmering with a vast aura that fully enveloped the entire heavens!


    Even at the end, the immense Ice Phoenix illusion slowly solidified, and on each feather, endless divine patterns could be seen flowing and an infinite radiance bursting forth.


    From the aura of the two, it was clear that in the recent clash, Jiang Yao had gained the upper hand!


    Jiang Yao, at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, actually managed to completely suppress Zhou Yuntian, who was in the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    "Jiang Yao sister!"


    On the Sect Plaza, Liu Chan''er looked up at Jiang Yao towering in the void, calling out with boundless surprise. Her sister Jiang Yao had never disappointed her, remaining as formidable and incredible as ever!


    As for Ye Chen, his eyes were also fixed on Jiang Yao, her long hair like a cascading waterfall and the immense Ice Phoenix illusion swirling around her, deeply etched into his heart.


    This was Jiang Yao!


    This was the girl who liked him, and the girl he liked as well!


    "Powerful! Incredibly powerful!"


    "The heir of Taixuan Sect, the foremost prodigy among the thirty-six sects, truly lives up to the reputation!"


    At this moment, the Sect Master of Qingyun Sect and the seven elders looked at each other and saw shock and awe in each other''s eyes.


    They were relieved that they had not intervened after Jiang Yao appeared and had not ultimately supported Zhou Yuntian''s side because if they had, perhaps this miraculous girl, just like how she defeated Zhou Yuntian, would have defeated them all!


    They recognized the origin of the Blood-eyed Fire Tiger illusion employed by Zhou Yuntian, but they could not identify the Ice Phoenix outside Jiang Yao and what kind of divine entity it was.


    Even without recognizing it, they knew it was clearly a more formidable and terrifying existence than the "Bloody-eyed Tiger King"!


    In the skies above.


    Jiang Yao, looking at Zhou Yuntian covered in blood, bit her red lips tightly and uttered three words, "It ends now!"


    She was determined to resolve this major trouble for Ye Chen, to free him from Zhou Yuntian''s poisoning and threats¡ªnow was the time to end it all!


    Whoosh!


    Jiang Yao stepped forward in the void, her long hair fluttering like a cascade, as she and the grand Ice Phoenix illusion outside her charged at Zhou Yuntian once again.


    "No!"


    "Don''t kill me!"


    "I am an elder of Heavenly Net Sect, if you kill me, they will surely seek revenge against you!"


    The previously insurmountable Zhou Yuntian had burned all his True Qi in the activation of the Blood-eyed Fire Tiger illusion, releasing his full combat power.


    However, to his disbelief, in the final frenzied battle, he still ended up defeated by Jiang Yao!


    Moreover, the immense Ice Phoenix illusion that Jiang Yao had summoned instilled a profound fear deep in his soul.


    As the Ice Phoenix closed in once again, he trembled uncontrollably from his spirit to his body, a sensation of impending death enveloping his entire being.


    Zhou Yuntian, who had only ever killed others, was for the first time facing the approach of his own death!


    He screamed in a frenzy, fleeing desperately backward.


    But Jiang Yao''s gaze did not waver for an instant.


    She had said that she would resolve this matter for Ye Chen, and she meant to keep her word!


    Zhou Yuntian had to die!


    An elder of Heavenly Net Sect? He could not intimidate her!


    ```


    Boom!


    Jiang Yao, with a colossal Ice Phoenix avatar, charged towards Zhou Yuntian at a speed several times faster than his escape. She crashed into him fiercely!


    "Master save me!"


    Seeing that Jiang Yao was mercilessly pursuing him, Zhou Yuntian''s face turned ashen; he finally understood that just like Ye Chen, Jiang Yao harbored deep hatred for him and would not let him escape.


    In the final moment, Zhou Yuntian gritted his teeth and his hands revealed two cyan Dao Talismans. One of the talismans transformed into a gigantic cyan shield with a hundred-zhang radius, which he drove towards the incoming colossal Ice Phoenix avatar.


    The other talisman turned into a streak of cyan smoke, shooting across the sky towards the direction of the Heavenly Net Sect at an unimaginable speed.


    Boom!


    In an instant, Jiang Yao, along with the colossal Ice Phoenix avatar, brutally collided with the huge cyan shield.


    The thunderous collision shook the entire giant cyan shield, even causing cracks to surface on it.


    However, moments later, cyan light flowed across the giant shield and the cracks healed instantly, returning it to its flawless form.


    "Eh?"


    Jiang Yao glanced at the giant cyan shield blocking Zhou Yuntian''s path, swiftly shifted her form, and directed the colossal Ice Phoenix avatar to continue its relentless assault against Zhou Yuntian.


    Zhou Yuntian once again manipulated the giant cyan shield, blocking the colossal Ice Phoenix''s attacks.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The colossal Ice Phoenix avatar relentlessly struck while the hundred-zhang shield withstood the terrifying onslaught.


    The battle in the sky had shifted from evenly matched to one side attacking and the other defending.


    It was clear to everyone that Jiang Yao had the upper hand, but the giant cyan shield that Zhou Yuntian deployed in the last moment protected him steadfastly, preventing Jiang Yao from landing the killing blow.


    "Could this be a ''Dao Talisman'' left by a Rotating Pill Realm expert?!"


    The Qingyun Sect Master and the seven elders speculated as they watched the cyan shield that could even block the colossal Ice Phoenix avatar.


    Ye Chen, however, noticed the other talisman that had flown away into the sky and, piecing it together with Zhou Yuntian''s desperate cries for "Master save me," a thought crossed his mind: "Could it be that Zhou Yuntian is seeking help from the Master of the Heavenly Net Sect?"


    Zhou Yuntian was an elder of the Heavenly Net Sect, and the ''Master'' he mentioned was likely the Sect Master of the Heavenly Net Sect.


    If another person intervened, allowing the ruthless Zhou Yuntian to escape, that would spell trouble!


    The thought of this possibility could no longer be endured by Ye Chen.


    As Jiang Yao gritted her teeth in the sky and the colossal Ice Phoenix avatar surged in size, charging once more at Zhou Yuntian''s giant cyan shield, unnoticed by all, Ye Chen also made his move.


    A burst of crimson light flashed suddenly from the Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows. An incredibly fast sword-shaped seed shot out from his forehead.


    This tiny sword-shaped seed instantly became a palm-sized crimson flying sword, piercing through the air and directly aiming for Zhou Yuntian''s back.


    Zhou Yuntian, who was maneuvering the giant cyan shield to fend off Jiang Yao''s attack, suddenly sensed another breath of death closing in on him, causing every pore and acupoint in his body to tremble in shock.


    Then, as he turned his head, he saw an extremely bright crimson flying sword penetrating his skull.


    Boom!


    In an instant, the flying sword emerged from the other side of Zhou Yuntian''s head, then with a shake, the bloodstains on the sword were flung off. The flying sword turned and flew back to Ye Chen, shrinking rapidly before re-entering the Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows.


    The once arrogant Zhou Yuntian, in the moment the flying sword returned, his eyes wide with shock, plummeted from the sky.


    Thump!


    With a loud crash, Zhou Yuntian slammed into the ground, dead beyond any doubt!


    As he fell to the ground, the hundred-zhang large cyan shield, still defending against Jiang Yao''s attacks, lost its light and reverted to a cyan Dao Talisman, floating gently down from the sky.


    Such a turn of events caught everyone by surprise, including Jiang Yao who was engaged in combat with Zhou Yuntian.


    "Is Zhou Yuntian... dead?"


    The Qingyun Sect Master and the seven elders, witnessing Zhou Yuntian''s body on the ground and his eyes that would not close in death, finally realized that the mighty Zhou Yuntian, who even claimed he would kill Ye Chen''s entire family, had truly died!


    "That sword light?"


    They also took note of the flying sword light that killed Zhou Yuntian in the end. When they saw the flying sword light finally enter Ye Chen''s brow, a shiver ran down their spines.


    Clearly, it was Ye Chen who took advantage of Zhou Yuntian''s desperate struggle against Jiang Yao''s ferocious attacks to seize the opportunity to kill Zhou Yuntian!


    Ye Chen had yet another hidden move that he had not yet revealed until this final moment!


    The sword shadow that instantly killed Zhou Yuntian made even them break out in a cold sweat.


    They still could not comprehend the technique Ye Chen had used. The Ye Chen they could not understand now possessed a more powerful method than just "Sword Intents" and that "Silver Sword Rain"!


    ```

 Chapter 67: Chapter 63 The Sect Master of Heavenly Net Sect

    Just after Ye Chen had slain Zhou Yuntian, the symbol smoke from the talisman that had flown towards the direction of the Heavenly Net Sect had already entered the vicinity of a cave dwelling deep within the sect.


    At that moment, the door of the cave dwelling was tightly closed, while the talisman''s symbol smoke hovered at the door of the cave, swaying in the air incessantly.


    After a short while, the door of the cave dwelling burst open, and the talisman''s symbol smoke shot into the cave.


    Looking into the cave, one could see an old man with white hair and eyebrows, sporting a snow-white goatee, suddenly opening his eyes from a meditative pose.


    His eyes were fixed on the incoming symbol smoke from the talisman, his white eyebrows slightly furrowed.


    "A ''Luo Voice Talisman''? Is this the Sound Transmission Talisman I gave to Yuntian?"


    "Didn''t he go to Qingyun Sect? Has someone from Qingyun Sect actually forced him to use this talisman to contact me?"


    With a pinch of his fingers, the old man captured the symbol smoke, slowly turning the talisman between them, his white eyebrows knitting more tightly.


    "To think he was forced to use a ''Luo Shield Talisman'' to defend himself to this extent?"


    "Well, I shall make a trip to Qingyun Sect myself!"


    In the end, with a cold huff, the talisman in the old man''s hand immediately combusted into green smoke, and the meditating elder vanished from the cave in an instant.


    ...


    The thunderous sound of Zhou Yuntian hitting the ground caused the Qingyun Sect''s Sect Master and the seven Elders to jolt in shock.


    They realized that Ye Chen had struck to kill Zhou Yuntian, but the disciples in the main square of the sect were utterly clueless about what had transpired.


    They only saw Zhou Yuntian, who had been furiously resisting Jiang Yao''s attacks, suddenly plummet from the sky and land on the ground, motionless.


    In the end, a few bold disciples from the Heavenly Net Sect approached, and when they saw Zhou Yuntian''s wide-open eyes and the lifeless body, the disciples were visibly altered, shrieking, "The Elder, he..."


    "The Elder, he... died?!"


    The cries of these disciples set off more shrieking among all the sect disciples looking in the direction of Zhou Yuntian''s fall. When they saw that Zhou Yuntian indeed lay still, they began to scream frantically.


    "He''s dead!"


    "That Zhou Yuntian is really dead!"


    "How did he die? I didn''t even see it clearly!"


    "A Spirit Sea Realm expert, dead just like that?"


    Zhou Yuntian, a mid-Spirit Sea Realm expert, had died right in front of their eyes; one can imagine the shock this brought them.


    "Ye Chen, was it you who killed Zhou Yuntian?"


    Liu Chan''er, standing by Ye Chen''s side, had also observed the sword shadow that had shot towards Zhou Yuntian and then returned. She clearly saw that it was precisely that sword shadow that caused Zhou Yuntian to tumble from the sky and die without question.


    And that sword shadow had returned in the direction of Ye Chen, who stood beside her!


    Liu Chan''er looked incredulously at Ye Chen.


    She knew of Ye Chen''s strength, but Ye Chen had actually managed to kill Zhou Yuntian instantly¡ªthe mysterious sword attack startled even Liu Chan''er.


    Ye Chen nodded and, smiling at Liu Chan''er, said, "Yes, your sister Jiang Yao kept Zhou Yuntian busy, and I took advantage of his distraction to kill him."


    "This matter is finally over!"


    In the sky, Jiang Yao noticed the situation changing the moment Zhou Yuntian fell, the huge green shield dissipated, and the sword light returned to Ye Chen''s position.


    When she saw the sword light re-enter Ye Chen''s brow, Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes filled with panic.


    "Could it be that Ye Chen, seeing my prolonged battle with Zhou Yuntian unable to finish, decided to launch a sword attack?"


    "It can''t be that he forcibly initiated the Life-bound Damage of his sword, could it?"


    Jiang Yao''s heart raced at the thought of Ye Chen initiating the Life-bound Damage, which would put his sword to sleep.


    If his sword were to sleep, Ye Chen would lose a significant source of strength; a consequence Jiang Yao could not accept.


    She would rather her own sword fall dormant, so that Ye Chen could remain safer!


    "It can''t be."


    "I was already gaining the upper hand; Ye Chen wouldn''t rashly trigger the Life-bound Damage of his sword."


    Jiang Yao, in turmoil, turned in the air and flew towards Ye Chen.


    As she moved, the great ice phoenix illusion circling her slowly sank into her body, and the several-zhang-long blue silk trailing behind her gradually shrank as she flew.


    When Jiang Yao landed before Ye Chen, her long hair had returned to waist length.


    "Ye Chen, are you alright?"


    Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes stared intently at Ye Chen, her lovely face full of concern.


    Seeing the worry in Jiang Yao''s eyes, Ye Chen understood what she feared.


    "I''m fine, Jiang Yao. Thanks to you exhausting Zhou Yuntian''s True Qi earlier and him focusing entirely on warding off your attacks, I just used the sword''s normal battle strength to kill him. I haven''t even utilized the latter two combat powers," said Ye Chen with a smile, as he spoke to Jiang Yao.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Jiang Yao finally breathed a sigh of relief, completely at ease.


    She walked up to Ye Chen, her delicate hands softly grasping his.


    Ye Chen, looking at the heart-stirring girl before him, took her hand just as firmly in response.


    The battle with Zhou Yuntian was finally resolved with their mutual cooperation!


    It was only then that they both truly put this matter behind them.


    Seeing the intimate gestures between Jiang Yao and Ye Chen, Liu Chan''er and Tao''er, the two girls standing by, both blushed.


    "How can those two be so excessive! Can''t they see we are still here? Yet they''re being so intimate!"


    "But... they do seem quite well-matched."


    The two girls exchanged a glance, a hint of a smile flashing through their eyes.


    Especially the little maiden Tao''er, seeing her young master holding such a beautiful and powerful girl''s hand in his palm filled her eyes with pride.


    "My young master is becoming more and more impressive!"


    At this time, within the crowd of disciples at the sect gate plaza, a tall girl watched Ye Chen and Jiang Yao holding hands, her face filled with complex emotions.


    After sighing deeply, she turned around and walked towards the mountain peak where the outer sect disciples resided.


    "Ye Chen... he has never been so intimate with me."


    "This one must be the person he truly likes, Jiang Yao? She really is beautiful."


    "She was willing to fight Zhou Yuntian to the death for Ye Chen. She likes Ye Chen more than I do."


    "Only she truly deserves Ye Chen."


    This tall girl who turned and left, if not Lin Jing who had hurried from the outer disciple''s mountain peak to the sect gate plaza, who had once faced the Mirror Lake Serpent with Ye Chen at Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, then who?


    When Lin Jing arrived at the sect gate plaza, she happened to see Jiang Yao descending from the skies, landing right in front of Ye Chen.


    Seeing this stunning girl who captivated her with her beauty, standing in front of Ye Chen, directly facing Zhou Yuntian, Lin Jing, who initially wanted to walk up to Ye Chen, unconsciously halted in her steps.


    Now, having seen Ye Chen and Jiang Yao holding hands, Lin Jing knew that her love affair, which had not yet started, was likely over before it began.


    "Ye Chen, I won''t forget you."


    "Perhaps one day, when I''m as powerful as Jiang Yao, when I can protect you, I will come looking for you again!"


    Muttering to herself, Lin Jing disappeared into the crowd.


    ...


    Due to Zhou Yuntian''s death, the entire sect disciple area in the plaza was in an uproar.


    Ye Chen hadn''t noticed Lin Jing walking away.


    After killing Zhou Yuntian, all his thoughts were on his parents.


    His parents, still captured within Qingyun Sect, their fate unknown!


    "Let''s go find Father and Mother. That Zhou Yuntian managed to send off a talisman just now; I''m afraid staying here any longer might lead to unexpected trouble."


    "That''s exactly why I made my move, taking him out while he was unprepared, to avoid any accidents!"


    Ye Chen, holding Jiang Yao''s hand, said to her softly.


    "Yes," Jiang Yao nodded her little head, her delicate face turned towards Heavenly Net Sect, "I also noticed the fleeing talisman just now, but I was too busy dealing with Zhou Yuntian to take care of that talisman."


    "Let''s go, saving Uncle and Aunt is what''s important."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, hand in hand, began walking directly toward the Sect Leader of Qingyun Sect and the seven Great Elders.


    Ye Chen''s parents had been taken by Qingyun Sect, and these individuals surely knew where his parents were being detained.


    "Young Friend Ye Chen!"


    "Young Friend Jiang Yao!"


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao approaching, Sect Leader Luo Kun of Qingyun Sect and the seven Great Elders hurried forward to greet them.


    One of them with unfathomable skills, ultimately using a bizarre flying sword to kill Zhou Yuntian, and the other able to directly confront and wholly suppress Zhou Yuntian, who was at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, from front on.


    With two such individuals, the Sect Leader and Elders of Qingyun Sect dared not show the slightest negligence. They even worried that their previous attitude towards Ye Chen might bring disaster upon them.


    Seeing the two approaching, Luo Kun immediately thought of the purpose of their visit; he swiftly said to Ye Chen, "Young Friend Ye Chen, your parents are within the inner peaks of Qingyun Sect. I will go bring the elders to you right now, so please don''t worry!"


    No sooner had the words left his mouth, Sect Leader Luo Kun flew straight toward the inner peak.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hadn''t expected Luo Kun to react so quickly. They exchanged a glance and then watched Luo Kun flying away.


    Just as Luo Kun reached halfway into the sky, his figure suddenly froze as if locked in place, unable to move a muscle in the air.


    "Who is it?"


    This shocking turn of events caused Luo Kun, who was anxious to bring Ye Chen''s parents to apologize, to change his expression dramatically.


    Luo Kun''s cry of alarm caused everyone, who was looking at him, including Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the others, to look toward the sky.


    The seven Great Elders and the disciples in the plaza also all looked up.


    At this moment, a ripple suddenly emanated from above Luo Kun''s head in the void, and amid the peculiar flux, the space seemed to tear open as an old man with white hair and white eyebrows slowly emerged from the void.


    As soon as the old man with white hair and white eyebrows appeared, his gaze swept in all directions. When he saw Zhou Yuntian lying on the ground, dead beyond doubt, the old man''s expression changed abruptly.


    "Have I still arrived too late?"


    "Who dares to kill an Elder of Heavenly Net Sect?"


    The old man''s eyes flashed sharply as he quickly surveyed numerous people, finally resting on Jiang Yao, who stood next to Ye Chen, "Was it you, girl?


    When they recognized the old man''s face, Luo Kun in the sky, along with the seven Great Elders on the ground, exclaimed in shock.


    "Are you... the Sect Master of Heavenly Net Sect?!"

 Chapter 68: Chapter 64: Shock and Retreat

    The Heavenly Net Sect is a seventh-grade sect, and its sect leader is an early Rotating Pill Realm powerful martial artist.


    The Rotating Pill Realm surpasses the True Qi Realm and the Spirit Sea Realm as the third major realm of martial arts cultivation. Those who reach the Rotating Pill Realm possess great martial arts supernatural powers and dominate their territories, known as peak existence amongst warriors!


    Just by looking at the suddenly appearing white-haired elder, who could walk out of the torn void and confine Luo Kun, a Spirit Sea Realm expert, mid-air, one could tell this elder''s realm was far beyond the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Unexpectedly, he was the sect leader of the Heavenly Net Sect, a significant figure in the early Rotating Pill Realm!


    "You do have some insight, indeed, I am the sect leader of the Heavenly Net Sect, Luo Yazi!"


    After a cold snort, the white-haired elder waved his sleeve, and Luo Kun, who had been trapped in the sky, was directly flung down to the ground.


    "Before I clarify the matter regarding my sect elder, none of you are permitted to leave!"


    Luo Yazi''s rolling voice echoed throughout the entire Mountain Gate Square.


    "Heavenly Net Sect Leader!"


    "Rotating Pill Realm expert!"


    The disciples of the sects in Mountain Gate Square, especially those from the Heavenly Net Sect, were somewhat relieved; this man was their sect leader. Although none of them had seen him in person, they surmised that this Rotating Pill Realm figure wouldn''t trouble them.


    As for the Qingyun Sect disciples, they were all terrified. Their sect leader, Luo Kun, had been easily cast down to Mountain Gate Square. If this mighty figure''s wrath flared, they feared they might be obliterated in the blink of an eye!


    This fear left them unable to conceal their panic!


    "Heavenly Net Sect Leader, Luo Yazi?"


    Ye Chen raised his head to look at the white-haired elder in the sky, his heart also skipping a beat.


    When Zhou Yuntian released the sigil smoke signal before dying, Ye Chen knew that someone might intervene in this matter, and unexpectedly, it was the sect leader of the Heavenly Net Sect who came personally!


    No wonder, when Zhou Yuntian shouted "Sect Leader, save me!" by looking at Luo Yazi''s demeanor, it was obvious he shared a deep connection with Zhou Yuntian.


    Moreover, the moment Luo Yazi appeared, he directly looked towards Jiang Yao, clearly aware that Jiang Yao was related to Zhou Yuntian''s death!


    Ye Chen tightened his grip on Jiang Yao''s hand; no matter how powerful the arrival was, he would stand in front of Jiang Yao to ensure she wouldn''t suffer the slightest harm!


    At this time, Jiang Yao''s delicate face was also somewhat pale, and in her heart, just like Ye Chen, she was murmuring, "Early Rotating Pill Realm, it seems, this matter has stirred up trouble again!"


    "No matter what, I cannot let Luo Yazi harm Ye Chen. If he truly strikes, then even if I risk damaging the Ghostly Water Flying Sword that is bound to my life, I will confront him!"


    Ye Chen is in the True Qi Realm and can forcefully use his Life-bound Flying Sword to fight against a Spirit Sea Realm expert.


    And Jiang Yao''s cultivation is at the Spirit Sea Realm, so if she forcefully uses her Life-bound Flying Sword, confronting a Rotating Pill Realm expert might be possible.


    Therefore, although Jiang Yao''s face was a bit nervous, she wasn''t utterly resigned or ready to be slaughtered by Luo Yazi!


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both were internally bracing themselves against this sect leader of the Heavenly Net Sect, Luo Yazi in the sky looked towards Jiang Yao again.


    "I''m asking you, girl, did you kill my sect''s elder, Zhou Yuntian?"


    When Zhou Yuntian sent out his distress signal, it was while he was in a fierce battle with Jiang Yao, so Luo Yazi''s first suspect was Jiang Yao!


    "That Zhou Yuntian was killed by me!"


    No sooner had Luo Yazi finished speaking than Ye Chen let go of Jiang Yao''s hand and stepped forward.


    "Eh? You?"


    Luo Yazi gave Ye Chen a glance and snorted coldly, "A mere True Qi Realm dares to claim to kill my sect elder? What a joke!"


    "Ye Chen!"


    Seeing Ye Chen step forward, Jiang Yao''s face tensed up; she grabbed Ye Chen''s hand and stood beside him.


    Raising her head to face Luo Yazi, Jiang Yao said, "That''s right, I killed Zhou Yuntian. He deserved his death. What, because you''re the sect leader of the Heavenly Net Sect, you want to avenge him?"


    Seeing Jiang Yao''s fearless expression, Luo Yazi sneered, "Whoever kills my sect elder must of course pay with their own blood!"


    "Both of you claim to be the killer of Yuntian. Who is it then? Do you mean for me to kill both of you?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, seeing the resolve in each other''s eyes. Neither of them would abandon the other under the threat of Luo Yazi.


    "If you''re going to attack, then attack!"


    Ye Chen looked at Luo Yazi and spoke up.


    "Young master, young master!"


    "Sister Jiang Yao, Ye Chen!"


    Behind Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Tao''er and Liu Chan''er, upon seeing the two of them confront the suddenly emerged Sect Master of Heavenly Net Sect, became extremely anxious.


    Liu Chan''er even took out two bracelets from her left wrist and stood shoulder to shoulder with Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Good, good, good!"


    "I didn''t expect you few to have such deep bonds. Rest assured, as long as it''s related to Yuntian''s death, none will escape!"


    "I really want to see how you insignificant characters managed to kill Yuntian!"


    Luo Yazi''s gaze swept around the area, and when he spotted the talisman that had fallen to the ground and could transform into a huge blue shield, he pointed his finger and a trace of energy condensed in the air.


    The drifting talisman immediately soared up and burst with a "bang," transforming into a screen of light.


    Within the screen, the scene of Jiang Yao''s previous battle with Zhou Yuntian emerged directly!


    Seeing Luo Yazi''s seemingly magical method, everyone in the Mountain Gate Square looked up at the light screen, not expecting Luo Yazi to be able to make the events that had happened earlier reappear!


    When Luo Yazi saw the earth-shattering phoenix shadow striking the huge blue shield in the scene, his expression changed slightly, "Eh, it''s actually such a powerful bloodline!"


    But when he saw at the end of the scene, a shocking beam of sword light shot directly from Ye Chen''s glabella and instantly killed Zhou Yuntian, Luo Yazi''s face changed dramatically, "A flying sword, you can actually use a flying sword technique!"


    "It really was you who killed Yuntian!"


    Luo Yazi recognized Ye Chen''s flying sword technique at a glance, clearly aware of such a secretive and powerful method!


    When they heard that it was indeed Ye Chen who killed Zhou Yuntian, all the disciples of the Sect on the Mountain Gate Square buzzed with noise. Even with a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse like Luo Yazi present, they couldn''t suppress the shock in their hearts.


    Previously, they had not clearly seen how Zhou Yuntian died.


    Now, as Luo Yazi activated the light screen and the scene of the previous battle reemerged, they noticed that it was Ye Chen who ultimately killed Zhou Yuntian.


    Ye Chen, a mere True Qi Realm individual, had actually killed Zhou Yuntian, a Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage powerhouse!


    This was simply beyond their comprehension.


    In the end, as Zhou Yuntian fell dead to the ground and the huge blue shield in the light screen turned back into a talisman and fell, all the scenes from the recent battle in the light screen disappeared without a trace.


    After watching everything that had happened before, Luo Yazi''s eyes were fixed on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    The strength of this young man and woman had shocked even him, a Rotating Pill Realm cultivator.


    However, thinking of the tragic state in which Zhou Yuntian had died, the killing intent in his eyes became unstoppable.


    Aside from their Sect relationship, he and Zhou Yuntian were both Sect Master and Elder, and had a very deep personal friendship, otherwise, he wouldn''t have specifically left two talismans for Zhou Yuntian to save his life.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had killed Zhou Yuntian, and no matter what, he would not let them go.


    "The two of you are both related to Yuntian''s death!"


    "Since that''s the case, both of you, be prepared to die!"


    As Luo Yazi''s voice thundered, he reached out his large hand towards the void, and two terrifying hurricanes spontaneously formed, wildly sweeping from heaven to earth, intending to completely grind Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to pieces within the storm!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had both activated their Life-bound Flying Swords at the same moment he moved, ready to have a final, desperate battle with Luo Yazi!


    And all the people on the Sect Square, those Sect disciples and the Sect Master and Elders of Qingyun Sect, watched the three figures in opposition between heaven and earth, not daring to even breathe loudly.


    Just then, a gentle sigh came from the sky.


    "Ah, the affairs between juniors, Luo Yazi, why must you interfere?"


    This was a faint female voice.


    It was such a soft voice that made the two rampaging hurricanes in the heavens and earth stop in the void, instantly vanishing without a trace.


    It was such a soft voice that the flying swords within Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s glabella sword palaces, ready to explode, completely calmed down.


    When Luo Yazi in the sky heard this voice, his face changed dramatically as if he had seen a ghost, and he even shivered as he flew down from the sky, looking towards the heavens.


    And Jiang Yao beside Ye Chen, as well as Liu Chan''er behind them, called out in surprise, "Master!"


    Amidst the surprised and happy voices of Jiang Yao and Liu Chan''er, the void was torn open once again, and a woman wearing a snow-white palace dress, appearing about twenty-six or twenty-seven years old, extremely beautiful, slowly walked out from the void.


    This woman had an ethereal countenance with an extraordinary purple pattern on her forehead that faintly revealed itself, adding an air of mystery.


    This purple pattern turned into Purple Lightning in a flash, then transformed into Purple Fire, and in another instant became ripples of purple water, unfathomably mystical.


    Seeing this woman, Luo Yazi, who had previously been indomitable, exclaimed, "Fairy Jia Luo! It really is you!"

 Chapter 69: Chapter 65 The Pact of the Great Mystery

    ```


    If one were to mention the most feared existence among the thirty-six major sects in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, no one would dare to claim the first place if Fairy Jia Luo ranked second.


    Fairy Jia Luo, the strongest cultivator among the thirty-six sects of the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, was a formidable figure in the midst of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Moreover, she was also the most likely candidate among the Rotating Pill Realm experts in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom to ascend to the Heavenly Saint Realm, according to widespread acclaim!


    Even those in the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm dared not easily provoke Fairy Jia Luo, let alone Luo Yazi who was merely at the early stage.


    Legend has it that since stepping onto the path of martial arts, Fairy Jia Luo had never tasted defeat. A few years back, she even traveled to the Ethereal Peak in the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to partake in the Rotating Pill Realm Swordfighting Convention, securing the top position directly, stunning the entire cultivation world of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    Such a character, each time Luo Yazi encountered her, he would pay utmost respect, not daring to offend her in the slightest.


    He had not anticipated that this affair concerning Zhou Yuntian would involve Fairy Jia Luo herself.


    Master?


    He recalled how Jiang Yao and another young girl had addressed Fairy Jia Luo when she appeared.


    If he had known earlier that Jiang Yao was a disciple of Fairy Jia Luo, he wouldn''t have dared to lay a finger on her, even if he had ten times the courage!


    Now, Luo Yazi deeply regretted coming to Qingyun Sect for the sake of Zhou Yuntian.


    He respectfully watched Fairy Jia Luo as she approached from the void, repeatedly bowing and begging for forgiveness.


    Fairy Jia Luo glanced at Luo Yazi, and spoke indifferently, "Luo Yazi, I''m fully aware of the matter here, and the fault initially lies with Zhou Yuntian of your sect."


    "He has perished, and justly so."


    Hearing Fairy Jia Luo mention the matter of Zhou Yuntian, Luo Yazi quickly responded, "Yes! Yes! It was my lack of consideration, I was too reckless. I beg for the Fairy''s forgiveness!"


    Fairy Jia Luo glanced at Luo Yazi, "You may leave. From now on, your Heavenly Net Sect should no longer concern itself with Zhou Yuntian''s matters. If you meddle again, I will personally visit the Heavenly Net Sect and end your life!"


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words, faint as they were, struck Luo Yazi like a bolt from the blue.


    "I dare not! Luo Yazi dares not!"


    Where would Luo Yazi dare to defy Fairy Jia Luo''s wishes? After bowing to her, he flicked a finger and incinerated Zhou Yuntian''s corpse on the ground into nothingness.


    Afterward, he no longer dared to linger; he bowed deeply to Jiang Yao and Ye Chen and, seeing that Fairy Jia Luo had no further expression, he turned into the void and vanished from sight.


    The Rotating Pill Realm expert Luo Yazi, who had previously stood arrogantly in the void, dominating the airspace and casually flinging Qingyun Sect''s Sect Leader Luo Kun to the ground, was now intimidated into such a state by Fairy Jia Luo. This made everyone in the plaza look at Fairy Jia Luo with both amazement and trepidation.


    From Luo Yazi''s behavior, they realized even more the dreadfulness of this beautiful woman!


    All of them looked at Fairy Jia Luo, not even daring to breathe too loudly, including the Sect Leader of Qingyun Sect and the seven Elders.


    "Fairy Jia Luo!"


    "She is Jiang Yao''s master, the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerful expert?"


    "Merely with her casual words, she could scare off another Rotating Pill Realm expert. How powerful must she be!"


    Ye Chen watched Fairy Jia Luo slowly walking towards his direction from the sky, a surge of passion welling up within him!


    This is the might of a mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm supreme cultivator!


    To tear through the void, to have one''s words manifest as law, to be where even the mightiest retreat!


    If Jiang Yao''s battle in the Spirit Sea with Zhou Yuntian ignited Ye Chen''s ardor to reach higher realms, then witnessing Fairy Jia Luo effortlessly intimidate another Rotating Pill Realm expert solidified the heart of a true powerful warrior within him.


    Powerful warriors, dominating all directions!


    Powerful warriors, commanding thousands of realms!


    Powerful warriors, issuing orders throughout the world!


    Which warrior would not be moved by such authority, by such strength?


    Having experienced oppression in Qingyun Sect in his previous life, having been hunted down by Zhou Hai and Zhou Yuntian, and having been considered expendable and expelled from the sect, Ye Chen''s desire to become stronger grew even more.


    He yearned for the day when, like Fairy Jia Luo, he could invoke awe and retreat among the mighty without even taking action!


    He yearned even more for the day when he could surpass Fairy Jia Luo and become a truly towering figure!


    That is the ambition of a good man cultivated in martial arts, reaching for the peak!


    Just as Ye Chen''s heart stirred with emotion, Fairy Jia Luo had already arrived in front of him and Jiang Yao.


    "Master!"


    Seeing Fairy Jia Luo coming, Jiang Yao and Liu Chan''er excitedly grabbed her skirt and called out to her.


    Fairy Jia Luo patted Jiang Yao''s head and glanced at Liu Chan''er, then smiled slightly, "You two are quite daring, running off to Qingyun Sect, daring to confront even Rotating Pill Realm practitioners."


    "Had I not kept an eye on you, who knows what trouble you might have caused!"


    "Especially you, Yao''er, I allowed you to cultivate in the cave dwelling, and you, instead of telling me, just left."


    ```


    Fairy Jia Luo''s voice contained no rebuke; instead, there was a hint of doting within it.


    Jiang Yao glanced at Ye Chen beside her, her face turning slightly red. She softly said to Fairy Jia Luo, "Master, this is Ye Chen."


    "Jia Luo, senior!"


    Hearing Jiang Yao suddenly mention his name to Fairy Jia Luo, Ye Chen quickly composed his turbulent emotions and respectfully greeted Fairy Jia Luo with a bow.


    Fairy Jia Luo was Jiang Yao''s master.


    Moreover, she had just helped him resolve the big trouble with Luo Yazi; from every perspective, Ye Chen held an immense fondness for this Fairy Jia Luo.


    The gaze of Fairy Jia Luo finally fell upon Ye Chen.


    Her eyes examined Ye Chen for a long time without speaking.


    This made Jiang Yao and Liu Chan''er, who were by the side, very anxious, especially Jiang Yao, whose delicate little face was filled with nervousness.


    Ye Chen''s heart also thumped wildly, unsure of what Fairy Jia Luo intended with such scrutiny.


    After a long while, Fairy Jia Luo finally spoke, "Not bad, indeed a rare talent!"


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo allowed Jiang Yao and Liu Chan''er to breathe a sigh of relief and made Ye Chen smile wryly.


    This Fairy Jia Luo, the pressure of a strong person, really made one unconsciously feel fear!


    "Ye Chen, I saw everything you did on the main gate square just before," she said.


    "Your temperament, your bravery, your strength, and your responsibility, as of now, I am very satisfied with all of them," Fairy Jia Luo said lightly as she looked at Ye Chen.


    Hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s praise for Ye Chen, Jiang Yao''s face was filled with smiles, and her tiny dimples emerged happily.


    Fairy Jia Luo glanced at her most beloved disciple and shook her head helplessly.


    She continued, "However, Ye Chen, if you want to be with my disciple Jiang Yao, your current strength is still far from enough!"


    "Master!"


    Jiang Yao''s face turned crimson at Fairy Jia Luo''s words; she hadn''t expected her usually dignified and serious master to bring up such matters directly.


    Ye Chen, on the other hand, was not embarrassed. He looked directly at Fairy Jia Luo and said, "Senior Jia Luo, I will definitely work hard to further improve my strength!"


    "Further improving your strength isn''t as simple as just saying it," Fairy Jia Luo said with a faint smile looking at Ye Chen. "In four months and seven days, on the day the Taixuan Flower blooms, will be the selection of Taixuan Sect''s True Disciples."


    "Ye Chen, do you dare to participate in Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple selection?"


    "Master, you want Ye Chen to participate in the True Disciple selection?" Jiang Yao exclaimed in surprise upon hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s words.


    "True Disciple selection?" Ye Chen looked at Fairy Jia Luo, then at the somewhat excited Jiang Yao, unfamiliar with the selection of Taixuan Sect''s True Qi Disciples.


    Jiang Yao gently said to him, "The True Disciple selection is held once every three years, and only the most outstanding disciples from the outer sect of Taixuan Sect can participate."


    "Once selected as a True Disciple, one can join the various peaks of Taixuan Sect''s Inner Sect and practice specifically within those peaks!"


    "Ye Chen, Chan''er and I are True Disciples of Taixuan Sect''s ''Snowdrift Peak''!"


    "I didn''t expect that master would make an exception and allow you also to participate in the True Disciple selection. That''s great! There has never been someone from outside Taixuan Sect directly participating in the True Disciple selection. Ye Chen, you must agree!"


    True Disciple selection, joining Taixuan Sect?


    Jiang Yao''s words also moved Ye Chen.


    Taixuan Sect was the leading sect among the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain of Heavenly Wind Kingdom, a place Ye Chen also longed for.


    Moreover, since Jiang Yao was also within Taixuan Sect, he naturally wished even more to join Taixuan Sect for his practice.


    "I am willing to participate in the True Disciple selection!" Ye Chen said respectfully to Fairy Jia Luo.


    Fairy Jia Luo nodded, "As Yao''er said, the selection of Taixuan Sect''s True Disciples has never allowed outsiders to participate. Since you are an exception, naturally, I have to set some rules for you."


    "Please speak, senior," Ye Chen said solemnly.


    "True Disciple selection is for the most outstanding outer sect disciples of Taixuan Sect to participate, and there are many even among those who have reached the twelfth layer of True Qi."


    "Though every selection, as long as one catches the eye of the peak masters of the Inner Sect, they can be chosen to join the peaks."


    "But Ye Chen, if you do not place within the top three in the True Disciple selection, I will not agree to your entry into Taixuan Sect."


    "Do you dare to contend with the various powerful outer sect disciples of Taixuan Sect and seize one of the top three positions?" Fairy Jia Luo asked, looking at Ye Chen.

 Chapter 70: Chapter 66 Ancestral Land

    ```


    Competing against the strongest of the Outer Sect warriors in the Taixuan Sect and seizing a top-three position?


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words left Ye Chen slightly taken aback.


    Liu Chan''er, who was by his side, was so shocked that she jumped up and exclaimed, "Master, this requirement is far too harsh! Ye Chen has just turned fifteen, and he''s only reached the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm. Even if he is very skilled, he can''t possibly surpass those disciples who have cultivated to the twelfth layer of True Qi after many years!"


    "Top one hundred, can''t it just be the top one hundred? Ye Chen can definitely make it into the top one hundred!"


    "I didn''t even make it to the top one hundred back then, but didn''t you, Master, still choose me and accept me into ''Snowdrift Peak''?"


    Liu Chan''er pleaded while tugging at Fairy Jia Luo''s sleeves coquettishly.


    It was no wonder Liu Chan''er was astonished, the requirement set by Fairy Jia Luo was indeed too difficult.


    One must know that the Taixuan Sect was the foremost among the thirty-six sects in the eastern region, and its Outer Sect disciples were clearly stronger than those from the other thirty-five sects. There were many disciples with the twelfth layer of True Qi.


    Asking Ye Chen to compete for the top three against all the Outer Sect disciples of the entire Taixuan Sect was exceedingly difficult for someone who had just reached the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm.


    Even now, although Ye Chen could fight against Tenth Layer Martial Artists without losing, facing Eleventh Layer or even Twelfth Layer powerhouses, and Taixuan Sect disciples with even more techniques, the gap in realm was still too vast.


    Moreover, during the True Disciple selection, lethal means like flying swords would not be allowed, which would greatly reduce Ye Chen''s true combat power.


    Hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s demands, Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen, her concern evident.


    She had adventured through the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode with Ye Chen and recognized his abilities more than anyone else, but she too was aware of the harshness of the requirement for Ye Chen.


    If Ye Chen had another two years to cultivate, Jiang Yao was absolutely confident that he would take first place in the True Disciple selection of the Taixuan Sect!


    Just over four months to improve his strength significantly was still too short a time.


    Looking at her two disciples, one pulling her sleeves and begging, the other''s delicate little face full of worry, Fairy Jia Luo shook her head helplessly.


    She turned to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, since my two disciples have pleaded on your behalf, I can relax the requirements for you. As long as you can take one of the top thirty spots in the True Disciple selection, you can enter the Taixuan Sect. What do you say?"


    Although Fairy Jia Luo had slightly eased her stance, it was clear she was not satisfied with this adjustment.


    Ye Chen was not someone accustomed to others making concessions for him. He knew that the initial requirement put forth by Fairy Jia Luo was already her bottom line. If he accepted a relaxed requirement because of Jiang Yao and Liu Chan''er, even if he managed to enter the Taixuan Sect through struggle, he might not gain Fairy Jia Luo''s approval.


    Although only a little over four months were left for cultivation before competing with Twelfth Layer True Qi powerhouses, the demand was extremely challenging, but for Ye Chen, it was not impossible.


    Just over four months ago, he was merely at the first layer of True Qi. During this time, he had promoted himself to the sixth layer and could even defeat Tenth Layer powerhouses.


    In four months'' time, he might be able to defeat those at the Twelfth Layer of True Qi as well!


    Pressure brings motivation, which leads to progress. Ye Chen could bear such pressure!


    Armed with the powerful Divine Art "Primordial Star Scripture," the high-grade Xuan-level Cultivation Techniques "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and "Wind Thunder Movement" technique, as well as his indomitable fighting spirit, Ye Chen had this confidence!


    Ye Chen glanced at Jiang Yao, and then at Fairy Jia Luo, drew a deep breath, and said, "Jia Luo, no need to change the condition. Since I am already a special case in the selection, I should abide by additional rules."


    "If I do not take one of the top three spots in the True Disciple selection in four months and seven days, then I will admit defeat and not enter the Taixuan Sect!"


    Having said that, Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao seriously and stated, "Jiang Yao, believe in me, in the True Disciple selection, I will definitely seize one of the top three positions!"


    Jiang Yao''s clear and beautiful eyes met Ye Chen''s gaze, and finally, the girl smiled and nodded, her little dimples rippling, "Ye Chen, I believe in you!"


    "Good!" Fairy Jia Luo nodded inwardly upon hearing Ye Chen''s words.


    If Ye Chen lacked the courage to compete even before the selection had begun, she would be deeply disappointed in him.


    She certainly didn''t want her most beloved disciple to end up with someone lacking ambition and courage.


    Fairy Jia Luo had witnessed Ye Chen''s fierce battle with Zhou Yuntian''s two disciples and his triumphant killing of Zhou Yuntian. She believed that Ye Chen could meet her demands!


    "This is the ''Selection Token''; take good care of it. In a little over four months and seven days, remember to be on time at the Taixuan Sect." Fairy Jia Luo flicked her fingers lightly, sending a bronze token flying towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen examined the token for a moment, then kept it close to his body.


    "Alright, Zhou Yuntian has been executed, and all matters here have been settled. Yao''er, Chan''er, let''s return to the Sect," Fairy Jia Luo said, not paying any more attention to the others on Mountain Gate Square as she addressed Jiang Yao and Liu Chan''er.


    Jiang Yao glanced at Ye Chen, her delicate little face full of reluctance: "Master, I haven''t seen Ye Chen''s parents yet, they are still imprisoned in the Qingyun Sect."


    Fairy Jia Luo smiled, "I had already surveyed this Sect upon arriving at Qingyun Sect. His parents are fine. Yao''er, you will see them in time. If Ye Chen cannot even pass the True Disciple selection, then meeting now is meaningless!"


    "Let''s go!"


    After speaking, Fairy Jia Luo took one more look at Ye Chen, and then with a flourish of her sleeves, she took Jiang Yao and Liu Chan''er up into the air in flight.


    The Divine Marvel white eagle that had brought Liu Chan''er also followed and rose into the sky alongside them.


    ```


    "Ye Chen, I''ll be waiting for you at the Taixuan Sect!"


    "You must come!"


    Jiang Yao turned back, looking down at the increasingly smaller figure of Ye Chen on the ground, and murmured in her heart.


    "Four months and seven days later, at the Taixuan Sect!"


    On Mountain Gate Square, Ye Chen watched as Jiang Yao flew away, as well as Fairy Jia Luo and Liu Chan''er, clenching his fists.


    It wasn''t until the figures of the three in the sky disappeared that Luo Kun, the sect master of Qingyun Sect, dared to approach Ye Chen. He looked at Ye Chen with caution and respectfully said, "Ye Chen, let me take you to meet your parents."


    "Father, Mother."


    Thinking of the imminent reunion with his long-separated parents, the sorrow of his temporary parting from Jiang Yao faded slightly. He turned to look at the young girl Tao''er behind him, "Let''s go, Tao''er, we''ll go together to meet Father and Mother!"


    Tao''er excitedly jumped to Ye Chen''s side, "Yes, young master!"


    ...


    Ye Chen and Tao''er headed to the Inner Peak of Qingyun Sect, to receive Ye Chen''s parents.


    The disciples of the sect on Mountain Gate Square had not left for a long time, still reminiscing about the events that had taken place there earlier.


    Ye Chen''s battle against two True Qi Realm powerhouses, the Spirit Sea battle between Jiang Yao and Zhou Yuntian, and even the later arrival of two Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses¡ªthe events of this short day were a whirlwind of excitement, surpassing all the events they had witnessed in their ten or twenty years of life!


    While these sect disciples were reluctant to leave, chatting in small groups, more than a thousand miles away from Qingyun Sect, in Ye Chen''s hometown of Qingyang City, an event was unfolding.


    Speaking of Qingyang City, one must mention the three great families there, which include the Ye Family, the Bai Family, and the Qian Family.


    These three families monopolized the various industries of the entire Qingyang City, and were the undisputed giants of the city.


    Moreover, unlike other families in other cities who struggled over interests, the Ye, Bai, and Qian families, despite their frictions, had always been like branches of the same tree, even choosing to live together.


    Strangely enough, in the center of the continuous houses of these three families, there lay a piece of empty land approximately ten acres in size.


    Any child of these families would know that this piece of land was considered forbidden territory¡ªAncestral Land by the three families!


    This plot of land was surrounded by powerful prohibitions, and no one was allowed to enter. Once someone entered the Ancestral Land, it could even trigger a direct attack from the prohibition. It was rumored that even Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses would perish if they forcefully entered.


    For these three families, whose strongest cultivators were only at the twelfth layer of the True Qi, possessing such an Ancestral Land was indeed very strange.


    Looking towards the Ancestral Land, one could see three statues standing at the periphery, and in the very center of the Ancestral Land, there stood a fourth statue.


    Standing outside this Ancestral Land, one could clearly see the appearances of the three outer statues, but the fourth statue in the center of the Ancestral Land was shrouded in a thin mist, making it impossible to discern its actual form.


    Apart from the four statues, there was nothing else within the Ancestral Land.


    On this day, the patriarchs of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families were all kneeling before the three outer statues.


    Not far behind the three patriarchs, quite a few members of the three families had gathered, watching their patriarchs and whispering among themselves.


    "It''s been over a month, I didn''t expect this ancestral worship to take so long."


    "Usually, worshiping the Ancestral Land only takes one day, taking so long could only mean that the ancestral statues have made a connection with the patriarchs."


    "Made a connection? Does that mean that there''s a possibility of opening the Ancestral Land?"


    "Could it be that after three hundred years, there''s once again a chance to open the Ancestral Land?!"


    "No way, if the Ancestral Land really opens, that would be a huge fortune for our three families! According to our family records, the last time the Ancestral Land was opened, two ancestors from our families successfully obtained several secret treasures and both broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm after ten years!"


    "Unfortunately, there''s no pattern to the opening of the Ancestral Land. According to the records of our three families spanning over twelve hundred years of inheritance, the Ancestral Land has only opened five times, and in over three hundred years, it''s only opened once!"


    "This time, that elder Zhou Yuntian from Heavenly Net Sect forcefully abducted members of our families and injured many martial artists among our ranks, making the three patriarchs feel both ashamed and angry. Since when have our three families ever been so humiliated by others?!"


    "It''s just that we descendants have been unfilial; since the last Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse in our family perished over two hundred years ago, no one else has broken through to the Spirit Sea Realm, weakening our families'' strength over time."


    "Hopefully, this time the Ancestral Land will truly open again, bringing another great fortune to our three families!"


    As these comments buzzed among the crowd, an unusual movement suddenly came from the three statues that the patriarchs were facing.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In the midst of the movement, the three originally ordinary-looking pairs of eyes on the statues suddenly emitted a strange light.


    And at the same moment that the eyes on these three statues shone with this strange light, the eyes of the fourth statue in the center of the Ancestral Land also burst forth with endless Divine Light.

 Chapter 71: Chapter 67: The Golden Monkey

    The four statues, all eight eyes radiated intensely at the same time.


    Such an extraordinary sight completely stunned everyone from the three tribes who were outside the ancestral land.


    Even the three tribal leaders, who were in the midst of worship, were jolted awake from their ritual.


    "After more than a month, we finally progressed from vaguely sensing the statues'' intentions of the three great ancestors to actually establishing a connection with the thoughts of the three great ancestor statues."


    "The thoughts of the three great ancestors indicated that they would report to the revered ''Lord Di Kong'' about opening the ancestral land for the sixth time."


    "Could it be that ''Lord Di Kong'' has agreed to open the ancestral land?!"


    All three tribal leaders'' mouths fell open as they looked towards the center of the ancestral land.


    "This is..."


    "Could it really be that the ancestral land is about to be opened?"


    "Such a phenomenon is the one recorded in the clan annals for the opening of the ancestral land; the ancestral land is truly about to open!"


    Boom!


    Amidst the incredulous exclamations of disbelief from the tribespeople from all three tribes, a two-zhang-wide swirling vortex of darkness suddenly appeared on the empty ground behind the fourth statue in the center of the ancestral land.


    This vortex kept spinning, and nothing could be seen inside of it, yet as soon as the vortex appeared, thirty black tokens flew out from within it.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The thirty black tokens landed precisely in front of the three tribal leaders, who were kneeling outside the forbidden area.


    Seeing the thirty black tokens, the three tribal leaders exchanged glances and then stood up with immense excitement.


    "These are the entry tokens for the ancestral land!"


    "The ancestral land has truly opened!"


    The voices of the three tribal leaders holding the thirty black tokens trembled with excitement.


    Then, remembering the rules for entering the ancestral land once it opened, the three leaders hastily instructed the tribespeople standing outside, "The ancestral land is open, only the tribespeople under twenty years old, holding these entry tokens, can venture into the Ancestral Land Secret Realm to seek great fortune."


    "Within a month, you must enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, for the entrance to the secret realm will close after one month!"


    "Quickly send word to all the family members under twenty; everyone must return to the clan!"


    "With the opening of the ancestral land, the three tribes'' end-of-year competition shall be held in advance, ten days from now, the grand competition among the three tribes will officially take place. Anyone who can secure a place among the top thirty in this competition will qualify to enter the ancestral land!"


    The excited voices of the three tribal leaders echoed outside the ancestral land for a long time.


    Upon hearing their chieftains personally announce the opening of the ancestral land, those outside tribespeople went wild with excitement.


    The opening of the ancestral land was a truly great opportunity for the three tribes. Should their younger generation gain great fortune within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the rise of the three tribes once again would become a possibility!


    The people hurriedly ran outside, following the instructions of their chieftains, to spread the word to the younger generation of their families scattered around, ordering them all to return to the clan.


    For a time, Qingyang City was bustling with excitement.


    ...


    While the three tribes were bustling due to the opening of the ancestral land,


    through the dark vortex with a two-zhang diameter at the center of the ancestral land, looking deeper into the vortex, one could see a vast expanse of heaven and earth hidden within the swirl.


    This great expanse of heaven and earth was the mysterious domain recorded in the millennium-long heritage of the three tribes, the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    The Ancestral Land Secret Realm consisted of three major areas: the outer perimeter, the mid region, and the central core.


    At the very core of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm was a vast lake surrounded by nine towering peaks.


    All of the water within this vast lake was golden Spiritual Liquid, shimmering resplendently and radiating brilliant light.


    And now, just as the ancestral land opened, the golden Spiritual Liquid within the lake suddenly surged tumultuously. Amidst these turbulent waves, a palm-sized golden monkey leapt directly out of the Spiritual Liquid.


    This golden monkey, its entire body covered in luminous golden fur, was bathed in a flutter of golden light, so dazzling that it hurt to look directly at it.


    Its pair of eyes shone like two exquisite black gemstones, filled with an endless divine luster, and appeared extraordinarily spirited.


    "Ee-ya!"


    The golden monkey that had jumped out of the golden lake seemed as if it had just been born. It blinked its large eyes and curiously surveyed the world around it.


    Whoosh!


    After taking a quick look around, the golden monkey leapt straight out of the lake, skimming the water''s surface as it bolted towards the shore. Then, with a few bounds, it swiftly hopped onto the nine towering mountains above.


    ```


    "Eeeeek!"


    The little monkey lay on the giant peak, looking out at the world beyond.


    It even tried to run beyond the giant peak but was stopped by some mysterious force, unable to leave no matter what it tried.


    "Squeak!"


    The golden monkey pouted, then slid back on top of the giant peak.


    After frolicking in the midst of the peak for a while, it seemed to grow tired and hopped back onto the golden lake.


    Plop!


    As it jumped, the golden Spiritual Liquid in the lake rippled, splashing onto the little monkey who joyfully cried out a few times before diving into the golden lake.


    The lake returned to calm.


    ...


    "What, the Ancestral Land has opened?"


    In the eastern territory of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, inside a hut on one of the outer mountain peaks of the Taixuan Sect, the number one sect, a handsome young man in blue clothing, holding a letter in his hand, had a look of great excitement on his face.


    "These past few years of arduous cultivation, I haven''t returned home."


    "The opening of the Ancestral Land, such an opportunity cannot be missed; it seems I must visit home!"


    "To enter the secret realm, one must place within the top thirty of the Tri-Family Competition? Hmph, three years ago at the competition, I, Qian Ming, claimed the first place. This time, the title of first place will still belong to no one but me!"


    "With first place, entering the Ancestral Land, I must seize the great fortune there!"


    The young man in blue was brimming with confidence, and with a "swoosh," his figure vanished from the hut.


    ...


    "After more than three hundred years, the Ancestral Land has opened again? I had thought it was just a fictional tale from the family records; I hadn''t expected that there actually was such a thing as the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."


    "Grandfather said that I must participate in the Tri-Family Competition first!"


    "Top thirty in the Tri-Family Competition? That should be relatively easy for me!"


    In the Southern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, within a sect blooming with peach blossoms, a young girl in white murmured to herself while reading a letter.


    The girl in white, dressed in pure, tight-fitting garments, had a graceful figure with pretty cheeks and long black hair tied into a ponytail, displaying a remarkable efficiency.


    If any disciple from the Southern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom saw this sect surrounded by blooming peach blossoms, they would surely recognize it as the strongest sect in the Southern Region, the sixth-ranked "Peach Blossom Valley"!


    And this young girl in white was the famous celestial maiden of Peach Blossom Valley, Bai Xiaodie, who, at just fifteen years old, had already reached the eleventh layer of True Qi!


    ...


    "The Ancestral Land has opened?"


    "In ten days, the Tri-Family Competition will begin, and the top thirty will be able to enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm?"


    "Quick, I must return to the family!"


    Not just in powerful sects like the Taixuan Sect and the Peach Blossom Valley, but across various territories in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, disciples from the three families practicing in various sects received news of the opening of their family''s Ancestral Land.


    These disciples, from all corners, hurried back to Qingyang City.


    An event as monumental as the opening of their family''s Ancestral Land, which had lain dormant for over three hundred years, was not something they would miss!


    ...


    While news of the Ancestral Land''s opening stirred the younger generations of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families into action,


    on the official road outside Qizhou City, a carriage was slowly making its way toward the city.


    Inside the carriage sat four people; two appeared to be plainly dressed middle-aged folks in their thirties, the man with a broad face and slim build, the woman, gentle and beautiful.


    The other two were a fifteen-year-old youth and a young girl about twelve.


    "Young Master, after three days, we will finally arrive at Qizhou City!"


    "Once we''re past Qizhou City, we''ll reach Qingyang City, and we''ll finally be returning to the family!"


    The little girl, with her hair braided into two plaits and dressed like a maid, had lively eyes ¨C this was none other than the little maid Tao''er.


    And who else could she be referring to as "Young Master" if not Ye Chen, who had left the Qingyun Sect and was escorting his parents back to Qingyang City?


    ```

 Chapter 72: Chapter 68: The Pride of Parents

    "Yes, after passing Qizhou City, and walking for half a day more, we''ll be able to return to Qingyang City, back to our family clan!"


    Hearing Tao''er''s words, Ye Chen also felt a surge of emotion.


    His soul had fused with his previous incarnation, and he experienced all of his predecessor''s memories as if they were his own.


    He, too, missed the family clan that he had left at the age of twelve and had not returned to for three years.


    In the past two years, because his cultivation had made no progress, remaining at the first level of True Qi, he was too embarrassed to go back to the family clan, afraid of being gossiped about for achieving nothing and bringing shame to his parents.


    Now, Ye Chen had successfully cultivated to the sixth level of True Qi, and his true combat strength even allowed him to overpower martial artists at the tenth level of True Qi. At this moment, he possessed enough confidence to return to the family clan, enough confidence to make his parents proud of him!


    "Dad, Mom, it''s getting dark. Let''s rest for the night in Qizhou City today. After a good rest, we should be able to make it back to the family clan by noon at the latest tomorrow."


    Ye Chen spoke to his parents seated at the back of the carriage.


    "Chen''er, it''s fine to rest in Qizhou City, but let''s not stay in an expensive inn again. You''ve already spent quite a bit of silver these past few days. We need to save some," Ye Chen''s father, Ye Xiaotian, said.


    "Yes, Chen''er, listen to your dad. The four of us can just find a cheaper inn. We''re all family; there''s no need to be so fancy," Ye Chen''s mother, Lin Rin, also spoke softly.


    After leaving the Qingyun Sect, Ye Chen and his parents, along with Tao''er, hired a carriage to travel back to Qingyang City.


    Among the four of them, aside from Ye Chen, who was a cultivator, his father, Ye Xiaotian, mother, Lin Rin, and the young servant girl Tao''er were all ordinary mortals who had not opened their Qi Sea; naturally, they could not endure the fatigue of travel. After nightfall, Ye Chen would find an inn for them to rest.


    His parents and Tao''er treated Ye Chen exceptionally well, so of course, he wouldn''t let them suffer any discomfort. The inns they had stayed at these past few days were the best in the small towns they passed through, the finest rooms available!


    Naturally, this had cost quite a bit of silver. Ye Chen''s parents had been taken to the Qingyun Sect by Zhou Yuntian and didn''t carry any silver coins with them, so all the expenses for the inn stays were covered by Ye Chen, which made his parents feel somewhat distressed.


    "Master! Madam!" Tao''er chuckled upon hearing Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin, "The young master has money now; spending on inns won''t even put a dent in his silver!"


    "I''ve noticed that the young master still has a whole bunch of gold banknotes, at least several hundred thousand taels!"


    "Several hundred thousand taels?!" Tao''er''s words shocked Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin, "Chen''er, how did you get so much silver?"


    The two of them managed the family''s properties and only made about forty to fifty thousand silver coins a year. After expenses, they would save some of the money to send to Ye Chen for his cultivation. Even so, they could only save up about ten to twenty thousand silver coins to give to Ye Chen each year.


    Even if Ye Chen hadn''t spent a single coin of silver over the past two years, there was no way he could have hundreds of thousands of silver coins!


    Tao''er''s words were, of course, astoundingly surprising to Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin.


    "Master, Madam, this is what you don''t understand!" Tao''er''s bright eyes looked at her young master, Ye Chen, "The young master is a martial artist now. I''ve heard that just by hunting a demon beast, a martial artist can earn several thousand taels, even tens of thousands of taels."


    "With the young master being so powerful, having several hundred thousand taels of silver is quite an easy feat!"


    Tao''er''s words left Ye Chen''s parents both startled; they had heard that martial artists could earn money easily but did not expect it to be so simple!


    No wonder everyone wants to cultivate martial arts! It seems that encouraging their child to practice martial arts was indeed the right choice!


    Seeing little Tao''er startling her parents with her acuteness, Ye Chen found it somewhat amusing at the bottom of his heart.


    Indeed, Tao''er had sharp eyes!


    As Tao''er said, martial artists often gain substantial silver coins by slaying demon beasts. However, the cultivation expenses of martial artists are also very high. The reason Ye Chen had so much silver on him was not because he had hunted demon beasts, but because he had obtained it from Zhou Hai.


    Originally, when he killed Zhou Hai, he not only obtained two Spirit Talismans from him but also a large roll of Gold Banknotes as an extra reward.


    His parents had been implicated because of Zhou Hai, and these Gold Banknotes were just perfect for allowing his parents to truly enjoy themselves!


    Ye Chen planned to treat his parents to good food and lodging on the way home in the next few days, and leave the remaining silver coins for his parents to spend in the family.


    He was already strong enough now; he no longer needed his parents to worry or save money on his behalf!


    Now was the time for him to filially care for his parents!


    Ye Chen didn''t debunk Tao''er''s words. After all, if he said that these Gold Banknotes came from Zhou Hai, he feared his parents would not feel comfortable spending them.


    "Dad, Mom, Tao''er is right. Your son is now a Martial Artist of the True Qi Sixth Layer. Even a True Qi Tenth Layer expert can''t beat me! This small amount of silver is nothing!" Ye Chen said with a laugh, "Later when we enter Qizhou City, we''ll stay in the largest inn, eat the best food, and stay in the best room! Dad and Mom, go ahead and spend freely, you definitely can''t finish it all!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words brimming with confidence, Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin exchanged glances, with a hint of tears welling up in their eyes.


    When they were captured by Zhou Yuntian and taken to Qingyun Sect, their greatest worry was not for themselves but for their son Ye Chen.


    They feared that their son would suffer endless torment facing those powerful figures capable of soaring through the skies and burrowing into the earth.


    However, their son Ye Chen not only successfully rescued them from Qingyun Sect, but even the Sect Master of Qingyun Sect personally saw them out with great respect.


    From the Sect Master of Qingyun Sect''s polite treatment of Ye Chen, they knew their son had changed; he could now hold up a piece of the sky on his own!


    Latterly, they even overheard Tao''er mentioning in whispers that even the most powerful figure in the eastern domain of Tianfeng Nation, the formidable being known as Galo Fairy, held Ye Chen in high regard. Moreover, Galo Fairy''s disciple, Jiang Yao, the number one talent of the thirty-six sects, also harbored deep affection for Ye Chen.


    This dissipated all of Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin''s worries, and they truly felt a sense of pride and relief. They were genuinely proud of their son Ye Chen!


    It was a feeling they had never experienced in their more than thirty years of striving in Qingyang City, the sense of pride their child gave them!


    Which parent doesn''t wish for their child to be strong?!


    Though reluctant to use their child''s silver, when a child has enough strength to spend silver on their behalf, what parent wouldn''t be immensely proud?!


    "Alright!"


    "Alright!"


    Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin both dabbed at their eyes to stop the happy tears: "Today, we will use Chen''er''s silver to stay in the largest inn!"

 Chapter 73: Chapter 69 Stack Fight

    Tianfeng Tower Inn.


    The largest inn in all of Qizhou City.


    Just from the inn''s name¡ªwhich contains the "Heavenly Wind" from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom¡ªone can tell the extraordinary nature of this place; otherwise, in the martial-ruled Heavenly Wind Kingdom, they wouldn''t allow this inn to bear the name "Heavenly Wind".


    The entire Tianfeng Tower Inn is a massive seven-story building, with glazed tile eaves and carved mahogany railings, reaching a height of thirty to forty meters, it looks spectacularly majestic!


    On both sides of the inn''s entrance stand two giant stone lions; each over five meters long and three meters tall, they have fierce eyes and are roaring up at the sky!


    Now, as the night has fallen, giant Luminous Pearls hang in various places, lighting up the whole inn brightly.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen is quietly cultivating in the highest room on the seventh floor, the Tian Character Room of Tianfeng Tower Inn.


    After entering Qizhou City, he and his parents, as well as Tao''er, came to stay at the Tianfeng Tower Inn. After dining in the most luxurious room, he directly rented out the three best Tian Character Rooms on the seventh floor.


    One for his parents, one for himself, even the little girl Tao''er got her own room.


    The Tian Character Rooms, as expected, are the best rooms. By opening the doors and standing on the balcony, one can see the entire view of Qizhou City. The rooms themselves are extremely spacious and bright. On the desks in the rooms, three sticks of "Green Sandalwood Incense" were burning.


    This Green Sandalwood Incense is said to have originated from the pharmaceutically-specialized Seventh-Rank sect, the Hundred Treasures Sect, with profound benefits for nourishing the spirit and mind.


    Martial practitioners cultivating under this incense can easily enter a state of meditative unity with their minds and spirits. Even ordinary mortals, simply by smelling the "Green Sandalwood Incense," could reap great health benefits!


    If this incense were to be sold, Ye Chen would even be willing to spend a large sum of silver to buy some for his parents.


    Renting these three upscale rooms to allow his parents to sleep while inhaling "Green Sandalwood Incense" was well worth the tens of thousands of taels of silver for Ye Chen!


    At this moment, Ye Chen was seated cross-legged on the ground, further comprehending the "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills" through the "Wind''s Concept".


    Among the martial techniques Ye Chen controlled, he had already achieved great success in the Torrential Rain Sword Skills and Cross-Slash Fast Kill Sword Technique.


    He had also fully mastered the essence of Torrential Rain Sword Intent, Purple Lightning Sword Intent, and Wind''s Sword Intent.


    Only the two mysterious top-grade techniques obtained from the Qianlian Cave Dwelling, Wind Thunder Sword Technique and Wind Thunder Movement, had yet to be fully cultivated.


    What he began cultivating first were two sub-techniques of these techniques, the Wind Sword Skills and the Wind Movement Skills, and he had just barely brought these two sub-techniques to the beginning levels of proficiency.


    These two sub-techniques had also reached the level of mysterious low-rank techniques, their power far surpassing that of the yellow-rank techniques.


    By just cultivating the "Wind Sword Skills" to the early stages, the power of Ye Chen''s Wind Sword Skills already far exceeded that of the Torrential Rain Sword Skills and Cross-Slash Fast Kill Sword Technique.


    The Wind Sword Skills consist of nine forms and, unlike the pursuit of speed in the Torrential Rain Sword Technique and Cross-Slash Fast Kill Sword Technique.


    In the Wind Sword Skills, there are various mysterious concepts of wind: the first form¡ªHurricane Fury¡ªmoves like a sweeping hurricane, with the furious power of a heavy sword.


    And the second form¡ªBreeze Thirteen Slashes¡ªtransitions from a heavy sword to a sinister light sword, with sword moves like a gentle breeze, invisible and incomprehensibly tricky.


    The third form¡ªWind Spiral Kill¡ªis a rotating wind attack.


    The fourth form, Wind Strangle Kill, possesses a terrifying constricting power. Once mastered, it can even create a devastating constricting storm, shredding the opponent completely within it.


    There are also the fifth form, the sixth form, all the way up to the final ninth form.


    Of the full nine forms of Wind Sword Skills, Ye Chen has merely begun to grasp the third form, "Wind Spiral Kill," while he''s still comprehending the fourth form, "Wind Strangle Kill".


    Besides the "Wind Sword Skills" being cultivated to early proficiency, Ye Chen has also brought the movement technique "Wind Movement Skills" to the same initial level.


    With the early proficiency in the "Wind Movement Skills" technique, Ye Chen''s previous movement technique "Startling Goose Steps" has become somewhat redundant.


    Startling Goose Steps, this mid-grade yellow-rank movement technique, is known for its speed. When cultivated to great success, it moves as swiftly as lightning, and as quickly as shooting rainbows, capable of instantaneously changing to seven different positions.


    However, it''s still just a mid-grade yellow-rank movement technique. Compared to the more precious low-grade mysterious technique "Wind Movement Skills," it''s significantly inferior.


    Wind Movement Skills has three major effects: the first is its extremely fast speed. Once cultivated to great success, one can instantly switch eighteen positions, moving like the wind, unpredictable.


    The second major effect is gasping flight. Startling Goose Steps relies on footwork to move about, with flight scarcely reaching five or six meters, whereas once Wind Movement Skills is cultivated to great success, gasping flight can span over a hundred meters in one go, akin to a short burst of flight!


    The third great effect is Wind Movement Flurry. If cultivated to great success, it means one can fly upwards in the sky nine times in succession without needing to catch one''s breath, soaring over a hundred meters into the sky; combined with gasping flight, this is already a minor flying technique!


    Now, Ye Chen has just cultivated this "Wind Movement Skills" to early proficiency. He''s already capable of instantly switching nine positions, can gasp and fly over fifty meters away, and can continuously soar over fifty meters high with Wind Movement Flurry.


    This has already pleasantly surprised Ye Chen.


    He looks forward to the day when he''ll cultivate these "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills" to great success. By then, harnessing his internally cultivated Heaven and Earth True Qi together with Gang Yuan True Qi, combined with these two external martial skills, his combat power will take another significant leap.


    He might even truly experience the fleeting thrill of flying through the skies!

 Chapter 74: Chapter 69 Stack Fight_2

    By then, he would be able to further comprehend the more powerful Thunder Skills within "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and "Wind Thunder Movement"!


    Ye Chen was quietly meditating on the "Wind Sword Skills" and the "Wind Movement Skills", when after an indeterminate length of time, a commotion from outside startled him out of his cultivation.


    Ye Chen''s consciousness swept outside, and when he saw the scene that unfolded, his expression darkened abruptly.


    At that moment, outside the room next to his, his father, mother, and Tao''er were being jostled by a large group of people, and even Tao''er had started to cry.


    Down below Tianfeng Tower Inn, quite a few onlookers were pointing and commenting, obviously watching the commotion happening on the seventh floor of the tower.


    "What''s going on?!"


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that, after just a short while of deep cultivation, such an incident would occur outside.


    Seeing his father, mother, and Tao''er being surrounded and pushed by a crowd, he could no longer restrain himself. With a slap of his hand, the door to his room burst open. Using his "Wind Movement Skills", he instantly appeared on the outside corridor.


    "Stop!"


    Ye Chen''s loud cry of anger startled everyone standing on the corridor outside.


    At this time, Ye Chen''s father, Ye Xiaotian, and mother, Lin Rin, both saw Ye Chen, and the little maid Tao''er even cried out, "Young Master, these people are bullying us, they want to drive us out of our rooms!"


    Drive out of the room?


    Such audacity!


    He had spent tens of thousands of silver taels to rent these rooms. Who dared to drive his father and mother out? Who dared to drive Tao''er out?!


    Ye Chen''s cold gaze swept over the large group of people.


    They were a group of young people ranging from seventeen to twenty-six years old, totaling nine individuals, all of whom could be felt as cultivators from the aura they emitted.


    Among them, three had auras similar to Jin Xuanlie, a martial artist he had previously fought against who was at the ninth level of True Qi; the remaining six were between the seventh and eighth levels of True Qi.


    Next to the nine was an attendant of Tianfeng Tower Inn, who was looking at Ye Chen and the nine people with a face full of tears at the moment.


    "What''s going on?" Ye Chen suppressed his anger and asked the attendant.


    The attendant hurriedly replied, "Young Master, the inn is fully booked, and these nine sirs wanted to stay in the best rooms, insisting on coming up to take a look."


    "Upon seeing that Young Master''s three family members were merely ordinary mortals, they started to drive them away forcefully, wanting to take over these two top-tier rooms..."


    As the attendant spoke, a richly dressed young man moved swiftly, his palm striking the attendant''s face in a flash, sending him flying four or five meters away. Were it not for the corridor railing, the slap might have sent the attendant plummeting down from the tower.


    The slap twisted the attendant''s face, causing him to lose several teeth and bleed profusely from the mouth.


    The richly dressed young man glanced disdainfully at the attendant, "You dog, you sure have a quick mouth."


    Ye Chen watched the richly dressed young man with a cold look, grasping the situation from the attendant''s words.


    So, these nine came to snatch the rooms!


    Such unbridled arrogance, truly an eye-opener for him!


    "What are you looking at!" After slapping the attendant, the richly dressed young man looked askance at Ye Chen, "Judging by your aura, you''re a cultivator as well. Unfortunately, you seem to be only at the fifth or sixth level of True Qi."


    "What, got money? Renting three top-tier rooms like that? This is Tianfeng Tower Inn, where ordinary mortals and low-level martial artists like you deserve to stay in the best rooms?"


    "Get out of here at once, or I''ll throw you down from this tower myself!"


    The young man in the brocade next to him also spoke up, saying, "This Tianfeng Tower Inn is the property of our ''Hundred Treasures Sect'', so don''t expect the inn to back you up. If you know what''s good for you, get lost now!"


    "Hundred Treasures Sect? So they are disciples of the Seven Grade Sect, the Hundred Treasures Sect!"


    Among the onlookers below the pavilion, some, using the brilliantly shining Luminous Pearls hanging from the upper floors, scrutinized the nine individuals.


    Someone who recognized the nine people immediately called out, "Isn''t that leading young man in brocade ''Elder Wang''s'' grandson ''Wang Guangyuan''?!"


    "No wonder he''s so arrogant! I heard he''s only sixteen years old and has already cultivated to the ninth layer of True Qi. He even ranks in the top ten among the outer sect of the Hundred Treasures Sect!"


    "And I was wondering how this ''Tianfeng Tower Inn'' doing business could have this kind of incident where someone is driven away. It turns out to be this ''Wang Guangyuan.'' Where would he give face to the inn? If he wants someone gone, the inn dares not provoke him."


    "Alas, the young man''s family upstairs is really unlucky. They had just managed to get a good room and now they''re being kicked out. I told you, these kinds of rooms are not something people like us can afford to enjoy."


    The buzzing discussions from below made the young man in brocade increasingly smug.


    He looked at Ye Chen, who remained motionless, clenched his fist, and walked toward Ye Chen, saying, "What, I told you to scram, are you deaf?"


    Boom!


    In an instant, he threw a punch at Ye Chen''s face.


    Clearly, he intended to teach Ye Chen a harsh lesson just like the inn''s server!


    "Chen''er!"


    "Young Master!"


    The brocaded youth''s thunderous punch sent Ye Chen''s parents'' faces turning pale with shock, and the little girl Tao''er also screamed out at the same time.


    Just when the brocaded youth''s punch was about to reach Ye Chen''s face, Ye Chen moved his wrist and caught the punch of the brocaded youth.


    After that, he twisted his wrist, and with a terrifying force of True Qi spiraling, the brocaded youth''s entire arm crackled, and under this single twist from Ye Chen, his whole arm was completely twisted to pieces.


    "Ah!"


    The young man in brocade, when Ye Chen caught his fist, felt himself trapped by a giant force, unable to break free. Now, with Ye Chen''s twist, all the bones in his arm broke, causing him to scream in agony.


    "Scram? Seems I''m really fated with the grandsons of elders from the Seven Grade Sects!"


    "Just killed the son of a Seven Grade Sect elder, and now another elder''s grandson dares to provoke me!"


    Ye Chen gripped the young man in brocade and swung him from the second floor of the pavilion, hurling him straight toward the ground below!


    Just now, he clearly saw that it was this brocaded youth who had shoved his father; how could he let this youth go?


    The grandson of an elder?


    That''s exactly who he would trample!


    Bang!


    The brocaded youth, forcefully thrown by Ye Chen from the seventh floor of the building, some thirty or forty meters high, hit the ground hard below. His body''s violent collision with the earth caused even the ground to shake. If it weren''t for the brocaded youth''s protection from his True Qi, this fall could have easily killed him on the spot!


    The onlookers, seeing the brocaded youth suddenly being slammed to the ground by the young man from upstairs, stepped back seven or eight meters in fright.


    They looked at the knocked unconscious brocaded youth, then back up at Ye Chen on the second floor, and each felt a gasp of awe from the bottom of their hearts: "He dared to strike so ruthlessly, even against Elder Wang''s grandson who had announced his identity!"


    "Who is this young man, so fierce and tough!"

 Chapter 75: Chapter 70 Peacefulness

    The onlookers at the base of the Heavenly Wind Tower were all stunned.


    And on the seventh floor of the inn, the other eight individuals who had come with the brocaded youth Wang Guangyuan, had a moment of dumbfoundedness.


    What was happening?


    Wasn''t this youth at the sixth level of the True Qi Realm, how could he suddenly break Wang Guangyuan''s arm and leave him powerless, directly smashing him down from thirty to forty meters high?


    Such combat power, even a master at the tenth level of the True Qi Realm probably couldn''t do it, right!


    "Impossible!"


    "It must be that Guangyuan was careless!"


    "Take him down! Avenge Guangyuan!"


    The remaining eight, along with the brocaded youth Wang Guangyuan, who were used to being arrogant and domineering at the Hundred Treasures Sect and in Qizhou City, were always the ones stepping on others. How could they tolerate being humiliated themselves.


    Looking at the brocaded youth who had been smashed from the seventh floor of the building to the ground, unconscious, they let out a loud roar and five of them pounced towards Ye Chen.


    Another three people even directly started to grab Ye Chen''s parents and Tao''er, intending to take Ye Chen''s parents and Tao''er hostage, to stop Ye Chen from acting rashly!


    Seeing the actions of these few, a cold gleam flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes, "Seeking death!"


    His parents and Tao''er, who had been resting peacefully, were driven out of the room by these individuals. Now, in front of Ye Chen''s eyes, they were even going to grab them directly. How could Ye Chen allow his parents and Tao''er to suffer their humiliation again?


    Dare to make a move?


    Just cripple your hands!


    At the moment these individuals began to move, "whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh" eight Swords of True Qi instantly formed around Ye Chen''s body. The moment these eight Swords of True Qi formed, they disappeared into thin air, and in the next instant, they were thrust at the eight men''s faces.


    This was none other than the Wind Sword Intent combined with the second move of the Wind Sword Skills, "Thirteen Wind Strips"!


    Ye Chen''s attack, which could even strike down Shi Tian who was at the tenth level of True Qi Realm, left the strongest two of these eight individuals only at the ninth level of True Qi Realm, and the other six were merely at the seventh or eighth level. Under the combination of Ye Chen''s sword intent and the low-grade Xuan-level technique, how could they resist?


    The eight men only felt an eerie sword light flash before their eyes, and they watched, wide-eyed, as their outstretched hands were severed in mid-air.


    Then, amidst the spurting of blood, an intense pain engulfed their entire bodies!


    "My hand!"


    "My hand is gone!"


    In that instant, the eight realized that the hands flying in the air were their own! In that slash of the sword just now, their hands had been severed by Ye Chen!


    The eight men, screaming madly, swiftly circulated their True Qi to stem the gushing blood, when a voice echoed in their ears.


    "Dare to disturb my parents again, and next time it won''t be as simple as losing a hand, but death!"


    "Get down, join Wang Guangyuan!"


    Whoosh!


    The eight men only felt an instant appearance of a silhouette before them, followed by an overwhelming force kicking towards them.


    Unable to defend themselves, the eight were almost simultaneously kicked down from the seventh floor!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    These eight had never practiced the method of leveraging in mid-air at thirty to forty meters high, they could only rely on their True Qi to protect themselves from being smashed to death. After a few breaths, all eight crashed to the ground with loud thuds, even the large blue stones on the ground were shattered by the impact.


    If it wasn''t for a few of them using their True Qi to change direction at the last moment, they''d probably have landed on top of one another or even smashed the brocaded youth below to death!


    Even so, three of the eight were instantly knocked unconscious by the shock, and the other five lay on the ground, screaming and groaning in pain!


    Looking at the nine people piled up below, unconscious or shouting, the onlookers around the building all gaped in shock.


    Were these really the disciples of the seventh-ranked Hundred Treasures Sect that dominated Qizhou City?


    Nine against one, and they couldn''t even get a hand on him? All of them were thrown down from the building?


    They could see that the young man above was completely overpowering the nine men!


    If there were to be a real fight, the young man on top could instantly kill all nine of them!


    "A big shot!"


    "A big shot has come to Qizhou City!"


    "With such strength, it must be a high hand at the eleventh or twelfth level of True Qi!"


    Some martial arts practitioners stared at Ye Chen standing on the seventh floor, their eyes filled with deep fear.


    And the ordinary mortals watching the supernatural and extraordinary Ye Chen take on nine alone were even more deeply moved.


    This is a true martial arts expert!


    "Young Master!"


    "You... you''re amazing!"


    At the top of the building, the young maid Tao''er watched her household''s Young Master Ye Chen, her eyes filled with admiration.


    She had witnessed her household''s Young Master fighting two True Qi Realm disciples at the Qingyun Sect''s main plaza, but it was one-on-one, and the scene didn''t compare to the shock of him fending off nine on her own!


    "Chen''er!"


    Ye Chen''s father Ye Xiaotian and mother Ye Yin, although they were surprised by their child''s strength, were more concerned, "Chen''er, won''t this cause trouble? Maybe we should hurry back tonight!"


    Looking at his parents'' worried faces, Ye Chen smiled, "It''s alright, Father, Mother! I will resolve this matter completely. Please go back to your room and rest!"


    Having said this, Ye Chen spread his arms and leapt from the seventh floor, soaring out towards the ground below.

 Chapter 76: Chapter 70 Peace_2

    This Tianfeng Tower Inn, towering three to four stories high, was a place not many martial artists in the True Qi Realm would dare to leap from directly above; yet Ye Chen, like a roc spreading its wings, descended elegantly, landing instantly before the nine fallen men, standing with poise.


    "What a technique! Such an elegant flying technique!"


    "To leap down from a height of three or four stories, could it be that he has mastered a Xuan-grade flying technique?"


    "So young and he has mastered a Xuan-grade flying technique, could he be a disciple of a Great Sect, perhaps of the Taixuan Sect, which is a sixth-grade sect?"


    The martial cultivators in the audience, watching Ye Chen''s remarkably elegant technique, were all filled with envy.


    All of them had practiced flying techniques, but theirs could not reach the extent of leaping dozens of meters.


    This was indeed the level that could only be achieved with a legendary Xuan-grade flying technique!


    These people were not mistaken--this was indeed Ye Chen''s Wind Movement Skills that he had cultivated to a minor level of accomplishment!


    Once the Wind Movement Skills were perfected to a level of Great Accomplishment, even crossing a hundred meters was possible, and although Ye Chen had just barely achieved minor accomplishment, he could already leap more than fifty meters. For him, leaping from the top of the Tianfeng Tower Inn, which was only three to four stories high, posed no difficulty at all.


    Standing before the nine men, Ye Chen looked at the few who had not yet fainted and asked nonchalantly, "Are you disciples of the Hundred Treasures Sect, a seventh-grade sect?"


    These men had already been stunned by Ye Chen''s mysterious swordsmanship and his descent from the heavens, and upon hearing his inquiry, they nodded vigorously: "Yes, we are disciples of the Hundred Treasures Sect!"


    "Brother, we had no idea you were so powerful! We shouldn''t have provoked you!"


    "Please... don''t kill us!"


    Ye Chen''s actions had been decisive and ruthless, something they had perceived profoundly. Now facing Ye Chen, they didn''t dare to even breathe too loudly, afraid of provoking him and being killed on the spot, which would leave them with no tears left to cry!


    "I hear that among you, there''s a grandson of one of your sect elders?"


    "I will be staying right here in this inn. If he wants to seek revenge for his grandson, let him come."


    "However, you can pass this item to him and see if he has the courage to show up!"


    As Ye Chen spoke, he directly took out a copper-colored law token.


    The few Hundred Treasures Sect disciples who were not unconscious glanced at the copper-colored law token and saw the big characters "Taixuan, True Successor" inscribed on it.


    "Taixuan?"


    "Are you truly a disciple of the Taixuan Sect from the sixth-grade sects?"


    "Is this... the True Successor selection law token?"


    As disciples of a seventh-grade sect, they knew more about the Taixuan Sect than the disciples from an eighth-grade sect would. The copper law token in Ye Chen''s hand was the one they had heard that only the talented disciples who could participate in the Taixuan Sect''s True Successor selection would receive.


    Those who possessed this token were inevitably genius disciples of the Taixuan Sect, each possibly esteemed by the peak masters within the sect. How could they dare to provoke such individuals?


    Even their own elders, if they truly provoked someone esteemed by an internal peak master of the Taixuan Sect and incurred their displeasure, would bring about a great disaster!


    At that moment, the disciples who had previously thought about going back to Elder Wang to have him take revenge for them, didn''t dare utter another word.


    Ye Chen gave them a glance and put away the law token.


    Gathering his Qi, he leaped straight towards the seventh floor of Tianfeng Tower Inn, and in the blink of an eye, he was back on the seventh floor.


    This kind of movement skill once again caused the crowd below to surge with excitement!


    Looking at his father, mother, and Tao''er, who were still on the corridor and hadn''t entered their room, Ye Chen smiled and said, "Dad, Mom, Tao''er, go get some rest. This token was given to me by Fairy Jia Luo, so I don''t think those people from Hundred Treasures Sect will dare to come again."


    "Fairy Jia Luo?"


    "Is she the one Tao''er spoke of, the most powerful fairy in the eastern region of Heavenly Wind Kingdom?"


    Hearing Ye Chen mention Fairy Jia Luo and observing the few people below who were as silent as cicadas in winter, Ye Chen''s parents truly felt at ease and returned to the room with Tao''er.


    Ye Chen watched as his parents calmed down and couldn''t help shaking his head with a wry smile.


    He had shown the selection token because he wanted to reassure his parents.


    Otherwise, they probably wouldn''t have slept well all night because of this matter.


    As for Elder Wang from the Hundred Treasures Sect, Ye Chen wasn''t too worried about him. He had only given Wang Guangyuan a small punishment and hadn''t killed him like he did Zhou Hai.


    Would that Elder Wang really engage in a life-or-death struggle with him?


    Even if it came to that, Ye Chen still had his trump card, the flying sword "Crimson Fire". If it really came down to the wire, it would be Elder Wang''s misfortune!


    "Sigh, the strength at the True Qi Realm is still far from enough. Every time I have to rely on ''Crimson Fire'' as my trump card. It looks like I need to further increase my strength!"


    "Whether it''s Zhou Yuntian, who is already dead, or Elder Wang, who I don''t know if he will come to kill me, or the selection of true disciples in Taixuan Sect in just over four months, facing all these challenges requires strong power to ensure my safety!"


    "Tonight, I''ll stay outside to guard my parents."


    Ye Chen stood at the highest seventh floor of Tianfeng Tower Inn, watching as the crowd of onlookers below gradually dispersed, as several disciples from Hundred Treasures Sect supported each other and walked away, and then he looked up at the night sky over Qizhou City, his mind gradually calming down.


    In the end, he moved his body and flew to the highest point of Heavenly Wind Tower, where he sat down cross-legged.


    The night was tranquil.


    And the thoughts of Ye Chen grew even more serene.


    Whether it was the token from the selection that truly frightened those disciples from Hundred Treasures Sect, or if it scared Elder Wang, Elder Wang never showed up--in fact, no one from Hundred Treasures Sect did.


    But Ye Chen still didn''t return to his room.


    Maybe it was after the succession of tests in Qianlian Cave Mansion, the battle with Qingyun Sect, and the sudden calm after the inn fight.


    The night wind caressed Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged on the pinnacle of Heavenly Wind Tower, and he gradually closed his eyes, entering into a wonderful state of oblivion.


    In this amazing state, countless streams of heaven and earth''s True Qi from several miles around Tianfeng Tower Inn, with Ye Chen at the center, surged towards him.


    There was no wild roaring rush of True Qi like before, but rather as silent and nurturing as a soft rain, under the cover of the tranquil night and the infusion of countless streams of heaven and earth''s True Qi, the vortex of True Qi within Ye Chen''s Sea of Qi once again underwent qualitative change and increased in size. Ye Chen had officially entered the Seventh Layer of True Qi Realm!


    When the first light of dawn shone upon Tianfeng Tower Inn, Ye Chen opened his eyes.


    He gazed at Qizhou City under the morning glow, smiled faintly, and then flew back directly to the seventh-floor corridor.


    Not long after, when he heard sounds of his father, mother, and Tao''er''s room as they began to rise early, Ye Chen looked towards Qingyang City.


    "Today, after half a day''s journey, we will be able to return home!"

 Chapter 77: Chapter 71: Ancestral Land and Clan Competition

    After breakfast, Ye Chen left the Heavenly Wind Tower Inn with his father, mother, and Tao''er, and continued on their way to Qingyang City.


    In the carriage.


    The young maid Tao''er''s expressive eyes kept sizing up Ye Chen until finally, she couldn''t help but speak up, "Young Master, you seem a little different today."


    "What''s different?" Ye Chen asked with a smile, looking at Tao''er.


    "It''s just... It feels like you have a more commanding presence and more of the aura of a martial cultivator." Tao''er struggled to describe it, then turned to Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin and asked, "Master, Madam, don''t you think so?"


    Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin both nodded.


    "Yes, Chen''er, it feels like you have changed again after just one night."


    After one night of quiet cultivation, Ye Chen had successfully broken through to the seventh layer of the True Qi Realm, completing half of the entire twelve layers of the True Qi Realm, and officially entering the second half of cultivation in the True Qi Realm.


    True Qi Layer Seven was not only about having one more True Qi Vortex in the Qi Sea compared to Layer Six, but the bigger change was that, after reaching Layer Seven, due to the quantity of True Qi in the seven True Qi Vortices within the Qi Sea, a qualitative leap had been made from the early stage to the latter stage, and Ye Chen''s skin radiated with a faint aura of True Qi naturally circling to protect his body.


    This change in the aura of a martial artist was certainly noticeable to his parents and Tao''er.


    Ye Chen, of course, would not hide this from his family and said with a smile, "Dad, Mom, Tao''er, last night, I successfully broke through to the seventh layer of the True Qi Realm."


    "True Qi Layer Seven?"


    "Young Master, weren''t you at Layer Six of the True Qi Realm just a few days ago? You''ve already cultivated to Layer Seven?"


    Tao''er''s mouth fell open in astonishment.


    Every time she saw her young master these days, she was constantly shocked; even at True Qi Layer Six, he could defeat experts of the ninth and tenth layers, and yesterday, effortlessly subdued nine opponents all by himself.


    Now, her young master had broken through once more, reaching True Qi Layer Seven!


    The little maid could no longer comprehend just how formidable her young master had become.


    "Chen''er, is your strength now greater than those from our clan who have cultivated for over a decade?" Lin Rin''s eyes also contained joy upon hearing that Ye Chen''s level had risen again.


    Her child becoming more powerful filled her with immense pride!


    "Those martial artists from the clan?"


    Ye Chen thought about how his family was one of the three major families in Qingyang City, alongside the Bai Family and the Qian Family, with the strongest cultivator in his family being the three clan leaders at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, and most others being below the tenth layer.


    Unlike sect cultivators, family martial artists did not have access to many Cultivation Techniques and generally practiced Yellow Class Martial Skills of middling to lower quality.


    Ye Chen, on the other hand, had not only cultivated several Yellow Class Martial Skills of middling quality, but he also achieved Minor Accomplishment in two Profound Class skills, "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills," mastered three Sword Intents, and cultivated "Gang Yuan True Qi" with the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Indeed, his power now far surpassed that of most martial artists in his clan!


    "I should be able to defeat most of them," Ye Chen replied to his mother with a smile.


    He was now setting his sights not on the martial artists of his clan, but on proving himself against the Taixuan Sect''s Outer Sect geniuses in the True Disciple selection in four months.


    Surpassing those disciples of the True Qi Twelfth Layer in the Taixuan Sect and securing one of the top three spots in the True Disciple selection to enter the Taixuan Sect was a must for Ye Chen.


    At present, he had some way to go to reach that goal.


    However, having smoothly advanced to True Qi Layer Seven, Ye Chen was one step closer to that goal, and with four months to go, he was confident he could achieve it!


    "Good, good!"


    "My Chen''er, you really make your parents proud."


    "Even us ordinary mortals have managed to raise a powerful martial artist, and now, the martial artists of our clan will probably be shocked."


    Ye Chen''s father, Ye Xiaotian, was filled with pride and laughed heartily.


    The four of them chatted as they made their way to Qingyang City.


    After a little over two hours, they finally arrived within the city walls of Qingyang City.


    "We''ve arrived at Qingyang City!"


    "We''re back to the family, the Master and Madam have returned safely, and the Young Master has returned too!"


    Upon entering Qingyang City, the little maid Tao''er called out with immense excitement.


    Ye Chen also looked outside the carriage at Qingyang City; it hadn''t changed much from his memory, the same familiar streets, the same familiar sights.


    This was the place where he had lived for twelve years--his hometown!


    He had finally returned!


    When he left his hometown, he was just a twelve-year-old boy at the first layer of the True Qi Realm; now, three years later, he had cultivated to True Qi Layer Seven and mastered extremely powerful Martial Skills, making him one of the top figures in the city!


    With increased power came a broader perspective.


    Ye Chen''s feelings upon returning home were completely different from when he had left!


    After entering the city, the carriage headed towards the residential area of the three major families.


    "Huh, why does it feel like there are a lot more people in the family area?"


    "So many young people have returned!"


    "Isn''t it not yet the end of the year? Why have those cultivating outside returned?"


    The closer they got to the residential area of the three major families, the more people they encountered on the street, and Ye Chen''s parents, Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin, noted the anomaly in the family area and wondered aloud.


    "Yes, the family area seems much busier than usual," the little maid Tao''er also noticed the change.


    Ye Chen looked outside, where young members of the three great families could intermittently be seen walking along the streets of the family district.


    "Has something happened with the family?"


    Ye Chen and his companions were unaware of the opening of the Ancestral Land, as they had been traveling back to their clan all these days and had not yet received the news of the Ancestral Land opening or the advance of the tri-clan competition.


    "Is that... Xiaodong, Yun?"


    At this moment, as Ye Chen was surveying the outdoors, he suddenly caught sight of two familiar figures.


    These two figures were two teenagers about the same age as Ye Chen, who were currently walking outside while talking to each other.


    Recognizing the two youths, Ye Chen immediately knew who they were; one was called Bai Xiaodong and the other Qian Yun. Before he had left the family, Ye Chen used to hang out with them every day!


    "Xiaodong!"


    "Yun!"


    Ye Chen opened the carriage curtain and called out directly to the two of them.


    Turning their heads, the two boys looked towards the carriage following the sound of his voice. When they saw Ye Chen''s face on the carriage, both teenagers rubbed their eyes in disbelief, "Ye Chen?"


    "Ye Chen, is it really you? You''re back?"


    Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun ran straight towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also had the carriage stop, jumped out, and met with the two youths.


    "Ye Chen, I heard from my mother that you stirred up big trouble, and even your uncle and aunt were captured by a Spirit Sea Realm expert. Are you all okay?" Bai Xiaodong hurriedly asked as soon as he reached Ye Chen.


    "We''re fine, my dad and mom have come back this time," Ye Chen pointed to the carriage, where his father Ye Xiaotian and mother Lin Rin were lifting the carriage curtain and peering out at the group. Seeing Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun looking over, they smiled and greeted the two youths.


    As Qian Yun was about to speak, he suddenly noticed Ye Chen''s aura and said in surprise, "Ye Chen... you, you''ve cultivated to the seventh level of True Qi?"


    "True Qi seventh level?!" Bai Xiaodong also jumped in shock.


    The three of them used to hang out together frequently because they were similar in age and almost equal in all aspects of their cultivation talent. Before the age of twelve, none of them had opened their Qi Sea Acupoint.


    It was in the year they turned twelve that all three of them successively opened their Qi Sea Acupoint and entered into the Sects.


    Ye Chen was admitted into the Qingyun Sect, an eighth-rank Sect, while Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun each entered the eighth-rank Tiegang Sect and Ten Thousand Swords Sect, respectively.


    Three years had passed, and Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun were now at the fourth and fifth levels of True Qi, which they considered quite good.


    However, they did not expect that their friend Ye Chen would now possess such a strong aura, strikingly reaching the seventh level of True Qi!


    "True Qi seventh level?" Ye Chen smiled, nodded, and said, "Yes, I''ve finally cultivated to the seventh level of True Qi."


    "Ye Chen, you really cultivated to the seventh level of True Qi!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s confirmation, Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun jumped up excitedly.


    "It''s only been three years since we''ve seen each other, and you''ve improved so much!"


    "True Qi seventh level, among our family''s younger generation, that would rank towards the top. Ye Chen, you might even snatch a spot in the top thirty of the clan competition and get into the Ancestral Land!"


    "Ye Chen, did you come back this time because you received the news of the family''s Ancestral Land opening and specifically returned to take part in the tri-clan competition?"


    Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun chatted back and forth, leaving Ye Chen with no chance to interject.


    However, their words left Ye Chen startled.


    "The Ancestral Land opening?"


    "The tri-clan competition?"


    As a member of one of the three great families, Ye Chen certainly knew of the Ancestral Land.


    When he was a child, he had sneaked near the Ancestral Land with Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun; afterward, their parents severely scolded them, forbidding them from recklessly nearing the Ancestral Land again.


    The Ancestral Land, the most mysterious and forbidden area where the three great families performed their ancestral sacrifices, left a deep impression on Ye Chen.


    He knew even more that the opening of the Ancestral Land was a legend among the three great families. It was said to have been opened hundreds of years ago, and Ye Chen had thought the opening was just a jest among the ancestors. He never expected that the Ancestral Land could truly be opened.


    This time, it had opened?


    About the tri-clan competition mentioned by the others, Ye Chen was much more familiar. As a child, he would watch the older youths in his family battle in the competition every year-end, which was one of the most anticipated events of his childhood.


    After he started his training in the Qingyun Sect, he feared returning to take part in the year-end competition, worried about being ridiculed if his realm was too low--this kept him from returning to his family for three years.


    Unexpectedly, not only had the Ancestral Land opened this time, but the year-end tri-clan competition had also been brought forward.


    "Ye Chen, you don''t know about the Ancestral Land opening?"


    "The news was spread a few days ago; the younger generation of the family is all rushing back, and many have already returned!"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, Bai Xiaodong was somewhat surprised.


    "I just left the Qingyun Sect a few days ago, and I''ve been on the road since then--I haven''t received any news."


    Now Ye Chen finally understood why the family seemed busier than before upon his return and why there were so many more youths.


    It turned out to be because of the news of the Ancestral Land opening that many had hurried back from their outside cultivation.


    "Xiaodong, Yun, tell me all about the news of the Ancestral Land opening," Ye Chen said to the two.


    Ye Chen was naturally very interested in the news of the Ancestral Land opening, a place he remembered so vividly.

 Chapter 78: Chapter 72: The Grand Competition Begins

    Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun nodded, each taking turns speaking, "The three family competition was moved up because during the ancestral worship, the Ancestral Land accidentally opened."


    "After the Ancestral Land opened, it is said that thirty Pass Tokens flew out from within the land. Family members of the three families who are under twenty and possess these tokens will be able to enter into the secret realm within the Ancestral Land to seek great fortunes and creations."


    "The three family heads announced that the competition would be held in advance. Those who place in the top thirty in the competition will receive a Pass Token to enter the Ancestral Land!"


    "Ye Chen, it is said that entering the Ancestral Land, one might obtain a Secret Treasure, and perhaps even gain a great chance to step into the Spirit Sea Realm in the future!"


    "For so many years, no one from our three families has managed to step into the Spirit Sea Realm. This opening of the Ancestral Land is a major opportunity for our family. The family heads and the elders value it immensely, which is why they moved the family competition up to select candidates for the Ancestral Land!"


    "The three-family competition will take place in six days. We two may not have the strength to break into the top thirty; we are just returning to watch the excitement. Ye Chen, with your True Qi at the seventh layer, you might have a chance to try and break into the top thirty!"


    "When the time comes, if you really can enter the Ancestral Land, remember to tell us all about it. Never thought we''d encounter the opening of the Ancestral Land in our lifetime!"


    "I really don''t know what''s inside the Ancestral Land."


    Talking about the Ancestral Land, the faces of Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun were filled with longing.


    The words of Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun made Ye Chen understand the arrangement of the three families.


    The opening of the Ancestral Land offered only thirty spots for entry, and these thirty candidates would be selected through the three-family competition.


    Once someone places in the top thirty of the competition, they could enter the Ancestral Land.


    This arrangement seemed quite fair, the stronger the strength, the greater the possibility of gaining fortunes and creations in the Ancestral Land, so naturally, the family would want to choose those with stronger abilities to enter.


    Those descendants who had rushed back to the family from various places were either coming back to watch the big spectacle or to participate in the three-family competition, striving for a chance to enter the Ancestral Land.


    "Secret realm of the Ancestral Land."


    Ye Chen repeated these four words in his mind.


    As a child, he had heard that their three families had once saved an injured figure of great significance. After recovering, as a token of gratitude, this figure bestowed upon the three families a secret realm within the Ancestral Land.


    Inside this secret realm were great trials, opportunities, and creations.


    Only those among the three families could enter and seek these fortunes, which was essentially the repayment from that significant figure.


    According to clan records, the Ancestral Land had opened five times in the past, and each time, those who entered the secret realm acquired precious treasures that significantly enhanced their strengths, even allowing the birth of Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses within the three major families due to the opportunities provided by the Ancestral Land.


    As the years passed and the three families declined, the Ancestral Land had not opened for hundreds of years. Now, to his surprise, Ye Chen was facing the sixth opening of the Ancestral Land.


    "As a descendant of the three families, it is natural to enter and see for myself what the Ancestral Land that opens once every few hundred years is like."


    "Who knows, I might be able to find some fortune inside, just like our ancestors, and enhance my strength once again!"


    "For the upcoming three-family competition, I''ll seize one of the spots for entry!"


    Ye Chen made up his mind to participate in the three-family competition to earn the right to enter and explore the secret realm of the Ancestral Land!


    In four months, Ye Chen was scheduled to go to the Taixuan Sect to participate in the selection for True Disciples.


    Right now, he was in dire need of improving his strength.


    Encountering the rare opening of the Ancestral Land, of course, he had to participate.


    Not only would he participate, but he was also determined to acquire fortunes and further enhance his power!


    "Ye Chen, what do you think? Are you confident about making it into the top thirty of the three-family competition?" After speaking about the opening of the Ancestral Land, Bai Xiaodong turned to Ye Chen and asked.


    "Yeah, Ye Chen, among us three, you have the highest cultivation level. We can only rely on you to explore the Ancestral Land. We two don''t have much hope," Qian Yun also looked at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked at Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, nodding with a smile, "The top thirty of the three-family competition? No problem."


    Seeing Ye Chen confidently assert there was no problem, Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun were both taken aback.


    "Haha, Ye Chen, you sure are a lot more confident than before!"


    "That''s good. In six days, we''ll participate in the three-family competition together!"


    The two were not very sure about Ye Chen''s chances of getting into the top thirty of the family competition, but since Ye Chen was so confident, they were naturally very happy.


    What they didn''t know was that Ye Chen''s current strength was so formidable that not only was he likely to be in the top thirty of the family competition, but even the first position was highly probable!


    ...


    After parting ways with Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, Ye Chen continued towards home with his parents and Tao''er.


    Ye Chen''s parents and Tao''er, upon hearing about the three-family competition and the opening of the Ancestral Land from Ye Chen himself, were also highly anticipating the event that was to take place in six days.


    Especially knowing that Ye Chen was going to participate in the three-family competition, the three of them couldn''t wait for that day to arrive, to witness Ye Chen''s performance in the family competition!


    They were aware of Ye Chen''s current strength, and had no doubt whatsoever that he could rank in the top thirty of the family competition.


    What they were curious about was how high Ye Chen would rank in the three-family competition.


    As soon as they got home, Ye Chen immediately immersed himself in cultivation.


    He cultivated "Gang Yuan True Qi" internally while externally he practiced the two profound-grade martial arts "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills."


    While cultivating, he awaited the arrival of the grand competition between the three clans.


    The safe return of Ye Chen''s parents also caused a great stir within the entire Ye Family clan; the Ye Family''s elderly patriarch personally inquired how they managed to escape the clutches of that Spirit Sea Realm individual.


    When he learned that the Spirit Sea Realm''s Zhou Yuntian had died and that his affairs were connected to Fairy Jia Luo, a supreme being from the eastern domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, the old patriarch was shocked for half a day.


    Hearing from Ye Chen''s parents about how strong Ye Chen had become, and even Fairy Jia Luo''s high regard for Ye Chen, the old patriarch longed to meet with that young lad Ye Chen, whom he hadn''t seen in several years.


    It was only after learning that Ye Chen was preparing for the family competition that he put aside the thought of summoning him.


    "Just see during the family competition how powerful that young lad Ye Chen really is!"


    "Over these years, the strength of our Ye Family has gradually been surpassed by the Bai Family and the Qian Family. The Bai Family has a talented girl, Bai Xiaodie, who is now at the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm, and there is Qian Ming from the Qian Family, also at True Qi eleven. Our Ye Family''s most powerful youth is only at True Qi nine."


    "I hope that young lad Ye Chen can bring us a surprise. If it''s like Xiaotian and Lin Rin said, perhaps Ye Chen can contend with Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming!"


    The old patriarch also began to look forward to the family competition six days later.


    ...


    During Ye Chen''s cultivation, as countless people awaited the arrival of the grand competition between the three clans, the days passed by, one after one.


    Three days before the competition, the majority of the three clans'' external members had already returned.


    Two days before the competition, Qian Ming, the strongest of the Qian Family, returned from the Taixuan Sect, and after more than half a day, the talented girl Bai Xiaodie from the Bai Family was personally delivered back by a Spirit Sea Realm senior sister from Peach Blossom Valley, the foremost sect of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s Southern Region, causing a major stir in her family.


    On the last day before the grand competition, aside from a few family youth who were journeying outside and unable to return, all young members of the three clans had returned to their families.


    Among these people, the young ones with prominent reputations all returned!


    Everyone was waiting for the day of the grand competition between the three clans.


    And as the sun rose again after setting, the most important day for the three clans, the day of the grand competition, finally arrived!


    Early that day, Ye Chen was roused by Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun.


    Ye Chen''s father, Xiaotian, his mother, Lin Rin, and the young girl Tao''er, had all washed up early and were ready to head to the Martial Arts Plaza to watch the competition.


    When they arrived at the plaza, it was already crowded with people; nearly all the members of the three clans had gathered there.


    The plaza was packed with no fewer than ten thousand people!


    Countless individuals looked forward with great anticipation to the official start of the competition.


    In the crowd, various young ones set to participate in the competition were excitedly warming up, ready to enter the fray.


    "Ye Chen, look, that''s Bai Xiaodie!"


    "Having not seen her for years, she''s become even prettier!"


    When Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodong, and Qian Yun squeezed into the crowd of competitors, Qian Yun immediately noticed a girl standing out like a crane among chickens.


    The girl was dressed in a bright yellow athletic outfit, her figure alluring, with a pretty face, and jet-black hair that reached her waist tied into a ponytail, giving her a neat and valiant appearance.


    She was Bai Xiaodie, the most conspicuous young girl from the Bai Family''s younger generation.


    "Bai Xiaodie."


    Ye Chen looked at the girl, recalling scenes from his childhood embedded in his merged memories.


    In those days, he, along with Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, would train daily at the Martial Arts Plaza to strengthen their bodies and refine their energies in preparation to open their Qi Sea Acupoint. Back then, the person they most enjoyed watching was Bai Xiaodie, who practiced earnestly every day.


    It wasn''t just them -- many young members of the three clans loved watching Bai Xiaodie practice.


    On one hand, Bai Xiaodie was extremely talented from a young age, opening her Qi Sea Acupoint at eight and quickly becoming the fastest learner in the three clans'' younger generation on the plaza before joining the foremost Peach Blossom Valley sect in the Southern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    On the other hand, Bai Xiaodie''s beautiful face and status as the granddaughter of the Bai Family patriarch naturally drew the attention of countless young boys.


    Now, seeing Bai Xiaodie again, Ye Chen, unlike Qian Yun and Bai Xiaodong, wasn''t looking at her on account of her beauty. While Bai Xiaodie was indeed extraordinarily beautiful, she was slightly less so compared to Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen just thought back to the past with a faint smile.


    In the crowd, Bai Xiaodie, the object of many young boys'' attention, wasn''t paying attention to anyone else; she was waiting quietly, waiting for the competition to start.


    Someone like Bai Xiaodie who attracted so much attention, as well as others from the younger generation like Qian Ming, with True Qi at the eleventh and tenth layers, were potential candidates for champions in the grand competition and naturally drew attention.


    Compared to them, Ye Chen and his companions such as Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun hardly got noticed.


    Just as the young participants and the onlooking crowd from the three families were eagerly anticipating the start of the competition, three figures flew directly to the high platform of the Martial Arts Plaza.


    These figures were the patriarchs of the Ye, Bai, and Qian Families!


    The arrival of the three patriarchs excited everyone on the Martial Arts Plaza.


    They knew that the grand competition between the three clans was about to begin!

 Chapter 79: Chapter 73: Ancestral Blood

    As soon as they arrived at the high platform of the Martial Arts Plaza, the gaze of the three clan leaders swept over the entire plaza.


    The originally noisy Martial Arts Plaza became completely quiet in an instant.


    At this moment, among the three clan leaders, the elder of the Bai Family stood up and said loudly, "I suppose all our clansmen are aware that today is a great day for our three clans, as we specifically hold the grand competition ahead of schedule to select those who will enter the Ancestral Land!"


    Upon hearing the elder mention the "Ancestral Land," all clansmen from the three clans on the Martial Arts Plaza grew excited.


    Even the usually quiet Bai Xiaodie got an excited and eager look in her beautiful eyes.


    "Win the first place in the grand competition of the three clans, enter the Ancestral Land!"


    Qian Ming of the Qian Family clenched his fists tighter, with a gleam flashing in his eyes.


    The other youths were also gritting their teeth, thinking, "The Ancestral Land, enter the Ancestral Land!"


    At that time, the elder of the Bai Family continued, "This grand competition of the three clans is to select those eligible for the Ancestral Land, and only those under the age of twenty can enter. Therefore, only those under the age of twenty are eligible to participate in the grand competition. All others should step back and watch."


    The requirement mentioned by the elder was already well-known by the members of all three clans. By then, they had already separated into two circles, with those standing near the platform being the youths under twenty who were going to participate in the grand competition--there were as many as seven or eight hundred of them. Other members of the three clans stood in the spectator circle behind.


    After the elder finished speaking, the spectators stepped back another ten meters or so, clearly highlighting the youths participating in the competition.


    Seeing the distinctly separate circles, the elder nodded and said, "Good, since those who are participating in the competition are ready, I shall now announce the rules of the competition."


    "This competition will consist of three rounds."


    "After these three rounds, the thirty individuals entering the Ancestral Land will be definitively chosen, with each person receiving a Pass Token to enter the Ancestral Land."


    "During these three rounds, you must bring out your strongest abilities. You must not only strive to be among the top thirty but also fight for the top ten or even the first place!"


    "Because the top ten of this competition will be granted a special reward that has been passed down through our three clans for hundreds of years, designed specifically for those entering the Ancestral Land."


    "The higher the rank, the greater the reward. When you enter the Ancestral Land, the help provided by this special reward will be even more significant! The first place winner in this clan competition will receive the highest reward!"


    Special rewards that have been passed down for hundreds of years specifically for those entering the Ancestral Land, and even the highest reward!


    The elder''s words roused all the youths participating in the grand competition of the three clans.


    In the past grand competitions of the three clans, honor was most important, and rewards were only some martial techniques and pills. This time, the grand competition involved the opening of the Ancestral Land, and unexpectedly, there were special rewards for those entering the Ancestral Land.


    This made many who simply wanted to be in the top thirty, to obtain a spot in the Ancestral Land, change their minds. Under these circumstances, they couldn''t possibly hold back their strength. They had to fight for a higher ranking and obtain more precious special rewards!


    "The highest reward!"


    Ye Chen''s thoughts stirred. He originally didn''t want to stand out too much in the clan competition. Being in the top thirty and acquiring a pass token was sufficient for him; the exact ranking didn''t matter.


    Now, the words of the elder made him discard his initial thoughts. The first place of the clan competition would grant the highest reward. For Ye Chen, who aimed to seize a great opportunity in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, it was, of course, something he had to vie for!


    Not just Ye Chen, but all those who had a chance at first place took the competition seriously, with no trace of underestimation.


    Someone even spoke up, asking, "Elder, what exactly are the special rewards and the highest reward?"


    The elder of the Bai Family didn''t hesitate and directly revealed the special rewards for the top ten in the grand competition of the three clans. He knew that the young folks in the audience would only put in more effort to compete for ranking if they knew about the rewards first.


    "The top ten in this grand competition of the three clans will each receive a copy of the ''Ancestral Ground Secret Map.'' This ''Ancestral Ground Secret Map'' shows the important treasure areas of the Ancestral Land.


    According to the rules set by the great one who established the Ancestral Land, only the top ten of the clan competition are qualified to receive the secret map and explore those important treasure areas."


    "Others can only search for treasure based on the ordinary Ancestral Land map, relying on luck alone!"


    "Moreover, these ''Ancestral Ground Secret Maps'' are specially crafted, and the top ten are each unique, with the higher ranks receiving increasingly precious maps! Only those who obtain the secret maps can enter the corresponding important treasure zones.


    Therefore, don''t expect to be able to use the secret maps together--you''ll have to rely on your own strength to secure a top ten ranking and claim your map!"


    Ancestral Ground Secret Map!


    Important treasure zones!


    Each secret map is unique; the higher the rank, the more precious the map!


    These pieces of information clearly indicate that there''s a high possibility of obtaining Secret Treasures from the important treasure zones depicted in the secret maps for those who place in the top ten of the clan competition--at the very least, it would be easier for them than for others!


    And the higher the ranking within the top ten, the more precious the Secret Treasures that can be obtained!


    Naturally, this made all the young participants in the competition strive even harder for a top ten ranking, fighting for the best positions within it!


    "This is the special reward for the top ten, and the ultimate reward for the first place in this competition is--''Ancestral Blood''!"


    Ancestral Blood?!


    At the mention of these two words, everyone was momentarily stunned.


    They had no idea what Ancestral Blood was, but just the term "Ancestral Blood" and the patriarch''s mention of the ultimate reward made everyone understand that Ancestral Blood must be related to one of the most crucial elements of the Ancestral Land!


    "Ancestral Blood is the Lifeblood left by the great person who established the Ancestral Land. Rumor has it that those who possess Ancestral Blood may even have the chance to obtain the ultimate reward preserved by that great person within the Ancestral Land--the most precious reward of the entire Ancestral Land!"


    As he spoke these words, the voice of the Bai Family''s old patriarch even began to tremble.


    "Our three families have inherited the Ancestral Land for over twelve hundred years, and it has been opened five times. However, during the previous five openings, none who held the Ancestral Blood found the ultimate reward mentioned by that great person.


    This time, during the sixth opening of the Ancestral Land, it remains to be seen who among you will obtain the Ancestral Blood, and who will be lucky enough to find that ultimate reward!"


    Ancestral Blood!


    The Lifeblood left by the great person who established the Ancestral Land!


    It''s even related to the most precious reward of the entire Ancestral Land, the ultimate reward that hasn''t been discovered in the previous five openings!


    The words of the old patriarch drove everyone into a frenzy.


    Those who had entered the Ancestral Land in the past, who did not find the ultimate reward, still obtained countless precious Secret Treasures and great opportunities to advance to the Spirit Sea Realm. If they were to find the ultimate reward, then how precious could this most precious ultimate reward be?


    Perhaps, compared to the ultimate reward, the countless Secret Treasures of the past would seem as common as a speck of dust!


    Although it could be deduced from the old patriarch''s words that obtaining Ancestral Blood did not guarantee finding the ultimate reward, no one would give up even the slightest hope, nor the chance to search for that ultimate prize!


    Because where there''s opportunity, there''s possibility!


    The top thirty in the inter-family competition would earn the right to enter the Ancestral Land.


    The top ten would get the "Ancestral Ground Secret Map"!


    The first place winner of the competition would receive the most precious and special ultimate reward--Ancestral Blood!


    The rewards for the competition announced by the Bai Family''s old patriarch had fully mobilized the fighting spirit of all the young participants.


    Even Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, who had come with Ye Chen and had not held much hope for making it into the top thirty of the family competition, were now inspired by the atmosphere and willing to give it their all!

 Chapter 80: Chapter 74 Bell Snatching

    Seeing the expressions of the young men, Patriarch Bai nodded his head.


    "I have already explained the rewards for this tri-clan competition."


    "Now, let us officially start the three rounds of the competition!"


    "The first round will be hosted by Patriarch Ye!"


    After Patriarch Bai finished speaking, he stepped back, and the Ye Family''s elder stood forward.


    "Our Ye Family''s elder!"


    Ye Chen looked towards the elder, curious about how he would explain the rules for the first round.


    Patriarch Ye''s gaze swept across the competitors at the Martial Arts Plaza, then, he extended his right hand.


    In his hand were two small bells, one white and one black.


    "The first round is called ''Bell Snatching''. These bells in my hand were specially forged by our ancestors from the three clans--the Yin Yang Profound Bell!"


    "There are one hundred Yin Yang Profound Bells in total. Among them, the black bells, known as ''Yin Xuanling'', number ninety, while the white bells, known as ''Yang Profound Bell'', number ten."


    "Once activated, the Yin Yang Profound Bells will fly chaotically in every direction across the sky. Your task is to capture these one hundred bells!"


    "Whoever captures a bell will pass the first round and enter the top hundred, qualifying for the second round of competition--the Arena Battles!"


    "Capturing one of the ninety black Yin Xuanling is somewhat easier. The ninety individuals who capture a Yin Xuanling will earn a place as challenger in the second round''s Arena Battles!"


    "The ten white Yang Profound Bells are extremely difficult to capture. Those who capture any of these ten will earn a place as main defender in the second round''s Arena Battles!"


    "As for the positions of challenger and main defender in the second round, we will explain how the battles will be conducted when the time comes. You just need to know that the main defender''s position is, of course, more valuable than that of a challenger. If you are capable, try your best to capture one of the ten Yang Profound Bells!"


    "Even if you can''t capture a Yang Profound Bell, you must capture a Yin Xuanling; otherwise, you will be directly eliminated!"


    "Remember, only one hundred competitors will advance from the first round; the rest will be eliminated!"


    The words of Patriarch Ye made the young men preparing to participate in the tri-clan competition take a deep breath.


    The youths participating in the competition numbered seven to eight hundred, yet in this first round, the vast majority would be eliminated, leaving only one hundred to progress to the next round.


    This elimination rate was extremely high!


    "Yin Xuanling, Yang Profound Bell?"


    Ye Chen looked at the two small bells, one black and one white, in the elder''s hand.


    Like Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, and others also looked towards the bells in Patriarch Ye''s hand, their eyes particularly fixated on the white Yang Profound Bell.


    Clearly, they intended to take the lead in this first round of the competition by snatching up the ten most elusive Yang Profound Bells.


    Patriarch Ye continued, "The ''Bell Snatching'' competition will take place on the ''Thousand Feet Field'' to the west of our tri-clan Martial Arts Plaza. After seizing a bell, infuse it with True Qi. The bell will burst, claiming it as your own. Each person can only infuse True Qi into a bell once, and once a bell is claimed, they must withdraw from the contest!"


    "Now, all those participating in the first round, head to the ''Thousand Feet Field'' to prepare!"


    After Patriarch Ye finished speaking, all the young men participating in the tri-clan competition rushed towards the "Thousand Feet Field", while the spectators also moved to watch from outside the field.


    The Thousand Feet Field was an enormous area thousands of feet in square to the west of the Martial Arts Plaza, usually used by the members of the three clans for martial demonstrations.


    At that moment, over eight hundred youth stood in the Thousand Feet Field.


    They waited in silence for the beginning of the first round of the "Bell Snatching" competition!


    "Ye Chen, are you confident you can snatch a black Yin Xuanling?"


    Seeing each young man around him staring up at the sky, Bai Xiaodong started to feel nervous, fearing he might be eliminated in this very first round of Bell Snatching.


    At that moment, Qian Yun wasn''t much better off than Bai Xiaodong. To be among the top hundred out of more than eight hundred contenders, his odds weren''t great.


    Ye Chen looked at Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, smiled, and said, "Just now, the elder said that each person can only infuse True Qi into a bell once and choose only one bell, but he didn''t say we can''t help others snatch, right?"


    "Xiaodong, Yun, I''ll try to see if I can help you snatch two."


    "Do you want a Yin Xuanling or a Yang Profound Bell? However, I''ve never snatched a Yang Profound Bell, so I''m not sure how easy it will be to snatch."


    Ye Chen''s words took Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun by surprise.


    What?


    Ye Chen was going to help them snatch bells?


    With all the young men around them completely focused, fearing they might not catch one, Ye Chen was confident he could help them both snatch a bell?


    And he had even proposed to help them snag the most difficult Yang Profound Bell?


    Considering there were only ten Yang Profound Bells in total and that Ye Chen was only at the seventh level of True Qi, with no less than thirty people on the field of a higher realm than him, he still aimed for the Yang Profound Bell?


    Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun were startled by Ye Chen''s words.


    What they didn''t know was that Ye Chen had already cultivated the Xuan grade movement technique "Wind Movement Skills," which he obtained from the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, to a minor level of proficiency, allowing him to fly more than fifty meters or even soar up to fifty plus meters with the wind!


    It was rare for disciples in the realm of True Qi to cultivate such a Xuan grade movement technique, let alone to reach a minor level of proficiency.


    One hundred bells? Ye Chen was certainly going to try and snatch a few more!


    "No need for the Yang Profound Bell!"


    "Even if we manage to snatch the Yang Profound Bell, the second round of the competition might not be easy!"


    "Ye Chen... if you can really help, it would be great if you can help us snatch the Yin Xuanling..."


    The two looked at Ye Chen, who didn''t seem to be joking, and impulsively spoke out.


    "Okay!"


    "I''ll try, whether it''s the Yang Profound Bell or the Yin Xuanling, I''ll snatch two for you!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled with divine light; this first round of "Bell Snatching" was indeed interesting, and he was keen to really give it a try!


    While Ye Chen and the others were talking, Patriarch Ye had already carried a large bag to the outskirts of the Thousand Feet Field.


    Seeing the large bag in his hand, everyone knew that this must contain the Yin Yang Profound Bells for the first round of the competition!


    "The bells that fly!"


    "The first round of the competition is about to begin!"


    Everyone watching from outside the field turned their attention towards the Thousand Feet Field.


    In the crowd, the little girl Tao''er was with Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin, and she too got excited: "Young Master is about to compete, I wonder what color bell he will snatch in the first round?"


    "Chen, come on! Strive to snatch a bell!"


    Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin were also getting anxious at this moment, watching Ye Chen''s faintly visible figure in the Thousand Feet Field without blinking.


    When Patriarch Ye reached the edge of the Thousand Feet Field, all the young participants of the three clans'' grand competition gathered their full attention.


    They were ready to snatch the moment the old patriarch activated the Yin Yang Profound Bell.


    As everyone held their breath, Patriarch Ye''s bag suddenly shook violently.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Countless black small bells flew rapidly towards the inside of the Thousand Feet Field in an instant.


    Among these countless black small bells, ten white Yang Profound Bells shot out like flames towards the sky at high speed.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As countless bells surged out in an instant, the youths in the Thousand Feet Field shook their True Qi violently, using their movement techniques to chase after the scattered bells.


    Among these numerous figures, several shot directly towards the white bells soaring into the sky, and it was evident they were after the white Yang Profound Bells!


    Within these figures, one moved faster and soared higher than all the others.


    In an instant, he powered up and soared straight up forty to fifty meters high, even surpassing the white bells shooting towards the sky.


    This figure then reached out with a large hand and grabbed at three white bells, and with a lightning-fast move, he actually snatched three white Yang Profound Bells!


    "What!"


    "Who is that!"


    "Such swift movement!"


    When spectators outside the Thousand Feet Field saw the figure soaring higher and faster than anyone else, grabbing three white bells in one go, they all shouted out in shock.


    The three great patriarchs watching this first round of competition from outside the field were all agape as well.


    "It''s not Xiaodie!"


    "It''s not Qian Ming!"


    "Which youth is that?"


    Patriarch Bai and Patriarch Qian from the three great patriarchs were completely dumbfounded.


    And in Patriarch Ye''s mind flashed a name: "Could it be him... Ye Chen?!"


    Within the crowd of onlookers, the little girl Tao''er saw the figure that had soared into the sky and grabbed three white small bells, and she exclaimed excitedly, "It''s Young Master!"


    This figure, surpassing everyone and grabbing three white Yang Profound Bells, was none other than Ye Chen!

 Chapter 81: Chapter 75: His Name is Ye Chen!

    As the first round of the competition had just begun, Ye Chen astounded everyone watching outside the arena with his powerful movement technique, striking like lightning!


    The spectators outside were shocked beyond measure, but those participants from the three families within the Thousand Feet Field who were competing alongside Ye Chen were even more astonished, and their shock was much more direct!


    Because they were right beside Ye Chen, they had a clearer view!


    At the moment Patriarch Ye released the Yin Yang Profound Bell, everyone had launched their pursuit simultaneously, yet Ye Chen was able to surge past everyone in an instant, soaring to a height of forty or fifty meters in the blink of an eye, even surpassing the white Yang Profound Bell shooting towards the sky!


    Such speed, such movement technique, completely dumbfounded all the other participants from the three families!


    Even the genuinely strong participants from the three families like Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming, who had also been in pursuit of the Yang Profound Bell, were momentarily stunned.


    The entire Thousand Feet Field, with over eight hundred participants in the "Bell Snatching" first round, even felt a strange sense of suspension for a moment.


    A hundred black and white bells were flying chaotically in every direction, while the more than eight hundred young bell snatchers were all momentarily dumbfounded, only watching Ye Chen as he reached for the swiftly approaching white Yang Profound Bell!


    And when Ye Chen caught three white Yang Profound Bells in one swoop, that moment of suspension turned into exclamations of astonishment, just like those of the outsiders watching the competition.


    "My god."


    "What kind of movement technique is this!"


    "Who is that?"


    A swell of discussion rose, sweeping across the entirety of the Thousand Feet Field in an instant, and amidst this shock, the participants had even forgotten to chase after the bells that were still speeding away!


    Within the Bell Snatching participants, Bai Xiaodie was next to Ye Chen, chasing those swiftly flying Yang Profound Bells.


    At this moment, the young girl who had been quiet and indifferent since entering the Martial Arts Plaza was now filled with disbelief, her large, bright eyes fixed on Ye Chen, with all her indifference vanishing into thin air.


    She had never imagined that among the family, there would be a young man with a movement technique even stronger than hers!


    Such a movement technique, even in her own sect, the sixth-grade great sect "Peach Blossom Valley," was rarely achievable by True Qi Realm disciples!


    "He is..."


    Bai Xiaodie looked towards Ye Chen, but could not remember the name of this youth.


    The Ye, Bai, and Qian families had dominated Qingyang City for over a thousand years, with descendants spread far and wide. The younger generation was especially numerous, and except for a few familiar sisters, Bai Xiaodie, who had always been dedicated to her cultivation, wasn''t familiar with the other young members at all.


    Or rather, no one had ever managed to catch her attention.


    Now, this young man who surpassed her had suddenly invoked a desire within Bai Xiaodie to get to know him!


    She wanted to know which family this young man, who seemed about her age, belonged to, and what his name was -- how could he be so incredible!


    "The tri-family competition really does hide some young talents with secret strengths!"


    "Which family does he belong to? He is definitely not from our Qian Family. Could he be from the Bai Family, or possibly the Ye Family?"


    At this moment, Qian Ming also felt a sense of crisis.


    This unexpectedly powerful young man had become another person who commanded his attention besides Bai Xiaodie.


    He aimed to win the tri-family competition, and there were hardly any among the young generation he took seriously.


    He used to have only Bai Xiaodie on his mind, but now there was another!


    Not only had Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming failed to recognize Ye Chen, the vast majority of the participants from the three families in the competition were unfamiliar with Ye Chen.


    "Who is this powerful young man, exactly?"


    This question arose in the hearts of the majority.


    It was very normal not to know Ye Chen, who had always been so unremarkable within his family.


    Among the crowd, only a select few of about a dozen people recognized Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "That''s Ye Chen!"


    A tall-legged young girl who was following Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, and others in pursuit of the white Yang Profound Bells suddenly recognized Ye Chen.


    This girl, whose long legs were straight and shapely, was a captivating figure at seventeen or eighteen years old - from the Ye Family, just like Ye Chen, and currently the highest in the True Qi Realm among the younger generation of the Ye Family, with the ninth level of True Qi, Ye Xue!


    Ye Xue, according to the Ye Family''s internal hierarchy, was Ye Chen''s older cousin.


    When she was younger, not much older than Ye Chen, Ye Xue would often play with him.


    Later, once Ye Xue entered the seventh-grade sect "Huoli Sect" and left the family, her contact with Ye Chen reduced significantly.


    When she heard about the incident involving Ye Chen''s parents and the rumors that Ye Chen had provoked a Spirit Sea Realm expert, Ye Xue was also startled. She had hurried back to the family not only to participate in the tri-family competition but to see if she could assist Ye Chen in any way.


    After learning from the Patriarch that Ye Chen and his parents had safely returned, Ye Xue had even gone specifically to visit Ye Chen''s parents, but at the time Ye Chen was in the midst of his training and she did not see him.


    What Ye Xue did not expect was that Ye Chen would now be so formidable, seizing everyone''s attention as the frontrunner during the first round of the tri-family competition!


    "No wonder Ye Chen has even provoked a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse; his strength has become so formidable!"


    As she watched the youth soaring above the crowd, Ye Xue murmured to herself.


    In addition to Ye Xue, those youths who regularly trained with Ye Chen before he had joined Qingyun Sect also recognized him now.


    "It''s Ye Chen!"


    "My God, Ye Chen has become so powerful?"


    "Didn''t he join the eighth-rank Qingyun Sect? How could he have improved so quickly?"


    At this moment, the two people whose hearts were most tumultuous were Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun.


    Seeing Ye Chen grabbing three white Yang Profound Bells, they immediately remembered what he had said before the competition started.


    Back then, when Ye Chen said he would try to help the two of them snatch the bells, they thought he was joking.


    Even when Ye Chen said he would help them snatch the Yang Profound Bells, they wondered if he had gone mad to think of snatching one of the mere ten Yang Profound Bells available.


    Now, with Ye Chen clasping three Yang Profound Bells in his hand, it was clear that in addition to keeping one for himself, he had also managed to grab two for them.


    Ye Chen had directly fulfilled his earlier promise!


    Not only did he help them snatch the bells, but he also snatched the most precious Yang Profound Bells!


    "Ye Chen..."


    "I can''t believe Ye Chen really has such strength!"


    "He wasn''t bragging; he truly can help us snatch the bells!"


    Amidst Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun''s murmurs, amidst the stunned silence of hundreds of youths from the three clans, amidst the shock of the strongest youths like Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, and Ye Xue from the three clans, and under the watchful eyes of countless spectators from the clans outside the arena.


    Ye Chen, holding three white Yang Profound Bells, twisted his body and swooped downwards.


    Under countless gazes, he flew directly towards Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun.


    "Xiaodong, Ah Yun, these two bells are for you."


    Ye Chen stretched out his hand and pushed the two wildly struggling, flying white bells into their hands.


    "He snatched three Yang Profound Bells, and the extra two were for helping others?"


    "By the looks of it, did he plan to snatch three at once from the start?"


    "Three Yang Profound Bells, out of only ten in total, and he was confident enough to snatch three all at once?!"


    Ye Chen''s actions once again astonished the many youths of the three clans who were watching him.


    While they were still worried about whether they could snatch a bell, this youth was able to help others snatch bells, and not just any bells, but the most precious ones.


    That''s just too powerful!


    These youths of the three clans wouldn''t say anything about Ye Chen''s actions; in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, martial prowess is revered, and in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, the martial spirit is especially strong.


    Ye Chen, being so powerful, was also helping his comrades within the allowed rules.


    Others could only admire him, wishing that they had such a powerful comrade to help them, just like Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun!


    Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, holding the Yang Profound Bells, were also flushed with excitement.


    "Ye Chen, thank you!"


    The two hadn''t imagined that they would have the chance to hold a Yang Profound Bell in their hands.


    Ye Chen!


    So his name is Ye Chen!


    The way Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun addressed Ye Chen caught the attention of all the youths who were observing him, as they simultaneously turned to look at the youth standing beside Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun.


    "Ye Chen."


    Bai Xiaodie, dressed in a bright yellow gown, softly recited the two characters.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Qian Ming, at the eleventh layer of True Qi Realm, mentioned this name with a grave expression.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "His name is Ye Chen!"


    All the youths participating in the tri-clan competition instantly remembered that name, the name of the youth called Ye Chen!

 Chapter 82: Chapter 76: The Top Ten Combat Arenas

    ```


    "Infuse it with True Qi, with these three bells, we can all enter the next round of the competition!" Ye Chen said to Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun with a smile.


    As stated by Patriarch Ye, who was hosting the first round of the competition, after snatching the Yin Yang Profound Bells, by infusing True Qi into the bells, and once they explode, it is deemed that the first round of "Bell Snatching" was a success, thus smoothly advancing to the second round of the three clans'' grand competition.


    By now, Ye Chen had successfully snatched bells for Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun; only the step of infusing them with True Qi remained.


    Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun were not stubborn people, of course, they would not decline such a thing, and with a flick of their True Qi, they began to infuse it into the Yang Profound Bells in their hands.


    However, when their True Qi entered the Yang Profound Bells, it was like throwing stones into the sea, causing not the slightest movement of the bells, let alone making them burst and acknowledging their success in Bell Snatching.


    "What''s going on?"


    "Could it be that our power is insufficient, and these Yang Profound Bells are simply not meant for us to possess?"


    The faces of Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun changed.


    At this moment, Ye Chen also noticed that something was amiss. With a thought, he looked again at the bells flying all over the sky. This time, with a light flicker of his figure, two black Yin Xuanling bells instantly landed in his hands.


    This ease, once again, surprised the countless onlookers who were paying attention to Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodong, and Qian Yun.


    Everyone could see that this first round of "Bell Snatching" posed no difficulty for Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen''s power had already far surpassed the requirements of the first round!


    He could easily capture any flying Yin Yang Profound Bells!


    "If the Yang Profound Bell isn''t working, let''s try these two then!"


    Ye Chen handed the two Yin Xuanling bells to them again.


    If this attempt still didn''t work, then they would have to snatch them by themselves.


    This time, when Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun infused True Qi into the Yin Xuanling bells, two loud "bangs" were heard, and the two bells burst apart immediately.


    "We did it!"


    "We succeeded in Bell Snatching!"


    The instant the two Yin Xuanling bells exploded, Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun felt a great force ejecting them from the Thousand Feet Field.


    At the same time, the two white Yang Profound Bells Ye Chen had given them earlier flew out of their palms again and started to zoom haphazardly back inside the Thousand Feet Field.


    Instantly, both understood that with Ye Chen''s help, they had successfully accomplished the first round of the competition!


    Although they had failed to make the Yang Profound Bells explode, successfully snatching the Yin Xuanling bells had allowed them to enter the top one hundred and to secure one of the ninety deputy positions in the second round of Arena Combat!


    Seeing that Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun had completed the "Bell Snatching", Ye Chen didn''t hesitate any longer. A blue gleam of Qi surged from his hand, and in an instant, countless strands of the world''s True Qi rushed into the white Yang Profound Bell he held.


    The Yang Profound Bell, which Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun had failed to make explode, blew up instantly in Ye Chen''s hands with a "bang", and a dazzling white light flared across the entire Thousand Feet Field!


    This signified that Ye Chen too had succeeded in "Bell Snatching"!


    He was the first to capture one of the ten Yang Profound Bells and secured the first "chief" position in the second round of Arena Combat!


    After Ye Chen flew out of the Thousand Feet Field, those young contestants from the three clans, who had been shocked by Ye Chen''s formidable bodily movements, finally re-entered the Bell Snatching mode.


    "Bell Snatching!"


    "Like Ye Chen, let''s snatch the Yin Yang Profound Bells and move on to the next round!"


    Dozens of figures became extremely active all over the Thousand Feet Field, chasing the wildly flying Yin Xuanling bells, and those powerful disciples from the three clans were even reaching for the remaining nine Yang Profound Bells.


    The whole Thousand Feet Field plunged back into the frenzied competition of "Bell Snatching"!


    At this time, Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodong, and Qian Yun stood outside the Thousand Feet Field, watching the ongoing first round and waiting for the final results to emerge.


    Half a tea time after the three of them exited the Thousand Feet Field, another figure flew out from the field.


    This figure, dressed in bright yellow martial attire, with an attractive face, was none other than the genius girl from the Bai Family, Bai Xiaodie!


    Bai Xiaodie also succeeded in Bell Snatching, and like Ye Chen, she too captured one of the ten Yang Profound Bells!


    As soon as Bai Xiaodie landed outside the field, she looked towards Ye Chen, who was watching the battle. The girl, as concise and straightforward as her attire, directly approached Ye Chen and greeted him, "Hello Ye Chen, my name is Bai Xiaodie."


    "You''re really amazing, to be able to catch the Yang Profound Bell so quickly in the first round. And for you to catch three at once! In terms of agility, I''m nowhere close to you!"


    Seeing Bai Xiaodie walk up to Ye Chen all of a sudden, Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun''s hearts began to race.


    Previously, they had never interacted with Bai Xiaodie, and now here she was, standing vivaciously in front of them, naturally causing their hearts to beat furiously.


    Even Bai Xiaodong, who came from the same Bai Family, had never stood so close to Bai Xiaodie before.


    Now, because of Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie had come to stand beside them, allowing them to closely observe the renowned genius girl of the three great families!


    Ye Chen, unlike Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, simply nodded with a smile to Bai Xiaodie, exchanged a few words in a low voice, and then turned his gaze back to the Thousand Feet Field.


    Not long after Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, as well as the other two, had succeeded in Bell Snatching, another five or six people snatched Yin Xuanling bells and flew out of the Thousand Feet Field.


    Subsequently, the eleventh-layer True Qi powerhouse from the Qian Family, Qian Ming, lived up to expectations, becoming the third to obtain a Yang Profound Bell.


    ```


    When Ye Xue, Ye Chen''s older cousin, snatched the eighth Yang Profound Bell, the Yin Yang Profound Bells that were still flying about in the Thousand Feet Field were now few and far between.


    In the end, as half an hour passed by, the last Yin Xuanling was captured and successfully filled with True Qi by a sixteen-year-old teenager from the Ye Family, leaving no more Yin Yang Profound Bells flying chaotically around the Thousand Feet Field; they had all been taken!


    Ninety Yin Xuangling and ten Yang Profound Bells had all found their respective snatchers!


    "The first round has ended!"


    "The Top one hundred contenders have all been selected!"


    "My child, Luoer, succeeded in Bell Snatching!"


    "Qian Feng, you''re amazing, you snatched a Yang Profound Bell!"


    After all who had snatched a bell made their way out of the Thousand Feet Field, the watching clan members from the three families crowded in, many of them shouting excitedly.


    These excited individuals were unmistakably connected to those who had succeeded in Bell Snatching.


    "Young Master!"


    "Chen!"


    Little Tao''er, together with Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin, waved their hands excitedly toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s performance in this round had shocked all the clan members of the three families, and the three of them were the happiest!


    However, in the competition among the three major clans, success naturally means there is also failure.


    At this moment, the more than seven hundred young men who didn''t snatch a bell walked out of the Thousand Feet Field with dejected expressions, many shedding tears.


    Although they had a realistic assessment of their own abilities, failing in the very first round still brought them down.


    It meant that they had no chance in the next two rounds and were now without hope for access to the ancestral land, which only opened once every few hundred years!


    The family members of these youngsters flocked around them, comforting them in hushed tones, easing their emotions slightly.


    The first round had concluded.


    Patriarch Ye, who was overseeing the first round, walked out with a smile on his face.


    He even nodded towards Ye Chen with a smile, causing Ye Chen to be momentarily stunned.


    Ye Chen''s performance in the first round had indeed brought a pleasant surprise to Patriarch Ye; besides Ye Xue, the younger generation of the Ye Family didn''t have any standout youths this time. Ye Chen had suddenly kindled great hope within him.


    Maybe this young man could overpower the rest and claim the first place in the competition among the three clans, bringing glory to the entire Ye Family!


    Patriarch Ye even harbored such expectations; he was eagerly looking forward to Ye Chen''s performance in the next rounds!


    "Alright, the first round, ''Bell Snatching,'' has ended!"


    "The selections for the main contenders of the ten arenas and the ninety supplementary contenders for the next round, ''Arena Combat,'' have all been determined!"


    "Now, let Patriarch Qian announce the rules for the second round!"


    After Patriarch Ye joyously declared the end of the first round, Patriarch Qian, the only one among the three patriarchs who had not yet spoken, stood up.


    Patriarch Qian was of middle-age among the three clan leaders, a vigorous old man in his sixties with a full beard.


    His gaze swept over the one hundred youths who had qualified for the second round and spoke, "You hundred people have successfully snatched the bells and entered the second round, ''Arena Combat''!"


    "For the second round ''Arena Combat,'' ten major combat arenas have been prepared for you!"


    As he spoke, a black box appeared directly in his hands. Patriarch Qian gently opened the box, and innumerable rays of light shot out, descending upon the Thousand Feet Field.


    Before everyone''s eyes, ten massive arena clusters suddenly appeared in the originally vast Thousand Feet Field amid a great flash of light.


    Each arena cluster featured a colossal white platform standing six meters high and with a diameter of eleven to twelve meters, surrounded by nine smaller black platforms each three meters high and approximately five to six meters in diameter.


    Each arena cluster, identical in design, totaled ten.


    This was precisely the ten major combat arenas Patriarch Qian had referred to!


    Seeing the ten combat arenas instantly take shape within the Thousand Feet Field, all the clan members from the three families were taken aback. They could tell that these platforms were the result of the light emitted from the box in Patriarch Qian''s hands, condensing into form.


    The box in Patriarch Qian''s hand was clearly a treasure, capable of instantly setting up combat arenas!


    "Condensing Qi into Platforms?"


    "This must be a marvelous Creation Treasure!"


    "Matched in black and white colors, just like the Yin Yang Profound Bell, could this also have been specially prepared by our ancestors for selecting clansmen to enter the ancestral land?"


    Ye Chen looked at the distinct black and white combat arenas in the Thousand Feet Field, then glanced at the box in Patriarch Qian''s hand, thinking to himself.


    Both the flying Yin Yang Profound Bells from the first round and the instantaneously set combat arenas from the second round felt incredibly magical to him.


    If these items prepared solely for the selection process to enter the ancestral land were this extraordinary, how wondrous must that mysterious ancestral land be?


    Ye Chen''s anticipation for the yet-to-be-explored ancestral land grew even stronger!

 Chapter 83: Chapter 77: The First Main Contest

    After the ten arena combat platforms were all set up, Patriarch Qian continued, "As you have all seen, these ten arena combat platforms are divided into ten combat zones."


    "Each combat zone has a huge white platform; this is the main platform of the ten great arena combats, and those who previously seized the Yang Profound Bell will enter this main platform!"


    "The nine smaller platforms that remain are the nine auxiliary platforms for each combat zone, and those who seized the Yin Xuanling will enter the auxiliary platforms."


    "The second round of competition is divided into two types of battles: ''Ancestral Land Qualification Battle'' and ''Top Ten Selection Battle''."


    "The Ancestral Land Qualification Battle takes place on the nine auxiliary platforms within each combat zone, with nine people fighting each other until the two strongest among the nine are decided. The two strongest of the auxiliary platforms in each combat zone, along with one main platform victor, making three people in total.


    With ten combat zones, that makes thirty people in all who will finally enter the Ancestral Land to participate in the exploration of the Ancestral Ground Secret Realm!"


    As soon as Patriarch Qian''s voice fell, the one hundred youngsters participating in the second round and the clan members of the three tribes all became agitated.


    Listening to Patriarch Qian, it was clear that in the second round of the competition, the thirty people who would enter the Ancestral Ground Secret Realm were to be directly selected.


    Moreover, according to this rule, the ten people in the ten main platform positions, unlike the nine people in the auxiliary platforms who still had to fight each other to determine the strongest two, the ten main platform holders seemed to have already been included in the list of thirty, directly obtaining the qualification to enter the Ancestral Land!


    Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, among others who had obtained the white Yang Profound Bell, exchanged glances, with excitement in their eyes.


    They, the ten of them, had seized the Yang Profound Bell and entered the main platform, which already meant that they could enter the Ancestral Land!


    Everyone understood, no wonder that during the first round of competition, Patriarch Ye said that one must seize the Yang Profound Bell if possible. It turned out there were such great benefits in seizing the Yang Profound Bell!


    However, obtaining the Yang Profound Bell had always been much more difficult than obtaining the Yin Xuanling, and for these ten who had seized the Yang Profound Bell, entering the top thirty was effortless!


    Obtaining the qualification to enter the Ancestral Land was well-deserved.


    "What I just explained are the rules for the ''Ancestral Land Qualification Battle''."


    Patriarch Qian pressed the air with his palm, quelling the discussions in the venue, and continued, "After the thirty are selected for the Ancestral Land Qualification Battle, the ''Top Ten Selection Battle'' will begin."


    "Before the competition of the three tribes began, Patriarch Bai also stated that the top ten will receive special rewards when entering the Ancestral Land, so, of course, the top ten must be selected."


    "The purpose of this Top Ten Selection Battle is to select the top ten!"


    "In each combat zone, the two auxiliary platform victors who win the ''Ancestral Land Qualification Battle'' will have the opportunity to challenge the main platform. Eventually, the strongest in each combat zone will be the first of that combat zone."


    "The ones who rank first in these ten combat zones will be the final top ten of this competition among the three tribes, also the final ten contestants of the second round ''Top Ten Selection Battle''!"


    "After these ten contestants are determined, they will enter the final round of the three tribes'' competition, the third round ''Top Ten Ranking Battle''!"


    At this point, Patriarch Qian looked at the youngsters in the arena, focusing mainly on the ten main platform holders like Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie.


    "The ninety of you who seized the Yin Xuanling, you must strive to break into the top thirty; this is your challenge!"


    "The ten of you who seized the Yang Profound Bell must not be careless. Although you are already set for the top thirty and can enter the Ancestral Land, if you are defeated by the two strongest auxiliary platforms in the ''Top Ten Selection Battle'', you will not be able to enter the top ten and will lose the chance to obtain the special reward for the top ten."


    "I believe that you all want more than just the qualification to enter the Ancestral Land. Those special rewards, the ''Ancestral Ground Secret Map'' and the ''Ancestral Blood'', you want to obtain them too, don''t you?"


    "Therefore, each one of you must perform well in this second round ''Arena Combat'' and bring out your strongest ability to achieve good results!"


    Having finished speaking, all the young competitors'' eyes burned with the will to fight.


    The ninety candidates for the auxiliary platforms naturally strove hard to make it into the top thirty!


    And for Ye Chen and the other nine, just as Patriarch Qian said, they aimed not just for the top thirty but to break into the top ten and obtain the right to enter the final round, the "Top Ten Ranking Battle".


    By achieving excellent rankings in the Top Ten Ranking Battle, they aimed to take hold of the "Ancestral Ground Secret Map" prepared specifically for entering the Ancestral Land, and even more ambitiously, to capture the highest reward, the "Ancestral Blood" by finishing first!


    The competitors filled with the will to fight were ready for their battling trials, just waiting for the beginning of the second round "Arena Combat"!


    Finally, Patriarch Qian announced, "All the rules, I have already explained them."


    "Now, go to your positions and prepare to start the Arena Combat!"


    "Look at your palms, the number that appears in the center of your hands is your combat zone position. White represents the main platform position, black represents the auxiliary platform position."


    As Patriarch Qian''s voice fell, the palms of the one hundred youngsters present all lit up.


    At the same time, all the arenas among the ten in the thousand-zhang space radiated light, revealing a series of numbers.


    These numbers, ranging from one to ten, were precisely the numerals of the ten Combat Zones!


    "The symbol in my palm is a ''black nine,'' I will enter the ninth Combat Zone!"


    "Mine is a ''white seven,'' I am the principal contestant of the seventh Combat Zone!"


    Each of the youngsters looked at the palms of their hands, saw their position announcements, and then turned their gaze towards the arenas within the thousand-zhang space.


    At that moment, Ye Chen also looked into his palm where, strikingly, a dazzling white number "one" emerged!


    Ye Chen''s position was, astonishingly, that of the primary contestant in the first Combat Zone!


    Once everyone had clearly discerned their positions, Patriarch Qian loudly declared, "Enter the Combat Zones and prepare to commence your Arena Combat!"


    Following his words, a succession of figures flew towards the arenas inside the thousand-zhang space.


    And Ye Chen soared directly towards the centermost arena of the ten grand Combat Zones ¨C the highest white arena in the first Combat Zone!


    Soon after, everyone positioned themselves.


    The observing members of the three clans gathered around the ten Combat Zones.


    Standing atop the vast white main arena of the first Combat Zone, Ye Chen surveyed the field.


    He noticed that next to him, in the main contestant position of the second Combat Zone, was none other than Bai Xiaodie.


    At this time, Bai Xiaodie, seeing Ye Chen''s examining gaze, smiled and nodded gently towards him.


    Ye Chen then looked towards the other arenas and saw Bai Xiaodong currently in the deputy position of the seventh, while Qian Yun was in the deputy position of the ninth.


    Just as Ye Chen was assessing the situation, a young girl''s voice suddenly called out from below the first Combat Zone.


    "Young Master!"


    "Young Master!"


    Following the sound, Ye Chen saw the young girl Tao''er, along with his father and mother, squeezed into the crowd observing the first Combat Zone.


    "Dad, Mom, Tao''er!"


    Ye Chen also greeted the three of them.


    "Qian Feng, I never expected that both of us would enter the third Combat Zone!"


    "Heavens, the principal contestant of our Combat Zone is Qian Ming, it''s over, there''s no hope of taking first place in this Zone and advancing into the top ten."


    "Bai Xiaodie, Bai Xiaodie is in our Combat Zone!"


    "Is that... Ye Chen from the first round with the exceptional martial skills? He is right there in the primary position of our first Combat Zone. Could his strength be as formidable as his technique? Only by advancing into the deputy finals of the Combat Zone can we confront him!"


    Once all were positioned, they began to appraise their soon-to-be opponents and the principal contestants of their respective arenas, and waves of exclamations and discussions echoed in all directions.


    "Let''s begin the second round of the first match of the ''Ancestral Land Qualification Battle''!"


    Accompanying Patriarch Qian''s voice, all the arenas across the ten Combat Zones commenced their deputy combat exchanges!


    Standing on the largest and highest white arena in the first Combat Zone, Ye Chen looked down.


    At this time, the first Combat Zone''s earliest match was between two deputy contestants ¨C one was a young man wielding an iron rod, the other a young woman holding twin blades.


    Ye Chen did not need to take action in this first "Ancestral Land Qualification Battle." He simply watched the combatants, preparing to assess the strength of the younger generation from the three great clans.

 Chapter 84: Chapter 78 Watching the Battle, Comprehending the Sword

    The youth wielding an iron staff displayed a staff skill like a sweeping hurricane, with an endless sequence of attacks. Judging by the power of his staff skill, it could very well be a Yellow Class mid-tier martial skill.


    Meanwhile, the girl holding a pair of swords, with her swords working in tandem, seemed to envelop the area like a range of mountains. No matter how the iron staff youth attacked, her coordinated swords blocked all his offensives.


    Looking at the girl''s sword techniques, her martial skill''s grade was probably no less than that of the iron staff youth''s.


    The first pair to come out and fight showed considerable strength, which explained why they dared to challenge the ring first.


    After watching the two of them fight for more than a hundred moves, Ye Chen on the main ring platform slowly nodded.


    "This iron staff youth''s staff skill shares some similarities with the first move of my ''Wind Sword Skills'', ''Hurricane Frenzy.'' However, his attacks are too aggressive, too fierce, lacking in leeway for countering..."


    "My ''Wind Sword Skills,'' being superior in the grade of cultivation technique to this staff skill, not only possess the ferocity of ''Hurricane Frenzy'' but also have the gentle and unpredictable ''Thirteen Wind Strips,'' along with various moves derived from the wind like ''Wind Spiral Kill'' and ''Wind Strangle Kill''."


    "Unconstrained by form, not limited to a single approach, the combination of different moves encompassing various attacking methods, allows one to freely apply them in combat, making it hard for the opponent to predict and defend."


    Although the iron staff youth and the sword-wielding girl''s martial skills seemed quite ordinary to Ye Chen, he was reflecting on the similarities and differences between their skills and his own, thereby gaining a deeper understanding of his abilities.


    Gradually, Ye Chen wasn''t just observing this one fight; he expanded his Divine Sense, covering all the battles happening on the ten major rings.


    After cultivating the "Meridian Refining Art" and "Gang Yuan Mantra" from the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen''s control over his surroundings had reached a radius of several hundred meters. He could discern every move and style of attack in the battles taking place on the ten major rings.


    Gradually, Ye Chen truly began to enter a marvelous state of combat observation and sword enlightenment.


    Observing combat, contemplating all the fights in the ten major Combat Zones.


    In each Combat Zone, the nine sub-rings engaged in combat, adding up to a total of thirty-six bouts.


    The ten major Combat Zones amounted to three hundred and sixty fights!


    Those who had advanced from over eight hundred competitors in the first round of the tri-tribe competition to the top hundred were no ordinary youths, each possessing their unique martial skill.


    These martial skills might not compare to the Mysterious Class martial skills Ye Chen had practiced, but the richness of martial skills contained within these three hundred and sixty fights far exceeded the total of all the cultivation techniques he had learned before.


    Ye Chen was as if watching ninety sub-rings demonstrate various martial skills and attack and defense strategies to him.


    This extensive study of martial skills gave Ye Chen an even deeper understanding of his own abilities.


    Observing combat! Understanding swordsmanship!


    Contemplating three hundred and sixty real battles!


    Enlightening the swordsmanship in his heart!


    Even more so, Ye Chen began to compare the various artistic conception moves of both Wind Sword Skills and Wind Movement Skills that he had seen Qian Jizi practicing in the Mirror Light Spirit Wall in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode with these real fights.


    He had begun to further his understanding of the two Mysterious Class lower-tier martial skills, "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills," he had cultivated to Minor Accomplishment, and he started to touch upon the essence of these skills at the Great Accomplishment level!


    While Ye Chen was engrossed in combat observation and sword enlightenment, most of the main contenders in the other nine major Combat Zones closed their eyes for cultivation, neglecting the battles in the sub-rings below.


    In their minds, their strength was far greater than that of the sub-ring contenders below, and they held no regard for the martial skills in the sub-rings.


    Cross-fertilizing ideas, there was always something to gain¡ªthey knew not.


    Among three men walking, one can always find a teacher¡ªthey were unaware.


    Even the most inferior Yellow Class martial skills have their merits, for they were after all martial skills!


    Engrossed in their own cultivation, they were truly missing out on the enlightenment that came with comparing real combat!


    Only a few, like Ye Chen, observed the battles below; however, they could not observe the fights across all ten major Combat Zones simultaneously like Ye Chen, who had cultivated the Primordial Star Scripture. At best they could only watch the battles within their own Combat Zone and perhaps the adjacent ones.


    Their gains compared to Ye Chen''s were significantly smaller.


    The ten major Combat Zones and the ninety sub-rings plunged into combat, progressing towards the selection of the two strongest sub-ring competitors in every zone.


    Atop the ten main rings, the main contenders were cultivating and observing.


    As time passed, the outcomes of various bouts started to emerge, clarifying the respective strengths and weaknesses within each Combat Zone.


    At this moment, in the first Combat Zone, on the primary ring, Ye Chen, having observed dozens of fights, truly entered an extremely mysterious state of sword enlightenment.


    There he sat cross-legged upon the main ring, seemingly tranquil, but around him, the air began to pulsate crazily.


    Around his body, a sweeping hurricane appeared one moment and then scattered gusts of gentle breeze the next.


    In the end, there were even whirlwinds of storm, their spinning and twisting, their furious strikes, and raging whirlpools emerged wildly around Ye Chen''s body!


    Outside the Combat Ring, among the three tribal chiefs, Patriarch Ye focused his gaze on the various Combat Zones, and time and again on Ye Chen atop the primary ring.


    Having learned of Ye Chen''s immense strength from his parents, and that he had attracted the attention of Jia Luo, the strongest person from the thirty-six sects of the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Patriarch Ye paid extremely close attention to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s performance in the first round of ''Bell Snatching'' further fueled his expectations.


    Therefore, aside from Ye Chen''s own parents and Tao''er, Patriarch Ye was one of the people who paid the most attention to Ye Chen.


    When Ye Chen entered the miraculous state of combat observation and sword enlightenment, causing changes in the air around him, Patriarch Ye spotted the difference in Ye Chen right away.


    ```


    When Patriarch Ye saw Ye Chen sitting quietly in meditation and the air around his body changing wildly, even containing some of the marvelous charms of a Cultivation Technique, he widened his eyes, unblinkingly watching Ye Chen.


    Ultimately, when the surging Wind''s Concept around Ye Chen''s body advanced towards the Great Accomplishment level of the "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills," the mysterious martial skill moves contained within the Wind''s Concept even caused Patriarch Ye''s eyes to shine with an endless brilliance!


    Patriarch Ye, a veteran powerhouse with twelve layers of True Qi, had an extraordinary wealth of experience and insight, and he immediately recognized the power of the Cultivation Technique that Ye Chen was comprehending!


    "Yellow Class Cultivation Technique!"


    "And it''s a powerful Yellow Class Cultivation Technique that contains a terrifying artistic conception!"


    "Ye Chen is comprehending a Cultivation Technique!"


    It wasn''t only Patriarch Ye who noticed the unusual activity around Ye Chen. In the second Combat Zone beside Ye Chen, a beautiful girl in bright yellow clothes, Bai Xiaodie, was one of the few main ringmasters also observing the battle on the stage.


    Like Patriarch Ye, Bai Xiaodie also glanced over at Ye Chen from time to time.


    Gradually, Bai Xiaodie also noticed the anomaly in the air surging around Ye Chen!


    The young girl''s rosy lips slowly parted in awe, and a look of amazement appeared on her face.


    Having cultivated in the Great Sect "Peach Blossom Valley," her experiences were naturally out of the ordinary. Ye Chen''s silent meditation and sword comprehension even gave Bai Xiaodie the feeling of watching a Spirit Sea Realm expert comprehending martial skill divine arts!


    This was the feeling of true and profound comprehension, a sensation only true masters of martial skill comprehension could possess!


    Bai Xiaodie could hardly believe that the young man beside her on the main ring platform had entered this wondrous state?!


    Eventually, as Ye Chen gradually comprehended the eighth and even the ninth moves of "Wind Sword Skills," Swords of Wind Blade began to truly form around his body, spiraling and dancing in the air.


    This was not the Wind Blade Swords controlled by the Wind Sword Intent. Ye Chen was now in a state of sword comprehension and had not used his Wind Sword Intent.


    This astonishing phenomenon was due to Ye Chen touching upon the Great Accomplishment of Wind Sword Skills, causing the air to change and become like a sword wind!


    This wonderful sight, these Swords of Wind Blade fluttering around Ye Chen''s body, gradually attracted the attention of not only Patriarch Ye and Bai Xiaodie.


    Observers in the first Combat Zone also gradually noticed the anomaly surrounding Ye Chen.


    Although many of them couldn''t tell what Ye Chen was doing, the magical Wind Blade Swords emanating from Ye Chen''s body made them feel an inexplicable power, an inexplicable mystery!


    Gradually, this attention spread from the first Combat Zone to the second and third Combat Zones.


    More and more people noticed Ye Chen''s divine marvel, noticed the difference in this extraordinary young man from the first round to the second.


    In the end, even the three great patriarchs turned their eyes towards Ye Chen.


    Aside from the few young contestants still competing on the main rings, the majority of gazes gradually converged upon Ye Chen.


    As for Ye Chen, he cared nothing for all of this, indeed, he seemed utterly indifferent.


    At this moment, his mind and spirit were completely empty. He no longer watched the battles on the sub-rings that were drawing to a close. He had completely immersed himself in the final push for the Great Accomplishment level of the two profound Yellow Class Cultivation Techniques!


    After a long while, when eight out of the ten Combat Zones had determined their two main sub-rings, Ye Chen finally awoke from this wondrous state of meditative sword comprehension.


    When he awoke, the Wind''s Concept that had swirled around his body dissipated.


    "Whew..."


    Ye Chen exhaled deeply, revealing a smile.


    This meditative state of sword-watching had yielded him immense gains, even surpassing his static meditations of the past several days!


    For "Wind Sword Skills" and "Wind Movement Skills," he had even genuinely touched the threshold of Great Accomplishment.


    He was just half a step away from cultivating these two techniques to Great Accomplishment!


    He was just one true battle away from transforming all his meditative sword-watching insights into actual, unleashed moves!


    The top ten selection battles, the ranking battles for the top ten, come forth!


    Ye Chen stood up from his seated posture, eager to begin his battle, his own trial by combat!


    When others saw Ye Chen revive from his silent meditation, emitting a refreshed aura, those who had been watching him sensed the change in Ye Chen.


    If Ye Chen was previously like a sheathed sword, he now seemed to have drawn the blade, exuding the aura of a true swordsman ready for battle!


    As these observers watched, the remaining two Combat Zones finished their sub-ring battles.


    Finally, the last two Combat Zones selected their two strongest sub-rings.


    Thus, the sub-ring battles for the Ancestral Land qualifications, which lasted nearly two hours, finally came to an end.


    All twenty of the strongest sub-rings emerged, and together with Ye Chen, the main ringmaster, the thirty candidates entering the Ancestral Land were determined.


    And with the end of the Ancestral Land qualification battles, the selection battles for the top ten, the challenge between the sub-rings and the main rings, were also about to begin.


    For Ye Chen, his battle had at last arrived!


    ```

 Chapter 85: Chapter 79 Ye Chen Enters the Arena!

    "The losers of the secondary rings, eliminated, move to the spectator area!"


    Accompanied by the words of Patriarch Qian, the host of the second round, seventy out of the ninety competitors on the secondary rings in the ten combat zones sadly swept down from the platforms.


    Although Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun had made it into this second round with Ye Chen''s help, their strength was still lacking, and they were now among the seventy eliminated, joining the crowd below.


    However, having personally experienced the second round of competition left them quite satisfied.


    What they had left to do was to see just how far Ye Chen could go in the great competition between the three clans.


    By now, in each of the ten combat zones, only one main ring and the two strongest secondary rings remained.


    Thirty individuals stood firm in a vast array of arenas, representing the true powerhouses among the younger generation of the Ye, Qian, and Bai clans!


    It was these thirty who would enter the Ancestral Land that had opened for the first time in over three hundred years to explore the mysterious Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    "You thirty will enter the Ancestral Land to explore the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    As Patriarch Qian announced the results, the thirty still standing on the platforms showed expressions of excitement and anticipation.


    At last, they had heard the result.


    At last, they had obtained the qualification to enter the Ancestral Land!


    That mysterious Ancestral Land, the secret realm they had heard about in legends since childhood, they finally had the chance to enter and explore its mysteries!


    Seeing the eager expressions of the youths, Patriarch Qian nodded and continued, "Earning the qualification to enter the Ancestral Land is just the beginning."


    "Making it into the top ten and securing the special reward for entering the Ancestral Land will allow you to encounter the true great opportunities and fortunes there!"


    "Now, the ''Top Ten Selection Battle'' begins!"


    "The two strongest secondary rings in each combat zone may challenge the main ring. Whoever wins takes the place of the main ring, ready to face the next challenger!"


    "If all three are in a situation where each has one win and one loss, we''ll have a final showdown on the main ring. Whoever is knocked out of the ring is eliminated, and the one remaining on the main ring will be the ultimate victor!"


    "Finally, the strongest person from each combat zone will claim first place in their zone and advance into the top ten!"


    "Begin the challenges!"


    After Patriarch Qian declared the official start of the "Top Ten Selection Battle" challenge, the entire spectator area became electrified, with members of all three clans stirred into excitement.


    Even the youngsters from the three clans who had just been eliminated managed to shake off their despondency, turning their attention to the combat platforms, ready to witness the birth of the mightiest ten!


    "It has begun!"


    "From the thirty strong, select the top ten!"


    "This is a battle among the mighty!"


    The onlooking clansmen from all three families crowded around the combat platforms, all widening their eyes to take in the struggle above.


    This contest among the thirty strong was where the true power resided. There were no weaklings here; each one wielded powerful True Qi and formidable Martial Skills!


    They were about to fight for their chance to break into the top ten and gain that special reward!


    At that moment, on the combat platforms that held everyone''s rapt attention, all secondary rings turned their eyes towards their main rings.


    Each main ring contender also looked back at their two strongest competitors.


    What followed would be a battle amongst the three to determine the strongest.


    In the first combat zone where Ye Chen was located, both secondary ring contestants were seventeen or eighteen-year-old youths, who now looked at Ye Chen with a sense of awe.


    They clearly understood the anomaly that occurred while Ye Chen sat meditating in the main ring, indicating from his cultivation''s phenomena that Ye Chen was no weakling.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen''s miraculous performance in the first round made them dare not to underestimate him.


    After exchanging glances, the two of them both laughed wryly¡ªneither dared to be the first to challenge Ye Chen.


    Meanwhile, challenges had been issued in other combat zones, and even in the second combat zone where Bai Xiaodie resided, a young girl in red robes had issued a challenge to Bai Xiaodie.


    Challenges had commenced in nine combat zones, but the first combat zone was yet to start, which sparked whispers among the onlooking clansmen.


    "They must not dare to challenge the young master," said the little girl Tao''er with a giggly smile to Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin standing beside her, below the first combat zone.


    Her young master had already successfully qualified for the Ancestral Land, so the little maid was quite relaxed.


    Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin also responded with a light chuckle.


    This time, Ye Chen''s performance filled them with immense pride; their child was drawing attention even among the entire three clans!


    Amid the discussions of the spectators, a youth, slightly older than the other, finally leaped onto the main ring of the first combat zone.


    "Brother Ye Chen, I am Bai Xiaolong and I challenge you!" the youth respectfully bowed to Ye Chen and spoke up.


    With a challenge issued to the main ring in the first combat zone, Ye Chen was finally about to enter the fray!


    When Ye Chen showed off his movement technique while snatching the token, this was the opportunity for many to turn their gaze towards the first combat zone, eager to see just how formidable Ye Chen''s Martial Skills were in addition to his movement technique.


    Even Bai Xiaodie, in the neighboring combat zone, was fending off a challenge on the sub-arena while also paying attention to Ye Chen''s movements.


    Ye Chen smiled and returned the salute to the young man, "Brother Bai, make your move!"


    "Okay!"


    "I don''t dare to be overconfident in sparring with Brother Ye Chen, so I''ll take the liberty of making the first move without further ado!"


    As Bai Xiaolong spoke, with a "swoosh," he drew out a fine steel treasured saber from his hand. With a flick of his wrist, the treasured saber transformed into a shimmer of blade light, slashing towards Ye Chen.


    "What weapon will Ye Chen use?"


    "I''ve never seen him use a weapon!"


    The spectators, watching Ye Chen directly face Bai Xiaolong''s all-encompassing blade light, all tensed up.


    Ye Chen''s fine steel sword had shattered during his battle with Zhou Hai at Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, and he hadn''t purchased another sword since.


    Moreover, his flying sword, "Crimson Fire," was even less suitable for use in such a significant family competition.


    Hence, Ye Chen had no weapon on him.


    However, although Bai Xiaolong had made it into the top thirty, his True Qi realm was only at the sixth level, and Ye Chen could tell that the coming blade technique was of a lower-mid Yellow tier martial skill.


    Such a challenge might be daunting to other clan members watching the battle, or even to other young contenders.


    But how could it possibly trouble Ye Chen?


    In the instant that Bai Xiaolong''s widespread blade light descended on Ye Chen, the latter simply pinched with his fingers and caught the flat of the treasured saber amidst the flurry of blades. Then, with a flick of his fingers, a powerful force swept towards Bai Xiaolong''s arm.


    Bai Xiaolong felt a heat in his grip as the treasured saber was directly flicked out of his hand!


    Ye Chen, with his bare hands, had directly sent Bai Xiaolong''s treasured saber flying!


    This brief exchange was enough to determine the superior fighter.


    Bai Xiaolong''s complexion changed. He had anticipated Ye Chen''s prowess but had not expected him to be so formidable. Scrambling backward, he tried to retrieve the treasured saber that had been knocked away.


    Instead of seizing the opportunity to defeat him outright, Ye Chen turned his gaze to the perimeter of the thousand-yard area. When his eyes landed on a large tree some twenty meters away, a thought crossed his mind.


    Stretching out his hand, he made a grabbing motion towards the tree, and a branch as thick as a thumb and over half a meter long snapped off, flying directly towards Ye Chen.


    In the blink of an eye, the branch landed in Ye Chen''s hand!


    With a shake of his hand, True Qi enveloped the supple branch, making it seem as if it had turned into a sword in Ye Chen''s grip.


    Ye Chen''s ability to pluck a branch from the air, infuse it with True Qi, and turn it into a sword left Bai Xiaolong completely dumbfounded.


    The onlookers were also agape.


    They had never seen such a casual and effortless display!


    In their astonishment, Ye Chen flicked the branch in his hand, and immediately it became eight points of sword light thrusting towards Bai Xiaolong.


    This was unmistakably the "Eight Cuts in One Breath" technique from the Torrential Rain Sword Skills!


    Seeing the eight points of sword light aiming for eight different parts of his body, Bai Xiaolong was so startled that he crossed his saber in an attempt to block Ye Chen''s attack.


    In the clash of offense and defense, Ye Chen''s branch went up against Bai Xiaolong''s fine steel treasured saber.


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Among the sounds of metal clashing, Bai Xiaolong''s fine steel treasured saber was actually pierced through by the branch, creating five holes!


    The fine steel treasured saber''s sharpness proved inferior to a common branch in Ye Chen''s hand!


    After his saber was punctured with five holes, Bai Xiaolong couldn''t withstand the immense force coming from the branch. The reaction force from his own treasured saber sent him flying backwards.


    At the same time, the three streaks of sword light he failed to block swiftly moved in, instantly stabbing towards Bai Xiaolong''s arm, thigh, and neck.


    The chilling intent of the sword Qi made Bai Xiaolong''s flesh, muscles, and even his soul tremble.


    He was left with no means to avoid them. If Ye Chen didn''t pull back, Bai Xiaolong felt that the three streaks of sword light would surely kill him!


    Just as Bai Xiaolong was seized with terror, Ye Chen flicked his wrist, and the three streaks of sword light heading for Bai Xiaolong abruptly changed direction, passing by him and piercing another large tree several dozen meters away, creating three large holes through it!


    Sure enough, just as Bai Xiaolong had feared, had the sword light hit him, it would have killed him outright.


    From this simple exchange, Bai Xiaolong knew the gap between him and Ye Chen was immense.


    He was no match for even a single move from Ye Chen!


    "I admit defeat!"


    "Brother Ye Chen, you truly are formidable. You deserve to be the champion of our first combat zone without question!"


    Staring at the three large holes in the tree tens of meters away, Bai Xiaolong''s heart skipped a beat as he respectfully conceded defeat to Ye Chen.


    Afterward, he promptly leapt down from the main arena, not daring to stay a moment longer.


    Ye Chen won his first match with effortless ease!

 Chapter 86: Chapter 80 The Top Ten

    ```


    "True Qi Realm sixth layer, a powerful saber technique of the yellow mid-grade martial skills, and yet it''s not even a match for a single move from Ye Chen!"


    When Bai Xiaolong made his retreat from the main stage like fleeing for his life, those who knew his strength were all shocked.


    Bai Xiaolong fought his way into the top thirty, winning seven consecutive bouts in the nine sub-rings, and only lost to another sub-ring contestant, Qian Shan.


    With such formidable strength, he still suffered a devastating defeat at Ye Chen''s hands, and he was utterly incapable of fighting back.


    Others no longer dared to speculate about Ye Chen''s strength.


    They finally realized that Ye Chen''s movement technique was extremely formidable, and his combat martial skills were equally unparalleled!


    They finally understood that Ye Chen''s dominant performance in the first round of the "Bell Snatching" competition was no fluke!


    "Good! Good!"


    Patriarch Ye, who was watching Ye Chen''s battle from outside the stage, was greatly relieved. He knew that Ye Chen hadn''t exerted his full strength just now; he had probably not even used one-tenth of his combat power.


    The challenge in this sub-ring could not incite Ye Chen''s true combat prowess; perhaps in this match, only a few individuals like Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming could make Ye Chen exert his full strength!


    Patriarch Ye was already envisioning the scene of Ye Chen''s battle among the top ten.


    Meanwhile, Bai Xiaodie, the main stage contestant of the second combat zone, had her eyes light up when she saw Ye Chen''s movement technique, which seemed like taking objects from the void, and his storm-like sword strikes.


    After repelling the contestant challenging her sub-ring, she waved her palm and directly swept the contestant off the main stage.


    Bai Xiaodie was eager to break into the top ten and truly cross hands with Ye Chen!


    Below the stage.


    When Ye Chen forced Bai Xiaolong to admit defeat with a single move, Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun exchanged glances, both smiling wryly and shaking their heads.


    From the moment Ye Chen helped the two of them snatch the bell, they knew that he was far stronger than he appeared to be on the surface.


    Now, Ye Chen''s first battle had once again proven their guess.


    Before the tri-clan competition, the two were saying that Ye Chen only had the possibility of making it into the top thirty. Now, it seems pointless to mention the top thirty, as Ye Chen might very well make it into the top ten or even top five, the top three!


    Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun had no idea where Ye Chen''s true limits lay.


    Now, with Bai Xiaolong''s defeat in challenging Ye Chen, only one sub-ring contestant, Qian Shan, was left in the first combat zone who hadn''t challenged Ye Chen yet.


    Qian Shan, looking at Ye Chen on the main stage holding a twig as if it were a divine sword, felt a numbness in his heart.


    His strength was only slightly stronger than Bai Xiaolong''s, who couldn''t withstand a single move from Ye Chen. Qian Shan knew it would be difficult for him to block even a few moves from Ye Chen.


    However, the only chance for a sub-ring to challenge the main ring was not to be wasted.


    Even if he were to lose, he wanted to personally cross hands with Ye Chen, to personally gauge Ye Chen''s strength.


    This was a respect for the strong, respect for Ye Chen!


    Whoosh!


    With this thought in mind, Qian Shan hesitated no longer and leaped onto the main stage. He respectfully said to Ye Chen, "I, Qian Shan, also seek to learn a couple of moves from Brother Ye Chen!"


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded at Qian Shan, "Brother Qian Shan, come, Ye Chen also wishes to see your flying needle technique!"


    This Qian Shan, with True Qi Realm seventh layer, was about the same as Ye Chen in the realm of True Qi. Of course, that was not considering the Gang Yuan True Qi that Ye Chen cultivated, the internal cultivation of Heaven and Earth True Qi was about the same.


    As for the practiced martial skill, Ye Chen remembered that when he observed the fight earlier, Qian Shan seemed to be using a set of flying needle martial skills, which had caught his attention at the time.


    The flying needles were extremely small and thin, and their speed was very fast.


    Ye Chen thought that he would directly compete with Qian Shan on speed!


    After making their salutations, the two commenced their true battle.


    Qian Shan''s flying needles were controlled with True Qi, and as he made his move, an immense wave of True Qi swept out from within him, immediately enveloping the entire main stage. In the instant that the True Qi engulfed the space, no less than a hundred gleaming needles were thrust towards Ye Chen.


    The True Qi spread, and hundreds of flying needles shot out¡ªan event far more spectacular than Bai Xiaolong''s previous attempt.


    Clearly, Qian Shan had exerted his full strength from the onset!


    In crossing hands with Ye Chen, he dared not be the least bit neglectful or reserved!


    "Good move!"


    As the hundreds of flying needles came stabbing towards him, the twig in Ye Chen''s hand burst apart, turning into hundreds of splinters.


    At the same time, Ye Chen reached out with his hand, and the seven vortexes of True Qi within his dantian vibrated simultaneously, causing a vast True Qi to sweep out. He immediately controlled the hundreds of splinters, which collided with Qian Shan''s flying needles.


    Ye Chen did not use Sword Intents to control them; he wanted to compete directly with Qian Shan using True Qi.


    On one side, the flying needles zoomed through the air, on the other, the splinters burst forth!


    In the void, the two vast waves of True Qi collided, and countless needles and splinters clashed together.


    Boom!


    The audience watching below could clearly see that each of Qian Shan''s flying needles was met with a splinter.


    Not one more, not one less!


    In the thunderous clash, Ye Chen''s splinters even caused Qian Shan''s flying needles to fly back toward him!


    Qian Shan took the initiative, while Ye Chen was responding, but Ye Chen was able to detect the position and number of all Qian Shan''s flying needles in an instant.


    Moreover, he controlled the splinters that resulted from the exploding twig to repel back all those needles.


    It was obvious to see that Ye Chen''s speed of execution was much faster than Qian Shan, who was known for his quick needle control. Ye Chen''s True Qi was also much stronger than Qian Shan''s!


    ```

 Chapter 87: Chapter 80: Top 10 - Part 2

    In the direct competition at the seventh level of True Qi, Ye Chen didn''t use any other means, and yet he still managed to put Qian Shan completely at a disadvantage!


    "Martial Skill powerful!"


    "Reaction speed extremely good!"


    "Even his combat methods are so diverse!"


    All the Martial Artists below the stage, including Patriarch Ye and Bai Xiaodie, who had been observing Ye Chen, felt the more they watched Ye Chen''s moves, the more endless his techniques seemed.


    They had originally thought that Ye Chen would continue to use sword techniques like he did against Bai Xiaolong to deal with Qian Shan, but to their surprise, Ye Chen directly compared weapon control Martial Skills with Qian Shan.


    Even in the technique of controlling a multitude of weapons, he was far stronger than Qian Shan, who had always used this Martial Skill!


    Qian Shan, who was actually facing Ye Chen, already felt his hands and feet turn ice-cold at this point.


    His proudest Martial Skill, the one that had defeated eight vice-arenas, was directly pushed back by a single move from Ye Chen; obviously, if Ye Chen were to use this Martial Skill, he would be even more formidable!


    "Still fighting?"


    As this thought surfaced in Qian Shan''s mind, he even considered admitting defeat directly.


    However, gritting his teeth, he clapped his hands together, and the flying needles that were flying back towards him shot towards Ye Chen once again.


    This time, the sky full of flying needles stirred up a massive windstorm; all the needles seemed to merge into one, attacking Ye Chen with the intent to shred.


    "Shred?"


    "This is still not the true windstorm shredding!"


    Seeing Qian Shan''s attack, Ye Chen''s eyes flickered as he recalled the fourth style of the "Wind Sword Skills," Wind Shredding, that he had realized just by watching the battles in the vice-arenas.


    He hadn''t actually used Wind Shredding yet, and right now, the embryonic form of Qian Shan''s windstorm needle technique made Ye Chen itch to try it out.


    Ye Chen pointed towards the void with his great hand, and the twigs and debris that had fallen on the ground instantly flew up, suddenly forming a vast windstorm in the void.


    This great windstorm even enveloped all the flying needles that were coming down from the sky.


    Qian Shan''s windstorm formed by the flying needles was rolling and moving seven or eight meters across towards Ye Chen to shred him.


    But Ye Chen''s move was to form a shredding windstorm right on the spot, instantly; the speed at which the windstorm formed was almost instantaneous, as if it was specially designed to wrap around the needle group!


    Everyone could see that Ye Chen''s tactic to control the shredding windstorm was mightier; it was like a spontaneously born windstorm in the void that could form anywhere!


    This was precisely the powerful move of the "Wind Sword Skills," the inferior Xuan-level technique Wind Shredding, which Ye Chen had just comprehended.


    Wind Shredding could form a windstorm anywhere, any place; where True Qi moves, a windstorm forms!


    And what was even more terrifying was the power of Wind Shredding.


    When Ye Chen controlled the twigs and debris to form a windstorm and completely wrapped Qian Shan''s flying needles, Ye Chen clenched his great hand and the entire debris windstorm began to spin crazily.


    On each piece of debris, the essence of wind surged, each piece had its own direction of rotation.


    All the debris joined together, and the rotation in different directions directly created a fearsome shredding force.


    Boom!


    At the end, the terrible debris windstorm suddenly contracted in the center, like the eye of a storm tightening, and a horrifying blasting sound immediately emerged from the center of the debris windstorm.


    As this sound was emitted, Ye Chen withdrew all the True Qi that was controlling the Wind Sword Skills, the twigs and debris fell and scattered on the ground again, and everyone shockingly discovered that the flying needles, which were previously whirling wildly, had all vanished.


    This shredding force had completely broken all the flying needles engulfed in the windstorm into dust!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Frightened by the terrifying killing power of the Xuan-level Martial Skill that Ye Chen had eagerly controlled, Qian Shan stumbled back several steps and fell onto the main arena.


    He was not upset that the flying needles were destroyed; he practiced the flying needle martial skill and had over a dozen sets of flying needles.


    What shocked him was that all these flying needles, made of mysterious iron and extremely sturdy, were actually ground to dust by Ye Chen''s move. The power of Ye Chen''s killing move had exceeded his imagination, it had surpassed his understanding!


    He had seen many martial skills and even observed several high-grade yellow-tier martial skills, but he had never seen any martial skill with such immense power!


    "Mysterious martial skill!"


    "It''s a Mysterious martial skill!"


    In the second battle zone, Bai Xiaodie, upon seeing the storm that Ye Chen generated from nothing and the terrifying force of annihilation, cried out in shock.


    Her distraction made the young man fighting against her quite speechless.


    The young man had long noticed that Bai Xiaodie was simultaneously fighting him and observing Ye Chen''s battle, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn''t beat Bai Xiaodie.


    When he heard Bai Xiaodie''s exclamation, the young man serving as the deputy in the second battle zone also looked towards the main platform where Ye Chen was, and seeing Qian Shan collapse to the ground, he too was startled.


    He knew Qian Shan and had never seen Qian Shan looking so terrified before!


    "Mysterious martial skill!"


    "It really is a set of Mysterious martial skills!"


    "Ye Chen''s methods are revealing more and more, I never expected he had even successfully cultivated a Mysterious martial skill!"


    Patriarch Ye at this moment was also filled with great surprise and joy.


    If he knew that this was merely a minor move among Ye Chen''s nine great moves of his Mysterious martial skills, and that Ye Chen had control over moves far stronger than this, his surprise would have been a hundred times greater!


    Bai Xiaodie''s cry of alarm caused the spectators below to be startled as well.


    Many of them were martial artists, but almost none had access to Mysterious martial skills. In the three great families, only the three Patriarchs had cultivated several sets of Mysterious martial skills, which shows how precious Mysterious martial skills are.


    When they heard that what Ye Chen had used was a Mysterious martial skill, the area was swept by gasps of astonishment and a flurry of amazed discussions.


    "Mysterious Extreme martial skills?"


    "So, I lost to a Mysterious martial skill."


    "Ye Chen, he''s actually cultivated a Mysterious martial skill!"


    Qian Shan, who had collapsed on the main platform, also heard Bai Xiaodie''s cry of alarm, and his stunned and shocked mind gradually regained some clarity.


    He finally knew where he had lost.


    Qian Shan stood up and walked up to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you are too powerful!"


    "Losing to you, I am thoroughly convinced, by mouth and by heart!"


    "You are, without a doubt, the strongest in our first battle zone, the number one!"


    "I admit defeat!"


    After Qian Shan had spoken, he gave Ye Chen a respectful bow and flew down from the main platform.


    Having witnessed a set of Mysterious martial skills in his exchange with Ye Chen, it was worth it for him!


    And with Bai Xiaolong and Qian Shan''s successive admissions of defeat, all of the second-round matches in the first battle zone officially ended.


    Ye Chen, winning two consecutive battles and claiming the top rank in the first battle zone, directly entered into the top ten of the tri-family tournament.


    He smoothly passed the "Top Ten Selection Battle" and officially entered into the "Top Ten Ranking Battle"!


    Now, all that awaited was the start of the third round, the final "Top Ten Ranking Battle"!

 Chapter 88: Chapter 81: Sky Arena

    Not long after Ye Chen, as the strongest from the First Battle Zone, had killed his way into the top ten of the Great Clan Competition, Bai Xiaodie, standing beside him from the Second Battle Zone, also defeated the two auxiliary stages and broke into the top ten.


    Then came Qian Ming from the Fifth Battle Zone, Qian Feng from the Seventh Battle Zone, and Ye Xue from the Ninth Battle Zone.


    Half an hour later, all of the strongest from the ten great Battle Zones had successively emerged.


    The ten great Battle Zones, ten strong contenders, standing on the main stage of the Battle Arena, they were the final top ten of the Great Clan Competition!


    "The top ten have been decided!"


    "It is these ten people, regardless of their final ranking, they will all receive the special reward of the Ancestral Ground Secret Map!"


    "Bai Xiaodie, fifteen years old, a True Qi eleventh layer powerhouse, the top disciple of the Peach Blossom Valley, a sixth-rank sect from the Southern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!"


    "Qian Ming, eighteen years old, a True Qi eleventh layer powerhouse, the external disciple of the Tai Xuan Sect, a sixth-rank sect from the Eastern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom! In the family competitions of the previous years, he has always been the first!"


    "Ye Chen, fifteen years old, rumored to have just reached the seventh layer of the True Qi realm, but in the first two rounds, his performance was even stronger than Qian Ming and Bai Xiaodie. One really doesn''t know how far he will kill into the final ranking of the Great Clan Competition!"


    "There''s also Qian Feng with the tenth layer of True Qi, Bai Xiaoning with the tenth layer of True Qi, Ye Xue with the ninth layer of True Qi..."


    "These young warriors are the most powerful individuals among the younger generation of our three clans, our hope and future!"


    Observing the ten young men and women standing proudly on the main stages of the ten great Battle Zones, having withstood the first round of "Bell Snatching" and the second round of "Arena Battling" to still stand at the end, all the clanspeople from the three clans watching the fight were exceptionally excited.


    "Chen!"


    "Xiaodie!"


    The parents of these ten youngsters were among the crowd at this moment.


    The father and mother of Ye Chen, the father and mother of Bai Xiaodie, the father and mother of Qian Ming...


    Watching their children standing on the highest main stage and breaking into the top ten of the entire Great Clan Competition, they were filled with immense pride!


    These were their children!


    The hope of their families, and even more so, their hope!


    Within the excitement and agitation of the clanspeople, the patriarchs of the three clans walked to the center of the field.


    Patriarch Bai, who was the first to preside over the Great Clan Competition, raised his hand to quiet the crowd''s chatter and, smiling, said, "The ten people remaining on the main stage now are the top ten of this Great Clan Competition!"


    "Their performance has greatly impressed us three old fellows and brought us much comfort!"


    As he said these words, Patriarch Bai even nodded toward Ye Chen with a smile.


    Clearly, Ye Chen''s performance was the most shocking and delightful to him.


    "Master, Madam, Patriarch Bai is praising the young master!"


    "Not just Patriarch Bai, but also Patriarch Ye and Patriarch Qian. I see them nodding towards the young master frequently!" said little maid Tao''er, grinning towards Ye Xiaotian and Lin Yin.


    Ye Xiaotian and Lin Yin exchanged a look and also nodded with a smile.


    They too had noticed that the three patriarchs were extremely satisfied with their child, Ye Chen''s performance.


    Patriarch Bai continued, "The top ten have been born, but their rankings have not yet been truly decided. Among them, who will be first, who will be second, is still unknown."


    "Next, we will have the last round of the Great Clan Competition, the third round -- ''The Top Ten Ranking Battles''!"


    "Let''s see to whom the ten different Ancestral Ground Secret Maps, leading into the ancestral grounds, will eventually belong."


    "Let''s see who among them can ascend to the highest position among the younger generation of our three clans!"


    "Let''s see who among them can claim the first position, and receive the highest reward -- the ''Ancestral Blood''!"


    These words of Patriarch Bai also reflected the thoughts of the clanspeople watching the competition at that moment.


    All the clanspeople wanted to know, out of the ten people who had fought their way to the last, who would surpass the others, who was the strongest among the ten.


    Their gazes, for the most part, gathered on Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, and Ye Chen. Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming were long renowned, while Ye Chen was a dark horse that had suddenly emerged in this clan competition.


    Most assumed that the ultimate strongest would be one of these three, although more guessed that Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming were more likely to be the last standing.


    After all, although the impact Ye Chen had made was significant, it was not as deeply ingrained as the impression of strength given by the disciples of the two major sixth-rank sects, Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming.


    On the ten main stages, the figures of the final top ten Ye Chen''s group, also looked towards each other, observing the opponents they would soon face in the Top Ten Ranking Battles.


    After taking a look around, Ye Chen realized that there were not many familiar faces among the final ten, but he was mildly surprised when he saw Ye Xue.


    He recognized the girl; she was a cousin from his family with whom he had often played as a child.


    Ye Xue also noticed Ye Chen''s gaze and smiled, nodding at him.


    After sizing each other up, the top ten of the Great Clan Competition looked towards the three patriarchs.


    They prepared to listen to how the three patriarchs would arrange the competition method for this third round ''Top Ten Ranking Battle''.


    "The Top Ten Ranking Battle!"


    "It will also take place in the ''Thousand Feet Field''."


    "The place where you will fight is called ''Sky Arena''!"


    As Patriarch Bai spoke, another small black box reappeared in Patriarch Qian''s hand.


    This black box was none other than the one that had earlier released countless rays of light, directly forming ten huge arenas within the Thousand Feet Field.


    At this moment, Patriarch Qian lightly tapped the center of the little box, and the ten huge arenas within the Thousand Feet Field emitted thunderous roars.


    Ye Chen and the nine others all leaped up from the main arena, looking toward the light-transformed arena groups, watching their new transformations.


    Amidst the great din, the ten massive arena groups turned back into beams of light and then soared into the sky, ten meters above ground.


    Then, these beams of light slowly congealed in the sky, ten meters above ground, and finally formed five enormous arenas, each several tens of zhang in radius, directly in the sky.


    "Is this the Sky Arena?"


    Everyone on the martial arts plaza of the three clans, whether it was the ten who were to participate in the final round or the members of the three clans, all looked up at the five huge arenas formed of condensed light in the sky.


    The light danced and turned into ten large arenas, then flew up into the sky, where it condensed into five vast aerial arenas. This miraculous sight left everyone watching in awe.


    "Patriarch Qian holds the ''Yin Yang Mysterious Box'' in his hands, which, like the ''Yin Yang Profound Bell'' used in the first round, is also crafted by the hands of our ancestors."


    "The Yin Yang Mysterious Box, gathering Yin Yang Mysterious Qi within, can transform anything. The ''battle arenas'' from the second round of competition, and now the ''Sky Arenas'' in the sky, are all formed from this mysterious Qi."


    "Below, the top ten will fight in the Sky Arena!"


    Patriarch Bai announced.


    "Fight in the sky?"


    "Inside this ''Sky Arena''?"


    The ten, including Ye Chen, looked at the grand battle arenas formed in the sky, finding it quite extraordinary.


    To compete on an arena suspended in mid-air was an experience none of them had ever had before.


    "In this top ten ranking battle, all ten will fight each other, undergoing nine rounds of round-robin competition."


    "Ultimately, based on the results of these battles, the final rankings of the top ten will be determined!"


    "Those with the same scores will be ranked comprehensively based on their performance in the first two rounds and the result of their battles against each other."


    "Now, let''s begin the first round of the round-robin competition!"


    Patriarch Bai looked toward the top ten standing in the arena from the three clans and declared the start of the final top ten ranking battle.


    "The first round of the round-robin competition, the battles are as follows."


    "Ye Chen versus Bai Xiaofei, on the far left in the first Sky Arena!"


    "Bai Xiaodie versus Qian Feng, in the second Sky Arena!"


    "Qian Ming versus Qian Yuan, in the third Sky Arena!"


    "Bai Xiaoning versus Ye Xue, in the fourth Sky Arena!"


    "Bai Wuxuan versus Qian Fang, on the far right in the fifth Sky Arena!"


    "Now, ascend to the ''Sky Arena'' to begin the competition!"


    Among the top ten, Ye Chen and Ye Xue from the Ye family both made it to the finals.


    The Bai Family and the Qian Family had four members each selected.


    As Patriarch Bai announced the match-ups, Ye Chen moved swiftly; his "Art of Wind Movement" displaying as he flitted like a light breeze, directly flying up to the first Sky Arena, over ten meters high.


    His dashing and effortless movements drew cheers and shouts from the spectators below!


    The others also displayed their movements, flying toward their respective Sky Arenas.


    For the top ten, the Sky Arena, over ten meters high, presented no difficulty, as they all could fly up using their martial skills.


    Looking at the setup of the Sky Arena, it seemed that not having the ability to fly up to it meant one didn''t even qualify to participate in the competition!


    Once the top ten had each taken their positions, the opponents in the matchups were plainly clear.


    Ye Chen''s opponent in the first round was Bai Xiaofei, a seventeen-year-old youth.


    Bai Xiaofei, originally the vice-leader of the Ninth Battle Zone, had defeated the main leader of the Sixth Battle Zone during a challenge, seizing the top ten spot directly!


    This showed that while Bai Xiaofei may have been at a slight disadvantage during the first round, the "Bell Snatching," he was somewhat stronger in the second round of true martial skill combat.


    Bai Xiaofei wielded a silver spear over three meters long. After taking his position, he swept the spear and looked toward Ye Chen.


    "Brother Ye Chen, in this first round of the top ten ranking battle, it''s our turn to compete!"


    Ye Chen also smiled at Bai Xiaofei, holding no weapon in his hands, and simply replied with a light laugh, "Make your move, Brother of the Bai Family!"

 Chapter 89: Chapter 82 Unstoppable

    "Alright, Brother Ye Chen, be careful!"


    As Bai Xiaofei''s words fell, the True Qi from within his dantian surged out, turning the silver spear in his hand a deep cyan.


    This was the infusion of True Qi into the spear, he was about to employ True Qi Skills!


    When the entire spear was roaring with surging cyan True Qi, Bai Xiaofei''s hand trembled, and the spear, over three meters long, burst towards Ye Chen like a flood dragon emerging from water.


    And just as the spear tip was about to pierce Ye Chen''s body, the entire spear split into eight, simultaneously launching eight flashes of spear light, each targeting one of Ye Chen''s vital points.


    Ordinary spear techniques involved only one form of attack.


    But these eight spear flashes hurtling towards Ye Chen each contained eight different attacking styles!


    The one being attacked would have to divide their focus in eight different ways to defend themselves!


    This attacking spear technique was incredibly powerful!


    Bai Xiaofei''s set of spear techniques was named "Jiao Dragon Thirty-Six Strikes," a high-grade yellow-tier Martial Skill. Its thirty-six strikes were derived from the thirty-six different attack methods of a Jiao Dragon, making it extremely difficult to defend against!


    It was with this well-crafted set of spear techniques that Bai Xiaofei had forcefully fought his way into the top ten!


    Bai Xiaofei thought that even if Ye Chen was strong, even if he could withstand the first of the eight attacks, there were still a relentless series of deadly strikes following closely, aimed at Ye Chen.


    In the end, the most powerful move of the Jiao Dragon Eight Strikes could even unleash thirty-six different attacks, giving Ye Chen no avenue of escape!


    However, Bai Xiaofei clearly overestimated his own abilities and underestimated Ye Chen''s combat prowess.


    At the moment his spear turned into eight spear flashes aiming for the eight vital points on Ye Chen''s body, Ye Chen suddenly reached out with a large hand and grabbed Bai Xiaofei''s spear in one go.


    Next, not giving Bai Xiaofei any chance to change his tactics, Ye Chen released the hidden energy of the "Wind Sword Skills''" third technique "Wind Spiral Kill" straight from his hand, through the shaft of the spear, to the entirety of the spear and even directly into Bai Xiaofei''s hands.


    In an instant, Bai Xiaofei felt an unbelievable spiraling force coming from the spear shaft. The entire spear started to wildly rotate under the terrifying power of the twist, and Bai Xiaofei, who was holding the spear, was even spun into the air by this rotational force.


    Bai Xiaofei, who had initiated the attack, was unexpectedly sent flying through the air by Ye Chen via the spear.


    Trying to break free, he couldn''t escape the terrifying power of the rotation!


    This shocked Bai Xiaofei greatly and made the crowd watching from below the sky ring scream.


    Ye Chen, who had just unbalanced Bai Xiaofei with a single move, had no intention of stopping. This was only the first fight of his ranking in the top ten, and he had no intention of wasting any more energy on it.


    Ye Chen flicked the spear tip he was holding in an instant, hurling Bai Xiaofei from the other end with a terrible force, then with a horizontal sweep of the spear, he knocked Bai Xiaofei off the sky ring and slammed him heavily onto the ground below.


    Boom!


    This sweep possessed such a massive force that it even cracked the ground beneath the ring, forming a huge fissure several meters long.


    Bai Xiaofei, struck by this enormous force, felt the True Qi inside his body churning chaotically; he struggled to get up, only to directly find an enormous spear tip suddenly appearing in front of him.


    This was none other than Ye Chen holding what was originally his spear, swooping down like a great Peng spreading its wings from the sky ring, striking at him once more.


    Bai Xiaofei tried to dodge the spear tip but was horrified to discover that all his escape routes had been completely sealed by Ye Chen''s seemingly ordinary thrust.


    He had no chance whatsoever to dodge.


    If this had been a fight to the death, he might have even been killed by Ye Chen by now!


    Bai Xiaofei knew that he had lost this fight at the hands of Ye Chen!


    Facing Ye Chen, he had absolutely no ability to fight back.


    Even though he wielded a powerful high-grade yellow-tier Martial Skill, it was to no avail!


    "Brother Ye Chen, I have lost!"


    Bai Xiaofei, holding the long spear, admitted defeat aloud.


    In the first round of the top ten ranking battle, as Bai Xiaofei was defeated and fell from the sky arena, Ye Chen secured the victory after Bai Xiaofei conceded!


    After this first battle ended, Ye Chen returned the long spear to Bai Xiaofei and then sat down cross-legged beneath the sky arena, recovering his True Qi while waiting for the other battles above to conclude.


    When the battles on all five sky arenas ended, the winners and losers of the first round of the cycle battle were successively born.


    Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, Qian Fang, and Ye Xue were victorious in their first battles.


    The remaining five lost!


    Then, after resting for the duration of an incense stick, the second round of the top ten ranking cycle battle began once again.


    Just like in the first round, where Ye Chen swept away Bai Xiaofei in an instant, in the second round, Ye Chen used only two moves to defeat his second opponent, Qian Yuan of the Qian Family, one of the top young fighters!


    In the third round, Ye Chen defeated Qian Fang with just one move!


    Then came the fourth round, the fifth round, the sixth round...


    With each contest in the top ten battles underway, all the spectators from the three clans were shocked to discover that the first sky arena, where Ye Chen was fighting, was always the first to finish the battle.


    And each time, the winner was Ye Chen!


    Furthermore, Ye Chen never used more than five moves in each battle!


    Even in the seventh round, when Ye Chen faced his own cousin from his clan, Ye Xue, who had True Qi at the ninth level and had already won four battles, Ye Chen still only used four moves to defeat her outright.


    Everyone could see that Ye Chen''s combat power far surpassed most of the others in the top ten.


    These people stood no chance of halting Ye Chen''s march toward victory.


    Ye Chen, seemingly unstoppable, marched victoriously through the ranks, taking a more and more commanding lead among the top ten!


    After all seven rounds ended, Ye Chen had achieved seven victories, a record matched only by Bai Xiaodie!


    Even Qian Ming, who was originally considered the most likely to win, lost to Bai Xiaodie in the seventh round, finishing with six wins and one loss.


    And the battle between Qian Ming and Bai Xiaodie brought an immense surprise to all the members of the three great families.


    These two hot contenders for the championship even displayed Martial Skills of the lower grade Xuan level that they had perfected!


    Along with Ye Chen, there were now three young members from the three great families who had mastered Xuan level Martial Skills, a phenomenon that hadn''t occurred in the families for a hundred years.


    This indicated that the three great families might flourish greatly in this generation!


    Keep in mind, Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie were only fifteen years old and had already mastered Xuan level Martial Skills, which would qualify them as prodigious talents even in Great Sects!


    Everyone could see that the first place was very likely to be contested between Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie.


    And the two people Ye Chen had yet to face were precisely Qian Ming and Bai Xiaodie!


    After a short rest, the eighth round of the top ten ranking battle finally began.


    And Ye Chen''s opponent for this round was none other than Qian Ming, a formidable fighter with True Qi at the eleventh level!


    If Ye Chen, like Bai Xiaodie, defeated Qian Ming in battle, then Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, who were already far ahead, would commence the true battle for first place in the ninth round!


    If Ye Chen wanted to contend with Bai Xiaodie for first place, he must first overcome the equally formidable Qian Ming!

 Chapter 90: Chapter 83: Big Surprise

    On the first day of the Sky Ring, Ye Chen and Qian Ming stood opposite each other.


    Below their Sky Ring, the area was packed with members from the three clans. This match even drew more spectators than Qian Ming''s previous bout against Bai Xiaodie!


    Aside from the youths still competing on other rings and their families, the vast majority of the three great clans'' members had gathered beneath the first Sky Ring.


    The tournament had now reached the eighth round of the top ten rankings battle, and the positions were more or less determined.


    The hot favorite to win the championship, Bai Xiaodie, was up against Bai Xiaofei, who was relatively weaker among the ten. There was no suspense in Bai Xiaodie''s victory against Bai Xiaofei.


    Another favorite for the championship, Ye Chen, now faced the equally formidable Qian Ming. Bai Xiaodie''s previous fight against Qian Ming had triggered a tremendous battle, with both even deploying their ace Martial Skills. It wasn''t until the very end that Bai Xiaodie defeated Qian Ming.


    Now, as Ye Chen faced Qian Ming, no one knew whether Ye Chen would win or Qian Ming would prevail.


    While the other matches lacked suspense, this one captivated everyone''s attention!


    Even Bai Xiaodie, who was fighting Bai Xiaofei on the second Sky Ring, defeated Bai Xiaofei in just two moves. Then she turned to watch the match between Ye Chen and Qian Ming.


    Bai Xiaodie also wanted to see if Ye Chen could defeat Qian Ming and compete with her for the first place in the end.


    After defeating Bai Xiaofei, Bai Xiaodie had achieved eight consecutive victories. If Ye Chen was weaker than Qian Ming, it meant that Bai Xiaodie could likely secure first place in the round before the last!


    "Ye Chen, I hope you can continue your miraculous performance and defeat Qian Ming,"


    "If so, maybe you could force me to reveal my true trump card, the one I have never even used against Qian Ming!"


    Dressed in bright yellow robes, Bai Xiaodie sat cross-legged on the second Sky Ring, her beautiful eyes full of anticipation looking towards Ye Chen.


    In the clan''s grand competition, no one had ever pushed Bai Xiaodie to her utmost limit.


    Bai Xiaodie hoped that Ye Chen would have the chance to engage in a truly exhilarating battle with her!


    In the midst of universal anticipation, Ye Chen and Qian Ming, standing on the first Sky Ring, completed their pre-fight formalities and were about to start the real contest!


    Boom!


    Qian Ming, at the eleventh layer of True Qi, released a tremendous surge of True Qi from within his body, forming a towering seventeen to eighteen meters high aura of protective True Qi flames around him.


    "Swish," Qian Ming swiftly drew out a massive blood-red treasure blade.


    Blood Shadow Mad Blade!


    This was Qian Ming''s strongest weapon, forged specifically for his most powerful Xuan-level Martial Skill, the Blood Shadow Mad Blade!


    The Blood Shadow Mad Blade was one meter seventy in length and weighed a staggering one hundred and thirty-six kilograms!


    With this blade, when Qian Ming executed the Xuan-level lower-grade Blood Shadow Blade Skills, the blade light was like blood, the killing intent overwhelming, and its momentum frighteningly impressive.


    Facing Ye Chen''s strength, which was still an enigma, Qian Ming, just like in his fight against Bai Xiaodie, immediately brought out his weapon for a real battle with Ye Chen!


    Boom!


    After drawing the Blood Shadow Mad Blade, Qian Ming stomped on the Sky Ring, slashing forward with the treasure blade in his hand, sending a giant blade light of over thirty meters in length directly towards Ye Chen.


    This strike was so fierce it even tore the void apart; if it were not for the Sky Ring made from special Yin Yang Mysterious Qi, the ground below would have been cleaved open by this blow!


    "He''s striking!"


    "Qian Ming is making his move!"


    "Qian Ming''s blade skills are terrifying. Even Bai Xiaodie had to use a sword and execute Martial Skills to defend. How can Ye Chen remain barehanded?"


    Everyone looked towards Ye Chen, who was about to be struck by the thirty-meter-wide blade light, and cried out in shock when they saw that he was still unarmed.


    Previously, Ye Chen achieved seven consecutive victories with his powerful Martial Skills alone, but now he was up against Qian Ming, a strong wielder of eleventh layer True Qi!


    Qian Ming''s True Qi realm was even higher than that of Ye Chen, and his Martial Skills had also reached the Xuan-level!


    Under such circumstances, how could Ye Chen possibly defend barehanded?


    As everyone held their breath and wondered how Ye Chen would block Qian Ming''s earth-shattering strike, Ye Chen made his move.


    Boom!


    Ye Chen reached out into the void with a powerful grasp, and in an instant, from the trees dozens of meters away from the first Sky Ring on the Martial Arts Plaza, leaves burst forth, shooting towards Ye Chen.


    Suddenly, all of these leaves floated around Ye Chen''s body, and on each leaf shone a dazzling Sword Intent.


    As Qian Ming''s tremendous blade light struck towards Ye Chen, the leaves floating around Ye Chen''s body were like fierce torrents of rain, each glowing with piercing Sword Intents as they shot towards the massive blade light.


    This was the display of Sword Intents!


    This was none other than the Storm Rain Sword Intent, one of the three major Sword Intents Ye Chen had comprehended!


    Facing the eleventh layer True Qi strong opponent Qian Ming, Ye Chen used Sword Intent techniques for the first time in the grand clan competition!


    Boom!


    In an instant, the leaf blades controlled by Ye Chen''s Sword Intents clashed with the over thirty meters long earth-shaking blade light that Qian Ming slashed down.


    As they clashed, the blood-red light on the blade light surged wildly, like the roaring shadow of a blood mad blade, furiously cutting towards the group of swords.


    The leaf blades, governed by the Storm Rain Sword Intents, suddenly trembled and unleashed an endless series of clear sword cries, which even overpowered the roaring noise of the blade.


    In the end, the myriad leaf blades tore all the blade light to shreds in this bout, thoroughly repelling Qian Ming''s attack.


    It even sent Qian Ming, who was wielding the Blood Shadow Mad Blade, flying three or four meters away!


    After that, the myriad leaf blades flew back in retreat and re-suspended around Ye Chen''s body, with the densely packed leaves, possibly numbering in the hundreds, hanging upside down like hundreds of sharp swords surrounding him.


    This strange scene left all the clan members watching the competition below the first heaven''s platform with their mouths agape.


    They had never seen such a magical sight before, controlling thousands of leaves for attack? These thousands of leaves, each one like a sharp sword, floating around Ye Chen''s body!


    More so, they didn''t sense any True Qi fluctuations around Ye Chen''s body; they were completely baffled as to how Ye Chen was controlling those leaves, which allowed ordinary leaves to withstand the powerful blade light slashes from Qian Ming!


    "This... Could this be?"


    The patriarchs of the three clans, looking at the leaf blades suspended around Ye Chen, exchanged glances, their eyes filled with disbelief.


    They had their presumptions but dared not voice them.


    Because what they were thinking of was an event that had never happened within their three great families!


    However, just then, Bai Xiaodie, who was seated cross-legged and watching the battle on the second heaven''s platform, suddenly stood up and blurted out the two words the three clan leaders had suspected ¡ª "Sword Intent!"


    "This is Sword Intent, Ye Chen has actually comprehended Sword Intent!"


    Bai Xiaodie, a secret disciple of the sixth-rank Peach Blossom Valley, was of course aware of Sword Intents. Furthermore, her own trump card, which she had not yet revealed, was related to Sword Intents!


    She had never imagined that among tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators, where it is rare for one to comprehend Sword Intents, it would emerge during the grand competition of the three clans, and on a young man about her own age!


    Bai Xiaodie had heard that Ye Chen was merely a disciple from an eighth-rank sect, but his performance made her feel that even the genius disciples of a sixth-rank great sect were far inferior compared to him!


    Bai Xiaodie, having suddenly stood up, was now brimming with immense fighting spirit. She couldn''t wait to truly cross swords with Ye Chen!


    She believed that Ye Chen was strong enough to push her to use her full strength and to fight with all her heart!


    "Sword Intent!"


    "It''s Sword Intent!"


    As Bai Xiaodie shouted out the words, Qian Ming, who was battling with Ye Chen, also underwent a drastic change in complexion.


    He, too, from Taixuan Sect, a sixth-rank great sect, had seen this legendary realm of swordsmanship cultivation ¡ª the control over all as swords, the realm of Sword Intents!


    Qian Ming had not expected Ye Chen to have kept such a profound technique hidden so deep, having achieved seven consecutive victories without using this powerful method and only revealing it now in their battle!


    "Sword Intent!"


    "It''s really Sword Intent!"


    The repeated exclamations from Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming finally confirmed the three elders'' suspicions.


    The three elders felt as though a huge surprise had descended from the heavens!


    They had hosted the grand competition among the clans facing the once-in-centuries opportunity of the ancestral lands opening.


    Seeing the fifteen-year-old genius Bai Xiaodie sweep away all competition and even defeat the incredibly strong eleventh layer True Qi powerhouse Qian Ming had already filled them with immense joy!


    They had never expected another even more surprising dark horse, Ye Chen, to not be at all weaker than Bai Xiaodie. In fact, in the earlier rounds, Ye Chen''s performance was even more outstanding than hers!


    Now, he had even brought out his hidden Sword Intents!


    Those who could comprehend Sword Intents were undoubtedly geniuses with exceptional potential, characters that even sixth-rank great sects would compete madly over. Now such a person had appeared directly among the three great families, among the younger generation of their clans.


    How could the three elders not be overjoyed?!


    The three elders truly believed that with Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, and the other formidable young generation, coupled with the grand opportunity of the ancestral lands opening, their clans were destined to prosper once more!


    They were sure to give birth to Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, and maybe even exceed that realm!


    The fifteen-year-old Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie had given them such hope!

 Chapter 91: Chapter 84 The Ultimate Battle

    ```


    "Xiaotian and Lin Rin said that Ye Chen is now incredibly powerful and can even defeat a True Qi level ten warrior,"


    "It turns out his hidden move is ''Sword Intent''. Ye Chen, at such a young age, has actually comprehended Sword Intent!"


    "No wonder Fairy Jia Luo, the number one warrior in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, holds Ye Chen in such high regard!"


    Among the three elders, Patriarch Ye of the Ye Family where Ye Chen hailed from was the most thrilled.


    Before the great competition, when he heard from Ye Chen''s parents that Ye Chen''s strength was extraordinary, he was filled with anticipation for Ye Chen, whose performance in the first two rounds had continually surprised him.


    Now, the ''Sword Intent'' Ye Chen had displayed in the final stage of the three-clan competition brought Patriarch Ye an even greater and unexpected joy.


    He had thought that Ye Chen had cultivated powerful Martial Skills, perhaps even learned a Xuan-tier Martial Skill.


    But Patriarch Ye had never imagined that Ye Chen would actually grasp ''Sword Intent''!


    This was indeed a pleasant surprise beyond his expectations!


    While the entire three great families, from the three elders to the clan members watching the match, were all astounded by Ye Chen''s Sword Intent, up in the sky arena, Qian Ming launched another attack on Ye Chen!


    Even though he knew Ye Chen had comprehended Sword Intent, Qian Ming was not going to concede easily. His True Qi realm was at level eleven, and he had cultivated a set of Xuan-tier Martial Skills. He would not rest until he had decisively beaten Ye Chen!


    Boom!


    This time, Qian Ming''s feet stomped heavily onto the sky arena. His entire body, holding the Blood Shadow Mad Blade, soared into the air, bringing with it an unmatched blade light and a terrifying True Qi flame over seventeen or eighteen meters high, slashing towards Ye Chen again.


    Qian Ming was deploying the ''Blood Shadow Blade Skills'' in a frenzied, close-quarters combat attempt with Ye Chen!


    As Qian Ming rose with blade in hand, slashing down from the air, Ye Chen lightly touched the sky arena with the tip of his foot and also took to the air in a flash. At the same time, he fiercely pointed at Qian Ming and the hundreds of circling Sword Intents made from leaves shot towards Qian Ming to meet his attack.


    On one side was Qian Ming, wielding the Blood Shadow Mad Blade and bringing about a ferocious True Qi flame with his slashes!


    On the other side were hundreds of Sword Intents formed from leaves, soaring through the sky to counter the onslaught!


    When these two forces collided, the explosion was immense.


    Above the first sky arena, violent True Qi swept through every direction, with blade lights and sword shadows everywhere!


    If not for the three elders taking action to protect the area around the fighters, this fearsome clash of Sword Intents against Blood Shadow Blade Skills would have utterly destroyed the surrounding terrain of the first sky arena!


    The battle between Ye Chen and Qian Ming at this moment was even more astonishing than the previous one between Qian Ming and Bai Xiaodie using their Xuan-tier techniques!


    In the frenetic clash of blades and swords, Qian Ming''s defensive True Qi flame gradually diminished, whereas more of the hundreds of leaf-made swords confronting him were being slashed down.


    Clearly, neither of them could suppress the other with this move, and it was time to change tactics!


    At that moment, Qian Ming let out a roar. His body once again unleashed an unstoppable True Qi storm. The True Qi amidst the myriad blade lights turned a translucent red, even the Blood Shadow Mad Blade in his hand turned a blood red instantly!


    Those from the three clans who had watched Qian Ming''s earlier battle with Bai Xiaodie knew that he was about to use his strongest and final Martial Skill, the Xuan-tier low-grade blade skill ''Blood Shadow Blade Skills'' ¡ª its most powerful move, ''Mad Demon Thirteen Slash''!


    Mad Demon Thirteen Slash, where all True Qi is infused into the blade''s attacks¡ªwithout madness, there is no survival!


    It is a desperate, ultimate assault; success means victory, failure means defeat.


    With this blade skill, Qian Ming had even defeated countless True Qi level eleven warriors in the Taixuan Sect; he had even overcome many who had not successfully cultivated powerful Martial Skills among those at True Qi level twelve!


    It was only Bai Xiaodie who, in the end, had withstood this move. Qian Ming didn''t believe that Ye Chen, whose Sword Intent was four small levels lower in True Qi realm, could withstand his Mad Demon Thirteen Slash!


    As everyone watched the aggression of Qian Ming''s Mad Demon Thirteen Slash, tensions rose. Even Bai Xiaodie, on the second sky arena, watched Ye Chen without blinking.


    "I was able to defeat Qian Ming with my True Qi level eleven realm, which is no less than his, and Xuan-tier Martial Skill."


    "Ye Chen is only at True Qi level seven, his internal cultivation''s True Qi is weaker than Qian Ming''s, and even if his external skill ''Sword Intent'' is incredibly powerful, it may not hold up against Qian Ming''s frenzied outbreak."


    "Is he going to use that Sword Intent to block this ''Mad Demon Thirteen Slash''?"


    As Bai Xiaodie pondered this question, Qian Ming, together with his Blood Shadow Mad Blade, suddenly disappeared from where he was standing. The next moment, a figure like a blood shadow beast burst forth in front of Ye Chen.


    This figure, wielding the immense red True Qi and accompanied by the blood-red blade light, pounced and furiously slashed towards Ye Chen.


    The blade light was like a shadow, chaotically unending, Mad Demon Thirteen Slash, an absolute eruption of True Qi, made Qian Ming seem unstoppable!


    It was a thirteen-strike combo, each slash more ferocious than the last, each slash gaining momentum in this battle move!


    Just as Qian Ming unleashed his most powerful attack, Ye Chen changed his move as well.


    He reached into the void with his left hand, and in an instant, hundreds more leaves became swords of leaves, shooting towards Qian Ming with an unstoppable storm of Sword Intent.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s right hand did not stop; he reached into the void again, and this time, immense True Qi burst forth from his hand. This True Qi astonishingly turned into numerous swords of True Qi, with purple lightning surging ceaselessly upon them.


    These Purple Lightning True Qi Swords also numbered more than a hundred!


    ```


    ```


    This, unexpectedly, was another kind of Sword Intent¡ªthe Purple Lightning Sword Intent, manipulating True Qi, transforming it into a sword for attack!


    Ye Chen actually displayed two major Sword Intents at the same time!


    Left hand Torrential Rain Sword Intent! Right hand Purple Lightning Sword Intent!


    At Qian Ming''s most explosive moment, Ye Chen also brought his Sword Intent technique to the second layer!


    Boom!


    As the Sword Intent of falling leaves like torrential rain smashed down on the frenzied Qian Ming, the Purple Lightning True Qi Sword formed in his right hand also madly struck towards Qian Ming.


    The combination of the Torrential Rain Sword and the Purple Lightning True Qi Sword, under the control of the two great Sword Intents, had already surpassed a thousand blades, turning the entire sky above the first heavenly arena into a world of swords!


    In an instant, Qian Ming was completely submerged in the light of swords!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Inside the sword light, Qian Ming continued his Mad Demon Thirteen Slash without cease, outside the sword light, the pervasive Sword Intents continued their unrelenting assault!


    Such a terrifying sight had completely dumbfounded all the clanspeople from the three tribes.


    They couldn''t imagine that Ye Chen still had the strength to spare, that at the very end, he could still bring forth even more powerful swords of True Qi!


    "The second Sword Intent!"


    "This is the second Sword Intent!"


    Even Bai Xiaodie, with her ever-calm delicate face, revealed an expression of disbelief!


    In the midst of countless shocked onlookers, amid Bai Xiaodie''s incredulous expression, after dozens of breaths of the frenzied assault by the sword light, Qian Ming''s roaring had become increasingly subdued, and in the end, it turned into cries of astonishment.


    Indeed, Qian Ming could no longer withstand Ye Chen''s attacks!


    And at this moment, of the countless Swords of Leaves and True Qi that were cutting down towards Qian Ming in the first heavenly arena, there were still six to seven hundred blades left!


    These remaining Sword Intent moves were enough to completely defeat or even kill Qian Ming!


    In the end, Qian Ming had no choice but to admit defeat, complete defeat!


    When Qian Ming''s voice of surrender rang out, Ye Chen waved his hand grandly, and all the sword light in the sky swirled about, revealing Qian Ming''s figure, his clothes somewhat tattered.


    Qian Ming had already turned pale, clearly suffering a great loss of True Qi in this battle and no longer able to resist!


    In contrast, Ye Chen didn''t show the slightest bit of strain; he was still as unaffected as before the contest began, Qian Ming''s attacks hadn''t touched him at all!


    With a grand gesture from Ye Chen, the sword light that had taken flight from its attack on Qian Ming, the countless leaf swords, now drifted to the ground, and the swords of True Qi reverted back to True Qi, flying back into Ye Chen''s body.


    With his move, he conjured the sword light that filled the sky!


    Withdrawing his move, the sword light dissipated in an instant, turning into nothingness!


    Ye Chen''s smooth actions, contrasted against the pale-faced Qian Ming, clearly distinguished the superior from the inferior!


    Qian Ming is defeated!


    Ye Chen wins!


    This eighth round of the top ten ranking battle finally came to a close, under the watchful eyes of the multitude.


    All the clanspeople from the three tribes, along with the three great chieftains, watched Ye Chen on the first heavenly arena, and there was a moment of silence, followed by, a wave of frenzied cheering that swept across the entire thousand-yard arena, across the entire martial arts square of the three tribes!


    "Ye Chen won!"


    "Another eight consecutive victories!"


    "A supreme powerhouse, this is simply the birth of a supreme powerhouse!"


    "It''s unimaginable, Ye Chen at the seventh layer of True Qi actually defeated Qian Ming at the eleventh layer of True Qi, and, we have yet to see Ye Chen pushed to his limit!"


    "Both contestants with eight consecutive victories have emerged, Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, both fifteen, both with eight consecutive wins!"


    "In the ninth round, they will face off. Who will be the number one among the top ten, which of these two formidable youths?"


    All eyes, were then focused on Ye Chen on the first heavenly arena, and also simultaneously on Bai Xiaodie on the second heavenly arena.


    In the midst of the frenzied cheering, Bai Xiaodie also looked towards Ye Chen, "For the last battle, it seems, I must bring out my true strength!"


    Boom!


    With a light tap of Bai Xiaodie''s snow-white boots, she landed directly on the first heavenly arena, right beside Ye Chen!


    ```

 Chapter 92: Chapter 85 The Wind Blows the Snow

    When Bai Xiaodie landed on the first Sky Arena, right next to Ye Chen, everyone could see her soaring fighting spirit!


    Clearly, Ye Chen''s strength had prompted the unbeaten genius girl Bai Xiaodie to long for a battle with him!


    "The grand tournament of the three clans, the ultimate encounter of the strongest has arrived!"


    "Is it chance, or is it fate?"


    "The battle of the strongest, the imminent top ten ranking battle of the strongest, will decide who is the number one of the younger generation in our three major families!"


    "Both with eight consecutive victories, who will fall in this final fight, and who will create the true number one record of nine consecutive wins, an undefeated record in the top ten ranking battle?"


    The members of the three clans all looked up at Ye Chen on the first Sky Arena, and then at Bai Xiaodie.


    At this moment, Patriarch Bai from among the three major families also looked up toward the Sky Arena above.


    He announced loudly, "Rest and adjust your breath for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, and then the final round of the top ten ranking battle will begin!"


    After saying this, he specially announced, "For the final round of the top ten ranking battle, the other four pairs will compete first, and the battle for first place between Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie will take place after the other four bouts have finished!"


    "The battle for first place, to be witnessed by all our clan members together!"


    Patriarch Bai''s words excited everyone from the three clans.


    At this time, both Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie were at eight wins and no losses, and only these two were qualified to vie for first place!


    A step behind them was Qian Ming, with six wins and two losses, having already lost to both Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie. Even if one of Ye Chen or Bai Xiaodie were to lose, according to the record of direct encounters, Qian Ming could only rank third, which meant he could not affect the overall situation in the slightest.


    Thus, almost all the attention was now on Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie. Patriarch Bai''s arrangement was exactly what all the clan members wished for.


    They also preferred to watch this final battle without any distractions, after all other contests had concluded, with all their hearts and minds focused.


    "Ye Chen, recover your True Qi!"


    "I hope in this final matchup, you can force me into my strongest state, and I can do the same for you!"


    "Let''s have a match to determine the true number one!"


    Bai Xiaodie looked at Ye Chen with shining eyes as she spoke.


    Looking at the girl in front of him, dressed in bright yellow clothes, with long hair tied into a ponytail that fell straight to her waist, appearing remarkably dauntless, Ye Chen nodded his head.


    From Bai Xiaodie, he sensed an unyielding belief.


    Ye Chen knew, his upcoming battle with Bai Xiaodie was likely to be a tough one!


    After smiling and nodding at Bai Xiaodie, Ye Chen sat down cross-legged on the first Sky Arena to recover his True Qi.


    And Bai Xiaodie, sitting not far from Ye Chen, also began to meditate quietly.


    After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea had passed, the ninth round of ranking battles officially commenced on the other four Sky Arenas.


    The competing pairs, whose rankings were already fixed and whose victories or defeats could no longer change, quickly determined the winners and losers. Even those whose rankings could still change slightly finished their battles swiftly.


    Once ranks three to ten were all clear, the eight contestants from the top ten descended beneath the Sky Arena and all turned their gaze toward the first Sky Arena in the middle.


    Even those who were part of the top ten battles were deeply interested in the battle between Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie!


    Boom!


    As everyone landed beneath the Sky Arena and all the clan members looked forward in anticipation to the final battle between Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie.


    Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie stood up from their meditation at the same time.


    As they stood, a thunderous rumbling noise came, and the other four Sky Arenas converged toward the first Sky Arena.


    Finally, all the Sky Arenas joined together to form a vast arena hundreds of feet in circumference, a unique and massive Sky Arena!


    This was the arena for Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie''s battle for number one!


    The arena for the battle for first place!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Bai Xiaodie!"


    The two on the Sky Arena looked at each other, as True Qi began to surge around both of them.


    They both awaited the start of the battle!


    When Patriarch Bai formally announced the beginning of the last battle, both Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie flew up into the air, and at the same time, their immense True Qi swept out.


    Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo! Shoo!


    Instantly, more than five hundred Swords of True Qi materialized around Ye Chen.


    Similarly, Bai Xiaodie was not a step behind; with a "swoosh," she drew out her snow-white treasured sword, and its gleaming blade even emitted a clear and resonant sword cry!


    Then, almost simultaneously, the attacks from Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie clashed in mid-air.


    Ye Chen did not stand still as he had against Qian Ming but carried the sky full of Swords of True Qi, hurling himself fiercely at Bai Xiaodie.


    And Bai Xiaodie, with a light cry, brandished her snow-white treasured sword, cutting through endless sword light to block the Swords of True Qi that Ye Chen had launched at her.


    Sword technique against sword technique!


    On one side was Bai Xiaodie, at the eleventh layer of True Qi, wielding a Xuan-class sword technique, and on the other was Ye Chen at the seventh layer of True Qi but displaying Sword Intents.


    The two final powerhouses of the great clan tournament fought indecisively in the sky, filling the entire air with unceasing sword clangs and flashes of light everywhere!


    This head-on clash continued for hundreds of exchanges, with both parties seemingly observing the other''s weaknesses and seeking flaws in their techniques!


    When neither could find a weakness through these moves, the two combatants in the sky separated, and more powerful attacks followed one after another!

 Chapter 93: Chapter 85 Wind Blows Snow_2

    Boom!


    With a "ding" from her hand, Bai Xiaodie''s snow-white treasured sword split into two, transforming into a pair of narrow swords!


    "Ye Chen, bring out your second Sword Intent!"


    "With my dual swords, your first Sword Intent won''t stand a chance!"


    Bai Xiaodie, wielding twin swords, stood on the sky arena and said to Ye Chen.


    "Twin swords!"


    "Bai Xiaodie has actually mastered the dual swords!"


    "During her fierce battle with Qian Ming, she didn''t use her twin sword technique. Now she''s revealing this hidden move; looks like she came prepared, knowing how formidable Ye Chen''s Sword Intent is!"


    Below the sky arena, the clan members of the three tribes were invigorated at the sight of Bai Xiaodie holding the twin swords.


    Clearly, Bai Xiaodie was about to use a move she had never shown before!


    "She still had energy to spare!"


    "She didn''t even use her full strength to defeat me!"


    "Bai Xiaodie and Ye Chen are indeed stronger than me! They''re more deserving of first place than I am!"


    Qian Ming, standing below the arena, watched Bai Xiaodie, who held twin swords and challenged Ye Chen, with a complex and indescribable expression.


    "Dual swords?"


    "Against my two major Sword Intents?"


    "Very well!"


    Ye Chen smiled lightly as he watched Bai Xiaodie, who held the twin swords and called out to him.


    You''ve revealed your new trump card, but I still have many more. I hope you can force them all out!


    Ye Chen''s fighting spirit surged as he grasped at the air with both hands. The Storm Rain Sword Intent and Purple Lightning Sword Intent, which he had previously used in battle against Qian Ming, spread out over dozens of yards.


    In an instant, over a thousand Swords of True Qi formed again!


    "Fight!"


    Ye Chen''s "Wind Movement Skills" suddenly activated, and like a whistling cyclone, he took with him over a thousand Swords of True Qi and charged towards Bai Xiaodie, wielding her twin swords, covering the sky in his attack.


    "Instant Flash, Twin Sword Slash!"


    Spotting Ye Chen''s attack, Bai Xiaodie''s eyes lit up, eager to test whether her Twin Sword Slash was superior or inferior to Ye Chen''s two major Sword Intents.


    With a "whoosh," Bai Xiaodie''s movement technique activated, and she disappeared from her standing position. Then, two astonishing beams of sword light burst forth amidst the myriad Swords of True Qi.


    Each of these astonishing beams of sword light was over twenty meters tall, and from every part of the sword light, a chilling intent to kill emerged. As the sword light danced, it instantly clashed with Ye Chen''s sky-covering Swords of True Qi.


    This was the "Light-splitting Annihilation Sword" technique that Bai Xiaodie had cultivated, a low-grade Xuan-level martial skill!


    This set of martial skills required a vast amount of True Qi as support. With the two swords stimulating simultaneously, it could carry the vast True Qi along with the annihilation light-splitting, extending to over twenty meters in length!


    These huge beams of annihilating sword light, each flowing with the moves of Light-splitting Annihilation Sword, could cut a person anywhere along the twenty meters of True Qi!


    Once, while practicing this move, Bai Xiaodie had even split a small mountain in two with her swords! And in a dense forest, when the annihilation light-splitting swirled, every inch of large trees was sliced and shattered!


    Ye Chen''s myriad swords were numerous, though small in size!


    Bai Xiaodie''s twin sword light-splitting move was few in number but the sword light surged with endless might!


    The two types of sword techniques clashed directly, and the dense, clashing sounds of sword light echoed in all directions!


    Watching the vast sky arena above, filled with thousands of Swords of True Qi, and seeing the ascending beams of annihilating sword light reaching twenty or thirty meters into the sky, along with the resonating sounds of sword killings, the clansmen spectating below the arena held their breath.


    "Strong!"


    "Too powerful!"


    "This is the competition among martial artists, this is the battle of geniuses!"


    "These are the two strongest young masters of our three great families!"


    Everyone watched the two youths on the sky-high platform, looking at Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, who at just fifteen years old, possessed such formidable battle strength, and pride surged in their hearts.


    This was the strongest of the younger generation in their clans!


    Such strength, let alone in Qingyang City, even if placed in a great sect, it wouldn''t be inferior to other genius youths!


    With such young geniuses, all members of the three families had enough reason to feel proud!


    In the crowd, Ye Chen''s parents, the little maid Tao''er, as well as Bai Xiaodie''s parents and her uncles were also extremely excited.


    They felt immensely proud that Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, the people they cared for the most, remained overwhelmingly powerful in the battle for the top ten.


    When the two overwhelming Sword Qi lights unleashed by Bai Xiaodie swept through the sky filled with Ye Chen''s Swords of True Qi, Bai Xiaodie''s figure reappeared in the sky.


    Nobody could discern the winner of their exchange, but Bai Xiaodie''s attack had once again changed!


    "Both Sword Intents, truly extraordinary!"


    "If my ''Light-splitting Annihilation Sword'' still can''t defeat you, but Ye Chen, if you have Sword Intent, so do I!"


    "Try this, the ''Flying Snow Sword Intent'' that I comprehended in the secret realm of ''Endless Snow Mountain'' in Peach Blossom Valley!"


    As Bai Xiaodie spoke, the snow-white twin swords in her hands suddenly vanished. Then, with a gentle spread of her fair hands in the sky, the twenty-plus-meter-tall protective True Qi flame around her body burst forth explosively.


    Strands of True Qi were released and, at the moment of explosion, all transformed into snowflakes.


    These snowflakes, falling from the sky, each contained a Sword Qi within!


    These snowflakes did not drift down slowly like normal ones, but rather, they moved even faster than Bai Xiaodie''s previous movement technique!


    Snowflake by snowflake, they spread across hundreds of feet in the area, completely covering the entire sky-high platform!


    As the snowflakes danced, not only did a vast Sword Intent pervade the air, but even the whole sky turned bone-chillingly cold!


    Flying Snow Sword Intent!


    This was none other than the incredibly strong Sword Intent that Bai Xiaodie controlled, the Flying Snow Sword Intent!


    As these snowflakes whirled at high speed, the sky-filled Swords of True Qi unleashed by Ye Chen were all struck down by the swirling snowflakes, reverting back into True Qi.


    Clearly, the Flying Snow Sword Intent that Bai Xiaodie had comprehended, which was likely grasped from a Xuan-level martial art, was even stronger than Ye Chen''s Storm Rain Sword Intent and Purple Lightning Sword Intent!


    "Flying Snow Sword Intent?"


    "Then let''s see, whether your Flying Snow Sword Intent is stronger or my Wind Sword Intent is stronger!"


    With a large sweep of his hand, the True Qi struck down by the swirling snowflakes shook violently.


    In the midst of this violent trembling and amidst the flying snow, terrifying Wind Blade Swords suddenly materialized, creating a fierce wind of Sword Qi right in the midst of the falling snow!


    This was indeed the third and most powerful Sword Intent that Ye Chen wielded, the Wind Sword Intent!


    After Bai Xiaodie had unleashed her Flying Snow Sword Intent, Ye Chen also brought out his Wind Sword Intent!


    The wind blows!


    Snow drifts!


    The two Sword Intents, spreading across hundreds of feet, displayed their unrestrained beauty on this sky-high platform!

 Chapter 94: Chapter 86, Number 1!

    The situation in the Sky Arena was changing in the blink of an eye, something that the clansmen from the three tribes had never anticipated.


    Just a moment ago, they were shocked by Ye Chen''s omnipresent Sword of True Qi and Bai Xiaodie''s soaring two mighty annihilation sword lights.


    The next moment, unexpectedly, both of them had unleashed a new kind of Sword Intent!


    When they heard Bai Xiaodie say that her Light-Splitting Annihilation Sword was no match for Ye Chen''s two great Sword Intents, the clansmen thought Bai Xiaodie would admit defeat, but in the very next instant, she used her Flying Snow Sword Intent, which shattered Ye Chen''s omnipresent Sword of True Qi.


    The Sword Intent snowflakes that filled hundreds of meters around and covered the entire Sky Arena stunned all the clansmen, and even the three elder chieftains couldn''t help but scream in shock!


    "Another Sword Intent!"


    "Another young one who has mastered Sword Intent!"


    "In our three tribes, two geniuses who have mastered Sword Intents have actually emerged!"


    Even Bai Xiaodie''s grandfather, the Bai Family elder chieftain, got so excited that his beard trembled.


    Even he had no idea that Bai Xiaodie had cultivated such a powerful Sword Intent; it was clearly Bai Xiaodie''s trump card!


    While they were still screaming in disbelief, witnessing Bai Xiaodie''s Flying Snow Sword Intent scattering Ye Chen''s Sword of True Qi, Ye Chen unveiled his third type of Sword Intent¡ª"Wind Sword Intent"¡ªbringing their screams to an abrupt halt.


    After Bai Xiaodie had continuously executed her dual sword moves and Flying Snow Sword Intent, could Ye Chen still have a countermeasure?


    Seeing the fierce winds of sword qi amid the flying snow and watching Ye Chen unleash his third type of Sword Intent, the three elder chieftains no longer knew how to express their emotions.


    Their astonishment had become numb; they could no longer fathom what Ye Chen could do in the Sky Arena.


    What is the limit?


    How far is the limit?!


    Facing Ye Chen, whose methods were endless, each more formidable than the last, they had no idea where his limits might lie!


    "Profound-grade technique, dual sword Light-Splitting Annihilation, and the Flying Snow Sword Intent!"


    "Leap attacks forty or fifty meters high, profound-grade techniques, and an ever-stronger series of Sword Intents!"


    Qian Ming, who ranked third among the top ten in the competition, looked at Bai Xiaodie, who leaped through the sky deploying her omnipresent sword intent snowflakes, and at Ye Chen, who embodied the fierce sword qi of the wind, and could only smile bitterly to himself.


    These two youths, even younger than him, had given him too many shocks!


    "After this exploration of the ancestral secret realm ends, when I return to the Taixuan Sect, I must go into secluded cultivation, and I won''t emerge until I can withstand both of their strengths!"


    Qian Ming had set a goal for himself, a goal to surpass these two youths!


    True powerhouses also sparked in him a desire to constantly cultivate and grow stronger!


    The tens of thousands of tribespeople watching this battle of ever-surging techniques in the arena all had myriad thoughts.


    At this moment, Bai Xiaodie''s Flying Snow Sword Intent and Ye Chen''s Wind Sword Intent on the Sky Arena had directly clashed with each other.


    The Sword Intent snowflakes, filling hundreds of meters around and covering the entire Sky Arena, collided with the equally pervasive, fierce sword winds!


    Both mighty Sword Intents, each stemming from the realization gained through profound-grade martial arts, clashed utterly against each other.


    Flying snow, shattering everything!


    Howling winds, sweeping across all directions!


    When Bai Xiaodie, having unleashed her strongest card, saw that Ye Chen had moves to counter, she didn''t feel horror or despair, only a burning desire to fight with full gusto!


    Ye Chen had indeed not disappointed her! He indeed had countermeasures even when she brought out her strongest move!


    "Ye Chen, let me truly unleash my ''Flying Snow Sword Intent''!"


    With her fighting spirit ablaze, Bai Xiaodie pointed through the flying snow, and all the swirling snowflakes and endless sword lights began to flow together, her immense sword technique unfolding amid the snow!


    Feeling Bai Xiaodie''s surge of final battle intent, Ye Chen''s blood also heated with excitement.


    "Wind Sword Intent!"


    "I''ve never fully unleashed it!"


    "Because before, I never completely mastered the ''Wind Sword Skills'' that complement it!"


    "But now, I''ve fully comprehended all nine moves of ''Wind Sword Skills''! This time, let all nine moves of the Wind Sword Skills be fully displayed!"


    Ye Chen reached out, and all the moves of Wind Sword Skills he had grasped were infused into the Wind Sword Intent.


    In an instant, the winds of sword qi, the endless swords of wind blades, surged with waves of wind power, the atmosphere of wind burgeoning forth.


    Wind Sword Skills first move, Hurricane Frenzy!


    Wind blades like massive hurricanes, violently sweeping away the snowflakes in the sky!


    Wind Sword Skills second move, Thirteen Wind Strips, the swords of varied weight causing the snowflakes to continuously tremble!


    Wind Sword Skills third move, Wind Spiral Kill, and fourth move, Wind Strangle Kill!


    Even more so, within the entire world, terrifying storms of spiral kill and strangle kill whipped up!


    In the end, as all nine moves of Ye Chen''s Wind Sword Skills were instilled into the swords of wind blades swirling throughout the sky, the whole sky had become an ocean of storms, an ocean of swords of wind blades!


    Wind blows!


    Snow falls!


    Ye Chen had displayed his strongest Sword Intent, and Bai Xiaodie had shown her strongest Sword Intent!


    One moment the hurricane overwhelmed the snowflakes, the next, snowflakes surged, wrapping the entire storm within it!


    The entire sky was now completely embroiled in a competition of these two great Sword Intents!


    No one knew who would come out on top between Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie in the end!

 Chapter 95: Chapter 86 First 1_2

    ```


    "Come on, all my True Qi is at stake in this final showdown!" Bai Xiaodie, facing the two great Sword Intents of the blizzard and flying snow, harbored the thought of making her last stand.


    "Come on!"


    "Even if it''s the last stand, my True Qi, and my Gang Yuan True Qi, release it all!"


    At the same time this thought arose in Bai Xiaodie, Ye Chen, as if sensing it, also had this notion flare up!


    Both had competed to the end, to the strongest extent possible, and whoever would take first place, they would both be utterly convinced.


    So, with nothing left to reserve, they went all out in battle!


    In the midst of the storm and flying snow, Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, hundreds of feet apart, exchanged a glance and instantly understood each other''s thoughts.


    Then, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" Both of them burst into endless radiance.


    Around Bai Xiaodie, was the boundlessly vast cyan smoke-like Heaven and Earth True Qi!


    Although Ye Chen''s Heaven and Earth True Qi wasn''t as vast as Bai Xiaodie''s, within his cyan True Qi, there flashed a silver light even more dazzling than the Heaven and Earth True Qi!


    It was the Gang Yuan True Qi unique to his cultivation of the "Primordial Star Scripture," Gang Yuan Mantra, even more powerful than the Heaven and Earth True Qi!


    After months of arduous cultivation, Ye Chen''s Gang Yuan True Qi had already reached two of the seven True Qi Vortices in quantity, and at this moment, Ye Chen released all this Gang Yuan True Qi!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the finale of their full power, the range of the flying snow controlled by Bai Xiaodie once again expanded, and even the killing force on the snowflakes doubled compared to before, furiously bombing towards Ye Chen''s Wind Blade Sword!


    Ye Chen was not the least bit behind Bai Xiaodie, and with the infusion of the Gang Yuan True Qi, the myriad Wind Blade Swords in the sky underwent a new transformation!


    The silver Wind Blade Swords, transformed by the Gang Yuan True Qi, even ground away a large swath of the Flying Snow Sword Intent that had been clashing against them!


    Bombarding crash!


    Coiling annihilate!


    The two profound-grade Sword Intents were battling to the very end!


    This showdown made the Sky Arena spanning hundreds of feet around completely obscured, even the silhouettes of Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie were blurred within the fight.


    Only the winds in the sky could be seen swirling, and the snowflakes falling!


    The clansmen of the three families all looked up at the Sky Arena, watching the storm and the flying snow in the sky.


    They knew that the moment to decide the victor was almost upon them!


    As everyone held their breath in anticipation, after half an incense stick''s time had passed in this intense battle, in the sky, one of the two clashing Sword Intents finally suppressed the other.


    Everyone saw that in the Sky Arena, the cyan flying snow and the Wind Blade Swords were both depleting in the fight, but the silver Wind Blade Swords were becoming distinctly visible within the continuously diminishing Sword Intent True Qi!


    These were undoubtedly the Wind Blade Swords formed from the Gang Yuan True Qi obtained by Ye Chen from his cultivation of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    The Wind Blade Swords, formed by the Gang Yuan True Qi with the enhancement of the Wind Sword Intent, were something that Bai Xiaodie''s flying snow could not eradicate, and in this final decisive battle, it finally showed its strength!


    The Gang Yuan True Qi, unique and far stronger than Heaven and Earth True Qi, finally revealed its power at this moment!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the end, when these hundreds of silver Wind Blade Swords swept away most of the flying snow, Bai Xiaodie''s sigh finally spread through the air.


    "I''ve lost!"


    "Ye Chen, you are the first!"


    Bai Xiaodie withdrew the last of her Flying Snow True Qi, revealing her figure.


    Looking at the shining silver Wind Blade Swords, her eyes were filled with astonishment.


    Having battled against the silver Wind Blade Swords for a long time, even when she summoned countless Sword Intents of Flying Snow but still couldn''t break them, Bai Xiaodie knew she was defeated.


    She understood that Ye Chen cultivated a kind of breath far more powerful than the Heaven and Earth True Qi she controlled, this white breath she had never seen before!


    Bai Xiaodie knew that perhaps only after stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm and cultivating the True Qi Spiritual Fluid could she possibly subdue this breath.


    Right now, she couldn''t do it!


    Hearing Bai Xiaodie concede defeat, Ye Chen also gave a slight tremor in his Qi Sea, and the hundreds of silver Wind Blade Swords immediately transformed back into Gang Yuan True Qi and the remaining Heaven and Earth True Qi, flying back into his Qi Sea.


    He had finally won!


    Finally, he''d reached the end!


    Ye Chen looked at the Sky Arena and Bai Xiaodie, his heart filled with respect for her.


    ```


    Bai Xiaodie, at only fifteen years of age, proved so powerful that she could be considered the second strongest girl Ye Chen had ever seen.


    Aside from Jiang Yao, Ye Chen had never come across such a talented girl.


    This battle was also incredibly tough for Ye Chen; he even pulled out all the stops and used every technique he had to defeat Bai Xiaodie.


    If Bai Xiaodie had had one or two more tricks up her sleeve, he might have been the one to lose!


    "Heaven is vast, Earth is vast!"


    "Genius is boundless!"


    "If Bai Xiaodie can fight me to this point, not to mention the other sect geniuses, and those strong contenders of the Taixuan Sect who will participate in the True Disciple selection with their True Qi at the twelfth level!"


    "Those chosen by a six-rank Great Sect to participate in the True Disciple selection must have some powerful techniques up their sleeves¡ªit''s simply impossible for them not to!"


    "I must continue to strengthen my abilities!"


    Although he was somewhat pleased at having secured the number one spot in the top ten ranking battle, Ye Chen was not going to become complacent.


    Not to mention others, he was still far from that girl, Jiang Yao, who held such great expectations for him and liked him so much.


    Jiang Yao was capable of defeating mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts with ease!


    Let alone mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen couldn''t even beat the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts!


    Thinking of Jiang Yao, of that incomparably beautiful girl, and thinking of their pact in Taixuan three months from now, Ye Chen was filled with fighting spirit!


    This time, for coming in first in the three-clan competition, he would receive the special reward, the "Ancestral Ground Secret Map," and the highest reward, "Ancestral Blood," granting him the opportunity to search for great fortunes within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm that the family opened once every few hundred years!


    There were still over three months left; he had time to further enhance his strength and add a few more cards to his arsenal, a few more trump cards!


    Ye Chen was confident that in over three months, at the True Disciple selection of the Taixuan Sect, he would not disappoint Fairy Jia Luo, Jiang Yao''s master, and would make Jiang Yao, the girl who liked him, proud and honored!


    "Jiang Yao, wait for me!"


    Ye Chen whispered to himself in his heart.


    Atop the Sky Arena, when the final battle between Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie ended with Ye Chen''s victory, there was a moment of silence among the audience members of the three clans below before they erupted into frenzied cheers!


    They had welcomed their young generation''s top ten, welcomed their youngest and number one!


    "This three-clan competition has concluded!"


    "The top ten ranking is now firmly set! Qian Yuan, tenth! Qian Fang, ninth! Bai Xiaofei, eighth! Bai Xiaoning, seventh! Bai Wuxuan, sixth!


    Ye Xue, fifth! Qian Feng, fourth!"


    "Qian Ming, third!"


    "Bai Xiaodie, second!"


    "And the number one of the three-clan competition, the strongest among the young generation, is Ye Chen!"


    Patriarch Bai announced the final results of the three-clan competition loudly, his voice echoing throughout the entire Martial Arts Plaza of the three clans.


    Every time Patriarch Bai mentioned a name, all eyes turned to that person, and when he finally spoke Ye Chen''s name, all eyes were fixed on Ye Chen!


    As the first-placed victor, Ye Chen deserved the respect of everyone''s gaze!


    In those gazes were Ye Chen''s father, Ye Xiaotian, and his mother, Lin Rin''s joyful eyes, as well as the excitement in the young girl Tao''er''s eyes.


    At that moment, the Patriarch of the Qian Family and the Patriarch of the Ye Family also proclaimed loudly, "The three-clan competition is formally over!"


    "In three days, all top thirty competitors from the competition will enter the Ancestral Land, venturing into the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    "Now, the top ten of the family, follow me to the ''Ancestral Shrine'' to receive your rewards, to claim your Ancestral Ground Secret Maps!"


    At last, the three Patriarchs looked towards Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, the highest reward for you¡ªAncestral Blood¡ªis also waiting in the Ancestral Shrine; soon, you will see it!"


    Ancestral Ground Secret Map!


    Ancestral Blood!


    At the mention of these two terms, Ye Chen and the other top ten competitors were all greatly moved.


    They had fought so long in the three-clan competition, and at last, they would receive their rewards.


    "What will the Ancestral Ground Secret Map be like?"


    "And the highest reward, Ancestral Blood ¡ª the Patriarchs mentioned it''s the Lifeblood left by the great being who established the Ancestral Land, the most precious reward of the entire land, what will it be like?"


    Following behind the three Patriarchs, amid the throng of countless clanspeople, Ye Chen, along with the other top ten winners, walked towards the Ancestral Shrine, contemplating as he went.

 Chapter 96: Chapter 87 Di Kongs Blood

    The three-family Ancestral Shrine is a huge shrine hall that occupies seven or eight acres of land.


    After walking for nearly half an hour, Patriarch Bai, Patriarch Ye, Patriarch Qian, and Ye Chen''s group arrived outside the Ancestral Shrine.


    "The top ten competitors, follow me into the Ancestral Shrine," said Patriarch Bai to the crowd behind him before stepping into the shrine with the other two patriarchs.


    After exchanging a look, Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and the other top competitors walked into the Ancestral Shrine under the gaze of countless clan members.


    Since childhood, Ye Chen had entered the Ancestral Shrine many times during family rituals. It had been three years since he''d been home and seen the shrine, which remained unchanged.


    Unlike other families that enshrined many ancestral tablets in their shrines, the main hall of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families only contained three statues.


    These three statues, identical to the three outside the Ancestral Land, were the effigies of the first-generation ancestors of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families!


    Although their appearances were different, all three statues were dressed as hunters.


    Ye Chen remembered his parents mentioning that the three ancestors of their families had fled to Wan Ya Mountain outside Qingyang City, surviving a great disaster. They lived as hunters.


    They later married, had children, and as they gradually established a foothold in Qingyang City, the three great Ye, Bai, and Qian families came into existence.


    "Let us first pay respects to our ancestors'' statues!"


    As Ye Chen and the other nine reverently gazed at the statues, the three patriarchs took the lead in kneeling before the images.


    The ten hurried to follow suit, kneeling down as well.


    Only after bowing three times did the patriarchs rise to their feet, followed by Ye Chen and the others.


    "You ten have performed exceptionally well in this competition between the three clans,"


    "It can be said that this is the best performance by our clans in years," said Patriarch Bai of the Bai Family, scanning the faces of the ten with a smile.


    As he spoke, Patriarch Bai''s gaze especially rested on Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, "Ye Chen, Xiaodie, the two of you have brought a pleasant surprise to us old fellows!"


    "Your strength represents the strongest recorded at the age of fifteen in the annals of our three clans!"


    Patriarch Ye and Patriarch Qian also nodded with a smile, "Even if the Ancestral Land''s opening had not occurred, with your rate of cultivation, you two would have a great chance of reaching the Spirit Sea Realm in the future!"


    "This time, coinciding with the opening of the Ancestral Land for the first time in over three hundred years, who knows, you might even encounter great fortunes! It seems that the day of resurgence for our three great families is truly upon us!"


    Hearing the joy in the voice of the three patriarchs, Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie exchanged a glance, a hint of a smile in their eyes.


    Being praised in person by the three most prestigious patriarchs within the most significant family shrine, both of them felt incredibly happy as members of the clan.


    The patriarchs then turned their attention to the other eight among the top ten, including Qian Ming and Ye Xue.


    "The eight of you also performed quite well!"


    "During your time in the Ancestral Land, strive to seize the great fortune and take your strength to the next level!"


    Upon hearing the hopeful words of the patriarchs, Qian Ming and the others solemnly responded, "Yes, Patriarch, we will surely seize this great opportunity afforded by the opening of the Ancestral Land!"


    The opening of the Ancestral Land, an event that comes once in several hundred years, filled everyone with anticipation for the great fortunes it promised.


    "Good, in three days'' time, the day to enter the Ancestral Land will arrive!"


    "We old men won''t delay your preparation any further. Now, let us begin to distribute the rewards for this contest," said the patriarchs.


    The top ten of the competition between the three clans would each receive a special reward: an Ancestral Ground Secret Map.


    Upon hearing the patriarch''s words, all ten turned their eyes towards Patriarch Bai. He was now walking towards a corner of the Ancestral Shrine, evidently to fetch something!


    It was clear he was going to retrieve the "Ancestral Ground Secret Maps"!


    Boom!


    Upon reaching the corner, behind the three ancestors'' statues and the deepest part of the shrine, light flickered from Patriarch Bai''s hand as he suddenly reached towards the wall.


    A booming sound echoed as ten brilliant beams of light flew from the wall into the hands of Patriarch Bai.


    These ten beams of light, slender and shining, each more vivid than the last!


    "The Ancestral Ground Secret Maps!"


    "Could these ten beams of light be the ''Ancestral Ground Secret Maps,'' detailing important treasure areas of the Ancestral Land?!"


    Ye Chen and the others all looked towards the ten beams of light in Patriarch Bai''s hands.


    Patriarch Bai looked down to inspect the beams, and then raised his head, his gaze sweeping over the faces of Ye Chen and the rest.


    "These ten beams of light are the ten ''Ancestral Ground Secret Maps''!"


    "Based on your performance in the competition, each map varies in value! The better your performance, the more precious the map," explained the patriarch.


    "Now, receive your Ancestral Ground Secret Maps!"


    As Patriarch Bai spoke, he pointed with his finger, and the ten beams of light shot toward Ye Chen and his peers.


    Among the ten beams, the brightest and most dazzling shot straight towards Ye Chen!


    The winner of the three-clan competition, Ye Chen, would receive the most precious Ancestral Ground Secret Map!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After ten beams of light had landed in the hands of Ye Chen and the others, they all looked toward the light in their palms.


    All they could see within the light were tiny golden grains flowing, but they couldn''t make out what it was exactly.


    "Drop your lifeblood into the light, and the secret map will reveal itself to you!"


    "This secret map shall belong exclusively to you!"


    Patriarch Ye''s voice reached the ears of all ten individuals.


    "Drop in lifeblood?"


    "Unlock the secret map?"


    The thought crossed the minds of the ten from Ye Chen''s group. Each person lightly tapped their finger on the light in their hand, and a drop of lifeblood flew out, heading towards the flowing golden light with the golden grains.


    The moment their lifeblood entered the golden light, the ten beams of light in their hands vibrated intensely and flew into their minds.


    In an instant, vast images appeared within their minds.


    "What is this..."


    Ye Chen looked at the image that manifested in his mind and saw a huge valley; in the vast valley stood eighteen thirty-meter-tall golden monkey statues, towering majestically!


    A mysterious valley with golden monkey statues¡ªthis was the region revealed by Ye Chen''s Ancestral Ground Secret Map!


    Not just Ye Chen, but the other nine individuals as well¡ªBai Xiaodie''s mind revealed a valley, though hers was somewhat smaller than Ye Chen''s, containing nine twenty-meter-tall golden monkey statues.


    In Qian Ming''s mind, a massive golden waterfall appeared.


    And for Ye Chen''s cousin, Ye Xue, her mental image was of a dense forest grown with giant trees.


    The top ten of the three-clan competition each received a distinct Ancestral Ground Secret Map¡ªall different from one another!


    As the ten were observing the secret maps entering their minds, the three Patriarchs and the top ten competitors were unaware that within their Ancestral Land, behind the fourth statue in the hidden expanse of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm...


    In the central region of the secret realm, beams of light shot towards the sky continuously.


    These beams piercing heavenwards were scattered in the central region of the secret realm, no more, no less, precisely ten in number!


    If Ye Chen could see where these beams of light originated, he would discover that the deepest and broadest of the ten beams was exactly the mysterious valley with eighteen giant golden monkey statues that appeared in his mind!


    As beams of light emerged in the ten areas, a long-drawn voice rang out in the vast Ancestral Land Secret Realm, "It''s been over three hundred years. The sixth opening of the Ancestral Land is upon us, ready to welcome a new batch of young ones from the three clans."


    "However, I wonder if any of those youngsters will make it to the core area this time. That core area is even more precious than the ten great secret grounds displayed in the secret maps!"


    "Not a single person made it to the core in the previous five openings! I hope I won''t be disappointed again this time!"


    "After all, this time, even ''It'' left by the old master has been born!"


    After murmuring a few words to itself, the voice slowly faded away, and the beams of light, stimulated by the opening of the Ancestral Ground Secret Maps, also began to dim.


    Calm returned to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    At that moment, in the most central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, surrounded by nine towering peaks, in the midst of a huge golden lake, the palm-sized golden monkey with fur that sparkled and shone brightly all over leapt up from the lake once more.


    "Yi-ya!"


    The little monkey seemed to sense the anomaly outside the Ancestral Land. Its dazzling eyes shone like black gems, filled with curious expression.


    Whoosh!


    The golden monkey dashed and soared hundreds of meters high, swiftly reaching the top of the nine towering peaks.


    As the little monkey looked around, outside in the Ancestral Shrines of the three clans, nine of the top ten who had received the Ancestral Ground Secret Maps exited the shrines.


    Only Ye Chen and the three Patriarchs remained inside the Ancestral Shrine.


    At this time, the three Patriarchs looked at Ye Chen and said with a smile, "Ye Chen, now we will give you the highest reward of this competition¡ªAncestral Blood!"


    "This Ancestral Blood is the lifeblood of Lord Di Kong himself, who helped our three clans establish the Ancestral Land and left behind the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    As Patriarch Ye spoke, the three of them walked beneath the three ancestral statues and sat down cross-legged.


    All three simultaneously formed a strange Dharma Seal with their hands and began to chant mysterious spells with their eyes closed.


    "Lord Di Kong''s lifeblood?"


    "So, the personage our ancestors befriended back then was known as ''Lord Di Kong''!"


    Ye Chen watched the strange actions of the three Patriarchs, pondering to himself when, amidst the chanting and hand seals, a wondrous ball of light suddenly emerged from the center of the three ancestral statues.


    It was the size of a fist¡ªwhen the outer light dissipated, one could see it was actually a giant blood bead!


    The surface of the blood bead flowed with endless spiritual patterns, radiating golden light throughout, truly a golden drop of blood!


    Ancestral Blood!


    This was the profound and mystical Ancestral Blood¡ªDi Kong''s Blood!

 Chapter 97: Chapter 88: The Astounding Dharma Form

    Golden blood droplets!


    The essence of blood from Lord Di Kong is actually golden droplets!


    Ye Chen looked at the fist-sized golden ancestral blood suspended in mid-air, his mouth agape.


    He had never seen blood droplets of such color before, nor had he ever seen a single droplet as large as a fist!


    At this moment, the three elderly clan chiefs, who had summoned the ancestral blood with a strange Dharma Seal, also stood up from their sitting positions. Seeing Ye Chen''s astonished expression, they said with a smile, "Ye Chen, you should have heard that our ancestors came to know Lord Di Kong because they once saved his life."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He had heard about the deeds of Lord Di Kong from his parents since he was young. He was told that it was the three ancestors of their family who, while out hunting, had saved an important figure. That figure, later upon leaving, had given three clans a piece of ancestral land as thanks, as well as a mysterious Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    The three elder clan chiefs continued, "Lord Di Kong, his strength was entirely beyond the imagination of the three ancestors. According to the ancestral records, when the three ancestors found Lord Di Kong injured and unconscious in Wan Ya Mountain, they tried to lift him to take him to the city for treatment, but they simply couldn''t do it!"


    "You must understand that at that time, the three ancestors had cultivated to the seventh and eighth layers of the True Qi Realm, and Elder Bai had even reached the tenth layer! Otherwise, they wouldn''t have been able to escape the great disaster of their hometown!"


    "Three True Qi Realm experts living off hunting demon beasts outside Qingyang City, the combined power of the three could even kill mighty tenth-order demon beasts. Yet, they couldn''t even lift a person who was injured and unconscious. Just think, how powerful Lord Di Kong must have been!"


    "It''s feared that just the weight of Lord Di Kong''s physical body exceeds a hundred thousand pounds!"


    These words from the three elder clan chiefs made Ye Chen take a deep breath.


    The three ancestors of the True Qi Realm, with two at the seventh and eighth layers and one at the tenth layer of True Qi, their combined strength indeed surpassed a tremendous force of a hundred thousand pounds. Such strength and they still couldn''t lift Lord Di Kong.


    Lord Di Kong was too fearsome!


    The clan elders continued speaking, "Later, when the three ancestors could not lift Lord Di Kong, they stayed to guard him where he lay unconscious and tended to him carefully. It was only after more than a month that Lord Di Kong somewhat recovered consciousness, and the three were then able to bring him back to their home in the city."


    "Afterward, the three ancestors learned that Lord Di Kong was not human but a peerless Monkey King whose cultivation had reached an enlightenment stage where he could transform into a human form!"


    "Although Lord Di Kong never specified his realm, just from some of the methods he revealed, the three ancestors knew that his strength far surpassed that of the Spirit Sea Realm and even the Rotating Pill Realm. Lord Di Kong is likely a supreme powerhouse of the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    A supreme powerhouse of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    A peerless Monkey King capable of transforming into a human!


    The accounts given by the three elderly clan chiefs about Lord Di Kong left Ye Chen completely astounded!


    Ye Chen had seen Demon Kings before; in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, both the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow were Demon Kings, but neither could transform into a human form!


    Could it be that Lord Di Kong was even more powerful than the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the Gigantic Feathered Sparrow, truly on the level of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji, a supreme powerhouse of the Heavenly Saint Realm?!


    Ye Chen couldn''t imagine that his family could be related to such a high-level figure of the Heavenly Saint Realm. Such a powerhouse, even when injured and unconscious, could kill Spirit Sea Realm experts with his mere breath!


    No wonder the ancestral land established by Lord Di Kong couldn''t be entered by outsiders, and even Spirit Sea Realm experts who tried to forcefully break in could be easily killed!


    No wonder the mysterious Ancestral Land Secret Realm contained countless secret treasures that could even cultivate experts at the level of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    No wonder that just a droplet of blood was as large as a fist, and in the mysterious Ancestral Ground Secret Map, there were even statues of the Golden Monkey!


    So, this Lord Di Kong was a supreme powerhouse of the Heavenly Saint Realm, the peerless Monkey King of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    The three elderly clan chiefs, looking at the golden blood droplet floating in the void, exclaimed, "When Lord Di Kong left, he told our three ancestors that even though he was unconscious, his Protective Divine Thought could sense all danger."


    "If it were not for the three ancestors'' good intentions, truly wishing to heal him, and had they harbored the slightest ill will, they would have died by Lord Di Kong''s hand!"


    "Fortunately, the three ancestors were innately kind-hearted. It was in this manner that they forged a good karma, which brought a great opportunity that lasted a thousand years to our three clans!"


    Until here, the three elderly clan chiefs looked towards Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, such a powerful figure as Lord Di Kong, his pride far exceeds others. He wouldn''t directly hand benefits to the three clans but left behind the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and numerous astonishing treasures. Only clan members who meet his requirements would he bless with great fortune!"


    "Over the years, our clan had an empty treasure cave but lacked the ability to obtain major benefits from it. At most, some were able to acquire spirit tools and spirit pills from it, successfully aiding their breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "According to those ancestors who have entered the ancestral land, they haven''t even reached the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm left by Lord Di Kong!"


    "Ye Chen, now that you have acquired the ''Ancestral Blood,'' you have the chance to seek out the ultimate treasures left by Lord Di Kong. We hope you can surpass your predecessors from the past five entries into the ancestral land, seizing more great opportunities and fortunes!"


    The three elderly clan chiefs looked at Ye Chen, filled with expectation.


    Ye Chen''s miraculous performance in the competition among the three clans convinced them that he had the strength to go farther in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm than his predecessors!


    "Our family is becoming increasingly decrepit. Not a single Spirit Sea Realm expert has emerged from it for hundreds of years. Had it not been for the existence of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and a chance for a reversal of fortune, our three great clans would slowly become just an ordinary family!"


    "Ye Chen, your father and mother were directly abducted by the Spirit Sea Realm expert, Zhou Yuntian, due to our family''s lack of strength. If it had been a few hundred years earlier, when there were several Spirit Sea Realm experts in our family, how could we have allowed someone to bully us at our doorstep!"


    "At the time, countless clansmen were injured by Zhou Yuntian, and we three old fellows, feeling shame before our ancestors, knelt outside the ancestral land for a month; finally, finally, the opportunity for the opening of the ancestral land came!"


    "For the family to be strong, to protect more clansmen, we must constantly produce powerful experts! Ye Chen, we hope that you can obtain great fortune in this opening of the ancestral land, further strengthen yourself, and take up the responsibility for the family''s revival!"


    In saying this, the three elderly clan chiefs showed a trace of tears.


    Ye Chen learned from Tao''er that when Zhou Yuntian first came to their door, countless martial artists in the family had been injured by Zhou Yuntian, and his own parents were personally captured by Zhou Yuntian.


    He could imagine the hatred in the hearts of the three old family heads at that time.


    Hate for their powerlessness! Hate for the family''s decline and humiliation!


    It must have been this sense of shame and hatred that once again opened up Lord Di Kong''s Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    Now, having killed Zhou Yuntian with his own hands and gained the opportunity to enter the Ancestral Land, he certainly wanted to seize this chance and never allow someone like Zhou Yuntian to bully his family again!


    Powerful, just as the three old family heads had hoped, he needed to become powerful!


    Powerful enough to protect his parents and relatives, to protect all the members of his family!


    "Yes, three grandfathers of the clan heads, I will definitely work hard and strive to further improve my strength during the exploration of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!" Ye Chen said solemnly to the three old family heads.


    For his father and mother, for his family, for himself, and for the covenant of the Great Mystery that would occur in a few months, he had to make himself stronger!


    "Good! Good!"


    "Ye Chen, don''t put too much pressure on yourself, you are still young, as long as you work hard, everything is possible!"


    "Now, drop a drop of your blood into this drop of Ancestral Blood left by Lord Di Kong. Maybe, when you enter the Ancestral Land, you will be able to receive guidance from the Ancestral Blood and obtain the ultimate reward left by Lord Di Kong!"


    The three old family heads said to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded, looked at the golden drop of blood floating in the void, took a deep breath, and then gently touched the golden drop of blood in the void with his finger.


    His drop of fresh blood flew straight towards the golden drop.


    Boom!


    The moment his drop of blood touched the golden drop in the void, Ye Chen felt an ancient and vast primordial breath enter his mind.


    In an instant, he seemed to see a golden Monkey King, standing in the void, towering higher than a giant mountain.


    This golden Monkey King, over a thousand feet long, was clad in a Purple-Golden Holy Robe, wearing a Gold-Illuminating Crown on his head, wielding a gigantic black staff, and with a long red cape hung behind him, standing proudly in the void, imposing and majestic!


    At the sight of this golden Monkey King, a roar sounded in Ye Chen''s mind: "Is this... Lord Di Kong?!"


    As Ye Chen''s blood merged with the blood of Lord Di Kong and he felt the presence of Lord Di Kong, in the most central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the small, palm-sized, golden monkey that was lying atop the nine Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks looking around, seemed to sense something and looked towards the sky of the Ancestral Land.


    The direction it looked was precisely where the Ancestral Shrine, where Ye Chen was located, was!


    "Ee-ya!"


    The small golden monkey, its body covered in golden fur that danced and shone brilliantly, blinked its gem-like sparkling black eyes that had infinite divine light swirling in them, showing a somewhat puzzled yet curious expression.


    "Di..."


    "Di..."


    The little guy''s voice was milky and unclear as it tried to speak; its two small golden ears perked up, listening for sounds from the entire Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    But it heard nothing.


    The little one pouted and with a swift leap, it jumped from the thousand-foot-tall Heaven-reaching Giant Peak back into the golden lake.


    Ye Chen was completely unaware of the situation in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Immersed in the primordial essence of the Ancestral Blood and Lord Di Kong''s astonishing Dharma Seal, he only came to his senses after a long while at the sound of the three clan heads'' voices.


    "Ye Chen, keep the Ancestral Blood safely!"


    "Prepare to enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm in three days!"


    As the clan heads spoke, they handed Ye Chen a small golden box, and following the method passed down by the three family heads, he collected the Ancestral Blood into the box.


    After securing the small box containing the Ancestral Blood close to himself, Ye Chen, followed by the three old clan heads, stepped out of the Ancestral Shrine.


    "Young Master!"


    "Over here, Young Master!"


    As soon as he stepped out of the Ancestral Shrine, Ye Chen saw the young girl Tao''er waving at him from the crowd.


    There were many people crowded outside the Ancestral Shrine; Bai Xiaodie and the other top ten contestants were still waiting outside, and the vast majority of the members of the three clans were also outside the Ancestral Shrine.


    Next to Tao''er, his parents were also smiling at him from within the crowd.


    Ye Chen smiled and walked over to his parents and Tao''er.

 Chapter 98: Chapter 89: Entering the Ancestral Land

    "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen!"


    As Ye Chen walked towards his parents and Tao''er, all the clansmen of the three clans greeted him loudly.


    They even voluntarily cleared a path for him.


    On the faces of the clansmen, smiles were abundant.


    Ye Chen, the champion of the tri-clan competition and the most formidable youth of his generation, had defeated a True Qi level eleven expert at merely fifteen years of age. His future was limitless!


    Watching Ye Chen, they saw the hope for the three clans, their bright future!


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where martial arts were revered, Ye Chen was indeed the genius youth of his clan, and of course, everyone in his family was proud and honored by him!


    When Ye Chen smiled and returned the salutations to his clansmen, many of them even screamed excitedly!


    "Young Master!"


    "Young Master!"


    When Ye Chen approached his parents and Tao''er, the little girl''s face flushed with excitement.


    She had witnessed her young master ascend the steep sect entrance alone, facing a Spirit Sea Realm expert without an ounce of fear.


    Now, in the clan''s grand competition, she had seen her young master unstoppable and sweeping through everything, claiming the championship with ease!


    How could Tao''er not be overjoyed by this?!


    "Chen''er!"


    Ye Chen''s mother, Lin Rin, held his hand, her eyes brimming with pride.


    Her child had won the first place in the tri-clan competition, and when many clanspeople around her learned that Ye Chen was her son, their praise and envy gave her feelings she had never experienced in over thirty years!


    The gentle Lin Rin, under these emotions, also felt her mood intensely stirred!


    This was the pride and honor her child had brought to her!


    Ye Chen''s father, Ye Xiaotian, standing beside them with his broad face full of smiles, was chuckling heartily, but his smile was no less proud and honored than Lin Rin''s.


    "Alright!"


    "The tri-clan competition is officially over, and the rewards for the top ten have all been distributed!"


    "In three days, the exploration of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm will officially begin!"


    "Everyone go back now, we''ll meet outside the Ancestral Land in three days!"


    The three old clan leaders stepped out from the Ancestral Shrine, looking at Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, the top ten of the competition, the top thirty, and the countless clansmen who gathered outside the shrine, loudly laughing as they spoke.


    Although the clan leaders said so, the excited clansmen were reluctant to leave for a long time.


    Only after Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and the others returned to their own homes, making preparations to enter the Ancestral Land, did the crowd around the shrine gradually disperse.


    After having a meal with his parents at home, Ye Chen returned to his cultivation.


    The numerous battles he had observed and fought in the tri-clan competition had brought him significant gains, especially the last battle with Bai Xiaodie, which was extremely beneficial. He needed to properly reflect on the gains and losses of the fight.


    Strength and realm improvements did not fall from the sky; they required daily hard work and diligent practice!


    Ye Chen understood this.


    In the final three days before entering the Ancestral Land, he remained immersed in his cultivation, continuously enhancing his abilities.


    During these three days, countless members of the three clans visited Ye Chen''s home, and many even came with marriage proposals.


    Ye Chen, at fifteen years of age, with such great strength, kindled romantic feelings in quite a few young girls of the three clans. They shyly expressed their sentiments to their parents, who were of course extremely satisfied with Ye Chen and many sent go-betweens to propose marriage; the more eager even came in person.


    This left Ye Chen''s parents somewhat at a loss whether to laugh or cry.


    They had already heard from Tao''er about Jiang Yao, and they very much liked the girl who had traveled a thousand miles from the Taixuan Sect to stand before Ye Chen, challenging the mid-Spirit Sea Realm expert Zhou Yuntian for Ye Chen''s sake, the legendary talent of Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s eastern domain Thirty-Six Sects, who was only seventeen years old yet already a Spirit Sea Realm expert and of graceful beauty.


    Naturally, they wouldn''t presume to engage Ye Chen in another betrothal.


    In the end, even Bai Xiaodie''s mother came to visit Lin Rin at Ye Chen''s home and spoke with her quietly for a long time...


    Three days went by in the blink of an eye.


    Finally, the day to enter the Ancestral Land arrived.


    Early in the morning, the area outside the Ancestral Land was crowded with people. By the time Ye Chen arrived there with his parents and Tao''er, the place was already packed!


    From a distance, they could see the entrance to the Ancestral Land, where the clan chiefs and many young people who were to enter the land were already waiting.


    Had the clanspeople not recognized Ye Chen and made way for him, he might have had to use his agility to leap into the crowd to get through!


    "Chen''er, there are a lot of people here, you go ahead, we will wait outside," said Lin Rin and Ye Xiaotian, carefully admonishing Ye Chen about various things.


    "Young Master, after you come out from the Ancestral Land, you have to tell me what it''s like inside," said the young maid Tao''er, tugging at Ye Chen''s sleeve and smiling as she spoke.


    Ye Chen nodded to his parents and Tao''er with a smile. After bidding farewell, he walked into the crowd towards the entrance of the Ancestral Land.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen!"


    Along the way, Ye Chen encountered many of his young friends, including Qian Yun and Bai Xiaodong, who excitedly waved their arms at Ye Chen, and he smiled back, greeting them in return.


    When he arrived at the entrance to the Ancestral Land, he found that more than half of the thirty individuals who were to enter had already arrived.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had also arrived, the three Patriarchs and the young people all surged towards him.


    "Ye Chen."


    When Bai Xiaodie saw Ye Chen, her usually valiant appearance flushed with a shy red, clearly aware of the visit her mother had made to Ye Chen''s mother.


    Ye Chen, however, did not notice Bai Xiaodie''s odd expression and smiled as he walked into the crowd.


    After a short wait, all thirty individuals who were to enter the Ancestral Land finally gathered.


    The thirty looked towards the Ancestral Land, towards the statues of the three forebears on the periphery, and towards the fourth statue shrouded in faint smoke in the center belonging to Great Di Kong. They gazed upon the dark swirl two zhang in diameter that represented the entrance to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, their hearts filled with excitement.


    Very soon, they were about to enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, which only opened once every three hundred years!


    At that moment, Patriarch Bai stepped forward, his gaze sweeping over the crowd outside the Ancestral Land and across the faces of the thirty youths, causing the place to gradually quiet down.


    Patriarch Bai raised his voice and proclaimed, "Today is the day when the most outstanding thirty of our younger generation enter the Ancestral Land to seek adventure and search for great opportunities!"


    "Regarding the matters to be aware of when entering the Ancestral Land, I need to emphasize again."


    Patriarch Bai looked at the thirty youths, "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm is the exclusive secret realm of our three clans, and outsiders cannot enter, only our people can."


    "However, do not assume that it''s completely safe inside. Although it is much safer compared to other places of adventure, there is still the danger of falling if you are not careful."


    "During the first five openings of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, according to the Ancestral Canon, out of one hundred and fifty people who entered, three fell inside due to being overly reckless. You must be cautious on this venture into the Ancestral Land."


    Hearing the words of Patriarch Bai, all thirty youths bound for the Ancestral Land solemnly nodded their heads.


    Nowhere is absolutely secure, and the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, as a place concealing secret treasures, is no exception.


    Patriarch Bai continued, "The great person who established the Ancestral Land left countless secret treasures within the secret realm, but also numerous trials."


    "Only those who pass these trials can obtain the treasures. You must strive for the treasures while ensuring your own safety!"


    "Lastly, I must stress that once you enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the entrance will completely close behind you and will not reopen until one day after an entire month!"


    "When the Ancestral Land Secret Realm entrance reopens, your Pass Tokens will emit a special glow, signaling that it is time to leave. At that moment, you must drop your blood onto your Ancestral Ground Pass Tokens, and you will be transported out of the Ancestral Land."


    "Remember, you must leave the Ancestral Land Secret Realm proactively. Otherwise, once the one-day limit for departure ends and you have not actively exited, the secret realm will forcefully eject you, and by then, you could likely be injured!"


    "You have only one month to explore the Ancestral Land Secret Realm! Seize that month well!"


    "Now, I will distribute the Pass Tokens and ordinary maps of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm to you."


    Having spoken, Patriarch Bai sent thirty black tokens and thirty maps flying towards the thirty youths entering the Ancestral Land.


    Ye Chen and the others raised their hands and caught the black tokens and maps.


    The black tokens were the Pass Tokens for entry to the Ancestral Land.


    The map was an ordinary map of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, not like the special Ancestral Ground Secret Map given as an exclusive reward to the top ten, which had special treasure areas marked. This ordinary map only had general information and locations regarding the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    After Ye Chen and the others had inspected the black tokens and the map of the Ancestral Land, putting them away, the voices of the three Patriarchs came to them, "Enter the Ancestral Land!"


    "One month of opportunity and fate lies ahead of you, time will tell what you manage to glean from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."


    "One month from now, we will be here waiting for your return!"


    "Go ahead!"


    Amidst the voices of the three Patriarchs, Ye Chen and the other thirty individuals took one more glance at their loved ones, then took a deep breath before taking big strides into the depths of the Ancestral Land.


    "Ancestral Land Secret Realm Entrance!"


    "It''s through here that we enter the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    Upon first setting foot into the mysterious Ancestral Land, the hearts of the thirty youths began pounding violently.


    As they reached behind the fourth statue and saw the dark two-zhang-wide vortex, their heartbeats grew even more intense!


    The mysterious place of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, with its treasures that have been passed down for a thousand years by the three clans, lay just beyond!


    "Let''s go!"


    After exchanging glances, two of the youths took the lead and leaped into the dark vortex. The moment they jumped in, their Pass Tokens emitted an incredibly mystical light. Then, they vanished from sight.


    "Let''s go!"


    "Let''s enter as well!"


    After the two disappeared, the others followed suit, jumping into the dark vortex one after another.


    "Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    "A month of exploration awaits!"


    Ye Chen stared at the mystical black vortex before him, took a deep breath, and with a leap, also jumped into the dark vortex.

 Chapter 99: Chapter 90 Artifact Spirit?

    The heavens and earth spun around.


    Just moments ago, Ye Chen had been within the ten-acre Ancestral Land Secret Realm, having just leapt into the pitch-black vortex behind the fourth statue.


    Moments later, Ye Chen discovered that he was now standing in an immensely vast world.


    Upon entering this world, the first feeling Ye Chen had was one of unspeakable comfort.


    True Qi filled this realm to the brim, and one could even see endless green True Qi throughout the sky, with visible streams of green True Qi occasionally passing through the air.


    There, he didn''t need to cultivate his True Qi at all; the seven True Qi vortices within his body, the Qi Meridian, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the thirty-three meridian cycles all opened automatically, absorbing the True Qi of the heavens and earth.


    As the True Qi of the heavens and earth cleansed him, every part of Ye Chen''s body felt incredibly comfortable.


    The rate at which he involuntarily absorbed the True Qi was five to six times faster than when he cultivated outside!


    A treasure land!


    This truly was a treasure land!


    If he could keep cultivating here, the speed at which Ye Chen could rush towards the True Qi Realm could easily increase by five to six times!


    "Such rich True Qi of the heavens and earth!"


    "It''s so comfortable, here every pore and every acupoint seems to be breathing in the True Qi of the heavens and earth!"


    "Is this the ''Ancestral Land Secret Realm''?"


    Alongside Ye Chen, the other young warriors also arrived one after another in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and like him, their first sensation was the tremendous True Qi filling this secret realm!


    After a short while, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, Ye Xue, and the other top ten contestants, as well as Bai Xiaolong, Qian Shan, and the other thirty strongest who Ye Chen had battled, all arrived inside the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    The thirty youngsters stood in the vast world of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, scrutinizing this land closely.


    They were in an endless plain.


    The ground was covered in low-growing vegetation that stretched as far as the eye could see¡ªlikely in the billions¡ªand continued to the invisible horizons of the plains!


    The vegetation was a deep shade of green, just like the True Qi of the heavens and earth, and what was miraculous was that on these plants, one could occasionally see golden fruits growing.


    These golden fruits shone brightly, their bodies lustrous, making them quite extraordinary.


    Looking into the distance, one could faintly see tracts of forests and towering peaks reaching into the distant horizon.


    Ye Chen took out the map of the Ancestral Land and observed it; from their current location and the surroundings, they were unmistakably at the periphery of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm¡ªthe Green Flow Plains!


    "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm is divided into three major areas: the outer periphery, the central part, and the core!"


    "We are now in the outer periphery. The forests in the distant horizon probably denote the central area, and those towering peaks far in the depths must be the core of the Secret Realm!"


    "How do we seek treasures in this Secret Realm? How do we enter the central and core areas of the Secret Realm? Given this distance, I fear it will take more than a month to reach there!"


    The other youngsters also took out their maps of the Ancestral Land, looking and discussing amongst themselves.


    In this peripheral area of the "Green Flow Plains," where True Qi was immensely abundant, cultivating here was actually not a bad choice. However, there were rumors that countless Secret Treasures existed within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and understandably, the youngsters did not want to just cultivate here.


    According to what the elders had said, they had only one month to seek their great fortune within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and of course, they wanted to make the most of it.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "What do we do next?"


    Bai Xiaodie, clad in a white snug outfit, approached Ye Chen, and Ye Chen''s cousin, Ye Xue, also moved towards him.


    Then, the others started to gather around Ye Chen as well.


    Among those who had entered the Ancestral Land for exploration, Ye Chen was the strongest, and naturally, everyone unconsciously saw him as their leader.


    Ye Chen looked up at the vast periphery, at the deep green plants covering the land, and at the occasional golden fruits on the plants.


    He reached out his hand, and a golden fruit flew directly into his palm.


    Ye Chen examined the golden fruit in his hand; it was the size of a walnut, extremely hard, and Ye Chen couldn''t even crush it when he squeezed.


    Even more bizarre was that upon closer inspection of the fruit, one could see golden light occasionally shining forth from within.


    Holding the fruit, Ye Chen looked at the youngsters who had gathered around him and thought for a moment before saying, "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm, as Grandfather Patriarch mentioned, will include various challenges, and only by passing these challenges might one obtain a Secret Treasure. Now that we''ve all entered here, I suspect the challenges will soon arrive!"


    As he was speaking, the floating green air currents in the sky suddenly began to move rapidly, with many large clusters of green air currents even converging together, building up more and more.


    "What''s happening?"


    "This is..."


    The youngsters gathered around Ye Chen, staring at the change in the True Qi air currents in the sky when suddenly, from within that large mass of green air currents, a loud laugh rang out.


    "Haha, after three hundred and fifty-one years, I finally see a new batch of youngsters from the three tribes again!"


    "Don''t worry, I shall soon tell you how to benefit from this Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    Amidst the laughter, the cyan stream of True Qi slowly converged to form a gigantic face that appeared to be that of a monkey''s?


    All the young adventurers looked up into the sky, towards the gigantic face made of True Qi that could speak.


    "Could it be... is this Lord Di Kong''s avatar left in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm?"


    Ye Chen gazed at the huge face in the sky and speculated.


    He had once entered a secret realm, the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, where the master of the abode, Qian Jizi, had left behind an avatar as well.


    "No, that''s not right!"


    "It doesn''t quite resemble Lord Di Kong''s visage!"


    Upon closer examination, Ye Chen discovered the face mimicked Lord Di Kong''s features but didn''t resemble his heroic and extraordinary true appearance.


    Through his Ancestral Blood, Ye Chen had indeed glimpsed the true form of Lord Di Kong!


    As the youths were guessing the nature of the speaking face, it seemed to have seen through their thoughts. It opened its mouth and laughed, saying, "No need for wild guesses, I am the ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple'' or what you refer to as the Artifact Spirit of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    "Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple?"


    "Artifact Spirit?"


    The youngsters were even more bewildered by the giant face''s words.


    The enormous face explained, "I might as well tell you, since when you leave this place, aside from the secrets treasures you will take with you, all other vital information about this ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple'' will be erased from your memories. You''ll only retain basic recollections of your adventure."


    "This Ancestral Land Secret Realm you are in was owned by my former master, ''Lord Di Kong''."


    "In those days, to repay your three clans for saving his life, he deliberately left his Spatial Sacred Artifact ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple'' here in the ancestral land, transforming it into a secret realm for you to explore!"


    "Little fellows, the place you are exploring is actually inside the Spatial Sacred Artifact ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple''!"


    "And I am the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact of this ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple''! This Sacred Artifact was naturally formed, possesses endless wisdom, and is the controlling Artifact Spirit of this entire artifact!"


    The words of the gigantic face stunned all the youngsters.


    "Lord Di Kong? A Spatial Sacred Artifact?!"


    "It turns out the Ancestral Land Secret Realm is actually a Sacred Artifact!"


    "The vast world we are in is actually the internal space of a Sacred Artifact?"


    "And this suddenly appearing gigantic face is an intelligent Artifact Spirit?"


    Whether it was the concept of a Spatial Sacred Artifact or that of a Spirit of a Sacred Artifact, these were beyond the level of things that the youths in the True Qi Realm should contact. Hearing about it for the first time, they were naturally astonished.


    Upon hearing the words ''Spatial Sacred Artifact'', Ye Chen''s eyes suddenly sparkled with brilliance.


    He had seen a Spatial Sacred Artifact before; the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode he had ventured into was one such artifact. Even though there were the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the giant feathered bird, as well as the avatar of Qian Jizi, the Artifact Spirit of that space didn''t come forth to oversee the challenges of the Cave Abode.


    But Ye Chen knew that the Sacred Artifact could only be truly controlled by powerful beings in the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    "So, it''s true, Lord Di Kong indeed is a mighty Heavenly Saint Realm expert!"


    "He actually left one of his Sacred Artifacts within our three clans as a place of adventure, giving the youth of the clans the opportunity to seek treasure!"


    Ye Chen finally understood the true strength of the significant figure their clans had once saved!


    A Sacred Artifact, casually left within the three clans ¨C Lord Di Kong must have reached the Heavenly Saint Realm, and perhaps even within that realm, he was incredibly powerful!


    Thinking back to the glimpse of the towering figure during the fusion of the primeval blood with his Ancestral Blood, recalling the extraordinary dharma of Lord Di Kong over a thousand zhang tall, Ye Chen was beside himself with excitement.


    When would he be able to reach the Heavenly Saint Realm and become as mighty as this!


    While all the youngsters were engrossed and astounded by the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, the Artifact Spirit that had morphed into the gigantic face continued, "The Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple contains countless treasures!"


    "The treasures that our old master left for the younger generations of your three clans are also innumerable!"


    "Next, I will tell you about the secret treasures you might obtain in this outer area!"


    As the Artifact Spirit spoke, endless streams of True Qi surged violently, and then a massive stele suddenly fell from the sky, crashing down.


    This huge stele, standing over thirty meters tall, was embedded directly into the ground!


    Etched on the massive stele from top to bottom were hundreds of lines of text, and at the very top were the large characters, "Myriad Treasures Stele".


    Hearing the Artifact Spirit mention the secret treasures, the thirty youths focused their attention, looking towards both the Artifact Spirit and the huge stele that had descended from the heavens.


    Upon seeing the text on the enormous stele, all the youngsters involuntarily gaped in awe.


    The writings on the gigantic stele were all descriptions of countless treasures!


    The Myriad Treasures Stele appeared to contain records of treasures, perhaps truly as many as ten thousand!

 Chapter 100: Chapter 91 Golden Light Beads

    "Treasure!"


    "Tens of thousands of treasures!"


    "Could it be that these treasures are the secret treasures we can obtain from the periphery of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm?"


    Ye Chen''s eyes grew brighter as he looked at the myriad of treasures listed on the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    "Fifty-eight superior Huang-rank martial skills! They include the ''Silk Wrapping Hand'', ''Fire Fighting Spear Skills'', ''Drawing Sword Eighteen Forms''..."


    "One hundred and thirty-six Xuan-level weapons available for True Qi Realm warriors! They include a seventy-two jin Snow Silver Soft Sword, a three hundred and ninety-eight jin Broad Heavy Blade, a pair of Mysterious Iron Battle Axes..."


    Just the treasures listed at the very bottom of the Myriad Treasures Stele involved superior Huang-rank martial skills and Xuan-level weapons!


    Moreover, the higher up the Myriad Treasures Stele one looked, the more precious the treasures became.


    One must know that aside from a few individuals like Ye Chen, the majority of the youths from the three great families practiced Huang-rank martial skills, with many even practicing lower and middle Huang-rank martial skills.


    Yet the treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele were, at the very least, superior Huang-rank martial skills!


    How could this not excite, even drive the young warriors to madness?!


    A land of secret treasures!


    Indeed, the Ancestral Land Secret Realm is a land of secret treasures!


    Just the treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele had set everyone''s gaze ablaze.


    Everyone couldn''t help but look up, toward the even more precious treasures.


    "Eighteen complete sets of Xuan-level equipment, including Xuan-level weapons, Xuan-level armor, and Xuan-level boots!"


    "Seventy-two Small Spirit Pills, each capable of directly enhancing a True Qi Realm warrior''s cultivation by one level! One pill per person, limited to True Qi Realm warriors below the twelfth layer!"


    "Small Spirit Pills, actually capable of directly boosting one''s True Qi Realm level?!"


    Upon seeing the description of the "Small Spirit Pills," many youths even screamed out loud!


    True Qi Realm warriors, who continuously polished their True Qi and improved their cultivation, had never heard of any kind of miraculous pill that could directly advance a level in the True Qi Realm!


    This Small Spirit Pill could actually help cultivators below the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm to directly advance one level!


    That is to say, if a warrior at the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm consumed a Small Spirit Pill, they could even advance directly to the twelfth layer!


    How could this not make the young warriors scream out loud?!


    And what excited them even more lay further ahead.


    "One hundred and ninety-eight lower Xuan-rank martial skills..."


    "Thirty-six lower-grade spiritual weapons..."


    "Ninety-five middle Xuan-rank martial skills..."


    "Seventy-three middle-grade spiritual weapons..."


    "Twenty-seven superior Xuan-rank martial skills..."


    "Nineteen superior-grade spiritual weapons..."


    When they saw that there were hundreds of Xuan-rank martial skills and spiritual weapons, including even the most prized superior Xuan-rank martial skills, all the youths'' hearts throbbed wildly!


    Any one of these items would make their journey to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm worthwhile!


    And yet, these were not the most precious treasures of the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    At the very top of the Myriad Treasures Stele, each item, just by being gazed upon, shocked everyone beyond belief!


    "The number one treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele, Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map! It contains eighteen powerful Essences awakened by Heavenly Saint Di Kong during his Spirit Sea Realm phase!"


    "The second treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele, the Creation Yuan Pill! Consuming this pill guarantees a successful breakthrough from the True Qi Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm at the twelfth layer, and a seventy percent chance of success when breaking through from the later phase of the Spirit Sea Realm to the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Limited to one pill per person, must be consumed before thirty years of age in the True Qi Realm and before fifty in the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "The third treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele, the Life Origin Pill! Consuming one can regenerate limbs for mortals, granting a hundred years of lifespan, and robust vigor! For martial artists, it fully restores any reduction in life force, achieving an optimal state of life!"


    "The fourth treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele, the Ethereal Spirit Ring, which contains a storage space of eight hundred zhang in diameter!"


    Upon seeing the four characters of Heavenly Saint Di Kong, all the youths realized that the great figure their three tribes had once saved, the one who had left behind this Ancestral Land Secret Realm space, was actually a cultivator of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map, although unknown in nature, simply the word ''essence'' made them understand that it is equivalent to the powerful martial enlightenment stage of Sword Intents.


    Moreover, these were the eighteen Innate Essences awakened by Heavenly Saint Di Kong during his Spirit Sea Realm phase, and their value was immeasurable!


    There''s also the Creation Yuan Pill!


    Indeed, it is a huge fortune, capable of ensuring that a True Qi Realm individual can step into the Spirit Sea Realm with a hundred percent certainty! It gives those in the Spirit Sea Realm a seventy percent chance of entering the Rotating Pill Realm!


    One should know that among the cultivators in the True Qi Realm, it was already remarkable if one in ten thousand could become a Spirit Sea Realm warrior, otherwise, there wouldn''t be so many who remain stuck at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm unable to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm in their entire life; likewise, none from the three great families would have been able to step into the Spirit Sea Realm.


    And the transition from the Spirit Sea Realm to the Rotating Pill Realm was even more difficult; a single Rotating Pill Realm master could even found a seventh-rank sect! This shows how powerful the Rotating Pill Realm is!


    This Creation Yuan Pill ensured a True Qi Realm individual can step into the Spirit Sea Realm with a hundred percent certainty, and gives a person in the Spirit Sea Realm a seventy percent chance of stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm!


    The profound mysteries of these realms contained within are likely achievable only by a Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse!


    There''s also the Life Origin Pill!


    The storage space ring, the Ethereal Spirit Ring!


    Any one of the four great treasures of the Myriad Treasures Stele, if taken out, would likely drive countless people mad!


    Generosity!


    Heavenly Saint Di Kong indeed shows great generosity!


    ```


    Such a vast treasure trove was left for the three clans, and with it, so many treasures!


    And this is only the peripheral area where sacred relics can be exchanged. The thirty young warriors venturing through the Ancestral Land Secret Realm didn''t know yet that, in the central area and the even more mysterious core area, what kind of treasures would be waiting for them!


    "How about it? These treasures are pretty good, right?"


    As the young warriors were shocked by the countless treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele, the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact reached them again.


    Yes, of course, they''re good!


    Whether it''s the myriad Xuan-level martial skills or the spirit weapons often used by warriors in the Spirit Sea Realm or those Small Spirit Pills, any young warrior who obtained them would be extremely satisfied.


    Even obtaining the worst Huang-level superior martial skill would allow them to increase their capabilities by one or two.


    Not to mention the four most precious treasures of the Myriad Treasures Stele, obtaining them would probably drive them crazy!


    But the young warriors also knew that with so many treasures laid out here, it was unlikely that they could just take them directly; there must be challenges waiting for them.


    Sure enough, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said, "These treasures are all here. As long as you have the ability, you can obtain them!"


    "In the first five openings of the Ancestral Land, in this peripheral area, the most any of your predecessors managed was for three people to each obtain a Creation Yuan Pill. As for the number one treasure on the Myriad Treasures Stele, not a single person was qualified to obtain it!"


    The Ancestral Land had been established for over a thousand years and had been opened more than five times, yet not a single person had obtained the Innate Essence Map of Heavenly Saint Di Kong!


    The words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact tightened the hearts of the young warriors.


    It seemed that obtaining these sacred relics wouldn''t be easy.


    "Spirit of the Artifact, how can we obtain the sacred relics on the Myriad Treasures Stele?"


    Standing next to Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie asked aloud.


    Bai Xiaodie''s question was also the doubt of countless young warriors; they too wanted to know how to obtain these sacred relics.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked at Bai Xiaodie, then its gaze finally rested on Ye Chen.


    After a slight pause, it smiled at Ye Chen and said, "Among you thirty people, ten have obtained the map of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. Also, little fellow, you should have obtained Ancestral Blood, right?"


    "I didn''t expect that at only the seventh layer of the True Qi Realm, you would achieve first place in the great competition of the three clans. It seems your martial skills are quite impressive, eh!"


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact could tell at a glance that he had obtained the Ancestral Blood.


    "Yes, Spirit of the Artifact, I have obtained the Ancestral Blood," Ye Chen replied.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact nodded: "How to obtain the sacred relics on the Myriad Treasures Stele, how the top ten can enter the place indicated by the map of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and even finding the ultimate treasure related to the Ancestral Blood, all have to do with one thing¡ªthat thing is¡ªthe Golden Light Beads!"


    Golden Light Beads?


    When the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact uttered these four words, the young warriors were all stunned.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, and he immediately raised his hand, which was still holding the golden fruit he had harvested earlier from the azure plant on the ground.


    "Could this be the ''Golden Light Bead''?"


    Looking at the walnut-sized, resplendently golden fruit in his hand, seeing the golden light rays that occasionally shot out from it, Ye Chen had a guess.


    At this moment, the golden fruit in Ye Chen''s hand suddenly flew up.


    Then, the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact resonated, "Correct, this is the ''Golden Light Bead''!"


    "In the peripheral area of the Ancestral Land, billions of ''Green Flow Creeper'' plants sporadically grow the ''Golden Light Beads.'' If you wish to exchange for the sacred relics on the Myriad Treasures Stele, you must use ''Golden Light Beads''!"


    "Also, whether the top ten wish to enter the central area and seek the grand opportunity indicated by the map of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, or the great opportunity related to the Ancestral Blood, or even if others want to venture into the central area, they must use ''Golden Light Beads'' to exchange for the opportunity to enter!"


    Hearing the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, everyone looked towards the azure plants growing all over the ground, and at the occasional golden fruits on them.


    They hadn''t expected that the challenge of this peripheral area would be related to these golden fruits!


    Golden Light Beads?


    How were they to be exchanged?


    While everyone was wondering, the Myriad Treasures Stele suddenly lit up with a bright glow, and then every treasure had a number attached to it.


    "Huang-level superior martial skill, one thousand Golden Light Beads for one set!"


    "Small Spirit Pilles, five thousand Golden Light Beads for one!"


    "Xuan-level inferior martial skill, ten thousand Golden Light Beads for one set!"


    "Superior spirit weapon, fifty thousand Golden Light Beads for one!"


    For the four most precious items, the number of Golden Light Beads required had reached an astonishing level.


    "Ethereal Spirit Ring, two hundred thousand Golden Light Beads for one!"


    "Life Origin Pill, five hundred thousand Golden Light Beads for one!"


    "Creation Yuan Pill, one million Golden Light Beads for one!"


    "Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map, ten million Golden Light Beads for one set!"


    Upon seeing the number ten million, the young warriors were so astonished that their mouths hung open.


    Heavens.


    Ten million, such a massive number¡ªjust picking them up would exhaust them to death, let alone harvesting them from these plants!


    No wonder the number one treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele had not been exchanged for over a thousand years.


    Needing ten million Golden Light Beads for an exchange... Surely, no one could collect that many Golden Light Beads, right!


    ```

 Chapter 101: Chapter 92 Major Excavation

    The number of Golden Light Beads required to exchange for the first treasure on the Myriad Treasures Stele is indeed frighteningly large!


    The vast majority of youths have already given up on this treasure, searching the Myriad Treasures Stele for items they might be able to exchange for.


    Yet Ye Chen''s gaze remained fixed on the first-ranked treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele, his eyes not wavering in the least at the sight of the massive number of Golden Light Beads required.


    "Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map, containing the eighteen powerful moods awakened by Heavenly Saint Di Kong during the Spirit Sea Realm stage!"


    "If possible, I still have to strive to obtain this treasure!"


    Ye Chen had already cultivated three major Sword Intents, among which the "Wind Sword Intent" greatly increased his strength, enabling him to seize first place in the Three Clans'' Grand Competition.


    The Wind Sword Intent was what he had comprehended from Qian Jizi''s demonstration of Wind''s Concept back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode!


    Ye Chen knew the moods of a Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse were incredibly precious!


    Like Qian Jizi, Heavenly Saint Di Kong, who had also reached the Heavenly Saint Realm, his eighteen powerful innate essence maps could possibly help him comprehend several more powerful moods as well!


    Not just the Myriad Treasures Stele''s first-ranked treasure, other treasures like the Creation Yuan Pill, the Life Origin Pill, the Ethereal Spirit Ring... all these items stirred Ye Chen''s heart.


    He hadn''t even started collecting Golden Light Beads, and Ye Chen wasn''t about to give up on any treasure. He would do his utmost to obtain as many Golden Light Beads as possible. Then, he would decide which treasures to exchange for.


    If he gave up before even starting, that would only cause him to be weak-hearted and lose the courage to compete for treasures!


    Ye Chen wouldn''t give up any opportunity to exchange for the treasures. He would fight fiercely for more Golden Light Beads, to exchange for more treasures, while Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, Ye Xue, and the others were all filled with competitive spirit.


    "I must exchange for a Small Spirit Pill!"


    "The Life Origin Pill might save my life in battle; I must acquire one!"


    "Even if the Creation Yuan Pill requires a million Golden Light Beads, I must fight to obtain it!"


    Each and every youth was overflowing with fighting spirit, and then, the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact resonated once more.


    "The number of Golden Light Beads required for these treasures has been made clear!"


    "I''ll give you ten days to collect Golden Light Beads in this periphery area. The number of Golden Light Beads you collect determines how many treasures you can exchange for!"


    "The number of treasures you get depends on your strength!"


    "After ten days, the Teleportation Array leading to the central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm will also open. If you wish to enter the central area, you will need to exchange Golden Light Beads for the opportunity."


    "Entering the central area will cost ten thousand Golden Light Beads!"


    "If you don''t have enough Golden Light Beads to enter the central area, you''ll have to stay in the periphery of the Secret Realm to cultivate for the remaining time, and your chance at the treasures will end!"


    "Little fellows, remember, you only have ten days to collect Golden Light Beads!"


    "After ten days, whether you can enter the central area or the next round of the grand treasure opportunity will depend on whether you accumulate ten thousand Golden Light Beads!"


    "After ten days, how many treasures you can exchange for on the Myriad Treasures Stele will depend on how many Golden Light Beads you have obtained!"


    "I''m giving you another treasure now, so get ready to start collecting Golden Light Beads!"


    The words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact greatly bolstered the spirits of all the youths.


    Ye Chen and the other top ten, holding the Ancestral Ground Secret Maps, knew that the areas indicated by the maps lie within the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. They were determined to gather the ten thousand Golden Light Beads needed to enter that central region!


    The other youths, despite not having the Secret Maps, were of course not willing to give up the chance to search for more treasures. They wouldn''t be content to only cultivate in the periphery area for the remainder of the time. They, too, would compete for the opportunity to enter the central region!


    To enter the central region!


    For the countless treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele!


    They had to seize as many Golden Light Beads as possible within ten days!


    Just as everyone was prepared to start collecting Golden Light Beads, the sky erupted with a bright azure light, and then, rings emanating faint light began to descend from the heavens, flying towards each youth.


    "This is the Ethereal Spirit Ring, the fourth treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele. I''m lending it to you temporarily for the collection of Golden Light Beads. You will return them to me after ten days!"


    "This Ethereal Spirit Ring contains a vast space of eight hundred feet in diameter. Even if you manage to collect a hundred million Golden Light Beads, they would all fit inside!"


    "So, go ahead and collect Golden Light Beads without worry!"


    "I have not activated the ownership array for these Ethereal Spirit Rings. You can control and use them with your Divine Sense only!"


    With the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, the "Ethereal Spirit Ring" fell into the hands of the youths.


    "The fourth treasure, the Ethereal Spirit Ring? A Storage Secret Treasure that requires two hundred thousand Golden Light Beads to exchange for just one?"


    All the youths probed the Ethereal Spirit Ring with their Divine Sense, and when they saw the immense space within, they were all overjoyed!


    As True Qi Realm cultivators, they had long heard of Storage Secret Treasures. Sadly, each Storage Secret Treasure is forged by the Space Law, a mysterious law almost exclusively accessible to Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses!


    Because of this, Storage Secret Treasures were exceedingly rare. Even those that had made their way into circulation were typically only possessed by Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, and it was said that most of their Storage Secret Treasures had spaces measuring around several dozens of feet.


    Now, they had the chance to use the Ethereal Spirit Ring, which contained a vast space of eight hundred feet in diameter and was known as the fourth treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele ¨C a fact that elated the youths.


    "The Ethereal Spirit Ring, a Storage Secret Treasure!"


    Looking at the small ring in his hand, Ye Chen was also captivated by the wondrous storage space.


    "Good, with this treasure, whether it''s collecting fur, tendons, and bones after slaying Demon Beasts, or carrying my possessions, it will be extremely useful."


    "Strive to exchange for one in ten days!"


    Ye Chen gently clasped the Ethereal Spirit Ring in his hand as thoughts flashed through his mind.


    Now, this Ethereal Spirit Ring was only lent to them by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact for their use¡ªit wasn''t truly theirs. If they wanted to use such a marvelous treasure in the future, of course, they needed to obtain it through their own strength!


    Once all the youths were familiar with the Ethereal Spirit Ring, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact finally declared, "The ten-day trial of Collecting Golden Light Beads starts now!"


    "Little guys, go collect the Golden Light Beads!"


    "Don''t worry if you run too far and can''t return. After ten days, I will bring you all back here to see how many Golden Light Beads you''ve managed to collect."


    "Now, set off, and start Collecting Golden Light Beads!"


    After the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact fell, the thirty young cultivators looked toward their clan companions.


    "Let''s begin!"


    "Brothers and sisters, for the Secret Treasure, for the opportunity to enter the central region, start Collecting Golden Light Beads!"


    "Let''s begin our first great opportunity!"


    Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, the youths from the three clans, brimmed with fighting spirit!


    In an instant, all of the youths activated their movement techniques, darting off in all directions, while their hands reached for the small golden fruits on the branches of the Green Flow Creeper.


    Boom!


    Ye Chen spread his Divine Sense, encompassing everything within a radius of several hundred yards.


    Executing the Wind Movement Skills, he soared into the air, then reached out towards the void, with countless Golden Light Beads within a hundred-yard radius flying straight toward his position.


    The sky filled with flying Golden Light Beads, easily numbering in the hundreds!


    In an instant, these Golden Light Beads disappeared into the Ethereal Spirit Ring on Ye Chen''s thumb.


    This was Ye Chen harnessing the power of Sword Intent to collect the Golden Light Beads.


    With Sword Intent, he could control all things as swords, so the Golden Light Beads covered by Ye Chen''s Sword Intent naturally complied with his command!


    Cultivating the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense illuminated all around, sensing the Golden Light Beads on each Green Flow Creeper. Cultivating the three great Sword Intents, he could directly control the Golden Light Beads he discovered, making them fly towards him.


    Additionally, the Wind Movement Skills allowed him to continually soar through the sky, swiftly sweeping through patches of Green Flow Creeper!


    To obtain as many Golden Light Beads as possible and exchange them for the countless Secret Treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele, Ye Chen naturally would no longer conceal any part of his power. He brought forth his most overpowering power and all his methods!


    The Green Flow Plains in the periphery of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm stretched endlessly. With countless billions of Green Flow Creeper plants, there were enough Golden Light Beads for everyone to collect¡ªYe Chen didn''t need to deliberately leave anything for others.


    Everyone had enough to collect!


    How many Golden Light Beads one could collect relied entirely on their own strength!


    In the midst of frantic collecting, all the young cultivators from the three clans on the Green Flow Plains witnessed such an astonishing scene. Wherever Ye Chen went, countless Golden Light Beads flew towards him¡ªdense clusters of Golden Light Beads, like a surging river, constantly disappearing into the Ethereal Spirit Ring on Ye Chen''s thumb.


    In just a short time, Ye Chen had collected over a thousand Golden Light Beads!


    "Heavens."


    "This... this..."


    Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, Ye Xue, the top ten and top thirty from the three clans'' competition, watched Ye Chen collect Golden Light Beads as effortlessly as picking objects from a bag, each one''s mouth agape.


    For a moment, they even forgot to collect Golden Light Beads themselves!


    They were completely stunned by Ye Chen''s speed and method of collecting Golden Light Beads!


    In the end, it was Bai Xiaodie who first came to her senses. She shook her head with a helpless smile, "Ye Chen went towards the east; it seems we won''t be able to collect many Golden Light Beads in that direction. I''ll head west to collect!"


    With a shimmer of her snowy white outfit, Bai Xiaodie flew to the west!


    Then, the young cultivators awakening from the shock of Ye Chen''s actions began collecting Golden Light Beads once again, spurred on by him and bringing out all their own methods.


    In no time, the figures of thirty youths flew in all directions in the periphery of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    In the sky, the gigantic countenance formed by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact watched over the flying figures of the youths on the ground. In the end, it focused solely on Ye Chen.


    "Is this the little guy who obtained the Ancestral Blood?"


    "Incredible!"


    "This speed of collecting Golden Light Beads is simply the fastest I''ve seen in over a thousand years! The most incredible!"


    "It hasn''t been long, and he''s already collected six to seven thousand Golden Light Beads!"


    "At this rate, if it continues, the number one treasure on the Myriad Treasures Stele will finally find its master!"


    The more the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact watched Ye Chen, the brighter its gigantic eyes, formed of green True Qi, shone.


    "Movement technique!"


    "Concept!"


    "And his marvelous connection with the Golden Light Beads!"


    "A prodigy, this time among the three clans, a prodigy has truly arrived!"

 Chapter 102: Chapter 93 The Three Great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain

    ```


    Just as the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact completely focused its attention on Ye Chen, and as the young ones from the three clans officially began their first grand opportunity and test within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Outside the Ancestral Land, the three Patriarchs of the great clans and countless clan members still gathered at the entrance to the Ancestral Land, hesitant to leave for a long time.


    At this moment, behind the fourth statue at the center of the Ancestral Land, the black vortex entrance leading to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm had already closed completely.


    Only on the day when the exploration of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm concludes, a month later, will this entrance be opened again.


    "The children have all entered!"


    "It seems that the test of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm has already begun."


    "Who knows what opportunities and fortunes these thirty of them could gain within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."


    Patriarch Bai looked at the Ancestral Land, his eyes filled with anticipation as well as worry.


    This Ancestral Land, which opens only once every few hundred years, was also an experience Patriarch Bai had never had. Whether the young ones from the three clans could acquire precious treasures inside, he wasn''t fully confident.


    "There will be great gains!"


    "There definitely will be!"


    Patriarch Ye looked at the spot where the entrance to the Ancestral Land had disappeared and said with absolute certainty.


    Among the youths who entered the Ancestral Land this time, whether it be Ye Chen or Bai Xiaodie, they were all talents rarely seen in hundreds of years among the three clans. Patriarch Ye believed that they would definitely have the capability to pass the tests set by Lord Di Kong and secure great rewards!


    "Let''s hope so!"


    "Let''s hope the children can bring us some pride!"


    "Alas, the hope for our three clans'' prosperity rests on these children!"


    "It''s been hundreds of years since we last had a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse born. I truly hope, among these children, there will eventually be those who step into the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    The image of Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and Qian Ming flashed through Patriarch Qian''s mind as he sighed and spoke.


    The three Patriarchs looked at the Ancestral Land with worry and anticipation. The clan members of the three clans standing outside the Ancestral Land shared the same sentiments as the Patriarchs.


    The parents and relatives of the thirty young ones who had entered the Ancestral Land were among the crowd. They were concerned for their children''s safety in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and they, too, were full of hopes that their children could secure a grand opportunity!


    In the crowd, little Tao''er stood together with Ye Chen''s father and mother, who were also looking at the Ancestral Land with some worry at this moment.


    With Ye Chen''s disappearance into the Ancestral Land, and having entered that incredibly mysterious Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the two knew nothing about this unknown and secret space and were naturally filled with concern.


    But little Tao''er, looking at the Ancestral Land, had eyes shining with excitement, "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm, ah, a mysterious place that opens only once every few centuries! Who knows what the young master will gain from it this time, I wish the month would hurry by, and see what he brings out!"


    ...


    Wan Ya Mountain, a large mountain located outside of Qingyang City.


    The founding ancestors of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families all hunted for a living in these mountains.


    It was also in these mountains that they saved the injured and unconscious Heavenly Saint Di Kong, which brought about a millennium of grand opportunities for the three families!


    While the attention of all the clansmen from the three families of Qingyang City was captivated by the opening of the Ancestral Land, in the depths of Wan Ya Mountain, in a stronghold called Black Cliff Stronghold, there were also some people quietly paying attention to the opening of the Ancestral Land of the three clans.


    "Third brother, how is the progress regarding the three great families of Qingyang City entering that Ancestral Land Secret Realm?"


    Within a secret chamber of Black Cliff Stronghold, a green-robed elder who sat at the highest seat spoke to a young man who had just walked in.


    The young man answered, "Big brother, today, the three great families have sent thirty youths into the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    "According to our discovered text, a month from now, these people will come out from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and by then, they will bring the treasures out with them!"


    The green-robed elder slapped his hand on the chair upon hearing the young man''s words and stood up, "Good, I didn''t expect that a text we found by chance, which recorded the matters of the Ancestral Land of the three clans, would actually come to pass!"


    "This text, left by an ancestor of the three clans who had once entered the Ancestral Land and later successfully cultivated to the Spirit Sea Realm, provides information on the Ancestral Land that must not be mistaken!"


    "According to the text, only young people under the age of twenty from the three clans can enter this Ancestral Land Secret Realm, where they can obtain countless treasures, some of which are even useful to those in the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "That ancestor of the three clans managed to break through to the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm by relying on these treasures!"


    "Hmph, treasures, of course, are meant for those with the strength to own them! Those people from the three great families, merely in the True Qi Realm, think they can monopolize the treasures of the secret realm? Dream on!"


    "Although we three brothers cannot enter that secret realm, we cannot let go of those treasures!"


    "A month from now, when those young ones bring the treasures out of the secret realm, we will head to Qingyang City and seize those items!"


    From the words of the green-robed elder, it could be heard that he actually knew about the Ancestral Land Secret Realm of the three great families!


    ```


    "Yes, Big Brother!"


    Upon hearing the green-robed elder''s words, the youth also laughed and said, "Those three major families, to be so busy with this matter, are essentially preparing a dowry for us three brothers. When Second Brother awakens from his seclusion, learning of this news, he will surely be overjoyed!"


    "The treasures of the secret realm, I really want to see what those legendary treasures, so highly praised in the ancestral records by the families, actually look like!"


    "Heh heh, it won''t be long before you get to see them!" The green-robed elder''s eyes also emitted a greedy gleam.


    If there were martial cultivators in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom who recognized this green-robed elder and the youth, they would surely realize that these two were two of the so-called ''Three Great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain''!


    These Three Great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain dominated Black Cliff Stronghold, with countless underlings beneath them, and they were a supremely strong force within Wan Ya Mountain.


    All three Loose Cultivators were powerhouses of the Spirit Sea Realm. The eldest, who was the leader of Black Cliff Stronghold and the one in the green robe, had reached the mid stage of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    The one they referred to as the Second in command, currently in seclusion, also possessed mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm cultivation, while the youngest, this youth, had reached the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    The people of the three major families in Qingyang City had no idea that these three Loose Cultivators had inadvertently discovered one of the ancestors'' Cultivation Cave Abodes. Through the records in the cave, they learned of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    The three families were even more oblivious to the fact that their family tournament, intended to select youths to enter the Ancestral Land, had caught the attention of the three powerful Spirit Sea Realm Loose Cultivators, all of whom harbored greed for the treasures within the secret realm!


    Moreover, these three had already entertained the idea of seizing the treasures, merely waiting for Ye Chen and the others to emerge from the secret realm with the treasures before making their move to snatch them!


    A crisis was quietly lurking, unknown to all of the three major families, and even to Ye Chen and the others who were currently within the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    ...


    At this moment, the thirty young cultivators in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm had already entered into a frenzied process of harvesting "Golden Light Beads".


    Gathering more Golden Light Beads meant exchanging them for more treasures, so the youngsters were naturally not lax in their efforts and were striving hard to collect them!


    Some of them didn''t even rest day and night, only taking a brief break when they could no longer persist.


    Out of the thirty youths, the one who had collected the most Golden Light Beads was none other than Ye Chen!


    From the start, Ye Chen had led by a long shot in the number of Golden Light Beads collected. By the end of the first day, under the watchful and intense interest of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, Ye Chen had scoured hundreds of miles around, gathering over a million Golden Light Beads by the first day''s end!


    This number had even astonished the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact!


    But when night fell, Ye Chen didn''t continue harvesting Golden Light Beads like the others; instead, he sat cross-legged amidst the Green Flow Creeper, beginning to cultivate.


    The amount of Golden Light Beads Ye Chen had collected during the day gave him a rough estimate of the total he could eventually gather. In such a case, Ye Chen naturally arranged his time more reasonably between cultivation and harvesting.


    In the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, True Qi was incredibly abundant. Just the speed of the meridians autonomously consuming the True Qi of heaven and earth was five to six times faster than outside. In this profusely abundant True Qi of the world, even grasping Martial Skills often led to moments of enlightenment.


    In such circumstances, Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t overexert himself by ceaselessly gathering Golden Light Beads.


    Cultivating at night while allowing his tense spirit to relax during the day, and recovering his strained spirit and True Qi, all the while elevating his internal and external Martial Skills was the method. Interspersing tension with relaxation allowed him to go further in the ten-day Golden Light Bead collection period.


    Indeed, Ye Chen''s strategy was remarkably effective!


    The youths who stayed up to harvest the beads slowed down on the second day, while Ye Chen, after a night''s rest, hadn''t slowed down at all in his harvesting on the second day. In fact, with further cultivation of his True Qi and Martial Skills, his speed increased once more!


    On the second day, Ye Chen even collected several hundred thousand more Golden Light Beads than he had on the first day!


    Then came the third day, the fourth day...


    Ye Chen''s speed of harvesting Golden Light Beads became faster and faster, and more and more beads entered the Ethereal Spirit Ring on his thumb.


    In the end, even the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact dared not guess just how many Golden Light Beads Ye Chen had collected.


    The fifth day, the sixth day, the seventh day...


    As the ten-day limit drew near, the True Qi within Ye Chen''s body was gradually advancing toward the formation of the eighth True Qi Vortex. Especially on the eighth day, he truly entered the comprehension of "Thunder Sword Skills" within the Wind Thunder Sword Skills, delving into the understanding of the "Sword Intent of Thunder".


    Also, while he was flying over the Green Flow Plains using "Wind Movement Skills", he delved into the comprehension of an even mightier "Thunder Movement Skills".


    Ten days passed by as Ye Chen balanced cultivation with harvesting Golden Light Beads.


    When the deadline for the ten-day collection of Golden Light Beads arrived, the thirty young cultivators who had entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm were entirely dispersed over the vast peripheral areas of the realm.


    The two furthest apart were even separated by thousands of miles!


    That day, the movements of the youths still striving to harvest Golden Light Beads were suddenly restrained by a force, and soon after, the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact reached the mind of each person.


    "The ten-day period is up, everyone, return to the ''Myriad Treasures Stele''!"


    With that voice, the thirty scattered youths in the peripheral regions of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, including Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, Ye Xue, and others, were lifted from the ground by a tremendous force and flown back to their starting point.


    The Ancestral Land Secret Realm was an internal space within the Sacred Artifact "Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple", and as the spirit of the artifact, it could naturally summon everyone within its space with ease!


    In almost three or four breaths'' time, under the summoning of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, the thirty youths were brought back and landed below the Myriad Treasures Stele!

 Chapter 103: Chapter 94: Shocking! Crazy!

    ```


    Just a moment ago, they were still gathering Golden Light Beads.


    The next moment, they were back beneath the "Myriad Treasures Stele"!


    The young members of the three tribes stood under the Myriad Treasures Stele, feeling that the ten days passed too quickly. It felt like no time had passed when the deadline for gathering Golden Light Beads arrived.


    "Qian Feng, how many Golden Light Beads did you collect?"


    "Bai Xiaoning, that''s great, I gathered enough Golden Light Beads to exchange for that Spiritual Artifact I''ve been eyeing!"


    "It''s over, it''s all over, I didn''t manage to gather ten thousand Golden Light Beads. In the remaining twenty days, I can only cultivate in this outer area. The major opportunity behind this has nothing to do with me anymore!"


    The young people standing under the Myriad Treasures Stele were discussing animatedly among themselves; there were those who asked aloud, those who were beyond excited, and those who were deeply dejected...


    At that moment, Bai Xiaodie, dressed in a snow-white tight-fitting outfit, her figure alluring and her cheeks charming, with her long black hair tied in a ponytail that cascaded to her waist, walked towards Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, how many Golden Light Beads did you gather?" Bai Xiaodie''s clear eyes were filled with curiosity as she looked at Ye Chen.


    The day they officially began to gather Golden Light Beads, the sight of countless beads flying towards Ye Chen like a torrential river had left a deep impression on Bai Xiaodie.


    She had an intuition that at the end of the ten days, the one who would have gathered the most Golden Light Beads would certainly be Ye Chen!


    Now, the day of conclusion had arrived, and Bai Xiaodie was naturally extremely curious about the number of Golden Light Beads Ye Chen had collected.


    "How many?" Upon hearing Bai Xiaodie''s question, Ye Chen was slightly startled.


    In these days, while he gathered Golden Light Beads, he also cultivated and hadn''t counted them precisely; he only had a rough idea of the number.


    "It should be enough," Ye Chen said with a smile to Bai Xiaodie.


    Enough?


    Ye Chen''s words left Bai Xiaodie''s beautiful eyes wide open.


    What did he mean by enough?


    On the Myriad Treasures Stele, there were countless treasures. Was Ye Chen saying that he gathered enough Golden Light Beads to exchange for the treasures he desired, or that he had enough to use as he pleased?


    Just as Bai Xiaodie was about to inquire further, in the sky, amidst the surging azure true qi, the large visage of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact appeared once more.


    Then, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s huge eyes, formed from azure true qi, turned towards the thirty young men in the field, and its voice also spread out.


    "Little guys, you''ve all returned!"


    "Now is the time to assess your gathering results!"


    While speaking, the eyes of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact were brimming with laughter, especially when looking at Ye Chen. The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was extremely satisfied with Ye Chen''s performance over the past ten days!


    The speed at which Ye Chen gathered Golden Light Beads, which had even shocked it, and the total number that even it did not know, Ye Chen''s performance had far exceeded the expectations of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    The other youths, looking up at the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, all noticed its gaze towards Ye Chen, realizing that Ye Chen must have had a great harvest over these ten days!


    Everyone became curious about exactly how many Golden Light Beads Ye Chen had gathered!


    At this moment, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact continued, "The Myriad Treasures Stele is right here, and countless treasures are within my sacred artifact space. As I''ve said before, the number of Golden Light Beads you have will determine how many treasures you can exchange!"


    As the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact lingered, numerous inscriptions of treasures on the thirty-meter-tall stele of the Myriad Treasures Stele began to shine dazzlingly.


    The Myriad Treasures Stele''s first treasure, Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map!


    The Myriad Treasures Stele''s second treasure, Creation Yuan Pill!


    The Myriad Treasures Stele''s third treasure, Life Origin Pill...


    The inscriptions of these treasures and their dazzling lights immediately drew the attention of all the youths.


    These treasures, inscribed on the Myriad Treasures Stele, could be obtained immediately with Golden Light Beads!


    "There''s also the teleportation array leading into the central area of the Secret Realm, which I''m opening now!"


    "With just ten thousand Golden Light Beads, you can enter!"


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact spoke again, a huge teleportation array with a diameter of several dozen meters appeared next to the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    This array was the teleportation array leading from the outer area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm to the central area.


    Passing through it, they could enter the second round of opportunity and seek great fortunes!


    Seeing the array appear, the top ten who held the Ancestral Ground Secret Map all tightened their breaths.


    By entering this array, they could head to the locations marked by the Ancestral Ground Secret Map, to seek fortunes exclusive to them!


    Not just the top ten, the other young men who didn''t hold the Ancestral Ground Secret Map longed to enter the central area, to venture elsewhere.


    As long as they entered, opportunities could arise!


    On one side were the countless treasures of the Myriad Treasures Stele, and on the other, the teleportation array leading to the even more mysterious central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact laid out these two options, stirring the hearts of all the youths intensely.


    But as much as they were moved, many already knew that they had no chance to exchange for many treasures!


    Even more had already lost the chance to enter the central area!


    Because they had not gathered enough Golden Light Beads.


    In this first round of gathering Golden Light Beads, they had not done well.


    "Come, let''s see the number of Golden Light Beads you have, one by one!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact directed its gaze at one of the youths, "State your name and bring out the Golden Light Beads you''ve gathered!"


    The youth who was first called upon by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked somewhat embarrassed; with a wry smile, he activated his Ethereal Spirit Ring with a thumb, and a small pile of Golden Light Beads appeared before him.


    ```

 Chapter 104: Chapter 94: Shocking! Crazy!_2

    "Artifact Spirit, my name is ''Qian Yue'', and I have collected only five thousand eight hundred and sixty-three Golden Light Beads. I would like to exchange them for one Small Spirit Pill, please!"


    The youth spoke.


    "Very well," said the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, and as the youth spoke, a fierce wind swirled around him. In the midst of this tumult, the Ethereal Spirit Ring on the youth''s hand flew up, and the small pile of Golden Light Beads on the ground also levitated, finally all entering into the ring.


    "Indeed, it is five thousand eight hundred and sixty-three Golden Light Beads. Your performance is quite average; here is your Small Spirit Pill," the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact confirmed, winding the youth''s Ethereal Spirit Ring back to him while a small box flew over to the youth.


    The youth caught the small box, opened it, and saw a milky-white round pill inside, surrounded by a faint glow.


    This pill was none other than the Small Spirit Pill, capable of enhancing the cultivation of a martial artist in the True Qi Realm by one level!


    After inspecting the collection results of the first youth, Qian Yue, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact turned to the next youth.


    "Next, continue!"


    One by one, each youth released their collected Golden Light Beads.


    As the Golden Light Beads were continuously presented, all the youths realized that the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact could apparently sense the approximate number of Golden Light Beads they had collected. The first ones to be called were the ones who had collected the fewest.


    The ones called later had collected more and more Golden Light Beads!


    When the ninth youth called by name brought out his Golden Light Beads, the number he had collected finally broke through ten thousand.


    When the fifteenth called by name, who was none other than Qian Yuan, ranked tenth in the tri-clan competition, it turned out he had collected over thirty thousand Golden Light Beads.


    Qian Yuan directly exchanged for two sets of low-tier Xuan-level martial arts techniques and spent ten thousand Golden Light Beads for the opportunity to be transported to the central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    When the twenty-seventh called by name, who was none other than Ye Xue, ranked fifth in the tri-clan competition, and Ye Chen''s cousin, stepped forward, her collection of Golden Light Beads had shockingly surpassed a hundred thousand!


    She had collected over ten thousand more Golden Light Beads than Qian Feng, who had ranked fourth in the clan competition.


    At this point, the only ones not yet called were the top three from the clan competition: Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and Qian Ming.


    Everyone was eager to find out how many Golden Light Beads the last three had collected.


    So far, no one had collected over two hundred thousand Golden Light Beads, and no one had managed to exchange for one of the four great treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    Now, the twenty-eighth to be called was Qian Ming.


    When his name was called by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, Qian Ming glanced at Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, knowing in his heart that he had lost to them once again in the collection of Golden Light Beads.


    In the end, the number of Golden Light Beads Qian Ming had collected reached an astounding fifty-eight thousand three hundred and seventy-two!


    After Qian Ming exchanged his treasures, only Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie remained to be called.


    Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie, the two genuine young talents who entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, everyone else wanted to know who had collected more Golden Light Beads between them.


    "Little girl, it''s your turn. Bring out the Golden Light Beads you''ve collected!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked directly at Bai Xiaodie.


    "Ye Chen, I really didn''t collect as many Golden Light Beads as you!"


    Bai Xiaodie said with a light smile, and with a flick of her finger, a huge pile of Golden Light Beads, like a small mountain, appeared before her.


    "So many!"


    "Heaven."


    "Must be over a million!"


    Seeing the gigantic pile of Golden Light Beads before Bai Xiaodie, even taller than a small mountain, all the youths'' eyes widened.


    Just from this mountain of light, it was clear how incredible the number of Golden Light Beads Bai Xiaodie had collected was.


    And when the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact collected all the beads, everyone heard that Bai Xiaodie''s count of Golden Light Beads was an astonishing two million and seventy thousand!


    Two million and seventy thousand!


    Such a massive quantity of Golden Light Beads allowed Bai Xiaodie to exchange for two Creation Yuan Pills, a superior-grade spiritual weapon, two Small Spirit Pills, as well as one transportation opportunity to the central region.


    Impressed by the number of Golden Light Beads Bai Xiaodie had collected, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact exclaimed with rare praise: "Not bad, the number of Golden Light Beads you''ve collected has already surpassed those from the previous five times, including all your ancestors who have come here!"


    "This could rank second in the six explorations of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    After Bai Xiaodie also completed her exchange, the only youth left in the field who had not been called was Ye Chen.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was calling names based on the order of the amount of Golden Light Beads collected.


    Looking at it this way, it was obvious that Ye Chen had collected the most Golden Light Beads among them all!


    That''s why he was the last to be called by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact!


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said that Bai Xiaodie could rank second in the six journeys into the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, which clearly meant that the amount of Golden Light Beads Ye Chen had collected had reached the top position among those six adventures!


    "Bai Xiaodie has already collected twenty million and seventy thousand Golden Light Beads!"


    "Ye Chen is even stronger than Bai Xiaodie, just how many Golden Light Beads did he manage to collect?"


    Everyone''s gaze turned towards Ye Chen.


    At that moment, rather than directly taking out his Golden Light Beads, Ye Chen looked towards the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and asked, "Artifact Spirit, I can give my Golden Light Beads to others to use, right?"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact paused slightly, then gave Ye Chen a deep look and smiled, "Of course, after collecting the Golden Light Beads, you are free to use them as you wish."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, the other youths were stunned.


    They didn''t have enough Golden Light Beads for themselves, with many treasures left unclaimed; was Ye Chen actually thinking of giving his Golden Light Beads to others?


    Give Golden Light Beads to whom?


    How many Golden Light Beads?


    The youths were guessing when Ye Chen directly said, "Since that is the case, I will provide ten thousand Golden Light Beads for every brother and sister of the three tribes who hasn''t collected enough to make up ten thousand, so they can exchange for a chance to enter the central region!"


    What?


    Provide us with ten thousand Golden Light Beads to exchange for an opportunity to enter the central region?


    When eight youths in the field were downcast at not being able to enter the central region, Ye Chen''s words immediately made them exclaim in surprise.


    Just as they were about to thank Ye Chen, he spoke again, "Then, I will give each brother and sister an additional one hundred thousand Golden Light Beads each, so they can exchange for the treasures they like!"


    If Ye Chen''s previous statement had only brought immeasurable joy to the eight youths who had not collected enough Golden Light Beads, this declaration of giving one hundred thousand Golden Light Beads to each caused everyone to go wild!


    This meant that Ye Chen was about to give away twenty-nine million Golden Light Beads to them.


    Even Bai Xiaodie, who was in second place, had only collected twenty million and seventy thousand Golden Light Beads.


    Was Ye Chen really going to give away twenty-nine million Golden Light Beads?


    Together with the eighty thousand Golden Light Beads spent to exchange the opportunities to enter the central region for another eight people, the number of Golden Light Beads Ye Chen was giving away was as much as twenty-nine million and eighty thousand!


    Then how many Golden Light Beads did Ye Chen keep for himself?


    Ye Chen, just how many Golden Light Beads did you collect in total!


    Just as everyone was overwhelmed with shock and crazy about Ye Chen''s generosity, Ye Chen finally said, "Apart from those mentioned, Myriad Treasures Stele, please help me calculate how many Golden Light Beads I have left."


    "I''ll see what treasures I can exchange for."


    As Ye Chen finished speaking, his Ethereal Spirit Ring on his thumb shone brightly, and suddenly, a tumultuous roar swept across like a tsunami.


    All the youths saw countless Golden Light Beads pouring out from the Ethereal Spirit Ring on Ye Chen''s hand, piling up on a vast ground before them.


    The endless stream of Golden Light Beads piled higher and wider, until at last, it looked like a massive mountain!


    All the youths in the field had their mouths agape, watching the rising tide of beads.


    "This..."


    "This..."


    At a rough glance, they could feel that the number of Golden Light Beads Ye Chen had collected was surely more than twenty million!

 Chapter 105: Chapter 95 Great Harvest

    "Ye Chen!"


    "You''re too amazing!"


    "How did you manage to collect so many Golden Light Beads?!"


    Looking at the mountainous pile of Golden Light Beads, Bai Xiaodie''s pretty face was filled with astonishment.


    She had guessed that Ye Chen would rank first in the trial of Collecting Golden Light Beads, but she never imagined that he could gather such an enormous number!


    Over twenty million Golden Light Beads, perhaps even reaching thirty million¡ªthe quantity had completely stunned Bai Xiaodie!


    It wasn''t just Bai Xiaodie; none of the others had anticipated that Ye Chen could instantly raise the number of collected Golden Light Beads to tens of millions!


    This was well beyond their imagination!


    Bai Xiaodie managed to collect over two million beads, surpassing the pioneers who had ventured into the Ancestral Land Secret Realm during the previous five expeditions, which was already a miracle.


    Now, Ye Chen had collected ten times more Golden Light Beads than Bai Xiaodie!


    Even though Ye Chen had defeated Bai Xiaodie and was stronger than her, the gap shouldn''t be this big!


    However, these youngsters were unaware that, although Bai Xiaodie, like Ye Chen, had also comprehended Sword Intents, which could be used to collect Golden Light Beads.


    Aside from Sword Intents, Ye Chen possessed a unique sensitivity to his surroundings cultivated through the Primordial Star Scripture. His Divine Sense could radiate hundreds of zhang, allowing him to effortlessly and instantly locate Golden Light Beads within that range.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had mastered the profound-tier movement technique "Wind Movement Skills," significantly increasing his flight speed and the area over which he collected Golden Light Beads.


    By relying on Sword Intents, Bai Xiaodie surpassed those predecessors who entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm before her.


    But Ye Chen, with Sword Intents, Divine Sense, and movement technique at his disposal, left Bai Xiaodie far behind!


    The performance of Bai Xiaodie in collecting Golden Light Beads delighted the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact with unexpected joy.


    However, Ye Chen''s performance gave the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact an even greater surprise!


    That''s why, during these ten days, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact focused entirely on Ye Chen.


    Even the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was left speechless by the quantity of Golden Light Beads Ye Chen had collected!


    When Ye Chen took out all the Golden Light Beads, his Ethereal Spirit Ring flew directly towards the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    "Let''s see your final count of Golden Light Beads!"


    The voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact trembled with excitement.


    Left in this three-tribe realm by Heavenly Saint Di Kong, besides continually providing trials and opportunities to the three tribes, it also bore a great responsibility¡ªa responsibility that only a true genius could undertake!


    Now, in Ye Chen, it saw that hope.


    It was very likely that Ye Chen was the genius it was searching for, the one who could bear that great responsibility!


    Looking at Ye Chen and thinking about that newborn creature in the core area of the Ancestral Land, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s breath grew somewhat quick.


    "Could all this be preordained by fate? Just as that little one is born, a formidable young man directly enters our midst!"


    "I hope he can make it into the core area!"


    "I hope he can pass the ultimate challenge and meet the little one left behind by the old master."


    "At that time, he will realize what truly amazing fate this Secret Realm holds!"


    Whoosh!


    Suppressing a myriad of thoughts, after all, Ye Chen was still in the outer area, having not even entered the middle zone yet, and whether he could pass the subsequent trials remains unknown.


    It was too early to think so far ahead.


    "First, let''s see just how many Golden Light Beads there are!"


    With that in mind, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact directly swept up the Ethereal Spirit Ring toward the mountainous pile of Golden Light Beads collected by Ye Chen, beginning the collection process.


    Boom!


    The Golden Light Beads in the gigantic pile, under the pull of the Ethereal Spirit Ring, started to fly up one by one, rushing in like a torrential river, continuously entering the ring.


    After all the Golden Light Beads had been tallied, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact announced an astonishing number.


    "Twenty-eight million, three hundred and ninety-seven thousand, six hundred and thirty-two Golden Light Beads!"


    Over twenty-eight million Golden Light Beads!


    The number spoken by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact left all the other youngsters from the three tribes dumbfounded.


    There really were over twenty million Golden Light Beads!


    Ye Chen really had collected over twenty million Golden Light Beads!


    On the Myriad Treasures Stele, the number one treasure "Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map" could be exchanged for a set with ten million Golden Light Beads.


    At the time, this number directly scared off the young contestants.


    Now it seems that the Golden Light Beads Ye Chen collected are more than enough to exchange for two complete sets of the first Treasure, with plenty to spare!


    More than twenty-eight million Golden Light Beads can exchange for all the precious Treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele!


    "No wonder Ye Chen said he had collected enough Golden Light Beads earlier."


    "This is indeed more than enough!"


    Bai Xiaodie gazed at Ye Chen, her beautiful eyes shining brightly.


    Ye Chen had defeated her in the grand competition among the three clans, filling the young girl with immense admiration for Ye Chen, and now that Ye Chen had given away more than two million Golden Light Beads to the young ones of the three clans, she thought even more highly of him!


    Now, the miracle Ye Chen had created with the number of Golden Light Beads he collected had completely captivated the young girl.


    In a single moment, Bai Xiaodie even thought of her mother going to find Ye Chen''s mother, and her little face turned crimson.


    Bai Xiaodie, who had always been diligently focused on her cultivation, had never felt such closeness to any young man, but when her mother suggested going to see Ye Chen''s mother, she surprisingly didn''t have any aversion to the idea.


    Now, she was even less inclined to resist...


    Unaware of Bai Xiaodie''s girlish thoughts, Ye Chen smiled when he heard the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact mention the number of Golden Light Beads collected, thinking to himself, "I didn''t estimate wrong before, it seems I can select a few more Treasures!"


    At that moment, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact collected the Ethereal Spirit Ring and looked towards Ye Chen again.


    "Ye Chen, you said earlier you would give away two hundred and ninety-eight million Golden Light Beads, are you sure you want to give them away?" the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact asked Ye Chen for confirmation.


    Ye Chen looked at the young ones from the three clans who were watching him and smiled with a nod, "Of course, I''ll give them away!"


    These were the young ones from the three clans who had entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm with him, his clan brothers and sisters.


    Having collected so many Golden Light Beads, Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t stand by and watch any of them miss the opportunity to enter the central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm to seek their fortune!


    He wouldn''t let them gaze at the Treasures on the Myriad Treasures Stele with regret and disappointment!


    Ye Chen couldn''t forget the shame felt by the three old clan chiefs over the clan''s gradual decline and their hope for the clan''s rise to power.


    The young ones in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm were the future hope of the clan; Ye Chen would certainly help as much as he could.


    Giving each person one hundred thousand Golden Light Beads was enough for them to exchange for a set of Profound Grade Cultivation Techniques or a high-quality Spiritual Artifact, and even many other Treasures!


    Ye Chen had even planned in advance to exchange for some additional Treasures beyond what he needed for himself, to be distributed to the three clan chiefs after leaving the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    Hearing Ye Chen once again confirming that he would give away Golden Light Beads to everyone, the young people from the three clans all felt a lump in their throats.


    They were both surprised and moved.


    Having a powerful prodigy in their clan felt so wonderful!


    This is the strength of the clan, the cohesion of the clan!


    "Ye Chen, thank you!"


    Even though one hundred thousand Golden Light Beads were of little use to Bai Xiaodie, she still thanked Ye Chen solemnly.


    "Ye Chen, thank you!"


    "Ye Chen, thank you!"


    The other young ones also spoke out one after another.


    Watching this scene, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact also nodded silently.


    Ye Chen was so young yet so powerful and had such a noble heart, truly rare!


    "Great!"


    "This time, your batch of people is really going to create a miracle in exchanging for Treasures!"


    "When you all go out, the members of your clans will probably be overjoyed."


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said with a smile.


    The young ones from the three clans also smiled upon hearing the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    They looked forward to leaving the Ancestral Land Secret Realm with countless secret Treasures and seeing the proud and joyous expressions of their clan relatives.


    The pride of the clan made all their efforts in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm worthwhile!


    "Come up one by one for the exchange."


    "Ye Chen, after deducting those two hundred and ninety-eight million Golden Light Beads, you still have twenty-five million four hundred seventy-one thousand six hundred thirty-two Golden Light Beads left."


    "What do you plan to exchange for?"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact asked Ye Chen with a smile.


    More than twenty-five million left?


    Ye Chen nodded and then looked towards the Myriad Treasures Stele, turned his gaze to the countless Treasures listed upon it.

 Chapter 106: Chapter 96: Ancient Furnace of Creation

    "Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map!"


    Ye Chen''s first glance was drawn to the Myriad Treasures Stele''s foremost treasure!


    "I must exchange it, no doubt about it!"


    Without even a moment''s hesitation, Ye Chen decided to exchange for this precious item.


    This treasure, harboring the eighteen powerful ambiances awakened by Heavenly Saint Di Kong during his Spirit Sea Realm stage, was tremendously beneficial for Ye Chen''s comprehension of ambiances and cultivation of Sword Intents; naturally, he would not let such an opportunity slip away.


    Spending ten million Golden Light Beads to exchange for this item was absolutely worth it!


    "Artifact Spirit, the first item I am exchanging for is this, the premier treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele¡ªHeavenly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essence Map!"


    Ye Chen said to the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    "After more than a thousand years, someone from your three clans is finally able to exchange for this first treasure!" With a sigh of emotion, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact smiled and nodded.


    Then, amid the swirling winds and clouds, an ancient scroll that was rolled up began to descend in front of Ye Chen.


    After the scroll landed in front of Ye Chen, it slowly unfurled towards him.


    Next, a blinding light completely enveloped Ye Chen.


    Amid the blinding glow, Ye Chen saw a miraculous golden monkey manifesting in the void, continuously practicing various moves, while voices conveying the methods of the mind resounded from it.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Merely listening to a few of these mental method voices and observing a few moves, Ye Chen''s mind felt as though it was being bombarded by countless ambiance thoughts, plunging it instantly into a sensation akin to an upheaval of the heavens and the earth.


    Hum!


    At that moment, the scroll slowly rolled up again, ultimately sealing shut and flying into Ye Chen''s hands.


    It was only upon grasping the ancient scroll that Ye Chen revived from the bombardment of the numerous ambiance thoughts. Noticing the youths around him did not exhibit the shocked expressions like his, Ye Chen instantly understood that the scroll had just demonstrated its powerful ambiances to him, while the others had not sensed them.


    "The first treasure!"


    "Indeed, it''s the first treasure!"


    "The strength of the ambiance contained within surpasses even the Wind-Thunder Ambience that Qian Jizi, the senior from Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, demonstrated! Truly worthy of being the secret map containing eighteen powerful ambiances!"


    Just a fleeting glimpse was enough for Ye Chen to recognize the scroll''s value in his hands!


    Ye Chen took a deep breath, clenching the scroll tightly, and then turned his gaze back to the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    Having acquired the first treasure and spent ten million Golden Light Beads, he still had over fifteen million Golden Light Beads left, enough to exchange for many more treasures.


    Creation Yuan Pill!


    Ye Chen''s gaze shifted to the second treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    "The Creation Yuan Pill can help those in the True Qi Realm smoothly advance into the Spirit Sea, which I will need for my future entry into the Spirit Sea, so I must exchange for one!


    And for those in the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm aiming to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm, possessing this pill will increase their chances by seventy percent, making it beneficial for those in the Spirit Sea Realm as well!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen thought of Jiang Yao.


    Jiang Yao was currently at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, and when she aimed to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm in the future, the Creation Yuan Pill would be of great help to her, so Ye Chen naturally intended to exchange one for her as well.


    "It''s a pity that the Creation Yuan Pill must be taken by those in the True Qi Realm before they reach the age of thirty, otherwise, I would exchange one for each of the three clan patriarchs as well. It could help them all step into the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    The more Ye Chen thought about it, the more he realized the preciousness of the Creation Yuan Pill.


    Unfortunately, the three old clan leaders of the three major families were all over sixty years old and had exceeded the age limit for using the Creation Yuan Pill.


    "This pill is of great use; both Jiang Yao and I can use it, and maybe others will need it in the future. The more I can exchange, the better!"


    With this in mind, Ye Chen turned to the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and asked, "Honorable Artifact Spirit, how many Creation Yuan Pills can I exchange for?"


    The exchange for each Creation Yuan Pill required one million Golden Light Beads, and Ye Chen still had plenty of them. If there were no restrictions, he indeed could exchange for many pills.


    "Each person can only exchange for two Creation Yuan Pills, one for your breakthrough into the Spirit Sea Realm, and one for when you challenge the Rotating Pill Realm. Of course, you can also give these pills to someone else. But in total, there are only two chances for exchange," the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact replied.


    "Not just for the Creation Yuan Pill, there are also limits on other treasures. The third treasure on the Myriad Treasures Stele, the ''Life Origin Pill,'' each person can only exchange for five, and the fourth treasure, the ''Ethereal Spirit Ring,'' you can only exchange for one!" the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact announced.


    Ye Chen nodded in understanding.


    Indeed, it was not possible to allow one person to exchange for too many as these treasures were most likely left by Heavenly Saint Di Kong. If one person took them all, what would be left for future openers of the Ancestral Lands? Naturally, there would be limits on the number of shares for each opening of the Ancestral Lands.


    "Then exchange for two Creation Yuan Pills!" Ye Chen declared.


    After the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact passed the Creation Yuan Pills to Ye Chen, he continued with the exchange of other treasures.


    Next, Ye Chen exchanged for the maximum limit of five Life Origin Pills and one Ethereal Spirit Ring.


    After the young members of the other three clans picked some Cultivation Techniques and treasures using the hundred thousand Golden Light Beads Ye Chen provided, Ye Chen directly exchanged for all the remaining shares of treasures.


    In the end, apart from the four most precious treasures of the Myriad Treasures Stele, Ye Chen exchanged for three high-grade spiritual weapons, twelve sets of superior, profound-grade Cultivation Techniques, forty-three medium-grade spiritual weapons, fifty-seven types of mid-level profound-grade Cultivation Techniques, thirty low-grade spiritual weapons, and one hundred seventy-nine kinds of low-level profound-grade Cultivation Techniques!


    He also obtained sixty-six minor spiritual pills and fifteen sets of complete profound instruments, along with profound-grade weapons and superior yellow-grade Cultivation Techniques!


    Ye Chen swept away all the treasures, and he hadn''t even spent all his Golden Light Beads yet!


    In the end, even the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact could only helplessly shake its head and give a wry smile, packing the remaining treasures into the Ethereal Spirit Ring and handing it over to Ye Chen.


    Although Ye Chen had exchanged for a countless number of treasures,


    apart from the four treasures from the Myriad Treasures Stele and one or two weapons and Cultivation Techniques that had caught his interest, he did not plan to use the vast majority of them. Cultivation Techniques and weapons were not about having more but about suitability. Ye Chen understood the principle that too much can be as bad as too little, and what suited one best was paramount.


    Ye Chen planned to hand over all the extra treasures he had selected to the three clan leaders once he left the Ancestral Land Secret Realm for them to distribute to the clan members for use!


    The three clans, spread across Qingyang City and its subordinate towns, had hundreds of thousands of clan members, with thousands engaged in the martial arts. Although Ye Chen had exchanged many treasures, he still thought them insufficient for distribution among the clan members.


    Each opening of the Ancestral Lands had a limited number of treasures, and Ye Chen was helpless regarding this.


    However, with the batch of treasures exchanged by Ye Chen, it was undeniable that the strength of the three clans would leap forward significantly.


    After all, Ye Chen had exchanged so many Cultivation Techniques and weapons that they would suffice for the warriors of the three clans to cultivate and use for many years!


    When Ye Chen''s treasure exchange was complete, the great opportunity in the outer area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm finally came to an end.


    The young warriors who had entered the Ancestral Land of the three clans, with their own efforts and the help of Ye Chen, had all made great gains!


    Smiles bloomed on everyone''s faces.


    There were still chances unchallenged, but the gains they had now were already substantial.


    At this moment, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s voice continued, "Alright, the trial of this outer area has completely ended!"


    "I want to congratulate you, you have created a miracle. For the first time, all the treasures I offered have been exchanged completely!"


    As it spoke, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked at Ye Chen and shook its head with a smile.


    Ye Chen and the other young warriors exchanged glances and then also showed smiles to the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    "Since you''ve all paid the ten thousand Golden Light Beads to enter the middle region of the secret realm,"


    "Next, you will all enter the Ancestral Land''s middle region!"


    "To undertake the second major trial and grand opportunity in the middle region!"


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact spoke, Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and everyone else looked toward the Teleportation Array beside the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    "What will the trial be in the middle region of the Ancestral Land?"


    "What grand opportunity and fortune will there be?"


    Watching the huge Teleportation Array circle of several zhang in radius, everyone speculated.


    In the outer area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, they had already attained so many gains; thus, there was naturally even greater anticipation for the more mysterious middle region.


    At this time, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said, "In the middle region of the Ancestral Land, there are ''eighteen'' testing grounds!"


    "The top ten among you, who have received the Ancestral Ground Secret Map, will be teleported to their respective testing grounds depicted in the map once you enter the Teleportation Array."


    "Those who did not obtain the Ancestral Ground Secret Map will be randomly teleported to one of the remaining eight testing grounds after entering the Teleportation Array."


    "Now, enter the Teleportation Array and head to your respective testing grounds!"


    Upon the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s instructions, all the young warriors headed towards the Teleportation Array.


    "Let''s go."


    "Towards the middle region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    Some young warriors took the lead and walked into the Teleportation Array, after which they disappeared in a flash of light.


    "Ye Chen, we must all strive hard in the trials of the Ancestral Land''s middle region!" said Bai Xiaodie, approaching Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded at Bai Xiaodie.


    Finally, Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and all the others successively entered the Teleportation Array.


    With a flash of light, they arrived at their second testing ground!


    "Boom!"


    Within the flash of light, a young figure emerged from a Teleportation Array circle located in the deepest and most spacious area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm''s middle region.


    This figure was Ye Chen, who had been teleported from the outer to the middle region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    "This place... it is indeed the realm I saw when I first obtained the Ancestral Ground Secret Map!"


    Ye Chen exited the Teleportation Array and looked around the testing ground he had entered.


    Upon seeing the eighteen giant golden monkey statues, each towering thirty meters high in the center of the great valley, Ye Chen couldn''t help but exclaim aloud.


    The valley''s appearance precisely matched the scene depicted in the secret map he had envisioned when he initially acquired the Ancestral Ground Secret Map!


    At this time, not only had Ye Chen entered the realm indicated by his Ancestral Ground Secret Map,


    Bai Xiaodie had also arrived at a valley with nine golden monkey statues, Qian Ming was teleported beneath a giant golden waterfall...


    Thirty young warriors were scattered at various locations within the middle region of the secret realm!


    As all the young warriors were observing their surroundings, huge ancient furnaces started to rise within each realm.


    The vast furnaces were over ten meters high and seven to eight meters wide, larger than many houses!


    The young warriors looked minuscule standing beneath the furnaces.


    These furnaces could fit hundreds of such young warriors inside!


    "Such a huge furnace!"


    "Could this... have something to do with the middle region''s trial of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm?"


    The young warriors were guessing when the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact reached everyone''s ears: "Your second trial will take place within this ''Ancient Furnace of Creation''!"


    Ancient Furnace of Creation?


    As Ye Chen looked at the suddenly risen giant ancient furnace, endless beams of gold light shot out from the eyes of the eighteen golden monkey statues that stood in the valley of the same eighteen monkey statues where he was located.


    All of this limitless golden light eventually concentrated into the giant ancient furnace that had just appeared.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Ye Chen could clearly hear sounds of water waves within the furnace.


    "Could this be..."


    As Ye Chen sent forth his divine consciousness into the furnace, he was immediately aware of golden Spiritual Liquid slowly materializing within. This occurred after the endless gold light shot from the eighteen golden monkey statues entered the ancient furnace.


    In the end, the ancient furnace filled up with the golden Spiritual Liquid and the light shooting from the golden monkey statues ceased; their eyes once again returned to a state of calm.

 Chapter 107: Chapter 97 Refine! Refine! Refine!

    Not only in the region where Ye Chen was located did bizarre phenomena occur, but similar anomalies also manifested simultaneously in the regions where the other young warriors were situated.


    In the valley where Bai Xiaodie was, with its nine Golden Monkey Statues, the statues'' eyes likewise burst out with light, and the Ancient Furnace of Creation in her valley also filled up with golden Spiritual Liquid.


    However, the color of the golden Spiritual Liquid in her Ancient Furnace of Creation was much paler compared to that in the Ancient Furnace of Creation in the valley where Ye Chen was.


    Where Qian Ming was, numerous golden droplets also flew directly out of the immense waterfall and entered the Ancient Furnace that rose up in his region.


    Ye Chen''s cousin, Ye Xue, in the dense jungle, had countless green streams flow directly into the giant Ancient Furnace before her, even filling it with green Spiritual Liquid.


    In the end, in the midst of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, all eighteen regions and the eighteen Ancient Furnaces that had ascended were filled with various kinds of Spiritual Liquid.


    This odd phenomenon led all the young warriors from the three clans to start guessing how the "Ancient Furnace of Creation" trial would proceed.


    At this moment, the enormous visage of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact appeared above each region, looking at the young warriors from the three clans and slowly said, "The Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple, which you call the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, is the grand opportunity left to your three clans by my old master, ''Heavenly Saint Di Kong''."


    "Outside the secret realm, you passed the ''Collecting Golden Light Beads'' trial and exchanged them for countless treasures."


    "Those treasures are external objects, which you can use for yourselves or give to others, but to benefit from them, there is a process of cultivation and use."


    "Here in the middle region of the secret realm, the ''Ancient Furnace of Creation'' trial you are about to face is not as simple as the Golden Light Beads trial. The opportunities you may receive are not external treasures like the secret treasures."


    "In this ''Ancient Furnace of Creation'' trial, the trial, and the opportunity come together! If you can pass it, it will directly enhance your body''s potential and raise your life level!"


    Enhance the body''s potential?


    Raise the life level?


    The young warriors didn''t quite understand what the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was saying.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact seemed to see through the young warriors'' confusion and continued, "The Ancient Furnace of Creation is a special treasure of the ''Jindi Ancient Clan'', the ancient clan of my old master, Heavenly Saint Di Kong, which every member of the clan entered when they were young."


    "The Ancient Furnace of Creation holds a great transformative power!"


    "Combined with the Creation Spiritual Liquid, anyone who enters will undergo a transformation through the washing of the Spiritual Liquid and the smelting of the Ancient Furnace."


    "This transformation uplifts one''s potential from the body and raises one''s life level from within! Each entrant can only experience this transformative creation once in their life! Once the transformation is complete, it will bring unimaginably great benefits to one''s future cultivation and combat!"


    "The Ancient Furnace of Creation has five levels of trials, five levels of transformation!"


    "The first level is to refine the flesh, a transformation of flesh and skin! The second is to refine the meridians, a meridian transformation! The third is to refine the acupoints, an acupoint transformation! The fourth is to refine the bones, a bone transformation! The fifth is Marrow Refining and Blood Replacement, the descent of Divine Blood!"


    "The washing of the Spiritual Liquid and the smelting of the Ancient Furnace are extremely painful. If one cannot endure and faints, they will be expelled from the Ancient Furnace and will not be able to continue with further smelting and transformation."


    "The trials and opportunities in this middle region all lie within the Ancient Furnace of Creation. If you can complete three transformations, not only will you gain a great enhancement in bodily potential and life level, but you will also be able to directly enter the core area of the Ancestral Land, to face the third trial and seek the third opportunity!"


    "As for the fourth and fifth levels of transformation, given your condition, it''s nearly impossible to complete them.


    Even in the ancient clan of my old master, where the tribe members are naturally stronger than you, it is rare for anyone to finish the fourth level of transformation, and as for the fifth level, anyone who completed it, as long as they did not fall, later stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm, becoming a power of the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    The words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact made all the young warriors look toward the gigantic Ancient Furnace of Creation before them.


    So it turns out that the Ancient Furnace of Creation is the very ground of the grand trial, the land of great opportunities!


    Having completed the five layers of transformation, as long as one does not perish, they all eventually step into the Heavenly Saint Realm. This highlights the miraculous nature of the Furnace of Creation!


    "Refining the flesh, refining the meridians, refining the acupoints! One must pass through these three layers of refinement and complete three layers of transformation to enter the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm,"


    the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact let the youths know that passing through five layers of refinement seemed utterly impossible!


    They were only considering whether they could pass the first three layers of refinement, complete the first three layers of transformation, and just make it into the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    At this moment, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked at the youths and continued, "All of your Ancient Furnaces of Creation are the same, but your Creation Spiritual Liquids are different!"


    "The more precious the area you are in, the more valuable the Creation Spiritual Liquid will be, and the better the effect on your transformation afterwards!"


    "Ye Chen is in the first Creation Spiritual Liquid area, Bai Xiaodie is in the second Creation Spiritual Liquid area, and the top ten who hold the Ancestral Ground Secret Map have decent Creation Spiritual Liquids. As for the others, their Creation Spiritual Liquids are relatively ordinary,"


    "However, the more precious the Creation Spiritual Liquid, the greater the corresponding pain of refinement! None of your forebears in the first five openings of the Ancestral Land were able to pass through three layers of refinement and had the qualification to step into the core area of the Ancestral Land!"


    "Those in the top ten, especially those who entered the first and second Creation Spiritual Liquid areas in previous attempts, didn''t even complete two layers of refinement, and in the end, their gains were about the same as those who completed two layers of ordinary Creation Spiritual Liquid refinement."


    "Therefore, the size of the opportunity matches the difficulty of the trials. How much fortune you can obtain depends on your own abilities!"


    When the youths scattered across the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm heard that Ye Chen''s Creation Spiritual Liquid was the most precious and that the effects after transformation would be the best, they were all filled with envy.


    But when they heard that he would also face the greatest pain of refinement and that none of the ancestors from the first five openings of the Ancestral Land could even pass two layers of refinement, they began to feel sympathy for Ye Chen.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, looking at the huge Ancient Furnace before him, and at the eighteen Golden Monkey Statues bursting with the light of Spiritual Liquid, was utterly calm in his heart and mind.


    No matter the difficulty, he was determined to give his all. Whether he could enter the core area of the Ancestral Land and what he could gain would be seen in the end!


    "Alright, commence the second trial and embrace this second opportunity!"


    "Ancient Furnace of Creation, absorb!"


    As the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact resonated, the eighteen Ancient Furnaces of Creation emitted an earth-shattering glow, which enveloped all the youths within it.


    Puff! Puff!


    In the end, all the youths were drawn into the Ancient Furnaces of Creation, falling directly into the interiors, completely submerged by the Creation Spiritual Liquid within the furnaces!


    Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, and the ten strong who obtained the Ancestral Ground Secret Map, each entered their respective Ancient Furnaces, while the other twenty people, some in groups of three and others in pairs, were also submerged by the Spiritual Liquid of the furnaces.


    After all the youths were submerged by the Creation Spiritual Liquid inside the Ancient Furnaces, the eighteen Ancient Furnaces of Creation emitted a thunderous roar. Within this thunderous roar, countless mystical patterns inside and outside of the Ancient Furnaces burst forth with light, which infused into the Creation Spiritual Liquid.


    At the same time, the Creation Spiritual Liquid inside the eighteen Ancient Furnaces boiled violently like water, emitting the sounds of "puff, puff, puff" from the process of refinement.


    Refine! Refine! Refine!


    This was unequivocally the beginning of the Spiritual Liquid cleansing of the youths by all the Ancient Furnaces of Creation, the start of their refinement by the Ancient Furnaces!


    All the youths had entered the first layer of transformation - "Refining the Flesh"!

 Chapter 108: Chapter 98 Golden Spiritual Patterns

    Thud!


    After Ye Chen was sucked into the gigantic Ancient Furnace of Creation, hundreds of times larger than himself, he fell straight to the bottom of the furnace.


    In an instant, the golden Creation Spiritual Liquid within the ancient furnace completely submerged him.


    Gurgle! Gurgle!


    During the fall to the bottom of the ancient furnace, Ye Chen even unconsciously swallowed several mouthfuls of Creation Spiritual Liquid.


    No sooner had the Creation Spiritual Liquid entered his body than it transformed into strands of Golden Dawn Light, which then shot out from within him.


    Completely engulfed by the countless Creation Spiritual Liquid, all Ye Chen could see were dazzling golden lights, and immersed in the Spiritual Liquid, he felt as though every pore was breathing.


    This sensation had barely lasted a moment when the Ancient Furnace of Creation emitted a heavens-shaking bellow.


    Subsequently, Ye Chen felt an endless barrage of light shooting toward him, and an incessant surge of golden Spiritual Liquid rushing at him!


    In an instant, Ye Chen understood that the first test of the Ancient Furnace of Creation¡ª"Tempering Flesh," had begun!


    Because, every piece of skin and every muscle in his body was being infused with grains of golden Creation Spiritual Liquid, followed by a tearing and crushing sensation that swept over him, bringing with it an extreme pain that assaulted Ye Chen''s entire soul in a flash!


    That tearing feeling, it was as if each piece of flesh was being ripped apart by an unimaginably powerful force!


    That crushing feeling, it was as if the cells within every piece of flesh were being thoroughly obliterated!


    Amid this tearing and crushing, an intensely scorching power was forging every piece of Ye Chen''s torn flesh, and every pulverized cell!


    This was the purification by the Spiritual Liquid! This was the tempering by the ancient furnace!


    Ye Chen had experienced this agonizing sensation before, back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode when he was nurturing the Fire Lotus Law Pattern and was burned by myriad fires¡ªit was the same feeling.


    Ye Chen, once again experiencing this unbearable pain, bore through the pain that pierced straight into his Spirit Sea!


    Having endured the scorching by myriad fires and undergone a transformation of will, Ye Chen withstood the agony of this first level of tempering, and was beginning the first layer of transformation within the bubbling Creation Spiritual Liquid.


    Meanwhile, in three other Ancient Furnaces of Creation, there were three youths who simply couldn''t endure the moment the first test of "Tempering Flesh" had just begun.


    Amid the sensation of their skin and flesh being torn to shreds and pulverized, these three youths let out piercing screams of pain as they tumbled and wailed in the rolling Creation Spiritual Liquid, their bodies convulsing and twitching violently!


    "It hurts!"


    "It''s too painful!"


    These three youths, who had never experienced such torment, saw their willpower collapse instantly under this hammering pain.


    In the end, completely unable to withstand the pain, the three youths were knocked unconscious by the tumultuous Creation Spiritual Liquid.


    Boom!


    The instant they lost consciousness, the three youths were swept out of the Ancient Furnace of Creation by a beam of light and eventually floated down to the ground.


    Only when they landed on the ground and a cool sensation washed over them did the three youths wake up from their stupor.


    Although the pain had subsided, their faces were ashen and their bodies still trembled uncontrollably.


    They had never imagined that the challenge of the Ancient Furnace of Creation in the central region of the Ancestral Land would be so agonizing, so terrifying!


    Just the thought of that pain made them shudder.


    "The first layer of ''Tempering Flesh'' incomplete, the challenge of the Ancient Furnace of Creation, failed!"


    "Your trial in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm has officially ended!"


    "Return to the peripheral area of the Ancestral Land and cultivate there, wait until the day the exit of the Secret Realm opens, and then leave on your own!"


    As the deep voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact echoed, the three youths who were thrown out of the Ancient Furnaces of Creation were swept toward a teleportation matrix by a force.


    Then, amidst the shimmering light, they were directly teleported back to the Green Flow Plains within the peripheral area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Eliminated!


    These youths were eliminated just as the second round of testing had begun!


    Standing once more upon the Green Flow Plains, the Myriad Treasures Stele had vanished, and the teleportation rings had disappeared as well.


    Only the clusters of Green Flow Creeper and the Golden Light Beads still radiated an inexplicable brilliance, and dense globules of Heaven and Earth True Qi continued to drift through the realm between heaven and earth in the Green Flow Plains.


    "We''ve failed."


    "We''ve failed,"


    "There are no more opportunities for us to obtain on this journey to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."


    The three teenagers standing on the Green Flow Plains looked at each other, their eyes filled with disappointment.


    "Fortunately, with Ye Chen''s help in the first round of the trial, we obtained quite a few treasures."


    "Although we can''t continue deeper into the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, this peripheral area is also rich in Heaven and Earth True Qi, which is extremely suitable for cultivation."


    "There are still more than twenty days left, let''s cultivate here."


    After a while, the teenagers sighed and consoled themselves.


    They then sat down cross-legged and began cultivating on the Green Flow Plains, waiting for the day when the exploration of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm would end.


    A short while after these three teenagers were eliminated from the challenge of the Ancient Furnace of Creation, another five teenagers were transported out from the central region of the Ancestral Land.


    These were teenagers who had not successfully passed the first layer''s "Tempering Flesh" trial; although they had lasted a bit longer than the first three, they too had failed and were out!


    After eight individuals had been eliminated, the next half hour saw another eight being continuously transported out.


    Then, the continuous elimination finally stopped.


    By this time, sixteen teenagers had arrived on the Green Flow Plains!


    Sixteen of them had been eliminated without completing the first layer''s "Tempering Flesh" trial.


    This number accounted for more than half of the thirty teenagers who had entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    This revealed just how difficult the trial of the Ancient Furnace of Creation was.


    Just the first layer''s "Tempering Flesh" trial had eliminated more than half of the participants, no wonder it was said that in the first five openings of the Ancestral Land, out of the hundred and fifty members of the three tribes who entered, no one could pass the trial of the "Ancient Furnace of Creation" and enter the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    The difficulty of this trial was indeed immense.


    Given this elimination rate, it was hard to imagine who could endure the three layers of pain: Tempering Flesh, Tempering Meridians, and Tempering Acupoints.


    After waiting another half of the day and seeing no one else being transported to the Green Flow Plains, the sixteen teenagers who had been transported there finally realized that perhaps the remaining fourteen had withstood the terrible pain of the first layer, Tempering Flesh.


    "Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, they are all still in the Ancient Furnace of Creation, not eliminated."


    "Could it be, they all completed the first layer''s transformation of flesh?"


    "How much longer can they hold on?"


    The eliminated teenagers all looked in the direction of the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, speculating in their hearts.


    They were not wrong; after enduring a half day''s washing and tempering by the Spiritual Liquid in the Ancient Furnace of Creation, the surviving fourteen teenagers had entered into a bizarre state.


    The deepest and most expansive area of the central region of the Ancestral Land, which was the area of the eighteen Golden Monkey Statues where Ye Chen was, within the Ancient Furnace of Creation.


    Ye Chen, who had withstood the terrible pain of the ancient furnace''s tempering, was now using his Divine Sense to survey the entire situation of the Ancient Furnace of Creation and to examine the changes in his flesh.


    At that moment, Ye Chen saw that deep within the flesh where the tearing sensation came from, there were faint golden patterns slowly appearing, and in the cells where the crushing sensation arose, there was golden light sparkling.


    These golden patterns and lights were slowly surfacing all over his body before slowly disappearing into the depths of his flesh.


    Boom!


    At last, golden patterns appeared in the depths of all the flesh, and these golden patterns were connected into a whole.


    When all the golden patterns connected into a large piece, the depths of Ye Chen''s skin transformed these connected golden patterns into countless golden Spiritual Patterns!


    These golden Spiritual Patterns were exceedingly fine, shaped like golden monkeys, and there were as many as ten thousand of them!


    Countless golden monkey Spiritual Patterns, hidden deep within the flesh, were truly magical.


    Just as these golden monkey Spiritual Patterns formed, in the valley where Ye Chen was, the eyes of the eighteen Golden Monkey Statues once again burst into light, infusing the Furnace of Creation with endless golden radiance.


    In an instant, the entire Ancient Furnace of Creation vibrated thunderously, and the Spiritual Liquid tumbled fiercely!


    And as for the ten thousand golden monkey Spiritual Patterns deep in Ye Chen''s flesh, amid the roaring blaze of the Ancient Furnace of Creation and the wild tumult of the Creation Spiritual Liquid, they howled towards the meridians all around Ye Chen''s body.


    This was undoubtedly the commencement of the second layer of the five-layer trial of the Ancient Furnace of Creation¡ª"Tempering Meridians"!

 Chapter 109: Chapter 99: The 4th Layer!

    Ye Chen finally passed the "Tempering Flesh" trial and officially entered the second layer of trials!


    In the void.


    Seeing that the eighteen Golden Monkey Statues in the valley where Ye Chen was located shot out light from their eyes again, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact nodded.


    "Not bad, this young man Ye Chen is indeed formidable!"


    "The Creation Spiritual Liquid used to temper him is incredibly precious, only the most highly regarded talents in the ''Jindi Ancient Clan'' are allowed to use it. This kind of Creation Spiritual Liquid produces pain that surpasses the total pain of all other Spiritual Liquids combined, yet, he managed to cross it with such ease!"


    "The others are still in the midst of the final flesh transformation, not yet having completely passed the first layer of trials, while Ye Chen has already taken the lead entering the second layer of trials!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s gaze swept over the other realms in the central area of the Ancestral Land, where the thirteen other youths still engaged in the meridian transformation state of the first layer of trials in the Furnaces of Creation.


    It was only after half an incense stick''s worth of time had passed that Bai Xiaodie followed after Ye Chen, becoming the second to step into the new trial of "Tempering Meridians."


    Much later, the other youths finally completed the first layer''s flesh transformation.


    However, when the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked towards Ye Chen once more, it was shocked to discover that, just after the remaining youths had all entered the second layer "Tempering Meridians," Ye Chen, who was the first to experience the second layer, had already triggered the third burst of light from the eighteen Golden Monkey Statues'' eyes.


    He had already entered the third layer of trials!


    "So fast!"


    "How can one pass through the second layer of trials and complete the meridian transformation so quickly?!"


    "The speed at which young Ye Chen passed the first layer was already unbelievable, but the time it took him to pass the second layer is even shorter than the first!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s mouth hung open, almost unable to believe it.


    What the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact didn''t know was that Ye Chen had gone through the trial of Ten Thousand Flames Burning Body in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, had experienced the boundless pain of his mind and spirit being scorched by those flames, and his Artistic Conception Strength had been tempered to an incredibly formidable level,


    Because of that, he was the first to pass the trial of Tempering Flesh faster than anyone else.


    Upon entering the second layer of the "Tempering Meridians" trial, Ye Chen immediately felt countless Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns rushing towards the meridians all over his body¡ªthey were evidently going to temper his Eight Extraordinary Meridians, to unblock them!


    Meridians are even more fragile than flesh and are directly connected to the mind and spirit; tempering meridians is a hundred times more painful than tempering flesh.


    Especially when tempering those blocked meridians, that pain becomes even more terrifying.


    But what no one else knew was that Ye Chen had practiced the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Meridian Refining Art," making his meridians unlike any others.


    Where other people only had their Qi Meridian unblocked, and all other meridians blocked, therefore making the tempering of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians excruciatingly painful and extremely difficult,


    Ye Chen had not just his Qi Meridian open, but his Eight Extraordinary Meridians were already unblocked.


    Even all thirty-three circuits of his Meridian Wheel had been thoroughly unblocked during his practice of the "Meridian Refining Art," so the "Tempering Meridians" had no difficulty for him.


    Tempering Meridians had some similarities with the refinement techniques of the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Meridian Refining Art."


    However, merely the tempering of the Eight Extraordinary Meridians in this second layer of the trial in the Ancient Furnace of Creation, was clearly not as precious as the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Meridian Refining Art" which refined the "Qi Meridian, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the thirty-three circuits,"


    Ye Chen had fully completed even the "Meridian Refining Art," so naturally, the tempering of meridians posed no difficulty for him.


    Even as the Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns roared and surged into his whole body''s meridians, entering the Eight Extraordinary Meridians smoothly, they flew into Ye Chen''s thirty-three circuits effortlessly, eventually creating a perfect Great Zhou Heavenly Cycle throughout his entire body''s meridians!


    In the end, they mixed with the Heaven and Earth True Qi and Gang Yuan True Qi gushing out from Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, all rushing towards his Qi Sea Acupoint,


    Directly propelling Ye Chen into the third layer trial of "Tempering Acupoints!"


    "Tempering Flesh allows the flesh to undergo a transformation of strength, even capable of bursting forth with the ancient power of the Golden Monkey!"


    "Tempering Meridians unblocks the extraordinary meridians throughout the body, greatly enhancing the speed of True Qi cultivation!"


    "And Tempering Acupoints expands the area of the Qi Sea Acupoints, reshaping the Qi Sea space!"


    "Ye Chen has now so quickly entered the third layer''s trial of Tempering Acupoints, into the transformation that reshapes the Qi Sea space!"


    "This speed is not a bit weaker than the unparalleled talents of the ''Jindi Ancient Clan''!


    To think that the Jindi Ancient Clan are people of an ''Ancient Clan,'' naturally stronger than ordinary humans like Ye Chen, it''s truly unbelievable that this young man can match up to the genius members of an Ancient Clan!"


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact beheld Ye Chen entering the third Ancient Furnace of Creation trial amidst the frantic rumbling and turbulent Creation Spiritual Liquid, its enormous face was filled with shock.


    "Collecting Golden Light Beads, Ye Chen created a miracle! With this Furnace of Creation trial, could he also create a miracle?!"


    "He''s still the champion of the three-clan grand competition, holding the Ancestral Blood; could it be that he really has a chance to touch the ultimate reward, the ultimate fortune?"


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact watched Ye Chen, completely submerged in the Creation Spiritual Liquid and fully engaged in the third layer trial of "Tempering Acupoints," its eyes were filled with anticipation.


    While it watched Ye Chen, from another three valleys, agonizing screams of pain echoed, and then six youths were flung out of the Ancient Furnace of Creation.

 Chapter 110: Chapter 99: The 4th Layer!_2

    These six young men, with eyes tightly shut, had completely passed out, evidently failing the "Tempering Meridians" trial of the second layer!


    Although they had endured the trial of the first layer, they still fell at the second layer''s challenge!


    Boom!


    Only when they hit the ground, awakened by the cool essence of the great earth within the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, did the youths stand up again.


    Then, just like the sixteen youths who had failed the first layer''s challenge, they were transported out of the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and returned to the Green Flow Plains in the outer region of the secret realm.


    When these six youths arrived at the Green Flow Plains, the enormous sound of teleportation awoke the sixteen who had been eliminated first from their cultivation.


    All the youths gathered around the sixteen who had just been eliminated.


    "Bai Xiaofei, you''ve been eliminated too!"


    "Qian Feng, you''re ranked fifth among the top ten, yet you also fell in this test!"


    Seeing among the six eliminated youths even two who were in the top ten, everyone was shocked.


    This clearly indicated that another wave of elimination was about to come.


    "Qian Feng, did you six pass the first layer''s challenge?"


    Suppressing the astonishment in their hearts, the first sixteen youths eliminated asked Qian Feng and his group.


    "We did!"


    "I passed too!"


    The six youths responded in turn.


    Though they had been eliminated from contention for the greater fortune and opportunity below, unavoidably filled with disappointment, Qian Feng, Bai Xiaofei, and the other four youths quickly adjusted their mentality.


    After all, they hadn''t left the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm empty-handed; they had successfully passed the "Tempering Flesh" trial of the first layer and had earned the chance for "Flesh Transformation."


    "You all passed the Tempering Flesh trial! The Artifact Spirit had said that completing one trial would grant one opportunity, you now all received the chance for ''Flesh Transformation,'' how does it feel different from before?" the sixteen youths who hadn''t completed Flesh Transformation asked curiously.


    They wanted to know what the opportunity from the second trial was like.


    "Flesh Transformation?"


    "After completing this transformation, I feel full of strength all over. Just with the power of my body alone, I could probably match the strength of my True Qi from before!"


    A young man at the seventh level of True Qi said.


    As he spoke, he clenched his fist and smashed it into the ground. With a "boom" echoing, his punch cracked the earth open with a terrifying fissure several zhang long!


    "Heavens."


    "That was without using True Qi, purely physical strength?"


    Many people couldn''t believe it, Flesh Transformation could actually enhance their physical strength to such a degree.


    At this time, Qian Feng, the strongest among the six who had completed Flesh Transformation, also nodded and said, "Indeed, after Flesh Transformation, my physical strength has greatly increased!"


    "Now, relying on my physical strength and True Qi, I''m confident that I can challenge a True Qi eleventh-level powerhouse!"


    Qian Feng was at the tenth level of True Qi. Before, he would never have had the confidence to say he could challenge an eleventh-level powerhouse, but now, after undergoing Flesh Transformation, he possessed this confidence!


    "Flesh Transformation is indeed miraculous!"


    At last, all six youths who had completed Flesh Transformation confirmed the power of the opportunity they had gained from the Ancient Furnace of Creation.


    The sixteen youths who had been eliminated first finally realized what a great opportunity they had lost by not finishing the first layer''s trial.


    If only they had known that the Flesh Transformation involved the ancient power of the golden monkey from the "Jindi Ancient Clan" inheritance, they would have surely gritted their teeth and struggled through the first layer''s trial!


    "With such great gains from completing the first layer''s ''Tempering Flesh'' trial."


    "I really don''t know what kind of mystical opportunity will come from completing the second layer of ''Tempering Meridians'' trial."


    Qian Feng muttered to himself as he looked at the central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    He had already lost the chance to receive the opportunity of the second layer and could only sigh in vain.


    Not long after Qian Feng''s sigh faded away, following their elimination from the second layer of the trial, another six young men were consecutively transported out of the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Among these youths was even Qian Ming, ranked third in the Jindi Ancient Clan''s great competition and a strong practitioner of True Qi at the eleventh level.


    "Qian Ming, you''ve been eliminated too!"


    "Did you complete the second layer''s ''Meridian Transformation''?"


    Upon seeing Qian Ming''s figure, the young men on the Green Flow Plains couldn''t help but exclaim.


    When they saw Qian Ming and the other five youths shake their heads in utter disappointment, indicating they hadn''t completed the second layer''s Meridian Transformation trial, all the youths fell silent.


    This meant that all the youths present had failed in front of the first two levels of the trial set by the Ancient Furnace of Creation!


    "No wonder the Artifact Spirit said that in the last five openings of the ancestral land, no one has been able to pass the first three layers of trials set by the Ancient Furnace of Creation!"


    "This trial is indeed too difficult!"


    "Out of us, this sixth batch of thirty people, twenty-eight have already been eliminated!"


    The first layer of the trial had eliminated sixteen people, and then the second layer went on to eliminate twelve more, bringing the total number of youths eliminated to a staggering twenty-eight!


    Out of thirty youths, only two had not been eliminated.


    "Who is still in the central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, which two haven''t been eliminated?"


    On the Green Flow Plains, the twenty-eight youths looked at each other, and in an instant, they came to a realization.


    "It''s the strongest two among us!"


    "Ye Chen, Bai Xiaodie!"


    "Both of them have not been teleported out yet; they are still in the central area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    Just as the youths realized that the only two remaining in the trial were Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie,


    In the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, within the valley of the nine golden monkey statues where Bai Xiaodie was, a girl''s figure was thrown out of the Ancient Furnace of Creation.


    "Alas, this girl has great potential, it''s a pity she''s a girl, unable to withstand the pain of the Qi Sea Acupoint collapse and reshaping during the ''Tempering Acupoints'' by the Ancient Furnace of Creation; she ends up like her predecessors, defeated by this third-level trial."


    "She also has missed out on the third chance to reach the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact sighed in the void, while the thrown-out Bai Xiaodie slowly came to her senses.


    "I''ve been eliminated too?"


    Bai Xiaodie''s elegant eyebrows furrowed, her face filled with a look of disappointment.


    Following the twenty-eight people eliminated on the Green Flow Plains, Bai Xiaodie became the twenty-ninth person to be eliminated!


    "Go out, girl. Your journey through the Ancestral Land Secret Realm also ends here," the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said to Bai Xiaodie.


    It was about to transport Bai Xiaodie out of the central region of the ancestral land, just like the other young men,


    When suddenly, Bai Xiaodie''s beautiful eyes turned towards the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact: "Artifact Spirit, may I ask if Ye Chen is still undergoing the trial?"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact nodded: "Yes, Ye Chen is still in the midst of the trial!"


    "Out of you thirty people, including you, twenty-nine have been eliminated!"


    "Only Ye Chen remains in the trial!"


    "He has now reached the fourth level of the trial!"

 Chapter 111: Chapter 100: Guidance of Ancestral Blood

    The words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact caused Bai Xiaodie''s expression to change repeatedly.


    When she heard the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact say Ye Chen was still in the midst of the trial, Bai Xiaodie felt relieved, for she had always known that Ye Chen was stronger than her and would certainly not be eliminated so early.


    Indeed, Ye Chen was still as formidable as ever, not disappointing anyone!


    But when the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact mentioned that out of the thirty youths, twenty-nine had been eliminated, Bai Xiaodie''s heart suddenly turned cold.


    She had not expected that not only her, but all the remaining youths from the clans had failed to withstand the Tempering by the Ancient Furnace of Creation and had fallen on the road leading to the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    "Thank goodness there''s still Ye Chen!"


    "There''s still hope for Ye Chen!"


    In the five previous openings of the Ancestral Land, the seniors from the three clans who had entered all fell outside the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. Bai Xiaodie was extremely hopeful that Ye Chen could work a miracle, becoming the first person from the three clans to step into the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    Just as Bai Xiaodie was filled with immense hope, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s last sentence¡ªthat Ye Chen had reached the fourth layer of the trial¡ªimmediately made her heart race.


    "What, Ye Chen has reached the fourth layer of the trial?"


    "Ye Chen has already passed the first three layers of the trial?!"


    Bai Xiaodie remembered very clearly that the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact had said, as long as one could pass the "Tempering Flesh," "Tempering Meridians," and "Tempering Acupoints," these first three layers of the trial, one would be able to step into the core area of the Ancestral Land and seek the third major opportunity.


    Now, with Ye Chen entering the fourth layer of the trial, it meant that regardless of whether he could pass the fourth layer or not, he had already qualified to enter the core area of the Ancestral Land.


    Ye Chen had become the first person among the three clans to qualify to step into the core area of the Ancestral Land!


    The hope that Bai Xiaodie had harbored had already been realized by Ye Chen!


    "Yes, Ye Chen is now undergoing the fourth layer, the ''Tempering Bones'' trial!"


    "If he cannot pass the fourth layer of the trial, he still meets the qualifications to enter the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and face the third major challenge for the opportunity!"


    The firm assurance of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact caused Bai Xiaodie''s heart to race once more.


    Even if everyone else had been eliminated, as long as one person stepped into the core region of the Ancestral Land, their group could be considered a success!


    This group of youths had gone further than the seniors who entered during the previous five openings!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "You are incredible!"


    "I hope you can go even further!"


    In the midst of her racing heart, Bai Xiaodie was directly transported by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact out of the middle region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and into the Green Flow Plains on the outskirts of the Ancestral Land.


    On the Green Flow Plains.


    Twenty-eight youths were gathered together, guessing at which stage Ye Chen and Bai Xiaodie had reached by now.


    Suddenly, they heard a thunderous teleportation sound behind them.


    When they turned around and saw Bai Xiaodie''s figure, all the youths stood up abruptly.


    "Bai Xiaodie..."


    "Heavens, has she been eliminated too?"


    All the youths rushed towards Bai Xiaodie.


    Seeing the approaching youths, Bai Xiaodie smiled and shook her head, "I''ve been eliminated too!"


    "I didn''t pass the Tempering Acupoints test and fell at the third layer of the trial!"


    Eliminated.


    Bai Xiaodie had really been eliminated as well.


    Upon hearing Bai Xiaodie''s words, the youths all felt disheartened.


    They had not anticipated that even the tremendously skilled Bai Xiaodie would fail to work any miracles.


    However, upon hearing that Bai Xiaodie had fallen at the third layer of the trial, the youths all realized that this meant she had passed the first two layers of the trial. Had she completed the "Flesh Transformation" and "Meridian Transformation"?


    Among the twenty-eight individuals, sixteen gained nothing, twelve obtained the opportunity for "Flesh Transformation," and not a single one managed to encounter the "Meridian Transformation" opportunity of the second layer.


    From the twelve who underwent Flesh Transformation, the youths had come to understand its miraculous effect in significantly enhancing their physical strength.


    They were speculating about what marvels the next layer''s "Meridian Transformation" might bring.


    Now, Bai Xiaodie, who had completed "Meridian Transformation," stood right before them, naturally arousing their curiosity.


    "Bai Xiaodie, did you complete ''Meridian Transformation''?"


    "What is the opportunity for Meridian Transformation, and what''s so miraculous about it?"


    The youths bombarded Bai Xiaodie with their questions all at once.


    Bai Xiaodie closed her eyes gently and after a couple of breaths, she opened them again. Looking at the curiously gazing youths with some uncertainty, she said, "Meridian Transformation is a peculiar process of refining the meridians."


    "I feel as though my sensitivity to True Qi has greatly increased; it''s as if cultivating True Qi has become much easier for me."


    With that thought in mind, Bai Xiaodie immediately sat down cross-legged and started to operate her True Qi Technique.


    As she did so, the eight extraordinary meridians in her body suddenly opened wide.


    Instantly, Bai Xiaodie realized that the dense True Qi of the Green Flow Plains was rushing into her body in reverse, and a vast amount of True Qi flowed from her extraordinary meridians into her Qi Sea.


    This rate of cultivation was more than ten times faster than her original speed!


    Even without considering the inherently dense True Qi of the Green Flow Plains, Bai Xiaodie''s cultivation speed, having undergone Meridian Transformation, had increased by an additional five to six times!


    Sensing the extraordinary changes in her body, Bai Xiaodie stopped cultivating, leaped to her feet, and her pretty face was filled with excitement: "A great opportunity, indeed it''s a great opportunity!"


    "With this ''Meridian Transformation'', my cultivation speed has increased by five to six times!"


    Bai Xiaodie''s words stunned the other youths.

 Chapter 112: Chapter 100: Guidance of the Ancestral Blood_2

    Cultivation speed increased by five to six times?!


    Bai Xiaodie was a strong cultivator of the eleventh layer of True Qi, and her cultivation speed was already incredibly fast. Yet, it could still be increased by five to six times?


    The Tempering of Flesh Transformation could enhance vitality, but this Marrow Transformation was even more precious, directly increasing the speed of True Qi cultivation!


    Indeed, as the Artifact Spirit had said, the trials of the Ancient Furnace of Creation were greatly beneficial for cultivation and combat. Just completing these first two layers of transformation yielded such miraculous effects!


    "Tempering of Flesh Transformation, Marrow Transformation, Acupoint Transformation."


    "The first two layers one enhances vitality and the other increases the speed of True Qi cultivation. I really wonder what kind of miracle will happen after completing the third layer''s ''Acupoint Transformation''."


    After being shocked for a while, many of the youngsters began to exclaim.


    At this moment, Bai Xiaodie said with a smile, "Just wait until Ye Chen comes out, and ask him to know!"


    "Ye Chen has already completed ''Acupoint Transformation,'' he''s already entered the fourth layer''s ''Tempering Bones Transformation'' stage!"


    The words of Bai Xiaodie made all the other youths jump up.


    "What?"


    "Ye Chen has completed the ''Acupoint Transformation'' and entered the fourth layer of trials?"


    "Doesn''t that mean Ye Chen can enter the core area of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm?"


    Previously, the youths were just stunned at Bai Xiaodie being eliminated, and they hadn''t noticed that Ye Chen wasn''t transported out with her.


    When they twenty-eight people were eliminated, there were still both Bai Xiaodie and Ye Chen participating in the trial.


    Bai Xiaodie was eliminated, but Ye Chen was still in it!


    Bai Xiaodie''s words made everyone realize that among their thirty people, Ye Chen was the only one missing.


    He was the only one, still within the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Moreover, according to what Bai Xiaodie implied, Ye Chen had already passed the three layers of trials in the Ancient Furnace of Creation and possessed the qualifications to enter the core region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    How could this not shock the youths immensely?!


    "Bai Xiaodie, how do you know that Ye Chen has entered the fourth layer of trials?" Qian Ming asked Bai Xiaodie.


    With her eyes locked in the direction of the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, Bai Xiaodie slowly said, "The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact himself told me when I was being eliminated."


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact himself told her?


    The words of Bai Xiaodie left all the youths speechless with astonishment.


    Of course, they wouldn''t harbor the slightest doubt about the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact!


    Ye Chen, just like he did with the task of gathering Golden Light Beads in the outer region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, created another miracle!


    Ye Chen has surpassed the predecessors who entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm in the previous five openings, becoming the first person to enter the core area!


    "We''ve all been eliminated."


    "Only Ye Chen is still persisting."


    "Let''s hope he can go further and gain more!"


    "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm allows for a month of exploration; he still has twenty days to seize opportunities!"


    "Let''s wait for him here."


    The youths all looked toward the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, unable to see Ye Chen. Yet they seemed to envision the youngster who was still persevering in the Ancient Furnace of Creation!


    In the end, Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, Ye Xue, and all the eliminated youngsters sat down cross-legged on the Green Flow Plains.


    While cultivating, they awaited the day the exit of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm would open.


    At the same time, they were also waiting for Ye Chen to return with even greater miracles!


    ...


    "Ten days have passed."


    "It''s already been ten days!"


    "I wonder how the children are doing in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."


    Outside the three clans'' ancestral lands, every two days, the three old clan leaders would come to the Ancestral Land.


    They were constantly worried about the thirty youngsters from their clans who were still venturing in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Not only the three old clan leaders, but many clanspeople would also come to the outskirts of the Ancestral Land and stand there for a long time.


    Everyone was waiting for the moment when the youngsters would return from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    ...


    Outside Qingyang City, within a secret chamber of the Black Cliff Stronghold on Wan Ya Mountain.


    "Big brother, third brother, do you think the Ye, Bai, and Qian families really have youngsters who have entered their ancestral land?" a middle-aged man with scarlet eyebrows asked the two sitting beside him.


    The two beside him, one dressed in a green robe and the other in light-colored clothes, were none other than the first and third of the three great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain.


    The scarlet-eyebrowed middle-aged man who just appeared was Wei Wuya, ranked second among the three great Loose Cultivators and a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!


    He had finally ended his seclusion and learned of the opening of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    "Second brother, it''s true!"


    "These days, I''ve been discreetly observing the three clans. Those three clans have countless people paying attention to their ancestral land, waiting for the return of those youngsters who entered the land. I''m a cultivator of the Spirit Sea Realm, while those from the clans are merely small fries in the True Qi Realm.


    They don''t know that we''ve been aware of them for a while now, already informed about the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!" said the young man in light clothing with a cold chuckle.


    The green-robed elder beside him also grinned greedily, "It''s been ten days already, in twenty more days, we can go claim the treasure!"


    "The treasures of the Secret Realm, they all belong to we three brothers!"


    Hearing what the green-robed elder and young man in light clothing said, the scarlet-eyebrowed middle-aged man also laughed heartily, "I never expected to come across such good fortune right after ending my seclusion. Alright, in twenty days, we will go directly to those three major families to fetch the treasures!"


    "I imagine that bunch of small-timers wouldn''t dare to withhold those secret realm treasures from us!"


    "If they really have the guts to provoke us three brothers, cleansing their three clans with blood will also be extremely easy!" said the scarlet-eyebrowed middle-aged man, his fingers pinching together, causing flames to burn fiercely between them.

 Chapter 113: Chapter 100: Guidance of the Ancestral Blood_3

    ```


    "Burning Void Minor Divine Ability! Second Brother, you''ve actually succeeded in cultivating this Minor Divine Ability!"


    The youth in plain clothes saw the flames burning continuously in the hands of the middle-aged man with red eyebrows and his eyes lit up even more!


    ...


    In the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Within the valley of eighteen thirty-meter-tall Golden Monkey statues.


    Ye Chen was still in the Ancient Furnace of Creation, enduring the washing of the Creation Spiritual Liquid and the refining of the ancient furnace!


    "Refining the flesh and skin to produce Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns in my body!"


    "Refining the meridians aims to open my Eight Extraordinary Meridians!"


    "Just now, the refining of the acupoints has reshaped my Sea of Qi altogether. If it were not for the infusion of Gang Yuan True Qi into the Sea of Qi, if the Stars Tower hadn''t suppressed the entire Sea of Qi and acupoints, I might have fallen during the terrifying trial of refining the acupoints just now!"


    Ye Chen, submerged in the countless Creation Spiritual Liquid, was still recalling the dangerousness of the previous third layer''s trial of refining the acupoints.


    The terrible sensation of the Sea of Qi nearly shattering could make any martial cultivator faint.


    And Ye Chen had finally made it through once more!


    After undergoing the transformation of the acupoints, the space of Ye Chen''s Sea of Qi acupoints had expanded two or three times larger than before!


    It is said that the Sea of Qi only enlarges when transforming into a Spirit Sea upon entering the Spirit Sea Realm. Ye Chen''s Sea of Qi had already expanded, and he truly didn''t know what kind of opportunity this would bring him!


    Currently, he didn''t have the spare attention to sense these opportunities because at this moment, he had already withstood the test of bone refining for over an hour and had finally entered into the great opportunity of the fourth layer, the "Bone Pattern Transformation".


    Ye Chen had now reached the final moment of the fourth layer''s trial!


    At this moment, the myriad Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns that had flown into his meridians and then into his acupoints were all soaring towards Ye Chen''s bones.


    Just then, in the Ancient Furnace of Creation where Ye Chen was located, all of the Creation Spiritual Liquid began to swirl like a vortex, also rapidly curling towards Ye Chen, the center of the ancient furnace.


    "Could it be... Could it really be... Ye Chen is going to take that step?!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, who had been keeping a close eye on Ye Chen, saw the anomaly in the Ancient Furnace of Creation and had completely dilated its huge blue eyes!


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact watched intently, amid the rapid swirling of the Creation Spiritual Liquid, all the myriad Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns flying towards Ye Chen''s bones finally settled on the bones, embedding themselves within Ye Chen''s skeleton.


    Boom!


    As his bones filled with Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns, Ye Chen felt that the myriad spirit patterns, after a momentary pause, suddenly came alive, pulsating with life.


    Upon closer inspection of these spirit patterns, they seemed to narrate a magical technique, a mystical legacy!


    Bone Pattern Secret Transmission!


    If a member of the Jindi Ancient Clan were present, they would recognize that what now manifested on Ye Chen''s bones was the most precious opportunity of the fourth layer trial of the entire Ancient Furnace of Creation of the Jindi Ancient Clan¡ªthe Bone Pattern Secret Transmission!


    While Ye Chen''s mind was completely focused on the Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns on his bones, as the transformation of the fourth layer was completed, he didn''t proceed directly into the fifth layer trial like he had after passing the previous trials.


    Instead, from the Ethereal Spirit Ring on Ye Chen''s thumb, a golden small box suddenly flew out.


    The Ethereal Spirit Ring had been bound to Ye Chen, and without his invocation, nothing should have flown out on its own.


    Now that this golden small box had flown out on its own, it took Ye Chen by surprise, so much so that he abruptly looked up.


    When he saw the suddenly emerging golden small box, Ye Chen exclaimed in shock, "That''s... the Ancestral Blood box!"


    This golden small box was none other than the one containing Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s lifeblood essence!


    Amid Ye Chen''s astonished cries, the golden small box opened directly, and a fist-sized golden blood drop¡ªAncestral Blood, adorned with countless flowing spirit patterns and emitting a shimmering, divine light¡ªflew out.


    In the instant that the Ancestral Blood emerged, a voice entered Ye Chen''s ears.


    "Ancestral Blood has waited for a thousand years, finally finding the one it was meant to guide!"


    "The fourth layer''s transformation, capable of producing the ''Bone Pattern Secret Transmission'', is an astonishingly rare opportunity for those outside my clan, and even more unique for your three clans!"


    "The upcoming fifth layer trial¡ªthe descent of Divine Blood¡ªcannot be entered by anyone outside the Jindi Ancient Clan, so, your trial of the Ancient Furnace of Creation ends here!"


    "You now have sufficient qualification to enter my ultimate legacy¡ªthe ''Ancient God Tower''!"


    Ultimate legacy? Ancient God Tower?


    This voice, is it Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s?


    As Ye Chen puzzled over the voice suddenly appearing in his mind, in the valley he was in, the eighteen Golden Monkey statues lit up with sky-reaching brilliance.


    Meanwhile, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact in the void was ecstatic, its expression bursting with joy as it looked towards the core area of the Ancestral Land.


    "Ultimate trial, ultimate legacy, ultimate reward!"


    "Ye Chen, this young fellow, has truly activated the guidance of Ancestral Blood!"


    Amid the soaring light from the eighteen Golden Monkey statues, amid the ecstatic exclamations of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, the core area of the Ancestral Land, where nine towering peaks stood, suddenly shook violently at once.


    Subsequently, Ye Chen, who was in the Ancient Furnace of Creation, disappeared from the furnace.


    ```

 Chapter 114: Chapter 101: Ancient God Tower

    ```


    "Is this the ''Ancient God Tower'' that the voice mentioned?"


    Ye Chen, who had vanished from the Ancient Furnace of Creation, reappeared and found himself at the base of a sky-supporting giant tower.


    This giant tower, towering over a thousand zhang in height, had a total of eighteen floors based on the structure of the tower.


    The eighteen-floor tower, with each level being a hundred zhang high, added up to an astonishing height of one to two thousand zhang, resembling a majestic giant mountain!


    Even more divine and mysterious was the realm surrounding this giant tower.


    The ground that Ye Chen stood on, which was the earth beneath the tower, was bursting with multicolored hues, and his every step would cause the spot he tread upon to emit brilliant flashes of light.


    Looking around, there was nothing else between heaven and earth; it seemed as though this world consisted solely of the giant tower.


    Looking up toward the top of the tower was even more astonishing, as one could see layers upon layers of golden water ripples ceaselessly flowing in the sky.


    The sky, which was usually an empty expanse, had multiple layers of golden streams above the tower, as if the tower existed within an underwater realm!


    Ye Chen had never before seen a sky where waves of water were in constant motion!


    As Ye Chen was surveying the realm he was in and examining the sky-supporting giant tower that suddenly appeared before him, a colossal face emerged within the water flowing above the Pagoda.


    That immense visage was all too familiar to Ye Chen; it was unmistakably the face of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact!


    At that moment, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact gazed deeply at Ye Chen, its eyes filled with astonishment.


    After a long silence, it finally spoke, "Ye Chen, I didn''t expect that you would receive the guidance of the Ancestral Blood, allowing my old master ''Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s'' Divine Sense to personally transport you to the outside of this ''Ancient God Tower,'' to this ultimate test location!"


    Guidance of the Ancestral Blood?


    Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Divine Sense personally transported him?


    The ultimate test location?


    The words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact reminded Ye Chen of the voice he had heard when the Ancestral Blood took flight within the Ancient Furnace of Creation.


    That voice was filled with commanding authority, as if it wielded control over heaven and earth, and at that time, Ye Chen had guessed that it might belong to the owner of the Ancestral Blood, Heavenly Saint Di Kong. Now, with the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s confirmation, it became clear that the voice indeed belonged to Heavenly Saint Di Kong!


    Ancestral Blood, which was Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Lifeblood, and to think that his words were carried along with it!


    Within the Ancestral Blood lingered the remnants of Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Divine Sense!


    Ye Chen looked around yet saw no trace of Heavenly Saint Di Kong, nor did he hear his voice again.


    It seemed that after guiding him to this mysterious place, the lingering Divine Sense of Heavenly Saint Di Kong had completed its arrangement and then disappeared anew.


    Having not seen the formidable Heavenly Saint Di Kong himself, Ye Chen felt somewhat disappointed.


    However, his attention quickly shifted to focus on the ''Ancient God Tower,'' the ultimate inheritance location mentioned by both Heavenly Saint Di Kong and the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact!


    As early as the start of the tri-clan competition, Patriarch Bai had said that the one who possessed the Ancestral Blood could have a chance to enter the ultimate inheritance location and obtain Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s ultimate reward.


    Yet, in the previous five openings of the Ancestral Land, no one holding the Ancestral Blood had been able to enter the ultimate inheritance location.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that he would arrive at this ultimate test location directly after repeatedly being tested in the Ancient Furnace of Creation!


    "Is the Ancient God Tower the ultimate test location?"


    "What could Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s ultimate reward be? Could it really be inside the Ancient God Tower?"


    Ye Chen, gazing at the sky-supporting giant tower before him, was full of anticipation to enter this Land of Inheritance and find out what the ultimate reward was!


    Seeing the look in Ye Chen''s eyes, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact also turned to gaze at the eighteen-floor sky-supporting giant tower, the ''Ancient God Tower.'' It slowly said, "Ye Chen, you probably don''t know where this ''Ancient God Tower'' actually is."


    Ye Chen looked around uncertainly and said, "Could it be the core region of the Ancestral Land, where the Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks are located?"


    He remembered that when he first entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, he saw that the peripheral area was a plain and the mountains and valleys farther away were the central region, while the Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks at the farthest horizon, according to the secret realm map, marked the core region of the Ancestral Land.


    Having already passed through the first two areas and arriving at this place of ultimate reward, he should have entered the location of the Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks.


    However, Ye Chen saw no Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks around him, only the giant tower and the sky where waves were flowing above it.


    "This is not the location of the Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks!"


    "That Heaven-reaching Giant Peak, if you had only completed the three tests of the Ancient Furnace of Creation, you would''ve entered it for a third opportunity and test."


    "But, you not only completed the first three levels of the tests, but you also completed the fourth, and above all, you were guided by the Ancestral Blood. Thus, you directly bypassed the test of the Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks and entered this ultimate test, the ultimate inheritance, the ultimate reward location, the ''Ancient God Tower,'' deep in the core realm!"


    "This is the absolute core of the entire ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple,'' and those Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks are but the array guarding the absolute core."


    ```


    The absolute core of the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple? Even the Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks within the core region of the Ancestral Land are just the guardian array of this domain?


    If it weren''t for the guidance of Ancestral Blood, Ye Chen couldn''t have imagined that within the core region of the Ancestral Land, there existed an even more central domain.


    "Why is this place the absolute core of the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple? It''s because of this ''Ancient God Tower''!" The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked at the Ancient God Tower and spoke leisurely, "When my old master obtained the Ancient God Tower, he hid it in the very center of the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple, and from then on, this place became the heart of the heart!"


    "Artifact Spirit, what is so magical about this Ancient God Tower?"


    Whether it was the words of Heavenly Saint Di Kong from earlier, the constant emphasis the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact placed on the Ancient God Tower, or the strange space surrounding the Ancient God Tower, Ye Chen was extremely curious about it.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact did not directly answer Ye Chen''s question, but instead asked him, "Ye Chen, you have shown exceptional performance in the trials of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. How many do you think there are, who are stronger than you at the same age?"


    Ye Chen thought of Heavenly Saint Di Kong, Heavenly Saint Qian Ji, and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue. This world was filled with countless geniuses; perhaps even within the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there were many who were stronger than him.


    "There should be many who are stronger than me, not just a few!" Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t arrogantly assume he was invincible among his peers.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact nodded and said, "Ye Chen, you''re one of the rare geniuses I''ve seen. There won''t be many who are stronger than you, but that doesn''t mean there are none."


    "Just like you, Ye Chen, I can see that, aside from this Ancestral Land Secret Realm, you must have also obtained other opportunities and fortunes!"


    "Others, of course, will have their own opportunities, their own fortunes!"


    Ye Chen nodded in agreement.


    Indeed, aside from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, he had also entered the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, and even obtained the chance to learn the even more mysterious Primordial Star Scripture!


    Ye Chen wouldn''t think that all the opportunities were just for him to encounter; he knew that those other more powerful individuals also had their own chances.


    Therefore, Ye Chen didn''t become arrogant and complacent after obtaining opportunities. He still relied on himself, continuously undergoing arduous cultivation, and ceaselessly seeking new chances to become even stronger!


    Just like Jiang Yao, the girl he knew so well, he had heard her say that she had entered mysterious places of inheritance several times, achieving continuous breakthroughs in cultivation. Even Jiang Yao owned a bloodline Talent Secret Technique that even she herself did not know the origin of!


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact continued, "Speaking of others aside, my old master, Heavenly Saint Di Kong, was even more excellent and talented than you."


    "My old master stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm at the age of ten, and by the age of eighty, he had already transcended the Rotating Pill Realm, reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    To enter the Spirit Sea Realm at the age of ten! To become a Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse by the age of eighty!


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s words completely astounded Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had never heard of anyone entering the Spirit Sea Realm at the age of ten before; even those Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses were said to have cultivated to that realm after thousands of years.


    Ye Chen couldn''t fathom that Heavenly Saint Di Kong could cultivate so rapidly, even faster than himself!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s stunned look, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact chuckled and said, "My old master is a member of the Jindi Ancient Clan, of course he''s much more powerful than you ordinary humans."


    "If you ordinary humans enter the Spirit Sea at the age of twenty and the Rotating Pill Realm by the age of eighty, you are considered absolute geniuses. In the Jindi Ancient Clan, if one enters the Spirit Sea at the age of twenty, that''s a very mediocre clan member; one is only considered a genius if they can enter the Spirit Sea before the age of fifteen."


    Is the Jindi Ancient Clan so powerful?


    Thinking of Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s golden monkey true form with a body length of over a thousand zhang, taller than a giant mountain, Ye Chen felt his heart surge with emotion.


    Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Jindi Ancient Clan was something Ye Chen had never seen or heard of before, but from Di Kong and the descriptions of the Artifact Spirit, Ye Chen understood the strength and terror of this Ancient Clan!


    So it turned out that there were groups even more powerful than ordinary humans in this world, along with mysterious Ancient Clans!


    Ye Chen felt that the veil of mystery over the Barbaric Wilderness Continent had been lifted another layer for him!


    "Back in the day, my old master was considered the number one genius in the entire Jindi Ancient Clan. He once thought he was the greatest genius of his era. However, it wasn''t until one day when he encountered this ''Ancient God Tower'' that he realized how narrow his vision was."


    "So vast are the heavens and the earth, and countless are the geniuses. Even among the Ancient Clans, many are stronger than the Jindi Ancient Clan!"


    "This ''Ancient God Tower'' is an inheritance tower left behind by an Ancient Clan that even my old master did not know. It contains the ''Time Law'' that my old master couldn''t fathom even at the Heavenly Saint Realm," said the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact as Ye Chen listened eagerly to its significant origin.


    "According to my old master''s investigation, this Ancient God Tower is likely a powerful Sacred Artifact used by the unknown Ancient Clan to temper its younger generation, just as the Jindi Ancient Clan uses the ''Ancient Furnace of Creation'' to temper its young members!"


    "However, the Ancient God Tower is far more wondrous than the Ancient Furnace of Creation!"


    "Only those with a bone age under twenty can enter this Ancient God Tower, and once inside, the Time Flow Rate within the Ancient God Tower is completely different from the outside."


    "My old master once had many clan members attempt it, and the astonishing conclusion reached was that the Time Flow Rate inside the Ancient God Tower is ten times that of the outside. Ten days of cultivation inside the tower only equates to one day outside!"


    "Imagine, if you cultivate for a hundred days inside this Ancient God Tower, only ten days would have passed outside. When you come out, you''ll have cultivated ten times longer than those who only cultivated for ten days. How much greater would your gains be?!"


    "This is the great opportunity offered by the Ancient God Tower!"

 Chapter 115: Chapter 102: Entering the Tower

    Boom!


    The words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact resounded like thunder in Ye Chen''s mind.


    Heaven.


    The flow of time differs, this Ancient God Tower actually involves the "Time Law" that even those in the Heavenly Saint Realm cannot comprehend!


    Within this Ancient God Tower, one can have ten times more cultivation time!


    Ye Chen remembered that there were only twenty days left until the departure from the Ancestral Land according to the opening time of the exit; if he were to cultivate outside, that would be just twenty days of cultivation time.


    However, if he were to cultivate inside this Ancient God Tower, wouldn''t that mean he could cultivate for a full two hundred days?!


    With two hundred days, Ye Chen was one hundred percent certain that he could enhance his strength to rank within the top three or even first in the Taixuan Sect True Disciple selection!


    This Ancient God Tower truly gave Ye Chen an enormous surprise!


    "Artifact Spirit, apart from the restriction on bone age being under twenty years for entry into this ''Ancient God Tower,'' are there any other restrictions?" Ye Chen asked aloud.


    If there were no other restrictions, and he could enter the Ancient God Tower, Ye Chen would cultivate there continuously until it was time to leave!


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact spoke, "This ''Ancient God Tower,'' serving as the ancient clan''s legacy tower for tempering the younger generation, certainly cannot allow clansmen to cultivate within as they please."


    "After all, with different time flow rates, continuously cultivating inside could lead to unexpected great backlash!"


    "From observations made by my former master over hundreds of years since acquiring the Ancient God Tower, those under twenty can only enter once."


    "Moreover, after entering, each floor only allows for thirty days of cultivation time, which equates to just three days of cultivation time outside. Only after passing the trial of that floor and moving on to the next can one gain another thirty days of cultivation time."


    "Ultimately, across all eighteen floors of the giant tower, the longest cultivation time one can achieve is five hundred and forty days, or fifty-four days outside!"


    "That is to say, if you possess absolute strength and can charge through all eighteen floors of the Pagoda in one go, by utilizing this ''Ancient God Tower,'' you could gain an additional four hundred and eighty-seven days of cultivation compared to others!"


    So that''s how it is!


    Having understood the trial rules of the Ancient God Tower as explained by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, Ye Chen finally comprehended.


    This Ancient God Tower, it seems, provides greater opportunities to those with greater capabilities. If one cannot pass the trial of each floor, then the extra time gained within would not be much more than others.


    The more floors of the Ancient God Tower one conquers, the longer the extra cultivation time one accrues compared to others in the same external timeframe.


    The longest time is four hundred and eighty-seven days!


    Don''t underestimate these four hundred and eighty-seven days; it is almost a year and a half. An additional year and a half of cultivation time compared to others is enough for a genius to leave their peers far behind!


    Take Ye Chen for example, he took just about half a year to advance from the first level of True Qi to the seventh level.


    Even though it gets more difficult to cultivate as one progresses, with an extra year and a half of cultivation time, Ye Chen was confident he could make significant progress with his strength!


    "Ye Chen, your ultimate test will be this ''Ancient God Tower'' trial!"


    "Your ultimate chance lies within this ''Ancient God Tower'' and its time flow opportunity!"


    "Prepare to enter and seize your ultimate opportunity!"


    "Although it becomes harder to pass through each floor of the ''Ancient God Tower,'' with your strength and talent, I estimate you could at least conquer up to the ninth floor!"


    "That is to say, by spending a little over twenty days, you could gain at least half a year''s worth of additional cultivation time from the opportunities provided by the Ancient God Tower compared to others!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact spoke to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen was filled with surging emotions by what the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact had said.


    He truly had this opportunity to cultivate within the Ancient God Tower!


    He would certainly grasp it well, trying to conquer as many floors as possible to strive for more additional cultivation time!


    Yet, Ye Chen suddenly thought of an issue.


    There''s only one month of exploration time in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and he had already spent ten days in the outer and middle regions, leaving only twenty days.


    These twenty days would be equivalent to two hundred days within the Ancient God Tower; inspecting it layer by layer, and taking thirty days to cultivate each layer, he would have to leave the tower by the seventh floor!


    That would be too wasteful of this rare single opportunity to enter the Ancient God Tower!


    After all, each person can only enter the Ancient God Tower once, and once he leaves, there would be no more chances to enter the Ancient God Tower and gain additional cultivation time.


    Ye Chen wished to stay on each level for thirty days and pass through more levels to acquire the maximum additional cultivation time!


    At the thought, Ye Chen became uncharacteristically gloomy, "Artifact Spirit, with only twenty days left before the Ancestral Land entrance reopens, I can cultivate inside the Ancient God Tower for at most two hundred days. Even if I can reach the eighth or ninth level, time won''t be enough, and I''ll be forcibly transported out by the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."


    "Haha, Ye Chen, you are mistaken," the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said with a faint smile, "The one-month time limit to explore the Ancestral Land Secret Realm applies to your adventures in the outer, middle, and core regions."


    "Now that you have entered the ultimate trial level, that one-month time limit no longer concerns you. If you can pass all eighteen levels of the Ancient God Tower, it won''t matter even if you stay for fifty-four days. I will send you out when the time comes!"


    What?


    There''s no one-month time limit anymore?


    Cultivate for as long as possible?!


    The words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact lifted Ye Chen from dejection to great surprise.


    If there really was no time limit, he would certainly make every effort to secure the most cultivation time in the Ancient God Tower!


    After all, there were over three months until the Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple Selection Conference, which Ye Chen must attend. That time span was more than enough for Ye Chen to conquer all eighteen levels of the Ancient God Tower and still have time to spare!


    Judging by time outside the Ancient God Tower, each level equated to three days of cultivation time, and eighteen levels summed up to merely fifty-four days, nearly two months.


    Ye Chen had ample time to seize the great opportunity of the Ancient God Tower!


    "Good, thank you, Artifact Spirit. Without the one-month time limit, I''ll definitely exert all my strength to challenge higher levels of the Ancient God Tower!" Ye Chen declared, looking at the Sky-supporting Giant Tower before him.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s eyes brimming with fighting spirit, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact nodded, "Ye Chen, the higher the level in the Ancient God Tower, the more difficult the challenge becomes.


    You must cultivate for a long enough time, grasp each of the thirty days on every level, strive to increase your strength within these thirty days before tackling the next level, and make the most of the available time on each level!"


    "I look forward to seeing you advance beyond the ninth level in the Ancient God Tower, even reaching the eleventh or twelfth level!"


    "In the past, my old master sent many talented youths from the Jindi Ancient Clan to challenge the Ancient God Tower, with the highest reaching the fifteenth level!"


    "Go forth and strive, Ye Chen. I hope new miracles will emerge from your efforts!"


    Ye Chen nodded his head.


    He now had the "Gang Yuan Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture to cultivate, the True Qi Realm to elevate, and two high-grade Xuan-level cultivation techniques, the "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and "Wind Thunder Movement" technique to master.


    He even obtained the Bone Pattern Secret Transmission in the Ancient Furnace of Creation!


    What Ye Chen lacked now was cultivation time.


    Having the opportunity to enter the Ancient God Tower, he would go all out to gain as much additional time as possible, to make his techniques even stronger!


    To secure one of the top three spots in the Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple Selection Conference in over three months, to fulfill the Taimysterious pact with Fairy Jia Luo, and to be prepared for the reunion with Jiang Yao, he would give his final sprint!


    Seeing Ye Chen prepared for the ultimate trial in the Ancient God Tower, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact hesitated no longer. It fixed its gaze on the Ancient God Tower, and a strange Law Pattern flowed through its eyes, causing the first level''s door to burst open.


    Then, a powerful current whisked Ye Chen into the Ancient God Tower!


    Ye Chen had finally entered the trials of the Ancient God Tower and started his cultivation journey!


    Just as Ye Chen entered the Ancient God Tower and began his trials and cultivating journey, on the eighteenth level''s tower top, within the layers of golden waves flowing across the sky, a tiny figure suddenly appeared.


    This tiny figure was none other than that palm-sized, shining little monkey covered in golden fur, resplendent all over.


    The golden monkey also saw the eighteen-leveled Pagoda below and wanted to break through the water to enter the space of the Ancient God Tower, but it seemed as though a barrier in that space kept the golden monkey confined within the golden waves at the tower''s apex.


    "Ee-ya!"


    After some futile effort, the golden monkey helplessly glared with its bright, gem-like eyes before darting back into the golden waves.


    If one looked at the entire Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple space, they would astonishingly find the Sky-supporting Giant Tower, the "Ancient God Tower," enshrouded by the golden lake beneath nine Heaven-reaching Giant Peaks!


    Below the golden lake, a Sky-supporting Giant Tower was hidden¡ªa fact nobody would have anticipated!


    No wonder there were golden waves flowing in the sky above the Giant Tower!


    Observing the golden monkey, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact sighed softly, "Little fellow, wait a bit longer."


    "My old master hasn''t come to fetch you after all these years; I''m afraid only through this ultimate reward level could you possibly leave."


    "Perhaps it is Ye Chen who will take you from this ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple'' and lead you to the vast world that belongs to you!"

 Chapter 116: Chapter 103: Strength Skyrockets

    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s sigh resounded ethereally.


    Ye Chen and the golden monkey, who were related to its words, heard none of what the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said.


    At this moment, the golden monkey had already dived into the ripples of the golden lake, and Ye Chen had officially entered the Ancient God Tower.


    The first level of the Ancient God Tower.


    This was a space thousands of zhang in area, as vibrant and multicolored as the land outside the tower. With every casual step Ye Chen took, the ground emitted patches of light.


    However, unlike the outside of the Ancient God Tower, upon entering the first level, Ye Chen felt as though the entire space was somewhat distorted, with an indescribable sense of weirdness.


    "The flow of time inside the Ancient God Tower is completely different from the outside; ten days of training inside the tower amounts to only one day outside. Could this difference in the flow of time be caused by the spatial distortion?"


    Ye Chen pondered the strange sensation inside the first level of the Ancient God Tower.


    The "Time Law" involved with the Ancient God Tower was so profound that even experts of the Heavenly Saint Realm could not fully grasp it, not to mention Ye Chen with his current strength and perspective.


    Not understanding, Ye Chen decided not to dwell on it. He looked around the various parts of the space on the first level.


    "According to the Artifact Spirit, each level of the Ancient God Tower only provides thirty days of training time. To obtain another thirty days, one must pass the trials of that level and enter the next one."


    "Where is this trial?"


    "And where is the entrance to the next level?"


    Although Ye Chen intended to train for the full thirty days on each level before moving on to the next, he needed to figure out the trial''s nature and the entrance to the next level in advance.


    As Ye Chen was surveying his surroundings, a burst of light suddenly emanated from the end of the space stretching thousands of zhang. With a booming sound, a massive Teleportation Array appeared, and at the same time, a stone golem over seven or eight meters tall appeared beside the Array.


    "Challenger!"


    Upon its appearance, the giant stone golem looked towards Ye Chen and spoke.


    For Ye Chen, who was now in this mysterious Ancient God Tower where even the flow of time could be altered, the appearance of a talking stone golem no longer surprised him.


    He stared at the massive stone golem, eager to hear what it might say.


    The stone golem, towering seven or eight meters high and wielding a massive stone club, spoke to Ye Chen, "I am the Guardian of the first floor of the Ancient God Tower!"


    "If you can kill me, you will receive a Teleportation Token that provides access to the second level. You may choose to enter the second level immediately or continue training on this floor. After the maximum training time on the first floor is reached, the Teleportation Token will automatically transport you to the second level."


    "If you fail to kill me and obtain the Teleportation Token before the training time on the first level ends, you will be directly teleported out of the Ancient God Tower and lose the opportunity to continue ascending the tower!"


    After saying this, the massive stone golem stood guard beside the Teleportation Array, no longer speaking.


    "Is this stone golem the trial of this level?"


    "By killing it and obtaining the Teleportation Token, I qualify to enter the next level?"


    With just a few words from the stone golem, Ye Chen understood how to progress through the levels of the Ancient God Tower.


    "Let''s test the strength of this stone golem!"


    Ye Chen decided to kill the stone golem first, obtain the Teleportation Token, then train on this level for the maximum thirty days, and await automatic transmission to the next level to continue the challenges.


    "According to the Artifact Spirit, I should easily conquer the first nine levels."


    "This guardian of the first level should be easy to deal with!"


    "Let''s not waste time, then. After obtaining the Teleportation Token, I can train in peace!"


    Having made up his mind, Ye Chen hesitated no longer and walked straight towards the seven or eight-meter-tall stone golem.


    When Ye Chen was three to four meters away from the stone golem, within its striking range, the massive stone golem instantly lifted the huge stone club in its hands and swung it towards Ye Chen.


    Whoosh!


    At the very moment the stone golem made its move, Ye Chen lightly flicked his finger and a Sword of True Qi abruptly formed in the void. In an instant, the Sword of True Qi shot towards the stone golem with explosive force.


    Thud!


    In one move, the Sword of True Qi pierced directly into the golem''s head, and then the immense True Qi Power completely shattered the stone golem into dust.


    Along with the stone golem''s destruction, a "thunk" was heard, and an ancient-looking Teleportation Token fell to the ground.


    "The guardian of the first level of the Ancient God Tower should be equivalent to an ordinary practitioner of True Qi at the seventh layer."


    "Just as the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said, it posed no challenge to me!"


    Ye Chen reached out his hand and drew the fallen Teleportation Token into his grasp.


    "With this Teleportation Token, I can train in peace for thirty days!"


    After thirty days of training, the Teleportation Token would automatically transport him to the second level of the Ancient God Tower, so Ye Chen didn''t need to worry about anything else.


    "Time to train! "


    "Training in the first level of the Ancient God Tower for thirty days means only three days pass by outside. I can gain an additional twenty-seven days of training, I must seize this opportunity to enhance my strength!"


    With that thought, Ye Chen immediately sat down in the first level of the Ancient God Tower and entered into deep training.


    ...


    Thirty days later, amidst a glow and a sound, Ye Chen, who was deeply immersed in his training, was roused from his meditation.


    This time upon awakening, Ye Chen was completely different from when he had started his training.

 Chapter 117: Chapter 103: Sudden Increase in Strength_2

    After thirty days of arduous cultivation, Ye Chen successfully stepped into the eighth level of the True Qi Realm and cultivated three of the eight True Qi Vortices entirely into "Gang Yuan True Qi"!


    Not only that, he delved into cultivating the two techniques, "Thunder Sword Skills" and "Thunder Movement Skills," and within one month, Ye Chen successfully brought both sets of these techniques to Minor Accomplishment!


    At this point, Ye Chen had become much stronger than when he first entered the Ancient God Tower, and this was merely the result of thirty days of cultivation on the first level of the tower.


    Coming out from his cultivation, Ye Chen saw his Teleportation Token fly directly towards the first-level Teleportation Array, and then, the array burst into a dazzling light.


    "Thirty days of cultivation have finally come to an end!"


    "I''m about to be teleported to the second level!"


    "The time distortion in the Ancient God Tower is indeed marvelous, only three days have passed on the outside, but I have cultivated for a full thirty days, boosting my strength so much!"


    Ye Chen could hardly wait to step into the second level of the Ancient God Tower and continue his cultivation for the next thirty days!


    During this period of focused and intensive cultivation, Ye Chen had completely entered the state of meditation; he merely wanted to keep cultivating like this, until he could no longer make his way through the Ancient God Tower.


    How much his strength would increase from this intense state of cultivation, even Ye Chen himself did not know!


    All he knew was that if he continued to cultivate in this manner, he was absolutely confident that he would rank among the top three in the selection of Taixuan Sect''s True Disciples!


    Boom!


    In the blink of an eye, the Teleportation Array''s overwhelming brilliance directly transported Ye Chen to the second level of the Ancient God Tower.


    The rule for passing through the second level was the same as the first: he still had to kill the level guardians to proceed to the next level.


    The guardian of this level was still a giant stone puppet.


    This time, Ye Chen once again defeated it with a single move and obtained the Teleportation Token for the third level.


    "The guardian of the second level was a bit stronger, it seems that as the Artifact Spirit said, the challenges of the eighteen levels of the Ancient God Tower become increasingly difficult the further you go."


    "I must seize the time to cultivate in order to face the challenges ahead!"


    After muttering to himself for a bit, Ye Chen sat down in the space of the second level and once again began another thirty days of cultivation.


    Like this, every thirty days Ye Chen would proceed to ascend one level of the Ancient God Tower.


    He began a frenzy of cultivating within the Ancient God Tower, storming through the levels!


    The other twenty-nine youths who had entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm with him were all cultivating in the "Green Flow Plains," an area on the periphery of the secret realm.


    By the twentieth day of their cultivation, Ye Chen had already been cultivating for a full two hundred days in the Ancient God Tower.


    Ye Chen had officially entered the seventh level of the Ancient God Tower!


    At that moment, within the spatial realm of the seventh level of the Ancient God Tower, Ye Chen was entering the twentieth day of cultivation on that level.


    If anyone could see the situation in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, they would surely be astounded; by now, Ye Chen''s Qi Sea contained no fewer than nine True Qi Vortices.


    While only twenty days had passed on the outside, Ye Chen had leveraged the marvelous time flow rate of the Ancient God Tower to directly enter the ninth level of the True Qi Realm!


    Even more astonishing was not the nine True Qi Vortices, but the fact that among these nine, six were comprised of the silver True Qi Vortices aggregated by "Gang Yuan True Qi."


    Had it not been for Ye Chen''s dedicated cultivation of the "Primordial Star Scripture" and the "Gang Yuan Chapter," refining Gang Yuan True Qi, he would have had enough time in these two hundred days to advance to the tenth level of the True Qi Realm, cultivating ten True Qi Vortices!


    Although he did not progress to the tenth level of True Qi, the six major Gang Yuan True Qi Vortices had already boosted Ye Chen''s strength to an incredibly terrifying degree.


    Not just the "Gang Yuan True Qi" had gained significant progress; within these two hundred days, Ye Chen had also cultivated both the "Thunder Sword Skills" and "Thunder Movement Skills" to Great Accomplishment!


    He had now completely mastered these two sets of profound-grade techniques and even began the formal cultivation of the final layers of "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and "Wind Thunder Movement" techniques, specifically the "Wind and Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills" and "Wind-Thunder Wings" movement technique!


    Significant gains in internal cultivation!


    The external martial skills cultivated were similarly fruitful!


    Two hundred days of cultivation in the Ancient God Tower had made Ye Chen''s strength skyrocket!


    When he was at the seventh level of the True Qi Realm, Ye Chen was already able to defeat Bai Xiaodie, who was at the eleventh level. Now, Ye Chen had enough confidence to compete with the prodigious disciples of the sixth rank Taixuan Sect, who were at the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm!


    He even had a shot at clinching the top three spots in the Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple selection, or even coming in first!


    Moreover, this was not the end of Ye Chen''s cultivation; he had just reached the seventh floor of the Ancient God Tower. He still had time to continue breaking through!


    ...


    While Ye Chen was cultivating in the Ancient God Tower for two hundred days, experiencing a surge in strength,


    in the periphery of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the other twenty-nine cultivators had also made significant progress during their twenty days of cultivation.


    With the help of the "Small Spirit Pill" and twenty days of arduous cultivation, Bai Xiaodie and Qian Ming, both at the eleventh level of True Qi, had broken through to the twelfth level.


    At the same time, Bai Xiaodie, who possessed the "Creation Yuan Pill," could have stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm if she had not wanted to consolidate her True Qi Cultivation Level and External Martial Skills any further by directly consuming the Creation Yuan Pill.


    The other youths also saw considerable improvements in their strength compared to when they first entered the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    It could be said that this exploration of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm was fruitful for everyone.


    Finally, as the twenty days passed by, the exploration journey of the twenty-nine youths in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm was about to end.


    Boom!


    A thunderous roar seemed to tear open the void, and all the youths around the periphery of the Ancestral Land were jolted awake from their cultivation.


    When they saw a dark vortex appear in the void, and at the same time, the Pass Tokens in their hands emitted an incredibly bright glow,


    all the youths of the three clans knew that the day to leave the Ancestral Land Secret Realm had arrived.


    At this moment, Bai Xiaodie in the crowd suddenly looked towards the core area of the Ancestral Land with confusion and said, "Where is Ye Chen? How come the exploration of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm is ending, and Ye Chen has not yet come out?"


    ...


    "The entrance to the Ancestral Land has opened again!"


    "The children are coming out!"


    Outside the Ancestral Land, on the day marking the end of the month-long adventure, countless members of the three clans had already gathered early outside the Ancestral Land, waiting for the moment when the youths would return.


    When they saw a dark vortex, several zhang in diameter, appearing behind the fourth statue at the center of the Ancestral Land, all the members of the three clans shouted out in excitement.


    At this moment, the three old clan chiefs, Ye Chen''s parents, the little girl Tao''er, as well as the parents and family of the other twenty-nine youths, were also among the crowd.


    Everyone was gazing towards the entrance of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, waiting expectantly.


    ...


    "A whole month has finally come to an end!"


    "The youths of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families who entered the Ancestral Land for an adventure will finally emerge!"


    "Let''s go, let''s see what secret treasures those kids managed to get in Qingyang City of the three clans!"


    Above Wan Ya Mountain, outside Qingyang City, three figures suddenly appeared in the sky of a giant mountain.


    As soon as the three figures appeared, they looked directly towards the location of the three major families of Qingyang City and started conversing in low voices.


    Looking at the faces of these three figures, they were unmistakably the three Great Spirit Sea Realm Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain, those who had plotted to seize the secret treasures of the three clans'' Ancestral Land!


    Boom!


    After having a brief conversation, the three figures directly used Escaping Light and flew towards Qingyang City.

 Chapter 118: Chapter 104: Fangs

    Spirit Sea Realm experts, with the speed at which they could fly through the skies and burrow through the earth, arrived in mere moments above the residential area of the three great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain.


    Eventually, they came to a halt directly above the heads of the countless members of the three clans outside the Ancestral Land.


    Outside the Ancestral Land, the numerous clanspeople of the three clans, who were originally full of anticipation waiting for the young ones to emerge from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, suddenly heard the sound of a strong wind whistling in the sky, rapidly approaching them.


    All looked up into the sky, and when they saw three streaks of light flying directly above their heads, revealing three figures, everyone from the three clans exclaimed in surprise!


    "This is..."


    "God, those are Spirit Sea Realm experts!"


    "Three mighty beings who can fly in the sky, why have they come to our clans?"


    This day was precisely when the adventure in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm of the three clans was supposed to end, yet such formidable figures had suddenly appeared in their family''s midst, giving everyone from the three clans a bad premonition.


    The expressions of the three clan elders watching the three figures hovering in the sky changed dramatically.


    The three clan elders instantly recognized the identities of the three figures in the sky.


    "They''re the three great Spirit Sea Realm Loose Cultivators from Wan Ya Mountain!"


    "The three leaders of Black Cliff Stronghold on Wan Ya Mountain, the Fort Chiefs!"


    "The Main Chief, Sikong Miao; the Second Chief, Wei Wuya; the Third Chief, Lei Qing!"


    "These three great Loose Cultivators, who usually stay within Black Cliff Stronghold on Wan Ya Mountain, even if they leave Wan Ya Mountain, usually head to other regions. Why would they come to our humble Qingyang City, to our three clans, and fly to the outside of our Ancestral Land?"


    Having recognized the identities of the three great Loose Cultivators, the hearts of the three clan elders sank even further.


    The three clan elders faintly guessed that the arrival of these three great Spirit Sea Realm Loose Cultivators must be related to the adventure in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    Now was the day when the most excellent youths of their clans return from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and it was just too coincidental for the three great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain to come knocking at this time.


    If the three great Loose Cultivators really came for matters related to the adventure in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, then it would be terrible.


    The youths coming out from the Ancestral Land would surely bring with them the precious secret treasures obtained from the adventure in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. If the three great Loose Cultivators learnt of these treasures, that would indeed be disastrous!


    "No way!"


    "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm is a secret known only to the people of our three clans. We''re just in this small place in Qingyang City, how could we attract the attention of others?"


    "Perhaps these three great Loose Cultivators are just passing through."


    Although a bad premonition lingered in their minds, the three clan elders didn''t dare to think the worst and could only hope that the three great Loose Cultivators in the sky were merely passing by and would leave after a short stay.


    Among the three clan elders, Patriarch Bai stepped forward from the crowd and with a respectful bow, addressed the three great Loose Cultivators in the sky, "For what purpose do the three esteemed figures come to our clan? If there is anything our three clans can do to serve, we will surely see to it for you!"


    The three great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain were all Spirit Sea Realm experts, among whom the Main Chief Sikong Miao and the Second Chief Wei Wuya were even more powerful, being mid-stage experts of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    And within the three great families, the highest cultivation level was only at the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm, held by the three clan elders, and the huge disparity in strength meant they had to be exceedingly respectful towards the three great Loose Cultivators.


    As Patriarch Bai respectfully addressed the three great Loose Cultivators, all members of the three clans looked at the three people in the sky with fear on their faces.


    High above in the sky.


    The third of the three great Loose Cultivators, the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert Lei Qing, burst into loud laughter upon seeing the three clans'' people below scared out of their wits and the elders'' faces continually changing.


    "We''ve come to your clan on this occasion indeed for a matter to settle!"


    "I''ll not beat around the bush with you. We''re aware of the matter concerning your Ancestral Land Secret Realm. When those little ones of your clans come out with treasures from the Secret Realm, just hand them over to us three!"


    Boom!


    Lei Qing''s words echoed like a thunderclap in the minds of the countless members of the three clans.


    So these mighty figures truly came for the treasures of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    They actually knew about the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and had deliberately chosen this day to snatch the treasures!


    The faces of the three clan elders turned ashen in an instant.


    If the three great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain had really come to snatch the treasures, their three clans would have no ability to resist at all!


    Let alone three Spirit Sea Realm experts, even a single Spirit Sea Realm expert would be enough to sweep through all the cultivators of the three clans!


    Could they only watch helplessly as the treasures the children had labored to obtain from the adventure in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm fell into the hands of these three?


    "Elders!"


    "How could the little treasures of our clan ever catch the eyes of such esteemed figures, might you have been misled by someone''s false rumors..."


    Patriarch Bai let escape a wry smile in his heart and was about to say something more to the three Loose Cultivators in the sky when the leader of the trio in the sky, the green-robed elder, Sikong Miao from Black Cliff Stronghold, coldly chuckled, "What a racket!"


    With a grab through the void, Patriarch Bai was suddenly caught in midair and yanked upwards.


    Boom!


    Then, with a wave of Sikong Miao''s hand, Patriarch Bai was hurled to the side, crashing into the wall of a house with such force that the building collapsed, burying Patriarch Bai in the rubble.


    True Qi Realm''s twelve-layer Patriarch Bai had no power to fight back in the face of Sikong Miao, a mid-Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!


    After flinging the talking Patriarch Bai away with one move, Sikong Miao proclaimed, "Stay put, all of you, and when those youngsters come out, have them obediently hand over the treasures. Otherwise, I won''t mind, blood cleansing your three tribes!"


    "Patriarch!"


    "Elder Patriarch!"


    Seeing Patriarch Bai being flung away by Sikong Miao, crashing into the house and buried beneath the rubble, members from all three tribes screamed and scrambled toward the collapsed building, desperately clearing away the stones.


    At that moment, Sikong Miao''s words sent shivers down the spines of every tribesperson in the three clans.


    Not minding the blood cleanse of three tribes?


    This Sikong Miao is truly ruthless!


    When Patriarch Bai was excavated by the crowd, it was unclear if he had been knocked out by the blow or was rendered unconscious by rage from the invasion of the three Loose Cultivators seeking treasures.


    The other two elder patriarchs surrounding Patriarch Bai and countless tribespeople from the three clans all felt a wave of desolation wash over them.


    Could it be that the heavens truly intended for their three tribes to fall into decline?!


    Previously, the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse Zhou Yuntian had come and taken two people from within their clan, and now, just when the three tribes had finally anticipated the great opportunity that lay with the opening of the Ancestral Land, they were targeted by yet another Spirit Sea Realm strongman!


    What to do?


    What to do?


    The tribespeople from the three clans felt despondent and trembled. They had been eagerly awaiting for the return of the young ones exploring the Ancestral Land, bringing back great treasures and opportunities.


    Now, they could no longer bear to think about what might happen once those children returned with treasures and fell prey to these three Loose Cultivators.


    In the crowd, many women and children from the three tribes started crying at that moment, even though they dared not cry loudly for fear of the terrifying trio in the sky, their suppressed sobs made the melancholy even more palpable!


    "Young Master, Young Master is about to come out from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm."


    "With the Young Master''s strength, he must have obtained a great deal of treasures in the secret realm. Are we really going to let these treasures be taken by these three villains?"


    "These are three powerful figures capable of flight! Even if the Young Master is strong, he can''t possibly fight against three people!"


    In the crowd, the young girl Tao''er watched as the green-robed elder knocked Patriarch Bai unconscious, her large eyes brimming with tears.


    Next to Tao''er, Ye Chen''s parents, Ye Xiaotian, and Lin Rin, were even paler with despair.


    The sudden appearance of the three figures filled Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin with immense worry for Ye Chen who was about to emerge from the secret realm.


    All the tribespeople of the three clans were engulfed by a feeling of desolate powerlessness.


    In the sky, the three powerful Loose Cultivators, Sikong Miao, Wei Wuya, and Lei Qing watched with folded arms as the tribespeople wept, then turned their gaze to the dark vortex entrance of the Ancestral Land.


    The three awaited the arrival of their prey!


    ...


    In the outer region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    The young ones preparing to leave the Ancestral Land Secret Realm had no clue about the events transpiring outside.


    They were full of joy, having obtained a bounty of treasures with Ye Chen''s help and through their own efforts.


    All the youngsters were thinking, once they returned with the treasures, their parents, their loved ones, and everyone in the three tribes would surely feel proud and honored!


    The youngsters were unaware that malicious figures had already bared their fangs, lying in wait for the moment they would step out!

 Chapter 119: Chapter 105: A Chill in the Heart

    The young warriors inside the secret realm were unaware of the events transpiring outside.


    However, Bai Xiaodie''s mention of not having seen Ye Chen had caught everyone''s attention.


    "Ye Chen hasn''t come out yet?"


    "Yeah, we really haven''t seen Ye Chen!"


    The young warriors looked around and indeed, as Bai Xiaodie had said, Ye Chen was nowhere to be found near them.


    Ever since they entered the central region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, they had been separated, each facing their trials within their respective Ancient Furnaces of Creation, and since then, they hadn''t seen Ye Chen.


    Later on, it was through the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact that Bai Xiaodie learned that Ye Chen had the opportunity to enter the core area of the Ancestral Land.


    Even so, now that the one-month exploration period had ended, Ye Chen should have emerged as well.


    Not seeing Ye Chen, all the young warriors began to worry.


    The help Ye Chen provided to all of them during the Golden Light Beads trial was something they would not forget.


    "What should we do?"


    "Ye Chen hasn''t come out, should we leave or wait here for him?"


    Many of the young warriors were initially prepared to drop their blood on the Ancestral Land pass token and be teleported out of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, but now realizing that they were one person short with Ye Chen missing, they all stopped in their tracks.


    "Let''s wait a bit first!"


    "Maybe Ye Chen will come out soon!"


    Bai Xiaodie, Qian Ming, Ye Xue, and others all said aloud.


    "Alright, let''s wait!"


    "With one day to leave the secret realm, Ye Chen should be on his way."


    All the young warriors sat down, preparing to wait for Ye Chen and leave the Ancestral Land Secret Realm together with him.


    At that moment, the voice of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact suddenly transmitted from the void, "You don''t need to wait for Ye Chen. He has already entered the ultimate challenge stage and is currently undergoing the trial. He doesn''t need to leave today!"


    "When his ultimate challenge is over, I will personally send him out of the secret realm!"


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact spoke, its immense visage also appeared above the Green Flow Plains on the outer region.


    Ye Chen had entered the ultimate challenge stage?


    He didn''t need to leave today?


    The young warriors, who had been waiting for Ye Chen, were startled by the appearance of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s colossal face and its words!


    They had thought that Ye Chen was in the core area of the Ancestral Land, on his way out, but they couldn''t have imagined that he had actually entered the ultimate challenge stage!


    The ultimate challenge was something the elderly clan leader had spoken of as a mysterious stage related to the most precious ultimate reward of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. No one had ever managed to enter it before.


    Unexpectedly, not only had Ye Chen breached the core region of the Ancestral Land, but he had also ventured into the ultimate challenge stage!


    This was truly a surprise and a huge delight!


    "No wonder Ye Chen hasn''t come out even though the month for exploration was up."


    "Turns out, he entered a truly great opportunity!"


    The young warriors looked at each other, their faces showing envy and admiration.


    Ye Chen had never disappointed anyone, still as formidable as ever!


    Whether it was the Golden Light Beads trial in the outer region of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm or the challenge of the Ancient Furnaces of Creation in the central region, none had stumped him.


    He had even stepped into the previously uncharted core region of the Ancestral Land during the first five openings, and further into the most precious ultimate challenge stage.


    The young warriors could not help but hold immense respect for Ye Chen!


    "Artifact Spirit, how much longer will it take for Ye Chen to complete the ultimate challenge and exit the secret realm?" Bai Xiaodie asked the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    "How much longer?" The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact smiled faintly, "That depends on Ye Chen''s strength. I do not know how long he will take to continue his journey through the ultimate challenge."


    "But, the longer the better. The longer he stays, the greater his gains will be!"


    "At the very least another six or seven days, and at most about a month, he should then leave the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    In the Ancient God Tower''s eighteen floors, one could cultivate for thirty days inside each floor, which equaled three days outside. Ye Chen had only just breached the seventh floor, so indeed, if he continued onwards, he would need a significant amount of time before he could leave.


    Of course, if Ye Chen were to stop around the ninth floor, then he would not stay for many more days.


    "The longer the stay, the greater the reward?" Bai Xiaodie nodded gently, "Then, let''s hope he stays a few more days in the secret realm."


    After the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact finished responding to Bai Xiaodie''s question, it looked at the other young warriors and spoke, "Ye Chen''s Ancestral Land Secret Realm trial is still ongoing."


    "Your one-month trial ends today."


    "Regardless of the outcome, once you leave, you must continue to work hard. The reward my old master offered to your three tribes has already been bestowed in this opportunity in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    "Now, leave the secret realm!"


    "Ye Chen will face his challenge well, you don''t need to worry about him."


    "Perhaps when you see him again, you will also be astonished by his progress!"


    Hearing the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s words, all the young warriors nodded.


    "Artifact Spirit, please take good care of Ye Chen for us!" a young warrior called out to the Artifact Spirit.


    "Please look after him, Artifact Spirit!"


    The other young warriors also called out one after another.


    Seeing the Artifact Spirit nod, all the young warriors took out their Ancestral Land Secret Realm passes, and then, they dripped their blood into the passes.


    Right after they dripped in their blood, their passes emitted endless light, and at the same time, a beam of light shot out directly from the dark vortex in the void.


    As the beam of light shone upon the young warriors, they instantly vanished from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    After twenty-nine beams of light, the twenty-nine young warriors had all left the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    Watching as all the young warriors disappeared from the secret realm, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact turned its head and looked towards the core area of the Ancestral Land.


    "These little fellows have all left."


    "Now in the secret realm, there''s only Ye Chen left."


    "I really don''t know which floor of the Ancient God Tower Ye Chen will reach."


    "I should go and take a look again."


    In the midst of speaking, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact vanished from the outer perimeter of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and once again entered the mysterious territory where the Ancient God Tower was located.


    The Ancestral Land Secret Realm, also known as the Sacred Artifact "Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple", is under the full control of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact within this sacred artifact; capable of instantaneously moving anywhere.


    However, back when Heavenly Saint Di Kong left the three tribes, he locked the consciousness of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact inside the sacred artifact, and the Artifact Spirit did not know that the young warriors who left would face such great dangers once outside.


    ...


    Boom!


    After a ripple in the void, the twenty-nine young warriors of the three tribes were teleported back outside the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, to the entrance of the three tribes'' ancestral land.


    "We''re out!"


    "We''ve finally come out!"


    Seeing the familiar statues in the center of the ancestral land, the young warriors displayed expressions of sheer excitement.


    After exploring the ancestral secret realm for a month, they had returned with great rewards!


    Once they had all teleported out, the dark entrance to the secret realm behind the fourth statue vanished once again.


    The young warriors were overjoyed, but they suddenly felt that something was amiss.


    Logically, many of their tribe members should be happily waiting for them at this time, but as they emerged from the secret realm, they noticed an eerie silence around them.


    And when they looked up at the surroundings of their ancestral land, they saw that their tribe members were indeed outside, but none of them wore happy expressions. Instead, upon seeing the young warriors, every one of the tribe members began shaking their heads.


    In an instant, the young warriors realized the source of the abnormal situation ¨C they saw the three major loose cultivators from Wan Ya Mountain standing in the sky!


    At that moment, seeing the young warriors emerge from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the eyes of the three major loose cultivators flashed with eagerness.


    "Ha ha, we''ve been waiting for you to come out!"


    "Come on, show us what secret treasures you''ve brought out from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!"


    Sikong Miao, the leader of the three major loose cultivators, took a step through the void and appeared in front of the young warriors, and with a large hand, he grabbed Qian Ming of the twelfth layer of True Qi into his grasp.


    "Don''t!"


    "What are you doing?!"


    The actions of Sikong Miao caused all the young warriors to rush forward, and the tribesmen of the three tribes surged towards Sikong Miao as well.


    As Sikong Miao held Qian Ming in his hand, his eyes swept around, and then he turned to face the other young warriors rushing towards him. He sneered, "It seems you are unaware of the situation. Well, I''ll tell you, we know all about your venture into the Ancestral Land Secret Realm to find secret treasures."


    "Now, hand over the treasures obediently, and we three might spare your lives; otherwise, I don''t mind killing you first and then taking the treasures!"


    "As for the others," Sikong Miao scanned the tribesmen rushing towards him, "stay put if you want to live. If you really wish to seek death, then come on over!"


    Boom!


    The words of Sikong Miao caused many of the tribesmen to halt in their steps.


    The young warriors, who had just emerged from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, were all stunned in disbelief.


    They had returned from the ancestral land feeling elated with their great finds, but it never crossed their minds that their treasures would attract the attention of a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse.


    A Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!


    As they looked up at the three major loose cultivators from Wan Ya Mountain standing in the void, all the young warriors'' hearts turned cold.


    They were powerless against these three Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses; they couldn''t protect the treasures they had obtained from the secret realm!


    But to just hand over their treasures to these three?


    The young warriors were even more reluctant and unwilling!

 Chapter 120: Chapter 106: Hatred and Hope

    "So, you want me to personally take the treasure?" Sikong Miao looked at the stupefied youths and sneered coldly. His divine sense swept over Qian Ming, whom he was holding, and he instantly discovered the Ethereal Spirit Ring on Qian Ming''s body.


    "Hm? A storage magic treasure?"


    Sikong Miao clearly recognized the storage magic treasure. Being a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse himself, he also possessed a storage magic treasure, but he could feel that Qian Ming''s Ethereal Spirit Ring was extraordinary, absolutely superior to his own storage magic treasure!


    "Hurry up and erase your divine sense from the storage magic treasure and let me see what treasures are inside!" Sikong Miao, with a greedy gaze, stared at the Ethereal Spirit Ring, shouting at Qian Ming.


    "Dream on! Even if I die, I won''t hand over the treasures to you!"


    Inside the Ethereal Spirit Ring were the Golden Light Beads that Qian Ming had painstakingly collected, along with the one hundred thousand beads given by Ye Chen, which he had exchanged for precious items. How could Qian Ming willingly hand them over to Sikong Miao?


    Qian Ming, at the twelfth level of true qi, also had his pride!


    "Die?"


    "Hmph, you remind me, when I kill you, the divine sense on your storage magic treasure will disappear automatically."


    "Since you''re so reluctant to part with your treasures, don''t blame me for being ruthless!"


    As Sikong Miao spoke, his large hand suddenly burst forth with a bloody glow, instantly striking towards Qian Ming in his grasp.


    "No!"


    Everyone had not expected Sikong Miao to be so ruthless, to strike without warning.


    Seeing the terrifying bloody glow on Sikong Miao''s hand aiming for Qian Ming, the other youths and the clansmen of the three clans all rushed furiously toward Sikong Miao, trying to save Qian Ming.


    But the attack of a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse was incredibly fast!


    Not even the two Patriarchs at the twelfth level of true qi, not even Bai Xiaodie, a genius girl, could save Qian Ming from Sikong Miao''s clutches in time.


    In an instant, Qian Ming was struck by Sikong Miao''s attack, his defenses penetrated, directly hitting his body.


    Qian Ming had broken through to the twelfth level of true qi with the aid of the Small Spirit Pill and was already considered one of the formidable figures among the clansmen present.


    But in front of Sikong Miao, a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm cultivator, he had no capacity to resist at all and was directly struck by the vast true qi, shattering all his meridians, his vitality completely dissipated.


    In one move, Qian Ming, at the twelfth level of true qi, who had obtained third place in the great competition of the three clans, second in strength only to Bai Xiaodie and Ye Chen, was just like that killed by Sikong Miao!


    This completely drove the other clansmen of the three clans insane!


    After killing Qian Ming in one move, Sikong Miao, watching the clansmen of the three clans madly rush at him, sneered once more. His large hand swept up all the people rushing at him, and with a "boom," all of them were thrown to the ground.


    Not a single person could withstand Sikong Miao, not even Patriarch Ye or Patriarch Qian, not even Bai Xiaodie!


    And with that, having repulsed the crowd, Sikong Miao flung his hand, casting the corpse of Qian Ming aside, while with the other hand, he drew Qian Ming''s Ethereal Spirit Ring into his grasp.


    Next, Sikong Miao''s divine consciousness probed into the Ethereal Spirit Ring, examining the contents within.


    Sikong Miao''s lightning-fast moves, killing Qian Ming and repelling the others, demonstrated such ruthless and imposing methods which completely chilled the hearts of all clansmen of the three clans.


    They realized that their lives meant nothing in the eyes of Sikong Miao.


    "Ming''er!"


    At that moment, Qian Ming''s parents, seeing their son killed and his body flung away, cried out in heart-wrenching agony and rushed frantically towards Qian Ming''s corpse.


    When they found Qian Ming lifeless, his unpracticed parents, heedless of their own safety, ran crazily towards Sima Miao, determined to fight him to the death.


    Before Qian Ming''s parents could reach Sikong Miao, Lei Qing, the third of the three Loose Cultivators in the void, snorted coldly. With a flick of his finger in the air, he sent the two flying dozens of feet away.


    The parents were instantly struck down to the ground and lay there, their condition unknown.


    Seeing Qian Ming''s parents fallen and uncertain of life or death, looking at the killed corpse of Qian Ming, looking at Patriarch Bai who had earlier passed out, all the clansmen of the three clans felt their anger ignite.


    "Let''s fight them, fight them with everything we''ve got!"


    "At worst, we all die as warriors of the three clans!"


    All the Martial Artists of the three clans roared and furiously charged at the three Loose Cultivators.


    They refused to suffer such humiliation!


    They were ready to lay down their lives to clash with the three Loose Cultivators!


    At that moment, Wei Wuya, the second of the three Loose Cultivators who had yet to take action and a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, simply flicked his finger. Instantly, several sparks flew toward the Martial Artists at the forefront of the charge.


    In an instant, these Martial Artists from the three clans were reduced to ashes, leaving no corpses behind!


    The three Loose Cultivators, Sikong Miao, Wei Wuya, and Lei Qing, one more ruthless than the other, with these venomous strikes, cast despair into the hearts of the Ye and Qian Patriarchs from the three clans.


    The two Patriarchs knew that if they didn''t stop their people, all of them might die at the hands of the three Loose Cultivators.


    They had already lost a genius young man, Qian Ming, and did not wish to lose more of their clansmen!


    "Stop it!"


    "Stop right there!"


    Both Patriarchs, with tears streaming down, flew in front of their clansmen, blocking those who were charging with no regard for their own lives.


    It wasn''t until the two Patriarchs intervened, after seeing the few Martial Artists burned to ashes, after seeing the many clansmen injured by Sikong Miao''s earlier sweeping attack, after seeing the unconscious Patriarch Bai, Qian Ming''s parents...

 Chapter 121: Chapter 106: Hatred and Hope_2

    All members of the three tribes understood; they were out of options.


    In the face of the absolute power of the three Spirit Sea Realm Loose Cultivators, they had no power to resist and no power to fight back.


    Hatred!


    An immense loathing surged in the hearts of every member of the three tribes.


    However, even the strongest among them was no match for the three Loose Cultivators; even if they were filled with hatred, what could they possibly use to confront these three Loose Cultivators?


    It was precisely for this reason that the three acted so brazenly against them!


    The weak are at the mercy of others like this!


    The tribespeople, seething with an indomitable hatred, and the youngsters who had just emerged from the ancestral secret realm, trembled with rage upon seeing Qian Ming''s corpse.


    But just like the others, they were utterly helpless.


    "Hand over the secret treasures!"


    In the end, with a heavy sigh, Patriarch Qian said to all the youngsters.


    The youngsters clenched their fists tightly, unwilling to surrender their treasures, unwilling to submit to the oppression of the Three Great Rogue Cultivators.


    "Bring out all the treasures; this is the world of martial arts!"


    "We are inferior to them, we can only admit defeat!"


    Not until Bai Xiaodie bit her teeth hard and spoke out, wiping the spiritual consciousness from her Ethereal Spirit Ring and throwing it towards the Three Great Rogue Cultivators, did the rest follow suit and reluctantly produced their treasures.


    "Endure!"


    "We must endure!"


    This thought crossed the minds of all the youngsters.


    And Bai Xiaodie, being the first to surrender her treasure, had her reasons.


    Even though her Ethereal Spirit Ring contained two Creation Yuan Pills that she hadn''t yet had the heart to consume, she was willing to relinquish it.


    On one hand, she was reluctant to see her people hurt; on the other, she thought of Ye Chen.


    Among all the youngsters, the one with the most treasures was Ye Chen, who had previously said that he had exchanged many treasures for his tribespeople.


    Ye Chen hadn''t emerged yet, and the treasures were still with him; as long as Ye Chen was there, there was still hope for the three tribes!


    Now, they had to first satisfy the Three Great Rogue Cultivators and get them to leave.


    Otherwise, once Ye Chen also emerged and the treasures in his possession were taken by these three, then truly, everything would be over!


    "At least you know what''s good for you!"


    With a sweep of his hand, collecting all the treasures the youngsters had thrown over, Second-in-command Wei Wuya said coldly with a sneer.


    "Don''t think I don''t know your little schemes; I''m afraid many of you are thinking of seeking vengeance against us in the future!"


    "Fine, I''ll give you a chance: this time you''ve offered up your treasures, I''ll spare your lives. Whether you can take revenge on us, that will depend on your skills!"


    Having said that, Wei Wuya immediately turned his attention to the treasures in his hand.


    In their hearts, Wei Wuya and the other two did not take these youngsters seriously at all.


    Not to mention ascending from the True Qi Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm, which was something not one in ten thousand could achieve; even if a few of these youngsters managed to step into the Spirit Sea Realm, the three of them¡ªwho had reached this realm earlier¡ªwould fear nothing.


    When the time came, they would just wrestle control then!


    For now, the most important thing was to examine the treasures!


    Wei Wuya, Lei Qing, and Sikong Miao, all turned their attention to the collection of treasures.


    When they saw the two Creation Yuan Pills inside Bai Xiaodie''s Ethereal Spirit Ring, although they did not recognize the pills, the miraculous halos on the pills astonished and delighted the Three Great Rogue Cultivators!


    "What is this treasure?"


    The first to speak, Sikong Miao, took out the Creation Yuan Pill and asked Bai Xiaodie directly.


    He had scanned all the young people with his spiritual sense when they threw their treasures to see if anyone had kept anything hidden.


    Seeing that no one dared to conceal any treasures, he then relaxed.


    Also, Sikong Miao noticed that only the earlier killed Qian Ming and this girl Bai Xiaodie had Storage Secret Treasures.


    Now that he had spotted the Creation Spirit Pill in Bai Xiaodie''s Storage Secret Treasure, he naturally asked her directly.


    Gazing at the Creation Yuan Pill in Sikong Miao''s hand, Bai Xiaodie also showed a trace of reluctance.


    Originally, after breaking through to the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm with the aid of the Small Spirit Pill, she could have then consumed a Creation Yuan Pill to try and break into the Spirit Sea Realm, but she had decided to solidify her cultivation and get familiar with the realm of the twelfth level before using the Creation Yuan Pill.


    Bai Xiaodie never expected that immediately upon leaving the ancestral secret realm, they would encounter the Three Great Rogue Cultivators looting treasures, and she wouldn''t even get the chance to consume her Creation Yuan Pill.


    "This is the Creation Yuan Pill, which can improve the success rate of advancing to the seventh level of the Rotating Pill Realm by 70% when consumed in the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm," Bai Xiaodie said indifferently to Sikong Miao, without hiding anything.


    "Improve the success rate of advancing to the Rotating Pill Realm by 70%?"


    "A divine pill, this is truly a divine pill!"


    Upon hearing Bai Xiaodie''s words, not just Sikong Miao, but Wei Wuya and Lei Qing also couldn''t help but feel elated.


    Worthwhile!


    All three felt that this heist was truly worth it!


    Leaving aside everything else, just the Creation Yuan Pill and the Ethereal Spirit Ring alone made their loot quite substantial!


    After they had finished tallying all the treasures, though none was found to be more precious than the Creation Yuan Pill and the Ethereal Spirit Ring, the wealth in their hands was more than enough to satisfy them.


    Gathering up the treasures and preparing to return to Wan Ya Mountain to divvy up their spoils, the three of them lifted their gaze to the members of the three tribes in the arena.


    Their eyes, in particular, swept over the youngsters who had entered the ancestral land.


    "Hmm, weren''t there thirty of you who entered that secret realm? Why have only twenty-nine come out?"


    Glancing over the youngsters who had come out of the ancestral land, the Three Great Rogue Cultivators asked aloud.

 Chapter 122: Chapter 106 Hate and Hope_3

    ```


    Bai Xiaodie then spoke in a light voice, "There''s another who encountered danger in the ancestral lands and has died within."


    "Died within the ancestral lands?"


    The three Loose Cultivators glanced at where the secret realm''s entrance had been in the ancestral lands, nodded, and said, "What a pity indeed."


    "Let''s go!"


    "There isn''t much of value left to take from these small clans."


    "Back to the stronghold!"


    "Some treasures, we will need to further ascertain their utility!"


    In the end, having pocketed all the treasures, the three Loose Cultivators no longer spared a glance at the ashen-faced clanspeople; they transformed into three beams of escape light, flying toward Wan Ya Mountain.


    Having obtained what they had hoped for, they were satisfied and departed.


    The welfare of the clan members was of no concern to them at all anymore.


    As the leaders of Black Cliff Stronghold, they had committed numerous acts of plunder, and the strongest of the three clans were only in the True Qi Realm; in the eyes of the Loose Cultivators, they were utterly inconsequential.


    ...


    "Chen''er, he..."


    "Chen''er is dead in the ancestral lands?!"


    When they heard Bai Xiaodie relay that someone had not made it out and had died in the ancestral lands, the parents of Ye Chen utterly collapsed.


    They had noticed that Ye Chen was not among those who had emerged as soon as the youths had come out.


    At that time, the ruthless actions of the three Loose Cultivators had left them no opportunity to inquire about Ye Chen''s safety, but they could never have imagined such an outcome!


    "No, the young master is fine! He must be fine!"


    "The young master is so powerful, he definitely won''t have any troubles!"


    The little maid Tao''er was crying in disbelief, with tears streaming down like pearls.


    Although she refused to believe it, the ancestral land''s portal had closed, and she had not seen her young master; fear gripped her, fearing the outcome was as Bai Xiaodie had stated.


    "Ye Chen, is it Ye Chen who met with trouble?!"


    Not only Ye Chen''s parents and Tao''er disbelieved.


    All clanspeople who knew of Ye Chen could not believe it either.


    Ye Chen had become their hope, the most promising youth of their clan.


    If something had happened to Ye Chen, did that mean their greatest hope was gone?


    "Ye Chen!"


    On hearing the news of Ye Chen''s misfortune, Patriarch Ye could no longer restrain himself and burst out in anguished cries.


    The loss of Qian Ming had already been an unbearable blow for the three clans, and losing Ye Chen would completely shatter their greatest hope!


    Seeing the clanspeople engulfed in grief, Bai Xiaodie stopped the other youths from revealing the truth.


    She approached Ye Xiaotian and Lin Rin, "Uncle, Aunt, Ye Chen had something he wanted me to tell you!"


    "Sir Ye, Qian, you all listen too later on!"


    Bai Xiaodie called the two despondent Patriarchs and the other youths together, whispering a few words to them.


    Then, everyone hoisted the unconscious Patriarch Bai and the other clanspeople, leaving the ancestral lands.


    ...


    "What, you said Ye Chen is fine?!"


    Inside the secret chamber of the three clans, upon hearing Bai Xiaodie and the other youths assert that Ye Chen was unharmed, Ye Xiaotian, Lin Rin, Tao''er, and both the Patriarchs went from deep sorrow to immense surprise and joy in an instant.


    "Ye Chen is truly unharmed!"


    "Not only is he unharmed, but he''s now within a great opportunity, which is why he didn''t come out!"


    "I didn''t mention it earlier because I was worried that if the three Loose Cultivators heard about it, they might come back to kill him."


    Bai Xiaodie narrated the experiences of Ye Chen within the ancestral lands to the elders of the chamber, the family, Ye Chen''s parents, and Tao''er. The other youths supplemented the story continuously as well.


    When they learned that Ye Chen had created an unprecedented miracle during the test to collect the Golden Light Beads, exchanging them for countless treasures that were still with him, both Patriarchs were so overjoyed that they nearly fainted.


    "This information must not be leaked!"


    "Now that the three Loose Cultivators have got their treasures, they probably won''t pay us any more attention, but we can''t let down our guard."


    "We absolutely cannot draw their attention again before we have the means to deal with them!" the Patriarchs emphasized forcefully.


    Everyone nodded in agreement.


    And when Bai Xiaodie told them that Ye Chen became the first person from the three clans to enter the core area of the ancestral lands in over a thousand years, both Patriarchs were greatly comforted.


    By the end, when Bai Xiaodie revealed that Ye Chen even entered the ultimate challenge of the ancestral land''s secret realm, acquiring the ultimate reward and opportunity, tears of joy streamed down the faces of the Patriarchs.


    This time, their tears were tears of happiness.


    "Ye Chen, our clans'' greatest hope!"


    "With this great opportunity, I hope he can grasp it firmly, and once he grows powerful, our three clans will never be humiliated again!"


    Tao''er, who hadn''t stopped crying since hearing of Ye Chen''s trouble, finally wiped her tears clean, hearing he was not only safe but had also created miracle after miracle.


    "I knew it, the young master is the strongest!"


    "He''s really fine! He''s really fine!"


    ...


    While the three clans went from deep sorrow to renewed hope,


    in the core area of the ancestral realm''s secret realm, at the bottom of a mysterious golden lake, inside the Ancient God Tower,


    Ye Chen was still quietly cultivating on the seventh floor.


    In ten more days, he would begin his new assault on the eighth floor of the Ancient God Tower!


    ```

 Chapter 123: Chapter 107: 15th Floor of the Ancient God Tower

    ```


    Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.


    In these ten days, the suffering of humiliation from the three great Loose Cultivators who killed members of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families and stole their treasures, began to subside somewhat outside the secret realm of the ancestral land.


    However, no member of the families smiled as before, and everyone''s heart was oppressed.


    They faced the challenges of Zhou Yuntian coming to the family to capture people and then the Wan Ya Mountain''s three great Loose Cultivators committing murder and robbery, leaving everyone in the three major families feeling an indescribable sense of humiliation!


    All the warriors of the three clans were desperately cultivating. Although the chances of defeating the three great Loose Cultivators were almost zero, no one was giving up. Everyone was trying to increase their strength, to contribute a bit more power to their own family.


    Adding to the gloom that still hung over the three families was the fact that Patriarch Bai, who had been injured by Sikong Miao, had not yet woken up, and his life force was growing weaker.


    Patriarch Bai was already the oldest of the three patriarchs. His injury and coma caused immense worry among the members of the families.


    The only good news was that Qian Ming''s parents had finally awoken from their coma, but the grief of losing their son made them unwilling to leave the house, drowning in sorrow all day long.


    ...


    As the three families were shrouded in this desolate atmosphere, inside the secret realm, in the seventh floor of the Ancient God Tower where Ye Chen had been cultivating for thirty days, he was finally awakened by the activation sound of the teleportation array once more.


    "The trial on the eighth floor is about to begin!"


    "Bai Xiaodie and the others should all have left the secret realm by now. Now, it''s just me still venturing through this realm."


    Ye Chen looked up toward the outside of the Ancient God Tower. Although he couldn''t see anything, he knew from the time spent tackling the tower that the other youths had already left the ancestral secret realm.


    "I''ll continue to the eighth floor!"


    "The great opportunity with the time flow in the Ancient God Tower is rare and should not be wasted; I must seize it firmly!"


    "Striving to cultivate all the way through this Ancient God Tower! To raise my strength to an even stronger state!"


    With a thought as swift as lightning, Ye Chen was transported to the eighth floor of the Ancient God Tower.


    "The trial on the eighth floor has begun!"


    Outside the Ancient God Tower, when Ye Chen broke into the eighth floor, the tower''s section marking the eighth floor immediately lit up.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, looking through the Ancient God Tower at Ye Chen tackling the trials, renewed its spirited anticipation.


    With the other youths having left the secret realm, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s full attention was completely focused on Ye Chen.


    It was looking forward to Ye Chen creating new miracles in the Ancient God Tower!


    And Ye Chen certainly did not disappoint it.


    In the time that followed, for every three days that passed outside, the next layer of the Ancient God Tower would light up.


    This indicated that Ye Chen was continuously advancing upward through the Ancient God Tower, successfully defeating the guardians of each floor and obtaining the tokens for the next floor, utilizing the different time flows to complete thirty days of cultivation on each floor!


    When Ye Chen successfully battled his way to the tenth floor of the Ancient God Tower, joy was evident in the eyes of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    It had previously guessed that Ye Chen would easily break through to around the ninth floor, but unexpectedly, Ye Chen really made it past the ninth floor and entered the tenth.


    Moreover, according to the observations of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, Ye Chen clearly still had spare strength; upon just entering the ninth floor, he did not cultivate but directly slew the guardian!


    Clearly, Ye Chen had the strength to continue challenging even higher levels of the Ancient God Tower!


    When Ye Chen triumphantly entered the twelfth floor of the Ancient God Tower, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was no longer just overjoyed; ecstasy was apparent in its gaze!


    "The speed of cultivation is too rapid!"


    "Since Ye Chen entered the Ancient God Tower, only thirty-three days have passed outside, and that makes three hundred thirty days inside the tower. Ye Chen''s combat strength has increased by more than seven or eight times compared to before!"


    "He is actually able to utilize the time inside the tower to constantly improve his strength, having so many methods to advance his power!"


    "Even if others cultivated the same length of time here, they wouldn''t be able to improve so quickly!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked at Ye Chen stepping into the twelfth floor of the Ancient God Tower, and then at the flowing golden waves in the sky above, where a golden monkey was frolicking in the waves.


    "Could it be... Could it be that Ye Chen really can break into the fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower, or even higher levels?"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact felt like it was struggling to breathe.


    Its former master, Heavenly Saint Di Kong, had instructed it that only those who could break into the fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower could receive Di Kong''s legacy, and earn the highest reward linked to the golden monkey!


    The fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower was the highest record in the tower established by the geniuses of the Jindi Ancient Clan sent out by Di Kong back in the day. Di Kong used this record as the highest standard to test the clans'' members.


    One could receive Di Kong''s highest reward by reaching the fifteenth floor!


    As for the sixteenth, seventeenth, and the highest eighteenth floors, no one had ever stepped into them, not even the geniuses of the Jindi Ancient Clan!


    The Ancient God Tower was a relic that Di Kong had stumbled upon. Even the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and Di Kong who left behind the Ancient God Tower didn''t know what awaited in the last three layers!


    Now, Ye Chen was getting closer and closer to the fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower!


    He was getting closer to the last three floors ¡ª the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth ¡ª which no one had ever ventured through!


    Charge! Charge! Charge!


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact watched with immense anticipation, forty-two days had passed outside, and Ye Chen, who had cultivated for four hundred twenty days within the Ancient God Tower, finally succeeded in entering the fifteenth floor!


    ```

 Chapter 124: Chapter 107: Ancient God Tower Level 15_2

    Even the strongest young geniuses of the Jindi Ancient Clan could only break through to the fifteenth floor!


    "Once he entered, although it took Ye Chen ten days of cultivation to finally defeat the guardian on the fourteenth floor, it wasn''t as smooth as the earlier challenges, yet he still managed to break into the fifteenth floor!"


    "He has reached the best record in the challenge of the Ancient God Tower, meeting the highest reward requirements set by the old master!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact became excited, for it had finally found the person it had been waiting for!


    "Come on, little guy, the person who will take you out of the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple has been confirmed, and it''s Ye Chen!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact reached out into the void toward the golden lake, and the golden monkey playing in the golden lake was directly pulled into the space of the Ancient God Tower.


    "Eeya!"


    As soon as it entered the space of the Ancient God Tower, the golden monkey was extremely excited.


    It had always been able to see this ancient tower from the bottom of the lake but had never been able to enter its space, which frustrated the little guy. It hadn''t expected to actually be able to come here this time.


    At this moment, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact transformed into a hundred-meter-tall giant golden monkey, standing outside the Ancient God Tower. It opened its hand wide and placed the golden monkey onto its palm.


    "Eeya!"


    The golden monkey curiously looked at the incarnation of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    Smiling gently at the golden monkey, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact pointed towards Ye Chen inside the Ancient God Tower, "Little one, watch the other little guy who is going to take you away from the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple as he takes on the challenge!"


    "He has now met the old master''s requirements. Just wait for him to come out of the tower, and he will leave here with the highest reward, taking you with him!"


    "I hope he can also break through the fifteenth floor. I have never seen the last three levels being activated before!"


    As the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact spoke, it looked towards the inside of the Ancient God Tower.


    And the golden monkey, as if it understood the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, gazed unblinkingly at Ye Chen with its eyes that shone like black jewels.


    "Eeya!"


    The little guy was clearly very curious about Ye Chen, who was challenging the tower!


    ...


    "This is the fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower?"


    Ye Chen did not know that he had already met the requirements for Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s highest reward.


    He was still attempting to continue his challenge through the final few levels of the Ancient God Tower!


    Ye Chen looked at the space of the fifteenth floor he just entered, and at this moment, the space of the fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower had turned into a vast expanse of a blood-red landscape.


    In the sky above, there were blood-red fire clouds everywhere, and on the ground below, there were blood-red plants all around.


    As Ye Chen pushed his way up the Ancient God Tower, he found that inside the tower, different from its appearance from the outside, the tower''s body shrank as it rose from the outside. Yet inside the Ancient God Tower, the higher he went, the larger the inner space of the tower became!


    Clearly, the Ancient God Tower not only involved the Time Law but also the Space Law!


    The guardians Ye Chen had faced in the previous nine levels were all huge stone puppets, and with the tower levels getting higher, not only did the space inside the tower get larger, but the combat power of the guardians also increased rapidly!


    By the ninth floor, the combat power of the huge stone puppets had reached the level of Ye Chen''s strength when he first entered the Ancient God Tower.


    If it weren''t for Ye Chen having spent a great deal of time cultivating in the first nine levels, and significantly improving his strength, he really might have fallen at the ninth level.


    After breaking into the tenth level of the Ancient God Tower, Ye Chen discovered that the guardians of each level were no longer those gigantic stone puppets but had undergone new changes.


    The guardian of the tenth level was a one-horned lizard!


    The eleventh level featured a humanoid beast with three horns!


    The twelfth level was guarded by a skeleton puppet wielding a bone spur...


    Although the guardians of each level varied, without exception, as one ascended higher, the strength of the guardians increased.


    By the fourteenth level, the guardian Ye Chen faced had transformed into a seventeen-or-eighteen-metre tall exotic humanoid beast covered with blue patterns, and its strength was unbelievably formidable!


    When Ye Chen entered the fourteenth level, he had already been cultivating inside the Ancient God Tower for a total of three hundred and ninety days; he had managed to cultivate Gang Yuan True Qi in eight of his nine True Qi Vortices, drawing ever closer to completing the second layer of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Gang Yuan Mantra".


    This was still the result of Ye Chen focusing on cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi, desiring to unlock the third layer of the "Gang Yuan Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture sooner rather than specifically cultivating his True Qi Realm.


    Otherwise, even though the amount of True Qi required for advancement in the True Qi Realm increases in the latter stages, Ye Chen would have been able to break through directly to the eleventh or even twelfth level of the True Qi Realm!


    The more True Qi one has, the more difficult it becomes to convert all of it into Gang Yuan True Qi.


    At this critical moment, where there was an urgent need to enhance his power, Ye Chen naturally chose to first cultivate Gang Yuan True Qi, attempting to convert all his True Qi into Gang Yuan True Qi as soon as possible, complete the "Gang Yuan Mantra" to Great Accomplishment, and then re-enter Starlight Tower to obtain the even stronger subsequent Cultivation Technique of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    While cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi, Ye Chen also mastered a fourth powerful Sword Intent¡ªthe Sword Intent of Thunder!


    In martial skills, his gains were even greater. On the basis of the two sub Cultivation Techniques, "Wind Sword Skills" and "Thunder Sword Skills," he finally completed the training of the "Wind and Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills."


    On the foundation of "Wind Movement Skills" and "Thunder Movement Skills," he also brought the "Wind-Thunder Wings" to Great Accomplishment.


    Ye Chen finally completed the thorough cultivation of the two top-grade Xuan-level Cultivation Techniques, "Wind Thunder Sword Skills" and "Wind Thunder Movement".


    Not only had he brought the Wind Thunder Sword Skills and Wind Thunder Movement Skills to Great Accomplishment, but he had also spent a long time cultivating the bone-text secret Inheritance Technique obtained from the Ancient Furnace of Creation and the Innate Essence Map exchanged at the Myriad Treasures Stele, greatly benefiting from them.


    Even so, upon first entering the fourteenth level, Ye Chen did not instantly defeat the blue-patterned humanoid beast but persisted through ten days of arduous training. It was only after he had thoroughly integrated various martial techniques that he was able to defeat the blue-patterned humanoid beast and break through to the fifteenth level of the Ancient God Tower.


    When Ye Chen first entered the tower, he was already powerful enough to dominate opponents in the eleventh level of the True Qi Realm. By the time he reached the seventh level, Ye Chen was confident enough to suppress warriors in the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm!


    By the time he reached the fourteenth level, Ye Chen had been cultivating inside the Ancient God Tower for three hundred and ninety days, surpassing a year''s time!


    With his mastery of the four Sword Intents, the top-tier Xuan-level Cultivation Techniques, and the Gang Yuan True Qi that was even more powerful than the Heaven and Earth True Qi, his arsenal of techniques had long given him the strength to battle with early-stage warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Ye Chen had a feeling that the blue-patterned humanoid beast really did possess the strength of an early-stage Spirit Sea Realm warrior.


    The guardian of the fourteenth level was that strong.


    Ye Chen was no longer sure what kind of opponent he would face in the fifteenth level!


    As Ye Chen was assessing the crimson-colored world of the fifteenth level of the Ancient God Tower, a breathtakingly beautiful woman with snow-white wings on her back suddenly appeared in the sky.


    "Trialist!"


    "Congratulations on breaking into the fifteenth level of the Ancient God Tower!"


    "In the fifteenth level, your opponent will be me, Luo Qianxue, an invincible True Qi Realm master from the ''Flying Spirit Clan''!"


    The stunning woman gave Ye Chen a faint smile, speaking softly.

 Chapter 125: Chapter 108 Wind-Thunder Wings

    The guardian of the fifteenth layer, unlike the previous fourteen guardians who were reticent, actually started chatting with Ye Chen with a smile.


    Ye Chen clearly sensed that this breathtakingly beautiful woman with snow-white wings on her back was different from the previous fourteen guardians, who seemed like puppets. This beautiful woman, however, was incredibly vivacious.


    "An invincible master of the True Qi Realm?"


    "A member of the Flying Spirit Clan, Luo Qianxue?"


    The implications behind this beautiful woman''s words were even more surprising to Ye Chen.


    He had heard of twelfth-layer True Qi masters, but had never heard of an invincible master of the True Qi Realm!


    What exactly was this realm of an invincible master of the True Qi Realm?


    And what about the Flying Spirit Clan? Could they be the group with wings on their backs yet resembling humans in appearance?


    Ye Chen had countless questions in his mind.


    He asked the beautiful woman, "Luo, what realm is this invincible master of the True Qi Realm you speak of? And is the Flying Spirit Clan also an ancient tribe?"


    Luo Qianxue explained with a smile, "The True Qi Realm is the first major realm of Martial Arts cultivation. Many peerless geniuses, although they have not stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, can still be invincible within the True Qi Realm. No one in the same realm is their match. They can even challenge those in the Spirit Sea Realm, surpassing their own realm.


    Such individuals are called invincible masters of the True Qi Realm!"


    "Of course, there are countless cultivators in the True Qi Realm; it''s simply impossible to compare them all. But an invincible master of the True Qi Realm, at the very least, is the strongest True Qi Realm cultivator within their tribe!"


    "As for me, I am the strongest True Qi Realm cultivator among the ''Flying Spirit Clan'' living in the Northern Region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. My strength is enough to defeat early-stage Spirit Sea Realm warriors!"


    The strongest True Qi Realm cultivator of a tribe who could defeat the formidable early-stage Spirit Sea Realm warriors was the strength of the stunning woman, Luo Qianxue!


    You see, Spirit Sea Realm warriors transform their Qi Sea into a Spirit Sea, and their True Qi into Spiritual Liquid. Each Spirit Sea Realm warrior can fly and earth escape, possessing incredible divine skills!


    Even if a large group of twelfth-layer True Qi masters were to attack a Spirit Sea Realm warrior, they might all be killed. The very thought of someone in the True Qi Realm defeating someone in the Spirit Sea Realm is simply unimaginable!


    Ye Chen, with the help of the high-grade Xuan-rank martial skill "Wind Thunder Movement" and the resulting Wind-Thunder Wings, could fly, which otherwise compensated for the disadvantage of not being able to fly while fighting against Spirit Sea Realm opponents.


    Moreover, it was the Gang Yuan True Qi he developed over more than a year and produced eight True Qi Vortices¡ªthis unique True Qi from the Primordial Star Scripture was even more potent than the Heaven and Earth True Qi¡ªthat allowed his True Qi power to rival the Spiritual Liquid of early-stage Spirit Sea Realm warriors.


    Together with the four Sword Intents among other methods, Ye Chen had, in just over a year, advanced to a level where he could compete with early-stage Spirit Sea Realm warriors!


    The various techniques that Ye Chen mastered enabled him to progress from defeating eleventh-layer True Qi individuals to overcoming early-stage Spirit Sea Realm warriors in just over a year, astonishing even the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact!


    After all, many cultivators at the twelfth layer of True Qi, even after decades of cultivation, were still no match for early-stage warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Ye Chen''s remarkable improvement was due to his countless methods, days of arduous cultivation, as well as invaluable great opportunities.


    It was unexpected that Luo Qianxue could also defeat early-stage Spirit Sea Realm warriors and be titled an invincible master of the True Qi Realm. Naturally, Ye Chen was thoroughly amazed by Luo Qianxue''s power!


    Outside the Ancient God Tower, upon seeing the guardian of the fifteenth layer, the stunning woman Luo Qianxue, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact also showed a serious expression.


    "Flying Spirit Clan''s Luo Qianxue, the strongest guardian of the fifteenth layer!"


    "Back in the day, the youth of the Jindi Ancient Clan who stormed the Ancient God Tower, all who made it to the fifteenth layer, were defeated by this woman!"


    "Invincible in the True Qi Realm, she truly deserves that title!"


    "I wonder if Ye Chen can make it past this challenge?"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact grew worried for Ye Chen.


    Meanwhile, the golden monkey in the palm of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact also widened its glossy black eyes, alternating its gaze between Ye Chen and the beautiful woman, Luo Qianxue.


    Inside the fifteenth layer of the Ancient God Tower.


    The snow-white wings on Luo Qianxue''s back slowly unfurled, revealing her graceful figure without a doubt.


    "Trialist, from this fifteenth layer onward, it becomes incredibly challenging to continue your ascent."


    "Back then, the master of the Ancient God Tower invited strong warriors from various tribes to participate in a grand True Qi Realm competition. From the countless True Qi Realm cultivators, four supreme True Qi Realm individuals were chosen.


    Their Divine Sense Illusions of battle were left behind to guard the fifteenth, sixteenth, seventeenth, and most challenging eighteenth layers of the Ancient God Tower respectively."


    "Although I am an invincible True Qi Realm master of the Flying Spirit Clan and can suppress countless tribal warriors, in the final selection of these four, I only ranked fourth, tasked with guarding this fifteenth layer!"


    "What you''re seeing now is just a Divine Sense Illusion of myself that I left inside the Ancient God Tower, but this illusion already possesses the strongest strength that I had when I participated in the True Qi Realm competition," she said.


    "And the guardians of the three layers above me are invincible experts from even more powerful clans than mine, and they are all very young and invincible in the True Qi Realm. Defeating them will be many times more difficult than defeating me!"


    "So, trialist, your real test begins now!"


    "It''s the same as before. To enter the next level, you must defeat me to get the Teleportation Token that will take you there," she continued.


    "Trialist, do you dare to battle with me?"


    The breathtakingly beautiful Luo Qianxue, asked Ye Chen with a smile.


    It turned out that Luo Qianxue was a Divine Sense Illusion left in the Ancient God Tower, one of the strongest four out of the countless True Qi experts selected by the master of the Ancient God Tower during the True Qi competetion!


    The guardians of the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth levels were even stronger than Luo Qianxue!


    Luo Qianxue''s words also stirred up a fighting spirit in Ye Chen.


    To fight these four great guardians was akin to battling with the strongest individual of the True Qi Realm from countless clans, wasn''t it?


    Ye Chen also wanted to find out where his strength cultivated in the True Qi Realm would rank among the countless experts of the realm!


    Hearing the Divine Sense Illusion of the guardian Luo Qianxue inviting him to battle, Ye Chen, fearless, replied to the exquisite woman with a smile, "Why would I not? Luo, make your move!"


    "Good!"


    Seeing that Ye Chen was unafraid to fight, the exquisite woman nodded with a smile.


    Then, she flapped the snow-white wings behind her, and in an instant, she flew into the blood-red sky of the vast space of the fifteenth level.


    Subsequently, the woman''s body suddenly gave rise to a colossal True Qi flame over eighty meters tall!


    With such grandeur, she seemed no less than a powerful expert of the Spirit Sea Realm, let alone a True Qi Realm figure!


    Her True Qi was terrifyingly powerful, and with wings that could fly, she had many of the capabilities of the Spirit Sea Realm, even though she had not yet stepped into it!


    Seeing the woman take to the sky, Ye Chen reached out his hands towards the void!


    From within him, an overwhelming surge of silver True Qi burst forth.


    This silver True Qi was none other than the "Gang Yuan True Qi," which is countless times stronger than Heaven and Earth True Qi!


    In the Ancient God Tower, utilizing the Time Flow Rate to bitterly cultivate Gang Yuan True Qi, Ye Chen had come infinitely close to Great Accomplishment in it!


    Although he only had nine True Qi Vortexes, all eight of them were now Gang Yuan True Qi. The power of his Gang Yuan True Qi had long been capable of overpowering experts in the twelfth layer of True Qi, and he faced off against Spirit Sea Realm experts without any fear!


    Boom!


    In an instant, the silver Gang Yuan True Qi around Ye Chen shot upward, reaching over thirty meters high. Although it was not as vast as Luo Qianxue''s, the moment Luo Qianxue saw Ye Chen''s silver Gang Yuan True Qi, her eyes lit up!


    Clearly, the extremely powerful Luo Qianxue recognized the extraordinariness of the True Qi around Ye Chen''s body!


    As the Gang Yuan True Qi around Ye Chen surged, he activated the cultivation technique for "Wind-Thunder Wings," and immediately behind him formed two giant wings, each over ten meters in length.


    These two wings, silver and white in color, were phantom-like and wondrously divine!


    They were even flickering with thunder and filled with the sound of howling winds, unmistakably the Wind-Thunder Wings cultivated from Ye Chen''s superior mystic-grade movement technique "Wind Thunder Movement."


    Boom!


    The moment the Wind-Thunder Wings materialized, with a thought from Ye Chen, he flapped the phantom-like massive wings behind him and flew directly into the void, facing the breathtakingly beautiful Luo Qianxue head-on!


    Both individuals were from the True Qi Realm, one a Divine Sense Illusion naturally born with wings due to her clan''s heritage, and the other a fifteen-year-old boy, who, lacking wings, used cultivation techniques to fly into the sky.


    Both could be called unparalleled geniuses within the True Qi Realm, both already possessing the strength to challenge Spirit Sea Realm experts. And like this, they faced each other head-on in the sky of the fifteenth level space within the Ancient God Tower.


    The battle was imminent!

 Chapter 126: Chapter 109: Sky Battle

    """


    "The clash of supreme geniuses!"


    "A battle no less inferior to that at the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "Ye Chen, who has fought his way up to the 15th layer of the Ancient God Tower, can he overcome Luo Qianxue, the unbeatable expert of the True Qi Realm from the Flying Spirit Clan that countless geniuses from the Jindi Ancient Clan failed to defeat?"


    Outside the Ancient God Tower, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked at Ye Chen and Luo Qianxue facing each other in the sky, feeling an inexplicable tension rising in its heart.


    And the golden monkey, seeing the illusion-like genuine wings behind Ye Chen floating in the sky, its glistening eyes like black jewels started to whirl about.


    With a swishing sound, the golden monkey leaped into the air and astonishingly soared hundreds of feet high!


    At the same time, an endless surge of golden light erupted from its body, as if it was also executing a Cultivation Technique, and in an instant, massive wings took shape around the monkey. However, the moment the wings were formed, they suddenly shattered and turned back into strands of golden light.


    "Eeya!"


    The golden monkey looked at the disintegrated winged light with a dejected expression on its little face. It glared at the golden light, then with a spin, drew the light back into its body and leaped onto the giant hand of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    "Without the spell of the Winged Cultivation Technique, you can mimic the form, but not the essence! Ye Chen''s technique can''t be deduced from mere movements!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, watching the monkey''s antics, laughed heartily. Distracted by the little monkey, it felt a rare relaxation from the tension of watching the battle.


    Meanwhile, inside the 15th layer of the Ancient God Tower, the face-off between Ye Chen and Luo Qianxue had finally begun.


    The first to strike was the layer''s guardian, Luo Qianxue!


    Luo Qianxue, the exquisitely beautiful woman with snow-white wings on her back, twirled her slender waist and fanned her wings, instantly cutting through the void and rushing towards Ye Chen.


    At the same time, the enormous True Qi flame, over eighty meters tall that surrounded her, instantly transformed into countless dancing giant Fire Serpents, madly biting their way toward Ye Chen.


    Luo Qianxue was frighteningly fast!


    The huge Fire Serpents she conjured, each over thirty meters long, carried a terrifying killing force of True Qi. Their mere undulation caused the blood-red Fiery Clouds in the surrounding void to roar and tumble.


    Boom!


    Luo Qianxue, with the dancing Fire Serpents, was upon Ye Chen in an instant, and countless giant serpents overwhelmed and submerged him in the blink of an eye.


    As Luo Qianxue made her move, Ye Chen, standing in the void, suddenly clenched the air with his palm.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Immediately, countless Wind Blade Swords formed out of thin air around Ye Chen.


    In an instant, a violent wind rose, and amidst the roaring dance of the Fire Serpents, Ye Chen charged forward with countless Wind Blade Swords into the midst of the serpents.


    Fire Serpents danced wildly!


    Wind Blades raged!


    The killing moves of both clashed instantly, and the entire sky around Ye Chen and Luo Qianxue became a raging sea of True Qi.


    The battle in the sky!


    Amidst the endless explosion of True Qi, one could only see the thirty-meter-long giant Fire Serpents tumbling wildly, and the infinite Wind Blade Swords striking furiously.


    When the True Qi storm reached its most violent, amidst the frantic collisions of the giant Fire Serpents and the Wind Blade Swords, Ye Chen''s figure suddenly vanished from the field.


    Swoosh!


    The next moment, silver Wind Lightning Wings suddenly appeared, and Ye Chen reappeared behind Luo Qianxue.


    At the same time, he pointed in the air, and once more, countless Wind Blade Swords took form, immediately counterattacking towards Luo Qianxue.


    While withstanding Luo Qianxue''s attack, Ye Chen also launched his counterattack!


    "Your speed is actually not slower than mine!"


    "You''re worth my full attention!"


    Luo Qianxue seemed to have been expecting Ye Chen''s sudden counterattack. As his attack approached, she turned around to face Ye Chen once again.


    At the same time, Luo Qianxue''s snowy white palm struck out fiercely, and a huge spinning ring of fire, over twenty meters in diameter, surged towards the myriad Wind Blade Swords.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The giant spinning ring of fire swept up all the Wind Blade Swords in the sky, and in an instant, the spinning fire wheel and the myriad swords clashed and shattered together, eventually exploding and vanishing in a loud roar.


    Seeing Luo Qianxue''s swift response and her equally formidable moves, Ye Chen''s gaze sharpened. His Wind Lightning Wings abruptly spread and he propelled himself towards the high skies.


    Luo Qianxue, seeing Ye Chen''s actions, also fanned her snow-white wings and shot upwards.


    Both ascended hundreds of feet high at the same time!


    The initial exchange was merely a test of each other''s abilities, a preface before the true life-and-death killing moves were unleashed!


    "Come at me, Trialist!"


    "See if you can withstand the Fiery Cloud Killing Formation that has eliminated countless trialists!"


    In the sky, Luo Qianxue, with her snow-white wings gently flapping, spoke clearly. Just as her voice fell, her slender fingers suddenly pinched a spell. Instantaneously, numerous figures shimmered into existence around her.


    These figures, upon materializing, surrounded Ye Chen, trapping him completely.


    Ye Chen instantly felt a force within the surrounding void beginning to erupt.


    Just as he intended to use his movement technique to escape the encirclement, those boundless encompassing figures around him suddenly drew upon the countless blood-red Fiery Clouds in the sky.


    """

 Chapter 127: Chapter 109: Battle in the Sky_2

    In an instant, the sky around Ye Chen was completely engulfed by the blood-red fiery clouds.


    Then, a terrifying blaze that swept across a hundred yards began to rage wildly within the blood-red fiery clouds!


    Ye Chen was now completely trapped within the endlessly burning fiery clouds that spanned hundreds of yards.


    The burning clouds were so intense that even the void seemed to twist and distort; before the fiery clouds reached Ye Chen, he felt the Protective Gang Yuan True Qi surrounding his body become unbearably hot.


    Fiery Cloud Killing Formation!


    This was the dreadful formation that Luo Qianxue had mastered after comprehending the Flame Cloud Ambiance, a formation so terrifying that it could even burn the True Qi Spiritual Fluid of early-stage Realm of True Qi warriors!


    The myriad fiery clouds were burning, this wasn''t about tempering the body, it was completely aimed at burning away all of Ye Chen''s protective True Qi!


    Did Ye Chen simply let Luo Qianxue have her way? Would he just passively accept the attack?


    Just as the myriad fiery clouds formed the killing formation and crazily burned towards Ye Chen, within the Fiery Cloud Killing Formation that spanned hundreds of yards, the eight silver Gang Yuan True Qi whirlpools within his body began to vibrate wildly.


    In a split second, an immense amount of Gang Yuan True Qi surged skyward, and this time, the Gang Yuan True Qi around Ye Chen even shot up over eighty meters high!


    The Gang Yuan True Qi shone with endless silver brilliance, and in a flash, the entire area of the Fiery Cloud Killing Formation was enveloped in silver radiance.


    "Wind Sword Intent!"


    "Sword Intent of Thunder!"


    "Wind-Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills, manifest!"


    After the entire Fiery Cloud Killing Formation was covered with silver light, the two powerful Sword Intents that Ye Chen controlled suddenly enveloped the swathes of silver Gang Yuan True Qi.


    In an instant, all the Gang Yuan True Qi within a hundred yards of the Fiery Cloud Killing Formation turned violent, and the entire formation was swept up in a maelstrom, rolling up billowing silver thunders!


    Where the storms went, where the thunder struck, the myriad Gang Yuan True Qi was like a terrifying storm of thunderclouds, a powerful tempest.


    Hum!


    As all the Gang Yuan True Qi within the entire Fiery Cloud Killing Formation was infused with the Wind and Thunder Sword Intent, this large expanse of Gang Yuan True Qi suddenly trembled, followed by endless Sword Shadows bursting out from it.


    This was the Wind-Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills, activated by manipulating Gang Yuan True Qi with Sword Intents!


    Once the Wind-Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills was formed, it directly slashed towards the boundless burning fiery clouds.


    Containing the terrifying power of the two Sword Intents, Wind Sword Intent and Sword Intent of Thunder, derived from the superior Xuan-level techniques, this attack horrifically exterminated the vast expanse of fiery clouds upon collision!


    The Fiery Cloud Killing Formation, which had eliminated countless challengers, could not eliminate Ye Chen.


    Instead, he penetrated it with a single strike!


    The entire formation was instantly riddled with countless gaping holes, and Ye Chen, who had been completely submerged by the Fiery Cloud Killing Formation, appeared once again.


    Simultaneously, the Wind-Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills that had exterminated the vast fiery clouds continued unabated, launching endless Sword Shadows that instantly hurtled towards Luo Qianxue in the void.


    Ye Chen had not only withstood the attack of the Fiery Cloud Killing Formation but had also launched a powerful counterattack!


    "He withstood it!"


    "The Fiery Cloud Killing Formation that brought countless Jindi Ancient Clan geniuses to their downfall, Ye Chen withstood it as well!"


    "Perhaps, Ye Chen truly can make it through the fifteenth floor!"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s formidable attack that combined the two great Sword Intents with Gang Yuan True Qi, thoroughly piercing through Luo Qianxue''s Fiery Cloud Killing Formation, even the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact outside the Ancient God Tower couldn''t help but cry out in surprise!


    If Ye Chen could make it through the fifteenth floor, it would be the first time it got to see what the sixteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower looked like after being activated.


    Not only did the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact cry out with astonishment, but even the golden monkey became excited and started to chatter incessantly upon seeing Ye Chen''s astonishing attack!


    In the skies of the fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower, when Luo Qianxue saw Ye Chen emerge through the Fiery Cloud Killing Formation and noticed the endless Sword Shadows shooting towards her, even her usually imperturbable beautiful face showed a hint of surprise.


    "Sword Intents!"


    "To think it''s the astonishingly powerful combined force of two Sword Intents!"


    Luo Qianxue looked at Ye Chen, observing the surging silver Gang Yuan True Qi around his body.


    "Challenger, for someone of your age, achieving mastery over two formidable Sword Intents within the Realm of True Qi, and possessing such terrifying True Qi, you really are remarkable!"


    "Your strength is indeed that of a peerless powerhouse within the True Qi Realm, no wonder you''ve reached the fifteenth floor with such ease!"


    "If you can withstand my next strongest attack, then I admit, you are stronger than me, and you may proceed to the sixteenth floor!"


    As Luo Qianxue''s clear voice resonated, the snow-white wings on her back suddenly began to enlarge rapidly.


    In the blink of an eye, the snow-white wings, which were originally only the size of Luo Qianxue''s physical form, expanded dozens of times over, covering the entire sky as if it was engulfed by these wings.


    Even Luo Qianxue appeared extraordinarily small within the embrace of these wings.


    A moment later, with a sweep of these wings, they carried Luo Qianxue and a boundless blaze of light, charging directly towards Ye Chen.


    The Sword Shadows that were originally streaking towards Luo Qianxue were scattered and separated by the strike of the wings, and in an instant, the wings had thrust right in front of Ye Chen.


    As the overwhelming wings surged forward, Ye Chen''s expression turned serious.


    He formed a hand gesture, and in that instant, four different types of silver light burst forth from around him.


    Silver Wind Blades!


    Silver Storm Rain!


    Silver Thunder!


    Silver Lightning!


    This was none other than the four potent Sword Intents that Ye Chen could channel with his Gang Yuan True Qi: Wind Sword Intent, Storm Rain Sword Intent, Sword Intent of Thunder, and Purple Lightning Sword Intent!


    In the end, the "Wind, Rain, Thunder, Lightning" four Sword Intents converged within the Gang Yuan True Qi, eventually forming a massive Sword Shadow infused with endless Slaughter power.


    It was a colossal Sword Shadow exceeding eighty meters in length; the Sword Shadow bore no visible form of wind, rain, thunder, or lightning, yet it encapsulated a killing power far surpassing that of the four elements!


    The colossal Sword Shadow cleaved directly at Luo Qianxue''s most powerful attack, the startling wings that were swooping in.


    Boom!


    It was as if it shattered the very void itself; the strike caused the sky to seem as though it was fracturing.


    Under the slash of the Sword Shadow, the astonishing wings were cut into two pieces, and even when the residual force of the Sword Shadow hit the ground, it carved out an immense ravine hundreds of meters long!


    This Sword Intent, imbued with an indescribable killing force, was terrifyingly powerful!


    As the wings were severed into two parts, Ye Chen felt the wings slowly begin to dissipate.


    He just managed to hear Luo Qianxue''s exclamation: "Slaughter Sword Intent, this... this has actually transcended the Fundamental Sword Intent and reached a deeper level of Slaughter Sword Intent!"


    Slaughter Sword Intent?


    Before Ye Chen could fully comprehend, he saw all the light from the wings, along with Luo Qianxue within them, vanish completely.


    Only an ancient-looking Teleportation Token fell down.


    This token was the key to entering the sixteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower!

 Chapter 128: Chapter 110 Barbarian Thunder

    The appearance of the Teleportation Token signified that Ye Chen had obtained the qualifications to enter the sixteenth level of the Ancient God Tower!


    Since the Ancient God Tower fell into the hands of Heavenly Saint Di Kong, Ye Chen was the first in over a thousand years, between the Jindi Ancient Clan and the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, to break into the sixteenth level of the Ancient God Tower!


    Whoosh!


    In the void, Ye Chen''s hand formed a vacuum and reached for the token. The Teleportation Token, which fell after Luo Qianxue dissipated, shot through the air from dozens of meters away and flew straight towards Ye Chen, finally landing directly in his hand.


    "The sixteenth level Teleportation Token!"


    After gripping the token tightly, Ye Chen spread the silvery Wind and Thunder wings behind him and floated back to the ground.


    Whoosh!


    With a thought, the silvery Wind and Thunder wings formed from Gang Yuan True Qi disappeared without a trace.


    Ye Chen sat down on the ground.


    Having killed Luo Qianxue''s phantasmal presence and obtained the Teleportation Token, Ye Chen could now cultivate on the fifteenth floor for thirty days before directly entering the sixteenth level of the Ancient God Tower!


    "Slaughter Sword Intent?"


    Ye Chen, who sat down cross-legged, was reflecting on the gains and losses from the battle with Luo Qianxue.


    The extremely fast flight speed of the wings that sprouted from Luo Qianxue''s back, her fiery cloud formation, and the astounding change of her wings that increased in strength by dozens of times, all exposed Ye Chen to new methods of combat.


    And Luo Qianxue''s last words about Slaughter Sword Intent sparked even more thoughts in Ye Chen.


    "The Slaughter Sword Intent, this surpasses the Fundamental Sword Intent, reaching a deeper level of Slaughter Sword Intent!"


    Luo Qianxue''s cry of astonishment still echoed in Ye Chen''s ears.


    "Could it be that after I complete the Wind and Thunder Sword Intent and attempt to merge the ''Wind, Rain, Thunder, and Lightning'' four Sword Intents, the newly formed Sword Intent is called ''Slaughter Sword Intent''?" Ye Chen thought.


    The massive sword shadow that Ye Chen used to slay Luo Qianxue''s phantasmal presence contained the terrifying power of slaughter, resulting from his arduous practice in the past year, becoming an incredibly powerful ace up his sleeve.


    Once Ye Chen had mastered the Sword Intent of Thunder, as he practiced the Wind-Thunder Combined Strike Sword Skills, he attempted to merge the Wind Sword Intent with the Sword Intent of Thunder, and indeed, the resulting power was astonishingly powerful!


    At that time, Ye Chen wondered if he could also blend the other two Sword Intents he had mastered, the Storm Rain Sword Intent and the Purple Lightning Sword Intent, into the Wind and Thunder Sword Intent.


    To his surprise, after merging the Wind and Thunder Sword Intent, it could also blend with the Storm Rain Sword Intent and the Purple Lightning Sword Intent, immediately elevating the power of Ye Chen''s Sword Intent to a new level!


    Suddenly, a new type of Sword Intent emerged, one imbued with the murderous intent of wind, the lethal force of rain, the deadly power of thunder, and the destructive energy of lightning - a completely new Sword Intent infused with endless power of slaughter!


    Ye Chen never imagined that Sword Intents could merge and give rise to even more powerful Sword Intents!


    This discovery thrilled him beyond measure!


    Faced with Luo Qianxue''s strongest attack, the shocking Wings Strike, he directly infused this stronger, fused Sword Intent into his Gang Yuan True Qi, forming a massive sword shadow, and struck directly at Luo Qianxue.


    Unexpectedly, this Sword Intent truly had a miraculous effect, possessing a mighty power that vanquished Luo Qianxue on the spot!


    Now, the words "Slaughter Sword Intent" cried out by Luo Qianxue provided Ye Chen with the name for this more powerful Sword Intent.


    "Sword Intent, the highest realm of sword cultivation, mysterious beyond compare. Back in Qingyun Sect, where I trained, hardly anyone could cultivate to the level of Sword Intent, so my knowledge of Sword Intent is extremely limited."


    "Who would have thought that Sword Intent could blend in such a wondrous way, Slaughter Sword Intent? This name indeed matches the lethal power of my Sword Intent!"


    "Luo Qianxue, coming from the Flying Spirit Clan, is an invincible expert of the True Qi Realm and certainly has extraordinary insights.


    She said that Slaughter Sword Intent surpasses the Fundamental Sword Intent, which means that the ''Wind Sword Intent,'' ''Storm Rain Sword Intent,'' ''Sword Intent of Thunder,'' and ''Purple Lightning Sword Intent'' I cultivated earlier are all Fundamental Sword Intents?"


    "Wind, rain, thunder, lightning, they are indeed the fundamental forms of natural elements..."


    "Perhaps once I manage to reach the top three in the selection for true disciples of Taixuan Sect, and join this sixth-rank great sect, I will be able to learn more about Sword Intents."


    Ye Chen felt that he still had much to learn about Sword Intents, but although his knowledge was limited, the fighting capability of his current Sword Intents, which even allowed him to slay the invincible True Qi Realm expert Luo Qianxue, was what truly mattered.


    If he didn''t understand now, he could always learn more in the future.


    Without dwelling any further on Sword Intents, and with thirty days left to cultivate before facing the even more formidable guardians of the sixteenth level of the Ancient God Tower, Ye Chen resumed his rigorous training of various techniques!


    Outside the Ancient God Tower.


    When the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact saw Ye Chen slay the phantasmal presence of Luo Qianxue and successfully obtain the Teleportation Token to the sixteenth level, it began to shout excitedly.


    "He''s succeeded!"


    "Ye Chen has successfully broken into the sixteenth level of the Ancient God Tower!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact couldn''t help but be overjoyed, as this was the first time someone had managed to break into the sixteenth level of the Ancient God Tower in more than a thousand years since Heavenly Saint Di Kong acquired it!


    Even Heavenly Saint Di Kong had never seen the sixteenth level of the Ancient God Tower activated; in another three days, the equivalent of thirty days within the tower, it would finally witness it.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was of course incredibly excited!


    While the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was overjoyed, the golden monkey who had been watching the fierce battle between Ye Chen and Luo Qianxue was even more ecstatic and inexplicable.


    This palm-sized, golden-furred monkey, shimmering with divine and colorful light, although it could not speak, was extremely lively!


    When the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact mentioned that Ye Chen would take it out of this secret realm, the little monkey became exceedingly curious about Ye Chen, paying him great attention.


    Seeing Ye Chen so powerful, not only able to transform into marvelous flying wings but also possessing unparalleled combat strength and an awe-inspiring fighting spirit, the little monkey liked Ye Chen even more!


    "Ee ya!"


    When Ye Chen''s gigantic sword shadow shattered Luo Qianxue''s amazing wings and won the battle, the golden monkey couldn''t help but call out excitedly!


    Three days quickly passed by.


    While the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the golden monkey were still not over their excitement, Ye Chen, who had been cultivating for another thirty days in the Ancient God Tower, was finally teleported to the sixteenth floor.


    The sixteenth floor was the last of the final three layers of the eighteen-layer Ancient God Tower!


    The trials Ye Chen faced in the Ancient God Tower, as well as the tower''s magical flow of time, were down to the last three levels.


    After Ye Chen was teleported to the sixteenth floor, both the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the golden monkey outside the tower, and Ye Chen inside the tower, all looked towards the sixteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower simultaneously.


    The space of this sixteenth floor was even vast and wide, like a real world.


    However, unlike the blood-red fire clouds and blood-red plants everywhere on the fifteenth floor, the world of the sixteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower was a yellowish-brown plain, with even the sky being a shade of yellowish-brown.


    At that moment, a burly figure was sitting cross-legged not far from Ye Chen''s teleportation spot, and as soon as Ye Chen entered the sixteenth floor, this figure immediately opened his eyes.


    "Is this the Guardian Protector of the sixteenth floor?"


    Ye Chen sized up the figure.


    Just sitting cross-legged, he was seven or eight meters tall, like a small mountain!


    He was bare-chested, revealing groups of muscles as solid as dragon coils, obviously containing incredible power within! More mystically, his flesh was marked with strange patterns that occasionally glowed with light.


    Huge in size, immense in strength, and a mysterious race¡ªall these were Ye Chen''s first impressions of this figure on the sixteenth floor.


    As Ye Chen was examining the figure, the figure stood up, towering over sixteen meters, several times taller than Ye Chen.


    The moment he stood up, his huge size became even more apparent, with explosive power hidden under the mystical flesh.


    "Trialist, I didn''t expect you to even defeat Luo Qianxue!"


    "Your Sword Intents surprise me!"


    The towering figure spoke to Ye Chen, his voice booming like thunder.


    "Senior, you know about the battle between me and Senior Luo Qianxue?" Ye Chen asked in surprise upon hearing the towering figure''s words.


    He had never heard the Guardian Protectors of lower floors mention the events of previous floors in his journey through the Ancient God Tower before. Now, this towering figure speaking about Ye Chen''s Sword Intents clearly knew about Ye Chen''s battle with Luo Qianxue!


    The towering figure laughed loudly, "Trialist, I am ''Barbarian Thunder,'' the Guardian Protector of the sixteenth floor, and like Luo Qianxue, I was one of the unparalleled talents favored by the master of the Ancient God Tower during the True Qi Realm competition. I am an invincible master of the True Qi Realm from the ''Barbarian Blood Clan''."


    "We, the defenders of the last four floors, managed to leave our spiritual illusions within this Ancient God Tower, of course, different from other puppet protectors. Not only can I see your trials on the fifteenth floor, but the guardians on the seventeenth floor above can also see our battle soon!"


    An invincible master of the True Qi Realm from the Barbarian Blood Clan!


    Ye Chen remembered what Luo Qianxue had told him. Luo Qianxue mentioned that the original master of the Ancient God Tower had invited mighty warriors from all races and held a huge competition in the True Qi Realm. From billions of True Qi cultivators, they selected four of the strongest in the True Qi Realm to leave their spiritual illusions and guard the last four floors of the Ancient God Tower.


    Luo Qianxue was an invincible master of the True Qi Realm from the Flying Spirit Clan, guarding the fifteenth floor!


    This Barbarian Thunder, stronger than Luo Qianxue, guarded the sixteenth floor and was an invincible master of the True Qi Realm from the Barbarian Blood Clan!


    Although Ye Chen did not know what the Barbarian Blood Clan was, the fact that Barbarian Thunder was stronger than Luo Qianxue showed his extraordinariness.


    Now, having witnessed the battle between Ye Chen and Luo Qianxue, and already aware of Ye Chen''s Sword Intents as a trump card, Barbarian Thunder was likely to be even more difficult to handle!


    Ye Chen, looking at Barbarian Thunder who was as sturdy as a small hill, grew solemn as well.


    Noticing Ye Chen''s grave expression, Barbarian Thunder laughed heartily, "Come on, trialist, let''s not waste time!"


    "The fact that you''ve made it to the sixteenth floor already proves your strength. I too want to spar with you, to see who among us is stronger,"


    "Bring out all your skills. Just Sword Intents alone, I''m afraid, won''t be enough to deal with me!"


    Boom!


    As Barbarian Thunder spoke, his massive feet stomped down forcefully, and he instantly shot towards Ye Chen.

 Chapter 129: Chapter 111: Nine Transformation Fighting Body

    Barbarian Thunder was massive, but his speed was not slow at all, in fact, not inferior to Luo Qianxue with her double wings on her back!


    Whoosh!


    Just as Barbarian Thunder came blasting over, silver Wind-Thunder Wings suddenly appeared behind Ye Chen, and with a flap of the wings, he soared into the sky.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s hand formed a claw in the air, and in an instant, swords of wind blades began to float around his body.


    Looking at Ye Chen who had flown to the sky, and the swords of wind blades all around his body, Barbarian Thunder cracked a loud laugh, stamped his feet fiercely on the ground and unexpectedly leaped dozens of meters high, charging directly towards Ye Chen in the sky.


    He was not at all afraid of the swords of wind blades controlled by the Wind Sword Intent around Ye Chen''s body!


    "Swords of wind blades, Storm Fury Slash!"


    Watching Barbarian Thunder charging at him, Ye Chen pointed downwards, and the myriad swords of wind blades around his body instantly formed a sword storm that devoured everything, sweeping towards Barbarian Thunder.


    Facing this astonishing sword storm, Barbarian Thunder did not dodge; the strange patterns on his skin burst forth with a bright light.


    Within the glow, Barbarian Thunder''s body charged straight into the sword storm that filled the sky!


    Boom!


    His charge scattered the entire sword storm!


    With Ye Chen''s current strength, controlling the swords of wind blades, he could easily kill a peak practitioner of the True Qi Realm within seconds, yet Barbarian Thunder was able to withstand the sword storm with his mere physical body.


    What kind of body was this, with such an incredible defense?!


    This completely shocked Ye Chen!


    "I told you before, mere Sword Intents are not enough to deal with me!"


    While Ye Chen was still in shock, Barbarian Thunder had already passed through the sword storm, charging dozens of meters high, coming directly in front of him.


    His huge palm lashed out fiercely to grab Ye Chen, aiming to catch him in his hand.


    Boom!


    The sound alone from his palm moving through the air caused it to explode, indicating the immense power behind his grip.


    How could Ye Chen let Barbarian Thunder catch him?


    As Barbarian Thunder reached out to grab him, the Wind-Thunder Wings behind Ye Chen spread out, dodging Barbarian Thunder''s terrifying grasp and at the same time, Ye Chen exploded upwards another thirty-some meters.


    This grab, having missed Ye Chen, resulted in Barbarian Thunder smashing back towards the earth with a "boom," shattering the brown earth and creating deep and massive ravines.


    As soon as Barbarian Thunder landed on the ground, he fixated on Ye Chen''s new location. With a stomp of his foot, he charged once again toward Ye Chen in the sky.


    "The physical defense is astonishing, and so are the speed and strength!"


    "The invincible True Qi Realm master of the Barbarian Blood Clan is truly formidable!"


    Watching Barbarian Thunder, who resembled a fierce beast, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, and once again a large swath of True Qi swords appeared around him.


    The previous swords of wind blades did not break Barbarian Thunder''s physical defenses; Ye Chen then stimulated an even more powerful Sword Intent, the Sword Intent of Thunder!


    Controlling a more powerful True Qi sword, he formed a large swath of silver Thunder Swords!


    The moment these silver Thunder Swords formed, the sound of thunder could even be heard from their blades.


    "Thunder Sword Skills, Heavenly Thunder Strike!"


    As the silver Thunder Swords appeared, Ye Chen instantly controlled them, bombarding the charging Barbarian Thunder from above.


    Boom!


    Immediately, Barbarian Thunder got completely submerged in the swath of Thunder Swords.


    However, a few breaths later, from within the Thunder Swords, the sound of Barbarian Thunder''s laughter emerged once again, "The Sword Intents of an Earth-rank Cultivation Technique cannot break my ''Barbarian Blood Xuan Body,'' trialist, show me your most powerful move!"


    In the midst of Barbarian Thunder''s laughter, he emerged unscathed once more from amidst the Thunder Swords, charging out.


    "It seems, I need to try the Slaughter Sword Intent that killed Jin Di''s Shadow!"


    Seeing that two attacks had failed to break Barbarian Thunder''s physical defense, Ye Chen spared no effort, reaching into the void with his fingers, and suddenly an endless aura of wind, rain, thunder, and slaughter began to spread from the Thunder Swords.


    In an instant, the myriad Thunder Swords formed into a colossal sword shadow, and with a downward slash, it went straight for the charging Barbarian Thunder!


    It was this slash that killed the divine consciousness phantom of Luo Qianxue.


    But just as this sword shadow, at an inconceivable speed, was about to hit Barbarian Thunder''s head, Barbarian Thunder, who was charging towards the sky, vanished from his original position in an instant.


    Boom!


    The slash did not hit Barbarian Thunder and instead struck the earth, creating a massive sword trench over a hundred meters long and seven to eight meters wide on the ground.


    As the sword shadow dissipated, with a "boom," Barbarian Thunder landed next to the sword trench.


    Looking at the astonishing trench in the earth, Barbarian Thunder''s eyes gleamed with excitement.


    "Powerful, the Slaughter Sword Intent is really powerful!"


    "If this slash had hit me, I fear my ''Barbarian Blood Xuan Body'' might have really been broken!"


    Saying this, Barbarian Thunder raised his head and looked towards Ye Chen in the sky, "Trialist, do you have any other moves? Though your sword of slaughter is powerful, with my speed, without taking it head-on, you''ll still not be able to hit me!"


    "Your winged flight makes it hard for me to catch you, and your speed, you will also find it hard to kill me."


    "If this continues, even if the thirty days of this layer pass, you still won''t be able to kill me, and you won''t break through to the next level."


    "If you have no other tricks up your sleeve, then there''s no need to fight me. Spend these last thirty days cultivating on the sixteenth floor and treasure this last opportunity to train!"


    In the sky, Ye Chen and Barbarian Thunder on the ground were indeed locked in a stalemate. With the techniques they had revealed, neither could suppress the other.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the golden monkey outside the Ancient God Tower were getting anxious as they watched the situation inside.


    "Could it be that Ye Chen will really be stopped here on the sixteenth floor?"


    "No, Ye Chen should still have other techniques!"


    As this thought flashed through the mind of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, Ye Chen, in the void, looked at Barbarian Thunder and finally made a new move.


    "Other techniques? Of course, I have them!"


    Ye Chen, having trained hard in the Ancient God Tower for over a year, naturally had more than just his Sword Intents!


    "Senior, your ''Barbarian Blood Xuan Body'' has extremely strong defensive power, so now try out my ''Nine Transformation Fighting Body'' as well!"


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen spoke, he stretched out his hand and his body suddenly burst forth with endless golden light.


    Within this endless golden light, a gigantic golden monkey phantom, over thirty meters long, formed around Ye Chen''s body.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s aura continued to climb. Even tens of meters away, Barbarian Thunder could feel Ye Chen''s power increasing dramatically!


    "Nine Transformation Fighting Body?"


    "What cultivation technique is that?"


    Barbarian Thunder, watching Ye Chen''s aura rise in the void and seeing the colossal golden monkey phantom around Ye Chen''s body, became serious.


    He realized that Ye Chen was using a new powerful technique.


    When the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact outside the tower saw the huge golden monkey phantom around Ye Chen, it cried out in surprise, "The Bone Pattern Secret Transmission, the thirty-meter Jin Di''s Shadow! Ye Chen, he actually managed to cultivate the Bone Pattern Secret Transmission to this extent without anyone noticing!"


    The technique Ye Chen was using now, the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, was exactly the powerful cultivation technique hidden within the golden monkey spiritual patterns in his bones that he had tempered to the fourth layer in the Ancient Furnace of Creation.


    The Nine Transformation Fighting Body, divided into nine transformations, according to the ''Bone Pattern Secret Transmission'', reaching the first three transformations was enough to possess the combat power of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Cultivating the first six transformations could rival the might of the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, and completing all nine transformations could increase strength to the formidable level of the Heavenly Saint Realm, even capable of forming a colossal golden monkey spiritual phantom over a thousand meters tall!


    Ye Chen had trained relentlessly for countless days and had also comprehended the "Heavenly Talent Intent Diagram of Di Kong" exchanged from the Myriad Treasures Stele, using the eighteen powerful intents awakened during the Spirit Sea Realm stage of Di Kong to aid his cultivation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    Now, he had finally cultivated this set of the Bone Pattern Secret Transmission "Nine Transformation Fighting Body" to the second transformation, gaining another astonishing combat method.


    Facing Barbarian Thunder, whom he had been unable to kill, Ye Chen decided to use this newly cultivated powerful technique!


    Boom!


    When Ye Chen''s aura reached its peak in the sky, the thousands of golden monkey spiritual patterns on his bones also suddenly erupted with boundless strength. Amidst this force, Ye Chen spread his Wind-Thunder Wings and, along with the giant golden monkey phantom around him, charged directly towards Barbarian Thunder on the ground.


    "Such astonishing power!"


    "Since you''ve brought out a new technique, let''s see whose strength is greater!"


    Excited by Ye Chen''s new move, Barbarian Thunder''s fighting spirit surged. He stomped fiercely on the ground, and his entire body also charged toward Ye Chen, who was diving down from the sky.


    This was clearly a head-to-head confrontation, a true test of strength between the two!


    Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen and Barbarian Thunder collided mid-air, their tremendous forces clashing directly against each other.


    In this clash, Barbarian Thunder of the Barbarian Blood Clan, an unbeatable master of the True Qi Realm, was sent crashing down toward the earth by Ye Chen''s impact, ultimately creating a huge crater a hundred meters in diameter in the ground.


    Ye Chen, after being repelled dozens of meters backward by the incredible force, turned his Wind-Thunder Wings and charged again toward Barbarian Thunder in the crater.


    Ye Chen actually got the upper hand in the clash of strength with Barbarian Thunder!


    The successful cultivation of the second transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body allowed him to overpower the vastly strong Barbarian Thunder!


    Boom!


    After Barbarian Thunder was struck by Ye Chen, his internal energy churned tumultuously. He was preparing to rise from the crater when he saw Ye Chen charging towards him again, and amidst a flickering golden light, Ye Chen grabbed him. Bound by countless streams of True Qi, Barbarian Thunder was directly hoisted up by Ye Chen.


    Then, with a swing of his hand, Ye Chen sent the sixteen- or seventeen-meter-tall Barbarian Thunder hurtling into the sky before unleashing a surge of power from his hand, violently slamming Barbarian Thunder back down onto the earth.


    Compared to Barbarian Thunder''s massive form, Ye Chen was much smaller.


    Yet, with the aid of the "Nine Transformation Fighting Body" and the astonishing colossal strength from the golden monkey patterns in his bones, he could physically swing and smash the much larger Barbarian Thunder with his bare hands!


    This scene was shockingly intense.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the golden monkey outside the Ancient God Tower were completely dumbfounded by Ye Chen, who looked more like a humanoid beast than Barbarian Thunder.


    They could feel that Ye Chen''s cultivation of the "Nine Transformation Fighting Body" had made his physical strength so great that he could easily smash a small mountain with a single punch!


    Aside from his Sword Intents, Ye Chen had also elevated his physical strength to such an unimaginable degree!


    "Powerful!"


    "Your Nine Transformation Fighting Body is indeed powerful!"


    "It seems that I must really see who is stronger in terms of strength!"


    Barbarian Thunder, without waiting for Ye Chen to grab him again or for another fall into the crater, had blood lights suddenly erupting from the patterns on his skin. In this endless blood light, his strength also began to grow wildly.


    Even on his head, two shocking horns suddenly sprouted.


    After Ye Chen revealed his new technique, Barbarian Thunder of the Barbarian Blood Clan, an invincible master of the True Qi Realm, was also forced by Ye Chen to use his own powerful method!

 Chapter 130: Chapter 112: Eighteen Levels!

    ```


    Boom!


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    Amidst the endless bloodlight bursting from the patterns on his flesh, Barbarian Thunder, now with two pointed horns protruding from his head, shot out directly from the crater created by the smash.


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    As he burst out, he brought with him a whirlwind, charging straight towards Ye Chen.


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    Illuminated by the bloodlight, Barbarian Thunder''s speed and strength both underwent a new transformation, and with this charge, he seemed like a giant mountain, sweeping away everything in his path.


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    "Come on!"


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    "Let''s have a real contest!"


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    Ye Chen stomped his foot hard on the ground, shaking the entire earth, and the myriad Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns within the bones of his body simultaneously burst out with endless light, enveloping Ye Chen in a golden halo.


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    Simultaneously, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense stirred again, and the Gang Yuan True Qi occupying eight and a half of the nine True Qi Vortices in his Qi Sea emitted a blinding silver light.


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    In an instant, the Gang Yuan True Qi was injected into the power of Ye Chen''s physical body.


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    Enshrouded in the light of the Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns and the silver light of Gang Yuan True Qi, the colossal Golden Monkey Phantom outside Ye Chen''s body roared up to the heavens.


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    Boom!


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    Watching Barbarian Thunder charging at him, Ye Chen pushed off with his feet, and his whole body hurtled directly towards Barbarian Thunder.


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    The sixteenth or seventh meter tall, bloodlight-wrapped Barbarian Thunder with horns on his head collided wildly with Ye Chen, who was shrouded in golden and silver light with the Giant Golden Monkey Phantom swirling around his body.


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    This was a direct collision of strength!


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    It was another clash of power after both opponents had advanced their combat power!


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    At the point of collision between the two, a heaven-shaking explosion erupted, the sound of the air itself being blown apart by the two''s force!


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    In the midst of this explosion, the two of them, who had collided head-on, were both blown back dozens of meters. Then, almost simultaneously, they charged at each other again.


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    In this new collision, their strength somehow took another leap forward!


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    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


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    Barbarian Thunder no longer relied on speed to dodge, and Ye Chen did not resort to using his Sword Intents. Instead, they were determined to measure strength against strength in their respective Battle Body Martial Skills.


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    They began a fierce contest of strength!


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    Barbarian Blood Xuan Body versus Nine Transformation Fighting Body!


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    Eventually, Barbarian Thunder turned completely blood red, the strange patterns on his flesh making him look like a man drenched in blood.


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    Barbarian Blood Xuan Body, this was indeed the sign of the complete eruption of the Barbarian Blood Xuan Body!


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    As for Ye Chen, in the final moments, the more than thirty meters high Giant Golden Monkey Phantom outside his body fully merged into him, combining with his physical strength. Ye Chen himself, had truly reached the most formidable state of the Second Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


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    Strongest against strongest!


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    In the final clash of strength, amidst the thunderous sound of their savage collision, Barbarian Thunder, the sixteenth-floor guardian, was sent flying by Ye Chen''s strike, hundreds of meters away, spewing out a mouthful of blood.


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    As for Ye Chen, he merely took five steps back and stood firm, immovable!


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    In this last impact, Ye Chen once again completely overpowered Barbarian Thunder in terms of strength.


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    The first three transformations of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body correspond to the combat power of the Spirit Sea Realm.


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    Having cultivated to the strongest state of the Second Transformation, Ye Chen now possessed the immense combat power akin to that of a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert. And with the unparalleled Gang Yuan True Qi further reinforcing him, his strength from the Nine Transformation Fighting Body was doubled!


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    No matter how fierce Barbarian Thunder was, even as an invincible True Qi Realm master of the Barbarian Blood Clan, he fell short in the contest of strength!


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    "Phew!"


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    Barbarian Thunder, spewing out a large mouthful of blood, wiped the bloodstains from the corner of his mouth and stood up.


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    "Strength, Trialist, you have completely overpowered me in my strongest aspect!"


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    "You have passed the sixteenth layer!"


    ```


    ```


    As Barbarian Thunder spoke, his entire body emitted a brownish-yellow light, and then he vanished from the world, leaving behind only a Teleportation Token to the seventeenth floor.


    ```


    ```


    Barbarian Thunder, having been overpowered, directly admitted defeat!


    ```


    ```


    After defeating Luo Qianxue, an invincible True Qi Realm master of the Flying Spirit Clan, Ye Chen once again triumphed over another invincible True Qi Realm master, Barbarian Thunder from the Barbarian Blood Clan!


    ```


    ```


    "Swoosh!"


    ```


    ```


    Ye Chen looked at the spot where Barbarian Thunder disappeared, stretched out his hand, and captured the dropped Teleportation Token.


    ```


    ```


    "This Barbarian Thunder is indeed powerful. If I had not successfully cultivated the Second Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and had the Gang Yuan True Qi injected into me, I might have really not been able to beat him!"


    ```


    ```


    Although he had defeated Barbarian Thunder, Ye Chen''s internal energy was still rolling violently, clearly having suffered some depletion.


    ```


    ```


    He sat cross-legged on the ground within the space of the sixteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower, recovering.


    ```


    ```


    Outside the Ancient God Tower, as they saw Barbarian Thunder concede defeat and Ye Chen once again obtained a Teleportation Token to the seventeenth floor, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was left gaping, at a loss for words.


    ```


    ```


    Ye Chen, creating miracles one after another, now, even the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact didn''t know what his limits were.


    ```


    ```


    Breaking into the seventeenth floor, then the eighteenth?


    ```


    ```


    Or could he, unprecedentedly, clear the entire Ancient God Tower, defeating all the guardians of the eighteen floors?


    ```


    ```


    "Another thirty days of cultivation."


    ```


    ```


    "Ye Chen is already so strong now, to what extent will he improve after thirty days?!"


    ```


    ```


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact had virtually witnessed Ye Chen''s rise step by step.


    ```


    ```


    From a standout among the True Qi Realm, to be able to sweep away experts at the twelfth level of True Qi directly, and then to be a match for early-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts.


    ```


    ```


    Now, he had even defeated invincible True Qi Realm masters, possessing the absolute strength to overpower early-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts!


    ```


    And yet, Ye Chen had never shown a true sense of powerlessness. In the trials of the eighteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower, no one had been able to bring him to a complete halt!


    "Chirp~"


    "Chirp~"


    The golden monkey, seeing Ye Chen victorious once again, excitedly leapt into the air, soaring hundreds of feet high, hopping around in the heaven and earth outside the Ancient God Tower.


    Meanwhile, on the seventeenth floor of the Ancient God Tower¡ªa tier unseen by both the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, the golden monkey, and Ye Chen¡ªa youth in grey clothing carrying a wine gourd on his back heaved a deep sigh.


    "A peerless hero, this trialist, can definitely be called a peerless hero!"


    "With long-range martial arts, he has powerful and peerless sword intents, and in close combat, he possesses the explosive strength of his fighting body!"


    "Even the terrifying silver True Qi that he cultivates internally is beyond my comprehension!"


    "He simply does not show any weaknesses!"


    "If he had participated in the True Qi Realm Grand Competition back in the day, I''m afraid it would have been him, guarding the final levels of this Ancient God Tower!"


    "Maybe even replacing me, guarding this seventeenth floor."


    From the words of the youth in grey clothing, it was clear that he was the guardian of the seventeenth floor of the Ancient God Tower.


    He had watched Ye Chen''s battle with Barbarian Thunder, hence the multitude of his reflections!


    Among sighs, the youth in grey raised his head and looked higher into the sky, towards the supreme eighteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower.


    "If I were to battle this trialist, we might draw even, or I might even be defeated by him."


    "It seems that only Princess Yan Ling''er, who was unmatched in the True Qi Realm Grand Competition those years ago, the princess of the Yan Clan from the six ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, could truly overpower this trialist!"


    In the mind of the youth in grey, the image of an invincible young girl with a stunningly beautiful face emerged.


    Back then, this girl was truly unmatched. Even if there were countless True Qi Realm experts from myriad races, she stood at the end.


    Therefore, she was the one to guard the strongest layer¡ªthe eighteenth floor¡ªof the Ancient God Tower!


    The youth in grey then looked down towards the sixteenth floor, towards Ye Chen, who was sitting in meditation and silently cultivating on the sixteenth floor.


    "Trialist, I hope you can subdue me just as you defeated Luo Qianxue and Barbarian Thunder!"


    "I hope you can have a true contest with ''Princess Yan Ling''er'' at the top floor of the Ancient God Tower!"


    "I''ve never heard the sound of the Ancient God Tower being pierced through, never..."


    After expressing his feelings, the youth in grey once again fell into silence.


    Thirty days later inside the Ancient God Tower¡ªwhich was three days outside the tower¡ªYe Chen, having completed his cultivation, officially entered the seventeenth floor of the Ancient God Tower!


    Thirty days of cultivation had allowed Ye Chen to fully recover from the damage sustained in battle with Barbarian Thunder, and he had completely integrated the insights from their battle into his combat skills.


    The greater reward was that Ye Chen had managed to cultivate two-thirds of the Heaven and Earth True Qi within the ninth True Qi Vortex into Gang Yuan True Qi.


    At that moment, only a very small part of the nine True Qi vortices in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea had not yet transformed into Gang Yuan True Qi, the rest had all become Gang Yuan True Qi!


    As stipulated by the second layer of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter, the "Gang Yuan Mantra," once all True Qi had transformed into Gang Yuan True Qi, the Gang Yuan Mantra would be truly completed, and one could step into a new level of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Ye Chen was getting closer and closer to completing the "Gang Yuan Mantra."


    It was very likely that he would complete the "Gang Yuan Mantra" within the Ancient God Tower and enter the next stage of the Gang Yuan Chapter, unlocking even more powerful spells from the Primordial Star Scripture.


    The first layer of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Meridian Refining Art," had enabled him to cultivate the Eight Extraordinary Meridians and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels in addition to the Qi Meridians, greatly increasing his cultivation speed and Divine Sense perception!


    The second layer of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Gang Yuan Mantra," allowed him to cultivate Gang Yuan True Qi, which was countless times more formidable than Heaven and Earth True Qi, propelling his combat power forward by a qualitative leap.


    Ye Chen had no idea what the next layer of spells would bring him.


    He was filled with immense anticipation!


    When he stepped into the seventeenth level of the Ancient God Tower and directly saw the guardian of the floor, the grey-clothed youth with a wine gourd on his back, Ye Chen''s fighting spirit surged. He was determined to defeat another opponent, to gain more cultivation time and further refine his Gang Yuan True Qi!


    He wanted to grasp this final opportunity for extra cultivation time offered by the miraculous time flow rate within the Ancient God Tower!


    This seventeenth floor''s guardian was different from the previous guardians; the grey-clothed youth immediately invited Ye Chen to display new techniques against him.


    If Ye Chen could display a technique that dazzled him, then he would concede defeat right away, allowing Ye Chen entry to the highest level of the Ancient God Tower.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen did not hesitate, as what he urgently needed was cultivation time within the Ancient God Tower; he was more than willing to fulfill the guardian''s request.


    Whoosh!


    When Ye Chen''s "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" flew out from the Sword Palace Acupoint, the grey-clothed youth guardian of the seventeenth level was so shocked that he jumped up.


    He had not expected Ye Chen''s technique to call upon a flying sword!


    The grey-clothed youth also knew the three major combat powers of flying swords; he even knew that if this had not been a tower challenge but a fight to the death, Ye Chen, with his flying sword, could easily slay a late-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse by invoking the flying sword''s second combat power¡ªLife-bound Flying Sword Breakage.


    Immediately, the grey-clothed youth conceded defeat to Ye Chen.


    Having watched Ye Chen''s battle with Barbarian Thunder, he was already aware of Ye Chen''s formidable techniques. Confronted with Ye Chen displaying his flying sword skills again, he knew he was no match.


    "Eighteenth floor, trialist, I am looking forward to you entering the eighteenth floor; you indeed have the capability!"


    "I hope that in your final battle against ''Princess Yan Ling''er,'' you won''t be defeated too miserably!"


    With those words, the grey-clothed youth left behind a Teleportation Token and disappeared.


    "Princess Yan Ling''er, the final battle?"


    "Could it be that the guardian of the eighteenth floor is the ''Princess Yan Ling''er'' he mentioned?"


    Ye Chen, holding the Teleportation Token to the highest level of the Ancient God Tower, the eighteenth floor, had not expected that the penultimate level would yield so easily, his opponent conceding without a fight!


    He smiled and shook his head, then continued to cultivate on the seventeenth level of the Ancient God Tower.


    Another thirty days passed, and Ye Chen, who had cultivated for a total of five hundred and ten days within the Ancient God Tower, finally teleported to the last level, the eighteenth floor!

 Chapter 131: Chapter 113 The Tower Guardian "Yan Linger

    Just as Ye Ch was transported to the eighteth layer of the Ancit God Tower, the topmost layer, the eighteth layer of the tower began to light up brightly wh viewed from the outside.


    "The eighteth layer!"


    "Ye Ch has tered the highest level of the Ancit God Tower, the supreme eighteth layer!"


    Looking at the brightly illuminated eighteth layer of the Ancit God Tower, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was extraordinarily excited.


    It had followed Heavly Saint Di Kong for countless years and had witnessed him obtaining this mystical Ancit God Tower.


    Yet, despite the passage of countless years, ev within the Jindi Ancit Clan, no one had be able to ter the final three layers.


    Now, not only had Ye Ch tered the last three layers, but he had ev successfully tered the highest eighteth layer!


    Because of Ye Ch, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact had the chance to witness all eighte layers of the Ancit God Tower!


    Because of Ye Ch, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact could behold the guardians of all eighte layers of the Ancit God Tower!


    Ye Ch not only achieved the highest reward standards set by Heavly Saint Di Kong but also fulfilled all of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s expectations for the final three layers of the tower.


    "Little guy, the young boy who will evtually take you away from the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple is really impressive!" the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said to the gold monkey in its palm.


    "Yiya!" The gold monkey called out excitedly.


    The lively gold monkey clearly understood the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact. Its whole body shone with gold light, and its brilliant fur excitedly emitted bursts of auroral light.


    It was appart that the little fellow was happy about Ye Ch''s strgth!


    "Let''s see the eighteth layer."


    "This ultimate layer is probably also the most difficult to break through."


    "However, ev if he doesn''t break through, Ye Ch can still cultivate for thirty full days inside, and he''ll have made complete use of all the extra cultivation time the Ancit God Tower offers!"


    The Ancit God Tower has a total of eighte layers, and Ye Ch, having tered the eighteth layer, can cultivate within it. Whether he breaks through or not won''t affect his cultivation time.


    Of course, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was keer to see Ye Ch successfully overcome all eighte layers.


    To conquer the tire Ancit God Tower, to slice through it completely, would be much more satisfying than losing at this final layer!


    Carrying a gaze full of anticipation, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the gold monkey both looked toward the interior of the eighteth layer.


    "Is this the eighteth layer of the Ancit God Tower?"


    Upon being transported to the spatial realm of the eighteth layer, Ye Ch felt as if he had tered a fairy-like world.


    It was a vast, unimaginable expanse of heav and earth where the spiritual ergy was so dse it was unbelievable. Ye Ch had never before tered a realm with such conctrated spiritual ergy.


    The spiritual ergy ev formed droplets of gre spiritual liquid, which shimmered on the g.


    Where Ye Ch stood, there was a vast gre prairie, and looking into the distance, he could ev see mountains floating in the sky!


    This eighteth layer of the Ancit God Tower was distinct from the previous sevte layers!


    As Ye Ch was observing this world, a huge law platform suddly rose not far from him. The ormous platform, composed of sev gre leaves, had a twelve or thirte-year-old girl sitting cross-legged on top.


    This young girl, though young in age, radiated an otherworldly beauty. Her whole body emitted a holy and fairy-like aura, unlike any mortal being.


    The girl''s waterfall-like hair flowed freely over the Gre Leaf Law Platform. She wore simple and elegant robes, and her crystal-clear eyes were now looking at Ye Ch.


    "Congratulations, trialist. You have tered the eighteth layer, and now you can joy the full befit of the Ancit God Tower''s tfold time flow for cultivation," the girl said to Ye Ch with a faint smile.


    Ye Ch looked at the girl, who, despite her young age, exuded a holy, fairy-like aura, and felt a stir in his heart, "It seems she is the ''Princess Yan Ling''er'' mtioned by the guardian of the sevteth layer."


    Ye Ch remembered that the guardian of the sevteth layer had also hoped that he wouldn''t lose too badly on the eighteth layer.


    The guardian had witnessed Ye Ch''s Sword Intts, his Nine Transformation Fighting Body techniques, and he had ev se Ye Ch''s flying sword technique.


    Ye Ch''s various methods ev made the guardian concede the match!


    Still, that guardian believed Ye Ch would lose to the girl on this eighteth layer, which suggested the girl''s formidable power.


    Ye Ch could hardly wait to experice the girl''s moves firsthand.


    As if ssing Ye Ch''s eagerness for the challge, the girl gave Ye Ch a gtle smile, "Let me introduce myself first, my name is ''Yan Ling''er.''


    "Princess Yan Ling''er? I am Ye Ch. I''ve already heard of your great name in the sevteth layer," Ye Ch said to the girl with a smile.


    "That ''Mo Yunsong'' really took the easy way out, knowing he couldn''t beat you and conceding straight away," the girl said with a wry smile. Her eyes as clear as glass th turned back to Ye Ch, "However, Ye Ch, since you''ve come to this point, just quietly cultivate here. After thirty days, you will also leave the Ancit God Tower."


    "There''s no need to challge me. Since the Ancit God Tower was created, which has be three thousand five hundred and sevty-two years, no one has defeated me since I left my divine sse to guard the highest layer over three thousand years ago, and I reckon you won''t be an exception."


    The girl''s voice was filled with immse confidce!


    She was actually telling Ye Ch to concede directly and focus on cultivating peacefully!


    But how could Ye Ch ever concede so easily?


    Having reached the final layer, he of course had to duel with the guardian of this last level!


    Ev if his oppont was formidable, he wouldn''t concede without a fight, and he wanted to witness the strgth of his adversary!


    "Princess Yan Ling''er, since I have reached this level, I must, of course, gage with you in combat. I hope the Princess will oblige," Ye Ch said without any hesitation.


    "If you wish to challge me, as the guardian of this layer, I will certainly fulfill your wish,"


    "However, before we cross swords, let me tell you about the Ancit God Tower. Th, you can decide whether you still wish to challge me,"


    Yan Ling''er, who was sitting on the Gre Leaf Law Platform, spoke.


    The affairs of the Ancit God Tower?


    This Ancit God Tower involved the mysteries of the laws of time that not ev beings of the Heavly Saint Realm could comprehd; Ye Ch was naturally immsely interested.


    He also wanted to hear just what kind of secrets Princess Yan Ling''er, the guardian of the highest level of the Ancit God Tower, would reveal about it.


    "In fact, this Ancit God Tower was crafted by my grandfather, the Ancit Emperor of the Yan Clan from the Minor Spirit Realm!"


    "Such Ancit God Towers, he crafted a total of ninety-nine!"


    The Ancit God Tower was crafted by Yan Ling''er''s grandfather, the Ancit Emperor of the Yan Clan from the Minor Spirit Realm?


    There were as many as ninety-nine of these miraculous Ancit God Towers?!


    Ye Ch was completely astonished by what Yan Ling''er had revealed about the Ancit God Tower.


    "Minor Spirit Realm? Why does that place sound so familiar?" Ye Ch felt as if he had heard of the "Minor Spirit Realm" somewhere.


    In a flash of insight, he recalled where he had countered the name Minor Spirit Realm.


    Back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, wh Ye Ch and Jiang Yao climbed the summit of the mountain of swords, they met the shadow clone left by Heavly Saint Qian Ji, who mtioned that the real Heavly Saint Qian Ji had gone to the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Heavly Saint Qian Ji wt to the Minor Spirit Realm in search of a sacred treasure that could revive Heavly Saint Lian Yue, who had fall into a coma due to the collapse of the Flying Sword Palace.


    At that time, Ye Ch had wondered what kind of place the Minor Spirit Realm was.


    Now, to hear about the Minor Spirit Realm again in this Ancit God Tower, and ev to counter Yan Ling''er from the Minor Spirit Realm¡ªand her grandfather, the Ancit Emperor of the Yan Clan who crafted these towers¡ªwas unexpected!


    Although he didn''t know just how wondrous the Minor Spirit Realm was, the mere fact that Heavly Saint Qian Ji had journeyed there in search of a sacred treasure made it clear that it must be extraordinary!


    Although he was unaware of how powerful the Ancit Emperor of the Yan Clan was, from the mere ability to craft Ancit God Towers with time flowing t times faster, he could deduce that the emperor''s strgth likely surpassed that of the Heavly Saint Realm!


    No wonder Yan Ling''er was so confidt in saying that Ye Ch could not possibly defeat her; after all, she was the granddaughter of the master of the Ancit God Tower, possessing a grand heritage and presumably, significant strgth!


    Yan Ling''er continued, "My grandfather crafted such Ancit God Towers in order to nurture the young members of our Yan Clan, hce only those under the age of twty could ter."


    "Later, in order to spread their befits to other realms, my grandfather st thirty-three of these towers into the Lower Realm, and the one you''re in is one of the Ancit God Towers that flowed into the Barbaric Wilderness Contint!"


    Lower Realm? Barbaric Wilderness Contint?


    Does that mean the Minor Spirit Realm is not within the Barbaric Wilderness Contint?


    Ye Ch always thought that the Minor Spirit Realm was a mysterious place within the Barbaric Wilderness Contint, but from Yan Ling''er''s words, it seemed that the Minor Spirit Realm was far more powerful¡ªthe Barbaric Wilderness Contint was only known as a Lower Realm to the Minor Spirit Realm!


    "Princess Yan Ling''er, where exactly is the Minor Spirit Realm?" Ye Ch became exceedingly curious about the Minor Spirit Realm.


    "The Minor Spirit Realm is one of thirty-three contints, including the Barbaric Wilderness Contint, that make up the Supreme Spiritual Realm. Only those with the strgth of the Heavly Saint Realm have the chance to traverse the spatial fractures to the Minor Spirit Realm that op once every three thousand years."


    "Others can only be transported there if the supreme beings within the Minor Spirit Realm employ great divine powers to passively bring them in."


    "Ye Ch, your currt strgth is not sufficit to ter the Minor Spirit Realm,"


    Yan Ling''er said with a light smile.


    Ye Ch nodded.


    He was currtly in the True Qi Realm, and although his true combat ability could already suppress early-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts and ev contd with mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm practitioners, he was still vastly far from reaching the Heavly Saint Realm.


    The prospect of navigating through the mysterious spatial fractures as told by Yan Ling''er was simply out of his reach.


    "After crafting the Ancit God Tower, my grandfather teleported countless True Qi Realm experts from thirty-three realms of the Lower Realm, along with those from the Minor Spirit Realm, to conduct a grand competition. Ultimately, four individuals, including myself, were chos as the final four guardians of the Ancit God Tower,"


    "In our Yan Clan, if someone manages to break through to the sixteth level, they qualify to cultivate in the sacred lands of our clan. However, for the thirty-three towers that tered the Lower Realm, such an opportunity is not available; they only provide the chance to cultivate with accelerated time."


    "Nonetheless, my grandfather once said that if anyone could break through all eighte levels and completely conquer the Ancit God Tower, ev a person from the Lower Realm would be giv an opportunity, a chance to cultivate in the Yan Clan''s ancit lands."


    "But in the more than two thousand years since the thirty-three Ancit God Towers tered the Lower Realm, no one has ever managed to break through all eighte levels."


    "Ev within my Yan Clan, no one has achieved such a feat."


    "After all, only those under the age of twty can ter the tower, and so far, no one under that age has managed to defeat me."


    "Ye Ch, do you think you can be the first to break through all eighte levels?"


    In the d, Yan Ling''er, with a smile, asked Ye Ch.

 Chapter 132: Chapter 114 Yuanteng, Crimson Fire

    ```


    "Whether I can make it through or not, I must try!"


    Ye Ch looked at Yan Ling''er, saying so with a light smile.


    Yan Ling''er''s words, of course, wouldn''t scare Ye Ch.


    Just because others failed, it didn''t mean Ye Ch would fail the challge too!


    Ev in defeat, he must fight!


    Engaging with various masters, grasping combat skills through battles, and hancing his actual combat abilities were things Ye Ch had always be doing.


    The great opportunity of the Ancit God Tower was not only about the chance of accelerated time flow but also the chance to spar with the guardians of each level of the tower.


    The strongest level guardian of this eighteth floor, the first place champion of the True Qi Realm from the Minor Spirit Realm, Yan Ling''er, was here, and Ye Ch wouldn''t miss the opportunity to spar with her.


    Moreover, Ye Ch was not without a chance of victory!


    Since stepping onto the Barbaric Wilderness Contint, Ye Ch''s achievemts had already far surpassed countless True Qi Realm cultivators.


    To date, no one had heard of anyone who could, in just over a year, rise from a weakling of the first layer of the True Qi Realm, subjected to being bullied by others, to a strgth that could rival a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!


    Nor had anyone se someone like Ye Ch, cultivating so many powerful methods!


    More than a year''s harsh training in the Ancit God Tower, accumulating day by day, Ye Ch had indeed reaped a great harvest and transformed tremdously!


    Although Ye Ch was not born as noble as Yan Ling''er, he relied on his hard work and reltless cultivation, seizing every opportunity to turn all chances into his strgth.


    Of course, he dared to challge Yan Ling''er in battle!


    "Good, as I said, if you challge me, I won''t refuse!"


    "Make your move, and if you can get within a thirty-foot range of me, I will stand up and fight you!"


    "So far, out of the ninety-nine Ancit God Towers and challges over three thousand years, only two people have managed to do so!"


    Seated on the Gre Leaf Law Platform, dressed in a robe, holy and celestial-like Yan Ling''er spoke to Ye Ch.


    In the challges of over three thousand years across the ninety-nine Ancit God Towers, only two people could force Yan Ling''er to stand up for a battle?


    Others couldn''t ev get close to her?


    Yan Ling''er was this powerful!


    Ye Ch felt his fighting spirit surge. He too wanted to see just how formidable Yan Ling''er was!


    "Th I shall learn from Princess Yan Ling''er!"


    As Ye Ch spoke, the Gang Yuan True Qi inside his body surged forth, and the Wind-Thunder Wings immediately appeared on his back.


    With a flap of his wings, Ye Ch prepared to fly towards Yan Ling''er.


    The distance betwe Ye Ch and Yan Ling''er was only about a doz yards, and with the speed of the Wind-Thunder Wings, he could break into Yan Ling''er''s thirty-foot range in just the blink of an eye, forcing her to stand and confront him.


    But since Yan Ling''er indicated that most people couldn''t ev get close to her, it probably wouldn''t be that easy to fly over there.


    Ye Ch also grew wary in his heart.


    "Swoosh," just as Ye Ch unfurled his wings and started to take off, countless vines suddly broke through the soil on the large grassland where he stood, and in an instant, transformed into giant vines, dozs of meters long, dancing wildly in the sky, twining towards Ye Ch.


    The giant vines were astonishingly fast. Before Ye Ch could ev move, the vines had already wrapped in front of him.


    Yan Ling''er''s move!


    Instantly, Ye Ch realized, this was Yan Ling''er''s move!


    No wonder she said it was hard for someone to get close to her. She could remotely control the dancing vines to obstruct her oppont''s advance.


    Ye Ch had be on guard for Yan Ling''er''s move. As the vines wrapped in front of him, countless Sword of True Qi materialized a Ye Ch.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    No sooner had these Sword of True Qi formed than they sliced towards the dancing vines.


    These Sword of True Qi, formed by the powerful Sword Intt of Thunder, could easily shred a mountain!


    However, wh these Thunder Swords slashed at the dancing vines, they only left shallow sword marks on them, unable to sever the vines at all!


    Ye Ch''s face changed dramatically.


    He hadn''t anticipated that the dancing vines controlled by Yan Ling''er would be so tough.


    In the meantime, the vines had wrapped a the Protective True Qi outside Ye Ch''s body.


    Just as Ye Ch was about to unleash an ev more powerful Slaughter Sword Intt, the vines didn''t pierce through his Protective True Qi. Instead, with a fierce coiling and a toss, they flung Ye Ch dozs of yards away!


    These vines, incredibly fast and unbelievably tough, ev their strgth was astonishing!


    Whoosh!


    Ye Ch, flung away by the vines, stabilized himself from falling to the g by fluttering his Wind-Thunder Wings in mid-air and halted to hover in the void.


    "What kind of technique is this?!"


    Ye Ch looked at the giant dancing vines, each dozs of meters long in the area where he had be standing, and couldn''t help but exclaim.


    This was the first time Ye Ch had be flung directly since he tered the Ancit God Tower!


    ```


    The eighteth floor guardian, Princess Yan Ling''er, indeed exhibited astonishing strgth as soon as she made her move!


    "Again!"


    With the Wind-Thunder Wings unfurled behind him, Ye Ch once again shot toward Princess Yan Ling''er, while at the same time, countless Swords of True Qi emanating an dless aura of slaughter hovered a his body.


    These were the Swords of True Qi controlled by the Slaughter Sword Intt. Facing the incredibly hard and massive vines, Ye Ch prepared to employ his strongest Sword Intt to cut down these tdrils.


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Ch shot forward, dless vines burst forth beath him, sweeping toward him to twine and bind from all directions.


    Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!


    This time, Ye Ch wielded the Swords of True Qi controlled by the Slaughter Sword Intt, with the lights of the "Wind, Rain, Thunder and Lightning" four Sword Intts swirling a them, suddly exploding with boundless killing intt.


    The Sword of Slaughter directly struck at the massive vines twining from all a.


    As expected of the Slaughter Sword Intt, which was more powerful than any of the four Sword Intts Ye Ch possessed. Whereas the Sword Intt of Thunder only managed to leave small sword marks on the massive vines, the Sword of Slaughter actually cut them in half.


    However, before Ye Ch could ev feel a sse of joy, something astonishing happed: where the vines had be cut, new ones sprouted instantly, reforming into a sky full of tdrils that wrapped toward him again!


    Cut! Cut! Cut!


    Ye Ch reltlessly sliced through the vines with the Sword of Slaughter, but the growth rate of these tdrils did not slow down compared to the speed at which he was cutting them; in fact, it evtually turned into an dless, scorched battle.


    If this wt on, Ye Ch feared that he would run out of True Qi before he could ev reach Princess Yan Ling''er, let alone cut down all the vines.


    "This ''Earth Elemtal Vine'' is my Innate Secret Skill, the power of the earth, dlessly regerating!"


    "In over three thousand years, only two people have brok through the deadly trap of the ''Earth Elemtal Vine''. Ye Ch, if you can''t resist, just admit defeat!"


    Wrapped in the veloping vine tdrils, Ye Ch heard Princess Yan Ling''er''s faint voice.


    Admit defeat?


    Having just fought, how could Ye Ch admit defeat?


    If others had passed through the deadly trap of these vines, it meant there must be a way to break through!


    "The speed of cutting must surpass the rate of the vines'' growth!"


    "To increase the power of killing, my Slaughter Sword Intt has just clashed with this ''Earth Elemtal Vine'', I must further suppress these vines with stronger attacks!"


    As this thought flashed through Ye Ch''s mind, a point of crimson light burst forth suddly from the cter of his forehead.


    This burst of crimson light transformed into a fiery-red sword beam, which happed to be Ye Ch''s Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire" kept within the Sword Palace Acupoint.


    "A flying sword?"


    "On the sevteth floor, you''ve already withdrawn this flying sword."


    "With your True Qi Realm, the flying sword you nurtured cannot sever my ''Earth Elemtal Vine'', unless you ignite the life-bound sacrifice, or ev cause the flying sword to self-destruct!"


    "Ye Ch, this is just a test of the Ancit God Tower; do you truly wish to damage your sword palace by risking the life-bound sacrifice or the self-destruction of your flying sword?"


    Princess Yan Ling''er, seeing Ye Ch control his Life-bound Flying Sword to shoot forth, still had no ripples in her voice.


    At this momt, as the "Crimson Fire" flying sword that shot out turned into a fiery-red sword beam, an dless gleam of firelight suddly erupted from the sword, and the tire flying sword seemed to instantly elevate to a shocking quality!


    "Who said that the flying sword nurtured by my True Qi Realm must require a life-bound sacrifice or self-destruction to sever the ''Earth Elemtal Vine''?"


    "On the sevteth floor, I only displayed the flying sword for that guardian to see; I never used the full power of the flying sword!"


    "Now, let''s see if this ''Earth Elemtal Vine'' can withstand the burn of my ''Crimson Fire''!"


    Boom!


    In the midst of Ye Ch''s words, the "Crimson Fire" flying sword, radiating dless firelight, directly flew toward the sky full of massive vines twining him. Wh the flying sword struck the vines, its fire actually set the massive tdrils alight.


    The speed of the flying sword was incomparably fast. In an instant, while darting through the sky, all the vines were ignited!


    The sky full of vines burned fiercely!


    "How is this possible?"


    Princess Yan Ling''er, seated in meditation and seeing her massive vines set ablaze by the fire of the flying sword, showed an incredulous expression on her usually calm face and ev stood up abruptly.


    And at this momt, with the flying sword''s fire igniting the sky full of vines, they could no longer stop Ye Ch. With a flutter of the Wind-Thunder Wings, he directly reached Princess Yan Ling''er.


    Ye Ch had become the third person to force Princess Yan Ling''er to stand up!


    What Princess Yan Ling''er did not know was that Ye Ch''s Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire" was no ordinary flying sword; it was a remarkable treasure won from the Sea God Palace in the Sea of Chaos at the Heavly Saint Realm sword fighting championship held by Heavly Saints Qian Ji and Lian Yue!


    A stupdous flying sword of Saint-tier quality!


    Although Ye Ch had not yet fully nurtured it to wield the power of a sacred weapon, after more than a year of nurturing, the "Crimson Fire" flying sword had already changed from its past self.


    It now possessed a tremdous combat strgth!


    This combat strgth, which released the flying sword''s fire, was no ordinary flame but a True Fire of high quality inhert in the sword''s power. It easily pierced through Princess Yan Ling''er''s "Earth Elemtal Vine" formation!


    Flying sword!


    The true might of the Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire"!


    The killer move that Ye Ch had never used in the previous sevte floors of the Ancit God Tower was finally unleashed on this last level!

 Chapter 133: Chapter 115: The Seven-Leaves Sky-locking Formation

    "This is no ordinary flying sword!"


    "Ye Ch, you actually cultivated such a powerful flying sword in the Lower Realm, ev within the Realm of True Qi!"


    Watching the Earth Elemtal Vine ignited by the flying sword''s true fire, and looking at Ye Ch, who had reached her face, Princess Yan Ling''er immediately reacted.


    She had underestimated the combat power of Ye Ch''s flying sword!


    At this momt, with a flap of the Wind-Thunder Wings, Ye Ch, who had already approached Princess Yan Ling''er, unleashed a fiery red sword glow in front of him. The "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword pierced through the void, striking towards Princess Yan Ling''er.


    The true might of the unleashed flying sword was incredibly fast to an unimaginable degree. In almost an instant, it shot towards Princess Yan Ling''er''s head.


    Confronting this guardian of the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower from the Minor Spirit Realm, Ye Ch showed no mercy and aimed to directly obliterate her Divine Sse Illusion!


    In a duel betwe masters, being slow by just a momt could result in defeat, so of course, Ye Ch wanted to seize the upper hand while Princess Yan Ling''er was caught off guard!


    Faced with the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword that suddly erupted with great speed, Princess Yan Ling''er still wore a look of surprise on her delicate face, but she was not panicked.


    In a reaction time that seemed impossible for someone in the True Qi Realm, the young lady''s slder jade finger pointed into the void. The giant platform beath her, composed of sev gre leaves, had one of its leaves quiver in the void, appearing in front of her forehead to intercept the incoming "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword.


    Boom!


    The flying sword, which had be nurtured for over a year and possessed incredible combat power capable of burning the Earth Elemtal Vine with its true fire, was actually blocked by this gre leaf upon impact!


    Moreover, under the turbulce of the flying sword''s true fire, a gre light flickered on the surface of the gre leaf, completely extinguishing the true fire that had melted onto the leaf.


    This several-foot-long gre leaf was of a quality that was in no way inferior to Ye Ch''s "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword!


    Princess Yan Ling''er from the Minor Spirit Realm indeed also possessed her own extraordinary treasures!


    After blocking Ye Ch''s "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword with her move, Princess Yan Ling''er in her elegant clothes directly soared into mid-air. Her left hand pointed again, and the other six leaves of the gre leaf platform below shot out as well.


    These six gre leaves, together with the one previously stimulated to block the flying sword, formed a cluster of Sev-leaf Protective Array, slowly revolving a Princess Yan Ling''er, guarding her.


    Simultaneously, with another point of Princess Yan Ling''er''s right hand, all the flames gulfing the Earth Elemtal Vine on the g were extinguished in an instant, and the vast expanse of huge vines quickly contracted and disappeared back into the earth.


    From the momt Ye Ch launched the flying sword attack to Princess Yan Ling''er intercepting it and soaring into mid-air, it might seem like a drawn-out process, but in reality, it was all within a fleeting momt.


    At this point, Ye Ch and Princess Yan Ling''er, one on the offse and the other on defse, were directly confronting each other in mid-air!


    Outside Ye Ch''s body, the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword traced mysterious fiery red arcs, circling and dancing non-stop a him. Meanwhile, the silver Wind-Thunder Wings behind Ye Ch gtly fluttered, allowing him to hover in the void.


    And beath Princess Yan Ling''er, as the Sev-leaf Protective Array rotated a her, she seemed to be able to float in the air without invoking wings like Ye Ch!


    One was a young man who had ascded to the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower within the Realm of True Qi; the other was an invincible master of the True Qi Realm from the Minor Spirit Realm''s Yan Clan, who had be guarding this highest floor of the ancit tower since thousands of years ago.


    Both were peerless giuses in the Realm of True Qi, yet both had the means to stand in the air as if they were powerful beings from the Spirit Sea Realm!


    "Ye Ch, not bad. You''re the third person to make me stand up and fight!"


    Princess Yan Ling''er, standing in the void, looked at Ye Ch, her holy, fairy-like face showing a faint smile.


    "Princess Yan Ling''er, you''re quite impressive too!"


    Ye Ch looked at the girl opposite him and felt a tremor in his heart.


    All his powerful techniques, the fusion of the four sword intts with the Slaughter Sword Intt, along with the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword, had be revealed, but he still couldn''t gauge the depth of Princess Yan Ling''er''s abilities.


    Princess Yan Ling''er was indeed deserving of her reputation¡ªshe had once be the champion in the Yan Clan''s competition among billions of True Qi Realm giuses in the Minor Spirit Realm and possessed immse strgth, sufficit to guard this astonishing highest level of the Ancit God Tower!


    In the void, Ye Ch and Princess Yan Ling''er, after a few exchanges, had both recognized the strgth of the other.


    However, of course, the battle must continue!


    "Ye Ch, although you''re the third person to make me take a stand and fight, like the other two, you will be defeated by me directly!"


    As she spoke, Princess Yan Ling''er finally made her move!


    With a point of her finger toward Ye Ch, three of the sev revolving gre leaves disappeared instantly.


    "Three-leaf Sky-locking Array!"


    At the shout of Princess Yan Ling''er, ctered on Ye Ch, three astonishingly tall gre leaves suddly appeared in the void a his body, sweeping towards and veloping him.


    In the midst of towering, hundreds of meters tall gre leaves, Ye Ch appeared minuscule, and in an instant, he was trapped within the gre leaf formation.


    Above and below, all that met Ye Ch''s eyes was a sea of gre.


    All of it was the vast expanse of huge gre leaves!


    "Gre leaf formation!"


    "This is ev more terrifying than being twined by the ''Earth Elemtal Vine''!"


    With a burst of Divine Sse, Ye Ch saw the predicamt he was in, completely veloped within the embrace of three colossal gre leaves, trapped within the formation.


    Whoosh!


    Seeing this difficult situation, Ye Ch''s "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword, which was circling a him, shot out toward the gre leaves.


    The gre leaves had already blocked one of Ye Ch''s attacks, and now, he directly infused his most powerful Sword Intt, the "Slaughter Sword Intt", into the Flying Sword.


    In an instant, the fiery red glow of the Flying Sword surged with a slaughtering force that sought to destroy everything. Wh this force touched the massive gre leaves, the leaves were actually forced to expand outwards for hundreds of meters by the impact of the Flying Sword!


    These gre leaves were incredibly resilit, so much so that ev the Flying Sword imbued with Slaughter Sword Intt couldn''t cut through them.


    However, although the leaves remained uncut, as they continued to expand outward, light began to seep in from above the gre leaf formation, showing signs that Ye Ch was about to break through!


    "He can ev withstand my ''Three-leaf Sky-locking Array''!"


    Princess Yan Ling''er, watching from the void, saw Ye Ch still resisting within the embrace of the giant gre leaves. Her expression shifted, and in an instant, another gre leaf disappeared from a her.


    Th, another leaf was added to the gre leaves trapping Ye Ch, which were already hundreds of meters tall.


    This was unmistakably the "Sky-locking Formation''s" Four-leaf Trap and Kill that Yan Ling''er had cultivated!


    Boom!


    With the addition of another gre leaf to the formation, Ye Ch immediately felt the binding forces a him intsify. Stirring his mind, boundless Gang Yuan True Qi swept out and poured into the Flying Sword!


    Ev with Slaughter Sword Intt imbued, if he couldn''t break Princess Yan Ling''er''s array, Ye Ch decided to add the technique of Gang Yuan True Qi into the Flying Sword as well!


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, befitting of its status as a sacred-tier sword, grew stronger under the infusion of Sword Intt and True Qi, transforming into a fiery red giant sword ts of meters long that slashed at the gre leaf.


    This slash actually managed to create a crack in the gre leaf!


    "I can get out now!"


    The hundreds of meters long gre leaf now had a crack ts of meters long, which was more than ough for Ye Ch, trapped within the formation. He spread his Wind-Thunder Wings and flew towards the crack.


    He intded to leave the huge, gre-leaf-twined Trap and Kill formation!


    Whoosh!


    Just as Ye Ch had almost reached the crack in the gre leaf, another leaf appeared right there.


    Not only that, but another giant gre leaf, wrapping horizontally, also joined the formation.


    The great array of gre leaves trapping Ye Ch had now grown to include six leaves!


    From the outside, the space where Ye Ch was located in the void was completely veloped by six huge gre leaves, each hundreds of meters tall and closing him from all sides, layer upon layer, completely trapping him within.


    Despite infusing both Gang Yuan True Qi and Slaughter Sword Intt into the Flying Sword, Ye Ch couldn''t break through the array.


    He was utterly gulfed by the gre leaf formation.


    "My ''Sev-leaf Sky-locking Array'' is most powerful wh all sev leaves are deployed, ev capable of trapping and slaying a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!"


    "Ye Ch, you are the first person in the Realm of True Qi to force me to use my Six-leaf Trap and Kill!"


    "The two who were able to cross swords with me before could only ever force out my Four-leaf Trap and Kill at most."


    "Ye Ch, spd the last thirty days of your training for the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower locked within this Six-leaf Sky-locking Formation!"


    Ye Ch, trapped within the great gre leaf array, heard Princess Yan Ling''er''s voice carry into his ears.

 Chapter 134: Chapter 116: Gang Yuan Three Transformations

    At this momt, inside the Gre Leaf Great Formation, the space wasn''t tirely sealed off; there was still an area a few hundred yards in radius.


    Outside this few hundred yards, lay the massive overlapping gre leaves of the formation.


    Ye Ch, who was trapped within the "Sky-locking Formation," was now being reltlessly pursued by the powerful Six Leaves Array. Despite whatever techniques or methods he employed, he could not break the confining array to free himself.


    After all his techniques proved ineffective, Ye Ch finally retracted his Crimson Fire Flying Sword back into the Flying Sword Palace.


    This was the eighteth floor''s challge in the Ancit God Tower, and it was not designed to kill Ye Ch, but if he couldn''t break the formation, it meant he had failed in his combat against Yan Ling''er.


    "To break this Gre Leaf Great Formation, I must hance my cultivation again!"


    "My currt strgth is not ough to breach this formation!"


    "There are thirty days left; I must find a way to break the formation, emerge from it and confront Yan Ling''er once more!"


    Of course, Ye Ch wouldn''t give up so easily. On this eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower, he still had thirty days of cultivation time, he still had a chance to hance his strgth!


    If, on the last day, he still couldn''t defeat Yan Ling''er, that would be the momt he would be willing to accept defeat.


    To admit defeat now would be too premature!


    "Strgth, hance my strgth in these thirty days!"


    Ye Ch''s mind raced, considering the methods available for him to continue increasing his strgth.


    Currtly, Ye Ch had mastered four types of Sword Intts, ev condsing a more powerful Slaughter Sword Intt from them, but there was no corresponding cultivation technique to further hance it.


    As for the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, with the help of Heavly Saint Di Kong''s Innate Essce Map, he had cultivated it to the Second Transformation, but he had already tested and knew that ev with the combat power of the Second Transformation, he couldn''t break the formation. Furthermore, it was impossible to reach the Third Transformation in just a short month.


    The nurturing of the flying sword, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, was a long-term process; Ye Ch had already immersed the Crimson Fire Flying Sword again in the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid within the Sword Palace Acupoint for further nurturing.


    The most likely opportunity to hance his power and break the formation would be with the cultivation of his "Primordial Star Scripture."


    Upon thinking of this, Ye Ch''s spirit shook wildly, and he suddly regained his confidce in breaking the formation.


    The Primordial Star Scripture, it was the cultivation of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    During this year-long period in the Ancit God Tower, Ye Ch focused on cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi; he had already completely transformed eight of the nine True Qi Vortices within the Qi Sea into Gang Yuan True Qi, and ev within the ninth vortex, he had cultivated the vast majority, leaving only a very small portion still not refined into Gang Yuan True Qi.


    Ye Ch was very close to completing the second layer of the Gang Yuan Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Gang Yuan Mantra."


    Ev more, Ye Ch was confidt that by spding about t more days, he could transform all the Heav and Earth True Qi in the nine True Qi Vortices into Gang Yuan True Qi, meeting the requiremt for the Gang Yuan Mantra to be completely cultivated.


    Once the Gang Yuan Mantra was fully cultivated, Ye Ch would be able to ter the Starlight Tower again and obtain the third layer of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter!


    By th, his strgth would undoubtedly skyrocket, and breaking Yan Ling''er''s "Sky-locking Formation" would become highly possible!


    "Gang Yuan Mantra, I will complete the cultivation of the Gang Yuan Mantra, strive to re-ter the Starlight Tower, and obtain the third layer of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter!"


    The Primordial Star Scripture had never let Ye Ch down.


    The first level, "Meridian Refining Art," rapidly advanced Ye Ch''s True Qi Realm by cultivating the Qi Meridian and the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, including the thirty-three Meridian Wheels. The second level, "Gang Yuan Mantra," which cultivated Gang Yuan True Qi, had significantly boosted Ye Ch''s power!


    Ye Ch was looking forward to the third layer''s cultivation technique, and not just for breaking Yan Ling''er''s grand formation, but to obtain the third layer technique as soon as possible!


    Over the past year, Ye Ch didn''t prioritize cultivating his True Qi Realm but instead, focused on cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi and its associated techniques for this very reason!


    "Cultivating ''Gang Yuan True Qi''!"


    "To swiftly transform all my True Qi into Gang Yuan True Qi, and th return to the Starlight Tower!"


    With his mind made up, Ye Ch calmed his spirit completely, staying vigilant for any changes in the Gre Leaf Great Formation, while commcing the final stage of cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi within the ninth True Qi Vortex.


    As Ye Ch delved into his cultivation, Yan Ling''er outside the Gre Leaf Great Formation also sat down on the g of the eighteth floor.


    She did not launch further attacks against Ye Ch and had trapped him in the formation, just as she had trapped the other two challgers before him.


    After thirty days, eliminating Ye Ch would be ough.


    After all, this was an Ancit God Tower challge, not a battle to the death. As the guardian of this floor, Yan Ling''er wouldn''t expel him from the Ancit God Tower directly within thirty days if Ye Ch didn''t attack her.


    Yan Ling''er was ev looking forward to it, hoping that Ye Ch would hance his strgth during these thirty days of cultivation and challge her again.


    As the guardian of the Tower''s supreme floor, she anticipated a battle that would push her to use her full strgth.


    "This Ye Ch is indeed quite impressive!"


    "Perhaps with more cultivation, he will be able to break through my Six Leaves Heavly Lock Array, forcing me to use my Sev Leaves Heavly Lock Array, or ev mightier techniques."


    "I hope he can seize the last thirty-day opportunity in this Ancit God Tower, and grant me a battle that allows me to go all out!"


    "Ev during the True Qi Realm contest held by my grandfather, I never had to use my full pottial."


    After murmuring to herself, the young girl sat cross-legged in the midst of the eighteth floor''s landscape, staring at the ormous Gre Leaf-bound Sky-locking Formation, and began to wait.


    "Impressive!"


    "This eighteth-floor guardian, capable of holding this supreme floor, is indeed formidable!"


    Outside the Ancit God Tower, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact watched Yan Ling''er''s exchange with Ye Ch, shocked by their immse strgth.


    Wh Yan Ling''er activated the Six Leaves Sky-locking Array, completely trapping Ye Ch within the grand formation, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact gained an ev deeper recognition of the terrifying strgth possessed by this young girl.


    It was outside the tower, unable to hear the conversation betwe Yan Ling''er and Ye Ch, and unaware of Yan Ling''er''s astonishing idtity.


    But merely based on the strgth that Yan Ling''er had displayed, she had completely won its admiration!


    Ev its former master, Heavly Saint Di Kong, had not be as formidable as Yan Ling''er wh he was in the Realm of True Qi!


    "Eeek!"


    "Eeek!"


    At this momt, the gold monkey, seeing Ye Ch trapped in the Gre Leaf Great Formation, was extremely anxious. It was jumping about frantically outside the tower and had ev tried to ter the Ancit God Tower.


    Of course, the Ancit God Tower did not allow it to ter.


    "Don''t worry, Ye Ch will be fine. The trials of the Ancit God Tower will not take a life; at most, one will be eliminated,"


    "By now, Ye Ch has reached the eighteth layer. After the last thirty days of cultivation time, he will have fully gained the opportunity prested by the Time Flow Rate of the Ancit God Tower. All the extra cultivation time is his; ev if he cannot defeat Yan Ling''er, his gains will still be considerable!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact patted the gold monkey while speaking with a smile.


    After hearing the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, the exceedingly anxious gold monkey finally calmed down a little. However, its eyes, which shone like black gemstones, were still filled with worry as it looked at the tower and the Gre Leaf Great Formation that wrapped layer upon layer a Ye Ch.


    Inside the eighteth layer of the Ancit God Tower.


    Within the Gre Leaf Great Formation.


    Ye Ch had fully immersed himself in the cultivation of Gang Yuan True Qi.


    One day, two days, three days...


    As time gradually passed, the Heav and Earth True Qi in the nine True Qi Vortices within Ye Ch''s Qi Sea became less and less, while the Gang Yuan True Qi increased more and more, until all the True Qi Vortices were almost completely silvery .


    On the ninth day that Ye Ch was trapped in the Gre Leaf Great Formation, he finally reached the last momt where the cultivation of Gang Yuan True Qi and the complete cultivation of the Gang Yuan Mantra were finished!


    Whoosh!


    As the last trace of Heav and Earth True Qi tered his Qi Meridian, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels, completing a perfect large cycle and fully accomplishing the transformation of Gang Yuan True Qi into a strand of silvery Gang Yuan True Qi that flew back into the Qi Sea, Ye Ch''s nine True Qi Vortices in the Qi Sea had become completely Gang Yuan True Qi Vortices!


    At that momt, Ye Ch felt that the long silt Stars Tower within his Qi Sea once again stirred, finally sding out a response force toward him!


    This was an unmistakable sign that he could ter the Starlight Tower again!


    Ye Ch''s heart started pounding with excitemt!


    Finally, he was about to ter the Starlight Tower for the third time and receive the cultivation technique of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Boom!


    With a move of his mind, Ye Ch''s mind and spirit tered his Qi Sea, and th the doors of the first layer of the Stars Tower within his Qi Sea burst op, directly drawing in Ye Ch''s mind and spirit.


    Within the first layer of the Starlight Tower, inside the great hall.


    For the third time, Ye Ch saw five massive Fire Altars, inside which lay the five layers of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter.


    Ye Ch had already obtained the first two layers, "Meridian Refining Art" and "Gang Yuan Mantra." Now, he was about to acquire the third layer of the cultivation technique!


    As Ye Ch stood amongst the five massive Fire Altars, his mind suddly filled with a strange and wonderful melody.


    Upon hearing this melody, a look of disbelief crossed Ye Ch''s face.


    "Gang Yuan Three Transformations?!"


    "After completing the second layer, the ''Gang Yuan Mantra,'' I can actually obtain all the remaining three layers at once, and all the remaining three layers are collectively known as the ''Gang Yuan Three Transformations''?!"


    Ye Ch had always thought he would have to attain each of the five layers of the Gang Yuan Chapter one by one, but to his surprise, after completing the second layer, the methods to unlock the final three layers were all transmitted into his mind.


    Could it be that this time, he could obtain all three layers at once, and fully receive the tirety of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter!


    In disbelief, Ye Ch sat cross-legged among the five massive Fire Altars.


    Of these five fire altars, two had already released the "Meridian Refining Art" and "Gang Yuan Mantra," the first two techniques. The remaining fire altars that had not yet released any techniques were three in number.


    As Ye Ch recited the mystical melody in his mind, in an instant, within the remaining three massive fire altars, countless thunders exploded, and the sounds of beasts roaring echoed until, at last, all transformed into the words of a spell, flying into Ye Ch''s mind.


    Looking into his mind at the newly tered techniques, Ye Ch was astonished to see that they were indeed the final three layers of the Gang Yuan Chapter ¨C the Gang Yuan Three Transformations!


    The Gang Yuan Three Transformations: the last three great Divine Powers of the Gang Yuan Chapter!


    Gang Yuan First Transformation: Gang Qi Transformation! Once this transformation is cultivated, all Heav and Earth True Qi absorbed in the future will automatically transform into Gang Yuan True Qi without the need for special cultivation!


    Gang Yuan Second Transformation: Void Instantaneous Change! After completing this transformation, one can instantly move to any location covered by the Divine Sse. If the Divine Sse covers a hundred yards, one can instantaneously move anywhere within this range. If the Divine Sse covers a thousand yards, th instantaneous movemt can occur within the thousand-yard range.


    The wider the Divine Sse''s coverage, the larger the instant movemt range!


    Gang Yuan Third Transformation: True Thunder Extreme Change! Wh the amount of Gang Yuan True Qi reaches its limit, a True Thunder induction will occur within the body, and within three months, it is imperative to attract the Nine Heavs True Thunder to bombard the Gang Yuan True Qi.


    Once the Gang Yuan True Qi undergoes an extreme change due to the thunder strike, it will be time to step into the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    As he reviewed the three newly acquired techniques in his mind, Ye Ch''s excitemt grew.


    Gang Qi Transformation! Void Instantaneous Change! True Thunder Extreme Change!


    Following "Meridian Refining Art" and "Gang Yuan Mantra," Ye Ch had once again obtained three powerful cultivation techniques, three great Divine Powers!

 Chapter 135: Chapter 117: Crazy Promotion

    "Inside the first layer of the Starlight Tower lies the first chapter of the sev parts of the Primordial Star Scripture, the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'', containing five minor layers of techniques: Meridian Refining Art, Gang Yuan Mantra, Gang Qi Transformation, Void Instantaneous Change, and True Thunder Extreme Change!"


    "Gang Qi Transformation, Void Instantaneous Change, and True Thunder Extreme Change are the three Divine Skills recorded in the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'', collectively known as the ''Gang Yuan Three Transformations''!"


    Trapped within the Gre Leaf Great Formation, Ye Ch, having obtained the new techniques, exited again from the interior of the Starlight Tower, and his mind and spirit returned to his body.


    The more Ye Ch read about the three Divine Skills of the ''Gang Yuan Three Transformations'', the brighter his eyes shone.


    Being dubbed Divine Skills, imagine how powerful these last three techniques are!


    "Now, I''ll start cultivating these three great techniques, the three great Divine Skills!"


    Ye Ch, trapped within the Gre Leaf Great Formation, urgtly needed to increase his strgth to face that Yan Ling''er.


    Having obtained new cultivation techniques, of course, Ye Ch was eager to cultivate and to quickly hance his strgth!


    After thoroughly comprehding all three Divine Skills, Ye Ch began his cultivation with the first transformation of Gang Yuan¡ªthe Gang Qi Transformation!


    Following the spell of Gang Qi Transformation, Ye Ch transported the Gang Yuan True Qi from his Qi Sea to all parts of his body, circulating it in a peculiar manner for thirty-three revolutions.


    At that momt, Ye Ch suddly felt his tire "Essce, Qi, and Spirit" undergo a sudd and dramatic change!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    It was as if his "Essce, Qi, and Spirit" had be remolded, and his life level had be abruptly elevated!


    Every cell and every pore in his body was brimming with dless strgth and boundless vitality!


    Furthermore, within the Qi Sea, the nine great Gang Yuan True Qi vortexes began to spin spontaneously, and ev wh Ye Ch took in a thread of Heav and Earth True Qi into his Qi Sea, this gre Heav and Earth True Qi no longer needed refinemt; it would directly transform into the silver Gang Yuan True Qi, flying into the vortex of Gang Yuan True Qi.


    Ev the range of Ye Ch''s Divine Sse had se another increase, originally able to compass a few hundred zhang in radius, his Divine Sse had now reached a range of a thousand zhang!


    After cultivating the "Gang Qi Transformation", Gang Yuan True Qi nourished his tire body, Essce, Qi, and Spirit improved in all aspects, and his tire life level felt transformed¡ªit was incredibly wonderful.


    This was the manifest divine efficacy of the "Gang Qi Transformation"!


    This was indeed the sign of successful cultivation of the "Gang Qi Transformation"!


    Ye Ch had a momt of sudd realization. No wonder he had received all three latter techniques at once. It turned out that this Divine Skill of the Gang Qi Transformation, once set in motion, could be cultivated effortlessly to completion!


    And it was so miraculous!


    "Gang Qi Transformation is the first transformation of Gang Yuan. After the Gang Yuan True Qi circulates for thirty-three revolutions according to the spell, it is a direct success!"


    "Next, I''ll start cultivating the second transformation of Gang Yuan, the Void Instantaneous Change!"


    With a thought, Ye Ch veloped a thousand zhang radius within his Divine Sse.


    This velopmt ev allowed Ye Ch to see the outside of the Gre Leaf Great Formation trapping him!


    He could see the full shape of the Gre Leaf Great Formation that bound him, and ev Yan Ling''er outside the formation!


    "The spell of Void Instantaneous Change says that once this Divine Skill is successfully cultivated, one can instantly move to any place veloped by their Divine Sse! Once I''ve completed this cultivation of Void Instantaneous Change, this Gre Leaf Great Formation won''t be able to trap me anymore!"


    At this momt, Ye Ch''s divine sse had already exceeded the range of the Gre Leaf Great Formation, and of course, he could teleport outside the formation!


    "Cultivate, complete the mastery of this divine skill, and Yan Ling''er will no longer be able to trap me!"


    Ye Ch reigned in his delighted mind and spirit, calming himself down, and began to cultivate according to the divine skill cultivation method of "Void Instantaneous Change."


    This Void Instantaneous Change involved graving instantaneous movemt law patterns within the divine sse. Once all the divine sse was graved with instantaneous movemt law patterns, he could teleport to any location that his divine sse could perceive!


    Within the Gre Leaf Great Formation, Ye Ch began to grave the instantaneous movemt law patterns!


    Three days later, Ye Ch suddly rose from his meditation, observing the space of several hundred meters within the Gre Leaf Great Formation.


    Ye Ch released his divine sse, completely veloping this space of several hundred meters.


    Th, the Ye Ch who was sitting cross-legged on the g, disappeared in an instant, and in the next momt, he appeared high in the space of several hundred meters.


    In the next instant, Ye Ch, who was high in the air, vanished again, and directly reappeared in the farthest corner on the right.


    Instantaneous Movemt!


    This was indeed the manifestation of the divine power of instantaneous movemt!


    After three days of cultivating "Void Instantaneous Change," and three days of graving the instantaneous movemt law patterns, Ye Ch had finally mastered the second divine power of the "Gang Yuan Three Transformations!"


    Now, the Gre Leaf Great Formation that trapped Ye Ch no longer posed any obstacle to him. In fact, with just a thought and a teleport, Ye Ch could easily escape!


    However, Ye Ch didn''t immediately leave the formation to challge Yan Ling''er.


    Since there were still more than t days left in the thirty days of cultivation time, he was not in a hurry to challge her; he wanted to increase his strgth ev further!


    Ye Ch once again began to cultivate the "Gang Yuan Third Transformation ¨C True Thunder Extreme Change."


    However, this time Ye Ch finally halted the heady momtum of his cultivation, realizing that he simply could not cultivate the "True Thunder Extreme Change" at this momt.


    Because the True Thunder Extreme Change required that the quantity of Gang Yuan True Qi in the Qi Sea reached its limit and produced True Thunder Induction before it could attract the Nine Heavs True Thunder for cultivation.


    Currtly, the Gang Yuan True Qi in Ye Ch''s Qi Sea had reached the level of nine True Qi Vortices and was far from having the quantity of True Qi reaching the limit in the Qi Sea.


    "I''m afraid that only by tering the True Qi Realm''s twelfth layer and condsing twelve True Qi Vortices in the Qi Sea, will it be possible for the Qi Sea to truly reach its limit and produce True Thunder Induction."


    Without True Thunder Induction, unable to cultivate "True Thunder Extreme Change" for the time being, Ye Ch set aside the cultivation of this third transformation.


    This divine skill would be cultivated wh the conditions were met!


    Now, although he had not successfully cultivated the True Thunder Extreme Change, the completion of the cultivation of "Gang Qi Transformation" and "Void Instantaneous Change" meant that Ye Ch had mastered all four layers of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter!


    "Strgth, having mastered the four layers of cultivation technique, it''s time to hance my ultimate combat power!"


    Ye Ch sat cross-legged in the Gre Leaf Great Formation, starting to run the True Qi Skills and cultivate True Qi.


    After completing the "Gang Qi Transformation," for every thread of Heav and Earth True Qi he cultivated into the Qi Sea, the Qi Sea would have an additional thread of Gang Yuan True Qi, and Ye Ch''s combat power would grow stronger.


    During the period of more than a year in the Ancit God Tower, Ye Ch had not specifically cultivated True Qi because he feared that a high True Qi Realm would make it difficult to quickly ter the Starlight Tower and obtain new cultivation techniques.


    After all, if he were at the True Qi elevth layer or twelfth layer, the Heav and Earth True Qi in the Qi Sea would be too vast, and it would be impossible for him to transform all of it into Gang Yuan True Qi in a short time.


    He would not be able to meet the requiremts of the Gang Yuan Mantra, to refine all the True Qi into Gang Yuan True Qi, thus achieving the qualification to ter the Starlight Tower for the third time.


    Now that Ye Ch had obtained the last three layers of the cultivation technique, he no longer had any concerns holding him back, and he could freely and unrestrainedly improve his True Qi cultivation level!


    Boom!


    Sitting cross-legged within the Gre Leaf Great Formation, Ye Ch''s Qi force, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and thirty-three Meridian Wheels suddly oped up, crazily sucking in the abundant Heav and Earth True Qi from the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower.


    Without any reservation and preparing to begin improving his True Qi cultivation level, Ye Ch''s cultivation caused countless streams of Heav and Earth True Qi to be set in motion.


    Instantly, a vast sphere of qi loomed above the Gre Leaf Great Formation and th furiously drilled into the formation.


    This change had already caught the atttion of Yan Ling''er, who was outside the formation.


    "The True Qi is being stirred!"


    "Has Ye Ch started his True Qi cultivation?!"


    "There are only eighte days left until the d of the eighteth-floor trial. Ev if he cultivates a lot of True Qi, at most he could only advance to the tth level of True Qi. How much can his combat power increase?"


    "I''m afraid he still doesn''t have the strgth to challge me!"


    Yan Ling''er shook her head as she watched the Heav and Earth True Qi crazily pouring into the Gre Leaf Great Formation.


    What she didn''t know was that with the "Gang Qi Transformation," Ye Ch wasn''t cultivating Heav and Earth True Qi; he was cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi!


    Every stream of Heav and Earth True Qi that he refined into his Qi Sea would automatically transform into Gang Yuan True Qi, greatly speeding up the increase in Ye Ch''s strgth!


    The massive sphere of Heav and Earth True Qi continuously hovered above the Gre Leaf Great Formation.


    Inside the formation, Ye Ch began frzied cultivation with this Heav and Earth True Qi!


    Ye Ch''s nine True Qi vortices within his Qi Sea grew larger and larger as more True Qi continuously flowed in.


    After five more days, which was sevte days into his cultivation on the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower, Ye Ch''s nine True Qi vortices finally reached the limit for accommodating True Qi.


    Boom!


    This time, the nine True Qi vortices spun wildly, the numerous threads of silver Gang Yuan True Qi whirled frantically inside, and at last, he managed to spin out the tth True Qi vortex.


    True Qi Level T!


    No longer suppressing his True Qi cultivation, Ye Ch, who had lain dormant within True Qi Level Nine for a long time, had accumulated a substantial reserve of True Qi from the past days and, combined with these five days of intse cultivation, finally broke into True Qi Level T!


    At True Qi Level T, Ye Ch''s Qi Sea now had t large Gang Yuan True Qi vortices.


    Now his strgth had once again leaped forward compared to before!


    After reaching True Qi Level T, Ye Ch did not stop cultivating. Although there were still thirte days left to cultivate on the eighteth floor, he couldn''t pottially make one push to rush into True Qi Level Elev.


    However, Ye Ch also had a treasure, a treasure he had never used before¡ªthe Small Spirit Pill!


    Originally exchanged at the Myriad Treasures Stele at the periphery of the secret realm, the Small Spirit Pills could directly hance a martial artist''s cultivation by one level within the True Qi Realm.


    Previously, Ye Ch had be suppressing his True Qi cultivation and didn''t want to have too much Heav and Earth True Qi in his body, as turning all of it into Gang Yuan True Qi was too time-consuming, so he had never used the Small Spirit Pill.


    Now, Ye Ch no longer had this concern and could smoothly use the Small Spirit Pill to break into True Qi Level Elev!


    "Swoosh!"


    No sooner said than done!


    Having decided to charge towards True Qi Level Elev, Ye Ch, without any hesitation, summoned with a thought. A small box flew directly out of the "Ethereal Spirit Ring" located at his thumb, and Ye Ch caught the small box in his hand.


    As the box oped, a pill with a faint halo, a milky and in shape, appeared within.


    The Small Spirit Pill!


    This was indeed the Small Spirit Pill capable of hancing a level of cultivation.


    Ye Ch oped his mouth and inhaled, the Small Spirit Pill from the box "whooshed" straight into Ye Ch''s mouth.


    Th, Ye Ch closed his eyes and began to refine the pill''s efficacy.


    As Ye Ch was refining the Small Spirit Pill, outside the Gre Leaf Great Formation, countless streams of Heav and Earth True Qi furiously surged towards the space above the formation, crazily rushing towards Ye Ch within.


    This volume of True Qi ev blanketed a radius of thousands of feet, increasing the quantity by several ts of times more than wh Ye Ch had initially self-cultivated True Qi.


    "What''s happing?"


    Seeing the wildly converging Heav and Earth True Qi above the Gre Leaf Great Formation, Yan Ling''er stood up in shock.


    "Pills, Ye Ch is using pills to hance his True Qi cultivation level!"


    "It seems he is bringing out all his methods to increase his strgth!"


    "It looks like he still wants to fight with me, not willing to concede defeat!"


    "Ye Ch, I''ll be waiting for you. I''m curious to see, with just thirty days of cultivation time, whether you can improve to a level where you can defeat me!"


    Yan Ling''er watched the Gre Leaf Great Formation, waiting.


    This wait did not take long; just a day later, a loud bang suddly came from within the Gre Leaf Great Formation.


    The six massive gre leaves of the tire Gre Leaf Great Formation were violtly lifted and flung by a force, breaking apart.


    A young man leaped into the air from inside the formation and flew out.


    "Ye Ch, you''ve finally brok my ''Six Leaves Heavly Lock Array'' and come out!"


    Yan Ling''er smiled faintly as she watched the young man fly out.


    The young man who flew out of the Six Leaves Heavly Lock Array was indeed Ye Ch.


    Now, having completed the cultivation of the two great divine powers of the Primordial Star Scripture, after during the hardships of True Qi cultivation and refining the efficacy of the Small Spirit Pill, Ye Ch had officially advanced to True Qi Level Elev!


    "Come on, Yan Ling''er, let''s have another showdown!"


    "A final battle on the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower!"


    Ye Ch looked at Yan Ling''er, his eyes radiating immse confidce.


    This time, he would definitely not be defeated by Yan Ling''er''s hands again!

 Chapter 136: Chapter 118 The Ultimate Battle

    ```


    "A final battle at the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower?"


    Yan Ling''er smiled faintly, seeing the self-confidce shining in Ye Ch''s eyes.


    "Alright, let me try and see just how much your strgth has improved these days!"


    Yan Ling''er soared into the sky, where the six huge Gre Leaves that Ye Ch had wildly st flying now flew in front of her. They shrank rapidly and, together with the sevth Gre Leaf that Yan Ling''er had never used, once again transformed into the Gre Leaf Protection Formation, slowly rotating in front of her.


    At that momt, the silver Wind-Thunder Wings also emerged behind Ye Ch. As the wings unfurled, he too flew up into the sky, facing Yan Ling''er from several ts of meters away.


    The two once again faced off in the sky, ready to begin their clash!


    Wh Ye Ch st flying the Gre Leaves and broke free from the Grand Formation, ready to challge Yan Ling''er once more, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the gold monkey waiting outside the Ancit God Tower became excited.


    Ye Ch had not disappointed them; he indeed broke the Gre Leaf Great Formation and was indeed about to make a move again!


    "Ye Ch is the calmest and most composed young man I''ve ever se. Since he has chos to make a move again, he must be confidt of victory!"


    "Could it be that after practicing here on the eighteth floor for more than t days, his strgth has once again improved?"


    "Ev improved to the point where he is confidt in winning against the final floor''s guardian?!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked forward with great anticipation to Ye Ch facing Yan Ling''er in the sky, eager to witness the display of his more powerful strgth.


    "Yiya!"


    "Yiya!"


    The gold monkey was also holding its tiny fists, calling out to Ye Ch inside the tower, its bright eyes gleaming with spiritual light, seemingly cheering Ye Ch on.


    Inside the Ancit God Tower, within the eighteth floor''s sky.


    Yan Ling''er, her eyes clear as crystal, gazed at Ye Ch opposite her and gtly smiled after ssing the change in Ye Ch''s aura.


    "Ye Ch, so you''ve advanced to the elevth level of the Realm of True Qi!"


    "To be able to ascd two minor levels in such a short time, that''s indeed not bad."


    "However, if you think this alone is ough to defeat me, it''s still far from sufficit."


    "Ye Ch, first see if you can withstand my ''Sev Leaves Heavly Lock Array'', which I have never used against anyone in the True Qi Realm!"


    As Yan Ling''er''s light laughter sounded, the sev blue leaves a her disappeared at once, and suddly, sev towering Gre Leaves arose a Ye Ch, sweeping toward him to velop him completely.


    This was other than the Gre Leaf Grand Formation that had previously trapped and attempted to kill Ye Ch, now reactivated. But this time, the formation was more powerful than before, with all sev of Yan Ling''er''s Protective Gre Leaves being invoked, unleashing the great power of the "Sky Locking Formation."


    This Sev Leaves Heavly Lock Array could ev trap and kill mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses!


    If Ye Ch hadn''t practiced the "Gang Qi Transformation" and "Void Instantaneous Change" from the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter, he wouldn''t have be able to withstand ev the Six Leaves Heavly Lock Array, let alone this Sev Leaves Heavly Lock Array.


    But now, this Sky Locking Array could no longer trap Ye Ch!


    As the sev massive Gre Leaves crazily swept toward Ye Ch, a huge Protective True Qi, taller than ninety meters, suddly burst forth from a him.


    As the giant Protective True Qi emerged, a vast Sword Shadow instantly formed, slicing directly towards the sev massive Gre Leaves.


    This colossal Sword Shadow was other than the Sword of Slaughter, formed from Slaughter Sword Intt, and further powered by the unparalleled Gang Yuan True Qi from Ye Ch''s elev True Qi Vortices, making the power of this immse sword shadow incomprehsibly pott.


    Boom! Boom!


    The vast Sword Shadow, like a blade that could split the heavs, blocked three of the massive Gre Leaves, while Ye Ch sprouted silver wings from his back and soared into the sky, breaking free from the trapmt of the Sev Leaves Heavly Lock Array.


    After the surge of Gang Yuan True Qi, Ye Ch could break Yan Ling''er''s Sky Locking Grand Formation without ev using the "Void Instant Change Divine Skills"!


    "Hmm?"


    "Your True Qi is actually so dse!"


    "Can this special True Qi really improve so much in such a short time?!"


    Yan Ling''er, witnessing Ye Ch breaking her trapmt so quickly and seeing the billowing silver Gang Yuan True Qi a him, expressed surprise on her face.


    She had long noticed the marvel of Ye Ch''s True Qi, but she could never have imagined that in just over t days, Ye Ch could cultivate such powerful divine ergy.


    "No wonder you are confidt in challging me. Ye Ch, now you truly have the strgth for a real battle with me!"


    This time, the faint smile had vanished from Yan Ling''er''s face, turning solemn instead.


    "Swoosh!"


    With a wave of her hand, the sev massive Gre Leaves shrank back and flew into her palm.


    ```


    Meanwhile, a Gre Leaf Spiritual Pattern in the shape of a leaf suddly emerged on Yan Ling''er''s forehead, and an dless surge of gre True Qi explosively shot out from her body.


    This was the first time Yan Ling''er had activated the True Qi within her body.


    Clearly, seeing that the Sev Leaves Heavly Lock Array couldn''t trap Ye Ch, Yan Ling''er prepared to use other means to take action!


    Boom!


    In an instant, the True Qi a Yan Ling''er burst upwards more than ninety meters high, this gre True Qi, unlike ordinary Heav and Earth True Qi, ev had streaks of divine marvel fire-red color mixed within it.


    In the midst of Yan Ling''er''s outburst of True Qi, Ye Ch felt a thrilling and terrifying Killing Force coming his way, indicating that the True Qi cultivated by Yan Ling''er was also extraordinary.


    In the sky above, once Yan Ling''er''s True Qi surged forth, she, in her elegant attire with her waterfall-like black hair fluttering behind her, and the Gre Leaf Spiritual Pattern on her forehead flickering ceaselessly, managed to levitate in the void with just her Realm of True Qi, truly giving off the aura of a fairy from the Upper Realm!


    "Ye Ch, let''s see whether your special True Qi or my ''Gre Flame True Qi,'' transformed in the ''Flame God Pool,'' is superior!"


    In a dress, with her hair fluttering, Yan Ling''er, appearing like an ethereal fairy, spun a and, with peerless True Qi, burst towards Ye Ch.


    The path she took across the sky left behind a long trail of gre smoky flame, and the trace of divine marvel fire-red color within the gre True Qi ev caused the air to burn into nothingness.


    Swish! Swish!


    In an instant, Yan Ling''er crossed the sky like lightning, fiercely charging at Ye Ch.


    "Gre Flame True Qi, good, let''s put it to the test th, whether your ''Gre Flame True Qi'' or my ''Gang Yuan True Qi'' is stronger!


    Without any attempt to dodge, Ye Ch spread the Wind-Thunder Wings behind him and, along with the swirling silver Gang Yuan True Qi outside his body, met Yan Ling''er head-on.


    Boom! Boom!


    In the sky, one side was Yan Ling''er''s overwhelming and fiery True Qi, capable of burning ev the air, reaching more than ninety meters high, and on the other was the silver luminescce of Ye Ch''s True Qi, also more than ninety meters high, filled with the formidable power of Extreme Gang Yuan.


    Almost in the blink of an eye, these two colossal forces of incredible True Qi collided with each other fiercely.


    In an instant, the tire sky surged with boundless Qi light, and the colossal power of True Qi struck the vast heavs and earth of the eighteth layer, with the shockwaves ev tearing terrible cracks in the very g.


    At the core of the True Qi collision, dless gre gleams and flashes of flame erupted, with the unmatched silver luminescce of Gang Yuan brilliantly shining!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In a momt, Ye Ch and Yan Ling''er exchanged hundreds of moves amidst the massive collision of True Qi.


    During the exchange, Yan Ling''er''s fearsome gre True Qi gradually ignited with the red hue within it, evtually, all her True Qi ev transformed into a fiery red True Qi!


    This fiery red True Qi furiously burned towards Ye Ch''s Gang Yuan True Qi, in an attempt to incinerate it completely.


    However, at this momt, the silver gleam on Ye Ch''s Gang Yuan True Qi shone brightly, staunchly resisting the terrible True Qi that could ev burn the air!


    Gang Yuan True Qi, a higher quality ergy than the Heav and Earth True Qi and cultivated from the Primordial Star Scripture, how could it be burned away by Yan Ling''er''s True Qi?


    In a direct frontal clash, in a direct comparison of True Qi, Ye Ch firmly withstood Yan Ling''er''s frontal assault, not losing g in the slightest!


    Wh both of their True Qi were stimulated to unimaginable levels, the whole sky for hundreds of yards all a was shrouded in the glow of True Qi.


    Yet, relying on a competition of True Qi, neither could overpower the other!


    Boom!


    At this time, Yan Ling''er in the void suddly burst towards the sky, her eyes slowly closing.


    In the instant she closed her eyes, her forehead''s Gre Leaf Spiritual Pattern suddly flowed with both gre and red colors.


    As the Spiritual Pattern flowed, Yan Ling''er''s eyes oped once more, and in the instant she oped her eyes, her crystal-like pupils also flickered with gre and red lights.


    Yan Ling''er''s gaze shifted to Ye Ch as she said softly, "Ye Ch, in such a short time, the improvemt in your strgth truly surprised me."


    "Next, I won''t waste any more time, let''s see if you can withstand my real, most powerful method!"


    As Yan Ling''er spoke, her snow- hands rapidly formed Dharma Seals, and in an instant, a huge gre light seal spanning hundreds of yards appeared in the sky.


    The momt the massive gre light seal formed, it burst forth explosively, transforming into t smaller gre light seals.


    Crack! Bang!


    Th, the gre light seals continued to explode, and after bursting three times in succession, the number of gre light seals in the void had reached as many as a thousand.


    A thousand gre light seals, dse and numerous, suspded in the void.


    Suspded in front of Yan Ling''er.

 Chapter 137: Chapter 119: Slaying Through the Ancient God Tower

    ```


    "What is this...?"


    Ye Ch eyed the dse mass of gre light seals in front of Jiang Yao, instantly on guard.


    He released his Divine Sse, veloping the area within a thousand feet in its scope.


    Jiang Yao said she was about to utilize her strongest method, a method that must certainly be extraordinary, and Ye Ch would not take it lightly.


    After all, Jiang Yao hailed from the Minor Spirit Realm and had dominated millions of True Qi Realm warriors in the True Qi Realm competition, seizing first place and becoming the mightiest figure to guard the highest level of the Ancit God Tower!


    Ye Ch naturally had to be cautious in his response!


    Sure ough, once the one thousand gre light seals had fully formed, Jiang Yao pinched a spell with her hands, and a flash of fiery red light burst forth from the light seals, causing them to vanish in an instant.


    Subsequtly, all a Ye Ch''s body, dse gre light seals suddly emerged.


    As these seals formed, Ye Ch felt as if the suring void was sealed off, trapping him within this expanse of Dharma Seals.


    "Ye Ch, the ''Sev Leaves Heavly Lock Array'' I used before was merely an array to trap the emy."


    "Now, my ''Gre Flame Burning Sky Formation'' is a true killing array!"


    "Ev mid-stage warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm would be annihilated instantly if they fell into the array."


    "However, Ye Ch, rest assured, as the Ancit God Tower serves as a tower of trials and won''t take your life. But should you face a lethal crisis you cannot withstand, the tower will automatically transport you out."


    "Ye Ch, my array is set, prepare to be transported out of the tower!"


    As Jiang Yao''s voice echoed, the sky a Ye Ch filled with gre Dharma Seals connected by strange beams of light, and at that momt, a thousand gre Dharma Seals were interlinked with weird beams.


    At the instant the weird beams connected, a vast formation of Dharma Seals ignited with raging flames.


    These flames were the "Burning Spirit True Fire" tak by Jiang Yao from the Flame God Pool in the mystic land of the Yan Clan in the Minor Spirit Realm. This True Fire could ev incinerate high-grade Spiritual Artifacts, its power unmatched!


    Watching Ye Ch snared in the Grand Formation of Dharma Seals, Jiang Yao believed that he could not withstand it.


    This was Jiang Yao''s true trump card, and she had absolute confidce in it.


    Boom!


    As the Grand Formation of Dharma Seals burst into intse flames of Burning Spirit True Fire, Jiang Yao, gazing towards the cter of the formation, let out a cry of disbelief.


    Because she suddly realized, Ye Ch had disappeared from inside the Grand Formation!


    From setting up the array to activating the Burning Spirit True Fire within it, all happed in an instant. During that split second, Ye Ch had vanished without a trace.


    This completely shocked Jiang Yao.


    What Jiang Yao didn''t know was that Ye Ch''s Divine Sse had already covered a range of a thousand feet outside his body. The momt he saw the peculiar seals instantly appear a him, Ye Ch ssed something strangely similar to his own "Void Instantaneous Change" Divine Skill.


    However, obviously, Jiang Yao''s Dharma Seal Grand Formation was not as pott as the Void Instantaneous Change, it simply laid the formation within several hundred feet outside Ye Ch''s body.


    Wh he saw the Grand Formation ablaze, Ye Ch''s Divine Sse stirred, instantly moving him outside of the formation.


    With the "Void Instantaneous Change" Divine Skill, Ye Ch could instantly move anywhere within a thousand feet, so naturally, a Grand Formation spanning just several hundred feet could not contain him!


    In Jiang Yao''s incredulous gaze, Ye Ch appeared in the sky outside the Grand Formation of Dharma Seals.


    As soon as Jiang Yao saw Ye Ch''s figure reemerge, already out of the array, she pinched a spell, and gre Dharma Seals in the void once again swooped toward Ye Ch.


    But in the instant the gre Dharma Seals vanished, Ye Ch disappeared again.


    By the time Ye Ch reappeared, he was already behind Jiang Yao.


    Swish!


    From the Flying Sword Palace betwe Ye Ch''s brows, the "Crimson Fire" sword burst forth, shooting straight at Jiang Yao from behind!


    Ye Ch not only evaded the annihilation of the array twice but also instantaneously moved behind Jiang Yao to counterattack!


    Wh the "Crimson Fire" sword struck towards Jiang Yao''s back, it was as if she had eyes there, the Gre Leaf Spiritual Pattern betwe her brows flashed, and sev gre leaves suddly appeared behind her, blocking the sudd assault of the "Crimson Fire" sword.


    Although she blocked the sword''s assault, wh Jiang Yao turned her delicate body and saw Ye Ch, her tire eyes were filled with disbelief: "Instantaneous Movemt, Ye Ch, you''ve actually mastered Instantaneous Movemt Divine Skills!"


    As the princess of the Yan Clan of the Minor Spirit Realm and granddaughter of the Great Ancit Emperor of the Yan Clan, Jiang Yao certainly knew of Instantaneous Movemt Divine Skills.


    However, such Divine Skills were usually only possible for Rotating Pill Realm warriors who could sse The Five Elemts of Heav and Earth or Heavly Saint Realm warriors who cultivated Space Laws.


    Jiang Yao had never se such a Divine Skill on someone in the True Qi Realm!


    Ev among Spirit Sea Realm warriors, there was no one who could learn such a Divine Skill!


    Now, with Ye Ch capable of Instantaneous Movemt freely in space, it naturally shocked Jiang Yao immsely.


    With Instantaneous Movemt Divine Skills, no matter how powerful her "Gre Flame Burning Sky Formation" was, she could not confine Ye Ch, and ev less so wh Ye Ch fully deployed his Instantaneous Movemt Divine Skills, leaving Jiang Yao no chance to avoid his sudd assault.


    After all, from their previous True Qi confrontation, Jiang Yao knew that Ye Ch''s True Qi was in no way inferior to hers, and ev Ye Ch''s sword attack just now had not be made with his full strgth.


    What Jiang Yao didn''t know was Ye Ch''s "Instantaneous Movemt" differed from those who cultivated Space Laws; it wasn''t based on the perception of space to accomplish Instantaneous Movemt.


    Ye Ch''s Instantaneous Movemt was a unique Divine Skill from the Primordial Star Scripture''s "Gang Yuan Chapter".


    By inscribing Instantaneous Movemt Law Patterns with his Divine Sse, Ye Ch could instantly shift to any location gulfed by his Divine Sse, and as his Divine Sse continued to grow, so too would the range of his Instantaneous Movemt!


    ```


    Having acquired "Gang Qi Transformation," the Gang Yuan True Qi within Ye Ch''s Qi Sea surged wildly, dowing Ye Ch with ough Combat Power to match Princess Yan Ling''er!


    With "Void Instantaneous Change" at his disposal, Ye Ch could instantly move within a radius of a thousand yards at will, giving him a means to surpass Yan Ling''er!


    This was the reason why Ye Ch faced Princess Yan Ling''er again with boundless confidce.


    Now, Ye Ch would no longer be trapped by Yan Ling''er, nor would he be defeated by her again!


    In the sky, seeing Yan Ling''er''s astonished expression, Ye Ch smiled at her, "Princess Yan Ling''er, would you care for another battle?"


    Yan Ling''er''s eyes gazed at Ye Ch, and finally, a wry smile appeared on her delicate face, "No need, Ye Ch, with your instantaneous movemt technique, my Divine Sse Illusion at the True Qi Realm is definitely no match for you."


    "Ye Ch, I admit defeat. You are truly too powerful, ev in the Minor Spirit Realm, I have never se a young man as miraculous as you!"


    As she said this, Yan Ling''er''s eyes shone brightly, "Now that you have defeated me, you''ve also conquered all challges and guardians of the tire eighte floors of the Ancit God Tower!"


    "My grandfather once said that if anyone could break through all eighte floors of the Ancit God Tower and cut their way through the tire Divine Tower, they would be eligible to cultivate in the ancit lands of the Yan Clan within the Minor Spirit Realm."


    "Ye Ch, you have indeed cut through the Ancit God Tower!"


    "Are you willing to join our Yan Clan and ter our ancit lands for cultivation?"


    Yearning lit up in Yan Ling''er''s eyes as she looked at Ye Ch, who was merely fifte years old and already so powerful. If he truly were to cultivate in the Minor Spirit Realm, his future achievemts would be immeasurable!


    "Join the Yan Clan, ter the ancit lands?" Ye Ch was slightly startled.


    Yan Ling''er giggled, "Although what''s left in this Ancit God Tower is just a Divine Sse Illusion of mine from over three thousand years ago."


    "Yet, my grandfather is the master of this Ancit God Tower, and I possess divine skills that can communicate with my true body in the Minor Spirit Realm. Right now, my true body is in the Minor Spirit Realm."


    "If you''re willing, I can ev have my true body ask my grandfather to use the Great Void Shifting technique to directly transport you into the Minor Spirit Realm!"


    Looking into Yan Ling''er''s bright and sparkling eyes, Ye Ch felt somewhat tempted.


    However, his thoughts immediately turned to his parts, to Jiang Yao who was waiting for him at the Taixuan Sect for the "Taimysterious Appointmt," and to many other concerns he couldn''t leave behind.


    If he were to go to the Minor Spirit Realm, what would become of his parts, what about Jiang Yao?


    "Princess Yan Ling''er, if I go to this Minor Spirit Realm you speak of, may I bring others with me?" asked Ye Ch.


    "Others?" Yan Ling''er shook her head, "No, our Yan Clan cannot be casually tered by just anyone."


    Seemingly considering Ye Ch''s concerns, Yan Ling''er smiled again, "Ye Ch, you''re worried about your parts, ar''t you? Don''t worry. Once you cultivate to the Heavly Saint Realm within our Yan Clan, wh the next three-thousand-year spatial rift ops, you can return to the Barbaric Wilderness Contint to see them."


    "I can ask my grandfather to bestow Life Divine Pills upon your parts, extding their lifespan to over three thousand years!"


    Yan Ling''er''s words were indeed tempting, but Ye Ch shook his head.


    If he were not in the Barbaric Wilderness Contint, and too far from his parts, ev if they lived for three thousand years, they might still feel exceedingly lonely.


    Besides, he was also concerned about Jiang Yao and his clansm.


    Many things prevted him from leaving the Barbaric Wilderness Contint so carefreely to directly vture into the Minor Spirit Realm.


    "I cannot go to the Minor Spirit Realm right now, but I truly appreciate your kind offer, Princess Yan Ling''er," Ye Ch said with a smile.


    Hearing that Ye Ch was not willing to cultivate in the ancit lands of the Yan Clan, Yan Ling''er let out a sigh.


    However, she soon smiled again, "Actually, I was too hasty. Perhaps it isn''t quite appropriate for you to go to the Minor Spirit Realm at this time."


    "Within the Minor Spirit Realm, it is not as tranquil as the Barbarian Wilderness Contint. There are many Heavly Saint Realm powerhouses there. Although your talts are extraordinary, it would be far too dangerous for you in the Minor Spirit Realm."


    "Ev my true body, under my grandfather''s protection, has faced several life-and-death crises."


    "Perhaps, it would be better to wait until you are stronger before going to the Minor Spirit Realm."


    Yan Ling''er''s small face turned towards Ye Ch, speaking with a smile.


    Ye Ch nodded.


    Indeed, the Minor Spirit Realm, being the Supreme Spiritual Realm of thirty-three contints including the Barbaric Wilderness Contint, was bound to be perilous.


    Now, after during over a year of arduous cultivation in the Ancit God Tower, Ye Ch''s strgth had soared to a level where he could overpower mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts. Yet, there were still countless stronger individuals out there.


    One careless step could lead to his demise.


    It really wasn''t quite suitable for him to vture into the Minor Spirit Realm at this time.


    "Ye Ch, ev if you don''t go to the Minor Spirit Realm to cultivate in the ancit lands now, my grandfather''s promise will always hold true," Yan Ling''er spoke up.


    "I will now connect with my true body and grace you with the ''Ancit Tok of the Yan Clan.'' Whever you wish to go to the Minor Spirit Realm, simply activate the ancit tok, and my true body will know. At that time, she will bring you into the Minor Spirit Realm!"


    As Yan Ling''er spoke, she descded to the g and sat down cross-legged.


    "Communicate with the true body, grant me the ''Ancit Tok of the Yan Clan''? And wh I wish to go to the Minor Spirit Realm, Yan Ling''er''s true body will bring me there?"


    "Wh the time is right, it would indeed be nice to take a look at the Minor Spirit Realm."


    Such an offer, Ye Ch would naturally not refuse. Ev if he never wt to the Minor Spirit Realm, having the Ancit Tok of the Yan Clan would pose no issue. And if he truly wished to visit the Minor Spirit Realm, the ancit tok would make it much more convit for him.


    Ye Ch looked towards Yan Ling''er, ready to see how she would communicate with her true body far in the Minor Spirit Realm.

 Chapter 138: Chapter 120 Leaving the Pass

    Sitting cross-legged on the floor of the eighteth layer of the Ancit God Tower, Yan Ling''er slowly closed her eyes.


    In her hands, she formed an unknown spell.


    As she was shaping the spell, the tire eighteth layer of the Ancit God Tower suddly burst into dless light, which set the tirety of the tower humming loudly.


    From outside the Ancit God Tower, it was clear to see that the tire eighteth layer was shining with dless purple light.


    The wondrous evts did not stop there; following the illumination of the eighteth layer in dless purple light, the sevteth layer too started to shine brightly with the same dless purple light.


    Th came the sixteth layer, the fifteth layer, the fourteth layer...


    Ye Ch, who was challging the Ancit God Tower in the opposite direction, watched as the tower lit up from top to bottom under the control of Yan Ling''er''s spell.


    At last, all eighte layers of the thousands of feet high Ancit God Tower burst into an dless purple radiance.


    "This is..."


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the gold monkey outside of the Ancit God Tower were tak aback by this earth-shattering anomaly.


    Th, an ecstatic expression appeared on the face of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, "This is the phomon wh the Ancit God Tower is completely conquered!"


    "Ye Ch has defeated the eighteth floor''s guardian!"


    "He has completely conquered the Ancit God Tower, and this is the tower signaling an astonishing phomon, likely for the owner of the Ancit God Tower to see!"


    Wh Heavly Saint Di Kong once obtained the Ancit God Tower, he found a description of the sce that would occur wh someone completely conquered the tower; it was exactly as the tower was displaying now.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, who had spt long years with Heavly Saint Di Kong, of course understood the mystery of the phomon that would appear wh someone conquered the tower!


    Previously, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, peering towards the eighteth floor, had witnessed Ye Ch''s miraculous technique of instantaneous position change and had se the surprised expression on Yan Ling''er''s face.


    Wh he saw that Ye Ch was able to attack Yan Ling''er at will, he knew she was at a disadvantage.


    Although he couldn''t hear Yan Ling''er conceding defeat to Ye Ch from outside the tower, this earth-shattering phomon of the Ancit God Tower let him know that Ye Ch really did defeat Yan Ling''er and had passed through all eighte levels of the ancit tower!


    Ye Ch truly accomplished the miracle of completely conquering the tire Ancit God Tower!


    "Ye Ch is coming out!"


    "After traversing all eighte levels of the Ancit God Tower, Ye Ch is finally leaving the Ancit God Tower!"


    "Little guy, you''re about to be tak out of the ancestral land''s secret realm soon! I will have completed all of the old master''s arrangemts!"


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact excitedly said to the gold monkey at his side.


    "Eeek! Eeek!" Understanding the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact''s words, the gold monkey blinked its shiny black eyes and jumped up excitedly too!


    Not only were the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the gold monkey shocked and overjoyed.


    As each layer of the Ancit God Tower lit up, flashing with mysterious purple light, the guardians of the tower''s differt layers appeared out of thin air.


    These guardians, in the first fourte layers, were illusion puppets created by the "Ancit Emperor of the Yan Clan", the owner of the tower. Though killed by Ye Ch, if the tower expericed any anomaly, they would still be resurrected.


    To the phomon gulfing the Ancit God Tower, these illusion puppets wouldn''t pay too much mind.


    However, the three great guardians on the fifteth, sixteth, and sevteth layers were completely stunned.


    By this time, Luo Qianxue of the fifteth layer, Barbarian Thunder of the sixteth, and the grey-clothed youth "Mo Yunsong" of the sevteth all had their mouths op, displaying an incredulous look.


    "The Ancit God Tower has be conquered?"


    "The trialist managed to go through all eighte levels of the Ancit God Tower, ev Princess Yan Ling''er, the strongest guardian of the eighteth floor, was unable to stop him?!"


    The three of them could hardly believe it.


    You see, wh they, together with Yan Ling''er, were among the top four in the True Qi Realm competition, their spiritual thoughts were used by the Ancit Emperor of the Yan Clan with Great Divine Power to create countless spiritual illusion puppets, which were placed across all ninety-nine Ancit God Towers.


    Although their illusions might be defeated, their spiritual thoughts would live on indefinitely.


    The three were aware of Yan Ling''er''s strgth; she was unrivaled at the True Qi Realm competition!


    Although they had be defeated by Ye Ch, they could never have imagined that ev Yan Ling''er, who had won the competition, had also be defeated by Ye Ch.


    This was completely beyond their imagination!


    But they had no choice but to believe it.


    The astonishing phomon of the Ancit God Tower was telling them that the trialist they had faced had created a miracle that had never occurred before!


    While everyone was still shocked, after all eighte layers of the Ancit God Tower lit up, the dless purple light shot up towards the sky.


    As the dless purple light reached into the sky, suddly, from the body of Yan Ling''er, who was sitting cross-legged in the eighteth layer, a purple Spirit Talisman flew out, merging into the stream of dless purple light.


    Finally, all the purple light vanished at the highest point in the space of the Ancit God Tower.


    ...


    The Minor Spirit Realm is a vast world beyond measure.


    Its vastness ev exceeds that of the Barbaric Wilderness Contint by more than a hundred times.


    There are countless forces trched within the Minor Spirit Realm, abundant with strong beings, but the strongest are the six ancit clans of the realm.


    At this momt, in the northern domain of the vast world of the Minor Spirit Realm, there lies a chain of mystical mountains concealed among clouds and mist.


    These celestial mountains floated in the air, suspded randomly amidst the clouds, full of mystery.


    This place, is the domain of the Yan Clan, one of the six ancit clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, a name that turns countless strong beings pale upon hearing it.

 Chapter 139: Chapter 120 Out of the Pass_2

    At this momt, atop a giant floating mountain that towered over t thousand feet, a stunningly beautiful woman was sitting in meditation.


    Suddly, the breathtakingly beautiful woman oped her eyes and looked towards the clouds and mist swirling among the cliffs below.


    If Ye Ch were to see the face of this beautiful woman, he would certainly realize that she bore an uncanny resemblance to the young girl Yan Ling''er he had battled, yet she appeared much more mature than Yan Ling''er.


    This mesmerizing woman was other than the Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er, a name that echoed with fame throughout the tire Barbaric Wilderness Contint!


    She was also the real tity of the spiritual doppelganger that Yan Ling''er had left on the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower.


    More than three thousand years had passed, and the invincible True Qi Realm expert of the past had now cultivated to the realm of a Heavly Saint, and within that realm, she had reached an incredibly formidable level!


    At this time, the Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er looked at the clouds and mist in the valleys below, and suddly, she extded her fair palm and grasped into the void, a purple Spirit Talisman fell into her hand.


    "An Ancit God Tower Spirit Talisman?"


    "Could it be a message from the spiritual doppelganger I left in the Ancit God Tower?"


    Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er pressed the Spirit Talisman against her forehead and slowly closed her beautiful eyes.


    After a long while, wh she oped her eyes again, a mysterious light flashed in them, "I never imagined, after more than three thousand years, someone would finally be able to defeat the spiritual doppelganger I had left in the Ancit God Tower."


    "Ye Ch, it turns out to be a fifte-year-old boy, and he''s from the Barbaric Wilderness Contint!"


    "He managed to learn Instantaneous Movemt in the True Qi Realm, and ev the True Qi he cultivated is incredibly unique?"


    The Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er revealed a look of interest.


    "What a pity, I am currtly breaking through to the ''Void Sky True God'' realm and cannot afford to vture to the lower realm."


    "Let''s pass the ''Ancit Flame Order'' to him for now. If he doesn''t come to the Minor Spirit Realm, perhaps one day, I can go down to the lower realm to see this incredible young man."


    On the slder fingers of the Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er was a purple ring, and as she murmured to herself, a palm-sized blue-purple command tok flew out from inside the purple ring.


    This blue-purple command tok had the character "Flame" graved on the front, and the back depicted the many floating peaks and immortal mountains of the ancit Flame clan lands.


    Suring the tire blue-purple command tok was a faint mystical purple light, making it seem extraordinarily exceptional!


    After running her fingers over the tok for a momt, Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er flicked the tok into the midst of the clouds and mist in the valley.


    Hum!


    As soon as the ancit tok tered the clouds and mist, it shone with a purple light and disappeared into thin air.


    ...


    Just momts before, the ancit tok had vanished within the clouds and mist suring the floating mountain peak of the ancit Flame clan lands in the Minor Spirit Realm.


    The next momt, a colossal void oped in the sky above the eighteth floor of the Ancit God Tower.


    Boom!


    As Ye Ch looked towards this gaping void, he could see clouds and mist within and ev a mountain so huge it was unfathomable above the clouds. For an instant, he saw a stunning figure sitting atop the mountain.


    He also felt that the respldt figure glanced at him in startled wonder.


    Afterward, the void closed once again, leaving only an ancit tok veloped in a purple light falling downward.


    "Is this the ''Ancit Flame Order''?"


    Ye Ch stretched out his hand to catch the ancit tok, examining it closely.


    At that momt, he heard the faint laughter of Yan Ling''er in his ear, "Yes, Ye Ch, this is the ''Ancit Flame Order,'' passed to you from my true self in the Minor Spirit Realm!"


    "With it, traveling to the Minor Spirit Realm in the future will be much more convit for you!"


    ...


    Inside the Ancit God Tower, Ye Ch and Yan Ling''er received the Ancit Flame Order that the Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er had st through the void from the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Outside the Ancit God Tower, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and a gold monkey awaited Ye Ch, who had made it through the tire tower, to come out.


    At the same time, many others were also waiting for Ye Ch.


    Taixuan Sect, outside a cave abode on a mountain, a twelve or thirte-year-old sword-carrying girl was sitting cross-legged on the g. She occasionally glanced anxiously toward the closed doors of the cave.


    "Sister Jiang Yao has be in secluded cultivation for so long!"


    "The selection for the true disciples of Taixuan Sect is about to start. Sister said she would definitely leave seclusion before Ye Ch arrives at Taixuan Sect! The day of selection is approaching, so Sister should be coming out soon, right?"


    The murmuring sword-carrying girl lifted her gaze toward the direction of Qingyang City again.


    "I wonder how Ye Ch''s cultivation is going. Can he defeat so many gius disciples from the outer sect and break into the top three?"


    "If he can''t make it into the top three and join Taixuan Sect, Sister Jiang Yao will be so heartbrok!"


    This murmuring sword-carrying girl was Chan''er, the girl who had se Ye Ch at Qingyun Sect and had the closest relationship with Jiang Yao.


    Meanwhile, inside the cave abode.


    A stunningly beautiful girl wearing a goose-yellow dress was sitting cross-legged in cultivation.


    Her hair fell like a waterfall to her waist, and her pristine skin, delicate face, straight nose, rosy lips, and the faint dimples that appeared wh she slightly smiled were all intoxicating.


    At this momt, her eyes, as clear as stars, were tightly closed. Her long eyelashes quivered above her eyes, creating an indescribable sse of purity.


    This girl was Jiang Yao, who was in the process of attempting to advance to the middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm and had also be waiting for Ye Ch to come to Taixuan Sect.


    ...


    "Ye Ch, please come out quickly, hurry up and emerge from the ancestral secret realm!"


    Outside the ancestral land of the three great families, Bai Xiaodie was looking frantically into the land, her face full of panic.


    She had be waiting outside the ancestral land for three or four days, never leaving.


    "Ye Ch, if you don''t come out, Grandfather... he might just..."


    Thinking of this, Bai Xiaodie''s fingers were clched so tightly that they turned bloodless.


    Bai Xiaodie''s grandfather was other than Patriarch Bai of the Bai Family, who had be in a coma for over a month since being injured by Si Kongmiao of Wan Ya Mountain''s three great rogue cultivators.


    During this time, his condition had become increasingly severe, with ev his life force slipping away continuously!


    The three families had not expected the condition of the Patriarch to deteriorate so rapidly. Seeing him like this made them think bitterly of those three rogue cultivators from Wan Ya Mountain who they detested to the core.


    The trio had continuously stol treasures from the young explorers of the ancestral land, shattered the great hopes of the three clans, and injured or killed their martial artists!


    Ev Patriarch Bai was gravely injured and in a coma, his condition getting worse by the day.


    The three families had summoned countless physicians, and Bai Xiaodie ev called upon a Spirit Sea Realm expert from her sect, Peach Blossom Valley, to treat Patriarch Bai, to no avail.


    The Spirit Sea Realm expert ev said that Patriarch Bai had be sabotaged during the attack, his life force shattered, leaving no hope for recovery!


    Upon hearing this, all members of the three clans felt like they had be struck by lightning out of the blue.


    They couldn''t believe that their Patriarch would pass away like this!


    They didn''t want to believe it!


    As for Bai Xiaodie, she was utterly shell-shocked; if it hadn''t be for her thoughts of Ye Ch, the memory of him exchanging for the "Life Origin Pill" at the Myriad Treasures Stele, a pill that could restore all vitality loss of a martial artist, and seeing her grandfather''s impding death, she might have gone mad!


    The Life Origin Pill could awak her grandfather.


    Bai Xiaodie believed that as long as Ye Ch returned from the ancestral secret realm, he would undoubtedly be willing to use the Life Origin Pill to save her grandfather.


    Therefore, she kept waiting for Ye Ch''s return!


    She kept praying that Ye Ch would return before her grandfather could hold on no longer!


    ...


    Amidst the anticipation of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the gold monkey, Chan''er and Jiang Yao''s waiting, and Bai Xiaodie''s waiting.


    On this day, wh the 8th-floor ordeal of the Ancit God Tower came to an d, Ye Ch was finally teleported out.


    Having faced the trials of all eighte floors of the Ancit God Tower, having befited from the acceleration of time within, and having spt more than a year of arduous cultivation to advance his True Qi Realm to the th level, as well as achieving major gains in his techniques, Ye Ch, after acquiring the "Ancit Flame Order" and bidding farewell to Heavly Saintess Yan Ling''er, emerged from the tower!

 Chapter 140: Chapter 121 Ye Chen Returns!

    "The opportunity of the Ancient God Tower has finally come to an end!"


    Ye Chen, who was transmitted outside the Ancient God Tower, looked back at the immensely gigantic eighteen-story ancient tower, his eyes twinkling with sharp light.


    Inside the Ancient God Tower, he had stayed a total of five hundred and forty days, yet only fifty-four days had passed outside. With the time compression opportunity of the Ancient God Tower, he had cultivated for over four hundred days more than everyone else!


    This precious extra cultivation time had allowed him to advance from the seventh level of True Qi to the eleventh level!


    It allowed him to transform from mastering three Sword Intents to comprehending all four Sword Intents, evolving to possess the even more powerful Slaughter Sword Intent!


    And the Nine Transformation Fighting Body!


    And his cultivation of the Crimson Fire Flying Sword had made significant progress!


    What was even more precious was that Ye Chen had once again gained the three divine skills and transformations of the Primordial Star Scripture, Gang Yuan Three Transformations!


    Ye Chen''s strength had far surpassed what it was before.


    Now, although he still could not compete with a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, sweeping through mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses became incredibly easy, and even facing late-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, he had the power to fight. Even if he could not match them in strength, with "Void Instantaneous Change," he could directly escape.


    Ye Chen had finally made himself more powerful once again!


    For the upcoming Taixuan rendezvous, competing with the genius disciples of the Taixuan Sect Outer Sect for the first spot in the True Disciple selection, Ye Chen had absolute confidence.


    He could hardly wait to see Jiang Yao, and he could hardly wait to leave the Secret Realm to see his father and mother!


    At this moment, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and the golden monkey also saw Ye Chen being transmitted out of the Ancient God Tower.


    "Ye Chen!" the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact immediately called out excitedly.


    The palm-sized, furry, golden monkey, radiant all over with flying golden light, with eyes like black gems, also "swooshed" in a blink and hopped in front of Ye Chen.


    The golden monkey blinked at Ye Chen with its gem-like eyes, tilting its little head and looking at Ye Chen curiously.


    "Artifact Spirit, my lord!"


    Ye Chen smiled as he looked at the hundred-meter-tall giant golden monkey that the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact had transformed into, recognizing it as the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    After many days of arduous cultivation in the Divine Tower, he had finally met the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact once more.


    At the same time, Ye Chen also saw the extraordinarily divine golden monkey.


    "Wow, what a cute little monkey!"


    Ye Chen looked at the golden monkey, which, unafraid of strangers, directly "scurried" onto Ye Chen''s shoulder and affectionately rubbed its little head against Ye Chen''s clothes.


    "This is..."


    Ye Chen was wondering why the little monkey was so intimate with him when the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact walked over to Ye Chen with a smile: "Ye Chen, congratulations on making it through the Ancient God Tower!"


    "You have far exceeded the ultimate challenge set by my old master, Heavenly Saint Di Kong, and you will receive the highest reward left by my old master!"


    Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s highest reward?


    Ye Chen looked towards the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, of course, he remembered the highest reward of Heavenly Saint Di Kong. The three old clan chiefs had been quite preoccupied with it, saying that in this Ultimate Land, one might receive Di Kong''s highest reward.


    Previously, Ye Chen thought that the highest reward was the time flow rate opportunity of the Ancient God Tower, but surprisingly, there was another reward beyond that.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact pointed at the golden monkey on Ye Chen''s shoulder with a smile and said, "This highest reward is also related to this little one."


    "Related to the little monkey?" Ye Chen looked at the golden monkey on his shoulder, puzzled.


    At this moment, the golden monkey also pricked up its little ears, eager to hear what the highest reward was!


    "Ye Chen," the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said slowly as it looked at Ye Chen, "Originally, when my old master Heavenly Saint Di Kong left the ultimate challenge of the Ancient God Tower, it was partly to bring you all an opportunity, but also to find a powerful genius to fulfill a mission he had entrusted."


    "Back then, when my old master was injured, he was rescued by your three clans. You know about it, right?"


    Ye Chen nodded. It was because Heavenly Saint Di Kong was injured and encountered the ancestors of the three clans that he left a great opportunity in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    "When my old master was injured, it was because he had provoked a very powerful individual, whose strength was even slightly greater than that of my old master."


    "To repay your three clans for saving him, my old master left the Sacred Artifact ''Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple'' in this Ancestral Land, and he also left behind something he couldn''t put his mind at ease about, here in the Ancestral Land."


    "This thing is a True Spirit egg, which was this golden monkey before it hatched."


    A True Spirit egg?


    This golden monkey was hatched from a True Spirit egg?


    Ye Chen knew that monkeys are typically born live, he had never seen a monkey hatched from an egg!


    And what''s more, what exactly is a True Spirit egg?


    "True Spirit, is an incredibly powerful divine object in the world that can even traverse different spaces, moving across various continents. This golden monkey is a descendant of a close friend of my former master. After that friend went to another world, he entrusted my former master to take care of the monkey."


    "Afraid that enemies might pursue and threaten the monkey''s safety, my former master left the True Spirit egg within the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple and entrusted me that if he came back to retrieve the True Spirit egg, all would be well, but if he did not return, whoever could make it to the fifteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower would be charged with caring for the True Spirit egg."


    "Moreover, my former master decreed that if the monkey were hatched, staying inside the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple would hinder its growth. Whoever was to look after it must make a ''Lifebound Oath'' to take the monkey out of the secret realm, with a promise to care for it well, never to harm it, and eventually, when there''s a chance, to send the monkey to the Jindi Ancient Clan."


    "Ye Chen, when you entered the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple, it so happened that this little one had just been born not long before. It seems you two are fated. Are you willing to fulfill my old master''s entrustment¡ªto look after this little one and eventually send it to the Jindi Ancient Clan?"


    "If you''re unwilling, I will erase this secret from your memory, and you may leave the Ancestral Land Secret Realm as usual."


    Having said these words, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact looked at Ye Chen.


    The golden monkey was also blinking its shiny black eyes, looking at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen glanced at the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact and then at the golden monkey. He smiled and nodded, "The Ancestral Land Secret Realm has given me a great opportunity, and the ultimate test of the Ancient God Tower has yielded significant gains for me. Since it''s a task entrusted by Heavenly Saint Di Kong, I am willing to complete it!"


    "How should I take care of the monkey, and how do I send it to the Jindi Ancient Clan?"


    Ye Chen was familiar with Lifebound Oaths.


    This Lifebound Oath is a martial artist''s fundamental commitment, which can absolutely not be reneged upon. Otherwise, one''s martial arts spirit will be severely damaged, and advancement in cultivation will become impossible.


    Ye Chen had no aversion to making a Lifebound Oath to take care of the little monkey.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had agreed, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact was overjoyed, and the golden monkey''s eyes, brilliant like black jewels, also sparkled mysteriously, showing it had grown even more affectionate toward Ye Chen.


    "We can talk about the Lifebound Oath later."


    "Ye Chen, let me first tell you about three treasures. These three treasures are gifts for taking care of the little monkey, and they are also the greatest rewards set by my old master. If you decide not to fulfill my old master''s entrustment, then these three treasures will have nothing to do with you," the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact said with a smile.


    "The first treasure is known as the ''Heaven Spirit Ring''. It is a space-based secret treasure that one can carry around. The little monkey will be able to live in it in the future. Carrying the ''Heaven Spirit Ring'' will also greatly benefit you.


    How to use this ring, along with the location of the Jindi Ancient Clan, and other matters, are all stored within it¡ªyou will know once I hand the Heaven Spirit Ring to you."


    "The second treasure is called ''Heavenly Saint Bracelets.'' There''s a pair of them, consisting of an ''Attack Bracelet'' and a ''Defense Bracelet,'' each containing thirteen Heavenly Saint Law Beads crafted by my old master, imbued with Heavenly Saint Level attacks and defenses, to aid you in your cultivation and ensure your safety while caring for the little monkey."


    "The third treasure is called the ''Great Shift Law Bead.'' If you face an irresistible threat of death, it can transport you back to the Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple, saving you and the monkey''s safety once. Of course, if the Great Shift Law Bead is used, you will no longer be able to look after the monkey, and I will consider whether to take back the other treasures, depending on the situation."


    Heaven Spirit Ring! Heavenly Saint Bracelets! Great Shift Law Bead!


    These are the three great treasures left by Heavenly Saint Di Kong, the greatest rewards for taking care of the little monkey!


    "Ye Chen, now, let''s proceed to give your ''Lifebound Oath''."


    "After the vow, I will also hand over the three great treasures to you, and once you''ve performed a blood sacrifice, you will be able to use them!"


    After explaining everything, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact began to tell Ye Chen about the method of making a Lifebound Oath.


    ...


    Half an hour later, within the ancestral lands of the three major families of Ye, Bai, and Qian, a storm suddenly whipped up.


    Then, a figure of a youth appeared above the ancestral land and was then directly transported outside of it.


    This youth, who had stayed in the outer and central areas of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm for ten days and in the Ancient God Tower for fifty-four days¡ªan entire two months and four days¡ªhad finally emerged from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Ye Chen had finally returned to the three clans!


    Ye Chen, with newfound strength, had finally come back!


    Touching the Ethereal Spirit Ring on his hand, Ye Chen smiled faintly. Inside the ring was an even more precious "Heaven Spirit Ring," in which the golden monkey was soundly sleeping.


    After making the Lifebound Oath, the golden monkey finally followed Ye Chen out of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and into the world beyond!


    Within the Heaven Spirit Ring, there was also a fist-sized Law Bead treasured away¡ªthis bead was the "Great Shift Law Bead" that Ye Chen had sanctified with his essence blood.


    On Ye Chen''s wrists were black bracelets on each hand, which appeared ordinary from the outside. However, they were forged by Heavenly Saint Di Kong himself, each containing thirteen powerful law beads: the Heavenly Saint Bracelets!


    The adventure in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm for over two months had yielded tremendous gains for Ye Chen!


    As Ye Chen was gathering his thoughts, ready to return home to see his parents whom he hadn''t seen for months, he suddenly heard an excited shout: "Ye Chen!"


    Next, he saw Bai Xiaodie with tears streaming down her face, flying towards him.

 Chapter 141: Chapter 122: Rage Burns

    Ye Chen had never seen Bai Xiaodie like this before!


    Aside from the surprise on Bai Xiaodie''s face, Ye Chen saw panic and urgency as well!


    "What happened?"


    A bad feeling flashed through Ye Chen''s mind.


    Logically, Bai Xiaodie should have made significant gains in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and should have been overjoyed, so why was there a look of panic and urgency?


    "Ye Chen, you''re finally back! You''re finally back!"


    "Grandfather can be saved, Ye Chen, you must save my grandfather!"


    Bai Xiaodie''s voice was somewhat hoarse as she desperately shouted at Ye Chen.


    "Don''t panic, tell me what''s going on, your grandfather, Patriarch Bai, what happened to him?" Ye Chen steadied Bai Xiaodie, asking her.


    Ye Chen''s voice seemed to have a magical effect that calmed her. Listening to Ye Chen''s voice, all of Bai Xiaodie''s worries seemed to vanish; he gave her a feeling that he could support everything.


    With her emotions slightly steadied, Bai Xiaodie was finally able to fully express herself: "Ye Chen, the day we left the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, we encountered three Spirit Sea Realm wanderers from Wan Ya Mountain!"


    "Those three wanderers directly attacked our clan, not only injuring my grandfather but also killing all the martial artists in our clan, even Qian Ming, who competed with us in the tri-clan competition, was killed by them!"


    "They even took all the treasures we brought out from the Ancestral Land!"


    "After my grandfather was injured by Sikong Miao, his condition has worsened, and now he is barely hanging on!"


    By the end, Bai Xiaodie couldn''t help but burst into tears.


    Boom!


    Bai Xiaodie''s words exploded in Ye Chen''s mind.


    When Bai Xiaodie and the others had left the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, Ye Chen had been in the midst of his ultimate trial and had not left with them.


    Ye Chen had thought that with their treasures, their return to the clan would be met with great joy.


    Now, listening to Bai Xiaodie''s words, it was far from great joy; they had actually encountered a treasure robbery by the Spirit Sea Realm wanderers from Wan Ya Mountain!


    Even members of their clan had died at the hands of those wanderers, and Patriarch Bai was in critical condition!


    And Qian Ming.


    Ye Chen remembered Qian Ming; he ranked among the top three in the tri-clan competition, second only to him and Bai Xiaodie. Qian Ming also performed extraordinarily in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    Now, Qian Ming was dead?!


    Dead at the hands of those three wanderers?


    "Ye Chen, do you have the Life Origin Pill? Would you be willing to use it to save my grandfather?"


    As Ye Chen was still reeling from the bad news, Bai Xiaodie looked at him with utter panic and asked.


    "Life Origin Pill? Yes, I do. Of course, I would want to save Patriarch Bai!"


    "Let''s go and see Patriarch Bai; don''t worry, with the Life Origin Pill, he will surely be fine!"


    Ye Chen said to Bai Xiaodie.


    The matter of the three Spirit Sea Realm wanderers could wait; saving the patriarch was urgent.


    After reviving the patriarch, Ye Chen intended to find out more about the robbery and murder. If someone dared to attack his own family, Ye Chen wouldn''t let them off!


    It didn''t matter if they were of the Rotating Pill Realm; anyone who killed his clansmen and injured the patriarch so seriously, Ye Chen would not forgive them!


    Even if it meant depleting the Law Bead of the Heavenly Saint Bracelet, he would dare kill a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse¡ªlet alone the three wanderers from Wan Ya Mountain!


    ```


    "Ye Chen, thank you!"


    After giving Ye Chen a deep look when he agreed without any hesitation to save her grandfather, Bai Xiaodie grabbed him and ran toward Patriarch Bai''s house.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen, you''re back!"


    In Patriarch Bai''s house, Patriarch Ye and Patriarch Qian were both present, along with many other clan members crowded inside.


    When the two patriarchs saw Ye Chen, tears streamed down their old faces.


    Ye Chen was safe, truly safe, really out of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm¡ªif so, then their three clans still had hope!


    Many clan members, who didn''t even know that Ye Chen was still alive, were overjoyed when they saw him. It was only now that they understood. Bai Xiaodie and the others had hidden the news of Ye Chen''s presence in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm to protect him.


    Through the crowd of clanspeople, Ye Chen had already seen Patriarch Bai lying in bed.


    At that moment, Patriarch Bai''s face was devoid of color, his body had lost a lot of weight, and his whole being seemed to barely cling to life.


    Originally, Patriarch Bai had presided over the great competition of the three clans¡ªnow he was reduced to this sickly state!


    All of this was caused by those three rogue cultivators!


    Seeing Patriarch Bai''s condition, the anger in Ye Chen''s heart, already intense, flared even higher.


    When he returned to the clan, he had noticed the gloom that enveloped the hearts of all the clanspeople.


    That gloom, the helpless resentment that they had no way to avenge, had stolen the usual laughter from the three great clans.


    At that time, rage surged in Ye Chen''s heart.


    Now, seeing Patriarch Bai''s condition, how could his fury not burn fiercely?!


    Ye Chen took out the Life Origin Pill and handed it to Bai Xiaodie, then he turned to Patriarch Ye and asked, "Ancestral grandfather, what exactly is going on with those three rogue cultivators?"


    "Ye Chen!"


    Patriarch Ye looked at Ye Chen and recalled the ruthless, fierce demeanor of the three rogue cultivators, who killed without mercy, and involuntarily shuddered. "Those three, we can''t afford to provoke them. They are all Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses!"


    Saying this, Patriarch Ye also looked toward the other clan members in the room, "No one is to speak of Ye Chen''s return."


    "Ye Chen, aren''t you going to Taixuan Sect? Hurry and leave! If those three hear that you''ve come out of the secret realm, they might come back to take your treasures. That would be troublesome!"


    The other clan members also nodded their heads in agreement. "Ye Chen, you should go quickly. We can''t provoke those three!"


    Seeing even Patriarch Ye''s entire face change color at the mere mention of those three rogue cultivators, and how absolutely terrified he appeared, and looking at the depths of hatred and helplessness in all the clanspeople''s eyes, Ye Chen understood. It was all because of weakness.


    It was because they were weak that those three rogue cultivators dared to come to their doorstep to kill and rob treasures.


    It was because they were weak that the clanspeople had to endure being bullied, even with towering hatred, they could not take revenge!


    They even wanted him to hide as quickly as possible.


    "Because of weakness?"


    "Three Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses think they can bully us as they please?!"


    Ye Chen looked at Patriarch Ye, his voice supremely calm. "Ancestral grandfather, tell me everything about those three rogue cultivators."


    "I''m back. You don''t have to worry about them any longer!"


    "Even if they were Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, I have ways to deal with them, let alone three mere Spirit Sea Realm individuals!"


    "They killed our clanspeople, took treasures from our clan¡ªthis vengeance, I will surely repay with my own hands!"


    ```

 Chapter 142: Chapter 123: Storming Wan Ya Mountain Alone

    Ye Chen''s calm voice carried a powerful strength, a powerful self-assurance.


    "You killed my clan members, you took the treasures of my clan, this enmity, I will definitely avenge with my own hands!"


    Ye Chen''s words made everyone in the house from the three clans feel a twinge in their noses.


    They needed that kind of responsible sense, they needed that kind of powerful feeling!


    Unfortunately, the strongest among them were only at the twelfth level of True Qi Realm, helpless against three major Spirit Sea Realm Loose Cultivators. Could it be that Ye Chen really possessed the strength to confront the three Loose Cultivators now?


    All eyes were on Ye Chen; they longed for him to stand up for them, but they were more worried that in seeking vengeance against the three Loose Cultivators, Ye Chen might end up getting hurt by them.


    "Brother Ye Chen, can you really defeat those three Loose Cultivators?"


    Among the clan members, a young boy with tear-stained red eyes looked up at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen turned to the boy and noticed a resemblance between the boy and Qian Ming, and he nodded.


    The boy could no longer care about anything else; he cried out, "Brother Ye Chen, if you can really beat those three, you must avenge my brother! My brother Qian Ming died at their hands, my father and mother cry every day, if this goes on, I''m afraid the two of them won''t last much longer!"


    In the midst of the boy''s crying, another girl also burst into tears, "Brother Ye Chen, my father was also killed by those three. My father just wanted to stop them from bullying us, and they burned him to death, my father, he... he didn''t even leave bones behind!"


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    Many young people in the house began to cry out, unable to contain their feelings. They had long been holding back their anger, and hearing that Ye Chen was going to face the three Loose Cultivators, they could not hold back anymore.


    Eventually, even many adults began to tremble with excited emotions.


    "Ye Chen, if you can really defeat them, you must take this vengeance for us. Our three clans have been humiliated, our clan members slaughtered by them!"


    "Avenge us, avenge this murderous enmity that has come to our doorstep!"


    Many stood up.


    Patriarch Ye and Patriarch Qian exchanged glances, also hopeful that Ye Chen could indeed avenge the clan, but they still worried, concerned he might overreach and suffer for it.


    Just then, Patriarch Bai on the bed suddenly let out a muffled groan.


    "Patriarch!"


    "Patriarch Bai!"


    This groan was like music to their ears; Patriarch Bai had been unconscious the whole time and now, after taking the medicine Ye Chen had provided, he actually made a sound, which of course thrilled all the clan members.


    Everyone looked towards the bed, seeing that although Patriarch Bai had not yet awakened, his complexion had clearly improved a lot after taking the medicine.


    Ye Chen truly was formidable; returning home, he could produce medicine that could revive Patriarch Bai!


    This bolstered everyone''s confidence in Ye Chen even more.


    Previously, at the Myriad Treasures Stele, Ye Chen had exchanged for five Life Origin Pills, and he had given one of them to Patriarch Bai to take.


    The Life Origin Pill was the third treasure of the Myriad Treasures Stele; this pill could regenerate limbs for mortals, extend life by a hundred years, and imbue vigor comparable to that of dragons and tigers. It could completely restore the lost life force of a Martial Artist, reaching the optimal state of life!


    With Patriarch Bai having taken this pill, no matter how serious the illness, he would recover, and though he had not yet awakened, once the pill''s power was fully absorbed, he would certainly be fully restored!


    "Ye Chen, thank you!"


    At that moment, Bai Xiaodie, seeing Patriarch Bai''s improved condition, finally felt her anxiety and helplessness dissipate.


    She knew the potency of the Life Origin Pill and now, with the Life Origin Pill Ye Chen gave, she no longer had to worry about her grandfather''s safety!


    The young girl''s eyes seriously questioned Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, do you really have the strength to deal with those three Loose Cultivators?"


    Ye Chen looked at Bai Xiaodie and nodded, "After you all left, I made significant gains in the ultimate trial area, and my strength has increased a lot."


    "Ye Chen, you say you can beat them, and I believe you!" Seeing Ye Chen confidently nod again, Bai Xiaodie raised her voice and said, "Right now, my strength is not enough, so I must trouble you to take this vengeance for us!"


    "Without avenging this, I fear our three clans will never be able to hold our heads high ever again!"


    "Ye Chen, those three Loose Cultivators are the three Fort Chiefs of Black Cliff Stronghold in Wan Ya Mountain. The main chief is named Sikong Miao, the second chief is named Wei Wuya, and the third chief is named Lei Qing. Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya are both mid-Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, and Lei Qing is an early Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!"


    "Having taken our treasures, they have returned to Wan Ya Mountain and should be in the mountain now!"


    True to her decisive nature, Bai Xiaodie, choosing to believe in Ye Chen, straightforwardly spelled out everything about the three Loose Cultivators.


    "Those three Loose Cultivators, the leaders of Black Cliff Stronghold, they maintain many underlings. Many of those underlings are also powerful people at the eleventh and twelfth levels of the True Qi Realm. To deal with the three Loose Cultivators, also be wary of those underlings!"


    "Black Cliff Stronghold, in the deepest part of Wan Ya Mountain, they dominate most of the mountain territory and are a powerful stronghold, only slightly weaker than an eighth-grade sect..."


    Once Bai Xiaodie began speaking, others also chimed in with additional information.


    Clearly, the clan members harbored intense hatred for the three Loose Cultivators and had gathered detailed information on them!


    Ye Chen listened and nodded along.


    Once he had enough information about the three Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain, he nodded to the clan members in the house and said, "Patriarch Grandfather, uncles, brothers, and sisters, rest assured, I will seek revenge on them for this!"


    Having finished speaking, Ye Chen strode toward the outside of the house.


    Everyone followed Ye Chen as he exited the room.


    "Ye Chen, be careful against those three Loose Cultivators!"


    "If it''s too much, then flee; as long as the green hills are there, there will always be another chance!"


    Everyone looked at Ye Chen, with both anticipation and concern.


    "Young Master! Young Master! You really came back!"


    As he stepped outside, Ye Chen suddenly heard the voice of the young maid Tao''er.


    He looked towards the direction of the voice and saw Tao''er, as well as his parents, all running towards him anxiously.


    Not only his parents and Tao''er, but also numerous other clan members, upon hearing of Ye Chen''s return, had rushed over.


    "Young Master, what are you about to do?"


    Panting, Tao''er caught up to Ye Chen and asked.


    "Chen''er, were you alright in that secret realm?" Ye Chen''s mother, Lin Rin, also pulled on his hand worriedly.


    During this time, even though they knew from Bai Xiaodie that Ye Chen was not in any danger in the secret realm, the longer they waited, the more anxious and worried they became.


    Now that they saw Ye Chen returning, they immediately rushed over hastily.


    "Dad, Mom, Tao''er, I''m fine."


    Ye Chen said to the three of them with a smile.


    "I just got back and have already heard about the Loose Cultivator incident at Wan Ya Mountain. I''m going to Wan Ya Mountain now!"


    Wan Ya Mountain!


    Upon hearing the three words "Wan Ya Mountain" from Ye Chen, his father, mother, and Tao''er all had their expressions change, and the clan members who had followed them were even more shocked.


    "Ye Chen is back; he now has the strength to deal with those three Loose Cultivators!"


    "Brother Ye Chen is going to avenge us!"


    When Bai Xiaodie and the other youngsters spoke of Ye Chen''s intentions, everyone else was startled.


    How could Ye Chen, at such a young age, confront those three infamous Loose Cultivators?


    "Young Master, are you really going to avenge our clan members? Can you really defeat those three villains?!" Tao''er, after showing her concern, became inexplicably excited.


    She believed her young master would not make empty boasts!


    Ye Chen patted Tao''er''s little head and said a few words to his parents before he no longer hesitated.


    He understood the clan members'' concerns; if he always had to reassure them, it would take a considerable effort.


    It would be better to go directly to Wan Ya Mountain!


    Boom!


    An immense surge of Gang Yuan True Qi suddenly whirled out from within Ye Chen, and a pair of silver Wind-Thunder Wings, a zhang in length, immediately materialized behind him. With a spread of his wings, Ye Chen flew up into the sky.


    "I''ll be back soon!"


    As soon as Ye Chen''s words fell, his entire body shot up dozens of meters into the air and, in a few breaths, he disappeared into the sky towards Wan Ya Mountain.


    "Flight!"


    "Ye Chen can actually fly!"


    "Heavens, maybe Ye Chen really can avenge our great enmity of life and death!"


    Seeing Ye Chen fly off alone towards Wan Ya Mountain, and looking at the mystical Wind-Thunder Wings behind him, many clan members exclaimed in surprise.


    "Let''s go,"


    "Let''s also follow to Wan Ya Mountain to see what happens!"


    After exchanging glances, Bai Xiaodie and several youngsters also flew toward Wan Ya Mountain, with many martial artists from the three clans following behind them.


    However, their speed was incomparably slower than Ye Chen''s; by the time they had flown just a few miles, Ye Chen had already flown into the skies above Wan Ya Mountain!


    ...


    "Wan Ya Mountain, Black Cliff Stronghold!"


    In the sky, Ye Chen released his divine senses, covering a thousand zhang radius while flying deeper into Wan Ya Mountain.


    Aoo! Aoo!


    Although Wan Ya Mountain was not as vast and continuous as Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain, it was still home to many Demon Beasts. As Ye Chen flew into the middle region of Wan Ya Mountain, he even encountered several ferocious ninth- and tenth-rank flying Demon Beasts attacking him.


    The moment those flying Demon Beasts approached Ye Chen, the vast True Qi within him burst forth, frightening these beasts into a frenzied flight!


    There was a time when Ye Chen could only look up at these flying Demon Beasts from the ground; now, he could fly in the sky just the same and even scare these creatures into retreat!


    After flying for roughly half an hour, Ye Chen finally saw from afar a stronghold built like a black dragon amidst Wan Ya Mountain.


    Black Cliff Stronghold, the lair of those three major Loose Cultivators, the Black Cliff Stronghold!


    Boom!


    An immense True Qi rolled within Ye Chen, making the light of the Wind-Thunder Wings on his back shine brightly; his flying speed soared, and in an instant, he arrived above Black Cliff Stronghold.


    "Who goes there, daring to intrude upon Black Cliff Stronghold!"


    Inside Black Cliff Stronghold, dotted with numerous watchtowers and black stone towers, the guards shouted loudly upon seeing Ye Chen flying above.


    "Tell your three Fort Chiefs to come out and face me!"


    Ye Chen''s voice boomed down below.


    "It''s an invader; shoot him down!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s disrespect toward the Fort Chiefs, the guards in Black Cliff Stronghold''s watchtowers and stone towers let out piercing screams, and a large group of bandits armed with huge black bows strung up arrows to shoot at Ye Chen from the stone tower windows in all directions.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Each of these black bows was a zhang long, each arrow launched with immense power, and countless arrows shot toward Ye Chen in the sky.


    These bandits, realizing Ye Chen flew using wings and was not at the Spirit Sea Realm, took cover in the watchtowers and aimed to severely wound or even kill Ye Chen with those arrows.


    Meanwhile, others rushed to report to the three Fort Chiefs within the stronghold.


    "Birds of a feather! Without asking why, they immediately set out to kill me with deadly force!"


    Ye Chen in the sky, watching the arrows fly toward him, smirked coldly. With a sweep of his large hand, all those arrows hung suspended in the air.


    Then, the arrows reversed direction and, with even greater force, reflected back.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The arrows struck the black stone towers, shattering the structures made of black stone, and some even pinned the very people who had aimed for Ye Chen''s vital parts to the tower walls.


    Suddenly, chaos erupted with shouting, screaming, and wailing filling the air!


    By venturing into Wan Ya Mountain alone, Ye Chen had ignited a bloody storm with his arrival!

 Chapter 143: Chapter 124 Blood for Blood!

    "Impossible!"


    "How can he be so strong?!"


    "How can he even control the arrows we shot?!"


    Watching Black Stone Tower collapse and shatter under the reflection of the arrow they had shot, seeing many beside them get nailed to death within the stone tower, the lackeys who had drawn bows and shot at Ye Chen from inside were completely petrified.


    They couldn''t recognize Ye Chen''s Sword Intent technique at all.


    Ye Chen made the myriad arrows that were shot toward him hover in the void, reflect back, and instantly collapsed the stone tower with his powerful Sword Intent, terrifying the lackeys to the extent that they dared not launch another attack at him.


    Even when Ye Chen''s gaze swept over them, they were so scared that they quickly bowed their heads, not daring to meet his eyes for fear of trouble.


    Ye Chen''s formidable strength directly silenced the previously arrogant lackeys; they dared not make a sound anymore.


    These people no longer acted against Ye Chen, and Ye Chen didn''t bother with them anymore either. After all, the true targets he needed to deal with were the three great Loose Cultivators of Black Cliff Stronghold on Wan Ya Mountain, not the others.


    Ye Chen, lifting his gaze and looking around Black Cliff Stronghold, suddenly caught sight of a cyan light soaring up from deep within the stronghold, and a glint of sharpness flashed across his eyes.


    The real deal has arrived!


    Among Black Cliff Stronghold of Wan Ya Mountain, there were only three Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses; this cyan light that transformed into flight must be one of those three mighty figures.


    Boom!


    The flying light moved with extreme speed, and after a few breaths, it landed in the void, revealing the silhouette of a young man.


    This youth turned out to be Lei Qing, ranked third among the three great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain!


    Lei Qing, having flown into the sky, glanced at the collapsed and shattered Black Stone Tower and saw many lackeys killed by arrows. His face turned ashen in an instant.


    As he lifted his gaze toward Ye Chen, upon seeing the silver wings on Ye Chen''s back and the aura of True Qi on him, Lei Qing sneered coldly, "What True Qi Realm brat dares to run wild in my Black Cliff Stronghold? Are you tired of living?"


    Ye Chen looked at Lei Qing and asked indifferently, "Are you one of those three great Loose Cultivators from Wan Ya Mountain? From your appearance and age, I suppose you must be Lei Qing, the third Fort Chief."


    Lei Qing hadn''t expected this True Qi Realm youngster before him to show no fear whatsoever, he gave Ye Chen a sidelong glance: "That''s right, I am Lei Qing!"


    "So what? You think just because you''ve cultivated flying wings, you can run amok in my Black Cliff stronghold?"


    "Whether I''m running amok or not, I don''t know. What I do know is that since you are Lei Qing from the three great Loose Cultivators, the blood debts you''ve incurred must be repaid in blood."


    Boom!


    Having confirmed the identity of the newcomer, Ye Chen said no more. The silver storm wings on his back spread out, and he charged at Lei Qing like lightning.


    "Hmph, how audacious!"


    Lei Qing had never expected this brash young man who had suddenly attacked would be so direct, launching an attack after barely a few words.


    From Ye Chen''s aura alone, he could tell that Ye Chen was merely at the eleventh level of True Qi, and he didn''t take Ye Chen seriously at all.


    When he saw Ye Chen charge at him, Lei Qing laughed coldly. In an instant, a gigantic cyan True Qi flame, over fifty or sixty meters tall, swept out from his body.


    "A True Qi Realm person daring to challenge a Spirit Sea powerhouse? That''s simply courting death!"


    "I''ll let you taste the feeling of being blasted to death by True Qi Spiritual Fluid!"


    Boom!


    As Lei Qing spoke, he moved his body, carrying his vast True Qi, to fiercely confront Ye Chen''s onslaught.


    When they collided in the sky, Lei Qing''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    He was shocked to find that the True Qi Realm youth whom he hadn''t taken seriously at all had suddenly unleashed a True Qi far more vast than his own.


    Furthermore, it was a silver divine True Qi he had never seen before.


    Boom!


    Lei Qing had no time to react before he was fiercely struck by Ye Chen.


    "Ugh!"


    With that blow, Lei Qing spat out a large mouthful of blood and was heavily slammed from the sky to the ground, collapsing many buildings in Black Cliff Stronghold.


    In their first exchange, Ye Chen had completely defeated Lei Qing with a single move! §®@?*?¦®??$?§Á


    "My God!"


    "Is he really just from the True Qi Realm? The Third Fort Chief is a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, yet he can''t even defeat this youth?"


    The lackeys in the Black Stone Tower, whose morale had greatly risen after Lei Qing''s appearance, were anticipating that Lei Qing would teach Ye Chen a harsh lesson.


    They never expected that Lei Qing would not be a match for Ye Chen''s move!


    Little did these people know that Ye Chen, in the Ancient God Tower, possessed True Qi strength capable of directly confronting Yan Ling''er, the guardian of the highest layer, face-to-face. With such an amount of True Qi, dealing with a mid-Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse was no problem, let alone Lei Qing, an early Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse.


    Now, for Ye Chen to kill Lei Qing was as easy as blowing off dust.


    After slamming Lei Qing to the ground, Ye Chen didn''t stop his assault. His divine consciousness swept out and located Lei Qing''s position. Before Lei Qing could get up, Ye Chen spread his silver heavy wings behind him and instantly flew to where Lei Qing was.


    Then, Ye Chen reached out with a big hand and grabbed Lei Qing.


    "What... what do you want to do?!" Lei Qing had not anticipated that the youth would be so fierce.


    Even with his early Spirit Sea Realm cultivation, he couldn''t fight back at all against this youth. Even when he struggled using his True Qi, he couldn''t break free from the youth''s grip.


    "What do I want to do? I''ve said long ago that you would pay a blood debt with blood!"


    "Rest assured, the trouble you''ve caused among my three clans won''t let you die so easily. I''ll let you taste what it''s like to be oppressed by a mighty force!"


    In Ye Chen''s indifferent voice, he flew toward a section of Black Cliff Stronghold while holding Lei Qing.


    The lackeys in the stone buildings, seeing Ye Chen holding their Third Fort Chief and flying towards them, were so frightened that they quickly flew away to escape. Some who couldn''t flee in time even jumped directly off the stone building.


    Boom!


    Just as these lackeys had cleared out, Ye Chen, still holding Lei Qing, arrived above the stone buildings. With a swing of his arm, Ye Chen directly smashed Lei Qing onto Black Stone Tower.


    Boom!


    With that smash from Ye Chen using Lei Qing, the Black Stone Tower collapsed and burst again, and Lei Qing spurted out several mouthfuls of blood.


    If he weren''t a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, protected by his powerful True Qi, he might have been crushed to death by that smash!


    Lei Qing, spurting blood, looked at Ye Chen with an expression full of terror in his eyes.


    Was this youth not holding back at all, intending to crush him to death?


    In that moment, Lei Qing remembered what Ye Chen had said earlier and spoke with disbelief, "You... You are one of the people from the three clans of Qingyang City?"


    "Impossible, I''d inquired before, the most powerful of your three clans was merely a twelfth layer True Qi Realm practitioner. How could there be someone as formidable as you?"


    Incredulous, Lei Qing watched Ye Chen fly toward him again. Then, with another big hand grab, Ye Chen captured him once more.


    "What, just because the strongest among my Qingyang City three clans is at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, you think you can bully us as you please?"


    Boom!


    With a swing of his hand, Ye Chen used the immense power from practicing the Nine Transformation Fighting Body to smash Lei Qing back onto the stone tower.


    "Just because the strongest in my Qingyang City three clans is at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, you think you can plunder our treasures at will?!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen once again grabbed Lei Qing and smashed him into another stone tower.


    "Just because the strongest in my Qingyang City three clans is at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, you think you can kill our clan members at will?!"


    In the end, Ye Chen directly smashed Lei Qing onto the ground, creating a huge pit tens of feet wide in the earth where Lei Qing, covered in blood, passed out completely.


    Heaven.


    The lackeys of Black Cliff Stronghold, watching their Third Fort Chief being continuously smashed by Ye Chen without any resistance, were completely stupefied.


    They looked at the collapsed Black Stone Tower, the vast pit in the ground, and Lei Qing lying unconscious in the pit.


    Then, all the lackeys turned their eyes to Ye Chen in the sky, his face dark and stern.


    "When did our Fort Chief provoke such a scourge?!"


    All the lackeys, looking at Ye Chen, trembled in their hearts and legs.

 Chapter 144: Chapter 125: Taking Your Heads

    In the sky.


    Ye Chen watched as Lei Qing was knocked unconscious, his face showing not a hint of disturbance.


    This Lei Qing, along with two other Loose Cultivators, had invaded his family''s domain to kill and plunder. Such a man, now faced with this retribution, had brought it upon himself.


    It was not just a matter of knocking him unconscious¡ªYe Chen had no intention of sparing his life, so as not to let him bring harm to others!


    His relentless pounding was meant to draw out the other two among the three major Loose Cultivators.


    But unexpectedly, Lei Qing was now knocked out cold, and a large part of Black Cliff Stronghold''s Qingshi Tower had been destroyed, yet the other two Loose Cultivators had still not shown themselves.


    Ye Chen turned his eyes towards those minions who were shivering in terror.


    Living in Black Cliff Stronghold, surely some of them knew the whereabouts of the other two Loose Cultivators.


    "Let me ask you, where are your Great Chieftain and Second Chieftain now?" Ye Chen scanned the various minions and asked aloud.


    Those fixed by Ye Chen''s gaze trembled in fear.


    "Your Excellency, we don''t know where the Great Master and the Third Master are!"


    These minions were even addressing Ye Chen respectfully as "Your Excellency"!


    Ye Chen''s current strength was such that even their Third Master could not gain any advantage against him; they naturally did not dare show him anything but respect.


    "You don''t know where your Great Master and Third Master are?" Ye Chen''s eyebrows furrowed as his eyes moved over the faces of the minions.


    When he saw one minion whose face twitched uncontrollably, unable to look him in the eye, Ye Chen reached out his hand. Despite the distance of tens of meters, he unexpectedly grasped the minion out of thin air and pulled him over!


    "Your Excellency!"


    "Your Excellency, spare my life!"


    The minion struggled and pleaded for mercy frantically.


    Boom!


    The vast power of Ye Chen''s True Qi swept up the minion into his hand: "Stop struggling, otherwise, I can''t guarantee your safety."


    With that, the previously writhing minion dared not make any more moves.


    "I ask you again, do you truly not know where your Great Master and Second Chieftain are?" Ye Chen''s eyes bore into the minion''s, asking slowly.


    "Excellency, I truly don''t know where they are, but I know that the Great Master and Second Chieftain must still be within the stronghold," the minion interrupted.


    "They must be hiding somewhere cultivating!"


    "They''ve rarely been seen since they returned from Qingyang City more than a month ago."


    The minion hastily relayed all he knew to Ye Chen.


    "Returned from Qingyang City over a month ago? Isn''t that the time when the treasures were taken from my family?"


    "Rarely being seen, could it be that they are cultivating some technique or trying to break through a realm?"


    Ye Chen''s gaze swept across Black Cliff Stronghold, recalling from the younger members of his family that the most precious treasure that the three major Loose Cultivators had taken was the two Creation Yuan Pills exchanged by Bai Xiaodie.


    The Creation Yuan Pill could help those in the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm increase their chances of breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm by seventy percent.


    The two reclusive Loose Cultivators were at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm; it seemed likely they were intent on using the Creation Yuan Pills to attempt to break through to the later phase as soon as possible.


    Ye Chen''s speculation was correct. At this moment, Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya, the two leaders among the three major Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain, were in a secret chamber within the stronghold, deep in cultivation, indeed clueless about the outside world.


    Seeing that the minion held in his hand knew nothing more, Ye Chen released him, and with a sweep of his Sword Intent, he sent the minion flying back to his original position.


    Whisked away and then suddenly returned by Ye Chen''s hand, the minion''s heart pounded fiercely; standing back on the ground, he could hardly keep his balance.


    And the other minions dared not even breathe too loudly, fearful they too would be pulled up by Ye Chen for questioning.


    "They''re in Black Cliff Stronghold?"


    "Since they refuse to come out, let''s find them!"


    Ye Chen stretched out his arm and grabbed the unconscious Lei Qing, his wings spreading behind him as he flew about within the bounds of Black Cliff Stronghold.


    While flying, he used his Divine Sense to explore every nook and cranny.


    The minions in Black Cliff Stronghold knew early on about Ye Chen''s intrusion, especially the striking scene of him ferociously pounding the Third Master Lei Qing into submission, which shocked countless of them.


    Everyone knew that a formidable young man had arrived in the stronghold seeking their Chieftains.


    As Ye Chen flew across the stronghold''s territory, the small-time minions didn''t dare to utter a single word, pretending as if they didn''t see anything at all.


    "Not here."


    "There''s nothing here either!"


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense could now cover a thousand zhang in radius. With the help of his swift motions and Divine Sense exploration, he had investigated a large part of Black Cliff Stronghold in an instant.


    When he arrived at the eastern edge of Black Cliff Stronghold, Ye Chen suddenly stopped.


    Through his Divine Sense, he shockingly discovered what seemed like a hidden space beneath the ground.


    "Could it be hiding right inside here?"


    Ye Chen grabbed the unconscious Lei Qing with one hand, while with the other, he pointed toward the ground, and in an instant, a boundless Gang Yuan True Qi burst forth from his fingertip.


    As soon as the Gang Yuan True Qi shot out, it transformed into a gigantic Sword of True Qi, which then directly struck downward toward the earth.


    Boom! Boom!


    With every slash of the Sword of True Qi, the earth was cleaved, forming gashes tens of meters long and more than half a meter wide. After several continuous strikes, the earth was pierced more than ten meters deep!


    The onlookers from Black Cliff Stronghold, who had been surreptitiously watching Ye Chen, revealed expressions of amazement and admiration when they saw the Qi shining from his fingers condense into a sword.


    As they watched Ye Chen continuously strike the earth, these onlookers began to wonder, "Could there be something beneath the ground?"


    Just as they were speculating, the earth that had been split open to reveal a space more than ten meters deep and tens of meters long now exposed the top of a secret chamber made of refined iron.


    "A secret chamber?"


    "Could it be that the Great Master and Second Chieftain are cultivating inside there?"


    The informer among the underlings could not help but look toward the secret chamber.


    Upon seeing the underground chamber, Ye Chen did not stop. His finger moved again and, in an instant, a Sword of True Qi several meters long formed in his hand.


    This Sword of True Qi was even more powerful than the one he had used to strike the earth earlier. It was the Sword of True Qi formed through Ye Chen''s use of Slaughter Sword Intent.


    Boom!


    With a flick of his finger, the meter-long Sword of Slaughter struck fiercely toward the top of the iron-refined secret chamber.


    As if slicing through mud, the Sword of Slaughter effortlessly and completely cut off the top of the secret chamber. Just then, two figures explosively flew out from it.


    These two figures were none other than the leader Sikong Miao and the deputy leader Wei Wuya of the three great Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain.


    The two had been hiding in the secret chamber to cultivate. The moment Ye Chen struck the earth, they had already been awakened. They were about to leave the chamber to see what was happening outside when they did not expect the entire top of the chamber to be sliced off.


    When they flew out from the top of the secret chamber, they immediately saw Ye Chen and Lei Qing, whom Ye Chen was holding unconscious.


    Swoosh! Swoosh!


    In a flash, the two soared into the sky.


    Looking around, they saw that many buildings of Qingshi Tower had been destroyed beyond recognition and there were colossal pits in the ground caused by impacts.


    They also saw the fearful looks in the eyes of their underlings as they regarded Ye Chen.


    "Did you do this?" The Great Master among the three Loose Cultivators, the elder Sikong Miao clad in a green robe, asked Ye Chen with a cold glint in his eyes.


    Next to him, the Second Chieftain with fiery red eyebrows, Wei Wuya, began rubbing his hands together, evidently ready to act against Ye Chen.


    "Yes, it was me!"


    Ye Chen faced Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya without any fear. He continued to grip Lei Qing and abruptly slammed him into the ground, tossing him onto the earth.


    Then, Ye Chen looked at the two men, "You must be the top two of the three great Loose Cultivators from Wan Ya Mountain, Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya!"


    The faces of Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya twitched as they saw Ye Chen daring to treat Lei Qing so disrespectfully right in front of them.


    They could not fathom where this young man got the audacity from to ascend Wan Ya Mountain alone and cause such havoc here.


    They had even lost their youngest brother to this young man''s hands.


    The two began to guard themselves secretly against Ye Chen. From the chaotic scene before them, they inferred that this young man was certainly not as simple as the Realm of True Qi he appeared to display.


    "Yes, we are Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya. Who are you, and what brings you to our Black Cliff Stronghold?"


    Even with cold light surging in his eyes, Sikong Miao still questioned Ye Chen.


    He wanted to find out the origin of this young man.


    "Who am I? I am one of the people from the three great families of Qingyang City!"


    "What brings me here? I have come to take the heads of you three great Loose Cultivators!"


    Ye Chen said to Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya with unparalleled calm.

 Chapter 145: Chapter 126 Instant Kill

    Ye Chen''s words exploded like a thunderclap out of the blue in everyone''s minds.


    This young man had actually ventured alone up Black Cliff Stronghold to take the heads of the three great fort chiefs by himself?!


    Even if he was formidable, could he truly be that powerful?


    All the underlings of Black Cliff Stronghold couldn''t believe it.


    Although Ye Chen had previously defeated the third in command, Lei Qing, Lei Qing was indeed the weakest among the three chiefs. Now that the stronghold''s leading chief and the second in command had made their move, the underlings didn''t believe Ye Chen could still be victorious.


    "You want our heads?"


    "Haha, haha, what a huge joke!"


    Sikong Miao, in the sky, looked down on Ye Chen and let out a few cold laughs.


    Previously, he had been worried about Ye Chen''s background, fearing they had provoked someone troublesome. After all, a person who dared to venture up Wan Ya Mountain must have something to rely on.


    Now, upon hearing that Ye Chen claimed to come from the three great families of Qingyang City, they realized that Ye Chen sought revenge for them!


    The three great families, whom they dared to kill right at their doorstep, held no weight in their eyes, a mere trifling force.


    While it was true that Ye Chen, with the cultivation of the eleventh level of the True Qi Realm, had obtained combat skills like Flight Feathers and even defeated Lei Qing to the shock of both Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya,


    the two chiefs did not believe that Ye Chen had the means to kill them.


    A person of the eleventh level of the True Qi Realm hoping to kill mid-stage cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm and two of them at that, was simply unheard of to Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya, who had cultivated for years.


    Even the most talented young people they encountered couldn''t achieve this!


    Let alone a youth from a small family in Qingyang City.


    Both of them thought that Ye Chen was blinded by hatred, not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth.


    "Big brother, you assist me from the side. I''ll directly take out this youngster from the three families of Qingyang City myself!" Wei Wuya took a step in the void, moving out directly towards Ye Chen.


    Sikong Miao nodded and stepped aside.


    By standing aside, he would better seize the chance to deal Ye Chen a deadly strike.


    Even Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya entertained the thought that they had not killed enough of those three families the last time, allowing their young members the audacity to come seeking trouble at their doorstep.


    The two of them also planned that after they had killed Ye Chen, they would directly make another visit to the three families in Qingyang City, to completely eliminate future troubles!


    The chilling glint in the eyes of Wei Wuya and Sikong Miao surged, and Ye Chen, with his keen senses, understood everything in his heart.


    Although he didn''t know what malice these two harbored, Ye Chen, having come to Wan Ya Mountain, had to avenge his clan members and resolve these three loose cultivators, no matter what.


    Dead men, all their malice would come to naught!


    In the sky, Wei Wuya faced Ye Chen, with Sikong Miao standing aside.


    The underlings of Black Cliff Stronghold all looked up at the sky, wanting to see if Ye Chen really had the strength to kill their leading and second chief, as he had claimed.


    Right when Ye Chen and Wei Wuya faced off against each other, Bai Xiaodie and other youths from the three families who had also run towards Wan Ya Mountain had penetrated deep into the mountains.


    From afar, they saw the trio in the sky facing off!


    "Ye Chen, it''s Ye Chen!"


    "He''s really about to confront the three mighty loose cultivators head-on!"


    The youths from the three families all stopped in their tracks, looking up at the sky, their hearts filled with worry for Ye Chen''s safety and eager anticipation that he could display great power and avenge their people!


    In the sky, Wei Wuya and Ye Chen, who faced each other, finally moved.


    The one to strike first was Wei Wuya.


    Boom!


    Wei Wuya, as a mid-stage cultivator of the Spirit Sea Realm, let the boundless True Qi and Spiritual Liquid from within his Spirit Sea gush forth at once. The smoke-like Spiritual Liquid soared up over eighty meters high, the overpowering presence of the True Qi making even the underlings of Black Cliff Stronghold, significant distances away, shiver.


    A mid-stage cultivator of the Spirit Sea Realm''s Spirit Sea, having undergone a transformation, had an exceedingly large amount of Spiritual Liquid that naturally filled the True Qi Realm underlings with fear.


    But Ye Chen, although also in the True Qi Realm, facing Wei Wuya head-on, showed no change in his expression.


    As Wei Wuya''s True Qi swept out, Ye Chen''s Gang Yuan True Qi also rushed out.


    His uniquely incredible silver True Qi ignited the sky, even allowing the youths from the three families, standing miles away, to see the dazzling silver light atop the True Qi!


    Anyone could tell at first glance that Ye Chen''s True Qi was extraordinary!


    "He has cultivated special True Qi!"


    "No wonder he has the courage to challenge us!"


    Wei Wuya, as a mid-stage cultivator of the Spirit Sea Realm, had witnessed other martial artists cultivate unique True Qi through special methods, so he was somewhat surprised but not overly shocked by Ye Chen''s silver True Qi.


    Of course, the True Qi had to be special and strong, and there had to be plentiful True Qi to use various techniques!


    Having released his True Qi, Wei Wuya looked at Ye Chen with a cold glint in his eyes, following swiftly after with a "whoosh," he lunged furiously at Ye Chen.


    In his frenzied onslaught, his palms held a ball of burning, fierce fire.


    This was his cultivated minor divine ability, "Burning Void Spirit Fire"!


    Wei Wuya had previously used this Spiritual Fire to burn several warriors from the three families into ashes. Now, while unleashing boundless True Qi to kill Ye Chen, Wei Wuya also concealed this even more terrifying killing move.


    He intended to take advantage of the moment Ye Chen was contending with the assault to use the "Burning Void Spirit Fire" to completely annihilate Ye Chen!


    Boom!


    With that thought, Wei Wuya rapidly closed the distance with Ye Chen, and indeed, as he had anticipated, Ye Chen was also driving his silver True Qi towards him.


    In the instant they collided, a cold smile appeared on Wei Wuya''s face, "Die!"


    Bang!


    The ball of fierce fire in his palm suddenly exploded, the endless flames rolling furiously towards Ye Chen.


    Seeing Ye Chen about to be engulfed in the fiery blaze, a satisfied smile already surfaced on Wei Wuya''s face. ?%??-?%§à¦Í?¦Å-§Ô#-¦Ò§á-


    The next moment, his smile suddenly froze.


    Then, he heard the alarmed shout of his older brother Sikong Miao, "Be careful!"


    Amidst that voice, Wei Wuya felt a chill at the back of his neck, a cold killing intent enveloping his entire body in an instant.


    Death!


    In that split second, Wei Wuya even felt the presence of death!


    In that moment between life and death, Wei Wuya activated his movement technique and shot up a full ten feet in the air, only to feel a cold sensation under his feet as the lower halves of both his legs were cleanly sliced off!


    "Ahhh!"


    With the lower halves of his legs cut off, Wei Wuya screamed in madness, just in time to see the figure of Ye Chen flash by behind him. Surrounding Ye Chen''s silhouette was a Sword of True Qi, infused with a swirling aura of slaughter.


    It was this Sword of True Qi, brimming with the aura of slaughter, that had chopped off Wei Wuya''s legs!


    As True Qi surged wildly within him, Wei Wuya stemmed the gushing blood from the stumps where his legs had been. When he looked again towards Ye Chen, his eyes were filled with utter horror.


    He couldn''t comprehend how Ye Chen, who had just been trapped in his Spiritual Fire technique a moment before, had suddenly appeared behind him, let alone unleashed such a powerful Sword of Slaughter.


    With half his legs gone, he hadn''t even seen Ye Chen''s attack coming!


    This left Wei Wuya completely dumbstruck.


    It wasn''t just Wei Wuya¡ªin fact, even Sikong Miao''s complexion had greatly changed at this time.


    Watching the battle from the side, he directly witnessed Ye Chen disappear in a flash and the next moment reappear behind Wei Wuya. Sikong Miao had only time to shout a warning before Wei Wuya''s legs were severed by Ye Chen.


    Sikong Miao even felt that had Wei Wuya been even a fraction of a second slower in his reaction, he would likely be a corpse on the ground by now!


    "Let''s take him on together!"


    Sensing Ye Chen''s incredible movement technique, how could Sikong Miao dare to linger on the sidelines waiting for an opportunity to sneak attack? He immediately stood shoulder to shoulder with the injured Wei Wuya, ready to join forces against Ye Chen!


    "Joint attack, you say?"


    Ye Chen looked at Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya, his palm moving, and that Sword of Slaughter still smeared with Wei Wuya''s blood at once multiplied into dozens, hovering in front of him, "Come on, let me see just how extraordinary the strength of two middle-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts is, and whether it truly entitles you to bully my clan at will!"


    This time, it was a real face-to-face encounter between three fighters!


    Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya were ready for a direct confrontation with Ye Chen.


    Despite Wei Wuya being injured, his strength at the Spirit Sea Realm meant that even with both legs severed, his fighting power was only slightly affected. His prowess remained tremendously powerful, and together with Sikong Miao, their combined force was truly terrifying!


    But none of the spectators were looking at Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya; their eyes were all on Ye Chen.


    The lackeys of Black Cliff Stronghold had never imagined that even their second-in-command, in a clash with Ye Chen, would suffer such a heavy defeat, losing half of his legs!


    They hadn''t even clearly seen Ye Chen''s movements.


    The technique Ye Chen employed was the "Void Instantaneous Change," a divine art that of course these people could not comprehend. They wouldn''t understand¡ªnot them, and not even Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya knew the secret to Ye Chen''s movement technique.


    The young members of the three clans observing from afar, including Bai Xiaodie and others, were already overjoyed.


    Having seen Ye Chen''s miraculous movements, they finally understood why Ye Chen had dared to go alone to Wan Ya Mountain.


    Ye Chen hadn''t deceived them; he truly possessed the strength to battle the three great Loose Cultivators!


    Boom!


    Standing side by side, Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya exchanged a glance, then simultaneously moved to attack Ye Chen.


    One completely focused on the front, the other on guarding the rear. Together, their offense and defense became incredibly powerful.


    When their True Qi combined and blasted towards Ye Chen, the roaring energy even formed two raging True Qi dragons that in a flash hurtled towards Ye Chen.


    At this moment, Ye Chen too made his move.


    The dozens of Swords of Slaughter in front of him went straight for the two roaring True Qi dragons, while at the same time, Ye Chen activated Void Instantaneous Change, his figure disappearing from the arena once again.


    Seeing Ye Chen vanish into thin air, Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya''s hearts pounded furiously.


    Facing Ye Chen''s mystical maneuvers, they had no idea how to defend themselves.


    The next moment, while both were fully alert, a sudden burst of murderous intent shot down from above their heads.


    This murderous force was so sudden that by the time they sensed it overhead, they were only just stunned.


    Barely managing to mobilize their speed to dodge the attack, they both narrowly avoided getting killed, but not before the tops of their scalps were sliced off, causing blood to gush, painting their faces with blood, and leaving them completely disheveled.


    And just as they prepared to attack Ye Chen, he disappeared once again.


    Panic!


    Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya, who once were unrivaled outside the ancestral land of the three clans, were truly panicking now.


    They knew they were completely on the defensive against Ye Chen''s enigmatic powers.


    And Ye Chen wanted exactly that¡ªa sense of terror!


    He intended to make these three great Loose Cultivators taste the feeling of being perpetually tormented by an omnipresent threat of death!


    To let them experience the sensation of powerless waiting for death!


    Boom!


    The next moment, the ever-shifting Ye Chen appeared behind Sikong Miao. Just as Sikong Miao finished defending himself, Ye Chen instantly shifted to Wei Wuya''s front.


    After more than a dozen shifts, Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya were on the verge of insanity.


    And then, a faint voice entered their ears, "Let''s end this!"


    The next moment, a fiery red flying sword instantly pierced the space before them. Under the incredulous gazes of the two men, it aimed straight for their necks.


    Within their minds flashed a single thought, "Are we really going to die like this?"


    The next second, two massive heads tumbled through the sky, rolling to the ground!

 Chapter 146: Chapter 127 Bless My Clan

    Once invincible and arrogantly storming into the outskirts of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya, who had murdered and plundered treasures, were unexpectedly slain by Ye Chen with the activation of "Void Instantaneous Change" and the move "Crimson Fire Flying Sword"¡ªcut down by a single stroke!


    On the ground, the underlings of Black Cliff Stronghold were completely petrified.


    Their First and Second Chiefs, two mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, were just like that... killed?


    Staring at the two corpses and the two huge heads falling from the sky, all of the underlings were so frightened they couldn''t utter a word.


    As the two huge heads dropped through the air, Ye Chen''s hand reached out from the void and grabbed them, making them hang suspended in midair.


    Only the two headless bodies "thumped" down onto the ground, raising dust and debris everywhere.


    Next, the fiery red flying sword "Crimson Fire" that had slain them didn''t stop there. It swooped down toward the ground, its bright red sword light flashing briefly before it cleanly severed the head of the Third Chief, Lei Qing, who had fainted.


    Then, with another grab through the void by Ye Chen, Lei Qing''s head also shot upwards, joining the heads of Sikong Miao and Wei Wuya suspended in midair!


    The three chiefs of Black Cliff Stronghold, the three great loose cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain''s Spirit Sea Realm, were finally all vanquished!


    After cutting down these three, Ye Chen''s flying sword "Crimson Fire" flickered with its blade light, shaking off the blood that stained its edge, and returned as a bright point of sword light back to Ye Chen''s Sword Palace Acupoint.


    On one side stood the proud, young Ye Chen with silver Wind Thunder wings flapping in the sky, and on the other, the three massive heads of Wan Ya Mountain''s three great loose cultivators!


    This scene was indelibly imprinted in the hearts of all the underlings of Black Cliff Stronghold on Wan Ya Mountain¡ªeven if the stronghold later crumbled and the underlings scattered to various places due to the loss of the three cultivators, this scene would remain forever in their hearts.


    They would never forget the young man who stormed into Wan Ya Mountain alone and slaughtered the three mighty Spirit Sea Realm warriors!


    They would never forget the awe-inspiring sight of him standing in the void, holding the three severed heads.


    Meanwhile, at Wan Ya Mountain, young members of the three tribes, like Bai Xiaodie, who had been watching the battle in the sky from afar, went wild with excitement upon witnessing this scene, upon seeing the severed heads of the three great loose cultivators.


    "Ye Chen, he really killed the three loose cultivators!"


    "He truly avenged the deep-seated blood feud of our three tribes!"


    "With three Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses falling in this way, who else would dare to bully our people so lightly!"


    All of the youths were so emotionally charged they couldn''t contain themselves!


    Over a month of repression, over a month of gloom, dissolved with the downfall of the three chief culprits, completely vanishing.


    "Ye Chen."


    Among the youths, Bai Xiaodie''s eyes stayed fixed on Ye Chen. Just like those underlings wouldn''t forget this scene, she would never forget the scene of a young man who ventured alone into Wan Ya Mountain, settling the vendetta for the three tribes with his own hands.


    ...


    Half a day later, in the Martial Arts Plaza of the three tribes, countless tribespeople had gathered.


    Everyone was looking at the high platform in the Martial Arts Plaza where the three loose cultivators'' heads were prominently displayed.


    In the crowd, many people started crying.


    "Ming''er, do you see that? Those who stole your treasure and poisoned you to death, they were killed by Ye Chen! Ye Chen has avenged you!" cried the parents of Qian Ming, stepping out of their home for the first time since Qian Ming had died.


    "Father, your vengeance is finally fulfilled! Finally!"


    Not just Qian Ming''s parents, but also the children of other warriors from the tribe who had been killed by the three loose cultivators cried out.


    By the end, tears were in the eyes of all the tribespeople of the three tribes as they listened to this crying.


    These were tears of great vengeance being settled, tears of the gloom being lifted!


    With the loose cultivators'' heads present, they need not live oppressed any longer!


    ...


    With the execution of the three loose cultivators, the treasures they had originally plundered were also brought back by Ye Chen.


    Apart from a few items that had been used by the three, the most precious treasures, like the "Creation Yuan Pill" and the "Ethereal Spirit Ring," hadn''t been used yet and were retrieved by Ye Chen to return to the respective youths.


    Ye Chen also presented countless treasures he had specially exchanged for the martial artists of the three tribes at the Myriad Treasures Stele, instructing Patriarch Ye and Patriarch Qian to distribute them to the warriors of the three tribes.


    Spiritual Artifacts, Cultivation Techniques, Pills...


    As the treasures were distributed one by one, all the warriors of the three tribes fell into a state of great surprise.


    With these items, their power would grow even stronger, and the overall strength of the three major families would also significantly increase!


    A few more days passed, and an even greater piece of good news arrived.


    Patriarch Bai, who had been bedridden and near the brink of death, finally came to after taking the "Life Origin Pill."


    After recuperating for another two days, he even returned to his originally vigorous and hale state!


    Patriarch Bai, the oldest of the three tribal patriarchs, his recovery brought a sigh of relief to all of the tribespeople.


    The incident involving the three great loose cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain, with Patriarch Bai''s final recovery, finally came to the best conclusion.


    And all this, had come from Ye Chen, who had forcefully returned from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm.


    All the clansmen will never forget Ye Chen, the greatest hope of their three clans!


    All the clansmen believe that as Ye Chen continues to grow stronger, their three clans will also become more powerful and will never allow incidents of intruders killing and looting in their clans to happen again!


    ...


    After the conclusion of the incident with the three Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain, Ye Chen stayed at home, cultivating diligently while spending time with his father and mother.


    He knew that soon he would be on his way to the Taixuan Sect, and the days he could spend with his parents would decrease.


    Therefore, Ye Chen seized every day to accompany his parents, fulfilling his filial duties.


    Ye Chen even gave each of his parents and Tao''er a Life Origin Pill, obtained from the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. The Life Origin Pill was greatly beneficial even to ordinary people who had not cultivated, and of course, Ye Chen was willing to give them to the people he loved the most.


    During these days, the little girl Tao''er and the golden monkey were playing together every day.


    After being brought out of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm by Ye Chen, so as not to attract too much attention, the monkey''s unusually splendid golden fur had turned into an ordinary grey, but its eyes, shiny like black gemstones, still made it extremely likable at first sight.


    The moment little Tao''er saw the monkey, she took it into her palm and began playing with it affectionately.


    The days of joy always passed quickly.


    With ten days left until the selection of true disciples at the Taixuan Sect, Ye Chen finally set out on his journey to the Taixuan Sect.


    This day.


    The clansmen of the three clans, upon hearing the news, gathered spontaneously at the doorstep of Ye Chen''s home, crowding around it so tightly that water couldn''t trickle through. Bai Xiaodie and other youths were among the crowd, and the three Patriarchs had also arrived.


    "Ye Chen, this time, you''ve saved this old man''s life!"


    Patriarch Bai said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    -read-now


    Having such a talented youth in the family was a great blessing, an event that made him even happier than waking up from his own slumber.


    "Patriarch Grandfather."


    Ye Chen walked respectfully to the three Patriarchs, "I don''t know how the communication with the Artifact Spirit of the ancestral land is going?"


    When Ye Chen had left the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact had said that if anything arose, the clansmen could inform it through the four great statues of the ancestral land.


    After all, since Ye Chen took the golden monkey out of the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and promised to look after the monkey, he owed a certain favor to the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    To prevent incidents like the three Loose Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain from happening again, Ye Chen specifically informed the three Patriarchs of the words of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, who had also communicated with it.


    "It''s settled. The Artifact Spirit said that although its divine consciousness is locked within the Secret Realm, it still has a few trump cards left. If our three clans face any danger, just let it know, and it will help our three clans," Patriarch Ye said with a laugh.


    Hearing these words, Ye Chen finally felt relieved.


    With the protection of the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, he could finally head to the Taixuan Sect with peace of mind.


    Ye Chen made a firm decision in his heart. On his way to Taixuan Sect, he must continue to grow stronger because, after all, his clan could not always rely on the protection of others. He must gain enough strength to protect the entire three great clans by himself!


    "Ye Chen." Bai Xiaodie also came up to Ye Chen to say goodbye.


    Many youths from the three clans had already returned to their sects, but Bai Xiaodie had not yet set off. She planned to leave after Ye Chen had departed.


    Following Bai Xiaodie, Ye Chen''s friends such as Qian Yun and Bai Xiaodong also came up to say their farewells to Ye Chen, one by one.


    When the final moment of parting arrived, Ye Chen''s mother, Lin Rin, had tears rolling in her eyes, and little Tao''er didn''t want to part with her young master or the little monkey she had just befriended. If Tao''er hadn''t been prohibited from entering the Taixuan Sect as a servant girl, she would have even wanted to follow Ye Chen.


    Even Ye Chen''s father, Ye Xiaotian, seldom made earnest reminders to Ye Chen.


    "Chen''er, on your way to the Taixuan Sect, you must take good care of yourself. Even though you are strong now, remember that there are countless experts in the world and you must never act rashly!"


    "I know, Dad," Ye Chen nodded seriously.


    Lin Rin also gave her admonitions to Ye Chen, "Chen''er, when you come back, remember to bring Jiang Yao with you."


    This statement turned Ye Chen''s face red, and in the end, he scratched his head and nodded with a smile.


    "Young Master, when I see you again, will you have become even stronger?" Tao''er asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded, looking up at the boundless sky, "Yes, I definitely will."


    Boom!


    After the last of the farewell words had been said for quite some time, Ye Chen finally spread his silver wind and thunder wings and soared into the sky.


    On the ground, Ye Xiaotian, Lin Rin, Tao''er, the three Patriarchs, and Bai Xiaodie, along with all the people of the three clans, watched Ye Chen and did not leave for a long time.


    And Ye Chen, now in the sky, looking at the increasingly smaller figures of his parents and clansmen on the ground, still waving their arms at him, felt a sourness in his nose.


    "It''s good that I chose not to go to the Minor Spirit Realm; otherwise, a separation of thousands of years would be unbearable for my father and mother."


    "The Taixuan Sect and Qingyang City are both in the eastern domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, just a few thousand miles apart, which makes returning much more convenient!"


    When the figures on the ground were no longer visible, Ye Chen buried the sorrow of this parting deep in his heart. He looked in the direction of the Taixuan Sect and murmured, "Taixuan Sect, here I come!"


    He also thought of the incomparably beautiful girl waiting for him at the Taixuan Sect.


    In his heart, Ye Chen whispered, "Jiang Yao, I am coming!"

 Chapter 147: Chapter 128 I Am Ye Chen

    Dongyang City is the city nearest to the Taixuan Sect.


    As the top-ranked sect among the thirty-six sects of the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, the Taixuan Sect''s fame is significant not only within the eastern region but throughout the entire kingdom; it is a place many powerful individuals frequently visit.


    These mighty individuals often make their stops in Dongyang City, making the city exceedingly lively.


    And the liveliest place in Dongyang City is none other than the Dongyang Grand Tavern, which only martial cultivators may enter!


    Although the Dongyang Grand Tavern has only three floors, it covers an area of several thousand zhang in circumference. The first floor is open only to cultivators of the True Qi Realm, the second floor to those of the Spirit Sea Realm, and the third floor is reserved for big shots of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    On this day, the first floor of the Dongyang Grand Tavern was filled with True Qi Realm martial artists. They were chatting idly as they drank.


    It should be known that the first floor of the Dongyang Grand Tavern has hundreds of tables. Although it has always been crowded before, it has never been filled to capacity as it is now.


    The reason the first floor of the Dongyang Grand Tavern was so crowded was that the once-every-three-years selection competition for true disciples of the Taixuan Sect was about to begin.


    This selection for true disciples was not just a significant event for the Taixuan Sect but also for the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Many True Qi Realm disciples from other sects, as well as Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses and even Rotating Pill Realm experts, had come flocking in, drawn by the news and eager to witness this grand event.


    Before the competition started, most of the crowd gathered in Dongyang City, which wasn''t far from the Taixuan Sect, which is why the Dongyang Grand Tavern was bustling with so many people.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was sitting by a window on the first floor of the Dongyang Grand Tavern, eating and drinking while listening to the chatter of the True Qi Realm martial artists at the other tables.


    After leaving home, it took Ye Chen just two days to reach Dongyang City.


    The selection competition for true disciples of the Taixuan Sect hadn''t started yet, so he settled down in Dongyang City and had been wandering around while waiting for the competition to begin.


    The Dongyang Grand Tavern was a place Ye Chen frequented.


    This was a place only martial artists could enter, and where talked about were the strange and unusual happenings of various sects and schools, which naturally interested Ye Chen.


    Moreover, as the day of the selection competition neared, more and more disciples from other sects were coming to the Dongyang Grand Tavern, and Ye Chen heard more and more interesting news.


    This day was the last before the start of the Taixuan Sect''s selection for true disciples, and the sole topic of conversation in the entire tavern was about the upcoming competition.


    "Do you know, after three years, the Taixuan Sect''s selection for true disciples has attracted many formidable contenders. I know of at least ten talented powerhouses!" said a group of four cultivators at the ninth level of True Qi at a table not far from Ye Chen, engaged in a spirited discussion.


    "Who are they? Tell us!" someone asked eagerly.


    "I''ve heard that there''s a girl called ''Yu Luoxuan'' who''s extremely impressive. Even before the competition has begun, numerous strong members of the Taixuan Sect have already deemed her the inevitable champion of this selection for true disciples!"


    "They say her talent is among the very best of the Taixuan Sect''s disciples in recent years. Only ''Jiang Yao'', the number one prodigy of the Taixuan Sect, may have a slight edge over her!"


    "That powerful!" Hearing that "Yu Luoxuan" could almost compare with Jiang Yao, many people gasped.


    They all knew of Jiang Yao''s great reputation. The idea that this girl named "Yu Luoxuan" could be mentioned in the same breath as Jiang Yao naturally astonished them.


    "There''s also a youth named Mu Yunlei who is quite outstanding. I heard he has caught the eye of one of the Eight Great Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect, ''Jinyang Peak'', and they''re just waiting until after the competition to select him as a true disciple!"


    After discussing the talented contenders of the upcoming selection competition, the conversation took a turn and suddenly shifted to Jiang Yao who we mentioned earlier.


    "Have you heard? Our eastern region''s top prodigy, ''Jiang Yao'', has found someone she likes!" This revelation drew the attention of martial artists from many surrounding tables.


    "What?"


    "Jiang Yao has someone she likes? Who is it?"


    Many people''s expressions changed as they promptly pressed for details.


    Jiang Yao was a young woman many martial artists admired immensely. The news that she had taken a liking to someone left many with mixed feelings.


    Some younger martial artists couldn''t believe it: "Sister Jiang Yao wouldn''t easily take a fancy to someone. You must be mistaken!"


    "Mistaken? I have reliable information, witnessed by many!" the previously speaking young martial artist affirmed confidently.


    "Come on, who is it? I want to know who is worthy of Sister Jiang Yao," urged several young men.


    The young martial artist continued, "It''s said that his name is Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen? I''ve never heard of him before!" Many were unwilling to believe it. "I''m from a seventh-rank sect, and I''ve cultivated to the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, yet I couldn''t win Sister Jiang Yao''s heart. What merits does this Ye Chen have to make her like him?"


    "It''s said that Ye Chen killed a mid-Spirit Sea Realm elder from the Heavenly Net Sect, incredibly formidable. It seems he must be a senior at the later stages of Spirit Sea Realm, or perhaps even in the Rotating Pill Realm. Isn''t it odd for such a senior to win Jiang Yao''s affection?" the young martial artist explained.


    A senior in the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm? In the Rotating Pill Realm?


    Upon hearing this, many were stunned: "But... but if his realm is that high, wouldn''t Ye Chen be much older? Then he''s even less suitable for Sister Jiang Yao!"


    Hearing this, Ye Chen couldn''t help but shake his head and laugh out loud.


    He had started listening to those people discussing the formidable figures in the selection competition for true disciples and found it quite entertaining, only for the conversation to end up involving Jiang Yao.


    Even more ludicrously, the conversation had turned to him, and they had even described him as an elderly senior!


    He was only fifteen years old, for goodness'' sake!


    It must have been the spread of the incident when he killed the Heavenly Net Sect elder Zhou Yuntian at Qingyun Sect that was getting out of hand, especially since Qingyun Sect had expelled him and it was inappropriate to mention his status as a disciple of Qingyun Sect, leading to increasingly wild rumors.


    "Brother, what are you laughing at?" A martial artist at the adjacent table saw Ye Chen shaking his head and couldn''t help but ask curiously.


    "Do I look like an old senior to you?" Ye Chen asked with a smile.


    The warrior shook his head: "No, why?"


    Ye Chen stood up: "I am the Ye Chen you''re talking about. I''m only fifteen years old, at the eleventh level of the True Qi Realm. I''m certainly no old senior!" -check-original


    "What, you''re that Ye Chen? The one Jiang Yao has a crush on?" As soon as many people heard Ye Chen''s words, they all looked towards him.


    "Only fifteen with the eleventh level of the True Qi Realm? How could Jiang Yao possibly like you! Keep dreaming!" After sensing Ye Chen''s True Qi aura, many people shook their heads repeatedly.


    Ye Chen didn''t bother to explain further, he just rose to his feet and left with a smile.


    The next day, the grand gates of Taixuan Sect swung open, and the selection for the Taixuan Sect''s true disciples officially began.


    When Ye Chen arrived at Taixuan Sect''s gate square, it was already bustling with people''s voices and full of excitement.


    At that moment, the gate square was divided into three major areas. The first huge area on the outer side of the square was for the Taixuan Sect disciples who weren''t participating in the selection of true disciples and for disciples from various sects who had come to observe the competition; they could only stay in this zone.


    The second large area was the section for Taixuan Sect disciples who were participating in the selection event. Only those with a "Selection Token" for true disciples could enter it.


    As for the third major area, it was located at a higher position of the gate square; it was an exclusive zone for the big figures of Taixuan Sect and other sect officials who were invited to observe the competition.


    At this moment, the first area was already packed with people, the second area had several hundred Taixuan Sect disciples prepared to participate in the selection, and the third area was still empty.


    After hearing about the square''s division rules, Ye Chen made his way towards the second area.


    He intended to participate in the selection for true disciples, so he naturally needed to enter this second zone.


    "Stop right there!"


    "Who are you, and why are you here? Only disciples participating in the selection for true disciples can enter. You should stay in the first area and not come in!"


    The second area was guarded by four Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses of Taixuan Sect. Seeing Ye Chen approaching, one of the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses scolded him directly.


    "I am here to participate in the selection for true disciples. Here is my ''Selection Token,''" Ye Chen said as he pulled out the token that Fairy Jia Luo had given him and handed it to the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse.


    "A Selection Token?" The Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse took the token from Ye Chen''s hand and examined it. "It is indeed a Selection Token. But how come you have a Taixuan Sect true disciple''s Selection Token?"


    Seeing the puzzled expression of the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse, Ye Chen himself felt somewhat puzzled. Hadn''t Fairy Jia Luo informed them that he was going to participate in the selection?


    The commotion between Ye Chen and the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse had already attracted the attention of many.


    "Eh, isn''t that the young man from yesterday?"


    In the crowd, many warriors who had been at Dongyang Grand Tavern the day before immediately recognized Ye Chen.


    "That young man claimed yesterday that he was the senior Ye Chen we talked about!"


    "And today he''s trying to barge into Taixuan Sect''s true disciple selection area!"


    "Has he gone mad?"


    Many people looked at Ye Chen with a hint of contempt in their eyes.


    Ye Chen, whose Divine Sense was exceptionally powerful, had heard their words long ago, and he felt quite helpless.


    It seemed people wouldn''t believe the truth even when it was spoken.


    Just as Ye Chen was about to explain his possession of the Selection Token given by Fairy Jia Luo, he heard a surprised voice calling out: "Ye Chen!"


    Then, Ye Chen saw a peerlessly beautiful girl flying towards him from inside Taixuan Sect.


    The girl''s long hair fell straight to her waist like a waterfall, her bright eyes as clear and pure as the stars, and the tiny dimples on her white, stunning cheeks were intoxicating.


    This peerless beauty, if not Jiang Yao, who else could it be?


    "Jiang Yao!"


    "The top talent of the Thirty-Six Sects, and also the most beautiful girl, Jiang Yao!"


    Everyone on the gate square saw the flying beauty and opened their eyes wide.


    They then saw Jiang Yao land right in front of Ye Chen.


    When they saw Jiang Yao''s small hand taking hold of Ye Chen''s hand, those warriors who had been contemptuously calling Ye Chen senseless were rendered completely speechless.


    They looked at Ye Chen with widened eyes. "He... he really is that Ye Chen?! The one Jiang Yao has taken a liking to?!"

 Chapter 148: Chapter 129 Reunion

    The astonishment of the martial artists around him was something Ye Chen hardly cared about.


    His gaze was entirely fixated on the young girl before him.


    "Jiang Yao."


    Holding the girl''s soft hand and seeing the lively joy in her clear eyes, Ye Chen''s heart was filled with warmth.


    After four months and seven days, he finally reunited with Jiang Yao once again!


    "Ye Chen, you finally came to the Taixuan Sect."


    "I just exited my retreat today and rushed to the plaza at the sect''s gates, and sure enough, I saw you!"


    "How long have you been here?"


    Jiang Yao felt like she had so much to say to Ye Chen; seeing that he really came to the Taixuan Sect and was truly preparing to participate in the True Disciple selection, the joy in her heart couldn''t be contained.


    Originally, her master Fairy Jia Luo had said that if Ye Chen wanted to be with her, he had to participate in the Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple selection competition.


    Now that Ye Chen had appeared here, the implication was clear, naturally filling Jiang Yao''s heart with unstoppable delight.


    "Eh? Ye Chen, you''ve reached the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm?"


    With all her heart and soul focused on Ye Chen, Jiang Yao was stunned when she sensed the faint flow of protective True Qi around Ye Chen''s body.


    She remembered that when she parted with Ye Chen, he was at the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm. Now, in just four months and seven days, Ye Chen had actually advanced to the eleventh layer.


    Of course, this left Jiang Yao utterly shocked.


    But soon, that shock turned into a delighted surprise deep within her eyes.


    Back when Ye Chen was at the sixth layer of the True Qi Realm, he had been strong enough to overpower those at the tenth layer. Now that Ye Chen had advanced to the eleventh layer, didn''t it mean that he genuinely had a chance to take one of the top three spots in the Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple selection competition?


    Even, there was a great possibility of claiming the first place!


    "Jiang Yao, trust me, in the True Disciple selection, I will definitely take one of the top three spots!"


    Four months ago, when Fairy Jia Luo set the Taixuan pledge, Ye Chen''s earnest words were something Jiang Yao still remembered.


    She had always believed in Ye Chen.


    Now, four months and seven days had passed, and faced with the heavy burden of her master''s Taixuan pledge, Ye Chen had indeed accomplished it, truly making such progress in just a short period of four months!


    Watching the refined and beautiful young girl in front of him, who couldn''t stop talking, and seeing her expressions of both joy and amazement, Ye Chen smiled gently and ruffled Jiang Yao''s hair.


    He understood that the way Jiang Yao was ceaselessly talking was a sign of how deeply she cared for him!


    "I have been in Dongyang City these past few days, and I just arrived at the Taixuan Sect today."


    "During this period, I had a great opportunity within my family and successfully broke through to the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm. When there''s time, I''ll tell you all about it," Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao with a light smile.


    "Mmm," Jiang Yao nodded her head.


    Holding the young girl''s soft hand, Ye Chen looked around.


    The martial artists surrounding them were completely stunned by Jiang Yao''s affection towards Ye Chen, even the Spirit Sea Realm warrior who tried to block Ye Chen''s path was dumbfounded.


    "Jiang Yao, look at them; they''re all stunned by your sudden appearance," Ye Chen joked with Jiang Yao.


    "Ah!" When Jiang Yao looked up, she saw countless martial artists staring at her and Ye Chen, catching sight of their astonished expressions.


    It was then that Jiang Yao remembered they were at the Taixuan Sect''s plaza, under the scrutiny of everyone, and yet she was holding Ye Chen''s hand and talking non-stop.


    Embarrassment rose in Jiang Yao''s heart, her fair earlobes flushing red in an instant.


    Jiang Yao didn''t understand why the moment she saw Ye Chen, she couldn''t help wanting to fly to his side, couldn''t help wanting to talk to him.


    This feeling of embarrassment made Jiang Yao want to withdraw her hand from Ye Chen''s grasp, but she found that Ye Chen flipped his hand and tightly clenched hers.


    Lifting her beautiful eyes to look at Ye Chen, she saw him smiling back at her, "Let them be shocked. I want to hold your hand and make them envious!"


    Feeling the warmth of Ye Chen''s firm grip and hearing his gentle laughter, Jiang Yao''s bashfulness deepened, and she lowered her head, letting Ye Chen hold her hand without any further resistance.


    see-more-MVLeMpYr


    Not long after Jiang Yao landed beside Ye Chen, numerous figures appeared in the sky above the Taixuan Sect''s back mountain.


    These figures swept across the sky and in a moment, landed in the third large area of the plaza at the sect''s gate, where only the Taixuan Sect''s dignitaries and the other sect''s honored guests invited to observe the competition had access.


    "The dignitaries have arrived!"


    "The Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple selection competition is about to begin!"


    The arrival of these individuals caused an uproar in the Taixuan Sect''s plaza, already packed with tens of thousands of people. Discussions and cheers swept through the plaza in an instant!


    "Hahaha, the Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple selection competition is really lively indeed!"


    At the front of the mountain gate plaza, there stood fifteen figures whose presence was so formidable and terrifying that even Ye Chen, who now had the ability to suppress mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts and contend with late-stage ones, felt a tremor in his heart upon encountering their aura.


    He had the feeling that, regardless of how many tricks he had up his sleeve, he could be easily killed by any of these fifteen individuals!


    These fifteen were all fearsome beings who had transcended the True Qi Realm and the Spirit Sea Realm, reaching the terrifying Rotating Pill Realm! Each possessed incredible divine abilities!


    The one who spoke was an old man standing at the center, with withered clothes and white hair. He was not very tall, carried an ancient sword, and slung a large wine gourd over his back, making for a distinctly odd appearance.


    Ye Chen, looking towards the elevated front area of the mountain gate plaza, saw that Jiang Yao''s master, Fairy Jia Luo, was standing right beside the white-haired elder.


    "Ye Chen, among these fifteen individuals in front of us, nine are Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses of our Taixuan Sect, and the other six are Rotating Pill Realm experts from other sects who have come to observe the selection of True Disciples,"


    "The white-haired elder beside my master is known as ''Daoist Wine Sword.'' His mastery in the way of the sword is incredibly formidable, and his cultivation in the Realm of True Qi has even reached the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm! He is a roaming cultivator from the northern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and is even more powerful than my master!"


    "You''ve met my master before, and the person standing on the other side of her is the Sect Leader of our Taixuan Sect. Next to the Sect Leader is the Peak Master of ''Jinyang Peak,'' one of the Eight Great Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect..."


    Jiang Yao quietly introduced the identities of the fifteen Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses at the mountain gate plaza''s elevated area to Ye Chen, who stood by her side.


    As the most cherished disciple of Fairy Jia Luo, the number one power of the Taixuan Sect, Jiang Yao naturally knew the identities of these visiting Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses.


    As Ye Chen listened to Jiang Yao''s introduction, he turned his gaze towards the Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    As he looked towards Fairy Jia Luo, she also turned her gaze directly towards Ye Chen. He saw Fairy Jia Luo smile and nod at him.


    After recognizing each of the fifteen Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, Ye Chen then turned his attention to the figures standing behind these prominent individuals, where numerous people were gathered.


    Among these individuals were the exceptionally gifted disciples of the Spirit Sea Realm from within the Taixuan Sect, along with some disciples who had been brought by those six Rotating Pill Realm experts from other sects.


    Ye Chen noticed that many of the Spirit Sea Realm disciples on the high platform looked at him unfavorably, especially at his hand which was holding Jiang Yao''s delicate hand.


    Immediately, Ye Chen just smiled.


    He understood very well why these people were looking at him with displeasure.


    Jiang Yao, who had stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm at sixteen, was the number one prodigy of the thirty-six sects of the eastern domain and the most beloved disciple of Fairy Jia Luo; it was only natural that countless Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses would harbor affection for her.


    Now, Jiang Yao was standing by Ye Chen''s side, so intimately close to him; one did not need to think hard to realize why these people were feeling displeased.


    Even Ye Chen felt that if this were not the mountain gate plaza, the center of attention, with fifteen Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses standing in the front, some of the Spirit Sea Realm disciples would not be able to hold back from challenging him!


    Who could blame them? Jiang Yao''s charm was immense, after all.


    As for those looking at him with ill will, Ye Chen did not take much notice. His gaze merely swept across their faces before falling back on Fairy Jia Luo who stood in the front.


    At that moment, Fairy Jia Luo stepped out from the crowd and took her place at the very front of the mountain gate plaza.


    As Fairy Jia Luo''s gaze swept over the crowd at the mountain gate plaza, the entire arena, already filled with tens of thousands of people, fell into silence in an instant!


    Everyone knew that Fairy Jia Luo was likely about to announce the rules for the True Disciple selection tournament!


    Indeed, after stepping forward, Fairy Jia Luo glanced over the crowd at the mountain gate plaza and said aloud, "Today is the official start of the Taixuan Sect''s ''True Disciple Selection Tournament,'' which takes place once every three years!"


    "For this tournament, the Taixuan Sect has issued a total of nine hundred and sixty-eight Selection Tokens. Nine hundred and sixty-seven of these tokens have been obtained by our most outstanding outer sect disciples, and one has been bestowed upon an exceptional youth from outside our sect!"


    "Moreover, I have told this youth that as long as he can secure one of the top three places in the selection, he will be able to join our Taixuan Sect and become a True Disciple!"


    With that said, Fairy Jia Luo turned her gaze to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, enter the True Disciple selection area and prepare to participate in the tournament!"


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words caused everyone to look towards Ye Chen.


    Whether they were disciples of the Taixuan Sect or those from other sects who had come to watch the tournament, they had never heard of an outsider being allowed to participate in the Taixuan Sect''s True Disciple Selection Tournament.


    They had never heard of the Taixuan Sect directely admitting an outsider as a True Disciple!


    But Fairy Jia Luo was a powerful figure of the Rotating Pill Realm, the number one powerhouse in the entire eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Who wouldn''t recognize her? And who would dare question her?


    For a time, everyone''s attention focused on Ye Chen!


    Everyone wanted to know why Ye Chen was receiving such special treatment from Fairy Jia Luo.


    Even at the elevated front area of the mountain gate plaza, the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were incredibly curious about Ye Chen.


    "What makes this young man so special to be so highly regarded by Fairy Jia Luo?"


    The white-haired elder carrying the sword and the wine gourd, "Daoist Wine Sword," couldn''t help but take a serious look at Ye Chen.


    With one glance, a flash of sharpness appeared in Daoist Wine Sword''s eyes: "Sword Intents, on him, how do I sense Sword Intents that have reached the second level!"


    "How old is he, that he could cultivate to the second level of Sword Intents while still in the Realm of True Qi?!"


    "Heavens, no wonder he''s so highly regarded by Fairy Jia Luo!"


    "Could it be that this trip to the Taixuan Sect will indeed bring me an unexpected reward?!"


    Daoist Wine Sword was extremely shocked in his heart.


    Ye Chen was unaware of Daoist Wine Sword''s astonishment. Being watched by tens of thousands of people, he could only helplessly smile inwardly. Fairy Jia Luo had really put him on the spot, immediately making him the center of attention!

 Chapter 149: Chapter 130: Spirit Seed, The Giant Rock

    In the gaze of everyone, Ye Chen smiled at Jiang Yao and then walked towards the True Disciple selection area.


    With Fairy Jia Luo personally speaking out, the Spirit Sea Realm expert who had previously obstructed Ye Chen from entering the selection area naturally didn''t dare to stop him again, and Ye Chen thus entered the ranks of the hundreds of participants competing in the True Disciple selection contest.


    As Ye Chen moved forward, the voice of Fairy Jia Luo suddenly transmitted into his consciousness, "Ye Chen, don''t blame me for drawing such attention to you."


    "Making an exception for you to participate in the True Disciple selection is already an exception from Taixuan Sect, you must put forth your strongest effort to prove that this exception is warranted!"


    "Whether in Taixuan Sect, in Heavenly Wind Kingdom, or on the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, strength is what''s respected! Only when you prove your strength will others acknowledge and respect you!"


    "Yao''er is exceptionally kind to you, and everyone has seen it. To prove that Yao''er hasn''t misjudged you, to prove that I haven''t misjudged you, and for you to truly become a part of Taixuan Sect in the future, give your all in the True Disciple selection contest!"


    The voice that Fairy Jia Luo transmitted into Ye Chen''s mind was using "Divine Sense Transmission"!


    It was a kind of Divine Ability that could only be mastered after stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s words, Ye Chen looked towards her and nodded seriously.


    He understood Fairy Jia Luo''s intentions.


    Indeed, from the astonished looks the countless people gave when they saw how intimately Jiang Yao treated him, from the unfriendly looks given by the Spirit Sea Realm disciples at the top of the main gate plaza, Ye Chen knew that even if he didn''t care, to stop others from gossiping about Jiang Yao and Fairy Jia Luo, he had to prove himself.


    He had to prove that Jiang Yao''s choice was correct!


    That Fairy Jia Luo''s exception for him was correct!


    "Then, let''s seize first place in the True Disciple selection contest!"


    Ye Chen thought to himself.


    The arduous training in the Ancient God Tower, having braved its entire eighteen levels, and even killing three great Spirit Sea Realm experts gave Ye Chen this confidence.


    Keep in mind that Yan Ling''er, who was guarding the highest eighteenth level of the Ancient God Tower, was an invincible master of the True Qi Realm from the Yan Clan of the Minor Spirit Realm, a supremely strong one amongst billions in the True Qi Realm. She fell to his hands.


    What fear would Ye Chen have when competing against the outer disciples of Taixuan Sect?


    In Ye Chen''s eyes, the fighting spirit to come out on top was already blazing.


    Seeing the change in Ye Chen''s expression, Fairy Jia Luo smiled and nodded.


    From the moment she arrived at the main gate plaza, she had noticed Ye Chen''s increase in strength, and his rate of improvement over the course of just over four months surprised even her.


    She also wanted to see just how powerful Ye Chen had become now!


    When Ye Chen walked into the crowd that was about to participate in the True Disciple selection contest, everyone in the group curiously looked at Ye Chen, who also smiled and greeted them.


    Following that, Fairy Jia Luo''s voice once again spread out.


    "Now that all nine hundred and sixty-eight participants for the True Disciple selection are gathered in the selection area, I will now announce the method of assessment for this True Disciple selection!"


    Her words immediately made everyone look towards her once again.


    ```


    Every selection conference for the Taixuan Sect took a different form, and no one knew how this one would be conducted.


    Ye Chen, like everyone else, was also looking towards Fairy Jia Luo, ready to listen to how the selection conference would proceed.


    "This selection conference will be divided into four rounds," Fairy Jia Luo announced.


    "Four rounds of selection will test four different abilities. All candidates must strive to perform your best in each round. As long as the Inner Peak masters approve of your performance, you will be able to enter the Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect and become True Disciples!"


    "Of course, as a selection process, there will inevitably be rankings. After the four rounds of assessments are over, the ten strongest candidates will get a special opportunity to freely choose the Inner Peak you wish to join in the Taixuan Sect and will receive special rewards!"


    "This special reward is a ''Five Elements Spirit Seed''!"


    "Those ranked fifth to tenth will each receive a ''low-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed'', second to fourth place will each receive a ''mid-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed'', and the first place will exclusively receive a ''high-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed''!"


    At the mention of the reward for the top ten in the True Disciple selection conference¡ªthe Five Elements Spirit Seed¡ªall the True Qi Realm disciples below began to shout in shock!


    To step from the True Qi Realm into the Spirit Sea Realm, one needed to transform the Qi Sea into the Spirit Sea, turning the gaseous True Qi within the Qi Sea into the liquid True Qi Spiritual Fluid.


    And this transformation required integrating a Five Elements Spirit Seed into the Qi Sea!


    The reason why out of tens of thousands in the True Qi Realm, only one could step into the Spirit Sea, was precisely because the Five Elements Spirit Seed was extremely hard to come by. Only Great Sects had reserves of it. If one couldn''t get a Five Elements Spirit Seed from a sect, the only option was to venture into the dangerous realms where Spirit Seeds grew.


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    If one did not find a Spirit Seed by the age of fifty, they would completely lose the opportunity to step into the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Even with a Five Elements Spirit Seed, whether one could successfully step into the Spirit Sea also depended on the quality of the Spirit Seed. With a low-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed, there was only a ten percent chance of successfully transforming the Qi Sea to step into the Spirit Sea Realm.


    The success rate with a mid-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed increased to thirty percent, and with a high-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed, the chance of a True Qi Realm disciple successfully stepping into the Spirit Sea jumped to fifty percent.


    Going from one in ten thousand to ten, thirty, and fifty percent chances of success was a tremendous improvement. Naturally, the Five Elements Spirit Seed would drive countless True Qi Realm disciples into a frenzy, and all of them desired to attain it.


    The reward of not only being able to choose their own Inner Peak to cultivate but also receiving a Five Elements Spirit Seed drove the True Qi Realm disciples wild with excitement at the True Disciple selection conference.


    The over nine hundred youngsters in the True Disciple selection area had their eyes blazing with passion. They each aspired to secure a spot in the top ten, or even to claim the first place, in order to obtain a better Five Elements Spirit Seed, preparing themselves for stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm in the future!


    "A reward of Five Elements Spirit Seed?"


    To countless people, this prize was incredibly alluring, but to Ye Chen, it was not particularly attractive anymore.


    In the ancestral land secret realm, Ye Chen had obtained something even more precious than a Five Elements Spirit Seed, which was the Creation Yuan Pill!


    As the second treasure from the Myriad Treasures Stele, the Creation Yuan Pill guaranteed that a person at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm could step into the Spirit Sea Realm with a one hundred percent certainty, far surpassing the high-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed in power!


    Having obtained the Creation Yuan Pill, Ye Chen had complete confidence in breaking through to the Spirit Sea Realm, just waiting to reach the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm. As for the Five Elements Spirit Seed, it seemed rather unnecessary to him.


    Of course, acquiring a high-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed would be even better. After all, Ye Chen only had two Creation Yuan Pills. With a high-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed, even if Ye Chen did not use it himself, he could give it to other youths in his clan to help them have the opportunity to step into the Spirit Sea.


    What Ye Chen valued more was the reward of being able to freely choose an Inner Peak for the top ten winners. Ye Chen had heard that the Taixuan Sect had a total of eight Inner Peaks for cultivation, and naturally, he wanted to join the "Snowdrift Peak" where Jiang Yao was, to cultivate with her.


    If he could secure a top ten position, he would be able to choose to enter Snowdrift Peak.


    While numerous disciples were shocked by the rewards of the True Disciple selection conference, Fairy Jia Luo finally declared, "Now that the rewards have been made clear, let us commence with the first round of the four-round selection assessment, the test of strength!"


    As Fairy Jia Luo''s voice fell, with a light flick of her finger, a massive twenty-meter-tall blue stone instantly appeared in the selection area, standing tall before all the disciples set to participate in the selection.


    ```

 Chapter 150: Chapter 131 Shocking the Entire Audience

    "Condensing Qi into Objects, this is the Divine Skill of Condensing Qi into Objects!"


    "This massive green stone, over twenty meters high and more than five meters long, was all formed by Fairy Jia Luo using True Qi!"


    Everyone was looking at the massive green stone that had suddenly appeared; although it was formed by True Qi, it was indistinguishable from a real, huge boulder, immensely thick and incredibly real, firmly rooted to the ground as if it were a natural part of the earth itself!


    That Fairy Jia Luo could form such a huge stone with merely a wave of her hand, whether it be her boundless True Qi or the Divine Skill of transforming objects, was astonishing!


    Truly worthy of being the strongest in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, a mid-stage figure of the Rotating Pill Realm, indeed in possession of countless powerful Divine Skills!


    Ye Chen, witnessing the shocking True Qi boulder before him, was also deeply moved in his heart.


    Although he could, with his Sword Intents and True Qi, condense the Sword of True Qi, that sword would disperse after use, nowhere near the magical ability of Condensing Qi into Objects, truly turning True Qi into various forms!


    This was a Divine Skill that Ye Chen had never even touched upon or practiced before!


    Seeing the Divine Skill displayed by Fairy Jia Luo with a mere gesture, Ye Chen grew even more eager to join the six-rank Taixuan Sect!


    While everyone''s eyes were fixed on the massive green stone, Fairy Jia Luo said, "I have laid Strength Runes on this green stone, to be used as the test object for the first round of ''Strength Test''."


    "All candidates, use your strongest True Qi and most powerful martial skills to unleash your greatest strength and strike this green stone."


    "The stronger the blow to the green stone, the more Strength Runes on the stone will be activated!"


    "The final results of your first-round ''Strength Test'' will be a comprehensive judgment based on your realm of True Qi and the number of activated Strength Runes!"


    Amid Fairy Jia Luo''s words, everyone noticed that hundreds of rune lines were slowly emerging on the surface of the massive twenty-meter-high green stone.


    These rune lines, all Strength Runes, would burst forth endless light when activated by a powerful strike.


    "Now, the first candidate, Wang Luo, begin your test!"


    The nine hundred and sixty-eight candidates participating in the selection for true discipleship, aside from Ye Chen, were all exceptionally talented Outer Sect disciples of the Taixuan Sect, and as the host of the selection event, Fairy Jia Luo had already memorized their details.


    The first person called by Fairy Jia Luo, Wang Luo, was a gray-clothed youth with eight layers of True Qi, showing exceptional talent as someone with the qualifications to be selected for true discipleship.


    Wang Luo stepped out from the group of candidates and approached the base of the massive green stone.


    Facing the towering twenty-meter-tall boulder and the faintly visible Strength Runes on its surface, Wang Luo, being the first to be called, felt a touch of nervousness.


    "It has begun!"


    "The selection for true discipleship has finally started!"


    "Who will join the eight Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect in the selection for true discipleship, will be decided by their performance!"


    In the spectating area, countless Taixuan Sect disciples and those from other sects who had come to watch the selection event, grew excited as Wang Luo stepped forward to begin his test.


    At the high platform of the mountain gate, the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses and their Spirit Sea Realm disciples behind them all looked towards the massive green stone and at Wang Luo.


    At that moment, Wang Luo, standing beneath the massive green stone, finally made his move.


    He retreated ten steps, then the True Qi inside his body surged wildly; he swung his fist and rushed towards the huge green stone, and with a "boom," his fist smashed onto it.


    Upon this strike, suddenly fifty-four Strength Runes on the massive green stone lit up sharply, and among those brightly lit runes, the thirty-third one turned a bright red.


    "Wang Luo, eighth level of True Qi realm, someone of the normal eighth level would activate thirty-three Strength Runes. Wang Luo has activated fifty-four, exceeding by twenty-one runes!"


    As Fairy Jia Luo announced the result, she waved her hand in the air, and a huge light screen appeared in the void.


    On the screen, Wang Luo''s name surfaced directly, with the number "twenty-one" written behind it!


    It became clear to everyone that this first round of "Strength Test" was a comparison of the strength one could exceed beyond the normal level of cultivation.


    Wang Luo, truly a genius Outer Sect disciple worthy of participating in the selection for true discipleship. A usual cultivator of the eighth level of True Qi could only strike thirty-three runes, yet he surpassed that by twenty-one runes, activating a total of fifty-four!


    Clearly, Wang Luo was an outstanding figure just in terms of strength among the eighth-level True Qi disciples.


    "Next candidate, Liu Qian''er, proceed with your test!"


    Fairy Jia Luo''s gaze then turned to a white-clothed girl in the assessment area.


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    Liu Qian''er, another eighth-level True Qi white-clothed girl, also stood out from the crowd.


    With Wang Luo''s test as a prelude, Liu Qian''er had become familiar with the Strength Test method; she didn''t strike the green stone with her fist like Wang Luo did but wielded her sharp sword, rushing towards the stone, and ultimately, she activated an additional forty-six Strength Runes!


    On the light screen, Liu Qian''er''s name appeared above Wang Luo''s, and behind her name, the number "forty-six" was noted.

 Chapter 151: Chapter 131 Shocking the whole audience_2

    Clearly, in the first round of the strength assessment, Liu Qian''er performed better than Wang Luo!


    Afterward, one by one, the candidates came out to take part in the assessment, and one after another, the results were produced.


    "Xue Ming, an extra twenty-five Strength Runes!"


    "Wang Yuanlei, an extra thirty-three Strength Runes!"


    All the candidates participating in the assessment performed better than their current realm would suggest.


    In fact, there was a young girl who, at the ninth layer of the True Qi Realm, directly activated one hundred and ninety-six Strength Runes that could only be activated by individuals at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, exceeding by an additional one hundred and forty-one Strength Runes, causing quite a stir among the onlookers outside!


    The Peak Masters at the high seat of the Outer Sect square took notice of this young girl.


    "As expected of the grand sixth-rank Taixuan Sect, even the Outer Sect disciples are formidable. Those chosen to participate in the selection for true disciples are even more impressive; each one''s strength surpasses their current realm by at least one level, and some even exceed by two or three levels!"


    "This means they all possess the strength to fight beyond their levels!"


    Ye Chen watched the assessment in the selection area for true disciples, nodding as he observed.


    As a young girl in green garments walked to the base of the colossal rock, the entire first round of the strength assessment reached its climax, with many disciples of the Taixuan Sect shouting the name of this girl in green garments.


    "Yu Luoxuan!"


    "Yu Luoxuan!"


    "The girl most likely to take first place in this true disciple selection tournament!"


    Ye Chen also looked toward the young girl in green garments.


    This young girl, fifteen years old, had delicate features and held a bright, slender sword in her hand, indicating she too was a swordsman.


    Ye Chen remembered that back at the Dongyang Grand Tavern, he had heard someone mention Yu Luoxuan. Ye Chen also recalled someone comparing her to Jiang Yao, commenting that she was only slightly inferior to Jiang Yao and that her natural talent was extraordinarily high!


    "True Qi Realm, twelfth layer, reaching such a level at fifteen years of age is indeed impressive!"


    "I wonder how many extra Strength Runes she can activate."


    Ye Chen looked towards Yu Luoxuan.


    At the high seat of the sect''s main gate, as Yu Luoxuan made an appearance, many of the Inner Peak Masters focused their attention, obviously having heard of Yu Luoxuan''s reputation.


    "This little girl Yu Luoxuan is as promising as her sister, who is a late-stage Linghai Realm fighter from Snowdrift Peak¡ªthe favorite little girl of Fairy Jia Luo, aside from Jiang Yao."


    "One wonders whether she can, at the True Qi Realm twelfth layer, activate the five hundred and sixty-nine Strength Runes that only early-stage Linghai Realm fighters can normally activate!"


    The Inner Peak Masters murmured.


    For someone at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm to activate five hundred and sixty-nine Strength Runes, it means they need to possess the strength of an early-stage Linghai Realm fighter.


    This is something only the very few at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm can achieve!


    After all, there''s a vast chasm between the early-stage Linghai Realm and the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, and only absolute geniuses can cross this chasm.


    Under everyone''s watchful eyes, beneath the green rock, the young girl in green garments, Yu Luoxuan, finally made her move.


    "Hum!"


    In an instant, the slender sword in Yu Luoxuan''s hand shot out endless sword light, and even within this endless sword light, a force of wind gathered upon it.


    A small, slender sword even whistled with the piercing wind!


    Ye Chen''s eyes lit up when he saw the force of the gale on Yu Luoxuan''s slender sword, "Sword Intent, this Yu Luoxuan has also cultivated Sword Intents, and it is one of the Wind Sword Intents!"


    "Gale Sword Intent? Not bad, it belongs to the top rank among the first-tier Sword Intents!"


    At the high seat of the sect''s main gate, the late-stage Xuantian Realm strong, "Daoist Wine Sword," also nodded in approval.


    To earn a nod from a late-stage Xuantian Realm strongman, Yu Luoxuan must indeed be out of the ordinary.


    Truly out of the ordinary!


    When the force of the gale on Yu Luoxuan''s slender sword reached its peak, with a "swish," her sword burst out, sweeping the heavens with True Qi and Sword Intent, and charging toward the massive green stone.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, half of the Strength Runes on the massive green stone lit up, visibly numbering in the hundreds at a glance!


    "Five hundred and seventy-two Strength Runes, an extra three hundred and seventy-three Strength Runes, not bad, Luoxuan, your strength has reached the level of an early-stage Linghai Realm fighter!"


    As the results were announced, even the typically serene Fairy Jia Luo smiled at the young girl in the green garments.


    "What?"


    "Her strength reached the level of an early-stage Linghai Realm fighter?!"


    The disciples of the sect watching the competition below, upon hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s words, all opened their mouths in shock. This meant that Yu Luoxuan possessed the strength to contend with early-stage Linghai Realm fighters!


    True Qi Realm contending with Linghai Realm, for someone in the True Qi Realm, this was certainly an unbelievable marvel!


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    The entire main gate square erupted into a frenzy.


    And as Yu Luoxuan''s results were announced, her name also shot directly to the first place on the ranking list displayed on the light screen.


    Her extra three hundred and seventy-three Strength Runes surpassed the second place by more than two hundred!


    "Peak Master Jia Luo, I will strive just like my sister to join Snowdrift Peak!" after respectfully bowing to Fairy Jia Luo, Yu Luoxuan withdrew to the queue of candidates for true discipleship.


    Hearing Yu Luoxuan''s words, Fairy Jia Luo nodded with a smile. She also liked this elegant and gentle girl and of course, welcomed her joining her Snowdrift Peak.


    Whereas the other Peak Masters, upon hearing Yu Luoxuan''s words, all smiled helplessly and shook their heads.

 Chapter 152: Chapter 131: Shocking the Entire Audience_3

    The miraculous performance brought by Yu Luoxuan had set off the climax of this first round of strength assessment. Although the performances of the disciples that followed were not bad, they seemed much dimmer under the radiance of Yu Luoxuan.


    Only a young man named Mu Yunlei, with the twelfth level of the True Qi Realm, activated five hundred and thirty-seven Strength Runes, which indeed made people take notice once again. In the end, Mu Yunlei ranked second.


    After all the disciples from Taixuan Sect who were participating in the true disciple selection had completed their assessments, the only one who had yet to be assessed was Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, prepare for your assessment."


    At this point, Fairy Jia Luo finally turned her gaze towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile towards Fairy Jia Luo and then walked under the huge stone.


    "Ye Chen? The youth who''s a special case participating in the Taixuan Sect true disciple selection?"


    "Being liked by Jiang Yao, he shouldn''t be too bad; otherwise, it would be quite disappointing."


    "Let''s not compare him with Yu Luoxuan for now; at least he should be on par with Mu Yunlei."


    When Ye Chen stepped forward, everyone turned their eyes towards him, all wanting to see just how formidable Ye Chen really was.


    "Ye Chen."


    Jiang Yao, who had been watching the assessment all this time, now appeared a little tense.


    Even though she knew that Ye Chen was incredibly strong, she still couldn''t help feeling nervous now that he was about to be assessed.


    "Ye Chen is beginning his assessment?"


    "I really look forward to him giving it his all!"


    At the top of the sect entrance plaza, Daoist Wine Sword, who had remained indifferent until now, suddenly took on a grave expression upon seeing Ye Chen step forward for his assessment.


    Even during Yu Luoxuan''s assessment, he had not shown such a demeanor.


    "Could it be that Daoist Wine Sword has perceived something extraordinary in Ye Chen?"


    "Being noticed by both Fairy Jia Luo and Daoist Wine Sword, and even liked by that girl Jiang Yao, is Ye Chen really something special?"


    The strange action of Daoist Wine Sword caused the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses at the high seats to pay even more attention to Ye Chen.


    In the midst of everyone''s fixed gaze, Ye Chen, who had walked under the huge stone, raised his hand.


    "This Ye Chen, is he not going to use a weapon to strike the stone?"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s action, everyone was somewhat surprised, for using a weapon to unleash one''s power would allow the combination of weapon skills and strength to produce better results.


    Moreover, the people ranked in the top ten on the light screen all used weapons for their strength assessments.


    However, Ye Chen did not use a weapon, which of course surprised others.


    "Could it be that his strongest martial skill is a palm technique? If that''s the case, he likely won''t achieve a remarkable result."


    In the midst of many people''s suspicions, Ye Chen, who had raised his palm, suddenly extended a finger and pointed it towards the stone.


    "A finger?"


    "How much strength can one finger have?"


    "Does he believe that Yu Luoxuan and the others are too skilled and has lost his confidence to compete, giving up?"


    Seeing that Ye Chen hadn''t even used his palm but only a single finger, many of the sect disciples were dumbfounded.


    Just when they thought that Ye Chen had resigned himself to defeat, his finger had already touched the huge stone.


    At the moment Ye Chen''s finger touched the stone, the entire twenty-meter-tall stone suddenly reverberated with a "buzz" and even explosive sounds could be heard coming from it.


    Everyone saw that on the stone, there were fully nine hundred or more Strength Runes lit up, all of them vibrating wildly.


    In the end, amidst this tremor, the entire twenty-meter-tall huge stone shattered under the pressure of Ye Chen''s single finger.


    Ye Chen''s one finger had actually completely shattered the huge stone that Fairy Jia Luo had formed through Condensing Qi into Objects!


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    This left everyone at the scene, even those Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, shocked with their mouths agape, completely stunned!

 Chapter 153: Chapter 132: Purple Lightning Pearl

    With a single touch, he completely activated all more than nine hundred Strength Runes!


    With a single touch, he directly shattered the huge Strength-Testing Blue Stone formed from Fairy Jia Luo''s True Qi!


    Everyone found it unimaginable just how immense Ye Chen''s power must be from that one finger; it was feared that if that touch landed on an early stage Spirit Sea Realm expert, it would directly kill them!


    And yet, Ye Chen was merely at the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm.


    The eleventh layer of True Qi Realm, capable of killing an early stage Spirit Sea Realm expert with one touch?!


    This completely overturned the understanding of all the sect disciples, completely overturned the understanding of those Rotating Pill Realm bigwigs standing at the peak of the Mountain Gate Square.


    This was simply a legendary prodigy''s move!


    In this assessment of strength, Ye Chen had reached a legendary level of power!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Fairy Jia Luo took a deep breath, recollecting the True Qi released from the shattered blue stone by Ye Chen, and her heart raced.


    She knew Ye Chen was strong but had never imagined he could elevate his strength to such an extent!


    This was simply the move of an invincible True Qi Realm expert from the legends!


    "The ''Strength Assessment'' blue stone I created with True Qi could at least withstand the strike of a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artist. To shatter it, one would need strength at least at the level of late-stage Spirit Sea Realm. Has Ye Chen''s power already risen to the level of the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm?!"


    As the host of the examination, Fairy Jia Luo knew the capacity of the huge blue stone she had formed better than anyone else.


    For those candidates participating to be selected as true disciples of the Taixuan Sect, it was enough to have a blue stone slightly stronger than the strength at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm for the assessment.


    To be safe, she specifically increased the Strength Runes on the blue stone somewhat, but she never expected that even after surpassing the strength of mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm''s Strength Runes, the Strength-Testing Blue Stone would still be shattered by Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen had truly given Fairy Jia Luo an immense surprise!


    "Sword Intent, it''s second-stage Sword Intent, containing the power of slaughter!"


    "This guy Ye Chen, he actually realized such a powerful Sword Intent!"


    "Not only that, he didn''t just understand it; he fully mastered it! Although it was only a slight touch of the finger, the power that burst forth from the Finger Sword in that instant was more shocking than any weapon!"


    "Even more so, I feel that besides the Slaughter Sword Intent, he has added another source of powerful strength into the Finger Sword! I couldn''t even identify that source of strength. This young guy Ye Chen, at such a young age, has so many moves, so many powerful techniques!"


    At the high seats of Mountain Gate Square, the late-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert Daoist Wine Sword, who had sharper insights than others, could clearly see the true techniques Ye Chen used with his finger, but even he couldn''t fully understand all of Ye Chen''s moves!


    "A genius!"


    "A natural-born genius indeed!"


    "This kind of person, no wonder Jia Luo made an exception to let him into our Taixuan Sect. Such an individual joining our Taixuan is a great fortune for our sect!"


    At the high seats of Mountain Gate Square, the Sect Leader of Taixuan Sect and the Inner Peak masters were filled with immense joy.


    Even all the Peak Masters were resolutely thinking about offering great rewards to Ye Chen, to pull him into joining their Inner Peak, making him a true disciple of their Inner Peak, and focusing on cultivating him!


    Ye Chen, with his display of such strength at the True Qi Realm, if his cultivation goes smoothly, it might be possible for him to even surpass them!


    These bigwigs of the Rotating Pill Realm were not as formidable as Ye Chen back in their time at the True Qi Realm.


    "Ye Chen, no wonder Jiang Yao likes him, he... he actually became so powerful!"


    "Only he, indeed, is worthy of being with the comparably talented Jiang Yao!"


    Above Mountain Gate Square, those sect disciples who were once filled with jealousy towards Ye Chen now had their jealousy completely vanish, leaving only admiration for a stronger expert.


    Ye Chen deserved such admiration!


    "Ye Chen."


    Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen on the assessment field, at the normally always smiling Ye Chen, who always surprised people at the crucial moments.


    The girl''s clear eyes were full of joy.


    She knew it, Ye Chen was still so impressive, just like in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, so powerful that it gave her an inexplicable sense of security, an inexplicable trust!


    The person she liked was indeed so impressive!


    While everyone was watching, Ye Chen turned back and smiled at Jiang Yao.


    He also hadn''t expected that using the Slaughter Sword Intent, Gang Yuan True Qi, and Nine Transformation Fighting Body Strength, these few techniques would directly shatter the Strength-Testing Blue Stone.


    However, Ye Chen didn''t plan to hide too much of his strength.


    He had many more techniques, and bringing out a few for show was just fine!


    To take the first place and join the Taixuan Sect had always been his goal.


    It was only the first round of assessment, and he naturally aimed to put forth his best effort in every round to create excellent results, seizing the overall first place ranking in the end!


    As Ye Chen concluded the assessment in such an unbelievable manner, the entire first round of "Strength Assessment" finally came to an end.


    Amidst the shock of the crowd, Fairy Jia Luo turned to everyone on the Mountain Gate Square and said aloud, "Ye Chen could shatter my Strength-Testing Blue Stone, his strength in this assessment has exceeded the limits I set."


    Everyone turned their attention to Fairy Jia Luo.


    Indeed, while others merely exceeded a certain number of Strength Runes, Ye Chen had directly blasted the Strength-Testing Blue Stone.


    Everyone wanted to know, under such circumstances, how Ye Chen''s score for the first round of assessment should be calculated.


    In the end, Fairy Jia Luo simply declared, "Ye Chen, by my most conservative estimate, he has exceeded at least a thousand Strength Runes!"


    "For this first round of strength assessment, let''s set his score at one thousand!"


    Swish!


    ```


    As Fairy Jia Luo''s voice echoed, the rankings of everyone on the giant screen all dropped by one place. The originally first-ranked Yu Luoxuan fell to second place, and the originally second-ranked Mu Yunlei fell to third place...


    And the first place, surprisingly, a new name appeared: Ye Chen!


    Watching the rankings settle on the giant screen, tens of thousands of people in the Mountain Gate Square watching the selection contest were filled with anticipation for the next round of assessments.


    In the first round of strength assessment, Ye Chen had already created a miracle, surpassing all candidates of the Taixuan Sect, but could he remain this powerful in the next round of assessments?


    Or was it that his strength was his only strong suit?


    That''s when Fairy Jia Luo announced, "The first round of ''strength assessment'' has ended. The extra number of Strength Runes obtained by each candidate will be their Assessment Score for this round!"


    "First place, Ye Chen, with a thousand Assessment Score!"


    "Second place, Yu Luoxuan, with three hundred seventy-three Assessment Score!"


    "Third place, Mu Yunlei, with three hundred forty-one Assessment Score!"


    "Fourth place..."


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    After all the Assessment Scores were revealed, Fairy Jia Luo looked towards all the young candidates: "Although Ye Chen has taken a significant lead in the first round, there are still three rounds and three more opportunities to compete for Assessment Scores!"


    "Your final assessment results will be determined by the total Assessment Scores from all four rounds."


    "The strength assessment, this first round, is just the beginning."


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words instantly boosted the confidence of all the Taixuan Sect''s candidates.


    Leading the first round does not mean one can keep the lead in the next three rounds, everyone has a chance to change their rankings.


    Yu Luoxuan, Mu Yunlei, and the other top ten youths all turned their gazes towards Ye Chen, intending to continue competing with him in the subsequent three rounds.


    The others also had their own targets and were silently preparing in their hearts.


    At this point, Fairy Jia Luo raised her voice to announce, "Now, we will begin the second round of assessments, the agility and speed assessment!"


    The first round, strength assessment.


    The second round, agility and speed assessment.


    Strength assessment was determined by the Strength-Testing Blue Stone, what form would this agility and speed assessment take?


    All the young candidates in the true disciple selection area, and the countless disciples watching from the Mountain Gate Square, turned their attention to Fairy Jia Luo, eager to hear how she would define the second round of assessments.


    Then, Fairy Jia Luo extended her fair palm, and a fist-sized purple pearl appeared in her hand.


    Ye Chen looked at the purple pearl in Fairy Jia Luo''s palm and saw that within the pearl, countless lightning flashes were moving as if it contained endless lightning.


    "This pearl is one of my attacking Treasure Instruments, called the ''Purple Lightning Pearl''!"


    Fairy Jia Luo lifted the purple pearl in her hand high into the air.


    "This ''Purple Lightning Pearl'' can instantly emit endless purple electrical light rays, illuminating all directions, and when it attacks, these purple electrical rays can even instantaneously kill Spirit Sea Realm experts!"


    Boom!


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words caused countless disciples below to take a deep breath.


    Heaven.


    Treasure Instrument!


    This little pearl is actually a Treasure Instrument!


    To think it''s so powerful that it can instantly kill Spirit Sea Realm experts!


    "A Treasure Instrument, no wonder this pearl is so magical, it turns out to be a Treasure Instrument!"


    At that moment, Ye Chen, looking at the purple pearl in Fairy Jia Luo''s palm, also had a flash of brilliance in his eyes.


    He had heard that the treasures used by martial cultivators could be divided into several levels, which were "Mysterious Instruments" commonly used by True Qi Realm cultivators, "Spiritual Artifacts" commonly used by Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, "Treasure Instruments" commonly used by Rotating Pill Realm cultivators, and "Sacred Artifacts" commonly used by Heavenly Saint Realm cultivators!


    Sacred Artifacts, Ye Chen had previously entered the "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode" and the secret grounds of the ancestor''s land, the "Ethereal Spirit Holy Temple," both of which were Sacred Artifacts.


    And Mysterious Instruments and Spiritual Artifacts, Ye Chen had also exchanged many at the Myriad Treasures Stele.


    But he had never seen a Treasure Instrument.


    Now, in the hands of Rotating Pill Realm expert Fairy Jia Luo, he finally witnessed the elegance of a Treasure Instrument.


    "Fairy Jia Luo took out this pearl, could it be that the second round of the agility and speed assessment has something to do with this pearl?"


    "Purple Lightning, perhaps this light will be used for the assessment..."


    Ye Chen began to speculate about the method of the second round of assessments in his heart.


    "Purple Lightning Pearl, Fairy Jia Luo is actually prepared to use it for the agility and speed assessment, how clever, indeed clever!" At the high seats of the Mountain Gate Square, those Rotating Pill Realm notables, seeing Fairy Jia Luo bring out the Purple Lightning Pearl, were also silently impressed; they figured out Fairy Jia Luo''s intentions.


    That''s when Fairy Jia Luo finally announced the method for the second round of assessments: "The second round''s ''agility and speed assessment'' will be conducted using this ''Purple Lightning Pearl''."


    "I will negate the lethal power of the pearl, leaving only the ''purple electrical rays'' that it emits to shine across the entire assessment area."


    "During the illumination by the purple electrical rays, which will last the time it takes for one cup of tea, each time a candidate is struck by a purple electrical ray, they will lose one Assessment Score point."


    "At the end, ranking will be based on the number of times candidates are struck by purple electrical rays; the more times one is hit, the lower their ranking, and the fewer times one is hit, the higher their ranking."


    "Candidates, bring out your strongest agility, your greatest speed, to dodge the strikes from the ''Purple Lightning Pearl''s purple electrical rays!''"


    Boom!


    As Fairy Jia Luo''s thundering words filled the air, the purple pearl in her palm trembled with a ''hum'' and flew up into the air above the selection area spanning hundreds of zhang, floating above the heads of all the young candidates participating in the true disciple selection contest, slowly beginning to rotate.


    ```

 Chapter 154: Chapter 133 Light of Death

    All the selected youths looked up at the purple orb rotating incessantly above them.


    The first round of power assessment had them competing beneath a massive bluestone; for this second round assessing speed and movement technique, they would compete under the "Purple Lightning Pearl."


    The quality of their results would hinge on how skillfully they could dodge the purple lightning beams!


    "The Purple Lightning Pearl can emit light rays that instantly kill warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "Treat this assessment as a real battle. Being struck by these light rays means in an actual fight you''d be instantly killed by them. Only those who can dodge the rays prove they have a chance to survive under the ''Purple Lightning Pearl''!"


    Ye Chen watched the incredible Treasure Instrument, the "Purple Lightning Pearl," in the sky above him, with a sharp gleam flashing in his eyes.


    While others saw this merely as an assessment, he had entered the mindset of true combat, resolved to treat the assessment as an actual battle with the "Purple Lightning Pearl," to see if he could evade its instant kill.


    "The rays from the Purple Lightning Pearl will only strike within this designated selection area where you stand!"


    "You must dodge the rays within the assessment area and may not leave the boundaries; if you do, you''ll be disqualified without a score!"


    "Now, let''s begin the second round of the real assessment!"


    Accompanied by Fairy Jia Luo''s clear voice, the Purple Lightning Pearl above the selection area suddenly radiated a faint halo, enveloping the entire area completely.


    Immediately afterward, the fist-sized orb''s interior blazed with endless purple lightning, and in an instant, the surface of the orb fired countless visible crimson beams, which, as soon as they appeared, sped toward the entire selection area.


    Puh! Puh! Puh! Puh! Puh!


    In an instant, many examinees faced the onslaught of these countless crimson beams.


    The moment the Purple Lightning Pearl began to act, all the examinees went on high alert. As the crimson light descended, they mobilized their movement techniques, dodging the sky-full of beams coming at them.


    The first volley of beams numbered in the hundreds. Even before they all landed, the surface of the orb fired hundreds more, which struck toward the ground again.


    Wave after wave of crimson beams never ceased. In a mere moment, thousands of beams must have struck the selection area.


    And these beams had no pattern to their strikes, seemingly firing from the Purple Lightning Pearl in all directions at once.


    All the spectators outside the assessment area watched the selection zone light up spectacularly.


    The myriad of crimson beams raining down, the silhouettes of figures nimbly dodging the beams, all filled the selection area with the intense atmosphere of a competitive assessment.


    Many people looked up at the vast light screen in the sky; as people within the assessment area continued to get hit by crimson beams, the screen showed the names and the number of times they were struck.


    Most attention was focused on the names of the top ten youths from the first round, like Ye Chen, Yu Luoxuan, and Mu Yunlei. Everyone wanted to see if they would get hit and how often they would be struck by the beams.


    Everyone noticed that after dozens of waves of beams, very few among the top ten had been hit, and Ye Chen, Yu Luoxuan, and Mu Yunlei had not been hit by a single crimson beam thus far.


    Within the assessment crowd, Ye Chen''s figure flitted about like the wind amidst the endlessly striking crimson beams.


    His Divine Sense had already enveloped the entire area, allowing him to instantly activate the "Wind Movement Skills" to evade any crimson beams targeting him.


    Ye Chen realized that his Wind Movement Skills were already sufficient to counter these striking beams.


    "The ''Purple Lightning Pearl'' is a Treasure Instrument that can instantly kill even Spirit Sea Realm warriors; it''s not possible that it emits light beams at such a slow speed. Could it be that there will be changes?"


    Ye Chen, who was easily dodging the crimson beams, still had the capacity to look up at the Purple Lightning Pearl in the sky and noticed that it was beginning to change.


    Initially, the Purple Lightning Pearl emitted crimson beams, but after hundreds of waves, the orb''s surface startled as green beams swept across it.


    Whoosh!


    Almost instantaneously, as these green beams emerged, they blasted down toward them.


    The speed of these green beams was at least ten times faster than the crimson ones, and their angles were much more calculated, more intricate.


    Some angles were struck by two or three consecutive beams, leaving the youths targeted by the green beams with little chance to evade.


    "The green beams are faster than the crimson ones!"


    "Clearly, these green beams are a more deadly form of instant-kill light than the crimson ones!"


    "In actual combat, these beams would probably be used against even stronger opponents!"


    Boom!


    At the moment the color of the striking beams shifted on the Purple Lightning Pearl, Ye Chen had already noticed something amiss with his Divine Sense. Instantly, his movement technique changed to the stronger "Thunder Movement Skills!"


    The Thunder Movement Skills, a mid-grade technique of the mysterious class, made Ye Chen look like a lightning bolt zipping through the myriad green beams.


    No matter how tricky the green beams, Ye Chen easily dodged them all!


    With his potent Gang Yuan True Qi, his powerful Divine Sense, and his incredibly swift Thunder Movement Skills, Ye Chen could evade these more potent green beams. But for many other youths, dodging was not so easy.


    As the beams shifted from crimson to green, many of the youths realized they couldn''t dodge them.


    Puh! Puh! Puh!


    Almost instantly, numerous youths were hit by seven or eight emerald green beams of light.


    Outside the assessment area, on the enormous light screen suspended in the void, the number of times each youth was hit began to dramatically surge.


    Some had been struck over a hundred times.


    Clearly, their movement techniques were no longer sufficient to evade these beams of light, and they were falling behind in this speed evasion assessment.


    "If this were a real battle, just the appearance of these ''emerald green beams of light'' would have instantaneously killed these people!"


    All the spectators outside the arena couldn''t help but think this. your-MVLeMpYr-source


    The Purple Lightning Pearl was an attacking Treasure Instrument, one that could truly kill in battle!


    Fairy Jia Luo had merely neutralized its lethality, using it as an instrument for assessment, but if its killing power had not been removed, those struck by the light below would already be dead.


    "The Purple Lightning Pearl is said to possess the ''Light of Death''!"


    "Back then, Jia Luo, with this Pearl, even instantaneously slew a hundred great demons in the Myriad Demon Gorge!"


    "The previous crimson beams were merely mid-tier Gang Yuan True Qi shooting beams, but now the emerald green beams have been elevated to the level of high-tier Gang Yuan True Qi shooting beams."


    "If the color changes to ''deep blue,'' reaching the level of mid-tier Spirit Sea Realm shooting beams, I''m afraid that none of the youths below would be able to evade!"


    "Even more so, when the light transforms into the most powerful state of the Purple Lightning Pearl, reaching the level of high-tier Spirit Sea Realm shooting beams, turning into ''lightning''s true color,'' under the purple light''s illumination, that would be the truly instantaneous killing light against all of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    At the high seat in the mountain gates'' plaza, a Rotating Pill Realm expert who recognized the might of Fairy Jia Luo''s "Purple Lightning Pearl" began to speak slowly.


    From his words, it was clear that Jia Luo''s Purple Lightning Pearl had four levels of the Light of Death.


    Mid-tier Gang Yuan True Qi Light of Death, crimson light!


    High-tier Gang Yuan True Qi Light of Death, emerald green light!


    Mid-tier Spirit Sea Realm Light of Death, deep blue light!


    And the most powerful, high-tier Spirit Sea Realm Light of Death, the lightning light!


    Now, in the assessment area, when the Purple Lightning Pearl had just triggered the second level of emerald green light, very few of the assessing youths could evade it anymore.


    It was only Ye Chen, Yu Luoxuan, and a sparse few others whose names had yet to be marked with any hits.


    "The deep blue light is about to appear."


    "Soon, I''m afraid even these few remaining individuals will not be able to dodge the beams!"


    Just as a Rotating Pill Realm dignitary was slowly uttering these words from the high seat of the mountain gates'' plaza, new deep blue lines of light suddenly appeared on the fist-sized Purple Lightning Pearl floating above the assessment area.


    In an instant, endless deep blue light beams shot out explosively towards the area below.


    Phut! Phut! Phut!


    With barely any time to react, many youths were directly struck by the deep blue light.


    All the assessing youths discovered that this deep blue light was even faster and more difficult to evade.


    "Nearly every name now has a hit count behind it!"


    "Those who haven''t been struck are dwindling, only six... no, five people left!"


    In the blink of an eye as this person was speaking, the names on the screen without any hit counts dropped from five to just two.


    Only Ye Chen and Yu Luoxuan remained untouched!


    Even Mu Yunlei, who had been ranking third, now had his hit count rapidly climbing.


    This signified that in this speed evasion assessment, only Ye Chen and Yu Luoxuan were still able to completely avoid the shooting beams!


    "Yu Luoxuan, the girl universally acknowledged as the most likely to seize the first place before the True Disciple selection contest started! She truly remains as strong as ever!"


    "Not only is she peerless in the strength assessment, she''s just as formidable in this movement technique evaluation!"


    Countless people began to praise her.


    Then, all eyes turned toward the name at the top of the light screen¡ªYe Chen¡ªand to the youth in the arena whose speedy movements were drifting so fast, his position was nearly imperceptible.


    "Powerful!"


    "Yu Luoxuan''s strength has been recognized by everyone!"


    "But this Ye Chen, after seizing the lead in the strength assessment, turns out to be just as powerful in movement techniques!"


    "It seems that not only is his strength formidable, but his movement technique is also a strong suit!"


    Everyone now focused on whether Ye Chen could once again defeat Yu Luoxuan in terms of movement technique, to capture first place in this second round of assessments.

 Chapter 155: Chapter 134: Transformation 4

    In the midst of everyone''s attention, in the sky above the entire assessment area, the Purple Lightning Pearl suddenly burst forth, and endless dark blue Striking Light rays poured down like a torrential downpour.


    The speed and quantity of the dark blue Striking Light reached an incredible level in an instant.


    At this moment, someone exclaimed, "Someone new has been hit!"


    "Boom!"


    This exclamation immediately drew everyone''s gaze, and all those watching the True Disciple Selection Tournament turned their eyes to the huge screen.


    In the arena, the only ones yet to be hit by the Striking Light were Ye Chen and Yu Luoxuan, and if there truly was someone new who had been hit, it was certainly one of these two.


    These two were the most outstanding and eye-catching individuals in the True Disciple Selection Tournament, had one of them finally been unable to evade the Striking Light?


    Was someone about to lose a step ahead of the other?


    All those watching the selection tournament turned their eyes to the huge screen, only to directly discover that the name with new hit counts appearing behind it was undoubtedly Yu Luoxuan.


    Yu Luoxuan, the girl who was most favored before the start of the True Disciple Selection Tournament, considered to be second only to Jiang Yao in talent amongst the Taixuan Sect disciples, had finally been unable to hold up under the sweeping storm of dark blue Striking Light and was hit!


    "And Ye Chen?"


    With Yu Luoxuan having been struck, everyone turned their gaze to the name of Ye Chen.


    Everyone wanted to know whether Ye Chen could evade the powerful dark blue Striking Light.


    Could he once again work a miracle and surpass Yu Luoxuan!


    When everyone looked at Ye Chen''s name, they were taken aback to find that there was still no hit count appearing behind his name.


    This meant that, even though Yu Luoxuan could not hold out, Ye Chen was still persisting, and he had not yet been hit by the Striking Light.


    Ye Chen had become the only person among all the young candidates who had not been hit!


    "Buzz!"


    This discovery immediately set off a frenzy of discussion among everyone on the plaza.


    "Unbelievable!"


    "Being strong is one thing, but even his movement skills are so impressive!"


    At the elevated area of the plaza, those Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses turned their attention to Ye Chen in the assessment area. Their eyes were sharp enough to pick him out from the crowd instantly.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had fully unleashed the "Wind Thunder Movement"; his entire being was like a drifting breeze, a rushing thunderbolt!


    His movement skill had truly reached the point of moving as his heart desired; regardless of how dense or tricky the sweeping dark blue light rays were, Ye Chen could always evade them at the most incredible moments.


    "A Profound Grade Superior movement skill!"


    "This youngster, Ye Chen, has actually mastered a Profound Grade Superior movement skill to completion!"


    "Such comprehension is simply extraordinary!"


    "Moreover, it''s not just the Profound Grade Superior movement skill; he seems to have a natural instinct to dodge the incoming light, always managing to avoid it just at the right moment!"


    "Even if his performance isn''t good in the next two rounds, I must invite him to join my Inner Peak!"


    The peak masters of Taixuan Sect''s Inner Peak shone with brighter gazes as they watched Ye Chen.


    "A genius, our Taixuan Sect is finally going to welcome a real genius!"


    "Ye Chen''s performance is comparable to Jiang Yao''s when she was twelve years old, during her participation in the True Disciple Selection!"


    "Indeed, he''s the youngster favored by Jiang Yao, truly as formidable as Jiang Yao herself!"


    Among the great figures of the Rotating Pill Realm, the Sect Master of the Taixuan Sect looked at Ye Chen, whose form was rapidly dodging, as if seeing the same girl who had once astounded the entire sect.


    Back then, Jiang Yao was the dazzling star at the Taixuan Sect True Disciple Selection, earning the reputation as the foremost genius of the thirty-six sects in Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s eastern region. Now, the Sect Master saw in Ye Chen the same strength, the same talent!


    Two peerless geniuses!


    Even he thought of the scene where Jiang Yao had held Ye Chen''s hand, the term "two peerless geniuses" coming to his mind!


    At this moment, Jiang Yao''s eyes, clear as the stars, were entirely fixated on Ye Chen. Since the beginning of the competition, her gaze had not left him for a moment!


    "It looks like Ye Chen is going to continue leading in this second round of assessment."


    "It''s just unknown whether Ye Chen can withstand the ''Purple Lightning Pearl'' of Fairy Jia Luo, the Light of Death of the fourth transformation, the extremely powerful one that reaches the high tier of the Spirit Sea Realm."


    "If he can withstand even the purple lightning light ray, which can instantly kill anyone in the Spirit Sea Realm, with only his True Qi at the eleventh layer, that would be terrifying, undoubtedly making him the number one genius of Heavenly Wind Kingdom!"


    Daoist Wine Sword, along with many Rotating Pill Realm experts, were all watching Ye Chen, eager to see if he could withstand the fourth transformation of the Purple Lightning Pearl.


    They didn''t have to wait long, for the Purple Lightning Pearl, suspended high above the assessment area, finally underwent its fourth change, triggering the most powerful purple lightning strike.


    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    It sounded like countless wings flapping wildly; as purple striking light appeared on the Purple Lightning Pearl, the air in the entire area seemed to tremble.


    Then, all the youngsters in the assessment area felt as though they were trapped within a net of purple lightning.


    The downpouring purple lightning light that erupted from all directions completely blocked their surroundings, no matter where they tried to evade, they would be struck by the purple lightning! discover-stories-on-MVLeMpYr


    ```


    This has become the Striking Light they absolutely cannot evade!


    This is the true mightiest instant-killing light of the "Purple Lightning Pearl"!


    The fourth variation, Light of Death!


    "Purple Lightning Ray!"


    "And the lightning matrix!"


    "Falling from the sky, dense and numerous, evasion is impossible!"


    The moment the vast purple light poured down, Ye Chen, whose divine sense enveloped all directions, noticed the fourth variation of the Purple Lightning Pearl''s light approaching.


    "My Wind Thunder Movement technique can''t possibly dodge this purple instant-killing light!"


    "This layer of Striking Light must be the very light that senior Jia Luo mentioned, the one that could instantly kill anyone in the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "To avoid this layer of Striking Light, unless I use the ''Void Instantaneous Change'' technique!"


    Countless thoughts flashed through Ye Chen''s mind in an instant.


    His divine sense also fell on the other youths participating in the competition, only to discover that everyone had already failed to evade the light''s strike.


    "Forget it."


    "At this moment, I am already in a leading position, ''Void Instantaneous Change'' is the strongest and most secretive skill I''ve practiced. Under the watchful eyes of the crowd, I absolutely can''t reveal it."


    "The performance of my techniques now is already sufficient!"


    In an instant, Ye Chen decided not to use "Void Instantaneous Change" to counter the fourth kind of Striking Light.


    After all, this was merely an assessment; if it were a matter of life and death, he would certainly use the "Void Instantaneous Change"!


    At this moment, there were Rotating Pill Realm experts in the field; if Ye Chen were to reveal "Void Instantaneous Change," his score wouldn''t increase much, but the technique would be exposed to many strong practitioners.


    It was the same with Ye Chen''s "Flying Sword" technique, which he would absolutely not utilize unless it was absolutely necessary.


    The "Void Instantaneous Change" was no different!


    All these thoughts were mere flashes in the blink of an eye. In the moment Ye Chen did not use Void Instantaneous Change, a purple lightning struck him.


    "Ye Chen''s name now has a hit count too!"


    "The ''Purple Lightning Pearl'' indeed is powerful, even Ye Chen couldn''t hold on!"


    Innumerable disciples watching the match, all keeping an eye on the giant screen, noticed that a hit count appeared next to Ye Chen''s name the moment the purple light struck him.


    "Phew!"


    Seeing Ye Chen finally hit, some Rotating Pill Realm experts at the higher seats of the plaza breathed a sigh of relief for some reason.


    Ye Chen had cultivated to the upper grade of the Profound Tier in agility techniques, and managing to evade the sky''s dusky blue Striking Light was something they could accept. But if Ye Chen could even avoid the much stronger fourth variation of the purple lightning, that would be too shocking.


    If that were the case, these Rotating Pill Realm experts would likely feel a chill in their hearts!


    "However, it''s already quite impressive."


    Those Rotating Pill Realm experts, who had breathed a sigh of relief, now looked at Ye Chen with eyes full of appreciation, as one would regard a talented junior.


    "To achieve such results in a speed skill assessment within the True Qi Realm, Ye Chen has already created a miracle. His understanding of movement techniques is astonishing, and his instincts in a real fight are incomparably impressive."


    With just an upper-grade Profound Tier agility technique, dodging the dusky blue light was challenging. Those in the Rotating Pill Realm believed that if Ye Chen was able to surpass Yu Luoxuan again after avoiding the dusky blue light strikes, it must be because of an innate combat instinct that allowed him to sense the danger of the Striking Light.


    "This second round of the speed skill assessment truly opened our eyes."


    "However, with Ye Chen also unable to continue resisting, this assessment is finally coming to an end."


    Everyone was waiting for the final moments of the assessment to conclude.


    Finally, after the Purple Lightning Pearl underwent four changes of light, the second round of the agility skill assessment, lasting the time it takes for a cup of tea to brew, came to an end at last.


    "Buzz!"


    The moment the finish time arrived, the Purple Lightning Pearl that had been spinning wildly above the assessment area suddenly halted, the light that enveloped the entire area abruptly dissipated, and the sky filled with Striking Light also vanished completely.


    The Purple Lightning Pearl, having retracted its released light, flew directly back into the hands of Fairy Jia Luo.


    The whole assessment area returned to its normal state.


    "It''s over, the second round of the assessment has finally ended."


    At this moment, the hundreds of young participants in the assessment area all breathed a sigh of relief. The closer to the end, the harder it was to resist the light striking them, and the higher their hit count became; they were almost driven insane.


    That feeling of being unable to resist the light strikes was very unpleasant.


    Thank goodness, this round of light strike assessment has finally come to an end.


    "I wonder how I did in the second round of the assessment. Being hit by the light once means a deduction of one assessment point; the results must be pretty bad."


    The youths all looked up towards the giant screen, towards the hit count displayed next to their names.


    ```

 Chapter 156: Chapter 135: Sky Extreme Cliff, Sky-Scaling Vine

    Although a sense of foreboding had already settled in their hearts, the assessment youths couldn''t help but frown when they actually saw the number of times their names had been struck.


    It was that bad!


    Of the nine hundred and sixty-eight youngsters participating in the selection conference for the direct disciples, over seven hundred had their names struck more than a thousand times, with the highest one being hit by the Purple Lightning Pearl''s beam as many as one thousand six hundred and fifty-three times!


    The hearts of these seven hundred-plus youths sank, signifying that they would be directly deducted more than a thousand assessment points in the second round of the examination.


    In the first round, the most any of them had earned was just a few dozen assessment points, and now they were facing a staggering deduction of over a thousand points, not even having enough points to deduct from.


    This was simply too terrible!


    Not only were the scores of these seven hundred-plus youths bad, but even among the remaining two hundred or so test-taking youths, although they were not struck more than a thousand times by the beams, the number was still several hundred, and their performance was only slightly better than that of the seven hundred-plus youths.


    Only a few dozen individuals had been struck by the light beams less than two hundred times, which was considered the best performance.


    All the assessment youths looked up at the top of the colossal light screen, eager to see the scores of the strongest candidates like Ye Chen and Yu Luoxuan.


    When they saw Mu Yunlei was struck one hundred and sixty-three times and Yu Luoxuan ninety-six times, the youths were all stunned.


    With the second round of assessment being so difficult, how could individuals like Mu Yunlei and Yu Luoxuan still perform so well?


    And when they saw the number of times the top-ranked Ye Chen was struck, they were even more agape. Ye Chen was hit only fifteen times!


    This youth, an external exception attending the Taixuan Sect''s direct disciple selection conference, had once again come in first!


    All the youths turned their gaze towards Ye Chen, including Mu Yunlei, Yu Luoxuan, and the others.


    If in the first round of assessment Ye Chen excelled in the strength test, one could have claimed that strength was his forte. But since he performed so well again in the second round concerning speed and movement, it undoubtedly demonstrated his overall prowess.


    This directly indicated that Ye Chen indeed had the potential to take first place at the selection conference. It was even possible that in the final two rounds of the assessment, Ye Chen would further increase his lead!


    Of course, this made the Taixuan Sect disciples take great notice of Ye Chen!


    It wasn''t until the second round of assessment had completely finished and the Purple Lightning Pearl flew back into Fairy Jia Luo''s hands that she spoke slowly to the assessment youths as countless gazes turned towards the giant screen.


    "The second round of assessment has ended, as you can see."


    "In this round, I used the ''Purple Lightning Pearl'' to test you not only to assess your speed and movement skills but to let you understand just how dangerous you would be in a real life-or-death battle."


    "My ''Purple Lightning Pearl'' emitted four types of striking beams. The first type, a crimson beam, is a mid-level True Qi striking beam. The second type is a green beam, a high-level True Qi striking beam. If you can''t even dodge these two types of beams, it means that in a battle within the True Qi Realm, you are likely to be killed by your opponent!"


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words sent shivers down the spines of countless assessing youths.


    Indeed, the "Purple Lightning Pearl" was Fairy Jia Luo''s Attack Artifact, which she had merely deactivated the killing power of, but who would turn off their killing power in a real battle?


    If a true opponent also had such mid-level or high-level True Qi Killing Power Treasures, they would be dead by now!


    "Whether it''s sect selection or cultivation, both are relatively calm and safe. However, once you step out of the protection of the sect and into the perilous strife of the martial world, any slight mistake may cost you your life!"


    "I used this method in the second round of assessment because I wanted to remind you all of this! You must take advantage of your time in the sect to diligently improve your cultivation and enhance your methods!"


    Fairy Jia Luo''s gaze swept over all the assessing youths as she spoke solemnly.


    All the youths nodded earnestly, Ye Chen included.


    Ye Chen agreed wholeheartedly with Fairy Jia Luo''s words. He had faced several extremely dangerous situations before, from being hunted by Zhou Hai in Ten Thousand Beasts Mountain to the bloody vendetta of Zhou Yuntian later. If his methods weren''t sufficient, he would already be dead!


    Then there was his family''s encounter with the three rogue practitioners from Wan Ya Mountain after entering the Ancestral Land Secret Realm. If it weren''t for the substantial increase in his strength inside the Ancient God Tower, not only would he have failed to avenge his family, but he also might have likely fallen victim to those rogue practitioners'' subsequent attempts to rob and kill him!


    Ye Chen constantly strove to improve his strength and methods because he knew well the dangers of the martial world of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Only the strong, only those with more methods and aces up their sleeves, could handle the sudden threats to life!


    Even Yan Ling''er, back on the eighteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower, had mentioned that despite being under the protection of an ancient flame emperor in the minor spirit realm, she had several life-threatening crises.


    Having far less to rely on than Yan Ling''er, Ye Chen naturally had to train even harder and enhance his methods.


    His previous escapes from deadly perils came from the accumulation of hard work and diligent practice night after night. If he were careless and faced another threat to his life, how would he cope?


    Ye Chen was determined to do as Fairy Jia Luo said, to leverage the relative peace of his cultivation within the sect to improve his strength.


    His participation in the selection for the direct disciples of the prestigious Taixuan Sect was partially for the sake of Jiang Yao and partly to seize better cultivation opportunities within the foremost sect of the Tian Feng nation''s eastern domain.


    At that moment, Fairy Jia Luo''s gaze particularly focused on Ye Chen, Yu Luoxuan, Mu Yunlei, and several other youths who had shown exceptional performance in the first two rounds.


    read-first-at-MVLeMpYr


    "Ye Chen, Luoxuan, you few have done very well."


    "But, you should also take seriously what I''ve just said."


    "Currently, your strength is indeed remarkably outstanding within the True Qi Realm, and even Ye Chen''s strength is sufficient to contend with Spirit Sea Realm experts!"


    "However, what would you do if you faced opponents of the Rotating Pill Realm?"


    "What''s more, how would you manage if Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses harbored enmity towards you?"


    "While some threats might be inevitable regardless of your efforts, taking the time before they arise to strengthen yourselves is essential!"


    Ye Chen, Yu Luoxuan, Mu Yunlei, and other young warriors all nodded solemnly.


    Indeed, no one could guarantee that their cultivation would always go smoothly, or that they wouldn''t encounter unexpected dangers.


    They had all heard of many fallen talents, countless geniuses who excelled in the True Qi Realm but died before even setting foot in the Spirit Sea Realm. There were even tales of absolute prodigies in the Spirit Sea Realm who became collateral damage in battles between Heavenly Saints and perished in the mayhem of their conflicts.


    A fallen genius is no longer considered a genius!


    That''s why even the most unparalleled experts, upon seeing a talented youngster, may only consider nurturing them instead of being certain they will grow to be invincible powers.


    This was also why Ye Chen, who had many tactics at his disposal, absolutely would not reveal them unless it was an absolute last resort.


    To grow and to strengthen, one must survive first¡ªthat is the fundamental principle!


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo were not only listened to attentively by the young warriors undergoing the assessment in the square but also deeply remembered by the disciples from Taixuan Sect who were not participating in the selection for the true successor, as well as disciples from other sects.


    Even those Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses at the high seats of the Mountain Gate Square and their Spirit Sea Realm disciples behind them nodded repeatedly.


    At this moment, Fairy Jia Luo finally changed her earnest demeanor, continuing to speak about the true successor selection proceedings.


    "I have said so much just now, partly as a reminder to all of you after the two rounds of assessments, that no matter whether you are chosen as a true successor, you must cultivate earnestly," she said.


    "On the other hand, these words are also relevant to the final two rounds of assessment you are about to face!"


    "Because, in the next two rounds of assessments, you will face tests that could truly endanger your lives, real combat assessments!"


    Real combat assessments?


    Potentially life-threatening?


    All the young warriors undergoing the assessment felt their hearts pounding, all turning their gazes towards Fairy Jia Luo, eager to hear about how the last two rounds of assessments would be conducted.


    "Real combat assessment?"


    "Indeed, Taixuan Sect is truly Taixuan Sect, always honing its disciples and fostering their growth! During every Taixuan Sect true successor selection, there is a real combat assessment. Moreover, each time there are disciples who die in this actual combat," someone observed.


    "Just wonder how Fairy Jia Luo will arrange this real combat assessment."


    Those who knew the history of Taixuan Sect''s selection for true successors also looked towards Fairy Jia Luo.


    "Real combat assessment."


    "Finally, it is time for this combat assessment."


    "This time, the assessment we''ve settled upon could be said to be the most dangerous one in history!"


    Several Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses at the high seats of Mountain Gate Square clearly knew the nature of this combat assessment, and their expressions became grave.


    The remaining influential figures of the External Sect also showed immense interest in the upcoming real combat assessment of Taixuan Sect.


    At this moment, Fairy Jia Luo finally announced the method of the real combat assessment.


    "The third and fourth round of assessments will be conducted together, at a secret location of our Taixuan Sect¡ª''Sky Extreme Cliff''!"


    Upon hearing the words "Sky Extreme Cliff," the expressions of those Spirit Sea Realm disciples of Taixuan Sect at the high seats of the Mountain Gate Square changed.


    Clearly, they were aware of the existence of Sky Extreme Cliff!


    However, the Outer Sect disciples seemed puzzled at this moment, as they obviously did not know what or where the Extreme Sky Cliff was, or what it looked like.


    "Sky Extreme Cliff?"


    Ye Chen frowned as well¡ªhe had never heard of the name Sky Extreme Cliff.


    Boom!


    Just then, Fairy Jia Luo waved a huge hand towards the void, and directly another giant screen appeared in mid-air.


    From within the screen, one could see peaks of floating mountains soaring amidst the clouds, with enormous flying beasts flitting through the clouds around the Floating Peaks!


    These floating mountains, one higher than the next, had no connecting bridges between them. All one could see were thick vines hanging down from each Floating Peak.


    "This within the screen is the location of ''Sky Extreme Cliff''," Fairy Jia Luo said, pointing towards the Floating Peaks in the vision.


    "Sky Extreme Cliff consists of ninety-nine domains scattered across ninety-nine floating mountain peaks. To climb these peaks with your True Qi Realm capabilities, you have no choice but to ascend by grasping the ''Sky-Scaling Vines'' hanging from above these Floating Peaks."


    "Your third round of assessment will be based on the height of the Floating Peaks you manage to climb¡ªthe higher the peak, the more assessment points you will earn!"


    "However, do not climb recklessly. Suspended within the clouds, these ''Sky-Scaling Vines'' are buffeted by countless strong winds in the mountain fog. If you are careless, you could fall into the abyss below. These Floating Peaks are all several thousand zhang high from the ground at their lowest point; a fall would mean there would be nothing left of you!"


    "This is a life and death assessment, a real combat assessment, and don''t expect us to save you. We will definitely not make a move, so treat this as a real combat challenge!"


    "Therefore, without sufficient power, do not blindly attempt to climb the ''Sky-Scaling Vines''!"

 Chapter 157: Chapter 136 Capturing the Flying Beast

    ```


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words sent a shock through the hearts of the young candidates participating in the competition for true discipleship.


    It truly was a combat assessment! Indeed, it was a life-and-death assessment!


    This third round of assessment involved climbing the ninety-nine suspended peaks of the "Sky Extreme Cliff," and it even relied on scaling the "Sky-Scaling Vines" that hung from the mountains.


    Just by looking at the screen, the candidates could see the giant vines swinging violently in the wind, let alone using these vines to continuously climb towards other Floating Peaks.


    Even between the two closest Floating Peaks, there was a distance of more than ten meters, and one had to jump to get from one "Sky-Scaling Vine" to another. This was leaping in the air thousands of feet high¡ª a careless move could mean missing the vine and falling down!


    According to Fairy Jia Luo, if anyone fell, no one would save them. These participants truly faced the risk of losing their lives during the assessment!


    This made many of the candidates begin to feel afraid.


    They had heard that the final real combat assessment for the selection of true disciples was dangerous, but they did not expect it to be so perilous!


    And the following words from Fairy Jia Luo caused these people''s faces to change dramatically once again.


    Fairy Jia Luo continued, "Climbing the ''Sky-Scaling Vines'' to reach the Floating Peaks is only the third round of assessment, and this is still relatively simple. The fourth round of assessment is the most difficult and the most dangerous combat challenge."


    "These ninety-nine Floating Peaks are gathering places for Flying Beasts. The fourth round of assessment is to capture the Flying Beasts on these Floating Peaks!"


    "To capture the Flying Beasts, subdue them, and then ride these Flying Beasts as they fly down to a specified final area¡ª that counts as successfully passing the fourth round of assessment!"


    "The scores for the fourth round will also be decided based on the rank of the Flying Beasts you''ll have captured!"


    Hum!


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo made everyone look towards the gigantic screen, where they could all see Flying Beasts constantly soaring among the ninety-nine Floating Peaks.


    The following fourth round of assessment would actually be to capture these Flying Beasts?


    From the sheer size of these Flying Beasts¡ª some tens of meters long¡ª it was evident that the beasts flying below were level seven, eight, ten, and eleven creatures, and the beasts flying at the very top of the Floating Peaks were even comparable to the Great Demons at the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Equivalent to the Spirit Sea Realm Great Demons!


    To capture them was out of the question¡ª not being killed by these Great Demons was fortunate enough!


    And riding these Flying Beasts down was also extremely dangerous. If the Beasts went berserk and flung them from high up in the air, they could truly lose their lives!


    This fourth round of assessment was indeed more difficult and more dangerous than the third!


    At this moment, at the top of the mountain gate plaza, those Spirit Sea Realm disciples of Taixuan Sect standing behind the Rotating Pill Realm masters shook their heads when they heard Fairy Jia Luo''s explanation of the third and fourth rounds of assessment.


    ```


    "Climbing Sky Extreme Peak and capturing flying beasts, such an assessment is indeed too dangerous for these disciples in the True Qi Realm!"


    "Not just them, even we, who possess the Flight Divine Ability, could get injured or even killed by a Great Demon when entering the Sky Extreme Peak. You must know that there are high-order Great Demons inside equivalent to the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "They can only capture flying beasts at those Floating Peaks below, aiming for beasts of the seventh, eighth, or even tenth and eleventh order. They absolutely must not recklessly enter the upper regions of the Floating Peaks dominated by Great Demons!"


    Fairy Jia Luo glanced at the crowd, buzzing with discussion, then turned her gaze toward the young ones in the assessment area.


    "The third and fourth round assessments taking place in the ninety-nine Floating Peaks of ''Sky Extreme Cliff'' will have the following methods for obtaining Assessment Scores."


    "The ninety-nine Floating Peaks of ''Sky Extreme Cliff'' are ranked from low to high, starting from The First Floating Peak, The Second Floating Peak, all the way to The Ninety-Ninth Floating Peak!"


    "The higher the Floating Peak, the greater the difficulty in climbing, and the more powerful and difficult to capture the flying beasts inside."


    "Your scores for the third and fourth rounds of the assessment will be determined based on the height of the Floating Peak you climb and the rank of the flying beasts you capture."


    "For the third round climbing scores, you will receive ten times the Assessment Score of the Floating Peak you climb to¡ªfor instance, if you climb to The Twenty-Eighth Floating Peak, you will receive two hundred eighty Assessment Points; climbing to The Sixty-Seventh Floating Peak will yield six hundred seventy Assessment Points."


    "The fourth round scoring for capturing flying beasts is also related to the height of the Floating Peak; the thirty-three lowest Floating Peaks contain seventh to ninth order flying beasts, capturing any from these will get you one thousand Assessment Points; the middle thirty-three Floating Peaks are inhabited by tenth to twelfth order flying beasts, and capturing any will be rewarded with two thousand Assessment Points."


    "Do not easily venture into the top thirty-three Floating Peaks unless you have absolute strength and confidence because they are inhabited by Great Demons with power equivalent to Spirit Sea Realm experts!


    Of course, if you have the strength to capture a Great Demon, the Assessment Points will be extraordinarily high and may even allow you to leap ahead of your results in the first two rounds, achieving a ranking in the top ten, or even first place!"


    "Capturing a low-order Great Demon with strength equivalent to the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm will net you three thousand Assessment Points; capturing a mid-order Great Demon equivalent to the intermediate stages of the Spirit Sea Realm will grant you five thousand Assessment Points; capturing a high-order Great Demon equivalent to the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm will earn you ten thousand Assessment Points!"


    The explanation of the last two rounds of assessment scores by Fairy Jia Luo made all the young participants take a deep breath.


    Real combat assessments are indeed perilous, but the reward in Assessment Points is astonishing!


    If performed well, these final two rounds of real combat assessments can indeed change the ranking outcomes of the first two rounds.


    This stirred the ambitions of some young disciples, who had initially been fearful of the real combat assessments.


    "The first two rounds of assessments have concluded, and your combat points have been recorded on the battle achievement screen. You have also clearly seen the ranking situation."


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    "For the following two rounds, the real combat assessments pose a risk to your lives. If you''re confident, then make an effort to climb the Floating Peaks and capture the flying beasts to obtain Assessment Points. If you''re not sure, then stay in a safe place rather than risking your life!"


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo sparked a flurry of discussions among the young candidates.


    "To rank highly in the final four rounds of assessments, to have the chance to become an Inner Peak true disciple, though the third and fourth rounds are dangerous, we must give it our all!"


    "I''ve already lost over a thousand Assessment Points in the first two rounds; in the next two rounds, I need to at least aim to climb to the middle thirty-three Floating Peaks and capture tenth to twelfth order flying beasts!"


    "I''m determined to join the Inner Peak and become a true disciple; I''ll give it my all!"


    The assessment candidates looked at the ninety-nine Floating Peaks on the huge screen of Sky Extreme Cliff and all made up their minds to give it their all while ensuring safety.


    "The third round, climb the ''Sky-Scaling Vine''!"


    "The fourth round, capture Flying Beasts! Or even capture a Great Demon!"


    Ye Chen, watching the ninety-nine Floating Peaks among the clouds, had a glint of fighting spirit in his eyes. This kind of real battle test was something he had never experienced before.


    Capturing Flying Beasts, riding them through the skies, was exactly the feeling Ye Chen was after!


    He had already planned to at least subdue a low or mid-level Great Demon.


    Ye Chen believed in himself; he had that strength!


    After all, he had even killed three Loose Cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm. What was there to fear from anything less than a high-level Great Demon?


    Just then, the pretty girl in green, also the most favored talented girl in the selection event for true disciples so far, Yu Luoxuan, suddenly approached Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, I plan to climb to the top of the thirty-three highest Floating Peaks and capture a Great Demon!"


    "Only then might I have a chance to surpass you!"


    "Would you dare to compete with me in capturing a Great Demon?"


    Yu Luoxuan''s eyes were fixed on Ye Chen as she spoke.


    Yu Luoxuan''s words startled many youths nearby.


    The next two rounds of the assessment were extremely dangerous, yet Yu Luoxuan fearlessly challenged Ye Chen, even aiming to capture a Great Demon?!


    A Great Demon was on par with a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse. Was she truly confident she could capture one?


    The youths all turned their attention to Yu Luoxuan, only to see her gaze completely fixed on Ye Chen, awaiting his response.


    Ye Chen looked at the pretty girl and smiled faintly, "Compete in capturing a Great Demon? Why not!"


    "I, too, was planning to capture a Great Demon to see what it feels like to soar through the skies on one!"


    Hum!


    Ye Chen''s response made Yu Luoxuan''s eyes shine and caused a great shock in the hearts of the other youths.


    In the life-threatening real battle test, these two youths, who had performed extraordinarily well in the first two rounds, were going to compete again.


    Even deciding to see who could capture a Great Demon!


    While all the assessment candidates set their own targets for the next two rounds, and as Ye Chen and Yu Luoxuan determined to really duke it out in the last two rounds, Fairy Jia Luo finally announced.


    "Now, all candidates, follow me to ''Sky Extreme Cliff'' to participate in the final two rounds of the assessment!"


    Simultaneously, Fairy Jia Luo''s gaze also turned to Jiang Yao, then to those at the high seats in the sect entrance square¡ªthe Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses and Spirit Sea Realm disciples.


    "Those guests who accepted our invitation to watch the true disciple selection event, as well as our sect''s Spirit Sea Realm disciples, may also head to ''Sky Extreme Cliff''!"


    Then, Fairy Jia Luo''s gaze swept over the True Qi Realm disciples and disciples from other sects in the sect entrance square, "Everyone else shall stay here at the sect entrance square to watch the assessment. The scenes will be fully displayed on this screen!"


    Whoosh!


    As Fairy Jia Luo finished speaking, the giant screen displaying Sky Extreme Cliff in the space above the sect entrance square expanded several times over. Now, the entire situation of Sky Extreme Cliff could be seen clearly from the square.


    This was a method only possible through the laws of space; Fairy Jia Luo had used grand divine abilities to move the spatial scene of Sky Extreme Cliff above the sect entrance square, allowing everyone to watch.


    Once everything was ready, with a wave of Fairy Jia Luo''s fair palm, a palm-sized flying boat emerged from her sleeve. In an instant, the flying boat rapidly expanded and enlarged, ultimately turning into a hundreds-of-meters-long giant flying boat hovering in the air.


    "All candidates for the true disciple selection test, board the flying boat!"


    "Depart for ''Sky Extreme Cliff''!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    One figure after another activated their movement techniques, flying towards the flying boat. Ye Chen nodded to Jiang Yao before he too soared into the flying boat.


    Then, the flying boat abruptly ascended, streaking through the void, heading towards the mountains within the Taixuan Sect.


    "Let''s go too!"


    "The last two rounds of real battle assessments, climbing the ''Sky-Scaling Vine'', capturing Flying Beasts and Great Demons. Such real combat is truly the main event of this true disciple selection. We must watch closely!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses and Spirit Sea Realm disciples at the high seats of the sect entrance square, including Jiang Yao, also wrapped themselves in their qi, turning into streaks of light, following behind the flying boat towards Sky Extreme Cliff.


    Those True Qi Realm disciples left on the sect entrance square all looked up at the giant screen.


    Before long, they saw in the screen the flying boat and countless streaks of light appearing beneath the ninety-nine Floating Peaks.

 Chapter 158: Chapter 137: Fall! Flight!

    "Is this the ''Sky Extreme Cliff''s Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks''?"


    As the flying boat carrying all the young candidates shuttled through the void and came to a stop in the sky above a secret area west of the Taixuan Sect, all the youths were stunned by the scene before their eyes.


    Above their heads were gigantic mountain peaks floating in the air, each peak higher than the last, rising up in a staggered fashion; the peaks at the very top were already too distant to see clearly.


    On either side of the Floating Peaks were clusters of white clouds, and looking down was also a vast sea of clouds; it was impossible to determine how high these Floating Peaks were or how deep the space below them was.


    Countless giant vines, several meters thick, hung down from the Floating Peaks, swaying ceaselessly in the endless gales that blew between the peaks and the sea of clouds.


    The youths stood on the flying boat, beneath the Floating Peaks, feeling the ferocity of these gales, their garments fluttering loudly in the wind.


    The swaying of those thick vines revealed that the gales above were even more tremendous, even more fierce!


    Not just the gales¡ªlooking up at the Floating Peaks above their heads, the youths could occasionally see massive flying Demon Beasts, dozens of meters in length, flying in and out of the peaks with heart-palpitating screeches.


    Looking even higher, they could catch a glimpse of enormous black shadows, hundreds of meters long, circling in the air above the endless Floating Peaks.


    Great Demons!


    Those enormous black shadows, hundreds of meters long, were presumably the Great Demons that lived atop the highest thirty-three peaks, creatures comparable to warriors of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Seeing the countless gigantic Floating Peaks suspended in the void, the huge vines cascading down from the sky, hearing the whistling of the winds and the roars and hisses of Demon Beasts and Great Demons.


    All the youths were filled with excitement and nervousness!


    This was the secret location of the Taixuan Sect, a gathering place for countless flying Demon Beasts¡ªSky Extreme Cliff''s Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks!


    This was where the young candidates for the selection of true disciples were about to begin the third and fourth rounds of the assessment!


    "The top thirty-three of the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks!"


    "Great Demons, flying Great Demons!"


    Aboard the flying boat, Ye Chen''s gaze was fixed on the highest part of the floating peaks, looking at those terrifyingly large black shadows.


    The topmost Floating Peaks were his target to climb!


    The Great Demons at the very top were his quarry to capture!


    When the flying boat docked next to the lowest, the first Floating Peak, all the youths knew that their practical assessment was about to officially begin!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the flying boat approached the first Floating Peak, numerous streaks of Escaping Light also stopped next to that lowest, the first Floating Peak.


    Fairy Jia Luo and other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, along with Jiang Yao and other Spirit Sea Realm disciples, stood in the void next to the flying boat.


    "The rules for the third and fourth rounds of the assessment have been explained to you!"


    "Now, begin your final two rounds of assessment!"


    "However you perform and whatever your final score, we will be watching!"


    "Summon your greatest strength, climb the ''Sky-Scaling Vine'' while ensuring your own safety, and capture the flying Demon Beasts!"


    "The assessment time for the third and fourth rounds is one hour; I will record the heights you climb, and once you capture a flying Demon Beast, ride it under this first Floating Peak, and that will count as a successful capture!"


    "Now, begin the true practical assessment!"


    As Fairy Jia Luo announced the start of the assessment, each of the candidates leapt from the flying boat, alighting on the first Floating Peak below.


    Then, one after another, these figures grabbed onto the ''Sky-Scaling Vines'' hanging down and began to climb towards the second Floating Peak above.


    The Floating Peaks below were easier to climb; before long, there were figures who had climbed to the second and even third Floating Peaks.


    "Ye Chen, be careful!"


    At this moment, Jiang Yao flew towards Ye Chen, who was still aboard the flying boat, her eyes full of concern.


    Ye Chen walked over to Jiang Yao, patted the girl''s head, and said with a smile, "Don''t worry, wait for me to bring down a Great Demon!"


    With a light laugh, Ye Chen''s figure dashed forward, descending onto the first Floating Peak.


    After landing on the first Floating Peak, Ye Chen looked up at the Sky-Scaling Vines hanging down from the sky and the Floating Peaks rising one above the other; with a slight movement of his body, he drifted onto a thick vine.


    With one hand effortlessly grasping the Sky-Scaling Vine and the other waving to Jiang Yao, he then moved swiftly, shooting towards the second Floating Peak above like a bolt of lightning.


    When all the youths had descended from the flying boat and entered the climb, the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses and Spirit Sea Realm disciples all turned their gaze towards the figures on the Floating Peaks, observing closely.


    "It''s uncertain how they will fare in this practical assessment."


    "Who knows who will perish in this life-and-death trial, who will be able to capture powerful flying Demon Beasts, or even Great Demons? The selection for the true disciples is now down to these last two rounds¡ªwe shall see their performance!"


    The eight peak masters of the Taixuan Sect''s inner sect watched with intense focus as the youths continuously climbed higher into the sky.


    The other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses and Spirit Sea Realm disciples had their attention on just a few individuals, such as Ye Chen and Yu Luoxuan.


    "Between Ye Chen and Yu Luoxuan, who will come out on top in these last two rounds of assessment? Will Ye Chen continue to lead, or will Yu Luoxuan, the most anticipated, make a comeback and overtake him?"


    Everyone awaited the final outcome with anticipation.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Amidst the sea of clouds, under the watchful eyes of the countless powerhouses standing in the void, and as numerous disciples of the sect watched the giant screen in the main square, over nine hundred candidates had begun their frantic climb of the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks of Sky Extreme Cliff!


    The thirty-three Floating Peaks at the bottom were a bit easier to climb, and soon, the majority of the youths had managed to get to around the twentieth Floating Peak. Leading the pack was Yu Luoxuan; she had impressively reached the thirty-ninth Floating Peak, advancing into the middle section of the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks!


    "Where''s Ye Chen?"


    All the spectators watching the assessment were searching for Ye Chen among the crowd, only to find him in the middle of the pack, moving upwards steadily, neither fast nor slow.


    "How come Ye Chen isn''t performing as well this time? He''s fallen far behind Yu Luoxuan!"


    "Could it be, the life-threatening reality of this practical assessment has intimidated him?"


    As Yu Luoxuan kept a substantial lead and Ye Chen fell increasingly behind, many of the spectators started to murmur among themselves.


    At that moment, Ye Chen, who was climbing the fifteenth Floating Peak, couldn''t hear nor cared to pay attention to the astonishment of the onlookers. He covered every Floating Peak with his Divine Sense as he climbed, scrutinizing them closely.


    "Incredible! These mountains, floating in the void and rising higher and higher, are truly amazing!"


    "These places seem as if they are naturally born realms for flying Demon Beasts!"


    Scaling the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks posed little difficulty for Ye Chen, and he didn''t even need to use his Wind-Thunder Wings, simply ascending using the Wind Thunder Movement Skills.


    The duration of the assessment, a mere hour, was more than enough for him to enjoy the breathtaking views of the sky.


    Even when Ye Chen encountered seventh or eighth order Demon Beasts while climbing, a mere release of his True Qi pressure was enough to send those flying beasts scramming in all directions, not daring to approach him.


    Ye Chen moved up with ease, but other disciples didn''t have such a relaxed journey.


    Yu Luoxuan was still doing relatively well, maintaining her lead and, true to her earlier statement, she was indeed aiming for the Great Demon at the very top.


    As for those who had reached the thirty-third Floating Peak, they increasingly felt the strain.


    On one hand, the higher they climbed, the more violent the winds above became. Even as they held onto the Sky-Scaling Vines, they would be blown about, swaying in the wind with the vines.


    On the other hand, the higher they climbed, the more powerful the flying beasts became, to the point that they might even be ambushed by beasts of the tenth or eleventh order!


    This made many of the youths suddenly aware of the danger they were in.


    Approximately a quarter of an hour into the third round of the assessment, a youth who had climbed to the thirty-sixth Floating Peak was caught in a wild sway by the fierce winds and suddenly, a black-feathered giant eagle, about twenty-seven or twenty-eight meters long, appeared by his side.


    As soon as it emerged, the giant eagle let out a sharp screech and lunged at the youth with its open beak, its wings stirring up relentless gusts of wind.


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    The already frantic sway had startled the youth out of his wits, and the sudden cry and assault from the black-feathered giant eagle caused his hands to shake in terror.


    In an instant, he was blown off the Sky-Scaling Vine, and by the time he tried to catch it again, it was too late. He could no longer reach the vine.


    Falling!


    The youth suddenly started plummeting downwards!


    "Crap!"


    "Someone''s falling!"


    The youths climbing below him saw a figure falling rapidly from above and were so scared that everyone stopped their ascent.


    Everyone looked up at the falling figure.


    Fairy Jia Luo had said that in the practical assessment, there could be life-or-death dangers. Now, was a youth about to die during this assessment?


    "Heavens!"


    "He''s falling down!"


    Outside the Taixuan Sect, at the plaza before the mountain gate, countless disciples watching the giant screen gasped in shock when they saw the youth suddenly falling.


    "A life-and-death assessment!"


    "A practical assessment!"


    Below the Floating Peaks, the Rotating Pill Realm experts shook their heads as they watched the falling youth, but none of them made a move.


    Since it was a practical assessment, those participating had to face the consequences of their choices. If they stepped in, it would undermine the purpose of the assessment.


    Even as disciples from the Spirit Sea Realm like Jiang Yao couldn''t bear to watch the youth die and wished to rescue him, they were stopped by the Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    Although they were all clenched with anxiety as the youth fell, they could not interfere!


    A practical assessment was just that, a practical assessment!


    All they could do was watch the youth scream in terror and fall helplessly!


    Just when everyone thought the youth was certainly going to die, suddenly, within the assessment area, at the twentieth Floating Peak among the Ninety-Nine Peaks, a figure abruptly took flight.


    This figure sprouted massive silver wings on its back and flew at breakneck speed towards the falling youth.


    Within the assessment area, only the youths participating in the selection for the true disciples were present, and these youths were all in the True Qi Realm, incapable of flight.


    Yet now, a figure that could fly had suddenly appeared.


    This sight made all the spectators, already terrified by the falling youth, widen their eyes in disbelief.


    When they made out the silver wings and recognized the youth swiftly flying forth, everyone cried out in astonishment, "It''s Ye Chen, the one who''s been scaling the peaks at a steady pace!"


    "He, he can actually fly!"

 Chapter 159: Chapter 138: The Mountain of Monsters

    After entering the real combat assessment, Ye Chen did not stand out as much as in the first two rounds.


    Even many people did not notice his presence.


    But now, when a disciple suddenly fell from the Sky-Scaling Vine and was at risk of losing their life, Ye Chen suddenly used a new method, a Cultivation Technique that could summon huge wings, and rushed to rescue the falling youth.


    Ye Chen had actually learned such an incredible Cultivation Technique, and could fly with wings in the True Qi Realm!


    With these wings, it was clear that Ye Chen could easily soar up to the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks!


    It was only at this point that everyone understood that it was not that Ye Chen''s strength was insufficient in this real combat assessment; he simply had not exerted his full strength!


    Watching the rapidly falling youth and Ye Chen who had deployed silver wings chasing after him, everyone''s hearts tightened.


    "He must catch up!"


    "He must save him!"


    The countless people watching the True Disciple Selection Competition at the Mountain Gate Square, even the youths who stopped climbing the Sky-Scaling Vine to look down, all silently prayed in their hearts.


    As the Rotating Pill Realm experts were not participants in the assessment and could not intervene, it was Ye Chen, a contestant among the youths, who could naturally rescue his fellow contenders!


    Even the Rotating Pill Realm experts, seeing Ye Chen suddenly fly out to rescue the falling youth, were overcome with a surge of emotions.


    For the falling youth, they could not help due to the rules, but they too felt a pang of pain in their hearts.


    Ye Chen stepping forward naturally excited them all at once.


    "Ye Chen really had hidden moves!"


    "Haha, I knew this young fellow was formidable, a feathered Cultivation Technique¡ªsuch a mighty movement technique is rare, and he has learned one at such a young age!"


    Daoist Wine Sword''s admiration for Ye Chen grew as he watched.


    The other Rotating Pill Realm experts looked at each other and nodded in agreement.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Among the crowd standing in the void, Jiang Yao''s eyes shone even brighter. She wanted to save the falling youth too, but the Rotating Pill Realm experts had stopped her. She even decided that once the youth fell below the clouds at the base of the Floating Peaks, she would intervene to save him regardless of any obstruction from the Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    After all, falling below the sea of clouds would serve as a real warning for the contending disciples!


    Now, Ye Chen had suddenly taken action!


    Jiang Yao was thrilled by Ye Chen''s decisive intervention and the unveiling of his powerful feathered Cultivation Technique.


    The man she admired was so strong, so extraordinary!


    While everyone watched, Ye Chen, with his silver Wind-Thunder Wings deployed, was getting closer and closer to the falling youth.


    Ten zhang! Eight zhang! Five zhang!


    Just as the falling youth plunged from the thirty-sixth Floating Peak to the sky beside the Fifteenth Floating Peak, Ye Chen was now only five or six meters away from him.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, who was flying swiftly, reached down through the void towards the falling youth and abruptly grabbed him from five or six meters away, stopping the youth''s rapid descent dead in its tracks!


    Boom!


    The youth was suddenly suspended in mid-air!


    No longer falling an inch further!


    It was terrifying to consider the momentum of such a fall from the void, yet Ye Chen was able to completely halt the youth''s descent from five or six meters away¡ªhis strength was simply astonishing.


    Having stopped the youth''s fall, Ye Chen reached out with a wide grasp and lifted the youth up, pulling him to his side.


    Ye Chen, indeed, had managed, in that swift action, to save the falling youth in just a few breaths'' time!


    Seeing the falling youth reaching Ye Chen''s side, countless disciples watching the assessment through a giant screen outside, and the anxious youths on the Sky-Scaling Vine, all burst into cheers!


    They had just witnessed Ye Chen, with only True Qi Realm cultivation, display unmatched strength by flying through the void and saving a person who was plummeting to the ground!


    This would probably be the most unforgettable moment of the True Disciple Selection Competition for them all!


    Even the Spirit Sea Realm disciples standing behind the Rotating Pill Realm experts in the void could not help but cheer.


    While the Rotating Pill Realm experts did not cheer as such, smiles spread across their faces, and their taut hearts suddenly relaxed.


    Ye Chen had really done it; his lightning-fast reaction had worked, saving the life of a fellow assessment contender!


    In the void.


    The falling youth landed beside Ye Chen, his face still pale, trembling all over.


    As he fell from the Sky-Scaling Vine, he heard countless winds howling in his ears and saw peaks flashing by his face rapidly; he thought he was certainly doomed, yet unexpectedly, someone reached out to save him.


    When he saw that his rescuer was Ye Chen, who had excelled in the previous two rounds, the youth burst into tears.


    "Ye Chen!" the youth called out Ye Chen''s name, simply calling out his name.


    But this unintentional fall during the True Disciple Selection Competition, and Ye Chen''s rescue, would be etched in his heart, never to be forgotten for the rest of his life.


    "Be more careful, this is a real combat assessment," Ye Chen said to him with a slight smile, and then, the youth found himself landing on the Fifteenth Floating Peak alongside him.


    Once again standing on a Floating Peak, the solid feeling of his feet on the ground made the youth collapse.

 Chapter 160: Chapter 138 Demon Beast Mountain_2

    At this moment, Ye Chen glanced at the youth before him, and with a "whoosh" of his Wind-Thunder Wings, he shot back into the Twentieth Floating Peak from which he had entered.


    A life-threatening crisis had vanished without a trace under Ye Chen''s intervention.


    But all the young contestants would remember this brush with death. They finally understood that Fairy Jia Luo''s words weren''t meant to scare them.


    The practical assessment truly posed a threat to their lives. If not for Ye Chen''s timely rescue, one of them might have already died!


    The young contestants certainly couldn''t hope to be saved after an accident, so everyone became even more careful, climbing upwards with great caution.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen landed on the Twentieth Floating Peak and once more retracted his Wind-Thunder Wings, continuing his climb upwards at an unhurried pace.


    However, this time, not a single person among the spectators underestimated Ye Chen.


    Everyone knew that Ye Chen still possessed the strength to come out on top in the third and fourth rounds of the practical assessments!


    The youth''s fall was a minor incident within the assessment.


    After everything went back to normal, the examination continued.


    The young contestants on the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks climbed higher and higher until gradually, all reached the highest point they could climb.


    Quite a few contestants stopped at the thirty-third Floating Peaks in the middle to seek the flying demon beasts they needed to capture.


    There were even some youngsters who had successfully subdued a flying demon beast on the cliffs of a Floating Peak and were now flying down on them.


    Although this contestant had only climbed to the Fifty-Fifth Floating Peak and captured a Rank Ten flying demon beast, he had successfully completed the last two rounds of the practical assessments!


    Following him, more and more contestants captured flying demon beasts and flew down from the Floating Peaks.


    The previous fall made everyone much more conservative, and fortunately, no further accidents occurred.


    At most, some were injured while trying to capture their flying demon beasts and eventually gave up on their original targets, opting to catch easier ones instead.


    As the number of people who successfully captured flying demon beasts grew, the third round of climbing the "Sky-Scaling Vine" and the fourth round of "capturing flying demon beasts" finally entered the stage of checking results.


    While many were flying down to the base of the First Floating Peak on their captured beasts, fewer and fewer contestants remained atop the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks.


    And as Yu Luoxuan, who had been leading the climb and had already ventured deep into the uppermost thirty-three Floating Peaks, soared down on a gigantic white eagle over a hundred and twenty meters long, all the other flying demon beasts that had landed at the base of the First Floating Peak scattered in terror, the entire assessment area, including the spectating zone, was in an uproar!


    Yu Luoxuan had actually done as she said earlier, capturing a great demon beast!


    This massive white eagle, over a hundred and twenty meters in length, was much larger and more formidable than any other flying demon beast captured by other contestants. Its cold, gleaming claws and feathers as white and lustrous as gemstones shocked all who saw it.


    "Yu Luoxuan climbed to the Seventy-Second Floating Peak and captured a low-tier Great Demon¡ª the Snow Sculpture Beast!"


    When Fairy Jia Luo announced Yu Luoxuan''s assessment results, on the huge screen displaying the scores of all contestants, Yu Luoxuan''s points had shot up to three thousand nine hundred ninety-seven!


    Yu Luoxuan was far ahead of all the other contestants who had completed four rounds of assessment!


    Even compared to Mu Yunlei, who also completed all the assessments, had climbed to the Sixty-Sixth Floating Peak, and captured a powerful Rank Twelve demon beast, her score exceeded his by over a thousand points.


    Of all those who had completed the assessment, Yu Luoxuan was now ranked first!


    But nobody was ready to declare her the certain winner, for there was one extremely powerful contestant who had not yet finished: Ye Chen.


    As long as Ye Chen had not concluded his assessment, no one dared to assert that Yu Luoxuan would take first place.


    Even Yu Luoxuan, who had captured a low-tier Great Demon, did not dare make such a claim. She too raised her head, looking towards the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks.


    At this time, only about fifty or sixty people had yet to complete their assessments.


    Almost the entirety of these fifty to sixty participants were concentrated in the middle region of the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks, with only one figure having already stepped into the upper thirty-three peaks.


    This figure was none other than Ye Chen, who had been steadily climbing upwards; by now, Ye Chen had reached the Sixty-Eighth Floating Peak!


    "Ye Chen has stepped onto the Sixty-Eighth Floating Peak!"


    When Fairy Jia Luo''s indifferent voice spread, all of the young examinees became both excited and anxious.


    "Ye Chen, indeed, just like Yu Luoxuan, is aiming for the great demon at the very top!"


    "Among all of us, only the two of them dare to step foot on the top thirty-three peaks; even Mu Yunlei does not dare to enter the upper thirty-three peaks!"


    "The Sixty-Eighth Peak, ah, there lives a great demon equivalent to a Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse. Yu Luoxuan has already successfully captured such a demon. Can Ye Chen succeed as well?"


    All of them were craning their necks, looking upwards.


    Riding on giant flying beasts in the void, they could faintly make out that figure still climbing upwards; the Sixty-Eighth Floating Peak hadn''t made Ye Chen stop his ascent!


    "The Seventy-Second Floating Peak!"


    "Yu Luoxuan previously captured her great demon on the Seventy-Second Floating Peak, and now Ye Chen has entered the Seventy-Second Floating Peak too!"


    At the sect''s mountain gate square, through the giant light screen, the disciples could clearly see the entire Sky Extreme Cliff''s Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks; when they saw that Ye Chen, just like Yu Luoxuan, had entered the upper Seventy-Second Floating Peak, everyone began shouting excitedly.


    This signified that, at the very least in terms of climbing height, Ye Chen had not lost to Yu Luoxuan!


    Just when people thought Ye Chen would also capture a great demon in this peak, they realized that after roaming about for a short time within the Seventy-Second Floating Peak and startling several great demons into flight, he continued to climb even higher.


    Ye Chen had actually entered the Seventy-Third Floating Peak!


    The climb hadn''t stopped.


    Ye Chen, just as before, surveyed each peak, observing the flying demon beasts and great demons living on different peaks, and then climbed upward again.


    By the time the remaining fifty or sixty examinees had completed their assessments and descended on their captured flying beasts, Ye Chen had already reached the Eighty-Fifth Floating Peak!


    The Eighty-Fifth Floating Peak, thirteen peaks higher than the one Yu Luoxuan climbed!


    "The Eighty-Fifth Floating Peak is home to all mid-level great demons!"


    .


    "Ye Chen has entered the region of mid-level great demons, equivalent to a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse!"


    At this moment, Fairy Jia Luo''s expression also became tense.


    She even unconsciously rose tens of meters higher, watching Ye Chen''s movements above with great concern.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Not only Fairy Jia Luo, but also Jiang Yao, Daoist Wine Sword, and the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, Spirit Sea Realm disciples, and even those true Qi Realm disciples like Yu Luoxuan riding flying demon beasts, all rose dozens of meters higher, looking towards the very top.


    Ye Chen''s entrance into the region of mid-level great demons was indeed a most dangerous area!


    Everyone began to feel both nervous and worried for Ye Chen.


    At this time, Ye Chen, amidst the Eighty-Fifth Floating Peak, saw that the edge of the entire peak had already gathered no less than a hundred extraordinary great demons, whose roaring howls were like thunderous explosions.


    The higher he went, the stronger the demon beasts Ye Chen found, and the more they gathered; the Eighty-Fifth Floating Peak had virtually become a Demon Beast Mountain!

 Chapter 161: Chapter 139: Miraculous Fire Sparrow

    The sky and land were teeming with flying Great Demons; some stood at the edge of the cliffs, while others spread their enormous wings and took to the air from the cliffside.


    Ye Chen glanced at the scene and noticed that on the Eighty-fifth Peak, even the smallest Great Demon was over sixty meters tall, with wings unfurled that measured more than a hundred meters in length. Others were even larger, with wings spread to a staggering one hundred and seventy or eighty meters, with individual feathers dwarfing Ye Chen himself!


    All of these were mid-tier Great Demons!


    The strength of these Great Demons was comparable to a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse. Even many cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm would not dare to set foot here easily, but Ye Chen had now directly entered the midst of these mid-tier Great Demons!


    Just as Ye Chen stepped onto the Eighty-fifth Peak and into this mountain of Demon Beasts, the Great Demons spread across the skies discovered the sudden appearance of Ye Chen.


    To be called Great Demons, their intelligence was on par with humans, and they were exceedingly astute. Seeing Ye Chen barge in, no fewer than ten Great Demons instantly shot towards him in attack, while the others also flapped their wings and roared loudly.


    Ye Chen had similarly been attacked by Demon Beasts and Great Demons on the previous eighty-four Floating Peaks, so when faced with the onrush of ten plus Great Demons, he was not the least bit flustered.


    His body surged with Gang Yuan True Qi, which enveloped him completely.


    The roiling Gang Yuan True Qi even shot up over a hundred meters high, and with the silver Wind-Thunder Wings unfurling behind him, he took to the middle of the sky.


    Although Ye Chen''s stature was incomparable to that of these Great Demons, standing in the void with over a hundred meters of surging silver Gang Yuan True Qi swirling around him made those Great Demons halt their attack mid-assault.


    These highly intelligent Great Demons clearly realized that Ye Chen was not an easy target!


    The Great Demons that stopped their assault merely stared at Ye Chen, watching his every move, but no longer taking the initiative to attack first.


    If Ye Chen did not strike at them, they certainly would not provoke this human who seemed difficult to deal with!


    "As expected, the higher the climb, the greater the intelligence of the Great Demons!"


    Seeing that the flying Great Demons no longer attacked him, Ye Chen gave a faint smile. With a move of his figure, he began to fly around the Eighty-fifth Peak, sizing up the various Great Demons. .


    "An eighty-meter-tall, brownish-yellow giant eagle!"


    "A snow-white feather sculptor over ninety meters tall!"


    "This giant oriole is even more extraordinary, with wings spread that are at least one hundred and seventy-eighty meters long!"


    Under the watchful gaze of countless Great Demons, Ye Chen evaluated them all but ultimately shook his head.


    Having come to the Eighty-fifth Peak, he still had not found the Great Demon he wanted to capture!


    While traveling from the sect''s main gate square to Sky Extreme Cliff on the flying boat, Fairy Jia Luo had once told Ye Chen and the others that this trial of capturing Flying Beasts not only tested the candidates'' combat capabilities but also offered a bonus. The captured Flying Beasts could be used as mounts for those candidates in the future.


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words did not make much of an impact on the other youths. They were still concerned with the difficulty of climbing the Sky-Scaling Vine and the dangers of capturing Flying Beasts, hardly minding what kind of Flying Beast they captured or whether the mount was powerful or not.


    After all, the more powerful the mount, the harder it is to capture, and the more dangerous the capture process!


    But upon hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s words, Ye Chen had made up his mind that, in addition to accomplishing the goal of capturing a Great Demon, he certainly wanted to seize one that he was satisfied with to serve as his mount!


    Even though Ye Chen had cultivated the Wind-Thunder Wings and was capable of Qi Riding Flight, this method of flying through True Qi Skills still did not match the divine powers of Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses who could soar through the skies and traverse the earth with ease.


    Initially, when Ye Chen traveled from Qingyang City to Taixuan Sect, it took him two whole days of flight and considerably drained his True Qi.


    Now that he had the opportunity to capture Great Demons which could even serve as mounts, Ye Chen would certainly not miss out!


    Capturing a powerful Great Demon would save him a lot of True Qi expended in flight, so upon hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s words, he had already resolved to catch a Great Demon that he himself was satisfied with to serve as a mount.


    That was why he climbed unhurriedly upwards, carefully evaluating each layer''s Flying Beasts.


    Unfortunately, up until the Eighty-fifth Peak, Ye Chen still had not found a Great Demon that met his satisfaction.


    "Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks, the higher up, the stronger the Great Demons. Based on my observations of the peaks below, I fear the most powerful high-tier Great Demons are all within the top eleven Floating Peaks."


    "High-ranking Great Demons, with my current strength, it would be somewhat difficult to capture one, and if I were to encounter a group attack from several high-ranking Great Demons, it could be life-threatening!"


    "The higher I climb, the more careful I need to be!"


    "There isn''t much time left in the one-hour examination period. I should climb a few more Floating Peaks. If I can''t find a suitable Great Demon, I''ll have to subdue a mid-ranking Great Demon to complete the assessment!"


    Having made up his mind, Ye Chen''s figure flashed as he flew onto a Sky-Scaling Vine and then left the Eighty-fifth Peak, continuing to ascend.


    "The Eighty-fifth Floating Peak, it''s still not Ye Chen''s target!"


    "Which Floating Peak is he planning to go to? Could it be that he wants to step into the territory of high-ranking Great Demons?"


    Seeing Ye Chen continue to climb upward, many of the onlookers outside the assessment area couldn''t help but exclaim in surprise.


    Amidst their exclamations of surprise, Ye Chen entered the Eighty-sixth Floating Peak.


    "Strange!"


    As soon as he stepped onto the Eighty-sixth Floating Peak, Ye Chen felt very strange. It was too quiet, and he couldn''t see a single trace of any Flying Beasts.


    Climbing up from below, Ye Chen had long noticed that the higher he went, the more numerous and powerful the Demon Beasts were.


    He had never seen a Floating Peak without a single Demon Beast!


    Baffled, Ye Chen flew while covering the Eighty-sixth Floating Peak with his Divine Sense to observe, only to find that after flying over thousands of meters in the area, he didn''t see a single Great Demon.


    Shaking his head, Ye Chen continued to fly upward.


    As a result, the Eighty-seventh Floating Peak was also devoid of any Great Demons!


    This caused Ye Chen to let out an involuntary murmur of surprise.


    "There were more than a hundred Great Demons gathered on the Eighty-fifth Peak, but there''s not even a single one on the Eighty-sixth and Eighty-seventh Peaks!"


    "Why aren''t those Great Demons living on the Eighty-sixth and Eighty-seventh Peaks?"


    Amidst his confusion, Ye Chen officially entered the Eighty-eighth Floating Peak.


    As soon as he stepped on the Eighty-eighth Floating Peak, it was still quiet, but Ye Chen felt an extremely hot breath rushing towards him.


    It''s worth noting that Ye Chen''s Protective True Qi was already extremely powerful at this point, so for him to feel an exceptionally hot breath means it must have been terrifyingly intense.


    When Ye Chen operated his Divine Sense and flew around, sizing up the Eighty-eighth Floating Peak, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.


    After passing two peaks devoid of Great Demons, Ye Chen finally saw a Great Demon again, but on the vast Eighty-eighth Floating Peak, he could only see one Great Demon.


    It was a Great Demon that captured Ye Chen''s gaze so entirely that he could not look away.


    This Great Demon was incredibly awe-inspiring. It was a giant Fire Sparrow measuring over eighty meters in length. With its wings folded, its wingspan was unknown, but each and every one of its feathers shone a fiery red without a single speck of any other color, as beautiful as blazing flames.


    At that moment, the fiery red Fire Sparrow was fast asleep, surrounded by swirls of fiery red light, emitting an exceedingly hot breath.


    Obviously, the breath Ye Chen had previously sensed was emanating from this marvelous Fire Sparrow.


    In the middle of this giant Fire Sparrow''s forehead, there was a black flame-shaped mark, making the entirely red body of the giant Fire Sparrow appear inexplicably wondrous.


    From the aura swirling around the giant Fire Sparrow''s body, Ye Chen could tell that this was an incredibly awe-inspiring mid-ranking Great Demon!


    Upon seeing it, Ye Chen knew that the object he wanted to capture as his mount had finally appeared!

 Chapter 162: Chapter 140: Sudden Change

    "Let''s capture it!"


    "A mid-level Great Demon, the mystical Fire Sparrow!"


    Having set his sights on the target, Ye Chen spread his wind and thunder wings behind him and tread through the air, walking towards the giant Fire Sparrow that was fast asleep.


    With each step he took, he traversed seven to eight meters through the void, and after three or four steps, the distance between him and the slumbering Fire Sparrow was just over twenty meters.


    As he moved, Gang Yuan True Qi burst forth wildly from within Ye Chen''s body, instantly forming a hundred-meter-high towering protective True Qi aura around him.


    Facing the giant Fire Sparrow that dominated the entire 88th Floating Peak, although he sensed that it was only a mid-level Great Demon, Ye Chen wasn''t the least bit careless.


    Whether it was the mystical feeling the Fire Sparrow gave him, or its ability to reign over other mid-level Great Demons, Ye Chen knew that capturing this Fire Sparrow wouldn''t be simple.


    Just as Ye Chen came within ten meters of the giant Fire Sparrow, the clusters of fiery red light around the sleeping bird suddenly burst forth. At the same time, the slumbering Fire Sparrow suddenly awoke, as if sensing something, and opened its eyes to look straight at Ye Chen.


    When it saw the figure of Ye Chen approaching, the giant Fire Sparrow let out a clear cry and began to flit its wings, preparing to take off.


    As the giant Fire Sparrow fully spread its wings and soared into the sky, Ye Chen''s eyes lit up.


    What a beautiful Fire Sparrow!


    The giant Fire Sparrow, with wings unfurled, was an impressive one hundred and thirty meters long, each individual feather resembling a blazing fire, making it look like a giant cluster of flames in flight!


    And its crystal-clear eyes emitted a mystical glow. Together with the black flame pattern on its forehead, it looked even more majestic than when it was asleep.


    The more he looked at the giant Fire Sparrow, the more Ye Chen liked it, his impulse to capture this mystical bird and make it his mount growing uncontrollable!


    "Come, beautiful Fire Sparrow, from now on be my mount and follow me on journeys across the whole Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    Ye Chen walked towards the giant Fire Sparrow with a faint smile.


    "Chirp!"


    The giant Fire Sparrow, as a mid-level Great Demon beast, had intelligence almost akin to humans. Although it was not yet at the level of the Demon Kings in the Rotating Pill Realm, who could speak the human language, it clearly understood Ye Chen''s words!


    Hearing Ye Chen''s intention of making it a mount, the feathers on the Fire Sparrow''s forehead stood on end, clearly showing its extreme annoyance.


    After a piercing cry, it burst into flight, flapping its enormous wings as it swooped down to attack Ye Chen.


    Watching the mystical Fire Sparrow angrily charging at him, Ye Chen merely smiled and countercharged towards the bird.


    To tame this Fire Sparrow as his mount, he needed to subdue it first!


    Only with overwhelming strength could he make the Fire Sparrow willingly accept him as its master!


    Boom!


    In the sky, on one side was Ye Chen with his silvery Gang Yuan True Qi rising tumultuously over a hundred meters high, and on the other was the mystical Fire Sparrow with wings stretched perhaps as long as one hundred and thirty meters.


    A man and a beast locked in a fierce battle high among the clouds.


    "It''s started!"


    "Ye Chen is finally starting to capture the Great Demon in the 88th Floating Peak!"


    "Good heavens, such a majestic Great Demon beast, a giant Fire Sparrow. The beast Ye Chen is trying to capture is even more mystical than the White Eagle that Yu Luoxuan caught before!"


    On the sect plaza, tens of thousands of sect disciples, eyes glued to the gigantic screen, burst into cheers when they saw Ye Chen finally commence his attempt at capturing a Great Demon.


    Ye Chen had made his move, and against such a majestic Great Demon at that, which sent the watching sect disciples into a frenzy of excitement!


    "The 88th Floating Peak!"


    "Ye Chen has finally started to capture a Great Demon as well!"


    "The beast he is trying to capture must be a mid-level Great Demon!"


    In the void within the secret area of Tianji Cliff, the prospective disciples who had completed their assessment, riding on flying Demon Beasts, were also bursting with excitement upon seeing the figure of Ye Chen finally entering into battle up in the sky.


    Meanwhile, Jiang Yao, other Spirit Sea Realm disciples, and Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were intently focused on Ye Chen in the sky above, as well as the giant Fire Sparrow he was battling.


    Everyone''s eyes were on Ye Chen and the giant Fire Sparrow, yet no one noticed that when Fairy Jia Luo and Daoist Wine Sword saw the giant Fire Sparrow, their eyes simultaneously flashed with shock, and when they looked at Ye Chen again, concern was evident on their faces.


    Clearly, they had realized that something was amiss!


    In the sky above, on the 88th Floating Peak, Ye Chen, who fought fiercely with the giant Fire Sparrow, grew increasingly shocked as the battle raged on.


    Ye Chen''s hard cultivation in the Ancient God Tower, coupled with over a month of training after leaving the tower, had made him strong enough to easily handle a mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert. However, in battling this mid-ranking Great Demon Fire Sparrow, he was utterly unable to overpower it. .


    The more he fought, the more Ye Chen realized the formidable power of the Fire Sparrow. In the end, he couldn''t help but resort to his truly powerful techniques.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The moment Ye Chen stopped holding back, hundreds of inverted Swords of True Qi appeared outside his body.


    These Swords of True Qi glinted with dazzling silver light, indeed they were condensed from Ye Chen''s overwhelmingly strong Gang Yuan True Qi at the eleventh level.


    At the same time, the Swords of True Qi thrummed with an immense Sword Intent of slaughter.


    Faced with the powerfully strong Fire Sparrow, Ye Chen drew upon his strongest Sword Intent as well!


    Boom!


    Once the Swords of True Qi were formed, Ye Chen charged with the several hundred Swords of True Qi directly at the giant Fire Sparrow, his intent solely to subdue it in one fell swoop!


    "Slaughter Sword Intent!"


    "It is indeed the second-tier Sword Intent!"


    "This kid Ye Chen, he has truly grasped the second-tier Sword Intent!"


    Daoist Wine Sword, who was watching the battle from below, his eyes brightened upon seeing the Swords of True Qi cascading from Ye Chen.


    Although Ye Chen''s newly revealed technique was a pleasant surprise, the trace of worry in Daoist Wine Sword''s eyes had not vanished.


    Just as Ye Chen charged fiercely toward the giant Fire Sparrow with hundreds of Swords of True Qi filled with Slaughter Intent, the Fire Sparrow in the sky seemed to realize the severity of Ye Chen''s move.


    The giant Fire Sparrow suddenly spread its wings, burst into the sky, and in an instant, managed to evade Ye Chen''s attack.


    At the same time, the erupting, miraculous Fire Sparrow let out an ear-piercing screech!


    This unbearably piercing screech reverberated in all directions!


    Upon hearing this screech, even Ye Chen''s form shook violently, as the True Qi within his body started swirling uncontrollably.


    Moreover, something even more astonishing happened. As the screech echoed out, numerous flying Demon Beasts and Great Demons on the Ninety-Nine Floating Peaks, upon hearing the screech, seemed to be terrified. They fled frantically from those peaks, adding their own frantic screams to the cacophony.


    The Demon Beasts and Great Demons that fled in panic were not only those from the peaks below, like the 66th Floating Peak, but even the Great Demons residing in the top-most thirty-three peaks were disturbed.


    All the Great Demons Ye Chen previously explored on the Eighty-Fifth Floating Peak hurriedly flew out in alarm, and even those in the higher peaks he hadn''t explored¡ªlike the 98th and the 99th Floating Peaks¡ªwere so startled that they took off too!


    These high-ranking Great Demons were actually being frightened into flight by this mid-ranking Great Demon Fire Sparrow, sending them scattering in all directions. This completely astounded Ye Chen, who was witnessing the commotion on the peaks.


    Could it be that this mid-ranking Great Demon Fire Sparrow was even more formidable than the high-ranking ones?!


    Instantly, Ye Chen recalled something. When he previously surveyed the 86th and the 87th Floating Peaks, not a single Great Demon seemed to inhabit those places.


    Could it be that because of fear of the Fire Sparrow on the 88th Floating Peak, no Great Demon dared to inhabit the nearby peaks?!


    Moreover, Ye Chen noticed that not only the 86th and the 87th Floating Peak, but even the high-ranking Great Demons from the highest peaks were frightened into flight, and there was no movement at all on the 89th and the 90th Floating Peaks above the 88th Floating Peak where the giant Fire Sparrow resided.


    Clearly, no Great Demon dared to tread on the 89th and the 90th Floating Peaks either!


    This giant Fire Sparrow was single-handedly dominating the 88th Floating Peak, ensuring that no Great Demon dared to step foot on the two peaks below it and the two peaks above it!


    It had startled high-ranking Great Demons into flight!


    What kind of flying Demon Beast was it?!


    Just as Ye Chen was dumbstruck, the surging, screeching giant Fire Sparrow suddenly underwent a shocking, bizarre transformation.


    The extraordinary giant Fire Sparrow''s forehead, patterned with black fire-like markings, suddenly lit up. As these black fiery markings brightened, in the blink of an eye, the Fire Sparrow''s crimson feathers transformed into a deep blue color, the blue feathers resembling flames ablaze!


    The giant Fire Sparrow''s feathers had instantly changed colors!


    Upon seeing the giant Fire Sparrow''s feathers change color, Daoist Wine Sword and Fairy Jia Luo below, who were looking up at the battle in the sky, had their worried expressions finally give way to full-blown shock.


    Both Rotating Pill Realm experts exclaimed in unison, "Black Inferno Sparrow, it''s the ''Black Inferno Sparrow'' that has completed its mid-stage bloodline awakening!"

 Chapter 163: Chapter 141: Ye Chen Fights the Great Demon

    ```


    The enorous Fire Sparrow burst into the sky, its piercing shrieks shaking all directions!


    Countless demon beasts and Great Demons, even the high-ranking Great Demons at the very top, were driven into a frenzy by the cry of the Fire Sparrow, howling and bellowing in the skies outside the ninety-nine Floating Peaks!


    And the enormous Fire Sparrow, as it soared into the heavens, its feathers suddenly changed from flaming red to a brilliant blue flame!


    This shocking transformation had completely dumbfounded the disciples in the sect who were watching the final practical assessment through the giant light screen on the main square!


    The young examinees riding on flying demon beasts in the void of Sky Extreme Cliff were all gaping with their mouths wide open!


    Even at the very bottom of the ninety-nine Floating Peaks, even though they were very far from the eighty-eighth Floating Peak, the screech of the enormous Fire Sparrow made their True Qi roil and frightened their flying demon beasts into howling and roaring as well.


    They almost fell off their flying demon beasts!


    The simultaneous exclamations from Fairy Jia Luo and Daoist Wine Sword had made their complexions suddenly change.


    They knew that if two Rotating Pill Realm experts were exclaiming in shock, Ye Chen must have faced a great crisis!


    "Dark Nether Sparrow, Master, what is a Dark Nether Sparrow?"


    At that moment, Jiang Yao''s face tensed with concern, and her long hair that hung down to her waist even began to flutter without her control.


    Her eyes turned to Fairy Jia Luo, and she quickly spoke out, worried for Ye Chen''s safety!


    The enormous Fire Sparrow that took to the sky frightened countless Great Demons into frantic flight¡ªa phenomenon that made Jiang Yao sense something wrong. The simultaneous exclamations from her master, Fairy Jia Luo, and Daoist Wine Sword, made Jiang Yao''s heart sink even more drastically.


    If Ye Chen truly faced danger, even if she wasn''t allowed to intervene in the practical assessment, even if Rotating Pill Realm experts tried to stop her, Jiang Yao would rush to his aid, disregarding everything to help Ye Chen fight that Sparrow!


    She simply couldn''t bear to watch Ye Chen facing danger right before her eyes!


    Watching her beloved disciple''s delicate little face etched with worry, ready to fly up into the sky at any moment, Fairy Jia Luo finally spoke, "Yao''er, there are countless hidden bloodlines in the world. You yourself possess the Bloodline Secret Skills; you should know that."


    Hearing of hidden bloodlines, Jiang Yao''s heart raced with panic.


    She was well aware of the power of hidden bloodlines; she had a strange Ice Phoenix bloodline in her own body!


    Just after she had completed the first level of this Ice Phoenix Bloodline Secret Skills, she was able to suppress early-stage Spiritual Sea experts with her True Qi Realm strength. Once she stepped into the Spiritual Sea, she could even dominate mid-stage Spiritual Sea experts.


    In the over four months since she had parted with Ye Chen, she had been in seclusion, finally completing the second level of the painfully understood Ice Phoenix Bloodline Secret Skills after more than three years.


    This completion of training instantly boosted her strength by dozens of times, with gains even greater than when she first completed the first level of Bloodline Secret Skills, endowing her with the power to dominate late-stage Spiritual Sea experts.


    Even after completing the second level of Bloodline Secret Skills, Jiang Yao knew that there was a third and fourth level to her Bloodline Secret Skills!


    The cultivation of the Bloodline Secret Skills had tremendously increased Jiang Yao''s strength, making her deeply aware of the fearsome nature of these skills.


    Now hearing that this Dark Nether Sparrow also had a hidden bloodline, of course Jiang Yao became deeply concerned, extremely worried about Ye Chen who was facing the Dark Nether Sparrow in battle!


    Fairy Jia Luo continued, "The Dark Nether Sparrow is also a kind of Sparrow that possesses a hidden bloodline. Though its bloodline is not considered very powerful compared to your Bloodline Secret Skills, it is extremely formidable for a Great Demon."


    "The Dark Nether Sparrow undergoes three bloodline awakenings in its life. The first, the initial awakening, turns all its feathers to a fiery red and makes it virtually invincible among middle-ranking Great Demons. The second, the intermediate awakening, turns its feathers a deep blue, and its strength soars to an invincible level among high-ranking Great Demons!


    The final awakening, the advanced awakening, will transform it into the ''Dark Nether Sparrow King,'' giving it strength comparable to an early-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert¡ªthe power level of a Demon King!"


    "I never expected that such a sparrow would come to our sect''s Sky Extreme Cliff, and that it would encounter Ye Chen during this practical assessment!"


    "Earlier on, when the Dark Nether Sparrow was still red, I felt something amiss. Little did I know, it truly completed its intermediate bloodline awakening!"


    Boom!


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo caused Jiang Yao''s mind to resound with an explosion.


    An intermediate bloodline awakening Dark Nether Sparrow would see its strength skyrocket to an invincible level among high-ranking Great Demons.


    This directly indicated that Ye Chen was up against the most formidable being among high-ranking Great Demons!


    High-ranking Great Demons are equivalent to late-stage Spiritual Sea experts, and Ye Chen was only at the eleventh level of True Qi. No matter how formidable he was, facing this mutated Dark Nether Sparrow, he was in extreme danger and his life hung by a thread!


    How could Jiang Yao let Ye Chen face such danger alone!


    Boom!


    Instantly, an ice-blue Spiritual Pattern appeared on Jiang Yao''s forehead, and her waist-length hair began to grow wildly, reaching several meters in length and fluttering frantically.


    "Master, I can''t allow Ye Chen to face danger alone!"


    "Don''t stop me!"


    As Jiang Yao spoke, she flew upwards.


    Seeing Jiang Yao''s actions, everyone looked at her in astonishment.


    Then, Fairy Jia Luo moved and intercepted Jiang Yao, "Yao''er, the appearance of this ''Dark Nether Sparrow'' is an accident in this practical assessment. I will not stand by and let Ye Chen be killed by the Dark Nether Sparrow."


    "But now is not the time for us to act. Look, Ye Chen is not fleeing, which means he has the strength to fight against the Dark Nether Sparrow!"


    "If he truly faces danger, there''s no need for you to act¡ªI will save him myself and allow him to continue with the capture tests of other Great Demons!"


    In the calm words of Fairy Jia Luo, there was an absolute confidence.


    ```


    ```


    Don''t mention this Dark Nether Sparrow having completed its mid-stage bloodline awakening, even if it had completed its late-stage bloodline awakening and transformed into the Dark Nether Sparrow King, it still wouldn''t be a match for Fairy Jia Luo.


    "Jiang Yao, you little girl, don''t worry about that kid Ye Chen."


    "Even if Jia Luo doesn''t take action, I will!"


    "I don''t care about the rules of your Tian Xuan Sect!"


    At this moment, the void shimmered, and Daoist Wine Sword suddenly appeared beside Jiang Yao.


    Daoist Wine Sword, a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, was the strongest person present!


    The fact that he spoke out directly like this clearly showed how highly he valued Ye Chen.


    After finishing his speech, Daoist Wine Sword directly turned his gaze to the sky.


    "I''ve always noticed that the kid Ye Chen is still holding back his strength, and I really want to see what he looks like when pushed to his strongest state."


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo and Daoist Wine Sword eased Jiang Yao''s worried heart slightly.


    But the Spiritual Patterns flickering on her forehead and her hair, which was wildly growing longer behind her, did not dissipate at all; she remained ready to leap into action to assist Ye Chen at any moment!


    "Ye Chen, you must not overexert yourself; with just the eleventh layer of True Qi, it''s already impressive that you can deal with middle-rank Great Demons!"


    "You must avoid any mishaps, and if an accident truly is about to occur, even if the master and Elder Wine Sword don''t take action, I will step in!"


    Jiang Yao''s eyes, filled with worry, were fixed on Ye Chen in the sky.


    Below, the movements of Jiang Yao, Fairy Jia Luo, and Daoist Wine Sword went unnoticed by Ye Chen.


    All his focus was on the colossal Fire Sparrow surging upwards.


    When Ye Chen saw that the Fire Sparrow''s fiery red feathers all turned into deep blue flame feathers, and when he sensed the absolutely high-rank Great Demon level terrifying aura emanating from the Fire Sparrow, his expression grew solemn.


    He knew that this capture of a Great Demon had brought him a true challenge!


    This mystical Fire Sparrow was extraordinary indeed, showing such a rare transformation!


    But Ye Chen wasn''t scared into fleeing; even with the Fire Sparrow''s transformation to the strength of a high-rank Great Demon, he still had the ability to cope!


    To subdue this colossal Fire Sparrow!


    The more extraordinary it was, the more he had to find a way to subdue it, to capture it as his mount!


    A fierce will to fight was lit in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Instead of retreating, his eleven Gang Yuan True Qi swirls in his body all vibrated simultaneously, and he surged towards the sky, where the transforming colossal Fire Sparrow, with vast and surging Gang Yuan True Qi flames, was flying.


    As Ye Chen charged, the Fire Sparrow in the sky had completed its transformation, its eyes suddenly bursting out with astonishing brilliance.


    With a clear call, the Fire Sparrow no longer soared upwards but turned around, setting its gaze on Ye Chen.


    When it saw Ye Chen charging towards it, the colossal Fire Sparrow shot out blue flames from every feather on its body, which glowed like blue fire. In an instant, a raging blue flame sea unfurled around the Fire Sparrow''s entire body.


    The colossal Fire Sparrow, surrounded by the roaring blue flame sea, dived down from the sky, aiming a ferocious strike toward Ye Chen, who was surging up to meet it.


    In the sky, the enormous Fire Sparrow''s blue flame sea collided with Ye Chen, accompanied by his outbursting silver Gang Yuan True Qi.


    Blue flames and silver True Qi instantly enveloped the entire sky!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Thunderous True Qi explosion noises echoed through all ninety-nine peaks of Sky Extreme Cliff, once again causing countless Demon Beasts lurking at a distance to scatter in frantic flight.


    In the midst of this thunderous collision, Ye Chen''s figure was slammed backwards hundreds of feet, even spitting out a mouthful of blood in the sky.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Jiang Yao cried out in panic from below; just as she was about to fly upwards, she suddenly caught sight of Ye Chen, who was blown back, abruptly stopping in mid-air, his eyes half-closed, fingers forming a strange spell.


    Then, Jiang Yao, Fairy Jia Luo, Daoist Wine Sword, and countless other spectators witnessed a shocking transformation occurring with Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen, suspended in the air, suddenly emitted endless golden light from his body.


    Amidst this boundless golden light, a hundred-meter-tall Golden Monkey Phantom suddenly appeared around Ye Chen.


    After it appeared, the Golden Monkey Phantom roared towards the sky, a roar that was by no means weaker than the Fire Sparrow''s previous sharp cries!


    Amidst the Golden Monkey Phantom''s skyward roar, Ye Chen''s momentum continued to climb until silver Gang Yuan True Qi swirled around him, intertwined with strands of mystical golden light.


    "Am I finally going to use the third transformation of my newly comprehended Nine Transformation Fighting Body?"


    Ye Chen, hovering in the void, suddenly opened his eyes wide and calmly spoke, gazing at the colossal Fire Sparrow not far away.


    ```

 Chapter 164: Chapter 142: The Sky Collapses and the Earth Cracks

    Ye Chen''s astonishing transforation and surging momentum alerted the giant Fire Sparrow that something was amiss.


    "Chirp!"


    The Fire Sparrow''s glistening eyes fixed on the enormous golden monkey shadow above Ye Chen for an instant before it let out a piercing scream and charged at Ye Chen once more.


    Buzz!


    With a light flap of its wings, endless azure flames poured out of each feather. Then, the Fire Sparrow suddenly tightened its wings, carrying an unmatched flame that burned across dozens of yards and, with the force of a devastating impact, harshly collided with Ye Chen again.


    After the Fire Sparrow''s transformation, its strength exploded to that of a high-level Demon Beast. The gusts it whipped up blew away the air it touched, creating earth-shattering explosions. The fiery waves ignited by its wings turned the explosive gusts into nothingness!


    The entire Fire Sparrow seemed like a fearsome flame dozens of meters long that could split the sky, unstoppable!


    chapter source m vl _emp-y,r


    "Still using that move?"


    "Let''s see if you can still knock me flying and make me spit blood!"


    Seeing the giant Fire Sparrow attack him again, Ye Chen, suspended in the void, had a wild desire to fight shining in his eyes. He didn''t dodge or avoid but instead charged headlong into the oncoming Fire Sparrow.


    With a beat of his silver-colored wind and thunder wings, Ye Chen, carrying the boundless Gang Yuan True Qi mixed with strands of divine golden light and the towering golden monkey phantom, faced the Fire Sparrow like a ferocious beast from the heavens!


    During his fierce charge, Ye Chen himself even left a long trail of silver Gang Yuan True Qi in the void.


    The Fire Sparrow shrieked, its fiery feathers burning as it lunged madly!


    Ye Chen, likewise filled with crazed battle intent, met the attack head-on!


    The two terrifying forces caused the observing youths far below to draw back unconsciously and the Rotating Pill Realm experts to watch with sparkling eyes, unblinking at the madness of both parties.


    Moments later, these two earth-shattering forces collided violently.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The explosive sounds of True Qi reverberated through heaven and earth, and the blast wave instantly surged in all directions from the point of impact. Even the powerful Demon Beasts watching from the skies were flipped over.


    At the same time, the explosion of boundless azure flames and silver Gang Yuan True Qi emitted a blinding light. The radiance was like the sun bursting forth, so bright that people couldn''t keep their eyes open!


    After the blinding light flashed, everyone saw two figures being flung dozens of yards away.


    Indeed, both Ye Chen and the giant Fire Sparrow were sent flying backward in this clash, with Ye Chen, after his incredible transformation, not at a disadvantage and not giving any ground in the direct collision with the transformed Fire Sparrow!


    Unlike human Martial Artists who cultivate True Qi techniques, Demon Beasts rely on their physical strength to fight. The Dark Nether Sparrow, after its fiery red feathers turned azure, had an unimaginable brute force.


    But in this head-on confrontation with Ye Chen, the Dark Nether Sparrow did not gain any advantage!


    This sight had all the Sect Disciples watching from the mountain gate plaza and the young assessors below Sky Extreme Cliff shouting excitedly.


    Ye Chen could actually fight the transformed Fire Sparrow on equal footing!


    As everyone cheered, the Fire Sparrow, as if refusing to admit defeat, rocketed up dozens of meters and, with towering azure flames, charged at Ye Chen for the third time.


    Even the soft fluff under its fiery feathers was emitting fierce flames!


    "Come on!"


    "Let''s settle this!"


    Ye Chen too had already launched himself forward, hurtling towards the swooping Fire Sparrow!


    This time, the towering golden monkey phantom around Ye Chen burst into furious flames, and Ye Chen''s momentum continued to soar!


    In the second transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, the most powerful move was the fusion of the golden monkey phantom within, combining strength, while in the third transformation, it was the burning of the golden monkey phantom¡ªcombustion of strength!


    Combustion of strength was even more terrifying than combining strength. It would keep increasing during the relentless battle until the entire golden monkey phantom burned out completely!


    It could even boost strength by ten or a hundred times!


    Although Ye Chen didn''t have innate bloodlines like the giant Fire Sparrow, he cultivated the Jindi Ancient Clan''s bone-pattern secret transmission of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body. A clan famous for its strength-based combat, the Jindi Ancient Clan was certainly not weaker than the Dark Nether Sparrow in terms of strength.


    Having cultivated to the third transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, coupled with the formidable Gang Yuan True Qi, even if the Dark Nether Sparrow transformed into a high-level Demon Beast in strength, Ye Chen dared to confront it head-on!


    ```


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The two great powers collided for the third time, and even after just separating, the Fire Sparrow''s flames soared, and Ye Chen''s Golden Monkey phantom burned, as they continuously clashed again!


    Such terrifying direct combat, like two ferocious beasts from the heavens fighting head-on, left all spectators with their mouths agape.


    Everyone saw that in the repeated clashes, the battlefield between the Fire Sparrow and Ye Chen was sometimes in the void of the sky, and sometimes atop floating peaks.


    With each clash, the massive shockwaves exploded in the sky, making it seem as if it was about to collapse!


    The enormous shockwaves landed on the floating peaks, causing them to crack and tumble, sending rocks flying wildly!


    This was a battle of strength!


    This was a battle like the rending of heaven and earth!


    All the sect disciples watching the fight were completely stunned.


    No one had thought that in the True Qi Realm level selection for true disciples, they would witness such a powerful battle, such a frenzied fight.


    Such a battle was feared to be on par with that of Spirit Sea Realm late-stage powerhouses!


    Even Yu Luoxuan, the prodigious young girl second only to Ye Chen in the selection for true disciples, had a look of disbelief.


    She finally understood Ye Chen''s true strength.


    It was a strength she currently couldn''t even come close to achieving.


    "Powerful!"


    "Too powerful!"


    "Even if he can''t ultimately subdue the Fire Sparrow, Ye Chen still deserves to be ranked first in this selection for true disciples!"


    Countless True Qi Realm youths, looking at Ye Chen battling the Fire Sparrow, not losing ground at all, showing no fear whatsoever, revealed a look of utmost admiration in their eyes.


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, martial arts reign supreme!


    Ye Chen''s formidable strength had already become the goal pursued by countless True Qi Realm youths.


    At this selection event for true disciples, the earth-shattering scene of Ye Chen fighting the Fire Sparrow Demon Beast, they would never forget!


    In the void of Sky Extreme Cliff.


    Watching one floating peak after another collapse and break apart in this earth-shattering battle, watching the sky being burnt by endless true qi flames, Daoist Wine Sword, a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, had a gleam in his eyes.


    "He has cultivated Sword Intents to the second level!"


    "Even his physical strength is so immense!"


    "This young man Ye Chen is truly a miracle genius, a real invincible master of the True Qi Realm!"


    "At just the True Qi Realm, he is already this strong. If he steps into the Spirit Sea Realm, he could probably sweep through everyone in the Spirit Sea with ease!"


    "If he hadn''t already participated in this Supreme True Inheritance contest, I would already be unable to restrain myself from taking him as my only personal disciple!"


    At this moment, both Jiang Yao and Fairy Jia Luo wore looks of tremendous surprise.


    Previously, they had been worried about Ye Chen and were prepared to intervene and help him against the Dark Nether Sparrow, but to their astonishment, Ye Chen actually had the strength to face the Dark Nether Sparrow head-on!


    In the sky.


    The head-on confrontation between Ye Chen and the Fire Sparrow, from fighting in the sky to the earth, had already lasted for more than forty clashes.


    Under the surging and immense true qi bombardment from both parties, under their astonishing flames, the ninety-nine floating peaks of Sky Extreme Cliff, especially the peaks at the very top, were in complete disarray.


    They were either covered with flying debris, bombarded with large craters, or some peaks had even collapsed by more than half!


    Above the floating peaks, there were combat scars tens of meters long everywhere!


    In their forty-ninth clash, with a ferocious roar, Ye Chen''s enormous Golden Monkey phantom fiercely burned and bellowed, and Ye Chen actually flipped over and mounted the back of the massive Fire Sparrow.


    Ye Chen began the true capture and taming of the massive Fire Sparrow!


    ```

 Chapter 165: Chapter 143: Convincing

    "Chirp!"


    Riding on Ye Chen''s back, the colossal Fire Sparrow let out a piercing screech!


    As an extremely powerful presence among Great Demons, it possessed the innate pride of the Dark Nether Sparrow clan. It would drive away other Great Demons that came close!


    It had single-handedly taken over the eighty-eighth Floating Peak. Not even the demon beasts of the four surrounding peaks dared set foot there.


    Now, this little human youth had actually mounted its back, seeking to capture and subjugate it. How could the giant Fire Sparrow be willing?


    Amidst the ear-piercing screech, the entire back of the colossal Fire Sparrow, feathers and all, blazed with endless azure flames, seeking to burn Ye Chen upon its back to ashes!


    "If I''m not afraid of a direct confrontation, why would I fear this flame?"


    Mounted on the colossal Fire Sparrow''s back and looking at the giant feathers¡ªlarger than his entire body¡ªfrom which rose the endless azure flames, the silver Gang Yuan True Qi around Ye Chen furiously swirled, blocking all the flames.


    The flames ineffective, the giant Fire Sparrow screeched even more fiercely, rolling in an attempt to shake Ye Chen off.


    At this moment, Ye Chen riding on the back of the great Fire Sparrow, grabbed fiercely with his hands, his massive Gang Yuan True Qi binding him tightly to the Sparrow''s back, like a feather that regardless of how the Fire Sparrow shook, could not be cast off.


    "Chirp! Chirp!"


    Unable to burn or shake him off, the tiny human youth on its back had driven the colossal Fire Sparrow into a frenzy.


    In the midst of its shrill screeches, with Ye Chen on its back, it turned around and charged crazily towards the eighty-ninth Floating Peak¡ªit wanted to crush Ye Chen against it!


    Boom!


    The collision shattered a good half of the eighty-ninth Floating Peak. The shock of the impact not only made Ye Chen''s breath surge, but even the Fire Sparrow itself bled from the blow.


    Yet the Fire Sparrow, heedless of its bleeding, continued to ram into the peaks over and over again.


    It seemed determined to shake Ye Chen off its back, even at the cost of injury.


    The massive Fire Sparrow had become truly frenzied!


    After completely demolishing the eighty-ninth Floating Peak, the screeching colossal Fire Sparrow charged towards the ninetieth Floating Peak.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the endless collisions, even with the protection of Gang Yuan True Qi and his boundless strength surging, blood seeped from the corners of Ye Chen''s mouth and body as he rode on the Fire Sparrow''s back.


    But Ye Chen''s eyes blazed with an unwavering conviction he would not be thrown off by this giant Fire Sparrow, no matter what.


    To truly subdue this flying Great Demon, it had to be utterly dominated, made to willingly become his mount!


    Blood seeped from the corners of Ye Chen''s mouth and body, and countless drops of blood also emerged from the feathers of the colossal Fire Sparrow.


    After demolishing the ninetieth Floating Peak as well, both Ye Chen and the colossal Fire Sparrow were covered in bloodstains!


    This terrifying sight had everyone watching with bated breath.


    They had not expected the colossal Fire Sparrow to refuse to submit under such circumstances, displaying such astonishing pride!


    Nor had they anticipated Ye Chen''s willpower to be even more steadfast than that of the colossal Fire Sparrow. Regardless of the Fire Sparrow''s frenzied ramming, he remained on its back, as steady as a boulder, not budging in the slightest!


    It was clear that the two were engaged in a true contest of wills, and whether or not Ye Chen would successfully capture the colossal Fire Sparrow was about to be determined!


    After demolishing seven Floating Peaks in succession, the bloodstained colossal Fire Sparrow, failing to shake off Ye Chen, suddenly dove into the midst of the myriad of flying demon beasts and Great Demons watching from afar, with a series of piercing screeches!


    It was trying to drag Ye Chen into the chaotic fray of Great Demons!


    Seeing the colossal Fire Sparrow dive towards them, the myriad demon beasts and Great Demons panicked and began to fly around crazily¡ªthe entire sky became completely obscured by the wings of Great Demons.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With its talons sharp as hooks, the colossal Fire Sparrow grabbed a twelfth-tier flying demon beast and, with a single tear, ripped the eighty-meter-long creature to shreds!


    Amid the carnage, countless demon beasts and Great Demons howled!


    Dozens of Great Demons, bloodied by the colossal Fire Sparrow''s attacks, charged towards it and towards Ye Chen on its back.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    At that moment, Ye Chen''s hands tightly clutched the colossal Fire Sparrow, and simultaneously, hundreds of Sword of True Qi blades formed around him.


    These Swords of True Qi were shrouded in a murderous intent. Any demon beast or Great Demon that attacked was either slain or wounded by them!


    In the end, amidst the rain of blood and flesh, Ye Chen and the colossal Fire Sparrow burst into the throng of demon beasts and Great Demons, they slaughtered over twenty demon beasts and severely wounded more than a dozen Great Demons!


    The remaining demon beasts and Great Demons, terrified by the Fire Sparrow and Ye Chen, dared not stay in the sky any longer and fled into the distance with cries of alarm!


    After diving into the swarm and still being unable to deal with Ye Chen, the chaotic Fire Sparrow, its eyes sharp as lightning, locked onto those below on the flying demon beasts and the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses standing in the void.


    It charged towards these people, regardless of the consequences.


    The earlier spectacle of the colossal Fire Sparrow tearing apart the demon beasts and Great Demons had completely stunned the disciples below and the demon beasts they rode on.


    Now, seeing the colossal Fire Sparrow having killed myriad flying demon beasts before attacking them, many of the disciples screamed in terror.


    "Hmph!"


    But at that moment, Daoist Wine Sword gave a cold snort.


    He picked up the large wine gourd behind him and took a swig, then opened his mouth to spray, and the mouthful of wine flew out, forming a huge barrier hundreds of yards in diameter that enveloped all the spectators within it.


    Just as the huge light screen formed, the gigantic Fire Sparrow, carrying Ye Chen, struck in front of the crowd.


    Boom!


    In an instant, the gigantic Fire Sparrow collided with the huge barrier.


    Even Floating Peak, which could be shattered by an impact, did not cause this barrier any harm; when the Fire Sparrow collided with it, it was repelled and flew backward, its majestic head feeling somewhat dizzy.


    It finally realized that below were even more formidable and daunting people!


    The tumbling Fire Sparrow once again charged towards the sky.


    "Many thanks, Daoist Wine Sword, for your intervention!"


    Daoist Wine Sword, truly a powerhouse in the later stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, managed to stop the rampaging Fire Sparrow with just a gulp of wine, causing the disciples taking the exam to look at him in amazement.


    Fairy Jia Luo, as the host of the exam, also smiled and addressed Daoist Wine Sword.


    Even if Daoist Wine Sword had not intervened, she would have acted, but she certainly appreciated his kind gesture.


    Daoist Wine Sword waved his hand at Fairy Jia Luo with a smile: "This ''Dark Nether Sparrow'' has quite a determined nature, still not willing to submit in such a situation!"


    "However, the more a spirit pet initially refuses to submit, the more reliant it becomes on its master after acknowledging one. This lad Ye Chen, if he truly subdues this Dark Nether Sparrow, he will indeed have a fine mount!"


    Daoist Wine Sword said, continuing to look up into the sky.


    "I fear this Dark Nether Sparrow cannot escape Ye Chen''s grasp," Fairy Jia Luo said with a smile, then also looked up into the sky.


    While everyone watched in anticipation, the berserk Fire Sparrow once again soared through the sky.


    By then, it was completely at a loss with Ye Chen!


    It couldn''t burn him with fire, couldn''t shake him off, and even when it collided with Floating Peak, causing its own blood to surge, Ye Chen still didn''t fall from its back.


    It plunged into the midst of the Demon Beast Great Demons, tore through a sky full of Demon Beasts, provoked numerous attacks from the Great Demons, and still couldn''t do anything about the human youth.


    In the heart of the Fire Sparrow, there was a mix of admiration and anger towards this tiny human youth!


    The admiration was because it had never seen such a powerful youth before!


    The anger was because this youth insisted on making it his mount!


    The Fire Sparrow, being an intelligent Great Demon, didn''t know what to do.


    Submit? Its pride still made it unwilling to submit just like that.


    At that moment, Ye Chen, who had been riding on the back of the Fire Sparrow whilst it rolled and collided furiously without moving an inch, finally made his move.


    Ye Chen knew that the will of the Fire Sparrow was at its weakest right now.


    The time to capture this Fire Sparrow was now!


    Boom!


    Just as the gigantic Fire Sparrow was at a loss with Ye Chen, screeching shrilly, Ye Chen, who was on its back, had the huge golden monkey phantom surrounding his body suddenly burst into flames.


    In an instant, all the golden monkey phantoms were consumed by fire, transforming into a source of power.


    This was the display of the full release of the third transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s combat power!


    Ye Chen, with all his golden monkey phantom''s power burning, felt the golden monkey spiritual patterns within the bones of his body emanating light. His hand, grasping the back of the gigantic Fire Sparrow, suddenly exploded with astonishing strength. m vl emp yr exclusive


    This power, shining with golden light, passed through Ye Chen''s palm and instantaneously spread to every part of the Fire Sparrow''s body.


    In the end, every single blue feather on the Fire Sparrow glinted with the golden light.


    The power contained within the golden glow was something the Fire Sparrow could clearly sense, and it even felt like if it did not submit, the golden power would surge through its feathers and completely shatter its body!


    For the first time, this terrifying power caused the Fire Sparrow to tremble.


    The Fire Sparrow, which was close to a sentient being, knew that it could not contend with this small human youth anymore.


    It had no choice but to submit.


    The Fire Sparrow let out a low cry, and with its cries, all its blue feathers once again transformed into the fiery red ones it had before.


    It had withdrawn its bloodline ability, and at the same time, it bowed its head.


    Submission.


    This signified that the proud and immense Fire Sparrow had finally admitted defeat and submitted, after the astonishing battle and intense suppression from Ye Chen.


    Hearing the low cry of the Fire Sparrow, Ye Chen on its back cracked a slight smile, shifted his form, and flew down to the front of the Fire Sparrow''s head.


    He reached out to stroke the head of the gigantic Fire Sparrow.


    This time, the Fire Sparrow did not go berserk, nor did it attack Ye Chen.


    It opened its bright eyes, earnestly sizing up the youth in front of it who turned out to be even more powerful than itself.

 Chapter 166: Chapter 144: Huge Change in the Spirit Ranking

    The scene unfolding in the sky left everyone watching outside the arena utterly shocked.


    The majestic Fire Sparrow, with its wings unfolded to a staggering length of over 130 meters, its feathers resembling flames, lowered its proud head before a tiny human boy, who was not even as tall as one of its feathers.


    This image struck deeply into the hearts of all onlookers!


    Then, screams and cheers swept across the entire mountain gate plaza and the viewing area below Sky Extreme Cliff in an instant.


    "My God!"


    "He did it, Ye Chen really did it!"


    "This formidable Great Demon, a huge Fire Sparrow with the strength of a high-ranking Great Demon, was actually subdued by Ye Chen!"


    "Incredible, it''s just too incredible! Could it be that Ye Chen''s strength is now comparable to a late-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert?! And he''s only fifteen years old, at the eleventh level of True Qi!"


    "In the first round at the Strength-Testing Giant Rock, Ye Chen activated all the strength patterns and completely shattered the rock! In the second round with the Purple Lightning Pearl''s speed of movement technique assessment, Ye Chen once again created the miracle of being hit only fifteen times!


    In the third and fourth rounds of the practical examination, his performance was still so exceptional, still surpassing everyone else!"


    "Climbing to the eighty-eighth Floating Peak and subduing the high-ranking Great Demon Fire Sparrow, in this selection for true disciples, Ye Chen has utterly created a miracle, surpassing even Yu Luoxuan, who was the most favored to win!"


    "Ye Chen, is the undisputed number one!"


    The entire mountain gate plaza, with tens of thousands of spectators, whether they were disciples of the Taixuan Sect in the True Qi Realm or disciples from other sects, were all cheering and screaming wildly.


    The true disciple competition they witnessed was simply too thrilling!


    Ye Chen''s performance throughout the four rounds of assessment echoed continuously in their minds.


    Especially the scene where Ye Chen spread his wings to rescue the falling boy and his last battle with the Great Demon Fire Sparrow were deeply ingrained in their minds, unforgettable for a long time.


    The disciples in the mountain gate plaza, watching the practical examination through the giant light screen, were extremely excited and screaming incessantly, not to mention those below Sky Extreme Cliff who witnessed Ye Chen''s performance firsthand.


    Looking at the traces of the great battle still lingering in the sky, at the peaks of the Floating Peaks that had been shattered and collapsed, and seeing the huge Fire Sparrow lowering its head in front of Ye Chen, all the young competitors knew the Taixuan Sect had acquired an extraordinary youth!


    This Ye Chen, who had exceptionally participated in the selection for true disciples, definitely had the strength to become a part of the grand Taixuan Sect!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Seeing Ye Chen subduing the huge Fire Sparrow, Jiang Yao could no longer hold back; her figure moved, and she flew towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked at the beautiful girl flying towards him, then at the Great Demon Fire Sparrow by his side, and finally, he raised his head to look at the entire Taixuan Sect.


    The four rounds of assessments, with his successful capture of the huge Fire Sparrow, had finally come to an end.


    The selection for true disciples had finally concluded!


    He could finally enter the six-rank great Taixuan Sect and become one of its true disciples! He had at last fulfilled the agreement he made with Fairy Jia Luo in Taixuan!


    When Ye Chen, accompanied by Jiang Yao and the huge Fire Sparrow, descended from the sky, the entire area of Sky Extreme Cliff erupted into fervor!


    All the people crowded around Ye Chen.


    Amid the crowd, Fairy Jia Luo said with a smile, "The assessment for Ye Chen is over, and so is the assessment for everyone else!"


    "Now, let''s announce the results of all four rounds of the assessment!"


    Whoosh!


    Fairy Jia Luo''s finger lightly tapped.


    A giant light screen emerged, displaying the final assessment scores for all the young competitors.


    Among the more than nine hundred competitors, Ye Chen, with his shattering of the Strength-Testing Giant Rock, being hit only fifteen times by the Purple Lightning Pearl, climbing to the eighty-eighth Floating Peak, and subduing the high-ranking Great Demon Fire Sparrow, had performed the best in all four rounds, amassing a total assessment score of eleven thousand one hundred and eighty-sixty-five points, firmly seated in first place!


    ...


    "The selection for true disciples has concluded after all four rounds!"


    "Ye Chen, with a total assessment score of eleven thousand one hundred and eighty-sixty-five points, ranked first!"


    "Yu Luoxuan, with a total assessment score of three thousand nine hundred and ninety-seven points, ranked second!"


    "Mu Yunlei, with a total assessment score of two thousand eight hundred and thirty-eight points, ranked third!"


    "And then there''s He Lang in fourth place, Shen Quan in fifth..."


    As Fairy Jia Luo activated the giant light screen at Sky Extreme Cliff, a similar giant light screen at the mountain gate plaza also displayed the scores for all the competitors.


    Everyone looked up at the cumulative assessment results after the conclusion of all four rounds.


    When they saw that Ye Chen''s total assessment score was even higher than the combined scores of those ranked second and third, Yu Luoxuan and Mu Yunlei, all the disciples who had been excited about Ye Chen''s capture of the Great Demon Fire Sparrow began to cheer joyfully!


    They knew that, with the end of the Taixuan Sect''s true disciple selection event, Ye Chen''s name would certainly spread throughout the entire Taixuan Sect, the Eastern Domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and even the whole Heavenly Wind Kingdom, just as Jiang Yao did when she triumphed in the same event previously!


    ...


    The most secretive and powerful place in the Taixuan Sect is the Inner Peak, where true disciples and elders reside.


    In each Inner Peak, there is a huge mountain wall.


    At the top of these walls, four big characters are written ¡ª True Transmission Rankings!


    Beneath the words "True Transmission Rankings," a set of golden characters that change periodically is displayed. These characters are precisely three hundred lines worth!


    This is the place that the true transmission disciples of the Inner Peak pay the most attention to!


    The Elite Disciple Rankings is the list that records the rankings of true transmission disciples, and only the names of the three hundred most powerful true transmission disciples of the entire Taixuan Sect can be recorded on it.


    .


    The rankings on the Elite Disciple Rankings are determined by true transmission points, which can be obtained by completing sect trials, sect tasks, or sect assessments.


    The more true transmission points one has, the stronger they are considered to be and the more resources they can obtain within the Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect.


    All true transmission disciples who enter the Inner Peak are constantly challenging the rankings of the Elite Disciple Rankings, ever striving to improve their strength.


    Just as the final results of the Taixuan Sect true transmission disciple selection competition were set, countless disciples who were meditating beneath the "Elite Disciple Rankings" board suddenly noticed the entire board begin to shine brightly.


    On the Elite Disciple Rankings, the rankings change frequently, and when they do, the golden characters only flutter and change.


    Unless someone newly enters the top thirty on the Elite Disciple Rankings, such a grand radiance would not occur.


    Upon seeing the grand radiance emerge from the Elite Disciple Rankings, all the true transmission disciples near the rankings board looked toward it in astonishment.


    "The rankings are changing!"


    "Could it be that someone has newly entered the top thirty?"


    "Which true transmission disciple has made a great breakthrough?"


    Those who can enter the top thirty of the Elite Disciple Rankings are invariably the prominent figures of each peak, either possess immense strength in the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, or are extraordinary talents capable of contending with the late stages of the Spirit Sea!


    Seeing such grand radiance on the Elite Disciple Rankings, everyone looked toward the line of characters highlighted by the light.


    When they saw that the line of characters in the twenty-eighth position read "Ye Chen, true transmission points eleven thousand eight hundred sixty-five," all the true transmission disciples looked at each other in dismay.


    Ye Chen?


    How come no one has ever seen this name on the Elite Disciple Rankings before? Has anyone ever heard of such a true transmission disciple in the Taixuan Sect?


    In the past, those who were able to enter the top thirty on the Elite Disciple Rankings were strong contenders who often lingered around the forties and fifties, making a breakthrough and shooting into the top thirty.


    Their names were well known among the true transmission disciples.


    It is quite rare for someone to enter the Elite Disciple Rankings and shoot into the top thirty immediately.


    Now, these sudden characters "Ye Chen" had taken all the true transmissions by surprise.


    Could it be, this is a new true transmission disciple who directly entered the top thirty on the Elite Disciple Rankings?


    While all true transmission disciples within the Inner Peak were astonished, lights of escape from various peaks flew in, and then, a message spread throughout the Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect: The true transmission disciple selection competition had ended, and the first place was a young man named Ye Chen!


    When they heard this news and looked back at the Elite Disciple Rankings, all true transmission disciples of the Taixuan Sect were completely dumbfounded.


    This Ye Chen, was he the young man who has just finished the true transmission disciple selection competition? Just became a true transmission disciple?


    He just became a true transmission disciple and was able to enter the top thirty of the Elite Disciple Rankings?


    What kind of prodigy was this?!


    You should know that those who monopolize the top thirty of the Elite Disciple Rankings are none other than true transmission disciples who have practiced arduously for many years, with a majority being in the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Those who participate in the true transmission disciple selection competition are all disciples of the True Qi Realm; how could they possibly enter the top thirty of the rankings?


    No one could believe it.


    At this moment, a true transmission disciple murmured, "In the true transmission disciple selection competition, the final assessment score can indeed be converted into true transmission points, allowing new true transmission disciples to enter the Inner Peak to exchange for cultivation resources."


    "Could it be that this Ye Chen has earned more than ten thousand assessment score points in the true transmission disciple selection competition?!"


    "How is that possible! Even in the previous dozens of competitions, the assessment score points obtained for first place were only around four or five thousand at most. Even when Sister Jiang Yao from Snowdrift Peak won the competition with her amazing talent and set the record for the highest assessment score points, it was only over seven thousand points!"


    "How could Ye Chen possibly have obtained more than ten thousand assessment score points?"


    All true transmission disciples couldn''t believe it.


    Yet as more messages continuously arrived at the Inner Peak, the incredulous true transmission disciples suddenly heard news that Ye Chen, the first-place winner of the true transmission disciple selection competition, even dominated a high-ranking Great Demon in the final practical assessment and directly earned ten thousand assessment score points!


    This news left all true transmissions under the Elite Disciple Rankings speechless for a long time.


    They looked at the Elite Disciple Rankings again.


    As Ye Chen''s name entered into the Elite Disciple Rankings, claiming the twenty-eighth spot, he pushed down the ranking of everyone below him by one.


    At the very top, third in the rankings on the Elite Disciple Rankings was none other than Jiang Yao, who was only seventeen years old, still in the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    And in the first position was a name called "Jin Lieyang," and next to Jin Lieyang''s name were the four astonishing words "Half-Step Rotating Pill."


    ...


    Ye Chen had no idea about the changes in the Elite Disciple Rankings of the Inner Peak.


    At that moment, he was completely surrounded by various Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses.


    Apart from Fairy Jia Luo, the other peak masters began introducing their Inner Peaks to Ye Chen.


    Since Ye Chen won first place in the true transmission disciple selection competition and earned the right to independently choose his training peak, these Inner Peak masters naturally wanted to attract this unprecedented genius to their own peak.


    While all the peak masters were promising Ye Chen various cultivation resources, he turned to look at Jiang Yao, and then at Fairy Jia Luo, and said with a smile, "I would like to join ''Snowdrift Peak''!"

 Chapter 167: Chapter 145: Invitation from Daoist Wine Sword

    ```


    "Snowdrift Peak?"


    "Haha, Ye Chen, you don''t know about the rules of Snowdrift Peak, do you? Snowdrift Peak isn''t suitable for you!"


    Ye Chen''s words made all the peak masters burst into laughter.


    The rules of Snowdrift Peak? Not suitable for me?


    Ye Chen was somewhat bewildered by the laughter of these peak masters.


    "Ye Chen, you might not know this, but Snowdrift Peak is the only one among the eight Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect that accepts only female disciples and never male disciples."


    "Even if you''re very impressive, Yu Luoxuan can join Snowdrift Peak, but you cannot."


    One of the peak masters said to Ye Chen.


    Only female disciples?


    Ye Chen glanced at Fairy Jia Luo and Jiang Yao. Fairy Jia Luo was looking at him with a calm, gentle smile, while Jiang Yao gave Ye Chen a slight nod.


    From Jiang Yao''s expression, it seemed that Snowdrift Peak indeed had a rule of only accepting female disciples.


    Ye Chen had joined the Taixuan Sect with the hope of cultivating alongside Jiang Yao.


    The rules of Snowdrift Peak meant that he, unfortunately, could not join Snowdrift Peak. Ye Chen reluctantly turned to look at the other seven peak masters.


    Seeing the look in Ye Chen''s eyes, all seven peak masters'' faces brightened, ready to persuade Ye Chen to join them, when suddenly, Fairy Jia Luo, who had been smiling quietly all this time, suddenly spoke.


    "Fellow brothers, no need to rush."


    "Indeed, ''Snowdrift Peak'' has never accepted male disciples in the past. However, now, facing a genius like Ye Chen, how could I possibly miss out?"


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo stunned the other seven peak masters.


    All hearts skipped a beat. Was Jia Luo planning to snatch Ye Chen too?


    Then, Fairy Jia Luo said to Ye Chen with a smile, "Ye Chen, your performance this time far exceeded my initial expectations. As a special reward, I agree to let you join my Snowdrift Peak!"


    "Really, Master?" Before Ye Chen could speak, Jiang Yao''s delicate face showed an expression of disbelief, which soon turned into great surprise.


    As a young girl, of course, she wished to cultivate on the same peak as Ye Chen, and now that her master was truly willing to make an exception for Ye Chen to join Snowdrift Peak, she was overjoyed.


    "Of course, it''s true." Fairy Jia Luo looked at her overjoyed disciple with affection before turning to Ye Chen, "However, Ye Chen, if you join my Snowdrift Peak, you must bring honor to us. Although Snowdrift Peak has only had female disciples in the past, our strength is in no way inferior to other peaks. If you come, do not hold back Snowdrift Peak."


    Even though he knew Fairy Jia Luo was teasing him, Ye Chen still earnestly replied, "Thank you, Elder Jia Luo, for making an exception to accept me. I will certainly bring honor to Snowdrift Peak!"


    Ye Chen and Fairy Jia Luo, one wanting to join Snowdrift Peak and the other willing to accept, made the selection of the number one place in the True Disciple Selection Tournament a foregone conclusion.


    The other peak masters, having had Ye Chen snatched away by Jia Luo''s interjection, could only smile wryly and shake their heads before turning their attention to the other young practitioners.


    The top ten of the True Disciple Selection Tournament were able to choose their cultivating peak. After Ye Chen chose Snowdrift Peak, it was time for the others to make their choices.


    As expected, just as Yu Luoxuan said before, she too chose Snowdrift Peak.


    The third-place, Mu Yunlei, chose to join Jinyang Peak.


    The others also made their choices among the cultivating peaks.


    Once the top ten had finished choosing their Inner Peaks, it was time for the peak masters to pick the disciples they liked.


    In the end, the eight peak masters selected among the nine hundred or so participating youths; some chose fourteen or fifteen individuals, while others, like Snowdrift Peak, chose seven or eight. Altogether, the eight Inner Peaks, with the top ten included, took in just over ninety new True Disciples.


    .


    Aside from these ninety-plus new True Disciples, the other participating youths had no choice but to continue their cultivation in the Outer Sect.


    They would only get another chance to enter an Inner Peak if they broke through to the Spirit Sea Realm.


    After all the True Disciples had made their choices, Fairy Jia Luo brought out the rewards for the top ten.


    Ultimately, those ranked fifth to tenth each received a lower-grade Quintessence Seed, those from second to fourth each received a mid-grade Quintessence Seed, and Ye Chen was awarded a top-grade Quintessence Seed.


    Ye Chen looked at the tiny green seed, the size of a malt kernel, inside an exquisite little box.


    This was a top-grade Quintessence Seed, capable of boosting the success rate of a True Qi Realm disciple''s breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm by fifty percent.


    Ye Chen, already in possession of an even more miraculous Creation Pellet, did not intend to use this less reliable top-grade Quintessence Seed. He decided to keep the seed, which would drive countless True Qi Realm disciples to frenzy.


    As the True Disciple selection and reward distribution came to an end, the Taixuan Sect''s triennial True Disciple Selection Tournament was finally over.


    The disqualified practitioner candidates were escorted out of Sky Extreme Cliff, returning to the Outer Sect.


    The giant screen on the square also gradually dissipated, and all the sect disciples who had come to watch the tournament slowly left the square.


    But everyone who left was still talking about this True Disciple Selection Tournament, still discussing Ye Chen''s miraculous performance!


    As those Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses from the external sect and their Spirit Sea Realm disciples were leaving one after another, Daoist Wine Sword, who had yet to depart, suddenly approached Ye Chen.


    He looked at Ye Chen, smiling and said, "Young Ye Chen, you''ve performed remarkably well, you''ve really amazed this old man!"


    "Elder Wine Sword."


    Ye Chen looked at Daoist Wine Sword, who had come up to him, not knowing why this powerful late-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert suddenly approached him.


    Fairy Jia Luo and the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses also turned their gaze to Daoist Wine Sword.


    At that moment, Daoist Wine Sword took his wine gourd and sword from his back into his hands, took a big swig of wine, let out a satisfied sigh, and then holding the sword in his hand, he looked at Ye Chen, "My Daoist name is ''Wine Sword''. Wine dispels my sorrows, and my sword cuts through my worries. You must have realized by now that I am a Sword Cultivator."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    ```


    ```


    Jiang Yao had already told him earlier that Daoist Wine Sword''s mastery of swordsmanship was incomparably fierce.


    "This time I came to the Taixuan Sect, partly to compare sword techniques with Jia Luo and partly to take the opportunity to see if there are any promising talents in the sect."


    Daoist Wine Sword looked at Fairy Jia Luo, then turned to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, in eight months'' time, it will be the day of the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament. Are you willing to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament?"


    The Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament!


    The words of Daoist Wine Sword sent a shock through Ye Chen''s heart.


    Back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, when he and Jiang Yao were climbing Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, he had heard of the Swordfighting Tournament at the Ten Thousand Swords Stele left by Heavenly Saint Lian Yue and Heavenly Saint Qian Ji.


    Ye Chen knew that the Swordfighting Tournament was a grand event for sword cultivators, divided according to the True Qi Realm, it was separated into four major tournaments: the True Qi Realm, the Spirit Sea Realm, the Rotating Pill Realm, and the Heavenly Saint Realm Swordfighting Tournaments.


    At the time, Ye Chen thought that if he had the chance, he must go to see the Swordfighting Tournament.


    But he didn''t expect that now Daoist Wine Sword would directly ask him if he wanted to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament.


    Willing!


    Of course Ye Chen was willing!


    Although he cultivated not only his sword skills but other martial techniques as well, he placed great emphasis on the cultivation of the swordsmanship. He had been eager to witness the martial skills and cultivation methods of other sword cultivators.


    He would certainly not miss the opportunity of the Swordfighting Tournament!


    "Elder Wine Sword, I am of course willing to participate in the Swordfighting Tournament. However, are there any requirements to participate in this tournament?" Ye Chen asked Daoist Wine Sword.


    At this moment, Fairy Jia Luo also looked towards Daoist Wine Sword, "Wine Sword, are you one of the organizers of this Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament?"


    Daoist Wine Sword smiled and nodded, "Yes, besides those sword cultivators who have obtained the qualification to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament from previous True Qi Realm Tournaments and have successfully stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, I am also in charge of finding other suitable and powerful sword cultivators within the thirteen countries of the South Sky to directly invite them to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament!"


    Speaking of this, Daoist Wine Sword looked towards Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I could see the fierceness of your sword intent during the True Disciple selection earlier, you at such a young age, have already cultivated to the second layer of sword intent, which already qualifies you to participate in the Swordfighting Tournament."


    "Although with your current mastery in swordsmanship, it would be relatively difficult for you to achieve a good result in the tournament based solely on your sword skills. However, it would still be good to go and gain some experience."


    "I don''t have any other requirements for you, but participants of the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament must be in the Spirit Sea Realm. Although I''ve invited you, if you haven''t stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm within eight months, then this invitation will be void."


    "How about it, young man, do you have the confidence to step into the Spirit Sea Realm within eight months?" Daoist Wine Sword asked Ye Chen with a smile.


    Stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm within eight months.


    Only by stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm would he be eligible to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament!


    This was the only requirement Daoist Wine Sword had for Ye Chen''s participation in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament.


    If it were anyone else, proclaiming with certainty that they could step into the Spirit Sea Realm from the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm within eight months, very few would dare to say they had such confidence.


    But Ye Chen had absolute assurance that he would step into the Spirit Sea Realm within eight months!


    ```


    He had the mystical enlightenment pill he had obtained from the secret realm in his ancestral lands, and there was no longer any obstacle to his entering the Spirit Sea Realm, the only thing left was his True Qi Realm, and with eight months'' time, Ye Chen was certain he could improve his True Qi Realm!


    "Elder Wine Sword, I am confident. In eight months, I will definitely be able to step into the Spirit Sea Realm and qualify for the Sword Dueling Conference," Ye Chen stated with unwavering determination.


    Daoist Wine Sword nodded, he liked confident youths like Ye Chen!


    "Good, since that is the case, I shall leave you with a Sword Invitation. With this invitation, on the day the Sword Dueling Conference arrives, you can use it to enter and participate in the conference!" As Daoist Wine Sword spoke, a sword-shaped letter appeared in his hand, which he handed to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen saw the words "Spirit Sea Sword Dueling Conference" written on the invitation with spirited, dragon-like strokes.


    Taking the invitation, Ye Chen then looked at Daoist Wine Sword: "Elder Wine Sword, could you please give me another Sword Invitation? Jiang Yao''s sword cultivation is also very impressive!"


    Wanting to participate in the Sword Dueling Conference, Ye Chen naturally wished for Jiang Yao to join as well and did not hesitate to secure an invitation for her.


    Jiang Yao, standing nearby, suddenly heard Ye Chen securing a Sword Invitation for her and her ears turned beet red with shyness.


    She understood Ye Chen''s intentions all too well.


    "Haha," Daoist Wine Sword glanced at Jiang Yao and then at Ye Chen, "What a fine couple you two make. Since I am the host for this Sword Dueling Conference for the thirteen southern countries, I suppose I can do you this favor."


    "All right then, young lady, I will also give you a Sword Invitation! Make sure to work hard and win a few more bouts at the conference!"


    As Daoist Wine Sword spoke, he took out another Sword Invitation.


    Accepting the invitation, Jiang Yao smiled sweetly: "Thank you, Elder Wine Sword!"


    Being able to attend the Sword Dueling Conference with Ye Chen filled the girl''s heart with immense joy.


    "Now, in your Taixuan Sect, there are quite a few formidable Sword Cultivators, not to mention Jia Luo. I remember there''s a girl with the surname Yu from Snowdrift Peak, who, in the last Spirit Sea Realm Sword Dueling Conference, nabbed one of the top three spots!"


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, you two have these eight months to seek advice from other Sword Cultivators. I am looking forward to seeing your outstanding performance at the Sword Dueling Conference on Immeasurable Mountain in eight months!"


    After giving a few more words of advice, Daoist Wine Sword said goodbye to Fairy Jia Luo and other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses with a laugh and left merrily.


    In Taixuan Sect, after having witnessed a thrilling selection of True Disciples and having issued two Sword Dueling Conference invitations, Daoist Wine Sword left quite satisfied with his visit.


    Watching the departing Daoist Wine Sword, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, holding their invitations, exchanged a glance and both revealed smiles on their faces.


    In eight months, at the Immeasurable Mountain of the Great Qian Dynasty, they would definitely make a splash at the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Dueling Conference!


    "All right, with all the matters settled, we should head back to the Inner Peak now."


    After Daoist Wine Sword had left, the only ones remaining were the newly selected True Disciples and the powerhouses of the Taixuan Sect.


    Once Fairy Jia Luo finished speaking, the Peak Masters swept their large sleeves and brought their new True Disciples, flying towards the Inner Peak.


    Ye Chen, along with a few other girls, flew towards Snowdrift Peak in the light of Jia Luo''s teleportation!

 Chapter 168: Chapter 146 Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map

    Previously, when Ye Chen arrived at Sky Extreme Cliff from the Outer Sect aboard the Flying Boat, he was already astonished by the scenery of the inner mountains of the Taixuan Sect.


    Now, within the Escaping Light of Fairy Jia Luo, stepping into the true hidden Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect, accessible only to direct disciples and elders like the Peak Masters, Ye Chen was even more amazed by the grandeur of these Inner Peaks!


    These were majestic and massive mountain peaks, standing tall one after another between heaven and earth.


    The sea of clouds in the sky floated around the midsection of the mountains, making them appear as if they were mountains of the immortals.


    Countless immortal cranes flew between the mountain peaks and the clouds, sometimes alighting on the peaks, at other times diving into the clouds, with their calls echoing in all directions.


    Looking at these mountains, one could see the waterfalls cascading down a thousand feet, the majestic palaces and pavilions standing tall, and the secluded Cultivation Cave Abodes, surrounded by giant ancient trees with roots coiled like serpents and branches that thickly covered the skies, with exotic flowers and unusual herbs everywhere, their fragrance overflowing and the true qi of heaven and earth rich and unparalleled.


    From time to time, one could encounter direct disciples of the Inner Peak in the True Qi Realm riding huge flying magical beasts in and out of the mountains, or powerful individuals in the Spirit Sea Realm or various Peak Elders clad in Taixuan Sect vestment robes flying through the sky.


    Looking closely at the mountain peaks, you could see floating bridges connecting them, with warriors meditating and voices discussing the arts of martial practice emanating from various places.


    This is the place where the Taixuan Sect''s direct disciples live!


    This is the Taixuan Sect''s Inner Peak!


    The Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect are divided into eight major cultivation mountain peaks and three elder mountain peaks.


    The Snowdrift Peak governed by Fairy Jia Luo is one of these eleven Inner Peaks and is located at the very depths. _emp _yr.


    Snowdrift Peak, shaped like a proudly towering giant sword piercing into the heavens, is not only positioned at the deepest point but is also the tallest among the eleven Inner Peaks. After Fairy Jia Luo''s Escaping Light descended, Ye Chen and the others already arrived at the midsection of Snowdrift Peak.


    Ye Chen stood in the middle of the mountain, looking up towards the peak, unable to see the top of Snowdrift Peak with a single glance, and looking around, he could faintly see courtyards scattered about the waist of the mountain.


    These courtyards were the residences of the direct disciples of Snowdrift Peak, while Fairy Jia Luo lived at the very top in the "Snowdrift Residence."


    Behind Ye Chen, the large fire bird also descended, as did the other girls who had just joined Snowdrift Peak, such as Yu Luoxuan, all curiously looking around them.


    Jiang Yao, at that moment, landed beside Ye Chen. Seeing him taking in Snowdrift Peak, she smiled lightly and said, "Ye Chen, from now on you will be cultivating at Snowdrift Peak!"


    "Inside Snowdrift Peak, apart from master, there are many senior and junior sisters too. They are all very nice, and later I''ll introduce you to them."


    "When the senior and junior sisters find out how amazing you are and that you''ve joined us at Snowdrift Peak, they will definitely be very happy too!"


    Returning to Snowdrift Peak, Jiang Yao became even more joyous. This was where she had lived for many years, and now that Ye Chen had also come here, she was naturally delighted.


    Looking at the girl in front of him, wearing a light blue gown, lively and beautiful, and seeing that unstoppable joy deep within her eyes, Ye Chen felt warmth in his heart.


    Being able to cultivate alongside Jiang Yao, the weariness from the relentless assessments and selections that came before had already been swept away.


    Just as Ye Chen and the others had landed in the middle of Snowdrift Peak, numerous figures flew towards them from various parts of the mountain''s waist.


    These figures descended and were all bright and beautiful girls, who turned out to be direct disciples who had joined Snowdrift Peak before.


    After these girls descended, they curiously looked over the newly entered disciples, and when they saw a youth like Ye Chen among the newcomers, they were particularly stunned.


    "Huh, our Snowdrift Peak has never accepted male disciples before. How come there is one this time?"


    After looking over Ye Chen, the girls'' gazes turned towards Fairy Jia Luo and Jiang Yao.


    "Peak Master!"


    "Sister Jiang Yao!"


    "Junior Sister Jiang Yao!"


    The girls all surged towards Fairy Jia Luo and Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen had heard Jiang Yao say that there were quite a few direct disciples cultivating at Snowdrift Peak, but there were not many who were eventually taken as disciples by Fairy Jia Luo.


    From these girls'' address to Fairy Jia Luo, it seemed they were still just cultivating direct disciples.


    Fairy Jia Luo looked at the girls who came over, a slight smile on her lips, "You all arrived just in time. Later, take the new disciples to their place of residence and help them settle in."


    Upon saying this, Fairy Jia Luo also turned to look at Ye Chen and the batch of new direct disciples, speaking aloud, "The Taixuan Sect is the number one great sect in the Eastern Domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Being able to pass the selection and become Inner Peak disciples demonstrates your remarkable talents!"


    "However, you must not become complacent. After entering Snowdrift Peak, you must cultivate diligently and continually enhance your strength!"


    "You should know, although our Taixuan Sect is a sixth-grade sect and ranks first in the Eastern Domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there are as many as nine other sixth-grade sects within the entire kingdom. Above the sixth-grade sects, in the Northern Domain of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there are even three more powerful fifth-grade sects!"


    "Becoming a direct disciple means you will be competing with powerhouses from other great sects. Your current strength is still far from enough!"


    As Fairy Jia Luo instructed, Ye Chen and the others listened attentively.


    Fairy Jia Luo continued, "Ascending to the Spirit Sea Realm is your most important task for the time being. Only by stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm will you begin to stand out among the various sects in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and only upon entering the Rotating Pill Realm could you be considered a significant power within the kingdom!"


    "Regarding some of the Sect rules about Inner Peak direct disciples, as well as other explanations, there are books on these topics in the various dwellings. Once you have chosen a residence, take a good look at these books,"


    "There aren''t many rules for cultivating at Snowdrift Peak. You only need to remember that within Taixuan Sect''s Inner Peak, we conduct competitions among the disciples of the Inner Peaks and the direct disciples of the eight great peaks. If you perform too poorly, I will expel you from Snowdrift Peak."


    "Alright, follow your senior sisters to find a courtyard residence. Your senior sisters will also tell you some things about being a direct disciple."


    "Ye Chen, Yao''er, you two stay behind for a moment."


    After Fairy Jia Luo said this, she made a slight gesture, and the senior disciples, who had flown down from halfway up the mountain, led people like Yu Luoxuan away to seek their dwellings.


    As they left, the senior disciples couldn''t help but glance at Ye Chen.


    "The first place in the direct disciple selection conference this time is said to be named Ye Chen!"


    "Is this young man Ye Chen?!"


    "Ye Chen has come to our Snowdrift Peak?"


    Once they were further away, the junior girls could no longer hold back their surprise and began questioning the newly joined girls of Snowdrift Peak about Ye Chen, while Yu Luoxuan and the others also spoke of Ye Chen''s deeds to the senior disciples.


    "Ah!"


    "He''s that impressive!"


    The gasps of astonishment from the girls came one after another when they heard about Ye Chen''s marvelous performances at the direct disciple selection conference.


    "Senior Jia Luo."


    "Master."


    At this moment, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao walked up to Fairy Jia Luo.


    Fairy Jia Luo smiled at Ye Chen, "Joining Snowdrift Peak, you no longer need to call me senior. Since you are not my direct disciple, just call me Peak Master."


    "Yes, Peak Master," Ye Chen replied.


    "Ye Chen, your strength has indeed surprised me. With your current abilities, not to mention within Taixuan Sect, but even compared to the geniuses of the major sects in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and even those from the five-rank great sects, you won''t fall short!"


    "Your vision should be like Yao''er''s, not only on the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, but also on the entire Thirteen Southern Nations of the Barbaric Wilderness, and even the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Competing with the geniuses of the whole continent is the direction you should be aiming for!"


    As she spoke, Fairy Jia Luo looked at Jiang Yao and smiled, "When Yao''er stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, I gave her some notes and insights from my travels in the Barbaric Wilderness. Now, I will bestow upon you the same treasure, and this treasure is called ¡ª ''Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map''!"


    Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map?


    Ye Chen looked towards Fairy Jia Luo.


    At that moment, Fairy Jia Luo''s fair palm stretched out gently, and a jade book appeared in her hand.


    On the front of this jade book were the words "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map."


    These five simple words carried an indescribable aura, as if encompassing the entirety of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Not just Ye Chen, even Jiang Yao couldn''t help but look towards the jade book.


    Fairy Jia Luo lightly touched the jade book with her finger, causing it to slowly open with a list of glowing characters emerging on it.


    "Thirteen Southern Nations of the Barbaric Wilderness!"


    "Ten Great Demonic Sects of the Western Wilderness!"


    "Ice Palace Snow Plains of the Northern Wilderness!"


    "Star Extreme Scatter Islands of the Eastern Wilderness!"


    "The Three Great Dynasties of the Central Wilderness!"


    "Sea of Chaos!"


    "Hidden Ancient Lands!"


    "Void Cracks!"


    "Minor Spirit God Mountain!"


    The mere sight of these directory entries made Ye Chen tremble with awe.


    Clearly, this "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map" contained information about various aspects of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent that he was completely unaware of!

 Chapter 169: Chapter 147 Blood Feud

    Fairy Jia Luo gently tapped on the "Thirteen Southern Nations of the Barbaric Wilderness" section in the glowing character index.


    Whoosh!


    story source m vl e mp yr


    A vast painting appeared directly in the void.


    In this vast painting, there were undulating mountain ranges and surging rivers, documenting the situations of thirteen nations.


    Ye Chen saw that the Heavenly Wind Kingdom was among these thirteen nations, located in an eastern position.


    Fairy Jia Luo, looking at the vast painting in the void, slowly said, "Our Heavenly Wind Kingdom, in the entire south of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, together with the other twelve nations, are collectively known as the ''Thirteen Southern Nations.''


    "The strength of the nations on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent is divided by the realms of the strong, particularly by the strength of the strongest in the major powers.


    Take sects for example, an eighth-grade sect refers to a sect whose strongest member is in the Spiritual Sea Realm; a seventh-grade sect has its strongest member at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm; our Taixuan Sect is a sixth-grade sect, with the strongest at the middle stage of the Rotating Pill Realm; while a fifth-grade sect''s strongest member will be at the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm."


    "As for fourth-grade sects, they have overwhelmingly powerful early stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts; third-grade sects have mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts; second-grade sects, they are absolutely the most powerful forces in the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, with their strongest individuals being at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, the strongest realm across the entire continent!"


    "As for the rumored first-grade sects, there are none in the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, existing only in the supreme spirit realm known as the ''Minor Spirit Realm'' in legends!"


    The classification of the major powers, the differences between the eighth, seventh, and sixth-grade sects, so that''s how they are divided!


    The words of Fairy Jia Luo enlightened Ye Chen a great deal.


    "Ye Chen, the higher you go, the greater the gap in strength brought about by the difference in realms becomes, and while it''s a miracle that you, in the True Qi Realm, can challenge those in the Spiritual Sea Realm, once you enter the Rotating Pill Realm after the Spiritual Sea Realm, you will realize that the gap between different levels of the Rotating Pill Realm is countless times greater than that between the True Qi Realm and the Spiritual Sea Realm!


    This is also why the Spiritual Sea Realm does not subdivide powers, while the three major stages of the Rotating Pill Realm are divided into three different grades of power."


    "As for the Heavenly Saint Realm, the gap in strength between its three major stages is even wider; so much so that countless geniuses with extraordinary talent can spend an entire lifetime without being able to step from the early to mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, let alone reaching the supremely powerful late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm."


    "Having one person with the highest strength within a sect means having a large number of people a step lower in strength.


    In our Taixuan Sect, I am at the middle stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, while the other peak masters and elders of the Sect are at the initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, so as a sixth-grade sect, we are many times stronger than those seventh-grade sects whose strongest members are at the initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    "And those fifth-grade sects and fourth-grade sects, their strength is even stronger than our Taixuan Sect!"


    "Ye Chen, next I will tell you about the various power divisions across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Yao''er, you should also listen carefully. When you both venture out of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and explore the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, all this information will be very important!"


    Fairy Jia Luo said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances and both nodded, listening intently to Fairy Jia Luo''s explanation.


    "Among the Thirteen Southern Nations, the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s strength is in a middle position, with a total of ten sixth-grade sects and three fifth-grade sects. There are three nations stronger than us, and these three nations all have fourth-grade sects!"


    Fourth-grade sects, which are guarded by early stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were immediately shocked; they had not expected that among the other twelve nations not far from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there would be Heavenly Saint Realm experts!


    The Heavenly Saint Realm could be said to be the top-tier existence in the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent. The two secret realms Ye Chen had previously entered, the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode and the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, were both related to Heavenly Saint Realm experts.


    Just from the marvels of these two secret realms, Ye Chen understood the power of the Heavenly Saint Realm experts, whether it was Heavenly Saint Qian Ji, Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, or Heavenly Saint Di Kong who left behind the Ancestral Land Secret Realm; all filled Ye Chen with boundless admiration.


    Ye Chen had never truly seen a Heavenly Saint Realm expert in person before!


    "These three nations with Heavenly Saint Realm experts are, respectively, our neighboring Heaven Departure Nation and the two great nations at the far west, the Heavenly Origin Country and the Sky Desert Country."


    "In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, martial arts are revered, and the battles and bloodshed between various powers are incredibly brutal! Especially when fighting for treasure lands, cultivation resources, newly discovered secret realms, the entire continent''s landscape is constantly changing!"


    "The fact that our Thirteen Southern Nations can survive in the Southern Territory, and that you can cultivate peacefully within the sect, depends entirely on these three Heavenly Saint Realm experts, relying solely on the power of these three fourth-grade sects!"


    "Because, our Thirteen Southern Nations have an enemy force that has held a grudge for thousands of years, which is, the Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation!"


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words caused Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to feel a surge in their hearts.


    They had always thought that cultivating in the sect was peaceful and tranquil, but they never expected that the Thirteen Southern Nations would have blood feuds, that they would have such feuds with the Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation!


    Whoosh!


    Fairy Jia Luo pointed at the "Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation" on the "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map," and another huge painting appeared in the void.


    This was an even greater territory than the Thirteen Southern Nations, a vast expanse where the ten demon sects were entrenched, occupying the entire western breadth of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Fairy Jia Luo, staring at the giant map of the Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation, also became extremely solemn.


    "The reason the Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation hold a grudge against our Thirteen Southern Nations is because, in ancient times, the entire territory of the Thirteen Southern Nations belonged to the demon sects!"


    Boom!


    The entire Thirteen Southern Nations of the Barbaric Wilderness originally belonged to the domain of the ten great demonic sects? Heavenly Wind Kingdom was also part of the territory under the ten great demonic sects'' rule?


    The secret history Fairy Jia Luo spoke of took both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao by surprise.


    "Back then, originally the ten great demonic sects were immensely powerful, dominating vast expanses of land in the southern and western regions of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and throughout the continent, they were renowned. That was because the strongest among the ten great demonic sects had reached the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, an unparalleled formidable figure."


    "This unparalleled formidable figure, known as ''Red Moon Ancestor,'' was the founder of the ten great demonic sects, and even his disciples were ten early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, who were the sect leaders of the ten great demonic sects!"


    "Later, this Red Moon Ancestor provoked a peerless Loose Cultivator hidden on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. That peerless Loose Cultivator slew the Red Moon Ancestor, and even eight of the ten disciples of the Red Moon Ancestor died by the hand of that peerless Loose Cultivator, causing the strength of the entire ten great demonic sects to plummet abruptly!"


    "That peerless Loose Cultivator even ousted the ten great demonic sects from the Southern Territory, drawing a Heavenly Demon Gorge that stretched thousands of miles across the void to serve as the boundary between the Southern Territory and the Western Desolate Territory, forbidding the ten great demonic sects from setting foot in the Southern Territory ever again!"


    "Gradually, as other powers moved into Southern Territory, the Thirteen Southern Nations were formed, along with the various major sects within these nations."


    The matter of that peerless Loose Cultivator and the Red Moon Ancestor mentioned by Fairy Jia Luo completely stunned Ye Chen.


    Especially the peerless Loose Cultivator, just hearing about his deeds filled Ye Chen with immense admiration!


    To single-handedly slay the Red Moon Ancestor, and even kill eight early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, moreover drawing a Heavenly Demon Gorge thousands of miles long in the void as the boundary line, preventing the entire force of the ten great demonic sects from taking a single step into the Southern Territory!


    Such strength was truly terrifying to the point of causing alarm!


    It wasn''t just Ye Chen who was astonished by the prowess of the peerless Loose Cultivator; Jiang Yao, too, was taken aback. Even Fairy Jia Luo showed a look of veneration when she spoke of the peerless Loose Cultivator.


    "With such strength, the peerless Loose Cultivator completely subdued the ten great demonic sects; naturally, they wouldn''t dare to step into Southern Territory and could only shrink back in the Western Desolate Territory."


    "But, this deterrence that had lasted for over a thousand years began to slowly dissipate after the peerless Loose Cultivator ascended to the Minor Spirit Realm."


    "That peerless Loose Cultivator was alone; his punishment of the Red Moon Ancestor was purely a personal vendetta, and he left nothing for the Thirteen Southern Nations. Once the peerless Loose Cultivator ascended to the Minor Spirit Realm, the ten great demonic sects grew increasingly impatient to reclaim the land of Southern Territory."


    "The ten great demonic sects desired to retake the territory of Southern Territory, while the powers that had entered Southern Territory had now inherited it for over a thousand years, developing many generations of legacies, and naturally, they were even less willing to leave easily."


    "Thus, a great war inevitably erupted!"


    "In the ensuing thousands of years, the ten great demonic sects and the forces of Southern Territory fought countless battles, during which even Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses fell, while the numbers of fallen Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses are too many to count, not to mention True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm disciples."


    "Through such battles, the blood feud between the ten great demonic sects and the Thirteen Southern Nations grew even deeper, even surpassing the blood feud from the days of the peerless Loose Cultivator."


    "It was only in recent centuries, as new Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses emerged in the Thirteen Southern Nations, and the overall strength reached a balance with the ten great demonic sects, that the great war has paused for a few hundred years."


    "However, all cultivators from the Thirteen Southern Nations and the ten great demonic sects know that this balance is bound to break sooner or later, and the war between the two sides will continue to loom."


    "Unless one side possesses absolute power over the other, such a millennia-spanning blood feud will never be so easily resolved!"


    Having said this, Fairy Jia Luo turned her gaze to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Ye Chen, Yao''er, I tell you this to let you know that your cultivation career may be met with blood and violence at any time."


    "What will you do if the ten great demonic sects wage a great war against us, the Thirteen Southern Nations, and your strength is not sufficient? Ye Chen, your father and mother are in Heavenly Wind Kingdom; can you bear to watch them be killed by the ten great demonic sects right at your doorstep?"


    "No! All of us who live in the Thirteen Southern Nations cannot abandon our homes, our countries. So, once the war breaks out, all Martial Artists will be drawn into it!"


    "Therefore, take advantage of this rare peace to strengthen yourself. You must work hard to improve your strength, to cultivate diligently!"


    "Only with absolute power can you face any volatility that arises!"


    "It''s not just you two, even I am the same. If a great war truly breaks out, my life will also be in danger, and I am continuously cultivating without rest!"


    "All those in the Thirteen Southern Nations and the Western Desolate ten great demonic sects who are aware of this secret blood feud probably feel the same as us, fearful of reprisal from the other side, a sword hanging over their heads, all striving to become stronger!"


    "This situation might instead make the war break out at any moment!"


    "So, we have to be well-prepared for everything!"


    Fairy Jia Luo looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, saying earnestly.

 Chapter 170: Chapter 148 Yu

    Fairy Jia Luo''s words sent chills down both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s spines.


    They both looked up simultaneously at the grand chart of the ten great demon sects of the Western Wilderness in the void, memorizing each and every one of their names and power levels.


    Forth-rank sect Joyous Union Sect, forth-rank sect Dry Bone Peak, forth-rank sect Blood Fiend Valley, fifth-rank sect Myriad Ghosts Cave, fifth-rank sect Defying Demon Sect...


    These names, these forces, all held blood feuds with the thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao committed them deeply to memory.


    Just as Fairy Jia Luo had said, if a war were to erupt, stemming from these blood feuds which had lasted for thousands of years, these forces would all be their opponents, and they naturally had to be highly vigilant.


    Even if war did not break out in the short term, such a potential threat still had to be seen as motivation to strengthen themselves!


    Only when they were powerful enough could they stand fearless before any threat and not worry about when it would suddenly emerge!


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s utterly serious expressions, Fairy Jia Luo nodded.


    "Ye Chen, Yao''er, the reason I remind you of the blood feud between the ten great demon sects and our thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory is because the two of you are the absolute geniuses of Snowdrift Peak. As absolute geniuses, you must look far ahead and consider all crises in your hearts."


    "Let''s leave the matter of the ten great demon sects here. Just keep it in your minds and be careful¡ªthat will be enough."


    "Next, I will tell you about the other forces on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    On the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, aside from these two great forces occupying the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, there were many other forces. Fairy Jia Luo''s finger pointed toward the illuminated directory labeled "The Central Region''s Three Great Dynasties."


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao glimpsed these three great dynasties, they became even more serious.


    Invited by Daoist Glass of Wine, they were to participate in the "Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament" in eight months'' time, which would be held in the Central Region''s Great Qian Dynasty.


    They were not familiar with the Great Qian Dynasty, let alone the remaining two dynasties.


    When the grand charts of the territories of the three dynasties appeared in the void, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao saw that the territories of these three Central Region dynasties were even larger than the Southern Territory''s thirteen kingdoms and the Western Wilderness''s ten great demon sects combined.


    "The Central Region''s three great dynasties represent the oldest martial arts lineages on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Inside each dynasty, there are countless sects with entwined power structures¡ªstruggles that are even more frequent and far more intense than those in the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory!"


    "The three dynasties are the Great Qian Dynasty, Great Zhou Dynasty, and Great Xia Dynasty!"


    "These three great dynasties occupy the most vast and grand central territories of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and are veritable giants. Compared to them, the thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory and the ten great demon sects of the Western Wilderness are too far behind.


    It is only because these three great dynasties hold the two regions in contempt, that the forces of the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory have been able to survive."


    "The forces that entered the Southern Territory''s thirteen kingdoms back in the day were splinters from these three great dynasties!"


    "All of the three great dynasties possess third-rank sects, and within the Great Xia Dynasty, there''s even a second-rank sect¡ªthe most powerful in the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent. However, that second-rank sect is hidden from the world and does not partake in the countless struggles between sects within the three dynasties..."


    Fairy Jia Luo''s discussion of the three great dynasties gave Ye Chen and Jiang Yao a deeper understanding of them.


    It turned out that these three dynasties were the true core and foundation of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. The Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory simply could not compare to the Central Region''s three great dynasties!


    In the three great dynasties, there existed third-rank sects with mid-Heavenly Saint Realm experts and even second-rank sects with late-Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses!


    This information made Ye Chen and Jiang Yao even more eager for the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament at Immeasurable Mountain in the Great Qian Dynasty, which was eight months away.


    Having discussed the powers of the Southern Territory, Western Wilderness, and Central Region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Fairy Jia Luo continued by telling Ye Chen about other territories.


    The Ice Palace Snowfield of the Northern Barbarian Wastelands!


    The Polar Star Archipelago of the Eastern Wilderness!


    And also the Sea of Chaos and ancient hidden lands!


    These were places that even Fairy Jia Luo had not trodden much; she had only gained a little insight into these territories by reading countless ancient texts within the three great dynasties.


    Unlike the obvious forces in the Southern Territory, Western Wilderness, and Central Region, the Northern Barbarian Wastelands, the Eastern Wilderness, and the entire periphery of the Sea of Chaos were full of hidden solitary cultivators, secret races, and secret sects.


    Even in Fairy Jia Luo''s view, these hidden forces and their concealed strengths could be more terrifying than those of the Central Region''s three great dynasties!


    It was said that the peerless solitary cultivator who had slain the Elder of the Crimson Moon and had driven the ten great demon sects out of the Southern Territory had come from within the Polar Star Archipelago of the Eastern Wilderness.


    Hidden solitary cultivators did not stand proudly in the world like the large third- and second-rank sects of the three great dynasties, but the powerful Heavenly Saint Realm experts among these territories'' secluded cultivators perhaps numbered more than anywhere else on the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    There were even late-Heavenly Saint Realm strong experts dwelling within these hidden territories.


    The Heavenly Saint Realm Sword Fighting Tournament that Ye Chen knew of was to be held in the Sea God Palace within the Sea of Chaos. That Sea God Palace was an organization of solitary cultivators. According to Fairy Jia Luo''s judgment, there must be late-Heavenly Saint Realm solitary cultivators inside!


    Aside from these territories, the void above the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent was also filled with countless Void Rifts, which could lead to many other continents on par with the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    ```


    Even the Minor Spirit Divine Mountain that led to the supreme spirit realm, "Little Spirit World," was hidden deep beneath the surface of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    However, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao currently had no way to set foot in the Void Rift and Minor Spirit Divine Mountain; such places could only be accessed by Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses who had comprehended the laws of space.


    After Fairy Jia Luo had roughly explained the entire "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map" to Ye Chen, he felt as if his entire world had been opened up.


    Previously, he had only been in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, within a small sect, and at most, he had entered secret realms left by Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses twice.


    Now, he finally knew that beyond the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there were even more vast territories such as the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, the ten great demon sects of the Western Wilderness, and the three great dynasties of the Central Region!


    He came to know that in the Ice Palace Snowfield in the northern part of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the Polar Star Archipelago in the east, and the Sea of Chaos beyond the lands, there were countless forces and countless powerhouses!


    There was also the Void Rift!


    There was also the Minor Spirit Divine Mountain!


    This was the true Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the true martial world!


    Ye Chen''s vision was still too narrow, and his strength was far from sufficient in the whole Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Not only Ye Chen, even Fairy Jia Luo knew very little about the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, with most of her knowledge coming from ancient texts, and even with her mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm strength, there were many regions she couldn''t set foot in.


    With this "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map" in hand, according to what Fairy Jia Luo said, it contained countless pieces of news and bizarre tales from ancient texts, all within this map that Ye Chen needed to examine in detail.


    But from this first look at the map''s general layout, Ye Chen had already developed the ambition to travel throughout the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    He made up his mind that one day he would traverse the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent and even venture into the Void Rift, stepping into the Minor Spirit Divine Mountain!


    Having roughly introduced the situation of the "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map" to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Fairy Jia Luo then looked seriously at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, after coming to the Great Mysterious Sect, your most important cultivation goal is to step into the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "At the same time, both you and Yao''er also need to prepare for the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament in eight months. That tournament is a chance for you to step out of the Great Mysterious Sect, out of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and to contend with countless strong opponents from across the continent!"


    "No matter how detailed the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map is described, it is not as clear as walking the journey yourself!"


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words made Ye Chen and Jiang Yao nod repeatedly.


    The Wine Sword Daoist said that this first participation in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament should just be for gaining experience, but how could the pair be content to merely be spectators? They certainly wanted to prepare fully and compete fiercely with countless swordsmanship geniuses.


    "Yao''er." Fairy Jia Luo finally looked at Jiang Yao, "Tomorrow, take Ye Chen with you to your fellow disciple Yu''s place, and learn swordsmanship under her!"


    "I hope that in these eight months, you can achieve great accomplishments!"


    Sister Yu?


    Ye Chen remembered that the Wine Sword Daoist had mentioned a girl surnamed Yu in Snowdrift Peak who was among the top three in the last Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament. Could it be this Sister Yu?


    Ye Chen did not know the identity of Sister Yu, but how could Jiang Yao not know?


    When Jiang Yao heard Fairy Jia Luo telling her and Ye Chen to study swordsmanship with Sister Yu, the young girl''s face flushed red with excitement, and she said to Ye Chen eagerly, "Ye Chen, Sister Yu''s swordsmanship is incredibly powerful, I fear she is second only to the master in the entire Great Mysterious Sect!"


    "Studying swordsmanship with Sister Yu, we will surely make great strides."


    "Tomorrow, we will go together to find Sister Yu!"


    The girl''s excited demeanor made Ye Chen even more curious about Sister Yu.


    His first learning experience in the Great Mysterious Sect would start with her?


    Ye Chen also felt some anticipation.


    After bidding farewell to Fairy Jia Luo on the hillside, Ye Chen, under Jiang Yao''s guidance, found a secluded courtyard on Snowdrift Peak.


    This courtyard was seven or eight times larger than the small courtyard Ye Chen had lived in at the Qingyun Sect, and it was filled with various kinds of Spirit Grass. The emerald Spirit Bamboo swayed, and the true qi of heaven and earth was abundant.


    The courtyard was very close to where Jiang Yao lived, just a few pathways away, no more than the time it took to drink a cup of tea to reach, which pleased both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    As the giant firebird rested in the courtyard, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao inside the house talked about their own experiences during the past four-plus months until deep into the night before they parted.


    The four rounds of assessment for the true disciple selection tournament and Fairy Jia Luo''s explanation of the "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map" had tensed Ye Chen''s spirit so much that as he lay in bed, he soon fell asleep.


    When Ye Chen woke up early the next day, he felt refreshed and energetic once again.


    Not long after, the beautiful Jiang Yao, dressed in a goose-yellow robe, arrived at the courtyard again.


    After exchanging smiles, Ye Chen followed Jiang Yao on their way to Sister Yu''s residence.


    ```

 Chapter 171: Chapter 149 Sword Mark, Sword Formation

    During last night''s conversation, Ye Chen learned a great deal about this Sister Yu through Jiang Yao.


    Unlike Jiang Yao, who primarily cultivated True Qi Skills, Sister Yu immersed her entire being into the practice of swordsmanship. It was said that she not only inherited many of Fairy Jia Luo''s swordsmanship achievements, but also had her fortunate encounters and gains, having come a long way in the path of the sword.


    When Ye Chen heard that Sister Yu had mastered at least fifty kinds of Sword Intents, he was utterly shocked.


    After all, having cultivated only the Wind Sword Intent, Storm Rain Sword Intent, Sword Intent of Thunder, and Purple Lightning Sword Intent, he had created an incredibly powerful Slaughter Sword Intent.


    With Sister Yu having cultivated no less than fifty kinds of Sword Intents, what kind of achievements would she have accomplished!


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but long to meet Sister Yu.


    Snowdrift Peak was immense, and as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao made their way through small paths around the mountainside, turning around several cliff faces, and walking for about the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, they saw at a distance a small stream by a gracefully simple courtyard.


    "The residence ahead is where Sister Yu lives."


    On seeing the courtyard ahead, Jiang Yao grew excited, grabbing Ye Chen''s hand and quickly heading towards the yard.


    "Sister Yu has always lived in seclusion, deeply engrossed in understanding swordsmanship and seldom appears in public."


    "It is said that apart from our master, no one else has had the opportunity to enter her courtyard; although I have seen Sister Yu a few times, I have never been able to enter her dwelling."


    "Ye Chen, today we''ll be able to see what Sister Yu''s courtyard is really like."


    Holding Jiang Yao''s soft hand, Ye Chen looked curiously at the courtyard ahead.


    The courtyard gate was closed tightly, and as they approached the entrance, the gate creaked open automatically before they could even knock.


    "Eh, could Sister Yu know we''re coming?"


    "Let''s go, Ye Chen, let''s go in!"


    Jiang Yao stepped forward with Ye Chen, crossing into the courtyard.


    As soon as Ye Chen stepped into the courtyard, he felt the air filled with an indescribable sword energy gleaming. These flickers of sword energy even caused the Crimson Fire Flying Sword in his Sword Palace Acupoint to vibrate on its own.


    What an odd sensation!


    Ye Chen peered into the courtyard again, and was taken aback.


    He saw dense fog completely obscuring the layout of the courtyard, leaving nothing clear in sight, with only a winding path appearing beneath his feet.


    This was a gravel path, but on this path, Ye Chen saw multiple Sword Marks.


    Boom!


    The moment Ye Chen''s eyes touched these Sword Marks, he felt as if the world was spinning, and the hand that he had been holding ¡ª Jiang Yao''s hand ¡ª suddenly became empty; Jiang Yao had vanished!


    Ye Chen''s expression changed.


    He cast his Divine Sense out in all directions. His Divine Sense, which could envelop a thousand feet in radius, could only perceive an all-encompassing mist, with nothing but the path beneath his feet identifiable.


    Ye Chen could only continue along the path ahead.


    The more Ye Chen walked, the more alarmed he became. The path seemed never-ending, and judging by the distance he had covered, he should have left the confines of the small courtyard by now, yet he was still on the gravel path.


    "What''s going on?"


    "How can Sister Yu''s courtyard be so strange?"


    Ye Chen halted, his brows furrowing.


    He looked around, but only saw more dense fog and the same continuous path beneath his feet.


    When Ye Chen''s gaze fell on the Sword Marks on the path again, a flash of insight sparked in his eyes.


    "An Illusion Array!"


    "This must be an extremely formidable swordsmanship Illusion Array!"


    "As soon as I entered Sister Yu''s courtyard, I was caught in this swordsmanship Illusion Array, and Jiang Yao disappeared too. Could this be Sister Yu''s test for me? Without passing this Illusion Array, there''s no chance of meeting her?"


    Ye Chen pondered to himself.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was trapped in what seemed like an endless path.


    From the void above, one could see that Ye Chen was merely walking within a few hundred feet square area, and by now, Jiang Yao had already reached beyond this small area.


    Standing next to Jiang Yao were two women: one was a fifteen-year-old girl dressed in simple green clothes with delicate features. If Ye Chen saw her, he would be greatly surprised. This girl was none other than Yu Luoxuan, who had participated in the selection of true disciples with him and ultimately took second place, joining Snowdrift Peak.


    The other woman, who looked somewhat similar to Yu Luoxuan but appeared to be around twenty years old, was dressed in an elegant white dress. With her quiet and peaceful beautiful eyes, it seemed as if nothing in the world could stir the slightest ripple in her heart.


    At this moment, as Jiang Yao looked at this woman, she called out, "Sister Yu, what''s happening? Why is Ye Chen just walking around in that small area?"


    From Jiang Yao''s address, it was clear that this woman was the Sister Yu that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were seeking, the owner of the courtyard!


    Then, Sister Yu smiled as she regarded Jiang Yao, "Sister Yao''er, I''ve heard from my sister that this Ye Chen, who came with you, is quite remarkable."


    "You want to learn swordsmanship from me, that''s of course possible. If he wants to learn my swordsmanship, well, he''ll need to pass a small test first."


    "I also want to see just how impressive Ye Chen really is."


    As she spoke, Sister Yu''s beautiful eyes gleamed with a smile as she observed Ye Chen, who was moving about: "Let''s see how long it takes him to uncover the secret of my ''Minor Thousand Sword Formation''. If he can''t grasp it within half an hour, that would be quite disappointing."


    "My sister?" Jiang Yao glanced at Sister Yu, then at Yu Luoxuan beside her.


    She suddenly remembered that Sister Yu''s full name was Yu Luolian, Yu Luoxuan, Yu Luolian¡ªit turned out that Yu Luoxuan was Sister Yu''s younger sister.


    Jiang Yao had no idea that Sister Yu had a sister!


    And now that Sister Yu mentioned that Ye Chen was undergoing a test, Jiang Yao couldn''t be bothered to ask about the sisters'' affairs; her beautiful eyes turned to Ye Chen, who was entering an unknown formation for testing.


    "Formation testing? The secret of the Minor Thousand Sword Formation?"


    "Ye Chen will definitely pass this formation test!"


    Jiang Yao had an inexplicable confidence in Ye Chen.


    At that moment, within the illusion array, the eyes of Ye Chen, who was examining the sword marks on the path, began to shine brighter and brighter.


    "Sword marks; the secret of this illusion array lies in these sword marks!"


    "These sword marks seem chaotic, yet they seem to follow some mysterious order!"


    "To get out of this illusion array, it seems necessary to study these sword marks!"


    Ye Chen calmed his spirit, showing no hurry to leave. His entire focus immersed himself within these sword marks; his vast divine sense began to survey and ponder each and every sword mark within its reach.


    After about a dozen or so breaths had passed since he began his scrutiny and deliberation, Ye Chen suddenly closed his eyes.


    A moment later, when Ye Chen opened his eyes again, his gaze fixed onto three strange sword marks on the path.


    The moment his gaze landed on these three sword marks, the dense fog that filled the exterior of the narrow path surged wildly. Within the stirring fog, Ye Chen thought he saw a woman in white practicing a set of peculiar swordsmanship.


    This swordsmanship was filled with endless charm and profound artistic conception, a style of Sword Intents that Ye Chen had never encountered before!


    When Ye Chen watched the woman execute the third move of the sword technique, his gaze immediately switched to the four sword marks on the path.


    He suddenly realized that the sword technique seemed to imply another more powerful sword technique, which was related to another set of four sword marks.


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen was focusing on the new set of four sword marks, the dense fog changed again, and the woman in white began to practice a new set of sword techniques.


    Ye Chen continued to watch this new sword technique.


    Outside the illusion array.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s sharp gaze, feeling the fluctuations of sword energy in the void, the always graceful and composed Sister Yu''s eyes suddenly widened in astonishment, "Truly powerful!"


    "He''s actually able to find the secret of my sword formation so quickly!"


    "If he can discern the fifth variation of the sword formation, then he can leave the formation. Could Ye Chen really be such a genius?"


    The change in Sister Yu''s expression caught the attention of Yu Luoxuan, who was nearby.


    Yu Luoxuan, like Jiang Yao, turned her attention to Ye Chen.


    "It seems Ye Chen has even surprised Sister," muttered Yu Luoxuan to herself.


    Meanwhile, within the illusion array, the sword marks Ye Chen focused on increased in number.


    From three to four, and then to five!


    In the end, it even reached eight, nine marks, and the dense fog around him was retreating rapidly, with all illusions seemingly fading away.


    But at this moment, Ye Chen closed his eyes again.


    As the illusions dissipated, he could see more and more sword marks; he could feel the increasingly wondrous changes of the sword marks.


    In the end, in his mind, he even visualized the woman in white practicing the changes of dozens, even hundreds of sword marks.


    Boom!


    After the countless variations of the sword technique dissipated, Ye Chen suddenly opened his eyes.


    In that instant, it seemed he had understood many Rules of Sword Intents.


    At the same time, he also saw that after the illusion array dissipated, three girls appeared in front of him.


    Besides Jiang Yao, he also saw Yu Luoxuan, and when he recognized the white-clad woman beside Jiang Yao and Yu Luoxuan, a shock went through his eyes.


    This white-clad woman was none other than the one who had been practicing the sword technique in the dense fog illusion array!


    This, was this Sister Yu?!

 Chapter 172: Chapter 150 Guidance

    As Ye Chen looked at the three girls, they also turned their gaze towards him.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Among the three girls, Jiang Yao was the most stunning and vivacious, and she had the closest ties with Ye Chen. The girl in light yellow clothing saw Ye Chen emerge from the Illusion Array, her clear eyes, shining like stars, filled with joy. She immediately ran up to Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, you truly are formidable. Even sister''s test couldn''t stump you," she said.


    Behind Jiang Yao, Yu Luoxuan also gave a gentle smile and walked towards Ye Chen.


    Lastly, Yu, in a white dress pure and elegant like water, looked at Ye Chen with a soft smile and said, "Ye Chen, my little junior brother, meeting you for the first time has quite surprised me."


    "Ye Chen, this is Sister Yu. It was Sister Yu who tested you just now," Jiang Yao said to Ye Chen with a laugh, "and also, Sister Yu is Sister Yu Luoxuan''s elder sister¡ªI only found out just now myself."


    This Sister Yu is Yu Luoxuan''s elder sister?


    Ye Chen looked from Sister Yu in white to Yu Luoxuan in green, noticing a resemblance between the two, although Sister Yu carried more grace and composure, while Yu Luoxuan still retained a hint of youthfulness.


    Ye Chen cupped his fists and greeted Sister Yu, "Ye Chen has seen Sister Yu," while he also nodded and smiled at Yu Luoxuan.


    In the few moments spent within the Illusion Array, Ye Chen had perceived the wonders of Sister Yu''s swordsmanship merely from the countless sword marks.


    Indeed, as Daoist Wine Sword, Fairy Jia Luo, and Jiang Yao had said, Sister Yu possessed considerable accomplishments in the way of the sword.


    "Little junior brother Ye Chen, Master informed me yesterday about your and Yao''er''s intentions to practice swordsmanship under my guidance. I shall heed the instruction of our master, and from today onward, I can teach you three hours of swordsmanship daily, until the Sword Dueling Tournament begins," Sister Yu told Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with a light smile.


    Three hours of swordsmanship instruction every day!


    These words from Sister Yu filled both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with joy.


    Known to be reclusive and seldom appearing in Taixuan Sect as she concentrated on her swordsmanship, they had worried that Sister Yu might be reluctant to spend too much time on them.


    Unexpectedly, Sister Yu was remarkably kind!


    Three hours¡ªa lengthy period of teaching, especially for someone as dedicated as Sister Yu!


    "Thank you, Sister Yu!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both expressed their gratitude respectfully.


    Then, Sister Yu turned to look at Yu Luoxuan, "Little sister, you will practice alongside little junior brother Ye Chen and Yao''er," she said.


    "Yes, sister!" Yu Luoxuan was visibly excited to have the chance to train with two of Taixuan Sect''s most capable prodigies, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    After patting her sister''s head, Sister Yu looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao again, "The last Spirit Sea Realm Sword Dueling Tournament, I participated in that as well. Five years have flown by since then, and I hadn''t expected the next Spirit Sea Realm Sword Dueling Tournament to come around so quickly."


    "Last time, under the guidance of Master, I grasped five types of second-level Sword Intents, and I thought I could win the tournament. However, I didn''t anticipate that two young geniuses from the Great Qian and Great Xia Dynasties would appear in the tournament, and both had advanced into the practice of the third-level Sword Intents!"


    With a hint of anticipation in her eyes, Sister Yu continued, "Over the years, I''ve finally entered into the realm of third-level Sword Intent and even gained a significant opportunity in the way of the sword. Sadly, I have yet to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm, or else I would surely engage with those two once more in a match at the Rotating Pill Realm Sword Dueling Tournament!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao listened silently as Sister Yu spoke of the previous Sword Dueling Tournament. Hearing about the second-level and third-level Sword Intents raised some doubts in them, especially in Ye Chen.


    After Ye Chen had condensed the Slaughter Sword Intent from the four major Sword Intents, he was told it was a powerful second-level Sword Intent, but he never understood what exactly constituted a second-level Sword Intent.


    And now, Sister Yu had even mentioned the existence of a third-level Sword Intent!


    "Sister Yu, what are the second-level Sword Intent and the third-level Sword Intent?" Ye Chen couldn''t help but ask aloud.


    "Sword Intent is the pursuit of the essence of swordsmanship, extracted from the very nature of the sword," she explained.


    "The first-level Sword Intent is the most fundamental and important. Like swordsmanship itself, there are myriad forms of this level of Sword Intent, all derived from the mood of all things."


    "For instance, the Purple Lightning Sword Intent you both have practiced comes from the mood of Purple Lightning!"


    Whoosh.


    As she spoke, Sister Yu flicked her finger, and suddenly, countless currents surged through the void, instantly forming a Purple Lightning Sword in the void!


    Sister Yu understood Purple Lightning Sword Intent and even recognized that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had practiced it¡ªa level of skill and insight that stunned both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Seeing their shocked expressions, Sister Yu smiled gently, "Once you step into the third-level Sword Intent, you too will be able to easily discern the Sword Intents of those at a lower level of sword practice."


    Sister Yu went on, "Purple Lightning Sword Intent is just one of the countless first-level Sword Intents. With myriad wondrous Sword Intents, even after more than a decade of sword training, I have mastered only a small portion."


    "Like this Piercing Light Sword Intent, Flying Rainbow Sword Intent, Seven Stars Sword Intent, Drifting Snow Sword Intent..."


    As Sister Yu named each Sword Intent, she would flick her finger, and a corresponding Sword Intent would manifest in the void. These swords of Sword Intent ranged from a bright glare like the sun, to rainbow-colored transformations, from the dazzling shine of seven stars, to snowflakes falling from the sky...


    Through these marvelous demonstrations of first-level Sword Intent, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao came to understand what the first-level Sword Intent was.


    The first-level Sword Intent encompasses the Sword Intent of All Things, derived from the moods of all things!


    ```


    Just like the Wind Sword Intent, Torrential Rain Sword Intent, Sword Intent of Thunder, and Purple Lightning Sword Intent that Ye Chen cultivated, these four great Sword Intents all originated from the Sword Intent of All Things and all are at the first-level Sword Intent!


    Previously, Sister Yu said that there were thousands of kinds of first-level Sword Intents, which is no wonder, given the myriad moods of all things. It''s naturally very difficult to master them all, and even observing the natural world for decades or centuries wouldn''t be enough to fully understand all its aspects.


    After demonstrating several kinds of first-level Sword Intents, Sister Yu flicked her finger lightly, and in an instant, Ye Chen noticed many kinds of first-level Sword Intents beginning to fuse. Under Sister Yu''s direction, a new Sword Intent started to spread toward him.


    This sensation of Sword Intent was just like when he had ventured through that Illusion Realm, observing those traces of swords - it was the same feeling!


    This was indeed Sister Yu demonstrating the second-level Sword Intent!


    "The second-level Sword Intent is the fusion of Sword Intents, extracting a deeper essence from various first-level Sword Intents.


    The first-level Sword Intent of All Things is just the surface of all things, while the second-level Sword Intent is a fusion of the essences within, like how the Wind Sword Intent contains a mood of slaughter, the Rain Sword Intent also has a Sword Intent of slaughter, the Sword Intent of Thunder contains a Sword Intent of slaughter, and the Electric Sword Intent also has a Sword Intent of slaughter.


    The Slaughter Sword Intent is an example of a second-level fusion Sword Intent!"


    Boom!


    In a moment, countless Sword of Slaughter appeared in the void around Sister Yu''s body.


    Ye Chen saw that these Sword of Slaughter were even more powerful and terrifying than the Sword of Slaughter he could control!


    Obviously, Sister Yu was demonstrating the only second-level Sword Intent Ye Chen had mastered to explain to him what the second-level Sword Intent was.


    "The second-level Sword Intent can continuously increase in power. The more first-level Sword Intents you fuse, the stronger the power will be. Like the Slaughter Sword Intent you cultivated, it is only a fusion of the slaying power of four first-level Sword Intents. But my Slaughter Sword Intent already has eighteen kinds of slaying powers fused, making it all the more powerful!"


    While Sister Yu spoke, aside from the essences of wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, glimmers of piercing light slaughter, blizzard slaughter, and flame slaughter, along with even more first-level Sword Intents, flickered on the Swords of Slaughter around her body.


    At that moment, Ye Chen had an epiphany.


    It turned out that by fusing the first-level Sword Intents of All Things and extracting the common points of the Sword Intents from all things, one could form the second-level Sword Intent. And the more first-level Sword Intents mastered, the stronger and more terrifying the second-level fusion Sword Intent would be!


    As Ye Chen came to understand, a glint of thorough enlightenment also appeared in Jiang Yao''s eyes.


    Both were prodigious youths with much stronger comprehension abilities than others; they certainly understood Sister Yu''s words!


    By comparison, Yu Luoxuan on the side still seemed somewhat confused.


    Sister Yu didn''t explain further to Yu Luoxuan, knowing that these sword Dao rules would become clear with more practice. She continued, "Slaughter Sword Intent is just one type of second-level fusion Sword Intent. There are many things in the world that can be fused, like Speed Sword Intent, which is the refinement of the swiftness of countless Sword Intents of All Things!"


    Whoosh!


    As Sister Yu spoke, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt a sword light flash through the void, and instantly, a sword light appeared dozens of meters away in the high sky.


    The speed was truly unimaginably fast!


    This Speed Sword Intent was even faster than all the Swordsmanship Ye Chen had learned!


    "There''s also this kind of fusion Sword Intent: Vibrational Sword Intent!"


    Sister Yu pointed at a piece of blue stone placed in the courtyard not far away, and in an instant, the blue stone appeared as if it were enveloped by an inexplicable Sword Intent.


    Ye Chen probed with his divine consciousness and was shocked to find that while the surface of the blue stone had not changed, its interior was violently vibrating. In just a moment, the blue stone shattered completely from the inside, pulverizing into dust.


    This was an incredibly powerful Sword Intent, Vibrational Sword Intent, and Ye Chen instantly memorized the name of this second-level Sword Intent!


    "Vibrational Sword Intent is derived from refining the vibrating frequencies of all things. This kind of vibration is very useful in battle, especially against those whose defense relies mainly on their physical bodies. Once the Vibrational Sword Intent is transmitted into their bodies, even if their external defenses are strong, the internal vibrations can directly shatter them from the inside!"


    Ye Chen nodded, indeed, this was a very useful tactic, not attacking directly from the outside, but from the more vulnerable inside!


    Slaughter Sword Intent, Speed Sword Intent, Vibrational Sword Intent...


    After demonstrating seven or eight second-level Sword Intents, Sister Yu finally spoke about the third-level Sword Intent.


    "When you master several second-level Sword Intents, you can cultivate an even more powerful third-level Sword Intent."


    "The third-level Sword Intent is called ''Sword Formation''!"


    "What is a Sword Formation? It is using second-level Sword Intents in combination to form a unified formation attack, like my ''Minor Thousand Sword Formation,'' which contains the twenty-three second-level Sword Intents I''ve cultivated so far!"


    Whoosh.


    As Sister Yu spoke, Ye Chen saw that within hundreds of feet in the distance, countless currents surged and countless sword lights flickered.


    Ye Chen could sense that that area contained at least hundreds of Swords of True Qi!


    Within these Swords of True Qi were the powers of slaughter, vibration, speed, and even a terrifying power of destruction!


    The fusion of these countless second-level Sword Intents turned that area into a veritable Sword Formation of slaughter capable of grinding everything to nothing.


    The Illusion Array that Ye Chen had previously fallen into was this Minor Thousand Sword Formation.


    Previously, Sister Yu had only presented the various Sword Intents to him and had not unleashed the true killing power of the Sword Formation.


    Now, just by looking, Ye Chen knew that the killing power of this Sword Formation could easily slay a late Spirit Sea Realm expert and, without using ultimate moves like "Void Instantaneous Change" and "Flying Sword," he might also be instantly annihilated by the Sword Formation.


    This was the power of the third-level Sword Intent!


    ```

 Chapter 173: Chapter 151 Thunderlight Sword Formation

    Manipulating hundreds of Swords of True Qi, this third level Sword Intent truly possesses more startling power compared to the second level Sword Intent!


    Ye Chen had previously been able to manipulate hundreds of Swords of True Qi as well, but those Swords of True Qi contained only one type of Sword Intent.


    However, this Sword Formation let many types of Sword Intents cooperate, causing the lethality of the hundreds of Swords of True Qi to spike to an unbelievable degree!


    This is the third level Sword Intent, with the combination of Sword Formation and Sword Intents, of course it''s more powerful than the second level that possesses only one type of Sword Intent!


    Ye Chen felt that if he mastered a few Sword Formations like this, this third level Sword Intent, his combat power would again be able to greatly increase!


    This was a new powerful attack technique!


    Ye Chen was itching to try it out.


    It wasn''t just Ye Chen, at this moment Jiang Yao and Yu Luoxuan, after seeing Sister Yu''s miraculous Sword Formation''s lethality, their eyes shimmered with light, and the two young girls also fostered the idea of cultivating the Sword Formation.


    Seeing the expression on the three of them, Sister Yu smiled gently, "During the time I teach you the way of the sword, I will instruct you in several Sword Formations, from easy to difficult. Once you''ve mastered one Sword Formation, I''ll start imparting a more powerful Sword Formation to you."


    "How much you''ll learn depends on your insight. Don''t let the eight months pass and find that not one of you three has learned even a single Sword Formation, okay?"


    "Of course not."


    "We''ll surely learn at least two or three Sword Formations."


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Yu Luoxuan all started laughing.


    "Good, then now let''s go to the backyard and begin practicing the first Sword Formation." Sister Yu, clad in a simple white dress, moved nimbly towards the backyard.


    Ye Chen and the other two followed her there.


    Sister Yu''s backyard was much more spacious than the front yard, and on the ground, one could see sword marks etched from practicing sword techniques, clearly indicating that Sister Yu often practiced her swordsmanship here.


    "From the lowest to the highest, Sword Intent can be divided into the first level ''Sword Intent of All Things,'' the second level ''Fusion Sword Intent,'' and the third level ''Sword Formation.''


    "And within the third level ''Sword Formation,'' there are differences too. Based on the number of second level Sword Intents contained within the Sword Formation, they can be classified as low-level Sword Formations, mid-level Sword Formations, and high-level Sword Formations.


    As to whether there are any Sword Formations beyond the high level, with my current level of sword cultivation, I am unable to know."


    "Low-level Sword Formations contain fewer than ten types of second level Sword Intents; mid-level Sword Formations contain fewer than one hundred types of second level Sword Intents; high-level Sword Formations contain fewer than a thousand types of second level Sword Intents!"


    "Now, I will teach you a low-level Sword Formation, and the name of this Sword Formation is ''Thunderlight Sword Formation''!"


    As Sister Yu spoke, her snowy palm flicked lightly, and thirteen beads started to float out, scattering across the sky, suspending in mid-air in a fascinating arrangement.


    Ye Chen looked towards these beads and saw faint traces of Sword Intent wafting from them.


    These beads were evidently beads that contained Sword Intents!


    Jiang Yao''s clear eyes fixated on the thirteen beads, which also sparked brightly.


    Yu Luoxuan, too, looked curiously at these beads.


    "This ''Thunderlight Sword Formation'' is the simplest one among the Eight Great Sword Formations I obtained from a great fortuitous encounter, yet its power has already reached the strength of Earth Rank attack martial skills,"


    Sister Yu said slowly.


    The simplest of the Eight Great Sword Formations possessed the power of an Earth Rank attack martial skill!


    The words of Sister Yu made Ye Chen and the other two tremble.


    Clearly, the great opportunity Sister Yu had obtained was extraordinary.


    Ye Chen thought to himself, surely powerful martial artists all had their own fortuitous encounters. He had the opportunities of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode and the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and Sister Yu also had her Sword Formation opportunity!


    Others who managed to become Spirit Sea Realm experts, Rotating Pill Realm experts, and even Heavenly Saint Realm experts of course also had their own opportunities!


    Earth Rank martial skills were still a level Ye Chen had never touched.


    Perhaps only after he cultivated the Nine Transformation Fighting Body to the Fourth Transformation would he possibly step into the realm of Earth Rank martial skills.


    Now, Yu, the elder sister, was about to teach the first Sword Formation, this "Thunderlight Sword Formation," which was an Earth Rank martial skill, and Ye Chen certainly intended to properly cultivate it.


    Not only Ye Chen, but Jiang Yao and Yu Luoxuan were also eager to start cultivating this martial skill.


    All three were geniuses; Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had obtained first place in their respective true disciple selection contests, while Yu Luoxuan was the second place winner of the selection contest. With their exceptional talents, they were naturally unafraid of the difficulty in cultivating Earth Rank martial skills.


    Yu, the elder sister, looked at the thirteen beads floating in the sky and slowly said, "To cultivate a Sword Formation, the first step is to grasp the various Sword Intents contained within the formation; the second step is to learn how to arrange the formation so that the Sword Intents complement each other; the third step is to instantaneously set up and conceal the Sword Formation."


    "This Thunderlight Sword Formation contains thirteen types of Sword Intents, among which eleven are first-level Sword Intents, and two are second-level Sword Intents. When you cultivate the Sword Formation, you''ll understand that it''s not about having more Sword Intents that''s better, but having Sword Intents that complement each other better.


    Otherwise, the Sword Formation will be difficult to construct and collapse in an instant!"


    Ye Chen and the others nodded in agreement.


    They knew that a Sword Formation, like any other formation, must be appropriately matched. Having one too many or too few could prevent the formation from taking shape.


    "The main lethality of the Thunderlight Sword Formation lies in the two second-level Sword Intents, which are ''Furious Roar'' and ''Dazzling Light''!"


    As she said this, Yu, the elder sister, looked at Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, you''ve also cultivated Thunder Sword Intent, but you''ve only extracted the power of slaughter from it.


    The ''Furious Roar'' in this ''Thunderlight Sword Formation'' is derived from the mighty rumble of thunder in the Thunder Sword Intent, supplemented by the roar of several other Sword Intents that include sound, eventually forming the lethal power of ''Furious Roar''!"


    "Watch this!"


    Yu, the elder sister, then demonstrated the lethal power of the Sword Formation.


    With a light tap of her finger, the thirteen beads of Sword Intent floating in the void shot out dozens of meters in an instant. Then, after the beads vanished, a thunderous ''Furious Roar'' suddenly erupted within the area covered by the beads!


    The noise was deafening, as if countless thunders were exploding or numerous demon beasts were howling ferociously. Standing tens of meters away, Ye Chen and the others felt as if their hearts were being furiously struck by a large drum upon hearing the sound. If one were truly in the midst of this Sword Formation, the noise alone could instantly turn one''s mind blank!


    After all, in a fight between experts, victory and defeat are often just a hair''s breadth apart. If one were to deploy this Sword Formation in a battle, the adversary might not be able to withstand the assault from the noise, and the moment they were distracted, they might be slain.


    The lethality of this ''Furious Roar'' was indeed fearsome!


    "The lethality of ''Furious Roar'' is just one aspect of the ''Thunderlight Great Formation,'' another is ''Dazzling Light''!"


    As Yu, the elder sister, spoke, the great formation made from the thirteen beads suddenly burst into endless blinding brilliance. Just looking at the piercing light from a distance was enough to dazzle one''s eyes, and if it were to directly hit the eyes, it could instantly blind the person!


    This was the lethality of Dazzling Light!


    This "Thunderlight Sword Formation" uses the lethal power of sound combined with the brilliance of Dazzling Light, together with the slash of the eleven first-level Sword Intents to easily slay anyone caught within the Sword Formation!


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Yu Luoxuan watched Yu, the elder sister, demonstrate this first type of Sword Intent and could no longer resist starting their cultivation!


    After the demonstration, the thirteen beads flew back and landed in front of them.


    Yu, the elder sister, watched the three with a faint smile and said, "Now, let''s begin with the first step of cultivating the ''Thunderlight Sword Formation,'' taking control of these thirteen types of Sword Intents!"


    "Each of you select a Sword Intent Law Bead, immerse your Divine Sense in it, and you will be able to sense the Sword Intent within."


    "Begin cultivating!"


    With Yu, the elder sister''s words, Ye Chen and the others each immersed their Divine Senses into a bead.


    Yu Luoxuan''s Divine Sense entered a bead containing the howling sound of the wind, while Jiang Yao immersed her Divine Sense into a bead containing the Sword Intent of the blazing sun''s radiance.


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense gently probed into one bead, and in an instant, he found himself in a world of dazzling multicolored light.


    This multicolored radiance was constantly bursting forth, growing increasingly dazzling and splendid!


    This was clearly the Radiant Light Sword Intent!


    With his Divine Sense immersed within, Ye Chen focused on comprehending this new kind of Sword Intent!

 Chapter 174: Chapter 152 The Ancient Tomb Appears

    "Storm Rain Sword Intent, embodying the temperament of a torrential storm, myriad rains falling from the heavens, extreme speed, instantaneous killing, piercing..."


    "Purple Lightning Sword Intent, contains the essence of purple lightning, purple rays illuminating thousands, extreme speed, lethal penetration, dazzling light..."


    "Wind Sword Intent, borne of the wind''s temperament, the wind at times heavy or light, swift or slow, sweeping all before it yet gently caressing everything..."


    "Sword Intent of Thunder, is even accompanied by the thundering roar, the thunder''s devastating force..."


    "Sword Intents are the fusion of temperament and sword techniques."


    "This ''Rosy Cloud Sword Intent'', when executed with sword technique, appears as rays of rosy light illuminating the skies, permeating the firmament."


    Ye Chen had cultivated the four major Sword Intents, and his comprehension of Sword Intents was already deeper than that of many sword arts prodigies. Immersed in the Rosy Cloud Sword Intent, Ye Chen seemed to watch sword shadows perform within the world of colorful rosy clouds, as if witnessing the birth of numerous sword techniques within this world!


    If all of this colorful rosy light could transform into swords, into sword techniques, that would be the moment of complete comprehension of the Rosy Cloud Sword Intent!


    Ye Chen had become fully engrossed in the comprehension of this new type of Sword Intent!


    Outside the thirteen Sword Intent Law Beads, Sister Yu quietly sat down as she saw Ye Chen and the others immersed in their comprehension of Sword Intents.


    "I wonder how long it will take them to comprehend the first Sword Intent from these thirteen Sword Intent Law Beads."


    Sister Yu''s gaze swept over the faces of Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Yu Luoxuan.


    "My sister has never cultivated Sword Intents, I''m afraid it may take her a long time to comprehend."


    "Sister Yao''er possesses exceptional talent; though her main focus has been on cultivating True Qi Skills, she''s also incredibly proficient at learning sword techniques. I remember Master saying, if Sister Yao''er devoted her entire mind to Sword Intent cultivation, her future achievements in the path of the sword could even surpass Master!"


    "It took me two full months to cultivate the ''Thunderlight Sword Formation'' from thirteen individual Sword Intent Law Beads, and the first bead alone took three days for me to thoroughly comprehend. Sister Yao''er should be faster than me..."


    Finally, Sister Yu''s gaze settled on Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen."


    "When I tested his comprehension of the sword path while entering the small courtyard earlier using the Sword Formation, his insight into Sword Intents was nothing short of astonishing!"


    "Just from the fact that he was able to detect the various Sword Intents in the ''Minor Thousand Sword Formation'' so quickly, his future achievements in sword cultivation will certainly be stronger than mine!"


    Sister Yu looked at Ye Chen with a admiring expression.


    Sword cultivators always hold a sense of camaraderie for those with greater talent.


    "It took me four days to comprehend the very same ''Rosy Cloud Sword Intent'' Law Bead that Ye Chen is now comprehending, from among the thirteen. I''m afraid Ye Chen might only need two days, or possibly even just one day to achieve it!"


    While Sister Yu speculated on how long it would take Ye Chen to comprehend the first Sword Intent Law Bead, her eyes suddenly widened as she looked toward him.


    Because she startlingly noticed that the endless air around Ye Chen''s body began to spontaneously surge.


    This!


    This was a sign of having touched upon the Sword Intent!


    Only by touching the Sword Intent can one''s body be permeated with Sword Intents, causing the air to surge spontaneously!


    "How long has it been, and Ye Chen has already touched upon the Rosy Cloud Sword Intent?!" Sister Yu''s beautiful eyes were filled with disbelief.


    She had already set Ye Chen''s time to fully comprehend the Rosy Cloud Sword Intent to one day, which was a terrifyingly fast pace for comprehending Sword Intents, but how much time had passed since then? From this perspective, perhaps it would not even take a day, just an hour or two for Ye Chen to comprehend this type of Sword Intent!


    This completely astonished Sister Yu!


    If Ye Chen really could comprehend the Rosy Cloud Sword Intent in just an hour or two, it meant that Ye Chen might be able to master the entire "Thunderlight Sword Formation" in less than a month!


    If that were the case, Sister Yu wouldn''t even mind passing on all eight Sword Formations she had acquired to Ye Chen for cultivation.


    Keep in mind, even though she had obtained the eight Sword Formations four years ago, she had only comprehended six of them, and she still couldn''t master the two strongest formations.


    She had been stuck on the comprehension of the last two Sword Formations for a long time.


    If Ye Chen truly possessed an extremely powerful ability to comprehend Sword Formations, perhaps he could comprehend all eight major Sword Formations faster than she did. In that case, Ye Chen might even be able to guide her in cultivating the final two major Sword Formations in return.


    Thinking of this, Sister Yu''s gaze towards Ye Chen was filled with anticipation.


    "Ye Chen, I''ve heard about the miracles you created at the True Disciple Selection Tournament, and I hope you can create another miracle in Sword Formation cultivation!"


    "In that case, maybe I''ll have hope to master the seventh Sword Formation, the high-tier ''Thousand Sword Great Formation''!"


    As Sister Yu anticipated, it didn''t take long for the countless surging strands of air around Ye Chen to suddenly burst forth with dazzling, colorful rosy lights.


    Among this blinding colorful rosy light, Sister Yu saw strings of Rosy Cloud Swords hanging inverted around Ye Chen''s body, each one diffusing magnificent Sword Intents!


    Ye Chen had indeed comprehended the ''Rosy Cloud Sword Intent'' so swiftly!


    And it only took him barely half an hour!


    Sister Yu, who had been sitting cross-legged, couldn''t help but leap to her feet!


    Ye Chen''s performance was simply incredible, surpassing all the sword masters she had ever seen, even stronger than when her master, Fairy Jia Luo, had first cultivated sword techniques!


    "A prodigy!"


    "Truly a prodigy!"


    "Perhaps in eight months, Ye Chen could master all four low-tier Sword Formations of the eight major Sword Formations, and might even master one of the two mid-tier formations!"

 Chapter 175: Chapter 152: The Ancient Tomb Appears - Part 2

    ```


    "In that case, even when facing the top sword cultivators from the three great dynasties at the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, he will definitely be able to compete with them!"


    "Over the years, the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament has always been dominated by the sword cultivators from the three great dynasties. Our thirteen countries of the Southern Heavens haven''t seen anyone claim first place in a long time. Ye Chen just might have that chance!"


    As Yu, with dreams filling her beautiful eyes, pondered this, Ye Chen opened his eyes amid the Rosy Cloud Swords suspended around him.


    The moment he opened his eyes, the Rosy Cloud Swords instantly turned into streams of air and dispersed without a trace, and seeing Yu''s gaze turn towards him, he smiled at her and then entered into the comprehension of the second Sword Intent Law Bead.


    Not long after Yu''s shock had subsided, on the other side, Jiang Yao also quickly completed her cultivation of the first Sword Intent Law Bead!


    When the girl opened her eyes while the Sword of True Qi suspended around her body radiated with unstoppable blazing sunlight, Yu was left utterly speechless.


    Her junior brother and sister were simply too formidable!


    So formidable that even as an elder sister who dedicated her whole mind to sword cultivation, she felt quite ashamed.


    Turning to look at Yu Luoxuan nearby, Yu let out an exasperated sigh, "My sister still can''t compare to those two. The two of them are the true pride of Snowdrift Peak, the true pride of our Taixuan Sect!"


    "Even compared to the geniuses from fifth-ranking sects or even fourth-ranking sects, the two of them absolutely do not pale in comparison!"


    The first day''s six hours of cultivating sword intents passed quickly.


    At the end of this first day of cultivation, Yu Luoxuan had yet to achieve anything, but Jiang Yao had already comprehended four Sword Intent Law Beads.


    And Ye Chen, the number of Sword Intent Law Beads he had comprehended, had even reached an astonishing seven, exceeding over half of the total thirteen Sword Intent Law Beads!


    When sending Ye Chen and Jiang Yao out of the courtyard, Yu was even ready to start teaching them how to construct sword formations on the second and third days!


    In the time that followed, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would come to Yu''s place every day to cultivate sword formations.


    In addition to the six hours spent on cultivating sword formations, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would cultivate together during the remaining time, stroll around the Taixuan Sect to relax, and sometimes even ride a giant fire sparrow to leave the Taixuan Sect and explore the surrounding areas.


    During these days, the relationship between Ye Chen and Jiang Yao grew closer and closer.


    Besides the two of them, the golden monkey would also often come out of the Heaven Spirit Ring to play in the Taixuan Sect. The first time Jiang Yao saw the golden monkey, she was extremely fond of the palm-sized, lively creature, and even considered the idea of finding a mystical spirit pet just like Ye Chen had.


    Time passed unnoticed, and before he knew it, Ye Chen had already been at the Taixuan Sect for over a month.


    In that month, Ye Chen had smoothly mastered the "Thunderlight Sword Formation" and the "Flash Kill Sword Formation," two types of low-tier sword formations, and had also entered into the comprehension of the third low-tier sword formation.


    And Jiang Yao was not far behind; as the sword intents she comprehended grew in number, so too did her speed of comprehension increase. Eventually, just like Ye Chen, she also mastered these two sword formations.


    Even Yu Luoxuan, although not reaching the level of controlling sword formations like the other two, had successfully mastered three types of first-tier sword intents and finally stepped into the world of sword cultivator martial skills.


    Ye Chen had thought that the life before attending the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament for eight months would pass in such days when a sudden incident abruptly occurred, disrupting his peaceful cultivation life!


    ...


    The Demon Burial Abyss is the largest abyss in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    This abyss stretches for hundreds of miles, is seven to eight miles wide, and its depth is immeasurable. The entire abyss is pitch-black, filled with violently blowing fierce winds.


    ```


    Rumors had it that this abyss was a chasm created by the clash of two Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses during the great battle between the thirteen countries of the southern sky and the ten great demon sects of the western wastelands thousands of years ago!


    In the subsequent millennia of warfare, this abyss served as the final resting place for the deceased demon cultivators of the ten great demon sects of the western wastelands; the corpses of any demon cultivators who died within the Heavenly Wind Kingdom were all thrown into its depths.


    Thus, the abyss came to be known as the "Demon Burial Abyss"!


    Legend has it that over the past few thousand years, the number of corpses from the ten great demon sects thrown into the Demon Burial Abyss might have exceeded one hundred thousand, yet no trace of the chasm being filled in was visible, which speaks to its unfathomable depth.


    Powerful cultivators in the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm once descended into this abyss, and even after sinking thousands of zhang, they still couldn''t see the bottom of the Demon Burial Abyss.


    The deeper they went, the more terrifying the remnants of the Heavenly Saint battles became, the gusts of primeval energy grew fiercer and even those late-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts dared not venture further down.


    As a place for burying demon cultivator corpses, the cultivators from the thirteen countries of the southern sky gradually ceased to tread upon this territory, which eventually turned into the domain of demon beasts, the dominion of great demons.


    There were even rumors that in the Demon Burial Abyss lived a Demon King with strength equivalent to a Rotating Pill Realm cultivator!


    The Demon Burial Abyss gradually became known as the Abyss of Demon Beasts!


    After the demon beasts occupied the Demon Burial Abyss, the reason for the cultivators from the thirteen countries of the southern sky to enter the abyss had become that of hunting these beasts.


    Over thirty days had passed since Ye Chen entered the Taixuan Sect when, one day, a disciple from the "Cloud Sky Sect," a fifth-ranked major sect in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, was pursuing a flying bat within the abyss and suddenly stumbled into an extremely secret cave below.


    Upon entering the cave and venturing deeper, the Spirit Sea Realm disciple grew increasingly apprehensive.


    To his shock, he found that instead of extending inward, the cave spiraled downwards, and after descending over a thousand zhang, the Spirit Sea Realm disciple discovered three pitch-dark gigantic coffins deep within the cave.


    Each of the three pitch-dark coffins was seven to eight zhang long and three to four zhang wide, sealed tightly shut, and despite the disciple''s efforts to pry them open, he could not make them budge in the slightest.


    In the end, the Spirit Sea Realm disciple found a huge turning disk on the wall beside the three coffins.


    A burial site of antiquity!


    The turning disk might just be the key to unlocking this ancient burial site!


    This thought immediately sprang to the Spirit Sea Realm disciple''s mind.


    As cultivators, who wouldn''t want to enter a mysterious site of ruins, to encounter serendipities and opportunities?


    An ancient burial site could very likely hold great fortunes!


    Unable to resist, the disciple reached out to twist the massive disk. As soon as his hand made contact, endless black mist instantly enveloped him completely.


    In that moment, the Spirit Sea Realm cultivator dissipated into smoke.


    And just as the Spirit Sea Realm cultivator vanished, the three pitch-dark gigantic coffins emitted endless light.


    This boundless light even pierced through the thousand-zhang-deep cave, through the pitch-black Demon Burial Deep Abyss, erupting towards the sky.


    This astonishing phenomenon caught the attention of countless cultivators nearby the Demon Burial Abyss, and even garnered the notice of immensely powerful Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    One day later, all of the Rotating Pill Realm experts in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom had gathered outside the Demon Burial Abyss.


    Even Fairy Jia Luo, the strongest in the Taixuan Sect, was among them.

 Chapter 176: Chapter 153: Gathering of the Strong

    In just one day, the number of Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses gathered outside the Demon Burial Abyss had reached the hundreds!


    All the cultivators of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, at present, can only reach as high as the Rotating Pill Realm, which is the assembly of the most powerful entities in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    After the arrival of these Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, those of the Spirit Sea Realm, who similarly could fly through the void, had been frightened into flying above the ground, not daring to set foot in the sky by even half a step!


    Those disciples in the True Qi Realm didn''t even dare to breathe too loudly, afraid of provoking the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses.


    You must know, it would be effortless for these Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses to kill someone in the True Qi Realm or the Spirit Sea Realm!


    The Rotating Pill Realm is the third major realm in martial arts cultivation, surpassing both the True Qi Realm and the Spirit Sea Realm; breaking through from the Spirit Sea Realm to the Rotating Pill Realm is even more difficult than breaking through from the True Qi Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm.


    This is also the reason why, out of the countless millions of cultivators in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there are only a mere few hundred Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses.


    To become a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, one must be able to invoke the "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth" five major Heavenly Void Laws during the breakthrough, accepting at least one or a combination of these Heavenly Void Laws.


    And once one has accepted even one of the five major Heavenly Void Laws, even without fully comprehending these laws, they will possess incredible divine abilities, incomparable by those in the Spirit Sea Realm!


    It is extremely difficult to become a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse; however, once one steps into the Rotating Pill Realm and integrates the True Qi spiritual liquid within their Spirit Sea with the descending Heavenly Void Laws to form a "Law Rotating Pill," their strength will increase to an unimaginable extent!


    Any Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse is a famous and influential figure who dominates a region in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    Now, with these hundreds of Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses arriving at the Demon Burial Abyss, it naturally caused countless Spirit Sea Realm and True Qi Realm cultivators on the ground to panic and hastily make way!


    All lower-ranked martial artists understood that with the arrival of these Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, even if the incredible phenomenon at the Demon Burial Abyss offered great benefits, it would be up to these Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses to decide how to distribute them.


    At this moment, all the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were sitting cross-legged in the void, their gazes all fixed on the astonishing light emanating from the Demon Burial Abyss.


    This astonishing light shot out from the Demon Burial Abyss and surged hundreds of feet high in the sky, forming a gigantic void column of light.


    Such phenomena were extraordinary at first sight, completely captivating the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses.


    In the end, all the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, after observing the void column of light for a long while, all looked towards a few people seated in the highest places in the void.


    These few individuals were precisely the top five Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouses of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, including Daoist Wine Sword, who had appeared at the Taixuan Sect''s true disciple selection conference and had invited Ye Chen to the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference!


    Apart from Daoist Wine Sword, the other four were from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s three major fifth-rank sects.


    From the Northern Region''s fifth-rank sect, "Cloud Sky Sect," there were two Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouses, "Yunyang" and "Daoist Yun Fang"; from the Southern Region''s fifth-rank sect, "Moon Concealing Sect," there was one Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouse named "Fairy Ni Xia"; from the Western Region''s fifth-rank sect, "Flame Sect," there was one Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouse named "Daoist Chi Mei."


    Daoist Wine Sword, Yunyang, Daoist Yun Fang, Fairy Ni Xia, Daoist Chi Mei¡ªthese five Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouses were the most formidable individuals in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    Besides these five, there were thirty-nine Rotating Pill Realm mid-stage powerhouses and over three hundred Rotating Pill Realm early-stage powerhouses.


    With such a gathering of powerhouses present, how the phenomenon at the Demon Burial Abyss would be investigated was naturally up for the most formidable figures to decide.


    Under the gaze of all the powerhouses, the five great Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouses exchanged glances, and then turned to look at Fairy Jialuo, who was sitting among the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses of the Taixuan Sect: "Jialuo, come up and join the discussion."


    Fairy Jialuo smiled lightly and stepped up to sit cross-legged beside the top five Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouses.


    Though Fairy Jialuo''s True Qi Realm was only at the Rotating Pill Realm mid-stage, and she couldn''t compare to the top five late-stage powerhouses, not even those in the Rotating Pill Realm late-stage dared to underestimate her in the slightest.


    This wasn''t only because Fairy Jialuo had once dominated numerous sword cultivators in the vast barbaric lands to take the first place in the Rotating Pill Realm Sword Fighting Conference, shocking the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    It was also because Fairy Jialuo, in a moment of earth-shattering anger, had personally slain four Rotating Pill Realm mid-stage powerhouses, making all Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses recognize that Fairy Jialuo''s strength had already reached the level of the Rotating Pill Realm late-stage!


    Just like this phenomenon at the Demon Burial Abyss, there had been several occasions in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom that had drawn all Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses due to incredible phenomena and opportunities. The decisions on how to investigate and distribute these opportunities had all been made by Fairy Jialuo!


    The six mightiest beings sat in the highest places of the void and began to discuss the affair of the astonishing phenomenon at the Demon Burial Abyss.


    Below the six mightiest beings, the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were seated, and even further below on the vast ground were the countless Spirit Sea Realm and True Qi Realm cultivators who had gathered because of the phenomenon at the Demon Burial Abyss.


    The entire area was silent, save for the celestial column of light and the low voices of the six mighty beings conversing.


    After a long time, the six mightiest beings finally finished their discussion, and Yunyang of the Cloud Sky Sect, robed in his sect''s garments, looked down upon all the cultivators below and spoke slowly, "This Demon Burial Abyss is a vast chasm left by the battle of two great Heavenly Saint powerhouses of old, and for thousands of years, it has served as the burial place for the corpses of the ten great demonic cultivators of the Western Desolation."


    "Over these years, apart from wild beasts running rampant, there have hardly been any anomalies here. Now that there is such a celestial phenomenon, it could either be a great disaster or a tremendous opportunity for our Heavenly Wind Kingdom."


    "We six have agreed to take the initiative to probe the source of this phenomenon, and afterward, we will discuss how to proceed."


    Yunyang''s words prompted the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses below to nod continuously, "We will follow the arrangements of our Daoist friends."


    The True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm cultivators on the ground, however, didn''t have the guts to speak up at all, let alone dare to discuss recklessly.


    "Chi Mei, just like the previous explorations of anomalies, let your ''Fire Spirit Puppets'' do the investigation," said Yunyang with a smile, seeing no objections below, addressing Chi Mei from the fifth-rank grand sect "Flame Sect," who had also reached the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    This Daoist Chi Mei was a middle-aged man with a broad frame, and the most striking feature was his pair of fiery red eyebrows, which looked like red flames.


    Hearing Yunyang''s words, Daoist Chi Mei smiled faintly. With a wave of his large hand, five flames appeared in his palm.


    The flames began to burn fiercely, and eventually, they seemed to come to life, transforming into five incredibly agile little firemen that flew towards the Demon Burial Abyss, from where the startling column of light had emerged.


    These five agile little firemen, each only a little over half a meter tall, emitted a powerful aura that even made the early-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses feel a tingling in their hearts.


    And the True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm martial artists kept far away from these little firemen, fearing being touched by them.


    Those who knew of Daoist Chi Mei''s methods were discussing in astonishment, "When Senior Chi Mei first stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm, he merged with the ''Fire Element Law'' from the five Heavenly Void Laws. It''s said that he has cultivated the ''Fire Element Law'' to the third layer, just one step away from completing all four layers!"


    "Once all four layers of the Fire Element Law are completed, one can become a saint of the fire law, stepping into the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    Merging with a descending Heavenly Void Law can turn one into a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, and cultivating any of the five Heavenly Void Laws to perfection allows one to become a saint of that law, stepping into the Heavenly Saint Realm, and becoming a supreme Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, delving into the ultimate mysteries of "space" and "time."


    This Daoist Chi Mei was not far from achieving the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Although he was not far from it, just lacking the final layer of comprehension for the Fire Element Law, Daoist Chi Mei had been at this stage for more than three hundred years.


    As murmurs filled the air, the five little firemen had already flown into the Demon Burial Abyss.


    With a wave of his hand, Daoist Chi Mei displayed the scenes discovered by the firemen in the void for everyone to see.


    Everyone looked toward the void to see the interior of the Demon Burial Abyss revealed as the little firemen continued their investigation.


    Seeing a two-hundred-meter-long beast lunging at the firemen, only to be incinerated to ashes by the fiery light they emitted upon contact, countless martial artists gasped in shock.


    As the firemen entered the mysterious cave, everyone saw the scene inside it and the spiraling passage descending into its depths.


    After the startling phenomenon occurred, the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses dared not rashly investigate this terrifying anomaly, preventing anyone from entering, and waited for the arrival of more powerful beings. Thus, none had seen this cave before, and they couldn''t imagine that such a mysterious cave was hidden within the Demon Burial Abyss!


    And when the five firemen stepped into the deepest part of the cave and saw the place where the startling light was emanating from, with three colossal dark coffins, even the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were visibly shaken.


    Coffins! Tombs!


    This was the sign of a great secret land!


    As powerhouses who had explored numerous fortuitous encounters, they knew that the presence of a colossal coffin always indicated the site of an ancient tomb left by a powerful being!


    The phenomenon was so extraordinary that the tomb was likely to be anything but ordinary!


    "If it were the tomb of a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, such a startling phenomenon wouldn''t occur."


    "Could it be... could it really be a Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb?!"


    Even the five late-stage powerhouses of the Rotating Pill Realm up above were somewhat moved at the thought.


    The Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb could potentially contain a great treasure or collection left by the Heavenly Saint, and even more likely, the "Law Relic" that the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses dreamt of obtaining!


    It was known that any Heavenly Saint who fully cultivated one of the "metal, wood, water, fire, earth" Heavenly Void Laws would, upon their death, not disperse their complete law. Instead, it would transform into a "Law Relic" within the ancient tomb.


    This Law Relic was of great use to the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses in comprehending laws and was a coveted treasure many would vie for!


    Unfortunately, the demise of a Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse was exceedingly rare.


    Although many had entered the remains or cultivation caves left by Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, no one had ever entered a Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    If this truly was a Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, then all Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses would go mad with excitement!

 Chapter 177: Chapter 154: The Fall of the Heavenly Saint

    Of course it''s madness!


    Let''s not even mention the most important "Law Relic"; just the treasures on a Heavenly Saint Realm expert alone are probably worth more than the total secret hoard of a fifth-rank sect!


    How could the relics and secret sites left by those Heavenly Saint Realm experts compare to the treasures in the Heavenly Saint Mausoleum!


    Not to speak of Heavenly Saints, any cultivator always carries their most important treasures on them, and it''s these most important treasures that are most likely to be found in their tombs after death!


    Thinking of this, all the experts present, even those in the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, had fiery looks in their eyes.


    But whether this phenomenon was really emanating from the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, no one dared to be certain.


    "In my Heavenly Wind Kingdom, I''ve never heard of a fallen Heavenly Saint!"


    "Even in the great battle with the ten demon sects of the Western Wasteland, the fallen Heavenly Saints were within other nations, and their bodies were taken away by the living Heavenly Saints long ago!"


    "All the Heavenly Saints that appeared in my Heavenly Wind Kingdom later went to other territories. Even those whose lifespans were about to end went to the Polar Star Archipelago and Chaotic Sea of the Barbarian Wilderness to seek their last opportunity!"


    "If this is really a Heavenly Saint ancient tomb, then which Heavenly Saint''s resting place could it be?"


    Countless strong warriors looked towards the three dark giant coffins.


    At this moment, five little flame figures had already discovered the huge azure stone twist disc beside the three dark giant coffins.


    One little flame figure went straight towards the huge twist disc and started to turn it.


    The Spirit Sea Realm cultivator who had discovered the mysterious cave earlier had enveloped their entire body with the endless black aura from the giant twist disc, turning into smoke and triggering the heaven-shaking phenomenon of the cave.


    This time, however, as the little flame figure turned the giant twist disc, it didn''t turn into smoke. Instead, as it twisted, the twist disc began to make a "kacha kacha kacha" sound.


    This sound made everyone''s nerves tense!


    Clearly, everyone realized that this huge twist disc was the method to open the giant coffin!


    When the twist disc had made a full turn, an endless rumbling sound suddenly erupted throughout the cave. Amidst the endless rumbling, the colossal void light pillar that had shot out from the cave and rose hundreds of feet into the sky above Demon Burial Abyss suddenly retracted.


    As all the light returned to the three giant coffins, the lids of these three huge dark coffins opened simultaneously, revealing three coffin mouths radiating endless light.


    "The entrance to the ancient tomb!"


    "It really is an ancient tomb!"


    All the cultivators'' breathing tightened.


    Although they had never entered the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, they had explored other ancient tombs and had read many ancient texts about tombs.


    The cultivators knew that an ancient tomb usually had multiple entrances.


    Most of these entrances are Gates of Death. Anyone who enters them falls into the deadly traps set by the tomb owner.


    You must not barge into the Gates of Death!


    Only one entrance is the true Gate of Life, where the tomb owner truly rests and where the real treasures are located!


    Although there may be numerous dangers inside the Gate of Life, according to the customs of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, any fallen cultivator would always leave a thread of chance for posterity, a rule that allows exploration of ancient tomb opportunities.


    As long as one does not trigger the untouchable areas of the tomb owner, entering the ancient tomb still offers a great opportunity to find treasures and to survive.


    Upon seeing infinite light emanating from the three giant coffins and revealing the entrance to the ancient tomb, everyone understood that one of these three entrances was the location of the Gate of Life leading into the ancient tomb.


    Investigate!


    Of course, they had to investigate which entrance was the Gate of Life and to what level the ancient tomb belonged!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Under the control of Daoist Chi Mei''s Divine Sense, three of the five little flame figures flew into the three giant coffin entrances.


    As they flew in, the three little flame figures vanished from sight.


    A half-incense-stick of time later, amidst everyone''s anxious waiting, the little flame figure that had flown into the entrance of the rightmost giant coffin suddenly came flying out, holding a white jade Spirit Plaque in its hand!


    The moment the little flame figure flew out, Daoist Chi Mei, who was using his Divine Sense to control the little flame figure, also suddenly opened his eyes, disbelief evident in his gaze, "The rightmost one is the entrance to the ancient tomb!"


    "Fellow Daoists, this truly is the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb; it is actually ''Heavenly Saint Linghua''s'' burial ground!"


    "What?!" As Daoist Chi Mei uttered the four words "Heavenly Saint Linghua," many of the Rotating Pill Realm strong warriors who knew of Heavenly Saint Linghua''s name revealed an incredulous look, and the two late-stage Rotating Pill Realm strong warriors from Cloud Sky Sect, Daoist Yunyang and Daoist Yun Fang, even cried out in shock.


    Heavenly Saint Linghua was the very Heavenly Saint who, thousands of years ago, had cleaved open the "Demon Burial Abyss," a gorge hundreds of miles long, several miles wide, and unfathomably deep!


    In that earth-shattering battle thousands of years ago, four Heavenly Saints from across the thirteen southern countries participated, with the ten demon sects of the Western Wasteland deploying three Heavenly Saints.


    Among them, on the battlefield within the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Heavenly Saint Linghua from "Cloud Sky Sect" and ''Heavenly Saint Moya'' from the Defying Demon Sect fought a battle so fierce that it split open even the Demon Burial Abyss.


    After the battle, everyone failed to find traces of these two great Heavenly Saints, and even the other Heavenly Saints could not detect their presence; everyone thought that these two had annihilated each other into ashes in their final cataclysmic clash.


    It is well known that a battle at the Heavenly Saint level easily results in both parties being reduced to ash!


    Because of that battle, "Cloud Sky Sect" and "Defying Demon Sect", which were fourth-rank sects at the time, both fell to the status of fifth-rank sects.


    No one had expected that thousands of years later, in the "Demon Burial Abyss" cleaved open by the hands of these two great Heavenly Saints, the ancient tomb of Heavenly Saint Linghua would be discovered!


    This of course shocked countless cultivators incredibly.


    This of course made the two late-stage Rotating Pill Realm strong warriors from Heavenly Saint Linghua''s sect, "Cloud Sky Sect", cry out in astonishment!


    "Heavenly Saint Linghua, a supreme genius of my Heavenly Wind Kingdom years ago, a Heavenly Saint well-known for his good nature!"


    "He actually didn''t turn into ashes in the battle against ''Heavenly Saint Moya'' that year; he lived on and even left behind an ancient tomb!"


    "He must have been severely injured that year, and since there were other Heavenly Saints present on the battlefield, he couldn''t show himself again, so he hid within the ''Demon Burial Abyss''!"


    "Good heavens."


    "This is a great opportunity for our Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Although Heavenly Saint Linghua eventually fell, he must have left a great opportunity for the younger generation of our country!"


    "Our Heavenly Wind Kingdom hasn''t produced a Heavenly Saint for a long time. Could this be an opportunity for our country?"


    All the cultivators in the Rotating Pill Realm held their breath in anticipation.


    When two of the small flame figures died in the Gate of Death, and the remaining three emerged from the Gate of Life carrying the white jade Spirit Plaque, Daoist Yunyang of the Cloud Sky Sect immediately fixed his gaze on this white jade Spirit Plaque.


    Once Daoist Chi Mei recaptured the small flame figures and handed the white jade Spirit Plaque to Daoist Yunyang, who inspected it, he was greatly moved, "This Spirit Plaque, it truly belongs to the ''Heavenly Saint Linghua'' from our sect!"


    Another member of the Cloud Sky Sect, Daoist Yun Fang, also examined it and nodded in shock.


    With both powerhouses from the Cloud Sky Sect confirming this item, it seemed that this really was the site of Heavenly Saint Linghua''s ancient tomb!


    "Quick, see if there are any rules for entering the tomb recorded on this Spirit Plaque!"


    "Since the ancient tomb was left by Heavenly Saint Linghua, he must have left many treasures for the cultivators of our Heavenly Wind Kingdom!"


    Hearing that it was truly the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, countless Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were overjoyed.


    At that moment, Yunyang began to examine the Spirit Plaque with his Divine Sense, holding it against his forehead.


    After a thorough investigation, he furrowed his brow and passed the Spirit Plaque to several other strong individuals.


    Eventually, all six powerhouses in the sky had examined the Spirit Plaque, and all of them furrowed their brows.


    Furrowed brows?


    Could there be some difficulty with the rules for entering the tomb inscribed on this Spirit Plaque?


    Seeing the six powerhouses all with furrowed brows, everyone became curious.


    Finally, Fairy Jia Luo spoke up, "Just like other Heavenly Saints, Heavenly Saint Linghua''s tomb only opens for certain individuals."


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words made the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses anxious, "Jia Luo, what exactly does the Spirit Plaque say about the rules for entering the tomb?"


    All ancient tombs have rules for entry, which are the sole demands of the tomb''s master. To enter the tomb, one must of course follow these rules.


    It seems that Heavenly Saint Linghua''s rules for tomb entry determine the selection of those who may enter?


    Fairy Jia Luo slowly said, "The Spirit Plaque left by Heavenly Saint Linghua states clearly that only people in the Spirit Sea Realm may enter his ancient tomb!"


    Upon hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s words, all Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses realized why the six earlier powerhouses had all furrowed their brows.


    The Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, not to mention its appeal to those in the True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm, of course held a great attraction for Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses as well.


    To think the tomb''s rules prohibit those in the Rotating Pill Realm from entering, preventing them from personally searching for its treasures¡ªthis naturally caused the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses to frown!


    While the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses frowned, the disciples in the True Qi Realm showed expressions of disappointment, as it was obvious the tomb was now irrelevant to them.


    However, the Spirit Sea Realm disciples, upon hearing the rule, showed excited expressions.


    Although these Spirit Sea Realm disciples knew that, even if only they could enter the ancient tomb, most of the treasures found would likely end up in the hands of the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, just being able to enter the tomb meant they had a chance at obtaining benefits!


    Such an opportunity falling into their laps was naturally cause for excitement!


    If the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses could enter the tomb, then they wouldn''t even dare dream of receiving any benefits!


    In the end, the six powerhouses holding the tomb''s Spirit Plaque began to coordinate arrangements for entering the ancient tomb.


    Even if they couldn''t enter the tomb themselves, they still needed to control the entrance to the tomb, deciding who could enter was obviously within their power to dictate.


    Ultimately, the six powerhouses agreed that the Spirit Sea Realm individuals eligible to enter the tomb would be selected from the various major sects.


    The three major fifth-grade sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom¡ªthe Cloud Sky Sect, the Moon Concealing Sect, and the Flame Sect¡ªwould each have thirty spots.


    The Taixuan Sect, among the ten major sixth-grade sects, would each be able to choose ten disciples to enter the tomb.


    As for the forty-three seventh-grade sects, each sect was only allotted three spots.


    The seventh-grade and lower sects, the eighth-grade sects, didn''t even possess the qualifications to enter the tomb!


    Daoist Wine Sword, an independent cultivator, like the fifth-grade sects, was also permitted to allow thirty Spirit Sea Realm independent cultivators to enter the tomb.


    In the end, the number of people who could enter the tomb was set at three hundred forty-nine.


    The agreed-upon distribution of treasures was that any treasure found by a sect disciple allowed that sect''s Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses to take half for their own distribution, with the other half left to the disciple who found it. Independent cultivators who found treasures would, of course, need to share with Daoist Wine Sword.


    As for who would obtain the most important "Law Relic," they would have the opportunity to study the "Law Relic" together with the six major powerhouses!


    The Law Relic, of course, was not something the six powerhouses would allow to fall into the hands of others!


    The six major powerhouses continued making arrangements to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    But what no one knew was that, including the Spirit Sea Realm disciple who had touched the huge twist disc and turned into smoke the day before, over the past few thousand years, a total of one hundred people had inadvertently entered this cave, and all had turned to smoke upon touching the huge twist disc.


    It was the death of these one hundred individuals that had triggered the astonishing phenomena of the ancient tomb''s unveiling.


    If these facts were known, all powerhouses familiar with the name of Heavenly Saint Linghua would hesitate.


    For Heavenly Saint Linghua was known for his great kindness within the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. How could his tomb have possibly caused the death of a hundred people just to open?!


    Was this ancient tomb truly a great opportunity for the Heavenly Wind Kingdom?


    Or was it, perhaps, a hidden catastrophe waiting to unfold!

 Chapter 178: Chapter 155 Half-step Spiral Pill

    The oddities of the ancient tomb were, of course, unknown to the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses.


    Armed with the Heavenly Saint Linghua''s jade token, all the strong cultivators were determined to seize this grand opportunity!


    Although they couldn''t enter the tomb directly with their Rotating Pill Realm cultivation, they would definitely select their most valued disciples to enter the tomb on their behalf.


    The six powerhouses'' arrangements met no objections, as the sects of the Seventh, Sixth, and Fifth ranks, where Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses resided, all had the chance to be allocated treasures.


    And the True Qi Realm cultivators from the Eighth-rank sects, who were not given the chance to enter the tomb, could only comply with the arrangements under such a major trend, not daring to oppose in the least.


    After all, this was a significant event valued by all Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom; they wouldn''t dare show any disrespect!


    Just as their matters were not for True Qi Realm disciples to interfere with.


    What the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses had decided, these Spirit Sea Realm individuals certainly didn''t dare to meddle with!


    Once all arrangements were made, the six powerhouses entered the entrance of the ancient tomb together, and jointly cast their Cultivation Techniques to completely seal it, leaving behind a Divine Sense Seal to protect it.


    Then, they jointly announced that there would be a month''s time to summon and select those who would enter the tomb, and after that month, the adventure into the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb would officially commence!


    After all the arrangements were completed, hundreds of Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses returned to their sects to prepare for the big event of entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb after a month.


    The selection of individuals to enter the tomb was related to the distribution of their benefits, which they of course treated with the utmost seriousness.


    The major event of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb being hidden within the "Burial Demon Abyss" stirred up great waves throughout the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom as Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses returned to their sects to select the Spirit Sea Realm disciples who would enter the tomb.


    All sects, and even unaffiliated cultivators, were paying attention to this significant event.


    The three major Fifth-rank sects, along with the Drunken Sword Immortal, each had thirty quota spots, and among these sects and the unaffiliated cultivators, there were more than enough powerful Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, making the selection fiercely competitive.


    Some sects held selection competitions, while others had their powerhouses directly appoint those who would enter the tomb.


    Everyone was preparing for the entrance to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb a month later, and these selections would be finalized then.


    After Taixuan Sect''s Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses like Fairy Jia Luo returned to the sect, they also began discussing the arrangements for the quotas to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    As a Sixth-rank sect, Taixuan Sect had ten spots to enter the tomb, far fewer than the Fifth-rank sects.


    Accordingly, the chances of obtaining treasures from the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb would also be much less.


    In the end, the powerhouses of Taixuan Sect decided to determine the entrants based on the Spirit Rankings.


    Those who made it to the top ten of the Spirit Rankings before entering the tomb would receive Taixuan Sect''s ten spots.


    After all, the higher the ranking on the Spirit Board, the stronger the cultivation, increasing the likelihood of competing with disciples from other sects in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb and seizing treasures.


    When the news spread throughout Taixuan Sect, all the true inheritance disciples began a frantic rush for the Spirit Rankings.


    Taixuan Sect''s Spirit Rankings were based on true transmission points.


    The acquisition of true transmission points could be achieved in various ways: executing various sect tasks, earning true transmission points through trials in the sect''s three major trial grounds, or challenging other true inheritance disciples to seize their points, all of which could increase one''s own points and rank on the Spirit Board.


    True inheritance disciples from the Eight Great Inner Peaks, intent on surging up the Spirit Rankings, flooded the various trial grounds, undertaking numerous sect tasks, and even the "True Inheritance Battle Platform" for disciple challenges became overcrowded.


    The rankings on Taixuan Sect''s true inheritance Spirit Board shifted constantly.


    Everyone was watching the Spirit Rankings, eager to see which ten individuals would ultimately earn the right to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    After the regulations for Taixuan Sect''s ten entrants to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb were established, Fairy Jia Luo returned to Snowdrift Peak.


    Once back at Snowdrift Peak, she summoned Jiang Yao to the "Snowdrift Residence" at the peak''s summit¡ªand Ye Chen accompanied Jiang Yao inside Snowdrift Residence.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao heard about the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, both were taken aback.


    They had both entered the relics of the Heavenly Saint previously¡ªthe Thousand Lotus Cave Abode where they met was part of the Heavenly Saint''s relics!


    But neither had ever entered the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb¡ªthe tomb bearing the Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses was indeed a major event in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    "Master, Yao''er will surely enter the tomb and strive to seize that ''Law Relic'' for you!" said Jiang Yao firmly to Fairy Jia Luo, after hearing about the immensely important Law Relic in the tomb, accessible only to Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses.


    Watching Jiang Yao''s earnest little face, Fairy Jia Luo stroked her head, "Yao''er, I called you here not for that ''Law Relic''."


    "You have cultivated the bloodline secret technique to the second layer and can now overpower late-stage Spirit Sea powerhouses, but you are still not on par with those half-step Rotating Pill disciples."


    "Our Taixuan Sect only has two half-step Rotating Pill disciples, but there are quite a few in those three major Fifth-rank sects. In the end, it''s likely that those half-step Rotating Pill disciples will seize that ''Law Relic''!"


    "Yao''er, remember, this Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb is not only highly beneficial for Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, but also precious to Spirit Sea Realm cultivators. After entering, you don''t need to compete with those half-step Rotating Pill disciples for the ''Law Relic.'' Just find opportunities that suit you," she added.

 Chapter 179: Chapter 155 Half-Step Rotating Pill_2

    ```


    "In this Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, all the Great Sects from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom have sent their disciples to enter, and the underlying currents here are turbulent. I am confident in your strength, but you must also be extremely careful!"


    The opportunity to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb was something Fairy Jia Luo, of course, would not let Jiang Yao miss, and with Jiang Yao''s strength, securing a spot in the top ten of the Taixuan Sect''s Spirit Ranking was practically guaranteed!


    Fairy Jia Luo carefully instructed Jiang Yao, but did not say much to Ye Chen who was next to her.


    After all, although Ye Chen''s strength was incredibly powerful, his cultivation level was only the eleventh layer of the True Qi Realm, which had not yet stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, rendering him unqualified to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    Fairy Jia Luo did not believe that Ye Chen could break through to the Spirit Sea Realm in just one month, and the matter of entering the ancient tomb hadn''t crossed her mind regarding Ye Chen at all; this was also why she had only called for Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen, who was standing to the side, suddenly spoke up, "Sect Leader, what exactly is the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm?"


    When Ye Chen had walked with Jiang Yao within the Taixuan Sect, he had seen the Taixuan Sect''s Spirit Ranking, where Jin Lieyang, who was at the top of the ranking at the time, had reached the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm.


    Ye Chen had heard of the Spirit Sea Realm and the Rotating Pill Realm but had never heard of Half-Step Rotating Pill, and at that time, he had wondered what the Half-Step Rotating Pill was.


    Although it was strange, immersed in his training within sword formations at that time, he had not paid attention to the concept of the Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    Now, hearing Fairy Jia Luo mention that even Jiang Yao was no match for those disciples in the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm and fearing Jiang Yao might enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb alone, Ye Chen was worried.


    This Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb was different from the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode and the ancestral secret realm he once entered.


    Entry into the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode was an opportunity for only a select few who could enter, and even that was after long intervals, whereas the ancestral secret realm was a unique opportunity for the three clans, where discord was naturally not expected among the disciples of the clans who entered.


    But the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb was different.


    This Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb involved the relics of the Heavenly Saints and the "Law Relics," coveted even by those past the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm; disciples from five-rank and six-rank Great Sects all entered, and one could imagine how terrifying the strife and slaughter inside must be without thinking!


    It was even possible that one could die at the hands of other sects'' disciples after obtaining treasures.


    Letting Jiang Yao face such danger alone naturally made Ye Chen uneasy, and of course, he wanted to make things clear!


    Fairy Jia Luo looked at Ye Chen, smiled, and spoke, "Ye Chen, your strength is also about to touch the Half-Step Rotating Pill level. Let me explain these things to you."


    "You already know about the True Qi Realm and the Spirit Sea Realm. The True Qi Realm involves taking in the True Qi of the heavens and earth into the Qi Sea, while the Spirit Sea Realm involves turning the Qi Sea into a Spirit Sea, transforming gaseous True Qi into liquid True Qi¡ªSpiritual Liquid!"


    Ye Chen nodded; he, of course, understood all of this now.


    Fairy Jia Luo continued, "Upon stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, there are two expansions of the Spirit Sea. With each expansion, one can advance a sub-stage within the Spirit Sea Realm. The first expansion moves one from the early Spirit Sea stage to the middle Spirit Sea stage, and the second expansion moves one from the middle Spirit Sea stage to the late Spirit Sea stage."


    "After stepping into the late Spirit Sea stage and filling the Spirit Sea with Spiritual Liquid, preparations must begin for the assault on the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    "To charge into the Rotating Pill Realm from the Spirit Sea Realm, one must meet two conditions.


    The first is for all the liquid Spiritual Liquid within the Spirit Sea to condense into a solid True Qi Rotating Pill, and the second is for this solid Rotating Pill to draw down the ''Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth'' Five Heavenly Void Laws, integrating one or several of these Heavenly Void Laws into the Rotating Pill!"


    ```


    "When the solid-state Rotating Pill is formed and infused with the Heavenly Void Law, it then becomes a true ''Law Rotating Pill,'' and you step into the Rotating Pill Realm, becoming a powerful practitioner of the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    "''Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth''¡ªthe five major Heavenly Void Laws¡ªare connected to all things between heaven and earth, and all things are born from these five major Heavenly Void Laws.


    Once you step into the Rotating Pill Realm and use the Heavenly Void Laws integrated into your Rotating Pill, you can easily sense the subtleties of the Five Elements between heaven and earth and unleash unbelievable Great Divine Powers!"


    "When I first entered the Rotating Pill Realm, I merged the ''Metal, Fire, Water'' three types of Heavenly Void Laws. These three Laws allowed me to easily sense the mysteries of Metal, Fire, Water True Qi in the void, to perform Void Shuttles, and to comprehend the Laws!"


    As Fairy Jia Luo spoke, a strange Spiritual Pattern flashed between her eyebrows.


    This Spiritual Pattern was a Law Spirit Pattern, an outward manifestation of the Law Rotating Pill within her body!


    "I merged three types of Laws. Some have merged two or even just one, and there are those who have merged four or even five Laws. However, no matter how many Laws are merged, one must cultivate one of the five major Heavenly Void Laws to Great Perfection in order to step into the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "Currently, out of the ''Metal, Fire, Water'' three great Laws, only the Metal Law has reached the third level, while the other two are still at the second level, so there is still a long way to go before reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm."


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words helped Ye Chen understand what the Rotating Pill Realm and the Heavenly Saint Realm were.


    It turns out that to reach the Rotating Pill Realm it''s not only necessary to transform the liquid state True Qi Spiritual Liquid into a solid state True Qi Rotating Pill, but also to summon the descent of the Five Major Heavenly Void Laws!


    Ye Chen had heard that Laws are a force stronger than insights.


    He was still at the stage of comprehending insights, so understanding the Laws was still very far away from him.


    No wonder it''s said that the masters of the Rotating Pill Realm are incomparably powerful¡ªit''s because they are associated with the descended Heavenly Laws!


    And the Heavenly Saint Realm is even more terrifying, not only possessing descending Heavenly Laws but also cultivating the Laws to Great Perfection! Such individuals can truly be called the supreme powerhouses of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    As Ye Chen pondered, Fairy Jia Luo added, "You just asked, what is a Half-Step Rotating Pill."


    "A Half-Step Rotating Pill is when a practitioner in the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm fails to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm, completing only one of the two critical steps.


    That is, they have already turned all the Spiritual Liquid in their body into a solid Rotating Pill, but did not successfully summon the Heavenly Void Law, so the Rotating Pill did not integrate with any of the five major Heavenly Void Laws."


    "Such cultivators are referred to as Half-Step Rotating Pill practitioners!"


    "Everyone has only one chance to summon the descent of the Five Major Heavenly Void Laws. Those who fail in their assault on the Rotating Pill Realm as Half-Step Rotating Pill practitioners will no longer have the possibility of entering the Rotating Pill Realm."


    "However, their strength is not to be underestimated. When they turn all the liquid state Spiritual Liquid into a solid Rotating Pill, the myriad True Qi of heaven and earth will merge into the Rotating Pill at the same time, and their True Qi content will surge to unbelievable levels, definitely far surpassing that of a Spirit Sea late-stage cultivator."


    "Moreover, having no chance to step into the Rotating Pill Realm, they devote all their efforts to the practice of Martial Skills. Any person at Half-Step Rotating Pill stage has mastered incredibly powerful Martial Skills, and may even cultivate top-grade earth-level Martial Skills equivalent to the Power of Laws!"


    "So, Ye Chen, Yao''er, even though the two of you are very powerful and can suppress even late-stage Spirit Sea Realm practitioners, do not lightly provoke someone at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage!"


    Fairy Jia Luo looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, speaking earnestly.

 Chapter 180: Chapter 156: The Astonishing Twins

    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao nodded at the same time.


    Previously, Jiang Yao had some understanding of the Half-Step Rotating Pill. Now, hearing her master say such, she began to place even more importance on the masters of the Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    And Ye Chen finally understood that within the Spirit Sea Realm, there existed such a special level as the Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    "The amount of True Qi in a Half-Step Rotating Pill master is incomparably strong. Perhaps only after I step into the Spirit Sea Realm and further increase the quantity of Gang Yuan True Qi in my body, will I be able to contend with them in terms of True Qi power," he thought.


    "Moreover, the powerful Martial Skills they possess, some even being upper-grade Earth-tier Martial Skills, are equivalent in power to a high-order Sword Formation. I have not even cultivated a high-order Sword Formation yet, so I definitely need to be extremely cautious," he reflected.


    "However, I also have the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, Void Instantaneous Change, and Flying Sword Killing Move. If I encounter them, I am not without means to respond," he reasoned.


    Ye Chen considered the gap between himself and a Half-Step Rotating Pill master.


    After Fairy Jia Luo explained what a Half-Step Rotating Pill was, she smiled at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, saying, "Alright, the matter I wanted to tell you about is concerning the ''Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.''


    "Ya''er, in this month''s time, further enhance your strength. When you enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, be cautious in obtaining the opportunities meant for you," she advised.


    "Ye Chen, although you cannot enter the tomb, you must not slacken. You have already been practicing the Sword Formation for over a month with your senior sister Yu. With more than six months until the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, you must continue to work hard," she encouraged.


    As Fairy Jia Luo spoke, Ye Chen suddenly interrupted, "Sect Leader, I wish to enter the ''Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb'' with Jiang Yao this time."


    "Enter together?" Fairy Jia Luo was taken aback by Ye Chen''s words, "You''re only at eleventh level of True Qi right now; you need to be in the Spirit Sea Realm to qualify to enter the tomb. Do you think you can advance to the Spirit Sea Realm within a month?"


    Jiang Yao''s clear eyes also turned to Ye Chen. She was very willing to hear Ye Chen say he wanted to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb with her, but like her master, she also worried that Ye Chen would not be able to step into the Spirit Sea Realm in such a short time.


    After all, Ye Chen was still one whole cultivation level away from the Spirit Sea Realm, and no one could guarantee a successful breakthrough from the True Qi Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Ye Chen looked at the girl beside him who was watching him with concern, gave a soft smile, and then turned to Fairy Jia Luo: "Since there is still a month before entering the tomb, that''s enough time for me to make a break for the Spirit Sea Realm."


    Ye Chen had absolute confidence in stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm because he had a Rotating Pill that could guarantee him a one hundred percent chance of stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, which was even more miraculous than a top-grade Quintessence Spirit Seed!


    All Ye Chen needed to do was break through to the twelfth level of True Qi, then take the Rotating Pill, and he could make a breakthrough into the Spirit Sea Realm to become a powerhouse of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    In their time at Taixuan Sect over the past month, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had practiced the Sword Formation together, making great gains while also increasing their True Qi every day. With one more month''s time, he had absolute confidence he could reach the twelfth level of True Qi.


    He had not been in a hurry to rush into the Spirit Sea Realm, but with the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, he had to advance if he wanted to enter with Jiang Yao¡ªthe Spirit Sea Realm was an imperative target now!


    Ye Chen planned to step into the Spirit Sea within this month!


    Seeing Ye Chen speak with full confidence that he could step into the Spirit Sea Realm within a month, Jiang Yao''s eyes sparkled with excitement.


    Ye Chen''s strength, claiming a spot in the top ten of the Taixuan Sect''s Spirit Rankings, was no difficulty, with the only thing missing being the requirement of the Spirit Sea Realm. If Ye Chen truly could step into the Spirit Sea and enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb with her, that would be great!


    Thinking of this, the girl also became excited.


    Jiang Yao never doubted Ye Chen''s words. She thought to herself, if Ye Chen said he could step into the Spirit Sea within a month, then he definitely could!


    "Are you really confident that you can step into the Spirit Sea within a month?" Fairy Jia Luo looked at Ye Chen and smiled lightly upon seeing him nod again, "If that''s the case, then even better."


    "You and Ya''er entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb together would be able to look after each other. Along with our sect''s other two Half-Step Rotating Pill disciples, you will not be at too much of a disadvantage when competing with those disciples from the fifth-grade sects," she stated.


    "Ye Chen, I look forward to hearing the good news of you stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm in a month!" she expressed.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao left Snowdrift Residence at the peak of Snowdrift Peak, Jiang Yao took Ye Chen''s hand, and her clear beautiful eyes looked into his, "Ye Chen, what do you plan to do next¡ªfocus on True Qi, or continue to train the Sword Formation with senior sister Yu?"


    "The Spirit Rankings, we need to make a push for them as well. I heard there have been major changes in the rankings recently, and we need to ensure we stay in the top ten," she highlighted.


    Looking at the girl''s expectant gaze, Ye Chen gently pinched Jiang Yao''s fair and tender cheek and said with a smile, "Let''s continue to practice the Sword Formation with senior sister Yu. The remaining time should be enough to cultivate True Qi."


    "As for the Spirit Rankings, didn''t they say we could quickly acquire true transmission points from the three major trial grounds? Let''s make a specific effort to push for the rankings in the last few days!" he planned.


    "Alright," Jiang Yao nodded her small head, "Then we''ll still focus on the Sword Formation. We''re almost done with the third Sword Formation, the ''Hidden Wind Sword Formation''. We strive to move on to the fourth Sword Formation before entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb."


    As they talked, they made their way to the residence of senior sister Yu, located on the mountainside of Snowdrift Peak.


    In the following days, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao still trained for six hours a day in the Sword Formation at senior sister Yu''s place, and the rest of the time, they started to focus mainly on cultivating True Qi.


    Senior sister Yu, who was researching the seventh high-order Sword Formation, had no plans to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb and was not specifically aiming to push for the true transmission rankings.

 Chapter 181: Chapter 156: The Astonishing Twins_2

    Snowdrift Peak was considered the most serene among the eight Inner Peaks of Taixuan Sect.


    However, the other Inner Peaks were a different story, as the true disciples went crazy trying to break into the top ten of the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking and secure a spot in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    Especially the disciples in the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm who had the strength to reach the top ten, they were all furiously gathering true transmission points by various means every day.


    Under the influence of these late-stage Spirit Sea Realm disciples, the other true disciples also strived with unmatched effort, causing their true transmission points to skyrocket!


    The rankings of Taixuan Sect''s True Inheritance Spirit Ranking changed daily.


    Amidst these changes, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who were focusing on cultivation without actively pursuing true transmission points, saw their rankings plummet rapidly.


    When more than ten days passed, Jiang Yao''s situation was slightly better; she slid from third to thirty-ninth on the ranking, while Ye Chen had been practicing under Sister Yu ever since he joined Taixuan Sect and had never specifically sought true transmission points.


    His true transmission points remained at just over ten thousand, which he had obtained during the true disciple selection conference.


    Ye Chen''s ranking plummeted directly from twenty-eighth to one hundred and seventy-eight!


    When there were only ten days left before the month was up, Ye Chen even disappeared from the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, dropping out of the top three hundred!


    And Jiang Yao also fell to beyond one hundred!


    "How come Sister Jiang Yao''s ranking has dropped so much? Does she not plan to aim for the top ten of the Spirit Ranking and enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb?"


    "With such a huge opportunity like the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, is she going to miss it?!"


    All true disciples were paying close attention to the Spirit Ranking, and when they saw Jiang Yao''s rank continuously falling, everyone took notice.


    After all, Jiang Yao was the favorite disciple of Fairy Jia Luo, the most powerful figure in Taixuan Sect, and was also widely recognized as Taixuan Sect''s number one talent, naturally drawing immense attention.


    As for Ye Chen, apart from a few who still remembered him, many people had long forgotten this youth who had shown brilliant talent during the selection of true disciples.


    After all, since Ye Chen had joined Taixuan Sect, he had been very low-profile.


    When there were only seven days left before the entry to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, and also seven days until the top ten rankings of the Spirit Ranking were finalized, on that day, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who had completed the training for all four Sword Formations, finally came out of Sister Yu''s courtyard.


    The two planned to temporarily stop their Sword Formation training and start preparing for entry into the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    During this time, Ye Chen''s True Qi Realm had finally advanced smoothly to the twelfth layer, and he now had twelve grand Gang Yuan True Qi vortices inside his body, giving his True Qi power yet another significant boost!


    Ye Chen was fully prepared for the breakthrough to Spirit Sea Realm!


    However, before attempting the Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen first planned to challenge for the top ten of the Spirit Ranking!


    While the other true disciples had been madly pursuing the Spirit Ranking for over twenty days, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, as a pair, finally decided to put a stop to their sliding ranks and start their charge at the Spirit Ranking!


    The first destination they went to together was one of the three major trial sites for earning true transmission points in Taixuan Sect, the "Phantom Beast Tower"!


    The Phantom Beast Tower, a place where Taixuan Sect''s true disciples could enter once a month.


    Killing Phantom Beasts within it granted true transmission points, and the more powerful the beasts slain during this one chance, the more points one would earn.


    This was the most important spot for the sect''s true disciples to gain true transmission points, where those ranked higher would widen the gap by earning points particularly within this Phantom Beast Tower.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao arrived at the Phantom Beast Tower together, the true disciple in charge of overseeing the trials at the tower unconsciously rubbed his eyes.


    "Sister Jiang Yao!"


    "Finally, we see Sister Jiang Yao appear!"


    ```


    "The day to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb is nearing, is she finally going to make a push for the Spirit Ranking?"


    Jiang Yao had been cultivating with Ye Chen all this time, and others had assumed that she had given up contending for the top ten of the Spirit Ranking. Now seeing her appear outside the Trial Tower, they were naturally surprised.


    "Who is this young man holding hands with Disciple Sister Jiang Yao?" When this true disciple saw Ye Chen beside Jiang Yao, he was stunned.


    Jiang Yao, the girl secretly adored by countless true disciples in the Taixuan Sect, was actually together with this young man?


    This true disciple looked at Ye Chen with overwhelming curiosity.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao offered the true disciple a light smile, took the Trial Nameplates that recorded their trial performances, and then stepped into the Phantom Beast Tower together.


    The true disciple waited outside.


    One hour, two hours, three hours...


    The longer the wait, the more shocked the true disciple became.


    One must understand, in the trials within the Phantom Beast Tower, hunting Phantom Beasts, if one ultimately faces a life-and-death danger from a Phantom Beast, the protective nameplate will directly eject them from the Phantom Beast Tower.


    The longer one stays in the Phantom Beast Tower, the more Phantom Beasts they have hunted, and the more true transmission points they can obtain.


    Those who could stay inside the Phantom Beast Tower for three hours were without exception, the late Spirit Sea Realm disciples of immense power within the Taixuan Sect!


    That Jiang Yao could stay for three hours didn''t surprise this true disciple, but the fact that the young man who came with her¡ªwhom he didn''t recognize at all¡ªalso stayed for three hours completely astonished him.


    "Who is this young man?"


    "When did such a formidable figure arrive at our Taixuan Sect? Why have I never seen him come here for trials?"


    "True Qi Realm, I can clearly sense that he''s at the True Qi Realm, how could he possibly stay such a long time in the trial tower?"


    The true disciple overseeing the Phantom Beast Tower trials became increasingly incredulous as he waited.


    When he had waited until the fourth hour, he was so shocked he couldn''t speak.


    Being able to stay for four hours meant, without a doubt, possessing the strength to take on the top ten of the Taixuan Sect Spirit Ranking!


    This young man, could he be that powerful?!


    Just as the true disciple was stunned to the point of disbelief, Jiang Yao and Ye Chen were almost simultaneously ejected from the Phantom Beast Tower.


    When he saw that on their nameplates, they had slain thousands of low-grade great demon Phantom Beasts, hundreds of mid-grade great demon Phantom Beasts, and even over ten high-grade great demon Phantom Beasts, the true disciple was totally dumbfounded.


    Whoosh!


    When the true transmission points for hunting Phantom Beasts were recorded through the Trial Nameplates into their true disciple tokens, both of their points surged by seventy or eighty thousand points at the same time!


    Boom!


    In an instant, the "True Inheritance Spirit Ranking" of all the Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect lit up, and everyone noticed that two names appeared simultaneously in the top thirty positions.


    When they saw these two names, everyone exclaimed, "Jiang Yao, Disciple Sister Jiang Yao has finally made her move, she''s returned to the top thirty, and has leapt from over a hundredth place straight to twenty-third!"


    And when they saw the name next to Jiang Yao''s, everyone was stunned, "Ye Chen? Who is this Ye Chen who suddenly climbed to the twenty-ninth place? Why does it feel like I''ve heard this name before?"


    ```

 Chapter 182: Chapter 157: Challenge to a Duel

    True Inheritance disciples who had gone to watch the selection conference furrowed their brows in thought as they looked at the name "Ye Chen" on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, wondering, "Could it be that wondrous youth who seized first place in the True Disciple Selection?"


    As these True Inheritance disciples spoke, others also began to recall where they had heard the name Ye Chen before.


    "The Ye Chen who ranked first in the True Disciple Selection? I heard he can even subdue high-level demons; is it really him?"


    "I''ve also heard that Ye Chen has won the affection of Junior Sister Jiang Yao to the extent that she likes him so much, and he even joined Snowdrift Peak specifically!"


    "We haven''t heard from him in this period; is he the one who has stormed into the top thirty of the Spirit Ranking?"


    The number of True Inheritance disciples gathering under the various Inner Peak''s True Inheritance Spirit Rankings was increasing; in the breaks between acquiring true transmission points, what they cared about the most were the changes to the rankings.


    Now that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had suddenly burst into the top thirty of the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, they drew the attention and speculation of many.


    While these True Inheritance disciples were guessing Ye Chen''s identity, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, having completed the "Phantom Beast Tower" trial, were on their way to the second trial location, "Lingmang Mountain."


    When, after an hour, the two emerged from the trial at Lingmang Mountain, all of the True Inheritance disciples who were watching the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking noticed that the names "Ye Chen" and "Jiang Yao" had simultaneously made a leap forward in the ranks.


    Jiang Yao had successfully broken into 14th place from 23rd, while Ye Chen had shot up from the 29th to the 16th position!


    Seeing such rapid progress and considerable advancement of their ranks, all the True Inheritance disciples came to a realization.


    "It must be that Ye Chen!"


    "The simultaneous rise in their ranks, and by such a large margin too, must be because they are taking on the three grand trials!"


    "My god, the higher you aim on the Spirit Ranking, the harder it gets. To go from the twenties to the teens shows that they must have achieved some of the most top-tier results in these grand trials!"


    "Junior Sister Jiang Yao being strong is one thing, but is that Ye Chen really that powerful?!"


    "Which of the three grand trial locations are they challenging next? The ''Phantom Beast Tower,'' ''Lingmang Mountain,'' or the ''Illusory Martial Battle Pool''?"


    "Their ranking has changed twice already, meaning they have completed trials at two locations. They must be heading to the third and final location; we have to go see!"


    As numerous True Inheritance disciples paid close attention, news spread from both the "Phantom Beast Tower" and "Lingmang Mountain."


    The two who had undertaken the trials were none other than Jiang Yao and Ye Chen from Snowdrift Peak!


    They entered the trials together and left together!


    In every trial, their performance was nothing short of outstanding!


    Upon hearing this news, all of the True Inheritance disciples could hardly contain their desire to meet this Ye Chen, who had managed to astonish them repeatedly without even seeing him face to face.


    They all wanted to meet the youth who had captured the heart of the breathtakingly beautiful Jiang Yao, whom so many adored!


    Eventually, even the truly powerful True Inheritance disciples ranked in the top ten of the Taixuan Sect''s Spirit Ranking were stirred by the significant changes in the rankings.


    Apart from some True Inheritance disciples who were still undergoing sect trials or who were out on missions, all the disciples started heading toward the third trial location, the "Illusory Martial Battle Pool."


    Even the Taixuan Sect elders who had not watched the True Disciple Selection were flocking towards the "Illusory Martial Battle Pool."


    The Illusory Martial Battle Pool, nestled amidst the clouds at the center of Snowdrift Peak''s eight Inner Peaks.


    This trial location was one of the three major trial sites, alongside the "Phantom Beast Tower" and "Lingmang Mountain."


    Similarly, each True Inheritance disciple also only had the opportunity to enter the Battle Pool once a month.


    The trial at the Illusory Martial Battle Pool involved battling against ninety-nine Illusory Martial War Elephants remaining in the pool, ranging from ordinary ones within the True Qi Realm to those in the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, and even half-step Core-Melting Illusory Martial War Elephants!


    The more Illusory Martial War Elephants you defeat, the more true transmission points you receive.


    This trial location, in the frantic rush to accumulate true transmission points over the past twenty days, had seen nearly all of the True Inheritance disciples use up their monthly opportunity already.


    As those True Inheritance disciples eager to witness Ye Chen in person arrived around the Illusory Martial Battle Pool, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had already entered the mists above the pool and officially commenced their battles against the ninety-nine Illusory Martial War Elephants.


    The scene of the battle within the Illusory Martial Battle Pool was not visible from the outside; everyone could only wait.


    Their wait was not in vain; after half an hour had passed, everyone saw a young man and woman ascending out of the Illusory Martial Battle Pool.


    The girl was dressed in a snow-white pleated skirt, her waterfall-like hair cascading to her waist, with a pale, delicate face radiating otherworldly beauty. The slight dimples that appeared with her small smile and her dazzling, starry eyes exuded an intoxicating charm.


    Jiang Yao!


    Seeing the girl, everyone''s mind echoed with her name.


    Countless gazes then turned to the boy beside her, and upon seeing the miraculous silver wind and thunder wings behind him, his calm, smiling face, and those bright, expressive black eyes, everyone was struck inwardly.


    Was this that Ye Chen?


    The Ye Chen who astonished everyone at the True Disciple Selection?


    The Ye Chen who had won Jiang Yao''s affection and stayed by her side all this time?


    Seeing the throngs of people who had swarmed the outside of the Illusory Martial Battle Pool, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who had just flown out, were also slightly taken aback. After exchanging light smiles with the curious-looking True Inheritance disciples and elders, they proceeded to the true transmission point exchange area of the Illusory Martial Battle Pool.

 Chapter 183: Chapter 157 Challenge_2

    At this moment, everyone''s gaze turned to a giant list suspended in the sky above the Illusory Martial Battle Pool.


    It was none other than the "True Inheritance Spirit Ranking"!


    Just like the Spirit Ranking of the Eight Great Inner Peaks, this trial area also had its Spirit Ranking displayed high above.


    "In this third trial, can Jiang Yao and Ye Chen both surge into the top ten?"


    "If they can reach the top ten after three trials, it means they have achieved the most outstanding results in all three trials!"


    Everyone fixed their eyes on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, their breaths tightening slightly.


    In the stares of all, the entire True Inheritance Spirit Ranking emitted an endless golden radiance!


    The golden radiance was something that would only appear when someone broke into the top ten of the Spirit Ranking!


    It was within expectations for Jiang Yao to fight her way back into the top ten, but this Ye Chen, could he truly be a peerless genius, managing to break into the top ten upon his first completion of all three major trials?


    All eyes were on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking.


    Amidst the brilliance of the golden light, everyone saw the name "Jiang Yao" written in the third position on the list!


    And looking further, everyone was shocked to the core; following the third position, in fourth place, was the name "Ye Chen" shining brightly!


    Not only had Jiang Yao entered the third place of the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, but Ye Chen had also reached the fourth!


    In the sky, the elders and the strongest contenders of the Spirit Ranking glanced at the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, their eyes bursting with intense light.


    One day''s time.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had used just one day to pass through the three trial grounds and made their way into the top ten of the Spirit Ranking.


    Not only into the top ten, but they also secured the third and fourth exceptional positions on the Spirit Ranking!


    Ahead of them were only the two Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouses, "Jin Lieyang" and "Xue Jia."


    Moreover, the only reason these two Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouses could lead was not merely because they had finished the trials of the three major trial grounds but had also accumulated true transmission points through other sect missions.


    In contrast, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s comeback relied entirely on the true transmission points from the three major trial grounds!


    This indicated that given more time to complete sect missions and gather true transmission points, it was not impossible for them to contend with the two Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouses on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking!


    "Powerful!"


    "Ye Chen and Jiang Yao are really too strong!"


    "No wonder they didn''t make a push for the Spirit Ranking earlier. Only at the last moment did they strike, with the absolute strength to enter the Spirit Ranking!"


    "Because they have such overwhelming power, they didn''t panic and were able to take a sure spot in the top ten at the very last moment, seizing the qualifications to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!"


    In the midst of all the astonishment, everyone looked towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as they emerged from the true transmission point exchange area of the Illusory Martial Battle Pool.


    The majority of their gazes, especially, were concentrated on Ye Chen.


    Many beautiful female true disciples, even without realizing it, began to look at Ye Chen with a hint of affection.


    Who wouldn''t admire a powerful person?


    What young girl wouldn''t fancy a strong young man?


    If it weren''t for Jiang Yao by Ye Chen''s side, these female disciples might have even flown over to Ye Chen to make his acquaintance!


    "Ye Chen,"


    "I have never seen Ye Chen make a move, yet he has fought his way to such heights!"


    "He has broken into these rankings on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking!"


    "I''d really like to spar with him to see just what Martial Skill he has cultivated, to see what makes him extraordinary?"


    Such thoughts rose in the hearts of countless true disciples.


    At this moment, several late-stage Linghai powerhouses standing in the sky could no longer hold back and "swoosh swoosh swoosh" flew toward Ye Chen in succession.


    "Ye Chen, to achieve the fourth rank on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking with the three trials, I have great respect for your strength!"


    "I, Wang Mao, challenge you on the True Inheritance Fighting Platform!"


    The speaker was a youth dressed in the robes of "Qingzhu Peak," one of the Eight Great Inner Peaks of the Taixuan Sect.


    Upon seeing this youth, many true disciples exclaimed, "It''s Wang Mao, ranked seventh on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking. He has finally lost his patience and is initiating a challenge to Ye Chen!"


    Following Wang Mao''s declaration, several other late-stage Linghai Realm powerhouses who had flown to Ye Chen''s side also spoke up.


    "I, Zhao Xuan, also challenge you!"


    "Brother Ye Chen, I, Chen Xing, wish to fight with you too!"


    "And I, Lu Yuan!"


    Buzz!


    Discussions erupted once more, "Zhao Xuan ranked eighth on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking! Chen Xing sixth! Lu Yuan fifth! They are all challenging Ye Chen!"


    "Heaven."


    "As expected, the powerhouses all have their pride. I can''t wait to see Ye Chen''s skills. These masters can''t contain themselves anymore!"


    In the midst of countless murmurs, Ye Chen turned to look at the youths who had issued the challenges.


    He had heard from Jiang Yao that there was a tradition of challenge on the "True Inheritance Fighting Platform" among the true disciples of the Taixuan Sect, where one only challenges another on the platform if they truly acknowledge the opponent''s strength.


    Clearly, Ye Chen''s abilities had won the recognition of these Spirit Ranking powerhouses, and they were ready to truly cross hands with him!


    A duel invitation?


    Naturally, Ye Chen would not refuse.


    He feared no battle!


    "Why not? Then let it be tomorrow, on the True Inheritance Fighting Platform, Ye Chen will exchange moves with you all!" Ye Chen said with a light smile, looking at them and agreeing without hesitation.


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s words excited the onlooking true disciples, who began to scream with enthusiasm.


    A battle among the top ten fighters on the Spirit Ranking was a rare sight indeed.


    "Awesome!"


    "Brother Ye Chen, we haven''t met before, but just for your straightforwardness, I''ve decided you''re a friend worth making!"


    The challenging Spirit Ranking powerhouses all smiled.


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen was speaking with the Spirit Ranking powerhouses, suddenly, the sky darkened as if black clouds had swept across, dimming the heavens in an instant.


    Everyone looked up to the sky and was taken aback to see that a youth in black had appeared out of nowhere.


    "Xue Jia! It''s the Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse Xue Jia, the formidable figure who''s ranked second on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking. He''s here too!"


    "Could it be that he''s here for Ye Chen, too?"


    Upon seeing the youth in black, many true disciples shouted in surprise.


    "A Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse?" Ye Chen, hearing the exclamations of the true disciples beside him, also looked towards the youth in black.


    As Ye Chen''s gaze met with that of the youth in black, Xue Jia, the latter, holding a sword, spoke indifferently, yet his voice enveloped the entire area of the Illusory Martial Battle Pool, "Ye Chen? I''ve heard you''re quite formidable. I, Xue Jia, also issue a challenge to you."


    "Do you dare accept the challenge?"


    Xue Jia''s words surprised not only the onlooking true disciples but also the elders.


    To know, a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse was nearly an invincible existence below the Rotating Pill Realm. Such a figure was also challenging Ye Chen?


    Upon hearing Xue Jia''s challenge to Ye Chen, Jiang Yao tightened her grip on Ye Chen''s hand, worried for him.


    At that moment, Ye Chen squeezed Jiang Yao''s hand reassuringly and gave her a comforting look. Then, as calmly as he faced the Spirit Ranking powerhouses earlier, he looked up at the youth in black in the sky and said with a faint smile, "Why should I not dare?"

 Chapter 184: Chapter 158 Martial Combat

    What''s there not to dare!


    This casual remark, landing among those present, caused everyone to open their mouths in shock.


    Ye Chen, what an imposing manner!


    The challenges from several late Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses that had come before were reasonable for Ye Chen to accept. After all, he was the formidable figure who had risen to fourth on the Spirit Ranking and was the genius youth who had miraculously overpowered high-ranking demons during the True Inheritance Disciple Selection Assembly.


    Against these late Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, everyone acknowledged, he had the strength!


    But Xue Jia, he was no ordinary person ¨C his cultivation had reached the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm!


    A Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse was not just a little bit stronger than a late Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse who had not yet broken through to the Rotating Pill Realm ¨C they were absolutely not on the same level of strength!


    In Martial Arts cultivation, martial artists live much longer than ordinary people. It''s common for Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses to live several hundred years, and those in the Rotating Pill Realm can even surpass a thousand years!


    Although Xue Jia appeared young among martial artists, those true disciples who knew him were aware that it had been over thirty years since he had stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, and he had already been a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse for a decade after failing to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm!


    He mastered numerous powerful martial skills, and it was said he had mastered several Earth-grade mid-tier martial skills!


    Aside from Jin Lieyang, who was ranked first on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking and was also a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse, there was no news of any true disciple daring to battle with him.


    And yet, Ye Chen casually accepted this challenge so calmly!


    Ye Chen actually dared to face off against a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse!


    This caused all those present to find Ye Chen''s strength even more elusive.


    In the sky, hearing Ye Chen accept the challenge, Xue Jia''s eyes sparkled with fervor, "Good, Ye Chen, then I will observe your battles with the others tomorrow first."


    "If you can''t secure victory in those fights, then you''re not worth fighting against me!"


    "I hope you have the strength to battle me!"


    Boom!


    Within the resounding voice of Xue Jia, the dark clouds that shrouded the sky suddenly shifted, and Xue Jia disappeared from the sky.


    Mystical Power!


    Although Xue Jia had not stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm, his attainment of the Half-Step Rotating Pill clearly granted him some strangely formidable mystical powers!


    "A rushing true qi traversal technique, huh?"


    Ye Chen fixed his gaze on the place where Xue Jia vanished, eyeing the traces of true qi fluctuations in the void that were nearly imperceptible to most, until these true qi fluctuations vanished completely, "I just don''t know, when we truly battle, whether this technique can still elude my sword formation!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes also released a fighting intent.


    Having undergone arduous training within Taixuan Sect for over two months, the time had arrived to test the results of his cultivation!


    After completing the trials at the three trial grounds, Ye Chen, together with Jiang Yao, broke into the top ten of the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, and accepted challenges from several Spirit Ranking powerhouses and even a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse. The battles would take place tomorrow on the "True Inheritance Battle Platform."


    When this news spread throughout Taixuan Sect, everybody on all the Eight Great Inner Peaks heard the news!


    "Ye Chen? The young man who shone brightly during the True Inheritance Selection Assembly?"


    "It seems he has made significant progress during this time!"


    The Peak Masters and elders of the various Inner Peaks, especially those strong figures who had witnessed Ye Chen''s performance at the True Inheritance Disciple Selection Assembly, looked through the mountain peaks of Taixuan Sect towards Snowdrift Peak and murmured to themselves.


    In the end, the gaze of these Peak Masters and elders all turned towards the area of Taixuan Sect''s True Inheritance Battle Platform, "Tomorrow''s True Martial Battle is definitely worth watching!"


    Atop Snowdrift Peak, within Snowdrift Residence.


    Fairy Jia Luo, dressed in white palace robes and meditating, held a Sound Transmission Talisman in her hand and slowly opened her eyes.


    A faint smile appeared in her eyes, "Having been quiet for so long, Ye Chen finally can''t hold back and is about to burst forth again. I too wish to see the fruits of his cultivation with little Rain Girl."


    While the strong figures of the various peaks remained calm and composed, the true disciples of the entire Eight Great Inner Peaks had completely lost their minds.


    The True Martial Battle Platform, True Martial Battles, and those involving the front runners on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking ¨C battles related to a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse!


    This event is so grand that even those who have cultivated at the Inner Peak for many years hardly encounter it. Who would have thought that right when the selection for the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb is about to end, such a high-caliber martial battle would take place!


    And one of the main protagonists of this True Inheritance martial battle is actually Ye Chen, who has only been at Inner Peak for just over two months!


    Everyone could hardly wait for the day to pass quickly and for the True Inheritance martial battle to arrive!


    Even the True Inheritance disciples who were out on sect missions rushed back upon hearing the news.


    Such a martial battle, of course, they wouldn''t miss!


    Amidst the anticipation and attention of countless people, a day quietly passed by.


    Early the next morning, at the True Martial Battle Platform located outside the Inner Peak of the three Taixuan Sect elders, the place was already packed with people, and more were continuously flying to the void outside the battle platform.


    The True Martial Battle Platform is a colossal battle platform suspended in the void, its length and width both exceeding a thousand zhang, and it shimmered with an inexplicable brilliance in the void!


    This is where the True Inheritance disciples of the Taixuan Sect conduct their martial battles, to determine who is superior!


    After less than half an hour, nearly all the True Inheritance disciples had already arrived at the True Martial battle area!


    The True Inheritance disciples from the Eight Great Inner Peaks gathered together, with Jiang Yao and the sword-backed girl Chan''er among them in the Snowdrift Peak area.


    For this True Inheritance martial battle, so Ye Chen could prepare in peace, Jiang Yao didn''t disturb him. Instead, she waited for Ye Chen directly at the True Inheritance Battle Platform.


    Among the True Inheritance disciples of Snowdrift Peak, even the rarely seen Elder Sister Yu was there!


    She stood beside Jiang Yao, also quietly waiting for the True Inheritance martial battle to begin.


    The Spirit Sea Realm True Inheritance disciples stood in the void, the True Essence Realm True Inheritance disciples rode on flying beasts, everyone was waiting, waiting for the True Inheritance martial battle to begin.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In the gaze of countless waiting figures, four silhouettes flew out from the four Inner Peaks, their powerful escaping lights like shooting stars thunderously approaching above the True Martial Battle Platform.


    As the escaping light dispersed, these figures revealed themselves.


    Zhao Xuan ranked eighth on the True Inheritance Spirit List! Wang Mao ranked seventh! Chen Xing ranked sixth! And Lu Yuan ranked fifth!


    As if by agreement, these four arrived at the True Martial Battle Platform almost simultaneously!


    "They''re here!"


    "The appointed time for the battle is about to come, and the True Inheritance martial battle is finally about to start!"


    The arrival of these four powerful figures on the Spirit List was like a flaming fireball dropped into boiling water. The countless warrior spectators around the True Martial Battle area instantly ignited with passion!


    Boom!


    Just then, a black cloud dashed through the void above and upon dispersing, revealed the figure of Xue Jia.


    As a Half-Step Rotating Pill expert, Xue Jia also arrived at the scene!


    Although Xue Jia was just quietly sitting cross-legged in the void beside the True Martial Battle Platform, everyone could feel a powerful aura being released, making the entire sky seem dimmer because of this aura!


    After Xue Jia arrived at the True Martial Battle area, the four Spirit List powerhouses Zhao Xuan, Wang Mao, Chen Xing, and Lu Yuan who had flown in, as well as the Half-Step Rotating Pill expert, Xue Jia, all looked in the direction of Snowdrift Peak''s void, waiting for something.


    All the observing True Inheritance disciples'' gazes also turned towards Snowdrift Peak.


    They certainly knew whom these five were waiting for.


    "I hope I am not late!"


    In the expectant eyes of countless people, suddenly, a figure soared out from Snowdrift Peak.


    This figure, fifteen or sixteen years old, with any traces of childishness long gone from the delicate face, replaced by a self-confident and vivacious spirit.


    His figure was slender, and the silver-white wings stretching several zhang behind him beat slowly, giving him a strange air that belied his youth!


    When they saw the figure flying out from Snowdrift Peak, the blood of countless True Inheritance disciples in the True Inheritance martial battle area boiled over, and they cheered and screamed.


    The most important protagonist of this True Inheritance martial battle, Ye Chen, had finally arrived!

 Chapter 185: Chapter 159 Unparalleled

    ```


    Whoosh!


    Amidst the blood-boiling cheers and screams of countless true disciples, the Wind-Thunder Wings on Ye Chen''s back suddenly unfolded completely, stretching to an enormous span of over twelve meters. As the Gang Yuan True Qi flickered across the giant wings, Ye Chen shot towards the True Inheritance Battle Platform.


    Almost in a matter of breaths, everyone felt a flash of silver light streak across the void, and Ye Chen traversed the several thousand zhang distance between Snowdrift Peak and the True Martial Battle Platform, arriving above the platform to face several of the Spirit Ranking powerhouses!


    "What incredible speed!"


    "These wings! The agility is so fast; it''s heaven! It''s not in the least bit inferior to the escapist speed of late-stage Spirit Sea practitioners!"


    This was Ye Chen''s first display of power within Taixuan Sect''s Inner Peaks, and for many of the people from the Inner Peak, it was also the first time they had witnessed Ye Chen''s combat skills.


    Ye Chen''s first move had shocked countless people!


    "I''d heard that Ye Chen was no ordinary True Qi Realm cultivator, and indeed, he possesses powerful True Qi and martial techniques!"


    "True Qi Realm fighting against late-stage Spirit Sea, that''s crazy! I have never heard of such a marvel!"


    "Given his agility, he might actually stand a chance against these major Spirit Ranking fighters!"


    The countless true disciples who were spectating outside the True Martial Battle Platform started whispering among themselves.


    In the Snowdrift Peak area, next to Jiang Yao, the sword-carrying maiden Chan''er''s eyes were brimming with disbelief: "Sister Jiang Yao, it has only been a few months since we last met, but Ye Chen has become this powerful?!"


    "Such fast agility! That must be a top-tier Xuan rank technique at least!"


    Chan''er''s last encounter with Ye Chen was at Qingyun Sect''s mountain gate plaza. At that time, Ye Chen had defeated a disciple from Tianluo Sect, who was at the tenth level of the True Qi Realm, while himself being at the sixth level. That alone had made Chan''er incredulous.


    But the young girl could never have imagined that in just half a year without seeing him, Ye Chen''s strength had improved to the point where he could battle late-stage cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    It wasn''t just Chan''er who was screaming. Many of the true disciple maidens from Snowdrift Peak who were seeing Ye Chen in action for the first time started screaming excitedly.


    Ye Chen came from Snowdrift Peak, and his strength made the maidens incredibly thrilled!


    Amid Chan''er''s screams, Jiang Yao''s clear eyes were fixed entirely on Ye Chen.


    Others only saw Ye Chen''s strength, but Jiang Yao knew the immense hardship Ye Chen had endured to reach this level!


    To fulfill the pledge of Taixuan, Ye Chen had fought fiercely in the clan competition, entered his family''s ancestral secret grounds, faced numerous trials, and ventured into the treacherous Ancient God Tower. Climbing step by step, taking advantage of the opportunities presented by the flow of time, he cultivated layer by layer, defeating countless formidable opponents to reach higher ground!


    He was still striving relentlessly and continuing to grow stronger!


    "Ye Chen, you''ve always been hardworking, which is why you''re so formidable. I know this well."


    Jiang Yao murmured, gazing at Ye Chen.


    In the spectating area outside the arena, amid the shock and screams, the several individuals on the True Inheritance Battle Platform looked at Ye Chen''s agility and a glint sparked in their eyes.


    Xue Jia from the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm managed it a bit better than the others, but Zhao Xuan, Wang Mao, Chen Xing, and Lu Yuan''s expressions turned extremely solemn when they looked towards Ye Chen again.


    Then, Ye Chen, who had landed on the True Inheritance Battle Platform, looked at Zhao Xuan and the others and asked with a light smile, "Which of you will come forward first to fight?"


    Ye Chen had not set his sights on Xue Jia; Xue Jia, from the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm, had already said that he would only make a move if Ye Chen could defeat these four.


    What Ye Chen intended to do first was to battle with these four men!


    Although Ye Chen had once suppressed a high-level fierce giant fire bird on Sky Extreme Cliff, he had never actually crossed hands with a late-stage Spirit Sea Realm expert.


    These four men, Zhao Xuan was the eighth on the true disciple''s Spirit Ranking, Wang Mao the seventh, Chen Xing the sixth, and Lu Yuan the fifth ¡ª they were all famously late-stage Spirit Sea masters from Taixuan Sect.


    Facing these four men, Ye Chen also felt his fighting spirit surge.


    After exchanging glances, Zhao Xuan, who was wearing the true disciple''s robe of "Huoyun Peak" ¡ª one of the Eight Great Inner Peaks ¡ª stepped forward: "I rank the lowest on the true disciple''s Spirit Ranking, so let me go first!"


    Just as Zhao Xuan stepped forward, in the even higher expanse of the void unseen by all true disciples, more than a dozen figures suddenly began to converse.


    These dozen figures were none other than the peak masters, elders, and other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses of Taixuan Sect. Even though these Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses did not make a direct appearance, they were all observing the true disciple martial contest from the void.


    "Jia Luo, Zhao Xuan is my ''Huoyun Peak''s'' top true disciple. Though Ye Chen previously suppressed a high-level fierce beast, there is still quite a difference between a fierce beast and a truly powerful genius martial artist. Can your peak''s Ye Chen really fight with Zhao Xuan?" spoke the peak master of Huoyun Peak.


    In the midst of the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses lay the Xianzi, Jia Luo, who wore a snow-white palace dress and was sitting cross-legged. At the moment, Jia Luo Xianzi, with her gaze piercing through the spatial barrier, turned her attention to the True Inheritance Battle Platform below.


    She smiled lightly: "I''m afraid it''s not only Zhao Xuan, but the other few might not be Ye Chen''s match either. Ye Chen''s real opponent should be that Xue Jia."


    "Xue Jia? Half-Step Rotating Pill? Has Ye Chen really become so strong?!" one of the elders said incredulously.


    "Just watch. Everything will be clear very soon."


    Jia Luo Xianzi didn''t say much more, instead directing all her attention to the platform below.


    Seeing Jia Luo Xianzi cease to speak, the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses also turned their gaze to the battle unfolding below on the platform.


    Boom!


    As Zhao Xuan stood forward, the others left the platform to prepare to watch the battle from the periphery.


    On the True Inheritance Battle Platform, only Ye Chen and Zhao Xuan remained, standing a hundred zhang apart, facing each other!


    ```


    "Ye Chen, I am the true inheritor of ''Fire Cloud Peak'', and my cultivation method is mainly based on fire-based techniques. I hope to integrate with the fire laws when I step into the Rotating Pill Realm in the future!"


    "Fire-based techniques are incredibly powerful; you need to be cautious!"


    Zhao Xuan said, slowly looking towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded. He didn''t say much, simply replying, "Brother Zhao Xuan, make your move!"


    "Good, since our battle is but the first, let''s not delay any further!"


    As Zhao Xuan spoke, his hands fiercely clenched in the air, and instantly, a hundred meters high surge of azure True Qi burst forth from his body.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the moment when the True Qi was stirred from within, Zhao Xuan formed a strange spell with his hands. In an instant, flames flickered on the surging azure True Qi. Moments later, the True Qi turned into a vast expanse of fiery red in the sky, densely packed with giant palm prints.


    Each gigantic fiery red palm print was several tens of feet in diameter. With probably seventy to eighty of these dense fiery red palm prints, they rained down from the sky and furiously slapped towards Ye Chen.


    "Sky Burning Giant Handprint!"


    "This is Zhao Xuan''s powerful Xuan-tier superior combat skill. Combined with his unmatched True Qi from the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, each Sky Burning Giant Handprint could easily slay a mid Spirit Sea Realm expert. With seventy to eighty palm prints launched simultaneously, even late Spirit Sea Realm warriors would struggle to withstand them."


    "Zhao Xuan''s move is a fierce killing technique!"


    "How will Ye Chen defend against it?"


    Everyone looked towards Ye Chen, who was completely engulfed by the Sky Burning Giant Handprints, and when they shifted their gaze to Ye Chen, they saw a faint smile on his face.


    Facing the terrifying Sky Burning Giant Handprints, Ye Chen actually revealed a smile?


    As this thought emerged in everyone''s minds, Ye Chen, who stood in the void, lightly pointed his finger. At that moment, countless Swords of True Qi shot out in front of him.


    These Swords of True Qi shimmered with eighteen kinds of mystical Sword Intents. As they formed, the Swords of True Qi vanished from sight.


    The next instant, the Swords of True Qi suddenly appeared before the vast fiery red palm prints.


    Almost in the blink of an eye, these Swords of True Qi tore into the vast fiery red palm prints, shocking everyone to find that the once terrifying palm prints, capable of easily killing mid Spirit Sea Realm experts, exploded upon contact with the myriad Swords of True Qi.


    The Sky Burning Giant Handprints had no resistance whatsoever against these Swords of True Qi!


    "What kind of technique is this? Could it be even more powerful than a Xuan-tier superior technique?!" Many true disciples exclaimed in astonishment.


    In the field, warriors who practiced sword techniques saw the numerous Sword Intents flickering within these Swords of True Qi and all were thunderstruck: "A Sword Formation, this is comparable to an Earth-tier combat skill!"


    "Ye Chen has actually mastered a Sword Formation!"


    These warriors were not mistaken; the killing move executed by Ye Chen was indeed one of the four great Sword Formations he had cultivated from Sister Yu over the past two months¡ªthe "Hidden Wind Sword Formation"!


    The Hidden Wind Sword Formation, possessing the second-level Sword Intents of Instantaneous Flash and Coiling Slaughter, along with sixteen first-level Sword Intents, was supremely powerful. Mere Xuan-tier superior combat skills like the Sky Burning Giant Handprint, of course, could not compare.


    After shattering all of the Sky Burning Giant Handprints in an instant, the Swords of True Qi vanished once again, reappearing in the next moment in front of Zhao Xuan!


    The Hidden Wind Sword Formation''s might was not yet expended, striking at Zhao Xuan once more!


    Zhao Xuan didn''t expect Ye Chen''s counterattack to be so swift and mighty. As his eyes sparkled, his body once again swept out boundless True Qi. In a flash, it transformed into a fiery red cyclone that enveloped him, lunging at the Hidden Wind Sword Formation.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The fiery red cyclone and the Hidden Wind Sword Formation exploded into a frenzy upon contact.


    While Zhao Xuan focused all his attention on defending against the Hidden Wind Sword Formation, he was suddenly horrified to find a figure piercing through his protective fiery red cyclone, like a fierce human-shaped beast, landing directly within the cyclone before him.


    This figure, surrounded by tremendous silver True Qi and golden light, had hair that flew wildly in the surging True Qi!


    It was Ye Chen!


    Since this was only the first battle, Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t waste too much time on Zhao Xuan. As he deployed the Hidden Wind Sword Formation, he also executed the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, breaking through Zhao Xuan''s defenses and arriving directly before him.


    Then, Ye Chen reached out to grab Zhao Xuan, swiftly shattering Zhao Xuan''s Protective True Qi flames, with two fingers stopping just inches away from Zhao Xuan''s neck.


    A mere push further, and Ye Chen''s two fingers would completely pierce through Zhao Xuan''s neck!


    This caused everyone to cry out in shock.


    None had expected Zhao Xuan, ranked eighth on the True Inheritance Spirit Ranking, to be completely outmatched just after engaging Ye Chen.


    Clearly, Zhao Xuan was no match for Ye Chen!


    Thump!


    Ye Chen did not pierce through Zhao Xuan''s neck; this was but a competition, not a battle to the death. Naturally, he wouldn''t take Zhao Xuan''s life.


    According to the rules of the true inheritance martial confrontation, defeating Zhao Xuan by knocking him out of the battle platform was enough to claim victory!


    Ye Chen simply flicked his fingers gently, and a tremendous force flung Zhao Xuan out dozens of feet, tumbling wildly along with his fiery red cyclone across the True Inheritance Battle Platform.


    Finally, with a thud, Zhao Xuan, utterly powerless to resist, crashed down outside of the battle platform.

 Chapter 186: Chapter 160 The Real Outbreak

    Whoosh!


    This result caused everyone watching outside the arena to stand up.


    Countless true disciples had their mouths wide open, utterly disbelieving.


    How many moves was that? Ye Chen had directly defeated Zhao Xuan, who was ranked eighth in the Spirit Ranking?


    "This, this..." Many were at a loss for words to express the shock in their hearts.


    Hundreds of zhang above the True Inheritance Battle Platform, in the void, the master of Fire Cloud Peak was also full of astonishment, "It''s been just over two months since the selection for true disciples. Has Ye Chen improved again?"


    "Sword Formation, he has actually learned the art of Sword Formation in these two months!"


    "And his special True Qi has also undergone another qualitative improvement!"


    Although Ye Chen''s defeat of Zhao Xuan was partly due to Zhao''s carelessness, as Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses in the void, they could see more clearly than anyone. Even if Zhao Xuan had been extremely cautious, or even if he had delayed for a bit longer, he would have been genuinely defeated by Ye Chen.


    Zhao Xuan at this level was no longer a match for Ye Chen!


    "Prodigy!"


    "A true prodigy!"


    "Jia Luo, you''ve found a great seedling for our Taixuan Sect. With Ye Chen''s speed of cultivation, as long as he can continue to grow, he will completely be on par with the geniuses of the three great dynasties'' major sects in the Central Region! He can even compare with those hidden Ancient Clan geniuses!"


    "Could it be that our Taixuan Sect will also produce a heaven-defying genius?!"


    The Peak Masters and Elders were all overjoyed.


    Another Peak Master said, "Growth, I hope Ye Chen can continue to grow! With his current strength, he probably really can exchange blows with a Half-Step Rotating Pill now. Next, only the battle between Xue Jia and Ye Chen will truly be meaningful!"


    "Fight a Half-Step Rotating Pill?" Many Elders felt a chill in their hearts, "I''m afraid it''s still not possible. Defeating Zhao Xuan and a few others is feasible, but defeating a Half-Step Rotating Pill, now that''s truly difficult."


    Fairy Jia Luo at this moment also looked at Ye Chen below more seriously.


    Because she knew that with such a performance from Ye Chen, that Half-Step Rotating Pill disciple, Xue Jia, would definitely be unable to hold back.


    Sure enough, on the True Inheritance Battle Platform in the void, when Ye Chen knocked Zhao Xuan off the platform and the crowd erupted, Wang Mao, Chen Xing, and Lu Yuan, all their complexions changed greatly.


    The three of them had a bit more strength than Zhao Xuan, but they also couldn''t defeat Zhao Xuan as quickly as Ye Chen did!


    The strength displayed by Ye Chen even gave them the feeling as if they were facing a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse.


    As the three were hesitating over who should fight next, Xue Jia, who had been waiting at the side of the True Inheritance Battle Platform in the void, moved. He appeared on the platform in an instant.


    "I''ll do it."


    Landing on the True Inheritance Battle Platform, Xue Jia directly spoke out.


    Hum!


    Seeing Xue Jia directly step past the three and face Ye Chen, all the watching true disciples screamed.


    "Half-Step Rotating Pill!"


    "Xue Jia, who has reached the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm, finally can''t hold back and is making his move!"


    Many true disciples came to watch precisely to see Xue Jia, a Half-Step Rotating Pill, in action. Now that Ye Chen had just defeated a Spirit Ranking powerhouse and forced Xue Jia to step up, it naturally made countless people excitedly scream.


    Even if Ye Chen was strong, facing Xue Jia, he would probably not fare well.


    They were finally going to witness a real grand battle!


    In the Snowdrift Peak area, when Ye Chen defeated Zhao Xuan, all the female disciples of Snowdrift Peak were overjoyed, but when Xue Jia arrived at the Battle Platform, the excitement on the faces of the female disciples came to a halt.


    As one of the only two Half-Step Rotating Pill disciples of the Taixuan Sect, the female disciples of Snowdrift Peak naturally recognized Xue Jia, and they were aware of his strength!


    In the entire true disciple rank, only the ever-dominant Jin Lieyang, who topped the Spirit Ranking, could suppress Xue Jia.


    All the female disciples understood even better that with Xue Jia''s strength as a Half-Step Rotating Pill, even if he could not step into the Rotating Pill Realm, once he left the sect, he would definitely become a formidable figure.


    Such a person was about to battle Ye Chen, naturally causing them to worry greatly about him.


    "Ye Chen."


    Among the female disciples, Jiang Yao''s eyes were already full of concern.


    A Half-Step Rotating Pill was too powerful. Given some more time, Jiang Yao believed that Ye Chen would definitely be able to defeat a Half-Step Rotating Pill, but now, in terms of cultivation time, Ye Chen was still at a huge disadvantage.


    "The Half-Step Rotating Pill, Xue Jia." Yu, who came to the True Inheritance Battle area to watch, also became serious, "When I stepped into the late Spirit Sea Realm, he was already a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse."


    "Moreover, I heard that he has cultivated an Earth Grade intermediate cultivation technique. Ye Chen has not yet cultivated my fifth and sixth Sword Formations. To deal with Xue Jia, he will probably suffer a great disadvantage in terms of martial skills."


    Amidst everyone''s worries, Ye Chen looked at Xue Jia who had come up to the Battle Platform.


    His gaze also became serious.


    "Brother Xue Jia, you finally decided to make a move," Ye Chen said to Xue Jia with a faint smile, "Although I don''t know if I can defeat you, I will fight with all my strength!"


    "I hope you, too, will use all your strength!"


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen''s words once again stirred everyone up.


    Certainly, from Ye Chen''s words, it could be heard that even he wasn''t sure he could defeat Xue Jia.


    But even so, Ye Chen did not hesitate to agree to the bout with Xue Jia, and he even asked Xue Jia to fight with full force. This showed that Ye Chen wanted to experience a true grand battle.


    Everyone began to applaud Ye Chen in their hearts for his words.


    Fearless before the strong!


    No excuses to shrink back and evade!


    Even in defeat, to be bested only by absolute strength!


    This is the true temperament of a genius, this is why Ye Chen could always grow stronger and continue to ascend!


    By daring to engage in combat, one can travel further!


    Even Zhao Xuan, who had been knocked off the True Inheritance Battle Platform by Ye Chen and had flown back into the fray, began to hold Ye Chen in even higher esteem for his fearless demeanor in the face of Xue Jia.


    Wang Mao, Chen Xing, and Lu Yuan couldn''t help but smile bitterly. "Ye Chen, we are far inferior to you in terms of sheer boldness. In the previous moment, we didn''t even dare to make a move to challenge him, yet here he is, nonchalantly facing Xue Jia. We truly feel ashamed."


    "Regardless of whether Ye Chen wins or loses against Xue Jia, this time, Ye Chen, you have earned our admiration!"


    In the midst of the True Inheritance Battle Platform, when Xue Jia heard Ye Chen asking him to go all out, a glint flashed in his eyes, and he laughed heartily, "Alright, Ye Chen, I will go all out!"


    "I hope you will do the same!"


    Boom!


    As Xue Jia spoke, without any movement from him, a towering inferno over three hundred meters high suddenly burst forth from around his body!


    This massive inferno, formed entirely of True Qi, somehow weaved within it the essence of thunder and lightning as it billowed ferociously.


    Such tremendous True Qi, such strange essence¡ªnone of the Spirit Sea Realm disciples had ever seen it from another of their rank.


    This was what only a warrior who had attempted the Rotating Pill Realm, a Half-Step Rotating Pill, could achieve!


    Watching the enormous flames around Xue Jia, Ye Chen''s gaze became extremely grave, finally no longer suppressing his own True Qi. With a "boom," the twelve Gang Yuan True Qi vortexes in his body shook wildly, and a vast, unparalleled silver Gang Yuan True Qi swept out around him.


    This time, the Gang Yuan True Qi rose to a height of over one hundred and fifty meters. Although it was far less dense than Xue Jia''s True Qi, within that one hundred and fifty meters of Gang Yuan True Qi, threads of golden light were distinctly mixed in.


    This was unmistakably Ye Chen unleashing the techniques of both the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and the Gang Yuan True Qi.


    On the True Inheritance Battle Platform, hundreds of Zhang apart, Ye Chen and Xue Jia faced each other with surging True Qi.


    The next moment, both men surged forward simultaneously, each carrying a heavens-shaking Inferno of True Qi, and slammed fiercely into one another!


    Boom!


    In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen and Xue Jia collided in the void.


    This collision sent a "boom" through the void, with endless waves of energy lashing out, even sweeping many Spirit Sea Realm disciples who were riding flying beasts hundreds of Zhang away!


    Even those disciples standing in the void to watch the battle were forced to retreat explosively!


    While everyone was affected by this explosive force, they all noticed that Ye Chen, after the collision, was sent flying backwards as if struck by a massive stone.


    After tracing an arc in the sky, Ye Chen countered the force with his Gang Yuan True Qi and managed to just barely stop at the edge of the True Inheritance Battle Platform.


    "Puh!"


    In the end, when Ye Chen had completely withstood the force of the collision, he was actually struck by the rebound and spat out a large mouthful of blood.


    By contrast, Xue Jia had not moved an inch from the spot he was in prior to the collision, showing no sign of being bounced back.


    In this direct clash of True Qi, Xue Jia of Half-Step Rotating Pill clearly overpowered Ye Chen!


    If it wasn''t for Ye Chen''s quick reaction, using True Qi to stop his flying momentum, he would have been smashed right out of the True Inheritance Battle Platform and lost the fight!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Jiang Yao called out worriedly upon seeing Ye Chen being struck and sent flying.


    And the female disciples of Snowdrift Peak, seeing Ye Chen barely land on the edge of the battle platform and nearly defeated in one move, all screamed in fright.


    As countless True Inheritance disciples marveled at the formidable power of Xue Jia, a Half-Step Rotating Pill, Xue Jia in the void looked toward Ye Chen, who had been knocked to the edge of the platform, and his eyes flickered, "Ye Chen, you asked me to go all out, don''t tell me that''s all you got!"


    "If that''s really the case, then, this fight, let''s end it here!"


    Boom!


    As Xue Jia''s voice echoed, he once again charged with a towering inferno over three hundred meters high from the void, slamming toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen, now at the edge of the Battle Platform, would unquestionably be knocked off if struck by Xue Jia again!


    "Lost, have I?"


    "The always mysterious, invincible Ye Chen, is he finally about to lose?"


    Just as everyone watched, in an instant, Xue Jia had already reached the spot where Ye Chen stood.


    In that lightning-flash moment, everyone was shocked to discover that Ye Chen had vanished from his original location.


    The next moment, Ye Chen suddenly appeared behind Xue Jia, and with a great grasp in the void, ninety-six Sword of True Qi appeared around his body.


    These ninety-six Sword of True Qi emitted a killing force even more terrifying than the previous "Hidden Wind Sword Formation."


    "The end?"


    "It''s not over just yet!"


    With traces of blood still at the corner of his mouth, Ye Chen''s voice remained remarkably calm. In that calmness, he suddenly released his grip, and the ninety-six Sword of True Qi charged toward Xue Jia''s back with a thunderous roar.

 Chapter 187: Chapter 161 Divine Skills vs. Divine Skills

    Ninety-six Swords of True Qi formed an extraordinarily unique hexagonal starlight sword formation.


    As the entire formation surged towards Xue Jia, it instantaneously transformed into a pentagram, then into a tetragram, and finally into a triangle!


    In the end, the sword formation created by the ninety-six Swords of True Qi astonishingly condensed into a single point of brilliant starlight!


    This point of brilliant starlight, like a meteor, made the entire void flicker intensely with light and thunderously plummeted down behind Xue Jia.


    This was none other than the most powerful sword formation among the four major formations controlled by Ye Chen¡ªthe Star Gathering Sword Formation!


    The entire Star Gathering Sword Formation, fusing together the second layer of six major sword intents and another twenty-three of the first layer, now possessed power incredibly close to that of a mid-grade Earth Rank Martial Skill¡ªa supremely formidable sword formation Divine Skill!


    Only Martial Skills that reached the Earth Rank could be considered Divine Skills, and the "Star Gathering Sword Formation" was extraordinarily formidable even among Divine Skills!


    After evading Xue Jia''s attack, Ye Chen launched a counterattack with this immensely powerful technique!


    Watching Ye Chen vanish abruptly and reappear just as suddenly behind Xue Jia, and using the odd sword formation that completely illuminated the void to strike Xue Jia, countless spectators from the True Inheritance disciples gasped in awe.


    Ye Chen''s movements and techniques were too fast!


    Nobody could see clearly!


    At that moment, when Xue Jia, who was being bombarded by the sword formation, felt something and swiftly turned around, just as he faced the brilliant point of starlight, a blinding burst of light shot out.


    This was precisely the "Star Gathering Sword Formation" unleashing powerful sword intents of "Overlapping," "Piercing Light," "Flash Kill," and myriad other formidable abilities!


    The overwhelmingly bright light instantly made many of the spectators, even from a great distance, momentarily blinded, with tears streaming from the eyes of quite a few lower-realm True Inheritance disciples!


    Xue Jia, who was directly facing the blinding starlight point, did not even close his eyes. Just as the piercing starlight carrying countless powerful sword intents flashed before him and entered his eyes, a thunder lightning pattern suddenly emerged on his forehead!


    This thunder lightning pattern was the external spiritual rune of Xue Jia''s Rotating Pill manifesting on his body!


    The instant the thunder lightning pattern appeared, a strange flash of thunder lightning light swept through Xue Jia''s eyes. As this flash passed, the piercing starlight that entered his eyes was directly annihilated by the thunder lightning light!


    At the same time, the immense True Qi in Xue Jia''s palm surged with a dual brilliance of thunder and lightning, and in an instant, a Thunder Lightning Shield several meters in diameter formed before him, directly facing the blinding starlight sword formation.


    In response to Ye Chen''s sudden deadly move, Xue Jia finally unleashed two of his Divine Skills developed after stepping into the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm.


    The Thunder Lightning Spirit Eye Divine Power!


    The Thunder Lightning Shield Divine Power!


    In an instant, the Thunder Lightning Spirit Eye annihilated the light of the sword formation, and in an instant, the Thunder Lightning Shield faced the onslaught of the sword formation.


    Divine Power versus Divine Power!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When the brilliant point of starlight struck the Thunder Lightning Shield, endless streams of sword light, thunder, and lightning erupted from the point of contact between the shield and the sword formation!


    The entire True Inheritance Battle Platform turned into a sea of eye-piercing light!


    In the midst of rapidly flickering light, the concentrated power of the sword formation and the Thunder Lightning Shield collided and exploded, creating a wave of tangible cyan-silver explosive energy that swept over Ye Chen and Xue Jia, across the True Inheritance Battle Platform, and into the vast void!


    The scope of the explosion''s shockwave reached tens of thousands of meters!


    The massive trees atop the distant Inner Peaks thundered crazily as they were swept up in the blast.


    The True Inheritance disciples watching nearby, upon seeing the shockwave surging towards them, screamed in horror. They horrifically found their Protective True Qi shattering, indicating that many of them simply couldn''t withstand the residual might from the collision of the two great Divine Skills of Ye Chen and Xue Jia!


    Boom!


    Amid the screams of countless individuals, a pale blue curtain of water suddenly enveloped the void above, wrapping all the True Inheritance disciples within it.


    Only then did the True Inheritance disciples feel the terrifying shockwave disappear around them.


    Looking up into the void above, it was clear that a Rotating Pill Realm expert had intervened! All this time, they were unaware of the presence of a Rotating Pill Realm expert observing the True Inheritance martial battle above them!


    The intervening Rotating Pill Realm expert was none other than Fairy Jia Luo!


    After protecting the onlookers with a single move, she directed her gaze straight to Ye Chen and Xue Jia in the midst of the platform.


    If the residual force of the shockwave outside the battlefield was so terrifying, what about Ye Chen and Xue Jia in the middle of the fight?!


    Boom! Boom!


    In the midst of the formidable sweeping shockwave, Ye Chen and Xue Jia were both sent flying up into the sky above the True Inheritance Battle Platform!


    At this moment, the robes of both Ye Chen and Xue Jia fluttered wildly, their black hair billowing.


    Xue Jia, with an incredulous look in his eyes, recognized Ye Chen''s sword formation techniques, but he couldn''t discern how Ye Chen had instantly flashed behind him.


    Clearly, Ye Chen also possessed an unfathomable Body Method Divine Power!


    "Body Method Divine Power?"


    "Then let''s see whether your Body Method Divine Power is faster, or if my Rotating Pill True Qi attacks quicker!"


    Whoosh!


    As the thought flashed through Xue Jia''s mind, he, who stood in the void, had the thunder lightning spirit patterns on his forehead flashing wildly. In the midst of this frenzied flashing, Xue Jia vanished like a bolt of lightning, and in the next instant, he appeared abruptly right in front of Ye Chen.


    Xue Jia was astonished by Ye Chen''s body movement techniques, while Ye Chen was even more shocked by Xue Jia''s strength!


    Half-Step Rotating Pill, truly worthy of the Half-Step Rotating Pill!


    If he hadn''t used "Void Instantaneous Change" Divine Skill to dodge, he feared he would have been defeated by Xue Jia in just two moves. Moreover, even though Ye Chen unleashed the most powerful Sword Formation Divine Skill, it was still blocked head-on by Xue Jia under the instantaneous kill.


    Clearly, Xue Jia, whose cultivation had reached the Half-Step Rotating Pill level, had internal True Qi that was much stronger than Ye Chen''s, and his external Martial Skills were not the slightest bit weaker than Ye Chen''s!


    The thunder lightning spirit patterns on Xue Jia''s forehead were neither an artistic conception nor a law, but most likely a unique Divine Power exclusive to those at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level!


    Half-Step Rotating Pill, indeed as Fairy Jia Luo had said, was much stronger than the late-stage cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    To deal with this Xue Jia, Ye Chen could only resort to using the "Void Instantaneous Change" Divine Skill.


    When Xue Jia came to kill once again, Ye Chen, whose divine consciousness enveloped the entire area of a thousand zhang radius of the True Inheritance Battle Platform, had his mind move instantly, and he disappeared from his original spot; in the next moment, he appeared in another part of the void.


    Boom!


    This time, everyone clearly saw the spot to which Ye Chen instantly moved.


    The ordinary true inheritance disciples didn''t think much of it, but those strong cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm were completely shocked.


    "Instantaneous Movement!"


    "That''s the technique of Instantaneous Movement!"


    "How could Ye Chen possess such a formidable Divine Skill! This is a Divine Skill that, according to legend, one can only have by fusing the Five Great Principles of the Void Heaven and sensing The Five Elements of Heaven and Earth!"


    Not only were the Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses astonished, but even Fairy Jia Luo and other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses high in the void were shaken.


    "Instantaneous Movement?"


    "No, it doesn''t seem to rely on The Five Elements of Heaven and Earth to perform the Instantaneous Movement."


    "Ye Chen hasn''t fused with any of the Five Great Void Heaven Principles, so it''s impossible for him to have such Divine Skill. It''s said that within the Ancient Clan, there is a secret technique of spatial displacement. Could it be that Ye Chen has cultivated some kind of secret technique heritage?"


    Fairy Jia Luo and the other Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses could not sense any fluctuations of the Five Elements in the void, so they could only speculate.


    The Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses speculated, while Ye Chen''s opponent, Xue Jia, was left utterly dumbfounded!


    Having stepped into the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm, although his body hadn''t fused with the Five Great Principles of the Void Heaven and he hadn''t become a true Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, his body movement techniques allowed him to kill any high-level Spirit Sea master in a second.


    But even so, his body movement techniques still fell short of Ye Chen''s!


    Ye Chen was even able to dodge instantly after he launched his attack!


    Although Xue Jia could definitely overpower Ye Chen in head-on confrontation, if Ye Chen''s body movement was superior to his, he couldn''t hit Ye Chen at all, and his strength advantage in a frontal clash would be completely useless!


    Could it be that this was going to be an anxious battle?


    Xue Jia was somewhat unwilling, unwilling to be in such an anxious situation just by challenging a disciple who had entered the gate for only a few months!


    "Instantaneous Movement can''t take you out of the True Inheritance Battle Platform area!"


    "Since that''s the case, let''s see if you can block my truly powerful Earth Rank mid-level Martial Skill, ''Thunder Lightning Prison Suppressing Technique''!"


    Xue Jia looked towards Ye Chen, the shock in his eyes slowly dissipating and becoming calm again.


    In those calm eyes, the thunder lightning spirit patterns on his forehead flashed wildly, and amidst this frenzy, a walnut-sized rotating pill suddenly emerged at the spot of the spirit patterns!


    This rotating pill kept spinning, engraved with endless mysterious patterns!


    This was none other than the marvelous entity transformed from True Qi that could only be possessed by a Half-Step Rotating Pill strong cultivator or a Rotating Pill Realm strong cultivator, the Rotating Pill!


    Xue Jia had actually stimulated his Rotating Pill!


    Although this Rotating Pill had not fused with the Five Great Void Heaven Principles and could not be compared with the "Law-Merged Rotating Pill" of the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, its power had already reached an inconceivable level!


    Having stimulated the Rotating Pill, Xue Jia was obviously going to use an incredible technique!


    In the very instant that the Rotating Pill appeared, a strange aura instantly swept across the entire True Inheritance Battle Platform.


    In the void, Ye Chen suddenly found that the entire space of the True Inheritance Battle Platform, including above, below, in front, and behind, was completely covered by Xue Jia''s True Qi!


    After the entire space was covered with True Qi, layers of black thunderclouds began to flash across it all.


    In the end, all the black thunderclouds broke apart, and terrifying bolts of lightning burst forth from within.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Countless huge bolts of lightning, hundreds of zhang long, completely submerged the entire space of the True Inheritance Battle Platform, which had now become an ocean of lightning!


    This was the formidable Thunder Lightning Divine Power, the Earth Rank mid-level Martial Skill, the Thunder Lightning Prison Suppressing Technique!


    Even if Ye Chen could perform Instantaneous Movement, this sky filled with lightning was everywhere; no matter where Ye Chen moved to, he would end up within the Killing Formation of the Thunder Lightning Prison Suppressing Technique!


    Above and below, Ye Chen had nowhere to escape!

 Chapter 188: Chapter 162: Assault on the Spirit Sea

    ```


    Watching the entire True Inheritance Battle Platform now completely covered by countless hundreds of yards-long massive lightning bolts, watching the entire platform becoming an ocean of lightning, watching Ye Chen being engulfed in the sky-wide thunderous deathtrap, all the core disciples outside the True Inheritance Battle Platform gasped in shock.


    Is this the martial skill of a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse?!


    Enshrouding a space of a thousand yards all around, lightning bolts raining down everywhere, such martial skill, such magical power, is simply too inconceivable!


    These core disciples all had the feeling that they would be unable to withstand even a single lightning bolt from this deadly array, let alone being trapped in it.


    And Ye Chen, could he still hold up against it now? And how could he?


    "He''s going to lose."


    "Ye Chen is still going to lose."


    "Half-Step Rotating Pill, truly deserving of its reputation, even if Ye Chen has an exceptional skill in movement, able to dodge Xue Jia''s powerful attacks, now he can no longer hide!"


    "Now, the entire True Inheritance Battle Platform area has become an area of deadly force, there''s no way to avoid it!"


    "With the real force of killing coming down, at the moment of life and death, if Ye Chen can''t withstand it and the True Inheritance Battle Platform''s protective restrictions are triggered to teleport him out, he still loses."


    Countless core disciples all shook their heads.


    "Ye Chen!"


    In the core disciple area of Snowdrift Peak, Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen being bombarded and drowned by the sky-wide lightning with eyes filled with tenderness and pain.


    "This ''Thunder Lightning Prison Suppressing Technique'' is Xue Jia''s strongest martial skill, he has cultivated it for decades more than you have, you forcing him to bring out the Rotating Pill, forcing him to use his strongest move, means you''ve already won!"


    "Whether you can withstand it or not, in my heart, you are the strongest!"


    Jiang Yao murmured to herself, biting her red lips.


    "To stimulate the Rotating Pill, to use an Earth-grade mid-tier martial skill!"


    "This is indeed Xue Jia''s strongest move, it''s too much for a disciple at the twelfth layer of True Qi to resist."


    "Let it be, in this martial duel, for Ye Chen to achieve such a level, to suppress late Spirit Sea realm with the power of the True Qi Realm, to compete with a Half-Step Rotating Pill, he has already made history in our Taixuan Sect."


    "Even if he loses, his fame will also be spread throughout the entirety of Taixuan!"


    In the void space above the True Inheritance Battle Platform, the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses watching Ye Chen being engulfed by the lightning also sighed.


    Just as everyone watched the True Inheritance Battle Platform, as everyone awaited the final outcome, within the endless ocean of lightning on the entire True Inheritance Battle Platform, they didn''t see Ye Chen''s figure triggering the protective restrictions, getting teleported out.


    In the midst of the thunderous slaughter, everyone heard a piercing roar, a clear sound of sword cry, and a voice of True Qi that was extremely thick and long.


    "What sound is that?"


    "Could it be, there''s still a chance for change?"


    "Does Ye Chen still have a method, still have a defensive move up his sleeve?"


    All hearts shook wildly as they looked towards the source of the sounds within the lightning arena.


    Just as these thoughts flashed through their minds, within the ocean of lightning, everyone saw a giant golden monkey phantom hundreds of meters tall emerging.


    The piercing roar came from this golden monkey phantom!


    Everyone saw a fiery red sword light traversing through the ocean of lightning.


    The clear sword crying sound came from this fiery red sword light!


    Finally, everyone saw a young figure flying into the midair amidst the endless bombardment of lightning, this figure was surrounded by a majestic True Qi, and his black hair fluttered wildly in the storm!


    It was Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen, incredibly, had not been brought down by the heavens-wide thunderous slaughter, was still standing upright amidst the ocean of lightning!


    Golden Monkey! Fiery red sword light! Gang Yuan True Qi roaring!


    This was unmistakably Ye Chen, against Xue Jia''s enormously powerful Earth-grade mid-tier martial skill, madly stimulating his Nine Transformation Fighting Body, Gang Yuan True Qi, and even the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid from his Sword Palace Acupoint.


    He had taken out all his techniques! Forming the strongest True Qi defense!


    Finally, he withstood Xue Jia''s strongest attack!


    Even though Xue Jia had used the Rotating Pill, even though he used an Earth-grade mid-tier martial skill, he still couldn''t defeat Ye Chen!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen, flying in midair, was struck by endless lightning, but every bolt of lightning that struck him was cut apart by a fiery red sword light radiating from him, severing all the lightning''s killing power.


    No matter how the lightning struck, Ye Chen within the ocean of lightning stood unshaken!


    Ye Chen had truly withstood the strongest attack from a Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouse!


    "How is this possible!"


    All the core disciples watching from the outside yelled out in shock.


    Xue Jia, between his eyebrows the Rotating Pill light shining brightly, also showed an incredulous look in his eyes. He had wanted an intense fight, but Ye Chen had managed to keep the battle on an even keel.


    Although Ye Chen could not deal with him, even with his strongest moves, he likewise could not handle Ye Chen!


    "There''s no way out!"


    "Unless, unless I shatter the ''Rotating Pill,'' to trigger an even more formidable move, but that, only during a battle of life and death, is it necessary, for just a victory in a martial duel, it''s absolutely not worth it!"


    Xue Jia''s complexion kept changing.


    But what he didn''t know was that because it was a martial duel, Ye Chen also didn''t use the real killing force; otherwise, it would not have been such a tense situation between Ye Chen and him.


    Ye Chen also had the option of a flying sword sacrificing its own life, self-detonating!


    ```


    Ye Chen even had the Heavenly Saint bracelet and the Heavenly Saint Attack Law Bead, which he had obtained from the secret grounds of his ancestral land!


    Xue Jia had not used his true life-and-death moves, and neither had Ye Chen!


    Without using their ultimate techniques, their power could only tie in battle!


    "Stop,"


    "This martial duel ends here."


    Just as Xue Jia and Ye Chen were locked in a tense battle and countless true disciples were astonished and terrified by their power, Fairy Jia Luo''s indifferent voice came through the void.


    Then, everyone saw the space above the True Inheritance Battle Platform tear open, and Fairy Jia Luo, the Sect Master of Taixuan Sect, Peak Masters from various peaks, and Elders all emerged from the void.


    As they stepped out, Fairy Jia Luo, walking at the forefront, gently pointed her fair hand downward.


    Whoosh!


    The sky full of thunder and lightning visibly transformed back into True Qi and returned inside Xue Jia''s body.


    And Ye Chen, with the roaring Golden Monkey, the flying red sword beams, and the surging Gang Yuan True Qi, all rapidly retracted and disappeared.


    This was the method of the strongest wielders of the Taixuan Sect!


    With just a light touch, a dire situation instantly evaporated into nothingness!


    "Peak Master Jia Luo!"


    "Peak Master Jia Luo has ended this evenly matched martial duel!"


    The entire True Inheritance Battle Platform area instantly fell silent; then, a massive roar of cheers swept through the entire area.


    Boom!


    Amid the cheering, Xue Jia flew down onto the True Inheritance Battle Platform, and Ye Chen also retracted all his techniques and likewise flew to the center of the platform.


    "Peak Master!"


    "Peak Master Jia Luo!"


    Ye Chen and Xue Jia looked toward Fairy Jia Luo and respectfully bowed.


    "This martial duel is declared a draw. What do you two think?" Fairy Jia Luo looked at them and asked with a gentle smile.


    Ye Chen and Xue Jia looked at each other.


    "Ye Chen, I feel unworthy of this draw given your strength," Xue Jia said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    Ye Chen simply smiled back, "Brother Xue Jia, you flatter me too much. Your Rotating Pill prowess and martial technique prowess truly surprised me."


    Whoosh!


    Hearing Ye Chen and Xue Jia speak this way, all the true disciples watching the duel outside the platform screamed out loud.


    A draw!


    Clearly, both Xue Jia and Ye Chen accepted this result!


    And so did all the spectators!


    The battle between Ye Chen and Xue Jia, the clash of their True Qi, and their nimble movements were a feast for the eyes of the true disciples - frightening thunder and lightning killing power, countless techniques made this duel a rare grand battle in the history of the Taixuan Sect over hundreds of years.


    Especially for Ye Chen, who as a True Qi Realm cultivator, had impressed the top four warriors on the Spirit Ranking and even managed a draw against a Half-Step Rotating Pill adversary, ingraining his name in the minds of numerous true disciples witnessing him for the first time.


    "Ye Chen!"


    With the duel announced over by Fairy Jia Luo, there was no need for further battles.


    Whether it was Xue Jia, Zhao Xuan, or the onlooking true disciples, they all recognized Ye Chen''s strength and his rightful placement as the fourth on the Spirit Ranking!


    At that moment, from the area of Snowdrift Peak''s true disciples, Jiang Yao moved swiftly toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen watched Jiang Yao approaching, then glanced at the numerous true disciples looking at him, and finally rested his gaze on Xue Jia and Fairy Jia Luo.


    Through his battle with Xue Jia, he had nearly exhausted all his techniques to achieve a draw.


    Ye Chen finally realized the strength of a Half-Step Rotating Pill master.


    And Fairy Jia Luo''s last intervention was an eye-opener for Ye Chen, unveiling the terrifying power of a Rotating Pill Realm master who had merged with the grand laws of the void to form a "Law Rotating Pill".


    "My power, even if it may overpower late-stage Spirit Sea Realm warriors, is still far insufficient against Half-Step Rotating Pill and Rotating Pill Realm masters."


    "It is time to step beyond the True Qi Realm and enter the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "The Sword Dueling Tournament would require me in the Spirit Sea Realm. Likewise, the exploration of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb in six days demands it!"


    "Now that I have entered the twelfth level of True Qi, everything is ready. So, tomorrow, I shall truly challenge the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    Ye Chen made up his mind.


    As the True Inheritance battle concluded, the true disciples and elders of Elder Peak returned to their mountains.


    Everything seemed to return to tranquility.


    Only Ye Chen''s reputation began to spread throughout the entire Taixuan Sect.


    After resting for a day, the following early morning, Ye Chen, accompanied by Jiang Yao, rode the giant Fire Sparrow, flying toward Ascending Spirit Valley located on Elder Peak, the highest among Taixuan Sect''s internal peaks.


    Ye Chen was set to begin his assault on the Spirit Sea Realm in "Ascending Spirit Valley", right before entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    Finally, Ye Chen was about to step into the second significant domain of the martial pathway, fiercely stronger than before!

 Chapter 189: Chapter 163 Ascending Spirit Valley

    Ascending Spirit Valley, located at the waist of the mountain where Taixuan Sect''s First Elder Peak is situated, is a vast concave valley.


    The entire Ascending Spirit Valley covers tens of thousands of square zhang, and at its very center, there is a circular platform that spans several zhang in circumference.


    This circular platform is inscribed with numerous mystical patterns, all of which form a complete and flawless Gathering Spirit Formation.


    The grand platform engraved with the complete Gathering Spirit Formation is known as the "Ascension Platform"!


    This platform is the place where cultivators who enter the Ascending Spirit Valley sit in meditation and cultivate.


    Curiously, encircling the Ascension Platform are rings of bizarre stone pillars that extend outward, and these pillars, just like the platform, are also engraved with their own Gathering Spirit Formations.


    Around the entire Ascension Platform, there are six rings of these strange stone pillars, and each ring contains precisely twelve pillars.


    Twelve pillars per ring, totaling six rings from the inside out, the peculiar stone pillars surrounding the Ascension Platform number seventy-two in total!


    The seventy-two bizarre stone pillars, with their seventy-two Gathering Spirit Formations engraved upon them, connect above the ground with the central "Ascension Platform" formation, ultimately constituting the vast formation of the entire Ascending Spirit Valley.


    This majestic formation reaches the "Heaven Rank," specifically, the Heaven Rank Mid-Grade Gathering Spirit Formation of Ascending Spirit Valley!


    Such a grand formation was, in the past, only accessible to the elders and Peak Masters of the Taixuan Sect for their meditative cultivation. They used the "Heaven Rank Gathering Spirit Formation" to fuse the true spirit energy of heaven and earth, enhancing their True Qi cultivation.


    Among the elite disciples of recent years, Jiang Yao is the only one who qualifies to enter the Ascending Spirit Valley, using it to break through from the True Qi Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Ye Chen became the second unanimously agreed-upon elite disciple by all the Peak Masters and elders to attempt a breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm here!


    Ye Chen''s extraordinary performance in battle against a half-step Rotating Pill expert on the True Inheritance Battle Platform astonished all the elite disciples, as well as all the elders and Peak Masters of the Taixuan Sect!


    When Ye Chen expressed his intention to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm, without needing any further word from Fairy Jia Luo, all the Peak Masters and elders immediately suggested that Ye Chen come to "Ascending Spirit Valley" within the First Elder Peak to use the Heaven Rank Gathering Spirit Formation for his breakthrough!


    The Heaven Rank Mid-Grade Gathering Spirit Formation within Ascending Spirit Valley, while more than sufficient for Rotating Pill Realm experts to cultivate their True Qi, is somewhat overqualified for a breakthrough from the True Qi Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm.


    However, there was no question that this place should be made available to Ye Chen for his attempt at the Spirit Sea Realm, as he was worthy of this privilege!


    Let alone the fact that Ye Chen had fought to a draw with the half-step Rotating Pill expert Xue Jia on the True Inheritance Battle Platform, just Ye Chen''s ability to thoroughly defeat late-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts with his twelfth layer True Qi Realm cultivation granted him this qualification!


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao rode the colossal Fire Sparrow towards Ascending Spirit Valley, within the valley, ten Rotating Pill Realm experts had already been sitting in the void awaiting their arrival.


    Among these ten Rotating Pill Realm experts was Fairy Jia Luo herself. As Ye Chen was attempting to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm, and as the Peak Master of Floating Snow Peak, it was only natural for Fairy Jia Luo to preside over the event personally.


    Besides Fairy Jia Luo, the other nine Rotating Pill Realm experts were the elders in charge of this "Heaven Rank Formation" from the First Elder Peak.


    The ten great Rotating Pill Realm experts waited, expecting Ye Chen to arrive in Ascending Spirit Valley.


    This wait was not a long one, as the ten great Rotating Pill Realm experts soon saw from afar the giant Fire Sparrow flying through the sky, carrying Ye Chen and Jiang Yao on its back.


    "Ye Chen has arrived!"


    "Prepare to activate the Gathering Spirit Formation!"


    All nine elders stood up.


    Fairy Jia Luo also stood up, smiling at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Chirp!"


    With a crisp cry of the bird, in a matter of breaths, the giant Fire Sparrow, over a hundred and twenty meters in length, unfolded its fiery wings and descended within Ascending Spirit Valley.


    "Esteemed elders and Peak Masters, I am humbled by your assistance as I attempt to break through to the next realm," Ye Chen said upon arrival in Ascending Spirit Valley, as he and Jiang Yao flew towards the ten great Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    Having been informed by Jiang Yao that the Heaven Rank Gathering Spirit Formation required the joint effort of nine elders to activate, Ye Chen wasn''t surprised to see the nine elders present.


    The nine great Elders, just like Fairy Jia Luo, also smiled and looked towards Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, there''s no need to be polite with us old fellows."


    "During your time in the True Qi Realm, you could battle on par with a half-step Rotating Pill disciple. We old fellows are also looking forward to seeing just how much your strength will advance after stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm."


    "Now, as the early sun rises and the true Qi of heaven and earth abundantly releases, it is an excellent time to cultivate and attempt a breakthrough. Go ahead, to the ''Ascension Platform'', and start your attempt to reach the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    Ascending Spirit Valley.


    Upon hearing the words of the nine great Elders, Ye Chen turned his attention to the circular platform at the very heart of the Ascending Spirit Valley, surrounded by seventy-two peculiar stone pillars.


    Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    He was about to begin his attempt to reach the Spirit Sea Realm on that very platform!


    Ye Chen had already prepared himself and, without any hesitation, nodded slightly towards Jiang Yao, then bowed to the nine great Elders and Fairy Jia Luo before his wings of wind and thunder unfurled behind him, and he flew towards the circular platform at the valley''s center.


    "It''s starting."


    "Ye Chen said he was confident in stepping into the Spirit Sea. Once he gets past this hurdle, he will be just like me, a person of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    Jiang Yao stood amidst the void, beside Fairy Jia Luo, her clear eyes focused on Ye Chen, her small hands tightly clenched, a face full of anticipation.


    A giant Fire Sparrow stopped by her side, the majestic bird also turning its attention to Ye Chen.


    As everyone watched, Ye Chen finally arrived above the Ascension Platform. He sat down cross-legged right atop the eye of the Gathering Spirit Formation at the center of the platform.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had seated himself, the nine great Elders simultaneously formed hand seals. In an instant, a powerful aura swept through the entire Ascending Spirit Valley, rushing into the seventy-two peculiar stone pillars and the Ascension Platform''s Gathering Spirit Formation.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, all the patterns on the Gathering Spirit Formation began to circulate, and amidst the endless flashing lights, the entire Ascending Spirit Valley seemed to come to life.


    This was the display of the Heaven Rank Gathering Spirit Formation, the grand formation of the Ascending Spirit Valley, activating!


    "What a strange sensation. It''s as if, if only I could attract it, I could gather the endless true Qi of heaven and earth!"


    Seated at the eye of the Gathering Spirit Formation on the Ascension Platform, Ye Chen felt the pulse of the land throughout the valley as if the very earth was breathing.


    Ye Chen closed his eyes and regulated his breathing to match.


    Gradually, his breathing became synchronized with the breathing of the land throughout Ascending Spirit Valley.


    Calm and focusing his spirit, Ye Chen entered into a genuine state of attempting to break through.


    An attempt to reach the Spirit Sea Realm involves transforming the Qi Sea into the Spirit Sea and changing the gaseous True Qi within the Qi Sea into the liquid form of the True Qi Spiritual Fluid. This process requires the use of the "Rushing Spirit Skills" to stimulate the entire Qi Sea to change.


    Seated in meditation, Ye Chen began to channel the True Qi inside his body according to the Rushing Spirit Skills.


    This process lasted for a full hour!


    After one hour had passed, a golden box suddenly flew out of the meditating Ye Chen''s body. The golden box flew open upon its exit, and a peculiar pill leapt out from within, suspending itself in the void right in front of Ye Chen.


    On this peculiar pill, engraved with a three-striped golden dragon pattern, was none other than the supreme treasure Ye Chen had acquired in the ancestral secret realm¡ª the "Creation Yuan Pill"!


    The Creation Yuan Pill, capable of perfectly transforming the True Qi Realm into the Spirit Sea Realm and giving those within the Spirit Sea Realm a seventy percent chance of stepping into the Rotating Pill, was indeed a powerful and strange Spirit Pill!


    Ye Chen was to use this pill to aid in his attempt at reaching the Spirit Sea!


    At the very moment the "Creation Yuan Pill" flew out, Ye Chen, who had been meditating and channeling the Rushing Spirit Skills for a full hour, suddenly opened his eyes.


    As he opened his eyes, he inhaled towards the void and the floating Creation Yuan Pill shot into his mouth with a "whoosh".


    The attempt to reach the Spirit Sea Realm was happening right now!

 Chapter 190: Chapter 164: Astonishing Phenomenon

    ```


    After ingesting the Creation Yuan Pill, Ye Chen clenched the spell in his hand fiercely. The "Rushing Spirit Skills" began to revolve crazily toward his entire Qi Sea.


    In an instant, strands of peculiar green smoke started to float around Ye Chen''s body.


    "It''s starting!"


    "Ye Chen has already set the spell in motion, finally about to take the step into ''Gathering Spirit,'' using the Heaven and Earth True Qi to strike at his Qi Sea, causing it to undergo a metamorphosis!"


    Watching the strands of peculiar green smoke rising around Ye Chen, the nine great elders, Fairy Jia Luo, and Jiang Yao in the void were all getting excited.


    They had broken through to the Spirit Sea Realm before and knew that this was the beginning of the transformation of the Qi Sea into the Spirit Sea!


    "The higher the talent in the True Qi Realm, the richer the Heaven and Earth True Qi that one can draw upon while breaking into the Spirit Sea. The resulting Spirit Sea from the transformation of the entire Qi Sea will be more vast. Stepping into the Spirit Sea later on, one''s strength will also be all the more powerful!"


    "An average disciple from the True Qi Realm who manages to step into the Spirit Sea can draw upon four to five li of Heaven and Earth True Qi Cloud. Meanwhile, immensely powerful True Qi Realm disciples can even draw upon ten li of Heaven and Earth True Qi Cloud!"


    "Us old fellows from the Rotating Pill Realm, when we broke into the Spirit Sea Realm before, the Heaven and Earth True Qi Clouds we drew upon were about fifteen li. Fairy Jia Luo, when she stepped into the Spirit Sea, even drew upon a terrifying thirty-three li of True Qi Cloud!"


    The nine great elders reminisced as they watched Ye Chen.


    Fairy Jia Luo also gently spoke at this time, "Back then, Yao''er activated a total of thirty-six Spirit Gathering Formations spread over three rings on this Ascension Platform, drawing upon forty-nine li of Heaven and Earth True Qi Cloud, even stronger than me at the time!"


    "I really don''t know how many Spirit Gathering Formations Ye Chen can activate, or how much Heaven and Earth True Qi Cloud he can draw upon!"


    Fairy Jia Luo looked at Ye Chen, who was seated at the very center of the Ascending Spirit Valley''s Ascension Platform, with anticipation in her heart.


    She was hoping that Ye Chen would draw upon even more Heaven and Earth True Qi Clouds and enhance his strength further!


    "When I was at the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, I wasn''t as strong as Ye Chen is now. He must be more formidable than I was, and will draw upon even more Heaven and Earth True Qi Clouds!"


    Belief in Ye Chen was written all over Jiang Yao''s delicate little face.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the gazes of the ten great Rotating Pill experts and Jiang Yao, Ye Chen, enveloped by strands of green smoke, had already directed the Rushing Spirit Skills completely into his Qi Sea.


    In a flash, Ye Chen''s entire Qi Sea began to pulse furiously. Within the twelve great Gang Yuan True Qi whirlpools within the Qi Sea, endless Gang Yuan True Qi began to turn into twelve towering tornados, violently sweeping through the entire Qi Sea!


    The whole Qi Sea world was in an uproar!


    In the world of the Qi Sea, only Ye Chen''s unique and marvelous "Star Tower" remained standing, unmoved by the commotion.


    Even as the Star Tower stood immobile, the twelve Gang Yuan True Qi tornados churned the entire Qi Sea up, leaving it with tremendous fissures all around.


    This was a clear sign that the Qi Sea was undergoing a magnificent transformation!


    Meanwhile, as the world within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea was undergoing tumultuous changes, the entire Ascension Platform where he was seated burst into endless Spiritual Light.


    Amidst this endless outpouring of Spiritual Light, all of the Gathering Spirit Formations on the Ascension Platform emitted an extraordinarily dazzling glow.


    Under the shine of this glow, Ye Chen seemed like a deity seated at the heart of it all!


    While the light intensified, all the endless radiance from the Ascension Platform, connected via endless patterns on the ground, started to swiftly course toward the seventy-two stone pillars throughout the valley.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In almost the blink of an eye, all of the Spirit Gathering Formations on the twelve stone pillars of the first ring glowed intensely, emitting boundless Spiritual Light!


    It didn''t stop there.


    The moment the twelve stone pillars of the first ring released their light, the pillars of the second and third rings were also instantly activated. The total number of activated Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars in Ascending Spirit Valley had reached an impressive thirty-six!


    As each of the Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars was activated, great winds began to howl throughout the entire Ascending Spirit Valley, as if the valley wielded a tremendous attractive force. From all directions, endless Heaven and Earth True Qi began to converge towards the valley.


    Instantly, above the valley''s skies, a vast, incredibly dense, green cloud began to gather.


    ```


    This azure giant cloud was none other than the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud!


    It was the True Qi Spirit Cloud formed when one from the True Qi Realm struck at the Spirit Sea Realm!


    When the twelve Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars emitted a bright light, the Heaven and Earth Spirit Cloud in the sky extended to a radius of ten miles!


    When the twenty-four Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars emitted a bright light, the Heaven and Earth Spirit Cloud in the sky had already expanded to a radius of twenty-eight miles!


    And when all thirty-six Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars emitted a bright light, the Heaven and Earth Spirit Cloud in the sky even reached a formidable size of forty-nine miles in radius!


    The area covered by the entire Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud even enveloped a large expanse of the sky above the First Elder Peak!


    Seeing the astounding Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud continue to expand, the nine great elders all became excited.


    And upon seeing the area of the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud reaching a forty-nine-mile radius, with all thirty-six Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars being activated, the elders couldn''t help exclaiming in astonishment.


    "Thirty-six Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars, heavens, Ye Chen is just like Jiang Yao; he has also activated all thirty-six Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars!"


    "Indeed, just like Jiang Yao, Ye Chen has an unbelievably powerful True Qi Realm, and the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud he triggers is also boundless!"


    In the midst of the nine great elders'' exclamations, Fairy Jia Luo and Jiang Yao both remained silent.


    Concerned more about Ye Chen, the two noticed simultaneously that the thirty-six Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars might not be his limit yet.


    The other twelve Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars in the fourth ring also began to flash wildly.


    Although not as rapidly activated as the first three rings of thirty-six stone pillars, it was clear that these stone pillars of the fourth ring were also being activated!


    It was very likely that they too would be activated and release the power of Gathering Spirit onto the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen can activate a full forty-eight Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars?!"


    Seeing the twelve Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars of the fourth ring flash wildly, Fairy Jia Luo could not remain calm either.


    Having cultivated countless times in Ascending Spirit Valley, she certainly knew what activating forty-eight Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars meant; it was a phenomenon that only the immensely powerful Rotating Pill Realm cultivators of the Taixuan Sect exhibited during their Rotating Pill cultivation!


    To reach the extent in Rotating Pill Realm cultivation while striking from True Qi Realm at the Spirit Sea Realm.


    This indicated that the amount of Heaven and Earth True Qi absorbed by Ye Chen upon entering the Spirit Sea Realm would be enough to reach the Rotating Pill Realm level!


    This was simply an inconceivable scenario!


    As Fairy Jia Luo struggled to maintain her composure, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" the twelve Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars of the fourth ring, after flashing for dozens of breaths, simultaneously shone brightly.


    These twelve Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars were truly activated!


    Together with the previously activated thirty-six, the number of Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars activated by Ye Chen truly reached a breathtaking total of forty-eight!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When all forty-eight Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars shone brightly, the entire Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud, already covering a radius of forty-nine miles in the sky, began to expand once again.


    Fifty miles, fifty-eight miles, sixty-three miles...


    In the end, the entire expanse of the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud even reached a staggering seventy-two miles, completely enveloping the sky above the First Elder Peak in the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud!


    "Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud!"


    "I remember Ye Chen was set to strike at the Spirit Sea Realm within the First Elder Peak today, could it be Ye Chen who has caused such an extraordinary phenomenon?"


    "To think striking at the Spirit Sea Realm could draw forth such an immense Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud?!"


    This earth-shattering spectacle even drew the attention of the elders from the Second Elder Peak and the Third Elder Peak. They all flew out from their peaks and stood in the void looking towards the sky above the First Elder Peak, with disbelief etched on their faces.


    Not just the elders, but even the true disciples from the Eight Great Inner Peaks eventually took notice of the astonishing phenomenon above the First Elder Peak, each flying out from their peaks and turning their gazes skyward.

 Chapter 191: Chapter 165 Change! Change! Change!

    ```


    As countless people were paying attention to the anomaly at the top of the First Elder Peak, Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged within the "Ascending Spirit Valley" of the First Elder Peak, had reached the most critical moment of his breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Within the Realm of True Qi, he activated a total of forty-eight Spirit Gathering Stone Pillars, drawing upon the immense Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud within a seventy-two-li radius, setting a record for the True Qi Realm and reaching the limit of his own power!


    His inner Qi Sea World had also reached its limit at this time!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen''s entire Qi Sea had been battered by twelve gusts of Gang Yuan True Qi hurricanes, creating countless immense cracks, which began to spread and extend across the land of the entire Qi Sea World.


    As the vast Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud completely obscured the First Elder Peak, the land of Ye Chen''s Qi Sea was also completely covered by immense cracks.


    The mutation of the Qi Sea was happening now!


    Shrouded over the entire First Elder Peak, the vast Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud, extending over a radius of seventy-two li, was suddenly drawn by the abnormal changes of Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, instantly taking the shape of a divine marvel funnel, furiously flooding towards his body.


    In an instant, Ye Chen was completely engulfed within the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud.


    The immense Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud poured frantically into Ye Chen''s body, directed into his Qi Sea.


    Upon entering Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, the Spirit Cloud was transformed into Gang Yuan True Qi by the Gang Qi Transformation, a divine skill from the Gang Yuan Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture that Ye Chen cultivated.


    With the addition of new Gang Yuan True Qi, the howling Gang Yuan True Qi hurricanes whirling within his entire Qi Sea suddenly grew tremendously.


    After the addition of millions of strands of new Gang Yuan True Qi, the land beneath the Qi Sea World, already filled with boundless cracks, seemed unable to withstand the immense True Qi pressure and burst apart with a thunderous explosion, shattering entirely.


    In amidst these thunderous explosions and shattering, an incredibly vast ocean formed with a roar.


    At the same time as the huge ocean formed, a golden dragon suddenly flew out of Ye Chen''s Qi Sea.


    This golden dragon was precisely the medicinal power dragon released from the "Creation Yuan Pill" that Ye Chen had ingested!


    As soon as the golden dragon appeared within the Qi Sea, it immediately began to spew endless flames. These flames, upon contact with the Gang Yuan True Qi hurricanes surging in the Qi Sea, caused all of the Gang Yuan True Qi to ignite, eventually transforming into drops of silver Spiritual Liquid that fell into the newly formed vast ocean.


    While True Qi outside of Ye Chen''s body was furiously rushing inward, all the True Qi that poured in was burned into Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid by the flames of the golden dragon, plunging into the ocean.


    Within the entire True Qi ocean, the quantity of Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid grew more and more, becoming more and more immense.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With the influx of the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid, the True Qi ocean continued to spread and expand. Eventually, the land of the entire Qi Sea World became a vast ocean!


    No, at this moment, the Qi Sea World could no longer be called a Qi Sea. Having endless oceans, filled with an endless supply of Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid, the Qi Sea World had transformed into a true Spirit Sea World!


    The Qi Sea was shattered, and the Spirit Sea emerged!


    The True Qi transformed, and the Spiritual Liquid appeared!


    With the immense medicinal power of the "Creation Yuan Pill," Ye Chen finally broke through the bottleneck of the Spirit Sea Realm and truly entered the process where the Qi Sea transforms into the Spirit Sea and the Gang Yuan True Qi turns into Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid!


    Three hours later, when the immense True Qi Spirit Cloud that had shrouded the skies above the Ascending Spirit Valley and the entire First Elder Peak for seventy-two li had all transformed into Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid and fallen into Ye Chen''s newly established Spirit Sea, Ye Chen completely accomplished the transformation to the Spirit Sea.


    Ye Chen had thoroughly stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm!


    A new powerhouse of the Spirit Sea Realm was thus born!


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s Spirit Sea radiated with endless silver Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid shining with divine marvel, and due to the inflow of the Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Cloud from a seventy-two li radius, the quantity of Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid inside his Spirit Sea had increased by hundreds of times compared to when Ye Chen was at the twelfth layer of True Qi!


    Ye Chen''s quantity of True Qi had taken a qualitative leap due to the breakthrough into the Spirit Sea Realm!


    From now on, Ye Chen officially entered the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Once the entire Qi Sea turned into the Spirit Sea and the gaseous True Qi turned into the Liquid True Qi Spirit Fluid, the process being completely finished, the sitting Ye Chen suddenly opened his eyes.


    The moment his eyes opened, an extraordinary light of Spiritual Liquid flashed through them.


    Feeling the vast True Qi Spiritual Fluid within the Spirit Sea, and the surging True Qi power inside his body, Ye Chen stood up from his seated position.


    "The Spirit Sea, I have finally become a powerhouse of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes were brimming with endless brilliance.


    He reached out into the void with a great hand, and instantly, countless strands of Gang Yuan True Qi burst forth from his hand. Effortlessly, Ye Chen was now able to instantly utilize all True Qi Techniques! He felt as if he was in control of an incredibly immense True Qi, at his disposal to use as he wished!


    Previously, when Ye Chen faced the Half-Step Rotating Pill expert Xue Jia at the twelfth layer of True Qi, he was sent flying directly by Xue Jia''s True Qi impact!


    But now, with his Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid multiplying by hundreds of times within his body, Ye Chen was confident that upon encountering Xue Jia again, he would absolutely not lose out to him in the slightest in a direct confrontation of True Qi!


    ```


    ```


    This is the effect of True Qi Spirit Transformation!


    ```


    "True Qi turns into Spiritual Liquid, inducing a Spirit Transformation! This is just one of the gains I''ve made after stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, and there are others!"


    Ye Chen felt the changes in his body and had long sensed that his entire life force was vastly different from when he was in the True Qi Realm.


    "True Qi Spirit Transformation is the transformation of my True Qi!"


    "I have a second transformation, too, and that is flight!"


    With a mere thought, Ye Chen no longer needed to rely on Wind-Thunder Wings for flight as he had in the Realm of True Qi. Upon entering the Spirit Sea, he felt he could control every bit of Essence Element throughout his body.


    This control over the Essence Element granted Ye Chen a new Divine Skill¡ªthe ability to fly and escape the earth that only those in the Spirit Sea Realm could possess!


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen''s Divine Sense shifted, he lightly lifted his foot and stepped into the void, walking on air.


    With another thought, Ye Chen, who was stepping through the void, instantly turned into a silver-white Escaping Light, flying at high speed throughout Ascending Spirit Valley.


    Flight, this is the feeling of flight!


    To be able to fly in the void is the technique of the powerful. Ye Chen could finally fly and earth escape, soaring into the void!


    "True Qi Spirit Transformation is the ''Qi''s transformation!"


    "Flight is the ''Essence Element''s transformation!"


    "After stepping into the Spirit Sea, there is a third transformation I''ve undergone, and that is the transformation of Divine Sense!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen let his Divine Sense spread fully, sweeping over the entire Ascending Spirit Valley.


    Before reaching the Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense could cover a radius of a thousand zhang¡ªapproximately six to seven miles.


    However, after entering the Spirit Sea, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense coverage expanded suddenly to a radius of twenty miles!


    Everything within the radius of twenty miles was under Ye Chen''s control.


    This was a sign of strengthening Divine Sense!


    With the increase in the scope of the Divine Sense, Ye Chen''s "Void Instantaneous Change" Divine Skill would be even more formidable, and the area he could instantly change to expanded with the range of his Divine Sense to cover twenty miles.


    With a single thought, Ye Chen could instantly move to any location within this twenty-mile radius!


    After the Divine Sense had strengthened, not only did the scope enlarge, but there was another advantage¡ªDivine Sense Transmission!


    Previously, Ye Chen did not understand how Spirit Sea Realm experts could transmit messages with their Divine Sense, but after stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, he realized that with a strong enough Divine Sense, he could easily sense other experts'' Divine Senses and communicate directly through it.


    This was Divine Sense Transmission!


    Boom!


    After experiencing the changes in his body, Ye Chen flew back down to the Ascension Platform.


    From the Realm of True Qi, the first major realm of Martial Arts, to the second major realm, the Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen''s gains were immense!


    His whole level of life took a leap forward, with substantial improvements and changes to all three aspects of his being: ''Essence, Qi, and Spirit''!


    The transformation of Essence means control over the movement of Essence Element, giving Ye Chen a more refined command over his strength and a new Divine Skill¡ªflight!


    The transformation of Qi is the transformation of True Qi into Spiritual Liquid. This change allows Ye Chen''s Spirit Sea to hold more True Qi Spiritual Fluid, vastly increasing the power of the True Qi he controls!


    There''s also the third transformation, ''the Divine Transformation,'' where Divine Sense expands and strengthens, enveloping all directions and allowing Divine Sense Transmission!


    Ye Chen felt that this foray into the Spirit Sea Realm marked another qualitative leap in his strength.


    With his newly acquired flight divine ability, combined with his Wind-Thunder Wings cultivation technique, Ye Chen was confident that his speed would not be inferior to any Spirit Sea Realm fighter, including those who reached the Half-Step Rotating Pill realm!


    Moreover, the surge in the quantity of Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid boosted his strength to an unimaginable level. In terms of the amount and quality of True Qi, Ye Chen would not be the slightest bit inferior to a Half-Step Rotating Pill expert!


    And then there were the enhancements in Divine Sense, the increased range of Void Instantaneous Change, and more nuanced power control, which aided in mastering the Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    Before, Ye Chen could only fight to a draw against the Half-Step Rotating Pill expert Xue Jia. Now, with further improvements in his strength, Ye Chen felt that he was definitely superior to Xue Jia!


    Without relying on the Void Instantaneous Change Divine Skill, he already had the power to confront a Half-Step Rotating Pill expert head-on!


    ```

 Chapter 192: Chapter 166 Gathering Storm

    ```


    Huge gains!


    After stepping from Martial Arts'' first major realm, the "True Qi Realm," into the second major realm, the "Spirit Sea Realm," the rewards were indeed tremendous!


    Ye Chen felt the changes in his strength and nodded in satisfaction.


    "However."


    At this moment, as he sized up the vast Spirit Sea newly formed within his Qi Sea Acupoint and the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid within the Spirit Sea that shimmered with silver light, Ye Chen showed a hint of surprise.


    "Even after absorbing so much Gang Yuan True Qi, the ''True Thunder Extreme Change,'' the fifth layer of the ''Gang Yuan Chapter'' of Primordial Star Scripture, still hasn''t triggered any True Thunder Induction!"


    Ye Chen had already successfully cultivated the first four layers of the Gang Yuan Chapter: Meridian Refining Art, Gang Yuan Mantra, Gang Qi Transformation, and Void Instantaneous Change, but he had always been unable to cultivate the fifth layer.


    According to the fifth layer, "True Thunder Extreme Change," one must accumulate an extreme amount of Gang Yuan True Qi in the Qi Sea Acupoint until True Thunder Induction is generated within the body. Only then can one draw upon Nine Heavens True Thunder to strike the Gang Yuan True Qi, causing an extreme transformation of the Qi and stepping into the second chapter of Primordial Star Scripture.


    Ye Chen had thought that reaching the twelfth layer of True Qi would fulfill the requirement for the maximum quantity of Gang Yuan True Qi, but even after entering the twelfth layer, he still hadn''t triggered any True Thunder Induction.


    Now, after breaking through from the twelfth layer of True Qi to the initial phase of Spirit Sea Realm, the Gang Yuan True Qi within his body had increased hundreds of times, transforming into droplets of liquid Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid, and yet there was still no sign of True Thunder Induction.


    This was indeed surprising for Ye Chen!


    Could it be that the amount of Gang Yuan True Qi in his body hadn''t yet reached its limit?


    Did he need to further increase the amount of Gang Yuan True Qi?


    Ye Chen pondered.


    After all, the Primordial Star Scripture, this Supreme Divine Art, offers tremendous benefits across the first four layers of the "Gang Yuan Chapter." Whether it''s cultivating the Thirty-Three Meridian Wheels with Meridian Refining Art, cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi with the Gang Yuan Mantra, transforming Gang Yuan True Qi with the Gang Qi Transformation, or mastering the Void Instantaneous Change that enables instantaneous movement, each layer brought him immense gains.


    Naturally, Ye Chen wanted to complete the cultivation of the fifth layer as soon as possible.


    Not only did he want to complete the cultivation of these five layers, but Ye Chen was also eager to see what the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture would be like after the "Gang Yuan Chapter."


    Just the foundational "Gang Yuan Chapter" was so powerful; once he entered the second floor of Starlight Tower and obtained the second chapter''s Cultivation Technique hidden there, his strength would likely improve dramatically once again!


    Ye Chen clearly remembered the message left by the owner of Starlight Tower, "Zi Ji Star Lord," which stated that if he cultivated up to the fourth chapter of Primordial Star Scripture, he would be powerful enough to dominate a world¡ªYe Chen naturally aspired to reach that level of power as soon as possible!


    "Forget it, if the Gang Yuan True Qi is still insufficient to produce True Thunder Induction, then I''ll just continue to increase the Gang Yuan True Qi. After all, entering the Spirit Sea Realm means that I still have to continue cultivating True Qi."


    After some thought, Ye Chen decided to put this worry aside for now.


    Although he hadn''t yet induced True Thunder, Ye Chen had a premonition that he wasn''t far from triggering True Thunder Induction within his body!


    "Right now, entering Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb is the priority!"


    After stepping into the Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen finally met the requirements to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    He could finally explore the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb with Jiang Yao!


    "After this exploration of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb is over, I''ll also be qualified to attend the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament!"


    Ye Chen smiled lightly.


    Having stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, he had met the requirements for both the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb and the Sword Fighting Tournament.


    This eased his mind considerably.


    "Let''s go, Jiang Yao and the Peak Master must be getting anxious waiting for me!"


    Ye Chen had been cultivating in Ascending Spirit Valley, undergoing the breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm, and then comprehending the changes in his body¡ª a phase during which, of course, no one would disturb him.


    Now that he had fully comprehended all the changes post-breakthrough, there was no need to stay in Ascending Spirit Valley any longer.


    With a thought, Ye Chen laughed as he flew into the sky, heading towards Jiang Yao and Fairy Jia Luo waiting in the skies at the outer edges of Ascending Spirit Valley.


    "He''s out!"


    "Ye Chen has successfully completed his realm breakthrough and has finally emerged!"


    As soon as Ye Chen stood up from his meditative posture and began to fly through the valley using his Flight Divine Ability, Jiang Yao, Fairy Jia Luo, and the nine Elders were all excited.


    They had personally witnessed the extraordinary phenomena of Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough and saw how he absorbed the Heaven and Earth Spirit Cloud from a radius of seventy-two miles into his body.


    Just think about the extent of Ye Chen''s strength increase with seventy-two miles of Heaven and Earth Spirit Cloud!


    While Ye Chen was still in the valley comprehending the various gains from his elevated realm, they naturally wouldn''t interrupt, but as soon as Ye Chen flew out of the valley, they couldn''t contain their excitement and all headed towards him.


    "Ye Chen!"


    The girl Jiang Yao, dressed in a white pleated skirt, with her hair cascading to her waist like a waterfall, and her face exquisite and absolutely beautiful, with clear and moving eyes, was the first to fly in front of Ye Chen.


    ```


    Ye Chen smiled at Jiang Yao and took the girl''s small hand into his palm.


    At this moment, Fairy Jia Luo and the nine great elders also descended beside the two of them.


    Looking at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, all nine great elders nodded with smiles.


    These two youngsters were indeed the great hope of the Taixuan Sect!


    Fairy Jia Luo''s face also revealed a faint smile as she looked at Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, congratulations on entering the Spirit Sea Realm! You said before that you wanted to go to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb with Yao''er, and I didn''t believe you could enter the Spirit Sea so quickly. To my surprise, in the blink of an eye, you have become a master of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "The exploration of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb begins in five days. Are you ready to compete with the talents from the great sects¡ªeven those from fifth-rank great sects?"


    The exploration of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb starts in five days!


    Fairy Jia Luo''s words filled Ye Chen''s heart with a surge of lofty ambition. In the past, he had only interacted with the talents from the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and had only traveled within that region''s boundaries.


    In five days, he would head to the Demon Burial Abyss in the northern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, where the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb was located, and compete with disciples from the sixth-rank and fifth-rank great sects of the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom for the tomb''s legacy treasures and opportunities. Naturally, this made Ye Chen quite excited.


    "Peak Master, rest assured, once we enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, those fifth-rank sect disciples better not provoke us. If they try to bully us, they will likely suffer for it," Ye Chen said with a light smile.


    Seeing the confidence in Ye Chen''s smile, Fairy Jia Luo nodded unconsciously.


    Even before Ye Chen had entered the Spirit Sea Realm, he had fought Xue Jia to a standstill, who was at the half-step Rotating Pill strength. Now that he had entered the Spirit Sea Realm, of course, she felt even more relieved about Ye Chen''s strength.


    Having Ye Chen accompany Jiang Yao to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, she felt much more at ease.


    "Alright, let''s return to Snowdrift Peak. Five days will pass quickly, and we need to make good preparations before heading to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!"


    ...


    As Ye Chen completed his breakthrough into the Spirit Sea Realm and returned to Snowdrift Peak, where he and Jiang Yao, along with the other top ten disciples from the Taixuan Sect''s Spirit Ranking, were making final preparations to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, other great sects were also in the midst of their final preparations to enter the tomb.


    Within the northern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, the fifth-rank great sect "Cloud Sky Sect."


    As the most powerful sect in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, which had once even been a fourth-rank sect, the Cloud Sky Sect still had two strong late-stage Rotating Pill practitioners in charge.


    At present, within the most secretive cave abode of Cloud Sky Sect, the two late-stage Rotating Pill practitioners, "Daoist Yunyang" and "Daoist Yun Fang," were sitting in the uppermost seats, with thirty disciples standing firmly before them.


    These thirty disciples were the ones chosen to represent the Cloud Sky Sect in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    Among these thirty, there were as many as eighteen half-step Rotating Pill powerhouses, and the remaining twelve were all late-stage Spirit Sea Realm masters.


    A fifth-rank great sect indeed had profound foundations!


    At this moment, Daoist Yunyang looked at the thirty disciples with an extremely stern expression and said, "The Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb was left behind by our sect''s ancestor ''Heavenly Saint Linghua.'' It''s natural that we obtain the majority of his legacy treasures!"


    "Our Cloud Sky Sect is the strongest in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Although only those at the Spirit Sea Realm can enter the tomb, when it comes to strength at the Spirit Sea Realm, other sects cannot compare with us."


    "Remember, the Heavenly Saint relics are each incredibly precious. By whatever means necessary, you must secure many of them for me! Whoever obtains the most valuable Heavenly Saint relics, I will accept as my direct disciple and will teach them three Heaven Rank Great Divine Powers!"


    Boom!


    Daoist Yunyang''s words ignited a fiery look in the eyes of every disciple in the cave abode.


    To become a direct disciple of a late-stage Rotating Pill powerhouse and also receive three Heaven Rank Great Divine Powers was a reward that would allow them to walk proudly in the Cloud Sky Sect and even in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    Not to mention, according to the rules of treasure hunting in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, they could keep half of the legacy treasures for themselves!


    "The legacy treasures of Heavenly Saint Linghua must belong to our Cloud Sky Sect; we will strive with all our might to seize them!"


    Thirty Cloud Sky Sect disciples declared in unison.


    In the western region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, the fifth-rank great sect Flame Sect.


    At this moment, within the cave abode of "Daoist Chi Mei," a late-stage Rotating Pill powerhouse of the Flame Sect, more than a dozen half-step Rotating Pill disciples were standing.


    As Daoist Chi Mei was speaking to these half-step Rotating Pill disciples, a young man dressed in a flame-colored Daoist robe suddenly walked into the cave abode.


    The youth appeared to be seventeen or eighteen years old, and his realm seemed to be only mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm, but upon seeing this young man, even the half-step Rotating Pill disciples in the cave abode changed their expressions.


    Clearly, this youngster had an extraordinary background!


    "Yan''er, you''ve finally come out of cultivation. The exploration of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb is about to start!" Seeing the flame-robed youth, Daoist Chi Mei''s smile couldn''t be contained. He waved his hand to have the other half-step Rotating Pill disciples leave the cave, leaving only the flame-robed youth inside.


    "How about it, Yan''er, have you successfully refined the ''Soul-devouring True Fire''?" Daoist Chi Mei asked the flame-robed youth.


    The flame-robed youth extended his palm, and in the center, a cluster of purple flames gently pulsed. The youth spoke indifferently, "Master, rest assured, on this trip to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, no one will be a match for Yan''er!"


    This youth was none other than Liu Yan, the renowned genius of the entire fifth-rank great sect "Flame Sect." He had the strength to suppress half-step Rotating Pill powerhouses while only at mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm and was also the direct disciple of Daoist Chi Mei!

 Chapter 193: Chapter 167: Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb

    In the Southern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there lies the Fifth-Rank Great Sect of the Moon Concealing Sect.


    The Moon Concealing Sect was not only famous for being one of the three greatest Fifth-Rank sects in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, but even more so for only accepting female disciples!


    The fact that the Moon Concealing Sect only accepted female disciples, places it just one late-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert short of the Cloud Sky Sect. Yet, in all other aspects¡ªwhether in terms of the strength of mid-stage or early-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts or Spirit Sea Realm experts¡ªthe Moon Concealing Sect is on par with the "Cloud Sky Sect" and the "Flame Sect"!


    In a quiet valley of the Moon Concealing Sect, a beautiful little girl of about seven or eight years old, resembling a porcelain doll, was sitting cross-legged, cultivating. Despite her young age, her little face was filled with seriousness as she practiced. Around her neck hung a small string of bells that tinkled from time to time as the wind blew.


    Not far from the little girl, a woman in palace attire was seated, watching the young child cultivate with affection.


    Suddenly, a woman wearing Five-Colored Cloud Clothes flew into the valley.


    The woman in the Five-Colored Cloud Clothes was none other than the strongest of the Fifth-Rank Great Sect of the Moon Concealing Sect, "Fairy Ni Xia," with cultivation reaching the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    After Fairy Ni Xia flew into the valley, she landed next to the woman in palace attire and smiled as she looked towards the little girl who was cultivating, "Junior sister, Little Dingdang is now much more serious about her cultivation than when she first arrived at the sect."


    The woman in palace attire lifted her head and looked at Fairy Ni Xia, "Senior sister, did you come here this time because of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb?"


    "Junior sister, the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb can only be entered by those in the Spirit Sea Realm. You didn''t successfully break through to the Rotating Pill Realm years ago, and thus remained in the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage. However, over the years, your external cultivation has made great progress. In the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, no Half-Step Rotating Pill could be your match."


    "With such strength, it would be a pity to miss out on the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb. Even if not for me, you should consider Little Dingdang!"


    "I promise you, any benefits you obtain in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, other than those that can help me reach the Heavenly Saint Realm, I will not touch a single bit of it. Everything else will be left for Little Dingdang..."


    As Fairy Ni Xia spoke, the woman in palace attire raised her hand to stop her words and gently smiled, "It''s alright, senior sister, I have already made up my mind over these days."


    "Since senior sister insists, I shall take a trip to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!"


    As the woman in palace attire spoke, her eyes also shone with unwavering confidence, "Little Dingdang, just wait for your aunt to bring back the treasures of the Heavenly Saint for you, to aid in your cultivation!"


    The Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb that only those in Spirit Sea Realm could enter? She, Nishang, had already reached the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm over three hundred years ago!


    Although her attempt to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm failed, leaving her no hope of advancement, how could she miss an opportunity to help her beloved Little Dingdang gain good fortune?


    ...


    The three great Fifth-Rank sects were all searching for their most valued person, preparing to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    The Six-Rank Sects of the same rank as Ye Chen''s Taixuan Sect in other regions, such as Peach Blossom Valley of the Southern Region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and the Defying Beast Sect of the Northern Region, were also making preparations.


    There were also forty-three Seventh-Rank sects. Although each sect was allocated only three spots to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, they would not miss such an opportunity. The disciples they selected were all beyond the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Even the Loose Cultivator, Daoist Wine Sword, who was seeking thirty people to enter the tomb, had found candidates stronger than one could imagine.


    These Loose Cultivators, many of whom were Half-Step Rotating Pill experts that had left Great Sects after failing to advance, as well as individual talents used to cultivating alone, possessed abilities and combat experiences even more fearsome than those of the sect disciples!


    When the one-month period for gathering the adventurers destined for the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb came to an end, all eligible parties had found their final candidates.


    The three great Fifth-Rank Sects, the Loose Cultivator Daoist Wine Sword, each would send thirty people into the tomb!


    The ten Six-Rank Sects, each would send ten people into the tomb!


    The forty-three Seventh-Rank Sects, each would send three people into the tomb!


    By the end of the final day, all three hundred forty-nine people scheduled to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb had been fully assembled!


    "Depart!"


    "Head to the ''Demon Burial Abyss''s Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb'', to seize the treasures of the Heavenly Saints!"


    On the plaza in front of the Cloud Sky Sect of the Fifth-Rank Great Sect, beings like Yunyang and Daoist Yun Fang, other Rotating Pill Realm experts, were leading the way. The thirty Cloud Sky Sect disciples, selected to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, were following behind.


    Additionally, countless other disciples, who yearned to see the Demon Burial Abyss themselves, transformed into trails of flight light, speeding towards the Demon Burial Abyss.


    "Depart!"


    "Depart!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Countless figures from the Fifth-Rank Great Sects, the "Flame Sect" and "Moon Concealing Sect," also left their sects and flew towards the Demon Burial Abyss.


    Eventually, from across the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom territory, light trails of various Great Sects were all headed towards the Demon Burial Abyss!


    Above the Taixuan Sect, within the Eight Great Inner Peaks.


    As the day to head to the "Demon Burial Abyss''s Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb" finally arrived, the Taixuan Sect too was a gathering of power and purpose.


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xue Jia, and even the seldom seen number one on the Taixuan Sect Spirit Ranking, Jin Lieyang, made an appearance above the Eight Great Inner Peaks.


    Jin Lieyang appeared as a young man in a golden Daoist robe, but Ye Chen had heard from Fairy Jia Luo that Jin Lieyang had stepped into the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm over seventy years ago and his actual age had long since surpassed a century!


    Ye Chen had heard that Jin Lieyang had even cultivated a set of high-grade martial arts techniques of the Earth tier, which was extraordinarily powerful!


    When Jin Lieyang arrived above the eight inner peaks, and as Ye Chen took notice of him, he also looked specifically towards Ye Chen.


    Jin Lieyang knew that Ye Chen was highly valued by Fairy Jia Luo and the various peak masters, and even his own peak master had specially mentioned Ye Chen''s name to him!


    "Ye Chen."


    Just as everyone was preparing to set off for the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, suddenly a figure flew towards the sky.


    "Sister Yu."


    Ye Chen looked towards the figure and saw that it was Sister Yu who had taught him the Sword Formation technique; although Sister Yu had said she had no intention of going to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, he didn''t know why she had also come over today.


    Sister Yu flew to Ye Chen''s side, and looking at him with a light smile, she said, "Ye Chen, this trip to the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb might last a long time. I have four Sword Formations here that you haven''t cultivated yet!"


    "Take them with you, and if you have spare time in the tomb, continue to cultivate the Sword Formations! Once you come out of the tomb, I will see if your Sword Formation cultivation has improved!"


    Four Sword Formations?


    Ye Chen took the small box that Sister Yu handed to him and opened it.


    Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!


    Inside the box, numerous Sword Intent Law Beads lightly chimed.


    Ye Chen looked at the names of the four Sword Formations listed inside the small box and saw that they were: the intermediate Sword Formation "Heavenly Gang Sword Formation," the intermediate Sword Formation "Minor Thousand Sword Formation," the advanced Sword Formation "Sword Fusion Divine Ability," and the advanced Sword Formation "Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability"!


    The four Sword Formations Ye Chen currently mastered were all just lower-tier ones; this time, Sister Yu had even given him the Sword Intent Law Beads for intermediate and advanced Sword Formations!


    With these Sword Formation Law Beads, Ye Chen would be able to resume his Sword Formation cultivation once he entered the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    "Thank you, Sister Yu!"


    Ye Chen put away the Sword Formations and smiled as he thanked Sister Yu.


    When everyone ready to head to the Demon Burial Abyss was assembled, Fairy Jia Luo gave the order, "Let''s go!"


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and all the rest turned into startling glimmers of escaping light, flying towards the Demon Burial Abyss!


    "Who knows what kind of gains Ye Chen and the others will come across this time?"


    Sister Yu, watching the fading streaks of light, stood in the sky and murmured to herself.


    ...


    On the day of the exploration of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, the area outside the Demon Burial Abyss had already gathered countless people.


    Even sects that weren''t qualified to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb had countless cultivators come to this place.


    They certainly wouldn''t miss this major event of exploring the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb; even if they couldn''t gain any benefit, they were more than satisfied just to watch the excitement!


    Among the crowd, even the sect leader and elders of the Qingyun Sect, the eighth-rank sect Ye Chen had belonged to, were there.


    Amidst the numerous onlookers, people kept flying in.


    The entire area outside the Demon Burial Abyss was bustling with activity!


    Outside the Demon Burial Abyss, it was a bustling scene.


    But what no one knew was that, hidden deep within the caverns of the Demon Burial Abyss, in a dark giant coffin within the most inner part of this mystical tomb space, there was a vast swamp that continuously churned with giant black bubbles.


    In the center of the swamp lay a bronze giant coffin larger than a small hill, bound tightly by eight huge chains, each chain extending in eight different directions.


    Each of the eight massive chains locking the bronze giant coffin was over a kilometer long and several meters thick, and the chains were carved with innumerable Ancient Rune Talismans.


    The most distinctive feature was the bronze giant coffin itself, locked by the eight massive chains.


    The entire bronze coffin, over eight hundred meters in length and three hundred meters in width, had the exterior engraved with eight terrifying demon figures with green faces and fangs.


    If someone familiar with the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation saw these eight demon figures, they would realize that these demons were the supreme totems of the Defying Demon Sect among the ten great Demon Sects, the Eight Great Demon Towers!


    The totems of the Demon Sects, unexpectedly appearing on this giant coffin and even within this Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    Together with the eight chains full of Ancient Rune Talismans and the swamp rolling with giant black bubbles.


    The entire ancient tomb exuded an eerie aura from every corner!

 Chapter 194: Chapter 168: All Arrive

    The eeriness of the ancient tomb was unknown to everyone outside.


    Everyone was brimming with excitement for the day they would explore the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Just as noisy clamor surrounded the Demon Burial Abyss, the first Sect qualified to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb finally arrived above the void of the Demon Burial Abyss.


    "The sixth-ranked great Sect of the Northern Region, Cloud Soaring Sect, has arrived!"


    Countless people gathered around the Demon Burial Abyss turned their gazes towards the Cloud Soaring Sect.


    Leading the Cloud Soaring Sect was its strongest member, Daoist Wu Xuan, who was in the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm. Following behind him were thirty to forty members of Cloud Soaring Sect, among whom ten were Spirit Sea Realm disciples, each with excitement shining in their eyes.


    These ten were precisely the ones the Cloud Soaring Sect would send into the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!


    Not long after the arrival of the Cloud Soaring Sect, one after another, teams started to arrive¡ªthe sixth-ranked great Sect "Beast Control Sect," the seventh-ranked great Sect "Snow Blade Gate," the seventh-ranked great Sect "Heavenly Fragrance Valley," and so on, all came to the skies above the Demon Burial Abyss.


    When there was but an hour left before the final moment to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, the space above the Demon Burial Abyss was densely packed with teams from various Sects.


    Especially when the fifth-ranked great Sect "Cloud Sky Sect" arrived, the entire void boiled over!


    The thirty members that Cloud Sky Sect would send into the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb were too formidable, with eighteen half-step Rotating Pill powerhouses and twelve late-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses. This force alone was stronger than many Sects in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    "A fifth-ranked great Sect is indeed worthy of its reputation!"


    "Such a force entering the ancient tomb, other Sects will have difficulty competing with them. Probably only the other two fifth-ranked Sects can contend with them to some extent."


    "Most of the Heavenly Saint Relics will likely fall into the hands of the three great fifth-ranked Sects!"


    Amidst the discussions of the crowd, another fifth-ranked great Sect, "Fire Flame Sect," also arrived.


    "Haha, Daoist Brother Yun Yang and Daoist Brother Yun Fang, you two have arrived quite early!"


    Upon the arrival of the Fire Flame Sect, their strongest member Daoist Chi Mei greeted the two late-stage Rotating Pill powerhouses of the Cloud Sky Sect with a laugh.


    "Seeing how confident Brother Chi Mei appears, it seems you''re quite assured about obtaining the Heavenly Saint Relics!" Daoist Yun Yang smiled and nodded to Daoist Chi Mei while looking over at the Fire Flame Sect''s team.


    Upon noticing that the person standing at the forefront of the Fire Flame Sect was not a half-step Rotating Pill practitioner but a seventeen or eighteen-year-old youth in a fire-robed Daoist garment, Daoist Yun Yang''s brows furrowed slightly.


    He sensed an extraordinary true fire power within the boy!


    "I had heard that Chi Mei has taken in a talented personal disciple skilled in fire-based techniques, supposedly called ''Liu Yan.'' Could it be this young man?"


    "True fire power is a force that touches upon the heavenly grade. I wonder which true fire technique he is cultivating?"


    After muttering to himself for a moment, Daoist Yun Yang transmitted a warning to the disciples in his team who were about to enter the ancient tomb.


    Clearly, he was instructing his Sect''s disciples to be wary of Liu Yan.


    Meanwhile, Fire Flame Sect''s youth in the fire robe, "Liu Yan," also cast his gaze towards the Cloud Sky Sect''s team, his eyes flashing with a sharp light.


    Just as the two fifth-ranked Sects were gauging each other''s strength, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and others finally arrived above the Demon Burial Abyss, led by Fairy Jia Luo.


    "The Demon Burial Abyss, it''s said to be a gigantic abyss formed by the remnants left behind from a great battle of Heavenly Saint powerhouses!"


    Ye Chen stood in the midst of the team, high up in the sky, looking at the Demon Burial Abyss.


    Upon seeing the abyss that stretched hundreds of miles in length and was a massive seven or eight miles wide, he couldn''t help but exclaim at its enormity.


    He had already heard about several great deeds of the Heavenly Saints!


    This immense Demon Burial Abyss, split open by two grand Heavenly Saints, was one such deed; another was the peerless Heavenly Saint hermit who drove the ten great demon Sects out of the Southern Territory and carved out Heavenly Demon Gorge across the sky, spanning thousands of miles and separating the Southern Territory from the Western Wilds Territory.


    The strength of the Heavenly Saints was beyond Ye Chen''s imagination!


    It was enough to alter the entire continent''s landscape!


    "We''re about to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb. I really don''t know what this tomb, where such immensely powerful Heavenly Saint powerhouses are buried, will be like."


    Ye Chen felt a surge of excitement in his heart.


    "Jia Luo!"


    "Jia Luo, you''ve arrived as well!"


    The arrival of the Taixuan Sect made the powerhouses in the sky come over to Fairy Jia Luo.


    Fairy Jia Luo was one of the six grand powerhouses of the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, so naturally, she was given great attention by everyone!


    However, Ye Chen and the other disciples of the Taixuan Sect, under the brilliance of the fifth-ranked great Sect''s disciples, went mostly unnoticed.


    The most was the incomparably beautiful Jiang Yao, who made many sect disciples unable to stop sizing her up, as well as Jin Lieyang who was only half a step into the Rotating Pill Realm, drawing the attention of several people.


    Ye Chen, who was only at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, did not attract any attention at all. Even if someone''s gaze swept over him, they thought he was just a Taixuan Sect disciple who had followed to watch the excitement, and no one expected him to be sent into the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    Ye Chen''s reputation was well-known within the Taixuan Sect and known to many in the eastern region of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, but within the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, there were few who knew of him.


    Unnoticed, Ye Chen was of course happy to be at ease. After entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, there would be competition for the Heavenly Saint Relics; being targeted was definitely not a good thing.


    Ye Chen merely smiled faintly as he surveyed the Demon Burial Abyss, sizing up the teams from various sects.


    "Haha, everyone has indeed arrived very punctually!"


    As the stalwarts of various sects conversed with one another, another hearty laugh echoed from the sky.


    The crowd looked up toward the direction of the sound and saw an old man with withered clothes and white hair, holding an ancient sword and a large wine gourd, laughing heartily as he emerged from the void.


    Daoist Wine Sword!


    This was none other than Daoist Wine Sword, one of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s five great Rotating Pill Realm late stage powerhouses!


    Following behind Daoist Wine Sword were thirty figures with surging and vigorous true qi, who were evidently the thirty scattered cultivators recruited by Daoist Wine Sword to explore the tomb!


    These thirty, in terms of strength, were not much weaker than the Cloud Sky Sect, with as many as sixteen of them being half-step Rotating Pill powerhouses!


    After Daoist Wine Sword arrived at the Demon Burial Abyss, he nodded in greeting to the various strong practitioners. When his gaze swept across the sky and fell on Ye Chen, who was among the Taixuan Sect team, he could not help but let out a light exclamation of surprise.


    "Ye Chen, my friend, I didn''t expect that in just over two months, you would have stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    The divine consciousness voice transmission from Daoist Wine Sword directly reached Ye Chen''s ears.


    Others might not know how formidable Ye Chen was, but as a strong practitioner who had observed the Taixuan Sect''s true disciple selection convention and even invited Ye Chen to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm sword-fighting convention, Daoist Wine Sword naturally had an extremely deep impression of Ye Chen''s strength.


    "Elder Wine Sword!" Ye Chen replied with a light smile, greeting Daoist Wine Sword with a voice transmission of divine consciousness.


    "Impressive, having truly advanced to the Spirit Sea Realm in just over two months. It seems that this time, you are to be sent by the Jia Luo Faction into the ancient tomb!" Daoist Wine Sword, hearing Ye Chen''s voice transmission, nodded with a smile, "My friend Ye Chen, although I have great faith in your strength, you must still be careful after entering the tomb.


    The Heavenly Saint Relics are not so easily seized, and you must be especially wary of other sect disciples and even these scattered cultivators I have brought with me!"


    "Murder and robbery over the Heavenly Saint Relics will not be rare!"


    Daoist Wine Sword even took the time to warn Ye Chen through voice transmission.


    Ye Chen smiled faintly, "Thank you, elder, for the advice. I will be careful."


    Seeing the smile on Ye Chen''s face, Daoist Wine Sword felt a stir in his heart and then laughed heartily through voice transmission, "It seems I have worried too much. My friend, you must have several tricks up your sleeve to dare to venture into this tomb!"


    "Good, good! After entering the tomb, there''s no need for formalities. If there are relics, of course, you should compete for them. The Heavenly Saint Relics, ah! If it wasn''t for Rotating Pill Realm practitioners being unable to enter, I would be eager to venture deep inside myself!"


    "My friend Ye Chen, you also need not worry about my face. Among these scattered cultivators I''ve brought, not a few have hands stained with fresh blood. I am involved with them only due to the business of the tomb''s relics. If they cause you trouble, feel free to fight them if you can!"


    "Understood," Ye Chen said with a smile.


    Their exchanges of divine consciousness went unnoticed by others. If the other sect disciples and scattered cultivators knew that Daoist Wine Sword, one of the top five Rotating Pill Realm late-stage powerhouses in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, was giving such careful instructions to a mere early Spirit Sea Realm disciple, they all would be profoundly shocked!


    No one about to enter the tomb would dare to underestimate Ye Chen anymore!


    When the last team, from the third-ranking fifth-grader "Moon Concealing Sect," also arrived, the outside of the Demon Burial Abyss reached its peak of excitement.


    On one hand, all the personnel who would be entering the tomb had arrived, and on the other, the Moon Concealing Sect''s team simply drew unparalleled attention!


    The Moon Concealing Sect, a great fifth-grade sect that accepted only female disciples, had brought female disciples this time, each one beautiful and enchanting!


    With practitioners possessing the technique to maintain youth and with the nourishment of heaven and earth treasures, these female disciples were each curvaceous and buxom, with petite waists. One coming alone might not cause too much astonishment, but a large group of such female disciples arriving together seemed to bring a waft of fragrance through the air.


    The multitude of sect disciples at the Demon Burial Abyss were all fired up with passion.


    When the leaders of several major sects saw Fairy Ni Xia of the Moon Concealing Sect accompanied by a palace-dressed woman, many were stopped in their tracks.


    "Fairy Nishang!"


    They recognized the woman beside Fairy Ni Xia. This woman had once traveled all over the Heavenly Wind Kingdom with Fairy Ni Xia, lauded as one of the mighty figures known as the ''Moon Concealing Twins.''


    After Fairy Nishang failed to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm, she gradually vanished from the field of vision of the strong practitioners of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    And now, for this tomb exploration, Fairy Nishang had come out of seclusion?!


    Having been a half-step Rotating Pill powerhouse for two to three hundred years, her strength, although somewhat inferior compared to true Rotating Pill practitioners due to her failed attempt at the realm, could be said to be virtually unbeatable among those in the Spirit Sea Realm!


    After all, Fairy Nishang was a peer of Fairy Ni Xia!


    For a moment, even Daoist Chi Mei furrowed his brows and began to warn his most prized disciple, Liu Yan.


    Countless gazes fell upon her, but the palace-dressed Fairy Nishang remained unmoved in expression, her eyes only on the dark chasm of the Demon Burial Abyss, as she awaited the commencement of entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.

 Chapter 195: Chapter 169: Entering the Tomb

    When all the teams had gathered, the six powerful beings flew to the highest point and looked down at everyone around the Demon Burial Abyss.


    Teams hovered in the void, and beside them, there were many strong cultivators and independents from various sects, come to watch the adventure. On the ground below, there were even numerous True Qi Realm disciples who had come for the spectacle.


    Among the six powerful ones, Yunyang, after scanning the crowd, stepped forward.


    "Since everyone is here, let''s not delay entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb. All those selected to enter the tomb, step forward. I have some matters to caution you about!"


    Following Yunyang''s words, the selected individuals from teams of the Cloud Sky Sect, Flame Sect, Moon Concealing Sect, and others, flew out from their groups to the area in the void he had indicated.


    Ye Chen, holding Jiang Yao''s hand, along with Jin Lieyang, Xue Jia, and others, also flew out.


    Many were surprised to see Ye Chen flying to the area designated for those entering the tomb.


    Even more eyes widened in shock when they saw Ye Chen holding Jiang Yao''s hand!


    "Who is this youngster?"


    "He''s in the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm and got selected to enter the tomb? Even the weakest disciples sent by Seventh-Rank Sects are in the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "Is he from the Taixuan Sect? The girl he''s holding, I recognize her, she''s the top talent of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom''s eastern region, Jiang Yao. Good heavens, when did Jiang Yao start fancying someone?"


    While many were astonished upon noticing Ye Chen, a group on the ground was left utterly speechless.


    This group was comprised of the sect leader and elders of the Qingyun Sect.


    As members of an Eighth-Rank Sect, although they too were of the Spirit Sea Realm, they had no qualifications to enter the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb. They had come merely to observe the excitement.


    They were already somewhat startled to see Ye Chen in the Taixuan Sect''s team, but when they saw that he was actually selected to be sent into the tomb, they couldn''t believe their eyes.


    Ye Chen had been a disciple of their Qingyun Sect!


    It was because they feared Zhou Yuntian that they had stripped Ye Chen of his nominal disciple status. Now, not only had Ye Chen joined the Taixuan Sect, but he was also so highly regarded within it?!


    Although they were present when Ye Chen executed Zhou Yuntian, and were shocked by his talents, how much time had passed since then for Ye Chen to be able to enter the tomb and compete with late-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses and even half-step Rotating Pill Realm experts?


    As the sect leader and elders of the Qingyun Sect, they wouldn''t dare to provoke such figures!


    The Qingyun Sect''s leader and elders were greatly astonished, but if they knew that Ye Chen''s name was now ringing clear in the Sixth-Rank grand Taixuan Sect, that he could slay them without lifting a finger, they would be even more startled into a faint.


    They had pushed such a peerless talent out of the Qingyun Sect!


    Ye Chen''s entrance into the tomb personnel area stirred up much discussion and surprised many who recognized him, but soon, their astonishment was overshadowed by more important matters.


    Because Yunyang of the Cloud Sky Sect, a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, finally began to announce the rules for entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    When Yunyang drew forth the white jade Spirit Plaque that he had obtained from the Gate of Life of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, all eyes converged on the plaque in his hand.


    Yunyang, waving the white jade Spirit Plaque, declared loudly, "This tomb, as we''ve discovered, belongs to our sect''s ancestor, ''Heavenly Saint Linghua''! Heavenly Saint Linghua was a famous Heavenly Saint powerhouse in our Heavenly Wind Kingdom. His ancient tomb is a great blessing for our entire kingdom!"


    "This great blessing is precious, but it is also limited. Today, those who have been chosen to ultimately enter the tomb have all assembled. They will venture into the tomb to seek this great fortune and opportunity!"


    As Yunyang spoke, all eyes focused on the three hundred and forty-nine individuals who were about to enter the tomb.


    "The tomb''s blessings, the tomb''s treasures, gifts from the Heavenly Saint! Everyone desires these things, even us Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses yearn for them!"


    "So, once you enter the tomb, whatever treasures you obtain will depend on your own skills. The more you obtain, the more you will be able to claim when you emerge from the tomb!"


    "Hereby I announce, once inside the tomb, there will be no restrictions on killing, no sect rules to follow. Everything will be judged by the final acquisition of treasures. Feuds within the tomb, once you come out, even we, the outsiders and strong cultivators, will not pursue them!"


    Boom!


    Yunyang''s declaration caused a buzz of conversation among all present.


    Although everyone was aware that there would be a bloodbath in the tomb over the Heavenly Saint relics, they didn''t expect Yunyang to outright declare the absence of restrictions on the upcoming conflict.


    Looking at the expressions of the other five powerful beings, there was not the slightest hint of surprise. Clearly, this decision had the consensus of all the strong cultivators.


    It seemed that, for the sake of the ancient tomb''s treasures, these powerhouses cared little for the lives of many disciples who would die within the tomb!


    "The Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Wasteland have not waged war with the Thirteen States of the Southern Kingdoms for hundreds of years, leading to increasing divisions within the Southern Kingdoms."


    "It seems that, among the sect powerhouses, there is no unity, and for the sake of relics, they spare no effort in bringing the struggle into the open."


    In the crowd, Ye Chen, hearing Yunyang''s words, sighed inwardly.


    He gripped Jiang Yao''s hand tightly and exchanged a glance with her.


    No matter what, he would not let Jiang Yao come to any harm within the tomb!

 Chapter 196: Chapter 169 Entering the Tomb_2

    Some dared to fight against him and Jiang Yao, some dared to compete with them for treasures; for such actions, he would spare no mercy!


    He, Ye Chen, was not a man who feared trouble!


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, the others who were about to enter the ancient tomb also revealed a wild glint in their eyes.


    In this tremendous blessing, they would of course strive to fight for it, and the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses behind them also left them no choice but to fight with all their might!


    In the midst of the buzzing discussions, Daoist Yunyang continued, "Through this white jade Spirit Plaque, there are a few more points I need to emphasize."


    "According to the records on the white jade Spirit Plaque, there will be only an hour''s time to enter the gate of life; once you pass through the gate of life and are transported into the ancient tomb, the entire tomb will be completely sealed off, and the exploration will last five months!"


    "Five months is the time you have to search for the ancient tomb''s relics; when the time is up, the exit of the tomb will reopen, and you will all be transported out of the tomb, whether you have obtained the Heavenly Saint''s relics or not, you won''t have another chance to search for treasures!"


    "Remember, you only have five months of exploration and treasure hunting time inside the Heavenly Saint''s ancient tomb!"


    "The second point is that according to the Spirit Plaque, the entire tomb will be divided into three regions; Heavenly Saint Linghua has placed his three levels of relics in these three areas."


    "The first area is the ''Spirit Sea Relic Area,'' where the relics Heavenly Saint Linghua used while in the Spirit Sea Realm are placed; the second area is the ''Rotating Pill Relic Area''; as for the third region, it is the ''Heavenly Saint Relic Area''!"


    "The deeper you venture into these three areas, the more precious the relics become; in these five months, strive to break into the Heavenly Saint Relic Area to seize the most precious Heavenly Saint relics!"


    Spirit Sea Relic Area, Rotating Pill Relic Area, Heavenly Saint Relic Area!


    Upon hearing about these three areas in the ancient tomb, all the explorers'' hearts ignited with eagerness.


    The various relics of the Heavenly Saint, even the lowest level Spirit Sea Relics, were of great use to them, let alone the Rotating Pill Relics and the Heavenly Saint Relics!


    Of course, they would use all their strength to compete for them!


    "There is one last point." At this moment, Daoist Yunyang continued, "That is, only those in the Spirit Sea Realm can enter this ancient tomb; you may have various Rotating Pill-level Spirit Talismans bestowed by the powerhouses of your sects, but once you enter the tomb, all these external Spirit Talismans will become ineffective, and you will have to rely on your own strength to compete for relics, not external power!"


    "Of course, if you possess even stronger Heavenly Saint level treasures, then congratulations, you can use them, because Heavenly Saint Linghua himself was of the Heavenly Saint level, he certainly cannot prevent the use of Heavenly Saint level treasures!"


    Boom!


    The words of Daoist Yunyang caused the complexions of many sect disciples to change drastically.


    Indeed, as Daoist Yunyang had said, they had offensive and defensive Spirit Talismans given to them by the powerhouses of their sect, as a means to have an advantage in the tomb, but now, to their surprise, these external means could not be used at all!


    Heavenly Saint level treasures?


    Their entire sect didn''t possess a Heavenly Saint, how could they have Heavenly Saint treasures?


    In this scene, probably only the Cloud Sky Sect might have Heavenly Saint treasures, after all, Heavenly Saint Linghua was originally from the Cloud Sky Sect!


    Thinking of this, many turned their gazes toward the members of the Cloud Sky Sect going into the tomb.


    At this moment, these Cloud Sky Sect disciples appeared indifferent, showing no signs as to whether they had Heavenly Saint treasures or not.


    "Heavenly Saint treasures?"


    In the crowd, upon hearing Daoist Yunyang''s words, Ye Chen''s heart stirred, and he subtly touched a pair of bracelets on his hand, nodding imperceptibly.


    This pair of bracelets was once refined by the Artifact Spirit with his Essence Blood within a secret realm of his ancestral land.


    "They might come in handy..."


    ```


    "It''s a pity that this bracelet was bound to me by the Artifact Spirit and only I can use it; otherwise giving some Law Beads to Jiang Yao would have been better..."


    Ye Chen murmured to himself.


    After touching the bracelet, Ye Chen turned his gaze back to Daoist Yunyang.


    Having finished explaining all the precautions for entering the ancient tomb, Daoist Yunyang finally announced, "Now, everyone follow us six into the Demon Burial Abyss and enter the ancient tomb!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After Daoist Yunyang spoke, he took the lead and flew into the Demon Burial Abyss, with Daoist Yun Fang, Daoist Wine Sword, and the others following suit.


    When Fairy Jia Luo also soared toward the Demon Burial Abyss, a voice from her reached the minds of both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao simultaneously, "Ye Chen, Yao''er, after entering the ancient tomb, be very cautious. It''s not about seizing the most treasures, but surviving is what truly matters!"


    "Yes, Sect Leader."


    "Master, Yao''er understands!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance and sent their responses back to Fairy Jia Luo through telepathy.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the six great powers flew into the Demon Burial Abyss, all the others in the area designated for tomb entrants also took off toward the pitch-black abyss.


    Soon, everyone vanished into the dark mists of the Demon Burial Abyss.


    Outside the Demon Burial Abyss, countless figures looked into its depths, seeing nothing but darkness. The hundreds of figures had already followed the lead of the six great powers and flown down more than a thousand zhang into the abyss.


    "Is this the Demon Burial Abyss?"


    As he flew, Ye Chen observed the pitch-black Demon Burial Abyss with his divine sense, felt the fierce winds within, and watched the demons and mighty monsters scatter in panic because of the large crowd.


    It wasn''t long before they arrived at the cave holding three dark coffins.


    After the six great powers lifted the seals at the cave''s entrance, figure after figure flew into the cave, entering through the door on the far right, designated as the Tomb Entrance of Life.


    After their final communication with Fairy Jia Luo, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao joined the massive crowd and entered the door as well.


    Once everyone had entered through the Tomb Entrance of Life, and after being teleported into the ancient tomb''s realm via a transportation circle inside it, the third coffin slammed shut with a loud bang.


    The entrance to the entire ancient tomb was completely sealed!


    "Heavenly Saint''s ancient tomb."


    "Who knows what they will find in the Heavenly Saint''s ancient tomb this time."


    "We''ll see the outcome in five months!"


    The six mighty beings sat down in meditation next to the dark giant coffins, glancing once more at the sealed entryway, then settling down right at the entrance.


    Practitioners of the Rotating Pill Realm, who possess thousands of Lifespan Years, often spend two to three years in a single meditation session, so the mere five months of this tomb exploration wouldn''t drive them away. Naturally, they would wait here, anticipating the return of their people with the coveted Heavenly Saint Relics.


    While the six Rotating Pill Realm great powers sat in meditation deep within the cave, outside the Demon Burial Abyss, some powers had left, but even more mighty beings remained, waiting for the five months to pass.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and the other three hundred and forty-nine tomb explorers, after a dizzying teleportation, were finally all transported into the mysterious and eerie realm of the ancient tomb!


    ```

 Chapter 197: Chapter 170: The Beast and the Island

    "Have I already entered the ''Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb''?"


    When Ye Chen''s divine sense recovered from the dizziness of the teleportation, he found himself sitting on the back of a giant flying beast.


    This was a huge eagle-like creature that measured a full kilometer in length, but bizarrely, it exhibited no signs of life, it was actually a flying puppet.


    Besides Ye Chen, there were thirty-two other people on the back of the beast, but all of them still appeared dazed, seemingly yet to recover from the disorientation of the teleportation.


    "Where is Jiang Yao?"


    Ye Chen swept his divine sense over the thirty-two people but couldn''t find Jiang Yao among the crowd.


    He had entered the giant coffin teleportation formation with Jiang Yao, but now she had vanished?


    Not only was Jiang Yao nowhere to be found, but the other individuals of the 349 who had entered the tomb were also missing.


    A feeling of surprise began to rise in Ye Chen''s mind.


    Looking around, Ye Chen was shocked to find that he was in the high skies, with nothing below him but the massive flying eagle puppet, and above him loomed a gloomy and dull sky. Looking down, he could see a vast expanse of the ocean.


    Immediately after entering the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, had he been teleported above the ocean?


    Where was this giant beast taking them?


    As Ye Chen surveyed his surroundings, several half-step Rotating Pill Realm experts on the beast''s back also gradually revived. Upon awakening, they quickly spread out their divine senses to inspect their surroundings. Discovering there were only a few dozen of them on the back of the beast, flying over the ocean, they all uttered soft sounds of surprise.


    Soon after, the other individuals on the beast''s back completely came to.


    "Is this the ''Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb''?"


    "God, such vast heaven and earth, we are actually above an ocean!"


    "Legend has it that the Heavenly Saint powerhouses could comprehend the laws of space and create a world of their own, but who would have thought that just an ancient tomb could be this massive!"


    "And where are the others? Why are there only the few dozen of us here?"


    After awakening, these individuals examined their surroundings, and each of them started expressing their astonishment and doubt.


    Just as all thirty-three people on the back of the beast woke up, the flying beast suddenly turned its head and opened its mouth to spray something into the void. In an instant, thirty-three wooden tokens flew directly towards the group.


    Each person caught a wooden token.


    The moment Ye Chen''s hand touched the wooden token, a flood of complex characters surged into his mind. After closing his eyes for a moment to digest this information, he then opened his eyes.


    "So that''s how it is."


    From the information conveyed by the wooden token from the giant beast, Ye Chen finally understood why there were only thirty-three of them here!


    According to the token, everyone who entered the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb would land on a flying giant beast, with a total of ten such beasts taking ten different groups of tomb explorers to ten separate islands.


    These islands constituted the outermost area of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, known as the "Spirit Sea Relic Zone"!


    Ye Chen''s group was on the fourth flying giant beast and was headed for the Fourth Sea Island, where they had the opportunity to search for the relics within the Spirit Sea Relic Zone.


    As stated on the token, there was a total of one month of treasure hunting time on the Fourth Sea Island. After a month, the second area of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, the "Rotating Pill Relic Zone," would open.


    This Rotating Pill Relic Zone was situated on a giant island in the very center, encircled by the ten islands. Regardless of the number of tomb explorers on each island, only ten individuals would have a chance to enter the Rotating Pill Relic Zone, totaling one hundred people from the ten islands who could ultimately reach the central giant island.


    As for the most important "Heavenly Saint Relic Zone," its location wasn''t specified on the token; perhaps only after setting foot in the Rotating Pill Relic Zone could one possibly learn more.


    The selection of the ten who could enter the central giant island from each of the outer islands would depend on hunting the giant beasts.


    According to the record on the token, not only did each of the ten islands harbour various relics, but numerous giant beasts also resided there. During the one month on the outer islands, explorers would search for relics and hunt the beasts.


    In the end, the number of beasts hunted would be recorded on these tokens. When the month was up, those who had slain the most beasts¡ª the top ten from each island¡ªwould be able to use the teleportation formation between the outer islands and the central island to enter the central giant island.


    Moreover, the token stated that any thoughts of entering the central island through flight were futile; throughout the entire expanse of the ancient tomb, except for the realms of the outer and central giant islands, all other areas were under flight restrictions.


    Even with abilities to soar through the skies or burrow through the earth, none could fly within the tomb''s confines, let alone cross the islands by flight to reach the central giant island.


    Even the ocean''s airspace was under flight restrictions, which was why they were being carried by the giant beast into the islands!


    Nor was it possible to reach the central giant island by crossing the ocean waters¡ªaccording to the token, if even a drop of that sea water were to touch someone, even a Rotating Pill Realm expert would be reduced to ash!


    "So all of us tomb explorers were divided into ten groups and sent to ten different islands."


    "I wonder which group Jiang Yao is in?"


    "It seems that the only chance to meet Jiang Yao again is to wait until the central giant island opens after a month."


    Ye Chen had entered the tomb with the intent of exploring it with Jiang Yao, but never expected that the rules of the tomb would separate them right away.


    Just like Ye Chen''s group, indeed nine other groups were also within the ancient tomb''s world, situated in other directions across the ocean, seated on the backs of flying beasts, heading towards other islands.


    Jiang Yao at this time was atop a giant beast, flying together with thirty-five tomb explorers toward the Eighth Sea Island.


    "Each batch of people challenges the islands separately?"


    "To enter the central giant island and reach the Rotating Pill Relics area, one must wait until a month later, and also be among the top ten of their batch?"


    "Ye Chen doesn''t know which sea island he has gone to."


    Jiang Yao was currently holding a wooden token in her hand. She looked around but didn''t see Ye Chen''s figure, and a barely concealable sense of loss was evident in the girl''s eyes.


    "So the area of the Rotating Pill Relics will only open after a month, and only then can one enter the central giant island?" Liu Yan from the "Flame Sect," a fifth-rank major sect, who was flying to the First Sea Island, looked at the boundless ocean, smiled faintly, and clutched tightly onto his wooden token, "Well then, let''s wait for a month.


    It will be too easy to snatch the top ten of this batch to qualify for entering the central giant island!"


    Liu Yan''s gaze swept over the others on the giant beast, completely unconcerned with them.


    "Spirit Sea Relic? That suits Little Dingdang even more than the Rotating Pill Relics, I should look for these Spirit Sea Relics for her first."


    Sitting quietly at the forefront on the flying giant beast of the third batch was Fairy Nishang, whose eyes did not bother to survey the others; she only looked straight ahead.


    As everyone became aware of the exploration rules for the outer area of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, those seated on the ten flying beasts finally saw the respective sea islands they were heading to appear on the horizon before them.


    "The Fourth Sea Island, that''s the Fourth Sea Island ahead!"


    After flying for the duration of an incense stick, Ye Chen''s batch finally saw the emerging sea island ahead.


    To call it a sea island was an understatement, as the area was immensely vast. From the sky, everyone could feel the grandeur of the sea island.


    As they flew closer, the sea island felt more like a continent, with roars emitting from the island from time to time. They could also occasionally see giant flying beasts rising into the sky from the island.


    As they approached close to the island''s airspace, many people on the back of the giant beast stood up excitedly, and even a late Spirit Sea Realm disciple from the "Cloud Sky Sect" couldn''t help but step off the giant beast and fly straight onto the sea island when they were still about thirty meters away.


    Boom!


    Clearly, this overly excited disciple had forgotten about the flight restriction around the sea island. As he stepped off, he plunged straight down towards the sea.


    It was at this moment that the Cloud Sky Sect disciple remembered that the sea water below was not to be touched. Once it was touched, even a Rotating Pill Realm expert would be turned to ash.


    Restricted by the flight prohibition, he couldn''t fly, and plummeting into the seawater meant certain death!


    The late Spirit Sea Realm disciple couldn''t help but cry out in panic.


    Just then, a whip extended from the body of the giant beast, "whooshing" tens of meters in length and gently coiling around the falling disciple, whisking him back to safety on the beast''s back.


    Back on solid ground, the pale-faced Cloud Sky Sect disciple was visibly shaken!


    "Next time, if you''re not careful, no one will save you!" The one who intervened was a Half-Step Rotating Pill expert from the Cloud Sky Sect, who scolded towards the Spirit Sea Realm disciple.


    From the Cloud Sky Sect disciple''s fall and struggle to the Half-Step Rotating Pill disciple''s rescue, it all happened in the blink of an eye.


    However, many on the back of the beast shuddered inwardly.


    What was stated on the wooden token was indeed true, the flight restriction in the tomb was extremely powerful, so much so that not even someone in the late Spirit Sea Realm had any power to resist!


    Boom!


    Finally, after a small mishap, the flying beast carrying Ye Chen and the thirty-two others safely landed on the sea island.


    As soon as they touched down on the island, the flying beast disappeared in a flash of light.


    Leaving thirty-three people standing on the ground of the sea island.


    "Let''s go."


    "With only a month for hunting giant beasts and treasure hunting, we must make haste!"


    "Flying is not prohibited within the sea island, so we might as well fly around and take a look."


    Among the thirty-three people, some were from the same sect and gathered together upon landing, preparing to set off into the island.


    Others, like Ye Chen, who was the only one from his sect in this batch, were planning to go solo.


    Ye Chen also planned to first look around the sea island. Just as he was about to set off like the rest, a long-haired young man stepped in front of everyone.


    "Hehe, no need to rush off. Of the thirty-three people in our batch, only ten will have the chance to enter the central giant island in the future. Wouldn''t it be better to eliminate a few people right here?"


    As the long-haired youth spoke, his mocking gaze fell on Ye Chen and several others.


    Without exception, these individuals were among the lower realms of the thirty-three, with Ye Chen only at the early Spirit Sea Realm and the others being in the mid Spirit Sea Realm.


    This long-haired young man seemed eager to prey on the weak as soon as they arrived on the island!

 Chapter 198: Chapter 171: Take Action!

    Among the thirty-three people who came to Fourth Sea Island, there were six Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, two from the Cloud Sky Sect, two from the Flame Sect, and the other two were Loose Cultivators.


    Besides these six grand Half-Step Rotating Pill masters, the majority of the remaining were late-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, amounting to as many as twenty-one people.


    Although the Moon Concealing Sect didn''t have any Half-Step Rotating Pill experts on this Fourth Sea Island, they had five female disciples whose cultivation had reached the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, which constituted a formidable force.


    Apart from these twenty-seven, the rest were five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists from a seventh-grade sect, and Ye Chen, a single early-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artist.


    The long-haired young man who blocked the path was one of the Half-Step Rotating Pill Loose Cultivators.


    There were many strong late-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts; he wouldn''t dare to provoke them, but he didn''t take the few mid-stage and early-stage Spirit Sea competitors seriously at all.


    So when he spoke, he was directly targeting Ye Chen and his peers.


    The five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists, upon noticing the Half-Step Rotating Pill aura from the long-haired youth, all changed their expressions, "Who are you? What do you want?!"


    "I am the Loose Cultivator ''Wang Luocheng,''" the long-haired youth replied with a light smile. "What do I want? The relics within this Spirit Sea Relic area are limited; naturally, I have to eliminate a few treasure hunters first."


    "If you all kindly self-sabotage your Spirit Seas and hand over your tokens, I can spare your lives!"


    Boom!


    The words of the long-haired youth immediately filled the five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists with rage.


    This long-haired youth actually demanded that they self-sabotage their Spirit Seas!


    To self-sabotage one''s Spirit Sea is to cripple one''s cultivation! It''s akin to making oneself disabled!


    "Heh heh, when we entered the ancient tomb, the Rotating Pill seniors all said murder isn''t forbidden within. Don''t blame us; it''s only because your sects aren''t strong enough to send you here!" another Half-Step Rotating Pill Loose Cultivator stepped forward.


    Upon hearing the two Loose Cultivators were about to make their move and cripple their opponents, the five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect couldn''t bear to watch. Right when they were about to step in to intervene, two Half-Step Rotating Pill experts from the Flame Sect also made their move.


    "Originally we didn''t want to say anything, but well, these two brothers are right; the relics of the Spirit Sea are limited, so it''s better if there are fewer people competing for them," said the two from the Flame Sect.


    Hum!


    At this moment, with four Half-Step Rotating Pill experts causing trouble in succession, other late-stage Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses, whether willing or not, could only stand by and watch.


    After all, no one would dare to provoke them when these four Half-Step Rotating Pill experts took a stand together.


    Otherwise, if they were to attract trouble to themselves, that would be a big problem.


    Seeing such a situation unfold, the five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists were already pale-faced.


    They could never have imagined facing such a situation as soon as they entered the ancient tomb.


    Originally, they had all planned not to provoke anyone and not to compete for the most precious Heavenly Saint treasures; they simply wanted to find relics at the Spirit Sea and Rotating Pill levels, which would have been enough for them, but they didn''t expect that they wouldn''t want to court trouble, yet trouble would descend upon them.


    This is the especially real world of martial arts!


    Everything is dependent on strength!


    Outside, they were indeed formidable individuals, but in this tomb filled with strong figures, their strength was indeed insufficient.


    The five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists were pale-faced when the long-haired Loose Cultivator Wang Luocheng walked up with a cold smile, licking his lips, "What''s wrong, are you all not going to make your move? Or do I have to do it myself?"


    "Dream on if you think we''ll cripple ourselves!" The five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists looked at each other, clenched their teeth, and "Boom, boom, boom," True Qi surged out of their bodies simultaneously, transforming into five violent figures, all attacking Wang Luocheng at once.


    "An ant trying to shake a tree," Wang Luocheng uttered indifferently. Then, with a flick of his finger, "Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang," his finger shadows crashed into the five attacking figures.


    The five ferocious figures were directly hit by this single finger strike, causing them to spit blood and tumble dozens of meters away, smashing heavily onto the ground.


    With a single move, he wounded five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists.


    This Half-Step Rotating Pill Loose Cultivator Wang Luocheng was terrifyingly powerful!


    After striking down the five, Wang Luocheng did not intend to stop. Walking towards them with a sneer, he said, "If you don''t take action yourselves, then it won''t be as simple as just crippling your Spirit Seas."


    Loose Cultivators, indeed, each had ruthless methods!


    It seemed that if they did not comply, Wang Luocheng would probably proceed to kill them!


    Many late-stage Spirit Sea disciples couldn''t bear to watch any longer, while the other Half-Step Rotating Pill experts simply crossed their arms and coldly watched the excitement.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With every step Wang Luocheng took, it was as if a huge drum was being beaten in the hearts of the five mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists, causing their complexions to grow increasingly pale.


    They didn''t want to self-sabotage their Spirit Seas and waste years of cultivation, but this ruthless Wang Luocheng clearly wouldn''t let them go without it; if they refused, their fates would likely be worse than just crippling their Spirit Seas!


    What to do?!


    Their minds were completely blank.


    That''s when a calm voice suddenly sounded, "So what, if we don''t cripple our Spirit Seas, are you really planning to kill us lower realm fighters?"


    Hum!


    As soon as this voice spoke, it immediately attracted everyone''s gaze.


    Everyone noticed that the one who had spoken was the youngest among them, with the lowest realm!


    This lowest-realm young man, with only an early-stage Spirit Sea cultivation, dared to speak to the Half-Step Rotating Pill''s Wang Luocheng this way?


    Everyone saw that this lowest-realm young man was facing the pressing Wang Luocheng without any sign of fear; did he not know how formidable a Half-Step Rotating Pill expert was?


    "Ye Chen."


    "This youth seems to be a disciple of the Taixuan Sect, named Ye Chen. Does he think that just because Fairy Jia Luo of his sect is powerful, she can support him even in this ancient tomb?"


    "Provoking a Half-Step Rotating Pill in an ancient tomb means death, and once outside, no one will stand up for him!"


    Many people were discussing in low voices.


    The one who stepped out to speak was, of course, Ye Chen!


    He too had been marked by Wang Luocheng as one of the first to be eliminated. Seeing that Wang Luocheng was truly about to make a move, Ye Chen hesitated no more and naturally stood out.


    Seeing Ye Chen smiling calmly at Wang Luocheng, the five female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect watching the scene were all sweating for Ye Chen.


    "A disciple of the Taixuan Sect, Ye Chen?" Wang Luocheng gave Ye Chen a cold glance, "I was planning to deal with those few first and then take care of you, little shrimp. So, you couldn''t resist jumping out, could you?"


    "Since that''s the case, I might as well eliminate you first!"


    Wang Luocheng took a step and turned, sneering as he approached Ye Chen.


    As a Loose Cultivator, Wang Luocheng had made his way in the martial world alone, killing many with his hands. He did not take Ye Chen, who was merely at the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, seriously at all.


    What''s more, this was inside the ancient tomb, where even the six Rotating Pill powerhouses had said that killing was not forbidden.


    Kill this youth?


    Kill then kill!


    Watching Wang Luocheng approach, Ye Chen shook his head, "I''ll ask you once again, are you really prepared to make a move against us?"


    "What, you want to beg for mercy?" Wang Luocheng sneered, "It''s too late for that now!"


    Boom!


    With a flick of his finger, Wang Luocheng sent out a fierce finger wind, striking towards Ye Chen like a bolt of lightning.


    Wang Luocheng''s previous finger wind could directly blow five mid-Spirit Sea Realm martial artists away and make them spit blood. Now, the strike he launched at Ye Chen was even more terrifying than the previous one, piercing the void into a point of nothingness!


    Clearly, Wang Luocheng had intended to kill Ye Chen with a single move!


    Many onlooking sect disciples couldn''t help but exclaim aloud.


    Just as the finger strike reached Ye Chen, everyone''s vision blurred for an instant. The next moment, they saw that Ye Chen was still standing unharmed in his original spot.


    The finger wind aimed at Ye Chen seemed to have flashed right past his body, piercing directly through the space behind him and even destroying a large swath of giant trees on the island with its force!


    "What''s going on?"


    "How did he dodge that move?"


    No one could see clearly how Ye Chen evaded it!


    An early Spirit Sea Realm martial artist dodging the attack of a Half-Step Rotating Pill? That was simply impossible!


    At that moment, Ye Chen looked towards Wang Luocheng, whose face had instantly changed, and spoke lightly, "Originally, with your strength, you could have been among the top ten in our group and possibly make it to the central giant island."


    "However, since you''re so ruthless, I declare, your exploration of the ancient tomb ends here!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s words sent a shock through everyone''s minds.


    What?


    Was this early Spirit Sea Realm powerhouse actually threatening Wang Luocheng, who was at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage?


    While everyone was still confused, they were startled to see Ye Chen disappear from where he was standing and, in the next moment, appear right before Wang Luocheng.


    Ye Chen, who had moved instantaneously in front of Wang Luocheng, slapped out with his palm and an immense Gang Yuan True Qi roared towards Wang Luocheng.


    "You..."


    Wang Luocheng had just reacted and raised his hand to strike back when, to his horror, he found that an overwhelming force completely suppressed his own power. That force even sent him flying several zhang into the air, spewing out a mouthful of blood!


    The situation was exactly like how Wang Luocheng had injured those five mid-Spirit Sea Realm martial artists previously.


    Wang Luocheng, at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage, was actually sent flying by a single palm strike from Ye Chen!


    Boom!


    Watching Wang Luocheng fly backward and crash to the ground, the other Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators all changed their expressions dramatically, and the late Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses were even more shocked to cry out.


    And those five mid-Spirit Sea Realm martial artists, who had been lying on the ground without hope, were now seeing something unbelievable.


    This early Spirit Sea Realm youth had actually injured Wang Luocheng with a single palm strike?


    At this time, another Loose Cultivator at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage, as well as the two Flame Sect Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouses, began to move.


    It seemed that these individuals couldn''t hold back and also wanted to take action!


    Then, Ye Chen looked indifferently towards these people, "Whoever dares to interfere will die!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s calm words caused the expressions of these several Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators to change dramatically, and they couldn''t help retreating several steps backwards!

 Chapter 199: Chapter 172: Awe-Inspiring Four Directions

    What a domineering youth!


    All eyes were fixed on Ye Chen as he faced the few Half-Step Rotating Pill experts with an indifferent expression, everyone feeling a chilling domineering will emanating from his soft-spoken words.


    Not a single person on the field doubted that if any of the Half-Step Rotating Pill warriors dared to intervene, this youth would truly strike to kill.


    It was this very feeling that made the other Half-Step Rotating Pill experts retreat in a rage, no longer daring to lay a hand on the youth!


    The five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect at the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm looked at Ye Chen with a mysterious light condensing in their beautiful eyes.


    "I''m going to kill you!"


    At that moment, Wang Luocheng who had been sent flying with a palm strike from Ye Chen, roared as he leaped up from the ground, his massive True Qi surging through his entire body as his aura began to climb wildly.


    As his aura ascended, the very void around Wang Luocheng was swept up in a powerful True Qi storm, the immense pressure causing the giant trees on the nearby islands to rustle loudly.


    Accustomed only to humiliating others, now in full view of an audience, being sent flying with a palm strike by a youth at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm was a humiliation that Wang Luocheng, as a Half-Step Rotating Pill warrior, could not bear!


    He had completely unleashed his True Qi, determined to kill Ye Chen fiercely to wash away the disgrace of that single palm strike!


    In the midst of the surging True Qi, Wang Luocheng ferociously rushed toward Ye Chen!


    The oppressive might of a Half-Step Rotating Pill''s True Qi was terrifying indeed, as many disciples at the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm witnessed Wang Luocheng''s state, they retreated again and again, leaving the battlefield to watch from a distance. Even the other Half-Step Rotating Pill warriors opted to avoid the conflict.


    Yet amidst the oppressive True Qi and swirling wind, Ye Chen didn''t retreat at all, the gusts billowing his clothes and sweeping his black hair back, revealing his calm visage.


    Facing the furiously charging Wang Luocheng, Ye Chen''s hands condensed a void grip, and instantly, boundless Gang Yuan True Qi whirled around him, the dazzling silver Gang Yuan True Qi exploding upwards for over a hundred meters, its oppressive might not the slightest bit weaker than that of the Half-Step Rotating Pill Wang Luocheng!


    With boundless Gang Yuan True Qi around him, Ye Chen shot forward ferociously to meet Wang Luocheng''s assault.


    Ye Chen, only at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, had actually chosen to meet the Half-Step Rotating Pill Wang Luocheng head-on!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The two terrifying forces collided in the void like two destructive tornadoes, and after a mere instant, they slammed into each other violently.


    This collision compressed the air until it burst, the terrible True Qi sweeping in all directions, tearing open dreadful fissures in the earth and snapping distant giant trees with a crash.


    The spectators from afar, including the weakest five mid-stage Spirit Sea disciples, were swept up by the mere residual force of the collision, sent flying helplessly through the air!


    Such a formidable collision of True Qi!


    All eyes turned to Ye Chen and Wang Luocheng, who were directly clashing, to see who would emerge superior in the raw contest of True Qi power.


    To their shock, all onlookers gaped in astonishment.


    Ye Chen, merely at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, had once again sent the Half-Step Rotating Pill Wang Luocheng flying dozens of meters, crashing harshly into the earth and creating a tremendous crater several dozens of feet across!


    In contrast, Ye Chen had only retreated slightly after the impact, still suspended in the void!


    In this direct clash of power, Ye Chen, at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, had clearly gained the upper hand!


    "Powerful!"


    "Simply too powerful!"


    "This youth, no wonder he dares to confront a Half-Step Rotating Pill, his power is so immense he can even suppress a Half-Step Rotating Pill!"


    Many of the late-stage Spirit Sea powerhouses could hardly believe their eyes and exclaimed in disbelief.


    The other Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, who had earlier entertained thoughts of attacking Ye Chen, now saw Wang Luocheng smashed into the ground once more, and their hearts pounded with alarm.


    They recalled Ye Chen''s earlier warning, that whoever dared to intervene would die, which had impressed them with his domineering presence. But now, they truly felt Ye Chen''s strength!


    This boy could actually have the potential to kill them!


    Ye Chen''s direct confrontation had shocked all spectators, giving everyone a testament to his strength!


    When Ye Chen was at the twelfth layer of True Qi, he could battle the Half-Step Rotating Pill Xue Jia. The few Half-Step Rotating Pills on the Fourth Sea Island all had auras similar to Xue Jia''s.


    And when Ye Chen stepped into the Spirit Sea Realm, he absorbed the immense and unparalleled Spirit Cloud of True Qi that spanned 72 miles around, his strength continuously soared. Faced with Wang Luocheng''s provocation, he was of course unafraid!


    Now, he possessed absolute suppressive power over these few Half-Step Rotating Pills!


    If these few Half-Step Rotating Pills dared to strike at him, he dared to eradicate them!


    "How is this possible?!"


    Wang Luocheng, who was once again blasted onto the ground, even smashing a huge pit into it, raised his head to look at Ye Chen in the void, with a face full of disbelief.


    When Ye Chen''s first palm strike sent him flying, he thought he had been careless, but this time, when he was the one who took the initiative to attack, yet again he was directly suppressed by Ye Chen, he truly felt that the young man before him was undoubtedly stronger than him in terms of True Qi power.


    To think that a youngster in the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm could have True Qi even more terrifying than his own was completely unbelievable to Wang Luocheng!


    Grinding his teeth, Wang Luocheng burst forth from the deep pit once more.


    "I don''t believe it, your True Qi is powerful, but are your martial skills comparable to mine at the Half-Step Rotating Pill?!"


    "Wind-Slicing Thirty-Six Sabers, slay for me!"


    As Wang Luocheng''s words fell, a huge precious saber suddenly appeared in his hands. Wang Luocheng, holding the saber, leapt into the air, and with a slash through the void, "swish swish swish," thirty-six huge Saber Qi blades, each over tens of meters long, descended from the sky, chopping down towards Ye Chen in the void.


    Wang Luocheng, who fell short in the clash of True Qi, exerted his martial skill''s might!


    Ye Chen, looking at the sky filled with slashing saber lights, was neither sorrowful nor joyful. Just as the thirty-six immense Saber Qi blades enveloped the entire sky and were about to explosively chop down above Ye Chen''s head, Ye Chen suddenly vanished from the void.


    The next moment, Ye Chen abruptly appeared behind Wang Luocheng.


    This was the "Void Instantaneous Change" Divine Skill!


    With Void Instantaneous Change, within the twenty miles embraced by his spiritual sense, Ye Chen could move instantaneously at will. Half-Step Rotating Pill Wang Luocheng, who had not stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm, was unable to sense the void through the five great Heavenly Laws and, of course, could not detect Ye Chen''s instantaneous movement, nor could he strike Ye Chen.


    As his thirty-six tremendous Saber Qi slashes thunderously chopped onto the ground, causing it to explode and collapse, he suddenly felt a deadly killing intent.


    This deadly killing intent was actually coming from behind him.


    While sensing this deadly killing intent, Wang Luocheng also heard the gasps of all the onlookers from afar. Then, a trembling sensation spread throughout his entire body, as if his soul was trembling.


    This was the trembling sensation of death; his soul sensed the threat of death!


    Just as Wang Luocheng turned his head, he saw a sword light of utmost brilliance stabbing toward him from behind.


    Boom!


    In that moment between life and death, Wang Luocheng mobilized all his True Qi, twisting his body to the extreme and turning halfway.


    Whoosh!


    The radiant sword light, dragging a streak of blood, grazed Wang Luocheng''s body, tearing away a large chunk of flesh and splashing droplets of blood!


    Ye Chen''s Void Instantaneous Change was exceptionally fast, and even though Wang Luocheng dodged in a moment of life and death, he was still unable to completely avoid it and was injured.


    Wang Luocheng, his flesh sliced and spirit shocked, had previously vowed to kill Ye Chen and those few mid-Spirit Sea Realm martial artists. Now, he experienced a sense of death, feeling as if he could be slain at any moment by the "small fry" he had not taken seriously before.


    He had intended to get rid of a few people to seize more treasures, but now, was he to be the first to be removed?


    As this thought flashed through Wang Luocheng''s mind, he suddenly realized that Ye Chen facing him had disappeared again. The next moment, a shocking sword beam burst toward his Qi Sea Acupoint.


    This time, Wang Luocheng, already shocked and in great pain, was unable to dodge the sword beam that was even faster than the previous one. With a ''pffft'', the sword beam instantly penetrated his Qi Sea Acupoint, tearing through his Spirit Sea.


    Wang Luocheng''s Spirit Sea shattered, and the immense Spiritual Liquid True Qi cultivated within his body instantly dissipated into the void as rolling True Qi!


    Wang Luocheng, who had incessantly demanded that martial artists of lower realms cripple their own Spirit Seas, ended up with his Spirit Sea destroyed first!


    As his Spirit Sea burst apart, Wang Luocheng became utterly stupefied. Standing there dazed, Ye Chen, who had performed Void Instantaneous Change, reappeared.


    Ye Chen reappeared above the ground.


    But this time he materialized, the battle between the two had truly ended in defeat for one and victory for the other!

 Chapter 200: Chapter 173: The Black Pearl

    Outside the battlefield, twenty-one Spirit Sea late-stage powerhouses, the remaining five Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, and five Spirit Sea mid-stage warriors watched the two combatants¡ªone standing foolishly after his Spirit Sea was shattered, and the other disappearing then reappearing in an extraordinary manner¡ªnone of them could utter a single word.


    But in every one of their minds, there was a thunderous explosion!


    This Spirit Sea beginner stage Ye Chen had truly defeated the Half-Step Rotating Pill master Wang Luocheng! He had completely ruined Wang Luocheng''s Spirit Sea!


    When Wang Luocheng had decisively moved to deal with Ye Chen and the others, Ye Chen declared he would end Wang Luocheng''s ancient tomb exploration journey, everyone still thought Ye Chen was clueless about the strength of a Half-Step Rotating Pill expert and was just bragging.


    Now it seemed that Ye Chen had long been absolutely confident he could suppress Wang Luocheng!


    No wonder this young Spirit Sea beginner-stage youth had always been so calm, he actually possessed such formidable strength!


    When Ye Chen shattered Wang Luocheng''s Spirit Sea and reappeared, looking towards them outside the field, those Half-Step Rotating Pill experts who had been ready to attack Ye Chen hastily retreated several steps.


    Facing Ye Chen''s unfathomably swift movements and powerful Qi, these Half-Step Rotating Pill experts no longer had the confidence to challenge him!


    Even, they worried whether Ye Chen would target them next, knowing that even if they joined forces, they might be able to suppress Ye Chen, but in a real fight, undoubtedly some of them would end up like Wang Luocheng, defeated outright!


    These Half-Step Rotating Pill experts didn''t even have the courage to look Ye Chen in the eye anymore.


    As for the others, who hadn''t spoken of eliminating Ye Chen before, they were not scared that Ye Chen would trouble them, but their gazes towards Ye Chen were likewise filled with dread towards a powerful being!


    Even though they were Spirit Sea late-stage powerhouses, at this moment, they all revered and feared this young man!


    "This Ye Chen, I''m afraid his strength could match Fairy Nishang from our sect, definitely one of the strongest few who entered the ancient tomb this time!"


    "An ordinary Half-Step Rotating Pill expert is definitely not his match, within our Fourth Sea Island, he will surely be able to make it to the center of the giant island!"


    The five late-stage Spirit Sea female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect looked at Ye Chen with bright eyes, having never seen such a powerful youth, to think that at the Spirit Sea beginner stage, he could have such formidable strength!


    And those five mid-stage Spirit Sea warriors, who had been prepared for certain death, upon seeing that Wang Luocheng, who had first come out to block their path, had his Spirit Sea shattered by Ye Chen, suddenly felt as if they had escaped from a desperate situation, and when they looked at Ye Chen again, their eyes were full of gratitude.


    It seemed that the others also didn''t dare to make another move.


    Ye Chen, by ruining Wang Luocheng''s cultivation, had effectively saved their lives!


    In the midst of countless gazes, Ye Chen turned his head towards Wang Luocheng.


    After having his Spirit Sea destroyed, Wang Luocheng seemed unable to accept the outcome and appeared foolish, but as Ye Chen looked at him, his heart did not ripple in the least.


    Wang Luocheng''s earlier ruthlessness, Ye Chen had experienced firsthand. If he had not been strong enough, he feared he would have been ruined much worse than just having his Spirit Sea destroyed; Wang Luocheng might have genuinely taken his life and those of the other five mid-stage Spirit Sea warriors.


    Such a ruthless person deserved no leniency!


    Destroying his Spirit Sea was the consequence of his own actions!


    Upon seeing Wang Luocheng, who had come out to threaten and eliminate them, turned into this sorry state, Ye Chen shook his head, ready to leave. At that moment, a wooden plaque on Wang Luocheng''s body suddenly shot towards Ye Chen.


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, the wooden plaque flew into Ye Chen''s hand.


    "Hmm?"


    With the wooden plaque that had suddenly flown to him in his hand, Ye Chen frowned and looked at it.


    Then, before Ye Chen''s eyes, the plaque suddenly transformed into a small black bead. Accompanying the plaque''s transformation into a black bead, as if guiding information about the ancient tomb exploration like before, the black bead began emitting strands of textual information that surged into Ye Chen''s mind.


    After absorbing these texts, Ye Chen''s eyebrows tensely furrowed.


    A moment later, with a clench of his hand, he crushed the black bead in his grasp.


    Then, with a step into the void, he flew into the sky.


    Other people noticed the wooden plaque from Wang Luocheng''s body shooting towards Ye Chen, but they didn''t realize it had transformed into a black bead; they assumed Ye Chen had directly taken the wooden plaque into his hand.


    Now, seeing Ye Chen ascend, everyone''s gaze turned towards him in the sky.


    Ye Chen looked down at the crowd, his gaze fixed on those Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, and he slowly said, "The remaining thirty-two of us will vie for the ten spots to enter the central giant island, everyone on their own merit!"


    "If I encounter anyone else using their position to attempt murder, I won''t hesitate to act again!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s words caused the complexions of those who had supported Wang Luocheng to change, and they all shook their heads with bitter smiles: "No more!"


    "The five of us Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, ten spots are enough for us. As for the treasures, let''s rely on our fortunes to acquire them!"


    Hearing these Half-Step Rotating Pill experts'' intentions, it was clear they were intimidated by Ye Chen!


    Hearing Ye Chen speak and the responses of the other Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, the five mid-stage Spirit Sea warriors felt a sudden release of the heavy pressure on their hearts.


    Clearly, Ye Chen was backing them up!


    "Thank you, Brother Ye Chen!"


    They couldn''t help but salute Ye Chen with a fist while standing on the ground.

 Chapter 201: Chapter 173: Black Pearl_2

    Ye Chen nodded towards these few people, and smiled at the others. Then, without wasting any more time at the edge of the sea island, "boom", he flew up into the sky.


    Moments later, he disappeared from everyone''s view.


    Only after Ye Chen had completely vanished did the others take a deep breath and looked at each other. Without speaking, they each flew towards different directions of the Fourth Sea Island.


    A short while later, the landing spot on the island was left with only Wang Luocheng, who still stood there foolishly with his Spirit Sea shattered.


    After flying hundreds of miles above the sea island, Ye Chen stopped in mid-air.


    He opened his hand and examined the black pearl that had transformed from the wooden token on Wang Luocheng''s body.


    When Ye Chen defeated Wang Luocheng, the wooden token flew towards him and turned into a black pearl. Ye Chen found it odd, but through the information conveyed by the black pearl, he finally understood why the wooden token had become a black pearl.


    It turns out that besides guiding adventurers in ancient tombs, the wooden token had a hidden function. If the holder of the token was killed or had their cultivation completely crippled, the token would turn into a black pearl and fly into the hands of the victor, and guide them to a treasure trove for them to seek out treasures!


    This black pearl was the guide to the location of such a treasure!


    And the black pearl Ye Chen had obtained was guiding him to a secret treasure site known as "Fire Elemental Spring".


    Although he should have been pleased to accidentally obtain the clue to the secret treasure site, Ye Chen felt an unpleasant premonition!


    That was, he always had the feeling that there was something inexplicably weird about these ancient tombs!


    Long before entering the tomb, Ye Chen had heard Fairy Jia Luo recount many things about Heavenly Saint Linghua. Fairy Jia Luo had said that Linghua was extremely kind-hearted.


    This extremely kind-hearted Heavenly Saint Linghua also cultivated the "Metal, Wood" Heavenly Void Laws!


    However, after entering the tomb, when everyone was divided into ten groups to venture through ten sea islands, Ye Chen felt that the arrangement within the tomb seemed to have more to do with the "Water, Earth" Heavenly Void Laws!


    It simply didn''t seem like the work of Linghua''s laws!


    About the Heavenly Void Law, Ye Chen had only learned some from Fairy Jia Luo, and even if he had suspicions, he dared not be certain.


    But when he defeated Wang Luocheng and received the peculiar "black pearl", a vague intuition in Ye Chen''s heart suggested that everyone might have been mistaken about the tomb; it might not have been left by Heavenly Saint Linghua after all.


    Because even if Heavenly Saint Linghua were to leave behind a treasure, he would not have used such a method to make people fight over it. The concept that one could get clues about the treasure by killing others or crippling their cultivation would undoubtedly lead to a bloody and endless battle once discovered by those exploring the tomb.


    And with the competition for places to enter the central giant island, the inevitable struggle and discovery of the secret of the treasure clues would be unavoidable!


    Following this method of tomb exploration, in the end, a great many people who entered the tomb would surely die!


    This method was clearly not something that the extremely kind-hearted Heavenly Saint Linghua would leave for the tomb explorers of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    "Could it be that everyone was wrong, and this is not the tomb of Heavenly Saint Linghua?"


    "Then whose tomb could it be?"


    Thinking of these questions, Ye Chen''s expression turned grave.


    Ye Chen looked up at the gloomy sky, at the vast sea beyond the islands. Beyond the weirdness of the tomb, he was even more concerned about Jiang Yao, who was currently on one of the other islands!


    If someone on the island where Jiang Yao was located discovered the secret of the black pearl treasure and went to kill others for it, Jiang Yao could be in danger.


    And Ye Chen, unable to fly to the other islands due to the flying restriction, could not go to help Jiang Yao!


    "Hopefully, nothing happens."


    "Jiang Yao''s Bloodline Secret Skills have reached the Second Transformation, and her strength is not much different from other Half-Step Rotating Pills as long as she doesn''t face a group attack from several Half-Step Rotating Pills, she''ll be fine."


    "Besides, she has her Flying Sword Skills."


    "If..."


    Considering a possibility, Ye Chen''s eyes filled with deep killing intent.


    "If anyone really targets her, forces her to sustain injuries within the island, no matter how many people there are, when we meet at the central giant island, I''ll make them deeply regret it!"


    Gazing at the endless sea, Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled with determination.


    After a while, Ye Chen lowered his head again.


    He clenched the black pearl in his hand, "No matter how peculiar this ancient tomb is, no matter what else we encounter, strength is the most important. Since this black pearl is related to the treasure, let''s first check out the place where the treasures are!"


    "''Fire Elemental Spring'', this black pearl said this spring is profoundly mysterious, let''s witness it!"


    Ye Chen''s figure moved and turned into a streak of light that, following the guidance on the black pearl, flew toward the west of the Fourth Sea Island.


    Just after Ye Chen uncovered the secret of the black pearl, chaos also erupted on the other islands.


    On the Third Sea Island, Fairy Nishang of the Moon Concealing Sect was holding three black pearls in her hand, and beside her lay the corpses of three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts.


    "Treasure black pearls?"


    "I didn''t expect that after being surrounded and attacked by three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts from the Cloud Sky Sect, I would obtain these three black pearls after slaying them."


    "Black pearls, the treasure location, this ancient tomb really has some odd tricks, combining clues to the treasures with murder."


    Fairy Nishang also furrowed her brows.


    After a while, she sighed, "Forget it, let''s go see these treasure locations first!"


    As she murmured to herself, as if vanishing into thin air, Fairy Nishang disappeared.


    The Eighth Sea Island, that was where Jiang Yao was located.


    At this moment, in a valley on the island, with black hair cascading down like a waterfall, the clear and stunningly beautiful Jiang Yao''s clear eyes were filled with anger.


    In the sky, a few hundred meters away from her, were three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts closing in on her from three different directions.


    "Little girl, just accept your death willingly!"


    "Blame only yourself for the wooden token in your hands, it contains a treasure black pearl, and we three will not miss any treasures!"


    The three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts sneered as they closed in on Jiang Yao, rotating the black pearls in their hands.


    At this moment, two of the three men each had a treasure black pearl, clearly, they had already made their move to kill or cripple two other people!


    Trapped within the encirclement of the three, Jiang Yao looked up at the three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts in the sky, her angry eyes gradually dissipating, turning into a resolute expression.


    "I didn''t expect such a situation as soon as I entered the ancient tomb."


    "Even if it costs me bloodline damage, even if my life-bound Flying Sword skills diminish, I won''t give up!"


    "I still have to meet Ye Chen at the central giant island, he will definitely be waiting for me at the central sea island!"


    Thinking of this, an ice-blue Spiritual Pattern suddenly emerged on Jiang Yao''s forehead.


    Clearly, Jiang Yao was preparing to make her move!


    "Still hoping to struggle in your dying breath?"


    "Naive little girl, you''re too naive!"


    "All three of us are strong Half-Step Rotating Pill experts from the Flame Sect, do you think you can handle us?"


    The three great Half-Step Rotating Pill experts in the sky had narrowed their encirclement to just a few hundred feet around Jiang Yao.


    The next moment, a great battle might break out!


    Just as the three great Half-Step Rotating Pill experts from the Flame Sect were about to make their move, and Jiang Yao was prepared to fight with all her might, a few sighs of a young girl suddenly came from the void: "It is disappointing indeed that disciples of the great Flame Sect, proud Half-Step Rotating Pill masters, would stoop to harming a young girl in the early stages of the Spirit Sea."


    "Who?" The three great Half-Step Rotating Pill experts from the Flame Sect looked up into the sky simultaneously.


    Jiang Yao also raised her eyes.


    Just then, three female figures slowly emerged in the void, all dressed in the garb of the Moon Concealing Sect, evidently people from the great fifth-ranked Moon Concealing Sect!

 Chapter 202: Chapter 174: Eerie Shadow

    The aura of these three women was astonishing; all three had indeed reached the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm.


    Three more Half-Step Rotating Pill experts had arrived!


    On the Eighth Sea Island where Jiang Yao was located, there were a total of thirty-six Tomb Explorers, among whom six were in the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm, and now all had gathered here.


    Seeing that the newcomers were also Half-Step Rotating Pill experts converging on Jiang Yao, the expressions of the three from the Flame Sect changed. The trio hadn''t anticipated that the heritage black pearl, which seemed within their grasp, would encounter complications.


    Although they were not afraid of the three newcomers, with everyone at the Half-Step Rotating Pill Realm, an actual confrontation would be troublesome.


    "Is a mere heritage black pearl really worth the interference of three fellow Taoists from the Moon Concealing Sect?"


    "There are many people on this island, and later you could join us in competing for other heritage black pearls."


    The three from the Flame Sect began to lobby the three female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect.


    "Heritage black pearl?" The leading female disciple from the Moon Concealing Sect shook her head with a smile, "We''re not here for the heritage black pearl; we''ve come for Yao. If you want to make a move against her, you''ll have to get past the three of us first."


    Yao?


    The three from the Flame Sect glanced at the Taixuan Sect clothing on Jiang Yao: "Could it be that this young girl has ties with the Moon Concealing Sect?"


    From the intent of the Moon Concealing Sect female disciple, it was clear that taking the heritage black pearl from Jiang Yao wouldn''t be easy.


    For a moment, the members of the Flame Sect hesitated.


    After all, even if they managed to kill Jiang Yao and obtain the heritage black pearl, it meant confronting three other Half-Step Rotating Pill powerhouses¡ªa prospect that hardly seemed worthwhile.


    The Flame Sect trio hesitated, and Jiang Yao also looked towards the three from the Moon Concealing Sect with some confusion.


    She did not recognize them and had not expected them to stand up for her.


    Seeing Jiang Yao looking over, the three from the Moon Concealing Sect nodded to her with a smile, and the leading female disciple turned her gaze back to the three Half-Step Rotating Pill practitioners of the Flame Sect, asking with a smile, "So, do you want to take action, or will you leave just like that?"


    "Fine, we''ll give face to the three fellow Taoists today and let this little girl off this time!"


    "The mountain does not turn, but the rivers flow, we shall take our leave!"


    With a stern look cast towards several individuals at the scene, the Flame Sect members swept up their sleeves, shifted into a beam of light, and disappeared into the sky.


    "Yao."


    As the three Half-Step Rotating Pill figures vanished, the eyes of the three Moon Concealing Sect female disciples dimmed, and they walked over to Jiang Yao with a smile.


    "Do you sisters know me?" Jiang Yao asked the three who had helped her, looking somewhat puzzled.


    The three female disciples smiled gently: "Our master, Fairy Ni Xia, is good friends with your master, Fairy Jia Luo. Yao, since the heritage black pearl has caused unrest on this sea island, let us act together."


    "Caused unrest."


    Jiang Yao nodded; the chilling intent to kill her that she had felt from the three Half-Step Rotating Pill practitioners of the Flame Sect told her the situation had changed.


    "I wonder how Ye Chen is now. I''m afraid that the heritage black pearl might involve all ten sea islands." The young girl gazed beyond the sea island, her eyes filled with concern.


    Just as Jiang Yao had guessed, there was a killing spree on other islands as well.


    On the First Sea Island, five Spirit Sea later-stage strongmen had just slain two others and, as they stood behind them, three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts suddenly appeared, walking towards them with a cold sneer.


    On the Sixth Sea Island, four Spirit Sea mid-stage martial artists were sprinting madly into the dense forest of the sea island when from behind them came four sounds of "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh" as Sky-Shocking Arrow Lights shot towards them, piercing the four runners instantly!


    "Heritage black pearl?"


    ```


    "Could it be that this ancient tomb is the tomb of one of our Ten Great Demon Sects'' Heavenly Saints?"


    ```


    On the Seventh Sea Island, within a secluded valley, a disciple of the Cloud Soaring Sect, who was at the later stage of the Spirit Sea realm, murmured to himself while holding a black bead in his hand.


    Strangely, this disciple of the Cloud Soaring Sect actually referred to himself as a disciple of the Ten Great Demon Sects!


    Moreover, when he touched the black bead, the originally blue-colored Protective True Qi around his body turned into strands of eerie black light.


    "Brother Xue, we should hurry and leave... Brother Xue, this black light on you..."


    As the disciple was muttering to himself, another young man suddenly burst in behind him. When he saw the strange black light around Brother Xue, he couldn''t help but cry out.


    Boom!


    Brother Xue turned his head to see the young man who had intruded suddenly, his expression changed, then his face turned cold instantaneously, and he shot out a sky-shocking black radiance from his hand, piercing towards the young man instantly.


    "Brother Xue... you..."


    The young man, who was also at the later stage of the Spirit Sea realm, had no ability to defend himself against the black radiance''s attack. He was pierced through his body in an instant, only managing to spit out a few words before he breathed his last.


    This Brother Xue of the Spirit Sea realm had burst forth with combat power that was on par with many who were at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage, not the slightest bit weaker!


    "Too bad you saw what you shouldn''t have seen."


    Brother Xue looked up at the young man who had fallen to the ground, spread his hand wide, and another black bead flew towards him.


    "With the ancient tomb of the Demon Sect opening at such a time, perhaps the plan that our Ten Great Demon Sects have been preparing for hundreds of years may advance ahead of schedule due to this opportunity presented by the ancient tomb!"


    "Let''s wait and see, to find out what this ancient tomb really holds!"


    Brother Xue, with the black bead in hand, had a flash of cold light in his eyes. The black light in his body suddenly disappeared, returning to the normal Protective True Qi, and his figure vanished in a flash, disappearing into the valley.


    The cursed artifact, the black bead, had spurred endless killings across the ten islands.


    Of the three hundred forty-nine people who entered the ancient tomb, more and more died, many were disabled and turned into cripples, their Spirit Seas destroyed. The number of those still holding their wooden plaques was dwindling.


    As more people died or were disabled, all those who had entered to explore the tomb were unaware that in the deepest part of the ancient tomb, at the very heart of the colossal island surrounded by the ten islands, a giant bronze coffin tightly locked by eight massive iron chains in the great swamp¡ªcarved with the images of eight green-faced, fanged demons¡ªwas beginning to glow faintly on the sculpture of a green-faced, tiger-headed demon.


    Boom!


    When the number of dead and disabled on the ten islands reached thirty-three, the bodies of the deceased and the disabled, spread across the ten islands, were suddenly enveloped in a sky-shocking black light.


    Then, all these bodies and disabled people disappeared without a trace! Even Wang Luocheng, who had been left in a daze by Ye Chen on the Fourth Sea Island, completely vanished.


    As these thirty-three people disappeared, the eyes of the green-faced, tiger-headed demon on the giant bronze coffin suddenly flickered with a strange, ghostly green light.


    "Not enough, this deathly aura is not enough for me, ''Tiger Demon Teng,'' to awaken!"


    "More must die, many more must die!"


    In the end, the tiger-headed demon sculpture, whose eyes suddenly flickered with ghostly green light, actually emitted a voice!


    Above the giant coffin in the ancient tomb, this demon named ''Tiger Demon Teng'' was able to produce human speech!


    This ancient tomb, which had been buried for thousands of years, still contained a voice!


    If Ye Chen and the others, as well as the Rotating Pill realm powerhouses from outside the tomb in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, knew about this, they would be extremely surprised and vigilant, and might even seek the help of the two Heavenly Saints from the thirteen countries of the Southern Heavens to investigate this ancient tomb!


    Unfortunately, nobody knew about the anomalies happening inside the tomb.


    Meanwhile, over the Fourth Sea Island, Ye Chen, who was flying in the sky, had already glimpsed the boundary of the "Fire Elemental Spring" indicated by the cursed artifact, the black bead.


    ```

 Chapter 203: Chapter 175: Spiritual Spring, Giant Willow

    This was a valley on the western side of the Fourth Sea Island. From the sky, this valley looked very similar to the countless other valleys on the island: a vast and utterly barren basin without a trace of vegetation.


    However, guided by the legacy black pearl, as Ye Chen flew above the valley and looked closely, he could sense faint fluctuations of the Heaven and Earth True Qi emanating from below.


    Clearly, this valley was not barren at all. It was not as simple as it seemed and held secrets within!


    After flying back and forth over the valley a few times, Ye Chen stopped at a certain spot in the sky above it.


    Then, he formed a spell with his hands. Suddenly, the legacy black pearl, transformed from the wooden plaque, burst out from his body and flew towards the valley below with a thunderous speed.


    When the black pearl reached just two or three zhang above the valley floor, it seemed to touch something and exploded with a bang.


    Subsequently, the initially barren basin was suddenly filled with bright light, as if a screen of light had been torn open. In the midst of this radiance, the desolate valley basin transformed in an instant.


    The previously vegetation-less wasteland suddenly surged with endless Heaven and Earth True Qi, as the valley seemed to transform into a prime cultivation sanctuary.


    Looking down, at the very center of the valley, a spring pool about fourteen to fifteen meters in length and width appeared all of a sudden, with seven or eight huge spring eyes bubbling and spewing forth water¡ªthough these were no ordinary waters. All of them were red-colored Spiritual Springs, exuding endless Heaven and Earth True Qi!


    Further beyond the spring pool, there stood three enormous willow trees growing at its edge.


    These three vast willows were hundreds of meters tall, almost as if they were about to pierce through the valley itself!


    Falling from the three willows were boundless willow branches, each hundreds of meters in length. What was magically unique was that these thousands of drooping branches, whether it was the leaves or the tips, all emitted a fiery red light similar to that of the Spiritual Spring''s waters.


    Fire Elemental Spring!


    This was the Fire Elemental Spring boundary that the legacy black pearl obtained by Ye Chen had indicated!


    The valley that originally seemed utterly barren was actually an illusion shown by the Illusionary Formation. Once this Illusionary Formation was broken by the legacy black pearl, the true form of the valley was revealed¡ªas was this hidden treasure land, the "Fire Elemental Spring".


    Standing in the void, Ye Chen could feel the wonder of the fiery red waters in the Fire Elemental Spring from a distance. Just by breathing in the mist from the springs of the valley, he could feel a surge of dense Heaven and Earth True Qi turning into Gang Yuan True Qi Spiritual Liquid as it entered his Spirit Sea.


    If one could really cultivate by these waters, the speed of cultivation might increase by tens of times!


    And according to what the legacy black pearl had said, the real treasure, the "Fire Elemental Spirit Stone", was hidden beneath the spring eyes of the pool. It was this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone that continuously produced the waters of the Fire Elemental Spring.


    If one could obtain the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone and carry it around, one might even continuously draw Heaven and Earth True Qi from it to cultivate, until all the True Qi within the stone was completely refined!


    Drawing Heaven and Earth True Qi from the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone for cultivation was much faster than directly drawing it from the void, and it could also help replenish depleted True Qi. It was a remarkable relic left by the ancient tomb owner, very useful for those who cultivate True Qi!


    Just as Ye Chen broke the Valley Illusionary Formation and revealed the Fire Elemental Spring, the surrounding Heaven and Earth True Qi began to shift.


    The rich Heaven and Earth True Qi had an endless allure, and in an instant, it attracted the giant beasts from within a radius of several dozen miles around the valley.


    While Ye Chen was still inspecting the three giant willow trees and the "Fire Elemental Spring" beside them, "howls" could be heard as five Great Demons, each with a body length of several tens of meters, flew from the surrounding area towards the Fire Elemental Spring below with explosive speed.


    By their actions, these Great Demons knew of the spring''s wonders and sought to obtain its waters!


    The "Fire Elemental Spring" was the treasure Ye Chen sought to claim, and he certainly would not let these Great Demons succeed.


    However, just as Ye Chen was about to intervene and stop these Great Demons, a strange change below caused him to halt his movements.


    Just as those five flying Great Demons approached within a few dozen meters of the Fire Elemental Spring, the three giant willow trees by the pool suddenly underwent a transformation.


    The previously tranquil willows, as if stimulated suddenly, burst into action as their drooping branches shot up explosively, with a "swish, swish, swish" sound as the countless willow branches hundreds of meters long danced wildly in the air.


    With the fiery red light twinkling at the tips of the branches, the sprawling willow strands all turned fiery red, making the three giant willows look like a burst of sparkling fireworks!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the five flying Great Demons continued to descend, dozens of willow branches nearest to their flight path suddenly shot out like lightning towards the demons.


    The speed of the willow branches'' attack was simply inconceivable!


    Even Ye Chen, who was observing from the side, had his expression change drastically.


    Because Ye Chen found that the speed of these branches bursting forth was even faster than the hand speed of many Half-Step Rotating Pill masters!


    In the blink of an eye, the five mid-tier Great Demons were pierced through by the willow branches.


    A one-hit kill!


    As the willow branches pierced through the bodies of these five mid-tier Great Demons, the fiery red light on them flickered, immediately pulverizing everything inside the demons'' bodies!


    These three willow trees had actually killed five mid-tier Great Demons with a single strike from their branches!


    Boom!


    After killing the five mid-tier Great Demons, dozens of willow branches shook and flung the corpses, smashing them loudly onto the ground.


    Afterward, the fiery red glow on the branches slowly faded away, and the branches drooped down once more, with the three giant willows returning to their previous stillness.


    From the moment the flying Great Demons charged towards the Spiritual Spring to when the willows burst forth and their branches slew the demons, all happened in an instant.


    This astonishing exchange also surprised Ye Chen, who was watching from the side.


    These three willow trees were by no means ordinary; they were more like three peerless masters guarding the Spiritual Spring!


    "Their attack speed and lethality are even stronger than those of the Half-Step Rotating Pill masters I''ve fought against; these willows are extraordinary!"


    Just as Ye Chen wanted to test the might of the willows, once more, dozens of Great Demons rushed toward this valley from the sky above and the earth below, and the number of demons behind them kept increasing.


    These demons did not even notice Ye Chen in the sky; as soon as they arrived at the valley, they rushed towards the Spiritual Spring, just like the previous five flying Great Demons had done.


    And when these demons neared the Spiritual Spring, the three giant willows erupted once again, with the branches waging battle against countless Great Demons.


    These demons included low-tier, mid-tier, and even high-tier Great Demons!


    But no matter how formidable these demons were, they couldn''t break through the defense of the three willow trees, and all were pierced to death within forty to fifty meters of the Spiritual Spring.


    Before long, the corpses of the Great Demons piled up on the ground like small hills!


    The number of Great Demons killed by the three giant willows had surpassed several hundred!

 Chapter 204: Chapter 176 Ye Chen Battles Willow Demon

    The corpses of the Great Demons, as tall as small mountains, turned the entire valley into a river of blood, a sea of red!


    Above the sky and upon the land, the Great Demons rushing toward the valley stopped in their tracks when they saw the carnage, then looked at the three huge willow trees and all of them turned pale.


    The Great Demons already possessed intelligence; although the "Fire Elemental Spring" was immensely attractive to them, the presence of the three mighty willow trees instilled them with fear.


    Hundreds of Great Demons were slain by the three willows; naturally, none of them wanted to be the next victim.


    Faced with the overwhelming power of the three huge willow trees, all the Great Demons were struck with terror!


    When they saw the countless hundreds of meters long willow branches dancing wildly in the void, glowing fiery red as if exhibiting their immense killing power, the remaining Great Demons outside the valley eventually turned and fled in a frenzy, no longer daring to linger outside the valley or covet the "Fire Elemental Spring" shrouded by the willows.


    The three mighty willow trees not only killed hundreds of Great Demons but also completely scared away the rest!


    Utterly dominant!


    After scaring away all the Great Demons, the trunks of the three willow trees slowly began to radiate surging pale red halos. These halos spread from the trees and soon enveloped all the slain Great Demon corpses beneath them.


    Then, something eerie happened. As the pale red halos spread, the mountain-like piles of Great Demon corpses gradually melted away and diminished, until at last, all of the Great Demon corpses had vanished.


    Even the blood of the Great Demons on the ground seeped into the earth, and the whole valley returned to its original state, as if no slaughter had ever taken place.


    But after all the Great Demon corpses disappeared, the three huge willow trees appeared nourished, and both the leaves and trunks emitted strange glows.


    It looked as though the three willows had absorbed the essence of the dead Great Demons and become even stronger!


    Ye Chen, upon witnessing this scene, widened his eyes.


    "All these Great Demon corpses have been devoured by these three willow trees?"


    "Capable of slaughtering Great Demons and even absorbing their corpses, these are not ordinary trees, these are Demon Trees!"


    Ye Chen had heard that some vegetation could devour the True Qi of heaven and earth, evolving into Great Demons or even Demon Kings. It seemed that these three giant willow trees, growing beside the "Fire Elemental Spring," had indeed turned into demons.


    These were three Willow Demons!


    And they were exceedingly powerful, surpassing countless Half-Step Rotating Pills!


    "It looks like I''ll have to get past these three Willow Demons like the other Great Demons if I want to reach the ''Fire Elemental Spring.''"


    "With the strength of these three top-notch Willow Demons, I wonder if I can get past their attacks."


    Ye Chen''s expression also became serious.


    He had seen how these three Willow Demons killed hundreds of Great Demons and had gained a deep understanding of their strength.


    Even though Ye Chen was now able to sweep through a large group of Half-Step Rotating Pills, he still felt unsure whether he could overcome these three Willow Demons.


    "Let''s try it!"


    "To battle these three Willow Demons!"


    "Even if I cannot defeat them, I''m confident I won''t be killed by them!"


    "The Fire Elemental Spring has nourished such powerful Willow Demons, I must obtain it!"


    Ye Chen, standing in the void, radiated an intense desire to fight.


    Boom!


    Instantly, the surging Gang Yuan True Qi within him was released.


    As the Gang Yuan True Qi was unleashed, Ye Chen''s aura soared to an astonishing level that caused the air in the void to explode, and then, like lightning, he charged fiercely at the three Willow Demons.


    Like the other Great Demons, as soon as Ye Chen approached within tens of meters from the Fire Elemental Spring, the three Willow Demons discovered him and swiftly launched an attack.


    Psh! Psh! Psh! Psh! Psh!


    In the blink of an eye, dozens of willow branches shot toward Ye Chen to pierce him.


    "You unleashed hundreds of willow branches to deal with those high-level Great Demons, but for me, you only use dozens?"


    Ye Chen smiled faintly as the sound "swish, swish, swish" rang out sharply, and in an instant, hundreds of swords made of True Qi hovered around his body.


    These Sword of True Qi flickered, vanishing and reappearing, unmistakably exhibiting Ye Chen''s mastery of the Flash Kill Sword Formation from his four great sword formations.


    Swooosh!


    As soon as the Flash Kill Sword Formation appeared, the flashing sword intent was released, and in an instant, the Swords of True Qi vanished. The next moment, hundreds of Swords of True Qi suddenly materialized in front of the attacking willow branches, and an overwhelming murderous intent abruptly blossomed.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the blink of an eye, the Swords of True Qi clashed with the lethal force of the willow branches from the three Willow Demons.


    This time, in the clash, the dozens of willow branches that could easily penetrate and kill a mid-level Great Demon, were actually shattered by Ye Chen''s sword formation in one strike, and several of the willow branches were even sliced apart.


    Clearly, the Willow Demon had underestimated Ye Chen''s combat power, and in this first exchange of blows, it was at a disadvantage.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Having several of its willow branches cut by Ye Chen''s Swords of True Qi, the three willow trees seemed to fly into a rage, all their willow branches over a hundred meters in length, numbering more than ten thousand, began to dance wildly, and the fiery red glow on the willow branches was dazzlingly flickering and surging.


    After a mere instant, more than a thousand willow branches were assaulting Ye Chen together.


    Even when facing a high-level Great Demon, these three Willow Demons would only deploy a few hundred willow branches in their attack, but now, in the face of Ye Chen, the assault of the three Willow Demons had escalated to the level of several thousand branches. Evidently, the Willow Demon had been enraged and sought to kill Ye Chen in one move!


    Thousands of willow branches, each hundreds of meters long, filled the sky with their attack, and the entire sky seemed to be enveloped by fiery red lights.


    Every single willow branch emitted a dazzling fiery red glow, as if each were a flaming red sword piercing towards Ye Chen.


    Willow branches filled the sky, their sharp barbs everywhere!


    The astonishing murderous intent completely enveloped Ye Chen, a force that even surpassed all the opponents Ye Chen had faced before.


    "Damn it!"


    Ye Chen, caught under the onslaught of the willow branches, felt this overwhelming murderous force and his face changed as he suddenly unleashed "Void Instantaneous Change."


    The next moment, Ye Chen had instantly moved a hundred meters away.


    But what was eerie was that these willow branches seemed to sense Ye Chen''s teleportation; almost without the slightest delay, as soon as Ye Chen had just teleported a hundred meters away, thousands more willow branches shot out towards him.


    This Willow Demon could actually sense Ye Chen''s Void Instantaneous Change!


    Boom!


    As the willow branches of these Willow Demons once again bore down on Ye Chen, he used Void Instantaneous Change again. This time, Ye Chen did not teleport short distances but instead moved dozens of miles away in an instant, teleporting into the sky outside the valley, escaping the attack range of the three Willow Demons.


    Even as Ye Chen teleported with extreme speed, still hundreds of willow branches managed to reach and attack him.


    Ye Chen, who teleported into the sky outside the valley, was pierced in dozens of places on his body, with blood pouring out of each wound.


    If it weren''t for his incredibly strong True Qi and the robust body cultivated through his Nine Transformation Fighting Body, which prevented the willow branches from piercing too deeply, mere inches, this lapse could have allowed the Willow Demon to kill him outright!


    "So powerful, too powerful!"


    "Could it be that these three Willow Demons have reached the Rotating Pill level? How could they see through my Void Instantaneous Change!"


    Ye Chen, who had teleported outside the valley and now stood in the sky, with golden light surging from his Nine Transformation Fighting Body, watched as the numerous wounds on his body slowly healed. However, when he looked at the Willow Demons again, his expression had grown grave.


    Clearly, the strength of these Willow Demons exceeded Ye Chen''s predictions!


    "No, it must not be at the Rotating Pill level, otherwise I definitely wouldn''t have escaped their instant kill."


    "It must be just a hair''s breadth from reaching Rotating Pill. Their perception seems limited to a few hundred meters around their bodies."


    Before entering the ancient tomb, Fairy Jia Luo had communicated with Ye Chen.


    When Ye Chen previously fought against Xue Jia at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level, exhibiting his Void Instantaneous Change, Fairy Jia Luo was watching.


    Fairy Jia Luo had mentioned that although Ye Chen''s Void Instantaneous Change was effective against the Spirit Sea Realm, once one''s cultivation reached the Rotating Pill Realm and touched upon the Five Great Void Heavenly Principles, enshrouded by the Void Principles, Ye Chen''s instantaneous movement could be easily detected.


    At that time, Ye Chen knew that Void Instantaneous Change wasn''t invincible and that he needed to become stronger.


    Unexpectedly, without even encountering a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, Ye Chen''s Void Instantaneous Change was already at a disadvantage against these Willow Demons!


    "These three Willow Demons have completely covered the ''Fire Elemental Spring.'' Unless I can truly defeat them, there''s no way to obtain the Fire Elemental Spring, let alone the truly precious Fire Elemental Spirit Stones beneath it!"


    "My inner True Qi isn''t afraid of these three Willow Demons, but my external martial skills, whether it''s the sword formation or the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, are still somewhat weaker compared to the attacks of these three Willow Demons."


    "Even Void Instantaneous Change can''t penetrate the range covered by these Willow Demons. How can I deal with them?"


    Ye Chen looked towards the three huge willow trees in the valley, and towards the spring beside the trees that was gushing with the Fire Elemental Spring, contemplating his strategy.


    As if sensing Ye Chen''s gaze, the three Willow Demons that had injured Ye Chen earlier began to wildly dance their tens of thousands of branches. Each branch shone with brilliant fiery red, and the tens of thousands of fiery red branches flamboyantly danced as if they were taunting Ye Chen!

 Chapter 205: 177 Chapter The Little Monkey Begins to Show His Might

    Whether it was provocation or intimidation,


    Ye Chen would not be scared off, nor would he flee the valley like those Great Demons.


    The Fire Elemental Spirit Stone had to be obtained!


    If previously the allure of this Legacy Treasure for Ye Chen wasn''t too great, the emergence of such a powerful Willow Demon from the nourishment of the Fire Elemental Spring revealed the preciousness of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone that had bred the Spiritual Spring.


    Ye Chen, of course, would not pass up such a treasure!


    "Fight those three Willow Demons a few more times, and see if they have any weaknesses."


    Even though he had been injured in the previous exchange, the fighting will in Ye Chen''s eyes was not shaken in the slightest, having opponents only meant he needed to improve his strength even more!


    Boom!


    Gang Yuan True Qi once again burst forth from within Ye Chen as he lunged at the three Willow Demons again.


    This time, as the Gang Yuan True Qi was released from around Ye Chen, an enormous golden monkey phantom hundreds of meters tall suddenly burst into brilliance around him!


    This was unmistakably the phantom of the golden monkey from the Third Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    Facing the incredibly powerful Willow Demons, Ye Chen unleashed this technique as well!


    Gang Yuan True Qi roared out, and the golden monkey phantom burned furiously. Wrapped in the silvery and golden glows, Ye Chen once more charged into the range of tens of meters surrounding the three willow trees.


    At the same time, ninety-six Swords of True Qi burst forth from around him, forming the most powerful of the four major sword formations he controlled, the "Star Gathering Sword Formation"!


    As Ye Chen arrived in front of the three willow trees, the ninety-six Swords of True Qi instantly converged to form a single dazzling point of starlight, thrusting towards the trunk of the Willow Demon.


    Pu! Pu! Pu!


    As Ye Chen launched his attack, thousands of willow branches, out of tens of thousands on the trees, suddenly shot out like thousands of fiery red arrows, aimed directly at Ye Chen.


    At the same time, hundreds of willow branches fused into a single massive branch, blocking the dazzling point of starlight that had emerged from the Star Gathering Sword Formation.


    The Star Gathering Sword Formation, which combined dozens of profound sword intents from ninety-six Swords of True Qi, collided violently with the combined attack of hundreds of willow branches. Amid the endless splatter of True Qi light, the formidable Star Gathering Sword Formation was actually blasted apart by the merged willow branches!


    Meanwhile, the thousands of willow branches attacking Ye Chen once again enshrouded him within their endless barrage.


    Even the roiling Gang Yuan True Qi and the burning golden monkey phantom around Ye Chen could not withstand the assault of these thousands of branches!


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen was about to be pierced through by the thousands of willow branches, a "whoosh" sounded from the center of his forehead, suddenly emitting a dazzling crimson sword light.


    Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    When neither the Gang Yuan True Qi nor the Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s golden monkey light could withstand the Willow Demon''s assault, and when the sword formation''s power fell short against the strength of the branches, Ye Chen finally unleashed his life-bound flying sword.


    The tiny streak of the Crimson Fire Flying Sword expanded to dozens of meters in size in an instant upon being released. Then, it swirled around Ye Chen''s body and swept towards the thousands of willow branches flying at him.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, which Ye Chen had nurtured for nearly half a year, now wielded the might of a top-notch Spiritual Artifact. With one sweep, it slashed a large swath of willow branches away.


    However, many more branches continued to shoot towards Ye Chen, and even the Crimson Fire Flying Sword could not cleave through all the myriad branches in the sky.


    "Retract!"


    "Instant Change!"


    Having exhausted various methods and still unable to contend with the three great Willow Demons, Ye Chen instantly retracted the Crimson Fire Flying Sword back into the Sword Palace Acupoint, and used his Instantaneous Movement ability to transport himself dozens of miles away.


    As Ye Chen used Instantaneous Movement, although his body was not punctured, the countless branches that had not been cut by the Crimson Fire Flying Sword all lashed out at Ye Chen''s body in the very instant he disappeared.


    When he reappeared after the Instantaneous Movement, even though Ye Chen''s True Qi was vast and his physique was incredibly strong, he was left reeling from the countless lashes and spat out a mouthful of blood!


    In this battle with the Willow Demon, Ye Chen was injured again, but this time, the three great Willow Demons did not fare well either; two of them had dozens of branches chopped off by Ye Chen, while the middle one lost hundreds of branches.


    This exchange could be called a mutual injury.


    "The Crimson Fire Flying Sword can cut the branches, but it can only slice off a small portion!"


    "Perhaps, I could risk getting hurt to continuously cut down these branches."


    Ye Chen, having returned to the empty space outside the valley, began recovering his injured body while observing the three giant willow trees not far away.


    But just as Ye Chen could recover from his injuries, under his watchful eye, the three damaged Willow Demons started growing their severed branches back, flashing with fiery red light from their trunks.


    When Ye Chen had fully recovered, the three great Willow Demons had already completely regrown their severed branches!


    Clearly, as formidable beings, the Willow Demons could also heal their wounds!


    This left Ye Chen feeling quite frustrated.


    If things continued like this, neither he nor the great Willow Demons could overcome each other.


    Though the three Willow Demons were extremely formidable¡ªperhaps even stronger together than Ye Chen¡ªthe Willow Demons could not move, and their attack range was limited.


    Ye Chen, while slightly less powerful than the three great Willow Demons, could rely on his Instantaneous Movement and life-bound flying sword, as well as his extremely strong Gang Yuan True Qi, to ensure that the Willow Demons also couldn''t kill him.


    "Fight again!"


    "The longer we battle, the more I will discover your weaknesses!"


    Boom!


    After he had regulated his breath, Ye Chen launched a third assault toward the three Willow Demons.


    Then, it became a hard battle between Ye Chen and the three Willow Demons. It wasn''t until after dozens of conflicts that Ye Chen finally ceased his attacks on the Willow Demons.


    "Immense strength!"


    "Perfect coordination!"


    "Even their decisive moves seemed to contain endless profundity."


    Ye Chen, standing in midair, observed the three Willow Demons ahead with a look of admiration in his eyes.


    These were still three Willow Demons that had yet to become Demon Kings at the Dan-spinning level, and yet they were already so formidable¡ªit was truly admirable!


    Meanwhile, under Ye Chen''s gaze, the bodies of the three Willow Demons also radiated endless light. This boundless light drew from the nearby Fire Elemental Spring, absorbing its waters to replenish their losses.


    Clearly, in their battle with Ye Chen, they too had sensed Ye Chen''s strength!


    "It seems that with these three Willow Demons'' protection, the ''Fire Elemental Spring'' can''t be obtained for now."


    "I need to continue improving my techniques!"


    "This valley, nourished by the ''Fire Elemental Spring,'' is filled with abundant True Qi, making it suitable for cultivation. Since there is also a month''s worth of exploration time on this island, I might as well practice here, advancing my Internal Skills and various External Skills and Martial Skills!"


    After dozens of battles with the Willow Demons and being unable to overcome them, Ye Chen was prompted to think about further enhancing his strength.


    Just then, a beam of light suddenly shot out from the "Ethereal Spirit Ring" Ye Chen was wearing. As soon as the light appeared, it transformed into a palm-sized, miraculous little monkey.


    The little monkey''s eyes were brilliant like black gems, with endless divine light flowing within, showing extraordinary liveliness¡ªindeed, it was the golden little monkey Ye Chen had brought from the ancestral lands'' secret realm!


    Previously, the little monkey had been staying within the "Heaven Spirit Ring," a space treasure placed inside Ye Chen''s Ethereal Spirit Ring. Since entering the ancient tomb, the monkey had been soundly asleep in the Heaven Spirit Ring but had unexpectedly run out now.


    "Eeya!"


    As soon as it emerged, the little monkey sprang onto Ye Chen''s shoulder, rubbing its small head affectionately against Ye Chen''s neck.


    At the same time, its gem-like, dazzling black eyes also stared at the three Willow Demons and the Fire Elemental Spring enveloped by countless willow branches.


    "Eeya, eeya!"


    The little fellow still couldn''t speak; it pointed at the Fire Elemental Spring with its small finger and kept calling out to Ye Chen.


    Having spent some time together after leaving the ancestral lands'' secret realm, Ye Chen knew how clever the little monkey was. From its gestures, he could tell it was trying to say it wanted to retrieve the water from the Spiritual Spring.


    Could it be that while in the Heaven Spirit Ring, the little monkey had noticed the situation with the Willow Demons and the Fire Elemental Spring, and now it was volunteering to contend with the Willow Demons?


    "Little monkey, those three Willow Demons are formidable. Don''t go; you might get hurt."


    Although the Artifact Spirit had once mentioned in the ancestral lands'' secret realm that this little monkey was no common creature and was a powerful offspring of something called a ''True Spirit,'' Ye Chen wouldn''t let it take any risks.


    After all, he had promised the Artifact Spirit to take good care of the little monkey on behalf of Heavenly Saint Di Kong.


    "Eeya!"


    Of course, the exceptionally clever little monkey understood Ye Chen''s words. Seeing Ye Chen''s disapproval, it gestured anxiously with its tiny fingers, and at last, its body suddenly flashed with golden light. In an instant, it shot upwards hundreds of meters high, then in the next moment, it was back in front of Ye Chen.


    "Such speed!"


    Witnessing the little monkey''s action, Ye Chen''s eyes widened in shock.


    He found that the monkey''s speed surpassed even that of the Willow Demons'' attacks¡ªmuch faster than his own ability for Instantaneous Movement!


    Ye Chen knew from the Artifact Spirit that the little monkey had only been born a few months ago. Could it have reached such high speeds in just a few months after being born?


    Could the offspring of the divine ''True Spirit'' actually be so incredibly powerful?!


    This was the first time the little monkey had shown its strength to Ye Chen, and it astonished him profoundly!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s amazement, the little monkey was thrilled beyond measure and began calling out "eeya" excitedly¡ªit seemed quite proud that its show of strength had frightened Ye Chen!


    The next moment, the little monkey pointed at the Fire Elemental Spring and disappeared instantly.


    By the time Ye Chen had recovered from his surprise, the little monkey had already shot toward the Willow Demons.


    "Little monkey!"


    While he was astounded by the little monkey''s speed, Ye Chen was more worried that it might be at a disadvantage against the Willow Demons.


    He was not unable to deal with the Willow Demons, for he possessed the Heavenly Saint Bracelet. With it, he could easily slay the Willow Demons, but the Heavenly Saint Bracelet was far more valuable than the Fire Elemental Spring, so of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t deplete it just to obtain the spring water.


    At that moment, Ye Chen took out the Heavenly Saint Bracelet while moving instantly toward the Willow Demons.


    He wouldn''t let the little monkey get hurt; if it truly came under attack from the Willow Demons, Ye Chen would be prepared to expend the Heavenly Saint Beads on the bracelet to kill the Willow Demons!


    During Ye Chen''s instant movement, he heard an "eeya" from the little monkey as it shot back to his side, holding in its tiny palm more than a dozen drops of water from the Fire Elemental Spring!


    When Ye Chen looked again at the three Willow Demons, he saw that they were furiously thrashing their branches, clearly enraged at the theft of the spring water. Yet even so, they couldn''t harm the little monkey, which meant that their attacking speed was ineffective against the little monkey''s extreme velocity!


    The little monkey had indeed breached the containment of the three Willow Demons and secured water from the Fire Elemental Spring!


    "Eeya!"


    Amidst Ye Chen''s astonishment, the little monkey let out a soft call, and then Ye Chen saw the little creature, as if presenting a treasure, offer the dozen drops of Fire Elemental Spring water it held in its palm to him.


    Clearly, the little monkey intended to give the spring water to Ye Chen!

 Chapter 206: Chapter 178 Arduous Cultivation

    Looking at the little monkey''s cuteness and affection towards him, Ye Chen couldn''t help but want to pinch its chubby cheeks.


    "Little monkey, drink the spirit spring water you''ve worked so hard to fetch yourself, don''t give it to me," Ye Chen said with a smile as he shook his head at the little guy.


    "Ee-ya!"


    Seeing Ye Chen refuse to accept the water, the little monkey became anxious, its eyes shining like black jewels started to mist up.


    If Ye Chen turned it down again, the little guy might start crying right there.


    "Alright, alright, let''s do this¡ªwe''ll split it in half," Ye Chen said, giving in to the little monkey.


    "Ee-ya!" At the sight of Ye Chen agreeing to take the water, the little monkey''s tears turned to laughter, the mist in its eyes disappearing in an instant. With a light tap of its finger, more than half of the Fire Elemental Spring water in its tiny palm flew towards Ye Chen.


    Clearly, the little guy still wanted Ye Chen to drink more of this marvelous water!


    "Little monkey, thank you," Ye Chen said with a gentle smile, no longer refusing the little one''s kindness.


    As he opened his mouth and inhaled, the seven or eight drops of Fire Elemental Spring water flew into his mouth.


    Despite being only seven or eight drops, as soon as the water entered Ye Chen''s mouth, it transformed into countless warm streams that flowed to every part of his body.


    With these threads of warm current moving throughout his body, every pore and cell in Ye Chen''s body opened up comfortably, a feeling of toasty warmth instantly spreading throughout his body.


    This sensation was as if he had swallowed the Immortal Bead Elixir!


    His whole body brimmed with abundant vigor and spirit!


    Even the weariness from his earlier battle with the Willow Demon dissipated under the nourishment of the spirit spring water!


    More wondrous still, as this extremely comfortable sensation reached the Spirit Sea within Ye Chen, his Spirit Sea magically grew countless droplets of Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid¡ªclearly transformed from the Fire Elemental Spring water.


    Truly, the Fire Elemental Spring was a miraculous thing¡ªnot only revitalizing his vigor and spirit with a single gulp but also directly boosting his True Qi!


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but want to taste it again!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s thirst for more, the little monkey quickly drank the few remaining drops from its palm and with a "swoosh" disappeared again; when it reappeared, it was holding another dozen or so drops of the water, offering them to Ye Chen.


    The little monkey had actually gone to fetch more Fire Elemental Spring water!


    Looking at the little monkey gazing at him with wide eyes, encouraging him to continue drinking the wondrous Fire Elemental Spring water, and watching the Willow Demon''s tens of thousands of branches wildly thrashing in fury after having its water stolen twice in quick succession by the little monkey, Ye Chen felt a warm current rising in his heart!


    Even without Jiang Yao by his side, with the little monkey accompanying him, this tiny monkey, only a few months old, was as intimate and affectionate with him as Jiang Yao was!


    This feeling of being cared for and cherished was really quite wonderful!


    Ye Chen looked at the little monkey, then at the three Willow Demons, his eyes beaming with fighting spirit, "Little monkey, you don''t have to keep fetching the water like this. Within this month, I will definitely break through the obstruction of these three Willow Demons and get the Fire Elemental Spring!"


    "Then, we''ll have our fill, how does that sound?"


    "Ee-ya!"


    Seeing Ye Chen exuding high-spirits, the little monkey excitedly nodded its little head.


    It loved watching Ye Chen look so confident and strong.


    The little guy had witnessed Ye Chen continuously strengthen himself outside the Ancient God Tower and had seen him defeat the genius girl guarding the eighteenth floor!


    Of course, it believed Ye Chen would also defeat these three Willow Demons!


    Ye Chen smiled gently at the excited little monkey.


    "Time to cultivate!"


    "Even though I can''t improve my speed to the little monkey''s extent in a short time, I still can enhance my Sword Formation Martial Skill and the power of my True Qi!"


    "I will elevate my strength right here on the Fourth Sea Island!"


    After sharing the second portion of the Fire Elemental Spring water with the little monkey, Ye Chen brought the little creature to a corner of the valley where the Heaven and Earth True Qi was rich, and they began to sit and cultivate.


    Ye Chen began his arduous cultivation once again on the Fourth Sea Island.


    His first session of cultivation in the valley lasted a full seven days. After the seven days, Ye Chen and the little monkey would leave the valley early each morning to find Great Demons in the nearby area for practical combat refinement post-meditation. As evening approached, they would return to the valley to resume their silent cultivation and post-battle reflections.


    Once Ye Chen entered into a state of combining silent cultivation with actual combat, the Great Demons in the western territories of the Fourth Sea Island were completely doomed.


    Wherever Ye Chen and the little monkey went, countless Great Demons were slain, and with the passage of time, Ye Chen''s speed and efficiency in killing Great Demons became faster and higher.


    Even on the eleventh day upon entering the Fourth Sea Island, a spiritual light suddenly emitted from the wooden token Ye Chen was holding, displaying the number "ten" within that light.


    As Ye Chen''s divine sense infiltrated the wooden token, he immediately came to a realization¡ªthis number represented that he had entered the top ten in terms of the number of great beasts he had killed throughout the Fourth Sea Island.


    When they first entered the Fourth Sea Island, Ye Chen and the others had been informed through their wooden tokens that they only had one month of treasure hunting in the peripheral area of the Fourth Sea Island.


    Once a month passed, those whose wooden tokens ranked in the top ten in terms of slain beasts would earn the opportunity to enter the central giant island and further explore more precious Rotating Pill-level relics.


    The great beasts mentioned on the island referred to Great Demons and other fierce beasts of higher realms.


    Ye Chen had been diligently practicing all along, yet he only started to hunt great beasts four days ago.


    In just four days, he had successfully reached the top ten rankings of the thirty-two people in hunting great beasts on the entire Fourth Sea Island!


    Originally, Ye Chen''s strength on the Fourth Sea Island was already unparalleled. To deal with the Willow Demon, he had been training arduously, making remarkable progress daily. Hunting great beasts was merely his way of real combat practice after cultivation, and no one else could stop the rise of his ranking.


    On the thirteenth day of Ye Chen entering the Fourth Sea Island, his ranking in hunting great beasts shot up to fifth place.


    And by the fifteenth day on the Fourth Sea Island, the number on Ye Chen''s wooden token suddenly flickered with a strange golden light¡ªthe rank of number one directly descended upon Ye Chen''s token!


    Ye Chen''s count of slain great beasts had now surpassed everyone else on the Fourth Sea Island!


    Over these days, Ye Chen''s ranking improved daily, and all the Tomb Explorers who had broken into the top ten discovered that their rankings dropped a place every day.


    When the Half-Step Rotating Pill from Cloud Sky Sect, who had been hunting treasures and great beasts in the eastern region of the Fourth Sea Island and had consistently held the number one rank, was squeezed to second place, he couldn''t help but fly into the sky and scan the vast expanse of the Fourth Sea Island.


    "Who?"


    "Who has surpassed me?"


    As images of various individuals flickered in this Half-Step Rotating Pill''s mind, he seemed to come to a realization as if struck by inspiration, and suddenly thought of one person.


    Ye Chen!


    The astonishing youth who, right upon entering the Fourth Sea Island, had crippled a Half-Step Rotating Pill!


    This Half-Step Rotating Pill from Cloud Sky Sect knew that of all the people on the island, the only one he couldn''t see through was Ye Chen; only Ye Chen could possibly have surpassed him in the rankings of hunting great beasts!


    Just as this Half-Step Rotating Pill had his revelation while gazing at the vast Fourth Sea Island which he couldn''t completely see, his guess was correct¡ªthe one who had overtaken him was indeed Ye Chen.


    At this moment, after fifteen days of arduous cultivation, Ye Chen''s True Qi became even more profound than when he first arrived on the Fourth Sea Island. Even the early stage of the Spirit Sea realm that he had struck into before entering the ancient tomb became immensely stable.


    While his True Qi greatly improved, Ye Chen also made a significant gain: he finally mastered two major techniques during these fifteen days of arduous cultivation.


    The first major technique was none other than the "Heavenly Gang Sword Formation," which was of intermediate sword formation level, given to him by sister Yu when he left the Taixuan Sect!


    Ye Chen finally mastered an intermediate-level sword formation, which immediately elevated his Sword Formation Martial Skills from four low-level formations to an intermediate-level!


    The second major technique was that during the fifteen days of battling with Great Demons, as well as digesting the insights from his battle with the Willow Demon, Ye Chen finally touched upon the martial skill realm of the "Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s" Fourth Transformation.


    Although it was only a touch and Ye Chen had not fully cultivated the Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s Fourth Transformation, not even to the basic level, this Fourth Transformation was equivalent to a Heavenly martial skill. Merely touching upon this Heavenly martial skill provided Ye Chen with endless benefits.


    After fifteen days of arduous practice, Ye Chen finally felt that he regained the strength to fight the Willow Demon!


    Boom!


    On the sixteenth day after entering the Fourth Sea Island, early in the morning, Ye Chen did not go out to hunt Great Demons anymore. He flew directly into the void above the valley and once again set his sights on the three Willow Demons.


    "Yiiya!"


    At this time, the little monkey stood on Ye Chen''s shoulder, calling out excitedly.


    Because the little guy knew that after fifteen days of arduous practice, Ye Chen was finally going to challenge those three Willow Demons again!

 Chapter 207: Chapter 179: Battle with the Willow Demon Again

    ```


    Hu!


    Ye Chen, standing in the void, looked towards the three Willow Demons, took a deep breath, and then exhaled slowly.


    Ye Chen''s breath became incredibly stable in an instant.


    Yet, the fighting spirit in Ye Chen''s eyes blazed furiously!


    Ten days ago, he battled the Willow Demon, and both sides suffered injuries, neither able to best the other!


    Ten days ago, only with the help of the Golden Monkey was he able to drink from the Fire Elemental Spring.


    Now, fifteen days later, Ye Chen was finally ready to challenge the Willow Demon again, to make another assault on the Fire Elemental Spring!


    Even if he still couldn''t overcome the three Willow Demons this time, Ye Chen would continue his arduous cultivation, continue to improve his strength, as he must defeat the Willow Demon and secure the Fire Elemental Spring!


    Ye Chen had promised the Golden Monkey that he would freely enjoy the waters of the Fire Elemental Spring together.


    He was certainly going to keep that promise!


    "Golden Monkey, you stay on the side and watch the battle; I will fight these three great Willow Demons once more,"


    Ye Chen, burning with fighting spirit, looked at the Golden Monkey on his shoulder and said softly.


    "Yiya!"


    The lively and intelligent Golden Monkey, upon seeing Ye Chen about to make a move, jumped directly into the void, standing there to watch the battle unfold.


    The little fellow even waved its tiny fists in the air, as if to cheer Ye Chen on!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After smiling at the Golden Monkey, Ye Chen turned towards the three great Willow Demons, his fighting spirit surging forth.


    Instantly, he released a towering Gang Yuan True Qi, measuring a hundred and seventy to eighty meters high.


    As the astonishing Gang Yuan True Qi whirled around him, like a mighty silver dragon dancing in the air, a pair of True Qi wings suddenly appeared on Ye Chen''s back.


    Wind-Thunder Wings!


    Ye Chen had brought out the Wind-Thunder Wings once again!


    Having achieved the ability to fly after entering the Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen rarely used the Wind-Thunder Wings, but in the past ten days of hunting giant beasts in real combat, he had been pondering how to increase his speed in movement, just like the Golden Monkey.


    Through constant exploration, Ye Chen finally found the way to integrate the Wind-Thunder Wings with his flight supernatural ability.


    The two methods of supernatural powers could combine, and in doing so, Ye Chen''s speed indeed improved once more!


    This was the harvest of real combat, the fruit of comprehending martial techniques!


    Swish!


    Enormous Wind-Thunder Wings, tens of meters long, appeared behind Ye Chen, who quickly spread them as his flying supernatural ability was unleashed, and the two silver-white wings even emitted a sound of tearing through the void, like a combination of wind and thunder!


    Boom!


    Amidst the sound of wind and thunder, a great light burst forth as Ye Chen, with his Wind-Thunder Wings and flying supernatural ability, covered a distance of more than ten miles in the blink of an eye, arriving before the three great Willow Demons.


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    These three great Willow Demons, capable of slaughtering even hundreds of high-ranking Great Demons and exceedingly perceptive, sensed Ye Chen''s improved strength as he launched an attack. They abruptly shot out over eight thousand willow branches towards Ye Chen.


    These eight thousand plus willow branches, hundreds of meters long and flying wildly through the air, glowed even redder than they had done ten days before.


    Clearly, during this period, the strength of the three Willow Demons had also increased!


    In the blink of an eye, the eight thousand plus willow branches were slashing down upon Ye Chen, who was approaching at high speed.


    "Bring it on!"


    Boom!


    As the eight thousand willow branches shot towards him, the rolling Gang Yuan True Qi enveloped Ye Chen''s entire body, shielding him, while at the same time, an incredibly magical golden monkey light abruptly surged into his palms.


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s palms displayed a series of crimson golden, extraordinary patterns!


    This was the sign of Ye Chen touching the Fourth Layer of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    The Nine Transformation Fighting Body consists of Nine Transformation Divine Art; the first transformation manifests a giant Golden Monkey phantom exterior to the body, the second fuses the Golden Monkey phantom inside the body, while the third involves the burning of the Golden Monkey phantom.


    These first three transformations are at the level of Spirit Sea realm combat power.


    But entering the fourth transformation, advancing to a more powerful Heaven-grade technique, reaches the level of combat power of the Rotating Pill stage.


    Upon reaching the fourth transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and cultivating the "Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern," when one fights, the entire body is covered with extraordinary golden patterns, and the strength grows to inconceivable levels¡ªone could even smash a mighty mountain with a wave of the hand!


    One could even kill a Half-Step Rotating Pill with a flick of the wrist!


    Ye Chen couldn''t yet achieve the fourth transformation''s incredible covering of the whole body with extraordinary golden patterns. He had just touched upon this fourth layer of technique, and could only manifest the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern on his hands.


    But that was enough!


    As the three great Willow Demons unleashed their eight thousand branches shooting towards Ye Chen, his hands glowed with the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern, reaching out to grasp the incoming branches.


    Whir!


    ```


    Both his hands grabbed onto seventy to eighty willow branches.


    Then, with a fierce tug and the brilliant light of the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern on his palms, Ye Chen actually tore apart the more than one hundred willow branches with his bare hands!


    These willow branches had once pierced through high-ranking Great Demons!


    These willow branches had once pierced through Ye Chen''s body, creating blood holes!


    Now, under the fourth transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, these ferocious willow branches turned out to be no match for Ye Chen''s bare palms!


    "Aoow!"


    The three Willow Demons, whose branches Ye Chen had torn off in handfuls, thrashed their countless willow branches wildly. The wildly dancing willow branches compressed the air until it exploded, emitting strange cries like that of a Great Demon.


    Clearly the three Willow Demons were enraged!


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Without the slightest hesitation, each of the three Willow Demons unleashed tens of thousands of willow branches. With over thirty thousand willow branches in total, they shot towards Ye Chen like a shower of arrows.


    The Willow Demon''s attack power against Ye Chen had unexpectedly reached tens of thousands of branches.


    This level of combat power could easily kill countless warriors at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage, and even the very top warriors at this stage would not dare to easily touch such a terrifying killing force.


    Tens of thousands of willow branches surged wildly, as if a storm capable of annihilating everything had swept through the void, tearing the very space apart wherever they passed.


    "Bring it on!"


    Enveloped in the vortex of the willow branch storm, Ye Chen roared and "whoosh whoosh whoosh", countless Swords of True Qi appeared around him.


    This time, the Swords of True Qi numbered no less than nine hundred and ninety-nine!


    The number of ninety-nine!


    This was none other than the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation, a powerful Sword Formation painstakingly understood and practiced by Ye Chen, which reached the intermediate level of Sword Formations!


    The moment the nine hundred and ninety-nine Swords of True Qi floated out, they suddenly formed the might of a Sword Formation, with surging Sword Intents beginning to circulate upon each Sword of True Qi.


    The next moment, the entire Sword Formation shot out a beam of starlight Sword Intents!


    In the past, when Ye Chen practiced the Star Gathering Sword Formation, he was only able to condense a bit of starlight, but this time the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation unleashed an entire beam of starlight!


    With the sweep of the starlight, it collided with the tens of thousands of willow branches descending from the sky.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The entire void exploded violently under the collision of these two powers.


    The explosive blast waves even flipped the soil in the valley, creating gullies one after another.


    In the endless waves of explosions, the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation, powered by the immense Gang Yuan True Qi, actually matched the horrifying killing force of the tens of thousands of willow branches in a fight!


    "Aoow!"


    The three Willow Demons, slicing through the air, caused the void to cry out wildly once more. One move failing to overpower Ye Chen, the myriad surging willow branches recoiled and gathered again, shooting towards Ye Chen with renewed lethal power.


    And Ye Chen, in the midst of a long True Qi howl, once more combined the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation, again engaging in battle with the Willow Demon.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the frenzied battle continued and Ye Chen''s Wind-Thunder Wings fluttered beneath the giant Willow Demons, the terrifying sounds of True Qi explosions swept across the entire area of the willow trees. Every place Ye Chen passed, explosions resounded.


    In the end, after dozens of exchanges between Ye Chen and the Willow Demon, the area of several hundred meters engulfed by the three Willow Demons was filled entirely with exploding True Qi!


    The entire void had fallen into chaos.


    This endless barrage of explosions not only tore the earth apart with countless fissures but even caused the normally unchanging Fire Elemental Spring to boil over, its waters tumbling wildly amidst the blasts.


    The little monkey standing in the void outside the valley, witnessing Ye Chen and the Willow Demon fighting so fiercely, even forcing the three Willow Demons to tear the void asunder, let out continuous howls.


    The little monkey''s two black gem-like eyes were incredibly bright.


    The youth it followed was indeed remarkably powerful!


    To be able to fight three Willow Demons to such an extent after merely ten days of arduous practice!


    As heaven-shaking explosions filled the air, and the earth was ripped asunder, even as the waters of the Fire Elemental Spring boiled wildly, the three Willow Demons, having fought dozens of exchanges and still unable to suppress Ye Chen, suddenly revealed a new transformation.


    Clearly, with even the Fire Elemental Spring boiling over, the three Willow Demons dared not hold back their strength any longer.


    They aimed to exterminate Ye Chen completely, just as they had the hundreds of Great Demons, to quell the furious turbulence of the Fire Elemental Spring!


    Amidst the new transformation, divine and unmatched fiery red light burst from the trunks of the three massive Willow Demons, all hundreds of meters tall.


    This fiery red light coursed through the trunks and eventually spread throughout the bodies of the three Willow Demons, reaching branches, leaves, and tips alike.


    At last, the three trees had turned into Fire Willows!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Once the fiery red light was fully unleashed, flames ignited along all the branches of the Fire Willows. As the flames blazed fiercely, it seemed as if the three Willow Demons had turned into three flame-wreathed Great Demons!


    These roaring flames were no ordinary fire; even a mere flicker that fell onto the earth pierced straight through it leaving a terrifyingly vast and deep crater quite a number of meters wide and deep.


    In the end, as all the branches surged forth and all the flames poured down, Ye Chen was completely engulfed in the canopy of willow branches and the overwhelmingly terrifying flames!

 Chapter 208: Chapter 180 Fire Elemental Spirit Stone

    Just as Ye Chen was completely engulfed by the sky-full of willow branches and flames, a burst of crimson light, even more mystical than the flames themselves, suddenly shot through.


    This ray of light was, in fact, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    When the three willow demons unleashed their final killing move, Ye Chen also brought out all the tricks up his sleeve.


    Gang Yuan True Qi! Heavenly Gang Sword Formation! Nine Transformation Fighting Body! And the Life-bound Flying Sword!


    With the surging Gang Yuan True Qi and the immense power of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, Ye Chen''s whole being radiated an endless divine light.


    And around his body, that beam of starlight formed by the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation, merged instantly with the Crimson Fire Flying Sword that was shooting out.


    The result was a Heavenly Gang Sword Formation, catalyzed by the Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    Previously, the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation that Ye Chen had used was formed by swords condensed from True Qi, but the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" was a supreme holy artefact capable of carrying True Qi. When the infinite sword intent of the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation was executed through the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, its power suddenly skyrocketed to an unbelievable level.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, carrying a stream of starlight, extinguished the endless burning flames wherever it passed. After circling a few dozen feet around Ye Chen, not even a single flame of the willow demon remained within a several feet radius of him.


    The burning flames unleashed by the willow demons towards Ye Chen were completely extinguished by him!


    Surrounded by surging Gang Yuan True Qi and the golden light of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, Ye Chen, flying through the void, radiated endless divine light. The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, whirling around him with the vast power of the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation and annihilating everything in its path, left a vacuum around Ye Chen!


    A vacuum that absolutely no force could break through!


    Boom!


    Having unleashed all his techniques, Ye Chen finally managed to break through the blockade of the three willow demons, crashing down next to the Fire Elemental Spring.


    Seeing Ye Chen landing beside the spring, the three willow demons, now completely engulfed in flames, went utterly insane. All of their fiery branches attacked Ye Chen standing next to the spring; the three willow demons, with tens of thousands of branches spanning hundreds of meters, turned the entire void into a sea of fire.


    This sea of fire was enough to pierce through everything, but just like before, when all of it was directed at Ye Chen, it was still completely annihilated by the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" circling outside his body.


    Even with all their power, the three willow demons were unable to harm Ye Chen!


    Even more so, countless branches of the willow demons were continually chopped down in their clashes with the Flying Sword.


    The area of vacuum covered by the Flying Sword was becoming larger and larger!


    This clearly meant that Ye Chen was utterly supressing the three willow demons from the front!


    After ten-odd days of arduous cultivation, coupled with real combat refinement, Ye Chen''s numerous techniques working together, and mastering the powerful mid-tier sword formation "Heavenly Gang Sword Formation" as well as touching upon the fourth transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, at last, Ye Chen had gained the strength to defeat the three willow demons.


    Finally rendering the three willow demons powerless against him!


    The three willow demons frenziedly attacked Ye Chen, while the Crimson Fire Flying Sword outside his body crazily annihilated all their attacks, simultaneously striking back at the willow demons. Ye Chen, surrounded by the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, watched the raging battle from the outside with an utterly calm expression, turning his gaze towards the Fire Elemental Spring.


    After battling the three willow demons to this extent, Ye Chen knew that the willow demons could no longer stop him from obtaining the treasure of the Fire Elemental Spring!


    The spring and its waters in front of him were now at his disposal!


    No longer would he need to send the little monkey to fetch spring water from the Spiritual Spring.


    Thanks to his own efforts, Ye Chen was finally able to personally access this mystical Spiritual Spring.


    "Little monkey, come on over!"


    "Let''s taste the flavor of this Spiritual Spring water once more!"


    Ye Chen sent a telepathic message to the little monkey in the sky tens of miles away. With a "yiyi" sound, the little monkey instantly crossed the distance and popped up in front of Ye Chen.


    The willow demons were enraged beyond measure by Ye Chen breaking through their defense, and when they saw the little monkey that had already taken spring water several times also arrive next to the Spiritual Spring, the three willow demons went completely mad!


    But their madness was futile.


    Now Ye Chen had become an opponent the three willow demons could no longer contend with, and the little monkey had long since exceeded their attack speed ¨C it was even less likely for them to hit the little monkey.


    Amidst the endless tearing of the earth and the endless annihilation of flames in the battle between three completely frenzied Willow Demons and the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, Ye Chen and the little monkey opened their mouths at the same time.


    Whoosh!


    Like whales and tigers devouring their prey, the water from the Fire Elemental Spring pool transformed into two streams, flying directly into the mouths of Ye Chen and the little monkey.


    "Gulp, gulp."


    Ye Chen and the little monkey started guzzling the water from the Fire Elemental Spring right next to the pool!


    This time, it wasn''t just a few drops; they were heartily indulging in a massive drink!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As countless streams of water turned into a warm current flowing through his body and into his Spirit Sea, Ye Chen felt as if he was floating on air, a sensation so heavenly, it was as if he had swallowed an immortal fruit, incredibly wonderful!


    Inside his vast Spirit Sea, the True Qi surged crazily. As the amount of True Qi Spiritual Fluid increased, the water level of Ye Chen''s Spirit Sea kept rising!


    Droplets of silver Gang Yuan True Qi Spiritual Fluid made the entire Spirit Sea gleam with an unbelievable bright silver radiance.


    The little monkey, next to him, didn''t lag behind in speed as it wolfed down the water from the Fire Elemental Spring. The tiny creature, only the size of a palm, had already swallowed up more than a dozen cubic feet of the Spiritual Spring in just a moment, all of it entering its small belly.


    Yet, despite consuming so much Spiritual Spring water, the little monkey''s size didn''t change at all. One could only see its eyes, dazzling like black gems, becoming hazy as if it was drunk.


    What was even more peculiar was that the little monkey''s fur, which turned grey previously with the aid of the light from the Heaven Spirit Ring to disguise itself, had once again turned a glittering gold after consuming the massive amount of Fire Elemental Spring water.


    Now, its grey fur had returned to a dazzling gold, its entire body shimmering, radiant and even more resplendent with golden light than before!


    Boom!


    When Ye Chen and the little monkey had swallowed half of the water from the spring pool, which was fourteen or fifteen meters in size, an unexpected change occurred!


    Without having been hit by any attacks, the three Willow Demons, which were still battling against Ye Chen''s Crimson Fire Flying Sword, spontaneously burst apart when the water level in the pool dropped to half.


    In the end, the three huge, hundreds of meters tall Willow Demons, with their tens of thousands of willow branches drifting, exploded into countless clusters of red light and completely dissipated in the sky.


    Such a scenario was clearly the sign of the defense of the "Fire Elemental Spring" being broken.


    According to the legacy black pearl that Ye Chen had previously obtained, he had now truly revealed the treasure of the "Fire Elemental Spring" to the world!


    "The treasure has appeared."


    "The treasure of this Fire Elemental Spring is the ''Fire Elemental Spirit Stone'' beneath the water."


    "Could it be that the Spirit Stone is about to emerge?"


    Witnessing the aberration and the explosive disappearance of the three Willow Demons, Ye Chen and the little monkey looked down once again toward the Fire Elemental Spring pool.


    At that moment, the eight large spring eyes that had been gushing water continuously, suddenly stopped spouting and the whole pool became momentarily still.


    The next instant, the silence was shattered. Ye Chen saw that, without his and the little monkey''s continued absorption of the spring water, the water in the pool quickly began to recede.


    Indeed, all the remaining water was backflowing towards the spring eyes.


    When the entire pool, fourteen to fifteen meters in size, had all of its water drained, revealing the three-meter-high inner walls and the empty basin, a miraculous red glow appeared inside the pool.


    As soon as this red glow appeared, it connected to one spring eye, then to the next, and when all eight spring eyes were linked by the red glow, a fist-sized "flame-red" stone suddenly burst forth above them.


    This flame-red stone was whirling in the void. Ye Chen saw that its surface was covered in countless facets, each transmitting an extraordinary streak of flame-red light.


    Ye Chen could even sense the astonishing energy contained within this small, fist-sized stone, an energy that was probably more vast and powerful than all the True Qi Spiritual Fluid in his Spirit Sea combined!


    "Fire Elemental Spirit Stone!"


    Staring at this extraordinary flame-red stone, the words surfaced instantly in Ye Chen''s mind.


    Clearly, the stone that had shot out from below the spring pool was the ultimate treasure of this legacy site¡ªthe Fire Elemental Spirit Stone!

 Chapter 209: Chapter 181 Demon Tower Awakens

    Having come to this mountain valley for sixteen days, Ye Chen had finally overcome the obstruction of the three Willow Demons and at long last, he saw the hidden treasure beneath the Fire Elemental Spring!


    Ye Chen''s gaze was completely fixed upon the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, carefully examining this unparalleled mystical stone that could nourish the three great Willow Demons.


    At this moment, following the explosive shattering and disintegration of the three Willow Demons, the whole valley instantly became desolate, leaving only Ye Chen and the little monkey, along with the spinning Fire Elemental Spirit Stone.


    Ye Chen felt that, as the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone spun ceaselessly in the void, the dense Heaven and Earth True Qi within the entire valley gradually began to converge towards the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone.


    However, after a short while, the Heaven and Earth True Qi in the valley became the same as that outside the valley, and the spinning Fire Elemental Spirit Stone in the void finally came to a stop.


    Clearly, the reason why the Heaven and Earth True Qi in the valley had been so concentrated earlier was due to the Spirit Stone emitting True Qi. Now, the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone that had appeared, directly reabsorbed all the dissipated True Qi, much like it reabsorbed the Fire Elemental Spring Water before.


    Seeing the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone stop spinning and floating motionlessly in the void, waiting to be claimed, Ye Chen didn''t hesitate any longer. He reached out into the void with a large hand, and the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone shot into his palm.


    "So heavy!"


    Grasping the fist-sized, fire-red Spirit Stone in his hand, Ye Chen''s first impression was that the stone was extremely heavy.


    Ye Chen''s current strength was so formidable that not to mention a fist-sized rock, even the weight of a huge mountain could be borne by him.


    But the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone in his hand was as heavy as if it were heavier than a massive mountain, as if it contained the power of tens of thousands of jun within it.


    If not for Ye Chen''s body being fortified with the exceedingly robust Gang Yuan True Qi, together with the powerful physical strength he cultivated from the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, he likely wouldn''t have been able to lift this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone at all.


    The weight of this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone could likely easily crush a Spirit Sea mid-stage expert to death!


    "The treasure left behind by the Heavenly Saint is truly extraordinary!"


    Feeling the weight of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, Ye Chen silently admired it in his heart.


    Following that, he began to examine the interior of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone with his divine sense. The moment his divine sense touched the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, he felt as though he had entered a space filled with thick Fire Element True Qi, a space that was even bigger than Ye Chen''s Spirit Sea, where the sky and land were both filled with dense, fire-red Heaven and Earth True Qi.


    Heaven and Earth True Qi can be divided into five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Normally, Heaven and Earth True Qi is a mix of the five elements exhibiting a blue color, and it''s only when the True Qi of one attribute is condensed to the extreme that it can manifest in a single color.


    The interior of this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone was completely fire-red, signifying that it was all Fire Element True Qi ¨C True Qi of the fire element condensed to the extreme!


    As soon as Ye Chen''s divine sense touched the interior space of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, rolling surges of thick Fire Element True Qi burst forth, pouring into his body and bringing him immense benefits!


    Holding the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, he was absorbing True Qi even faster than when he had drawn in True Qi from the Fire Elemental Spring Water previously!


    "Fantastic, this really is fantastic!"


    "The Heaven and Earth True Qi within this Fire Elemental Spirit Stone is vast. Even if possessing the stone allows one to absorb its True Qi quickly, it would take several years to completely assimilate the immense True Qi within it!"


    "If I were to bring all of this stone''s Heaven and Earth True Qi into my body, this True Qi would likely be enough to let me advance to the Spirit Sea mid-stage, or even the later stages!"


    Ye Chen could hardly wait to start absorbing the True Qi from the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone!


    "Little monkey, let''s absorb the True Qi here together."


    "With such rich True Qi, both of us can make huge strides!"


    Previously, the little monkey''s absorption of the Fire Elemental Spring Water had caused it to undergo mystical changes, turning its fur golden and radiant, replete with flowing light and shimmering sparkles.


    Ye Chen knew that the spring water must have been greatly beneficial to the little monkey as well.


    Now that he had obtained the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, Ye Chen wouldn''t keep it all to himself. This stone, even more peculiar than the Fire Elemental Spring Water, was something he intended to share with the little monkey.


    "Yiya!"


    At this moment, the little monkey''s eyes, as bright as black jewels, were already muddled as if intoxicated. It quickly jumped onto Ye Chen''s shoulder with a swift sound and affectionately rubbed its tiny head against Ye Chen''s neck.


    Then, the little fellow''s tiny fingers started gesticulating nonstop, pointing at the spring pool one moment, and then pointing towards the Ethereal Spirit Ring that Ye Chen wore the next.


    Watching the little monkey''s gestures, Ye Chen gradually understood. Judging by its actions, the monkey must have gained some peculiar insights from the Fire Elemental Spring Water it had absorbed earlier and wanted to refine it within the "Heaven Spirit Ring" stored inside the Ethereal Spirit Ring.


    The Heaven Spirit Ring was a space treasure given to Ye Chen by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact when he left the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, specially designated for the little monkey to live in.


    The realm within that ring was not a bit smaller than the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, and it contained wonders that could constantly aid the growth of the little monkey, left by the true spirit of the monkey''s ancestor, a divine being.


    After acquiring the Heaven Spirit Ring, Ye Chen placed this treasure within his storage ring. Linked to the storage ring, the Heaven Spirit Ring allowed the little monkey to easily hide within its inner realm.


    Seeing that the little fellow wanted to enter the Heaven Spirit Ring, Ye Chen would not obstruct it.


    "Alright, go ahead. With the ''Fire Elemental Spirit Stone'' brimming with True Qi, we have enough for several years. When you come out, we''ll continue to absorb it. When we see Jiang Yao, we''ll let her absorb some of this True Qi too," Ye Chen said smilingly to the little monkey.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, the little monkey cried out "Yiya" and affectionately rubbed its head against Ye Chen''s neck once more, and then it transformed into a streak of light and instantly entered the Ethereal Spirit Ring Ye Chen wore, disappearing into the Heaven Spirit Ring within.


    Watching the little monkey enter the Heaven Spirit Ring and fall asleep, Ye Chen also smiled.


    Each time the little fellow woke up from a deep sleep, it seemed to have grown, but it was uncertain how long it would sleep this time.


    After watching the little monkey for a while, Ye Chen''s divine consciousness withdrew from the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    "The little monkey is cultivating; it''s time for me to cultivate as well!"


    Ye Chen sat cross-legged in the valley, placing the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone between his legs, holding it with both hands as he began to absorb the True Qi within.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the immense and unparalleled True Qi from the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone entered Ye Chen''s Spirit Sea, the Gang Yuan True Qi Spiritual Liquid inside his Spirit Sea once again soared rapidly.


    One day, two days, three days...


    Ye Chen was completely immersed in the state of absorbing the Spirit Stone''s True Qi.


    While Ye Chen was engrossed in the marvelous state of continuous True Qi enhancement, other adventurers on the Fourth Sea Island were also continuously finding treasures that belonged to them.


    Due to Ye Chen''s earlier warning, there was no mutual slaughter among the adventurers on the Fourth Sea Island, and they did not have the guidance of the treasure-seeking Black Beads to find hidden treasures.


    The treasures they found were all placed openly on various parts of the Fourth Sea Island.


    Some found a Half-Step Rotating Pill, breaking through the defense of a group of demon wolves to obtain a Spiritual Pearl treasure, while another found a mysterious blue bottle in a large lake, containing a divine and extraordinary Spiritual Liquid that even drove them mad with desire.


    The five late-stage Spirit Sea female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect went on an adventure together and discovered a fruit forest filled with strange fruits.


    Even the five mid-stage Spirit Sea disciples whom Ye Chen had saved earlier had made their own gains.


    All was calm and tranquil on the Fourth Sea Island, with all adventurers either searching for treasures or hunting giant beasts, seizing the one-month exploration period to gain as many benefits as possible.


    But on other islands, it was not as peaceful and quiet as on the Fourth Sea Island.


    With the appearance of treasure-seeking Black Beads, fighting was inevitable, and as the locations pointed out by the Black Beads continuously yielded treasures, the precious treasures made countless people envious.


    Suddenly, all the islands were filled with contention, slaughter, and counter-slaughter.


    Many of the weaker adventurers died amid these conflicts and during their explorations, while the ones still alive were those incredibly strong Half-Step Rotating Pills and talented disciples, as well as adventurers who teamed up to jointly defend against enemies.


    Regardless, frictions, battles, and deaths continued to arise.


    What no one was aware of was that as people among the 349 who had entered the ancient tomb kept dying, their deaths turned into black mist that vanished over the islands, and deep within the ancient tomb, on the huge bronze coffin tightly secured by eight enormous iron chains, the faintly glowing green-faced tiger head demon pattern was becoming increasingly bright.


    This day marked the twenty-third day since everyone had entered the ancient tomb, and by this day, of the 349 individuals, a full 130 had turned into black mist and disappeared from the ten sea islands.


    On this day, right after 130 people turned into black mist and vanished from the islands, the green-faced tiger head demon among the Eight Great Demon Towers on the bronze giant coffin suddenly lit up completely.


    Boom!


    A thunderous explosion echoed as a terrifying black light burst forth from the surface of the bronze coffin.


    Within this terrifying black light, the fully illuminated green-faced tiger head Demon Tower abruptly disappeared, and in the next moment, a three-hundred-meter-tall, tiger-headed, humanoid demon with billowing black Qi suddenly appeared in the void.


    Upon its appearance, the demon looked down at the huge bronze coffin.


    "Master!"


    "After three thousand eight hundred and sixty-three years, I, Tiger Demon Teng, have finally awakened!"


    "You had slain Heavenly Saint Linghua and were gravely injured yourself, your life force dissipating, which led you to set up this astonishing scheme."


    "Now, this astonishing scheme has gradually begun to unfold, master, I, Tiger Demon Teng, shall lead the charge for you!"


    After the demon whispered these words, it raised its head to look beyond the massive swamp, towards the central giant island and the ten outer sea islands.


    "Cultivators from the thirteen countries of the Southern Heavens, hmm?"


    "You will join the various demons cultivated by the master back then, whether in death or in life, prepare to offer yourselves to the master!"


    "The peripheral sea islands are still far from enough, I hope some of you can make it to the central sea island¡ªthat will be more interesting!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the demon spoke, one of the eight enormous iron chains securing the bronze coffin, covered with countless Ancient Rune Talismans, suddenly erupted in endless radiance.

 Chapter 210: Chapter 182: The Beginnings of Disaster

    Hearing the words of this demon creature, it seemed that this ancient tomb was not at all the tomb of the Heavenly Saint Linghua from the thirteen countries of the southern region, nor was it left for the younger generations of those countries to inherit anything!


    Having suffered grave injuries while slaying Heavenly Saint Linghua, someone had set up a terrifying plot.


    It appeared that this ancient tomb might belong to the Heavenly Saint of the Demon Sects who fought against Heavenly Saint Linghua and created the massive Demon Burial Abyss¡ªthe tomb of "Heavenly Saint Moya" from the Defying Demon Sect, one of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness!


    The powerful ones from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom all thought this ancient tomb was the tomb of Heavenly Saint Linghua. Who could have imagined that this was actually a Demon Sect''s ancient tomb, a trap set by a Heavenly Saint of the Demon Sects?


    What they could not have imagined was that even Heavenly Saint Linghua had died at the hands of Heavenly Saint Moya; they were now sending their sect disciples straight into the fiery abyss, into a situation fraught with extreme danger.


    Either death sacrifices? Or live sacrifices?


    To offer themselves to the master of this demon creature?


    If the six great powers of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom heard this demon creature''s words, they would likely be shocked to the core!


    A trap set by a Heavenly Saint?


    Such matters involving Heavenly Saints might change the entire standoff between the thirteen countries of the southern region and the ten great Demon Sects, possibly reigniting the great war between the southern region and the Western Wilderness!


    Regrettably, at this moment, the six great powers were still waiting outside the ancient tomb, waiting for the return of the disciples they had sent into the tomb.


    They were completely unaware that these disciples had already fallen into this great danger.


    Just when numerous ancient rune talismans on the massive bronze coffin deep within the tomb were all lit up, countless black bubbles in the vast swamp suddenly began to furiously churn, and a mighty black wind roared and swept out.


    As the surging black wind roared deep within the tomb, far from this massive bronze coffin, an earth-shattering change suddenly occurred on the ten islands at the outer reaches of the tomb.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    On each of the ten islands, a terrifying gust of wind swept by, and as the wind passed, the tomb explorers were horrified to discover that on these islands, towering pillars of black Qi, dozens to hundreds of zhang high, burst forth.


    On each island, there were thirty to forty of these inexplicable and terrifying black pillars!


    "What is that?"


    The tomb explorers on the islands could not help but fly into the sky and look towards these black pillars.


    Someone couldn''t resist probing the black pillar with their controlled puppet, and when it entered the black light of the pillar, the puppet, with the combat power of a mid-level Spirit Sea, was instantly reduced to ash upon touching the black light!


    This completely astonished everyone watching the scene.


    The eerie black pillars that suddenly appeared had enormous lethality, making many tomb explorers'' complexions change, uncertain of what would happen due to the appearance of these black pillars.


    As the tomb explorers stared at these terrifying black pillars, countless divine lights soared into the sky, and numerous Legacy Treasures and secret realms revealed themselves.


    The divine lights of the Legacy Treasure secret realms were far more intense than the divine lights of the Legacy Treasures many had discovered earlier!


    The eerie black pillars appeared, and simultaneously, Legacy Treasure sites also emerged everywhere!


    The tomb explorers had no time to react when they found that countless giant beasts on the islands were madly rushing towards the sky-scraping black pillars.


    What was strange was that the black pillars, which had destroyed a mid-level Spirit Sea puppet earlier, seemed to have no effect on these giant beasts.


    Not only did they have no effect, but to the tomb explorers'' surprise, as the giant beasts entered the black light of the pillars, the black light seemed to mysteriously nourish the giant beasts.


    The low-level great demons that initially flew in evolved into mid-level great demons within moments, and the mid-level great demons became high-level great demons. As for the most powerful high-level great demons on the islands, they underwent a shocking transformation and became Half-Step Demon Kings with immensely powerful auras!


    In an instant, countless giant beasts on the islands underwent evolution under the nourishment of the towering black pillars, their strengths skyrocketing!


    Although there had not yet appeared any Demon King Level behemoths equivalent to the Rotating Pill Realm, the strength of the island''s giant beasts had risen to a terrifying level.


    Furthermore, countless giant beasts were still surging towards the black pillars, with more behind them still undergoing evolution!


    Watching this scene, the explorers on the various islands all changed their expressions.


    Many of them had previously been able to slay giant beasts, but with the beasts'' strength raised by one rank, many among them likely could no longer withstand the onslaught of the numerous beasts.


    Even more terrifying was that, after being illuminated by the black pillar''s light, the eyes of these beasts emitted a bizarre black glow, becoming incredibly ferocious.


    Countless giant beasts, after emerging from the black light of the pillars with eyes casting a fierce glow, set their sights on both the Legacy Treasure sites that appeared everywhere on the islands and the tomb explorers watching these anomalies in the sky.


    Roar! Roar!


    Countless giant beasts rushed towards the Legacy Treasure sites, seemingly intent on seizing the treasures inside, and a large group of beasts roared as they charged towards the tomb explorers in the sky.


    The island''s giant beasts were actually initiating an attack on the tomb explorers!


    "They''ve been demonized, these creatures have been demonized!"


    "What in the world is this tomb, why do I feel like there''s an invisible hand controlling all this!"


    "Why do I feel that this ancient tomb is full of weirdness, as if it wants us to gain something, but also wants to kill many of us?"


    In the skies of the First Sea Island, Liu Yan of the fifth-ranked great sect "Flame Sect," watching the horrifying black pillars surging into the sky, observing the sudden appearance of numerous secret treasure locations, and facing the savage beasts roaring and charging towards him, was also filled with astonishment.


    "Regardless, I must survive this ancient tomb and obtain the amazing secret treasures within!"


    "There are only seven days left until the day we enter the central giant island. The last gains from these outer islands must also be seized!"


    Boom!


    Liu Yan, unable to predict how the ancient tomb would change, decided not to think too much. As dozens of behemoths roared towards him, he gave a cold laugh. In an instant, he spewed a stream of purple flames from his mouth. The moment the purple flames touched the bodies of the behemoths, even the high-ranking great demons and those close to Demon King level were instantly burned to ashes!


    After that, without staying any longer in the void, Liu Yan swept his sleeve and turned into an Escaping Light, flying towards the treasure secret land where endless behemoths were also swarming!


    On the Third Sea Island.


    Fairy Nishang from the fifth-ranked "Moon Concealing Sect" was staring at the terrifying black pillars gushing out nonstop, and at the behemoths undergoing transformations within them. Her beautiful eyes were filled with shock.


    "Not good! This is a technique of the Demon Sects!"


    Fairy Nishang, among the cultivators from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom who entered the ancient tomb to explore, was the oldest practitioner and the most knowledgeable. She recognized the significance behind these terrifying black pillars at first glance.


    "Demon Sect techniques? Could it be, this isn''t the ancient tomb of Heavenly Saint Linghua at all? Could this be the ancient tomb of one of the Heavenly Saints from the ten major Demon Sects?"


    "He masqueraded as Heavenly Saint Linghua, luring us into this tomb, but what exactly is his purpose?"


    The normally calm face of Fairy Nishang could no longer stay composed!


    "No way, even if it is the ancient tomb of a Demon Sect Heavenly Saint, I must break out!"


    "Little Dingdang is still waiting for me outside. I can''t afford to have an accident in this ancient tomb!"


    "We''ve been scattered across ten islands; many strong cultivators are not together. We must gather at the central island so we can face this peculiar tomb together!"


    Thinking this, Fairy Nishang''s expression grew dark, and she vanished from the spot in an instant.


    The next moment, she appeared in front of a large group of behemoths. With a wave of her hand, eight high-ranking great demon behemoths were cut in two and fell to the ground. Only after they died did the black ominous light in the eyes of these beasts finally fade away.


    "Yao, something''s not right!"


    "We must be more cautious. There''s weirdness everywhere on this island!"


    In the middle of the Eighth Sea Island, Jiang Yao was with three half-step Rotating Pill female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect. At this moment, the four women, witnessing countless terrifying black pillars erupting and numerous behemoths starting to rampage wildly across the island, were all taken aback.


    "Sister Ning, this ancient tomb is probably not that of Heavenly Saint Linghua. He would never let the younger generation of Heavenly Wind Kingdom face such great threats and undergo such terrifying changes."


    "We must persevere, no matter what dangers we face. We must hold on until we can gather with the others on the central island!"


    Jiang Yao conveyed to the leading female disciple of the Moon Concealing Sect.


    "Yes, let''s stick it out. Our sect''s Fairy Nishang has also entered the tomb. With her here, it''s reassuring!" The three disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect all nodded in agreement.


    And Jiang Yao, with a worried look in her beautiful eyes, glanced out toward the sea, "Ye Chen, in seven days, we''ll be able to gather on the central giant island and face this bizarre tomb together. You must stay safe!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When seven or eight behemoths came towards the four women, Jiang Yao and the three Moon Concealing Sect female disciples immediately made their move, bursting forth in front of these behemoths.


    "Demon Qi, this is the very Demon Qi of our ten major Demon Sects!"


    "This ancient tomb, it seems, truly belongs to my Demon Sects!"


    On the Seventh Sea Island, wearing the attire of a sixth-ranked sect member from Cloud Soaring Sect, the disciple named Xue Yue who had turned his Protective True Qi into a strange black light and killed his fellow sect members, looked at the great black pillars rising into the sky from the valley before him with a wildly jubilant expression in his eyes.


    In the same valley, there were two other sect disciples. At the sight of the enormous black pillar, both of them turned pale.


    When the two disciples turned and saw the ecstatic expression in the eyes of Xue Yue, they were puzzled, "Brother Xue Yue, don''t you realize something is wrong? How can you be so pleased?"


    This Cloud Soaring Sect disciple named Xue Yue then gave the two a sinister smile, "This disaster for you is a grand opportunity for me!"


    Boom!


    Just as the two beside him were still unclear about Xue Yue''s intentions, he suddenly erupted with rolling black light from his body. This black light was identical to the light of the terrifying black pillar that sprouted out.


    In the blink of an eye, Xue Yue killed both fellow sect disciples, who had reached the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Next, Xue Yue took the Legacy Treasure black beads from their bodies and without any further delay, he dashed into the light of the terrifying black pillar.


    The light of the terrifying black pillar that no other Tomb Explorer could touch, Xue Yue was able to enter directly!


    Even more bizarre was that after he entered, just like those behemoths, his strength began to surge as well!

 Chapter 211: Chapter 183: Blood Flows for Three Thousand Miles

    ```


    On the Tenth Sea Island, three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators from the Cloud Sky Sect gathered together, accompanied by a late-stage Spirit Sea disciple.


    The four of them looked at the terrifying black columns that surged up from the island, and the rampaging giant beasts, with a trace of solemnity in their eyes.


    At this moment, the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators turned to the late-stage Spirit Sea disciple and said, "Junior Brother Yun Luo, what should we do? Judging by this situation, I''m afraid we''ve gotten into some big troubles on this tomb-raiding adventure."


    The late-stage Spirit Sea disciple named Yun Luo also had a grave expression, "The master has instructed us not to use that Secret Treasure unless it''s absolutely necessary."


    "Given the current situation, we can still manage. Let''s try to capture as many Legacy Treasures as we can in the outer regions. We''ll deal with the rest once we get to the central giant island!"


    When Yun Luo mentioned "that Secret Treasure," the concerned expressions of the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators eased slightly.


    Clearly, this late-stage Spirit Sea disciple Yun Luo, whom even the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators consulted, likely possessed an earth-shattering Secret Treasure as a last resort!


    After discussing for a while, the four turned into four fleeing lights and hurried towards a Secret Ground of treasures on the Tenth Sea Island.


    The awakening of Demon Tower upon the ancient bronze coffin in the deepest part of the tomb had led to anomalies, which in turn caused astonishing changes on the ten peripheral islands.


    Amidst the surges of terrifying black columns, countless giant beasts grew increasingly powerful, scrambling for the Heavenly Saint Relics of this world, and also engaging in fierce battles with the tomb explorers who entered the ancient tomb.


    In the end, even the giant beasts fought amongst themselves!


    The tomb explorers who entered, including Liu Yan, Fairy Nishang, Jiang Yao, and other formidable disciples, were still able to withstand the changes on these islands, but the others were completely struck by disaster amid these terrifying transformations!


    On the Second Sea Island, three mid-stage Spirit Sea disciples had just obtained a Legacy Treasure and had no time for joy before they witnessed the astonishing changes on the island. As they were still stunned, four demonized high-ranking Great Demons pounced in front of them.


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    The four demonized high-ranking Great Demons, with just three swipes of their claws, pierced through these disciples, seizing the Legacy Treasure in their hands and roaring off.


    In the Fifth Sea Island, a Half-Step Rotating Pill looked out from atop a giant peak at the vast island when suddenly, a majestic Demon Eagle over three hundred meters in length, with sharp talons outstretched, swooped down towards the Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    As the Half-Step Rotating Pill released his True Qi, he engaged in a fierce fight with the Demon Eagle.


    He was barely holding his own against the Demon Eagle when three more Demon Eagles arrived, each as powerful as the first ¨C they were all at the Half-Step Demon King level!


    One Demon Eagle was already too much for the Half-Step Rotating Pill, and with the arrival of three more, their Joint Attack overwhelmed him. He lasted only three moves before two of the Eagles grabbed him and tore him in half. Then, the other two Eagles pounced as well, and in an instant, they had completely devoured the Half-Step Rotating Pill''s body!


    A powerful Half-Step Rotating Pill met his end on the peak, and eventually not even a corpse was left behind, just glaring streaks of blood on the giant boulders of the mountain!


    After killing the Half-Step Rotating Pill, the four Demon Eagles screeched piercingly, raising their several-hundred-meter-long wings, and flew towards their next target.


    And then there was the Sixth Sea Island, the Seventh Sea Island, the Ninth Sea Island...


    All ten sea islands had turned into a battlefield of chaos under the attack of the countless giant beasts!


    Terrifying black pillars rose, black light transformed the giant beasts, and great disorders broke out across the ten islands!


    Powerful giant beasts left a trail of tomb explorers dead on the islands, and even the weaker Great Demons perished as well, while the stronger tomb explorers killed swathes of the beast hordes. In the end, all the islands had become a sea of blood!


    These ten sea islands, each spanning three thousand miles, but with the outbreak of great chaos and the horrific battles, they all ended up soaked in blood for three thousand miles!


    And in those areas scattered with earthly ancient tomb Legacy Treasures, the battles were even more brutal; piles of giant beast corpses were akin to mountains, strewn with the bodies of tomb explorers ¨C it was practically a river of blood!


    Chaos, the entire periphery of the ancient tomb had become an area of utter chaos!


    Meanwhile, on the Fourth Sea Island, Ye Chen, who had been diligently cultivating and absorbing the True Qi of the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, was also awakened from his cultivation by the numerous terrifying black columns that erupted from the island and the roaring of countless Great Demons.


    The Ye Chen who awakened looked completely different from before he began his cultivation!


    At this moment, after seven days of crazed absorption of the Fire Element True Qi within the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, the roiling Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid in his body''s Spirit Sea had filled his entire Spirit Sea, to the point where it felt like it couldn''t contain this endless True Qi Spiritual Fluid any longer!


    Ye Chen had reached the very pinnacle of the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm!


    The next moment, it seemed he could take on the challenge of the mightier mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm, allowing his Spirit Sea to transform and expand again, pushing him into the mid-stage Spirit Sea.


    However, what no one knew was that Ye Chen had been at this peak of the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm for three whole days!


    During these three days, he had continued to absorb Fire Element True Qi. If it had been anyone else, they would have likely advanced to the mid-stage Spirit Sea by now.


    But Ye Chen was different. Although he hadn''t broken through to the mid-stage Spirit Sea, an earth-shattering piece of good news had befallen him.


    That was ¡ª the True Thunder Induction for the fifth layer of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter, True Thunder Extreme Change, had finally arrived!


    True Thunder Extreme Change required the quantity of Gang Yuan True Qi in Ye Chen''s body to reach a limit before True Thunder Induction would occur within.


    Ye Chen had entered the twelfth layer of True Qi without triggering True Thunder Induction and remained without it even upon reaching the early-stage Spirit Sea. Now, Ye Chen finally understood the reason!


    ```


    This was because the amount of Gang Yuan True Qi within his body had not truly reached its limit.


    What is the true limit? It means that the speed at which he absorbs Heaven and Earth True Qi to generate Gang Yuan True Qi far exceeds the demands of cultivation!


    When he obtained the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, the infinite Fire Element True Qi it provided crazily increased the Gang Yuan True Qi within Ye Chen''s body, endlessly enhancing it. After reaching the peak of the early Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen finally found the feeling of touching this limit of Gang Yuan!


    That is, the infinite Spirit Sea could no longer accommodate the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid. With the frantic replenishment from the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone, the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid continuously compressed and churned until it touched upon the edge of the limit.


    At that moment, Ye Chen heard an explosive bursting of countless Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid throughout his Spirit Sea, all of them screeching.


    Ye Chen saw flashes of white True Thunder shapes within the entire Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid!


    Finally, with a roaring sound from the True Thunder shaped Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid, thunderous roars formed; these were the True Thunder Induction sounds that Ye Chen had been eagerly awaiting!


    The sound of True Thunder Induction truly conveyed to Ye Chen the spell for invoking the Nine Heavens True Thunder!


    Ye Chen had finally reached the requirements for the last level of the "Gang Yuan Chapter"!


    The True Thunder Extreme Change stated that after the True Thunder Induction, one must invoke the bombardment of the Nine Heavens True Thunder within three months to trigger the extreme transformation of Gang Yuan True Qi.


    In the past two days, Ye Chen had been preparing to invoke the Nine Heavens True Thunder in one go and complete the "True Thunder Extreme Change," thereby stepping into the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Ye Chen even felt that if he could meditate for another four or five days, he would definitely be able to invoke the Nine Heavens True Thunder and step into the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    But unexpectedly, at this time, a shocking and strange change occurred on the Fourth Sea Island.


    This change even woke up Ye Chen from his meditation.


    When Ye Chen flew into the void and saw the chaotic situation on the Fourth Sea Island, he knew that his plan to attack the "True Thunder Extreme Change" on this outer island had to be altered.


    To assault the True Thunder Extreme Change, one must fully commit their Mind and Spirit without the slightest distraction, let alone being disturbed by external elements. Clearly, the current Fourth Sea Island no longer provided Ye Chen with an environment for quiet cultivation and breakthrough!


    "Luckily, after True Thunder Induction, I have three months to assault the ''True Thunder Extreme Change.'' There is still time to wait."


    "Let''s first see what''s happening on this island!"


    Having his meditation interrupted, Ye Chen was somewhat frustrated, but he was more concerned about the strange changes on the island.


    When he flew out of the valley and approached one of the sky-piercing black light pillars, like other people, Ye Chen also noticed that this soaring black light pillar caused many giant beasts to undergo metamorphosis.


    Because Ye Chen personally witnessed four high-level Great Demons fly into the black light pillar and, in the next moment, transformed into even more formidable Great Demons, roaring as they charged towards him.


    "What is this black light that can instantaneously boost the strength of Great Demons?"


    Ye Chen frowned as he watched the soaring black pillar, becoming more vigilant about this ancient tomb.


    Boom!


    Just then, four Great Demons, each reaching the level of a Half-Step Demon King, lunged towards Ye Chen in the blink of an eye.


    As the four Great Demons opened their maws wide, ready to tear at Ye Chen, he let out a cold snort.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    In an instant, four Swords of True Qi appeared around Ye Chen.


    No sooner had the four Swords of True Qi appeared than they vanished, and in the next instant, they blasted into the skulls of the four Great Demons.


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    With virtually no resistance, the four Great Demons¡ªeach at the level of a Half-Step Demon King¡ªhad their heads severed by the Swords of True Qi, slain in an instant!


    Seven days earlier, Ye Chen was capable of battling three Willow Demons even fiercer than these four Great Demons. Now, having absorbed a shocking amount of Fire Element True Qi, the quantity of True Qi in his body had explosively increased by more than tenfold compared to before, reaching the peak of the early Spirit Sea Realm. Furthermore, he had induced True Thunder!


    Not to mention these four Great Demons, even if he were to face those three Willow Demons again, Ye Chen could completely annihilate them without resorting to his flying sword!


    After slaying the four Great Demons, Ye Chen remained expressionless as he grabbed their heads with an outstretched hand, bringing them before him.


    After closely inspecting the four Great Demons'' heads, Ye Chen extended his hand and flung the heads away.


    "I should go check out other places; the entire Fourth Sea Island is likely in chaos now!"


    After muttering to himself, Ye Chen''s Escaping Light flashed instantaneously, and he disappeared from the void.

 Chapter 212: Chapter 184 Ye Chen Makes a Move!

    In the western region of the Fourth Sea Island, atop a plain, five silhouettes were running at breakneck speed.


    These five figures, with delicate and graceful bodies, enticingly perky breasts, slim waists, and straight, long legs, would catch anyone''s eye and make it difficult to look away.


    These five figures were none other than the five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect from the Fourth Sea Island.


    At this moment, the beautiful faces of the five female disciples were filled with panic.


    For behind them, three Great Demons at the level of a half-step Demon King were frantically pursuing them.


    These three Great Demons were monstrous serpents, each over two hundred meters long, with exceedingly bright patterns on their bodies. Their teeth emitted a faint blue glow, clearly indicating a deadly poison!


    The five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect were all at the latter stages of the Spirit Sea Realm. Emerging from the fifth-rank grand sect "Moon Concealing Sect," their strength was extraordinary. Had there been only one or two Great Demons of a half-step Demon King level, they might have coped with the combined efforts of them all.


    But when these three gigantic serpent demons attacked together, the disciples were only able to resist for three moves before they were at a disadvantage.


    If they hadn''t acted quickly, mastering formidable dodging techniques, and fled at the first sign of trouble, they would likely have died in the maws of the monstrous serpents already!


    Even so, after being pursued by the three monstrous serpents for half a day, they were unable to escape their tracking. Even their True Qi had been depleted by over half. Forced to the ground, they continued to use light evasion techniques and bodily movements to flee but still found the Great Demons closing the distance.


    Now, they could already smell the foul breath of the three monstrous serpents.


    When the distance between them and the three monstrous serpents closed to just over twenty meters, the faces of the five Moon Concealing Sect female disciples turned pale with fear. They knew that if they were truly caught, they would have no chance of survival.


    "Could it be that we''re going to die in this ancient tomb?"


    "I''ve been cultivating in the sect all this time, I haven''t had the chance to travel around the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, let alone the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. I don''t want to die like this!"


    In this critical moment, countless thoughts involuntarily flashed through the minds of the five female disciples.


    Some even thought, "I haven''t even found a male cultivator I like. Am I really going to die now?"


    Just as these thoughts crossed their minds, the distance between them and the three monstrous serpents shortened to just seven or eight meters.


    Perhaps in the next instant, with one leap, the Great Demons would swallow them whole!


    Feeling the increasingly intense stink of the monstrous serpents'' breath behind them, and even the air they exhaled swarming around them, the five female disciples turned deathly pale, realizing there was no escape.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    Just as the three monstrous serpents were about to catch up, their eyes flashed with a dark, murderous light. They roared like wild beasts, their tails slammed forcibly against the ground, propelling them to lunge toward the five female disciples, even opening their huge mouths and baring their sharp teeth.


    "Ah!"


    The five female disciples, seeing the shadow of the serpents above them, the gaping mouths, and the sharp fangs, couldn''t help but scream, and in the next moment, they involuntarily closed their eyes.


    "We''re dead."


    "We''re going to die."


    As these thoughts crossed their minds, they suddenly heard an exceptionally clear sound of a sword cry.


    Then, they heard the thudding of massive bodies crashing onto the ground.


    The five female disciples couldn''t help but open their eyes and look back.


    What they saw made them incredulously cover their mouths!


    The three fierce, fearsomely fanged monstrous serpents that had been about to tear and bite at them, all had their heads separated from their bodies and had fallen dead to the ground!


    The three Great Demons at the half-step Demon King level had just died like that?


    Who? Who killed these three Great Demons and saved them?


    The five female disciples looked towards the sky and saw a sword of True Qi suspended in the air.


    Was it this Sword of True Qi that had slain the three half-step Demon King level Great Demons?!


    The five female disciples simply couldn''t believe it!


    At this moment, they saw a figure in the far distance approaching them rapidly.


    "Could it be that he saved us?"


    "God, look at the distance between us¡ªit''s several thousand meters apart! To span a distance of several thousand meters and slay three half-step Demon King level Great Demons with a True Qi Flying Sword?!"


    "Who in the Fourth Sea Island has such power?"


    The five female disciples'' breathing quickened.


    As they watched, the figure drew closer and landed beside the Sword of True Qi.


    This figure was a youthful boy of about fifteen or sixteen, with a tall and slender build, a handsome face, and eyes dark and lively. As the wind in the void gently stirred, his clothes rustled, and his black hair fluttered with the breeze.


    At that moment, the youth was smiling at the five young girls and said lightly, "My fellow Daoists, are you alright?"


    This young man, who had made such a deep impression on these five female disciples upon entering Fourth Sea Island, who else could he be but Ye Chen?!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "It''s you, Ye Chen, you saved us!"


    The five female disciples from Moon Concealing Sect, looking at Ye Chen''s faint smile in the void, felt tumultuous emotions within their hearts!


    They had long recognized Ye Chen''s remarkable abilities.


    But Ye Chen''s performance just now was simply too impressive!


    From thousands of kilometers away, with one sword strike he had directly slain three Great Demons at the Half-Step Demon King level and rescued them. Ye Chen''s actions were comparable to the Rotating Pill experts from their own sect!


    This handsome young man had surprised them once again!


    Watching Ye Chen''s smiling face, the five female disciples couldn''t help but feel their hearts pounding uncontrollably.


    A nameless feeling was rising within their hearts.


    At this moment, Ye Chen reached out and transformed the Sword of True Qi back into true qi, retracting it into his body. Then, with a step in the void, he landed beside the five women.


    Feeling Ye Chen''s presence by their side, one of the taller girls blushed and approached him, "Ye Chen, thank you for saving us. Where have you been cultivating all this time?"


    As this girl spoke, the other female disciples couldn''t hold back either and they all approached Ye Chen, saying, "Ye Chen, how did you become so powerful? It''s been only a little over twenty days since we last saw you, but I feel like your strength has increased a lot compared to when you first arrived on the island and fought with Wang Luocheng!"


    "Indeed, I have never seen a young man as powerful as you! It''s almost like you''re one of those Rotating Pill Realm experts from our sect who have been cultivating for decades, even hundreds of years!"


    "Ye Chen, I heard you''re from Taixuan Sect. Fairy Jia Luo from your sect is good friends with Fairy Ni Xia from our Moon Concealing Sect!"


    "Right, this time Fairy Nishang, Fairy Ni Xia''s junior sister from our sect, has also come, but we don''t know which island she is on. I''m afraid your strength might even surpass that of Fairy Nishang from our sect!"


    The five female disciples eagerly competing to speak made Ye Chen smile and shake his head.


    He looked at the five of them and spoke, "Ladies, we can talk about other things later. What exactly happened on Fourth Sea Island? Why did so many giant beams appear, and what caused all those behemoths to go berserk?"


    "I''ve been cultivating all this time, completely unaware of what''s been happening outside. I hope you can enlighten me."


    "We don''t know either," the five female disciples shook their heads, "All of a sudden, many earth-shaking dark beams appeared on Fourth Sea Island."


    "We were outside hunting giant beasts when we saw a dark beam not far away. Then we noticed that the beasts suddenly grew stronger and went mad!"


    "Ye Chen, this incident is really too strange!"


    "Moreover, before we encountered the chase of these Half-Step Demon King level pythons, we found that many hidden treasure troves had appeared all over the island. We were on our way to the nearest one when we were chased by the pythons."


    "Had it not been for you, we would have died at their hands!"


    Hearing the overlapping voices of the five female disciples, Ye Chen nodded.


    So these earth-shaking dark beams had appeared all of a sudden, and the five of them didn''t know why either.


    It seemed that no one knew why these beams had suddenly appeared.


    And then there were those treasure troves that had begun to emerge all over the place.


    When Ye Chen was flying through the void, he had seen areas of spiritual light in the distance on the island; he was heading towards the nearest such location when he detected the danger the girls were in and decided to help them.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen looked at the women again and asked, "Would you like to go to that hidden treasure site with Ye Chen?"


    "At that place, we may meet more tomb-exploring companions and gather more information."


    When Ye Chen extended the invitation, the five female disciples exchanged glances, revealing surprised and delighted expressions.


    They nodded continuously, "To go with you, Ye Chen, of course we''re willing!"


    They appreciated Ye Chen''s good intentions. If they continued to move around on their own, they might encounter danger again. And even if they had avoided the pythons this time, they might still die at the hands of an unknown Great Demon next time.


    If they could join Ye Chen, their safety was assured, as they had witnessed his strength firsthand.


    "Ye Chen, my name is ''Liu Mei,'' this is ''Junior Sister Mu Xinlan,'' and this is..."


    The five female disciples began introducing themselves to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded, taking note of their names.


    "Let''s go. With the situation as it is, many people may be in danger. We should hurry to other regions and see what''s going on!"


    In the end, Ye Chen waved his sleeve and flew into the void ahead.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The five female disciples also moved gracefully and followed Ye Chen into the void.


    Then, the six of them flew towards the nearest hidden treasure site.

 Chapter 213: Chapter 185 Infinite Treasures

    Having flown for about half an hour and slain no less than a hundred Great Demons, Ye Chen and the six disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect finally caught sight of the nearest location where Spiritual Light flickered, signaling an area of yet-to-be-claimed treasures.


    In a valley filled with flowers of various colors that wafted a strange, refreshing fragrance, which carried to them on the breeze, Ye Chen and the five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect breathed in the scent and all felt invigorated and refreshed.


    At that moment, a fierce battle was raging in the valley. Eight Tomb Explorers were fighting against a group of Great Demons.


    All eight Tomb Explorers were at the late stage of the Spirit Sea realm, and the Great Demons they were facing were enormous Fire Butterflies!


    Each of these Fire Butterflies was several meters in size, and each one''s aura was shockingly powerful¡ªeach had reached the level of a high-ranking Great Demon.


    When attacking, with just a flap of their wings, these Fire Butterflies would cast a swath of flames towards the Tomb Explorers. With around thirty to forty Fire Butterflies swarming in for the attack, flames filled the sky, and the eight Tomb Explorers were evidently at a disadvantage.


    What was remarkable was that although the fire from these butterflies could scorch the earth and crack it open, when the flames fell upon the flowers in the valley, the blooms remained undamaged and as beautifully vibrant as ever.


    Seeing this, it was clear that the flowers in this valley were no ordinary flora!


    "Could it be that the treasures of this place are these flowers?" asked Liumei, one of the female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect, standing beside Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded, "It''s likely that the most precious things in this valley are the flowers, especially that blue one!"


    Following Ye Chen''s gaze, one could see at the very center of the hundreds of flowers in the valley, one in particular that was most unique. All the other flowers had multiple blossoms of either white or red, while this one in the center had only a single, large blue flower.


    This large blue flower looked akin to a cluster of smoldering blue flames, grander and more majestic than all the other flowers.


    The moment Ye Chen''s consciousness touched the blue flower, he felt such intense heat that he instantly withdrew his consciousness.


    Just as Ye Chen and the five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect flew over the valley and were observing the situation within, the eight Tomb Explorers who were battling with the Fire Butterflies spotted them and shouted, "Fellow Daoists, please assist us!"


    "These Fire Butterflies are too difficult to handle¡ªif fellow Daoists help us dispatch them, we are willing to share the ''Earth Fragrance Flowers'' with you!"


    Seeing the Tomb Explorers at a disadvantage and calling for help, Ye Chen would naturally not stand by idly.


    "Take action!"


    Ye Chen ordered the five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect.


    Boom!


    The moment his command was issued, Ye Chen flashed down to the fray. With a light flick of his finger, a Fire Butterfly that was viciously spewing flames towards him was instantly bisected.


    "Let''s join in!"


    Seeing Ye Chen make his move, the five female disciples of the Moon Concealing Sect also dove down and began battling the thirty to forty Fire Butterflies.


    The prior eight who were struggling against the Fire Butterflies breathed a sigh of relief with the reinforcements'' arrival.


    After they had just jointly slain three Fire Butterflies and turned back, they were shocked to their core.


    Because, to their astonishment, the previously ferocious swarm of Fire Butterflies had been wiped out in just a moment!


    The ground was littered with the carcasses of Fire Butterflies!


    Most of these slain Fire Butterflies had been split in half by the same type of sword wounds, clearly the work of the same person.


    These eight had been struggling against the Fire Butterflies for quite some time and knew how formidable they were. They could not have imagined that the six people who came to aid them could dispatch the Fire Butterflies so swiftly.


    "You are...the five Daoist friends from the Moon Concealing Sect!"


    "Ye Chen, Daoist brother Ye Chen, you''ve come as well!"


    The eight looked at the newcomers and recognized Ye Chen and his party immediately.


    Upon entering the Fourth Sea Island, Ye Chen made a name for himself by defeating the Half-Step Demon King Level Wang Luocheng, so there was no one on the island who did not know him.


    And the five beautiful girls from the Moon Concealing Sect, with their striking looks, had also made an unforgettable impression on others.


    Ye Chen and his group landed beside the eight and asked, "Weren''t a lot of beasts rushing into the treasure land? Why are there only these Fire Butterflies here?"


    One of the eight pointed at the flowers in the valley and explained, "These flowers, known as ''Earth Fragrance Flowers,'' are peculiar blooms. They are harmless to humans and can even help humans concentrate better during cultivation.


    But to Great Demons, these flowers are a natural foe¡ªnearly all Great Demons lose much of their fighting strength when they smell the fragrance of the ''Earth Fragrance Flowers''!"


    "That''s why Great Demons won''t enter places where ''Earth Fragrance Flowers'' are present."


    "After the black pillars of light erupted from this island, the Great Demons became extremely violent and rampaged everywhere. We could not withstand the onslaught of countless Great Demons.


    If it wasn''t for two Daoist friends from Peach Blossom Valley who discovered these ''Earth Fragrance Flowers'' in the treasure land, allowing us to hide in this valley, we would likely have died at the hands of the Great Demons!"


    "However, although the Earth Fragrance Flowers affect most Great Demons, where the Earth Fragrance Flowers grow, there are always guardian creatures like the Fire Butterflies. We may have escaped the pursuit of Great Demons, but then we fell into the siege of these Fire Butterflies."


    "Without the help of several fellow Daoists, we would have probably died in this valley, if not outside it."


    Speaking of which, the Tomb Explorer wiped the sweat off his brow and took a deep breath.


    Ye Chen nodded in understanding, finally realizing why only these Fire Butterflies remained.


    "These flowers are ''Earth Fragrance Flowers'', but what about that blue flower in the very middle? Why does it seem different from the others?" Ye Chen pointed at the peculiar blue flower he had noticed earlier and curiously asked the people around him.


    "That flower is the ''King of Earth Fragrance Flowers''. Earth Fragrance Flowers are common, but the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers is extremely rare.


    We never expected to encounter one here!" one of the short and plump young Tomb Explorers said, "Earth Fragrance Flowers can restrain many Great Demons, and if the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers is refined into a pill, it can even restrain Demon Kings at the Rotating Pill level!"


    "Perhaps this ''King of Earth Fragrance Flowers'' is the true treasure of this relic site!"


    The King of Earth Fragrance Flowers? Capable of restraining Demon Kings at the Rotating Pill level?!


    These words from the plump youth took Ye Chen aback.


    If true, this blue flower was indeed a treasure!


    Not to mention, during battle, if it could slightly weaken the combat power of a being at the Demon King level, it might very well change the outcome of the fight.


    Seeing Ye Chen eying the "King of Earth Fragrance Flowers," the eight Tomb Explorers exchanged glances before the plump youth said with a smile, "If the fellow cultivators from the Moon Concealing Sect don''t mind, we''d like to offer this ''King of Earth Fragrance Flowers'' to Brother Ye Chen."


    These eight had noticed that within Ye Chen''s group of six, the five Moon Concealing Sect female disciples implicitly regarded Ye Chen as their leader. Furthermore, when they first entered the Fourth Sea Island, Ye Chen had disabled Wang Luocheng, who was at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level, thus it was clear that Ye Chen had contributed the most in killing off the Fire Butterflies.


    All eight were late-stage Spirit Sea cultivators. On this Fourth Sea Island plagued with Great Demons, they were naturally willing to curry favor with Ye Chen. After all, Ye Chen''s strength surpassed many at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level and was far beyond theirs.


    Hearing the words of the eight, the five Moon Concealing Sect female disciples smiled gently, "This ''King of Earth Fragrance Flowers'' is a miraculous item aimed at the Demon King level. Even with this flower in hand, we would not dare to face a Demon King. It seems this flower is destined for Ye Chen, as his current strength is such that he could even fight a Demon King if encountered!"


    "Yes, giving it to Ye Chen, we certainly agree!"


    Hearing what the Moon Concealing Sect female disciples said, the eight were even more astonished.


    Ye Chen could fight a Demon King?


    Amid their surprise, Ye Chen smiled and said, "I am indeed interested in this ''King of Earth Fragrance Flowers''. Since that''s the case, I will gladly accept it. I''ll take this ''King of Earth Fragrance Flowers'', and you fellow cultivators can distribute the rest."


    "Let''s secure these flowers and together with our six, continue to explore other domains."


    "It seems there are many great items on the island now!"


    Ye Chen''s gaze lingered on the blue "King of Earth Fragrance Flowers" and then shifted beyond the valley.


    Earlier, the "Fire Elemental Spirit Stone" he acquired had greatly enhanced his strength. Now, with this "King of Earth Fragrance Flowers," Ye Chen had a means to confront Demon Kings, and he was eager to see what other magical treasures were to be found on the island.


    "Fellow Ye Chen, would you be willing to take us with you?"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, the eight late-stage Spirit Sea strongmen were overjoyed. To follow Ye Chen, a youth more formidable than many at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level, on this Great Demon-infested Fourth Sea Island, meant much greater safety for them!


    "Quick, let''s gather these flowers and then go with Brother Ye Chen to other places."


    The few among the eight who were familiar with the Earth Fragrance Flowers began to collect the flowers in the valley.


    A short while later, fourteen figures soared up from the valley and flew towards the next location.


    ...


    One day later, in the western part of the Fourth Sea Island where it meets the center, at a large mountain cliff, three cave entrances were gushing out Spiritual Light.


    At that moment, outside these caves, the corpses of seventy to eighty Great Demons were scattered across the ground, among which there were unmistakably the bodies of nine Great Demons at the Half-Step Demon King level!


    Not far from these bodies stood fifteen people. These fifteen were the five female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect, plus the eight from the flower valley, and two more late-stage Spirit Sea disciples who had joined them.


    Right then, all fifteen were expressing their amazement.


    "Brother Ye Chen is truly incredible!"


    "In just one day, he led us across the Fourth Sea Island with such ease, completely unafraid of any Great Demon!"


    "At this secret spot, nine Half-Step Demon King level Great Demons and more than seventy high-level Great Demons were nearly all slain by him. His current strength is such that he doesn''t have to fear the countless Great Demons rampaging across the island!"


    "Having him lead us this time has saved our lives!"


    Amid their exclamations, the Spiritual Light at the three cave entrances abruptly vanished, followed by a figure holding eighteen beads flying out of one of the caves.


    This figure emerging with treasures was none other than Ye Chen!


    "Brother Ye Chen!" Seeing Ye Chen fly out, all fifteen approached to greet him.


    Ye Chen said to them with a smile, "Let''s go to the next domain. We''ll distribute these treasures along the way!"

 Chapter 214: Chapter 186: Sweeping Through the Fourth Island

    Three days later.


    In the central region of the Fourth Sea Island, beside a vast lake, Ye Chen was seated facing the water.


    Behind Ye Chen, twenty other people were also sitting cross-legged!


    Over the past few days, as Ye Chen continuously flew across the Fourth Sea Island, searching for Legacy Treasures and Secret Grounds, more and more people joined his team.


    After Ye Chen and his team had unearthed seven Legacy Treasures and Secret Grounds, they had moved from the western to the central region of the Fourth Sea Island. Moreover, the number of people following Ye Chen had increased to twenty.


    Among these twenty, there was even an existence at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level!


    But even this Half-Step Rotating Pill sat quietly behind Ye Chen.


    After all, it was Ye Chen who had saved his life, and he was filled with immense respect and gratitude towards Ye Chen!


    This Half-Step Rotating Pill came from the Five Grade Great Sect, Cloud Sky Sect, and he had seen many experts, but even after encountering countless masters, Ye Chen''s strength still shocked him deeply!


    It was because this Half-Step Rotating Pill witnessed Ye Chen''s power when he had rescued him from a cave by killing eight incredibly formidable Half-Step Demon Kings.


    The Half-Step Rotating Pill knew that at this moment, Ye Chen could absolutely sweep through all Half-Step Rotating Pills of their Cloud Sky Sect!


    With Ye Chen leading, even if the Great Demons rampant on the Fourth Sea Island posed a threat, his safety was absolutely guaranteed!


    Ye Chen was undoubtedly the most qualified among them to enter the Central Great Island and compete with masters from the other nine islands!


    After a while, the twenty people seated behind Ye Chen gradually woke from their meditative states and stood up one after another.


    A bit later, Ye Chen, who had been sitting at the very front, also opened his eyes and stood up.


    "Marvelous! Absolutely marvelous!"


    "Although this ancient tomb is eerily abnormal, the treasures within are truly extraordinary!"


    Ye Chen looked at the lake before him, exclaiming in admiration.


    The reason they were seated beside this lake was that it was the eighth Legacy Treasure and Secret Ground they were exploring.


    Ye Chen and his team had noticed something unusual because, when the twenty-one of them flew over the lake, they saw no fewer than a hundred Great Demons, all sitting quietly by the lake, regardless of their kind.


    It was precisely because Ye Chen and his team entered this territory that these Great Demons furiously attacked them. Once they had dealt with these demons, Ye Chen and the others also sat by the lake as the Great Demons had done.


    With this seating, everyone understood why those Great Demons had been sitting there before.


    Flying over the lake wouldn''t result in any strange sensation, but once they sat down beside it, all of them felt an odd energy from the lake, nourishing their Divine Senses.


    This nourishment was continuously enhancing their spiritual power.


    Even when the nourishment ended and Ye Chen could no longer sense this energy, the scope of his Divine Sense extended from an original radius of twenty li to thirty li, a significant increase in distance!


    This meant that the range of Ye Chen''s Divine Sense perception became vast, and the distance over which he could use "Void Instantaneous Change" Divine Skills for instantaneous movement was also greatly extended!


    Ye Chen gained a lot, and so did the others, though their Divine Senses might not have reached thirty li like Ye Chen''s, all of them experienced at least a thirty percent increase!


    Filled with great gains, these individuals stood up and gathered in front of Ye Chen.


    The waiting group finally saw Ye Chen turn his gaze towards yet another region at the eastern edge of the Fourth Sea Island, "Let''s go, and continue exploring this Fourth Sea Island!"


    ...


    In the time that followed, Ye Chen led his team towards the unexplored territories of the Fourth Sea Island.


    This movement was a complete push across the island!


    No matter where they flew, whatever attacks from Great Demons they encountered, the team killed every demon.


    Weaker demons were handled by those with lesser strength.


    Against formidable demons, even several late-stage Spirit Sea members would strike together to kill them!


    When they faced Great Demons they couldn''t defeat, Ye Chen personally took action, ensuring that no matter how fierce the demon, it would be killed without fail.


    After searching eight Legacy Treasure locations and obtaining no fewer than a hundred Legacy Treasures, with each member receiving some, they went on to explore six more Legacy Treasure sites.


    There were mysterious orchards with sky-reaching ancient trees.


    There were lands filled with rampaging Demon Bees and spiritual honey!


    And there were Divine Marvel ancient weapons that countless Great Demons fiercely fought over!


    Through the exploration of one Legacy Treasure site after another, the Tomb Explorers following Ye Chen were continually increasing in strength, and their push across the Fourth Sea Island was getting faster and faster!


    When one day remained until the end of the month-long exploration of the outer peripheral islands, Ye Chen''s group had completely swept through the entire three thousand li of the Fourth Sea Island!


    By this time, Ye Chen''s team had grown to a total of twenty-five people!


    Apart from the seven who died amidst the ravages of demon beasts and the perils of exploration, all the others, including the five Half-Step Rotating Pill survivors from the Fourth Sea Island, had joined the group.


    ...


    Atop a huge reef on the easternmost shore of the Fourth Sea Island,


    twenty-five people turned to look back at the vast expanse of the Fourth Sea Island.


    "It''s over, we''ve finally explored the entire Fourth Sea Island!"


    There was joy in everyone''s eyes; no matter their rank on the wooden plaques, whether or not they were in the top ten, whether or not they had the qualifications to enter the Central Giant Island, they were all thrilled.


    Because they had survived!


    Everyone knew how difficult it was to survive amid the mysterious black pillar eruptions and the rampages of numerous Great Demons.


    With this thought, countless gazes converged on Ye Chen, who stood atop the reef.


    "Because of Ye Chen!"


    Everyone was immensely grateful to Ye Chen, even the few Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators were deeply thankful to him.


    They knew that if it weren''t for Ye Chen, even if they could have survived, they wouldn''t have been able to roam the Fourth Sea Island so freely and dominate it as they did!


    Not only did they survive, but they also reaped great rewards during their continuous exploration of the Fourth Sea Island.


    Everyone agreed on Ye Chen''s leadership because not only was he the strongest, but also when it came to treasures, he wasn''t greedy and always distributed them fairly.


    The treasures they had obtained following Ye Chen were more numerous and precious than those they could have found adventuring on their own!


    "If all ten islands have such strange black pillars and are overrun by Great Demons, then our Fourth Sea Island most likely has the highest number of survivors!"


    These people turned their heads and looked out towards the vast sea.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, standing on the reef, also gazed out to sea.


    His black hair was fluttering in the sea breeze. Having successfully navigated the Fourth Sea Island these days, he was quite satisfied with his gains.


    He had not only advanced his True Qi Realm to the early peak of the Spirit Sea, but his External Martial Skills, the Sword Formation, and the Nine Transformation Fighting Body had also seen significant improvements. Most importantly, Ye Chen had finally achieved True Thunder Induction and could begin to challenge the final tier of the Primordial Star Scripture''s Gang Yuan Chapter!


    But at this moment, Ye Chen was worried.


    He could save many people on the Fourth Sea Island, but Jiang Yao was not on the Fourth Sea Island, and he was concerned for her.


    Jiang Yao''s strength was enough to contend with the Half-Step Rotating Pill warriors, but the Tomb Explorers on the other islands might not unite as they did on the Fourth Sea Island.


    If the other islands fell into mutual combat, coupled with the rampage of giant beasts, accidents could very well happen.


    "There''s only one more day before the teleportation formation to the Central Sea Island opens."


    "I hope Jiang Yao is alright, once we enter the Central Sea Island, we can explore it together!"


    Ye Chen was both excited and nervous about the imminent journey to the Central Giant Island.


    Not just Ye Chen, the other nine who had qualified to enter the Central Giant Island were also getting anxious.


    In one more day, they would enter the Central Giant Island, joining together with the other experts from the other nine islands.


    These outer islands were so mysterious, they had no idea what lay in store on the Central Giant Island.


    However, they were looking forward even more to the Rotating Pill-level Legacy Treasures on the Central Giant Island!


    The Spirit Sea-level Legacy Treasures from the outer islands had already brought them much, so they were naturally eager to see what the even more precious Rotating Pill-level treasures would be like.


    Amidst the waiting of everyone on the Fourth Sea Island,


    the day passed by extraordinarily peacefully.


    When the thirtieth day of entering the ancient tomb arrived, a massive Teleportation Array light circle suddenly appeared over the Fourth Sea Island.


    This Teleportation Array light circle almost seemed to envelop the entire island.


    Not just on the Fourth Sea Island, but at the same time on the other nine islands as well, similarly massive Teleportation Array light circles appeared.


    All the surviving Tomb Explorers looked towards the Teleportation Array light circles in the void, knowing that the second region of this ancient tomb exploration, the Central Giant Island, was about to be unveiled!

 Chapter 215: Chapter 187: Kill them all!

    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    When the ten Teleportation Array light circles appeared in the sky above the ten islands, the wooden tablets in the hands of all the Tomb Explorers on these islands also emitted a glow.


    In the midst of the Fourth Sea Island.


    Ye Chen, as well as the other five with Half-Step Rotating Pills, and four of the five female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect, saw the light from their wooden tablets was more intense than others.


    That was because these ten individuals were precisely the ones who ranked in the top ten for hunting giant beasts on the Fourth Sea Island and who possessed the qualifications to enter the Central Giant Island.


    "It''s about to start!"


    "The intense glow of these wooden tablets will probably teleport us into the Central Giant Island!"


    Ye Chen and the others all looked at their wooden tablets.


    At this moment, the others on the Fourth Sea Island without the qualifications to enter the Central Giant Island were all looking at Ye Chen and his group.


    In the end, their gazes all converged on Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, thank you for your help. Once you enter the Central Giant Island, you must be careful!"


    "The Central Giant Island, where the experts from the ten great islands come together, even if you''re extraordinarily powerful, you still need to watch out for others!"


    "These peripheral islands are mysterious and unpredictable; the Central Giant Island is likely even more dangerous, so whatever happens, your life is the most important!"


    These people were all speaking to Ye Chen, expressing their gratitude towards him.


    "Thank you all. Since you cannot enter the Central Giant Island, just cultivate on this peripheral island. The island''s giant beasts have been cleared by us, so there should be no danger. However, if anything unexpected happens, also be careful," said Ye Chen, nodding towards them.


    As they conversed, the light from the wooden tablets in the hands of Ye Chen''s group completely enveloped all ten of them.


    "We''re about to be teleported!"


    The remaining people all stared at Ye Chen and his group, and as they watched, a flash of light enveloped them, and they rose up, entering the Teleportation Array in the sky.


    Instantly, they completely vanished from the sky above the Fourth Sea Island.


    ...


    On the Eighth Sea Island.


    "The teleportation is about to begin!"


    At the edge of the island, Jiang Yao and the three Half-Step Rotating Pill female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect were all excited.


    As they watched excitedly, the glow from the wooden tablets in their hands completely enveloped them, and they flew straight into the Teleportation Array light circle above the Eighth Sea Island.


    Apart from the teleportation of Jiang Yao''s group of four, six others from the Eighth Sea Island were also teleported away.


    Among these six, there were the three from the Flame Sect with Half-Step Rotating Pills, who had earlier besieged Jiang Yao; they too had successfully obtained the qualifications to enter the Central Giant Island!


    ...


    Besides the Fourth and Eighth Sea Islands, Tomb Explorers from other islands were also flying into the Teleportation Arrays in the sky above the islands.


    In some of these islands, there were only eight survivors, and in one island, there were only nine who lived, not even filling the ten available spots!


    In the end, these individuals all disappeared into the Teleportation Arrays.


    From this, one could see just how brutal the slaughter on the other islands had been!


    However, among all those teleported to the Central Sea Island, the ones with great power were among them.


    Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, the three powerful Half-Step Rotating Pills from the Cloud Sky Sect on the Tenth Sea Island, and the youth known as Yun Luo.


    Even that enigmatic individual with the secret identity of a Demon Tower disciple from the Seventh Sea Island, a Cloud Soaring Sect disciple named Xue Yue, was also teleported to the Central Sea Island!


    ...


    Just as all those who had obtained the qualification to enter the Central Sea Island soared into the Teleportation Array,


    in the deepest part of the ancient tomb, next to a huge marsh bronze coffin, a strange demonic creature known as Tiger Demon Teng, over three hundred meters tall, with a tiger''s head, a human body, and body shrouded in billowing black mist, also turned its enormous, gloomy eyes towards the outer islands.


    "Ninety-three people have entered the Central Sea Island?"


    "Too many, far too many, some more must die!"


    "Once they enter the Central Sea Island, let''s activate the three deadly traps that the master set up long ago!"


    "Die, let these three deadly traps kill some more!"


    "The master said he only needs one, many must die within the Central Sea Island, let me select from the few who remain for him to choose."


    Tiger Demon Teng, speaking these strange words, looked toward the direction of the islands.


    Then, it turned its gaze to those who had been left behind on the ten great islands, those without the qualifications to enter the Central Sea Island.


    "The remaining people."


    "If not dead sacrifices, then let them be living sacrifices!"


    "My other seven old companions also need to awaken some by this occasion!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Tiger Demon Teng spoke, it pointed a gigantic black palm towards the massive swamp where the bronze coffin was located, causing the countless black bubbles in the swamp to churn violently.


    In the midst of this tumultuous eruption of black bubbles, all ten outer islands began to shake violently.


    "What''s going on?"


    The Tomb Explorers remaining on the islands, having just sent away those heading for the Central Sea Island, realized the ground beneath their feet had begun to tear apart.


    In an instant, large fissures, tens of meters in length, split open across each island, and these fissures continued to widen relentlessly.


    At this rate, it seemed likely that the entire islands would eventually shatter completely!


    This situation petrified all those who had remained on the islands.


    In panic, they flew up from the islands and hovered in the sky, looking down below.


    As they looked down, the islands beneath their feet crumbled away completely, sinking into the sea in a matter of moments.


    "This..."


    Before anyone could react, those suspended in the void felt a tremendous pulling force.


    They stood no chance of struggle as they were all dragged into the waters below.


    Splash! Splash! Splash!


    The moment these people fell into the sea, their flesh vanished in an instant, leaving only skeletal remains; the next moment, these bones disintegrated into dust, vanishing completely.


    The people remaining on the ten islands were killed instantly without any opportunity to fight back!


    Just as all the outer islands crumbled and sank into the sea, and those left on the islands were killed, in the ancient tomb at the deepest part of the great marsh, two more Demon Towers on top of the bronze coffin slowly began to emit a glow...


    Unaware of these eerie developments, Ye Chen and the others who had been teleported had no idea.


    Ye Chen could not have even guessed that those Sect disciples, who had just been giving him careful instructions and warning him to be cautious upon entering the Central Sea Island, had perished in the next moment!


    After all those left on the outer islands had been trapped and killed, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and the other ninety-two had arrived, amid the swirling teleportation light, at the Central Sea Island¡ªlarger than all ten outer islands combined!


    Although they were still alive, similarly dangerous traps and betrayals awaited them.

 Chapter 216: Chapter 188 Azure Blue Lake

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After the earth-shattering teleportation light and sound ceased, Ye Chen opened his eyes to find himself and nine others from the Fourth Sea Island now standing within a new realm.


    "Is this the ''Central Giant Isle''?"


    Upon arriving in this new realm, Ye Chen''s divine sense and vision immediately swept around, enveloping a thirty-mile radius. Astonished, he took in the entirety of their surroundings.


    Below his feet was an unbelievably gigantic lotus leaf, its size measuring thousands of feet in diameter.


    The lotus leaf floated on the surface of an azure blue lake, and looking further afield, he could see more equally immense lotus leaves drifting not far away.


    One vast lotus leaf after another floated upon the azure blue ripples, stretching endlessly to the horizon.


    It was impossible to know how vast the lake was or how many giant lotus leaves it contained.


    "Such enormous lotus leaves?"


    "Good heavens, these lotus leaves are extraordinarily huge, thousands of feet in diameter! Standing on them feels as if we''re on solid ground. I''ve never seen such massive lotus leaves before!"


    "Is this really the ''Central Giant Isle''? Were we transported here, to the very place where the Legacy Treasure lies within this lake?"


    "Didn''t they say we''d be united with people from other islands upon being transported to the Central Giant Isle? Why don''t I see anyone from other islands?"


    Just as those initially teleported to the giant lotus leaf were marveling at their entrance to this new realm, amid a series of "boom, boom, boom" glowing flares, another group of ten from a different island also arrived upon this same lotus leaf.


    These ten, just like Ye Chen''s group, were taken aback at the sight of the immense lotus leaves and the water of the azure lake below, gazing around in astonishment and starting to discuss among themselves.


    The moment these ten appeared, followed by more groups being transmitted. As streaks of light flickered, ten batches in total, representing the qualified individuals from ten islands, arrived on this enormous lotus leaf spanning thousands of feet.


    "Jiang Yao!"


    While more people continued to arrive on the lotus leaf, Ye Chen kept an eye out for the newcomers. When he spotted Jiang Yao among the fifth group of ten, clad in her pale yellow garments, he joyfully flew straight toward the girl.


    Ye Chen had been worried about Jiang Yao''s welfare on the other islands, and seeing her safely arrive and reunite with him at last eased his anxious heart.


    "Ye Chen!" Jiang Yao also noticed him; a smile bloomed like pear blossoms across the delicate features of her face.


    She too had been concerned for Ye Chen; the feeling of being separated on different islands while venturing through such a bizarre ancient tomb had been unsettling.


    Finally.


    Now, the two were reunited on the Central Isle''s vast lotus leaf!


    From here on, no matter the challenges, they would face them together!


    "How are you doing, were there any problems? Which island were you on?" When Ye Chen reached Jiang Yao, he immediately drew her into his embrace, inhaling her delicate fragrance, feeling a profound sense of tranquility.


    Being held like this, Jiang Yao''s fair cheeks flushed with a touch of shyness. She lifted her chin slightly, looking up at Ye Chen, "I''m fine, luckily the sisters from the Moon Concealing Sect took good care of me. I was on the Eighth Sea Island, Ye Chen, which one were you on? How have you been this past month?"


    "I was on the Fourth Sea Island, everything went well," Ye Chen said with a smile as he looked into Jiang Yao''s clear, stellular eyes.


    As they shared their separate experiences, others on the lotus leaf also gathered with those they knew well, engaging in their own discussions.


    While everyone was busy sharing their own stories from the outer islands and exploring this sudden realm of the Central Giant Isle, a tumultuous splash erupted from the azure lake. Then, a massive golden carp, over two hundred meters long, soared from the water''s surface, shooting into the air as it fixed its gaze on the people above the lotus leaf.


    "Just as ''Lord Tiger'' said, ninety-three people have arrived on the Central Giant Isle?"


    This gigantic golden carp actually spoke in a human language!


    "Demon King!"


    "This is a Demon King!"


    The sudden appearance of the talking golden carp gave all the Tomb Explorers on the lotus leaf quite a scare.


    It was their first time hearing the voice of a living creature within the ancient tomb. And by what the golden Demon Carp implied, it seemed that there were other Demon Kings within the tomb, addressing someone called "Lord Tiger."


    Could there be other Demon Kings dwelling in this ancient tomb?


    The Tomb Explorers had already encountered the tomb''s eeriness on the outer islands.


    Now, having suddenly arrived on the vast lotus leaf of the Central Giant Isle and faced with this talking golden Demon Carp, all the Tomb Explorers fell silent for a moment.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances before turning their attention to the colossal golden carp.


    Together, they had previously encountered Demon King-level beings while venturing into the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode¡ªthe two Demon Kings under Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, a giant fire ape and a giant feathered bird, both with auras more formidable than this golden Demon Carp!


    Looking at this, I''m afraid that the golden koi is a demon king at the initial stage of the Whirling Dan realm.


    At this moment, the golden koi''s bewitching eyes emitted a dim glow, sweeping over the people on the lotus leaf.


    "Ninety-three people."


    "Lord Tiger has ordered that for this first deadly zone ''Azure Blue Lake'' within my domain, I must eliminate the weaker ones, so the rest can enter the second deadly zone."


    "So, as per Lord Tiger''s instructions, let me explain the rules of the Azure Blue Lake to these little ones from the thirteen southern kingdoms!"


    Being sized up by the golden demon carp''s eerie glowing eyes, many people on the lotus leaf felt a tingling fear in their hearts, after all, this was the presence of a demon king. Despite appearing to be just a demon carp, if a great battle were to erupt, the vast majority here could easily be slaughtered!


    Only a few people like Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and Yun Luo from the Heavenly Net Sect were able to remain somewhat calm.


    As everyone waited, the golden demon carp finally spoke again, "Little ones, your goal of entering the ancient tomb to obtain the legacy treasures of this tomb has come to my knowledge!"


    "I am the master of this ancient tomb, the very guardian left behind to oversee this first treasure seeking area in the heart of the giant island. As you entered the tomb, I awakened from my seal."


    "I shall tell you, this realm is called ''Azure Blue Lake'', and in this lake lies the Whirling Dan level legacy treasure you desire!"


    A Whirling Dan level legacy treasure hidden in the lake?


    Buzz!


    The words of the golden demon carp directed everyone''s gaze towards the azure blue lake.


    While everyone inspected the lake, the demon carp issued a series of mocking laughs, just like a human, then continued, "The legacy treasures of Azure Blue Lake are not so easy to come by."


    "You''ve just been teleported here, and you probably don''t know that, aside from the lotus leaf you''re standing on, you can''t go anywhere else!"


    The words of the demon carp left many in disbelief. Some tried to fly from the lotus leaf to the outside, only to find, as if blocked by a massive barrier, no matter how hard they tried, they could not escape the confines of the lotus leaf!


    This lotus leaf, spanning thousands of yards, was their only realm of activity, including even a thousand yards up in the sky where a barrier similarly prevented escape.


    After one person attempted the feat, the others also tried their luck, including the strongest among them, such as Ye Chen, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and the others.


    In the end, everyone found that they were truly constrained to this giant lotus leaf.


    Apart from the few like Ye Chen who had real trump cards they had not yet played, and therefore remained somewhat calm, everyone else''s expressions grew grave.


    After all, this feeling of being constantly manipulated by others was far from pleasant!


    Seeing the ninety-three people testing their limits, the golden demon carp chuckled mockingly, "This ''Azure Blue Lake'' was personally created by the master of the tomb, the great Heavenly Saint Lord, over three thousand years ago. Naturally, you will have to act according to the Heavenly Saint Lord''s arrangements."


    "If you want to obtain the legacy treasures from the Azure Blue Lake, there is a way for you to leave the lotus leaf and enter the lake to seek treasures. Now, listen carefully to how you can do this!"


    Upon hearing the golden demon carp''s words, everyone on the giant lotus leaf perked up their ears.


    "Out of the ninety-three of you, I will only allow fifty to leave the lotus leaf and enter the lake to seek treasures. Similarly, after a month passes, these fifty qualified treasure seekers will be transported to another realm, continuing to seek treasures in other parts of the central giant island."


    "As for the remaining forty-three, lacking the qualifications to enter the lake and proceed to the next realm, you can stay obediently on this lotus leaf!"


    Buzz!


    Only fifty people are eligible to seek treasures?!


    This caused the faces of many on the giant lotus leaf to shift visibly.


    At that moment, a half-Whirling Dan member of the Flame Sect on the lotus leaf asked, "Great Golden Carp, how will these fifty be selected?"


    The opportunity to enter the lake to seek treasures and proceed to the next realm was something nobody on the lotus leaf wanted to miss.


    After all, they were strong individuals who had fought their way into the central giant island from the outer islands; naturally, none wished to fall behind upon entering the central giant island and end up with nothing on the lotus leaf!


    "How will the fifty be chosen?" the golden demon carp chuckled, "That, of course, is for you to decide!"


    "You may fight amongst yourselves on the lotus leaf, you may opt for open nomination, I do not care; whoever can subdue the others naturally qualifies for the fifty treasure-seeking spots!"


    "I will not interfere with how you seize the opportunity to enter the lake. In an hour, I will come back to see the outcome, and then one by one, I will allow you to enter the lake!"


    After finishing its speech, the golden demon carp no longer paid attention to the crowd. With a flip of its mighty tail, it rolled back into the Azure Blue Lake.


    Boom!


    At this moment, the ninety-three individuals on the scene were plunged into utter silence, with many casting unfriendly looks at each other.

 Chapter 217: Chapter 189: Seeking Death!

    Entering the lake to search for the Rotating Pill level Legacy Treasure.


    Who wouldn''t want such an opportunity?


    Unfortunately, according to what the Demon Carp said, of the ninety-three people present, only fifty would have the chance to search for the treasure.


    Moreover, this opportunity was not only about treasure hunting in the "Azure Blue Lake"; if one couldn''t enter the lake, they also wouldn''t be able to go to other realms later on.


    Having come to the central giant island, were they supposed to just watch others hunt for treasure while being trapped on this huge lotus leaf?


    None of them would be willing to do that, of course!


    "Fifty spots, no matter what, I must secure one!" many clenched their teeth and thought.


    In the midst of the crowd, Liu Yan from the Fire Cloud Sect, Na Yunluo from the Cloud Sky Sect, and Fairy Nishang from the Moon Concealing Sect appeared quite detached. They were representatives of the fifth-grade sects, surrounded by their sects'' disciples at this moment, and without question, they would have a chance to enter the Azure Blue Lake.


    Seeing their might, not many dared to challenge these individuals!


    In the crowd, the majority were from the three major fifth-grade sects and unaffiliated cultivators. The rest were just a few disciples from sixth-grade sects, and almost all seventh-grade sect individuals sent into the tomb had been stopped at the outer islands, without even the qualifications to reach the central giant island!


    At this time, most eyes were sizing up the disciples of the sixth-grade sects. A significant number of gazes rested on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen''s prowess was known to those from the Fourth Sea Island, but not to people from the other islands.


    In the crowd, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were the lowest in cultivation level. Although the two had successfully made it to the central giant island, clearly having some tricks up their sleeves, who among those present didn''t have their own methods?


    Everyone present had fought their way out from the peripheral islands, surviving the rampage of the giant beasts'' mutation. Apart from a few people like Liu Yan and Fairy Nishang who were feared, of course, no one was willing to submit to anyone else!


    Whoosh!


    At this moment, a half-step Rotating Pill from the Flame Sect stepped forward, his gaze landing on Jiang Yao.


    This half-step Rotating Pill was none other than one of the three who had previously ambushed Jiang Yao on the Eighth Sea Island!


    "Since the Demon Carp said that only fifty people could enter the Azure Blue Lake to hunt for treasure, then naturally we must eliminate some first. I think it''s best to start with those of lower cultivation," the half-step Rotating Pill said coldly to Jiang Yao, "Little girl, you managed to escape at the Eighth Sea Island thanks to your allies from the Moon Concealing Sect.


    I didn''t expect you to make it to the central giant island."


    "However, the upcoming spots are tied to the opportunity for treasure hunting, and I think even the friends from the Moon Concealing Sect won''t back you up this time!"


    This half-step Rotating Pill chose to target Jiang Yao directly as soon as he spoke.


    At this point, the only ones left from the Tai Xuan Sect in the arena were three people: Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and another half-step Rotating Pill, Jin Lieyang.


    The others were trapped on the ten peripheral islands, at least, that''s what Ye Chen and the others believed; in reality, they were already dead inside the ancient tomb!


    Seeing the half-step Rotating Pill aim at Jiang Yao first, Ye Chen''s grip on her hand suddenly tightened, and a cold smile appeared on his face.


    He hadn''t thought about eliminating others yet, but this man was already challenging Jiang Yao!


    Such audaciousness!


    Jiang Yao, on the other hand, stood quietly beside Ye Chen without speaking. She had not been afraid of the half-step Rotating Pill on the Eighth Sea Island before she encountered the three ladies from the Moon Concealing Sect, and now with Ye Chen by her side, she was even less afraid.


    Before Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could speak, Jin Lieyang stepped forward to stand in front of them. Although he didn''t say anything, his actions indicated that if the half-step Rotating Pill wanted to trouble Jiang Yao, he would certainly stand up for her.


    "What, the three of you want to join forces?"


    The Flame Sect''s half-step Rotating Pill smiled. Two other half-step Rotating Pills stepped out beside him.


    These two were part of the trio that had previously ambushed Jiang Yao with him.


    At this time, the Flame Sect had as many as twelve remaining half-step Rotating Pills, and together with their leader, Liu Yan, these three from the Flame Sect were certainly not afraid of anyone.


    And Liu Yan was right there, within the Flame Sect''s group, along with other half-step Rotating Pills, watching as these three challenged Ye Chen and his companions.


    After all, since they had to eliminate some people anyway, many among them were pleased to see someone take the lead.


    "Relying on your numbers?"


    Just as the three from the Flame Sect stood out, the three female disciples from the Moon Concealing Sect who had previously been with Jiang Yao also stepped forward, "You three harassed Sister Jiang Yao back on the Eighth Sea Island, and now, you''re targeting her again!"


    "Do you really think Sister Jiang Yao is an easy target for your bullying!"


    "If we truly need to eliminate someone, we will start with you!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the three female disciples spoke, a large group of people stepped forward; these were all people from the Fourth Sea Island!


    "If you want to target Brother Ye Chen, you''ll have to get past us first!"


    "Brother Ye Chen, leave these three to us!"


    All of them spoke loudly.


    Nonsense.


    Ye Chen was being directly targeted by the three disciples from the Flame Sect, and these people, having received great kindness from Ye Chen, naturally stood up for him.


    Seeing a large group suddenly stand up, even two Flame Sect half-step Rotating Pills pulled at the garments of the Flame Sect trio, the three half-step Rotating Pills from the Flame Sect who had targeted Jiang Yao suddenly changed their expressions.


    They hadn''t expected that Jiang Yao, who seemed to stand alone with the youth by her side, would have so many people supporting her.

 Chapter 218: Chapter 189: Seeking Death!_2

    Outside the arena, Yun Luo of the Cloud Sky Sect, Fairy Nishang of the Moon Concealing Sect, as well as Liu Yan and others from the Flame Sect also looked at Ye Chen with surprise.


    They knew that for so many people to stand up in support, the young man before them must possess exceptional abilities.


    "Hmph."


    Watching a large crowd support Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the three from the Flame Sect snorted coldly and flipped their sleeves, preparing to find someone else to make a move. Clearly, they realized that in this situation, it wasn''t a good idea to act against Jiang Yao.


    But did they really think they could just leave?


    "Stop right there!"


    Just as the three harbored thoughts of retreat, Ye Chen let go of Jiang Yao''s hand and slowly walked up to them.


    "I just heard from a friend of the Moon Concealing Sect that the three of you, back on the Eighth Sea Island, had once ambushed Jiang Yao?" Ye Chen asked the three with supreme calmness.


    Ye Chen''s indifferent words fell into their ears and caused a jolt in the hearts of the trio.


    What?


    They had already conceded, did the young man still intend to forcefully take Jiang Yao''s side?


    They might be Half-Step Rotating Pill experts from the Flame Sect, and while they conceded, they couldn''t believe this young man would dare to trouble them if they chose not to seek trouble first.


    "So what if we ambushed her?" one of the three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts from the Flame Sect retorted with a stiff neck, "When the treasure Black Bead appeared, the strong have the right to seize it. This rule was already set when we entered the ancient tomb!"


    Before the man could finish, Ye Chen''s expression turned sharply, "Shut up!"


    The Black Bead treasure!


    These three actually attempted to murder Jiang Yao for the Black Bead treasure!


    Ye Chen had long known that the Black Bead treasure would provoke killing, but he hadn''t expected that some would target Jiang Yao, intent on killing her to grab the wooden token on her for the Black Bead treasure!


    They were courting death!


    Ye Chen knew Jiang Yao had many tricks up her sleeve, but if she were really ambushed by these three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, she would still likely sustain injuries in a fight. Had it been that Jiang Yao had no abilities, she might have very well died at their hands.


    These three, harboring murderous intent, truly deserved death!


    "Thank you to the friends from the Moon Concealing Sect." Ye Chen turned his head to thank the three women who had helped Jiang Yao.


    Then, he turned his attention directly to the three from the Flame Sect.


    "Power gives you the right to kill others?"


    "Very well, since that''s what you believe, then today, I shall deal with you in the same way. The three of you, leave your lives here to avoid causing further harm!"


    Ye Chen spoke out lightly.


    Against those ruthless enough to murder and rob, Ye Chen never showed mercy.


    Hum!


    Ye Chen''s words directly caused many people present to change their expressions drastically.


    What? Was this young man planning to kill these three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators?


    Had he gone mad?


    They had seen that Ye Chen exuded the aura of the early stage of Spirit Sea, and even if this young man was formidable, he surely couldn''t kill three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts!


    "Ye Chen." Jiang Yao walked up to Ye Chen and stood shoulder to shoulder with him.


    If Ye Chen was going to act against these three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, Jiang Yao certainly wouldn''t stand aside.


    "Friend Ye Chen, do you require our assistance?"


    The three women from the Moon Concealing Sect also came forward, as disciples of a fifth-grade Great Sect, they were not afraid of the Flame Sect, another fifth-grade Great Sect.


    In the end, those from the Fourth Sea Island who had previously stepped forward all came out as well.


    However, these people remained silent, for they knew of Ye Chen''s prowess. To say nothing of these three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators, it was likely that no one present could match Ye Chen!


    They stepped forward merely to express their support for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen patted Jiang Yao''s small head, then smiled as he turned to those who had joined his side and shook his head, "Killing these three is a trivial matter; there''s no need for you all to make a move."


    Boom!


    As he spoke, Ye Chen stepped forward into the void. Once he released his vast True Qi, his powerful and mysterious silver Gang Yuan True Qi shot straight up hundreds of meters!


    The release of Ye Chen''s True Qi caused a change in everyone''s expression.


    Even the strongest among them, including Fairy Nishang and Liu Yan, showed a hint of surprise.


    They found that the Ye Chen who had released his True Qi was not merely an early-stage Linghai disciple anymore. His terrifying True Qi even surpassed that of the Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators!


    As for the trio from the Flame Sect who were directly fixed under Ye Chen''s gaze, their faces turned ashen when they saw such potent and extraordinary True Qi around him.


    Previously, they hadn''t believed that Ye Chen could kill them, but now, it appeared that this young man indeed had the strength to do so!


    From the moment Ye Chen released his True Qi to the sudden shift in the crowd''s expressions, it all happened in an instant. The next moment, Ye Chen made his move.


    The individuals who had harbored killing intent towards Jiang Yao, Ye Chen would naturally not let them go!


    Boom!


    While everyone was still reeling from the instant revelation of Ye Chen''s strength, in the very next moment, they saw him abruptly appear before the three, smacking them with a fierce palm in the void. With no strength to resist, the trio was instantly sent hurtling backward by Ye Chen''s palm, crashing heavily against the barrier surrounding the giant lotus leaf!


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    Three Half-Step Rotating Pill experts, defeated by Ye Chen with a single move, coughing up blood!


    Amongst all the Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators present, these three were considered strong, but they were no match for a single strike from Ye Chen and were all injured at the same time?!


    This was truly shocking to everyone present!


    And at that moment, Ye Chen, having struck once, moved again. He formed a hand seal and seemingly reached through the void, dragging the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators towards him in midair.


    The three grabbed by Ye Chen cried out in terror as they were pulled towards him, "Junior Brother Liu Yan, save us!"


    They could feel the deep killing intent from Ye Chen. It was precisely this deep killing intent that spared their lives from Ye Chen''s strike, as he wanted them to taste the fear of death!


    They had indeed felt that terror of death!


    In complete panic and fearing for their lives, the trio could only call for help from their sect''s prodigy, Liu Yan, hoping he would take action and save them.


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen held the three in midair and while they cried for help, with a loud "boom," Liu Yan from the Flame Sect immediately flew up into the sky, "Ye Chen, my fellow daoist, these three from my sect have been reckless, but their mistakes are not deserving of death. Please spare them this once; I will ensure they are punished and make amends to Daoist Ye Chen."


    Before leaving the Flame Sect, Daoist Chi Mei, a late-stage Rotating Pill expert of the sect, had instructed them to look out for each other in the ancient tomb and compete for treasures.


    Liu Yan, as the leader of the Flame Sect, would naturally not sit idly by as Ye Chen killed these three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators.


    Reckless?!


    Attempting to kill Jiang Yao is merely reckless?


    What a convenient excuse!


    Ye Chen glanced at the suddenly emerging Liu Yan and shouted, "Scram!"


    With a sweep of his hand, a torrential force directly rolled towards Liu Yan, while with his other hand, he grabbed the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators from the Flame Sect right out of the air.


    No one could stop the people he intended to kill!

 Chapter 219: Chapter 190: Battle with Liu Yan

    ```


    Seeing the talented youth Liu Yan of the Flame Sect intervene, Ye Chen still didn''t back down, not only striking at Liu Yan directly but also seizing those three Half-Step Rotating Pills out of thin air, leaving everyone at the scene astonished.


    Was Ye Chen from the Sixth Rank sect really going to take on four people from the Fifth Rank Flame Sect alone?


    Previously, Ye Chen''s overwhelming one-versus-three against the Half-Step Rotating Pills had already shocked countless people, but Liu Yan was rumored to be the strongest practitioner of the Flame Sect, the personal disciple of Daoist Chi Mei, with inscrutable strength. In such a situation, Ye Chen still dared to make a move against him?


    Just how formidable was this youth''s strength to be so domineering and peerless!


    Everyone on the giant lotus leaf looked up to the sky, eager to see what the outcome of this one-versus-four battle would be.


    As the crowd turned their gaze, Ye Chen''s vast and unparalleled True Qi had already reached Liu Yan.


    Liu Yan had not expected Ye Chen to show no regard for his face and dare to make a move directly, his face instantly turned ashen, "Ye Chen, it seems you are confident in killing members of my sect in front of me, good, then I''ll make sure you can''t kill them!"


    "I want to see who is the stronger one between us!"


    As Liu Yan spoke, the massive True Qi within his body billowed out like dense smoke, unlike the pure cyan color of others'' True Qi, but displaying an eerie purple hue.


    Clearly, the unfathomable Liu Yan, like Ye Chen, also cultivated a special kind of True Qi!


    Looking up from below, it almost happened in the blink of an eye: in the sky, centered around Liu Yan, a vast expanse of purple True Qi smoke spread out, covering a few hundred feet in all directions.


    The moment this purple True Qi smoke dispersed, it split into two streams, one directly confronting Ye Chen''s attack, while the other wildly reached for the three stray cultivators Ye Chen had seized in the air.


    It seemed that Liu Yan was not only trying to fend off Ye Chen''s attack but also to rescue those three stray cultivators from Ye Chen''s grasp!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Liu Yan managed to shatter the vast True Qi brought forth by Ye Chen, but his attempt to pull the three Half-Step Rotating Pills out of Ye Chen''s void grip was utterly futile!


    It was evident that Ye Chen''s control over the three Half-Step Rotating Pills was far superior to that of Liu Yan!


    The reason he could shatter the force of Ye Chen''s True Qi was that Ye Chen hadn''t truly unleashed his deadly skills on him!


    "This..."


    Liu Yan''s face changed in an instant; he knew the extent of his own power.


    This power could directly kill a Half-Step Rotating Pill, yet unexpectedly, it couldn''t save even three people.


    Liu Yan''s expression changed as he reached out with his palm, and in an instant, an even more robust wave of purple True Qi swept out, reaching for the three Half-Step Rotating Pills again.


    In the sky, the three Half-Step Rotating Pills were utterly immobile, now becoming the object of contention between the two talented youths!


    Whoever could seize them would evidently be the more powerful one.


    From the giant lotus leaf looking into the void, one could see Ye Chen''s singularly majestic silver True Qi on one side, and Liu Yan''s dense purple True Qi on the other, both vying for the three Half-Step Rotating Pills.


    The two forces were struggling for possession of the Half-Step Rotating Pills!


    "These two youths!"


    The Half-Step Rotating Pills below were utterly shocked to disbelief!


    Those were three formidable Half-Step Rotating Pills, and yet, in the struggle between the two youths, they couldn''t move in the slightest, proving that both young men possessed strength that far surpassed most Half-Step Rotating Pills, truly monstrous talents!


    If swapped with many others present, they would probably be just like those three Half-Step Rotating Pills from the Flame Sect in the void, utterly helpless before these two youths!


    This, of course, left everyone utterly astounded!


    "One is the direct disciple of Daoist Chi Mei, the number one powerhouse of the Fifth Rank Flame Sect!"


    "The other is a genius youth who emerged out of nowhere, making everyone on the Fourth Sea Island willingly follow behind him!"


    "Between these two men, who will prove stronger?"


    Just as this thought flashed through the minds of many, they found that with Liu Yan''s increased True Qi force, Ye Chen finally made another move!


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen reached out with one hand into the void, and a surging river-like tide of Gang Yuan True Qi once again went towards those three Half-Step Rotating Pills from the Flame Sect.


    An astonishing thing happened!


    No matter how powerful Liu Yan''s force was in retrieving those three Half-Step Rotating Pills, it couldn''t withstand Ye Chen''s void grip, and those three Half-Step Rotating Pills were directly seized by Ye Chen, screaming as they flew back towards him.


    The three Half-Step Rotating Pills had thought Liu Yan''s intervention would save them.


    But they could never have imagined that their sect''s talent, capable of overpowering countless Half-Step Rotating Pills, still was no match for Ye Chen after intervening and could not rescue them!


    If even Liu Yan couldn''t save them, then they really were left with no option but the path to death!


    ```


    Their astonishment and screams were beyond control!


    These three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators were filled with immense regret, lamenting why they thought of killing Jiang Yao for a treasured black pearl relic. They had murdered many for treasures but never imagined they would fall into someone else''s hands one day.


    As these three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators screamed and flew backward towards Ye Chen, and Liu Yan realized he couldn''t shake Ye Chen''s True Qi at all, his face turning ashen in an instant as he moved to chase after the three and was about to execute his martial techniques, Ye Chen let out a cold snort.


    In an instant, Ye Chen disappeared from where he stood, and in the next moment, he appeared right in front of the flying trio.


    These three, daring to kill even Jiang Yao for a treasured black pearl relic, had failed the first time and targeted her again on this central huge island. Such people must not be let off easily; otherwise, it would lead to endless harm.


    "Die."


    After teleporting in front of them, Ye Chen simply uttered these two words. Then, the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators were horrified to discover a hot geyser of blood spurting out from their necks.


    Looking down at their necks, they saw an incredibly dazzling Sword Intents slice across their throats.


    "Are we just... dead like this...?"


    No sooner had this thought crossed their minds when the annihilation of their physical bodies led to the instantaneous extinction of their consciousness. The three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators plummeted from the sky, their bodies severed in two and crashing onto the massive lotus leaf below.


    From Ye Chen''s move to slaying the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators, it all happened in the blink of an eye!


    Everyone still saw Liu Yan chasing after the trio, saw the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators flying backward, but before they could discern Ye Chen''s movements, they only saw the incredible flash of three Sword Intents and found the three cultivators dead in the arena.


    This completely shocked the countless spectators below, causing them to cover their mouths in astonishment.


    The people in the arena, all experienced in countless bloody battles, were not shocked by the death of the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators; they were shocked that the young Ye Chen had managed to kill them even with Liu Yan''s interference!


    And they had not even seen the method Ye Chen used to kill the Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators!


    "Sword Intents!"


    Only a few people in the arena, such as Fairy Nishang, recognized Ye Chen''s technique.


    "I heard from the girls in my sect that Ye Chen once saved their lives on the Fourth Sea Island; he truly is formidable!" Fairy Nishang nodded her head as she looked at Ye Chen.


    Then, she turned to look at the corpses of the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators on the massive lotus leaf, her delicate brows slightly furrowed.


    "These people thought they could bully a disciple of a Sixth Rank Sect, and yet they died at the hands of one, how laughable."


    As Fairy Nishang murmured to herself, she waved her hand towards the massive lotus leaf, and a sweep of blue light cleared the leaf. With her gesture, the fallen bodies and blood of the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators disappeared without a trace.


    Afterward, Fairy Nishang looked up toward the sky.


    This action from Fairy Nishang once again surprised the numerous people in the arena.


    Such an instantaneous technique to make the bodies of three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators vanish pointed to an extremely formidable martial technique!


    Indeed, the ones who could enter the ancient tomb were all masters.


    With Fairy Nishang and Liu Yan ahead, and now the suddenly emerging Ye Chen, who knows what other formidable characters might be hiding in the crowd, never having revealed their deadly skills?


    For a moment, many who sought one of the fifty spots to enter Azure Blue Lake, some even harboring murderous intentions, cooled their heads; if they were too arrogant in this ancient tomb, they might become the next to die like these three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators!


    Various thoughts filled the minds of everyone in the arena.


    Meanwhile, Liu Yan in the sky had turned completely livid!


    Despite his attempt to intervene, he couldn''t save the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators from the Flame Sect, and they were still killed by Ye Chen, which was like a slap to his face!


    He was in the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea realm, while Ye Chen was in the early stage. Both possessed combat power beyond their realms, but in this situation, he, with a higher realm, still found himself at a disadvantage against Ye Chen, which was humiliating!


    Liu Yan had never been so suppressed since he became a disciple of Daoist Chi Mei, a late-stage Rotating Pill expert of the Flame Sect. Now Liu Yan''s concern was not just for the three Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators; he needed to regain his own dignity!


    "Good, good, Ye Chen, you dare to kill my sect members right in front of me!" Liu Yan looked at Ye Chen, eyes flashing coldly, "Today, I will let you know what happens when you are too arrogant!"


    Boom!


    As Liu Yan spoke, a purple flame light flashed suddenly in his eyes.


    At the same time, his hand opened, and an extraordinary purple flame rose in his palm.


    As soon as this flame appeared, the temperature inside the entire massive lotus leaf space soared, and the True Qi inside many Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators began to burn and dissipate in the presence of this scorching aura.


    This scene caused the Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators to cry out in shock.


    When Fairy Nishang, looking up into the sky, saw the flicker of purple flame in Liu Yan''s hand, disbelief flashed in her eyes: "True Fire, could it be that Liu Yan has actually refined a ''True Fire''?!"

 Chapter 220: Chapter 191 True Fire versus Gold Patterns

    True Fire is a peculiar kind of flame between heaven and earth.


    Unlike ordinary flames that require other objects to maintain burning, "True Fire" is born directly from between heaven and earth and can burn for thousands, even tens of thousands of years, as long as it is not destroyed!


    There are many varieties of "True Fire," and from the moment of its birth, they are categorized by different qualities. Furthermore, as the years of their existence extend, "True Fire" can evolve and transform.


    Rumor has it, a powerful True Fire can even burn a Heavenly Saint Level expert alive, and even the weakest True Fire directly reaches the power ranking of Heaven Rank cultivation techniques.


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, countless records of peculiar True Fires are passed down, and one of the most mysterious and powerful True Fires that has appeared is said to have been collected by a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm master from a sea vortex in the Chaotic Sea.


    This cluster of True Fire, which is rumored to have burned for over a hundred thousand years, is preserved in the "Sea God Palace" of the Chaotic Sea!


    Such True Fires are rare encounters in ten thousand years, and even the weaker ones are exceedingly difficult to find.


    Even the lowest-grade Heaven Rank True Fire requires one to have reached the Rotating Pill Realm in strength, and to have merged with the Fire Element Law from the five Heavenly Void Laws, to have a chance of collecting it.


    And to refine "True Fire" into one''s body for personal use is even more challenging.


    Even a Rotating Pill Realm expert who has merged with the Fire Element Law from the five Heavenly Void Laws, when refining the lowest-grade True Fire, can be burned to ashes in an instant if they''re not careful.


    For a cultivator below the Rotating Pill Realm who hasn''t come into contact with the Fire Element Laws, successfully refining True Fire is extremely difficult.


    Unless one is naturally extremely suited to cultivate with the Fire Element Laws in their bloodline and physical body, coupled with ample preparation and cultivation technique nurturing, plus a stroke of luck, there''s only a slim chance to refine True Fire with a cultivation level below the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Therefore, when Fairy Nishang saw the purple flames in Liu Yan''s hands, she couldn''t believe it.


    Although she didn''t know what True Fire Liu Yan was holding, the peculiar behavior when the True Fire burned was unlike any other flame, and Fairy Nishang, who had cultivated for hundreds of years, surely would not mistake it.


    Liu Yan, who was only at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm and still a teenager, was able to refine True Fire successfully, which naturally astonished Fairy Nishang to no end!


    With "True Fire," Liu Yan would definitely be able to sweep away most of the Half-Step Rotating Pill experts and could undoubtedly be called a Supreme Expert among those in the Spirit Sea Realm!


    At this moment, seeing Liu Yan take out the True Fire to deal with Ye Chen, even Fairy Nishang couldn''t help but worry for Ye Chen.


    When the True Fire burned, many people who were unaware of its origin, realized something from the fact that the True Qi within their bodies spontaneously burned off and disappeared upon contact with the flames, understood that the flames Liu Yan held were no ordinary matter.


    It was likely that Liu Yan managed to become the leader of all the Sect Disciples from the Great Sect of the Flame Sect who entered the ancient tomb precisely by using this method!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Jiang Yao also looked at Ye Chen with immense concern at this moment.


    As the True Fire burned, the True Qi in Jiang Yao''s body also spontaneously surged through her meridians and even stirred her Bloodline Secret Skills, which she had to suppress to calm the agitation of her True Qi.


    To know that Jiang Yao''s Bloodline Secret Skills, having only been cultivated to the second layer, gave her the strength to contend against Half-Step Rotating Pill, not even Jiang Yao herself knew the origin of her Bloodline Secret Skills.


    But Jiang Yao did know that anything that could stir her Bloodline Secret Skills was not simple at all.


    The flames in Liu Yan''s hands right now were just that kind of not simple thing!


    And Liu Yan bringing out these flames to deal with Ye Chen naturally made Jiang Yao extremely worried.


    In the Void Heaven.


    Staring at the divine and peculiar purple flames in his palm, Liu Yan then raised his head to look at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I won''t let you lose in confusion."


    "This flame is a Heaven Rank True Fire called ''Soul-devouring True Fire,'' collected by my master ''Daoist Chi Mei'' from the Central Region Misty Peak of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. When this True Fire emerges, any contact with the Heaven and Earth True Qi will immediately be burned!"


    "If you fall to this ''Soul-devouring True Fire'' today, or die under it, don''t blame me!"


    Boom!


    As Liu Yan spoke, with a slight shake of his palm, the purple flame in his hand instantly merged into the rolling purple True Qi outside his body.


    Instantly, the purple True Qi surrounding Liu Yan began to burn furiously, emitting an unparalleled heat and purple glow.


    "Soul-devouring True Fire!"


    "It''s actually a kind of True Fire!"


    Hearing Liu Yan''s words, many people on the huge lotus leaf below who knew of True Fire exclaimed in shock, and those who didn''t know what True Fire was, after asking around and realizing how powerful it was, also took a deep breath.


    Seeing Liu Yan act like this, it seemed he was going to confront Ye Chen with True Fire, which, being a Heaven Rank True Fire, was the lowest amongst countless types of True Fires but was absolutely sufficient against those in the Spirit Sea Realm and Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    If one couldn''t withstand the Killing Force of a Heaven Rank cultivation technique, they would definitely die under this True Fire.


    "Ye Chen, do you want me to make a move to help you?"


    Just as countless people were marveling at the sudden release of True Fire by Liu Yan, Ye Chen, who was directly facing Liu Yan, suddenly heard Divine Sense Transmission from Fairy Nishang.


    "Fairy Nishang?"


    Ye Chen looked at Fairy Nishang, puzzled as to why she would offer to help him.


    "My martial sister is Fairy Ni Xia, and she is friends with Fairy Jia Luo from your Taixuan Sect. Plus, you saved a Sect Disciple of our Sect on the Fourth Sea Island. If you can''t handle this True Fire, I can help you resist it!" Fairy Nishang continued to transmit her message.


    Even if the True Fire was extraordinarily powerful, as Fairy Nishang had stepped into Half-Step Rotating Pill for hundreds of years, she naturally had the means to deal with it.


    Simultaneously, Jiang Yao also transmitted to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, shall we join forces against Liu Yan?"


    Clearly, when Liu Yan revealed his True Fire skills, many began to worry for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen gave Jiang Yao and Fairy Nishang a gentle smile and transmitted back, "No need, this True Fire can''t hurt me!"


    For some reason, when Liu Yan unleashed his True Fire, Ye Chen even felt that the Nine Transformation Fighting Body cultivation technique he practiced, along with the countless Golden Monkey Spirit Patterns fused into his body, were all surging vehemently.


    It seemed as if the True Fire held a mysterious stimulus for Ye Chen''s Nine Transformation Fighting Body technique!


    The Nine Transformation Fighting Body was a Bone Pattern Secret Transmission left by Heavenly Saint Di Kong; by cultivating it to the Ninth Transformation, one could even attain combat power on the level of the Heavenly Saints, which was certainly no less extraordinary than Liu Yan''s True Fire!


    Although Ye Chen had not yet cultivated to the Ninth Transformation and had only touched upon the Fourth Transformation, he was already confident in his ability to deal with this True Fire.


    Furthermore, the Gang Yuan True Qi that Ye Chen cultivated was not ordinary Heaven and Earth True Qi but a special type of True Qi that originated from the "Gang Yuan Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    While everyone else''s True Qi was burning away upon the release of Liu Yan''s True Fire, the roaring Gang Yuan True Qi within Ye Chen''s body, when faced with the True Fire, did not exhibit the slightest abnormality!


    Clearly, mere Heaven Rank "Soul-devouring True Fire" could not directly burn Ye Chen''s True Qi.


    Ye Chen''s methods were not limited to just the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and Gang Yuan True Qi; he had many other techniques at his disposal, so naturally, he was unafraid of Liu Yan!


    In the midst of everyone''s anxious gazes, Ye Chen looked at Liu Yan and called out, "Make your move!"


    Ye Chen knew the reason Liu Yan wanted to battle him; the three deceased Flame Sect disciples were just the catalyst. What Liu Yan truly sought was to demonstrate his own strength by defeating Ye Chen.


    Liu Yan wanted to prove himself, and Ye Chen also wanted to see just how extraordinary this True Fire really was.


    So let the true contest begin, to see who would be superior!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s fearless demeanor, Liu Yan sneered inwardly, "Truly ignorant of the vastness of heaven and earth!"


    Boom!


    The moment he sneered inwardly, Liu Yan made his move.


    His body, enveloped by swirling purple True Qi flames, instantly transformed him into a blaze of fire shooting towards Ye Chen.


    As the fireblaze shot forward, several droplets of flame fell, scaring several late-stage Spirit Sea disciples, who were standing below, into leaping away before they even touched down.


    These late-stage Spirit Sea disciples were shocked to find that as the falling flames passed by them, more than half of their True Qi had dissipated, as if devoured.


    The Soul-devouring True Fire truly was extraordinary!


    And in the sky, could Ye Chen truly handle the full force of the burning flames?


    Just as they looked towards the sky, they were astonished to see Ye Chen, instead of dodging, boldly confronting Liu Yan head-on!


    Ye Chen was indeed fearless against the True Fire and dared to clash directly with Liu Yan!


    In the instant of their collision, a fierce smile flashed across Liu Yan''s face, and with a palm strike towards Ye Chen, a massive wave of flames burst forth, engulfing Ye Chen.


    But at that moment, Ye Chen flipped his palm and grasped the flames directly.


    Looking towards Ye Chen''s palm, one could see divine golden patterns shimmering upon it.


    These were none other than the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Patterns from Ye Chen''s cultivation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body!


    "Ye Chen dares to grab the True Fire with his hands?"


    "Heavens, it''s said that if True Fire falls on a Half-Step Rotating Pill without the protection of a Heaven Rank cultivation technique, even the Half-Step Rotating Pill can be burned to nothing. Does Ye Chen not know how terrifying True Fire is?"


    Amidst the shocked cries from below, Ye Chen''s palm, flickering with the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Patterns, had already directly grasped the Soul-devouring True Fire!


    Many people closed their eyes, not daring to watch.


    Yet, they suddenly heard the voices of disbelief from those around them who kept their eyes open.


    When they opened their eyes and looked up at the sky again, they were horrified to see that the massive wave of True Fire that was headed for Ye Chen had been completely snuffed out by his palms!


    And there stood Ye Chen, without a scratch on him, not only unharmed but also wearing an excited smile on his face!


    Everyone watching from below was stunned by this development.


    What they didn''t know was that as Ye Chen snuffed out the True Fire with his Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Patterned palms, he felt the golden patterns in contact with the True Fire stimulate growth in his Inner energy, as if invigorating his Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s Fourth Transformation!


    Ye Chen was seeking to comprehend the connection between the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and the True Fire, but Liu Yan, who battled against Ye Chen, seemed as if he had seen a ghost.


    He had never witnessed anyone able to extinguish his True Fire with their bare hands!


    What exactly were those golden lines on Ye Chen''s palms that made them impervious even to True Fire?


    What kind of monster was Ye Chen, to possess such an array of fierce techniques?!


    Liu Yan was shouting within his heart.


    "I can''t believe it, I can''t believe that my painstakingly cultivated True Fire can''t even handle an early-stage Spirit Sea cultivator!"


    Unable to accept this outcome, Liu Yan opened his mouth and spewed forth an even more fearsome purple fire, the True Fire itself, directly aimed at Ye Chen.


    This was no longer the True Fire merged with his True Qi; this was the True Fire essence that Liu Yan had truly refined.


    With one move rendered ineffective, Liu Yan now unleashed the destructive might of the True Fire essence!

 Chapter 221: Chapter 192: 50 People

    The purple flame from the True Fire''s core, once expelled by Liu Yan, instantly pierced through the void and burst forth right in front of Ye Chen.


    This was the core flame of the Soul-devouring True Fire itself!


    Let alone touching it, even the spectators standing on the huge lotus leaves hundreds of meters below, were severely affected by the dreadful scorching aura of the True Fire, causing their True Qi to tumultuously surge within them.


    Many people could not even withstand the terrifying scorching sensation and cried out in pain!


    Ye Chen, however, who was closest to the Soul-devouring True Fire''s core flame, not only did not have his True Qi surging, but once again, like before, directly pounced towards the True Fire flame.


    The flame previously released by Liu Yan was True Fire mixed with True Qi, much diluted, which had triggered numerous Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Patterns within Ye Chen''s body.


    Now, faced with Liu Yan''s genuine core flame of True Fire, Ye Chen felt the patterns of the Nine Transformation Golden Body within his body crazily improving and multiplying at an insane rate, and he even felt that if he were to capture this bunch of flame entirely in his palm, he might truly step into the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    Given the situation, Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t retreat in the face of the True Fire''s core flame. Not only would he not retreat, but he was determined to seize the flame to stimulate the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body!


    Boom!


    All those below witnessed that when Liu Yan expelled an even more powerful core flame of True Fire, causing many below to cry out in unbearable pain, Ye Chen faced the True Fire''s core flame head-on.


    By the looks of it, Ye Chen intended to extinguish the burst of True Fire just like before!


    The sight made many hearts race, while Liu Yan, who released the True Fire, his eyes flickering with cold light, thought, "My core flame of True Fire is far more terrifying than the flame diluted and mixed with True Qi just now. A trace of this core flame is comparable to tens of thousands of diluted strands of True Fire. You actually think you can extinguish it with your bare hands?


    You''re simply seeking death!"


    Liu Yan watched Ye Chen and chose not to attack any longer. In his heart, Ye Chen, who tried to capture the True Fire''s core flame with his bare hands, was certain to die. There was no need for him to initiate another attack.


    In Liu Yan''s cold gaze and as the hearts of those below were clenched tight, Ye Chen''s hand once again captured the even more powerful core flame of True Fire.


    The moment Ye Chen touched the core flame of True Fire, everyone cried out in disbelief.


    Ye Chen actually grabbed the core flame of True Fire once again in his palm and not only was he unscathed, but he also extinguished that burst of True Fire directly!


    "Impossible!"


    Seeing this result, Liu Yan''s eyes nearly bulged out!


    He simply couldn''t believe it. He had already found it inconceivable that Ye Chen could extinguish his diluted True Fire, although that was still something others could achieve, but to extinguish the undiluted core flame of True Fire with bare hands?


    That was not just beyond Spirit Sea Realm practitioners, even Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses could hardly manage it!


    As Liu Yan screamed in disbelief, Ye Chen, who had just extinguished the True Fire, suddenly became enveloped in a rush of endless golden light.


    This golden light was none other than the emanation of the Golden Monkey Spirit Pattern from Ye Chen''s bones.


    The sky full of golden light completely wrapped around Ye Chen, one moment turning into a massive golden monkey phantom, the next into a divine golden aura, and at last, all transformed into the marvelous Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern, fusing into Ye Chen''s upper body. After a momentary flash, it disappeared from sight.


    Previously, Ye Chen had only touched upon the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, which allowed only his palms to manifest the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern.


    But now, thanks to the "Soul-devouring True Fire" unleashed by Liu Yan, with just a thought, Ye Chen could make his entire upper body display the immensely powerful Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern!


    This was indeed stepping into the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, and cultivating the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern to the basic level!


    Ye Chen had finally taken a significant step forward in cultivating the immensely powerful external technique "Nine Transformation Fighting Body," enhancing both his attacking moves and power greatly!


    "Pity... there''s still too little True Fire. If there was more, perhaps I could enhance this Fourth Transformation further, possibly cultivating it to Minor Accomplishment, even Great Accomplishment!"


    "Any more True Fire?"


    Ye Chen then looked towards Liu Yan again.


    At this moment, in Ye Chen''s eyes, Liu Yan was no longer an opponent; he was more like a treasure that stimulated his external technique.


    Being stared at with such a gaze by Ye Chen completely devastated Liu Yan.


    He realized that his True Fire could not only not kill Ye Chen, but as he intensified his True Fire, Ye Chen seemed to reap even greater benefits.


    "Monster! Ye Chen is truly a monster!"


    "No, I can''t use True Fire anymore. If I do, I''m afraid I''ll make him even stronger!"


    With this in mind, where would Liu Yan dare to attack Ye Chen again?


    Once the core flame of True Fire was extinguished, it would be less by that amount. The True Fire''s core flame within Liu Yan was limited, and losing True Fire would also diminish his power.


    He was now unwilling to deplete his own True Fire for Ye Chen''s gain.


    Retreat.


    Liu Yan, who hardly cared for anyone else before entering the ancient tomb, thinking of retreating in the face of the utterly unfathomable Ye Chen.


    His strongest method, which was True Fire, could subdue countless people, but unfortunately, against Ye Chen, it proved useless, leaving him with only the option of retreat.


    At this moment, Liu Yan, not even concerned about those three deceased Flame Sect''s Half-Step Rotating Pill practitioners, only wished to preserve his own strength above all!


    Boom!


    As an idea of retreat took hold, Liu Yan in the sky swiftly backed away, flying toward the Flame Sect disciples below.


    Seeing Liu Yan''s retreat, Ye Chen shook his head, "What a pity."


    He had wanted to capture some more True Fire, but to his surprise, Liu Yan had quickly seized the opportunity to withdraw.


    After a sigh, Ye Chen also flew down toward the massive lotus leaf below.


    Ye Chen and Liu Yan didn''t have a deep hatred, so he had no intention of pursuing Liu Yan with intent to kill, especially considering that as a disciple of a fifth-grade major sect, Ye Chen didn''t believe Liu Yan had no other life-saving tricks besides True Fire, just as he had many life-saving measures he wouldn''t use in combat.


    To truly fight to the death, he might be able to kill Liu Yan, but in this eerie ancient tomb, that might not be the best choice.


    Seeing Liu Yan voluntarily shrink back, and Ye Chen flying down from the sky gracefully, the countless strong individuals on the giant lotus leaf looked at Ye Chen with a changed gaze.


    Ye Chen had previously vowed to kill three Half-Step Rotating Pill practitioners, and he had indeed accomplished that!


    Everyone could see that Ye Chen was one of the strongest among them; even if only five or three spots were available, they wouldn''t be able to compete for them over Ye Chen!


    Among those definitely entering Azure Blue Lake to search for treasure, another person was added to the ranks of Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and others!


    "It''s over, fifty spots, and now one more person will take a place, leaving us with even fewer chances!"


    Many were lamenting in their hearts.


    "Ye Chen," Jiang Yao hurried to Ye Chen''s side as he landed, her star-like eyes filled with concern as she looked at him, "Are you alright? That True Fire is said to be terrifying."


    Ye Chen, seeing the worry written on the girl''s delicate face, rubbed Jiang Yao''s head and smiled, "I''m fine. Do you remember the Bone Pattern Secret Transmission I told you I obtained in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm? This True Fire is actually suppressed by my Bone Pattern Secret Transmission. Not only can it not harm me, but it has also greatly enhanced the power of that technique."


    Seeing that Ye Chen was indeed unharmed, the concern in Jiang Yao''s eyes slowly dissipated.


    Ye Chen had killed three Half-Step Rotating Pill disciples of the Flame Sect for Jiang Yao. The Flame Sect''s leader, Liu Yan, intervened and fought a great battle with Ye Chen, which, with Liu Yan''s withdrawal from the fight, finally came to an end.


    After this minor dispute was resolved, more important matters were laid out before everyone.


    The golden demon carp in Azure Blue Lake had said that of their ninety-three, only fifty could enter the lake to search for treasure. Although Ye Chen had killed three, there were still ninety of them left.


    From these ninety people, forty must be disqualified from the treasure search, still trapped on this giant lotus leaf.


    Who would search for treasure and who would remain on the giant lotus leaf was the biggest problem facing everyone.


    The three Half-Step Rotating Pill disciples of the Flame Sect had provoked Jiang Yao to compete for spots, resulting in their deaths by Ye Chen''s hand, which deterred others from challenging anyone. For a moment, an eerie silence fell over the giant lotus leaf.


    But many were showing signs of urgency in their eyes, as the golden demon carp had said they had only one hour to decide. After one hour, the golden demon carp would come to let them enter the lake.


    Just as many were hesitating to act, Fairy Nishang of the Moon Concealing Sect stepped forward. She glanced at Ye Chen, then at Liu Yan of the Flame Sect, and Yun Luo of the Cloud Sky Sect, among others. Finally, Fairy Nishang spoke up, "Waiting like this isn''t a solution."


    "Since the master of this ancient tomb sent that golden demon carp to guard Azure Blue Lake, we must follow its rules to explore the lake; otherwise, I fear none of us will find the Legacy Treasure."


    "Fifty spots remain, and we are ninety people left. But we all know the strengths of many here, who certainly deserve a chance at these fifty spots. I suggest that my Moon Concealing Sect, as well as the Flame Sect, Cloud Sky Sect, and the Loose Cultivators, each designate ten people. Ye Chen can then choose ten more individuals from the others.


    Let these fifty be the initial contenders for the spots."


    "Those not selected, if dissatisfied, may choose one from these fifty to challenge one-on-one. If victorious, they can take that spot in the fifty; if they lose, they lose the chance to challenge and will remain on the giant lotus leaf."


    "Of course, the first fifty chosen, if defeated once, still have one more chance to fight to reclaim one spot in the fifty. If they win, they can take back a spot, but if they lose, like the others, they will stay on the giant lotus leaf."


    "Fellow cultivators, what do you think of this method to select the fifty who will search for treasure in the lake?"


    Fairy Nishang''s words prompted much discussion among the crowd, and in the end, they all nodded in agreement.


    Indeed, in such a situation, this method seemed relatively fair.


    Everyone would be able to prove their worth through their strength and have the opportunity to be among the fifty. If they failed to seize the chance, they had only their lack of strength to blame, not others.


    "Good, I agree with this method!" someone called out.


    "I agree too!"


    "Let''s do it Fairy Nishang''s way!"


    Others voiced their agreement.


    "Ye Chen, Liu Yan, friends from Cloud Sky Sect, and Loose Cultivators, what do you think?" Fairy Nishang asked the others.


    "It''s fine," Ye Chen said with a faint smile.


    Liu Yan still had an iron-blue complexion, having been disadvantaged in front of Ye Chen and having lost some of his True Fire essence. He hadn''t recovered from his irritation yet.


    However, he had no objections to Fairy Nishang''s proposal, and Liu Yan simply nodded in agreement.


    In the end, all ninety people present reached a consensus to use Fairy Nishang''s method to determine the fifty who would enter Azure Blue Lake and search for Legacy Treasure!

 Chapter 222: Chapter 193: Azure Blue Mansion

    The method of selecting the fifty spots was decided, and then, the ninety people on the giant lotus leaf began to vie for those fifty spots.


    Soon, the first fifty were designated.


    The three fifth-rank sects¡ªMoon Concealing Sect, Flame Sect, and Cloud Sky Sect¡ªas well as the Loose Cultivators, chose people from their own teams.


    As for Ye Chen, apart from selecting Jiang Yao and Jin Lieyang, he also designated several individuals with strong auras from the sixth-rank sects as initial selections.


    After the fifty were designated, those who hadn''t been selected began to challenge them.


    It didn''t take long for challengers to make their moves, attacking those they believed they could defeat.


    The huge lotus leaf, spanning thousands of feet in area, could accommodate many people fighting at once¡ªsoon, seven or eight battles unfolded.


    The clashes between the strong were over in a blink of an eye.


    As the battles concluded, the forty to be eliminated from the ninety participants started to emerge.


    Many fights were between Rotating Pill Realm''s Half-Steps or were late-stage Spirit Sea against late-stage Spirit Sea, their outcomes decided by the slimmest margins.


    However, there were a few major battles that once again made many witness the hidden strengths of some formidable individuals.


    Xue Yue, who hid within Cloud Soaring Sect and claimed to be a disciple of a demonic sect, burst forth in power, defeating a Half-Step Rotating Pill and stepping into the fifty spots. Later, he faced the challenges of two more Half-Step Rotating Pills and still beat them, cementing his spot among the fifty with his overwhelming strength, to the point where no one else dared to challenge him!


    Then there was Yun Luo from Cloud Sky Sect, the sect''s leading figure. Numerous Loose Cultivators at Half-Step Rotating Pill simply would not acknowledge his late-stage Spirit Sea level and challenged him. As expected, Yun Luo proved the worth of his position, effortlessly sweeping away several Half-Step Rotating Pills!


    Another shocking figure in the field was Jiang Yao.


    Because of Ye Chen, many were apprehensive about challenging Jiang Yao, but after several rounds of combat, finally, some challenged her for those fifty spots to search for treasures in the lake.


    After all, this was the universally accepted selection rule; they challenged Jiang Yao not because of some past grudge like the earlier incident with those from Flame Sect, and it seemed Ye Chen wouldn''t intervene.


    Indeed, Ye Chen didn''t intervene this time. With a fair one-on-one challenge, he believed that Jiang Yao could make it into the selection of fifty.


    Ye Chen was aware of Jiang Yao''s strength, but many thought she was easy to deal with. The actual results of the combat, however, surprised many once again.


    At the early stage of the Spirit Sea level, the combat power Jiang Yao unleashed was by no means weaker than a Half-Step Rotating Pill, and even more so when she activated a mysterious technique. When an ice-blue spiritual pattern flashed at her forehead and her waist-length hair surged in power, Jiang Yao''s overall strength soared to an unparalleled level.


    Jiang Yao also emerged as a dark horse, directly defeating five Half-Step Rotating Pill challengers and firmly securing one of the fifty spots!


    With the display of strength from individuals like Jiang Yao, Yun Luo, and Xue Yue, along with recognized powerhouses such as Ye Chen, Fairy Nishang, and Liu Yan, the fifty candidates to enter Azure Blue Lake gradually came into clearer view.


    When more than half an hour had passed, no more challenges were made, and the final fifty who would have the chance to search for relics were determined!


    Among these fifty, Flame Sect had seven people, Moon Concealing Sect had eight, Cloud Sky Sect also had eight, Loose Cultivators had seven, and the rest were from other sects.


    Jin Lieyang from Taixuan Sect, sadly, was eliminated in the process, falling into the group of forty who could only stay on the giant lotus leaf.


    Once the outcome was confirmed, those forty were dispirited, but they had no choice but to accept the results¡ªthey simply couldn''t match the strength of the other fifty present.


    Meanwhile, the fifty about to enter Azure Blue Lake all sat on the giant lotus leaf, recuperating and waiting for the golden Demon Carp to appear again.


    When an hour passed and the Azure Blue Lake waters once again churned with great splashes, all fifty stood up.


    It''s here!


    The golden Demon Carp has arrived!


    This signaled that they could soon enter Azure Blue Lake to search for relics.


    Azure Blue Lake was renowned within the central giant island realm for having relics of the Rotating Pill level!


    Previously, on the outer ten islands, those who successfully made it to the central island had come upon many Spirit Sea level relics, reaping considerable rewards.


    And a Rotating Pill Realm treasure, that''s a treasure that even the strong figures of the Rotating Pill Realm would covet, of course they would want it even more!


    The golden Demon Carp flew up from the Azure Blue Lake, observed the fifty people who stood up, and then glanced at the other forty people behind who appeared somewhat dejected. With a turn of its eyes, it understood, the fifty who would enter the Azure Blue Lake with it were determined.


    The Demon Carp chuckled, turned to the fifty people and without further words, directly said, "Let''s go, the fifty confirmed to enter the lake, come out one by one, follow me into the Azure Blue Lake!"


    As the Demon Carp spoke, a blue Dao Talisman spouted from its mouth. As the talisman flickered with light, the barrier confining the giant lotus leaf opened a gap. Everyone on the giant lotus leaf smelled the inexplicable scent of the lake water coming from outside the leaf.


    This lake water scent, filled with the essence of water spirits, made one feel extremely refreshed. As this essence wafted in, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Xue Yue, and the other fifty people all flew out through the gap.


    After that, the Demon Carp swallowed the blue Dao Talisman, and the confining barrier of the giant lotus leaf was restored, enclosing the forty people who still remained on the leaf.


    Then, with a roll, the Demon Carp plunged back into the Azure Blue Lake. After bidding farewell to those who remained on the lotus leaf, Ye Chen and the others stimulated their true qi and formed a barrier of true qi around themselves. They followed the golden Demon Carp, diving into the Azure Blue Lake.


    At last, the surface of the lake returned to quietness, leaving only the giant lotus leaves floating atop the water.


    Only the forty competitors, who had failed to secure a slot, were still trapped on that initial giant lotus leaf.


    ...


    The golden Demon Carp continually flew downwards in the water, and Ye Chen, along with the other fifty people, followed behind the golden Demon Carp, diving deeper.


    After flying for almost half an hour, with no idea how deep they had gone, they finally saw a mansion appearing in the depths of the water.


    This underwater mansion was black, and as they got closer, Ye Chen and the others realized that what seemed to be a modestly sized mansion from afar had a front gate hundreds of feet tall!


    Moreover, the gate was open, revealing a deep, ominous cavity reminiscent of the maw of a massive beast, leading into the interior of the mansion, where no one knew what lay inside.


    But, everyone knew that the mansion was anything but ordinary!


    For on the gate and walls of the mansion were carved countless exotic symbols, emanating an inexplicable azure blue glow that illuminated the boundless and deeply enigmatic waters of the Azure Blue Lake!


    As Ye Chen and the others drew nearer, they could feel a terrifying aura emanating from the entire mansion. This aura weighed so heavily on them, some of the strongest among those who had entered the tomb, that their breaths became stifled and their speed of flight unconsciously slowed.


    They also saw a large plaque above the entrance of the mansion, inscribed with three ancient characters¡ªAzure Blue Mansion!


    These three ancient characters contained an unfathomable charm, and upon seeing them, everyone felt as if their minds were struck by a vast and ancient atmosphere!


    Clearly, Azure Blue Mansion was the name of this dwelling, and this Azure Blue Mansion was the secret realm of treasures beneath the Azure Blue Lake!


    "Strange."


    "Why do I feel like, there''s something inside Azure Blue Mansion calling out to me?"


    As everyone was scrutinizing the three characters of Azure Blue Mansion, Jiang Yao experienced a peculiar sensation.


    This feeling was even linked to the bloodline secret technique she had been born with, which she had never quite understood. It seemed that something mysterious within Azure Blue Mansion was attracting her bloodline secret technique!


    "Ye Chen, this Azure Blue Mansion is so strange!"


    Finally, Jiang Yao transmitted her voice to Ye Chen, "I always feel like there''s something inside, summoning me."


    "Summoning?" Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao with a hint of surprise.


    This was the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb after all, and a very mysterious Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb¡ªhow could something inside be summoning Jiang Yao?


    Ye Chen took Jiang Yao''s hand.


    No matter what it was, he would accompany Jiang Yao into the Azure Blue Mansion and explore together!


    The group continued to observe the enormous mansion as they flew towards the Water Mansion. When the golden Demon Carp leading the way stopped a hundred meters from the mansion, everyone else also came to a halt.

 Chapter 223: Chapter 194: Murderous Intent and Phoenix Feather

    Everyone looked up, closely examining the colossal mansion from up close.


    "Azure Blue Mansion!"


    Looking at the name of the Water Mansion from up close, the vast and ancient aura felt even more intense. The inscriptions on the mansion''s walls that shone with an inexplicable azure glow were all the more captivating.


    Everyone could hardly wait to rush into the Water Mansion to see what was inside!


    "Azure Blue Mansion, Azure Blue Mansion."


    Jiang Yao furrowed her brows as she looked at the name of the Water Mansion. She felt the calling from inside the mansion was becoming even stronger!


    At this moment, the golden Demon Carp that had stopped in front had finally spoken again.


    "You have all seen the words ''Azure Blue Mansion''; this ''Azure Blue Mansion'' is the real treasure ground of Azure Blue Lake, the place that you will enter next!"


    While speaking, the golden Demon Carp gazed at the gigantic mansion in front, its eyes filled with the same wonder and obsession about the "Azure Blue Mansion."


    "The Azure Blue Mansion is a mystical object left behind more than three thousand years ago by the great Heavenly Saint Lord, the master of this ancient tomb. It is said to have been a treasure that the Heavenly Saint Lord acquired from the Upper Realm!"


    The words of the golden Demon Carp made everyone behind it take a deep breath.


    The Upper Realm!


    All fifty individuals capable of entering the Azure Blue Lake, each an outstanding figure, certainly understood what the two words "Upper Realm" signified.


    That was the "Minor Spirit Realm," a domain even more powerful than the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Legend had it that only upon reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm, with the help of spatial rifts, was it possible to go from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to the Upper Realm''s "Minor Spirit Realm."


    It was unexpected that the "Azure Blue Mansion" had been acquired by the master of this ancient tomb from the Upper Realm!


    Hearing the astonished exclamations of everyone behind it, the golden Demon Carp reigned in its own amazement and obsession as it looked toward the Water Mansion. It turned its head back to face the crowd and continued, "Items from the Upper Realm are of course endlessly wondrous!"


    "Inside, the Heavenly Saint Lord placed countless treasures, and even the Water Mansion itself is imbued with many treasures. Back in the day, even the Heavenly Saint Lord didn''t manage to collect them all."


    "I must congratulate you, for you have been given the opportunity to enter this object from the Upper Realm." At this, the golden Demon Carp chuckled slyly, "But I must also warn you, within this ''Azure Blue Mansion'' lies danger at every turn, and for those of your strength to enter, if even half of you make it out alive, that will be an achievement!"


    Buzz!


    The words of the golden Demon Carp abruptly caused many faces to change.


    They had made it into the Water Mansion and were already representing the strongest group among the Tomb Explorers. Yet, the Demon Carp suggested that only half would survive the ordeal inside!


    This obviously indicated that the Azure Blue Mansion was rife with lethal dangers, and their strength did not guarantee safety throughout the venture.


    Seeing the expressions on everyone''s faces, the golden Demon Carp sneered inwardly: "This is the first of the three most deadly traps in the ancient tomb. Of course, it''s extremely dangerous!"


    "Within, there are places even the Heavenly Saint Lord himself dared not tread!"


    "The more dangerous it is, the more it indicates the preciousness of the treasures within. The Heavenly Saint Lord once said that by exploring only a third of the mansion, he reaped incredible benefits."


    "I can''t understand why the Heavenly Saint Lord would offer up this treasure for you to enter. Even after so many years, I have never once set foot inside!"


    "Hmph, it doesn''t matter, you people will end up just like those on the huge lotus leaves on the lake, just like those on the outer islands, all dead. Even if some of you are lucky enough to exit alive, you will meet your end eventually!"


    "The treasures of the Azure Blue Mansion will ultimately belong to the Heavenly Saint Lord!"


    After the golden Demon Carp sneered inwardly, its gaze swept over the crowd again.


    "Alright, as for the matter of this ''Azure Blue Mansion,'' I will tell you only this much!"


    "Inside, there are countless treasures, but also numerous deadly traps!"


    "If you dare not venture inside, then you can roll back to the surface of the lake, to join the forty on the huge lotus leaves."


    "If you have the courage to venture forth, then go ahead!"


    Upon hearing the words of the golden Demon Carp, everyone turned their eyes to the enormous Azure Blue Mansion ahead, to the dark and hollow doorway that resembled the gaping maw of a great beast.


    Not a single person backed down!


    Having reached this region of the ancient tomb, they were not inclined to retreat. With the tomb''s extraordinary mysteries, they were compelled to seize every chance to enhance their strength; otherwise, waiting idly would be of no help, and they might even run out of time to improve if unforeseen changes occurred later.


    They certainly wouldn''t miss the mystery and the inexplicable allure of the Azure Blue Mansion!


    "Ye Chen, should we also go into the Azure Blue Mansion?" Jiang Yao reached out with her mind to Ye Chen, "I keep feeling like I want to go inside this Water Mansion."


    Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao.


    He had never seen Jiang Yao like this before. It appeared that something inside the Azure Blue Mansion was indeed calling out to her!


    "Alright, I''ll accompany you inside. No matter how dangerous the Azure Blue Mansion may be, we''ll face it together!" Ye Chen gripped Jiang Yao''s hand firmly as he communed with her.


    Danger?


    Ye Chen was not afraid of danger. Compared to threatening situations, he was more concerned about letting Jiang Yao wander through the Azure Blue Mansion alone.


    Seeing that no one harbored a thought of retreat, the golden Demon Carp had nothing more to say.


    It pointed its finger toward the dark and gloomy gates of the Water Mansion ahead and spoke, "Go in. After one month, those of you who are alive will be transmitted out by the Water Mansion!"


    "Heh heh, step by step, a killing trap; the Water Mansion. Let''s see how many of you will die!"


    Boom!


    As the golden Demon Carp spoke, it flicked its massive tail, opening the path leading directly to the gates of the Azure Blue Mansion.


    "Enter!"


    "Venture into the Azure Blue Mansion!"


    Seeing the golden Demon Carp''s movement, the fifty Tomb Explorers hesitated no longer. They released their True Qi, enshrouding themselves within it, and then one after another, they flew toward the gates of the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao followed at the back of the group. In the front, several solo Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators were the fastest in flight.


    The closer they got to the dark and gloomy gates of the Azure Blue Mansion, the more intense Ye Chen felt the strange ancient Qi, even forming into terrifying currents of air, swirling in front of the gate.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were more than thirty meters away from the gate, the solo Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators in front had already arrived at the entrance of the dark and gloomy gateway.


    Just then, everyone behind heard a dreadful "crack, crack, crack" sound of something being crushed!


    Of the five solo Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators who had flown to the entrance of the dark and gloomy gate, three were instantly brushed by the current of ancient Qi and slowly turned into dust.


    Only two managed to break through the current of ancient Qi and darted successfully into the dark and gloomy gate, entering the Azure Blue Mansion!


    "This... this!"


    When they saw that three out of five had died instantly, many people behind them stopped in shock.


    They could feel that the three who had died were eliminated by the currents of ancient Qi that swirled before the gate!


    This ancient Qi current grew increasingly intense closer to the gate, terrifyingly so!


    Looking at how those three turned into dust, without even a trace of blood flowing out, it seemed as though all their blood had been pressed into their flesh, which was then torn apart by the ancient Qi!


    It was incredibly horrifying!


    "I''ve already said that the Azure Blue Mansion is full of deadly traps, and look, three are dead already without even entering," jeered the golden Demon Carp from behind.


    Hearing the golden Demon Carp''s voice, many people''s expressions changed, and then another eight people charged towards the Water Mansion.


    Regardless of the danger, they had to venture into the Water Mansion; getting in first might allow them to grab the best treasures, and they naturally didn''t want to fall behind.


    Since some had already entered successfully, that meant it wasn''t impossible to get in. Everyone held the thought that they too could enter the Water Mansion.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When these eight people charged toward the Water Mansion, they had mobilized all their focus and defensive tactics.


    As a result, six of them successfully burst into the Water Mansion, but two late-stage Spirit Sea disciples were once again killed by the ancient Qi current outside the mansion, turned instantly into bits and died!


    "Charge!"


    "Let''s go!"


    Seeing more people successfully enter this time, others could no longer care about those who had died. One by one, they stimulated all their techniques and rushed toward the gates of the Azure Blue Mansion.


    "We should go too!"


    Ye Chen''s body shook with the mighty and unparalleled Gang Yuan True Qi, instantly enveloping both him and Jiang Yao with a wondrous silver glow.


    The ice-blue Spiritual Patterns on Jiang Yao''s forehead also started to flicker, as her icy blue True Qi covered both her and Ye Chen''s bodies as well.


    Together, the two soared toward the dark and gloomy gate.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The closer they flew, the more turbulent the ancient Qi currents became, and when twelve had already perished, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally burst through the gates of the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Boom!


    The terrifying ancient Qi current that was killing everyone shredded the protective True Qi outside their bodies, but then a surge of True Qi erupted from Ye Chen and Jiang Yao once again.


    Their supply of True Qi far exceeded the rate at which it was being destroyed.


    Surrounded by a surging protective True Qi, the two finally made it through the deadly threshold into the Azure Blue Mansion!


    What they didn''t know was that the moment Jiang Yao stepped into the Azure Blue Mansion, in a hidden chamber, on top of a huge white jade platform, an eight-foot-long, wondrous ice-blue Phoenix Feather started to tremble slowly.


    The ice-blue Phoenix Feather, with its colors and Law Patterns, was strikingly identical to the ice-blue Spiritual Patterns on Jiang Yao''s forehead!


    They were also unaware that even the original Heavenly Saint Lord, who had gotten the Azure Blue Mansion, lacked the power to enter this chamber housing the mystical ice-blue Phoenix Feather!


    Just the platform holding the Phoenix Feather, made of jade that would make even the Heavenly Saints scream in excitement, was indeed the "Void-Sky Grade Precious Jade" coveted by the Saints!


    And that ice-blue, over eight-foot Phoenix Feather emitted a divine light that was even more valuable than the Void-Sky Grade Precious Jade below!

 Chapter 224: Chapter 195: Legacy Treasure Water Droplet

    The Ice-Blue Divine Light that is even more precious than Void Sky Level gems!


    Such an item would incite countless powerhouses to scramble over it even in the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm, let alone the Lower Realm.


    Any such treasure appearing in the world would surely cause an earth-shattering upheaval!


    But now, such a wondrous treasure is hidden within the deepest secret chamber of the Azure Blue Mansion.


    No one knows that within the Azure Blue Mansion lies such a miraculous Secret Treasure.


    Even the original master of this ancient tomb who had obtained the Azure Blue Mansion from the Upper Realm was unaware of the existence of the Ice-Blue Phoenix Feather.


    Nobody is more unaware that this treasure, surpassing the Rotating Pill Level, Heavenly Saint Level, and even the Void Sky True God Level, would be related to Jiang Yao.


    That it would call out to Jiang Yao!


    Undoubtedly, the secrets hidden here are no less significant than the secrets of the treasure emitting the Ice-Blue Divine Light!


    The wondrous ice-blue phoenix feather vibrates gently in the secret chamber, but outside and within the Azure Blue Mansion, not the slightest abnormal phenomenon appeared, as if it were just an ordinary day.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and other Tomb Explorers who had broken into the Azure Blue Mansion had finally arrived at a grand hall after rushing through the dark and gloomy entrance.


    After Ye Chen and Jiang Yao entered the Azure Blue Mansion, another seven or eight people followed suit. Out of fifty people who dared to venture into the Azure Blue Mansion, fifteen perished in the dreadful ancient air currents at the entrance, leaving thirty-five who successfully made their way inside.


    Fifty adventurers to the Azure Blue Mansion, and almost half had perished right at the entrance!


    This situation caused the thirty-five who had successfully entered to regard their surroundings with extreme solemnity.


    The Golden Demon Carp had said that the Azure Blue Mansion was filled with dangers at every turn. The death of those fifteen at the entrance made it abundantly clear to them that the words of the Golden Demon Carp were not meant to intimidate them.


    Once inside the Azure Blue Mansion, if they were not careful, many among these thirty-five people might die, and in the end, it might indeed be as the Golden Demon Carp said: less than half may leave alive!


    The faces of the thirty-five people, solemn and cautious, surveyed this grand hall they had entered.


    "Is this the grand hall inside the Azure Blue Mansion?"


    Looking up, the grand hall where they stood was immensely vast. It was brilliantly lit, with its length, width, and height all exceeding a hundred zhang. The walls of the great hall revealed many passageways, the destinations of which were unknown.


    Even more intriguing to all were the sights above the grand hall.


    At that moment, suspended in the air above the grand hall were droplets of black water, each around three to four meters in size. There were precisely thirty of these black droplets.


    Thirty droplets larger than a person floated in mid-air without falling, naturally drawing everyone''s gaze.


    What shocked Ye Chen and others even more was the aura that these droplets emitted; they could feel that hidden within these black droplets were treasures, and not just any treasures, but ones that surpassed Legacy Treasures of the Spirit Sea Level.


    Among them could very well be the Rotating Pill Level Legacy Treasures!


    With this thought, the eyes of the crowd looking at the thirty black droplets hanging in the high air of the great hall turned fervent.


    Rotating Pill Level Legacy Treasures, even obtaining one would mean their trip had not been in vain!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Just as everyone''s eyes were fixated on the black droplets in the sky, the thirty black droplets suddenly emitted light. The strength of the glow varied among the droplets, with the brightest ones exuding the strongest aura of treasures.


    Simultaneously, amidst the radiance of the black droplets, a stream of textural information, like flowing water, poured into the minds of every Tomb Explorer in the great hall.


    Ye Chen and the others passed their divine thoughts through this textual information, their eyes growing brighter and brighter.


    "So that''s how it is."


    "These black droplets are indeed where the master of this ancient tomb left the Rotating Pill Level Legacy Treasures!"


    Through the information transmitted into their minds, they finally understood how to traverse this "Azure Blue Mansion"!


    It turned out that the Azure Blue Mansion was a wondrous treasure obtained by the ancient tomb''s master, which was divided into three realm layers: the Outer Mansion, Middle Mansion, and Inner Mansion.


    Even the master of the ancient tomb, who reached the Heavenly Saint Level, had only managed to journey through the Outer Mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion and had yet to completely traverse it after obtaining it.


    The Middle Mansion and Inner Mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion, even with the strength of a Heavenly Saint, were beyond the tomb master''s ability to enter!


    According to the tomb master, the Outer Mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion contained countless secret chambers accessed by the various passageways in the grand hall. Hidden within these countless secret chambers were countless treasures.


    The Heavenly Saint from those years had obtained numerous treasures from these countless secret chambers of the Outer Mansion.


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the thirty-five Tomb Explorers were now in the grand hall of the Outer Mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion.


    The various passages of the grand hall were the entrances to the countless secret chambers of the Outer Mansion.


    Many of the treasures within these secret chambers had been taken by the tomb master, but still, many remained intact and undiscovered.


    If these Tomb Explorers had the strength, they could enter them and search for the treasures within the secret chambers.


    However, the tomb master also left a message saying that the treasures within these secret chambers were the Azure Blue Mansion''s own treasures, extraordinary and immensely valuable, and equally difficult to obtain.


    Each secret cavern was laden with countless deadly traps and mechanisms. Even the ancient tomb''s master, with his cultivation at the Heavenly Saint Realm, hadn''t fully explored all these caverns. This attested to how difficult it was for tomb explorers like them, far from reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm, to obtain treasures from these caverns.


    Besides searching for treasures in these countless secret caverns, there was another place to directly obtain treasures¡ªthe thirty black droplets suspended in the air of this grand hall.


    These thirty black droplets, left by the master of the ancient tomb, contained the Legacy Treasures that the tomb''s master had acquired during his lifetime!


    These droplets were, in fact, the tomb master''s Legacy Treasure droplets!


    Inside were Rotating Pill level Treasure Instruments, Precious Pills, and even Rotating Pill level heavenly techniques!


    The brighter the glow of a black droplet, the more precious the treasure inside.


    And the tomb''s master had set the rule that everyone who entered this grand hall could freely challenge the numerous secret caverns, relying on their strength and luck to obtain treasures within a month''s time.


    However, for these thirty black droplets, each person could only try to enter three to attempt to win the treasures.


    Naturally, obtaining these treasures, just like those in the secret caverns, was not easy. The brighter the black droplet, the more difficult it was to acquire the Legacy Treasure inside.


    If one''s strength wasn''t strong enough, even if they could enter among the three chosen black droplets, they might not secure even one Rotating Pill level Legacy Treasure!


    After digesting the information emitted by the black droplets, the people in the grand hall glanced at one another and began to discuss the matter amongst themselves.


    Having just entered the Azure Blue Mansion and already lost fifteen people, they clearly needed to carefully deliberate their next steps.


    "The Outer Mansion''s grand hall contains two Secret Treasure realms."


    "One is accessible through the grand hall''s various passageways leading to the secret caverns, and the other is the thirty Legacy Treasure droplets suspended in the air above the hall!"


    "As the tomb''s master mentioned, the caverns are extremely dangerous and number many. It''s better to tackle them later."


    "For the thirty Legacy Treasure droplets, we can try to enter three of them to search for Legacy Treasures. Let''s start here in the grand hall and challenge these droplets together!"


    "By conquering the Legacy Treasure droplets and gaining some benefits, perhaps we could enhance our strength. This could boost our confidence to challenge the even more dangerous secret caverns later on."


    "Let''s first see what''s inside these Legacy Treasure droplets."


    In the end, almost everyone decided to stay and first attempt to claim the treasures within these droplets.


    "Jiang Yao, should we start with the Legacy Treasure droplets or go straight to the secret caverns?" Ye Chen transmitted his voice to Jiang Yao.


    Before entering the Azure Blue Mansion, Jiang Yao had always felt something calling out to her from within, so naturally, Ye Chen wanted to ask her opinion first.


    "Let''s start with the Legacy Treasure droplets." Jiang Yao''s clear eyes glanced at the thirty black droplets in the air and then towards the passageway entrances on the grand hall walls before she turned to Ye Chen, her beautiful eyebrows knit together, "Ye Chen, I feel that the thing calling me doesn''t seem to be in this Outer Mansion."


    "The feeling of the call is wonderful and indescribable, as if I can obtain it, yet as if I haven''t met its requirements, like I''m currently unable to pursue it."


    Not in the Outer Mansion?


    Could it be that the thing summoning Jiang Yao was in the Azure Blue Mansion''s Middle Mansion or Inner Mansion?


    The Middle Mansion and Inner Mansion, areas even the tomb''s master had never set foot in?


    What exactly was calling Jiang Yao?


    She hadn''t met its requirements and presently couldn''t locate it?


    Ye Chen now became curious about the thing that could summon Jiang Yao.


    "All right, since we have a month''s time in this Azure Blue Mansion, let''s spend it searching for treasures and looking for clues about that item," Ye Chen smiled and said to Jiang Yao.


    "Mm," Jiang Yao gently nodded her small head.


    Her soft hand took hold of Ye Chen''s, and with him by her side, her heart felt at peace.


    She wouldn''t be afraid, even in the perilous Azure Blue Mansion.


    When the thirty-five people in the grand hall all decided to challenge the Legacy Treasure droplets first, their gazes converged upon the thirty droplets above.


    Being allowed to enter only three droplets, they obviously wished to choose the brightest glowing droplets, where the most valuable treasures resided.


    But with valuable treasures comes great difficulty in acquiring them. Should they fail, they would have wasted an opportunity and missed out on a treasure.


    Which Legacy Treasure droplet to enter was the question on everyone''s mind.


    That''s when a Loose Cultivator at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level stepped forward and said, "I''ll go first and scout the path for my fellow daoists!"


    "I don''t have huge expectations. Any Rotating Pill level treasure will do. I''ll start by trying one of the dimmer droplets."


    Boom!


    As the Loose Cultivator spoke, he moved and flew towards one of the dimmest droplets among the thirty floating in the grand hall.


    "Whoosh!"


    The moment the Half-Step Rotating Pill Cultivator''s body touched the three-to-four-meter-long black droplet, he was pulled in by a powerful force as if magnetized, instantly disappearing into the droplet.

 Chapter 225: Chapter 196: Seizing the Legacy Treasure

    Following that, the Loose Cultivator at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage saw his aura completely disappear.


    The three to four-meter-long black droplet actually submerged the aura of a Half-Step Rotating Pill entirely, making it obvious that within this black droplet existed a small space, a secret space containing Legacy Treasures!


    Could this first Half-Step Rotating Pill to make a move successfully obtain a Rotating Pill grade Legacy Treasure?


    Everyone in the hall turned their gaze towards the black droplet the Half-Step Rotating Pill had entered, waiting with anticipation.


    They did not have to wait long before the black droplet suddenly began to shake violently, and then, a figure was flung straight out from within the black droplet.


    This figure was none other than the Loose Cultivator at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage who had previously entered the black droplet!


    Did he acquire a treasure?


    All eyes turned towards the Half-Step Rotating Pill, only to realize that he held no treasures in his hand, and his complexion turned somewhat pale.


    Had he failed?


    This Half-Step Rotating Pill had chosen one of the darkest drops of Legacy Treasure, which meant it should have been easier to obtain the treasure within.


    He failed even under these circumstances?


    Everyone crowded around the Half-Step Rotating Pill, for they knew that as the first person to enter the black droplet, he would know the most about the conditions inside. They naturally wanted to ask him questions to prepare for their own attempts to snatch the Legacy Treasures within the droplet.


    Seeing the crowd gathering, the Loose Cultivator at the Half-Step Rotating Pill stage knew without asking what they were there for.


    "I failed, I have failed," the Half-Step Rotating Pill let out a bitter laugh. "Inside that Legacy Treasure droplet is a test space. As soon as I entered, I was attacked by drops of fiery red rain. Those drops of rain, falling from the space''s sky, each contained power that exceeded my combat strength!"


    "I was utterly defenseless. It felt like I was directly pierced by the raindrops, and then I was ejected from the Legacy Treasure droplet!"


    It was expected that there would be a challenge inside the Legacy Treasure droplet.


    After all, in order to obtain the treasures hidden inside, there would naturally be tests involved; the Legacy Treasures wouldn''t be acquired without effort.


    But what they had not anticipated was that even the weakest Legacy Treasure droplet''s challenge would be so fearsome.


    The fiery red raindrops were the test?


    And the power of any single raindrop exceeded the combat strength of this Half-Step Rotating Pill?


    This revelation made many in the room grow solemn.


    It directly implied that most of them might not be able to acquire even a single Rotating Pill grade Legacy Treasure!


    "Fellow Daoist, take some time to recover. I shall give it a try!"


    At this moment, another Half-Step Rotating Pill stepped forward.


    The outcome, however, was the same. This new Half-Step Rotating Pill, with a slightly stronger aura than the previous Loose Cultivator, chose to enter one of the darkest Legacy Treasure droplets in a bid to seize a treasure, and he too failed!


    This caused many people''s expressions to turn ugly.


    Could it be that none of them could obtain a single Legacy Treasure? Not even the weakest Rotating Pill level Legacy Treasure?


    In their unwillingness to accept defeat, more people made their moves.


    After five or six Half-Step Rotating Pills had their go, a change finally occurred with the sixth attempt.


    He was a Half-Step Rotating Pill from the Cloud Sky Sect.


    This Half-Step Rotating Pill from the Cloud Sky Sect also chose to enter one of the weaker droplets amongst the Legacy Treasures.


    This time, he remained in the droplet for three times as long as the previous Half-Step Rotating Pills before being ejected, without being thrown out.


    At this, everyone grew excited.


    "Could it be, this fellow Daoist has succeeded?"


    "A Rotating Pill grade Legacy Treasure, even the weakest one would be a tremendous gain if he has succeeded!"


    "After five failures, are we finally going to see someone reap a reward?"


    While everyone waited, and after the Legacy Treasure droplet was entered for the duration of a stick of incense, the droplet finally began to buzz and tremble intensely. Amidst the trembling, it started to emit a crimson glow.


    Looking at this, the situation was clearly different from when the previous Half-Step Rotating Pills were ejected in failure!


    It was very likely that this Half-Step Rotating Pill from Cloud Sky Sect had truly succeeded!


    While everyone hung suspended in anticipation, the Legacy Treasure droplet that radiated crimson light began to buzz and tremble even more. Suddenly, with a flicker of light, a figure flew out from within it.


    "Haha, I''ve succeeded, I''ve got a lower-grade Treasure Instrument!"


    The figure that flew out was precisely the same Half-Step Rotating Pill from Cloud Sky Sect who had entered the Legacy Treasure droplet.


    As soon as he flew out, he laughed out loud, raising his hand in triumph.


    Everyone looked towards the Cloud Sky Sect Half-Step Rotating Pill''s hand and indeed saw in his grip a short flying knife shimmering with a treasure light.


    Just by the shining treasure radiance on the short knife, it was apparent that it was no ordinary item.


    "A low-grade Treasure Instrument!"


    Recalling the words spoken earlier by the Loose Cultivator of the Cloud Sky Sect who had obtained the Half-Step Rotating Pill from the Legacy Treasure, a black bead, everyone felt a jolt of excitement.


    This Half-Step Rotating Pill had truly acquired a Rotating Pill-level Legacy Treasure, a flying dagger that reached the level of a low-grade Treasure Instrument!


    Treasure Instruments, they contain countless Divine Ability Bans comparable to the power of Rotating Pill-level combatants, their might is incredibly astonishing!


    Such treasures, naturally, were coveted by everyone.


    As the Half-Step Rotating Pill landed among the crowd, he spread his hand open and excitedly said, "This flying dagger contains twenty-eight bans. It''s a low-grade Treasure Instrument, and there are no other restrictions on it. I just need to refine it a bit, and I''ll be able to use it!"


    Seeing the flying dagger in the palm of the Half-Step Rotating Pill, many felt a surge of optimism.


    Having previously failed five times, they were worried that they might not obtain any Legacy Treasures, but now that someone had succeeded, confidence soared in many people.


    "Refine the flying dagger later. First, tell us about the situation of your trial!" someone urged the Half-Step Rotating Pill impatiently.


    "After I entered this Legacy Treasure droplet, like the other fellow cultivators before me, I also encountered a sky filled with fiery red raindrops. The lethality of these raindrops was truly astonishing. Luckily, my best martial skill is my movement technique which allowed me to continuously dodge the onslaught of these raindrops, avoiding being struck."


    "After enduring for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, the fiery red raindrops finally stopped. Then, this Legacy Treasure flew toward me, and after I grabbed it, I was sent out of the Legacy Treasure droplet!"


    Fiery red raindrops again!


    Hearing the words of the Half-Step Rotating Pill, and added to the testimonies of those who had been ejected from their attempts in the darker Legacy Treasure droplets, everyone understood that the weakest droplets clearly held trials of the fiery red raindrop level.


    The Loose Cultivator from Cloud Sky Sect had succeeded, so naturally, no one else wanted to fall behind. For a moment, many people with strength comparable to the Half-Step Rotating Pill flew towards the weakest of the Legacy Treasure droplets one after another.


    In the end, twenty-six people entered the weakest droplets to try their luck, and ultimately seven people each successfully obtained a low-grade Rotating Pill-level Legacy Treasure.


    At that time, someone finally stepped forward to challenge the moderately glowing Legacy Treasure droplets.


    This person was none other than the young leader of Cloud Sky Sect, Yun Luo.


    Considering the weakest Legacy Treasure droplets contained low-grade Rotating Pill-level Legacy Treasures, Yun Luo naturally did not wish to settle for just that. His strength was much greater than those who had successfully obtained Legacy Treasures before him. His first attempt at challenging a Legacy Treasure droplet was aimed at one of moderate glow.


    Seeing that Yun Luo was eyeing a Legacy Treasure droplet that shone brighter than all those previously entered by others, every person present, whether they had obtained a Legacy Treasure or not, turned their gaze towards Yun Luo.


    Legacy Treasure droplets varied in brightness, and the treasures and difficulty of challenges within differed accordingly.


    The challenge that awaited inside the moderately glowing droplet Yun Luo was about to enter needed no explanation to be understood as distinctly different.


    Yun Luo''s strength was already among the elite of those present.


    Whether he could succeed in obtaining a Legacy Treasure from the moderately glowing droplet would largely predict the outcomes for many others.


    Momentarily, all eyes were fixed on Yun Luo, even Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and others watched him intently.


    Boom!


    Just then, Yun Luo''s figure moved, and in an instant, he flashed into the moderately glowing Legacy Treasure droplet.


    Everyone waited.


    The wait quickly spanned the time it takes an incense stick to burn. In the dimmest Legacy Treasure droplets, enduring this long without being ejected definitely meant acquiring a Legacy Treasure.


    However, now that the time had passed, the droplet Yun Luo entered showed no reaction, clearly indicating that the rules for these moderately glowing droplets were completely different from those of the darkest droplets!


    After another incense stick''s time passed, still no movement.


    Just as it was nearing three sticks of incense in time, the droplet suddenly began to violently shake, and then, a figure was flung out directly from within.


    It was none other than Yun Luo!


    When everyone looked at Yun Luo''s face, they could see his expression of dejection¡ªYun Luo had failed!


    Yun Luo, the commander of the great fifth-rank sect¡ªthe Cloud Sky Sect¡ªwas exceedingly powerful, yet he had failed!


    This result astonished many into exclaiming out loud.


    If Yun Luo with his strength had failed, it meant that most others probably had no chance with the moderately glowing Legacy Treasure droplets!


    Inside these moderately glowing droplets might lay mid-grade Rotating Pill-level Legacy Treasures.


    Following Yun Luo''s failed attempt, it seemed unlikely that many would obtain mid-grade Rotating Pill-level Legacy Treasures.


    "Junior Brother Yun Luo, what was it like inside?" Several of the Half-Step Rotating Pills from Cloud Sky Sect approached Yun Luo.


    The others also gathered around Yun Luo, ready to hear about what the challenge within the Legacy Treasure droplet he faced was like.


    "The Legacy Treasure droplet I entered had a moderate glow, much brighter than the ones they had entered before, and as expected, the challenge was different!"


    "The previous cultivators said they faced a sky filled with fiery red raindrops, but what I faced were purple raindrops directly!"


    "These purple raindrops were terrifying not just because of their lethality but also because, like Fellow Daoist Liu Yan''s True Fire, they seemed to scorch my True Qi!"


    "It was as if these raindrops harbored True Fire within. Even if not True Fire, they were something of equal presence!"


    "With raindrops plummeting from the sky, my True Qi was continually burned away. Even though I had many tactics at my disposal, I still couldn''t hold out until the end and ultimately failed!"

 Chapter 226: Chapter 197: The Brightest Water Drop!

    Hum!


    Yun Luo''s words caused everyone''s face to change dramatically!


    Their gaze turned directly to Liu Yan and Ye Chen.


    Descend purple raindrops? Raindrops as powerful as Liu Yan''s True Fire raining down from the sky? The test within these medium brightness relic drops, is it really that terrifying?!


    In such a scenario, I''m afraid that even the mightiest few, except for Ye Chen, who might have some assurance, no one else would dare to say they are confident in passing the test!


    This is what the medium brightness relic drops are like, so very terrifying.


    Then, what about the slightly brighter relic drops, or even the brightest relic drops, what kind of challenges would be inside, how terrifying would they be?


    The others didn''t dare to think further.


    At this moment, not only did they not dare to think about the brightest relic drops, but there were probably few who dared to venture into these medium brightness relic drops!


    "I''ll go!"


    At this time, Liu Yan, whose expression had been somewhat gloomy, stood up.


    After being suppressed by Ye Chen, Liu Yan had been somewhat silent. Now, hearing Yun Luo mention that the test inside the medium brightness relic drops was as difficult as his True Fire, many gazes once again gathered on him.


    Liu Yan immediately thought of the situation during his bitter fight with Ye Chen.


    He also thought of his disheveled appearance when he was completely suppressed, utterly at a disadvantage by Ye Chen.


    Thinking of this, how could Liu Yan bear it? He was desperate to prove himself, to prove he had the strength to seize even stronger relics!


    So, he stepped forward!


    Hum!


    Seeing Liu Yan stand up, everyone looked towards him.


    Liu Yan''s strength was indeed a bit stronger than Yun Luo''s. Whether he could obtain a relic from the medium brightness drop was truly an unknown outcome.


    This unknown outcome, of course, everyone was extremely concerned about.


    Liu Yan, who had stepped forward, paid no attention to everyone''s gaze. His figure moved, and he shot straight into the three to four-meter-long medium brightness relic drop.


    Time slowly passed.


    One incense stick, two incense sticks, three incense sticks.


    After the time of three incense sticks had passed, many people''s faces had changed.


    "Could Junior Brother Liu Yan be succeeding?"


    The disciples of the Flame Sect within the great hall were the first to cry out.


    The others were also talking amongst themselves.


    It seemed very likely that Liu Yan might be successful!


    Just when they thought Liu Yan could really succeed, at that moment, the medium brightness relic drop in the air of the great hall suddenly shook violently. Following that, Liu Yan was ejected out of the relic drop.


    Phew!


    Not only was he ejected, but everyone saw Liu Yan spurt out a mouthful of blood as he was thrown out.


    Obviously, he was not lightly injured!


    This shocked many people''s faces greatly.


    Liu Yan, with his powerful ability to refine True Fire, had failed, and not only did he fail, but he was also injured and vomiting blood!


    "Junior Brother Liu Yan, what happened?" the disciples of the Flame Sect hurriedly surrounded Liu Yan.


    But Liu Yan just snorted coldly, not uttering a word, and sat down cross-legged on the spot to heal his injuries.


    Liu Yan''s reaction made many people even more frustrated.


    Clearly, Liu Yan was not willing to reveal anything about the challenges inside the relic drop!


    "What should we do?"


    "Both Yun Luo and Liu Yan, two great experts, have failed the middle brightness relic drop challenge. Can we even go in?"


    "We only have three chances to choose a relic drop, and if we enter and fail, that''s equivalent to losing a relic altogether. After all, if I used this opportunity on the dimmest relic drops, I''m definitely confident of gaining another relic."


    "But, the relics inside the medium brightness drops are much more precious than those of the inferior Dan-level relics. It''s such a pity to give up!"


    Many people struggled with the decision.


    For a time, the scene became devoid of people daring to venture into relic drops.


    "Ye Chen, since no one else is taking action, should you take on the relic drop challenge first, or should I?"


    At that time, Ye Chen in the crowd suddenly heard Fairy Nishang''s telepathic message.


    He looked at Fairy Nishang and saw her smiling at him.


    In the arena, the only ones truly confident in overcoming Liu Yan were Ye Chen and Fairy Nishang, and, of course, Jiang Yao could have a certain assurance if she fully unleashed the power of her flying sword.


    Fairy Nishang was unaware of Jiang Yao''s flying sword technique; therefore, she was inquiring to Ye Chen.


    Since no one else made a move, if Ye Chen didn''t either, Fairy Nishang had plans to try her luck with the artifact droplet of intermediate brightness.


    Although Yun Luo and Liu Yan had both failed, Fairy Nishang still had a certain chance of success and could obtain the artifact from the droplet of intermediate brightness!


    She wasn''t so sure about the brightest droplet, but as a Half-step Practitioner who had cultivated for hundreds of years, she felt fairly confident about her odds with the one of intermediate brightness.


    Hearing Fairy Nishang''s telepathic message, Ye Chen smiled at her and then glanced at Jiang Yao beside him.


    "Let me try first," Ye Chen whispered to Jiang Yao. "I''ll figure out what''s going on inside these droplets!"


    "Okay," Jiang Yao nodded her little head, "Ye Chen, be careful. Don''t get hurt."


    "Don''t worry," Ye Chen tousled Jiang Yao''s little head and then stepped out from the crowd.


    Seeing Ye Chen come forward, everyone became excited.


    Ye Chen, oh!


    This was the man who could overpower Liu Yan, the man who feared not even True Fire!


    If he were to attempt the droplet of intermediate brightness, of course, he had the best chance of obtaining the artifact within!


    If even Ye Chen failed, then perhaps none of them needed to bother with the artifact droplets of intermediate brightness, and they might as well use all three chances to attempt the easiest artifact droplet instead!


    After all, if even Ye Chen couldn''t pass the test, they stood even less of a chance!


    "Ye Chen."


    The uproar caused by Ye Chen standing out even made Liu Yan, who was meditating to heal, open his eyes.


    His gaze fixated on Ye Chen.


    Despite being defeated by Ye Chen and sinking into deep dejection, Liu Yan had to admit to himself that Ye Chen was indeed stronger than him.


    He too wanted to see whether Ye Chen could get through the droplet of intermediate brightness and obtain the artifact within!


    Not only Liu Yan but the defeated Yun Luo also looked towards Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, you have to do your best. If you snatch a mid-grade Xuan Dan-level artifact from the droplet of intermediate brightness, I will certainly try again!"


    "I still have something I haven''t used yet. If the artifact''s value is great enough, I will use it!" thought Yun Luo as he looked at Ye Chen.


    Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and of course Jiang Yao, who cared about Ye Chen the most, all turned their eyes towards him, not to mention the others, whose gazes had long since been fixed on him.


    Everyone wanted to see whether Ye Chen could make it through the artifact droplet of intermediate brightness!


    Boom!


    Just then, Ye Chen''s figure moved, rocketing towards the artifact droplets hanging in the air of the great hall.


    This rush caused a sensation throughout the venue.


    Because everyone noticed that the artifact droplet Ye Chen was heading towards wasn''t one of intermediate brightness. It wasn''t just that he hadn''t chosen an artifact droplet of intermediate brightness, he hadn''t even chosen one with a brightness only slightly greater than intermediate.


    Ye Chen was actually heading for the single brightest of the thirty artifact droplets in the great hall''s airspace!


    That droplet, more than four meters long, was the darkest and yet had the most violently flickering exterior light¡ªit was the black droplet!


    Ye Chen was actually challenging the brightest droplet!


    "Ye Chen... Ye Chen he..."


    Many were so shocked that they couldn''t even finish a complete sentence.


    After Liu Yan and Yun Luo had both failed to challenge the droplets of intermediate brightness, Ye Chen had audaciously bypassed so many formidable droplets and chosen the brightest one, the most difficult artifact droplet!


    Was he vying for the most precious artifact?!


    "Ye Chen, you''re too... too incredible!"


    "I don''t even dare to contemplate that brightest droplet, and yet you went straight for it!"


    "Success or failure aside, just the courage you''ve shown has earned my admiration!"


    Fairy Nishang smiled and nodded her head.


    Indeed, as she had said before, when she sent her telepathic message to Ye Chen, she herself was planning to challenge the droplet of intermediate brightness. She thought Ye Chen would share the same thought.


    But Ye Chen''s choice had completely taken her by surprise!


    Ye Chen''s willingness to risk losing an artifact in an attempt on the most challenging droplet greatly impressed Fairy Nishang!


    "It''s impossible for you to succeed, Ye Chen, you absolutely can''t!"


    "I failed with the artifact droplet of intermediate brightness, there''s no way you can surpass me by so much!"


    At that moment, even Liu Yan, who couldn''t believe what was happening, rose from his meditative pose, his eyes completely focused on Ye Chen, watching his figure as he flew towards the brightest droplet.


    Even Jiang Yao, who trusted Ye Chen immensely, had her delicate little face tense up with concern.


    In the midst of everyone''s worrying or astonished gazes, whether it was Jiang Yao, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, or the rest of the people in the hall, Ye Chen finally flew into the artifact droplet.


    He finally entered that brightest of artifact droplets!

 Chapter 227: Chapter 198 Treasure Instrument "Black Fire

    From the outside, the brightest of the droplets of Legacy Treasure that Ye Chen entered was just over four meters long.


    But as soon as Ye Chen flew into the droplet, he suddenly found himself in a space tens of thousands of feet in size.


    Legacy Treasure Space!


    Indeed, there was a Legacy Treasure space within the droplet!


    Ye Chen had heard from those who had entered the droplets before that as soon as they entered the Legacy Treasure space, they would be subjected to its trials, and only after passing these trials could they see the Legacy Treasures hidden in the space and obtain one.


    However, the space inside the brightest droplet that Ye Chen had entered was not at all like what those people had described.


    Ye Chen did not feel any trial descending upon him immediately; he only saw a group of radiant light hovering in the sky of the space.


    This radiant light was a mix of black and red, with the colors flowing over each other and a long, strip-shaped Sealing Talisman attached to it.


    "Could it be, this radiant light is the Legacy Treasure hidden inside this droplet?"


    "Why is there just one group of light? Could it be that there''s only one Legacy Treasure in this entire space?"


    "Why can I see this treasure''s light directly without undergoing any trial?"


    Ye Chen gazed at the radiant light in the sky, pondering.


    At that moment, the Sealing Talisman attached to the radiant light, as if sensing Ye Chen''s gaze, detached from the light and flew down towards him.


    Once the talisman descended, the boundless and mighty aura emanated unsealed from the radiant light above.


    This aura was hundreds, even thousands of times stronger than the inferior Rotating Pill Realm Legacy Treasures that the Tomb Explorers had obtained, and it was even exceedingly close to the aura of the Sacred Artifact that Ye Chen had once sensed!


    This radiant light, contained within the brightest droplet, obviously held an extraordinarily precious treasure!


    Ye Chen was feeling the change in the aura of the radiant light after the Sealing Talisman flew down, and just then, the talisman reached in front of him.


    Ye Chen thoughtfully grabbed the Sealing Talisman, and in an instant, a flood of information poured directly into his mind.


    "This droplet of Legacy Treasure is the most precious of the thirty droplets I have left in the Azure Blue Mansion!"


    "The treasure within is not like the many found in other droplets; here, there is only one!"


    "This treasure is an exceptional Treasure Instrument called the ''Black Fire Sword''!"


    "This sword, I obtained from countless secret caverns outside the Azure Blue Mansion, ranks first among all the Rotating Pill Realm treasures that I''ve found!"


    "Unfortunately, this treasure from the Azure Blue Mansion, although I acquired it by force with my Great Accomplishment Realm, I don''t know why but I could never use it. After establishing the ancient tomb, I sealed it within the brightest droplet of Legacy Treasure."


    "Since the ''Black Fire Sword'' is present in this droplet of Legacy Treasure, I did not lay down any other trials, because, once the seal is lifted, the ''Black Fire Sword'' itself will unleash endless trials. Only those who withstand the trials of this sword can claim this treasure."


    "To overcome the trials of this treasure is extremely difficult!"


    "Even if one passes the trials, there''s no guarantee they can harness this treasure without the right opportunity. As for what that opportunity may be, I do not know, because I too was unable to make use of this treasure..."


    Ye Chen scrutinized the information coming from the talisman with his Divine Sense, a thought stirring in his mind.


    It seemed that this talisman was left by the tomb''s owner, and the treasure within was an "exceptional Treasure Instrument" called the Black Fire Sword!


    Exceptional Treasure Instrument!


    Ye Chen had heard that among Rotating Pill Realm treasures, Treasure Instruments were divided into four levels: "inferior," "medium," "superior," and "exceptional."


    It was said that exceptional Treasure Instruments were incredibly close to Sacred Artifacts. If one could awaken a spirit within an exceptional Treasure Instrument, it could step into the realm of Sacred Artifacts!


    An exceptional Treasure Instrument is an exceedingly precious treasure. Even a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm master might not possess one!


    "Exceptional Treasure Instrument, ''Black Fire Sword''?"


    "The trial within this droplet of Legacy Treasure is the ''Black Fire Sword''s own challenge?"


    Ye Chen watched the black and red light swirl in the sky, unsure of what trial it would produce.


    As for the tomb owner''s words about needing the right opportunity to use the exceptional Treasure Instrument¡ªeven if obtained¡ªYe Chen wasn''t worried.


    After all, he had already entered this droplet of Legacy Treasure, and no matter what, he first intended to face the challenges within and strive to acquire the treasure.


    Whether or not he could use it after obtaining it was something he would consider later.


    While these thoughts flashed through Ye Chen''s mind, the radiant light above, now unsealed, pulsed even faster in black and red.


    After a few breaths, Ye Chen suddenly found that the radiant light erupted in a dazzling burst of firelight.


    This blinding firelight enveloped the entire sky of the Legacy Treasure space, and then, an astonishing power began to accumulate in the heavens.


    In just a moment, this power reached its peak, and the entire sky roiled with fierce winds; droplets of fiery red rain began to plummet down, fiercely striking the ground and heading straight for Ye Chen in the sky.


    ```


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The speed of these fiery red raindrops plummeting was incredibly fast, almost beyond belief, but what was even more terrifying was the power contained within the raindrops.


    Ye Chen felt that the power of these raindrops was countless times more terrifying than the trials experienced by the Tomb Explorers before, fearing that any single raindrop could instantly perforate a half-step Rotating Pill cultivator!


    What''s more, when Ye Chen had faced Liu Yan''s True Fire in the past, his Gang Yuan True Qi wouldn''t be perturbed in the slightest, but as these fiery red raindrops crashed down, Ye Chen felt his Gang Yuan True Qi roiling violently!


    Clearly, these raindrops were even more terrifying than the True Fire-level purple raindrop attacks that Yun Luo and Liu Yan faced previously in the medium brightness Legacy Treasure drops, as they could actually affect Ye Chen''s True Qi!


    "Is this the ''Black Fire Sword''s trial? The raindrop trial?"


    "Probably, the master of the ancient tomb set the trials in the other Legacy Treasure drops by referencing this Black Fire Sword trial, such a trial is truly astonishing!"


    "If Yun Luo Liu Yan and the others were to enter here, they most likely wouldn''t be able to hold out as long as they did in the medium brightness Legacy Treasure drops, fearing that the moment these raindrops would strike in front of them, they would be ejected from the Legacy Treasure trial space in an instant!"


    Ye Chen could feel the horror of these fiery red raindrops.


    This was a raindrop that could even affect his Gang Yuan True Qi, let alone the ordinary True Qi of others.


    But at this moment, facing the onslaught of fiery red raindrops, Ye Chen did not show the slightest hint of retreat.


    Instead, he charged straight up towards the terrifying fiery red raindrops that filled the sky, confronting the downpour directly.


    Because, Ye Chen discovered, just as when he faced Liu Yan''s True Fire, the fourth layer of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body showed signs of activity and the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern seemed to be growing within him.


    This time, facing these even more mystical fiery red raindrops than True Fire, the activity of the fourth layer of his Nine Transformation Fighting Body was even more intense.


    It seemed that these fiery red raindrops were even more suitable than True Fire for stimulating the emergence of his Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern.


    With this thought, Ye Chen was even less inclined to back down ¡ª his Nine Transformation Golden Body Law Pattern had yet to reach Great Accomplishment, and since an item capable of stimulating his Golden Body Talisman Pattern had finally appeared again, he naturally wanted to seize the opportunity.


    Ye Chen, soaring into the sky, released the vast golden light of his Nine Transformation Fighting Body, and his entire upper body was enshrouded in the halos of Golden Body Law Patterns.


    At that moment, the fiery red raindrops in the sky had already shot towards Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The power of the raindrops filling the sky was unbelievably terrifying. Every droplet that hit Ye Chen felt as if a massive mountain was slamming into his body.


    After being struck by numerous raindrops in succession, the accumulated power directly knocked Ye Chen, who had flown up into the sky, back down harshly onto the ground. This impact force, when transmitted to the ground of the Legacy Treasure space, even created terrifying cracks hundreds of feet long and several feet wide!


    And the Gang Yuan True Qi around Ye Chen''s body was also greatly thinned by the force of the fiery red raindrops.


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen, who had been struck down, wasn''t injured in the slightest. Following the impact, the golden light of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body around him grew even more intense.


    Boom!


    The shining Ye Chen, with more Golden Body Law Patterns enveloping his upper body, has evidently seen an increase.


    These fiery red raindrops indeed had a mysterious effect on the cultivation of Ye Chen''s Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern!


    Seeing this situation, Ye Chen let out a loud roar, and with a fingertip thrust, he once again rushed towards the sky, facing the densely shooting fiery red raindrops.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The raindrops kept falling, layer upon layer of rain curtains accumulated terrifying power, repeatedly knocking Ye Chen down from the sky.


    But the next moment, Ye Chen would charge up into the sky again, facing the torrential fiery red rain pouring down!


    And with each of Ye Chen''s charges, the Golden Body Law Patterns that enshrouded him became more numerous and denser, initially only covering Ye Chen''s upper body, but gradually began to extend to his thighs!


    As the Golden Body Law Patterns strengthened, Ye Chen was able to withstand the battering of the rain for longer and longer.


    After being struck down by the fiery red raindrops a total of thirty-five times, Ye Chen''s Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern had completely enveloped his entire body.


    This was a clear sign of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s fourth layer reaching Minor Accomplishment! All that was left was to truly harness the power of the Golden Body Talisman Patterns to step into the realm of Great Accomplishment for the fourth layer of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body technique!


    At this time, when Ye Chen once again charged in the sky, he was already able to stand firm. Even if more fiery red rain poured down on him, he would no longer be knocked to the ground.


    Not only was he not knocked to the ground, but Ye Chen, bearing the downpour of raindrops, kept approaching the glowing treasure in the sky.


    In the midst of the fiery red rain pouring down, Ye Chen, with his black hair flying, shattered each of the mountainous fiery red raindrops upon impact, thanks to the tremendous power of the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Patterns of his Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    Looking at it this way, Ye Chen, with his successful cultivation of the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Patterns, would soon pass the fiery red rain trial and obtain the exquisite Treasure Instrument within the light, unless something unexpected happened.


    But of course, supreme Treasure Instruments were not so easily obtained.


    Once again, the unexpected happened.


    Just as Ye Chen neared the glowing treasure, still around thirty meters away, the treasure light that contained the supreme "Black Fire Sword" seemed to sense Ye Chen''s approach and changed once again.


    What had previously been a treasure light that violently pelted fiery red rain suddenly burst forth with endless black light; the instant the endless black light radiated, the entire sky no longer rained down fiery red, but turned into a sky filled with black rain.


    ```

 Chapter 228: Chapter 199 Ye Chen and the Black Fire Sword

    As the black rain poured down in an instant, Ye Chen, who was just over thirty meters away from the Treasure Light Cluster, suddenly felt the Gang Yuan True Qi throughout his body directly immobilized.


    The Gang Yuan True Qi within Ye Chen''s entire Spirit Sea just stopped running in an instant, even the Gang Yuan True Qi outside his body completely solidified!


    Ye Chen''s face changed dramatically in an instant.


    What in the world was this black rain, that it could even immobilize his Gang Yuan True Qi!


    This was the first time Ye Chen had encountered such a situation since he started cultivating Gang Yuan True Qi.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen realized that the Gang Yuan True Qi throughout his body was immobilized, the suddenly changing black rain had already fallen in front of him.


    Ye Chen, who had been continuously closing in on the Treasure Light Cluster, was once again struck by the black rain and knocked back towards the ground.


    This black rain had distinctly greater power compared to the previous red rain.


    Even with the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body cultivated to Minor Accomplishment, Ye Chen couldn''t withstand the power of this black rain!


    Boom!


    This time, Ye Chen was slammed forcefully into the ground, then the relentless black rain continued plummeting down on Ye Chen on the ground, each drop hitting so hard it kept driving him further into the earth, creating a huge pit around his body!


    By the looks of it, if Ye Chen couldn''t hold on any longer, he would be directly struck out of this Relic Space by the black rain!


    "The ultimate treasure, the Black Fire Sword, is indeed not so easy to obtain!"


    As the power of the black rain continually hammered him downwards, lightning bolts seemingly flashed through Ye Chen''s mind as he thought of various countermeasures.


    With his Gang Yuan True Qi immobilized, his True Qi techniques were now rendered useless.


    And clearly, the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body was unable to resist the impact of this black rain.


    It seemed he had to use other means!


    In the moment Ye Chen''s Divine Sense stirred, he instantly vanished from the deep pit in the ground, and in the next instant, he appeared at another location within this Relic Space.


    This technique was none other than the "Void Instantaneous Change"!


    Although the black rain could affect Ye Chen''s True Qi, it couldn''t affect his Divine Sense.


    With "Void Instantaneous Change," Ye Chen could Instantaneous Movement directly to any location enveloped by his Divine Sense.


    Facing the immensely powerful black rain, unable to withstand it directly, Ye Chen finally made use of the "Void Instantaneous Change" technique!


    The moment Ye Chen appeared at another location, more black raindrops plummeted in front of him, and as they descended, Ye Chen vanished from that spot once again.


    The next moment, Ye Chen appeared directly in front of the Treasure Light Cluster.


    This was clearly Ye Chen using Instantaneous Movement to dodge the strikes of the black raindrops, aiming to directly seize the "Black Fire Sword Relic" within the Treasure Light Cluster!


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen''s hand reached out for the Treasure Light Cluster, sensing Ye Chen''s approach for the third time after the "red rain" and the "black rain," the Treasure Light Cluster suddenly underwent a third transformation.


    Boom!


    In an instant, the entire Treasure Light Cluster burst open, and a three-foot-long ancient sword, flashing with black and red light, suddenly shot out from within the light.


    The Black Fire Sword!


    This was indeed the true treasure within the Treasure Light Cluster, the ultimate treasure, the "Black Fire Sword," at the level of ultimate treasure weapons!


    The Black Fire Sword, as if completely sentient, sensed Ye Chen''s grasp and shot straight out from the light cluster, darting about within the Relic Space!


    The darting Black Fire Sword had an inconceivable speed, seemingly faster than any speed Ye Chen had ever unleashed!


    Such speed was likely beyond the reach of many in the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Ye Chen could only pursue the Black Fire Sword using Instantaneous Movement, but the flight path of the Black Fire Sword was extremely unpredictable, with no rules to follow. Just as Ye Chen''s Divine Sense detected the Black Fire Sword and he Instantaneous Movement towards it, the Black Fire Sword flew off to another location.


    In the end, the entire Relic Space had turned into a bizarre scene.


    An incredibly mystical sword with black and red colors flying ahead, with a young silhouette constantly appearing and disappearing behind it, attempting to grasp the sword but failing each time.


    After chasing for a whole stick of incense in time, Ye Chen still hadn''t caught the darting Black Fire Sword!


    When Ye Chen stopped in the sky, the Black Fire Sword also came to a halt far away.


    And as soon as Ye Chen moved again, the Black Fire Sword explosively flew off.


    Clearly, the ultimate treasure weapon, the Black Fire Sword, had really become sentient!


    "Ultimate treasure indeed!"


    "So sentient, it completely eludes my grasp!"


    In the end, Ye Chen could only helplessly stop in the void, his eyes fixed on the distant Black Fire Sword, contemplating a new strategy.


    Even Void Instantaneous Change was ineffective against this Black Fire Sword.


    Could it be that there really was no way to obtain this ultimate treasure weapon?


    Ye Chen finally knew why the Heavenly Saint, the master of this ancient tomb, said that he had yet to find all the treasures in the secret chamber of Azure Blue Mansion.


    Just from this Black Fire Sword alone, Ye Chen could see how hard these treasures were to come by.


    "I don''t have the strength of a Heavenly Saint and simply can''t catch up to this Black Fire Sword."


    "What other methods can I use to catch it?"


    A myriad of thoughts flashed through Ye Chen''s mind in an instant.


    In the next moment, his eyes suddenly lit up.


    Boom!


    Instantly, countless threads of Sword Qi Spirit Liquid flew out from the Sword Palace Acupoint between Ye Chen''s eyebrows.


    Ye Chen''s Gang Yuan True Qi was restrained, but he discovered that the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid nurturing the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" was not restricted by the Black Fire Sword and could still be used.


    The instant the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid flew out, Ye Chen reached out and grabbed it, and naturally, the entire Sword Qi Spirit Liquid instantly formed countless little swords. As soon as these little swords materialized, they wildly surged towards the Black Fire Sword, engulfing it.


    Ye Chen actually intended to use these little swords to block the flight of the Black Fire Sword.


    Even if it was for just an instant, he would then be able to use Instantaneous Movement to grasp the Black Fire Sword.


    Boom!


    When countless little swords surged towards the Black Fire Sword like a tidal wave, the sentient Black Fire Sword felt these little swords. As an exceptional treasure, the Black Fire Sword certainly wouldn''t fear these little swords formed from Sword Qi Spirit Liquid.


    It vibrated its tip, and in an instant, sliced through countless little swords, its flight unimpeded.


    Clearly, the little swords formed from the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid simply couldn''t stop the Black Fire Sword, not even for an instant.


    This situation did not cause Ye Chen to lose heart.


    He continued to manipulate the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, forming little swords to halt the Black Fire Sword''s flight, and he also kept using the Void Instantaneous Change ability to chase after the Black Fire Sword.


    The scene became tense again.


    Just when Ye Chen had dispatched more than a dozen batches of little swords formed from Sword Qi Spirit Liquid to block the Black Fire Sword¡ªall of which had been sliced through¡ªthis time, even the sentient Black Fire Sword failed to detect that amidst these little swords formed from Sword Qi Spirit Liquid, a new little sword had suddenly appeared.


    But this little sword was different from the others. It directly displayed a fire-red glow even more mystical than that of the Black Fire Sword!


    This little sword was none other than Ye Chen''s life-bound flying sword¡ª "Crimson Fire Flying Sword"!


    Ye Chen had, after using more than a dozen batches of little swords to block the Black Fire Sword, mixed in the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" and wielded it as well!


    This time, the Black Fire Sword still attempted to slice through the Crimson Fire Flying Sword like it had the others, but when the two swords collided, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword was not cut through and truly stopped the Black Fire Sword!


    Although the Crimson Fire Flying Sword was only cultivated by Ye Chen into an upper-grade spiritual weapon, its inherent quality was that of a sacred artifact!


    And among sacred artifacts, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword was of the highest quality!


    After all, this was the reward Heavenly Saint Lian Yue obtained after winning the Heavenly Saint Realm sword fighting tournament many years ago¡ªa supreme treasure from the Sea God Palace in Chaotic Sea!


    Even though the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" could not yet fully unleash the power of a sacred artifact, merely its sacred artifact quality allowed it to easily stop the Black Fire Sword for an instant!


    This stoppage was only for a split second, and in the next moment, the Black Fire Sword noticed something was amiss. It tried to change direction, to not clash with the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" again and to fly away from somewhere else.


    But by this time, it was too late!


    Just as the "Black Fire Sword" was stopped, a large hand suddenly appeared behind it and firmly grasped the Black Fire Sword.


    Remarkably, it was Ye Chen who had invoked the Void Instantaneous Change ability and finally made his move!


    The Void Instantaneous Change ability, combined with the numbing effect of the Sword Qi Spirit Liquid and finally the blockade by the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, after several attempts, led to Ye Chen finally grasping the Black Fire Sword in his hand!


    Boom!


    As soon as Ye Chen grasped the Black Fire Sword, he felt a tremendous force pulling him downward. The Black Fire Sword itself was incredibly heavy, probably weighing more than a million pounds!


    At the same time that the sheer weight of the Black Fire Sword tugged at him, the Black Fire Sword in Ye Chen''s grasp struggled wildly, clearly trying to break free from his palm!


    The sentient Black Fire Sword, with its struggle coupled with its immense weight, almost managed to break free from Ye Chen''s grip.


    If it weren''t for Ye Chen instantly activating the immense strength of the Fourth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, with countless Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Patterns covering his body and holding on to the Black Fire Sword with all his might, the Black Fire Sword would have flown off again!


    But even though Ye Chen held onto the Black Fire Sword, the growing force of the Black Fire Sword meant that Ye Chen could not solely rely on strength to counter it, or else he would not be able to hold on and would be wrenched away.


    Ye Chen could only be pulled along by the Black Fire Sword, making sure it couldn''t fling him away.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Suddenly, the three-foot-long Black Fire Sword, pulling Ye Chen, flew all over the relic space, crashing into the ground one moment, then soaring into the sky the next.


    Ye Chen, dragged up and down by the Black Fire Sword, was battered and bruised; had it been someone else, they might have long since been flung off by the Black Fire Sword!


    But the more the Black Fire Sword struggled, the more determined Ye Chen''s will became¡ªthat he must subdue this Black Fire Sword!


    Ye Chen was not like others; in the face of difficulty, he never gave up easily.


    As long as the Black Fire Sword couldn''t shake free from his palm, it had no chance of throwing him off!

 Chapter 229: Chapter 200 Subjugation

    Outside the Treasure Droplet, in the great hall of the outer Azure Blue Mansion.


    All the Tomb Explorers who had entered the Azure Blue Mansion were now staring at the brightest drop among the thirty Treasure Droplets that Ye Chen had entered.


    Ye Chen''s choice to enter the most precious of these Treasure Droplets and face the most difficult challenge inside was beyond everyone''s expectations.


    After all, those who had obtained treasures before had passed the tests in the dimmest Treasure Droplets; even in the moderately bright Droplets, none had withstood the challenges.


    Yet Ye Chen had multiplied the difficulty of the challenge so much by directly choosing the brightest Treasure Droplet, which, of course, shocked everyone with his boldness.


    They knew of Ye Chen''s formidable strength, and while they could somewhat believe that Ye Chen might acquire a treasure in a moderately bright Droplet, the idea of him getting one from the brightest Droplet was inconceivable due to its difficulty.


    "Impossible to succeed!"


    "The challenges of the moderate brightness are beyond what we can handle, not to mention the toughest challenge!"


    In the crowd, Liu Yan, facing the brightest Treasure Droplet that Ye Chen had entered, had a look of certainty, "A stick of incense, I''m afraid in less than the time it takes for one to burn, Ye Chen will be kicked out of this Treasure Droplet!"


    Liu Yan had previously failed his examination and lost face, so now, he was waiting for Ye Chen to fail just like him.


    However, as the time of one incense stick quickly passed, Ye Chen did not get kicked out of the brightest Treasure Droplet as Liu Yan had predicted.


    Not only was there no movement after the time of one incense stick, but the same silence persisted even after two or three sticks.


    This indicated that Ye Chen had persisted in the most difficult challenge Droplet for more than three incense sticks'' time!


    This completely stunned Liu Yan.


    And others changed their expressions, "He has lasted more than three sticks of incense time in the toughest challenge Droplet!"


    "Looking at it this way, with his strength, if he hadn''t chosen the brightest, but had gone to challenge the moderately bright Treasure Droplets like Liu Yan and the others, he probably would''ve already successfully obtained the treasure by now!"


    "Yeah, I really don''t know if Ye Chen can succeed, if he can pass the toughest Treasure Droplet''s challenge and acquire the treasure inside!"


    "The treasures inside are probably the most precious among all the treasures, right?"


    Those who previously doubted Ye Chen''s ability to succeed began to anticipate his success after he exceeded three sticks of incense time inside the brightest Treasure Droplet.


    Time continued to pass.


    When the waiting time for everyone outside reached four incense sticks, to their amazement, they saw the brightest Treasure Droplet shaking violently, as if it were being hit by a tremendous force.


    "Is Ye Chen coming out?"


    Everyone fixed their eyes on that brightest Treasure Droplet, waiting for Ye Chen to emerge from within.


    However, the Droplet shook more and more violently, yet there was no sign of Ye Chen coming out.


    Unknown to the onlookers outside, the time when the Treasure Droplet shook was when Ye Chen had grabbed the Black Fire Sword and was being wildly dragged around within the Treasure Space!


    Ye Chen had caught the Black Fire Sword, but had not yet subdued the Treasure Instrument!


    Onlookers outside watched anxiously as the Treasure Droplet shook wildly, while inside, Ye Chen was engaged in a real struggle with the Black Fire Sword.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Inside the Treasure Droplet, in the sky and on the ground, Ye Chen and the Black Fire Sword were colliding in a frenzy.


    The entire Treasure Space was already in tatters; if the ancient tomb''s owner hadn''t taken into account the power of the Black Fire Sword and significantly reinforced the space inside the Droplet, it probably would have been pierced through by now!


    Violent collisions!


    But they were not without purpose!


    Initially, Ye Chen was battered and bruised by the collisions, but as time went on, his grip on the Black Fire Sword tightened, and he became increasingly adept at harnessing his body''s strength.


    Ye Chen kept grappling with the Black Fire Sword, never giving up the contest. Under these circumstances, with Gang Yuan True Qi suppressed, it was a fight using the strength provided by the Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s fourth level "Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern."


    The more Ye Chen employed the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern, the deeper his understanding of this fourth level''s power, and when he was dragged by the Black Fire Sword, shattering and tearing the ground of the entire Treasure Space, he finally fully mastered the power of the breakthrough Nine Transformation Fighting Body!


    Ye Chen finally transitioned from just cultivating the Nine Transformation Golden Body Law Pattern enveloping his entire body to truly wielding the power of the Golden Body Law Pattern, reaching the grand mastery of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s fourth level!


    The fourth level of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body was equivalent to a low-grade Heavenly martial technique!


    After cultivating a low-grade Heavenly martial technique to grand mastery, Ye Chen was finally able to completely hold the Black Fire Sword, and in the midst of being dragged around wildly, he began to gain a sliver of initiative!


    It was this slight initiative that led Ye Chen to begin communicating with the Black Fire Sword while grasping it.


    As Ye Chen''s consciousness fully enveloped the Black Fire Sword, he could feel the sentient weapon''s rage and restlessness.


    Clearly, the Black Fire Sword was furious that it could not throw Ye Chen off.


    With a shift in his consciousness, Ye Chen began to infuse various Sword Intents into the Black Fire Sword!


    Previously, even the tomb''s owner, that Heavenly Saint, had been unable to wield the Black Fire Sword, yet Ye Chen started attempting to use it directly!


    Not being able to wield the Black Fire Sword did not mean Ye Chen couldn''t. After all, he had managed to wield the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" and possessed countless Sword Intents; in terms of swordsmanship, if one wasn''t specifically trained in sword fighting, there were few who could surpass him!


    Ye Chen was determined to control the Black Fire Sword with countless Sword Intents.


    Whoosh!


    In the blink of an eye, as Ye Chen''s divine consciousness flickered, "Storm Rain Sword Intent" was infused into the Black Fire Sword, but the sword did not react at all.


    The Storm Rain Sword Intent couldn''t drive the Black Fire Sword!


    Ye Chen did not give up and next tried "Purple Lightning Sword Intent," "Wind Sword Intent," "Thunder Sword Intent,"...


    Eventually, even the second-tier "Killing Sword Intent" and the third-tier "Sword Array," which contained dozens of Sword Intents, were exerted by Ye Chen!


    A single Sword Intent couldn''t affect the Black Fire Sword, but as Ye Chen poured dozens of Sword Intents into it, the sword finally began to show signs of difference from before.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Just as Ye Chen was reaching the limit of his Sword Intents, the scabbard of the Black Fire Sword, colored black and red, finally started to flicker with pattern after pattern of light.


    This was undoubtedly the Black Fire Sword responding to Ye Chen''s control!


    When nine patterns of light had flashed on the scabbard, the sheath suddenly flew off, revealing the exceedingly bright blade of the Black Fire Sword.


    What an incredibly mystical, bright blade!


    Upon inspection, one could see that the blade was engraved with one Prohibition Rune after another, totaling eighty-one!


    Prohibition Runes are the strange Law Patterns possessed by Treasure Instruments, with inconceivable might. A Treasure Instrument with just twenty Prohibition Runes is already powerful, but the full force of eighty-one Prohibition Runes, if activated, could certainly slay a late-stage Spin Dan expert!


    This is the might of a supreme-grade Treasure Instrument!


    However, Ye Chen was not yet able to activate all the Prohibition Runes. When he poured his strength and Sword Intents into the Black Fire Sword, only thirteen Prohibition Runes lit up.


    But the activation of these thirteen Prohibition Runes signified that Ye Chen could truly control the Black Fire Sword!


    The Black Fire Sword, at last under Ye Chen''s grasp thanks to the immense power of his Nine Transformation Fighting Body and after attempting numerous Sword Intents, was finally usable by Ye Chen!


    It''s worth noting that even the original master of the ancient tomb, the Heavenly Saint, could not wield the Black Fire Sword!


    Yet Ye Chen was already able to wield this mystical Treasure Sword!


    This was thanks to Ye Chen''s strong will, the repeated collisions while being dragged by the Black Fire Sword into the relic space without a hint of surrender, and, more importantly, his countless techniques, particularly those of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and numerous Sword Intents!


    Years of arduous cultivation were finally paying off, and Ye Chen was able to subdue the most precious Treasure Instrument within the brightest droplet of relic water by relying on these techniques!


    When all thirteen Prohibition Runes lit up on the blade, the Black Fire Sword finally stopped its erratic flight, quietly remaining in Ye Chen''s hand.


    Ye Chen''s gaze fell upon the thirteen illuminated Prohibition Runes.


    "Treasure Instrument, Prohibition Runes, turn out to be a kind of special might Law Pattern!"


    Once he could control the Black Fire Sword, Ye Chen understood the function of these Prohibition Runes.


    Out of the thirteen active Prohibition Runes, nine were Strength Runes. Once fully activated, the strength of the entire Black Fire Sword would be astronomically immense, its sheer weight alone absolutely crushing countless Ling Hai realm experts!


    The other four Runes were "Qi-Burning Runes," which precisely activated the fiery red storm''s peculiar might during the Black Fire Sword''s test on Ye Chen, even affecting Ye Chen''s Gang Yuan True Qi.


    Upon activating these four "Qi-Burning Runes," the snowy-white blade of the Black Fire Sword turned fiery red, instantly filling the air with an eerie Qi-Burning essence.


    If Ye Chen were to fight with the sword at that moment, just the aura of the blade would burn his opponent''s True Qi!


    "Besides these thirteen Prohibition Runes, there are sixty-eight Runes that I cannot activate at my current realm, but I can imagine that among them must be Runes capable of binding True Qi!"


    The Black Fire Sword had previously unleashed a black storm, entirely binding Ye Chen''s Gang Yuan True Qi; Ye Chen was keenly aware of the sword''s even more powerful peculiar might.


    Although he couldn''t use this powerful ability now, as his strength increased, he would one day be able to unleash the entire might of this supreme-grade Treasure Instrument!


    After sensing the might of the Black Fire Sword in his hand, Ye Chen reached out, and the flying scabbard flew straight back into his palm.


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen inserted the Black Fire Sword back into its sheath.


    Outside the relic water droplets.


    When Ye Chen had completely subdued the Black Fire Sword and sheathed it, the brightest relic water droplet abruptly burst forth with endless black light.


    Everyone outside was stunned by this endless black light.


    "Did he succeed?!"


    "Did Ye Chen succeed?!"


    Earlier, those who had claimed relics emerged from the relic water droplets amidst bursts of endless light.


    Now, the way this relic water droplet reacted made everyone outside instantly think that Ye Chen had claimed a relic and was about to emerge from the droplet!


    Amidst the screaming of the people outside, they saw Ye Chen, who had entered the relic water droplet, flying out with a sword in hand.


    Ye Chen had indeed succeeded in obtaining a relic in the brightest relic water droplet!

 Chapter 230: Chapter 201 Three Treasures

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Ye Chen burst forth from the treasure drop, everyone, including Jiang Yao and Fairy Nishang, rushed to greet him.


    "My God, Ye Chen, you are so amazing, you actually made it through the brightest treasure drop!"


    "Is this the treasure from the brightest of those drops, what rank of treasure could it possibly be?"


    As everyone flew towards Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, who was the most concerned about him, didn''t even have the chance to speak before a Half-Step Rotating Pill impatiently looked at the ancient, black-and-red sword in Ye Chen''s hand and exclaimed in astonishment.


    Not just the speaking Half-Step Rotating Pill, but many others also had their eyes fixed on the ancient sword in Ye Chen''s hand.


    According to the rule of the thirty treasure drops, the brighter the drop, the more precious the treasure within. Ye Chen entered the brightest one, so his treasure, naturally, would be the most precious.


    Everyone was eager to know just what rank the Rotating Pill-level treasure Ye Chen had acquired was.


    Even Jiang Yao, after seeing that Ye Chen was alright, had her beautiful eyes fall upon the Black Fire Sword in his hand, her gaze filled with curiosity as she appraised it.


    Ye Chen smiled at everyone and said aloud, "This is a ''Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument''."


    Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument!


    The words of Ye Chen made everyone at the scene gasp in astonishment.


    A Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument, that''s something many Rotating Pill Realm mid-stage, even late-stage experts, do not possess, an item incredibly close to a Sacred Artifact!


    Every appearance of a Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument could definitely cause a mad scramble among countless Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    Let alone a Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument; even a high-quality one holds a massive allure for Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    Before, people were speculating that the brightest treasure drop might contain a high-quality Treasure Instrument, but it was beyond their imagination that what Ye Chen got was a "Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument," even more precious than a high-quality one!


    "Ye Chen, how many Prohibition Runes does your Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument have?" asked Fairy Nishang, who was standing by the side.


    Fairy Ni Xia, the teacher of Fairy Nishang, and the strongest in the fifth-ranked Moon Concealing Sect, also possessed not a few Treasure Instruments. Of course, she only had two Supreme Quality Treasure Instruments.


    The two Supreme Quality Treasure Instruments she had, one contained seventy-two Prohibition Runes, the other seventy-seven, both immensely powerful.


    The more Prohibition Runes on a Treasure Instrument, the more powerful the instrument itself.


    Fairy Nishang was curious about how many Prohibition Runes Ye Chen''s newly acquired Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument had, and how it would compare to the two owned by her teacher, Fairy Ni Xia, in terms of power.


    "Eighty-one Prohibition Runes," Ye Chen said, as he flicked the sword with his finger, causing the sheath of the Black Fire Sword to fly into his other hand, revealing the gleaming blade.


    Everyone looked at the Black Fire Sword in Ye Chen''s hand and could indeed see the sword''s shining surface engraved with one peculiar Prohibition Rune after another, totaling up to eighty-one.


    "Eighty-one Prohibition Runes!"


    Upon seeing the prohibition runes on the snow-white ancient sword held by Ye Chen, even the worldly and knowledgeable Fairy Nishang could not help but exclaim in admiration.


    Fairy Nishang knew what eighty-one Prohibition Runes represented.


    It was said that the grade of a Treasure Instrument was determined by the Prohibition Runes inscribed on it¡ªthe higher the grade, the more Prohibition Runes it could bear.


    A lower quality Treasure Instrument typically had fewer than thirty Prohibition Runes. A mid-quality one generally had thirty to fifty. A high-quality one usually boasted fifty to seventy.


    And once a Treasure Instrument surpassed seventy Prohibition Runes, it''s recognized as the strongest among them, a Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument!


    It was rumored that it became increasingly difficult to inscribe Prohibition Runes on a Treasure Instrument as the number grew higher. Exceeding seventy could easily cause the instrument itself to collapse, which was why Supreme Quality Treasure Instruments were exceedingly rare.


    Having a Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument with seventy-something Prohibition Runes was already inconceivably impressive, attaining eighty seemed nearly impossible.


    Moreover, it was said that eighty-one, this number of nine nines, is the ultimate limit of Prohibition Runes on a Supreme Quality Treasure Instrument, with no known existence of any surpassing eighty-one runes!


    Forget the ultimate eighty-one; as far as Fairy Nishang knew, even among the Rotating Pill advanced-stage experts of Heavenly Wind Kingdom who possessed Supreme Quality Treasure Instruments, none of their runes reached the count of eighty.


    Now, the Treasure Instrument that Ye Chen had obtained possessed the ultimate eighty-one Prohibition Runes, surpassing the power of all Treasure Instruments held by Rotating Pill experts in Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    This ancient tomb, truly fitting of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, contains treasures from the brightest drop that are so tremendously powerful!


    "Ye Chen, you should give this Treasure Instrument to Fairy Jia Luo; she will be overjoyed!" Fairy Nishang said enviously to Ye Chen in the end.


    Ye Chen just smiled, without a word.


    As Spirit Sea Realm individuals venturing into the ancient tomb, according to the rules, half of the treasures they found had to be given to the Rotating Pill Realm experts, and the most precious of these claimed by the Rotating Pill experts themselves. Hence Fairy Nishang''s remark.


    However, what Fairy Nishang didn''t know was that within the Taixuan Sect to which Ye Chen belonged, Fairy Jia Luo''s word was law. Long before entering the tomb, Fairy Jia Luo had declared that no one could take any treasures from both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, her two disciples; not even Fairy Jia Luo herself would take a single one.

 Chapter 231: Chapter 201 Three Treasures_2

    Because Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, one respected by Fairy Jia Luo as her most precious youth, and the other as her dearest disciple, Fairy Jia Luo, of course, would not compete with the two for treasures. Not only would she not compete, but Fairy Jia Luo would also not allow others to take the treasures that belonged to them.


    As for the Black Fire Sword, Fairy Jia Luo certainly would not take it from Ye Chen either.


    Just as everyone admired Ye Chen greatly, envious of his ability to pass the most difficult trial and obtain such a powerful top-grade Treasure Instrument, the brightest droplet of legacy treasure, shortly after Ye Chen flew out, suddenly began to diffuse layer upon layer of halos.


    This unusual phenomenon suddenly drew everyone''s attention back.


    "What''s happening?"


    "What''s going on with the brightest droplet of legacy treasure?"


    While everyone was puzzled, the brightest droplet of legacy treasure, amidst the spreading halos and the final burst of light, suddenly exploded violently, turning into streams of black gas that disappeared within the great hall.


    The brightest droplet of legacy treasure had actually self-destructed after Ye Chen obtained the treasure!


    This situation left everyone extremely shocked.


    Ye Chen, looking at the legacy treasure droplet, did not show the slightest surprise because he knew that within the brightest legacy treasure droplet, there was only one treasure, which was the Black Fire Sword in his hand.


    Having already obtained the Black Fire Sword, there was nothing else in the legacy treasure droplet; of course, it would no longer exist as a trial droplet.


    The self-destruction was probably a rule set by the ancient tomb''s original owner.


    "It''s over, the brightest droplet of legacy treasure has exploded, we can''t go inside anymore to find top-grade treasures." Many people lamented.


    If the brightest droplet of legacy treasure still existed and had real trials, these people would not have passed either, but the explosion of the legacy treasure droplet made them unable to restrain their disappointment.


    However, this feeling of disappointment did not last long; they soon realized that their disappointment was in vain.


    Because, after Ye Chen obtained the top-grade Treasure Instrument, everyone again started competing for the Pills-level treasures within the remaining legacy treasure droplets.


    As a result, even those legacy treasure droplets that were slightly dimmer than the brightest one, aside from Ye Chen, not a single person could enter.


    Even when several people followed behind Ye Chen, trying to enter the slightly less bright legacy treasure droplets, they were kicked out immediately after just a short time inside.


    It was then that everyone truly understood how difficult and powerful it was for Ye Chen to pass the challenge of the brightest legacy treasure droplet!


    When many had wasted a chance at treasure-hunting, even Fairy Nishang''s attempt to challenge a legacy treasure droplet slightly brighter than the central brightness failed, everyone knew they had no destiny with top-grade treasures; their strength was insufficient to obtain top-grade treasures!


    Let alone top-grade treasures, they even had no opportunity to compete for the middle-grade ones. Only Fairy Jia Luo, Yun Luo Liu Yan, and others still had two chances to challenge the centrally bright legacy treasure droplets. They could only go to the dimmest legacy treasure droplets to compete for the lowest-grade Pills-level legacy treasures.


    After all, with only three chances, having already failed once, they had come to understand the difficulty of the legacy treasure droplets and were naturally unwilling to waste another chance.


    As a result, they kept entering the legacy treasure droplets and coming out again.


    The treasures everyone had obtained on the field were gradually becoming clear.


    Ye Chen had gained the most among all participants.


    During his three forays into the treasure droplets, Ye Chen had entered the brightest one first and had obtained the Black Fire Sword.


    After that brightest treasure droplet exploded, Ye Chen successively entered two lesser ones and managed to secure two high-grade Treasure Instruments, one being high-grade garments for a female cultivator and the other a pill that would aid in reaching the Heavenly Saint realm.


    Ye Chen had no plans to use either the high-grade garments or the pill that could aid in advancing to the Heavenly Saint realm, intending to give them to Fairy Jia Luo instead.


    Although Fairy Jia Luo wouldn''t actively take anything that belonged to Ye Chen or Jiang Yao, when these items were of little use to Ye Chen, and especially since the pill was even more important for Fairy Jia Luo, he was naturally willing to offer them for Fairy Jia Luo''s use!


    Besides Ye Chen, of the thirty-four others who had survived to enter the Azure Blue Mansion''s Outer Mansion Hall, twenty-three had not managed to obtain even a single Rotating Pill grade treasure after three attempts.


    Another seven had each obtained one lower-grade Rotating Pill grade treasure, whereas Liu Yan and Yun Luo, after failing once with the medium-brightness treasure droplets, each gained a mid-grade Rotating Pill grade treasure. Their third attempts at the treasures all ended in failure, while Fairy Nishang successfully acquired two mid-grade Rotating Pill grade treasures.


    To everyone''s surprise, Jiang Yao had entered the medium-brightness treasure droplets three times and hadn''t failed once, securing three Rotating Pill grade treasures, becoming the only tomb explorer other than Ye Chen to acquire three treasures in the field!


    Only Ye Chen knew, through Jiang Yao''s telepathic message, that after entering the medium-brightness treasure droplets, three treasures radiating an ice-blue light had directly revealed their traces to her.


    These three ice-blue light-emitting treasures gave Jiang Yao an inexplicably close and familiar feeling!


    These three items, much like the Black Fire Sword obtained by Ye Chen, were treasures from the Azure Blue Mansion and were originally obtained by the ancient tomb master who, however, was unable to use them.


    As a result, Jiang Yao passed the three tests and acquired all three ice-blue treasures, one of which was an ice-blue garment, another an ice-blue sword, and the third an ice-blue storage ring.


    These three Treasure Instruments were placed in the medium-grade brightness treasure droplets, and from the outside, they all appeared to be of mid-grade quality.


    But when Jiang Yao, who had truly acquired these three treasures, took them into her possession, she discovered hidden seals within them that were immediately activated.


    Consequently, the three mid-grade Treasure Instruments'' quality soared instantly, all reaching the level of supreme-grade Treasure Instruments! And among the supreme-grade instruments, they all possessed the same eighty-one seal patterns as the Black Fire Sword, reaching the ultimate and most powerful extent of supreme-grade Treasure Instruments!


    When Jiang Yao shared this with Ye Chen, even he was completely astonished.


    These treasures, which even the ancient tomb master, a Heavenly Saint, couldn''t use, had directly escalated in grade and revealed their hidden seals once in Jiang Yao''s hands!


    And these Treasure Instruments had all come from the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Moreover, within the Azure Blue Mansion, there was something that had been constantly calling out to Jiang Yao, hidden deeper than the Outer Mansion, within the Central Mansion or even the Inner Mansion.


    Connecting all these incidents, Ye Chen was certain that the Azure Blue Mansion had some inexplicable connection with Jiang Yao!


    Without question, a great secret was concealed within!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could no longer resist the urge to venture into the Secret Cave of the Outer Mansion to chase the clues of the object calling out to Jiang Yao, eager to discover what secrets the Azure Blue Mansion truly held!

 Chapter 232: Chapter 202 Jiang Yaos Background

    The faces of the Tomb Explorers who had not obtained any treasures from the thirty drops of the Outer Mansion''s treasure water were etched with disappointment after their three chances to enter were used up.


    However, in addition to the treasures hidden within the drops of treasure water in the Outer Mansion, there also existed treasures in the countless secret alcoves at the end of each passage on the walls of the great hall, so these people still had a chance to hunt for treasures.


    Although the treasures in the secret alcoves were said to be even harder to find, according to the information left by the ancient tomb''s owner, there was still a chance, and they certainly did not want to miss it.


    "Fellow daoists, let''s go and brave the secret alcoves of the Outer Mansion first. We will take our leave now."


    These people said goodbye to the crowd who had obtained treasures and took the lead in entering a few passages on the wall, proceeding along them.


    But those who had obtained treasures did not rush to brave the secret alcoves.


    Many were able to enhance their combat strength simply by refining the treasures they had obtained from the drops of treasure water, so naturally, they wanted to do that first.


    In this way, when they entered the secret alcoves, they would be stronger, and the chances of obtaining treasures would be greater.


    For a while, those who remained in the great hall sat cross-legged and began refining the treasures they had just obtained.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also sat cross-legged on one side of the great hall, starting to refine their treasures.


    Of the three treasures Ye Chen had obtained, he planned to give the Vestment robe and the Pills that were helpful for the assault to divine status to Fairy Jia Luo, so there was no need for him to refine those.


    The only item he needed to refine was the "Black Fire Sword".


    The refining of the supreme Treasure Instrument "Black Fire Sword" was much simpler than when Ye Chen first obtained and refined the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword".


    When he first acquired the Black Fire Sword in the drop of treasure water, Ye Chen had connected with the sword with his Divine Sense and already knew the method of refining it.


    But since he had not had the chance to refine the sword after leaving the drop of treasure water, now was the perfect time to refine it properly!


    Swoosh!


    Ye Chen, sitting cross-legged on the ground, pointed at the Black Fire Sword, and the three-foot-long Black Fire Sword flew up, its scabbard separating from the Treasured Sword and hovering in front of Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s gaze began to inspect the patterns on the scabbard and the Prohibition Runes on the sword blade.


    After thoroughly inspecting them, with a light tap of his finger, three drops of Essence Blood flew out from it; one drop heading straight towards the scabbard, while the other two flew directly into the blade of the sword.


    Then, Ye Chen closed his eyes.


    The Black Fire Sword''s scabbard and blade, now infused with Ye Chen''s Essence Blood, began to "buzz" as they vibrated.


    Gradually, a faint light began to emanate from the Black Fire Sword, completely enveloping Ye Chen in the glow.


    This glow lasted for the duration of a stick of incense.


    Then, the hovering Black Fire Sword blade and scabbard rejoined, and as they did, Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged, also opened his eyes.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, looking at the hovering Black Fire Sword in front of him, revealed a slight smile.


    "The supreme Treasure Instrument ''Black Fire Sword'' is finally completely refined!"


    "From now on, the master of this sword is me!"


    After being refined with Essence Blood, the sword no longer had any rejection towards Ye Chen and was completely at his command!


    "Black Fire Sword, eighty-one Prohibitions!"


    When Ye Chen first obtained the Black Fire Sword, he had a rough understanding of it after a cursory inspection.


    Now, having completely refined the sword, Ye Chen''s understanding of the Black Fire Sword deepened even further.


    Ye Chen finally knew how to use the various Prohibition Runes inscribed upon it.


    Although he couldn''t yet activate all eighty-one Prohibitions on the sword blade, he was now fully aware of how to use the thirteen Prohibitions he could activate in combat.


    "Let''s see how Jiang Yao is doing with refining her three treasures."


    Having finished refining the Black Fire Sword, Ye Chen grabbed into the air, and the Black Fire Sword fell into his hand before he turned to look at Jiang Yao, who was sitting cross-legged beside him.


    At that moment, Jiang Yao''s waterfall-like black hair fell behind her. The young girl''s eyes were closed, her long lashes trembling slightly and stirring the heart. Her petite face was serious as she refined the treasures, her fair and delicate skin, and the charming dimples on her cheeks made Ye Chen stare in awe.


    This was the girl he liked, truly a girl of utmost beauty!


    Ye Chen then looked at the three treasures in front of Jiang Yao.


    One of the treasures was an icy blue Vestment robe that radiated a soft icy blue glow, so gentle and soft.


    The second was an icy blue Treasured Sword, and as Ye Chen looked towards the scabbard, he saw an exquisite carving of a mythical ice phoenix etched upon it!


    As for the third item, the ice-blue storage ring, it was indeed a tiny treasure. The storage ring floated in the air, emitting a faint ice-blue glow.


    "These three treasures are all from the Azure Blue Mansion, and after Jiang Yao obtained them, the hidden prohibitions emerged, elevating to the level of supreme treasure instruments," Ye Chen commented.


    "I really want to know what connection there is between the Azure Blue Mansion and Jiang Yao."


    Ye Chen had heard Jiang Yao speak of her origins, from the time she could remember, she had been cultivating alongside Fairy Jia Luo of the Taixuan Sect. Jiang Yao herself did not know where she came from or who her parents were.


    The girl also asked her master, Fairy Jia Luo.


    Fairy Jia Luo said it was sixteen years ago when she was traveling the world, she happened upon a mountain in the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and by chance heard an odd cry that sounded like a phoenix.


    A phoenix, that is truly a divine mythical beast, a legendary existence!


    Such cries were only recorded in the annals of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, with no one actually having seen a phoenix on the continent, let alone in the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm, where they had only heard of a few sightings of such divine creatures!


    And now, in this very ordinary mountain, she heard the cry of a phoenix?


    Filled with curiosity and doubt, Fairy Jia Luo flew toward the mountain and found the infant Jiang Yao. However, there was no one else around, and that phoenix cry she thought she might have misheard, as no spirit beasts were to be seen.


    Fairy Jia Luo did not know Jiang Yao''s origin, and thus Jiang Yao herself knew even less about her own background. Until she grew up and discovered a set of hidden secret skills within her bloodline, Jiang Yao began to diligently cultivate this secret technique from her bloodline.


    The girl knew that only by truly strengthening this set of Bloodline Secret Skills could she possibly find clues to her own origin.


    Ye Chen thought about the somewhat baffled and lost look on Jiang Yao''s face when she talked about her origin, and he felt a pang of heartache.


    Now, these three ice-blue treasures from the Azure Blue Mansion, along with the Icy Blue Spirit Pattern of the Bloodline Secret Skills cultivated by Jiang Yao, all shared a similar color, and there was also this strange feeling from the Azure Blue Mansion that made Jiang Yao feel a constant call.


    All this was very likely related to Jiang Yao''s origin.


    This naturally made Ye Chen, who was so concerned for Jiang Yao, keen to help her search the Azure Blue Mansion for clues!


    Just as Ye Chen was lost in his thoughts while watching Jiang Yao, the critical moment for her to refine the three treasures finally arrived.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Jiang Yao, with her eyes closed, lightly pinched her fingers to form a spell and the first of the three treasures before her, the ice-blue vestment robe, suddenly erupted in bursts of ice-blue light. Amid the blaze of this light, the ice-blue robe flew in front of Jiang Yao, and in the flow of the light, the ice-blue robe, like an aura, melded into the clothes Jiang Yao was wearing.


    The original form of the vestment robe disappeared, but now the goose-yellow clothes Jiang Yao wore were adorned with touches of ice-blue light, incredibly mystical and beautiful!


    Upon closer inspection, one could see that the ice-blue vestment had turned into a faint shadow, forming a protective layer of ice-blue light around Jiang Yao''s clothing.


    This was a supreme treasure instrument, and one need not wonder about its astonishing defensive power. If someone understood the power of the robe''s prohibition runes, they would know that not only is its defense extremely strong, but it also mysteriously nourishes the spirit and qi, a true treasure!


    After the ice-blue vestment integrated into Jiang Yao, the ice-blue treasured sword and storage ring also flew towards her.


    As these two treasures approached Jiang Yao, the girl with closed eyes slowly opened her beautiful eyes. She grasped her hand and caught the two treasures.


    Then, sensing something, she looked towards Ye Chen, who had been watching her. A sense of unmistakable joy in her eyes could not be hidden, "Ye Chen, have you finished refining your treasures as well?"


    Ye Chen gave a gentle smile, reaching to touch Jiang Yao''s waterfall-like hair, "Yes, refinement is complete. How are they? What powers do these three treasures possess?"


    Seeing the excitement in Jiang Yao''s eyes, Ye Chen knew that she must have had a substantial gain.


    "This ice-blue vestment is called ''Spirit Silk True Garment''," she explained gleefully. "It''s really light. I don''t feel its weight when I wear it. According to the Prohibition Runes described, the garment''s defense will be remarkably strong once the prohibition is activated. It can even nourish my true qi and spirit."


    "And this treasured sword is called ''Ice Spin Sword''; it actually comes with several formations and godlike powers tailored specifically for this sword!"


    "There''s also this ''Ice Spirit Ring,'' the storage space inside is quite vast as well..."


    Jiang Yao began to tell Ye Chen all about the various functions of the three treasures.


    The more he listened, the more Ye Chen nodded in agreement.


    Eventually, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao smiled at each other and stood up.


    After entering the Outer Mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion and finding the treasures hidden within the droplets, both had gained a lot. Now that they had finished refining the treasures in their hands, it was time to start exploring the secret chambers of the Outer Mansion!


    They had both been eager to brave the secret chambers of the Outer Mansion, and now that the treasures were refined, they naturally wouldn''t stay any longer in the great hall.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao stood up, there weren''t many people left in the grand hall, the rest were busy refining their treasures.


    Others, having finished their refining, had already entered through the passages in the walls, searching for treasure-laden chambers!


    "Let''s go, let''s head in as well!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao didn''t disturb the others refining their treasures. They looked up at the various passages on the wall, then followed their intuition and entered a passage on the right.

 Chapter 233: Chapter 203: The Giant Spider in the Secret Cave

    ```


    After stepping into the passageway, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao quickly realized that not far ahead, the passage branched off into various forks, dividing into countless pathways. As they followed these new pathways, even more forks and new passages appeared.


    Among these countless passages, there would occasionally be man-sized holes along the sides, sealed by layers of spider silk, and on this silk were engraved strange, large spider sigils.


    By the look of it, these holes might very well be the treasure vaults mentioned by the former owner''s message, located in the outer reaches of the Azure Blue Mansion!


    Just within the one passageway that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had entered, there split off countless new pathways, with innumerable vault openings. Considering the additional openings in the main hall, the number of pathways and vaults within the Outer Mansion could be in the tens of thousands!


    Indeed, just as the tomb owner had said, the Outer Mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion contained countless treasure vaults!


    While Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were examining the spider silk and the giant spider sigil within the passage, those Tomb Explorers who had entered before them were elsewhere within the passages.


    But by now, they had already become engaged in battle!


    Their adversaries were giant spiders, the size of a human being. Upon closer inspection, it became evident that these giant spiders were identical to the ones depicted on the spider silk at the mouth of the holes that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had seen.


    Bang! Bang!


    These giant spiders were extraordinarily ferocious; each one possessed the combat power nearly reaching the Rotating Pill Realm, forcing many a Tomb Explorer to retreat repeatedly.


    After two Tomb Explorers combined their strength to slay a giant spider, the creature exploded and vanished in the moment it was killed. Next, the layer of spider silk sealing the adjacent hole vanished as well, allowing the two Tomb Explorers to enter it.


    Indeed, inside the hole was a secret chamber, about dozens of yards in diameter, but it was eerily empty, with not a single item in sight.


    Seeing this, the two Tomb Explorers exchanged a look of despondency: "Nothing again!"


    "With the three other vaults we entered before, that''s four now, and there hasn''t been a single treasure in any of them!"


    "It seems that these vaults were already accessed by the tomb''s owner, who took the secret treasures long ago. Oddly enough, the seals and giant spiders seem to restore themselves, tricking us into battling in vain!"


    "The deeper we go, the stronger the spiders guarding the vaults become. That giant spider just now took us a long time to fight. If we can''t find a vault with treasures soon, I''m afraid we won''t be able to fend off those more powerful spiders!"


    The two of them grumbled a bit, then left the secret chamber to continue forward.


    Not long after they left, the spider silk seal and the giant spider sigil at the vault they had entered restored themselves once more.


    Shortly thereafter, another Tomb Explorer arrived at the same vault. As he attempted to break into it, the giant spider sigil on the spider silk seal began to glow and transformed into a giant spider the size of a human being, engaging the Tomb Explorer in combat!


    This sort of scene was happening at various vaults.


    Any Tomb Explorer attempting to enter a vault would be blocked by the spiders from the spider silk seals at the entrances!


    It seemed that these seals and spider sigils were acting as guardians for these vaults!


    Some were able to kill the spiders and enter the vaults, but as the Tomb Explorers ventured deeper, the spiders they battled became more formidable.


    In fact, within half an hour of them entering these vaults, some Tomb Explorers had already perished at the hands of these spiders!


    People died at the hands of the spiders, yet no one succeeded in finding treasures within the vaults. All the vaults entered by these people were empty, with the treasures presumably taken long ago by the tomb''s owner, the Heavenly Saint!


    In these numerous vaults, indeed, many treasures still had not been taken by the Heavenly Saint, but if even the Heavenly Saint could not take them, then of course, others had even less chance to do so!


    As the guardians of the vaults became more powerful and slaying the spiders didn''t yield any treasures, the Tomb Explorers grew increasingly disheartened.


    All of this looked as if they would likely gain nothing and might even lose their lives to the ever more formidable giant spiders!


    The former tomb owner had already said that seeking treasures in the vaults of the Outer Mansion was countless times harder than finding treasures in the drops of legacy water. Now, they had finally realized that the words of the tomb owner were by no means idle!


    Rotating Pill-level treasures were indeed not easy to come by!


    Of course, regardless of the danger and how slim the hopes of finding treasures were, none of the Tomb Explorers gave up. They continued to advance deeper into the passageways, only now with far greater caution.


    Bereft of finds in three different vaults after vanquishing their guardian spiders, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally sensed something was amiss with these vaults.


    "Ye Chen, what should we do? It looks like these vaults have all been entered by the ancient tomb owner. I''m afraid that none of the vaults out here have any treasures left," Jiang Yao said to Ye Chen by her side.


    Ye Chen, glancing back at the vault they had just entered, now resealed with spider silk, knitted his eyebrows: "These secret chambers in the Azure Blue Mansion appear to have been used for storing treasures. Once the treasures were taken, the seals would still remain."


    "This makes things difficult. There are countless vaults inside here, and even if we spent a whole month searching, we likely wouldn''t be able to explore many of them, and might not find any treasures at all."


    ```


    "We should head deeper in; the closer we get to the inner part of the cave, the less likely it has been explored by the tomb''s owner, and the greater the chance that treasures remain."


    Ye Chen said.


    "Hmm," Jiang Yao nodded.


    Ready to venture further into the depths, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao didn''t continue their individual inspections on the outside; instead, their figures flashed as they turned into two streaks of fleeing light, soaring towards the interior.


    This flight lasted for nearly half an hour, and behind Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, they had passed over a thousand chambers; finally, they came to a stop again.


    At this point, the depth they had reached was already the deepest that any tomb explorer had ever ventured into these chambers.


    Many had, like Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, flown deeper into the passage, but those people had not gone as far as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao before fighting with the guardian giant spiders deeper inside and meeting their deaths at their hands.


    The spiders that killed these people had combat power that had almost reached the Rotating Pill Realm level!


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao flew deeper, the guardian giant spiders they faced were even more terrifying!


    Truly more terrifying.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao stopped and finally decided to brave this new chamber, they had just approached, and a giant spider immediately flew down from its web.


    This giant spider was noticeably larger than the ones they had encountered before!


    The previous giant spiders all had six legs, but the one they were facing had eight legs!


    Eight-legged Giant Spider.


    The mere aura of this giant spider descending was enough to change Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s expressions drastically; they could feel that this giant spider gave them the impression of a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao attacked the Eight-legged Giant Spider together, the spider suddenly sprayed out webbing, enveloping both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao within its strands.


    These strands of webbing shimmered with a mysterious azure-blue light, which was pulsating with the power of water-based laws!


    This Eight-legged Giant Spider had actually reached the level of a Rotating Pill!


    A Rotating Pill level Giant Spider could already be called a Giant Spider Demon King, and there was a Demon King Level Giant Spider in this Outer Mansion chamber!


    Faced with these azure-blue strands charged with water-based laws, Ye Chen''s Sword of True Qi could no longer cut through them; he then drew out his Black Fire Sword.


    Clang! Bang! Clang!


    The supreme treasure, Black Fire Sword, under Ye Chen''s sword intent, was only then able to sever each strand of webbing.


    At Ye Chen''s side, Jiang Yao also drew her newly acquired supreme treasure, the Ice Spin Sword. Upon activating the Ice Spin Sword''s icy prohibition, the ice-blue Ice Spin Sword actually froze each strand of webbing; after a moment, these frozen strands of webbing would break apart, shattered into several pieces.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, both supreme talents amongst those who entered the ancient tomb, already had extraordinary combat abilities. After acquiring treasures from the droplet of heritage, they were further empowered like tigers gaining wings. Together, even when facing the Rotating Pill level Eight-legged Giant Spider, they did not fall into a disadvantage.


    Seeing that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had swiftly severed all the webbings that wrapped around them, the Eight-legged Giant Spider roared and pounced towards Jiang Yao among the two of them.


    "Whoosh!"


    Seeing the Eight-legged Giant Spider, with the strength of the Rotating Pill Realm, attack Jiang Yao, Ye Chen''s expression changed.


    They could handle the webbing, but facing a real Rotating Pill level Eight-legged Giant Spider in direct combat was immensely dangerous.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t let Jiang Yao face such danger alone.


    With a quick focus of his mind, the "Crimson Fire" flying sword slashed directly in front of the Eight-legged Giant Spider, and at the same time, with a light tap of his finger, a huge blue flower shot towards the Giant Spider.


    This enormous blue flower, like a bunch of blue flames in full blaze, was actually the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers that Ye Chen had obtained back on the Fourth Sea Island!


    Ye Chen remembered that a warrior who had recognized this flower said it had remarkable effects on Rotating Pill level Demon Kings, capable of weakening the combat power of a Demon King somewhat. Now, faced with the assault from this Eight-legged Giant Spider, Ye Chen directly utilized the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers.


    "Buzz!"


    As soon as the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers flew out and sensed the presence of the Eight-legged Giant Spider, it shook on its own, and a fragrant aroma immediately enveloped the giant spider.

 Chapter 234: Chapter 204 Phoenix Spirit

    At the moment when they were enveloped by the aura of the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers, the movement of the Eight-Legged Giant Spider unexpectedly paused on its own.


    Now!


    In the instant that the Eight-Legged Giant Spider paused, Ye Chen''s "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" had already flown in front of it.


    Ye Chen''s combat power, having undergone countless transformations, was already at a level where he could sweep through countless Half-Step Rotating Pills, and was comparable to the Rotating Pill level!


    As the Eight-Legged Giant Spider lunged at Jiang Yao, Ye Chen, worried about Jiang Yao getting hurt, unleashed his strongest fighting power.


    "Buzz!"


    The flying sword aimed at the spider was infused with Ye Chen''s overwhelmingly powerful early Spirit Sea Realm Gang Yuan True Qi, and even more so with his strongest sword intent¡ªthe Heavenly Gang Sword Intent.


    This complete overlay caused the light bursting from the entire flying sword to be absolutely captivating!


    The "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" truly moved like a clump of the brightest red flames, instantly sweeping across the body of the Eight-Legged Giant Spider.


    Normally, Ye Chen would not fear the Eight-Legged Giant Spider in combat, let alone now that its combat strength was weakened by the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers, coupled with Ye Chen''s full outburst.


    Now, the giant spider, with depleted strength, could not withstand the sword technique unleashed by Ye Chen.


    It was just a light slash of red flame, and the spider, which had reached the Rotating Pill level, was directly bisected at the waist, killed on the spot.


    Boom!


    Instantly after, the Eight-Legged Giant Spider turned into a ray of light and vanished without a trace.


    Seeing the Eight-Legged Giant Spider disappear, Ye Chen finally relaxed a bit. He began storing both the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers and the flying sword, and then turned to Jiang Yao to ask, "Are you okay?"


    "I''m fine." Jiang Yao gave Ye Chen a sweet smile.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s worried expression, Jiang Yao felt very warm inside.


    Seeing that Jiang Yao was indeed alright, Ye Chen also let go of his worry. He looked at the cobweb seals on the nearby secret tunnel that had disappeared along with the killing of the giant spider and sighed slightly, "Looking at this, the spider had reached the Rotating Pill level, but luckily, it seems to be the weakest among those at the Rotating Pill level.


    It was probably just a spider that had just reached the early stage of Rotating Pill, or else we would have had a tough time dealing with it."


    A flicker of concern crossed Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes, "Indeed, the deeper we go, the more formidable the spiders become. The owner of the ancient tomb back then couldn''t even complete this outer tunnel with the Heavenly Saint Realm. Ye Chen, I''m afraid we won''t be able to reach the Central Mansion."


    After entering the Azure Blue Mansion, Jiang Yao felt that the weird summoning for her was deeper within the Azure Blue Mansion, in the Central Mansion, or even the inner chambers.


    But now, with even the outer chambers being so difficult to get through, let alone the Central Mansion and the inner chambers.


    Jiang Yao didn''t know if she would be able to find that summoning thing, to see what it was that summoned her.


    "Don''t worry, let''s just try our best to push forward. We still have a month''s time¡ªhow far we can go, we''ll just go," Ye Chen reassured Jiang Yao.


    "Mm," Jiang Yao nodded.


    Although there was something summoning her in the Azure Blue Mansion, she would not let Ye Chen face danger. If it became too difficult to advance later on, she would rather not go after that summoning thing.


    Unbeknownst to them, just as the two delved deeper and after having slain the Eight-Legged Giant Spider, in the deepest chamber of the Azure Blue Mansion, a Phoenix Feather placed on a white jade platform was now vibrating even more violently, emitting an icy blue divine light.


    "Let''s go and see if there is anything in here."


    With the guardian giant spider of this secret tunnel killed and the seals gone, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao naturally did not hesitate and went straight into the tunnel.


    To their disappointment, this secret chamber was still empty!


    Clearly, any treasures had already been taken by the owner of the ancient tomb thousands of years ago!


    If it were anyone else, after killing a Demon King at the early Rotating Pill level and still coming up empty-handed, they would probably have lost the motivation to continue by now.


    But Ye Chen and Jiang Yao simply exchanged a glance, sighed, and then hand in hand, they continued on.


    The two went on to slay the spiders in the deeper tunnels and continued to investigate one tunnel after another.


    Ten, twenty, thirty...


    With the help of the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers, or Ye Chen striking, or Jiang Yao taking action, or the two of them joining forces, they entered more and more tunnels and killed more and more early Rotating Pill level spiders.


    Finally, in one of the chambers, they discovered a treasure that had not been taken by the ancient tomb''s master.


    A Phoenix Hairpin that was also radiating an icy blue glow.


    By that time, the two had far outdistanced everyone else in their progress through the tunnels¡ªeven Fairy Nishang, who was closest to them, lagged behind by hundreds of chambers!


    Heartened by the discovery of a new treasure, they set out once again towards the tunnel ahead.


    It was when they killed the fiftieth spider, which was on par with the early Rotating Pill level, and were nearly overpowered by the might of the spider, that suddenly, a boundless icy blue light burst forth from ahead.


    Then, the space in the corridor seemed to collapse as a huge claw reached into the passage.


    The two looked up at the massive claw above them and saw an enormous spider appear before them.


    This spider was over a kilometer long, as if it existed within the passageway, yet the passageway couldn''t possibly support such a massive creature. It seemed as though it was in another void, yet it appeared distinctly clear in front of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    And the aura of this kilometer-sized giant spider was so vast that it was unbelievable.


    If the early-stage Rotating Pill level spider they faced before was manageable, the sudden appearance of this terrifying giant spider was another matter altogether. They couldn''t even think of opposing it. Ye Chen and Jiang Yao even felt that a mere breath from this spider could kill them both instantly!


    Ye Chen held Jiang Yao''s hand tightly, his Heavenly Saint bracelet on his wrist already trembling.


    If this terrifying giant spider showed the slightest movement, Ye Chen would activate the Heavenly Saint Law Chain and battle the spider!


    As if sensing something, the terrifying spider glanced at Ye Chen''s Heavenly Saint bracelet and then, to their astonishment, the spider actually spoke, "Eh, a Heavenly Saint Realm early-stage battle bracelet? Unexpectedly, you, a mere child at the Spirit Sea Realm, possess such a peculiar artifact."


    Upon saying this, the giant spider took another look at Ye Chen, its enormous face seemingly revealing a hint of a smile, "There''s no need to use your Heavenly Saint bracelet. Once, a Heavenly Saint at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm tried to enter my ''Azure Blue Mansion'' Central Mansion and was directly driven away by me. Your bracelet is no match for me!"


    Hum!


    The words of this terrifying giant spider made both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s hearts shudder simultaneously.


    He had driven away an early-stage Heavenly Saint!


    Could it be that the one driven away was the owner of the ancient tomb?


    The two of them remembered that the owner of the ancient tomb had said he hadn''t managed to break through the outer mansion and enter into the Azure Blue Mansion Central Mansion and inner mansion. Could it be because this giant spider had obstructed him?


    To be able to stop an early-stage Heavenly Saint, could it be that this terrifying giant spider had reached the middle or even later stage power of the Heavenly Saint Realm?!


    Why was it here, blocking their path? Could it be that it also intended to drive them away?


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao held hands tightly, looking at the sky-descended terrifying giant spider, unsure of its intentions, the spider glanced at Ye Chen and then turned its enormous eyes toward Jiang Yao.


    Then, something unexpected happened.


    When facing Jiang Yao, the terrifying giant spider spoke with utmost respect, "May I ask how you are addressed?"


    Jiang Yao did not expect the terrifying giant spider to speak to her in such a manner. The girl glanced at Ye Chen and saw the confusion in his eyes as well.


    "My name is Jiang Yao," Jiang Yao said to the giant spider.


    "Jiang Yao, the Jiang Clan." The giant spider nodded its huge head, "Do you know the origin of your surname?"


    Jiang Yao shook her head.


    Her name, which was given by her master Fairy Jia Luo when she found her, was seen next to her on a Command Token.


    Apart from her name, Jiang Yao knew nothing about her origins.


    Now, hearing this giant spider''s inquiry, could it be that the spider knew of her ancestry?


    At this thought, Jiang Yao''s heart began to beat rapidly, and her hand holding Ye Chen''s slightly sweated.


    "Jiang Clan, Jiang Clan, I truly hope that you are of the Jiang Clan, yet I also hope you are not of that clan," the terrifying spider mumbled some words to itself that neither Ye Chen nor Jiang Yao could understand.


    Seeing the puzzled expressions on their faces, the terrifying spider stopped muttering to itself. Looking at them, especially Jiang Yao, it said respectfully, "Let''s go, ''Phoenix Spirit'' has ordered me to take you to her. Once you meet her, if you truly are of the Jiang Clan, Phoenix Spirit will tell you everything."


    "Phoenix Spirit?" Jiang Yao was stunned.


    Could it be that within the Azure Blue Mansion, there existed a being more powerful than this terrifying giant spider that could command such a mighty creature?


    To take her to meet her? Could this Phoenix Spirit be related to the entity summoning her?


    Jiang Yao was filled with countless doubts.


    Seeing the giant spider wanting to take only her, Jiang Yao held on to Ye Chen''s hand and spoke to the spider, "Elder, is it possible to take Ye Chen along too?"


    "Ye Chen?" The spider looked at Jiang Yao and then at Ye Chen, nodding its enormous head, "It is possible."


    After finishing its words, before Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could react, the terrifying giant spider scooped them up in its vast claw, and they vanished from the passageway.


    The entire passageway instantly returned to normal, as if nothing had ever happened.


    But what others didn''t know was that the whole Azure Blue Mansion, even the main hall of the Central Mansion that not even the ancient tomb owner, that Heavenly Saint, had entered, suddenly lit up with a bright light.


    Subsequently, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao found themselves directly within the Central Mansion''s great hall!


    And at the moment the two arrived in the Central Mansion''s great hall, in the deepest hidden chamber within the Azure Blue Mansion, on the Void Sky Level white jade platform, the ice-blue Phoenix Feather radiating divine light also suddenly vanished.


    An instant later, this extraordinary ice-blue Phoenix Feather, over eight feet long, appeared within the great hall of the Central Mansion, right before Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!

 Chapter 235: Chapter 205: Divine Phoenix Clan

    In the grand hall of the Azure Blue Mansion, the interior was starkly different from the outer grand hall!


    On the four walls of the entire hall, countless ice-blue stones were embedded, making the whole central hall resemble an ice-blue palace, resplendent and magnificent.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had been teleported to this hall by the Sky-shocking Giant Spider, and upon seeing the peculiar sights of this grand hall, they were filled with amazement. Suddenly descending before the two of them from the deepest part of the Azure Blue Mansion was an eight-foot-long mystical ice-blue Phoenix Feather, which completely captivated their gaze.


    This ice-blue Phoenix Feather was incredibly beautiful!


    It floated in the void, casting a faint ice-blue glow, twinkling like stars.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both felt that the countless ice-blue stones of the entire central hall were emitting endless light. In the midst of this endless light, every strand of down and every feather on the Phoenix Feather began to sway with strange Divine Light, as ice-blue Spiritual Patterns started to appear on it.


    "This... these patterns..."


    Upon seeing the Spiritual Patterns on the ice-blue Phoenix Feather, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exclaimed in astonishment.


    Because the peculiar patterns on this Phoenix Feather were exactly the same as the ice-blue Spiritual Patterns that appeared on Jiang Yao''s forehead when she used her Bloodline Secret Skills!


    "Could it be that this is the ''Phoenix Spirit'' that the Sky-shocking Giant Spider spoke of, wanting to meet me?"


    "Could it be that what has been calling me is this feather, and it''s connected to me?"


    Jiang Yao, looking at the ice-blue Spiritual Patterns on the mystical Phoenix Feather, felt her heart pounding at an extreme rate.


    In the midst of their astonishment, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao heard a voice emanate from the ice-blue Phoenix Feather, shimmering with Divine Light, as its down and feathers gently swayed. "You have arrived," it said.


    The voice belonged to a woman and was exceedingly elegant and refined.


    But this voice startled both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao greatly when it reached their ears.


    A talking feather?!


    They had never seen a feather that could speak, even though it looked incredibly extraordinary, resembling the feathers of the legendary spiritual divine beast, the Phoenix!


    The Phoenix Feather didn''t mind the astonishment of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao. It gently swayed and continued to speak, "Jiang Yao? Ye Chen? Your names were just told to me by the Spiderling. You may call me ''Phoenix Spirit''."


    Phoenix Spirit!


    This feather was indeed the Phoenix Spirit able to command the Sky-shocking Giant Spider!


    The Sky-shocking Giant Spider that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had just seen, a powerful monster capable of driving back even a Heavenly Saint, was actually obeying the orders of such a tiny feather?


    What kind of extraordinary being was this Phoenix Spirit, could its strength be even greater than that of the Sky-shocking Giant Spider?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were filled with a myriad of questions.


    "Phoenix Spirit senior, was it you who instructed that Giant Spider senior to teleport us here?"


    "It said that you had something to discuss with Jiang Yao. May I know what it is you wish to convey, senior?" asked Ye Chen as he held Jiang Yao''s hand tightly, addressing the enigmatic Phoenix Feather.


    The Phoenix Feather swayed gently as if it had eyes staring at Jiang Yao, and it slowly said, "Indeed, I had asked Spiderling to bring you here."


    "As for the reason for your coming here, it is, of course, to verify a doubt of mine."


    A doubt?


    Before Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could comprehend the meaning of the Phoenix Feather, the feather floating in mid-air gently touched Jiang Yao with its faint Divine Light.


    Instantly.


    Jiang Yao''s entire being shone with a strange ice-blue light, and within that light, her waist-length hair began to grow wildly, reaching the length of several meters in an instant!


    Her meters-long black hair began to drift within the grand hall, and one could see each strand slowly turning from black to ice-blue.


    At the same time, an ice-blue Spiritual Pattern starkly emerged on Jiang Yao''s fair forehead!


    As her hair grew and danced wildly, and the ice-blue Spiritual Pattern appeared, inside Jiang Yao, there unfurled a more than a hundred meters long ice-blue Phoenix Spirit shadow!


    All this was an anomaly that would manifest when Jiang Yao performed her Bloodline Secret Skills; yet now, without her own volition, it was involuntarily triggered by the mere touch of this Phoenix Feather!


    Ye Chen had seen the anomaly of Jiang Yao''s bloodline before. As he watched the giant ice-blue Phoenix Spirit shadow outside Jiang Yao, he turned his gaze back to the shimmering Phoenix Feather, and a strange sensation suddenly surfaced in his heart.


    It was as if the Phoenix Feather was a part of the giant ice-blue Phoenix Spirit shadow emerging from Jiang Yao!


    A peculiar thought flashed through Ye Chen''s mind, and Jiang Yao was also incredibly excited. She could sense that as her Bloodline Secret Skills were activated, the aura of the ice-blue Phoenix Feather before her became familiar.


    It seemed that this Phoenix Feather was indeed related to Jiang Yao''s Bloodline Secret Skills!


    At this moment, the Phoenix Feather, seeing the giant ice-blue Phoenix Spirit shadow outside Jiang Yao, became even more excited in its voice.


    "It really is the ''Divine Phoenix Clan'' bloodline! It really is the ''Divine Phoenix Clan'' bloodline!"


    "I wasn''t mistaken, I actually found the ''Divine Phoenix Clan'' bloodline in the Lower Realm!"


    "Senior." Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both looked at the marvelous Phoenix Feather, and the words "Divine Phoenix Clan bloodline" within the Phoenix Feather''s speech made them both tighten their breaths.


    It was very likely that these five words referred to Jiang Yao''s bloodline!


    After the Phoenix Feather excitedly uttered those words, its emotions finally calmed down, and when it looked at Jiang Yao and Ye Chen again, its voice had taken on a different tone, "You two must have many questions, don''t worry, after I explain some things, you will understand a lot."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both nodded, their gazes unwavering on the Phoenix Feather, knowing that it would reveal many things they were completely unaware of.


    "You must know, the world you are in right now, above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, there is an upper realm, known as the Minor Spirit Realm," said the Phoenix Feather.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao nodded simultaneously.


    Both had heard of the Minor Spirit Realm; the Azure Blue Mansion was an artifact that the owner of the ancient tomb had obtained from the upper realm, the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had some connections with the Minor Spirit Realm; although he had never been to the Minor Spirit Realm, he had entered the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode. The owner of that abode, Heavenly Saint Qian Ji, had gone to the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Additionally, the Ancient God Tower that Ye Chen had ventured into during his exploration of the ancestral secret grounds was from the Yan Clan, one of the six Ancient Clans in the Minor Spirit Realm.


    The Layer Guardian Ye Chen had fought on the eighteenth floor of the Ancient God Tower was the grandaughter of an ancient king of the Yan Clan, "Yan Ling''er," who had left behind a Divine Sense Illusion in the Ancient God Tower.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen still had "Yan Clan''s Ancient Order" given to him by Yan Ling''er, which he could use to enter the Minor Spirit Realm in the future if he wished.


    Now, according to the implications of the Phoenix Feather, could it be that the Phoenix Spirit was also from the Minor Spirit Realm?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both speculated in their minds.


    As if Phoexix Spirit read their thoughts, she sighed and said, "You''re not wrong, I indeed come from the Minor Spirit Realm, and specifically, from one of the six Ancient Clans in the realm¡ªthe ''Divine Phoenix Clan!''"


    The Divine Phoenix Clan of the six Ancient Clans!


    Ye Chen knew that there were six supremely powerful forces in the Minor Spirit Realm, the six Ancient Clans, among which he was familiar with the Yan Clan, one of these six Ancient Clans.


    Unexpectedly, this Phoenix Spirit was also from one of the six Ancient Clans, and from another called the ''Divine Phoenix Clan''!


    Recalling what the Phoenix Spirit had earlier about Jiang Yao''s bloodline being that of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Could it mean Jiang Yao''s background was linked to the ''Divine Phoenix Clan''?


    But if the ''Divine Phoenix Clan'' was one of the six Ancient Clans, they must be incredibly powerful. If Jiang Yao truly belonged to the Divine Phoenix Clan, why would she appear in the Lower Realm?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could not help but want to hear more from Phoenix Spirit about the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    "The Divine Phoenix Clan was once the most powerful among the six Ancient Clans, almost considered the first among them!" said the Phoenix Spirit with immense pride in her voice. "Because the Divine Phoenix Clan inherits the legacy of the true divine phoenix and possesses the two most precious treasures in the entire Minor Spirit Realm¡ªthe ''Nirvana Pool'' and ''Phoenix Divine Blood!''"


    "With the help of these two treasures, the Divine Phoenix Clan had countless powerhouses, not to mention Heavenly Saints, even those surpassing the level of Heavenly Saints, the ''Void Sky True Gods,'' were the most numerous in the whole Minor Spirit Realm!"


    Void Sky True God!


    The term mentioned by Phoenix Spirit made Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s hearts jolt.


    They had heard that beyond the "True Qi Realm," "Spirit Sea Realm," "Spinning Dan Realm," and "Heavenly Saint Realm," the next breakthrough would be the legendary realm of True Gods.


    The realm of True Gods was indeed the stuff of legends, with not a single existence like a Void Sky True God on the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, only in the upper realm of the Minor Spirit Realm could such a level be attained!


    This ''Divine Phoenix Clan'' even had many Void Sky True Gods!


    "My ''Divine Phoenix Clan'' had always been invincible, but because of our constant power, we slowly lost our vigilance against other clans, and eventually, disaster struck," continued Phoenix Spirit, her voice gradually becoming grave.


    "Several predecessors of our clan, in their attempts to break through to a realm even more powerful than the ''Void Sky True God,'' the ''Time-Space God King,'' ventured into the outer cosmic space, only to have the news of their demises reach us. Thereafter, two other Ancient Clans, the ''Zhu Yan Clan'' and ''Fei Ling Clan,'' unexpectedly banded together and waged war against my ''Divine Phoenix Clan!''"


    "Had the clan''s predecessors remained, these two clans combined wouldn''t have dared to offend our clan. However, with the predecessors gone, the force left within the clan was nowhere near a match for these two Ancient Clans. Combined, they caused the Divine Phoenix Clan to suffer defeat after defeat!"


    "Approximately three thousand years ago during a major battle, even one of the ten great holy lands of my ''Divine Phoenix Clan,'' the ''Zhenlong Holy Land,'' was completely overtaken. In that battle, three ''Void Sky True Gods'' perished alongside countless Heavenly Saints!"


    Phoenix Spirit''s words weighed heavily on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    The image of two formidable Ancient Clans ganging up against another clan which had lost its strong members, with countless clansmen dying or injured, was horrific to even imagine.


    "Phoenix Spirit senior, was it during this battle that you came to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent?" Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes were slightly reddened as she asked Phoenix Spirit.


    The girl understood that her origins might truly relate to the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Perhaps she ended up in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent because of the great war among the three Ancient Clans!

 Chapter 236: Chapter 206 Ice Blue Crystal

    Phoenix Spirit nodded, "Although I am not a member of the ''Divine Phoenix Clan,'' I also originate from the Divine Phoenix Clan. I was a ''Phoenix Feather'' that was nurtured in the ''Nirvana Pool,'' one of the two great treasures of the clan."


    "Back then, a Void Sky True God from our clan used me and other Phoenix Feathers to forge a divine artifact, the ''Ice Snow Divine Fan.'' Later, when Zhenlong Holy Land was besieged by the ''Vermilion Bird Clan'' and the ''Flying Spirit Clan,'' my master, the Void Sky True God, rushed to the Holy Land to join the great battle."


    "Zhenlong Holy Land, as one of the ten holy lands of the Divine Phoenix Clan, was a treasure hideout. All the treasures were hidden within the Azure Blue Mansions in Zhenlong Holy Land, just like the Azure Blue Mansions you have entered now!"


    "The outer mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion housed countless Dan-level treasures, the Central Mansion contained treasures of the Heavenly Saint Level, and the inner mansion even had treasures of the Void Sky True God Level!"


    "With the treasure hideout being attacked, the Divine Phoenix Clan was understandably in a panic. But as the battle waged on for several years, and after losing two Void Sky True Gods, our clan was clearly at a disadvantage."


    "At that time, other battles broke out elsewhere, and the other True Gods of our clan simply could not make it in time to come to the aid of Zhenlong Holy Land.


    Seeing the tide had turned, my master, the Void Sky True God, scattered his ''Ice Snow Divine Fan,'' dispersing thousands of Phoenix Feathers into the control array of thousands of Azure Blue Mansions, planning to escape with all the mansions."


    "However, just as I entered this Azure Blue Mansion, the divine sense connection with my master broke. I knew that after the fall of two Void Sky True Gods, my master had also perished!"


    "In this ''Zhenlong Holy Land'' war, our side lost three Void Sky True Gods!"


    "As my master perished, knowing he could no longer fend off the two clans from overrunning Zhenlong Holy Land, he released all his divine power in an explosion, propelling the thousands of Azure Blue Mansions he could control across the entire Minor Spirit Realm, unwilling to let the treasures fall into the hands of the ''Vermilion Bird Clan'' and the ''Flying Spirit Clan.''"


    "Although most of these treasures were still retrieved by the two ancient clans, the Azure Blue Mansion I was in was propelled to a more remote region. As a result, amidst the chaos, it fell into the hands of a Heavenly Saint."


    "I am but a feather, and having been refined by my master, without his divine sense to control it, I could not manipulate this Azure Blue Mansion myself. I could only watch helplessly as this Heavenly Saint quietly took the Azure Blue Mansion back to the Lower Realm, to this Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    "That Heavenly Saint tried multiple times to break into the inner mansion, but was repelled by the guardian of the Central Mansion, the Sky-shocking Giant Spider you have encountered. It''s a pity that the Heavenly Saint was quite cunning, managing to escape several times, but afterward, he no longer dared to enter the Azure Blue Mansion so casually."


    "My power, too, was diminished due to the battle between my master and those ancient clan powerhouses and the final outburst, and I can only remain inside the Azure Blue Mansion, silently recuperating."


    These words from the Phoenix Spirit finally made Ye Chen and Jiang Yao understand.


    No wonder there were numerous treasure vaults within this Azure Blue Mansion. It turns out this Azure Blue Mansion is a treasure of the Upper Realm''s ''Divine Phoenix Clan''!


    No wonder they encountered such a formidable Sky-shocking Giant Spider in the Azure Blue Mansion. It turns out that the spider was the guardian responsible for defending the Central Mansion!


    No wonder even the Sky-shocking Giant Spider obeyed the Phoenix Spirit''s commands. It turns out that the Phoenix Spirit is a Phoenix Feather nurtured in the ''Nirvana Pool'' and placed into the Azure Blue Mansion by a Void Sky True God!


    As many of Ye Chen''s and Jiang Yao''s questions were being resolved, Phoenix Spirit turned to look at Jiang Yao and said softly, "Although my ''Divine Phoenix Clan'' has been repeatedly defeated under the siege of the ''Vermilion Bird Clan'' and the ''Flying Spirit Clan,'' relying on the heritage of the strongest ancient clan among the six, even after several elders left, we still endured for more than a thousand years before I came to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    "However, what I didn''t expect was that, after more than three thousand years, I would again see someone with the blood of the Divine Phoenix Clan in the Lower Realm. Jiang Yao, you''re still so young and have already come to this Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Could it be that in the three thousand years that followed, my Divine Phoenix Clan still did not reverse the tide of defeat but instead declined even further, letting our clan''s bloodline scatter to the Lower Realm!"


    As she said this, Phoenix Spirit''s voice betrayed an uncontrollable sorrow.


    Jiang Yao''s eyes began to redden.


    She had been told by her master, Fairy Jia Luo, that she was found by her master in a cradle upon a mountain peak. Combining this with Phoenix Spirit''s words, it was very likely that her parents or clansfolk, in a desperate situation during the war, had sent her to the Lower Realm!


    "Father, Mother."


    Jiang Yao''s eyes turned towards the sky, her eyes welling with tears.


    She could not see the Minor Spirit Realm, but she could feel the immense misfortune that had befallen her clan, the ''Divine Phoenix Clan.'' Otherwise, her parents surely would not have left her, certainly would not have let her end up alone in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Feeling Jiang Yao''s sadness, Ye Chen held her in his arms. Although Ye Chen didn''t say anything, he held her very tightly.


    No matter where Jiang Yao came from or where she originated, he would take care of her and protect her from any harm!


    Seeing the tears in Jiang Yao''s eyes, Phoenix Spirit sighed softly and spoke, "Jiang Yao, although I am ninety-nine percent certain that you are from the Divine Phoenix Clan, without the bloodline recognition, none of this can be confirmed."


    "Inside this Azure Blue Mansion, there is an ''Ice Blue Crystal'' that can verify a clansman''s bloodline. Next, you should go through the bloodline recognition."


    As Phoenix Spirit spoke, fluffy feathers lightly touched the wall, and from among the countless ice blue stones set into the wall of the Central Mansion''s great hall, one stone released an artifact.


    It was a six-sided crystal stone the size of a palm.


    The moment the crystal stone flew out, it headed towards Jiang Yao.


    "Jiang Yao, drip your essence blood onto the ''Ice Blue Crystal,'' and the crystal will sense your bloodline. At the same time, the crystal bloodline will temporarily reveal your parents, showing the scene of your birth,"


    "It is very likely that we will be able to see the state of the Divine Phoenix Clan and what it has become."


    Parents?


    The scene of birth?


    Hearing Phoenix Spirit''s words, Jiang Yao wiped her tears and nodded gently.


    She missed her parents whom she had never seen, and longed to see what they looked like, yearning deeply...


    Without any hesitation, Jiang Yao''s fair finger touched the stone, and a drop of essence blood flew towards the crystal.


    As the essence blood flew toward the crystal, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Phoenix Spirit all fixed their gazes on this single drop.


    "Buzz!"


    In an instant, the drop of Jiang Yao''s essence blood merged into the Ice Blue Crystal.


    At the moment the essence blood merged with the crystal, the entire Ice Blue Crystal vibrated soundly and then burst forth with endless brilliance.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    It could be seen that on the entire hexagonal Ice Blue Crystal, all of the hexagonal sections, amidst the brilliance bursting forth, had completely turned into a flowing divine light, and at last, the entire Ice Blue Crystal was emitting divine light.


    Seeing this situation, Phoenix Spirit cried out in disbelief, "The ''True Phoenix Bloodline'' of the Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao did not yet understand the significance of the Ice Blue Crystal emitting divine light in its entirety.


    But as Phoenix Spirit from the Divine Phoenix Clan, of course, knew what it represented!


    The hexagonal Ice Blue Crystal, with six edges, represented the six major branches of the Divine Phoenix Clan. If it were the bloodline of one of the branches, it would light up one of the six edges of the Ice Blue Crystal.


    Only the most fundamental and core ''True Phoenix Bloodline'' of the Divine Phoenix Clan could make all six edges of the entire Ice Blue Crystal light up, with the whole crystal emitting divine light.


    But how could a clan member with the ''True Phoenix Bloodline'' end up in the Lower Realm?


    You see, clan members of the Divine Phoenix Clan with the True Phoenix Bloodline live in the most core ''Divine Phoenix City.'' If Divine Phoenix City were lost, it would mean that the entire Divine Phoenix Clan has been annihilated.


    Now, Jiang Yao with the ''True Phoenix Bloodline'' appeared in the Lower Realm, could it be that after the war thousands of years ago, the Divine Phoenix Clan was completely defeated and annihilated?!


    Thinking this, Phoenix Spirit was on the verge of crying out loud.


    It couldn''t help but look up towards the scene of Jiang Yao''s birth as revealed by the Ice Blue Crystal.


    As a result, it was seen that in a city with eight colossal pillars reaching the sky, each pillar carved with a splendidly unparalleled phoenix, the entire city was engulfed in rolling flames.


    The flames surged to the sky, reaching tens of thousands of feet high!


    At the same time, countless powerful beings with overwhelming auras took flight within the city, heading towards the vast armies standing at the edge of the great city.


    It was also visible, among these myriad figures in the sky, a flying phoenix was pulling a chariot, racing across the sky, and from within the chariot, the crying of an infant could be heard!


    As three peerless warriors charged towards this chariot, two figures descended from the sky, blocking the three attackers.


    These two figures, one male, and one female, the man tall and muscular, the woman extraordinarily supple and beautiful, and it could be seen that the woman''s complexion was somewhat pale, as if she had just given birth not long before.


    This scene was only transiently displayed across the Ice Blue Crystal, but when Jiang Yao saw these two figures, her entire mind "boomed" with a thundering sound.


    She knew that the crying infant in the chariot was herself as a baby.


    And she knew even more that those two guarding her were her father! Her mother!

 Chapter 237: Chapter 207: Phoenix Blood Pool!

    Seventeen years, for seventeen long years, Jiang Yao had no knowledge of her heritage and had always longed for her parents.


    Unexpectedly, it was here in the Azure Blue Mansion, a place fallen into the Lower Realm, that she learned the truth about her origins! She never imagined that her clan, the Divine Phoenix Clan, had suffered such a calamity!


    Even more unexpected was the way she saw her parents for the first time, through the Ice Blue Crystal, as they protected her facing formidable enemies!


    Jiang Yao''s tears finally fell.


    She missed her parents, she worried about them even more.


    Were they alright?


    The scenes within the Ice Blue Crystal revealed countless armies besieging a city, armies that must belong to the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan. With her parents facing battles against three peerless powerhouses, surrounded by legions with their fellow clansmen, could they be safe?


    Jiang Yao wished she could fly to the Minor Spirit Realm right now, to find her parents. Only by seeing them safe and sound would her mind be at ease!


    But Jiang Yao knew her current strength was insufficient to even enter the Minor Spirit Realm, let alone find her parents!


    At this thought, Jiang Yao''s heartbreak intensified.


    Watching Jiang Yao''s tears fall, Ye Chen also felt a wave of sadness.


    "It''ll be fine, it must be fine,"


    "The Divine Phoenix Clan is the strongest of the six ancient clans in the Minor Spirit Realm. They will surely overcome this disaster."


    Ye Chen whispered comfortingly to Jiang Yao.


    Feng Ling at his side also seemed completely stupefied.


    Within the Ice Blue Crystal, the city depicted, with its eight heaven-reaching pillars each engraved with a phoenix, was recognized by Feng Ling!


    That was the very heart and the greatest stronghold of the entire Divine Phoenix Clan¡ªDivine Phoenix City!


    From the images, it was clear that the entire Divine Phoenix City was enveloped in war. Feng Ling could never have imagined that after more than three thousand years, the mighty Divine Phoenix Clan would be in such dire straits, even pulling Divine Phoenix City into war!


    Hatred!


    She despised the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan. If not for these two clans, she''d still be in the Minor Spirit Realm, nestled within her master''s Divine Artifact, the Ice Snow Divine Fan.


    If not for them, the girl before her, Jiang Yao, would be living blissfully in Divine Phoenix City, close to her parents.


    But now, due to the war initiated by these two clans, her own clan was engulfed in flames of war, and both she and Jiang Yao had been cast down into the Lower Realm!


    Feng Ling, consumed with hatred, also felt helpless.


    No matter how much she loathed those two ancient clans, what could she do? She was but a feather, her mighty powers mostly depleted, compelled to remain within the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Even if she regained all her power, she could never contend with those two ancient clans!


    Remember, her master was the Void Sky True God, who had perished in the great battle.


    The Ice Blue Crystal, having confirmed the bloodline, no longer displayed the images, and became tranquil once more. Yet Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Feng Ling all fell silent before it, the grand hall of the central mansion engulfed in stillness.


    After a long while, Feng Ling finally regained control of her emotions and looked at Jiang Yao again, saying, "Jiang Yao, don''t be sad."


    "Now that we are here on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the only thing we can do is to increase our strength and return to the Minor Spirit Realm to see for ourselves!"


    "Even if our clan has perished, we must find any surviving clansmen, gather strength, and seek vengeance against those two clans!"


    Return to the Minor Spirit Realm to see for ourselves!


    The words of Feng Ling prompted Jiang Yao to lift her head, her eyes red-rimmed, but her gaze began to harden once again.


    Indeed, grieving was of no use. Only by returning to the Minor Spirit Realm to find her parents and clansmen was of the utmost importance!


    "Phoenix Spirit, I will definitely work hard to enhance my strength and go to the Minor Spirit Realm as soon as possible!" said Jiang Yao.


    In the voice of the young girl, there was an unwavering determination.


    "As long as you work hard, you will be able to reach the Minor Spirit Realm!" Phoenix Spirit looked at Jiang Yao, "Your bloodline is the ''True Phoenix Bloodline," which is even among the seven major bloodlines of the Divine Phoenix Clan, considered the strongest!"


    Speaking of the "True Phoenix Bloodline," Phoenix Spirit became rarely excited, "In our Divine Phoenix Clan, the vast majority of the Void Sky True Gods are ''True Phoenix Bloodline,'' and any member of the ''True Phoenix Bloodline,'' as long as they grow to the end, the lowest realm they can reach is the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "Jiang Yao, which level have you cultivated to with your Bloodline Secret Skills?" Seemingly thinking of something, Phoenix Spirit suddenly asked Jiang Yao.


    Jiang Yao spoke, "The second level, Phoenix Spirit, what is it?"


    About the Bloodline Secret Skills, Jiang Yao had always been unaware of its origins, only knowing that the secret skills were very peculiar and powerful; now, she finally understood that they originated from the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    No wonder her spirit pattern was the Phoenix Spirit Pattern, no wonder she could cultivate the Phoenix Phantom!


    "The second level! In the Lower Realm, without anyone helping you cultivate the Bloodline Secret Skills, you actually broke through to the second level! And I see that you haven''t even completed the awakening of your bloodline."


    "Jiang Yao, perhaps once your bloodline is fully awakened, within ten years, you could strive for the Heavenly Saint Realm. Within ten years, you could return to the Minor Spirit Realm!"


    Boom!


    The words of Phoenix Spirit took Jiang Yao and Ye Chen by surprise.


    Ten years to reach the Heavenly Saint Realm?!


    This rate of cultivation was unheard of. Ye Chen knew that the fastest known to reach the Heavenly Saint Realm was Heavenly Saint Di Kong, who achieved it at the age of eighty within the Jindi Ancient Clan. Most other Heavenly Saints took thousands of years to step into the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    If Jiang Yao could really make a push for the Heavenly Saint Realm within ten years, she would only be twenty-seven years old!


    Could it be that the bloodline of the "Divine Phoenix Clan," the number one powerful clan in the Minor Spirit Realm, was so powerful?!


    And returning to the Minor Spirit Realm within ten years, Ye Chen had heard that the Minor Spirit Realm only opened once every three thousand years, allowing passage through spatial rifts only when it was open.


    Since the master of this ancient tomb returned with the Azure Blue Mansion from the Minor Spirit Realm more than three thousand years ago, it means that he must have returned during the penultimate opening, indicating that the most recent opening of the Minor Spirit Realm was only a few hundred years ago.


    To enter the Minor Spirit Realm again, one would have to wait at least another two thousand years. To enter within ten years, could there be another method to access the Minor Spirit Realm?


    Phoenix Spirit seemed to sense their confusion and spoke, "Although achieving the status of a Void Sky True God is extremely difficult for all clans, reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm is different."


    "The true geniuses of our Divine Phoenix Clan can definitely step into the Heavenly Saint Realm around the age of thirty. Jiang Yao, without the awakening of the bloodline, you were able to cultivate to the second level of Bloodline Secret Skills, which shows remarkable talent and comprehension.


    It is indeed worthy of someone from our Divine Phoenix Clan with the ''True Phoenix Bloodline.'' As long as you can successfully awaken your bloodline, striving for the Heavenly Saint Realm within ten years is no vain talk."


    "As for returning to the Minor Spirit Realm, as soon as you step into the Heavenly Saint Realm, you will be able to control the Azure Blue Mansion and forcibly break through the spatial barriers, returning to the Minor Spirit Realm. You must know, the Azure Blue Mansion is a treasure crafted by a Void Sky True God and can definitely withstand the tearing of space!"


    The words of Phoenix Spirit brought Jiang Yao unexpected joy.


    She had been concerned about how to return to the Minor Spirit Realm, how to find her father and mother, but if she could return to the Minor Spirit Realm within ten years, that would be wonderful!


    "Phoenix Spirit, you keep talking about awakening the bloodline, what does awakening the bloodline mean? How can one awaken the bloodline?" asked Jiang Yao.


    "Every member of the Divine Phoenix Clan is born with the Bloodline Secret Skills flowing in their blood. Jiang Yao, you must feel that these skills are very powerful but difficult to cultivate," said Phoenix Spirit.


    Jiang Yao nodded her head.


    She had managed to cultivate to the second level of the Bloodline Secret Skills at the age of seventeen, indeed finding it hard to cultivate.


    Phoenix Spirit said, "Without an awakened bloodline, relying on your own understanding, of course, it''s hard to cultivate! Our Divine Phoenix Clan''s bloodline is inherited from the true spiritual divine beast, the Phoenix. Every clan member will undergo a bloodline awakening when they are young, this kind of awakening takes place in the ''Phoenix Blood Pool,'' which contains Phoenix Essence Blood.


    Once you awaken your bloodline in it, you will understand how to cultivate the Bloodline Secret Skills!"


    "The Azure Blue Mansion is the Divine Phoenix Clan''s secret treasure for storage. Every Azure Blue Mansion contains a ''Phoenix Blood Pool,'' and this mansion is no exception. The Phoenix Blood Pool is hidden inside the inner mansion!"


    "Jiang Yao, you, me, and the Azure Blue Mansion have all been through many twists and turns, ending up in the Lower Realm. Now, to be able to meet here, it means that destiny has ordained you to awaken your bloodline here, and return to the Minor Spirit Realm as soon as possible!"


    "Do you wish to go to the inner mansion now, to the Phoenix Blood Pool, and awaken your bloodline?"

 Chapter 238: Chapter 208 The True Master of the Ancient Tomb

    ```


    The Azure Blue Mansion''s Inner Mansion has a Phoenix Blood Pool!


    Entering the Phoenix Blood Pool and awakening your bloodline can aid in the cultivation of Bloodline Secret Skills, rapidly enhancing strength!


    Hearing Phoenix Spirit''s words, Jiang Yao too became excited. Of course, she longed to return to the Minor Spirit Realm soon, to see her father, mother, and the people from the Divine Phoenix Clan! Naturally, she wanted to awaken her bloodline, to become even stronger and to cultivate more quickly!


    "Elder Phoenix Spirit, I am willing," Jiang Yao said to Phoenix Spirit without hesitation.


    However, the girl immediately thought of Ye Chen beside her, "Elder Phoenix Spirit, can Ye Chen also cultivate in the Phoenix Blood Pool? Even if he doesn''t have the Divine Phoenix Clan bloodline, helping him improve his cultivation would be good."


    Phoenix Spirit looked at Ye Chen, whom Jiang Yao was clinging to closely, and understood the nature of their relationship.


    Nevertheless, Phoenix Spirit shook her head, "This Phoenix Blood Pool can only be used by members of my clan. It is not a blessing but a curse for others to enter."


    "This place is not for Ye Chen to enter," she added.


    Hearing Phoenix Spirit''s words, Jiang Yao''s delicate little face showed deep disappointment.


    "Jiang Yao, don''t worry about me," Ye Chen said as he patted her little head, "You go ahead and awaken your bloodline in the ''Phoenix Blood Pool''. I also plan to make a breakthrough in my realm. I''ve just sensed the True Thunder Extreme Change recently."


    Ye Chen had felt the True Thunder Induction in the Fourth Sea Island, but with the Great Demon rampant at the time, he never had the chance to attempt the True Thunder Extreme Change.


    Now, since Jiang Yao was preparing to cultivate in the Azure Blue Mansion, it was a perfect time for him to attempt the True Thunder Extreme Change and step into the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, thus enhancing his strength once more!


    The matters of the "Divine Phoenix Clan" deeply resonated with Ye Chen, not just because they concerned Jiang Yao''s heritage, but also due to the blood feud with the ten great Demon Sects and the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    Ye Chen worried that one day, if the ten great Demon Sects, much like the two great Ancient Clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, exerted absolute dominance over the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory and waged war, his kingdom, and his parents would be swept into the flames of war just like what happened to the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Currently, Ye Chen''s strength was still not powerful enough. Although he was able to suppress a Half-Step Rotating Pill with the strength of the initial Spirit Sea stage, he needed the aid of the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers to fight against an early Rotating Pill Realm Demon King and still couldn''t do it on his own.


    Unable to defeat even an early-stage Rotating Pill Realm opponent, Ye Chen would be useless if a great war truly broke out, and he might not even be able to protect his own parents.


    Ye Chen refused to let the tragedy of the Divine Phoenix Clan happen again!


    Furthermore, if Jiang Yao could truly return to the Minor Spirit Realm within ten years after awakening her bloodline as Phoenix Spirit had said, Ye Chen did not want to be separated from her.


    He was determined to enhance his strength and strive towards the Heavenly Saint Realm. Even if he did not have the bloodline of the Divine Phoenix Clan and could not reach the Heavenly Saint Realm within ten years, he still wanted to reach the strongest level possible!


    Moreover, with the Primordial Star Scripture, along with the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and Sword Formation Cultivation Technique, he might be able to make a significant breakthrough within ten years!


    "True Thunder Extreme Change?!"


    Hearing Ye Chen talk about attempting the True Thunder Extreme Change made Jiang Yao excited too.


    She had heard from Ye Chen about a wondrous Pagoda he had acquired, containing a powerful spell, and he had even explained the cultivation method to her. Curiously though, without the Pagoda inside her body, she was unable to practice the technique.


    Now, hearing that Ye Chen had sensed the True Thunder Extreme Change, Jiang Yao was of course delighted.


    If that were the case, both Ye Chen and she could make great progress!


    Phoenix Spirit looked at Ye Chen.


    While she did not know what the True Thunder Extreme Change that Ye Chen mentioned was, it was presumably a formidable Cultivation Technique.


    ```


    "Ye Chen, although you cannot enter the Phoenix Blood Pool, there is a cultivation chamber in the Inner Mansion that is filled with an abundance of True Qi. You can cultivate there."


    "Azure Blue Mansion has protective prohibitions. Non-members of the Divine Phoenix Clan can only stay inside the Azure Blue Mansion for a month before they are automatically transported out. Use this one month to cultivate well inside."


    "As for Jiang Yao, you don''t need to worry. Her bloodline awakening can take as short as half a month to a month, or up to three months at most. But since she possesses the bloodline of the Divine Phoenix Clan, she won''t be rejected by the prohibitions. Once she finishes her cultivation, I will send her out to meet you."


    Ye Chen nodded his head.


    No wonder the golden Demon Carp said that one could only stay in the Azure Blue Mansion for a month. It turns out it was the Azure Blue Mansion''s protective prohibition at work. It seems that the owner of this tomb has quite thoroughly figured out the Azure Blue Mansion''s prohibitions.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen suddenly thought of something.


    The owner of this tomb, Feng Ling must have met him, and Ye Chen always felt that there was something off about the tomb; it didn''t seem like it belonged to Heavenly Saint Linghua. Perhaps he could verify with Feng Ling who the true owner of the tomb was!


    "Senior Feng Ling, do you know why we entered the Azure Blue Mansion?" Ye Chen asked aloud.


    Feng Ling shook the Flying Feathers on her body: "My Divine Sense, as well as that of the other guards of the Azure Blue Mansion, is locked within the Azure Blue Mansion. We can only sense the space within the Azure Blue Mansion and a few hundred paces outside it. Beyond that, I''m not quite certain. Otherwise, I would have summoned Jiang Yao into the Azure Blue Mansion long ago."


    Ye Chen nodded. No wonder Jiang Yao only sensed the call from within the Azure Blue Mansion as they approached it. It turned out Feng Ling and the others'' Divine Senses could not reach far into the outside world.


    Without further hesitation, Ye Chen told Feng Ling everything about him and Jiang Yao, as well as many others who entered the tomb after discovering Heavenly Saint Linghua''s Spirit Plaque, along with the bizarre incidents inside the tomb.


    Jiang Yao also understood what Ye Chen was doubtful of, and she, too, told Feng Ling about the events on the Eighth Sea Island.


    Both of them had long harbored suspicions about the identity of the tomb''s owner, suspecting that he was not Heavenly Saint Linghua. Now was the time to seek confirmation from Feng Ling.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s descriptions of the tomb, Feng Ling did not say much. The Divine Light on her fluffy feathers slightly stirred, and a huge shadow directly appeared in the hall: "This is the Heavenly Saint who once entered the Azure Blue Mansion. He is the owner of the tomb you mentioned. Look and see if he''s that Heavenly Saint Linghua."


    This shadow wore a long black robe and was leaning on a serpent-headed cane, with a gaunt face and deep, gloomy eyes, appearing like a dying old man.


    Seeing this shadow, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s expressions changed drastically: "Heavenly Saint Moya!"


    This shadow''s appearance was nothing like that of the legendary Heavenly Saint Linghua of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Heavenly Saint Linghua was known to be extremely youthful and handsome. This shadow was clearly the very Heavenly Saint Moya from the Demon Sects who had fought against Heavenly Saint Linghua and carved out the Demon Burial Abyss!


    Before entering the tomb, Fairy Jia Luo had specifically shown Ye Chen and Jiang Yao the records of the epic battle between Heavenly Saint Linghua and Heavenly Saint Moya so that they could navigate the tomb. Needless to say, they had a vivid memory of the two great Heavenly Saints described in the records.


    Now it seemed that everyone was mistaken. The tomb they had entered was not really that of Heavenly Saint Linghua but rather his adversary, Heavenly Saint Moya! It was very possible that Heavenly Saint Linghua even ended up dying at the hands of Heavenly Saint Moya in that ancient battle!


    "Heavenly Saint Moya of the ten great Demon Sects!"


    "He masqueraded as Heavenly Saint Linghua and lured us into the tomb. What exactly does he want to do?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked extremely troubled. They finally understood why the tomb was so eerie, why the black pillars spewed forth countless Great Demons rampaging about, and why the Legacy Treasures were hidden in black pearls, requiring the killing of others to obtain them.


    These tactics were indeed something characteristic of the Demon Sects!


    They, martial artists from the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, had been deceived into the tomb of Heavenly Saint Moya of the Demon Sects¡ªthe blood enemy and nemesis of the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory!


    If the other Tomb Explorers who were still inside the tomb knew about this, their reactions wouldn''t just be a change in color; many would likely be terrified out of their wits!


    Even if the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses waiting outside the tomb knew, all the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses would shudder with fear!

 Chapter 239: Chapter 209: Both Enduring Bitter Cultivation

    In the Central Mansion''s grand hall of Azure Blue Mansion.


    Upon seeing the drastic changes in Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s expressions, Phoenix Spirit spoke, "Heavenly Saint Moya? I indeed recall that Heavenly Saint calling himself Heavenly Saint Moya. However, after he entered the Azure Blue Mansion a few times, I never saw him again. So, he has perished in the ancient tomb."


    "But why lure you into the tomb if he died there? If he truly wished to kill you, with the means of a Heavenly Saint, even in death, once you entered the tomb, he could have easily killed you. Why then would he set up various sites with Legacy Treasures, allowing you to be tested on the peripheral islands, then enter Central Sea Island, and even come into Azure Blue Mansion?"


    After listening to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s descriptions of entering the tomb, Phoenix Spirit was also unclear about what the owner of the tomb, Heavenly Saint Moya, was planning.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao shook their heads as well.


    Phoenix Spirit didn''t understand, and neither did they.


    However, all three were aware that Heavenly Saint Moya probably didn''t have any good intentions.


    In the end, Phoenix Spirit said, "Don''t worry too much. Even if Heavenly Saint Moya was very powerful, even when he was alive, he couldn''t breach Azure Blue Mansion."


    "If it weren''t for the fact that Zhu Er is a guard of the Central Mansion of Azure Blue Mansion and cannot leave, it could help you deal with any crisis at any time."


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, how about this, after the one-month prohibition period is up, if you have both completed your Cultivation, you can carry Azure Blue Mansion with you as you continue to explore the ancient tomb to uncover Moya''s true plans.


    Moya is indeed a sworn enemy of your thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, and it''s essential to understand his intentions before emerging from the tomb."


    "If you encounter an opponent you cannot defeat, directly enter Azure Blue Mansion. Although you can only stay inside for a month at a time, it''s accessible multiple times."


    "If that opponent dares to pursue you into Azure Blue Mansion, Zhu Er will directly kill them. If they don''t enter, then you''ll be safe inside."


    "If Jiang Yao hasn''t fully awakened her Bloodline Secret Skills at that time, then Ye Chen, you should carry Azure Blue Mansion alone to be prepared for any dangers."


    "I see you have a spatial ring, and although you haven''t reached the Heavenly Saint Realm, it will be difficult to take Azure Blue Mansion with you. However, I will initiate the Spatial Ban inside Azure Blue Mansion to assist you in obtaining it. This Treasure, since it has fallen into your hands, must not be left here, no matter what!"


    Phoenix Spirit was suggesting plans to the two of them.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked at each other and nodded in agreement.


    With Azure Blue Mansion here, they indeed gained a significant advantage. Although Azure Blue Mansion can''t be used for direct combat, it is an excellent place for defense.


    If they encounter insurmountable danger while exploring the ancient tomb, they can simply continue to cultivate inside Azure Blue Mansion until they are strong enough to leave the tomb!


    With the presence of a Sky-shocking Giant Spider that could even suppress Heavenly Saint Moya, staying in Azure Blue Mansion is the safest option.


    Moreover, with the Heavenly Saint Law Bead in Ye Chen''s possession, he isn''t too afraid of the ancient tomb!


    "Alright, we can discuss the tomb later. Focus on cultivating now!"


    "Only with great strength can you be fearless of everything!"


    "This Heavenly Saint Moya may be a ruler in the Lower Realm, but in the Upper Realm, he is just a minor figure."


    "Jiang Yao, go to the ''Phoenix Blood Pool'' to cultivate. Ye Chen, you go too. After I make arrangements for Jiang Yao, I will send you into another Secret Cave for cultivation!" Phoenix Spirit called out to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both nodded in response.


    Boom!


    Seeing the two nod, Phoenix Spirit''s feather, emitting an Ice-Blue Divine Light, flapped gently. Enveloped by the light, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao disappeared from the grand hall of the Central Mansion.


    ...


    Outside Azure Blue Mansion.


    Several hundred yards away from Azure Blue Mansion, a golden Demon Carp was gazing languidly at the dark gates of Azure Blue Mansion.


    "One month inside Azure Blue Mansion for adventure."


    "I wonder how many of these people will make it out alive!"


    "Tiger Demon Teng mentioned that many should perish to select the finest individuals for sacrifice to the Heavenly Saint Lord!"


    "Wait, after one month passes, I will know who has caught the eye of Tiger Demon Teng!"


    "If the death toll isn''t high enough, continue to send them into the second and third death traps!"


    The golden Demon Carp muttered to itself.


    It could never have imagined that among the individuals who entered the ancient tomb, there would be someone like Jiang Yao, whose background was connected to Azure Blue Mansion!


    Let alone the Demon Carp, even Heavenly Saint Moya, who originally constructed the tomb, would never have guessed that the Azure Blue Mansion he stumbled upon contained Phoenix Spirit and an unknown Divine Phoenix Clan heritage related to Jiang Yao!


    Azure Blue Mansion did not become a trial for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao; instead, it provided them a tremendous boost!


    ...


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Outside the Outer Mansion of Azure Blue Mansion, countless people died fighting the guardians in the Secret Caves, while many more were still adventuring through the caves, hoping to discover Treasures left behind.


    They believed that even someone as powerful as the owner of the tomb couldn''t have explored every cave, so there must be Treasures that were overlooked that they could acquire.


    While these people were still embarking on their adventures, suddenly, they felt an earth-shattering howling coming from the numerous caves. Amidst this deafening sound, fierce winds swirled, expelling all the Tomb Explorers from the cave passages and hurling them back into the grand hall of the Outer Mansion!


    Of the thirty-five people who entered the caves, twenty-seven returned to the grand hall. Besides Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who proceeded to the Inner Mansion, the other six perished during their explorations.


    These twenty-seven people, swept out of the caves by the fierce winds, were terrified. They could sense that the winds could have easily killed them.


    But the winds didn''t kill them; instead, they were brought back to the grand hall.


    After several attempts to re-enter the caves proved futile, these people finally gave up. They realized that the winds from the caves did not wish them to enter any longer.


    What these people didn''t know was that Phoenix Spirit had learned that these Tomb Explorers had been deceived into entering the tomb by Heavenly Saint Moya; naturally, she wouldn''t allow them to continue adventuring in the caves.


    Phoenix Spirit didn''t want them to perish at the hands of the guardian giant spiders in the caves, nor did she want them to obtain Treasures from there without deserving them.


    So, she expelled them all from the caves and transported them back to the grand hall of the Outer Mansion.


    They would wait there until a month had passed, at which point they would be automatically sent out of Azure Blue Mansion.


    "Why is it just us few?"


    The twenty-seven people, having returned to the Outer Mansion''s grand hall, glanced at each other. Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, Xue Yue, and others were all among them.


    But they discovered that, after returning to the grand hall, many among those who had ventured into the Secret Cave were missing.


    "Could it be, the others all died at the hands of the cave''s guardian, that giant spider?"


    Thinking back to the giant spider they had confronted in the cave, they all still felt some lingering fear.


    "Where''s Ye Chen?"


    "Ye Chen is so powerful, he couldn''t possibly have died at the hands of the giant spider, right? Could it be he was too reckless?"


    "And Jiang Yao isn''t back either!"


    When they saw that both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were not transported out of the grand hall, the expressions of everyone there began to change.


    After some contemplation, still clueless about what had happened to Ye Chen and the others, they couldn''t return to the Secret Cave of the Outer Mansion anymore.


    In the end, the people, whose expressions kept changing, could only sit down in the grand hall of the Outer Mansion and start cultivating, waiting for the day when they could leave the Azure Blue Mansion.


    ...


    What these people didn''t know was that not only were Ye Chen and Jiang Yao safe and sound, they had even entered the Inner Mansion of the Azure Blue Mansion, a place that not even Heavenly Saint Moya had been able to enter!


    While the other Tomb Explorers were being transferred back to the grand hall of the Outer Mansion, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had already arrived beside a pool several hundred feet in diameter in the Inner Mansion.


    This pool had a blood-drop-shaped bead the size of a fist floating above it. The bead was crystal clear and ice blue, almost like an Ice-Blue Divine Crystal!


    Droplets of ice-blue liquid constantly fell from the bead, dripping into the pool below.


    Looking into the pool, you could see that the entire pool was imbued with a divine and mysterious ice-blue color, radiating a faint ice-blue light.


    If anyone recognized the blood-drop-shaped ice-blue bead above, they would definitely know that this bead was none other than the strange treasure of the Divine Phoenix Clan¡ªthe blood of the Ice Phoenix!


    And below the Ice Phoenix blood was the Phoenix Blood Pool, where Jiang Yao was about to undergo the awakening of her bloodline!


    "This is the Phoenix Blood Pool."


    "Jiang Yao, enter the Phoenix Blood Pool and start the awakening of your bloodline!"


    Feng Ling floated next to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, speaking to them both.


    Jiang Yao took a deep breath, approached the Phoenix Blood Pool, and felt her entire bloodline inside her body leaping with joy¡ªclearly, the Phoenix Blood Pool held an inexplicable attraction to her bloodline!


    She couldn''t wait to enter and see what her bloodline secret skills would look like after awakening!


    "Ye Chen, I''m going to cultivate now."


    Jiang Yao took Ye Chen''s hand and spoke to him.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded his head.


    After looking at Ye Chen and Feng Ling once more, Jiang Yao no longer hesitated; she turned her slender figure towards the Phoenix Blood Pool, lightly leaped, and flew into the midst of the pool.


    The moment the young girl entered the Phoenix Blood Pool, her waterfall-like black hair floated on the surface of the water, while most of her body submerged into the pool.


    Then, a marvelous thing happened¡ªthe numerous strands of ice-blue droplets in the pool started to spread towards Jiang Yao, gradually enveloping her in a rising ice-blue aura, now covering her entire body.


    Standing by the pool, Ye Chen could even faintly hear the mystical and incredible sound of a phoenix''s cry coming from the Phoenix Blood Pool!


    After waiting by the pool for a long time and seeing that Jiang Yao had fully entered the state of cultivating her bloodline awakening, Feng Ling spoke to Ye Chen again, "Ye Chen, let''s go as well, I''ll take you to the cultivation chamber."


    Ye Chen took one last look at Jiang Yao in the Phoenix Blood Pool and nodded.


    ...


    "This is the Inner Mansion''s cultivation chamber; you can practice here."


    When Feng Ling brought Ye Chen into the cultivation chamber, the sight of this grand chamber that spanned several hundred feet completely stunned him.


    He saw that the walls of the chamber were constructed of blocks of aqua blue Spirit Stones, which felt to Ye Chen as if they were just like the Fire Elemental Spirit Stone he had obtained on the peripheral islands, also brimming with True Qi.


    Ye Chen had obtained a piece of Fire Elemental Spirit Stone and couldn''t completely absorb all the True Qi within it, but this Azure Blue Mansion''s Inner Mansion cultivation chamber was actually constructed with countless blocks of Spirit Stones of the same grade, and the True Qi inside was astonishingly plentiful!


    Ye Chen also noticed that these Spirit Stones seemed to generate True Qi by themselves, as he breathed in the True Qi of the chamber, he couldn''t see any reduction in True Qi from the stones!


    Such extravagance!


    This was absolutely extravagant!


    Practicing in this chamber, one wouldn''t have to worry about running out of True Qi; perhaps even after a hundred years, it wouldn''t be possible to completely absorb the True Qi of these Spirit Stones!


    "Ye Chen, this chamber is specifically for our clan''s disciples to cultivate in tranquility; you can comfortably practice here," Feng Ling said to Ye Chen, "Instructions for opening and closing the chamber''s formation are explained in the bamboo slips here, once you''re done cultivating, come out of the chamber, and I''ll meet with you again."


    "Thank you, Senior Feng Ling," Ye Chen expressed his gratitude to Feng Ling, then walked into the chamber.


    After that, Feng Ling no longer disrupted Ye Chen''s cultivation and left the chamber.


    Boom!


    Once Feng Ling had left, Ye Chen followed the instructions on the bamboo slips in the chamber, sealed the chamber, and then sat down to begin his practice.


    "Finally, I can fully concentrate on breaking through the last step of the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the ''Gang Yuan Chapter''¡ªTrue Thunder Extreme Change!"


    "Who knows what the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture will be like! What kind of cultivation technique it will be!"


    Ye Chen, who sat down, had an immeasurable expectation in his eyes.


    He was looking forward to completing the True Thunder Extreme Change, entering the Starlight Tower again, and obtaining an even stronger second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    After muttering to himself, Ye Chen finally calmed his mind and spirit, closed his eyes, and profoundly entered the tranquil state necessary for the breakthrough.

 Chapter 240: Chapter 210: True Thunder Extreme Change!

    He had meditated in quietude for a full five days.


    During those five days, Ye Chen remained motionless, yet the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid within the Qi Sea of his body was undergoing earth-shattering changes!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    All the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Liquid was roiling and roaring within the Qi Sea, exploding and hissing.


    The rolling sounds of True Thunder began to resonate throughout the entire Qi Sea World!


    By the third day of Ye Chen''s meditation, mystical runes suddenly appeared within the endless True Qi Spirit Liquid of the Qi Sea.


    By the fifth day, these divine runes had completely enveloped the entire Qi Sea Gang Yuan Spirit Liquid within Ye Chen.


    These mystical runes were precisely those that could draw down the Nine Heavens True Thunder!


    To draw the Nine Heavens True Thunder and strike the Qi Sea Spiritual Liquid, causing the Gang Yuan True Qi to undergo an extreme transformation, that moment had arrived!


    When that moment came, Ye Chen, who had been sitting in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes. He formed a strange spell with his hands, and instantly, the chamber where he sat began to blaze with light.


    After the light flickered three or four times, it not only penetrated the chamber but also shone out of Azure Blue Mansion. Then, it passed through the entire ancient tomb outside of the mansion and spread to the outside of the tomb.


    In the end, the astonishing light even soared into the skies, reaching the expanse between the Nine Heavens!


    Such a divine and mysterious sight stunned countless onlookers.


    "Is Ye Chen attempting the ''True Thunder Extreme Change'' cultivation technique?!"


    "What kind of technique is this, to bring about such a grand phenomenon!"


    Boom!


    Almost the moment the light burst out of the chamber, "Phoenix Spirit" appeared outside the chamber where Ye Chen was cultivating, her eyes wide as she beheld the sky-reaching light emanating from Azure Blue Mansion.


    She had never seen such a momentous phenomenon before. From the phenomenon alone, it was evident that the cultivation technique Ye Chen practiced was no ordinary thing!


    "Zhu Er, guard the entire Azure Blue Mansion. Do not let anyone enter and disturb Ye Chen''s cultivation!"


    Phoenix Spirit''s voice rang out. The instant her command was issued, the Sky-shocking Giant Spider, which had escorted Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to meet the Phoenix Spirit, materialized within the Central Mansion.


    Whoosh!


    The Sky-shocking Giant Spider nodded its colossal head. Its tremendous claws smacked down onto the ground and then vanished in an instant. In the next moment, the monstrous claw reappeared right at the dark entrance of Azure Blue Mansion.


    Guarding!


    This was the Sky-shocking Giant Spider guarding Azure Blue Mansion!


    Outside Azure Blue Mansion, in the waters of Azure Blue Lake, when the sky-piercing light shot up from the mansion, a golden Demon Carp was completely dumbfounded.


    "This... What is this..."


    The golden Demon Carp had never seen such a display of magnificent light coming from Azure Blue Mansion, and had no idea what it signified.


    Boom!


    As the golden Demon Carp stood stunned, Tiger Demon Teng, standing over the colossal marsh deep within the ancient tomb, towering over three hundred meters tall with a human body and a tiger head, shrouded in billowing dark qi, also turned its vast and mysterious eyes towards the direction of Azure Blue Lake, observing the column of light that ascended to the heavens.


    "Azure Blue Lake, Azure Blue Mansion?"


    "Now, it must be those Tomb Explorers within the Azure Blue Mansion. With such a phenomenon occurring, could it be that someone in the later stages of the Spirit Sea is breaking through a realm, attracting the descent of the Heavenly Void Laws?"


    "It doesn''t seem like it, this doesn''t resemble the signs of Heavenly Void Laws descending..."


    "It appears that among those who entered the ancient tomb this time, there indeed exists a phenomenal genius. There''s been a great discovery within Azure Blue Mansion."


    "Excellent, excellent. Regardless of whatever phenomenon or exceptional talent it may be, all will serve as a bridal garment for the Heavenly Saint Lord!"


    After murmuring to himself, Tiger Demon Teng, uncharacteristically, refrained from going to check Azure Blue Lake and instead turned its head, fixing its gaze on the gigantic bronze coffin within the vast marsh below.


    At that moment, two more Demon Towers on the bronze coffin were about to completely light up with brilliance!


    One could also hear the sounds of stirring from within the bronze coffin!


    Outside the ancient tomb.


    As the light emerged from the ancient tomb, the six powerful beings¡ªDaoist Yunyang, Daoist Yun Fang, Fairy Ni Xia, Daoist Chi Mei, Daoist Wine Sword, and Fairy Jia Luo¡ªall awoke from their meditation.


    "The light from the ancient tomb!"


    Observing the light that burst forth from the ancient tomb, these six formidable characters exchanged glances, all showing a hint of astonishment.


    This was the first time they had seen such a phenomenon coming from the ancient tomb since dispatching Tomb Explorers there.


    ```


    "It''s been over a month, they''ve been inside the ancient tomb for over a month now!"


    "Who knows what they''ve found by now?"


    "And what does this phenomenon signify?"


    The six great powers, unable to enter the ancient tomb, had no idea what caused this radiance to emanate from within; they could only continue their wait outside the tomb.


    Not just the six great powers were astonished, even the warriors from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom who were still waiting outside Demon Burial Abyss were shocked into taking flight upon seeing the light bursting from within the abyss.


    Following the light, they looked up into the sky, with everyone''s mouth gaping open.


    The light flickered, lasting only a moment before, in the next instant, reaching the expanse between the Nine Heavens.


    Subsequently, everyone heard thunderous sounds coming from the Nine Heavens and saw countless purple lightning bolts furiously rolling in the sky above!


    While the sounds of this thunder reverberated through heaven and earth, what no one knew was that, within the tomb, in the secret chamber of the Inner Mansion of Azure Blue Mansion, where Ye Chen was cultivating, the Nine Heavens True Thunder was also reverberating within the Qi Sea inside his body.


    As if piercing through the barriers of the void, endless Nine Heavens True Thunder, unseen by the world outside, suddenly blasted into Ye Chen''s Qi Sea in an instant.


    The Nine Heavens True Thunder had truly been drawn into the Qi Sea by Ye Chen using spells!


    At that moment, below Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, there surged an endless, turbulent ocean of Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Fluid.


    Looking up at the Qi Sea above, one could see incomparably huge purple True Thunderbolts as thick as a man, bristling wildly within Ye Chen''s entire Qi Sea World.


    The next moment, the skyful of massive thunderbolts, all struck towards the roiling Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Fluid below.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the Nine Heavens True Thunder struck down, the silver Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Fluid surged incessantly, and the vast Spiritual Fluid, even following the massive purple True Thunderbolts, began to diffuse into the void.


    True Thunder struck down, Spiritual Fluid soared!


    Ye Chen''s entire Qi Sea World turned into a chaotic ocean!


    Inside, his Inner World was in chaos, but Ye Chen, on the outside, was immovable.


    All his Mind and Spirit were focused on controlling the changes of the True Thunder and the transformation of the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Fluid. His Mind and Spirit were awaiting the instant when the Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Fluid would undergo an extreme transformation.


    This state of affairs continued for three days.


    When Ye Chen had been cultivating in the secret chamber for a total of eight days, the rumbling thunder from the Nine Heavens finally ceased, and the wildly slashing Nine Heavens True Thunder in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea also vanished in an instant.


    Looking again at Ye Chen''s Gang Yuan True Qi Spirit Fluid, a change had occurred.


    The previously silver Spiritual Fluid had entirely transformed into a divine marvel of black Spiritual Fluid.


    True Thunder Extreme Change!


    This was indeed the manifestation of the completion of the True Thunder Extreme Change, Ye Chen''s inner Spiritual Fluid had transformed into a new, far more powerful Spiritual Fluid!


    It was the formation of this type of Spiritual Fluid that caused the slashing of the Nine Heavens True Thunder to cease!


    The instant this new Spiritual Fluid formed, Ye Chen felt the Divine Tower, standing firmly within his Qi Sea World, suddenly light up on the second layer.


    This signified that Ye Chen, having fully tackled the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Gang Yuan Chapter," was ready to step into the second chapter!


    As the Starlight Tower lit up, Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit filled with joy, the tower generated a tremendous suction force and instantly pulled Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit into the second layer of the Starlight Tower.


    This was Ye Chen''s first entry into the second layer of the Starlight Tower!


    In the first layer''s grand hall of Starlight Tower, there were five enormous burning Fire Altars, from which Ye Chen acquired the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Gang Yuan Chapter."


    "Gang Yuan Chapter" five layers of cultivation techniques "Meridian Refining Art," "Gang Yuan Mantra," "Gang Qi Transformation," "Void Instantaneous Change," and "True Thunder Extreme Change," were hidden within those five enormous burning Fire Altars.


    However, once Ye Chen stepped into the second layer of the Starlight Tower, the sights were completely different from the first layer.


    In this second layer, there were no enormous burning fire altars; the whole grand hall was empty, with just five fist-sized colossal drops of blood suspended in the center of the hall.


    These five colossal drops of blood were different colors, representing five divine marvels: gold, cyan, blue, red, and brown.


    But on the surface of each drop of blood, endless Divine Light flowed, looking inward, it was as if one could see divine beasts in them, roaring up to the heavens!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    No sooner had Ye Chen''s gaze focused on these five luminescent drops of blood than he felt an endless light erupting from the colossal blood drops, shining upon his Mind and Spirit.


    In this endless illumination, countless spells simultaneously transmitted into Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit.


    The foremost of these countless spells were: Primordial Star Scripture Second Chapter ¡ª Primordial Chapter!


    ```

 Chapter 241: Chapter 211 Five Great Divine Bloods

    "The first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture is called ''Gang Yuan Chapter'', and now I see the second chapter is named ''Primordial Chapter''!"


    Looking at the words "Primordial Chapter", Ye Chen couldn''t help but continue reading the spell below.


    The more he read, the more Ye Chen''s mind and spirit were shaken.


    When he practiced the "Gang Yuan Chapter", the peculiar cultivation method had already surprised Ye Chen; however, the training method of the "Primordial Chapter" seemed even more incredible to him!


    This was certainly not a cultivation method that could be found on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    After reading all of the spells thoroughly, Ye Chen gathered his thoughts and looked up at the five large drops of blood suspended in the air within the second floor''s great hall of Starlight Tower.


    Now, Ye Chen finally understood what these five drops of blood really were.


    The five drops of blood suspended in the middle of the second floor of Starlight Tower were the Divine Blood of five True Spirit Sacred Beasts!


    Five Great Divine Bloods!


    Ye Chen looked at the first drop of golden blood and could see a gigantic White Tiger Divine Beast roaring up to the heavens inside it!


    This Divine Beast White Tiger''s entire body was emitting a peculiar golden-white light, and its two whiskers were exceptionally long, flying about, and its back even had a pair of gigantic wings, making it look incomparably mythical!


    Then, looking at the second drop of azure blood, he could vaguely discern a gigantic Azure Dragon, snake-like with a beard, double-horns on its head, and five claws, roaring furiously!


    This second drop of blood was indeed from the Divine Beast "Azure Dragon"!


    And the third drop of blood, blue blood, was from the True Spirit Sacred Beast "Black Tortoise"! The fourth drop of blood, red blood, was from the "Vermilion Bird"! The fifth drop of blood, brown blood, was the blood of the "Qilin"!


    Azure Dragon Divine Blood! White Tiger Divine Blood! Vermilion Bird Divine Blood! Black Tortoise Divine Blood! Qilin Divine Blood!


    Inside the second floor of Starlight Tower, there were astonishingly the blood of five great Divine Beasts, and although there was only one drop of each, it was already astounding!


    Moreover, even more astonishing was that the cultivation method of the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Primordial Chapter", was associated with these five drops of Divine Blood!


    Boom!


    After completely understanding how to train in the "Primordial Chapter", with a move of his heart, Ye Chen flew towards the five drops of Divine Blood floating in the air above the second floor of Starlight Tower, and as he touched the five drops of Divine Blood, his mind and spirit, along with the five drops of Divine Blood, burst forth with light within the second floor of Starlight Tower, transmitting all to the outside of Starlight Tower, entering the newly formed Divine Marvel black Spiritual Liquid above the Qi Sea World.


    The five drops of Divine Blood floated in the Qi Sea World, above the endless Divine Marvel black Spiritual Liquid.


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit also looked towards these black Spiritual Liquids.


    "The Primordial Chapter''s spell is divided into three steps of cultivation!"


    "The first step is to cultivate ''Primordial True Liquid''. These Divine Marvel black Spiritual Liquids are the embryonic form of the Primordial True Liquid. The real Primordial True Liquid can freely transform into Gold Element True Liquid, Wood Element True Liquid, Water Element True Liquid, Fire True Liquid, and Earth Element True Liquid!


    Once it reaches the level where it can freely transform into any of the Five Elements True Liquids, the first step ''Primordial True Liquid'' cultivation will be successful!"


    "Primordial True Liquid is a special True Qi Spiritual Fluid that is far more powerful than Gang Yuan True Qi, and its power is even comparable to the Rotating Pill True Qi infused with the five Heavenly Void Laws by those in the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    Thinking about the description of "Primordial True Liquid" in the "Primordial Chapter", Ye Chen marveled.


    "The second step of the Primordial Chapter''s cultivation is to cultivate the ''Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers''!"


    At this thought, Ye Chen''s gaze shifted from the Divine Marvel black Spiritual Liquid below to the five drops of True Spirit Sacred Beasts'' Divine Blood above!


    "These five drops of Divine Blood can each cultivate five different Dharma Embodiments, specifically, the Gold Element ''White Tiger Physique'', the Wood Element ''Azure Dragon Physique'', the Water Element ''Black Tortoise Physique'', the Fire Element ''Vermilion Bird Physique'', and the Earth Element ''Qilin Dharma Form''!"


    "Each of these Physiques extracts five major Divine Skills from the myriad of techniques of the five Divine Beasts: the Gold Element White Tiger Physique specializes in attack Divine Skills, the Wood Element Azure Dragon Physique in healing Divine Skills, the Water Element Black Tortoise Physique in strength Divine Skills, the Fire Element Vermilion Bird Physique in speed Divine Skills, and the Earth Element Qilin Dharma Form in defense Divine Skills!"


    "These Five Elements Physiques can only be invoked after the first step ''Primordial True Liquid'' cultivation is completed and transformed into a single element True Liquid!


    When my True Liquid is entirely transformed into Fire True Liquid, the Fire Element Physique ''Vermilion Bird Physique'' can be invoked, and when my True Liquid is entirely transformed into Wood Element True Liquid, the Wood Element Physique ''Azure Dragon Physique'' can be invoked..."


    Thinking of the Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers described in the spell of the "Primordial Chapter", Ye Chen felt an overwhelming surge of enthusiasm. He would undoubtedly complete the second step of the Primordial Chapter''s cultivation!


    "The third step of the Primordial Chapter''s cultivation is for the Five Great Divine Bloods to enter the True Liquid. In the second step, only a part of the Divine Power of these five drops of Divine Blood can be invoked. As more and more Primordial True Liquid is cultivated, the more Divine Power of the blood can be invoked.


    When all the Divine Power of the five drops of Divine Blood can be invoked, and the drops are let into the Primordial True Liquid, it becomes possible to make a breakthrough to the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    The three steps of the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Primordial Chapter, are to cultivate "Primordial True Liquid", the "Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers", and the "Five Great Divine Bloods into True Liquid".


    These three steps are what Ye Chen is about to cultivate!


    After completely understanding how to train in these three steps, with a thought, Ye Chen withdrew from the Qi Sea World and returned to his physical body seated in meditation in the secret chamber.


    Then, Ye Chen seated in the secret chamber of the Azure Blue Mansion''s Inner Mansion, commenced his cultivation of the first step, "Primordial True Liquid".


    This cultivation would take another six days.

 Chapter 242: Chapter 211 Five Great Divine Bloods_2

    In these six days, the divine black Spiritual Liquid within Ye Chen''s body underwent changes each day.


    Today, as the divine black Spiritual Liquid suddenly settled down from its transformations, reaching the critical point of anomaly, Ye Chen, who was meditating in the lotus position, finally began the true conversion of the "Primordial True Liquid"!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With a thought from Ye Chen''s Divine Sense, the divine black Spiritual Liquid below roiled tumultuously, and in the flash when the words "Gold Element True Liquid" emerged from Ye Chen''s Divine Sense.


    With a "whoosh" sound, as if a gust of wind swept through the endless divine black Spiritual Liquid in the Qi Sea, in just an instant, the black liquid transformed into a gold and white color!


    This gold and white Spiritual Liquid was none other than the Gold Element True Liquid from the Five Elements True Liquid!


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense moved again.


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, the color of this Gold Element True Liquid changed to a verdant green.


    Wood Element True Liquid, this was unmistakably the color of the Wood Element True Liquid!


    It didn''t stop there, as Ye Chen''s Divine Sense continued to drive the True Liquid''s transformations, the liquid successively changed into the blue Water Element True Liquid, the red Fire Element True Liquid, and the brown Earth Element True Liquid!


    Even at the end, whenever Ye Chen''s Divine Sense concentrated on a particular True Liquid, all the True Liquid in the Qi Sea took on that type''s color.


    It was only when Ye Chen ceased driving it with his Divine Sense that all the Spiritual Liquid returned to its original black color.


    Primordial True Liquid!


    After six days, Ye Chen had finally succeeded in cultivating the first step of the "Primordial Chapter," the Primordial True Liquid!


    After succeeding in cultivation, Ye Chen did not stop.


    Once he had succeeded in cultivating the Primordial True Liquid, he could begin cultivating the Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers!


    Thinking this, Ye Chen rose from his sitting position.


    "Swoosh!"


    With a movement, he flew into the void of the secret chamber.


    This secret chamber was hundreds of yards in size, and as Ye Chen had just flown into the void, his True Qi transformed into Fire True Liquid.


    In the Qi Sea, the endless fiery-red True Liquid formed in an instant and surged toward the "Vermilion Bird" Divine Blood, floating above the True Liquid.


    Zoom!


    The drop of "Vermilion Bird" Divine Blood in the void, agitated by the boundless Fire True Liquid, lit up with a tenth of its size bursting into brilliance.


    In the moment that the drop of Divine Blood shone brightly, Ye Chen, who had flown into the void of the secret chamber, suddenly manifested an incredibly mysterious Vermilion Bird Physique!


    This was a physique of extreme divine mystery, with giant fiery-red wings, eyes that radiated endless flame, and each feather overflowing with a rosy glow, as if they harnessed the ultimate spirit of fire!


    And this spirit of fire, at this moment, endowed Ye Chen with the speed-related Dharma Embodiment Divine Power of the Vermilion Bird!


    Boom!


    In the instant the Vermilion Bird Physique materialized, Ye Chen in the void streaked across as a flare of light, vanishing from sight, and the next moment, he appeared at another corner of the hundreds of yards wide area.


    This speed was even faster than when Ye Chen activated his Void Instantaneous Change Divine Power!


    "Fast, this Vermilion Bird Great Divine Power specializes in speed, and it''s indeed incomparably swift! With my current Fire True Liquid, only enough to stir up one-tenth of the Vermilion Bird Divine Blood''s potency, my speed has surpassed Void Instantaneous Change!


    If I utilize this Divine Power to its extreme, truly igniting an entire drop of Vermilion Bird Divine Blood, I fear my speed could surpass countless warriors of the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    The space in the secret chamber was too small for Ye Chen to fully unleash his abilities, so he halted in the void.


    Next, the Primordial True Liquid inside him changed again, this time into Gold Element True Liquid.


    This Gold Element True Liquid, when stimulated, could likewise invoke one-tenth of the white tiger Divine Blood''s power from the Five Great Divine Bloods floating above the Qi Sea.


    Boom!


    Once a tenth of the White Tiger Divine Blood was lit, a White Tiger Physique emerged around Ye Chen, and he felt his entire aura filled with an unparalleled sharpness and an intent to slaughter.


    White Tiger Great Divine Power, specializing in attack!


    Ye Chen felt that, were he to fully exert it, he could even shatter the entire secret chamber!


    Next, Ye Chen consecutively summoned the remaining three of the five great divine bloods and familiarized himself with the remaining three types of Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers.


    Once he was familiar with everything, Ye Chen nodded in satisfaction.


    "Primordial Chapter, the second step, the more Primordial True Liquid I have, the stronger the might of the Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers I manifest with the five great divine bloods. This process needs to be improved step by step. I''m currently at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea, and I don''t have enough Primordial True Liquid!"


    "However, at the current stage, although I can only summon one-tenth of the might of the five great divine bloods, I feel confident that I''m already capable of battling against early-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts and Demon Kings!"


    Ye Chen felt the changes in his own strength.


    Feeling it, of course, couldn''t compare to the deeper understanding of strength from real combat.


    After sensing the changes in his strength for a while, Ye Chen could hardly wait to leave the secret chamber and find a place to truly test his mettle in battle!


    Ye Chen had already spent eight days on the Gang Yuan Extreme Change and another six days cultivating the "Primordial Chapter" subsequently.


    Fourteen days had passed, which was almost half the month he had been given at the Azure Blue Mansion.


    He had cultivated for sufficiently long; now, Ye Chen planned to stop cultivating for a while and properly test the might of his new skills.


    After getting familiar with the new skills he had acquired, he''d contemplate the next steps.


    Boom!


    With this thought, Ye Chen landed on the floor of the secret chamber.


    After fourteen days of arduous cultivation, entering the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, cultivating the Primordial True Liquid, and obtaining the five great divine bloods and five types of Dharma Embodiment Great Divine Powers, Ye Chen''s demeanor became increasingly composure, and within his every move, there was an indescribable aura of majesty.


    "I wonder how Jiang Yao''s cultivation is going?"


    "I should go out and take a look. If Jiang Yao hasn''t finished cultivating, I could try fighting those giant spiders guarding the secret cave again."


    "This time, without using the ''King of Earth Fragrance Flowers,'' let''s see if I can overcome those early-stage Rotating Pill Realm Demon Kings!"


    Ye Chen chuckled lightly.


    Amidst the rumbling sounds, Ye Chen opened the great door of the secret chamber.


    As Ye Chen stepped out of the secret chamber, with a flash in the void, "Feng Ling" appeared directly in front of him.


    "Ye Chen, have you finished cultivating?" Feng Ling''s gaze sized up Ye Chen from head to toe.


    Feng Ling had been amazed by the spectacle of Ye Chen summoning Nine Heavens True Thunder before, and now Feng Ling felt even more astonished by the difference in Ye Chen''s aura.


    Clearly, Ye Chen had indeed made significant gains over these few days!


    "I''ve finished cultivating," Ye Chen said with a smile to Lord Feng Ling, "Lord Feng Ling, how''s Jiang Yao''s cultivation coming along?"


    "She''s still undergoing her Bloodline Awakening. Ye Chen, your progress is significant, and Jiang Yao''s gains are likely to be extraordinary as well!" Feng Ling said.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Jiang Yao had the True Phoenix Bloodline within her, which, according to legend, originated from the divine beast, the Phoenix.


    The divine beast, the Phoenix, was certainly no weaker than the divine beasts from which Ye Chen had received those five drops of blood.


    Moreover, Ye Chen only received five drops of blood, whereas Jiang Yao had the actual Bloodline Secret Skills flowing within her body. Just thinking about it, one knew Jiang Yao''s gains wouldn''t be minor!


    Of course, Ye Chen wanted Jiang Yao to be stronger. He knew the girl''s thoughts. Knowing her identity, Jiang Yao must have been restless; without heading to the Minor Spirit Realm promptly, Jiang Yao would not be truly at peace.


    "Jiang Yao, don''t worry, I''ll accompany you to the Minor Spirit Realm!" Ye Chen murmured to himself.


    Having entered the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen was more certain about his future path of cultivation. His path might differ from Jiang Yao''s, but it was still a grand path leading to the road of unparalleled power!


    "Ye Chen, there are still sixteen days before the prohibition will send you away. What are your plans for now?" Feng Ling asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked towards Feng Ling, "Predecessor Feng Ling, I was just about to discuss this with you. I''ve just finished cultivating and would like to test my new combat power. I''m thinking of going back to those giant spiders guarding the Outer Mansion and challenge them once more."


    "Previously, Jiang Yao and I could barely overpower those early-stage Rotating Pill Realm Demon Kings by relying on a miraculous flower. Now, I feel that I have the power to fight them."


    "Battling early-stage Rotating Pill Realm Demon Kings?" Feng Ling took a look at Ye Chen, expressing amazement, "Ye Chen, you''re not from the Divine Phoenix Clan, but your progress is faster than many from the clan!"


    Speaking of which, Feng Ling''s feathers shone with a light as if exuding a smile, "If you want to test your combat power, why bother going to the Outer Mansion to challenge those giant spiders? Those spiders are merely part of the array that guards the secret cave of the Outer Mansion and are not worthy opponents."


    "Ye Chen, I do know of a treasure within the Azure Blue Mansion that can serve as your opponent. Are you interested in taking up the challenge?"

 Chapter 243: Chapter 212: Battle Spirit Hall

    Phoenix Spirit''s words had also piqued Ye Chen''s interest.


    "A treasure as my opponent?"


    "What kind of treasure? Can it really have battle strength equivalent to the Rotating Pill Realm and be able to fight?"


    "Interested, Lady Phoenix Spirit? Of course, I''m interested in taking on the challenge."


    Ye Chen was curious to see for himself the opponent that Phoenix Spirit said was more suitable than the giant spider in the secret cave.


    Phoenix Spirit played coy and did not explain straight away, she smiled and said, "Come on, once we get there, you''ll know when you see them."


    After speaking, Phoenix Spirit led the way, with Ye Chen following her, moving through the corridors within the Azure Blue Mansion.


    After passing through dozens of corridors, Phoenix Spirit stopped outside a side hall.


    "Is it here?"


    Ye Chen stopped behind Phoenix Spirit and looked at the side hall. The doors were tightly shut, and the plaque above bore three large characters¡ª"Battle Spirit Hall."


    "Battle Spirit Hall?"


    "My opponent is inside this Battle Spirit Hall?"


    A thought stirred in Ye Chen''s heart. In that moment, Phoenix Spirit lightly tapped towards the doors of the Battle Spirit Hall with her feathered wings, and with a resounding "boom," the doors swung open.


    Initially, Ye Chen thought the side hall would be just an ordinary great hall, but upon following Phoenix Spirit inside the Battle Spirit Hall, he was amazed to find that it was a place like no other!


    Stepping into the Battle Spirit Hall was like stepping into a vast and immense world. Within this realm stood countless statues, each three to four meters tall and carved from giant Spirit Stones that radiated vast True Qi!


    The ground of the Battle Spirit Hall was also paved with countless Spirit Stones, linked with the statues. The quantity of Spirit Stones within the entire hall was truly staggering!


    The Spirit Stones were astonishing, and so was the number of statues. At a single glance, Ye Chen couldn''t even begin to count how many there were. There must be thousands upon thousands!


    At this point, Phoenix Spirit finally said with a smile, "Ye Chen, your opponents are these statues!"


    These statues were the treasures that Phoenix Spirit said could battle him?


    Phoenix Spirit''s words made Ye Chen scrutinize the statues even more closely.


    Ye Chen noticed that every single one of the numerous statues had a different face. And what was even more miraculous was that each statue had ice-blue Spiritual Patterns on their foreheads, identical to the Spiritual Patterns that appeared on Jiang Yao''s forehead when activating her bloodline secret methods!


    Could it be that these statues were all inscribed based on members of the Divine Phoenix Clan?


    As Ye Chen was pondering, Phoenix Spirit began to explain, "Ye Chen, this ''Battle Spirit Hall'' represents a battle sanctuary of our Divine Phoenix Clan. These statues, known as ''Battle Spirit Statues,'' were placed here."


    "Members of my Divine Phoenix Clan, when they cultivate to the utmost limit of each realm and wish to break through to the next realm, they will seek out the clan''s great mystics. These mystics would engrave their combat techniques into the statutes, turning them into ''Battle Spirit Statues,'' and placing them in numerous Azure Blue Mansions."


    "With countless clan members of the Divine Phoenix Clan inscribing a Battle Spirit Statue at each realm, ultimately a multitude of Battle Spirit Statues are formed.


    These statues possess battle strength across various realms, from the first to the twelfth layer of the True Qi Realm, to the early, middle, and late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, the early, middle, and late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, the early, middle, and late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and there are even statues of Void Sky True Gods!"


    "Countless statues, countless clan members'' combat techniques from different stages; they are the best opponents you could ask for and provide an excellent means for our clan members to enhance their strength!"


    "Ye Chen, what do you think? Are not these opponents perfect for testing your newly cultivated battle strength?"


    Phoenix Spirit''s words caused Ye Chen''s eyes to brighten.


    "Lady Phoenix Spirit, these statues are actually inscribed based on the Divine Phoenix Clan members'' techniques!"


    "Indeed, they make perfect opponents, simply ideal!"


    The Battle Spirit Statues, representing the combat techniques of countless Divine Phoenix Clan members, were of course far superior opponents compared to the giant spider guarding the secret cave.


    Ye Chen could hardly wait to witness the techniques of these Battle Spirit Statues and experience the Divine Phoenix Clan members'' techniques!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s eagerness, Phoenix Spirit chuckled, "Each grand realm''s Battle Spirit Statues are located in one great hall. Ye Chen, this great hall I''ve brought you into contains all the Rotating Pill level statues."


    "From the early, to the middle, to the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, we have them all! The deeper you go into the hall, the more powerful the statues become. Try challenging the early-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit Statues here first, Ye Chen."


    "But don''t underestimate them; these Battle Spirit Statues are left by Divine Phoenix Clan members before their breakthroughs, representing their cultivation achievements of the time. Although they don''t completely represent the person, having been inscribed by great mystics, they nearly possess the full battle strength of those individuals."


    "Even the early-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit Statues are not to be taken lightly," Phoenix Spirit warned Ye Chen.


    "Lady Phoenix Spirit, I will be cautious," Ye Chen nodded, then addressed Phoenix Spirit, "How are these Battle Spirit Statues activated?"


    Phoenix Spirit explained, "Within the Divine Phoenix Clan, every member who contributes a Battle Spirit Statue receives a ''Battle Spirit Token.'' By holding a Battle Spirit Token, one can enter the Battle Spirit Hall to challenge statues. One token allows for a challenge against ten different Battle Spirit Statues."


    Having said this, Phoenix Spirit sighed faintly, "However, now this Azure Blue Mansion has fallen to the lower realm. No clan members come here to challenge these Battle Spirit Statues anymore, so there''s no need to follow the previous challenge rules. Ye Chen, I''ve already unlocked the battle restrictions of this Battle Spirit Hall for you, feel free to challenge any of the statues here."


    "Challenge as many as you like, there are no limits."


    "As for how to activate these Battle Spirit Statues, you only need to use your Divine Sense to completely envelop the statue you wish to battle, and the Battle Spirit Statue will release a Battle Spirit to fight against you,"


    "Once the battle begins, the protective prohibition below will be activated, and your battle area will be above the statue, in the sky."


    "Ye Chen, start selecting your combatant and challenge them!" Finally, Phoenix Spirit turned to Ye Chen and spoke.


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and set his gaze upon the statues.


    He didn''t overestimate himself, the first opponent he chose was the Battle Spirit Statue placed on the outermost area.


    When Ye Chen''s Divine Sense completely enveloped this particular Battle Spirit Statue, it began to shine brightly, and the Earth Spirit Stone beneath it also lit up.


    Then, with a "boom", immense True Qi was poured forth, and a figure burst out from the Battle Spirit Statue, flying directly into the sky.


    This figure was handsome and well-built, as lifelike as any real person, and was the Battle Spirit of a male warrior from the Divine Phoenix Clan. Once it took to the sky, its eyes immediately found Ye Chen below.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen no longer hesitated. His figure shifted, and instantly, he was also in the sky.


    Phoenix Spirit also flew up and stood at a distance in the sky.


    After both Ye Chen and the Battle Spirit reached the sky, the Battle Spirit actually launched the first attack, its vast True Qi bursting forth, while the Spiritual Patterns on its forehead shone with a mysterious divine brilliance.


    Next, the size of the Battle Spirit rapidly expanded, and in an instant, it transformed into a colossal figure over eighty zhang tall, its entire form pulsating with endless earth elemental laws'' aura.


    As the elemental law aura flickered, the Battle Spirit, now swollen in size like a colossal beast, charged straight toward Ye Chen.


    Clearly, the Battle Spirit had directly employed its Rotating Pill level abilities, using a tremendously powerful Cultivation Technique to confront Ye Chen.


    "Rotating Pill level combat skills, indeed exceptional!"


    Watching the approaching Battle Spirit, and seeing the enormous figure that had grown to over eighty zhang, Ye Chen also inhaled deeply.


    He had never seen this kind of fighting method!


    This was his first time battling someone of the Rotating Pill level, and moreover, a member of the Divine Phoenix Clan at that level, which caused Ye Chen''s battle spirit to surge.


    "Come on!"


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s surging True Qi was also unleashed, and the newly cultivated, extraordinarily unique Primordial True Liquid immediately turned into billowing black smoke, rolling out to envelop an area several hundred zhang around him.


    Although Ye Chen''s stature was smaller than that of the expanding Battle Spirit, his aura in no way felt inferior.


    Boom, boom, boom!


    On one side was the Battle Spirit hurtling crazily towards him, its forceful impact even causing a violent gale to ripple through the sky.


    On the other side, Ye Chen, shrouded in billowing black smoke, also unleashed his technique at once. The Nine Transformation Fighting Body was activated, and Ye Chen''s whole body shimmered with the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern. His strength rapidly increasing, he too shot toward the Battle Spirit.


    When these two powers collided, the entire sky burst forth with a tremendous light of explosion, and endless shockwaves even rolled out for thousands of zhang. If it weren''t for the protective prohibition guarding the other Battle Spirit Statues below, that explosive shockwave could have blown away all the unactivated statues!


    Phoenix Spirit, observing the battle, remained unmoved amidst the billowing shockwaves, but her gaze worriedly turned towards the collision point of the two forces.


    This was Ye Chen''s first time battling a power of the Rotating Pill level. Though Ye Chen was confident, she still worried that he might be injured.


    In Phoenix Spirit''s gaze, amid the massive light of the explosion, both figures in the sky were not knocked away but instead, rose up again.


    In this first exchange, Ye Chen indeed withstood the impact of the Battle Spirit!


    The Battle Spirit, finding that one move hadn''t been enough to suppress Ye Chen, underwent another transformation. Amidst the flickering of the Spiritual Patterns on its forehead, its stature soared again, reaching an imposing height of more than a hundred zhang, turning into an astounding giant!


    At the same time, its body turned a greyish-brown color, which was the furious stimulation of the earth elemental laws. The Battle Spirit at this moment was nothing short of a powerful, surging mountain!


    Seeing the Battle Spirit''s body enlarge again, Ye Chen, who was in combat with it, revealed a trace of solemnity in his eyes.


    The previous exchange, though not losing ground, had nevertheless given Ye Chen a sense of the Battle Spirit''s terror; the power of the Rotating Pill level was indeed astonishing.


    If it weren''t for the fact that his newly cultivated Primordial True Liquid could rival Rotating Pill level True Qi, and he had the technique of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body''s Fourth Transformation, he might well have been eliminated by the Battle Spirit on that crash!


    And now, as the Battle Spirit''s aura soared once more, it was clear that he couldn''t counter with the same moves as before.


    Realizing this, as the Battle Spirit changed its strategy, Ye Chen varied his tactics as well.


    Boom!


    Almost instantly, the billowing black True Qi around Ye Chen transformed into a dazzling blue light, and at the same time, a gigantic Black Tortoise Physique phantom emerged outside his body.


    Upon the emergence of the Black Tortoise Physique phantom, it enshrouded an area of several hundred zhang, and with a heavenward roar, Ye Chen''s surrounding blue light immediately turned into myriad blue droplets, encircling his entire body.


    Each blue droplet seemed to contain a tremendous force, and the myriad droplets radiated a power that stirred heaven and earth.


    This was clearly the grand divine technique of the Black Tortoise power!

 Chapter 244: Chapter 213 Ye Chens Methods

    In the instant that myriad blue water droplets formed, Ye Chen gently pointed towards the front.


    The thousands of blue droplets burst forth towards the Battle Spirit, the immense power of the water droplets even compressed and exploded the air in their path, issuing a muffled roar!


    Almost in the blink of an eye, the blue water droplets collided with the Battle Spirit, whose body had turned to a grayish-brown color and swelled to over a hundred zhang high as it surged towards him.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Like meteorites striking a giant mountain, each blue water droplet that fell upon the Battle Spirit made it let out a stifled grunt, and with each hit, its grayish-brown aura weakened.


    When the tens of thousands of blue water droplets had all struck the Battle Spirit in a flash, the massive Spirit was even smashed down from the sky, falling onto the protective Prohibition below!


    And the surging grayish-brown aura of the Battle Spirit was completely shattered!


    This scene, witnessed by the Phoenix Spirit from outside the arena, left her utterly astounded.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had journeyed through the countless Secret Caves of the Outer Mansion together, Phoenix Spirit had seen Ye Chen''s methods; at that time, Ye Chen had still needed the King of Earth Fragrance Flowers to deal with a weak Rotating Pill Realm spider!


    But now, in just half a month''s time, the new technique that Ye Chen had cultivated was powerful enough to repel the immensely strong Battle Spirit!


    One must know that even the weakest Battle Spirit in the Battle Spirit Hall still represented a Rotating Pill Realm master of the Divine Phoenix Clan, far more formidable than those Rotating Pill Realm spiders guarding the Secret Caves.


    If Ye Chen were to face those Secret Cave spiders now, he could probably kill them all with just the sheer force of these massive water droplets!


    What shocked Phoenix Spirit even more was the terrifying Divine Beast Dharma Embodiment surrounding Ye Chen''s body!


    She felt that this Divine Beast Dharma Embodiment gave her a sensation almost similar to that of the True Spirit Sacred Phoenix!


    The only surprise for Phoenix Spirit was that Ye Chen seemed not to have obtained the complete combat power of this Divine Beast Dharma Embodiment, but just an augmentation of one kind of strength.


    What Phoenix Spirit didn''t know was that Ye Chen''s Black Tortoise Strength Great Divine Skill was just one of the many Divine Skills of the Black Tortoise Sacred Beast, and even the mere strength skill was unfathomably powerful. If Ye Chen were to truly obtain all the Divine Skills of the Black Tortoise Sacred Beast, he would be a match for a Heavenly Saint or even a Void Sky True God!


    However, such a stage would likely be beyond the methods of the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    The method Ye Chen mastered now, the second chapter, didn''t require the full techniques of the Black Tortoise Sacred Beast; just the power of strength alone was already staggering, and it had already given Ye Chen the true ability to engage with Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses!


    Moreover, Ye Chen had more than just this one method; he had four other techniques from the four other Divine Beasts that he had not yet employed!


    Bang!


    On the ground, the Battle Spirit that had been smashed onto the Prohibition once again flew upwards.


    Without expending all its strength, this Battle Spirit simply would not cease fighting and continued to launch attacks at Ye Chen.


    This time, the Battle Spirit actually opened its mouth and spewed out a walnut-sized brown Rotating Pill.


    Rotating Pill!


    This was unmistakably the Battle Spirit''s strongest technique fused with the Earth Element Laws - its Life Rotating Pill that it had cultivated!


    Unexpectedly, the Battle Spirit triggered by the statue could actually spit out a Rotating Pill; evidently, the Great Divine Practitioner who inscribed the statue had considered the "Rotating Pill" ¨C the strongest technique of the Pill Realm warriors ¨C in the statue''s combat power!


    The moment this tiny brown Rotating Pill was expelled, the whole world seemed to change drastically as if the entire heavens and earth were obscured by dense earthy qi. Moreover, the terrifying aspect was that the re-ascended Battle Spirit''s massive body instantly shrank rapidly, concentrating all its power at an extreme speed.


    In the end, the Battle Spirit triggered by the statue had condensed into an ultimate point, entirely merging into the Rotating Pill.


    All the power of True Qi was completely focused on this Rotating Pill, erupting entirely.


    In nearly half a breath''s time, the Rotating Pill split into two, two into four, and eventually turned into countless grayish-brown pills.


    In the instant that these countless grayish-brown pills were formed, the entire void seemed to be locked in place.


    Ye Chen suddenly felt as if he couldn''t move at all, but those countless grayish-brown pills were already hurtling toward him simultaneously.


    If Ye Chen were aware of this technique, he would certainly realize that it was none other than the Law Domain, a capability only possessed by powerful Rotating Pill Realm fighters!


    Legends say that powerful late-stage Rotating Pill warriors could effortlessly seal a piece of the void with a wave of their hand, bringing all within it to a standstill!


    Although the Battle Spirit Ye Chen faced could not reach the point of locking space and creating Prohibitions with a mere gesture, at the full eruption of its Rotating Pill power, it had still successfully locked down Ye Chen for a moment.


    In that moment, the countless pills bursting towards him could potentially defeat Ye Chen on the spot!


    Just as the countless pills were about to smash onto Ye Chen''s body, his Divine Sense, which already encompassed dozens of miles of sky, shifted with a thought, and in that instant, Ye Chen, who had been locked in place, vanished from the void.


    The next moment, Ye Chen reappeared hundreds of meters away.


    Void Instantaneous Change!


    While the Rotating Pill had restrained Ye Chen''s body, it couldn''t confine his Divine Sense, which still allowed him to Instantaneously Move through his Divine Sense''s activation!


    Having dodged that terrible strike, Ye Chen didn''t give the Battle Spirit any chance, and with a great grasp, the Black Fire Sword appeared in his hand. Then Ye Chen brandished the sword towards the countless pills.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Sword Shadows swept across the sky, carrying with them Ye Chen''s boundless Primordial True Liquid strength, and the might of his mid-tier Sword Formation, "Heavenly Gang Sword Formation," directly slashing upon the myriad pills.


    Then, a terrible explosion swept through the entire void!


    Endless Sword Intents rolled and boundless Primordial True Qi surged, until at last, the Battle Spirit''s Rotating Pill power was completely crushed!


    When the void once again fell silent, Ye Chen reached out to call back the Black Fire Sword into his grasp.


    Victory!


    Facing the Rotating Pill, Ye Chen, with his myriad of techniques unleashed, had finally narrowly secured victory!


    "Ye Chen."


    The Phoenix Spirit flew towards Ye Chen. His dazzling array of powerful techniques had completely changed the Phoenix Spirit''s view of him.


    Ye Chen smiled gently at the approaching Phoenix Spirit, but in his heart, there was no relaxation from his victory.


    The feeling of being immobilized in an instant still left him somewhat apprehensive.


    If he didn''t have the Void Instantaneous Change Technique, if that immobilization had been stronger, not only restraining his body but also his Divine Sense, he might have lost to the Battle Spirit.


    Ye Chen had heard from Fairy Jia Luo that a powerful Rotating Pill could sense Divine Sense.


    Against this Battle Spirit, his technique was sufficient, but against stronger opponents in the middle or later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, he feared it would lead to defeat.


    "More power is needed, the fight must go on!"


    The narrow victory didn''t make Ye Chen arrogant. After saluting the Phoenix Spirit, he immediately sat down in the void to assimilate the gains and losses from the battle.


    After a short while, Ye Chen stood up again; his Divine Sense enveloped another Battle Spirit statue and triggered a second Battle Spirit to fight!


    From this day on, Ye Chen plunged into a frenzied cycle of battle, comprehension, and more battle within the Battle Spirit Hall!


    On the first day, Ye Chen fought against eight Battle Spirits, and on the second day, against six more. After thirteen days in the Battle Spirit Hall, the number of Battle Spirits he had fought reached a total of eighty-four!


    Ye Chen had his wins and losses with these eighty-four Battle Spirits but ultimately managed to defeat each one at least once! The three Battle Spirits that initially defeated him were later vanquished thoroughly by him!


    The Phoenix Spirit, who had been staying in the Battle Spirit Hall and watching Ye Chen''s battles, was growing increasingly amazed by his combat prowess.


    As one of the Phoenix Feathers from the Divine Artifact "Ice Snow Divine Fan" once held in the hands of the Void Sky True God, Phoenix Spirit had extraordinary insight. She could tell that Ye Chen had well over ten impressive techniques.


    There was the immensely powerful Nine Transformation Fighting Body, at least five types of Strange Sword Formations, the mysterious black True Qi that could change color and was just as formidable as the True Qi of the Rotating Pill Realm, and even five types of Dharma Embodiments that astonished the Phoenix Spirit!


    Especially those five Divine Beast Physiques, the Phoenix Spirit could sense that at the beginning, Ye Chen was not yet proficient in controlling these newly learned techniques.


    However, as the days went by and he fought more and more Battle Spirits, his mastery of these five Divine Beast Physiques grew increasingly adept.


    Whether it was the Vermilion Bird Physique that would rush thousands of feet in an instant with a sweep of its wings, or the massive Azure Dragon Physique that allowed Ye Chen''s Combat Power to be endlessly sustained and replenished!


    Whether it was the Black Tortoise Physique that possessed vast strength, or the Qilin Physique whose defensive power could directly withstand the strikes from early stage Rotating Pill practitioners!


    Or even the White Tiger Physique, with its incomparably fierce Attack Power, sparkling with a mysterious divine gold and white light, bellowing up to the sky!


    In the end, Ye Chen''s use of these five Great Dharma Embodiments in battle became almost instinctive, able to deploy the most suitable technique almost instantly to respond to the battle situation!


    Now, Ye Chen, with his full array of techniques, could truly suppress early stage Rotating Pill opponents head-on.


    Even early stage practitioners from the Divine Phoenix Clan were no exception!


    Thirteen days after Ye Chen had spent thirteen full days defeating eighty-four Battle Spirits in the Battle Spirit Hall, on the fourteenth and fifteenth days, Ye Chen consecutively defeated thirty-two more Battle Spirits.


    In these two days, Ye Chen, having integrated all his techniques, swept through his opponents at a much faster rate than before, and unlike previously, he did not suffer a single defeat against the stronger ensuing Battle Spirits.


    After fifteen days of continuous combat in the Battle Spirit Hall,


    Ye Chen had gained immensely. He had witnessed the techniques of one hundred sixteen early stage Divine Phoenix Clan Battle Spirits from the Upper Realm and defeated all of them!


    Now, Ye Chen didn''t dare claim he could defeat all early stage Rotating Pill practitioners in both realms, but he was confident that in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, there would be few who could match him in the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Now, Ye Chen certainly had the strength to claim he could thoroughly defeat the vast majority of early stage Rotating Pill adversaries!


    After cultivating for fourteen days in the Inner Mansion''s secret chamber, and now fifteen days of battling within the Battle Spirit Hall, Ye Chen had been in Azure Blue Mansion for a total of twenty-nine days.


    According to the Azure Blue Mansion''s Prohibitions, Ye Chen would be teleported out in one more day.


    At this moment, Jiang Yao was still undergoing her Bloodline Awakening.


    Just before leaving the Azure Blue Mansion, after numerous victories over early stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits without defeat, Ye Chen didn''t leave the Battle Spirit Hall. Instead, he finally moved deeper into the Hall.


    He finally approached a statue of a mid-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit.


    Ye Chen planned to try out the Combat Power and techniques of a mid-stage Rotating Pill just before leaving.

 Chapter 245: Chapter 214 Never Say Die!

    The Rotating Pill Realm is divided into three stages: early, middle, and late.


    Unlike in the True Qi Realm and the Spirit Sea Realm, where the power disparity between minor stages is not too great, upon entering the Rotating Pill Realm, as one begins to comprehend the five major Heavenly Void Laws, the Power of Laws becomes increasingly formidable in the latter stages, making the gap in strength between each stage an almost insurmountable chasm.


    It''s precisely for this reason that sect rankings within the Barbaric Wilderness Continent are divided by the stage of the Rotating Pill cultivators they host: sects with early-stage cultivators are merely seventh-rank, those with middle-stage cultivators directly become sixth-rank, and sects with late-stage cultivators reach the status of a fifth-rank!


    Within the upper realms among the Divine Phoenix Clan, this disparity is even more pronounced.


    Keep in mind that these Battle Spirits are left behind only when members of the Divine Phoenix Clan cultivate to the pinnacle of a minor stage and are preparing to break through to the next stage.


    Battle Spirits of the early Rotating Pill stage are one thing, as they are preparing to break through to the middle stage.


    However, Battle Spirits in the middle stage have been cultivated to the extreme limit of the Rotating Pill middle stage and are on the verge of breaking through to the late stage!


    Such Battle Spirits are almost equivalent in strength to many formidable late-stage Rotating Pill cultivators on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Seeing Ye Chen preparing to challenge these middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits, even Phoenix Spirit couldn''t help but worry about him.


    Although Ye Chen was now capable of dealing with early-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits, Phoenix Spirit knew that Ye Chen was absolutely not strong enough to contend with a middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit.


    "Ye Chen, do you really plan to confront these middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits?"


    "You have no chance of winning if you fight now, unless you have another major breakthrough. Your current tactics will decidedly not overcome these middle-stage Battle Spirits."


    Phoenix Spirit solemnly advised Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked up at Phoenix Spirit, flashed a smile, and said, "Lady Phoenix Spirit, I know."


    "There will be no deaths in the Battle Spirit Hall, and even if I am defeated, I will simply be expelled from the challenge area by the restrictions. It''s the perfect opportunity for me to witness the capabilities of middle-stage Rotating Pill experts."


    "Observing more is always beneficial."


    Ye Chen certainly wasn''t arrogant enough to think he could defeat a middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit of the Divine Phoenix Clan. He had barely surpassed the early-stage Battle Spirits, let alone the middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits, which were entirely a level above the early-stage ones.


    As he said, his only desire was to witness the techniques of the middle stage, so that he could be somewhat prepared when truly facing the strong under the heavens.


    Seeing that Ye Chen wasn''t being overconfident, Phoenix Spirit was somewhat relieved.


    Still, she held a slight concern: "Ye Chen, although you will not die in the Battle Spirit Hall, you can still be injured by defeat, especially when fighting against middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits, the injuries can be more severe."


    "Your idea of experiencing middle-stage techniques isn''t wrong, but be careful not to suffer too serious injuries."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Then, Ye Chen took a deep breath and focused all his divine thoughts on the middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit statue before him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit statue was activated, and amid the endless eruption of Spiritual Light from below, the figure of a female soared into the sky.


    This middle-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirit statue turned out to be the Battle Spirit of a female cultivator from the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    Looking at the female cultivator, one could see her dignified appearance and spirited valor, wearing a set of ice-blue battle armor, as extraordinary in martial prowess as any male cultivator.


    What caught Ye Chen''s attention even more was a string of purple bells she wore on her hand.


    Ye Chen had heard from Phoenix Spirit that early-stage Rotating Pill cultivators, having just begun to comprehend the five major Heavenly Void Laws, lacked strong control over the Power of Laws, with most of their techniques being divine abilities associated with their respective Laws.


    But once they made a breakthrough to the middle stage, these cultivators'' command of the Power of Laws greatly increased, as did their ability to activate the restrictions within a Treasure Instrument. At this point, many of their techniques involve the use of treasure artifacts!


    Like the Black Fire Sword that Ye Chen obtained, it''s a Treasure Instrument, with eighty-one restrictions that Ye Chen could only activate thirteen of, considerably augmenting his strength.


    If faced with a formidable middle-stage Rotating Pill cultivator who could unleash a large part of a Treasure Instrument''s restrictions, the power of the instrument could become truly unimaginable!


    Clearly, the string of purple bells on the hands of this female cultivator was definitely a powerful Treasure Instrument.


    Ye Chen, who was about to face her in combat, of course needed to be wary of this instrument.


    Boom!


    Once the female Battle Spirit ascended into the sky, Ye Chen didn''t hesitate. His figure shifted, and he instantly moved into the sky to face the female Battle Spirit head-on.


    After reaching the sky, even before the battle had begun, Ye Chen could sense a subtle Power of Laws enveloping the void.


    With his cultivation of Primordial True Liquid, capable of instantaneously converting into the gold, wood, water, fire, and earth Five Elements True Liquid, his sensitivity to the five major Heavenly Void Laws was much stronger than that of other cultivators.


    He sensed that the Power of Laws emanating from the female Battle Spirit contained the essences of "water and fire," two entirely distinct Heavenly Void Laws.


    Clearly, the female Battle Spirit was cultivating both "water and fire" from among the five major Heavenly Void Laws!


    As Ye Chen was sensing the Heavenly Void Laws from the female Battle Spirit, she made the first move.


    Boom!


    With a gentle tap of her finger, the Powers of Water and Fire Laws enshrouding the void instantly transformed into torrents of blue and red currents, violently swirling forth.


    In a moment, with Ye Chen''s standing position as the center, an area spanning hundreds of zhang was completely engulfed by the cyclone of blue and red currents.


    Under the influence of these two currents, Ye Chen, who was standing in the void, found himself suddenly immobilized.


    This experience was different from the instant immobilization he encountered when fighting early-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits. This time, Ye Chen was completely unable to move, and even his divine thoughts were restrained, rendering him incapable of even executing spatial transposition.


    This was the legendary Law Domain, a confining space from which one could not escape. If one couldn''t break the space, they would be entirely restrained within it, at the mercy of their opponent!


    This middle-stage female Battle Spirit truly possessed the terrifying strength to deploy a Law Domain capable of fully restraining others!


    Ye Chen, trapped within the red and blue-colored Law Domain, watched as the air that bound him formed continuously blossoming ice-blue and fiery-red flowers.


    If Ye Chen knew of the Female Battle Spirit''s technique, he would certainly recognize it¡ªthis was the Female Battle Spirit''s Law Domain, "Twin Flowers Locking Origin Formation!"


    If Ye Chen couldn''t break through the ever-blossoming Twin Flowers, he would be completely trapped to death within the Twin Flowers Locking Origin Formation.


    "Powerful, too powerful!"


    "This Rotating Pill mid-realm Battle Spirit truly is the remnant of a Rotating Pill mid-realm cultivator who cultivated to the extreme. Facing her, I feel just like I''m facing the Peak Master and the five strongest Rotating Pill post-realm warriors of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!"


    "I must break this Law Domain, break through this Law Domain quickly!"


    Before the Law Domain had shrouded him, Ye Chen''s True Qi had already transformed into his strongest Water-series True Liquid, and at the moment he was trapped, a vast White Tiger Physique enveloped him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the instant he was restrained in body and mind, the astonishing White Tiger Physique surrounding Ye Chen surged with endless Attack Mana. This boundless Attack Mana was ultimately channeled into the Black Fire Sword in his hands, while his most powerful sword intent, "Heavenly Gang Sword Intent," also merged into the Black Fire Sword.


    Then, the power of the Nine-Turn Battle Body outside his body also began to flicker wildly.


    At the instant he was trapped, Ye Chen''s three techniques merged into one, all manifesting as slashes from the Black Fire Sword, cutting towards the Law Domain that swiftly loomed over!


    However, as soon as Ye Chen made a move, just as his Black Fire Sword shattered two ice-blue and three fiery-red flowers, his whole person was completely overwhelmed by an endless bloom of flowers.


    And then, Ye Chen felt a heat on his forehead, and with a "bang," he was sent out to the defeated area.


    Defeat!


    It was only an instant of the Female Battle Spirit striking that Ye Chen lost.


    If it weren''t for the protective restrictions of the Battle Spirit Hall and the fact that he was practicing within the Battle Spirit Hall, rather than in actual combat, Ye Chen would have been killed in the move that the Female Battle Spirit had used just now.


    He didn''t even see how the Female Battle Spirit attacked his forehead!


    Ye Chen, looking up at the sky from the defeated area, saw the Female Battle Spirit vanish, returned to the statue of the Battle Spirit.


    "No, I can''t allow the Female Battle Spirit to strike first. Otherwise, my attack won''t arrive in time to stop the Law Domain."


    "I must strike first!"


    After his defeat, Ye Chen wasn''t dispirited. The battle spirit in his eyes burned even brighter.


    "Let''s do this again!"


    Ye Chen immediately flew from the defeated area to the front of the Battle Spirit''s statue and once again activated the Female Battle Spirit.


    This time, as the Female Battle Spirit soared into the sky, Ye Chen also activated the Azure Dragon Physique almost simultaneously and flew into the sky!


    In the sky, Ye Chen didn''t wait for the Female Battle Spirit to attack first. With a slight tremor of the Black Fire Sword in his hand, all thirteen of the sword''s restrictive seals burst forth. At the same time, the Nine-turn Golden Body patterns and Heavenly Gang Sword Intent were infused into the Black Fire Sword.


    Swoosh!


    The brightly glowing Black Fire Sword instantly shot towards the Female Battle Spirit.


    Then, the Female Battle Spirit gently pointed a finger at Ye Chen, and the vast powers of water and fire from the Heavenly Void Laws surrounded him once again.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen''s Black Fire Sword continuously cut through these two Law powers, but an ever greater force overwhelmed him, and he was restrained once more just a few meters away from the Female Battle Spirit.


    Ultimately, Ye Chen was eliminated again!


    This time, even as he was being disqualified, Ye Chen was struck by the Female Battle Spirit''s palm in the chest.


    Had Ye Chen not acted quickly to unleash the Qilin Dharma Form, absorbing most of the attack''s power, he would have been severely injured by that palm strike!


    After his defeat, Ye Chen didn''t rush to strike again as before but instead reflected for a while before flying back to confront the Battle Spirit statue that had defeated him twice already.


    "Let''s do this again!"


    For the third time, Ye Chen activated the Female Battle Spirit.


    This time, Ye Chen''s attack was suddenly transformed into another technique, a sword-flying technique!


    This time Ye Chen combined the flying sword technique with the White Tiger Physique''s attack, and with the addition of the Heavenly Gang Sword Intent, his attack power increased greatly, even shattering a large area of the Female Battle Spirit''s Law Domain!


    Although he ultimately couldn''t avoid defeat, Ye Chen had made substantial progress.


    "Let''s do this again!"


    After his defeat, Ye Chen analyzed the shortcomings of his attack and once again engaged the Female Battle Spirit for the fourth time...


    Battle! Defeat! Battle again!


    Ye Chen seemed tireless, facing defeat time and again. But after recuperating with the Azure Dragon Physique''s recovery power, he would always launch another attack at the Female Battle Spirit.


    Phoenix Spirit, who was watching the battle, nodded her head as she saw Ye Chen repeatedly failing but never disheartened, never giving up.


    "Not bad, not arrogant in victory nor discouraged in defeat."


    "Ye Chen will achieve great accomplishments!"


    "He still can''t defeat the Rotating Pill mid-realm Battle Spirit now, but how old is he? He''s only fifteen or sixteen years old, just at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "To be able to fight against a Rotating Pill mid-realm Battle Spirit under these circumstances is already something to be proud of!"

 Chapter 246: Chapter 215: Shock and Anger

    ```


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Battle after battle, defeat after defeat.


    But each time the fight commenced, Ye Chen would grow stronger and last a tad longer against the Female Battle Spirit.


    After more than a dozen battles, when Ye Chen had practically combined and used all his powerful techniques, and once he fully grasped the various combined powers of his techniques, he was covered in blood.


    At that moment, as Ye Chen was about to continue fighting, Phoenix Spirit stopped him, "Ye Chen, there''s no need to fight anymore."


    "The time to leave Azure Blue Mansion is almost upon us."


    "If you wish to fight again, you can seek an opportunity to re-enter the Azure Blue Mansion during the intervals of venturing through the ancient tomb."


    Hearing Phoenix Spirit''s words, Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    It was then that he truly stopped.


    Ye Chen''s persistence in battle after battle was to seize the final opportunity to learn as much as possible, so as to properly reflect and cultivate after leaving Azure Blue Mansion.


    Next time he entered Azure Blue Mansion and faced the Female Battle Spirit, he would not be limited to just these tactics!


    Of course, he would be more fully prepared!


    Ye Chen''s only regret was that he never managed to break through the Female Battle Spirit''s Law Domain, and he hadn''t even witnessed the might of the bell treasure in her hand.


    "Next time I come to spar with you!"


    "Next time, I will definitely break your Law Domain and see what kind of attack your bell treasure has!"


    Ye Chen looked at the Battle Spirit Statue that had activated the Female Battle Spirit, muttering in his heart.


    It''s over.


    Finally, the month-long adventure in the Azure Blue Mansion was coming to an end.


    Ye Chen collected his thoughts and turned to Phoenix Spirit, asking, "Phoenix Spirit, how is Jiang Yao doing now?"


    Phoenix Spirit smiled.


    She favored Ye Chen''s ability to be detached; deeply focused when in battle, Ye Chen could immerse himself wholeheartedly, and once the fight was over, he could quickly detach himself from the combat state, ready to face whatever was next.


    Phoenix Spirit smiled at Ye Chen, "Jiang Yao is currently in a critical period of bloodline awakening. Her gains this time are substantial!"


    "The True Phoenix Bloodline is indeed extraordinary; her awakening process and gains are definitely top-notch within our Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    "Ye Chen, when she emerges from the Phoenix Blood Pool, you''ll be surprised when you see her again!"


    Phoenix Spirit''s words brought a smile to Ye Chen''s face.


    It was wonderful news that Jiang Yao had gained significantly.


    "Senior Phoenix Spirit, please continue to look after Jiang Yao," Ye Chen said to Phoenix Spirit.


    Though Ye Chen could re-enter Azure Blue Mansion, he had more important issues to attend to once the month was over.


    The most important of those was the matter of the ancient tomb!


    From what Phoenix Spirit had shared, he now knew who the true master of the ancient tomb was, and that it was Heavenly Saint Moya, one of the ten great demon sects. Ye Chen intended to proactively deal with it, rather than being passively dragged along by the various rules and designs of the tomb as before.


    Ye Chen wanted to see just what sort of tricks the master of the tomb was playing!


    The only thing he worried about was Jiang Yao. Even with the protection of Azure Blue Mansion, there was still an unavoidable concern for her safety.


    "Ye Chen, don''t worry," Phoenix Spirit reassured him, "Jiang Yao is a member of my Divine Phoenix Clan, and I will take good care of her. You, on the other hand, must be careful after you leave Azure Blue Mansion."


    "Just as we planned before, remember to keep Azure Blue Mansion with you, and if anything goes amiss in the ancient tomb, retreat into the Azure Blue Mansion immediately."


    Ye Chen nodded in agreement.


    Knowing that Heavenly Saint Moya was the true master of the ancient tomb, Ye Chen certainly would not just leave Azure Blue Mansion there.


    Especially since Jiang Yao was still cultivating inside, it was even more important to have the Azure Blue Mansion with him.


    Ye Chen planned to store the Azure Blue Mansion within his Heaven Spirit Ring.


    The Heaven Spirit Ring, a supreme spatial treasure given to him by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact in the ancestral land secret realm, could safely accommodate the Azure Blue Mansion with help from Phoenix Spirit.


    Thinking of the Heaven Spirit Ring, Ye Chen''s thoughts drifted to the golden monkey still sleeping within it.


    "Ever since it absorbed the water from the Fire Elemental Spring, the little monkey has fallen into a deep sleep; perhaps the water has triggered some aspect of its constitution."


    Looking at the golden monkey still deep in slumber within the Heaven Spirit Ring, it seemed to have grown a bit, its fur even more resplendent with golden light.


    Ye Chen had also consumed the Fire Elemental Spring water and knew that it didn''t possess enough power to bring such great benefits to the little monkey; it was likely that the water was merely a catalyst, awakening something inherent within the little creature.


    Ye Chen was aware that the little monkey was a descendant of the True Spirits!


    Now, with five drops of True Spirit divine blood, he had become quite familiar with the True Spirits. He had reaped great benefits from the divine blood, and Jiang Yao, being from the Ancient Clan and receiving the inheritance of the True Spirit Phoenix, had made even greater gains during her bloodline awakening.


    The little monkey, being an actual descendant of a True Spirit, would unquestionably wield unimaginable power once it matured!


    "It''s just uncertain which kind of True Spirit descent the little monkey belongs to."


    Ye Chen pondered in his heart.


    The Spirit of the Sacred Artifact had never disclosed the little monkey''s true identity, and Ye Chen had remained uninformed. However, considering the extraordinary speed the little creature demonstrated when it fetched the Fire Elemental Spring water, one can only imagine how formidable it would be, surely descending from a powerful True Spirit lineage.


    As the time to be transported out of Azure Blue Mansion drew near, Ye Chen seized the last moments, having Phoenix Spirit take him one more time to visit Jiang Yao.


    ```

 Chapter 247: Chapter 215 Surprise and Anger_2

    When Ye Chen saw the girl awakening her bloodline in the Phoenix Blood Pool, peacefully tranquil, he smiled knowingly.


    Then, Ye Chen waited for the moment to leave the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Inside the Inner Mansion, Ye Chen was waiting, while in the outer Mansion''s grand hall of the Azure Blue Mansion, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and the other twenty-four people also stood up one after another.


    Since being expelled from the secret tunnel of the outer Mansion by some mysterious force of the Azure Blue Mansion, these twenty-seven people had been staying in the grand hall, cultivating and waiting for the moment to leave.


    Now, that moment was finally about to arrive!


    In the grand hall of the Azure Blue Mansion''s outer Mansion, although they were not in danger, they also had no other gains; as treasure hunters who had entered the ancient tomb, they were naturally not satisfied.


    The thought of leaving the peculiar Azure Blue Mansion to continue treasure hunting in other places excited them.


    These people, however, did not know that if not for the Phoenix Spirit''s intervention, many more of them might have died within the Azure Blue Mansion, falling right into the trap set by the tomb''s master, Heavenly Saint Moya!


    Outside the Azure Blue Mansion.


    As the month was about to end, the golden Demon Carp guarding outside also became active again.


    "It''s almost time, these people are finally about to come out of the Azure Blue Mansion!"


    "Who knows how many of them died!"


    "We must thoroughly interrogate them about the abnormal phenomena in the Azure Blue Mansion earlier."


    "This first murder scene, it''ll be good if even half of them are alive. Next, we will send them to the second murder scene, then the third, to continue selecting people for Lord Tiger Demon Teng!"


    The golden Demon Carp''s demonic eyes shimmered with a ghostly glow as it pondered various arrangements.


    While everyone was waiting for the month''s time limit at the Azure Blue Mansion, the month finally came to an end completely.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment that time was up, the pitch-black gate of the Azure Blue Mansion suddenly erupted with sounds, and then one by one, figures were transported out.


    The group that was transported out was none other than Fairy Nishang and the other twenty-six people!


    "We''re out, we finally made it out!"


    Being transported from the Azure Blue Mansion and back to Azure Blue Lake, the twenty-seven people were all invigorated.


    Just when they thought that only they, the twenty-seven people, had come out from the Azure Blue Mansion, another thunderous sound came from the Mansion, and they looked towards the gate to see a young man''s figure flying out from the Mansion.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Seeing this figure, Fairy Nishang and the others showed expressions of disbelief.


    Ye Chen was indeed still alive, indeed inside the Azure Blue Mansion!


    But they had all been in the outer Mansion''s grand hall, so where had Ye Chen gone?


    And what about Jiang Yao? Always with Ye Chen, why hadn''t she come out? Had something happened to Jiang Yao?


    With countless doubts, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and the others approached Ye Chen.


    Just as Ye Chen and the twenty-seven others reunited, having all left the Azure Blue Mansion, and they were about to question Ye Chen about the occurrences inside, the golden Demon Carp flew directly over to them.


    After sweeping its demonic eyes over everyone''s faces, the Demon Carp spoke, "So many people have survived?!"


    The Demon Carp had thought that in the first killing ground, the Azure Blue Mansion, half of the fifty people would die, but to its surprise, twenty-eight had come out alive.


    With fifteen having died before entering the Azure Blue Mansion, it meant that only seven people died during the month inside?


    This number was far lower than what the golden Demon Carp had estimated.


    Upon hearing the Demon Carp''s words, those who had exited the Azure Blue Mansion were enraged.


    Seeing the Demon Carp''s expression, it seemed that it was disappointed they hadn''t died in greater numbers¡ªcould it be that it wished for even more of them to perish?


    While the other twenty-seven were furious, Ye Chen had a moment of realization.


    Knowing the true master of the ancient tomb to be Heavenly Saint Moya of the Demon Sects, and reflecting on past events, many of Ye Chen''s doubts were resolved.


    From the expression of the golden Demon Carp, Ye Chen knew that the creature indeed wanted more of them to die!


    "Are you afraid to die?"


    "I really want to see what kind of trick you''re all playing!"


    Ye Chen smirked coldly in his heart.


    "However, I''ll take care of the Azure Blue Mansion first, and after that, I''ll get the truth out of this Demon Carp about what exactly Heavenly Saint Moya is planning for us!"


    With that thought in mind, Ye Chen ignored the golden Demon Carp watching him and didn''t pay attention to Fairy Nishang and the others by his side either.


    He turned his head to look at the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Then, Ye Chen reached out a big hand toward the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Ye Chen''s action baffled everyone, and the golden Demon Carp even burst out, "Kid, what are you doing?"


    Ye Chen ignored the Demon Carp''s bark, and as he reached out toward the Azure Blue Mansion, he felt the Phoenix Spirit''s consciousness emanating from within the mansion.


    Subsequently, the entire Azure Blue Mansion began to shrink visibly at great speed.


    Obviously, the Phoenix Spirit, seeing Ye Chen reclaiming the Azure Blue Mansion, had activated the spatial restrictions within the mansion to assist Ye Chen in taking it.


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    In the blink of an eye, the several thousand zhang tall Azure Blue Mansion started to shrink rapidly, becoming the size of a normal residence, and then, in another blink, it turned into a fist-sized miniature mansion.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s Ethereal Spirit Ring flashed, and inside, the Heaven Spirit Ring shone brightly, sending the shrunken Azure Blue Mansion shooting towards Ye Chen.


    It was then that everyone understood what Ye Chen intended to do.


    Ye Chen actually wanted to reclaim the Azure Blue Mansion!


    Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and the others were utterly shocked!


    They could not fathom that Ye Chen would dare to take away the Azure Blue Mansion right in front of the golden Demon Carp, and what''s more, it looked like he was actually going to succeed!


    Fairy Nishang and the others were incredibly surprised, while the golden Demon Carp was enraged!


    The Azure Blue Mansion was left by the great Heavenly Saint who was the master of the ancient tomb. It was tasked with guarding this place, so how could it allow others to take away the Azure Blue Mansion?


    The golden Demon Carp could never have imagined that the young man in front of it had the audacity to take away the Azure Blue Mansion, to steal the treasures of the tomb''s master!


    Moreover, according to the great Heavenly Saint, no one else should be able to take away the Azure Blue Mansion, except perhaps the Heavenly Saint himself, and yet this youth had managed to do so, so smoothly, at the Spirit Sea Realm.


    This left the golden Demon Carp utterly astonished.


    However, by this time, the Demon Carp could no longer afford to be surprised, as the furious creature sought to prevent Ye Chen from taking the Azure Blue Mansion, even harboring thoughts of killing him.


    The golden Demon Carp''s form exploded into motion, charging frantically towards Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, be careful!"


    Although they did not understand why Ye Chen would attempt to take the Azure Blue Mansion, many shouted in alarm when they saw the golden Demon Carp launch an attack. Fairy Nishang especially shot forward, intending to block the assault for Ye Chen.


    Liu Yan took a step as if to move, but then stopped.


    Yun Luo of the Cloud Sky Sect touched an item in his robes, his expression changing unpredictably.


    And Xue Yue, a disciple of the Demon Sects hidden among the crowd, had a glint in his eye, pondering something.


    All of these reactions unfolded in the time it takes for sparks to fly off flint, and as Ye Chen reached out to take the Azure Blue Mansion and everyone noticed the golden Demon Carp''s attack, the creature was already upon Ye Chen.


    The golden Demon Carp, being at the Demon King Level and a master of the Rotating Core Level, was not someone Fairy Nishang was confident in stopping. Just as Fairy Nishang''s complexion drastically changed while she stood in front of Ye Chen, bracing for the golden Demon Carp''s charge, she suddenly saw a blur before her eyes.


    Then, a figure appeared in front of her.


    The figure smiled at Fairy Nishang, "Thanks for your help, Fairy, but let me handle this Demon Carp that wants to kill me!"


    "Ye Chen!" Just as Fairy Nishang managed to recognize the figure, she saw Ye Chen launch a palm strike toward the golden Demon Carp.


    As Ye Chen struck the golden Demon Carp with a palm, his other hand continued to reach for the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Facing the Demon King Level golden Demon Carp, Ye Chen was multitasking, simultaneously reclaiming the Azure Blue Mansion while dealing with the Demon Carp King!

 Chapter 248: Chapter 216: Capture!

    Ye Chen''s actions caused an uproar among the other Tomb Explorers.


    The golden Demon Carp was a Rotating Pill Realm level Demon King, with at least the strength of the initial stage of Rotating Pill Realm!


    Such strength was considered an overwhelming existence for them, who were of the Spirit Sea Realm. Not to mention fighting it, when facing such an existence''s attack, their only thought would be to flee, and it was very likely that they wouldn''t be able to escape very far before being annihilated!


    However, Ye Chen showed no fear of the golden Demon Carp, daring to confront it directly. And it wasn''t just that he initiated a fight, he was multitasking¡ªcollecting the Azure Blue Mansion with one hand while dealing with the Demon Carp with the other. He obviously didn''t take the Demon Carp seriously at all!


    Could Ye Chen be so bold?!


    Amidst the astonished murmurs of the other Tomb Explorers, their gaze was now fixed solely on the golden Demon Carp and Ye Chen. The golden Demon Carp, seeing Ye Chen''s incoming palm strike, let out a contemptuous laugh.


    In the heart of the golden Demon Carp, killing Ye Chen, who was just at the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, wouldn''t take any effort at all. To it, Ye Chen''s attack was as futile as a mantis trying to stop a chariot!


    "You dare to make a move against me?"


    "What a joke!"


    "Watch as I utterly annihilate you with one move!"


    The thunderous voice of the golden Demon Carp echoed as its more than two-hundred-meter-long colossal body caused the waters of Azure Blue Lake to explode chaotically, scaring the other Tomb Explorers so much that they frantically scattered in all directions.


    In the blink of an eye, the massive body of the golden Demon Carp collided with the palm that Ye Chen had struck out.


    At the moment of collision, everyone heard a terrifying sound of a sonic boom. Then, endless explosive energy whipped up the waters of Azure Blue Lake into a maelstrom.


    Amidst the earth-shattering sound of their clash and the turmoil of the waters, an inconceivable scene unfolded before everyone''s eyes.


    The golden Demon Carp, which had been furiously attempting to annihilate Ye Chen with the power of a Rotating Pill Realm Demon King, was actually sent rolling and flying away by Ye Chen''s palm strike!


    "How is this possible!"


    Watching the colossal, two-hundred-meter-long golden Demon Carp being swept away, tumbling over and over for a thousand meters or more before it finally came to a stop, and seeing Ye Chen, who had struck with one hand, still standing unflinchingly in his original spot¡ªhis other hand, which was multitasking, had already grasped the shrunken Azure Blue Mansion¡ªall the other Tomb Explorers were completely stunned.


    This!


    What on earth had happened?!


    A youth at the early stage of Spirit Sea Realm had just sent a Rotating Pill Realm Demon King flying with a single hand?!


    Everyone could hardly believe what they had just witnessed.


    The golden Demon Carp, which had been sent rolling away by Ye Chen for a thousand meters or so, was utterly shocked.


    The clash with Ye Chen had been merely a brief instant, and while others might not realize how terrifying Ye Chen''s move was, the golden Demon Carp, having personally felt it, was absolutely astounded by Ye Chen''s blow!


    The simple palm strike that Ye Chen had just executed had unleashed a force even stronger than its own frenzied attack!


    "Impossible!"


    "You are just at the early Spirit Sea Realm, how can you possess such tremendous power!"


    "What technique did you use?!"


    The greatly surprised golden Demon Carp, now looking at Ye Chen again, saw a serious expression in its demonic eyes.


    Initially, it had regarded Ye Chen with utter contempt.


    But now, even though it was a Demon King of the early stages of Rotating Pill Realm, a full realm higher than Ye Chen, it no longer dared to show the slightest bit of disdain for him!


    Ye Chen had just launched an attack with a single hand, clearly not yet displaying his full power. To repel an early stage Rotating Pill Realm Demon King without going all out indicated that Ye Chen definitely had the power to contend with one at the early stage of Rotating Pill Realm!


    For a moment, the golden Demon Carp didn''t even dare to make another move.


    On the other hand, after repelling the golden Demon Carp with a palm strike, Ye Chen sized up the shrunken Azure Blue Mansion in his hand before storing it inside his spatial treasure, the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    Now that the Azure Blue Mansion was safely inside the Heaven Spirit Ring, Ye Chen finally let down his guard.


    With him there to protect the Azure Blue Mansion, he no longer had to worry about Jiang Yao, who was still awakening her bloodline in the mansion''s interstitial space, being harmed by anyone else.


    "The issue with the Azure Blue Mansion is settled."


    "Next, it''s time to properly handle the business with the ancient tomb!"


    Whoosh!


    After securing the Azure Blue Mansion, Ye Chen''s gaze immediately turned to the golden Demon Carp not far away.


    The sudden stare from Ye Chen startled the golden Demon Carp, who had been keeping a close eye on Ye Chen''s movements, causing it to retreat unconsciously by several hundred meters!


    Then, after regaining its composure, the golden Demon Carp''s expression turned ugly.


    To think that it, a majestic Rotating Pill Realm Demon King, had been scared into retreating by a mere child, was simply too humiliating!


    The golden Demon Carp''s actions set the other Tomb Explorers abuzz.


    "That golden Demon Carp, it seems afraid of Ye Chen?"


    This thought flashed through everyone''s minds.


    As thoughts raced, they also found the notion somewhat absurd, as it was truly incredible to think that a junior in the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm could instill fear in a Rotating Pill Realm Demon King.


    Even though Ye Chen had repelled the golden Demon Carp once, they assumed it had been careless.


    As the Tomb Explorers whispered among themselves, the golden Demon Carp''s face grew more and more unsightly.


    Finally, as if to regain its pride, the golden Demon Carp once again bellowed at Ye Chen, "Kid, do you really dare to take away the Azure Blue Mansion?"


    "Hand over the Azure Blue Mansion obediently. I did not use my full strength just now. If I truly make a move, you will surely die without a place for your burial!"


    Others might not have caught it, but Ye Chen distinctly heard a tremor in the golden Demon Carp''s voice.


    Looking at the fierce yet fearful golden Demon Carp, Ye Chen let out a cold laugh, "Full strength? Please, use your full strength."


    "If you don''t give it your all, don''t blame me for capturing you and asking you some questions!"


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen''s repeated contempt towards the golden Demon Carp caused the other Tomb Explorers to stir once more.


    "Ye Chen, can you really deal with this Demon King?" Fairy Nishang couldn''t help but call out to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen responded to Fairy Nishang with a smile and a nod.


    The others could not discern the realm of the golden Demon Carp, but Ye Chen, after battling more than a hundred Rotating Pill Realm experts inside the Azure Blue Mansion, was intimately familiar with the aura of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    He had long realized that this golden Demon Carp was merely an early-stage Demon King of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Inside the Azure Blue Mansion, Ye Chen had already defeated one hundred and sixteen early-stage Battle Spirits from the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    Those were early-stage Battle Spirits from the Divine Phoenix Clan, each one on the cusp of breaking through to the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, reaching the peak of the early stage¡ªstrong warriors from the Divine Phoenix Clan of the Upper Realm, wielding numerous techniques unknown to the vast continent below.


    These early-stage Battle Spirits of the Upper Realm were many times more formidable than the golden Demon Carp!


    Ye Chen had defeated such adversaries, let alone this golden Demon Carp.


    Ye Chen knew in his heart that to deal with this Demon Carp, he did not need to use all his techniques; just a few would suffice to completely subdue it!


    His primary focus had been on seizing the Azure Blue Mansion, and his palm strike against the Demon Carp''s attack was just a casual move. Now, with the intention of forcing the tomb''s secrets out of the Demon Carp, Ye Chen would certainly not show any mercy!


    "If you don''t make a move, I will!"


    Amidst the roiling waters of Azure Blue Lake, Ye Chen''s cold gaze swept over the color-shifting Demon Carp, and in an instant, he stepped forward, crossing a distance of one to two thousand meters, and appeared right in front of the golden Demon Carp.


    Following that, Ye Chen reached out with a large hand, and the endless waters of Azure Blue Lake formed an immense palm which descended from above towards the two-hundred-meter-long Demon Carp!


    Ye Chen, facing an early-stage Rotating Pill Realm Demon Carp, was not only unafraid but even took the initiative to attack!


    "Presumptuous!"


    In such a situation, the golden Demon Carp, of course, wouldn''t just accept it. Seeing the colossal palm reaching out towards it, the Demon Carp''s expression abruptly changed, and gold and water Law Patterns suddenly emerged on its vast fish body.


    In an instant, tremendous golden-blue True Qi surged from within the Demon Carp''s body, eventually forming a massive trident several hundred meters long, which thrust towards the True Qi giant hand that Ye Chen had launched.


    Watching the golden Demon Carp struggle, Ye Chen smiled faintly, and in a flash, the immense palm attacking the Demon Carp surged with the massive shadow of the Black Tortoise Physique.


    This was the Black Tortoise Strength Great Divine Skill!


    With the boost from the Black Tortoise Strength Great Divine Skill, the originally ordinary immense palm was imbued with overwhelming power. With a thunderous squeeze, it crushed the huge trident thrust by the Demon Carp!


    What''s more, the giant palm didn''t stop there, it grabbed directly above, and amidst the Demon Carp''s changing expression, it captured the two-hundred-plus-meter-long carp firmly in its grasp!

 Chapter 249: Chapter 217 Interrogation

    Afterward, the enormous hand formed by the waters of the endless Azure Blue Lake, grasping the golden Demon Carp, flew backward towards Ye Chen.


    No matter how much the golden Demon Carp struggled, it couldn''t break free from the powerful grasp of the enormous hand!


    This caused the golden Demon Carp to completely change its expression!


    It also completely terrified the nearby Tomb Explorers!


    A Demon King at the Rotating Pill level was actually caught by a mere youth in the early stages of Spirit Sea realm with a single Sky-Lifting Hand, and this Demon King couldn''t resist at all. This scene was utterly shocking.


    All the Tomb Explorers, even Fairy Nishang, a powerful Half-Step Rotating Pill with extensive knowledge, had never witnessed such a scene.


    In an instant, the enormous hand grasping the golden Demon Carp flew back to the front of Ye Chen.


    Even after flying back, the enormous hand didn''t release the golden Demon Carp but instead firmly bound it in front of Ye Chen.


    "You tyke, what exactly are you trying to do!"


    "I was ordered by the ancient tomb master to guard this Azure Blue Lake. If you deal with me, do you still want the Legacy Treasure from the ancient tomb master?"


    Atop the enormous hand, the frantically struggling golden Demon Carp shouted at Ye Chen.


    At this moment, while the golden Demon Carp was bellowing, the other Tomb Explorers also turned their gaze towards Ye Chen.


    They didn''t understand why Ye Chen would act against the golden Demon Carp so decisively when simply repelling it to retrieve the Azure Blue Mansion would have sufficed. Ye Chen shouldn''t have been so discourteous to this great demon who was a subordinate of the ancient tomb master.


    Hearing the roar of the golden Demon Carp, Ye Chen''s expression darkened, and he directly looked at the golden Demon Carp, demanding, "You were ordered to guard the Azure Blue Lake by the ancient tomb master?"


    "Good, I''ve been wanting to ask you, who exactly is the ancient tomb master that you serve!"


    "Don''t you dare lie to us again saying that this tomb belongs to Heavenly Saint Linghua!"


    Whir!


    Ye Chen''s words instantly changed the expressions of the other Tomb Explorers dramatically.


    Aside from the concealed Demon Sect disciple Xue Yue, whose eyes glinted sharply, many people''s faces turned ashen in an instant.


    Clearly, Ye Chen meant that he already knew that this ancient tomb didn''t belong to Heavenly Saint Linghua!


    Although many Tomb Explorers had already guessed from various signs that this was not Heavenly Saint Linghua''s tomb, hearing this news directly still shocked many of them deeply.


    It wasn''t Heavenly Saint Linghua''s tomb; yet, the White Jade Spirit Tablet of Heavenly Saint Linghua had been circulated. Someone impersonated Heavenly Saint Linghua to deceive them into the tomb. What exactly did the tomb master want?


    And, who on earth was the tomb master?!


    The Tomb Explorers all had a bad feeling, and upon being interrogated by Ye Chen, even the golden Demon Carp''s expression went through several changes.


    In the end, it looked at Ye Chen and coldly sneered, "Who the tomb master is, you''d better not think about getting it out of me!"


    Watching the Demon Carp still stubborn, Ye Chen''s brow furrowed, and the giant hand gripping the golden Demon Carp suddenly tightened, causing the over two hundred meters long golden Demon Carp to burst open with numerous bloodstains all over its body.


    Looking at this, if Ye Chen put in a bit more strength, he could completely crush the golden Demon Carp!


    "Speak quickly!"


    "Who exactly is the tomb master?!"


    This time, without Ye Chen needing to ask again, many of the Tomb Explorers directly flew to the golden Demon Carp''s front, shouting angrily at it.


    With the true identity of the ancient tomb master in question, the other Tomb Explorers couldn''t remain calm either.


    Fairy Nishang, however, moved closer to Ye Chen. She knew that since Ye Chen had asked like this, he must certainly know some answers.


    The golden Demon Carp bound by the enormous hand, with bloodstains bursting all over its body, roared angrily at Ye Chen, "You tyke, don''t push me, or I''ll self-destruct my Rotating Pill, and I''ll definitely kill all of you!"


    Rotating Pill self-destruction!


    This statement from the golden Demon Carp directly caused the Tomb Explorers who were interrogating it to jump in fright.


    Previously, their minds had been clouded by the concern over the ancient tomb master''s affair, to the point that they forgot the golden Demon Carp was a Rotating Pill level Demon King.


    The self-destruction of a Rotating Pill level Demon King''s Rotating Pill was absolutely the strongest move of a Demon King, a desperate measure only used at a life-and-death moment that would destroy both the Demon King and its enemies!


    If the golden Demon Carp really self-destructed its Rotating Pill, being so close, they were in for major trouble. There was a high likelihood that they would all be completely killed on the spot by the power of the self-destruction.


    Considering such an outcome, many began to retreat quickly.


    Watching the fearful look of the Tomb Explorers, the golden Demon Carp wore a cold smile. However, before it could let out this sneer, Ye Chen directly interrupted it.


    "Rotating Pill self-destruction?"


    "If you have the guts, then self-destruct. I managed to catch you, so I can assure you, your self-destruction will absolutely not harm any of us!"


    Ye Chen''s gaze was indifferent as he looked at the golden Demon Carp, without a single ripple of emotion in his eyes.


    Ye Chen''s words halted the Tomb Explorers trying to flee in their tracks, and the golden Demon Carp, seeing Ye Chen showing no fear, was choked up for a moment, completely unsure of how to threaten him further.


    It was not until its demonic eyes twitched three rounds that it again stubbornly spoke, "Hmph, even if you kill me, I won''t tell you who the tomb master is!"


    "If you dare to kill me, Lord Tiger Demon Teng will surely avenge me! Even if you can defeat me, you''re certainly no match for a single move from Lord Tiger Demon Teng!"


    Lord Tiger Demon Teng?


    The words of the golden Demon Carp narrowed Ye Chen''s eyes slightly.


    Behind Ye Chen, the core disciples from the fifth rank major sects such as Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and Yun Luo, each one of them showed a hint of shock in their eyes. It was clear that the three words "Tiger Demon Teng" made them think of something.


    At that moment, Ye Chen, with narrowed eyes, turned his gaze back to the golden Demon Carp and said in a deep voice, "You think by not telling me who the tomb owner is, I wouldn''t know?"


    "Speak, is it Heavenly Saint Moya from the Defying Demon Sect in the ten great Demon Sects who lured us into this ancient tomb, what exactly are his plans!"


    "If you don''t speak now, don''t think for a moment that I won''t dare to kill you!"


    Ye Chen''s sudden mention of the four words "Heavenly Saint Moya" caused the golden Demon Carp''s expression to drastically change, and it couldn''t help but exclaim, "How do you know of the Heavenly Saint''s identity..."


    Having spoken only half a sentence, the golden Demon Carp''s voice abruptly cut off.


    Even though the golden Demon Carp stopped speaking in time, its words, combined with Ye Chen''s, had already confirmed the true identity of the tomb''s owner.


    The Heavenly Saint of the Defying Demon Sect, Heavenly Saint Moya, was indeed the real owner of this ancient tomb!


    This news completely stunned many of the Tomb Explorers!


    After realizing that the tomb owner was not Heavenly Saint Linghua, they had a bad feeling, but they did not expect the worst¡ª that the tomb owner was Heavenly Saint Moya from the ten great Demon Sects, the blood enemy of the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms!


    As the blood enemies of the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms, Heavenly Saint Moya from the Demon Sects would definitely not kindly bestow Legacy Treasures upon them.


    Luring them into the tomb must have ulterior motives!


    The thought of searching for treasures within the tomb of a Demon Sect Heavenly Saint sent shivers down the spines of many.


    "Heavenly Saint Moya!"


    "Defying Demon Sect!"


    "The one controlling the beasts to lead us into the tomb island, commanding demon creatures to ravage the place, I should have guessed that the owner of the tomb was from the Defying Demon Sect!"


    "And that Tiger Demon Teng is said to be one of the Eight Great Totems of the Defying Demon Sect!"


    Fairy Nishang''s expression fluctuated. Truly knowing the identity of the tomb owner, she became even more worried.


    After all, this was the tomb of a Demon Sect Heavenly Saint, and even with the truth revealed, it was likely they would still be unable to cope!


    "The other Demon Sect Heavenly Saint whom Heavenly Saint Linghua battled against was Heavenly Saint Moya."


    "It''s them who together split open the Demon Burial Abyss."


    "Unexpectedly, the tomb hidden deep within the Demon Burial Abyss isn''t Heavenly Saint Linghua''s, but Heavenly Saint Moya''s!"


    Liu Yan from the Flame Sect, Yun Luo from the Cloud Sky Sect, and others also had faces like iron.


    As everyone''s expression swiftly turned and their hearts sank, Ye Chen walked step by step towards the golden Demon Carp.


    He stared at the golden Demon Carp and demanded in a deep voice, "Speak, what schemes and conspiracies does Heavenly Saint Moya have after luring us in?"


    "Also, our other companions, the ones on the peripheral ten large islands, the ones on the giant lotus leaves, have you laid your hands on them?"


    Since knowing the identity of Heavenly Saint Moya, Ye Chen had had an ominous feeling about the lives and deaths of the other eliminated Tomb Explorers.


    When he left Azure Blue Mansion and heard the golden Demon Carp speak of not enough people being dead, this bad feeling intensified.


    Obviously, considering the golden Demon Carp seemed to want more people dead, it must have already killed many.


    Very likely, the others had already died within the ancient tomb.


    Those other people who were eliminated in the previous challenges were cultivators from the Southern Kingdom, with many from the same sects as those who were still alive. When they heard Ye Chen''s words, everyone''s eyes locked onto the golden Demon Carp, and their hearts were lifted with anxiety.


    Seeing the expressions of the people, the golden Demon Carp laughed heartily, "The others? The others are long dead!"


    "Hmmph, now that you know of Heavenly Saint Moya''s identity, there''s no need to hide it from you anymore. Heavenly Saint Moya said when he left the tomb, all of you must die, you all must be sacrificed for him!"


    "Those people, the moment they were eliminated, they stepped ahead of you, and were killed to be sacrificed to the great one!"


    "Don''t worry, you won''t be far from death either!"


    Boom!


    The words of the golden Demon Carp left everyone''s minds blank.


    All the others are dead?


    They were all killed and sacrificed after being eliminated?


    Ye Chen thought of those left on Fourth Sea Island, and of his sect member Jin Lieyang on the giant lotus leaves.


    Fairy Nishang thought of the girls from Moon Concealing Sect, many of whom were still very young children!


    Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and the independent cultivators also thought of their fellow sect members, their companions...


    Unbelievable, everyone had actually died!


    All had perished within the schemes of the tomb owner!


    And listening to the golden Demon Carp, they would be killed next, continuing to die within the tomb!


    This had completely stunned many of those present!

 Chapter 250: Chapter 218 Tiger Demon Teng Appears

    Previously, a total of three hundred and forty-nine of them broke into the ancient tomb in a grand manner to seek adventure and treasure.


    At the peripheral islands, they were scattered across ten islands, and many died in the scramble for the Legacy Treasure Black Pearl; even more perished as Demon Beasts rampaged during the eruption of the dark pillars, and in the end, only ninety-three managed to enter the central island.


    Out of the ninety-three people who entered the central island, only fifty successfully made it into Azure Blue Lake.


    As a result, while they struggled through Azure Blue Mansion within Azure Blue Lake, many more died, leaving only about twenty of them still alive.


    They had originally thought that those who were eliminated but survived might still be lingering in the previous realm. But now it seems that even if they were lucky enough not to die during the adventure, they were still ultimately killed by this ancient tomb!


    Now, within this ancient tomb, only about twenty of them were left alive!


    Out of the three hundred and forty-nine who entered the tomb, only about twenty were still alive, a thought that was chilling.


    Furthermore, if Ye Chen had not discovered the truth, they would have continued to be led by the nose by the ancient tomb''s Legacy Treasure, and they might not even know how they died before continuing to perish inside!


    Earlier, the golden Demon Carp had said that not enough had died yet, and now they finally understood what that meant. This ancient tomb truly wanted them to keep dying!


    Such methods were indeed the tactics of the Demon Sects!


    It was simply too cruel, showing complete disregard for the lives of the cultivators from the thirteen countries of Tian Nan!


    While the Tomb Explorers were still stunned by this shocking news, the golden Demon Carp, gripped within the giant palm, had a glint of cunning flash in its demonic eyes. In an instant, its body, which was over two hundred meters long, shrank many times over and became the size of a palm.


    Then, in a flash, the now miniaturized golden carp slipped through the gaps of the shrinking giant palm and darted away at an unbelievable speed.


    The golden Demon Carp had actually seized the moment of everyone''s bewilderment to escape!


    Boom!


    The golden Demon Carp, aware of Ye Chen''s formidable power and having just escaped from the giant palm, certainly did not want to be captured by him again. As it reverted to its true giant form, it even burnt its Life Rotating Pill without hesitation, boosting its speed to what only a mid-stage Rotating Pill Demon King would possess!


    In the blink of an eye, the golden Demon Carp had escaped thousands of meters away, and at the same time, it sought help from the even more fearsome Tiger Demon Teng with its unique abilities!


    "Not good!"


    All of this happened in the blink of an eye, and all people saw was a flash of golden light before the golden Demon Carp, previously held by the giant palm, disappeared. Looking ahead, they saw that it had already escaped far away.


    This turn of events caused many to exclaim in shock!


    They had finally caught a formidable demon creature in the ancient tomb only to let it escape, increasing their danger!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Amidst the exclamations, Fairy Nishang turned to look at Ye Chen, knowing that among them, only Ye Chen could deal with the golden Demon Carp.


    Since the golden Demon Carp had fled, only Ye Chen had a hope of capturing it again.


    When Fairy Nishang looked at Ye Chen, she saw no surprise on his face. The golden Demon Carp had suddenly used its magical ability to shrink and escape, yet Ye Chen seemed unaffected?


    "It''s fine, let it escape, we''ll just catch up to it!"


    Ye Chen smiled at Fairy Nishang and suddenly his whole body erupted with a boundless surge of black true qi. Releasing the black true qi, he flashed and arrived a kilometer ahead, chasing after the fleeing golden Demon Carp!


    "Did Ye Chen let this golden Demon Carp escape on purpose?"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s smile, a thought flashed through Fairy Nishang''s mind. She moved swiftly, following behind Ye Chen in pursuit of the golden Demon Carp.


    Seeing this, others followed suit and chased after as well.


    This ancient tomb, infinitely mysterious and belonging to Heavenly Saint Moya of the Demon Sects, was not a place where they dared to stay on their own. Otherwise, the next to die mysteriously might be them.


    Of course, they had to follow the most powerful Ye Chen and the incredibly formidable Fairy Nishang!


    Among the pursuing crowd, Xue Yue, a hidden disciple of the Demon Sects, eyes shimmered with a strange brilliance: "Heavenly Saint Moya''s ancient tomb! I wasn''t wrong in my feeling before¡ªit truly is the tomb of a saint from my Demon Sects! I''m well aware of the methods of the Demon Sects, perhaps, the last one standing could be me!"


    Xue Yue, his mind filled with greedy thoughts, kept up with the crowd without lagging behind.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ahead, the golden Demon Carp burnt its Life Rotating Pill and fled at breakneck speed.


    Behind, the crowd chased after the Demon Carp fiercely.


    But among all of them, only Ye Chen managed to keep close on the heels of the golden Demon Carp without falling behind, while the rest, even Fairy Nishang, were quite a distance behind him, and that gap kept growing bigger!


    Had Ye Chen not been worried about their safety and left them with some tracking marks, they might have been left without a trace!


    Amidst the frenzied chase, Ye Chen''s eyes were fixed on the swiftly fleeing golden Demon Carp ahead, and his divine consciousness enveloped a thirty-mile radius, surveying everything!


    In the Battle Spirit Hall of Azure Blue Mansion, he had fought countless Battle Spirits at the early stage of the Rotating Pill and had long become familiar with this technique of shrinking and enlarging the body.


    He didn''t want to let the golden Demon Carp escape, not to mention its reduced size, even if the Rotating Pill exploded, it couldn''t break free from the huge palm he controlled!


    The reason Ye Chen intentionally revealed a flaw and allowed the golden Demon Carp to flee was because it mentioned that aside from itself, there was an even more powerful Tiger Demon Teng within the ancient tomb!


    Now that he knew the true nature of the ancient tomb, Ye Chen certainly wanted to take the initiative and lure the Tiger Demon Teng into revealing itself.


    Otherwise, if they were in the open while the Tiger Demon Teng hid in the shadows, their chances of survival within the ancient tomb would be even slimmer.


    From the way they were continuously driven by an inexplicable force from the peripheral islands to the central island, from the giant lotus leaves to the Azure Blue Lake, Ye Chen knew the Tiger Demon Teng was definitely watching their movements.


    Ye Chen intended to use the fleeing golden Demon Carp to draw the Tiger Demon Teng out of hiding.


    When that time came, Ye Chen would have to learn from the Tiger Demon Teng what schemes and plots Heavenly Saint Moya had in store, as well as find a way to leave this eerie ancient tomb!


    Ye Chen did not believe what the golden Demon Carp said about the master of the tomb simply wanting to kill them all. Otherwise, the master of the tomb would not need to eliminate them layer by layer; most of them could have been killed right at the periphery!


    This layer-by-layer elimination, constantly killing people yet allowing the stronger ones to live and continue delving into the tomb, must have an unspeakable purpose!


    Ye Chen felt that he might be able to learn of Heavenly Saint Moya''s true schemes from the Tiger Demon Teng!


    Knowing more about the situation would allow him to think of ways to respond! And find a method to leave the ancient tomb!


    As for how formidable the Tiger Demon Teng was, Ye Chen wouldn''t be fearful.


    He still had the Heavenly Saint Bracelet and several lifesaving cards from the Azure Blue Mansion unused. Even if Heavenly Saint Moya were still alive and made a move himself, Ye Chen wouldn''t worry, let alone facing the Tiger Demon Teng, a subordinate of Heavenly Saint Moya.


    As thoughts flashed through his mind, Ye Chen continued to chase after the golden Demon Carp ahead. His speed kept narrowing the distance between him and the golden Demon Carp, but he never directly caught up.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not catch up directly to the Demon Carp. If he employed the Vermilion Bird Speed Great Divine Ability, catching up to the golden Demon Carp, which was only at the early stage of the Rotating Pill, would be incredibly easy. He could''ve captured it right away as it attempted to escape, let alone allowing it to flee so far.


    The reason he didn''t catch up directly was to lure the Tiger Demon Teng out using the escaping golden Demon Carp.


    As Ye Chen pursued from behind, the golden Demon Carp in front grew increasingly terrified.


    It discovered that even when it burned its Life Rotating Pill, the distance it managed to escape kept being closed by Ye Chen.


    The golden Demon Carp was nearly frightened into unconsciousness.


    "This lad is a monster! He''s only in the Spirit Sea Realm, how can he be so fast!"


    "Lord Tiger Demon Teng! Where are you, Lord Tiger Demon Teng?!"


    "If you don''t save me now, this lad will kill me!"


    The golden Demon Carp fled frantically, sending out desperate mental calls.


    When Ye Chen had pursued the golden Demon Carp to a mere few hundred meters away, and their frenzied flight and chase had almost reached the edge of the immense Azure Blue Lake, the golden Demon Carp''s face was ashen.


    It knew that if it kept burning its Life Rotating Pill, it wouldn''t be able to flee much longer, as it was nearly at its limit.


    Ye Chen, following behind the golden Demon Carp, also frowned, not expecting that such a long time had passed without drawing out the Tiger Demon Teng.


    Just as Ye Chen thought the Tiger Demon Teng, hidden in the shadows, might still not show up, the ahead golden Demon Carp, which already looked as pale as a dead man, suddenly brightened up.


    "Lord Tiger Demon Teng? Have you arrived?"


    Boom!


    Suddenly, the golden Demon Carp lifted its head, looking towards the surface of the lake.


    At that moment, Ye Chen felt a massive shadow cast over the lake.


    Moving quickly, Ye Chen dodged out of the shadow''s range.


    Following that, Ye Chen saw a gigantic, billowing black arm stretch into the lake and the enormous hand grabbed and lifted the golden Demon Carp out of the Azure Blue Lake in one swoop.


    "So, Tiger Demon Teng, you''ve finally decided to appear?!"


    As he saw the enormous arm that snatched away the golden Demon Carp, a thought crossed Ye Chen''s mind, and he "swooshed" out from the water, rushing above the surface of the Azure Blue Lake.


    Standing on the surface of the lake, looking up into the sky, Ye Chen saw a bizarre creature hundreds of meters tall, with a tiger''s head and a human''s body, enveloped in rolling black mist, standing in the void above the lake.


    This strange creature, with its rolling black mist hand, was holding the golden Demon Carp tightly, and its eyes, filled with swirling demonic mist, locked onto Ye Chen in a glance.


    "Tiger Demon Teng!"


    Upon seeing this bizarre creature, Ye Chen instantly recognized who it was!


    Indeed, this was the one he had been wanting to draw out, the Tiger Demon Teng, far more formidable than the golden Demon Carp, and among the Eight Great Demon Tower Guards of Heavenly Saint Moya.


    Finally, in this chase and pursuit, the Tiger Demon Teng had revealed itself!

 Chapter 251: Chapter 219: Making Trouble

    Above the surface of Azure Blue Lake.


    On one side, a three-hundred-meter tall Tiger Demon Teng, its body shrouded in black energy, suddenly grabbed a golden Demon Carp.


    On the other side was Ye Chen, who was insignificantly small in comparison to the massive body of Tiger Demon Teng.


    Both stood in the void, gazing at each other.


    Tiger Demon Teng looked at Ye Chen with a giant, deep eye, showing a trace of surprise and shock. It hadn''t expected the one who forced its subordinate, the early-stage Rotating Pill Demon King, Golden Carp, to desperately call for help, to be such a young boy.


    And the look in Ye Chen''s eyes as he stared at Tiger Demon Teng was even more solemn.


    In the Battle Spirit Hall, Ye Chen had fought countless Rotating Pill-level battle spirits, but Tiger Demon Teng gave him the feeling of an even stronger aura than a mid-stage Rotating Pill.


    Just as the Golden Carp said, this Tiger Demon Teng was an even more formidable demon creature from the ancient tomb. Judging by its aura, it had indeed reached the late stages of Rotating Pill!


    A late-stage Rotating Pill demon creature, such an existence, Ye Chen could not deal with it by his strength alone!


    Unless he used the secret weapon he had never before used¡ªthe Heavenly Saint Bracelet¡ªand borrowed the power of the Heavenly Saint Law Bead inside the bracelet, only then might he have a chance to defeat Tiger Demon Teng!


    As Ye Chen''s thoughts raced, the black-aura-shrouded Tiger Demon Teng spoke first.


    It glanced at Ye Chen, then looked at the Golden Carp in its hand, and said in a rumbling voice, "Golden Carp, is this little brat the one who forced you to cry out for my help?"


    "Yes, Lord Tiger Demon Teng, it''s him! This little brat, I don''t know where he learned his methods, but he somehow cultivated enough strength to completely suppress me even though he is only at the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "Moreover, he dared to take Master Heavenly Saint''s treasure¡ª he directly took away the Azure Blue Mansion!"


    "Lord Tiger Demon Teng, you must teach him a good lesson and take back the Azure Blue Mansion!"


    The Golden Carp, being held tight by Tiger Demon Teng, looked at Ye Chen full of hatred and said to Tiger Demon Teng with a high-pitched voice.


    Nodding at the Golden Carp''s words, Tiger Demon Teng muttered to itself, "An early-stage Spirit Sea Realm, and just a fifteen-year-old brat at that, managed to make an early-stage Rotating Pill Demon King flee."


    "Not bad, it seems that this time the Master''s ancient tomb has been opened, the thirteen countries of the south really have brought in some formidable people!"


    "Perhaps, the Master''s plan will fall upon this very child."


    Tiger Demon Teng mumbled without avoiding Ye Chen, whose consciousness was so strong that he heard every word clearly.


    Upon hearing Tiger Demon Teng speak of the ancient tomb Master''s grand scheme, Ye Chen''s heart skipped a beat.


    Indeed, this ancient tomb Master has plots and tricks, luring them into the ancient tomb!


    After muttering to itself, Tiger Demon Teng no longer looked at Ye Chen and the Golden Carp. Instead, it raised its massive head, gazing into the depths of Azure Blue Lake.


    It seemed that Tiger Demon Teng was waiting for other Tomb Explorers still inside Azure Blue Lake to emerge.


    Ye Chen did not act rashly. On guard against Tiger Demon Teng, he also awaited the others to catch up.


    After all, with everyone gathered, it would be easier to confront the ominous ancient tomb and force Tiger Demon Teng to reveal its true intentions.


    Both Tiger Demon Teng and Ye Chen, each with their own thoughts, did not attack each other, and the scene fell quiet for a time.


    As Tiger Demon Teng gazed into Azure Blue Lake, the Golden Carp held in its hand dared not speak up, also waiting quietly.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After waiting for nearly a stick of incense in time, another figure burst forth from Azure Blue Lake.


    This figure, dressed in palace attire, was none other than Fairy Nishang, who had been closely following Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen!"


    After flying out of Azure Blue Lake, Fairy Nishang spotted the massive black-aura-shrouded Tiger Demon Teng, and, taken aback, flew to Ye Chen''s side, quietly greeting him.


    Ye Chen nodded at Fairy Nishang, and neither spoke again.


    Then, after half a stick of incense passed, several more silhouettes flew out of the lake¡ªthese were indeed Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and others.


    These figures, emerging from Azure Blue Lake and seeing the standoff between Tiger Demon Teng and Ye Chen, underwent a drastic change in expression. In the end, they all stood by Ye Chen''s side.


    In the end, after waiting for half an hour, everyone who had followed through the Azure Blue Lake had flown out, and all twenty-seven Tomb Explorers stood by Ye Chen''s side.


    Seeing no more movements in the waters of Azure Blue Lake, Tiger Demon Teng finally spoke again. With its dark, rolling gaze scanning the twenty-eight figures standing shoulder to shoulder, it uttered, "Twenty-eight of you, I hadn''t expected, after killing so many, that twenty-eight of you would remain alive!"


    Hum!


    The words of Tiger Demon Teng shocked everyone, turning their faces pale. True to the Golden Carp''s words, Tiger Demon Teng was indeed displeased they had not died in greater numbers!


    "What demon creature are you, and why did you impersonate Heavenly Saint Linghua to deceive us into entering the ancient tomb?" asked a Half-Step Rotating Pill, whose voice trembled as he spoke up to Tiger Demon Teng.


    Tiger Demon Teng glanced at the Half-Step Rotating Pill. Just one glance scared the Rotating Pill into retreating frantically!


    Sizing up the Half-Step Rotating Pill, Tiger Demon Teng shook its massive head, "It seems, not all those who have survived are indeed strong characters."


    With that, Tiger Demon Teng turned its gaze back to the Golden Carp in its grip, "Golden Carp, I told you to lead them into the three major death traps and leave me the strongest few. Not only did you lose the first trap, the Azure Blue Mansion, but you even failed to make them enter the second."


    "You, truly disappoint me!"


    "My lord!" Upon hearing Tiger Demon Teng''s cold words, the Golden Carp''s expression drastically changed, "It''s not that I don''t want to eliminate more of them; it''s just that the young kid is too powerful, and an accident occurred!"


    "Hmph!"


    Tiger Demon Teng snorted coldly, cutting off the Golden Carp''s words, "Since that''s the case, I''ll take care of the following matters myself. Since you are so useless, offer yourself as a sacrifice to the master and make your final contribution!"


    In the rumbling voice of Tiger Demon Teng, a massive amount of black energy crazily spread from its huge palm holding the Golden Carp, and in an instant, the black energy completely enshrouded the Golden Carp''s body.


    "Spare my life, my lord!"


    Ye Chen and the others only managed to hear the pitiful cry of the Golden Carp before they saw, in the blink of an eye, the early-stage Demon King, the Golden Carp, turn into a skeleton of fish bones within the rolling black energy, and in the next instant, was completely annihilated!


    That Tiger Demon Teng actually killed the Golden Carp on the spot!


    This scene made the Tomb Explorers'' hearts thump wildly, and they couldn''t help but move closer to Ye Chen.


    The Golden Carp was an ally of Tiger Demon Teng, and now Tiger Demon Teng had killed it without the slightest mercy; their fate was evident.


    This Tiger Demon Teng from the Demon Sects, had such a ruthless method!


    Ye Chen''s gaze slightly narrowed; he felt that after the Golden Carp was killed, Tiger Demon Teng''s aura grew even stronger, clearly, Tiger Demon Teng possessed the means to refine the dead and enhance his power!


    After killing the Golden Carp, Tiger Demon Teng''s expression did not change; its huge, somber eyes turned to Ye Chen and the others, "Will you twenty-eight people obediently enter the second murderous formation set by the master, or shall I kill some of you directly and then send the rest into the second murderous formation?"


    No one dared to speak at Tiger Demon Teng''s words.


    In the first murderous formation at Azure Blue Mansion, many of the fifty of them had died. If it wasn''t for the bizarre circumstance that saw them transmitted back to the grand hall through a secret passage outside of the Azure Blue Mansion, perhaps even more would have died.


    As for this second murderous formation that Tiger Demon Teng spoke of, although they didn''t know what it was, everyone already knew the true identity of the ancient tomb''s owner and naturally wouldn''t just blindly enter.


    However, according to what Tiger Demon Teng said, if they didn''t enter the murderous formation, they could be killed directly by Tiger Demon Teng. The scene where Tiger Demon Teng killed the early-stage Demon King Golden Carp was still clear in their minds, so they also lacked the courage to resist Tiger Demon Teng.


    Seeing that everyone was silent, Tiger Demon Teng sneered and then directly addressed Ye Chen at the forefront, "Kid, it appears that you are the most powerful one among these people. What is your choice?"


    Ye Chen looked at Tiger Demon Teng and shook his head slightly, "Enter the second murderous formation? Not interested! You want to kill me directly? That would depend on your ability."


    Buzz!


    Ye Chen''s calm words shocked the other Tomb Explorers.


    At this point, Ye Chen still held such firm conviction; could he actually manage to confront the terrifyingly powerful Tiger Demon Teng?


    For a moment, a hope for survival rose in the hearts of many people.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Tiger Demon Teng laughed loudly, "See my ability? Kid, you sure talk big."


    "Indeed, among those who entered the ancient tomb this time, you are the one who caught my eye. Not only did you dare to take from the Azure Blue Mansion, but you even made the Golden Carp beg for mercy. Very well, I will save your life until the end to offer as a sacrifice to the master."


    "But as for the others, since you have not made a choice, I will have to kill some first!"


    Boom!


    As Tiger Demon Teng spoke, he suddenly disappeared from the scene, and in the next moment, his enormous palm reached out directly toward the Half-Step Rotating Pill who spoke earlier.


    The Tiger Demon Teng, having reached the latter stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, moved with incredible speed; everyone only saw a blur before seeing that colossal palm already upon the head of the Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    The sudden attack from Tiger Demon Teng changed the expressions of everyone; the Half-Step Rotating Pill being attacked was even more terrified, crying out wildly.


    Boom!


    Just when it seemed that the Half-Step Rotating Pill was about to be crushed by Tiger Demon Teng''s palm, a black and red ancient sword suddenly appeared above the head of the Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    With the appearance of this black and red ancient sword, a terrifying sword light burst forth, colliding directly with Tiger Demon Teng''s colossal palm, ultimately deflecting the giant palm dozens of meters away.


    With a thunderous boom, the deflected giant palm struck the waters of Azure Blue Lake, exploding upon contact and causing waves to surge hundreds of meters high.


    The giant waves rolled in the lake before crashing down like torrential rain, but all attention had shifted from the water to the black and red ancient sword that had blocked the colossal palm from striking the Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    Then, they saw a young figure appear beside the Half-Step Rotating Pill, holding the black and red ancient sword.


    Ye Chen!


    It was Ye Chen who had stepped in to act!


    The ancient sword in his hand was none other than the Treasure Instrument he had obtained in the Azure Blue Mansion¡ªthe Black Fire Sword!


    Facing the immensely powerful Tiger Demon Teng, Ye Chen showed no fear and directly intervened, saving the Half-Step Rotating Pill!


    Tiger Demon Teng, whose palm had been deflected by Ye Chen''s sword, turned its gaze toward Ye Chen who had flown out; its somber eyes revealed a flicker of anger, "Kid, do you really think I dare not kill you?"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen, holding the Black Fire Sword, faced Tiger Demon Teng head-on with a voice as calm as ever, "Kill me, by all means, come ahead! If you want our lives, sooner or later, you''re still my sworn enemy, so better to settle this sooner rather than later!"

 Chapter 252: Chapter 220: Forbidden Transformation!

    In the void, Ye Chen and Tiger Demon Teng stood face to face.


    A great battle was about to erupt.


    Seeing this situation, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and the others all retreated, making space for the two to fight.


    This was a battle between two warriors of the Rotating Pill Realm, not to mention that they simply couldn''t intervene; even if they could, it would be of no use and they might even disrupt Ye Chen.


    They could only watch from the sidelines and try to help Ye Chen when necessary.


    Observing everyone''s movements, Tiger Demon Teng let out a cold laugh. Its eyes, brimming with demonic energy, once again fixed on Ye Chen. It no longer spoke, and abruptly disappeared from where it stood.


    The next moment, Tiger Demon Teng appeared high in the void. It slapped downwards, and an endless stream of rolling black energy formed into a humongous palm hundreds of meters wide, completely enveloping Ye Chen below and slamming down towards him!


    Boom!


    As Tiger Demon Teng made its move, so did Ye Chen.


    This time, unlike when he faced the golden demonic carp and restrained his aura, Ye Chen''s boundless Primordial True Liquid was suddenly released.


    The rolling Primordial True Liquid turned into dense black smoke-like vast True Qi, sweeping up hundreds of meters high and completely enveloping Ye Chen''s body within the thick True Qi smoke.


    Although Ye Chen''s body was significantly smaller compared to Tiger Demon Teng, the thick swirling True Qi smoke that enveloped him gave off an equally powerful and extraordinary aura!


    This kind of aura was definitely comparable to the top early-stage warriors of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    "Ye Chen''s True Qi!"


    "Has actually reached the Rotating Pill Realm as well!"


    Fairy Nishang, watching from outside the battle, was extremely familiar with the aura of the Rotating Pill Realm. When she saw Ye Chen''s rising black True Qi, her eyes filled with disbelief.


    A youngster in the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm actually possessed True Qi and combat power of the Rotating Pill Realm, which was astonishing. Yet, this situation unfolded vividly before everyone''s eyes.


    On the other side, Liu Yan''s gaze also tightened.


    He had been defeated by Ye Chen before and felt that the gap between them wasn''t large. But as time passed, he realized that Ye Chen had completely left him behind.


    Previously, Ye Chen could only suppress a half-step into Rotating Pill, but now he could directly contend with warriors of the Rotating Pill Realm and even defeat early-stage Demon Kings of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    This progress, even for a genius like Liu Yan, was incredibly astonishing.


    "What a pity, it''s still only the True Qi of the early-stage Rotating Pill Realm, far from enough compared to this Tiger Demon Teng."


    "I fear Ye Chen will still suffer a loss!"


    Liu Yan said this as he looked towards Ye Chen, who was enveloped by the rolling black True Qi, and then at the sky-supporting giant palm Tiger Demon Teng slammed down, more terrifying than the one directed at the half-step Rotating Pill.


    In the eyes of the onlookers, the giant palm Tiger Demon Teng had slapped down was already bearing down on Ye Chen.


    At that moment, Ye Chen, enveloped by the rolling True Qi smoke, didn''t dodge or retreat. Instead, he shot skyward, and in an instant, the black True Qi around his body turned into an unmatched gold-white color. At the same time, the phantom of a Divine Beast''s physique emerged around Ye Chen.


    The Divine Beast''s physique was entirely covered in gold-white fur emitting a strange light, its whiskers soared skyward, extraordinarily long, and a pair of huge golden-white wings sprouted on its back!


    This was none other than the White Tiger Physique from Ye Chen''s five major physique spiritual abilities!


    The White Tiger Physique possessed a bizarrely powerful spiritual ability. Facing the palm that Tiger Demon Teng slapped down, Ye Chen directly utilized the great White Tiger Physique ability!


    Under the influence of the White Tiger Physique''s great ability, Ye Chen, soaring into the sky, raised his Black Fire Sword. With immense attack power infused, the Black Fire Sword became like the claw of the White Tiger Divine Beast, clawing at the sky-supporting giant palm that Tiger Demon Teng sent crashing down!


    As they observed the bizarre Divine Beast''s physique enveloping Ye Chen''s body, heard the roaring of the Divine Beast resounding in the sky, and felt the terrifying attack power on the Black Fire Sword, everyone watching was completely shocked, including Tiger Demon Teng, Ye Chen''s opponent, whose expression changed!


    "Is this... could this really be the legendary White Tiger Divine Beast from the golden spiritual Divine Beasts?"


    Everyone couldn''t believe it. The Divine Beast from the legends was associated with Ye Chen, who had cultivated a physique resembling such a mythical creature!


    While everyone was still in shock, Ye Chen''s Black Fire Sword had already collided with the giant palm slapped down by Tiger Demon Teng.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Tiger Demon Teng''s sky-supporting giant palm, filled with dense black energy and hundreds of meters large, loomed down like a black mountain.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen''s Black Fire Sword, fueled by the immense power of the White Tiger Physique, radiated "black, red, white, gold," several bizarre colors, and appeared to be a divine light that could shred anything!


    In an instant, these two forces collided.


    Then, a shockingly intense and terrifying wave of True Qi instantly surged forth from the point of collision between the two forces, sweeping up many of the Tomb Explorers who had dodged to the side and sending them flying through the air!


    Amidst their cries of alarm, the crowd was astonished to see that Ye Chen''s Black Fire Sword had actually shattered the heaven-supporting giant palm that Tiger Demon Teng had slammed down, covering hundreds of meters in its span.


    Although this was only the first move in the exchange between Ye Chen and Tiger Demon Teng¡ªit appeared that the giant palm was merely a probing move from the latter¡ªbeing able to shatter a probing move from a late-stage Rotating Pill realm monster still left the Tomb Explorers incredibly impressed by Ye Chen''s strength.


    In the sky above.


    Tiger Demon Teng, with a glint in its eyes, watched Ye Chen rise into the air with the Black Fire Sword, shattering all of its killing moves.


    "The Divine Beast Physique is indeed powerful!"


    "However, the move just now was less than ten percent of my strength. It seems you haven''t fully mastered the formidable power of this Divine Beast Physique either!"


    "If those are all the moves you have, then from now on, be imprisoned within my Law Domain!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Tiger Demon Teng spoke, it stomped its enormous paws into the void, and its entire body suddenly burst forth with endless black qi. This boundless black qi instantly enveloped a vast expanse of space, furiously spreading towards Ye Chen.


    This time, faced with the inexorable advance of the black qi, Ye Chen did not attempt to confront it directly.


    Having fought countless times with the Rotating Pill Battle Spirits in the Battle Spirit Hall, he knew precisely what killing move Tiger Demon Teng was using now.


    Ye Chen could directly counter previously when Tiger Demon Teng was probing, but now the move that Tiger Demon Teng was unleashing was none other than the ultimate skill of a Rotating Pill realm powerhouse¡ªthe Law Domain¡ªand it was from a late-stage Rotating Pill realm monster at that. Naturally, Ye Chen needed to be careful.


    In the final battle in the Battle Spirit Hall, when facing the mid-stage Rotating Pill Female Battle Spirit, Ye Chen had been at a constant disadvantage within her Law Domain, unable to break through and being directly restrained by it.


    Now, facing Tiger Demon Teng''s Law Domain, Ye Chen could sense an incredibly powerful earth-type Law aura within; if he were indeed engulfed, he would definitely be constrained just like when he faced the Female Battle Spirit, directly trapped inside the Law Domain!


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t allow himself to be easily imprisoned by the Law Domain.


    The moment Tiger Demon Teng''s endless black qi enveloped him, the rolling golden True Qi around Ye Chen''s body turned from a gold-white color to a fiery red.


    Following that, the White Tiger Physique around Ye Chen disappeared, and a new Divine Beast Physique suddenly manifested around him.


    This Divine Beast Physique had a pair of fiery red, huge wings, its eyes emitting endless firelight, every single feather brimming with never-ending rosy light, overflowing with boundless fire spirits!


    It was undoubtedly the Vermilion Bird Physique grand magical power. Ye Chen intended to unleash his ultimate speed to dodge Tiger Demon Teng''s Law Domain imprisonment!


    Whoosh!


    In the blink of an eye, with a light flap of Ye Chen''s huge fiery red wings, he shot thousands of meters away, evading the black qi from the Law Domain. At the same time, with a big grab, Ye Chen transformed endless Primordial True Qi into fiery red swords, bombarding them towards Tiger Demon Teng.


    The newly revealed Physique shadow once again surprised Tiger Demon Teng.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s speed surge in an instant, Tiger Demon Teng paused, and upon seeing the fiery red swords coming towards it, the stunned expression on its face turned into a cold sneer, "Little guy, you have quite a few tricks up your sleeve!"


    "If I were at the middle stage of Rotating Pill, perhaps capturing you wouldn''t be so easy. Unfortunately for you, I have been in the late stage of Rotating Pill for quite some time now. Do you really think you can escape my Law Domain with your half-baked Divine Beast Physique?"


    "Law Domain, imprison!"


    Boom!


    As Tiger Demon Teng spoke, it paid no attention to the fiery red swords bombarding it. With a big grab, it completely crushed the True Qi-formed swords. Then, the rolling black qi around its huge body suddenly coalesced into a pair of enormous black wings.


    Then, with the black wings flapping, Tiger Demon Teng''s speed exploded, and it shot towards Ye Chen who was fleeing.


    Tiger Demon Teng, being a late-stage Rotating Pill realm monster, had a flight speed that was unbelievably fast. Even with Ye Chen deploying the Vermilion Bird Physique and utilizing the grand speed magical power, he was still a step behind Tiger Demon Teng.


    "This is bad!"


    As he saw Tiger Demon Teng rapidly closing in on him, as well as the surging Law Domain black qi rapidly enveloping him during the chase, Ye Chen''s brow furrowed deeply.


    "It''s a pity that I cannot fully utilize the Vermilion Bird''s strength grand magical power. My current True Qi Quantity only allows me to summon one-tenth of the Physique''s speed. Otherwise, this Tiger Demon Teng would definitely not be able to catch up to me!"


    "Could it really be time to use the ''Heavenly Saint Law Bead''?"


    While Ye Chen moved swiftly, his mind raced.


    As he dodged frantically and Tiger Demon Teng pursued relentlessly, all the onlookers realized that the distance between Ye Chen and Tiger Demon Teng was rapidly closing.


    In the end, accompanied by a vast expanse of black qi that completely submerged Ye Chen''s body, everyone let out a cry of alarm, "It''s over, he''s been caught up to!"


    Looking up into the sky, it was clear to see that Ye Chen had completely fallen into Tiger Demon Teng''s Law Domain amidst the black qi.

 Chapter 253: Chapter 221: Void Great Treasure Cover

    Seeing that Ye Chen, the strongest among them, had also fallen into the terrifying black aura unleashed by Tiger Demon Teng, the faces of everyone else turned pale with fright.


    Many had already cultivated the thought of fleeing, while Fairy Nishang and others worried about Ye Chen could not help but want to move forward to help him.


    For a moment, among the remaining twenty-seven, some flew backward while others flew toward Ye Chen.


    Witnessing this, Tiger Demon Teng, who had trapped Ye Chen with his Law Domain, fixed his rolling demonic eyes onto the crowd and said, "Whether you want to run or help, don''t bother exerting any effort."


    "None of you has met the requirements to continue living. All of you, enter the second Kill Game!"


    As he spoke, Tiger Demon Teng flipped a huge palm, and a black and white chessboard appeared in it.


    Once the black and white chessboard materialized, it began spinning, and, in an instant, it expanded to thousands of kilometers in size, before inverting and looming over the crowd.


    The black and white chessboard seemed to possess a strange suction force. Those attempting to flee and those like Fairy Nishang flying toward Ye Chen were instantaneously drawn into the massive chessboard, flying backwards into it.


    This scene shocked all twenty-seven of them.


    "The second Kill Game?"


    "Could this huge chessboard be the second Kill Game?"


    Many struggled frantically, but to no avail against the immense pulling power of the chessboard. In a flash, all twenty-seven were swallowed up by the chessboard, followed by a swirl of black and white smoke that completely enveloped them.


    After these people fell into the chessboard, the rumbling voice of Tiger Demon Teng reached their ears, "This second Kill Game is called ''the Black and White Kill Game.'' Once inside, each of you will transform into a black piece on the chessboard, and your opponents will be the white pieces transformed from the demons."


    "I will give you one month to navigate this Kill Game. After a month, I will only let seven of you out, the ones who killed the most demons. The others, even if they survived in the Black and White Kill Game, will all be killed by me!"


    After delivering his declaration, Tiger Demon Teng no longer cared about the twenty-seven and waved his hand, sending the giant black and white chessboard flying above the Azure Blue Lake, floating in the void above the water.


    And Fairy Nishang along with the other twenty-six were now fully engulfed in the black and white chessboard''s Kill Game.


    Then, Tiger Demon Teng turned his attention back to the Law Domain he had released.


    "This little one is quite the promising seedling."


    "Offering him to the master, the master will definitely find a great use for him. Perhaps he''s even the one that the master can make use of!"


    "Well then, I won''t kill his physical body. I''ll just extinguish his Divine Soul first!"


    As Tiger Demon Teng spoke, the black aura from the Law Domain he had unleashed erupted with endless black light, frantically shooting towards Ye Chen inside it.


    From the moment Ye Chen fell into the Law Domain to when the others were placed inside the second Kill Game, the Black and White Chessboard, and then to Tiger Demon Teng unleashing black light capable of obliterating the Divine Soul, everything happened in a brief moment.


    At this moment, Ye Chen trapped inside the Law Domain saw the black aura approaching from all sides, and his expression immediately darkened.


    He could feel that this black aura was rich with the Earth Element Law Force. Being trapped in it was like being stuck in a quagmire, unable to move an inch.


    Not only was his body unable to move, but even his Divine Sense was completely bound by this Earth Element Law Force.


    He was now completely under the control of the Law Domain!


    And when the black light capable of obliterating the Divine Soul shone towards Ye Chen, he felt an indescribable piercing pain heading straight for his mind.


    Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, after having been strengthened by the "Gang Yuan Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture, was exceptionally powerful. His Divine Sense alone could envelop a radius of thirty li, surpassing all Spirit Sea Realm warriors and even much more powerful than many Rotating Pill Realm warriors!


    The instant the mysterious black light aimed for his mind, Ye Chen detected its attack towards the Divine Soul.


    "The Law Domain has trapped my body and Divine Sense!"


    "This mysterious black light seeks to harm my Divine Soul."


    "Do they really think I have no power to counterattack?"


    Of course, Ye Chen would not let Tiger Demon Teng slaughter him as he pleased. As soon as he was trapped in the Law Domain and the black light was shining towards him, a Heavenly Saint Law Bead from the Heavenly Saint Law Chain on Ye Chen''s wrist suddenly erupted with a dazzlingly bright golden light.


    This blindingly bright golden light instantly enveloped Ye Chen. As this golden light shrouded his body, even the rolling black aura of the Law Domain and the endless black light aiming to obliterate the Divine Soul couldn''t get half a step closer to Ye Chen!


    This Law Bead was indeed a Heavenly Saint Law Bead, a miraculous bead that condensed the Heavenly Saint power left by Heavenly Saint Di Kong!


    The Heavenly Saint Law Force inside the bead Ye Chen was utilizing was for offensive powers, and its golden light directly allowed Ye Chen to exhibit attack power on the level of a Heavenly Saint!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Surrounded by the golden light, Ye Chen felt an endless surge of power being injected into his body and Divine Soul.


    This power caused him no harm at all; it was as if it was there for him to use at will!


    The Heavenly Saint Law Bead created by Heavenly Saint Di Kong was indeed extraordinarily marvelous, even enabling Ye Chen to directly harness the Heavenly Saint power within it!


    In an instant, Ye Chen closed his eyes, feeling his combat strength rise from capable of suppressing early-stage Rotating Pill opponents to overpowering middle-stage Rotating Pill opponents, and then later-stage Rotating Pill opponents.


    When the Heavenly Saint Law Bead completely shattered, with all its golden light being infused into Ye Chen''s body, he felt for a moment as if he had stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Heavenly Saint Power!


    This was Ye Chen borrowing the Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s Heavenly Saint Power, possessing an attack of the Heavenly Saint level!


    When the Heavenly Saint Law Bead completely shattered, and Ye Chen fully entered the state of Heavenly Saint Power, Ye Chen''s closed eyes suddenly snapped open.


    A peerless divine marvel of golden light streaked across Ye Chen''s eyes.


    "Law Domain?"


    "Break for me!"


    With peerless golden light flickering in his eyes, a divine golden Spiritual Pattern suddenly emerged on Ye Chen''s forehead.


    In his calm words, Ye Chen lightly pointed his finger at the vast and immense black Law Domain.


    Crack crack crack!


    Even the Law Domain that Rotating Pill Realm experts in their later stages would be trapped in began to crazily crumble and fracture!


    While Ye Chen was still absorbing the power of the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, the vast Law Domain that enveloped him began to shake wildly. The entire Law Domain, forming a prohibitive space, was exploding wildly, bursting frantically, as if it could collapse at any moment.


    "What''s happening?"


    At this time, Tiger Demon Teng, who had just pulled the remaining twenty-seven into the second kill game "Black and White Chessboard," was about to use black light to extinguish Ye Chen''s Divine Soul when he noticed the abnormal movement of his Law Domain.


    "Impossible!"


    "This is my Rotating Pill later stage Law Domain, this kid can''t possibly break it!"


    In the midst of his shock, Tiger Demon Teng horrifyingly found that the Law Domain, which seemed like it could collapse at any moment, shook even more violently, and in the end, it actually shattered as if struck by a blow, completely fracturing apart!


    Then, Tiger Demon Teng saw Ye Chen, wrapped in divine peerless golden light, flying out from the Law Domain.


    This was exactly when Ye Chen pointed and directly broke the Law Domain!


    When he saw the peerless golden light on Ye Chen and felt Ye Chen''s aura, the Rotating Pill later stage Tiger Demon Teng completely screamed in shock, "Heavenly Saint Power, how is this possible!"


    He actually sensed the Heavenly Saint Power on Ye Chen, the power that only Heavenly Saint Realm experts should possess!


    This completely baffled Tiger Demon Teng!


    If Ye Chen truly possessed Heavenly Saint Power, then even if he was in the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, he would stand no chance at all!


    The completely incredulous Tiger Demon Teng, feeling his insides once again surging with endless black aura, transformed into a Law Domain, enveloping Ye Chen once more.


    Seeing Tiger Demon Teng attempting to trap him with the Law Domain again, Ye Chen pointed once more, and a peerless golden light instantly annihilated all the black aura of the Law Domain!


    Next, the peerless golden light coalesced and flashed in the air, heading straight for Tiger Demon Teng''s head to strike it down.


    Finally realizing his own Law Domain''s black aura was obliterated and that Ye Chen was indeed wielding powers of the Heavenly Saint, the terrified Tiger Demon Teng, his face stricken with horror, flipped his palm, and a bowl-shaped golden pot appeared in his hand.


    "The Master originally chose individuals from the Spirit Sea Realm to enter the ancient tomb precisely because he feared the variables that powerful Rotating Pill entrants might introduce!"


    "Who would have thought, within the insignificant Spirit Sea Realm, someone actually possessed Heavenly Saint methods!"


    "Indeed, one must guard against all possibilities!"


    "Fortunately, I also have methods left by the Master to prepare for such emergencies. ''Void Great Treasure Cover,'' prepare to strike!"


    Boom!


    Amid Tiger Demon Teng''s words, the golden pot he held suddenly lifted, instantly swelling and transforming into an immense cover, catching the incoming peerless golden light of Ye Chen''s Heavenly Saint level attack.


    In an instant, the peerless golden light was completely captured within the "Void Great Treasure Cover."


    The moment the peerless golden light entered the Void Great Treasure Cover, bizarre Law Patterns began to flicker on the treasure cover, with hidden and divine Prohibition Arrays lurking within them.


    Sounds of endless booming erupted from within the entire treasure cover, evidently the power of the peerless golden light clashing against the Void Great Treasure Cover.


    Amidst the endless booms, the Void Great Treasure Cover shook wildly, and even Tiger Demon Teng lost control over the cover at last!


    Ye Chen had not anticipated that Tiger Demon Teng would possess such a miraculous object capable of directly capturing his Heavenly Saint level killing light.


    Seeing the treasure cover still contending with the golden light, Ye Chen naturally didn''t hesitate. The Heavenly Saint Power provided by the Heavenly Saint Law Bead was limited, and he aimed to completely resolve Tiger Demon Teng before the situation changed.


    Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s figure flashed, propelling him directly in front of Tiger Demon Teng. Then, with a great grasp, the Black Fire Sword was infused with a terrifying golden glow, thrusting straight at Tiger Demon Teng.

 Chapter 254: Chapter 222 Break!

    The power of the Heavenly Saint dramatically increased Ye Chen''s attack strength to an unfathomable level!


    The Black Fire Sword, infused with astonishing golden light, pierced through the air, actually tearing the very fabric of space and creating a vast rift!


    Only after the sword''s light passed did the space rift rapidly close up again.


    As the golden light stabbed towards Tiger Demon Teng, even with its body reaching over three hundred meters tall and its presence immensely powerful with surging black mist, its expression drastically changed.


    Clearly, Tiger Demon Teng knew that its Half-Step Rotating Pill stage was absolutely no match for Ye Chen, who had suddenly acquired the power of the Heavenly Saint!


    Boom!


    With a spread of its massive black wings, Tiger Demon Teng was ready to flee from Ye Chen''s attack.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not let Tiger Demon Teng escape so easily.


    Before, he had been unable to match Tiger Demon Teng, neither in attack strength nor in speed, being incomparable to this demon that had reached the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    But now, with the power of the Heavenly Saint infusing him, both Ye Chen''s attack strength and speed had crazily soared, and he was no longer afraid of Tiger Demon Teng!


    Ye Chen was now daring enough to face Tiger Demon Teng in direct combat!


    Whoosh!


    In the instant that Tiger Demon Teng fanned its gigantic black wings in an attempt to flee, a flash of golden light from the power of the Heavenly Saint surged through Ye Chen''s body, and his speed instantly surpassed Tiger Demon Teng. Swinging the Black Fire Sword, Ye Chen''s slice effortlessly severed one of Tiger Demon Teng''s arms!


    "Bang!"


    The severed arm of Tiger Demon Teng, engulfed in rolling black mist and over a hundred meters long, fell from the sky emitting thick smoke the moment it was cut off.


    Seeing this, Tiger Demon Teng''s expression changed dramatically as it reached out with its other hand to grab the falling arm, which turned into rolling black mist and was absorbed back into its body. Soon after, a new arm instantly regenerated.


    This Tiger Demon Teng was a demon, its arms made of demonic mist, capable of being reabsorbed.


    However, after Ye Chen''s sword strike, Tiger Demon Teng''s aura had clearly suffered a significant loss!


    If this continued, even if it could regenerate its body, it would eventually have its essence eroded by Ye Chen''s relentless attacks, leading to its complete death!


    And at that moment, Ye Chen''s second sword strike was already slashing towards it!


    By now, with its expression one of great alarm, Tiger Demon Teng could no longer afford to hesitate; it understood that if it didn''t come up with a plan quickly, it might not just lose an arm¡ªit could very well be that its entire demonic body would be annihilated!


    "Void Great Treasure Cover, come to me!"


    At this point, Tiger Demon Teng could no longer focus on using the Void Great Treasure Cover to crush Ye Chen''s released Heavenly Saint Killing Light. With a massive claw, it reached out into the void to grasp the treasure cover.


    The Void Great Treasure Cover, still vibrating wildly in the sky, repelled the Heavenly Saint Killing Light far away and then shot onto the claw of Tiger Demon Teng in an instant.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen''s second sword strike had reached the front of Tiger Demon Teng.


    Just as Ye Chen''s sword was about to strike Tiger Demon Teng''s body again, Tiger Demon Teng raised the Void Great Treasure Cover and met the sword light head-on.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantaneously, Ye Chen''s sword, filled with the power of the Heavenly Saint, collided directly with the strange treasure in Tiger Demon Teng''s hand, the "Void Great Treasure Cover."


    This collision set off boundless energy flares that, upon bursting forth, impacted Azure Blue Lake below, causing the water to surge into waves hundreds of meters high!


    As the energy flares burst and the waves churned, Ye Chen''s Heavenly Saint-level attack was successfully blocked by the "Void Great Treasure Cover"!


    Previously, the Void Great Treasure Cover had already blocked one of Ye Chen''s Heavenly Saint Killing Light attacks, and now it had stopped Ye Chen''s slashing sword again¡ªevidently, this Void Great Treasure Cover was a remarkable object that could withstand an attack from a Heavenly Saint.


    Most likely, it was a Sacred Artifact!


    "A Sacred Artifact?"


    Ye Chen stood in the void, holding the Black Fire Sword, his clothes flapping loudly in the wind, his aura still pulsing with the power of the Heavenly Saint.


    It did not surprise Ye Chen that Tiger Demon Teng possessed a Sacred Artifact.


    If Heavenly Saint Moya had entrusted Tiger Demon Teng with guarding this ancient tomb and set various traps against them, the Tomb Explorers, Ye Chen would never believe that Tiger Demon Teng didn''t have a few tricks up its sleeve.


    Perhaps this "Void Great Treasure Cover" was one of the trump cards given to Tiger Demon Teng by Heavenly Saint Moya, a defense-oriented Sacred Artifact that could withstand attacks from a Heavenly Saint!


    "I am now infused with the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, elevating my strength to the level of a Heavenly Saint!"


    "And though Tiger Demon Teng wields a Sacred Artifact, it may not be able to unleash the full power of the artifact and can, at best, rely on the quality of the Sacred Artifact to resist my attacks."


    "I don''t believe it can keep deflecting my attacks without a single flaw."


    Ye Chen''s eyes narrowed slightly as he gazed at Tiger Demon Teng, holding up the Void Great Treasure Cover.


    The next moment, he launched himself at Tiger Demon Teng again, "If that''s the case, let''s fight on!"


    "Let''s see who can suppress whom!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen moved and, once again wielding the Black Fire Sword, struck at Tiger Demon Teng.


    "You brat!"


    Seeing Ye Chen attacking relentlessly and charging at it once more, Tiger Demon Teng was extraordinarily furious.


    As one of the eight great demons under Heavenly Saint Moya, and a late-stage Rotating Pill demon, it had never before been pushed to this extent by a cultivator from the Spirit Sea Realm!


    It had even had an arm severed once.


    At this point, it wished nothing more than to tear this youth apart!


    Unfortunately, the young man possessed a power of the Heavenly Saint that even it feared, and despite its extraordinary rage, Tiger Demon Teng dared not withstand his attacks directly.


    "Block!"


    "I refuse to believe that the Heavenly Saint power you borrowed is endless!"


    "When you have used up all of your Heavenly Saint power, that will be the time I completely annihilate your soul!"


    Grinding his teeth in anger, Tiger Demon Teng once again raised the "Void Great Treasure Cover," to meet Ye Chen''s assault.


    ...


    Above Azure Blue Lake, the battle between Ye Chen and Tiger Demon Teng darkened the sky and churned the earth.


    On one side was someone in the Spirit Sea Realm, but supplemented with the Heavenly Saint power provided by the Heavenly Saint Law Bead!


    On the other was a Rotating Pill-late-stage demon creature, who also possessed a shocking Sacred Artifact like the "Void Great Treasure Cover" for assistance!


    Their battle raged from above the Azure Blue Lake, continuing onto the central massive island on the lake shore, flipping the entire world upside down!


    While Ye Chen and Tiger Demon Teng were still locked in fierce combat with no victor yet decided, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and others who had fallen into the second deadly game, the Black and White Chessboard, found themselves amidst pervasive turmoil.


    The moment these twenty-seven people were sucked into the Black and White Chessboard, they found their entire bodies emitting a black light, and simultaneously, from the large chessboard of the Black and White Chessboard, countless demon creatures emitting white light crazily lunged and tore at them.


    Clearly, these demon creatures were the white chess pieces on the board that they had to fight against, as Tiger Demon Teng had hinted when they entered the Black and White Chessboard.


    The mere presence of these demon creatures drastically changed the expressions of the twenty-seven people.


    These demon creatures were all at least at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level.


    Although many of them did not fear opponents at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level, the sheer number of demon creatures within the chessboard overwhelmed them, completely submerging them in a sea of Half-Step Rotating Pill level demons.


    Clearly, if they were to fight these creatures for a month in the Black and White Death Game, as Tiger Demon Teng had suggested, very few among the twenty-seven would feel confident about making it out alive!


    "What should we do?"


    "Is this just the second deadly game, and we''re already worn down by these demon creatures?"


    "Ye Chen outside is still engulfed in Tiger Demon Teng''s dark qi; how is he faring?"


    The twenty-seven people huddled together, continuously fighting off the attacking demon creatures, with Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and others at the forefront anxiously exchanging ideas.


    They had fallen into the Black and White Chessboard precisely when Ye Chen was caught in Tiger Demon Teng''s Law Domain, unaware that Ye Chen had since activated the Heavenly Saint Law Bead and already possessed the power to directly confront Tiger Demon Teng, and many were still worried about him!


    "No, we must break out of this deadly game soon!"


    "Otherwise, even if we survive this second deadly game, considering Tiger Demon Teng''s intentions, there''s a third deadly game awaiting us. With our numbers continuously dwindling, we will undoubtedly end up as the Demon Carp predicted, all dying within this ancient tomb!"


    "To break out, we must shatter this Black and White Chessboard!"


    In the end, exchanging thoughts, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and others looked at each other, settling on the same goal¡ªto break the second deadly game!


    But, such a Black and White Chessboard was not at all easy to break, evident from the inexhaustible surge of Half-Step Rotating Pill level demon creatures, indicating that the Chessboard was a rare treasure.


    Watching the frenzied onslaught of Half-Step Rotating Pill demons, and seeing that the aura of the vast majority among the twenty-seven had been rapidly reduced by the assaulting demons, Fairy Nishang was the first to speak up.


    "Fellow cultivators, we can no longer hold back. Bring out your most powerful abilities!"


    "Otherwise, we''ll all truly perish in this ancient tomb!"


    As she spoke, Fairy Nishang flipped her hand, and a giant fiery-red bow and a cluster of golden arrows appeared on it.


    "I can faintly sense the space restrictions of the chessboard. I ask for assistance from other cultivators so that I can gather all my strength and strike at these restrictions!"


    This was the first time Fairy Nishang had revealed a weapon¡ªobviously, the giant bow and arrows she now brought out were a trump card she had not yet used since entering the tomb!


    "I will! I''ll help you fend off the demons, Fairy!"


    At that moment, a Loose Cultivator at the Half-Step Rotating Pill Level stepped forward. Up until now, he had been quietly progressing to this point in the deadly game, but now, his true fighting strength emerged.


    When three demon creatures surged towards him, he grabbed them with his large hand, tearing them apart, then leaped to stand directly in front of Fairy Nishang.


    Obviously, those who could enter the tomb and make it to the final stages all had reserved strategies!


    Seeing Fairy Nishang and the Half-Step Rotating Pill Cultivator''s actions, the others also sprang into action.


    The weaker ones could only protect themselves from the marauding demons, while the stronger ones stood out, declaring their support to help Fairy Nishang break the chessboard''s space restrictions.


    At this point, Yun Luo, the young man shielded by several Half-Step Rotating Pill cultivators from the Cloud Sky Sect, also stood forward.


    He looked at Fairy Nishang, and then at the others, before speaking calmly, "I shall be the one to break this chessboard''s restrictions."


    Boom!


    As Yun Luo spoke, a flying dagger zoomed out from him, floating in the void before him.


    With the appearance of the dagger, all the rampaging demon creatures on the chessboard retreated in horror!


    This sight astonished everyone!


    All eyes turned towards the flying dagger.


    It could be seen that the dagger was a deep cyan color. Upon its emergence, a slight tremor caused even the void to tear apart, creating rifts in the space.


    Clearly, this dagger was a treasured weapon far beyond everyone''s expectations!


    Yun Luo, from the powerful Cloud Sky Sect, indeed had a shocking trump card that he hadn''t used until now¡ªand finally, he was ready to employ it in this second deadly game!

 Chapter 255: Chapter 223: The Power of the Heavenly Saint

    "Is this... a Sacred Artifact?!"


    Seeing the flying knife trembling slightly, tearing the void apart with rifts in space, and scaring countless demon beasts swarming over the chessboard into a frenzied retreat, many people exclaimed in awe.


    The divine power displayed by the flying knife definitely surpassed the combat strength of any Treasure Instrument they knew; it very likely was a Sacred Artifact!


    A Sacred Artifact!


    That was a legendary item of the Heavenly Saint Level, and among the major sects of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, only the Cloud Sky Sect had ever had a Heavenly Saint, who might have possessed a Sacred Artifact.


    And Yun Luo was precisely from the Cloud Sky Sect!


    It was very likely that this flying knife was indeed a Sacred Artifact!


    Hearing the exclamation of the crowd, Yun Luo nodded, "Indeed, this is a Sacred Artifact."


    "My master told me to use this treasure at the most crucial moment, and now, that time has come!"


    There were several instances when a few Half-Step Rotating Pill elders from Cloud Sky Sect who knew of Yun Luo''s Sacred Artifact, asked her to use it.


    When demon beasts ravaged the outer islands, when searching for treasures in the endless secret tunnels of Azure Blue Lake...


    But at those times, Yun Luo did not employ it.


    Now, however, Yun Luo had no choice but to use this trump card; if they did not exit the black and white chessboard promptly to see how Ye Chen was faring under the dark aura of Tiger Demon Teng, and with more of them risking death due to various traps and killing mechanisms in the ancient tomb, it was very likely they would all be annihilated in the end.


    At this moment, Yun Luo certainly dared not hold back any longer.


    When Fairy Nishang herself was not confident about breaking through the chessboard contraption, Yun Luo immediately stepped forward.


    Hearing Yun Luo confirm the flying knife was truly a Sacred Artifact, ecstasy spread across everyone''s faces.


    No one had expected that Yun Luo of the Cloud Sky Sect would actually bring a Sacred Artifact into the ancient tomb.


    If there really was a Sacred Artifact, then breaking the second deadly arrangement "The Black and White Chessboard" might indeed be possible!


    Moreover, possessing a Sacred Artifact in the eerie and unpredictable ancient tomb of the demon sect increased their chances of survival!


    For a moment, all eyes were on Yun Luo.


    Then, Yun Luo said to Fairy Nishang, "Fairy, you attack the forbidden area of this chessboard first to guide the direction for the flying knife, and then, I will use the flying knife to completely break the prohibitions of this chessboard."


    "Okay!" Fairy Nishang nodded without hesitation.


    Next, she aggressively lifted the fiery-red colossal bow in one hand; with the other, she bent the bow to notch an arrow. When the bowstring was taut, Fairy Nishang aimed at a direction above the black and white chessboard, released her hand, and the golden feathered arrow on the bowstring shot out like lightning towards that point.


    Boom!


    Fairy Nishang, with hundreds of years of cultivation at the Half-Step Rotating Pill level, had strength incredibly close to that of a Rotating Pill level, and her archery was unimaginably powerful.


    With this shot, the golden feathered arrow instantly pierced through the void, the arrow''s speed and explosive force were feared strong enough to easily kill a Half-Step Rotating Pill!


    When the overwhelmingly powerful golden feathered arrow shot towards the sky, it flew hundreds of meters high without losing speed. Fairy Nishang''s expression changed, and she lightly plucked at the bowstring, causing the arrow shot into the sky to explode back toward her.


    "Not this place."


    Fairy Nishang''s hands kept moving; after retrieving the previously shot arrow, she swiftly pulled out three more feathered arrows, drew the bowstring, and shot all three arrows at once.


    One bow, three arrows!


    And the power of these three arrows was not at all less formidable than the first one!


    While everyone was amazed at Fairy Nishang''s strong archery, two of the three closely flying arrows missed, but the middle one did not fly as far as the others; it was as if it had struck something. There was a loud explosion at the point of the arrowhead, followed by the release of waves of bizarre magic patterns rippling out from the spot it touched.


    Seeing the emergence of these bizarre magic patterns, all the tomb explorers below shouted in excitement.


    Clearly, the strange runes that had suddenly appeared in the sky were the space restriction of the black and white chessboard that Fairy Nishang had finally managed to probe!


    Just when Fairy Nishang had figured out where this space restriction was, Yun Luo finally made his move!


    Whoosh!


    With a flip of his hand, a green talisman appeared in his palm.


    Yun Luo pinched the green talisman between his fingers, and then, without any wind, it spontaneously ignited, burning fiercely!


    As the green talisman blazed, endless green smoke connected it directly to Yun Luo and the hovering flying dagger in front of him.


    At that moment, Yun Luo''s eyes suddenly shot a glance at the space restriction, pointed his two fingers towards it, and the Sacred Artifact flying dagger "swooshed" and disappeared from in front of him.


    The next moment, the flying dagger appeared right in front of the restriction.


    Then, the flying dagger, radiating with bright cyan light, crazily slashed towards the restriction.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Unlike Fairy Nishang''s arrows which were blocked earlier, the flying dagger seemed to tear through the void, directly piercing through the space restriction that radiated wave after wave, revealing a large expanse of space outside.


    And the space outside was none other than the Azure Blue Lake, beyond the black and white chessboard!


    "It''s broken, the restriction is broken!"


    The Tomb Explorers trapped in the second killing formation "The Black and White Chessboard" screamed ecstatically as they smelled the lake water from the Azure Blue Lake outside.


    "Let''s go out!"


    At this point, Yun Luo pointed a finger, and the flying dagger in the void shot back towards him. Without any hesitation, he directly flew out through the broken space of the restriction.


    "We should go too!"


    Following Yun Luo, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and the other Tomb Explorers also flew out. Hiding among the crowd, the disciple of the demon sect, Xue Yue, glanced at the broken black and white killing formation, then at Yun Luo who flew out first and the light shadow of his flying dagger, narrowed his eyes, and followed them out of the chessboard.


    After everyone flew out of the chessboard, they found themselves above the Azure Blue Lake, where the space was vast and empty, with no sign of Ye Chen and Tiger Demon Teng.


    Then, they heard earth-shattering battle noises coming from the distance.


    Looking towards the source of the noise, everyone''s eyes widened in shock. They saw Ye Chen, who had been trapped in Tiger Demon Teng''s dark energy when they entered the chessboard, appearing not far away, and his opponent was none other than Tiger Demon Teng himself!


    To their astonishment, Ye Chen, who was clearly weaker than Tiger Demon Teng previously, was now completely dominating the battle. The immensely powerful Tiger Demon Teng kept retreating under Ye Chen''s onslaught.


    If it weren''t for the object in Tiger Demon Teng''s hand which seemed like a Treasure Instrument continuously defending against Ye Chen''s attacks, Tiger Demon Teng would have likely been defeated already!


    Even so, Tiger Demon Teng was clearly at a disadvantage!


    "What happened?"


    Fairy Nishang, Yun Luo, and the others exchanged bewildered looks.


    They had only been trapped in the black and white chessboard for a short while before they broke out thanks to the Sacred Artifact flying dagger.


    In just this brief period of time, the dynamics of Ye Chen''s and Tiger Demon Teng''s battle had completely flipped, with Ye Chen now thoroughly overpowering Tiger Demon Teng.


    It astonished everyone.


    "No, it''s the power of a Heavenly Saint!"


    At that moment, Yun Luo, who had been intently observing the strange golden light on Ye Chen, suddenly had his pupils shrink. He actually felt the same power from the strange golden light surrounding Ye Chen as the one from his controlled Sacred Artifact flying dagger.


    In just a short time, Ye Chen had actually obtained the power of a Heavenly Saint!


    This utterly shocked Yun Luo, leaving him in disbelief!

 Chapter 256: Chapter 224 Annihilation, Awakening

    The group who had escaped the chessboard-like formation was astonished by the fierce battle between Ye Chen and Tiger Demon Teng, and Tiger Demon Teng, who was being suppressed and continuously forced back by Ye Chen, felt a tremor in his heart when he heard the commotion from Azure Blue Lake and saw the people breaking out of the formation!


    Utilizing the "Void Great Treasure Cover," he had originally intended to deplete the power of the Heavenly Saint borrowed by Ye Chen, but to Tiger Demon Teng''s surprise, Ye Chen somehow managed to emit new Light of the Heavenly Saint and recover to full strength after each moment of seeming weakness!


    Tiger Demon Teng could never have imagined that Ye Chen had thirteen Heavenly Saint Law Beads. Before he could exhaust the power of Ye Chen''s Law Beads, he was completely overpowered by Ye Chen after the latter had activated just three Heavenly Saint Law Beads! Visit m,v le,mpyr today


    To make matters worse for Tiger Demon Teng, he hadn''t expected that the other twenty-seven people trapped in the black and white chessboard would also manage to escape successfully, and among these twenty-seven people, he could vaguely feel a young man who possessed a Heavenly Saint Level power that made even him shudder!


    Encountering two Heavenly Saint Level powers one after another was a complete shock to Tiger Demon Teng!


    Tiger Demon Teng even couldn''t help but consider retreating!


    While Tiger Demon Teng paid attention to the stir at Azure Blue Lake, Ye Chen also noticed it. While attacking Tiger Demon Teng, he glanced towards Azure Blue Lake and, upon seeing Fairy Nishang and others breaking out of the formation, Ye Chen revealed a trace of a smile.


    He had intended to deal with Tiger Demon Teng first before rescuing the others trapped in the deadly chessboard, but surprisingly, these people had managed to break out on their own!


    Clearly, these people had their own aces up their sleeves, just as Ye Chen had predicted.


    With the help of the Heavenly Saint Law Beads, Ye Chen had already suppressed Tiger Demon Teng, and with some extra assistance, they would definitely be able to deal with this Tiger Demon Teng!


    With that thought in mind, Ye Chen swung his Black Fire Sword in a sweeping slash, forcing Tiger Demon Teng to madly retreat in the direction of Azure Blue Lake.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s actions, the other Tomb Explorers immediately understood; it seemed that Ye Chen wanted to push Tiger Demon Teng towards them so that they could join forces to kill it.


    "Go!"


    "Let''s join in!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the crowd, while others dared not move, Fairy Nishang and Yun Luo charged towards Tiger Demon Teng without fear, and Liu Yan, after gritting his teeth, also surged forward to attack Tiger Demon Teng.


    Since Tiger Demon Teng was already at a disadvantage against Ye Chen, it was their chance to ride this momentum and eliminate this major nuisance!


    Watching Fairy Nishang, Yun Luo, and Liu Yan swarm in and feeling the relentless pressure from Ye Chen behind, Tiger Demon Teng''s eyes flickered with resolve.


    "No!"


    "Who would have thought that these youngsters could be so troublesome!"


    "Two Heavenly Saint Level powers, there are actually two Heavenly Saint Level forces here!"


    "It seems that the spiritual sea beings entering this ancient tomb this time really surprised and delighted us!"


    "Well then, if that''s how it is, let''s proceed to the final step of the plan!"


    After numerous thoughts flashed through Tiger Demon Teng''s mind, it no longer engaged in a battle of attrition with Ye Chen and ignored the others surging towards him. Its entire body shrouded in rolling black air suddenly concentrated all its energy into the Void Great Treasure Cover in its hands.


    Then, Void Great Treasure Cover blasted open a path through Fairy Nishang, Yun Luo, and others and shot towards the deeper recesses of the ancient tomb.


    "Escaped?"


    Fairy Nishang, Yun Luo, and the others had not expected that Tiger Demon Teng would flee as soon as they took action, and for a moment, they stood frozen on the spot.


    Ye Chen, too, was slightly stunned.


    "What do we do now?"


    At this moment, everyone turned their eyes to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen, who had suppressed Tiger Demon Teng, was now emitting the power of the Heavenly Saint that made everyone else''s spine tingle with fear; even Yun Luo, who possessed a sacred flying dagger, was no exception.


    Of course, they looked to Ye Chen for a decision.


    "Chase!"


    Ye Chen spoke out decisively without hesitation.


    The truth of the ancient tomb and the clues to leave it were very likely to be found on the escape route of Tiger Demon Teng; Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t let Tiger Demon Teng get away so easily!


    Having expended three Heavenly Saint Law Beads, Ye Chen wouldn''t let the beads go to waste; he was determined to capture Tiger Demon Teng and force out the truth of the ancient tomb.


    Even if Tiger Demon Teng had any schemes up his sleeve, Ye Chen still had ten Heavenly Saint attack Law Beads unused, in addition to another set of thirteen Heavenly Saint defense Law Beads that he hadn''t yet deployed; he certainly wouldn''t fear Tiger Demon Teng''s machinations.


    Chase!


    Even if it meant pursuing Tiger Demon Teng to its lair, they were resolved to capture him!


    Boom!


    Having declared the chase, Ye Chen set off in the direction Tiger Demon Teng had fled, leading the way.


    Fairy Nishang, Yun Luo, Liu Yan, and the others exchanged glances and followed behind Ye Chen, chasing after Tiger Demon Teng.


    The central island of the ancient tomb was even more massive than the ten large islands on its periphery.


    Until now, Ye Chen and the others had only seen Azure Blue Lake on the central massive island; in the course of pursuing Tiger Demon Teng, they finally got to see other parts of the central massive island.


    Upon seeing these places, Ye Chen and the others were all greatly shocked.


    Because all of them realized that throughout the central giant island, there were demon beasts everywhere, all of which had auras that had reached the level of Heavenly Saint Level Demon Kings!


    It was not too surprising to find Heavenly Saint Level Demon Kings in the ancient tomb of Heavenly Saint Moya, but what shocked Ye Chen was that these Demon Kings were different from the golden demonic carp they had seen before.


    The golden demonic carp was clearly a subordinate of Tiger Demon Teng, but these Demon Kings similar to the golden demonic carp seemed to be kept like livestock; they did not attack when they flew by, but instead wandered aimlessly over the land of the central giant island.


    It was as if they were Demon Kings without any intelligence!


    You must know that true Demon Kings have intelligence comparable to humans, but the countless Demon Kings that appeared on this central giant island had no intelligence at all, only possessing exceptional powerful auras, which of course, surprised everyone.


    Ye Chen had no idea that at the moment when Tiger Demon Teng flew into the Void Great Treasure Cover, fleeing toward the deeper parts of the tomb, at the deepest part of the tomb, within that vast swamp, on top of the giant bronze coffin, the other seven Demon Towers began to emit a strange glow as if they were activated.


    Among them, after Tiger Demon Teng, the next two Demon Towers that were about to be fully illuminated were now as if they were trying to leap out from the giant coffin.


    Looking closely at these two Demon Towers, one could see that they were indeed the Eagle Demon Tower and the Python Demon Tower!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Tiger Demon Teng flew towards the depths of the ancient tomb, and while everyone was in pursuit, after half a moment of the seven great Demon Towers emitting that strange and peerless light, it suddenly turned into seven beams of light, shooting skyward from the giant bronze coffin.


    When these seven beams of light soared to the sky, the entire sky of the ancient tomb began to gather an endless amount of dark qi.


    Seeing this scene, the Tiger Demon Teng, which had previously fled and was now coming out of the Void Great Treasure Cover again, looked back at Ye Chen, who was closely pursuing it, and then towards the deepest part of the tomb.


    Afterward, overwhelming light also emanated from the Tiger Demon Teng''s gigantic head, shooting up into a colossal pillar of light.


    Although Ye Chen did not understand the meaning behind Tiger Demon Teng''s action, when he saw the colossal pillar of light rising from the head of Tiger Demon Teng and the seven beams of light rising into the sky from the deepest part of the tomb, he had a bad premonition.


    These eight colossal pillars of light seemed to be part of a ritual!


    Perhaps, this was the ritual of the tomb''s conspiracy!


    At this thought, Ye Chen "whooshed" and brandished the Black Fire Sword in his hand, directly slashing towards the Tiger Demon Teng, which had stopped in midair; he intended to interrupt Tiger Demon Teng''s ritual!


    Looking at the incoming attack from Ye Chen, this time, Tiger Demon Teng did not attempt to block, instead, it gave a sinister smile, "Too late!"


    Following this, Tiger Demon Teng disappeared directly under Ye Chen''s sword.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Before Ye Chen could figure out what "Too late" meant, the dark qi in the sky, which had gathered due to the eight beams of light, suddenly burst toward the land of the ancient tomb below.


    This dark qi had little effect on Ye Chen, but when it reached the ground, all the mindless Demon Kings on the ground were swept up in a whirl of black qi, surging crazily towards the deepest part of the tomb.


    When all the Demon Kings on the ground turned into dark qi, the whole land of the ancient tomb began to collapse and obliterate!


    This situation made Ye Chen, who was standing in the sky, focus his gaze sharply!


    Not far behind Ye Chen, other Tomb Explorers who had followed him in pursuit of Tiger Demon Teng also noticed the anomalies of the tomb.


    They also noticed the countless Demon Kings dying and turning into black qi, rushing towards the deepest part of the tomb, and saw the whole land of the ancient tomb collapsing and being obliterated!


    This situation caused all of their expressions to change drastically!


    If the situation on the ten islands above had startled them, and the golden demonic carp in the Azure Blue Lake, as well as the later appearance of Tiger Demon Teng, had made them fearful, the current situation now utterly frightened them from the depths of their hearts.


    The entire ancient tomb''s ground was collapsing and being obliterated, with rolling black qi like torrential currents pouring towards the deepest parts of the tomb. One didn''t need to think to realize that this was definitely the ultimate deathtrap of the tomb!


    They feared that they were about to face the last and most terrifying crisis of the tomb!


    With drastically changed expressions, after being stunned for a while, as if they had come back to their senses, they no longer dared to watch the continuously collapsing and obliterating tomb''s ground or the chaotic streams of rolling black qi between heaven and earth.


    All of them chased after Ye Chen frantically.


    By sticking close to Ye Chen, they felt more confident as they faced this increasingly bizarre tomb.


    When these people all flew close to Ye Chen, they saw that Ye Chen was looking at the endless dark qi rushing into the deepest part of the tomb.


    These people also looked towards the deepest part of the tomb.


    Then, astonishingly, they saw that with the influx of endless dark qi, the seven beams of light rising into the sky from the deepest part of the tomb were slowly converging into shadows resembling the Demon Towers.


    Finally, as everyone continued to approach the deepest part of the tomb, they could see an area of land that had not yet collapsed¡ªa black swamp!


    And on top of this black swamp, there were seven gigantic demonic creatures formed by the seven beams of light!


    And the Tiger Demon Teng, which had previously disappeared, was surprisingly standing beside these seven gigantic demonic creatures!


    Eight great demonic creatures.


    Tiger Demon Teng! Eagle Demon Teng! Python Demon Teng! Lion Demon Teng! Ape Demon Teng! Turtle Demon Teng!


    Eagle Demon Teng! Leopard Demon Teng!


    These were the legendary eight great Demon Towers of the Defying Demon Sect, the eight guardians of Heavenly Saint Moya!


    Incredibly, after the countless Demon Kings on the outside died and the vast land was obliterated, at the deepest part of the tomb, Heavenly Saint Moya''s eight great Demon Towers had all awakened!

 Chapter 257: Chapter 225: Five Demons Carry the Coffin

    Eight Great Demon Towers, standing in the void.


    Each Demon Tower, just like the Tiger Demon Teng, was over three hundred meters long, all shrouded in black mist, emanating an incredibly powerful late-stage Dan rotation aura.


    These eight enormous demons were all late-stage Dan rotation demons!


    Ye Chen and the others might have been able to suppress one Tiger Demon Teng, but the sudden appearance of eight demonic creatures of the same level, even if Ye Chen and Yun Luo possessed Heavenly Saint Level techniques, made their complexions change dramatically.


    The others, upon seeing these eight immense demons enveloped in swirling black mists and releasing shocking auras, were even more terrified and trembled in fear!


    But what shocked everyone even more wasn''t these eight great demons.


    Ye Chen and his fellow Tomb Explorers all turned their gazes towards the feet of the eight Demon Towers standing in the void, towards the huge black marshland at the deepest part of the tomb, and to the giant black bubbles continually surfacing in the marsh.


    In the end, their gazes all converged at the center of the marshland, upon a massive bronze coffin, larger than a small hill, and tightly bound by eight giant chains!


    A colossal bronze coffin!


    Deep within the tomb, a bronze coffin of such size was unexpectedly hidden!


    "Could it be that this is the true owner of the tomb, the Heavenly Saint Mo Ya''s coffin?"


    That thought arose in the minds of the Tomb Explorers including Ye Chen.


    The Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb should certainly have a burial place for a Heavenly Saint!


    It was highly likely that this black marsh was the final resting place for Heavenly Saint Mo Ya, and this massive bronze coffin was the sarcophagus containing his corpse!


    The thought that inside the colossal bronze coffin might lie the corpse of a Heavenly Saint, and perhaps the ultimate treasure they were seeking¡ªthe Law Relic¡ªmight be hidden within it, caused everyone''s hearts to pound with nervous excitement!


    The Law Relic, after all, was the most important treasure left behind by a Heavenly Saint. Every Heavenly Saint would have completely mastered one of the five Heavenly Void Laws of "metal, wood, water, fire, earth." Upon their death, this complete Law would not dissipate but would transform into a Law Relic.


    Although this tomb was not the anticipated Heavenly Saint Linghua''s tomb, Mo Ya, being a Heavenly Saint as well, there would still be a Law Relic left behind after his death, present within this tomb!


    If they could truly obtain Mo Ya''s Law Relic, it would still count as a tremendous gain!


    However, this thought was merely a fleeting one that crossed everyone''s minds before clarity returned.


    This was a Demon Sect''s ancient tomb, after all, and now they were facing the awakening of the Eight Great late-stage Dan rotation Demon Towers; they still didn''t know what Mo Ya''s intentions were in luring them into the tomb.


    Being able to escape from the tomb and from the clutches of the Eight Great Demon Towers was already a great fortune; to hope for obtaining Mo Ya''s Law Relic now seemed far too greedy.


    Just as Ye Chen and the others turned their attention to the colossal bronze coffin, and a myriad of thoughts flitted through their minds, the Eight Great Demon Towers standing in the void finally made their move.


    The two Demon Towers that lit up behind the Tiger Demon Teng, the Eagle Demon Tower and the Python Demon Tower, turned their eerie demonic eyes directly toward Ye Chen and the others.


    Meanwhile, the remaining five Demon Towers¡ªthe Lion Demon Tower, the Ape Demon Tower, the Turtle Demon Tower, the Eagle Demon Tower, and the Leopard Demon Tower¡ªdid not even glance at Ye Chen and his party; instead, after absorbing countless Demon King black mists and reaching their peak auras, they swooped down from the void and landed beside the massive bronze coffin.


    Then, four out of the five Demon Towers began to lift the bronze coffin from its four corners, while the fifth Demon Tower, after the coffin was slightly raised, also began exerting force from below to lift the sarcophagus.


    The five Demon Towers were strangely starting to lift the colossal bronze coffin!


    The scene of five demons lifting a coffin was eerily unsettling.


    Ye Chen and the others observed that as the five demons lifted the colossal bronze coffin bit by bit from the black marsh, numerous Ancient Rune Talismans on five of the massive chains that locked the coffin began to light up brightly.


    And as the coffin was gradually raised, countless runes on the outer surface of the coffin started to flicker, with more and more runes shining as time passed!


    Although the purpose behind the lifting of the coffin by the five demons was unknown, Ye Chen and his companions understood that the action of the five Demon Towers awakening and lifting the bronze coffin was definitely not a good sign.


    "Don''t let them lift the coffin!"


    Ye Chen instantly voiced out to the others.


    He had a feeling that if they allowed the five great demons to lift the colossal bronze coffin, the events that would follow would be even more terrifying, and he was determined to prevent whatever was about to happen.


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen drew his Black Fire Sword, ready to charge towards the five Demon Towers.


    Just then, the other three Demon Towers that had been watching Ye Chen and his companions from the void made their move.


    "Little brat, do you really think you can come to the Ultimate Land and still act arrogantly?"


    "The master''s coffin is not something for a junior like you to approach!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The one speaking was the Tiger Demon Teng, and as it spoke, it, along with the two other Demon Towers, the Eagle Demon Tower and the Python Demon Tower, violently soared towards Ye Chen and the others.


    In the surging aura, these three Demon Towers took the initiative to strike at Ye Chen and his companions.


    Out of the Eight Great Demon Towers, while five bore the coffin, the other three directly engaged Ye Chen and the Tomb Explorers, as if there was some unspoken division of labor arranged!


    At this moment, Ye Chen and the others had no time to think about anything else: the immediate priority was to eliminate the attacking three Demon Towers, stop the other five from lifting the coffin, and then see what they were plotting!


    With this in mind, Ye Chen swiftly drew his Black Fire Sword and met the three oncoming Demon Towers head-on.


    "We must join in!"


    Seeing the three Demon Towers attack and Ye Chen advancing to meet them, the Fairy in Rainbow Robes directly called out. Her figure unfurled as she followed along with Ye Chen towards the three Demon Towers.


    "Attack!"


    "This is the final land of the ancient tomb; we need to work together!"


    After the Fairy in Rainbow Robes took action, Yun Luo, Liu Yan, and the others also attacked without hesitation. Eventually, all twenty-eight Tomb Explorers surged towards the three Demon Towers.


    Even Xue Yue, a disciple of the Demon Sects who was hiding among them, after taking a secretive glance at the bronze giant coffin and the five Demon Towers gradually lifting the coffin, joined the crowd and charged at the remaining three Demon Towers.


    "Hmph, Spirit Sea juniors, how dare you be presumptuous in our presence!"


    Seeing the swarm of Tomb Explorers attacking, the Eagle Demon Tower with an eagle-headed human body beside the Tiger Demon Tower snorted coldly. It spread its enormous black wings and with an instantaneous sweep, flung a large group of Tomb Explorers far away!


    "The ritual has begun; kill their souls, leaving only their flesh!"


    Another Python Demon Tower opened its giant maw wide, and from within spat out a magical fan. This fan twirled and transformed into a giant treasure fan a hundred meters in diameter. Then, with a breath from the Python Demon Tower, it fanned towards the void, unleashing a gale of chilling wind that barreled towards Ye Chen and his companions.


    Feeling the chilling wind emanating from the fan, Ye Chen and the others'' expressions changed drastically.


    This huge treasure fan conjured by the Python Demon Tower was indeed a Heavenly Saint Level artifact and an offensive one at that!


    After the Tiger Demon Tower had deployed a Heavenly Saint Level defensive artifact like the "Void Great Treasure Cover," the Python Demon Tower, one of the Eight Great Demon Towers, had also produced a Heavenly Saint Level offensive artifact!


    Originally, the Eight Great Demon Towers had an absolute advantage in strength.


    Now, with two Heavenly Saint Level artifacts in play, even though Ye Chen and Yun Luo also possessed Heavenly Saint Level offensive powers, the situation had turned to their disadvantage.


    "Yun Luo and I will take on these two monsters; everyone else, team up against the Eagle Demon Tower!"


    Seeing the Python Demon Tower unleash the Heavenly Saint treasure fan, a gleam flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes. Holding the Black Fire Sword, he charged directly at the Python Demon Tower, while his voice thunderously reached the others.


    "Alright!"


    Despite being at a disadvantage, it was a moment where they had no choice but to fight. The others naturally wouldn''t give up easily; upon hearing Ye Chen''s command, Yun Luo pinched a magic formula. The Heavenly Saint flying knife hovering around him flashed through the void, straight towards the Tiger Demon Tower.


    The rest, including the Fairy in Rainbow Robes, Liu Yan, and the other Tomb Explorers who had been flung far by the Eagle Demon Tower, rose into the air and, collaborating together, directed their assault against the Eagle Demon Tower!


    In an instant, a earth-shattering battle erupted at the deepest part of the ancient tomb!


    Meanwhile, the five Demon Towers carrying the bronze giant coffin lifted it higher and higher, and the number of runes flickering upon it also increased. Ultimately, even the entire coffin was covered in shimmering runes!

 Chapter 258: Chapter 226: Fierce Battle!

    Seeing Ye Chen charging towards itself, Python Demon Tower sneered coldly. It could tell that Ye Chen was merely at the Spirit Sea Realm, and the only reason he could launch an attack was due to a special Heavenly Saint power absorbed into his body.


    This absorbed Heavenly Saint power was definitely not sustainable, and Python Demon Tower harbored no fear whatsoever!


    Python Demon Tower''s strength was not at all inferior to that of Tiger Demon Teng, and with the Heavenly Saint Attack Law Bead in its possession, it was even more formidable than Tiger Demon Teng.


    In the battle against Ye Chen, it naturally had immense confidence.


    Boom!


    Amid its sneering, Python Demon Tower''s massive body, spanning over three hundred meters, suddenly coiled towards the sky; its gigantic head let out a hissing roar as it fanned the Heavenly Saint Attack Law Bead directly towards Ye Chen.


    It could be seen that the force fanned out by the bead was no longer the rolling dark winds from before, but had turned into roaring flames, all directed at Ye Chen!


    The power of each strand of these flames reached the level equivalent to True Fire, and the fierce blaze ignited into a vast inferno, spreading across hundreds of meters in the radius, all burning towards Ye Chen!


    Sacred Artifact.


    This was the power of an attack Sacred Artifact!


    Speaking of the flames, not to mention hundreds of meters in radius, even a single strand could easily penetrate a Half-Step Rotating Pill.


    And now, these skies full of flames were all burning towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen, who wielded the Black Fire Sword and was charging towards Python Demon Tower, narrowed his eyes upon seeing the terrifying blaze fanned out by the Heavenly Saint Attack Law Bead. Then the Black Fire Sword in his hand buzzed several times as all eighty-one layers of the sword''s prohibitions were unleashed!


    Previously, after acquiring the Black Fire Sword, Ye Chen could only activate thirteen layers of the sword''s prohibitions. But now, with the boost from Heavenly Saint power, he could release all the restrictions of the Black Fire Sword!


    After all eighty-one prohibitions were released, the outstanding treasure, the Black Fire Sword, radiated brightly as it swung a strike, sending a heaven-filling black rainstorm across the sky.


    This black rainstorm, with each drop flickering with the Black Fire Sword''s own eighty-one layers of prohibition power, was further wrapped in a faint golden glow¡ªa clear sign of Ye Chen''s Heavenly Saint power fortifying it.


    Subsequently, this black rainstorm ruthlessly collided with the vast flames fanned by the Heavenly Saint Attack Law Bead!


    Like meteor showers colliding in the sky, the black rainstorm and the huge fireball, spanning hundreds of meters, slammed into each other in an instant.


    Both forces contained hidden Heavenly Saint power.


    The collision was like the destruction of heaven and earth, with thunderous explosions echoing across the dark swamp in the deepest part of the ancient tomb, and the massive shockwaves from the blasts flipped up huge pits in the underground swamp!


    "You think you can withstand the might of the ''Eight Flames Fan'' bestowed upon me by my master? I want to see how long you can hold up with this borrowed power."


    Python Demon Tower, upon witnessing the tremendous power of Ye Chen''s strike, didn''t show the slightest ripple of emotion in its demonic eyes. Instead, it opened its massive mouth and sprayed towards the Heavenly Saint Attack Law Bead once again.


    This time, the bead whirled around, and a new type of power emanated from it.


    After the dark winds, the fiery inferno, the "Eight Flames Fan" now fanned out a sky filled with raging thunder and lightning!


    "Eight Flames Fan?"


    "Could it be that this attack Sacred Artifact is concealing eight peculiar kinds of power inside?"


    Ye Chen, seeing the transformation of the giant treasure fan and yet another new killing move coming his way, had a flash in his eyes.


    This was his first time confronting an attack Sacred Artifact, and the peculiar attacking power of the "Eight Flames Fan" caught Ye Chen''s attention, making him unable to resist the desire to seize the fan for himself!


    "My Heavenly Saint power was bestowed by the thirteen Heavenly Saint Law Beads left to me by Heavenly Saint Di Kong."


    "Once the Law Beads are depleted, they''re gone."


    "In this battle, I have already exhausted three Heavenly Saint Law Beads. These three Heavenly Saint Law Beads cannot be wasted in vain; I must seize this ''Eight Flames Fan'' to compensate for the loss of my Law Beads!"


    In a flurry of thoughts, Ye Chen, who was wielding the Black Fire Sword, had his body''s Heavenly Saint power flare up wildly again. This was him igniting the fourth Heavenly Saint Attack Law Bead, and he was also igniting the first Heavenly Saint Defense Law Bead!


    Ye Chen, who was resolved to burn two types of Law Beads at once, was now determined to completely suppress Python Demon Tower and snatch the magical treasure fan from its hands.


    With Heavenly Saint power surging, the Black Fire Sword raged wildly. Ye Chen paid no heed to the slashing black lightning filling the sky, bolstered by the power of the Heavenly Saint Defense Law Bead, which left him utterly fearless of the black lightning.


    Ye Chen had gathered all his strength, and was relentlessly charging towards Python Demon Tower!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s power surge suddenly and his disregard for the "Eight Flames Fan''s" lightning while charging straight at it, Python Demon Tower, which had been quite confident, suddenly changed in complexion.


    As a late-stage Rotating Pill Demon Creature, its intelligence was exceedingly high, and it obviously realized that Ye Chen aimed to unleash all his power all at once to slay it. And from Ye Chen''s eyes, Python Demon Tower could see his ambition to take its Sacred Artifact treasure fan.


    "Dream on if you think you can snatch the ''Eight Flames Fan'' bestowed upon me by the master!"


    The Python Demon Tower''s massive head lunged toward the fan in the void, swallowing the treasured fan directly into its belly. Following that, the Python Demon Tower''s huge body swayed and, surprisingly, turned to flee from the other battle scenes.


    Feeling the rapid increase of Heavenly Saint power in Ye Chen''s body, the Python Demon Tower also had the thought to avoid Ye Chen''s edge first and deplete the Heavenly Saint power Ye Chen had absorbed!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The direction in which the Python Demon Tower fled was precisely where the Eagle Demon Tower and the other Tomb Explorers were fighting.


    "Trying to flee?"


    Ye Chen moved through the air and pursued the Python Demon Tower.


    At this moment, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and others were being relentlessly driven back by the Eagle Demon Tower. Though their strengths were each extraordinary, equivalent to the impressive Half-Step Rotating Pill, the Eagle Demon Tower was a Rotating Pill-stage Demon Creature!


    The disparity between their powers was like a vast chasm, and if not for the fact that the Eagle Demon Tower was mainly observing the battles elsewhere and had not unleashed its full killing power on them, many of them would likely have already died in the conflict!


    Seeing that the huge Python Demon Tower, an immense creature, had fled to their battlefront and was pursued by Ye Chen, everyone was simultaneously panicked and overjoyed.


    They were panicked because another Demon Creature had come to slay them.


    However, they were overjoyed because, in another battle, Ye Chen seemed to have forced the Python Demon Tower into a hasty retreat. Ye Chen''s arrival could possibly resolve their dangerous situation!


    "Eagle Demon, quickly dispose of these brats and join me in dealing with this youth!"


    The Python Demon Tower that had fled in panic saw that the Eagle Demon Tower had yet to slay the others, appearing to merely toy with the juniors. It roared at the Eagle Demon Tower.


    "Python Demon, you wield the master''s attack Sacred Artifact yet you''re unable to defeat a mere human child?" The Eagle Demon Tower''s pair of demonic eyes glanced at the Python Demon Tower, bellowing at it, then shifted to Ye Chen who was in hot pursuit. A flicker of demonic light flashed in its eyes.


    "I was curious to see what kind of trump cards the Spirit Seas of the thirteen countries of the Heavenly South possess. Since that''s the case, let''s end this!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As it spoke, the Eagle Demon Tower''s massive wings emitted bursts of earth-shattering light. Its aura surged uncontrollably, and in an instant, it ascended from the latter stage of the Rotating Pill to the combat level of a Heavenly Saint!


    The third Demon Creature with Heavenly Saint-level power!


    Ye Chen realized that each of the three formidable Demon Creatures they were facing had Heavenly Saint-level means at their disposal.


    Tiger Demon Teng was bestowed with the defense Sacred Artifact "Void Great Treasure Cover" by Heavenly Saint Moya, while Python Demon Tower was given the attack Sacred Artifact "Eight Flames Fan." It seemed that this Eagle Demon Tower too had been granted an enigmatic object capable of suddenly enhancing its combat power.


    Now, as the Eagle Demon Tower''s aura raged unchecked, its wings doubled in size. Every feather on its wings shimmered with a deadly light.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Almost instantly, countless silver, gleaming Killing Blades flew from the Eagle Demon Tower''s wings, tunneling towards Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and the others.


    Simultaneously, the Eagle Demon Tower spread its wings to fly, converging with the fleeing Python Demon Tower, together facing Ye Chen.


    This Eagle Demon Tower, whose strength had surged suddenly, was attempting to block Ye Chen and, in one fell swoop, eliminate the others!


    Witnessing the flurry of silver, gleaming Killing Blades flying towards them, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and the others turned pale with terror. The rest could not help but cry out in shock. They felt there was no way to dodge these blades, which, as they flew, were not just slicing through their flesh, but were aimed at cutting their very souls.


    As these Killing Blades whizzed through the air, a piercingly sharp noise directly penetrated their minds, causing many to bleed from their seven orifices in an instant. They all felt that if they could not withstand it any longer, they would die right there and then!


    Just as many had closed their eyes, awaiting death''s embrace, a crisp, clear sword cry suddenly pierced the sky. Then, an extraordinarily fiery red flying sword appeared out of nowhere, cleaving through the void and slashing all the silver, gleaming blades to the ground.


    Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    This fiery red flying sword, which was stunning in its divinity, turned out to be Ye Chen''s lifebound flying sword "Crimson Fire." Seeing that Fairy Nishang and the others were about to perish at the hands of the Eagle Demon Tower, Ye Chen finally wielded the maneuver of his lifebound flying sword!


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword was of Sacred Artifact grade!


    Ye Chen had been nurturing the sword, and although the flying sword still far from reached its strongest killing potential, with the boost of Heavenly Saint power, a Sacred Artifact quality flying sword could certainly unleash Heavenly Saint-level combat force!


    The caliber of a Sacred Artifact flying sword was immensely powerful. Even among Sacred Artifacts from the Chaotic Sea''s "Sea God Palace," the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword stood out as absolutely outstanding. That slash was powerful enough that it would not cower even before a true Sacred Artifact, let alone the Killing Blades of the Eagle Demon Tower!


    Hum!


    With one stroke, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword slashed all the silver, gleaming Killing Blades from the sky!


    Then, under Ye Chen''s commanding grab, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword flew back to hover before him in the void, vibrating with life of its own.

 Chapter 259: Chapter 227: Blood Splatters in All Directions

    Ye Chen made his move and directly saved the other Tomb Explorers!


    Seeing the divine glow of the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword," the Python Demon Tower and Eagle Demon Tower, whose gazes converged, simultaneously tensed their eyes.


    With a single sword strike capable of cutting down all the Killing Blades released by the Heavenly Saint Level battle power of the Eagle Demon Tower, the two great demons clearly realized the terrifying quality of the Crimson Fire Flying Sword. This flying sword was definitely a top-notch Sacred Artifact!


    They couldn''t fathom how the young man before them, who could draw upon the Heavenly Saint''s power, also possessed such a powerful Sacred Artifact in his hand.


    Even the quality of this Sacred Artifact was much stronger than the "Eight Flames Fan" of the Python Demon Tower!


    The two great demons exchanged glances, greed evident in their eyes.


    Kill the young man before them and take his flying sword!


    This thought suddenly dominated the minds of the two great demons.


    Watching the glimmer in the eyes of the two great demons, Ye Chen grasped the Black Fire Sword with one hand while the other hand reached out, coalescing the "Crimson Fire" flying sword in the air into his palm.


    Then, Ye Chen directly faced the two great Demon Towers!


    Ye Chen knew that the current balance of combat power on the field, with just Fairy Nishang and other half-step Rotating Pill-level people, was of little use now. He alone had to deal with these two great demons.


    Ye Chen''s gaze then turned to the other side, where Yun Luo was also in a losing battle against the Tiger Demon Teng.


    Although he had a Sacred Artifact flying knife, Yun Luo''s realm was too low to truly unleash the full killing power of the flying knife. Even pressured by the Tiger Demon Teng wielding the "Void Treasure Cover," Yun Luo kept retreating, not yet defeated, but certainly unable to assist Ye Chen.


    The situation before them was dire!


    Moreover, the demons present weren''t limited to these three great Demon Towers. Ye Chen''s peripheral vision swept to the other five great demons that had lifted the bronze coffin and saw that they had already raised the entire huge coffin.


    The massive bronze coffin, with its bizarre runes flickering all over, caused Ye Chen to feel even more alarmed.


    Clearly, after being blocked by the three great Demon Towers, the eerie ritual of the five demons lifting the coffin was proceeding extremely smoothly, and everything was developing toward an unpredictable direction!


    "Never mind!"


    "I must slay these three great demons first!"


    Ye Chen gritted his teeth, determined in his heart.


    Of course, he wouldn''t just sit and wait for his demise. Even if others couldn''t offer much help, Ye Chen intended to exert his full strength to slay these Demon Towers!


    Even if he couldn''t prevail in the end, he still had one last resort, the Yu Lan Mansion, which he could enter!


    "Entering the Yu Lan Mansion will be my way out," he thought.


    "However, I can''t simply use this way out; otherwise, who knows what strange things might happen in this ancient Demon Sect Tomb? It could even endanger all of the thirteen southern countries."


    "I''ll first exert all my might to slay these three great demons and disrupt the strange ritual of the other five carrying the coffin!"


    With that thought, Ye Chen pounced towards the Python Demon Tower and the Eagle Demon Tower.


    "What audacity!"


    The Python Demon Tower and Eagle Demon Tower, with greed sparkling in their eyes, inwardly praised Ye Chen when he dared to attack them even after they''d regrouped. Despite being adversaries, they silently approved of his courage.


    However, silent praise was just that, and the two great demons certainly wouldn''t show any mercy to Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, terrifying killing power burst forth from the bodies of the two great demons.


    On one side was the Python Demon Tower wielding the Sacred Artifact "Eight Flames Fan," and on the other, the power of the Eagle Demon Tower surged, its strength boosted to Heavenly Saint Combat Power. As the two great demons moved, they met Ye Chen''s charge.


    On the ground below, Fairy Nishang and others who had narrowly escaped one disaster watched the sky with deathly pale faces.


    They realized they could no longer participate in a battle of this magnitude.


    The only thing they could hope for was that Ye Chen would hold his own against the united forces of the two great Demon Towers.


    There were a few among them who, seeing the five great demons lifting the bronze coffin, gritted their teeth and charged towards them, aiming to disrupt their bizarre ritual.


    But just as these few people ascended tens of meters without getting close to the five great demons, cries of shock from those below erupted as they saw all of them freeze midair, motionless.


    From the looks of it, they all seemed to be killed in an instant, leaving only their corpses floating in midair!


    And the other five great demons continued to hold up the bronze coffin as if completely unaware.


    This scene completely frightened the other Tomb Explorers who had been prepared to rush towards the bronze coffin.


    At that moment, they realized they couldn''t afford to provoke the five great demons and the coffin.


    All eight great Demon Towers were beyond their ability to resist!


    Many among them wanted to flee far away at that point.


    However, due to the awakening of the eight great Demon Towers earlier, the rest of the ancient tomb had already been obliterated, leaving only the dark swamp in the deepest part of the tomb. Where could they possibly flee?


    In life or death, they found themselves trapped, with no escape, leaving their fate to the heavens!


    At this moment, watching Ye Chen fully engaged in combat with the two great demons, and on the other side, Yun Luo battling the Tiger Demon Teng, even Fairy Nishang among the remaining people felt a sense of powerlessness.


    No matter how strong they were in the Spirit Sea Realm, within the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, their fate was out of their control; they were even unable to assist Ye Chen and Yun Luo.


    They were still too weak!

 Chapter 260: Chapter 227: Blood Splatters Everywhere_2

    ```


    In a state of shock and fear, they could only keep their distance from the battle, standing aside to watch the two fights unfolding in the sky.


    In the sky, the battle between Ye Chen and the Python Demon Teng and Eagle Demon Teng was the most intense.


    Their battle, with all of them at Heavenly Saint Level strength, tore through the black swamp land with every clash, and the flying sword "Crimson Fire" and the "Eight Flames Fan" even split the very void with fractures that opened and closed again!


    Ye Chen had the power of the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, and with the help of the flying sword "Crimson Fire," he could completely suppress either the Python Demon Teng or the Eagle Demon Teng.


    However, when the two great demons joined forces, Ye Chen was completely overwhelmed!


    Boom! Boom!


    After dozens of exchanges, Ye Chen was even struck down by the combined assault of the two great demons, sent flying backwards and crashing into the black swamp!


    This caused the other Tomb Explorers, who had been anxiously watching the fight, to cry out in shock.


    "Pfft!"


    Wrapped in the surging power of the Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen spat out a mouthful of blood and flew out from the black swamp.


    "Unfortunately, my sword formation is only at the intermediate level, I haven''t mastered the two high-level sword formations. If I had completed all nine transformations of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, facing these two great demons wouldn''t scare me!"


    "Nor can I unleash the godly powers of the five great divine forms with the Primordial True Liquid, this Heavenly Saint power doesn''t even stir them!"


    Though possessing the power of a Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen''s internal strength was definitely not weaker than that of the two great demons; with the flying sword "Crimson Fire," his sacred artifact quality was also definitely not lacking.


    But battles rely not just on internal strength and weapons, but also on combat skills.


    After joining forces, the combat skills of the two great demons began to slightly outclass Ye Chen''s.


    Ye Chen''s various techniques, the sword formation, Nine Transformation Fighting Body, and godly powers of the five great divine forms, would suffice against those of the Spinning Core stage, but under the application of Heavenly Saint Level strength, they fell a little short.


    Ye Chen could only rely on the saintly quality of the flying sword "Crimson Fire" to continuously unleash the power of the Heavenly Saint to attack the two great demons.


    However, under the united effort of the two great demons, both at Heavenly Saint Level strength, the not yet fully nurtured flying sword "Crimson Fire" could only bring forth the prowess of the Heavenly Saint Law Bead and failed to kill both great demons in one strike.


    "What should I do?"


    Ye Chen felt a sudden tightness in his chest.


    If this continued, the power he was drawing from the Heavenly Saint Law Bead would eventually run out, and even then, he feared he might not be able to slay the two great demons.


    Ye Chen''s thoughts raced, but as the two great demons pressed their combined attack, they certainly wouldn''t give Ye Chen any chance to catch his breath.


    "Little boy, time to die!"


    "Don''t worry, we will only slay your soul, your body might still be of great use!"


    The Python Demon Teng and the Eagle Demon Teng, amid sneering laughter, joined forces once more and charged towards Ye Chen.


    "If I lack the techniques, then I''ll counter with absolute power!"


    "Even if all my Heavenly Saint Law Beads were to explode, I''m determined to slay you both!"


    Seeing the two great demons attack once again, a resolute look flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    In the previous major battle, Ye Chen had already lost four Heavenly Saint Attack Law Beads and two Heavenly Saint Defense Law Beads. This time, with a thought, he made three more attack beads and three defense beads burst, their power flooding into his body.


    Boom!


    With his power surging, Ye Chen let out a long howl to the heavens, his figure suddenly lunged towards the Python Demon Teng and the Eagle Demon Teng.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s reinvigorated onslaught, the Python Demon Teng and the Eagle Demon Teng exchanged glances; once more, the two great demons combined their forces and ferociously rushed toward Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This bout was by far the fiercest clash of the battle.


    ```


    This earth-shattering collision seemed as if it were ripping apart the heavens and earth. The two three hundred-meter-tall astonishing demons and Ye Chen, dazzling like a brilliant golden star, collided in an instant, overturning the very sky and earth!


    Large swaths of spatial cracks formed directly, while the black swamp on the ground burst open over an area of several thousand feet in radius!


    In that collision, Ye Chen and the two great Demon Towers were sent flying backward.


    In the end, they all crash-landed into the black swamp!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The three of them were covered in blood, with the Python Demon Tower and the Eagle Demon Tower bearing even more bloodstains on their massive bodies!


    But the blood-soaked two Demon Towers and Ye Chen, amidst the surge of their breaths, took to the air once more.


    Seeing that he had unleashed six Heavenly Saint Law Beads, merely causing the two Demon Towers to be injured slightly more than himself, Ye Chen''s heart gradually sank.


    He knew that, with borrowed Heavenly Saint fighting strength, he was completely unable to defeat the two allied Demon Towers.


    Meanwhile, Yun Luo''s battle with Tiger Demon Teng had also reached a critical moment. Yun Luo, who had been at a disadvantage, was sent flying directly by Tiger Demon Teng amidst the thunderous collision of Ye Chen and the two great demons, heading right towards where Ye Chen was.


    Subsequently, the three great Demon Towers¡ªTiger Demon Teng, Python Demon Teng, Eagle Demon Teng¡ªall converged together.


    And Yun Luo, falling into the black swamp, struggled for a long time to get up.


    "Is there really no way out?"


    Ye Chen, looking at the three Demon Towers standing together, then at Yun Luo fallen in the deep pit of the black swamp, and those other Tomb Explorers who couldn''t be of any help, felt a sense of helplessness wash over him.


    Having lost seven Heavenly Saint Attack Law Beads and five Heavenly Saint Defense Law Beads, yet not being able to slay even one Demon Tower, Ye Chen felt indignant!


    Yet, these three great Demon Towers could join forces, while he could only rely on himself.


    There was no way out!


    Watching Ye Chen''s expression, the three Demon Towers sneered coldly, "Little boy, stop struggling!"


    "In the end, you''re all going to die in the ancient tomb, all to be sacrificed to our master, so stop your futile resistance!"


    "Now, prepare for your souls to be extinguished!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the three Demon Towers spoke, they all flew towards Ye Chen.


    Watching the three Demon Towers coming at him, Ye Chen''s heart suddenly became incredibly calm.


    Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    It was, after all, of the Heavenly Saint level.


    Being still in the Spirit Sea Realm, the fact that he had held on until now was already an accomplishment!


    "Then... let''s try one final move!"


    With an exceptionally calm demeanor, Ye Chen''s aura began its final ascent.


    He prepared to unleash all the Heavenly Saint power gathered within him, to repel the three great Demon Towers at once, and draw Fairy Nishang and the others all into the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Reluctant as he was, this seemed to be the only outcome left.


    Just then, Ye Chen suddenly heard a childish voice enter his mind: "Yiya, Ye Chen! Ye Chen, are you hurt?"


    At the same time this voice arrived, Ye Chen saw a streak of light fly directly out of the Heaven Spirit Ring on his body.


    After this streak of light flew out, it instantly transformed into a divine, nimble little monkey that was radiant and danced with golden light all over!


    The golden little monkey!


    The little monkey, which had fallen into a deep sleep after ingesting the water from the Fire Elemental Spring, surprisingly woke up at this moment and flew out upon seeing Ye Chen injured!

 Chapter 261: Chapter 228: The Little Monkey Shows off Again

    ```


    The little monkey had originally been only the size of a palm, but after this period of deep sleep, it had grown quite a bit, nearly doubling in size.


    This change didn''t surprise Ye Chen too much, as he often observed the sleeping critter within the Heaven Spirit Ring and had noticed the little monkey''s growth.


    What truly astonished Ye Chen was that after the little one woke up from its deep sleep, it could actually speak!


    Just now, the little one had even transmitted its voice to his mind!


    "Yiya, Ye Chen! Ye Chen, are you hurt?"


    The little one''s childlike voice still echoed in Ye Chen''s mind, an event that had never happened before!


    Ye Chen had tried to communicate with the little monkey before, but the lively little creature could only understand him, not converse with him using words.


    But now, the little monkey could speak, which of course thrilled Ye Chen beyond measure!


    "Little monkey, was it you who transmitted your voice to me?" Ye Chen couldn''t help but transmit his voice back to the little monkey.


    "It was me, Ye Chen, it was me who transmitted my voice to you!" The little monkey flew out from the Heaven Spirit Ring and with a "shiliu" sound landed on Ye Chen''s shoulder. Rubbing its head affectionately against Ye Chen''s neck, it looked up at Ye Chen with its bright eyes, that gleamed like black jewels, all the while transmitting its voice to him.


    Hearing the little monkey''s voice again, Ye Chen was finally certain that the little critter could indeed talk!


    The sudden appearance of the little monkey and its affectionate interaction with Ye Chen left the other Tomb Explorers utterly astonished.


    They hadn''t expected that Ye Chen carried such a strange little monkey on him.


    Just from the golden glow emanating from the little monkey''s body, its dazzling radiance and the golden light fluttering around, they could tell it was no ordinary creature.


    They suspected it might be some kind of Divine Spirit Beast they had never heard of!


    The Tomb Explorers were shocked, but the gathered Three Great Demon Towers¡ªTiger Demon Tower, Python Demon Tower, and Eagle Demon Tower¡ªfelt their minds recoil as if struck by lightning the moment they saw the little monkey, finding it almost impossible to breathe!


    The Three Great Demon Towers even sensed a fatal threat emanating from this tiny golden monkey.


    As if the golden monkey was their born nemesis!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This inexplicable feeling even caused the Three Great Demon Towers, who had gathered together and were ready to strike Ye Chen simultaneously, to retreat several steps backward in horror.


    They almost collided with one another in their panicked retreat!


    In the end, the Three Great Demon Towers even felt an urge to flee. Had it not been for their duty to guard this ancient tomb under the order of Heavenly Saint Moya, they might have fled at first sight of the little monkey due to instinctual fear!


    The Three Great Demon Towers were instinctively frightened of the little monkey!


    "What... what exactly is it...?"


    The Three Great Demon Towers sensed that the little monkey hadn''t released any aura surpassing theirs, but strangely, it inspired fear at the very bottom of their hearts. This bewildering feeling made the Three Great Demon Towers keep retreating hundreds of meters before they could stand firm again, their demon eyes shimmering as they warily observed the little monkey.


    It wasn''t just the Three Great Demon Towers!


    On the other side, the five other Demon Towers that had been ignoring Ye Chen and the others, who were carrying the bronze coffin, also turned their gazes toward Ye Chen for the first time when the little monkey appeared.


    And in the eyes of these five Demon Towers, a look of fear was also evident!


    Only when the light that had spread over the entire bronze coffin flickered and recaptured the attention of the five Demon Towers did they look away from the little monkey.


    But upon closer inspection, one could see that even without looking at the little monkey, the five Demon Towers carrying the bronze coffin were trembling!


    The actions of the Three Great Demon Towers and the abnormal behavior of the other five had already caught everyone''s attention!


    Fairy Nishang and the other Tomb Explorers noticed that the eight Demon Towers seemed to fear the little monkey.


    This development made everyone''s heart skip a beat; if this little monkey that suddenly appeared truly frightened the eight Demon Towers, the tide of battle might change!


    Seeing this scene, Ye Chen''s mind stirred.


    "The little monkey is a descendant of a True Spirit, could it be that these Demon Towers are afraid of the True Spirit kind?"


    Thinking this, Ye Chen transmitted to the little monkey, "Little monkey, do you recognize these demons?"


    The golden little monkey standing on Ye Chen''s shoulder shook its head: "Don''t know them! But I suddenly felt a strange sensation and woke up. Ye Chen, did they hurt you? I feel like I can take them on!"


    The little monkey''s childish words caused Ye Chen to be taken aback.


    Could it take on these Demon Towers?!


    Keep in mind, these Demon Towers are all late-stage demons in the Rotating Pill phase. Even if the little monkey was a True Spirit, being so small, it couldn''t possibly have become strong enough to face late-stage Rotating Pill demons!


    Could there be some special ability that specifically counters these demons?


    While Ye Chen was contemplating, the little monkey jumped down from his shoulder and flew into mid-air.


    Then, the little one looked at the Three Great Demon Towers in front of it and said, "Was it you who hurt Ye Chen?"


    The voice of the little monkey was exceptionally youthful, yet it naturally carried a sense of inexplicable majesty!


    ```


    Its voice fell upon the ears of the Three Great Demon Towers, who with a "thud, thud, thud," took several steps back!


    Only when they remembered their own late-stage Dan rotation realm, and that they possessed the Heavenly Saint Level treasures bestowed by their master, which granted them Heavenly Saint Combat Power, did they feel they should not show weakness in front of this tiny monkey. Only then did the Three Great Demon Towers stand firm again.


    The re-established Three Great Demon Towers said in a deep voice, "So what if we were the ones who injured him? He also injured us!"


    Upon learning that the bloodstains on Ye Chen were indeed caused by these demons, the little monkey was infuriated in an instant.


    The little monkey, only the size of two palms, made a "whoosh" sound and leapt onto the ground, where astonishing golden radiance erupted from its body in a blink of an eye!


    The golden light soared into the sky, and a mysterious roar began to echo through the entire void!


    At the same time, the small golden monkey suddenly grew in stature in an instant; in the blink of an eye, the monkey had grown to dozens of meters tall.


    Even though it was still smaller than the Three Great Demon Towers, the authority and presence it emanated were even more intense than before!


    Seeing the little monkey grow, Ye Chen was startled.


    This was yet another new change of the little monkey since waking up. It seemed that the little fellow who had woken up from its slumber was truly different from before!


    Ye Chen could no longer help but ask the little fellow what other changes it had undergone!


    Before Ye Chen could inquire, the little monkey, after "speaking" and "increasing in size," underwent a third transformation.


    Staring at the Three Great Demon Towers, the infuriated little monkey''s eyes, as shiny as black gems, suddenly took on an otherworldly hue of fiery red.


    In an instant, the monkey''s eyes seemed to have turned into fire eyes!


    Following that, three golden divine rays shot forth from those eyes, and in an instant, they burst out toward the Three Great Demon Towers.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The three astonishing divine rays from the monkey''s eyes reached the Three Great Demon Towers in a flash.


    The Three Great Demon Towers, despite possessing Heavenly Saint Level techniques, were immobilized by the Fire Eye Divine Light as if they were bound, unable to move an inch, and in the next moment, they were struck directly by the divine light.


    The three rays of divine light burned holes straight through the bodies of the Three Great Demon Towers, creating three large hollows!


    The scene shocked everyone!


    Whether it was Fairy Nishang and other Tomb Explorers, Ye Chen, or even the Three Great Demon Towers themselves, none could believe it.


    No one expected that the small monkey, with just one move, would cause harm to the Three Great Demon Towers, and what''s more, they couldn''t even move!


    "What in the world is this divine light?"


    This thought flashed through everyone''s minds in an instant.


    Then, two different emotions began to emerge between the two parties: Ye Chen''s side shifted from shock to great joy, while the Three Great Demon Towers went from alarm to true terror!


    The Three Great Demon Towers, with three large hollows now burnt into them by the Fire Eye Divine Light, turned tail and fled wildly as soon as they broke free from the immobility!


    In their frenzied escape, they tried to replenish the huge hollows burned into them with their flowing demonic energy, but their aura was significantly weaker than before.


    Indeed, the little monkey had caused damage to the Three Great Demon Towers in a single move!


    Seeing the Three Great Demon Towers fleeing, and having finally found their weakness, how could Ye Chen let them escape so easily again?


    "Little monkey, let''s strike together and take them down!"


    Boom!


    Instantly, the power of the Heavenly Saint surged from Ye Chen, and he began to chase after the Three Great Demon Towers like a madman.


    "Okay, Ye Chen!"


    Of course, the little monkey would listen to Ye Chen''s words.


    The moment Ye Chen moved, the little monkey instantly shrank back to its original form, then with a flash, it also pursued the Three Great Demon Towers.


    Even before its slumber, the little monkey had an unbelievably fast speed and could effortlessly take the water from the Fire Elemental Spring under the watch of the Willow Demon.


    Now, after its metamorphosis from sleep, the little monkey''s speed was even faster than before, almost as if it were darting through cracks in the void.


    Whoosh!


    In the blink of an eye, the little monkey had unbelievably outstripped the lead of the Three Great Demon Towers and blocked their path.


    Once more, the little monkey''s body swelled in size and it shot the Fire Eye Divine Light at the Three Great Demon Towers!


    While the Three Great Demon Towers were immobilized once again and burned by the Fire Eye Divine Light, Ye Chen, ablaze with the power of the Heavenly Saint, also joined the fray.


    "Crimson Fire Sword, strike!"


    In a flash, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword shot forth from the center of Ye Chen''s brows, transforming into a stunning crimson light that slashed at the necks of the immobilized Three Great Demon Towers!

 Chapter 262: Chapter 229: Sudden Change

    ```


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, imbued with the power of the Heavenly Saint, was so formidable that in the moment the Three Great Demon Towers were imprisoned, the sword transformed into a blazing crimson light that immediately severed the huge heads of the Three Great Demon Towers!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    At the same time, the Fire Eye Divine Light released by the little monkey also burned three massive holes into the bodies of the Three Great Demon Towers.


    With their heads sliced off and massive holes burning in their bodies, if they were human cultivators, they would definitely be dead by now!


    However, these Three Great Demon Towers were formed of demonic energy. In the moment Ye Chen and the little monkey''s killing moves finished and the imprisonment lifted, the severed heads of the Three Great Demon Towers instantly flew back up, and the massive holes in their bodies also healed instantaneously.


    The Three Great Demon Towers still were not dead!


    But, even though they did not die, having suffered two heavy blows in quick succession, the aura of the Three Great Demon Towers had been depleted by more than one-tenth!


    Looking at this state, it was feared that attacking the Three Great Demon Towers seven or eight more times would be enough to completely annihilate them!


    The Three Great Demon Towers, having recovered again, now looked at Ye Chen and the little monkey with terror in their demonic eyes, completely devoid of any thought of resistance. All they wanted was to escape the attack and wait for the ritual of the bronze giant coffin on the other side to be completed.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Three Great Demon Towers, while propelling the Sacred Artifacts and power of the Heavenly Saint within them, once again turned to flee.


    In a one-on-one fight, not one of the Three Great Demon Towers was a match for Ye Chen.


    Previously, Ye Chen, without any help, was unable to suppress the combined strength of the Three Great Demon Towers, but now, the little monkey''s Innate Divine Ability was the perfect counter to them. With the little monkey''s assistance, would Ye Chen allow the Three Great Demon Towers to escape?


    Of course, he intended to eradicate them in one fell swoop!


    "Attack again!"


    Ye Chen instantly spoke out to the little monkey, and then, as the little monkey was teleporting through the void, Ye Chen also ignited the power of the Heavenly Saint within him and once again charged towards the Three Great Demon Towers.


    Seeing Ye Chen and the little monkey attack once more, the Three Great Demon Towers immediately deployed their Sacred Artifacts, the Void Great Treasure Cover, Eight Flames Fan, and even the Eagle Demon Tower''s wings, all shining with a startling brilliance.


    But now, these maneuvers of the Three Great Demon Towers could no longer stop the united front of Ye Chen and the little monkey.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s Crimson Fire Flying Sword targeted both the Void Great Treasure Cover and the Eight Flames Fan, while at the same time, with a grasp of his large hand, the vast and boundless power of the Heavenly Saint formed the Heavenly Gang Sword Formation, instantly creating a beam of starlight sword energy and slashing simultaneously at the Eagle Demon Tower.


    As Ye Chen attacked the Three Great Demon Towers, the little monkey also made the third strike, releasing the Fire Eye Divine Light.


    The slashing of the Crimson Fire Flying Sword sent both the Void Great Treasure Cover and the Eight Flames Fan flying, and the starlight sword energy that collided with the Eagle Demon Tower''s wings also emitted a piercing scratching noise. At that moment, the little monkey''s Fire Eye Divine Light imprisoned the Three Great Demon Towers for the third time.


    Even with anticipation of Ye Chen and the little monkey''s moves and preparations made in advance, under the Fire Eye Divine Light of the little monkey, the Three Great Demon Towers still had no chance to escape!


    This time, Ye Chen, with a grasp of his large hand, exhausted all the power of the Heavenly Saint within him, forming a colossal sky-supporting hand larger than the combined size of the Three Great Demon Towers, and viciously slapped down at them.


    Crash!


    This slap changed the color of the heavens and the earth.


    The outburst of power from the Heavenly Saint instantly flattened the Three Great Demon Towers into three streams of demonic energy, which were almost completely dissipated by the colossal sky-supporting hand''s slap!


    At last, when the three streams of demonic energy reformed into the Three Great Demon Towers, their aura had been sharply reduced by half, no longer possessing the formidable power they had at the late spin-up phase.


    At this moment, the Three Great Demon Towers completely lost the will to struggle.


    No matter how they tried to escape or even used the Sacred Artifacts for aid, they were no match for the joint force of Ye Chen and the little monkey. They were continuously being attacked, their aura significantly weakened.


    How could they struggle?


    This time, the Three Great Demon Towers all looked towards the other five Demon Towers, towards the bronze giant coffin that the Five Great Demon Towers held aloft. In the end, the Three Great Demon Towers all shouted out, "Master, save us!"


    ```


    ```


    Fairy Nishang and other Tomb Explorers, upon seeing Ye Chen and the little monkey join forces to completely suppress the Three Great Demon Towers, were overjoyed. Suddenly, when the Three Great Demon Towers stopped struggling and cried out "Master, save us," they all froze.


    Ye Chen also frowned and followed the gaze of the Three Great Demon Towers, looking towards the bronze giant coffin.


    The master, the master of these Three Great Demon Towers, was clearly the true owner of this ancient tomb, Heavenly Saint Moya.


    And these Three Great Demon Towers were actually calling out to the dead Heavenly Saint Moya for help?


    This was just too bizarre!


    "Ye Chen, should we continue to attack?" At this moment, the childlike voice of the little monkey reached Ye Chen again.


    "Attack!" Although Ye Chen had a vague bad feeling, seeing that the Three Great Demon Towers were no longer struggling, he certainly would not miss this opportunity to slay them.


    In an instant, Ye Chen once again ignited the Heavenly Saint Law Bead within him, gathering the power of the Heavenly Saint to launch an attack on the Three Great Demon Towers, and the little monkey also unleashed the Fire Eye Divine Light again!


    "Master!"


    "Master!"


    Seeing Ye Chen and the little monkey attack again, the Three Great Demon Towers changed their expressions, but they still looked towards the bronze giant coffin, continuing to cry out.


    Just as the attack from Ye Chen and the little monkey was about to hit the Three Great Demon Towers again, the black swampy land deep inside the ancient tomb suddenly darkened.


    Next, a strange power began to rise throughout the land.


    This strange power even caused the attacks of Ye Chen and the little monkey to falter.


    Ye Chen and the little monkey, feeling something, looked towards the bronze giant coffin.


    Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, and others also turned their gaze towards the bronze giant coffin at the same time.


    Everyone realized that this mysterious power seemed to be emanating from the bronze giant coffin!


    The bronze giant coffin was very likely the burial tomb of Heavenly Saint Moya. Could it be that Heavenly Saint Moya had left something behind in this coffin?


    While this thought flashed through everyone''s minds, the bronze giant coffin, which was held high by the Five Great Demon Towers and covered in strange runes, unexpectedly left the palms of the Five Great Demon Towers and began to move on its own.


    Seeing the flying bronze giant coffin, the Five Great Demon Towers directly prostrated themselves on the ground.


    And the Tiger Demon Teng, Eagle Demon Teng, and Python Demon Tower also prostrated themselves directly.


    All Eight Great Demon Towers were now bowing towards the bronze giant coffin!


    At that moment, something happened that no one had anticipated.


    The previously tightly sealed bronze giant coffin''s lid suddenly flew into the air, and then, a blue-brown flame rose directly from within the giant coffin.


    The rising blue-brown flame eventually transformed into the figure of an old man with a gaunt face and deep eyes, holding a snake-headed cane!


    "Heavenly Saint Moya!"


    When Ye Chen saw the figure formed by the blue-brown flame, he couldn''t help but exclaim!


    This figure of the old man was exactly the same as the visage of Heavenly Saint Moya revealed to him by Phoenix Spirit back in Azure Blue Mansion!


    This old man formed by the blue-brown flame was actually the long-dead Heavenly Saint, Moya!


    In the midst of Ye Chen''s incredulous exclamation, as Fairy Nishang and the others'' expressions changed drastically upon hearing the four words "Heavenly Saint Moya," and while the little monkey''s bright eyes curiously observed the figure formed by the bundle of flames and the Eight Great Demon Towers all kowtowed to the bronze giant coffin.


    The old man formed by the flames actually spoke, "After more than three thousand years, I, Moya, have finally awakened once again!"


    ```

 Chapter 263 : 230 Heavenly Saint True Soul

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The words of the elder transformed into flames struck Ye Chen, Fairy Nishang, and the other Tomb Explorers like a bolt from the blue, completely dumbfounding them.


    Moya?


    Could this elder transformed from flames really be Heavenly Saint Moya?!


    How bizarre! It was just too bizarre!


    The Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, the buried Heavenly Saint, could actually come back to life? To speak after having been dead for thousands of years?


    This was beyond anything Ye Chen and the others could have ever predicted!


    Even their initial shock from learning that this ancient tomb did not belong to Heavenly Saint Linghua but to Moya of the Ten Great Demon Sects, was nothing compared to this overwhelming revelation.


    It was truly unbelievable!


    "Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb! Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb!"


    "Could it be that Heavenly Saint Moya never died and has been hiding in this bronze coffin all along?"


    "But if he isn''t dead, why would he, with the cultivation of a Heavenly Saint, hide in this tomb and not leave?"


    "Also, this cluster of flames doesn''t have a human form; it doesn''t look like the real Heavenly Saint Moya at all, yet he claims to be Moya. What in the world is going on?"


    Ye Chen''s mind was filled with countless questions.


    It wasn''t just Ye Chen; the other Tomb Explorers were completely bewildered as well.


    This event had completely surpassed their understanding!


    While Ye Chen and the others were shocked, the Eight Great Demon Towers, who had fallen to the ground in worship at the sight of the elder, cried out in excitement, "Master, Master, you''ve really awakened!"


    The voice of the Eight Great Demon Towers made the last bit of disbelief among the Explorers vanish without a trace.


    If even the Eight Great Guardians of Heavenly Saint Moya called this elder transformed into flames ''master'', then he must truly be Heavenly Saint Moya!


    Realizing that they had intruded into the tomb of a living Heavenly Saint and had been fighting against the Heavenly Saint''s Eight Great Guardians, contemplating escape, and even previously attempting to seize the relics within, sent chills down everyone''s spine.


    They had fallen into the trap of the living Heavenly Saint Moya!


    "Come, let me see what kind of young people the mechanisms I left behind in my tomb have brought me!"


    Hearing the words of the Eight Great Demon Towers, the elder "Heavenly Saint Moya," transformed from blue-brown flames floating above the gigantic bronze coffin, sized up Ye Chen and the others while reaching out with his skeletal hand toward the Eight Great Demon Towers below.


    "Sacrifice to the master."


    "Master, come and investigate!"


    Under the grasp of "Heavenly Saint Moya," the Eight Great Demon Towers flew toward him on their own volition.


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    In the end, the astonishingly powerful Eight Great Demon Towers all transformed into eight torrents of demon qi, flying into the elder''s hands and ultimately merging into a black orb, fusing together.


    And "Heavenly Saint Moya," with his skeletal hand holding the black orb, closed his eyes.


    It appeared as though he was absorbing the memory from the demon orb!


    The actions of "Heavenly Saint Moya" left the other Explorers too scared to move.


    This was a Heavenly Saint, after all!


    The Heavenly Saint Realm, the most powerful realm throughout the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, an existence that transcended the ordinary and achieved sainthood!


    In front of such an entity, they had no means of resistance.


    Forget the Tomb Explorers; even Ye Chen, who possessed the power of a Heavenly Saint, had to be extremely cautious in the presence of this "Heavenly Saint Moya"!


    A Heavenly Saint and the power of a Heavenly Saint are two very different things.


    Whether it was the Heavenly Saint power from the Heavenly Saint Law Bead that Ye Chen possessed, or the Heavenly Saint Killing Force on the Sacred Artifacts held by the Tiger Demon Tower, the Eagle Demon Tower, or the Python Demon Tower, they were all merely artifacts refined by a Heavenly Saint.


    Such refined artifacts, though also possessing Heavenly Saint-level power, naturally could not compare with the mighty strength of the Heavenly Saint himself!


    Just think about it, a Heavenly Saint could refine countless Heavenly Saint Law Beads, and the power of these refined beads could not possibly match the formidable power and ability of the Heavenly Saint himself!


    A Heavenly Saint can use an endless stream of Heavenly Saint power, which is countless times more powerful than the Heavenly Saint power that Ye Chen and the others borrowed.


    Seeing the actions of Heavenly Saint Moya, Ye Chen couldn''t help but call the little monkey back to his side, ready to slip into the Azure Blue Mansion at the first sign of trouble!


    The situation had now surpassed all previous predictions.


    Only the Azure Blue Mansion, this contingency plan, might enable Ye Chen to survive in the presence of the resurrected "Heavenly Saint Moya."


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" skeletal hand grabbed the black sphere transformed by the Eight Great Demon Towers, while the others below dared not even move, let alone breathe.


    Their hearts pounded wildly, having no idea how "Heavenly Saint Moya" would deal with them next.


    Such waiting was the most torturous thing!


    But when Heavenly Saint Moya''s hand moved away from the black sphere and he looked at them again, they realized that not waiting was even more terrifying!


    "Heavenly Saint Moya" opened his eyes in an instant and reached out with a large hand toward the crowd, immediately seizing a half-step Spin Dan loose cultivator from the air.


    The half-step Spin Dan loose cultivator struggled frantically, but to no avail, and was directly dragged up into the sky.


    In the end, the half-step Spin Dan loose cultivator fell right into "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" palm!


    "Heavenly Saint Moya" once again stretched out his skeletal hand towards the head of the half-step Spin Dan loose cultivator.


    Then, everyone saw that the half-step Spin Dan loose cultivator''s seven orifices started bleeding, and in just a moment, he was dead beyond doubt!


    At this time, "Heavenly Saint Moya," as if having gained something great, stood up in the void.


    He flung his big hand, casting down the corpse of the half-step Spin Dan loose cultivator, and then, his gaze turned directly to Ye Chen and the golden monkey on his shoulder.


    The way "Heavenly Saint Moya" looked at Ye Chen was as if he was viewing an extraordinary treasure, revealing an exceedingly greedy expression, constantly sizing up his body.


    This look sent a chill through Ye Chen''s heart.


    When "Heavenly Saint Moya" looked at the golden monkey, he showed a trace of an odd expression, and even a flash of sharp light passed through his eyes.


    Then, "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" gaze swept towards Liu Yan and Demon Sect disciple Xue Yue.


    Being stared at by "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" gaze, both Liu Yan and Xue Yue felt a numbness in their hearts, and even the hidden disciple of the Demon Sects, Xue Yue, felt a chill climbing up his body.


    "Tsk tsk, I didn''t expect that this opening of the ancient tomb would bring such promising youngsters from the Spirit Sea of the thirteen countries of Tian Nan."


    "Heavenly Saint Moya" spoke as his gaze swept across them.


    "Your name is Ye Chen, right? Ye Chen, you, a mere boy, have managed to overpower my Demon Tower Guards and dared to take my treasure ''Azure Blue Mansion''. It seems you have had many miraculous encounters! And that monkey on your shoulder, if I''m not mistaken, it must be a kind of True Spirit most feared by practitioners of the Demon Path, known as the ''All-Heavens Monkey''!"


    In the end, "Heavenly Saint Moya" directly addressed Ye Chen.


    All-Heavens Monkey?


    Upon hearing "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" words, Ye Chen turned and glanced at the little monkey on his shoulder, who also showed a puzzled expression.


    However, now was not the time to delve into the identity of the little monkey. Ye Chen had more doubts about this "Heavenly Saint Moya". He gently touched the monkey''s fur and then looked straight at the old man transformed from flames, "Heavenly Saint Moya".


    "Who are you? Are you truly the Heavenly Saint Moya from Defying Demon Sect? Why are you not in human form but transformed into flames?" Ye Chen directly asked "Heavenly Saint Moya".


    Hearing Ye Chen''s question and seeing the other Tomb Explorers who were dumbstruck, "Heavenly Saint Moya" revealed a smile that wasn''t quite a smile.


    "Well, I have been trapped in this ancient tomb for more than three thousand years. Since you are the descendants who have come to offer sacrifices, I suppose I can let you die with a little understanding."


    "Yes, I am indeed ''Heavenly Saint Moya'', but what you see before you is my divine soul¡ªthe ''True Soul Flame''. My physical body perished more than three thousand years ago in the battle with Heavenly Saint Linghua!"


    Divine soul? True Soul Flame?


    This cluster of blue-brown flames was Heavenly Saint Moya''s divine soul?


    Heavenly Saint Moya''s physical body had already perished?


    Ye Chen and the others were stunned by "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" words. They had never heard of a cultivator whose physical body perished while the divine soul survived for thousands of years. Usually, when a cultivator''s body died, their divine soul should also perish immediately!


    Could it be that the divine soul of a Heavenly Saint was so powerful that it could survive after the death of the body and live for thousands of years?


    "Heavenly Saint Moya" paid no attention to the shocked expressions of the crowd, and continued, "Back then, in the battle with Linghua, the sky shattered and the earth split, I was gravely injured, my body was completely shattered, and Linghua died by my hands!"


    "At the time, I was on the battlefield of these thirteen countries of Tian Nan. If the other Heavenly Saints found out that my body was shattered, leaving only my True Soul, I would likely be obliterated by them before I could return to the Western Wilderness, and they would kill me completely!"


    "I could only hide in this deep abyss that had been split open while everyone was unaware, down in a deep subterranean hole!"


    As he spoke, "Heavenly Saint Moya" seemed to fall into his memories, his eyes starting to glint.


    "I, ''Moya'', among the ten great Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness Demon Sects, was also one of the distinguished ones. I even survived a journey to the Minor Spirit Realm; how could I die so easily?!"


    "I cannot die, nor will I allow myself to die!"


    "I must continue to live!"


    "Unfortunately, when my body shattered, my True Soul was also injured, and this flame of my True Soul Flame was about to be extinguished. Once the True Soul Flame dies, I am done for! Luckily, luckily during my ventures in the Minor Spirit Realm, I obtained countless treasures, especially this ''Life Origin Coffin'', which allowed me to nourish my ''True Soul Flame'' and let it recover again!"


    "So, I rested within this ''Life Origin Coffin'' for thousands of years, and finally, now my ''True Soul Flame'' has fully recovered!"


    "Heavenly Saint Moya" grew more and more excited as he spoke until he burst into loud laughter in the end.

 Chapter 264 : 231 Body Snatching?

    Life Origin Coffin! True Soul Flame!


    Although Ye Chen had never heard of the things "Heavenly Saint Moya" mentioned, through his words, Ye Chen finally understood.


    It turned out that "Heavenly Saint Moya" had suffered severe injuries, which is why he hid within this ancient tomb, recovering cautiously in the depths of the tomb, inside a massive coffin.


    However, since he had recovered, why had he lured them into the ancient tomb in the first place?


    "Why did you lure us into the ancient tomb and impersonate Heavenly Saint Linghua''s identity, sending out Heavenly Saint Linghua''s law token to let us enter the tomb in search of treasures?" Ye Chen directly questioned "Heavenly Saint Moya."


    Ye Chen''s confusion was shared by the other Tomb Explorers, who all turned their attention toward "Heavenly Saint Moya" in the sky.


    "Why did I lure you into the ancient tomb?" "Heavenly Saint Moya" sneered, "Before entering the ''Life Origin Coffin,'' I painstakingly constructed this ancient tomb. Of course, it wasn''t going to be for nothing!"


    "I lured you into the ancient tomb because my physical body is shattered, leaving only my soul intact. To continue living, of course, I need to find a suitable body to ''Body Snatch''!"


    "Body Snatching! Once I Body Snatch a new physical body, my soul will enter it. Relying on my incredibly powerful Heavenly Saint true soul, I will be able to cultivate again, become strong again, and dominate once more!"


    "By using the temptation of Heavenly Saint treasures, I bring in powerful young talents from the thirteen southern countries as cultivators, providing me with truly talented bodies!"


    "Good, you haven''t disappointed me; the thirteen southern countries haven''t disappointed me. I originally thought if the first batch to enter the tomb had unsuitable bodies, I would let some of you leave and then lure a second group in. Unexpectedly, you, the first batch of young people to enter, have proven strong enough for me to reveal myself!"


    "I have already selected a body, one that even has better cultivating talents than my body had in the past. This body has managed to obtain the Heavenly Saint Law Bead at such a young age. No wonder it could take my Azure Blue Mansion! It truly must be the will of the heavens that allows me, ''Heavenly Saint Moya,'' to dominate the world with an even stronger talent!"


    By the end of his speech, the burning gaze of "Heavenly Saint Moya" was fixed entirely on Ye Chen!


    Clearly, the body that "Heavenly Saint Moya" desired to possess belonged to the strongest existence among the Tomb Explorers, Ye Chen''s body!


    Hearing "Heavenly Saint Moya" express his desire to take over a body left all the Tomb Explorers stunned!


    They had never heard of someone using their soul to take over someone else''s body.


    What kind of power was this?!


    If one really could take over a body with their soul, that would be terrifying indeed!


    What these Tomb Explorers didn''t know was that once a cultivator''s level reached the Rotating Pill Realm, the soul could grow stronger through the Laws of the Five Great Virtual Heavens. Otherwise, Ye Chen''s ability to instantaneously move with his divine sense would not have been detected by the Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    And at the Heavenly Saint Realm, not only does the physical body cultivate Heavenly Saint power, but the soul also cultivates a tremendously powerful attack ability, even capable of taking over another''s body with the "Heavenly Saint true soul" by assaulting with the soul!


    Although "Body Snatching" comes with many restrictions and could result in failure or seizing a poor body, generally, Heavenly Saints would not abandon their own bodies to snatch someone else''s unless it was an extreme case. However, having the "Body Snatching" ability indeed provided Heavenly Saints with another method of extending life!


    As long as the soul does not perish, even if the body is shattered, a Heavenly Saint Realm expert still has a chance to rise again!


    This is also why when Heavenly Saints fight, to truly kill the opponent, one must obliterate the adversary''s soul.


    The other Tomb Explorers were terrified, but Ye Chen, upon seeing Heavenly Saint Moya''s gaze turn towards him when he mentioned "Body Snatching," felt a sudden surge in his heart.


    Clearly, Ye Chen realized that Heavenly Saint Moya intended to Body Snatch him!


    Ye Chen finally understood why after they entered the ancient tomb, they faced one challenge after another. Only the strong could reach the end. It turns out this was all Heavenly Saint Moya''s plan to select a body for himself.


    And the strongest among them, Ye Chen, was now the one he had set his sights on!


    "You want to take my body?"


    "In your dreams!"


    Ye Chen''s face darkened, and in an instant, his Heavenly Saint Defense Law Bead infused him with countless Heavenly Saint powers, protecting his entire being.


    And at the same time, Ye Chen was about to re-enter the Azure Blue Mansion!


    Just as Ye Chen''s divine sense was communicating with the Azure Blue Mansion, a voice suddenly transmitted into his mind, "Don''t worry, Ye Chen. Although I can''t leave the Azure Blue Mansion, I have a way to protect your divine sense! Let that Moya try to Body Snatch you. As his soul enters your mind, I will utterly annihilate him!


    Furthermore, this will be a good opportunity to inspect his soul''s memories and find out how you can leave this ancient tomb."


    "This Moya, since he claimed that Heavenly Saint Linghua died at his hands, then he must have the Law Relic of Heavenly Saint Linghua, along with various treasures he has collected. You''ve expended quite a bit of your Heavenly Saint power previously, and you need to compensate for that loss.


    Killing Heavenly Saint Moya will remove a hidden threat for the thirteen countries of the southern heavens and allow you to seize all his treasures!"


    "This Moya, despite being nearly infallible, would never expect that I would be in Azure Blue Mansion, ready to help you slay him!"


    That voice was none other than Phoenix Spirit!


    After Ye Chen carried the Azure Blue Mansion with him, Phoenix Spirit had been observing Ye Chen through the mansion, and now, at this critical moment, Phoenix Spirit finally spoke up!


    Hearing Phoenix Spirit''s voice, Ye Chen was greatly stirred!


    Phoenix Spirit was a miraculous being born from the divine Phoenix lineage of the upper realms. She was the True Phoenix Feather on the divine artifact, the Ice Snow Divine Fan, extraordinary and peculiar even granting her the allegiance of the heavens-shaking giant spider that was more powerful than Heavenly Saint Moya.


    If she said she could slay Moya, she most definitely could!


    Ye Chen was worried about how to deal with Heavenly Saint Moya, whose true soul he knew nothing about; Phoenix Spirit''s words instantly calmed his heart.


    With his heart now calm, Ye Chen''s expression remained stern and composed, and he even continued to activate the Heavenly Saint Defense Law Bead.


    Killing Heavenly Saint Moya meant all the Heavenly Saint treasures would be in hand. Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t be stingy with the Heavenly Saint Law Beads now!


    Using the Heavenly Saint Law Beads to deceive Heavenly Saint Moya was absolutely worth it!


    Seeing the golden radiance of the Heavenly Saint power emanating from Ye Chen, "Heavenly Saint Moya" sneered coldly, "Stop struggling, how could this Heavenly Saint power possibly stop me? Only a true Heavenly Saint might manage that!"


    "Little boy, give up your body to the true and mighty me!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As "Heavenly Saint Moya" spoke, he reached out into the void, lifting everyone¡ªYe Chen, Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, Yun Luo, Xue Yue, and all the rest¡ªup from the ground.


    Even the golden monkey was bound by an inexplicable force in the midst of the void!


    This situation terrified everyone.


    Many Tomb Explorers were even screaming in sheer terror!


    These were the techniques of a Heavenly Saint¡ªthe true methods of a Heavenly Saint that they had no power to resist!


    "Those I find of use will stay; the rest of you, die!"


    As Heavenly Saint Moya spoke, his body transformed again into a blue-bronze flame that flew down from the sky. Meanwhile, the black orbs transformed by the Eight Great Demon Towers flew directly into the flames of Heavenly Saint Moya.


    Then, the flame-shaped Heavenly Saint Moya instantly radiated an endless, strange luminance from his true soul flame.


    Beneath this strange luminance, accompanied by a series of "boom boom boom" explosion sounds, each and every Tomb Explorer burst apart and died!


    In the end, the only ones remaining in the sky were Ye Chen, Liu Yan, Xue Yue, and the golden monkey!


    Even Fairy Nishang and the injured Yun Luo had perished in the carnage!


    Ye Chen, who awaited Heavenly Saint Moya''s true soul''s body snatching for annihilation, was utterly taken aback by Moya''s ruthless actions.


    He had killed almost everyone before the body snatching even began!


    Even if Ye Chen wanted to, he couldn''t have asked Phoenix Spirit to save them in time!


    Fairy Nishang was dead, Yun Luo was dead, and most of the others too!


    Ye Chen''s mind was wildly shaken; he couldn''t fathom why, besides him and the golden monkey, Heavenly Saint Moya had spared Liu Yan and Xue Yue!


    As his mind reeled, Phoenix Spirit''s voice suddenly entered Ye Chen''s mind, "Ye Chen, hold onto your soul!"


    No sooner had Ye Chen snapped out of his shock at Phoenix Spirit''s voice than he saw "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" true soul flame shooting straight towards the space between his eyebrows, and in an instant, it flew into his mind!

 Chapter 265: Chapter 232: The Three Major Soul Fragments

    Essence, Qi, and Spirit are the three vital signs of a cultivator''s life.


    "Essence" refers to the physical body, "Qi" refers to the True Qi cultivated within the Qi Sea, and "Spirit" is the most special, referring to the Divine Sense and Divine Soul hidden within the mind!


    The physical body can always be strengthened by ordinary people; while True Qi can only be cultivated by those who have opened up the Qi Sea; as for the Divine Soul, it is even more special, only those with profound cultivation or who have come into contact with special techniques may strengthen the Divine Soul!


    The Divine Souls of ordinary people are scattered; whereas the cultivators who have experienced the five major astral laws at the Rotating Pill Realm have long since condensed their Divine Souls into form, and can even sense the void by borrowing the astral laws; after reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm, Divine Souls can even form the incredibly powerful True Soul Flame, possessing unmatched offensive power!


    Ye Chen''s mind, just like the Qi Sea, possessed an immensely vast Inner World.


    Within this world, countless threads of Ye Chen''s Divine Sense, like stars, were scattered, adorning the world of the mind.


    Combined, these threads comprised Ye Chen''s Divine Soul!


    Each person''s Divine Soul occupies its own world within the mind, but now, a cluster of blue-brown flames suddenly burst into Ye Chen''s Inner World.


    This intruding blue-brown flame was none other than the Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame!


    If these blue-brown flames were to destroy Ye Chen''s Divine Soul completely, then Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame could truly occupy Ye Chen''s Inner World, truly control Ye Chen''s physical body, and truly "Body Snatch" Ye Chen!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After the Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame invaded Ye Chen''s mind, the blue-brown flames burned even more fiercely.


    "Haha, after Body Snatching this physical body, from now on, I, ''Heavenly Saint Moya,'' will be able to come out of seclusion and rise again!"


    "Little kid, just prepare to be completely annihilated!"


    Amidst the rolling sounds, the Divine Soul Flame of Heavenly Saint Moya crazily burned towards the numerous threads of Ye Chen''s Divine Sense.


    Heavenly Saint Moya, being of the Heavenly Saint Realm, had a Divine Soul that did not perish even after his physical body shattered for over three thousand years, which shows how powerful his Divine Soul was!


    And Ye Chen was merely at the Spirit Sea Realm, his Divine Soul not even condensed into form, but scattered, with no offensive power whatsoever.


    At this moment, these scattered threads of Divine Soul were like lambs to the slaughter, only able to watch as Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame burned toward them!


    Read the latest stories on M-VL-em|p,yr


    If it were any other cultivator, seeing this scene, they might have already started screaming in horror by now.


    Because if the Divine Soul falls, then the person themselves truly perishes!


    But Ye Chen, upon seeing Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame burning towards him, wasn''t the least bit frightened, for he knew that Phoenix Spirit had allowed him to lure Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame into his mind for a reason.


    Indeed.


    Just as Heavenly Saint Moya''s roaring voice echoed, and the True Soul Flame burned towards Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, five lotus leaf-shaped glows suddenly flew out from the Sacred Artifact on Ye Chen''s body, and in an instant, these glows shot into Ye Chen''s mind.


    Before Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame could reach even a thread of Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, the five lotus glows that flew into Ye Chen''s mind transformed into five immense lotus leaves, instantly enveloping Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame completely!


    This turn of events shocked Heavenly Saint Moya entirely!


    And when Heavenly Saint Moya''s Divine Soul charged towards these five lotus leaves, it was completely blocked, and even some of his True Soul Flame was annihilated upon touching the lotus leaves, turning his surprise into utter terror!


    Heavenly Saint Moya, who was absolutely confident in Body Snatching a Spirit Sea Realm youth, could not have imagined that something capable of overpowering his True Soul Flame would appear in Ye Chen''s mind!


    "What are these lotus leaves?!"


    Heavenly Saint Moya shouted in horror!


    As a Heavenly Saint who had cultivated the Heavenly Saint True Soul, "Moya" of course knew the power of the Heavenly Saint True Soul.


    He could say, with just the attack of the Heavenly Saint True Soul, he was able to sweep away all cultivators below the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    The only thing that could counter the Heavenly Saint True Soul were incredibly powerful Sacred Treasures or Divine Artifacts related to the Divine Soul.


    But Divine Soul-related Sacred Treasures are rarer than ordinary Sacred Artifacts, and as for Divine Artifacts, they are even more elusive for Heavenly Saints to obtain.


    Ye Chen, in possession of a Sacred Artifact Flying Sword, actually had another mysterious Secret Treasure against the Heavenly Saint True Soul, which completely disbelieved Heavenly Saint Moya!


    How could a Spirit Sea Realm possibly have such treasures?!


    Even "Heavenly Saint Moya," as a Heavenly Saint being, who has many Sacred Artifacts, did not possess a Sacred Treasure related to the Divine Soul, yet this youth had more and even stronger treasures than him, a Heavenly Saint!


    What Heavenly Saint Moya did not know was that Ye Chen had already formed a connection with the Phoenix Spirit within the Azure Blue Mansion, and as the treasure trove of the Divine Phoenix Clan, the mansion naturally possessed items capable of countering Divine Soul attacks!


    Not to mention the five lotus leaves of the Divine Soul-related Secret Treasure, but the mansion contained even more mysterious treasures!


    Heavenly Saint Moya screamed in shock, with no way out!


    Numerous experiences with Body Snatching have shown that although it can extend a Heavenly Saint''s life, it is also fraught with extreme danger.


    "Body Snatching," can only be attempted once with each cluster of Divine Soul!


    Once the Heavenly Saint True Soul enters another''s body mind world, there are only two outcomes: successful Body Snatching, taking over a new body, or failure, resulting in complete dissolution.


    There is no possibility of the "Heavenly Saint True Soul" exiting the body once entered!


    Moreover, the time for Body Snatching is limited, only lasting one hour; if Body Snatching isn''t successful within that time, the world of mind will directly counter-attack and kill the invading Divine Soul.


    At this moment, the True Soul of "Heavenly Saint Moya" had already entered Ye Chen''s mind, with no way of retreat.


    It was either his death or Ye Chen''s demise!


    Now, trapped within the embrace of the five lotus leaves, "Heavenly Saint Moya" had no other options; he must break through the confinement of the lotus leaves, kill Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, or wait for the body snatching to fail and his True Soul to perish!


    "No, I, ''Heavenly Saint Moya'', will definitely not be defeated by a kid like you!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In his frenzied cries, "Heavenly Saint Moya" unleashed the full power of his True Soul Flame, violently colliding with the surrounding lotus leaves.


    As the True Soul Flame of "Heavenly Saint Moya" struck, the five lotus leaves began to compress wildly.


    In the end, rather than being shattered by the True Soul Flame, the lotus leaves pressed in even tighter, to the point of nearly extinguishing the True Soul Flame of "Heavenly Saint Moya"!


    Witnessing this scene, "Heavenly Saint Moya" let out an even more astounded and frantic cry, while Ye Chen observed this terrifying battle unfolding within his mind''s Inner World.


    This spectacle might not match the scale of a physical and True Qi confrontation, but the battle of Divine Souls was far more dangerous than any bodily or True Qi fight!


    This was a battle to kill the Divine Soul!


    With the Divine Soul extinguished, that meant true and utter death!


    Perhaps, he was about to witness the annihilation of a Heavenly Saint''s True Soul!


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    Ye Chen didn''t have to wait long; the five lotus leaves were none other than the True Soul Sacred Artifact "Tianga Primal Leaf" activated by Phoenix Spirit. Among the Divine Phoenix Clan, the "Tianga Primal Leaf" was an immensely powerful Secret Treasure designed to counter Divine Soul attacks.


    At this moment, the "Tianga Primal Leaf" certainly wasn''t going to let "Heavenly Saint Moya" escape!


    The five lotus leaves whirred and tightened their grip increasingly, the internal force growing stronger. In the end, "Heavenly Saint Moya," who could only let out a miserable shriek, saw his True Soul Flame completely extinguished.


    Ultimately, the five lotus leaves burst open with a jolt, and Ye Chen even noticed that "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" original flame-shaped True Soul had been torn into countless threads by the power of the lotus leaves, now disintegrating in his mind''s world.


    "''Heavenly Saint Moya''... has he really died just like this?"


    Ye Chen watched these True Soul threads, which were being twisted into nothingness, and could no longer hear the voice of "Heavenly Saint Moya."


    Considering that a Heavenly Saint''s True Soul had just vanished and a Heavenly Saint had completely fallen, Ye Chen was profoundly shocked!


    At that moment, Phoenix Spirit''s voice entered Ye Chen''s mind, "This cluster of True Soul Flame is dead, Ye Chen. Hurry, look at these disintegrating True Souls; they may contain the numerous experiences of ''Moya.'' Touching these experiences will greatly help strengthen your Divine Soul!"


    The disintegrating True Soul contained "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" experiences? Could it help bolster the Divine Soul?


    Upon hearing Phoenix Spirit''s words, Ye Chen looked towards the disintegrating threads of Divine Soul, where the countless life experiences of "Heavenly Saint Moya" began to flicker wildly in the midst of soul disintegration.


    Included were "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" cultivation process, insights, and even the process of his assault on various realms; his exploits in the Minor Spirit Realm; and all about the construction of ancient tombs, the elaborate deathtraps, and the hidden locations of Secret Treasures...


    Ye Chen felt as if he was coming into contact with an immense flood of information.


    This information was even overwhelming his Divine Soul, which began to expand incessantly to accommodate the influx.


    Alas, "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" Divine Soul disintegrated at an extremely fast pace, and the feeling of Ye Chen''s Divine Soul expansion lasted only for a few moments before these Divine Souls and their experience fragments completely vanished.


    Just as Ye Chen''s entire Divine Sense was focused on his Inner World, digesting the experiences from the disintegration of Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul Flame, at the moment when that cluster of True Soul Flame was fully extinguished, from the bronze giant coffin not far from Ye Chen, two more clusters of Heavenly Saint True Soul Flame suddenly burst forth.


    These two clusters of Heavenly Saint True Soul Flame were exactly the same as the one that had entered Ye Chen''s mind!


    No one expected that within the bronze giant coffin, there were still two clusters of True Soul Flame hidden!


    Even Ye Chen, who had already killed one cluster of True Soul Flame, could not have anticipated this!


    "My three Soul Fragmentations, one has actually perished!"


    "This youth, he actually managed to destroy my Heavenly Saint True Soul!"


    The moment these two clusters of Heavenly Saint True Soul Flame shot out, they once again took the form of "Heavenly Saint Moya." Now, both "Heavenly Saint Moyas" turned their gazes toward Ye Chen in the air, eyes filled with both fear and resentment!


    "Fortunately, fortunately I obtained the secret technique for cultivating avatars years ago. I could divide my Heavenly Saint True Soul into many Soul Fragmentations! Just in case, I divided my Heavenly Saint True Soul into three independent Soul Fragmentations!"


    "Even though one cluster has been extinguished, I still have two more. I, ''Heavenly Saint Moya'', still have a chance to make a comeback!"


    "Even if I lost a cluster of Soul Fragmentation and can no longer return to my peak state, I can still survive!"


    These "Heavenly Saint Moyas" emerging from the bronze giant coffin spoke, and one of the True Soul Flames immediately shot toward Xue Yue, who was restrained in the sky.


    Not daring to attempt body snatching Ye Chen again, "Heavenly Saint Moya" turned to seize Xue Yue instead.


    He had spared Xue Yue and Liu Yan, precisely for this moment!


    Heavenly Saint Moya, truly worthy of being a being that had cultivated to the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    He was indeed exceedingly cunning and had more than one trick up his sleeve!


    While attempting to snatch Ye Chen''s body, he still had a contingency plan in place!

 Chapter 266: Chapter 233: The Battle!

    All these changes took place in the blink of an eye.


    Sensing the anomaly from outside, Ye Chen swiftly exited the state of digesting Heavenly Saint Moya''s experience and looked outside.


    When Ye Chen saw the two newly emerged True Soul Flames transform back into "Heavenly Saint Moya," and one of the flames was even shooting towards Xue Yue in the sky, disbelief completely took over Ye Chen''s heart!


    The "Heavenly Saint Moya" he had just killed was still not completely dead, still alive?!


    "Soul Fragmentation, there actually exists Soul Fragmentation!"


    "Ye Chen, it seems we have underestimated this ''Moya''! Heavenly Saints indeed have many contingencies, which makes them very difficult to kill completely."


    "It''s a pity Zhu Er and I cannot leave the Azure Blue Mansion, we can only help you by lending the treasure of the mansion. After this ''Moya'' has suffered the loss of a Soul Fragment, he will probably steer clear of the treasures capable of killing him, and it will be very difficult to eliminate his other Soul Fragments!"


    At this moment, the voice of Phoenix Spirit entered Ye Chen''s mind.


    Soul Fragmentation?


    Although Ye Chen did not know what it was, from the name alone, he knew it likely involved secrets of the Heavenly Saint level that he had yet to come in contact with.


    In the brief moment Ye Chen and Phoenix Spirit communicated, the True Soul Flame aiming for Xue Yue had already completely entered Xue Yue''s mind.


    Xue Yue was but a cultivator in the later stages of the Spirit Sea, without any Divine Soul-class Sacred Artifacts or secret treasures. How could his Divine Soul withstand the possession of "Heavenly Saint Moya"!


    In an instant, Xue Yue was successfully possessed!


    Even Xue Yue, a disciple of the Demon Sects, could not struggle and was thoroughly obliterated in soul and spirit, completely dead.


    Xue Yue, harboring countless schemes, would have never imagined dying at the hands of his Demon Sects'' senior, being possessed by him, and meeting such an end in the ancient tomb.


    Bang!


    In the sky, as soon as the possession was complete, "Xue Yue''s" body abruptly opened its eyes, and then, the roaring voice of "Heavenly Saint Moya" rang out: "Indeed, he is a disciple of my Demon Sects. This body, though not as good as that little brat''s, is not bad either; the cultivation foundation has been well laid!"


    While speaking, "Heavenly Saint Moya" started to control this new body, beginning to sense this new physical vessel.


    Watching Heavenly Saint Moya''s movements, a chill ran through Ye Chen''s heart.


    "Heavenly Saint Moya" had actually managed to possess a new body with this Soul Fragmentation?!


    The True Soul of a Heavenly Saint can indeed possess and completely control another body!


    Ye Chen felt a cold dread at this moment. Without the help of Phoenix Spirit, it is very likely that the new body Heavenly Saint Moya was sensing now would not be Xue Yue''s, but his own!


    The methods of a Heavenly Saint are indeed far beyond his current reach!


    Disciples of the Demon Sects?


    Hearing "Heavenly Saint Moya''s" words and seeing his actions, Ye Chen was even more shocked. Was this Xue Yue actually a person of the Demon Sects?


    Among these Tomb Explorers, there was actually a disciple of the Demon Sects hidden!


    No wonder "Heavenly Saint Moya" had killed all the others but left this "Xue Yue" for last!


    Now, with Xue Yue dead, it was not the time to dwell on his identity as a member of the Demon Sects. Seeing that Moya had successfully possessed a body, Ye Chen immediately released the power of the Heavenly Saint within him, breaking free of the restraint and attacking Heavenly Saint Moya.


    Previously, Ye Chen had willingly remained restrained to lure Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul into his mind. But now, Ye Chen naturally had to use all his strength to kill the possessively successful Heavenly Saint Moya and his other Soul Fragment Flame.


    As Ye Chen attacked, the five lotus leaves that had previously protected his Divine Soul also flew out, circling around various parts of his body.


    With the protection of the Tianga Primal Leaf, Ye Chen was no longer afraid of Heavenly Saint Moya''s most formidable True Soul Flame, and after Moya''s successful possession, his physical and True Qi strength were absolutely unable to recover to the Heavenly Saint level so quickly. Ye Chen also had the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, so of course, there was even less reason to fear!


    While attacking Heavenly Saint Moya, Ye Chen also brandished his sword light, which flashed in the void, aiming to sever the restraints on the little golden monkey and Liu Yan and free them.


    After Xue Yue''s possession, there were truly few Tomb Explorers remaining, apart from Ye Chen and the little monkey, as well as Jiang Yao inside the Azure Blue Mansion, only Liu Yan remained!


    Seeing Ye Chen attacking and attempting to rescue Liu Yan and the little golden monkey, the possessively successful Heavenly Saint Moya''s gaze sharpened.


    He had not anticipated that Ye Chen would react so quickly!


    And seeing the five lotus leaves circling around Ye Chen, Heavenly Saint Moya grew even more apprehensive.


    "This little brat is too strange, absolutely cannot get close to him!"


    "First, eliminate the others!"


    "Having succeeded in possessing a second body, the third prepared body is now useless!"


    "That little monkey, I have lost interest in further research as well, kill them all!"


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen was rapidly closing in, the possessively successful Heavenly Saint Moya swiftly dodged the direction of Ye Chen''s attack and pointed a finger towards Liu Yan and the little golden monkey in the void, releasing two black beams of finger light, which separately aimed to kill Liu Yan and the little golden monkey as soon as Ye Chen had released the restraints.


    At the same time, Heavenly Saint Moya''s hand seemed to reach out into the void, grabbing hold of the treasures on the ground, and in a flash, he flew towards the bronze giant coffin.


    Seeing Heavenly Saint Moya''s attack on the little golden monkey, Ye Chen''s expression drastically changed.


    Ye Chen could no longer care about Heavenly Saint Moya headed toward the bronze giant coffin.


    If anything were to happen to the little golden monkey, Ye Chen would feel terribly guilty toward the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact that had entrusted him with its care!


    However, Heavenly Saint Moya was much closer to Liu Yan and the little golden monkey than Ye Chen was; the speed of his attack was much faster than Ye Chen''s speed of rescue!


    Just as Ye Chen''s figure shot towards Liu Yan and the little golden monkey like lightning, still tens of meters away, Moya''s assault had already reached the two of them!


    In the sky, just as Ye Chen had broken Liu Yan''s restraints, he stared dumbfounded at the unfolding situation when Moya''s attack was released towards him.


    "Be careful!"


    "Come to me, quick!"


    Ye Chen''s voice had not yet reached Liu Yan''s ears, nor had he had the chance to save Liu Yan, when the finger light struck by Heavenly Saint Moya instantly pierced through Liu Yan''s body.


    Boom!


    Liu Yan fell backwards, crashing to the ground.


    On the other side.


    The golden monkey, upon seeing the finger light struck by Heavenly Saint Moya, flashed through the void, as if traveling through space, and vanished from the scene in an instant, making Heavenly Saint Moya''s finger light miss its target.


    The next moment, the little monkey appeared next to Ye Chen, who had rushed over!


    "Little monkey!"


    Seeing the little monkey still alive, Ye Chen felt an indescribable joy in his heart.


    Ye Chen was so concerned that he forgot the little monkey was a True Spirit!


    Even before its transformation, the little monkey''s speed was unbelievably fast; after transforming, it was even faster than his own.


    Heavenly Saint Moya could kill Liu Yan, but not the little monkey!


    "Yiya, Ye Chen!"


    The little monkey, sensing Ye Chen''s intense emotions, immediately flew into his embrace.


    "This person, I feel a terrible aura about him. I can deal with his True Qi, but that other soul power, I can''t handle it."


    In Ye Chen''s arms, the little monkey''s tiny finger pointed towards Heavenly Saint Moya, who was flying towards the bronze giant coffin.


    At this moment, Heavenly Saint Moya had already reached the side of the bronze giant coffin!


    Furthermore, the third cluster of True Soul Flame on the bronze giant coffin directly began merging into Heavenly Saint Moya''s new body.


    While Ye Chen was anxious to save the little monkey, Heavenly Saint Moya took the opportunity to start merging with another Soul Fragmentation!


    In an instant, the cluster of Soul Fragmentation merged into Heavenly Saint Moya''s new body.


    Having successfully possessed a body, Heavenly Saint Moya certainly wouldn''t separate his Soul Fragmentation again; he definitely intended to consolidate the most powerful Divine Soul.


    Originally, if the possession of Ye Chen had been successful without any mishap, by merging the three Soul Fragmentations, he would have been able to regain his fullest state as a Heavenly Saint True Soul; unexpectedly, there was a complication.


    However, even merging just two Soul Fragmentations was acceptable to Heavenly Saint Moya.


    Seeing another cluster of True Soul Flame enter into the new body, and Heavenly Saint Moya reaching directly towards the bronze giant coffin, Ye Chen inwardly cursed in dismay.


    From the True Soul Flame of Heavenly Saint Moya he had previously absorbed, Ye Chen knew that the bronze giant coffin contained almost all of Heavenly Saint Moya''s important treasures!


    From Heavenly Saint Moya''s actions, it was clear that he intended to take the treasures!


    Ye Chen certainly did not want to allow Heavenly Saint Moya to successfully obtain the treasures!


    Earlier, he had been busy saving the little monkey and had lost a chance; now, he must stop the treasures from being collected by Heavenly Saint Moya before it was too late!


    "Little monkey, go into the Heaven Spirit Ring, leave the rest to me!"


    Ye Chen didn''t want the little monkey to take any more risks.


    This Heavenly Saint Moya, in his relentless attacks, had killed Fairy Nishang, killed Yun Luo, killed countless Tomb Explorers, and now had even killed Liu Yan, the only one left!


    In the field, apart from Ye Chen, all the other Tomb Explorers had died.


    Ye Chen had never imagined that this would be the outcome for those who entered the ancient tomb for adventure; of course, he was even less inclined to let this successfully possessed Heavenly Saint Moya go. Should he escape, with his bloody methods, countless more would die by his hand!


    The little monkey looked at Ye Chen''s expression; the clever creature knew that it could no longer be of any help to Ye Chen at this moment and, with a soft squeak, it directly flew into the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    In the sky, only Ye Chen and Heavenly Saint Moya remained!


    Whoosh!


    An intense aura erupted from Ye Chen, and with the massive power of the Heavenly Saint bolstering him, he rapidly charged towards Heavenly Saint Moya at the side of the bronze giant coffin.


    Hearing the fierce wind behind him, Heavenly Saint Moya''s heart skipped a beat.


    He no longer dared to confront Ye Chen head-on!


    The five lotus leaves outside Ye Chen''s body could completely suppress his Divine Soul, and his new body, being only of the Spirit Sea realm, provided little benefit to him.


    If he really clashed with Ye Chen now, he would not come out on top!


    "Hmph."


    "Boy, Ye Chen, I will avenge the destruction of my Soul Fragmentation!"


    "This time, I''ll spare your life!"


    In the flicker of his gaze, Heavenly Saint Moya had already grasped the bronze giant coffin.


    Upon his touch, the bronze giant coffin rapidly shrank and shot towards his hand.


    Just as the bronze giant coffin was about to enter Heavenly Saint Moya''s palm, a streak of crimson sword light suddenly slashed towards the hand that Heavenly Saint Moya had stretched towards the coffin.


    Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    This was notably the Crimson Fire Flying Sword infused with the power of the Heavenly Saint, intent on stopping Heavenly Saint Moya from seizing the treasures!

 Chapter 267: Chapter 234: Out of the Tomb

    ```


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword unleashed a brilliant, unmatched sword light, cleaving out a terrifying Sword Qi that stretched dozens of yards.


    It was as if a vast chasm that could not be crossed had been cut between Heavenly Saint Moya''s palm and the Treasure within the bronze giant coffin!


    And behind the unparalleled sword light of the Crimson Fire Flying Sword was Ye Chen, who was rapidly closing in for the kill!


    Heavenly Saint Moya dared not clash directly with Ye Chen, but if he wanted to snatch the Treasure, he had to confront the Sword Qi cleaved by Ye Chen; he had to face Ye Chen head-on.


    "My physical body and True Qi are still of the Spirit Sea level, and even with the aid of the sacred artifact Treasure, I can at most only match the sword power of this Heavenly Saint, and there is even a great possibility that I''ll be slightly inferior."


    "To break through the Flying Sword''s blockade and grab the ''Life Origin Coffin'' and the Treasure inside, the only thing that could suppress this power of the Heavenly Saint is my Heavenly Saint True Soul."


    "But if my Heavenly Saint True Soul really emerges, and if it gets damaged by that Lotus Leaf, then it''s truly over!"


    Heavenly Saint Moya, looking at the terrifying Sword Qi that lay between him and the bronze giant coffin and sensing Ye Chen''s rapid approach, as well as the terrifying power of Ye Chen''s secret Treasure of five Lotus Leaves, had his eyes flickering crazily, his mind racing with countless thoughts.


    The Treasure within the bronze giant "Life Origin Coffin" contained countless treasures collected by Heavenly Saint Moya thousands of years ago, which made up a significant part of his wealth. Naturally, Heavenly Saint Moya was reluctant to give it up.


    However, the risk of releasing his Heavenly Saint True Soul to snatch the Treasure was too great for Heavenly Saint Moya to dare.


    One of his three Soul Fragmentations had already vanished in the five Lotus Leaves, and he had witnessed their power.


    Heavenly Saint Moya even calculated in a flash that, very likely, he would be hit by the five Lotus Leaves before he could snatch the Treasure!


    "No, it''s absolutely not worth the risk!"


    "This Treasure is not as important as my life, and what''s more important is that I still have something that must be preserved at all costs!"


    In a fraction of a second, Heavenly Saint Moya made his decision.


    His palm did not reach for the bronze giant coffin; instead, his body flashed with light, and he fled towards another side.


    As Heavenly Saint Moya made his escape, the sacred artifact in his hand, the "Eight Flames Fan," swung fiercely behind him, and in an instant, endless flames, fierce winds, torrents of lightning, and so on¡ªeight kinds of forces¡ªstood between him and his pursuers.


    The Eight Flames Fan was the sacred artifact Treasure that Heavenly Saint Moya truly had used.


    The power he wielded was far more mighty than when Python Demon Tower had used it!


    While relying on the Eight Flames Fan to hold his ground, Heavenly Saint Moya''s fingers traced through the void, and the ancient tomb''s sky suddenly split open with a world-shaking fissure. Heavenly Saint Moya''s body shot directly towards this fissure.


    Heavenly Saint Moya, in an unexpected turn, had abandoned the Treasure within the bronze giant coffin, opting to flee the ancient tomb!


    Ye Chen, too, had not expected Heavenly Saint Moya to be so resolute. As he watched the shrinking bronze giant coffin fall from the sky, Ye Chen''s eyes narrowed.


    Whoosh!


    With a grand gesture through the void, he grasped the miniaturized bronze giant coffin in his hand.


    Then, Ye Chen''s gaze swept across the ground, where the treasures that Fairy Nishang, Yun Luo, Liu Yan, and others had dropped¡ªand which Heavenly Saint Moya had not taken¡ªlittered the land.


    With a wave of his hand, Ye Chen gathered all these treasures into his possession!


    Then, with the power of the Heavenly Saint flickering rapidly around his body, in just a few breaths, he overcame the blockade of the Eight Flames Fan''s eight forces and pursued the world-shaking fissure in the ancient tomb''s sky.


    Having observed the experiences of Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul, Ye Chen could tell that this world-shaking fissure was the exit Array from the ancient tomb!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    From Heavenly Saint Moya''s attempt to grab the Treasure to Ye Chen''s intervention and then to Heavenly Saint Moya abandoning the Treasure to flee, everything took place in the blink of an eye.


    Because he took time to collect the Treasure and breakthrough Heavenly Saint Moya''s blockade with the Eight Flames Fan, Ye Chen was only a few breaths behind Heavenly Saint Moya, who had already successfully entered the world-shaking fissure.


    Then, in an instant, Heavenly Saint Moya''s figure completely vanished within the fissure!


    And what Ye Chen was unaware of was that at the same time Heavenly Saint Moya entered the fissure, a fist-sized Relic flew from a certain point within the fissure right into Heavenly Saint Moya''s hand.


    This Relic was none other than the "Law Relic" of Heavenly Saint Linghua, who had fallen by Heavenly Saint Moya''s hand!


    Even in the memories of Heavenly Saint Moya''s True Soul, he had deliberately hidden the memory of this concealed Relic within the third Soul Fragmentation, to avoid any accidents that might let the "Law Relic" fall into the hands of others.


    Now, having entered the world-shaking fissure, Heavenly Saint Moya successfully took the "Law Relic" into his possession!


    "Hmph, the Law Relic. While it''s not as valuable as the bulk of my Heavenly Saint wealth in the ''Life Origin Coffin,'' it might very well help me cultivate another Heavenly Saint in the Western Wilderness!"


    "Ye Chen, just wait. Though my Treasure has fallen into your hands for now, it won''t be long before I make you spit it all back out!"


    Within Heavenly Saint Moya''s resentful gaze, he broke through the final layer of the ancient tomb''s exit Array.


    And a few breaths later, Ye Chen also entered the world-shaking fissure, penetrating the final layer of the exit Array.


    The moment for Ye Chen to leave the ancient tomb had arrived!


    "The ancient tomb, over two months'' time."


    "One month on the outer ten great sea islands, one month in the Azure Blue Mansion!"


    Throughout his escape, all the moments from the ancient tomb flashed through Ye Chen''s mind.


    He remembered the moments when he had dominated the Fourth Sea Island, the time he spent with all the Tomb Explorers, and when he broke through to the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture in the Azure Blue Mansion. He thought about Jiang Yao uncovering the secrets of her origins!


    These tumultuous events of the past two-plus months had brought significant gains for both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    If only...


    If it weren''t for the awakening of Heavenly Saint Moya and the survival of the Heavenly Saint True Soul, everything would have been perfect!


    Thinking of Fairy Nishang, Yun Luo, Liu Yan, Jin Lieyang of the Taixuan Sect, and others who fell at the hands of Heavenly Saint Moya, Ye Chen felt a touch of sorrow in his heart.


    ```


    He indeed had a great harvest, but everyone else, they all died!


    Facing the Heavenly Saint Moya, who possessed astonishment-inspiring means, strategies, and even calculations, even though in the end he managed to exert pressure on Heavenly Saint Moya with the help of various external forces, the others still died.


    "This is the world of martial arts! This is the extraordinarily perilous cultivation world!"


    "A slight misstep could lead to a death with no place to bury one''s body!"


    "Only by being truly powerful, and having an abundance of methods, can one prevent disasters before they strike!"


    Ye Chen''s heart was filled with melancholy, but this melancholy did not make him shrink back.


    He had many things yet to do.


    He had to accompany Jiang Yao, who had learned of her origins, to the Minor Spirit Realm to search for the kin of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    He had to protect his father and mother so they would never be consumed by the flames of war like the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    He had to diligently practice the seven chapters of the Primordial Star Scripture of the Starlight Tower and even attempt to unlock all the mysteries of the Primordial Star Scripture that not even Zi Ji Star Lord had managed to fully comprehend!


    Immediately before him, he had an important task to accomplish¡ªto catch up with Heavenly Saint Moya and prevent him from causing harm to others!


    Upon leaving the ancient tomb, with countless thoughts flashing through his mind, Ye Chen completely emerged from the ancient tomb in his pursuit of Heavenly Saint Moya!


    ...


    Outside the space of the ancient tomb, deep within the Demon Burial Abyss, in a concealed cave.


    The six powerhouses of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Daoist Yunyang, Daoist Yun Fang, Daoist Wine Sword, Fairy Ni Xia, Daoist Chi Mei, and Fairy Jia Luo, were sitting outside the cave, cultivating.


    They were still waiting for the day when the tomb explorers who had entered the ancient tomb would come out.


    Since the day Ye Chen''s breakthrough had caused the shocking phenomenon to disappear, calm had been restored outside the ancient tomb, and the six powerhouses had not noticed any anomalies.


    They even thought that this tranquility would continue until the five-month duration of the tomb exploration ended.


    However, just when Heavenly Saint Moya activated the exit array deep within the tomb, this tranquility was suddenly shattered!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment the exit array deep in the tomb was activated, the top of the cave where the six powerhouses were sitting suddenly started to hum loudly, bursting forth with endless rays of light.


    This terrifying change shocked the six quietly cultivating powerhouses, making them all jump up from their seated positions.


    "What''s going on?!"


    Among the six powerhouses, just as Daoist Yunyang voiced out, a figure burst out directly from the light at the top of the cave.


    This figure appeared to be a young man, and the six powerhouses even recognized him; he seemed to be a Sect Disciple of a Sixth Rank Sect who had entered the ancient tomb.


    However, the Divine Soul aura emitted by this figure caused all six powerhouses to retreat in alarm!


    From the Divine Soul aura of this figure, the six powerhouses unexpectedly sensed the aura of a Heavenly Saint.


    Heavenly Saint!


    How could a Heavenly Saint''s aura fly out from the ancient tomb, especially from the body of this Sixth Rank Sect Disciple!


    As the six powerhouses retreated in shock, they saw the figure let out a cold laugh towards them, then it burst forth, flying towards the top of the cave.


    "What''s going on?"


    The six powerhouses were still utterly confused when another figure emerged amid the light above them.


    This figure, too, radiated the power of a Heavenly Saint, which all six powerhouses feared.


    "Ye Chen!"


    When Fairy Jia Luo saw this figure, she cried out in surprise.


    Fairy Jia Luo had not anticipated that Ye Chen would also come flying out with the power of a Heavenly Saint.


    The figure that emerged first was, of course, Heavenly Saint Moya, who had performed body snatching on Xue Yue, and the one chasing behind was, of course, Ye Chen!


    As Ye Chen flew out, hearing Fairy Jia Luo''s exclamation and faintly seeing Heavenly Saint Moya escaping outside the cave, he was in a rush to pursue Moya. Without time to explain, he simply shouted, "That person just now is a Heavenly Saint from the Demon Sects!"


    "We have all fallen into his plot, he has snatched the physical body of a tomb explorer and is attempting to escape, hurry and pursue him!"


    Boom!


    Whilst Ye Chen was speaking, he had already instantaneously given chase, vanishing into the cave.


    "Demon Sect Heavenly Saint?!"


    "Body Snatching?!"


    The six powerhouses were completely stunned by Ye Chen''s words.


    "Chase!"


    "We must chase!"


    "If we let a Heavenly Saint from the Demon Sects escape, our Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and possibly the entire Southern Territory''s thirteen nations, will be in great trouble!"


    After a moment of realization, each of the six powerhouses burst forth, pursuing upward through the cave.

 Chapter 268: Chapter 235: Elder Kugu

    As they pursued, the six powerful beings were filled with horror and confusion.


    Inside the ancient tomb, there actually existed a Heavenly Saint, and a Demon Sect Heavenly Saint at that?!


    Ye Chen had said that everyone had fallen into this Demon Sect Heavenly Saint''s scheme.


    Could it be that this ancient tomb was not that of Heavenly Saint Linghua after all, but belonged to a Demon Sect Heavenly Saint? They were actually guarding the tomb of a Demon Sect Heavenly Saint?!


    And furthermore, possession?


    As the six strongest beings of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, they certainly knew what possession meant!


    The Demon Sect Heavenly Saint had actually taken over the body of a young boy?


    The meaning within Ye Chen''s brief words had utterly shocked the six powerful beings.


    What stunned them even more was that Ye Chen, this young boy, was actually able to chase a successfully possessed Demon Sect Heavenly Saint to a desperate flight, which was completely unbelievable to the six powerful beings!


    When did Ye Chen become so powerful?


    Wasn''t he a young man from the Spirit Sea Realm? How could he possess the power of a Heavenly Saint?


    The six powerful beings recalled the cold sneer of the Demon Sect Heavenly Saint when he had escaped from the ancient tomb.


    Perhaps, if not for Ye Chen''s pursuit, if they weren''t in a rush to escape, these six waiting outside might have faced a direct attack from that Demon Sect Heavenly Saint!


    Amidst their astonishment, the six powerful beings recalled another matter.


    Where were the others?


    If the only ones who flew out of the ancient tomb were this successfully possessed Demon Sect Heavenly Saint and Ye Chen, then where were the other Tomb Explorers?


    Could it be that they had already died at the hands of this Demon Sect Heavenly Saint?


    Considering this possibility, the six powerful beings looked back towards where the Demon Sect Heavenly Saint and Ye Chen had escaped from, only to find that they were unable to probe inside the ancient tomb; their minds were greatly disturbed, and they could hardly wait to catch up to the two and ascertain the true circumstances!


    And Fairy Jia Luo, upon not seeing Jiang Yao emerge, was even more worried about her!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When the six powerful beings burst out of the cave and arrived above the Demon Burial Abyss, Ye Chen and the fleeing Heavenly Saint Moya were already dozens of miles away, and they were still rapidly flying forward!


    Other cultivators who had been guarding outside the Demon Burial Abyss were now in complete chaos.


    They were waiting for the Tomb Exploring to end, but they had not anticipated that the two people flying out from the Demon Burial Abyss would emanate such terrifying auras, so fearsome that they even felt if they were touched by any bit of the attack, they would die instantly on the spot.


    Even the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses felt the same way!


    "Could it be a Heavenly Saint?"


    This horrifying sensation made even the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses think of "Heavenly Saints," and the highest realm of existence on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    But how could these two people in the sky, so young, possess the aura of a Heavenly Saint?


    As the crowd was panicking, they saw the six powerful beings flying out of the Demon Burial Abyss as well, and many of them flew towards the six powerful beings to inquire.


    However, the six powerful beings were each grim-faced and mostly silent, choosing instead to chase after the two figures speeding away.


    This situation made it even more confusing for those outside the Demon Burial Abyss.


    "What exactly happened?"


    Many looked up at the rapidly flying silhouettes of these powerful beings in the sky, a growing sense of foreboding in their hearts.


    Others directly followed in the wake of the six powerful beings, pursuing them into the distance.


    In the sky.


    While fleeing, Heavenly Saint Moya glanced back at Ye Chen, who was relentless in pursuit, with eyes burning with hatred.


    As a being of Heavenly Saint status, he had never suffered such humiliation!


    To be chased until he was in a desperate flight by a youth of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    His great scheme, which he had set up, was not executed perfectly due to the presence of this young man, and even his treasure within the Life Origin Pavilion, a part of his Heavenly Saint possessions, had been lost in the process!


    For a Heavenly Saint to lay a trap for someone from the Spirit Sea Realm, there would be no mistakes, and it would have surely led to the death of all.


    In his case, however, it had failed.


    This Heavenly Saint had indeed lost face this time!


    "Hmph, if it were not for the fact that only my True Heavenly Saint Soul remained, and if I hadn''t been restrained by those five lotus leaves, I would have completely killed you, little brat, in the tomb!"


    "Now that I have successfully possessed a body and come outside the ancient tomb, it is time to find others to help me leave!"


    "At the same time, I must take back all that belongs to me!"


    The eyes of Heavenly Saint Moya, burning with hatred, glanced back at Ye Chen and then looked towards the sky.


    Having been seriously injured back then and in order to avoid being tracked by other Heavenly Saints, he had completely sealed the tomb where he had hidden, blocking everything.


    Now, Heavenly Saint Moya had recovered from his grave injuries and had successfully possessed a new body, escaping the ancient tomb; naturally, he had no more concerns. As a Heavenly Saint, he had ways of contacting other Heavenly Saints, and was planning to directly communicate with other Demon Sect Heavenly Saints to take him back to the top ten Demon Sects!


    Boom!


    In flight, the True Heavenly Saint Soul of the Heavenly Saint Moya suddenly emitted circles of strange ripples, directly reaching out to the three markings engraved within his true soul.


    These three markings were the very Heavenly Saint Projections left by the Heavenly Saints of the top ten Demon Sects on each other!


    Hum!


    As Heavenly Saint Moya communicated, two of the markings remained dim, but the third one suddenly shot out a strange glow.


    "Only one has responded; could it be that two of those old fellows from back then have already perished?"


    "Fortunately, one is still alive, my good friend ''Elder Kugu'' from those days!"


    "I have activated the Heavenly Saint Projection technique; Elder Kugu should sense it very soon. He will be able to cast his Heavenly Saint Projection to aid me shortly!"


    Having successfully activated the technique, Moya breathed a heavy sigh of relief. He continued to fly forward rapidly, but the look he cast toward Ye Chen, who was still behind him, brimmed with increasingly potent killing intent!


    ...


    Ye Chen, who was chasing after Heavenly Saint Moya at high speed, felt a chill in his heart as he sensed Moya''s gaze.


    He could feel the murderous intent Heavenly Saint Moya harbored against him.


    Yet, he had no choice but to pursue Moya. With Moya''s cruel and ruthless methods, letting the tiger return to its mountain would surely spell disaster.


    "Pursue him, I must catch up quickly and eliminate Moya with the help of the treasures!"


    "Otherwise, once my Heavenly Saint power is completely drained, I will have no way to deal with Moya!"


    Even while in hot pursuit, Ye Chen was silently preparing all his tactics and even communicated with Phoenix Spirit within the Azure Blue Mansion.


    He would go all out in his attempt to eliminate Moya, but if the situation changed, he also had backup plans to face the crisis.


    ...


    Western Wilderness.


    The vast expanse covering the entire western part of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent is known as the Western Wilderness.


    This territory is twice as large as the Southern Territory of the Thirteen Kingdoms but much more barren.


    This land is where the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness have their abode.


    Despite centuries of truce between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, within the Southern Territory''s Thirteen Kingdoms, the formidable cultivators will never forget the names of the Demon Sects such as Joyous Union Sect, Dry Bone Peak, Blood Fiend Valley, Myriad Ghosts Cave, and Defying Demon Sect.


    These ten Demon Sects are the sworn enemies of the Thirteen Kingdoms, capable of waging war at any moment.


    Dry Bone Peak, located in the central region of the Western Wilderness, is a mountain that reaches ten thousand feet into the sky.


    The entire mountain is painted with a ghastly pale color, and bones can often be seen crisscrossing the surroundings, creating an eerie atmosphere.


    Here lies the fourth-ranked Demon Sect of the Western Wilderness, "Dry Bone Peak."


    Atop Dry Bone Peak, within a secret cave, an old man with white hair and beard was meditating.


    This old man wore a white robe adorned with grim bones, and his face was so gaunt that he resembled a skeleton.


    Had disciples from the Demon Sects seen this elder, they would undoubtedly recognize him as Elder Kugu, the most long-lived among the four surviving Heavenly Saints of the Demon Sects.


    While Elder Kugu was meditating in the cave, ripples of light suddenly emanated from him.


    The moment these lights shone coincided with Heavenly Saint Moya activating the Heavenly Saint Projection technique far away in the territory of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!


    Hum!


    As the light radiated, Elder Kugu abruptly opened his eyes.


    "Projection technique?!"


    "And one that I left behind over three thousand years ago?"


    Sensing the meaning behind the formation within the ripples, a sharp gleam shot from Elder Kugu''s eye sockets.


    Then, extending a skeletal claw, Elder Kugu reached towards the light, carefully sensing its essence.


    A moment later, he released the light from his claw with disbelief, standing up abruptly, "It''s ''Moya'', ''Moya'' is still alive!"


    As Elder Kugu spoke, he pointed a finger into the void, and instantly, an image of Heavenly Saint Moya flying through the sky appeared out of the emptiness.


    "It really is ''Moya''! I can sense Moya''s true soul! Has he... body-snatched?"


    Seeing the image in the void, Elder Kugu''s expression changed several times, then a look of ecstasy flooded over him.


    "In the Southern Territory? The Heavenly Wind Kingdom? Then I shall make a trip to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom!"


    Boom!


    As Elder Kugu spoke, he stepped gently into the image in the void, and in an instant, he stepped right through it!


    And in the next moment, Heavenly Saint Moya, who was far away in the territory of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, saw the space beside him rip open as the figure of an elder stepped through.


    This elder was none other than Elder Kugu, who had just entered the image in the void a few breaths before!


    This terrifying method was none other than the Heavenly Saint Projection technique, available only to those who had mastered at least one of the five Great Void Laws to perfection and had reached the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    With the Heavenly Saint Projection technique engraved, Heavenly Saints could descend their projection from thousands or even hundreds of thousands of miles away, arriving in an instant!


    "Kugu!"


    Seeing the elder who suddenly appeared in the void beside him, Moya, who had been fleeing, flew right up to the elder and joyfully exclaimed.


    He had activated the projection technique and truly summoned a Heavenly Saint!


    "No need to flee anymore!"


    "Kugu is a true Heavenly Saint, not a mere Heavenly Saint in spirit form!"


    "Young one, prepare to die!"


    Boom!


    Moya, who had just stopped beside Elder Kugu, immediately set his eyes toward Ye Chen who was rapidly approaching.


    And Ye Chen, sensing the emergence of Elder Kugu, halted in the sky.


    As he looked at the ecstatic Moya and then at the newly appeared elder, whose presence was swirling with the aura of a Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen''s eyes narrowed.


    Ye Chen knew, the situation had changed.


    What was approaching now was a true Heavenly Saint!

 Chapter 269: Chapter 236 Heavenly Saints True Might

    A true Heavenly Saint, compared to one in a state where only the Heavenly Saint''s True Soul remains, is completely different.


    As this skeletal elder appeared, Ye Chen felt the entire void tremble. The Essence, Qi, and Spirit of the skeletal elder were all bursting with the aura of a Heavenly Saint, as if he were the master of this expanse of the void!


    It seemed as if even the air in the void could be controlled by him, transforming into the vast power of a Heavenly Saint!


    This feeling was definitely far beyond the power of the Heavenly Saint Law Bead and the power of the Heavenly Saint''s True Soul!


    Ye Chen''s feeling was not wrong.


    A true Heavenly Saint, having cultivated the three vital signs of life, Essence, Qi, and Spirit, to an immensely high and profound degree and having mastered at least one of the five Heavenly Void Laws¡ªMetal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth¡ªto Great Perfection, would naturally possess exceptional strength.


    He could easily wield the combat power of a Heavenly Saint''s physical body, True Qi, and Divine Soul!


    With all three vital signs of life fully unleashed, a true Heavenly Saint was indeed much stronger than one who only had the Divine Soul''s combat power left!


    This was the true might of a Heavenly Saint!


    This was truly a supreme existence beyond the realms of True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and Rotating Pill Realm!


    Ye Chen observed Elder Kugu, feeling the true aura of a Heavenly Saint.


    And Elder Kugu, who had arrived beside Heavenly Saint Moya with the aid of the Heavenly Saint Projection, peered at Ye Chen with his deeply sunken eyes, flashing with an eerie light.


    "Hmm? A young man in the Spirit Sea Realm? And there''s the power of a Heavenly Saint present in him?"


    "These five lotus leaves seem to be a secret Treasure of the Divine Soul."


    Elder Kugu''s gaze swept over every part of Ye Chen''s body, and Ye Chen felt as if all his secrets were laid bare before Elder Kugu.


    Only the treasures on Ye Chen''s person, which were not inferior to the Heavenly Saint Level¡ª the Heaven Spirit Ring, the Azure Blue Mansion, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, and the Starlight Tower in his Qi Sea¡ªremained undetected by Elder Kugu.


    Besides these, Ye Chen''s Sword Intents and the Nine Transformation Fighting Body techniques all seemed to be seen through by Elder Kugu with but a glance.


    Even Ye Chen''s storage ring, the Ethereal Spirit Ring, seemed to be scrutinized by Elder Kugu''s gaze!


    "How powerful!"


    "Is this a true Heavenly Saint? Just his gaze alone makes me feel like there''s nowhere to hide!"


    Feeling the terrifying gaze of Elder Kugu and sensing the peak aura of a Heavenly Saint emanating from him, Ye Chen finally understood the true power of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    This is the fourth major Realm in Martial Arts cultivation, a supreme existence that surpasses the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and Rotating Pill Realm!


    This strength is far beyond Ye Chen''s current capabilities; perhaps only if he enters the more powerful third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture could he hope to contend.


    The exchange of looks between Ye Chen and Elder Kugu lasted but a few breaths of time.


    Afterward, Elder Kugu turned his head to look at Heavenly Saint Moya.


    "Moya, where have you been these past three thousand years? Why are you only showing up now? Why are you so wretched, being chased down by a junior?" Elder Kugu asked Heavenly Saint Moya.


    "I also wanted to come out earlier."


    "Unfortunately, in the battle with Linghua years ago, I suffered severe injuries. Even my physical body shattered, and my Divine Soul was greatly damaged. I''ve been recuperating for thousands of years, only just now recovering..."


    With a thought, Heavenly Saint Moya conveyed how he hid in an ancient tomb, using the Life Origin Coffin to recover his heavily injured Divine Soul, how he later deceived young people like Ye Chen into entering the tomb to perform body snatching, and the various situations he encountered when selecting a new body to Elder Kugu using a Divine Sense transmission.


    This transmission of thoughts was incredibly fast.


    In just a few moments of breath, Elder Kugu had completely understood everything.


    Upon hearing that this young man in the Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen, was able to stand against an early-stage Rotating Pill Realm Demon King with a mere early-stage Spirit Sea Realm level, possessed countless treasures, even annihilated a strand of Moya''s True Soul, and went as far to loot most of Moya''s fortune, Elder Kugu narrowed his eyes.


    He had heard Moya mention the Flying Sword, the Azure Blue Mansion, and the Life Origin Coffin.


    But he had not discovered these items when he investigated Ye Chen, which meant that Ye Chen undoubtedly had a powerful Spatial Treasure hidden on him, containing countless items comparable to his own Heavenly Saint level, undetectable to him.


    Thinking this, Elder Kugu''s eyes suddenly burst with greedy light.


    "Moya, rest assured, I will help you retrieve your treasures!"


    "However, the other treasures that this little fellow has will belong to me."


    Elder Kugu looked at Ye Chen as if he was looking at countless treasures.


    "Elder Kugu, after killing this little fellow, I only want my treasures. You can take everything else! The grudge for destroying my True Soul must be avenged!" Heavenly Saint Moya also looked at Ye Chen, speaking resentfully.


    Ye Chen watched the two of them, his eyes growing cold.


    These two people were actually discussing openly how to divide up the treasures on his body and the matter of killing him. Could it really be that they thought he would just let himself be slaughtered?


    With the old skeleton appearing in his full strength as a Heavenly Saint, it would be very difficult for Ye Chen to kill Heavenly Saint Moya again.


    However, escaping from their hands, given that he still had three Heavenly Saint Attack Law Beads and five Heavenly Saint Defense Law Beads, the Tianga Primal Leaf, as well as the Azure Blue Mansion controlled by Phoenix Spirit, Ye Chen was confident.


    Even more so, when facing the threat of true life danger, Ye Chen still had the second combat power of his flying sword¡ªthe life-bound flying sword breakage was available for use. If really pressured, Ye Chen would dare to fight to the death!


    Moreover, Ye Chen still had the ultimate secret treasure, the Great Shift Law Bead, given to him by the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact when he left the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, tasked with looking after the little monkey. In a situation of insurmountable life-and-death danger, the Great Shift Law Bead could directly transfer him back to the Ancestral Land Secret Realm!


    Ye Chen had many more tricks up his sleeve, and although some of them could not be used, he was not without means to preserve his life!


    This was also why Ye Chen dared to pursue Heavenly Saint Moya!


    Another reason Ye Chen did not retreat immediately after Elder Kugu appeared next to Heavenly Saint Moya with his full combat power of a Heavenly Saint was that Ye Chen had already noticed that six strong pursuers were following behind him.


    Among the six strong pursuers, five were at the late stage of Rotating Pill Realm, and even though Fairy Jia Luo was at the middle stage, she was comparable to the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    These six were the strongest forces in the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and Ye Chen did not believe they lacked trump cards for a true confrontation with a Heavenly Saint.


    Ye Chen was waiting here precisely to see if the joint forces of these six strong pursuers could bring a change to the battle situation.


    If he truly found himself unable to deal with Heavenly Saint Moya and Elder Kugu, Ye Chen, with his many strategies, could still retreat without haste!


    Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya were filled with a killing intent while Ye Chen''s gaze was equally cold.


    When the gazes of the three met, Elder Kugu''s voice swept across the entire field.


    "Little boy, I hear from Moya that you are called Ye Chen?"


    "Seeing me appear, yet you remain so calm. Do you have other methods you haven''t used yet?"


    "I would like to see all the methods you have up your sleeve. Perhaps, if I take a liking to them, I''ll only kill your divine soul and leave your body intact to refine it into one of my Dharma Embodiment avatars!"


    Amidst Elder Kugu''s laughter, a powerful Heavenly Saint aura surged towards Ye Chen.


    This being in the Heavenly Saint Realm, Elder Kugu, directly took action!


    "Heavenly Saint, once you''ve acquired a Heavenly Saint''s True Soul, do you all crave to take over someone else''s body?"


    "That Moya wanted to snatch my body but had a cluster of his True Soul destroyed by me. You also want to snatch my body; let''s see if you have the ability to do that!"


    Boom!


    In the midst of Elder Kugu''s surging aura, Ye Chen''s figure burst forth in flight, instantly flying backward.


    At a location tens of miles behind Ye Chen, Fairy Jia Luo, Yunyang the Daoist of Cloud Sky Sect, and the other strong pursuers were flying towards him¡ªYe Chen had spotted them and wanted to join forces with them!


    "Ye Chen!"


    The six pursuers also spotted Ye Chen and noticed the second figure that had appeared in the sky, in addition to the Demon Sect''s Heavenly Saint who had successfully performed the body snatching.


    They also perceived the horrifying Heavenly Saint aura emanating from this second figure!


    Seeing Ye Chen being engulfed by this Heavenly Saint aura, the faces of the six strong pursuers expressed extreme urgency as they flew towards Ye Chen.


    In the group of pursuers, Yunyang the Daoist of Cloud Sky Sect immediately activated a Firelight Talisman in his hand, shining it fiercely towards the sky above. A blaze of shocking firelight erupted and surged directly towards Elder Kugu in the sky!


    As the six strong pursuers approached at extreme speed and Ye Chen rapidly retreated,


    Elder Kugu, with his Heavenly Saint aura swirling powerfully, glanced at both Ye Chen and the six pursuers and took note of the talisman firelight shining towards him.


    "Got reinforcements, huh?"


    "Even with help, don''t think of escaping!"


    Elder Kugu snorted coldly; his figure instantly flitted past the blast of firelight and positioned himself high in the sky.


    The next moment, a series of colossal palms descended from the heavens, smashing down between Ye Chen''s head and the earth, as if trying to obliterate everything.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This was killing power of the Heavenly Saint Grade. The series of colossal palms, each over a hundred feet in size, shattered the entire void upon impact.


    The tens of palm imprints, coming without so much as a hint of an interval between them, all struck out at once. The space between Ye Chen and the six pursuers was completely covered by these overwhelming palms.


    Ye Chen, entirely engulfed by the palm imprints, had no avenue of escape!

 Chapter 270: Chapter 237 Long Xuan

    Whoosh!


    Just at the moment when the towering giant palm was about to hit Ye Chen, a small-sized mansion flew out of his body with a swish.


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s body disappeared into the mansion.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Under the assault of the sky-filling palm imprints, this small mansion remained undamaged; instead, it shot out towards the six powerhouses.


    After evading the sky-filling palm imprints, in a flash, Ye Chen once again emerged from the mansion, and the mini mansion flew back into his body.


    Azure Blue Mansion!


    This small mansion was none other than the Azure Blue Mansion!


    When Elder Kugu launched his attack, Ye Chen was instantaneously drawn into the Azure Blue Mansion by Phoenix Spirit, and after evading the assault, Phoenix Spirit released Ye Chen directly back out!


    In this in-and-out motion, Ye Chen successfully dodged Elder Kugu''s widespread attack.


    He even successfully arrived beside the six powerhouses!


    "Azure Blue Mansion!"


    "You can actually control the Azure Blue Mansion like this!"


    Witnessing Ye Chen disappear into the Azure Blue Mansion and then reappear in an instant, Heavenly Saint Moya exclaimed in shock.


    In the past, Heavenly Saint Moya managed to obtain the Azure Blue Mansion, but he couldn''t fully control it, only managing to find some treasures in its outer mansion, not even able to enter its middle or inner mansion.


    Furthermore, within the Azure Blue Mansion, Heavenly Saint Moya had even stumbled upon a heaven-shaking giant spider, a being more terrifying than his own strength!


    In the end, the Azure Blue Mansion became a useless treasure to Heavenly Saint Moya, one he couldn''t use at all.


    But now, Ye Chen was able to use the Azure Blue Mansion so effortlessly!


    Seeing Ye Chen evade Elder Kugu''s lethal strike through the Azure Blue Mansion, Heavenly Saint Moya was completely taken aback!


    "Elder Kugu, this is the Azure Blue Mansion that I mentioned before, the one I didn''t even figure out; seize it quickly!" Heavenly Saint Moya yelled out to Elder Kugu.


    As he spoke, Heavenly Saint Moya flew towards Elder Kugu.


    Although he feared Ye Chen''s Tianga Primal Leaf, his Heavenly Saint True Soul still held power, and of course, he could confront the other six powerhouses!


    "Azure Blue Mansion?"


    Seeing in the sky that Ye Chen could still escape under the bombardment of numerous palm imprints, and even using a small mansion to do so, Elder Kugu was already tempted.


    And when he heard Moya say that this treasure was the Azure Blue Mansion he had obtained from the Upper Realm, greed surged in Elder Kugu''s eyes.


    "You managed to evade once, but let''s see how many times you can hide?"


    "Bring out all of the treasures for me!"


    "You seven, I will settle with you all at once!"


    Boom!


    After Ye Chen and the six powerhouses gathered together, Elder Kugu remained unafraid.


    Daring to barge into the Southern Territory alone, he surely had his confidence, these strongest beings were only at the late Spiralling Pill stage; he didn''t take them seriously at all!


    Swish!


    Elder Kugu''s figure moved, and he disappeared into the sky.


    The next moment, the void above Ye Chen and the six powerhouses was torn apart, and Elder Kugu burst out from the void.


    At the same time, his claws shone with a brown light, turning all of the air above Ye Chen and the six powerhouses'' heads into huge blocks of stone. Then, as the myriad stones connected, they formed a massive meteorite thousands of feet wide in the sky.


    And with the light flashing, more and more distant air turned into meteorite, aggregating into this heaven-shattering meteorite.


    Then, the still-expanding meteor, thousands of feet across, plummeted towards Ye Chen and the six powerful beings with a thunderous crash.


    These were not ordinary meteors. Each stone forming the meteor emitted a torrential Heavenly Saint Killing Force, and the thousands of feet wide meteor was completely infused with the terrifying power!


    This method was none other than Elder Kugu''s true Heavenly Saint technique!


    Elder Kugu had cultivated the earth element of the five Heavenly Void Laws¡ªgold, wood, water, fire, earth¡ªto Great Perfection, and could even effortlessly condense air into thousand-foot meteors. This was indeed a divine ability of the Earth Law!


    How swift are the ways of the Heavenly Saint!


    Before Ye Chen and the six powerhouses could escape the meteor''s range, the gigantic stone had already exploded above their heads.


    Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s Azure Blue Mansion was once again propelled out from his body.


    At the same time, Daoist Yunyang''s Firelight Talisman in his hand once again emitted flames, while Daoist Yunyang released a bell-shaped treasure from his body. Daoist Wine Sword and Fairy Jia Luo each "swooshed", drawing out their rarely used sword weapons, and both Daoist Chi Mei and Fairy Ni Xia also unleashed their techniques.


    Facing Elder Kugu''s attack, Ye Chen and the six powerhouses all executed their offensive methods.


    Just as the two sides'' techniques were about to clash, even before Ye Chen and the others could move, the astounding meteor began to crumble piece by piece.


    In the end, they all disintegrated back into air and shot up into the sky.


    This strange turn of events surprised Ye Chen and the six strong beings, who hadn''t even retracted their techniques before looking up into the sky.


    Elder Kugu, who had unleashed the Heavenly Saint technique and summoned the astonishing meteor, also looked to the sky the moment the meteor shattered.


    Looking up, one could see that the once azure sky had become a sea of red.


    Upon seeing this fiery sky, the six powerhouses felt a jolt in their hearts, seemingly realizing something, and instantly their expressions turned to elation.


    Meanwhile, Elder Kugu swiftly moved beside Heavenly Saint Moya, then with an extremely troubled expression, he called into the sky, "Long, ''Daoist Dragon'', from the Southern Territory, come out!"


    "I didn''t expect you to arrive so quickly!"


    Daoist Dragon?


    Hearing Elder Kugu''s words and seeing the six powerhouses'' expressions, Ye Chen had a thought.


    Could it be that a Heavenly Saint from the Southern Territory''s thirteen countries had arrived?


    Just as this thought rose in Ye Chen''s mind, the crimson sky became completely bright.


    Ye Chen looked up into the sky to see innumerable tendrils of fiery red light descending from the void, these luminous threads quivering like flames, and eventually, they formed the figure of a woman in a yellow robe with long hair draped over her shoulders.


    This woman appeared to be about twenty years of age, with a fiery red mark on her brow. Barefoot, she seemed like a celestial being descending from above, stepping down from the void.


    Ye Chen observed the lady in the yellow robe, whose appearance was so pure and beautiful that she seemed untouched by the mortal realm.


    As she walked, even the void itself seemed to brighten significantly.


    "Long Xuan, Heavenly Saint!"


    "It really is Heavenly Saint Long Xuan who has arrived!"


    When they saw the figure of the woman in yellow, the six strong beings beside Ye Chen cried out excitedly!


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan?!


    Ye Chen had heard that there were three Heavenly Saints in the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory. So could Long Xuan be one of those three Heavenly Saints?


    Just as Ye Chen was about to ask Fairy Jia Luo about Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s origins, Long Xuan, the lady in yellow descending from the void, looked towards Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya.


    "So it is Daoist Elder Kugu from the Western Wilderness who has come to our Southern Territory. What, bullying our juniors when there is no one in the Southern Territory?"


    Long Xuan smiled faintly and spoke softly.


    Although it was a gentle voice, in the entire void in that moment, countless clusters of flames burst into being and flew out explosively!

 Chapter 271: Chapter 238: A Storm is Brewing

    The direction in which the countless clusters of flames exploded was unmistakably where Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya stood.


    As soon as Heavenly Saint Long Xuan appeared, she launched an attack directly at Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya!


    In an instant, Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya were engulfed in the sky-full of flames.


    Ye Chen saw that, as Heavenly Saint Long Xuan attacked, within the flames, Elder Kugu''s astonishing Heavenly Saint aura also began to wildly spiral and grow. A terrifying earth-based Law Pattern power started to spread within the sea of flames.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Shortly thereafter, countless densely packed earth beads burst forth amidst the sea of flames.


    Among these earth beads, the True Soul Flames of Heavenly Saint Moya were shining wildly!


    Clearly, faced with Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s attack, Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya had begun to counterattack.


    Seeing the counterattack moves of the two, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan gently shifted in the void and flashed through it in a split second. With a fierce slap of her fair palm, countless True Fires burst out from her palm, striking once more at Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya.


    Seeing Heavenly Saint Long Xuan appear and immediately engage in battle with Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya, Ye Chen turned to the six powerhouses beside him and asked, "Should we assist Heavenly Saint Long Xuan?"


    "There''s no need."


    Seeing Heavenly Saint Long Xuan take action, the expressions of concern on the faces of the six powerhouses disappeared, replaced with a rare smile: "Let''s retreat to the side and watch the battle. If it''s just those two, they absolutely stand no chance against Heavenly Saint Long Xuan!"


    As they retreated, the six powerhouses kept telling Ye Chen about the feats of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan.


    "Heavenly Saint Long Xuan is the youngest Heavenly Saint among the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory. She is also the strongest! She cultivates in Heaven Departure Nation, the neighboring nation of Heavenly Wind Kingdom, and is the supreme elder of the four-grade sect ''Heavenly Lan Sect.''


    "She has only cultivated for a few hundred years, yet her combat power surpasses many Heavenly Saints who have cultivated for thousands of years."


    "Among the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, we only have three Heavenly Saints, while the ten demon sects of the Western Wilderness boast four Heavenly Saints. However, during these past few hundred years, the ten demon sects of the Western Wilderness have not dared to wage war against us in the Southern Territory, largely because of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan!


    Of the seven Heavenly Saints between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan is even the one most likely to progress into the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "Rumor has it that Heavenly Saint Long Xuan has mastered the Fire Element Law, one of the five major Void Laws, to perfection. Moreover, when she stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm, she even fused thirty-three types of powerful sacred-grade True Fires within her body..."


    The six powerhouses recounted various tales of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan to Ye Chen.


    She had merged thirty-three types of powerful sacred-grade True Fires within her body!


    The youngest and yet the mightiest among the three great Heavenly Saints of the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory!


    The words of the six powerhouses about Heavenly Saint Long Xuan sent a shock through Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had once fought Liu Yan, who had fused with one type of heavenly-grade True Fire, proving to be extraordinarily powerful. Yet, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had fused with sacred-grade True Fires that were even more terrifying than heavenly-grade, and there were as many as thirty-three kinds!


    This was somewhat beyond Ye Chen''s imagination.


    Ye Chen looked towards the battlefield.


    Indeed, as the six powerhouses had said, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, fighting alone against two great Heavenly Saints, had already taken a dominating position!


    Moreover, the sweeping flames had all but ignited the thousands of zhang of void around where Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya were, as if they pierced through the void, turning the expanse of thousands of zhang into a sea of red.


    The terrifying power of the flames burned so intensely that the space between heaven and earth became incredibly hot. Even Ye Chen who had retreated to the side to watch the battle felt the True Qi within his body boil, even from a great distance.


    And above the sea of flames, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan seemed like the master of these infinite flames. Ye Chen also saw that during the intense battle, around Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s body, there drifted seven or eight types of breathtaking, peculiar True Fires.


    These seven or eight peculiar True Fires even made Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya, who had been resisting all along, dare not get any closer!


    "This is what it means to be a Heavenly Saint!"


    "A truly powerful Heavenly Saint!"


    Ye Chen, watching Heavenly Saint Long Xuan proudly standing within the myriad flames, battling the two great Heavenly Saints, and seeing the peculiar True Fires floating around her, felt his own blood boiling with excitement.


    When would he be like Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, protecting the Southern Territory, safeguarding his homeland!


    Crossing two nations in an instant, igniting the heavens with flames, turning the void into a crimson expanse, deterring the petty and weak!


    If he had such strength, perhaps he could have easily slain Heavenly Saint Moya in the ancient tombs!


    For now, Ye Chen was still a far distance from such a realm.


    Although he had experienced the might of a Heavenly Saint through the infusion of Heavenly Saint power, it was but an external force and one that was easily depleted, nothing like the true power of a battle at the level of the Heavenly Saints.


    At the moment, Ye Chen''s own strength was only enough to suppress those at the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    "Although I can currently only overpower those at the early Rotating Pill Realm, I have only been cultivating for slightly over a year, not even two years!"


    "Given time, I might not only become as powerful as Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, but I could even surpass her! In the future, I must accompany Jiang Yao to the Minor Spirit Realm and face our two great foes, the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan. I must become stronger!"


    Watching the three great Heavenly Saints in combat, Ye Chen''s desire to reach a higher realm grew even stronger.


    It wasn''t just Ye Chen who was deeply moved. The six powerhouses were also filled with many emotions as they watched the three great Heavenly Saints fight.


    These six powerhouses were all at the Rotating Pill Realm, just one step away from the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Yet, it was this very step that kept them just outside the threshold of the strongest on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and it was very possible that they would never cross it in their lifetimes.


    Heavenly Saint Realm?


    Of course, the six powerhouses longed to step into the Heavenly Saint!


    Once they entered the Heavenly Saint Realm, it was very likely that the situation in the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness would change once again!


    Ye Chen and the six powerhouses watched the fight in the arena with myriad thoughts in their minds, while Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, Elder Kugu, and Heavenly Saint Moya, locked in the fierce battle, had already exchanged dozens of moves.


    Within these dozens of moves, Heavenly Saint Moya, who only had the power of the Heavenly Saint True Soul Force, was almost killed several times by Heavenly Saint Long Xuan. If not for Elder Kugu''s assistance, he might have fallen right there in the arena, not long after successfully performing Body Snatching from the ancient tomb!


    This caused Heavenly Saint Moya''s complexion to grow increasingly grim and pale!


    When Heavenly Saint Moya dominated the Western Wilderness, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had not even been born. Now, thousands of years later, Heavenly Saint Moya was directly surpassed by this newcomer, who even possessed the capability to potentially eliminate him. This, of course, infuriated Heavenly Saint Moya to the point of almost spitting blood!


    His awakening this time had already met with repeated setbacks in the Southern Territory!


    On the side, Elder Kugu''s deeply sunken eye sockets wrinkled tighter, and seeing Heavenly Saint Moya narrowly escaping death a few times, his willingness to fight was fading more and more.


    In the end, he even shouted loudly, "Brother Long, stop this!"


    Boom!


    Elder Kugu''s large hand grasped, catching Heavenly Saint Moya and leaping out of the fray.


    "Stop?"


    Seeing Elder Kugu leap out of the fight, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s fair palm lifted slightly, and as her hair like a waterfall fluttered behind her, the infinite burning flames throughout heaven and earth swirled back towards her. Finally, in the palm of her hand, a few dancing flames formed: "Fellow Daoist Skeleton, the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness are mortal enemies.


    You barged into my Southern Territory; did you think you could leave so easily?"


    "Hmph, Brother Long, don''t push people too far!"


    Elder Kugu, seeing that Long Xuan had no intention of backing down, snorted coldly and lifted his hand. A token appeared in his palm.


    In his token, there were three Law Pattern imprints.


    "You also know that the four Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness all bear each other''s imprints, capable of summoning Heavenly Saint projections at any time to join forces in battle. Presumably, Brother Long has the projection imprints of the other two companions from the Southern Territory, right?"


    "The Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness are blood-sworn mortal enemies. Our ceasefire over the past few hundred years, Brother Long, you surely understand the reason¡ªit''s because neither side can do anything about the other!"


    "If Brother Long really insists on detaining the two of us, then I wouldn''t mind summoning the other three Heavenly Saints from the Western Wilderness right away, directly initiating a new war with your Southern Territory!"


    "At that time, not only will the Western Wilderness not benefit, but your Southern Territory will also suffer a widespread catastrophe!"


    As Elder Kugu finished speaking, he laughed coldly, his gaze even sweeping towards Ye Chen and the six powerhouses, with a blatant threat in his eyes.


    Hearing Elder Kugu''s words, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s delicate brows knitted slightly as she glanced at the token in Elder Kugu''s hand.


    After that, her gaze swept over the faces of the six powerhouses, eventually settling on Ye Chen.


    After a sigh, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan raised her arm gently towards Elder Kugu, "You may leave, but do not step into my Southern Territory again lightly, or next time, you might not be so lucky!"


    As Heavenly Saint Long Xuan decided to let Elder Kugu and the other leave, urgency appeared on the faces of Ye Chen and the six powerhouses.


    Letting these two go was like releasing a tiger back into the mountains!


    However, as Elder Kugu said, if they really didn''t let the two leave, the consequences of summoning all the Heavenly Saints might be even more unpredictable.


    On one hand, Ye Chen and the others did not wish for Heavenly Saint Moya to leave.


    On the other hand, Moya, upon hearing Elder Kugu suggesting departure, became even more anxious: "Brother Skeleton, my treasures are all on that young boy, and I haven''t gotten them back yet..."


    Before he could finish his sentence, Elder Kugu interrupted him as Heavenly Saint Long Xuan glanced over indifferently, "Let''s go, we''ll talk later!"


    "We have an inevitable battle with the Southern Territory, but now is not the time!"


    Boom!


    While speaking, Elder Kugu''s hand tore open a rift in the void, and then he and Heavenly Saint Moya fled into the crack in space, vanishing into it!


    By the time the rift in the void had completely sealed, Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya had completely disappeared.


    Watching the two vanish entirely, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s gaze flickered, her fists clenched tightly within her sleeves: "Saved a Heavenly Saint who took over a body? So what."


    "Give me some time, once I break through to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, I will completely resolve these major problems for the Southern Territory!"


    Clenching her fists, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan muttered to herself and finally turned her head.


    Her gaze went straight to Ye Chen.

 Chapter 272: Chapter 239 Spoils of War

    Three days later.


    Taixuan Sect, Snowdrift Peak.


    The gates to the small courtyard where Ye Chen resided were tightly closed, with Ye Chen sitting cross-legged inside.


    In front of him was placed the bronze giant coffin that he had snatched from Heavenly Saint Moya¡ªthe Life Origin Coffin.


    Looking at this Life Origin Coffin, Ye Chen was reminded of the events from three days ago.


    Three days ago, when Heavenly Saint Long Xuan suddenly appeared and single-handedly repelled Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya, she immediately inquired about the possession incident involving Heavenly Saint Moya from Ye Chen.


    The other six powerhouses were also extremely curious about the ancient tomb and turned their gazes toward Ye Chen.


    At that time, Ye Chen candidly recounted the events that transpired in the ancient tomb to the seven individuals, not concealing anything except the secret of Jiang Yao''s Divine Phoenix Clan heritage in the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Hearing that from the beginning at the ten peripheral islands, Heavenly Saint Moya started killing the Tomb Explorers with the help of the black pearl, leaving behind only the formidable explorers, until later on the central giant island, the encounter at Azure Blue Lake with Tiger Demon Teng, and further to the awakening of the Eight Great Demon Towers and Heavenly Saint Moya''s true soul flame state possessing another body.


    Each event caused the six powerhouses and Heavenly Saint Long Xuan to be shocked at the schemes of Heavenly Saint Moya.


    The seven of them lamented that if not for the variable that is Ye Chen, Heavenly Saint Moya''s possession this time might have been extremely successful!


    Moreover, in these series of events, upon hearing that Ye Chen was able to overpower a Demon King at the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm with his own cultivation, and even managed to utterly obliterate one wisp of Heavenly Saint Moya''s true soul with the help of the Heavenly Saint Law Bead and a sacred soul treasure, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s esteem for Ye Chen grew even more.


    Furthermore, when Heavenly Saint Long Xuan asked to see the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, and Ye Chen presented it, she sensed the power of the Heavenly Saint left by Heavenly Saint Di Kong on the bead and even mentioned that over three hundred years ago, she had sensed such power in the ice palace plains of the northern region of the Barbaric Land.


    However, at that time, as this Heavenly Saint''s power was battling in an underground ice cave beneath the ice palace plains, she just flew over from a distance and didn''t go down to see what the Heavenly Saint looked like for herself.


    Although Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had not met Heavenly Saint Di Kong in person, her words surprised and delighted Ye Chen unexpectedly!


    He had heard news of Heavenly Saint Di Kong once again!


    Ever since Heavenly Saint Di Kong left behind the ancestral land secret realm for the three clans, he had disappeared without a trace, not even coming back for his little monkey. Now, hearing news of him again naturally filled Ye Chen with immense joy!


    Ye Chen even had the thought that, when he found the time, he would visit the northern region of the Barbaric Land and check the place Heavenly Saint Long Xuan mentioned to see whether Heavenly Saint Di Kong was still there and what had happened to him over the years.


    After Ye Chen finished recounting the events in the ancient tomb, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan took him, along with the six powerhouses, back to the ancient tomb.


    Now knowing where the tomb was, with Heavenly Saint Long Xuan breaking the prohibitions, they all finally re-entered the ancient tomb.


    However, everything inside the tomb was exactly as Ye Chen described, except for the deepest black swamp, the other areas had been completely destroyed.


    And within the black swamp, as Heavenly Saint Moya and Ye Chen had left, there was not a single person left.


    Except for Jiang Yao, who was still cultivating in the Azure Blue Mansion, the others had indeed all perished within the ancient tomb.


    Witnessing this fact with their own eyes, the six powerhouses had grim expressions.


    They had not expected that sending people to explore the ancient tomb would end like this, even letting loose a great threat like Heavenly Saint Moya.


    The six powerhouses mourned the loss of their disciples while Heavenly Saint Long Xuan was more concerned about the Law Relic.


    Since the battle between Heavenly Saint Moya and Heavenly Saint Linghua ended with Heavenly Saint Linghua''s death and Heavenly Saint Moya severely injured, that meant Heavenly Saint Linghua''s Law Relic should be in Heavenly Saint Moya''s possession.


    Nevertheless, they searched throughout the ancient tomb and could not find the Law Relic.


    Even in the Life Origin Coffin Ye Chen obtained from Heavenly Saint Moya, there was no trace of the Law Relic.


    In the end, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan made a judgment, fearing that the Law Relic had already been taken by Heavenly Saint Moya.


    After all the matters were concluded, there was still one thing left unarranged, which was the treasure of Heavenly Saint Moya¡ªthe countless secret treasures hidden within the Life Origin Coffin, goods that Heavenly Saint Moya could not abandon even at the last moment.


    In response, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan decisively decided that all the treasures would belong to Ye Chen, and no one else should covet a share.


    In Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s words, Ye Chen had made a significant contribution by eradicating one wisp of Heavenly Saint Moya''s true soul, and even lost quite a few of the Heavenly Saint Law Beads in the process.


    These treasures, therefore, should be Ye Chen''s spoils of war.


    As for the six powerhouses, having contributed nothing to the ancient tomb incident, even making mistakes and not informing the Heavenly Saint while rashly exploring the ancient tomb, allowing Heavenly Saint Moya the chance to possess another and escape, they naturally shouldn''t expect any share of the treasures.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s decision left the six powerhouses with no place for dissent; they no longer brought up the matter of Heavenly Saint''s treasures.


    Even the Heavenly Saint treasures lost by Cloud Sky Sect, the Heavenly Saint Flying Knife Heavenly Saint Moya had casually taken with him, the two powerhouses from Cloud Sky Sect, Daoist Yunyang and Daoist Yun Fang, dared not mention it again but could only accept their bad luck.


    Fortunately, in the end, Ye Chen also collected some of the treasures left behind by Fairy Nishang, Liu Yan, and others upon their deaths. He returned these treasures to the respective sect powerhouses, which allowed them to reminisce somewhat.


    Once the matter of the ancient tomb was completely closed, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan took the six powerhouses to meet with the other two Heavenly Saints from the thirteen nations of the southern region to discuss the possession of Heavenly Saint Moya returning to the Demon Sects and the loss of Heavenly Saint Linghua''s Law Relic.


    As for Ye Chen, he directly returned to the Taixuan Sect and to Snowdrift Peak.


    During these three days, in addition to visiting Sister Yu, Ye Chen also specifically went back to the three major families of Qingyang City.


    Aside from the monkey''s transformation and receiving news of Heavenly Saint Di Kong, Ye Chen had another lengthy conversation with the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact. But more importantly, Ye Chen entrusted the safety and well-being of the three major families to the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact.


    Heavenly Saint Moya and Elder Kugu''s parting words left Ye Chen feeling that a storm was coming, and the balance between the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms and the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wastes might very well be shattered by this incident.


    It appeared increasingly likely that the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms and the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wastes would once again erupt into war.


    In such a situation, Ye Chen knew he must give strict instructions to the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact, ensuring that if anything were to occur, they must protect the tribespeople of all three races at the first sign of trouble by utilizing the secret realms of their ancestral lands!


    After the Spirit of the Sacred Artifact agreed, Ye Chen truly settled his mind. After a day spent with his parents, he returned to the Taixuan Sect.


    Once back at the sect, Ye Chen saw that Jiang Yao was still awakening her bloodline in the Phoenix Blood Pool at the Azure Blue Mansion and wouldn''t complete the process soon, so he also began to entertain the idea of entering closed-door cultivation.


    After the matter of the ancient tomb had concluded, another significant event was quickly approaching that Ye Chen would have to face.


    That was the Spirit Sea Realm Swordsmanship Competition!


    Counting the days, the eight months initially mentioned by Daoist Wine Sword were spent; Ye Chen had already used more than two months training with the sword array before entering the ancient tomb, and then spent another two months inside the tomb, which left him with only a little over three months until the start of the Swordsmanship Competition!


    The Spirit Sea Realm Swordsmanship Competition would take place on the Immeasurable Mountain in the Great Qian Dynasty, among the three central kingdoms!


    Ye Chen had long heard that the central three kingdoms were the sacred land of the human race, teeming with countless geniuses and numerous masters!


    Unlike the southern and western regions, which were barren, the south and west combined had only seven Heavenly Saints, and with the successfully reincarnated Heavenly Saint Moya, there were at most eight.


    In the central region, however, with its three great kingdoms, there were countless strong individuals, and many of them were even at the Heavenly Saint Realm, with some said to be at the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, living in seclusion in the central lands!


    Having witnessed the True Might of a Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen naturally wanted to go to the central region to see a broader world!


    And the Swordsmanship Competition presented a great opportunity.


    Taking advantage of the temporary calm before the south and the west began warring with each other, it was the perfect time to visit the central region.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen naturally wanted to seize the last bit of time to cultivate diligently!


    So, on the third day, Ye Chen started to organize all his belongings, making final preparations for his closed-door cultivation.


    Regarding external resources, Ye Chen carefully stored the remaining eight Heavenly Saint Law Beads, both defensive and offensive, that he had.


    These Law Beads had played a significant role in Ye Chen''s escape from the ancient tomb, so he intended to treasure them carefully for future use.


    For the flying swords, Ye Chen continued to let them nourish within the sword palace meridian.


    As for the Azure Blue Mansion, it was an heirloom of Jiang Yao''s family, so Ye Chen, of course, would not claim it as his own. With Phoenix Spirit to watch over it, Ye Chen merely carried it with him until Jiang Yao fully awakened her bloodline, at which point he would hand it over to her.


    Beyond these items, Ye Chen also took out a token.


    This token was given to him by Heavenly Saint Long Xuan when they parted ways.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had instructed that the token bore the imprint of a Heavenly Saint''s projection and if Ye Chen found himself under attack by the Demon Sects, he could use the token to call upon her aid, and she would send down her projection to help him.


    This was also to ensure Ye Chen''s safety as Long Xuan was concerned that he might be targeted by the Demon Sects for destroying a part of Heavenly Saint Moya''s soul and seizing his treasures.


    After all, with Ye Chen''s outstanding performance, he had greatly caught the attention of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, who certainly wouldn''t want such a talented youth of the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms to fall into the hands of the Demon Sects.


    However, Long Xuan also advised that this Projection Token should be used only against the Demon Sects, and for everything else, Ye Chen still had to face it on his own.


    This was Long Xuan''s consideration for Ye Chen as overly relying on external aid would not be truly beneficial to him.


    Ye Chen certainly understood the thoughtful intentions of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan. He carefully stored the token away without another thought.


    After inventorying all his possessions, the most important item was the Life Origin Coffin left behind by Heavenly Saint Moya!


    When checking the Law Relic, Ye Chen had already glanced at the treasures within the Life Origin Coffin, which had greatly shocked him. And now, as these treasures were all his, he naturally wanted to thoroughly examine them.


    The Life Origin Coffin had been the place for Heavenly Saint Moya''s spirit to recover after his physical body shattered. All treasures Moya carried at the time were placed within this coffin.


    One could say that the treasures inside were the majority of Heavenly Saint Moya''s wealth!


    Upon opening the Life Origin Coffin, Ye Chen first encountered numerous blocks of extremely high-quality Water and Earth Element Spirit Stones, just like the Fire Element Spirit Stone he had previously obtained in the ancient tomb, filled with astonishing True Qi and numbering in the hundreds!


    The sight of these spirit stones surprised and impressed the six strong individuals back then, and through their reaction, Ye Chen came to understand the great value of these stones!


    These spirit stones, apart from being used by martial practitioners for cultivating True Qi, were considered hard currency in the martial world, especially among the powerful cultivators of the Rotating Pill and Heavenly Saint Realms!


    With these spirit stones, one could even directly purchase weapons, magical treasures, and countless precious martial techniques and methods!


    According to the six powerhouses, regular Rotating Pill Realm cultivators typically used low-grade spirit stones, and at most middle-grade stones, while only the cultivators in the Heavenly Saint Realm were likely to use high-grade and top-grade spirit stones.


    The hundreds of spirit stones resting within the Life Origin Coffin were all top-grade, and their number was equivalent to the entire wealth of many Heavenly Saints!


    It was conceivable that these top-grade spirit stones must have been accumulated by Heavenly Saint Moya over thousands of years of cultivation; otherwise, there couldn''t be so many.

 Chapter 273: Chapter 240: The Three Sacred Artifacts

    The path of martial arts cultivation is costly.


    In the True Qi Realm, one needs to spend a large amount of Crimson Gold to purchase cultivation techniques and manuals, as well as pills for cultivation.


    In the Spirit Sea Realm, the majority of expenses are even made with Crimson Gold!


    After stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm and Heavenly Saint Realm, the costs are even more immense compared to the True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm. Crimson Gold are no longer the regular expenses, and instead, one has to spend Spirit Stones directly.


    After Ye Chen entered the Spirit Sea Realm, he entered an ancient tomb and didn''t yet realize how enormous the expenses of cultivation could be.


    However, through the words of the six powerhouses, Ye Chen already knew what possessing Spirit Stones meant.


    Having obtained so many premium Spirit Stones left by Heavenly Saint Moya, Ye Chen no longer had to worry about the costs of cultivation. His current wealth was already enough to rival that of many Heavenly Saints!


    These premium Spirit Stones amazed even the six Rotating Pill powerhouses!


    These premium Spirit Stones were enough to support Ye Chen''s cultivation all the way to the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After tallying up these premium Spirit Stones, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, and he placed all the Spirit Stones into the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    Then, Ye Chen turned his attention to the other items.


    After counting the Spirit Stones, the bronze giant coffin was now half empty. The first thing that caught Ye Chen''s eye was the seven Sacred Artifacts placed together.


    Back when Ye Chen battled the Eight Great Demon Towers, the Sacred Artifacts used by them, such as the Void Great Treasure Cover and the Eight Flames Fan, had indeed tempted Ye Chen.


    Latter, they were all taken by Heavenly Saint Moya, and Ye Chen felt it was a pity.


    But now, seeing these seven Sacred Artifacts, Ye Chen''s regrets were instantly swept away!


    These seven Sacred Artifacts, were far more precious than the Void Great Treasure Cover and the Eight Flames Fan.


    Ye Chen had previously obliterated a soul fragment of Heavenly Saint Moya, and he already knew the methods to refine these Sacred Artifacts.


    After refining each of them, aside from some artifacts that weren''t suitable for him or were specifically for the use of the Demon Sects, such as the "Forbidden Blood Demon Banner" which required absorbing the blood and qi of living beings to use, Ye Chen put them away. Among the seven Sacred Artifacts, there were three that particularly surprised him!


    The first Sacred Artifact was a flying boat.


    After refining the Formation Spirit Patterns inscribed on the flying boat, Ye Chen learned that this boat was called the "Heavenly Origin Boat."


    The Heavenly Origin Boat, a Sacred Artifact flying boat, had an extremely fast flight speed, able to travel over ten thousand miles in two hours and over a hundred thousand miles in a day!


    Ye Chen knew that many Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses would use flying boats to travel because relying on their own flight consumed a great deal of True Qi. If True Qi was overconsumed and one suddenly encountered combat, there might not be enough time to recover True Qi, which could lead to grave danger.


    Other means of flight, such as Flying Great Demons, could be used by Spirit Sea Realm cultivators, but the speed was not sufficient for the Rotating Pill Realm. Flying Demon Kings were difficult to capture. Compared to these, flying boats were both comfortable and didn''t consume one''s True Qi, making them the most commonly used.


    However, lower-tier flying boats needed to consume Spirit Stones, relying on the True Qi supplied by Spirit Stones to propel the boat.


    This "Heavenly Origin Boat," being a Sacred Artifact level flying boat, did not need to consume Spirit Stones for flight. The unique Formation Spirit Patterns on the boat could connect with the Heaven and Earth True Qi, transforming it into an unending source of energy, allowing the boat to fly at extreme speeds.


    Just the Formation Spirit Patterns inscribed on the boat alone were of the level of Heavenly Saints. The complexity of the spirit patterns was even beyond that of Heaven Rank Cultivation Techniques, almost on par with Saint Grade Techniques, and even powerhouses at the Rotating Pill Realm would find it difficult to completely comprehend!


    The Heavenly Origin Boat, not only had an extremely fast flight speed and did not consume Spirit Stones for flight, but it also had a tremendous defensive ability.


    This Sacred Artifact flying boat could even resist attacks from anyone below the Heavenly Saint Realm, meaning that if a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse were to attack the boat, those inside need not worry, as the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses couldn''t do anything to the Sacred Artifact flying boat.


    This was the might of a Sacred Artifact flying boat!


    After refining this "Heavenly Origin Boat," Ye Chen was full of admiration for its wondrous uses.


    This boat would likely become an important means of travel for him in the future.


    This was the first Sacred Artifact that greatly surprised Ye Chen.


    The second Sacred Artifact was a painting called the "Eight Extremes Map!"


    This Eight Extremes Map was a space Sacred Artifact containing eight extreme cultivation cave dwellings: "Mountain Extreme Cave Dwelling," "Water Extreme Cave Dwelling," "Fire Extreme Cave Dwelling," "Wind Extreme Cave Dwelling," "Thunder Extreme Cave Dwelling," "Lightning Extreme Cave Dwelling," "Polar Cave Dwelling," and "Heaven Extreme Cave Dwelling."


    After refining this "Eight Extremes Map," Ye Chen discovered that the Eight Flames Fan used previously by the Python Demon Tower was born from one of the eight cave dwellings within this map.


    The Eight Extremes Map, with its eight cave dwellings, provided eight different cultivation environments, each with great benefits for cultivation!


    Ye Chen even entered the eight cave dwellings to experience them before flying out from the "Eight Extremes Map" again to look at the third Sacred Artifact.


    The third Sacred Artifact was a small mirror.


    But when Ye Chen refined this mirror, he was most pleasantly surprised.


    This mirror turned out to be an incredibly powerful attacking Sacred Artifact, even more formidable than the Eight Flames Fan!


    This mirror was called the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror"!


    According to the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror," it was a Miraculous Treasure of a Sect in the Minor Spirit Realm famous for equipment refinement. The mirror contained an extraordinary attacking formation.


    This mirror can absorb the power of the five great Heavenly Void Laws, and it can also absorb energy corresponding to the levels of those five great Heavenly Void Laws, such as the power of True Fire, the power of True Water, and the power of True Thunder!


    After these powers are absorbed by the Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror, they are converted by the attack formation within the mirror and can be directly projected as formidable combat puppets.


    The stronger the energy absorbed by the mirror, the greater the power of the projected combat puppets, with the mightiest of them even reaching the level of Heavenly Saint power!


    Ye Chen gave it a try and found that the residual power within the Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror was insufficient, being only around ten percent, but when he used it, he actually instantaneously projected five combat puppets at the mid stage of the Rotating Pill Realm from the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror"!


    Moreover, these five mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm combat puppets were completely at Ye Chen''s command, and when he wasn''t using them, they could even revert back to power and fly into the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror"!


    With this Attack Sacred Artifact, Ye Chen was as if he had a group of good helpers. If he could let the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror" absorb enough power, this Sacred Artifact could even be equivalent to a continuous attack with the power of a Heavenly Saint!


    The mere acquisition of this treasure made Ye Chen feel that the expended Heavenly Saint Law Beads were utterly worthwhile!


    Three miraculous treasures.


    The Heavenly Origin Boat, the Eight Extremes Map, the Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror!


    Ye Chen collected these three Sacred Artifacts with great satisfaction.


    The Secret Treasures specifically kept in the Life Origin Coffin by Heavenly Saint Moya were really good stuff, even more powerful and precious than the Sacred Artifacts he had sent out to the Eight Great Demon Towers!


    After collecting the most conspicuous treasures such as the premium Spirit Stones and Sacred Artifacts, Ye Chen then turned his attention to the last few items in the Life Origin Coffin.


    The last few items included many Cultivation Manuals.


    However, after flipping through them, Ye Chen found that the vast majority of the manuals were of the Demon Sects'' methods of cultivation, which he glanced over just to understand some of their techniques without any intention of actually practicing them.


    Among them, there was one Manual that caught Ye Chen''s attention.


    This Manual, entitled "Forbidden Divine Tome," was a Manual for cultivating the Divine Soul. Ye Chen read through it and discovered that even the techniques used by Heavenly Saint Moya to create three Soul Fragments were learned from this "Forbidden Divine Tome."


    Besides, this "Forbidden Divine Tome," apart from the methods of Soul Fragmentation, contained many other Divine Soul attack methods.


    After a brief perusal, Ye Chen set this Manual apart from the others and saved it specially, planning to search for suitable methods of Divine Soul cultivation from this "Forbidden Divine Tome" once he had finished cultivating his current techniques.


    Beyond the Manuals, there were also some miscellaneous items left in the Life Origin Coffin, such as clothes and talismans, which Ye Chen sorted through. The useless items, such as clothes, he discarded outright, while useful items like talismans were all stored in the Ethereal Spirit Ring of his storage ring.


    In the end, there was one item that Ye Chen also didn''t understand the use of.


    It was a wooden token bereft of any Formation Spirit Patterns, bearing only the character "Forbidden" inscribed on it.


    When Ye Chen sent his Divine Sense into the token, he found nothing unusual, nor did infusing True Qi yield any effect. After experimenting with various methods, the token seemed to be nothing more than an ordinary object without exhibiting any anomalies.


    Even within the Life Origin Coffin, there was no record regarding this wooden token. Ye Chen felt that even Heavenly Saint Moya probably didn''t understand what this token was all about.


    Not understanding its purpose, Ye Chen stored the wooden token in the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    After checking all the items within the Life Origin Coffin, Ye Chen used the controlling spells outside the coffin to directly shrink the coffin back to its small size and collected it.


    This inventory check of the spoils of war was thus completely finished.


    Not counting the useless or uncomprehended items, just the hundreds of premium Spirit Stones, the three Sacred Artifacts, and the "Forbidden Divine Tome"¡ªa Manual for cultivating the Divine Soul, which Ye Chen had never encountered before¡ªmade him feel the gains were tremendously great!


    This was the wealth of a Heavenly Saint, the belongings of a Heavenly Saint!


    And now, it all belonged to him.


    "Heavenly Saints indeed have access to a higher level," he mused.


    "Many of these items were obtained by Moya from the Minor Spirit Realm originally, and there is much that I have never even seen before!"


    "My horizons are still too narrow now, and my strength is still too weak. I haven''t even left the Heavenly Wind Kingdom yet!"


    "Time to start cultivating. Going to the central region to participate in the Sword Fighting Tournament will be a great opportunity for me to broaden my knowledge!"


    After thoroughly sorting out external matters, Ye Chen began to truly examine himself.


    "I''ve now entered the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, ''Primordial Chapter'', and have obtained the Great Divine Powers of the Five Great Divine Beasts'' Aspects. To utilize these Great Divine Powers, I must call upon Divine Blood using Primordial True Qi."


    "Regrettably, my Primordial True Qi is still only at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, allowing only a tenth of the Divine Blood''s power to be utilized."


    "To enhance the might of the Five Aspects, I must cultivate the Primordial True Qi even further, striving to invoke more of the Divine Blood''s power!"


    "At present, I''ve reached the peak of the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm. This time, I''ll attempt to break through to the middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "Beyond Internal Skills, my External Martial Skills, whether it''s the Sword Formation or the Nine Revolutions Body Spin, also need further cultivation."


    After considering his goals for seclusion and cultivation, Ye Chen completely sealed the courtyard gate and placed protective prohibitions.


    Then, he directly entered the "Polar Cave Mansion" inside the newly acquired Sacred Artifact "Eight Extremes Map" to commence his seclusion!

 Chapter 274: Chapter 241 Breakthrough

    The Polar Cave Mansion, brimming with boundless earth energy!


    As per the "Eight Extremes Map," cultivating within this cave mansion is most suitable for challenging the boundaries of the True Qi Realm.


    Looking towards the cave mansion, one could see that it was vast, with a space that stretched for thousands of Zhang in all directions.


    At the very center of this space, there was a round platform several dozen Zhang across, and beneath this platform, the land was covered with lush green plants.


    Looking closely at these green plants, one could even see that the arrangement of their planting held mysterious significance. All the plants actually formed a massive Gathering Yuan Grand Formation.


    And this platform at the center of the cave mansion was right in the middle of the Formation Eye of the Gathering Yuan Grand Formation!


    Upon entering the "Polar Cave Mansion," Ye Chen immediately sat cross-legged on the platform.


    Next, with a light flick of Ye Chen''s finger, "whoosh whoosh whoosh," numerous top-quality Spirit Stones flew out of his Heaven Spirit Ring.


    These top-quality Spirit Stones surrounded Ye Chen''s body, completely enveloping him within a Spirit Stone Array.


    Afterward, Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the platform and closed his eyes to regulate his breath and nurture his spirit.


    This breathing and nurturing session lasted a full three days.


    For these three days, from the outside, there seemed to be no changes in Ye Chen. However, inside his body, the mysteriously divine Primordial True Liquid within his Qi Sea had churned no less than ten thousand times!


    The Spirit Sea Realm is divided into three major phases: early stage, middle stage, and late stage.


    Advancing from the True Qi Realm to the Spirit Sea Realm places one directly in the early stage of the Spirit Sea.


    And progressing from the early stage of the Spirit Sea to the middle and late stages requires the Qi Sea, or rather the Spirit Sea, to undergo two transformations.


    Only by cultivating each stage to its utmost limit, bringing the Spirit Sea to the brink of a breakthrough and producing a trembling sensation, one can enter the offensive against the Realm and allow the Spirit Sea to open up once more!


    Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, due to cultivating the Primordial Star Scripture, was already much larger than that of others, and the power of the Primordial True Liquid within his body had already far surpassed that of strong practitioners in the Spirit Sea Realm, reaching the level of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    However, after days of cultivation, Ye Chen had already filled his Qi Sea with the Primordial True Liquid to an extremely saturated state, even bringing the Spirit Sea to a wondrous trembling condition, reaching the true peak of the early stage of the Spirit Sea.


    Now was the time for him to challenge the Realm and step into the next phase!


    To burst into the middle stage of the Spirit Sea, now was the moment!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen, who was seated on the platform of the "Polar Cave Mansion," quietly meditated with closed eyes for a full three days and his Primordial True Liquid roiled ten thousand times, he suddenly opened his eyes.


    The moment he opened his eyes, the dozen or so top-quality Spirit Stones placed on the platform took flight into the air, swirling incessantly around Ye Chen''s body.


    At the same time, the countless green plants on the ground all flickered with a strange light. Eventually, all the light converged, causing the entire platform of the "Polar Cave Mansion" to burst forth with a milky white, marvelous light!


    Within the marvelous light, the dozen or so top-quality Spirit Stones, in an instant, released endless True Qi, pouring out like a massive river, inundating with boundless True Qi, which was then entirely swept over Ye Chen''s entire body.


    Ye Chen''s whole person was now completely wrapped in the vast river of True Qi.


    It was at this time when the Qi Meridians in Ye Chen''s body, the Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and the thirty-three Meridian Wheels all opened up like a whale gulping water and a snake inhaling air. All his meridians crazily absorbed the torrential True Qi from outside his body.


    In the end, this myriad of True Qi all surged into Ye Chen''s Qi Sea!


    Qi Sea World.


    The vast ocean of True Qi below shone with the unique black light of the Primordial True Liquid, and as the torrential True Qi burst into Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, it transformed into a black rain of Primordial True Liquid that peppered down on the massive ocean of True Qi.


    Plop! Plop! Plop!


    At first, this new influx of Primordial True Liquid Rain only made small, quiet splashes in the vast ocean of True Qi below.


    But as more and more True Qi was absorbed into Ye Chen''s body, the rain of Primordial True Liquid grew thicker and denser. Eventually, when the sky was full of falling Primordial True Liquid rain, the noise of the Qi Sea World transformed into a "boom! boom! boom!" everywhere.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The raging rain of Primordial True Liquid battered the entire Qi Sea World into violent quakes, battering the vast ocean of True Qi into howling.


    Ultimately, the rain descending from the sky and the Primordial True Liquid in the ocean resonated at a unique and marvelous frequency.


    A resonating frequency!


    The rain in the sky vibrated, the True Liquid in the ocean vibrated, even the Qi Sea itself vibrated!


    In the end, all the vibrations merged into a towering force, a force that seemed to cleave the heavens and split the earth!


    This was the power to carve out an even vaster Qi Sea and step into a new level of the Realm, entering the middle stage of the Spirit Sea!


    When this force swept through, in an instant, the whole Qi Sea World quaked as if the sky was crashing down and the earth was splitting apart. Amidst the shattering, the Qi Sea World began a new stretch, a new expansion.


    The ocean was boundless and vast, yet there was still no end in sight!


    At the end of the ocean, within Chaos Space, a new world of the ocean could be further opened up!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    As three of the numerous top-quality Spirit Stones floating around Ye Chen shrank with explosions, the True Qi entering his body reached an inconceivable level.


    The rain of Primordial True Liquid that filled the sky was even more abundant than the True Liquid in the ocean below!


    This rain of True Liquid, as it plummeted into the ocean, carried the ocean''s True Liquid along, frantically cleaving toward the edge of the True Qi ocean, wildly spreading.


    This spread continued relentlessly for a full six days!


    Not until the world of the Qi Sea inside Ye Chen had expanded more than three times its size since the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm did the earth-shattering scene finally come to a stop.


    A new vast ocean had reformed.


    Although True Qi still poured into the Qi Sea, it could no longer create new heavens and earth.


    This meant that Ye Chen had completed his breakthrough and reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    The expansion of the Spirit Sea was thoroughly accomplished!


    The next expansion would only be possible if he cultivated to the limit of the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea, causing the entire Spirit Sea to quake again and gain the power to break through to the latter stage of the Spirit Sea!


    Looking into the newly formed vast ocean, one could see that the amount of Primordial True Liquid was more than three times the amount before!


    The endless black Primordial True Liquid tumbled within the vast new ocean, emitting a luminous glow even more intense than before!


    And Ye Chen felt that the power of his True Qi was growing stronger.


    "Mid-stage of the Spirit Sea!"


    "I''ve finally reached the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea!"


    Ye Chen, seated in meditation, took a deep breath.


    His inhalation was like a serpent, his exhalation like lightning; with a gentle exhale, Ye Chen even formed a series of divine and extraordinary Swords of True Qi directly in the void!


    This was indeed a testament to his True Qi cultivation reaching a new realm, allowing him to wield it even more adeptly!


    Feeling the strength of the True Qi within his body, Ye Chen was drawn to another matter.


    That was the potential of the new True Qi Spiritual Fluid in mobilizing the new powers of the Five Great Divine Bloods.


    Ye Chen''s gaze went straight to the Five Great Divine Bloods floating above the Primordial True Liquid.


    White Tiger Divine Blood! Azure Dragon Divine Blood! Black Tortoise Divine Blood! Vermilion Bird Divine Blood! Qilin Divine Blood!


    Boom!


    With a thought, Ye Chen''s Primordial True Liquid turned completely crimson, transforming into Fire True Liquid.


    Then, this even more vast Fire True Liquid swept towards the "Vermilion Bird" Divine Blood among the five floating above.


    Previously, at the early stage of the Spirit Sea, Ye Chen could only light up one-tenth of the Vermilion Bird Divine Blood.


    But this time, having entered the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea and with three times more True Liquid, the endless Fire True Liquid caused two-fifths of the "Vermilion Bird" Divine Blood to be completely lit up in a single strike!


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, Ye Chen, who was seated on the high platform of the Polar Cave Mansion, suddenly released a Vermilion Bird Physique shadow that was magnificently divine and unparalleled.


    This Vermilion Bird Physique shadow was many times larger than before, and the endless firelight on its wings was even more translucent than before!


    Boom!


    Ye Chen moved his Mind and Spirit, and with the acceleration ability of the Vermilion Bird Physique shadow, he shot out from the high platform in the blink of an eye. Almost within a flicker, he flew around the Polar Cave Mansion and landed back precisely on the center of the high platform.


    "My speed, my speed has also improved by several folds!"


    "Now, my speed might even surpass that of the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, or possibly even stronger!"


    Ye Chen sensed the might of the new Divine Ability within his body.


    After a while, his Divine Sense stirred again, transforming the True Qi inside his body into Wood Element True Liquid; Ye Chen directly manipulated the Azure Dragon Divine Blood, feeling the new transformations.


    In the end, after trying all of the Five Great Divine Bloods, Ye Chen understood completely.


    The Primordial True Liquid at his Spirit Sea mid-stage could now mobilize two-fifths of the power of the Five Great Divine Bloods!


    He was one step closer to harnessing the full power of the Five Great Divine Bloods, allowing the Divine Blood to drip into the True Liquid and stepping into the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    With the breakthrough of the True Qi Realm completed, Ye Chen gathered up the top-quality Spirit Stones.


    But Ye Chen, sitting on the high platform, didn''t leave immediately.


    Having made significant progress with his Internal Skills, Ye Chen wasn''t ready to stop; he decided to take advantage of the transformation brought on by his True Qi breakthrough to further cultivate his External Martial Skills.


    "Time to train in the Sword Formation and the Nine Transformation Fighting Body again!"


    With a movement of his Mind and Spirit, dozens of Sword Intent Law Beads shot out from within his body.


    These Sword Intent Law Beads were crucial for Ye Chen''s breakthrough cultivation of the high-level Sword Formation, the "Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability."


    After Ye Chen returned from the ancient tomb and visited Yu, she didn''t take back the Sword Intent Law Beads; instead, she allowed Ye Chen to continue to meditate on them.


    Yu said to return those Sword Intent Law Beads to her when Ye Chen went to the Central Region to participate in the Sword Fighting Tournament.


    Ye Chen planned to advance his cultivation in the Sword Formation before going to the Central Region.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Surrounded by the circling Sword Intent Law Beads, Ye Chen once again entered into the meditation on the Sword Intents.

 Chapter 275: Chapter 242: Entering the Battle Spirit Hall Again

    Thirteen days later, Ye Chen emerged from the Eight Extremes Map''s "Polar Cave Mansion."


    Just as he exited the "Polar Cave Mansion," Ye Chen immediately contacted Phoenix Spirit and once again entered the Azure Blue Mansion.


    "What, Ye Chen, you want to challenge that spin-dan mid-stage Battle Spirit again?"


    "Could it be that in less than a month''s time, you''ve made another great breakthrough?"


    In the Azure Blue Mansion, Phoenix Spirit cried out in surprise upon hearing Ye Chen''s words.


    This time, as soon as Ye Chen entered the Azure Blue Mansion, he told Phoenix Spirit that he wanted to enter the Battle Spirit Hall again, to challenge those Battle Spirits from the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Phoenix Spirit still remembered the scene of Ye Chen being defeated time and again by that spin-dan mid-stage female Battle Spirit the last time.


    Phoenix Spirit also remembered that at the time, Ye Chen had said that he would have absolute certainty before challenging that female Battle Spirit again.


    After Ye Chen left the Battle Spirit Hall, he went straight out of the Azure Blue Mansion and then encountered the battle with Demon Tower and the possession incident involving Heavenly Saint Moya.


    It''s been just over twenty days since Ye Chen last challenged the female Battle Spirit.


    Now, has Ye Chen already made a new breakthrough?


    One must know, to go from being defeated dozens of times by the female Battle Spirit to having the confidence to defeat her, one''s strength must not just increase slightly, it definitely requires a major breakthrough to have a chance at success.


    Although Phoenix Spirit had earlier discovered that Ye Chen had reached the mid-stage of Spiritual Sea, just this minor elevation in realm was not enough to defeat a Divine Phoenix Clan''s spin-dan mid-stage powerhouse; it was simply impossible.


    Could it be that Ye Chen has other breakthroughs?


    Phoenix Spirit knew that Ye Chen was not a person of arrogance and complacency. Since Ye Chen dared to challenge, he must have full confidence to speak in such a manner.


    Thinking this, Phoenix Spirit couldn''t help but want to see what new breakthrough Ye Chen had made!


    Battle Spirit Hall.


    Lead by Phoenix Spirit, Ye Chen once again arrived outside the Battle Spirit Hall within the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Upon seeing the three words "Battle Spirit Hall" on the gate plaque, a sharp light flickered in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    His purpose for entering the Battle Spirit Hall this time was not for anything else, but to test the results of his arduous cultivation during this period.


    This time, during his ascetic cultivation, he had smoothly advanced to the mid-stage of Spiritual Sea, and he had also gained new insights into several Combat Skills; he could no longer wait to try out his new combat strength!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After the doors of the Battle Spirit Hall opened, Ye Chen strode inside.


    This time, Ye Chen headed straight for the spin-dan mid-stage Battle Spirit area and stood directly in front of the statue of the spin-dan mid-stage female Battle Spirit from last time.


    Last time Ye Chen battled this female Battle Spirit, he was continuously defeated by her and even failed to break through her Law Domain, not to mention witnessing her other techniques.


    This time, upon seeing the female Battle Spirit, a fierce battle spirit blazed in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    He thought of the Bell Treasure in the female Battle Spirit''s hand.


    "This time, I will definitely break through your Law Domain and witness the real power of your Bell Treasure!" he said.


    As Ye Chen spoke, his divine sense enveloped the female Battle Spirit''s statue.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, the statue of the spin-dan mid-stage female Battle Spirit was activated, and the familiar figure, dignified and valiant, dressed in ice-blue battle armor with a string of purple bells in her hand, flew straight up into the sky.


    In the moment the female Battle Spirit soared into the sky, Ye Chen moved, instantly shooting up into the sky as well.


    Ye Chen''s speed was even faster than that of the female Battle Spirit!


    Phoenix Spirit floated to the side and looked toward the battlefield.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s movement, Phoenix Spirit visibly shook, realizing that Ye Chen''s speed was now far superior to before, even surpassing the female Battle Spirit''s speed.


    "Speed, a major breakthrough."


    "Are there other major breakthroughs?"


    Phoenix Spirit had her entire focus on Ye Chen, who was standing opposite the female Battle Spirit in the center of the arena.


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    Just like in their previous battle, as soon as Ye Chen and the female Battle Spirit reached the center of the arena, the female Battle Spirit immediately unleashed her Law Domain.


    In an instant, the power of the ethereal laws of "water and fire" erupted, sending out rolling streams of blue and red qi towards Ye Chen.


    With Ye Chen at the center, the space for hundreds of yards around was instantly enveloped by the female Battle Spirit''s Law Domain.


    Last time, Ye Chen was trapped by this kind of Law Domain, unable to cope no matter what he did.


    But this time, trapped within the Law Domain, Ye Chen''s expression did not show the slightest disruption.


    Under the female Battle Spirit''s Law Domain, the rolling blue and red qi transformed into countless blue and red blossoms, shooting explosively toward Ye Chen to imprison and defeat him. At that moment, a torrential golden true qi flame burst out from Ye Chen''s body.


    The golden true qi flame surged upwards, undeterred by the female Battle Spirit''s Law Domain, still blasting upwards.


    "What a powerful true qi strength!"


    "Ye Chen''s advancement from the early to mid-stage of the Spiritual Sea has increased his true qi strength by so much!"


    "The true qi he cultivates becomes stronger and stronger the further he progresses!"


    Phoenix Spirit exclaimed as she watched the golden true qi flame bursting from Ye Chen''s body.


    Before her exclamation had dissipated, the golden true qi flame erupting from Ye Chen instantly surged out a divine and extraordinary white tiger phantom.


    As the white tiger phantom enveloped him, the golden true qi flame formed a huge hand that reached for the sky, which directly tore through the female Battle Spirit''s approaching Law Domain.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    With each tear, the countless streams of blue and red qi within the Law Domain began to explode.


    The Law Domain that once kept Ye Chen trapped and defeated him countless times now shattered under his tearing force!


    This scene completely astonished Phoenix Spirit who was watching from outside.


    Phoenix Spirit had no idea that although Ye Chen had only advanced from the early stage to the middle stage of the Spirit Sea, after his breakthrough, he managed to draw upon the power of the Five Great Divine Bloods, enhancing its utility from one-tenth to a staggering two-fifths.


    The might of the Five Great Divine Bloods, which Ye Chen controlled, surged manifold in an instant!


    This propelled Ye Chen''s combat power to a transformative level, turning what had been an insurmountable barrier¡ªthe Law Domain¡ªinto a non-issue in his eyes!


    "Come on, let me see your other techniques after I break your Law Domain!"


    Boom!


    As soon as the Law Domain shattered, Ye Chen blasted towards the Female Battle Spirit, his gaze fixated on the string of purple bells she wore on her wrist.


    Jingle jangle!


    Indeed, the moment Ye Chen breached the Female Battle Spirit''s Law Domain and charged at her, she executed a new move.


    The new technique she deployed was none other than the string of purple bells on her wrist.


    In an instant, the purple bells around the wrist of the Female Battle Spirit burst forth, ringing sharply.


    While the bells tolled clearly, Ye Chen saw countless purple lightning arcs appear out of nowhere, followed by the deafening roar of thunder.


    It turned out that the Bell Treasure contained the might of thunder and lightning!


    Boom!


    As the purple bells unleashed numerous bolts of lightning and thunder, the booming sounds exploded right next to Ye Chen''s ears while countless arcs sliced down upon him from above.


    "Thunder Lightning Treasure!"


    "It''s a Thunder Lightning Treasure indeed!"


    Witnessing the onslaught of lightning, a glint flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes, and he reached out towards the void.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    In that instant, numerous swords appeared around Ye Chen''s body.


    The swords that materialized in that moment numbered in the tens of thousands!


    The entire void was filled with these swords, and as they vibrated in unison, even the purple lightning from the void was shattered by the luminous sword intent.


    Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability!


    This move was clearly the advanced Sword Formation that Ye Chen had just cultivated, the Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability!


    Even though Ye Chen hadn''t mastered the entire Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability Sword Formation during those ten plus days, the small degree of proficiency he had achieved allowed him to use about thirty percent of the formation''s full killing power.


    This move was a major killing technique within the Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability¡ª"Ten Thousand Swords Move"!


    Next, Ye Chen pointed a finger towards the void where the Female Battle Spirit was and unleashed another significant killing move from the Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability¡ª"Ten Thousand Swords Bombarding Kill".


    After shattering the descending purple lightning, the tens of thousands of swords all soared and burst forth, finally sweeping across the sky to bombard the Female Battle Spirit.


    The entire heavens and earth were now engulfed by the killing power of the Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Without the slightest resistance, the Female Battle Spirit was instantly pierced by countless swords, exploding into a myriad of true qi.


    Before the scattered true qi could drift away, more swords bombarded in succession, and in the end, even those true qi particles were completely obliterated.


    Only after the Female Battle Spirit was utterly annihilated did the Ten Thousand Sword Slaughter Formation retreat, its remaining might transforming into boundless true qi that flowed back into Ye Chen''s body.


    Ye Chen had actually vanquished the Female Battle Spirit, who had been relentlessly troubling him, in a single move!


    "This Sword Formation is definitely of a Heaven Grade Combat Skill level!"


    "Ye Chen has actually cultivated another formidable Sword Formation!"


    From outside the battlefield, Phoenix Spirit was deeply affected upon seeing the Female Battle Spirit defeated by Ye Chen in an instant.


    "A significant breakthrough, this time Ye Chen has truly made one!"


    "It appears that he indeed possesses the capability to fight against a mid-stage Spin Pill strong practitioner from the Divine Phoenix Clan. He has completed the defeat of the first mid-stage Spin Pill powerhouse!"


    The statue of the Female Battle Spirit was located on the outermost edge among the various mid-stage Spin Pill Battle Spirits in the Battle Spirit Hall.


    This signified that the Battle Spirit released from the statue was the weakest one amongst the many mid-stage Spin Pill Battle Spirits from the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    But originally, not even the weakest Female Battle Spirit could be withstood by Ye Chen.


    Now that Ye Chen had defeated this Female Battle Spirit, he truly had taken a significant step forward!


    This was a Battle Spirit phantom left by a mid-stage Spin Pill powerhouse from the Upper Realm''s Divine Phoenix Clan when they were on the verge of breaking through to the later stage of the Spin Pill; even the weakest among them could easily decimate countless mid-stage Spin Pill powerhouses in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    By defeating the Female Battle Spirit, Ye Chen had proved that he now possessed the strength to dominate opponents at the mid-stage Spin Pill level!


    After defeating the Female Battle Spirit, Ye Chen did not stop. He continued towards the next mid-stage Spin Pill Battle Spirit statue.


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen''s divine sense enveloped it, another mid-stage Spin Pill strong practitioner from the Divine Phoenix Clan appeared.


    ...


    From that day forward, Ye Chen began a new round of training and fighting in the Battle Spirit Hall.


    In these battles, Ye Chen had wins and losses, but regardless of the outcome, he felt increasingly deeper insights into his new power and techniques post-fight.


    Even more so, in the end, Ye Chen was not only using his innate combat power; he even began experimenting with the combat puppets released by his Sacred Artifact, the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror," attempting to control these puppets in battle.


    Not only deploying the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror," but Ye Chen also employed flying swords, the newly comprehended Fifth Transformation of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, and an array of other techniques in full force.


    The Battle Spirits of the Divine Phoenix Clan made for worthy opponents.


    Ye Chen aimed to use these formidable opponents to gauge the full extent of his capabilities before heading to the Central Region, preparing himself for future battles!


    Originally, Ye Chen planned to continue fighting like this in the Battle Spirit Hall until Jiang Yao completed her bloodline awakening, before concluding his training.


    But after four days of fierce combat in the Battle Spirit Hall, an unexpected event suddenly disrupted his plans.

 Chapter 276: Chapter 243 Hidden Calamity

    One day, just after Ye Chen had defeated the fifteenth battle spirit of the Divine Phoenix Clan in the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm at the Battle Spirit Hall, he was stepping out of the Azure Blue Mansion to rest when suddenly he heard the sound of chirping birds from outside the courtyard.


    Before entering closed-door cultivation, Ye Chen had completely closed the courtyard door and set up a protective prohibition.


    If visitors came while the prohibition was in place, they would know not to disturb the master of the courtyard, who was deeply engrossed in cultivation, unless there was an urgent matter.


    Only when there was something important enough to notify the master of the courtyard would visitors activate the communication functionality of the protective prohibition.


    And this chirping sound was the standard signal for communication used by the Taixuan Sect!


    "Who is looking for me?"


    "What urgent matter could it be?"


    Hearing the sound from the protective prohibition, Ye Chen was slightly startled. He gestured towards the courtyard door, and a bird formed of light, shimmering in green, flew straight towards him.


    As the bird approached Ye Chen, it began to speak, "Ye Chen, if you''ve finished cultivating, remember to come and find me, your master has something important that I need to pass on to you."


    The voice belonged to none other than the one who had taught Ye Chen the sword formation, Sister Yu from Snowdrift Peak.


    "Is it Sister Yu looking for me?"


    "Sister Yu''s master is Fairy Jia Luo, my Peak Master from Snowdrift Peak. What important matter could Peak Master Fairy Jia Luo have that she needed Sister Yu to pass on to me?"


    The last time Ye Chen had parted ways with Fairy Jia Luo, it was at an ancient tomb. Fairy Jia Luo, along with the five late-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts from Heavenly Wind Kingdom due to the Body Snatching incident involving Heavenly Saint Moya at the ancient tomb, had gone with Heavenly Saint Long Xuan to meet two other Heavenly Saints from the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    Ye Chen had been in closed-door cultivation the entire time since then and was unaware of what had transpired at the ancient tomb. He also didn''t know whether Fairy Jia Luo had returned to the sect. Now, hearing from Sister Yu that Fairy Jia Luo had something important to tell him, Ye Chen immediately thought that it might relate to the events at the ancient tomb.


    "Could it be any news related to the ten Demon Sects?"


    A thought flashed through Ye Chen''s mind.


    "Anyway, my true cultivation has already ended, and I''m in the phase of summarizing my combat learnings after cultivation. It would be okay to end the retreat early."


    "Let''s go out and see what the matter is."


    With that thought in mind, Ye Chen promptly tidied up his cultivation materials and stood up. With a wave of True Qi from his hand, he lifted the protective prohibition on the courtyard.


    Afterward, Ye Chen transformed into a streak of Escaping Light, passing through the courtyard gate and flying towards Sister Yu''s living quarters.


    ...


    Ye Chen had been in closed-door cultivation for nearly a month since returning to the sect.


    A month of arduous cultivation, combined with the battles against the spirit warriors of the Divine Phoenix Clan in the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, had allowed Ye Chen to fully master the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm. His combat power had undergone a qualitative improvement.


    Now, without relying on external forces like the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, and merely with his own fighting abilities, Ye Chen possessed the strength to defeat mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    In fact, Ye Chen could hold his own even against individuals like the five late-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts from Heavenly Wind Kingdom and characters equivalent to late-stage Rotating Pill Realm like Fairy Jia Luo.


    Although he couldn''t be certain of overwhelming these late-stage Rotating Pill warriors, Ye Chen would not show any fear in their presence!


    With all his techniques unleashed, even defeating these late-stage Rotating Pill experts was not impossible!


    Ye Chen could now indisputably be considered among the top echelon within Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    While traveling to Sister Yu''s courtyard as a streak of Escaping Light, Ye Chen''s spirits were soaring.


    There was a time when he was merely a True Qi first-layer youth from Qingyun Sect, an eighth-rank sect. Now, he had not only joined the sixth-rank Taixuan Sect but had also cultivated to the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, possessing the absolute strength to rival late-stage Rotating Pill experts!


    Ye Chen was no longer someone who could be easily bullied; he had truly become a formidable cultivator!


    However, Ye Chen still had a long way to go. Facing the more powerful Heavenly Saint Realm experts, his strength was still far from sufficient.


    And beyond the Heavenly Saint Realm were even more formidable levels such as the "Void Sky True God Realm" and the legendary "Space-Time God King Realm" that the seniors of the Divine Phoenix Clan aspired to, not to mention the realm of "Zi Ji Star Lord," which possessed even more power. The distance to these realms was still great for Ye Chen.


    But Ye Chen was still young, and the time he had actually spent cultivating would astonish countless cultivators¡ªhe had only been at it for a few years.


    In just a few years, he had grown to this extent. Given time, reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm and even the Void Sky True God Realm was a significant possibility!


    "True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Rotating Pill Realm, Heavenly Saint Realm ¡ª the four major realms of the Lower Realm."


    "Void Sky True God Realm, Space-Time God King Realm, and even the realm of ''Zi Ji Star Lord,'' who left behind the Primordial Star Scripture, are still ahead."


    "One day, I will strive for higher realms, leave Heavenly Wind Kingdom, leave the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and even go beyond the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm!" Ye Chen mused with high spirits.


    In such a resolute state of mind, Ye Chen finally arrived outside Sister Yu''s courtyard in his form of Escaping Light.


    "Ye Chen, have you arrived?"


    Long before Ye Chen''s Escaping Light streaked across the sky, heading for this small courtyard, Sister Yu had taken notice, and when Ye Chen landed outside the courtyard, Sister Yu directly came out to greet him.


    ...


    In the courtyard.


    Ye Chen and Sister Yu sat facing each other.


    "Ye Chen, your aura has become even stronger!" Sister Yu looked at Ye Chen, her voice filled with astonishment.


    After returning to the sect, Ye Chen had visited Sister Yu, and in just over twenty days, Sister Yu felt that Ye Chen had undergone a new transformation. His aura now even gave her a sense of fear, as if she was facing her master, Fairy Jia Luo!


    Ye Chen actually gave her the impression of a Rotating Pill Realm Supreme Expert!


    This truly was inconceivable to Sister Yu.


    Ye Chen smiled lightly. He had just felt a surge of high spirits, and his mood had been tumultuous, which is why his aura was so overwhelming and uncontained, making it very direct for Sister Yu to sense.


    "By the way, Sister Yu, you asked for me, is there something you need?" Ye Chen reined in his aura and asked Sister Yu.


    Ye Chen''s current level of cultivation had truly reached a stage where "all auras return to one, and combat power is all controlled by the heart." When he released his aura, it could directly form an overwhelming suppressing force, and if he wanted to conceal his aura, he could do so without leaking even a sliver of True Qi, appearing just like an ordinary person.


    Even more, if Ye Chen wanted to display any level of strength, such as the True Qi Realm, the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, or the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, he could achieve this with changes in his aura.


    Only a true powerhouse with absolute control over True Qi could accomplish this!


    The ordinary Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses with Protective True Qi naturally dissipating could never achieve this extent.


    Only after Ye Chen contained his aura did Sister Yu feel the fearful thoughts within her subside somewhat, but the thought of Ye Chen being able to adjust his aura so effortlessly filled her with even greater astonishment.


    Sister Yu thought of the important task her master had entrusted to her and quickly suppressed this astonishment. She looked at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, about ten days ago, our master returned."


    "At the time, she specifically went to see you, but seeing that you were in seclusion, she did not disturb you. Three days ago, she left the Sect again, heading for Heaven Departure Nation."


    Fairy Jia Luo came back ten days ago?


    Sister Yu''s words made Ye Chen startle. Ten days prior, he was still in the midst of arduous cultivation of True Qi and Martial Skills, completely unaware that Fairy Jia Luo had looked for him.


    But if she had returned to the sect, why had she left again three days ago? Had she gone to see Heavenly Saint Long Xuan?


    Ye Chen was somewhat perplexed.


    At this moment, Sister Yu continued, "When she came back last time, her expression was rather grim, and when she left three days ago, she seemed very hurried. Just yesterday, our master specifically sent me a Sound Transmission Talisman and a letter, asking me to pass them on to you."


    As she spoke, Sister Yu took out the Sound Transmission Talisman and the letter.


    Ye Chen quickly took them.


    From what Sister Yu implied, Fairy Jia Luo''s troubled expression and rushed actions likely meant that something important had happened.


    Ye Chen placed the Sound Transmission Talisman against his forehead, listening to Fairy Jia Luo''s Divine Sense Transmission within, and as he listened on, his expression grew increasingly solemn. By the end, his own face had also turned rather grim.


    From Fairy Jia Luo''s Sound Transmission Talisman, Ye Chen learned that this matter was indeed related to the ancient tomb and to the ten Demon Sects!


    It turned out that after the day Ye Chen parted ways with the six powerhouses and Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, Fairy Jia Luo and the other six powerhouses, along with Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, went to see two other Heavenly Saints from the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    At first, letting a Heavenly Saint who had performed Body Snatching escape¡ªwhose True Soul Flame had also been extinguished by a cluster¡ªwas a sizable issue for the thirteen Southern Territory nations, but still bearable.


    However, to be on the safe side, the three Heavenly Saints of the Southern Territory had utilized some hidden measures within the Demon Sects to inquire about Heavenly Saint Moya''s movements after returning to the ten Western Wilderness Demon Sects.


    As a result, this inquiry greatly shocked and infuriated the three Heavenly Saints.


    It turned out that Heavenly Saint Moya indeed had the Law Buddhist Relic of Heavenly Saint Linghua, and whether it was due to the pressure from the powerful Heavenly Saint Long Xuan that made the ten Demon Sects feel threatened, they had directly chosen a group of Rotating Pill late-stage powerhouses with exceptional talents to collectively study the Law Buddhist Relic left by Heavenly Saint Linghua, hoping they would have some insight and attempt to break through to the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    At the same time, the four Heavenly Saints of the ten Demon Sects, including Heavenly Saint Moya who had returned, were even conducting a large lecture on cultivation secrets not usually divulged, for those highly-talented Rotating Pill powerhouses!


    These actions were still bearable for the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    After all, breaking through from the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm to the Heavenly Saint Realm required at least one of the five Heavenly Void Laws to be cultivated to Great Perfection. This type of cultivation was extremely difficult, necessitating vast innate talent, comprehension, and countless opportunities. Whether the Demon Sects'' methods would be effective was still uncertain.


    But then, there was another matter that truly angered the three Heavenly Saints of the Southern Territory.


    Under the fortunate revelation of one of the Rotating Pill late-stage pawns hidden within the Demon Sects by the Southern Territory, they learned that in addition to studying the Law Relic and conducting large lectures, two Heavenly Saints from the Western Wilderness had actually gone to the Chaotic Sea Area to seek assistance from other Heavenly Saints!


    Furthermore, these two Heavenly Saints had even made contact with three other Heavenly Saints who might aid the ten Western Wilderness Demon Sects!


    It was heard that these three Chaotic Sea Area Heavenly Saints had all been in seclusion for years; the shortest for six months, and the longest for three to five years, and they were about to emerge from their seclusion.


    If these three Heavenly Saints indeed emerged and decided to help the ten Western Wilderness Demon Sects against the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, the balance between the two sides would undoubtedly be shattered, and war between them would inevitably erupt!

 Chapter 277 : 244 Decision

    ```


    The three Heavenly Saints of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory couldn''t fathom how the Heavenly Saints of the Demon Sects managed to find allies willing to help them, and to find three at once!


    You must know that once cultivation reaches the Heavenly Saint Realm, there are very few things that are regarded as important, and those things that Heavenly Saints value, you can imagine how precious they must be.


    Given the barrenness of the Western Wilderness and Southern Territory, unless born in this domain, it is rare for Heavenly Saints to set foot in the Western Wilderness and Southern Territory.


    They would only be in the much richer central region with more cultivation resources, and in the Chaotic Sea Area where opportunities and fortunes are much greater.


    Asking a Heavenly Saint for help is impossible without offering astonishing benefits.


    After all, to engage in combat with other Heavenly Saints, sustaining injuries or death is a difficult thing for a Heavenly Saint to bear. Without significant benefits or interests involved, very few Heavenly Saints would assist others in war.


    And in the Western Wilderness and Southern Territory, there really isn''t much to captivate the attention of a Heavenly Saint-level powerhouse.


    This is also the reason why the three Great Heavenly Saints of the Southern Territory couldn''t figure out how the ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness managed to recruit Heavenly Saint-level helpers.


    They couldn''t understand, but facing this very real possibility, the three Great Heavenly Saints had to be extremely cautious!


    They even had to make thorough preparations to face any potential crises that might erupt!


    Three Great Heavenly Saints, ah, the strength of the ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness was already comparable to the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory. If they found three more Heavenly Saints as reinforcements, then should a war truly break out, the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory might suffer a crushing defeat!


    Moreover, after Heavenly Saint Moya returned to the Demon Sects with the Law Relic of Heavenly Saint Linghua, the series of actions by the Demon Sects had made the Southern Territory uneasy.


    Even though refining the Law Relic and performing a grand law ritual does not guarantee the creation of a new Heavenly Saint, what if a new Heavenly Saint was born? Wouldn''t that mean even greater pressure on the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory?


    The probability of defeat, of course, would be even greater!


    As Fairy Jia Luo transmitted through her message, upon learning of these developments, the strongest Heavenly Saint of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, immediately announced she would begin seclusion to break through to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    And Heavenly Saint Long Xuan declared that unless her breakthrough failed, or a war between the Southern Territory and Western Wilderness broke out, nothing else should disturb her. Facing the many tactics of the Western Wilderness, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had the thought of a final battle!


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, the most talented and powerful Heavenly Saint of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory¡ªif she really made it into the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, she could potentially turn the tide!


    But, of course, the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory couldn''t put all their hopes on Heavenly Saint Long Xuan alone.


    After Heavenly Saint Long Xuan went into seclusion, the other two Great Heavenly Saints, apart from trying to find other Heavenly Saints for assistance, also began preparations for nurturing the younger generation.


    Over the past few hundred years, they discovered several legacy sites, and these sites contained many treasures that could greatly benefit practitioners at the Rotating Pill Realm.


    The two Great Heavenly Saints directly placed these items from the legacy sites in one particular domain.


    Normally, this domain was only accessible to the disciples of Heavenly Saints, but now, faced with the aggressive Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, the two Great Heavenly Saints wouldn''t keep it for personal use. They decided to open up this domain, fully nurturing all the talented Rotating Pill Realm practitioners across the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory!


    If the ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness were planning to cultivate new Heavenly Saints, the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory certainly wouldn''t fall behind!


    Three days ago, Fairy Jia Luo, who had just returned to her sect, left in haste because she received the orders from the two Great Heavenly Saints. She was selected as an important candidate for nurturing and was to head to that special domain!


    And the law talisman and letter that Fairy Jia Luo sent to Sister Yu one day earlier to pass on to Ye Chen, they contained a hidden purpose.


    After Fairy Jia Luo went to that domain, she knew she might not come out for a long time, and it might be a while before she could return to the Taixuan Sect.


    In such a situation, Fairy Jia Luo thought of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao! And many others from the Taixuan Sect!


    She had already made arrangements for the others, but for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the two people Fairy Jia Luo was most concerned about¡ªone a young man she esteemed, and the other her most beloved disciple¡ªshe naturally put in extra thought to arrange for them!


    Ye Chen, with his performance in the ancient tomb, had already reached a level that could suppress early-stage Rotating Pill Realm practitioners, equivalent to the strength of a mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm practitioner.


    In a situation where a war might erupt between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, Fairy Jia Luo, of course, wanted to nurture Ye Chen to further enhance his strength¡ªto protect himself and face the crisis!


    Fairy Jia Luo requested the two Great Heavenly Saints to allow Ye Chen to join the training in that domain.


    But when the two Great Heavenly Saints learned that Ye Chen was at the Spirit Sea Realm, they shook their heads. The cultivation items they placed in that domain were beneficial only to Rotating Pill Realm practitioners who had merged with the five major void heavens'' laws and were of no use to Ye Chen, who was still at the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Ye Chen could not enter that domain for cultivation.


    At this point, Fairy Jia Luo thought of many arrangements and finally, she came up with the most appropriate one.


    The letter for Ye Chen was related to this most appropriate arrangement!


    The matter was to have Ye Chen proceed to the central region and cultivate within an even more powerful sect, a third-grade great sect.


    This third-grade sect was called "Tai''a Sword Sect"!


    When Ye Chen saw the name "Tai''a Sword Sect," he was astonished beyond measure.


    ```


    For Ye Chen had never been to "Tai''a Sword Sect," yet he had a significant connection with this sect!


    Back when Ye Chen and Jiang Yao entered the Qian Lian Cave Mansion, the shadowy avatar of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji had mentioned that the sect Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Lotus Leaf Heavenly Saint had joined years ago was the grand sword sect "Tai''a Sword Sect"!


    Even the sword qi spirit liquid that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao absorbed through their Sword Palace acupoints, which they had activated, was derived from the innate sword qi "Tai''a Sword Aura" collected by Lotus Leaf Heavenly Saint at the Tai''a Sword Sect!


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that Fairy Jia Luo would actually ask him to go to Tai''a Sword Sect for cultivation; the sect that Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Lotus Leaf Heavenly Saint had joined back then turned out to be a third-grade major sect!


    According to Fairy Jia Luo, she had traveled to the Central Region to participate in the Rotating Pill Realm Sword Dueling Conference years ago and befriended a late-stage Rotating Pill friend from Tai''a Sword Sect who also held a significant position within the sect.


    The letter she gave Ye Chen was intended for that friend; as long as Ye Chen had the letter, that friend would surely take him in and allow Ye Chen to cultivate within the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    Fairy Jia Luo also said that with Ye Chen''s current cultivation level, Taixuan Sect could no longer teach him much, and since she was going to cultivate in the Heavenly Saint Domain, she wouldn''t be able to instruct Ye Chen either. If Ye Chen were to practice in Tai''a Sword Sect, he could increase his strength much faster in a shorter amount of time.


    After all, Tai''a Sword Sect was a third-grade major sect.


    If it were before he learned about the impending war, Ye Chen might have hesitated to accept Fairy Jia Luo''s suggestion to cultivate at Tai''a Sword Sect.


    However, knowing that the Demon Sects were likely to launch a major war against the Southern Territory''s thirteen kingdoms, Ye Chen''s hesitation had turned into a final decision!


    That is, he would follow Fairy Jia Luo''s arrangements and go to cultivate within Tai''a Sword Sect!


    As Fairy Jia Luo had said, a third-grade sect much stronger than Taixuan Sect could potentially enable Ye Chen to reach higher realms of cultivation in far less time!


    With the impending war between the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory likely to break out at any moment, Ye Chen naturally needed to seize every opportunity to enhance his strength!


    Only when he truly became more powerful could he better protect himself, his loved ones, and his nation!


    As he cultivated at Tai''a Sword Sect, he remained a disciple of Taixuan Sect and was also a citizen of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom; should war truly erupt between the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory, he would definitely join in to contribute to the Southern Territory''s cause!


    A martial artist''s cultivation could not always take place within a single sect, especially for the powerful ones, who might cultivate across many sects throughout their lives.


    Therefore, Ye Chen wouldn''t be overly resistant to going to Tai''a Sword Sect for cultivation.


    Moreover, this was the very sect where Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Lotus Leaf Heavenly Saint once trained¡ªa third-grade major sect of the sword path¡ªYe Chen was also curious to see what this sect was like!


    Another factor in Ye Chen''s decision was Fairy Jia Luo''s arrangement for Jiang Yao.


    Through a transmitted message, Fairy Jia Luo also expressed her hope that Jiang Yao would go to Tai''a Sword Sect to cultivate. She had included Jiang Yao''s name in the letter to her late-stage Rotating Pill friend from Tai''a Sword Sect.


    Fairy Jia Luo knew from Ye Chen that Jiang Yao was undergoing a Bloodline Awakening; she hoped Jiang Yao could further her cultivation within the Tai''a Sword Sect after completing the Bloodline Awakening, so she would be able to protect herself when the great war came.


    Ye Chen was even clearer than Fairy Jia Luo on how crucial strength was to Jiang Yao.


    Jiang Yao belonged to the divine phoenix family from the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm, which found itself besieged by two ancient races¡ªthe Zhu Yan race and the Flying Spirit race¡ªin flaming warfare.


    Knowing her background, one could imagine the weight on Jiang Yao''s shoulders.


    Although she now had the opportunity for a Bloodline Awakening, Jiang Yao would surely wish to accelerate her cultivation within a more powerful sect.


    Although Jiang Yao was still in the midst of her Bloodline Awakening and had not emerged, Ye Chen, through the level of heart-mind connection he shared with Jiang Yao, knew that if Fairy Jia Luo suggested that Jiang Yao cultivate at Tai''a Sword Sect, she would certainly agree.


    Sigh!


    Within Sister Yu''s small courtyard, Ye Chen took down the transmitted message talisman from Fairy Jia Luo off his forehead. He glanced at Jiang Yao, still cultivating inside the Blue Mansion, and heaved a long sigh.


    "If that''s the case, then it''s off to the Central Region I go, to that ''Tai''a Sword Sect,'' to take a look!"


    Ye Chen had thought that he would soon be heading to the Central Region to participate in the Sword Dueling Conference.


    Now it seemed there was something else in the Central Region that related to him.


    "The Peak Master advised that the sooner I get to Tai''a Sword Sect, the better, it seems I must set off earlier."


    Originally, Ye Chen had planned to remain in closed-door cultivation until just before the Sword Dueling Conference started and then head to the Central Region; now, this schedule had to be brought forward.


    "After making some preparations, I''ll head to the Central Region."


    "The Sword Dueling Conference will start in a little over two months. Before that, I can visit the Tai''a Sword Sect first."


    "Jiang Yao has been undergoing Bloodline Awakening for nearly two months now. Phoenix Spirit Senior mentioned that the longest period for Bloodline Awakening is three months. Perhaps by the time I reach the Central Region, Jiang Yao will have completed her Bloodline Awakening."


    "By then, we can explore the Central Region together!"


    Ye Chen had made up his mind.

 Chapter 278 : 245: Boundary River, Ferry

    ```


    Three days later, a streak of light shot up into the sky from Taixuan Sect, speeding towards the Central Region.


    Once this streak of light flew above a remote boundary, a palm-sized Heavenly Origin Boat shot out from within it, and in the span of a few breaths, the boat expanded to over thirty feet.


    As the Heavenly Origin Boat expanded, the streak of light instantly burst into the vessel, and when the light dissipated, the figure of a young man was revealed inside the boat.


    This young man was none other than Ye Chen, who had made his preparations and left the Taixuan Sect to head for the Central Region!


    And this boat was the newly acquired Heavenly Origin Boat¡ªone of the three Sacred Artifacts gained by Ye Chen!


    After receiving news of Fairy Jia Luo from Sister Yu, Ye Chen had made thorough preparations for his journey to the Central Region over these three days.


    As for the disciples of Snowdrift Peak, including Sister Yu, Ye Chen learned that Fairy Jia Luo had made other arrangements for them. Fairy Jia Luo had given Sister Yu a Sword Canon to cultivate in seclusion, and other disciples of Snowdrift Peak were to be trained under the guidance of another Peak Master from Taixuan Sect.


    Ye Chen had returned all of the Sword Intent Law Beads he got from Sister Yu before he left. Although he hadn''t fully comprehended many of the sword formations and sword intents within the beads, he had memorized them and could continue to cultivate without the beads.


    Inside the boat.


    Ye Chen stood in the cabin of the Heavenly Origin Boat, looking up.


    "Heavenly Origin Boat, truly worthy of being a Sacred Artifact vessel, is indeed extraordinary."


    Normally, the top of the boat should be exposed, but when Ye Chen entered the Heavenly Origin Boat, a dome of light appeared above him, completely sealing off the boat.


    Even more strangely, this dome of light acted like a massive screen, displaying the various landscapes surrounding the boat. It showed so clearly that even the land thousands of meters below, with all its details, could be seen on the screen.


    While inside the boat, one could watch the mountains and rivers, the sky and earth pass by through the screen¡ªa truly wonderous feeling!


    "With this screen, I don''t need to waste spiritual awareness to cover my surroundings. The world around the boat is fully within my sight."


    "Additionally, with the boat''s incredible speed and its great defensive power capable of resisting attacks from Rotating Pill Realm experts, this is simply a perfect flying treasure!"


    Ye Chen sat down cross-legged inside the boat, full of admiration.


    "The Heavenly Origin Boat can cover over ten thousand li in one hour, and over a hundred thousand li in a day. With this boat, I can fly out of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and into the northern Tian Yun Nation within a day."


    "In just a few days, I''ll be able to fly out of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory!"


    Ye Chen couldn''t wait to try out the sensation of flying the boat.


    Speak and test!


    Ye Chen lightly tapped a formation at the bow of the Heavenly Origin Boat with his finger, and in an instant, the boat shot forward.


    The speed of the Heavenly Origin Boat even exceeded that of a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert''s streak of light!


    As the boat sped forth, Ye Chen saw the land and sky rapidly passing by on the screen, but sitting cross-legged inside, he felt incredibly stable, not sensing even the slightest turbulence. It was as if he was sitting still on solid ground!


    Ye Chen nodded in satisfaction.


    "The Central Region lies to the north of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory. To get there from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, one must pass through five countries and cover a distance of hundreds of thousands of li. I must hasten my journey."


    "No time like the present, let''s set off now!"


    Having experienced the marvels of the Heavenly Origin Boat, Ye Chen no longer hesitated. He operated the boat and sped towards the Central Region.


    In moments, the boat had vanished from the skies over the Heavenly Wind Kingdom.


    ...


    Six days later, Ye Chen finally arrived at the northernmost country of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory¡ªSkyfrost Nation.


    According to the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, it wouldn''t take long to reach the boundary between the thirteen Southern Territory countries and the Central Region upon entering Skyfrost Nation.


    Upon entering the nation, Ye Chen stowed away the Heavenly Origin Boat and continued forward as a streak of light.


    About to travel to the Central Region, Ye Chen, of course, wouldn''t want to make the distinctly conspicuous Heavenly Origin Boat visible, as the region teemed with many Heavenly Saint Realm experts. Should one of them covet the Heavenly Origin Boat and attempt to rob it, it would bring unnecessary trouble.


    Ye Chen''s current travel speed was already very fast. Although not as swift as the Heavenly Origin Boat or a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm expert, it surpassed many mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts.


    After flying for about half a day, Ye Chen finally caught sight of a giant river in the distance.


    Seeing the giant river immediately rejuvenated his spirits.


    "Is that the Boundary River ahead, the division between the Southern Territory and the Central Region?"


    "According to the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, once I cross the Boundary River, I will enter the Central Region!"


    With renewed speed, Ye Chen burst forth and in no time reached the riverbank of the massive waterway.


    From afar, Ye Chen could sense the river''s immensity, but standing on the riverbank and witnessing the surging river made him even more astonished.


    This colossal river was over ten thousand zhang wide. From one side, one couldn''t even glimpse the other bank, though Ye Chen knew the land across the river was the territory of the Central Region!


    From the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, Ye Chen learned that the Central Region is the oldest land of martial arts heritage in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    ```


    The Central Realm was utterly different from the other regions of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, giving one the distinct impression of occupying the absolute center of the entire continent!


    Outside the vast expanse of the Central Realm, there was a circular river that separated it from all other territories. This circular river seemed to be like a great protecting river of the entire Central Region.


    This great river was the one now before Ye Chen¡ªthe Boundary River!


    No matter whether from the Southern Territory or the Western Desolation, from the Far North or the East, one had to cross this immense river to enter the Central Realm.


    Ye Chen stood by the edge of the Boundary River, watching the surging flow of this mighty river.


    "Rumor has it that a peerless powerhouse once placed a heaven-reaching forbidden spell on the Boundary River, which prevents any martial artist below the Heavenly Saint Realm from flying above it, not even wading across the river."


    "I wonder if my Tian Sheng power would allow me to fly over the Boundary River."


    Ye Chen was curious and wanted to give it a try.


    With a single thought, the Heavenly Saint Law Bead in his chest burst forth with overwhelming Tian Sheng power, enveloping Ye Chen.


    However, as soon as Ye Chen, wrapped in Tian Sheng power, stepped forward to tread above the Boundary River, he felt a terrifying force directly devouring the Tian Sheng power outside his body. In the blink of an eye, the Tian Sheng power under Ye Chen''s feet was completely consumed!


    This frightened Ye Chen into hastily retracting his extended foot!


    Only after Ye Chen stepped back from the Boundary River did the terrifying force vanish as if it had never existed.


    "What a formidable force!"


    "To directly annihilate my Tian Sheng power, the Boundary River has indeed been placed under a heaven-reaching forbidden spell!"


    "Judging by this power, it''s likely at least a mid-level Heavenly Saint Realm restriction!"


    "Non-Heavenly Saints cannot fly across; it seems that even my Tian Sheng power is not enough to fly over the Boundary River."


    Ye Chen put away the Heavenly Saint Law Bead while deep in thought.


    "The Central Realm is truly a land of mystery."


    "Just this Boundary River alone is enough to shock the mind of all who wish to travel to the Central Realm."


    Ye Chen shook his head.


    Unable to fly over the Boundary River, he had to find another way to cross it.


    Fortunately, Fairy Jia Luo had once visited the Central Realm, and she recorded in the "Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map" that there was a specific tool for crossing the Boundary River for those martial artists below the Heavenly Saint Realm¡ªa ferry.


    It was said that every day, ferries would appear on the Boundary River, uncontrolled yet able to automatically dock at the countless ports along the riverbank.


    To travel to the Central Realm, martial artists below the Heavenly Saint Realm must find a port where a ferry docks and then take a ferry headed to the Central Realm.


    In the void, Ye Chen looked ahead at the Boundary River and pondered, "According to the ''Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map'', there are a total of one hundred and eight ports at the Boundary River bordering the Southern Territory and the Central Realm. A port should be within several tens of miles from here..."


    As Ye Chen was contemplating, three streaks of light suddenly shot towards his direction from the sky at great speed.


    "Huh? I specially found a secluded place to land and observe the Boundary River, so why is someone flying towards me?" Ye Chen looked up into the sky.


    Moments later, the three streaks of light descended beside Ye Chen.


    After the light dissipated, they revealed three young men.


    Ye Chen saw that the three youths looked strikingly similar to each other, almost as if they were triplets, and each emitted the aura of the late Spirit Sea Realm. Moreover, they all carried a sword on their backs, indicating that they were sword cultivators.


    The newcomers were three late-stage Spirit Sea Realm martial artists.


    As soon as these three youths landed, they looked at Ye Chen curiously, one of them even chuckled and said to Ye Chen, "Fellow Daoist, by your look, this must be your first time at the edge of the Boundary River, right?"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Before Ye Chen could speak, the youth continued, "You can''t fly across the Boundary River, you know. When we three first went to the Central Realm, we also tried to fly across the Boundary River. However, as soon as we stepped into the airspace above the river, our True Qi was rapidly drained until eventually, we fell from the sky and were bounced right out of the river."


    "We saw you from a distance trying to cross and came specially to remind you that to cross the river, you need to go to the port and find a ''ferry''."


    "Let''s go, if you are heading to the port, we are too¡ªwe can take you there on our way."


    "Then my thanks to the three fellow Daoists. May I know how to address you?" Ye Chen said with a smile to the three men.


    He thought they had come with some other purpose, but they had arrived with the good intention of warning him.


    However, Ye Chen did not reveal that he already knew about the Boundary River and was merely curious to try crossing it himself.


    Since he was unfamiliar with the location of the port, it would be beneficial to accompany these men there.


    After a brief exchange, Ye Chen learned the names of the three men, who indeed turned out to be triplets named Shi Tianhe, Shi Tianjiang, and Shi Tianhai.


    The three of them were all sect disciples from a fifth-grade sect in Tian Yun Nation.


    On the way to the port, the youth named Shi Tianhe spoke to Ye Chen, "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, you are only in the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm and are planning to go to the Central Realm? The Central Realm is much more dangerous than the Southern Territory¡ªyou should be careful."

 Chapter 279: Chapter 246 Snow Feather Flying Horse

    Shi Tianhe spoke truthfully; the Central Region was indeed more dangerous than the Southern Territory.


    In the past few centuries, the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory had enjoyed peace through a truce with the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness.


    However, the three great dynasties of the Central Region, with their countless sects and intertwined power structures, along with abundant resources and numerous ancient relics and treasures, often sparked all sorts of conflicts and ambushes, resulting in countless old powers being destroyed each year and just as many new powers rising.


    In terms of strength, the Central Region was terribly formidable; the strongest entities in the whole Southern Territory and Western Wilderness were but fourth-tier sects with early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, whereas the Central Region housed not only third-tier sects but even second-tier sects with late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses!


    Truly, they were the elite of the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    In the face of so many Heavenly Saint Realm experts, of course, the numbers of Rotating Pill Realm experts far exceeded those in the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, with countless martial artists at the Spirit Sea Realm as well.


    Under these circumstances, even the Shi brothers at the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm didn''t dare say they were safe in the Central Region. So naturally, they were somewhat surprised to see Ye Chen, at the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm, daring to venture alone into the Central Region.


    Yet what Shi Tianhe didn''t know was that Ye Chen had actually disguised his aura to appear at the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm for this journey to the Central Region, to avoid drawing too much attention.


    If Shi Tianhe knew that Ye Chen was only fifteen years old and already at the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm, with a cultivation speed unsurpassed even by the countless genius disciples of the numerous sects within the Central Region''s three great dynasties, he would probably be utterly astounded!


    If Shi Tianhe knew of Ye Chen''s true fighting prowess, which was sufficient to completely suppress mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts, and even able to contend against late-stage Rotating Pill Realm experts¡ªhe had even faced Heavenly Saints in battle¡ªhe would likely be completely petrified!


    Even though there were many existences in the Central Region''s three great dynasties that Ye Chen looked up to, he now had enough capital to venture through the Central Region.


    Of course, Shi Tianhe was unaware of all this, and Ye Chen had no intention of enlightening him.


    Ye Chen appreciated Shi Tianhe''s concern and smiled at him, saying, "Thank you for your concern, Brother Tianhe. I will be cautious on my journey to the Central Region."


    Seeing that Ye Chen took his advice to heart, Shi Tianhe was very pleased. He patted his chest and said to Ye Chen, "By the way, Brother Ye Chen, what are you planning to do in the Central Region? If it happens to be on the way for my brothers and me, we can travel together. Not to brag, but there aren''t many who dare to trouble us below the Rotating Pill Realm."


    Ye Chen smiled and said, "I''m planning to go to the Tai''a Sword Sect."


    "The Tai''a Sword Sect?!" Hearing these four words, Shi Tianhe was startled, almost falling from the sky.


    As a swordsman, Shi Tianhe naturally knew of the renown of the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    That was a legendary third-tier great sect!


    The Tai''a Sword Sect had elders at the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm presiding over it! Not a single entity in the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory could boast a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse!


    Hearing that Ye Chen was heading to the Tai''a Sword Sect, Shi Tianhe was, of course, astonished beyond measure.


    It wasn''t just Shi Tianhe who was greatly surprised; his other two brothers, Shi Tianjiang and Shi Tianhai, also exclaimed in shock upon hearing that Ye Chen intended to visit the Tai''a Sword Sect, "Brother Ye Chen, the Tai''a Sword Sect is a true great sect. It''s not easy for outsiders to enter.


    I heard that even Rotating Pill Realm experts need to submit a visitation request and receive approval before they can enter!"


    "Even though numerous sects within the three great dynasties are often wiped out in strife, the third and fourth-tier sects still stand tall across the dynasties, especially the third-tier sects, which are the true behemoths of the Central Region!"


    "The Tai''a Sword Sect is among the top echelons of the third-tier sects, and perhaps only the supposedly hidden second-tier sects of the Great Xia Dynasty could surpass the Tai''a Sword Sect head-on."


    "Brother Ye Chen, what business do you have at the Tai''a Sword Sect? Don''t end up being unable to even enter their gates!"


    The Shi brothers looked at Ye Chen with concern.


    Ye Chen smiled and said, "I have been entrusted by a senior to visit an acquaintance there, no need for the three Shi brothers to worry on my account."


    Hearing that Ye Chen was visiting an acquaintance at the Tai''a Sword Sect, the Shi brothers finally nodded in understanding.


    In their minds, if Ye Chen, at the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm, did not have any special connections, it would indeed be difficult for him to even approach the Tai''a Sword Sect''s gates.


    However, learning that Ye Chen actually had a senior and acquaintance within the Tai''a Sword Sect, the brothers started to see him in a new light.


    As Ye Chen chatted with the Shi brothers, they arrived at a ferry crossing nearby without realizing it.


    This crossing was called "Seventy-Three Crossing."


    The Boundary River area, where the Southern Territory met the Central Region, had a total of one hundred and eight crossings; "Seventy-Three Crossing" was so named because it was the seventy-third from the left out of the one hundred and eight crossings.


    At that moment, there were already two to three hundred people at Seventy-Three Crossing, waiting for the "ferry" to arrive, so they could travel to the Central Region.


    Experience tales at m v|l e''-novelhall.net


    Spotting the two to three hundred people below, the Shi brothers were ecstatic, "Not too crowded today. A ferry from the Boundary River comes daily and can take five hundred people. Our group can all get on board smoothly!"


    "Last time we went to the Central Region, we had to wait three whole days to squeeze onto the ferry."


    While the brothers spoke, they descended to the ground, and Ye Chen followed, landing at Seventy-Three Crossing.


    Surveying the crowd waiting for the ferry at the crossing, Ye Chen noticed that there were mainly martial artists at the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm, with a few under that realm grouping together in tens, apparently planning to head to the Central Region as partners.


    As for Rotating Pill Realm experts, there were two present at the crossing, although both were at the initial stage of cultivation.


    As for even more powerful beings, there were none at this ferry crossing.


    Ye Chen surveyed the crowd around him before joining the Shi brothers in waiting for the arrival of the "ferryboat".


    "Ye Chen, don''t worry," Shi Tianhe said to Ye Chen, "the ferryboat always drifts in at dusk, so we still have to wait for an hour or two."


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    An hour or two before he could board the ferryboat and head to the Central Region?


    At this thought, Ye Chen also began to feel some anticipation.


    As time passed, everyone at the Seventy-Three Crossing waited patiently for the "ferryboat" to come, and before they knew it, one and a half hours had swiftly gone by.


    Just as the usual time for the ferryboat''s arrival approached, all those who were seated at the dock stood up and looked out at the Boundary River. However, before the "ferryboat" could arrive, a neighing sound came from the sky.


    "Hmm, why is there a neighing sound in the sky?"


    Many people looked up, and upon doing so, their eyes widened in shock.


    Ye Chen also looked up and saw a divine and peerless flying horse dragging a carriage across the sky.


    The horse was covered in hair as white and shiny as snow, measuring seven to eight meters in length, and astonishingly, it also had a pair of huge wings.


    A winged flying horse, even though Ye Chen had seen countless demon beasts and Great Demons, he had never seen such a creature!


    "Snow Feather Flying Horse! That seems to be a Snow Feather Flying Horse!" Shi Tianhe exclaimed, recognizing the flying horse in the sky.


    As Shi Tianhe identified the flying horse, many others at the dock recognized the horse''s origin: "This Snow Feather Flying Horse is said to be a Half-Step Demon King level entity, and a unique flying Half-Step Demon King even among the three major dynasties of the Central Region, belonging to the Great Zhou Dynasty!"


    "Its rarity is such that it''s even comparable to the real Demon Kings of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory!"


    "Who is this, that they can use a ''Snow Feather Flying Horse'' to pull a carriage?!"


    Amidst the exclamations of the crowd, the divine and peerless flying horse stopped in the sky, and at the same time, a violent gale burst forth from within the carriage, sweeping towards the crowd standing on the dock below.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Quite a few people standing below the carriage were swept up by the raging wind and flung backwards, thrown hundreds of yards away.


    In an instant, a large swath of land below the carriage was cleared, leaving it utterly empty!


    "Such a powerful presence, is this... could this be the great divine ability of turning breath into wind?"


    "Who exactly is inside this carriage?"


    Although the Shi brothers stood far from the carriage and weren''t swept up by the wind directly, they still felt a razor-sharp breeze slashing past them.


    This caused the faces of the three brothers, who were in the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, to change.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, who was standing beside the brothers, narrowed his eyes and looked towards the inside of the carriage.


    While others could not see what was inside the carriage, Ye Chen''s spiritual sense was extremely powerful. He had seen in the instant the gale burst forth from the carriage that it was the action of a young man in a brocade robe.


    The young man, with narrow eyes and thin lips, had a restlessly rolling presence and was evidently a mid Rotating Pill Realm martial artist.


    Ye Chen observed a faint sneer at the corner of the young man''s mouth as he cleared the ground below with a wave of his hand.


    As Ye Chen sized up the young man inside the carriage, and the Snow Feather Flying Horse outside, the other people, feeling the terrifying aura emanating from the carriage, began to retreat, even the two early Rotating Pill Realm martial artists changed their expressions.


    At that moment, the carriage and the flying horse in the sky gracefully descended to the ground.


    It seemed that the person inside the carriage had cleared the ground below earlier expressly to make room for their own landing.


    Such a domineering clearance left many at the dock angry but afraid to speak out.


    In the midst of the crowd''s anger, the "ferryboat" everyone had been waiting for finally began to drift towards the dock from the Boundary River.


    When the ferryboat came into clear view, everyone had already forgotten about the domineering actions of the person in the carriage earlier; all surged towards the dock, ready to board the ferryboat as soon as it got close.


    At this moment, a cold voice rang out throughout the dock: "I, ''Wu Quan'', don''t want to squeeze onto a boat with other people. I''m commandeering this ferryboat. The rest of you, wait for the next one."

 Chapter 280: Chapter 247: Mysterious Girl

    As this voice rang out, a figure flew directly from the carriage and stood in the void.


    This figure was none other than the brocade-clad young man with narrow eyes that Ye Chen had previously sensed with his divine consciousness!


    Hearing this young man say he wanted to commandeer the ferry, many people''s faces changed.


    This ferry only came once a day¡ªif this young man monopolized it, they would have to wait an extra day!


    "Young master, the ferry can seat five hundred people at once. There''s room for all of us here¡ªperhaps you could ..." a late-stage Spirit Sea martial artist couldn''t help but speak up to the young man.


    Boom!


    Before the late-stage Spirit Sea martial artist could finish speaking, the brocade-clad young man standing in the void pointed in the air, and instantly, the martial artist was blasted backward, flying back and finally hitting a large tree by the ferry dock with a bang and spewing a mouthful of blood.


    "I already said that I''ve commandeered this boat. What, did you not hear me clearly?" the young man coldly glanced at the Spirit Sea martial artist who had been hit and spat blood, then he swept up the carriage and the flying horses into a special bag with a wave of his hand. With a step in the void, he moved toward the ferry.


    As the young man advanced, everyone still on the way to the ferry was tossed about by his power, and even two martial artists who had already run onto the ferry were grabbed by the young man with one move, pulled up from the ferry, and thrown onto the ground.


    It seemed that this young man truly did not care at all about everyone else; he really intended to dominate the ferry for himself.


    Dominating!


    It was utterly dominating!


    Clearly of no ordinary birth and with great strength, the young man simply ignored all the others waiting for the ferry at the dock.


    "So unlucky! Too unlucky!"


    "I thought we could get on the ferry directly since there were fewer people today, but we ended up encountering such a domineering powerhouse!"


    "One person monopolizing an entire ferry, what a waste!"


    Shi Tianhe, one of the Shi Family''s three brothers, muttered in frustration, though he kept his voice very low, fearing the young man might overhear.


    Shi Tianjiang and Shi Tianhai were also looking dejectedly at the young man heading for the ferry, their eyes filled with helplessness.


    All three brothers were late-stage Spirit Sea realm martial artists, but the young man was clearly of the Rotating Pill realm. Seeing that not even two early-stage Rotating Pill martial artists dared to speak up in front of this young man, it was evident he was at least at the mid-stage Rotating Pill level.


    Such beings were naturally not to be trifled with by the Shi Family''s three brothers.


    "Ye Chen, let''s wait for the next ferry," the three brothers consoled Ye Chen beside them, "We''ve heard of such domineering powerhouses before, but never imagined we''d be so unlucky as to meet one today. Alas, the Barbaric Wilderness Continent respects the strong; there''s nothing we can do." "It''s okay, we''ll just wait another two or three days at most.


    I don''t believe someone can commandeer the ferry indefinitely."


    In the eyes of the three brothers, Ye Chen, being at the early-stage Spirit Sea realm and his first time traveling to the Central Region, might be terrified by this situation, so they offered words of comfort.


    At that moment, they heard Ye Chen calmly say: "Strength is revered, you say? Just mid-stage Rotating Pill, that doesn''t count as truly powerful."


    Ye Chen''s voice was low, and the three brothers hadn''t heard him clearly yet. They were about to ask Ye Chen what he had said when they suddenly heard an uproar.


    Looking up, their eyes nearly popped out.


    In the sky, the previously domineering brocade-clad young man, now at his feet out of nowhere, had black True Qi appearing one strand after another.


    This black True Qi, like ropes, tightly bound the young man''s legs in the void.


    The Shi Family''s three brothers saw that the brocade-clad young man, initially dismissive when he saw the black True Qi, triggered a vast surge of his own True Qi to break free from the binding black True Qi.


    But instead, the black True Qi wound tighter and tighter, and in the end, the brocade-clad young man couldn''t even struggle, his legs completely immobilized by the strands of black True Qi.


    Moreover, the black True Qi continued to spread upward, intending, it seemed, to completely immobilize the brocade-clad young man''s entire body in the sky!


    This scene made countless people at the ferry dock cry out in shock, and it turned the complexion of the brocade-clad young man dark with anger.


    Everyone realized the person who made a move against this brocade-clad young man was undoubtedly more powerful than him!


    "Who is it?"


    "Who is so strong?"


    "Could it be that among us there''s a true expert in hiding? Someone more powerful than a mid-stage Rotating Pill martial artist?"


    "Could it be a late-stage Rotating Pill big shot?!"


    All around, people couldn''t help but look in every direction, trying to see who had taken action.


    The two early-stage Rotating Pill martial artists trembled even more.


    After all, Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses could directly fly across the Boundary River; only those below the Heavenly Saint Realm would take a ferry. And under the Heavenly Saint Realm, the Rotating Pill Realm was the most powerful.


    They had felt quite mighty coming to the ferry port in their early-stage Rotating Pill Realm, but then they encountered an overbearing mid-stage Rotating Pill brocade-clad young man, and now this young man had been taught a lesson by someone else, clearly indicating there was an even more powerful presence among them.


    This, of course, left the two early-stage Rotating Pill martial artists utterly astounded!


    However, despite searching, no one saw who stepped forward, clearly indicating that the strong figure did not wish to attract attention.


    This made everyone else draw a sharp breath.


    Thinking that among them was hidden a figure even more formidable than a mid-stage Rotating Pill martial artist sent shivers down their spines.


    Meanwhile, in the sky, the originally domineering brocade-clad young man¡ªseeing that the billowing black Qi had already entangled half his body, rendering him unable to struggle¡ªhis complexion turned from shock to terror.


    In the end, unable to bear the feeling of unavoidable resistance, he shouted in panic, begging for mercy, "Which senior has acted?"


    "Senior... senior, please spare my life!"


    "I had absolutely no intention of offending you, senior!"


    The domineering attitude of the brocade-clad youth had disappeared completely, replaced with a supplicating, groveling expression.


    People like him, who bully others with their power, become utterly servile when they actually encounter someone stronger than themselves.


    "Senior?"


    In the crowd, Ye Chen shook his head and thought to himself, "I am certainly not any ''senior''!"


    The one who had made a move against the domineering youth was, of course, Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen had no intention of letting this youth delay his journey for a whole day waiting for the next ferry, and he certainly wouldn''t allow the youth to claim an entire ferry for his personal use just like that.


    Domineering?


    Then teaching him a lesson was called for!


    "I''ll trap you here at the ferry crossing for three days!"


    Ye Chen narrowed his eyes and looked at the pleading youth.


    As he narrowed his eyes, the black energy that was entwining the youth surged crazily in the sky. In the end, the youth''s entire body was completely enveloped by the black energy, even the sounds of his pleas were utterly trapped within the black mist, unable to make a single sound anymore!


    This scene left the hundreds of people at the ferry crossing thoroughly shocked.


    After an instant of dead silence, the crowd burst into an uproarious cheer, "That damned youth is trapped! We can board the ferry now. At last, we can take the ferry to the Central Region!"


    .net


    Immediately, the crowd surged frantically towards the ferry.


    In the throng, someone shouted loudly, "I don''t know which senior has lent a helping hand. The senior may not wish to come forward, but we must all thank them!"


    "Thank you, senior!"


    The shouts from the crowd echoed far and wide!


    "Incredible!" The three Shi brothers also pulled Ye Chen with them, moving towards the ferry. In the midst of the surge, upon seeing the youth completely shrouded in black energy and invisible in the sky, Shi Tianhe gasped in admiration.


    Shi Tianjiang and Shi Tianhai even joined the crowd, shouting, "Thank you, senior!"


    This made Ye Chen beside them somewhat bemused.


    If the three knew it was him who had acted, they probably wouldn''t dare to be so familiar with him anymore.


    Without the domineering person monopolizing the ferry, within moments, the two or three hundred people at the dock had all crowded onto the ship.


    "Is this the ferry?"


    Ye Chen stood with the three Shi brothers in a corner of the ferry. When he saw that the ferry seemed ordinary with no traces of True Qi fluctuations and yet could carry so many people across the Boundary River, Ye Chen was also amazed.


    Once everyone was on board, the evening glow rose slowly. The ferry left the shore of the Southern Territory and drifted slowly toward the riverfront of the Central Region on the opposite side of the river.


    At the seventy-third ferry crossing, only the figure enveloped by black energy was left, completely immobilized in the void!


    Just as the ferry reached the center of the Boundary River, and the ferry was completely out of sight from the dock, a sudden coquettish voice came from atop a large tree by the now deserted seventy-third crossing, "Not bad, quite formidable indeed.


    To be in the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, at fifteen years of bone age, yet capable of trapping a mid Rotating Pill Realm individual with a flick of the wrist."


    As the voice echoed, looking towards the tree revealed that a fourteen or fifteen-year-old girl in white had appeared at some point on the tree.


    The girl was sitting on the tree, swinging her long legs idly. Looking up along her legs, one could see a stunning curve over her slender, attractive waist. Higher up was her full, seductive chest, delicate collarbones, and an elegant, swan-like neck, snow-white and graceful.


    On her exquisitely beautiful face, a pair of vivacious eyes sparkled with a sly look. She seemed to be an intelligent and beautiful young girl.


    In the arms of the girl in white, there was also a snow-white little marten, which was soundly asleep in her embrace.


    While speaking, the fair hand holding the little marten beckoned lightly towards the black energy that enshrouded the youth on the other side. A strand of black energy instantly flew into her fingertips.


    After toying with the strand of black energy, a smile spread across the girl''s face, "Even the True Qi is of a type I''ve never seen before!"


    "How interesting, truly interesting! I didn''t expect that in my trip from Great Xia, having seen no interesting individuals in Great Qian or the Southern Territory, I would encounter such a formidable young man in such a remote place on my way back!"


    "Fifteen years old, yet stronger than someone in the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm. It seems Grandpa was right after all; there really are people similar to me in this world."


    As she spoke, the girl carrying the little marten leaped down from the tree and stood in the void. Standing up, her legs seemed even more slender and straight, her delicate body''s curves more charming and enchanting.


    "Hehe, let''s follow and see," said the girl, carrying the little marten and lightly jumping from the tree into the void, then stepping toward the Boundary River.


    By that time, there was no ferry on the Boundary River, but the girl showed no intention of stopping.


    In the end, the girl walked on air, actually stepping into the airspace of the Boundary River!


    The Boundary River, which could not be flown across by anyone below the Heavenly Saint Realm and whose restraining laws could devour even the power of a late Rotating Pill expert and even the Heavenly Saint power of Ye Chen, seemed to have no effect on the girl!


    Furthermore, as she walked above the Boundary River, a mysterious moisture began to envelop her delicate figure, almost as if protecting her, making the girl seem even more like a celestial being amidst the billowing waves.

 Chapter 281: Chapter 248 Misty Sea Forest

    Ye Chen was unaware of everything that was happening at the Seventy-Three Crossing.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was standing at a corner of the ferry with the three Shi brothers, watching the broad and boundless Boundary River.


    Bathed in the evening glow, the Boundary River sparkled, exceptionally mesmerizing.


    "Southern Territory, Central Region, separated by a river, yet they are two different worlds," Ye Chen mused with emotion.


    Thinking about how he was about to enter the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, to witness a broader world and encounter more powerful figures, a hint of anticipation welled up in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    The excitement was also mounting among the other passengers and the Shi brothers, who felt increasingly thrilled as the ferry got closer to the boundary of the Central Region.


    Finally, after drifting for almost half an hour, the ferry reached the other side of the Boundary River¡ªthe edge of the river boundary of the Central Region.


    "The Central Region, we''ve finally arrived!"


    "I can finally see for myself what the three great empires of the Central Region look like!"


    As the ferry docked, many who were visiting the Central Region for the first time shouted excitedly.


    Ye Chen also looked up towards the front. From the middle of the Boundary River, the view of the Central Region was hazy and indistinct, but once the ferry docked, Ye Chen got his first clear look at the region.


    The place where they docked was beneath a great city, and upon his first glance at the city, Ye Chen''s heart shook.


    The outer walls of the city towered hundreds of feet high and stretched as far as the eye could see. The walls were built from massive blocks of greenstone, each piece likely weighing over ten thousand pounds!


    The entire wall exuded an ancient atmosphere that went straight to the heart.


    Inside the walls, shadows of enormous pavilions loomed in the dusk. Atop many of those pavilions, huge pearls emitted colorful light, illuminating the vast city as if it were daytime.


    What a magnificent city!


    Probably not a single one of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory could boast such a grand city!


    "The Great Qian Empire, Dragon Abyss City!"


    "I''ve heard that every ferry from the Southern Territory to the Central Region stops outside Dragon Abyss City!"


    "Entering Dragon Abyss City means you''ve officially stepped into the territory of the Great Qian, one of the Central Region''s three great empires!"


    Many who recognized the city were filled with emotion, and then they flew off the ferry, searching for the nearest city gate beneath the wall.


    Ye Chen and the three Shi brothers disembarked as well.


    As they were walking towards the city gate, the three Shi brothers asked Ye Chen, "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, night has fallen. Do you plan to stay in Dragon Abyss City for the night, or will you head directly to the Tai''a Sword Sect?"


    Ye Chen said with a smile, "I won''t delay any further and plan to go directly to the Tai''a Sword Sect. What are your plans, fellow daoists?"


    "We three brothers need to stay in Dragon Abyss City for a few days," Shi Tianhe spoke.


    "In that case, let''s part ways here," Ye Chen said, cupping his fist towards them. "I would like to thank you all for your guidance along the way."


    "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, you''re too polite," the Shi brothers replied, returning the gesture.


    Then Shi Tianhe spoke again, "I''ve heard that the Tai''a Sword Sect is tens of thousands of miles west of the Great Qian Empire, even farther than the total area of the thirteen states of the Southern Territory. You should be careful on your journey, fellow daoist."


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    From the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, Ye Chen already knew the location of the Tai''a Sword Sect, so he wouldn''t go in the wrong direction.


    After exchanging a few more pleasantries with the Shi brothers, Ye Chen''s figure shifted and he disappeared into the vast night.


    Watching Ye Chen vanish, Shi Tianhai of the Shi brothers couldn''t help but say, "Third brother, you kept reminding Ye Chen to be cautious, but I have a feeling that Fellow Daoist Ye Chen might be even more formidable than us!"


    Shi Tianjiang standing beside him also said, "I share that odd feeling. It''s as though Fellow Daoist Ye Chen isn''t worried at all about traveling alone in the Central Region. Could he really be concealing his strength?"


    Shi Tianhe was taken aback, "No way, he''s so young. Just being in the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm is already impressive. If he''s hiding his true strength, that would be terrifying, wouldn''t it?"


    "Anyway, Fellow Daoist Ye Chen is somewhat enigmatic to me." Seeing Shi Tianhe''s disbelief, Shi Tianjiang laughed and shook his head, "Well, we met by chance and probably won''t encounter Fellow Daoist Ye Chen again in the future. I hope he can safely reach the Tai''a Sword Sect on his journey through the Central Region."


    Shi Tianhai nodded, "Let''s be on our way too. Night has fallen, and we need to hurry to the Hall of Ten Thousand Treasures to see if we can complete our sect''s task early. Maybe we can even make it in time to attend the Sword Fighting Tournament in the Immeasurable Mountain."


    As the Shi brothers conversed, they too disappeared into the night.


    Not long after Ye Chen and the Shi brothers parted ways, the girl in white, holding a snow-white little Diao''er, abruptly appeared at the foot of the city wall of Dragon Abyss City.


    At this time, the girl was already a hundred miles away from Ye Chen, but her eyes seemed to effortlessly bridge that distance as she looked directly toward Ye Chen.


    Even Ye Chen was incapable of extending his Divine Sense over such a vast distance¡ªhis furthest reach, even after cultivating the Primordial Star Scripture and breaking through the boundaries of the True Qi Realm, was only forty miles.


    This distance was already quite exceptional, on par with mid-stage practitioners of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    But this girl''s scope was even more distant than Ye Chen''s, which was truly inconceivable!


    While the girl surveyed the area, her eyes brightened slightly as she watched Ye Chen, "He moves so swiftly. Huh, his movement technique is quite peculiar."


    Ye Chen left the Shi brothers and found a secluded spot to start using the Void Instantaneous Change movement technique to head out of Dragon Abyss City. Almost with every blink, he could instantaneously move dozens of miles away. By the time the girl looked in his direction, he was nearly out of Dragon Abyss City, about to enter deep within the Great Qian Dynasty.


    "I have to keep up quickly. Otherwise, if I, Mu Qingqing, get left behind, it would really be embarrassing." The girl, watching Ye Chen who was getting farther and farther away, revealed a sly smile in her cunning eyes. With a faint white light flickering around her, she vanished into thin air.


    ...


    "Dragon Abyss City, I''ve finally left Dragon Abyss City!"


    Ye Chen used the Void Instantaneous Change technique more than ten times, covering a distance of hundreds of miles, before he truly left the area of Dragon Abyss City.


    The magnitude of this first major city he encountered in the Central Territory made even Ye Chen exclaim in admiration.


    Looking back at the brightly lit city under the night sky, Ye Chen''s True Qi surged around him, and he transformed into a streak of Escaping Light, speeding off in the direction of Tai''a Sword Sect at the western frontier of the Great Qian Dynasty.


    This flight was maintained for the better part of half a day.


    Only after about one-third of his True Qi had been expended did Ye Chen stop to sit and rest for a while.


    However, Ye Chen had top-grade Spirit Stones to replenish his True Qi, and with his Qi Meridian, Eight Extraordinary Meridians, and Thirty-Three Meridian Wheels all capable of restoring True Qi, his resting speed was also extremely fast.


    After each brief stop, he was re-energized with True Qi and continued on his way, able to fly for the better part of half a day.


    Such a mode of flight left the mysterious girl following him, "Mu Qingqing", thoroughly impressed.


    If Mu Qingqing hadn''t also been somewhat extraordinary, she might really have been completely lost by Ye Chen!


    "Interesting, this is getting more and more interesting!"


    "On this trip, I came out in the capacity of an Envoy, yet I haven''t found someone who caught my eye. If he has a few more surprises up his sleeve, maybe that exceedingly valuable slot will fall into his hands!"


    Thinking this, Mu Qingqing''s eyes lit up even more. She flickered with escaping light and continued to pursue Ye Chen.


    ...


    After thirteen days of flying, Ye Chen finally crossed most of the Great Qian Dynasty, entering the western territories.


    Looking at the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, in another two or three days, he would officially enter the domain of the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    In these thirteen days, Ye Chen flew non-stop covering hundreds of thousands of miles, a distance even greater than the one he had initially covered when he left the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, traveling across several kingdoms to reach the Boundary River!


    This was, however, only his flight within the Great Qian Dynasty.


    This made Ye Chen marvel at the vastness of the Central Territory and the great kingdoms!


    Although Ye Chen had been flying continuously for more than ten days, he had encountered mysterious attacks a few times during his rests and had even passed over a dozen sites of struggle or even great battles on his way, which made him fully realize the intensity of the struggles in the Central Territory.


    Luckily, the most dangerous encounter along the way was an ambush by a mid-Rotating Pill Realm Loose Cultivator, whom Ye Chen dispatched with ease, avoiding any real trouble.


    After entering the western territories, Ye Chen rested briefly for a day before continuing on the road.


    Two days later, Ye Chen finally saw a vast forest appearing ahead in the distance.


    "Misty Sea Forest!"


    "I am finally close to the territory of Tai''a Sword Sect!"


    Seeing the huge forest ahead, stretching as far as the eye could see, Ye Chen''s eyes brightened.


    From the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, Ye Chen knew that this forest, called "Misty Sea Forest," was the gateway forest outside the Tai''a Sword Sect. Once across it, he could truly enter the territory of the Tai''a Sword Sect!


    "The Misty Sea Forest, shrouded in mist all year round, is rumored to even house high-ranking Demon Kings equivalent to late Rotating Pill Realm Martial Artists¡ªand quite a few of them at that!"


    "Contained within this Misty Sea Forest is one of Tai''a Sword Sect''s protective Grand Formations. In times of real danger, with the Grand Formation activated, the entire forest becomes a terrifying killing field.


    But within the Great Qian Dynasty, no Sect would provoke a Great Sect like Tai''a Sword Sect, so the protective Grand Formation hasn''t been activated for the past few thousand years, as far as I''ve heard."


    "Passing through this Misty Sea Forest, I''ll reach the Tai''a Sword Sect''s Tai''a City, and by crossing Tai''a City, I will truly arrive at the mountain gate of the Tai''a Sword Sect!"


    Various introductions about the Misty Sea Forest and the Tai''a Sword Sect flashed through Ye Chen''s mind.


    Moments later, Ye Chen''s figure once again turned into a streak of light, instantly dashing dozens of miles and plunging deep into the Misty Sea Forest.


    "The Misty Sea Forest has arrived."


    "This place is a rather good one. The young man ahead hasn''t encountered any troubles along the way, so I haven''t truly witnessed his strength yet. This place is a good test to see what his real capabilities are."


    Not long after Ye Chen entered the Misty Sea Forest, with a flash of escaping light, the white-clothed girl Mu Qingqing appeared just outside the forest. Your next read awaits at m v|l-e''-novelhall.net


    Murmuring to herself, the girl gently stroked the snow-white Diao''er nestled in her arms. She then moved her rosy lips slightly, and the snow-white Diao''er, which had been dozing off, suddenly became alert and flew out of the girl''s embrace.


    In an instant, with a "whoosh," a streak of white light flashed, and the snow-white Diao''er dived into the Misty Sea Forest.


    Seeing the snow-white Diao''er burst into the Misty Sea Forest, the girl''s sly eyes smiled faintly.


    Before long, the previously tranquil Misty Sea Forest suddenly erupted with one roar after another from giant monsters!

 Chapter 282: Chapter 249 Eighteen Demon Kings

    "This Misty Sea Forest, serving as the gateway forest outside of the Tai''a Sword Sect, is truly amazing!"


    Ye Chen had planned to fly directly over the Misty Sea Forest, but the forest was under a flying restriction. With his Divine Sense, Ye Chen realized that it was impossible to fly over it.


    So, Ye Chen flew straight into the forest.


    As soon as he entered, he noticed that the entire forest was shrouded in a layer of milky white fog. Only by stirring his True Qi could he disperse some of the fog and make out the surroundings of the forest.


    The trees within the forest were extraordinarily large, each standing several hundred feet tall¡ªperhaps ten people together couldn''t wrap their arms around one tree.


    Many of the trees were even species that Ye Chen had never seen before.


    The branches and leaves were so dense that they blotted out the sky, and combined with the pervasive fog, they left the Misty Sea Forest dimly lit.


    After flying in, Ye Chen released his Divine Sense and let his True Qi surge forth, both defending against the monsters in the forest and making his way toward the other side.


    According to the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, although there were countless Great Demons and Demon Kings in the Misty Sea Forest, as long as one was cautious, it was possible to avoid these creatures and successfully cross the forest.


    But as Ye Chen flew several hundred miles, he suddenly heard successive roars of giant demons coming from the forest.


    "That sound..."


    "Why does it feel like it''s getting closer to me?"


    Ye Chen sensed that these roars of the giant demons exuded an extreme fear as if the demons were terrified.


    What were they afraid of?


    And more importantly, Ye Chen felt that the sounds were getting closer to him!


    It was as if countless Great Demons were surrounding him from all directions!


    This caused Ye Chen''s expression to change.


    It was known that the Misty Sea Forest held many Demon Kings as powerful as cultivators in the late stages of the Revolving Pill Realm.


    If surrounded by many high-ranking Demon Kings, that would be a huge problem!


    What Ye Chen didn''t know was that these roars of the giant demons coincided with the moment when the mysterious girl''s snow-white mink burst into the interior of the Misty Sea Forest.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    As Ye Chen was alert to the abnormal changes in the forest and blasted toward the area where the sounds were weakest, he hadn''t gone far when he heard the roars of the giant demons right beside him.


    The speed of these demons'' encirclement was astonishingly fast!


    Even Ye Chen had already seen the giant demons that were closing in on him.


    He saw at least a dozen hundred-foot-tall giant demons breaking through the towering trees and furiously surrounding him. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, he felt that there were a total of eighteen giant demons!


    Among them were Giant Mountain Ape Monsters the size of small mountains, bizarre eight-legged crawling demons, flying predatory demons, giant green snakes...


    All eighteen demons were of Demon King caliber, with the weakest eight being mid-ranking Demon Kings equivalent to the mid-stages of the Revolving Pill Realm, while the other ten were high-ranking Demon Kings equivalent to the late stages of the Revolving Pill Realm!


    This again caused Ye Chen''s complexion to change.


    Ye Chen couldn''t understand why, as he flew through the otherwise normal Misty Sea Forest, he was being surrounded by these Demon Kings.


    However, now that he was surrounded, Ye Chen wasn''t too afraid.


    Although he had only slain a low-ranking Demon King equivalent to the early stages of the Revolving Pill Realm¡ªthe golden demon carp guarding the Azure Blue Lake in the ancient tomb¡ªhe had also battled the Eight Great Demon Towers, equivalent to high-ranking Demon Kings.


    Back then, with the power of the Heavenly Saint Realm, Ye Chen was able to contend against two late-stage Revolving Pill Realm Demon Towers joining forces.


    Now, Ye Chen''s strength had increased even more, and he had some Heavenly Saint Law Beads with him. If these Demon Kings truly dared to fight him, he had means to deal with them!


    Even if he ultimately couldn''t defeat all the Demon Kings joining forces, Ye Chen was confident he could escape smoothly after exhausting some energy.


    First, he needed to see why these Demon Kings were surrounding him!


    With a "swoosh," Ye Chen drew his Black Fire Sword and faced the Demon Kings slowly closing in around him. He called out, "Honored Demon Kings, why do you block my path?"


    Demon Kings, with their exceptional intelligence, were already capable of speaking and communicating with people, which is why Ye Chen asked this question.


    Among the eighteen Demon Kings, the leader was a Mountain Ape Monster King towering over a hundred feet tall. Hearing Ye Chen''s question, the Mountain Ape Monster King''s massive eyes looked towards one side of the forest before returning his gaze to Ye Chen and saying, "Little child, we are under orders to fight you!"


    Under orders? To fight me?


    Whose orders were those?


    With high-ranking Demon Kings among them, could it be that someone from the Heavenly Saint Realm commanded them?


    Thinking this, Ye Chen felt a surge of apprehension. Continue your journey on m|v-l''e -novelhall.net


    If there really were Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses looking to trouble him, he would need to be very careful.


    Following the gaze of the Giant Mountain Ape Monster toward one side of the forest, Ye Chen also looked in that direction but saw nothing.


    Could it be that a Heavenly Saint from the Tai''a Sword Sect is blocking my way?


    With that thought, Ye Chen shook his head.


    Ye Chen had never heard of anyone from the Tai''a Sword Sect intercepting travelers in the Misty Sea Forest, and besides, beings of the Heavenly Saint Realm wouldn''t bother stopping him, right?


    After all, this place wasn''t truly within the boundaries of the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    Unable to understand, Ye Chen didn''t dwell on it any longer. Clutching the Black Fire Sword in his hand, he looked toward the Demon Kings and said, "If you''ve been ordered to fight me, just how should we fight before you''ll let me leave?"


    "How to let you leave? We do not know. We only know that there''s a Demon King, ordered to battle you," the Giant Mountain Ape Monster''s thunderous voice fell, and then it looked directly at one of the Demon Kings among the eighteen, a mid-tier one.


    "Wu Meng, it''s your turn to fight!"


    The mid-tier Demon King that the Giant Mountain Ape Monster was looking at was none other than a Giant Grizzly Demon towering over eighty zhang tall.


    This Giant Grizzly Demon, with muscles as prominent as dragons, clearly possessed immense strength. Its gray fur emitted a soul-shaking murderous aura.


    This was a mid-tier Demon King whose vigor was exceptionally formidable, almost matching the strength of one in the late stage of the Dan Rotation phase!


    Boom!


    Upon being called, the Giant Grizzly Demon immediately stepped forward, its huge eyes looking down at Ye Chen, "Lad, though I''m not sure why that great one ordered me to fight you, he commanded me to use my full strength. If I accidentally kill you, you''d better not blame me!"


    Boom!


    While talking, the massive, over eighty-zhang-tall Giant Grizzly Demon effortlessly pulled a tree several hundred zhang tall from beside it. With several swipes of its enormous palm, it whittled the tree into a suitably sized large club and held it in its hand.


    Using a giant tree as a weapon, this Giant Grizzly Demon indeed possessed terrifying strength!


    Facing the colossal bear over eighty zhang tall, Ye Chen appeared incredibly tiny in comparison, yet he exhibited not an ounce of fear.


    It''s just a mid-tier Demon King.


    He had already slain many foes at the stage of the mid Dan Rotation phase; opponents of this caliber couldn''t cause him any trouble.


    Ye Chen indeed put away the Black Fire Sword, facing the Giant Grizzly Demon with his bare hands, and said, "If we are to fight, then let''s begin!"


    He also wanted to see what kind of tricks the person behind these giant monsters was playing!


    Seeing that Ye Chen had holstered his weapon and chose to confront it bare-handed, the Giant Grizzly Demon seemed to be provoked, roaring loudly, "You little brat, daring to fight me empty-handed, you really don''t know the vastness of heaven and earth. If I kill you, you''d better not blame me!"


    Roar!


    In the midst of speaking, the Giant Grizzly Demon lifted the huge tree club and brought it crashing down towards Ye Chen.


    Right when the club neared Ye Chen, he instantly vanished from the spot. With a loud "boom," the club struck the ground.


    The entire ground cracked open with a terrifyingly large fissure as a result of the attack, and many large trees within the vicinity were snapped by the sheer force and fell thunderously.


    The Giant Grizzly Demon swung its arm, flinging countless large trees far away, and then its gaze fixated on a spot in the void where Ye Chen, who had vanished moments before, now appeared!


    "Fast speed!" The Giant Grizzly Demon''s eyes gleamed as it observed Ye Chen.


    From Ye Chen''s instant evasion, it could tell that this human youngster was no ordinary individual.


    "Let''s see how many times you can dodge!"


    Within the glint of its eye, the Giant Grizzly Demon swung the huge tree club in its hand and launched itself towards Ye Chen once more, faster than before, even leaving an afterimage in the void.


    Such a massive Giant Grizzly Demon was equally swift!


    Seeing the Giant Grizzly Demon charging at him again, Ye Chen narrowed his eyes: "Strong, are you? Let''s see whose strength is greater!"


    This time, Ye Chen did not dodge. His body erupted with billowing black True Qi, which rose even higher than the Giant Grizzly Demon''s body.


    Then, enveloped in the rolling black aura, Ye Chen''s body shone with a dazzling golden light, clearly a manifestation of the Nine Transformation Golden Body Talisman Pattern!


    With the support of True Qi and the talisman pattern, Ye Chen''s aura grew even more formidable than the Giant Grizzly Demon''s!


    As the Giant Grizzly Demon''s tree club was about to land just above Ye Chen''s head, Ye Chen surged upwards. With the combined power of True Qi and the golden talisman pattern, he caught the giant club with his palm, which was now shining brightly.


    Then, with a surge of immense strength from his hand, Ye Chen swirled upward into the sky, and by wielding the giant tree club, he flung the Grizzly Demon King, holding the club, into the air right from the ground!


    A mere human youth managed to toss into the air a Giant Grizzly Demon hundreds of times larger than him in stature!


    The scene was beyond astonishing!


    The Giant Mountain Ape Monster and the other seventeen Demon Kings watching from the side were completely stunned!


    Boom!


    When the hurled Giant Grizzly Demon crashed back to the earth, creating a massive crater in the ground, the other Demon Kings were utterly lost for words.


    After that, the Demon Kings saw that this human youngster had flung the tree club he had caught hundreds of zhang away. Then, flying into the huge crater, he grabbed the Giant Grizzly Demon once again with a single palm.


    Before the Grizzly Demon King could react, he flung it from the crater towards the side of the Mountain Ape Monster King.


    Boom!


    In the end, the Giant Grizzly Demon was even knocked unconscious at the Mountain Ape Monster King''s feet!


    Then, Ye Chen''s indifferent voice fell into the ears of all the Demon Kings: "That wasn''t good enough. If you want to fight me, send out someone tougher!"

 Chapter 283: Chapter 250: Big Brawl

    ```


    "It''s not enough to fight me, send someone more powerful!"


    Ye Chen''s indifferent words, yet like thunder, exploded in the minds of all the Demon Kings!


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words and seeing the fainted Giant Grizzly Demon, the other seven mid-tier Demon Kings'' complexions changed, and they "shhhed" all at once, retreating a big step backward! .net


    Shock!


    The Demon Kings were truly shocked!


    The Giant Grizzly Demon, known for its immense strength, was not a match for this human child at all, and was defeated with just one move, rendered completely unconscious!


    Moreover, it was knocked flying into the air and slumped on the ground, passed out!


    This indicated that the strength of this human child was even greater and more terrifying than that of the Giant Grizzly Demon!


    Demon Beasts are commonly known to be physically stronger than humans. But now, this human child seems more like a Demon Beast, like a human-shaped ferocious beast!


    When they looked again at Ye Chen, these Demon Kings understood that the strength of this human child in front of them was definitely far beyond the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill realm!


    This made the other seven mid-tier Demon Kings dare not make any more rash moves.


    The seven mid-tier Demon Kings were terrified, and the other ten high-tier Demon Kings also had huge waves churning in their hearts; they even felt that this human child before them could fight them directly.


    In a one-on-one battle, they could very likely lose to this child!


    Amidst their shock, a hundred miles away from where Ye Chen and the Demon Kings were fighting, Mu Qingqing, a girl in white, held a snow-white ferret in her arms and also showed a surprised expression.


    When Ye Chen previously knocked the Giant Grizzly Demon unconscious, Mu Qingqing''s slender, smooth legs even tensed sharply, sitting up straight on the tree.


    "On the way here, seeing how he suppressed the mid-stage Rotating Pill martial artists, I knew his power was great."


    "But I never imagined it would be to this extent! With pure strength, he has actually defeated the Giant Grizzly Demon, who was nearly at the late stage of Rotating Pill!"


    "And obviously, he has not yet fully exerted all his strength."


    Surprised, Mu Qingqing looked at Ye Chen and turned her spirited eyes, "Since that''s the case, let''s continue watching..."


    Mu Qingqing whispered to the little ferret in her arms, and at that moment, the snow-white little ferret nodded its little head and gently called out a few times in the direction of Ye Chen and the eighteen Demon Kings.


    Despite the hundred miles distance, Ye Chen and the Demon Kings all heard this call at the same time!


    The moment they heard this call, the seven mid-tier Demon Kings'' faces changed simultaneously, and then all seven looked towards Ye Chen.


    Hearing the strange call and seeing the movements of the seven mid-tier Demon Kings, Ye Chen''s eyes flashed sharply, "Could it be that this sound is commanding the actions of the Demon Kings?"


    As the thought flashed through Ye Chen''s mind, instantly, his gaze became sharply intense as he looked towards the direction of the call, and his divine sense also frantically probed in that direction.


    However, he found nothing.


    "Not in this area; could it be even further than forty miles?"


    Instantly, Ye Chen prepared to teleport to a space forty miles away and continued to investigate towards the source of the sound.


    Just as Ye Chen was about to move, "bang bang bang", waves of Law fluctuations transmitted through the space where he was, and in an instant, Ye Chen felt his teleportation divine sense being constrained.


    If he wanted to teleport again, he would have to unleash a battle and destroy all these Law fluctuations!


    And Ye Chen realized that these Law fluctuations were emitted by those ten high-tier Demon Kings simultaneously.


    When the ten high-tier Demon Kings joined forces, even Ye Chen could not break the binding fluctuations of the Law Domain instantly.


    At that moment, the leading Giant Mountain Ape Monster among the Demon Kings looked at Ye Chen, "Human child, you are very powerful, but don''t think about leaving first. By the command of the Great One, next, you have a new battle to face."


    "A new battle?" Ye Chen looked in the direction of the sound and put away the thought of teleporting, asking indifferently, "How does your Great One command you to fight me now?"


    Ye Chen decided in his heart that he would take the opportunity during the battle to find a way to investigate the mysterious call driving the Demon Kings, to see who this Great One truly was!


    With ten high-tier Demon Kings watching, it was not a good time to make a move, but once the battle erupted, he might be able to find the gap to teleport in all directions and thoroughly investigate.


    Sensing that Ye Chen had put away his restless divine sense, the Giant Mountain Ape Monster laughed and waved its hand, disengaging their divine constraint on Ye Chen, and then the giant Mountain Ape Monster pointed at the seven mid-tier Demon Kings towards Ye Chen, "The second battle the Great One has ordered you to fight is with these seven, in a grand melee!"


    Defeating a Giant Grizzly Demon was not enough, and now he had to fight seven mid-tier Demon Kings?


    What sort of game was this hidden Great One playing?


    If they wanted to deal with him, they could have just let the high-tier Demon Kings take action. The way it looks, they do not seem to be aiming to deal with him at all.


    ```


    Ye Chen also couldn''t figure it out.


    Unable to understand, Ye Chen didn''t ponder further, He squinted his eyes and turned his attention to the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings ready to erupt into a grand melee with him.


    At that moment, after exchanging glances with each other, the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings all stood out, encircling Ye Chen in a siege formation.


    The other ten high-ranked Demon Kings also acted in unison, swiftly clearing all the trees in the thousands of zhang of space around the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings and Ye Chen, leaving a vast space for the imminent great battle.


    Witnessing the large swathes of giant trees being swept away with mere hand waves or breaths, Ye Chen gained a new appreciation for the strength of the ten high-ranked Great Demons.


    Once the ten high-ranked Great Demons cleared the battlefield, they stood outside the fray. The thunderous voice of the Giant Mountain Ape Monster reached Ye Chen and the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings, "Begin the grand melee now, unleash your attacks freely. Should you face a life-threatening danger, we will intervene to save you. Once a result is produced, we will follow the adult''s arrangements!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Accompanied by the booming voice of the Giant Mountain Ape Monster, the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings all burst forth, charging violently towards Ye Chen.


    And Ye Chen, with a sudden surge of his Primordial True Qi, unleashed torrents of black True Qi that soared hundreds of zhang high, before he likewise shot forward to meet the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings head-on!


    Meanwhile, hundreds of li away, the white-clad maiden Mu Qingqing also patted her enticing chest.


    The piercing gaze that Ye Chen had directed towards her location had startled the young girl.


    "What quick reflexes, he discovered our position so quickly."


    "At this moment, without a clear grasp of his true strength, it''s not yet time to reveal ourselves."


    "Let''s continue to watch!"


    As the girl mumbled to herself, she carried the small mink and instantly leapt towards another direction before finding an appropriate spot to observe Ye Chen amidst the battle.


    By the time Mu Qingqing turned her attention back to Ye Chen, he and the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings had already exchanged a dozen moves.


    At this moment, amidst the encirclement of the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings, Ye Chen''s billowing black True Qi had transformed into golden color, becoming torrents of golden True Qi.


    At the same time, a mystical White Tiger Divine Beast Law Phantom emerged around Ye Chen.


    Facing the siege of the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings, Ye Chen directly employed his White Tiger Attack Great Divine Ability!


    The White Tiger Divine Beast Law Phantom, stretching over a hundred zhang long, with its fur radiating a golden-white light, and its whiskers extraordinarily long, flaring towards the sky as its grand wings unfolded with a roar, hovered in the midst of the swirling golden True Qi outside of Ye Chen, lending him an aura of supreme dominance over the world!


    Even the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings and the distant ten high-ranked Demon Kings, observing the battle, were shocked by the divine beast phantom around Ye Chen to the point of trembling throughout their bodies.


    "Charge!"


    "Ignore the Law Phantom, defeat him!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Suppressing the fear in their hearts, the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings shot forward once again to attack Ye Chen.


    Among these seven middle-ranked Demon Kings was an eight-legged crawling giant demon, a giant feathered vulture, and a massive green snake over a hundred and thirty zhang long. From the sky to the ground, they formed a complete encirclement, their overwhelming killing power all converging on Ye Chen.


    And as they attacked, seven Law Domains also reached optimal coordination, layering together to constrict Ye Chen.


    This was the first time Ye Chen faced off against seven rotating pill mid-stage opponents!


    The first time facing the confinement and lethal attacks of seven Law Domains!


    Yet, the encircled Ye Chen displayed not a hint of cowardice, not even a flicker of hesitation in his eyes.


    These opponents, were exactly what he needed to test his true combat strength!


    Facing the impending breakthrough to late-stage rotating pill powerful middle-ranked War Spirits from the Upper Realm''s Divine Phoenix clan, Ye Chen had not been afraid. Would he then fear these lower realm demon creatures?!


    With a "swoosh," Ye Chen pulled out his Black Fire Sword. As his surging True Qi enveloped the sword, a full sixty artifact restrictions lit up brilliantly on the blade.


    Then, with the Black Fire Sword in hand, Ye Chen infused even more of the White Tiger divine power into the sword, turning the entire blade into a divine weapon shimmering with an extraordinary black-gold light.


    Next, the entire Black Fire Sword slashed wildly towards the confining barrier of the seven great Law Domains!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    It was like the heavens and earth were exploding. As the Black Fire Sword touched the power of the Law Domains, the entire void erupted in frenzy. A strange ripple emanated from the point of clash, which, after sweeping past the battlefield, continued for thousands of zhang, shattering countless large trees before finally calming down.


    The ten high-ranked Demon Kings watching by the side even had to radiate True Qi shields around themselves to protect their bodies.


    Looking back towards the battlefield, that earth-shattering slash had actually shattered all seven stacked Law Domains. Like an awe-inspiring Sword God, Ye Chen blasted out of the Law Domain''s confinement and raised his sword, charging towards the Green Snake Demon King among the seven middle-ranked Demon Kings who were closing in for the kill!

 Chapter 284: Chapter 251 The Girl and the Sable

    ```


    This one kill struck such terror into the Green Snake Demon King that its liver and gallbladder split!


    The Green Snake Demon King only felt as if a lightning-like beam of light pierced towards it, and in that instant, it didn''t even know how to defend against this deadly strike.


    If truly hit by this sword, it was very likely that it would die on the spot!


    Aooo!


    Just in this moment of extreme crisis, the attacks from the other six mid-rank Demon Kings poured towards Ye Chen simultaneously¡ªthere were the Giant Eagle Monster''s talons sharp as cold knives, the vast mists sprayed by the Octoped Monster, and the thunderous roars of the Golden Lion Great Demon...


    If Ye Chen only focused on killing the Green Snake Great Demon without fending off the attacks of the other six Demon Kings, he would truly fall into the midst of a great siege.


    "How will this lad break out of the encirclement in this chaotic battle alone?"


    "The alliance of seven Demon Kings is very different from a one-on-one fight!"


    Outside the battlefield, the gazes of ten high-rank Demon Kings were tightly fixed on the confrontation.


    "He must have other techniques still up his sleeve."


    "Bring out your other techniques, let me see them!"


    A hundred miles away, the white-clothed young lady Mu Qingqing and Xiaodiao were also intently watching Ye Chen.


    Amidst everyone''s gaze, the sword that Ye Chen used to strike at the Green Snake Demon King didn''t stop at all, and at the same time, a sudden burst of endless sword lights erupted from his exterior.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    In an instant, these endless sword lights formed densely packed tens of thousands of True Qi swords outside of Ye Chen''s body.


    The high-level Sword Formation Divine Ability, Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability!


    This was one of the most powerful Sword Formation Divine Abilities that Ye Chen had mastered!


    When confronted with the siege of the six mid-rank Demon Kings, Ye Chen finally unleashed it.


    In a flash, those tens of thousands of True Qi swords formed the terrifying "Ten Thousand Swords Bombarding Kill" attack, blasting towards the six attacking Demon Kings in an instant.


    The whole world was already completely filled with the true might of Ten Thousand Swords Bombarding Kill, and the moves of the six Demon Kings were all engulfed by the lethal force of this attack!


    Furthermore, Ten Thousand Swords Bombarding Kill forced all six Demon Kings to explosively retreat backward.


    The six Demon Kings retreated explosively, and the Green Snake Demon King, which was directly attacked by Ye Chen, was now screaming madly in terror!


    Because, without the help of the other six Demon Kings and facing Ye Chen''s direct attack, it shockingly found that Ye Chen''s lightning-fast sword was already before its face, and the grim sword glow was about to pierce through its flesh and kill it on the spot.


    "Young lad, spare my life!"


    The Green Snake Demon King even began to plead with Ye Chen for mercy!


    To know, it was originally calmly cultivating in the Misty Sea Forest and was driven here to confront Ye Chen by a big shot; if it really were to die here, it would be too wronged.


    The Green Snake Demon King was begging for mercy while the ten high-rank Demon Kings who were observing from the side, led by the Giant Mountain Ape Monster, were frantically rushing to save the Green Snake Demon King: "Young lad, we have no intention to make things difficult for you, don''t hurt it!"


    But Ye Chen''s attack was extremely fast, even the Giant Mountain Ape Monster wasn''t certain it could save the Green Snake Demon King from death.


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen''s Black Fire Sword was about to strike the Green Snake Demon King''s neck, just as the Green Snake Demon King''s pleas for mercy abruptly ceased, and just at the moment the Giant Mountain Ape Monster was frantically rushing in, Ye Chen, wielding the Black Fire Sword, however, flicked the sword tip aside, directly missing his killing strike against the Green Snake Demon King.


    Swoosh!


    Ye Chen, like a bolt of lightning, shot past the Green Snake Demon King, and simultaneously, his voice reached the Green Snake Demon King''s ears: "I won''t kill you, but had this been a true battle, you''d be dead already. Step out of the fight!"


    As his voice thundered, Ye Chen like a shocking Sword God, holding the Black Fire Sword, once more leapt into the midair.


    Facing the encirclement of seven Demon Kings, Ye Chen actually managed to oppose seven by himself and even spared the life of one of the Great Demons; otherwise, he would have already slain a Demon King!


    This turn of events made the other six Demon Kings, still dodging the terrifying Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability, change their expressions dramatically.


    This turn of events also made the Green Snake Demon King, whose life Ye Chen had spared, tremble all over and withdraw from the battlefield.


    Even among the ten high-rank Demon Kings, the other nine, including the Giant Mountain Ape Monster who came to rescue the Green Snake Demon King, showed a moment of stupefaction.


    And miles away, Mu Qingqing''s eyes shone brightly.


    "Aside from that peculiar Divine Beast Physique, he has cultivated in Sword Formation, and it''s a high-level Sword Formation at that!"


    "Heavens, even among the countless sword disciples of the five third-rank Sword Sects in the three great dynasties, there are few who could have cultivated a high-level Sword Formation at his age!"


    "No wonder he has been making his way to Tai''a Sword Sect, his swordsmanship is also so formidable!"


    "Although this high-level Sword Formation seems not yet perfectly mastered, it''s already exceptionally extraordinary!"


    "His strength far surpasses his age, his reflexes are extraordinary, even the methods he uses to cultivate are far beyond his peers! Is he really from the Southern Territory? He''s almost comparable to the disciples of the ''Holy Temples''!"


    "No, I must get him to join our Heavenly Sacred Palace. Earlier I thought he met the requirements for the ''Second Holy Temple,'' but now it seems very likely he could directly join the most powerful ''First Holy Temple''!"


    ```


    Mu Qingqing''s heart fluctuated intensely.


    Just as all the Demon Kings and, watching from afar, Mu Qingqing were stunned by Ye Chen''s imposing figure standing against seven, Ye Chen''s eyes in the void suddenly shifted toward the direction where the ferret sound had come from earlier.


    He had long planned to find the real person behind the scenes who was driving these Demon Kings to battle him, and now, while the Demon Kings were astonished, was the best moment.


    Whoosh!


    In one-tenth of an instant, the rolling gold qi outside Ye Chen''s body turned fiery red, and at the same time, the White Tiger Physique illusion outside of him suddenly and unexpectedly transformed into the equally mystical Vermilion Bird Physique illusion.


    In order to find the person behind the scenes, Ye Chen directly stimulated his fire qi and the Vermilion Bird Speed Great Divine Ability!


    As his qi transformed, Ye Chen burst forth in speed, shooting toward the place where the ferret sound had been like an unparalleled mystic Vermilion Bird.


    By the time the Demon Kings reacted, Ye Chen had already shot tens of miles away, and at the same time, his divine consciousness rapidly spread and swept over a forty-mile radius.


    "What is he doing!"


    "Chase!"


    Seeing Ye Chen suddenly fly toward the place from where the ferret sound had originated, the ten high-ranking Demon Kings were profoundly shocked. They were ordered to spar with this youth and had not yet received the command from that "Great One" to stop; naturally, they wouldn''t allow Ye Chen to make a move.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, the ten high-ranking Demon Kings burst forth, chasing after Ye Chen.


    Boosted by the speed of the Vermilion Bird Physique illusion, Ye Chen''s speed had surpassed that of a mid-spinning dan stage. Although it was still slightly inferior to high-ranking Great Demons, he was already in motion, so it would take some time for those ten high-ranking Demon Kings to catch up to him.


    With this time, he could search a vast area!


    "Not here!"


    "Nor here!"


    "Could it be that the hidden ''Great One'' realized I was onto him and dodged away?"


    As he searched, Ye Chen didn''t find anyone where the ferret sound came from. With a surge of fire qi erupting from his body, and amidst the clear calls of the Vermilion Bird Physique illusion, he shot toward another location.


    Instantly, a striking scene unfolded in the Misty Sea Forest.


    A youth, surrounded by a Vermilion Bird Divine Shadow over a hundred zhang in length, with a pair of fiery red gigantic wings and an endlessly burning, mystical Fire Feather Illusion flowing around him, flew at extreme speed as if he were a matchless flame spirit.


    Behind the youth, ten high-ranking Demon Kings with terrifying auras followed in a mix of anger and amazement, hastily pursuing.


    This scene left the seven middle-ranking Demon Kings who stayed behind slack-jawed in astonishment, and it caused the other monsters and Great Demons in the Misty Sea Forest to flee in terror.


    At this moment, Mu Qingqing and Xiaodiao, whom Ye Chen was truly searching for, were also taken aback as they watched Ye Chen fly rapidly through the Misty Sea Forest: "He... He''s still thinking of finding us, even in the midst of a great battle!"


    "He did not hesitate. Could it be that before battling the seven middle-ranking Demon Kings, he had already planned this?"


    Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes followed the moving Ye Chen.


    "Another mystical physique! This seems to be the Vermilion Bird''s physique."


    "His qi has actually changed with the transformation of the physique!"


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    "This physique has boosted his speed to such an extent, and he never used this method even when he fled for more than ten days before!"


    "This youth definitely has great fortune. At his age, to have cultivated to this level of combat power is already a miracle, and yet he has so many mystical abilities!"


    "This time, testing his abilities in the Misty Sea Forest is indeed a delightful surprise!"


    Mu Qingqing''s gaze towards Ye Chen became brighter and brighter.


    "I never thought that this time, while using the identity of an ''Envoy'' coming out from ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'', I would actually find an unparalleled genius for the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'', a real unparalleled genius!"


    "If my grandfather were here, he would definitely take him into the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''. It''s time to meet him!"


    With that thought, Mu Qingqing stood up with a "whoosh," cradling Xiaodiao in her arms.


    By this time, Ye Chen had already searched half of the hundred-mile radius, and the ten high-ranking Demon Kings were getting closer and closer behind him.


    The leading high-ranking Demon King, the Giant Mountain Ape Monster, could no longer bear it and roared at Ye Chen, who was still dozens of miles ahead: "Boy, if you don''t stop, don''t blame me for attacking!"


    Ye Chen continued to fly rapidly through the Misty Sea Forest, knowing that battling these Demon Kings would be pointless if he did not find the hidden character behind them.


    Hearing the Giant Mountain Ape Monster''s words, Ye Chen''s voice remained perfectly calm as he called back, "Feel free to attack. I''ve wanted to cross hands with a high-ranking Demon King myself!"


    At the same time, Ye Chen looked over the vast Misty Sea Forest and his resonant voice spread in all directions: "The ''Great One'' who can drive so many Demon Kings, come out. No need to let these demons battle me anymore. What is your purpose in obstructing me here? Wouldn''t it be good for Ye Chen to know?"


    "Ye Chen?"


    Mu Qingqing, who had just stood up, muttered Ye Chen''s name.


    Then, cradling Xiaodiao, she leaped down from the big tree, and her giggling voice reached Ye Chen: "Great One, I am no ''Great One''."

 Chapter 285: Chapter 252: The Invitation from the Heavenly Sacred Palace

    ```


    Amidst speaking, Mu Qingqing held the snow-white marten and flew toward Ye Chen.


    "A girl''s voice?"


    Listening to the charming voice coming over, Ye Chen was startled.


    He had considered the possibility that Heavenly Saint might be driving these high and mid-rank Demon Kings from behind, but he never expected to hear such a young voice.


    When Mu Qingqing, holding the snow-white marten, came into Ye Chen''s view, he was even more bemused.


    The young girl in front of him seemed even younger than him¡ªnot at all like a Heavenly Saint, but clearly exuding the early stage aura of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Could it be that this young girl was driving the eighteen Demon Kings to encircle him?


    Impossible, right?


    Ye Chen''s gaze then shifted to the snow-white marten cradled in the girl''s arms, and with this look, a bright light flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes!


    The snow-white marten was now sleepily squinting its eyes as if dozing off, yet Ye Chen could feel a force of Heavenly Saint coming from this little creature!


    He then remembered the peculiar marten call that had set all the Demon Kings in motion before.


    Ye Chen''s heart shook¡ªcould it be that this marten had reached the Heavenly Saint Realm, and the girl was driving the eighteen Demon Kings through this marten?


    But, the Heavenly Saint Realm¡ªthat''s an incredibly powerful level, so how could it be held by a girl in the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm?


    Ye Chen was somewhat confused.


    "Hehe, your name is Ye Chen, right? I''m Mu Qingqing. You can call me ''Qingqing.'' Ye Chen, you''re really amazing," said Mu Qingqing as she flew about and, in just a moment, landed not far in front of Ye Chen, then she took a few steps toward him.


    The agility of Mu Qingqing''s movement also made Ye Chen take notice; he saw that this girl, who was merely in the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, flew at a speed that was no slower than his own.


    "Mu Qingqing? Is it you who commanded the eighteen Demon Kings to battle me?" Ye Chen asked the young girl, "What do you want by blocking my way?"


    Ye Chen noticed that when the girl with the snow-white marten descended, those ten high-rank Demon Kings that had been pursuing him had suddenly stopped their chase and stayed quietly behind.


    "Yes, it was me. I had the marten summon some Demon Kings to fight you."


    "Is there something you need? Of course, there is something, Ye Chen¡ªit''s a great opportunity for you."


    Looking toward Ye Chen with a pair of lively eyes, Mu Qingqing giggled and continued, "Ye Chen, you''ve passed my test. I would like to invite you to join our ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''!"


    "A test?"


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Could the battle with the eighteen Demon Kings have been a test?


    But what is the "Heavenly Sacred Palace"?


    Ye Chen had learned of many sects within the three great kingdoms of the central domain from the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, but he had never heard of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    While Ye Chen was still pondering, the ten high-rank Demon Kings behind him were all shocked upon hearing the three words "Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "My lord, so you are from the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    The Giant Mountain Ape Monster looked at Mu Qingqing, its eyes darting cautiously to the snow-white marten in Mu Qingqing''s arms, trembling with excitement as it spoke.


    It wasn''t just the Giant Mountain Ape Monster; the other high-rank Demon Kings were also extremely excited: "Heavenly Sacred Palace, inviting this young one to join! Could it be, my lord, that you are an Envoy of the Heavenly Sacred Palace?"


    While speaking, the Demon Kings'' eyes turned toward Ye Chen, filled with great envy: "This young one has hit the jackpot, being invited by the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "However, with his strength, it''s indeed possible that the Heavenly Sacred Palace would take notice!"


    The words of the ten high-rank Demon Kings made Ye Chen even more confused.


    What exactly is this Heavenly Sacred Palace that has these high-rank Great Demons so astonished?


    Seeing the utterly surprised expressions of the ten high-rank Great Demons, Mu Qingqing smiled and nodded, but when she looked at Ye Chen again, she saw that he was still somewhat bewildered. Mu Qingqing pouted her rosy lips, "Ye Chen, you don''t know about the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''?"


    Ye Chen shook his head: "I''ve just come to the central domain from the Southern Territory; I really don''t know."


    Before Mu Qingqing could explain the Heavenly Sacred Palace to Ye Chen, the Giant Mountain Ape Monster already spoke out: "Young one, you don''t know the Heavenly Sacred Palace! It''s the number one sect among the three great dynasties of the central domain, a legendary second-rank sect! The best place for cultivation!"


    The number one sect of the three great kingdoms of the central domain!


    The words of the Giant Mountain Ape Monster took Ye Chen by surprise.


    Ye Chen had seen in the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map that within the Great Xia Dynasty, one of the three great kingdoms, there was a supremely powerful sect¡ªa second-rank sect that was hidden from the world and hardly ever appeared, let alone partake in the countless struggles of the sects within the three great kingdoms.


    Unexpectedly, this second-rank sect turned out to be the "Heavenly Sacred Palace" the girl had referred to?!


    Now, the number one sect of the central domain, a legendary second-rank sect, was inviting him to join? .net


    ```


    This completely took Ye Chen by surprise.


    One must know that a second-tier sect is guarded by a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse.


    A late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse is truly one of the most formidable individuals on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Such beings can only be surpassed by first-tier sects in the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm, where the Void Sky True Gods reside.


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, that is indeed the most powerful force!


    No matter what, Ye Chen could not have imagined that on his way to join the third-tier Tai''a Sword Sect, he would be invited to join a second-tier sect.


    This was really too surprising.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s shocked and surprised expression, Mu Qingqing smiled and said, "Ye Chen, there''s no need to be surprised. ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'' is a hidden sect that rarely recruits disciples. Only when the Envoys travel the world and see a warrior that they like will they invite them to join."


    "On this trip out of ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'', I am in the role of an Envoy, looking to select a martial artist to join the sect. I noticed your talents back at the Seventy-Third Crossing and have followed you all the way here to the Tai''a Sword Sect before I really made up my mind to invite you."


    "You noticed me since the Seventy-Third Crossing?" Ye Chen was startled.


    Throughout his journey, he had always felt as if he was being followed. A few times, he even intentionally stopped and surveyed his surroundings, but discovered nothing unusual.


    Ye Chen had thought it was just his imagination, but it turned out someone had indeed been following him¡ªthis girl?


    "My Divine Sense covers a vast area, and my flying speed is quite fast for someone in the Spirit Sea Realm. How did you keep up with me?" Ye Chen asked the girl.


    With a cunning sparkle in her eyes, Mu Qingqing gently smiled, "I admit you are very powerful, but I am also a disciple of ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'', and naturally, I have my own methods."


    "Ye Chen, if you join ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'', you will understand these methods in the future."


    Ye Chen pondered for a moment.


    He came to the Central Region this time at the introduction of Fairy Jia Luo to cultivate in the Tai''a Sword Sect, a great third-tier sect, and of course, he was willing to cultivate there.


    And now, "Heavenly Sacred Palace," the strongest second-tier sect of not only the Central Region but perhaps the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, had also invited him to join. A second-tier sect, that''s where late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses resided. It was impossible for Ye Chen not to be tempted.


    However, Ye Chen still had some concerns.


    On one hand, he knew very little about Heavenly Sacred Palace; on the other, Jiang Yao had not yet awakened from her bloodline awakening. Originally, Fairy Jia Luo had arranged for him and Jiang Yao to join the Tai''a Sword Sect together. If he went to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, what would happen to Jiang Yao?


    Ye Chen did not know if Jiang Yao could also go to the Heavenly Sacred Palace to cultivate.


    Seeing Ye Chen still hesitant, the ten high-level Demon Kings beside him appeared completely irritated as they said, "Little boy, to have the chance to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace, yet you hesitate!"


    "You must know, the Tai''a Sword Sect that we, the Misty Sea Forest, rely on has Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, who is indeed from Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "Joining Heavenly Sacred Palace is the dream of every disciple from the central domain''s three great dynasties; it''s a pity the Envoys recruit so seldom. You have this opportunity and still hesitate, it''s definitely not to be missed!"


    "If you don''t go, I would want to go myself!"


    In the end, several of the high-level Demon Kings couldn''t help but slap their foreheads, lamenting that they were not the ones invited.


    The words of the ten Demon Kings made Ye Chen involuntarily smile.


    The Demon Kings of the Misty Sea Forest certainly were interesting.


    But what the ten Demon Kings mentioned, that the most powerful Supreme Elder of the Tai''a Sword Sect was from Heavenly Sacred Palace, caught Ye Chen''s attention. Ye Chen asked Mu Qingqing, "The most powerful Supreme Elder of the Tai''a Sword Sect, that should be a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, right? They also joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace?"


    "Ye Chen, you still know too little about ''Heavenly Sacred Palace.''" Mu Qingqing smiled at Ye Chen, "Let me tell you more about the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "Heavenly Sacred Palace is named such because, at the very beginning of its establishment, ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'' only recruited Heavenly Saints into the sect!"


    Only recruited Heavenly Saints into the sect!


    Mu Qingqing''s words caused a shock in Ye Chen''s heart; only recruiting Heavenly Saints into the sect, the sect members must all be Heavenly Saints! It goes without saying how powerful such a sect is.


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but want to hear more about the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    "Heavenly Sacred Palace was established by the three palace masters, all of whom are late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings! The three palace masters founded the Heavenly Sacred Palace not for internal affairs, but actually, for external ones!"


    External affairs?


    Externally to where?


    While Ye Chen was still guessing, Mu Qingqing directly revealed, "In our Upper Realm, where the Minor Spirit Realm exists, there are many connections with our Heavenly Sacred Palace, but we''ll talk about that later."


    "What I mean by external is in reference to the other thirty-two continents that, like our Barbaric Wilderness Continent, belong to the Minor Spirit Realm''s Lower Realm."


    "You must know, the Lower Realm of the Minor Spirit Realm, including the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the other thirty-two continents, have countless connections, disputes, and even competitions!"


    "''Heavenly Sacred Palace'' was founded to select the most outstanding disciples in preparation to face the other thirty-two continents!"


    "It can be said, while other sects strive against countless sects within the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'' represents our Barbaric Wilderness Continent in its struggles against the other thirty-two continents!"


    "The disciples of ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'' face the truly powerful disciples from the other thirty-two continents!"

 Chapter 286: Chapter 253: The First Temple

    Heavenly Sacred Palace represents the Barbaric Wilderness Continent in its struggle against thirty-two other continents!


    The disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace face the truly powerful disciples from those other thirty-two continents!


    Mu Qingqing''s words made Ye Chen take a deep breath.


    Externally.


    So this was the external aspect of Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Turns out that while Heavenly Sacred Palace does not partake in the sectarian strife within the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and remains the strongest secluded sect, it is the vanguard in the struggle against the thirty-two other continents.


    This drew Ye Chen deeply towards the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    After all, to fight against the other thirty-two continents meant that he could witness the conditions of those continents.


    One Barbaric Wilderness Continent was already boundless; Ye Chen had no idea what the other thirty-two continents would look like, or what the geniuses from those continents would be like!


    Of course, Ye Chen wished to experience what set the total thirty-three continents of the Minor Spirit Realm apart!


    Mu Qingqing''s following words prompted even more interest in Ye Chen.


    Mu Qingqing continued, "Heavenly Sacred Palace can interact with the other thirty-two continents because it alone controls the ancient intercontinental transportation formations leading to them!"


    "In the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, only Heavenly Sacred Palace has the means to enter the other thirty-two continents!"


    "Furthermore, only the three great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace have some inexplicable connection with the Overseers of the thirty-two other continents."


    "To join Heavenly Sacred Palace is to truly possess the opportunity to experience the other thirty-two continents!"


    Traversing continents, witnessing the wonders of the other thirty-two continents, and clashing with the geniuses from those continents!


    Indeed, this is the special chance that Heavenly Sacred Palace''s disciples possess!


    If the fact that Heavenly Sacred Palace was the first sect of the ''Central Region,'' the sacred land of the human race, hadn''t strongly attracted Ye Chen before, the opportunity to experience the other thirty-two continents certainly had a real impact on him now.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s interest, Mu Qingqing smiled and continued, "Ye Chen, because of Heavenly Sacred Palace''s special nature, countless martial artists across the Barbaric Wilderness Continent wish to join ''Heavenly Sacred Palace,'' even many Heavenly Saints aspire to join it."


    "However, the three Palace Masters are extremely stringent in choosing their disciples, and the vast majority of Heavenly Saints are not selected to join ''Heavenly Sacred Palace.'' Only the truly strong and those with great natural talent on the path of cultivation have the chance to join Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "Even though Heavenly Sacred Palace later started recruiting disciples not only from the ''Heavenly Saint Realm'' but also from the ''True Qi Realm,'' ''Spirit Sea Realm,'' and ''Rotating Pill Realm'' to confront the geniuses of the other realms from the thirty-two continents, these disciples are all highly talented individuals."


    "Ye Chen, you at the mid-phase of the Spirit Sea Realm can suppress a mid-phase practitioner of the Rotating Pill Realm, overcoming an entire realm to confront your enemy. Coupled with your age of only fifteen years old and possessing numerous miraculous methods, that''s why I invited you to join Heavenly Sacred Palace. If it were someone else, they wouldn''t even catch my attention."


    By the end, Mu Qingqing was smiling.


    Ye Chen also nodded with a smile, now having a better understanding of Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    However, Ye Chen still had a few doubts, "By the way, Mu Qingqing, you mentioned that Heavenly Sacred Palace recruits disciples externally, not internally. Are there any restrictions if a disciple wishes to be involved in power struggles within the Barbaric Wilderness Continent?"


    Ye Chen''s journey to the Central Region was because the impending war between the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory and the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness was brewing, and Fairy Jia Luo had sent him to the Tai''a Sword Sect to hasten his cultivation.


    If he truly joined Heavenly Sacred Palace, and because of the Palace''s policy of non-involvement in internal conflicts, Ye Chen would be unwilling to participate in battle during the war between the Southern Territory and Western Wilderness.


    After all, in the Southern Territory, there were his parents, his nation, and his relatives. If war broke out between the Southern Territory and Western Wilderness, no matter what, Ye Chen was determined to join the fight and genuinely contribute to the Southern Territory!


    Now, Ye Chen already possessed the strength to battle against late-phase practitioners of the Rotating Pill Realm. If the war would break out a bit later, Ye Chen was very confident that he could further enhance his power. By then, he might even have a shot against early-phase Heavenly Saints!


    At that time, he might be able to make a significant contribution to the Southern Territory. He would certainly not forsake the Southern Territory for his own cultivation!


    Hearing Ye Chen''s question, Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes glanced across his face.


    The clever and cunning girl immediately thought of the reason behind Ye Chen''s inquiry, "Ye Chen, I''ve long heard that your Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness are at odds, and during my return from the Southern Territory, I also felt a suffocating tension hinting at an imminent war between you and the Western Wilderness."


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    "Are you worried that, if you join the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'', you wouldn''t be able to participate in case a war breaks out between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness?"


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Mu Qingqing smiled and said, "You don''t have to worry about that. Although my ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'' is a hidden sect, we only refrain from competing with other sects on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent as a whole. The personal actions of our disciples are not constrained by the sect."


    "In fact, our ''Heavenly Sacred Palace'' has very loose restrictions on disciples. It''s only when facing the other thirty-two continents that we have some requirements for our disciples."


    "Ye Chen, as far as I know, many talented disciples from the top ten demonic sects of the Western Wilderness have also joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace, even outnumbering the disciples from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory that have joined. When the time comes, I''m afraid they will also fight for the Western Wilderness."


    Mu Qingqing''s words sent a chill through Ye Chen''s heart.


    So many disciples from the top ten demonic sects of the Western Wilderness were cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    If the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness truly went to war, this could be an important force that couldn''t be ignored!


    "What''s the strength of those disciples from the Western Wilderness who have joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace? Are there any Heavenly Saints among them?" Ye Chen asked Mu Qingqing, "Have any Heavenly Saints joined?"


    If there were Heavenly Saints among them, that could indeed be a huge problem.


    "Heavenly Saints? No, there are none," Mu Qingqing shook her head. "Both the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness have very few Heavenly Saints to begin with. Moreover, due to the conflicts between these two powers, the three palace masters of the sect never considered recruiting Heavenly Saints from these areas into the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''."


    "However, in the First Holy Temple, there''s an absolute genius from the Western Wilderness. When the time comes, he''s very likely to become the new Heavenly Saint of the Western Wilderness. His strength is now said to be strong enough to single-handedly defeat late-stage Rotating Pill Realm masters!


    Ye Chen, if you''re worried about the war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, you must be wary of him."


    "The First Holy Temple?" Ye Chen was somewhat perplexed.


    "The Heavenly Sacred Palace is divided into six parts: ''Heavenly Saint Mountain'' and the ''Five Holy Temples''."


    "Heavenly Saint Mountain is where the Heavenly Saint Realm masters cultivate, while the ''Five Holy Temples'' are places for disciples of the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and Rotating Pill Realm to cultivate."


    "Among them, the Fifth Holy Temple is for True Qi Realm disciples, the Fourth Holy Temple for Spirit Sea Realm disciples, and the Third Holy Temple for Rotating Pill Realm disciples. The Second Holy Temple and the First Holy Temple, however, are special. These two great temples select the most outstanding talents from the True Qi, Spirit Sea, and Rotating Pill realms to exclusively cultivate them."


    "The First Holy Temple, in particular, is the gathering place for the most exceptional talents of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, aside from Heavenly Saint Mountain where the Heavenly Saints reside. Nearly ninety percent of the geniuses who enter the First Holy Temple eventually become Heavenly Saints!"


    Mu Qingqing went on to explain about the First Holy Temple to Ye Chen.


    The First Holy Temple is where the cre?me de la cre?me of the Heavenly Sacred Palace gathered, and ninety percent of its disciples would eventually step into the Heavenly Saint Realm?!


    This revelation made Ye Chen''s heart race.


    If that was true, then the genius disciple from the Western Wilderness who cultivated in the First Holy Temple, the one who was said to be capable of sweeping away late-stage Rotating Pill Realm masters, really couldn''t be underestimated!


    "Ye Chen, that genius disciple from the Western Wilderness I told you about is also quite notorious in the First Holy Temple, and he even ranks in the top ten on the ''Sky List'' among the countless disciples of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "The disciple is named ''Yin Qianjue''!" Mu Qingqing told Ye Chen.


    Yin Qianjue!


    Ye Chen nodded, committing the name to memory.


    "Ye Chen, if you truly wish to contribute to the Southern Territory, you should join the Heavenly Sacred Palace," Mu Qingqing looked at Ye Chen. "Only within the Heavenly Sacred Palace can you receive superior guidance, gain better cultivation insights, and learn the optimal methods to break through realms.


    After all, the Heavenly Sacred Palace is home to the best Heavenly Saints of the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and the summation of their cultivation experience is unmatched by any other sect."


    "I see you''ve come all the way to the ''Tai''a Sword Sect''. Were you thinking of joining it? Although Tai''a Sword Sect is a third-grade sect, it has major flaws. Not only does it specialize in sword techniques to the exclusion of other arts, but its overall strength is also far behind the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "Ye Chen, do consider my invitation carefully," Mu Qingqing said, looking at him.

 Chapter 287: Chapter 254: Little Fox Mu Qingqing

    Ye Chen nodded.


    What Mu Qingqing said was indeed true.


    The Heavenly Sacred Palace was the number one sect in the Central Region, and could even be said to be the number one sect in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Whether it was in terms of cultivation or its connections with the other thirty-two continents...


    Joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace was indeed more beneficial for a martial artist''s cultivation than joining the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    On the other hand, Ye Chen was more concerned about those Demon Sect disciples cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    If he didn''t know, Ye Chen wouldn''t have thought too much about it. But knowing that these Demon Sect disciples were cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, especially those like Yin Qianjue who could very well step into the Heavenly Saint Realm, Ye Chen naturally had to be extremely cautious!


    Only by joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace could he have a clear understanding of the strength of the Demon Sect disciples within this number one sect and be prepared to truly confront this potential threat to the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    Now, the only thing Ye Chen was still considering was Jiang Yao.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen''s divine consciousness directly entered the Azure Blue Mansion, ready to look at Jiang Yao, who was still undergoing her Bloodline Awakening in the Phoenix Blood Pool.


    Calculating the time, Jiang Yao should be coming out of her Bloodline Awakening in a few days.


    Just as Ye Chen''s divine consciousness entered the Azure Blue Mansion, the voice of the Phoenix Spirit directly transmitted into his mind, "Ye Chen, accept the girl''s invitation and join the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''!"


    Hmm?


    Ye Chen didn''t expect to hear the Phoenix Spirit say such a thing the moment his divine consciousness entered the Azure Blue Mansion.


    "I heard the conversation you had with that girl," the Phoenix Spirit revealed itself in the Azure Blue Mansion, "I was worried the girl might pose a threat to you and used a special Sacred Artifact to calculate, and unexpectedly, it showed that you and Jiang Yao indeed have an inexplicable connection with the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''."


    "The divination indicates that going to the Heavenly Sacred Palace would be the best choice for you and Jiang Yao in the Central Region!"


    The Phoenix Spirit''s words left Ye Chen taken aback.


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    Divination?


    There is such a Sacred Artifact that tests fate and choices?


    Seeing Ye Chen''s confusion, the Phoenix Spirit laughed, "There is a treasure in the Azure Blue Mansion called the ''Push-Back Thirty-Six Divinations Map,'' which can predict good and bad fortunes. It is a special divination-type treasure of my Divine Phoenix Clan."


    Ye Chen nodded, feeling impressed that the Azure Blue Mansion, one of the eight great treasure troves of the Ancient Clans from the Upper Realm and belonging to the Divine Phoenix Clan, indeed contained many wondrous items!


    "By the way, Elder Phoenix Spirit, when can Jiang Yao complete her Bloodline Awakening?" Ye Chen asked.


    He had asked the Phoenix Spirit this question many times already.


    In the Central Region, the person Ye Chen was most concerned about was of course Jiang Yao.


    "It''s soon, in another seven days, Jiang Yao should be able to complete her Bloodline Awakening!" the Phoenix Spirit said, "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao truly has the most precious true phoenix bloodline of the Divine Phoenix Clan. This Bloodline Awakening is unexpectedly good! Even reaching the best possible state of awakening for the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    She has already awakened the Nirvana Totem of the true spiritual divine beast, the phoenix, and is now in the final stages of her bloodline''s revival! When she comes out, you will be truly surprised!"


    Seven more days to complete the Bloodline Awakening and leave the Azure Blue Mansion?!


    Hearing the Phoenix Spirit give a definite timeframe, Ye Chen was also delighted.


    What concerned Ye Chen the most was Jiang Yao, and the fact that she could complete her Bloodline Awakening, and as the Phoenix Spirit had said, in the best possible state, made Ye Chen incredibly happy!


    "Ye Chen, promise the girl to go cultivate in the Heavenly Sacred Palace. You and Jiang Yao stepping into the Heavenly Sacred Palace will give you both great assistance!" After speaking of Jiang Yao''s matters, the Phoenix Spirit once again reminded Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    His previous hesitation was due to his concern about the connection between Jiang Yao and the Heavenly Sacred Palace. Now that the Phoenix Spirit had said so, Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t hesitate anymore.


    The Heavenly Sacred Palace, the number one sect in the Central Region, the strongest second-grade sect in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Then he would go to this sect and take a look!


    Ye Chen''s divine consciousness followed the Phoenix Spirit to take another look at Jiang Yao in the Phoenix Blood Pool, then withdrew from the Azure Blue Mansion and returned to his body.


    Then, Ye Chen looked over at Mu Qingqing.


    While Ye Chen was communicating with the Phoenix Spirit through his divine consciousness, Mu Qingqing thought he was contemplating and did not rush him.


    Now, seeing Ye Chen look up at her, Mu Qingqing smiled, "So, Ye Chen, have you made a decision?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "I accept your invitation to join the ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''."


    Hearing Ye Chen agree to her invitation, Mu Qingqing''s eyes creased into a smile.


    "Going out as an Envoy this time, Grandfather said I wouldn''t be able to pick out a talented martial artist, and the other Envoys even bet that the martial artists they picked would definitely be stronger than the one I chose!"


    "Hmph, wait until I bring Ye Chen back, it will surely surprise them all! Ye Chen is only fifteen years old and can already sweep through mid-stage Whirl Dan experts, he can even fight against late-stage Whirl Dan experts, and there are many techniques, I haven''t even seen! Such talent, placed in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, will surely be among the very top!"


    "Then, let grandfather and the other Envoys be truly astonished!" Mu Qingqing thought to herself.


    As the girl was thinking, Ye Chen''s voice came to her ears again, "However, ..."


    "However, what?" Mu Qingqing lifted her beautiful eyes to look at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you aren''t going to change your mind, are you?"


    Ye Chen shook his head with a smile, "A decision I''ve made, of course, won''t change. What I meant to say is, I have another companion, a very important person to me. If she also wants to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace, would that be possible?"


    "A very important person?" Mu Qingqing''s sly eyes smiled, "I get it, it must be a girl."


    "No problem. If she has a strong enough talent, I, as an Envoy, can apply for a spot for her to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "Strong enough talent? Of course, she is strong!" Ye Chen said with a smile.


    Jiang Yao was from the Divine Phoenix Clan of the Upper Realm.


    Even within the Divine Phoenix Clan, she belonged to the most precious true Phoenix bloodline!


    In Phoenix Spirit''s words, within ten years, Jiang Yao would have an absolute assurance of stepping into the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Without having completed the Bloodline Awakening, Jiang Yao, relying on herself in the Lower Realm, had cultivated the extremely difficult Divine Phoenix Clan''s secret bloodline method to the second layer, astonishing the Phoenix Spirit.


    Now, Jiang Yao, soon to complete her Bloodline Awakening, even Ye Chen didn''t know what achievements she would reap.


    Such talent, placed in the Lower Realm, could shock everyone, and it could even be said that joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace merely served to give Jiang Yao a better shot at challenging the Heavenly Saint Realm. The Heavenly Sacred Palace was far from being the place where Phoenix Spirit hoped Jiang Yao would stay for long.


    Ye Chen certainly wasn''t worried whether Jiang Yao''s talent met the standards of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    If Jiang Yao wasn''t sufficient, then it was feared that others would be even less so!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s unwavering confidence, Mu Qingqing''s eyes shone even brighter, "Ye Chen, where is your companion? You''ve piqued my interest; I want to meet her too."


    "She is still in secluded cultivation. In a few days, you will be able to see her," Ye Chen said.


    "Ye Chen, you actually possess a spatial Sacred Artifact!"


    Hearing Ye Chen say this, Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes went wide with amazement.


    She knew she hadn''t noticed anyone else around Ye Chen, but Ye Chen had said that in a few days, they would be able to meet his companion. Evidently, the companion Ye Chen spoke of was cultivating in a space.


    A space that could accommodate the cultivation of a Martial Artist was absolutely at the level of a Sacred Artifact!


    Mu Qingqing, coming from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, had of course seen Sacred Artifacts, but Ye Chen was only fifteen years old and came from the impoverished Southern Territory, yet he possessed a Sacred Artifact!


    This naturally surprised Mu Qingqing once more.


    Seeing the surprised look on Mu Qingqing''s face, Ye Chen just smiled, and then, he asked her, "Joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace is no problem, but what about the requirements you mentioned before for entering the First Holy Temple?"


    The First Holy Temple, according to Mu Qingqing, was where the most talented disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace below the Heavenly Saint Realm concentrated on their cultivation, and the talented "Yin Qianjue" from the Demon Sects was cultivating there.


    Ye Chen naturally wanted to join the most powerful First Holy Temple!


    "The First Holy Temple?" Mu Qingqing''s eyes shifted, and she smiled lightly, "The more talented, the better for joining. Normally, as an Envoy, the Martial Artists I select can at most join the Second Holy Temple."


    "But if you can find a Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse to endorse you, in addition to the recommendation of an Envoy, joining the First Holy Temple is not impossible."


    "Ye Chen, I have already witnessed your talent. Leave the matter of joining the First Holy Temple to me!"


    "Thank you, Mu Qingqing." Watching the girl in front of him pat her chest confidently, guaranteeing this to him, Ye Chen was also somewhat touched.


    He had encountered this girl by chance, and she had been quite good to him.


    "Nevertheless, you mentioned needing a Heavenly Saint to endorse me, so who should we look for?" Ye Chen asked.


    "Don''t be formal with me. As an Envoy, selecting a formidable Martial Artist will earn me admiration in the Heavenly Sacred Palace," Mu Qingqing said with a smile.


    "As for finding a Heavenly Saint to endorse?" The girl''s sly eyes gleamed, "Normally, I could ask my grandfather, but since he was convinced that I wouldn''t find a formidable Martial Artist on this trip, we''ll not bother him! However... there happens to be an excellent candidate right now."


    The girl said, pointing with her fair finger in the direction of Tai''a Sword Sect behind the Misty Sea Forest.


    "You mean..."


    Ye Chen remembered that the higher-ranked demon kings they had met earlier had said that the most powerful supreme elder of the Tai''a Sword Sect was a person from the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Seeing Mu Qingqing''s demeanor, could it be that she intended to seek that supreme elder''s endorsement?


    "Exactly!" Upon seeing Ye Chen come to understand, Mu Qingqing smiled lightly, "It''s been a long time since I''ve seen Elder Xiao, and this time, he must do me this favor!"


    "Besides, it''s still a few months until the deadline for an Envoy to return with selected Martial Artists to the Heavenly Sacred Palace. Since we''ve come to the Tai''a Sword Sect, we certainly should drop in for a good visit!"


    "Ye Chen, the Tai''a Sword Sect has many treasures that could aid your cultivation, and I saw that you have yet to fully master the high-level Sword Formation you were using."


    "This time, watch me secure a great opportunity for you to practice Sword Formations at the Tai''a Sword Sect!"


    "I also have to get some fine treasures from Elder Xiao..."


    By the end, Mu Qingqing''s eyes sparkled with cunning smiles, as if she were a little fox plotting something.

 Chapter 288: Chapter 255 Taia City

    Watching Mu Qingqing''s fox-like swirling beautiful eyes, Ye Chen simply smiled.


    The girl before him was completely different from Jiang Yao in character.


    Jiang Yao was gentle like water, whereas Mu Qingqing had a sly look in her eyes; at a glance, one could tell she was a girl with many tricks up her sleeve.


    "Let''s go. Now that the matters here are settled, we shall head to the Tai''a Sword Sect," Ye Chen said to Mu Qingqing with a smile.


    Though he had already decided to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace, having arrived at the legendary third-grade great sect, the Tai''a Sword Sect¡ªand even if he wasn''t looking for Elder Xiao Supreme Elder¡ªYe Chen still wanted to take a good look around the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    At this moment, Mu Qingqing, evidently having finalized her cunning little plans, giggled and nodded to Ye Chen, "Let''s go. Through the Misty Sea Forest and Tai''a City, and we''ll be at the Tai''a Sword Sect."


    Now that the two were on the same side, the eighteen Demon Kings summoned by Mu Qingqing using Diao''er would certainly not hinder Ye Chen anymore.


    "It''s been tough on you all; you can go back now," Mu Qingqing turned her small head and spoke to the ten high-ranking Demon Kings.


    "Not at all, not at all."


    "It''s our honor to serve the great ones of the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    The ten high-ranking Demon Kings shook their heads repeatedly, and then their eyes swept over Ye Chen, "Little lad, you''re lucky. From now on, you are a great one of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    The words of the ten high-ranking Demon Kings left Ye Chen somewhat bemused.


    "It seems these high-ranking demon spirits hold the Heavenly Sacred Palace in high admiration!" Ye Chen felt inwardly.


    Still, Ye Chen greeted the ten high-ranking Demon Kings with a smile.


    Although these Demon Kings had tried to stop him, and the other eight mid-ranking Demon Kings even fought with him, there was no ill-will between them.


    After bidding farewell to Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, the ten high-ranking Demon Kings roared as they flew away.


    Eventually, along with the other seven mid-ranking Demon Kings and the previously unconscious, now awakened Bear Demon King, they disappeared into the vast Misty Sea Forest and were completely gone from sight.


    Seeing the Misty Sea Forest return to peace, Ye Chen''s eyes also turned towards the endless forest behind.


    "What is the Tai''a Sword Sect like," he wondered.


    "And what about Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, who will recommend me? The strongest Supreme Elder of the Tai''a Sword Sect? A powerful being at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm? I haven''t yet met a mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse."


    Ye Chen''s heart filled with anticipation for the Tai''a Sword Sect he was about to enter and the mid-stage Heavenly Saint strong Elder Xiao Supreme Elder he was about to meet.


    Then, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing continued to fly towards the end of the Misty Sea Forest, towards the direction of the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    ...


    "Mu Qingqing, how can you fly so fast at such a young age? ..."


    "What, Ye Chen, you are participating in the Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament this time in the Central Region? The Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament is a basic-level swordfighting tournament. The strong Sword Cultivators from those third-grade sword sects usually don''t participate, but if you really want to join, I have a good idea..."


    "Mu Qingqing, what kind of Spirit Beast is this little Diao''er? Why does it keep sleeping? Were those eighteen Demon Kings driven by it..."


    "Ye Chen, how did you cultivate so powerfully in the Southern Territory..."


    On the way, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing chatted and asked each other questions, gradually learning a lot about one another.


    About the time it takes two incense sticks to burn, they had flown to the end of the Misty Sea Forest.


    "Is that Tai''a City ahead?"


    Having finally passed through the vast Misty Sea Forest, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing stopped the idle chat and looked forward. When Ye Chen saw the huge city that appeared, his eyes flashed with excitement.


    The huge city that emerged was just as immense as Dragon Abyss City, which Ye Chen first saw when he arrived in the Central Region.


    However, compared to Dragon Abyss City, the huge city ahead had a different characteristic.


    Within this city, countless buildings stood like towering swords piercing the sky. Even before approaching the city, Ye Chen felt a soaring sword intent sweeping towards him.


    And he saw Sword Cultivators, with their precious swords on their backs, flying across the sky above the city!


    "Yes, that ahead is Tai''a City!"


    "Ye Chen, look behind the city, further away. That''s the Tai''a Sword Sect!"


    Clearly familiar with the Tai''a Sword Sect, Mu Qingqing pointed beyond the immense city towards a distant part of the sky.


    Following Mu Qingqing''s direction, Ye Chen saw that beyond the giant city, towering mountain ranges stood at the horizon.


    Clearly, those were the mountain gates of the Tai''a Sword Sect!


    Having finally stepped into the territory of the Tai''a Sword Sect, Ye Chen''s heart stirred with excitement.


    "Ye Chen, let''s head into Tai''a City first."


    "The mountain gate of the Tai''a Sword Sect is not easily entered by those who are not from the sect. Since you''ve decided not to join the Tai''a Sword Sect, it would be inappropriate to disturb that Rotating Pill. I can have Diao''er go meet Elder Xiao first, and have Elder Xiao come to receive us into the mountain gate."


    "Tai''a City boasts an incomparable delicacy that you simply can''t miss out on."


    "We can savor that delicacy while waiting for Elder Xiao."


    Mu Qingqing said to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Ever since he arrived in the Central Region and encountered the Shi Family trio, he had learned from them that it was difficult to enter the Tai''a Sword Sect. Even Martial Artists in the Rotating Pill Realm had to submit a visitation request and receive approval to get in.


    Initially, Ye Chen had a letter from Fairy Jia Luo to her friend, requesting that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao be allowed to cultivate in the Tai''a Sword Sect. However, now that he had decided to head for the Heavenly Sacred Palace instead of joining the Tai''a Sword Sect, he really shouldn''t disturb Fairy Jia Luo''s friend in the Rotating Pill Realm with that letter, as Mu Qingqing had suggested.


    Ye Chen planned, once Elder Xiao Supreme Elder took him into the Tai''a Sword Sect, to find an opportunity to personally meet with the cultivator in the later stage of Rotating Pill Realm and convey Fairy Jia Luo''s greetings.


    "Let''s go."


    "This time, it''ll be up to you to get us into the Tai''a Sword Sect."


    Ye Chen said to Mu Qingqing with a smile.


    "Delicacies? What kind of peerless delicacy does Tai''a City have?"


    ...


    Upon entering Tai''a City and arriving outside a massive building, Ye Chen finally realized the delicacy Mu Qingqing had mentioned truly was something extraordinary.


    Just outside the building, Ye Chen smelled an incredibly enticing aroma that, upon a light sniff, seemed to fly into his body, making him feel utterly refreshed.


    It was as if he had consumed an Immortal Pill or some miraculous fruit!


    If one were to actually go inside, presumably the exquisite culinary delights would be even more tantalizing!


    "Ye Chen, this is the ''Heavenly Treasure Pavilion'' I told you about. There are lots of delicious treats here, especially the ''Sword Fang Rice''¡ªthat''s a unique and unparalleled delicacy in Tai''a City. I''ve been wanting to have it again ever since I tried it last time!"


    By the end, Mu Qingqing seemed like a little glutton, nearly drooling at the thought.


    Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing chatted as they walked towards the massive building known as the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.


    By this time, the snow-white mink Diao''er in Mu Qingqing''s arms had vanished. Right after stepping into Tai''a City, Mu Qingqing whispered to the snow-white mink, which then flew directly towards the mountain gate of Tai''a Sword Sect behind the city to find Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    Through his exchanges with Mu Qingqing, Ye Chen learned what the snow-white mink Diao''er was.


    Mu Qingqing told him that Diao''er was a peculiar Spirit Beast that her grandfather had found on the Ice Palace Snowfield in the Extreme North. This Spirit Beast had a mysterious ability to command other demon beasts, with nearly all demon beasts below the Heavenly Saint Realm susceptible to its control.


    As for Diao''er''s own strength, it had reached the Heavenly Saint Realm, but because it was found in a frozen state on the Ice Palace Snowfield, it seemed to have regressed in its spiritual intelligence after being defrosted, resembling a newborn Spirit Beast. That was the reason why Mu Qingqing was able to establish a master-servant bond with it successfully.


    Hearing that Diao''er hailed from the Ice Palace Snowfield in the Extreme North made Ye Chen pause in surprise.


    This was the second time he heard of the Ice Palace Snowfield. The first time was when Heavenly Saint Long Xuan mentioned sensing the presence of Heavenly Saint Di Kong there.


    A Spirit Beast that was at the Heavenly Saint Realm and could regress in intelligence after being frozen¡ªthis made Ye Chen grow even more curious about the Ice Palace Snowfield.


    Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was an immensely large building. As soon as they entered, Ye Chen saw numerous sword-wielding cultivators enjoying fine foods within the pavilion.


    When Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing stepped into the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, they immediately attracted the attention of many people.


    These gazes, though, were almost all focused on Mu Qingqing.


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    At fourteen, Mu Qingqing was already exceedingly beautiful, not to mention her delicately perfect little face, and her full, enticing chest. Just her pair of long, straight legs alone made it hard for many to look away.


    Moreover, the youthful vivacity and cunning in her eyes naturally emitted a charming and seductive air that easily captivated people.


    Plus, coming from the prestigious Heavenly Sacred Palace, she had a very special aura about her, which held a mysterious allure for many disciples of various sects.


    It was only Ye Chen, who was often in the company of Jiang Yao, who wasn''t too concerned with Mu Qingqing''s beauty, whereas others seemed powerless to resist such an enchanting young lady.


    "Hehe, Ye Chen, everything in this ''Heavenly Treasure Pavilion'' is quite expensive, and only powerful Martial Artists frequent this place," said Mu Qingqing, unconcerned by the scrutiny, as she pulled Ye Chen towards an empty seat.


    Her charming voice made many go weak in the knees, and upon seeing Ye Chen next to her, quite a few felt increasingly uncomfortable.


    "He''s just a boy in the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, and yet he gets to be in the company of such a beautiful girl."


    "I''m in the Rotating Pill Realm, and I don''t have such good fortune!"


    Many Martial Artists looked at Ye Chen with a mix of envy and jealousy.


    Seeing their expressions, Ye Chen touched his nose in resignation.


    This is what they covet and envy?


    If they knew the girl who was truly with him was Jiang Yao, who was even more beautiful and graceful than Mu Qingqing, wouldn''t they go crazy with jealousy?


    Ye Chen just smiled and shook his head.

 Chapter 289: Chapter 256: Slap and Send Flying

    Under countless watchful eyes, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing made their way to a seat by the window and sat down.


    The table and chairs at this seat were crafted from azure wood. Sitting there, Ye Chen felt a faint True Qi swirling around his body.


    This wood could actually absorb and emit True Qi autonomously!


    "It really lives up to the reputation of a third-grade great sect; just this city below the mountain gate has such an extraordinary restaurant!" Ye Chen exclaimed with emotion.


    Looking at the table, he noticed many bamboo sticks placed on one side.


    Ye Chen saw that these bamboo sticks had names of dishes and their prices written on them.


    "''Sky Cage Spirit Lotus,'' three hundred lower-grade Spirit Stones."


    "''Ice Spirit Whelk,'' four hundred lower-grade Spirit Stones."


    "''Azure Dragon True Blood,'' one thousand lower-grade Spirit Stones."


    "''Blazing Flame Liquor,'' six hundred lower-grade Spirit Stones."


    "''Eight Treasures Spirit Meat,'' one thousand two hundred lower-grade Spirit Stones..."


    The price tagged behind each dish was actually calculated in Spirit Stones!


    Ye Chen remembered the six strong figures from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom saying that only martial artists in the Rotating Pill Realm began using Spirit Stones. Seeing the prices of these dishes, even an ordinary martial artist in the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm probably couldn''t afford to eat them!


    Ye Chen looked around and saw that, indeed, middle and late-stage Rotating Pill Realm martial artists were the majority in the "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion," with a few disciples from the Spirit Sea Realm who also seemed to have some significant backgrounds.


    Among the many bamboo sticks for dishes, Ye Chen noticed the widest and most conspicuous one.


    It read: "''Sword Fang Rice,'' three thousand lower-grade Spirit Stones each!"


    Sword Fang Rice was precisely what Mu Qingqing had been talking about all along.


    Ye Chen was somewhat astounded. One grain for three thousand lower-grade Spirit Stones? Was one grain enough to eat?


    Seeing Ye Chen''s surprised expression, Mu Qingqing chuckled: "Ye Chen, the dishes here are all prepared using a top-grade precious utensil, so they are priced in Spirit Stones."


    "Many of the ingredients in these dishes are extremely rare. Especially this ''Sword Fang Rice,'' which is an exclusive product of the Tai''a Sword Sect. It''s said that the ''Sword Fang Rice'' grows in Tai''a Sword Sect''s Sword Forest, nurtured day and night by countless sword auras, and it requires the care of a martial artist at the Rotating Pill Realm level to successfully cultivate it."


    "Eating this rice can improve the three vital signs of essence, energy, and spirit, beneficial for elevating one''s life level. Even its scent is uniquely fragrant, making one unable to resist eating it as soon as they smell it."


    "I ate it once before, and the taste lingered for a long time after returning home. It''s a pity that ''Sword Fang Rice'' is said to have many restrictions from harvest to cooking¡ªit can''t be taken away, or else I''d have liked to take some with me."


    By the end of her explanation, Mu Qingqing was like a little glutton, almost drooling.


    As Mu Qingqing explained these dishes to Ye Chen, many of the martial artists who were paying attention to them showed disdainful expressions when they saw Ye Chen''s look of surprise.


    "Look at him, he must be new to Tai''a City, not even knowing what ''Sword Fang Rice'' is."


    "A martial artist at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm dares to come here to dine in the ''Heavenly Treasure Pavilion''; he probably can''t afford any dish here!"


    "If he can''t eat anything in the end, that would be quite embarrassing."


    Despite these martial artists keeping their dismissive voices low, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, with their immensely strong Divine Senses, heard them loud and clear.


    Mu Qingqing gave Ye Chen a gentle smile.


    Others might not understand Ye Chen, but she knew a lot about him. Having followed Ye Chen to the Tai''a Sword Sect, Mu Qingqing noticed that Ye Chen was using top-grade Spirit Stones to recover the True Qi expended for flying.


    Top-grade Spirit Stones!


    Those were things that even late-stage Rotating Pill Realm martial artists rarely came in contact with!


    They were items usable only by Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists!


    The dishes in the "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion" might be expensive, but a single top-grade Spirit Stone was enough to eat here for a year without running out!


    Just to understand, one top-grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for a thousand high-grade Spirit Stones, while one high-grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for a thousand middle-grade Spirit Stones, equivalent to the price of a thousand lower-grade Spirit Stones.


    That is to say, just one top-grade Spirit Stone could be exchanged for more than one billion lower-grade Spirit Stones!


    These martial artists thought Ye Chen couldn''t afford the food in the "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion," but they didn''t realize that Ye Chen''s current wealth equaled the reserves of the Cliff Heavenly Saints accumulated over thousands of years, surpassing many Heavenly Saints and not to mention the martial artists in this restaurant.


    While Mu Qingqing chuckled softly, Ye Chen also shook his head with a smile. Discover more content at m,v l''e-novelhall.net


    His amazement was only due to the fact that the dishes were priced in Spirit Stones; he truly wasn''t concerned about the cost of these Spirit Stones.


    Unexpectedly, he ended up being looked down upon by the martial artists of Tai''a City.


    "Mu Qingqing, go ahead and order," Ye Chen said to Mu Qingqing with a gentle smile. "This meal, I''ll treat you."


    "Alright, then I shall feast generously!"


    Mu Qingqing''s sly fox-like eyes twinkled with mischief. She glanced around at the martial artists who were sneakily looking at them, and then, the young girl gestured gracefully, summoning the waiter over.


    This waiter was a martial artist at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, which made Ye Chen recognize the formidable strength of the Tai''a Sword Sect once again.


    "Come on, waiter, serve one portion of all these dishes!"


    "And bring two grains of ''Sword Fang Rice''!"


    Mu Qingqing lightly tapped her finger, promptly ordering more than ten different dishes indicated by the bamboo sticks.


    Seeing Mu Qingqing''s lavish way of ordering, those martial artists watching her and Ye Chen with stealth were agape in shock.


    When these martial artists dined in the "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion," they had to carefully calculate the prices. Yet this young girl ordered as if the price didn''t matter, only choosing whatever tasted good.


    Who was this young girl? Such extravagance!


    Turning to Ye Chen, the gathered martial artists saw that when Mu Qingqing was ordering the dishes, Ye Chen merely smiled indifferently and showed no intention of stopping her.


    "These dishes are priced with spirit stones!"


    "These two from the Spirit Sea Realm, they wouldn''t be ignorant of what spirit stones are, right?"


    The martial artists were abuzz with speculation.


    Mu Qingqing was already at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, while Ye Chen had also altered his aura to appear as if he was at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm. The two of them were indeed quite conspicuous among the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses gathered in the pavilion.


    The martial artists were astounded, and even the waiter was somewhat baffled, "Esteemed guests, are you... really going to order these? The price..."


    "Just get them ready and bring them up!"


    Mu Qingqing paid no heed to the waiter''s hesitant words. After ordering, she casually waved her hand, indicating for the waiter to prepare the food.


    While the waiter was still hesitating, a voice cut in abruptly, "Waiter, go ahead and make them. If they can''t pay, I, Mr. Liu, will cover the cost."


    Mu Qingqing, who had been chatting and laughing with Ye Chen, furrowed her brows when she heard this voice.


    Ye Chen also frowned and looked up in the direction of the voice.


    They saw a young man in white, fanning himself with a folding fan, smiling as he walked towards them. Behind the young man, four others, dressed in brocade robes, followed.


    All five exuded the aura of the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm.


    The waiter clearly recognized the newcomer, addressing the young man in white with respectful tones, "Yes, Mr. Liu, I will arrange for these dishes to be made immediately!"


    With that, the waiter scurried off toward the kitchen.


    Seeing the waiter''s understanding demeanor, the young man in white smiled faintly. Then, he stepped forward with his entourage, heading straight for Mu Qingqing.


    As for Ye Chen, these few seemed to have outright ignored him...


    "I am Liu Zheng. May I know the young lady''s name, and would you honor me by sampling these delicacies of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion together?"


    Seeing the straightforward approach of Liu Zheng, the young man in white, who completely disregarded Ye Chen, Mu Qingqing''s clever eyes twirled, and she shook her head decisively, "Your strength is too weak. I don''t want to dine with you!"


    Your strength is too weak!


    Mu Qingqing''s words almost made Liu Zheng stumble!


    He was at the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm and was outright rejected by this young girl?


    Strength too weak? But the young man across from her was merely at the initial stage of the Spirit Sea Realm. Why not say his strength was weak too?


    It was at this moment that Liu Zheng remembered Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen could only smile wryly in response. This girl, Mu Qingqing, was indeed quick-witted. Such a retort was probably enough to infuriate Liu Zheng.


    Liu Zheng felt his anger rising as he saw the girl in front of him give him no face and the boy merely smiling faintly.


    At the Tai''a Sword Sect, he had a significant background, being a prominent figure within the sect, let alone here in Tai''a City, outside the sect?


    He had never been slighted in this manner before.


    "Hehe, since the lady thinks my strength is lacking, then I will prove it to her," Liu Zheng said, turning his attention to Ye Chen. With a grasp of his palm, he reached out to seize Ye Chen.


    Seeing Liu Zheng suddenly attack Ye Chen, many of the martial artists in the pavilion cried out in alarm.


    Many of them recognized Liu Zheng, knowing that within the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm, he was also a top figure with a powerful background. Even martial artists in the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm would not dare to provoke him on normal days.


    Now that Liu Zheng had made a move against a young martial artist from the Spirit Sea Realm, these martial artists already anticipated that the young man would likely be gravely injured by this single strike!


    "Beautiful girls are always a source of trouble," many sighed to themselves.


    It was clear to them that Liu Zheng''s attack was sparked by irritation from Mu Qingqing''s beauty.


    As Liu Zheng made his move, the four young men standing behind him crossed their arms and smiled, as if such a scene was all too familiar and not at all surprising.


    But Ye Chen, facing Liu Zheng''s attack, was truly angry.


    He and Mu Qingqing were peacefully enjoying their time until this young man came over and brazenly interfered, and now he even took the initiative to strike!


    Moreover, the nature of the attack was ruthless; Ye Chen''s divine sense was extremely powerful, and he had detected a hidden trick in the youth''s hand the moment he struck. An ordinary person would likely suffer surface injuries from his grasp, but the underlying damage would certainly affect their cultivation foundation.


    Such a venomous attack!


    Clearly, this young man was accustomed to acting with impunity in Tai''a City!


    "If it were another young man, he would probably have incurred this trouble for no reason!"


    "Such a person must not be let off lightly!"


    As these thoughts flickered through Ye Chen''s mind, Liu Zheng''s hand had already reached him.


    In a split second, amidst the screaming of the martial artists in the pavilion, and just as Liu Zheng''s hand was about to grasp Ye Chen''s chest, just as Mu Qingqing telepathically told Ye Chen to teach the young man a lesson, Ye Chen made his move.


    Swish!


    In a moment that was as fast as lightning and as fleeting as a spark, Ye Chen''s hand stretched out and intercepted the young man''s palm sooner than it had launched. Ye Chen''s hand clamped down, and with a crisp "snap," the sound of breaking bones resounded immediately.


    Then, with a surge of True Qi from Ye Chen''s hand, all the meridians in the young man''s arm were completely ruptured.


    After that, Ye Chen lifted his hand and slapped the man, sending him flying backward into the halfway up the pavilion with a loud "smack!"

 Chapter 290: Chapter 257: Sword Fang Rice

    When Liu Zheng was sent flying into the air by a palm strike from Ye Chen, a momentary deathly silence fell over the entire "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion".


    What just happened?!


    A junior at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm actually sent a mid-stage cultivator of the Rotating Pill Realm flying with a slap?


    Everyone couldn''t believe their eyes and rubbed them vigorously.


    "Boom!"


    As Liu Zheng, who was sent flying, crashed to the ground and couldn''t help but let out a painful wail, the momentary silence turned into a sweeping wave of chatter throughout the pavilion.


    "How did he make his move?"


    "Did any of you see it clearly?"


    "Too fast, the move was simply too fast! Even faster than a mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm strongman!"


    "Who exactly is this young man, and how is he so formidable!"


    Previously, many martial artists who looked down upon Ye Chen''s realm, now screamed out in shock.


    When they looked at Ye Chen again, there was not one who did not have a look of fear in their eyes.


    To send a mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm strongman flying with a single slap! Experience tales at m v|l e''-novelhall.net


    This strength, even among the countless cultivators of the Rotating Pill Realm in this pavilion, very few could achieve it.


    Everyone could see now, this young man definitely possessed the combat power of a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm, and among those, he was not weak!


    Thinking back to their various ridicules of the young man before, many people''s faces felt burning hot, and some even dared not look at Ye Chen again, fearing they would anger the young man and bring his wrath upon themselves.


    When Liu Zheng was sent flying by Ye Chen''s palm strike, his arm bones fractured and his meridians shattered, leading to continuous wailing, the four young men in brocade robes behind Liu Zheng drastically changed their expressions and hurriedly rushed over to him.


    "My arm!"


    Seeing Liu Zheng wailing in agony as he cradled his arm, the four young men were totally dumbstruck.


    One must know, for a mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm strongman, a fractured arm is a minor issue, certainly not something to wail over, but looking at Liu Zheng''s condition, it was clear he was enduring immense pain.


    What these four did not know was that Ye Chen, upon discovering Liu Zheng''s stealthy move, had the idea of punishing this ruthless young man.


    Ye Chen''s attack might have seemed simple from the outside, but in an instant, he had activated his Primordial True Qi and Sword Intents within the move, directly crippling Liu Zheng''s arm!


    Even if Liu Zheng could heal his injuries later on, this ordeal would likely leave a scar ingrained in his memory!


    "Ah, my arm!"


    "Kill him for me!"


    As the pain nearly caused him to pass out, Liu Zheng, grinding his teeth and glaring at Ye Chen, barked at the four men.


    "Oh? You still want to come at me?" Ye Chen looked indifferently at the four men.


    This glance scared the four men into retreating several steps backward.


    The strength of these four men was almost on par with Liu Zheng''s, and seeing what had happened to Liu Zheng, none of them dared to take action again.


    The hasty retreat of the four men infuriated Liu Zheng, who was on the ground. At that moment, Mu Qingqing gently stroked her palms, looking at Liu Zheng with a smile, "I told you earlier, your strength is too weak, yet you didn''t believe it!"


    "You!"


    Mu Qingqing''s words, combined with the excruciating pain and extreme anger, caused Liu Zheng to faint on the spot.


    "These two..."


    Seeing the nonchalant demeanor of Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing toward Liu Zheng and his companions, all the martial artists were stunned.


    They had never seen Spirit Sea Realm martial artists like them before.


    Generous in ordering dishes, and fierce in action.


    Since when did Tai''a City have such martial artists?!


    Many began to speculate about the identities of Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing.


    As the martial artists were abuzz with discussion, the four young men in brocade robes saw Liu Zheng faint and their expressions turned dramatic. The men, carrying Liu Zheng, looked towards Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, "You... you''ve stirred up a huge trouble... just wait, there will be consequences for you soon!"


    "Stirred up a huge trouble?"


    Mu Qingqing merely smiled and stood up.


    "There hasn''t been trouble on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent that I, Mu Qingqing, have been afraid of!"


    "If you don''t leave, I might have to take action again!"


    As Mu Qingqing spoke, her beautiful eyes gazed at the four men, her indifferent expression causing a shiver in their hearts.


    "Let''s go!"


    "We''ll find Elder Liu!"


    The four men, unnerved by Mu Qingqing''s indifferent expression and seeing Ye Chen also standing up, did not dare linger any longer and, carrying Liu Zheng, bolted out of the "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion".


    "Ah, what was supposed to be a good meal has been spoiled," Mu Qingqing sighed, and her plump lips pouted, "No wonder Grandpa said that with a lower realm, troubles always arise when out and about. It seems next time I go out, I''ll need to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm first!"


    After sighing, Mu Qingqing looked at Ye Chen, her eyes somewhat gleaming, "Ye Chen, the way you took action just now was very decisive. Watching Liu Zheng being sent flying, his incredulous expression made me want to laugh."


    "People like him should be punished; otherwise, who knows what greater troubles they might cause in the future," Ye Chen recalled Liu Zheng''s stealthy move, and his brows knitted together at once.


    Mu Qingqing nodded in agreement.


    Her spiritual perception was even stronger than Ye Chen''s, and she had, of course, noticed Liu Zheng''s underhand tactics.


    "He brought it upon himself!"


    "Anyway, we are still going to eat the dishes we ordered. Ye Chen, make sure you taste that ''Sword Fang Rice'' later; don''t let these few ruin your mood."


    "Let them come looking if they want. I don''t believe that Tai''a Sword Sect has anyone with more authority than Elder Xiao."


    "I''ve got to have a word with Elder Xiao about this - Tai''a Sword Sect really needs to sort out its priorities. It''s not all about cultivation!"


    Mu Qingqing''s sly eyes flickered, apparently struck by a thought, and her mood brightened considerably.


    Ye Chen smiled, too, and took his seat.


    He actually wasn''t worried about Liu Zheng, not to mention with Mu Qingqing by his side, and even without her, he had many tricks up his sleeve and a few aces that could protect him completely.


    The two of them acted as if nothing had happened, not paying any attention to Liu Zheng and the others as they left, sitting at their table waiting for the food to arrive while chatting leisurely.


    This scene left the martial artists in the restaurant even more astonished.


    By then, of course, it became clear to the martial artists that this young man and woman must have something to rely on; they weren''t as simple as they appeared to be.


    However, thinking of the background behind Liu Zheng, many martial artists were still somewhat worried.


    "Behind Liu Zheng, there''s Elder Liu, a notoriously overprotective person."


    "I wonder how this matter will end up..."


    At this time, the martial artists had no intention of leaving, with quite a few even ordering a couple more dishes, waiting to see how things would develop.


    The way Ye Chen had sent Liu Zheng flying definitely got the attention of the waiter.


    At this point, the waiter dared not doubt Ye Chen''s ability to pay the bill; he was even more enthusiastic than he had been with Liu Zheng, urging that the food be served quickly.


    In just a moment, the dishes Mu Qingqing had ordered were all brought to their table.


    Looking at the array of exquisite dishes in front of him, and with just the aroma alone, Ye Chen''s appetite surged.


    Although cultivators can live off spiritual Qi instead of food after cultivating True Qi, when there is delicious cuisine available, it should, of course, be well enjoyed.


    Moreover, all these dishes were precious ones that greatly benefited one''s vitality, spirit, and mind, and thus were even more worth savoring.


    "Ye Chen, you must try the ''Sword Fang Rice''!"


    Among all the dishes, Mu Qingqing first turned her attention towards a pair of food boxes, handing one to Ye Chen.


    "''Sword Fang Rice''? This box contains ''Sword Fang Rice''?"


    Ye Chen was also curious about what the Sword Fang Rice that Mu Qingqing kept mentioning looked like, so he quickly opened the food box.


    The moment he opened it, Ye Chen''s eyes lit up; inside the food box lay a palm-sized, sword-shaped crystal white grain of rice.


    The grain was translucent throughout, with many strange patterns on it; at just a glance, Ye Chen felt his Sword Intents surging.


    As soon as he smelled the aroma of the grain, Ye Chen was intoxicated. The scent seemed as if it could penetrate into one''s pores and cells, and just breathing in the aroma made him feel as if he''d eaten an immortal fruit, leaving his whole body comfortable and relaxed.


    Mu Qingqing couldn''t help herself and started nibbling on the Sword Fang Rice while Ye Chen held and examined it.


    The people at the next table over, smelling the aroma of the Sword Fang Rice, swallowed repeatedly and stared fixedly.


    On their table, however, there was no Sword Fang Rice, only a few plain dishes.


    Watching Mu Qingqing taking small bites of the Sword Fang Rice, her pink tongue occasionally licking her lips, Ye Chen thought to himself with a smile, "Is it really that delicious?"


    He then picked up a grain of Sword Fang Rice himself.


    With just a light bite, the Sword Fang Rice melted in his mouth, and a stream of refreshingly cool Qi immediately flowed towards Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, brain, and throughout his body.


    In an instant, he felt as if he was bathing in a refreshingly cool breath, his entire body extremely comfortable, all pores and cells opening up and breathing in the True Qi of the world.


    In his Qi Sea, the True Qi Spiritual Fluid rippled with shimmering waves, while his mind was refreshingly clear. It was as if a fresh breeze had cleared away all thoughts, brightening them.


    Such a taste was simply indescribable.


    Ye Chen had never eaten anything so delicious before!


    What''s more, he couldn''t help himself, and in just a couple of bites, he finished the entire grain of Sword Fang Rice.


    After finishing the Sword Fang Rice, Ye Chen let out a long breath, still savoring the extraordinary sensation.


    Meanwhile, on the other side, Mu Qingqing finished her grain of Sword Fang Rice as well and even used her tongue to lick her slender fingers holding it, looking like she hadn''t had enough.


    "How about we get two more?" Ye Chen said to Mu Qingqing with a smile.


    "This place only serves one grain of Sword Fang Rice per person per day, there''s no more," Mu Qingqing pouted.


    "Oh, that''s really a pity," Ye Chen sighed, "Well, we''ll eat it next time then."


    Such a great delicacy, of course, Ye Chen would like to taste it again.


    Additionally, he wanted Jiang Yao to try it too.


    It was just too bad that Jiang Yao was still in seclusion from awakening her bloodline, so it could only wait until the next opportunity.


    "Let''s try these other dishes then."


    With the Sword Fang Rice finished, there were still many other dishes remaining on their table.


    Though these dishes might not be as tempting as the Sword Fang Rice, they were still considered exotic and delicious.


    Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing then began to try the other dishes.


    As they ate, they chatted softly to each other.


    Just as they were about to finish eating, sudden noises came from outside the restaurant.


    Soon after, the four young men who had previously carried Liu Zheng ran quickly back into the restaurant, and as soon as they entered, they called out to Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, "The two of you, come outside. Our elder wants to have a word with you!"


    "Elder?"


    Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing looked at each other, then stood up together.


    "We barely started enjoying some gourmet food, and Liu Zheng''s reinforcements have already arrived?"


    "Is it an elder from the Tai''a Sword Sect?"

 Chapter 291: Chapter 258: Xiao Jiukong!

    Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing smiled and took steps to walk outside.


    As they were leaving, a tiny Spirit Stone flashed lightly from Ye Chen''s sleeve and fell onto the table.


    This was a broken piece of a superior Spirit Stone that had been placed under the high-quality Spirit Stones in the Life Origin Coffin when Ye Chen got his hands on several hundred top-notch Spirit Stones.


    However, although it was just a tiny piece of a superior Spirit Stone, it was more than enough to cover the cost of the meal, with some to spare.


    Even more so, when the waiter saw the piece of the superior Spirit Stone, he couldn''t help but cry out in surprise, "Superior Spirit Stone!"


    He had been at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion for many years and had only seen superior Spirit Stones a handful of times. Now, he had found one on a Spirit Sea young man!


    This was, of course, a huge shock to the waiter.


    As Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing walked toward the outside of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, many martial warriors also began to stand up.


    "Elder has arrived?"


    "Elder, looking at the demeanor of these four individuals, it must be Elder Liu himself who has come!"


    "Elder Liu is an early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse!"


    Thinking of Elder Liu''s terror, many warriors broke out in a cold sweat for Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing.


    However...


    When they heard "Superior Spirit Stone" shouted from the waiter behind them, a gleam flickered through the eyes of these warriors.


    Superior Spirit Stone, oh!


    That was something that Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses commonly used.


    This young man had used a superior Spirit Stone right off the bat, which indicated that behind this youth, there might also stand a Heavenly Saint!


    "No wonder these two are so fearless. It turns out they might have a Heavenly Saint behind them too!"


    "Heavenly Saint versus Heavenly Saint?"


    "There''s going to be a good show."


    The warriors all followed not far behind Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, surging toward the outside of the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion.


    "Hmm?"


    Having arrived outside the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing immediately looked up into the void.


    Inside the tavern, they had used their spiritual sense to survey outside and had seen no one.


    But now that they were outside the tavern, they could directly see an elderly man in a gray robe, standing in the air, with Liu Zheng, who Ye Chen had injured earlier, standing beside him.


    At this time, Liu Zheng had already woken up and was glaring at Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing with eyes spitting fire.


    "Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse!"


    When they saw the gray-robed elder, both Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing''s eyes simultaneously lit up.


    Previously, they had not even sensed Liu Zheng waking up, obviously because their spiritual perception had been blocked by the gray-robed elder.


    Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing had both encountered Heavenly Saint Realm beings before, and with the aura exuding from the gray-robed elder, as well as his ability to block their spiritual sense, it was clear that the person who had come was a Heavenly Saint!


    "It''s Elder Liu!"


    "It really is Elder Liu!"


    "Elder Liu, who is Liu Zheng''s uncle, is extremely fond of him. Now that Elder Liu has arrived, he will definitely make trouble for these two youngsters!"


    The warriors not far behind Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing tensed as they looked at the gray-robed elder in the sky.


    Hearing the discussions of the warriors behind her, Mu Qingqing''s eyes initially flashed with brilliance, but after a quick turn, they returned to calm.


    "Elder Liu?"


    Mu Qingqing looked at the gray-robed elder in the sky, "Are you the one asking us to come out? We are out now, what do you want?"


    Mu Qingqing''s demeanor showed not a trace of respect for the gray-robed elder in the air, as if she were looking at an ordinary martial warrior.


    This made the gray-robed elder''s eyes narrow instantly.


    "Yes, it is I who has called you out. I have heard that you are the ones who injured my grandson, Zheng''er?" The gray-robed elder, Elder Liu, shot a look at Mu Qingqing that was as sharp as lightning, and with that, a terrifying pressure descended directly upon Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing.


    "Hmph!"


    At the moment the gray-robed elder''s pressure was released, Ye Chen pushed Mu Qingqing behind him, and instantly, the Heavenly Saint Defense Law Bead on Ye Chen''s body suddenly glowed brightly, enveloping him and Mu Qingqing within an immense power of a Heavenly Saint.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the terrifying pressure released by Elder Liu struck the Heavenly Saint power emanating from Ye Chen.


    In this terrible collision, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing did not budge an inch, Ye Chen''s Heavenly Saint Defense Law Bead easily fending off the Heavenly Saint''s oppressive force.


    "Heavenly Saint power!"


    Upon seeing the Heavenly Saint glow coming from Ye Chen, Elder Liu''s eyes in the void shone sharply.


    He had recognized that Ye Chen''s realm was mid-Spirit Sea, and from Liu Zheng''s account, he knew that it was Ye Chen who had truly injured Liu Zheng.


    Seeing a mid-Spirit Sea able to defeat a mid-Spinning Pill stage had already shocked Elder Liu. Upon witnessing Ye Chen''s Heavenly Saint power, Elder Liu felt his heart pound.


    Having Heavenly Saint power meant that behind this young man, a Heavenly Saint might very well stand.


    Not only was Elder Liu surprised, Mu Qingqing''s eyes also shone brightly.


    When Elder Liu''s pressure was first released, the young lady had intended to use her own moves, but Ye Chen stepped in front of her first.


    This time, Ye Chen surprised her once again.


    Mu Qingqing did not yet know that Ye Chen had another trick up his sleeve¡ªthe Heavenly Saint Law Bead!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Taking a step forward, Mu Qingqing stood shoulder to shoulder with Ye Chen, her eyes rotating on Ye Chen''s face, revealing strands of a smile.


    "The power of Heavenly Saint!"


    "Indeed, there must be a Heavenly Saint behind this youth!"


    When the crowd saw that Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing withstood the oppressive aura of Elder Liu without budging, their hearts began to race.


    Their earlier speculations weren''t wrong; the youth really did have Heavenly Saint methods!


    Was this really going to be a contest between Heavenly Saints?


    "Uncle Grandfather!"


    Seeing Elder Liu''s eyes flicker and then looking at Ye Chen, whose body was shimmering with the power of Heavenly Saint, Liu Zheng, who was afraid Elder Liu might not help him, could not help but cry out, "Uncle Grandfather, you must stand up for your grandson. It was this youth who crippled my arm while I was dining at the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion!"


    "You must help me take revenge!"


    Liu Zheng''s wailing made Elder Liu''s eyes brim with even colder intent.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing couldn''t help but sneer.


    Mu Qingqing even said, "That''s hilarious. While Ye Chen and I were ordering dishes, I don''t know who suddenly barged over and attacked us first. Getting your arm crippled is getting off light."


    After she finished speaking, Mu Qingqing''s sly eyes turned toward Liu Zheng, "Keep spouting nonsense, and be careful I don''t cripple your other arm too!"


    Mu Qingqing''s threat abruptly silenced Liu Zheng''s cries.


    And the other warriors were stunned by Mu Qingqing.


    This young girl was incredibly bold to threaten Liu Zheng right in front of Elder Liu, a Heavenly Saint!


    At that moment, Elder Liu''s expression became exceedingly ugly, "Little girl, you dare threaten my grandson right in front of me. Do you really think that just because you have the power of Heavenly Saint, I wouldn''t dare to touch you?"


    Elder Liu had already extended his divine sense into the void and found no trace of any other Heavenly Saint.


    Furthermore, upon observing the Heavenly Saint Law Bead on Ye Chen, the power of Heavenly Saint emanating from it seemed to have been crafted by an early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm master at best.


    For an early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, Elder Liu didn''t feel intimidated.


    He himself was at the beginning stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and moreover, this was Tai''a Sword Sect''s territory¡ªwhat had he to fear?!


    With this in mind, Elder Liu reached down toward Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing with a great hand from the void, "For harming my grandson, I won''t kill you on account of the Heavenly Saint behind you."


    "However, though I can spare you from death, punishment is inevitable. I will just discipline you on behalf of your elders, let you taste what it''s like to have your arms crippled, so you won''t cause trouble outside again!"


    Boom!


    Instantly, Elder Liu''s grabbing hand formed a terrifying spatial vortex, as though the entire void itself were imprisoned, with only a giant spatial hand lunging towards Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing.


    This was a genuine Heavenly Saint attack, not mere oppressive aura!


    Before, by relying on the power of the Heavenly Saint in the Law Bead, they could withstand the oppressive aura of a Heavenly Saint, but to contend with an actual Heavenly Saint attack using a bead refined by a Heavenly Saint was much more difficult!


    Upon seeing the giant hand reaching towards Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, the warriors behind them cried out in alarm.


    How terrifying a Heavenly Saint attack was!


    If it were to grab any of them, they would not be able to resist!


    This was the wrath of a Heavenly Saint, and they were utterly incapable of enduring it.


    All the warriors looked towards Ye Chen, wondering whether the youth had any more methods to defend against it.


    "Heavenly Saint attack?!"


    In the instant Elder Liu made his move, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, preparing to have the Phoenix Spirit take him and Mu Qingqing into the Azure Blue Mansion.


    The Azure Blue Mansion, a treasure of the Upper Realm, could absolutely withstand the attack from Elder Liu.


    But just as Ye Chen''s mind moved, he heard Mu Qingqing''s assertive shout, "Discipline me on behalf of my elders?" Read the latest on m_v-l''e|-novelhall.net


    "I''m afraid you''re not qualified for that!"


    "Elder Xiao, if you don''t make a move now and I actually get hurt, my grandfather will certainly not let you off the hook!"


    Facing Elder Liu''s attack, Mu Qingqing didn''t dodge or evade; instead, her gaze was directed towards a direction in the void.


    Elder Xiao?


    This address from Mu Qingqing made Elder Liu pause even as he was commanding the spatial hand to attack.


    Yet his controlled spatial hand still subconsciously moved towards Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing.


    At that moment, an elderly voice came from the void, "Qingqing girl, you really do like to stir up trouble as soon as you arrive!"


    In the face of this elderly voice, Elder Liu''s hand that reached towards Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing instantly shattered.


    Then, the entire void seemed to be constrained by a force much more powerful, such that even Elder Liu in the sky was left completely immobilized.


    Elder Liu, at the early stage of Heavenly Saint Realm, was restrained by this more dominant force!


    At that moment, Elder Liu completely lost track of being immobilized as he heard the elderly voice, his entire being growing stupefied, only to utter four words in disbelief, "Supreme Elder?"


    As Elder Liu exclaimed "Supreme Elder," the entire void was torn open, and an old man with white hair and beard, wearing a white robe, stepped out from the rift.


    Looking over the shoulder of the white-robed elder, one could see a snow-white mink napping on the elder''s body.


    This snow-white mink was none other than the mink Mu Qingqing had sent to the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    And this white-robed old man, was none other than the strongest existence within the entire third-rated great sect Tai''a Sword Sect, a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, Xiao Jiukong!

 Chapter 292: Chapter 259: Divine Artifact, Fallen Sword

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    When Elder Xiao Jiukong emerged from the void, the entire world fell into silence.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder!


    In the Tai''a Sword Sect, he was myth incarnate.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder was not only the strongest within the Tai''a Sword Sect, having reached the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm but had also joined the top sect in the Central Region, "Heavenly Sacred Palace." In the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he held a high status, serving as the deputy master of the First Holy Temple.


    There were rumours that Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had extremely high mastery over the Sword Art, to the extent that during his adventures in the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm, even the great sword sects there took notice of him and specially nurtured his talent.


    It was also said that in his youth, with a sword in hand, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder traveled alone to thirty-two other continents, earning a formidable reputation!


    Seeing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder arriving in person, all the Tai''a Sword Sect warriors outside the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion were completely awed.


    As the foremost figure of the Tai''a Sword Sect, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder rarely made public appearances, either cultivating in seclusion within the sect''s gates or within the Heavenly Sacred Palace. Now, he had personally come here for the girl in front of them!


    Moreover, from the young girl''s words, it was clear that Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had significant ties with her!


    The warriors of the Tai''a Sword Sect had thought of the Heavenly Saint backing the girl, but they never imagined that this Heavenly Saint would be Elder Xiao Supreme Elder himself!


    With Elder Xiao Supreme Elder backing her up, no wonder she was so fearless. It wasn''t just facing Elder Liu¡ªshe could even walk sideways through the entire Tai''a Sword Sect!


    Looking again at Mu Qingqing and Ye Chen, all of the Tai''a Sword Sect warriors showed fear in their eyes.


    These two youngsters had too great of a backing!


    Ye Chen also looked towards Elder Xiao Supreme Elder in the sky.


    This was his first time facing a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse.


    Ye Chen saw in Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s face a pair of eyes that he dared not look closely into; those eyes seemed like they contained an endless void within, making one feel as if even their mind would be sucked in and extinguished at a glance!


    There were also the wrinkle lines on his face like sword scars, combined with his sword-qi-like flowing white hair, indicating Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s great age, most likely exceeding thousands of years!


    Ye Chen felt that unlike early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, whose auras stirred the void and wielded the endless might of the Heavenly Saint, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, having reached the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, seemed as if he could merge the endless void within his body, as if his body concealed an entire void world!


    "A mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse!"


    "This is the might of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse!"


    Ye Chen was deeply shocked.


    He had heard that mastering at least one of the Heavenly Void Laws of metal, wood, water, fire, or earth to perfection could lead to achieving Heavenly Saint status, and upon entering the Heavenly Saint Realm, one could truly begin to comprehend an even more powerful sixth law¡ªthe law of space!


    Early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings comprehend the "External Space Law." They can create spatial sacred artifacts and harness the powers of space from the void.


    When cultivators break through to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, it is said they start to comprehend the "Inner Space Law," capable of forming countless "caves" within their bodies, storing endless power of the Heavenly Saint and forming a more powerful "Cave Power."


    As for late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings, it is rumored that such beings have already begun researching the ultimate power of space laws, unbelievably powerful!


    Ye Chen had not seen a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm being yet.


    But the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm being before him showed Ye Chen what a true powerhouse looked like.


    Seeing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder shatter Elder Liu''s early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm attack with a mere wave of his hand, even completely restraining Elder Liu, indicated that early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings were utterly defenseless against a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm opponent!


    With this thought, Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    In the entire Southern Territory and Western Wilderness, there were only early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings. In the grand battle of the entire Southern Territory and Western Wilderness, the strongest were the early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses.


    If...


    If he could step into the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, perhaps he alone could dispel the great war of the Western Wilderness!


    No wonder Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, facing the imminent war in the Western Wilderness, went into seclusion to impact the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm. So that was the extent of power one held at that level!


    After witnessing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, Ye Chen could not help but want to break through to the Heavenly Saint Realm and experience the true power of the Heavenly Saint Realm for himself, to study the Inner Space Law, and possess the power of the inner caves!


    Ye Chen''s eyes shone brightly, his mind filled with myriad thoughts.


    And when Mu Qingqing saw Elder Xiao Supreme Elder finally appear, her beautiful eyes turned, looking straight at Elder Liu and Liu Zheng, "Elder Xiao, you said that I cause trouble as soon as I arrive, but this time it wasn''t me who actively sought trouble!"


    "Your people from the Tai''a Sword Sect are just too overbearing, bullying me and even wanting to injure me!"


    Mu Qingqing''s words made both Elder Liu and Liu Zheng''s minds tremble.


    If they had known the young girl had Elder Xiao Supreme Elder standing behind her, they would never have dared to provoke her!


    Now when Elder Liu and Liu Zheng heard Mu Qingqing lodging a complaint, they both cried out in alarm, especially Elder Liu, for he knew just how formidable Elder Xiao Supreme Elder was.


    Let alone an ordinary elder like him, even the other Supreme Elders did not dare to bear the wrath of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder!


    If Elder Xiao Supreme Elder were truly to become enraged with him over this girl''s matter, then he was certainly finished!


    What made Elder Liu''s heart sink further was that after the girl finished speaking, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s eyes did indeed turn towards him, and his expression was clearly one of intending to stand up for the girl.


    "Liu Chan, Qing says you bullied her, is it true?" Elder Xiao Supreme Elder asked, looking at Elder Liu.


    Liu Chan was the true name of Elder Liu.


    Upon hearing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s question, Elder Liu certainly did not dare to conceal anything and narrated everything he knew in detail, without showing any bias.


    After hearing his words, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder spoke again, questioning the other several martial artists.


    Having learned the entire truth of the matter, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder sighed, "Liu Chan, I had already seen the scene of your previous actions. I never expected the cause of the matter to be such a trivial issue."


    "For such a small matter, you, a Heavenly Saint, struck at two youngsters directly. That was indeed inappropriate."


    "Yes, yes! I was wrong about this matter!" Elder Liu repeatedly bowed his head in acknowledgment of his mistake.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder then glanced at Mu Qingqing, "Since you struck at Qing, no matter what, I must stand up for her. Otherwise, if she feels aggrieved here at the Tai''a Sword Sect, her grandfather might really trouble me. That old man is famously fond of this girl."


    The crowd was shaken by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s words.


    From Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s words, they gathered that this young girl''s grandfather might even be more formidable than Elder Xiao Supreme Elder himself!


    Could it be that this young girl''s grandfather was a Late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existence?!


    Even Ye Chen glanced at Mu Qingqing. He had once asked Mu Qingqing about the status of her grandfather in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, but the girl merely responded with a mysterious smile, never answering directly.


    Seeing this, it seemed that her background was indeed extraordinary.


    Noticing everyone''s gaze turning towards her, Mu Qingqing''s sly eyes shifted as she looked to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, "Elder Xiao, I''m not someone to hold a grudge over such a thing. Since he didn''t harm Ye Chen or me, a light punishment would suffice."


    "A light punishment?" Elder Xiao Supreme Elder knew the cunning of the girl before him all too well. If he didn''t handle this matter properly, he could end up giving this clever girl leverage over him.


    And that would lead to headaches for him later.


    However, these thoughts were, of course, not something Elder Xiao Supreme Elder would express aloud. He sighed helplessly at Mu Qingqing, then turned his head to look at Elder Liu, "Liu Chan, you used your position to bully juniors and laid hands upon the younger generation.


    This time, you are sentenced to reflect upon your actions in seclusion at Ascetic Cultivator Cliff within the Sword Sect for the next three hundred years. Do not leave the sect during this time."


    A three-hundred-year confinement!


    This was Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s punishment for Elder Liu!


    Hearing this punishment, many of the Tai''a Sword Sect disciples took a sharp intake of breath; many among them were not even three hundred years old yet, and Elder Liu had just been sentenced to three hundred years of confinement for reflection!


    Upon hearing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s sentence, Liu Chan didn''t dare say a word against it and hastily accepted the punishment.


    Three hundred years of confinement, although it would be tough for him as a Heavenly Saint, was still bearable.


    It was better than arousing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s further anger and receiving even greater punishment.


    "Alright, you may go and receive your punishment," Elder Xiao Supreme Elder said, waving his hand to dismiss Elder Liu after settling the sentence.


    Elder Liu bowed respectfully toward Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, then quickly took Liu Zheng and flew towards the Tai''a Sword Sect, fearing that if he lingered any longer, the girl might say something more and incur additional punishment.


    "How about it, Qing, you''re satisfied with this punishment, aren''t you?" Elder Xiao Supreme Elder asked with a smile as he watched Elder Liu fly away.


    "It doesn''t matter whether I''m satisfied or not; frankly, I don''t care about that," Mu Qingqing giggled, "Elder Xiao, the reason for my visit this time is to ask for your help with a matter."


    "What matter?" Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s gaze shifted to Ye Chen beside Mu Qingqing as he spoke.


    Able to cultivate to the Mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, there were few things that could escape his notice. Upon seeing Ye Chen beside Mu Qingqing, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder knew that her visit to the Tai''a Sword Sect was surely related to the young man before him.


    Feeling the penetrating gaze of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, Ye Chen felt as if his entire being was being seen through.


    "Not bad, at the age of fifteen, to have cultivated to the Mid-stage Spirit Sea, and even daring to face a Heavenly Saint¡ªalthough with the aid of a Heavenly Saint''s power¡ªyour courage is indeed extraordinary," Elder Xiao Supreme Elder commented as he observed Ye Chen, nodding his head, "Hm?


    The Sword Intents on you are not bad either, you have actually cultivated the Sword Intents to the third level, reaching the extent of a high-order sword matrix!"


    Ye Chen''s age, true realm, and even his Sword Intents were all seen through by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder at a glance!


    Seeing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder sizing up Ye Chen, Mu Qingqing smiled gleefully, "As expected, Elder Xiao is formidable!"


    "Indeed, my request for Elder Xiao''s help is indeed related to Ye Chen," she affirmed.


    "First, I would like to invite Ye Chen to join the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and I hope Elder Xiao would be willing to recommend him!"


    "Second, Ye Chen''s swordsmanship is quite impressive. I would like to ask Elder Xiao to allow him the use of the ''Divine Artifact, Fallen Sword,'' so he can enter and cultivate within it!"

 Chapter 293: Chapter 260: The Broken Divine Sword

    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, please be the recommender and invite Ye Chen to join the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Lend out the Divine Artifact "Fallen Sword" for him to cultivate within!


    The two matters mentioned by Mu Qingqing took the breath away from countless warriors of the Tai''a Sword Sect by her side, their hearts pounding wildly.


    They finally understood why the mysterious girl and boy had fearlessly approached the Tai''a Sword Sect, even daring to face Elder Liu without trepidation.


    So it turned out that their visit was related to the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    To invite this youth named Ye Chen to join the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    The warriors of the Tai''a Sword Sect had heard that only envoys of the Heavenly Sacred Palace could invite others to join, and this girl was an envoy of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    No wonder she knew Elder Xiao the Supreme Elder, no wonder her grandfather was someone even Elder Xiao the Supreme Elder would treat with great caution, she indeed had such a powerful background to be an envoy even within the number one great sect of the Central Region, the "Heavenly Sacred Palace"!


    And then there was the First Holy Temple.


    Those who knew of the Heavenly Sacred Palace were even more aware of the First Holy Temple, which was the most precious place of cultivation within the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, second only to the "Heavenly Saint Mountain" where the Heavenly Saints resided, and it could even be said to be a place where only the most exceptional geniuses below the Heavenly Saint Realm could enter.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder was the Vice Hall Master of the First Holy Temple.


    This girl actually invited this young man to join the First Holy Temple, it is said that joining the First Holy Temple requires a recommendation from a Heavenly Saint, so she came to see Elder Xiao Supreme Elder in order to have him recommend this young man to join the First Holy Temple!


    Looking at Ye Chen, the countless warriors of the Tai''a Sword Sect envied him greatly.


    The Heavenly Sacred Palace, the First Holy Temple!


    This place, legendary among countless cultivators within the three great dynasties of the Central Region, was now within the reach of this youth before them!


    Then they thought of the second matter mentioned by the girl, the Divine Artifact, "Fallen Sword."


    As disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect, they knew exactly what it was.


    The Divine Artifact "Fallen Sword," a place where even many talented sword cultivators of their Tai''a Sword Sect did not have the privilege to cultivate within, and this girl was actually requesting Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s help to allow this young man to cultivate inside the Divine Artifact "Fallen Sword." This was truly another great opportunity, in addition to joining the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    In the end, all the disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect turned their gazes to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder in the void, to see if he would agree to the girl''s request.


    If Elder Xiao Supreme Elder agreed to these two requests, then this youth named Ye Chen would be able to join the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and also enter the Divine Artifact "Fallen Sword" to cultivate. They would be incredibly envious of such fortune bestowed upon this warrior.


    Ye Chen also looked toward Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    Although he did not know what Mu Qingqing meant by the Divine Artifact, "Fallen Sword," the mere mention of the term "Divine Artifact" left him astonished.


    He had long heard from Mu Qingqing that she would create an opportunity for him to cultivate a high-level sword formation within the Tai''a Sword Sect, but he hadn''t expected this cultivation opportunity to be related to a Divine Artifact!


    And the matter of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s recommendation mattered even more to Ye Chen.


    He wished to go to the First Holy Temple, and if Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded, then there would be no problem, and he would truly become a disciple of the "Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    Thinking of this, even though Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s eyes seemed to contain endless voids within them, so terrifying that even one''s mind and spirit could be affected, Ye Chen stared back at Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    Because Ye Chen knew, after Elder Xiao Supreme Elder heard these two requests, he would surely scrutinize him. If he lacked the courage to even lift his head, then Elder Xiao Supreme Elder would surely think less of him and would not agree to these requests.


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen had anticipated, when Mu Qingqing put forward the two requests, while countless warriors of the Tai''a Sword Sect were taken aback, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder in the void, his eyes blazing like divine lightning, began to scrutinize Ye Chen with full attention.


    Previously, when Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had casually glanced at Ye Chen, it made him feel as if his entire being was transparent.


    Now, under the full attention of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, Ye Chen felt as if his entire spirit, and even all his sword intents, began to surge wildly!


    In that instant, from the moment he stepped onto the path of the sword, starting from his first set of sword skills, "Torrential Rain Sword Skills," to his comprehension of Storm Rain Sword Intent, then to exchanging insights with Jiang Yao at Ten Thousand Swords Mountain and learning Purple Lightning Sword Intent, as well as Wind Sword Intent and Sword Intent of Thunder taught by the owner of Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, Heavenly Saint Qian Ji, and finally acquiring the Eight Great Sword Formations from his senior sister...


    All of Ye Chen''s sword intents and techniques burst forth like endless raging winds, wildly flailing under the gaze of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder seemed to see the endless path of Ye Chen''s swordsmanship, and his eyes grew brighter and brighter.


    Even more so, by the end, when Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s scrutiny reached the spot between Ye Chen''s eyebrows, the Sword Palace Acupoint within, the liquid from the sword qi began to surge violently, and even the flying sword "Chi Huo" began to move at great speed within the Sword Palace Acupoint.


    At this moment, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, who had been scrutinizing Ye Chen the whole time, had his eyes shining even more brilliantly.


    Although he only had a vague sense of the power of the flying sword "Chi Huo" and couldn''t truly see the flying sword Chi Huo hidden within Ye Chen''s Sword Palace Acupoint, in that instant, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder felt a sword killing power that even he was taken aback by, as well as a type of sword qi that was all too familiar to him.


    "It''s actually Tai''a Sword Qi!"


    "And you have also acquired a tremendously powerful flying sword!"


    In the end, even Elder Xiao Supreme Elder couldn''t help but utter a shocked praise.


    His scrutiny of Ye Chen was a powerful and unparalleled divine consciousness examination, imperceptible to others.


    But Ye Chen knew that in that instant, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had almost come into contact with the flying sword Chi Huo hidden within his Sword Palace Acupoint, a secret unknown to everyone else.


    Such terror from a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, to be able to probe into the Sword Palace Acupoint!


    If it weren''t for the fact that the flying sword "Chi Huo" came from the "Heavenly God Palace" within the Chaotic Sea Area, an exceedingly precious top-grade divine artifact, he would likely have been directly seen by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder!


    As for the Tai''a Sword Qi mentioned by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, Ye Chen nodded his head in acknowledgment.


    It was indeed Tai''a Sword Qi!


    The Tai''a Sword Qi he had incorporated into his Sword Palace Acupoint was collected from the Tai''a Sword Forest of the Tai''a Sword Sect by Heavenly Saint Lian Yue in those years, and both Heavenly Saint Lian Yue and Heavenly Saint Qian Ji were disciples of this Tai''a Sword Sect.


    This secret, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had actually discovered directly!


    Hearing that Ye Chen also had flying sword skills, Mu Qingqing''s eyes lit up even more.


    And Ye Chen, facing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s exclamation about the Tai''a Sword Qi, no longer hesitated and revealed how he obtained the Tai''a Sword Qi from the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    "To think it''s related to ''Qian Ji'' and ''Lian Yue''!"


    When Elder Xiao Supreme Elder heard about Ye Chen''s connection to Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, and that Heavenly Saint Qian Ji had gone to the Minor Spirit Realm and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue had been injured, his hair, floating like sword qi, began to tremble wildly.


    Read latest stories on m_v-l''e|-novelhall.net


    "Qian Ji and Lian Yue were disciples I personally took under my wing. Later, they said they wanted to venture into the Chaotic Sea Area, and I haven''t seen them for hundreds of years. I never expected such a significant incident to have occurred!"


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder shared a shocking secret.


    Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue were actually his disciples!


    This greatly astonished Ye Chen!


    And the rest of the Tai''a Sword Sect martial artists, upon hearing the names of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, also cried out in shock.


    These two names were highly reputable in the Tai''a Sword Sect, having disappeared for hundreds of years; unexpectedly, they were related to the youth before them!


    And Mu Qingqing, although unaware of the matters concerning Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, saw that Ye Chen was still hiding secrets associated with the Tai''a Sword Sect even under the scrutiny of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    Ye Chen actually had a connection with both of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s disciples!


    This made Mu Qingqing even happier.


    "Ye Chen truly has great destiny."


    "To have such a connection with Elder Xiao as well!"


    With this, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder would be even more inclined to agree to the two requests she had made earlier!


    Indeed.


    After scrutinizing Ye Chen, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, who was already greatly impressed by Ye Chen''s achievements on the path of the sword, discovered Ye Chen''s flying sword secret, the Tai''a Sword Qi, and even the affairs of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue. When he looked at Ye Chen again, his eyes held an inexplicable sense of esteem.


    Finally, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded towards Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing.


    "Alright, I agree to your two requests!"


    "Ye Chen, at such a young age, to possess such combat power, able to overpower someone in the middle phase of the Elixir Rotating stage while only in the middle phase of the Spiritual Sea stage, and to achieve so much in the way of Sword Intent without specializing in sword techniques, of course, I will strongly recommend you to join the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "Moreover, you have a connection with Qian Ji and Lian Yue, which means you also have a destined connection with our Tai''a Sword Sect. Given that, I will comply with the young lady''s request, make an exception, and allow you to cultivate inside the Divine Artifact ''Fallen Sword''!"


    "Let us go, I will take you to see the ''Fallen Sword'' right now!"


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder said to Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing.


    Upon hearing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s agreement, both Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing''s expressions brightened.


    "Thank you, Elder Xiao!"


    "Thank you, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder!"


    Mu Qingqing and Ye Chen both expressed their gratitude to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder simultaneously.


    ...


    Boom!


    Having agreed to both requests of Mu Qingqing and Ye Chen, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder did not stay in the void outside the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion any longer.


    His gaze swept across the Tai''a Sword Sect disciples nearby but he did not speak; all of the Tai''a Sword Sect disciples were clearly frightened and did not dare to raise their heads.


    Subsequently, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder waved his long sleeve towards Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, and they immediately rose from the ground. Then, tearing through the void, he led Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing into a spatial rift, vanishing from the sky in an instant.


    The martial artists from the Tai''a Sword Sect outside the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion only dared to raise their heads after they were gone.


    Seeing Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing being taken away by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, and thinking back to the matters concerning the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Divine Artifact "Fallen Sword" they mentioned earlier, a wave of unstoppable discussion immediately swept through all the martial artists.


    Amidst these discussions, Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing, at this moment, had already been led by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder into the Tai''a Sword Sect, to an endless expanse of mountain peaks.


    "Could that be the Divine Artifact ''Fallen Sword''?!"


    Standing atop a peak, Ye Chen looked ahead and was shocked to see a colossal sword piercing the earth not far in front of the mountain.


    This sword was a staggering ten thousand meters tall, with the tip thrust into the ground, and even its scabbard was hidden within the clouds of the void!


    Looking further at the sword''s body, one could vaguely see cracks along the giant ten-thousand-meter sword, indicating it was damaged, and the undamaged parts of the sword body were carved with numerous strange patterns which, in the void, emitted endless sword radiance!


    The entire ten thousand meter tall giant sword, whether it was the tip embedded in the ground, the damaged sword body, or the scabbard nestled in the clouds of the void, was surrounded by a terrifying red aura.


    Even from a distance, Ye Chen could feel the red aura attacking his mind, and a fearsome sound of battle immediately surged through his consciousness.


    As Ye Chen examined the colossal sword, Mu Qingqing, standing beside him, had her beautiful eyes shining brightly, and Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, also beside him, finally spoke, "This is the Divine Artifact ''Fallen Sword''! A broken divine sword that has fallen from the higher realms!"

 Chapter 294: Chapter 261 Sword Inner World

    "This is the Divine Artifact, the ''Fallen Sword'', a broken Divine Sword that fell from the Upper Realm!"


    The words of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder resounded in Ye Chen''s ears, echoing over the endless peaks of the mountains.


    Ye Chen turned to look over the peaks at the mountains outside, where he could glimpse the gates, palaces, caves, and countless towers of the Tai''a Sword Sect, then turned back to gaze upon the Sky-Supporting Giant Sword.


    Ye Chen could never have imagined that such a massive sword, ten thousand meters tall, could be hidden in a valley behind the mountains where the gates of the Tai''a Sword Sect were!


    Fallen from the Upper Realm?


    Ye Chen was even more astonished by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s words. The Upper Realm was the Minor Spirit Realm. Could this giant sword have fallen from the Minor Spirit Realm?


    Divine Swords... In the Minor Spirit Realm, where the Void Sky True God existed, there indeed were swords of the Divine Artifacts that were even more powerful than Sacred Artifacts!


    As Ye Chen was reeling from the shock, Mu Qingqing also spoke out to him, "Ye Chen, this Divine Sword fell from the Upper Realm over three thousand years ago. Back then, countless masters from our Heavenly Sacred Palace specifically came to this back mountain to investigate!


    "I heard from my grandfather that this Divine Sword is even stained with Divine Blood. It''s very likely that it fell from the Upper Realm due to some divine battle up there, and its broken condition could also be due to that divine battle."


    "The terrifying red malevolent aura that coils around the blade, it is said to be the Divine Blood that stained the sword. When the Divine Sword first fell over three thousand years ago, even my grandfather and the others didn''t dare get close to it! It''s been thousands of years, and that malevolent aura hasn''t dissipated yet!"


    Mu Qingqing''s words gave Ye Chen an even greater shock.


    More than three thousand years ago! Divine battle! Divine Blood!


    Suddenly, Ye Chen thought of something.


    Wasn''t it more than three thousand years ago when the Divine Phoenix Clan of the Upper Realm was in the midst of a fierce battle with the other two Ancient Clans, the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan? The Azure Blue Mansion was brought down from the Upper Realm by Heavenly Saint Moya just over three thousand years ago.


    Could this Divine Sword be related to the battle with the Divine Phoenix Clan?


    Ye Chen hurriedly communicated with his Phoenix Spirit through Divine Sense.


    However, the Divine Sense of the Phoenix Spirit couldn''t leave the Azure Blue Mansion too far and thus could not detect the aura of that Divine Sword, so the Phoenix Spirit did not know whether the sword was related to the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    While Ye Chen was pondering the rumors of the Divine Sword and the battle involving the Divine Phoenix Clan, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder continued to speak as he looked at the Divine Sword.


    "The name of this Divine Sword is unknown, as it fell from the Void; we''ve simply named it the ''Fallen Sword''."


    "But, it definitely reaches the quality of a Divine Artifact, even though it is damaged, it is absolutely a Divine Artifact!"


    Divine Artifact.


    The words of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder made Ye Chen cease his communication with the Phoenix Spirit and attentively listen.


    Ye Chen himself possessed a Divine Artifact, one that even Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had just failed to detect, which harbored the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Starlight Tower."


    However, the Starlight Tower, left behind by the Zi Ji Star Lord, gave Ye Chen the intuition that this Divine Sword had truly fallen from the Minor Spirit Realm, but even if it were undamaged, it would definitely not surpass the Starlight Tower he possessed.


    Ye Chen felt that his Starlight Tower was an existence that surpassed the realms like the Minor Spirit Realm!


    Forget about the artifacts of a Void Sky True God, even the artifacts of a much stronger Space-Time God King would probably not be stronger than his Starlight Tower!


    However, Ye Chen had only just reached the second level of the Starlight Tower and had only obtained the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, so his understanding of the Starlight Tower was still limited; he couldn''t draw too much information from it in comparison with this Divine Sword.


    Besides the Starlight Tower, Ye Chen had also come into contact with another item related to the Void Sky True God, which was the "Ancient God Tower" in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm that possessed the wonderful Time Flow Rate.


    The Ancient God Tower was forged by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, one of the eight Ancient Clans of the Upper Realm, and a significant figure even among Void Sky True Gods!


    Thus, Ye Chen was not too unfamiliar with Divine Artifacts.


    While Ye Chen listened intently, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder went on to say, "When this Divine Sword fell all those years ago, the three Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace..." At this point, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder glanced at Mu Qingqing, "used top-quality Sacred Artifacts to test the Divine Sword, only to find that even such Sacred Artifacts couldn''t leave the slightest Sword Mark on its blade!"


    "The three Palace Masters had once seen the Void Sky True God in the Upper Realm. They guessed that after its fall, the sword revealed its true form. When Divine Artifacts are forged, their true form is incomparably huge, and they can transform and shrink for use in real combat. However, this true form reveals all the mysteries of a Divine Artifact."


    "The true form of this Divine Sword just happens to be a ten thousand meter tall Sky-Supporting Giant Sword!"


    "Unfortunately, there is no Void Sky True God on the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, so it''s impossible for us to use this Divine Sword. Even the three Palace Masters, with their pinnacle cultivation in the late Heavenly Saint Realm, couldn''t move the sword by a hair, so it simply remains here, in the valley behind the mountains of the Tai''a Sword Sect."


    Ye Chen nodded in understanding.


    Although he didn''t know if the Ancient God Tower was a Divine Artifact, it was specifically sent to the thirty-three continents by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and since its prohibitions were unlocked, Heavenly Saint Di Kong was able to carry and use it.


    But this Divine Sword had obviously fallen by itself. With the prohibitions not being unlocked, it was understandable that the Barbaric Wilderness Continent''s mightiest couldn''t do anything about it.


    .net


    "A Divine Sword lies here, yet it cannot be used. It''s not just the three Palace Masters, but us cultivators from Tai''a Sword Sect are also very dissatisfied."


    "Hence, many Heavenly Saints, especially Sword Cultivator Heavenly Saints, have started to research this Divine Sword."


    "Persistence pays off, and as a result, we discovered a great opportunity¡ªthat is, this Divine Sword is damaged, and there are gaps on the blade of the Divine Sword!"


    "Originally, the aura of divine blood and evil was too strong for us to dare to approach and investigate. But as hundreds and thousands of years passed, the aura on it weakened, and we were able to remain beside the Divine Sword for longer periods of time. Later on, we even successfully entered the damaged part of the Divine Sword blade!"


    As he reached this point, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s gaze also turned towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit were stirred¡ªif one could enter the blade of the Divine Sword, that likely had something to do with his upcoming cultivation inside this Divine Sword!


    Ye Chen also listened attentively.


    Seeing that Ye Chen understood his meaning, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded approvingly, "Once we entered the blade of this Divine Sword, we discovered that it truly was a Divine Artifact, for its blade contained a world of its own!"


    "A ten-thousand-meter-tall Divine Sword in its true form. From the outside, it''s evident how vast its blade is. But upon entering, we found that the inner space of the blade was even larger than it appeared from the outside, hiding countless Prohibited Formation Arrays."


    "These Prohibited Formation Arrays were likely forged by the great power that originally refined this Divine Sword, specifically to enhance the might of the Divine Sword!"


    "About a dozen of us Heavenly Saints battled our way up these Prohibited Formation Arrays from below, but in the end, we only managed to challenge thirty-eight of them. The ones above were simply beyond our ability to tackle, even for late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses."


    "Over these thousands of years, we have been continuously studying the thirty-eight Prohibited Formation Arrays we could access, and gradually, we have come to understand them more and more deeply."


    "These Prohibited Formation Arrays are all marvelous, but one of the most important features is the time flow rate!"


    "Only a Void Sky True God who has started to comprehend the Laws of Time would be able to refine it, the time flow rate!"


    Time flow rate?


    Ye Chen''s heart trembled.


    He had encountered a change in the time flow rate in the Ancient God Tower, and now within this Divine Sword as well?


    He only heard Elder Xiao Supreme Elder continue, "We discovered that once inside the Divine Sword blade, due to the prohibitions, the entire time flow rate changed. If we stayed inside for ten days, only one day would pass outside!"


    "The time flow rate inside the Divine Sword is actually ten to one compared to the outside!"


    "This revelation made us Heavenly Saints ecstatic. With a ten to one time flow rate, the amount of cultivation we could do inside this Divine Sword would be ten times more than outside!"


    Ye Chen smiled to himself.


    When he first encountered the time flow rate in the Ancient God Tower, he, like Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the others, was delighted. However, the time flow rate had its limits, staying too long would cause severe backlash, and he had only stayed there for 540 days, which was actually only 54 days outside.


    "I wonder how long one can stay inside this Divine Sword?" Ye Chen thought to himself.


    The following words from Elder Xiao Supreme Elder gave Ye Chen his answer, "After discovering the secret of the time flow rate, of course, we wanted to cultivate more within the Divine Sword."


    "Eventually, after cultivating for three hundred days, which was thirty days outside, we were ejected out, and the next time we entered, the marvelous effect of the time flow rate had disappeared from us. The Laws of Time are indeed wondrous and extraordinary!"


    "Later, we used many disciples to experiment and ultimately found that the time one can spend inside the Divine Sword is related to their realm. Disciples in the True Qi Realm can only stay for ten days, those in the Spirit Sea Realm for thirty days, Rotating Pill Realm disciples for a hundred days, and we Heavenly Saints for three hundred days."


    "Ye Chen, as you are in the Spirit Sea Realm, when you enter this Divine Sword to cultivate, you can stay inside for thirty days while only three days will pass outside. This is the first marvelous benefit that the Divine Sword can offer you," Elder Xiao Supreme Elder said to Ye Chen.


    At this moment, Mu Qingqing also giggled at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I''ve cultivated inside as well. Back then, I stayed for thirty days."


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    Being able to cultivate for an additional twenty-seven days inside this Divine Sword may not compare to the Ancient God Tower, but it was still not bad.


    Ye Chen knew that this Divine Sword wasn''t like the Ancient God Tower, which relied on time flow rate for cultivation; the Divine Sword was innately a combat artifact, and the time flow rate was just a subsidiary effect of its combat prohibitions. Having such a benefit was already good enough.


    There must be other wonderful uses hidden within so many prohibitions.


    Indeed, Elder Xiao then said to Ye Chen, "Besides the time flow rate, the greater function of this Divine Sword lies in those Prohibited Formation Arrays."


    "Ye Chen, we Heavenly Saints can enter up to thirty-eight Prohibited Formation Arrays, but with your realm, you can only enter the bottom eight Prohibited Formation Arrays. I will not tell you the functions of the other arrays."


    "These eight Prohibited Formation Arrays, there are those that can help you comprehend Sword Intent and Sword Formations, those that can aid you in cultivating True Qi, and even a few related to trials. When you enter the Divine Sword, you will be able to encounter each of these in turn."

 Chapter 295: Chapter 262: Sea of Evil Qi, Blood Ignition Fruit

    The Prohibited Formation Array was specifically refined to enhance the might of Divine Artifacts.


    The purpose of each prohibition differs, and naturally, the form of the Prohibited Formation Arrays is diverse as well.


    Listening to the words of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and then gazing at the colossal sword body towering ten thousand meters high, dwarfing giant mountains, Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    The Divine Sword, a sword among Divine Artifacts!


    Simply the prohibitions inside this Divine Artifact''s sword body required Heavenly Saints to fly into them to explore, and even they could not completely traverse it!


    Countless Prohibited Formation Arrays only allow late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts to break through the thirty-eight formations at the very bottom.


    At this thought, Ye Chen felt his mind surge with excitement.


    One day, when he could step into the realm of the Void Sky True God, just the mention of a single weapon would enthrall countless individuals in the Heavenly Saint Realm, some even venturing inside for hundreds or thousands of years. That sensation was truly the feeling of a mighty being!


    With his mind greatly stirred, Ye Chen could no longer resist the urge to fly into the Divine Artifact''s sword and witness the wondrous Prohibited Formation Arrays refined by the Void Sky True God.


    Seizing every opportunity to cultivate and continuously strengthen his power, his entry into the realm of the Void Sky True God would be even more likely!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s eager gaze, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder smiled.


    "Ye Chen, I will engrave the details about those Prohibited Formation Arrays onto a Divine Sense Law Plaque for you to understand them more thoroughly," He said.


    "Additionally, because you are in the Spirit Sea Realm, you can only cultivate inside for thirty days'' worth of time dilatation before being rejected from it. And once your opportunity for time dilatation is exhausted, even if you advance to the Rotating Pill Realm and re-enter the Divine Sword, you will no longer have the chance for time dilatation."


    "Do you plan to finish cultivating the thirty days of time dilatation in one go, or would you like to save some opportunity for time dilatation and wait to cultivate it after you''ve advanced to the Rotating Pill Realm? After all, you could cultivate for one hundred days'' worth of time in the Rotating Pill Realm,"


    "If you want to split your cultivation, I can give you another chance to enter the Divine Sword after you reach the Rotating Pill Realm," he offered.


    After thinking for a moment, Ye Chen responded, "I''ll just cultivate the entire thirty days of time dilatation at once."


    Cultivating for thirty days would only account for three days outside, giving Ye Chen an extra twenty-seven days of cultivation time.


    Although that was twenty-seven days less than the one hundred days available in the Rotating Pill Realm, Ye Chen didn''t wish to split the opportunity.


    After all, the main feature of this Divine Artifact''s sword was its offensive capability; the time dilatation offered in the Heavenly Saint Realm was only three hundred days, which wasn''t even better than the opportunity Ye Chen had received in the Ancient God Tower.


    Ye Chen''s purpose in entering the Divine Sword was to challenge the Prohibited Formation Arrays inside to enhance his combat abilities; the chance for time dilatation was secondary to that.


    Instead of waiting to use this opportunity when in the Rotating Pill Realm for a slightly longer period of time dilatation, it was better to fully commit to cultivating now to improve his strength thoroughly.


    Ye Chen was about to join the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, a place with numerous top geniuses from across the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and he would also have to face the imminent war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness.


    Whether competing with the infinite geniuses of the First Holy Temple or contributing in the war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, Ye Chen needed to quickly increase his strength to an even more formidable level.


    Of course, he cherished each opportunity to enhance his abilities, instead of postponing it for later.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s decision, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded his head.


    Mu Qingqing, who was standing by, smiled and said, "Ye Chen, I thought the same as you. When I first entered this Divine Sword, I too completed thirty days of cultivation all at once. I didn''t want to keep a few days for later when I reach the Rotating Pill Realm.


    If there were several more years'' worth of time dilatation available, I might consider waiting, but having only a few extra dozens of days in the Rotating Pill Realm compared to the Spirit Sea Realm is too short and not worth the wait."


    "After all, strengthening my power now means I possess the power immediately. Maybe this boost in power will bring me greater opportunities than cultivating in the space inside the Divine Sword in the future."


    "Our opportunities are not limited to this Divine Artifact''s sword. Across the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and even on the other thirty-two continents, there are countless opportunities. Only with great strength can we seize more chances!"


    As she concluded, Mu Qingqing winked slyly at Ye Chen and offered a playful smile.


    Hearing Mu Qingqing''s words, Ye Chen nodded as well.


    The girl indeed was quite astute and full of ideas.


    "Alright, Ye Chen, since you''ve decided to complete the thirty days of time dilatation in one go, spend these thirty days cultivating well inside the Divine Sword!"


    "We will wait for you outside for just three days," Elder Xiao Supreme Elder told Ye Chen, as a law plaque flew directly towards Ye Chen from his hand. "This contains detailed information about the eight Prohibited Formation Arrays you can challenge. Take a good look before you enter the Divine Sword."


    Ye Chen took the law plaque and held it to his head, closing his eyes to sense its content with his Divine Sense.


    "The lowest Prohibited Formation Array is the ''Eighteen Wind Beads Formation,'' which the powerful being who refined the Divine Sword likely used to enhance its wind-based attack power. We can utilize this formation to comprehend the essence of wind, and also cultivate our bodies and speed..."


    "The second Prohibited Formation Array below is the ''Heavenly Thunder Formation,'' which provides the Divine Sword with supreme Heavenly Thunder attacks. Upon entering, besides understanding the essence and cultivating like with the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, we can also refine our souls with the Heavenly Thunder..."


    "The third Prohibited Formation Array..."


    As Ye Chen''s Divine Sense swept out, in no time at all, he had scrutinized the condition of the eight Prohibited Formation Arrays.


    After looking, Ye Chen couldn''t help but nod in admiration.


    These formation arrays, crafted by the great being who refined the Divine Sword, served to enhance the might of the Divine Sword. The ingenuity of these arrays filled Ye Chen with wonder.


    The methods to cultivate with the help of these Prohibited Formation Arrays, summarized by the Heavenly Saints who had braved them, were also ingenious, earning Ye Chen''s endless admiration.


    Having seen Ye Chen finish inspecting the Prohibited Formation Arrays, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder glanced at Ye Chen and then at Mu Qingqing by his side, before speaking, "Let''s go, Ye Chen, I''ll take you to the place of the Divine Sword. Qing girl, you come with me to have a look as well."


    "Thank you, senior." Ye Chen bowed in thanks to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    Mu Qingqing also giggled with a smile, "It''s been a long time since I''ve visited the Divine Sword. Ye Chen, I will wait with Elder Xiao outside for three days. Make sure you take advantage of the thirty-fold time flow inside to bravely challenge those Prohibited Formation Arrays!"


    "Alright, I will definitely seize this opportunity to enhance my strength before heading to the Heavenly Sacred Palace!" Ye Chen smiled and nodded at Mu Qingqing.


    As the two spoke, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder didn''t delay any longer. With a sweep of his large sleeve, he set off towards the location of the Divine Sword, taking both Ye Chen and Mu Qingqing with him.


    Standing atop the mountain peak and seeing that the Divine Sword was close, it was only during flight that Ye Chen realized the Divine Sword was still some distance away.


    After traversing dozens of miles of mountain valleys, Ye Chen finally arrived at the domain of the Divine Sword and saw the intricate patterns on its sword body clearly.


    The red Sea of Evil Qi enveloping the entire sword body of the Divine Sword was even more startling to Ye Chen.


    From atop the mountain, the impact of the Sea of Evil Qi was so fierce that Ye Chen felt as if endless cries of slaughter were surging in his mind.


    Now that he had truly stepped into the domain of the Divine Sword, Ye Chen felt that the Sea of Evil Qi cloaking the sword body had completely formed into a blood-red sea thousands of feet in circumference, with endless clouds of evil Qi rolling and roaring within.


    At the same time, thunderous sounds of battle resonated within Ye Chen''s mind, like roaring thunder. If it weren''t for Ye Chen''s sufficiently powerful Divine Sense, perhaps the mere sound of this evil Qi would have knocked him out!


    This was the Sea of Evil Qi formed by the Divine Blood once tainted by the Divine Sword!


    Having endured for thousands of years, the fact that the Sea of Evil Qi still remained so intense made Ye Chen realize how terrifying it must have been when the Divine Sword first fell.


    No wonder Elder Xiao Supreme Elder said that at the time, even late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existences dared not approach it!


    The might of Divine Blood, the might of the Void Sky True God, just the Divine Blood alone was this terrifying!


    "Ye Chen, get used to this Sea of Evil Qi. In a moment, we will fly down into the midst of the Sea of Evil Qi below the Divine Sword," Elder Xiao Supreme Elder spoke to Ye Chen as they flew towards the Divine Sword.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had already protected Mu Qingqing, but he did not shield Ye Chen; instead, he allowed Ye Chen to adapt to this terrifying Sea of Evil Qi.


    After all, if Ye Chen was to challenge the inside of the Divine Sword, he couldn''t always rely on others for protection.


    Ye Chen nodded, without using his true energy to block the assault of the Sea of Evil Qi but instead biting down and adapting to this terrifying Sea of Evil Qi, sensing the thousand-year-old remnants of Divine Blood, feeling the ever-closer residual might of the Divine Sword!


    Just as Ye Chen, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, and Mu Qingqing flew into the rolling red Sea of Evil Qi below the Divine Sword, "whoosh whoosh whoosh," dozens of figures flew towards the trio from within the Sea of Evil Qi.


    Upon seeing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, all of these figures halted in the void and bowed to him.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded at these people and then began to explain to Ye Chen, "These are the Protector Sword Disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect, responsible for guarding the Divine Sword. Although no one can move the Divine Sword, without our sect''s permission, others cannot come close to it."


    Ye Chen nodded and looked at these people.


    He saw that all of these dozens of people were in the Rotating Pill Realm, but each of their auras was terrifyingly powerful; Ye Chen even felt that despite his ability to fight late-stage Rotating Pill Realm warriors, he probably couldn''t handle them.


    Warriors who could stay in the Sea of Evil Qi all year round are indeed extraordinary!


    Then, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder looked towards the leader among these people and said, "Lu Jia, how many are currently cultivating inside the Divine Sword?" Continue reading on m|v-l''e -novelhall.net


    The leader, a sword-bearing youth in brown clothing, responded upon hearing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s question, "Reporting to the Supreme Elder, currently there are thirty-five disciples challenging the Prohibited Formation Arrays inside the Divine Sword.


    In the Sea of Evil Qi below, there are thirteen disciples preparing to enter the Divine Sword, bombarding the ''Blood Ignition Fruit'' in preparation."


    "Forty-eight people, that''s quite a few," Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded, "Lu Jia, this is Ye Chen. He will also be entering the Divine Sword for cultivation this time. Take him down below to bombard the ''Blood Ignition Fruit'' as well."


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder introduced Ye Chen to the leader, Lu Jia.


    "Ye Chen?" Lu Jia''s eyes directly turned towards Ye Chen.


    A youth personally brought by the most powerful Elder Xiao Supreme Elder of the entire Tai''a Sword Sect, this made Lu Jia regard him as extremely significant.


    Ye Chen smiled back at Lu Jia.


    However, Ye Chen was thinking, "Lu Jia said that there are thirteen disciples preparing to enter the Divine Sword, bombarding the ''Blood Ignition Fruit''. Elder Xiao Supreme Elder also has Lu Jia take me to bombard the Blood Ignition Fruit, so what exactly is this ''Blood Ignition Fruit''?"


    "Why do they have to bombard the Blood Ignition Fruit before entering the Divine Sword?"


    Ye Chen''s gaze turned towards the rolling red Sea of Evil Qi below, curious to see what the Blood Ignition Fruit actually looked like.

 Chapter 296: Chapter 263 The Surprised Lu Jia

    ```


    Upon looking, he could see nothing at all.


    The rolling sea of malevolent qi surrounding the Divine Sword Blade not only obstructed the view, but even Divine Sense could only penetrate a small part of it.


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense reached down about a dozen meters before it could no longer penetrate any further.


    Seeing Ye Chen looking down, Lu Jia smiled and said, "Ye Chen, you want to see the Blood Ignition Fruit, don''t you?"


    "That Blood Ignition Fruit grows on the ground far below, and can''t be seen from up here. Come, I shall take you down to the very bottom and explain how to strike the Blood Ignition Fruit, preparing you to enter the Divine Sword."


    As he spoke, Lu Jia began to lead the way in front.


    Ye Chen glanced at Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing, and after seeing them nod with a smile, he swiftly followed Lu Jia down.


    Finally, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing followed behind Lu Jia and Ye Chen, also flying downwards.


    As for the rest of the Protector Sword Disciples, they vanished back into the sea of malevolent qi, taking up their guarding positions and continuing to protect the Divine Sword.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After flying downwards for about one to two kilometers, passing through seven or eight layers of malevolent qi, Ye Chen at last saw the ground below.


    He could see that a vast expanse of red malevolent qi below had been pushed far away, making the situation on the ground clearly visible.


    What Ye Chen first noticed was the Divine Sword''s immense tip anchored into the earth, piercing the ground to create an enormous rift hundreds of meters long.


    The tip had disappeared into the rift, leaving only the giant blade above it.


    Looking around the blade, he could see within tens of thousands of meters from the blade, grand trees with a peculiar blend of silver and red hues grew, as if the colors of the blade and the malevolent qi were combined together.


    Within this area of tens of thousands of meters, there could be thousands of such grand trees!


    On these enormous trees grew long, arm-shaped fruits, each one resembling a clump of blazing flames, blood-red beyond compare!


    Upon seeing these fruits, Ye Chen understood at once¡ªthese must be the famed Blood Ignition Fruits that Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Lu Jia had mentioned.


    Just as Ye Chen was scrutinizing these "Blood Ignition Fruits," many of these fiery red fruits abruptly fell from the trees and shot rapidly towards the far reaches of the grove, into the rolling sea of malevolent qi.


    The speed of these Blood Ignition Fruits ranged from fast to slow, yet even the slowest of them moved at speeds nearly that of late-stage Spirit Sea Realm experts, while the fastest reached the speed of late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts!


    This greatly surprised Ye Chen, for he had never seen fruits that could fly so fast!


    As Ye Chen''s Divine Sense enveloped the area, he noticed that as the Blood Igniting Fruits shot towards the sea of malevolent qi, a dozen figures leaped up from the dense grove and from various directions, ferociously striking towards the "Blood Igniting Fruits."


    Many failed to strike the "Blood Ignition Fruits," and as those fruits burst into the malevolent qi, they exploded with a "bang," completely eradicating a puff of malevolent qi.


    This caused Ye Chen to narrow his eyes¡ªthe "Blood Ignition Fruit" could actually annihilate malevolent qi!


    No wonder the malevolent qi at the very bottom was pushed so far out, gathering only outside the grove. It turned out that the Blood Ignition Fruits within the grove possessed such formidable power!


    Some, however, were successful in striking the "Blood Ignition Fruits." The moment these fruits were hit by them, they exploded, turning into a faint blood-red glow that enveloped the hitters.


    Those who successfully struck the Blood Ignition Fruits all revealed joyful smiles.


    "So this is what it means to strike ''Blood Ignition Fruits''?"


    Ye Chen looked at the smiles on their faces, then back at the Blood Ignition Fruits that had flown into the malevolent qi, eliminating it. He began to understand the purpose of these "Blood Ignition Fruits."


    Presumably, the disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect struck the Blood Ignition Fruits to harness their unique ability to eradicate malevolent qi.


    Indeed, just as Ye Chen had guessed, Lu Jia, who was leading the way, pointed to the flying Blood Ignition Fruits and the several figures striking them and said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you see those disciples? They are striking the ''Blood Ignition Fruits.''"


    "These Blood Ignition Fruits grow in the woods beside the Divine Sword Blade and possess unique abilities."


    "According to the Heavenly Saint Lords, these Blood Ignition Fruits are the very manifestation of the Divine Sword''s might!"


    "When the Divine Sword fell from the sky and crashed into the earth, the Divine Blood left on the blade released an immense sea of malevolent qi, a thousand times denser than what you see now!"


    "Later, the might of the Divine Sword itself fluctuated on the earth, causing these grand trees to grow slowly and bear these peculiar ''Blood Ignition Fruits.''


    "These ''Blood Ignition Fruits'' possess great power. They can ignite the Divine Blood''s malevolent qi and devour it. It is because of these fruits that the sea of malevolent qi around the Divine Sword has weakened, allowing us to approach and enter the Divine Sword!"


    "Over these thousands of years, as more ''Blood Ignition Fruits'' trees have grown and more malevolent qi has been eradicated, the malevolent qi below has been pushed far away, being replenished by the dense qi above, gradually diluting the upper layer too."


    "It''s feared that in a few more centuries, the terrifying sea of malevolent qi surrounding the Divine Sword will completely disappear, revealing the true form of the Divine Sword!"


    Lu Jia''s words left Ye Chen feeling deeply moved.


    He could envision the Divine Blood on the Divine Sword as belonging to a foe of the original owner of the sword!


    This fearsome Divine Blood, once it had contaminated the blade and fell to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, released a vast sea of malevolent qi that even Heavenly Saint Realm experts couldn''t approach.


    Fortunately, the Divine Sword itself possessed its own might, which created the ''Blood Ignition Fruit'' capable of countering the malevolent qi. Continuous cleansing of the malevolent qi allowed less and less of it to surround the Divine Sword, making it possible for people to approach it and ultimately enter it.


    ```


    One could say that without these "Blood Igniting Fruits," if the malevolent energy did not disperse and perish, I''m afraid no one would have had the opportunity to enter the Divine Sword and see the inner world of the Divine Sword!


    While Ye Chen was reflecting, Lu Jia continued, "These ''Blood Igniting Fruits'' have a significant role in eradicating malevolent energy, and it is for this reason that we bombard the Blood Igniting Fruits. After the Divine Sword was damaged, quite a bit of Divine Blood also seeped into the Divine Sword, and the interior of the Divine Sword is likewise rife with rolling malevolent energy."


    "Only with the help of ''Blood Igniting Fruits,'' letting the light of the Blood Igniting Fruits cover oneself, can one remain unaffected by malevolent energy after entering the Divine Sword and dedicate oneself to cultivation within the Divine Sword."


    "Over the years, the Heavenly Saint Lords have concluded that bombarding one hundred Blood Igniting Fruit fruits will grant enough light of the Blood Igniting Fruits to protect oneself and ensure that one is not affected by malevolent energy after entering the Divine Sword."


    "Outside the Divine Sword, there are currently over three thousand Blood Igniting Fruit Trees, with hundreds of thousands of Blood Igniting Fruit fruits.


    We need to ensure both the growth of the Blood Igniting Fruits and the eradication of malevolent energy at a suitable pace, as well as allow disciples to bombard the Blood Igniting Fruits to cultivate inside the Divine Sword, which is why we stipulate the number of disciples who can enter the Divine Sword and open it only once every so often."


    Ye Chen nodded his head. .net


    The Blood Igniting Fruits had such a marvelous use, of course many people desired to use the light of the Blood Igniting Fruits to enter the Divine Sword for cultivation.


    But if the bombardment of Blood Igniting Fruits was too great, even surpassing their rate of growth, then problems would arise, not only failing to eradicate malevolent energy, but also likely causing the malevolent energy to roll back again.


    That would be draining the pond to get all the fish.


    The experts of Tai''a Sword Sect would certainly not let such a thing happen and would naturally regulate the number of people bombarding Blood Igniting Fruits and the number of people entering the Divine Sword.


    "Ye Chen, the Divine Sword has only recently been opened, and a new batch of ''Blood Igniting Fruits'' has grown enough for bombardment."


    "Currently, inside the Divine Sword, thirty-five disciples have bombarded one hundred Blood Igniting Fruits and have successfully entered the Divine Sword for cultivation. Another thirteen people are bombarding Blood Igniting Fruits."


    "Now, you should also hurry to bombard Blood Igniting Fruits. The faster you bombard one hundred fruits, the quicker you can enter the Divine Sword for cultivation."


    Lu Jia said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    At the same time, Lu Jia also reminded Ye Chen, "These Blood Igniting Fruits burst forth at varying speeds, and even the fruits from the same tree have different velocities. Even for practitioners in the later stages of the Dan Rotation, it takes a long time to bombard one hundred Blood Igniting Fruits.


    Ye Chen, considering your mid-Spirit Sea Realm, it will be quite challenging to hit one hundred Blood Igniting Fruits, so you must hurry up."


    "The Blood Igniting Fruit Trees to the far south, relatively speaking, have a slower projectile speed for the fruits, so you can go there to bombard Blood Igniting Fruits."


    As Ye Chen was brought by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, Lu Jia naturally wanted to give Ye Chen a good reminder, so he could enter the Divine Sword for cultivation more swiftly.


    Hearing Lu Jia''s advice, Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    However, he did not specifically head towards the southernmost Blood Igniting Fruit Trees, but instead thanked Lu Jia, who had been explaining for quite a while, then gave Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing, who were floating above and watching him, a nod before his sleeves swept up, and he directly burst toward the Blood Igniting Fruit Tree below.


    Ye Chen did not make any particular choice but simply selected the tree nearest him to begin bombarding the "Blood Igniting Fruits."


    This surprised Lu Jia.


    "What is Ye Chen doing? I reminded him that the Blood Igniting Fruits in the south are easier to capture. Why isn''t he heading there?"


    While Lu Jia was pondering this, just after Ye Chen had descended to the ground near a Blood Igniting Fruit, one of the fruits fell from the tree and erupted forth, shooting toward the rolling malevolent energy in the distance.


    The speed of this Blood Igniting Fruit''s burst was astonishingly at the initial stage of the Dan Rotation level.


    It was then that Lu Jia saw Ye Chen move.


    The mid-Spirit Sea Realm Ye Chen directly chased after the erupting Blood Igniting Fruit, seemingly choosing to directly bombard this fruit.


    "That''s a Blood Igniting Fruit at the initial Duandan speed; how can Ye Chen, at the mid-Spirit Sea Realm, catch up..."


    Lu Jia hadn''t finished speaking when his voice abruptly ceased.


    For he was suddenly struck by the realization that Ye Chen, who was chasing after the explosive fruit, had overtaken it although he took off later, moving even faster than the Blood Igniting Fruit and instantly catching up with it.


    Whoosh!


    In barely a tenth of a blink, Ye Chen had swung out the black fire sword from behind him, the tip of the sword stabbing directly and bombarding the swiftly flying Blood Igniting Fruit.


    Bang!


    The Blood Igniting Fruit exploded instantly, a faint red light then lingering around Ye Chen.


    The first Blood Igniting Fruit, hit!


    "This..."


    "Such incredible speed!"


    When Lu Jia heard the explosion of the Blood Igniting Fruit and saw the faint red light around Ye Chen, he could hardly believe his eyes.


    He had never seen such speed on a disciple at the Spirit Sea Realm; the speed was probably that of a Duandan practitioner!


    As Lu Jia was still in disbelief, another Blood Igniting Fruit fell from the tree and shot out.


    The speed of this Blood Igniting Fruit was even faster than the previous one, reaching the Escaping Speed at the late stage of the Dan Rotation.


    To Lu Jia''s increased astonishment, Ye Chen moved again, chasing after this second rapidly firing Blood Igniting Fruit!


    Ye Chen had chosen to bombard the Blood Igniting Fruit at the late Duandan Escaping Speed!

 Chapter 297: Chapter 264 Real Monster!

    Watching Ye Chen''s movements, Lu Jia had his mouth wide open.


    Previously, Ye Chen, in the Spirit Sea Realm midterm, achieved the speed of the Dun pill level and struck a Blood Igniting Fruit with the starting speed of the Dun pill level, which already made Lu Jia disbelieve.


    Now, Ye Chen was directly chasing after a Blood Igniting Fruit with the late speed of the Dun pill level, which completely left Lu Jia stunned in place!


    Although Lu Jia had never seen it before, he had heard that there were disciples of exceptional talent in Tai''a Sword Sect who could reach the early Dun pill level speed while being in the midterm of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    But to say that someone in the midterm of the Spirit Sea Realm could reach the late Dun pill level speed, even after Lu Jia had cultivated for hundreds of years in the Tai''a Sword Sect, he had never heard of any disciple capable of this, not even in rumors!


    Perhaps only the strongest among all the sects on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the "Heavenly Sacred Palace," with its demon-level geniuses, could achieve such a feat.


    Could this young man, Ye Chen, really catch up with a Blood Igniting Fruit that flies at the late Dun pill level speed while he is just in the midterm of the Spirit Sea Realm?


    Could he be another demon-level genius?!


    Thinking this, Lu Jia''s gaze was now entirely fixed on Ye Chen.


    Boom!


    Just as Lu Jia focused all his attention on Ye Chen, and while the fruit at the late Dun pill level speed burst forth, flying out of the grove toward the rolling evil aura outside, an odd, clear, and crisp sound suddenly emitted from Ye Chen''s body.


    It was the cry of the Vermilion Bird Divine Beast Dharma Idol Phantom!


    Swoosh!


    Almost instantly, fiery true qi burst forth around Ye Chen''s body, and the indescribably mysterious Vermilion Bird Dharma Idol Phantom enveloped his entire form.


    After that, Ye Chen, like a huge Vermilion Bird slicing through the void, suddenly pierced through space and appeared behind the rapidly fleeing Blood Igniting Fruit with late Dun pill level flying speed.


    Then, with a touch of the Black Fire Sword in Ye Chen''s hand, there was a "bang," and the fruit, at its ultimate speed, exploded on impact.


    That explosion left Lu Jia, who had been watching Ye Chen attentively, completely thunderstruck.


    Ye Chen, the one he had previously reminded to strike the weakest area Blood Igniting Fruit, had actually succeeded in hitting one at the late Dun pill level speed!


    Ye Chen actually possessed the speed to overtake cultivators in the late Dun pill level with just his midterm Spirit Sea Realm cultivation!


    "Ye Chen, just what kind of a demon are you from!" exclaimed Lu Jia.


    Lu Jia looked up at Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, previously thinking he had brought a disciple who relied on connections to cultivate in the Divine Sword Place.


    Now, it seemed nothing of the sort; this friend Ye Chen had completely surpassed all the Tai''a Sword Sect''s Spirit Sea disciples!


    Even among the Tai''a Sword Sect''s Dun pill realm disciples, aside from the truly powerful in the later stages, there were probably only a few who could compare with him.


    And yet, Ye Chen was only in the midterm of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Lu Jia looked up at Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, who also had a shock in his eyes.


    Previously, when Elder Xiao was in Tai''a City, and he heard that Ye Chen had overpowered Liu Zheng in the mid Dun pill level, he knew that Ye Chen''s strength was incredibly formidable, but that was only hearsay, which paled in comparison to the shock of witnessing it with his own eyes.


    Ye Chen had taken action only twice, and he had already made Elder Xiao Supreme Elder feel as if he was witnessing the genuine demon-level geniuses from the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace right before him.


    Moreover, the indescribably mysterious Dharma Idol Phantom around Ye Chen left Elder Xiao Supreme Elder extremely astonished.


    "Excellent, truly excellent!"


    "Qingqing, you''ve really found a rare talent for the Heavenly Sacred Palace!" Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s eyes sparkled as he looked at Ye Chen and nodded in admiration.


    "Elder Xiao, my judgment is never wrong!" Mu Qingqing also proudly lifted her little head, her beautiful eyes curved into smiles.


    The young girl even murmured to herself: "Ye Chen''s capabilities are not just limited to these! Even without cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he is this formidable. If he cultivates in the Divine Sword for another month and then goes on to cultivate in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, it''s very likely he could surpass most of the demon-level geniuses from the First Holy Temple!"


    "Humph, grandpa and the other Envoys would be shocked to the core if they knew the kind of talent I picked for the Heavenly Sacred Palace this time!"


    The girl couldn''t help but imagine the scenario when she would return to the Heavenly Sacred Palace in a few months, her lips curling into a smile as she pondered.


    "The second Blood Igniting Fruit!"


    After striking another Blood Igniting Fruit and feeling another faint red aura envelop him, Ye Chen''s eyes shone even brighter.


    Blood Igniting Fruit!


    Strike a hundred Blood Igniting Fruits quickly and enter the Divine Sword!


    Ye Chen didn''t notice the amazed expressions of Lu Jia and Elder Xiao Supreme Elder; his attention was entirely focused on the countless Blood Igniting Fruits. He wanted to quickly strike enough fruits to enter the Divine Sword.


    This gigantic sword that fell from the heavens, with Divine Blood merely touched to its body, had churned out a vast sea of evil aura, which even after thousands of years had not completely dissipated.


    The sword might emanating from this enormous sword formed the marvelously unique Blood Igniting Fruit Tree and Blood Igniting Fruits, continuously annihilating the Divine Blood Evil Qi.


    Ye Chen could no longer restrain his desire to see what the inside of the Divine Sword looked like, what the forbidden formations within the Divine Sword were like.


    Of course, he wasn''t going to waste too much time on the outside.


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense had already reached a coverage radius of forty li, and he enveloped countless Blood Igniting Fruit Trees and the fruits hanging from the branches within this range of his Divine Sense.


    He just waited for the Blood Igniting Fruits to fall, ready to strike immediately!


    Whoosh!


    Right after Ye Chen hit the second Blood Igniting Fruit, many more fruits began falling from the Blood Igniting Fruit Grove, and Ye Chen immediately blasted towards the one closest to him.


    Bang!


    In the blink of an eye, another Blood Igniting Fruit, which had the speed of a late-Spirit Sea Realm retreat, was struck by Ye Chen.


    The third Blood Igniting Fruit hit!


    Then, without any pause in his movements, Ye Chen flitted through the Blood Igniting Fruit Grove like a flying divine beast, hitting a fruit with every strike.


    Whether it was a Blood Igniting Fruit with the retreat speed of late-Spinning Pill or the retreat speed of mid-Spinning Pill, not a single attack from Ye Chen missed its mark!


    In just a moment, Ye Chen had hit as many as fifty Blood Igniting Fruits.


    By the end, Lu Jia was completely numb to the spectacle.


    For other disciples, it would take a lot of time to hit enough Blood Igniting Fruits, but for him, Ye Chen, there was simply no difficulty at all.


    Lu Jia didn''t even need to look to know that when Ye Chen had his sights on one hundred Blood Igniting Fruits, that was when he would hit all one hundred!


    Ye Chen filled Lu Jia with confidence through his absolute strength!


    While Lu Jia''s mind was still processing, the number of Blood Igniting Fruits hit by Ye Chen rose from fifty to as many as sixty or seventy.


    In that moment, he hit more than twenty Blood Igniting Fruits again.


    Ye Chen''s striking speed even caught the attention of the other thirteen Tai''a Sword Sect disciples who were hitting the Blood Igniting Fruits in the grove.


    Eventually, all thirteen Tai''a Sword Sect disciples even stopped their actions and turned to look at Ye Chen.


    When they saw that each of Ye Chen''s strikes hit a Blood Igniting Fruit without fail, that none of the fruits he targeted could escape, like the first Holy Temple disciple Lu Jia, they all gaped in amazement.


    Their own pace at hitting the Blood Igniting Fruits was so slow, but... but this youth who seemed even younger than them was picking them off as easily as picking flowers, one sword strike per fruit!


    Comparing themselves to others, they simply couldn''t compare!


    They were witnessing a demon-level genius right before their eyes!


    Under the astonished gazes of the thirteen Tai''a Sword Sect disciples and Lu Jia, under the nodding approval of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, and as Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes sparkled with amazement while she watched Ye Chen,


    Ninety-eight, ninety-nine...


    One hundred!


    In less than the time it took for an incense stick to burn, Ye Chen successfully hit all one hundred required Blood Igniting Fruits in the grove outside the body of the Divine Sword.


    Hum! Hum!


    At this moment, one hundred rays of Blood Igniting Fruit radiance twined around Ye Chen, ranging from his body all the way to the Black Fire Sword in his hand.


    With the Black Fire Sword in hand, its tip pointed downward, and under the reflection of the fiery red glow of the Blood Igniting Fruits, contrasted against the ten-thousand-meter tall towering sword behind him, Ye Chen emanated an odd temperament. .net


    This temperament caused Mu Qingqing, who had been watching Ye Chen all along, to be momentarily transfixed.


    "One hundred! He hit all of them so quickly!"


    This temperament made both Lu Jia and the thirteen Tai''a Sword Sect disciples unconsciously exclaim aloud.


    At that moment, Ye Chen finally turned his head, looking towards a gap at the very bottom of the Divine Sword''s body.


    That gap was a place of damage on the sword''s body, the lowest entry point into the internal space of the Divine Sword.


    "The Divine Sword, a divine artifact sword that fell from the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm!"


    "I''ll soon enter it for thirty days of cultivation. In these thirty days, I aim to use the forbidden formations inside to completely master my advanced sword formations! Once that''s done, with my perfect mastery of the third layer of Sword Intents, I''ll be ready to compete with sword cultivators from all over the world at the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference!"


    As Ye Chen''s eyes shone brilliantly, he also communicated with Phoenix Spirit of the Azure Blue Mansion through his Divine Sense: "Phoenix Spirit senior, I''m now close to this Divine Sword. Can you sense whether this Divine Sword is related to the great war with the Divine Phoenix Clan from the Upper Realm?"

 Chapter 298: Chapter 265: The Voice within the Divine Sword

    This Divine Sword, with its blade damaged and stained with the Divine Blood of the Void Sky True God, had fallen from the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm over three thousand years ago.


    All of this coincided remarkably with the outbreak of the war between the three ancient clans¡ª the Divine Phoenix Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan, and the Flying Spirit Clan.


    Ye Chen naturally suspected that the Divine Sword had fallen from the Upper Realm due to the war between the three clans.


    Previously, Ye Chen and Feng Ling were too far from the Divine Sword, and Feng Ling couldn''t sense its aura. Now that Ye Chen had reached the body of the Divine Sword, he naturally asked Feng Ling about the origins of the Divine Sword.


    "This aura..."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s doubts, Feng Ling''s divine consciousness spread out from Azure Blue Mansion, enveloping the blade and sensing its aura.


    "It is indeed a divine artifact of a Void Sky True God, a weapon used by an existence of that level!"


    "However..."


    As the sensing continued, Feng Ling''s feathers shook gently, "However, I am not familiar with this aura, and I do not sense the presence of the powerful beings of the Divine Phoenix, Vermilion Bird, and Flying Spirit clans on it. The Divine Blood stained on it does not seem to be that of the clan members of the three clans, rather, it seems like it is, it seems like it is..."


    .net


    Feng Ling also seemed uncertain.


    "Elder Feng Ling, it seems like what?" Hearing that it was unrelated to the Divine Phoenix Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan, and the Flying Spirit Clan, Ye Chen was somewhat surprised.


    He had initially thought that the Divine Sword was related to the war between the three clans and that he might learn more about the Divine Phoenix Clan from it. Unexpectedly, there was no connection.


    But hearing the uncertainty in Feng Ling''s voice also moved Ye Chen, evidently, even if the Divine Sword had nothing to do with the war between the three clans, Feng Ling seemed to still know something from the Divine Blood stained on the blade.


    Instead of answering Ye Chen directly, Feng Ling said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, do you remember I told you that the strongest in the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm were six ancient clans?"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He had learned about the six great ancient clans of the Upper Realm back in the secret realm of the Ancient God Tower in his ancestral land, and he was quite connected to the Yan Clan, one of those six clans, even having clashed with a phantom of the spiritual consciousness left by the granddaughter of an ancient emperor of the Yan Clan, Yan Ling''er, and he even had an Ancient Token of the Yan Clan.


    Later, through Feng Ling, Ye Chen learned about the Divine Phoenix Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan, and the Flying Spirit Clan among the six great ancient clans.


    Ye Chen''s understanding of the six great ancient clans of the Upper Realm was growing.


    Now, hearing Feng Ling''s words, Ye Chen''s mind stirred. Feng Ling mentioned the six ancient clans, but this Divine Blood was unrelated to the Divine Phoenix, Vermilion Bird, and Flying Spirit clans. Could it be related to another of the three great ancient clans?


    Of the other three great ancient clans, Ye Chen only knew of the Yan Clan, and the names of the two other ancient clans were unknown to Ye Chen.


    Amidst Ye Chen''s conjectures, Feng Ling''s voice reached him, "From this Divine Blood, I feel an aura that seems to be of the ''Blood God Clan,'' one of the six ancient clans which my master mentioned in the past!"


    As she spoke, Feng Ling''s divine consciousness once again sensed the murderous aura of the Divine Blood on the blade, recalling what her master had told her about the Blood God Clan. Feng Ling''s voice finally became certain, "With blood reaching the heavens and a murderous aura devouring souls, this, this Divine Blood is probably truly from the ''Blood God Clan'' among the six great ancient clans!"


    "If this Divine Blood is from the ''Blood God Clan,'' then this Divine Sword must be related to another great ancient clan that specifically opposed the Blood God Clan¡ª the ''Beiming Clan''!"


    Blood God Clan!


    Beiming Clan!


    The words of Feng Ling shocked Ye Chen.


    He had also speculated whether this Divine Sword and Divine Blood were related to the war between the Divine Phoenix Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan, and the Flying Spirit Clan, and even later suspected a connection with the Yan Clan.


    Now, Phoenix Spirit was actually mentioning another two ancient clans he had never even heard of!


    Ye Chen finally learned the names of all six mightiest ancient clans in the Upper Realm: the Divine Phoenix Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan, the Flying Spirit Clan, the Yan Clan, the Beiming Clan, and the Blood God Clan!


    "Ye Chen, I don''t know much about the ''Beiming Clan'' and the ''Blood God Clan,'' and I also don''t know much about the ''Yan Clan.'' What I do know is that the Minor Spirit Realm''s six ancient clans divided the realm, with the ''Divine Phoenix Clan,'' the ''Vermilion Bird Clan,'' and the ''Flying Spirit Clan'' located in the southern territories of the Minor Spirit Realm, while the ''Yan Clan,'' ''Beiming Clan,'' and ''Blood God Clan'' are in the northern territories."


    "A natural chasm separates the southern and northern territories of the Minor Spirit Realm, hence there is little interaction between the two! Even if there is a great war involving the three clans from the south, the three clans from the north usually do not participate."


    "I''ve heard that the ''Yan Clan'' is the most secretive of the six great ancient clans. But the ''Blood God Clan'' and the ''Beiming Clan'' are deadly enemies! Rumor has it that both ancient clans are vying for control over the Minor Spirit Realm''s ''Beiming Divine Sea,'' and large-scale wars frequently erupt!"


    "This Divine Sword could well have belonged to a Void Sky True God of the ''Beiming Clan.'' It became damaged during a major battle against another Void Sky True God from the ''Blood God Clan.'' It was then coated with the true blood of the ''Blood God Clan'' and fell from the Upper Realm into this Lower Realm!"


    Phoenix Spirit shared her conjectures with Ye Chen.


    Hearing Phoenix Spirit''s words, Ye Chen heaved a long sigh.


    He had long been told by Yan Ling''er that the Minor Spirit Realm was much more perilous than the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, with countless struggles. It turned out to be true indeed.


    In the south of the Minor Spirit Realm, three clans waged war, while in the north, two ancient clans fought in blood battles. It seemed the whole Minor Spirit Realm was shrouded in conflicts and strife!


    "If this Divine Sword truly belongs to the Beiming Clan, then I shall take a look and see what the interior space of a Divine Sword owned by one of the six great ancient clans of the Upper Realm looks like."


    Ye Chen looked up at the gap in the body of the Divine Sword, his eyes shining brightly.


    After the Yan Clan and the Divine Phoenix Clan, Ye Chen was about to come into contact with something related to the third great ancient clan of the Minor Spirit Realm!


    The spiritual communication between Ye Chen and Phoenix Spirit occurred in an instant, and at this moment, he had only stood next to the body of the Divine Sword for a short while.


    Then, seeing that Ye Chen had finally struck enough Blood Igniting Fruits to obtain one hundred beams of light from the fruits, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder spoke directly to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, enter the Divine Sword and make good use of your one-month training period!"


    Mu Qingqing, who was next to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, also waved her small fists at Ye Chen, smiling and cheering him on.


    After hearing Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s words, Ye Chen nodded to Elder Xiao and Mu Qingqing with a smile. He then turned his head to look at Lu Jia beside him and the thirteen disciples from the Tai''a Sword Sect within the Blood Igniting Fruit Grove.


    Then, Ye Chen took a deep breath, let Phoenix Spirit''s spiritual sense return to the Azure Blue Mansion, and with a leap, he transformed into a beam of light, flying towards the damaged gap at the bottom of the Divine Sword''s blade.


    Ye Chen was about to enter inside the Divine Sword!


    Just as he finally flew into the body of the Divine Sword under the watchful eyes of a dozen onlookers, unbeknownst to everyone, even to Phoenix Spirit, from the highest point within the 10,000-meter-tall Divine Sword, amidst countless prohibitive formations and arrays, came an old, surprised murmur: "Hmm, the one who released the breath to sense me just now, is such a young boy?!"


    "Only fifteen years old? And in this Lower Realm, how could there be the aura of a divine artifact upon him?"


    "In all these years, even those at the later stages of Heavenly Saint have not possessed any divine artifact aura! Strange, it''s really strange!"


    "It appears I must carefully see what is special about this young boy. Perhaps my chance to return to the Beiming Clan from the Lower Realm could very well rest upon this boy!"


    From the words of this voice, it could be discerned that the Divine Sword was indeed connected to the Beiming Clan of the six great ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm!


    And what was even more astounding, while Phoenix Spirit had not detected the old voice within the Divine Sword, the old voice had clearly recognized that Phoenix Spirit originated from a divine artifact, bearing its aura!

 Chapter 299: Chapter 266: Strange Beam

    Phoenix Spirit was none other than a phoenix feather born from the "Nirvana Pool" of the Divine Phoenix Clan, which was later refined into the Divine Artifact "Ice Snow Divine Fan" alongside other feathers by a Void Sky True God.


    In the great war of the Divine Phoenix Clan, that Void Sky True God fell, and the tens of thousands of phoenix feathers from the Ice Snow Divine Fan entered countless Azure Blue Mansions, with Phoenix Spirit following into one that came to the Lower Realm.


    Apart from Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, even Heavenly Saint Moya, who originally obtained the Azure Blue Mansion, was unaware of Phoenix Spirit''s existence. Now, the divine aura of Phoenix Spirit was seen through by the ancient voice at the very top of the Divine Sword!


    Clearly, the ancient voice from above might be an existence even more powerful than Phoenix Spirit herself!


    Divine Artifact, the Fallen Sword.


    Within it lay such a powerful being, unnoticed even by the three late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and countless Heavenly Saint Realm experts who had entered the Divine Sword.


    Of course, Ye Chen was even more unaware that he had now been noticed by this existence. At this moment, he had truly flown into the inner space of the Divine Sword.


    "Is this the inner space of the Divine Sword?"


    As Ye Chen flew into the Divine Sword from an opening at its base, the first thing he saw was formations that resembled nebulae, extending endlessly from the bottom to the boundless space above the sword.


    Looking at the number of these weird formations, there were easily hundreds, if not thousands!


    Prohibited Formation Array!


    Ye Chen immediately realized that these were the countless Prohibited Formation Arrays Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had mentioned within the inner space of the Divine Sword.


    The inner space of the Divine Sword was vast; it seemed tens of thousands of meters high from the outside, but inside it was like a strange space stretching endlessly upwards, with no visible end in sight!


    Obviously, space laws were definitely refined within it!


    Next to the countless Prohibited Formation Arrays, Ye Chen felt as insignificant as an ant.


    Ye Chen drove his divine sense upwards toward the Prohibited Formation Arrays, only to see a blurred vision of their exteriors, but as soon as his divine sense neared those arrays, a mysterious force expelled his divine sense, clearly beyond what his divine sense could pry into!


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder had said that of the countless formation arrays, even those in the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm could only enter the thirty-eight arrays at the bottom; surely, Ye Chen could not probe the higher arrays.


    With Ye Chen''s cultivation at the Spirit Sea Realm, he could only enter the bottom eight Prohibited Formation Arrays.


    "Let''s take a look at these eight Prohibited Formation Arrays at the bottom."


    Ye Chen flew towards the bottom Prohibited Formation Arrays.


    While flying, Ye Chen noticed twenty-three disciples cultivating within the eight Prohibited Formation Arrays that could be entered by Spirit Sea Realm disciples at the bottom.


    "Those guards who previously defended the Divine Sword, Lu and the others, mentioned that thirty-five disciples from the Tai''a Sword Sect had already arrived in the Divine Sword, cultivating inside the Prohibited Formation Arrays. It seems these twenty-three are the Spirit Sea Realm disciples among them."


    "The other twelve must be cultivating in higher Prohibited Formation Arrays. With my True Qi cultivation, I can''t see them,"


    Ye Chen flew while observing these twenty-three Tai''a Sword Sect Spirit Sea Realm disciples.


    At this point, many of them were meditating with closed eyes within the eight Prohibited Formation Arrays, while others were looking around within the arrays, turning their gazes towards Ye Chen who was flying past and who wasn''t wearing the Tai''a Sword Sect''s dress, appearing somewhat curious.


    After smiling at these people, Ye Chen flew towards the "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation" at the very bottom.


    The Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, one of the countless great formations within the Divine Sword at the very bottom, was constructed from eighteen huge spherical wind beads.


    At that time, two Spirit Sea Realm disciples from the Tai''a Sword Sect were cultivating within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation.


    One could see that their clothes and hair were fluttering loudly in the formation, clearly, there was an extraordinary power of wind within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation.


    Ye Chen glanced at the "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation" and then looked up to the second formation above it, the "Heavenly Thunder Formation".


    "In the past, inside the ''Thousand Lotus Cave Abode,'' Senior Qian Ji demonstrated both Wind''s Concept and Thunder''s Intent to me, and Senior Qian Ji came from the Tai''a Sword Sect. Perhaps these two concepts were what he had comprehended inside this Divine Sword!"


    "Now that I have the chance to be here inside the Divine Sword, I will start by entering the ''Eighteen Wind Beads Formation'' to see how the concept within differs from what Senior Qian Ji demonstrated to me!"


    Moving in spirit, Ye Chen flew into the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation.


    As Ye Chen flew in, he felt as if his entire being had plunged into the ocean of a storm.


    Gentle breezes, fierce winds, hurricanes... countless sensations of the wind swept across his body and soul, and in an instant, Ye Chen felt as though he was back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, experiencing the Wind''s Concept as performed by Heavenly Saint Qian Ji!


    This "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation" really bore a remarkable resemblance to the Wind''s Concept practiced by Heavenly Saint Qian Ji; the only difference was that the Wind''s Concept within this "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation" was even more complex and profound!


    Having already grasped the Wind''s Concept, Ye Chen decided to sit cross-legged in this "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation" just like the other two disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect, to further experience the uniqueness of the Wind''s Concept.


    Just as he had begun to sit down, something unexpected happened.


    As soon as Ye Chen sat down inside the formation, the eighteen wind beads suddenly emitted countless weird beams. These beams quickly formed bundles of light, encompassing Ye Chen entirely within.


    The anomaly of the eighteen wind beads startled the other two Tai''a Sword Sect disciples practicing in the formation, awakening them from their meditation. When they saw Ye Chen shrouded in light beams, they exclaimed in surprise, "Weird beams, is this... is this the ''Weird Beam'' recorded in the ''Divine Sword Record'' of our sect?!"


    Amid the astonished shouts of the two Tai''a Sword Sect disciples, a disciple from the nearby "Heavenly Thunder Formation" heard their cries, flew out, and arrived at the "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation."


    On seeing the weird beams around Ye Chen, this disciple was equally shocked, "The ''Divine Sword Record'' of our sect, which contains the account of practicing within the Divine Sword, mentions that only the most exceptional talents are enveloped by the ''Weird Beam'' when they enter the Divine Sword!"


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    "Over the years, every disciple covered by the ''Weird Beam'' has achieved great success, and even a few from the Rotating Pill Realm later successfully advanced into the Heavenly Saint Realm! Who is this young man to also be enveloped by the ''Weird Beam''?!"


    "The last time the ''Weird Beam'' appeared was four years ago; that disciple is now the strongest among our Tai''a Sword Sect disciples in the Spirit Sea Realm, ''Elder Xiao Feng!'' Elder Xiao Feng has now comprehended three high-level sword formations and even ranks among the top few when clashing with other talented Sword Cultivators from the central region''s third-rank Sword Sects!"


    "Having been enveloped by the ''Weird Beam,'' could this young man be another extraordinary talent like Elder Xiao Feng?"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As these people were talking, Ye Chen, shrouded in the light beams, suddenly emitted a weird cyan beam from his body. In the blink of an eye, a second and a third weird beam followed in succession.


    Seeing these weird beams shooting out from Ye Chen, the Tai''a Sword Sect disciples screamed even louder, "According to the ''Divine Sword Record'' and the testimonials of those talented disciples who were enveloped by the ''Weird Beam,'' they all entered an indescribable trial. The result of that trial was related to these cyan beams that shot out!"


    "The earlier the cyan beams shoot out, the stronger the natural talent. The more cyan beams there are, the greater the potential. This young man, immediately after being enveloped by the ''Weird Beam,'' shot out cyan beams. And judging by the timing, it seems even shorter than when Elder Xiao Feng did years ago!"


    The strange phenomena happening to Ye Chen and the shrill screams of the Tai''a Sword Sect disciples caught the attention of other disciples practicing in the higher-up Prohibited Formation Arrays. Many now flew towards the "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation" to observe.


    Eventually, in the entire Spirit Sea Realm training area, out of the twenty-three disciples in the eight major Prohibited Formation Arrays, aside from three who remained in meditation, the other twenty had flown into the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation to watch Ye Chen.


    Even from the higher Rotating Pill Realm training area, three people had come over.


    By this time, the cyan beams that had burst from Ye Chen numbered three to four dozen!


    "There are already thirty-eight cyan beams that have burst forth so quickly!"


    "Judging by this speed, the final count of cyan beams for this young man definitely won''t be low! Years ago, Elder Xiao Feng shot out six hundred and twenty-five cyan beams. The highest number of cyan beams recorded in the ''Divine Sword Record'' burst by our Tai''a Sword Sect''s ''Nine Swords Heavenly Saint'' was one thousand two hundred and thirty-five. I wonder how many this young man can burst out?"


    Twenty-six Tai''a Sword Sect disciples stood not far from Ye Chen, enveloped by the weird beams, marvelling at this rare sight seen only once in many years.


    At that moment, another three Tai''a Sword Sect disciples flew into the Divine Sword.


    These three were part of the thirteen who had previously hammered on the Blood Igniting Fruits in the Blood Igniting Fruit Grove; following Ye Chen, they too had gathered a hundred fruits.


    "What''s going on?"


    Upon entering the Divine Sword, these three immediately saw the crowd of people gathered in the lowest "Eighteen Wind Beads Formation."


    The Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, being at the very bottom, was usually sparsely populated, but this time around, it was crowded with twenty to thirty people, which was highly unusual to these three.


    When they, too, flew into the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation and saw Ye Chen wrapped in the weird beams, they cried out incredulously.


    "Isn''t that the amazing young man who gathered a hundred Blood Ignition Fruits in an instant just now?!"


    "That around his body... is it the ''Weird Beam'' recorded in the ''Divine Sword Record'' of our sect?!"


    "Over forty cyan beams already, this young man was simply astonishing when gathering Blood Ignition Fruits outside, and now that he''s entered the Divine Sword, equally amazing, to be enveloped by the ''Weird Beam'' and to have triggered cyan beams?"


    The three new Tai''a Sword Sect disciples who had just entered the Divine Sword were completely astonished.

 Chapter 300: Chapter 267: The Ancient Path and The Green Lantern

    The astonished words of the three drew the attention of others.


    Recognizing the trio, a disciple asked one of them, "Yun Hua, do you know this young man? What do you mean he blasted enough Blood Ignition Fruits in just a moment? And who exactly is this young man, do you know?"


    These disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect, who had entered the Divine Sword earlier, were unaware of Ye Chen''s fruit blasting outside the Divine Sword.


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    "Who this young man is, I do not know, but I do know that he was brought here personally by our sect''s most powerful Elder Xiao Supreme Elder. Even Senior Lu Jia, the guardian of the Divine Sword, specially guided this young man, showing him where to blast the Blood Ignition Fruits!"


    "Moreover, right before this young man entered the Divine Sword, guess how long it took him to blast the Blood Ignition Fruits? He didn''t even take the time of an incense stick to blast enough for a hundred Blood Ignition Fruits! I''ve never seen a disciple of the Spirit Sea Realm blast enough fruits so quickly!" the Tai''a Sword Sect disciple named Yun Hua exclaimed.


    The other two beside him chimed in, "It''s not just the speed of blasting the Blood Ignition Fruits that''s fast!"


    "This young man is simply too incredible. Even the Blood Ignition Fruits with Escaping Speed of the Spinning Pill''s later stages, this young man could blast them. He didn''t even choose specific Blood Ignition Fruits to blast, he just struck at will, and yet, none of the fruits with Escaping Speed could evade his palm!"


    "In my opinion, his strength must have reached the later stages of the Spinning Pill. Even if his power hasn''t reached there, his speed can certainly match that of the powerhouses in the Spinning Pill''s later stages!"


    The words of the three caused the rest of the Tai''a Sword Sect disciples to look at each other with surprise in their eyes.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder personally brought him here to the Divine Sword!


    Senior Lu Jia, a powerhouse of the later stages of Spinning Pill and the guardian of the Divine Sword, personally led the way!


    In less than the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he blasted enough for a hundred Blood Ignition Fruits!


    The Blood Ignition Fruits with Escaping Speed of the later stages of Spinning Pill couldn''t escape his grasp!


    Hearing about these miraculous deeds and looking at Ye Chen enveloped in strange beams of light, continuously emitting cyan rays from his body, the disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect within the Divine Sword all exclaimed in their hearts, "This... where does this extraordinary young man come from!"


    ...


    The disciples of Tai''a Sword Sect inside the Divine Sword were incredibly shocked.


    Outside the Divine Sword, within the void.


    At this moment, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing were also looking at the massive body of the Divine Sword.


    Even Lu Jia and the other Protector Sword Disciples were looking towards the body of the Divine Sword.


    They could only see that as Ye Chen entered a mysterious state, surrounded by the strange beams and bursting with cyan rays from his body, on the exterior of the Divine Sword, the massive blade began to show emerging cyan patterns as well.


    And comparing them closely, one could see that the number of cyan rays Ye Chen emitted inside the Divine Sword exactly matched the number of cyan patterns appearing on the blade''s exterior¡ªand both were still increasing!


    "I knew that Ye Chen might enter into the Divine Sword''s mysterious restrictions; I just didn''t expect him to actually activate them!" Elder Xiao Supreme Elder said within the void, a glint of brilliance in his eyes as he looked at the cyan patterns on the Divine Sword.


    Standing beside Elder Xiao, Mu Qingqing giggled, "Elder Xiao, Ye Chen is a true genius. Over the years, all the real geniuses who have entered the Divine Sword have managed to trigger those mysterious restrictions and enter the ''Ancient Path Green Lantern'' space to find out the number of their Divine Soul''s Innate Potential. It''s no surprise that Ye Chen is no exception¡ªI expected this all along!"


    Judging by the look on Mu Qingqing''s face, she didn''t seem at all surprised that Ye Chen was engulfed by the strange light beam and burst out with a cyan light.


    Upon hearing Mu Qingqing''s words, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded as well, "All these years, the ''Ancient Path Qing Lamps'' space has indeed appeared intermittently. The three Palace Masters once said that perhaps within the Divine Sword, there are still secrets we know nothing about. After all, this is a Divine Artifact!"


    "However, that ''Ancient Path Qing Lamps'' space is indeed marvelous; every cultivator who can trigger this forbidden space to appear is a genius. That this situation occurred with Ye Chen does add a bit more confidence in his cultivation at the First Holy Temple."


    "It''s just unknown how much of his Divine Soul''s innate potential will be exposed under the irradiation of the ''Ancient Path Qing Lamps''. The higher the Divine Soul''s innate potential, the stronger the cultivation talent potential. After all, the Divine Soul is the most important of the three life vital signs: Essence, Qi, and Spirit."


    "In my opinion, the number representing Ye Chen''s Divine Soul''s innate potential will definitely not be low. It''s very likely to be even higher than mine," said Mu Qingqing with a sly glint in her eyes. "When I entered the ''Ancient Path Qing Lamps'' space, the number representing my Divine Soul''s innate potential was ''one thousand five hundred and thirty-two''.


    My grandfather said that this number was already extremely high; many Heavenly Saints don''t have such high Divine Soul innate potential."


    "Having high Divine Soul innate potential allows one to specifically cultivate Divine Soul type secret arts. With the Divine Soul type secret arts, coupled with True Qi secret skills, and physical combat skills, all three major forces, Essence, Qi, and Spirit, can be elevated¡ªthat''s true strength!"


    "I don''t think Ye Chen has ever cultivated Divine Soul type secret arts, otherwise I would have been discovered by him a long time ago as I followed his trail. Among his many techniques, the Divine Soul is the weakest. It''s still adequate at the Spirit Sea Realm, but stepping into the Rotating Dan especially the Heavenly Saint Realm later on, Divine Soul secret arts become very important.


    This time, if his Divine Soul''s innate potential is enough, later in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he can specifically cultivate Divine Soul secret arts!"


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder nodded continuously at Mu Qingqing''s words.


    "Let''s just see the number of his Divine Soul''s innate potential first. Back then, the strongest Divine Soul''s innate potential number was from the most powerful among our three Palace Masters, ''Palace Master Yuan Li,'' whose Divine Soul reached an astonishing ''three thousand eight hundred and sixty-five''. That''s just the Divine Soul''s innate potential!


    Coupled with the development of the Divine Soul''s acquired potential, Palace Master Yuan Li, with just the Divine Soul techniques alone, could cultivate to an extremely terrifying extent!"


    "Hehe, Palace Master Yuan Li is truly formidable. She''s much younger than my grandfather but is the most powerful among the three Palace Masters.


    Unfortunately, she ordered that the Divine Soul innate potential of Heavenly Sacred Palace martial artists not be recorded; otherwise, Elder Xiao, the first name for Divine Soul innate potential in your Tai''a Sword Sect''s ''Divine Sword Record'' wouldn''t be ''Nine Swords Heavenly Saint''. Mine is already stronger than Nine Swords Heavenly Saint''s Divine Soul innate potential.


    Our ''Palace Master Yuan Li'' would rank even higher!" Mu Qingqing said with a chuckle.


    ...


    Inside the Divine Sword, within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, many disciples were paying attention to Ye Chen.


    Meanwhile, outside the Divine Sword, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing were discussing the Divine Soul''s innate potential.


    The moment he was engulfed by the strange light beam, Ye Chen felt his entire Divine Soul entering an unknown space.


    This mysterious feeling astonished Ye Chen!


    He had not the slightest defense; he had just sat down within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, even before he could react or detect it with Phoenix Spirit, he was drawn into this unknown space, naturally shocking him.


    "I did not expect that within the Divine Sword''s space, there is still a more mysterious space hidden."


    "Where is this?"


    Ye Chen looked around the space he was in.


    At this moment, his Divine Soul was drawn into this place, and many of his techniques like the Azure Blue Mansion, flying swords, Heavenly Saint Law Bead, and others were still with his physical body. Without many techniques at his disposal in this mysterious space, Ye Chen had to be even more careful.


    As Ye Chen surveyed the area, he found himself at the entrance to an ancient path. On both sides of the ancient path was a dark, empty space that evidently could not be stepped into.


    Looking down the ancient path, Ye Chen saw a series of Qing lamps lit on both sides.


    The lamps flickered faintly like beans, swaying gently. Ye Chen felt a soft glow coming from the lamps, making his entire Divine Soul feel incredibly comfortable.

 Chapter 301: Chapter 268 Beiming Secret Tome

    Just as Ye Chen was feeling the comfort of the lantern light illuminating his soul, amidst the flickering flames, an unknown perception transmitted into his Divine Sense.


    This unknown perception was not someone transmitting a message nor was it someone''s recorded words, but rather it felt as if Ye Chen had established a miraculous exchange of Divine Sense with the ancient path lanterns.


    Perception through Divine Sense.


    After a long while, when Ye Chen looked up again at the ancient path and the lanterns within it, his eyes had become incredibly bright.


    Through the mysterious perception generated with these ancient path lanterns, Ye Chen finally understood where he was.


    "So it turns out that I have actually come to a hidden prohibition within the Divine Sword¡ªthe ''Ancient Path Lantern'' prohibition!"


    "The ''Ancient Path Lantern'', this hidden prohibition, can actually test out my Divine Soul Innate Potential. According to the Divine Sense perception, this hidden prohibition is a strange ability of the Divine Sword''s attack. Anyone who enters under the influence of this prohibition can burst forth the number of their Divine Soul Innate Potentials!"


    "Divine Soul Innate Potential refers to the strength of the martial artist''s soul at birth, which is as important as the potential of the physical body and True Qi. The higher the potential of the Divine Soul, the more likely one is to achieve high accomplishments when cultivating Divine Soul Secret Techniques in the future!"


    "With this prohibition, I can take a look and see just how my Divine Soul Innate Potential really is."


    "This hidden prohibition doesn''t seem to hold any danger. According to the previous mysterious perception with the ancient path, walking in this path will cause the lantern light to shoot into the body, stimulating the light of the Divine Soul Innate Potential.


    Once the Divine Soul Innate Potential light has been fully stimulated, I will be repelled by this prohibition and return back to my physical body."


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    "Since that''s the case, let''s take a walk through this ancient path!"


    Without finding any other way to return to his physical body, and driven by curiosity towards this hidden prohibition, Ye Chen pondered for a moment before stepping boldly into the ancient path.


    Whoosh!


    As soon as he had stepped onto the ancient path, the first lantern immediately shot a beam of light into Ye Chen''s Divine Soul. The moment this beam of light entered, Ye Chen felt as if a small part of his entire Divine Soul had been lit up.


    Ye Chen suddenly realized that this was the feeling of his Divine Soul Innate Potential being stimulated!


    This feeling was incredibly wonderful. If Ye Chen''s understanding of his own Divine Soul was a blank slate before, now, he felt as if he had gained control over it.


    Feeling this marvelous sensation, Ye Chen hesitated no more, striding deeper into the ancient path.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As Ye Chen moved, the lantern light kept shining without pause. In a brief moment, dozens of lantern lights had been shot into Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, and dozens of beams representing his Divine Soul Innate Potential had been stimulated.


    At this time, it was also at Ye Chen''s physical location that his body emitted dozens of azure lights!


    Eighty beams, one hundred beams, one hundred and fifty beams...


    As Ye Chen walked deeper into the ancient path, the number of his Divine Soul Innate Potential beams erupted increasingly.


    ...


    Inside the Divine Sword, at the lowest level of the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, the disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect observing Ye Chen were stunned as they watched more and more azure lights burst from his body.


    They had heard that this kind of azure light eruption lasted from a short period like the burning of an incense stick to one or two hours at most; the longest record, according to the Divine Sword Record of the Tai''a Sword Sect, was achieved by the ''Nine Swords Heavenly Saint'' of the sect, who was enveloped in strange light and emitted one thousand two hundred thirty-five azure lights, over the span of two and a half hours!


    The disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect watching Ye Chen had stopped their own cultivation, deeming the wait of no longer than two and a half hours bearable. They wanted to witness with their own eyes how many azure lights this youngster could emit and how long he would be enveloped in the strange light!


    In the end, these disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect even sat down in meditation, all their gazes focused on Ye Chen enveloped in the strange light.


    ...


    "Two hundred and thirty beams now."


    "Three hundred and eighty beams!"


    Outside the Divine Sword, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing couldn''t help but count the number of azure patterns appearing on the huge blade of the Divine Sword as they increased.


    Seeing that the number of azure patterns was increasing without any sign of weakening, their eyes grew brighter and brighter.


    The manifestations revealed on the Divine Sword Blade even attracted the attention of many distant disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect watching this direction.


    When they saw the appearance of the azure patterns on the Divine Sword, which exactly matched the description of the strange light prohibition anomaly recorded in the Sect''s "Divine Sword Record," many disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect even flew into the sky and stopped in mid-air, peering toward the side of the Divine Sword.


    As more and more azure patterns surfaced on the Divine Sword, more disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect gathered in the nearby skies, having heard the news and come to observe.


    ...


    Everyone, whether it was Ye Chen, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder or Mu Qingqing, or those observing disciples from the Tai''a Sword Sect, thought that Ye Chen''s current test within the strange light was just like the usual tests recorded in the "Divine Sword Record" of other talented individuals who entered the Divine Sword''s hidden prohibition, simply to display the number of Divine Soul Innate Potential beams.


    But what they all did not know was that the display of the Divine Soul Innate Potential number, or rather the transference of their souls into the unfathomable Ancient Path Lanterns, was deliberately done by an existence at the top level of the Divine Sword.


    This entity, which had previously observed Ye Chen and even noticed the Phoenix Spirit in the upper space of the Divine Sword, spoke in an ancient voice.


    "Over these many years, anyone who enters the Divine Sword that I take an interest in, I have them test their Divine Soul Innate Potential."


    "In these more than three thousand years, the strongest Divine Soul Innate Potential was that of a girl in the later stage of Heavenly Saint, called ''Yuan Li''¡ªpity... even she only had ''three thousand eight hundred sixty-five beams'' of Divine Soul Innate Potential."


    "Three thousand eight hundred and sixty-five paths, for Martial Artists of the Lower Realm, it is already extraordinarily remarkable. However, it still hasn''t met the requirements of our Beiming Clan. She can''t cultivate the Beiming Secret Tome!"


    "If she can''t cultivate the Beiming Secret Tome, she will never be able to wield this Divine Sword, unless she steps into the Void Sky True God Realm!"


    "Over all these years, apart from that ''Yuan Li,'' the highest Divine Soul Innate Potential has only been just over two thousand paths, and there hasn''t even been a second person above three thousand Divine Soul Innate Potential!"


    "Back then, when the master battled the Blood You True God, my original body and Spiritual Deity were severely damaged, and I even fell into this Lower Realm, no longer having the ability to cross worlds and return to the Minor Spirit Realm. Am I destined to stay in this Lower Realm forever?!"


    Saying this, the hoarse voice turned its gaze toward Ye Chen, walking along the ancient green lantern path.


    "This young man..."


    When looking at Ye Chen, the hoarse voice paused: "At such a young age, he possesses the aura of a Divine Artifact. Divine Artifacts, those are things from the Upper Realm, yet while only at the Spirit Sea Realm, he can already have the aura of a Divine Artifact on him, and he can even use the aura to probe this Divine Sword.


    It indicates that he has already made that Divine Artifact aura willingly serve him!"


    "To make even a Divine Artifact willingly serve him means he must definitely have something special about him!"


    "I hope, I hope his Divine Soul Innate Potential can break the barriers of that ''Yuan Li,'' and cross the threshold of five thousand paths. Once his Divine Soul Innate Potential exceeds five thousand paths, he will be able to cultivate the ''Beiming Secret Tome''!


    As soon as he reaches the fourth layer of the ''Beiming Secret Tome'', he will be able to pull out the Divine Sword and take me away from this place!"


    "Five thousand paths of Divine Soul Innate Potential¡ªcan he achieve that?"


    The hoarse voice watched Ye Chen, muttering to itself.


    ...


    "Five hundred and sixty paths!"


    "I feel that as more of my Divine Soul Innate Potential is stimulated, my entire being craves to cultivate the Divine Soul Secret Techniques!"


    Ye Chen walked along the ancient path, sensing this feeling as his Divine Soul Innate Potential was being activated.


    "The Divine Soul, marvelously extraordinary. I too have experienced several unusual movements in my Divine Soul before."


    "Entering the Starlight Tower, my Divine Soul touched the ''Primordial Star Scripture''..."


    "Cultivating the Primordial Star Scripture''s ''Gang Yuan Chapter'' and ''Primordial Chapter,'' my Divine Soul grew stronger..."


    "There was also the time Heavenly Saint Moya attempted Body Snatching¡ª I obliterated a wisp of his Divine Spirit, assimilating his memories, which expanded my own Divine Spirit..."


    "Furthermore, when I was brought by the Starlight Tower from Earth to this Barbaric Wilderness Continent, it resulted in the fusion of my Divine Soul with its predecessor!"


    "I myself don''t even know how much Innate Potential my Divine Soul has!"


    Ye Chen was very curious about the amount of his Divine Soul Innate Potential.


    "It is said a powerful Divine Soul is not only greatly useful for cultivating Divine Soul Secret Techniques but also for Comprehending Sword Intent, after all, Sword Intent is also comprehended by the Divine Soul."


    "Moreover, the three major life forces¡ªEssence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªinfluence each other. A strong Divine Soul can help with the cultivation of the Physical Body and True Qi."


    "I hope that my Divine Soul Innate Potential is strong enough. If it''s not, even through acquired cultivation, I will strengthen the power of my Divine Soul!"


    Ye Chen did not know of that elderly voice''s expectations for him, nor was he aware that others were paying attention to the amount of his Divine Soul Innate Potential. He was just walking along the ancient path, stimulating his innate potential, while thinking about his future cultivation.


    Inadvertently, the number of Ye Chen''s activated Divine Soul Innate Potential had surged to as many as six hundred and thirty paths!


    Six hundred and thirty paths, this number had already surpassed what the genius Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivator "Xiao Feng" of the Tai''a Sword Sect had achieved during the recent appearance of a mysterious light beam in the Divine Sword!


    Ye Chen didn''t know about this situation, but within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation around the Divine Sword, many onlookers were completely astonished.


    "Six hundred and thirty paths of blue light!"


    "My heavens, this young man''s potential is even higher than Elder Brother Xiao Feng''s!"


    "Four years ago, Elder Brother Xiao Feng only unleashed ''six hundred and twenty-five'' paths of blue light! Even so, Elder Brother Xiao Feng was the strongest among us Spirit Sea Realm disciples in the Tai''a Sword Sect!"


    "Could it be that this young man has even more talent and potential than Elder Brother Xiao Feng?!"


    The Tai''a Sword Sect disciples within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation were utterly shocked.


    Outside the Divine Sword, in the void, when they saw that the blue lines on the Divine Sword Blade exceeded six hundred and twenty-five, many of the Spirit Sea Realm disciples were startled.


    "He has surpassed the record set by Elder Brother Xiao Feng four years ago!"


    "Heavens, who is cultivating within the Divine Sword?"


    "Hurry, go notify Elder Brother Xiao Feng to come here and see this!"


    As these Spirit Sea Realm disciples talked, quite a few of them flew towards the mountain gate and the training peaks of the Tai''a Sword Sect to inform those who were cultivating and had not noticed the anomaly happening here with the Divine Sword.


    Even more went directly to inform the currently strongest Spirit Sea Realm disciple in the Tai''a Sword Sect, the "Elder Brother Xiao Feng."


    And as many people rushed towards the Divine Sword upon hearing the news, even as "Elder Brother Xiao Feng" himself flew over, Ye Chen had already ignited the staggering amount of over nine hundred paths of Divine Soul Innate Potential, boldly marching toward a thousand paths!

 Chapter 302: Chapter 269: The Limit!

    "This..."


    "This..."


    When "Brother Xiao Feng" arrived and saw the blue patterns on the Divine Sword nearing a thousand, he stood frozen in the void, his mouth hanging open in shock.


    He had already been amazed when he heard from his sect members that someone in the Divine Sword had surpassed his own record for Divine Soul Innate Potential, but now he was utterly astounded.


    Standing next to the Divine Sword and seeing the blue patterns with his own eyes, he had never imagined that his record would be exceeded by so much!


    "Who exactly is inside the Divine Sword?"


    "This person''s Divine Soul Innate Potential is so much stronger than mine!"


    As a genius disciple of the formidable Third-rank Tai''a Sword Sect, and currently the strongest Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivator in the sect, the appearance of someone even more talented evoked an indescribable sense of awe in Xiao Feng.


    But after the shock, a competitive spirit arose in him.


    "Having a high amount of Divine Soul Innate Potential only shows great potential, not real strength!"


    "If this person is a Spirit Sea Realm martial artist, once he exits the Divine Sword, I must challenge him to see his true strength!"


    Not only Xiao Feng, a Spirit Sea Realm martial artist, was filled with the desire to challenge, but also other martial artists in True Qi Realm and Rotating Pill Realm, each of them staring intently at the sword body of the Divine Sword.


    "A genius!"


    "Is it my Tai''a Sword Sect''s genius, or someone else''s?"


    "He has created a miracle with Divine Soul Innate Potential. Regardless, as long as he is in the same realm as me, I will challenge him after he exits the Divine Sword!"


    The Tai''a Sword Sect is an incredibly powerful sect.


    The disciples of such a sect are all prideful individuals. When they see a formidable genius emerge, naturally, many can''t help but want to test their own strength against them!


    Only by truly surpassing them in talent, potential, and strength will they genuinely acknowledge other geniuses!


    The higher the number of Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential triggered in the Divine Sword, the more intense became their desire to challenge him.


    A thousand!


    Eleven hundred!


    Time passed.


    The number of blue Divine Soul Innate Potential patterns Ye Chen had triggered on the Divine Sword continued to increase.


    And when Ye Chen''s patterns in the Divine Sword reached thirteen hundred, even surpassing the Tai''a Sword Sect''s "Divine Sword Record" highest record of a thousand two hundred and thirty-five set by the "Nine Swords Heavenly Saint," the entire Tai''a Sword Sect was shaken!


    In the end, it wasn''t just the disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect who were paying attention to the Divine Sword¡ªa multitude of strong Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists, elders, and supreme elders all flew to the vicinity of the Divine Sword!


    And when they arrived and heard from Elder Xiao Supreme Elder that the one inside the Divine Sword was a Spirit Sea Realm youth from outside their sect, the news spread like wildfire, and the entire Tai''a Sword Sect boiled with excitement!


    Eventually, the strongest dozen or so Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators of the Tai''a Sword Sect gathered together, waiting for the outsider youth to emerge from the Divine Sword, eager to see his true face and even to spar with him!


    ...


    While various figures arrived in the void outside the Divine Sword, inside, as Ye Chen walked past the one thousand five hundred and thirty-second blue lamp, he had triggered one thousand five hundred and thirty-two lines of Divine Soul Innate Potential!


    By now, Ye Chen had already surpassed the performance of Mu Qingqing from her time amidst the ancient pathway of blue lamps.


    This caused Mu Qingqing, who was outside, to light up with excitement. .net


    Yet at that moment, Ye Chen did not feel the slightest fatigue nor any sense of reaching the limit of his Divine Soul Innate Potential. He continued to walk forward, passing lamp after lamp, which still sent light beams into his Divine Soul, igniting more numbers of his Divine Soul Innate Potential!


    "He has surpassed that ''Xiao Meng'' from Heavenly Sacred Palace''s Second Holy Hall!"


    "He has surpassed ''Lin Yue'' from the First Holy Hall!"


    The Heavenly Sacred Palace had also seen many geniuses come to the Divine Sword and enter the ancient pathway of blue lamps.


    Their numbers of Divine Soul Innate Potential were not recorded in the "Divine Sword Record," but Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and many saints of the Tai''a Sword Sect were aware of these facts.


    When they saw Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential exceed two thousand, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and those saints exchanged glances, their eyes revealing turmoil.


    It seemed that Ye Chen was destined to break many records, continuously aiming for higher points of Divine Soul Innate Potential!


    "It can''t be..."


    "He won''t surpass ''Palace Master Yuan Li,'' will he?"


    Eventually, such a thought even crossed the minds of several saints, albeit unconsciously.


    But as soon as this thought emerged, they immediately dismissed it from their minds.


    Palace Master Yuan Li, what a figure she was!


    She was the most powerful existence in the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, a top figure in the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, a pinnacle expert in the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Such a person''s Divine Soul Innate Potential was, of course, extraordinary!


    If Ye Chen could surpass even Palace Master Yuan Li in Divine Soul Innate Potential, that would imply his future achievements might surpass hers!


    After all, on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, how many could achieve that?!


    Naturally, these saints found it even harder to believe that the young man before them could match Palace Master Yuan Li in Divine Soul Innate Potential.


    Two thousand three hundred.


    Two thousand five hundred!


    Two thousand eight hundred!


    As the number of Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential displayed on the Divine Sword''s blade grew increasingly close to Palace Master Yuan Li''s figure of three thousand eight hundred and sixty-five, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, Mu Qingqing, and these Heavenly Saints were already on tenterhooks!


    Previously, they didn''t believe that Ye Chen could surpass Palace Master Yuan Li, but considering the situation, it looked very likely to happen!


    At this time, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the others were feeling extremely complicated.


    They both hoped that Ye Chen could create a miracle and break Palace Master Yuan Li''s record, yet they were also somewhat afraid of a new record being born, especially in such a young boy!


    In the midst of these complex emotions, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential continued to rise, surprisingly surpassing the three thousand mark!


    Divine Soul Innate Potential of three thousand!


    Even if all those who had entered the Divine Sword''s "Ancient Path Green Lantern" were counted, not just the Tai''a Sword Sect, but also the powerful figures from Heavenly Sacred Palace altogether, only Palace Master Yuan Li alone had surpassed this achievement!


    This thoroughly shocked Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the others.


    No matter what, they couldn''t have imagined that Ye Chen would have such tremendous potential in Divine Soul Innate Potential, such immense untapped depth!


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the others were aware of Palace Master Yuan Li''s record, still holding onto that last sliver of record in their hearts, but the numerous disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect had gone completely mad!


    When Ye Chen had previously surpassed the record of the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint in the Tai''a Sword Sect''s "Divine Sword Record," these disciples were already incredibly shocked.


    Now, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential had actually reached three thousand, even surpassing the most powerful Nine Swords Heavenly Saint by twice as much!


    This left the Tai''a Sword Sect''s disciples in complete stupefaction.


    This amount of Divine Soul Innate Potential directly indicated that the boy within the Divine Sword would have unbelievably great achievements just with the cultivation of the Divine Soul Secret Technique in the future!


    He might even directly surpass the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint, becoming even more powerful than him!


    These disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect fell into stupefaction and frenzy.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, Mu Qingqing, and the Heavenly Saints of the Tai''a Sword Sect watched as Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential approached a higher number, marching towards Palace Master Yuan Li''s record, with their minds on edge!


    Three thousand three hundred!


    Three thousand five hundred!


    When they saw Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential reach three thousand six hundred, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder was nearly unable to breathe.


    He didn''t know how to deal with Ye Chen if he broke Palace Master Yuan Li''s record, perhaps he would have to personally report to Palace Master Yuan Li!


    Not only was Elder Xiao Supreme Elder plagued by a complexity of thoughts, but Mu Qingqing and several other Heavenly Saints were also inundated with countless thoughts passing through their minds.


    Boom!


    In the midst of their myriad thoughts, the count of blue patterns within the entire Divine Sword finally began to slow down after a furious increase.


    At last, it came to a halt at three thousand seven hundred and twenty-six!


    Three thousand seven hundred and twenty-six, over one hundred less than Palace Master Yuan Li''s "three thousand eight hundred and sixty-five."


    "Phew..."


    Seeing this result, for some reason, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the others all breathed a sigh of relief, while Mu Qingqing, with her sly and beautiful eyes, couldn''t help but slightly nod her small head in approval.


    While Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the others, knowing Palace Master Yuan Li''s record, could remain calm, this result caused an uproar of oceanic and thunderous discussions among the countless disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect outside the Divine Sword.


    Divine Soul Innate Potential of three thousand seven hundred and twenty-six!


    This was the first achievement these disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect had witnessed with their own eyes!


    ...


    As the count of Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential outside the Divine Sword finally came to a stop, within the Divine Sword, amidst the Eighteen Wind Pearl formation, the blue light emitting from Ye Chen also ceased.


    But what everyone didn''t know was that, at that moment, Ye Chen was still advancing in the "Ancient Path Green Lantern," and Divine Soul Innate Potential was still being stimulated and emerging.


    And his real Divine Soul Innate Potential had already surpassed Palace Master Yuan Li''s "three thousand eight hundred and sixty-five," breaking into the four thousand mark!


    Boom!


    At this moment, even the ancient voice from above the Divine Sword was shaken.


    One could even see an ancient shadow stand up with great force at the very top of the Divine Sword!


    "This young man has truly created a miracle!"


    "He could possibly have the potential to cross the five thousand mark of Divine Soul Innate Potential, meeting the basic conditions to cultivate the ''Beiming Secret Tome''!"


    Thinking this, the ancient shadow began to feel unsettled.


    In the end, the gaze of the ancient shadow passed through the Divine Sword and looked out towards the countless figures outside, towards Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    "There are too many people here."


    "This young man could very well be someone who will assist me in the future; his true Divine Soul Innate Potential must not be revealed!"


    "Showing over three thousand is already enough to make these people take him seriously. Too high a number may not necessarily be good for the young man''s future growth and could even draw envy from many."


    "Let me alone see where this young man''s true limit lies!"


    In the end, the gaze of the ancient shadow returned to Ye Chen in the Ancient Path Green Lantern.


    "If he can reach the Divine Soul Innate Potential of five thousand, then I will appear and meet with him! This will also be the first time in over three thousand years that I meet a person from the lower realm!"

 Chapter 303: Chapter 270: Spirit of the Divine Sword

    ```


    The ancient shadow murmured to himself, but the look he gave Ye Chen was filled more and more with expectation.


    The Divine Sword lay hidden within the prohibition "Ancient Path Green Lamp".


    When the Divine Soul Innate Potential surged within Ye Chen, reaching four thousand strands, he felt as though the majority of his Divine Soul had been illuminated.


    It was an indescribably strange sensation.


    Ye Chen could feel that his ability to arrive at this point and continuously stimulate his Divine Soul Innate Potential must be related to the fusion with his previous Divine Soul, and must have something to do with the Stars Tower and the Primordial Star Scripture that had brought him to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    .net


    Move on.


    Continue forward.


    Ye Chen wanted to see what level his final Divine Soul Innate Potential could reach.


    Once his whole Divine Soul was completely illuminated and he had a clear understanding of all his innate potentials, what would it look like?


    With these thoughts, Ye Chen stepped deeper into the heart of the Ancient Path Green Lamp with great strides.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    At first, the beams shot into Ye Chen''s body, stimulating the number of his Divine Soul Innate Potentials, were only a pale aqua color.


    When Ye Chen crossed into four thousand strands of Divine Soul Innate Potential, the hue of the green lamp''s beams turned directly from pale aqua to deep aqua.


    Bathed in the glow of these deep aqua beams, Ye Chen''s whole Divine Soul radiated an incredibly odd green light!


    Four thousand three hundred!


    Four thousand six hundred!


    Four thousand nine hundred!


    The ancient shadow''s wait was not in vain, as under his exceedingly hopeful gaze, Ye Chen ultimately stepped into the threshold of five thousand strands of Divine Soul Innate Potential!


    When Ye Chen''s Divine Soul emitted the light of the five thousandth strand, the ancient shadow atop the Divine Sword, his face forged from endless sword patterns, was filled with surprise and joy.


    Divine Soul Innate Potential number, five thousand strands!


    This was someone he had waited thousands of years for, the first to reach such a level of Divine Soul Innate Potential!


    Reaching this level of Divine Soul Innate Potential met the basic requirement for practicing the Beiming Secret Tome of the ancient shadow''s "Beiming Clan".


    And by cultivating the Beiming Secret Tome, reaching only the fourth layer, even without attaining the Void Sky True God Realm, one could readily lift the ten-thousand-meter Divine Sword, wield it, and even use it to return directly to the Minor Spirit Realm, back to the Beiming Clan.


    How could this not cause the eagerly waiting ancient shadow to be overwhelmed with ecstatic joy?!


    After his Mind and Spirit were agitated for several ten breaths, the ancient shadow gradually calmed his euphoric emotions, and when he looked at Ye Chen again, his eyes no longer held expectation but true recognition!


    This youth was now someone who could bring great help to him, and he would undoubtedly fully recognize him!


    "Five thousand strands of Divine Soul Innate Potential!"


    "Such a number is easily reached by offspring of the God Clan."


    "This youth, in the Lower Realm, to reach such a level, his Divine Soul Innate Potential is truly extraordinary!"


    "This suggests that, in the grand scheme of fate, I have hope of returning to the Minor Spirit Realm once more!"


    Boom!


    With that said, the ancient shadow grabbed a scroll radiating endless Divine Light that appeared in his palm.


    "Beiming Secret Tome."


    "This is the Secret Tome practiced by my master in the past, and I just need to wait for the youth to cease being illuminated by the green lamp before I can hand it to him."


    "At only fifteen years of bone age and having cultivated the True Qi Realm to the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, looking at his Physical Body, he has also practiced extremely powerful External Skills. In addition, his inconceivable Divine Soul Innate Potential allows him mysterious means to have a Divine Artifact on his person."


    "If he cultivates the Beiming Secret Tome, reaching the fourth layer should pose no problem!"


    "Perhaps in less than ten years, he will be able to leave this place with the Divine Sword, taking me with him!"


    The ancient shadow held the scroll of unending Divine Light "Beiming Secret Tome", while watching Ye Chen, who had surpassed the five thousand strands of Divine Soul Innate Potential and continued to walk forward in the Ancient Path Green Lamp.


    Five thousand five hundred.


    Six thousand seven hundred.


    In the end, unknown to everyone else and under the sole gaze of the ancient shadow, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential stopped at six thousand nine hundred thirty-three strands.


    Ye Chen''s final Divine Soul Innate Potential number was: six thousand nine hundred thirty-three strands!


    Even more than the "Palace Master Yuan Li" of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, who tested at three thousand eight hundred sixty-five strands in the Ancient Path Green Lamp years ago ¡ª over three thousand more!


    This number, even within the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm and among the six Ancient Clans, would be deemed capable only for the most exceptional disciples!


    Observing Ye Chen''s result, the ancient shadow took a deep breath, and then, his figure flickered and he vanished from the top of the Divine Sword.


    ```


    Only the ancient phantom knew the final number of Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential.


    If this number were to be revealed, not only would the disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect go mad, but even the most powerful Heavenly Sacred Palace in the Central Region, and all three Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, would go crazy for it!


    "Six thousand nine hundred and thirty-three paths."


    Within the Trail of the Ancient Lantern, Ye Chen introspected his Divine Soul and felt he had gained a deeper understanding of it.


    Before, Ye Chen had no idea about the innate potential of his Divine Soul, but now, even without knowing the state of others, he had a feeling that his Divine Soul''s innate potential was extraordinary!


    Because Ye Chen could feel that the depth of the Trail of the Ancient Lantern he had stepped into was unprecedented!


    Just as the number of Divine Soul Innate Potential lines had all been illuminated and Ye Chen was walking forward, with no more lantern light shining upon his Divine Soul, and as he awaited being expelled from this hidden prohibition to return to his physical body...


    A voice suddenly echoed by Ye Chen''s ear, "Hello, young man... Are you called ''Ye Chen''?"


    A voice!


    There was unexpectedly a voice within this Divine Sword, within the Trail of the Ancient Lantern?!


    Amidst Ye Chen''s astonishment, he saw that all the lights of the ancient trail ahead were shining frantically as if they were emitting endless divine sword lights, and as all the lights shone crazily, the prohibition of the Trail of the Ancient Lantern seemed to tear open, and an ancient phantom suddenly appeared before him, appearing in front of Ye Chen.


    This ancient phantom was indeed the same being that had just spoken to him!


    This ancient phantom was none other than the hoary voice that had muttered to itself at the very top of the Divine Sword, having discovered the presence of Feng Ling!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s astonished expression, the ancient phantom smiled faintly at Ye Chen and softly said, "Ye Chen, hello, you may call me the Spirit of the Divine Sword."


    ...


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As if piercing through time and space, and after a wave of Divine Soul fluctuations, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul returned to the bottom of the Divine Sword, atop his physical body encompassed by the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation.


    At this moment, within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, the strange beam of light covering Ye Chen''s body had not yet dissipated. Typically, for others who entered the Trail of the Ancient Lantern, it would take a full day for the strange light on their bodies to spread entirely.


    This strange light, with its tremendous might, was untouchable by anyone and prevented contact with the person inside; according to the "Divine Sword Record" of the Tai''a Sword Sect, it was probably meant to protect those who entered the hidden prohibition.


    Ye Chen, sitting cross-legged within the strange light, noticed that many Tai''a Sword Sect disciples who had been surrounding him were shocked by the number of his Divine Soul Innate Potential and had left after seeing him complete the test.


    Only a few people were still cultivating within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation, seemingly waiting to talk to Ye Chen after he emerged from the strange light.


    The moment Ye Chen''s Divine Soul returned to his body, before opening his eyes, his Divine Soul surveyed the surrounding area.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s mind heard a voice from Feng Ling, "Ye Chen, where did you go just now? You attracted quite a crowd!"


    Feng Ling was immensely shocked because Ye Chen''s Divine Soul had been gone for a whole three hours, and during this period she could not contact him at all, which had worried her greatly.


    Later, she heard from the astonished and admiring Tai''a Sword Sect disciples that Ye Chen''s Divine Soul had departed connected to a hidden prohibition of the Divine Sword, which eased her concerns slightly.


    However, the power that even she could not detect and that had taken away Ye Chen''s Divine Soul was also profoundly unsettling for Feng Ling.


    Listening to Feng Ling''s confusion, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul moved and he entered the Azure Blue Mansion. He smiled gently at Feng Ling, "Elder Feng Ling, I just went to a strange prohibition and met a predecessor from the Minor Spirit Realm, just like you."


    "Ah!" Feng Ling gasped at Ye Chen''s words.


    A predecessor from the Minor Spirit Realm like her? Was there such an existence within this Divine Sword?


    Feng Ling was incredibly surprised, and Ye Chen also recalled the ancient phantom that had appeared before him in the Trail of the Ancient Lantern, along with the words the phantom had spoken to him.


    Ye Chen looked again at the hidden chart within his Divine Soul, emitting endless divine light, which even Feng Ling hadn''t sensed; it was the very chart given to him by the ancient phantom when he left the Trail of the Ancient Lantern.


    Beiming Secret Tome!


    The Spirit of the Divine Sword, the Sword Spirit Elder!


    Entrustment, the fourth layer of the Beiming Secret Tome, and to return to the Divine Sword Place to take the Divine Sword...


    Thinking about these matters, Ye Chen was just as shocked as Feng Ling and had not fully recovered from the surprise that they entailed.


    "Elder Feng Ling, I have just braved an unknown prohibition within the Divine Sword and met the Artifact Spirit of this sword, the Spirit of the Divine Sword!"


    Ye Chen spoke slowly, telling Feng Ling about what had transpired within the Trail of the Ancient Lantern.


    When Feng Ling heard that there was a Sword Spirit in the Divine Sword that had not met anyone for over three thousand years, even she was utterly astonished!


    When she learned that the Sword Spirit truly hailed from the "Beiming Clan" among the six Ancient Clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, as she had initially speculated, and that the demise of the sword''s master in battle against an adversary from the Blood God Clan had caused the sword to fall here, with both the Spiritual Deity and the sword gravely damaged, preventing any return to the Minor Spirit Realm, Feng Ling sighed in deep empathy.


    Finally, hearing that the Spirit of the Divine Sword personally met with Ye Chen to ask him to take it back to the Minor Spirit Realm in the future, and that he provided Ye Chen with a set of immensely powerful Cultivation Secret Skills, Feng Ling was overwhelmed with emotion.


    She hadn''t misjudged; Ye Chen was indeed a man of great destiny!


    Heading to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and just visiting the Tai''a Sword Sect, he had stumbled upon such an opportunity!


    Although she didn''t know what the "Beiming Secret Tome" was, it was an item personally given to Ye Chen by the Divine Sword Spirit, and the Spirit of the Divine Sword was a complete Artifact Spirit, unlike Feng Ling, who was but one feather from among the tens of thousands in the Divine Artifact "Ice Snow Divine Fan". The Divine Sword Spirit was even more powerful than Feng Ling!


    Of course, Feng Ling understood how precious this chance that Ye Chen had received was!

 Chapter 304: Chapter 271: All-Encompassing Divine Diagram

    "Ye Chen, what do you plan to do next?"


    After listening to Ye Chen recount his experiences within the "Ancient Pathway & Green Lantern," Phoenix Spirit asked.


    "Next..."


    Having entered the Divine Sword and not yet begun to cultivate, Ye Chen was drawn into the prohibition of the Ancient Pathway & Green Lantern, and only a few hours had passed. Ye Chen still had thirty days of cultivation time within this Divine Sword.


    However, Ye Chen wasn''t in a hurry to cultivate but instead had Phoenix Spirit take him to see Jiang Yao at the Phoenix Blood Pool again. Continue your adventure with m|v-l''e -novelhall.net


    Phoenix Spirit had said that in seven days, Jiang Yao would be able to complete her Bloodline Awakening and successfully emerge from seclusion.


    Unfortunately, from talking with Phoenix Spirit, Ye Chen learned that Azure Blue Mansion was an object of the Upper Realm and was also refined by the Void Sky True God. The flow of time within this Divine Sword couldn''t interfere with the time within Azure Blue Mansion.


    Therefore, even if Ye Chen completed thirty days of cultivation within the Divine Sword, Jiang Yao would experience it just like outside the Divine Sword¡ªit would only be three days for her in Azure Blue Mansion.


    So, Ye Chen couldn''t see Jiang Yao emerge from seclusion quite yet. He would still have to wait four more days after leaving the Divine Sword.


    These few months of waiting.


    Ye Chen truly missed Jiang Yao deeply.


    Although he could see the girl who he deeply cared for any time, not being able to speak to her made Ye Chen feel as if the days dragged on like years.


    Thankfully, there were only seven days left to wait.


    Upon entering the Phoenix Blood Pool, Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao, who had her beautiful eyes closed within it.


    Looking at the only girl who moved his heart, at her waterfall-like black hair, her pert nose, and the light dimples on her cheeks, an involuntary smile appeared on Ye Chen''s face.


    "Jiang Yao, you''ve obtained the opportunity for Bloodline Awakening from the Divine Phoenix Clan," Ye Chen said to himself.


    "This time, I''ve also obtained a set of Secret Tomes from the Beiming Clan."


    "We both have had our fortunes connected to the Upper Realm, bringing us one step closer to the Minor Spirit Realm," he reflected.


    After standing by the Phoenix Blood Pool for half an hour, Ye Chen nodded at Phoenix Spirit and left Azure Blue Mansion once again.


    Boom!


    Jiang Yao was diligently cultivating, and the golden monkey was also comprehending the divine abilities it had awakened to after its slumber within the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    Ye Chen wouldn''t waste any time either!


    The moment his Divine Soul returned to his body, Ye Chen immediately opened his eyes.


    Seeing the strange light enveloping him, Ye Chen nodded. He did not leave the light but started to cultivate right within it.


    What Ye Chen cultivated was the newly acquired Beiming Secret Tome!


    "The Beiming Secret Tome, according to the Sword Spirit senior, requires me to cultivate to the fourth level before I can come here and take away the Divine Sword."


    "And to cultivate the fourth level of the Secret Tome, one must reach the Heavenly Saint Realm."


    "The third level can only be cultivated after entering the Rotating Pill Realm."


    "Currently, being in the Spirit Sea Realm, I can only cultivate the first and second levels. Let''s begin with the most foundational¡ªthe first level of the Beiming Secret Tome!"


    With a thought, the scroll of the Beiming Secret Tome hidden within his Divine Soul slowly unfolded.


    "The Sword Spirit senior said that the Beiming Secret Tome is one of the sword divine arts among the Eight Great Divine Skills of the Beiming Clan. Divine Arts vastly surpass the ''Heaven and Earth Primordial'' four major methods, and are even more powerful than the Holy Arts condensed by the Heavenly Saint practitioners!"


    "Ordinary techniques only enhance combat power, but this ''Divine Art'' can directly break through realm bottlenecks after cultivation!"


    Mulling over the words of the Spirit of the Divine Sword, Ye Chen felt a tremor in his heart.


    To know, realm bottlenecks were something every cultivator would encounter. It''s because of these bottlenecks that many remain in the True Qi Realm unable to break into the Spirit Sea Realm, and many in the Spirit Sea Realm cannot successfully merge with the five major Void Sky Laws to enter the Rotating Pill Realm, ultimately becoming only half-step Rotating Pill practitioners.


    Many Rotating Pill practitioners also end up being unable to cultivate one of the five major Void Sky Laws to perfection, and thus cannot step into the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    These bottlenecks could be said to be the biggest obstacles for martial practitioners seeking to elevate their realms!


    This obstacle has prevented countless people from stepping up further.


    After obtaining the "Beiming Secret Tome," this set of "Divine Arts," Ye Chen finally understood why there were so many high-realm individuals in the Upper Realm, why not only were there many Heavenly Saints, but also many Void Sky True Gods!


    Because, especially in the Upper Realm, particularly the six ancient clans, under the research of countless Void Sky True Gods, they summarized Divine Arts¡ªa powerful cultivation secret method that can directly break through realm bottlenecks!


    "The Sword Spirit senior said, with the ''Beiming Secret Tome,'' as long as I successfully cultivate to the second level before attempting to break into the Rotating Pill Realm, it would surely attract the descent of the five major Void Sky Laws, allowing me to step into the Rotating Pill Realm with certainty!"


    "The third level of the ''Beiming Secret Tome'' can greatly assist me in comprehending the five major Void Sky Laws, eliminating the bottleneck between the Rotating Pill Realm and the Heavenly Saint Realm," Ye Chen thought.


    Previously, Ye Chen had not known much about breaking into the Rotating Pill Realm, after all, he had only recently reached the mid-phase of the Spirit Sea Realm, and the journey to breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm was still long.


    Now, with this "Beiming Secret Tome," Ye Chen felt immensely confident about stepping into the Rotating Pill and even the Heavenly Saint Realm in the future!


    "No wonder Phoenix Spirit said that within ten years, Jiang Yao would have the confidence to step into the Heavenly Saint Realm. Perhaps, the Bloodline Awakening of the Divine Phoenix Clan also involves the transfer of divine arts unique to their clan," Ye Chen speculated.


    A towering edifice originates from the flat ground.


    Thinking about the Rotating Pill Realm and Heavenly Saint Realm now is still too far off; what Ye Chen needed to do was to enhance his strength to prepare for future realm breakthroughs!


    After some contemplation, Ye Chen stopped hesitating and formally began to cultivate the first layer of the "Beiming Secret Tome."


    "The first layer of the Beiming Secret Tome, the Divine Art depicted within it is named ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram''!"


    Ye Chen looked towards the scroll representing the first layer of the Beiming Secret Tome. He could see that engraved on the scroll were countless mystical Divine Patterns, which seemed to contain everything between heaven and earth!


    Everything could be born from these countless mystical Divine Patterns!


    At the very top of these countless mystical Divine Patterns, there were even nine fierce suns hanging in the sky!


    "This Divine Art from the Beiming Secret Tome is a swordsmanship Divine Art. This first layer corresponds to the stage of ''Sword Intents'' in swordsmanship!"


    "According to what the Sword Spirit elder said, as long as I master this first layer, I will truly understand the essence of Sword Intents. I can find the origin of Sword Intents from within the diagram, and no Sword Intents will pose difficulty to me anymore!"


    "By mastering the first layer of the Beiming Secret Tome''s ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram,'' it is akin to grasping the very source of true Sword Intents!"


    "By then, no matter what Sword Intents, whether they are low, mid, or high-level Sword Formations, I will be able to learn them if I wish to practice!"


    Thinking this, Ye Chen could not help but start cultivating the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram'' immediately!


    The first step in cultivating the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram'' is to integrate one''s Divine Sense with the countless mystical Divine Patterns in the scroll.


    Within the Divine Soul, the scroll was not very large, only a few feet in length.


    But when Ye Chen truly began cultivating the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram,'' he felt as though he was facing the entire universe.


    The countless mystical Divine Patterns were simply too numerous and profound; just by looking at them, his Divine Sense could not take them all in.


    Ye Chen finally realized how difficult it was to cultivate the Beiming Secret Tome, as the Sword Spirit had said.


    If Ye Chen''s Divine Soul did not possess strong innate potential from the start, it would have been impossible to successfully cultivate the Beiming Secret Tome.


    Even for others, just a glance at the first layer''s ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram'' might cause them to faint completely!


    This was also why one must have a Divine Soul with innate potential of over five thousand paths to cultivate the Beiming Secret Tome!


    "Sword Spirit elder said that I have met the requirements for cultivation. The first layer is only slightly difficult for me, the real challenge lies in the later layers."


    "Now that it''s only the first layer, I must not be daunted by this difficulty!"


    Ye Chen mobilized all his mind and spirit and looked at the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram'' once again, at every Divine Pattern within it.


    With this look, five days passed by directly.


    From the outside, the strange aura surrounding Ye Chen had already disappeared after the first day.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was still meditating, no one in the surrounding array of Eighteen Wind Pearls disturbed him.


    In fact, seeing Ye Chen immersed in his cultivation, many went to other formations to cultivate, waiting to greet Ye Chen once he finished his training.


    Under these circumstances, time slowly trickled by.


    From the outside, Ye Chen did not seem to move at all over the five days.


    But when looking inside Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, one could see that from the scroll of ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram,'' the nine fierce suns above the endless Divine Patterns had started shining with a strange glow.


    This clearly indicated that Ye Chen had completed the first step of integrating his Divine Sense with the endless Divine Patterns of the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram'' and proceeded to the second step of ''Blazing Sun Illuminates the Divine, Manifesting Sword Intents''!


    Just as the nine fierce suns shone upon the scroll''s Divine Patterns, they also shone upon Ye Chen''s Divine Soul. At that moment, Ye Chen felt as if he had crossed the barrier of the Divine Sword and truly entered into the universe.


    Instantly, he felt the Sword Intents of wind, rain, thunder, lightning...


    He even felt Sword Intents he had never experienced before, such as fog, smoke, snow, light...


    All things Sword Intents!


    It was as if endless Sword Intents were passing through Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, through the scroll illuminated by the nine fierce suns!


    The vast universe, with myriad Sword Intent nuances.


    Following the multitude of Sword Intents, Ye Chen saw that they began to integrate.


    Remarkably, this was the second layer of Sword Intents: integrating Sword Intents.


    In the integration, Ye Chen saw the slaughter of all things, the destruction, death, rebirth...


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As if a great change had occurred in heaven and earth, finally, the endless integrating Sword Intents began an astonishing combination, progressing towards the third layer of Sword Intents, within the Sword Formations!


    Various Sword Formations began to appear in Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, combining in peculiar ways, featuring arrangements he had never seen before, even more wondrous and infinite than the Eight Great Sword Formations he had practiced.


    In the end, all the Sword Formations, all the Sword Intents, formed in Ye Chen''s Divine Soul the ultimate source of Sword Intents.


    That is, the Origin of All Things, the source of true might!


    Ye Chen finally completely understood what Sword Intents are.


    Sword Intents are the countless forms of attack that a swordsmanship master summarizes from the various nuances of all things, combining all attacks to create the ultimate killing power of sword techniques!


    This combination has no end, and even swordsmanship masters don''t know how many forms Sword Intents can take.


    But after cultivating the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram,'' regardless of whether it is the most powerful high-level Sword Formation or just a single Sword Intent, their combination can be found within the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram''!


    This is the might of the first layer of the Divine Art ''Beiming Secret Tome,'' the ''All-Encompassing Divine Diagram''!


    Boom!


    After cultivating for a full eighteen days, absorbing the sunlight of the nine great suns, and integrating the manifestations of the various Divine Arts into his Divine Soul, Ye Chen opened his eyes, stood up from his seated meditation position.

 Chapter 305: Chapter 272: Waiting

    Eighteen days.


    After eighteen days, Ye Chen finally finished cultivating the first level of the Beiming Secret Tome, the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram"!


    Whoosh.


    After standing up, Ye Chen reached into the void with a grand gesture and instantly, ten thousand Swords of True Qi formed around his body.


    These ten thousand Swords of True Qi, each bearing a strange and dazzling sword intent, possessed an exclusive lethality!


    What''s more, when viewed together, the ten thousand Swords of True Qi matched perfectly as a whole, exuding an even more astonishing collective murderous aura.


    This was one of the two high-level Sword Formations among the Eight Great Sword Formations that Ye Chen had mastered, the "Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability" Sword Formation!


    Previously, Ye Chen had only managed to cultivate this high-level Sword Formation to the minor achievement stage, but now, after completing the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," he could set up this Sword Formation with a mere wave of his hand, and its power had incredibly reached the level of complete mastery, a major achievement stage!


    Divine Arts.


    The Beiming Secret Tome is an extremely powerful Divine Art!


    Though this most fundamental first level, the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," did not provide Ye Chen with a direct increase in combat power, the true manifestations of sword intent through the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram" made it incredibly easy for Ye Chen to advance his Sword Formation to the major achievement stage, indirectly boosting his strength significantly!


    A high-level Sword Formation, that is equivalent to the level of heavenly-grade martial arts, commonly used by practitioners in the Rotating Pill Realm!


    And Ye Chen''s "Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability" Sword Formation, even among heavenly-grade martial arts, is considered a high-medium quality technique. Relying solely on this Sword Formation, Ye Chen could contend with Rotating Pill experts, and with his True Qi combat ability, his current combat power could probably completely suppress many late-stage Rotating Pill-strong individuals!


    In terms of both martial arts and True Qi, Ye Chen now entirely matches up against those in the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Aside from the extremely few exceptionally powerful late-stage Rotating Pill Realm practitioners and those late-stage individuals who have comprehended sword principles more formidable than sword intent, Ye Chen can now be said to be unmatched within the Rotating Pill Realm, though he has not yet entered it!


    Seeing Ye Chen rise from his meditative state, a few disciples from the Tai''a Sword Sect within the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation stood up, and even the disciples above in the Heavenly Thunder Formation noticed Ye Chen''s movements and flew towards his location.


    "Ye Chen is awake!"


    "Ye Chen, who possesses Divine Soul potential surpassing nine Heavenly Saints, finally completed his cultivation!"


    "We must get to know him well!"


    These people surged towards Ye Chen, and just as they were about to greet him, they saw Ye Chen wave his hand, establishing an exceptionally peculiar Sword Formation.


    The lethality emitted by this Sword Formation immediately caused the complexions of these Spirit Sea Realm disciples from the Tai''a Sword Sect to change dramatically.


    "A high-level Sword Formation!"


    "It''s even a major achievement-level high-level Sword Formation!"


    "Ye Chen hasn''t even gone up to the high-level Sword Formation area to study and yet he has directly comprehended a major achievement-level high-level Sword Formation? Good heavens, not only does he have extraordinarily strong Divine Soul potential, but his swordsmanship achievements are also so high?!"


    "Those disciples who entered the Divine Sword previously said that Ye Chen could even catch up with the Rotating Pill late-stage ''Blood Ignition Fruit'' with its Escaping Speed, showing astonishing speed, unparalleled strong Divine Soul potential, and equally incredible sword cultivation... My god, this Ye Chen, he doesn''t seem like a regular Spirit Sea Realm disciple at all!"


    "I fear even all of our sect''s Spirit Sea Realm powerhouses can''t compare to him! Merely in terms of swordsmanship, probably very few can match him!"


    These Tai''a Sword Sect disciples were stunned by Ye Chen''s "Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability," and for a moment, their steps towards Ye Chen slowed down.


    Boom!


    Seeing people approaching him, Ye Chen waved his hand grandly, and instantly, the Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability Sword Formation he had set up to test the effect of the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram" turned back into True Qi, which he then retracted back into his body.


    "Fellow Daoists." Ye Chen smiled and looked towards these individuals, then walked over to them.


    A short while later, after a brief chat with them, Ye Chen, under their gaze, swept up his sleeves and shot upwards towards the higher formations.


    Within the Divine Sword, there''s only a total of one month for cultivation.


    Ye Chen had spent eighteen days cultivating the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," leaving only twelve days to ponder over the eight formations within the Divine Sword; naturally, he wouldn''t waste all his time on the Eighteen Wind Beads Formation.


    In the subsequent days, Ye Chen would directly fly past some of the formations while he would spend several days with others.


    As for that particular formation that was helpful in cultivating high-level Sword Formations, Ye Chen even dedicated six days to studying it.


    This formation, which is conducive to high-level Sword Formation cultivation, incredibly contained twelve high-level Sword Formations within. Amongst them were two high-level Sword Formations that were even more formidable than the "Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability" and "Combined Swords Divine Ability" Sword Formations that Ye Chen had cultivated!


    This formation is also the one most frequently practiced by Spirit Sea Realm cultivators who enter the Divine Sword.


    For Spirit Sea Realm cultivators of the Tai''a Sword Sect, being able to comprehend one or two high-level Sword Formations within a month of entering the Divine Sword is considered an extraordinary achievement.


    But Ye Chen wasn''t going to be satisfied with just that. Having successfully cultivated the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," and with it greatly aiding his Sword Formation practice, he couldn''t let this Divine Art go to waste.


    Within this high-level Sword Formation formation, within six days, Ye Chen comprehended all twelve high-level Sword Formations once, and in the end, he even mastered all of the Sword Formations, including the two most formidable ones.


    Lastly, when the full thirty days in the Divine Sword were up, the number of Sword Formations that Ye Chen had mastered had reached a whopping twenty!


    Even among high-level Sword Formations, he had mastered fourteen!


    This achievement, if spoken aloud, could frighten the practitioners of the Tai''a Sword Sect into fainting!


    ...


    Outside the Divine Sword.


    As Ye Chen cultivated within the Divine Sword for thirty days, the outside world had quietly passed by three days.


    Three days, for cultivators, was extremely brief. The disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect who had noticed the anomaly in Ye Chen''s Divine Soul had stayed mostly outside the Divine Sword, hardly leaving.


    When the three days had fully passed, the area outside the Divine Sword was already buzzing with activity.


    "Three days have passed, that Spirit Sea Realm youth will be coming out soon!"


    "I want to see just how formidable this youth is!"


    "It''s said his Escaping Speed surpasses that of the late Rotating Pill phase, I, in the Rotating Pill Realm, wish to compare speeds with him!"


    Many of the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses of the Tai''a Sword Sect gathered together, looking towards the center of the Divine Sword.


    "He is of the Spirit Sea Realm, and so are we!"


    "Even if his Divine Soul''s innate potential is strong and his speed is extremely fast, as for battle prowess and swordsmanship, I don''t believe he can be stronger than us!"


    The Spirit Sea Realm swordsmen of the Tai''a Sword Sect stared at the Divine Sword with burning gazes, only waiting for Ye Chen to emerge from within.


    At the highest reaches of the sky, the Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, although not as eager as those in the Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm to challenge Ye Chen, were likewise focused intently on the Divine Sword, wishing to see for themselves what this youth, praised by their most powerful Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and possessing a Divine Soul of amazing innate potential, actually looked like!


    The ten-thousand-meter tall Divine Sword, and the vast void outside of it, was already dense with people from the Tai''a Sword Sect. Such a spectacle was a rare grand event for the Sect!


    Mu Qingqing stood next to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, her sly beautiful eyes glancing alternately between the Divine Sword and the surrounding crowd. The young girl chuckled to herself, murmuring, "I wonder how Ye Chen''s thirty-day cultivation within the Divine Sword went. When he comes out and sees the countless disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect surrounding him, he''ll probably be quite astonished."


    In the midst of everyone''s anticipation, the Divine Sword finally showed signs of activity.


    Whoosh!


    When a figure flew out from the damaged entrance at the bottom of the Divine Sword, all eyes were immediately fixed upon this figure.


    "Xue!"


    Someone recognized him; the person who came out was a disciple of the Tai''a Sword Sect, not Ye Chen.


    Upon seeing the massive assembly outside, the Xue surnamed disciple was greatly startled. Then, realizing that everyone''s gaze was once again turning towards the broken entrance, as if waiting for someone else, he instantly understood.


    These people, they must be waiting for Ye Chen!


    Inside the Divine Sword, they had all been impressed by Ye Chen''s Divine Soul''s innate potential, and naturally, those outside had noticed the extraordinary disturbance caused by Ye Chen through the anomalies of the Divine Sword itself.


    "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen entered the Divine Sword after me; he should be coming out soon," the Xue surnamed disciple said with a wry smile to the crowd, "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen... he is incredibly powerful!"


    Thinking of the number of times Ye Chen had been able to activate his Divine Soul''s innate potential within the Divine Sword, recalling the imposing sight of him deploying an advanced Sword Formation with a mere wave of his hand, remembering his focused expression as he conquered each challenging formation, and finally, the terrifying waves of sword intent unleashed while comprehending high-level Sword Formation techniques...


    Even after flying out of the Divine Sword, the shock within the Xue surnamed disciple''s heart still hadn''t subsided.


    This Xue surnamed disciple was also a prominent figure among the Spirit Sea Realm disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect. Having emerged from the Divine Sword and speaking so highly of Ye Chen right away, the crowd outside the Divine Sword became even more aware of Ye Chen''s uniqueness.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Subsequently, several more individuals flew out from the Divine Sword.


    These were the Spirit Sea Realm disciples who had entered the Divine Sword before Ye Chen arrived and had completed their thirty-day cultivation, exiting before him.


    Like the Xue surnamed disciple, when they flew out and saw the densely packed crowd in the void outside the Divine Sword, they were also greatly shocked. In the end, they too expressed immense admiration for Ye Chen, whom everyone was waiting for.


    After the twenty-three Spirit Sea Realm disciples who had entered the Divine Sword before Ye Chen all flew out, there came a momentary stillness around the Divine Sword.


    At this point, the martial artists of the Tai''a Sword Sect who had inquired about the cultivation status of the disciples within the Divine Sword felt their hearts pounding wildly.


    Because according to the order of entry into the Divine Sword, it was almost time for Ye Chen to emerge!


    Outside the Divine Sword, in the void filled with countless figures, with over a dozen Heavenly Saints, several hundred Rotating Pills, and more than two thousand Spirit Sea disciples, all eyes were concentrated on the entrance at the very bottom of the Divine Sword!


    Even on the ground below, countless Tai''a Sword Sect disciples from the True Qi Realm who had come because of the fame looked up towards the damaged entrance of the Divine Sword.


    Continue your journey at m_v--novelhall.net


    In the midst of these thousands of gazes, at the entrance of the Divine Sword, a youthful figure finally emerged.


    This youth had a tall and straight stature, an extraordinary demeanor, and a pair of black eyes with an inexplicable allure. Behind his back was sheathed a black and red sword.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Seeing the youth, Mu Qingqing was the first to exclaim in surprise and flew towards him.


    "Ye Chen?!"


    Hearing Mu Qingqing''s shout, all eyes focused on the youth.


    This youth, who had completed a thirty-day period of cultivation within the Divine Sword and emerged with significant gains, was indeed Ye Chen!

 Chapter 306: Chapter 273 Endless Challenges

    "Mu Qingqing."


    "So many people."


    After flying out of the Divine Sword, Ye Chen saw Mu Qingqing flying towards him and noticed the dense swarm of disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect floating in the void outside the sword.


    He even saw many powerful characters from the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    However, Ye Chen was not too surprised.


    Back when the Divine Sword Spirit handed over the "Beiming Secret Tome" to Ye Chen, it had already mentioned the disturbance caused outside due to the number of his Divine Soul Innate Potential. The Sword Spirit had cautioned Ye Chen to simply state that his Divine Soul Innate Potential was three thousand seven hundred and twenty-six.


    He was advised not to reveal his true Divine Soul Innate Potential to others, to avoid unnecessary jealousy.


    Now, seeing so many people outside, Ye Chen instantly understood that it was probably because of the more than three thousand Divine Soul Innate Potentials he had displayed that had drawn so much attention.


    "Ye Chen, you have finally come out of the Divine Sword. How has it been, did you gain anything from a month of cultivation?"


    "I didn''t expect your Divine Soul Innate Potential to be so high, just slightly less than Palace Master Yuan Li of our Heavenly Sacred Palace, who is the strongest. It''s like being above ten thousand people, just below one person!"


    Mu Qingqing flew to Ye Chen''s side and chattered at him non-stop.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded at Mu Qingqing, "Thanks to you for bringing me here to the Divine Sword. This time inside the sword, I indeed made great gains, as I have successfully comprehended a high-level sword formation to a high degree of proficiency."


    As for Palace Master Yuan Li mentioned by Mu Qingqing, Ye Chen had indeed heard of him from the Sword Spirit. He was a prominent figure who had performed exceedingly well in the "Ancient Path with Flickering Lamps" of the Divine Sword, a legendary presence in the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Mu Qingqing said Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential was a little less than that of Palace Master Yuan Li, but Ye Chen did not point it out. Of course, he wouldn''t claim to be stronger than Palace Master Yuan Li.


    After all, the Divine Sword Spirit had seen his Divine Soul Innate Potential and had blessed him with the invaluable "Beiming Secret Tome." There was no need to boast about his true Divine Soul Innate Potential to others.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s confident and relaxed smile, Mu Qingqing''s eyes shone brightly.


    The clever glint in the girl''s eyes as she pondered, "Looks like Ye Chen must have made no small gains inside the Divine Sword!"


    "Previously, Ye Chen was able to overpower those in the mid-stage of Rotating Pill Realm and even contend with those in the late-stage. Now, there probably aren''t many in the late-stage Rotating Pill Realm who could be a match for him. It looks like I need to find an opportunity to test Ye Chen''s true strength again!"


    "This time, the disturbance caused by Ye Chen''s Divine Soul Innate Potential was so significant. Why not let the disturbance grow even bigger, to astonish the other envoys of the Heavenly Sacred Palace with the true genius I''ve selected..."


    As the girl mulled over her thoughts like a crafty little fox, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the Heavenly Saints of the Tai''a Sword Sect also approached Ye Chen.


    The people who came were the real movers and shakers of the Tai''a Sword Sect. There were three in the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm and even more in the early stage¡ªnine in total!


    The top forces of the Tai''a Sword Sect alone were stronger than all the combined strong individuals from the Southern and Western Wilderness!


    Even as these prominent figures approached Ye Chen with smiles and subdued auras, Ye Chen still felt an overwhelming sense of pressure washing over him.


    Beings of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    These are the most prestigious existence on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the most distinguished figures!


    Even though Ye Chen could now battle those in the late-stage of Rotating Pill Realm, he still felt a significant gap when facing these beings.


    "Elder Xiao Supreme Elder."


    "And all the esteemed seniors."


    Ye Chen clasped his hands towards Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the Heavenly Saint powerhouses as he greeted them.


    After all, in front of these people, Ye Chen was indeed a junior and had used the Divine Sword of Tai''a Sword Sect, so of course, he needed to be respectful.


    "Fifteen years of bone age."


    "Not bad, not bad at all. To be able to cultivate to such a degree at such a young age is truly extraordinary!"


    The Heavenly Saints smiled and nodded at Ye Chen as they saw him.


    Some even sighed and said, "It''s a pity that the Heavenly Sacred Palace recruited you first, otherwise, if you had joined our Tai''a Sword Sect, with your incredible Divine Soul Innate Potential, you would definitely become another formidable Heavenly Saint for our sect in the future!"


    The Heavenly Saints praised Ye Chen endlessly, and Elder Xiao Supreme Elder also smiled and inquired about Ye Chen''s cultivation experience in the Divine Sword.


    Apart from the things the Sword Spirit had asked him to keep secret, such as the things that could assist in sword intent cultivation like the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," Ye Chen did not hide much else and shared his cultivation experiences within the Divine Sword.


    Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses spoke to Ye Chen.


    ```


    And it was the top figures of Tai''a Sword Sect who were speaking to Ye Chen.


    This caused many Rotating Pill and Spirit Sea cultivators who couldn''t help but want to challenge Ye Chen to hold back from stepping forward.


    In the end, when there was a pause in the conversation between Ye Chen and the Heavenly Saints, finally one of the Rotating Pill late-stage disciples, who was extremely favored by Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, flew directly towards Ye Chen and issued a challenge, "Ye Chen, I am Yao Chong. I''ve heard you are quite formidable.


    With a Spirit Sea realm cultivation, you have surpassed the fleeing speed of a Rotating Pill late-stage Blood Ignition Fruit. I want to challenge you to a match of speed. Do you dare accept?"


    As Yao Chong spoke, he attracted the attention of all the Heavenly Saints, who looked at him and Ye Chen with amusement.


    Clearly, the Heavenly Saints had long noticed the desire of their disciples to challenge Ye Chen.


    However, the Heavenly Saints did not stop them and simply watched the two with smiles, curious to see how Ye Chen would respond.


    "A challenge?"


    Ye Chen looked at Yao Chong with a smile.


    He hadn''t spoken yet when, seeing that the Heavenly Saints were not intervening, other Rotating Pill and Spirit Sea disciples could no longer restrain themselves and all flew towards Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, I''m also a Rotating Pill late-stage, I want to challenge you too!"


    "I am in the mid-stage of Rotating Pill, but I am known for my speed. Ye Chen, shall we compare our speeds?"


    "Ye Chen, with your speed being so fast, I suspect your combat power is not ordinary either. Although I''m in the mid-stage of Rotating Pill, my combat power is enough to contend with late-stage cultivators. I want to have a full-force battle with you!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    A stream of Rotating Pill figures densely filled the sky and flew towards him, swarming around Ye Chen like flies.It wasn''t just these Rotating Pill realm powerhouses, even more Spirit Sea realm martial artists surged towards Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, like us, you are in the Spirit Sea realm. I don''t believe you''re that strong. I want to challenge you as a fellow Spirit Sea cultivator!" Discover exclusive tales on m,v l''e-novelhall.net


    "Swordsmanship, Ye Chen, I''ve heard you''ve cultivated a high-level sword array. Our Tai''a Sword Sect is famous for its swordsmanship. Do you dare compete with me in swordsmanship?"


    "Ye Chen, and me, I want to challenge you too..."


    The clamor of challenges filled the space outside the Divine Sword, brimming with noise.


    Ye Chen looked at each figure, at these Tai''a Sword Sect disciples who could no longer restrain themselves from challenging him.


    A surge of fighting spirit welled up in Ye Chen''s heart!


    He knew why these disciples were challenging him¡ªit was because he was strong enough!


    Strong enough that passing by the Tai''a Sword Sect had caught the attention of all its talented disciples, stirring their impulse to exchange blows with him.


    There was a time when Ye Chen was the one challenging the strong.


    Now, he had become the powerhouse that countless others wanted to challenge!


    There was a time when Ye Chen was just a nominal disciple of an eighth-grade sect.


    Now, even within the third-grade Tai''a Sword Sect, he could draw the gaze of all the talented disciples!


    He had even been valued by the strongest second-grade sect in the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and chosen to be in the most powerful First Holy Temple!


    All of these were the achievements of Ye Chen''s cultivation over the years.


    It was precisely through repeated arduous training and opportunities that he had been able to stand where he was today.


    And Ye Chen had no intention of stopping. He had a much longer path to traverse. He had made a promise to Jiang Yao and the Divine Sword Spirit¡ªto step into the Heavenly Saint realm, to go to the Minor Spirit Realm, and he would fulfill it!


    Even beyond that, there was an even broader future waiting for him¡ªone where he would surpass the Heavenly Saints and exceed the realm of the True Gods of the Void Sky. He was ready to fight for it!


    His fighting spirit surging, Ye Chen looked at each face that was challenging him.


    Whether they were in the Rotating Pill or Spirit Sea realm, Ye Chen would not shy away from the fight.


    As Ye Chen was considering how to arrange the bouts with these Tai''a Sword Sect disciples, Mu Qingqing, the girl beside him, with a sly twinkle in her eyes, spoke up before Ye Chen could, addressing the Tai''a Sword Sect crowd.


    Clearly, the girl had something to say!


    ```

 Chapter 307: Chapter 274: The Sword Fighting Tournament Begins!

    Watching the numerous disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect eager to challenge Ye Chen, Mu Qingqing raised her voice and said, "Ye Chen, you will soon be participating in the Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting competition!"


    "I know. In past years, your Tai''a Sword Sect and a few other third-grade sword sects were reluctant to participate, with most of the participants being sword cultivator disciples from fourth and fifth-grade sects."


    "This time, if you want to challenge Ye Chen, you can compete against him at the competition!"


    Mu Qingqing''s words also stirred something in Ye Chen''s heart.


    He had long heard from Mu Qingqing about the Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting competition, and at the time was disappointed to learn that the truly powerful disciples from the major sword sects had not been participating for quite some time, choosing instead to directly challenge for higher cultivation levels by joining the Rotating Pill Realm competition.


    At that time, Mu Qingqing had said that if Ye Chen really wanted to participate in the competition, she would make the Spirit Sea Realm competition more lively.


    Unexpectedly, the girl was now directing these challengers to the upcoming Spirit Sea Realm competition!


    "Ye Chen is participating in the Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting competition?"


    "We haven''t taken part in the competition for many years."


    The disciples of the Spirit Sea Realm from the Tai''a Sword Sect started to hesitate.


    And those from the Rotating Pill Realm even called out to Mu Qingqing, "If Ye Chen''s challenges are to be held at the Spirit Sea Realm competition, what about us in the Rotating Pill Realm? We can''t take part in the Spirit Sea Realm competition."


    Seeing the expressions of the Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm disciples, Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes shifted as she glanced towards Elder Xiao, the Supreme Elder at her side.


    Then, the young girl loudly declared, "Many of you may not know, but I am an Envoy from ''Heavenly Sacred Palace''."


    "And Ye Chen, he has just been selected to join the First Holy Temple as a genius disciple by our Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    Mu Qingqing''s words shocked the countless disciples of Tai''a Sword Sect!


    Apart from a few individuals, the majority of the Tai''a Sword Sect''s disciples had no idea about Mu Qingqing and Ye Chen''s identities. Finding out that the duo had significant ties with Heavenly Sacred Palace, it was inevitable for them to be astonished to the core!


    Heavenly Sacred Palace, ah!


    That was the most powerful sect in the entire Central Region, the only second-grade sect, the only sect where a late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse existed!


    Even as disciples of a third-grade major sect, they couldn''t help but feel a surge of awe at the prospect of facing Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    No wonder, no wonder this girl could stand beside Elder Xiao, the Supreme Elder¡ªshe turned out to be an Envoy from Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    No wonder Ye Chen, this young man, had such formidable innate potential for a divine soul¡ªit turns out he had just been chosen as a genius disciple by the most powerful First Holy Temple of Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    After learning about Ye Chen''s identity, those who had issued challenges to him felt their fighting spirit blaze even more fiercely within them.


    They were even more eager to see what great accomplishments, aside from divine soul innate potential, a youth favored by Heavenly Sacred Palace possessed!


    With Ye Chen, a disciple of Heavenly Sacred Palace, deciding to join the Spirit Sea Realm competition, the Spirit Sea Realm disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect soon became intrigued by the idea of testing their skills at the competition!


    And the Rotating Pill Realm disciples, even if they couldn''t participate in the Spirit Sea Realm competition, were determined to find other ways to spar with Ye Chen!


    At this moment, Mu Qingqing turned to the Spirit Sea Realm disciples of Tai''a Sword Sect and said, "This time, I will offer one slot for entry into Heavenly Sacred Palace and a powerful magical treasure from Heavenly Sacred Palace as a reward for the Spirit Sea Realm competition."


    "Whoever wins first place will receive the reward from Heavenly Sacred Palace! They will also attract the personal attention of this Envoy, with the chance of joining Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "However, if you cannot defeat Ye Chen in the competition, then the slot for entrance into Heavenly Sacred Palace will have nothing to do with you!"


    With that, Mu Qingqing''s gaze shifted, looking at the Rotating Pill Realm disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect, "As for you in the Rotating Pill Realm, because the Spirit Sea Realm competition is only a place for those in the Spirit Sea Realm to demonstrate swordsmanship, after it ends, I will ask Sir Mu to provide a few treasures to set up a true test of combat strength¡ªthe ''Hidden Dragon List Competition'' where not only you, but everyone from the Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm across all sects of the Central Region can participate, to vie for the top three spots on the Hidden Dragon List.


    The top three will then have the opportunity to join Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting competition!"


    "Hidden Dragon List Competition!"


    "It has been many years since the Central Region was this lively. Since we''ve encountered the joyous event of Ye Chen, a new disciple of Heavenly Sacred Palace, inciting over three thousand strands of divine soul innate potential, let''s hold these two grand events and search for more talents for Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Mu Qingqing''s words reverberated with a thunderous impact throughout the land.


    With the personal promise of an Envoy from Heavenly Sacred Palace¡ªparticipation in the Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting competition and the Hidden Dragon List Competition¡ªthese two grand events presented an opportunity to join Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Following Ye Chen''s display of overwhelming amounts of divine soul innate potential in the Divine Sword, this was another occasion that left all disciples of Tai''a Sword Sect in awe!


    Moreover, all disciples of Tai''a Sword Sect knew that if this news spread, the "Spirit Sea Realm swordfighting competition" and "Hidden Dragon List Competition," these two grand events, would not only attract disciples from Tai''a Sword Sect but also countless talented disciples from major sects all over the Central Region!


    Keep in mind, the second-grade sect "Heavenly Sacred Palace" rarely recruits disciples, and now, under the Envoy''s promise, at least three individuals will have the chance to join Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Of course, this would cause countless disciples from all over the Central Region to shake and go wild with excitement!


    Finally, everyone still looked incredulously towards Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, prepared to see how he would address the matter.


    After all, Elder Xiao was a member of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and even the vice hall master of the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    If he also confirmed what the young Envoy had said, it would mean that, because of Ye Chen''s extraordinary deeds, they could really be encountering two grand events and have the great opportunity to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Seeing the gaze of the crowd, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder glanced at Mu Qingqing and then at Ye Chen.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder was clearer than anyone else that Mu Qingqing''s words carried weight in the Heavenly Sacred Palace since behind her stood an individual whom even he dared not provoke.


    The decision of the young girl was beyond doubt; seeking approval from the three main palace masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace would surely be granted!


    Finally, after his gaze swept past Mu Qingqing and Ye Chen, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder turned to address everyone within the void and even spoke to the entire Tai''a Sword Sect.


    "The Envoy is not mistaken, the Heavenly Sacred Palace will indeed participate in the ''Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference'' and the ''Dragon Hidden List Competition'' these two grand events!"


    "The Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, ever since more than two thousand years ago when the top ten rankings were dominated by the disciples of the four major third-rank Sword Sects for dozens of terms, those disciples from the major third-rank Sword Sects have been holding their own contests among disciples and have not participated in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference.


    Instead, they directly compete in the Rotating Pill Realm Sword Fighting Conference."


    "Ye Chen, as a disciple not of these Sword Sects, truly possesses remarkable sword cultivation skills! This indicates that over these many years, there have been many sword cultivator talents outside the third-rank Sword Sects, and it''s time for these major Sword Sects to return to the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference!"


    Speaking thus, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder directly turned to address a Heavenly Saint beside him, "Nine Swords, the matter of Tai''a Sword Sect rejoining the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference and the rewards from the Heavenly Sacred Palace for the Sword Fighting Conference, you go and deal with the organizer of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference.


    Ensure that the truly powerful sword cultivators can participate in this event!"


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    The Heavenly Saint whom Elder Xiao Supreme Elder addressed as he spoke was clad in white robes, his body enveloped with swirling sword Qi, and was indeed the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint¡ªwho ranked first in innate potential of the divine soul according to the "Divine Sword Record" of the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    "Yes, I will handle it well," said Nine Swords Heavenly Saint, responding respectfully to the command of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    "Furthermore, for the ''Dragon Hidden List Competition'', just as the Envoy said, the top three finalists will be able to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace! Moreover, I will present three Sacred Artifacts as the rewards for the top three contestants of the Dragon Hidden List Competition!"


    "The ''Dragon Hidden List Competition'' will be held three days after the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference at the same location, Immeasurable Mountain. This matter will be announced to the entire world in the name of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    Boom!


    The words of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder truly sent the disciples of the Tai''a Sword Sect, who were already shocked by the two events finalized by Mu Qingqing, into a frenzy!


    Now that their most powerful, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder of the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, had spoken thus, it seemed that these two grand events were really about to be held!


    With the influence of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, as soon as the news spread, it would likely shock the entire Central Region, and perhaps even the entire Barbarian Wilderness!


    ...


    Immeasurable Mountain, located in the eastern part of the Great Qian Dynasty.


    This was the place where the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference was to be held!


    With a little over a month until the day of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, on this day, the nine hosts of the Sword Fighting Conference, who were all in the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, were discussing the details of the event in the "Immeasurable Sword Sect" next to Immeasurable Mountain.


    The Immeasurable Sword Sect was a fourth-rank Sword Sect.


    Since the four major third-rank Sword Sects had stopped participating in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, the responsibility of organizing the event fell to the Immeasurable Sword Sect.


    Looking towards the nine hosts, one could see Daoist Wine Sword, who had invited Ye Chen to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, among them.


    "Wine Sword, how many powerful sword cultivators have you found in the Southern Territory to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference?" asked Snow Jade, a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse from the Immeasurable Sword Sect, towards Daoist Wine Sword.


    Daoist Wine Sword smiled and replied, "This time, I have selected thirty-three formidable sword cultivators, on top of the top ten from the True Qi Realm Sword Fighting Conference in the Southern Territory. So, the Southern Territory will have forty-three participants in the Sword Fighting Conference."


    Snow Jade nodded her head before turning to another late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse and asked, "Heavenly Brow, how many participants for the conference have you chosen from the Polar Star Archipelago in the east?"


    This Heavenly Brow was a female cultivator who also began to speak, "In the Polar Star Archipelago, the various hidden clans and independent cultivators rarely wish to travel to the Central Region, and with the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference waning in the past thousand years, this time only a little over twenty formidable sword cultivators have chosen to participate."


    After listening, Snow Jade sighed regretfully and nodded her head.


    As the main supervisor for the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, Snow Jade directly felt that since the absence of the third-rank Sword Sects from the Conference, the event had been losing the public''s attention year after year.


    Then, Snow Jade went on to inquire about the selection of participants for the Sword Fighting Conference from the other people present.


    In the midst of their conversation, suddenly, their expressions all changed simultaneously as they looked towards the sky.


    Just as they raised their heads, the void was torn open, and a sword cultivator in white emerged.


    Upon seeing this sword cultivator in white, Snow Jade cried out in astonishment, "Nine Swords Heavenly Saint! Senior, why have you come here?"


    The one who had torn through the void to arrive was none other than Nine Swords Heavenly Saint, who had just received the order from Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and had hurried over to the Immeasurable Sword Sect to explain the situation to the hosts of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference.


    When they heard Nine Swords Heavenly Saint announce that the vice hall master of the First Holy Temple and the Envoy had issued orders, to set up rewards for the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference sponsored by the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and that the third-rank Tai''a Sword Sect would rejoin the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, the nine hosts were stunned!


    Upon hearing that after the Sword Fighting Conference, the Heavenly Sacred Palace would also specially hold a "Dragon Hidden List Competition" to select the top three finalists to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the hearts of the nine late-stage Rotating Pill Realm cultivators raced even more!

 Chapter 308: Chapter 275: Jiang Yao Emerges from Seclusion

    Of course, their hearts were racing!


    As hosts and Rotating Pill Realm martial artists of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Competition, they could not participate, so the rewards set by the Heavenly Sacred Palace themselves were surprising.


    But according to the rules of the "Hidden Dragon Ranking Competition," these nine late-stage Rotating Pill warriors could, just like everyone else, participate in the Hidden Dragon Ranking Competition and vie for one of the three spots to enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace, which naturally excited them immensely!


    Joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    And the rewards of three Sacred Artifacts bestowed by the Vice-Lord of the First Holy Temple!


    Such opportunities and rewards were coveted even by these nine late-stage Rotating Pill experts.


    Even if they ultimately failed in the competition with countless powerhouses and did not secure one of the three spots nor rank within the top three of the Hidden Dragon Ranking Competition, they would certainly not hesitate to participate!


    After all, with the chance to join the most powerful second-rank sect in the entire Central Region, "Heavenly Sacred Palace," they would naturally want to be involved!


    The news of the two grand events shocked the nine immensely, and when Snow Jade inquired the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint about the reason behind the Heavenly Sacred Palace''s involvement in these two grand events, which turned out to be related to a young man from the Southern Territory named Ye Chen, two of the nine late-stage Rotating Pill experts were completely stunned and speechless.


    One of them was, of course, Daoist Wine Sword from the Southern Territory.


    Ye Chen was the one whom Daoist Wine Sword invited to the Sword Competition, and upon hearing Ye Chen''s name, he immediately thought of the remarkable young man who had caught his attention.


    However, when he learned that Ye Chen had gained the attention of the Heavenly Sacred Palace''s Envoy and successfully joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace, even though Daoist Wine Sword had a hunch it was the very same incredible young man he was well-acquainted with, he still found it somewhat unbelievable, fearing it might be another person with the same name.


    But when the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint specifically mentioned that this Ye Chen came from a sixth-rank sect in the Heavenly Wind Country of the Southern Territory, Daoist Wine Sword instantly became certain, certain it was the Ye Chen he knew!


    That was the Ye Chen who had been extraordinarily brilliant even in the Spirit Sea Realm, who had even slain the Heavenly Sacred Palace''s split soul in the ancient tombs, holding in high regard by the strongest in the Southern Territory, the Dragon Xuan Heavenly Saint!


    "Gara the Fairy and the others were summoned to train in the secret grounds of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and I came to the Central Region to host the Sword Competition. I thought Ye Chen was still in the Tai''a Sword Sect, striving to cultivate for the upcoming battle between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, planning to come here to the Sword Competition to check things out."


    "I never expected Ye Chen to arrive in the Central Region ahead of time and be noticed by the Heavenly Sacred Palace, joining the most powerful second-rank sect in the Central Region. My god, Ye Chen is simply too incredible! Give him a little more time, and our Southern Territory''s hope might all rest on him. He is already so powerful in the Spirit Sea Realm.


    If he steps into the Rotating Pill and Heavenly Saint realms, the entire Western Wilderness might no longer dare to confront the Southern Territory!"


    Although here to host the Sword Competition, the looming battle between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness had always been a weight on Daoist Wine Sword''s mind. Now that he heard about the Heavenly Sacred Palace''s Envoy''s great interest in Ye Chen, it was simply fantastic news for him!


    Daoist Wine Sword could hardly wait for the Sword Competition to begin soon, eager to meet Ye Chen and see the miraculous youth from the Southern Territory who had also caused a great sensation in the Central Region!


    Besides Daoist Wine Sword, the other one who was incredibly astonished was Daoist Kusun, one of the nine late-stage Rotating Pill experts, responsible for selecting the Western Wilderness contestants for the Sword Competition and from one of the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness.


    This "Daoist Kusun" was a middle-aged cultivator clad in a black robe, his True Qi robust and boundless, his aura not the least bit weaker than that of Daoist Wine Sword.


    Because of the blood feud between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, among the nine great Rotating Pill Realm hosts of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Competition, "Daoist Kusun" and Daoist Wine Sword could not get along at all.


    Even when he was selecting candidates from the Western Wilderness for the sword-fighting competition, he did so with the intention of having Western Wilderness sword cultivators overwhelm those from the Southern Territory. This time, he specially chose many powerful sword cultivators.


    But now, suddenly, tremendous news had come¡ªthey said that the Southern Territory had produced a Ye Chen who had caught the full attention of the Heavenly Sacred Palace Envoy. It was even said that because of Ye Chen, the Envoy had specially set up two grand events, granting additional spots to enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Daoist Kusun knew what this implied¡ªit meant that this Ye Chen was not merely a disciple entering the Heavenly Sacred Palace, but a true prodigy, one that could make the Heavenly Sacred Palace take serious notice and regard him with high esteem!


    This gave Daoist Kusun a sense of crisis; he was already prepared to relay this news back to the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness.


    It was only when he heard that Ye Chen''s realm was still at the Spirit Sea Realm that he breathed a slight sigh of relief.


    "The Spirit Sea Realm, no matter how formidable, is of little use. They cannot reach the celestial level of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and cannot change the battle situation between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness."


    "However, we must pay close attention to this Ye Chen. An unripe genius is no genius at all. If he truly goes to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, it would provide an opportunity for our Western Wilderness disciples there to properly deal with Ye Chen!"


    In the end, countless evil thoughts began to surge in the heart of "Daoist Kusun"!


    ...


    The Nine Swords Heavenly Saint came to the Immeasurable Sword Sect and reminded the late-stage Rotating Pill Realm hosts overseeing the Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Competition about the changes to the event.


    The news about the "Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Competition" and the "Dragon Potential List Competition" also spread from the Immeasurable Sword Sect and the Tai''a Sword Sect to the entire central region.


    Eventually, even the furthest reaches of the Southern Territory, the Western Wilderness, the East, and the Extreme North among other regions of the barbaric continent came to know of these events.


    When news spread that the second-tier great sect, Heavenly Sacred Palace, was involved in both the "Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Competition" and the "Dragon Potential List Competition"¡ªeven offering spots for cultivation within the Heavenly Sacred Palace¡ªcountless disciples from various sects went crazy!


    Not only were the Sword Cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm flocking to Immeasurable Mountain in the great Gan Dynasty, in hopes of securing a place in the sword-fighting competition; other Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm experts were also heading to Immeasurable Mountain in droves, ready to take part in the ultimate "Dragon Potential List Competition."


    And after three days, when news of the two grand events had spread across numerous regions, an even more astonishing piece of information came to light¡ªthe secluded second-tier great sect, "Heavenly Sacred Palace," was indeed declaring to the world that it would be taking part in these two grand events!


    The spots to enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace were indeed going to be released during these competitions!


    The announcement from the Heavenly Sacred Palace dispelled the last doubts of some people, and in the end, not only did numerous disciples from fourth- and fifth-tier sects take action, but countless disciples from third-tier sects, as well as Loose Cultivators and secretive noble families'' children, all emerged!


    For a time, the "Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Competition," which had seldom seen the participation of formidable sword cultivators in the past, truly became a precious opportunity. The celestial powerhouses from the four major third-tier Sword Sects personally flew to Immeasurable Mountain, deciding the participation of their disciples in the sword-fighting competition.


    The Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Competition was already in full swing with countless sword cultivators gathering. The "Dragon Potential List Competition," which had fewer restrictions and was open to all strong contenders of the Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm, drew even more attention than the sword-fighting competition itself!


    In the end, even after the Heavenly Sacred Palace dispatched the officials to preside over the "Hidden Dragon List Grand Competition" and reached Immeasurable Mountain, setting the requirements for the Grand Competition, Immeasurable Mountain was completely submerged by a sea of people!


    ... Explore hidden tales at mvl


    The Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament.


    The Hidden Dragon List Grand Competition.


    These two grand events were rare occurrences in the Central Domain over two thousand years.


    As numerous sect disciples flocked to Immeasurable Mountain for these two grand events, the key figure driving these Grand Competitions, Ye Chen, was instead in a secluded and quiet courtyard within the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    That day marked the fourth day since Ye Chen had emerged from the Divine Sword.


    The Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Tournament and Hidden Dragon List Grand Competition were immensely important, yet there was something that, in Ye Chen''s heart, was a thousand, even ten thousand times more significant than these two grand events!


    That matter was that Jiang Yao was finally completing her bloodline awakening and emerging from seclusion from the Phoenix Blood Pool!


    Since entering the tomb and visiting the Phoenix Spirit in Azure Blue Mansion, Jiang Yao had been in seclusion for a full three months!


    During these three months, Ye Chen had dealt with the Moya Heavenly Saint in the ancient tomb, left the Southern Territory to head to the Central Domain, encountered Mu Qingqing who joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and then arrived at the Tai''a Sword Sect to enter the Divine Sword¡ªYe Chen had experienced many events!


    But Jiang Yao, being engrossed in her cultivation, had not taken part in any of them.


    Now, according to the Phoenix Spirit, Jiang Yao was finally about to complete her bloodline awakening and fully accept the bloodline inheritance of the Divine Phoenix Clan, and would leave the Phoenix Blood Pool to meet Ye Chen again¡ªnaturally, Ye Chen was extremely excited!


    In these past few days, Ye Chen had become a true personage of influence within the Tai''a Sword Sect, and countless people who wanted to make his acquaintance were streaming endlessly into the small courtyard arranged for him by the Elder Xiao.


    But on the day of Jiang Yao''s emergence, early in the morning, Ye Chen had closed the doors of the small courtyard tightly, refusing to meet with anyone.


    Even to Elder Xiao and Mu Qingqing, Ye Chen had made it clear that he did not want to be disturbed that day.


    Seeing how much importance Ye Chen was placing on this matter, Mu Qingqing instantly knew it had to be the extremely important girl who was cultivating in some Sacred Space Artifact, as Ye Chen had mentioned, was coming out of seclusion!


    Elder Xiao sent a message instructing everyone not to disturb Ye Chen, while Mu Qingqing stood directly outside Ye Chen''s courtyard, wishing to catch a glimpse of the girl whom Ye Chen cared so deeply for and see what she looked like.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, after closing the courtyard door and setting up a protective barrier, entered directly into Azure Blue Mansion.


    "Phoenix Spirit Elder."


    Upon entering Azure Blue Mansion, Ye Chen saw Phoenix Spirit who was already waiting for him.


    "Ye Chen, you must be anxious. Come on, let''s go to the Phoenix Blood Pool and wait for Jiang Yao to come out," said Phoenix Spirit, seeing Ye Chen''s expression; she knew exactly how he was feeling and with a gentle smile, she led him towards the Phoenix Blood Pool.


    Ye Chen had visited the Phoenix Blood Pool countless times in the past few months.


    But this time, with Jiang Yao about to leave seclusion, Ye Chen''s heart was the most unsettled when he arrived at the Phoenix Blood Pool.


    How did Jiang Yao''s cultivation go?


    Even though Phoenix Spirit said Jiang Yao had achieved the optimum bloodline awakening state for the Divine Phoenix Clan, love breeds anxiety, and until Ye Chen heard it from Jiang Yao herself, he couldn''t be completely at ease.


    Standing beside the Phoenix Blood Pool, looking at the beautiful girl sitting in meditation in the pool hundreds of feet wide, her waterfall-like black hair floating on the surface, and her delicate body entirely enshrouded by the icy blue aura of the Phoenix Blood Pool, Ye Chen quietly waited.


    One incense stick, two incense sticks, one hour, two hours...


    When three hours had passed, within the endlessly surging mysterious icy blue aura of the entire Phoenix Blood Pool, suddenly three clear and resonant phoenix cries were heard!


    "Jiang Yao has completed the bloodline awakening; she is about to emerge!"


    At the sound of those three phoenix cries, both Phoenix Spirit and Ye Chen were immensely uplifted.


    As they watched with a mix of nervousness and excitement, the entire Phoenix Blood Pool began to churn wildly with countless currents and ripples, until finally, "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," the aura and water enshrouding Jiang Yao seemed repelled by an unknown force, revealing her clear and distinct figure.


    And as those currents and ripples dissipated beside Jiang Yao, she slowly opened her eyes as if awakening from a profound dream.


    The girl''s eyes, as bright as stars, still black and glistening, and her snow-like skin and delicate features, remained staggeringly beautiful!


    When the girl opened her eyes and returned to her senses from the peculiar state of bloodline awakening, the first thing she sought was Ye Chen!


    The first thing she saw was indeed Ye Chen standing by the edge of the Phoenix Blood Pool, nodding with a gentle smile towards her.


    Seeing Ye Chen, joy that could not be concealed shone in the girl''s eyes, and the strange months of awakening seemed to vanish in an instant.


    "Ye Chen!"


    With a soft smile, Jiang Yao''s figure lightly moved, and she soared out of the Phoenix Blood Pool, flying towards Ye Chen by the poolside!

 Chapter 309: Chapter 276 Princess Yao?!

    After landing beside Ye Chen, Jiang Yao''s delicate little hand directly grabbed Ye Chen''s palm, her eyes sparkling like stars as she earnestly looked at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen missed Jiang Yao intensely, and Jiang Yao, who had been in closed-door cultivation, missed Ye Chen just as much.


    "Ye Chen, how long did my bloodline awakening take?"


    Jiang Yao raised her little head and asked Ye Chen.


    "Three months," Ye Chen said with a smile, looking at Jiang Yao. "Jiang Yao, guess where we are now?"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, Jiang Yao had a hunch, "Could it be that we''ve left the ancient tomb?"


    Jiang Yao remembered that before her bloodline awakening, she was exploring Azure Blue Lake in the ancient tomb.


    Now that three months had passed, judging by Ye Chen''s expression, it was very likely that they were no longer inside the ancient tomb.


    "Not only have we left the ancient tomb, but too much has happened in these three months..."


    Ye Chen began to tell Jiang Yao about the events after her seclusion for cultivation.


    When she heard that the true owner of the ancient tomb, Heavenly Saint Moya, had not perished and that the Heavenly Saint''s true soul was still alive, even though Ye Chen was now safe and sound, Jiang Yao''s delicate face showed worry, and she couldn''t help but tighten her grip on Ye Chen''s hand.


    Jiang Yao had not expected that while she was undergoing bloodline awakening in the Azure Blue Mansion, Ye Chen would encounter such dangerous situations.


    Fortunately, Ye Chen was unharmed.


    Otherwise, Jiang Yao wouldn''t know how to face it!


    Her parents, her Ancient Clan, the Divine Phoenix Clan, had already encountered an attack by the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, under the assault of war, Jiang Yao definitely didn''t want Ye Chen, who held such importance in her heart, to encounter any problems.


    Later, when she heard about the incident involving Heavenly Saint Moya leading to Heavenly Saint Long Xuan''s involvement, and the subsequent preparations in the Southern Territory and Western Wilderness for an imminent great war, Jiang Yao''s eyebrows furrowed even more.


    And Fairy Jia Luo''s arrangements for her and Ye Chen to cultivate at Tai''a Sword Sect, where Ye Chen also encountered Mu Qingqing from Heavenly Sacred Palace, and even entered the Divine Sword at Tai''a Sword Sect, meeting the Divine Sword Spirit of the Beiming Clan, which likewise belonged to the six great Ancient Clans of the Upper Realm¡ªwhen Ye Chen laid all this out for Jiang Yao, the young girl''s mouth hung open in shock.


    The girl had not anticipated that so many events had transpired in these three months!


    After sharing his own experiences, Ye Chen also inquired about Jiang Yao''s bloodline awakening.


    Of course, Jiang Yao would not keep any secrets from Ye Chen, and she shared the peculiarities of her awakening to the Bloodline Secret Skills of the Divine Phoenix Clan in the Phoenix Blood Pool with him.


    When Jiang Yao released the aura from her bloodline awakening, Ye Chen was also taken aback.


    In just three months, Jiang Yao had successfully broken through to the late stages of the Sea of Consciousness during her bloodline awakening in the Phoenix Blood Pool!


    According to what Jiang Yao said, in these three months, she had awakened the truly powerful Divine Secret Method within her bloodline and comprehended several of the Divine Phoenix Clan''s hidden Bloodline Divine Arts. She wasn''t even sure how strong her true combat abilities would be if she were to fully unleash all of the Bloodline Divine Arts.


    What was even more precious was that, after the bloodline awakening, the girl had real confidence in advancing to the Rotating Pill and Heavenly Saint stages, and she now knew the direction of her cultivation.


    Divine Secret Method!


    Bloodline Divine Art!


    Coming from the Divine Phoenix Clan, Jiang Yao indeed possessed the mystical Divine Arts within her bloodline, just as Ye Chen had anticipated.


    The "Beiming Secret Tome" that Ye Chen had obtained from the Divine Sword Spirit of the Beiming Clan is a divine art of the Beiming Clan, and he, as someone not from the Beiming Clan, had reaped great benefits.


    And Jiang Yao is a true member of the Divine Phoenix Clan, even possessing the most noble "True Phoenix Bloodline" within the clan; moreover, the Divine Phoenix Clan even has a stronger true lineage and heritage compared to the Beiming Clan among the six great Ancient Clans. It''s evident just how precious the girl''s Bloodline Divine Art must be!


    Unfortunately, just as the "Beiming Secret Tome" could only be cultivated by Ye Chen through special means provided by the Divine Sword Spirit of the Beiming Clan, and owing to Ye Chen''s innately strong spiritual potential, Jiang Yao''s Bloodline Divine Art could only be cultivated and manifested by those of the "True Phoenix Bloodline." The two of them were unable to pass on these techniques to each other.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao talked for a long time, and only then did they remember the presence of Phoenix Spirit nearby.


    "Senior Phoenix Spirit."


    With a blush on her small face, Jiang Yao greeted the Phoenix Spirit.


    She had been unable to resist speaking with Ye Chen after emerging from the Phoenix Blood Pool, eager to know what had happened to Ye Chen during this time. She had not even noticed Phoenix Spirit.


    The root of all this was her deep concern for Ye Chen, and all of it was seen by Phoenix Spirit, leaving the young girl feeling bashfully embarrassed.


    Phoenix Spirit gave a light smile.


    She looked at Ye Chen and then at Jiang Yao.


    As a divine artifact spirit, her senses were more acute than many cultivators of high realms; she could naturally feel the affection that this young man and woman had for each other.


    Phoenix Spirit, of course, would not tease Jiang Yao.


    "Alright, you two have talked enough. Now, let''s go to the ''Battle Spirit Hall'' and test the true combat strength of Jiang Yao after her bloodline awakening," said Phoenix Spirit with a smile to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    ...


    More than an hour later, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, holding hands, flew out of the Azure Blue Mansion and arrived in the small courtyard.


    Finally, at Ye Chen''s request, Jiang Yao put away the shrunken Azure Blue Mansion and carried it with her.


    After arriving in the courtyard, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao glanced at each other, both with a faint smile in their eyes.


    In the Battle Spirit Hall, the two had fought another battle against the Battle Spirits of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    This time, both gained a new understanding of their own abilities.


    Ye Chen, at full power, was now able to truly fight against the late-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits of the Divine Phoenix Clan. Although these were only phantom Battle Spirits without the actual bloodline skills of their true bodies, their combat skills and strength were definitely superior to those of the late-stage Rotating Pill in the Lower Realm.


    Being able to truly fight against the late-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits of the Divine Phoenix Clan meant that Ye Chen''s battle prowess had improved greatly since before. Now, there were truly few in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent of the Lower Realm who could be his match!


    Ye Chen was even confident that once he reached the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, if he could release some more of the might of his five Divine Bloods, along with his "Beiming Secret Art," sword formation techniques, and other methods, he would definitely be able to sweep through the Rotating Pill ranks of the Lower Realm!


    Ye Chen''s gains during this period were tremendous, and Jiang Yao''s strength after her Bloodline Awakening was a great delight to him.


    In the battles against the Battle Spirits of the Divine Phoenix Clan, Jiang Yao was able to effortlessly sweep away the late-stage Rotating Pill Battle Spirits. Without the enhancement of Bloodline Secret Skills, they were no match for Jiang Yao!


    According to the Phoenix Spirit, Jiang Yao''s strength now meant she could probably be called invincible amongst the Rotating Pill in the Lower Realm!


    Even the Phoenix Spirit assessed that Jiang Yao''s strength might even surpass Ye Chen''s by a notch!


    After her Bloodline Awakening, Jiang Yao''s power was exceptionally strong. With her innate talent being comparable to Ye Chen''s and after cultivating the Divine Secret Methods and Bloodline Divine Arts, there was no doubt that her future combat power would increase substantially!


    Entering the ranks of the Heavenly Saints within ten years was not an empty dream!


    The only difficulty for the girl was that the Divine Phoenix Clan had exclusive cultivation laws for both entering the Rotating Pill and ascending to Heavenly Saint. What she needed to do now was to perfectly step into the Rotating Pill stage and then perfectly ascend to the Heavenly Saint stage!


    That way, when she returned to the Minor Spirit Realm in the future, she would have a greater chance of breaking through to the Void Sky True God Realm, or even higher realms, and contribute her own strength to the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    Although Ye Chen''s battle prowess was currently less than Jiang Yao''s, it had already left the Phoenix Spirit immensely surprised!


    It must be known that Ye Chen was two years younger than Jiang Yao, his cultivation was only at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, and he did not possess the bloodline of any of the six Ancient Clans, and yet he was so remarkable!


    The Phoenix Spirit had a premonition that once Ye Chen, just like Jiang Yao, reached the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, his battle prowess would definitely not be less than Jiang Yao''s, and he too would become an invincible presence amongst Rotating Pill!


    Heavenly prodigies!


    These were two mighty heavenly prodigies!


    In the end, motivated by the Phoenix Spirit, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would have to face the geniuses from the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm when they went back to the Divine Phoenix Clan. They would also have to confront enemies from the Ancient Clans of the Vermilion Bird and the Flying Spirit Clan.


    If they continued cultivating in this manner, when they ventured into the Upper Realm''s Minor Spirit Realm in the future, they would have a solid foundation and a great assurance of success!


    Back in the small courtyard, the words of the Phoenix Spirit still echoed in the minds of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    The two exchanged a glance, understanding each other''s thoughts.


    The Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm¡ªof course, they would venture there for an adventure!


    And now, with the two grand events, the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Tournament and the Dragon Ranking competition upcoming, the two were ready to meet with the myriad heroes of the Barbaric Wilderness!


    ...


    Just as Jiang Yao successfully completed her Bloodline Awakening and emerged from the Azure Blue Mansion together with Ye Chen, arriving at the courtyard arranged by Elder Xiao of Tai''a Sword Sect,


    tens of thousands of miles away from Tai''a Sword Sect, in the core area of a secluded valley within another great dynasty, the Great Xia Dynasty of the Central Region, a voice emanated from a ten-thousand-meter-wide ice-blue lake, "Princess Yao, she has completed her Bloodline Awakening?"


    "For the past seventeen years, I have traversed the void and forcibly descended to this Barbaric Wilderness Continent, sustaining severe injuries. To prevent being discovered by the Void Sky True Gods of the two Ancient Clans, thereby endangering Princess Yao, I deliberately guided her into the care of Fairy Jia Luo in the Southern Territory."


    "I intended to wait until Princess Yao turned eighteen before sending someone to bring her to my side and assist with her Bloodline Awakening. How did she manage to achieve Bloodline Awakening on her own? Could it be that she has encountered some other fortune?"


    As this voice spoke, a pair of kilometer-long, enormous Phoenix wings stirred in the ice-blue lake. Then, a magnificent ice-blue Phoenix emerged, its figure becoming visible above the surface of the lake!


    The speaker of the words just now was precisely this Phoenix!


    As the Phoenix revealed itself from the ice-blue lake, its appearance startled a woman in yellow clothes who was cultivating in meditation by the lake.


    The woman in yellow, flew up immediately and addressed the Phoenix in the lake, "Elder, why have you come out?"


    If anyone saw this woman in yellow, they would recognize her as the most powerful entity in the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, the strongest amongst the three Palace Masters¡ªPalace Master Yuan Li!


    And this secluded valley was none other than the secret domain of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the only second-tier sect in the Central Region!


    If Ye Chen and Jiang Yao saw this ice-blue Phoenix in the lake, they would surely recognize it as the very Phoenix that had appeared before Jiang Yao in the Azure Blue Mansion, through the "Ice Blue Crystal," showing scenes of her parents and the Divine Phoenix Clan; the same Phoenix that had been pulling the carriage carrying Jiang Yao!

 Chapter 310: Chapter 277: The Millennium Gala

    The phoenix that had brought Jiang Yao to the Lower Realm was actually in Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    And it was clearly well-informed about Jiang Yao''s situation!


    Despite the distance of hundreds of thousands of miles, the phoenix knew that Jiang Yao had completed her bloodline awakening. Clearly, when the phoenix had sent Jiang Yao away, it had left some means to protect her and kept an eye on her!


    What was even more surprising was the way the phoenix addressed Jiang Yao, calling her "Princess Yao."


    Ye Chen and Phoenix Spirit had only thought that Jiang Yao came from Divine Phoenix City and possessed the True Phoenix Bloodline, but the phoenix''s address revealed that Jiang Yao evidently held a high status within the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    In the depths of Heavenly Sacred Palace, within a lake of ice-blue water.


    Seeing the yellow-robed woman "Palace Master Yuan Li" flying towards her, the phoenix looked at the woman: "Yuan Li, I am much indebted to you for taking care of me these past years and for traveling to various continents to find healing items for me. The wounds I suffered from forcibly traversing the void to the Lower Realm have only recovered a bit."


    Hearing the phoenix''s words, "Palace Master Yuan Li" quickly responded: "Senior, Yuan Li once received great kindness from the Divine Phoenix Clan in the Upper Realm. This is what I should do!"


    The phoenix nodded and then its eyes seemed to traverse the distance of hundreds of thousands of miles to look at Jiang Yao again. It said to Palace Master Yuan Li: "Yuan Li, there is another matter for which I must ask your help."


    "Just give your order, senior," Yuan Li replied.


    The Phoenix flapped its huge wings toward a point in the void, and Jiang Yao''s face appeared there, along with the scene of the Tai''a Sword Sect mountains where she was: "This girl is the one I took to the Lower Realm, my young master ''Princess Yao.'' She has now arrived in the central region."


    "Yuan Li, because of my identity as the ''Void Sky True God,'' I cannot easily show myself in the Lower Realm, or I would not only attract the suppression of realm laws but also easily provoke the scrutiny of enemies from the Upper Realm. Therefore, I can only hide in this ''Luo Yu Divine Lake.'' However, the safety of ''Princess Yao'' must be treated with the utmost caution!


    Especially now that she has completed her bloodline awakening, she is more likely to encounter truly powerful foes! Yuan Li, promise me that you will take good care of Princess Yao and, if possible, bring her back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace to protect her and ensure that ''Princess Yao'' does not suffer any harm!"


    "Princess Yao?"


    Yuan Li''s eyes immediately fixed on Jiang Yao''s face appearing in the void by the phoenix: "Is this the young master you spoke of back then?"


    Upon seeing Jiang Yao''s face, Yuan Li did not hesitate and nodded: "Rest assured, senior, with me here on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, absolutely no one will be able to harm Princess Yao!"


    "Is the princess now within Tai''a Sword Sect? I will go and see what business brings Princess Yao to the central region and take the opportunity to bring her back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    Seeing the phoenix nod, the yellow-robed woman, Palace Master Yuan Li, stirred the void from the lake and disappeared.


    With Yuan Li gone, the phoenix sighed softly: "Almost eighteen years have passed; I wonder how the Divine Phoenix Clan is doing now. Princess Yao has completed her bloodline awakening; she likely... already knows about the affairs of the Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    "I''m afraid that once Princess Yao enters the Heavenly Saint Realm, she will surely find a way to return to the Upper Realm! It seems, I too must prepare for my return to the Upper Realm..."


    After muttering to itself, the colossal body of the phoenix flipped and plunged back into the ice-blue lake, completely vanishing from sight.


    ...


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had absolutely no idea what was happening deep within Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    The two of them were even more unaware that the strongest in the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, Palace Master Yuan Li, would be connected to them!


    At this time, after landing in the small courtyard, the two sat side by side, talking about the upcoming two grand events.


    "The Spirit Sea Realm Swordfighting Convention... Ye Chen, do you remember, back in Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, when we learned about Senior Qian Ji and Senior Lian Yue''s participation in the swordfighting convention?"


    Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes looked at Ye Chen, brimming with memories.


    The Thousand Lotus Cave Abode was where they first met; there, together, they braved the inner abode of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, climbed the Ten Thousand Swords Mountain, learned about Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, and their feelings for each other began to grow.


    "How could I forget? It was you who told me about the four major swordfighting conventions. I never expected we would be able to attend one of them so soon." Ye Chen smiled gently and embraced Jiang Yao, "Senior Qian Ji and Senior Lian Yue both cultivated here within Tai''a Sword Sect. Life is really mysterious. Now the two of us are also in Tai''a Sword Sect."


    Jiang Yao leaned on Ye Chen''s chest, looking at the sky: "I wonder how Senior Qian Ji is doing in the Minor Spirit Realm, searching for medicine for Senior Lian Yue. Ye Chen, when we go to the Minor Spirit Realm, shall we also look for Senior Qian Ji if we have the chance?"


    "Sure," Ye Chen nodded, "Both of our flying swords were left by Seniors Qian Ji and Lian Yue. We will definitely help them if we can. And there''s Elder Tuoshan from the Chaotic Sea Area who harmed both seniors; once we become stronger, we''ll be able to go to the Chaotic Sea Area and avenge Senior Lian Yue."


    "Mhm," Jiang Yao responded softly.


    As they spoke, the day faded into night, and the dusk quietly descended.


    The night sky over Tai''a Sword Sect was exceptionally peaceful.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao enjoyed this rare tranquility within the small courtyard.


    The next morning, bright and early.


    When Ye Chen was about to take Jiang Yao to Tai''a City to taste the "Sword Fang Rice," just as he opened the gate of the small courtyard, he encountered Mu Qingqing, who had been waiting outside the courtyard.


    "Ye Chen, you said you wouldn''t see anyone and you really haven''t opened the door the entire day. How is it, has that Jiang Yao sister you mentioned come out of seclusion? I really want to meet this sister!" Mu Qingqing heard the noise of the door opening and, without even looking up, cheerfully called out to Ye Chen.


    As she spoke, Mu Qingqing looked up at Ye Chen, and upon seeing Jiang Yao beside him, she was stunned.


    "Is... is this Sister Jiang Yao?"


    Mu Qingqing had never seen such a naturally graceful and beautiful girl before.


    She was already a young beauty in the making, but compared to Jiang Yao before her, she unconsciously developed a feeling of inferiority.


    Especially Jiang Yao''s pair of clear, beautiful eyes, which were so unforgettable that even Mu Qingqing found it hard to forget them after just one glance.


    These were the clear, beautiful eyes that she had never seen before, completely devoid of any stray thoughts, so pure and flawless!


    Seeing Mu Qingqing''s astonished expression, Ye Chen smiled gently as he introduced Mu Qingqing to Jiang Yao, "This is the Mu Qingqing I mentioned, an Envoy from the Heavenly Sacred Palace. She has been a great help to me this time."


    "Sister Qingqing, thank you for helping Ye Chen gain the opportunity to enter the Divine Sword and for helping him get into the Heavenly Sacred Palace," Jiang Yao expressed her gratitude towards Mu Qingqing.


    "No need to thank me, no need to thank me," Mu Qingqing waved her hands again and again.


    Facing Jiang Yao, the normally sly and cunning Mu Qingqing couldn''t come up with any of her usual tricks, "By the way, Sister Jiang Yao, Ye Chen has said that you are very powerful. Would you like to join our Heavenly Sacred Palace?"


    Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen and smiled gently, for they had already discussed the matter of cultivating at the Heavenly Sacred Palace the night before.


    If Ye Chen chose to enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace, of course, she was willing to cultivate there as well.


    "I am willing to go to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, but, is there any kind of assessment needed?" Jiang Yao inquired of Mu Qingqing.


    If it were before, Mu Qingqing might have evaluated Jiang Yao a bit more, but now, just looking at Jiang Yao, Mu Qingqing felt that the girl before her definitely qualified to enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    "No assessment is needed, I''m an Envoy after all. Sister Jiang Yao, once the two major events are over, we''ll go to the Heavenly Sacred Palace together," Mu Qingqing said with a smile.


    "Ye Chen, where are you planning to take Sister Jiang Yao?" Mu Qingqing asked, coming back to her senses.


    When she heard Ye Chen say they were going to Tai''a City to try the Sword Fang Rice again, Mu Qingqing immediately took the lead, "That''s perfect, I''ve been wanting to eat it again too."


    "Sword Fang Rice is really delicious. Sister Jiang Yao, you have to try it properly!"


    "By the way, Sister Jiang Yao, would you like to participate in the martial arts tournament, and the ''Hidden Dragon Ranking Competition''?"


    Along the way, Mu Qingqing just couldn''t stop talking to Jiang Yao.


    Seeing her chirp away, it was clear that Mu Qingqing felt an inexplicable closeness to Jiang Yao, whom she had just met.


    When Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Mu Qingqing arrived at the "Heavenly Treasure Pavilion" in Tai''a City, it was no surprise that they once again attracted countless onlookers.


    Especially Jiang Yao, standing beside Ye Chen, caused many martial artists to sneak peeks at her from time to time.


    Even the disciples of third-rank sects had never seen such an elegantly beautiful girl before!


    However, when they saw the girl''s hand tightly clasped with Ye Chen''s, these people couldn''t help but let out an internal sigh, as it was obvious from the actions of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao that there was an intimate relationship between them.


    By this time, Ye Chen had already become quite famous within the Tai''a Sword Sect, and of course, no one would dare challenge him so casually anymore. This visit to the Heavenly Treasure Pavilion was much calmer than the last time.


    After eating the Sword Fang Rice, in the following few days, Ye Chen took Jiang Yao to meet with Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, and together they visited the Rotating Pill friend recommended in Fairy Jia Luo''s letter.


    Ye Chen even specially requested Elder Xiao Supreme Elder to allow Jiang Yao to cultivate within the Divine Sword for three days, making use of the thirty days of accelerated time within the sword.


    Time passed quickly, and soon, there were only ten days left until the official start of the Spirit Sea Realm martial arts tournament.


    On this day, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Mu Qingqing, together with a group from the Tai''a Sword Sect, finally left the Tai''a Sword Sect and headed towards the Immeasurable Mountain territory within the Great Qian Dynasty, ready to officially participate in the two major upcoming events.


    However, what their group didn''t realize was that, flying in the void far above their airship, Palace Master Yuan Li, the most powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm being of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, was also traveling along with them, heading towards the Immeasurable Mountain.


    ...


    Immeasurable Mountain was a range of mountains in the eastern region of the Great Qian Dynasty, famous for hosting the Spirit Sea Realm martial arts tournament.


    This time, due to the "Spirit Sea Realm martial arts tournament" and the "Hidden Dragon Ranking Competition" ¡ª two major events involving the Heavenly Sacred Palace ¡ª the whole Immeasurable Mountain fell into an unprecedented liveliness that hadn''t been seen for nearly one or two thousand years.


    Even one month before the earlier of the two events, the "Spirit Sea Realm martial arts tournament," thousands of people had already gathered at Immeasurable Mountain.


    And with ten days left until the start of the Spirit Sea Realm martial arts tournament, the number of martial artists who had arrived at Immeasurable Mountain had even reached seventy to eighty thousand!


    Looking at this, when the Spirit Sea Realm martial arts tournament officially began, the number of martial artists here might exceed one hundred thousand!


    A millennium event.


    Clearly, these two events at Immeasurable Mountain could indeed be described as one of the grandest events in the central region in a thousand years!


    Among the martial artists who came to Immeasurable Mountain, there were not only numerous practitioners from both the Spirit Sea Realm and the Rotating Pill Realm, but also several dozen Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses who had arrived here.


    The entire mountain range of Immeasurable Mountain, stretching for hundreds of miles, and the surrounding large cities and major sects, had become a sea of people!


    In the midst of all the excitement, with three days left until the start of the Spirit Sea Realm martial arts tournament, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the rest of the group from the Tai''a Sword Sect finally crossed tens of thousands of miles to arrive within the territory of Immeasurable Mountain.

 Chapter 311: Chapter 278: Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking

    Great Yue City was the largest city near the site of the Immeasurable Mountain Sword Fighting Tournament.


    After arriving at Immeasurable Mountain, the Tai''a Sword Sect delegation headed straight to the Immeasurable Sword Sect, where Nine Swords Heavenly Saint had specially arranged accommodation for them.


    As for Mu Qingqing, she planned to go with Elder Xiao Supreme Elder to a valley in Immeasurable Mountain to meet the people from Heavenly Sacred Palace who had come to Immeasurable Mountain this time, to discuss the arrangements for the two grand events organized by Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Since Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were not familiar with the Immeasurable Sword Sect and it was inconvenient for them to be involved in the discussions about the arrangements for the two grand events, they arranged another way to stay in touch with Mu Qingqing. After saying goodbye to the Tai''a Sword Sect group, they headed directly to Great Yue City.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao arrived in Great Yue City, they found the entire city was bustling and extraordinarily lively!


    It has to be noted that not many outsiders could venture into the large sect of Immeasurable Sword Sect near Immeasurable Mountain, and the mountain ranges were even more secluded and deep, only those who enjoyed quiet would stay within the mountains.


    In contrast, as the largest city near Immeasurable Mountain, Great Yue City had nearly eighty to ninety percent of the people who came to attend the two grand events.


    Above the sky and earth, Rotating Pill Realm and Spirit Sea Realm martial artists could be seen flying and walking around everywhere, while deep within the city, one could occasionally feel waves of terrifying auras that made hearts tremble¡ªthese auras were none other than those of mighty warriors who had reached the Heavenly Saint level.


    Clearly, within the depths of Great Yue City, there were Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses!


    "It''s so lively!"


    "The martial artists gathered here in Great Yue City are even more numerous than all the strong ones in our entire Tianfeng Nation!"


    Walking along the roads of Great Yue City, Ye Chen admired the warriors coming and going around him and exclaimed with admiration.


    The last time they went to the ancient tomb, outside the Demon Burial Abyss, only a few hundred Rotating Pills had gathered from the strong practitioners of Tianfeng Nation, and there weren''t any Heavenly Saints.


    But now, just the Rotating Pills that Ye Chen could sense numbered over a thousand, and the number of Spirit Sea Realm martial artists was countless, not to mention the faint sense of the Heavenly Saint aura!


    "With both ''The Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament'' and ''The Hidden Dragon Ranking Contest'' being held at Immeasurable Mountain, and with Heavenly Sacred Palace''s involvement, not only from the central domain but probably also from places like the Southern Territory and Western Wilderness, Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses will be drawn here.


    Even those who aren''t participating in the two grand events and just want to watch the excitement are quite numerous," Jiang Yao, who was by Ye Chen''s side, also said with a smile.


    Although there were many strong figures coming and going, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao seemed relaxed as they walked through the great city.


    Their strength was such that, besides a few Heavenly Saints in the city, ninety-nine percent of the people there were no match for them!


    You see, the reason why Immeasurable Mountain had attracted so many people this time was all because of Ye Chen.


    However, the people walking in Great Yue City were unaware of this.


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao walked along, the aura they displayed was that of the Spirit Sea Realm, so not many paid attention to their strength, but Jiang Yao''s exceptionally beautiful face would occasionally attract astonished gazes.


    At that point, it was only midday, and there was still plenty of time, so Ye Chen and Jiang Yao strolled around Great Yue City without any particular destination.


    After passing four or five streets, a huge square ahead, filled with bursts of noise, caught their attention. Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked at each other and then headed towards the square.


    This square was tens of thousands of zhang in area, and it had gathered no less than ten thousand people. Suspended in the void at the center of the square was a huge ranking list, surrounded by a crowd of people. The noise was coming from this crowd.


    "What is this?"


    Ye Chen, pulling Jiang Yao with him, made his way into the crowd and looked up at the giant ranking list.


    At the top of the list were the bold characters "Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking!"


    Below the title, there was a dense collection of names and various descriptions.


    "The Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking?"


    "Could it be related to the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament?"


    Peering at the huge list suspended in the void, Jiang Yao grew curious as well.


    As they both examined it, through the conversations of those around them, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally understood what the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking was all about.


    This ranking, strikingly, was devised by the Third-Rank Great Sect known throughout the central region for being exceptionally well-informed, the "Heavenly Machine Sect," listing the powerful contenders participating in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament.


    Upon hearing that the list was related to the strong participants of the Sword Fighting Tournament, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were both curiously looking at the names on the list.


    At the very top of the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking, the introductions of six individuals were found, clearly set apart from the names below.


    "Lu Xiaojia, from the Third-Rank Sword Sect ''Tiankun Sword Sect'' of the Great Xia Dynasty, rumored to be the champion of the last sword cultivators'' contest within the ''Four Great Third-Rank Sword Sects!''"


    "Fang Luohan, from the Third-Rank Sword Sect ''North Cang Sword Sect'' of the Great Zhou Dynasty, a rising talent, though he didn''t participate in the last contest of the Third-Rank Sword Sect, it is said he has challenged and thoroughly defeated Mo Beiling, the runner-up of the previous contest!"


    "Mo Beiling, from the Third-Rank Sword Sect ''South Cang Sword Sect'' of the Great Zhou Dynasty, the runner-up of the last contest of the Four Great Third-Rank Sword Sects. After being defeated by Fang Luohan, it is rumored he secluded himself to comprehend swordsmanship for three years, and his current true strength is unknown!"


    "Liu Qingmei, an independent cultivator from the Eastern Star-islets, she wasn''t originally on the list, but just three days ago, while she was practicing swordsmanship on Immeasurable Mountain, her sword qi created a rainbow that caught the attention of a Heavenly Saint from our Heavenly Machine Sect, who specifically added her to the list of hottest favorites to win the crown!"


    "Xiao Feng, from the Third-Rank Sword Sect ''Tai''a Sword Sect'' of the Great Qian Dynasty, the third place in the last contest of the Four Great Third-Rank Sword Sects, rumored to be the top Spirit Sea Realm sword cultivator of the Tai''a Sword Sect!"


    The first five individuals, apart from "Liu Qingmei," the other four were all from Fourth-Rank Sword Sects of the central region, among which Ye Chen had even met Xiao Feng from Tai''a Sword Sect.


    The Four Great Third-Rank Sword Sects usually did not participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, having their own sword cultivators contests instead. Their participation this time directly made them hot favorites to win, which piqued Ye Chen''s curiosity about the disciples of these Third-Rank Sword Sects.


    But when Ye Chen saw the sixth name, he gave a wry smile and shook his head.


    The situation of the sixth individual was written on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking as, "Ye Chen, rumored to come from the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, even more rumored to be a genius youth recently chosen by the first hall of Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "There are even rumors that the special rewards offered by Heavenly Sacred Palace at this Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, which drew the participation of disciples from the Third-Rank Sword Sects, were all because of this Ye Chen! However, no one has seen Ye Chen''s swordsmanship, so, our Heavenly Machine Sect could only rank him as the sixth hottest favorite to win!"


    Below the names of these six people, a special note from the "Heavenly Machine Sect" was marked: "These six are the hottest favorites to win at this Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament! Of course, this tournament is unlike any held in previous years, and it is very possible that stronger contenders have not yet appeared.


    Once our ''Heavenly Machine Sect'' receives such news, we will add them to the hottest favorites list."


    "The names below the six are other sword cultivator strong contenders collected by the Heavenly Machine Sect. While their strength may not match the top six, they also possess the power to compete for supremacy at the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament."


    Glancing down, most of the other names and descriptions also belonged to people from the Four Great Third-Rank Sword Sects. Besides them, almost all the other formidable sword cultivators were disciples from the major sects of the central region.


    Among the hundreds of names in the entire "Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking," only three individuals, including Ye Chen, came from the Southern Territory, which was even fewer than the Western Wilderness. The Western Wilderness had as many as ten sword cultivator disciples from the top ten Demon Sects on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking.


    "Our Southern Territory''s sword cultivators are so few on the ''Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking,'' even fewer than the Western Wilderness."


    "Could it be that the Heavenly Machine Sect believes that there are only these three individuals worth mentioning from the Southern Territory participating in this Sword Fighting Tournament?"


    Ye Chen furrowed his brow.


    However, he soon chuckled and shook his head: "Speaking of which, they missed a truly formidable person this time, right, Jiang Yao?"


    "No matter how many from the Western Wilderness are on the ''Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking,'' when it really comes to battle, just one girl from the Southern Territory could sweep them all!"


    Noticing Ye Chen''s teasing gaze, Jiang Yao''s face turned slightly red.


    Ye Chen was referring to Jiang Yao.


    Since Jiang Yao''s awakening, she had grasped several Divine Arts from the Divine Secret Method, one of which related to swordsmanship.


    Based on their private sparring, Jiang Yao''s true swordsmanship skill, although just newly comprehended and not even fully entered into the first layer, was only slightly less lethal than Ye Chen''s. It''s likely the other five hot favorites on the list would be no match for her.


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were looking at the list and chatting via transmitted messages, some tens of meters away, a quarreling sound emerged from the crowd gathered around the ranking.


    When Ye Chen extended his divine sense towards the source of the altercation and saw one of the arguing parties, he was taken aback: "Hmm, they''re here at Immeasurable Mountain too?"


    After Ye Chen listened carefully to the content of the quarrel, his expression turned grave.

 Chapter 312: Chapter 279 Provocation

    A few dozen meters away from Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Shi Tianhe, Shi Tianjiang, and Shi Tianhai, the three brothers of the Shi Family, felt quite displeased as they looked at the dozen or so disciples from the Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness before them.


    Their trip to the Central Region this time was to complete a mission assigned by their sect, which took them more than ten days. They had smoothly accomplished the task, which made the three brothers quite pleasantly surprised.


    With some spare time, the brothers traveled around the Central Region. Not long into their journey, they heard an earth-shattering piece of news: the most powerful second-tier sect in the entire Central Region, Heavenly Sacred Palace, would take part in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Convention at Immeasurable Mountain and set up rewards for the event.


    Moreover, aside from the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Convention, Heavenly Sacred Palace would also specifically host a "Hidden Dragon List Competition" at Immeasurable Mountain!


    The reputation of Heavenly Sacred Palace was something the Shi Family brothers had heard of several times when coming to the Central Region. As Sword Cultivators themselves, they had long cherished the idea of going to Immeasurable Mountain to witness the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Convention.


    Now that Heavenly Sacred Palace was joining the convention, they did not hesitate at all and set out straight away, hurrying towards Immeasurable Mountain.


    This trip to the Central Region had been exceedingly smooth for the three brothers. When they arrived at the square and saw the "Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking," they were quite shocked to find.


    There, among the top six picks expected to win the championship, they spotted the name "Ye Chen."


    The Shi Family brothers remembered that on their way to the Central Region, at the Boundary River which separated the Southern Territory from the Central Region, they had by chance met a youth named Ye Chen.


    At that time, the three brothers traveled with Ye Chen, who said that he was heading to the Tai''a Sword Sect.


    Now, seeing the name "Ye Chen" on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking and hearing from those around them that "Ye Chen" had been noticed by Heavenly Sacred Palace within the Tai''a Sword Sect and selected to enter the first sanctuary of Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Coming from the Southern Territory, named Ye Chen, and noticed by Heavenly Sacred Palace within the Tai''a Sword Sect, these pieces of news coming together greatly shocked the Shi Family brothers.


    In their hearts, they suddenly realized that the youth Ye Chen who had traveled with them to the Central Region might very well be the "Ye Chen" on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking!


    The brothers were surprised and delighted; after all, Ye Chen was listed as one of the top six favorites to win the championship, not falling behind any of the talented disciples from the major sects of the Central Region and even ranking as the highest among all Sword Cultivators in the Southern Territory, which naturally made the brothers from the Southern Territory extremely proud!


    While the Shi Family brothers were brimming with pride, a mocking voice came from beside them.


    When they looked towards the source of the mockery, they saw that those who spoke were disciples from one of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness.


    While watching the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking, these Demon Sect disciples ridiculed and belittled the Sword Cultivators of the Southern Territory, claiming it was a disgrace that among the many competitors from the Southern Territory, only three were selected for the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking.


    These Demon Sect disciples were even more insolent, saying their Western Wilderness swordsmanship was several times stronger than that of the Southern Territory. They bragged that in this Sword Fighting Convention, they would thoroughly humiliate the Sword Cultivators of the Southern Territory!


    Hearing these words made the Shi Family brothers quite uncomfortable, so they immediately mentioned Ye Chen, one of the top six candidates from the Southern Territory, in response to these Demon Sect disciples.


    However, their retort only provoked a torrent of curses from the Demon Sect disciples, who insisted that they had never seen Ye Chen make a move and did not believe in his strength, while also provoking the Shi Family brothers with their words.


    Among the dozen or so disciples from the ten Demon Sects who stood together, seven or eight were in the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, and another five or six were in the Rotating Pill Realm, including even two at the mid-stage of Rotating Pill Realm.


    In comparison, the three Shi Family brothers were merely at the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, far inferior to the opposition in terms of strength.


    Nonetheless, the Shi Family brothers were incredibly staunch and fearless of these Demon Sect disciples, engaging in a fierce argument and exchange of insults with them.


    Gradually, the quarrel attracted the attention of an increasing number of people. Find adventures on mvl


    When the disciples from the Central Region saw that it was the age-old enemies from the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness clashing with each other, they all stepped aside and watched the commotion as if it were a spectacle, while those from the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness who were present joined their respective groups.


    In no time at all, the noise from both sides'' heated argument spread far and wide.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao noticed the commotion on the square, a confrontation was imminent between the two sides from the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness.


    "Hmph, what, has the Southern Territory only brought these weaklings this time? I heard your Heavenly Saint has gathered all the real experts into the Heavenly Saint Secret Realm for training, planning to prepare for a great battle with us from the Western Wilderness?"


    "Wait until we from the Western Wilderness invite reinforcements from the Chaotic Sea Area, you of the Southern Territory just wait for us to wash you in blood!"


    On the side of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, more than a hundred disciples had already gathered, among them numerous powerful fighters of the Rotating Pill Realm, including two in the late stage of Rotating Pill Realm.


    On the contrary, the Southern Territory side had only about forty or fifty people, and the strongest among them were just three mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm fighters, clearly at a disadvantage compared to the Western Wilderness.


    This time, there were significantly fewer martial artists from the Southern Territory in the Central Region compared to those from the Western Wilderness, especially since the truly formidable fighters from the Southern Territory, like the Fairy Garo and others, had been selected by Heavenly Saint to train in the Heavenly Saint Secret Realm.


    Meanwhile, when the news of the two grand events in the Central Region reached the Western Wilderness, many genuinely powerful late-stage Rotating Pill Realm fighters had made their way to the Central Region.


    Even the scattered forces of the Western Wilderness in Great Yue City would undoubtedly far surpass those from the Southern Territory.


    As the tension between the two sides escalated, more people from the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness heard the news and began rushing towards the square. However, the newcomers from the Western Wilderness continued to outnumber those from the Southern Territory.


    This emboldened the Western Wilderness side even further, and eventually, the altercation became more than just a verbal spat. Many began provoking openly, as if they were ready to erupt into conflict with the Southern Territory right there.


    "Wipe out our Southern Territory?" Hearing the taunts of the Western Wilderness disciples, the disciples of the Southern Territory were anything but submissive, "Relying on the help of the Chaotic Sea Area, you think you can overwhelm us? Is there anyone among you in the Western Wilderness Heavenly Saints who can rival our Heavenly Saint Long Xuan?"


    "Wait until our Heavenly Saint Long Xuan breaks through to the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm. By then, we''ll see what frightened looks you Western Wilderness people will have!"


    The words of the Southern Territory disciples touched a raw nerve with the Western Wilderness disciples.


    Over the years, the Western Wilderness''s ten great Demon Sects indeed had more powerful fighters and even one more Heavenly Saint than the Southern Territory. However, what caused them the most frustration was the emergence of the exceptionally talented Heavenly Saint Long Xuan from the Southern Territory.


    Despite having one more Heavenly Saint, none from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness were a true match for Heavenly Saint Long Xuan.


    Even the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects in the Western Wilderness knew that among the Heavenly Saints of the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, the one most likely to break through to the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm was definitely Heavenly Saint Long Xuan!


    That was the very reason the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness sought help from the Chaotic Sea Area, willing to initiate another war to wipe out the Southern Territory. They were afraid, terrified of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan stepping into the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    At this moment, by mentioning Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, the disciples of the Southern Territory had hit the sore spot of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness. Many of the Western Wilderness disciples'' faces changed color on the spot.


    Some even started to provoke loudly, "We don''t care about Heavenly Saint Long Xuan. Do you Southern Territory people dare to battle us?"


    "Don''t cry to your fathers and mothers when we beat you up directly!"


    "This time we''ve come to the Central Region, the Sword Cultivators on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking are stronger than those of you in the Southern Territory. We as a group are also stronger than you!"


    "If you have the guts, come at us and we''ll see how you fare!"


    The disciples of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness were jeering, and the disciples from the Southern Territory couldn''t bear it, "If it''s a fight you want, it''s a fight you''ll get!"


    "You think just because you have more people, we of the Southern Territory are afraid of you?"


    Although they responded, the disciples of the Southern Territory were indeed feeling nervous.


    After all, the strongest among them in the plaza were merely at the mid-phase of the Rotating Pill Realm, whereas there were several late-phase Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses among the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness.


    This caused the disciples of the Southern Territory to retort to their opponents while also signaling to other strong fighters who hadn''t arrived at the plaza yet.


    Seeing the movements of the Southern Territory disciples, the Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness mocked them even more. One of the young men clad in a blood robe and shrouded in black aura stepped forward with a sneer, "Crying for help?"


    "It''s too late. By the time your reinforcements arrive, we''ll see how you beg for mercy!"


    "And remember, the one who defeated you is me, ''Yin Jiuning''!"


    This blood-robed youth, Yin Jiuning, was of late-phase Rotating Pill Realm cultivation. From his tone, he made it clear he intended to defeat all the Southern Territory fighters by himself!


    Boom!


    In an instant, billowing black qi burst forth from Yin Jiuning, shooting into the sky and sweeping up hundreds of meters high.


    Seeing Yin Jiuning taking action, everyone from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects sneered continuously, folding their arms to watch the good show.


    On the Southern Territory side, seeing a late-phase Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse take the field, their faces also changed. The three mid-phase Rotating Pill Realm martial artists exchanged glances and simultaneously stimulated their surging true qi.


    Even the three brothers of the Shi Family were now standing beside the three fighters, with their aura pulsating forth.


    However, none of these people had the ability to fight across higher realms, and the opponent was a late-phase Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse. It was indeed possible that he could sweep them away!


    Just when everyone from the Southern Territory had grim expressions, ready to go all out, and as Yin Jiuning sneered viciously, about to make a brutal move and disable a few from the Southern Territory first, while other martial artists from neither the Southern Territory nor the Western Wilderness were watching the fun from the sidelines, not wanting to intervene in the feud between the two blood-sworn forces,


    A faint voice suddenly sounded in the arena, "We of the Southern Territory have never been afraid of the Western Wilderness."


    "An ordinary late-phase Rotating Pill Realm fighter wants to make disciples of the Southern Territory kneel and beg for mercy, what utter nonsense!"


    Boom!


    Amidst the faint voice, a young man, leading a strikingly beautiful young woman, stepped through the void and walked into the Southern Territory''s side, positioning himself in front of the people from the Southern Territory.


    When they saw the mid-phase Spirit Sea Realm aura the young man possessed and heard his faint words, everyone from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness was completely stunned.


    A mid-phase Spirit Sea Realm youth daring to scorn the late-phase Rotating Pill Realm Yin Jiuning?


    Had this young man lost his mind?!


    On the Southern Territory''s side, when the three Shi brothers saw the figure of the young man, they were shocked and cried out, "Brother Ye Chen, is that you?!"

 Chapter 313: Chapter 280 Sensation

    The figures who descended before the people of the Southern Territory were none other than Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao noticed the quarrel in the square, which involved a dispute between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness. Naturally, they would not stand idly by and watch the Southern Territory be insulted.


    Seeing that Yin Jiuning, who was at the later stage of Rotating Dan, wanted to make a move, the two of them flew over directly.


    Upon hearing the words of the three Shi brothers, Ye Chen even smiled slightly at them, "Brother Tianhe, Brother Tianjiang, Brother Tianhai, long time no see."


    Seeing Ye Chen, who landed before them, face the rapidly rising aura of Yin Jiuning without any fear, and even smiling and talking to them, the three Shi brothers were somewhat dumbfounded.


    "Brother Ye Chen, is it really you! You''ve also come to the Sword Fighting Conference?" Shi Tianhe''s voice trembled with excitement, "Does this mean that the Ye Chen on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking is really you?"


    Ye Chen smiled lightly and nodded.


    Hum! Enjoy more content from mvl


    Above the square, there were no shortage of martial artists who noticed the dispute between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness. When they saw a Spirit Sea mid-stage youth daring to face a Rotating Dan late-stage practitioner without any sign of weakness, everyone in the plaza was shocked.


    Moreover, when they heard this youth being called "Ye Chen" and saw him nod in affirmation that he was the Ye Chen listed on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking, many in the crowd were startled!


    Ye Chen, one of the six hot contenders for the championship on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking!


    Furthermore, it was rumored that he had caught the eye of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and had joined the First Holy Temple. Even the "Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference" and "Hidden Dragon Ranking Competition" were events that arose because of him.


    This mysterious Ye Chen, was he the youth in front of them?!


    Spirit Sea mid-stage, a Spirit Sea mid-stage, could hold such high importance to the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    A Spirit Sea mid-stage, facing a Rotating Dan late-stage practitioner without any fear or weakness?


    Could it be that this Ye Chen had the ability to fight against Rotating Dan late-stage practitioners?


    Considering this possibility, many disciples from the great sects of the Central Domain, and even warriors from the Eastern and Far North regions, turned their gaze toward Ye Chen.


    A distance of thousands of meters from the site of the dispute between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, a grey-clothed elder who had been sitting cross-legged at a high platform in the square suddenly opened his eyes and looked towards Ye Chen, "Ye Chen?


    The youth chosen by our Heavenly Machine Sect as one of the six hot contenders for the championship on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking?"


    "Perhaps, this time we might witness his action."


    While the grey-clothed elder was murmuring to himself, at the same distance from where Ye Chen stood, in a different direction, a girl in light purple clothes, with an oval face and a graceful figure, had her eyes fixed on Jiang Yao standing beside Ye Chen.


    "What a peculiar temperament, this girl, why does she bear such resemblance to my aunt''s aura? Could it be..."


    The girl''s eyes brightened as she considered a possibility, her gaze unblinkingly fixed on Jiang Yao, paying no attention to Ye Chen.


    In the midst of the arena,


    Seeing countless gazes converging on Ye Chen and hearing his words, Yin Jiuning, wrapped in billowing black energy, licked his lips and sneered, "I was wondering who it was, turns out it''s Ye Chen, the newcomer of the Heavenly Sacred Palace? Do you think your identity as a disciple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace can intimidate me?"


    "The Heavenly Sacred Palace does not concern itself with the various disputes on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Even if I kill you, the Heavenly Sacred Palace won''t seek revenge for you!"


    Yin Jiuning thought that Ye Chen''s unfaltering confidence stemmed from his identity as a disciple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    After all, the idea of a Spirit Sea mid-stage practitioner being able to battle him was something he simply could not believe.


    Ye Chen shook his head and was about to speak when Jiang Yao, standing beside him, frowned, her exquisite face darkening. The ice-blue sword in her hand moved, ready to strike at Yin Jiuning.


    Jiang Yao could not tolerate Yin Jiuning speaking about Ye Chen in such a manner!


    The girl''s movement startled many onlookers.


    Clearly, they realized that the stunningly beautiful girl at the late stage of Spirit Sea, standing beside Ye Chen, was just as fearless as Ye Chen when facing the Rotating Dan late-stage Yin Jiuning.


    Was she about to make a move against Yin Jiuning?!


    Where did this young couple come from?


    The fact that Spirit Sea mid-stage Ye Chen wasn''t afraid of a Rotating Dan late-stage practitioner was one thing; after all, he was a newly-accepted disciple of the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, obviously with some confidence.


    But this girl, whom many did not recognize, was only at the late stage of Spirit Sea. Could she also confront a Rotating Dan late-stage practitioner?


    And from the expression of the young girl, she seemed truly confident that she could kill Yin Jiuning!


    This, of course, took many people by surprise.


    Seeing Jiang Yao''s movement, Ye Chen simply smiled and pressed his hand on the girl''s palm, shaking his head at her.


    Ye Chen wouldn''t let Jiang Yao dirty her hands with the likes of Yin Jiuning.


    He himself would handle such a person.


    "No need for such idle talk," Ye Chen said to Yin Jiuning, "Make your move. Let me see what arrogance the people of the Western Wilderness have to base their confidence on."


    Hum!


    Ye Chen''s words instantly made everyone''s gaze turn to Yin Jiuning.


    Clearly, everyone saw that Ye Chen was not simply relying on his status as a disciple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace to suppress Yin Jiuning; he had the confidence to really fight against someone who was in the late stage of the Spinning Dan realm.


    Yin Jiuning was already uncomfortable after Jiang Yao offered to take action.


    Jiang Yao, with her stunning beauty, caught even Yin Jiuning''s eye involuntarily, wanting to take several more glances. However, after he had spoken only a couple of sentences, she was ready to make a move against him. It was obvious that Jiang Yao cared about Ye Chen.


    Now, with Ye Chen''s disdainful attitude, rage was flaring up in Yin Jiuning''s heart.


    "I really want to see what battle strength someone in the mid-stage of Spirit Sea possesses, daring to stand before me!"


    Boom!


    In the moment when rage surged in Yin Jiuning, his entire body erupted with rolling black qi, instantly transforming into a roaring gigantic black skeleton that lunged at Ye Chen, biting and tearing at him.


    The instant the huge black skeleton roared, the entire void seemed to be frozen.


    Law Domain!


    This was clearly a Law Domain of someone in the late stage of the Spinning Dan realm!


    Feeling the Law Domain spreading in that instant, all the cultivators from the Southern Territory changed color. Many feared that Ye Chen, in the mid-stage of Spirit Sea, couldn''t withstand the Law Domain and thought to intervene to help him.


    On the side of the disciples from the Western Wilderness, seeing Yin Jiuning''s move and him unleashing his famous killer move, "Soul Devouring Skeleton," they all sneered coldly at Ye Chen, "An ignorant youth without any idea of the vastness of the heavens and earth, taste the sensation of being torn apart by the skeleton, kneeling and begging for mercy!"


    Meanwhile, in the arena, countless eyes were fixed on the giant black skeleton that had lunged towards Ye Chen in an instant, waiting to see how Ye Chen would defend himself.


    Just as the disciples from the Southern Territory wanted to step in to help Ye Chen, and as the disciples from the Western Wilderness were sneering, under the gaze of countless warriors, Ye Chen faced the oncoming giant skeleton with an utterly casual flick of his finger in the void.


    Puff!


    A faint sword cry whistled by, and the Law Domain that enveloped a large expanse of the sky and swept toward Ye Chen shattered instantaneously!


    Everyone also saw a sword light, condensed to the utmost point, carrying what seemed like an endless sword intent. In an instant, it sliced through the void and exploded right in front of Yin Jiuning.


    Yin Jiuning, in the late stage of Spinning Dan, reacted very quickly. Sensing the sword light shattering the Law Domain, his expression changed drastically, and his body was engulfed in rolling black qi, trying to protect himself from the sword light.


    But how could it possibly withstand it?


    Just as the rolling black qi swirled toward Yin Jiuning, forming a black shield hundreds of feet in radius, everyone saw that the casual flick of Ye Chen''s finger had not only shattered the Law Domain instantaneously, but it also broke right through the huge black shield formed by Yin Jiuning''s black qi.


    In the end, the sword light from that simple flick struck Yin Jiuning, blasting him into the air, causing him to violently cough up several mouthfuls of fresh blood!


    Everyone even heard the sounds of several defensive treasures breaking on Yin Jiuning''s body!


    Obviously, if it weren''t for the protection of defensive treasures, Ye Chen''s sword might have killed Yin Jiuning on the spot!


    A mid-stage Spirit Sea cultivator with a simple flick of his finger sent a late-stage Spinning Dan flying and coughing up blood, and even broke through several defensive treasures to barely avoid death.


    This scene left countless warriors in the arena with their mouths agape in shock.


    Even many warriors from the major sects in the central domain couldn''t help but exclaim in horror!


    And on the platform in the arena, even the gray-clad elder from the Heavenly Machine Sect, who was seated, stood up with a shocked expression and exclaimed in disbelief, "A high-level sword array?! Such a powerful high-level sword array! The True Qi sword light infused with sword intent is extraordinary indeed!"


    "This Ye Chen truly possesses great strength!"

 Chapter 314: Chapter 281: All Parties Gather

    Ye Chen''s move was precisely the advanced sword array from the Eight Great Sword Formations, the "Sword Fusion Divine Ability," which he had initially obtained from Sister Yu.


    The "Sword Fusion Divine Ability" formation, unlike the mass-killing "Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability" formation that comprised ten thousand true Qi swords, was an attack formation that merged the attack powers of twenty-five incredibly strong second-tier Sword Intents, making it highly suitable for one-on-one combat!


    Combined with Ye Chen''s unparalleled Primordial True Qi, even the late-stage Battle Spirits of the Divine Phoenix Clan would be no match for him with this move.


    Not to mention Yin Jiuning.


    Though Yin Jiuning was in the late stage of the Rotational Dan realm, he was just an ordinary contender at that stage, and his actual combat power was not even comparable to a mid-stage Battle Spirit of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    In front of Ye Chen, he was utterly out of his league!


    The sight of Ye Chen knocking Yin Jiuning back, causing him to spit blood with such nonchalance, struck thunder in the minds of the disciples from the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness like a bolt from the blue.


    The disciples from the Southern Territory, who were extremely worried about Ye Chen and their confrontation with the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, suddenly shifted to a mood of ecstatic joy.


    They never expected that Ye Chen, who stood before them, would be so powerful!


    To the point that he, with a mid-stage Spiritual Sea realm, could send Yin Jiuning, a late-stage Rotational Dan from the Demon Sects, flying with blood spewing out!


    Ye Chen had given the disciples from the Southern Territory a tremendous surprise!


    And they all saw that Ye Chen had not even used his full strength.


    Without using his full strength, he had effortlessly sent a late-stage Rotational Dan from the Demon Sects flying. Wouldn''t that mean that among the Demon Sect''s hundred-plus disciples present, very likely not a single one of them would be a match for Ye Chen?


    Possibly, just by his own strength, Ye Chen could overpower everyone from the Demon Sects?!


    Realizing this, the disciples from the Southern Territory finally took a long sigh of relief and truly held their heads high in the presence of the people from the Demon Sects!


    The people on the Southern Territory''s side were immersed in ecstatic joy.


    However, the disciples from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness felt a chilling fear.


    It was terrifying!


    A mid-stage Spiritual Sea realm beating a late-stage Rotational Dan until he vomited blood was something unheard of among these Demon Sect disciples!


    Their comprehension had finally caught up with why Ye Chen was chosen by the Heavenly Saint Palace and had become the first disciple of the sanctuary!


    Such power was truly frightening!


    These Demon Sect disciples even thought that Ye Chen, being just at the mid-stage Spiritual Sea realm, possessed such strength. What level of power would he have once he reached the later stages of the Spiritual Sea realm or stepped into the Rotational Dan? What if he did?


    Perhaps he would even possess the power of a Heavenly Saint?


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    This was far more terrifying than Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, whom their Demon Sects deeply feared. If they let Ye Chen grow, his threat to the Western Wilderness might even surpass that of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan!


    In the midst of the crowd''s astonishment, Ye Chen glanced at Yin Jiuning, who was rolling on the ground spitting blood after being knocked back, and then his gaze settled on the disciples from the Demon Sects.


    When Ye Chen''s gaze fell on the disciples of the Western Wilderness Demon Sects, all the hundred-plus disciples from the ten great Demon Sects on the plaza took several steps back in fright!


    Fearing that they might be the next ones Ye Chen would deal with!


    This scene caused an uproar among other Martial Artists watching from the side, and it also elicited a round of laughter from those on the Southern Territory''s side.


    "Not so arrogant now, are you?"


    "You, the Western Wilderness, rely on your numbers, don''t you? So why aren''t you daring to shout and curse at us now?"


    The words of the Southern Territory disciples, reaching the ears of the Western Wilderness disciples, made their faces look incredibly unsightly.


    A few late-stage Rotational Dan disciples from the Western Wilderness mustered their courage and looked at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, what exactly do you want?"


    "What do I want?"


    Ye Chen smiled lightly, "It seems to me that it has been you from the Western Wilderness who have been pressing forward all along, not me wanting something."


    "I also heard that you from the Western Wilderness intend to ''blood-wash'' the Southern Territory?"


    At this point, Ye Chen''s expression darkened, "I would like to see just how you plan to ''blood-wash'' the Southern Territory?"


    As Ye Chen stepped towards the people from the Western Wilderness.


    With each step, he further frightened the people from the Western Wilderness, their expressions changing drastically. The most powerful among them were only on par with Yin Jiuning at best. If even Yin Jiuning was no match for a single move from Ye Chen, let alone them.


    If Ye Chen really wanted to kill them, they would truly have nowhere to cry for help!


    "Ye Chen, we misjudged this time."


    "A major battle is to be launched by the Heavenly Saint, determined to ''blood-wash'' the Southern Territory but that is none of our business!"


    Many Demon Sect disciples shouted out one after another.


    Watching these Demon Sect disciples, who had been so overbearing before but were now resorting to various means to ingratiate themselves, Ye Chen let out a cold laugh.


    These people from the Demon Sects indeed fell short of those from the Southern Territory.


    Even when the Southern Territory disciples were in a weaker position, they never begged for mercy!


    These ten great Demon Sects from the Western Wilderness relied on their older heritage and more numerous strong individuals to always be hostile towards the Southern Territory. Little did they know that one day, the Southern Territory would truly dominate the Western Wilderness!


    Even if Heavenly Saint Long Xuan could not achieve this, Ye Chen would make it happen!


    He would never let the tragedy that befell Jiang Yao''s people, the "Divine Phoenix Clan," be repeated in the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory!


    Now, Ye Chen, by his own strength, was able to make over a hundred disciples, even with the presence of late-stage Rotational Dans, from the Demon Sects retreat in fear.


    Ye Chen believed that one day, he could also make the Heavenly Saints of the Demon Sects retreat in the same way!


    As his mind raced, Ye Chen walking toward the Demon Sect disciples would not easily let them off the hook.


    If it weren''t for him and Jiang Yao being in this plaza by chance, it''s very likely that the Southern Territory, at a numerical disadvantage, would have indeed suffered at the hands of the Western Wilderness.

 Chapter 315: Chapter 281 Various Parties Gather_2

    From Yin Jiuning''s attack method just now, Ye Chen could tell that the disciples of the Demon Sects spared no mercy toward them.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t be merciful to these Demon Sect disciples who had been mocking from the sidelines either!


    "Earlier, Yin Jiuning said he wanted us from the Southern Territory to kneel and beg for mercy."


    "If you want to beg for your lives, do as Yin Jiuning said, kneel before us Southern Territory people and beg for mercy!"


    "If you are unwilling to kneel and beg, then swear an oath that you will not oppose the Southern Territory in the future; otherwise, you shall die from the swarming inner demons!"


    Ye Chen said indifferently to the disciples of the Western Wilderness''s Ten Great Demon Sects.


    Attack the heart first when attacking the enemy!


    Ye Chen''s demand on these Western Wilderness people was to eliminate future troubles from the mind, cutting off their intent.


    Whether it was making them kneel and beg for mercy or swear an oath, by defeating them this time, they wouldn''t dare underestimate the people of the Southern Territory again and risk a great war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, where these individuals could become a threat!


    "Ye Chen, don''t go too far!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s demand, the disciples of the Western Wilderness''s Ten Great Demon Sects had faces flushed red.


    They certainly did not want to kneel before the people of the Southern Territory and beg for mercy; they feared that they would never be able to hold their heads high in front of Southern Territory warriors for the rest of their lives.


    They were even less willing to swear an oath because of the blood feud between the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory; they would inevitably deal with the Southern Territory one day. They did not want to disrupt their cultivation because of an oath!


    "It seems you truly bear malice in your hearts and are sworn enemies of the Southern Territory to the death!"


    Ye Chen''s expression darkened. With a sweep of his hand through the void, tens of thousands of Swords of True Qi immediately spiraled around his body.


    Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability!


    This was undeniably a high-level Sword Formation of the Ten Thousand Swords Divine Ability!


    Seeing these Western Wilderness Demon Sect disciples reluctant even to utter an oath, Ye Chen had a momentary thought to eliminate them on the spot to prevent them from becoming a future scourge to the Southern Territory.


    Witnessing the tens of thousands of Swords of True Qi circling Ye Chen''s body, the martial artists who recognized Ye Chen''s technique exclaimed in shock: "A high-level Sword Formation, another high-level Sword Formation!"


    When the disciples of the Western Wilderness''s Ten Great Demon Sects saw that Ye Chen was about to make a move, their faces turned pale with horror, and many screamed, "Ye Chen, we can''t change the blood feud between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness; stop pushing us! If you dare, go find the Heavenly Saint of our Western Wilderness!"


    "The Heavenly Saint? If they dare to invade our Southern Territory, one day I will indeed go looking for them!"


    "But now, it is your turn to be dealt with!"


    "In the countless blood battles between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, which one wasn''t initiated by you Western Wilderness? Which one didn''t involve you deliberately opposing us? Now, I''m merely asking you not to actively oppose the Southern Territory, and you can''t even do that. Do you really think I would nurture a threat?"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen spoke, his True Qi surged, and the tens of thousands of Swords of True Qi around his body suddenly shot towards the disciples of the Western Wilderness''s Ten Great Demon Sects in the arena.


    Although he did not intend to kill them outright, Ye Chen sought to utterly defeat them and have them willingly swear an oath.


    When the tens of thousands of Swords of True Qi burst forth, the entire void was filled with sword light, and this scene was even more astonishing than Ye Chen''s previous "Sword Merging Divine Ability" Sword Formation.


    The disciples from the Western Wilderness''s ten great Demon Sects, upon witnessing Ye Chen''s Sword of True Qi streaking their way, all had a drastic change in color. Those strong practitioners in the latter and middle stages of the spin-dan realm even had their True Qi surge out of their bodies, rolling and bursting towards Ye Chen''s ten thousand handles of True Qi.


    Ye Chen was single-handedly matching the strength of over a hundred people from the Western Wilderness''s ten great Demon Sects!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Earthshaking explosions of True Qi instantly erupted in the area, and even with all members of the Western Wilderness''s ten great Demon Sects, including those in the latter and middle stages of the spin-dan realm joining forces to besiege him, they were still sent reeling backward in a violent retreat by Ye Chen''s ten thousand Sword of True Qi.


    Ye Chen was facing off against a hundred, and all these Demon Sect disciples were at a disadvantage!


    This scene completely dumbfounded the other martial artists at the venue.


    Many powerful spin-dan late-stage practitioners who were prepared to take part in the "Hidden Dragon Ranking" could tell that Ye Chen''s strength far exceeded that of an ordinary late-stage spin-dan, fearing that he was already incredibly close to the invincible level of the spin-dan realm!


    With such strength, the people of the Western Wilderness here absolutely could not withstand him!


    The grey-clothed elder of Heavenly Machine Sect, who had been observing Ye Chen, even started looking at the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking, thinking of reporting back to his sect to move Ye Chen to the top spot among the favorites to win the championship!


    The others at the venue were aghast at Ye Chen''s strength, and the disciples from the Western Wilderness''s ten great Demon Sects who were directly engaged in battle with Ye Chen were even more horrified in their hearts.


    All of them had made a move, only to find themselves at a disadvantage!


    The people of the Western Wilderness realized that their strength was qualitatively different from Ye Chen''s and feared that only the truly powerful late-stage spin-dan practitioners from the Demon Sects could repel Ye Chen!


    Just like the disciples from the Southern Territory earlier, these Demon Sect disciples now also longed for reinforcements.


    Even though they were numerous, they all yearned for help!


    Looking to one side, the other onlookers had no intention of helping them, just as they hadn''t planned on helping the Southern Territory''s side before, and naturally, they were even less likely to help the Western Wilderness now.


    After all, they definitely did not want to muddle into the affairs of the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory!


    "Could it be that we really have to submit an oath of allegiance under the military force of Ye Chen?"


    This thought flashed through the minds of the Western Wilderness disciples.


    Just as this thought flickered, those late-stage spin-dan beings among the Western Wilderness disciples suddenly, as if sensing something, looked up towards the void.


    Seeing several figures in the void, those few people simultaneously called out with great joy towards the sky, "Bai, quickly take action and save us!"


    As these people looked up towards the void, Ye Chen had already turned his gaze in the direction they were looking.


    Because Ye Chen had long noticed that, after his previous move, there were three exceptionally strong fluctuations rapidly approaching from the void.


    "Bai?"


    Hearing the voices of the Demon Sects'' people, Ye Chen looked up at the figures coming from the void.


    He saw three young men speeding toward his direction from the void, with one of them wearing a Daoist robe adorned with the same pattern of the Eight Great Demon Towers that was shown on the ancient bronze coffin by Heavenly Saint Moya whom Ye Chen had seen in the ancient tomb.


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    Clearly, this young man must belong to the "Defying Demon Sect" where Heavenly Saint Moya of the ten great Demon Sects resided!


    The other two young men, flying beside this Demon Sect youth, wore outfits that were not of Demon Sects but seemed like those Ye Chen had seen in the Barbaric Wilderness Mountain and Sea Map, belonging to a third-rank great sect of the Great Zhou Dynasty called "Heavenly Kui Sect".

 Chapter 316: Chapter 282: What Are You Guys Even Considered?

    ```


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen lifted his gaze, the three newcomers sliced through the void with their fierce and domineering presence, and arrived before the members of the Demon Sects in an instant.


    As the trio settled their figures, the disciples of the Western Wilderness''s Demon Sects seemed to have found their backbone, all flocking to the three newcomers'' sides.


    "Brother Bai, you''ve finally arrived!"


    "Brother Bai, this Ye Chen is unbearably arrogant. Relying on his overwhelming strength, he does not even consider us from the Western Wilderness worth his attention, and he even wants us from the Southern Territory to kneel and beg for mercy! Brother Bai, you must help us teach him a lesson!"


    After converging around the trio, the disciples of the Demon Sects began to wail and complain to the young man from the Demon Sects.


    Meanwhile, those in the square who recognized the identities of the three were involuntarily inhaling sharply, whispering among themselves about them.


    "Oh my, the Southern Territory is in for it now. Who would have thought the Western Wilderness would send ''Bai Wuchen,'' along with the ''Feng brothers,'' Feng Zimo and Feng Zixu from the Heavenly Kui Sect!"


    "This ''Bai Wuchen'' is rumored to be the number one expert from the Western Wilderness attending the Hidden Dragon List contest, at the late Rotating Pill Realm, approaching an invincible state in Rotating Pill.


    It''s said that upon entering the Rotating Pill Realm, he merged three of the five Heavenly Void Laws, creating the ''Three Apertures Rotating Pill,'' comprehending all three laws to an extremely profound degree, reaching the strongest level of the late Rotating Pill Realm!"


    "The ''Feng Brothers'' are equally formidable, having also cultivated the ''Three Apertures Rotating Pill'' and reached the strongest level in the late Rotating Pill Realm. Moreover, rumors say the two have mastered a combined attack technique, nearly invincible when they join forces!"


    "With such three masters arriving at the same time, standing before the Demon Sects, even if Ye Chen is powerful, he cannot withstand three beings close to invincible in the Rotating Pill Realm. The Southern Territory has completely fallen into a disadvantage now!"


    The murmurs of the crowd caused Ye Chen''s eyebrows to twitch.


    Bai Wuchen, Feng Zimo, Feng Zixu?


    The late ''Three Apertures Rotating Pill'' Realm?


    Three figures close to invincibility in the Rotating Pill Realm?


    Having battled the Battle Spirits of the late Rotating Pill Realm from the Divine Phoenix clan, Ye Chen of course knew what the ''Three Apertures Rotating Pill'' was.


    When stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm from the Spirit Sea Realm, one would merge with the five Heavenly Void Laws into the Rotating Pill. The number of Heavenly Void Laws merged is referred to by the number of apertures in the Rotating Pill.


    Legend has it that the rarest ''Five Apertures Rotating Pill,'' which merges all five Heavenly Void Laws, is also known as the ''Perfect Rotating Pill''!


    But the Five Apertures Rotating Pill is not only exceedingly rare, it''s also extremely difficult to cultivate. After all, merging all five Heavenly Void Laws at once means they interfere with one another, making it much harder than comprehending a single law.


    However, if one truly comprehends all five Heavenly Void Laws to the late Rotating Pill Realm, that practitioner of the ''Five Apertures Rotating Pill'' at the late stage becomes the most formidable, truly invincible within the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Though the Five Apertures Rotating Pill is exceedingly rare, the Four and Three Apertures Rotating Pill are also scarce, but they are more common compared to the Five Apertures version.


    These practitioners of the ''Three Apertures Rotating Pill'' who have cultivated all three Heavenly Void Laws to the late Rotating Pill Realm are also quite extraordinary, easily able to defeat those like Yin Jiuning, who had only merged with one Heavenly Void Law previously faced by Ye Chen.


    And most Rotating Pill practitioners have only merged with a single Heavenly Void Law or multiple laws but chose to abandon the others to focus on advancing one law only, which are called ordinary Rotating Pills.


    Even if these ordinary Rotating Pills are cultivated to the late stage, they cannot compare to the ''Three Apertures Rotating Pill'' or ''Five Apertures Rotating Pill'' practitioners.


    Now that the Western Wilderness''s Demon Sect disciples suddenly have three ''Three Apertures Rotating Pill'' practitioners of the late stage among them, it''s no wonder the onlookers do not favor the Southern Territory where Ye Chen is.


    However, Ye Chen remained undisturbed by the discussions of others.


    ```


    If it had been three masters at the late stage of the "Five Apertures Rotating Pill" who were invincible coming to aid the people of the Western Wilderness, Ye Chen would have been more cautious. But with three "Three Apertures Rotating Pill" cultivators, Ye Chen simply wouldn''t care.


    Although Ye Chen had not yet entered the Rotating Pill Realm, he possessed the methods of the Five Great Divine Bloods, coupled with the special Primordial True Qi, and his Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    After cultivating Divine Arts and mastering more than a dozen high-level sword formations, as well as his flying sword, even without using the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, Ye Chen dared to face these three head-on!


    Besides, Ye Chen had Jiang Yao by his side.


    As the trio was flying over, Jiang Yao stood right beside Ye Chen.


    Jiang Yao is a true inheritor of the Divine Phoenix bloodline from the Phoenix clan, and she has cultivated the clan''s truly powerful attacking Divine Arts. With just her swordsmanship Divine Arts, she is already capable of battling one of these three.


    Adding her even more powerful bloodline Divine Arts, in the words of Phoenix Spirit, Jiang Yao is a genuine invincible force within the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Dealing with these three who were nearly invincible in the "Three Apertures Rotating Pill" was not an issue at all!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had the confidence to fight these three, but the others didn''t know that. When the people from the Southern Territory saw that their reinforcements had not yet arrived, and the Western Wilderness side suddenly had three powerful late-stage Rotating Pill experts, their expressions changed at once.


    But no one from the Southern Territory retreated, they all stood in front of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    It was clear that if a battle truly broke out, the Southern Territory side would not back down; they were all ready to join the fight!


    Seeing the Southern Territory''s movement, and hearing the cries of their own disciples, the Demon Sects'' youth "Bai Wuchen," whose eyes were fierce, looked straight at Ye Chen. Moreover, in his gaze, there boiled an unspoken intent to kill.


    "Ye Chen?"


    "So it''s you. My ''Demon Sects'' Master Moyan, who had just returned, told me you destroyed one of his divided spirits in the ancient tomb! Hmph, at that time, you escaped disaster thanks to Longxuan the Heavenly Saint. I did not expect to encounter you here now!"


    "Since our paths have crossed so fatefully, this time I will, on behalf of my Master Moyan, properly collect some interest!"


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    Bai Wuchen''s voice was filled with an inexplicable killing intent. Clearly, even without the conflict between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, he would have confronted Ye Chen.


    As Bai Wuchen spoke, his companions "Feng Zimo" and "Feng Zixu," the Feng brothers, smiled indifferently: "Oh? Brother Bai, so this Ye Chen has a history with your Demon Sects? Haha, then this time, we brothers would relish the opportunity to clear the way for you."


    During their talk, the Feng brothers even lifted their heads to look at the people from the Southern Territory, their gazes particularly sliding over Jiang Yao standing next to Ye Chen. Finally, they started taunting, "The rest of you from the Southern Territory, just stay put. If you dare make a move, don''t blame us brothers for showing no mercy!"


    Whoosh!


    The words of Bai Wuchen and the Feng brothers caused a stir among the onlookers.


    Everyone could tell that the Feng brothers really intended to get involved in the affairs between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness and directly support Bai Wuchen.


    Three late-stage Rotating Pill masters, three beings nearly invincible in the Rotating Pill Realm, were really going to target the Southern Territory!


    Thinking this, everyone lifted their heads to look at Ye Chen, the leader on the Southern Territory side, to see how he would respond under these circumstances.


    Hearing the words of the Feng brothers and Bai Wuchen, Ye Chen merely raised his eyes slightly, his expression remaining utterly calm, but the words he spoke next left the entire crowd astonished.


    "Collect some interest? Show no mercy?"


    "I have even slain Heavenly Saint Divided Spirits!"


    "You three, what are you in comparison!"

 Chapter 317: Chapter 283 Earthquake

    ```


    Om!


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    Ye Chen''s unyielding words ignited the emotions of the onlookers in the square, and many even screamed in excitement.


    My God, facing three late-Rotating Pill Supreme Experts, three masters almost invincible in the Rotating Pill stage, Ye Chen actually dared to speak like this?!


    One must realize that these three masters were not ordinary late-rotating Pill phase practitioners at all¡ªtheir combined strength could absolutely surpass that of a hundred ordinary late-rotating Pill warriors!


    Even though Ye Chen had previously managed to fight a hundred by himself, everyone still believed that he didn''t stand much of a chance against such masters, after all, even if Ye Chen was incredibly powerful, he was merely in the mid-Spirit Sea Realm. How could he possibly defeat actual late-rotating Pill Supreme Experts?


    However, Ye Chen''s words shocked everyone.


    Ye Chen dared to speak like this, which obviously meant he had other methods yet to be used!


    It was clear that Ye Chen might be even more powerful than he had shown before and might even surpass everyone''s wildest imagination!


    A mid-Spirit Sea Realm Martial Artist who could suppress ordinary late-Rotating Pill practitioners was already shocking enough.


    If Ye Chen could also handle a late-Rotating Pill Supreme Expert, that would be far more than surprising¡ªit would force all the martial artists present to admit their inferiority!


    Even those in the Heavenly Saint Realm would likely pay great attention to Ye Chen!


    The onlookers screamed because of what Ye Chen mentioned about slaying a Heavenly Saint Divided Spirit. Hearing that Ye Chen had even interacted with a Heavenly Saint Divided Spirit, everyone grew even more curious about his methods.


    The onlookers in the square were immensely amazed by Ye Chen''s words, but Bai Wuchen, Feng Zimo, and Feng Zixu, who were actually facing Ye Chen, instantly became bloodshot with eyes blazing with brutal killing intent.


    As Supreme Experts of the late-rotating Pill wearing the "Three Apertures Rotating Pill," no one had dared to speak to them in such a manner!


    Now, Ye Chen''s words had truly enraged them.


    The trio, who were already not planning to let Ye Chen off, now felt an endless rage surging in their hearts.


    "Impudent boy, you actually dare to speak to us like this!"


    "You clearly have no idea what death is!"


    As they spoke, murderous intent bloomed in their eyes. Feng Zimo and Feng Zixu didn''t even leave Bai Wuchen to take the lead but attacked together with him. All three launched their attacks at Ye Chen simultaneously.


    It was in an instant that a boundless aura swept through everyone in the Southern Territory.


    All the Southern Territory martial artists who intended to help Ye Chen, even those in the mid-rotating Pill stage, were instantly immobilized, unable to move an inch.


    This was confinement by the Law Domain of the late-Rotating Pill Supreme Experts, which included three mystical laws'' binding powers. The people of the Southern Territory couldn''t resist it at all.


    While confining the Southern Territory fighters with the Law Domain, the vast Qi from Bai Wuchen, Feng Zimo, and Feng Zixu surged out like a storm. The terrifying Qi even tore through the void, creating rifts and emitting ear-piercing howls.


    Then, their terrifying strength burst forth, merging into the palms of their hands, transforming into three fearsome attacks that shattered the void and smashed toward Ye Chen almost instantly.


    One of these fearsome attacks was a claw strike from Bai Wuchen, which even formed a monstrous black claw spanning dozens of meters, reaching directly for Ye Chen''s head.


    The other two were attacks from the brothers Feng Zimo and Feng Zixu; the terrifying forces aimed at Ye Chen actually materialized into a black and white colossal bear just outside their bodies. These two colossal bears, each hundreds of meters tall, roared as they lunged at Ye Chen.


    Terrifying Black Claw!


    Colossal Bears!


    The attacks of the three late-Rotating Pill Supreme Experts enveloped the entire void, covering a hundred meters in radius, and in an instant, they bore down on Ye Chen.


    Wherever these three forces rampaged, the void of the square was completely torn apart, and the ground was as if slashed by a sharp blade, totally shattered. Finally, all the broken forces of the void and the debris of the earth mingled within the trio''s attacks, all pounding toward Ye Chen.


    This earth-shattering scene elicited gasps from all the onlooking martial artists, with many lower-leveled martial artists unconsciously retreating far away from the battlefield, and those higher-leveled martial artists watched intently without blinking.


    The killing moves of three late Rotating Pill Supreme Experts¡ªattacks that were practically equivalent to those from an invincible Rotating Pill warrior¡ªhow would Ye Chen defend?


    Just as countless gazes were fixed on those three terrible onslaughts, focused on Ye Chen, he moved.


    In an instant, a startling golden-white Qi erupted from Ye Chen.


    This mystical golden-white Qi soared into the sky, reaching hundreds of meters high, and as it shot upward, a massive divine beast projection of a White Tiger roaring to the heavens suddenly manifested around it.


    Projection of the Divine White Tiger!


    As the White Tiger roared, all the golden-white Qi around Ye Chen turned into sword blades, each flickering with a horrifying light of sword energy, as if Ye Chen''s whole body was enveloped in endless blades.


    This terrifying storm of sword blades rapidly coalesced into an immense storm of sword energy, towering three hundred meters high, which burst forth from Ye Chen and collided head-on with the attacks of Bai Wuchen, Feng Zimo, and Feng Zixu.


    Sword Formation, Death Storm!


    This is none other than the most powerful high-level Sword Formation that Ye Chen comprehended within the divine instrument "Falling Sword"¡ªthe Death Storm Sword Formation!


    This Sword Formation has definitely reached the level of a high-grade Heavenly combat technique. The force of each and every sword blade within the storm is a sort of Sword Formation killing power, and with hundreds of thousands of sword blades densely packed within the vast storm, it''s like an endless Sword Formation killing force, an endless Death Storm killing power!


    Ye Chen intended to use this most formidable high-level Sword Formation along with the great divine powers of his White Tiger mythical beast attack, as well as his Primordial Golden Elemental Energy, to confront the three great experts all at once!


    Above the plaza, amidst the battleground.


    One side saw the three Supreme Experts at the later stages of the Rotating Pill condense a terrifying black claw spanning dozens of meters and a black and white bear towering over a hundred meters, while the other side saw Ye Chen unleashing a terrifying sword blade storm that swept across everything.


    In the blink of an eye, amidst the shocked gazes of all the surrounding martial artists, it violently collided!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the moment of impact, the whole world resonated with thunderous explosions of Elemental Energy, which even spread throughout the entire plaza, and even surged towards the entirety of Great Yue City!


    Simultaneously, amidst the explosions of Elemental Energy, even more terrifying was the collision of four forces. All the onlooking martial artists saw Ye Chen''s terrifying sword blade storm instantly intertwine and grind against the fearsome black claw and the mighty power of the towering bear.


    This grinding caused even the void itself to tear apart repeatedly, emitting an ear-piercing cacophony of grinding sounds!


    In the end, all the grinding converged into a blinding flash of light and a massive force rebounded towards Ye Chen and the trio including Bai Wuchen.


    Ye Chen was pushed back dozens of meters by this force, while Bai Wuchen and his two companions were similarly repelled dozens of meters!


    As the four were pushed back by the terrifying force, the giant impact even tore apart the land of thousands of meters around the plaza!


    Above the skies, the sounds of Elemental Energy explosions resonated; on the ground, a swath of thousands of meters was torn asunder.


    This astonishing scene would likely have stunned countless Spirit Sea and Rotating Pill martial artists, yet all the onlookers paid no attention to the chaos of heaven and earth, instead, their eyes were all fixed on Ye Chen.


    One against three!


    All the martial artists exclaimed in disbelief, Ye Chen had actually managed to fend off the joint attack of three by himself!


    Whether it was Ye Chen''s terrifying golden white Elemental Energy, or the roaring phantom of the mythical tiger, or even the sword blade storm that engulfed heaven and earth, they all caused a moment of blankness in the minds of the countless martial artists.


    Ye Chen had employed several methods they had never seen before!


    But while these onlooking martial artists had yet to recover from their shock, something even more astonishing happened.


    Everyone saw that while Ye Chen, Bai Wuchen, Feng Zimo, and Feng Zixu were being blown back by the blast wave of Elemental Energy explosion, the stunningly beautiful girl beside Ye Chen moved.


    The people of Southern Territory had been immobilized by the Law Domain of the three late-stage Rotating Pill Supreme Experts, to the extent that even mid-stage Rotating Pill experts couldn''t move, but the stunningly beautiful girl beside Ye Chen seemed to be unaffected as she took flight.


    Everyone also heard the gentle yet shocking voice of the stunning girl as she took flight, "You three joined forces to attack Ye Chen, now it''s my turn to deal with you!"


    The voice was incredibly gentle but carried an alarming sense of calmness and confidence.


    Then, everyone saw the girl flying up into the void, her waterfall-like hair sweeping in the wind. As her hair fluttered, the girl''s fair fingers pointed towards the void in front of her.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Out of nowhere, as if summoning infinite strength, three azure lightning bolts, each several feet long, shot out explosively toward Bai Wuchen and his two companions.


    Although each of these azure lightning bolts was only several feet long and may not have seemed as fearsome as the prior attacks of Bai Wuchen''s trio, as these lightning bolts cleaved through the void, all the people on the plaza heard the thunderous sound of real thunder rolling in the Void Heaven above.


    These three-foot-long lightning bolts actually invoked the true thunder of Void Heaven!


    What was more bizarre was that these azure lightning bolts, as if encompassing the Space Law within them, bridged the distance in the void when shooting toward Bai Wuchen and his two companions. In less than a fraction of a blink of an eye, the bolts pierced right in front of the three.


    In that instant, Bai Wuchen and his two companions were thoroughly shocked. They didn''t even have time to react, only to feel a chilling sensation of death rising from all over their bodies. Then, they felt three forces penetrate their bodies.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    At the same time, an explosive sound burst forth from their bodies, which was clearly the sound of three high-grade defensive Treasure Instruments shattering.


    Everyone saw the flash of Treasure Instrument light on the bodies of Bai Wuchen''s trio flicker and extinguish, and then, amidst the shattering of the top-notch defensive Treasure Instruments, Bai Wuchen and his companions were struck by the remaining force of the azure lightning that had yet to be fully absorbed. They were blasted and spewed mouthfuls of blood before collapsing to the ground.


    One move!


    With just one move, the stunningly beautiful girl shattered the three high-grade defensive Treasure Instruments on Bai Wuchen and his companions and inflicted deep wounds on them!


    Seeing the girl hovering in the void with her hair flowing freely, all the onlookers exclaimed in disbelief, "Rotating Pill Invincible!"


    "This is the true Rotating Pill Invincible!"

 Chapter 318: Chapter 284: The Four Great Heavenly Saints

    Everyone had failed to anticipate that the stunningly beautiful girl by Ye Chen''s side could be so formidable!


    With True Qi at the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, she possessed the invincible combat power of the Rotating Pill Realm, sweeping away three late-stage masters of the "Three Apertures Rotating Pill" with a single move!


    What''s more, if not for the top-grade defensive Treasure Instruments these three were equipped with, shielding them, it''s feared that the beautiful girl''s move just now could have completely obliterated Bai Wuchen and the other two!


    To annihilate three late-stage masters of the Rotating Pill Realm with a single blow, isn''t that the epitome of invincibility in the Rotating Pill Realm?!


    Ye Chen, at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, had already astounded everyone by holding his own against the three late-stage powerhouses of the Rotating Pill Realm in a one versus three conflict¡ªand now, this strikingly beautiful girl, with whom Ye Chen shared an exceptionally close relationship, seemed even more formidable than Ye Chen himself!


    In an instant, Jiang Yao, suspended in the void, drew the gaze of all present. Continue your adventure at §Þ??


    Amidst all those eyes, a good distance from Jiang Yao, the girl in the pale purple robe with an egg-shaped face and a gentle demeanor, who had been observing Jiang Yao, now harbored profound agitation within her eyes, "Incredible."


    "She... she''s younger than me, yet her strength is so much greater than mine!"


    "Moreover, that move... it''s very similar to the ''Ice Lightning Slash'', a Divine Art used by my aunt when she took me through ''Mist Star Island''!"


    Thinking this, the girl in the lilac robe became even more excited, "It appears I truly need to seize the opportunity to get to know this girl¡ªshe might indeed have some connection to my aunt!"


    The girl in the lilac robe had her eyes shining brightly with excitement, and amongst the crowd, numerous hidden experts, including some real late-stage powerhouse of the Rotating Pill Realm who had flown to the arena upon hearing the battle, were all dumbfounded in the void.


    On the plaza, descriptions of the combatants of the "Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament" who made it onto the Spirit Leaderboard were announced, yet, there was no information about the strong contenders in the "Dragon Hidden List Tournament"; Heaven''s Secret Sect hadn''t released that list yet.


    Many who hoped to seize the top three spots in the Dragon Hidden List Tournament were still concealed among the crowd.


    But now, all those in hiding felt their hearts sink.


    Because the strength demonstrated by both the girl and Ye Chen sent shivers down everyone''s spines.


    One wielded the invincible combat power of the Rotating Pill Realm, while the other was verging on that invincibility.


    Just these two alone were definitely capable of competing with them for the top three spots of the Dragon Hidden List, and furthermore, the extraordinary ability of the beautiful girl seemed unmatched on the field; she was very likely to take first place in the Dragon Hidden List Tournament!


    Invincibility in the Rotating Pill Realm!


    This kind of existence was exceedingly rare; only second-tier sects like Heavenly Kui Sect had such beings in their ranks.


    In other sects, anyone with such potential would have long been invited by the roaming envoys of Heavenly Saint Sect, or sent by their own sects to the Heavenly Saint Sect, rather than waiting for an occasion like the two major events to make a name for themselves.


    Yet now, here in this plaza, they had witnessed a person with the invincible strength of the Rotating Pill Realm, who also happened to be a breathtakingly beautiful girl, which inevitably caused all present to inwardly feel astounded!


    Amid the complexity of thoughts from everyone, the views of the disciples from the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness were the most mixed.


    The Southern Territory disciples had hardly recovered from their exhilaration at Ye Chen''s display of power when the three mighty figures from the Western Wilderness arrived; they had been concerned about Ye Chen but unexpectedly, he managed to stand up to the three alone without losing ground!


    What came as an even greater surprise to them was the girl by Ye Chen''s side, who handled the exceptionally arrogant trio from the Western Wilderness without breaking a sweat!


    Ye Chen, it turned out, had such a formidable girl by his side!


    Jiang Yao?!


    The disciples from the Southern Territory recalled the name Ye Chen had called out, etching it deeply in their memories¡ªnot only because of the girl''s stunning beauty but even more so for her incredible martial strength!


    "Brother Ye Chen... is too impressive!"


    Among the people of the Southern Territory, the Shi Family brothers were filled with unstoppable admiration.


    They, of course, saw the intimate relationship between Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen was already powerful enough to earn their respect, and that Ye Chen also had the affection of such a powerful girl made the brothers envy him even more!


    By contrast, the Western Wilderness side, with all the Demon Sects disciples, found their spirits utterly deflated.


    They had originally believed they could easily crush the people of the Southern Territory, but an unanticipated Ye Chen emerged, repelling all their forces with his own strength.


    With great anticipation, they had awaited Bai Wuchen, the strongest of their cohort to come to the Central Region, accompanied by two equally formidable companions, thinking that Brother Bai and his trio could help them regain their lost honor.


    But to their dismay, Brother Bai and his group had also been defeated so miserably, even narrowly escaping death!


    This time, they had truly provoked someone formidable!


    All disciples from the Western Wilderness''s Demon Sects understood that with the beautiful girl''s invincible strength of the Rotating Pill Realm, any hope of turning the tables in their struggle against the Southern Territory was utterly dashed!


    While everyone grappled with their complex thoughts, Jiang Yao in the void once again fixed her gaze upon Bai Wuchen, Feng Zimo, and Feng Zixu.


    The murderous intent the trio previously directed at Ye Chen was something Jiang Yao could certainly feel.


    The girl knew of Ye Chen''s strength, so she wasn''t worried on his behalf, but she found the trio''s ill intent towards Ye Chen intolerable!


    They might have resisted her attack with their defensive Treasure Instruments, but Jiang Yao had no intention of sparing these three and nurturing future threats.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    In an instant, Jiang Yao''s fair fingers moved slightly, and three ice-blue bolts of lightning formed once again at her fingertips, promptly launching towards those three.


    Clearly, Jiang Yao was about to use the same Divine Art as before to deal with Bai Wuchen and the others!


    The moment the ice-blue lightning shot out from Jiang Yao''s fingertips, Bai Wuchen''s face ashened as if he had seen a ghost. He had no more aces up his sleeve, and facing the Rotating Pill girl''s lethal move, if struck again, he was certain to die!


    His companions, Feng Zimo and Feng Zixu, were even more terrified.


    They never expected to stir up such trouble; now both deeply regretted involving themselves in the conflict between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness and invoking such a disaster.


    Their two supreme defensive Treasure Instruments had shattered and saved their lives. Now, faced with Jiang Yao''s second attack, they would have to use their last resort to survive!


    Thinking of the preciousness of their trump card, their hearts were filled with immense pain and reluctance, but Jiang Yao''s ice-blue lightning strike was upon them again, and they had no choice but to use it!


    Whoosh!


    Just as Jiang Yao''s ice-blue lightning strike was piercing through the void and closing in on Bai Wuchen''s group, during the Demon Sect disciples'' horrified screams, and as many warriors closed their eyes in anticipation, Feng Zimo suddenly slapped his Storage Waist Belt. In an instant, a small talisman paper shot out from his body.


    The very moment the talisman paper shot out, it rapidly expanded to dozens of feet in length. In the blink of an eye, it surged with the formidable power of the Heavenly Saint, instantly blocking Jiang Yao''s continued attack.


    At the same time, the talisman paper imbued with the power of the Heavenly Saint radiated dazzling light, casting a peculiar Heavenly Saint Law Light into the sky.


    Warriors familiar with this light screamed upon seeing the talisman: "Heavenly Saint Decree! The Feng brothers are about to summon a Heavenly Saint''s projection!"


    Boom!


    Amid the screaming crowd, the peculiar law light shot from the void revealed an elderly figure. This elder stepped out from the projection of the Heavenly Saint Law Light and arrived before the trio of Feng Zimo, Feng Zixu, and Bai Wuchen.


    Those who recognized the elder exclaimed: "''Heavenly Saint Wutuo'', it''s the ''Heavenly Saint Wutuo'' from the Heavenly Kui Sect!"


    As "Heavenly Saint Wutuo" descended before the Feng brothers, Ye Chen too flickered through the void, reaching Jiang Yao''s side.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected the two brothers to have a Heavenly Saint''s projection at their disposal, let alone to have invoked a Heavenly Saint.


    When Heavenly Saint Wutuo descended before the Feng brothers and started inquiring about the situation, the entire square fell deathly silent.


    A Heavenly Saint indeed!


    Those in the square, all being of the Rotating Pill Realm and Spirit Sea Realm, were naturally shaken to the core by the presence of a Heavenly Saint.


    Everyone had not anticipated that a minor skirmish between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness would grow increasingly complex, drawing in not only the supreme Rotating Pill fighters but even a Heavenly Saint.


    "Calling upon a Heavenly Saint suggests that the ''Heavenly Saint Wutuo'' must have some significant connection with the Feng brothers."


    "If the Heavenly Saint takes a stand for the Feng brothers, then Ye Chen and that girl are sure to be at a disadvantage!"


    Many bystanders murmured to themselves.


    "Brother Wutuo, weren''t you cultivating at the Heavenly Kui Sect? What brings you all the way here?"


    While everyone was uncertain about how the situation would unfold, laughter echoed once more from the void. Following that, three more Heavenly Saints flew towards the square.


    Three more Heavenly Saints have arrived!


    Clearly, these three Heavenly Saints had been nearby in the Immense Mountain Great Yue City, and they had descended upon this location because of "Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s" appearance.


    In this square, four Heavenly Saints had suddenly arrived!


    And from the looks of it, these three archaic Heavenly Saints seemed to be well-acquainted, perhaps even close to "Heavenly Saint Wutuo."


    This tightened the grip Ye Chen had on Jiang Yao''s hand.


    "Heavenly Saint Wutuo" had just finished telepathically inquiring about the matter from the Feng Clan brothers when he sensed the other three Heavenly Saints approaching. Raising his head, he saw them and laughed: "Ah, it''s the ''Three Saints of Mantuo Mountain''. My two disciples used a Heavenly Saint Decree to seek my arrival here.


    I had promised to save them thrice; this is the third Decree, so I decided to come have a look."


    "Heavenly Saint Decree? These young fellows must be quite favored by you, Brother Wutuo, for you to have left them with a Heavenly Saint Decree," said the "Three Saints of Mantuo Mountain" as they descended and spoke to Heavenly Saint Wutuo with a smile.


    The conversation between the four Heavenly Saints brought an eerie silence to the field, with only the four of them chatting and laughing.


    However, the spectators all knew that the current situation put tremendous pressure on the side of the Southern Territory where Ye Chen stood.


    When the four Heavenly Saints ceased their conversation and turned their gaze to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao in the center, everyone held their breath even tighter.


    Soon, they would learn how these several Heavenly Saints would deal with Ye Chen and the girl beside him, as well as the entire Southern Territory.


    "Truly young prodigies, you two youngsters possess such combat strength at your age, truly remarkable!"


    Heavenly Saint Wutuo smiled as he spoke to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    But as soon as he finished his sentence, his expression darkened: "However, you''ve been excessively rough with my sect''s disciples, haven''t you?"

 Chapter 319: Chapter 285 Confrontation

    Whoosh!


    The words of Heavenly Saint Wutuo stirred up a series of hushed and chaotic murmurs in the square.


    It was clear to everyone that Heavenly Saint Wutuo was going to stand up for the Feng Brothers.


    "Huff..."


    The words of Heavenly Saint Wutuo also allowed Feng Zimo and Feng Zixu to breathe a sigh of relief.


    The brothers were somewhat uncertain about Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s temperament. They owed their possession of Wutuo''s Heavenly Saint Decrees to a cousin who practiced at the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Although that cousin barely tended to their affairs, he was a disciple of the first temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and a peerless talent with a great chance of advancing to the Heavenly Saint Realm. His future achievements might even surpass Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s.


    That was why Heavenly Saint Wutuo treated the Feng Brothers so specially, leaving them with three Heavenly Saint Decrees, declaring he would save them three times.


    And the reason the Feng Brothers knew Bai Wuchen from the top ten demonic sects of the Western Wilderness, and were willing to get involved in the affairs of the Western Wilderness, was because of their cousin "Feng Zili," who was good friends with "Yin Qianjue," the strongest practitioner from the top ten demonic sects in the first temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    No one knew that the conflict between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness had escalated to the current point partly because of the two talented disciples of the first temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, "Feng Zili" and "Yin Qianjue"!


    The stance taken by Heavenly Saint Wutuo relieved the Feng Brothers, as well as Bai Wuchen and the disciples of the Western Wilderness demonic sects, who had been on edge.


    With a Heavenly Saint backing them, they no longer needed to fear facing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen hadn''t joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace yet and therefore did not know about the matters concerning "Feng Zili" and "Yin Qianjue."


    At this moment, facing Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s words and the other three Heavenly Saints who stood by his side, smiling and watching the spectacle with folded arms, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao showed no signs of cowardice.


    Side by side, hand in hand, they faced the four Heavenly Saints together.


    Ye Chen even responded, "Heavy-handed against them? It was they who interfered in the struggle between my Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness and joined Bai Wuchen in an assassination attempt against me. How did it turn into us being heavy-handed?"


    "Heavenly Saint, is this how unreasonable you can be?"


    Buzz!


    Ye Chen''s words caused a moment of astonishment among the surrounding warriors engaged in discussion.


    They didn''t expect that even in the face of four Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen wouldn''t beg for mercy but would still dare to argue his case.


    But Heavenly Saints were not known for reasoning with juniors!


    Indeed, as everyone had anticipated, the gleam in Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s eyes intensified upon hearing Ye Chen''s words: "What an articulate young man. Don''t you know how to show respect in the presence of a Heavenly Saint?"


    "Do you really think that with the power of the Rotating Pill, you can act so insolently?"


    Whoosh!


    Without taking physical action, the immense presence of Heavenly Saint Wutuo surged directly towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    He aimed to directly suppress them with his Heavenly Saint pressure.


    The moment Wutuo''s Heavenly Saint pressure was unleashed, the Heavenly Saint Law Bead on Ye Chen''s body glimmered, and a torrent of Heavenly Saint power was released, enveloping him and Jiang Yao with its protection.


    "Planning to make a move?"


    "So this is how unreasonable a Heavenly Saint can be!"


    Whoosh!


    Simultaneously with the release of the Heavenly Saint Law Bead, Ye Chen''s wrist shook, sending the Sacred Artifact "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror", which he had obtained from Heavenly Saint Moya, flying out.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the instant the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror" blasted out, five Combat Puppets infused with Heavenly Saint power appeared alongside Ye Chen!


    During this time, Ye Chen had been nurturing the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror" within the "Eight Extremes Map," fully restoring its power.


    The Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror, a Sacred Artifact, could unleash its strongest power by firing the most powerful combat puppets infused with Heavenly Saint power.


    Though these Heavenly Saint power combat puppets could still not overcome a presence from the Heavenly Saint Realm, with these puppets, Ye Chen could hold off Heavenly Saint Wutuo for a moment.


    As Ye Chen unleashed Heavenly Saint power, Jiang Yao''s beautiful eyes were fixed on the other three Heavenly Saints beside Wutuo.


    "Do you also intend to join him in suppressing Ye Chen and me?"


    "Today, we may not be able to best you, but if you really wish to oppress us because you are in the Heavenly Saint Realm, then one day, I will personally come to settle the score with you!"


    Boom!


    As Jiang Yao spoke, her waist-length hair began to fiercely grow longer!


    Ye Chen unleashed Heavenly Saint power and combat puppets to fend off Heavenly Saint Wutuo, while Jiang Yao stood ground against the other three great Heavenly Saints.


    Watching the two young champions undaunted by the four great Heavenly Saints, everyone present tightened their breath.


    If it was any of them facing four Heavenly Saints, they would likely be scared stiff by now!


    "Ah, such grandeur from an early-stage Heavenly Saint realm being! If there truly is a move against this sister, I, ''Liu Qingmei,'' would like to assist her."


    Just as the stand-off intensified, another figure soared into the air from one side of the square and flew toward Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    This figure was none other than the oval-faced girl with a refined temperament in light purple garments, who had been paying attention to Jiang Yao.


    This girl, having noticed some inexplicable connection with Jiang Yao, of course wouldn''t let her and Ye Chen face the crisis alone.


    "Liu Qingmei?"


    Hearing the self-introduction of this young girl, everyone thought of a name on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking.


    Was she the girl from the Eastern Polar Star Archipelago, ranked among the top six hot contenders for the championship¡ªLiu Qingmei?


    Everyone''s gaze turned towards this young girl, even Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, as well as the four Heavenly Saints, were drawn to her.


    Only in the late stage of Spiritual Sea cultivation?


    There was actually another girl who dared to defy a Heavenly Saint!


    Many spectators were surprised once again after seeing the light purple-clad Ye Qingmei''s aura.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, also somewhat taken aback.


    They didn''t expect that this girl, whom they didn''t know at all, would speak out to help them.


    And, listening to this girl''s tone, it sounded as if she didn''t care about the four Great Heavenly Saints of the early Heavenly Saint Realm at all.


    It wasn''t until Liu Qingmei flew next to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, and nodded with a smile at Jiang Yao, that the two of them still hadn''t figured out the reason why this girl was helping them.


    "This matter arose because of us, if you want to deal with Ye Chen, then face us first!"


    "Yes, we may not be able to defeat the Heavenly Saints, but we will definitely not beg for mercy!"


    Following Liu Qingmei''s stand, the Shi Family''s three brothers from the Southern Territory, as if stimulated, also stood up and raised their voices.


    "And us!"


    "What''s so great about Heavenly Saints? If they really intend to use their power to bully others, one day, our Heavenly Saint Long Xuan from the Southern Territory will definitely come to demand an explanation from you all!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The warriors from the Southern Territory all stood up.


    Seeing one figure after another standing up, Heavenly Saint Wutuo and the other three Great Heavenly Saints narrowed their eyes.


    Although they didn''t take these people seriously, the power of the Heavenly Saint Puppet and the Heavenly Saint Law Bead released by Ye Chen had to be taken seriously, suggesting that behind Ye Chen was definitely a Heavenly Saint.


    Enjoy new adventures from §Þ??


    There was also Jiang Yao, the stunningly beautiful girl next to Ye Chen.


    When Jiang Yao spoke those words to the three Great Heavenly Saints, they were all alarmed, sensing from the girl''s eyes that if they really helped Wutuo, they would definitely incur troubles they couldn''t handle!


    A girl in her late Spiritual Sea stage, with the bone age of seventeen, already possessed the invincible strength of the Rotating Pill, which spoke volumes to the three Great Heavenly Saints.


    And this girl named Liu Qingmei, who dared to speak out while Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were under pressure by the four Great Heavenly Saints, indicated that she too must have a strong backing.


    Originally, Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s group, who clearly had the upper hand in momentum, now felt hesitant to make any rash moves under these circumstances.


    Even after hesitating for a few breaths, the three Great Heavenly Saints from Mantuoshan seemed to be making excuses when they directly said to Jiang Yao and Ye Chen, "We just came to meet with Brother Wutuo, and had no intention of meddling in your affairs. Whether or not to deal with these youngsters is up to you, Brother Wutuo. We won''t get involved."


    A show of weakness!


    The words of the three Great Heavenly Saints took the onlooking crowd by surprise.


    They clearly perceived the reticence and desire to avoid conflict in the hearts of these three Great Heavenly Saints!


    Jiang Yao, with just a single statement, had forced the three Great Heavenly Saints to not dare take a stand!


    The words of the three Great Heavenly Saints caused Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s expression to change dramatically; he hadn''t expected things to turn out this way.


    Just when Heavenly Saint Wutuo was in a difficult position, another voice from the sky made him truly panic.


    This voice was immensely enchanting, yet carried the temperament of a true superior: "I''ve only left for a short while, and someone dares to make a move against our people from Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "Although Heavenly Sacred Palace does not interfere with conflicts in the Barbarian Wilderness, however, if you really want to go against Ye Chen and my sister Jiang Yao, you should ask me, the Envoy, first!"


    The moment that enchanting voice sounded, a beautiful girl with long legs and a curvaceous figure appeared from the vast mountain ranges in the far sky and, within a few flashes, was instantly above the plaza.


    This person was none other than the Envoy of Heavenly Sacred Palace, Mu Qingqing.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As soon as Mu Qingqing appeared, not less than ten waves of movement emerged simultaneously in the void, and finally, fifteen Heavenly Saint figures all arrived explosively following Mu Qingqing.


    "Qingqing!"


    "It''s really you!"


    "Qingqing, how is Elder Mu? Will he be attending the two grand events this time?"


    When these fifteen Heavenly Saints arrived, they all greeted Mu Qingqing with bright smiles!


    Among these fifteen Heavenly Saints, there were even two who were in the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Yet Mu Qingqing didn''t pay attention to these Heavenly Saints and went straight to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Ye Chen."


    "Sister Jiang Yao."


    "Are you both alright?"


    Mu Qingqing looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with concern, and upon seeing them shake their heads, she then curiously glanced at Liu Qingmei, who was standing by their side.


    Then, Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes directly faced Heavenly Saint Wutuo.

 Chapter 320: Chapter 286: The End and the Beginning

    Under the intense gaze of Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes, and seeing the fifteen Heavenly Saints behind her¡ªespecially the existence of two mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses¡ªHeavenly Saint Wutuo was completely petrified with fear.


    On his side, previously there had been four Heavenly Saints suppressing Ye Chen''s group.


    Who would have thought that three Heavenly Saints would be directly deterred by Jiang Yao, leaving only him.


    Now, the other party had suddenly shown up with more than a dozen Heavenly Saints, their momentum even greater than his was earlier!


    What''s more, this girl who had just flown in even mentioned the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Envoy!


    This girl, she''s the Envoy of the Heavenly Sacred Palace?


    Qing?


    Mu?


    Thinking of the names the Heavenly Saints used for this girl, thinking of the Heavenly Saints consulting this girl about the matters of a senior with the surname Mu, an inexplicable horror filled Heavenly Saint Wutuo''s heart.


    Could it be that this girl is related to that powerful being of the Heavenly Sacred Palace?


    Heavenly Saint Wutuo surely knew that among the strongest trio in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, one bore the surname Mu!


    There must be a connection!


    This girl must be related to that senior with the surname Mu!


    Otherwise, it would be impossible for mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses to be so ingratiating towards this girl!


    Thinking of that legendary senior with the surname Mu, Heavenly Saint Wutuo felt his scalp tingle.


    He never would have imagined that an issue between him and two younger generations would lead to the intervention of the Envoy from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and this Envoy wasn''t just any ordinary one but was connected to a truly powerful being of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Now Heavenly Saint Wutuo finally understood why both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, so young in age, possessed such extraordinary combat powers.


    It turned out that both of them were disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and were so highly regarded within it!


    When Heavenly Saint Wutuo first arrived, he had only heard that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were from the Southern Territory and had then targeted the two, never realizing that the Heavenly Sacred Palace was involved.


    The Feng Clan brothers never mentioned to him that the two were disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Thinking of this, Heavenly Saint Wutuo glared fiercely at the Feng Clan brothers and cursed inwardly, realizing he was in big trouble!


    The Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Of course, he wouldn''t dare to provoke it.


    He was merely an early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm cultivator; any Heavenly Saint from the sacred mountain of the Heavenly Sacred Palace was stronger than him, let alone having a connection to that overwhelmingly strong senior with the surname Mu from the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    If he truly angered that senior with the surname Mu, a hundred of him wouldn''t be able to withstand that senior''s wrath!


    In the end, even Heavenly Saint Wutuo couldn''t help but lower his head towards Mu Qingqing, his words coming out hesitant and stumbling, "Envoy... Envoy My Lord..."


    The sudden arrival of Mu Qingqing not only terrified Heavenly Saint Wutuo.


    The brothers of the Feng Clan, and even the entire group led by Bai Wuchen from the Western Wilderness, were utterly petrified.


    They had never seen so many Heavenly Saints descend at once, let alone the presence of two mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses in this place.


    The Envoy of the Heavenly Sacred Palace?


    They, unlike Heavenly Saint Wutuo, were aware of Ye Chen''s background; they knew he had recently joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, to them, weren''t too frightening. Continue your saga on §Þ??


    After all, they similarly knew the real geniuses of the first sacred hall of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and had significant connections with them.


    But what they didn''t expect was that the Envoy of the Heavenly Sacred Palace would care so much about Ye Chen, even going so far as to stand up for him!


    And furthermore, she was able to gather more than a dozen Heavenly Saints to this place.


    And it looked like these dozen or so Heavenly Saints were all eager to please the Envoy!


    A dozen Heavenly Saints eager to please the Envoy!


    Without having to think, one would know this Envoy had an extraordinary background!


    Thinking of the troubles that Ye Chen''s offending of this Envoy might bring, Bai Wuchen and the others were already on the verge of fainting from fear.


    The other martial artists in the square felt their thoughts couldn''t keep up with the developments.


    The small skirmish between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness had escalated to this level, something nobody had anticipated.


    Not only had it involved the strongest combat power of the rotating pill, the invincible combat power of the rotating pill, but also the Heavenly Saints, and now even an Envoy and a mid-stage existence of the Heavenly Saint Realm had arrived here!


    Everyone looked toward Mu Qingqing, who had suddenly appeared, to see what the final situation would be.


    In the end, after Mu Qingqing''s eyes had swept over the crowd, she looked directly at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Ye Chen, Sister Jiang Yao, what exactly happened? Is there anything that needs my attention?"


    ...


    Higher up in the false heavens.


    What nobody knew was that a powerful being was watching everyone in the square, including Jiang Yao, Ye Chen, and Mu Qingqing.


    This being was none other than Palace Master Yuan Li, the strongest of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, who had left for the Tai''a Sword Sect and then followed Ye Chen and Jiang Yao all the way to Immeasurable Mountain.


    A certain ''Mu'' senior had already scared the likes of Heavenly Saint Wutuo stiff.


    If they knew that while they were preparing to attack Jiang Yao, Palace Master Yuan Li in the false heavens was ready to make an appearance, and it was only Mu Qingqing''s eventual arrival that made Palace Master Yuan Li choose not to show herself, continuing to silently protect Jiang Yao and observe her and Ye Chen, these people would probably faint on the spot from fright!


    "This Ye Chen, indeed not bad; courage, insight, and will all very strong. Facing Heavenly Saints without a shred of fear, his talent and combat abilities are also quite extraordinary," noted Palace Master Yuan Li as she looked at Ye Chen beside Jiang Yao and nodded.


    "Since Qing has invited them to the Heavenly Sacred Palace this time, I don''t need to make my presence known deliberately."


    "I''ll use the upcoming two grand events to bring them into the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "However," Palace Master Yuan Li looked at Jiang Yao and Ye Chen''s closely held hands and smiled gently, "I''m afraid even the real phoenix senior doesn''t know that Princess Yao has already taken a liking to someone, and cares so much for this Ye Chen. From Princess Yao''s expression just now, I''m afraid if Wutuo truly dared to make a move, she would really fight alongside Ye Chen to the death."


    After a gentle smile and a few words to herself, Palace Master Yuan Li once again disappeared into the false heavens.


    Her movements, unknown to anyone, not even the two mid-stage Heavenly Saints in the square.


    ...


    While Palace Master Yuan Li was observing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the arrival of Mu Qingqing finally brought the conflict in the square to an end.


    The root of this fight lay in the disciples of the Western Wilderness using their numbers to first oppress and provoke the disciples from the Southern Territory.


    In the end, without exception, all the disciples from the Western Wilderness, including Bai Wuchen, were forced by Ye Chen to make a vow of the heart not to initiate hostility against the Southern Territory!


    As for the Feng Clan brothers, Ye Chen didn''t pursue the matter further. However, it was clear that after causing such a loss of face for Heavenly Saint Wutuo, their return to the Heavenly Kui Sect wouldn''t be easy.


    After all was settled, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao chatted with the arriving Heavenly Saints for a while, bid farewell to the disciples from the Southern Territory, and left the square with Mu Qingqing.


    Although they left and the dispute was resolved, the events that transpired in the square spread like wildfire, leaving the square, out of Great Yue City, and throughout the entirety of the Immeasurable Mountain region.


    In the end, everyone knew that in these two great events, two incredible geniuses had come, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, capable of overpowering the strongest of the rotating pill geniuses!


    Even on the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking in the square, Ye Chen''s ranking was adjusted from sixth among the six top contenders to first.


    And Jiang Yao, though she had not used sword techniques, her feat of injuring three of the strongest from the rotating pill greatly impressed the Heavenly Machine Sect, which also placed her among the favorites to win the championship, making her another girl who was greatly anticipated at the sword fighting tournament following Liu Qingmei!


    In the midst of endless discussions, three days passed in the blink of an eye.


    That day, the much-anticipated Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament finally began!

 Chapter 321: Chapter 287: Immeasurable Peak

    "The Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Competition is finally going to begin!"


    Early in the morning on the day the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Competition was to start, from within a sealed cave in a remote mountainous area of Immeasurable Mountain, there came a low murmur.


    Then, with a "boom", the sealing array outside the cave shattered into pieces, and a young man with long black hair strode out.


    After coming out of the cave, the young man in black gazed toward the direction of the highest peak of Immeasurable Mountain, then he lowered his head to look at the palm of his right hand.


    The moment he lowered his head, a vibrant blue sword light suddenly appeared in the palm of his hand, which had been empty before. As the blue sword light appeared, all the true qi of heaven and earth within hundreds of yards around where the young man stood started to pulsate wildly.


    Eventually, even the mighty trees withered instantaneously, but the blue sword light in the youth''s hand became even more intense!


    "Three years and five months!"


    "Finally, I ''Mo Beiling'' have touched upon a level that transcends the Sword Intent and have cultivated the ¡ª Law Sword Seed!"


    "With the ''Law Sword Seed'', once I break through to the Rotating Pill Realm, I will be able to fuse the five great Void Heaven Laws into my Law Sword Seed and cultivate my very own ''Law Sword Domain''!"


    "Sword Intent, Law Sword Seed, Law Sword Domain, these three layers of the Sword Path, can only cultivate the first two layers before stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Yet among the countless Spirit Sea Realm sword cultivators, not many have comprehended the ''Law Sword Seed'' while still in the Spirit Sea Realm; the majority are still cultivating their Sword Intent and the Sword Formations within it!"


    "Last time, I lost to ''Fang Luohan'' because I was defeated by a high-level Sword Formation, but this time, having comprehended the ''Law Sword Seed'', I will definitely be able to defeat him when we meet again!"


    "In the many years of competition among the Spirit Sea sword cultivators, it''s been many years since someone has comprehended the ''Law Sword Seed'', This time, I will definitely claim the championship at the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Competition and avenge my previous defeat by ''Fang Luohan''!"


    After murmuring to himself, the young man in black grabbed with his right hand, and the vibrant blue sword light disappeared into the center of his palm. Then, with a move of his body, he shot towards the highest peak of Immeasurable Mountain.


    From the self-murmuring of the young man in black, it could be heard that he was none other than Mo Beiling, the favorite to win the championship among those listed in the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking, who came from the third-grade sword sect ''Nan Cang Sword Sect'' of the Great Zhou Dynasty.


    After being defeated by Fang Luohan, a disciple of another third-grade sword sect, Mo Beiling secluded himself to comprehend sword intent. No one would have imagined that he would comprehend a higher level of the sword path that transcended sword intent ¡ª the Law Sword Seed!


    ...


    In the west of Great Yue City, atop a vast building, two young men holding treasured swords stood facing each other.


    They weren''t circulating any techniques, but the overwhelming sword intent was involuntarily bursting out from within them.


    These two youths, one wielding an extremely thin narrow sword and the other a thick, heavy black sword.


    Like their swords, one of the men was thin while the other was robust and brawny.


    The robust youth spoke to the thin one, "Lu Xiaojia senior brother, you haven''t accepted my challenge for years. At this Sword Fighting Competition, you will have to fight me, right?"


    "Rumor has it that you''ve cultivated a high-level Sword Formation, and that you possess eighteen kinds, with some reaching the high grade of the Heavenly Tier. I really want to see how powerful your high-level Sword Formation is!"


    The thin youth glanced at the brawny one, smiled noncommittally, and said, "Luohan junior brother, my opponent this time isn''t you, but a young man whose reputation has skyrocketed in the past few days."


    "A young man whose reputation has skyrocketed?" The brawny youth was startled, then instantly realized, "Are you talking about Ye Chen, who recently joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace, senior brother Lu Xiaojia?"


    The thin youth nodded but did not say anything more. Instead, he started flying into the air, "Let''s go. The Sword Fighting Competition is about to begin. We have to head to ''Immeasurable Peak'' now."


    After the thin youth took off, the robust one also rose into the air, following the figure ahead towards the highest peak of Immeasurable Mountain, Immeasurable Peak.


    Those who recognized them would surely know.


    This thin youth was none other than Lu Xiaojia, who was previously the top favorite to win the championship according to the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking, from the third-grade sword sect "Tian Kun Sword Sect" of the Great Xia Dynasty!


    And the robust youth facing him was none other than Fang Luohan, the one who had defeated Mo Beiling, from the third-grade sword sect "Bei Cang Sword Sect" of the Great Zhou Dynasty!


    ...


    Immeasurable Peak, the highest peak in the Immeasurable Mountain region.


    It is also where the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Competition has been held for many years!


    As Mo Beiling, Lu Xiaojia, Fang Luohan, and other favorites to win the championship flew towards Immeasurable Peak, the entire mountainside of Immeasurable Peak was already densely packed with people.


    Not only at the mountainside but even in the void surrounding the peak, one could see Spirit Sea Rotating Pill martial artists everywhere.


    The Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Tournament was about to begin, with many people already arriving early at this mountain peak. At this time, tens of thousands had gathered around Immeasurable Peak!


    Among them, there were those who were to participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Tournament, and even more were sword cultivators who had come to watch this millennial event. Many others were waiting for the Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Tournament to end so they could take part in another competition, "Hidden Dragon Ranking," for the strong contenders of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Several Heavenly Saints had even arrived early, sitting cross-legged in the void high above!


    At this moment, within the countless crowds, a girl dressed in light purple clothing, Liu Qingmei, was looking in the direction of Great Yue City: "In these three days, Ye Chen and Sister Jiang Yao still need to intensify their cultivation. The Sword-fighting Tournament is about to start, and they haven''t arrived yet!"


    "So talented, yet they still cultivate so diligently, no wonder they''re so powerful!"


    Liu Qingmei smiled gently.


    "Sister Jiang Yao kept asking me why I would stand up to help her, perhaps after the Sword-fighting Tournament officially starts, she might be able to see the reason."


    "They''re close to invincible below the Heavenly Saints in terms of comprehensive strength, but this Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Tournament is only a contest of swordsmanship. I hope they won''t disappoint me this time in their swordsmanship achievements."


    Liu Qingmei murmured to herself, while in her storage ring, a snow-white treasured sword also hummed softly.


    ...


    Lu Xiaojia, Fang Luohan, Mo Beiling, Liu Qingmei...


    One by one, the hot favorites from the Sword Fighting Spirit Ranking had all gathered in Immeasurable Peak.


    And as warriors from the Southern Lands, the Western Desolate, Polar Star Archipelago, and the warriors from the Extreme North arrived one after another, Immeasurable Peak became increasingly bustling.


    When sects from the Central Region, those ranked fourth and fifth, particularly the immensely powerful third-ranked sects arrived, Immeasurable Peak was completely lively!


    Everyone was waiting, waiting for the half hour to pass and for the Spirit Sea Realm Sword-fighting Tournament to begin, anticipating the arrival of the strong contenders who would host the tournament and the people from Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    At this time, in an inn in Great Yue City.


    Mu Qingqing and Jiang Yao were both waiting outside a room in the inn.


    "Sister Jiang Yao, you have completed your cultivation, why hasn''t Ye Chen come out yet? The Sword-fighting Tournament is about to start." Mu Qingqing said to Jiang Yao anxiously.


    Jiang Yao smiled gently, "Don''t worry, Ye Chen sent a message the day before yesterday saying he would come out on time. In the past two days, he seemed to have entered a wonderful state of enlightenment."


    "A wonderful state of enlightenment?" Mu Qingqing''s eyes lit up, "Ye Chen''s already so powerful, and he''s still enlightening; could it be that in these short two or three days of cultivation, he could have a great breakthrough?"


    "I don''t know." Jiang Yao shook her head with a smile, "All I know is that even though you scared away that Uto Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen and I are somewhat discontented. We don''t want to be oppressed by the Heavenly Saints forever, so we''re also eagerly cultivating these days. Maybe those few confrontations in the square with the people from Western Desolate gave Ye Chen some enlightenment."


    As Mu Qingqing and Jiang Yao conversed softly, the door of the room behind them creaked open.


    "Has Ye Chen finished cultivating?"


    Hearing the sound of the door opening behind her, both Jiang Yao and Mu Qingqing were overjoyed and turned around to look.


    To their surprise, they saw the door wide open; inside, Ye Chen was smiling faintly at them.


    "Ye Chen!" Seeing that Ye Chen really had finished his cultivation, Jiang Yao ran towards Ye Chen happily.


    Mu Qingqing also pursed her rosy lips and said with a soft laugh to Ye Chen, "I thought you wouldn''t come out and were going to miss the Sword-fighting Tournament."


    "The Sword-fighting Tournament?"


    "I can''t miss that."


    Ye Chen smiled, looking up towards the Immeasurable Mountain Range outside Great Yue City, towards the highest peak of Immeasurable Mountain, barely visible in the distance.


    "Let''s go, I''ve just completed my cultivation, yet I inexplicably feel that this Sword-fighting Tournament might just bring some surprising accidents that''ll be quite a delight!"

 Chapter 322: Chapter 288 Void Heaven Sword Valley

    When Ye Chen arrived at Immeasurable Peak with Jiang Yao and Mu Qingqing, there were already over a hundred thousand people gathered around!


    A hundred thousand people.


    Even though Immeasurable Peak towered several thousand feet high, a huge mountain spanning the earth and piercing the sky, the mountain peak and the space around it were densely packed with figures.


    Among these figures, there were over seventy thousand martial artists at the Spirit Sea Realm alone, and even more¡ªforty to fifty thousand¡ªat the Rotating Pill Realm; there were even over thirty Heavenly Saints present!


    Just one glance at the number of powerful figures gathered was astonishing, not to mention the suffocating aura emanated by each of them.


    Even Ye Chen and Jiang Yao couldn''t help marveling at the sight of so many powerful figures converging around Immeasurable Peak.


    The millennium gathering!


    Indeed, it was the millennium gathering!


    The two grand events organized by the Heavenly Sacred Palace had drawn countless martial artists from the Central Domain, the Southern Territory, the Western Wilderness, the outer islands of the Eastern Star Region, and the Northern Ice Palace''s snowy plains, truly deserving of the title ''Monstrous Gathering''.


    Countless martial artists might not witness such a grand gathering in their lifetimes, let alone participate in it.


    Being able to come to Immeasurable Mountain and witness such a grand occasion firsthand, even if many didn''t participate or didn''t achieve good results, it would still be worth treasuring immensely.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao watched the teeming figures all around the mountain, listened to the roiling clamor, and thought of the two grand events that were about to take place, a feeling of excitement stirring within them at the thought of truly matching skills with countless martial artists.


    After taking a deep breath, the two flew up with Mu Qingqing, heading towards the expanse of space above Immeasurable Peak.


    As Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Mu Qingqing flew toward the airspace above Immeasurable Mountain, they attracted a lot of attention. When people began to recognize their identities, even more eyes gathered upon the trio.


    At that moment, Ye Chen was dressed in light blue robes, his figure tall and lean, hair cascading down his back, brows like swords and eyes like stars, but it was the transcendent confidence and grace he carried that made countless young female martial artists below scream in admiration!


    Mu Qingqing and Jiang Yao, who were accompanying Ye Chen, also attracted numerous gazes.


    Mu Qingqing, wearing a suit of tight emerald garments, accentuated her straight legs, making them appear even more well-rounded and shapely. Looking upward, one could see her slender, sexy waist, her full and enticing bosom, and her swan-like, elegant snow-white neck. Especially those charming and cunning eyes set in her exquisitely beautiful face¡ªthey made it hard for one to look away.


    Mu Qingqing was already a girl of astonishing beauty, but when many eyes drifted to Jiang Yao in her white dress next to Mu Qingqing, a gasp of astonishment rose from deep within them.


    Jiang Yao did not possess the coquettish allure of Mu Qingqing, but her ethereal, tranquil elegance was even more captivating. Not even Mu Qingqing could compare to Jiang Yao''s visage; in her presence, she seemed to pale somewhat.


    Her exquisitely delicate face was free of blemish, skin like snow, a noble nose, rosy lips, and cheeks adorned with faint dimples, all emanating breathtaking beauty. Especially her faint brows, long eyelashes, and those starry, brightly sparkling eyes were mesmerizing.


    Seeing Mu Qingqing, and then Jiang Yao, and then Ye Chen beside the two stunning girls, many people felt immense envy for Ye Chen.


    Having one such beautiful girl by one''s side was already the envy of many; two of such beauty, especially the most beautiful Jiang Yao, who held Ye Chen''s hand, made countless young martial artists unable to hide their jealousy!


    When Liu Qingmei noticed Ye Chen''s group arriving and flew toward Ye Chen, seeing a third beautiful girl joining Ye Chen''s side made many young martial artists howl with envy in their hearts: "It''s so unjust!"


    While Ye Chen was unaware of these young martial artists'' thoughts, he looked towards the approaching Liu Qingmei with a smile and greeted her.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen, you''re here!"


    Once the four of them entered the airspace above Immeasurable Mountain, even more people flocked toward Ye Chen.


    Among these were martial artists from the Southern Territory, those newly acquainted with Ye Chen from the Central Domain, and even many from the Tai''a Sword Sect, a third-rank sword sect, were approaching Ye Chen.


    In no time, a large crowd had gathered around Ye Chen.


    Witnessing the bustling scene around Ye Chen''s group, in a corner of the void, in the area where the martial artists from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness were gathered, many were wrestling with complicated feelings. Their eyes betrayed a mix of jealousy and fear as they looked at Ye Chen.


    These people were the same group that Ye Chen had dominated earlier in the plaza, including Bai Wuchen, the strongest participant from the Western Wilderness on this occasion.


    On the plaza, Ye Chen had single-handedly suppressed over a hundred of them with just his individual power. Even Bai Wuchen, with two other powerful combatants, had been repelled by Ye Chen. In the end, even the arrival of a Heavenly Saint didn''t work in their favor, making the Western Wilderness representatives feel extremely frustrated.


    What they feared even more was Ye Chen''s potential.


    Being so formidable in the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, it was daunting to imagine how powerful Ye Chen would become once he stepped into the Rotating Pill or Heavenly Saint Realm. By that time, the Western Wilderness might no longer have the courage to provoke the Southern Territory!


    Disciples from the Western Wilderness were consumed with complex emotions, and among the void of Immeasurable Peak, numerous figures watched Ye Chen with eyes gleaming brightly.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "So this is the youth!"


    In the crowd, the lean Lu Xiaojia caressed the sword in his hand, a fighting spirit igniting in his eyes.


    "I heard that at the square, he alone overpowered more than a hundred from the Western Wilderness, and even consecutively executed several immensely powerful high-level sword formations. This time, at the Spirit Sea Realm''s Sword Fighting Conference, he could very likely be my greatest opponent!"


    "I, Lu Xiaojia, have never met my match among the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators of the four major third-rank Sword Sects. This time, I want to see if this Ye Chen''s swordsmanship is stronger than mine!"


    While the fighting spirit blazed in Lu Xiaojia''s eyes, on the other side of the crowd, the solitary Mo Beiling also fixed her gaze on Ye Chen, "Hmm, is this the youth Ye Chen that I''ve been hearing about incessantly since coming to Immeasurable Mountain?"


    "To be able to overpower an end-stage Rotating Pill powerhouse while only in the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, this in itself is far superior to me!"


    "But in the Sword Fighting Conference of the Spirit Sea Realm, it''s all about sword technique, and I believe that in swordsmanship, he definitely can''t beat me!"


    As Mo Beiling spoke, the green sword light in her tightly clenched right fist flickered wildly!


    However, she suppressed the outward force of this green sword light, and no one noticed her abnormality, not even the other Sword Cultivators beside her sensed the slightest fluctuation.


    While Ye Chen conversed with several Martial Artists, and as countless Martial Artists took notice of Ye Chen, wanting to spar with him, and even more Martial Artists were making final preparations for the start of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, the moment for the official start of the event finally arrived.


    Boom!


    The appointed moment marking the start of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference came, and everyone took notice as the summit of Immeasurable Peak suddenly thundered with the sound of surging air waves.


    Amidst the roar of the air waves, the void canvas was torn apart, and a dozen figures emerged from the summit of Immeasurable Mountain.


    Leading these dozen figures was none other than the vice hall master of the first sacred hall of Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Supreme Elder of Tai''a Sword Sect, Xiao Jiukong!


    Alongside Elder Xiao Supreme Elder stood three mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, who, by the look of their vestments, were unmistakably from Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    "Ye Chen, Sister Jiang Yao, the other three beside Elder Xiao are the three great Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain who have come to participate and preside over the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference and the Hidden Dragon Ranking competition," Mu Qingqing introduced these three great Heavenly Saints to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Accompanying Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and the three great Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Sacred Palace were also four early-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Ye Chen recognized only one of the four, who was from the Tai''a Sword Sect, the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint.


    However, through the words of the Martial Artists beside him, Ye Chen learned that the other three were from the other three third-rank Sword Sects in the Central Region.


    All four major third-rank Sword Sects of the Central Region had sent Heavenly Saints to this place!


    Behind the eight great Heavenly Saints were the nine Rotating Pill Masters presiding over this Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, among whom were the Snow Jade of the Immeasurable Sword Sect from the Central Region, the Wine Sword Immortal that Ye Chen was quite familiar with from the Southern Territory, the Dried Mountain Daoist from the Western Wilderness, the Sky Brow Daoist from the Eastern Star Bound Archipelago, and so on.


    However, with the participation of Heavenly Sacred Palace and the four major third-rank Sword Sects in this Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference, the nine Rotating Pill Masters presiding were now not drawing as much attention.


    Almost all eyes were drawn to the Heavenly Saints, especially fixed upon Elder Xiao Supreme Elder standing at the forefront.


    Amidst the countless gazes, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder looked at the people, and when his eyes landed on Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Mu Qingqing, his gaze paused for a moment, revealing a faint smile.


    After Elder Xiao Supreme Elder glanced around at everyone, he finally nodded and gently said toward Snow Jade among the nine Rotating Pill Masters presiding over the event, "Snow Jade, you preside over this sword fighting conference."


    Hum!


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s voice was soft, yet it reached the ears of every Martial Artist.


    In an instant, all around Immeasurable Peak, the Martial Artists burst into excitement.


    Snow Jade presiding over the conference!


    The Sword Fighting Conference was finally about to begin!


    Amidst numerous excited gazes and the low yet irrepressible chatter, Snow Jade paid his respects to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder with a bow and took the lead, responding to the call.


    He addressed the countless Martial Artists in the void and on the mountain peaks, proclaiming, "The sword fighting conference this time marks the first participation of the four major third-rank Sword Sects in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference after two thousand three hundred forty-three years!"


    "Usually, the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Conference takes place in the void at the summit of Immeasurable Peak. This time, the event will return to the location where it was held over two thousand years ago¡ªthe ''Void Heaven Sword Valley'' of Immeasurable Peak!"

 Chapter 323: Chapter 289: Opening of Sword Valley

    "Reopening ''Void Heaven Sword Valley''?!"


    Many Rotating Pill realm and Heavenly Saints in the venue, as well as the Spirit Sea Realm martial artists who knew about the events of "Void Heaven Sword Valley" from thousands of years ago, were all deeply shocked.


    "Void Heaven Sword Valley is rumored to be the most mysterious place in Immeasurable Mountain. It was because of the discovery of this ''Void Heaven Sword Valley'' that the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament was held here."


    "It is said that there are countless Sword Pits in the Void Heaven Sword Valley. As long as one can enter the valley, they can induce the Sword Pits to emit Void Heaven Sword Qi! This Void Heaven Sword Qi is rumored to be an extremely powerful kind of Innate Sword Qi.


    Not only can it nourish Sword Intents, but it can also be integrated into the Qi Sea to elevate True Qi cultivation level, and it''s even beneficial for eventually understanding the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws!"


    "It can be said that this Void Heaven Sword Valley is the most precious secret ground for Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators. It offers tremendous benefits to Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators. Back then, many champions of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament gained incredible benefits in the Void Heaven Sword Valley!


    Unfortunately, as the Void Heaven Sword Qi inside the Sword Pits was exhausted, and the four third-grade Sword Sects withdrew from the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, Void Heaven Sword Valley has been sealed for a long time."


    "Now, after thousands of years, Void Heaven Sword Valley is being reopened. I''m afraid the Void Heaven Sword Qi inside will be incredibly dense. Those who participate in the Sword Fighting Tournament this time will surely reap great rewards, especially the victor!"


    Countless people who knew of "Void Heaven Sword Valley" couldn''t help but exclaim in admiration.


    Even many at the Rotating Pill Realm couldn''t help but sigh, "What a pity that Void Heaven Sword Valley is rumored to be accessible only to Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators. I''ve already stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm and can no longer enter it!"


    "Otherwise, it would be wonderful to enter the Void Heaven Sword Valley and experience the Void Heaven Sword Qi related to the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws!"


    Those who knew about Void Heaven Sword Valley were discussing it heatedly, while those who did not became even more curious about it after hearing the many rumors.


    "Void Heaven Sword Valley?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances. Like those who were unaware of Void Heaven Sword Valley, they showed a hint of bewilderment.


    They had never heard of Void Heaven Sword Valley and did not know that such a place existed within Immeasurable Mountain.


    Mu Qingqing, who was beside them, also seemed a bit stunned, "I''ve never mentioned this place either, and even Elder Xiao never told me about it. It seems this Sword Fighting Tournament is going to be very interesting."


    While everyone was either discussing or curious, Snow Jade, the person presiding over the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, continued saying, "Many people may not have heard of Void Heaven Sword Valley, so I will inform you about it."


    "Void Heaven Sword Valley is a strange spatial realm located behind the peak of Immeasurable Mountain, only accessible to Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators who have mastered Sword Intents."


    "Moreover, once inside, any cultivation technique unrelated to swordsmanship, even True Qi, cannot be used. Only Sword Qi, Sword Intents, and other sword techniques can be utilized."


    "Upon entering, every Sword Cultivator will induce the Sword Qi from countless Sword Pits within the valley to erupt. Eventually, each Sword Cultivator will condense a Xu Tian Sword Qi Light Group around them!"


    "After many years of research on Void Heaven Sword Valley, we have discovered that the more exceptional the talent of the Sword Cultivator, the more Void Heaven Sword Qi they will induce, and the larger the Xu Tian Sword Qi Light Group they will form!"


    "These Xu Tian Sword Qi Light Groups initially just envelop the Sword Cultivator''s body and cannot even be utilized. All the Sword Cultivators who enter the Void Heaven Sword Valley to participate in the Sword Fighting Tournament have three days, during which they can engage in sword fighting to seize the Sword Qi Light Groups from others.


    The loser will only retain half of the Void Heaven Sword Qi Light Group they initially condensed, whereas the victor will take away the other half of the Sword Qi Light Group from their body, as well as all the Sword Qi Light Groups they have won from others!"


    "At the same time, once a Sword Cultivator suffers defeat, they will completely lose the opportunity to fight again in the Sword Fighting Tournament and will be directly transported to a Sword River area within the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Once the three-day period is over, all the Sword Cultivators in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, regardless of victory or defeat, can begin to refine the Void Heaven Sword Qi Light Spheres that remain on their bodies!"


    "The duration of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament is three days. In these three days, the more powerful the Sword Cultivator, the more Sword Qi Light Spheres they can seize, and after the tournament concludes, the more Void Heaven Sword Qi they will be able to refine."


    "Even when one captures a certain amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi, it can trigger a magnificent benediction from the Void Heaven Sword Valley, causing a surge of Void Heaven Sword Qi once again to envelop them, providing a second opportunity to undergo Sword Qi Condensation!"


    At this point, Snow Jade turned her gaze towards many of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators in the arena, "The opportunity to participate in the Sword Fighting Tournament in the Void Heaven Sword Valley is extremely precious, especially since this time, after more than two thousand years, the Void Heaven Sword Valley has been reopened, and the Void Heaven Sword Qi within it is even more potent than ever before.


    All Sword Cultivators who wish to compete in the Sword Fighting Tournament, unleash your strongest power to trigger the surge of Sword Qi and seize the Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    "This Void Heaven Sword Qi differs from the True Qi that you cultivate. Cultivating True Qi requires daily meditation and training, and there is also a daily limit to the True Qi that can be absorbed in one sitting.


    But this Void Heaven Sword Qi is extraordinarily peculiar; once you have gathered the Void Heaven Sword Qi Light Spheres, in the end, all of it can even be transformed into True Qi and enter your bodies, helping you to elevate your cultivation levels!"


    "During the Sword Fighting Tournaments over two thousand years ago, many late Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators who won the tournmanets were even able to condense unparalleled Void Heaven Sword Qi in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, attracting the descent of the Five Great Void Heaven Laws and directly stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm. I hope you all can also achieve great gains within!"


    Snow Jade''s words ignited a blazing fire in the eyes of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators who were about to join the Sword Fighting Tournament.


    By entering the Void Heaven Sword Valley, one can directly attract Void Heaven Sword Qi to themselves. The more exceptional the Sword Cultivator, the more Void Heaven Sword Qi they can attract!


    Through sword fighting, one can also seize Void Heaven Sword Qi from others. Even in defeat, one can retain half of one''s own Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    If there''s sufficient Void Heaven Sword Qi, one might even have a second chance for Sword Qi Condensation, or even directly use the Void Heaven Sword Qi to assault the boundaries of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Whether victorious or not, there will be gains, and obviously, victory brings greater rewards, naturally exciting countless Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators to an immense degree!


    "Void Heaven Sword Qi can directly fuse into the body and transform into True Qi?!"


    Ye Chen was also extremely exhilarated at this moment.


    He had been at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm for some time now, and even though he had top-quality Spirit Stones, there was a limit to the amount of True Qi he could absorb into the Qi Sea each day.


    If this Void Heaven Sword Qi could indeed be completely transformed into True Qi and fully integrated into his body, then as long as he accumulated enough Void Heaven Sword Qi, he might be able to directly assault the later stages of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    The True Qi within Ye Chen was extraordinarly unique; it was the Primordial True Qi, and the quantity of True Qi he required far exceeded that of a typical Spirit Sea Realm Martial Artist. If he could use Void Heaven Sword Qi to swiftly elevate his True Qi, that would indeed save him a considerable amount of cultivation time!


    Even more so, if he could break through to the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, the power of the Five Great Divine Bloods he could harness would be greater, even possibly enabling him to call upon the full might of the Divine Bloods, allowing the Divine Blood to drop into the Qi Sea Spiritual Liquid and step into the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    This, of course, filled Ye Chen with anticipation.


    Ye Chen was impatient to enter the Void Heaven Sword Valley to see just how much Void Heaven Sword Qi he could gather, how much he could seize, and ultimately how much it could assist in his advancement of the True Qi Realm!


    As Ye Chen eagerly anticipated, and while countless Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators had fiery looks in their eyes, Snow Jade finally announced, "Now, the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament officially begins!"


    "First, please invite the seniors from the four great third-rank Sword Sects to open the ''Void Heaven Sword Valley''!"


    After Snow Jade finished speaking, she gestured respectfully to the four Heavenly Saints from the four great third-rank Sword Sects, and the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint among the four grand Heavenly Saints stepped forward.


    At this moment, countless martial artists were intently watching these four great Heavenly Saints, curious about how they would open the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Mu Qingqing, and Liu Qingmei''s eyes were also fixed on the four Heavenly Saints.


    The four Heavenly Saints stepped forward, and all their gazes were directed towards a void behind the summit of Immeasurable Mountain.


    Then, with a spell formed in each of their hands, they cast it towards that void.


    Wave after wave of strange light surged forth from that void.


    This surging light caused the martial artists nearby to unconsciously step back, leaving a vast space several hundred feet in diameter.


    Next, within this vast space, "boom, boom, boom," four gigantic treasured swords rose up.


    These four gigantic treasured swords, each one hundred meters in length and standing in the four cardinal directions, seemed to anchor the vast space in place.


    Each sword blade was inscribed with countless mystical runes, patterns, and arrays, appearing incredibly divine and marvelous.


    Just as the four gigantic swords appeared, the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint and the other three held treasured swords in their hands, and while these swords were not as huge as the four hundred-meter ones, the inscribed runes, patterns, and arrays on them were exactly the same as those on the gigantic swords!


    As soon as the four from the Nine Swords Heavenly Saint pointed their swords towards the four giant ones, a "rumbling" sound came, and the swords that held the several-hundred-feet space aloft took flight, shrinking and flying towards the four great Heavenly Saints.


    As the four giant swords shrank and flew back, all the martial artists standing in the void and around Immeasurable Mountain heard waves of strange sword cries coming from the vast space.


    Peering into the vast space of several hundred feet, one could see a hidden mysterious world within.


    Void Heaven Sword Valley!


    This mysterious world was none other than the venue for the Sword Fighting Tournament of the Spirit Sea Realm¡ª"Void Heaven Sword Valley"!


    "The Void Heaven Sword Valley has opened!"


    Seeing this mysterious world within the vast space, the breath of countless martial artists tightened.


    Especially the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators who were going to participate in the Sword Fighting Tournament, their hearts were pounding fiercely.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were also greatly stirred at this moment.


    Even the flying swords within their Sword Palace Acupoints began to move rapidly, indicating that there was something within the Void Heaven Sword Valley irresistibly attracting them, that Void Heaven Sword Qi!


    "Void Heaven Sword Valley is now open. All Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators who have received the tokens qualifying for the Sword Fighting Tournament, prepare to enter the Void Heaven Sword Valley!"


    As the four great Heavenly Saints lifted the seal on Void Heaven Sword Valley and retreated, Snow Jade projected her voice towards everyone on the mountain.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Snow Jade''s voice fell, figures flew towards the entrance of the Void Heaven Sword Valley, the vast space several hundred feet in diameter.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    As they flew past Snow Jade, they took out their Sword Fighting Tournament tokens.


    When Snow Jade nodded and pointed towards the Void Heaven Sword Valley inside the vast space, the crowd flew into it, and in mere moments, they had entered the Void Heaven Sword Valley hidden within the space.


    The crowd surged, and in less than a moment, thousands of figures had flown into the Void Heaven Sword Valley!


    "Let''s go too!"


    Ye Chen softly spoke to Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei, who was nearby.


    "Mm."


    Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei nodded at the same time.


    "Ye Chen, Sister Jiang Yao, Sister Liu Qingmei, you must try your best and condense as much Void Heaven Sword Qi as possible!" Mu Qingqing said to the three with a smile.


    Mu Qingqing had not chosen to participate in the Sword Fighting Tournament; she was not a Sword Cultivator and had not cultivated swordsmanship.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    After nodding to Mu Qingqing, Ye Chen, with Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei by his side, flew towards the vast space behind the summit of Immeasurable Mountain.


    After taking out their Sword Fighting Tournament tokens, the three, following the dense crowd, also flew into the Void Heaven Sword Valley.

 Chapter 324: Chapter 290: Sword Qi Pierces the Skies

    Ye Chen felt an inexplicable sensation of spatial transference envelop his entire body as he flew into the vast space and headed towards Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    This feeling was as if he had entered another world altogether.


    Clearly, within the few hundred zhang radius space atop Immeasurable Peak, which could conceal the entirety of the massive Void Heaven Sword Valley, there must be the power of spatial laws at play.


    When the force of spatial transference completely vanished, Ye Chen discovered that he had arrived in a vast and boundless world.


    Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    This world was none other than the place of sword fighting for the martial arts competition¡ªthe Void Heaven Sword Valley!


    Looking up at the sky of Void Heaven Sword Valley, one could see it filled with mysterious glows of morning light, with streams of air occasionally whizzing through the heavens and earth.


    Looking down at the ground, one could see that the entire place was pitted with holes. There were pits so large they were hundreds of zhang in diameter, their dark depths unfathomable, while the smaller ones were only a few dozen zhang across.


    There seemed to be countless pits, too many to count, stretching as far as the eye could see, possibly amounting to thousands upon thousands!


    From within these pits echoed a heart-palpitating sound of sword cries, and peering closer into the pits, one could glimpse Sword Qi in gold, cyan, blue, crimson, and brown colors faintly appearing within.


    Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Ye Chen had a feeling that the multicolored Sword Qi within these pits was the legendary Void Heaven Sword Qi, which could transform into True Qi and even aid in understanding the five great Heavenly Void Laws.


    "Hmm? Where''s Jiang Yao?"


    "Liu Qingmei isn''t here either?"


    Ye Chen looked around and noticed that, like him, there were figures suspended in the void. These figures were spread out from each other, some by tens of zhang and others by thousands, and Ye Chen could sense that there were as many as five to six hundred figures.


    However, among these figures, Ye Chen could not spot Jiang Yao or Liu Qingmei.


    The three of them had flown into Void Heaven Sword Valley together, yet after entering, they had become separated?


    Ye Chen moved, gliding through the void, and saw even more figures in this world, but still, he did not find Jiang Yao or Liu Qingmei.


    "Strange."


    "Could it be that Void Heaven Sword Valley is divided into several areas, and Jiang Yao and the others are not in this area?"


    Ye Chen looked towards the figures in this world and shockingly discovered that these figures, like him, were all at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    "All at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea?"


    "Not a single one at the early or the late stage?"


    Ye Chen floated in the air with sudden comprehension.


    "Where is Ye Chen?"


    In another part of the world, Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei were also flying through the air, searching for Ye Chen.


    Looking into this part of the world, one could see that these figures were all at the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    "Ah? All of us at the early stage of the Spirit Sea got put together."


    "Could it be that sword fighting only matches people of the same cultivation level for the competition?"


    In yet another area, several Sword Cultivators at the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm were gathered together, looking towards other early-stage Sword Cultivators.


    As everyone was pondering, the skies of all three realms simultaneously echoed with the voice of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, "Void Heaven Sword Valley is divided into three areas, namely the ''Spirit Sea Early-stage Sword Fighting Area,'' the ''Spirit Sea Mid-stage Sword Fighting Area,'' and the ''Spirit Sea Late-stage Sword Fighting Area!''"


    "The number of participants who have entered the Spirit Sea Early-stage Sword Fighting Area is 1,322; for the Spirit Sea Mid-stage Sword Fighting Area, there are 2,653 participants; and for the Spirit Sea Late-stage Sword Fighting Area, there are a total of 5,893!"


    "On the first day, the three Sword Fighting Areas are separated from each other, with the Sword Cultivators only allowed to compete within their respective areas. On the second day, the boundaries between the Spirit Sea Early-stage Sword Fighting Area and the Spirit Sea Mid-stage Sword Fighting Area will be broken down, allowing the Sword Cultivators from both areas to compete together.


    On the third day, the boundary of the most populated, Spirit Sea Late-stage Sword Fighting Area, will also be broken down, and all the Sword Cultivators who have not been defeated from all three Sword Fighting Areas will be able to join together to compete in Swordsmanship."


    "The three days of competition time for the martial arts competition are thus derived."


    "Now, everyone start preparing to condense the Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    "Once you have condensed the Void Heaven Sword Qi, and a Sword Qi Light Sphere forms outside your body, you will be able to sense the location of all the other Sword Qi Light Sphere Sword Cultivators in your area and compete with them."


    "Moreover, you can bring out your strongest combat methods without worrying about death.


    Because these Sword Qi Light Spheres contain a mystical force, if you encounter a life-threatening situation that you can''t withstand, the Sword Qi Light Sphere will fly towards the victor on its own, while the remaining half of the Sword Qi Light Sphere will carry the defeated into the Sword River for the eliminated within Void Heaven Sword Valley."


    "So, fight without worries about death, bring out your strongest power!"


    "All your fights are visible to us outside of Void Heaven Sword Valley, and even if you don''t win first place, if you perform well, you will be noticed by the major sects, which will greatly benefit your future cultivation."


    "And for the one who can seize first place¡ªshow your strongest ability and win. Not only will you reap the great benefits of Void Heaven Sword Qi, but as Heavenly Sacred Palace stated before, the one ranking first will be able to join Heavenly Sacred Palace immediately, and also receive a Sacred Sword as a reward from Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "In a quarter of an hour, Void Heaven Sword Qi will begin to erupt, all Sword Cultivators can start to condense the Void Heaven Sword Qi, everyone, prepare to start your martial arts competition!"


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s voice resonated across the skies of the three realms of Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Looking towards these three realms, nearly ten thousand Sword Cultivators were suspended in the air, listening to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s words.


    Looking outward from the Void Heaven Sword Valley towards the peak of Immeasurable Peak, all the martial artists watching the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament could see that everyone was looking up towards the void in the sky.


    At this moment, in the void, there were several huge light screens displaying the scenes from the three main areas within the Void Heaven Sword Valley!


    Central region, Southern Territory, Western Wilderness, Eastern Star Pole Islands, Far Northern Ice Palace Snowfields¡ªall the martial artists from various sects and regions who did not participate in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament were looking up at the scenes within the lightscreens in the sky.


    Just as the crowd outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley looked up at the light screens, and nearly ten thousand sword cultivators inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley listened to Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s words, each of them was trying to keep their fluctuating spirits in check, looking down at each of the sword pits, waiting for the eruption of Sword Qi.


    The quarter of an hour from the time they entered the Void Heaven Sword Valley quickly approached.


    The moment that time arrived, the ground in the three main areas of the Void Heaven Sword Valley simultaneously erupted with the roaring sound of countless sword pits.


    Then, pillars of Sword Qi shot into the sky.


    As these streams of Sword Qi burst forth from the pits, five colors of Sword Qi instantly merged into one, transforming into strands of miraculous, multicolored Sword Qi, surging towards the shadows in the sky with sudden force.


    "It has started!"


    "The gathering of the Void Heaven Sword Qi Light Spheres has finally begun!"


    "Legend has it that the higher one''s talent in swordsmanship, the larger the Sword Qi Light Sphere they can form. The more Void Heaven Sword Qi they can gather, and even if they fail in the end, they can retain half of the original Sword Qi they accumulated."


    "This first step, gathering Void Heaven Sword Qi, is the most fundamental. Let''s see, among these nearly ten thousand sword cultivators, who can gather the most Void Heaven Sword Qi! Who has the highest talent!"


    Outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, more than thirty Heavenly Saints, Snow Jade, Daoist Wine Sword, and other nine hosts of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, as well as countless Rotating Pills and numerous Spirit Sea Realm martial artists who didn''t participate in the tournament, all looked towards the light screens in the void.


    Through the light screens, one could see that all the figures floating in the void were gathering strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi around them. This Void Heaven Sword Qi was becoming more and more abundant around these sword cultivators, increasingly tumultuous...


    Inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    In the mid-stage Sword Fighting Area of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    "Is this Void Heaven Sword Qi?"


    In the sky, Ye Chen floated calmly; his eyes were fixed on the surging Void Heaven Sword Qi erupting from the ground below, soaring upwards.


    Ye Chen sensed that as the Void Heaven Sword Qi burst forth, his whole being''s spirit, sword intent comprehension, including the Tai A Sword Qi and the Red Fire Flying Sword within his Sword Palace acupoint, all began to stir spontaneously!


    As his intrinsic power related to swordsmanship stirred on its own, the Void Heaven Sword Qi below seemed to be drawn to him, crazily surging towards Ye Chen''s body, eventually accumulating outside his body.


    Looking at others in the mid-stage Sword Fighting Area of the Spirit Sea Realm, other sword cultivators were also absorbing and materializing Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    However, if one were to make an overall comparison, it would be seen that many sword cultivators were only able to gather the Sword Qi slowly, bit by bit.


    In contrast, at Ye Chen''s side, the Void Heaven Sword Qi gathering around his body was like wild serpents and dragons, frenziedly accumulating; the speed and quantity of accumulation were by far dozens or even hundreds of times greater than those of others!


    "Heaven."


    "Who is that, gathering such an immense amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi?"


    This phenomenon caught the attention of the sword cultivators in the surrounding void in no time. Many glanced at the small sphere of Sword Qi they had just managed to gather around themselves, then towards Ye Chen, where an impressive expanse of Sword Qi had already formed, dozens of meters in size, and they were stunned, their eyes widening in shock.


    Outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, the martial artists watching the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament also noticed the anomalies in various spots on the light screen.


    In the end, as Elder Xiao Supreme Elder lightly tapped with his finger, everyone could see the light screen displaying a dozen shocking images of Void Heaven Sword Qi being gathered.


    "What incredible speed and quantity of Sword Qi gathering!"


    "Heaven help us, there are eight streams, all from the late-stage Sword Fighting Area of the Spirit Sea Realm. Just by looking at the speed and amount of Sword Qi gathering, one can tell that there are eight unbelievable swordsmanship geniuses in the late-stage area!"


    Everyone turned their gaze to the faces within those eight incredible Sword Qi streams.


    When the faces became clear, many exclaimed, "The one who has already gathered Sword Qi spanning dozens of meters ¨C that''s Lu Xiaojia, the favorite to win this Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament!"


    "And that''s Mo Beiling, that is Mo Beiling gathering Void Heaven Sword Qi. Heaven help us, he has already formed almost a hundred meters in size of Sword Qi!"


    "There''s Fang Luohan, another hot favorite for the championship; indeed, they all have strong swordsmanship talents!"


    "Those two girls, who are they? I remember now, those two girls seem to be the ones next to Ye Chen, Liu Qingmei and Jiang Yao?!"


    "Heaven help us, the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi that Jiang Yao is gathering seems to be more than even Lu Xiaojia!"


    Just as countless people were exclaiming at the sight of the busiest and most tumultuous late-stage Sword Fighting Area of the Spirit Sea Realm, another voice filled with extreme excitement reached everyone''s ears.


    "You all... look at the mid-stage Sword Fighting Area of the Spirit Sea Realm!"


    "In the mid-stage Sword Fighting Area of the Spirit Sea Realm, there''s a towering Sword Qi, and the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi being gathered seems to be even greater than those few streams in the late-stage area!"


    Upon hearing this, everyone turned their heads to look at the mid-stage Sword Fighting Area of the Spirit Sea Realm.


    Even Elder Xiao Supreme Elder couldn''t help but tap on the light screen in response to the astounding view, revealing the figure of the sword cultivator who was gathering the soaring Sword Qi.


    As they saw the young figure emerging from the tumultuous Sword Qi Light Sphere, the sword cultivators from the Southern Territory who were outside watching the tournament let out an incredibly excited scream, "Ye Chen, it''s Ye Chen!"

 Chapter 325: Chapter 291: The Pride of the Southern Territory

    "In the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm section of the sword fighting area, the quantity of Sword Qi that Ye Chen condensed actually surpassed that of the top sword cultivators in the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm sector!"


    "Just from this light screen, it''s evident that Ye Chen may very well be the entity among the nearly ten thousand participants of the Sword Fighting Tournament who has condensed the most Sword Qi!"


    "No one in the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, and certainly not in the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, has condensed a quantity of Void Heaven Sword Qi that surpasses Ye Chen. As for the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, there''s no need to even mention it¡ªYe Chen is undoubtedly number one!"


    The more they shouted, the more excited the warriors from the Southern Territory became.


    This trip to the Central Region brought mixed feelings to the warriors from the Southern Territory.


    They were well aware that among the major regions of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the overall strength of the Southern Territory was at a disadvantage.


    Lagging behind other regions was one thing, but upon their arrival at the Immeasurable Mountain in the Central Region, the Southern Territory warriors realized that their contingent''s strength couldn''t even match their sworn enemies from the Western Wilderness¡ªthe ten great Demon Sects. This realization made them even more uncomfortable.


    Especially after hearing about the events at the plaza, and learning that the ten Demon Sects had encircled the Southern Territory cultivators, their indignation was uncontainable.


    If not for Ye Chen, it is feared that the Southern Territory would have lost much face on the plaza.


    The Southern Territory had sent over two thousand participants to join the two grand events in the Central Region. Among them, only about two hundred had witnessed Ye Chen''s strength in the plaza, and the rest had not seen his power with their own eyes.


    However, through word of mouth, all Southern Territory warriors subconsciously filled with expectations for Ye Chen.


    Because they knew that among all the warriors they had brought to the Central Region, apart from Ye Chen, there was probably no one who could contend with warriors from other regions.


    Only Ye Chen was likely to bring glory to the entire Southern Territory!


    Expectations are expectations, but without witnessing firsthand, many of the Southern Territory warriors were still somewhat worried.


    But now, as soon as Ye Chen entered the Void Heaven Sword Valley and began condensing the Void Heaven Sword Qi, such a powerful display completely reassured the warriors from the Southern Territory.


    With such miraculous performance from the outset, coupled with the various rumors of Ye Chen''s strength,


    all warriors from the Southern Territory knew that Ye Chen might truly bring great honor to the entire Southern Territory this time!


    Ye Chen, born in the Southern Territory and stronger than the top sword cultivators from the Central Region, even far surpassing the sword cultivators from the Western Wilderness¡ªhow could this not fill the warriors of the Southern Territory with immense pride?!


    Ye Chen, the warrior of the Southern Territory! The pride of the Southern Territory!


    Considering that the Southern Territory could raise its head high in front of the ten great Demon Sects from the Western Wilderness, and that its warriors were even stronger than the disciples of the great sects in the Central Region, many cultivators from the Southern Territory even felt their eyes well up with tears.


    The female cultivators, having seen Ye Chen in the light screen, had tears of pride rolling in their eyes. Wiping away those tears, they shouted even louder, cheering for Ye Chen!


    It wasn''t just the Southern Territory warriors who were incredibly excited. When they clearly saw the most potent and surprising surge of Sword Qi in the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm section of the sword fighting area had been condensed by Ye Chen, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder in the void kept nodding his head in approval.


    And Mu Qingqing''s little face turned red with excitement.


    Even though the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament was only a contest of Sword Fighting Art, and she knew of Ye Chen''s unparalleled prowess, Mu Qingqing was concerned that Ye Chen might be at a disadvantage solely in the competition of Sword Fighting Art.


    But now, all of Mu Qingqing''s worries had flown away!


    The scene before her eyes made it clear that Ye Chen''s Sword Dao Talent was just as incomparably profound as the Divine Soul Innate Potential previously displayed in the Divine Sword, leaving all others far behind!


    Moreover, knowing the power of the high-level sword formations Ye Chen commanded, Mu Qingqing was no longer worried about the upcoming sword fights; instead, she was filled with anticipation!


    A genius of heaven is just like this, without any weaknesses to speak of, and with strengths so incredible they''re beyond belief!


    While Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing felt happy for Ye Chen, other Heavenly Saints, including the three mid-stage Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the four Heavenly Saints from the four top third-rank sword sects, were also nodding their heads in agreement.


    Onlookers from other regions outside the arena, observing Ye Chen in the void light screen as well as Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and Lu Xiaojia''s performances, were also engaged in heated discussions!


    In all the regions, none felt a greater sense of repression than the area belonging to the Western Wilderness''s ten great Demon Sects.


    In the light screen, not only did the Southern Territory have Ye Chen''s miraculous performance, but Jiang Yao was equally powerful. Not to mention the Central Region, with figures like Lu Xiaojia, Mo Bei Ling, and Fang Luo Han, who, although slightly weaker than Ye Chen, were nonetheless impressively strong.


    There was also Liu Qingmei from the Eastern Pole Star Islands, and even from the extremely northern Icy Palace Snowfield¡ªwhich had fewest cultivators and sword cultivators present¡ªthere were still two sword cultivators in the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm section who displayed extraordinary might!


    By comparison, none from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness had truly made a mark for the Western Wilderness that drew admiration from warriors of other regions.


    This certainly left quite a sour taste in the mouths of the Western Wilderness''s ten great Demon Sects!


    They had originally claimed to be stronger than the Southern Territory, but now, just the Southern Territory''s Ye Chen and Jiang Yao alone had left countless Western Wilderness warriors far behind!


    As over a hundred thousand warriors outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley watched the light screens, screaming, thrilling, or feeling disappointed, with countless thoughts swirling in their hearts, inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, nearly ten thousand sword cultivators gathering the Void Heaven Sword Qi had now entered a truly stable phase.


    Strong sword cultivators like Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Lu Xiaojia, Mo Bei Ling, and others continued to condense the Void Heaven Sword Qi, while many of the weaker sword cultivators had already completed the step of condensing Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    When the first sword cultivator finished condensing the Void Heaven Sword Qi, the four third-rank sword sect Heavenly Saints simultaneously took a step outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley and pointed with the swords that had initially fixed the valley towards the void above.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the spaces higher up beyond the numerous light screens outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, as well as in the sky above the three major sword fighting areas within it, a gigantic sword silhouette simultaneously appeared.


    In the instant that the vast sword shadow appeared, the sword cultivators who had completed the accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi within the Void Heaven Sword Valley saw their Sword Fighting qualification tokens emit a strange glow, illuminating the spheres of Void Heaven Sword Qi around their bodies.


    At this moment, above the skies of the three major areas outside and inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, the enormous sword shadow created by the efforts of the four great Heavenly Saints began to display characters etched upon it.


    "Wang Liu, Western Wilderness, a total accumulation of 3,845 strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    "Xiao Long, Southern Territory , a total accumulation of 4,232 strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    "Zhao Jiukui, Western Wilderness, a total accumulation of 4,563 strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    "..."


    "Wang Chong, Central Region, a total accumulation of 13,269 strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    As each sword cultivator completed the accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi, their names, regions of origin, and the number of Void Heaven Sword Qi strands they had gathered appeared on the colossal sword shadow.


    By the look of it, this vast sword shadow was evidently designed to display the quantities of Void Heaven Sword Qi accumulated by all the sword cultivators participating in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament.


    With the aid of the Sword Fighting Tournament qualification tokens and the spheres of Void Heaven Sword Qi inside the Valley, to be able to display everyone''s quantities of Void Heaven Sword Qi was an astonishing and unparalleled feat!


    "This giant sword shadow is none other than the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, jointly refined with the assistance of the Void Heaven Sword Valley and the Sword Fighting qualification tokens!"


    "Now, the quantities of Void Heaven Sword Qi for all sword cultivators will continuously be presented on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking."


    "Once everyone has completed their accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi and the sword fighting matches begin, depending on the number of Void Heaven Sword Qi strands seized, the ranking on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking will change once again."


    "Ultimately, three days later, the one at the very top of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking will be the champion of this Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament!"


    The voice of Elder Xiao Supreme Elder reached everyone watching outside, as well as all the sword cultivators inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley participating in the tournament.


    Countless people lifted their heads to behold the giant sword shadow and the characters inscribed upon it.


    Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!


    As more and more sword cultivators completed their accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi, the names and scores of Void Heaven Sword Qi began to appear more frequently from the bottom to the top of the enormous sword shadow.


    With the presence of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, everyone could now see the results of the various sword cultivators in the tournament more clearly.


    When the Void Heaven Sword Ranking listed over a thousand names, from bottom to top, those ranked above the one thousandth place had already accumulated more than 100,000 strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!


    This development made Elder Xiao and others nod in approval.


    "This time, there are a total of 9,868 participants in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament. Since it is after more than two thousand years that third-rank sword sect disciples are participating again, the qualifications for the tournament have been significantly relaxed."


    "The number of participants in this Sword Fighting Tournament can be said to be the highest in history."


    "However, despite the large number of participants, the results are not bad at all. Aside from the weaker choices selected early on at the lower end, the scores at the intermediate level were in no way inferior to those sword cultivators who entered the Void Heaven Sword Valley more than two thousand years ago."


    "Moreover, the real powerhouses have not even finished accumulating Void Heaven Sword Qi yet!"


    As he said this, Elder Xiao''s gaze also swept across individuals in the Void Heaven Sword Valley such as Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liuying Mei, and Lu Xiaojia.


    "I''m afraid that this time, the strongest group might surpass the highest scores ever achieved in the Void Heaven Sword Valley in the accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    Elder Xiao''s words caused Mu Qingqing to shift her gaze thoughtfully, "I''m not sure about the others, but looking at this, Ye Chen''s final accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi may very well reach tens of millions!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Amidst the discussions of the crowd and the anticipatory gazes of the martial artists watching the tournament, more and more names began to appear on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    Over three thousand people!


    Over five thousand people!


    Over seven thousand people!


    When the quantity of people who had completed their accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi on the ranking surpassed nine thousand, with just a few hundred left to complete, the names on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking on the giant sword shadow had reached the uppermost area!


    At this point, the quantity of Void Heaven Sword Qi accumulated by the sword cultivators in the topmost region had reached more than 800,000 strands!


    Then, both outside and inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, whether they were martial artists observing the tournament or sword cultivators who had already completed their accumulation of Void Heaven Sword Qi, everyone looked up, staring intently at the uppermost area of the huge sword shadow, watching every new name that appeared on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    Because at this time, there were only a few hundred people left who had not appeared on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!


    These were the few hundred people with the strongest Sword Dao talent among all sword cultivators!


    Everyone wanted to know, in the end, who would be at the very top!

 Chapter 326: Chapter 292 Rankings

    "Luo Qiancheng, from the Eastern Star Islands, congruity with five million nine hundred and eighty-three thousand strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    When the last youngster in the early stage of the Spirit Sea Realm sword fight area finished condensing the Void Heaven Sword Qi, there were only ten people left in the entire venue who had yet to complete this step!


    This Luo Qiancheng from the Eastern Star Islands, with his early Spirit Sea Realm stage, had condensed enough Void Heaven Sword Qi to rank eleventh, earning the admiration of everyone for the youth.


    However, even more attention was already focused on the remaining two areas, on the last ten people!


    The last ten people were the strongest ten in Sword Dao Talent out of the more than nine thousand participants in the Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting competition!


    "Xuanyuan Wuhen, from the Polar Ice Palace Plains, congruity with six million two hundred and fifty-four thousand eight hundred and twenty-three strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    When another Sword Cultivator in the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm sword fight area finished condensing the Void Heaven Sword Qi, the ranking on the great sword shadow of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking had reached the tenth place!


    In tenth place, Polar Ice Palace Plains, Xuanyuan Wuhen!


    In ninth place, Central Region, Ling Yue!


    In eighth place, Central Region, Xiao Feng!


    When the number one Spirit Sea Sword Cultivator from the Third Rank Sword Sect Tai Ah Sword Sect, Xiao Feng, also finished condensing the Void Heaven Sword Qi, ranking eighth, many warriors outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley stood up.


    Xiao Feng, one of the favorites to win the championship, had completed the condensation of the Void Heaven Sword Qi, and the number of remaining people was getting fewer and fewer!


    In seventh place, Central Region, Fang Luohan!


    In sixth place, Polar Ice Palace Plains, Murong Qi Qi, congruity with eight million two hundred and thirty-six thousand nine hundred strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!


    When the Void Heaven Sword Ranking reached the sixth place, a girl named Murong Qi Qi also finished condensing the Void Heaven Sword Qi. There was only one person left in the entire mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fight area still condensing the Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Ye Chen!


    In the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fight area, the only one left was Ye Chen!


    The remaining four who had not yet completed the Void Heaven Sword Qi condensation were all in the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fight area.


    Seeing that there were only five people left who hadn''t completed the Void Heaven Sword Qi condensation, the breath of all the warriors watching the sword fighting competition tightened!


    These five people were going to be within the top five ranks in this first step of Void Heaven Sword Qi condensation!


    The first place was among these five!


    Seeing that Lu Xiaojia, Mo Beiling, Liu Qingmei, Jiang Yao, and Ye Chen were among these five, the warriors from the Southern Territory couldn''t contain their excitement anymore.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were both from the Southern Territory. It was incredible that two people from the Southern Territory had made it to the top five!


    This was by far the best result for the warriors from the Southern Territory participating in various grand events in the Central Region!


    When the ranking reached the top five, all eyes from the Heavenly Sacred Palace were glued to the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    The Sword Cultivators in Void Heaven Sword Valley who had completed the Void Heaven Sword Qi condensation, including Xiao Feng, Murong Qi Qi, Fang Luohan, and others, were also looking up at the colossal sword shadow in the sky with complex emotions.


    At that moment, in the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fight area, another person finally completed the Void Heaven Sword Qi condensation.


    Mo Beiling, Central Region, congruity with eight million three hundred and ninety-four thousand three hundred and twenty-nine strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi! Ranking fifth!


    Boom!


    "Ranking fifth?"


    "There are actually four people stronger than me!"


    Mo Beiling, who had completed the condensation of the Void Heaven Sword Qi, clenched her fists tightly before relaxing them again.


    "Who could it be? Who has greater Sword Dao Talent than me?"


    "No matter, this is only the first step of the sword fighting competition. The real sword fight hasn''t started yet. Fighting with swords isn''t just about talent; it''s also about sword technique and combat strength. Even if I''m ranked fifth now, I''m going to take the Void Heaven Sword Qi from others and push for the first place later!"


    Mo Beiling''s gaze flickered as she looked back at the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    Boom! Boom!


    Right then, two people almost simultaneously completed the Void Heaven Sword Qi condensation.


    "Liu Qingmei, from the Eastern Star Islands, congruity with nine million four hundred and sixty-three thousand strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi! Ranking fourth!"


    "Lu Xiaojia, Central Region, congruity with nine million five hundred and twelve thousand four hundred strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi! Ranking third!"


    When Liu Qingmei and Lu Xiaojia looked up at the Void Heaven Sword Ranking as well, there were only the second and first places left to be determined on the entire ranking.


    At that moment, the warriors from the Southern Territory were going insane!


    Because the last two whose ranks had not yet been determined were none other than the two from the Southern Territory, Jiang Yao and Ye Chen!


    "My goodness!"


    The warriors from the Southern Territory were speechless, many of them so overwhelmed with excitement that tears streamed uncontrollably down their cheeks.


    The top two slots being from the Southern Territory meant they had produced two supreme Sword Cultivators, the ones with real power to surpass all other Sword Cultivators from the major territories!


    Having Ye Chen be so strong had already been a delightful surprise for the warriors from the Southern Territory.


    Even Jiang Yao reaching this level was something the Southern Territory warriors found utterly unbelievable and joyously surprising!


    These warriors had heard that Jiang Yao''s most formidable skill was not her swordsmanship.


    The most incredible technique isn''t even the swordsmanship, which is already so strong, I can''t even imagine what level of talent Jiang Yao must possess to be this formidable!


    "Sister Jiang Yao!"


    "Ye Chen!"


    At this moment, when Liu Qingmei didn''t see Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s names on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, she knew that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hadn''t completed their Void Heaven Sword Qi gathering, and that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were the last to be ranked second and first respectively!


    This deeply astonished Liu Qingmei as well.


    "The technique Sister Jiang Yao used on the square, if I''m not mistaken, is... Divine Arts! A kind of Divine Arts that''s not swordsmanship!"


    "My God, I never thought Sister Jiang Yao''s swordsmanship would be so strong!"


    While Liu Qingmei was filled with envy, out beyond the Void Heaven Sword Valley, Mu Qingqing''s enchanting face bloomed with a smile, her beautiful eyes shining brightly as they emitted light!


    "Ye Chen and Sister Jiang Yao, they are actually the top two!"


    "My God, this time, I''ve really found two absolute geniuses for the Heavenly Sacred Palace, supreme prodigies!"


    Just when Mu Qingqing was about to take credit before Elder Xiao Supreme Elder, she noticed that Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and several Heavenly Saints were staring at the Void Heaven Sword Qi around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, mouths agape in astonishment.


    "What''s the matter, Elder Xiao?" Mu Qingqing asked Elder Xiao Supreme Elder.


    "Heaven."


    "Heaven."


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder sighed several times before coming back to his senses.


    "Over two thousand years ago, across hundreds of Spirit Sea Realm Sword Competitions, I remember the highest record being the gathering of more than nine hundred fifty thousand strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi, roughly the same as Lu Xiaojia''s achievement."


    "But looking at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi around them right now is several times more than that of Lu Xiaojia!"


    As Elder Xiao Supreme Elder spoke, Mu Qingqing also looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s positions on the screen.


    When she saw the vast amounts of Void Heaven Sword Qi gathered around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, forming a massive luminous sphere towering more than eight thousand zhang in height and over three thousand zhang in width, Mu Qingqing''s mouth hung open.


    This quantity of Sword Qi, just the sight of it, was incredibly frightening. The amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi alone is probably enough for Jiang Yao to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm.


    If Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were to additionally take more Sword Qi from others through combat, their spheres of Void Heaven Sword Qi could exceed ten thousand zhang!


    Naturally, this left Mu Qingqing in utter shock!


    "It could exceed forty million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!" The Heavenly Saints were also astonished, "This Sword Qi, if all converted into True Qi, would be enough for someone in the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm to break through to the middle stage!"


    "If either Ye Chen or Jiang Yao can stand until the end, without having to take anyone else''s Void Heaven Sword Qi, and just by not losing their own Sword Qi, they will definitely be able to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    Outside the arena, countless martial artists screamed continuously upon seeing that heaven-shattering Void Heaven Sword Qi around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, and the Heavenly Saints found it unbelievable.


    In the Void Heaven Sword Valley, the Sword Cultivators near Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, upon seeing the grand spheres of Void Heaven Sword Qi shooting up into the sky around them, widened their eyes in awe.


    Among the two vast areas where Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were located, many Sword Cultivators who saw the two towering beacons from afar surged towards them, gathering around the two.


    The Sword Cultivators in the area around Ye Chen were from the middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, and they did not dare to approach Ye Chen.


    As for Jiang Yao, the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators around her were quite restless, with many eagerly eyeing Jiang Yao, for if they could defeat her and take half of her Sword Qi, they might well rise to first place!


    Jiang Yao was still in the process of condensing her Void Heaven Sword Qi, and Liu Qingmei was not far from her. Seeing that many late-stage Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators were gathering around with malicious intent, Liu Qingmei swiftly drew the snow-white sword in her hand.


    "Sister Jiang Yao is still gathering Void Heaven Sword Qi, if you want to fight with swords, wait until she''s done!"


    "Now, anyone who dares to disturb Sister Jiang Yao''s gathering of Void Heaven Sword Qi, don''t blame me for eliminating them on the spot!"


    Liu Qingmei''s action caused the late-stage Spirit Sea Sword Cultivators to shoot glances filled with agitation, and upon seeing the equally massive Void Heaven Sword Qi around Liu Qingmei, they paused, stopping in their tracks.


    However, it was clear that although they refrained from acting immediately, they had no intentions of giving up on fighting Jiang Yao, or even Liu Qingmei.


    After all, having great talent and gathering a lot of Void Heaven Sword Qi doesn''t necessarily mean one''s swordsmanship is solid. Those who came to participate in the Sword Competition, especially in the late-stage Spirit Sea fighting areas, few Sword Cultivators would concede to others!


    They naturally wanted to take the Void Heaven Sword Qi from others, striving for an even higher ranking!


    And so, as many late-stage Spirit Sea Sword Cultivators stood not far from Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei, ready to make their move, in the middle-stage Spirit Sea fighting area, there were also many Sword Cultivators who sat in the void around Ye Chen, watching him gather Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Finally, Jiang Yao completed her gathering of the Void Heaven Sword Qi as well.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the last strand of Five-colored Sword Qi merged into the sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi around Jiang Yao, her sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi suddenly burst forth with endless multicolored radiance.


    At the same time, on the giant shadow of the sword of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, the second-place inscription appeared: "Jiang Yao, Southern Territory, gathered forty-three million, forty-two thousand, eight hundred strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    After the amount of Jiang Yao''s gathered Void Heaven Sword Qi was revealed, both inside and outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, there was a collective shock.


    Because, the number of Void Heaven Sword Qi Jiang Yao had gathered was actually more than the combined total of the third, fourth, fifth, and other strong Sword Cultivators!


    This completely surpassed many warriors'' imaginations.


    But, what shocked them even more was that such an achievement from Jiang Yao was still only good for second place.


    There was still one more competitor, who hadn''t finished gathering their Void Heaven Sword Qi yet!


    With this thought, all eyes turned towards the only youth in the Void Heaven Sword Valley who had yet to finish his gathering of Void Heaven Sword Qi, converging on Ye Chen!

 Chapter 327: Chapter 293 First!

    In the mid-stage Spirit Sea Sword Fighting Area.


    Ye Chen didn''t care about the countless gazes fixed on him, many of whom were seated nearby watching him condense the Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    His entire attention was focused on the Xu Tian Sword Qi Light Group outside his body.


    What no one knew was that as the quantity of Void Heaven Sword Qi outside Ye Chen exceeded forty million strands, a scroll of the "Beiming Secret Tome" that had been hidden within Ye Chen''s Divine Soul, previously obtained from the Divine Artifact "Fallen Sword," began to slowly unfold of its own accord!


    The Beiming Secret Tome was the Beiming clan''s Sword Dao Divine Art, representing the ultimate secret technique for sword cultivation!


    The first layer of the tome, the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," pertains to the cultivation of Sword Intent levels. After Ye Chen had completed this layer within the divine sword, practicing high-level sword formations became a breeze.


    The second layer of the Beiming Secret Tome, known as the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu," is dedicated to cultivating an existence within the Sword Dao layers that transcends Sword Intent¡ªthe even more powerful Law Sword Seeds.


    Ever since Ye Chen had completed the "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," he had been studying the cultivation method of the second layer, the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu." According to the diagram, once someone masters this, they can directly condense the "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth" five types of Law Sword Seeds within their body, possessing unimaginable Sword Dao potency.


    Even when advancing to the latter stages of the Spirit Sea and making a breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm, one could use the five Law Sword Seeds to draw upon the five great Heavenly Void Laws, not only achieving the most perfect Rotating Pill formation of the five orifices but also stepping into the third level of Sword Dao cultivation¡ªthe "Law Sword Realm."


    Seeing the sheer power of the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu," Ye Chen naturally continued his cultivation, but despite spending much time, he had not been able to fully comprehend this second layer.


    It was only after arriving at the Immeasurable Mountain, clashing with warriors from the Western Wilderness, even confronting strong late Rotating Pill Realm cultivators like Bai Wuchen, and facing the saintly pressure of Uto from the heavens, that Ye Chen suddenly experienced an epiphany.


    Then, in the three days before the start of the Sword Fighting Tournament, Ye Chen went into seclusion to cultivate specifically in order to step into the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu."


    As a result of three days of enlightenment and intense cultivation, Ye Chen finally unlocked the cultivation method of the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu," truly beginning the process of condensing the "Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth" five types of Law Sword Seeds within his Divine Soul.


    This process, as recorded in the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu," would take a long time, and it was very possible that it would only be successfully completed when the five great Heavenly Void Laws descended during the breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm.


    However, once Ye Chen in the Sword Fighting Area had condensed over forty million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi outside his body, he was amazed to find that within the light of the multicolored sword Qi, there seemed to be five dazzling seeds slowly being born.


    Five types of Law Sword Seeds!


    This was exactly what Ye Chen had been struggling to cultivate, the Law Sword Seeds that were even more formidable than Sword Intent!


    Before entering the Void Heaven Sword Valley, Ye Chen had heard others say that Void Heaven Sword Qi was helpful for comprehending the five great Heavenly Void Laws. Ye Chen had never expected that after he had condensed enough Void Heaven Sword Qi, it would first greatly aid the cultivation of his "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu," bringing him a pleasant surprise!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The others were watching as Ye Chen''s body continued to accumulate Void Heaven Sword Qi, but only Ye Chen knew that at this moment, those five dazzling seeds in the Void Heaven Sword Qi were flying towards his Divine Soul, and according to the cultivation method of the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu," they were starting to take real shape inside his body.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When the Void Heaven Sword Qi outside Ye Chen surged over ninety thousand zhang high, almost reaching a hundred thousand zhang, everyone watching Ye Chen condense the Void Heaven Sword Qi had their mouths agape in shock, while inside Ye Chen, the five types of Law Sword Seeds were finally reaching the last stage of cultivation completion.


    As the multicolored Void Heaven Sword Qi roared furiously outside of Ye Chen, the "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu" within his Divine Soul also began emitting frenzied rays of light, and finally, under the combination of these two extraordinary forces, five shining sword light seeds began to form above the diagram within Ye Chen''s Divine Soul.


    These five sword light seeds were linked to the five great Heavenly Void Laws of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth¡ªLaw Sword Seeds!


    When these five Law Sword Seeds took shape, Ye Chen''s entire Divine Soul seemed illuminated by the seeds. Instantaneously, Ye Chen even felt as if he could sense the five strange law forces above the heavenly void!


    Although this feeling was fleeting, Ye Chen was certain that if his Qi was sufficient and he reached the extreme latter stage of the Spirit Sea, when he began to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm, with the help of these five Law Sword Seeds, he would definitely be able to summon the presence of the five great Heavenly Void Laws!


    By completing this step in cultivation, Ye Chen not only elevated his swordsmanship combat power beyond the level of sword intent but also laid a solid foundation for his future ascent into the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Within his Divine Soul, Ye Chen sensed the newly formed five Law Sword Seeds.


    Outside his body, Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi converged, finally reaching the final stage, at last, its speed of condensation grew slower and slower.


    Whoosh! Whoosh whoosh!


    As the last few streams of multicolored sword qi surged into the Xu Tian Sword Qi Light Group outside Ye Chen''s body, and no more Void Heaven Sword Qi flowed towards him, Ye Chen had fully comprehended the five Law Sword Seeds and opened his eyes.


    At the same moment that Ye Chen opened his eyes, in the void, the first name finally appeared on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!


    "Ye Chen, Southern Territory, has condensed 46,279,988 strands of Xu Tian Sword Qi!"


    Ye Chen, in the first step of the Sword Fighting Competition, took first place in the Void Heaven Sword Qi condensation battle!


    Wow!


    When this result was displayed in the skies above the early, middle, and latter Spirit Sea stages of the Sword Fighting Area in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, and amidst the boundless peaks of Void Heaven where countless martial artists observed from outside the valley, a tumult erupted in all four areas, astonishing a myriad of warriors!


    Ye Chen had condensed over two million more strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi than Jiang Yao, who had achieved an unbelievable second place!


    This was, by far, the most unbelievable record in the history of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Competition!


    "Over 46,279,988 strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi!"


    Gazing at the first-ranking name on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s eyes shone brightly, "Ye Chen''s swordsmanship potential is this strong as well! Indeed, strong innate potential in the Divine Soul greatly aids swordsmanship talent!"


    "Ye Chen, over 46,279,988 strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi, sister Jiang Yao, over 43,424,988 strands, the two of them combined have almost condensed more Void Heaven Sword Qi than the total condensed by the top hundred Sword Cultivators!" Mu Qingqing now had stars in her eyes as she spoke.


    Although Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and others were surprised, they were not so shocked as to lose composure, but other martial artists had gone completely mad.


    Especially the warriors from the Southern Territory, when the scores of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao clearly appeared on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking in the first and second places, all the more than two thousand warriors in the entire Southern Territory region let out sky-shaking screams!


    "This... this..."


    In the region of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, individuals like Bai Wuchen and the other Demon Sect disciples, as well as the ascetic responsible for the Demon Sects'' selections for the Sword Fighting Competition, all opened their mouths in stunned disbelief.


    Within the Void Heaven Sword Valley, many powerful Sword Cultivators in the three regions, such as Lu Xiaojia and Mo Beiling, looking up at the Void Heaven Sword Ranking in the void, clenched their fists tightly!


    "Ye Chen."


    Jiang Yao, who had just finished condensing her Void Heaven Sword Qi and was conversing with Liu Qingmei, learned of the surrounding situation and then saw Ye Chen''s score on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    Seeing that Ye Chen''s score was better than hers, Jiang Yao smiled sweetly, "I knew it, Ye Chen is still that impressive!"

 Chapter 328: Chapter 294: Flying Sword Leaves

    When Ye Chen''s ranking at the top was announced, the entire arena, both inside and outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, was astounded!


    This shock persisted for dozens of breaths, and then an earth-shaking disturbance began to sweep through all three of the major sword-fighting zones of the Void Heaven Sword Valley. One could only see that as the Void Heaven Sword Ranking above the void in the three major sword-fighting zones flashed brightly, countless flying leaves burst forth from the Sword Pits below the entire Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    These flying leaves fluttered between heaven and earth in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, drifting among the myriad Sword Cultivators.


    As these leaves took flight, all the Sword Cultivators felt that with the newly condensed clusters of Void Heaven Sword Qi around their bodies, they could sense the locations of all the other cultivators within their fighting zones.


    Each of the three major fighting zones spanned thousands of miles, but this sense of perception completely enveloped the entire zones, allowing all Sword Cultivators to locate their opponents within their respective zones.


    At the same time, the swords in the hands of the cultivators began to move wildly, as if preparing for the imminent battles.


    The flying leaves of the Sword Pits, the illuminated figures of opponents by the Sword Qi clusters, and the swords in their hands were all eager for battle.


    All these signs indicated that after the Void Heaven Sword Qi had been fully condensed, the true highlight of the sword-fighting tournament, the sword combat challenge, would begin!


    "Sword Leaves Fly, Sword Fighting Begins!"


    "The Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, with three days of sword-fighting time, starts now!"


    "The results on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking are just your initial results and do not reflect your final rankings. Defeat other Sword Cultivators, seize their Void Heaven Sword Qi to enlarge your own Sword Qi cluster. Battle will change the rankings."


    "Who can truly stand until the end, who can be the first when the sword-fighting tournament concludes. After three days, all will become clear."


    "Now, begin your battle!"


    As Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s voice echoed through the three major regions of the Void Heaven Sword Valley once again, all the Sword Cultivators stirred with Sword Intents.


    Sword fighting!


    The true sword-fighting had finally started!


    Sword Cultivators, by nature, advance forward with their swords, clearing thorns and brambles as part of their cultivation!


    As Sword Cultivators participating in the sword-fighting tournament, nobody would feel fear, nobody would evade; even if they could not seize first place or stand till the end, they would still defeat several other cultivators to battle for the honor of their swords.


    "Ye Chen, you''re currently in first place."


    "But that doesn''t mean you''ll still be first at the end!"


    In the later stage Spirit Sea Realm fighting zone, Mo Beiling''s eyes burned with fighting spirit.


    "We are now in different fighting zones, and it won''t be until the third day that we can meet. For now, let me accumulate my own Sword Qi. On the third day, I''ll compete with you for the top spot!"


    Mo Beiling, with a fighting spirit ablaze, sensed the position of a Sword Cultivator closest to him through the cluster of Void Heaven Sword Qi outside his body, and then he blasted towards that cultivator at high speed.


    "Sword fighting!"


    "Sword fighting has begun!"


    "Rush for more Void Heaven Sword Qi. Without fighting to the very end, no one knows who will have the last laugh!"


    "After all, even if Ye Chen is currently first, as long as I can defeat him when we confront each other, I can take half of his Void Heaven Sword Qi and surpass him directly!"


    In the later stage Spirit Sea Realm fighting zone, at another location, Lu Xiaojia''s eyes also surged with fighting intent, as he waved his hand and unleashed Sword Intents to attack a nearby Sword Cultivator.


    After Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s words settled, it was not only Mo Beiling and Lu Xiaojia who started fighting. Throughout all three major fighting zones, real sword-fighting matchups had begun!


    In the later stage Spirit Sea Realm fighting zone, where Jiang Yao was located.


    As early as when Jiang Yao finished condensing her Void Heaven Sword Qi, she had already attracted the attention of no fewer than thirty Sword Cultivators. Now, as the actual sword-fighting commenced, all thirty cultivators turned their gaze towards her.


    At that moment, Jiang Yao''s cluster of Void Heaven Sword Qi outside her body surged to over eight thousand feet in height, which was incredibly alluring.


    This Sword Qi cluster, which could not be used yet and could only be absorbed after the three days of sword-fighting, was enticing to the cultivators surrounding Jiang Yao.


    Even though the Void Heaven Sword Qi was condensed by Jiang Yao herself, as soon as she was defeated, they could directly snatch away half of her Sword Qi. Naturally, this made the Sword Cultivators encircling her very tempted.


    Jiang Yao knew what these people were thinking, as Liu Qingmei had informed her of the surrounding situation after she had finished condensing her Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    "So you all want to take my Void Heaven Sword Qi?"


    The young girl smiled lightly.


    Her eyes looked towards the Void Heaven Sword Ranking in the sky.


    At this moment, as bouts of sword-fighting unfolded, the quantities of Void Heaven Sword Qi behind countless names on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking had started to change.


    "I am in the later stage Spirit Sea Realm fighting zone, while Ye Chen is in the middle stage Spirit Sea Realm fighting zone."


    "Now, let the swordfighting begin, and may the best claim the Sword Qi!"


    "Perhaps when Ye Chen and I meet, both of our Void Heaven Sword Qi will have grown by a lot!"


    After murmuring to herself, the girl raised her icy blue sword, looking at the surrounding Sword Cultivators, "Liu told me many of you want to challenge me. Now, step forward. I welcome your challenge!"


    After Jiang Yao spoke, Liu Qingmei also looked up at the Void Heaven Sword Ranking and smiled, "The gathering of Void Heaven Sword Qi has ended, and now, the real swordfighting begins!"


    Whoosh!


    Liu Qingmei similarly drew her snow-white sword, looking at the warriors around her, "Who wishes to swordfight with me? Come forward! I have a fair amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi myself¡ªif you have the ability, come and take it!"


    "These two young girls truly possess remarkable talent!"


    "But real swordplay in battle isn''t just about talent; it doesn''t mean that high talent equals strong combat power!"


    Boom! Boom!


    After Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei agreed to fight, two figures immediately flew out from the crowd and charged toward them with swords ready.


    Swordfighting.


    One-on-one combat.


    The loser will lose half their Void Heaven Sword Qi and be transported to the losers'' area, within a Sword River in the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    As per the traditions of the swordfighting tournament, the loser will also leave their treasured sword behind as a sign of respect to the victor and to the more powerful Sword Cultivators!


    At that moment, as Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei began their battle, more than a thousand duels were taking place simultaneously across the three major swordfighting arenas.


    Some had even been eliminated, leaving behind their treasured swords and being sent to the losers'' area.


    While countless battles raged like wildfire.


    Ye Chen watched the many Sword Cultivators nearby, his eyes brimming with a fighting spirit.


    Although he had secured first place in the first step of gathering Sword Qi, Ye Chen was far from complacent and wouldn''t stop there.


    Ye Chen hadn''t forgotten why he was participating in the swordfighting tournament.


    He was here to exchange blows with Sword Cultivators from all over, and more importantly, to hone his swordplay and advance toward a higher realm of the sword path.


    Just over forty million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi?


    Of course, Ye Chen wasn''t satisfied.


    He intended to win even more Void Heaven Sword Qi, defeat more Sword Cultivators, accumulate truly astonishing Sword Qi, and eventually, transform that Sword Qi into true Qi to make a bid for the late Spirit Sea Realm, or even the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Ye Chen was incredibly eager to reach the late Spirit Sea Realm¡ªperhaps the Void Heaven Sword Valley would be the very place he broke through!


    "Come on!"


    "Swordfighting!"


    With a whoosh, Ye Chen unsheathed his Black Fire Sword.


    Black Fire Sword, his weapon for the swordfighting tournament, Ye Chen wouldn''t let this sword be defeated by anyone. He would carry this sword, along with a Sword Cultivator''s glory, to battle Sword Cultivators from all around.


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen drew the Black Fire Sword, the floating leaves around him seemed to be stirred by Sword Intents, swirling around him.


    Amidst the swirling leaves and surging battle intent, a young Sword Cultivator who had been sitting near Ye Chen flew towards him first.


    This youth, having watched Ye Chen''s final gathering of Void Heaven Sword Qi, naturally knew that Ye Chen was currently the top figure on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!


    Despite his immense respect for Ye Chen, the youngster wouldn''t truly fear him without engaging in real combat.


    After all, possessing strong talent and gathering much Void Heaven Sword Qi didn''t mean one''s actual sword skills were perfected already.


    This youth also entertained the thought of taking away half of Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Without any unnecessary words, after flying opposite Ye Chen, the young Sword Cultivator simply said, "Central Region, Fang Ming, currently thirty-ninth on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, here to challenge!"


    Ye Chen observed the young man''s circumference of over two thousand feet of Void Heaven Sword Qi and nodded. Without wasting words, he responded, "Southern Territory, Ye Chen, challenge accepted. Make your move!"


    As Ye Chen''s words fell, the myriad of sword leaves swirling in the void around the two soared even higher.

 Chapter 329: Chapter 295: Ice Palace, Murong 77

    Amidst the whirling leaves of swords in the sky, Fang Ming and Ye Chen stood facing each other in the void, about seventy to eighty feet apart.


    After entering Void Heaven Sword Valley, all True Qi Skills of the sword cultivators and other means of attack became ineffective, apart from their inherent flight abilities in the Spirit Sea Realm. Their means of attack were reduced to swordplay alone.


    The Sword Fighting tournament was all about the swordsmanship!


    "Ye Chen, my friend, shall you make the first move, or shall I?" Fang Ming called out to Ye Chen from across the void.


    Ye Chen smiled, "If I make the first move, I''m afraid you won''t get a chance to strike at all."


    "That''s quite domineering," Fang Ming retorted with an unconvinced smile and with a "whoosh," he drew a cyan treasure sword from his hand.


    "In that case, let me test just how formidable you really are, Brother Ye Chen!"


    Boom!


    The tip of Fang Ming''s sword pointed at Ye Chen, and from the void, a tremendous sword intent erupted wildly from him. In an instant, the swirling leaves in the sky, under the control of his sword intent, transformed into countless streaks of sword light, charging towards where Ye Chen stood.


    Controlled by Fang Ming, these sword lights made from sword leaves emitted a blinding brilliance like the scorching sun, causing the entire space to flicker with a white haze!


    It wasn''t just the dazzling light; these sword leaves and sword lights carried boundless lethality. As they flew towards Ye Chen, they carved the earth with astonishing sword marks tens of feet long.


    In just a moment, Ye Chen was entirely engulfed within the endless sword light''s slaughter.


    Fang Ming, ranked thirty-ninth on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, deployed a powerful high-tier sword formation technique with his first move!


    This technique was so formidable that many sword cultivators in the Void Heaven Sword Valley would not be able to withstand it, and would likely be defeated by Fang Ming in a single exchange.


    But now, Fang Ming was facing Ye Chen, the top-ranked individual on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!


    Not to mention this high-tier sword formation akin to a mid-grade Heavenly martial technique, even if Fang Ming''s sword formation''s lethality increased several times over, it would pose no threat to Ye Chen.


    During the Sword Fighting tournament, in this middle stage of the Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, there were over two thousand sword cultivators fighting. Naturally, Ye Chen would not waste time on Fang Ming.


    As Fang Ming''s endless sword formation enveloped Ye Chen, the latter, who was trapped within, simply pointed with his finger, and the myriad of sword leaves that had been flying towards him were suddenly controlled by him. In the blink of an eye, they merged together, forming a sword of sword leaves that shot back towards Fang Ming with explosive force.


    Boom!


    This sword of sword leaves, unlike the dispersed, countless individual strikes made by Fang Ming earlier, merged into one. It was like a single point of Void Heaven Sword Qi, piercing through the void with inconceivable speed and reaching Fang Ming in a flash.


    Fang Ming had not anticipated that his attack would be taken over by Ye Chen.


    This clearly showed that Ye Chen''s understanding of sword intent was much deeper than his, allowing him to wrest control of the sword leaves from him!


    Seeing the point of Void Heaven Sword Qi rapidly shooting towards him, Fang Ming''s expression changed. He had just prepared to dodge swiftly, but the point of sword light had already sliced through the void and struck him.


    Bang!


    With a single move, just one move, Ye Chen sent Fang Ming, ranked thirty-ninth on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, flying through the air.


    As Fang Ming was sent reeling, he was shocked to find that half of his Void Heaven Sword Qi had flown towards Ye Chen.


    According to the rules of the Void Heaven Sword Valley''s sword fighting, this Void Heaven Sword Qi would only fly to the other party when faced with an irresistible and deadly threat.


    Fang Ming was horrified. The fact that his Void Heaven Sword Qi flew towards Ye Chen indicated that if this were a real life-and-death battle, Ye Chen''s point of sword light would have already pierced through and killed him instantly; he would have stood no chance against it.


    Otherwise, his Void Heaven Sword Qi wouldn''t have flown away!


    Otherwise, he would have had a chance to counter!


    Not feeling the power of Ye Chen''s move, yet being instantly defeated by it, was even more astonishing for Fang Ming. It meant that he had utterly failed to grasp the true potential of Ye Chen''s technique before losing!


    "I have lost."


    Defeated was defeated.


    At this moment, with half of the Void Heaven Sword Qi having entered Ye Chen, Fang Ming also felt himself wrapped by a teleportation formation.


    Fang Ming didn''t want to believe it, but he had to admit that his journey in the Sword Fighting tournament had just begun, and it was already over.


    Thud!


    Fang Ming flung his sword from his hand toward Ye Chen, and with a sullen expression, he was teleported away, entering the Sword River of the Void Heaven Sword Valley, designated for the defeated.


    From the moment Fang Ming challenged Ye Chen to Ye Chen defeating him, it all happened in the blink of an eye.


    The sword cultivators surrounding Ye Chen and Fang Ming, who had been watching the fight, hadn''t yet discerned Ye Chen''s move before they saw Fang Ming defeated and transported away.


    Looking at Fang Ming''s treasure sword pierced into the ground, many gasped in shock.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, paying no attention to the sword Fang Ming had lost to him on the ground, looked around with a faint smile and asked, "Who''s next? Who shall duel with me?"


    ...


    Outside Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    In the void.


    At this time, the light screen in the void was mainly displaying fights among the sword cultivators ranked in the top ten of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    And countless martial artists who were spectators had their eyes glued on Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had been the first to condense Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    They naturally wanted to see how lethal Ye Chen''s real sword fighting and sword techniques were.


    When they saw Ye Chen cross swords with Fang Ming, it was but a fleeting moment, a flash of the sword, and Fang Ming was defeated. Many warriors had already cried out in amazement.


    For many warriors, it was the first time they had seen Ye Chen make a move.


    Ye Chen instantly suppressed a sword cultivator ranked in the top echelons, his astonishingly lethal sword formation technique utterly surprised many people.


    "So powerful."


    "This Ye Chen, although he is only in the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, it seems that he has cultivated his sword technique to an extremely profound level!"


    "His natural talent for sword techniques is formidable, and his combat strength in swordplay is equally formidable. Obviously, he has applied his talent to the cultivation of sword techniques and did not just rely on his talent to break into the Sword Fighting Tournament!"


    "Just the sword technique he used just now would probably rank at the forefront even among high-level sword formations!"


    In the midst of these discussions, Ye Chen within the light screen continued to engage in sword fighting with other opponents.


    And as Ye Chen''s sword fighting proceeded, more and more astonished warriors emerged among the spectators.


    Because many warriors shockingly discovered that in the process of defeating more than thirty sword cultivators, Ye Chen had employed over ten different high-level sword formations in succession!


    And with each sword fight, Ye Chen would defeat his opponent with a single move!


    One move to defeat one person!


    In less than a moment, Ye Chen even eliminated all the sword cultivators within dozens of miles around him!


    At this point, the sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi around Ye Chen''s body had even surged to a height of over ten thousand feet.


    On the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi for Ye Chen had reached more than sixty million strands, still firmly holding the first place!


    "The Sword Fighting Tournament."


    "Since the beginning of the Sword Fighting Tournament, the true powerhouses have emerged. As the accumulated Void Heaven Sword Qi on each person is continuously taken by victorious competitors, the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi possessed by these true powerhouses has become more and more astonishing!"


    Chapter Discover:


    "The final battles will be the battles of these real powerhouses, and the majority of sword cultivators will soon be swept away by them!"


    On the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, with Ye Chen at the top, there were also many sword cultivators who saw the number of their Void Heaven Sword Qi rapidly increasing, drawing everyone''s attention at this time.


    "In the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, there are three people whose Void Heaven Sword Qi numbers are soaring the fastest, obviously, they have been continuously defeating other sword cultivators without a single loss!"


    "In the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, Lu Xiaojia, Mo Beiling, Fang Luohan, Xiao Feng, and other favorites to win the championship are likewise sweeping through the other sword cultivators!"


    "Good heavens, after defeating more than twenty sword cultivators, Jiang Yao''s amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi is about to surpass Ye Chen! In the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, there are many strong competitors, and they have more Void Heaven Sword Qi, so the amount Jiang Yao has seized is even more than what Ye Chen has!"


    "That Liu Qingmei is also impressive, having not suffered a single defeat!"


    When the eyes of the spectating warriors moved past the early-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area and the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area, many people''s gaze returned once again to the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting area where Ye Chen was.


    "In the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone, Ye Chen is unstoppable. After entering the Void Heaven Sword Valley, he was in the southern part of the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone, and by now, he has already defeated more than a hundred Sword Cultivators in the south!"


    "Besides Ye Chen, there is another person in the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone who is also unstoppable. This person, who previously had an equally astonishing performance in accumulating Void Heaven Sword Qi, is ranked sixth in collecting Void Heaven Sword Qi and hails from the Ice Palace Snow Plains of the far north. She is Murong Qiqi!"


    "Ye Chen is advancing from the south of the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone, while Murong Qiqi is pressing forward from the north. Both of them, one from the south and one from the north, have defeated all the Sword Cultivators they encountered!"


    "This Murong Qiqi''s use of advanced sword formations doesn''t seem any less powerful than Ye Chen''s. Seeing her composed demeanor suggests she hasn''t even resorted to her more formidable techniques!"


    "Looking at it this way, in the end, it will probably be Ye Chen and this Murong Qiqi who contend for superiority in the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone!"


    Amid the discussions of the martial artists, looking through the light screen towards the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone, one could indeed see two figures standing out, fighting their way through and proving invincible.


    One of those figures was indeed Ye Chen.


    The other figure was a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl in green, her face veiled with a light covering, revealing only a pair of exceptionally spirited eyes. What''s more, the girl wore a snow fluff headdress, from which hung numerous snowy white beads.


    This girl in green was none other than the very person the martial artists were discussing fervently, Murong Qiqi, from the Ice Palace Snow Plains of the far north.


    The martial artists watching from outside could see through the light screen that in the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone, both Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi were sweeping through the other Sword Cultivators.


    As Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi continued to defeat opponents in Sword Fighting, they also sensed that, aside from themselves, there was another person in their Sword Fighting zone who was constantly increasing their count of Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    With the aid of the spheres of Void Heaven Sword Qi, it was possible to sense the locations and the status of Void Heaven Sword Qi of all opponents within the Sword Fighting zone.


    When the number of Sword Cultivators in the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone had dwindled to just a few hundred, their sensing of this formidable opponent became even more distinct.


    At this moment, within the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone, Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi were still more than two thousand li apart.


    "The Ice Palace Snow Plains? Murong Qiqi?"


    Ye Chen looked up at the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, finding the name of the one he sensed accumulating Void Heaven Sword Qi at a rapid pace in the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone, defeating other Sword Cultivators just like him.


    At the same time, Murong Qiqi seemed to sense something and cast her gaze toward the top position of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    The girl''s eyes sparkled faintly, "So, the other person in the Spirit Sea Realm mid-stage Sword Fighting zone sweeping through others and seizing their Sword Qi is Ye Chen, ranked first."


    "Interesting, truly interesting."


    "Defeating this Ye Chen, I could take half of his Void Heaven Sword Qi. Perhaps, without needing to go to other Sword Fighting zones, I might climb to the first place just here!"


    "Since that''s the case, I should see just how formidable this Ye Chen really is!"


    After murmuring to herself, the girl ignored the other Sword Cultivators and, sensing Ye Chen''s location, she burst forth directly towards him.


    It seems that Murong Qiqi, even when facing Ye Chen ranked first, is quite confident in her ability to defeat him!

 Chapter 330: Chapter 296: The Pinnacle Duel

    "Look fast!"


    "It looks like Murong Qiqi is heading straight for Ye Chen. Could it be that she intends to challenge him directly?"


    When they saw Murong Qiqi in the mid-Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Area no longer fighting with other Sword Cultivators, but instead heading straight towards Ye Chen''s location, many outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley who were paying attention to both Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi cried out in surprise.


    It was no wonder they were astonished.


    Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi were the only two out of the mid-Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Area who had broken into the top ten of the Void Heaven Sword Rankings. And both of them had fought their way through other Sword Cultivators in the mid-Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Area without a single defeat!


    One was slaughtering all around the south side of the mid-Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Area, and the other was sweeping through the competitors on the north side.


    If these two were to actually start fighting with swords, it would undoubtedly be the most pinnacle confrontation in the mid-Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Area!


    In other Sword Fighting Areas, those truly ranked in the forefront amongst Sword Cultivator experts seemed, almost by some agreement, still busy eliminating the weaker Sword Cultivators, as if they were saving the real confrontations for last.


    Now, Ye Chen, who had secured first place in the earlier contest of condensing Void Heaven Sword Qi, and Murong Qiqi, who was in sixth place, were still at the first and seventh positions even after several hours of sword fighting.


    It was natural that a direct fight between such two would attract countless gazes.


    "She really is charging towards Ye Chen."


    "Murong Qiqi, from the far northern Ice Palace Snowfield, that place is one of the most mysterious in the vast lands. By her demeanor, it seems she is confident she can defeat Ye Chen."


    As Murong Qiqi flew past countless Sword Cultivators she had encountered on her way towards Ye Chen, she was mere tens of miles away from him, even more people noticed her actions.


    "Daring to directly challenge Ye Chen, the top-ranked contender, this is going to be interesting!"


    Seeing that Murong Qiqi truly dared to seek out Ye Chen for sword fighting, countless spectators outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley became excited.


    Even Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and other Heavenly Saints like Mu Qingqing had a flash of light in their eyes.


    "Previously, Ye Chen has not met any opponents who could match him, and even his most powerful high-level sword formation, the ''Death Storm Sword Formation,'' has not been witnessed in use. Perhaps, this Murong Qiqi will force Ye Chen to reveal his true strength."


    As countless onlookers outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley were focused on Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, in the mid-Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Area, Ye Chen also noticed the figure rushing towards him.


    "Murong Qiqi?"


    "You want to fight me directly with swords?"


    As Ye Chen sensed the figure flying straight towards him, and once the figure was over thirty miles away, within the range of his divine sense, he too took flight, moving to meet Murong Qiqi.


    A duel with swords?


    Ye Chen obviously would not shy away. He was ready to accompany her!


    Besides, he was somewhat curious about Murong Qiqi from the far northern Ice Palace Snowfield.


    This was the first time he had encountered anyone from the Ice Palace Snowfield. Ye Chen had heard from Heavenly Saint Long Xuan that Heavenly Saint Di Kong, who had left a mysterious legacy in his family and then vanished without a trace, had appeared in the Ice Palace Snowfield over three hundred years ago.


    Perhaps, from Murong Qiqi, he could learn something about the Ice Palace Snowfield and get news about Heavenly Saint Di Kong!


    Boom! Boom!


    Chapter Experience:


    One came flying directly, and the other went out to meet the challenge.


    In but an instant, Ye Chen had covered the tens of miles and stopped in the void, seventeen or eighteen yards apart from Murong Qiqi, facing each other.


    "Ye Chen?" Murong Qiqi looked at the young man in front of her, whose tall figure and extraordinary presence unconsciously made her nod her head.


    Ye Chen smiled and turned his attention to the young girl in front of him.


    The girl, veiled in a thin layer, revealing only a pair of lively eyes and wearing a snow fur headdress, struck him as quite mysterious: "Murong Qiqi? From the far northern Ice Palace Snowfield? I have long heard of that place. One of my predecessors, known as Heavenly Saint Di Kong, once went there, and his whereabouts have been unknown since then. I wonder if Miss Murong has heard of him."


    "Heavenly Saint Di Kong?"


    Murong Qiqi hadn''t expected to seek out Ye Chen for a sword duel only for the young man to directly inquire about someone to her.


    Moreover, the name "Di Kong" felt familiar to her, as if she had heard it somewhere before, yet she couldn''t recall where.


    Seeing Ye Chen looking expectantly at her, Murong Qiqi smiled lightly: "Ye Chen, I am here to fight you with swords, not to solve your puzzles."


    "After you have overcome my sword, then you can ask me," she said.


    As she spoke, Murong Qiqi shook the azure-colored sword in her hand lightly, and the scabbard flew out, stuck in the ground, revealing the cold, gleaming, precious sword in her hands!


    Then, Murong Qiqi raised the tip of her treasured sword, making a starting gesture for sword fighting directly at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected the girl to be so straightforward, reluctant to talk further, ready to engage him in sword fighting.


    I must defeat her before I can even ask her?


    Ye Chen chuckled, "Then let''s start with a sword duel!"


    With a "swoosh," Ye Chen''s Black Fire Sword together with its sheath flew out and planted itself in the ground. Ye Chen held the Black Fire Sword with the tip pointing downward. "Since Miss Murong has said so, then let''s begin the duel. Make your move!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The young male and female Sword Cultivators, one wielding a heavy sword radiating black fire and shimmering light, and the other handling a bright treasure sword overflowing with cold light, stood facing each other. In an instant, the freely bursting Sword Intents began to surge around them.


    By this time, Ye Chen had already defeated hundreds of Sword Cultivators. The sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi around him had surged to a height of over thirteen thousand zhang. The quantity of Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi had even reached more than eighty million strands!


    Although Murong Qiqi was somewhat weaker than Ye Chen, she had also eliminated hundreds of Sword Cultivators. The sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi around her was soaring more than six thousand zhang high, and the number of her Void Heaven Sword Qi strands was also over forty million.


    Regardless of who won, they could seize half of the other''s remaining Void Heaven Sword Qi, plus all the Void Heaven Sword Qi they had won from other people.


    Once the outcome of their sword duel was decided, one of them would have a quantity of Void Heaven Sword Qi exceeding one hundred million!


    A quantity of Void Heaven Sword Qi exceeding one hundred million, if converted into True Qi, would absolutely surpass the amount of True Qi of late-stage Spirit Sea Realm practitioners, enabling these Spirit Sea Realm martial artists to assault even higher realms!


    Though the Void Heaven Sword Qi could be absorbed into their bodies only after three more days, the spectacle of two individuals encircled by intimidating spheres of Sword Qi preparing for combat naturally drew the attention of countless people!


    Even other Sword Cultivators in the mid-stage Spirit Sea Sword Fighting Area who had not yet been eliminated flew towards where Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi were to watch the battle from a distance, let alone the warriors watching from outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Many of the warriors observing from outside the Sword Valley had already risen from their meditation in the void, looking towards Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi.


    In the midst of countless gazes, Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi looked at each other for a few moments, then moved simultaneously.


    Unlike others who directly channeled their Sword Intents in their duels, the two of them fought directly with their treasure swords, as if they were practicing basic sword techniques that Sword Cultivators learn at the very beginning.


    But to the horror of many genuine swordsmen witnessing their swordplay, it seemed that within their sword skills, Subtle essence akin to the ultimate form of Sword Intents was diffusing!


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    Each clash of swords between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, though appearing to be ordinary strikes, sent out shocking bursts of Qi when the lethal force dispersed into the surroundings, even cleaving hundreds of zhang long, enormous sword marks deep into the ground beneath them!


    By their tenth move, it was as if with each turn of their sword tips, the infinite Sword Intents in their hands were fully unleashed.


    The beginning was a test of swordsmanship, and also a study of the opponent''s techniques.


    But now, they had both begun using their true elimination moves!


    When the infinite Sword Intents were completely released, Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi stood holding their treasure swords, and within a few hundred zhang around them in the void, Sword Intents surged and exploded.


    As their eleventh strike collided, the power of the Sword Intents in their hands soared to the level of a high-tier sword formation.


    Ye Chen''s technique was the powerful high-tier sword formation he had used before in the square, the Death Storm Sword Formation, when facing three opponents at once!


    As for Murong Qiqi, her azure treasure sword pointed in the void and the entire space erupted with snowflake-shaped sword lights. These snowflakes descended from the heavens, the Sword Intents bursting from them by no means inferior to Ye Chen''s Death Storm Sword Formation!


    "My heavens, they were just crossing swords a moment ago, and now they''ve erupted their Sword Intents to such a level in an instant!"


    Seeing Ye Chen unleash the Death Storm Sword Formation, creating a sky-filled Sword Blade Storm that devoured everything, the countless martial artists spectating from outside were stunned; they hadn''t expected Ye Chen to use such a powerful sword formation so suddenly.


    Clearly, it was likely that Ye Chen, realizing Murong Qiqi''s formidable capabilities, was no longer holding back!


    Indeed, as anticipated, when Ye Chen''s all-devouring Sword Blade Storm furiously attacked Murong Qiqi, her sky-filled snowflake Sword Intent Formation directly collided with Ye Chen''s Death Storm with a thunderous impact.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Like a cataclysmic storm meeting a devouring snowstorm, the two extraordinarily powerful high-tier sword formations collided, plunging the whole world into a terrifying frenzy of lethal force.


    This terrifying lethality even caused the void to darken, as if the light of the heavens was being consumed and extinguished by this force!


    And the horrifying explosions of Sword Intent made the entire mid-stage Spirit Sea Sword Fighting Area shake, the ground where Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi stood collapsing outward for tens of thousands of zhang in all directions.


    This scene even caused many other Sword Cultivators watching nearby to change color dramatically and retreat explosively!


    The explosions raised a magnificent dust storm that obscured the figures of Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi.


    It was not until dozens of explosions had passed that everyone saw Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi both bursting upwards into the heavens almost simultaneously.


    And at the same moment, Murong Qiqi sheathed her treasure sword and extended her fair palm gracefully, revealing a dancing white snowflake in her hand.


    As the white snowflake appeared, it instantly caused the entire void to chill.


    The Heavenly Saints on the outside, especially the formidable rotary pill Sword Cultivators, cried out in unison upon seeing the white snowflake in Murong Qiqi''s hand: "A Law Sword Seed, this is the ''Water Element'' Law Sword Seed!"

 Chapter 331: Chapter 297 Ice and Fire

    The Heavenly Saint and the powerful Rotating Pill Sword Cultivators, with their extremely sharp vision, could naturally recognize what the white snowflake in Murong Qiqi''s hand was.


    It was just a snowflake a few inches in size that, after appearing, even overshadowed the killing power of a high-level sword formation, making the whole void feel icy cold.


    Through the light screen, all the strong participants could sense in the void where Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi were standing, endless law power and sword intent converging towards the white snowflake in Murong Qiqi''s hand, feeling a shocking sword light beginning to crazily grow within the white snowflake.


    What else could overpower the killing power of a high-level sword formation if not a Law Sword Seed!


    The Law Sword Seed is the highest achievement Spirit Sea Realm Sword Cultivators can reach in practicing sword techniques, and its power is far beyond the existence of high-level sword formations. Many Rotating Pills might not be able to comprehend the Law Sword Seed. In previous Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting competitions, those who comprehended the Law Sword Seed were few and far between, even over the span of hundreds of thousands of years.


    The fact that Murong Qiqi had suddenly used the Law Sword Seed technique caught all the powerful individuals by surprise!


    "No wonder, no wonder this Murong Qiqi dared to directly challenge Ye Chen."


    "It turns out she has actually comprehended the Law Sword Seed to this level. The Water Law Sword Seed, one of the five most powerful Law Sword Seeds, and looking at the snowflake that Murong Qiqi is manifesting with the Law Sword Seed, it''s clear that her Water Law Sword Seed has been comprehended from cold ice!"


    "With this Law Sword Seed''s killing power, Ye Chen is in danger!"


    Previously, when Murong Qiqi dared to challenge Ye Chen, the top-ranked individual of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, many people were not optimistic about Murong Qiqi. After all, it was widely whispered that Ye Chen possessed a very powerful high-level sword formation.


    But now, with Murong Qiqi suddenly using a move that surpassed a high-level sword formation, unleashing the killing power of the Law Sword Seed, this had made quite a few people start to worry about Ye Chen instead.


    If Ye Chen had only reached the level of a high-level sword formation in his sword techniques, then in front of Murong Qiqi, he was undoubtedly doomed to lose!


    "What can be done?" From the sidelines, Mu Qingqing listened to the countless strong participants discussing and, when looking at Ye Chen again, her beautiful eyes were also filled with worry.


    She had seen Ye Chen''s moves, and his most formidable one was the high-level Death Storm Sword Formation. Originally, Mu Qingqing thought that the incredibly powerful Death Storm high-level sword formation was enough to let Ye Chen sweep through all his opponents. What she didn''t expect was that in this sword fighting competition, there would be a Murong Qiqi, someone who had mastered the Law Sword Seed!


    The sword formation that filled the sky with snowflakes had previously clashed with Ye Chen''s Death Storm Sword Formation, and they were evenly matched; now, Murong Qiqi had once again deployed the Law Sword Seed, taking her battle prowess to the next level. In such a situation, if Ye Chen didn''t have something up his sleeve, he would likely be defeated straight away!


    If there were something up his sleeve, outside of Void Heaven Sword Valley, Mu Qingqing would believe that Ye Chen would certainly have a countermeasure, but within Void Heaven Sword Valley, where only sword techniques could be utilized, what could Ye Chen, who had only cultivated his sword intent to the level of a high-level sword formation, use to defend against Murong Qiqi''s Law Sword Seed strike?


    Thinking of how Ye Chen had been leading and dominating the number one spot on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, to lose to Murong Qiqi would mean he would be directly stripped of half of his Void Heaven Sword Qi, and he would be eliminated from the competition, no longer having the chance to face other Sword Cultivators. Naturally, this was an outcome Mu Qingqing was unwilling to accept.


    But what could she do if she wasn''t willing to accept it?


    The Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting tournament was a competition of sword techniques.


    Ye Chen, who had only mastered his sword intent to the level of high-level sword formations, was indeed no match in sword techniques compared to Murong Qiqi, who had achieved the Law Sword Seed.


    "It''s over."


    "This Ye Chen is going to lose."


    Mu Qingqing was worried, but many other experts who had seen Murong Qiqi''s moves were absolutely certain that Ye Chen would soon be defeated.


    They feared that the moment Murong Qiqi released the killing power of her Law Sword Seed towards Ye Chen, it would be the time of Ye Chen''s defeat!


    As countless gazes converged on the white snowflake in Murong Qiqi''s hand, they were shocked by her new move. In the mid-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword duel, Ye Chen looked at the snowflake in Murong Qiqi''s hand, which brimmed with an astonishing sword killing power in an instant, and he too felt a tremor in his eyes.


    "Law Sword Seed?"


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that this girl in front of him had also comprehended sword techniques to such an extent!


    While Ye Chen was taken aback, Murong Qiqi with a thin veil over her face looked towards Ye Chen, and at the same time, her light laughter came through, "Ye Chen, your high level sword formation earlier, which was on par with my ''Snowfall Shocking Heaven Move'', has already surprised me."


    "Now, let my Law Sword Seed skill ''World of Ice Seal'' completely defeat you!"


    "Don''t worry, afterwards, I will defeat everyone else in the same way and let them all join you in that eliminated Sword River!"


    In Murong Qiqi''s light laughter, the white snowflake in her hand suddenly erupted with a sky-shattering killing power. Earlier, the white snowflake had merely cooled the entire void, but in an instant afterward, the air of the entire void surged with ice swords. In a flash, the whole void seemed as if it was about to be sealed in ice!


    Seeing Murong Qiqi use her Law Sword Seed skill, many people couldn''t bear to look at Ye Chen anymore.


    They didn''t want to see the immensely powerful Ye Chen lose to the girl.


    Just as Murong Qiqi''s light laughter had not yet dissipated, and as the white snowflake surged with Law Sword Seed''s killing power, about to seal the entire void and utterly defeat Ye Chen, Ye Chen''s light laughter also sounded, "World of Ice Seal? It is indeed powerful."


    "But is this move going to defeat me?"


    "Miss Murong, I still wanted to ask you about the Extreme North Ice Palace Plains, how could I just admit defeat like this!"


    Boom!


    In the midst of Ye Chen''s light laughter, everyone saw that as the endless ice-sealing killing power approached to freeze Ye Chen, in his palm, something else emerged.


    An extremely fiery red dot of fire seed!


    The moment this Fire Seed appeared, it suddenly burst forth with a sky-high heat. This astonishing heat even made the cool void burn hot, shattering the endless ice swords that were freezing towards Ye Chen!


    The instant they saw the Fire Seed, under her veil, Mu Qingqing''s mouth opened wide in shock, "Law Sword Seed, you have also cultivated to the Law Sword Seed? And it''s the Fire Seed from the five major Law Sword Seeds?!"


    In absolute astonishment, Ye Chen gently smiled, "That''s right, it''s the Fire Seed Law Sword Seed!"


    In his light laughter, that dot of Fire Seed in his hand explosively surged upward, instantly forming a region of Sky Burning Fire Swords in the void. These Sky Burning Fire Swords shattered the ice swords around Ye Chen and stood off in the distance against Murong Qiqi''s Void Heaven Ice Swords.


    Clearly, the killing power of Ye Chen''s Law Sword Seed was in no way inferior to Murong Qiqi''s ''World of Ice Seal'' skill, and it even had a feeling of being slightly superior!

 Chapter 332: Chapter 298 Ice and Snow Jade Pendant

    "Another Law Sword Seed!"


    "Ye Chen has actually cultivated to the point of mastering a Law Sword Seed!"


    Just as Ye Chen seemed on the brink of defeat, all the powerful experts had not expected that Ye Chen would also deploy a Law Sword Seed technique and manage to reverse his disadvantage in one fell swoop, directly confronting Murong Qiqi head-on once again.


    This was completely beyond everyone''s expectations!


    It made numerous martial artists scream out in shock!


    In a Sword Fighting tournament, the appearance of one person with control over a Law Sword Seed was already unbelievable. Now, in the Spirit Sea Realm mid-level Sword Fighting section, two such mighty individuals had appeared at once!


    This naturally made countless people unable to believe their eyes!


    "A millennial grand event!"


    "It seems that this Sword Fighting tournament, with the participation of members from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, calling upon sword cultivator powerhouses from various regions to join, has not only caused a surge in the number of fighters to the level of a millennial event but has also elevated the talents of the sword cultivators to the same level!"


    "This tournament, with Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, and possibly others with formidable techniques..."


    "This scene will definitely go down in the thousands of years of history of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting tournament!"


    In the void, upon seeing Ye Chen unleashing the fire-attributed Law Sword Seed and creating a vast expanse of Sky Burning Fire Sword, confronting Murong Qiqi''s sky-filling ice-sealing sword directly, Elder Xiao Supreme Elder who was equally worried about Ye Chen''s defeat, breathed a sigh of relief, with a sense of admiration.


    Elder Xiao Supreme Elder''s heart relaxed, and standing beside him, Mu Qingqing was filled with incredulity and ecstasy in her beautiful eyes.


    The young girl had not at all expected that Ye Chen still had hidden techniques, capable of countering even a move of the Law Sword Seed''s caliber, and had himself attained understanding of the Law Sword Seed level!


    "Ye Chen..."


    Mu Qingqing was so excited she couldn''t even speak.


    She remembered bringing Ye Chen into the Tai''a Sword Sect, going towards the Divine Sword to cultivate, where Ye Chen hadn''t even fully mastered the high-tier sword formations, and not much time had passed, yet not only had Ye Chen mastered a dozen high-level sword formations, but he had also grasped the Law Sword Seed that surpassed high-tier sword formations!


    This rate of cultivation, this talent for comprehension, was unheard of to Mu Qingqing, making the young girl overjoyed to no end!


    Ye Chen''s innate potential of the soul was already incredible, and his swordsmanship achievements were even more outstanding; coupled with this rate of cultivation and comprehension, Mu Qingqing had earlier said that Ye Chen, going to the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, would contend with the true geniuses there.


    Now, it seems that it''s not just about contending anymore. If Ye Chen were to continue cultivating, he would easily overpower the geniuses of the First Holy Temple and even ascend directly to the Heavenly Saint Mountain of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, achieving great renown!


    Mu Qingqing couldn''t help but look forward to seeing Ye Chen enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the First Holy Temple, and shake those arrogant geniuses to their core!


    After all, this was the young man she, Mu Qingqing, had invited to Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    At this thought, Mu Qingqing''s little head rose with pride!


    Outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, among the observing martial artists, the area for martial artists from the Southern Territory.


    Previously, countless experts discussed how Ye Chen would be defeated, and many warriors from the Southern Territory had never heard of the Law Sword Seed, but through the light screen, they could feel how formidable Murong Qiqi, whom Ye Chen was battling, was. At that time, they were already so suppressed that they dared not speak.


    After all, Ye Chen was representing the Southern Territory, leading all the way on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking. If Ye Chen were to be defeated, and moreover, on the first day of the three-day Sword Fighting event, it would be a blow to everyone from the Southern Territory.


    Now, Ye Chen, whom the people of the Southern Territory admired immensely, had not been defeated!


    Despite facing the Law Sword Seed technique that astonished and moved even the powerful Dan Sword Cultivators from the Heavenly Sacred, Ye Chen managed to hold on once more, directly confronting Murong Qiqi and gaining the upper hand.


    This caused the previously suppressed sword cultivators from the Southern Territory to be unable to contain their excitement, trembling with agitation throughout their bodies.


    In the end, all their excitement turned into earth-shaking shouts: "Ye Chen! Ye Chen!"


    The shouts from the Southern Territory also affected the other martial artists outside Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Thinking of Ye Chen''s performance while condensing Void Heaven Sword Qi, remembering how unstoppable he was when fighting against numerous sword cultivators, and now seeing Ye Chen face a Law Sword Seed move with his own incredible Law Sword Seed technique, other martial artists also began to shout loudly: "Ye Chen! Ye Chen!"


    They were rooting for Ye Chen!


    They were cheering for the strongest name on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!


    The shouts outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley stirred the heart, and within the valley, in the mid-level Sword Fighting zone of Spirit Sea Realm, Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, who had both unleashed their Law Sword Seed moves, finally began their battle again!


    Sword Fighting, that''s about deciding who is superior!


    Even if both sides used Law Sword Seed techniques, there is still a hierarchy!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    On Murong Qiqi''s side, seeing her Void Heaven Ice Sword shattered into fragments by Ye Chen''s Sky Burning Fire Sword, the young girl wasn''t angry; instead, her eyes shone with the thrill of finding a worthy opponent: "Ye Chen, you''ve surprised me once again!"


    "Even in my extreme northern land, in the ''Ice and Snow God Palace'' where I cultivated, no Spirit Sea Realm sword cultivator has managed to develop a Law Sword Seed like me. I thought that coming to the Sword Fighting tournament would likely leave me disappointed."


    "But this time, witnessing your Law Sword Seed, my trip to the Central Region has not been in vain. Now, let''s see whose Law Sword Seed is more powerful!"

 Chapter 333: Chapter 298 Ice Snow Jade Pendant_2

    In Murong Qiqi''s voice full of fighting spirit, her sky-filling ice swords suddenly transformed, all becoming deep blue water swords.


    Then, the sky-full of deep blue water swords crazily inundated towards Ye Chen''s Sky Burning Fire Swords.


    Ice could be melted by fire. However, water could extinguish fierce flames.


    Upon seeing that Ye Chen''s Law Sword Seed was of the fire-based sword, Murong Qiqi instantly shifted her "Frozen World Sword Technique" to the original form of her water-based Law Sword Seed.


    As those deep blue water swords flooded towards the Sky Burning Fire Swords in the void, Ye Chen, hearing Murong Qiqi''s renewed challenge, his eyes sparkled with precision, "A contest of who''s stronger? Let''s do it!"


    "The five major Law Sword Seeds can mutually counteract each other, but that doesn''t mean water can always overcome fire; fire can also burn everything to ashes!"


    In Ye Chen''s voice, up in Void Heaven, the sky-filled Sky Burning Fire Swords he commanded faced the endlessly covering and assaulting deep blue water swords, and suddenly whipped up surging flames.


    What Murong Qiqi was even more unaware of was that as Ye Chen executed his fire-based Law Sword Seed technique, deep within his divine soul, the "metal, wood, water, fire, earth" five Sword Light Seeds also lit up brightly.


    This was the result of Ye Chen''s cultivation of the Divine Art "Beiming Secret Tome," the second level "Void Heaven''s Five Stages Diagram," his mastery of the five major Law Sword Seeds!


    Everyone thought that Ye Chen had only cultivated one type of Law Sword Seed, unaware that he possessed all five major Law Sword Seeds, which continuously countered and complemented each other.


    When the five Sword Light Seeds lit up at the same time, the Sword Dao Killing Force of the Sky Burning Fire Swords that Ye Chen unleashed suddenly soared to an unbelievable level.


    It was truly like burning up the void, a myriad of swords piercing through the sky!


    Looking towards Void Heaven, the sky-full of deep blue water swords deployed by Murong Qiqi were already stirring up a world filled with infinite killing force. But once the true power of Ye Chen''s Sword Dao technique was revealed, those numerous Sky Burning Fire Swords seemed to burst ceaselessly downward in the void, slashing madly.


    Sky-filled Sky Burning Fire Swords, a sky-filled barrage! A sky-filled mad slashing!


    This was not just the power of the fire-based Law Sword Seed but also the Sword Origin Killing Force!


    Before such a powerful force, Murong Qiqi''s deep blue water swords, before they could smother and assault a single one of Ye Chen''s fire swords, were utterly destroyed by the countless bombarding and wildly slashing fire swords. When all the deep blue water swords were caught amidst the descending barrage of Sky Burning Fire Swords, they were wiped out in an instant!


    The entire void was left with none of Murong Qiqi''s water-based Law Sword Seed''s power, only the flames of Ye Chen''s Sky Burning Fire Swords flickering everywhere!


    In the end, even the white snowflakes that Murong Qiqi had initially cast had become utterly dim!


    At this moment, if Ye Chen were to launch his fire swords towards Murong Qiqi, she would be directly eliminated from the competition!


    Hum!


    This scene brought silence to the countless martial artists watching inside and outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    They had thought that Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, both using Law Sword Seed techniques, would continue fighting intensely for a while, but no one expected that under the head-to-head clash of the true Law Sword Seed Killing Forces, Murong Qiqi was utterly no match for Ye Chen!


    Clearly, Ye Chen had a deeper understanding of the Law Sword Seed than Murong Qiqi!


    At this moment, Murong Qiqi, looking at the now dim snowflakes in her hands, then towards the sky-filled Sky Burning Fire Swords Ye Chen had unleashed in the void, her eyes subtly moved.


    The girl knew why Ye Chen had not completely defeated her yet.


    Perhaps Ye Chen was still waiting to hear from her about the news of the snowfields of the Ice Snow Divine Palace in the Extreme North, and about the Heavenly Saint Di Kong he was inquiring about.


    With this thought, the girl sighed softly.


    Then, Murong Qiqi gently pinched her fingers and lifted the light veil on her face, looking at Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, I have lost. I am a disciple of the ''Ice Snow Divine Palace'' in the Extreme North. When I set out, I had an agreement with the people of the Divine Palace, that if no one at the Central Region Swordfighting Competition defeated me, I would not reveal my face."


    "Now that I have been defeated, it is also time for me to return to the Ice Snow Divine Palace in three days."


    "The Heavenly Saint Di Kong you''re inquiring about, I have a vague impression, but I don''t remember much. When I return, I will investigate for you."


    "This Ice Snow Jade Pendant is a token of the Ice Snow Divine Palace in the Extreme North. In the future, when you travel to the Extreme North, you can use this pendant to find me, and I will inform you of everything I have investigated!"


    After Murong Qiqi spoke, she flicked her finger, and a snow-white, ice crystal-like jade pendant, engraved with the endless patterns of the Ice Palace and tied with a golden thread and a red cord, shot straight towards Ye Chen.


    "Ice Snow Divine Palace? Ice Snow Jade Pendant?"


    Ye Chen''s heart stirred, and he caught the jade pendant in his hand.


    Looking at Murong Qiqi as she removed her veil, Ye Chen saw that she had a delicate and slightly chubby face, making her appear even more tender and endearing, and without the veil, her spirited eyes had an inexplicable allure.


    Perhaps if it had not been for Ye Chen''s frequent company with Jiang Yao, anyone else who glanced at Murong Qiqi''s true face would have been deeply attracted.


    Seeing Ye Chen sizing her up, Murong Qiqi smiled gently but did not talk further. Instead, she leapt towards the Sky Burning Fire Sword above the Void Heaven.


    Having been defeated by Ye Chen and with no other moves to counterattack, Murong Qiqi naturally would not waste any more time.


    Having lost to Ye Chen, she was completely convinced in her defeat.


    As Murong Qiqi leapt towards the Sky Burning Fire Sword and touched it, the Xu Tian Sword Qi Light Group on her body sensed her defeat, and a great portion of the Void Heaven Sword Qi surged explosively towards Ye Chen.


    Simultaneously, Murong Qiqi''s body flashed with light and she was teleported to the elimination area of the Void Heaven Sword Valley, within the Sword River.


    Ye Chen held the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and saw Murong Qiqi vanish. He started to admire the straightforward and decisive girl: "Ice Snow Divine Palace, Murong Qiqi? After I settle down in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, I will make a trip to the Ice Snow Divine Palace in the Extreme North."


    Ye Chen had to investigate the news about Heavenly Saint Di Kong, which ultimately meant he would make a journey to the Extreme North, as Di Kong had left a secret realm in Ye Chen''s family grounds and had a great favor with him; coupled with the ties with the little monkey, Ye Chen was, of course, going to inquire about Heavenly Saint Di Kong''s news.


    As Ye Chen murmured to himself, the Void Heaven Sword Qi that had surged explosively from Murong Qiqi had fully entered Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi Light Group.


    With the combined forces of the two Void Heaven Sword Qi Light Groups, the one surrounding Ye Chen shot up to a height of over eighteen thousand zhang.


    And the number of Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi had reached an astonishing number of one hundred and twenty-three million, nine hundred and twenty thousand!


    The battle between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi could not be seen by the other two Sword Fighting Areas, the early and the late Spirit Sea Sword Fighting Areas.


    However, when the number of Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi changed again and showed a number of one hundred twenty-three million, nine hundred and twenty thousand on top of the first place of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, all the sword cultivators in the other two areas were thoroughly astonished!

 Chapter 334: Chapter 299: Jiang Yaos Swordsmanship

    ```


    These Sword Cultivators were constantly keeping an eye on the rankings on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, as well as the changes in the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi held by those ranked at the top.


    The number of Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi had previously been over eighty million, but now it had suddenly increased by over forty million, reaching the enormous tally of over one hundred and twenty million.


    Even without witnessing the battle between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, everyone understood that Ye Chen must have defeated a powerful cultivator with a substantial amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi to have such an immediate and significant increase.


    Seeing Murong Qiqi''s ranking drop from seventh and then being eliminated,


    All the Sword Cultivators instantly realized, Ye Chen had eliminated another formidable figure in the mid Spirit Sea battle zone¡ªMurong Qiqi!


    A battle between two top ten powerhouses on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!


    Now, for the first time, a top ten powerhouse was eliminated, which was a shock to all other Sword Cultivators.


    If these cultivators knew the details of the battle between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, they would be even more astounded.


    This was not just a battle between top ten powerhouses but also involved a clash at the level of Law Sword Seeds. Even Murong Qiqi, who had unleashed his Law Sword Seed, was defeated by Ye Chen. If the other powerhouses on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking knew this, they would probably be unable to remain calm right now.


    "One of the top ten has been eliminated, Murong Qiqi is out!"


    "Having taken Murong Qiqi''s Void Heaven Sword Qi, now Ye Chen''s count has soared to over a hundred million in quantity!"


    "It seems I need to seek out stronger cultivators with more Void Heaven Sword Qi to battle. Initially, I planned to fight later but now it looks like I should snatch up some Void Heaven Sword Qi first, to increase my amount and attract more attention!"


    In the late Spirit Sea battle zone, Mo Beiling, upon seeing Ye Chen still occupying first place on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking and his Void Heaven Sword Qi breaking past one hundred million, his eyes sparked with determination.


    He then ignored those nearby opponents with lesser amounts of Void Heaven Sword Qi and, after sizing up the globe of Void Heaven Sword Qi around him, shot toward a Sword Cultivator nearby who had over twenty million Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Mo Beiling was not the only one, after seeing Ye Chen eliminate Murong Qiqi and his Void Heaven Sword Qi explosively increase, other Sword Cultivator powerhouses also truly began the battle of the strong.


    In the early Spirit Sea battle zone, two youngsters with the most Void Heaven Sword Qi directly clashed with each other.


    In the late Spirit Sea battle zone, Xiao Feng, ranked eighth, immediately started his battle with Fang Luohan, ranked sixth. Ling Yue, ranked ninth, likewise challenged Xuanyuan Wuhen, ranked tenth.


    As the true battles of the strong erupted, the rankings on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking also began to shift dramatically.


    With the battles proceeding, Luo Qiancheng from the Eastern Star Desolate Islands in the early Spirit Sea battle zone defeated another young Sword Cultivator from the Central Region, causing his ranking to surge and elevate him to the ninth position.


    In the late Spirit Sea battle zone, in the battle between Xiao Feng and Fang Luohan, Xiao Feng was defeated, and Fang Luohan''s Void Heaven Sword Qi also explosively increased to over sixty million strands!


    These battles were intensely fierce, but in the hearts of all the spectators outside of the Void Heaven Sword Valley, none of these battles compared to the sword fight between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi in terms of intensity.


    For none had reached the level where both combatants were of the Law Sword Seed tier like the fight between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi.


    However, these cultivators didn''t have to wait long before another earth-shattering battle descended upon the late Spirit Sea battle zone.


    Following the battle between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, two top-ranking powerhouses on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking clashed once more¡ªJiang Yao, ranked second, encountered a challenge from Lu Xiaojia, ranked third.


    Before the battle began, Jiang Yao''s count of Void Heaven Sword Qi had already reached over eighty million strands, while Lu Xiaojia also had over fifty million strands.


    The victor between the two would be the second person to break past one hundred million Void Heaven Sword Qi after Ye Chen.


    This battle attracted countless Sword Cultivator elites from around the area to watch, including Liu Qingmei, who had been by Jiang Yao''s side all along, and even Fang Luohan, who had defeated Xiao Feng, turned his attention to this clash.


    ```


    The countless warriors outside the arena were equally focused on the battle between Jiang Yao and Lu Xiaojia.


    After all, among the two, Jiang Yao was the powerful girl who, before the Sword Fighting Competition, could defeat the three strongest Rotating Pill experts with a single move, hailed as the invincible Rotating Pill master. In the gathering of Void Heaven Sword Qi, she ranked second, trailing just behind Ye Chen by a slight margin, and also a talented girl who had gathered more than forty million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Everyone wanted to see just how powerful Jiang Yao''s true swordsmanship was.


    The previous challengers to Jiang Yao weren''t very strong Sword Cultivators, but now Lu Xiaojia was the perfect opponent to test the true power of Jiang Yao''s swordsmanship.


    Lu Xiaojia, before the Sword Fighting Competition, was the most favored among the top six candidates to win the championship, even momentarily getting more calls to win than Ye Chen.


    Moreover, in previous battles among the fourth-ranked Sword Cultivators, Lu Xiaojia had won first place in numerous sword fights, earning him the title of the number one Sword Cultivator of the fourth rank.


    Such a youth''s battle with Jiang Yao was, of course, a spectacle that commanded great attention!


    And when the two truly began their sword fight, the scene of the battle shocked countless people immensely.


    The level of surprise was by no means lesser than the battle between Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi.


    In the battle, both Jiang Yao and Lu Xiaojia initially used high-level Sword Formations. After dozens of moves, Lu Xiaojia still could not defeat Jiang Yao.


    At this point, Lu Xiaojia finally revealed his trump card, one that nobody knew before the Sword Fighting Competition. Like Murong Qiqi, Lu Xiaojia had also comprehended a type of Law Sword Seed.


    The one he comprehended was known for its strongest offensive power among the five major Law Sword Seeds¡ªthe Metal Law Sword Seed.


    When Lu Xiaojia used the Metal Law Sword Seed, Liu Qingmei and Fang Luohan, who were watching the battle, were incredibly astonished, and the countless warriors outside the arena exclaimed in shock.


    Indeed.


    Unbelievably, after Ye Chen and Murong Qiqi, this Sword Fighting Competition saw the emergence of the third person to master a Law Sword Seed!


    What''s more, this person who mastered the Law Sword Seed finally emerged among the Central Region''s Sword Cultivators.


    This sent the warriors from the Central Region, who made up the largest group of spectators, into complete frenzy.


    However, before these Central Region warriors could enjoy their excitement for long, the battle between Lu Xiaojia and Jiang Yao shocked them once again.


    Because, even after Lu Xiaojia took out the Metal Law Sword Seed, known for its strongest offensive power, he still couldn''t defeat Jiang Yao. During the battle, Jiang Yao brought out a set of swordsmanship that no warrior had ever seen.


    A mystical sword technique, bolstered by the divine illusion of an icy blue phoenix!


    Even more so, in the end, with this sword technique, Jiang Yao completely defeated Lu Xiaojia, who had used the Metal Law Sword Seed.


    Divine Arts!


    When the last move from Jiang Yao activated, it instantly drew upon all the power of the endless void, causing Lu Xiaojia''s Metal Law Sword Seed power to collapse completely. Between the heavens, the sky was filled with Jiang Yao''s endless icy blue sword shadows, several formidable Heavenly Saints who were watching from outside the arena cried out: "Divine Arts!"


    These Heavenly Saints recognized that Jiang Yao''s sword technique, which completely shattered the power of the Metal Law Sword Seed, was definitely a powerful Divine Art they had never encountered!


    Divine Arts!


    Following the Law Sword Seeds, they actually witnessed sword technique Divine Arts in the Sword Fighting Competition!


    This was absolutely unprecedented in the thousands of years of the Sword Fighting Competition!

 Chapter 335: Chapter 300: The Proud Son of Heaven, Who Can Compete!

    Ye Chen defeated Murong Qiqi, who controlled the Law Sword Seed, and in the comprehension of the Law Sword Seed, he had reached an inconceivable level!


    And this stunningly beautiful girl, Jiang Yao, who had always been with Ye Chen and was obviously deeply connected to him, also defeated Lu Xiaojia, who controlled the Law Sword Seed, and even showcased a type of divine swordsmanship!


    This of course shocked the Heavenly Saints immensely and startled countless warriors into exclaiming with awe!


    Even when Jiang Yao completely defeated Lu Xiaojia, eliminating him from the competition, and Jiang Yao''s Void Heaven Sword Qi suddenly surged to over 120 million, almost tying with Ye Chen for the top rank, the entire Void Heaven Sword Valley''s three major sword-fighting areas fell deadly silent at once as countless Sword Cultivators watching the Void Heaven Sword Ranking were struck dumb.


    Because they clearly saw that, at the same time Jiang Yao''s Void Heaven Sword Qi surged, Lu Xiaojia''s ranking plummeted from third to nowhere to be found!


    Certainly, Lu Xiaojia had been eliminated by Jiang Yao!


    The previously favored champion, Lu Xiaojia, had been eliminated, even the third-ranked had been eliminated!


    This was simply the highest-ranked person to be eliminated since the start of the Spirit Sea Realm''s sword-fighting competition!


    This, of course, frightened countless people.


    And as the news of Jiang Yao defeating Lu Xiaojia spread throughout the Spirit Sea Realm''s later-stage sword-fighting zones, hearing that Lu Xiaojia had unleashed a tremendously powerful metal-based Law Sword Seed only to be eliminated by Jiang Yao shocked all Sword Cultivators.


    The Law Sword Seed, oh!


    That was definitely the strongest swordsmanship a Sword Cultivator at the Spirit Sea Realm could achieve. With that being eliminated, who else could win against Jiang Yao in swordsmanship?


    Even Mo Beiling, who also harbored the technique of the Law Sword Seed, turned pale at once upon hearing this news and couldn''t speak for a long time.


    Mo Beiling had always thought that his Law Sword Seed technique would be an incredible trump card in this sword-fighting competition.


    He had not expected that Lu Xiaojia would have the same trump card.


    Even less did he expect, now, someone with this trump card, Lu Xiaojia, had lost!


    This meant that he, Mo Beiling, would very likely be defeated by Jiang Yao as well.


    Although the mastery of the Law Sword Seed varied from high to low, Mo Beiling felt that his Law Sword Seed was likely stronger than Lu Xiaojia''s, but now he no longer dared to claim that he would surely take the first place on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, the first place in the sword-fighting competition.


    Because before him stood Jiang Yao, a girl he could not fathom at all, and Ye Chen, a youth he also could not see through!


    These two were definitely the biggest obstacles on his path to the championship, and perhaps insurmountable ones at that!


    Mo Beiling was shocked to his core, yet he still clung to his last shred of unwillingness to concede. But others no longer harbored many thoughts of winning the championship.


    Even Fang Luohan, upon witnessing the fight between Jiang Yao and Lu Xiaojia, realized that he would not be Jiang Yao''s match.


    At this moment, many people only thought about fighting as much as possible against other Sword Cultivators before losing, eventually losing to Jiang Yao, who they could not overcome.


    In the Spirit Sea Realm''s later-stage sword-fighting zone, as Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei flew towards other Sword Cultivators, many even bowed respectfully to Jiang Yao from afar, avoiding combat with her and starting fights with other Sword Cultivators instead!


    The Spirit Sea Realm''s mid-stage sword-fighting zone.


    Seeing Jiang Yao''s Void Heaven Sword Qi numbers skyrocket, Ye Chen also smiled.


    Afterward, Ye Chen''s figure moved, and he shot off towards other Sword Cultivators.


    In the Void Heaven Sword Valley, beside the three sword-fighting areas, was a flowing Sword River.


    All the Sword Cultivators who had been defeated and eliminated in the sword-fighting competition were now sitting cross-legged on huge leaves on the Sword River.


    Above their heads in the void, the same magical lights permeated, illuminating the various scenes of sword-fighting in the three areas and a Void Heaven Sword Ranking hanging high.


    When Jiang Yao fought Lu Xiaojia, in the Sword River, the number of eliminated Sword Cultivators had reached over six thousand, among them, Murong Qiqi, who had been defeated by Ye Chen, sat within the crowd.


    Seeing the battle between Jiang Yao and Lu Xiaojia, especially when Lu Xiaojia unleashed the deadly power of the metal-based Law Sword Seed, Murong Qiqi was startled.


    The girl had not expected that, aside from her and Ye Chen, another Sword Cultivator with the level of Law Sword Seed would appear.


    And once Lu Xiaojia was defeated, Murong Qiqi looked at Jiang Yao with eyes full of disbelief. She had not thought that Lu Xiaojia, who had unleashed the killing power of the Law Sword Seed, would be defeated by Jiang Yao.


    Murong Qiqi could feel that her combat strength was similar to Lu Xiaojia''s.


    This meant that even if she had not been defeated by Ye Chen, she would have ended up losing to Jiang Yao in the end!


    "Ye Chen."


    "Jiang Yao."


    "In this Swordsmanship Tournament, two prodigies have emerged! Both are definitely stronger than I!"


    Murong Qiqi''s eyes sparkled with light.


    "Both of them, I heard, are newly recruited disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace. In the Extreme North, within the Ice Snow Divine Palace, I had no rivals among the Sword Cultivators of the Spirit Sea Realm. Even against cultivators in the spinning Dan realm, using all my techniques, I could fight against many of the strongest at the later stages. Yet coming to Middle Domain showed me that there are skies beyond our skies and people beyond our people."


    "After I return to the Extreme North this time, it seems I will need to seriously cultivate besides helping Ye Chen seek information on that Di Kong Heavenly Saint!"


    Murong Qiqi was deeply moved by Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Other sword cultivators who had been defeated felt the same intense impact from Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s swordsmanship.


    In everyone''s hearts surged a wave of admiration and a burning passion.


    The admiration was for the strength of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    And the burning passion was because their swordsmanship had not reached its limit, and Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were their role models; they needed to continue cultivating!


    This deep feeling of admiration and fiery passion grew even more intense as the Swordsmanship Tournament continued, with more participants getting defeated and eliminated, plunging into the Sword River.


    Because the defeated could clearly see, within the Spirit Sea Realm''s mid-stage sword fighting area, Ye Chen swept through everything undefeated, without a single sword cultivator capable of stopping his victorious march.


    In the entire mid-stage sword fighting area of the Spirit Sea Realm, as Murong Qiqi had been defeated, there was no one else who could be Ye Chen''s match.


    Even as the tournament proceeded into its second day and the limits separating the mid-stage and early-stage Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting areas were opened, allowing the remaining sword cultivators from both areas to battle each other, the situation remained unchanged.


    Aside from two sword cultivators who pushed Ye Chen to once again unleash the killing power of Law Sword Seed resulting in their elimination, no one else posed a barrier to him; Ye Chen could eliminate these contenders even with high-level sword arrays.


    Ye Chen''s twice-executed Law Sword Seed''s killing force made those in the eliminated Sword River who hadn''t seen Ye Chen employ the Law Sword Seed techniques in the other two sword fighting areas gasp in astonishment.


    Moreover, what shocked these sword cultivators was that many noticed towards the end, Ye Chen even began using many of the sword array techniques of those he had crossed swords with.


    Clearly, Ye Chen, while engaging with those sword cultivators, was not only winning Void Heaven Sword Qi but also learning the swordsmanship of various sword cultivators.


    Ye Chen, who had mastered the incredibly powerful Law Sword Seed technique, was not prideful or complacent, and kept learning relentlessly. Even lower-level sword array techniques than the Law Sword Seed did not escape his interest; he learned, pondered, and summarized them!


    Looking on, many sword cultivators in the eliminated Sword River fell silent.


    Many of them recalled that within their own sects, they belonged to the absolute elite of sword cultivators. Yet when facing those whom they deemed inferior, they could hardly avoid looking down on them.


    Now, Ye Chen had taught them what it means to remain unhaunted by victory and always pursue continuous learning and growth.


    "Perhaps, it is because of this that Ye Chen has become so powerful," many thought to themselves.


    Throughout the early and mid-stage areas of the Spirit Sea Realm''s Swordsmanship Tournament, Ye Chen swept through, continuously accumulating Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Meanwhile, Jiang Yao kept winning in the late-stage Spirit Sea Realm, victory after victory.


    Aside from a few like Liu Qingmei, Mo Beiling, and Fang Luohan who hadn''t faced Jiang Yao, the rest were being continuously eliminated.


    The number of people in the eliminated Sword River kept increasing.


    The situation on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking became clearer and clearer.


    Many understood that among the few most powerful contestants remained the eventual champion of the Spirit Sea Realm Swordsmanship Tournament.


    And among them, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who had already accumulated over 500 million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi, were unquestionably the two hottest favorites to win the championship!


    As the Swordsmanship Tournament arrived at the late moments of the third day.


    When only five out of the nine thousand eight hundred sixty-eight participating sword cultivators remained after a slew of eliminations, the final five finally flew together.


    These five individuals were Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, Mo Beiling, and Fang Luohan.


    Now at the final moment, these five could no longer avoid battle and finally had to determine their respective standings!

 Chapter 336: Chapter 301: The Final Challenge

    When Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, Mo Beiling, and Fang Luohan, the five of them, flew together, the eyes of all martial artists and sword cultivators both outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley and eliminated within the Sword River, converged upon them.


    At this time, these five were the last remaining top five contenders who had yet to be defeated in the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    In the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, Fang Luohan was ranked fifth. After capturing the Void Heaven Sword Qi from other sword cultivators, the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi on him had reached over eighty million strands.


    Liu Qingmei was ranked fourth, and the quantity of her Void Heaven Sword Qi also exceeded one hundred million strands, reaching over one hundred and thirty million.


    Mo Beiling, surpassing both Fang Luohan and Liu Qingmei, was ranked third. The sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi around him had condensed a staggering amount of over one hundred and eighty million strands, incredibly astonishing.


    Whether it was Fang Luohan, Liu Qingmei or Mo Beiling, just the quantity of their Void Heaven Sword Qi alone was already unbelievable. However, when the final five stood together, all eyes became even more focused on the other two, especially on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Because Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who had defeated the highest number of sword cultivators, had quantities of Void Heaven Sword Qi that far exceeded the combined total of the other three.


    Each of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had over five hundred million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi surrounding them!


    Over five hundred million strands.


    This simply signified that almost the majority of the Void Heaven Sword Qi from all participating Spirit Sea Realm sword cultivators in the cultivation conference had gathered upon these two individuals!


    Liu Qingmei had been by Jiang Yao''s side all along and had grown accustomed to her astonishing Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    However, when Fang Luohan and Mo Beiling flew beside Ye Chen and Jiang Yao and witnessed the towering sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi that spiraled thousands of feet high around them, they were rendered speechless in utter shock in comparison to their own.


    Although through the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, they already knew the quantity of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s Void Heaven Sword Qi, witnessing the scene of this spiraling sphere that soared thousands of feet high still left them deeply astonished.


    "Jiang Yao,"


    Ye Chen didn''t bother with the two shocked individuals. After the five gathered together, he approached Jiang Yao directly.


    Observing the sphere of Void Heaven Sword Qi around the girl that resembled his own, Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    Jiang Yao also returned a gentle smile and extended her hand to take hold of Ye Chen''s palm.


    The three days of the Sword Fighting Conference, just from the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi congealed around the two of them, it was evident that they had gained tremendously.


    "Ye Chen," Liu Qingmei also looked at Ye Chen''s surrounding Void Heaven Sword Qi with a smile.


    "Now that only the final five remain, how do you plan to proceed with the last battles?" Liu Qingmei asked Ye Chen.


    "The final battles?"


    Ye Chen''s eyes moved past Liu Qingmei, landing on Fang Luohan and Mo Beiling.


    In these three days, Ye Chen had defeated thousands of sword cultivators. He had learned hundreds, if not thousands, of fencing techniques, which greatly enhanced his knowledge.


    Not to mention the more than five hundred million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi he had amassed, as well as Ye Chen''s mastery of "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu" and his insight into the newly cultivated five Law Sword Seeds during combat.


    It could be said that Ye Chen was now completely satisfied with his gains from the cultivation conference.


    Ye Chen was looking forward to the end of the three-day period, when he could convert the surrounding Void Heaven Sword Qi into True Qi and make a breakthrough towards a higher realm to see just how far he could go.


    As for Fang Luohan and Mo Beiling in front of him, he didn''t feel compelled to defeat them necessarily.


    After all, among the remaining five, Ye Chen obviously would not engage with Jiang Yao to take her Void Heaven Sword Qi. Furthermore, Liu Qingmei had helped him and Jiang Yao in the square earlier, so Ye Chen wouldn''t choose to battle Liu Qingmei either.


    So whether or not to engage Fang Luohan and Mo Beiling in battle was of no significant consequence.


    "I''m quite content with what I''ve achieved so far. Whether or not to fight in the last battles is not an issue for me," said Ye Chen with a smile. While speaking, he turned to look at Mo Beiling and Fang Luohan, "Of course, if someone wishes to fight with me, I won''t refuse."


    Jiang Yao, standing beside Ye Chen, also nodded with a smile, "My thoughts are the same as Ye Chen''s."


    Both had already been selected to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace, so they did not have to worry about the reward of joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace for being the first on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking. Furthermore, with their significant gains from the event, they naturally would not deliberately compete for that last bit of Void Heaven Sword Qi anymore.


    "What about the two of you?" Liu Qingmei turned to Mo Beiling and Fang Luohan and asked.


    Fang Luohan was taken aback. He had long witnessed Jiang Yao''s tactics and certainly knew he couldn''t beat her. If Jiang Yao truly sought to defeat him, he would definitely be eliminated.


    Relieved upon hearing that Jiang Yao no longer had the intention to actively fight, Fang Luohan sighed in relief and said with a smile, "I do not have the strength to vie for the first spot on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking. Whether I fight or not, it won''t affect the overall outcome. If neither Ye Chen nor Jiang Yao come after my Void Heaven Sword Qi, I would count myself lucky. I certainly won''t be the one to initiate a challenge."


    Fang Luohan expressed his stance. However, Mo Beiling next to him was struggling with his decision.


    The reason for his struggle was that Mo Beiling still harbored the thought of vying for the first place on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking.


    After all, the first place on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking meant one could join the Heavenly Sacred Palace and become a disciple!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao might not care about this reward, but it was of utmost importance to Mo Beiling. After all, joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace would be of great help to his future cultivation, far more so than practicing in a third-tier Sword Sect!


    But Mo Beiling was afraid, afraid of losing to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao. After all, to vie for the first spot on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, he had to defeat at least one of them.


    Mo Beiling had heard that Jiang Yao had defeated Lu Xiaojia, who controlled the Law Sword Seed; he did not believe he had much chance of defeating her either.


    As for Ye Chen, although he had not witnessed Ye Chen''s skills, the fact that Ye Chen still ranked first and had acquired over five hundred million strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi meant he certainly had some tricks up his sleeve ¡ª something Mo Beiling refused to believe otherwise.


    Facing such opponents, Mo Beiling was, of course, afraid of losing.


    On one hand, there was the temptation of the opportunity to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace by obtaining the first spot on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking; on the other, there was the fear of defeat.


    Mo Beiling struggled immensely.


    In the end, the temptation overcame his fear.


    "I''ll gamble. If I lose the challenge, I''ll only have lost these strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi¡ª even without them, I''ll still succeed in the Rotating Pill breakthrough in the future. But if I win, I get to seize even more Void Heaven Sword Qi, perhaps even winning the slot to enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "I know the power of my Law Sword Seed. A battle with Jiang Yao might not be entirely out of the question, and as for Ye Chen, I''m surely able to fight him. He''s only at the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm; maybe he hasn''t faced many strong opponents in the mid-stage and early-stage Spirit Sea Realm of the Sword Fighting Area."


    "I must fight, I must strive to claim the first place on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!"


    Once Mo Beiling had made up his mind, he looked up at the remaining four people: "The sword fighting tournament isn''t over until the very last moment, and the rankings aren''t finalized. I... I still want to fight, to continue striving for the top of the Void Heaven Sword Ranking!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As he spoke, he waved his arm, and over a thousand swords burst forth from him, embedding themselves into the ground.


    "These are the weapons of the Sword Cultivators I''ve defeated. Whether they remain in my hands in the end depends on the outcome of the battles to come," Mo Beiling said while looking directly at Fang Luohan, "Fang, I lost to you in the competition among the four third-tier Sword Sects. For my first challenge, I chose you."


    Instead of challenging Ye Chen or Jiang Yao first, Mo Beiling initiated a challenge towards Fang Luohan.


    Fang Luohan had not expected Mo Beiling to dare to make a play for the first spot on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking at the last moment, let alone challenge him first.


    "Back then, I lost to him, and I''ve heard he''s been in seclusion contemplating swordsmanship in the past few years. Could it be that he has made some gains?" Fang Luohan pondered.


    However, Fang Luohan responded to the challenge without hesitation: "If Brother Mo wishes to fight me, I certainly won''t refuse."


    At this final moment of the sword fighting tournament, facing a challenge invoked the pride of a Sword Cultivator¡ªone should not, and would not, refuse.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After accepting the challenge, Fang Luohan and Mo Beiling flew directly into the sky, standing opposite each other.


    "I thought this sword fighting tournament wouldn''t see any more action after Ye Chen and Sister Jiang Yao refrained from fighting. It seems some are still not satisfied and want to battle," Liu Qingmei said with a slight smile, raising her head to look at Fang Luohan and Mo Beiling.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also smiled and shook their heads, then flew aside to watch the battle between the two.

 Chapter 337: Chapter 302 Reverse Flow of Sword Qi

    Outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, as Mo Beiling and Fang Luohan were about to begin their sword fight, many martial artists'' eyes lit up with excitement.


    Mo Beiling and Fang Luohan were two of the six top contenders for the championship.


    Although overshadowed by the limelight of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the match between these two still garnered much attention.


    Moreover, Mo Beiling and Fang Luohan had previously dueled, with Fang Luohan defeating Mo Beiling, then ranked second among the top three grades of the Spirit Sea Sword Cultivators, which earned him fame within the Sword Cultivators. Now that Mo Beiling was challenging Fang Luohan, naturally, many wanted to know the outcome of their battle.


    Everyone was eager to know whether Fang Luohan could defeat Mo Beiling again or if Mo Beiling would get his revenge.


    But when Fang Luohan and Mo Beiling actually began fighting, countless people were shocked to exclaim.


    Because the two who were expected to be evenly matched instead saw Mo Beiling completely defeat Fang Luohan in just a moment after the real fight began!


    And the technique Mo Beiling used to defeat Fang Luohan was none other than the Law Sword Seed, the sword technique that had previously astonished countless spectators when displayed by Murong Qiqi, Ye Chen, and Lu Xiaojia.


    No one expected that Mo Beiling, who had lost to Fang Luohan before, also possessed the high-level sword technique of "Law Sword Seed."


    This Spirit Sea Realm sword fighting tournament unexpectedly had its fourth Law Sword Seed master appear!


    Such an occurrence was unprecedented in the history of the tournament!


    Moreover, many could see that Mo Beiling''s Law Sword Seed seem slightly more powerful than Lu Xiaojia''s Gold Series Law Sword Seed.


    It was then that everyone finally understood why Mo Beiling took part in the duels and issued challenges ¨C he too held such a trump card.


    Fang Luohan, defeated by Mo Beiling, was eliminated in surprise.


    In the arena, the only undefeated were now Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and Mo Beiling.


    After taking away Fang Luohan''s Void Heaven Sword Qi and all the Treasured Swords from those Sword Cultivators he had defeated, Mo Beiling was eliminated and directly turned his gaze towards Ye Chen.


    Having revealed his Law Sword Seed technique and settled his old score with Fang Luohan, Mo Beiling''s sole intention now was to defeat Ye Chen.


    First to defeat Ye Chen, seize the top place on the Void Heaven Sword Ranking, and then see if Liu Qingmei and Jiang Yao would challenge him.


    Thinking this, Mo Beiling directly called Ye Chen out.


    Seeing Mo Beiling challenge Ye Chen, countless martial artists outside became excited.


    These martial artists knew that Ye Chen had already defeated a Law Sword Seed master, Murong Qiqi, and now another Law Sword Seed master, Mo Beiling, was challenging Ye Chen.


    Very soon, the second battle, Law Sword Seed versus Law Sword Seed, was about to unfold!


    Ye Chen''s Law Sword Seed was more powerful than Murong Qiqi''s, and Mo Beiling''s Law Sword Seed was stronger than Lu Xiaojia''s. With Murong Qiqi and Lu Xiaojia''s Law Sword Seed strengths being comparable, everyone wanted to know who would win between Ye Chen and Mo Beiling in the end.


    The only one untroubled in the arena was Jiang Yao.


    Because after Mo Beiling challenged Ye Chen, Jiang Yao received a transmission from Ye Chen, assuring her that defeating Mo Beiling would be no problem at all.


    Of course, Jiang Yao believed Ye Chen''s words.


    And when Ye Chen and Mo Beiling flew high into the void and truly started to fight, countless people shouted in amazement.


    Because when Mo Beiling made his move against Ye Chen, he didn''t merely use the Law Sword Seed ability as he had against Fang Luohan but directly unleashed two Law Sword Seed techniques in their full form ¨C the Wood Series Law Sword Seed move and Earth Series Law Sword Seed move.


    Watching the green Law Sword Shadows and brown Law Sword Shadows fill the heavens, everyone realized why Mo Beiling''s Law Sword Seed was stronger than Lu Xiaojia''s ¨C he had comprehended two Law Sword Seed techniques!


    And what shocked countless people even more was that after Mo Beiling used his two Law Sword Seed techniques, Ye Chen didn''t hesitate and grabbed in the void, and five Law Sword Seed lights flashed forth in his hand.


    Ye Chen had actually unleashed all five Series Law Sword Seeds at once!


    ```


    This of course made countless people scream!


    The Five Series Law Sword Types represent the strongest comprehension within the category of Law Sword Seeds, indicating a strong affinity with the five major Void Heaven laws. Such an occurrence is as rare as a perfect Five Apertures Rotating Pill, extremely uncommon, one might say truly one in a hundred million!


    Ye Chen''s ability to use the Five Series Law Sword Types implies that, should he step into the Rotating Pill Realm, he is very likely to also create the most perfect and powerful Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    During the mid-stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, countless people had heard that Ye Chen had the power to battle the strongest in the Rotating Pill Realm.


    If Ye Chen steps into the Rotating Pill Realm and achieves the perfect Rotating Pill, not to mention being the strongest in the Rotating Pill Realm, even unbeatable Ye Chen could sweep through them, and might even be able to contend with early Heavenly Saint powerhouses.


    Warriors know that true fighters do not show all their cards during a fight, just like Ye Chen battling Mo Beiling, using the power of three Law Sword Seeds to defeat Mo Beiling.


    Now, Ye Chen, without any hesitation, took out all the killing power of the Five Series Law Sword Types, which definitely indicated that Ye Chen had other trump cards to use; he wanted to swiftly deal with Mo Beiling.


    These people weren''t wrong; Ye Chen''s truly powerful trump card, the one that allowed him to battle against the strongest in the late Rotating Pill Realm with Spirit Sea Realm strength, was his Mix Yuan True Qi and the methods of the five divine bloodlines. And at that moment, when Mo Beiling unleashed the killing power of two Law Sword Seeds, Ye Chen felt that within his body, the five Law Sword Seeds were drawn by Void Heaven Sword Valley and yearned to burst forth.


    Ye Chen also felt that if he used the methods of the Five Law Sword Seeds, it would trigger an incredible change in Void Heaven Sword Valley, a change that might lead to a major breakthrough for his five divine bloodlines.


    With this in mind, of course Ye Chen would not hesitate to use all five Law Sword Seeds methods right away.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s hands shimmer with the light of the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth Law Sword Types, not only did countless warriors outside the field scream, even Jiang Yao beside him was somewhat startled, while Liu Qingmei''s mouth opened wide in amazement, unable to speak.


    And in the Sword River of the Void Heaven Sword Valley, where over nine thousand eliminated Sword Cultivators were, Murong Qiqi, Xiao Feng, Lu Xiaojia, Fang Luohan, and others'' eyes bulged with astonishment.


    As for Mo Beiling, facing Ye Chen, he was the most shocked.


    Mo Beiling originally thought that his hidden Law Sword Seed methods could defeat Ye Chen and eventually challenge Jiang Yao, but he never expected Ye Chen to actually master the Five Law Sword Seeds!


    With only two Law Sword Seeds of his own, facing Ye Chen''s Five Law Sword Seeds and still thinking about defeating Ye Chen, was simply a fool''s dream!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the midst of Mo Beiling''s great shock, the killing force of the two Law Sword Seeds he had released into the void shattered under the impact of Ye Chen''s Five Law Sword Seeds'' power, all of them breaking apart.


    Ye Chen''s Five Law Sword Seeds power merely touched Mo Beiling lightly, and the Void Heaven Sword Qi outside Mo Beiling''s body immediately burst forth towards Ye Chen.


    And Mo Beiling was directly eliminated!


    The eliminated Mo Beiling left behind all the Treasured Swords he had won, along with his own Treasured Sword, and all the Void Heaven Sword Qi he had seized, including half of his own, after which, he was transported into the Sword River of the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Ye Chen, however, did not care about the Treasured Swords and the surging Void Heaven Sword Qi left by Mo Beiling, but looked directly down at the vast Void Heaven Sword Valley and towards the Sword Pits that had become quiet since the beginning of the sword fight.


    To everyone''s surprise, the previously tranquil Sword Pits suddenly erupted with tremendous Five-Colored Void Heaven Sword Qi as Ye Chen used the Five Law Sword Seeds power to defeat Mo Beiling.


    Moreover, the quantity of Void Heaven Sword Qi erupting from the Sword Pits this time seemed to be several times more than what countless Sword Cultivators had first gathered in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, forming Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    A large part of this Void Heaven Sword Qi surged toward Ye Chen, and the quantity of Void Heaven Sword Qi around Ye Chen skyrocketed directly from over 700 million after defeating Mo Beiling to 800 million, 900 million, charging crazily toward 1 billion!


    A smaller part of the Void Heaven Sword Qi also surged towards Jiang Yao beside Ye Chen, pouring into her as well.


    Even Liu Qingmei, who was still in shock from Ye Chen''s Five Law Sword Seeds methods and had not yet recovered, received a considerable amount of the surging Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Looking at this, it was unmistakably the great blessing from Void Heaven Sword Valley mentioned earlier by Snow Crystal Daoist, the second wave of Void Heaven Sword Qi surging and offering another opportunity for sword qi to infuse the body.


    But at this moment, Snow Crystal Daoist and the Heavenly Saints outside Void Heaven Sword Valley were equally astonished.


    They knew there was a possibility for a second infusion of sword qi in Void Heaven Sword Valley, but that had only occurred three times in the thousands of years of sword fighting conferences.


    And each of those three times happened only after all other Sword Cultivators were eliminated, with just the number one ranked Sword Cultivator remaining, who had more than 800 million stocks of Void Heaven Sword Qi, before it was triggered. Furthermore, this second sword qi infusion only went to the strongest Sword Cultivator, and the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi was not as much as the first time.


    Now, Ye Chen was able to trigger a second surge of Void Heaven Sword Qi that far exceeded the first in quantity, and even allowed the three remaining in the Void Heaven Sword Valley Sword Fighting Area to infuse sword qi simultaneously. This of course greatly surprised the hosts of the Sword Fighting Conference and the Heavenly Saints.


    ```

 Chapter 338: 303

    The hosts of the Sword Fighting Tournament and the Heavenly Saints were astonished beyond measure.


    Meanwhile, the countless martial artists outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley and those eliminated in the Sword River of the tournament couldn''t help but scream out loud when they saw Ye Chen, after defeating Mo Beiling, actually caused the Void Heaven Sword Qi to surge forth once again.


    With the second dose of Sword Qi enveloping him, plus the Sword Qi Light Sphere they already possessed, no one could predict what astonishing gains Ye Chen and his two companions would have by the end, after completely solidifying the Void Heaven Sword Qi and transforming it into True Qi to absorb into their bodies.


    Ye Chen paid no attention to the shock and screams of countless people.


    At this moment, inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei, after realizing the great opportunity brought by the second condensation of Sword Qi, all regulated their breath and spirit. They sat cross-legged in the void, focusing all their mind and spirit on the condensation of Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    Thus, the Sword Qi Light Spheres around Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei expanded continuously, rising upwards like billowing smoke.


    Liu Qingmei was slightly better off; the original Sword Qi Light Sphere around her was only slightly more than 130 million strands, and the second wave of Sword Qi that flowed towards her was less, so the count of Sword Qi around her was just moving towards 200 million strands.


    But at this moment, the amount of Void Heaven Sword Qi around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had reached an unbelievably massive number.


    Jiang Yao''s Void Heaven Sword Qi had rapidly increased from more than 500 million strands to 600 million strands, 700 million strands, 800 million strands...


    And Ye Chen''s Void Heaven Sword Qi had actually stepped into the range of over 1 billion strands!


    Over 1 billion strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi¡ªif all of it were turned into True Qi Spiritual Fluid, it would be enough to completely fill the Qi Sea of someone in the Spirit Sea Realm¡ªperhaps even a martial artist in the more powerful Rotating Pill Realm could attempt a full breakthrough if they truly absorbed all the True Qi!


    Although it''s said that there''s a huge bottleneck for martial artists moving from the Spirit Sea Realm to the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm. And moving from the early to the middle and later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm involves even more significant barriers, related to the understanding of the five major Heavenly Void Laws, which does not allow for direct breakthroughs. In the past, the champions of the Spirit Sea Realm in the Sword Fighting Tournament usually couldn''t absorb it fully; more often than not, most of the True Qi they gathered would eventually dissipate away.


    However, everyone had seen the talents of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao; these two were beings capable of battling the strongest in the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm with just the strength of the Spirit Sea Realm!


    Such level of powerhouses should definitely not be measured by common standards!


    Most likely, they wouldn''t waste the Void Heaven Sword Qi enveloping them; there must be methods for them to utilize these tremendous gains to the fullest!


    Thinking this, everyone''s breath hitched.


    Everyone was waiting, waiting to see what gains Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei would have after the full completion of Sword Qi Condensation and the three days allowed for transforming Void Heaven Sword Qi into True Qi had passed.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As countless people watched and waited, the Sword Qi Light Spheres around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao continued to grow.


    And when Ye Chen''s count of Void Heaven Sword Qi explosively increased to over 1.9 billion strands, and Jiang Yao''s to over 1.3 billion strands¡ªeven Liu Qingmei''s count surpassed 300 million strands¡ªtheir second condensation of Sword Qi finally concluded.


    Before Ye Chen and the others, along with the countless martial artists focused on them, could take a deep breath, everyone realized that the real three days of the Sword Fighting event had finally come to an end. The moment for the transformation of Void Heaven Sword Qi into True Qi had truly arrived.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The instant this moment occurred, the eliminated sword cultivators in the Sword River of the Void Heaven Sword Valley saw the remaining half of their Sword Qi Light Spheres outside their bodies burst open. The rolling Void Heaven Sword Qi instantly became wildly active around them and then transformed into verdant True Qi, swirling into their bodies.


    If this was happening to those eliminated sword cultivators, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei were no exception.


    The instant when Void Heaven Sword Qi could be utilized, over 1.9 billion strands of it exploded and surged around Ye Chen. In the end, it transformed into a cloud of astonishing True Qi that hovered above Ye Chen''s head, taking the form of an inverted vortex, rolling into his body.


    The same happened to Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei.


    Sensing the vast and immense True Qi entering their bodies, Ye Chen sent a sound transmission to Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei. Then, he fully entered the state of True Qi cultivation and the process of breaking through his realm!


    Not long after Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei entered the state of True Qi cultivation, many sword cultivators who had been eliminated from the Sword River gradually came out of their state of cultivating Sword Qi.


    The amount of True Qi remaining outside their bodies wasn''t much. Absorbing these bits of True Qi did not take too much time.


    And after half an hour had passed, even Lu Xiaojia, among those eliminated sword cultivators who had the most remaining Void Heaven Sword Qi, had completed their True Qi cultivation.


    Finally, all the sword cultivators who had completed their cultivation of True Qi were transferred out of the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    However, at this moment, within the Void Heaven Sword Valley, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei were still cultivating True Qi.


    All eyes, not only those of the spectators who had been watching earlier but also those of the recently eliminated sword cultivators such as Murong Qiqi, Lu Xiaojia, Mo Beiling, and others, were all fixed on the last three remaining in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, focused on Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei.


    After a long while, Liu Qingmei had dissipated more than two billion strands of the more than three billion strands of True Qi she had absorbed, but with the tens of millions she had successfully retained, she directly triggered the descent of five great Heavenly Void Laws. She condensed the Four Apertures Rotating Pill, stepping from the late phase of the Spirit Sea Realm into the Rotating Pill Realm, and the countless watching martial artists outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley exclaimed in amazement.


    Four Apertures Rotating Pill!


    In this Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament, they had actually witnessed someone from the Spirit Sea stepping into the Rotating Pill, and achieving the incredibly powerful Four Apertures Rotating Pill!


    And this person was merely Liu Qingmei, who was ranked third among the last three!


    Boom!


    After stepping into the Rotating Pill, Liu Qingmei was directly repelled from the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    After sensing the changes in her body following the advancement, Liu Qingmei joined everyone else in looking towards the Void Heaven Sword Valley, focusing on the last two remaining, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Going from the late phase of the Spirit Sea to the Rotating Pill, and triggering the five great Heavenly Void Laws under the massive infusion of True Qi, did not take very long, whether successful or not; it usually could be completed in half a day.


    After Liu Qingmei completed her impact on the Rotating Pill, everyone thought that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would also finish their cultivation quickly.


    However, after waiting for a whole day, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who were seated cross-legged in the void of the Void Heaven Sword Valley, showed no sign of finishing their cultivation!


    Furthermore, there was no sign of the rolling True Qi rushing into their bodies dissipating at all!


    This surprised many martial artists and made Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and Mu Qingqing, among others, pay extremely close attention to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Everyone knew that the two of them were probably not just impacting their realm; there must be another breakthrough!


    And when two whole days had passed with still no movement from Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, many martial artists couldn''t help but stand up.


    When the wait reached three days, and the appointed time for the end of the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament had come and gone, and the day of the second grand event "Hidden Dragon List Tournament" had arrived, and Ye Chen and Jiang Yao still hadn''t completed their cultivation, it was already a great surprise to everyone!


    In the end, it was Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and several Heavenly Saints who ordered the start of the "Hidden Dragon List Tournament" on another mountain peak next to Immeasurable Peak. After many people rushed to watch the Hidden Dragon List Tournament, the crowd outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley diminished somewhat.


    However, even though many had gone to watch the Hidden Dragon List Tournament, many still paid attention to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao from time to time.


    And people like Mu Qingqing, who were extremely attentive to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, still stayed outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, waiting for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to complete their cultivation!


    Four days, five days, six days, as time passed day by day...


    Countless people were paying attention to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, and at the same time, many were also focused on the ongoing Hidden Dragon List Tournament, which was in full swing.


    But what others didn''t know was that despite their outward appearance of utter calmness, just sitting quietly in the void of the Void Heaven Sword Valley, tremendous changes were occurring inside both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Inside Jiang Yao, within the Qi Sea, a divine and extraordinary Ice Blue Phoenix Phantom was slowly condensing, and it was the numerous strands of True Qi entering her body that were making this Phoenix Phantom materialize!


    Turning to look at Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, one could see even more dramatic changes: his Qi Sea had already undergone another transformation from the mid-phase of the Spirit Sea Realm, breaking through to the late phase.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had not stopped; the Qi Sea that had advanced to the late phase of the Spirit Sea was filled with rolling black Primordial True Qi Spiritual Fluid, fierce enough to be considered on par with late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, yet showing no sign of cessation, continuing to impact towards the Rotating Pill Realm.


    In this course of impact, the five Great Divine Bloods floating above Ye Chen''s Qi Sea were being utilized more and more, already surpassing two-thirds, three-quarters, constantly moving towards full utilization!


    It seemed that Ye Chen was not only impacting the Rotating Pill Realm but also aimed to complete the second chapter "Primordial Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture in one effort, to fully utilize all five Great Divine Bloods, drip them into the Qi Sea, and break through to the even more powerful and mysterious third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!

 Chapter 339: Chapter 304 Star Scripture Taiyuan Chapter

    The Primordial Star Scripture is divided into seven chapters, hidden within the seven levels of the Stars Divine Tower.


    Ye Chen stepped into the first level and obtained the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Gang Yuan Chapter." After cultivating the "Gang Yuan Chapter" to completion, Ye Chen successfully entered the second level of the Stars Divine Tower and acquired an even more powerful "Primordial Chapter."


    The three major cultivation steps of the "Primordial Chapter" involve cultivating the "Primordial True Liquid," cultivating the "Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers," and infusing the "Five Great Divine Bloods into the True Liquid." Now, Ye Chen had finally reached the last step.


    As the True Qi transformed from the Void Heaven Sword Qi entered Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, the amount of Primordial True Liquid in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea kept increasing, and he called upon more and more of the Five Great Divine Bloods.


    Once all of the Five Great Divine Bloods were called upon and dripped into the Primordial True Liquid, Ye Chen would be able to completely cultivate the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Chapter," and progress to the third level of the Stars Divine Tower to obtain the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    The Primordial Star Scripture once described the power of the seven cultivation techniques, stating that cultivating up to the fourth chapter would be enough to dominate an entire world.


    The most formidable existences in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where Ye Chen resided are at the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm. To say that cultivating to the fourth chapter would enable one to dominate the Barbaric Wilderness Continent meant that once Ye Chen cultivated to the fourth chapter, he would definitely be able to sweep through the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    If he could sweep through the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm just by reaching the fourth chapter, it was very likely that the preceding chapter, the third chapter, could grant Ye Chen the true strength to do battle with the powerhouses of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    It should be known that the second chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Chapter," with its Primordial True Liquid and Five Elements Physique Great Divine Powers, enabled Ye Chen to battle Rotating Pills even at the Spirit Sea Realm.


    If Ye Chen stepped into the third chapter of the Star Scripture, it wasn''t impossible for him to possess the strength to do battle with even more powerful beings of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen was of course immensely excited!


    Now, with troubles brewing in the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, and a great battle approaching, Ye Chen was eager to increase his strength.


    If he truly gained the strength to challenge those of the Heavenly Saint Realm, then Ye Chen would possess boundless confidence, and when the great battle between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness truly erupted, he would be able to contribute his real strength to the Southern Territory!


    "Aim for the third chapter!"


    "Let''s see just how powerful and profound the third chapter will be!"


    With immense excitement, Ye Chen focused all his Mind and Spirit on refining the Qi into liquid, turning all the True Qi transformed from the Void Heaven Sword Qi into Primordial True Liquid, and launched the final assault towards the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Billions of strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi outside of Ye Chen''s body crazily transformed into True Qi and flew into his Qi Sea.


    Thump! Thump! Thump!


    Every strand of True Qi that entered Ye Chen''s Qi Sea finally turned into black Primordial True Liquid and dripped into the vast ocean of True Liquid in the Qi Sea.


    And as the ocean of True Liquid surged, the five droplets of Divine Blood suspended above the ocean started becoming increasingly radiant.


    On the ninth day of Ye Chen''s endeavor to break through his current Realm, he had fully refined more than eight billion strands of True Qi from the Void Heaven Sword Qi.


    And at this moment, the Primordial True Liquid within Ye Chen finally reached the true quantity needed to summon the entire might of the Five Great Divine Bloods!


    When this moment arrived, the Primordial True Liquid inside Ye Chen''s body crazily swirled towards the Five Great Divine Bloods above it, towards the "Azure Dragon Divine Blood," "White Tiger Divine Blood," "Vermilion Bird Divine Blood," "Black Tortoise Divine Blood," and "Qilin Divine Blood."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the boundless Primordial True Liquid surged towards the Five Great Divine Bloods, the five droplets of Divine Blood finally, for the first time, shone brightly all together.


    At the moment they all shone brightly, Ye Chen reversed his focus and, following the method for mobilizing the Five Great Divine Bloods, directed it toward the droplets.


    Ye Chen was about to directly drop all Five Great Divine Bloods into the vast ocean of Primordial True Liquid below!


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Under Ye Chen''s manipulation, five divine beast phantasms emitting heavenward roars emerged from the Five Great Divine Bloods. They were the phantasms of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and Qilin Divine Beasts.


    In the midst of the heavenward roars of the five divine beast phantasms, they, along with the five droplets of Divine Blood, finally completely dropped into the vast ocean of Primordial True Liquid in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea.


    At the moment when those five drops of Divine Blood dripped into the ocean of the Primordial True Liquid, the lights of the Five Elements¡ªmetal, wood, water, fire, and earth¡ªflashed, and Ye Chen felt his entire True Qi Sea, the endless Primordial True Liquid, all beginning to shine through.


    This luminous glow even illuminated all of Ye Chen''s Essence, Qi, and Spirit, shining upon his mind, bones, cells, blood¡ªeverything started to become thoroughly clear.


    Within this thorough clarity, Ye Chen''s entire body emanated an inexplicable Divine Light!


    Just at that moment.


    Boom, a loud bang!


    Floating in the middle of Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, like the Sea-Calming Divine Needle, the Stars Tower finally attracted Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit for the third time, directly absorbing Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit, which was emanating an inexplicable Divine Light, completely into the tower.


    Third layer of the Stars Tower!


    This time, Ye Chen entered right into the third layer of the Stars Tower.


    Ye Chen finally had the chance to obtain the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    In the first layer of the Stars Tower, Ye Chen had seen five Fire Altars, which contained the five layers of the Cultivation Technique of the first chapter, the "Gang Yuan Chapter"; in the second layer of the Stars Tower, Ye Chen saw five fist-sized drops of Divine Blood, which helped him cultivate the five Great Divine Bloods of the second chapter, the "Primordial Chapter".


    Now, as Ye Chen stepped into the third layer, he didn''t see anything else but a mist flickering like stars throughout the whole third layer.


    "Starry Fog?"


    "What is this?"


    As Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit were observing this Starry Fog, the mist, flashing with endless starlight, came shining toward Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit.


    Under this divine and marvelous illumination, countless spell formulas were transmitted into Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit at the same time.


    After Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit looked into these numerous spell formulas, he finally understood what these spells represented.


    These spells turned out to be beyond the "Gang Yuan Chapter" and "Primordial Chapter," the third chapter of the ancient Primordial Star Scripture, the "Taiyuan Chapter"!


    "Star Scripture, Taiyuan Chapter!"


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit throbbed wildly.


    Just by hearing this name, Ye Chen felt an inexplicable sense of divine wonder enveloping his entire Mind and Spirit.


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but look closely at this "Taiyuan Chapter."


    The more he looked, the more excited Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit became, and the more incredible it seemed.


    The "Taiyuan Chapter" starts off with: "Taiyuan Chapter, the third chapter of the ancient Primordial Star Scripture, the truly powerful one."


    "The Gang Yuan Chapter and Primordial Chapter are the two foundational chapters of the Primordial Star Scripture, but stepping into the Taiyuan Chapter is to officially enter the chapters of power of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    "This chapter''s Cultivation Technique not only includes Internal Skills cultivation but also contains External Skills and Divine Arts!"


    Below, there is a detailed explanation of the Taiyuan Chapter left by the "Zi Ji Star Lord," who created the Primordial Star Scripture.


    "This Taiyuan Chapter is the result of me roaming through countless worlds, summarizing numerous methods of cultivation from these worlds to finally form this powerful chapter."


    "Upon entering this chapter, the cultivation of Internal Skills is for cultivating the ''Taiyuan Divine Pill''."


    "The practice of External Skills, on the other hand, is for cultivating the ''Five Great Divine Arts''!"


    "After the cultivation of both Internal and External Skills is completed, one can directly step into the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture and truly step into the power to dominate a world!"

 Chapter 340: Chapter 305: Divine Pill, Divine Arts

    Having truly stepped into the realms of power that dominate a world.


    Zi Ji Star Lord''s words sent Ye Chen''s mind and spirit soaring with excitement!


    Although he had long known that the Primordial Star Scripture was formidable, and that the third chapter, "Taiyuan Chapter," would be stronger than the previous two, the explanation of the combat power related to the third chapter still made Ye Chen uncontrollably excited.


    "This third chapter cultivates Internal Skills and External Skills separately."


    "Let''s take a good look at how exactly these Internal Skills and External Skills are cultivated!"


    Ye Chen suppressed his excitement and continued to read the script of the Taiyuan Chapter.


    The script read: "The ''Taiyuan Divine Pill'' cultivated in Internal Skills is conceived using the ''Primordial True Liquid'' and ''Five Great Divine Bloods'' as a foundation, in combination with the unique Starry Fog of the third floor of the Starlight Tower."


    "This method of cultivation, like many worlds that cultivate ''Rotating Pills'', ''Golden Cores'', and ''Primordial Pills'', involves transforming True Qi Spiritual Fluid from a liquid state to a solid state Divine Pill. However, the ''Taiyuan Divine Pill'' is far more powerful than the ''Rotating Pill'', ''Golden Core'', and ''Primordial Pill'' because its cultivation consists of three major steps."


    "The first step is to cultivate a ''Rotating Pill'', or a ''Golden Core'', or ''Primordial Pill'', according to the cultivation methods of the world you are in; the second step is to cultivate from one ''Rotating Pill'' to countless ''Rotating Pills''. According to the Internal Skills cultivation in the Taiyuan Chapter, if one truly brings the second step to Great Accomplishment, one can cultivate from one ''Rotating Pill'' to nine hundred and ninety-nine equally powerful Rotating Pills, reaching the state of ''Extreme Realm Dispersion''!"


    "The third step is then to unify these ''Extreme Realm Dispersed Rotating Pills'' into one, letting all ''nine hundred and ninety-nine Rotating Pills'' undergo ''Extreme Realm Fusion'' into a single, even more powerful Divine Pill, which is called ''Taiyuan Divine Pill''!"


    Boom!


    The mere explanation of the cultivation of the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" astounded Ye Chen.


    My heavens, the first step of this "Taiyuan Divine Pill", the cultivation of the Rotating Pill, is the same as the cultivation methods of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, which is not surprising. But the subsequent second and third steps are terrifying.


    In the second step, one actually cultivates nine hundred and ninety-nine of the same Rotating Pills from a single one!


    Ye Chen had never heard of anyone in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent possessing nine hundred and ninety-nine Rotating Pills! Does this not mean that merely by completing this second step, not to mention the original Rotating Pill being immensely powerful, the combat power gained from the sheer number of Rotating Pills would make one nearly a thousand times more powerful than others!


    It was a method of cultivation Ye Chen had never before heard of!


    And looking at the third step, the so-called "Extreme Realm Fusion" was even more astonishing for Ye Chen, as these "nine hundred and ninety-nine" Rotating Pills could actually be fused together to form a single unique Divine Pill.


    This was not merely a simple fusion, according to the explanation provided in the Taiyuan Chapter; by truly completing this third step, the entire "Taiyuan Divine Pill" would manifest incredible grand powers, with a genuine combat power many times greater than that of the combined power of nine hundred and ninety-nine Rotating Pills!


    By that time, this Internal Skills cultivation would truly have reached the foundation necessary to impact the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    The Internal Skills cultivation in the "Taiyuan Chapter" had already left Ye Chen in awe, and as his gaze passed over the endless spells for the Internal Skills cultivation, he followed with looking into the External Skills cultivation.


    "The External Skills cultivation in the ''Taiyuan Chapter'' consists of cultivating the ''Five Great Divine Arts''!"


    "These Five Great Divine Arts, which I have summarized from countless continents that mainly cultivate True Qi, are most suitable for the Five Elements Secret Method, and are related to the Five Great Divine Arts concerning the ''Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, Earth'' Heavenly Void Laws."


    "The Five Great Divine Arts are, respectively, the Gold-Attribute Divine Art ''Golden Light Divine Slash''; the Wood-Attribute Divine Art ''Wood Emperor Stacking Skill''; the Water-Attribute Divine Art ''Heavenly Origin Divine Water''; the Fire-Attribute Divine Art ''Heaven-Devouring True Fire'', and the Earth-Attribute Divine Art ''Earth Returning to Origin Art''!"


    "The prowess of the Five Great Divine Arts is related to the Internal Skills cultivation of ''Taiyuan Divine Pill''; the stronger the Internal Skills cultivation, the more powerful the External Skills."


    "At the same time, the Five Great Divine Arts are also related to the comprehension of the Five Heavenly Void Laws; the deeper the understanding of these laws, the more formidable the Five Great Divine Arts become!"


    "The most precious are these five great External Skills Divine Arts that can be combined with Internal Skills. Once you possess these five Divine Arts, all of the Five Elements Secret Treasures related to the five major Heavenly Void Laws throughout the whole world can be melted into the Taiyuan Divine Pill, enhancing the power of both Internal and External Skills!"


    "Take the Fire-Attribute Divine Art ''Heaven-Devouring True Fire,'' for example. This Divine Art can devour all Heaven and Earth True Fires, integrating the power of endless True Fire into the ''Heaven-Devouring True Fire'' for combat purposes!"


    "Similarly, the Water-Attribute Divine Art ''Heavenly Origin Divine Water'' can also fuse all the power of the Heaven and Earth True Water!"


    "When the cultivation of the five great External Skills Divine Arts reaches Great Accomplishment, it will achieve the most powerful attack power of the five major Heavenly Void Laws! It even greatly aids in comprehending the ''Space Law'' that is connected to the five major Heavenly Void Laws!"


    "One could say that the Taiyuan Divine Pill and the five great Divine Arts were specially created for the cultivation of the five great Heavenly Void Laws, constituting the most powerful practice for cultivating these Laws!"


    Heaven.


    Ye Chen was already astoundingly surprised by the Internal Skills cultivation of the ''Taiyuan Divine Pill,'' and now the External Skills cultivation of the "Five Great Divine Arts" made him feel even more incredulous!


    Golden Light Divine Slash!


    Wood Emperor Stacking Skill!


    Heavenly Origin Divine Water!


    Heaven-Devouring True Fire!


    Earth Returning to Origin Art!


    Just the names of these five great Divine Arts alone made Ye Chen feel their mystery and immense strength. What the Taiyuan Chapter mentioned about these Divine Arts being able to melt all of the Five Elements Secret Treasures related to the five major Heavenly Void Laws of the entire world truly shook Ye Chen to the core.


    As for True Fire, Ye Chen was extremely familiar. He knew that even the weakest True Fire reached the power level of Heaven Grade Cultivation Techniques, and powerful True Fire could even burn to death the cultivators in the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    The Fire-Attribute Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" could actually devour all Heaven and Earth True Fire, which of course left Ye Chen in incredible disbelief!


    Ye Chen felt that if this Divine Art of his were to devour truly powerful True Fire, just by unleashing "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," he could burn to death countless cultivators of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen already had the idea to adventure across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and even across all thirty-three continents, to find countless True Fires and devour them!


    If he really did find several extremely powerful True Fires, then even if there was a great war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, facing the Heavenly Saints of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, what would he have to fear?


    By then, if those Demon Sect Heavenly Saints truly dared to massacre the Southern Territory, then his True Fire would burn these Heavenly Saints, letting them truly understand the strength of the Southern Territory!


    It wasn''t just the "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," but also the "Heavenly Origin Divine Water," and the "Wood Emperor Stacking Skill"...


    The five great Divine Arts, along with the Internal Skills cultivation of the ''Taiyuan Divine Pill,'' truly provided Ye Chen with a strong foundation.


    Seeing the cultivation methods for these Internal and External Skills, Ye Chen finally understood why the Primordial Star Scripture said that this third chapter entered the truly powerful realm.


    If this isn''t powerful, what is?!


    Ye Chen was confident that once he completely mastered the Internal and External Skills of this "Taiyuan Chapter," he wouldn''t even fear the later existence in the Heavenly Saint Realm of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    By then, not only would he be able to challenge the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, but he would also possess the foundation to transcend the Lower Realm of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and venture into the more mysterious Upper Realm, the "Minor Spirit Realm," to clash with even more powerful ''Void Sky True Gods''!

 Chapter 341: Chapter 306: Striking the Rotating Pill!

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen''s heart was racing.


    After a long while, Ye Chen finally calmed his excited mind, settling down from the power of the Taiyuan Chapter.


    "The path must be taken one step at a time,"


    "No matter how powerful the Taiyuan Chapter is, only when it is fully cultivated will it be fundamental!"


    "The Taiyuan Chapter states that cultivating internal and external skills is immensely difficult and powerful alike. Whether it is cultivating the 999 Rotating Pills of the ''Extreme Realm Dispersion'' or the unified ''Taiyuan Divine Pill'' of ''Extreme Realm Fusion,'' both are extremely challenging."


    "And to cultivate the Five Great Divine Arts, to enhance their power¡ªjust acquiring treasures like Heaven and Earth True Fire, Heaven and Earth True Water requires countless opportunities and fortune. Not to mention cultivating all five Divine Arts to perfection. All of this requires even more diligent cultivation from me!"


    "Whether it''s internal or external skills, everything starts with the Rotating Pill."


    "Now, my most important task is to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    In the internal skill cultivation of the Taiyuan Chapter, the first step is to cultivate the Rotating Pill. The external skills "Five Great Divine Arts" of the Taiyuan Chapter also require the descent of the five Void Heaven Laws in the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Therefore, if Ye Chen wants to cultivate the Taiyuan Chapter, the key is to enter the Rotating Pill Realm from the Spirit Sea Realm.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen reviewed the Taiyuan Chapter''s cultivation methods three more times in the third layer of the Starlight Tower, then directly used the method described in the Chapter to harness the "Starry Fog" within the third layer of the tower, and with a focused mind, carried the "Starry Fog" with him as he left the Starlight Tower and returned to his physical body.


    Then, as the Starry Fog drifted above Ye Chen''s energy sea and the five drops of Divine Blood fell into the Primordial True Liquid within the energy sea, Ye Chen began the final preparation to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Ordinary people take about half a day to break through from the late Spirit Sea Realm to the Rotating Pill Realm, regardless of success or failure.


    But, just as Jiang Yao''s Phoenix Clan bloodline took an exceptionally long time to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm, Ye Chen''s breakthrough was also entirely different from ordinary people!


    One must know that the energy within Ye Chen''s energy sea is not ordinary Qi or spiritual liquid, but the miraculous Primordial True Liquid produced by cultivating the "Primordial Chapter."


    This Primordial True Liquid even granted Ye Chen the strength to suppress late-stage Rotating Pill powerhouses!


    Now, to solidify this Primordial True Liquid into Rotating Pills and to invoke the five Divine Blood within the true liquid, as well as the Starry Fog above, was certainly not a simple matter of breaking through to the Rotating Pill.


    After exiting the Starlight Tower, Ye Chen fully immersed himself in the final preparations for breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm!


    This preparation took another nine days.


    During these nine days, two major events happened.


    The first event was on the fourth day after Ye Chen came out of the Starlight Tower, which was also the thirteenth day that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were breaking through their realms in the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Jiang Yao, who had been cultivating not far from Ye Chen, finally showed signs of change from her calm state and began her true assault on the Rotating Pill Realm!


    When Jiang Yao began her breakthrough, Mu Qingqing, who had been waiting outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, was extremely excited!


    And unknown to many, atop the highest reaches of Immeasurable Mountain, within the Void Heaven, the strongest late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, Heavenly Saint Yuan Li, watched Jiang Yao with great solemnity and anticipation.


    After spending most of the day, Jiang Yao successfully absorbed all of the 1.3 billion strands of Void Heaven Sword Qi surrounding her body and invoked all five of the Void Heaven Laws, solidifying her perfectly exquisite¡ªFive Apertures Rotating Pill!


    The moment Jiang Yao formed the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, the entire void was permeated with the essence of Heaven and Earth Laws, and above the slowly rotating Five Apertures Rotating Pill, surged inexplicably mesmerizing ice-blue divine patterns!


    Even for the nine days, the entire sky roared with thunder, and purple lightning flashed, manifesting spectacular heavenly phenomena.


    Such heavenly phenomena not only thrilled Mu Qingqing and Heavenly Saint Yuan Li but also drew the attention of countless martial artists watching the "Hidden Dragon Rankings" competition on a nearby mountain peak. Even the real competition of the Hidden Dragon Rankings paused momentarily, as the participants looked towards the peak of Immeasurable Mountain and the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    And upon witnessing the Five Apertures Rotating Pill formed by Jiang Yao within the void, countless martial artists were stunned.


    The Five Apertures Rotating Pill! That is the most perfect Rotating Pill that can be achieved in the Rotating Pill Realm, where all five elements of the Void Heaven Laws¡ªmetal, wood, water, fire, earth¡ªare successfully fused into the Rotating Pill!


    One must know that many martial artists in the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm can''t even integrate one Void Heaven Law when breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm, often resulting in a failed attempt and becoming half-step Rotating Pill warriors. This shows how difficult it is to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Now, not only had Jiang Yao successfully risen to the Rotating Pill Realm, but she had also formed the most perfect Five Apertures Rotating Pill, astonishing countless people!


    This was even the first time many martial artists had witnessed a Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    The Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses were shocked, and among the heavens and earth, those in the Heavenly Saint Realm were equally startled.


    The Heavenly Saints were shocked not only by the extremely rare formation of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill but also because many early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses actually felt a dangerous sensation emanating from Jiang Yao''s Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    Jiang Yao actually made the early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses feel threatened!


    Considering the rumors that Jiang Yao had already possessed unmatched strength at the Rotating Pill during the late Spirit Sea Realm and now, having successfully stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm, those early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses even had a premonition that Jiang Yao might very well be capable of battling them!


    And possibly even capable of injuring them all!


    This, of course, shocked the early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses greatly!


    In addition to Jiang Yao''s successful breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm being the first major event, the second major event was that three days after Jiang Yao completed her breakthrough, on the sixteenth day of Ye Chen''s cultivation, the second grand assembly of Immeasurable Mountain, the "Hidden Dragon List Great Contest," finally concluded.


    Since Ye Chen was in cultivation and did not participate in the Hidden Dragon List Great Contest, and Jiang Yao, after completing her realm breakthrough, chose to stay by Ye Chen''s side and also ignored the contest, three other powerhouses ultimately emerged victorious from the Hidden Dragon List Great Contest.


    Among these three powerhouses, two were martial artists from the central domain, and the other was surprisingly Liu Qingmei from the Eastern Polar Scatter Isles, who had just broken through to the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Liu Qingmei, with her early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, managed to snatch the second ranking in the Hidden Dragon List Great Contest, filled with late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses, shocking countless martial artists.


    Moreover, during the contest, the skill used by Liu Qingmei also baffled many martial artists, and quite a few of them even sensed from Liu Qingmei''s skill the same sensation of the Divine Arts that Jiang Yao once used to defeat three mighty late-stage Rotating Pill adversaries with a single move.


    Although some perspicacious Heavenly Saints recognized that it wasn''t Divine Arts but a Holy Art that was exceedingly close to Divine Arts, this was already enough to make many people see Liu Qingmei in a new light!


    After all, mastering a Holy Art in the early phase of the Rotating Pill Realm was something very few among the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses could achieve!


    When the three champions of the Hidden Dragon List Great Contest were decided, each of them having secured the qualification to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace, both grand assemblies of Immeasurable Mountain had come to a complete end.


    However, almost the majority of the martial artists had not left.


    Because, atop Immeasurable Peak, there was an important matter everyone wanted to wait and see the outcome of.


    That was Ye Chen''s cultivation!


    The Hidden Dragon List Great Contest had concluded, after Liu Qingmei, Jiang Yao had also completed her breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm, and now, in the entire Void Heaven Sword Valley, only Ye Chen was left to finish his cultivation.


    Ye Chen had been cultivating inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley for a full sixteen days without completing his cultivation, which naturally made countless people extremely curious about what formidable skill Ye Chen was cultivating.


    Countless spectators of the Hidden Dragon List Great Contest, numerous participants of the contest, the three who had just claimed the top spots, the martial artists from the Southern Territory who greatly admired Ye Chen, the three Shi Family brothers, the Drunken Sword Hermit, and people from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, all gathered again in the midst of Immeasurable Peak.


    Add to that Mu Qingqing, who had always been guarding outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, Jiang Yao who had completed her cultivation and was waiting for Ye Chen outside, and the powerful Heavenly Saints, numerous figures all stood in the void on the summit of Immeasurable Peak, looking towards the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Everyone was waiting, waiting for Ye Chen''s cultivation to be completed.


    This waiting dragged on for another two days.


    Five days after Jiang Yao completed her cultivation, two days after the Hidden Dragon List Great Contest ended, on the eighteenth day since Ye Chen began his cultivation in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, nine days after receiving the "Taiyuan Chapter," the previously still and seated Ye Chen finally opened his eyes from his meditative state.


    The moment Ye Chen opened his eyes, the long-undisturbed Void Heaven Sword Qi around him surged and started rolling into his body again.


    At the same time, within the expanse of Void Heaven, continuous rumbles of Void Heavenly True Thunder could be heard, and above the ninth heaven, the overwhelming auras of the five major Void Heaven Laws began to converge, gradually enshrouding the entire sky above the Void Heaven Sword Valley!


    Seeing this spectacle, everyone waiting outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley became excited.


    Because this spectacle was unmistakably the scene of a cultivator making a breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm!


    "Ye Chen is starting his breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm!"


    In the Southern Territory martial artists'' area, the three Shi Family brothers were so thrilled that they were about to leap up.


    The three brothers knew very well that Ye Chen had once overwhelmed the late-stage Rotating Pill powerhouses during the mid Spirit Sea Realm, and if Ye Chen was successful in his breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm, with Jiang Yao who had already succeeded in her breakthrough, the Southern Territory would have birthed two astonishing figures!


    Perhaps, the two individuals who might change the stand-off between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, even altering the course of the future war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, would be Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm, the three Shi Family brothers were naturally over the moon, not just them, but all martial artists in the entire Southern Territory were excited!


    On the other hand, in the crowd from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, many had grave expressions on their faces.


    They didn''t dare to imagine just how powerful Ye Chen would become once he truly completed his breakthrough into the Rotating Pill Realm after eighteen whole days of preparation.


    There were even quite a few disciples of the Demon Sects secretly hoping in their hearts that Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough would fail!

 Chapter 342: Chapter 307: Divine Light Shines, Rotating Pill Forms!

    Those disciples from the Demon Sects harbored ill intentions, but many warriors from the Central Region, as well as those deeply respectful of Ye Chen''s formidable strength, were filled with anticipation for Ye Chen''s successful breakthrough to the Rotating Pill Realm.


    "Ye Chen will definitely be able to condense a Rotating Pill!"


    "Perhaps, he could even perfect it like Jiang Yao, creating the most flawless Five Apertures Rotating Pill!"


    Luo Lie, who had just achieved third place in the Hidden Dragon Ranking, from the Great Xia Dynasty of the Central Region, stared at Ye Chen in the Void Heaven Sword Valley, his breathing tight.


    And the first place winner of the Hidden Dragon Ranking, from the Great Qian Dynasty of the Central Region, the only invincible Rotating Pill powerhouse who participated in the Hidden Dragon Ranking competition, Xiao Chen, was also looking at Ye Chen with admiration flickering in his eyes, "Ye Chen, when he was in the Spirit Sea Realm, had a strength comparable to mine."


    "Perhaps if he and Jiang Yao were to participate in the Hidden Dragon Ranking, I would not have gotten first place."


    "I''m really looking forward to seeing just how much his strength will have increased after completing his breakthrough to the Rotating Pill Realm. It is very possible that by then, I will be far from his match!"


    Luo Lie and Xiao Chen were both filled with anticipation for Ye Chen''s breakthrough to the Rotating Pill Realm, and so were sword cultivators like Murong Qiqi who had fought against Ye Chen, as well as Mu Qingqing and others who had been waiting outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, and Liu Qingmei, who finished second in the Hidden Dragon Ranking. Even several celestials from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, including Elder Xiao Supreme Elder from the first sanctuary of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, were full of confidence in Ye Chen''s successful breakthrough to the Rotating Pill Realm!


    The one who was most concerned about Ye Chen was Jiang Yao.


    At this moment, the young girl''s small fists were clenched tightly, and her beautiful eyes were unblinkingly fixated on Ye Chen.


    Under Jiang Yao''s concerned gaze, amid the expectations of countless warriors, and even as the disciples of the Western Desolation''s ten great Demon Sects secretly cursed for Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough to fail, Ye Chen inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley raised his hands and formed a seal in front of his chest.


    In an instant, amidst the rolling thunder from the heavens, all five of the great Heavenly Laws that enveloped the heavens and earth began to surge tumultuously towards the space above Ye Chen''s head!


    At the same time, the Void Heaven sword qi outside Ye Chen''s body was also being absorbed tumultuously, all of it sucked into Ye Chen without a drop wasted. All nineteen billion strands of Void Heaven sword qi were drawn into Ye Chen''s body!


    Clearly, Ye Chen was intent on making a single push, using the vast sword qi transformed into true qi to breakthrough to the Rotating Pill!


    Nineteen billion strands of Void Heaven sword qi!


    This amount even exceeded that of many late-stage Rotating Pill practitioners when they were making a breakthrough to the Celestial Realm.


    Ye Chen had drawn all the Void Heaven sword qi into his body, without a trace of leakage or waste, and as he finished absorbing the sword qi, a cloud of true qi began to surge once again inside the Void Heaven Sword Valley. Clearly, these clouds of true qi were drawn by Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough!


    The amount of true qi activated by Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough was simply astonishing!


    By this time, countless warriors no longer regarded Ye Chen as merely breaking through from the Spirit Sea to the Rotating Pill; they believed he was instead advancing from the Rotating Pill to the Celestial Realm!


    "That''s too terrifying."


    "How could he refine so much true qi?"


    "With such an amount of true qi, if all refined, he could easily defeat a late-stage Rotating Pill practitioner just with the sheer quantity of true qi!"


    "If Ye Chen also successfully refines the Five Apertures Rotating Pill and possesses the power of the five great Heavenly Laws, then Ye Chen''s combat strength is simply unimaginable!"


    Outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, countless warriors began screaming.


    Seeing the horrifying amount of true qi that Ye Chen had drawn into his body, and the presence of the five great Heavenly Laws above Ye Chen''s head, the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation felt their minds thudding loudly.


    These disciples of the Demon Sects had a premonition that their adversary, the thirteen nations of the Southern Lands, would likely produce an extraordinary figure. Even if they cursed Ye Chen to fail, they could not stop the steps of Ye Chen''s transformation!


    Thinking this, the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation couldn''t help but start contemplating countermeasures.


    With screams and tremors outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, inside, Ye Chen had absorbed all the true qi into his body and had now reached the critical moment of his breakthrough to the Rotating Pill Realm!


    The first step in breaking through to a Rotating Pill was to transform the Liquid True Qi within the Qi Sea into the initial solid state Rotating Pill, and the second step was to attract the five great Heavenly Laws to merge into the initial Rotating Pill, turning it into a true Rotating Pill!


    After all the true qi had been absorbed into his body, the Primordial True Liquid in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea had reached its ultimate fullness, its ultimate boiling point!


    At this time, if it were still the Qi Sea, it would no longer be capable of containing any more true qi. To further increase the amount of true qi, all of this liquid true qi would have to undergo a transformation. This transformation is the metamorphosis of the Rotating Pill!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Sensing that his Qi Sea had reached its ultimate fullness, Ye Chen pinched the true qi seal in his heart, and the true qi Spiritual Liquid within his entire Qi Sea began to surge crazily toward the top of the Qi Sea.


    As it surged upwards, the endless black Spiritual Liquid began to boil tumultuously, colliding and fusing together incessantly!


    In the midst of this collision and fusion, a black initial Rotating Pill slowly formed.


    Initially the size of a date pit, when half of the endless Spiritual Liquid had fused, the initial Rotating Pill grew to the size of a walnut. Once all of the Spiritual Liquid had merged into this initial Rotating Pill, it grew to the size of a fist!


    A fist-sized initial Rotating Pill, capable of merging with a true qi Spiritual Liquid vast as the ocean itself, was nothing short of miraculous!


    Ye Chen could sense that there were undoubtedly space laws hidden within this initial Rotating Pill, enabling it to accumulate so much true qi into a solid Rotating Pill!


    Typically, a late-stage Spirit Sea practitioner would have an initial Rotating Pill the size of a walnut upon breaking through. However, Ye Chen''s initial Rotating Pill was several times larger than those common pills. If one also considered the space laws within it, the power of the true Rotating Pill would be countless times greater than that of the ordinary ones!


    What was even more miraculous was that this was not an ordinary Rotating Pill; this black Rotating Pill had five extraordinary patterns engraved upon it.


    These five extraordinary patterns depicted the aspects of the Azure Dragon, White Tiger, Vermilion Bird, Black Tortoise, and the Qilin divine beasts, respectively.


    These Five Great Divine Beasts'' Aspects were the incredible transformation that occurred when the Five Great Divine Bloods were dripped into the True Qi Spiritual Fluid!


    At the moment when the Rotating Pill, engraved with the five divine beast patterns, fully formed, a strange Rotating Pill Spiritual Pattern simultaneously emerged on Ye Chen''s forehead.


    This Rotating Pill Spiritual Pattern was precisely the law formula for summoning the Rotating Pill in and out of the Qi Sea.


    After the appearance of the Rotating Pill Spiritual Pattern, with a thought from Ye Chen, the entire pattern flashed, and the nascent Rotating Pill that had formed in the Qi Sea burst forth from the pattern and flew above Ye Chen''s head, spinning around swiftly.


    "The nascent Rotating Pill has come out!"


    "Ye Chen has successfully nurtured the nascent Rotating Pill!"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen''s Rotating Pill Spiritual Pattern flash and the nascent Rotating Pill fly to the area above his head, countless martial artists excitedly screamed.


    The formation of the nascent Rotating Pill signified that Ye Chen''s first step towards breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm was completely finished; the only thing left was to merge the nascent Rotating Pill with the Five Great Void Heaven Laws!


    When more people saw the nascent Rotating Pill above Ye Chen''s head, they became even more astonished.


    "Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill is actually such an extraordinary black Rotating Pill, heavens, his nascent Rotating Pill is much bigger than a normal one!"


    "And the patterns on his nascent Rotating Pill look like the patterns of mythical beasts! These patterns are as mystical as those Divine Patterns on Jiang Yao''s Rotating Pill from earlier!"


    "Five patterns, could they correspond to the Five Great Void Heaven Laws?"


    While many people were astonished and speculating, Ye Chen, having completed his nascent Rotating Pill, directly launched into the second step, merging with the Five Great Void Heaven Laws.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen pinched his fingers to form a law formula, and the nascent Rotating Pill above his head shot straight toward the Five Great Void Heaven Law''s aura above.


    Simultaneously, Ye Chen formed another law formula with his hands; the five Law Sword Seeds he had cultivated from the second level of the Beiming Secret Tome transformed into five beams of sword light, encircling the nascent Rotating Pill. Together with the pill, they shot towards the aura of the Five Great Void Heaven Laws.


    The Beiming Secret Tome stated that these five Law Sword Seeds were extremely effective in drawing forth all five types of Void Heaven Laws. Naturally, Ye Chen also utilized this method when attempting to break through to the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Without the aid of this method, the five patterns of the Divine Beasts on Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill would have been enough to draw in the Five Great Void Heaven Laws. With the addition of the five Law Sword Seeds, Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill became irresistibly attractive to the Five Great Void Heaven Laws.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    After Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill burst into the aura of the Five Great Void Heaven Laws, the entire aura churned tumultuously. In the end, from the boundless law aura, suddenly burst forth five different colored rays of light.


    These were precisely the Five Great Void Heaven Law Rays!


    Upon seeing these Five Great Void Heaven Law Rays burst forth and shine towards Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill, the martial artists from Tian Nan outside the arena who had been fervently hoping for Ye Chen''s successful breakthrough¡ªElder Xiao Supreme Elder, Mu Qingqing, Jiang Yao, and others¡ªwere all ecstatic.


    With the simultaneous emergence of the Five Great Void Heaven Law Rays, it seemed inevitable that Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill was going to break through to become a Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    "Five Apertures Rotating Pill!"


    "Ye Chen has really managed to merge into a Five Apertures Rotating Pill!"


    Before the screaming of the crowd could cease, the five differently colored law rays directly shot onto Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill.


    Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!


    After five sounds, the rays pierced through the nascent Rotating Pill, creating five apertures!


    The moment the five apertures were drilled into the nascent Rotating Pill, the magnificent aura of the Five Great Void Heaven Laws in the sky began to furiously pour into the apertures.


    In the blink of an eye, all of the Five Great Void Heaven Laws'' aura had tunneled into Ye Chen''s nascent Rotating Pill.


    Simultaneously, a strange divine light shone down from the heavens, enveloping both the whole nascent Rotating Pill and Ye Chen beneath in its radiance.


    No.


    At this time, it could no longer be called a nascent Rotating Pill.


    Having opened up the five grand apertures, and successfully merged with the overwhelming Five Great Void Heaven Laws'' aura, the Rotating Pill had reached the second step of breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm, the Law Integration.


    At this moment, the Rotating Pill had become a genuine Rotating Pill!


    With the divine light shining down, the Rotating Pill was complete.


    Henceforth, Ye Chen had successfully-stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm, becoming a true Rotating Pill powerhouse!

 Chapter 343: Chapter 308: Undercurrents Surge

    In the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Ye Chen raised his head and looked at the Five Apertures Rotating Pill bathing in the divine light, feeling an overwhelming sense of pride surging in his chest.


    The Rotating Pill Realm.


    After countless days and nights of arduous cultivation, he had finally broken through the True Qi Realm and the Spirit Sea Realm, stepping successfully into the Rotating Pill Realm!


    And what''s more, he had formed the most perfect Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    The people outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley could sense the Divine Marvel of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, but they had no idea how powerful this pill actually was.


    As the master of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, Ye Chen, of course, knew what the formation of this pill represented.


    This was a Rotating Pill formed by refining countless strands of Primordial True Liquid, a pill that contained the Five Great Divine Bloods, and even had a greater number of Heavenly Void Laws integrated into it than anyone else!


    Even the last rays of Divine Light that shone on the pill contained countless spiritual patterns attained from contemplating the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws!


    Ye Chen looked at his Rotating Pill and took a deep breath.


    "With the formation of the Rotating Pill Realm, my True Qi and strength have been greatly improved once again."


    "What''s more precious is that after stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm, I can officially begin to cultivate the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, ''Taiyuan Chapter,'' and comprehend the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws!"


    "Everything is a new beginning, the start of striving towards even greater strength!"


    Ye Chen, with myriad thoughts flickering in his mind, stood up from the void.


    He looked towards the Five Apertures Rotating Pill in the heavens with his eyes, and as the rotating spiritual pattern on his forehead flickered, the Five Apertures Rotating Pill bathed in Divine Light shot towards him, entering his body.


    In the end, the Rotating Pill entered the Qi Sea World within Ye Chen, floating amidst the misty Starry Fog.


    Having taken the Rotating Pill into his body, Ye Chen glanced one more time at the Void Heaven Sword Valley and then, under the gaze of countless eyes, was transported outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen!"


    As soon as Ye Chen was teleported outside the Void Heaven Sword Valley, Jiang Yao, Mu Qingqing, and others all rushed over to him.


    Even Elder Xiao Supreme Elder smiled gently, took a step into the void, and appeared beside Ye Chen.


    ...


    Several days later.


    Following the conclusion of the "Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament" and the "Hidden Dragon List competition," countless martial artists left Immeasurable Mountain, heading back to their respective territories and kingdoms.


    Immeasurable Mountain returned to its quiet state.


    However, as these martial artists returned to their territories and the news of the two great events at Immeasurable Mountain spread, discussions erupted across countless regions in the Middle Realm.


    The focal point of these discussions was Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who ranked first and second in the Sword Fighting Tournament at the Void Heaven Sword Valley.


    Their fame even surpassed those of the top three from the Hidden Dragon List competition.


    Not only had both of them been invited by the Heavenly Sacred Palace to become disciples before the two events, but under numerous watchful eyes, they had both achieved the most perfect Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    This was also because, even Xiao Chen, who reigned supreme in the Hidden Dragon List competition with an unbeatable Rotating Pill, was extremely respectful and admiring of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao in full view of the crowd!


    On a Flying Boat heading to the Southern Territory, there were hundreds of martial artists rushing back to the Southern Territory from Immeasurable Mountain.


    Among them were the three Shi brothers and Daoist Wine Sword.


    At that moment, these hundreds of martial artists were toasting with their cups, drinking the strong liquor with much enjoyment.


    All the Southern Territory martial artists'' faces were brimming with smiles.


    "That felt so good!"


    "I didn''t expect Brother Ye Chen to be so powerful, not only seizing first place in the Spirit Sea Realm Sword Fighting Tournament but even achieving the Five Apertures Rotating Pill! This time, the two major events at Immeasurable Mountain truly reclaimed our honor for the Southern Territory!"


    Shi Tianhe took a big gulp of wine and said with a loud laugh.


    "Right, did you notice? When Brother Ye Chen emerged from the Void Heaven Sword Valley, many Heavenly Saints were very enthusiastic towards him, clearly seeking to foster a relationship with Brother Ye Chen," Shi Tianjiang next to Shi Tianhe couldn''t help but nod in agreement.


    "Of course, when Brother Ye Chen was in the Spirit Sea Realm, he had already dominated the Supreme Rotating Pill. Now as a true Five Apertures Rotating Pill powerhouse, his future achievements are boundless, with the possibility of surpassing those Heavenly Saints. They naturally want to be on good terms with Brother Ye Chen!"


    "Even Xiao Chen, ranked first in the Hidden Dragon List competition, was extremely courteous to Brother Ye Chen, directly acknowledging that Brother Ye Chen''s strength was greater than his own."


    "I bet Brother Ye Chen''s current strength would definitely allow him to battle with early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts!"


    Shi Tianhai''s eyes also sparkled with excitement.


    The ability to fight against early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, although not necessarily able to defeat them, indicated that Ye Chen had stepped into the Heavenly Saint level.


    After all, Ye Chen was only in the Rotating Pill Realm and barely sixteen years old by bone age. With such achievements at this age, his future potential was limitless!


    Given time, when Ye Chen further cultivates and truly becomes capable of overpowering early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, it will surely be no empty talk!


    Of course, this made the three Shi brothers extremely excited.


    It also filled countless Southern Territory martial artists with excitement!


    The reason these Southern Territory martial artists were so jubilant on their return from Immeasurable Mountain, indulging in such joyful drinking, was due to this cause.


    After all, with the longstanding blood feud between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, especially as a great battle with the Western Wilderness loomed, many Southern Territory martial artists felt a sense of gloom on their minds.


    Now that the Southern Territory had a young genius like Ye Chen, coupled with the already mighty Heavenly Saint Long Xuan of the Southern Territory, many warriors were no longer afraid of the impending war. Many knew that as Ye Chen grew stronger, the Southern Territory would truly be able to completely subjugate the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness!


    "It''s not just Ye Chen."


    In the crowd, Daoist Wine Sword also had a face full of smiles, "Jiang Yao as well."


    "You haven''t seen it, but when Jiang Yao finished her cultivation and achieved the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, many early Heavenly Saint Realm experts had a drastic change of face, seemingly harboring a sense of fear."


    "That indicates that Jiang Yao''s true strength is very likely not the slightest bit weaker than Ye Chen, who has completed his realm breakthrough. She might even be capable of competing with early Heavenly Saint Realm experts!"


    "One Ye Chen, and then there''s Jiang Yao."


    "This pair of Heaven''s Chosen truly brings us great hope in the Southern Territory!"


    Daoist Wine Sword sighed with emotion, as if recalling the scene when he first met Ye Chen and Jiang Yao at the Taixuan Sect.


    ...


    The warriors from the Southern Territory were extremely excited and overjoyed.


    On a pitch-black flying boat heading towards the Western Wilderness, however, the atmosphere was oppressive.


    About five or six hundred disciples from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness all wore somber expressions.


    Among them, Daoist Kusun from the Demon Sects, who was in charge of the Sword Fighting Tournament and was at the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, looked at a Rotating Pill and spoke in a low voice, "How is it going, the news about Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, has it been passed on to the ancestors?"


    "Hmm, we had already reported to the ancestors when we left Immeasurable Mountain. By now, they should have received the information," the Rotating Pill replied.


    Daoist Kusun nodded, "I didn''t expect that two such prodigious figures would emerge from the Southern Territory; this complicates matters."


    "With such combat power at their young age, give them some time, and they might even surpass Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, the number one powerhouse in the Southern Territory. By then, we in the Western Wilderness will no longer be a match for the Southern Territory."


    Another late-stage Rotating Pill disciple from the Demon Sects beside Daoist Kusun also spoke solemnly, "Indeed, the Southern Territory is of utmost importance to us in the Western Wilderness. No matter what, we must retake the Southern Territory!"


    "The ancestors will surely come up with a solution. Ye Chen and Jiang Yao may be formidable, but after all, they have not truly stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm. There should still be a way to deal with them!"


    Yet another late-stage Rotating Pill disciple spoke up, "I have already sent a message to our Sect''s strongest member in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Elder Brother Yin Qianjue. With Ye Chen and Jiang Yao joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Elder Brother Yin will be closely monitoring them."


    "Elder Brother Yin has many powerful friends after so many years in the Heavenly Sacred Palace. I''ve heard that he has made acquaintance with a few Heavenly Saints. Perhaps the elders won''t even need to take action; Elder Brother Yin alone might help us deal with Ye Chen and Jiang Yao properly and cut off any chance for them to enhance their strength further!"


    This statement from the Rotating Pill disciple stirred the minds of many disciples from the Demon Sects.


    "Elder Brother Yin Qianjue?"


    "Right! Elder Brother Yin Qianjue has also reached the invincible level of the Rotating Pill, and because of his significant talent, he holds strong influence within the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "It was through Elder Brother Yin that our ancestors managed to make contact with the loose cultivators in the Chaotic Sea Area; it''s possible that Elder Brother Yin could genuinely thwart Ye Chen''s progress!"


    It was only then that the Demon Sect disciples'' darkened spirits lightened somewhat.


    ...


    Within the most mysterious secret ground of the Great Xia Dynasty, located within the domain of the second-grade Sect, the Heavenly Sacred Palace,


    Inside a pavilion in the First Holy Temple area,


    A young man clad in dark clothes sat quietly, twisting a communication talisman in his hand.


    After a long time, the talisman in his hand ignited without wind and instantly turned to nothingness.


    Yet, the young man clad in dark clothes lifted his face, looking out of the pavilion, "Ye Chen? Just entered the Rotating Pill Realm and already more formidable than the Supreme Rotating Pill?"


    "How could the Southern Territory produce such an impressive youth?"


    "And there''s Jiang Yao?"


    The young man in dark clothes furrowed his brows.


    After a moment of brooding with furrowed brows, his hand flashed with Spiritual Light, and a talisman flew out of the pavilion he was in.


    About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, a loud, hearty laugh could be heard outside the pavilion where the young man was, "Qian Jue, my dear brother, why the hurry in calling me here? What''s the matter?"


    Looking towards the source of the voice, one could see that the newcomer was an early-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse!


    And this "Qian Jue, my dear brother," the young man in dark attire, was none other than the strongest practitioner from the ten grand Demon Sects in the Western Wilderness cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace ¡ª Yin Qianjue!


    ...


    The news of the conclusion of the two grand events stirred various territories including the Southern Territory, Western Wilderness, Central Region, Extreme North, and the Eastern Polar Star Archipelago.


    Discussions, surprises, and undercurrents surged in a chain reaction.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the top three from the Hidden Dragon List, led by Mu Qingqing, were rushing back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    As for Elder Xiao Supreme Elder and some other Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace who had attended the two grand events, they did not travel with Ye Chen and the others but headed to the Tai''a Sword Sect instead.


    After traveling for a considerable fifteen days, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally saw a vast valley shrouded in endless fog in the distance.


    "Ye Chen, Sister Jiang Yao, that''s the Heavenly Sacred Palace ahead!"


    "Through this fog, we can truly enter the domain of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    Seeing the fog that enveloped the entire valley, Mu Qingqing said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with a cheerful smile.


    "The Heavenly Sacred Palace?!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances.


    "At last, we will see what this legendary number one Sect in the Central Region looks like!"


    Both of them revealed a faint smile.

 Chapter 344: Chapter 309: Heavenly Sacred Palace, Hidden Dragon Hall

    Next to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the top three of the Hidden Dragon List competition, Liu Qingmei, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie, also became excited after hearing Mu Qingqing''s words.


    Heavenly Sacred Palace, the number one sect in the central region, the only second-tier sect, was a grand sect with late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses in residence.


    About to enter such a grand sect, it was no wonder they couldn''t help feeling extremely excited!


    "This mist in the valleys is the sect''s hidden prohibition."


    "Without the permission of Heavenly Sacred Palace, no one else can enter."


    "Let''s go, I''ll take you inside."


    Mu Qingqing giggled and led the way ahead.


    Following Mu Qingqing, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and the others also shot forward, flying towards the direction of the valley.


    After reaching a certain location outside the valley, Mu Qingqing stopped.


    She raised her small hand, and a ray of light flew into the mist; it wasn''t long before a group of figures appeared directly from within the mist.


    This group, donning the attire of guards, appeared to be those stationed at the entrance of the valley.


    The leader, dressed in golden armor and with a burly stature, astonished Ye Chen and the others even more with his cultivation level. This leading figure was actually exuding the aura of an early-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse, indeed a Heavenly Saint!


    A Heavenly Saint, even if only an early-stage powerhouse, was enough to preside over a fourth-tier grand sect. In Heavenly Sacred Palace, he was merely the leader guarding the entrance to this valley.


    Looking beyond this leading figure to the others behind him, the dozen or so individuals following this Heavenly Saint were all at the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    The team stationed at the entrance to the valley, led by a Heavenly Saint with the rest all late-stage Rotating Pill powerhouses, was a force truly formidable and astounding.


    And this was only a small squad guarding the entrance to the valley.


    The depth of Heavenly Sacred Palace was staggeringly powerful!


    A second-tier sect, indeed a second-tier sect!


    This thought involuntarily crossed the minds of Ye Chen and the others.


    After this guardian squad appeared from within the mist, they immediately noticed Mu Qingqing, and behind her, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the other five individuals.


    Having examined Ye Chen and the rest, the leading Heavenly Saint smiled at Mu Qingqing and said, "Qing girl, are these five the new disciples you''ve brought back this time?"


    "I heard you''ve chosen a formidable prodigy this time and even held two grand events especially for him. Which young man is it?"


    As this Heavenly Saint spoke, his gaze settled on Ye Chen, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie.


    Based on the messages sent back to Heavenly Sacred Palace, this Heavenly Saint knew that Mu Qingqing prized a male warrior, so he didn''t suspect Jiang Yao or Liu Qingmei.


    Hearing the Heavenly Saint''s question, Mu Qingqing''s eyes twinkled as she giggled at the Heavenly Saint, "Mr. Mu, why don''t you take a guess?"


    "Take a guess?" The Heavenly Saint''s gaze flitted over Xiao Chen and Luo Lie; after seeing their expressions, he looked at Ye Chen somewhat incredulously, "Could it be this young friend?"


    Ye Chen was merely at the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, and his powerful combat abilities weren''t externally visible, so naturally, Heavenly Saint Mu had not sensed it.


    But precisely when Mu Qingqing spoke, both Xiao Chen and Luo Lie''s gazes were directed at Ye Chen, obviously leading Heavenly Saint Mu to guess right away that the prodigious young man he was inquiring about was Ye Chen.


    A Rotating Pill early-stage, esteemed so highly by Mu Qingqing?


    This, of course, astonished Heavenly Saint Mu immensely.


    Seeing the surprised look on Heavenly Saint Mu''s face, Mu Qingqing smiled softly, "Uncle Mu mustn''t have heard about the results of the two grand events yet. Don''t be fooled by Ye Chen''s early-stage Rotating Pill status; when he was in the Spirit Sea Realm, he was already able to suppress the strongest at the later stages of Rotating Pill."


    Mu Qingqing''s words caused Heavenly Saint Mu to take a sharp breath.


    Even the other Rotating Pill guards behind Heavenly Saint Mu, after hearing Mu Qingqing''s words, started looking at Ye Chen incredulously.


    "Ye Chen, although Heavenly Sacred Palace does not involve itself in the conflicts of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, strength is still revered here."


    "The stronger you are, the more powerful people you will meet in the future, and the more help you will receive. So, don''t blame me for boasting about your prowess."


    Mu Qingqing chuckled as she transmitted her voice to Ye Chen.


    Similarly, the young girl complained to Ye Chen, "I went out this time as an Envoy; the other Envoys all said I wouldn''t be able to pick a formidable disciple. Ye Chen, you and sister Jiang Yao must help me settle the score and show them your might!"


    Hearing Mu Qingqing''s petulant tone in her transmission, Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Mu Qingqing felt even more reassured.


    Noticing that Heavenly Saint Mu and the group of late-stage Rotating Pill guards were still looking at Ye Chen in astonishment, Mu Qingqing didn''t want to waste any more time. She said to Heavenly Saint Mu, "Alright, Uncle Mu, let us in quick. By the way, have the other Envoys returned yet?"


    Hearing Mu Qingqing''s urging, Heavenly Saint Mu recovered from his shock. He couldn''t help but take a few more glances at Ye Chen before raising his hand grandly. The team of Rotating Pills behind him then took out a handful of talismans and threw them into the mist.


    Following that, a grand gateway became visible within the mist-covered valley.


    "All right, little Qing, I would not dare to stand in your way if you wish to enter," Heavenly Saint Mu said with a smile as he nodded to Mu Qingqing, "The days for choosing disciples across the lands are over, and the other Envoys have been returning these past few days. Right now, they are all inside the Hidden Dragon Hall."


    "They''ve all returned?" Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes lit up.


    Afterward, Mu Qingqing turned and explained to Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and the other two, "This gate is the true entrance to the Heavenly Sacred Palace. Let''s go, we shall head to the Hidden Dragon Hall first!"


    Having said this, Mu Qingqing burst through the gate and entered.


    "Hidden Dragon Hall?"


    After paying their respects to Heavenly Saint Mu and his party, Ye Chen and the others followed closely behind Mu Qingqing, flying into the gate as well.


    Nonetheless, they were all somewhat puzzled about what the Hidden Dragon Hall actually was.


    ...


    Upon truly entering through the valley gate, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie caught sight of the newly revealed mystical land and couldn''t help but take a deep breath.


    From the outside, they had just been in a mist-filled valley, but once they flew through the entrance of the valley gate, they felt as if they had arrived in a completely new world!


    They were now flying in mid-air, and in front of them stood row upon row of majestic, colossal palaces stretching out into five vast regions.


    Beyond these numerous palaces stood a range of mountains piercing the heavens!


    Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Certainly, this was the true location of the gates to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, hidden within the valley''s restrictions.


    Grand!


    Majestic!


    Their spirit was profoundly affected!


    These were the first impressions of Ye Chen and the others upon seeing the gates to the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    And every now and then, they could see figures flitting about in the sky and walking on the ground¡ªclearly the disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Thinking that they would soon become part of the fold, even Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt their hearts stir with excitement.


    Mu Qingqing, leading the way, seemed to sense their mood.


    She smiled gently and began to explain the layout of the gates to the Heavenly Sacred Palace to Ye Chen and the group, "These five vast regions on the outskirts are the Palace''s five sacred halls. The outermost is the Fifth Sacred Hall where the disciples of the True Qi Realm cultivate. Moving inward, there are the Fourth Sacred Hall for the Spirit Sea Realm disciples, the Third Sacred Hall for the Rotating Pill Realm disciples, and the most outstanding prodigies occupy the Second and First Sacred Halls."


    "As for the giant mountain in the far distance, that is Heavenly Saint Mountain, where the Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses reside!"


    Five Sacred Halls.


    Heavenly Saint Mountain!


    Ye Chen raised his head to look at what lay ahead, his eyes shining with anticipation.


    This was where he would be cultivating from now on, where perhaps he could break through from the Rotating Pill to the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Not just Ye Chen, but Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie all gazed at the gates to the Heavenly Sacred Palace with sparkles in their eyes, fantasizing about their future cultivation.


    After Mu Qingqing completed her introduction of the various regions, she continued, "Right now, we can''t head directly to these regions. We have to make a trip to the Hidden Dragon Hall first."


    "The Hidden Dragon Hall is where the disciples selected by the Envoys undergo assessments to confirm their strengths. Although being chosen by an Envoy guarantees entry into the Heavenly Sacred Palace, to join the First or Second Sacred Hall, one must undergo an assessment."


    "If the assessment is failed, you will be placed in the Third, Fourth, or Fifth Sacred Hall based on your cultivation level."


    As she spoke, Mu Qingqing specifically looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Ye Chen and Sister Jiang Yao, although you have been recommended by me and Elder Xiao as disciples of the First Sacred Hall, this procedural assessment must still be undertaken. Of course, with your strengths, joining the First Sacred Hall will surely be a breeze."


    "Sister Liu Qingmei, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie, although you have no Heavenly Saint to recommend you and can only aim for the Second Sacred Hall, if your performance exceeds the Second Sacred Hall''s assessment standards and meets the First Sacred Hall''s criteria, I can also seek a Heavenly Saint''s recommendation for you, allowing you to join the First Sacred Hall as well."


    Mu Qingqing''s words made Liu Qingmei, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie look serious.


    After Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, they both nodded.


    Now the five of them finally understood what the Hidden Dragon Hall was for.


    It was, in fact, the place where new disciples were assessed before entering the Heavenly Sacred Palace. No wonder the grand competition to select disciples for the Heavenly Sacred Palace was named the Hidden Dragon List.


    "All right, let''s head to the ''Hidden Dragon Hall'' first. The disciples selected by the other Envoys are already there," Mu Qingqing pointed toward a palace on the outermost edge of the five regions of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and said.

 Chapter 345: Chapter 310: The Eight Envoys

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Whether it was Mu Qingqing leading the way, or Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the rest of their party, their flying speed was extremely fast. In just a moment, the six of them arrived outside the grand palace.


    Ye Chen looked up at the palace and saw that it was dozens of feet high, with the words "Hidden Dragon Hall" inscribed on the plaque above.


    The most astonishing thing was the two giant black dragons carved on the exterior walls of the palace.


    The two gigantic black dragons, with their huge heads and eyes, were staring down at anyone who looked at them. Ye Chen''s strength was already quite formidable, but when he looked into the eyes of these two giant black dragons, he still felt an overwhelming sense of pressure.


    This pressure was even greater than the pressure from many early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses!


    It was incredible that the two carved black dragons could exert such an intimidating force!


    Ye Chen felt a great deal of pressure, and standing beside him, Jiang Yao felt the same. However, Liu Qingmei, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie were directly stunned by the pressure of the black dragons, their faces turning somewhat pale from fear.


    It wasn''t until Mu Qingqing spoke up that the three of them were roused from the intimidation of the black dragons.


    "These two black dragons were carved by the most powerful master of our Heavenly Sacred Palace, Palace Master Yuan Li, and contain immense Divine Soul power. When their might is fully unleashed, they even possess the strength of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint. Although their true might isn''t activated now, the pressure naturally emanating from these carvings is enough to astonish the soul. Since you haven''t cultivated the Divine Soul Secret Technique, it''s better not to stare into their eyes," said Mu Qingqing.


    Carved by Palace Master Yuan Li?!


    Containing Divine Soul power?!


    Capable of possessing the strength of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint upon activation?!


    The words of Mu Qingqing made Ye Chen and the others take another deep breath.


    The five of them gained a renewed recognition of the power of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Although the five of them were considered top-notch experts outside, they were still not counted as true powerhouses in the Heavenly Sacred Palace. After all, on Heavenly Saint Mountain within the Heavenly Sacred Palace, there were many Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, including three in the late stages of the realm.


    Just the pressure from the carvings of the two black dragons was enough to make them feel oppressed. They would truly need to diligently cultivate if they were to advance into the deeper levels of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, otherwise they could end up in a lower position within the palace!


    "Alright, let''s go, we should enter," said Mu Qingqing with a smile as she saw everyone recover from their astonishment at the black dragon statues.


    Ye Chen and the others nodded, following Mu Qingqing as they stepped into the Hidden Dragon Hall.


    Upon entering the Hidden Dragon Hall, Ye Chen found that the interior was incredibly spacious, with giant columns standing erect throughout the hall, supporting the vast dome above.


    At this moment, seated within the hall were quite a few figures.


    Among these figures, seven had reached the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    As Ye Chen and the rest walked in, these seated figures took note of them, their curiosity piqued as they looked over. The seven early-stage Heavenly Saints especially gathered around Mu Qingqing.


    "So it''s Junior Sister Mu returning!" The seven greeted Mu Qingqing with smiles.


    At the same time, their gazes swept over Ye Chen and his party like lightning, carrying with them an unmistakable sense of scrutiny from a superior position.


    Being scrutinized by seven early-stage Heavenly Saints, while not as intense as the pressure from the earlier mid-stage Heavenly Saint black dragon carvings, still made Xiao Chen and Luo Lie dare not meet their gaze directly, though Liu Qingmei fared slightly better.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were the only two unaffected by the gaze of the seven individuals.


    "Eh?"


    Seeing something distinctly different about Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the eyes of these seven early-stage Heavenly Saints finally settled on them.


    Especially Jiang Yao¡ªher incredibly beautiful face and the pure, divine-like aura emanating from her body were so captivating that the Heavenly Saints took a few extra glances, their eyes burning with intensity.


    Feeling the scrutiny of the seven, Jiang Yao''s elegant eyebrows slightly furrowed as she reached for Ye Chen''s hand.


    Ye Chen flipped his palm and took Jiang Yao''s soft hand into his, and at the same time, he casually looked back at the seven.


    For some reason, when Ye Chen gazed at them, the Heavenly Saints all felt an uncomfortable jolt in their hearts.


    It was not a good feeling.


    Three of the Heavenly Saints couldn''t help but let out a cold snort, their eyes piercing as they looked back at Ye Chen.


    The mutual gaze lasted only for an instant when, at that moment, Mu Qingqing, who was standing nearby, noticed the exchange of looks between Ye Chen and the seven Heavenly Saints. She stepped forward to stand beside Ye Chen and Jiang Yao and spoke out to the seven Heavenly Saints, "What''s the matter, seven esteemed Envoys? Do you intend to intimidate our new disciples?"


    It turned out that these seven Heavenly Saints were, like Mu Qingqing, Envoys of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Mu Qingqing''s words were indifferent, but they already carried an undertone of dissatisfaction, which took the seven Heavenly Saints by surprise.


    According to the rules of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Envoys had the right to scrutinize new disciples, but by the look on Mu Qingqing''s face, the seven Heavenly Saints had the feeling that if they really troubled the young couple in front of them, Mu Qingqing wouldn''t hesitate to turn against them!


    Even though Mu Qingqing was only at the Spirit Sea Realm, which was much lower than their realms, behind her stood a figure none of them dared to provoke. Even with the nerve, they wouldn''t dare to conflict with Mu Qingqing!


    "It seems that Mu treats this pair of young recruits at the Spirited Pillar initial stage quite highly!" the seven Heavenly Saints thought to themselves.


    With this in mind, the seven Heavenly Saints no longer stealthily assessed Jiang Yao, and even the fierce look in their eyes towards Ye Chen subsided.


    The leading Heavenly Saint even smiled at Mu Qingqing, saying, "Mu, you jest. We wouldn''t dare to show off to the disciples chosen by you."


    "We''ve just heard that Mu has selected an exceptional talent this time and that for the sake of this talent, our Heavenly Sacred Palace even organized the Hidden Dragon List competition. Out of curiosity, we wanted to see which talent it was."


    Hearing the seven soften their tone, Mu Qingqing relaxed her own tone slightly: "Hmph, you speak as if you mean it. I heard that before the eight of us Envoys left, you privately criticized the talent I chose as being the worst!"


    "How could we?"


    "How could we?"


    The seven Heavenly Saints shook their heads in unison, but their eyes betrayed a clear disbelief in the capabilities of the five individuals Mu Qingqing had brought back.


    At least, they had been Envoys for much longer than Mu Qingqing and thus knew better how to pick real talents.


    They all thought that Mu Qingqing, being new to the role, had found someone decent and believed she had struck gold.


    Mu Qingqing, cunning as a fox, could clearly see the skepticism in their expressions.


    However, at this moment, she had no desire to argue further with them and simply addressed the seven: "Now that all eight of us have returned, let''s begin the examination for the new disciples."

 Chapter 346: Chapter 311: Bloodstripe War Beast

    Seeing Mu Qingqing so confident, the seven Heavenly Saints began to harbor some doubts.


    Could it be that this time, their disciple from the Spirit Sea Realm, Mu, had really chosen an impressive student?


    During this period, they had been selecting talents outside and had heard about the two grand events organized by Mu Qingqing, but they had no time to pay attention to the actual process and outcome of those events, nor did they know the true strength of Ye Chen and his four companions.


    Thus, seeing Mu Qingqing so confident and directly requesting the start of the new disciples'' assessment, they began to feel uncertain.


    However, uncertain as they might have been, when it came to comparing whose newly selected disciples were more formidable, they were not afraid.


    Recently, they had traversed through various inheritances and secretive places that often produced prodigies; having rushed back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, every Heavenly Saint had brought back several geniuses they valued highly.


    In their eyes, even at their worst, they wouldn''t be outdone by the new disciples selected by Mu Qingqing from the Spirit Sea Realm. After all, they were Heavenly Saints¡ªthe dangerous and secretive places they walked through were far more numerous than those of Mu Qingqing, meaning they had a much higher probability of selecting prodigies!


    "Good, since Mu has also returned, let''s start the assessment. I also want to see the real strength of the new disciples chosen by various Envoys," an Envoy said with a smile.


    "Let''s begin!" The other Envoys nodded in agreement.


    The words of the Envoys were, of course, closely monitored by all the new disciples. Upon hearing that they had all agreed to start the new disciples'' assessment, everyone who had been sitting on the ground stood up and flocked behind the several Envoys.


    Ye Chen noticed that, including the five of them selected by Mu Qingqing, along with the other seven Great Envoys, the total number of newly selected disciples was fifty-eight.


    Clearly, the seven Great Heavenly Saint Envoys had chosen more new disciples.


    As Ye Chen was sizing up the others, the new disciples were also eyeing each other. At this moment, a leading Heavenly Saint spoke directly to the crowd: "All you new disciples who have joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Envoys who brought you here must have told you about the new disciples'' assessment, right?"


    The new disciples nodded one after another.


    This Heavenly Saint continued, "Since you all know this rule, let me explain the specifics of the assessment to you."


    "This new disciples'' assessment consists of two parts."


    "The first part involves battling a ''Bloodstripe War Beast''; the second, conquering the ''Holy Temple Tower''."


    "You were chosen to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace because you are the geniuses of your respective regions, and here, all cultivating disciples are geniuses. Since we are all prodigies, there must naturally be different levels of talent among us."


    "This first part, battling the ''Bloodstripe War Beast,'' is about selecting superior geniuses among you."


    "If your strength is not enough to defeat the ''Bloodstripe War Beast'' and you can''t pass the first part, then you will be assigned to cultivate in the Third Holy Temple, Fourth Holy Temple, or Fifth Holy Temple based on your own realm."


    "However, if you can pass the first part, then you may enter the ''Holy Temple Tower'' to earn the qualifications for the ''Second Holy Temple'' and ''First Holy Temple'' disciples."


    "Follow us now to the ''War Beast Hall'' and challenge the first part!" the Heavenly Saint said, nodding to the other Envoys and leading the way.


    Mu Qingqing turned back to wink at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao and joined the other Envoys in leading the way.


    "Bloodstripe War Beast?"


    Hearing about the first part, battling a Bloodstripe War Beast, which was crucial for charging into the powerful Second Holy Temple and First Holy Temple, all the new disciples grew solemn.


    These new disciples were exceedingly proud and, of course, didn''t wish to be assigned directly to the lower-ranked Third Holy Temple, Fourth Holy Temple, or Fifth Holy Temple.


    Naturally, they aimed to strike at the legendary Second Holy Temple, or even the First Holy Temple, of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    However, they all became curious about the Bloodstripe War Beast.


    None of them had ever heard what a Bloodstripe War Beast was.


    Ye Chen was somewhat puzzled about what the Bloodstripe War Beast was and how to battle it.


    However, he didn''t think too much about it; after all, he would find out soon enough, so there was no need to worry excessively.


    Following behind the Eight Great Envoys, Ye Chen, along with Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, Xiao Chen, and Luo Lie, followed the crowd towards the "War Beast Hall."


    Leaving the main hall of the "Hidden Dragon Hall" and passing through several corridors, the group arrived in a side hall.


    Although it was a side hall, the space was vast, large enough to accommodate ten thousand people. More notably, in one corner of this side hall, there was a dark and gloomy secret tunnel from which occasional roars that shocked the soul were heard.


    Clearly, something was hidden within this tunnel.


    Outside this tunnel, an area of several hundred yards in diameter was fenced off.


    "This is the ''War Beast Hall''?"


    "Could it be that the ''Bloodstripe War Beast'' is in that dark and gloomy tunnel?" all the new disciples speculated as they looked at the tunnel in the corner of the side hall.


    The Eight Great Envoys, having led everyone into the side hall, then stopped walking.


    "This place is the ''War Beast Hall,''" the same Heavenly Saint who had spoken earlier said to the crowd.


    "Before we tackle the first part, let me tell you about the origins of this ''Bloodstripe War Beast.''"


    ```


    "This ''Bloodstripe War Beast'' is not from our Savage Continent, but a bizarre creature caught from a Void Abyss between our continent and thirty-two others!"


    Boom!


    The words of the Heavenly Saint alarmed all the new disciples, including Ye Chen.


    They had never imagined they would be fighting creatures not from the Savage Continent, but from the mysterious abyss between continents.


    Between continents!


    None of them had ever left the Savage Continent, stepping into other continents or the interspatial realms between them.


    It was precisely because the Heavenly Sacred Palace possessed an ancient teleportation formation with the other thirty-two continents that they often had the opportunity to encounter other continents, leading them to choose to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    They thought they would only encounter creatures from other continents later on, but to their surprise, this new disciple assessment gave them the direct chance to engage with species from beyond the Savage Continent!


    Bloodstripe War Beast.


    At this point, all the new disciples grew curious about what this exotic species from beyond the Savage Continent looked like.


    "The Bloodstripe War Beasts reside in the Void Abyss between the Heavenly Vast Continent and the Heavens Continent."


    "These War Beasts have combat blood patterns on their bodies, possess immense strength, are bloody and brutal, and do not fear pain. In battle, they can even continuously escalate their power."


    "For the first trial of your assessment, if disciples in the True Qi Realm and the Spirit Sea Realm want to pass, they must defeat ten Bloodstripe War Beasts that surpass their realm by a large margin."


    "Disciples in the Rotating Pill Realm must also fight ten Bloodstripe War Beasts of the Supreme Rotating Pill level, and those in the later stages of Rotating Pill Realm who have reached the unbeatable level must defeat ten unbeatable-level Bloodstripe War Beasts at the same time!"


    "You must take note, you have to decisively defeat these Bloodstripe War Beasts. Otherwise, if you take too long and do not defeat them, the beasts will escalate their power, and the difficulty of the assessment will greatly increase!"


    The leading Heavenly Saint explained the rules of the assessment to everyone.


    Hearing these rules, the expressions of all the new disciples became grave.


    Among these new disciples were those ranging from the True Qi Realm to the Rotating Pill Realm.


    True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm disciples had to fight Bloodstripe War Beasts that were a major realm above themselves, which meant they had to have the ability to fight across a major level of power.


    In other words, an early-stage disciple of the Spirit Sea Realm must be able to fight against an early-stage Rotating Pill Realm!


    And not only fight against ten early-stage Rotating Pill Realm Bloodstripe War Beasts but also defeat them before they could enhance their powers.


    Difficult.


    The requirement was incredibly tough!


    Anyone meeting this requirement could indeed be called a true genius!


    The assessment for the True Qi Realm and Spirit Sea Realm was extremely challenging, and the Rotating Pill Realm was no less difficult, having to confront Bloodstripe War Beasts of both the Supreme Rotating Pill and the unbeatable level.


    Unbeatable in the Rotating Pill Realm, just the name alone indicated that at this level, the War Beasts virtually had no flaws in their True Qi techniques. To defeat such level Bloodstripe War Beasts, one had to possess not only unbeatable-level True Qi techniques but also other extraordinary methods.


    This requirement was incredibly difficult for practitioners of the Qi Refining Method.


    If more time was wasted, allowing these Bloodstripe War Beasts to further escalate their power, the chance of defeating them turned into a virtually impossible dream.


    Realizing this, many new disciples wore extremely heavy expressions.


    Everyone understood that indeed, entry into the Second Holy Temple and the First Holy Temple was not easy at all!


    The new disciples wore solemn faces, but the assessment had to proceed all the same.


    After all the explanations about the Bloodstripe War Beasts were made clear, finally, the Heavenly Saint added, "According to the Envoy you belong to, come forward one by one for the assessment!"


    At this time, one of the Envoys stepped forward and said, "Let''s start with the disciple I selected. Wang Lin, step up first, enter the assessment area, and begin your test!"


    From among the crowd, a young man in the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm stepped out and walked toward a corner of the War Beast Hall, surrounded by an area.


    "Wang Lin is a disciple I chose from the Central Region of the Great Zhou Dynasty; he trained before in a fourth-grade family..."


    While the Envoy introduced the young man''s background, Wang Lin had already stepped into the assessment area.


    After finishing the introduction and seeing that Wang Lin was standing in the center of the assessment area, a few Envoys exchanged glances, and then one of the Heavenly Saints directly took out a talisman and shone it toward the dark hole in front of the assessment area.


    Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!


    After a series of earth-shattering roars, ten massive beasts, each towering over a dozen meters high, burst out of the hole with a "boom" and slammed onto the ground, causing the ground to tremble. They formed an encirclement around Wang Lin, who had entered the assessment area.


    Ye Chen looked over at these giant beasts and saw that they resembled humans yet were several times more inflated in size and had fangs several feet long. Their muscles were as prominent as coiling dragons, exuding immense strength.


    Even more extraordinary were the bodies of these giant beasts. They were covered in pitch-black scales, and from these scales, Ye Chen could even sense the aura of the five great laws of the void.


    Then, as the ten behemoths roared out and violently crashed down around the assessor Wang Lin, the pitch-black scales on the bodies of the ten beasts suddenly all had seven stripes turn to blood red.


    Seven patterns!


    These turned out to be Seven-Pattern Bloodstripe War Beasts that corresponded to the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    ```

 Chapter 347: Chapter 312: Instant Kill

    At the early stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, Wang Lin was surrounded by ten Bloodstripe War Beasts that were dozens of times larger than him and their presence was even more terrifying.


    For a cultivator at the Spirit Sea Realm to challenge ten such giant beasts, a full realm above him, was indeed a shocking sight.


    But there was no choice; this was what the Heavenly Sacred Palace demanded.


    To become an outstanding disciple of the Second Holy Temple or even the more prestigious First Holy Temple within a second-grade major sect, one must face such trials.


    In the midst of countless gazes, the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts that had just burst out of the secret cavern and landed were immediately launching their attack.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ten huge black shadows flashed, and the luminous blood stripes on the beasts intensified as they tore towards Wang Lin at the center.


    Spurt! Spurt!


    Even though Wang Lin was on guard, he hadn''t anticipated that the giant beasts'' attacks would be so swift, nor their presence so terrifying.


    In the blink of an eye, his body was simultaneously lacerated with ten bloody marks by the beasts.


    Luckily, Wang Lin, having been the first to be called out by his Envoy due to his substantial combat strength, managed to quickly activate his movement technique to dodge the beasts'' lethal strikes; otherwise, he would''ve suffered more than just ten bloody marks¡ªthe giant beasts likely would have eliminated him in one fell swoop!


    Although this was an entrance examination for new disciples and it wouldn''t truly result in their death¡ªthe examination area had a life-and-death protection mechanism that would teleport the disciple out of the combat area once they were judged to be outmatched¡ªto actually be defeated would mean not only escaping death but also possibly sustaining serious injuries during combat!


    "What incredible speed!"


    "Not only is there physical strength in their attacks, but also True Qi attacks, and it seems there''s even a hint of the Laws!"


    The other new disciples, watching Wang Lin narrowly evade the ten giant beasts and emerge with bloody marks, were all shocked, worrying about how they would deal with the Bloodstripe War Beasts when it was their turn.


    In the examination area, Wang Lin, who had rapidly dodged the ten giant beasts'' attacks, summoned a black spear into his hand with a flourish of light.


    This spear was actually a mid-grade treasure.


    Wielding the spear, Wang Lin''s strength surged as he faced the ten giant beasts charging at him again. His spear tip flashed like lightning, triggering dozens of restrictions on the spear, battling against the ten giant beasts.


    Wang Lin, a young genius valued by the Envoy of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, held his ground against ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, equivalent to the early stages of the Rotating Core Realm, without falling behind, thanks to the enhancement from his mid-grade treasure.


    Eventually, even before the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts could further stimulate their blood stripes to enhance their strength, Wang Lin exerted all his combat power to the limit. With swift thrusts of his spear''s glowing tip, he managed to slay all ten beasts.


    "Having slain ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, passed! Wang Lin, you may enter the second trial, ''Holy Temple Tower''!"


    Seeing Wang Lin defeat the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, his Envoy smiled and nodded, announcing the result.


    At this time, even though he had slain the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, Wang Lin was far from unscathed. His body was covered in bloody marks, with several wounds so deep that bone could be seen, a frightening sight.


    Upon hearing his victory, Wang Lin wiped the sweat from his face and moved to the side to begin healing his injuries, still with a lingering sense of alarm.


    "Next up, Zhao Luo, go for your exam."


    "Zhao Luo, at the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, will face ten Nine-Pattern Bloodstripe War Beasts!"


    After Wang Lin successfully passed the first trial, his Envoy called for the next new disciple to take the examination.


    Perhaps Wang Lin''s fortunate victory had made this new disciple somewhat complacent.


    When a fresh group of ten Bloodstripe War Beasts charged out and attacked the new disciple, even though he had drawn his weapon in advance, he failed to evade the assault of the ten beasts.


    With a thunderous crash.


    This new disciple was grabbed by two of the giant beasts and almost torn apart on the spot.


    The other eight beasts simultaneously clawed at him, creating eight dreadful wounds on his body.


    It was only at the very last moment, with the protective restriction in the examination area flaring up brightly, that the new disciple was transported out of the giant beasts'' grasp¡ªotherwise, he might have been killed by the Bloodstripe War Beasts at first contact!


    After being teleported out, the new disciple fainted from shock.


    Within the examination area, the ten victorious Bloodstripe Giant Beasts roared towards the heavens, beating their powerful, dragon-like chests with streaks of blood luminance, jolting all the new disciples back to reality.


    These were Bloodstripe War Beasts!


    Wang Lin''s victory did not guarantee theirs.


    Even with caution, there was no certainty of victory over these beasts. A moment''s carelessness could lead directly to a brutal defeat by these beasts from beyond the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    "Unqualified."


    "Failing to pass the first trial, Zhao Luo, Spirit Sea Realm, proceed to train in the Fourth Holy Temple."


    The Envoy coldly announced the outcome.


    Then, other new disciples continued to undergo assessment battles in succession.


    As the battles went on, the remaining disciples began to realize.


    The Bloodstripe War Beasts were not easy adversaries. To use them as opponents for the first trial meant very few could indeed overcome them.


    Among the remaining six disciples undergoing assessment, only one from the True Qi Realm narrowly claimed victory, while all the others, like Zhao Luo, were thoroughly defeated.


    And not only were they defeated, but they also sustained serious injuries.


    Even one disciple, after holding on for a moment, provoked an increase in strength from ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, suddenly plunging into a desperate situation. The moment he was transported out, even his qi channels and spirit sea were severely injured!


    Luckily, a Heavenly Saint intervened, helping him heal his injuries; otherwise, his path of cultivation would have likely been completely destroyed after this battle.


    The lead Envoy, who had recruited eight new disciples, witnessed six of them suffer total defeat, disqualifying them from the next round of assessment. They were then distributed among the Third Holy Temple, the Fourth Holy Temple, and the Fifth Holy Temple.


    Even the two who achieved victory did so by the skin of their teeth, their bodies covered in bloody wounds, presenting a pitiable sight.


    This scene caused the footsteps of numerous new disciples to falter.


    Many now fully realized that getting into the Second Holy Temple or the First Holy Temple was indeed no easy feat, and this first challenge of fighting the Bloodstripe War Beasts was truly a test of strength!


    "Alright, I have two here who can proceed to the next round. Next, which envoy''s disciple will take the assessment?"


    Though only two new disciples had qualified for the second round of assessment, the Envoy appeared quite satisfied as he smiled and spoke to the other Envoys.


    After all, battling Bloodstripe War Beasts was like fighting above one''s level. To have two new disciples overcoming beasts of a much higher level¡ªeven if it was through a hard-won battle¡ªwas quite an impressive feat, and naturally, the Envoy was pleased.


    While the Envoy was basking in satisfaction, Mu Qingqing spoke out, "Let my side go next."


    "Ye Chen, how about you take on the first challenge?" Mu Qingqing smiled and spoke to Ye Chen within the crowd.


    Ye Chen nodded and stepped forward.


    Seeing Mu Qingqing''s unwavering confidence, as well as Ye Chen''s calm demeanor, the other new disciples turned their gazes toward Ye Chen.


    The Envoys too, all turned their attention to him.


    "He''s the first to challenge?"


    "At the early stage of the True Qi Realm, he must defeat ten of the strongest True Qi Bloodstripe War Beasts. Moreover, he must do it quickly. If he takes too long and the beasts grow even stronger, it would be impossible for him to win!"


    "I''m actually curious to see what tricks this young man has up his sleeve," one Envoy mused.


    The Envoys remembered how Ye Chen faced them¡ªthe Heavenly Saint Realm envoys¡ªwithout a hint of fear, and they became curious about his methods.


    "Let''s hope he''s not just talking big."


    "Sister Mu, this being your first time as an Envoy, perhaps you don''t realize the true strength of the Bloodstripe War Beasts. Do you think they''re that easy to deal with just by observing them?"


    "It would be quite the joke if one were to be defeated by the Bloodstripe War Beasts right off the bat," thought a few Heavenly Saints.


    Amid these thoughts, Ye Chen had already entered the assessment area.


    In the previous assessments, all new disciples had become extremely cautious of the Bloodstripe War Beasts; before the beasts even appeared, they had their weapons ready in hand and their qi fully unleashed.


    But when Ye Chen stepped into the assessment area, his hands were empty, showing no intention of using a weapon.


    Even when ten Twelve-Pattern Bloodstripe Giant Beasts whose strength had reached the pinnacle of True Qi roared and charged at him, Ye Chen did not draw a weapon.


    He didn''t even stir his qi.


    This situation left everyone stunned.


    "The giant beast has launched an attack; how can he defend without using a weapon or unleashing his qi?"


    "It''s over. Without defending himself, he''s bound to be seriously injured!" exclaimed several new disciples, their expressions changing.


    "Has he been scared stiff?"


    A few Envoys moved their lips, ready to mock Mu Qingqing for her first disciple''s apparent inaction.


    Just as these Envoys were about to speak amid the cries of many new disciples,


    everyone saw the ten Twelve-Pattern Bloodstripe War Beasts charging wildly at Ye Chen, beasts with terrifyingly ferocious qi, were all blasted backward and harshly slammed onto the ground, while still at a distance from his body.


    Looking at these Bloodstripe War Beasts again, everyone saw an identical sword hole on the forehead of each one.


    And these ten Bloodstripe Giant Beasts, struck by the sword hole, were all devoid of any signs of life!


    They had been directly pierced through and killed!


    "What happened?"


    "How did he make his move? He killed the Bloodstripe War Beasts?"


    The new disciples were utterly dumbfounded.


    Just a moment ago, they were worried that Ye Chen, with no weapon in hand, would be gravely wounded and defeated by the giant beasts, but in the next moment, the ten Bloodstripe Giant Beasts were instantaneously knocked down dead!


    This stark contrast was simply beyond belief for the new disciples.


    What shocked them even more was that they hadn''t seen clearly how Ye Chen had made his move!


    Even as prodigious disciples, they hadn''t been able to discern how the young man in front of them had struck, which was truly inconceivable.

 Chapter 348: Chapter 313 The Drum Beat Unheard for a Thousand Years

    The new disciples were extremely shocked, while the seven Heavenly Saint Realm Envoys were utterly stunned!


    As Heavenly Saints, they could clearly see the techniques Ye Chen had used.


    It was precisely because they saw clearly that the shock they felt was even more intense! The Heavenly Saint Envoys even felt ten strands of Killing Power Sword Light condensed to the extreme at the moment Ye Chen made his move.


    It was these ten strands of Killing Power Sword Light, condensed to the extreme, that instantly slain the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, and the power of the Killing Power Sword Light even gave the Heavenly Saints a sense of a formidable Holy Art or even the legendary Divine Arts!


    They also felt a deadly threat!


    It was as if the sword light, if it fell upon them, could potentially severely injure even them as early-stage strong practitioners of the Heavenly Saint Realm, unless they used a powerful move to defend themselves.


    This feeling, of course, greatly surprised the seven Heavenly Saints.


    One must know, Ye Chen was still only at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, ah. Even if he were incredibly talented, to be able to battle unbeatable within the Rotating Pill Realm was already unimaginable, let alone posing a threat to early-stage practitioners of the Heavenly Saint Realm ¨C that was utterly inconceivable!


    The Heavenly Saints who had been in Heavenly Sacred Palace for hundreds of years had never heard of anyone at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm posing a threat to those at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    After exchanging glances, these seven great Heavenly Saints faced Ye Chen with extremely solemn expressions.


    Even the three Heavenly Saints who had previously thought of teaching Ye Chen a lesson no longer had the slightest intention of underestimating him.


    No joke.


    They were only at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm. Even if they were stronger than Ye Chen now, they were many years older than him. Given Ye Chen''s current cultivation level at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, his surpassing them in the future was absolutely a certainty.


    Not a single Heavenly Saint would choose to make an enemy of such a talent for no reason!


    The changing expressions of the seven Heavenly Saint Realm Envoys, seen by all the new disciples, made them feel even more impressed with Ye Chen''s immense power.


    Countless eyes were sizing up Ye Chen, recalling the introduction Mu Qingqing had given when Ye Chen entered the assessment area.


    "From the Southern Territory, named Ye Chen!"


    "Now, a significant figure has come to Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "First Holy Temple, with his strength, he can definitely break into the strongest First Holy Temple!"


    "In the future, he might even ascend to practice on Heavenly Saint Mountain!"


    The new disciples discussed animatedly.


    In the area for new disciples selected by Mu Qingqing.


    Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen, who was walking out from the assessment area, and her delicate little face broke into a sweet smile. As the person closest to Ye Chen, the young girl naturally knew what techniques Ye Chen had just used.


    "Ye Chen said that after entering the Rotating Pill Realm, he has been practicing the sword techniques and Divine Arts from the ''Beiming Secret Tome'' which he obtained from the falling artifact sword, the third layer, the Grand Five Elements Sword Light. It seems that during these tens of days of rushing to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, his Grand Five Elements Sword Light has already been cultivated to a very powerful extent."


    Jiang Yao knew the origin of Ye Chen''s techniques, but other people didn''t understand as clearly.


    Liu Qingmei at this moment was so astonished that her rosy little mouth gaped open. She still remembered that back on Immeasurable Mountain at Great Yue City Square, Ye Chen, despite being able to suppress three Supreme Rotating Pill strong practitioners, couldn''t achieve a one-shot kill.


    How much time has passed since then, and Ye Chen was now battling even more formidable twelve-pattern Bloodstripe War Beasts. Ten of these Bloodstripe War Beasts were no match for a single move from Ye Chen!


    This kind of progress truly shocked Liu Qingmei.


    "After stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm, Ye Chen has undergone a qualitative transformation."


    "Now, he has truly reached a level where even I have to look up to him, just like Sister Jiang Yao!"


    Liu Qingmei murmured to herself.


    At this moment, the top and third-ranked contestants of the Hidden Dragon List, Xiao Chen and Luo Lie, were completely at a loss for words.


    They were still worried about their upcoming battles with the Bloodstripe War Beasts, but Ye Chen, who had come with them to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, had effortlessly and cleanly dealt with the Bloodstripe War Beasts.


    Even more so, both felt that even if the Bloodstripe War Beasts were stronger, Ye Chen could still kill them with ease!


    Looking at the new disciples in front of them who had failed the first challenge, and then at the two new disciples who had won but barely, comparing them with Ye Chen who didn''t have a single wound on his body and not even a drop of blood, the sense of difference made Xiao Chen and Luo Lie fall completely into admiration for Ye Chen!


    All the expressions everyone wore fell into Mu Qingqing''s view, making her already smiling eyes, sharp as a little fox''s, shine with even more laughter.


    Especially the reactions of those seven Heavenly Saint Realm Envoys, that really gave Mu Qingqing a good reason to gloat.


    Previously, when Mu Qingqing was an Envoy, these seven Envoys often spoke ill of her behind her back, saying she took the position of Envoy only because of her grandfather''s name and that she couldn''t select any capable new disciples.


    This time, Ye Chen has truly vindicated her!


    "How about it, isn''t Ye Chen impressive?"


    Mu Qingqing''s wily eyes were sparkling as she smiled at the other seven Heavenly Saint Realm Envoys.


    "Impressive, indeed impressive!"


    "Sister Mu, you truly picked a peerless talent for the Heavenly Sacred Palace this time!"


    The seven Heavenly Saint Realm Envoys said with a wry smile and nodded their heads.


    "A peerless talent?" Mu Qingqing chuckled softly, glancing back at Jiang Yao, "Not just one, Sister Jiang Yao is equally formidable as Ye Chen!"


    "This time, it''s likely that the ''Sacred Shock Drum'' at our Heavenly Sacred Palace, which hasn''t been sounded for many years, will be sounded anew."


    Another formidable expert?


    Jiang Yao?


    When Mu Qingqing turned her gaze to Jiang Yao, towards that stunningly beautiful girl they had all been paying close attention to, the Seven Heavenly Saints were once again startled.


    Could this fairy-like beautiful girl possess powerful methods too?!


    The emergence of such a strong figure as Ye Chen had already been a rare sight within Heavenly Sacred Palace in a thousand years, and now the appearance of a powerful young lady was even rarer for the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Upon hearing Mu Qingqing mention the "Sacred Shock Drum," these seven Heavenly Saint Envoys knew what that signified.


    The Sacred Shock Drum was a treasured artifact hidden in the "Hidden Dragon Hall," where the assessment of new disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace took place. It would only sound if there were two or more absolutely extraordinary new talents emerging among the new disciples.


    When this "Sacred Shock Drum" sounded, not only would the five Holy Temples tremble, but even the numerous Heavenly Saints cultivating on Heavenly Saint Mountain located behind the five Holy Temples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, including early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, and even the three palace masters of the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, could hear the drumming sounds of this "Sacred Shock Drum."


    The Sacred Shock Drum symbolized that it had shocked the Heavenly Saints!


    After the Sacred Shock Drum sounded, all the Heavenly Saints who had the time would gather at the "Holy Temple Tower," the location of the second phase of the assessment, to observe the genius going through the challenge.


    Another meaning was that the few talents who could trigger the sounding of the Heavenly Saint Drum would catch the attention of all the Heavenly Saints. If they performed well at the second checkpoint, it might even result in mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts or one of the three great palace masters taking them as disciples personally!


    This was definitely an event that could shake the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    However, the Sacred Shock Drum had not been heard for many years. Even when absolute geniuses had emerged over the years, they were often alone. Such geniuses would ultimately report directly to the powerhouses on Heavenly Saint Mountain, informing them about these talents.


    In the entire history of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Sacred Shock Drum had truly resounded only eight times!


    Moreover, those eight masters, aside from those who had fallen, all later became extremely powerful Heavenly Saint Realm experts, with four of them being directly taken in as disciples by the palace masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Upon hearing Mu Qingqing say that the beautiful girl in front of her, in cooperation with Ye Chen, could make the Sacred Shock Drum sound again, the seven Heavenly Saint Envoys were naturally astonished!


    Seeing these Envoys still somewhat incredulous, Mu Qingqing smiled and said to Jiang Yao, "Jiang Yao, it''s all up to you now."


    "If we can stimulate the Sacred Shock Drum to sound, it might catch the attention of the Heavenly Saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain for you and Ye Chen, bringing new opportunities."


    New opportunities?


    Jiang Yao''s eyes brightened.


    She and Ye Chen came to Heavenly Sacred Palace for cultivation in search of opportunities.


    Whether it was to be prepared for the potential outbreak of a major war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, or to reach the Heavenly Saint Realm as quickly as possible so that they could return to the Minor Spiritual Realm to look for the Phoenix Clan members, both she and Ye Chen needed to become stronger!


    If this entry-level assessment could trigger new opportunities, she would naturally strive for it.


    Even if it wasn''t for her own sake, for the sake of Ye Chen, she would fight for this opportunity!


    With this in mind, Jiang Yao nodded to Mu Qingqing, then, taking Ye Chen''s hand, who had just walked out from the assessment area, entered the assessment area as well.


    Once Jiang Yao stood in the assessment area, the seven Heavenly Saint Realm Envoys were fully alert.


    If this young lady, coupled with Ye Chen''s previous assessment, could truly stimulate the Sacred Shock Drum to sound, then their selection of new disciples this time would indeed cause a major sensation in the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    "Can the Sacred Shock Drum really sound?"


    The Heavenly Saints looked towards the inexplicable array patterns on the dome of the War Beast Hall.


    While the other new disciples did not know what the "Sacred Shock Drum" they were talking about was, just by seeing the serious expressions of the Envoys and hearing about the opportunities that could make the Heavenly Saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain take notice from Mu Qingqing, their hearts also started pounding fiercely.


    All eyes eventually gathered on Jiang Yao.


    Just at that moment, the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts that Jiang Yao was about to battle roared as they burst out from the secret chamber of the War Beast Hall.


    Jiang Yao, like Ye Chen, was also at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    The opponents she faced were also ten Bloodstripe War Beasts that had reached the supreme level of the Rotating Pill Realm with twelve stripes.


    Before stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm, Jiang Yao could already defeat the three supreme Rotating Pills with a single move.


    Now that she had entered the Rotating Pill Realm, the ten twelve-striped Bloodstripe War Beasts, which were extremely difficult for others to deal with, posed no difficulty to her at all!


    In the instant when the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts roared towards Jiang Yao, with countless gazes watching Jiang Yao and the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, Mu Qingqing revealed her utter confidence in Jiang Yao, and Ye Chen was also watching Jiang Yao with a light smile.


    At that moment, Jiang Yao''s fair and slender fingers lightly tapped towards the roaring Bloodstripe War Beasts charging at her.


    Pff! Pff! Pff! Pff! Pff!


    Ten icy blue flashes of lightning instantly pierced towards the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts.


    In the blink of an eye, the ten icy blue flashes of lightning had already pierced into the bodies of the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts.


    In the instant the icy blue lightning entered the bodies of the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts, these roaring creatures charging towards Jiang Yao were all abruptly immobilized in mid-air, and in the next moment, they disintegrated into ash!


    With a single move, Jiang Yao had directly obliterated the ten supreme-level Rotating Pill Bloodstripe War Beasts, leaving not even their remains!


    No one, neither the new disciples nor even the seven Heavenly Saint Envoys, had anticipated this outcome.


    And before they could even regain their composure, they heard the resounding thunderous drumming that shook the entire War Beast Hall and the Hidden Dragon Hall, resonating through the area of the five great Holy Temples and even deep within Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    One drum beat after another echoed out from the War Beast Hall, spread through the Hidden Dragon Hall, reached the area of the five great Holy Temples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and even penetrated the depths of Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    This was the sound of the "Sacred Shock Drum" that had not been heard for nearly a thousand years in the Heavenly Sacred Palace!

 Chapter 349: Chapter 314 The Three Palace Masters

    Inside the War Beast Hall.


    The Envoys and all the new disciples were completely stunned as they watched the ten Bloodstripe War Beasts turn to ash and heard the continuous booming of the "Sacred Shock Drum."


    No one had expected that Jiang Yao, this breathtakingly beautiful girl, truly possessed techniques as formidable as Ye Chen''s!


    The Sacred Shock Drum really resounded!


    "My heavens, the Sacred Shock Drum is booming loudly! After nine hundred and sixty-eight years, the Sacred Shock Drum has sounded again!"


    "Since joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace, I''ve never heard the Sacred Shock Drum. It''s only been recorded in the scriptures of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and now, today, I''ve actually witnessed the Sacred Shock Drum sound again!"


    Every one of the seven Great Heavenly Saint Envoys was filled with disbelief.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the other new disciples all looked up at the dome of the War Beast Hall, where they saw mysterious formations etched into the ceiling initiating the drumming of the Sacred Shock Drum.


    Actually, it wasn''t just the dome of the War Beast Hall; within the main hall of the entire Hidden Dragon Hall, where the assessments were held, and the ceilings of various side halls'' mysterious formation lines were activated, letting the drumming of the Sacred Shock Drum resound.


    The entire Hidden Dragon Hall was echoing with the sound of the Sacred Shock Drum!


    The people within the Hidden Dragon Hall were immersed in the thunderous roar of the Sacred Shock Drum.


    Outside the Hidden Dragon Hall.


    Five Holy Temple regions.


    "What is this sound?"


    As the "boom boom boom" of the drum continued, the older disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace who were cultivating in the five Holy Temple regions were all startled.


    Everyone searched for the source of the sound.


    When they sensed that this noise originated from the Hidden Dragon Hall on the very edge of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and saw strange auras of light emerging from the entire backyard of the Hidden Dragon Hall, all disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace thought of an event recorded in the sect''s scriptures.


    This event was precisely the mysterious legend associated with the "Sacred Shock Drum!"


    "It''s the sound of the Sacred Shock Drum!"


    "Hidden Dragon Hall, the assessment of new disciples, triggered the loud booming of the Sacred Shock Drum!"


    "These days are the time for the Envoys to bring new disciples back to the sect. Could it be that this time they have selected several exceptionally powerful new disciples?"


    With this thought, disciples who were cultivating in the various Holy Temple regions couldn''t help but fly at top speed toward the Hidden Dragon Hall.


    From the True Qi Realm cultivation area of the Fifth Holy Temple, which was closest to the Hidden Dragon Hall, flying demonic beasts carried True Qi Realm disciples as they flew out from various main halls of the Fifth Holy Temple and soared towards the sky above the backyard of the Hidden Dragon Hall.


    In the backyard of the Hidden Dragon Hall, a nine-story treasured pagoda stood proudly¡ªthis pagoda was what the new disciples had to face after overcoming their first challenge of "Battling the Bloodstripe War Beasts"¡ªit was the second round of the assessment, known as the Holy Temple Tower.


    The strange auras of light that had emerged previously from the backyard of the Hidden Dragon Hall were in fact emanating from the top of the Holy Temple Tower after the Sacred Shock Drum had sounded!


    Not only the disciples from the Fifth Holy Temple were gathering towards the Holy Temple Tower, but the Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm disciples from the Fourth and Third Holy Temples were similarly taking flight from their respective temples and zooming towards the Holy Temple Tower.


    And within the deeper regions of the Heavenly Sacred Palace of the Second Holy Temple and the First Holy Temple, there were likewise countless sounds of flight.


    The Second Holy Temple and the First Holy Temple are gathering spots for the most talented disciples below the Heavenly Saint Realm within the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and at this moment, all of these disciples were flying toward the Holy Temple Tower while showing strange expressions.


    "Who could have caused the Sacred Shock Drum to sound?"


    "It looks like our Second Holy Temple and First Holy Temple are about to welcome a few genius new disciples!"


    "The old disciples'' hierarchy is going to be broken!"


    Among the flying crowd, a young man in dark clothes was frowning deeply.


    This young man in dark clothes was none other than Yin Qianjue, the most formidable disciple from the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness training in the Heavenly Sacred Palace. He was at the late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm and ranked fourth among the countless talented disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace in the Heavenly Saint True Dragon Ranking.


    At this moment, Yin Qianjue had a bad premonition.


    He felt that the ringing of the Sacred Shock Drum might indeed be related to Ye Chen, the new disciple from the Southern Territory who was about to enter the Heavenly Sacred Palace, as mentioned in the messages he received.


    "If the Sacred Shock Drum rings truly because of Ye Chen,"


    "If Ye Chen draws the attention of the formidable saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain,"


    "That would be troublesome!"


    "If it''s really him, then I have to hasten my plans, otherwise, the Western Wilderness will face a great problem!"


    In the end, a bone-chilling coldness radiated from the depths of Yin Qianjue''s sinister eyes.


    Disciples of the Five Holy Temples stirred upon hearing the sound, while from within the deepest parts of Heavenly Saint Mountain, silhouettes of powerful figures seated in meditation all turned their gazes towards Hidden Dragon Hall at the outermost perimeter of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    "Hidden Dragon Hall? The place for new disciples'' assessment?"


    "To think a new disciple has successfully caused the Sacred Shock Drum to ring. It seems that we at the Heavenly Sacred Palace have brought back some formidable geniuses this time."


    In one of the mountain ranges on Heavenly Saint Mountain, five saints with exceptionally strong presences looked at each other and all revealed a hint of a smile.


    In their smiles, their figures vanished simultaneously from the mountain range.


    Their voices echoed throughout the mountains, "Us old fellows from Shetuo Mountain have yet to find apprentices to our liking. Let''s see if anyone impresses us this time!"


    Feeling the aura of these five saints, it was evident that all of them were of the mid-phase in the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    "Sacred Shock Drum?"


    "If I remember correctly, it should have been nine hundred sixty-eight years since we last heard the sound of the Sacred Shock Drum."


    In the deepest part of a mountain range on Heavenly Saint Mountain, an elder in black robes also turned his gaze towards Hidden Dragon Hall.


    "The last time the Sacred Shock Drum sounded, I accepted my second disciple, and now, that disciple is already a mid-phase power in the Heavenly Saint Realm."


    "This time let''s see if my third disciple will appear!"


    After muttering to himself, the elder reached out towards the void with a large hand and instantly, a rift in the void appeared. With a move, he stepped directly into the void and vanished.


    If any of the saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain were to see this elder, they would surely recognize him as one of the three most powerful beings in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, a late-phase eminent personality and one of the three great palace masters, the "Skyscraper Palace Master."


    As the Skyscraper Palace Master traveled through the void to investigate Hidden Dragon Hall, in another realm deep within the same mountain range, another elder was similarly leading two youths through a void rift.


    This elder, dressed in light blue garments and radiating vigor, strangely resembled Mu Qingqing in his facial features.


    As this elder traveled through the void towards Hidden Dragon Hall, he said to the two youths beside him with a laugh, "My granddaughter has returned as an Envoy this time. Just a couple of days ago, she sent me a message saying she would let me truly appreciate her discerning eye."


    "Could it be that the ringing of the Sacred Shock Drum is caused by the new disciple she has brought back?"


    As the elder spoke with a fully content smile, the two youths beside him also laughed, "Certainly, Sister Qingqing wouldn''t act without certainty. It seems this time she has truly picked a formidable genius."


    "It''s quite likely related to the youngster named Ye Chen, whom we''ve been hearing about in the Heavenly Sacred Palace recently."


    While speaking, the three had already completely entered the rift in the void, and the void rift behind them closed up once more.


    If anyone were to recognize these three figures, they would certainly know that these two youths were the rising powers of the Heavenly Sacred Palace from the past several centuries, also having been selected during the great ringing of the Sacred Shock Drum. They were two truly supreme geniuses who dominated the very top of the "Heavenly Saint True Dragon Ranking" of countless saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    And the elder beside the two youths was another one of the three great palace masters in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Palace Master Mu Yao!


    From their conversation, it was evident that this Mu Yao was none other than Mu Qingqing''s grandfather.


    Mu Qingqing''s grandfather was actually one of the three great palace masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!

 Chapter 350: Chapter 315: Holy Temple Tower

    The three great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, with the most powerful Palace Master Yuan Li having always closely followed Jiang Yao, secretly protecting her.


    And now, because the "Sacred Shock Drum" had been activated, and its sound had spread throughout the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, the other two great Palace Masters, Skyscraper Palace Master and Mu Yao Palace Master, also turned their attention to Ye Chen''s group of newly admitted disciples, rushing towards the Hidden Dragon Hall.


    While countless disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Heavenly Saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain were heading to the "Holy Temple Tower" of the Hidden Dragon Hall, in the deepest part of the vast territory of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, within a blue-ice lake spanning ten thousand meters in a valley, the Ice Blue Phoenix, which even Palace Master Yuan Li had once respectfully addressed as a predecessor, once again rose from within the lake.


    "Princess Yao!"


    At this moment, the divine eyes of the Ice Blue Phoenix, traversing the void, directly gazed upon Jiang Yao in the Hidden Dragon Hall.


    From its eyes, tears began to fall one after another.


    Seventeen years ago, it was this very phoenix that had carried Jiang Yao, evading the pursuit of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, and had fled to this Lower Realm.


    True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm could not easily descend to lower planes like the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, for they would be repelled by the combined forces of the entire continent.


    For seventeen years, due to the rebounding injuries from forcefully shuttling through the void, and even more so due to the fear of exposing her identity and putting Jiang Yao in danger, the Ice Blue Phoenix had sent Jiang Yao to Fairy Gala, sending her far away to the south.


    Throughout these years, it had quietly watched over Jiang Yao, protecting her.


    However, it had been seventeen years, and it had never been so close to Jiang Yao, never like this!


    Now, at last, its powerful Princess Yao, relying on her own strength, had come to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and upon arrival, she was able to trigger an upheaval throughout the Palace.


    Finally, she had come back to its side once again!


    This of course made the Ice Blue Phoenix''s tears flow down.


    These were tears of excitement.


    These were even more so, tears of pride!


    Its Princess Yao, coming from the divine clans of the Upper Realm, wherever she went, was always that strong!


    "Princess," the Ice Blue Phoenix looked at Jiang Yao, "this time, you have once again returned to my side."


    "I will definitely protect you well, support you well!"


    "When you''re powerful enough to protect yourself, we will together, return to the Minor Spirit Realm, return to our clan!"


    Amid tears, the Ice Blue Phoenix spoke with determination.


    As countless gazes converged on the Hidden Dragon Hall, and even as many Heavenly Saints'' divine senses probed into the War Beast Hall, the first stage of the assessment within the War Beast Hall still continued.


    Although no one directly entered the War Beast Hall to observe the assessment, powerful and immense pressures kept probing within the War Beast Hall. From the outside, one could see densely packed figures surrounding the War Beast Hall.


    All the new disciples inside the War Beast Hall knew that because of the ringing of the "Sacred Shock Drum," the War Beast Hall had caught the attention of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    They were undergoing the assessment under the watchful eye of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    At this thought, many new disciples, even became so excited and nervous that their bodies started to tremble uncontrollably!


    The first stage of the assessment continued.


    After Ye Chen and Jiang Yao created unbelievable performance records in the assessment, the three top rankers of the Hidden Dragon List, Xiao Chen, Liu Qingmei, and Luo Lie, took their turns to undergo the test.


    As a result, both Xiao Chen and Luo Lie were defeated, unable to proceed to the second stage of the assessment, and were assigned to the Third Holy Temple.


    However, Liu Qingmei, with the initial realm of the Rotating Pill, successfully challenged ten strong Rotating Pill-stage Bloodstripe War Beasts, and also made it into the second stage of the assessment.


    Although Liu Qingmei''s performance was not as dazzling as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, and she sustained some minor injuries during the battle, her performance was already enough to catch the attention of many Heavenly Saints.


    And among everyone, those who paid the most attention to Liu Qingmei were Jiang Yao and the Ice Blue Phoenix!


    Because, both Jiang Yao and the Ice Blue Phoenix noticed shadows of the Divine Phoenix Clan''s techniques in Liu Qingmei''s moves!


    Although it wasn''t the Divine Phoenix Clan''s divine arts, it seemed to be modified from their techniques.


    A girl from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, bearing traces of the Divine Phoenix Clan''s techniques from the Minor Spirit Realm in her own skills, certainly surprised Jiang Yao and the Ice Blue Phoenix immensely!


    When Jiang Yao sent a message to inquire with Liu Qingmei, Liu Qingmei also smiled back at Jiang Yao, sharing some information with her.


    Liu Qingmei told Jiang Yao that her techniques were learned from a woman who had come to her family in the Polar Star Archipelago of the eastern region ten years ago, whom she called her aunt. Liu Qingmei also told Jiang Yao that her participation in the central region and efforts to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace this time were to gain an opportunity to go to the other thirty-two continents, to find some medicinal materials for her aunt.


    Her aunt who taught her the techniques was seriously injured when she arrived at the Polar Star Archipelago!


    Hearing this news, the Phoenix Spirit within Jiang Yao''s Azure Mansion even had a premonition that the woman Liu Qingmei spoke of could really be from the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    The reason for the injury was likely because she was forcefully descending from the Minor Spirit Realm to find Jiang Yao. That''s how she got the injuries!


    With this possibility in mind, Jiang Yao and the Phoenix Spirit both became incredibly excited.


    If what Liu Qingmei said was true, then the woman who might be related to the Divine Phoenix Clan had arrived at the Polar Star Archipelago severely injured ten years ago. That would mean, this woman might know what happened after the grand battle between the three great divine clans in the Divine Phoenix City and she might be aware of the current situation of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    Thinking of this, Jiang Yao couldn''t help but yearn to meet this woman!


    However, having just entered the Heavenly Sacred Palace and still in the middle of the entrance assessment, Jiang Yao could only suppress her urge. She continued to communicate with Liu Qingmei via spiritual message to learn more about the woman while waiting for the assessment to end, hoping for an opportunity to go to the Polar Star Archipelago afterward.


    While Jiang Yao was concerned about the woman, the Ice Blue Phoenix sent a spiritual message directly to an unseen figure floating above the Hidden Dragon Hall, "Yuan Li, once the assessments are over, bring her and Princess Yao to me!"


    Between the transmissions from the Ice Blue Phoenix, it could be seen that the most powerful Palace Master Yuan Li of the Heavenly Sacred Palace was hidden in this expanse of space!


    ...


    The disturbance caused by Liu Qingmei was known only to a few.


    Meanwhile, the assessment within the Beast Hall continued.


    After the assessment of the new disciples selected by Mu Qingqing was completed, the new disciples chosen by the other Envoys were assessed one after another.


    Out of the fifty-eight new disciples who entered the Heavenly Sacred Palace, forty-six were eliminated in the first part of the assessment and were assigned to the Fifth Holy Temple, the Fourth Holy Temple, and the Third Holy Temple.


    Only Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and nine others successfully advanced to the second part, earning the chance to enter the Second Holy Temple and the First Holy Temple.


    Among the twelve who passed the first part of the assessment, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s performances were the most outstanding. Besides them, a young man at the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill also showed exceptional performance, though not as great as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    The rest, like Liu Qingmei, were fairly good, while the others achieved miserable victories against the Bloodstripe War Beasts.


    However, even a miserable victory was significant, as among the new disciples selected by the Eight Great Envoys this time, having twelve advance to the second part was an excellent result in recent years.


    Furthermore, among them, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had even triggered the Sacred Shock Drum, a phenomenon that hadn''t occurred in nearly a thousand years!


    As the first part of the assessment ended, everyone outside the Hidden Dragon Hall turned their eyes to the "Holy Temple Tower" standing in the courtyard behind the hall.


    This was where the second part of the new disciples'' entry assessment would take place!


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the other ten disciples who had passed the first part, as well as the new disciples who failed, were led by the Envoys out of the Hidden Dragon Hall and to the side of the Holy Temple Tower.


    "Who is it that triggered the Sacred Shock Drum?"


    As Ye Chen and the other twelve new disciples who had passed the first part arrived outside the Hidden Dragon Hall, all gazes were focused on them.


    The Heavenly Saints who had investigated the following assessments were also concentrating on Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and a few others who had taken the assessments earlier.


    Since they had witnessed the subsequent assessments, the one who triggered the "Sacred Shock Drum" was certainly among these early assessors.


    The majority of gazes fell on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Not only because of Jiang Yao''s stunning figure and Ye Chen''s refined and tall demeanor but also because they were profoundly distinct from all other new disciples!


    The discerning eyes of the multitude of Heavenly Saints, as well as the senior disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, could immediately tell that these two young disciples were likely the strongest amongst the newcomers, and they were the ones who had triggered the Sacred Shock Drum!


    Among the countless gazes directed at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Yin Qianjie from the Western Wilderness''s Ten Great Demon Sects narrowed his eyes when he looked at the pair, hiding profound and inscrutable intentions within.


    It wasn''t just these countless people sizing up Ye Chen and the others. The twelve new disciples who had passed the first part also raised their heads to look at the dense crowd suspended in the void.


    In this crowd were senior disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace from the True Qi Realm, the Spirit Sea Realm, the Rotating Pill Realm, and even Heavenly Saints cultivating on Heavenly Saint Mountain. Among these saints were over thirty auras belonging to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Ye Chen and the others speculated that perhaps even the three late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace might be watching them from an unseen location.


    With this thought, all twelve disciples who had advanced to the second part were filled with surging emotions, even Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt a wave of excitement.


    After all, what they faced now were countless senior disciples and Heavenly Saints of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    There were as many as seven to eight thousand senior disciples, and the Heavenly Saints numbered over a thousand!


    This was the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the power of the mighty second-tier sect, the Heavenly Sacred Palace, such an overwhelming number of strong individuals was truly awe-inspiring!


    Thankfully, the Heavenly Sacred Palace did not meddle in the affairs of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, for if all these Heavenly Saints were mobilized, it would be difficult for anyone on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to withstand this incredible force!


    Amidst so many watchful eyes, the twelve new disciples who had passed the first part couldn''t help but feel excited, unable to stop their breath from unconsciously tightening.


    In the end, their gazes all fixed on the place of their next assessment, the Holy Temple Tower, the nine-tiered pagoda towering in the courtyard behind the Hidden Dragon Hall!


    It was within this Holy Temple Tower that they would launch their challenge under the watchful eyes of countless onlookers, to earn their place in the First Holy Temple, to gain the attention of powerful Heavenly Saints, and to establish their footing in the Heavenly Sacred Palace by showing their true strength!

 Chapter 351: Chapter 316: Storming the Tower

    ```


    Seeing the twelve disciples who had passed the first trial staring intently at the Holy Temple Tower, the leading messenger bowed to the countless Heavenly Saints observing the assessment in the void and then said to Ye Chen and the others, "By the look of you all, you are ready to take on the second trial."


    "Now, let me explain the rules of the second trial, ''Holy Temple Tower,'' to you."


    The rules of the Holy Temple Tower''s assessment.


    This was related to whether they could enter the First Holy Temple, whether they could conquer the countless old disciples and Heavenly Saints watching the assessment.


    Hearing the messenger''s words, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and the other twelve all pricked up their ears and listened carefully.


    The Heavenly Saint messenger continued, "The Holy Temple Tower is divided into nine levels."


    "However, your trial will take place in the first three levels because no matter how powerful or talented you are, it''s impossible for you to get through the third level!"


    Buzz.


    This assertion from the messenger startled all the new disciples.


    The statement that no one could pass the third level no matter how strong they were was utterly confident, clearly indicating that the third level of the Holy Temple Tower was an insurmountable gulf they could not cross at present.


    Seeing that some of the new disciples still looked somewhat disbelieving, the messenger shook his head and said, "Not to mention you, it''s been over five hundred years since I reached the early stage of Heavenly Saint, and I can barely get through the third level of the Holy Temple Tower, not to mention the fourth level."


    "Moreover, of the entire nine levels of this Holy Temple Tower, no one in our entire Heavenly Sacred Palace has conquered them all!"


    Whoosh!


    If they were shocked before, this declaration from the messenger deeply shook even Ye Chen.


    The fact that the leading Heavenly Saint messenger could barely get past the third level and was utterly unable to get through the fourth underscored the difficulty of the third and fourth levels of the Holy Temple Tower.


    And the messenger added that no one in the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace had completed all nine levels. The Heavenly Sacred Palace had three late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Palace Masters, indicating that even existences at the later stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm couldn''t surpass all nine levels of the Holy Temple Tower?


    If the Holy Temple Tower was so formidable, what sort of origin did it have?


    "The Holy Temple Tower is a wondrous object obtained by our great ''Palace Master Yuan Li'' of the Heavenly Sacred Palace when he visited the Minor Spirit Realm, from a mysterious legacy site. It is said that this tower was crafted by an even greater being, the legendary Void Sky True God!"


    "Once someone can pass through all nine levels of the Holy Temple Tower, that would certainly indicate possessing combat power on par with the Void Sky True God!"


    "Currently, Palace Master Yuan Li holds the record of our entire Heavenly Sacred Palace for venturing into this tower, having reached the eighth level!"


    "Our other two Palace Masters, Skyscraper Palace Master and Mu Yao Palace Master, have both reached the seventh level."


    "Apart from the three Palace Masters, no one else has set foot on the sixth level or above."


    The words of the messenger not only caught the attention of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, along with the other twelve new disciples but also drew the gaze of the countless Heavenly Saints towards this nine-level pagoda.


    Indeed.


    Just as the messenger had said, the Holy Temple Tower was a place of myth.


    It is rumored that the name "Holy Temple Tower" was adopted, and even the reason why the training places for the talented disciples were later divided into five Holy Temples, was because the legacy site where Palace Master Yuan Li obtained this tower was related to the words "Holy Temple."


    The ninth level of the Holy Temple Tower was an existence that the Heavenly Saints of the entire Heavenly Saint Mountain looked up to!


    Let alone the ninth level, even the eighth or seventh levels were places where only the three Palace Masters had set foot.


    Countless Heavenly Saints of the Heavenly Saint Mountain were still attempting to break through to the sixth level, with many of them stuck at the fifth and fourth levels!


    "Indeed, venturing through the Holy Temple Tower is extremely difficult."


    "In our First Holy Temple, among the top ten powerhouses on the Holy Temple leaderboard, none have passed the third level."


    In the area where the older disciples were, those from the First Holy Temple also sighed and spoke up.


    Some older disciples looked directly at Ye Chen and the twelve others and said, "These new disciples, let alone the later levels, probably can''t even get past the third level. If they manage to reach the second level, that would certainly be impressive."


    Amidst the crowd''s discussions and the shock of Ye Chen and the other twelve, the messenger went on, "Well, we have digressed a bit about the Holy Temple Tower."


    "Now, let''s talk about the second trial''s assessment."


    ```


    "As I''ve already said, it''s extremely difficult to navigate through the Holy Temple Tower; only those with true early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm strength can set foot on the fourth floor."


    "And your goal is to breach the first three floors!"


    "In the second test, if you can only stay on the first floor, then you will all be assigned to the Second Holy Temple."


    "If you can break through to the second floor, then you will be eligible to enter the First Holy Temple, and as long as a Heavenly Saint recommends you, you can go there to cultivate."


    "Once you break through to the third floor, you will come directly under the watchful eyes of the Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain. Any of the Heavenly Saints there can take you on as disciples and impart the cultivation insights of a Heavenly Saint. Even if they don''t take disciples, as long as you perform strongly enough, there will be Heavenly Saints who will reward you!"


    "As for how to navigate each floor, it''s simple; you will have only half an hour to enter each level, and within that half-hour, you need to kill a hundred tower War Beasts."


    "Kill enough War Beasts, and you succeed! Fail to kill enough, and you''re eliminated!"


    In the second test for the new disciples'' assessment, reaching the second floor grants the qualification to proceed to the First Holy Temple, while reaching the third floor earns the possibility of being rewarded by a Heavenly Saint.


    Within half an hour, one must slay a hundred tower War Beasts.


    The envoy explained the rules of the second test clearly and precisely.


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the other ten new disciples all knew that since the "Holy Temple Tower" was the venue for the second test, the tower War Beasts inside would undoubtedly be even more fearsome than the first test''s Bloodstripe War Beasts.


    Otherwise, it wouldn''t be so difficult to make it through the tower.


    "All right, now enter the tower and begin your assessment."


    "Just like in the first test, there are protective restrictions inside the tower. If you encounter an insurmountable life-or-death danger, the Holy Temple Tower will directly transport you out."


    "Remember, to advance to the next floor, you must kill a hundred War Beasts within half an hour; otherwise, you fail the assessment!"


    "Now, go in and undertake your assessment!"


    Boom!


    As soon as the envoy finished speaking, the massive door to the first floor of the Holy Temple Tower burst open, and a roaring sound emerged from within, as if there was an independent world inside.


    Looking at the opened door to the first floor of the Holy Temple Tower, Ye Chen no longer hesitated. He nodded to Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and the others, and then the twelve of them, under the gaze of thousands, shot into the door like lightning, entering the Holy Temple Tower.


    Once all twelve had gone in, in the void outside the Holy Temple Tower, several mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings waved their hands, and suddenly, a series of huge screens appeared in the higher reaches of the void.


    On these giant screens appeared the images of Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the other new disciples within the Holy Temple Tower.


    All the Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain who came to observe the assessment of the new disciples raised their heads to watch these giant screens.


    "So this is the first floor of the Holy Temple Tower?"


    At this moment, Ye Chen had already entered the tower and looked around at the space he was in.


    This was an illusory yet vast space, tens of thousands of zhang in diameter. Upon entering, only Ye Chen was in this space; Jiang Yao and the others were not there.


    Obviously, at this point, the twelve new disciples had been separated, each facing the assessment alone.


    Just as Ye Chen was assessing this space, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and the others were also in identical spaces, similarly observing their surroundings.


    At that time, a "thump, thump, thump" of drum beats sounded inside the spaces where the twelve new disciples were.


    After nine drum beats echoed through the space, a corner of the space they were in suddenly glowed brightly, followed by thunderous roars of War Beasts that resounded through the air. In an instant, countless War Beasts surged towards where the new disciples were standing in the assessment space.


    When Ye Chen''s divine sense swept over these numerous War Beasts, his expression changed.


    In the assessment space of the first floor of the Holy Temple Tower, the War Beasts racing towards him were like voracious dragons, and what was more terrifying was that there were well over three hundred of them, each one''s combat power reaching the peak level of the Rotating Pill stage!


    In the first test against Bloodstripe War Beasts, Ye Chen had only fought against ten Rotating Pill stage Bloodstripe War Beasts.


    And now, he was expected to confront over three hundred peak Rotating Pill stage dragon War Beasts all at once, and he was supposed to kill more than a hundred of them within half an hour!


    Indeed, as the envoy said, the Holy Temple Tower was indeed terrifying, with the difficulty of just the first level being shockingly high!

 Chapter 352: Chapter 317 Four People

    ```


    As Ye Chen was reflecting, the more than three hundred Supreme Rotating Pill Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts had already completely engulfed his figure.


    With continuous cultivation, a Jiao Dragon can transform into a True Dragon.


    At this moment, although they had not yet reached the combat power of True Dragons, their hundreds of zhang long bodies and those five to eight zhang long talons sharp as steel hooks were exceedingly terrifying.


    As they surged forward, a flick of these Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts'' tails would crack the ground with gigantic fissures, and their claws forcefully striking the ground would even excavate huge pits.


    Adding to that their roaring and howling, Ye Chen seemed to be facing not a group of War Beasts trapped in the Holy Temple Tower but Exotic Beasts that dominated the Barbarian Wilderness!


    If it were any other Rotating Pill, even a powerful one, facing this dense mass of Exotic Beasts that had completely overwhelmed them, they would be trembling with fear.


    However, after only a slight change in expression, Ye Chen suddenly drew the Treasured Black Fire Sword from his hand.


    The reason for Ye Chen''s change in expression was the concern for the more dangerous beasts on the second and third floors of the Holy Temple Tower, not that he couldn''t handle the beasts on the first floor.


    This first floor featured only a few hundred battle beasts with the strength of the Supreme Rotating Pill; if it were in the past, he might not have been able to handle them, but now, having stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm and successfully entered the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture¡ª "Taiyuan Chapter," Ye Chen could certainly deal with them.


    Whoosh!


    The instant Black Fire Sword was drawn, the Five Apertures Rotating Pill within Ye Chen''s body violently stirred, and all eighty-one Prohibition Runes on the Black Fire Sword were crazily triggered, with the entire sword radiating an endless, divine marvel of black and red sword light!


    The Black Fire Sword, a supreme Treasure Instrument, now had all of its might fully awakened!


    But this power was still not enough; as the might of the sword itself was being awakened, the endless Power of Laws from the Five Apertures Rotating Pill within Ye Chen also flooded into the Black Fire Sword. At the same time, Ye Chen raised his sword and unleashed the Swordsmanship Divine Art he had comprehended from the third layer of the "Beiming Secret Tome," the "Great Five Elements Sword Diagram"¡ªthe Great Five Elements Sword Light!


    The first layer of the Beiming Secret Tome is "All-Encompassing Divine Diagram," which mainly cultivates Sword Intents; the second layer is "Xu Tian Wu Ji Tu," cultivating Law Sword Seed, even more powerful than Sword Intents.


    Now, having stepped into the Rotating Pill, the third layer that Ye Chen was cultivating from Beiming Secret Tome, the "Great Five Elements Sword Diagram," possessed a killing force that surpassed even the Law Sword Seed, embodying the might of a Swordsmanship Divine Art.


    The Great Five Elements Sword Light consists of the Metal Sword Light, Wood Sword Light, Water Sword Light, Fire Sword Light, and Earth Sword Light¡ªthese five types of Five Elements Sword Light.


    As Ye Chen executed the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art, streaks of sword light spanning dozens of zhang, each brimming with colors, shot out from the Black Fire Sword in his hands.


    These colorful sword lights, upon contact with the charging and fighting Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts, swiftly killed them, despite the beasts being much larger in size.


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    With a flick of the Black Fire Sword in Ye Chen''s hand, the heads of seven or eight Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts were severed.


    After Ye Chen killed these Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts, from the origin where the beasts in the first level of the Holy Temple Tower surged out, countless more Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts continued to pour forth.


    The number of Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts attacking Ye Chen didn''t decrease at all!


    Seeing this, Ye Chen''s face remained calm.


    What did it matter if their numbers hadn''t reduced?


    For battle beasts of this level, the more that came, the more he would kill!


    Ye Chen flicked his Black Fire Sword again, continuing his onslaught against the sea of battle beasts that covered the land.


    ...


    "So many Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts, heavens!"


    In another assessment area, a new disciple in the Spirit Sea middle stage faced off against a Jiao Dragon Battle Beast with the combat power of a mid-stage Rotating Pill.


    Upon seeing the dense swarm of Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts that outnumbered the Bloodstripe War Beasts he had previously fought by dozens of times, the new disciple''s face turned completely pale.


    He might just manage to deal with ten Rotating Pill-level War Beasts, but facing hundreds of them filled him with absolute terror.


    He swung his weapon and had just slain four Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts when he was overwhelmed by many more.


    A moment later, a flash of teleportation light, and the new disciple was eliminated from the first level''s challenge in the Holy Temple Tower, having failed.


    ...


    In other regions, all new disciples faced an onslaught of battle beasts tens of times more numerous than their first assessment.


    Many new disciples were already exhausted from the struggle.


    Even those who barely managed to cope were constantly using their movement technique to dodge the onslaught of Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts while trying to kill them one by one.


    Within moments, these new disciples were covered with bloodstains and their faces were beaded with sweat.


    ...


    Outside the Holy Temple Tower, high up in the void, a screen of light projected the assessment situations of twelve new disciples on the first floor of the Holy Temple Tower.


    After seven or eight minutes into the Holy Temple Tower, of the twelve people, five had already been eliminated!


    And among the remaining ones, two or three seemed as if they would not last much longer and might be eliminated as well.


    "To pass the first level of the Holy Temple Tower is to earn the qualification to cultivate in the First Holy Temple."


    "For many years, in every selection of new disciples, only one or two per batch are able to directly enter the First Holy Temple. This time, even though twelve new disciples have managed to break into the second challenge of the Holy Temple Tower, I''m afraid only a very few will get through the first level to join the First Holy Temple."


    ```


    The Heavenly Saints and senior disciples from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, watching as new disciples were continually eliminated on the screens, couldn''t help but voice their amazement.


    However, after expressing their thoughts a few times, the attention of these people was drawn to two screens in particular.


    They noticed that the new disciples on these two screens, even when faced with swarms of attacking Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts, did not panic in the slightest, starkly different from the other candidates!


    On one of these screens was a young man holding a black and red Treasured Sword. With every step he took, he would swing his sword, and each swing would directly kill seven or eight Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts. In a matter of moments, the number of Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts he had killed amounted to seventy or eighty!


    On the other screen was a young girl wielding an ice-blue Treasured Sword. She moved with ease among the multitude of War Beasts, and wherever she went, a Jiao Dragon Giant Beast would be struck down. The speed and number at which she killed the Jiao Dragon Giant Beasts were in no way inferior to that of the young man!


    Watching the two of them kill Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts, which held Supreme Rotating Pill combat power, as if they were merely slaughtering chickens, many of the older disciples were stunned!


    "These two!"


    "Are the strongest among the new disciples that we could all sense earlier!"


    "According to the Envoy, these two are called Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!"


    "Looking at them, they will definitely get through the first layer! And possibly, they might even get through the second layer, or even manage to break into the third layer!"


    Thinking of this, the disciples from the First Holy Temple were all stirred up with excitement.


    If these two could enter the second layer, that directly implied that the First Holy Temple was about to welcome two new disciples!


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao."


    Among the senior disciples from the First Holy Temple, Yin Qianjue, from the Western Wilderness''s Ten Great Demon Sects, watched with a deep jump in his heart as the two easily slaughtered the Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts.


    "These two people are having an easier time breaking through the first layer of the Holy Temple Tower than I did back in the day!"


    The older disciples had already taken full notice of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    And most of the Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain had their gazes fixed on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Not bad, these two kids are good."


    Surrounded by a group of early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses were all smiling and nodding at the sight of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    And among the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, the formidable Heavenly Saints who were self-proclaimed as "Five Elders of Shetuo Mountain," had their exceptionally bright gazes all fixed on Ye Chen.


    "Qing, are these two the new disciples you brought back?"


    In the area where the Eight Great Envoys stood, Mu Qingqing saw that a multitude of gazes were converging on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao on the screens, her sly beautiful eyes already brimming with amusement.


    Just then, a voice accompanied by laughter suddenly transmitted into her mind.


    Upon hearing this transmission, the amusement in Mu Qingqing''s beautiful eyes instantly turned into surprise, "Grandpa, are you also here to watch the new disciples'' assessment?!"


    The one Mu Qingqing was responding to through her transmission was none other than one of the three great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Palace Master Mu Yao!


    As countless gazes appraised them, time passed for a moment, and by then, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had already successfully killed a hundred Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts, earning the right to enter the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower!


    And the time it took the two to kill a hundred War Beasts wasn''t even half an hour, not even fifteen minutes!


    After killing the required hundred War Beasts, the numerous Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts still surging towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao ceased their attacks and turned around, returning to the corner light of the Holy Temple Tower.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao then sat down cross-legged on the first layer to meditate and recover their True Qi, awaiting the commencement of the second layer''s assessment.


    After Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had successfully qualified for the second layer''s assessment, three more people were eliminated from the first layer of the Holy Temple Tower.


    The total number of eliminated new disciples had reached eight!


    Only four new disciples remained within the Holy Temple Tower.


    Apart from Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, only two people were still undergoing the assessment, still fighting against the Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts.


    Among these two, one was Liu Qingmei, and the other was a young man at the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    As time drew close to the end of the half-hour period, Liu Qingmei and the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm young man struggled to kill enough Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts to secure their entry to the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower.


    Although their victory was hard-fought, both Liu Qingmei and the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm young man were exceedingly excited.


    Because, regardless of the outcome, they had killed enough War Beasts to advance to the second layer, and even if they failed to overcome the challenges of the second layer, they had secured their entry into the First Holy Temple!


    As Liu Qingmei and the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm young man excitedly regulated their breathing and awaited the end of the half-hour assessment period, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also stood up from their meditation.


    All four were waiting for the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower to open.


    This wait wasn''t long.


    When Liu Qingmei and the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm young man had almost fully recovered and Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked up into the sky above the first layer, their surrounding space on the first layer of the Holy Temple Tower suddenly began to flicker with numerous lights.


    Amidst the lights, all four vanished from the first layer of the Holy Temple Tower.


    At the same time, the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower lit up thoroughly!

 Chapter 353: Chapter 318 Sky Winged Dragon

    Holy Temple Tower second layer.


    Stepping into this layer signifies direct qualification to enter the First Holy Temple.


    Ye Chen and his three companions, as long as they are recommended by a Heavenly Saint, can all join the First Holy Temple!


    Within this layer, the state of mind of the four was completely different from that on the first layer. In the first layer of the Holy Temple Tower, they were fighting to join the First Holy Temple, but in this second layer, they were fighting to gain the attention and opportunities of the many Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain!


    Heavenly Saint Mountain, where there are not only many mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses but also three existences in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    If they could gain the attention of these figures and obtain opportunities, it would of course be of great help to their cultivation in the Heavenly Sacred Palace. Naturally, Ye Chen and his companions all wanted to strive for such opportunities!


    "The first layer of the Holy Temple Tower is besieged by hundreds of Jiao Dragon Battle Beasts."


    "What kind of War Beasts will attack us in this second layer''s assessment, which is even more difficult than the first layer?"


    Within the four separate spaces of the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm youth all looked around the space they were in.


    Holy Temple Tower second layer.


    While Ye Chen and his companions were examining the interior of the Holy Temple Tower, countless senior disciples outside, as well as the Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain, all had their eyes sharp.


    Many among them had already challenged the second layer and knew what the War Beast would be like.


    "The second layer of the Holy Temple Tower, the new disciples must face a kind of Exotic Beast that surpasses the Jiao Dragons¡ªthe Sky Winged Dragons!"


    "Sky Winged Dragons, unlike the Jiao Dragons that must undergo transformation to become True Dragons, are truly part of the True Dragon lineage, a major branch of it. Even the Void Sky True God, who crafted the Holy Temple Tower, merely used the Divine Blood of the real Sky Winged Dragons to condense them in this second layer, but the combat power of the Sky Winged Dragons that it provokes is incredibly powerful."


    "These four new disciples will face the assault of hundreds of Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts with invincible Rotating Pill combat power in the second layer! Not only must they be able to withstand these Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts, but they must also slay enough to total a hundred within half an hour. This difficulty, for those in the Rotating Pill Realm, is truly too great."


    "Unless they possess truly special means capable of suppressing invincible Rotating Pill War Beasts!"


    Amidst the discussions of the senior disciples and Heavenly Saints, the four in the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower, Ye Chen and his companions, once again heard the sound of the war drums beginning to resonate.


    This is the countdown for the War Beasts to appear!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With each drumbeat, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the others'' expressions became more solemn. Once all nine beats of the drums had rung out, a flash of sharp light appeared in the eyes of the four.


    Because they all saw, within the void above the space they were in, it seemed as if pieces of the void were being ripped open, and one after another, fierce War Beasts flew out from the void, attacking them.


    The moment they sensed the breath of combat power released by these War Beasts and saw their appearances, not only did Liu Qingmei and the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm youth''s faces drastically change, but even Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt their hearts tremble.


    What divine marvels these colossal beasts were!


    Standing in the space he was in, Ye Chen watched the War Beasts that were swooping down toward him. He found that these War Beasts were in fact a flock of flying Twin Winged Flying Dragons!


    Each of these Twin Winged Flying Dragons was over a hundred zhang in length, their enormous wings adorned with endless Spiritual Patterns that shone brightly. With wings spread, they spanned over three hundred zhang in length.


    In the howling of their wings, ferocious hurricanes were directly whipped up. Within these hurricanes, they even carried the terrifying breath of the Five Elements!


    Clearly, each of these flying Winged Dragons was an awe-inspiring Exotic Beast infused with the formidable Five Heavenly Void Laws!


    These Winged Dragons, with their terrifying claws and massive beaks, were even more daunting than the previous Jiao Dragons. Coupled with the divine speed unleashed by their wings, confronting these invincible Rotating Pill Realm Winged Dragons, not to mention a whole swarm, even many invincible Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses would struggle to deal with just one.


    To survive among this flock of Winged Dragons, one must possess means that surpass those of the unbeatable at the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As these Winged Dragons burst down from the sky, instantly outnumbering and targeting the four people inside the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower, the battle unfolded in a flash. The youth at the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm was directly defeated and eliminated!


    The mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm youth, who possessed combat power that could fight beyond his level, could only deploy techniques on the unbeatable Rotating Pill level.


    Against three to five unbeatable Rotating Pill War Beasts, such techniques sufficed. However, faced with dozens of Sky Winged Dragons, they were utterly inadequate!


    Not only was this mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm youth instantly eliminated, but even Liu Qingmei, after managing to slay three Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts, was also defeated and teleported out of the Holy Temple Tower.


    Their strengths were exceptional among the new disciples, which is why they were able to enter the First Holy Temple.


    Yet to pass the second layer of the Holy Temple Tower, to gain the utmost attention of numerous Heavenly Saints, their current means fell far too short!


    Once the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm youth and Liu Qingmei were eliminated, out of all the new disciples, only two remained.


    Only Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were left!


    "To battle against the unbeatable Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts on the second layer, one must possess means that exceed the unbeatable level of the Rotating Pill Realm."


    "Indeed, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao each possess such means!"


    As the swarm of Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts attacked the four within the Holy Temple Tower, quickly eliminating two, the two who stood strong drew the rapt attention of the watching senior disciples and Heavenly Saints, their eyes shining brightly.


    They knew that for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to continue in the Holy Temple Tower, they definitely wouldn''t have it as easy as on the first floor and would have to reveal their true tactics.


    Indeed, as the senior disciples and Heavenly Saints had guessed, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had already fully unleashed their real combat power.


    On Ye Chen''s side.


    "If it were one unbeatable Rotating Pill War Beast at a time, I could defeat each in turn."


    "But with over a hundred Winged Dragon War Beasts covering both the sky and the earth, at the same time, I have to face attacks from over ten Winged Dragon War Beasts, without being able to retreat easily, and also have to be mindful of even more Winged Dragon War Beasts coming from behind."


    "Since that''s the case, let''s fight with all we''ve got. I also want to see what extent of power my newly cultivated techniques, after stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm and learning the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, have reached!"


    As Ye Chen''s eyes gleamed brightly, he soared into the sky.


    Since stepping into the Rotating Pill Realm, Ye Chen hadn''t yet encountered a real adversary, but now, he was truly about to erupt with all his might.


    Ao! Ao! Ao!


    The moment Ye Chen soared into the sky, the flock of Winged Dragon War Beasts in the heavens had an even larger area to attack, and they all rushed toward him, aiming to tear and bite.


    "When I take to the sky, it''s not to give you an easier shot at me!"


    As Ye Chen surged upward, he watched the countless attacks from the Winged Dragon War Beasts. Inside his Qi Sea, the vibrant Five Apertures Rotating Pill flashed wildly, unleashing a vast torrent of Law Breath.


    And even more astonishingly, amidst the starry sky dawn light enveloping that Five Apertures Rotating Pill, there sounded a whizzing of mysterious fluttering.


    Incessantly flashing along with that Five Apertures Rotating Pill, another seven of the same Five Apertures Rotating Pills appeared.


    Within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills had suddenly emerged!

 Chapter 354: Chapter 319: Surprise, Horror

    Eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills!


    If the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were to witness this, countless martial artists would surely be scared to death!


    Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent can only cultivate one Rotating Pill, yet Ye Chen has actually cultivated eight Rotating Pills. This is simply an inconceivable scenario!


    What these people don''t know is that the eight Rotating Pills Ye Chen had cultivated originate from the incredibly divine "Primordial Star Scripture," which is part of the cultivation path necessary for the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Taiyuan Chapter," to cultivate the "Taiyuan Divine Pill."


    In the steps of cultivating the Taiyuan Divine Pill, let alone eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills, Ye Chen could ultimately cultivate up to an entire nine hundred ninety-nine Rotating Pills, reaching the state of Extreme Realm Dispersion!


    Although Ye Chen is not yet capable of reaching the nine hundred ninety-nine Rotating Pills at the state of Extreme Realm Dispersion, the seven new Rotating Pills he had cultivated with the Starry Fog in the Starlight Tower, together with the first Rotating Pill originally formed from the fusion of the Five Great Divine Bloods and the Primordial True Liquid, these eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills combined, have already given Ye Chen absolutely dominating strength that suppresses the Rotating Pill Realm invincibles.


    Now, what do these Sky Winged Dragons'' attacks amount to against him?


    Fight!


    The eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea World flash wildly, while outside his body, terrible breaths of the Five Great Laws surge out, even knocking the huge Winged Dragons that were madly pouncing towards Ye Chen off course, causing them to stumble in all directions.


    At the same time, Ye Chen draws his Black Fire Sword, roars, and directly charges towards the Winged Dragons in the sky!


    With the power of the eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills in his internal skills, and the swordsmanship divine art of the Great Five Elements Sword Light with his external skills, the combination of these two attacks has caused Ye Chen''s killing force to surge to an unbelievable level.


    Thwack!


    With a slash of Ye Chen''s Black Fire Sword, he decapitates the head of a Sky Winged Dragon. As the dragon''s massive head and body fall from the sky, blood gushes forth like a fountain, sending all the Winged Dragons in the sky scurrying away in terror!


    Ye Chen, holding the Black Fire Sword, his gaze cold and determined, shoots forward after another Sky Winged Dragon.


    Seeing no chance of escape, the Winged Dragon lets out piercing screams, and astonishingly, it instigates five other Sky Winged Dragons to turn around and counterattack against Ye Chen simultaneously.


    One man against five Winged Dragons, and a fierce battle instantly ensues.


    ...


    Elsewhere.


    The stunning, long-haired beauty Jiang Yao was likewise facing attacks from numerous Sky Winged Dragons.


    As Ye Chen truly unleashed his power, Jiang Yao also burst forth with her newly acquired powerful techniques.


    Once, in the late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm, Jiang Yao could defeat three Rotating Pill invincibles with a single move. Now, having stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm, the girl had even more formidable abilities, allowing her to meet the Sky Winged Dragons head-on without hesitation!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the Sky Winged Dragons swarmed towards Jiang Yao, the ice-blue electric killing move that she used to strike down war beasts on the first level of the Holy Temple Tower instantly changes.


    Mid-transformation, Jiang Yao''s waist-length hair billows out, and around her body, icy blue electric clouds begin to storm out. These ice-blue electric clouds even form gargantuan bolts of lightning, as thick as arms, that forcefully cleave towards the Sky Winged Dragons in Void Heaven.


    When a Sky Winged Dragon confronts one of these gargantuan lightning bolts, in an instant, it is struck and killed, plummeting down from the void!


    ...


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, both going all out, truly explode into action.


    In the second level of the Holy Temple Tower, one after another Sky Winged Dragon beasts die at their hands.


    The number of Sky Winged Dragons they needed to slay to reach a hundred is getting closer and closer.


    The battle within the Holy Temple Tower is astoundingly fierce.


    Meanwhile, outside the Holy Temple Tower, countless elder disciples from the Heavenly Sacred Palace and other Heavenly Saints watching the battle, including Liu Qingmei, who had just been eliminated from the Holy Temple Tower,and a youth in the middle stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, were completely astonished.


    Most people could have guessed that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could enter the second level.


    Many could also imagine that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would be able to battle the Sky Winged Dragons on the second level.


    But no one expected that once they were truly engaged in battle, both the young man Ye Chen and the young girl Jiang Yao would be so strong that they could slay a Sky Winged Dragon with a single move and terrify the rest into fleeing in all directions.


    This unequivocally proves that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s combat power has surpassed even the invincible level of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Although outside the Holy Temple Tower, observers cannot feel the astonishing breath of Ye Chen''s eight major Five Apertures Rotating Pills, nor recognize the origins of Ye Chen''s Great Five Elements Sword Light moves or Jiang Yao''s secret Divine Phoenix Clan divine arts.


    But all the powerful figures of the Heavenly Sacred Palace know that both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao must have great achievements in both internal and external skills, as well as immense talent. Otherwise, there was no way they could have killed the Sky Winged Dragons so effortlessly!


    The young man and woman, still in the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, yet possessing the talent and achievements to kill invincible Sky Winged Dragons of the Rotating Pill Realm, definitively showcase their potential.


    This potential supports the possibility of them reaching the middle or even late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Jiang Yao! (Princess Yao!)"


    In the void outside the Holy Temple Tower, the eyes of the three hidden Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace simultaneously shone brightly.


    "Taking disciples, if I could take either of these two as my disciple, I''m afraid their future achievements would suffice to make them my foremost disciple, and they might even surpass me one day!"


    This thought flashed through the minds of both the Skyscraper Palace Master and Mu Yao Palace Master.


    And for the most powerful among them, the even more formidable Palace Master Yuan Li of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, a myriad of thoughts crossed his mind: "Princess Yao is of the Divine Phoenix Clan, moreover, she is a princess of the clan, her status immensely noble, her bloodline preciously rare, and her natural talent incredibly strong! I wouldn''t be too surprised by her achievements."


    "But I didn''t expect that Ye Chen, who is so close to Princess Yao, could also be this formidable! In such a short period of time, his combat power has improved so much from when he was at Immeasurable Mountain!"


    "Both are true Heaven''s Chosen!"


    "Princess Yao holds such a noble status, and I am absolutely not qualified to take her as my disciple; I can only watch over her on behalf of True Phoenix. Given the relationship between Ye Chen and Princess Yao, it is likewise not appropriate for me to directly take Ye Chen as my disciple."


    "Princess Yao will have True Phoenix personally teaching her in the future; I don''t need to worry too much about her."


    "This Ye Chen, for the sake of Princess Yao, for the sake of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, I must indeed cultivate him well."


    "To be able to absolutely suppress the invincible of the Rotating Pill Realm at the early stage of Rotating Pill, I wasn''t as fierce as that in my day! It could even be said that, at the same realm, Ye Chen would definitely be able to contend against the descendants of the God Clan in the Upper Realm, ranking among the top one or two in all Rotating Pill experts across the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm."


    "Soon, the day of the joint expedition by the thirty-three continents is coming; perhaps, I can give Ye Chen a spot..."


    Heavenly Saint Yuan Li contemplated in the secretive expanse of the void.


    The three Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace all regarded Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with utmost importance due to their battle, let alone other people.


    At this time, the current disciples of Heavenly Saint Mountain below the Heavenly Saint Realm already felt immense pressure; among the new disciples had emerged two such Heaven''s Chosen, with strength even greater than theirs, naturally exerting great pressure on them.


    Even many early-stage powerhouses of the Heavenly Saint Realm began to feel a sense of crisis.


    Although strong individuals who had just stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm could also easily kill the invincible Sky Winged Dragons of the Rotating Pill Realm, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were much younger than them. As long as they don''t fall, given time, there seems to be no problem at all for them to surpass these individuals.


    The older disciples and early-stage strong individuals of the Heavenly Saint Realm felt intensified pressure, but the mid-stage strong individuals of the Heavenly Saint Realm, on the other hand, were all with brightly lit eyes.


    The display of power by Ye Chen and Jiang Yao completely thrilled them!


    The two were still far from reaching the strength of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, posing no threat to these mid-stage powerhouses but instead inspiring them to truly cherish talents and seek to befriend them.


    After all, building a good relationship with such talented individuals before they have fully matured could be greatly beneficial to them in the future.


    "Taking disciples, if Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, these two youngsters, are willing to agree, I will definitely take them both as my disciples!"


    "Even if I can''t take them as my disciples, I must give them some rewards for traversing the Holy Temple Tower and form an alliance with them!"


    The mid-stage powerhouses of the Heavenly Saint Realm all thought to themselves.


    The crowd of the Heavenly Sacred Palace watching the Holy Temple Tower was shaken, thrilled, but among them, there was one person whose heart had already turned to utter panic.


    This person was Yin Qianjue from the top ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness.


    "How could it be!"


    "How could they be this formidable!"


    "Both of them are so powerful!"


    Yin Qianjue looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, filled with disbelief.


    If the combat power they showed earlier while storming the tower was still acceptable to him, the power Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had now unleashed was definitely enough to disturb Yin Qianjue''s calm.


    To be able to kill with such ease amongst a group of invincible Sky Winged Dragons of the Rotating Pill Realm at the early stage clearly indicated that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, even if they haven''t truly entered the Heavenly Saint Realm, possessed the combat power of that level.


    At the early stage of Rotating Pill, possessing combat power of the Heavenly Saint level, and since both are sworn enemies of the Western Wilderness'' top ten Demon Sects from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, how could this not alarm Yin Qianjue?


    Yin Qianjue no longer dared to imagine how formidable Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would become if they continued to grow.


    If either of them reached the mid or even late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, by then, the Western Wilderness wouldn''t even think about reclaiming the Southern Territory, let alone compete against it!


    "This Ye Chen and Jiang Yao must not be allowed to grow any further!"


    "They must die, they must be killed before they grow any more!"


    Yin Qianjue had harbored this thought earlier, and now it became even more pressing.


    In the end, Yin Qianjue''s gaze swept through the void and landed on a Heavenly Saint, who seemed to sense his look and returned it, their eyes meeting with deep and indescribable meanings.

 Chapter 355: Chapter 320: The Third Layer That Cannot Be Surpassed

    Within the second level of the Holy Temple Tower.


    "Thrilling, it''s just too thrilling!"


    Having slain the eighty-seventh Sky Winged Dragon War Beast, the immense Power of Laws repelled the other Sky Winged Dragons dozens of feet away, and Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    This time, engaging with so many Sky Winged Dragons, Ye Chen had almost fully unleashed all his strength!


    His body bore over a dozen wounds, stained with quite a bit of blood.


    Though he had sustained some minor injuries, Ye Chen felt an overwhelming surge of excitement!


    In the past, Ye Chen had also fought powerful experts from the Divine Phoenix Clan with Rotating Pill mastery in the Azure Blue Mansion''s Battle Spirit Hall, but those were one-on-one battles. This time, in the Holy Temple Tower, he faced hundreds of Rotating Pill invincible level Sky Winged Dragons at once, with both the danger and killing intent countless times greater than the Battle Spirit Hall.


    Such combat situations truly gave Ye Chen a sense of intense exhilaration.


    In the midst of battle, as he killed the Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts one by one, Ye Chen''s mastery over his newly cultivated Eight Great Five Apertures Rotating Pill and the Great Five Elements Sword Light Sword Art became more profound, finding his attacks amidst the throng of beasts becoming increasingly effortless.


    "For internal cultivation, I have the ''Taiyuan Chapter,'' and the secret cultivation methods of the Taiyuan Divine Pill."


    "For external cultivation, I''ve further cultivated the Great Five Elements Sword Light Sword Art."


    "With these two techniques, I should be able to break through this second layer!"


    Ye Chen''s gaze swept across the numerous Winged Dragons in the sky, his mind already drifting toward the third layer.


    "In the second layer, I can say that my battle with these Winged Dragons was evenly matched, but to be precise, I was only slightly superior."


    "If the War Beasts in the third layer increase their combat power by tens of times like in the second layer, then I will be no match for them."


    Ye Chen had many techniques at his disposal, aside from the Taiyuan Divine Pill and the Great Five Elements Sword Light Sword Art, there were also five great magical skills from the Taiyuan Chapter that were even more powerful than the Great Five Elements Sword Light, ready to be used.


    Unfortunately, in the more than ten days after obtaining the Taiyuan Chapter, Ye Chen had devoted all his focus to practicing the Great Five Elements Sword Light Sword Art and had not yet cultivated the five great magical skills from the chapter, rendering them unusable for now.


    Of course, besides the five great magical skills, Ye Chen could also utilise the physical combat techniques of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, but at present, he had only comprehended up to the Sixth Transformation, making his combat power slightly weaker than that of the Great Five Elements Sword Light.


    As for his most powerful technique, his native Chikara Sword, an extreme-grade saint artifact, and its life-threatening moves such as the native deflection and flying sword self-detonation, were measures Ye Chen would only resort to in life-and-death situations and would not use in the battles of the Holy Temple Tower.


    After contemplating the upcoming third layer battle situation, Ye Chen''s gaze hardened anew.


    "No matter what, I have used the Eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills and the Taiyuan Chapter''s Great Five Elements Sword Light Sword Art to slay many powerful Winged Dragon War Beasts on this second layer, proving my strength. This is probably enough for me to firmly establish myself within the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "The rest, no matter what I may face in the third layer, let''s just have an all-out battle!"


    "For now, step into the third layer first!"


    With this thought in mind, Ye Chen took a few deep breaths, regulating the energy within his body before once again charging through the sky toward the Winged Dragons.


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    From the first to the eighty-seventh, Ye Chen had spent nearly half an hour''s time, and in the following period, with his techniques growing ever more masterful, Ye Chen''s speed at slaying the invincible Rotating Pill level Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts also increased significantly.


    After about ten more minutes, Ye Chen finally succeeded once again in slaying thirteen Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts, bringing his total number of defeated beasts to one hundred, the number needed to break through the second layer!


    Ye Chen finally earned the right to enter the third level of the Holy Temple Tower!


    Shortly after Ye Chen completed his slayings, Jiang Yao, in another space, also finished killing one hundred Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts, thereby earning the right to challenge the third level.


    After both had completed the second level assessment of the Holy Temple Tower, the entire space outside the tower, where many elder disciples and Heavenly Saints stood, erupted in cheering and applause!


    Two people entering the third level of the Holy Temple Tower simultaneously was an extremely rare event in the Heavenly Sacred Palace in nearly a thousand years!


    Out of the twelve new disciples assessed, eight were eliminated on the first level, two on the second, and now, only Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the last two, had successfully broken through to the third level.


    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!


    When the half-hour mark for the second level assessment had passed, and the third level of the Holy Temple Tower completely lit up, a series of drumming sounds signaled that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had finally stepped into the third level of the Holy Temple Tower, ready to face the War Beasts of the third layer!


    "The third layer!"


    Facing the War Beasts of the third layer, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao began to feel nervous.


    They both remembered that before entering the Holy Temple Tower, the Heavenly Saint Envoy had mentioned that the third layer was a place that they, as new disciples, would definitely not be able to break through.


    Even the Heavenly Saint Envoy, who had been in the Heavenly Saint Realm for several hundred years, found it very difficult to break through the third layer, let alone them.


    After the second layer battles with the Sky Winged Dragon War Beasts, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both felt that the envoy''s words were absolutely true.


    "What will the War Beasts of the third layer be?"


    At that moment, facing the imminent third layer War Beasts, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt a mix of nervousness and anticipation.


    The two looked on at the special spatial realm of the third layer of the Holy Temple Tower, which was many times larger than the second level, and quietly waited.


    Outside the Holy Temple Tower.


    Upon hearing the drumming from the third layer of the Holy Temple Tower, the people of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, who had been jubilant due to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s progress to the third layer, finally began to quiet down.


    "The third layer, they''ve finally reached the third layer."


    "This third layer, even many true Heavenly Saint experts, those in the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Level, cannot break through, let alone them."


    "However, being able to stand in the third layer of space is already enough for those two little fellows."


    In the void, various Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Saint Mountain sighed with emotion.


    There were some Heavenly Saints who were greatly interested in taking Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as disciples or in befriending them, and they rose from their seated positions in the void: "Prepare to welcome the two of them out of the Holy Temple Tower."


    "Once they really reach the third layer, they will come out very soon!"


    All the Heavenly Saint powerhouses believed that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would not be able to get through the third layer of the Holy Temple Tower, and Ye Chen and Jiang Yao themselves also felt indescribably challenged by the third layer.


    At this moment, the War Beasts of the third layer of the Holy Temple Tower finally appeared.


    Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!


    Following the howls that stirred the entire space, hundreds of gigantic beasts with wings spanning a thousand zhang swooped down from the airspace above the third layer of the Holy Temple Tower with a thunderous rumble.


    Upon seeing these gigantic beasts, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s eyes widened!


    If the sight of the Sky Winged Dragons at the second layer had already astonished Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, now the appearance of these beasts, several times bigger than the Winged Dragons, made Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exclaim in shock.


    Because, they had never imagined that the War Beasts of the third layer would still be Sky Winged Dragons!


    These Sky Winged Dragons seemed like mature forms of those from the second layer, not only significantly larger but also their appearances had undergone a transformation.


    The Sky Winged Dragons on the second layer were black, but the even larger ones in the third layer were colored flaming red, icy blue, and even the color of lightning mad dragons!


    Clearly, the Sky Winged Dragons in the third layer had much greater comprehension of the Laws than those in the second layer, and were probably true Heavenly Saint Level Sky Winged Dragons that had fully mastered one of the five major celestial Laws!


    Almost in the blink of an eye, this sky full of Sky Winged Dragons launched an attack on Ye Chen.


    The flaming-red Sky Winged Dragon spewed out towering flames that even burned through the void, manifesting the Power of Laws of the Fire Element to perfection.


    The icy blue Sky Winged Dragon, in turn, spewed out an icy mist that could freeze the heavens and the earth, paralyzing the void.


    And the blue and white lightning mad dragon instigated a furious storm of thunder!


    Burned by fire, encased in ice, and stirred by lightning...


    Ye Chen, caught in the onslaught of hundreds of mature Sky Winged Dragons, felt completely numb in spirit.


    "Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "Each of these Sky Winged Dragons has reached the level of the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "Although it seems that the Sky Winged Dragons in this third layer have just stepped into the Heavenly Saint, mastering only one of the five major celestial Laws to perfection, the most powerful few lightning mad dragons have mastered two."


    "But confronted with so many Sky Winged Dragons, I am completely unable to resist them, unless, I truly possess the strength to overpower most early-stage Heavenly Saints!"


    Even initial stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm have their distinctions of strong and weak.


    In the Rotating Pill Realm, by comprehending the "metal, wood, water, fire, earth" five major celestial Laws, only by fully comprehending one of the five major celestial Laws to perfection can one become an early-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse.


    The most powerful early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses are certainly those who simultaneously comprehend all five major celestial Laws, reaching perfection in all five Laws.


    The weaker ones are Heavenly Saints who have fully mastered two or three of the celestial Laws, and the weakest are those who have fully mastered just one celestial Law.


    At this moment, the Sky Winged Dragons of the third layer that Ye Chen faced belonged to the weakest batch of Heavenly Saint Combat Power.


    Even for the weakest batch, Heavenly Saint Combat Power is still Heavenly Saint Combat Power. Facing hundreds of them combined, he was definitely not someone Ye Chen could deal with now.


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s body was burned by the red Sky Winged Dragons, frozen by the blue ones, and in the next moment, those few lightning dragons struck countless bolts of lightning, slicing towards Ye Chen.


    Boom!


    Without any resistance, Ye Chen managed just in time to slash with a sword, repelling the weakest Winged Dragon, while he was eliminated from the third layer of the Holy Temple Tower in the burning, freezing, and lightning strikes.


    Ye Chen, defeated!


    "Huff huff."


    Ye Chen, having come out of the Holy Temple Tower, still felt his spirit numb.


    This was his first time confronting Heavenly Saint Level combat power head-on, facing so many Heavenly Saint Level Sky Winged Dragons, he was indeed unable to win and was defeated.


    This third layer of the Holy Temple Tower was indeed beyond his current strength!


    "At my current strength, I can handle the weakest early-stage Heavenly Saints. But any stronger early-stage Heavenly Saints, I cannot contend with."


    "Perhaps only if I cultivate dozens of Five Apertures Rotating Pills and also comprehend and grasp the five divine arts of the Taiyuan Chapter, might I possibly get through this third layer of the Holy Temple Tower."


    Although defeated, this kind of failure only fueled Ye Chen''s determination to grow stronger!


    At the same time that Ye Chen was eliminated from the Holy Temple Tower, another figure flew out from within.


    This figure was Jiang Yao, who had suffered the same fate as Ye Chen, failing against the hundreds of Heavenly Saint Level Sky Winged Dragons and getting eliminated.


    When both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao emerged from the Holy Temple Tower, there was already no one left inside the tower.


    And at that moment, numerous Heavenly Saints in the void, who were already waiting for the two to come out, all converged towards the last eliminated two new disciples, the two genuine prodigies, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.

 Chapter 356: Chapter 321 Heavenly Saint Accepts a Disciple

    Heavenly Sacred Palace, the number one sect in the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, is the sole second-grade sect with a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse at its helm.


    Every new disciple who joins such a sect is trembling with eagerness, diligently cultivating, striving to establish a firm foothold in such a prestigious sect.


    However, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, relying on their strength, proved their worth upon arriving at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, earning the respect and recognition of countless individuals, and even more so, caught the eye of numerous Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses of Heavenly Saint Mountain!


    Seeing all the Heavenly Saints gather around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the other new disciples who were eliminated from the War Beast Hall and Holy Temple Tower were filled with immense envy, and even many of the senior disciples looked at them with eyes full of unparalleled jealousy.


    Such valued opportunities by countless Heavenly Saints.


    These are opportunities that very few have the ability to obtain.


    Seeing the many powerhouses converging around them, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances and smiles appeared on their faces.


    Their struggles and advancements through the Holy Temple Tower, all the way to the third floor, were for this very moment!


    Although the two of them weren''t too concerned about the rewards from the many Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain, earning the esteem of countless Heavenly Saints in the Heavenly Sacred Palace greatly benefited the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    Of course, these Heavenly Saints might not truly help the Southern Territory in conflicts with the Western Wilderness, but having more friends is always better than having more opponents.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew that as their strength increased, they would surely gain the heartfelt willingness of countless powerhouses to assist them!


    By then, even if the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness sought out more allies, they would no longer threaten the Southern Territory!


    "Young friends Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, your strength has surprised us old folks indeed!"


    "I am ''Luo Dian'', would you two be interested in becoming disciples of this old fellow?"


    Amongst the numerous Heavenly Saints crowding around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, an old man at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm took the initiative to speak to them first.


    Upon seeing the face of this mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm old man, many of the senior disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace exclaimed, "It''s ''Heavenly Saint Luo Dian''! Heavenly Saint Luo Dian is actually taking disciples!"


    "Heavenly Saint Luo Dian is absolutely among the top ten in strength within Heavenly Saint Mountain''s saints. He has never taken a disciple over the years, and now, he has directly extended an invitation to both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!"


    "Being able to become a disciple of Heavenly Saint Luo Dian, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao have truly struck great fortune, their future achievements are boundless!"


    Amidst the exclamations of the senior disciples, envy saturated their voices.


    Hearing the discussions of the senior disciples, Heavenly Saint Luo Dian didn''t speak up to stop them; instead, he watched Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with a gleeful smile.


    Heavenly Saint Luo Dian genuinely esteemed these two young individuals from the bottom of his heart.


    Heavenly Saint Luo Dian entered the Rotating Pill Realm with the support of the Five Orifices Rotating Pill and later successfully mastered three kinds of illusory heavenly principles to the level of perfection, stepping into the Heavenly Saint Realm. Having joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace for over a thousand years, he had never thought of taking a new disciple, not even before coming to the Holy Temple Tower this time.


    But after witnessing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s performance within the Holy Temple Tower, he suddenly entertained the idea of taking disciples.


    Heavenly Saint Luo Dian even had a premonition that if he could take Ye Chen or Jiang Yao as a disciple, then this disciple would surely become his pride in the future!


    Although he looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with a beaming smile, he couldn''t help feeling a bit nervous deep down before they agreed to be his disciples.


    Once Heavenly Saint Luo Dian spoke up, many other Heavenly Saints also eager to take Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as disciples hesitated, pausing in their steps.


    After all, with Heavenly Saint Luo Dian''s strength evident and his call for disciples already made, many knew they were no match for competition and it wasn''t their place to speak up anymore.


    However, at that moment, a group of people followed behind Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and smilingly said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Daoist Luo Dian values the young friends Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, but we five old chaps value both of you as well!"


    "Young friends Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, if you are not inclined to take Daoist Luo Dian as your master, consider us as well."


    Boom!


    In the course of their conversation, five mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings crossed through the crowd and also came to the side of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Upon hearing someone following up on Heavenly Saint Luo Dian''s offer, many senior disciples were stunned.


    After all, he who would compete with Heavenly Saint Luo Dian likely possessed strength not inferior to or very similar to that of Heavenly Saint Luo Dian.


    And when looking at these five Heavenly Saints, not only were the senior disciples completely taken aback, but also the numerous Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain, and even Heavenly Saint Luo Dian, were utterly startled.


    "The Five Elders of Shetuo Mountain!"


    "Seniors, you also wish to take Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as disciples?!"


    Many Heavenly Saints exclaimed.


    The Five Elders of Shetuo Mountain, each at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, were definitely not to be trifled with by any Heavenly Saints, even those at the same stage of Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Because the Five Elders of Shetuo Mountain were amongst the most significant and senior figures of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, apart from the three Palace Masters.


    Rumor had it that before joining the Heavenly Sacred Palace, they cultivated together in the Polar Star Archipelago of the eastern parts of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. It was Mu Yao Palace Master, who personally invited them to the Heavenly Sacred Palace. They belonged to the first batch of Heavenly Saints cultivating on Heavenly Saint Mountain and were old seniors who helped establish the Heavenly Sacred Palace alongside the three great Palace Masters!

 Chapter 357: Chapter 321 Heavenly Saint Takes a Disciple_2

    For many years, these five elders have been inseparable, cultivating together. Although they haven''t broken through to the latter stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, their combined strength is such that even those in the latter stages would be willing to engage in battle with them.


    They had never taken in any disciples, so it was certainly a surprise to countless Heavenly Saints when they suddenly expressed a desire to take Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as their disciples.


    Heavenly Saint Luo Dian was the first to speak out about taking on disciples.


    Now, the elder predecessors from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the five elders of Shetuo Mountain, were also making their intentions known.


    All the senior disciples and the Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain were looking at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, curious as to how the two of them would choose.


    "Heavenly Saint Luo Dian?"


    "The five elders of Shetuo Mountain? The five senior predecessors?"


    "They all want to take us as disciples?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, both somewhat surprised.


    They had anticipated attracting the attention of the Heavenly Saints, but they hadn''t expected that those who first showed interest in them would be the most powerful Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    From the respectful behavior of the other Heavenly Saints towards Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the five elders of Shetuo Mountain, the two of them could tell that these figures were of great significance!


    However, even if Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the five elders of Shetuo Mountain had great influences, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew that should they decide to become disciples of either party, they would be able to walk unobstructed within the Heavenly Sacred Palace. Yet, they still hesitated.


    Choosing a master is as serious as choosing a parent.


    One must attach utmost importance to taking on a master and not make such a decision lightly.


    For Jiang Yao, Fairy Jia Luo, who raised her, was her one and only master. Although warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent could have many masters in their lifetimes, she had never contemplated taking another one.


    Being from the Upper Realm''s Divine Phoenix Clan, her achievements and personal standards were definitely to exceed those of the Heavenly Saints and to pursue the more powerful Void Sky True God Realm.


    Moreover, she already possessed the bloodline inheritance of the Divine Phoenix Clan. Even though Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the five elders of Shetuo Mountain were formidable, their assistance in her true cultivation wouldn''t be significant. Taking them as masters would not only be of little benefit, but it might even drag Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the five elders into the troubles of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    "With the enmities between the Divine Phoenix Clan and the other two great God Clans, plus my identity as a member of the Divine Phoenix Clan, I fear that I can no longer take another as my master on this Barbaric Wilderness Continent," thought Jiang Yao to herself.


    It wasn''t just Jiang Yao; Ye Chen also didn''t harbor the thought of taking a master.


    The secrets he bore were even more numerous than Jiang Yao''s. Whether it was the Primordial Star Scripture or the Stars Tower, both were critically important, and taking a master could very likely expose his secrets.


    "We will not take a master while in the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao shared a glance, understanding each other''s thoughts.


    The two of them hesitated and communicated further.


    But to the other senior disciples and the Heavenly Saints, this was completely unexpected.


    In their eyes, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were doubtlessly talented, true geniuses.


    Yet, genius was just that, genius. After all, both of them were still in the Rotating Pill Realm. Whether they could achieve the Heavenly Saint Realm was still in question, for there were many uncertainties on the path of growth, and numerous geniuses perished prematurely or fell along the way.


    In the eyes of these elder disciples, being able to take a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse as a master was already an excellent choice, let alone such absolutely powerful beings as Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Shetuo Mountain Five Elders!


    With such impressive presences actively inviting disciples, and yet these two still hesitated, countless elder disciples and even early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses felt both envy and perplexed by Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "If it were me, I would definitely agree to become an apprentice!"


    "These are the most powerful Heavenly Saints of the entire Heavenly Saint Mountain, to become their disciples would be an incredible fortune!"


    "I want to become a disciple but can''t, and they are still hesitating!"


    Many elder disciples grumbled to themselves.


    While the elder disciples were grumbling, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were hesitating about how to refuse without embarrassing Luo Dian and the Shetuo Mountain Five Elders. Meanwhile, Luo Dian and the Five Elders were still looking forward to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s consideration, hoping they would eventually agree.


    Out of nowhere, the void in the sky ripped open, and a figure in a black robe emerged with a hearty laugh, "Even the Five Elders are inviting apprentices, it seems I need to hurry up and show myself, or else I might miss out on good apprentices."


    Amidst the laughter, the black-robed figure stepped out from the void rift.


    As the black-robed figure appeared, he also fixed his gaze on another part of the void, calling out with a smile, "Mu, have you been hiding over there watching for so long? Why aren''t you showing yourself? Are you not planning to compete for good disciples with me?"


    Upon seeing this black-robed figure, all the elder disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and all the Heavenly Saints of the Heavenly Saint Mountain, even Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Shetuo Mountain Five Elders, were surprised and exclaimed, "Third Palace Master!"


    This black-robed elder was none other than one of the three great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, ranking third, the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    The elder disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Heavenly Saints could never have imagined that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had not only attracted Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Shetuo Mountain Five Elders but now their Palace Master had also personally come forward!


    From the tone of their Palace Master, the Skyscraper Palace Master, it was clear he too had the intention of taking Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as disciples!


    In the past, their Palace Master had also taken apprentices, but he had never appeared personally; instead, he would simply transmit a message to those favored disciples, directing them to go to Heavenly Saint Mountain to pay their respects as apprentices.


    It was unimaginable that, in this competition for apprentices, even the Palace Master would make a personal appearance!


    Moreover, hearing the words "Mu" in the speech of the Third Palace Master, the numerous disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain shuddered once more.


    In the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, there was only one person who could be addressed as "Mu" by the Third Palace Master!


    "Could it be that our Second Palace Master, Mu Yao, is also here?"


    "In the past, the two great Palace Masters have never openly competed for apprentices!"


    "Could it be that this time, the two of them will compete for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao together?"


    "Heavens, Heavenly Saint Luo Dian, the Shetuo Mountain Five Elders, plus the Third Palace Master, if one more Second Palace Master joins... this is simply the strongest group from our Heavenly Sacred Palace coming forward to recruit Ye Chen and Jiang Yao?!"


    All the disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Heavenly Saints looked towards the void where the Skyscraper Palace Master was staring, and at that moment, something that excited the palace disciples immensely happened; three figures walked out from the void with faint smiles.


    The three figures, one elder, and two juniors, led by an elder dressed in a pale blue robe, vigorous and hale, was none other than the Second Palace Master of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Mu Yao!


    "Haha, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, these two young ones, were specifically chosen by my granddaughter Qing, I, Mu Yao, will not miss out! Take them as apprentices? If the two young ones are willing, of course, I want to take them!"


    Palace Master Mu Yao said with a laugh, his voice ringing out.

 Chapter 358 Chapter 322 The No. 1 Strongest, Yuan Li

    The Mu Yao Palace Master has arrived as well.


    The Mu Yao Palace Master also made a personal appearance!


    The numerous old disciples and Heavenly Saints of the Heavenly Sacred Palace couldn''t have imagined that this assessment for new disciples would not only incite a fierce competition among powerful mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts for apprentices, but it would also draw the simultaneous attention of two late-stage Palace Masters of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    "Grandpa!"


    Seeing the Mu Yao Palace Master appear, Mu Qingqing giggled and flew toward him.


    "Young friend Ye Chen, young friend Jiang Yao."


    The Mu Yao Palace Master, holding Mu Qingqing and accompanied by his own disciples, stepped through the void and approached Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s side. He took his place beside those who wished to take Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as disciples, like Heavenly Saint Luo Dian, the Five Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain, and the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    With the presence of the two Palace Masters, the expressions of Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Five Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain altered.


    After all, their chances of competing with two Palace Masters for disciples were very slim.


    Since Palace Masters were personally extending offers to take disciples, it was feared that not many of the Heavenly Sacred Palace disciples would refuse, even if they were superior among the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts; but compared to the two Palace Masters, they were not on the same level.


    "It seems that this time, these two exceptional talents, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, are going to become the disciples of Palace Masters..." Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Five Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain sighed inwardly.


    While they were sighing, the Skyscraper Palace Master and Mu Yao Palace Master were watching Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with faint smiles, waiting for the two to make their choice.


    The rest of the onlooking old disciples and Heavenly Saints were also all gazing at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, eager to see how the two would choose when both Palace Masters had extended offers to take them as disciples.


    "Respected Seniors!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hadn''t expected that even the two great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace would want to take them as disciples.


    However...


    Just like their previous thoughts, even with these two Palace Masters extending invitations, they still had no intention of taking a master.


    Given how things had unfolded, it was no longer appropriate for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to hesitate.


    "We''re honored that you hold us in such high regard, Senior. Jiang Yao and I came to the Heavenly Sacred Palace solely to cultivate, and we do not have the intention of taking a master. We ask for your understanding, respected seniors," said Ye Chen.


    Jiang Yao also nodded, adding, "Sorry, respected seniors."


    Hum!


    The words of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao left all the onlooking old disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Heavenly Saints of the Heavenly Saint Mountain utterly shocked, their mouths gaping in surprise.


    They had never considered that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, this young duo, would actually refuse to take a master!


    If it had been just Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Five Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain offering apprenticeship, their refusal might have been understandable. But now, two great Palace Masters were extending invitations!


    These two great Palace Masters were late-stage existences within the Heavenly Saint Realm, among the highest echelons of the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    To become disciples of such figures was a wish that countless warriors sought but could not achieve; yet Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were refusing?!


    This was completely unexpected to everyone.


    Not only was this unforeseen by the spectating crowd, but even Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Five Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain, as well as the two Palace Masters, had not anticipated it.


    "I had thought that if I couldn''t take them as disciples, they would at least become apprentices under the two Palace Masters. But to think, even with the Palace Masters interceding, they would still be unwilling to take a master..."


    "These two young ones are really so confident that they intend to cultivate on their own without relying on the Palace Masters?"


    Heavenly Saint Luo Dian and the Five Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain were both inwardly shaking with shock.


    The Skyscraper Palace Master and Mu Yao Palace Master couldn''t help but take a few more glances at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, with the Skyscraper Palace Master even speaking up again, "Young friends, are you really not considering apprenticeship? If you join my tutelage, with your talents and my guidance, I can guarantee that you''ll reach the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, or even achieve the latter stage like me!"


    The Skyscraper Palace Master spoke with unmatched confidence.


    As one of the three great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace and a late-stage powerhouse of the Heavenly Saint Realm who highly valued the talents of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the Skyscraper Palace Master certainly had the confidence to make such a statement.


    However, despite the Skyscraper Palace Master''s renewed entreaty, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao still shook their heads and politely refused.


    This caused the Skyscraper Palace Master''s expression to turn somewhat unpleasant.


    "Grandfather," at this moment, Mu Qingqing shook the arms of Mu Yao Palace Master repeatedly.


    Mu Yao Palace Master looked at his granddaughter, then smiled at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Since the two young friends don''t wish to take on a master, we certainly can''t force you."


    "However, new disciples who have made it to the third level of the Holy Temple Tower, even if they don''t take a master, will still receive the Heavenly Sacred reward. So, here are two ''Heavenly Sacred Palace law tokens worth 500,000 points'' for the two of you."


    As he spoke, Mu Yao Palace Master flicked his finger and two law tokens shot towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Heavenly Sacred Palace law tokens worth 500,000 points!"


    Hearing the reward Mu Yao Palace Master had given to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, countless senior disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace were astonished!


    "The points on the Heavenly Sacred Palace law tokens can be exchanged for countless items at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, information on cultivation, and even opportunities for adventures on other continents!"


    "One hundred thousand point law tokens are something that even the mighty first-rank disciples of the temple would need to save up for several years. Ye Chen and Jiang Yao have received such a generous reward from the second Palace Master directly!"


    Many senior disciples were filled with envy and astonishment.


    This wave of astonishment made Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s awkwardness for refusing to take a master dissipate quite a bit.


    "Ha ha, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao are so young, yet they''ve achieved so much, it''s understandable why they would choose not to take a master," Heavenly Saint Luo Dian, the first to propose taking the two as apprentices, said with a laugh, "Since we don''t have the destiny to be master and disciple, I hope the two young friends will not refuse my reward either. I once obtained a set of cultivation techniques on the Heavens Continent that are greatly beneficial to martial artists at the Coiling Pill Realm, I''ll give it to you two."


    As soon as Heavenly Saint Luo Dian took action, the Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain could not hold back any longer.


    They valued Ye Chen and Jiang Yao for their otherworldly talents. While they were somewhat regretful for not being able to take them as disciples, they were more than willing to help the two in any way they could.


    "We five old folks have some materials for refining weapons that we can no longer use, so we''ll give them to you two young friends," the Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain said as well.


    Although they claimed these materials were something they could no longer use, considering their stature¡ªjust beneath the three great Palace Masters and among the most respected Elders¡ªtheir humility was simply a turn of phrase. When the Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain brought out those shining materials, even the many mid-stage beings of the Heavenly Saint Realm gasped.


    In the end, it was not just the Elders of Snake Tuo Mountain who conferred rewards; the Skyscraper Palace Master also presented two treasures to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Other saints who had earlier desired to befriend Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, but had not spoken out at the time due to the circumstances, now saw the esteemed figures bestowing rewards. One by one, they surged towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, each offering some of their items and sharing laughter with them. Your next journey awaits at empire


    While countless individuals were conversing with Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, and while the presence of the two great Palace Masters had drawn numerous Heavenly Saints to their sides, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei, who stood in the new disciple area, heard a voice simultaneously, "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, after the initiation of new disciples is over, come together to the ''Heavenly Saint Mountain''s Heavens Question Hall''."


    As this voice resounded, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei simultaneously saw a figure emerge in the void, looking towards them.


    This figure, dressed in bright yellow robes with a faint blue divine rune imprint on her forehead, was seated in the air, smiling gently at Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei.


    When this figure appeared, all others in the area failed to notice her presence¡ªeven the two great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Mu Yao Palace Master and Skyscraper Palace Master, did not perceive her, continuing their conversations with other Heavenly Saints.


    Upon witnessing this scene, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei''s hearts skipped a beat.


    To reveal herself before the two great Palace Masters without being detected, such strength immediately made them think of one person.


    This was none other than the greatest presence within the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the true first among the three great Palace Masters, Palace Master Yuan Li!

 Chapter 359 Chapter 323 The Three Great Secret Lands

    Three days later.


    Inside an immensely vast manor, in the cultivation room, Ye Chen was seated cross-legged.


    The place where Ye Chen was now residing was the exclusive dwelling of the disciples of the First Holy Temple. After arriving at this dwelling, Ye Chen felt even more the profound foundation of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    From the outside, every disciple of the First Holy Temple was only assigned a small residence, but once one truly entered this residence, they would find that hidden within was a space governed by the laws of space; a manor of immense proportions. Within the manor, not only was there a garden overgrown with spiritual herbs and trees, a main hall for receiving guests, but also a library stocked with books and a cultivation room for practice¡ªall that one could wish for.


    The dwelling of every disciple of the First Holy Temple was actually a space manor cultivated by Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses using the laws of space!


    Continue reading at empire


    A grand gesture.


    This was definitely a real grand gesture.


    One should know that only those strong in the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm had the power to refine such external spaces. Early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses in other sects were almost always supreme powerhouses, and the external spaces they refined were generally for their own use.


    To say that one would find a Heavenly Saint to refine space manors for disciples of lower realms, only a place like the Heavenly Sacred Palace, with a great number of Heavenly Saints, could achieve such a feat!


    However, Ye Chen had also come to understand that such treatment was only available to the disciples of the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace. The disciples of the Second Holy Temple up to the Fifth Holy Temple could only live in ordinary dwellings.


    Sitting cross-legged in the cultivation room, and after activating the room''s protective restrictions, Ye Chen first recalled the events of the past three days.


    Three days ago, after he and Jiang Yao challenged the Holy Temple Tower, it attracted the attention of numerous Heavenly Saints for apprenticeship and rewards, especially the events involving the Mu Yao Palace Master and the Skyscraper Palace Master, which, in retrospect, filled Ye Chen with some emotions.


    But these emotions were nothing compared to what Ye Chen encountered later.


    The source of the later events was the yellow-robed woman who last appeared outside the Holy Temple Tower!


    When Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei truly arrived at the "Heavenly Saint Mountain Heavens Question Hall" as mentioned by the yellow-robed woman and met her again, the three of them definitively knew that this woman was indeed the number one powerhouse of the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace, Palace Master Yuan Li!


    Being personally requested for an audience by Palace Master Yuan Li, Ye Chen and his companions were of course incredibly surprised!


    But when Palace Master Yuan Li took the three of them to a hidden lake in the deepest part of the Heavenly Saint Mountain and they met another great figure, Ye Chen and his companions were not just surprised anymore, they were completely astonished!


    Because they saw in that lake a real True Spirit Sacred Beast¡ªa phoenix!


    Furthermore, according to Palace Master Yuan Li, this True Phoenix senior was a being that transcended the Heavenly Saint Realm, an exalted Void Sky True God!


    Void Sky True God.


    Ye Chen had never imagined that the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would have a Void Sky True God!


    You should know, the Barbaric Wilderness Continent is one of the thirty-three lower realms of the Minor Spirit Realm, and such lower realms generally cannot give birth to a Void Sky True God. Moreover, due to the repulsion of the continental power of the lower realms, it is very difficult for a Void Sky True God to stay in the lower realms normally.


    To suddenly see a True Spirit Sacred Beast of a Void Sky True God in this secretive place of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, of course, left Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei utterly disbelieving.


    And what stunned Ye Chen and Jiang Yao even more was that when they first laid eyes on this great Void Sky True God, the divine phoenix, a cacophony of thunder exploded in the minds of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Because, the appearance of this True Spirit Sacred Beast phoenix was exactly the same as the phoenix Ye Chen and Jiang Yao saw through the azure crystal in the Azure Blue Mansion, the one that took the infant Jiang Yao and flew away from the Divine Phoenix City!


    Was the phoenix that took Jiang Yao and fled the Divine Phoenix City to avoid the war of the three divine clans, and came to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, still there? Was it within the Heavenly Sacred Palace?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao couldn''t believe it.


    In their incredulous gaze, the phoenix transformed directly into a woman''s figure, walking out of the lake.


    She walked towards Jiang Yao while calling out softly with tears streaming down her face, "Princess Yao!"


    At that moment, Jiang Yao''s face was streamed with tears.


    At that moment, Ye Chen also knew that this Void Sky True God senior was indeed the phoenix that departed from Divine Phoenix City.


    The following day, True Phoenix senior spent the entire time with Jiang Yao, sharing with her the events of the past decade. Through Palace Master Yuan Li, Ye Chen and Liu Qingmei eventually learned a lot about True Phoenix senior, understanding why True Phoenix senior had called the three of them here.


    True Phoenix brought Ye Chen here because of the close relationship between Ye Chen and Jiang Yao; she also wanted to see Ye Chen.


    And the reason True Phoenix had asked Liu Qingmei to come here was precisely because of the secret techniques related to the Divine Phoenix Clan that Liu Qingmei had displayed!


    On the second day, True Phoenix personally inquired, and Liu Qingmei informed him of everything she knew and produced an item given to her by the woman who had taught her the techniques.


    Upon seeing this item, True Phoenix immediately confirmed that the woman, who had visited Liu Qingmei''s family in the Polar Star Archipelago ten years ago and taught her the techniques, was indeed a member of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    Liu Qingmei said that her aunt had already been injured when she had come to her family; True Phoenix had a premonition that the woman likely suffered the same type of injury as she had when descending from the Minor Spirit Realm to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡ªa backlash from the force of the lower realm.


    And it was highly probable that this woman was a Void Sky True God!


    Thinking that another Void Sky True God from the Divine Phoenix Clan had descended to the lower realm, True Phoenix, Jiang Yao, and Ye Chen all understood that this woman must have come in search of Jiang Yao!


    With this in mind, True Phoenix had Palace Master Yuan Li take Liu Qingmei and Jiang Yao, along with a wisp of her own divine spirit, to head directly to the eastern part of the Polar Star Archipelago to personally meet the woman.


    No matter the reason for the woman''s descent to the lower realm, with Palace Master Yuan Li overseeing Jiang Yao and True Phoenix''s divine spirit wisp constantly observing everything¡ªready to traverse the heavens with a thought and reach there by harnessing her divine spirit¡ªtheir journey to the Polar Star Archipelago would be safe from danger.


    Once they confirmed that the woman had indeed come in search of Jiang Yao, True Phoenix would find a way to heal the woman''s injuries and learn about the current situation of the Divine Phoenix Clan from her, making more arrangements for Jiang Yao!


    On the third day, unbeknownst to everyone, Palace Master Yuan Li had already taken Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei toward the Polar Star Archipelago in the eastern part of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Ye Chen did not go to the Polar Star Archipelago because, on the one hand, it was a matter concerning the Divine Phoenix Clan, and he should not get involved before things were certain. On the other hand, it was because Palace Master Yuan Li had discussed another matter with Ye Chen.


    That matter was that, in some time, Heavenly Sacred Palace and thirty-two other continents would launch three grand expeditions!


    Palace Master Yuan Li emphasized that Jiang Yao had the bloodline of the Divine Phoenix Clan and receiving personal instruction from True Phoenix was naturally the best fit, but it was different for Ye Chen, who could not practice the techniques of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Therefore, Ye Chen still needed to find his own cultivation opportunity.


    The three grand expeditions undertaken jointly by the thirty-three continents are an incredible opportunity and formidable challenge for the most outstanding disciples of each land.


    "Amid life and death lies great terror, but also great opportunity."


    "These three grand expeditions are to explore regions even we, the most formidable amongst all thirty-three continents including myself, have yet to fully understand, and the danger is immense."


    "Precisely because it''s immensely dangerous, and precisely because even we, in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, haven''t completely grasped it, the opportunities it holds are the most plentiful!"


    Ye Chen recalled Palace Master Yuan Li''s words.


    Palace Master Yuan Li went on to say to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, if you want to become powerful and reach heights others can''t, merely cultivating in the sect and not facing life-and-death trials won''t do. Sect cultivation merely lays the foundation; perpetual growth within the sect will render you vulnerable to the slightest storm. Only through genuine life-and-death ordeals can one undergo a transformation in essence."


    "The three grand expeditions of the thirty-three united continents are exactly where the most outstanding talents can undergo such a transformation."


    Palace Master Yuan Li also said that these three expeditions were entirely distinct from each other.


    The three expeditions are: the Void Abyss Expedition, the Elemental Mountains Expedition, and the Ancient Royal Tomb Land Expedition.


    By the scale of danger, the Void Abyss Expedition could be classified as "difficult level," the Elemental Mountains Expedition as "dangerous level," while the Ancient Royal Tomb Land Expedition truly belonged to the "ultimate realm level"!


    And the more dangerous the place, the greater the opportunity.


    At the difficult level of the Void Abyss, the opportunities encountered are random and useful both for practitioners in the Rotating Pill Realm and the Heavenly Saint Realm; meanwhile, the dangerous level of the Elemental Mountains Expedition is specifically suited for those who aim to comprehend the five Void Heavenly principles and allows one to grasp all five principles simultaneously. According to the rules of the thirty-three continents, only practitioners of the Rotating Pill Realm with five apertures and those in the Heavenly Saint Realm may enter.


    There, Rotating Pill Realm practitioners could try to cultivate all five Void Heavenly principles to completion simultaneously, striving for ascension to the Heavenly Saint Realm, whereas Heavenly Saint Realm practitioners could complete any unmastered Void Heavenly principles, ultimately reaching full mastery of all five and achieving the strongest power of the five Void Heavenly principles, jointly comprehending the spatial principle!


    As for the "ultimate realm level" "Ancient Royal Tomb Land" expedition, it is both the most dangerous and the most enigmatic.


    According to the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts from the topmost realms of the thirty-three continents, including Palace Master Yuan Li, this location is where countless Void Sky True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm, either on the brink of death or already perished, find their final resting place; the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land" is truly a True God Cemetery!


    The True God Cemetery, as one can imagine, is a place of both mystique and value.


    This place even has a guardian, a powerful Void Sky True God standing guard outside the cemetery!


    This guardian only opens the Ancient Royal Tomb Land expedition at specific times, and there are particular requirements for the number and strength of the people entering!


    The True God Cemetery "Ancient Royal Tomb Land" allows only a thousand people to enter at a time, and it requires that all one thousand possess Heavenly Saint Level combat capabilities.

 Chapter 360 Chapter 324 Must Kill!

    "The Ancient Royal Tomb Land" has been opened dozens of times, and within these openings, out of every thousand who enter, at most only ten people can come out alive.


    Out of a thousand, at most only ten could survive, and there were even many occasions when not a single person made it out alive. Among the dead, there were even many who were in the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, which is why this expedition is called an ultimate realm level exploration!


    However dangerous it may be, the thousand spots available for entering the Ancient Royal Tomb Land still sparked a craze among countless people across the thirty-three continents. Only individuals like Palace Master Yuan Li, who are among the very top figures of all the continents, have the credentials to ultimately arrange entries to the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land," because everyone who comes out of the Ancient Royal Tomb Land achieves greatness.


    All those who have entered and survived the True God Cemetery "Ancient Royal Tomb Land" find their Essence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªthe three great signs of life¡ªactivated by Divine Light, which has an incredibly beneficial effect on cultivation, even transforming the mortal bodies of the Lower Realm to resemble the Divine Bodies of the God Clans of the Upper Realm.


    There are even those who have broken through the extremely difficult bottleneck from the Heavenly Saint Realm to the Void Sky True God Realm and, ultimately, in the Ancient Royal Tomb Land, they become new Void Sky True Gods and eventually step into the Minor Spirit Realm, becoming a powerhouse of their generation!


    The mere chance to become a Void Sky True God is enough to set off a fierce competition among the countless Heavenly Saint powerhouses of the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm!


    Even if one cannot break through to the bottleneck leading to the Void Sky True God Realm, there are still many who, within the True God Cemetery, acquire True God Weapons, True God Skills, and even True God Inheritances, which skyrocket their combat powers to inconceivable levels!


    It could be said that this True God Cemetery "Ancient Royal Tomb Land" is the first place of opportunity, the most dangerous place, and also the most mysterious place in the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm!


    Even though Ye Chen has gained countless opportunities, upon hearing that this True God Cemetery "Ancient Royal Tomb Land" expedition was related to the Void Sky True Gods, he too was tempted.


    However, Palace Master Yuan Li told Ye Chen that among these three great expeditions, the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land," being the ultimate realm level challenge, was not yet suitable for him.


    She would arrange for Ye Chen to participate once he had grown more powerful.


    For now, Palace Master Yuan Li was only letting Ye Chen choose between the first two of the three great expeditions, "Void Abyss Exploration" and "Five Elements Mountain Exploration."


    Ye Chen understood.


    Even though he was now incredibly powerful, having combat power comparable to that of slightly weaker early-stage Heavenly Saints while only at the initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm himself, he was still too far from meeting the requirements to enter the Ancient Royal Tomb Land of the True God Cemetery.


    After all, the Ancient Royal Tomb Land was a place where even late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses might perish. As Ye Chen wasn''t yet able to completely overpower even the early-stage Heavenly Saints, entering it would have given him very little chance of survival.


    As Palace Master Yuan Li said, only when Ye Chen has the strength comparable to a mid-stage Heavenly Saint might she consider allowing him to attempt entering it.


    Since Ye Chen was temporarily unable to enter the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land," he turned his attention to the other two major expeditions¡ª"Void Abyss Exploration" and "Five Elements Mountain Exploration."


    Ultimately, Ye Chen decided to attempt the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration."


    After all, according to the rules for the three great expeditions, they were conducted simultaneously, and one could only choose one among them.


    With "Ancient Royal Tomb Land Exploration" currently beyond his reach, and although "Void Abyss Exploration" was somewhat safer compared to "Five Elements Mountain Exploration," the opportunities it offered were significantly less.


    In "Five Elements Mountain Exploration," only those who were Rotating Pill powerhouses with Five Apertures could enter, and the Five Elements Mountain was extremely conducive to the cultivation of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws.


    Ye Chen''s current cultivation of the internal skill "Taiyuan True Pill" and the external disciplines of the Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth "Five Great Divine Arts" were all related to the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws. Venture in the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration," and his powers might leap forward significantly.


    Having determined to join the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration," Ye Chen naturally made thorough preparations for the expedition.


    After all, the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration" was an event in which only the very powerful Rotating Pill Realm and Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses of the thirty-three continents were eligible to participate. Ye Chen had to guard not only against the inherent perils of the Five Elements Mountain itself but also against other adventurers.


    Palace Master Yuan Li mentioned that it was a little more than a month until the Five Elements Mountain Exploration would take place, and Ye Chen planned to use this time to further enhance his strength and better prepare for the expedition.


    Having made his decision, Palace Master Yuan Li took Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei to the Eastern Polar Star Archipelago, while Ye Chen began his pre-expedition cultivation!


    On the third day after entering the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen went straight to the treasure pavilion of the Holy Palace, searching for Five Elements Secret Treasures that could aid in the cultivation of his Five Great Divine Arts.


    The Five Great Divine Arts, derived from the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Taiyuan Chapter, included the Gold Element Divine Art "Golden Light Divine Slash," the Wood-Attribute Divine Art "Wood Emperor Stacking Skill," the Water Element Divine Art "Heavenly Origin Divine Water," the Fire Element Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," and the Earth Element Divine Art "Earth Returning to Origin Art." All could be enhanced in power through the Five Elements Secret Treasures.


    Ultimately, Ye Chen spent three hundred thousand points of the Holy Palace law card that Palace Master Mu Yao had gifted him to exchange for two precious Five Elements Secret Treasures from the treasure pavilion of the Heavenly Sacred Palace¡ªa cluster of Saint-Grade inferior True Fire "Little Blue Flame True Fire" and a bag of Saint-Grade inferior True Earth "Nine Spirits Treasure Soil."


    Although he only exchanged for these two Five Elements Secret Treasures, Ye Chen was greatly delighted.


    According to what the Heavenly Saint guarding the treasure pavilion said, these Five Elements Secret Treasures were extremely popular in the Holy Palace. Generally, as soon as they were discovered, they were exchanged by Heavenly Saint powerhouses and rarely retained. For Ye Chen to exchange two types of Five Elements Secret Treasures at once, although only of inferior Saint-Grade, was already quite fortunate.


    With these two treasures, Ye Chen could greatly enhance the fire and earth arts among the Five Great Divine Arts, specifically the "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" and the "Earth Returning to Origin Art." Currently able to fight only somewhat weaker early-stage Heavenly Saints, after refining these two Five Elements Secret Treasures, Ye Chen felt he might be able to handle an average early-stage Heavenly Saint.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, seated in the Cultivation Room of the living estates for the disciples of the First Holy Temple, was preparing to refine and consume these two treasures.


    After reflecting on all that had happened in the past three days, Ye Chen turned his attention inward, ready to begin cultivating the Fire and Earth Divine Arts of the Five Great Divine Arts!


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Ye Chen, seated cross-legged, gave his sleeves a shake, and two items flew out from within them.


    These two items were a small white jade box and a small grey pouch.


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense first swept over the white jade box that landed on the ground. The lid of the box flew open, and a cluster of blue flames, "whooshing" like a living creature, flew out of the box and attempted to escape the cultivation room.


    This cluster of blue flames was none other than the Saint Grade inferior True Fire known as "Little Blue Flame True Fire"!


    The Little Blue Flame True Fire possessed the destructive power of an early-stage Heavenly Saint and a unique innate trait of "Soul Burning," said to naturally suppress ghostly and demonic creatures.


    With the destructive power of an early-stage Heavenly Saint, this Saint Grade True Fire far surpassed Heaven Grade True Fire in might. Even Rotating Pill Realm experts who deeply comprehended the Fire Element Heavenly Void Laws dared not touch such fire. Yet, Ye Chen simply opened his mouth and inhaled the fleeing flames.


    As the eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea trembled slightly, the escaping "Little Blue Flame True Fire" was sucked into his mouth and eventually entered his Qi Sea!


    Now, the Taiyuan Chapter that Ye Chen cultivated included the Wood-Attribute Divine Art within the Five Great Divine Arts. This "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" could engulf all Heaven and Earth True Fire, allowing the endless might of Heaven and Earth True Fire to fuse into the "Heaven-Devouring True Fire."


    Not to mention this early-stage Saint Grade "Little Blue Flame True Fire," even if it were a superior-grade Saint Level True Fire, Ye Chen would dare to consume it!


    After "Little Blue Flame True Fire" was ingested into the Qi Sea, Ye Chen began the complete refinement of the cluster of True Fire!


    Ye Chen sat cross-legged in the cultivation room of his residence within the First Holy Temple, deep in cultivation.


    In another residence within the First Holy Temple, two individuals were communicating through Divine Sense, engaging in a secret discussion.


    One of them was Yin Qianjue, the top cultivator of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness studying in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and the other was his close friend from the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, "Feng Lun."


    "Qian Jue, you''ve seen for yourself the strength of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao. They''re not far off from mine, and they are highly regarded by so many powerful figures," Feng Lun said, frowning at Yin Qianjue.


    "To kill them? If we succeed, that''s one thing, but if we fail, I absolutely cannot stay in the Heavenly Sacred Palace. It might even provoke the ire of the two Palace Masters, leading to our direct execution!"


    "With your and my relationship, I can help with other matters, but to kill them is difficult for me," Feng Lun told Yin Qianjue with a frown.


    Yin Qianjue''s expression was also gloomy.


    He understood what Feng Lun was saying.


    But after seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s performance during their challenges in the Holy Temple Tower, as well as the rewards and recognition from the various Heavenly Saints afterward, Yin Qianjue harbored a killing intent towards them.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao must be killed!


    Otherwise, these two would undoubtedly become the nightmare of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness!


    "Brother Feng Lun, I know this is a difficult task, especially killing two Heaven''s Chosen individuals!" Yin Qianjue said.


    "But as you know, there is a blood feud between the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory, and I absolutely cannot allow them to grow stronger. If I could kill them myself, I would, but as it stands, I am no match for them anymore and can only rely on you, brother Feng Lun!"


    "Although they are Heaven''s Chosen and valued by the strong powers, they still fall short before you, brother Feng Lun. As long as you are willing to take action and find the opportunity, it is certain you can kill them!"


    "Even if we can kill just one of them, you must help me, brother Feng Lun, no matter the cost. I am willing to pay it!" Yin Qianjue said through gritted teeth.


    Hearing Yin Qianjue''s words, Feng Lun''s expression fluctuated continuously.


    In the end, he looked directly into Yin Qianjue''s eyes and asked, "Qian Jue, are you truly willing to pay any price?"


    Seeing Yin Qianjue nod solemnly, Feng Lun''s gaze shifted outside the secret chamber, his eyes shining with a gleam of determination.


    "I, Feng Lun, have been cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace for hundreds of years and have been at the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm for hundreds as well. Even though I am almost unbeatable in the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, I have yet to break through to the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm," Feng Lun said.


    "Qian Jue, during your last exploration of the ''Void Abyss Secret Land,'' you obtained a wondrous object, the ''Heavenly Wood Divine Flower.'' If you are willing to give that ''Heavenly Wood Divine Flower'' to me, despite the risks of attempting to kill Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, I am willing to do it!"


    "So, Qian Jue, are you willing to offer that ''Heavenly Wood Divine Flower'' as my reward for helping you kill Ye Chen and Jiang Yao?" Feng Lun asked deliberately.

 Chapter 361 - 325: The Nine Abyss Pool

    Chapter 361 - 325: The Nine Abyss Pool


    "Heavenly Wood Divine Flower?"


    Yin Qianjue''s gaze intensified upon hearing these four characters.


    This "Heavenly Wood Divine Flower" was a Wood Element Secret Treasure he obtained through a stroke of immense luck and fortune during his "exploration of the Void Abyss"¡ªa miraculous object that was especially useful for comprehending the Wood Element Law among the Five Great Divine Arts!


    One could say that the "Heavenly Wood Divine Flower" was the most precious secret treasure in Yin Qianjue''s possession, and according to what Yin Qianjue had learned, it was a Five Elements Secret Treasure of Saint Tier Middle Rank!


    Asking him to use this item as a reward for Feng Lun to kill Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Yin Qianjue also felt quite reluctant.


    However...


    Yin Qianjue remembered some matters imparted to him from the Heavenly Saint Dynasty of the Western-barren Demon Sect, thought of the demon sect''s demand that he must strive by all means to hinder the growth of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, and considered the grand prospects promised to him by the demon sect¡ªthe reluctance gradually dissipated.


    In the end, all hesitation turned into a resolve to kill Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!


    "Good!" Yin Qianjue, with eyes fixed on Feng Lun, said, "As long as Brother Feng Lun can kill Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, even if it''s just one of them, I will give this ''Heavenly Wood Divine Flower'' to Brother Feng Lun!"


    "Generous!" Feng Lun''s eyes shone brightly upon hearing Yin Qianjue''s agreement.


    "Brother Qianjue, rest assured, no matter how talented these two youngsters are, they are still just juniors and will definitely be no match for me. The day I find the right opportunity will be the day I kill them!"


    Yin Qianjue smiled upon hearing Feng Lun''s confident words.


    He was well aware of the strength of his good friend; it didn''t matter that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had only just touched the initial battle power level of Heavenly Saint¡ªthey were sure to be killed by Feng Lun''s hand, even if they possessed the true initial battle power of a Heavenly Saint, since his good friend, Feng Lun, was an absolute standout even among the early-stage strong ones of Heavenly Saint.


    "Ye Chen."


    "Jiang Yao."


    "Lucky for us, you didn''t become disciples of the palace master, otherwise, we wouldn''t be able to move against you easily."


    "Now, just wait for your complete downfall!"


    In the end, Yin Qianjue''s gaze fell upon the outside of the secret chamber, his eyes radiating murderous intent.


    ...


    "The small blue flame of True Fire, its power is really strong indeed."


    Boom!


    In the cultivation room of Ye Chen''s location, his right hand was outstretched, with a cluster of blue flame slowly dancing in his palm.


    Within this burning flame, countless strange little blue sparks were flickering.


    Not far from Ye Chen''s side, one could feel the aura of the void being burned.


    Just now, after Ye Chen successfully refined this small blue flame of True Fire, he directly used the sacred treasure "Sacred Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror" to shine on ten battle puppets with the battle power of Heavenly Saint, and as a result, these ten battle puppets of the Heavenly Saint force level had just come into contact with the small blue flame of True Fire, and they were completely incinerated by the True Fire!


    From the trial move, Ye Chen felt that he truly possessed an early-stage Heavenly Saint-level technique.


    If he had refined this "small blue flame of True Fire" earlier, even if he couldn''t break through the third floor of the Holy Tower, Ye Chen felt that he could definitely kill several of the Sky Winged Dragons!


    "Withdraw."


    After feeling the power of the newly refined True Fire, Ye Chen had a thought, and the blue flame in his palm directly rolled back into his body, finally merging into a strange fire pattern on the Eight Apertures Rotating Pills in his sea of qi.


    This strange fire pattern was in fact the Divine Pill Law Pattern of the fire series divine art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" among Ye Chen''s Five Great Divine Arts.


    "Small blue flame of True Fire, with the help of the Five Great Divine Arts, was completely refined in less than half a day. Now, it''s time to refine another Five Elements Secret Treasure¡ª''Nine Spirits Treasure Soil!''"


    With a shift in his mind, Ye Chen entered into the cultivation of the Wood Element Law once more.


    One day later.


    When the door to Ye Chen''s living cottage was opened, Ye Chen walked out with large strides, and his whole demeanor had already become completely different from before.


    Others might not sense the reason for Ye Chen''s change, but looking toward the Divine Pill Law Patterns of the Five Great Divine Arts on his Eight Apertures Rotating Pills in his sea of qi, they could see that both the fire and the earth divine arts patterns had brightly lit up.


    This indicated that Ye Chen had achieved new insights in the cultivation of the fire and earth series divine arts among the Five Great Divine Arts!


    ...


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    Ye Chen, having greatly benefited from refining the two major Five Elements Secret Treasures, was preparing to search for news of other Five Elements Secret Treasures in different parts of the Heavenly Sacred Palace when, just as he stepped outside of the First Holy Temple, he saw a mid-stage Rotating Pill youth running towards him with immense excitement.


    "You are..." Ye Chen looked at the young man.


    "Brother Ye Chen, my name is ''Qian Xuan.'' I am a martial artist from the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom among the thirteen countries of the Southern Skies, currently cultivating in the Second Holy Temple," the youth Qian Xuan hurriedly introduced himself to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, all the disciples from the Southern Skies who are cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace would love to meet you!"


    "Disciples from the thirteen countries of the Southern Skies who are cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace?" Ye Chen also felt a stir in his heart.


    He had heard from Mu Qingqing before, that there were disciples from the Southern Skies cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace as well, but their numbers were small, and their strength was not even comparable to those of the Western-barren Demon Sect''s disciples, maintaining a very weak position in the Heavenly Sacred Palace all along.


    "How is it going? How many years have you been cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace? Have you gained anything?" Ye Chen asked Qian Xuan with a smile.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s question, Qian Xuan seemed to fall into reminiscence: "Brother Ye Chen, you have no idea, these years us Southern Skies disciples have had a hard time in the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"

 Chapter 362 - 325: Nine Nether Pond_2

    "Although Heavenly Sacred Palace doesn¡¯t interfere with the disciples¡¯ issues on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, where there are people, there is strife. Especially because of our blood feud between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, disciples of the ten great demonic sects from the Western Wilderness who cultivate at Heavenly Sacred Palace often trouble us!"


    At this point, Qian Xuan was also somewhat infuriated.


    However, immediately after, his fury turned into an excited voice, "Luckily we have you, Brother Ye Chen, and Sister Jiang Yao! With the two of you emerging this time, you¡¯ve truly given the Southern Territory disciples a great boost of morale!"


    "Brother Ye Chen, you don¡¯t know, these past few days, quite a few formidable disciples from the Polar Star Archipelago of the Northern Region of the Central Domain have been looking for reasons to get on good terms with us, wanting to make friends with us!"


    "Especially those disciples from the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness, who always liked to trouble us, now they stay far away when they see us; if anyone wants to cause us trouble again, even formidable disciples from the Central Domain will come forward and scold those Western Wilderness disciples for us!"


    "Brother Ye Chen, we know that all these changes are brought about by you!" Qian Xuan said with overwhelming excitement.


    Hearing Qian Xuan¡¯s words, waves of emotion surged in Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    Although Qian Xuan spoke simply, Ye Chen could imagine the troubles faced by those senior disciples who cultivated in Heavenly Sacred Palace from the Southern Territory, he could sense their excitement with the change of their circumstances.


    "No matter where, it¡¯s all about strength after all!"


    "Now, the performance of Jiang Yao and me in the Holy Temple Tower has made many disciples from other territories view the Southern Territory in a new light. If the Western Wilderness were to produce a disciple who could surpass ours, perhaps the disciples from other territories would lean towards the Western Wilderness. "


    "I must continue to grow stronger! Strong enough to contribute a part of my strength for the Southern Territory that brought me up; strong enough to shield the Southern Territory from wind and rain; so strong that the Western Wilderness wouldn¡¯t dare to provoke us again!"


    A strong conviction to become even more powerful welled up within Ye Chen.


    For himself.


    For Jiang Yao.


    And for the entire Southern Territory!


    ...


    After meeting with Qian Ming and several hundred other Southern Territory disciples who were cultivating in Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen went to several places within the five great Holy Temples and Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    Two days later, however, Ye Chen left the Heavenly Sacred Palace and headed straight for the Great Zhou Dynasty at the very north of the Central Domain.


    "Heavenly Sacred Palace, truly worthy of being a second-rank major sect, there are very few restrictions on disciples apart from matters related to the other thirty-two continents."


    "Taking advantage of the more than one month left, this time going to the ¡¯Great Zhou Dynasty¡¯ in the Northern Region, I hope to successfully obtain that possibly existing water-type Five Elements Secret Treasure, to further enhance my strength and make the final preparations for the exploration of the Five Elements Mountain!"


    On the flying artifact "Heavenly Origin Boat", Ye Chen was putting away a map scroll in his hands, gazing into the vast sky.


    These past few days, because of devouring and refining "Minor Blue Flame True Fire" and "Nine Spirit Precious Earth", two of Ye Chen¡¯s five great divine arts had made considerable progress, substantially boosting his combat strength.


    Naturally, Ye Chen wanted to acquire more Five Elements Secret Treasures that could enhance his strength.


    Unfortunately, Heavenly Sacred Palace¡¯s Treasure Tales Pavilion no longer had any Five Elements Secret Treasures, and Ye Chen had made inquiries in many places during these days, and finally, it was in Heavenly Sacred Palace¡¯s "Treasure Tales Hall" that he had spent many treasures bestowed by the Heavenly Saint to exchange for a message that was a tremendous surprise for him.


    Treasure Tales Pavilion records various precious and rare tales encountered by the numerous Heavenly Saints and disciples of the five great Holy Temples while traveling through the different realms; and within these precious tales, often lay very valuable information.


    The tremendously surprising message Ye Chen exchanged was related to the Five Elements Secret Treasure. According to the records in "Treasure Tales Hall", at a certain place in the Northern Region of the Great Zhou Dynasty, there had once been a mid-stage Heavenly Saint who discovered a peculiar water pond.


    This water pond is also known to the locals as the "Nine Nether Pond"!


    The Nine Nether Pond was incomparably cold, and for dozens of miles around it, a blanket of cold qi engulfed the area, leaving all things lifeless. Even local martial warriors who have witnessed claimed that mythical creatures comparable to beings of the Heavenly Saint Realm who ventured into the area were directly frozen to death.


    In the end, the Nine Nether Pond even became a forbidden area to the locals!


    Such a peculiar place naturally attracted the attention of countless powerful martial warriors. As a result, numerous powerful martial warriors entered the vicinity of the Nine Nether Pond, and many perished in it. Even those lucky enough to escape from the Nine Nether Pond suffered great harm to their souls from the cold qi.


    Eventually, this place truly became a forbidden area that not even powerful martial warriors dared to step into!


    The mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existence from Heavenly Sacred Palace, upon learning of the Nine Nether Pond, also made a special trip to check it out. This Heavenly Saint, whose strength was quite extraordinary even among the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, felt he couldn¡¯t hold on just upon arriving at the edge of the Nine Nether Pond and in the end had to leave.


    According to this mid-stage Heavenly Saint¡¯s observation, there might be an extremely powerful Water Element Five Elements Secret Treasure in the Nine Nether Pond that caused such strong cold qi in the waters.


    And very likely, this Water Element Five Elements Secret Treasure had reached the level of a high-grade or even top-grade Saint Weapon!


    After this mid-stage Heavenly Saint existence recorded the message of the Nine Nether Pond in the "Treasure Tales Hall" of Heavenly Sacred Palace, even Motian, the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existence and master of Heavenly Sacred Palace, personally went to explore the Nine Nether Pond.


    However, even Motian couldn¡¯t penetrate deep into the Nine Nether Pond, only managing to go about five or six zhang deep before he couldn¡¯t dive any further.


    This place, which even a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existence like Motian couldn¡¯t explore, truly made the Nine Nether Pond a place of legend.


    Ye Chen only accidentally learned about this place, the Nine Nether Pond, while inquiring about the Five Elements Secret Treasure.


    When he heard that the Nine Nether Pond was related to the Five Elements Secret Treasure, and it might be a powerful Water Element Secret Treasure that froze the area for dozens of miles, Ye Chen was greatly moved.


    If it really was a Water Element Secret Treasure, even if Ye Chen wasn¡¯t as powerful as Motian, he was willing to try!


    You should know that Ye Chen¡¯s five divine arts are especially suited for absorbing the Five Elements Secret Treasure. No matter how powerful the Five Elements Secret Treasure, he has ways to deal with it, so of course, Ye Chen wanted to give it a try!


    Hence, in the "Treasure Tales Hall," when Ye Chen expressed his interest in this place and was willing to exchange treasure for the message of the Nine Nether Pond, claiming he just wanted to take a look at this place, he finally obtained the recorded scroll of the Nine Nether Pond message amidst the puzzled gaze of the guarding Heavenly Saint of Treasure Tales Hall.


    After acquiring the scroll, Ye Chen studied it for a while and then directly left the Heavenly Sacred Palace to rush to the location marked on the scroll for the Nine Nether Pond.


    ...


    Ye Chen rode the "Heavenly Origin Boat" towards the Northern Region of the Great Zhou Dynasty.


    Not long after he left the Heavenly Sacred Palace, a figure also flew out from the palace.


    This figure was none other than Yin Qianjue¡¯s good friend, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint squinted in the direction where Ye Chen disappeared into the sky, "I thought I would have to wait a long time to kill Ye Chen and Jiang Yao. I didn¡¯t expect that, without finding a trace of Jiang Yao, I¡¯d encounter an unexpected surprise on Ye Chen¡¯s side. Ye Chen has just joined the Heavenly Sacred Palace and dares to go out alone."


    "It seems he wants to go north?"


    "Hmph, it¡¯s not easy to take action near the Heavenly Sacred Palace, but I want to see where he is heading. Once I find a suitable place and opportunity, I¡¯ll make my move and kill him!"


    "One Ye Chen in exchange for a ¡¯Heavenly Wood Divine Flower¡¯; death would not be unjust for him!"


    After musing to himself, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s sleeves swept up, and he instantly disappeared from sight.

 Chapter 363 - 326 Death!

    The Great Zhou Dynasty, the northernmost of the three major dynasties in the Central Region. The northern part of the Great Zhou Dynasty is directly bordered by the extreme north of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Falling Frost City is an ordinary small city in the northern part of the Great Zhou Dynasty. The only notable feature is that this city is the closest to the entire Great Zhou Dynasty¡¯s most mysterious boundary¡ªthe Nine Nether Pond.


    Once, due to the exploration of the Nine Nether Pond, Falling Frost City had also been quite lively for a while.


    However, since even late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses had failed to explore the secrets of the Nine Nether Pond, the adventures to the pond had been stagnating for years, and few people approached it now. Falling Frost City had once again returned to its former tranquility and remained a common small city in the north.


    Due to its proximity to the extreme north, Falling Frost City is cold all year round, covered in ice and snow; the city lives up to its name, filled with frost and snow.


    One day, in a small tavern north of Falling Frost City, Liu Yingying was constantly sizing up a customer seated at the innermost table by the window from her spot at the counter.


    Liu Yingying, the granddaughter of the tavern¡¯s owner, was fifteen years old. She wore a snow-white fleece jacket, her small face ice-clear and snow-white, and was quite beautiful. The snow outside the tavern and her white jacket made her appear even more delicate and charming.


    What was even more remarkable was that this beautiful girl, at the mere age of fifteen, had already reached the eleventh level of the True Qi Realm. Such a cultivation level was quite rare in the small Falling Frost City.


    It is worth noting that the most formidable sect in Falling Frost City was only a sixth-grade sect with a mid-stage Spinning Dan powerhouse. In the entire Great Zhou Dynasty, it was a very common small city.


    Following Liu Yingying¡¯s gaze towards the tavern¡¯s innermost table by the window, one could see a sixteen-year-old youth tasting the dishes and wine. Next to the youth, there lay a gray monkey about the size of two hands on his shoulder, dozing off.


    "This little brother doesn¡¯t seem to have the slightest fluctuation of True Qi, but I have a feeling that he¡¯s quite extraordinary," Liu Yingying mused, her big eyes filled with curiosity as she watched the youth.


    "And that little monkey, so cute. I¡¯ve never seen such a spirited little monkey before," she recalled the monkey¡¯s curious look when it had followed the youth into the tavern before dozing off, her face filling with affection.


    Liu Yingying rested her small hands on the counter, stealthily glancing at the youth and the little monkey from time to time.


    The youth to whom Liu Yingying was paying such attention couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly to himself, "I did not expect that this small city in the north of the Great Zhou Dynasty would have such a rare sense of tranquility."


    This youth was, of course, Ye Chen, who had traveled north from the Heavenly Sacred Palace to embark on an adventure to the Nine Nether Pond. The monkey dozing on his shoulder was the golden monkey that had awakened after completing its cultivation; however, after waking up, it had once again concealed its extraordinary golden fur underneath an ordinary gray coat.


    During the days of travel, Ye Chen had been flying on the "Heavenly Origin Boat"; only when he was close to the Nine Nether Pond did he retrieve it, and, while concealing his powerful aura, he transformed into an ordinary traveler. He took this opportunity to rest a bit in Falling Frost City¡ªthe city closest to the Nine Nether Pond¡ªto recuperate from the exhaustion of the journey and prepare to step into the mysterious realm of the Nine Nether Pond.


    Originally, Ye Chen thought he would enjoy the rare tranquility of the Northern Region during his half-day in this ordinary city, but after drinking half a pot of wine, he suddenly furrowed his brows.


    Even the monkey dozing on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder unwittingly opened its eyes, its bright black eyes seeming to look outside the tavern.


    "Ye Chen, a large group of people is heading this way towards the tavern," the monkey whispered to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also nodded, "According to the Nine Nether Pond exploration map, there are few powerful individuals in Falling Frost City. Surprisingly, among this group of people, there are two martial artists at the early stage of the Spinning Dan Realm. They don¡¯t look like sect martial artists; instead, they resemble the rumored bandits."


    The other people, of course, were unaware of Ye Chen and the monkey¡¯s whispering, and even the commotion outside hadn¡¯t been noticed by the patrons in the tavern.


    It wasn¡¯t until several minutes later that a thunderous sound of hooves resounded, getting closer and closer to the small tavern. Only then did the people inside start to realize something was amiss.


    "What¡¯s that noise?" At the counter, Liu Yingying too became unconcerned with sneaking peeks at Ye Chen and the monkey. She walked out from behind the counter, lifted the tavern¡¯s curtain, and looked outside.


    As soon as she looked out, her face changed dramatically. Experience tales at empire


    Looking outside through the door curtain, one could see a group of fifty to sixty riders charging straight towards the tavern on the edge of the small city. At the head of the group was a youth in a black fleece jacket. By the youth¡¯s side were two bare-chested men, both emitting the aura of early-stage Spinning Dan warriors.


    "The Heavenly Tiger Gang! Oh God, it¡¯s the Heavenly Tiger Gang!"


    "The Heavenly Tiger Gang has come to town again!"


    When the patrons recognized the approaching group, they cried out in horror and panic.


    "The Heavenly Tiger Gang? Who are they?" Ye Chen, holding the monkey, asked a patron nearby in a calm voice.


    The patron¡¯s face was filled with panic, "Young master, you are not from Falling Frost City, are you? The Heavenly Tiger Gang is the largest force outside of Falling Frost City, even more powerful than the city¡¯s largest sect, the sixth-grade ¡¯Falling Snow Sect¡¯! It¡¯s said that the Heavenly Tiger Gang has three leaders. The third and second leaders are all mid-stage Spinning Dan Realm powerhouses, and the boss is even a late-stage Spinning Dan Realm powerhouse!"

 Chapter 364 - 326 Death!_2

    ```


    &"Ever since the Heavenly Tiger Gang occupied Black Wind Stronghold eighty miles outside of Falling Frost City eight years ago, even the ¡¯Falling Snow Sect¡¯ hasn¡¯t dared to provoke them! Over these years, the Heavenly Tiger Gang has frequently raided Falling Frost City, and no one dares to resist; all those who have tried were killed! It¡¯s said that even the ¡¯Falling Snow Sect¡¯ has paid tribute to the Heavenly Tiger Gang!"


    &"These past few months, we haven¡¯t seen the Heavenly Tiger Gang enter the city, so we thought they wouldn¡¯t come this year, but unfortunately, we bumped into them today!"


    &"I hope they don¡¯t trouble us; otherwise, if any of those big shots from the Heavenly Tiger Gang take a disliking to us, we might lose our lives!"


    As this guest was whispering to Ye Chen, the large entourage of the Heavenly Tiger Gang had already arrived outside the tavern. When the rumbling of horse hooves stopped outside, the guest hurriedly lowered his head, not daring to say another word to Ye Chen.


    "So it¡¯s the big shots from the Heavenly Tiger Gang!"


    &"Will the big shots have some little drink as usual?"


    Such a commotion had already alerted the owner of the Little Tavern, an old man in the fifth layer of the True Qi Realm, who was the grandfather of Liu Yingying.


    Shopkeeper Liu approached the entrance of the tavern, respectfully addressing the mounted men, with several attendants behind him carrying large barrels of wine.


    Two burly men in the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm from the mounted troop looked indifferently at Shopkeeper Liu: "You old fellow, quite shrewd. Hmm, same as before, bring out the wine; let the brothers have a bit of fun first before we go into the city for a good ruckus."


    In the past, when the Heavenly Tiger Gang¡¯s horse bandits entered Falling Frost City, they would always pass by this Little Tavern, which, despite lacking in other offerings, did have particularly good wine.


    &"Also, bring out the best wine for our Young Master. It¡¯s his first visit to Skyfrost City; don¡¯t spoil the Young Master¡¯s mood," said the two men from the Rotating Pill Realm with even more respect as they looked at the young man in the black velveteen jacket amidst them, reminding Shopkeeper Liu.


    "The Young Master?!"


    Shopkeeper Liu was taken aback.


    Shopkeeper Liu knew that the three leaders of the Heavenly Tiger Gang were significant figures in the middle and later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, individuals that even the most prominent sect of Falling Frost City, Falling Snow Sect, wouldn¡¯t dare to provoke. Although the three leaders had not come, having the Young Master leading was undoubtedly someone they couldn¡¯t afford to disrespect!


    He quickly admonished his attendants: "Quick, quick, bring out that little jar of wine we¡¯ve been saving, the one we offered to the leader last time!"


    As he spoke, Shopkeeper Liu looked towards the young man in the black velveteen jacket, smiling: "Young Master, our little tavern can only make a small jar of our best wine each year. Last year, when the leader came, we offered it to him. This year, with the Young Master personally visiting, of course, the wine should be yours to enjoy!"


    Shopkeeper Liu was welcoming the Young Master of the Heavenly Tiger Gang in the black velveteen jacket, but the Young Master seemed as if he hadn¡¯t heard at all, his eyes fixed on Liu Yingying, who was behind the counter: "Who is this?"


    Seeing the Young Master¡¯s gaze directed at Liu Yingying, Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s face suddenly paled, and Liu Yingying, who was under the scrutiny of the young man, also turned deathly white.


    Liu Yingying had not expected, after having lowered her head to hide when the Heavenly Tiger Gang arrived, to still be noticed by the young man, and seeing his expression, she immediately had a bad feeling.


    "This is my granddaughter, who cultivates in the fifth-ranked great sect, ¡¯Xiacloud Valley,¡¯ of the Great Zhou Dynasty," Shopkeeper Liu answered the Young Master, hastily changing the subject while shouting towards his attendants, "What are you standing there for? Hurry up and get the wine for the Young Master!"


    The attendants nodded repeatedly and were about to run into the Little Tavern when the Young Master raised his arm: "There¡¯s no hurry for the wine. This little girl has caught my eye. Call her out; she can come with me for a bit of fun in the city, and then back to Black Wind Stronghold."


    The Young Master¡¯s casual words landed like a thunderbolt in the ears of Shopkeeper Liu and Liu Yingying!


    They had both had a bad premonition when the Young Master first inquired about Liu Yingying, but they hadn¡¯t expected that the Young Master would straight-up demand her!


    "What, you didn¡¯t hear me?" Seeing that Shopkeeper Liu stood still, stunned, the Young Master frowned and spoke in a low voice.


    The other bandits from the Heavenly Tiger Gang burst into laughter behind him: "Young Master, perhaps this old man is overjoyed; his granddaughter being noticed by the Young Master is the blessing of several lifetimes!"


    Hearing the bandits¡¯ words, the Young Master raised his eyebrows slightly and gave a light smile.


    "Young Master!"


    At that moment, Shopkeeper Liu looked back at Liu Yingying and saw her face as pale as death and trembling, he gritted his teeth and stood before the horse of the young man in the black velveteen jacket, pleading, "Please, Young Master, be magnanimous. My granddaughter is only fifteen years old and plain in looks. If the Young Master wants anything else, I can bring it, even the Little Tavern itself, without batting an eye!"


    Shopkeeper Liu was over sixty years old, and the sight of an elder of his age pleading before a man in his twenties was truly pitiable.


    ```


    But this young master of the house was not the least bit merciful, "There¡¯s nothing a young master like me fancies that I can¡¯t get! I have taken a liking to your granddaughter, and there¡¯s no use in saying anything else!"


    As he spoke, the young master turned to one of the two Rotating Pill Realm early-stage strongmen beside him and ordered, "Ruan Biao, go and capture that little girl for me!"


    "Yes!" The early-stage Rotating Pill Realm strongman Ruan Biao immediately nodded and dismounted to walk towards the tavern.


    "No, please!" Shopkeeper Liu immediately hugged Ruan Biao¡¯s leg upon seeing this, "Kind sirs, we have always offered you wine with respect these past years and have never been the least bit disrespectful, please spare us."


    "Get lost!" Ruan Biao looked coldly at Shopkeeper Liu, "The young master¡¯s command is an edict that must not be defied! If you old fool continue to obstruct, don¡¯t blame me for being impolite."


    "What are you still babbling for, Ruan Biao? Kill this old fool and quickly capture that girl for me. We still need to enter the city; don¡¯t waste any more time here!" Although Ruan Biao was still regarding the scene coldly, the young master of the Heavenly Tiger Gang directly raised his voice.


    "Yes!"


    Hearing the command of the young master, Ruan Biao looked at Shopkeeper Liu as if he were already a dead man. With a swirl of True Qi in his leg, he was about to strike and kill Shopkeeper Liu in an instant.


    In the entire small tavern, the patrons were already so frightened they dared not make a sound.


    "It¡¯s over, it¡¯s all over, the Liu¡¯s tavern is finished today!"


    These patrons knew the ferocity of the Heavenly Tiger Gang too well. With only Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s True Qi at the fifth level and his granddaughter Liu Yingying¡¯s True Qi at the eleventh level, resisting the demands of the Heavenly Tiger Gang meant they were no different from those who had resisted in the past and ended up with only death!


    Many people didn¡¯t have the heart to look at Shopkeeper Liu anymore.


    They seemed to have already seen the over sixty-year-old, always kind-hearted Shopkeeper Liu being brutally killed by the early-stage Rotating Pill Realm strongman Ruan Biao.


    In the entire small tavern, only the shrill screams of Liu Yingying remained: "No, Grandfather!"


    Liu Yingying, seeing Ruan Biao¡¯s True Qi surging toward her grandfather and about to kill him, rushed out of the tavern without any regard for herself.


    But, for a Rotating Pill Realm expert to kill a True Qi Realm expert, it was exceedingly simple and quick!


    "It¡¯s too late!"


    "Such a pity for this young girl!"


    Seeing Liu Yingying rush out of the tavern, the patrons inside all shook their heads with pale faces.


    In the midst of Liu Yingying¡¯s crying screams, while the patrons shook their heads with pale faces, amidst the laughter of the Heavenly Tiger Gang¡¯s bandits, and under the indifferent watch of the young master of the Heavenly Tiger Gang...


    Ruan Biao¡¯s True Qi had already rolled up to the front of Shopkeeper Liu.


    Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s face had turned completely pale, he could feel the surge of deadly force toward him, but his hands, clutching at Ruan Biao¡¯s thigh, did not slacken in the slightest.


    "Even if I die, I must block him, I won¡¯t let him take away my granddaughter!" This was the only thought in Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s heart.


    As this thought flickered, Shopkeeper Liu had already prepared himself for certain death, but then he discovered that the lethal force rushing toward him was as if blocked by some mysterious power, and, just as it neared his body, it suddenly vanished altogether.


    Following that, Shopkeeper Liu saw that Ruan Biao, whom he was blocking, suddenly went limp and collapsed, and as he did so, flames burst out from all of Ruan Biao¡¯s orifices, and in the moment the flames appeared, the Ruan Biao, who had reached the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, was instantly burned into nothingness!


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    The early-stage Rotating Pill Realm Ruan Biao was actually dead!


    Dead without even leaving behind ashes!


    And that wondrous flame, upon touching Shopkeeper Liu, showed no intention of killing him, instead, it flickered in the void and disappeared without a trace.

 Chapter 365 - 327

    This eerie scene terrified everyone!


    The patrons of the small tavern had thought Shopkeeper Liu was certainly doomed to die, but to their utter surprise, it was the Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse from the Heavenly Tiger Gang who ended up dead!


    With a Rotating Pill Realm expert killed, who could have made the move?


    Shopkeeper Liu?


    The patrons were all too familiar with Shopkeeper Liu. Ever since reaching the fifth layer of True Qi, his strength had never advanced and had always remained within the True Qi Realm. It was simply impossible for someone in the True Qi Realm to kill a Rotating Pill Realm expert!


    If not Shopkeeper Liu, then who?


    The patrons glanced around at each other, but the strongest aura in the tavern was merely at the True Qi Realm level; there was no one present capable of killing a Rotating Pill Realm adversary.


    As for the members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang outside, it was even less likely that they would kill their own Rotating Pill Realm expert.


    "Could it be that a master concealed nearby has taken action?"


    Many patrons began to look up into the void above them.


    They conjectured that to kill a Rotating Pill Realm expert so effortlessly, this concealed master must be at least at the mid-Rotating Pill Realm, or perhaps even at the late stage of the realm!


    The customers inside the tavern were stunned, while the members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang were completely petrified with fear.


    They had never imagined that one of their leading Rotating Pill Realm experts, Leader Ruan Biao, would be slain instantly, utterly defenseless!


    Leader Ruan Biao was the second strongest in their team, only slightly less powerful than the other Rotating Pill Realm expert, Ruan Long, the Leader. Even the Young Family Head, who was at the late stage of the Spirit Sea Realm, wasn¡¯t quite as strong as Leader Ruan Biao.


    With Leader Ruan Biao dead, their team would stand no chance if someone wanted to target them!


    The bandits from the Heavenly Tiger Gang were entirely startled, while their leader, the Young Family Head, and Ruan Long, another early Rotating Pill Realm expert, felt a chill in their spines.


    The Young Family Head had a feeling that the kind of power it took to easily kill Ruan Biao was something only the three Great Masters of Black Wind Stronghold could possibly wield.


    Now, here at this small tavern, could it be that he had encountered such a hidden master?!


    And Ruan Long, with a trembling voice, looked around the empty space: "Who¡¯s there? Who killed my brother, come out!"


    Ruan Biao was Ruan Long¡¯s brother, and they had joined Black Wind Stronghold together with deep affection for one another. But Ruan Long didn¡¯t dare to voice his challenge loudly. Although he was a notch above his brother, his superiority was limited, and given that his brother had been killed without even a trace of ashes left, he would undoubtedly have no chance of survival if he encountered this master.


    Ruan Long¡¯s only hope lay in the reputation of Black Wind Stronghold.


    There were three leaders in Black Wind Stronghold, with the Great Master being a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse, and the second and third masters both mid-stage experts. Even if this hidden master was stronger than him, in Ruan Long¡¯s eyes, he couldn¡¯t possibly be stronger than the three leaders of Black Wind Stronghold.


    After all, someone stronger than the three leaders would likely be at the Heavenly Saint Realm, and it seemed unlikely that a Heavenly Saint Realm expert would involve themselves in such a trivial matter.


    Ruan Long shouted tremblingly into the void, and the others also turned their gaze upwards.


    Everyone thought the hidden master was in the void.


    Just then, from among the patrons of the small tavern, Ye Chen walked out with a young monkey in his arms and said indifferently, "Get lost. From now on, stop wreaking havoc in Falling Frost City."


    Whoosh.


    Ye Chen¡¯s voice drew all the gazes that had been fixed on the void.


    "It¡¯s him!"


    "Could it be this young man who took action and saved my grandfather?"


    Liu Yingying looked at Ye Chen, filled with disbelief.


    Although the young girl had a premonition that Ye Chen was out of the ordinary when she secretly looked at him earlier, she could never have imagined that this young man, not much older than her and without any semblance of a strong aura, could kill a Rotating Pill Realm expert!


    It was simply beyond imagination!


    Not only was Liu Yingying astonished, but Shopkeeper Liu and the other patrons of the tavern also felt it was inconceivable.


    Especially the patron who had just been talking to Ye Chen about the Heavenly Tiger Gang, he could never have imagined that the young man he spoke with was actually a master capable of killing a Rotating Pill Realm expert!


    "You, you killed my brother..." Ruan Long also looked at Ye Chen in hesitant disbelief.


    He could sense that Ye Chen was as young in age as he looked, truly very young.


    A youth of such a young age being able to kill an early Rotating Pill Realm warrior meant that this young man undoubtedly possessed the strength of at least the mid-Rotating Pill Realm.


    To think that a sixteen or seventeen-year-old could cultivate to the mid-Rotating Pill Realm, even Ruan Long, who held a significant position in Black Wind Stronghold, had never seen such a feat!


    "How is this possible."


    "You¡¯re even younger than me, how could you be so powerful?!"


    The young man in the black fur coat from Black Wind Stronghold also wore a face full of disbelief.


    "I told you to scram. Didn¡¯t you hear?"


    Ye Chen glanced indifferently at the bandits from Black Wind Stronghold.


    As his gaze landed on the Young Family Head, a glint of sharpness passed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes: "Right, since this situation started because of you, I need to teach you a lesson, so you won¡¯t harm others in the future."


    "What are you going to do!?"


    The Young Family Head felt a numbness all over his body under Ye Chen¡¯s stare and had a bad premonition.


    Before he could react, he suddenly saw Ye Chen¡¯s finger lightly tap and felt a sharp pain in his lower body. Then, he realized that something seemed missing from below.


    When the Young Family Head looked down, he saw his crotch was hollow, and after catching a fleeting glimpse of a fire spark, he screamed in disbelief, "My... you! You!"


    The Young Family Head, even in the late stage of the Linghai, still had his lower parts destroyed by Ye Chen in the blink of an eye!


    After screaming a few times, either unable to bear the pain or to accept such an outcome, the Young Family Head fainted and fell from his horse.


    "Young Family Head!"


    When the members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang saw their Young Family Head falling from his steed, they quickly rushed over to catch him. As they saw the blood on his lower body, many of them screamed in shock.


    Ruan Long was completely petrified.


    He couldn¡¯t believe that Ye Chen had acted with such decisiveness, not only killing his brother but also crippling his Young Family Head.


    What was even more terrifying was that he hadn¡¯t even seen the moves Ye Chen used!


    Thinking of this, Ruan Long didn¡¯t dare to stay where he was. Holding the Young Family Head, he shouted to the gang of Heavenly Tiger horse bandits, "Back to the stronghold!"


    Then, he abandoned his steed and, holding the Young Family Head, soared through the air towards Black Wind Stronghold.


    In his heart, Ruan Long cried out, "I can¡¯t deal with this man, run! Run! I must report this to the three Great Masters so they can decide what to do!"


    Seeing their leaders either dead or injured, and the only unharmed leader fleeing, the bandits of the Heavenly Tiger Gang also panicked and raced back toward Black Wind Stronghold.


    "Are we just going to let them go?" many of the tavern¡¯s patrons turned to Ye Chen.


    They even hoped that Ye Chen would act more ruthlessly and kill all the bandits!


    After all, over the years, these bandits had looted them many times, causing constant fear and worry.


    However, Ye Chen ignored the patrons and didn¡¯t bother with the fleeing members of the Heavenly Tiger Gang. Instead, he turned to Liu Yingying and Shopkeeper Liu with a smile, "Are you two all right?"


    "We¡¯re fine," Liu Yingying shook her head, her eyes looking at Ye Chen as if trying to understand how he could be so powerful!


    Shopkeeper Liu, anxious, said to Ye Chen, "Young brother, thank you for stepping in to save me. However, the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang are incredibly powerful, especially the Great Master, who is a strong contender in the late Rotating Pill Realm!"


    "Young brother, you have attracted trouble by saving me, you should leave quickly. Once the three Great Masters come down, our lives are insignificant, but we can¡¯t let you get involved and be in trouble, we simply cannot afford to compensate!"


    Hearing Shopkeeper Liu¡¯s urgency, Liu Yingying also grew anxious, "Yes, little brother, you should leave quickly."


    At that moment, Ye Chen raised his hand, silencing them, "Don¡¯t worry. If they truly come, then good, I¡¯ll help you solve this problem once and for all to avoid any future troubles."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen was speaking to Liu Yingying and Shopkeeper Liu, the sky suddenly filled with ear-piercing screeches. Then, three terrifying streaks of light shot towards the tavern at a wild speed from the distant heavens.


    "They¡¯re here!"


    "It¡¯s over, the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang have arrived!"


    As the thundering screeches traveled dozens of miles and the fearsome trio of lights approached at inconceivable speed, many of the tavern¡¯s patrons who had not left yet were scared out of their wits.


    It was clear to them that the incoming figures must be the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang, mighty fighters at the middle and late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    In a matter of breaths, the three streaks of light rapidly approached and dissipated, revealing three middle-aged figures suspended in the air.


    Those who recognized these three figures immediately knew they were the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang!


    Great Master Mu Yunhu, Second Master Zhao Xuan, and Third Master Wang Bao!


    "It¡¯s you!"


    "You harmed my son and killed the Leader of our Stronghold?"


    As they hovered above the tavern, Great Master Mu Yunhu, a late-stage Rotating Pill exponent, stared at Ye Chen with eyes as cold as knives.


    Seeing the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang appear and having Great Master Mu Yunhu directly looking at Ye Chen, the other patrons hurriedly distanced themselves from Ye Chen.


    But Liu Yingying and Shopkeeper Liu stood beside Ye Chen, trembling as they looked up at the three men in the sky.


    Ye Chen smiled at Liu Yingying and Shopkeeper Liu and then scanned the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang in the air. Suddenly, he turned his gaze to a higher point in the sky, his expression growing serious.


    "So you have been hiding here all along, come out. Let me see which Heavenly Saint has been following me these past few days," Ye Chen called out to that higher spot in the void.


    Heavenly Saint?!


    At his words, the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang in the sky were so frightened they almost fell out of the air!


    The patrons of the tavern, as well as Shopkeeper Liu and Liu Yingying on the ground, were completely shocked.


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    Heavenly Saint?


    Hiding in the void?


    A Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, a major figure capable of traversing the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, was actually hiding and following this young man?


    Everyone¡¯s mind was overwhelmed.


    At that moment, the part of the void Ye Chen was staring at was torn open, and a young man stepped out from the crack.


    Upon emerging, the young man saw the three Great Masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang below and smiled lightly, flicking his fingers. "Bang bang bang," three beams of light flashed by, and the three powerful Rotating Pill Realm experts of the Heavenly Tiger Gang, who were untouchable masters in Falling Frost City, were instantly killed!


    Then, the young man looked at Ye Chen with a smile, "To think you¡¯ve noticed me and even dared to call me out directly. Ye Chen, it seems you¡¯re not afraid of me at all!"


    This young man, who had instantly killed three powerful fighters of the Rotating Pill Realm, was none other than the helper brought in by Yin Qianjue to kill Ye Chen, one of the outstanding early-stage warriors of the Heavenly Saint Realm, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!

 Chapter 366 - 328: Ye Chen Battles Heavenly Saint

    ```


    As soon as Feng Lun Heavenly Saint appeared, he killed three Rotating Pills with a snap of his fingers.


    His methods were brutal, his dominance unparalleled.


    If the appearance of the three old masters from the Heavenly Tiger Gang had instilled fear in the hearts of the people in the small tavern before, now that they beheld Feng Lun Heavenly Saint tearing through the Void Rift and standing proudly within the void, they were utterly panicked.


    A Heavenly Saint.


    A supreme existence within the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, rising above the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and Rotating Pill Realm.


    The patrons of the small tavern had never seen a Heavenly Saint before!


    They had never imagined that in the modest Falling Frost City, they would personally witness a Heavenly Saint and even see one in action!


    What was even more terrifying for these people was that the moment the Heavenly Saint appeared, everyone felt as though they were bound by an inexplicable force; they were as if imprisoned, unable to even twitch a muscle.


    "Does this Heavenly Saint not allow us to leave?"


    "Could it be that this Heavenly Saint, after killing the three old masters of the Heavenly Tiger Gang, wants to kill us all as well?"


    Thinking of the Heavenly Saint¡¯s ruthless actions earlier, the people in the small tavern felt their hearts go numb.


    High above in the void, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint seemed to notice what the people below were thinking. He glanced down at the tavern patrons with disdain and said with a cold chuckle, "The moment I appeared, the vicinity for thousands of zhang around has been completely sealed off by me."


    "Those outside cannot see what¡¯s happening here, and you inside don¡¯t think about getting out."


    "After I deal with Ye Chen, I¡¯ll send you to join him in death!"


    "If you want to blame someone, blame Ye Chen for staying here; if you have to blame someone, blame yourselves for witnessing something you shouldn¡¯t have."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    While Feng Lun Heavenly Saint spoke, the vast aura of a Heavenly Saint surged forth from him. Above his head, endless flames burned, boundless streams roiled, and limitless golden light blossomed!


    This Feng Lun Heavenly Saint had evidently mastered the Water, Fire, Gold Heavenly Void Laws to the stage of Great Perfection at the early phase of a Heavenly Saint!


    "Ye Chen, come on, let¡¯s see just how formidable you are, a genius that could drive the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace mad just by joining them. Let¡¯s see how many tricks you have that make people unable to resist asking me to personally take you down."


    "Remember, my name is Feng Lun; the one who will kill you is Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!"


    In the end, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s eyes shone with endless brilliance as he fixed his gaze directly on Ye Chen, and torrents of killing intent gushed forth.


    Hearing that Feng Lun Heavenly Saint intended to kill everyone, the patrons of the small tavern turned ashen, and the terrifying aura of the Heavenly Saint that Feng Lun unleashed made it difficult for everyone to even breathe.


    And what was unbelievably terrifying to everyone was that Ye Chen was the target of this fearsome Heavenly Saint.


    Previously, they had thought that Ye Chen, who had killed the head of the Heavenly Tiger Gang, Ruan Biao, was just a mid-stage Rotating Pill youngster, but now, this youth seemed to be an existence that could battle with a Heavenly Saint and even provoke a Heavenly Saint to take action!


    A genius that could drive the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace mad?


    The patrons of the small tavern were well aware of what the Heavenly Sacred Palace was¡ªit was the strongest presence among countless Sects and the three major dynasties in the central domain, the most powerful second-grade Sect.


    This teenager of sixteen or seventeen was a genius of the Heavenly Sacred Palace?!


    That he could provoke a Heavenly Saint to take action, directly targeted by a Heavenly Saint?


    This completely shattered everyone¡¯s understanding!


    "Brother." Liu Yingying, similarly restrained, had her eyes completely fixed on Ye Chen.


    "So this brother is called Ye Chen! So brother is from the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "Brother, can you really fight against a Heavenly Saint? This Heavenly Saint said he wants to kill brother; Brother Ye Chen, can you withstand him?"


    Liu Yingying¡¯s concern for Ye Chen made her forget that she herself was also in grave danger.


    In the midst of Liu Yingying¡¯s concerns, Ye Chen also made his move.


    The Heavenly Saint¡¯s techniques might have bound all others, but they could not restrain Ye Chen!


    Boom!


    With a move, Ye Chen sent the little monkey back to the Heaven Spirit Ring and then shot up towards the void, revealing his true aura for the first time in front of the small tavern patrons.


    As Ye Chen released his aura without holding back, the endless void where Ye Chen catapulted stirred with tumultuous waves of void energy. Within these rollicking waves, Ye Chen himself was enveloped by Divine Light from the five elements: Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth.


    ```


    Five Apertures Rotating Pill.


    Ye Chen had fused five major Heavenly Void Laws, directly achieving the Rotating Pill Realm strength of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill.


    In addition to his unique Taiyuan Divine Pill cultivation, the eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills he cultivated made Ye Chen¡¯s aura overwhelmingly powerful, not the slightest weak even when facing Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!


    A sixteen-year-old youth was emitting an aura that reached the level of a Heavenly Saint.


    Witnessing Ye Chen standing directly opposite Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, unleashing his true aura for the first time, everyone in the tavern was completely astounded.


    Previously they thought this young lad was at the Rotating Pill level, but now it seemed that this young lad had actually reached the Heavenly Saint level!


    A talent that drove the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace mad!


    So it turned out this young lad really had such capital!


    A sixteen-year-old youth, possessing combat power at the Heavenly Saint level, would probably be considered among the top geniuses even in the strongest Heavenly Sacred Palace, wouldn¡¯t he?


    All eyes were gathered on Ye Chen.


    The hearts of everyone in the tavern tightened, thinking that if this youth could defeat the Heavenly Saint, perhaps they still had a chance to survive.


    But could he really win?


    Even if this young lad possessed the combat power of a Heavenly Saint level, he was still so young, and what he was facing was a true Heavenly Saint capable of tearing apart the Void Rift!


    In the sky above.


    Of course, Ye Chen didn¡¯t know about the inner turmoil of the people in the tavern, his gaze was already completely focused on Feng Lun Heavenly Saint opposite him.


    "Feng Lun Heavenly Saint?"


    "It seems you also come from the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "During this period, as I rushed towards the Northern Region of the Great Zhou Dynasty, I always felt followed, on guard in secret, never expected, someone really wanted to take action against me."


    "Presumably, you are the helper invited by the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness."


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t have any enemies in Heavenly Sacred Palace, the only possibility for someone to take direct action to kill him would be due to the blood feud between Southern Territory and Western Wilderness, not willing to watch him grow any further.


    "Who invited me to take action is not important," Feng Lun Heavenly Saint looked at Ye Chen, "What¡¯s important is that you must die!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint had already adjusted all his states, and as Ye Chen settled down, he had already fully condensed his Heavenly Saint aura, the moment he spoke, that rolling water, fire, and gold light outside Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s body suddenly burst forth, instantly turning into dozens of earth-shattering stormy waves.


    Within these stormy waves flickered the strong and surging Perfection Level Heavenly Void Law Force. This Perfection Level Heavenly Void Law Force, stronger than the usual force of a Heavenly Saint, turned the entire storm into flames that could incinerate the Void Rift, golden light that could pierce the Void Rift, and water waves that could obliterate the Void Rift!


    Finally, dozens of hundred-meter-high terrifying stormy waves, all converged to strangle Ye Chen.


    In the midst of strangulation, the entire Void Rift where Ye Chen and Feng Lun Heavenly Saint were located, became like hell, murky and dark, filled with sounds of killing, within a radius of hundreds of meters, already turned into a land of destruction.


    Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen, who was strangled to death by the Heavenly Saint-level killing force of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, was completely engulfed by the sky of storm, his clothes and long hair blowing wildly behind him, and the heaven and earth around him had become a killing storm, a Death Storm.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change in the slightest.


    Fighting Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s first real battle against a person of the Heavenly Saint level.


    Even if he had to be extremely cautious, Ye Chen was not truly afraid!


    "Come on, let me see if my cultivation during this period can actually overcome, a real early-stage Heavenly Saint!"


    Ye Chen, submerged by the storm¡¯s killing force, reached into the Void Rift with his palm, the eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills in his Qi Sea spinning wildly, the divine fire runes on the Five Apertures Rotating Pills suddenly lit up brilliantly.


    Suddenly, a sky-piercing flame, burst forth from within Ye Chen, and within this towering flame flickered tiny blue dots of marvel, with Ye Chen wrapped in blue flames, he resembled a Fire God.


    Fire Element Divine Art, Heaven-Devouring True Fire.


    The flame that Ye Chen released was the Heaven-Devouring True Fire that had integrated Little Blue Flame True Fire, a Fire Element Divine Art from the Five Great Divine Arts of the Primordial Star Scripture Taiyuan Chapter!

 Chapter 367 - 329: The Peril of Death

    At the moment when the Heaven-Devouring True Fire Divine Art had fully unleashed, the blue flames enveloping Ye Chen soared higher and higher, until they reached over three hundred zhang tall!


    In the end, even within Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s storm that strangled and obliterated all with its three Perfection-Level Heavenly Void Law powers, the dazzling might of those flames shone brightly.


    No matter how fiercely the storm raged toward Ye Chen, once it encountered the surging Heaven-Devouring True Fire flames around his body, it could not advance an inch.


    Ye Chen was confronting Feng Lun Heavenly Saint head-on, neither his aura nor his killing techniques showing the slightest bit of weakness!


    "How is this possible!"


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, witnessing Ye Chen wrapped in blue flames, appearing like a Fire God himself, had his eyes completely widened in shock.


    He had personally seen Ye Chen in action before; back outside the Holy Temple Tower, he had watched Ye Chen fight on the third level of the tower.


    At that time, up against a Sky Winged Dragon with Heavenly Saint Level combat power, Ye Chen had hardly any power to resist.


    Only a few days had passed, and Ye Chen somehow acquired a new and divine technique, capable of fully resisting the suppression of the three Perfection-Level Heavenly Void Law storms.


    The speed of this progression sent chills down Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s spine!


    Especially the divine True Fire around Ye Chen¡¯s body; even with his Perfection-Level comprehension of Fire Element Heavenly Void Law, he hadn¡¯t been able to wield such formidable flame power.


    Yet Ye Chen, with the might of these flames, was able to fight directly against his three Perfection-Level Heavenly Void Laws!


    "Kill him!"


    "We must kill this Ye Chen!"


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint finally understood Yin Qianjue¡¯s sentiments.


    Such a formidable opponent, if left to grow, would undoubtedly become an existence they all would have to look up to.


    Now that there was enmity, they must kill him before the youth could fully mature!


    "Ye Chen, I originally thought that with one move, I could kill you."


    "Now it seems you are worthy of my earnest effort to deal with you!"


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s gaze toward Ye Chen now held a hint of gravity; afterward, with a flick of his finger, the terrifying storm that had swept across the void suddenly changed.


    Previously, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint had used the power of three Great Heavenly Void Laws to stir up dozens of earth-shattering storm waves.


    But after changing his approach, these dozens of earth-shattering storm waves actually began to merge with one another, and in the end, all of the storm waves merged into a single one, forming an incredibly terrifying storm that flickered with the light of fire, water, and metal, the three Great Heavenly Void Laws.


    If those dozens of storms were capable of shredding the void, this single, merged black storm was tearing the void apart completely.


    All one could see was, as this black storm ravaged, chunks of Void Rifts began to appear, from which even the foreign auras that did not belong to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent could be sensed.


    And following the endless shattering of these Void Rifts, centered around the merged black storm, an infinite-black light swirling Void Rift vortex formed, madly spinning in the vast void.


    This terrifying spinning vortex even threatened to envelop Ye Chen, who was wrapped in True Fire flames, pulling him into its midst.


    If he truly were caught by this terrifying vortex, Ye Chen would likely be directly swept into the space on the other side of the Void Rift, outside the domain of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Even a Heavenly Saint in the late stages would only dare to hide within the Void Rifts, not venturing into the extra-domain space on the other side.


    If Ye Chen were sucked into the space on the other side of the Void Rift, with his current strength, his death would be certain!


    "Ye Chen, you should feel content to die within this ¡¯Void Heaven Great Vortex¡¯!"


    "Now, die!"


    After the release of the black storm vortex, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint did not allow Ye Chen much time to resist, spinning the formidable Void Rift vortex to its limit, creating a force that sucked in everything and aimed it directly at Ye Chen.


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was trying to pull Ye Chen into the Void Rift vortex directly!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Under the irresistible suction force of this spinning storm, Ye Chen, enshrouded in blue flames in the sky, could hardly stand his ground and began to drift toward the center of the black vortex.


    If Ye Chen had no other moves up his sleeve and was dragged just tens of zhang more, he would certainly be sucked into the vortex of the Void Rift!


    "Die!"


    Seeing Ye Chen flying toward the black vortex, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s face already surged with joy.


    If he killed Ye Chen, he would obtain the Heavenly Wood Divine Flower he desired.


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint seemed to already see the Heavenly Wood Divine Flower beckoning him, as if he had already seen himself merging with the Divine Flower and charging towards the middle stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    However, his imagination came to an abrupt halt after a few breaths.


    Because Feng Lun Heavenly Saint saw that Ye Chen, who was being swept away by the black Void Rift vortex, had unleashed a new move while flying.


    "Void Rift storm vortex?"


    "Think you can kill me with this move? You have new moves, and I have new ones as well!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen, enveloped in soaring blue flames over three hundred yards tall, gently pinched a spell with his fingers. Inside his body, another terrifying force furiously surged forth.


    This force was actually a brownish-yellow Earth Element force.


    Under the gushing of these brownish-yellow Earth Element forces, the ground suddenly materialized outside Ye Chen¡¯s body, even filling up the broken Void Rifts bit by bit, causing the black Void Rift vortex that was rolling towards Ye Chen to be overwhelmed and filled by surges of Earth Element force.


    Earth Element Divine Art.


    This was none other than the Earth Element Divine Art¡ªEarth Returning to Origin Art¡ªthat Ye Chen cultivated using the Five Elements Secret Treasure "Nine Spirits Treasure Soil," from the Taiyuan Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture¡¯s Five Great Divine Arts.


    This Divine Art even allowed Ye Chen to tread on the ground in the void, to be covered by the earth armor amidst rivers, to burrow into the depths of the ground, and to sense the mysteries of the Earth Element!


    With the might of the earth and the force of the Earth Element Laws, Ye Chen finally brought out his second powerful method!


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, who initially saw Ye Chen ignite towering True Fire and then saw the earth soil that filled the Void Rifts appear out of thin air, now had a gaze that shifted from shock to determination.


    The second method Ye Chen brought out, a method that could compare with Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s three Great Perfection Level Heavenly Void Law Forces, made Feng Lun truly realize that this young Ye Chen definitely possessed the power to battle early-stage Heavenly Saints.


    His early-stage Heavenly Saint moves, in one-on-one combat, could not fully suppress Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen,"


    "It seems I have underestimated you, everyone has underestimated you."


    "Being able to battle me at this level with only the early stage of Rotating Pill, you are truly the number one genius of our Heavenly Sacred Palace in thousands of years."


    "Since that¡¯s the case, then let me see if you can still withstand my strongest power, Feng Lun!"


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was an absolute standout among the early-stage Heavenly Saints.


    His strength was, of course, not merely the few moves he had shown previously.


    Having consecutively brought out two powerful techniques that were blocked by Ye Chen, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint could no longer afford to delay. He couldn¡¯t help but bring out his true, most powerful trump card.


    This trump card even gave him the courage to dare to compete with the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings.


    Now, as he brought it out, there was definitely a determination to kill Ye Chen with one blow.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Feng Lun Heavenly Saint spoke, he raised his right hand high, and a black bead flashing with an inexplicable holy light suddenly appeared in the palm of his right hand.


    As the bead appeared, it crazily drew in the terrifying black storm vortex that Feng Lun Heavenly Saint had previously conjured.


    This bead even made every breath and every ray of light in the void rush into it.


    Even the powers of the two Divine Arts outside Ye Chen¡¯s body, the Fire Element Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" with its endless flames and the Earth Element Divine Art "Earth Returning to Origin Art" with its patches of soil, began to shatter.


    In the end, when the bead suddenly burst forth with extremely fine rays like needles of light that shot directly towards Ye Chen,


    Ye Chen, who had previously been calm while battling Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, suddenly had a drastic change in his expression the moment those terrifying needles of light rays shot out.


    Because deep down, Ye Chen suddenly felt that these terrifying rays undoubtedly surpassed the early Heavenly Saint level and could easily kill him!


    A danger of death.


    This was definitely a threat of death that not even the two Divine Arts Ye Chen had newly cultivated could resist!

 Chapter 368 - 330: Desperate Situation! Flying Sword!

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen had no extra time to think when he sensed the deadly intent of the terrifying rays. He mobilized all his strength immediately.


    Not only did he release all the True Qi of the eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills within his Qi Sea, but he also fully utilized the techniques of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body.


    Around Ye Chen¡¯s body, the roaring True Qi had surged to an incredible level, compounded by the Nine Transformation Combat Law Pattern along with fire and earth divine techniques. His combat strength had undoubtedly reached the strongest level he could muster.


    However, this maximum level of strength only managed to slightly stall those terrifying rays targeting him. Then, Ye Chen saw Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, who was controlling the black bead, moving again.


    "My ¡¯Great Destructive God Bead¡¯ is a superior sacred artifact, I myself can¡¯t even fully utilize it,"


    "Ye Chen, your forcing me to use this bead means you should prepare to die!"


    Amidst his roaring, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint fiercely spat a large mouthful of essence blood onto the black bead in his hand.


    Under the gush of essence blood, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s complexion turned deathly pale, his energy weakened by ninety percent. But the black bead in his hand emitted an even brighter sacred light!


    In the midst of this intense sacred light, the black bead once again fired an even more terrifying Death Ray. Even the rays that Ye Chen had previously managed to block somewhat pierced through his defenses and headed crazily toward him again.


    The entire heavens and earth, within a space spanning hundreds of yards, were completely covered by the lethal force of these Death Rays. Above and below, Ye Chen had nowhere to escape, absolutely unable to withstand this kind of Death Rays; his death was certain.


    Death.


    This was the first time Ye Chen truly felt he was going to die.


    Ye Chen had numerous trump cards in his hand, even those left to him by a Heavenly Saint.


    But facing this mid-stage Heavenly Saint-level deadly power, they were all now of no use.


    What to do?!


    In the instant the Death Rays pierced through Ye Chen¡¯s defenses and struck his body, countless thoughts flashed through his mind.


    In the fraction of a second, Ye Chen thought of the only method he could resort to.


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, from the sword-cavity between Ye Chen¡¯s eyebrows, a point of fiery red sword light suddenly burst forth.


    Flying Sword!


    This was, astonishingly, Ye Chen¡¯s Life-bound Flying Sword¡ªthe Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, being an exceptional sacred artifact, would normally enable Ye Chen, with his current strength, to summon only early-stage Heavenly Saint-level combat power.


    Early-stage Heavenly Saint-level combat power was equally unable to block the death-dealing strike of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    In this critical moment of life and death, Ye Chen wielding the Crimson Fire Flying Sword certainly wouldn¡¯t be just a simple invocation of the sword¡¯s normal combat power.


    Crack! Crack!


    As the Crimson Fire Flying Sword flew out, Ye Chen channeled all his focus into it. While doing so, the incredulous sound of the sword breaking could be heard.


    The sound of the exceptional sacred artifact, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, breaking!


    One could see that, on the small body of the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, there appeared eight fractures!


    As the flying sword shattered, something even more unbelievable happened.


    From the fractures of the sword body, a terrifyingly intense fiery red light surged forth.


    This red light burst out from the sword body, as if it were revealing the true combat power of the flying sword!


    When this fiery red light instantly enveloped Ye Chen, those Death Rays shooting towards him were completely annihilated by the red light!


    As this fiery red light entered Ye Chen¡¯s body, he even felt like he suddenly possessed combat power that reached the mid-stage Heavenly Saint level!


    The Life-bound Flying Sword was damaged.


    In the instant the flying sword shattered, blocking the Death Ray¡¯s annihilating move, it was actually a technique Ye Chen had never used before¡ªdamaging the Life-bound Flying Sword!


    At this critical moment of life and death, facing this unavoidable threat of demise, Ye Chen had no choice but to resort to his strongest trump card!


    Back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, when Ye Chen obtained the flying sword "Crimson Fire," he was told by Heavenly Saint Qian Ji that the flying sword possessed three major powers.


    The first power of the flying sword is its normal state, with only ordinary might; the second power, Life-bound Flying Sword damage, allows one to sacrifice the sword¡¯s quality to suddenly boost combat strength; lastly, the strongest power is to completely detonate the flying sword, releasing all of its might, reaching the apex of combat power!


    Facing a mid-stage Heavenly Saint¡¯s attack that exceeded his defensive capabilities, Ye Chen had now used the second power of the flying sword that he had never used before, damaging the Life-bound Flying Sword!


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword, an exceptional holy artifact from the Sea God Palace in the Chaotic Sea Area, could even injure late-stage Heavenly Saints when truly detonated.


    Previously, Ye Chen was unable to harness all of the flying sword¡¯s might, and even when detonating it, could not unleash much of its power.


    But now, having ascended to the level of Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen could stimulate the power of his Life-bound Flying Sword to an unbelievable extent by damaging it.


    Although Ye Chen did not fully detonate the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, by risking breaking it down and letting it fall into a complete slumber, he had a premonition that he could fend off the Death Ray¡¯s killing light with the Life-bound Flying Sword damage.


    Indeed, just as Ye Chen had anticipated, when he damaged the Life-bound "Crimson Fire," relying on the sword¡¯s second power, he really managed to block Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s lethal move.


    The power the Life-bound "Crimson Fire" infused into him after the damage shockingly reached the level of mid-stage Heavenly Saint combat strength!


    It was a power capable of repelling the terrifying rays launched by the black beads of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!


    On the other side.


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was completely incredulous at Ye Chen¡¯s move of damaging his Life-bound Flying Sword.


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint never expected that his strongest move, his ultimate card, and even the Great Destructive God Bead that he had stimulated at the cost of his vital blood, failed to kill Ye Chen!


    What is this blaze of red light shooting out?


    As he watched the red light that obliterated the Death Ray and flowed into Ye Chen, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was somewhat flabbergasted.


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint no longer had any other means to make a move since Ye Chen could block even his strongest attack!


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was shocked, but Ye Chen¡¯s mind was crystal clear.


    Ye Chen glanced at his Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire." Being psychically connected to the Crimson Fire, he could of course sense the severe damage following the Life-bound damage.


    The damage had left the flying sword on the brink of slumber.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t allow the flying sword to be damaged and fall into slumber in vain.


    "Crimson Fire, you¡¯ve followed me, and I never expected you would have to be damaged so soon," he said.


    "Rest assured, I will definitely restore you to your original state."


    "Before that, let me take care of the culprit behind your damage!"


    At this moment, having infused himself with the second battle power of the flying sword, Ye Chen, now possessing the strength of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint, looked directly at Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    Ye Chen knew that the duration of the combat power provided by damaging the Life-bound Flying Sword was extremely brief; he couldn¡¯t waste time and had to deal with Feng Lun Heavenly Saint immediately!


    Boom!


    With a thought, Ye Chen stepped into the void toward Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    At this moment, enveloped by the red light infused within him, Ye Chen also had a mystical red light swirling around him. The previously deadly Black Bead Annihilation Light that was a threat to Ye Chen now vanished the moment it touched him as he walked.


    In half a breath, Ye Chen had broken through the void and arrived beside Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    Then, with a grab of his enormous hand through the void, even the leading early-stage Heavenly Saint, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, couldn¡¯t resist when he came to his senses and tried to defend. He was directly captured by Ye Chen.

 Chapter 369 - 331: The Icy Cold Pool

    As Ye Chen grasped the fleeting surge of power from the severe damage to the life-bound flying sword, he began to confront Feng Lun Heavenly Saint. Meanwhile, millions of miles away from the Great Zhou Dynasty¡¯s northern territory, Luoshuang City, in a region of the Polar Star Archipelago, located in the eastern part of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    In the void, images were projected within a light screen. Looking into the image, one could clearly see the scene of Ye Chen wielding the flying sword¡¯s power against Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!


    Underneath, three exceptionally beautiful women were looking up at this light screen.


    These three exquisite beauties were none other than Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and the most powerful Palace Master Yuan Li of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that, while he faced Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s deadly assault, forced to rely on his life-bound flying sword "Crimson Fire" and even allowing "Crimson Fire" to unleash its secondary power due to life-bound damage, Jiang Yao, far away in the Polar Star Archipelago, felt a connection at the same time.


    Ye Chen¡¯s life-bound flying sword "Crimson Fire" and Jiang Yao¡¯s life-bound flying sword "Ghostly Water" were a pair of twin swords.


    When Ye Chen was still in the True Qi Realm at Qingyun Sect, he prepared to summon "Crimson Fire" to face the threat posed by the elder Zhou Yuntian of the Heavenly Net Sect, which triggered a reaction from Jiang Yao at Taixuan Sect, prompting her to personally go to Qingyun Sect and strike down Zhou Yuntian.


    Now that Ye Chen had fully activated the life damage of the flying sword, naturally it caused Jiang Yao to sense his anomaly all at once.


    The moment Ye Chen drew the "Crimson Fire" flying sword, Jiang Yao, along with Liu Qingmei and Palace Master Yuan Li, were on their way to an island in the Polar Star Archipelago; the frantic reaction of "Ghostly Water" immediately caused Jiang Yao¡¯s complexion to change dramatically.


    Only a problem with Ye Chen¡¯s "Crimson Fire" could have caused such a turbulent reaction from "Ghostly Water".


    Jiang Yao immediately thought that Ye Chen was in trouble.


    Considering that Ye Chen, who had become exceedingly powerful, had to resort to using the Crimson Fire flying sword, he must be facing an exceptionally dangerous situation, which made Jiang Yao anything but calm.


    Her heart fluttered so much that she nearly fell from the sky.


    Jiang Yao didn¡¯t yet know Ye Chen had gone to the Great Zhou Dynasty. A moment later, she even turned her head to fly towards the direction of the Heavenly Sacred Palace in the central realm.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s panicked state astonished the Palace Master Yuan Li and Liu Qingmei, her travel companions.


    It was only the calmness of Palace Master Yuan Li that stopped the distressed Jiang Yao from veering off course.


    Leveraging the twin connection between Jiang Yao¡¯s "Ghostly Water" and the "Crimson Fire", as well as the Heavenly Saint level abilities of Palace Master Yuan Li, she successfully sensed Ye Chen¡¯s location from hundreds of miles away and projected the scene of his battle.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen drawing upon the life-damage power of "Crimson Fire" to confront a Heavenly Saint, Jiang Yao¡¯s heart was suspended in midair.


    Jiang Yao realized that with the distance between her and Ye Chen, there was no way she could arrive in time to help him, and even Palace Master Yuan Li could not traverse such a distance to reach the Great Zhou Dynasty without the mark of a Heavenly Saint.


    With no one to aid Ye Chen, and him facing a formidable Heavenly Saint alone, Jiang Yao was immensely worried!


    It was only after a few moments, with the might of the life-damaged "Crimson Fire", that Ye Chen completely obliterated Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s killing move and captured him in his hands, which allowed Jiang Yao¡¯s heart to ease slightly.


    Only then did Jiang Yao turn her attention towards Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    In the young girl¡¯s eyes, as she looked at Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, there was endless killing intent.


    And there was good reason for that killing intent!


    If it were not for Ye Chen having the "Crimson Fire", he might have been dead at the hands of this Heavenly Saint by now.


    Thinking of what would have happened to Ye Chen, Jiang Yao no longer knew how she would face the future.


    Jiang Yao understood that there must be a reason why this Heavenly Saint targeted Ye Chen. She resolved that once she returned from the Polar Star Archipelago, she would overturn the central realm if necessary to uncover this reason and completely eliminate those who targeted Ye Chen!


    Observing Jiang Yao¡¯s expression, Palace Master Yuan Li, standing beside her, also spoke up, "Princess Yao, I remember this Heavenly Saint; he should be cultivating at Heavenly Saint Mountain. Once we return to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, I will definitely investigate this matter thoroughly!"


    A trace of murderous intent also surged in Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s eyes.


    Ye Chen was a rare prodigy that the Heavenly Sacred Palace hadn¡¯t seen in thousands of years, and coupled with Jiang Yao¡¯s relationship, no matter who targeted Ye Chen, she would definitely not stand by idly!


    ...


    Seeing Ye Chen capture a Heavenly Saint in his hands, the patrons of the tavern were completely stunned.


    The battle between Ye Chen and Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, with its terrifying destructive power that disturbed the space within hundreds of yards, and the fearsome sight of annihilation that pierced through the void, had caused everyone to forget their own dangers, completely immersed in the shock of witnessing a battle at the Heavenly Saint level.


    A fight at the Heavenly Saint level.


    It was something they had never seen in their lifetimes!


    The intense spectacle of the battle even made the patrons feel as if a hint of the killing intent spilling in their direction would be enough to kill them on the spot!


    Fortunately, in a battle at the Heavenly Saint level, not a sliver of killing intent was wasted, entirely focused on opposing the adversary; otherwise, they would certainly be dead by now!


    Even more unexpectedly to these people, the young lad who seemed at a slight disadvantage ultimately turned the tide of battle, completely suppressing a true Heavenly Saint.


    And to think that this young lad had been eating and drinking in the tavern with them just earlier, the tavern patrons were completely dizzy.


    They had actually shared wine and food with a master of the Heavenly Saint level!


    This was simply inconceivable.


    Among the tavern patrons, Liu Yingying¡¯s beautiful eyes were also filled with shock and joy.


    She had been praying for the young brother who appeared in the tavern and helped her escape the crisis with the Heavenly Tiger Gang to win, but she had not anticipated that he would actually succeed, and was even capable of contending with a Heavenly Saint!


    ...


    In the void.


    The Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, held in Ye Chen¡¯s grasp, had already turned completely ashen.


    He would rather die than believe that this Ye Chen, only at the early stage of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, could actually handle his Great Destructive God Bead, and could even withstand a mid-stage Heavenly Saint-level killing move!


    When he saw the aura surpassing the initial stage of the Heavenly Saint emanating from Ye Chen, Feng Lun Heavenly Saint knew that for Ye Chen now, killing him would be as effortless as blowing off dust!


    If he had known how formidable Ye Chen was, even if Yin Qianjue offered ten, no, a hundred Heavenly Wood Divine Flowers, he would never have chosen to confront Ye Chen.


    What use would more Heavenly Wood Divine Flowers be if he had no life left to enjoy them?


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was already full of regret. When Ye Chen¡¯s killing intent was released towards him, he couldn¡¯t help but wail and beg for mercy, "Ye Chen, spare my life! I am a Heavenly Saint of the Heavenly Saint Mountain, you can¡¯t kill me!"


    Looking at Feng Lun Heavenly Saint begging for mercy, Ye Chen snorted coldly.


    Spare your life?


    I nearly died at your hand, and yet to spare you would be a joke!


    Whether it was the peril of death or the damage to the life-force of my flying sword, you shall pay with your life!


    Murderous intent surged in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, and the destructive power from the damaged life-force of his flying sword was released with a roar, sweeping towards Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s sea of qi and throughout his body, directly shattering his sea of qi and rendering his meridians useless!


    Then, Ye Chen squeezed hard, and a strange Divine Soul force surged into the soon-to-be-dead Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s mind.


    This Divine Soul force was unexpectedly a "Soul Searching Secret Skill" that Ye Chen had cultivated from the "Forbidden Divine Tome," which he had acquired from Heavenly Saint Moya.


    Having been hunted by Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, it was only natural for Ye Chen to investigate the reason.


    Taking advantage of the moment Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s sea of qi and meridians were destroyed, when he was at his most vulnerable, was the perfect opportunity to search his soul for answers.


    Overwhelmed by the Divine Soul force invading his mind, the already vulnerable Feng Lun Heavenly Saint passed out completely.


    Minutes later, the hand clasped on Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s head flung violently, tossing the unconscious Feng Lun Heavenly Saint away. At the same time, Ye Chen pocketed the storage ring and the Great Destructive God Bead he had found on Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, flicked his finger, and a cluster of flames flew straight at Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    Boom!


    In an instant, the early-stage Heavenly Saint contender Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, who was unconscious, was burned to nothingness by True Fire.


    Having killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, a glint flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, "Yin Qianjue? Heavenly Wood Divine Flower? So it really was the work of someone from the Western Desolation Demon Sect!"


    "Once I have dealt with the Nine Nether Pond, I will settle the score with Yin Qianjue!"


    ...


    One day later.


    A youthful figure stood atop a snow-covered mountain, gazing at a vast expanse of ice and snow in front of him.


    Looking deep into the ice and snow plain, one could faintly see a hundred-zhang-sized, gloomy and cold pond, situated right in the midst of the icy plain.


    This youthful figure was unmistakably Ye Chen, who after dealing with Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, had left Frostfall Town and hurried to the region of the Nine Nether Pond.


    After Ye Chen had killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, another incident occurred in Frostfall Town. With the fall of the three leaders of the Heavenly Tiger Gang, the previously brazen and powerful group in Frostfall Town was besieged by the entire town¡¯s forces.


    The Black Wind Stronghold, occupied by the Heavenly Tiger Gang, was obliterated overnight!


    The bandits of the Heavenly Tiger Gang, those who had committed evil deeds, were either killed or fled. Overnight, the Heavenly Tiger Gang, which had chilled the hearts of countless townspeople of Frostfall Town, became history. Even the young leader of the Heavenly Tiger Gang, who had been crippled by Ye Chen, was directly killed by disciples of the "Snowfall Sect," a sixth-rank sect in Frostfall Town.


    However, as Ye Chen made his way to the Nine Nether Pond, he paid no attention to any of this.


    Even those powerhouses of Frostfall Town who had heard of Ye Chen¡¯s deeds and rushed to the tavern to pay homage to him found themselves too late.


    Atop the snowy mountain, Ye Chen was looking towards the ice and snow plain and the gloomy cold pond in the center of the plain.


    "Crossing this mountain, I will enter the territory of the Nine Nether Pond."


    "It is said that the Nine Nether Pond is frozen for tens of miles with no life present, truly extraordinary. Just standing on the outskirts, the bone-chilling cold penetrating through is astonishing."


    "I fear even some Heavenly Saint powerhouses would not be truly able to approach the edge of the Nine Nether Pond."


    Ye Chen gazed at the frigid pond in front of him, a cluster of blue flame slowly burning in his hand. As the cold air surged, even the flames seemed ready to freeze.


    Boom!


    Ye Chen squeezed his palm, drawing the flames back into his body.


    "Fortunately, I have cultivated the Taiyuan Chapter and possess the Five Great Divine Arts. The fire-related Divine Art seems to be restrained here, but my water-related Divine Art seems to have become more lively."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    At the thought of Ye Chen, the eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills in his sea of qi began to spin, each Pill revealing a blue Divine Pill Law Pattern.


    "Let¡¯s see how mystical this Nine Nether Pond really is!"


    With the appearance of the blue Divine Pill Law Patterns, Ye Chen spread his wings like a great roc, leaping down from the snow mountain, and landing onto the ice and snow plain within the territory of the Nine Nether Pond.


    Then Ye Chen stepped forward, heading towards the gloomy cold pond that lay at the center of the icy snow plain.

 Chapter 370 - 332: Entering the Cold Pool

    Ye Chen landed at a place about thirty li from the Nine Nether Pond.


    Under normal circumstances, given Ye Chen¡¯s realm, he could have flown this distance in an instant. However, on the Ice Snow Plain of the Nine Nether Pond, Ye Chen dared not fly, instead walking step by step toward the pond.


    Even walking step by step, Ye Chen felt as if he was being continuously struck by an extremely terrifying force of ice, and was struggling to persevere.


    "The Nine Nether Pond truly deserves its reputation as a forbidden land that not even midpoint Heavenly Saint experts can reach!"


    "This icy force is truly fearsome, almost as if I am being attacked by a Heavenly Saint Realm expert! If I hadn¡¯t cultivated the Five Great Divine Arts of the Taiyuan Chapter, with my water-based divine art mysteriously blending with this icy force, I probably wouldn¡¯t be able to step onto this Ice Snow Plain at all!"


    After taking a dozen steps, Ye Chen stood on the Ice Snow Plain and took a long breath, gazing into the distance at the cold and obscure pond ahead.


    The path ahead was difficult.


    Even though he was on the verge of giving up, Ye Chen gritted his teeth and continued to move forward.


    The more difficult it was to enter the Nine Nether Pond, the more Ye Chen knew that the secrets hidden within it must be incredibly precious!


    A place where even late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts couldn¡¯t truly enter, if he discovered its opportunities, his gains would likely be unbelievably great!


    Of course, Ye Chen would not give up!


    The sudden assassination attempt by Feng Lun Heavenly Saint made Ye Chen realize how perilous the path of cultivation could be.


    If it weren¡¯t for his trump card of having his life-bound flying sword damaged, he might have already died at the hands of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!


    Now, the flying sword "Crimson Fire," having slain Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, had completely fallen into a deep sleep, not yet restored. Ye Chen couldn¡¯t even use the flying sword "Crimson Fire" any longer. What should he do if he encountered another, more dangerous assassination attempt?


    Of course, Ye Chen needed to further enhance his trump cards and prepare even more!


    The Nine Nether Pond, Ye Chen had a feeling that if he actually managed to enter it, it would be a great help to his Taiyuan Chapter Taiyuan Divine Pill and Five Great Divine Arts cultivation, allowing his strength to improve once again.


    Ye Chen would certainly not miss out!


    Huff! Huff!


    Ye Chen took each step with difficulty, advancing toward the Nine Nether Pond.


    The Nine Nether Pond was frozen over for tens of li. Countless explorers had failed, and few had set foot here in recent years; at this moment, Ye Chen was the only person on the entire Ice Snow Plain, making his way towards the cold and mysterious "Nine Nether Pond."


    About five li into his journey, Ye Chen was suddenly swept by a powerful blast of icy force, flung dozens of zhang back, and landed on the Ice Snow Plain with a thunderous crash.


    Ye Chen felt as if his entire core of energy and his flesh were being tormented by that force of ice, as if they were about to be torn apart!


    "I can¡¯t go on like this."


    "At this rate, I simply cannot make it to the edge of the Nine Nether Pond, let alone enter the pond to explore!"


    Ye Chen pushed himself up, standing again, his expression grave as he listened to the howling of the icy force ahead.


    "My water-based divine art has not been activated. Even though it holds a peculiar efficacy against this icy force, without activation, its effect is limited."


    Of the Five Great Divine Arts Ye Chen had cultivated, only the fire-based and earth-based arts, powered by the fire-based secret treasure "Little Blue Flame True Fire" and the earth-based secret treasure "Nine Spirits Treasure Soil," had truly entered the state of cultivation. The other three arts had not started activation or cultivation yet.


    Without activating the water-based divine art, though it allowed Ye Chen to walk several li on the Ice Snow Plain, there was still a gap that prevented him from successfully reaching the edge of the Nine Nether Pond.


    "It seems I¡¯ll have to try and activate the water-based divine art first."


    With a thought, Ye Chen materialized a storage ring in the palm of his hand.


    Then, a blue box flew out from the storage ring.


    "Fighting against Feng Lun Heavenly Saint cost me my flying sword trump card, putting ¡¯Crimson Fire¡¯ to sleep."


    "But fortunately, I also gained something. Perhaps this gain could help me successfully enter the Nine Nether Pond!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s storage ring, which he held in his hand, was plundered from Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, and the icy blue box it contained was a water-element secret treasure known as Limitless Heavy Water.


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint had cultivated the three great Heavenly Void Laws of water, fire, and metal to their utmost completeness. His storage ring just happened to contain the water-element secret treasure "Limitless Heavy Water" and the fire-element secret treasure "Crimson Fire".


    When Ye Chen first obtained the storage ring, he inspected the treasures inside and planned to devour these two great secret treasures after completing his adventure in the Nine Nether Pond. However, he didn¡¯t expect to find a use for these treasures now on the Ice Snow Plain!


    Holding the icy blue box that contained the "Limitless Heavy Water", Ye Chen sat cross-legged directly upon the Ice Snow Plain and began to devour and cultivate the water-element secret treasure.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Snowflakes fluttered above the Ice Snow Plain, and under the blowing force of the frost, they landed directly upon the seated Ye Chen. In no time, a layer of white snow had adorned him.


    But Ye Chen paid no attention to the falling snow and frost. His mind had already completely immersed itself in the devouring and refining of the Limitless Heavy Water within his body.


    This process of refining continued unabated for over a day.


    After more than a day passed, Ye Chen, who was seated on the Ice Snow Plain, had completely turned into an ice-encased snowman.


    This ice-covered snowman remained utterly motionless on the Ice Snow Plain.


    But the moment his cultivation was complete, the ice and snow covering Ye Chen began to crackle, and with a "boom", all the snowflakes and frost on his body were suddenly propelled outward, flying away.


    The seated Ye Chen opened his eyes at once.


    At the moment his eyes opened, one could see the divine light of water, fire, and earth flashing within his pupils!


    "Water-element Divine Art, the Heavenly Origin Divine Water!"


    "With the aid of the Limitless Heavy Water secret treasure, I¡¯ve finally activated the water-element Divine Art and entered the cultivation of Heavenly Origin Divine Water."


    With a broad wave of his hand, Ye Chen¡¯s palm immediately condensed droplets of faint blue water beads, each containing a tremendously terrifying combat power that pulsed violently.


    Boom!


    The moment Ye Chen opened his eyes, he stood up and waved his hand. The faint blue water beads in his palm surfaced around his body, and hundreds more faint blue water beads burst forth from within his body.


    Ye Chen was now surrounded by more than five hundred faint blue water beads!


    Simultaneously, one could see that inside Ye Chen, the Five Apertures Rotating Pills, with the water-element Divine Pill pattern, shone with a dazzling water-element light.


    "Water-element Divine Art indeed has great marvelous uses!"


    "After activation, I feel that the freezing forces, which used to hinder me greatly, seem to be at my disposal now."


    "It¡¯s very possible that with this power, I can truly enter the Nine Nether Pond!"


    After murmuring to himself, Ye Chen leapt up, and with a burst of speed, he flew towards the distant Nine Nether Pond.


    While in flight and with the flashing of more than five hundred faint blue water beads around him, the frosty power of the entire Ice Snow Plain surged into the water beads, significantly enhancing Ye Chen¡¯s flying speed!


    Ye Chen, who could previously only walk hesitantly towards the Nine Nether Pond, could now fly directly over the Ice Snow Plain of the Nine Nether Pond after refining the water-element secret treasure and activating the Taiyuan Chapter¡¯s water-element Divine Art!


    If any of those Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses were to witness this, their jaws would surely drop!


    You should know, even a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existence wouldn¡¯t dare to fly like this over the Ice Snow Plain of the Nine Nether Pond!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After three flashes, Ye Chen, who was flying over the Ice Snow Plain, finally arrived at the edge of the Nine Nether Pond.


    Looking at the hundred-zhang-radius of dark and cold pond before him, even in the terrifyingly frosty region of Nine Nether Pond where the pond water should be frozen, it was instead glistening and undisturbed.


    After taking a moment to observe the Nine Nether Pond, Ye Chen didn¡¯t hesitate any longer. With a leap, he plunged into the waters of the Nine Nether Pond.

 Chapter 371 - 333: Sudden Change

    Ice-cold.


    A coldness that pierces straight to the heart.


    As soon as Ye Chen plunged into the Nine Nether Pond, the first sensation was that his entire physical body and mind and spirit were about to be shattered by an ice-cold feeling.


    Only when Ye Chen invoked the Water Element Divine Arts, causing the Divine Pill Law Patterns of water element on the five apertures rotating pills within him to shine brightly and over five hundred faint blue water beads outside his body to spin continuously, did the ice-cold feeling begin to subside slightly.


    Afterward, Ye Chen began to dive deeper into the Nine Nether Pond while taking in the sights of the pond.


    In the waters, Ye Chen saw a glow of light shining upward from the bottom. Under this illumination, the water of the entire Nine Nether Pond appeared a vast expanse of white.


    From the scrolls recording information about the Nine Nether Pond, Ye Chen knew that even some incomparably powerful mid-stage Heavenly Saints had entered the pond in the past, but many had perished within, and even those who managed to escape were severely injured by the chilling aura.


    Even the late-stage Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Skyscraper Palace Master, had only managed to dive around thirty to sixty zhang deep before he could no longer continue.


    It can be said that a depth of thirty to sixty zhang was already the furthest any explorer had managed to descend into the Nine Nether Pond.


    But Ye Chen found that, after resisting the initial icy sensation with his Water Element Divine Arts, he seemed to dive deeper unabated.


    Unknowingly, Ye Chen had already reached a depth of more than ten zhang and was still descending.


    Ye Chen¡¯s depth of descent had even surpassed the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s past depth in the Nine Nether Pond!


    "Water Element Divine Arts, indeed extremely useful against this freezing pond!"


    "It¡¯s no wonder that the third chapter, the Taiyuan Chapter, of the Primordial Star Scripture, with one of the Five Great Divine Arts capable of devouring and refining all Five Elements Secret Treasures, is indeed able to resist the cold qi of the Nine Nether Pond!"


    By the time he descended over twenty zhang deep, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but become excited.


    At this rate, he might very well become the first person to unravel the secrets of the Nine Nether Pond!


    It should be known that upon learning that the Nine Nether Pond might contain a supreme Five Elements Secret Treasure, Ye Chen speculated that relying on the Five Great Divine Arts he might be able to attempt to secure this treasure, but that was merely a guess.


    Ye Chen had no absolute certainty that he could surpass many Heavenly Saints and enter the Nine Nether Pond.


    And now, having actually arrived at the realms of the Nine Nether Pond, and truly diving to depths that even late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings couldn¡¯t, Ye Chen was naturally ecstatic!


    Even if he ended up getting nothing from the pond in the end, Ye Chen had broken the record of all the adventurers who had explored the Nine Nether Pond before, becoming the record-breaking first explorer of the Nine Nether Pond!


    Amidst his frenzy of excitement, Ye Chen continued to dive deeper into the Nine Nether Pond.


    Thirty zhang.


    Fifty zhang.


    One hundred zhang.


    Five hundred zhang.


    The deeper he went, the more incredible Ye Chen found it.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t anticipated that a mere hundred zhang wide pond would be so deep!


    If it weren¡¯t for his tremendously strong powers, setting aside the frigid qi of the pond itself, the sheer pressure of such depth might be insurmountable for many.


    "There is nothing but water here."


    "It is feared that all the secrets of the Nine Nether Pond lie at the bottom."


    "Just how deep is the bottom?"


    Ye Chen gritted his teeth and continued towards the bright spot at the bottom of the pond.


    This dive lasted for a substantial half an hour, and in the end, Ye Chen had descended over three thousand zhang, nearly ten thousand meters deep!


    At this time, Ye Chen finally saw the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond.


    When Ye Chen saw the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond, he couldn¡¯t help being greatly shocked.


    Ye Chen had assumed he would find an invaluable Water Element Secret Treasure at the bottom of this pond, or perhaps some other treasure.


    But when he actually looked at the bottom of this icy pond, ten thousand meters deep, he saw strands of vines emitting light, continuously dancing. The light shining above the Nine Nether Pond came from these glowing vines.


    Even more bizarre were these dancing vines, which intertwined as they moved, forming a strange pathway filled with endless Divine Light!


    The bottom of the ten-thousand-meter-deep Nine Nether Pond turned out to be made of these luminous vines, which had formed an extraordinarily strange pathway, leading to an unknown destination.


    This scene was something even Ye Chen had not anticipated.


    Just as Ye Chen was uncertain whether to enter this even more mysterious pathway of vines or to safely leave this mysterious Nine Nether Pond for good, a shocking change occurred.


    He saw the glowing vines at the bottom suddenly burst into a blinding light, which did not scatter elsewhere but enveloped Ye Chen completely.


    As the blinding light covered him, Ye Chen felt his entire Mind and Spirit being invaded by a strange force.


    A mere few breaths after this force invaded, a peculiar voice that did not seem to belong to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent suddenly echoed in Ye Chen¡¯s ear.


    This voice, resounding in his ears, directly converted into a language Ye Chen could understand, "Bone age sixteen, combat power of a Saint at this continent, meets first-stage selection criteria, Immortalize without killing."


    Immortalize without killing.


    These three faint words greatly alarmed Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit.


    The moment these three words rang in Ye Chen¡¯s ear, he even felt that if he did not meet this so-called criterion, no matter how formidable he was, he would die at the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond!


    "First-stage selection criteria? What in the world is this talking about?"


    As Ye Chen reeled in shock, the glowing vines at the bottom, following the end of the strange voice, seemed to receive a command and surged toward him, coiling around him.


    The speed of these vines coiling around him was incomparably fast, far surpassing even the speed of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, whom Ye Chen had previously battled against by countless times.


    Ye Chen instinctively wanted to dodge, but he simply couldn¡¯t; in an instant, countless vines had wrapped around him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This sudden change made Ye Chen cry out in alarm. With a thought, the killing forces of the three Divine Arts out of the Five Great Divine Arts he had cultivated¡ªthe Fire Element Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," the Water Element Divine Art "Heavenly Origin Divine Water," and the Earth Element Divine Art "Earth Returning to Origin Art"¡ªwere unleashed, slashing furiously at these vines.


    At the same time, Ye Chen also unleashed the Swordsmanship Divine Art "Great Five Elements Sword Light."


    However, all of these methods, when applied to the vines no thicker than a thumb, failed to sever them. They didn¡¯t even leave a scratch on any of the vines.


    "The Nine Nether Pond is indeed a place even late Heavenly Saint Realm beings cannot probe."


    "Just these vines alone, their strength likely exceeds the Heavenly Saint Level!"


    "This place certainly hides a major secret, it¡¯s probably more than just a valuable Five Elements Secret Treasure!"


    Unsuccessfully slashing at the vines that bound him, without being able to inflict the slightest injury, made Ye Chen¡¯s heart race.


    It wasn¡¯t until he saw that the vines that could easily kill him only wrapped around him without actually harming him, that Ye Chen¡¯s heart slightly calmed down.


    Immortalize without killing.


    Ye Chen knew that he must have narrowly escaped a death, the cause of which he utterly did not understand, because of the strange voice¡¯s declaration of not killing him.


    What he would face next, however, Ye Chen had no idea.


    Just as Ye Chen¡¯s heart had slightly calmed down, the vines binding him suddenly contracted, pulling him into the strange pathway within the vines.


    Then, in an instant of flashing light, Ye Chen disappeared from the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond.


    Ye Chen had completely entered the other end of the pathway, radiating with unfathomable Divine Light.

 Chapter 372 - 334: Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple

    At the moment when Ye Chen was dragged into the mysterious passage by the glowing tendrils, he was directly struck by an unknown force that knocked him out.


    When Ye Chen awoke again, he found himself within a massive hall.


    "Where is this?"


    "Could it be that this is the place the mysterious passage at the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond leads to?"


    Ye Chen surveyed the grand hall he was in, which was over a thousand feet in length, width, and height. What astonished him the most was that the hall was entirely crystalline white, radiating an endless chill as if it were a palace made of ice and snow.


    On the four walls and the dome of the grand hall, numerous complex and mysterious carvings were engraved. These carvings turned out to be diagrams of human figures practicing meditation in a seated position. With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Ye Chen investigated these patterns and discovered that the total number of diagrams on the walls and dome was exactly eight hundred and ten.


    Having delved into the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond, found the luminous tendrils that were incredibly powerful, and been inexplicably brought into this ice and snow hall, with its eight hundred and ten mysterious diagrams¡ª all this completely scrambled Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts.


    Ye Chen knew that this exploration of the Nine Nether Pond had exceeded his expectations!


    He originally thought the Nine Nether Pond was merely hiding a Water Element Five Elements Secret Treasure, but now it seemed that the secrets contained here were definitely not as simple as just a Water Element Five Elements Secret Treasure!


    As Ye Chen was examining the mysterious grand hall and speculating about everything that had suddenly occurred, a voice reached his ears.


    This voice was strikingly identical to the one he had heard at the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond.


    It was also strangely unlike the voices of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    In the end, this voice also switched to a language Ye Chen could understand, "Congratulations, intruder, congratulations on passing the first stage of the selection and arriving at the ¡¯Sub Palace¡¯ of the ¡¯Icebound Temple.¡¯


    Icebound Temple Sub Palace?


    First stage selection?


    Ye Chen remembered that earlier at the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond, he had heard this voice mention that he met the criteria for the first stage selection, which was why he wasn¡¯t killed.


    Now it appeared that by passing this so-called first stage, he had arrived here.


    Icebound Temple Sub Palace.


    This place emanating an endless chill, crystal clear as snow, which looked like an ice and snow hall was known as the Icebound Temple Sub Palace.


    Where there¡¯s a Sub Palace, there surely must be a main hall.


    Where could the main hall be?


    Ye Chen pondered in his heart.


    While Ye Chen was contemplating, the voice continued, "Intruder, since you have passed the first phase of selection and come here, I will also convey to you the matters of the Icebound Temple."


    "What happens here is related to whether you can survive, and further relates to some secret news of my master, so listen carefully."


    The voice spoke indifferently, but it made Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit focus.


    Related to whether I can survive?


    And related to the master of this voice?


    The glowing tendrils at the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond, which he couldn¡¯t harm in the slightest even with his full strength, had already made Ye Chen realize that the mysterious power here could easily kill him.


    Matters concerning life and death were, of course, not to be taken lightly by Ye Chen.


    Moreover, the power exhibited by the glowing vines let Ye Chen know that the owner of this voice was very likely a being who had transcended the Heavenly Saint Realm, possibly even surpassing the Void Sky True God¡ªmaybe even more!


    All this, of course, caused Ye Chen to gather all his Mind and Spirit to listen to the words spoken by this voice.


    And the first sentence that came next from the voice completely changed Ye Chen¡¯s expression.


    "My master," the voice said, "is not from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, nor from the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm Barbaric Wilderness Continent, also known as Celestial Spirit Star. My master comes from another star, another continent; my master is a great Divine King!"


    Divine King!


    Those two words caused an explosion in Ye Chen¡¯s mind.


    Ye Chen had long heard that above the Void Sky True God, there was an even more powerful realm of the Space-Time God King.


    In the past, the older generation of Void Sky True Gods from Jiang Yao¡¯s Divine Phoenix Clan were attempting to break through to the Space-Time God King Realm, which is why they had travelled to other regions, inadvertently providing an opportunity to the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, the two powerful God Clans, to attack the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    According to legends, the Void Sky True God comprehends the Laws of Time, while the Space-Time God King fully grasps both the formidable Laws of Time and Space, a true power able to traverse the void and the stars!


    Ye Chen had never expected that his exploration in the Nine Nether Pond would lead him to a secret associated with the existence of a "Divine King."


    Furthermore,


    The voice had also stated that its master, the great Divine King, came from another planet.


    Ye Chen had never imagined that he would encounter someone from another planet on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Ye Chen himself had only arrived in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent through the transportation of his Divine Soul by the Starlight Tower from Earth, and so he was very aware that this world was not as simple as just the Minor Spirit Realm or the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Now, the words spoken by the voice made it clear to Ye Chen that beyond the Minor Spirit Realm, there might be countless planets and continents¡ªmuch like Earth was just one of the myriad continents.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit were violently shaken as the voice, seemingly sensing Ye Chen¡¯s excitement, continued to speak: "The starry sky is vast and infinite."


    "Intruder, although you are an extremely talented genius on this continent, you are still very weak when compared to the entire cosmos and the numerous Star Domains."


    "Although my master has become immensely strong and has cultivated to the ¡¯God King Realm,¡¯ he is not the most powerful being. Above him, there are existences who can dominate Star Domains, those in the even greater ¡¯Divine Venerable Realm¡¯!"


    "True Gods are merely strong beings on ordinary planets. Only Divine Kings can truly traverse the cosmos, while the great ¡¯Divine Venerables¡¯ are the true powerhouses of the Star Domains!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The words spoken by the voice were like a sudden enlightenment, broadening Ye Chen¡¯s horizons.


    Ye Chen finally understood the more powerful Realms!


    It turns out that above the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Rotating Pill Realm, Heavenly Saint Realm, and the Void Sky True God Realm, there also exist the God King Realm and the Divine Venerable Realm!


    Moreover, Ye Chen had a feeling that even the Divine Venerable Realm may not be the limit, as the Zi Ji Star Lord who left him the ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture¡¯ might possess a Realm even higher than the Divine Venerable Realm!


    Ye Chen felt that he still had countless journeys to undertake, to traverse the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the Minor Spirit Realm, and even countless planets and the Endless Star Domains¡ªthat would be the only way not to let down the inheritance of the Primordial Star Scripture that had brought him to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    "Intruder," the voice continued, "after my master was gravely injured by another powerful being, he ultimately fell on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Before his fall, he placed five Sub Palaces in five different regions of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    "This Sub Palace is one of those five, and I am the Hall Spirit of this Sub Palace."


    "Thirty thousand years have passed since my master fell. Throughout these thirty thousand years, my selection mechanism has not shut down, which means that no one has acquired my master¡¯s legacy, no one has been deemed worthy to enter the primary hall of my master!"


    "Intruder, I hope you can pass the assessment of this Sub Palace and be worthy to enter my master¡¯s primary hall, to become my master¡ªthe inheritor of the great Divine King¡¯s legacy!"

 Chapter 373 - 335: Life and Death Assessment

    Become the chosen one of the great Divine King¡¯s legacy!


    The words of the Sub Palace Hall Spirit filled Ye Chen with a surging passion.


    Ye Chen, of course, desired to obtain the inheritance of a God King level individual. Once he gained such inheritance, coupled with his Primordial Star Scripture, the swordsmanship and Divine Arts of his Beiming God Clan, the Nine Transformation Fighting Body, and other techniques, Ye Chen¡¯s assault on even more formidable strengths would be much more assured.


    By then, not to mention the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, even if faced with the invasion of the Divine Phoenix Clan by the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, Ye Chen was confident in enhancing his power to confront them!


    By then, to completely resolve the blood feud and mortal enemies of the Southern Territory, to thoroughly avenge Jiang Yao, was no longer a fantasy!


    This, of course, filled Ye Chen with excitement and anticipation.


    But Ye Chen also knew that the inheritance of the Divine King was definitely not something so easily obtained. The fact that no one qualified for the inheritance in the thirty thousand years since the God King¡¯s fall indicated the difficulty of obtaining this inheritance.


    Not to mention breaking into the main hall of the Divine King, even the assessment of this Sub Palace had to be cautiously dealt with first!


    "Lord Hall Spirit, what is the assessment of this Icebound Temple Sub Palace? What must I do to pass this assessment?" Ye Chen calmed his mind and asked the Sub Palace Hall Spirit.


    The voice of the Sub Palace Hall Spirit echoed down: "The assessment for the Icebound Temple Sub Palace is divided into three major stages."


    "The first stage is to break into the Nine Nether Pond outside the Sub Palace and pass the skeletal age and realm test. Only those who meet the genius-level requirements set by the master can pass. You have already passed this stage."


    "The assessments of the second and third stages are related to the cultivation patterns on the walls and dome of this Sub Palace."


    The words of the Hall Spirit made Ye Chen¡¯s gaze immediately sweep towards the walls and the dome of the great hall once again, scanning the eight hundred and ten intricate and mysterious human sitting and cultivating patterns.


    "These eight hundred and ten cultivation patterns represent the eight hundred and ten foundational techniques of the master¡¯s core cultivation technique, the ¡¯Icebound Divine Body¡¯. The second stage assessment requires you to learn these foundational eight hundred and ten techniques within three years, to successfully lay the foundation for cultivating the Icebound Divine Body!"


    "Only after learning these eight hundred and ten techniques will you not be killed when you enter the main hall of the Icebound Temple in the future, and you will have the qualifications to obtain the master¡¯s true inheritance!"


    Three years, to learn the foundational eight hundred and ten techniques of the "Icebound Divine Body" described by these eight hundred and ten patterns?!


    Ye Chen was inwardly shocked.


    What surprised Ye Chen was not the cultivation itself, but the time for cultivation.


    If it was required for him to learn these foundational eight hundred and ten techniques in three years, wouldn¡¯t that mean he might spend about three years in this Sub Palace?


    Three years!


    This time, when he left the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he only planned to be gone for about a month, never thinking of being delayed outside for three years. This Icebound Temple Sub Palace was evidently not a place where messages could be sent out. If he was delayed here for three years, by the time he returned to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen didn¡¯t know what state of worry Jiang Yao would be in.


    Moreover, according to what Fairy Jia Luo had told him when he arrived in the Central Region, it was very possible for the great war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness to erupt in a few months. If he were to leave after three years, he would have no idea what the situation would be like; if Ye Chen wanted to help, it might be too late to contribute to the Southern Territory, which was of course undesirable to him!


    Three years was too long!


    "Lord Hall Spirit, does the second stage of the assessment really take about three years? I have very important matters to attend to, and I cannot afford such a long delay!" Ye Chen said.


    The Sub Palace Hall Spirit replied indifferently, "The second stage of the assessment is based on learning these eight hundred and ten cultivation secret patterns and successfully laying the foundation for the ¡¯Icebound Divine Body.¡¯ If your talent is strong enough, perhaps you won¡¯t need three years to complete the cultivation."


    "Of course, as the master said, even the most talented individuals would likely need at least two years to learn these eight hundred and ten patterns. Being able to complete the cultivation within three years would already be considered the pinnacle of genius."


    "Intruder, the issue you should consider is not whether three years is a long time, but whether you can learn this Cultivation Technique within these three years! The trial of the Divine King¡¯s legacy is not so easy to handle. According to the master¡¯s settings, if you cannot learn this technique within three years, there is only one outcome awaiting you, and that is to be annihilated!"


    "The master¡¯s legacy involves many great secrets that absolutely cannot be leaked. If you don¡¯t succeed, annihilation is the only outcome! Even erasing your memory might not suffice, as other Great Powerholders could use strange methods to restore it. The master would never take such a risk. Therefore, you can only survive if you pass the second phase of the trial within three years!"


    The words of the Sub Palace¡¯s Hall Spirit made Ye Chen¡¯s heart leap.


    Ye Chen recalled that when he had passed the first phase of the selection earlier, the Sub Palace¡¯s Hall Spirit had mentioned that he was not annihilated because he met the standards.


    Now it seemed that not only was the first phase a life-and-death challenge, but all subsequent tests were as well.


    If you don¡¯t succeed, there¡¯s only the path of demise!


    As Ye Chen pondered the next two major stages of the trial with a solemn expression, the Sub Palace¡¯s Hall Spirit¡¯s voice softened, "However, intruder, the three years of testing time is set by the Icebound Temple, not by your Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡¯s time."


    "My master, the great Divine King, has mastered the complete Time Law and Space Law, and is a Great Powerholder who can traverse the barriers of starry skies and time. The Icebound Temple¡¯s Sub Palace left by him naturally contains methods to manipulate the time flow rate."


    "The time flow rate here is a hundred times faster than that of your Barbaric Wilderness Continent, as stated by the master! You cultivate here for a hundred days, and only one day will have passed outside. This is also an opportunity that the master has bestowed upon you intruders!"


    Time flow rate a hundred times faster!


    Ye Chen was completely stunned.


    Ye Chen had also entered spaces with different time flow rates before, such as the Ancient God Tower in the Ancestral Land Secret Realm and the Divine Weapon - Fallen Sword that he entered at the Tai¡¯a Sword Sect, where the time flow was tenfold.


    At that time, in the tenfold time flow rate space, Ye Chen could feel the difference in the time flow rate, and his body even had some extra reactions. Now, he did not feel any difference in the time flow rate in this Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, so Ye Chen never imagined that it had a hundredfold time flow rate!


    Divine King!


    The master of this Icebound Temple indeed lived up to the existence of a God King Level, a Great Powerholder who controlled the complete Time Laws!


    Just from the feeling and multiple of this time flow rate alone, it far surpassed the Void Sky True God who created the Ancient God Tower and Fallen Sword!


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart surged with excitement. If it truly was a hundredfold time flow rate, then it meant that even if he cultivated here for three years, only eleven days would pass outside!


    In that case, he wouldn¡¯t waste too much time here, and he could also use the three years to substantially improve his strength!


    Ye Chen needed to remember that from the True Qi Realm to his current Rotating Pill Realm, considering the opportunities of different time flow rates, he had cultivated for only three to four years in total.


    If he successfully passed the tests here, not to mention the chance to gain the God King¡¯s Legacy, just the three years of cultivation would be enough for Ye Chen to make significant gains.


    Even if he had to fully dedicate himself to learning the "Icebound Divine Body" fundamental 810 forms and couldn¡¯t concentrate solely on True Qi Cultivation, he might still be able to greatly enhance his Taiyuan Divine Pill and the combat power of the Five Great Divine Arts in three years!


    Of course, all this assumes that he first passes the second and third stages of the trial, because failure would result in only one outcome: annihilation.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen suppressed his excitement and asked the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace, "Hall Spirit, the second phase of the trial involves fully mastering the 810 fundamental Secret Maps of the Icebound Divine Body. What then is the third phase of the trial?"


    Ye Chen clearly remembered the Hall Spirit mentioning that there were three major stages of the trial in total.


    The Sub Palace¡¯s Hall Spirit replied, "After you complete the second phase of the trial and successfully lay the foundation for the Icebound Divine Body, the third phase will be to withstand the irradiation of the Icebound Divine Light and battle the Icebound Guardians left by the master. If you break through the Icebound Guardians, it means you truly qualify to receive the news about the master¡¯s main Icebound Temple. At that time, you can go to the main temple as a successor and receive the master¡¯s true legacy!"


    "The third phase of the trial will not take too much time, the battle against the Icebound Guardians will last for three days."

 Chapter 374 - 336: Transcendence, Ice Domain Divine Stars!

    ```


    The Divine King inheritance assessment, three major stages of the assessment.


    The first stage, talent assessment at the Nine Nether Pool Bottom, was completed in the instant one was enveloped by the strange vine¡¯s radiance.


    The second stage, comprehending the "Icebound Divine Body" foundation of eight hundred and ten stances, with three years to complete it.


    The third stage, then, was to battle the Icebound Guardian of the Icebound Temple Subhall over the course of three days.


    The three major stages of the assessment, failure in any one stage, would be deemed a failure in the inheritance assessment, and one would be slain by the Icebound Temple Subhall left by the Divine King.


    Upon hearing the Subhall Spirit finish explaining about the assessment, Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    Having already broken into the Subhall, Ye Chen understood that if he wanted to get out, the Subhall Spirit would not let him, and he had to fight his way through this assessment!


    If he wanted to survive, he had to work hard and pass the assessments of these three major stages!


    Ye Chen knew that being worried or scared was of no use now, he could only focus his mind on the assessment, and step by step, get through the upcoming second and third stage assessments.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen directly asked the Subhall Spirit, "Honorable Subhall Spirit, may I now begin cultivating the eight hundred and ten basic Secret Maps of the Icebound Divine Body to take on the second stage of the assessment?"


    The Subhall Spirit¡¯s voice reached Ye Chen, "Are you ready?"


    "I am ready," Ye Chen nodded and said, "Please, Honorable Subhall Spirit, inform me where to start cultivating these eight hundred and ten maps."


    The Subhall Spirit said, "Once the official assessment period starts, the eight hundred and ten maps will display their cultivation sequence, and even the Heaven and Earth True Qi will pour out from the walls of the Icebound Temple Subhall, provided for your cultivation."


    "Since you are ready, then let the three-year assessment period begin now!"


    The Subhall Spirit¡¯s voice thundered, and as it resonated, Ye Chen saw the eight hundred and ten complex and mystical human meditation cultivation diagrams, all over the walls and dome of the huge Icebound Temple, suddenly light up.


    As these diagrams became thoroughly illuminated, streaks of light shot through the patterns. Ye Chen saw that starting with the first diagram on the eastern wall, the figures sitting in meditation seemed to come alive, all eight hundred and ten diagrams under a connected motion were akin to a grand master imparting to him a world-surpassing mysterious cultivation technique.


    After all eight hundred and ten diagrams had completely flashed once, Ye Chen already knew the sequence in which he needed to cultivate these eight hundred and ten diagrams; and the first diagram was precisely the first one on the eastern wall!


    Boom!


    Following the indication of the Secret Map, Ye Chen assumed a seated position with a Five-Hearts-Toward-Sky posture.


    The moment Ye Chen sat down, streams of incredibly dense True Qi burst forth from all around the walls of the Icebound Temple Subhall.


    This True Qi was exactly the Heaven and Earth True Qi left behind by the Subhall Spirit¡¯s great master, the Icebound Divine King, in the Subhall for intruders to cultivate the foundation of the Icebound Divine Body¡¯s eight hundred and ten stances.


    This Heaven and Earth True Qi was so dense that it was unbelievable, even denser than any True Qi Ye Chen had encountered in any of the cultivation sacred lands he had entered before, and he was now completely enveloped in it!


    The Heaven and Earth True Qi was ready, and what Ye Chen lacked was the cultivation, the breakthrough of the fundamental eight hundred and ten diagrams of the Icebound Divine Body.


    "The first diagram, Essence, Qi, and Spirit, all three must be activated, moving in the Circulation of Heaven, all converging within the eyes. Then, the eyes must leap across the diagram, reaching straight to the starry sky, to comprehend the origin of the Icebound Divine Body, and sense the divine origin of the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars that the Divine King once dwelled upon!"


    As soon as Ye Chen entered into the comprehension of the first diagram, he felt innumerable words reverberate into his mind. These words depicted a method of cultivation secret skills that Ye Chen had never before encountered.


    Following the secret skills narrated by the words, Ye Chen began to turn his Essence, Qi, and Spirit, entering into the full cycle of the Circulation of Heaven.


    This comprehension lasted three hours.


    In these three hours, Ye Chen did not move an inch, while the Subhall Spirit watched over him with full attention.


    "The first of the eight hundred and ten diagrams of the Icebound Divine Body fundamentals is the most important one, even more so than the last diagram!"


    "Because, without the talent, and if one is ill-fated with the cultivation of the Icebound Divine Body, then even if they exhausted the entire three years, they might not grasp this first diagram!"


    "The master once said, to successfully cultivate the eight hundred and ten diagrams within three years, if one could comprehend through the first diagram within five days, then there is hope."


    Thinking of this, the Subhall Spirit looked at Ye Chen with a gaze filled with worry and expectation, "This youth, is the first person to enter this particular Subhall of the five in thirty thousand years!"


    "Of the five Subhalls, mine has the highest entry requirements. In these thirty thousand years, according to my senses, the other four Subhalls have had hundreds of people enter, but all those hundreds of people failed during the second stage, while attempting to comprehend the eight hundred and ten stances of the Icebound Divine Body fundamentals, and ultimately, they were all slain!"


    "This youth, to possess Heavenly Saint Level battle power at the age of sixteen, his talent is definitely extraordinary, and even among those who have entered the five Subhalls for assessment over these thirty thousand years, he is probably among the very best."


    "I hope that he can become the first person to successfully pass the three challenges of the Subhall, to become the inheritor who can step into the true Icebound Temple!"


    ```


    The spirit of the Icebound Temple had been waiting for thirty thousand years.


    It did not wish to see the arrival of one who would be slain; if so, it was unknown how many more years it would have to wait for another qualified individual to enter this auxiliary temple.


    Naturally, it hoped Ye Chen would succeed in the trial!


    Of course, although the spirit of the auxiliary temple was full of hope for Ye Chen, the trial of the auxiliary temple was set by its master, the great Divine King, and it could not help Ye Chen even if it wanted to.


    In taking on the trial of the auxiliary temple, Ye Chen could only rely on himself!


    "Entrant, young lad, I hope you can create a miracle," the spirit of the auxiliary temple murmured, silently awaiting the results of Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation.


    This wait lasted an entire day.


    When the second day dawned, the spirit of the auxiliary temple thought it would be like the first day, a day of waiting.


    But two hours into the second day, Ye Chen, sitting cross-legged in the center of the great hall of the Icebound Temple¡¯s auxiliary temple, suddenly burst into an endless radiance.


    Within the outburst of light, it was apparent that Ye Chen¡¯s gaze, as he looked at the first picture, seemed to penetrate the image, as if gazing into the vast void of the cosmos.


    Even more miraculous was that within Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, endless stars were fleeting by, and Ye Chen felt as though his entire essence, Qi, and spirit had soared above the skies of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    No, not just above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Ye Chen saw the entire expanse of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the other thirty-two continents beside it, and even the astonishingly large star that these thirty-three continents orbited around!


    "Minor Spirit Realm!"


    "Surrounded by thirty-three continents, that is the upper realm of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the Minor Spirit Realm, also known as the Celestial Spirit Star mentioned by the Divine King!"


    Ye Chen gained sudden enlightenment; while pondering the first picture, he had directly transcended the bounds of space and time, and seen the Minor Spirit Realm, which he had never witnessed before!


    All of this happened in a flash.


    Before Ye Chen could further observe the Minor Spirit Realm, he felt his essence, Qi, and spirit flying towards a place even farther away.


    As he flew, Ye Chen saw gigantic star continents pass by in front of his eyes and felt his spirit continuously lifting towards farther places.


    In the end, Ye Chen directly saw nine stars larger than the Minor Spirit Realm, all covered in white snow¡ªthe snow-white Ice Domain Divine Stars.


    Ice Domain Divine Stars!


    This was precisely the place where the Icebound Divine King had grasped the origin of the Icebound Divine Body, the Ice Domain Divine Stars!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    While Ye Chen was immersed in the profound and incomparable spiritual enlightenment, as if traversing countless distances, he saw the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars.


    Within the Icebound Temple¡¯s auxiliary temple, atop the meditating body of Ye Chen, the radiating light also suddenly shifted, revealing nine star patterns.


    The nine star patterns started rotating at nine locations on Ye Chen¡¯s body, and at the same time, the extremely dense Heaven and Earth True Qi within the temple began to pour frantically into Ye Chen¡¯s body following the nine rotating positions.


    "The Divine Stars appear, the Divine Body awakens!"


    "Just the second day, it¡¯s only the second day, and this young lad has already comprehended the mysteries of the first picture!" the spirit of the auxiliary temple exclaimed internally!


    Its master had once said that if one could understand the first picture in five days, there was a great hope of grasping all eight hundred and ten pictures within three years.


    Now, Ye Chen had taken just one whole day, and only two hours into the second day, he had already comprehended the first picture.


    How could this not astonish the spirit of the auxiliary temple to the extreme?!


    If it weren¡¯t afraid of disturbing Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation, the spirit of the auxiliary temple would have even been unable to refrain from letting out a real shout!


    Ye Chen¡¯s performance made the spirit of the auxiliary temple feel that perhaps this young man truly had a significant chance to successfully pass the three major stages of the Icebound Temple¡¯s auxiliary temple trial!


    Perhaps this young man could become the first in thirty thousand years to be qualified to inherit the Icebound Divine King¡¯s legacy, to enter the main hall of the Icebound Temple!

 Chapter 375 - 337: The Colossal Hand That Supports the Heavens

    The deputy temple spirit was inexplicably excited.


    Ye Chen, the focus of the deputy temple spirit¡¯s gaze, had his mind completely immersed in the shock of fully comprehending the first of the eight hundred and ten foundational diagrams of the Icebound Divine Body.


    "The Icebound Divine Body is a Divine Path Skill specialized in cultivating the physical body, even more mysterious and powerful than the Nine Transformation Fighting Body I¡¯ve practiced!"


    "This Divine Path Skill was comprehended by the owner of the Icebound Temple, the Divine King, from the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars. Once the Icebound Divine Body is fully cultivated, one can even draw Divine Energy directly from the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars, with boundless power!"


    "These eight hundred and ten foundational techniques serve as the starting methods for laying the foundations of the Divine Body. The first diagram allowed a Nine-Star Whirlpool to appear in my flesh, drawing in the true qi of heaven and earth, and the second diagram begins the cultivation of the Icebound Divine Light within the physical body!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After sensing the changes in his body, Ye Chen¡¯s mind stirred, the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars in his eyes disappeared, and he turned his gaze back to the second diagram on the wall.


    As Ye Chen observed the second diagram, the nine swirling star patterns on his body also began to move and change in accordance with the cultivation method depicted in the second diagram.


    Having fully comprehended the first diagram, Ye Chen then completely immersed himself in the insight of the second diagram.


    Time passed.


    Thirty days had gone by in the deputy temple of the Icebound Temple, and Ye Chen had already reached the thirty-seventh of the eight hundred and ten diagrams. At this time, Ye Chen was no longer seated within the great hall; instead, he floated within the vast emptiness of the giant temple!


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s entire bodily form radiated a milky white halo, and peering through the fabric of his garments at his flesh, one could even discern an extremely mystical aura of Icebound Divine Light emerging.


    Amidst the faint appearance of the Icebound Divine Light, one could sense a formidable and terrifying power concealed within Ye Chen¡¯s flesh.


    If a mighty being were to sense the strength of Ye Chen¡¯s body at this moment, they would undoubtedly be astonished; merely cultivating up to the thirty-seventh technique of this foundational Icebound Divine Body skill, his physical strength was nearly reaching the level of a Heavenly Saint.


    If he were to complete all eight hundred and ten techniques without relying on the Taiyuan Divine Pill or the Five Great Divine Arts, simply relying on the strength of his body alone, Ye Chen might possess yet another ability capable of contending with powerful Heavenly Saints!


    And this was merely the foundation of the Icebound Divine Body.


    The true Divine King¡¯s legacy, surpassing the foundational techniques of the Icebound Divine Body, was unimaginable in its potential might!


    The foundational eight hundred and ten techniques of the Icebound Divine Body involved making nine stars emerge, Divine Light entering the skin, Divine Light entering the hair, Divine Light entering the bones, Divine Light entering the acupoints, and finally, directly opening nine Divine Gates within the body, concealing Icebound Divine Energy!


    When the body opens all nine Divine Gates, that marks the complete cultivation of the eight hundred and ten foundational techniques!


    Thirty days passed, and Ye Chen cultivated up to the thirty-seventh diagram, completing the cultivation of Divine Light entering the skin.


    Eighty days passed, and Ye Chen had cultivated up to the one hundred and eighth diagram, mastering Divine Light entering the hair!


    Two hundred and thirty days passed, and Ye Chen finally completed the cultivation of Divine Light entering the bones, directly cultivating up to the three hundred and sixtieth diagram!


    And this timeframe was within the deputy temple of the Icebound Temple, where time flowed a hundred times faster than outside.


    In the actual Barbaric Wilderness Continent, barely over two days had passed!


    The deputy temple of the Icebound Temple left by the Divine King, with its hundredfold time acceleration law, was profoundly mysterious.


    ...


    At the bottom of the Nine Nether Pool, within the mysterious deputy temple of the Icebound Temple, Ye Chen was seizing the time, diligently cultivating the foundational eight hundred and ten techniques of the Icebound Divine Body, striving to complete the second stage of the Divine King¡¯s legacy assessment.


    Meanwhile, in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Yin Qianjue was in a state of panic.


    Even within his own residential estate, he hadn¡¯t sat down for two hours, pacing back and forth with a pallid face.


    "How is this possible, how could Brother Feng Lun die?!"


    Ever since he received the message three days ago from Heavenly Saint Mountain where Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was, stating that Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s Lifebound Law Placard had collapsed, he had been utterly flustered.


    The Lifebound Law Placard is a powerful Sacred Artifact used to monitor the safety of the Heavenly Saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain, containing the life essence and soul of a Heavenly Saint. Only when a Heavenly Saint falls does their Lifebound Law Placard collapse.


    Now, with the collapse of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s Lifebound Law Placard, it directly indicated that Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, one of the leading figures among the early-stage Heavenly Saints on Heavenly Saint Mountain, had fallen!


    This event had caused a great commotion throughout all of Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    The fall of a Heavenly Saint was a rare occurrence for the Heavenly Sacred Palace over these many years!


    Especially Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, who hadn¡¯t reached the end of his lifespan; his fall was definitely due to an accident!


    Other Heavenly Saints didn¡¯t know the reason for Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s death, but Yin Qianjue was completely petrified.


    Because he had received a message from Feng Lun Heavenly Saint some days ago, informing him that he was tracking Ye Chen, who had left the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and would seize the opportunity to eliminate Ye Chen.


    At that time, Yin Qianjue was looking forward to Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s successful return, but what he couldn¡¯t have anticipated was that Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, who was following Ye Chen, had actually met his demise!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen killed Brother Feng Lun?!"


    This thought suddenly appeared in Yin Qianjue¡¯s mind.


    As soon as this thought surfaced, Yin Qianjue shook his head in denial.


    "Impossible, Ye Chen is just at the early stage of the Pellet Rotating Realm, hasn¡¯t even passed the third floor of the Holy Temple Tower, his strength is merely that of an average early-stage Heavenly Saint, he absolutely could not defeat Brother Feng Lun!"


    However, since Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s death occurred while following Ye Chen, if he didn¡¯t die at Ye Chen¡¯s hand, then whose hand did he die by?


    "Could there be an even more powerful Heavenly Saint protecting Ye Chen?"


    Thinking of this, Yin Qianjue shivered with fear.


    If there really was a more powerful Heavenly Saint protecting Ye Chen, and if they found out it was he who had incited Feng Lun Heavenly Saint to kill Ye Chen, then he, Yin Qianjue, would truly be in trouble, and there might even be a threat to his life!


    "No, don¡¯t scare yourself."


    "Ye Chen is from the Southern Territory, and the strongest there is only Heavenly Saint Long Xuan at the beginning stage of Heavenly Saint. Moreover, I heard that Heavenly Saint Long Xuan is in seclusion; there are no powerful Heavenly Saints in the Southern Territory protecting Ye Chen."


    "Perhaps Brother Feng Lun met with some other accident."


    Yin Qianjue comforted himself internally, searching for all kinds of reasons for Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s downfall.


    But his heart could not calm down; it grew increasingly fearful.


    Yin Qianjue even considered leaving the Heavenly Sacred Palace to lay low for a while, but then he thought of the three great adventures soon to come, where he would have a chance to go to the Void Abyss again, and he hesitated to give up this opportunity.


    Eventually, amid doubts, anxiety, fear, and a stroke of luck, Yin Qianjue wrote a sound transmission letter and sent it back to the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness.


    He had to inform the Heavenly Saints of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness that his mission to have a Heavenly Saint assassinate Ye Chen had failed, with that Heavenly Saint¡¯s sudden demise!


    ...


    The Chaotic Sea Area was the most complex region on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, far from land, it was a sea of chaos.


    Countless Loose Cultivators lived there, numerous powers entrenched themselves, and even quite a few late-stage Heavenly Saint realm powerhouses resided within the Chaotic Sea.


    Just as Yin Qianjue was transmitting his message to the Heavenly Saints of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness to inform them of the failed assassination attempt on Ye Chen. However, unbeknownst to him, the two Heavenly Saints from the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness who had gone to the Chaotic Sea had come across a major incident.


    On this day.


    The two Heavenly Saints from the Western Wilderness, Heavenly Saint Mo Fang and Crimson Source Heavenly Saint, flew out of an island in the Chaotic Sea with smiles on their faces, heading back towards the Western Wilderness.


    "Crimson Source brother, who would have thought that we¡¯d have such a smooth trip to the Chaotic Sea seeking allies? The three friends from Rosy-Cloud Island were truly willing to help us from the Western Wilderness against the Southern Territory," Heavenly Saint Mo Fang said to Crimson Source Heavenly Saint with a smile.


    Crimson Source Heavenly Saint also nodded with a smile, "The three friends from Rosy-Cloud Island had once cultivated in the Heavenly Sacred Palace. With Yin Qianjue making the connection, and the generous gifts we from the Western Wilderness prepared for them, along with comparing our strength with that of the Southern Territory, they naturally wouldn¡¯t refuse."


    "The four Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness, along with the three friends from Rosy-Cloud Island, in total we have seven Heavenly Saints, while the Southern Territory only has three Heavenly Saints. Our strength absolutely crushes the Southern Territory."


    "Let¡¯s stick to the plan. Once we return to the Western Wilderness, we¡¯ll start preparations, and once the three friends arrive from Rosy-Cloud Island in a month, we¡¯ll officially launch the war against the Southern Territory!"


    Crimson Source Heavenly Saint and Heavenly Saint Mo Fang were undoubtedly overjoyed.


    For many years, the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness had been in a stalemate with their sworn enemies, the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory. Now, they finally had the opportunity to break this balance and defeat the Southern Territory, which thrilled them.


    Once they defeated the Southern Territory and took back control of its region, it was not just about regaining lost territory for these few remaining Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness.


    As the few remaining Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness, they were aware that the reason behind their desire to retake the Southern Territory was because the ancestor who founded the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness had discovered a shocking secret within the region of the Southern Territory!


    This shocking secret, as predicted by the founder ancestor, could be something even the Void Sky True Gods would go crazy for!


    The founder ancestor hadn¡¯t unraveled this great secret before he was killed, and even his followers were driven out of the Southern Territory. For all these years, the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness had been longing to return to the Southern Territory, ostensibly to recapture the lost region, but secretly, it was all for that great secret!


    "Let¡¯s go back and start preparing for the war."


    "Once we defeat the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory and drive them out of the region, we will be able to go back and unravel that great secret."


    The two Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness had these thoughts flickering in their minds as they flew towards the Western Wilderness.


    As they flew thousands of miles away from Rosy-Cloud Island and reached a part of the central Chaotic Sea Area, both Heavenly Saints suddenly felt their hearts skip a beat.


    They simultaneously sensed a threat of death!


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    Before Heavenly Saint Mo Fang and Crimson Source Heavenly Saint had time to exchange a glance, feeling alarmed, a colossal hand emerged from beneath the vast ocean where they were flying, and reached for them.


    This colossal hand, over three hundred yards long, seemed to capture the two Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness in the blink of an eye, snatching them from the void and plunging them into the sea!


    The two Heavenly Saints didn¡¯t even have a chance to resist and were directly grabbed by the colossal hand into the sea from the void!


    Moments later, the sea returned to calm, and the dried husks of the bodies of the two Heavenly Saints were thrown out from the sea!


    The two Heavenly Saints from the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness were instantaneously killed on their way back!


    And at this moment, looking down towards the bodies of the two Heavenly Saints, one could see amidst the endless waves, a figure with disheveled hair sitting cross-legged deep in the ocean, muttering to himself, "After devouring the essence blood of these two Heavenly Saints, some of the damage I suffered from forcibly traveling through the void to this Barbaric Wilderness Continent has finally healed a little."


    "Devouring a few more Heavenly Saints should allow me to recover my strength as the Void Sky True God."


    "However... while absorbing the essence blood of these two Heavenly Saints, it seems I¡¯ve learned something else. This minor Barbaric Wilderness Continent actually hides a great secret that even we Void Sky True Gods would covet?"


    "The Southern Territory region? Once I recover my strength, I shall have a good look at what kind of shocking secret it could possibly be!"


    "After all, I descended to this world to investigate the matter of the Divine Phoenix Clan. The possibility of any Divine Phoenix Clan members hiding in this Barbaric Wilderness Continent is slim, so there¡¯s no rush to search for them. But if I can solve this so-called shocking secret, it would be an unexpected gain."


    After murmuring to himself, the figure once again fell silent.


    But from his murmuring, it was shocking to realize that this figure was actually a Void Sky True God!


    And his descent to this Barbaric Wilderness Continent was to search for members of the Divine Phoenix Clan!

 Chapter 376 - 338: 3 Years, 10 Days

    The millions of martial artists from the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wastelands could never have imagined that two of their Heavenly Saints would die in such a manner.


    This is a Heavenly Saint!


    To be crushed to death like ants by a Void Sky True God!


    Not only the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wastelands, but the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent was unaware that such a Void Sky True God had descended to their world.


    They were even more oblivious to the fact that this Void Sky True God not only killed the two great Heavenly Saints of the Western Wastelands but later caused a massive upheaval in the Sea of Chaos and even spread the turmoil to the Thirteen Southern Nations and the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    It even brought tremendous trouble to Ye Chen!


    Of course, all of this is a story for later.


    At this moment, after having killed the two Heavenly Saints of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wastelands, the Void Sky True God continued to conceal himself within the Chaotic Sea Area to heal his wounds, his whereabouts unknown to others.


    Ye Chen, who was in the subsidiary hall of the Icebound Temple, was even more clueless.


    At this time, Ye Chen was still striving to pass the second stage of the Divine King inheritance test.


    The days passed one by one.


    When six hundred fifty-two days had elapsed inside the subsidiary hall of the Icebound Temple, translating to just over six days outside, Ye Chen had completed the eight hundred ninth of the fundamental eight hundred ten diagrams in his cultivation of the Icebound Divine Body.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was only one step away from fully completing the fundamental eight hundred ten forms of the Icebound Divine Body. He was only one diagram short of completing all eight hundred ten diagrams!


    Having completed the Nine Stars Emergence, Divine Light into Skin, Divine Light into Hair, Divine Light into Bone, and Divine Light into Acupuncture Points, one could see that every acupuncture point, every hair follicle, every cell in Ye Chen¡¯s body was flickering with the snow-white divine light of the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Ye Chen mobilized the power of his physical body, he already felt that just with his physical strength alone, he could absolutely crush an early-stage Heavenly Saint!


    Nearly two years of arduous cultivation of the basic techniques of the Divine King level Cultivation Technique, the Icebound Divine Body, had brought Ye Chen great gains and yet another powerful trump card!


    "It¡¯s not completely finished yet."


    "Although I have already made some achievements with the fundamental Divine Body, I am still one step shy of completing the basic cultivation, one last diagram short, that of opening the Nine Divine Doors."


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned to the most captivating diagram on the dome of the subsidiary hall of the Icebound Temple. That diagram was the eight hundred tenth one - the Nine Divine Doors Diagram.


    This eight hundred tenth diagram, like the first one, required cultivation methods that linked to the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars.


    The first diagram had drawn down a vortex of nine stars onto the body from the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars, whereas the last diagram involved opening nine divine doors within the body, capable of harboring the Icebound Divine Power.


    Only by opening the Nine Divine Doors could one truly begin cultivating the official technique of the Icebound Divine Body!


    "Come on, let¡¯s cultivate this final diagram now!"


    Ye Chen looked at the eight hundred tenth diagram, his eyes sparkling. He then stood up from his meditative pose in the void, clenching his raised hands above his head following the cultivation method indicated by the diagram.


    Within three years to complete the second stage of the cultivation test. With only six hundred fifty-two days used so far, Ye Chen had enough time to comprehend this diagram.


    Ye Chen had unshakeable confidence in completing the entire eight hundred ten diagrams of cultivation!


    With hands clenched above his head, Ye Chen also looked towards the dome of the subsidiary hall of the Icebound Temple. Finally, following the guiding method of the secret map on the dome, he traversed the endless starry sky once more and saw the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars.


    At this point, having completed the cultivation of the first eight hundred and nine diagrams, Ye Chen felt an inexplicable connection to the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars upon seeing them again.


    It was as if he had been cultivating on this Ice Domain Divine Star for a hundred, a thousand years!


    As if he was birthed by this Ice Domain Divine Star!


    There was a connection by blood.


    A connection by spirit and mind.


    This feeling, this realization, persisted for a good half hour. Then, Ye Chen, standing in the void in the subsidiary hall of the Icebound Temple, clenched his high-raised, imaginary-gripped hands with force.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    A tremendous storm suddenly erupted on the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars that Ye Chen¡¯s eyes perceived!


    Amidst the storm, pieces of ice and snow on the Ice Domain Divine Stars swirled wildly, forming nine huge icy doors on the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars.


    Meanwhile, the previously cultivated Icebound Divine Light in every pore, every acupuncture point, every cell of Ye Chen¡¯s body burst forth resplendently.


    In that effulgence, deep within Ye Chen¡¯s flesh, divine doors with patterns identical to the nine huge icy doors on the Ice Domain Divine Stars emerged.


    Divine Doors!


    These were unmistakably the Divine Doors that allowed his physical body to sense the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars, to draw on the Icebound Divine Power from them!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    It felt like the opening of heavens and earth. With the appearance of these Nine Divine Doors inside his body, Ye Chen felt a true connection to the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars.


    His power surged once more.


    Even though he had not yet truly cultivated the Icebound Divine Body and lacked the techniques to draw on the Icebound Divine Power, the groundwork laid by nearly two years of cultivating this technique had enabled him to easily slay even a powerful early-stage Heavenly Saint like Feng Lun Heavenly Saint with just his physical strength.


    Ye Chen had finally acquired another new trump card!


    The Divine Doors revealed, and the foundation was established.


    On the six hundred fifty-second day, Ye Chen finally completed the cultivation of the basic eight hundred and ten forms of the Icebound Divine Body!


    Boom!


    Ye Chen flew down from the void and stood once more on the land of the Icebound Temple.


    Although aware that little more than six days had passed on the outside, Ye Chen had truly spent six hundred fifty-two days within the secondary hall of the Icebound Temple!


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s longest cultivation session to date!


    "Divine King inheritance assessment, the second phase, is finally complete," Ye Chen said with a smile of relief on his face.


    Not completing the task would have led to his demise, so Ye Chen had naturally been somewhat worried, but now that he had succeeded in his cultivation, he could finally put his mind at ease.


    Ye Chen was smiling faintly, but at this moment, the Hall Spirit of the secondary hall of the Icebound Temple had gone completely crazy.


    Six hundred fifty-two days!


    The youth before it had taken only six hundred fifty-two days to complete the cultivation of the eight hundred and ten secret maps.


    This was more than a year ahead of the three-year timeline set by its master, the great Divine King!


    Unbelievable.


    The talented youth before it had shocked the Hall Spirit of the secondary hall of the Icebound Temple to its core.


    "Young man, what is your name?" the Hall Spirit of the secondary hall asked Ye Chen.


    Before, the Hall Spirit hadn¡¯t bothered to ask for Ye Chen¡¯s name because if Ye Chen had failed the second phase, there was only one outcome¡ªdeath. So, asking would have been pointless.


    But now the Hall Spirit knew that the youth before it might very well be the first true successor to complete the Divine King inheritance assessment!


    He might become the inheritor of its master, the great Divine King!


    At this time, it naturally needed to ask for Ye Chen¡¯s name.


    "Honorable Hall Spirit, my name is Ye Chen," Ye Chen replied with a smile to the Hall Spirit.


    "Ye Chen."


    "Ye Chen."


    The Hall Spirit repeated Ye Chen¡¯s name and then raised its voice, "Good, Ye Chen, you have completed the second phase of the assessment. As long as you complete the third phase of the assessment and defeat the Icebound Guardians, you will become the true inheritor of my master and receive news about the main hall of the Icebound Temple. By then, I should address you as Lord Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen, would you like to battle the Icebound Guardians now?" the Hall Spirit asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen shook his head, "Honorable Hall Spirit, you mentioned that there were three years to complete the second phase in this secondary hall. I have finished ahead of schedule, may I use the remaining time to cultivate other techniques?"


    The third phase of the assessment was to battle the Icebound Guardians left by the Divine King.


    Ye Chen did not know just how powerful these Icebound Guardians were, so he naturally wanted to seize every opportunity to further strengthen himself.


    With more than four hundred days left of the three years, if he could use all this time to cultivate, Ye Chen was confident that not only could he master the basic combat skills of the Icebound Divine Body, but he could also significantly enhance his strongest assets, the Taiyuan Divine Pill and Five Great Divine Arts.


    By then, Ye Chen would be even more confident when facing the Icebound Guardians in the third phase of the assessment!


    Hearing that Ye Chen wanted to continue cultivating, the Hall Spirit stated, "Three years were given to break through the second phase of the assessment, and since you have completed it early, you are certainly entitled to some rest."


    "If you wish to use this time to cultivate, you should. An opportunity like this hundredfold time acceleration is rare to come by."


    "Ye Chen, continue your cultivation. When the three years are up, I will remind you. Then you can go challenge the Icebound Guardians and face the third phase of the assessment," the Hall Spirit added.


    Having completed the second phase of the assessment early and with his exceptional talents, Ye Chen had earned much courtesy from the Hall Spirit.


    "Thank you, Honorable Hall Spirit," Ye Chen said, filled with joy at the news that he could continue his cultivation.


    He had many techniques at his disposal, but what he lacked was time to cultivate. With the chance to benefit from a hundredfold increase in the flow of time, he was eager to take full advantage.


    The Taiyuan Divine Pill and Five Great Divine Arts, he had not spent as much time cultivating these as he had on the basic eight hundred and ten forms of the Icebound Divine Body. Now was the perfect time to continue breaking through the techniques of the Taiyuan Chapter.


    After thanking the Hall Spirit, Ye Chen immediately sat down in the secondary hall of the Icebound Temple and began assimilating the Starry Sky Dawn Light within his Qi Sea, cultivating a new Rotating Pill.


    This session of cultivation continued, day after day.


    On this day.


    Ye Chen, who was meditating with his eyes closed, was suddenly called out by the Hall Spirit, "Ye Chen, the three years are up. You need to prepare to begin the third phase of the assessment."


    The three years were over?


    Ye Chen, who had been meditating with his eyes closed, suddenly opened his eyes.


    Looking into Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, where there were previously only eight Five Apertures Rotating Pills, the entire void of the Qi Sea was now scattered with them.


    The total number of Rotating Pills had reached an astonishing three hundred fifty-two!


    In the three years inside the secondary hall of the Icebound Temple, barely ten days had passed on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Thanks to the different flow rates of time, Ye Chen had also made significant progress in his cultivation of the Taiyuan Chapter!

 Chapter 377 - 339 Ice Seal Guard

    "Hall Spirit, where do we carry out the third-stage examination?"


    Ye Chen, opening his eyes, rose from his seated meditation stance.


    He reined in his aura, making him appear just like an ordinary youth.


    But after three years of transformation, Ye Chen¡¯s physical body and True Qi techniques had become unimaginably powerful!


    Indeed, he could be called the foremost among those in the Rotating Pill Realm!


    "Ye Chen, the third-stage examination takes place within a special space. You have completed the foundational 810 forms of the Icebound Divine Body, which qualifies you to enter this special space," the Sub Palace Hall Spirit said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    As the Sub Palace Hall Spirit spoke, a pristine white snowflake drifted down from the ceiling of the Icebound Temple Sub Palace.


    Instead of falling to the ground, this snowflake remained suspended in the void.


    "This snowflake is the special space," the Sub Palace Hall Spirit explained.


    A snowflake?


    A special space?


    Ye Chen had long heard that every plant and every tree could constitute a world, involving immensely powerful Space Laws.


    But even the Heavenly Saints or Void Sky True Gods, their created spaces were always marked with traces of Space Laws. The places Ye Chen had entered, like the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode and the Ancestral Land Secret Realm, all had dedicated entrances.


    However, this snowflake looked exactly like a real snowflake, and Ye Chen had not expected that it, too, would be imbued with special Space Laws!


    Having witnessed the Time Law technique of a hundredfold increase in the time flow rate, Ye Chen was now beholding the Space Law technique of the Icebound God King.


    Indeed, a God King Level technique was inconceivable!


    "Ye Chen, activate the 800th form ¡¯Heavenly Gate Acupoint Divine Light¡¯ from the foundational 810 forms of the Icebound Divine Body, and you will sense the means to enter this snowflake," the Sub Palace Hall Spirit instructed Ye Chen on how to access the special space within the snowflake.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Having mastered all the foundational 810 forms of the Icebound Divine Body, he was naturally extremely familiar with them. The 800th form was precisely the secret technique for infusing divine light into the Heavenly Gate Acupoint. Unexpectedly, this acupoint was connected to the special space within the snowflake.


    With a thought, divine light of marvellous quality suddenly burst forth from the Heavenly Gate Acupoint on Ye Chen¡¯s forehead.


    As the light erupted, Ye Chen felt the snowflake floating in the void begin to rotate. Following that, the snowflake emitted a hazy light.


    The moment the hazy light touched Ye Chen¡¯s body, he felt an odd tug that pulled his physical body in, and in an instant, he found himself within the snowflake in the void.


    Within the snowflake lay the special space.


    It was a world of ice and snow with vast snowy expanses everywhere.


    This scene closely resembled the landscapes of the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars Ye Chen had seen, exuding a sense of purity, vastness, and desolation.


    As Ye Chen surveyed this icy world within the special space, the voice of the Sub Palace Hall Spirit reached his ears again: "Ye Chen, within this special space, you will face nine Ice Seal Guards left by the master."


    "These nine Ice Seal Guards are nine War Beasts. Since our master was injured, they have been sealed in this space and haven¡¯t emerged in a long time."


    "Nine War Beasts?" Ye Chen¡¯s eyebrows twitched.


    He too was curious about what a War Beast sealed by a Divine King would look like.


    "These nine Ice Seal Guards, you may address them as ¡¯Bing Shiyi,¡¯ ¡¯Bing Shier,¡¯... ¡¯Bing Shijiu.¡¯ All nine possess near late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm strength. Bing Shijiu is the weakest, while Bing Shiyi is the strongest."


    "Of course, when they battle you, they will not use their late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm strength. If they did, you would certainly not be able to contend with them. They will adjust their power to what you faced during the first-stage examination, as sensed by the master¡¯s techniques, plus the progress you should have made during three years of cultivation, finally suppressing it to the level of combat power required for your battle."


    "Ye Chen, in the first stage of the assessment at the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond, your strength was that of an average early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior. Master has set the requirement that a genius should increase their strength by two major levels in three years. Therefore, the nine Icebound Guardians you are to battle should have strength around the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm," the Hall Spirit explained.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    When he first entered the Nine Nether Pond, his strongest trump card, the Life-bound Flying Sword, was already damaged.


    Relying on the damaged Life-bound Flying Sword, Ye Chen could unleash strength that overwhelmed early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warriors, but without it, his strength at the time indeed belonged to that of an average early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm strongman, just as the Hall Spirit had said.


    This third-stage assessment unexpectedly demanded that Ye Chen directly combat Icebound Guardians whose strength was suppressed to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, a requirement that was exceedingly high.


    It should be known that many early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warriors might not even reach the mid-stage even after cultivating for a hundred or a thousand years!


    Yet the Divine King required that after three years of cultivating the Icebound Divine Body, the candidates should be able to battle opponents whose strength had increased by two major levels, asking Ye Chen to leap from an average early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior, bypassing peak-level early-stage ones, and reach the level where he could combat mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warriors.


    This requirement was definitely demanding that the candidates have an extremely rapid cultivation speed, high comprehension power, and powerful methods!


    "What do you think, Ye Chen, are you confident in battling opponents at the mid-stage level of the Heavenly Saint Realm?" the Sub Palace Hall Spirit asked Ye Chen.


    If it were someone else, claiming to be able to go from ordinary early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm combat power to facing mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm opponents within three years, few would dare to make such a bold statement.


    But Ye Chen was different.


    Ye Chen was a supreme talent who cultivated with the Taiyuan Divine Pill and the Five Great Divine Arts, and it took him less than two years to complete the 810 basic motions of the Icebound Divine Body!


    Both the Primordial Star Scripture and the Icebound Divine Body were Cultivation Techniques that were absolutely unparalleled in the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Even among countless young geniuses in the starry sky, few were confident they could fully comprehend these Cultivation Techniques!


    Although Ye Chen had only cultivated up to the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Taiyuan Chapter, and the 810 basic motions of the Icebound Divine Body, he had already undergone a transformation.


    A transformation from three years of arduous cultivation!


    A qualitative leap in strength!


    Ye Chen¡¯s current strength, even if not enough to sweep through the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, or defeat true peak-level mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warriors, he felt that he was already able to combat ordinary mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warriors!


    "Lord Hall Spirit, let me give it a try. After three years of cultivation, I haven¡¯t actually tested my true combat strength yet," Ye Chen said to the Sub Palace Hall Spirit with a smile.


    Ye Chen also wanted to see just how formidable he had become.


    If he could really defeat several mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm strongmen, then once Ye Chen left this Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, he would have much stronger confidence in facing the potential great wars that could erupt in the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory.


    After all, for so many years in the Western Wilderness, no mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm expert had emerged since the founder of the sect had died!


    At this time, Ye Chen didn¡¯t know that the two Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness were already dead, nor was he aware of the greater threats that were about to befall the land of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s relaxed demeanor, the Sub Palace Hall Spirit also felt relieved.


    It knew that this young man before it must have some special methods to be so relaxed in preparing for the third-stage assessment.


    "Alright, since you are ready, I will now release the seals on the nine Icebound Guardians," said the Sub Palace Hall Spirit. "Ye Chen, prepare to battle these nine Icebound Guardians."


    "These nine Icebound Guardians will have their strength suppressed to the mid-stage level of the Heavenly Saint Realm. If you can defeat them, you will successfully pass this third-stage assessment, completely completing all three assessments of the God King¡¯s Legacy."


    "At that time, these nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Levels Icebound Guardians will also follow you and protect you, ensuring your safe entrance to the main hall of the Icebound Temple."


    "Ye Chen, inside the main hall of the Icebound Temple, there are still three even more powerful Icebound Guardians sealed; they are Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi. Those three Icebound Guardians exceed the strength of these nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Guardians in the Sub Palace, reaching the True God level! Especially Bing Yi, among the Void Sky True Gods, he is an absolute standout, the strongest warrior under the master¡¯s command back then!"


    "They were not used by the master back then when he encountered an unsolvable crisis, unlike the other Void Sky True God Guards who have all fallen. Ye Chen, if you can pass this third-stage assessment, in addition to these nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Icebound Guardians, when you enter the main hall of the Icebound Temple in the future, you might even gain the protection of three Void Sky True God Level Icebound Guardians!"


    "Ye Chen, for your future, give your all to break through this third stage of the assessment!"

 Chapter 378 - 340: Battle with Bing Shijiu

    In the sub-hall of the Icebound Temple, nine Icebound Guardians at the late Heavenly Saint Level were sealed.


    In the main hall of the Icebound Temple, even more awe-inspiring, there were three Icebound Guardians at the Void Sky True God Level sealed away!


    As long as Ye Chen completed the third stage of the assessment, not only could he obtain the nine late Heavenly Saint Icebound Guardians, but in the future, upon entering the main hall of the Icebound Temple, he would also have the opportunity to obtain those at the Void Sky True God Level.


    The words of the sub-hall spirit greatly excited Ye Chen!


    Icebound Guardians, left by the Divine King as protectors, were valuable allies. Especially those three at the Void Sky True God Level; among them, Bing Yi was an absolute standout in the Void Sky True God echelon, once the strongest under the Icebound Divine King.


    If Ye Chen could acquire these Icebound Guardians, his strength would be elevated to an unimaginable extent.


    Now, after three years of arduous cultivation, Ye Chen was already unafraid of the threats from the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness; however, he was faced with a significant problem.


    That was the crisis facing the Divine Phoenix Clan, where Jiang Yao belonged.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s affairs, of course, were also Ye Chen¡¯s affairs!


    Under the siege of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, the situation of the Divine Phoenix Clan was uncertain, and the war among the three clans had involved countless Void Sky True God powerhouses.


    In such high-level battles, even though Ye Chen had increased his strength significantly, he could not intervene; he had only just reached the Rotating Pill Realm, and his combat power had just reached the Heavenly Saint Level, still far from matching a Void Sky True God.


    But if he acquired those three Void Sky True God Level Icebound Guardians, not to say he could fully meddle with the affairs of the Divine Phoenix Clan, at least he would be holding enough trump cards when facing the Void Sky True God powerhouses from the other two God Clans.


    "Pass this third stage of the assessment!"


    "Obtain the nine late Heavenly Saint guardians, and in the future, the three Void Sky True Gods¡¯ guardians."


    A resolute look flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes.


    For the sake of safely leaving the sub-hall of the Icebound Temple and for the Divine Phoenix Clan, this third stage of the assessment allowed no failure!


    Seeing that Ye Chen was ready, the sub-hall spirit hesitated no longer.


    Driven by it, not far from this special space of icy and snowy heaven and earth, storms rose from the ground.


    Under the sweep of the storm, layers of ice and snow were peeled away, until finally, beneath tens of meters of ice and snow, nine huge Ice Coffins were revealed.


    The smallest of these nine giant Ice Coffins was over five hundred Zhang long, and the largest one even reached a thousand Zhang in length.


    Sealing marks streaked across the transparent Ice Coffins.


    Looking inside through the Ice Coffins, one could see nine enormous War Beasts frozen within.


    Among these nine War Beasts, there were beasts with a lion¡¯s head on a human body, a tiger¡¯s head on a human body, and the largest of them was a pure white giant roc!


    "That beast with the lion¡¯s face on a human body is Bing Shijiu."


    "The tiger-headed human-bodied beast is Bing Shiba."


    "..."


    "The Qi Snake Warbeast is Bing Shisan."


    "The largest of the beasts, that white giant roc, is the most powerful late Heavenly Saint level War Beast among the nine Icebound Guardians, Bing Shiyi."


    As the sub-hall spirit was introducing the nine Icebound Guardians to Ye Chen, it was also driving the storm of ice and snow, gradually removing the seals on the nine Ice Coffins.


    After the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, all the seals on the nine Ice Coffins had been lifted.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Upon the release of the seals, the nine great War Beasts within the Ice Coffins slowly opened their eyes as if woken from a grand dream.


    Seeing this world of ice and snow, the nine great War Beasts finally remembered the scene before their long slumber, where their master, the great Divine King, had secured them within the Ice Coffins just before his fall.


    "Master!"


    The nine great War Beasts, which were the nine late Heavenly Saint level Icebound Guardians, roared in unison, forcefully tossing off the lids of their Ice Coffins and flew out.


    As their gaze swept around and landed on Ye Chen amidst the icy world, the nine Icebound Guardians¡¯ looks turned somewhat unfriendly.


    Then, the voice of the sub-hall spirit resounded, "Bing Shiyi, Bing Shier..., you nine have finally awakened."


    "This is Ye Chen; you have awoken because this youth, Ye Chen, has reached the third stage of the sub-hall¡¯s assessment."


    "Sub-hall?"


    "The First Sub-hall!"


    "Guardian Spirit, how long have we slept?"


    "What has become of our master now?!"


    Among the nine great Icebound Guardians, a snow-white giant Roc that spanned a thousand zhang was obviously the leader. It directly questioned the deputy Temple Spirit in the void repeatedly.


    "Thirty thousand years. According to the time on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, you have been asleep for thirty thousand years!" the deputy Temple Spirit said to the nine great Icebound Guardians, "Your master has also perished for thirty thousand years now!"


    The words of the deputy Temple Spirit caused the nine great Icebound Guardians to burst out in heart-rending howls!


    "It was that Ni Shan God King of Black Dragon Star! It was he who injured our master, leading to master¡¯s downfall!"


    "We must avenge our master!"


    Amidst the howls of the nine great Icebound Guardians, huge teardrops fell.


    Seeing the sorrowful expressions of the nine great Icebound Guardians, Ye Chen¡¯s heart also soured.


    He could see the bond between these nine guardians and their deceased master of the Icebound Temple, the great Divine King.


    "Enough, cease your howling. You are merely at the Heavenly Saint level, far too distant from the Divine King¡¯s strength. If you wish to avenge your master, follow his orders and test those who seek to enter the deputy temple."


    "Perhaps Ye Chen might become your new master in the future and eventually lead you to avenge your master and wash away the hatred!"


    The deputy Temple Spirit silenced the wails of the nine great Icebound Guardians and spoke to them.


    "Ye Chen?"


    All nine great Icebound Guardians looked towards Ye Chen.


    The leading snow-white giant Roc, Bing Shiyi, even showed a disdainful look in his eyes, "He¡¯s merely at the Rotating Pill Realm, far too distant from the Divine King. How could he possibly qualify to be our new master?"


    Seeing the expression on the snow-white giant Roc, Ye Chen didn¡¯t mind, but just smiled faintly, while the deputy Temple Spirit chided, "Don¡¯t underestimate Ye Chen. He reached the third stage while only at the initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, which speaks volumes about his potential."


    "You probably don¡¯t know, but he comprehended all eight hundred and ten basic forms of the Icebound Divine Body in less than two years. Right when he entered the deputy hall of the Icebound Temple, he had already attained combat strength at the Heavenly Saint level, and now even I have no idea how formidable he truly is!"


    "Hisss!"


    The words of the deputy Temple Spirit made all nine great Icebound Guardians draw a sharp breath.


    "Initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, possessing combat strength at the Heavenly Saint level without relying on the master¡¯s time-flow accelerating cultivation?" Bing Shiba, with a tiger¡¯s head and a human body, could hardly believe it.


    "He comprehended all eight hundred and ten basic forms of the master¡¯s Icebound Divine Body, and it took less than two years?!" The Qi Snake Warbeast, Bing Shisan, was also astonished.


    Even the previously disdainful snow-white giant Roc, Bing Shiyi, put away his contempt and asked solemnly, "Guardian Spirit, according to the master¡¯s rules, what level of combat strength should we use to fight him?"


    "Mid-level Heavenly Saint strength. Use the same mid-level Heavenly Saint strength you had when the master first gathered you on Heavenly Fierce Star," the deputy Temple Spirit said.


    "Mid-level Heavenly Saint strength?!" Bing Shiyi was stunned. "He¡¯s only at the initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, and he¡¯s able to fight against mid-level Heavenly Saint strength?"


    "We had been cultivating at the mid-level of the Heavenly Saint realm for a long time back on Heavenly Fierce Star, and even if we weren¡¯t the absolute best within the mid-level, we were still formidable."


    "He, Ye Chen? Can he really fight us?"


    Not just Bing Shiyi, but the other eight great Icebound Guardians also looked at Ye Chen with surprise.


    Then, the deputy Temple Spirit directly stated, "These are the master¡¯s rules for the third stage of the trial. If Ye Chen cannot defeat you, his third-stage trial will be considered a failure, and he will be executed. Since he has the courage to face you, let the battle commence and see the final outcome!"


    All nine great Icebound Guardians nodded.


    They would, of course, follow their master¡¯s guidelines.


    "In that case, Bing Shijiu, you go and fight with this Ye Chen first," Bing Shiyi said to the lion-faced humanoid War Beast who was over four hundred zhang in length.


    "Then I shall test the mettle of this youth first," the lion-faced humanoid War Beast, Bing Shijiu, responded as he stepped forward.


    Although its body was the smallest among the nine great Icebound Guardians, it still spanned over four hundred zhang, and facing Ye Chen, it was like a giant mountain looming over an ant.


    "Back when I wandered on Heavenly Fierce Star, the master took me in when I was human-sized. For this fight, I¡¯ll suppress my strength to mid-level Heavenly Saint and take on a human size as well," Bing Shijiu said as he approached Ye Chen, adjusting both his aura and size. Upon stopping ten zhang away from Ye Chen, he had already transformed to a size similar to Ye Chen¡¯s.


    However, even with his strength suppressed to the mid-level Heavenly Saint, the aura he emitted was still unbelievably powerful.


    Even shrunk down, every time he moved, the void itself trembled.


    In the face of such an aura, countless beings at the Rotating Pill Realm would quake in fear, possibly dropping to their knees, overwhelmed.


    But Ye Chen, standing before Bing Shijiu, showed not a hint of change in his expression. Seeing Bing Shijiu stand still, he simply smiled and said, "Elder Bing Shijiu, please make your move."

 Chapter 379 - 341 Wings Change

    "Elder Bing Shijiu, make your move."


    Ye Chen¡¯s light laughter spread, reaching the ears of the eight Icebound Guardians watching the battle, causing their eyes to brighten.


    "This young lad is indeed composed."


    Bing Shiyi smiled slightly, "I hope his strength allows him to remain composed."


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s opponent, the lion-faced battle beast Bing Shijiu, also looked at Ye Chen with bright eyes, "Young lad, since you¡¯ve asked me to strike first, I won¡¯t hold back. I am the weakest among the nine of us. If you can¡¯t even defeat me, then there¡¯s even less hope for you later on."


    "I hope you can get past this challenge."


    The moment Bing Shijiu¡¯s voice fell, his figure flashed and disappeared into thin air. The next moment, a thunderous roar resounded by Ye Chen¡¯s ear, and at the same time, Bing Shijiu¡¯s lightning-fast shape appeared directly in front of Ye Chen. With a big hand, he reached straight for Ye Chen.


    In the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, the speed of his action was incredibly fast.


    The thunder-like booming sound alone would likely cause countless early-stage Heavenly Saints to be dazed, while the lightning-fast move could instantly kill those in the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    As Bing Shijiu¡¯s palm reached for Ye Chen, he vanished on the spot, and the next moment, Ye Chen had already appeared more than thirty meters high in the void.


    Void Instant Shift!


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s Void Instant Shift divine ability.


    The prowess of Ye Chen¡¯s Void Instant Shift divine ability could increase with his strength. Now that Ye Chen¡¯s power had surged, the range of his Void Instant Shift was not only vast, but the speed was also unbelievably fast.


    Ye Chen had dodged Bing Shijiu¡¯s fatal move in a flash!


    When a master makes a move, you know the outcome.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s instantaneous move to dodge the attack, not only Bing Shijiu but also the eight Icebound Guardians watching the fight were all the more amazed. Clearly, they saw that Ye Chen indeed had the ability to fight them.


    Now, having dodged Bing Shijiu¡¯s move, Ye Chen no longer hesitated. He shook his sleeves, and instantly, boundless True Qi swept out from his body.


    The rolling True Qi soared into the sky, instantly rising to over three hundred meters high!


    In the surging True Qi, glimmers of the five elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth shone brightly, clearly the light of True Qi emanating from Ye Chen¡¯s Five Apertures Rotating Pill.


    "So, he¡¯s a Five Apertures Rotating Pill youth!"


    "In the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, he already possesses such vigorous True Qi!"


    Seeing Ye Chen unleash his True Qi, Bing Shijiu hesitated no more. With a roar, a tumultuous, smoke-like True Qi also surged from his body. Bing Shijiu¡¯s True Qi was a snow-white color that, in an instant, rose even higher than Ye Chen¡¯s, reaching over five hundred meters high.


    On one side was Ye Chen, with black hair flying backward, wrapped in the surging True Qi of the Five Elements.


    On the other side was the lion-faced, human-bodied Bing Shijiu, enveloped in the snow-white True Qi.


    After invoking their True Qi, they both burst forward, clashing with each other in an instant. The two forces of True Qi collided with a thunderous impact, and amidst the explosive sounds, the two formidable opponents engaged in lightning-fast combat.


    A battle at the Heavenly Saint Level!


    It was completely a clash of speed!


    Their fight, from the sky to the ground, was so fierce that even the void seemed to burst from time to time. Fortunately, this special space was crafted by the Divine King, otherwise, it might have collapsed from their attacks!


    "He actually dares to clash head-on with Bing Shijiu!"


    "He is only in the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm! With this continuous lightning-fast exchange, this young man is going to suffer a great loss. You should know, in the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, one¡¯s body cultivates numerous internal spaces, True Qi can continuously emerge, relentless and inexhaustible in combat. Could this young man, at the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, really have more True Qi than Bing Shijiu?"


    "He¡¯s still too young. Although this youth is strong, he lacks combat experience."


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s combat method against Bing Shijiu, many Icebound Guardians began shaking their heads.


    "No, that¡¯s not right. After dozens of exchanges, this young man¡¯s True Qi shows no sign of diminishing!" While the other Icebound Guardians were still shaking their heads, the strongest among them, Bing Shiyi, had already spotted something amiss and showed a surprised look on his face, "I even have a feeling that this young man¡¯s True Qi might be stronger than Bing Shijiu¡¯s!"


    "How is that possible?!"


    "In the Rotating Pill Realm, there¡¯s only one Rotating Pill. Even if he has Five Apertures Rotating Pill, he couldn¡¯t possibly contain more True Qi than a Heavenly Saint!"


    Hearing Bing Shiyi¡¯s words, the other Icebound Guardians couldn¡¯t believe it and looked carefully at Ye Chen.


    With one look, all the Icebound Guardians, like Bing Shiyi, wore shocked expressions.


    Because they discovered that Ye Chen, who was fighting Bing Shijiu, not only had undiminished True Qi, but the surging True Qi around his body was becoming stronger and more abundant. Unbeknownst to them, during the fight, Ye Chen¡¯s external True Qi even rose to over six hundred meters high!


    What these Icebound Guardians didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen was no ordinary Rotating Pill realm cultivator.


    The Rotating Pill within Ye Chen¡¯s body had cultivated three hundred and fifty-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills!


    That is to say, in terms of the quantity of Rotating Pills alone, Ye Chen had three hundred and fifty-one more than those who had cultivated the perfect Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    Furthermore, this wasn¡¯t the usual Five Apertures Rotating Pill, this was the Taiyuan Divine Pill cultivated from the Taiyuan divine skill!


    Each of the Five Apertures Rotating Pills bore the might of the Five Great Divine Bloods and the power of the Starry Sky Dawn Light from within the Starlight Tower!


    With all three hundred and fifty-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills¡¯ powers combined, it was no wonder Ye Chen was unfazed by Bing Shijiu!


    Ye Chen had not yet revealed all his tricks; merely using his Sword Light Divine Art, he fought Bing Shijiu on equal footing, and as his True Qi continued to strengthen, he gradually overpowered Bing Shijiu completely.


    In the end, after a hundred moves, Ye Chen unleashed the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art, and in an instant, the emptiness within dozens of miles changed color.


    The one facing Ye Chen, Bing Shijiu, felt even more that within the entire void, endless dawn light was shooting toward him. Eventually, all of this light transformed into a sky full of sword light!


    Thousands of sword lights!


    All shooting forth!


    This earth-shattering slash covered several miles around Bing Shijiu. His body was completely engulfed within the endless sword lights that filled the space!


    In the end, even Bing Shijiu was forced to unleash the late Heavenly Saint Realm aura to eradicate the relentless sword lights.


    However, according to the rules, Bing Shijiu could only use the strength of the mid Heavenly Saint Level. By resorting to the late Heavenly Saint Realm aura for defense, it was a clear admission of defeat.


    "I¡¯ve lost."


    "Ye Chen, your strength surpasses mine when I was at the mid Heavenly Saint Level."


    Bing Shijiu¡¯s gaze towards Ye Chen was full of respect. It cupped a fist in salute to Ye Chen, acknowledging the defeat.


    Respect!


    This was respect for the powerful young prodigy!


    Even without suppressing his own realm, Bing Shijiu felt deep respect for Ye Chen, whose true strength far surpassed Ye Chen¡¯s.


    Ye Chen was only a sixteen-year-old youth by bone age, which, accounting for time speed, would make him about twenty years old. At such an age, being able to compete with and defeat a mid Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse naturally earned Bing Shijiu¡¯s genuine respect.


    "This youth, he truly defeated Bing Shijiu!"


    "Ye Chen, his name is Ye Chen."


    At this moment, the other eight Icebound Guards had solemn expressions. They no longer referred to Ye Chen as the little youth but instead addressed him by his name with due seriousness.


    Some Icebound Guards even felt that if they were to suppress their realms to the mid Heavenly Saint Level, they would lose to this youth just like Bing Shijiu did.


    "Next, it¡¯s my turn to fight."


    After Bing Shijiu¡¯s defeat, the second Icebound Guard, a massive and strong man with a bull¡¯s head and a human body, and two giant horns stood out.


    "I am Bing Shiba, from the Niu Ren clan of Heavenly Fierce Star. My strongest technique when I was in the mid Heavenly Saint Level was the ¡¯Heavenly Thunder Slash.¡¯" Bing Shiba, who had suppressed his realm to the mid Heavenly Saint Level, didn¡¯t look down on Ye Chen at all, "Ye Chen, would you like to rest for a while before you fight me?"


    "Elder Bing Shiba!" Ye Chen cupped his fist toward Bing Shiba, "No need to rest, I have fully recovered my strength, and now I can fight again."


    Soon after fighting a mid Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, he dared to engage another one.


    Seeing that Ye Chen¡¯s aura was as robust as he claimed, all nine Icebound Guards nodded in succession.


    Experience tales at empire


    They had recognized that Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi was definitely special, and he certainly practiced a very powerful set of True Qi Skills. Whether it was in terms of quantity of True Qi or recovery power, it was astonishingly strong, not weaker than theirs when they were at the mid Heavenly Saint Level.


    Hearing that Ye Chen was ready to fight again, Bing Shiba hesitated no longer. Even without shifting its body, its five hundred zhang tall physique directly charged at Ye Chen.


    But, even without transforming its body, Bing Shiba didn¡¯t gain any advantage over Ye Chen in the fight.


    In fact, after only thirty-six moves, Bing Shiba was defeated just like Bing Shijiu!


    At this point, all the Icebound Guards realized that Ye Chen definitely had great strength and might indeed have the hope of passing this third stage of the trials!


    "Not bad, very good."


    In the void, the deputy hall¡¯s spirit nodded repeatedly: "This Ye Chen, the True Qi Skill he practices, is probably not any weaker than the basic eight hundred ten sequences of the Icebound Divine Body. Now, two great Icebound Guards have failed to force out his strongest abilities, and even his Icebound Divine Body base techniques have not been used."


    "Aside from the basic eight hundred ten sequences of the Icebound Divine Body, he must have other techniques!"


    "Perhaps only the strongest, Bing Shiyi, might force Ye Chen to reveal his real strength."


    The deputy hall¡¯s spirit speculated in its mind.


    Subsequent battles progressed exactly as the deputy hall¡¯s spirit had guessed.


    Having defeated Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba, Ye Chen then rode the momentum to consecutively defeat Bing Shiqi and Bing Shiliu. After continuously defeating four Icebound Guards who had suppressed to mid Heavenly Saint Level, Ye Chen then rested for two hours to recover his True Qi and to summarize what he had gained and lost in the battles.


    Then, Ye Chen went on to face more challenges.


    When half a day had passed, Ye Chen even directly defeated Bing Shiwu, Bing Shisi, Bing Shisan, and Bing Shier one after another.


    Of the nine Icebound Guards, in the end, only the strongest, Bing Shiyi, had yet to act.


    When Ye Chen defeated Bing Shier, he had already used all of the strength developed by the three hundred fifty-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills, his swordsmanship, and the physical strength trained through the basic eight hundred ten sequences of the Icebound Divine Body, and he was nearly at his strongest state.


    All Icebound Guards knew that the upcoming battle between Ye Chen and the most powerful Bing Shiyi would be the true critical fight.


    If Ye Chen could defeat Bing Shiyi, then he would truly be able to pass this third stage of the trials and gain the right to inherit from their master, the great Divine King!


    At that moment, Bing Shiyi, who had been observing the battles and growing ever more solemn, finally came forth at Ye Chen¡¯s request to fight.


    Whoosh!


    The Bing Shiyi that stepped forward, with thousand zhang long snow-white wings of a roc, spread out and looked directly at Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, come and face my ¡¯Feather Transformation¡¯ Divine Art!"

 Chapter 380 - 342 The Battle that Shocked the Heavens

    The Wing Transformation Divine Art was the most powerful divine art that Bing Shiyi had mastered during his mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm.


    As the strongest among the nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Icebound guardians, Bing Shiyi had already become the most formidable among the nine guardians during his mid-stage. His Wing Transformation Divine Art was unstoppable by any other guardian.


    Hearing that Bing Shiyi was going to use his Wing Transformation Divine Art to fight Ye Chen, the other eight Icebound guardians knew that Bing Shiyi had recognized Ye Chen¡¯s prowess and had decided to use his strongest skill from the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm to face Ye Chen right from the start.


    The gazes of the eight guardians shifted from Bing Shiyi to Ye Chen.


    They were filled with both tension and anticipation for the upcoming battle.


    What was nerve-wracking for them was whether Ye Chen, who had already defeated the eight of them, could defeat the strongest and most formidable Bing Shiyi.


    What they anticipated was that if Ye Chen managed to defeat Bing Shiyi, they would soon welcome a new master and follow this new master out of the Sealed Land to make their way in the world.


    As Bing Shiyi stepped forward, the other eight Icebound guardians were both nervous and expectant.


    Directly facing Bing Shiyi, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel a surge of excitement within.


    This was the last one.


    If he could defeat Bing Shiyi, he would leave the Icebound Temple¡¯s auxiliary hall, where he had trained for three years, with a great harvest.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen understandably couldn¡¯t suppress his excitement.


    But this excitement did not affect his battle-readiness. Instead, it gave Ye Chen an even firmer conviction, which was to achieve victory, to continue winning, and to secure the ninth battle¡¯s triumph!


    "Senior Bing Shiyi, if you use the ¡¯Wing Transformation¡¯ Divine Art, I will also use my own divine art!"


    Boom!


    Although he didn¡¯t know what Bing Shiyi¡¯s Wing Transformation Divine Art was, Ye Chen was ready to go all out without holding back in this final battle.


    Ye Chen waved his sleeve and once again soared into the sky. At the same time, the power cultivated from the Icebound Divine Body¡¯s basic 810 stances surged wildly within his body.


    It wasn¡¯t just the physical strength that was surging; Ye Chen fully released his divine sense, covering everything within an eighty-mile radius under his sense.


    Most importantly, it was time for the Qi techniques. At this moment, the 352 Five Apertures Rotating Pills within Ye Chen¡¯s Qi sea lit up with water, fire, and earth colored Divine Pill Law Patterns. Clearly, Ye Chen was prepared to unleash the five divine arts he had not used in the previous eight battles.


    "Divine arts? It seems that besides your swordplay divine art, you indeed have other new divine techniques."


    Seeing the Qi surging around Ye Chen and even a strange new power radiating from him that he had never felt before, Bing Shiyi¡¯s eyes gleamed brightly.


    It had been a long time since it had fought, and although it had only lowered its strength to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, it was looking forward to a true test of power at this level.


    The stronger Ye Chen¡¯s abilities, the more Bing Shiyi looked forward to it!


    "Let¡¯s see whose divine art is more powerful!"


    As Bing Shiyi spoke, its massive wings unfurled completely.


    Its true form was that of a divine beast, the Snow-Winged Great Peng. When it flew into the sky and its thousand-yard wings fully spread out, each feather shone with a crystal-clear, snow-like radiance, incomparably beautiful.


    Beyond beauty, once Bing Shiyi¡¯s aura fully surged, these vast wings became an incredibly powerful weapon of its true form.


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    After a slight tremble, one could see white light shining from each of Bing Shiyi¡¯s feathers. The light moved swiftly across its wings, and all its feathers seemed to merge together, forming a unified front that resembled an exceptionally sharp, snow-white sword.


    "Ye Chen, take the first form of my Wing Transformation, ¡¯Wings of the Void Slash¡¯!"


    Whoosh!


    The moment Bing Shiyi¡¯s words ended, its wings flashed violently, and its whole body pierced through the void, turning into a sky-shaking sword shadow that sliced through space to strike down in front of Ye Chen.


    This slash was earth-shattering!


    Ye Chen felt it sealed off the void, affecting his Void Instantaneous Movement Divine Ability and perceived that the power of this slash was even greater than the Great Five Elements Sword Light of the Beiming Secret Tome¡¯s third layer that he had cultivated!


    Indeed, this was the foremost among the nine guardians.


    Even with its realm suppressed to mid-stage Heavenly Saint, its techniques far exceeded those of the other eight Icebound guardians!


    Witnessing the earth-shattering sword light slashing towards him, Ye Chen didn¡¯t dodge. He knew facing an opponent of this caliber, one dodge could put him at a disadvantage, leading to a series of even more formidable attacks that would keep him off-balance and in a perpetual state of inferiority.


    Since evading was not an option, he might as well go all out in a fight!


    As the "Wings of the Void Slash" was about to strike, a peculiar faint blue light suddenly flickered in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes.


    "Water system divine skill, Heavenly Origin Divine Water!"


    Without the slightest abnormality, hundreds of faint blue water beads suddenly manifested around Ye Chen.


    Each of these faint blue beads was infused with Ye Chen¡¯s endless Taiyuan Divine Pill¡¯s power, eventually displaying the formidable might of the Heavenly Origin Divine Water, with each bead possessing the strength of tens of thousands of catties, enveloping Ye Chen and directly charging towards Bing Shiyi¡¯s heaven-shocking sword light.


    Ye Chen, surrounded by faint blue beads, was choosing to clash head-on with Bing Shiyi¡¯s Wings of the Void Slash!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen collided with Bing Shiyi.


    One could see that at the moment of their encounter, Bing Shiyi¡¯s wing-transformed slash directly struck the faint blue water beads around Ye Chen.


    At this slash, one could hear the explosive sound of an explosion, and see sword lights dancing vigorously, continuously cutting into the faint blue water beads, attempting to pierce them and strike Ye Chen himself.


    Meanwhile, those hundreds of faint blue water beads, while resisting the sword light from the astonishing wings, flew away from Ye Chen¡¯s body, aiming to directly collide and bombard Bing Shiyi¡¯s true form.


    Seeing this situation, the deputy temple spirit and the other eight Icebound Guardians watching the battle were completely on edge.


    Clearly, if Bing Shiyi managed to cut through Ye Chen¡¯s faint blue water beads, it would likely mean Ye Chen¡¯s defeat, but if Ye Chen¡¯s faint blue water beads could counterattack Bing Shiyi, it could likely injure him!


    This head-to-head battle did not last long, merely a few breaths, when the deputy temple spirit and the eight guardians realized that Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi were simultaneously forced to retreat backward.


    Their first exchange was evenly matched; apparently, neither could suppress the other, and this retreat was obviously to prepare for unleashing new attacks.


    Sure enough, in the moment of retreating backward, Bing Shiyi charged towards Ye Chen once more.


    As he charged, Bing Shiyi¡¯s gigantic wings underwent a strange change, no longer a single entity resembling a pristine white sword, but rather each feather separated, with bizarre patterns appearing on each one.


    After these mysterious patterns appeared, the feathers seemed to boost speed, directly increasing Bing Shiyi¡¯s velocity several times over!


    "Since you can withstand my ¡¯Wings of the Void Slash,¡¯ Ye Chen, then try this move, the Wings of Phantom Kill!"


    Bing Shiyi, with greatly increased speed, split into two in the midst of rapid movement, then four, and finally into a sky full of killing shadows. Continue reading on empire


    The layered killing shadows meant layered combat power, a terrifying force rapidly increasing, eventually surging madly towards the central Ye Chen for the kill.


    Bing Shiyi¡¯s form had already grown to a thousand zhang in size.


    Under this surge of killing shadows, his shadows entirely covered a radius of ten thousand zhang!


    After Ye Chen unleashed rolling Five Elements True Qi, he only covered a few hundred zhang in radius. Facing this sky full of killing shadows, Ye Chen was like a small boat in the ocean waves, bracing for the towering waves of attacks from all around.


    One careless move, and it was possible for the small boat to be completely engulfed by the giant waves!


    "Wings of Phantom Kill?!"


    Gazing into the layered, infinite murderous intent, feeling the overwhelming and frightening killing spirit rushing towards him, Ye Chen knew that relying solely on the water system divine skill would no longer withstand the layered force of the attack.


    He had to employ a new tactic!


    "Earth Returning to Origin Art, Heavenly Origin Divine Water, combined strike!"


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen was about to be completely submerged by the sky of murderous intent, he fiercely grabbed towards the ground below, and one could see the ice and snow terrain within a ten-thousand-zhang radius being completely overturned by his grasp.


    Rolling ice, snow, and soil surged towards Ye Chen¡¯s palm, quickly forming over a dozen thousand-zhang-long, astonishing earth storms.


    These earth storms, completely under Ye Chen¡¯s control, burst forth from below, madly sweeping towards the endless murderous intent from all sides of Bing Shiyi.


    While covering, one could also see faint blue beads with the strength of tens of thousands of catties each, embedded within the earth storms.


    The entire storm combined the strange divine light of both water and earth colors!

 Chapter 381 - 343: Meeting His Highness Ye Chen

    Encirclement! Interception! Sealing!


    Every time the mudstorm touched one of Bing Shiyi¡¯s Shadow Slays, an endless tide of mudstorm would crazily cover it, with a dozen or so mudstorms, each a thousand zhang long, completely submerging Bing Shiyi¡¯s myriad Shadow Slays.


    Seeing this move, it seemed it would, just like the first one, result in a head-on clash again, Bing Shiyi, the Snow White Roc Bird, let out a crisp, piercing cry, "Ye Chen, you actually have such a powerful Earth Element Divine Art!"


    "It seems that continuously fighting is not as good as directly bringing out the strongest move to decide the winner!"


    "Then come, face the strongest move of my Feather Change, ¡¯Ten Thousand Feathers Change¡¯!"


    While the dozen or so mudstorms were still crazily engulfing Bing Shiyi¡¯s myriad Shadow Slays, countless snow-white feathers on those Shadow Slays began to grow wildly, expand crazily, and all burst forth with surging power of space, as if to completely devour the mudstorms!


    Within these myriad Shadow Slay moves, Bing Shiyi had actually hidden such a technique, and within the feathers of these Shadow Slays, Space Law had been refined!


    In the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, one can refine special spaces within the body. Normally, bodily spaces are just for storing True Qi, but Bing Shiyi actually refined special spaces in each and every feather, and they even possessed devouring power!


    Among the unending waves of Shadow Slays, to be able to use such a powerful devouring force!


    When this devouring force engulfed the thousand-zhang-long mudstorm, it completely devoured a large swath of it!


    And the Shadow Slays that had devoured the mudstorm, far from weakening, now carried a tide of annihilating power and crazily rolled towards Ye Chen once more.


    An increase here, a decrease there.


    After deploying the spatial devouring power of the strongest technique "Ten Thousand Feathers Change" of the Feather Change Divine Art, Bing Shiyi managed to turn the situation around, despite being continually blocked by the myriad mudstorms, and attacked Ye Chen with even fiercer force!


    "Feather Change Divine Art is indeed powerful!"


    Seeing the surge of Heavenly Saint power and space power, as mudstorm after mudstorm was devoured, and Bing Shiyi¡¯s myriad Shadow Slays grew even more terrifying within the expanse of ten thousand zhang, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes also sparkled brightly!


    After all, he wasn¡¯t in the Heavenly Saint Realm, even though his combat power had reached the Heavenly Saint Realm, but he was unable to use Heavenly Saint techniques, which put him at somewhat of a disadvantage.


    For example, this Space Law, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t cultivated to the Heavenly Saint Realm, so he couldn¡¯t fully comprehend it!


    "At a disadvantage?"


    "And what of it!"


    "I may be at a disadvantage in terms of realm for my Divine Arts, but my Divine Arts consist of the Five Great Divine Arts!"


    As Ye Chen saw the mudstorm being devoured, he continuously grabbed towards the ground with his left hand, conjuring up new mudstorms to block the myriad Shadow Slays of Bing Shiyi, while his right hand opened up in the void, and a cluster of deep blue intense True Fire sprayed out directly from Ye Chen¡¯s right hand.


    This wildly spraying True Fire was none other than Ye Chen¡¯s Fire Element Divine Art¡ªthe Heaven-Devouring True Fire!


    Once the Heaven-Devouring True Fire Divine Art was deployed, it ignited a blaze that shot to the sky, instantly rising more than a thousand zhang high!


    Finally, this sky-reaching True Fire formed an astonishing flame dragon, accompanying the myriad mudstorms, burning towards Bing Shiyi¡¯s myriad Shadow Slays.


    Space Law within the feathers?!


    Well, let¡¯s see if these feathers can continue to devour the storm containing Earth Element and Water Element Divine Arts while also withstanding the burn of the Fire Element Divine Art!


    As Ye Chen roared in his heart, the three hundred and fifty-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills inside him radiated with the law patterns of the Divine Pills of water, fire, and earth, shining to the extreme, providing Ye Chen with an endless supply of True Qi power.


    Ye Chen was going to bring out all his strength to engage in a final showdown with Bing Shiyi!


    In that moment.


    You could see, within the expanse of ten thousand zhang, one side was the endless Shadow Slays of Bing Shiyi, the Snow White Roc Bird, with the white feathers radiating the Space Law¡¯s devouring power, absorbing and vanishing one mudstorm after another.


    On the other side, the myriad of mudstorms never decreased, still being drawn up by Ye Chen¡¯s large hand, continuously erupting from the ground, and you could see the increasingly larger astonishing flame dragon, accompanying the mudstorms towards Bing Shiyi¡¯s endless Shadow Slays and burning onto the white feathers.


    Within the expanse of ten thousand zhang, there was killing intent everywhere, white shadows everywhere, and a spread of water, fire, and earth light!


    The space where Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi battled was completely a sight of annihilation!


    The bright light filled the sky, even enveloping the figures of Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi, who were engaged in an endless fight.


    "Powerful!"


    "So powerful!"


    In the spectator space beside, the Vice Hall Hall Spirit and the Eight Great Frozen Guards, watching Ye Chen fight Bing Shiyi to the last moment without showing any signs of weakness, were completely stunned.


    They could never have imagined a youth in Rotating Pill Realm cultivating to such an incredible level of strength.


    This was simply beyond their imagination!


    "Back when we were in the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, we weren¡¯t nearly as strong, and hadn¡¯t cultivated such formidable Divine Arts!" the Eight Guards couldn¡¯t help but lament.


    The Vice Hall Hall Spirit even recalled the days when it followed the Frozen God King, "Our master wasn¡¯t this powerful when he was in the Rotating Pill Realm! This Ye Chen may well surpass the master in the future!"


    Thinking about this possibility, the Vice Hall Hall Spirit couldn¡¯t help but get excited.


    If Ye Chen could really go further, it meant that Ye Chen¡¯s future realm might even surpass the God King Realm!


    By then, it was likely that the vengeance of its master would be avenged!


    The deputy hall spirit and the eight great Ice Guardians were stunned and moved, while in the midst of battle, Ye Chen had been fighting Bing Shiyi for dozens of breaths.


    In those dozens of breaths, within the ten thousand feet radius where Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi were located, the endless sounds of True Qi explosions and the noise of clashing strengths continuously emerged.


    And the commotion grew louder and larger!


    Even the scope of the battle kept expanding outward!


    This scenario caused the deputy hall spirit and the eight great Ice Guardians¡¯ hearts to hang in suspense; they knew that the result of this ultimate battle was about to be revealed!


    Who would win?


    Would it be Ye Chen, or Bing Shiyi?


    The deputy hall spirit and the eight great Ice Guardians dared not contemplate the outcome of the duel.


    They could only wait, awaiting this conclusion!


    The wait wasn¡¯t long, for after another earth-shattering explosion came from within the battleground, there was sudden silence, and even the endless brilliance that enveloped the entire field of battle began to fade slowly.


    The eight great Ice Guardians flew toward the battleground, and the deputy hall spirit also looked into the center of the fight.


    As the light faded, there appeared Bing Shiyi¡¯s enormous body, spattered with earth and blood, on the ground.


    Bing Shiyi had actually been wounded?!


    And where was Ye Chen?


    Where could Ye Chen be?


    The eight great Ice Guardians and the deputy hall spirit looked towards the earth but did not see Ye Chen¡¯s figure, and when they looked towards the gradually dispersing lights of water, fire, and earth in the void, they were suddenly confronted with the sight of Ye Chen, standing in the midst of the void.


    Moreover, Ye Chen merely had some dust on his clothes, without a single wound!


    "This..."


    "Could it be that Ye Chen won?"


    A moment of blankness struck the minds of the eight great Ice Guardians, and then they heard the deputy hall spirit¡¯s excited squeal, "Ye Chen, have you defeated Bing Shiyi and won the final battle?"


    The eight great Ice Guardians all turned their gazes toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t speak; he merely looked down at Bing Shiyi on the ground below. At this moment, Bing Shiyi sighed deeply, and the suppressed aura on his body suddenly released, elevating from the mid phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm directly back to the late phase.


    As his aura was restored, the dirt and bloodstains on Bing Shiyi also vanished rapidly, and his wounds closed swiftly.


    "I have lost, with my past strength at the mid phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm, I could not defeat Ye Chen," Bing Shiyi finally spoke.


    Silence.


    When Bing Shiyi finished speaking, the whole world fell into a silence as if dead.


    Ye Chen had defeated Bing Shiyi, and all nine Ice Guardians as well as the deputy hall spirit knew what this meant!


    It meant that, after thirty thousand years, the inheritance of the Ice God King had finally welcomed its new successor!


    After a moment of deathly silence, it was followed by incredulous screams, shocked shouts, and exultations.


    The eight guardians who had just been spectators could not contain their excitement; although they had lost to Ye Chen at the mid phase of their Heavenly Saint power, they were not the least bit sad.


    Ye Chen was a youth of exceptionally young age. To be able to defeat them all at this age, and even Bing Shiyi, this strength was already enough to win their approval, enough to inherit their master¡¯s legacy and become their new guardian, their new master!


    Not only were the eight guardians screaming, but even Bing Shiyi, who had just had his power restored after being defeated by Ye Chen, also looked towards Ye Chen, revealing a smile.


    He, too, recognized Ye Chen immensely.


    At this moment, the deputy hall spirit suddenly silenced the screams and excitement of the Ice Guardians. The deputy hall spirit looked towards Ye Chen and spoke reverently, "Greetings to Lord Ye Chen!"


    "Congratulations to Lord Ye Chen for passing all three phases of the God King¡¯s inheritance assessment and becoming the formal successor of my master, the Ice God King!"


    Greetings to Lord Ye Chen.


    The words of the deputy hall spirit left the nine Ice Guardians momentarily stunned.


    Lord, this title, was what their master had mentioned, to be granted only to the successor of their master¡¯s inheritance in the future.


    Yes, Ye Chen had already earned this qualification!


    After being momentarily stunned, Bing Shiyi followed the deputy hall spirit¡¯s lead, looked respectfully towards Ye Chen, with bright eyes, and said, "Greetings to Lord Ye Chen!"


    The other eight guardians also turned towards Ye Chen, and all of them bowed down to the ground, "Greetings to Lord Ye Chen!"

 Chapter 382 - 344 Yuan Li鈥檚 Command

    ```


    Greetings, Your Highness Ye Chen!


    The voices of the nine great Icebound Guardians resounded thunderously within the special snowflake space.


    All nine guardians, mighty Heavenly Saint beasts at the later stages with bodies hundreds of fathoms long, prostrated before a young man at the Rotating Pill Realm.


    If the cultivators of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were to witness this scene, they would likely be completely stunned!


    Their profound respect for Ye Chen was indeed overly reverent!


    "Esteemed predecessors, please rise. Ye Chen is not worthy of such grand gestures."


    Seeing the Icebound Guardians prostrating on the ground, Ye Chen hurried to stop them, asking them to stand up.


    Although he had defeated these nine Icebound Guardians, Ye Chen was aware that the guardians had suppressed their strength to that of an earlier Heavenly Saint mid-stage, which was why they were defeated; he was far from being an opponent to the nine Icebound Guardians in his current state.


    Moreover, the nine Icebound Guardians had been war beasts under the Icebound Divine King for tens of thousands of years, living much longer than Ye Chen; naturally, he would not presume himself their superior.


    "Ye Chen, from now on, these nine are your guardians, and you are their new master. There is no need to be overly modest with them," the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace said with a smile.


    Ye Chen shook his head: "Even if these nine predecessors follow me, there is no need for such formality. If we continue with such courtesy, I would feel embarrassed to lead you all, my predecessors."


    Warmed by Ye Chen¡¯s sincere words, the hearts of the nine Icebound Guardians softened.


    Ye Chen had already subdued them with his power, but since Ye Chen was still very young and only at the Rotating Pill Realm, had he taken advantage of his status as the Inheritor of the God King to lord over them, they certainly would have felt uncomfortable.


    Instead, now that Ye Chen also treated them with great respect, the nine guardians felt an even closer bond to him.


    The nine guardians had a premonition that, by following their new master, they might embark on an even more splendid journey than the one they had with the Icebound Divine King.


    "All right, since His Highness Ye Chen has spoken, you need not be so formal," the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace said with a smile, seeing Ye Chen insist that the Icebound Guardians refrain from prostrating, "From now on, His Highness Ye Chen¡¯s commands are akin to those of the old master, and you must all dutifully comply. Protecting His Highness¡¯ safety and ensuring His Highness safely reaches the main hall of the Icebound Temple is your responsibility!"


    Bing Shiyi smiled gently and nodded.


    The other Icebound Guardians also nodded in agreement.


    "Ye Chen, now that you have completed the inheritance assessment, after telling you how to reach the main hall of the Icebound Temple and what to be aware of, I should send you off," said the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen asked, "Will not the Hall Spirit accompany us on our departure?"


    The Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace shook its head: "The five Sub Palaces were sent out by the master solely for the purpose of selecting an inheritor. Now that the inheritor has been determined, we should return as well."


    "Once I hand over the Inheritance Token to you and send you away from this Sub Palace, the five Icebound Temple Sub Palaces will fly back to the main hall."


    Ye Chen was puzzled: "Can we not travel directly to the main hall with you?"


    He had completed the inheritance assessment and obtained the qualification to inherit from the Divine King. If he could travel directly with the Sub Palace to the main hall of the Icebound Temple, it would save him the trouble of making the journey later.


    "Your Highness Ye Chen, the time is not yet right for you to go to the main hall," the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace said gravely, "The main hall of the Icebound Temple has been sealed for thirty thousand years. Only when all five Sub Palaces return can they unite to form the main hall¡¯s spirit and start preparing for your future inheritance from the Divine King."


    "It will probably take one more year before the main hall is fully prepared for the inheritance. By then, the Inheritance Token will guide you to the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall."


    One year later before he could go to the main hall of the Icebound Temple?


    Ye Chen nodded his head.


    The main hall of the Icebound Temple involved the inheritance of the Divine King, and naturally, it was no simple matter. Ye Chen knew better than to be too hasty.


    One year was not too long. After another year of increasing his strength, it would not be too late to go to the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    "Let¡¯s go now. We shall leave this special snowflake space, and then I¡¯ll inform you of the specific details of the main hall," the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace said.


    ...


    Half an hour later.


    From the Nine Nether Pond outside the Icebound Temple¡¯s Sub Palace, the water suddenly rippled and then, the figure of a young man flew out straight from the pond.


    This young man was none other than Ye Chen, who had cultivated for three years in the sub palace of the Icebound Temple, successfully obtained the qualification for the Divine King¡¯s inheritance, and now had left the Sub Palace.


    After Ye Chen landed beside the Nine Nether Pond, he touched an Ice Snow Jade Pendant hanging at his waist.


    Looking into the Jade Pendant, one could see a vast and infinite world within. In that world, Bing Shiyi and the other eight Icebound Guardians were sitting and cultivating!


    In the center of this pendant world, one could also see a colossal jade token deeply rooted in the ground. The jade token was a thousand meters tall, covered with mysterious inscriptions; this jade token was the Inheritance Token Ye Chen had received from the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace.


    The Inheritance Token, which only Ye Chen could activate!


    The Inheritance Token for entering the main hall of the Icebound Temple!


    ```


    After leaving the special space of the third phase of the assessment and returning to the Sub Palace, the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace told Ye Chen about many matters related to the Icebound Divine King and gave Ye Chen a spatial artifact, the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant", instructing him to take the Inheritance Token and the Nine Guards and depart.


    Only then did Ye Chen return to the shore of the Nine Nether Pond.


    Standing by the shore of the Nine Nether Pond and touching the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen directly projected his Divine Sense into the world within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    After greeting the nine Icebound Guards, Ye Chen withdrew his Divine Sense and then turned his gaze back to the Nine Nether Pond.


    Others could not detect the anomaly in the Nine Nether Pond, but Ye Chen, having acquired the qualification of Inheritor of the God King, had mysteriously become connected with the Sub Palace.


    Ye Chen could feel that, shortly after his return to the Nine Nether Pond, the glowing vines at the bottom of the tens of thousands of meters deep pond had all retracted into the hidden Sub Palace within the secret space, and at last, the entire Sub Palace was completely sealed off.


    Then, right before Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, the Sub Palace where he had cultivated for three years disappeared without a trace from the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond in a flash of light.


    "It¡¯s gone, the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace has taken the Sub Palace and teleported back to the main temple¡¯s location!"


    "To see the Hall Spirit again will probably have to wait more than a year."


    Ye Chen sighed.


    "Alright, it¡¯s time to return to the Heavenly Sacred Palace. I cannot let Yin Qianjue, who incited Feng Lun Heavenly Saint to kill me, escape!"


    Ye Chen had nearly died at the hands of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, and even though he luckily survived, his Life-bound Flying Sword had been damaged.


    Although subsequently, by a stroke of fate, Ye Chen successfully inherited the legacy of the Divine King, he would not let go of Yin Qianjue, the mastermind behind the plot against him!


    After a moment of reflection on the sorrow of parting, Ye Chen collected his emotions and looked back toward the direction of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Then, with the great harvest from his three years of arduous cultivation, along with the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and the nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Icebound Guards inside, he flew back toward the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    After Ye Chen left the Nine Nether Pond and the Sub Palace had also departed, the Ice Palace Snowfield, spanning dozens of miles around the Nine Nether Pond and that had not melted for tens of thousands of years, gradually began to thaw.


    Days later, the ice and snow plain even vanished completely.


    This anomaly later drew the attention of many martial artists, even reaching the ears of numerous powerful Heavenly Saints. When these Heavenly Saints arrived at the territory of the Nine Nether Pond again, they discovered that they could descend into the pond and even dive to the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond!


    The Nine Nether Pond, once a land of death, now had no barrier whatsoever!


    However, when they ventured to the bottom of the Nine Nether Pond, the mighty ones found that, after the anomaly, aside from the water, nothing was left of the Nine Nether Pond.


    Aside from the anomaly at the Nine Nether Pond, four other locations in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent also experienced the departure of four Sub Palaces, unbeknownst to everyone.


    Two of these four Sub Palaces were deeply hidden in the Chaotic Sea Area, one was in the eastern Polar Star Archipelago, and another was in the far north at the Ice Palace Snowfield.


    These four Sub Palaces, over tens of thousands of years, had also attracted the attention of many people. Only after a long time had passed since the Sub Palaces vanished did the anomaly of their disappearance gradually spread. However, the truth about the Sub Palaces returning to the Main Temple remained unknown to all.


    What was most shocking was that the five Sub Palaces scattered across the Barbaric Wilderness Continent eventually teleported back to the poorest territory on the continent¡ªwithin the domain of the thirteen southern nations.


    Below the land of the thirteen southern nations lay the main temple of the Icebound Divine King¡¯s Icebound Temple!


    This was definitely something beyond everyone¡¯s expectations!


    Even Ye Chen, who would go to the Main Temple a year later, would need to rely on the Inheritance Token to make his way there, unaware of the exact location of the Main Temple, let alone that it was beneath the land of the thirteen southern nations!


    ...


    As Ye Chen headed back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the entire Heavenly Sacred Palace was already tense.


    Two days prior, Palace Master Yuan Li, the most powerful figure in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, returned with Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and a mysterious woman. After her return, Palace Master Yuan Li immediately issued a command throughout the Heavenly Sacred Palace that no one was to leave for a month and all disciples who were outside were to be urgently recalled.


    Palace Master Yuan Li held absolute authority in the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    However, she rarely intervened in the affairs of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, so her sudden decree naturally stirred tension, leaving everyone clueless as to what had transpired.


    Even the other two palace masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, when inquiring about the reason from Palace Master Yuan Li, received no answer.


    Only Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei knew the reason behind the whole affair.


    Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s order for everyone not to leave the Heavenly Sacred Palace and for those outside to return was because she intended to find out who was behind Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s attempt to kill Ye Chen!


    On their way to the Polar Star Archipelago, Palace Master Yuan Li and Jiang Yao had witnessed the battle between Feng Lun Heavenly Saint and Ye Chen firsthand.


    They knew that Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s assassination attempt on Ye Chen must have had a reason.


    Although they were aware that Ye Chen had successfully killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint and was now safe and sound, they couldn¡¯t ignore the potential threat that remained.


    Now that they had returned, it was time to uncover the truth!

 Chapter 383 - 345: The End of Affinity and Longing

    Great Zhou Dynasty, Falling Frost City, a small tavern at the north of the city.


    Dressed in a snow-white cotton-padded coat, her fair face as white as snow itself and only fifteen years of age, the beautiful young girl Liu Yingying looked at Ye Chen, who had just finished his meal and was getting ready to leave, with eyes full of reluctance, "Brother Ye Chen, are you leaving? "


    Merely half an hour earlier, Ye Chen had descended from the sky and to Liu Yingying¡¯s great surprise, reappeared in the small tavern.


    The young girl would never forget that eleven days ago, when bandits from the Heavenly Tiger Gang had tried to snatch her away to their stronghold, it was this young man before her who had single-handedly resolved the terrible predicament.


    She would even less forget that this very young man before her had fought a legendary figure from the Heavenly Saint Realm, and had personally killed that figure.


    It was this young man who had changed the entire situation in Falling Frost City; the troublesome Heavenly Tiger Gang had been uprooted overnight, and no more bandits dared to oppress the citizens of Falling Frost City!


    Liu Yingying held endless admiration for this young man called Ye Chen.


    She hadn¡¯t expected that Brother Ye Chen would come back to the tavern, and his surprise visit made her incredibly happy. But the fact that Ye Chen was just going to eat and then leave made her feel all the more unwilling to part.


    "Yes, my lord, please stay a while longer. Look, Yingying and everyone else here don¡¯t want you to leave," said Old Master Liu, Liu Yingying¡¯s grandfather and the tavern¡¯s shopkeeper, as he hurriedly stood respectfully in front of Ye Chen.


    The tavern¡¯s patrons also gathered around Ye Chen, "Yes, Young Master Ye Chen, we¡¯ve all heard about your deeds. You¡¯ve helped Falling Frost City a great deal by dealing with the Heavenly Tiger Gang¡¯s huge threat. It¡¯s a fortune beyond three lifetimes to meet you here in the tavern!"


    Another person said, "I personally witnessed Master Ye Chen taking action last time. He¡¯s so young, yet incredibly powerful! He saved us from the Heavenly Saint; Master Ye Chen is the most powerful youth I¡¯ve ever seen!"


    "The Heavenly Saint from last time said Master Ye Chen came from the Heavenly Sacred Palace. Master Ye Chen is a true young genius from the number one sect, the Heavenly Sacred Palace, in our Central Region!"


    Seeing the excited and reluctant expressions on the faces of Liu Yingying, Shopkeeper Liu, and the other tavern patrons, Ye Chen smiled and said, "This time, I left the Heavenly Sacred Palace to deal with some matters, and now that those matters are resolved, I should head back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    Liu Yingying quietly hummed an acknowledgment; she knew she couldn¡¯t delay this incredible young man from his important matters just because of her own reluctance, "Then, Brother Ye Chen, please be careful on your way back. If you get the chance, you should come visit us again."


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded in agreement.


    This time, as he left the Nine Nether Pond and was rushing back towards the Heavenly Sacred Palace, when he reached Falling Frost City, Ye Chen remembered the events from a little more than ten days ago. After all, he had formed a connection with this place, so he specifically stopped by this small tavern again.


    Listening to Liu Yingying recount the events after his departure, hearing how the Black Wind Stronghold where the Heavenly Tiger Gang had been based had been utterly eradicated, with its bandits dead or dispersed, and how Falling Frost City had returned to peace, Ye Chen could consider this matter closed.


    This trip away from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, to the Nine Nether Pond, besides encountering the Heavenly Tiger Gang and Feng Lun Heavenly Saint in the tavern, had gone smoothly. Now with Feng Lun Heavenly Saint defeated and the Heavenly Tiger Gang utterly destroyed, he also had the immense gains from the Icebound Temple¡¯s inheritance test, making this trip a complete success.


    And so, after finishing his meal and drink, Ye Chen was ready to leave.


    Seeing that Ye Chen insisted on leaving, the tavern patrons, of course, didn¡¯t dare to stop him, and they all escorted Ye Chen out towards the exit of the tavern.


    "Right, Little Sister Liu Yingying, you are at the eleventh level of the True Qi Realm, and you must be close to making a breakthrough to the Spirit Sea Realm," Ye Chen said as they walked, something occurring to him as he turned to speak to Liu Yingying.


    Liu Yingying nodded, "Indeed, once I cultivate to the twelfth level of True Qi, I will begin attempting to reach the Spirit Sea Realm. Brother Ye Chen, I will definitely cultivate hard in the future, striving to be as formidable as you!"


    "Our meeting is fated, and I have something for you, as a gift," Ye Chen said with a smile.


    With a flick of his finger, a streak of light flew towards Liu Yingying.


    Catching the streak of light, Liu Yingying looked at what she had received and her face instantly filled with delight, "A Five Elements Spirit Seed? And it¡¯s the best quality, most suitable Water Spirit Seed for my cultivation... My goodness, this gift is far too precious, Brother Ye Chen, I can¡¯t accept this."


    Ye Chen, being of such a high realm, could of course discern Liu Yingying¡¯s cultivation level and the main technique she majored in. He had many treasures on him, and took out a top-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed to help this girl he had chanced upon one day break through to the Spirit Sea Realm. It was a small fortune he was bestowing upon Liu Yingying.


    "Don¡¯t be polite, this Five Elements Spirit Seed is not precious to me. It¡¯s just right for you, you should take it," Ye Chen said with a light smile upon seeing Liu Yingying¡¯s hesitant and timid demeanor.


    Liu Yingying bit her red lips, and with her large eyes, she gave Ye Chen a deep look. After a few breaths, a smile mixed with shyness blossomed in the girl¡¯s eyes. "Then Yingying thanks Brother Ye Chen. Yingying will always remember Brother Ye Chen¡¯s kindness."


    A top-grade Five Elements Spirit Seed was the most precious item for a True Qi Realm martial artist to break through to the Spirit Sea Realm. It was not important to Ye Chen now but was extremely precious to Liu Yingying.


    After smiling at Liu Yingying, Ye Chen stepped out of the small tavern.


    When he arrived outside the tavern, it was already surrounded by the experts of Falling Frost City who had come upon hearing the news. All the sects of Falling Frost City, even the leaders and elders of the largest sect¡ªthe six-ranked Falling Snow Sect¡ªstood outside the tavern with the utmost respect.


    As Ye Chen walked out, all these experts bowed to him and called out, "Elder Ye Chen!"


    In the Barbaric Continent, martial prowess was honored above all else.


    Ye Chen, being able to slay a Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, was an extremely important figure in the eyes of these people, so of course they had to show the utmost respect!


    Liu Yingying, being young, still called Ye Chen "Big Brother," and many of the patrons in the tavern who didn¡¯t understand martial arts referred to Ye Chen as Young Master Ye. However, these strong individuals from Falling Frost City did not dare address him in such a casual manner and instead directly called him Elder Ye Chen!


    Elder?!


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but shake his head with a wry smile.


    He wasn¡¯t even half as old as these people, and yet they addressed him as an elder.


    "All right, I was just passing through. I will be leaving now. In the future, you sects and powers of Falling Frost City, take good care of Shopkeeper Liu of this little tavern and his granddaughter, as well as the citizens of Falling Frost City," Ye Chen said.


    Ye Chen, of course, wouldn¡¯t go into detail with these people. He waved at them with a light smile, and after nodding to Liu Yingying, Shopkeeper Liu, and the others in the tavern, he directly tore through the void with his hands and stepped into the spatial crack, disappearing from the scene.


    "As Elder Ye Chen commands!" responded the sect leaders and elders of Falling Frost City, all nodding and loudly affirming.


    Witnessing Ye Chen disappear from the scene instantaneously, with such mystical movement, their hearts could not help but be filled with immense admiration. "Heavenly Saint, this is the strength of a Heavenly Saint!"


    The young girl Liu Yingying, meanwhile, was clutching the top-grade Water Spirit Seed that Ye Chen had just given her, her eyes fixed on the spot where Ye Chen had vanished, without moving for a long time.


    ...


    Within the void of the Great Zhou Dynasty.


    Inside the Heavenly Origin Boat.


    Ye Chen sat on the flying boat, gazing towards the direction of the Heavenly Sacred Palace of the Great Xia Dynasty. "A few more days of flight, and I¡¯ll be back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace. I wonder if Jiang Yao¡¯s trip to the Polar Star Archipelago went smoothly, she should have already returned to the Heavenly Sacred Palace by now."


    The beautiful visage of Jiang Yao emerged in Ye Chen¡¯s mind, especially the three years they spent in the Icebound Temple¡¯s subsidiary hall where time flowed differently. To Ye Chen, it felt like a lot of time had passed.


    Having not seen Jiang Yao for such a long time, he was missing her intensely.

 Chapter 384 - 346: The one who harmed me, Yin Qianjue

    Every time Ye Chen thought of Jiang Yao, he couldn¡¯t wait to fly straight back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Time flew by in the blink of an eye.


    Riding the Heavenly Origin Boat back to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen spent just over seven days crossing the vast expanse of the central region of the Great Xia Dynasty, covering more than half of its territory, and finally reached the secret valley entrance to the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Whoosh!


    As soon as Ye Chen retracted the Heavenly Origin Boat, he stepped into the void and flew toward the entrance.


    At this time, Ye Chen had already become an official disciple of the First Holy Temple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, of course no longer needing Mu Qingqing¡¯s help to enter. Holding the law token of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he shone it towards the entrance of the valley. The gate to the Heavenly Sacred Palace appeared immediately, and with a flicker of his figure, Ye Chen burst into the internal space of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Flying above the void, looking at the majestic giant temples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and the distant Heavenly Saint Mountain visible behind the giant temples, Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    I¡¯m back!


    Ye Chen had survived the perilous journey north, vanquishing the Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, earning his inheritance qualifications from the Sealed God King, and had finally returned alive to the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    Last time, when Ye Chen entered the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he was a new disciple led by Mu Qingqing. Back then, his strength was just that of an ordinary early Heavenly Saint Realm fighter.


    It hadn¡¯t been long, but with three years of cultivation aided by the God King¡¯s time flow, Ye Chen had greatly enhanced the power of the Taiyuan Divine Pill and the Five Great Divine Arts. He had cultivated three hundred and fifty-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills, attained the eight hundred and ten basic styles of the Sealed Divine Body, and his true fighting capability had already reached the mid-level of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    What was more terrifying was that although Ye Chen¡¯s Life-bound Flying Sword was damaged and still needed repairs, he had gained nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm level Sealed Guardians.


    It could be said that now Ye Chen could walk sideways across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Returning to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen¡¯s state of mind was entirely different.


    What he needed to do now was to further improve his realm, increase his strength, and first solve the great threat that the ten great Demon Sects from the Western Barbarian Wilderness posed to the south. Later, after entering the main hall of the Sealed God Temple and receiving the God King¡¯s inheritance, he would truly help Jiang Yao to face the matters involving the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    With conflicting emotions in his heart, Ye Chen flew toward the five great holy temples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace. He hadn¡¯t flown far when he saw three figures flying rapidly towards him.


    "Jiang Yao!"


    Among the three figures, the one leading the flight was a beautiful girl about seventeen or eighteen years old. The girl, dressed in light blue, had a face that caused calamity with delicate features, intoxicating gentle dimples, skin white as snow crystal, and hair like a waterfall reaching her waist¡ªwho else could it be but Jiang Yao?


    Following Jiang Yao were two other girls, one was Liu Qingmei, and the other was Mu Qingqing.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected to see all three of them coming to meet him as soon as he returned to the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    In an instant, the four of them flew together in the void and came to a stop.


    "Ye Chen."


    Upon seeing Ye Chen, tears started rolling uncontrollably in Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes.


    Although she knew Ye Chen was fine, her heart had been tight ever since she sensed something wrong with her Life-bound Flying Sword.


    Now that she saw Ye Chen returning safely, her heart finally relaxed.


    Jiang Yao held Ye Chen tightly in her arms, reluctant to let go.


    "Alright, alright, why are you crying as soon as you¡¯re back?" Ye Chen said with a smile as he stroked Jiang Yao¡¯s little head.


    "Ye Chen, you don¡¯t know, these past few days, Sister Jiang Yao was so worried."


    Liu Qingmei also chimed in, "Yeah, Ye Chen, we were on our way to the Polar Star Archipelago to see Auntie when Jiang Yao suddenly sensed something wrong with the flying sword. You can¡¯t imagine how pale she turned with fright, ready to fly right back."


    "It was only because Palace Master Yuan Li used her great magic to see that you were fine. It scared us to death. By the way, Ye Chen, why did that Feng Lun Heavenly Saint want to kill you?"


    Hearing what Mu Qingqing and Liu Qingmei said, Ye Chen finally understood why Jiang Yao couldn¡¯t help crying when she saw him.


    The girl was worried for him.


    That was the girl he liked, always warming his heart.


    "It¡¯s fine, I¡¯m okay now," Ye Chen reassured, hugging Jiang Yao tightly and giving her a gentle kiss on her fair little face.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gesture made Mu Qingqing and Liu Qingmei blush as they watched him, and even Jiang Yao, mindful of the two other girls by her side, turned red with embarrassment and quickly let go of Ye Chen, stepping back slightly.


    However, the girl¡¯s small hand still held Ye Chen¡¯s. Thinking of the danger Ye Chen had encountered, the embarrassment on her face gradually faded, giving way to determination, "Ye Chen, who sent Feng Lun Heavenly Saint to kill you? Even if it¡¯s a mid or late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse, I will ask Palace Master Yuan Li or True Phoenix Auntie to capture him!"


    Jiang Yao spoke with utter seriousness.


    She would not easily forgive anyone who harmed Ye Chen.


    Seeing Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and Mu Qingqing all concerned about the incident with Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s pursuit, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes turned toward the direction of the First Holy Temple, "It wasn¡¯t the mid or late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, but a disciple from the Western Barbarian Wilderness¡¯s ten great Demon Sects who was cultivating in the First Holy Temple¡ªYin Qianjue."


    "I¡¯ve come back this time to solve the matter of this malevolent hand behind the scenes!"


    "Yin Qianjue?!"


    Upon hearing this name, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and Mu Qingqing¡¯s faces darkened instantly.


    Knowing the real culprit behind Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, even if Ye Chen did not act to kill Yin Qianjue, the three of them would definitely not let this person go!


    ...


    "Jiang Yao, you went to the Polar Star Archipelago in the eastern Barbarian Wilderness this time to see Liu Qingmei¡¯s auntie, how did it go? Was she the one sent by the Divine Phoenix Clan to find you?"


    On the way to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen sent a message to Jiang Yao and asked.


    Jiang Yao nodded slightly, giving a gentle smile, "Yes, Ye Chen, do you know? I actually know this aunt as well, she is a Void Sky True God from our Divine Phoenix City! You can call her Aunt Mu Lan, she has returned to the Heavenly Sacred Palace with us this time, and is now with True Phoenix."


    Void Sky True God?!


    Currently in the Heavenly Sacred Palace?


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart trembled, knowing that the one sent by the Divine Phoenix Clan to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to find Jiang Yao was very likely the Void Sky True God.


    However, hearing that another Void Sky True God had appeared, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but be shocked.


    Along with the True Phoenix elder, the Heavenly Sacred Palace now hid two Void Sky True Gods!


    "Aunt Mu Lan came across the boundary to find me and was injured by the backlash of the heavenly and earthly forces. She has not yet fully recovered," Jiang Yao¡¯s beautiful eyes dimmed slightly, "Let¡¯s go, Ye Chen. First, we¡¯ll meet with Palace Master Yuan Li. After dealing with Yin Qianjue¡¯s matter, I will take you to meet Aunt Mu Lan."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    The four headed toward the residence of Palace Master Yuan Li and flew off.


    ...


    Heavenly Sacred Palace, First Holy Temple, the living space for disciples.


    The disciples of the ten great Demon Sects from the Western Barbarian Wilderness training in the Heavenly Sacred Palace were gathering at Yin Qianjue¡¯s residence.


    "I don¡¯t understand why Palace Master Yuan Li has ordered no one to leave the Heavenly Sacred Palace and even demands all disciples who went out to return immediately."


    The Demon Sects disciples were discussing the recent orders issued by Palace Master Yuan Li.


    "Indeed, looking at the Palace Master¡¯s behavior, she clearly wants to investigate something. These matters must be related to us, disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, which is why she forbids us from leaving and demands everyone to come back."


    "I don¡¯t know what she is investigating, but whoever caused trouble for Palace Master Yuan Li is truly doomed," said the disciples, speculating about the reasons behind her orders.


    At that moment, in the midst of the Demon Sect disciples, Yin Qianjue¡¯s face was extremely unpleasant.


    Since learning about the incident involving Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, he had been nervous and uneasy, unable to eat or sleep. The sudden orders from Palace Master Yuan Li a few days ago had given him a start.


    He even had a premonition that the lockdown of the Heavenly Sacred Palace by Palace Master Yuan Li, preventing anyone from leaving, was likely related to Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, related to his order to have Feng Lun Heavenly Saint to kill Ye Chen!


    This possibility made Yin Qianjue even more restless.


    "I haven¡¯t heard of any connection between Ye Chen and Palace Master Yuan Li. Could it be that she really intends to stand up for Ye Chen this time?"


    The relationship between Palace Master Yuan Li and Jiang Yao and Ye Chen, involving the Void Sky True God True Phoenix, was kept secret, and these disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace were completely unaware.


    However, the lockdown of the Heavenly Sacred Palace took place shortly after the fall of Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, causing Yin Qianjue to feel utterly disordered.


    He couldn¡¯t disclose this matter to the other disciples of the Demon Sect in the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    If the word got out, it could potentially bring even greater trouble.


    Bottled up inside, anxious and nervous, Yin Qianjue was nearly driven mad!


    Now hearing the Demon Sect disciples discussing this matter, his anxiety worsened, and eventually, he couldn¡¯t contain himself and shouted, "Enough, stop talking about this matter!"


    The sudden outburst from Yin Qianjue left the disciples of the Demon Sect looking at each other in confusion.


    "Brother Yin, what¡¯s wrong?"


    Seeing Yin Qianjue¡¯s stern face and silence, the Demon Sect disciples were all in a fog.


    Just when the disciples from the ten great Demon Sects were feeling perplexed, a sudden violent impact sound came from the prohibitory formations around Yin Qianjue¡¯s residential manor.


    Looking at the situation, it seemed as if someone was trying to break through the manor¡¯s prohibitions and barge into Yin Qianjue¡¯s residence by force.


    "What¡¯s happening? This is the First Holy Temple disciple¡¯s residential manor, does someone dare to break in like this?" The Demon Sect disciples all stood up and looked outside.


    Hearing this sound, Yin Qianjue¡¯s legs trembled and his heart felt like it was leaping to his throat.


    Boom!


    At this moment, the defense prohibitions around Yin Qianjue¡¯s residential manor burst open with a "boom," and a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse directly flew down into Yin Qianjue¡¯s manor.


    "Heavenly Saint Lord!"


    Seeing this mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse suddenly entering the manor, the Demon Sect disciples were utterly stunned and quickly knelt to the ground.


    The mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse did not pay attention to these Demon Sect disciples but directly turned to Yin Qianjue and said, "You are Yin Qianjue? Come with me. Palace Master Yuan Li and Brother Ye Chen have asked me to bring you to meet them!"


    Palace Master Yuan Li?!


    Ye Chen?!


    Hearing these two names, Yin Qianjue¡¯s last bit of hope vanished.


    His legs gave way, and he collapsed to the ground.

 Chapter 385 - 347 Wind and Thunder Platform

    "Senior Brother Yin!"


    Seeing Yin Qianjue collapsing weakly to the ground, the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness hastily stood up, preparing to surround Yin Qianjue.


    However, upon catching the indifferent glance from the mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse, all of these Demon Sect disciples stopped in their tracks.


    They realized their Senior Brother Yin, the strongest among the disciples from the ten great Demon Sects in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, had gotten into big trouble.


    Palace Master Yuan Li?


    That¡¯s the strongest among the Heavenly Sacred Palace, a great personage revered by countless Heavenly Saints!


    How did Yin Qianjue provoke Palace Master Yuan Li?


    And then there was Ye Chen.


    Thinking of Ye Chen, these Demon Sect disciples trembled even more in their hearts.


    Ye Chen, who came from one of the blood enemies of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, was well known to the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects as soon as he arrived at the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    The scene where Ye Chen was storming through the Holy Temple Tower, coveted as a disciple by countless Heavenly Saint strongmen and even two Palace Masters, was still vivid in their minds.


    Now, Ye Chen had actually established connections with the most powerful Palace Master Yuan Li of the Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    With Yin Qianjue being taken away by Palace Master Yuan Li and Ye Chen, the disciples of the Western Wilderness¡¯s Demon Sects knew this matter likely had something to do with Ye Chen and the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    While the Demon Sect disciples were speculating, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse glanced at the collapsed Yin Qianjue, and with a wave of his hand in the air, grabbed Yin Qianjue into his grasp.


    Seeing Yin Qianjue¡¯s pale face, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse shook his head and said, "Looking at you like this, you seem to know why I¡¯ve come to take you away. Let¡¯s go, to the Wind and Thunder Platform, and speak properly about the things you¡¯ve done!"


    Boom!


    As soon as the mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse finished speaking, he flew off with Yin Qianjue in his grip, leaving Yin Qianjue¡¯s residence and the First Holy Temple, heading towards a huge stone platform at the foot of Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    "The Wind and Thunder Platform?"


    "Come on, let¡¯s follow and see!"


    Only after the mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse had completely vanished did the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness breathe a sigh of relief.


    The pressure of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint was unbearable for them.


    Watching the direction in which Yin Qianjue was taken, the Demon Sect disciples no longer hesitated and flew out of the residence towards the Wind and Thunder Platform.


    ...


    The Wind and Thunder Platform.


    A huge stone platform where the Heavenly Sacred Palace dealt with the punishments of disciples and resolved disputes.


    This platform was a hundred feet tall and over three hundred feet in length and width, towering below Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    The entire platform was engraved with countless patterns of wind and thunder.


    Wind, the master of conflict; thunder, the supreme of punishment.


    The reason this platform was named the Wind and Thunder Platform was exactly as such.


    If a disciple of the Heavenly Sacred Palace violated the sect¡¯s rules or if there was a life-and-death struggle between disciples, it all could be settled on this Wind and Thunder Platform.


    As the mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse flew towards the platform with Yin Qianjue in tow, the space around the Wind and Thunder Platform was already filled with many who had heard the news and come to see.


    Meanwhile, on the Wind and Thunder Platform, Ye Chen was already sitting cross-legged.


    Looking beyond Ye Chen into the expanse of space, one could see the three great Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, and Skyscraper Palace Master, had all arrived here.


    Beside Palace Master Yuan Li stood Jiang Yao, Mu Qingqing, and Liu Qingmei.


    The presence of this lineup completely astounded those Heavenly Saints and disciples from the five great Holy Temples who had hurried over upon hearing something was happening at the Wind and Thunder Platform.


    For an event to draw the personal attention of the three great Palace Masters was something seldom seen in the thousands of years of history of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Further recognizing Ye Chen seated atop the Wind and Thunder Platform, these Heavenly Saints and disciples from the five great Holy Temples were shocked. It was him, the same young man who had challenged the Holy Temple Tower, attracting the attention of the two great Palace Masters to claim as a disciple.


    "The Wind and Thunder Platform, Ye Chen."


    "Could this matter be related to Ye Chen?"


    "Ye Chen is a talented young man valued by two great Palace Masters; they both vied to take him as their disciple. It seems that Mu Yao Palace Master and Skyscraper Palace Master have personally come because of Ye Chen."


    "But why has Palace Master Yuan Li also come? Does Palace Master Yuan Li also value Ye Chen?"


    "And that girl standing next to Palace Master Yuan Li, she must be the beautiful girl smitten with Ye Chen. She¡¯s standing directly beside Palace Master Yuan Li. It seems, indeed, Palace Master Yuan Li has some connection with Ye Chen!"


    Within the space of the Wind and Thunder Platform, Heavenly Saints and disciples from Heavenly Saint Mountain and the five great Holy Temples speculated in their hearts as they flocked to the lively scene.


    Guessing why Ye Chen had come to the Wind and Thunder Platform, for what reason.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Countless Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace and disciples from the five great Holy Temples heard the news and hurried over, until finally, even Heavenly Saint Luo Dian, who had once mentioned taking Ye Chen as a disciple, and the five elders from Shetuo Mountain rushed to the scene.


    After nodding their heads to Ye Chen as a greeting, when they saw the three Palace Masters in the void behind Ye Chen, they were also incredibly surprised.


    Just as everyone was buzzing with discussion, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint who had gone to capture Yin Qianjue, gripping Yin Qianjue himself, finally brought Yin Qianjue to the Wind and Thunder Platform.


    With a "thud," this mid-stage Heavenly Saint directly tossed Yin Qianjue onto the Wind and Thunder Platform.


    He even said to Palace Master Yuan Li and Ye Chen, "Palace Master, Brother Ye Chen, Yin Qianjue has been brought!"


    Palace Master Yuan Li nodded to this mid-stage Heavenly Saint.


    And Ye Chen clasped his hands towards this mid-stage Heavenly Saint, saying, "Thank you for your efforts, Senior Lei Ming."


    Whoosh.


    The words of this mid-stage Heavenly Saint and Ye Chen set off a wave of discussion among the onlookers in the surrounding void.


    "Who is the person thrown next to Ye Chen on the Wind and Thunder Platform?"


    "Why did the Palace Master personally assign Heavenly Saint Lei Ming from the Punishment Hall to capture him?"


    Though Yin Qianjue was the strongest cultivator from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects practicing in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, many Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain didn¡¯t recognize him.


    Of course, there were those who did recognize Yin Qianjue, and they were shocked: "Yin Qianjue, from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects, and Ye Chen, from the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms."


    "It has long been rumored that the Thirteen Southern Kingdoms and the Western Wilderness Demon Sects are blood-sworn mortal enemies. Could it be that this time, both Ye Chen and Yin Qianjue have come to the Wind and Thunder Platform because of strife between the South and the Western Wilderness?"


    "Our Heavenly Sacred Palace does not intervene in factional disputes, so it can¡¯t just be due to the enmity between the South and the Western Wilderness. Could it be an issue that arose between the two of them privately?"


    While everyone was speculating, Yin Qianjue, who had been thrown onto the Wind and Thunder Platform, saw Ye Chen sitting cross-legged on the platform and his eyes showed a look that was both panicked and malicious.


    At that moment Ye Chen, of course, saw Yin Qianjue too, but Ye Chen¡¯s heart was without the slightest ripple.


    After he had killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint and learned that it was Yin Qianjue who had attempted to use the "Heavenly Wood Divine Flower" as a reward to have Feng Lun Heavenly Saint kill him, Ye Chen had directly sentenced Yin Qianjue to death!


    Now, this Wind and Thunder Platform would be the place where Yin Qianjue¡¯s problem would be resolved!


    The Heavenly Saints and disciples of the five great Holy Temples standing nearby were buzzing with discussion, while Ye Chen and Yin Qianjue on the Wind and Thunder Platform locked eyes. At that moment, Palace Master Yuan Li, who had been sitting cross-legged in the void, stood up.


    With a gentle raise of her palm, the whole world fell silent in an instant.


    Her gaze swept around, and finally rested on Ye Chen and Yin Qianjue on the Wind and Thunder Platform. Palace Master Yuan Li spoke, "The crowd here from my Heavenly Sacred Palace is probably unaware of why I have come here and why Ye Chen and that Yin Qianjue are present."


    Everyone listened intently to Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s words.


    Palace Master Yuan Li continued, "My Heavenly Sacred Palace only deals with affairs involving the other thirty-two continents and does not get involved in the internal conflicts of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. However, my Heavenly Sacred Palace also has rules!"


    "Which are, that disciples within the palace are forbidden to fight among themselves, to commit murder. If indeed a murder is to happen, come to this Wind and Thunder Platform to resolve the matter. And this Yin Qianjue, as I am aware, has directly ordered Feng Lun Heavenly Saint to travel far to the Great Zhou Dynasty to assassinatYe Chen!"


    "Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was killed by Ye Chen while pursuing him, and his violation of the rules need not be dealt with further, but this Yin Qianjue, he must be punished."


    "Of course, Ye Chen requested to handle this matter himself, so let him settle this matter here on the Wind and Thunder Platform."


    Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s words completely stunned the numerous Heavenly Saints and disciples of the five great Holy Temples watching from the void.


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was killed by Ye Chen while pursuing him?


    Many remembered the event from a few days ago when Feng Lun Heavenly Saint¡¯s death was discovered. At that time, everyone had wondered why Feng Lun Heavenly Saint had fallen, but now it seemed he had died at Ye Chen¡¯s hands?


    Feng Lun Heavenly Saint was a peak early-stage Heavenly Saint in Heavenly Saint Mountain with a somewhat famous reputation, and Ye Chen was just a first Holy Temple disciple. Although he had managed to reach the third floor of the Holy Temple Tower, he was still young and had not actually succeeded there.


    Could he have killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint?


    Countless people found it hard to believe.


    At the same time, the Heavenly Saints and disciples of the five great Holy Temples were even more amazed that even if there had been a life-and-death struggle that violated the rules, it should have been handled by the Punishment Hall. There was no need for Palace Master Yuan Li to come personally.


    Listening to Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s words, it was obvious that she stood on Ye Chen¡¯s side, intending to support him!


    These people didn¡¯t know that Jiang Yao had been extremely anxious when Ye Chen was pursued and nearly killed by Feng Lun Heavenly Saint. At this time, Palace Master Yuan Li would naturally no longer conceal her attention to Ye Chen.


    She chose to stand out and support Ye Chen, letting others who still held hostility towards him not dare to act against Ye Chen as recklessly as Feng Lun Heavenly Saint and Yin Qianjue did!


    This intention of Palace Master Yuan Li was immediately understood by the nearby Skyscraper Palace Master and Mu Yao Palace Master, and both Palace Masters looked at Ye Chen: "This young fellow Ye Chen is truly extraordinary; even Yuan Li is so concerned about him!"


    Mu Yao Palace Master nodded, thinking to himself: "Well, although our Heavenly Sacred Palace does not meddle in factional strife, that does not mean Yuan Li can¡¯t help someone privately. With Ye Chen¡¯s talents, he must be the bane of the Western Wilderness Demon Sects. After Yuan Li¡¯s speech, the people from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects will probably no longer dare to trouble Ye Chen."


    The Skyscraper Palace Master thought: "Ye Chen even killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint? His strength when he challenged the Holy Temple Tower was definitely no match for Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, so it seems Ye Chen has many powerful cards he has yet to reveal. With the strength to slay Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, even without Yuan Li¡¯s support, Ye Chen alone would probably be more than a match for those early-stage Heavenly Saints from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects, wouldn¡¯t he?"

 Chapter 386 - 348 Mu Lan True God

    Having clarified the cause of the incident, all eyes converged on Ye Chen and Yin Qianjue on the Wind and Thunder Platform.


    At this moment, Ye Chen also stood up. After bowing to Palace Master Yuan Li, he directly addressed Yin Qianjue, "Yin Qianjue, what else do you have to say?"


    Feeling the gaze of countless eyes upon him and hearing Palace Master Yuan Li speak up for Ye Chen, Yin Qianjue¡¯s face turned ashen.


    He knew that in such a situation, it was absolutely impossible for him to have a chance to live any longer.


    However, Yin Qianjue still found it hard to believe that this young man, younger than himself, could have killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!


    Yin Qianjue, the top talent cultivating in the Heavenly Sacred Palace from among the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, had strength that neared that of an early-stage Heavenly Saint. Such prowess among the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness was absolutely considered genius, and given time, it was possible for him to become the top expert of the ten great Demon Sects.


    Now, he was about to be destroyed by the hands of this youth, with no more chances to continue growing stronger!


    Yin Qianjue could not believe it, refused to believe it; his plans had failed just like that.


    "No, if I¡¯m going to die, I¡¯m dragging you down with me!"


    "If I¡¯m to be destroyed by you, Ye Chen, I absolutely cannot let you get off easily!"


    Yin Qianjue was already resembling a madman, his eyes blood-red as he looked at Ye Chen, and without saying a word, he suddenly charged toward Ye Chen.


    As he charged instantly, Yin Qianjue also forcefully activated all the Rotating Pills in his body, intending to self-destruct, hoping to at least inflict severe injuries on Ye Chen if not kill him!


    Boom!


    It was almost instant, Yin Qianjue had shot towards Ye Chen, and his Rotating Pills were also igniting and exploding in an instant.


    Even though Yin Qianjue wasn¡¯t very famous in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he was, after all, a disciple of the first Holy Temple Tower, and the strongest among all the disciples of the ten great Demon Sects training in the Heavenly Sacred Palace; his strength was exceedingly close to that of an early-stage Heavenly Saint.


    This level of strength meant the self-destruction of the Rotating Pill would be significantly amplified, unleashing all the potential and the full might of his body to achieve maximum damage. Such a level of Rotating Pill self-destruction and resulting harm could definitely bring damage that reached the peak of the early-stage Heavenly Saints!


    Seeing Yin Qianjue crazed, igniting his Rotating Pills and shooting towards Ye Chen, many disciples from the Southern Territory who had rushed to the Wind and Thunder Platform, as well as those onlooking Heavenly Saints and disciples from the five grand Holy Temple Towers, many exclaimed, "Rotating Pill self-destruction!"


    Although they had seen Ye Chen¡¯s strength at the Holy Temple Tower, where he had already shown battle power comparable to an early-stage Heavenly Saint, now facing the reckless self-destruction of Yin Qianjue, even Ye Chen might be injured or even die.


    In a flash, many turned their electric glances toward Palace Master Yuan Li.


    In such a situation, only a powerful expert of Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s level might be able to save Ye Chen!


    In an instant, these people saw that Palace Master Yuan Li had no intention to act, and further saw that facing Yin Qianjue¡¯s self-destruction, Ye Chen did not show the slightest hint of panic.


    "Could this youth withstand such a level of Rotating Pill self-destruction? If that¡¯s the case, he must have the battle power of at least a mid-stage Heavenly Saint!"


    "He killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, does he truly have the battle power of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint?!"


    This thought only flashed through their minds for an instant before everyone saw Ye Chen making his move as Yin Qianjue had charged to his front and the Rotating Pills were already igniting and exploding.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, a shocking aura surged from Ye Chen¡¯s body, an aura so overwhelming that even many mid-stage Heavenly Saints present changed color at its intensity!


    This aura also shocked the Mu Yao Palace Master and Skyscraper Palace Master.


    Witnessing this aura, both Jiang Yao and Palace Master Yuan Li revealed a hint of a smile.


    Jiang Yao and Palace Master Yuan Li, after Ye Chen¡¯s return to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, had already learned from Ye Chen about his entrance into the mysterious time-accelerated realm and his significant increase in strength. Seeing Yin Qianjue¡¯s venomous last-ditch effort to drag Ye Chen down with him, they knew Ye Chen could handle this crisis!


    Meanwhile, Yin Qianjue, who had charged directly at Ye Chen and activated his Rotating Pill self-destruction, had his eyes completely filled with terror.


    He finally realized Ye Chen¡¯s strength; the aura that Ye Chen was emitting was even stronger than the most powerful techniques known from Feng Lun Heavenly Saint!


    "I hate this!"


    "To think, I can¡¯t even kill this Ye Chen with my self-destruction!"


    A moment of regret flashed through Yin Qianjue¡¯s mind.


    He regretted harboring thoughts of poisoning Ye Chen. Faced with a talent of Ye Chen¡¯s caliber, he should have given up long ago. The Southern Territory had never actively invaded the Western Wilderness, and he really had no need to engage in a life-and-death struggle with Ye Chen!


    It was because of his mentality aligned with the Western Wilderness Demon Sects, constantly desiring to invade the Southern Territory, always wanting to kill Ye Chen, that he ended up in such a predicament!


    At the very last moment, Yin Qianjue had closed his eyes, resigned to his fate that he would die in the self-destruction of his Rotating Pill, no matter what.


    At that moment, however, he heard Ye Chen¡¯s voice, "Rotating Pill self-destruction, trying to kill me even in your dying moments!"


    "In that case, I can¡¯t let you die from your Rotating Pill self-destruction. If you¡¯re going to die, you will die by my hand!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen reached out with his hand into the void, and in an instant, a surge of earth-elemental law power erupted from his body. This power was none other than the earth-elemental divine technique¡ªEarth Returning to Origin Art.


    This force instantly sealed the exploding power of the Rotating Pill within Yin Qianjue, not only sealing the power but Yin Qianjue himself!


    Ye Chen, while in the Icebound Temple¡¯s auxiliary hall, had defeated the nine Icebound Guardians even though his realm was suppressed to the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint. Naturally, his combat power had reached the strong degree of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint.


    Even if Yin Qianjue self-destructed, if Ye Chen didn¡¯t wish for Yin Qianjue to die in such a manner, then he would not die!


    "My God!"


    "To seal the self-detonation of the Rotating Pill of a warrior whose power approaches that of an early-stage Heavenly Saint is absolutely a mid-stage Heavenly Saint¡¯s maneuver!"


    Seeing that Yin Qianjue couldn¡¯t even die by self-detonating and was instantly sealed by Ye Chen, many of the disciples from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects were scared out of their wits and turned deathly pale.


    At that moment, another clump of Mysterious Blue True Fire appeared in Ye Chen¡¯s other hand.


    He sealed Yin Qianjue not because he wished to spare him from dying by self-destruction, but that did not mean Ye Chen would spare Yin Qianjue¡¯s life.


    Ye Chen intended to personally take action, to kill the ringleader who had tried to harm him time and again!


    Boom!


    As soon as the Mysterious Blue True Fire, known as "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," appeared, it instantly exploded onto the sealed Yin Qianjue. Then, with the divine techniques of fire and earth stirring together, the void was torn apart with a thunderous grind, and Yin Qianjue was ground by the two terrifying divine techniques into nothingness, not even a speck of ash remained!


    Yin Qianjue, dead!


    Thereafter, Ye Chen waved his sleeve, drew back the earth and fire elemental law power into his body, and stood firm on top of the Wind and Thunder Platform.


    Silence.


    The silence of death.


    In an instant, Ye Chen¡¯s lightning-fast moves stunned all the disciples from the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the five great Holy Temple Towers!


    Then, after a moment of deadly silence, a tumultuous wave of discussion erupted.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze went straight to the area where the disciples of the Western Wilderness Demon Sects were. He had noticed this group of Demon Sect disciples who came along with Heavenly Saint Leiming and Yin Qianjue.


    Ye Chen raised his voice and said, "Should anyone from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects dare to scheme against the people of the Southern Territory as Yin Qianjue did, I, Ye Chen, will personally kill them!"


    After speaking, Ye Chen¡¯s figure moved, and he flew directly toward where Palace Master Yuan Li and Jiang Yao stood.


    The disciples from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects were completely terrified and paralyzed.


    Having witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s mid-stage Heavenly Saint level strength, even if Ye Chen hadn¡¯t said it outright, they wouldn¡¯t dare to provoke those from the Southern Territory again!


    "Send a message back, we must hurry and inform the venerable ancestors in the Western Wilderness that the Southern Territory is not to be trifled with anymore. A peerless genius has emerged, and we can no longer provoke the Southern Territory!"


    The disciples of the Western Wilderness Demon Sects were completely stunned, while the disciples from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory who cultivated in the Heavenly Sacred Palace were moved to tears.


    They knew that by saying these words and killing Yin Qianjue in such a manner, Ye Chen intended to let everyone know that the Southern Territory was no longer a pushover.


    Finally, the Southern Territory had waited for a peerless genius who could make all others fear them!


    With Ye Chen around, the entire Southern Territory no longer had to fear an invasion from the Western Wilderness Demon Sects. On the contrary, it was the Western Wilderness who had to be wary of the Southern Territory!


    These disciples from the Southern Territory were also eager to send messages to the thirteen countries in the Southern Territory, to tell the martial artists there that the balance of power with the Western Wilderness had been broken. This time, it was their Southern Territory that had truly gained the upper hand!


    Looking at the expressions of the disciples from the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness, warriors from other regions of the Heavenly Sacred Palace inwardly exclaimed, "With his own power, he changed the balance between two great territories. This is a true genius indeed!"


    ...


    At the deepest part of Heavenly Saint Mountain, in the secluded realm where Palace Master Yuan Li cultivated, next to a lake of ice-blue water that spanned ten thousand meters.


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and Palace Master Yuan Li stood by the lakeside.


    After dealing with Yin Qianjue, Ye Chen followed Jiang Yao to meet the Mu Lan True God who had crossed realms to find her.


    At that moment, ripples gently rose from the ice-blue lake, and the True Phoenix that Ye Chen had previously encountered flew out from the lake.


    Next to the True Phoenix stood a woman in a green dress, looking ever so gentle with a faint smile, also looking toward the people by the lake.


    "This is Aunt Mu Lan," Jiang Yao softly said to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded and looked over at the woman in the green dress, noting her pale complexion which clearly indicated she was injured, and he could not sense her Void Heaven True God aura. Clearly, a being of the Void Heaven True God level was a formidable existence far beyond his ability to perceive.


    As she saw Ye Chen look over, the woman in the green dress also smiled and nodded at him. Her voice was as gentle as her appearance, "So this is Ye Chen whom Princess Yao has always talked about. Not bad at all. A young genius indeed. Only sixteen years old but already has the combat power of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint. Not even the young talents of my Divine Phoenix Clan can compare to you."


    As she spoke, Mu Lan True God and the True Phoenix instantly arrived at the lakeside.

 Chapter 387 - 349: Nirvana Pool and the True God Nine Tribulations

    ```


    Two Void Sky True God level powerhouses came walking on the waves.


    Mu Lan True God donned a cyan robe, while True Phoenix turned into human form, wearing an ice-blue gown.


    As they walked, mists swirled around them, moisture lingered in the air, one emanating gentle grace and the other regal dignity, yet both their faces were stunningly otherworldly.


    Seeing these two Void Sky True Gods arrive at the lake¡¯s edge, even Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but become momentarily distracted.


    Void Sky True Gods!


    In the Lower Realm¡¯s Barbarian Wilderness Continent, because of the restrictions of the Heaven and Earth Laws, it was nearly impossible to encounter Void Sky True Gods, and now he was seeing two at once!


    "Greetings, True Phoenix Predecessor!"


    "Greetings, Mu Lan Predecessor!"


    Ye Chen bowed respectfully to True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God.


    These two Void Sky True Gods, one was the True Spirit Sacred Beast that had originally brought Jiang Yao to the Lower Realm, and the other was a member of the Divine Phoenix Clan who had specifically come in search of Jiang Yao. Their presence here was all because of Jiang Yao, so of course, Ye Chen was exceedingly polite to them.


    The two Void Sky True Gods also nodded with a faint smile toward Ye Chen.


    Because of Jiang Yao, both of them also held favorable impressions of this young youth, Ye Chen.


    "Princess Yao, I have already lifted the binding barrier of the Azure Blue Mansion, and the Phoenix Feather can now come out," True Phoenix said to Jiang Yao after nodding toward Ye Chen.


    As she spoke, she extended her palm lightly, and the tiny Azure Blue Mansion appeared within her hand. The Azure Blue Mansion flashed with light, and an Ice-Blue Phoenix Feather emitting a strange divine light flew out from it.


    "Feng Ling Predecessor!"


    Seeing the Phoenix Feather, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged looks of joy.


    They had deep affections for this Phoenix Feather, as it was thanks to this Feng Ling Predecessor, that they had made significant progress in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb; one broke through the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, and the other awakened the Divine Phoenix Clan bloodline. Later, with the help of Feng Ling¡¯s control over the Azure Blue Mansion, they had managed to evade the sinister plots of Heavenly Saint Moya and successfully escaped from the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    Feng Ling was a Phoenix Feather placed in the Azure Blue Mansion by a Void Sky True God, always trapped within the mansion. Though Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could communicate with it, they had never been able to release it from the Azure Blue Mansion.


    Unexpectedly now, with the intervention of the Void Sky True God level powerhouse True Phoenix Predecessor, the Phoenix Feather had also left the Azure Blue Mansion and appeared before them.


    "To think, all three of us were originally from the Upper Realm, and now we have all met here," True Phoenix sighed as she looked toward Mu Lan True God and the Phoenix Feather.


    All three of them had come to the Lower Realm because of the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s great battle.


    The Phoenix Feather arrived on the Barbarian Wilderness Continent first, over three thousand years ago when the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan attacked the Zhenlong Holy Land of the Divine Phoenix Clan. It was brought to a remote area of the Minor Spirit Realm by the Azure Blue Mansion during the conflict, and was eventually brought to the Lower Realm by Heavenly Saint Moya.


    True Phoenix, on the other hand, came down to the Lower Realm with Jiang Yao seventeen years ago when the war between the three Ancient Clans had reached the very heart of Divine Phoenix City.


    And Mu Lan True God arrived on the Barbarian Wilderness Continent ten years ago, in search of Jiang Yao.


    A war spanning thousands of years had brought the three of them together beside the lake at the Heavenly Sacred Palace; indeed, the ways of the world are unpredictable.


    While True Phoenix was musing, Ye Chen looked at Mu Lan True God, eager to speak.


    When Jiang Yao descended to the Lower Realm, the Divine Phoenix City, the core of the Divine Phoenix Clan, was under siege by the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan. Seventeen years had passed since then, and Ye Chen was unsure of the state of the Divine Phoenix Clan now.


    Mu Lan True God had come to the Barbarian Wilderness Continent ten years ago, so she should know more about the current situation of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Noticing Ye Chen¡¯s expression, Mu Lan True God guessed what he was curious about. She gave a light smile and said, "Ye Chen, you and Princess Yao have ventured through many places. Princess Yao didn¡¯t want me to keep you in the dark about our clan."


    "These past few days, Princess Yao has been worried about you. I haven¡¯t gone into detail about the state of the Divine Phoenix Clan. Now, let me tell you both about it," she continued.


    The words of Mu Lan True God made Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Liu Qingmei, and Palace Master Yuan Li all listen intently, even True Phoenix and the Phoenix Feather looked seriously at Mu Lan True God.


    Everyone wanted to know what had become of Divine Phoenix City after the battle.


    "Seventeen years ago, when True Phoenix left Divine Phoenix City with Princess Yao, the city was facing its most dire moment," Mu Lan True God said, her voice growing somber; even Jiang Yao had tears in her eyes, and True Phoenix recalled her own time in Divine Phoenix City with a sigh.


    "If it weren¡¯t for the extreme urgency, the Young Clan Leader would have never allowed Princess Yao to take such a risk leaving!"


    "True Phoenix fled with Princess Yao from Divine Phoenix City, other Divine Phoenixes led many of the youths away. The clan¡¯s strong remained behind, facing off against the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, protecting the fleeing youths, and vowing to defend Divine Phoenix City to their last breath!"


    "The Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, after spending thousands of years, initiated the war amongst the three clans. What they coveted were the two most precious treasures of our Divine Phoenix Clan, and indeed of the entire Minor Spirit Realm: the ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ and ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯!"


    "The ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ and ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ are hidden in the secret grounds of Divine Phoenix City, the heart of our clan. Because these items held their attention, many of our young clanspeople, along with Princess Yao, were able to leave Divine Phoenix City safely, avoiding the pursuers of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan who continued to focus all their forces on attacking Divine Phoenix City to seize the two treasures!"


    ```


    Nirvana Pool!


    Phoenix Divine Blood!


    The secret truths spoken of by Mu Lan True God were unknown to both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, but now, the two of them had finally learned why the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, both Ancient Clans, had attacked the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    It was for these two most precious treasures!


    "Ye Chen, Princess Yao, Qingmei, I¡¯m afraid the three of you do not know what these two treasures signify," Mu Lan True God asked them.


    Ye Chen and the others shook their heads.


    Given their age, they hadn¡¯t been exposed to such secrets, and although Jiang Yao was born into the Divine Phoenix Clan, she had left shortly after her birth and knew very little about the clan¡¯s affairs.


    "The reason why these two treasures are considered the most precious treasures of the entire Minor Spirit Realm, the reason why they have driven the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan to invade our Divine Phoenix Clan, is because these two treasures are related to the breakthrough of the ¡¯Void Sky True God¡¯!" Mu Lan True God explained.


    "Phoenix Divine Blood and the Nirvana Pool are related to the breakthrough of the Void Sky True God? Do you mean to say that these two treasures can help the Void Sky True God make the leap to the realm of the Space-Time God King?!" Ye Chen exclaimed in surprise.


    He was aware that beyond the level of Void Sky True God, there was an even more powerful realm of the Space-Time God King.


    Not long ago, he had just entered the Icebound Temple, a place of inheritance from the Ice Seal Divine King.


    As Ye Chen was shocked, he heard Mu Lan True God¡¯s voice continue, "The Void Sky True God is not the limit, above the Void Sky True God there¡¯s the even more magnificent realm of the Space-Time God King. Also, the Void Sky True God is not just a single realm; in total, the Void Sky True God is divided into ¡¯Nine Tribulations of True Gods, Nine Realms of True Gods¡¯!"


    "Nine Tribulations? Nine Realms?!"


    When Mu Lan True God mentioned this, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei were all tremendously shocked.


    They had only ever heard of the realm of the Void Sky True God, but they had never heard that it was actually divided into nine realms.


    What were these nine tribulations and nine realms?


    "Just like the Heavenly Saint Realm, which is divided into early, middle, and late stages, the True Gods naturally also have their own classifications."


    "To break through to the Void Sky True God from the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, you must endure an incredibly terrifying Heavenly Tribulation. Only by crossing the Heavenly Tribulation can your Essence, Qi, and Spirit completely transform, activating Divine Power within your body, officially becoming a Void Sky True God!"


    "Yuan Li is certainly clear on this."


    As Mu Lan True God said this, Palace Master Yuan Li also nodded and added, "Yes, I have not sensed the coming of the Heavenly Tribulation and have been unable to break through to the True God Realm. As soon as I successfully pass through the Heavenly Tribulation, I will become a Void Sky True God. If I fail, then I can only perish."


    Mu Lan True God also nodded, "In fact, the Heavenly Tribulation that one must cross when breaking through from the late stages of Heavenly Saint Realm to the Void Sky True God is only the first tribulation. Once you break through to Void Sky True God, you will be sent by the forces of the cosmos into the Minor Spirit Realm, and within this realm, you will face eight more Heavenly Tribulations!"


    "The Heavenly Tribulation for breaking through from the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm to the Void Sky True God is known as the First Heavenly Tribulation. At this point, the deity is only referred to as the ¡¯First Tribulation True God¡¯."


    "After becoming a First Tribulation True God, the second Heavenly Tribulation sensed is the Second Heavenly Tribulation. Only after crossing the Second Heavenly Tribulation, can one become a ¡¯Two Tribulations True God¡¯."


    "Beyond that, there¡¯s the Third Heavenly Tribulation, the Fourth Heavenly Tribulation, all the way to the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation, ultimately leading to the breakthrough of Three Tribulations True Gods, Four Tribulations True Gods, and all the way up to Nine Tribulations True Gods!"


    "Finally, when you become a Nine Tribulations True God, only then can Divine Power undergo a thorough and significant transformation, which will bring about the even more dreadful Star Divine Calamity!"


    "Only by surviving the Star Divine Calamity can one become a magnificent Divine King!"


    "These nine attempts at passing through the tribulation, each one more perilous and frightening than the last, are absolutely unavoidable. Once you sense the coming of the Heavenly Tribulation, you must face it. The vast majority of True Gods perish within the first five attempts at tribulation, while those who survive all nine¡ªthe Nine Tribulations True Gods¡ªare exceedingly rare throughout the entire Minor Spirit Realm!"


    "Of course, there are significant benefits to surviving a Heavenly Tribulation; each time you pass through it, your body¡¯s Divine Power increases dramatically, and your understanding and mastery of the Time Law grows exponentially! Nine Tribulations True Gods are the most glorious and dominant beings in the entire Minor Spirit Realm!"


    "That is the Nine Tribulations and Nine Realms of the Void Sky True God!"


    "It is precisely because of the existence of the Nine Tribulations and Nine Realms that there are countless falls among the Void Sky True Gods. Otherwise, the Minor Spirit Realm would be overrun by innumerable Void Sky True Gods. After all, the lifespan of a True God is extremely lengthy, able to live for millions of years if not for dying in a Heavenly Tribulation. This system of nine tribulations and realms is likely also a balance imposed by the Heaven and Earth Laws."


    Nine Tribulations of True Gods, Nine Realms of True Gods!


    The words of Mu Lan True God gave Ye Chen a new understanding of the entire classification of strength among the Void Sky True Gods.


    Apparently, the Void Sky True God isn¡¯t like the Heavenly Saint, divided only into early, middle, and late stages. Instead, the Void Sky True God is classified into nine distinct levels, with the Nine Tribulations True Gods being the strongest amongst them!


    "Elder Mu Lan, you and True Phoenix, what level of True God are you?"


    "Are the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan trying to take ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ and ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ because it¡¯s related to passing through the Nine Tribulations of the True God?"


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and asked Mu Lan True God.

 Chapter 388 - 350: Nirvana Divine Might

    "I have traversed the Third Tribulation, and am a Three Tribulations True God. As for the True Phoenix, if I am not sensing it wrong, it should be a Five Tribulations True God," Mu Lan True God said.


    The True Phoenix nodded, "Right, I am a Five Tribulations True God. When I left the Divine Phoenix City back then, I had just recently completed the Fifth Tribulation."


    The True Phoenix continued, "Our Divine Phoenix Clan, among the six ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, was originally the strongest. There were a total of five Nine Tribulations True Gods in our clan. You should know, the other five ancient clans, I heard that only the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan and the chieftain of the Flying Spirit Clan are Nine Tribulations True Gods; the other ancient clans, not even one has a Nine Tribulations True God!"


    "The Vermilion Bird Clan, their strongest are only Eight Tribulations True Gods."


    Mu Lan True God nodded and said, "In the Minor Spirit Realm, it is already extremely difficult to survive five heavenly tribulations and achieve the status of a Five Tribulations True God. The strength of the True Phoenix is already considered among the absolute strongest in the Minor Spirit Realm. Otherwise, the young clan leader back then would not have sent her to protect Princess Yao and escape from the flames of war in Divine Phoenix City."


    "In the Minor Spirit Realm, only those forces that have a Five Tribulations True God can be considered major powers. The Minor Spirit Realm is immensely vast, larger than the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm combined, and there are innumerable powers. But aside from the six ancient clans, only a few forces in the Minor Spirit Realm possess a Five Tribulations True God."


    "Back then, our Divine Phoenix Clan was the strongest, having five Nine Tribulations True Gods. Those stronger than Five Tribulations True Gods also numbered in the dozens, and the count of Void Sky True Gods even exceeded a thousand! Unfortunately, in the end, due to the departure of the five Nine Tribulations True Gods from our clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan found their opportunity to attack us."


    "The Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan combined also had dozens of powerhouses above Five Tribulations True Gods, amongst them the chieftain of the Flying Spirit Clan, who was also a Nine Tribulations True God. Even though we had a multitude of powerful beings, in their united front, we were defeated step by step, until the end when even the holy Divine Phoenix City of our Divine Phoenix Clan was engulfed in flames..."


    In the end, Mu Lan True God was already sighing without end.


    The Minor Spirit Realm, with its nine-tier True God division.


    Being a Five Tribulations True God was enough to be considered an absolute powerhouse. Among the six ancient clans, powerhouses of this level were only in the dozens. However, there were many Void Sky True Gods below the level of Five Tribulations, with the Divine Phoenix Clan having over a thousand Void Sky True Gods below the Five Tribulations level.


    And the strongest Nine Tribulations True Gods, adding the five elders who left the Divine Phoenix Clan, the entire Minor Spirit Realm had only seven.


    Mu Lan True God and True Phoenix, one was a Three Tribulations True God, the other a Five Tribulations True God.


    Ye Chen gained a preliminary understanding of the power of the various forces of the Minor Spirit Realm.


    At this thought, Ye Chen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred, and he immersed his mind into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, asking Bing Shiyi within the space of the pendant, "Senior Bing Shiyi, may I know which Tribulations level the three Void Sky True God guardians sealed in the main hall of the Icebound Temple are?"


    Your journey continues at empire


    Ye Chen remembered hearing from the vice hall spirit of the Icebound Temple that inside the main hall of the Icebound Temple were sealed three Void Sky True God level Icebound Guardians.


    The vice hall spirit had also specifically mentioned that among these three Void Sky True God level Icebound Guardians, Bing Yi, even among the Void Sky True Gods, was an absolute elite, the strongest under the command of the Divine King.


    Although Ye Chen was still unable to enter the main hall of the Icebound Temple and obtain these three Void Sky True God level Icebound Guardians, his curiosity about their power was immense.


    "Your Highness Ye Chen!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s mental inquiry, all nine Icebound Guardians inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant stood up from their meditative states.


    The snow-white big roc bird Bing Shiyi replied, "The three Icebound Guardians sealed in the main hall of the Icebound Temple, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, all three of them have long stepped into the Void Sky True God level, among them Bing Qi is a Six Tribulations True God, Bing Wu is a Seven Tribulations True God, and the strongest Bing Yi, is a Nine Tribulations True God!"


    Heaven.


    Bing Shiyi¡¯s words left Ye Chen profoundly shocked.


    He already knew that the guardians of the Divine King would be incredibly formidable, but he hadn¡¯t expected these three Void Sky True God level Icebound Guardians to be so powerful.


    All were True Gods above Five Tribulations!


    And Bing Yi among them was even a Nine Tribulations True God!


    With these thoughts, Ye Chen longed to immediately enter the main hall of the Icebound Temple and obtain these three supreme Void Sky True God level Icebound Guardians.


    The moment he would have these three powerful beings to assist him, even though they were only three True Gods and their numbers could not match the absolute powerhouses of the six ancient clans, with their help, in single combat, facing the powerhouses of the six ancient clans, Ye Chen would no longer have any fear!


    ```


    By that time, he would have a Nine Calamities True God as his guard!


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart was already thumping wildly.


    If indeed Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi were to assist him, and he managed to cultivate to become more powerful, and found a few more strong True Gods to be his support, it was possible that he could even help the Divine Phoenix Clan resolve the invasion from the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan!


    Of course, Ye Chen had not yet entered the main hall of the Icebound Temple or received the protection of those three Void Sky True God level guards.


    Thinking about these prospects was still a bit premature.


    But Ye Chen had already seen a glimmer of hope for the future assistance of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    While Ye Chen¡¯s heart was in tumult, he heard Mu Lan True God begin to talk about the affairs of the Divine Phoenix Clan, so he quickly waved goodbye to Bing Shiyi and the other nine, refocusing his attention back outside of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    At this moment, Mu Lan True God continued, "After the departure of the five Nine Calamities True Gods, our ancestors, our strength became weaker than the combined forces of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan."


    "They then coveted our clan¡¯s two major treasures, ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ and the ¡¯Nirvana Pool,¡¯ even going so far as to directly initiate the clan war of the three races over four thousand years ago!"


    "Ye Chen previously asked whether the ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ and the ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ are related to passing the Nine Tribulations of True Gods. Indeed, the reason these two treasures are considered the most precious in the Minor Spirit Realm, the reason they are coveted by the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, is because they greatly assist True Gods in crossing their tribulations!"


    "A True God, once they fail in their tribulation, will perish, even if they have cultivated to the Eight Tribulations True God level and fail the ninth heavenly tribulation, they will be completely dead."


    "However, the laws of heaven and earth not only give birth to death but also to hope. There are a few supreme treasures that greatly assist in transcending the heavenly tribulations, among which ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ and the ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ are the strongest."


    "¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ can help the one undergoing tribulation withstand the threat of heavenly tribulations and even aid in repairing the injuries sustained during the heavenly tribulations, allowing them to withstand the tribulations in the best condition and pass through. Possessing ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ greatly increases the chances of passing the heavenly tribulations."


    "And the ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ is even more precious. It was the great gift granted to our Divine Phoenix Clan by a Divine King level Phoenix who came through the void by a twist of fate, and it is the most treasured of our clan! This Nirvana Pool is the fundamental legacy of our Divine Phoenix Clan, the root of our bloodline!"


    "Nirvana signifies rebirth through fire, revival from the brink of death. This ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ also possesses the special divine ability of life nirvana. After being bathed by the Nirvana Pool and successfully producing the Nirvana Divine Pattern, one could resurrect on the spot in their strongest state after failing the heavenly tribulation, thereby receiving a second chance to overcome it!"


    "The ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ is more powerful than ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood.¡¯ It transcends the effect of repairing damage from heavenly tribulations and directly grants a second life. And once the Nirvana Divine Pattern is used, the next attempt at the heavenly tribulation not only has a greater chance of success but is very likely to smoothly pass the tribulation they are facing!"


    "Although each person can only make use of the Nirvana Divine Pattern from the ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ for one life nirvana, and after using it once, can never use it again, even just one time is incredibly precious for a Void Sky True God."


    "Take for example the chieftain of the Vermilion Bird Clan, an Eight Tribulations True God, if he had the Nirvana Divine Pattern, he would have two lives to attempt the ninth heavenly tribulation, and he could very likely have become a Nine Calamities True God. Do you think he would not covet the Nirvana Pool?"


    "It is because of the existence of the Nirvana Pool and Phoenix Divine Blood that the people of our Divine Phoenix Clan have a higher success rate in facing the heavenly tribulations, and our clan has the most experts among the six ancient clans."


    "And the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, for the sake of their clan members¡¯ cultivation, coveted the two great treasures of our clan, and so they directly waged a great war against our Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    What Mu Lan True God said about the divine effectiveness of ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ and the ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ deeply shocked Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Liu Qingmei, and even Master Yuanli was full of surprise.


    Powerful.


    These two treasures are truly the most precious in the Minor Spirit Realm, incredibly powerful.


    One can repair damage from heavenly tribulations, the other grants a second life directly. Such treasures are indeed defying the heavens, no wonder they attracted the covetousness of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan!


    "Aunt Mu Lan, in the end, did those two treasures fall into the hands of those two clans? What happened to our Divine Phoenix Clan in the battle in Divine Phoenix City?"


    Thinking about how these two treasures had caused her entire clan to be embroiled in a great war, and how countless lives had been lost, Jiang Yao couldn¡¯t help but let tears fall.


    Although she had already learned from Mu Lan True God that her parents were safe, the loss of so many of her clan members was irreversible, and how could Jiang Yao not be heartbroken?


    ```

 Chapter 389 - 351 Determination

    "Lost, the two great treasures of my Divine Phoenix Clan, in the end, were both lost."


    "The ¡¯Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯ was in the Phoenix Divine Pond. The Phoenix Divine Pond and the Nirvana Pool were left behind by that great Phoenix God King in the Divine Phoenix City, we simply couldn¡¯t move them. In the end, the very foundation of our clan was lost from our hands."


    Mu Lan True God¡¯s voice was filled with sorrow.


    "Back then, the strong within our clan fought to the death to defend Divine Phoenix City, desperately allowing the younger members to escape, but after holding out for seven years, we still couldn¡¯t hold on. With the fall, a great number of True Gods fell, and the clan leader and the Young Clan Leader could no longer bear it. Once they saw the younger members had escaped, they could only abandon Divine Phoenix City, along with the Phoenix Divine Pond and the Nirvana Pool."


    "Even so, for fear that we would one day retake the two great treasures, the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan still relentlessly pursued and killed our clan members. In the end, those who left the Divine Phoenix Clan still suffered a seventy percent casualty rate."


    "Even, if it weren¡¯t for a fortuitous meeting with a heaven-defying power, a Divine King who wandered the starry sky and happened by the Minor Spirit Realm, all of our clan members who retreated from Divine Phoenix City could have been completely wiped out!"


    A Divine King!


    A Divine King stepped in to save the people of the Divine Phoenix Clan?


    Ye Chen was startled and couldn¡¯t help but ask aloud, "Mu Lan, that Divine King was willing to save the people of the Divine Phoenix Clan, didn¡¯t he help in taking back Divine Phoenix City?"


    "A Divine King, how immensely powerful he must be, the conflicts below, he surely wouldn¡¯t consider them worth his attention," Mu Lan True God shook her head, "Even his assistance to our Divine Phoenix Clan came with conditions."


    Conditions?


    Ye Chen suddenly had an ominous feeling; he had thought the Divine King was helping the Divine Phoenix Clan out of goodwill, looking forward to the Divine King¡¯s assistance. Now it seemed, even saving the people of Divine Phoenix City came with conditions, evidently, this Divine King wasn¡¯t so kind-hearted towards the people of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Without waiting for Ye Chen to ask, Mu Lan True God directly stated, "The condition of that Divine King was to have the members of our Divine Phoenix Clan follow him for thirty thousand years, to serve him for thirty thousand years!"


    "Only after thirty thousand years would he allow our clan members to leave!"


    "Slaves, this Divine King¡¯s intention, was to make our Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s people serve as slaves for thirty thousand years!"


    "At that time, on one side was the relentless pursuit of the two ancient clans, and on the other side was the Divine King who wanted to take our people as slaves; both the clan leader and the Young Clan Leader were in a difficult position to choose."


    Mu Lan again recalled the situation at the time, and her entire being sank into grief: "Our Divine Phoenix Clan, as the inheritor of the Ancient Phoenix God King, has always been the foremost ancient clan of the Minor Spirit Realm, such a proud ancient clan!"


    "To think that since the fall of that Phoenix God King tens of thousands of years ago, and after several of the former elders left thousands of years ago, we would end up in this predicament."


    "To become slaves, the clan leader simply did not want to endure such humiliation, but to refuse the conditions of that Divine King, under the pursuit of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, all our clan members would likely perish."


    "In the end, the clan leader coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit were completely depleted. For the sake of preserving our clan¡¯s bloodline, he had no choice but to agree to that Divine King¡¯s demands. Thirty thousand years of humiliation was the price for our clan¡¯s future."


    "In the end, that Divine King took away all of the clan members, leaving only a few dozen of us injured True Gods; he did not take us with him. However, he did give us a chance to live, using his great power to send us, the True Gods he did not take, to a realm far from the slaughter of the three ancient clans, allowing us to escape the pursuit of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan."


    "Before sending me away, I was entrusted by the Young Clan Leader to find Princess Yao, who was taken away by the True Phoenix. After my injuries had somewhat healed, I descended to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    "The clan leader, the Young Clan Leader, they were all taken away by that Divine King."


    The last words of Mu Lan True God left Ye Chen gasping for breath.


    He had never expected the Divine Phoenix Clan to have such an end.


    "Dad, Mom, Grandpa..." Jiang Yao was also crying inconsolably.


    After encountering Mu Lan True God, she was only told that her parents were safe, but Jiang Yao never expected her parents to be taken away by the Divine King, to serve the Divine King for thirty thousand years.


    Thinking of this, Jiang Yao was almost unable to bear it.


    "Princess Yao, the Young Clan Leader asked me to tell you, no matter what, you must try to survive. Not just thirty thousand years, even if it¡¯s three hundred thousand years, or three million years, as long as he is still alive, he will come for you!" Mu Lan True God looked at Jiang Yao, speaking earnestly.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s face was covered with tears, and she did not know how to respond to Mu Lan True God.


    "No!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen suddenly spoke up, "It won¡¯t take thirty thousand years, no matter what, I will make that Divine King release the people of the Divine Phoenix Clan! No matter what, I will make the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan pay the price!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s expression was incredibly solemn.


    He wasn¡¯t just comforting Jiang Yao, seeing her so heartbroken, he had to do something for Jiang Yao.


    A Divine King?


    If previously, he knew nothing about Divine Kings, but after undergoing the trial of the Ice Seal Divine King, Ye Chen felt that Divine Kings were not so far out of reach.


    He had been cultivating for only a few years and had already achieved the Heavenly Saint Level.


    Forget thirty thousand years; Ye Chen was absolutely confident that he would reach the strength to make that Divine King agree to his conditions in the shortest possible time, and this period, he was sure, would not be too long!


    "Mu Lan, do you know the name of that Divine King, and where has he gone?" Ye Chen asked Mu Lan True God earnestly.


    Ye Chen¡¯s tone made Jiang Yao stop her sorrow and look toward him.


    For some reason, seeing Ye Chen¡¯s resolute face, Jiang Yao was certain that Ye Chen would definitely accomplish what he said he would.


    Ye Chen had never disappointed her before, always being the miracle in her life!


    Even the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God couldn¡¯t help but look toward the youth, influenced by Ye Chen¡¯s tone.


    Both of them, now by Jiang Yao¡¯s side, only thought about properly cultivating her. As True Gods, neither of them had the courage to say that they wanted the Divine King to release their people.


    But Ye Chen was so certain, so confident, that it caused both True Gods an involuntary pang of sorrow in their hearts.


    "Mu Lan, do you know what Ye Chen is asking? Tell him, I believe Ye Chen can do it!" the True Phoenix said earnestly at that moment.


    Mu Lan True God looked deeply into Ye Chen¡¯s eyes and nodded, "The Divine King who took away the Divine Phoenix Clan members is called ¡¯Black Crow Divine King¡¯. He said he comes from within the ¡¯Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu¡¯."


    "As for where the ¡¯Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu¡¯ is located, I do not know."


    Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu?


    Ye Chen was also taken aback; he had never heard the term Divine Nation before, much less what the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu was.


    Continue reading at empire


    However, Ye Chen knew that someone must have heard of the Divine Nation.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit immediately immersed itself into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, asking the nine Ice Seal Guards within, "Seniors, have you ever heard of the Divine Nation?"


    The nine Ice Seal Guards, who had followed the Ice Seal Divine King, should know about the level of Divine Nation.


    "Divine Nation?"


    Inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, the Ice Seal Guards hadn¡¯t expected such a question from Ye Chen, "Lord Ye Chen, we are aware of Divine Nations."


    "The world we live in, such as the Heavenly Fierce Star, the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where you live, and the Minor Spirit Realm, in the vast universe of stars, all belong to lower planes. These lower planes can only give birth to Void Sky True Gods."


    "But as soon as a Void Sky True God breaks through to the Realm of the Time-Space God King, they shatter the barriers of time and space, discovering broader and higher planes, more vast and splendid Star Continents. In these higher planes, Divine Nations generally rule over an entire Star Domain, countless Star Continents."


    Hearing that the Ice Seal Guards knew of Divine Nations, Ye Chen was overjoyed and asked urgently, "Have you heard of the ¡¯Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu¡¯ or the ¡¯Black Crow Divine King¡¯?"


    Among the nine Ice Seal Guards, Bing Shiyi spoke up first, "The Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu? Of course, we have heard of it. Lord Ye Chen, the Heavenly Fierce Star where we live, this Barbaric Wilderness Continent where you live, and the Upper Realm¡¯s Minor Spirit Realm, these lower planes are all within the realm of the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu. Once you cultivate to the Divine King Realm and transcend the lower planes, you can directly enter the domain ruled by the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu."


    "The Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu rules the entire Wanmu Star Domain; we are currently within the Wanmu Star Domain!"


    "My former master, the Ice Seal Divine King, was one of the Divine Kings of the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu."


    "As for this ¡¯Black Crow Divine King¡¯? I have not heard of him."


    The other Ice Seal Guards also shook their heads, "We have not heard of the ¡¯Black Crow Divine King¡¯ either. However, since he is a Divine King with a title, if you want to find him, as long as you can enter a higher plane, you should be able to locate him."


    The nine Ice Seal Guards did not know what Ye Chen was inquiring about the Divine Nation and Black Crow Divine King for, but as guards, they did not ask further questions.


    "So there are higher planes above the Minor Spirit Realm, which can only be seen when one reaches the Divine King Realm!"


    "It turns out I am already within the territory of the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu!"


    Through the nine Ice Seal Guards left by the Ice Seal Divine King, Ye Chen felt he was coming into contact with a broader and broader world.


    Ye Chen suddenly thought, he wondered if the Zi Ji Star Lord, who left behind the Primordial Star Scripture, was in the Wanmu Star Domain and what position they held in the Divine Nation.


    Although he didn¡¯t hear news about the Black Crow Divine King, now that he knew of the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu, Ye Chen also had a lead.


    With a little more strength, he would always be able to find that Black Crow Divine King who took away the Divine Phoenix Clan members!


    ...


    "Ye Chen, if only those elder predecessors of the Divine Phoenix Clan had not left, with the strength of their five Nine Tribulations True Gods, coupled with so many True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan, they would surely have been able to fiercely repel the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan!"


    In the manor where Ye Chen lived within the First Holy Temple, Liu Qingmei was speaking with emotion.


    After talking with the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God for a while, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao left the cultivation place of Palace Master Yuan Li on Heavenly Saint Mountain and returned to the First Holy Temple. Liu Qingmei also followed them to Ye Chen¡¯s residence.


    Thinking of the great catastrophe that befell the Divine Phoenix Clan, even though she was not a member of the Divine Phoenix Clan, Liu Qingmei could empathize and felt terrible.


    Ye Chen, however, shook his head.


    "Do not blame those elders."

 Chapter 390 - 352 News from the Southern Territory

    ```


    Having been exposed to the Divine Kingdom and reached the levels of the Space-Time God King, Ye Chen finally understood that those elders who cultivated to the Nine Tribulations True God probably also ventured out for the future of the Divine Phoenix Clan, seeking to advance even further.


    Moreover, he had also heard specifically from Phoenix Spirit that the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan had always been on good terms with the Divine Phoenix Clan before the elders left, and when the elders departed, the strength of the Divine Phoenix Clan was much stronger than those two Ancient Clans.


    And it was receiving important news that ultimately led those five elders to decide to leave the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    One could only say it was fate¡¯s cruel twist.


    The five elders left together with the thought that they could look after each other, and ultimately return successfully.


    Unexpectedly, once those elders left, they never returned.


    On the other hand, it was also unexpected that the chief of the Flying Spirit Clan would break through to the Nine Tribulations True God.


    Even more unexpected was that greed would lead the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan to harbor ambitions of invading the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    If there was a source of their deepest loathing, it was the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t blame the elders for not staying to guard the Divine Phoenix Clan, leading to its calamity.


    "It¡¯s not the elders¡¯ fault," Jiang Yao said with reddened eyes, "It¡¯s us, the younger generation, who are not strong enough. If we were powerful, the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan wouldn¡¯t dare to invade."


    Ever since Jiang Yao knew that her father, mother, and grandfather had been taken away by that Divine King, her eyes became red from crying.


    It was only with Ye Chen by her side that she was able to calm down; otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t know how to face such a situation.


    "Okay, don¡¯t be sad," Ye Chen said as he patted Jiang Yao¡¯s little head, "Mu Lan mentioned that although the Divine King took away our people, he wouldn¡¯t harm them; otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have allowed the injured True Gods, like Mu Lan, to escape from the pursuit of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans."


    "If our people have suffered humiliation, we, the younger generation, must strive to free them from it as soon as possible."


    "We must practice diligently to avenge the dead clan members and fight for the living to escape from the shackles of the Divine King soon!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s words made Jiang Yao nod her little head.


    After taking a deep breath, Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen seriously, "The Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan have occupied Divine Phoenix City, seized the Nirvana Pool and the Phoenix Divine Blood, and their chances of successfully cultivating and breaking through would increase significantly."


    "Especially the chief of the Vermilion Bird Clan, who is an Eighth Tribulations True God, and if he successfully breaks through to the Nine Tribulations True God, the difficulty of seeking revenge will be even greater."


    "Mu Lan also warned that the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan would surely send people to hunt down us, the young members of the Divine Phoenix Clan who have previously escaped. There are many of our clan members apart from those taken by Black Crow God King, who should now be in the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm."


    "Ye Chen, the True Gods said I should quickly enhance my strength. From tomorrow, I will practice in the training ground of Palace Master Yuan Li, following the True Gods¡¯ cultivation, and you should practice with me too!"


    "The sooner we become stronger, the faster we can avenge our deceased clan members and help the living out of their plight!"


    After the grief, Jiang Yao had turned her sadness into fighting spirit.


    "Yes, Ye Chen, you should cultivate with Palace Master Yuan Li. I am also planning to receive guidance from Mu Lan," Liu Qingmei also spoke up.


    Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao, then at Liu Qingmei.


    He shook his head, "The two True Gods both come from the Divine Phoenix Clan. Their cultivation technique might not suit me. I plan to tackle the three major adventures of the thirty-three united continents that Yuan Li mentioned, heading to the Five Elements Mountain to deepen my understanding of the Five Elements Law."


    The guidance of a True God is not necessarily the most suitable.


    Ye Chen has the Primordial Star Scripture, the swordsmanship divine art "Beiming Secret Tome," and the legacy of the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall in a year. He has his own path of cultivation and his own training plan.


    "Breaking into the Five Elements Mountain?"


    Jiang Yao and Liu Qingmei both nodded.


    Both of them knew that Ye Chen had nine mighty Ice Seal Guardians with him, and in this Lower Realm, there was almost nothing that could threaten him.


    If Ye Chen was heading for the Five Elements Mountain specifically to cultivate the golden wood water fire earth Heavenly Void Laws, of course, they would not stop him.


    "Ye Chen, it¡¯s said that only strong practitioners of the Rotating Pill Realm and the Heavenly Saint Realm, who have accepted the Five Heavenly Void Laws, culminating in the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, and as well as late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, can enter the Five Elements Mountain. Even though you are very powerful, you must be careful," Jiang Yao said, holding Ye Chen¡¯s hand, still cannot help but give a meticulous admonition.


    "No problem," Ye Chen said with a smile as he patted Jiang Yao¡¯s fair palm, "I have nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Ice Seal Guardians here, and as long as I don¡¯t trouble others, if someone troubles me, they are really unlucky."


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s confident eyes, Jiang Yao felt relieved. But she still specifically went to True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, to get a few powerful True God talismans for Ye Chen.


    ...


    Three days later.


    In the residence within the First Holy Temple, Ye Chen put away the letter in his hand and smiled.


    ```


    These past few days, the matters of the Divine Phoenix Clan had caused Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to suffer quite a bit. Two days ago, Jiang Yao entered the deep parts of Heavenly Saint Mountain, to the cultivation site of Palace Master Yuan Li, and began her cultivation under the guidance of two True Gods.


    On this third day, Ye Chen finally received some good news.


    This letter was specially written by Sister Yu from the Taixuan Sect. In the letter, Sister Yu mentioned many things.


    Sister Yu said that Ye Chen¡¯s execution of Yin Qianjue, displaying powerful mid-level Heavenly Saint might, had already spread across the entire thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    Numerous martial artists throughout the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory went crazy with excitement, even Fairy Jia Luo, who was cultivating in the Heavenly Saint Secret Realm, and the Heavenly Saints of the thirteen countries, were overjoyed!


    Sister Yu also said that there was another great piece of news that caused a huge surprise throughout the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory. Besides Ye Chen having mid-level Heavenly Saint combat power, the number one powerhouse of the Southern Territory, whom Ye Chen had met before, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, had also successfully emerged from seclusion the day before Sister Yu wrote the letter, having successfully broken through to the mid-level Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Ever since the news of Ye Chen executing Yin Qianjue had been sent back, Sister Yu said that envoys from the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness had come to confess their crimes, and now with Heavenly Saint Long Xuan¡¯s successful breakthrough, it terrified the entire ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness so much that they once again sent people to the Southern Territory.


    Now, the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness no longer dared to be the slight bit disrespectful towards the Southern Territory, and it was said that Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, after completing her cultivation, was considering ways to completely resolve the threat from the Western Wilderness. Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire


    In the letter, Sister Yu also mentioned that the giant Fire Sparrow Ye Chen had captured when he entered the Taixuan Sect had successfully broken through to the Demon King level!


    Upon hearing this news, Ye Chen was also incredibly delighted.


    When he left the Taixuan Sect to come to the Central Region, the Fire Sparrow was on the verge of breaking through, and since he had the Sacred Artifact, the Heavenly Origin Boat, to ride, he didn¡¯t bring the Fire Sparrow with him. Instead, he entrusted Sister Yu with the care of the giant Fire Sparrow.


    Unexpectedly, he now received the news that the Fire Sparrow had successfully broken through.


    Several pieces of good news in succession diluted some of the gloom that Ye Chen had felt upon learning about the situation of the Divine Phoenix Clan, making him increasingly confident.


    Once, he could not solve the threat of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, but now that he had grown, the threat of the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness no longer seemed like a threat at all.


    In the future, with the affairs of the Divine Phoenix Clan, as long as he was strong, they would not pose a problem either!


    The only thing he needed to do was to make himself strong, strong enough to solve all the difficulties he encountered!


    These difficulties wouldn¡¯t be the things to crush Ye Chen; instead, they would be the motivation to inspire him to become even stronger!


    In Sister Yu¡¯s letter, there were also words entrusted by Ye Chen¡¯s father and mother which conveyed their concern and warmth, making Ye Chen, who was far in the Central Region, feel deeply warmed.


    "Once I return from the Five Elements Mountain, I will go back to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and the Taixuan Sect."


    "After that, I will also make a trip to the Chaotic Sea Area to help Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue capture the one responsible for causing Heavenly Saint Lian Yue¡¯s Twin Flying Swords to self-destruct¡ªthe culprit, Heavenly Saint Tuoshan!"


    Ye Chen would not forget the entrustment left in the virtual image by Heavenly Saint Qian Ji back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    The Twin Flying Swords given to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao by Heavenly Saints Qian Ji and Lian Yue had even saved Ye Chen¡¯s life several times; of course, he had to properly repay the two of them!


    Now that he possessed the strength to resolve their grudge for the two Heavenly Saints!


    Lastly, Ye Chen noticed one more thing mentioned by Sister Yu in her letter, which also related to the Chaotic Sea Area.


    Sister Yu said that the Western Wilderness was seeking mercy from the Southern Territory partly because of the great increase in strength of both Ye Chen and Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, which far surpassed the Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness, and on the other hand, it was because the two Heavenly Saints who went to the Chaotic Sea Area had perished.


    The letter mentioned by Sister Yu said that when the corpses of the two great Heavenly Saints from the Western Wilderness were found, their Essence Blood had been completely drained, leaving only withered husks.


    Eventually, their bodies drifted ashore and were accidentally discovered by a strong individual who recognized the two Heavenly Saints, and were brought back to the Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness.


    The horrific death of these two great Heavenly Saints sent a chill through everyone in the Western Wilderness.


    They had no idea how these two Heavenly Saints died or who killed them!


    After the death of two Heavenly Saints, the Western Wilderness was left with only two remaining Heavenly Saints, and they dared not provoke the Southern Territory anymore, leading them to seek mercy from the Southern Territory several times.


    "Heavenly Saints, their Essence Blood completely drained?"


    Seeing the dreadful fate of the two great Heavenly Saints described by Sister Yu, Ye Chen also frowned.


    "However, there¡¯s no time right now to study the deaths of these Western Wilderness Heavenly Saints; after returning from the Five Elements Mountain, I¡¯ll take a look at the Chaotic Sea Area when I go to avenge Heavenly Saints Qian Ji and Lian Yue to see what kind of demon could drain the Essence Blood of a Heavenly Saint."


    "To kill a Heavenly Saint Realm early-stage powerhouse in such a manner, it¡¯s probably a demon at least at the mid-level or even late level of the Heavenly Saint Realm."


    Ye Chen thought to himself.


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that the being who killed those two great Heavenly Saints from the Western Wilderness was a Void Sky True God.


    A powerful Void Sky True God from the Upper Realm, belonging to the Flying Spirit Clan, the sworn enemy of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    After storing away the letter, Ye Chen sat down again, closed his eyes, and entered into cultivation.


    Early the next morning, Ye Chen got up, left the estate where he was staying, departed from the First Holy Temple, and headed directly towards the ancient Teleportation Array within Heavenly Saint Mountain that led to the other thirty-two continents.


    At this time, Palace Master Yuan Li and Jiang Yao were already waiting outside the ancient Teleportation Array site.

 Chapter 391 - 353: Ancient Teleportation Formation

    The Ancient Teleportation Formation forbidden area is the most heavily guarded forbidden area by the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Because within it lies the intercontinental ancient teleportation formations that lead to the other thirty-two continents!


    One must know that between the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm, there are countless terrifying and unpredictable void pits, and even powerhouses at the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm could likely perish in these void pits if they forcefully traverse the void between continents.


    Only the Void Sky True God from the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm would dare to forcibly navigate such a void!


    As for the martial artists of the Lower Realm, if their cultivation hasn¡¯t reached the True God Realm, these intercontinental barriers become insurmountable chasms, causing the thirty-three continents to be thoroughly separated with very little interaction between them.


    Fortunately.


    Fortunately, a mighty being, tens of thousands of years ago, using great spatial divine powers, left behind two-way ancient teleportation formations in the thirty-three continents, enabling the possibility of exchange between the martial artists of the thirty-three continents.


    Such teleportation formations would naturally incite the coveting of countless forces, and Heavenly Sacred Palace was the force from Barbaric Wilderness Continent that ultimately obtained this teleportation formation.


    Heavenly Sacred Palace eventually took control of the teleportation pathways from Barbaric Wilderness Continent to the other thirty-two continents!


    Anyone from Barbaric Wilderness Continent, even the powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, must go through the Heavenly Sacred Palace to visit other continents.


    When Mu Qingqing invited Ye Chen to join the Heavenly Sacred Palace, she told him that disciples of the Palace would have many more opportunities to go to the other thirty-two continents than disciples from other sects.


    This time, Ye Chen would participate in the joint adventure of the thirty-three continents, finally having the chance to see other continents by passing through this ancient teleportation formation!


    As Ye Chen flew towards the Ancient Teleportation Formation forbidden area, from a distance, he saw Palace Master Yuan Li and Jiang Yao waiting outside the ancient teleportation formation.


    "Ye Chen."


    Seeing Ye Chen approaching, Jiang Yao, beautiful beyond compare in her pale cyan clothes, immediately showed a smile on her delicate face and directly greeted him.


    Palace Master Yuan Li also followed behind Jiang Yao with a faint smile and flew towards Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, there are still more than ten days before the three great adventures start, are you going to Heavenly Evolution Continent earlier?" asked Palace Master Yuan Li with a smile.


    The three great adventures start simultaneously but take place in different locations.


    The difficult level adventure in the Void Abyss takes place in the void between Heavenly Vast Continent and Heavens Continent, among the thirty-three continents; the dangerous level adventure at the Five Elements Mountain is held in a special space near Heavenly Evolution Continent; as for the extreme level adventure in the Ancient Royal Tomb Land, it is even closer to the Minor Spirit Realm, accessible only by special means.


    This time, Ye Chen chose to participate in the "Five Elements Mountain Adventure", requiring him to converge with other adventurers from various continents at Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    When he heard that they were heading to an outer continent, the idea of visiting Heavenly Evolution Continent early had dawned on Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had read in the Heavenly Sacred Palace¡¯s records that for these intercontinental joint adventures, all adventurers merely need to arrive at the designated organizational point on the set date.


    Generally, adventurers choose to set off ahead of time to visit the continents near the adventure location.


    Never having visited Heavenly Evolution Continent, Ye Chen naturally wanted to take an early look.


    That¡¯s why he sent a message to Palace Master Yuan Li, who then brought Jiang Yao to wait here for him.


    "Yes, I¡¯d like to go to Heavenly Evolution Continent to take a look ahead of time," Ye Chen responded with a smile upon hearing Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s query, "By the way, Palace Master, how many from Barbaric Wilderness Continent are participating in the Five Elements Mountain adventure this time?"


    "This time, one hundred people from Barbaric Wilderness Continent are taking part in the Void Abyss adventure, fifty in the Five Elements Mountain Adventure, and thirty in the Ancient Royal Tomb Land Adventure. Other than a few martial artists specifically arranged by other sects, the participants are almost all from our Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    "Of the fifty participating in the Five Elements Mountain Adventure, more than twenty have already gone ahead to Heavenly Evolution Continent, and over twenty have not yet set off," said Palace Master Yuan Li.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    "Let¡¯s go, since you want to go to Heavenly Evolution Continent ahead of time, I will take you to the teleportation ancient formation that leads there." After saying that, Palace Master Yuan Li led the way into the Ancient Teleportation Formation forbidden area.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao followed Palace Master Yuan Li, flying into the Ancient Teleportation Formation forbidden area as well.


    Those who usually come to the Ancient Teleportation Formation forbidden area are the ones who hold the Palace Master¡¯s Teleportation Token. For the Palace Master to personally escort someone like this was truly unprecedented.


    When they saw Palace Master Yuan Li bringing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao into the forbidden area, the eight early Heavenly Saint guards and two mid Heavenly Saint guards at the Ancient Teleportation Formation forbidden area were all taken aback and hurried to greet the trio.


    Palace Master Yuan Li waved at them and said, "You can go back to your duties, I will take Ye Chen over."


    "Yes, Palace Master!" With Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s direct order, how could the Heavenly Saints not comply? They quickly stepped aside.


    As they stepped back, their gazes fell upon Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen?"


    "Is this the prodigious talent who recently joined Heavenly Sacred Palace? The terrifying youth who could slay Feng Lun Heavenly Saint while being only at the early stage of the Spinning Pill Realm?"


    "Truly, a young hero! Such a tender age!"


    "I had already heard that the Palace Master highly values him, but I didn¡¯t expect that she would personally come to send him to other continents this time!"


    "This Ye Chen, he will certainly be a formidable figure within Heavenly Sacred Palace in the future!"


    The guards¡¯ minds were instantly filled with a multitude of thoughts.


    Tasked with guarding the Ancient Teleportation Formation¡¯s forbidden area, they seldom left its confines, yet they had heard Ye Chen¡¯s name many times from disciples of the Heavenly Sacred Palace who passed through the formation.


    This time, they had the opportunity to lay their eyes on this legendary, miraculous youth.


    Noticing the strange looks from the guards, Ye Chen smiled and nodded at them, then followed Palace Master Yuan Li with Jiang Yao towards the deeper parts of the forbidden area.


    Within the depths of the forbidden area, there stood numerous large halls spanning hundreds of feet, and the cross-continent teleportation ancient formations were located within these halls.


    "Inside here is the ancient formation that leads to the Heavenly Vast Continent..."


    "The ancient formation inside here leads to the Heavens Continent..."


    As they flew, Palace Master Yuan Li introduced Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to the destinations of the ancient formations inside each large hall.


    After flying past more than a dozen halls, Palace Master Yuan Li stopped outside a large hall with a sandy yellow color.


    "This hall houses the ancient formation that teleports to the Heavenly Evolution Continent."


    "Let¡¯s go inside!"


    A flash of light from Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s hand, and the great doors of the hall opened straightaway. After smiling at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Palace Master Yuan Li stepped into the hall.


    Once inside the hall, Ye Chen found it completely empty, save for a glowing stone platform about thirty feet in diameter at the very center.


    This stone platform was inscribed with countless strange patterns. With just one glance, Ye Chen felt a powerful force of spatial laws hidden within, nearly causing his divine consciousness to get lost in them!


    Beneath the platform lay countless top-quality spiritual stones, built so that not a strand of the heaven and earth¡¯s true qi leaked out, all flowing within the strange patterns of the glowing stone platform.


    "Is this the cross-continent teleportation ancient formation?"


    "A platform merely several dozen feet across can actually transport a martial artist thousands of millions of miles away to another continent!"


    "Incredible! Absolutely incredible!"


    "This probably involves not just extremely profound spatial laws, but also other teleportation laws!"


    With Ye Chen¡¯s current realm, he simply could not comprehend the transportation principle of this ancient formation.


    While Ye Chen was still scrutinizing the ancient formation, he heard the voice of Palace Master Yuan Li, "Ye Chen, you are going to the Heavenly Evolution Continent to join the Five Elements Mountain adventure, and I have some matters to inform you about."


    "Firstly, about this ancient formation. This teleportation can only be successful with a Teleportation Token; without it, one¡¯s body and soul would be torn to shreds during transmission. Even a martial artist in the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm like me would perish."


    "I¡¯ll give you two tokens¡ªone for teleporting from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to the Heavenly Evolution Continent and another for returning. Keep them safe."


    Ye Chen, startled by Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s words, received the two tokens and examined them closely before carefully putting them away.


    "The second matter is about the gathering for the Five Elements Mountain adventure. The adventure officially begins in fifteen days. The adventurers will meet in Rift Sky City, not far from the teleportation formation on the Heavenly Evolution Continent side. There is only one day for the meeting. Don¡¯t wander too far when exploring the Heavenly Evolution Continent; just stay near Rift Sky City, so you don¡¯t miss the gathering."


    "Yes, Palace Master," Ye Chen nodded.


    "Lastly, and most importantly, about the adventure in the Five Elements Mountain itself," Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s expression turned grave at the end, "The three great adventures are all incredibly dangerous. Even the least challenging Void Abyss adventure hasn¡¯t been fully explored by us late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists, and there¡¯s still a possibility of falling there."


    "The danger of the Five Elements Mountain adventure is even higher, and so is the likelihood of perishing. The Five Elements Mountain adventure lasts three months, and Ye Chen, you must be extremely careful during these three months once you¡¯re inside!"


    "Also, be wary of the other adventurers participating in this adventure. They come from thirty-three different continents, and the group is mixed. Even if you are strong, you should guard against them."


    "Now, because the Five Elements Mountain adventure is approaching, not only will adventurers gather, but other powerful beings roaming the Heavenly Evolution Continent will also flock to the area near Rift Sky City."


    "In short, when in a foreign continent unlike our Barbaric Wilderness Continent, it¡¯s best to be extra cautious."


    Palace Master Yuan Li offered his careful guidance.


    Hearing this, Jiang Yao, who was beside Ye Chen, held his hand and gave him various admonishments as well.


    A short time later.


    Ye Chen finally stepped onto the stone platform of the ancient teleportation array.


    Holding the teleportation token to the Heavenly Evolution Continent as instructed by Palace Master Yuan Li, he activated it, causing the entire ancient formation to burst into brilliant light. The top-quality spiritual stones below started flashing wildly as the strange patterns above flowed fervently.


    In the midst of the brilliant light and flowing patterns, Ye Chen¡¯s figure began to blur within the ancient formation.


    "Ye Chen, I¡¯ll be waiting for you at the Heavenly Sacred Palace to come back!" Jiang Yao waved vigorously at Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, I hope that when you return, I¡¯ll see great improvements in you!" Palace Master Yuan Li also gave Ye Chen a gentle smile.


    Within the ancient formation, after nodding to Jiang Yao and Palace Master Yuan Li, Ye Chen disappeared completely from the teleportation array with a loud "boom."

 Chapter 392 - 354 Rift Sky City

    Dim! Twisted! Tugging!


    As Ye Chen disappeared from the Ancient Teleportation Formation at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he felt himself trapped in a murky and peculiar space.


    The entire space was constantly distorting and pulling, generating a tremendous force that made Ye Chen feel, for a moment, as if he could be torn apart.


    Fortunately, at that moment, the Teleportation Token in his hand emitted a faint green light, enveloping him completely and causing that tugging force to vanish.


    Then, Ye Chen found himself entirely submerged in a silent and pitch-black void.


    Thankfully, this state did not last long. When a surge of Five-colored Spiritual Light appeared before him, Ye Chen felt himself rushing towards the source of that light at high speed.


    When he finally entered that expanse of Five-colored Spiritual Light, Ye Chen¡¯s mind suddenly cleared, and he realized he was standing on an Ancient Teleportation Formation.


    This Ancient Teleportation Formation was exactly the same as the one he had entered at the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    "Has the teleportation ended?!" Explore new worlds at empire


    Ye Chen felt that he hadn¡¯t been in transit for long when he left behind that peculiar teleportation state, and as he was examining the Ancient Teleportation Formation beneath his feet, voices from outside the formation caught his attention: "Another martial artist from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent? Come down, your teleportation has ended, welcome to the Heavenly Evolution Continent."


    "Heavenly Evolution Continent!"


    "So I¡¯ve really made it to the Heavenly Evolution Continent!"


    "I hadn¡¯t expected the Ancient Teleportation Formation to be so fast, capable of bridging the vast distance between two continents."


    While feeling a sense of wonder, Ye Chen leaped down from the Ancient Teleportation Formation.


    As Ye Chen leaped down from the Ancient Teleportation Formation, two martial artists clad in brown robes entered the outer hall of the formation.


    Looking towards the two men, Ye Chen noticed that they radiated the aura of the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and their appearances were somewhat different from the people of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent; they had long pointed ears and their noses and foreheads were much higher, although in other aspects, they did not differ much.


    "So this is what the warriors of the Heavenly Evolution Continent look like, such distinctive features!"


    Ye Chen had read descriptions in the Heavenly Sacred Palace¡¯s archives stating that the inhabitants of the thirty-three continents, being separated from each other and living in different environments, would have some variations in their appearances.


    Now that he saw the peculiar look of the people from the Heavenly Evolution Continent with his own eyes, he found it quite novel.


    As Ye Chen was observing the two newcomers, the two Heavenly Saints who were tasked with guarding the Ancient Teleportation Formation looked toward Ye Chen with strange expressions.


    "A youth at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm teleported from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent?"


    "Even early-stage Heavenly Saints would feel dizzy and take a while to recover after long-distance teleportation across continents. How come he seems completely unaffected the moment he steps down from the formation?"


    These two Heavenly Evolution Continent Heavenly Saints were not surprised by Ye Chen¡¯s Barbaric Wilderness Continent appearance, as they were tasked specifically with guarding this formation that connected to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and had seen many from there.


    What they found strange was that Ye Chen, who had jumped down from the Ancient Teleportation Formation, showed no sign of discomfort from just finishing the teleportation.


    "Only those who have reached the middle or later phases of the Heavenly Saint Realm could be unaffected by the discomfort of long-distance teleportation."


    "Could it be a formidable middle or late-stage Heavenly Saint elder who has suppressed his realm to the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm?"


    "We¡¯ve never seen this elder before in Heavenly Evolution!"


    Considering this possibility, the two Heavenly Saints felt their hearts skip a beat.


    There had been an occasion when they encountered a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse who had suppressed his realm to the late Spirit Sea Realm to visit the Heavenly Evolution Continent. At the time, the two of them had not been very polite to that powerhouse, and as a result, they had been taught a harsh lesson.


    Watching Ye Chen still sizing them up, the two exchanged glances and shivered slightly. One of them respectfully spoke to Ye Chen, "This Dao friend from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, this is the teleportation site of our Heavenly Evolution Palace. Our Heavenly Evolution Palace controls the Ancient Teleportation Formations of the Heavenly Evolution Continent. After you exit here, someone will guide you out of the Heavenly Evolution Palace and to the outside..."


    Before he could finish, the other interrupted, smiling directly at Ye Chen, "No need for others to guide; according to the records, there will be no one else teleporting from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent for a while. Let us lead this Dao friend out."


    Their polite, even reverent manner left Ye Chen somewhat puzzled.


    "Could it be that the martial artists of the Heavenly Evolution Continent are all so courteous?"


    But since it was Ye Chen¡¯s first time using the Ancient Teleportation Formation and his first visit to this unfamiliar continent, having someone to guide him was naturally a good thing.


    "Then I¡¯ll trouble the two Dao friends," Ye Chen said with a smile to the two Heavenly Saints of the Heavenly Evolution Palace.


    "No trouble at all, no trouble at all," they said, shaking their heads with a smile before leading the way ahead.


    Ye Chen followed behind the two, exiting the teleportation hall.


    Once outside, Ye Chen noticed that the teleportation area of the Heavenly Evolution Continent was almost identical to the prohibited area of the teleportation formation on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, with halls concealing the Ancient Teleportation Formations.


    The difference lay in the fact that the halls of the Heavenly Evolution Continent were all constructed amidst glittering golden grains of sand.


    Leaving the teleportation area and entering other territories of the Heavenly Evolution Palace, which was a second-class major sect on the Heavenly Evolution Continent that managed the Ancient Teleportation Formation, Ye Chen was astonished to find that its numerous buildings were also erected atop mounds of sand.


    There was no soil to be seen on the ground; it was all sand.


    It was as if all these structures were built in a vast desert!


    As Ye Chen looked around, he followed the two Heavenly Saints flying out of the Heavenly Evolution Palace. When he passed through a special exit passage and arrived outside the Heavenly Evolution Palace, he discovered that he was now in the midst of a vast desert.


    "Fellow Daoist, this must be your first visit to Heavenly Evolution Continent."


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s surprised expression, the two Heavenly Saints smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Our Heavenly Evolution Continent, being the closest to the Five Elements Mountain, has had countless rules of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth sucked away by the mountain. As a result, the entire continent has become an expansive Sand Sea."


    "All the sects, cities, and villages of Heavenly Evolution Continent are built upon this Sand Sea."


    "However, although the Five Elements Mountain has turned Heavenly Evolution Continent into a Sand Sea, it has also bestowed great fortune upon us. Periodically, the Five Elements Rain drifts from the Five Elements Mountain, descending upon the Heavenly Evolution Continent, benefiting all martial artists here. Our Five Apertures Rotating Pill experts are the most numerous among the thirty-three continents!"


    Hearing the words of the two Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen nodded.


    The mysteries of heaven and earth are profound and infinite.


    This is the fortune of the world!


    "I didn¡¯t expect to witness a landscape so utterly different from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent upon my arrival in Heavenly Evolution Continent," Ye Chen thought to himself with a smile.


    He was even more excited for what he would experience in Heavenly Evolution Continent next.


    "Fellow Daoist, we¡¯re now outside the Heavenly Evolution Palace. If you follow this exit and head north, you¡¯ll reach Rift Sky City after three hundred li, the city that¡¯s closest to the Heavenly Evolution Palace."


    "Since it¡¯s your first time on Heavenly Evolution Continent, you might want to visit Rift Sky City, the most lively city on the continent."


    The two Heavenly Saints said this to Ye Chen with smiles.


    Rift Sky City?


    That was the gathering place for the upcoming adventure to the Five Elements Mountain; Ye Chen certainly wanted to take a look.


    "Thank you both for showing the way. I¡¯ll head over to Rift Sky City now," Ye Chen replied, bowing his fists to the two Heavenly Saints before setting off directly to the north by flight.


    Seeing the flying technique and speed at which Ye Chen moved, the two Heavenly Saints felt even more certain of their earlier conjecture.


    "Senior."


    "Indeed a senior, with such swift movement!"


    "Fortunately, we¡¯ve been courteous to this senior all along, and he¡¯s been quite respectful to us in return. Otherwise, we might have been taught another lesson," they expressed with relief.


    Letting out a long sigh, the two Heavenly Saints watched as Ye Chen disappeared into the horizon before turning back towards the Heavenly Evolution Palace.


    As Ye Chen flew north, he could feel the strong winds above Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, martial artists of the Spirit Sea Realm could fly, but under the strong winds of Heavenly Evolution Continent, those of the Spirit Sea Realm probably wouldn¡¯t be able to fly at all and would have to walk on the great desert.


    However, these winds posed no threat or hindrance to Ye Chen now; his speed was unaffected as he shot straight towards Rift Sky City.


    After only an incense stick¡¯s time and a half, Ye Chen had already flown three hundred li and could now see Rift Sky City ahead.


    This was a massive city built upon the great desert!


    Bathed in the reflection of the golden sand particles, the entire Rift Sky City seemed to be coated in a layer of gold.


    The majority of the architecture in Rift Sky City consisted of large domed towers, exuding a unique sense of roughness and grandeur.


    Upon arriving outside Rift Sky City, Ye Chen descended to the ground and headed toward the city.


    Ye Chen saw that the streets of Rift Sky City were paved with huge brownish-yellow boulders. The streets were wide enough to allow ten people to walk side by side. Towering round stone towers and majestic stone buildings were abundant along both sides of the road.


    Ye Chen also noticed that the city was bustling with people, and nearly ninety percent of those walking around were martial artists. Martial artists of the True Qi Realm were rare, whereas those of the Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm were the most common. Occasionally, he could even sense the powerful aura of someone in the Heavenly Saint Realm surging through the city.


    Moreover, these martial artists had diverse appearances, some with unique patterns on their foreheads, some with horns on their heads, and even beautiful girls with wings on their backs.


    Clearly, many of these martial artists were from other continents and had gathered here in Rift Sky City.


    "Rift Sky City is indeed lively!"


    "The Palace Master said that as the adventure to the Five Elements Mountain draws near, a large number of adventurers will gather here. The powerful beings traveling in Heavenly Evolution Continent will also converge here. There are probably many in the Heavenly Saint Realm in this city now, and perhaps even late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts are present."


    Looking at the teeming crowd, Ye Chen thought to himself.


    Although Rift Sky City was filled with martial artists, Ye Chen felt more curious than afraid upon arriving in this strange land and city. Even though he appeared to be alone, within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant he wore, there were nine late-stage Heavenly Saints as guards. Moreover, Ye Chen was not a pushover himself; he would not have dared to come if he were afraid of Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    "There are still fifteen days until the gathering date. The Adventure Talisman will guide me to the meeting area in Rift Sky City then. For now, I might as well take a walk around the city."


    Rift Sky City was vast, and Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense, now covering a radius of eighty li, could still not fully encompass the entire city.


    Ye Chen felt that Rift Sky City might span over a thousand li in area, truly a colossal city!


    In the ten or so days before the adventure, there would be plenty of time for Ye Chen to explore the city thoroughly.


    While walking the streets, it wasn¡¯t long before Ye Chen heard a noisy commotion ahead of him. Looking forward, he saw countless martial artists formed into a large circle at a corner.


    The clamorous noise was emanating from within that circle.


    "Hmm, what¡¯s happening over there that¡¯s causing such a stir?" Ye Chen wondered curiously as he walked towards the crowd of martial artists.

 Chapter 393 - 355 Duel Wager

    As he walked over, Ye Chen used his Divine Sense to survey the situation within the circle.


    He saw that the circle was surrounded by a dense crowd of martial artists, numbering in the hundreds. Most of them were Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Pill Realm martial artists, with even several early-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses taking up half the space at the wide road¡¯s turn.


    Inside the circle stood three Rotating Pill Realm young girls, clearly the reason why so many martial artists had gathered.


    When Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense swept over these three girls, two of them, around eighteen or nineteen with fair complexions, didn¡¯t attract much of his attention.


    However, the youngest girl, about fifteen or sixteen, caused even Ye Chen, who had seen countless beauties, to be momentarily stunned.


    The girl was dressed in a snow-white vestment robe, her hair cascading like a waterfall. Her skin was extremely delicate, surpassing snow in its fairness. Her pert nose and rosy lips gave her an appearance of fresh beauty, and a mysterious faint fire mark between her eyebrows added a sense of mystique and allure to her.


    Following the swan-like grace of her neck downwards, her perky chest pushed the white vestment robe up, outlining an enticing curve, and below her slender waist was a pair of straight, long legs creating a well-proportioned figure that was delicate and captivating.


    Purity and allure.


    Two completely different temperaments perfectly merged within this girl, causing anyone who saw her to be deeply attracted.


    At such a young age, she was already so captivating; she would undoubtedly become a disastrously beautiful woman as she grew older.


    Her beauty was only slightly less than Jiang Yao¡¯s, and among the countless young girls Ye Chen had seen, she would definitely be ranked in the top three.


    Besides the girl¡¯s stunning beauty, what caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention was a notice beside the three girls.


    After scanning the notice with his Divine Sense and listening to the surrounding martial artists¡¯ discussions, Ye Chen finally understood what was happening.


    It turned out that these three girls were from the Leaving Fire Continent, one of the thirty-three continents. This was their first visit to Rift Sky City, where they had heard about the multitude of martial artists and so were inspired to challenge them in order to gauge their combat skills.


    The three girls put forth three mystical treasures and extended an invitation to the martial artists to engage in a "betting fight".


    Such betting fights were popular among martial artists across all the continents.


    The way the betting fight worked was for the two parties to put up treasures of similar value as stakes, and then fight each other. The winner would take the loser¡¯s treasure.


    The excitement of betting with treasures incited powerful fighters to use their true strength in such matches so as to win the other¡¯s treasure while avoiding the loss of their own.


    The treasures put forth by the three girls were two clusters of low-grade True Fire and one cluster of mid-grade True Fire, both of the saint-level.


    The girls had laid down the requirement for the betting fight: any Rotating Pill Realm martial artist could challenge them, and whoever defeated them would receive their corresponding treasure.


    To Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, of the three girls, it was the stakes of the youngest and most beautiful that were the highest¡ªdefeating her would mean obtaining a cluster of mid-grade True Fire!


    Defeating the other two would only reward the winner with low-grade True Fire.


    The youngest girl, at the initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, dared to use mid-grade True Fire as her betting stake, which of course surprised Ye Chen.


    After all, mid-grade saint-level True Fire was something even mid-stage Heavenly Saints would covet, and the girl must have immense self-confidence to wager such an item.


    Also, to readily use mid-grade True Fire as a betting stake indicated that the girl¡¯s background was surely extraordinary!


    Even Ye Chen, who practiced the Five Great Divine Arts with a focus on the fire-based art, had only obtained one cluster of low-grade True Fire, the "Little Blue Flame True Fire", which significantly enhanced the power of his Divine Arts.


    Mid-grade True Fire was something Ye Chen hadn¡¯t found even in the vast Heavenly Sacred Palace and was something he longed for. Now, this girl had such a treasure.


    If he could get that mid-grade True Fire and devour it, Ye Chen¡¯s fire-based Divine Art, the "Heaven-Devouring True Fire", would increase enormously in power, becoming tens of times stronger than just having absorbed the "Little Blue Flame True Fire".


    At this point, Ye Chen could barely resist the urge to join the betting fight himself.


    However, he did not rush to participate, choosing instead to observe further. It was his first time in Rift Sky City on the Heavenly Evolution Continent, and he wanted to assess the strength of martial artists from other continents.


    As Ye Chen was observing, the other martial artists were also engaged in animated discussions.


    "Leaving Fire Continent, these three ladies come from a land filled with the power of fire laws, no wonder they can offer True Fire as a betting stake."


    "Saint-level True Fire. I want it too, but winning the betting fight won¡¯t be easy. Just a moment ago, three people went down and were defeated as soon as they made a move, losing the treasures they had staked. The two girls, although only at the mid-stage of Rotating Pill Realm, have combat strength close to that of the early-stage Heavenly Saints!"


    "That youngest girl has even higher stakes and probably even more powerful abilities."


    The crowd discussed fervently, but no one dared to make a move.


    Upon hearing this, Ye Chen realized that there had already been failed challengers, which explained why no one else dared to step forward.


    Rotating Pill mid-stage with the power nearing early-stage Heavenly Saint?


    Ye Chen nodded, acknowledging that while their strength was incomparable to his, it was significant enough to be considered talented within the ranks of Heavenly Sacred Palace on the Barbaric Continent, where few Rotating Pill Realm martial artists could reach the level of Heavenly Saints.


    Ye Chen was even more curious about the youngest and most beautiful girl¡¯s abilities. However, he had not heard others speak of her, and it was quite likely that the youngest girl had not yet fought.


    Seeing that everyone was just talking and no one else was stepping forward, the beautiful young girl looked at the hundreds of martial artists surrounding her and said with a smile, "What¡¯s the matter? Is no one daring enough to challenge us?"


    "It seems that not many strong individuals have gathered in Rift Sky City on the Heavenly Evolution Continent. Isn¡¯t the adventure to the Five Elements Mountain about to begin? Haven¡¯t the real powerhouses arrived yet?"


    "No one dares to challenge, which is quite disappointing to me."


    The girl¡¯s voice was charming and pleasant. As she spoke, she extended her fair hand and a small purple bottle appeared in her palm, "It looks like I won¡¯t be able to give away this ¡¯Purple Flame Spirit Fire¡¯."


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    The moment the girl took out the small purple bottle, the eyes of several warriors at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint realm in the audience blazed with desire. Clearly, they recognized the True Fire in the bottle as a valuable item, likely the saint-level mid-grade True Fire that the girl intended to stake in the duel.


    Each of these Heavenly Saints wanted to participate in the bet, but the girl only accepted challenges from those at the Rotating Pill Realm, so they didn¡¯t qualify. Of course, the gap in their realms was too great for a fair contest; the girl obviously wanted to find a genius of the same realm to compete for the strongest power at an equal level.


    Upon seeing the True Fire within the small purple bottle in the girl¡¯s hand, two of the Heavenly Saints at the early stage even entertained the thought of snatching it away.


    But they weren¡¯t foolish.


    The fact that the girl was so boldly displaying the True Fire indicated she wasn¡¯t afraid of it being stolen. Clearly, she was prepared, and if they acted rashly, they could find themselves in big trouble.


    The several Heavenly Saints¡¯ eyes shone hotly, and many other warriors in the crowd, recognizing the value of the True Fire, couldn¡¯t help but swallow their saliva.


    When the girl revealed the small purple bottle, Ye Chen¡¯s heart was already tossing with monstrous waves.


    Ye Chen felt that, as the True Fire within the purple bottle leaped, all the fire-based divine pill patterns on the 352 Five Apertures Rotating Pills in his Qi Sea started to stir.


    He wanted it!


    He wanted that True Fire very much!


    Ye Chen felt that his fire-based Five Great Divine Arts could hardly wait to devour this Purple Flame Spirit Fire, to further increase his combat power.


    Just as Ye Chen was preparing to enter the fray and issue a challenge, a man in a white vestment robe holding a folding fan preempted him by stepping forward.


    "I¡¯ll challenge you and engage in this gamble. That ¡¯Purple Flame Spirit Fire,¡¯ I¡¯m claiming it!"


    The man in the white vestment robe was at the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, and he confidently said to the youngest and most beautiful girl.


    "Indeed, treasures are attractive." Seeing that someone finally stepped up to challenge, the girl¡¯s beautiful eyes sparkled, yet she shook her head at the man in white, "To duel me, you must first defeat my two sisters. Beat them, and then you¡¯ll qualify to challenge me."


    After finishing her statement, the girl put away the small purple bottle.


    "Challenge the two of them first?" The man in white looked at the two girls beside the youngest one, "Alright, then I¡¯ll defeat the two of them first."


    "I¡¯ll use this ¡¯Dragon Blood Jade Pendant¡¯ as my stake. The pendant contains the Jiao Dragon True Blood from the early stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, its worth is surely on par with that saint-level inferior True Fire."


    "Dragon Blood Jade Pendant?" The oldest of the three girls took the red jade pendant handed over by the man in white, examined it, and then returned it to him, "Alright, we¡¯ll use this as the wager."


    "Let¡¯s have our duel then. Only if you can defeat me will you earn the right to battle our young lady!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After the two of them settled on the items for the duel, everyone in the crowd stepped back, making room for them to fight.


    Swish! Your journey continues with empire


    The man in the white vestment robe unsheathed a treasured sword.


    But the oldest girl simply flipped her palm, and a clump of verdant True Fire appeared at the center of her hand.


    This girl from the Leaving Fire Continent had put up True Fire as her stake and, astonishingly, the Martial Skill she used also involved True Fire.


    Once the two of them officially started fighting, the reality of the clash shocked the onlooking crowd once again.


    The man in the white vestment robe¡¯s swordsmanship was nearly at the level of the early stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, but ultimately, after dozens of moves, he was defeated by the woman, losing the duel.


    He did not only lose the right to challenge the youngest girl but also his stake, the Dragon Blood Jade Pendant.


    With the man in the white vestment robe retreating from the circle of gamblers with a heavy expression, no one else dared to issue a challenge.


    It was evident to everyone that the youngest girl was not to be trifled with, and the two slightly older girls she wanted them to challenge first were similarly fierce and difficult to defeat.


    These three girls from the Leaving Fire Continent had the courage to establish such a challenging duel, truly formidable.


    "Anyone else wishes to challenge?"


    Seeing that the man in white was no match at all, the youngest girl, although she had won the duel and gained a Dragon Blood Jade Pendant, showed not a hint of joy. Instead, she felt somewhat disappointed at not finding an opponent.


    "Could it be that there really aren¡¯t many formidable Rotating Pill warriors who have come to the Five Elements Mountain this time? It seems I may have to change the rules and find a Heavenly Saint to spar with."


    As the youngest girl felt disappointed, Ye Chen from the crowd stepped forward, "I¡¯ll give it a try."

 Chapter 394 - 356: Showdown

    When Ye Chen stepped forward, many spectators were taken aback.


    On him, they could perceive the aura of a martial artist at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    The early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, challenging these three young girls?


    It should be noted that those who had previously issued challenges were all martial artists in the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm; despite their challenges, they all faced defeat, and one of the older girls had displayed strength almost matching a beginner in the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    The gulf in strength between the Rotating Pill Realm and the Heavenly Saint Realm is immense, and with that girl¡¯s middle-stage Rotating Pill Realm strength nearing that of the early Heavenly Saint Realm, her talent among the young martial artists of the thirty-three continents was certainly that of a genius.


    And this young man in front of them, having witnessed the girl¡¯s prowess, still dared to challenge; could it be that he possessed strength around the early Heavenly Saint Realm?


    "Just at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, it¡¯s impossible to reach the strength of the early Heavenly Saint Realm."


    "The disparity in combat power between the two is even greater than that young girl¡¯s leap from middle-stage Rotating Pill to nearly the early Heavenly Saint Realm. If one truly has the strength of the early Heavenly Saint Realm while in the early Rotating Pill, then this young man, no matter which continent he is from, must be the top tier of genius!"


    The onlookers started discussing amongst themselves.


    After four consecutive challengers failed, and considering the increasingly formidable strength displayed by the girl who had made a move, the consensus was that Ye Chen, who still dared to make a bet, must either be an absolutely top-tier genius or utterly out of his mind.


    "Are you challenging my two sisters, or are you challenging me?"


    As soon as Ye Chen voiced his challenge, the youngest and most beautiful girl had already discreetly used a special Sacred Artifact on her to sense Ye Chen¡¯s age and true realm.


    When she sensed that Ye Chen was sixteen years old with an actual realm unfalsified, truly at the early Rotating Pill Realm, this youngest and most beautiful girl took notice of him.


    At this point, when Ye Chen came forward to issue a challenge, she certainly did not believe Ye Chen was out of his mind and seeking to lose his wager; she guessed Ye Chen must have some confidence.


    For someone at the early Rotating Pill Realm to have the confidence to gamble against the strength of the early Heavenly Saint Realm was indeed exciting to her.


    "Late Rotating Pill Realm, even if possessing the strength of the early Heavenly Saint Realm, doesn¡¯t make one a true top-tier talent."


    "If he can leap from the early Rotating Pill to the early Heavenly Saint Realm, now that would be impressive!"


    "If he can defeat my two sisters, I am also at the early Rotating Pill Realm; we could have a match on the same level then."


    The girl¡¯s thoughts flickered as she watched Ye Chen.


    Hearing this stunning young girl¡¯s question, Ye Chen looked at her and smiled, "Didn¡¯t you say to challenge you, I must first defeat the other two? Then I shall defeat them first before clashing with you."


    "I have here a ¡¯Great Capturing Void Talisman¡¯ refined by a late Heavenly Saint Realm master as my wager."


    As he spoke, Ye Chen flicked his finger lightly, sending a talisman flying straight towards the beautiful young girl.


    A "Great Capturing Void Talisman" refined by a late Heavenly Saint Realm master?!


    Hearing what Ye Chen put up as his wager, the onlooking martial artists were all startled, and those in the early Heavenly Saint Realm were especially shaken.


    This young man, he could actually produce a talisman refined by a late Heavenly Saint Realm master, this indicated that there must be a late Heavenly Saint Realm master backing him!


    It should be known that late Heavenly Saint Realm masters are considered the pinnacle on the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm, with only a dozen or so late Heavenly Saint Realm masters on the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and each of the other continents having no more than twenty.


    Such top-tier masters, having forged a talisman for this young man, spoke volumes without words.


    Beside their shock at the powerful figure behind Ye Chen, they were also stunned by the boldness of his wager.


    Those who had challenged previously, even when they aimed to challenge this beautiful young girl, only put forward treasures of the early Heavenly Saint Realm as their stake.


    After all, once the wager was put forth and lost, it would be gone; naturally, they didn¡¯t want to offer their most precious treasures straight away when they still had to challenge the other two girls.


    And now this young man had directly offered a treasure refined by a late Heavenly Saint Realm master, a treasure that must definitely exceed the value of that Sacred Realm-grade mid-tier True Fire.


    By presenting such a treasure so readily, he was clearly supremely confident that he could come out victorious in the final battle with the beautiful young girl.


    With this in mind, countless martial artists were already somewhat convinced that this young man at the early Rotating Pill Realm genuinely had formidable skills and were looking forward with great anticipation to the upcoming contest.


    "A ¡¯Great Capturing Void Talisman¡¯ forged by a late Heavenly Saint Realm master?" the beautiful young girl received the talisman from Ye Chen, examined it for a moment, and finally returned it to Ye Chen, "Indeed, this ¡¯Great Capturing Void Talisman¡¯ is forged by a late Heavenly Saint, containing spatial law force within it; without special countermeasures, this talisman could even capture and refine a mid-Heroic Saint Realm master right into the talisman."


    "Moreover, this talisman can be used three times in a row, which makes it extremely valuable."


    "Are you really going to use this talisman as a wager? Its value, to be honest, is definitely more than my batch of Sacred Realm-grade mid-tier True Fire." the stunning young girl asked Ye Chen.


    Her words shocked everyone else.


    There were two reasons for their astonishment.


    First, when they had initially heard about the talisman refined by a late Heavenly Saint Realm master that Ye Chen offered, they had already perceived its preciousness. But upon hearing the little beauty¡¯s clarifications that the talisman could even refine a mid-Heroic Saint Realm master within, their understanding of the talisman¡¯s value deepened even further.


    Indeed, treasures from the late Heavenly Saint Realm are extraordinary!


    The second thing that took these onlookers by surprise was the stunningly beautiful little girl. They had not seen the girl take action, but from the fact that she brought out a mid-grade Sacred Artifact True Fire as a gambling stake, it was already clear that the girl¡¯s background was extraordinary.


    Now, hearing this girl describe the functions of the "Great Capturing Void Talisman" in such detail, it was obvious she was extremely familiar with these talismans crafted by late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses. To be so familiar, there was only one possibility, that behind this little girl, there was likely a late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse as well.


    Otherwise, she couldn¡¯t possibly talk about the "Great Capturing Void Talisman" being used three times in a row with such clarity.


    The thought that this young pair might engage in a gambling duel, and that there could be two late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses standing behind them, made everyone else¡¯s jaws drop.


    "Rift Sky City, indeed, is full of strong individuals!"


    "Just watching this excitement, and you run into young people related to two late-stage Heavenly Saints?!"


    "It seems that as the exploration of the Five Elements Mountain draws near, the real geniuses are gradually arriving. This girl is an exceptional talent; now we just wait for an equally matched challenger to appear!"


    The several hundred martial artists watching were now both shocked and excited.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected this beautiful little girl to be able to pinpoint the use of the "Great Capturing Void Talisman" so quickly.


    This talisman was a parting gift from Heavenly Saint Yuan Li before he left the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and indeed, its function was exactly as the girl described.


    He was about to gamble with these three girls and did not have anything suitable, so he took out this talisman.


    Most of the other items on Ye Chen did not compare in value to the mid-grade Sacred Artifact True Fire, so it would be inappropriate to use them as gambling stakes. More precious items, like the Void Heaven True God Talisman that Jiang Yao had specifically gotten for him from True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, of course, didn¡¯t need to be taken out.


    After some thought, the "Great Capturing Void Talisman" seemed the most appropriate choice.


    If others knew that Ye Chen even possessed talismans given by the Void Sky True God, countless people would likely faint on the spot!


    After all, even if they had wide knowledge within the thirty-three continents, the Void Sky True God was definitely a figure of myth!


    "I¡¯ll use this talisman as my stake," Ye Chen said with a smile to the beautiful little girl. "After all, the right treasure for the right person is more important. To me, that clump of mid-grade Sacred Artifact True Fire you have is more precious than the talisman."


    "From the way you¡¯re talking, are you confident you can win the ¡¯Purple Flame Spirit Fire¡¯ from me?" The beautiful little girl¡¯s face showed a smile as she saw Ye Chen¡¯s composed demeanor. "Well, in that case, I¡¯m even more looking forward to it."


    "However, you still have to pass the two challenges set by my sisters first."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He didn¡¯t prepare much; instead, he looked directly at the other two girls: "Which of you will make the first move?"


    It was the same girl who had taken action before who stood up.


    The girl once more summoned that bunch of verdant green True Fire.


    It was with this clump of True Fire that she had defeated four gamblers in a row, even one with near-beginning Heavenly Saint Realm combat power.


    Now seeing the girl use the True Fire again, countless gazes fell upon Ye Chen.


    "Can he withstand the True Fire of the first girl?"


    As the crowd speculated, the girl made the first move. With a light flick of her wrist, her verdant green True Fire roared into existence, suddenly creating a vortex-like void that devoured everything in its path, heading straight toward Ye Chen.


    This move was even more formidable than the girl¡¯s previous attacks!


    "Devouring?"


    "This True Fire even has the marvelous ability of space devouring!"


    Inside Ye Chen, the 352 Five Apertures Rotating Pills vibrated, as a vast surge of genuine qi force poured out, and simultaneously, a flash of earthy Law Force light on Ye Chen¡¯s hand. He cast the earth-based divine technique "Earthen Return Technique" right away.


    After cultivating to 352 Five Apertures Rotating Pills, Ye Chen¡¯s use of earth-based divine techniques allowed him to even defeat an Ice Guardian who had suppressed his realm to the mid-Heavenly Saint stage.


    As formidable as this girl was, even if her strength reached the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, how could she pose a threat to Ye Chen?


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the blink of an eye, countless brownish-yellow soils suddenly overwhelmed the girl¡¯s verdant green True Fire.


    As the onlookers shouted in alarm at seeing the girl unleash an even more powerful attack, their exclamations had not yet died down when they saw the formidable True Fire being instantaneously overwhelmed by the incredibly powerful brownish-yellow soil, and at the same time, the girl was directly hit by Ye Chen¡¯s Finger Sword right on her throat.


    After her True Fire was extinguished instantaneously, the girl evidently hadn¡¯t had time to react. If Ye Chen had pushed his Finger Sword forward, he could have even pierced through the girl¡¯s throat on the spot!


    Directly slaying the girl in the middle of the arena!


    In one move!


    With just a single move, Ye Chen had directly defeated the first girl!


    This change of events abruptly silenced the crowd¡¯s shouts and left the another girl dumbstruck, while the youngest and most beautiful little girl opened her little red mouth in shock and exclaimed, "Divine technique, an earth-based divine technique!"

 Chapter 395 - 357: Little Saintess, Ten Thousand Feet Platform

    When the stunningly beautiful little girl uttered the words "Divine Arts," the crowd of martial artists erupted in amazement.


    All the martial artists had not expected that Ye Chen¡¯s first battle with the three young ladies would end so decisively, defeating his opponent with a single move.


    Even those who had previously been optimistic about Ye Chen could not believe that Ye Chen had won so easily.


    Combined with the words "Divine Arts" from the beautiful little girl¡¯s mouth, the people finally had a new understanding of Ye Chen, the young man in the early stages of Rotating Pill Realm.


    Divine Arts!


    As martial artists, of course, they had heard of what Divine Arts were.


    These Divine Arts, rumored to have been passed down from the fictional gods of the Upper Realm, could not be cultivated in the Lower Realm without a significant opportunity.


    This young man, at the Rotating Pill Realm, was able to cultivate Divine Arts and carried the "Great Capturing Void Talisman," a late-stage Heavenly Saint talisman; clearly, this young man had obtained countless opportunities and also had great strength, successfully converting those opportunities into real combat power.


    This young man, probably did not just approach the strength of the early Heavenly Saint Level, but possessed the absolute strength of the early Heavenly Saint Level!


    "I wonder which continent he hails from?"


    "He must be a renowned genius in that continent, I¡¯d wager."


    When they looked at Ye Chen again, the martial artists¡¯ perception of him had completely changed.


    True powerhouses, regardless of where they are, always receive respect!


    Many people were looking forward to Ye Chen¡¯s next performances.


    "I lost, this cluster of lower-grade Saint Level True Fire, ¡¯Green Disaster True Fire,¡¯ is what I¡¯ve bet and lost to you."


    The first girl who fought admitted defeat without any fuss, acknowledging the loss of the wager decisively.


    She stretched out her wrist, and a small green bottle flew towards Ye Chen.


    "Hong Zhu, why don¡¯t you have a match with him?" Then, she called out to the second girl.


    "Green Disaster True Fire?" Ye Chen took the green bottle, glanced at the strand of green flame inside, then put the bottle away.


    He practiced the fire-based Divine Art, "Devouring Heavenly True Fire," capable of absorbing all kinds of True Fire from heaven and earth. Naturally, he could also use this Green Disaster True Fire for cultivation.


    Now was not the time for a careful examination; Ye Chen¡¯s ultimate goal was to win the middle-grade Saint Level "Purple Flame Spirit Fire" from the hands of the stunningly beautiful little girl. With the three battles only one fight underway, he still had to go through the next two wagers.


    "Then let¡¯s begin the second battle," Ye Chen said with a smile, looking at the second girl.


    "Hong Zhu."


    At that moment, just as the second girl was about to step forward, she was directly stopped by the youngest and most beautiful little girl.


    Having shaken her head to the second girl, the stunningly charming little girl walked towards Ye Chen while her bright eyes gazed at him, "You¡¯re very powerful."


    "Hong Zhu is not a match for you with just a single move, and I fear that Hong Zhu wouldn¡¯t be your opponent either."


    "So, there¡¯s no need for a second battle, let¡¯s go directly to the third wager!"


    As the exquisite little girl spoke, the mysterious faint fire mark on her forehead seemed to leap slightly, adding a captivating and mystical allure to her fair and beautiful face.


    "Directly go to the third wager?"


    Ye Chen smiled, "Alright, let¡¯s start then."


    Ye Chen was after the exquisite little girl¡¯s middle-grade Saint Level True Fire "Purple Flame Spirit Fire"; challenging the other two girls was only a requirement of the exquisite little girl, and now that she was willing to wager directly, of course, Ye Chen would not refuse.


    "Start right away?"


    The young girl smiled at Ye Chen, "Although you¡¯ve only made a single move, I already know your prowess. The space here is too small; it¡¯s not suitable for our duel."


    "Why don¡¯t we go to the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, a place where Heavenly Saints in Rift Sky City often duel, for our wager?"


    Ten Thousand Feet Platform?


    Upon hearing the young girl¡¯s suggestion, before Ye Chen could respond, the others were already exclaiming, "The Ten Thousand Feet Platform, specially built for duels in Rift Sky City, is very suitable for fighting!"


    "Moreover, Heavenly Saint Level powerhouses frequently duel there. It seems that the little girl is confident she can engage in a Heavenly Saint Level contest with this young man."


    "Two at the early stage of Rotating Pill Realm, each possessing the strength of the Heavenly Saint Level? This is going to be interesting; the last wager looks quite exciting."


    While the people were still discussing, the incredibly beautiful young girl stepped into the void and flew into the sky. She glanced back at Ye Chen with a smile, "So, you don¡¯t want to wager with me at the Ten Thousand Feet Platform?"


    Ye Chen smiled lightly, "Why wouldn¡¯t I? But as I¡¯ve never been to the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, please lead the way."


    The girl grinned sweetly, radiating allure, then nodded and shot towards the eastern part of Rift Sky City.


    Ye Chen, too, moved gracefully and instantly flew up into the sky, following behind the girl.


    Seeing both the main contenders for the wager heading towards the Ten Thousand Feet Platform in the east of Rift Sky City, others started to fly as well, "Let¡¯s go and watch. Who would have thought that a wager met on these streets would escalate to a battle at the Ten Thousand Feet Platform?"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    One figure after another took to the sky, following far behind the stunningly beautiful young girl and Ye Chen.


    "My lady, why is she going directly to the Ten Thousand Feet Platform?"


    "Just arrived in Rift Sky City, the young lady took a turn around and said the Ten Thousand Feet Platform was quite impressive, although it was a pity that not many people were qualified to engage her in a duel there. Now, the young lady actually takes the initiative to go to the Ten Thousand Feet Platform?"


    "Is she really not planning to hold back her strength and wants to go all out in this battle? It¡¯s just a betting duel, it shouldn¡¯t make the young lady truly intent on giving her all, should it?"


    Seeing the stunningly beautiful young girl fly away directly, the other two girls exchanged glances, both feeling somewhat worried.


    The two girls glanced at a spot near the bend in the street, then followed the big group, flying east.


    As the location of the fight moved, the noisy crowd instantly dispersed, and the road returned to its tranquil state.


    After everyone had disappeared, from the spot the two girls had just looked at on the street corner, a very low voice emerged, "Little Saintess, she is set to fight this boy from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent with all her might."


    "That boy, others only see his power at the initial stage of Heavenly Saint Level, but I sense that he¡¯s hiding many more methods and probably even possesses the strength of the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint Level!"


    "Although the Little Saintess won¡¯t fear him, if she truly becomes determined to win, it could mean big trouble, and this boy might even be in danger of his life..."


    "I better also go to the Ten Thousand Feet Platform to take a look," the voice said to itself and then instantly vanished. The street corner was once again empty, as if no one had ever been there.


    If anyone else had heard this voice, they would have been greatly surprised.


    This voice had actually discerned that Ye Chen was from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    And it had seen that Ye Chen was holding back, with many powerful methods likely at his disposal, and that he might possess the power of the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint Level!


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    What¡¯s more, this voice actually referred to the stunning young girl as the Little Saintess!


    Leaving Fire Continent, Little Saintess?


    If anyone were familiar with the sect powers of Leaving Fire Continent, the mere mention of those three words would make clear what they signified!


    ...


    In the sky.


    Ye Chen followed behind the young girl, flying towards the east of Rift Sky City.


    While flying through the sky, Ye Chen also observed the scenery below Rift Sky City.


    The sprawling city covered thousands of miles, seen from above, it appeared even more majestic and awe-inspiring. Set against the backdrop of the distant, golden sand grains it emanated an immense feeling of a desert megacity!


    Ye Chen flew while taking in the views below him.


    The excitement on the gorgeous young girl leading the way grew as they progressed.


    Because she found that no matter how much she increased her flying speed, Ye Chen always managed to follow her nonchalantly, always staying twenty feet behind her.


    "Interesting, really interesting."


    "I¡¯ve never seen a sixteen-year-old boy this powerful before!"


    "Not even in Leaving Fire Continent, let alone the other continents I have visited. I¡¯ve never seen such a formidable boy. It seems my initiation of the betting duel has indeed met a worthy opponent."


    Boom!


    The eyes of the excited beautiful girl shone brightly as her long black hair flowed behind her like a waterfall, and her graceful figure shot forward with increased speed towards the Ten Thousand Feet Platform in the distance.


    The moment she landed on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, she looked back and saw Ye Chen, twenty feet behind her, smiling at her gently and then, in a flash, moving to land on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform as well.


    Ye Chen was still not falling behind this young girl at all.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After Ye Chen and the stunning young girl both landed on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, a while later, the martial artists who had followed the pair to watch the battle began to arrive as well.


    And there were even more of them than there had been gathered in the circle on the street earlier.


    Such a large group flying over from above Rift Sky City naturally attracted a lot of attention, and when people heard there was to be a betting duel on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, many who wanted to watch the excitement followed along.


    Soon after, the viewing area around the Ten Thousand Feet Platform was filled with four to five hundred silhouettes.


    The Ten Thousand Feet Platform.


    It was a gigantic platform with an area of ten thousand square feet located to the east of Rift Sky City.


    Legend has it that the platform was specially made by a late-stage Heavenly Saint from Heavenly Evolution Palace, the number one sect of the Heavenly Evolution Continent, placed in the east of Rift Sky City for martial artists to use for their duels.


    The platform was covered in countless Prohibition Protection Talisman Patterns, so even if mid-stage Heavenly Saints were to battle on it, the Ten Thousand Feet Platform could withstand it.


    Ye Chen surveyed the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, then looked at the martial artists who had come to watch around the platform, before he turned to the young girl and smiled, "Indeed, this is a better place for a betting duel than the street."


    "Of course it is."


    "I brought you here because I want to have a proper battle with you," the young girl replied as she lifted her dainty chin slightly, smiling.


    However, she soon reined in her smile, her waterfall-like hair billowing behind her as a powerful aura began to surge from within her. "Since you think it¡¯s good, let¡¯s start the betting duel now!"

 Chapter 396 - 358 Divine Arts vs. Divine Arts

    "Then let us begin our wagered duel now!"


    The girl¡¯s voice was soft and enchanting, yet within that tender tone, her waterfall-like hair flew about, and the rolling breath that surged forth was even more fiercely skyrocketing towards the heavens, instantly surging over six hundred feet high, covering a thousand feet radius with the vast pressure of True Qi.


    With a light tap of her toes, the girl flew into the void.


    That vast and terrifying fluctuation of True Qi tore and shattered the entire space, making the fifteen-year-old stunningly beautiful girl stand in the vast expanse of True Qi like an Immortal Saint.


    Upon witnessing the girl unleash such terrifying True Qi, the outer spectator area of the Ten Thousand Feet Platform was in an uproar.


    The watching martial artists could tell from the girl¡¯s pressure of True Qi that this young girl¡¯s strength in True Qi alone had definitely reached the Heavenly Saint Level!


    Yet another youngster who had reached the strength of the Heavenly Saint Level at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm appeared; as they looked at the girl on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform and Ye Chen, hundreds of martial artists couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    Many of them had cultivated for hundreds of years without reaching such accomplishments. These two youngsters were so young, yet so formidable, even crossing the immense gap between Rotating Pill and Heavenly Saint Levels, making it feel as if comparing oneself to others really could bring one to an early grave!


    "Rotating Pill early stage, yet possessing Heavenly Saint Level True Qi?"


    Ye Chen looked at the absolutely beautiful girl who had flown into the void and released such vast True Qi, and his eyes also revealed a trace of solemnity.


    He was only able to possess Heavenly Saint Level True Qi within the Rotating Pill Realm by relying on the special cultivation technique of the Taiyuan Divine Pill; and this young girl, being able to possess such terrifying volume of True Qi at the early stage of Rotating Pill, must also have a unique and extremely powerful secret technique for True Qi.


    "It seems that I am not the only one with fortune in the Thirty-Three Continents; among the younger generation, I am not the only one with great achievements."


    "I knew that a Heavenly Saint Level mid-grade True Fire would not be so easily won."


    "However, if it were too easy to win, it would be rather dull. It is only when one meets a worthy opponent that it becomes a true wagered duel!"


    In Ye Chen¡¯s mutterings, he pressed his hands into the void, and in an instant, he disappeared from where he stood. The next moment, he appeared in the void a thousand feet away, at the opposite side of the girl.


    Similarly, the True Qi within Ye Chen¡¯s Dantian sea crazily released as well, his Five Element True Qi instantly swept up over six hundred feet high.


    The girl had shown her True Qi, clearly intending not just to compete with martial skills but to battle with all her combat abilities; naturally, Ye Chen would not show any weakness either.


    In the void.


    Seeing on one side a young boy and on the other a stunningly beautiful girl, both so young in age, yet both equally unleashing a terrifying and overwhelming presence that petrified countless martial artists, everyone in the spectator zone held their breath.


    And it was in the next moment, when they held their breath, that Ye Chen and the young girl in the sky moved simultaneously.


    In the void where the two stood, their figures vanished in an instant; the next moment, the void where they had stood was torn apart, and two figures, enveloped with terrifying True Qi, collided with a thunderous impact.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This collision instantly unleashed countless wild surges of True Qi from the point of contact between the two, shattering pieces of the void into fissures, and in this horrifying maelstrom, Ye Chen and the young girl, who had directly confronted each other with True Qi, were both sent flying backward.


    The two tumbled hundreds of feet through the sky before they managed to steady the horrifying fluctuations of True Qi surging around them and came to a stop once again in the void.


    "True Qi, quite formidable!"


    "Now, let me try your Cultivation Technique Martial Skill, that Divine Art!"


    In the void, after one move, the combativeness of the young girl soared even further. Her sparkling eyes fixed on Ye Chen as she took the initiative to challenge him.


    "You want to try my Divine Art? It seems you have a move to counter my art. Well, I am curious to see what kind of move it is."


    Ye Chen smiled faintly, not making the young girl wait any longer.


    The Earth Element Divine Art "Earth Returning to Origin Art" that he used to defeat the first dueling girl was instantly activated.


    This time, it was not as before, with numerous amounts of soil overwhelming the girl in the void; but under the driving of Ye Chen¡¯s spell, the laws of the Earth Element surged, immediately forming a Sky-shocking Giant Mountain more than three thousand meters high, and over a thousand meters in both length and width, higher up in the vast sky.


    The emergence of this giant mountain cast a vast shadow over the already broad Ten Thousand Feet Platform!


    The Sky-shocking Giant Mountain appeared right above the young girl¡¯s head in the void; as soon as it appeared, the mountain descended with inconceivable speed towards the girl below.


    "Earth Returning to Origin Art, Gathering Mountain Style!"


    At Ye Chen¡¯s shout, the terrifying mountain arrived at the girl¡¯s head in an instant. Under the immense size of the Sky-shocking Giant Mountain, three thousand meters high and over a thousand meters in length and width, the young girl seemed as tiny as an ant.


    Moreover, the force carried by the mountain was so immense that even the numerous watching martial artists from afar who were at the Rotating Pill peak or even at the early stage of Heavenly Saint felt their scalps tingle. They could sense that the oppressive power of this giant mountain was truly that of an early stage Heavenly Saint-level fighter. This one strike could likely crush many weaker early stage Heavenly Saint fighters to death instantly!


    Earth Element Divine Art, Heavenly Saint Level True Qi, the combination of the two resulted in a move that could truly devastate heaven and earth!


    And so it bore down, threatening to crush the young girl. Continue reading on empire


    Could the young girl possibly withstand the move that Ye Chen unleashed?


    As the mountain was about to press down upon the girl¡¯s waterfall-like black hair, everyone heard the girl¡¯s enchanting voice ring out again: "Earth Element Divine Art is indeed versatile. However, wood overcomes earth, so let¡¯s see if my Wood-Attribute Divine Art can suppress this Earth Element Divine Art!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the girl spoke, a sky-reaching surge of True Qi erupted around her, and suddenly a forest of Thorn Spikes thrust upward. Each Thorn Spike, numerous as they were and each several tens of feet thick, instantaneously rushed towards the Sky-shocking Giant Mountain that bore down over the girl¡¯s head.


    Then, a painfully sharp sound arose from where the Thorns of Spikes made contact with the Sky-shocking Giant Mountain.


    This was a direct confrontation between the girl¡¯s Wood-Attribute Divine Art and Ye Chen¡¯s Earth-Attribute Divine Art!


    In this clash, the Thorn Spikes driven by the Wood-Attribute Divine Art actually managed to completely withstand the Sky-shocking Giant Mountain driven by the Earth-Attribute Divine Art. They did not press down any further and, as the piercing sound reached its climax, the thousand thick Thorn Spikes actually penetrated into the giant mountain.


    Finally, amidst explosive "bang bang bang" sounds, the sky-full of Thorn Spikes crazily grew, piercing and splintering the three-thousand-meter-tall Sky-shocking Giant Mountain, ultimately causing it to explode!


    Divine Art against Divine Art!


    This girl¡¯s Wood-Attribute Divine Art had actually suppressed Ye Chen¡¯s Earth-Attribute Divine Art!


    This situation caused Ye Chen¡¯s expression to change.


    This was the first time Ye Chen¡¯s Earth-Attribute Divine Art had been broken by another Divine Art.


    Ye Chen quickly understood the reason behind this in his mind, "My Earth-Attribute Divine Art, having only devoured a Heavenly Saint Level lower-grade Nine Spirits Treasure Soil, is still too weak. Even my understanding of the Earth-Attribute Heavenly Law is not deep enough, still lingering at the initial stage of the Rotating Pill Realm¡¯s Law comprehension."


    "This girl¡¯s True Qi is no less than mine, and her combat power with the Divine Art is equal to my Earth-Attribute Divine Art which only devoured Nine Spirits Treasure Soil. And since Wood-Attribute Divine Art restrains Earth-Attribute Divine Art, she was able to suppress me."


    "To prevent her from restraining me, I either need my Earth-Attribute Divine Art to devour a few more powerful Earth Element secret treasures or deeply comprehend the Earth-Attribute Heavenly Law."


    In the fleeting moment these thoughts flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind, the girl, having shattered Ye Chen¡¯s Earth-Attribute Divine Art move, was already driving the sky-full of Thorn Spikes, wildly coiling and slashing towards Ye Chen.


    The Thorn Spikes gleaming with blinding cold light could penetrate even Ye Chen¡¯s Earth-Attribute Divine Art, highlighting how terrifying their attack power was.


    "If that¡¯s the only Divine Art you have, then you¡¯re going to lose," the girl¡¯s charming voice reached Ye Chen¡¯s ears as the Thorn Spikes coiled and slashed toward him.


    As the thousand thick Thorn Spikes from all directions in the void coiled in on Ye Chen, he was about to be completely engulfed by the ring of Thorn Spikes. This time, the warriors spectating outside the arena had shifted from being anxious for the girl to being anxious for Ye Chen.


    Then, everyone including the girl heard Ye Chen¡¯s voice.


    "Wood-Attribute Divine Art, restraining my Earth-Attribute Divine Art?"


    "Then let¡¯s see if my Fire-Attribute Divine Art can counter-suppress this Wood-Attribute Divine Art."


    In the five grand Heavenly Laws, wood restrains earth, but wood generates fire. Under the stimulation of the Wood-Attribute Divine Art, the might of Ye Chen¡¯s Fire-Attribute Divine Art was bound to greatly increase.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s voice, everyone was shocked, "Could it be, this young man has a Fire-Attribute Divine Art too?"


    While they were still reeling from the revelation, Ye Chen, caught in the swirling ring of Thorn Spikes from all directions, suddenly produced a clump of blue True Fire in his hand.


    Fire-Attribute Divine Art, Heaven-Devouring True Fire!


    This was the Heaven-Devouring True Fire Divine Art that had devoured the small blue flame.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, the Heaven-Devouring True Fire in Ye Chen¡¯s hand burned into the sky, erupting into a blaze over eight hundred feet high and crazily scattering in all directions.


    As the fire scattered, the void it traversed was torn asunder, leaving trails of Vacuity cracks wherever the True Fire passed!


    This was a Heavenly Saint Level True Fire, even a single droplet could burn down a giant mountain!


    When this scattering blue flame landed on the sky-full of Thorn Spikes, the Law Patterns of the Thorn Spikes were immediately broken, and the Thorn Spikes began to ignite.


    Crackle! Pop! Pop!


    The thousand Thorn Spikes instantly became a thousand crackling fire dragons, burning more and more fiercely.


    Having activated his Fire-Attribute Divine Art, Ye Chen, relying on the Fire-Attribute Divine Art, succeeded in breaking through the girl¡¯s Wood-Attribute Divine Art, regaining the upper hand again!


    In the void, a thousand Thorn Spikes crackled as they burned. Watching the sky ablaze with burning Thorn Spikes, the spectating area outside the Ten Thousand Feet Platform fell into silence.


    They had not expected to witness a clash of three different Divine Arts during the exchange between two such young fighters.


    Giant mountains descending from the sky, crushing the earth!


    Terrifying thorns rising and endlessly climbing to pierce the giant mountain!


    And in the end, the blue True Fire that burned the thorns and tore through the void!


    Earth-Attribute Divine Art! Wood-Attribute Divine Art! Fire-Attribute Divine Art!


    The several exchanges in this wagered battle, sweeping through the void, teeming with peril, finding each other¡¯s match, the intense shock of opposing forces nurturing and restraining each other, had completely stupefied the warriors spectating on the side.

 Chapter 397 - 359: Flame Sprite

    Thousands of thorns, each several kilometers long and meters thick, crackled as they burned in the sky.


    In these sky-engulfing flames, the young man and woman stood in the air.


    The intense visual impact caused the pupils of countless martial artists in the spectator area outside the Ten Thousand Feet Platform to shrink, with most eyes falling on Ye Chen.


    "Two Divine Arts, this young man, he has actually cultivated two Divine Arts!"


    "That earth-attribute Divine Art was already unimaginable, and this fire-attribute Divine Art seems even stronger!"


    These martial artists couldn¡¯t help but be shocked. Divine Arts, even for the warriors of the Heavenly Saint Realm, were something to be encountered but not sought after. Cultivating one Divine Art was already an enormous fortune, let alone cultivating two. This probably represented a grand opportunity that very few among the billion martial artists of the thirty-three continents could obtain!


    "That little girl has also mastered a Divine Art, the Wood-Attribute Divine Art, which is quite good."


    "Now this young man has taken out another Divine Art and has completely overwhelmed her Wood-Attribute Divine Art. Does she have any other moves left?"


    Many people shifted their gaze to the stunning young girl, seeing that she had yet to make a new move as the Thorns of Spikes burned in the sky, and began whispering to each other.


    If these people could clearly see the girl¡¯s beautiful eyes, they would not find a trace of worry within them but would instead see an increasingly excited look!


    "Fire-Attribute Divine Art?!"


    "I didn¡¯t expect that while you¡¯ve mastered the earth-attribute Divine Art, you¡¯ve also gained mastery over the fire-attribute Divine Art."


    As she looked at the raging blue True Fire burning the Thorns of Spikes, the girl¡¯s eyes showed excitement, and a faint mysterious fire mark between her eyebrows began to shine with a secret light.


    "However, this fire-attribute Divine Art seems to be cultivated with a lower-grade True Fire from the holy level; it¡¯s not powerful enough."


    The girl muttered to herself.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the girl murmured, the sweeping True Fire sparked by Ye Chen had burnt all the towering Thorns of Spikes to ashes. At the same time, Ye Chen pinched a vestment robe, and the soaring True Fire surged up again, transforming into clusters of Faint Blue Lotus Flame that swept toward the girl.


    The lotus-flame blazed as it spun, filling the sky with shadows and light.


    In an instant, these fiery shadows and lights had pierced through the void, reaching right in front of the girl.


    These Faint Blue Lotus Flames, well over six hundred in number, were each powerful enough to burn mountains and rivers. Over six hundred Faint Blue Lotus Flames turned the entire void into a sea of faint blue fire, its scorching heat twisting the space itself!


    "Bring out your fire-attribute secret technique, I know you must have a fire-attribute martial art with you!"


    As Ye Chen attacked the young girl with the "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," his voice also reached the girl in the sky.


    Ye Chen¡¯s voice didn¡¯t carry the resolve to kill the young girl in one strike; instead, it clearly indicated he knew the young girl had more moves up her sleeve.


    Because, from the faint mysterious fire mark on the girl¡¯s forehead, Ye Chen sensed a fire power that made even him tremble.


    The girl¡¯s previous Wood-Attribute Divine Art had already made Ye Chen aware that she was no average person.


    Now, Ye Chen was also bursting with battle intent, eager to engage in a true clash of strength with the girl!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words and seeing the sky filled with Faint Blue Lotus Flames converging towards her, the stunningly beautiful girl¡¯s graceful figure twirled and she burst forth amidst the engulfing flames, charging directly towards the Faint Blue Lotus Flames.


    The Faint Blue Lotus Flame was one of Ye Chen¡¯s fire-based Divine Arts. Even if it was only cultivated from a low-grade Holy-level True Fire, the "Little Blue Flame True Fire," and had not yet fully matured, this Divine Art was already capable of burning mountains and rivers, powerful enough to kill many early-stage warriors of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Yet this girl dared to confront the Faint Blue Lotus Flame head-on!


    Warriors in the spectator area outside the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, witnessing this scene, couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in low voices.


    At this moment, as the girl was about to touch the Faint Blue Lotus Flames, her delicate fingers extended. Her jade fingers, slender and white like spring onions, along with her tender palms, suddenly turned fiery red. Flames ignited on her entire palm, emitting a blazing light.


    Her jade hands seemed to transform into a burning fire hand.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    All they saw was the girl¡¯s hand forming a clasp in the void, grabbing several Faint Blue Lotus Flames in her hands, and then, to the disbelief of numerous onlookers, she squeezed them with her palm and actually crushed these flames completely!


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    Fire-based Divine Arts, Heaven-Devouring True Fire¡ªshe was utterly unafraid, daring to touch and even extinguish them directly!


    This left many warriors feeling utterly incredulous.


    Only a few early-stage Heavenly Saint warriors who had mastered the complete realm of fire-based rules had a moment of enlightenment, "This girl, her strongest aspect must be the fire-based rules. She¡¯s from the Leaving Fire Continent; daring to handle True Fire with her bare hands, could it be she hails from..."


    Thinking of that most powerful force on the Leaving Fire Continent, the expressions of these few early-stage Heavenly Saint warriors completely changed.


    "That¡¯s right, I do know fire-based secret techniques, and I rarely use them. You have two great Divine Arts, and they¡¯re sufficiently worthy for me to use my fire-based secret techniques!"


    After extinguishing a few Faint Blue Lotus Flames, the young girl smiled sweetly at Ye Chen. Her delicate body then burst towards the sky, and in the split second of her ascent, fiery patterns suddenly appeared on her snow-white vestment robe.


    Even the tips of the girl¡¯s flowing black hair began to display streaks of mysterious firelight.


    And the six hundred feet of Astounding True Qi that enveloped the girl turned into a raging inferno of fiery red flames.


    Supported by her perky chest and accentuated by her long legs, the girl amidst the blazing red glow seemed to transform from an innocent white-clad girl into an enchanting flame spirit.


    With firelight streaming from her, the girl gestured with her vestment robe¡¯s wide sleeves, and streams of Fire Serpents rolled out from within, shooting towards the hundreds of Faint Blue Lotus Flames sparked by Ye Chen.


    In the end, as these Fire Serpents touched the Faint Blue Lotus Flames, they all "bang, bang, bang" exploded into bursts of light, turning the entire sky into a mixture of blue and red flame bursts, filled with murderous intent and supreme beauty.


    Amid the dazzling bursts of flame, the girl covered in fire-pattern vestment robe dodged and twisted, bringing with her a soaring aura of flames, and shot directly towards Ye Chen.


    Watching the girl who resembled a flame spirit, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes also shone with a keen light.


    Fire-based power!


    In this girl, Ye Chen sensed her truly formidable fire-based power.


    It was as if this girl was born for the flames!

 Chapter 398 - 360: Transformation, Dance of the Fire Serpents!

    "Simply comparing fire element strength, I fear that even with the divine fire art of a lower Heavenly Saint Level true fire ¡¯Little Blue Flame True Fire¡¯ that I¡¯ve devoured, I am still inferior to this young girl by a notch."


    "However, my power is not limited to just the fire god skills..."


    Ye Chen¡¯s palm reached out into the empty air, and in an instant, all three hundred and fifty-two of his Five Apertures Rotating Pills inside his body shook at once. The fire element and earth element divine pill patterns on them activated simultaneously, and Ye Chen, without any hesitation, charged towards the incoming attack from the young girl.


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    Bang!


    In the blink of an eye, after enduring three kinds of divine arts and fire secret technique attacks, Ye Chen and the little girl once again engaged in a direct confrontation of raw power.


    The two slammed into each other instantly. During the collision, the girl was surrounded by a great glow of fire, her body¡¯s flames burned even brighter, surging from over six hundred feet to a thousand feet in height!


    Seeing such a degree of fiery luminescence, the countless martial artists in the spectator area outside the Ten Thousand Feet Platform showed horrified and astonished expressions, while the two girls who were with the little girl earlier were filled with nervousness as they said, "Miss... She is truly going all out."


    On the other side, clashing directly with the little girl, Ye Chen¡¯s astonishing aura rose as well, along with the continuous strengthening of the young girl¡¯s presence.


    Eventually, in Ye Chen¡¯s Qi sea, the patterns of his fire element, earth element, and even the water element divine pills that he had not used until now, all lit up intensely.


    The two young combatants, continually escalating their aura, exchanged over a hundred moves in an instant. Each clash of their techniques caused the space itself to tremble, and the terrifying surge of true Qi even caused the dazzling light to drift away ten thousand feet!


    This battle scene was so intense that many martial artists on the eastern streets of Rift Sky City, far from the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, looked up towards the direction of the platform.


    "What is that!"


    "Such a powerful force, there must be Heavenly Saint Level warriors battling on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform!"


    Upon seeing the sky-rocketing battle luminescence in the void above the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, many martial artists even flew up into the air to get a closer look, and countless figures burst through the skies towards the battle area, eventually landing in the spectator area outside the platform.


    In no time at all, the number of people in the spectator area grew from a few hundred to over a thousand!


    Even three mid-stage Heavenly Saint beings were drawn over!


    On the Ten Thousand Feet Platform.


    When Ye Chen and the little girl both escalated their auras to the extreme, the girl, reminding one of a spirit of flame, had flames engulfing her, reaching a height of up to twelve hundred feet high!


    Such presence was definitely on par with the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Level!


    This young girl, at the early stage of developing her pills, possessed a combat strength equivalent to the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Level, which was inconceivable.


    On the other side, Ye Chen, whose fire, earth, and even water divine pill patterns were fully activated, had an even stronger presence than the little girl, truly entering the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Level!


    Previously, Ye Chen, by using three divine arts, was able to defeat even the nine Icebound Guardians who suppressed their realm to the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Level. Now that he employed all three divine arts, it was only natural that he possessed an overwhelming combat strength even among the strong at the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Level!


    In the end, during the two hundredth exchange of lightning-fast exchanges, with the full burst of "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," "Earth Returning to Origin Art," and even the water god skill "Heavenly Origin Divine Water," Ye Chen¡¯s aura rose to the height of twelve hundred feet, and he sent the beautiful young girl flying, smashing her violently onto the Ten Thousand Feet Platform.


    Spit!


    The little girl spat out a large mouthful of blood.


    Seeing that one of the two competitors was truly injured, countless martial artists around the Ten Thousand Feet Platform stood up; the two girls accompanying the little girl were aghast when they saw their miss being blasted onto the platform.


    They could not believe that their miss, with a startling origin, would fall behind despite the surge of the Fire Element Law and her full-blown outbreak!


    In another part of the void, within a hidden spatial rift, at the moment the beautiful young girl was smashed onto the Ten Thousand Feet Platform by Ye Chen, a somewhat shaken voice of surprise came through the rift: "Indeed, this youth from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent possesses combat strength of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Level!"


    "Three divine arts; aside from earth and fire elemental arts, he even knows water elemental art. His combat strength is truly formidable among those at the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Level!"


    "How could the Barbaric Wilderness Continent produce such an impressive youth? Not even the formidable Heavenly Sacred Palace of that continent has ever spoken of such a youth!"


    By the end, the voice was even more filled with worry, "The Little Saintess, will she admit defeat? At this stage of the fight, she can admit defeat now. If the battle continues, I¡¯m afraid it will get out of hand. For a single wager, it¡¯s not worth it..."


    As the voice spoke, it suddenly stopped and finally began to tremble, "The Little Saintess, she still refuses to surrender?!"


    At this moment, looking towards the Ten Thousand Feet Platform.


    One could see the little girl who Ye Chen had struck fiercely onto the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, spewing a mouthful of blood at that moment. Between her brows, the faint trace of a mystical fire mark suddenly burst forth with peerless brilliance.


    Within the peerless light, one could even see a strange space within the faint mystical fire mark, and inside that space, a perfectly clear Fire Crystal was tumbling and shimmering.


    Whoosh!


    The little girl, with the Fire Crystal flickering in the mystical space between her brows, suddenly flashed from the Ten Thousand Feet Platform into the void in an instant.


    And in an instant, the waterfall-like long hair behind the girl exploded in length. Her originally black waterfall hair, which had traces of firelight at the tips, instantly turned fiery red and grew into a long mane of flame-like hair dozens of feet long!


    An even greater transformation was happening to the little girl¡¯s face. As the mystical fire crystal between her brows flickered, she closed her beautiful eyes. Her previously delicate and pretty face suddenly became cold, while the faint sense of mystical allure she had been exuding suddenly intensified.


    The girl seemed to be undergoing a special transformation. Her entire demeanor, as if shifting from a fifteen-year-old girl towards a cold divine maiden bathed in the flames of the Fire Element Law, was slowly changing.


    This transformation made even Ye Chen, whose combat power had fully erupted, astonished.


    Ye Chen had always felt that this little girl was shrouded in mystery, especially that faint fire mark between her brows exuding an alluring charm had always caught his attention.


    At this moment, seeing the transformation in the girl¡¯s temperament as the fire mark¡¯s light flickered¡ªchanging from innocent to alluring, to a sublimely alluring maiden exuding coldness¡ªYe Chen was all the more prepared to face any changes.


    At that moment, the power of the Icebound Divine Body, which Ye Chen hadn¡¯t used until now, started surging within his flesh.


    Even the Great Five Elements Sword Art, a divine sword technique, began to flow and circulate!


    In the instant that Ye Chen¡¯s mind heightened its alertness, the little girl who was smashed to the ground then instantly flickered into the void, having undergone a mystical change, opened her eyes and looked at Ye Chen.


    "You are very powerful."


    The voice of the transformed little girl was cold, but with an added touch of seductive charm.


    "Since you¡¯re so powerful, I can¡¯t help but want to use all my strength. I want to see your limit."


    "I wonder if you can still handle this move of mine!"


    As the girl spoke, her hair, which had grown dozens of feet long and turned fiery red like flames, billowed wildly!


    At the same time, the girl¡¯s attire, her delicate face, her exquisite figure, and even the fiery aura around her body all turned a deep red.


    In a sea of red, the girl with rosy lips softly uttered seven words, "Fire God Skills, Dance of the Fire Serpents!"


    In an instant, outside the girl¡¯s body, nine gigantic fire serpents, each thousands of feet long, twisting and rising, began to roar up to the heavens.


    These nine fire serpents were not mere phantom images of laws; they seemed like actual beings, indeed nine top-tier fire serpents of the Mid Heavenly Saint Level!


    And the exquisite girl surrounded by the nine top-tier Mid Heavenly Saint Level fire serpents, her realm started rising from the initial stage of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill in a frenzy.


    In moments, the girl¡¯s cultivation leaped from the beginning stage of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill to the final stage. Then, she even broke through the barrier between the Rotating Pill and the Heavenly Saint levels, reaching the initial stage of the Heavenly Saint Level. Eventually, she stepped directly into the Mid Heavenly Saint Level!


    Witnessing the nine roaring fire serpents and the exceedingly beautiful girl whose realm was swiftly ascending, one of the three Mid Heavenly Saint Level experts who had flown in behind exclaimed with trembling eyes, "The Great Enchantment Transformation! This is the strongest Great Enchantment Transforming Divine Skills of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land from the Leaving Fire Continent!"


    "Rumor has it only the Saintess of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land has such a method. Could this little girl be the Saintess of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land from the Leaving Fire Continent?!"


    Amidst the astonished exclamation of the Mid Heavenly Saint Level expert, the breathtakingly beautiful girl whose strength had soared gestured gently with her hands glowing with firelight, and her nine massive fire serpents coiling and roaring in the sky exploded upwards. Then, they plunged downwards, assaulting Ye Chen below in the void with the momentum to shatter everything¡ªthe nine serpents dancing wildly, all lunging together in a formidable attack.

 Chapter 399 - 361 All Tricks Out

    Nine giant Fire Serpents, each a thousand feet long, roared skyward and then dove down.


    They hurtled towards Ye Chen in the empty space above the Ten Thousand Feet Platform!


    This scene had all the warriors watching from around the platform completely hold their breath.


    These were nine Fire Serpents with combat power reaching the pinnacle of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm!


    No one had expected that a bet duel between two young teenagers would escalate to such a situation. Even more so, no one had foreseen that their combat strength would continue to rise, far surpassing the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm and actually reaching the mid-stage level.


    And within the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, they were engaged in top-level combat!


    The advantage shifted back and forth between the two sides, at times towards Ye Chen, at other times towards the young girl. Now, under the assault of nine top mid-stage Heavenly Saint power Fire Serpents, could Ye Chen withstand it?


    What move could he use to defend?!


    All eyes were focused on Ye Chen.


    At this moment, watching the nine thousand-foot-long, wildly surging Fire Serpents dive towards him, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes shone with brilliance.


    He had not expected that the young girl, after the anomaly, could unleash such a deadly move, nor that she could break through realms consecutively, escalating directly from early Spinning Pill stage to the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Ye Chen had never before seen a Cultivation Technique that could directly boost one¡¯s realm like this!


    "This power... it¡¯s probably not the girl¡¯s own, but something she¡¯s borrowing."


    "Strange Fire Crystal, all this power must come from the mysterious flame mark between her eyebrows, from that mark¡¯s space where the Strange Fire Crystal suddenly flickers!"


    A thousand thoughts flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind as he finally witnessed the means of the top geniuses from continents outside the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. These methods truly did not disappoint him.


    "Jiang Yao also possesses mysterious Bloodline Secret Skills. Initially groping in the dark without any Divine Phoenix Clan members to instruct her, she was able to battle across realms! Now, under the tutelage of two true gods, she must be mastering the true methods of the Divine Phoenix Clan, and her combat power is likely to be unimaginable!"


    "This young girl, along with Jiang Yao, and the other talents from the thirty-three continents and even the Minor Spirit Realm that I¡¯ve not yet seen... The world is vast, and geniuses are countless. Although I have many techniques and encounters, others have their own encounters as well. To stand at the pinnacle, I absolutely cannot afford the slightest slack!"


    Amidst his racing thoughts, the most urgent matter for Ye Chen was to defend against the incoming assault of the nine giant Fire Serpents.


    As the first thousand-foot Fire Serpent took the lead in the attack, Ye Chen stepped through the void, and the power of his flesh, trained by the eight hundred and ten forms of the Icebound Divine Body, exploded. The tremor of this power made the very void tremble and burst with a compressive explosion.


    Then, all of his physical strength, along with the Divine Arts of fire, earth, and water already activated, formed towering Fire Armor, Earth Armor, and Water Armor, directly resisting the onslaught of the first thousand-foot Fire Serpent.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With that collision, the heavens and earth shattered!


    The void above the Ten Thousand Feet Platform was completely torn apart, and even the shockwaves reached beyond the platform, tearing apart large swathes of land in the farther reaches.


    If the Ten Thousand Feet Platform and the viewing area hadn¡¯t been personally crafted by late-stage Heavenly Saint experts, this collision could have completely destroyed both the platform and the viewing area!


    But even if the Ten Thousand Feet Platform and viewing area could withstand this force, the weaker warriors standing in the viewing area were swept out thousands of feet away by the violent power fluctuations. Even many of the Heavenly Saint Realm experts were blasted back dozens of meters before they could barely steady themselves.


    But everyone was no longer concerned with their own dishevelment, all eyes turned to Ye Chen, who was confronting the top-level mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm Fire Serpent head-on.


    The onlookers only saw that in this collision, the first Fire Serpent was sent flying again, while Ye Chen, as if struck by a meteor, was directly smashed onto the Ten Thousand Feet Platform. Before Ye Chen could get up, the second thousand-foot Fire Serpent bombarded down!


    Despite all the methods Ye Chen had used, the power of the first giant Fire Serpent had still forced him to spit out a large mouthful of blood. Now facing the attack of the second giant Fire Serpent, it seemed very likely that he would be killed outright!


    "This young man, during the bet duel, had produced a ¡¯Great Capturing Void Talisman¡¯ crafted by a late-stage Heavenly Saint expert. Now that it has come to this point, he must use that talisman."


    "If he uses that Great Capturing Void Talisman, he could still bring out other treasures to replace his bet. If not, under the joint strike of the Nine Serpents, he might not have any chance of survival!"


    It was common for combatants to fall in a bet duel.


    After all, at the most critical moment of the fight, a slight lapse in attention could bring about an unpredictable and tragic end.


    Just when everyone thought Ye Chen would use that Great Capturing Void Talisman, facing the second oncoming thousand-foot Fire Serpent, Ye Chen suddenly unleashed a new surge of power from his body. This power was the sword qi for nurturing flying swords, bursting forth to the extreme from the acupoint on his brow.


    Although Ye Chen had spat out a large mouthful of blood, under the foundation of the Icebound Divine Body¡¯s eight hundred and ten styles, bolstered by the power of the three Divine Arts, he could withstand this first assault from the Fire Serpent. Furthermore, nurtured by the three hundred and fifty-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills, his injuries instantly healed.


    Now, having felt the power of the giant Fire Serpent, Ye Chen was ready to bring out the "Great Five Elements Sword Light," a technique from the Beiming Secret Tome.


    Use the Great Capturing Void Talisman?


    Forget the talisman, Ye Chen still had many external aids he could rely on.


    But Ye Chen did not plan on using any external forces until the very last moment. He wanted to see just where the limit of his own power was and just how much pressure he could bear!


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    As the unmatched sword energy burst forth, Ye Chen¡¯s Great Five Elements Sword Light also shot out from his body all at once. Around Ye Chen, there was not only the power of the Fire-Attribute Divine Art, Earth-Attribute Divine Art, Water-Attribute Divine Art, and the foundational force of the Icebound Divine Body, but now also the power of the Sword Dao!


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The Great Five Elements Sword Light, along with all of Ye Chen¡¯s major power sources, erupted fully, shaving off thirty percent of the massive aura surrounding the second huge Fire Serpent. However, the remaining seventy percent of the Fire Serpent¡¯s power still hit Ye Chen squarely.


    Ye Chen was once again smashed into the Ten Thousand Feet Platform!


    This time, Ye Chen¡¯s flesh cracked open with lines of blood, and he was on the verge of becoming drenched in blood.


    But at this time, before the third Fire Serpent could strike again, the cracked bloodstains on Ye Chen¡¯s body healed at an incredibly fast rate. Meanwhile, a fourth Law Divine Art emerged within Ye Chen.


    Wood-Attribute Divine Art!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    When the fourth type of Law Divine Armor, the towering Wood Armor, which was not weaker than the Fire, Earth, and Water Armors that formed from corresponding Divine Arts, suddenly appeared around Ye Chen, the warriors watching from the sidelines were completely taken aback, "He can use a fourth Law Divine Art? Could this young man have cultivated Divine Arts for all five elemental laws?!"


    At this moment, in the void, the little girl radiating a chilling and charming aura after her transformation, with the mysterious fire mark in her forehead gleaming with the fire crystal, and flame light flowing over her body, her cold, charming eyes also showed a different kind of fluctuation, "He blocked the second serpent¡¯s attack, and now it seems he can block the third serpent¡¯s attack as well."


    "He... he really is too powerful!"


    Ye Chen had already completely ignored the fluctuations in the expressions of the watching warriors and the little girl.


    While using the Wood-Attribute Divine Art, his eyes were completely focused on the third gigantic Fire Serpent that was roaring towards him!


    "Wood-Attribute Divine Art, Wood Emperor Stacking Skill!"


    "A Divine Art I¡¯ve never used before; now, it¡¯s finally time to deploy it!"


    What everyone didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen had already activated the fourth of the five major Divine Arts, the Wood-Attribute Divine Art, long before setting foot on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    After Ye Chen had killed Yin Qianjue, the master of Yuanli Palace personally sent people to take back Yin Qianjue¡¯s estate, and in Yin Qianjue¡¯s estate, they found a holy mid-grade five-element treasure ¡ª the Sky Wood Divine Flower.


    That was the precious Wood-Attribute treasure that Yin Qianjue had promised to give to Feng Lun of the Heavenly Saint Realm in exchange for Feng Lun¡¯s attempt to kill Ye Chen, the Sky Wood Divine Flower!


    When the "Sky Wood Divine Flower" was handed over to the master of Yuanli Palace, he directly gave it to Ye Chen.


    By absorbing this Wood-Attribute treasure, Ye Chen successfully began to cultivate the Wood-Attribute Divine Art, "Wood Emperor Stacking Skill." And since this treasure was a holy mid-grade one, after Ye Chen had refined it, the power of his Wood-Attribute Divine Art even surpassed the other three Divine Arts cultivated by absorbing holy low-grade treasures.


    The Wood-Attribute Divine Art was a card that Ye Chen had kept hidden, and now, he finally unleashed it.


    Yin Qianjue, at his sneaky worst, couldn¡¯t have imagined that his plot against Ye Chen would lead to his own death, and that his "Sky Wood Divine Flower" would end up making a fine dowry for Ye Chen.


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    Having ignited the fourth Divine Art, the Wood-Attribute Divine Art, Ye Chen felt divine power surrounding him swell immensely. This time, in his confrontation with the mid-staged Heavenly Saint Realm¡¯s third Fire Serpent, he wasn¡¯t injured but merely knocked back. It was only under the assault of the fourth Fire Serpent that he was smashed down to the Ten Thousand Feet Platform again.


    Ye Chen, using all his power and techniques, had managed to withstand the impact of both the third and fourth Fire Serpents in succession!


    Powerful.


    Incredibly powerful.


    "If it weren¡¯t for the nine Fire Serpents, this young man would surely win."


    All the warriors, looking at Ye Chen who was repeatedly smashed down to the Ten Thousand Feet Platform but still fighting, felt boundless admiration welling up within them.


    Even the three mid-staged Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses held immense respect for Ye Chen!


    However, despite their admiration, all the warriors knew that under such circumstances, Ye Chen would still be defeated.


    After all, the little girl had unleashed the attack of nine heaven-shaking Fire Serpents. Ye Chen had withstood the attacks of four Fire Serpents, yet there were still five Fire Serpents, remaining, relentlessly advancing towards Ye Chen. What¡¯s more, the previously attacking Fire Serpents that had risen up were swirling in a wild dance before diving down again, evidently preparing for a second wave of assaults!


    Amidst the admiration and sighs of countless warriors, Ye Chen saw the fifth Fire Serpent coming in an instant. He glanced at the other Serpents roaring and writhing behind and heaved a long sigh.


    "Bing Shijiu, come out," Ye Chen communicated to the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    In this situation, relying on his own power, he could no longer hold out. Continuing to resist would truly put his life at risk. The only option was to have his guardian, the late-staged Heavenly Saint Realm¡¯s Bing Shijiu, come out to end this situation, then admit defeat to the little girl.


    "Yes, Lord Ye Chen!"


    In the instant that Ye Chen spoke, divine light burst forth from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, and Bing Shijiu, a four hundred feet long lion-faced humanoid battle beast, suddenly emerged!

 Chapter 400 - 362: My Name is Huo Mei鈥檈r

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Bing Shijiu appeared, the violent power of the latter stage of Heavenly Sacred Palace burst forth, causing the entire void to momentarily come to a standstill. Then, with a great reach of his hand into the void, he directly crushed the fifth thousand-foot Fire Serpent that was attacking Ye Chen.


    At the same time, he stomped fiercely onto the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, leaving a huge footprint on the platform created by the latter stage powerhouses of Heavenly Evolution Palace to withstand middle-stage Heavenly Sacred battles.


    Suddenly stepping on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, Bing Shijiu shot towards the other Fire Dancing Giant Serpents in the void. In an instant, he grasped the remaining eight thousand-foot serpents that were still in the void.


    Finally, with a roar from his lion-faced humanoid form, Bing Shijiu shattered the eight awe-inspiring Fire Serpents with the sheer force of his roar.


    This is the power of a latter-stage Heavenly Sacred powerhouse. This is the unrestrained strength of Bing Shijiu!


    With his intervention, he dispatched the nine fearsome Fire Serpents that the young girl had driven to attack Ye Chen!


    "Heavenly."


    Watching the nine thousand-foot serpents being disposed of in an instant, and Bing Shijiu majestically standing behind Ye Chen, all the martial artists were utterly dumbfounded.


    Latter stage of Heavenly Sacred.


    They knew that to annihilate nine top-tier middle-stage Heavenly Sacred Fire Serpents, the four-hundred-foot-tall divine beast driven by Ye Chen must be a latter-stage Heavenly Sacred powerhouse!


    What astonished the martial artists even more was the profound respect this latter-stage Heavenly Sacred beast showed towards Ye Chen, a prideful being in its own right.


    What background could this youth have that even a Heavenly Sacred latter-stage being showed him such immense respect?!


    In the void, the young girl with parted red lips also showed a look of shock upon witnessing the lion-faced humanoid battle beast appear beside Ye Chen.


    She had never seen such a creature!


    A lion-faced humanoid beast?


    The young girl had traveled across numerous continents and perused countless tomes, yet had never heard of such a being.


    At that moment, Bing Shijiu, having swiftly killed the nine awe-inspiring Fire Serpents and returned to Ye Chen¡¯s side, looked up at the young girl in the sky and asked Ye Chen, "Lord Ye Chen, do you want me to execute this girl?"


    The words of Bing Shijiu sent shockwaves through the crowd.


    The faces of the two girls accompanying the young girl changed dramatically, while the being hidden within the spatial rift, protecting the young girl, was ready to tear through and reveal itself at any moment.


    The entire void became eerily silent following Bing Shijiu¡¯s words.


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s voice rang out, "No need, elder. You can return. I¡¯ve lost this wager."


    "Yes, Lord Ye Chen!"


    Upon Ye Chen¡¯s command, Bing Shijiu hesitated no more and transformed into a streak of light, flying back into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Seeing the fearsome beast vanish at Ye Chen¡¯s word, everyone felt even more keenly the respectful obedience the latter-stage Heavenly Sacred beast had towards Ye Chen.


    Clearly, this youth was capable of wielding the will of such a formidable being!


    With this realization, the way the martial artists looked at Ye Chen completely changed, understanding that a youth who commanded the respect of a latter-stage Heavenly Sacred powerhouse certainly had an extraordinary background.


    In the spectator area, the two girls accompanying the young girl finally calmed their hearts after watching the latter-stage Heavenly Sacred beast vanish, and the being hidden within the spatial rift gave Bing Shijiu one deep look before settling back into silence.


    Then, the young girl in the void, upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words and seeing him command the powerful beast to withdraw, let a charming smile flash through her beautiful eyes. Looking towards Ye Chen, her cold yet bewitching face slowly softened. The girl smiled sweetly at Ye Chen, instantly becoming captivating, "So you are addressed as Lord Ye Chen, Ye Chen? Your name is Ye Chen."


    "It¡¯s not you who lost, but me. Ye Chen, I¡¯ve lost to you," the girl said, leaving everyone astonished.


    As the girl spoke, the fiery crystal flickering between her brows finally calmed down and disappeared back into a faint, mysterious fiery mark.


    As the Fire Crystal disappeared, the girl¡¯s hair, which had swelled to several meters long and burned like fire, dissolved back again into jet-black cascading strands.


    The fiery glow that exuded from the girl¡¯s body, the air of mysterious charm that enveloped the void, and the sudden rise in power to the mid-phase of Heavenly Sacred Realm also dissipated altogether.


    The young girl had once again transformed back into the innocent yet enchanting figure from before, with delicate skin and a refined, youthful face.


    "You lost? I didn¡¯t manage to withstand your nine Fire Serpents attack. Even though I resisted in the end, it was the elder who helped me¡ªit depended on someone else. To be honest, if we really consider it, my victory wasn¡¯t honorable," Ye Chen said, looking at the young girl.


    A duel shouldn¡¯t be interfered with by others; that is an unspoken rule.


    To win is to win, to lose is to lose.


    Ye Chen could afford to lose.


    He wouldn¡¯t insist on seizing a batch of mid-grade True Fire at all costs during just a wager, after all, it was merely a duel¡ªthat¡¯s why he didn¡¯t let Bing Shijiu take further action.


    "Ye Chen, you relied on the elder¡¯s help, but I resorted to the elder¡¯s help even before you did. It¡¯s just that nobody else knows about this kind of assistance," the young girl said, her beautiful eyes blinking as she looked at Ye Chen.


    "I had lost the moment you brought out the three divine skills. Later, I used a secret method unique to our ¡¯Heavenly Fire Holy Land,¡¯ invoking the Great Enchantment Transforming Divine Skills to draw upon the divine powers left by an ancestor from my domain to control the Fire God Skills. I used this external force because I wanted to see how strong you really were. Ye Chen, you truly shocked me. You were able to withstand the Dance of the Fire Serpents, a great divine power left by an ancestor of my domain, for four rounds!"


    "It was external force too?"


    Ye Chen had felt early on that the young girl¡¯s transformation was shrouded in mystery and seemed to be using borrowed power. At first, he thought it was the power of the Fire Crystal, but now it appeared to be related to some predecessors?


    Heavenly Fire Holy Land?


    Ye Chen recalled that the young girl had come from the Li Fire Continent, and now it seemed that this Heavenly Fire Holy Land she spoke of must surely be an extremely powerful force there.


    "Before I left Heavenly Sacred Palace, I only had a brief glimpse of the situation in the Thirty-Three Lands. It looks like I need to get a good understanding of the powers in the Thirty-Three Lands before entering Five Elements Mountain," Ye Chen thought to himself. Read latest chapters at empire


    As Ye Chen pondered, the gentle voice of the young girl reached him again, and when he looked up, he saw the same small purple bottle she had taken out earlier flying toward him: "I lost; Ye Chen, this batch of mid-grade Holy Fire, the Purple Flame Spirit Fire, is now yours."


    The instant the small purple bottle was in his hand, Ye Chen felt the divine fire patterns upon hundreds of his Pill Spins in his Sea of Qi begin to pulsate again.


    Purple Flame Spirit Fire, mid-grade Holy Fire!


    Through this arduous and tumultuous wager, Ye Chen had finally acquired the True Fire!


    After devouring this True Fire, Ye Chen¡¯s fire-based divine skill "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" would once again grow significantly in power!


    Ye Chen was already imagining the moment when he merged the second True Fire "Purple Flame Spirit Fire" into Heaven-Devouring True Fire, boosting its power once again!


    Whoosh!


    With a flick of his finger, Ye Chen stored the small purple bottle containing "Purple Spirit True Fire" on his person, and said to the young girl, "Thank you."


    Ye Chen had asked Bing Shijiu to make a move, which was visible to all.


    However, the girl¡¯s secret methods were really external assistance, and nobody else would know if she didn¡¯t tell them.


    In this situation, where the girl was willing to admit defeat and hand over the Purple Spirit True Fire, Ye Chen naturally felt a bit of goodwill toward her.


    Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t believe that it was because of Bing Shijiu that the girl was scared and had to hand over the True Fire. He knew that behind the girl, who could use mid-grade Holy Fire as a bet, there must stand a mighty Late Phase Heavenly Sacred powerhouse.


    Merely Bing Shijiu was far from enough to scare the girl.


    Of course, Ye Chen¡¯s favorable impression did not involve other matters, it was just enough for him to thank the girl.


    "This is what you deserve; you don¡¯t need to thank me," she said.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s thanks, the young girl shook her head, her delicate figure moving as she flew toward the edge of the Ten Thousand Feet Platform.


    As she reached the brink of the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, the young girl suddenly glanced back at Ye Chen with a smile and softly said, "Ye Chen, my name is Huo Mei¡¯er. Until we meet again."

 Chapter 401 - 363: Refining the True Fire Again

    "Ye Chen, my name is Huo Mei¡¯er. We shall meet again."


    Having said these words, the young girl took flight from the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, leaving with the other two girls, drifting away.


    "Huo Mei¡¯er?"


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded. Then he glanced at the martial artists in the spectating area outside the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, and with a movement, he also instantly entered a Void Rift and vanished from sight.


    Both parties of the duel had left the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, but the martial artists in the spectating area stood there for a long time, unwilling to leave.


    All the martial artists hadn¡¯t expected that the duel they had watched out of a whim would turn out to be so extraordinary!


    Two young contestants in the initial stages of Rotating Pill had escalated their duel to the level of the mid-Heavenly Saint Realm, and even at the end, a late Heavenly Saint Realm expert had appeared!


    Thinking back to the overwhelming true qi surging thousands of feet high during their duel, reminiscing over their Earth-Attribute Divine Art, Wood-Attribute Divine Art, Fire-Attribute Divine Art maneuvers, and that terrifying Fire Element secret technique...


    Even more so, that final sword technique Divine Art that Ye Chen used, his physical strength, the Wood Emperor Stacking Skill, as well as the girl¡¯s terrifying nine Fire Crystal Divine Arts and the thousand feet tall Fire Serpent roaring up to the sky!


    Just recalling those scenes of battle caused everyone¡¯s blood to surge with excitement.


    Eventually, many martial artists even flew onto the Ten Thousand Feet Platform to observe the huge footprints left by Bing Shijiu, trying to feel the terrifying power of this late Heavenly Saint Realm expert!


    It wasn¡¯t until a long while later that these martial artists finally dispersed, but as they shared the scenes of the duel with others, and as more people flooded into the Ten Thousand Feet Platform to witness the huge footprints left by the Heavenly Saint expert, the duel between Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er continued to spread among an even greater number of martial artists.


    Eventually, many martial artists in Rift Sky City were aware that two incredibly powerful youngsters had come to the city, and they also knew that with the upcoming "Five Elements Mountain Exploration" organized by the union of the Thirty-three Continents, Rift Sky City would see an influx of more formidable young people and more powerful experts!


    ...


    Many martial artists in Rift Sky City were discussing the duel between Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er, and after Huo Mei¡¯er left the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, she seemed to have vanished without engaging in any more duels on the streets.


    Meanwhile, the other main character of the duel, Ye Chen, was currently sitting cross-legged in a cultivation chamber, engaged in cultivation.


    After leaving the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, Ye Chen wandered around Rift Sky City, arranged a few matters, and eventually checked into the largest inn in the city - "Heavenly Evolution Tower."


    The reason for choosing "Heavenly Evolution Tower" was that it was specifically established by the strongest sect of the Heavenly Evolution Continent, "Heavenly Evolution Palace," for powerful warriors to reside in.


    This inn had seven floors, standing three hundred meters tall, and what was more miraculous was that each room contained a Heavenly Saint Space crafted by Heavenly Saint Realm experts!


    Within the Heavenly Saint Space, not only were there living quarters, but also specialized cultivation chambers, offering great privacy and security.


    Many Heavenly Saint Realm experts chose to reside in this Heavenly Evolution Tower upon arriving in Rift Sky City. After acquiring the "Purple Flame Spirit Fire," Ye Chen needed to further cultivate his Fire God Skills, so he also chose to stay at this tower.


    Heavenly Evolution Tower wasn¡¯t a place just any martial artist could afford to stay in - residing there cost one hundred high-grade Spirit Stones a day!


    One should know that a hundred high-grade Spirit Stones is more than what many Supreme Rotating Pill characters could amass in their entire fortune.


    Even initial-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts would find it challenging to spend a hundred Spirit Stones to stay in the Heavenly Evolution Tower for a day.


    However, these expenses were still within Ye Chen¡¯s ability to bear.


    Originally, in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, after Ye Chen had slain the Heavenly Saint Divided Spirit of Heavenly Saint Moya, he had obtained the treasures accumulated by Moya over thousands of years of cultivation. Among them, just the top-grade Spirit Stones alone numbered in the hundreds, and one must know that a single top-grade Spirit Stone is equivalent to a thousand high-grade Spirit Stones!


    A top-grade Spirit Stone was enough to cover ten days of accommodation at Heavenly Evolution Tower for Ye Chen!


    Upon arriving at the Heavenly Evolution Tower, Ye Chen directly handed over two top-grade Spirit Stones as deposit for the living expenses and chose a room to stay in.


    After surveying the interior space of the room, Ye Chen had Bing Shiyi inspect the room¡¯s safety prohibitions. Then, after instructing the nine Ice Seal guards to help with protecting him, he entered the cultivation chamber within the room and completely sealed it, beginning his cultivation session. Your next journey awaits at empire


    It was only upon actually entering this cultivation chamber that Ye Chen felt the hundred high-grade Spirit Stone daily fee of Heavenly Evolution Tower was not spent in vain.


    The cultivation chamber not only had protective prohibitions set up by Heavenly Saint Realm experts, but what was even more critical, it provided abundant Heaven and Earth True Qi for cultivation. By Ye Chen¡¯s estimate, just the Heaven Saint True Qi he could utilize in a day here was worth fifty high-grade Spirit Stones.


    Of course, for Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation, this amount of True Qi was clearly insufficient. After sitting cross-legged in the cultivation chamber, he took out a few more top-grade Spirit Stones to supply the True Qi.


    Finally, Ye Chen stretched out his palm and two small vials appeared in his hand.


    These two vials, one green and one purple.


    Inside them contained the Saint Grade lower-tier True Fire "Green Disaster True Fire" and Saint Grade mid-tier True Fire "Purple Flame Spirit Fire," which Ye Chen had won from the two girls through duels.


    "My Fire-Attribute Divine Art has already devoured and refined a lower-rank Saint Grade True Fire known as ¡¯Little Blue Flame True Fire¡¯, and now, I have acquired two new True Fires, one lower-rank Saint Grade True Fire and one middle-rank Saint Grade True Fire."


    "After I devour and refine these two clusters of True Fire, I wonder to what extent the power of my Fire-Attribute Divine Art can be enhanced."


    Thinking of the girl named Huo Mei¡¯er, who at the end unleashed nine mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm pinnacle ¡¯Sky-Shocking Fire Serpents¡¯ with her Fire God Skills, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes flashed with a sharp light, "That girl¡¯s strongest technique¡ªI couldn¡¯t withstand it relying on my own strength, without the help of Senior Bing Shijiu. I must continue to increase my strength!"


    "Let¡¯s start with this Fire-Attribute Divine Art!"


    After muttering to himself, Ye Chen glanced at two small bottles, and the seals on the bottles opened directly.


    "Huh! Huh!"


    The moment the seals on the small bottles were opened, two clusters of flames, one green and one purple, burst forth from the bottles with incredible agility and attempted to escape.


    Even if this cultivation room were open, would Ye Chen let these two clusters of True Fire escape?


    He reached out with both hands, one left and one right, and grabbed the two clusters of True Fire. Immediately, Ye Chen began to circulate the cultivation mantra of the Fire-Attribute Divine Art ¡¯Heaven-Devouring True Fire¡¯ and started to devour and refine the two clusters of True Fire.


    ...


    Five days later.


    The door to the cultivation chamber in Ye Chen¡¯s living quarters burst open, and Ye Chen stepped out with a smile on his face.


    "Not bad, after refining these two clusters of True Fire, the power of my Fire-Attribute Divine Art has reached a full thirty percent of the highest degree required by the ¡¯Taiyuan Chapter.¡¯


    To complete the third chapter, the Taiyuan Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, one must finish both the ¡¯Taiyuan Divine Pill¡¯ and the ¡¯Five Great Divine Arts.¡¯


    The Taiyuan Divine Pill requires the cultivation of nine hundred and ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills, and then the union of these nine hundred and ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills to reach the ultimate oneness of the ¡¯Taiyuan Divine Pill.¡¯


    When Ye Chen left the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, he had already cultivated three hundred and fifty-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills, and in the past few days of secluding himself to cultivate the Fire-Attribute Divine Art, Ye Chen had created three more Five Apertures Rotating Pills. This brought the number of his Five Apertures Rotating Pills to three hundred and fifty-five, edging closer and closer to the total of nine hundred and ninety-nine!


    Besides the ¡¯Taiyuan Divine Pill,¡¯ the Taiyuan Chapter demands the completion of the ¡¯Five Great Divine Arts.¡¯ At this point, Ye Chen has begun to cultivate the Fire, Earth, Water, and Wood Divine Arts. During this process, Ye Chen has come to realize that once the Five Great Divine Arts are cultivated to Great Accomplishment, they can be divided into ten levels of combat power.


    He has not started cultivating the Gold-Attribute Divine Art yet, so it¡¯s currently equivalent to zero levels of combat power, whereas his Water and Earth Attribute Divine Arts, having each devoured and refined a lower-rank Saint Grade Treasure, have essentially reached one level of combat power.


    After devouring and refining the middle-rank Saint Grade Treasure ¡¯Heavenly Wood Divine Flower,¡¯ the power of Ye Chen¡¯s Wood Attribute Divine Art should be around two levels of combat power of Wood Attribute Divine Art at Great Accomplishment.


    The greatest gain, however, is the ¡¯Fire-Attribute Divine Art.¡¯ Before, having only devoured and refined ¡¯Little Blue Flame True Fire,¡¯ its power fell short of the Wood Attribute Divine Art. But this time, after refining two additional True Fires, Ye Chen¡¯s Fire-Attribute Divine Art has become the strongest of the Five Great Divine Arts!


    At this time, Ye Chen felt that the power of his Fire-Attribute Divine Art had already reached three levels of combat power of the Fire Attribute Divine Art at Great Accomplishment!


    Not to mention that with the Fire-Attribute Divine Art alone, he could kill mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses; this one technique alone meant that killing many mid-level Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses was no longer a problem!


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen stepped out of the cultivation room, he extended his palm and a cluster of black flames appeared in the center of it.


    Previously, the Fire-Attribute Divine Art ¡¯Heaven-Devouring True Fire,¡¯ after just devouring ¡¯Little Blue Flame True Fire,¡¯ took on a deep blue color. Now, with the addition of the green ¡¯Green Disaster True Fire¡¯ and the purple ¡¯Purple Flame Spirit Fire,¡¯ the color of ¡¯Heaven-Devouring True Fire¡¯ had greatly changed, transforming into an eerie and mysterious black!


    At this moment, the black ¡¯Heaven-Devouring True Fire¡¯ moved slowly, and although it did not fully erupt, just its terrifying heat alone made the air in the entire chamber boil!


    If this cluster of flames were unleashed, it¡¯s likely that everywhere in Rift Sky City¡ªnot protected by the Heavenly Saint Realm later-stage powerhouses¡¯ defensive Prohibitions¡ªwould be entirely incinerated by this cluster of flames!


    This is the power of True Fire!


    This is the power of Ye Chen¡¯s Fire-Attribute Divine Art now that all three Great True Fires have been refined and united!


    After sensing the newly refined ¡¯Heaven-Devouring True Fire¡¯ in his palm for a moment, Ye Chen flipped his hand and retracted the true flames back into his body.


    "I wonder how the inquiries I entrusted to ¡¯Mystery Pavilion¡¯ about the thirty-three continents and Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s ¡¯Heavenly Fire Holy Land¡¯ are progressing."


    Ye Chen pondered, while simultaneously dispelling his room¡¯s protective Prohibition and walked out for the first time after five days.


    As Ye Chen just stepped out of the room, he saw an old man, who was in the later stages of the Rotating Pill realm, waiting outside the room.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen emerge, the old man spoke respectfully, "Senior, I am a disciple of ¡¯Mystery Pavilion.¡¯ The information that Senior entrusted our sect to find out has been completely compiled. I am here by the sect¡¯s orders, especially to respond to Senior."

 Chapter 402 - 364 Sanctuary and Holy Crystal

    The elder uttered respectfully, and his gaze toward Ye Chen was filled with astonishment.


    The "Mystery Pavilion" to which he belonged was the most proficient at gathering information among the second-grade major sects on the Heavenly Evolution Continent. Such a sect had known the details of Ye Chen¡¯s and Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s fight shortly after the betting fight took place.


    Latter, when Ye Chen visited the "Mystery Pavilion" intending to inquire about the major powers across the thirty-three continents and learn more about the Heavenly Fire Holy Land mentioned by Huo Mei¡¯er, the Mystery Pavilion immediately dispatched a mid-Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouse to receive Ye Chen specifically.


    After spending three days collecting and organizing the information that Ye Chen needed, they even sent a disciple in the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm to reply with the information.


    This late-stage Rotating Pill Realm elder was the disciple sent by the Mystery Pavilion.


    Ye Chen had left a message with the Heavenly Evolution Tower, saying that if someone from the Mystery Pavilion was looking for him, they should wait outside his living quarters. As a result, the elder had been waiting outside for two days.


    But even though he had waited for two days, the elder did not have any complaints; instead, he was exceptionally proud.


    When he arrived at the "Heavenly Evolution Tower," the elder was already overwhelmed with shock. This was a place where even Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses had the confidence to reside. It cost a hundred top-grade spirit stones just to stay for one day¡ªa price he couldn¡¯t afford, despite being a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse.


    The entire interior of the Heavenly Evolution Tower was filled with natural qi, truly a paradise on earth!


    It wasn¡¯t just about staying there; the mere act of standing in the Heavenly Evolution Tower made the elder feel prestigious. Therefore, to be able to wait outside Ye Chen¡¯s living quarters was an honour he¡¯d willingly accept for two days, or even two months!


    Now, upon seeing the legendary Ye Chen in person, the elder was even more astounded. He had not expected that the young man rumored to possess the combat power of a mid-Heavenly Saint Realm, would be so young!


    "Did you manage to gather the information I needed?" Ye Chen asked with joy in his heart.


    He was eager to know more about the Heavenly Fire Holy Land where Huo Mei¡¯er resided and about the thirty-three continents. Now that the elder had returned with the report, he was naturally full of anticipation.


    "Yes, the information that Senior requested is all within this recording jade plaque." The elder took out a sealing jade plaque and handed it directly to Ye Chen.


    Back when Ye Chen went to the Mystery Pavilion and paid the deposit for the information gathering, he had received the method to unlock the seal on the recording jade plaque. Now, using that method, he unlocked the jade plaque¡¯s seal, roughly sensed the information recorded within using his Divine Sense, and nodded in satisfaction.


    "Mystery Pavilion, worthy of being a second-grade major sect renowned for information gathering. The information here is quite good."


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen tossed a small shard of prime-grade spirit stone to the elder.


    "I¡¯ve taken the information. This spirit stone will settle the remaining cost of the information; if there¡¯s excess, keep it for yourself."


    This small shard of prime-grade spirit stone was equivalent to more than fifty top-grade spirit stones, and the information Ye Chen sought needed only an additional payment of forty top-grade spirit stones, excluding the deposit.


    By giving the elder a small shard of prime-grade spirit stone, Ye Chen effectively gave him an excess of more than a dozen top-grade spirit stones.


    The elder, upon receiving the prime-grade spirit stone and examining it briefly, was overjoyed.


    He had specifically delivered messages to the "Heavenly Evolution Tower," so he was well aware of the value of a prime-grade spirit stone.


    A prime-grade spirit stone, that was something Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses would have the fortune to touch. Let alone prime-grade, even top-grade spirit stones were exceedingly precious.


    Powerhouses at the Rotating Pill Realm mainly used mid-grade spirit stones, with few having access to top-grade ones.


    The value of the shard of the prime-grade spirit stone he now held, although it was a shard, was estimated by him to be worth well over fifty top-grade spirit stones.


    To gain over a dozen extra top-grade spirit stones simply by running an errand was, of course, a cause for immense happiness to him!


    "Thank you, Senior, thank you!" The elder, tightly clutching the prime-grade spirit stone given by Ye Chen, excitedly expressed his gratitude.


    "No need to call me Senior, I¡¯m younger than you," Ye Chen shook his head with a smile, "Alright, you should return to report now."


    "It is only right, only right. Although Senior¡¯s realm is only at the Rotating Pill Realm, the rumor has it that Senior possesses the combat power of a mid-Heavenly Saint Realm, so of course you¡¯re my Senior!"


    "Alright, I will return and report now."


    After giving Ye Chen a respectful bow once more, the elder left with immense excitement.


    Watching the elder¡¯s excited demeanor as he departed, Ye Chen smiled, then with the recording jade plaque in hand, he returned to his room.


    Previously, he had only briefly glanced over the messages inside, but now, he intended to carefully read through these messages.


    After returning to his room, Ye Chen placed the jade plaque against his forehead and meticulously probed the recorded information with his Divine Sense.


    Earlier, while in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen had already examined the situation of the thirty-three continents.


    Now, with the help of the records from the Mystery Pavilion engraved on the jade plaque, Ye Chen gained an even deeper understanding of the thirty-three continents.


    Besides the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where Ye Chen was located, there were thirty-two other continents including the Heavenly Vast Continent, the Heavenly Dome Continent, the Heavenly Evolution Continent, and others.


    The thirty-three continents each had their unique characteristics due to their different locations beneath the Minor Spirit Realm.


    The Barbaric Wilderness Continent, for instance, was said to have the most demon kings, and even many of the Heavenly Saint level demon kings. Most of these demon kings resided within the chaotic seas of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and it was this abundance of demonic creatures that gave the continent its name.


    The Heavenly Evolution Continent where Ye Chen was currently residing was special because of its proximity to the Five Elements Mountain. The Heavenly Evolution Continent had been deprived of the five major Heavenly Laws by the Five Elements Mountain, turning the entire continent into a vast desert! Under the nourishment of the Five Elements Rain, the continent had the most practitioners strong in the Five Apertures Rotating Pill among the thirty-three continents.


    Like the Heavenly Evolution Continent, which was connected to all five of the major Heavenly Laws, there were five other continents, each associated with one single law of the five major Heavenly Laws.


    These five continents were the Leaving Fire Continent, Xuanjin Continent, Qingmu Continent, Tianmiao Continent, and Xugu Continent.


    The Leaving Fire Continent was precisely where Huo Mei¡¯er, who Ye Chen had previously battled, came from!


    Rumor had it that the entire Leaving Fire Continent was the most abundant in the Fire Element Law among the thirty-three continents. The True Fire, which was hard to find on other continents, was commonly seen everywhere on the Leaving Fire Continent. Even sacred level True Fires were plentiful, and there were many treasures including the most precious supreme-grade sacred level True Fires.


    Upon reading this message, Ye Chen finally realized why those three girls were able to readily wager three tufts of sacred level True Fire. It turned out that the Leaving Fire Continent was practically the headquarters of True Fire!


    Similarly, the Xuanjin Continent thrived with the Metal Element Law, the Qingmu Continent with the Wood Element Law, the Tianmiao Continent with the Water Element Law, and the Xugu Continent was filled with the Earth Element Law!


    These five continents were the ones amongst the thirty-three that were greatly blessed by the five major Heavenly Laws. It could be said that they were the continents most closely related to the Five Elements Mountain. Aside from the Heavenly Evolution Continent, these were the closest to the Five Elements Mountain!


    Although they didn¡¯t possess as many practitioners strong in the Five Apertures Rotating Pill due to the Five Elements Mountain like the Heavenly Evolution Continent, these five continents abundant in a singular law housed the most Heavenly Saint Realm experts!


    One must understand that to reach the Heavenly Saint Realm, at least one of the major Heavenly Laws must be comprehended to the point of perfection.


    Comprehending all five major Heavenly Laws to perfection simultaneously is extremely difficult. However, in a continent like the Leaving Fire Continent where a singular Heavenly Law is abundant, it¡¯s much easier for practitioners to comprehend the Fire Element Law, making it much easier for them to attain perfection in this law and step into the Heavenly Saint Realm compared to other continents.


    The other continents like Xuanjin Continent, Qingmu Continent, and the rest also housed numerous experts who had comprehended the Metal Element Law and Wood Element Law to perfection, becoming Heavenly Saints!


    Because it¡¯s easier to perfect a single Heavenly Law, these five special continents have the greatest number of Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses among all thirty-three continents!


    What also caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention were the sect forces in these five continents.


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where Ye Chen resided, there were countless sects in regions such as the Southern Wilds, Western Barrens, Northern Extremes, Eastern Star Islands, as well as the Central Region and the Chaotic Seas.


    But in the five continents like the Leaving Fire Continent, all the sects congregated under the Holy Lands, with all the sects under their jurisdiction.


    One could say that the Holy Lands were the most central forces of these five continents and the ones in control of the whole land!


    The Holy Land in the Leaving Fire Continent was the "Heavenly Fire Holy Land" that Huo Mei¡¯er had mentioned!


    Among the five Holy Lands of these continents, they all stored countless Great Divine Arts related to their continent¡¯s underlying Heavenly Laws. Take the "Heavenly Fire Holy Land," for instance¡ªthrough millennia of heritage, the application of fire-related Divine Arts in the Holy Land was simply divine. Quite a few powerful figures in the Holy Land who had achieved the Heavenly Laws True Deity left behind numerous fire-related Divine Arts for the Holy Land.


    The jade plaque also mentioned, "The most honored individuals in the five Holy Lands are the Saint Heir and Holy Maiden who inherit the Holy Lands. It is said that the five Holy Lands have five Holy Crystals, and only the Saint Heir and Holy Maiden are qualified to inherit these crystals. Within these five Holy Crystals lies the most precious heritage of the five Holy Lands. The possessors of the Holy Crystals, the Saint Heir, and Holy Maiden, can even directly command the countless Great Divine Arts left in the Holy Pool by the powerful of the Holy Lands, and when their cultivation is sufficient, can directly use the Great Divine Arts and Great Divine Techniques of the late Heavenly Saint stage!"


    As Ye Chen read this, he was tremendously shaken. According to this description, Ye Chen was certain that Huo Mei¡¯er, whom he had previously fought, was obviously the Holy Maiden inheriting the Leaving Fire Holy Continent.


    "No wonder she could enhance her strength to the mid-Heavenly Saint level at the age of fifteen. No wonder she could wield those nine top-grade mid-Heavenly Saint level Sky-Shocking Fire Serpents! So, she is the Holy Maiden of the Leaving Fire Continent!"


    Ye Chen suppressed his shock and continued to read the news about the Holy Lands of these five continents: "In the five continents, a new Saint Heir or Holy Maiden is selected only when the previous one falls or ascends to the Minor Spirit Realm."


    "It is rumored that the previous Holy Maiden of the Leaving Fire Continent has fallen, and the new Holy Maiden has only received the inheritance for eight years, making her a Little Saintess. As for the Tianmiao Continent, the previous generation¡¯s Holy Maiden has already ascended to the Minor Spirit Realm, and their inheritor is also a Little Saintess."


    "Apart from these two continents, the other three continents are all helmed by Saint Heirs. The Saint Heir of the Xuanjin Continent is the strongest among them, having reached the late Heavenly Saint stage in cultivation!"

 Chapter 403 - 365 Sand Sea Palace Auction

    Finally, regarding the five continents of the Leaving Fire Continent, the Information Jade Token specifically mentioned, "The Leaving Fire Continent, the Xuanjin Continent, these five continents, because they each relate to the five Heavenly Void Laws respectively, thus the relations among the five continents are extremely close."


    "It¡¯s rumored that the five sacred lands of the five continents are allied with each other, frequently sending their disciples to the other four continents to supplement their comprehension of the other four Heavenly Void Laws, and they often collaborate in specialized explorations of the five continents."


    "Remember, although the five continents haven¡¯t formed an official alliance, provoking any one of them will likely lead directly to a joint attack from the powerhouses of the other four continents."


    After reading about the Leaving Fire Continent where Huo Mei¡¯er resided, the Heavenly Fire Holy Land, and also learning about the four other continents similar to the Leaving Fire Continent, Ye Chen set aside the Information Jade Token for the moment.


    "The five great holy lands, the five types of Holy Crystals: metal, wood, water, fire, earth, can the Saint Heir and Holy Maiden borrow the Holy Crystals to wield the Great Divine Powers and Divine Arts left behind by the predecessors of the holy land?"


    "How marvelous, truly marvelous."


    "If I have the chance to visit these five continents, I estimate it would be a great help in my comprehension of the five Heavenly Void Laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth."


    "Especially those Holy Crystals, which can be passed down from generation to generation, must also be remarkable secret treasures,"


    Having thoroughly contemplated the matters of the five continents, Ye Chen picked up the Information Jade Token again to read the messages inside.


    After reviewing the situations on the other continents, Ye Chen¡¯s attention was caught by two other important pieces of information recorded towards the end of the jade token.


    These two matters were also what Ye Chen had specifically inquired about from the Mystery Pavilion.


    The first matter was about the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration." Before coming to the Heavenly Evolution Continent through the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen had already acquired a lot of information about the Five Elements Mountain.


    Now that he had arrived at the Heavenly Evolution Continent and heard of the Mystery Pavilion¡ªa second-grade Great Sect renowned for gathering information¡ªYe Chen naturally wanted to learn more about the various situations of the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration."


    In the jade token, there were records of many dangers already explored in the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration" known to the Mystery Pavilion, as well as many places already identified as having opportunities.


    It also marked many domains that even late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm strongmen had not yet fully investigated!


    Combining the information from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen sifted through the details about the Five Elements Mountain once more, and although he hadn¡¯t yet entered the Five Elements Mountain, he had already made ample preparations for the upcoming exploration.


    Besides the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration," the second important matter was whether there were any messages about Five Elements Secret Treasures. Ye Chen had sought information from the Mystery Pavilion.


    Ye Chen was cultivating the "Taiyuan Chapter Five Great Divine Arts," requiring various Five Elements Secret Treasures to devour and refine, enhancing the might of his Divine Arts. The Heavenly Evolution Continent, being closest to the Five Elements Mountain where the Heavenly Void Laws permeated, must have many messages regarding the Five Elements Secret Treasures, Ye Chen believed.


    The "Purple Flame Spirit Fire" and "Green Disaster True Fire" obtained from Huo Mei¡¯er and another girl had significantly increased the power of Ye Chen¡¯s fire-element Divine Arts. Naturally, he wanted to acquire more treasures, especially messages about the precious Saint Grade mid or superior Secret Treasures, and messages about the yet-to-be-activated gold-element Secret Treasures.


    This exploration into the Five Elements Mountain, Ye Chen¡¯s primary task was to fully comprehend the five Heavenly Void Laws, aiming for the next breakthrough in the Rotating Pill Realm from the early stage to the higher middle or even late stage.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t reach the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, Ye Chen also aimed to seize the opportunity to comprehend the five Heavenly Void Laws and lay the foundation for breaking through his realm.


    The second most important task was to cultivate the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" and "Five Great Divine Arts" of the "Taiyuan Chapter."


    Ye Chen was eager to cultivate the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" into a supreme Divine Pill by combining 999 Five Aperture Rotating Pills, and even more eager to cultivate the Five Great Divine Arts to the level of Great Accomplishment with ten times the combat power.


    By then, Ye Chen would be able to challenge the fourth chapter of the "Primordial Star Scripture!"


    When Ye Chen obtained the Primordial Star Scripture, the Zi Ji Star Lord had told him that cultivating up to the fourth chapter would make it exceedingly easy to dominate a continent. Now that Ye Chen had experienced the formidable power of the first three chapters, he naturally desired to cultivate the even more powerful fourth chapter.


    By then, Ye Chen even had confidence that he could reach the level of the Void Sky True God!


    Comprehending the five Heavenly Void Laws and entering the Five Elements Mountain would allow him to thoroughly study them. And cultivating the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" and "Five Great Divine Arts," Ye Chen had the opportunity on this Heavenly Evolution Continent. Therefore, Ye Chen specifically entrusted the Mystery Pavilion to inquire about the Five Elements Secret Treasures.


    And the Mystery Pavilion indeed did not disappoint Ye Chen.


    In the Information Jade Token, there were indeed records of various messages about the Five Elements Secret Treasures.


    Among them, one piece of information caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention the most.


    That was, seven days later, on the third day before the "Five Elements Mountain" exploration day, an auction called the "Sand Sea Palace Auction" would be held at a domain three hundred miles outside Rift Sky City on the Heavenly Evolution Continent!


    The Mystery Pavilion was one of the organizers of this auction, and besides the Mystery Pavilion, there was another organizer, which was the first Sect of the Heavenly Evolution Continent, the Heavenly Evolution Palace.


    An auction co-hosted by two second-grade Great Sects, one could imagine the preciousness of this auction.


    The Mystery Pavilion specifically mentioned that this "Sand Sea Palace Auction" was the most important auction held before the "Five Elements Mountain Exploration," and it was conducted every time before the exploration into the Five Elements Mountain.


    In this auction, not only many of the strong individuals who will participate in the Five Elements Mountain Exploration come to purchase various exploration items, but also numerous powerful figures from the thirty-three continents make a special trip here, auctioning off various precious treasures.


    This "Sand Sea Palace Auction" is divided into two sessions.


    One session takes place on the third day before the day of the Five Elements Mountain Exploration, in the morning. It will be held in the outer perimeter of the underground palace as a free-for-all market. Not only are there designated organizations for the free-for-all sales, but any martial artist can buy and sell treasures within the underground palace. This place is an excellent spot for picking precious treasures, with many items from the Five Elements Mountain and even other exploration sites making an appearance in the free-for-all sales.


    The second session is the highlight of the "Sand Sea Palace Auction," which is the formal main auction held in the core area of the underground palace on the evening of the third day.


    In every main auction, there will definitely be top-level treasures included.


    The Mystery Pavilion, because of its participation in this Sand Sea Palace Auction, of course knew what the main auction¡¯s treasures were, but it did not explicitly mention these treasures in the Information Jade Token sent to Ye Chen.


    The Jade Token only mentioned that in this second main auction session, there would be a total of eighteen treasures up for bidding, with three of them being the finale treasures!


    Among these eighteen treasures, there was the Five Elements Secret Treasure that Ye Chen was after!


    And among those three finale treasures, one of them was also closely related to the Five Elements Secret Treasure!


    The Mystery Pavilion specifically mentioned to Ye Chen that if he wanted to find the Five Elements Secret Treasure, whether it was the free-for-all market in the morning or the main auction at night, as long as he had enough Spirit Stones, he would definitely be able to purchase the Five Elements Secret Treasure!


    "So, the ¡¯Sand Sea Palace Auction¡¯ is in seven days?"


    Seeing that the auction would definitely have the Five Elements Secret Treasure, Ye Chen felt a stirring in his heart.


    "There are still ten days left until the exploration of the Five Elements Mountain, and that¡¯s not enough time for anything else, so I¡¯ll just focus on cultivating. Then just before the exploration, I¡¯ll take a good look at this ¡¯Sand Sea Palace Auction¡¯!"


    Whether it was for the Five Elements Secret Treasure or to see the powerful figures who would participate in the Five Elements Mountain Exploration, Ye Chen decided he had to attend this "Sand Sea Palace Auction."


    ...


    After reading through the information in the Information Jade Token thoroughly, Ye Chen carefully put the jade token away.


    Then, he left his room and ate a meal featuring delicacies unique to the Heavenly Evolution Continent at the Heavenly Evolution Tower, and afterward, he strolled casually through Rift Sky City.


    After that, Ye Chen returned to his room and continued his cultivation and familiarization with his various techniques, waiting for the day of the "Sand Sea Palace Auction" to arrive.


    Time passed day by day.


    As the day of the Five Elements Mountain Exploration approached, the number of martial artists arriving in Rift Sky City increased.


    With more martial artists and more geniuses arriving, Rift Sky City witnessed several major events concerning battles between talents, which even involved confrontations between two late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses.


    Moreover, five days before the Exploration day, Rift Sky City received a successive influx of formidable individuals from the peak powers across numerous continents.


    As countless strong individuals gathered and numerous geniuses rose to fame, the influence of Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s duel had already been gradually forgotten in Rift Sky City.


    And when there were only three days left before the Five Elements Mountain Exploration began, the number of martial artists gathered in the entire Rift Sky City had reached tens of millions!


    The entire Rift Sky City was bustling and noisy as if the sky was trembling!


    Nearly all the martial artists who were to participate in the Five Elements Mountain Exploration, along with their related forces, had countless powerful figures arriving in Rift Sky City.


    And on that day, not only did strong figures gather in great numbers, but another important event made Ye Chen finally emerge from his seclusion.


    That was the prelude to the Five Elements Mountain Exploration, the start of the Sand Sea Palace Auction!


    Early in the morning, Ye Chen left the Heavenly Evolution Tower and flew towards the location of the Sand Sea Palace Auction outside Rift Sky City, as directed by the Information Jade Token.


    After flying more than three hundred li, Ye Chen finally saw a hundred-zhang-tall Sky-Shocking Light Formation standing in the vast Sand Sea outside Rift Sky City.


    "That is the entrance to the auction!"


    As Ye Chen flew towards the entrance of the Sand Sea Palace Auction marked by the Sky-Shocking Light Formation, he saw hundreds of figures also heading towards the entrance. Nearly the vast majority of these figures were Heavenly Saint level individuals, and even the juniors from the Rotating Pill Realm and Spirit Sea Realm were brought along by a Heavenly Saint!


    Just this batch alone numbered in the hundreds, and including those who had already entered the underground palace and those who would still arrive later, Ye Chen could hardly imagine just how many strong figures would come to this "Sand Sea Palace Auction"!

 Chapter 404 - 366 Mysterious Wooden Plaque

    "So many people have come to attend the auction!"


    "And there are so many Heavenly Saints as well."


    "This ¡¯Sand Sea Palace Auction¡¯ truly lives up to its reputation as the grandest event before the expedition to Five Elements Mountain!"


    As Ye Chen mused, he continued flying toward the entrance of the Sky-Shocking Light Formation, which was a hundred feet tall.


    When he reached the edge of the Sky-Shocking Light Formation, Ye Chen saw eight mid-stage Heavenly Saints guarding the outside of the formation. Each person, whether they were there to observe the auction or to participate, had to pay ten top-grade Spirit Stones to enter.


    Just to enter the "Sand Sea Palace Auction" required ten top-grade Spirit Stones. Ye Chen was already somewhat shocked. He wondered how many Spirit Stones would actually be spent to bid on the treasures inside.


    Although Ye Chen had treasures accumulated over thousands of years by Heavenly Saint Moya, after all, Heavenly Saint Moya was only an early-stage Heavenly Saint. His treasures, compared to those of mid-stage and late-stage Heavenly Saints, were certainly not worth much.


    Nevertheless, in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant Ye Chen carried were nine late-stage Heavenly Saint frozen guards. As soon as Ye Chen planned to attend the Sand Sea Palace Auction, these frozen guards had told him that they had supreme Spirit Stones that they could offer for Ye Chen¡¯s use.


    Ye Chen was their new master, so naturally, what they possessed was his to use as he wished.


    Although these frozen guards came from other continents in the Star Continent and most of their treasures had little to do with the thirty-three lands of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, making them unsuitable to bring out, they still had some supreme Spirit Stones. Those Spirit Stones, although not enough to support Ye Chen in bidding for all treasures, should still easily allow him to bid for one or two extremely precious treasures.


    "No matter what, I must try to secure one or two secret treasures of the Five Elements."


    "If it really comes to it, I¡¯ll have to use the Spirit Stones from the nine seniors!"


    Ye Chen sighed in his heart, "It seems it¡¯s time to start earning some Spirit Stones, or else it would be somewhat inappropriate to keep using those from my seniors whenever I want to buy treasures."


    After a moment of contemplation, Ye Chen, who had arrived at the outside of the Sky-Shocking Light Formation, paid ten top-grade Spirit Stones and then followed the crowd, flying into the light formation.


    No sooner had he passed through the light formation into the true Sand Sea Palace Auction site than a bustling noise filled his ears even before he could see the situation in the Sand Sea Palace.


    A cursory listen suggested that the number of warriors gathered in the Sand Sea Palace easily exceeded ten thousand!


    When Ye Chen looked toward this newly entered realm, he saw that he was now in a vast palace.


    Upon seeing this palace, Ye Chen felt a surge of excitement within him!


    Such a magnificent and enormous palace!


    The entire palace was built beneath a giant desert, and even spatial laws were arranged within it, making the palace appear even more grandiose!


    The whole palace was a thousand feet high and ten thousand feet wide, stretching so far that it seemed endless.


    Looking at the outermost part of the palace, there were rows of huge pillars supporting the palace. Next to every row and every pillar, there were various stalls set up, and as far along as the eye could see toward the front, there were probably thousands of stalls just on the periphery of the palace!


    Stall owners selling various items, together with warriors walking back and forth among the stalls, meant that, indeed, tens of thousands of warriors had gathered around the outer ring of the palace!


    Discussions, haggling, arguments, voices of people eager to buy treasures... One can imagine how lively it was here with tens of thousands of warriors making noise.


    This was the first great event of the "Sand Sea Palace Auction" held in the morning, the Outer Palace Flea Market Gathering!


    "The Outer Palace Flea Market, where there are treasures unearthed from various realms and exploration sites, including treasures hoarded by the warriors themselves. It¡¯s an excellent place to pick out precious treasures. Everyone knows that among these stalls, there must be something that captivates them. They also know that there might be extremely precious items not recognized by others, presenting a chance to find a great bargain!"


    "Eyesight, intuition, and Spirit Stones are the keys to picking out treasures in this flea market!"


    Ye Chen took a deep breath as he recalled the words about the flea market from the message jade token given by the Mystery Pavilion and then walked towards the countless stalls.


    There were so many stalls that it would not be enough for an ordinary person just to glance through them once in a whole morning.


    But Ye Chen was a warrior, and a warrior with an extremely strong Divine Soul at that. His Divine Sense swept over the treasures at each stall while he sensed the various auras emanating from them to see if any made his heart stir.


    As Ye Chen strolled between the stalls, looking as he walked, the enthusiastic stall owners began pitching the treasures on their stalls to the warriors like him who were browsing.


    "Warriors, brothers, and sisters from the thirty-three continents, come and take a look! Here are ten sacred-level spiritual herbs from the Void Abyss, all for just a hundred top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    ```


    "Blood Shadow Mad Blade, I have here a medium-grade Sacred Artifact ¡¯Blood Shadow Mad Blade¡¯ forged by a third-rank refining sect of Heavens Continent. Those heading to Five Elements Mountain or who use saber-type weapons should not miss this opportunity. This blade will greatly enhance your combat power! A medium-grade Sacred Artifact saber, selling for only three top-notch Spirit Stones!"


    "A mysterious copper piece found in the most secretive exploration site ¡¯Ancient Royal Tomb Land¡¯ from the three great exploration sites. It might contain a big secret. I¡¯ve been pondering it for ten years and still couldn¡¯t figure it out, so I am selling it with a heavy heart, for just two top-notch Spirit Stones!"


    As it was a large casual market, there were genuine treasures for which the vendors needed to exchange for Spirit Stones and agreed to sell them reluctantly. There were also fake treasures, with vendors exaggerating their value to swindle Spirit Stones.


    Whether you can use the appropriate Spirit Stones to pick out precious treasures all depends on your eyesight.


    Ye Chen browsed seven or eight stalls and had not yet picked anything that caught his eye, but he saw many young men and women like himself, attending the auction for the first time and being accompanied by experienced members of their clan, choosing curiously among the stalls. Some had already bought a dozen or so treasures.


    "Hm?"


    As Ye Chen walked through the bustling stalls, his heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he couldn¡¯t help but stop in his tracks, looking towards the fifth stall ahead.


    At this moment, there was no unusual expression on Ye Chen¡¯s face, but a torrent of emotions had already been set off in his heart.


    Because at this moment, Ye Chen suddenly realized something on his body had undergone a strange change!


    This thing was a wooden token.


    When Ye Chen collected the spoils of war from Heavenly Saint Moya, he found many treasures, including countless Spirit Stones, the Heavenly Origin Boat, the Eight Extremes Map, the Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror, and other Sacred Artifacts. Among them was a wooden token, whose purpose Ye Chen had not been able to figure out.


    The wooden token had no treasure patterns at all, and only had one word on it, "Forbidden." When Ye Chen first got the token, he had infiltrated it with Divine Sense and poured his True Qi into it. After trying various methods, there were no signs of any anomaly, and it seemed like an ordinary object.


    Unable to understand the purpose of this wooden token, Ye Chen stored it in the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    Ye Chen could never have imagined that the wooden token would suddenly emit strange light within the Heaven Spirit Ring. He felt that it was the wooden token in the corner of the fifth stall ahead, also unremarkable, that had triggered the change in his own token.


    Strangely, the token at the stall ahead showed no signs of change. Ye Chen only saw a word written on it, "Void."


    On Ye Chen¡¯s token was the word "Forbidden," while the token ahead showed "Void." Aside from these two words being different, the other aspects of the tokens, including their appearance and construction, were identical.


    Ye Chen knew these two tokens were definitely connected!


    Seeing that the token at the fifth stall ahead remained unchanged, Ye Chen immersed his consciousness into the "Forbidden" word token within his Heaven Spirit Ring.


    This immersion filled his mind with numerous suspicions.


    Because the wooden token which had shown no signs of change no matter what method Ye Chen applied before was now emitting light. The moment Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense entered, he sensed the change within.


    To his amazement, he sensed a vast and incomparable picture inside, and what startled him even more was that this picture bore an uncanny resemblance to the ¡¯Ancient Royal Tomb Land¡¯¡ªthe most dangerous exploration site among the three great adventures, as once mentioned by Palace Master Yuan Li.


    Ancient Royal Tomb Land, that was the most mysterious and dangerous region among the three great exploration sites. Even with his current strength, Palace Master Yuan Li had forbidden Ye Chen from entering, fearing he would perish. The ¡¯Ancient Royal Tomb Land¡¯ was where numerous fallen Void Sky True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm were buried, a true Divine Spirit graveyard.


    Even having viewed Heavenly Saint Moya¡¯s Divine Soul memories, Moya had not unraveled the meaning of this token.


    Ye Chen could never have imagined that the token he had collected from Heavenly Saint Moya would be connected to the Ancient Royal Tomb Land of the three great adventures!


    "This token is related to Ancient Royal Tomb Land?"


    "What does that token at the stall ahead represent?"


    "What is the purpose of the picture inside?"


    With countless doubts in his heart, Ye Chen suppressed the pounding in his chest and walked nonchalantly towards the fifth stall ahead, showing no sign of excitement on his face.


    In this casual market, when buying treasures, one must not show too much excitement over any captivating treasures; otherwise, they would be charged a high price.


    Naturally, Ye Chen would not let the stall owner perceive his interest in the nondescript wooden token placed in the corner of their stall.


    Just as Ye Chen was approaching the stall with an indifferent expression, the stall owner, with a wide smile plastered on his face, began to pitch his wares to Ye Chen: "Young lad, come take a look here. The treasures at my stall are all great items from the ¡¯Void Abyss¡¯ exploration site from the three great adventures!"


    ```

 Chapter 405 - 367 Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit

    During the conversation, the stall owner proudly held up a piece of jade that was placed right in the middle of his stall, "This is the ¡¯Warm Fragrance Precious Jade¡¯ exclusive to the Void Abyss. This jade is greatly helpful for martial artists to refine their qi and concentrate their spirit for breakthroughs in cultivation, even those in the Heavenly Saint Realm can make use of it."


    Seeing that Ye Chen was indifferent, the stall owner quickly took out another treasure¡ªa small piece of green copper: "And this, this green copper piece is extraordinary. Whenever it encounters Wood Element treasures, it lights up, making it an excellent material for finding Wood Element Secret Treasures."


    The stall owner was introducing the treasures on his stall while Ye Chen appeared indifferent on the surface, but his heart stirred slightly.


    "The stall owner said that the treasures on his stall all came from the Void Abyss, one of the three great adventures? Does that mean that the ¡¯Void¡¯ wooden plaque is from the Void Abyss?"


    "The ¡¯Forbid¡¯ wooden plaque I possess is related to the Ancient Royal Tomb Land among the three great adventures, while the ¡¯Void¡¯ wooden plaque is related to the Void Abyss from those adventures; and yet, these two wooden plaques look so alike. Could it be that there are connections between these three great adventures?"


    "Even though the three great adventures are held simultaneously, they take place in different realms. It¡¯s said that they are the three most challenging and enigmatic exploration sites among the thirty-three continents. I have never heard that they are interconnected."


    "Out of the three great adventures, apart from the Ancient Royal Tomb Land and the Void Abyss, there is one more¡ªthe Five Elements Mountain that I am about to visit. If the previous two places both have a wooden plaque, I wonder if there might be such a special wooden plaque within the Five Elements Mountain as well."


    Ye Chen mulled over with a whirl of thoughts and suppressed his numerous questions as he looked at the stall owner.


    The stall owner was a middle-aged man whose aura was at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    "The ¡¯Warm Fragrance Precious Jade¡¯ isn¡¯t of much use to me, but this green copper piece¡ªI¡¯m interested. How many Spirit Stones is it?" Ye Chen asked, looking at the small piece of green copper the stall owner was holding.


    "This green copper piece can aid a martial artist in finding Wood Element Secret Treasures. If you stumble upon a divine-level Wood Element Secret Treasure with the help of this green copper piece, that would mean a huge profit. It¡¯s not expensive at all. This green copper piece is just for sale for ten top-grade Spirit Stones."


    "Ten? Top-grade Spirit Stones?"


    Ye Chen shook his head and prepared to leave, lifting his leg, "The usefulness of this green copper piece is limited if useful at all. Divine-level Wood Element Secret Treasures aren¡¯t so easy to come by, and even if discovered, it¡¯s usually due to the attraction emitted by the treasures themselves, which honestly, would not have much to do with this green copper piece."


    "With ten top-grade Spirit Stones, I could buy a pretty decent divine-level lower-tier treasure!"


    Seeing that Ye Chen was about to leave, the stall owner hastily called out to him, "Eight, eight top-grade Spirit Stones! I can¡¯t go any lower, I bought these treasures at a high price from explorers of the Void Abyss myself."


    "Five." Ye Chen stopped in his tracks and spoke.


    The stall owner gritted his teeth, not wanting to agree, "Five top-grade Spirit Stones is too little. I bought this treasure for six top-grade Spirit Stones and even brought it here specially. I can¡¯t just let myself incur a loss!"


    In fact, the stall owner had bought the "Warm Fragrance Precious Jade" and this green copper piece together for only ten top-grade Spirit Stones. That means, realistically, this green copper piece was worth about four top-grade Spirit Stones.


    However, of course, he would not immediately agree to Ye Chen¡¯s offer. In trade, one aims to profit from the margin; making a few more top-grade Spirit Stones could mean more resources for his cultivation in the future.


    Seeing the stall owner¡¯s reluctance, Ye Chen looked at him with a half-smile, "You bought this green copper piece for six top-grade Spirit Stones? I doubt the senior is that generous."


    "Alright, this junior is currently comprehending the Wood Element Heavenly Void Law, so this green copper piece indeed has some uses. I would not have the senior out of pocket, so six top-grade Spirit Stones it is¡ªbut, as part of the deal, you¡¯ll have to throw in some other treasures for me."


    Ye Chen pointed at some scattered treasures in the corner of the stall, and among them was the "Void" wooden plaque.


    Seeing that Ye Chen really agreed to buy the green copper piece for six top-grade Spirit Stones, the stall owner was overjoyed.


    As he looked at the additional trinkets Ye Chen had requested, they were all items he had acquired from explorers of the Void Abyss at a very low price, items that had little use. The total value did not exceed one top-grade Spirit Stone, which further relieved him.


    "Alright then, seeing as you¡¯re a straightforward guy, let¡¯s seal the deal for six top-grade Spirit Stones. Apart from the few treasures in the middle of my stall, help yourself to three more items of your choice," said the stall owner as he passed the green copper piece to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen took the green copper piece and briefly examined it, sensing a faint trace of the Wood Element Law emanating from it. His mind stirred, the Divine Pill Law Pattern of the Wood Element on his Five Apertures Rotating Pill vibrated, and the green copper piece in his hand indeed began to glow faintly.


    Just as the stall owner mentioned, the green copper piece had a special response to Wood Element Secret Treasures.


    Ye Chen tucked away the green copper piece, flipped his palm, and six top-grade Spirit Stones appeared in his hand. He handed them to the stall owner and casually picked three items from a corner of the stall, naturally including the "Void" wooden plaque in his selection.


    "He actually chose these three items¡ªa wooden plaque with an unknown purpose and two small materials for refining? Among those trinkets, these are considered of little value. Let him have them," thought the stall owner.


    The stall owner glanced at the treasures Ye Chen had selected, then looked back at the six top-grade Spirit Stones Ye Chen handed over. Sensing that the Spirit Stones were indeed intact, he smiled happily, "Do you want any other treasures?"


    "No need for anything else. There doesn¡¯t seem to be anything valuable left here, so that will be all," Ye Chen said, his fingers deftly moving to collect the "Void" character wooden plaque and two other small materials into the Heaven Spirit Ring, then he turned and left the stall.


    "Take care, young man!" the stall owner said with a cheery smile to Ye Chen, then turned to greet another warrior approaching his stall.


    Ye Chen stopped in his tracks about several tens of meters away from that stall.


    On the surface, he appeared to be sizing up other stalls, but most of his divine sense had already entered the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    At that moment, Ye Chen placed the "Void" character wooden plaque alongside the "Prohibit" character wooden plaque he already possessed, and something wondrous happened. The "Void" character wooden plaque, which had shown no abnormalities at all when on the stall, suddenly emitted a dazzling light when it came into contact with the "Prohibit" wooden plaque, just like the "Prohibit" plaque had done before.


    When Ye Chen extended his divine sense into the "Void" character wooden plaque, he saw a complete map within it, a map of the Void Abyss, one of the legend¡¯s three great exploration sites!


    The detailed map of the Void Abyss portrayed within was even more complete than any description of the Void Abyss that Ye Chen had come across!


    Diving further into his divine sense, Ye Chen looked again at the complete map of the Ancient Royal Tomb Land contained within the "Prohibit" wooden plaque.


    Comparing the two plaques, though the topographies of the two exploration sites were entirely different, Ye Chen had a premonition that these two places were definitely connected.


    "There¡¯s surely a big secret with these two wooden plaques!"


    "Perhaps, even the Five Elements Mountain that I am about to visit will have such a plaque, hiding a complete map of its landscape!"


    "Wooden plaques, three great exploration sites, what exactly is the connection, the secret here?"


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t understand, but he felt that with the two plaques in his possession, he was getting closer and closer to uncovering this secret.


    After carefully examining the two wooden plaques once more, Ye Chen conscientiously put them away this time.


    He kept in mind that once he entered the Five Elements Mountain, he must make sure to look for such wooden plaques!


    These wooden plaques were the most unexpected gain from the first round of the peripheral informal sale events outside the Underground Palace.


    Even in Ye Chen¡¯s heart, their value surpassed that of the green bronze piece. After all, if it weren¡¯t for the wooden plaques, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t have bothered buying it.


    Having set aside the matter of the wooden plaques, Ye Chen continued to browse through the stalls.


    After selecting a few treasures and even spending ten top-quality Spirit Stones to purchase a box of low-grade Holy Water Element Secret Treasure, Ye Chen once again found a new item of interest.


    However, this time the item of interest was not chosen by Ye Chen himself, but was something that the little monkey inside the Heaven Spirit Ring specifically asked Ye Chen to buy.


    The little monkey, having been cultivating within the Heaven Spirit Ring, rarely showed its face. Nevertheless, it had been startled awake when Ye Chen continued to place items into the ring, especially when he checked the original wooden plaques in the ring.


    The little fellow became very excited upon waking up and discovering they were at a grand auction site.


    After a brief exchange of divine senses with Ye Chen, it learned that it had been brought to another continent and that there were countless treasures here. Its shiny black eyes glinted with excitement.


    As Ye Chen approached a certain stall, when he got close to a peculiar fruit on that stall, the little monkey began drooling outright.


    "Ye Chen, it smells so good, I want to eat that fruit," the little monkey transmitted its voice directly to Ye Chen.


    Only then did Ye Chen take notice of this unusual fruit.


    About the size of a fist, the fruit was colored in mysterious rainbow hues and shaped like a gourd. At the base of the fruit, there were five leaves of different colors: gold, green, blue, red, and brownish-yellow.


    A gentle breeze stirred, and the fruit seemed to ripple with flowing light, truly wondrous.


    Yet, Ye Chen only smelled a faint fragrance from the fruit. He didn¡¯t salivate over it like the little monkey, who claimed the fruit smelled incredibly fragrant.


    Ye Chen speculated that this fruit was probably a special kind intended for True Spirit Sacred Beasts like the little monkey.


    Just as Ye Chen had guessed, as he examined the fruit, a pretty young girl at the stall smiled and said to him, "This fruit is called the Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit. It is a miraculous fruit specially meant for nurturing juvenile True Spirit Sacred Beasts. The five leaves beneath contain the five elemental Heavenly Void Laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. The Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit, nourished by these leaves, greatly aids these True Spirit Sacred Beasts in breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm!"

 Chapter 406 - 368: Alliance of a Thousand Beasts, Ao Lei

    Seeing the pretty girl speak seriously, Ye Chen also smiled and nodded, asking, "How much for one fruit? Do you still have more?"


    This was the first time the little monkey had asked Ye Chen to buy something. Of course, Ye Chen would buy it for him.


    Not to mention one fruit, even if it were ten or a hundred, as long as Ye Chen had spirit stones, he would buy them.


    Seeing that Ye Chen really wanted to buy the fruit, the pretty girl smiled gently, "This is the last fruit left. I picked it last time in a special exploration area. There were nine in total, but I used eight of them to feed my spiritual pet, and only this one remains. My spiritual pet has already evolved to the Heavenly Saint Realm, so the spirit stone is not very useful to it anymore, which is why I decided to sell the last one."


    "If you want to buy it, three top-grade spirit stones will do."


    Ye Chen nodded without any hesitation, flipping his palm, and three top-grade spirit stones appeared in his hand.


    "Here are the spirit stones, and I¡¯ll buy this fruit," Ye Chen said with a smile.


    Looking into the Heaven Spirit Ring, Ye Chen saw two fist-sized golden-furred monkeys, their bodies shimmering with gold, drooling and eagerly staring at the "Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit." Ye Chen chuckled inwardly, "You little glutton, is it really that tasty?"


    The pretty girl took the three top-grade spirit stones Ye Chen handed over, inspected them, then smiled and nodded, accepting the stones.


    She had just handed the "Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit" to Ye Chen when an arrogant voice suddenly came from behind, "Hold on!"


    Hmm?


    Ye Chen frowned slightly and looked back.


    He saw six people approaching him and the pretty girl, the leader of whom was a young man wearing a golden vestment robe made of snow silkworm silk. The young man was quite handsome, in the late stage of the Dan-rotation realm, but it was the two golden horns on his head that made him look rather odd, and his haughty look at Ye Chen and the pretty girl made Ye Chen somewhat displeased.


    Behind this young man were five others who, like him, had two horns on their heads, but the colors of their horns were not gold; there were white and brown ones as well.


    What caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention was that among these five, three were powerhouses in the middle stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, while the other two were remarkably in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    This young man, with two late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses following him, clearly had an extraordinary background.


    "Born with two horns? Could they be from the Beast Continent?"


    Ye Chen recalled the information about the Thirty-Three Continents he had gathered, remembering a continent whose inhabitants had this kind of appearance.


    "The Beast Continent, rumored to be home to special humans with true spirit bloodlines. This two-horned clan is known as the ¡¯Ao Long Clan,¡¯ the royal clan of the Beast Continent."


    "Moreover, the Beast Continent is said to have formed an alliance with four other continents that also possess true spirit bloodlines, called the Beast Alliance, and the chief of the Ao Long Clan from the Beast Continent is the leader of this Beast Alliance."


    "The Beast Alliance, with five continents united, prosperous and weakened together, is the only allied group of continents among the Thirty-Three Continents, immensely powerful. It is only the subtly allied continents of the Leaving Fire Continent that the Beast Continent might fear a bit; otherwise, the warriors of this Beast Alliance do not hold much regard for those from other continents."


    Ye Chen was recalling the details about the Beast Alliance from the information jade token provided by the Mystery Pavilion when the Golden Horn young man, Ao Lei, directly approached him with the five Heavenly Saints in tow.


    Their group¡¯s strength was quite conspicuous even in the vast Sand Sea Palace, as after all, it comprised two late-stage Heavenly Saints and three mid-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Many recognized the origins of this group and were surprised, making way for them, "Golden Horn... This young man is from the Ao Long Clan of the Beast Continent¡¯s royal family!"


    "To have late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses as personal protection, this young man must hold a very high status within the ¡¯Ao Long Clan¡¯!"


    Some even recognized the identity of this young man, "Ao Lei, this young man is the beloved son of the Beast Alliance leader Ao Chan! That Ao Chan is the first master of the Beast Alliance, a late-stage Heavenly Saint of tremendous prowess, only half a step away, it¡¯s said, from stepping into the Divine Realm! He commands an alliance of five continents, and within it, there are dozens of late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses!"


    "My goodness, Ao Lei is here at the auction too? Could he be intending to take part in the upcoming Five Elements Mountain exploration?"


    The recognition of the young man¡¯s identity caused many warriors to change their expressions significantly.


    Seeing the fearful expressions of these people, Ao Lei¡¯s lips curled into a smug smile as he quickly approached Ye Chen and the pretty girl.


    The warriors that followed Ao Lei had already seen Ye Chen, and at this moment, they felt sympathy for him in their hearts, "It¡¯s said that Ao Lei is incredibly arrogant. He bullies others without provocation, just based on whether he likes the look of them or not! Being targeted by him means a lot of trouble; that young man interested in the fruit has obviously caught Ao Lei¡¯s eye, and it looks like the young man is in for trouble!"


    However, as it was none of their business, these warriors obviously wouldn¡¯t step in to help Ye Chen. After all, this was the beloved son of the leader of the Beast Alliance. Even if they were late-stage Heavenly Saints themselves, they would have to weigh whether they could afford to offend him.


    Indeed, they would not go looking for trouble but just watched the situation from afar.


    "This ¡¯Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit¡¯ has caught this young master¡¯s eye. Kid, hand over that fruit to this young master!" After reaching Ye Chen¡¯s side, Golden Horn young man Ao Lei directly glanced at Ye Chen, and seeing that Ye Chen was only in the early stage of the Dan-rotation realm, he was filled with disdain.


    "Hand it over to you?" Ye Chen looked at Ao Lei with a faint smile, glanced at the pretty girl who was quietly tugging at his sleeve and signaling with her eyes, and then looked directly at Ao Lei, "You wish."


    Having said that, Ye Chen smiled at the little monkey inside the Heaven Spirit Ring, "Little monkey, come on out, I have something nice for you to eat."


    Swish!


    As soon as Ye Chen¡¯s voice fell, the little monkey sprang out from the Heaven Spirit Ring, landing directly into the palm of his hand.


    The little monkey, no bigger than two fists, immediately embraced the Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit, which was half the size of its body, and began to eat it voraciously, paying no attention to Ao Lei.


    While eating, the little monkey also transmitted a message to Ye Chen, "Mmm, it tastes so good, Ye Chen, you must buy me more fruits like this one in the future!"


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded his head.


    The little monkey wasn¡¯t worried about Ye Chen. Having accompanied him into the subsidiary halls of the Icebound Temple, it knew that Ye Chen had nine late-stage Heavenly Saint ice guards. It even followed him to the lakeside within the Heavenly Sacred Palace, witnessing two True Gods!


    Not to mention Ao Lei, even if the leader of the Beast Alliance himself were to come, the little monkey knew that Ye Chen would not feel the slightest fear.


    Hum!


    Seeing Ao Lei charging towards the youth, intent on taking the fruit from the youth¡¯s hand, only for the youth to dismiss Ao Lei with "wishful thinking" and letting his Spirit Beast consume the fruit, the onlooking warriors were completely stunned.


    My God.


    What¡¯s happening?


    Had this youth gone mad? Was he unaware of Ao Lei¡¯s identity? Ao Lei was the beloved son of Ao Chan, a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm peak master and the leader of the Beast Alliance!


    Even if this youth was unaware of Ao Chan, had he not seen those two late-stage Heavenly Saints behind Ao Lei?


    In such a situation, not only did he refuse to give the fruit to Ao Lei, but he even let his Spirit Beast eat it. That was a slap in Ao Lei¡¯s face!


    "It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over. This youth is done for."


    "Ao Lei, that¡¯s a troublemaker. You invite trouble just by not provoking him, let alone provoking him like this. This is definitely a huge problem coming his way!"


    Many warriors were already mourning Ye Chen in their hearts.


    While mourning for Ye Chen, many also noticed the little monkey with the golden shiny fur on Ye Chen¡¯s hand.


    "Nevertheless, this young man¡¯s spiritual pet is truly amazing."


    "It¡¯s a pity that the youth has provoked Ao Lei. I¡¯m afraid great disaster is about to fall upon him, and this little monkey will likely end up in Ao Lei¡¯s hands."


    The warriors were filled with various thoughts, while at this moment, Ao Lei¡¯s face had turned a shade of iron blue.


    Ao Lei, in the vast land of beasts, commanded unquestioned respect; no one had ever dared to infuriate him like this!


    He had expected this youth to obediently hand over the fruit, but the youth dared to say he was wishful thinking, dared to let his Spirit Beast eat the fruit directly!


    This was a complete disregard for his authority, leaving him, Ao Lei, embarrassed in front of so many onlooking warriors!


    "Good, good. I never thought that coming to the Sand Sea Palace auction would allow me to encounter such a character," Ao Lei scoffed coldly, turning his head to the late-stage Heavenly Saint behind him, "Quan, make your move. Take him down for me!"


    "This is the palace auction where fighting is forbidden, you... you can¡¯t just capture someone!" Hearing Ao Lei¡¯s words, the delicate-looking girl struggling behind Ye Chen spoke out.


    However, from her pale face, it was clear she recognized Ao Lei¡¯s identity.


    "The palace auction? This is a grand event jointly organized by Heavenly Evolution Palace and Mystery Pavilion. Of course, I will give both sects face. However, they never said one can¡¯t take someone out to teach them a lesson."


    Ao Lei looked at the delicate-looking girl with a cold smile, waved his hand, and again spoke to the late-stage Heavenly Saint behind him, "Quan, aren¡¯t you going to act? Take this girl as well, and yes, that little monkey, too!"


    As Ao Lei motioned, the late-stage Heavenly Saint with white dual horns stepped forward.


    With a large hand reaching out, he was about to grab Ye Chen when a charming voice came through the void, "Oh, what an imposing presence! Let¡¯s see who this is? It seems to be that group with the strange-looking horns from the Leaving Fire Continent!"


    Accompanied by the flirtatious voice, three girls flew directly toward where Ye Chen was.


    The one speaking, dressed in a snow-white vestment robe, with perky breasts, long legs, and an aura both innocent and seductive, if not Huo Mei¡¯er, then who?

 Chapter 407 - 369: Take Action!

    Hearing the voice from the void, the martial artists spectating around all looked toward it.


    Even Ao Lei and the late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse who was preparing to make a move on Ye Chen shifted their gaze to the void, and when they saw Huo Mei¡¯er, a glint shone in Ao Lei¡¯s eyes at the sight of such a charming young girl.


    The two late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses from the Beastlands, however, seemed to recognize Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s identity and furrowed their brows.


    Among the spectating martial artists, there were similarly those who recognized Huo Mei¡¯er, and they instantly began buzzing with discussion, "She¡¯s from the Heavenly Fire Holy Land of the Leaving Fire Continent! This young girl is the Little Saintess of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land!"


    "Judging by the way this Little Saintess speaks, could it be that she knows the young man sendo troubled by Ao Lei and is going to stand up for him?"


    "Although the Leaving Fire Continent is just one continent, it has significant relations with the other four continents of the Xuanjin Continent and Qingmu Continent. Even though these five continents are not allied, the five Holy Lands are closely connected."


    "The Beast Alliance does cover five continents as well, but the Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses of the Beast Alliance are not as numerous as those from the five Holy Lands of the Leaving Fire Continent and Xuanjin Continent. Speaking of which, the Beast Alliance fears none more than these five continents!"


    "If this young girl really decides to take a stand for this young man, that would mean a confrontation between the five Holy Lands and the Beast Alliance, and that would sure be a spectacle."


    Amidst the crowd¡¯s murmuring, Huo Mei¡¯er and the other two girls flew down beside Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, we meet again."


    After arriving beside Ye Chen, Huo Mei¡¯er glanced at him coyly and broke into a light smile.


    When the young girl saw the lively and extraordinary golden monkey in Ye Chen¡¯s palm, her beautiful eyes lit up even brighter, "What a lovely little monkey! Ye Chen, is this your spiritual pet?"


    "This is a True Spirit Sacred Beast entrusted to me for care by a senior. It isn¡¯t my spiritual pet, but rather a little companion," Ye Chen said, shaking his head and also greeting Huo Mei¡¯er with a smile.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected to encounter Huo Mei¡¯er at this juncture.


    "How adorable!"


    Huo Mei¡¯er couldn¡¯t help but touch the little monkey with her slender, fair fingers.


    "Eya!"


    The little monkey looked at Huo Mei¡¯er with its lively black eyes, then at Ye Chen, and quietly transmitted its voice to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, who is this? Don¡¯t tell me you¡¯ve started liking a new girl besides Jiang Yao?"


    Ye Chen shot the little monkey a glare.


    What nonsense was this little thing spouting?


    "She¡¯s a girl I met by chance; we¡¯ve only met once," Ye Chen responded to the little monkey, somewhat surprised, before asking, "Little one, how do you know about these things?"


    "Eya, of course I do, I have grown a lot," the little monkey held its tiny head high, "Last time, Mu Qingqing even specifically told me to keep an eye on you."


    Mu Qingqing?


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Indeed, during one occasion at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Mu Qingqing had seen the little monkey, but Ye Chen didn¡¯t expect that she would communicate such matters with the little monkey.


    Seeing the way Ye Chen and the little monkey¡¯s eyes were moving, Huo Mei¡¯er knew that they were transmitting messages through Divine Sense. Thinking about how such a small monkey could perform Divine Sense transmission, she grew fonder of it and began playfully teasing the monkey with her fingers.


    Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s actions made it even clearer to the spectating martial artists that this Little Saintess from the Heavenly Fire Holy Land of the Leaving Fire Continent obviously knew the young man being troubled by Ao Lei.


    At this moment, Ao Lei¡¯s complexion had turned increasingly ashen.


    He was already quite upset from being ignored by Ye Chen, and was just about to make a move when he was interrupted by the young and charming girl.


    Initially, on hearing from others that the girl was the Little Saintess of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land from the Leaving Fire Continent, he had thoughts of getting to know her.


    Unexpectedly, after she interrupted him and descended, she had been chatting non-stop with the boy in front and hadn¡¯t even given him a single glance, which fumed Ao Lei to the point of steaming.


    Ignored.


    He had been ignored once again!


    "Hmph!" Seeing Huo Mei¡¯er continuing to play with the little monkey and Ye Chen watching with a faint smile, Ao Lei could no longer hold back and snorted coldly, "I was wondering who it could be. So it¡¯s the Little Saintess from the Leaving Fire Continent? Well, is the Leaving Fire Continent planning to meddle in the affairs of the Beast Alliance now?"


    It was then that Huo Mei¡¯er finally lifted her beautiful eyes to look at Ao Lei, and the young girl smiled gently, "If I have meddled, what about it?"


    Whir!


    With Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s response, a buzzing discussion broke out amongst the surrounding people.


    Nobody had expected the young girl to actually stand up for Ye Chen, truly indifferent to the Beast Alliance and to Ao Lei.


    Ye Chen was also startled.


    He had met Huo Mei¡¯er by sheer coincidence, having recognized each other only after an intense battle. He never expected that she would fly over specially to help him.


    Although he was indifferent towards Ao Lei, the fact that Huo Mei¡¯er was willing to step forward did make Ye Chen view the young woman more favorably.


    At this moment, however, Ao Lei was burning with indignant rage!


    Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s stunningly beautiful face radiated an innocent charm that was heart-stirring, yet she was actually defending another young man, which made Ao Lei feel exceedingly uncomfortable. Raising his eyebrows in disdain, he sneered at Huo Mei¡¯er and Ye Chen, "Really want to meddle? I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t be able to!"


    Ao Lei did not believe that the five great holy lands would fall out with their beast alliance for the sake of one young man.


    "Hu Uncle, block this girl for me."


    "Quan Uncle, continue to make your move; take down the others for me!"


    Ao Lei commanded the two late-stage Heavenly Saint experts behind him.


    "This..."


    The two late-stage Heavenly Saint experts, each with white dual horns, exchanged a look, both slightly hesitant.


    After all, this involved the Little Saintess of the Leaving Fire Continent¡¯s sacred land.


    "What, are my words no longer effective?!" Seeing the two still hesitating, Ao Lei¡¯s expression darkened as he chided them sharply.


    "Yes!"


    "Yes, Young Master!"


    Upon witnessing Ao Lei¡¯s anger, the two late-stage Heavenly Saint experts no longer hesitated¡ªone directly flew toward Huo Mei¡¯er while the other instantly unleashed the spatial laws toward Ye Chen.


    "Thank you for your help," Ye Chen telepathically communicated to Huo Mei¡¯er at the same time Ao Lei had the late-stage Heavenly Saint experts take action. "But I¡¯ll handle this matter myself."


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the two late-stage Heavenly Saint experts from Ao Lei¡¯s side took action, two beams of light suddenly erupted from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant worn by Ye Chen. In an instant, the lion-faced combat beast Bing Shijiu and the bull-headed combat beast Bing Shiba, two great icy guards, burst forth from Ye Chen¡¯s Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Then, as astonishing dual phantoms flashed past, Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba instantly appeared before the two late-stage Heavenly Saint experts. Before everyone could clearly see what happened, Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba tore through the spatial confinement and launched a palm strike directly at the two late-stage Heavenly Saints.


    The two experts from the beast alliance¡¯s side were caught completely off guard, never expecting that two late-stage Heavenly Saint level beasts would emerge and attack them simultaneously as they made their move. These two, worthy of being late-stage Heavenly Saints, rapidly invoked their combat power and met Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba¡¯s attack in a split second.


    Boom! Boom!


    Before all the others even had a chance to react, four late-stage Heavenly Saint experts collided palms with each other.


    The confrontation between the four late-stage Heavenly Saint experts was the epitome of power at its limits, with no energy leaking out. Without a full outbreak, the scene might not be as earth-shattering as a mid-stage Heavenly Saint battle, but at the moment of their clash, countless martial artists felt a wave of immense fear sweep over them.


    Many martial artists had a premonition that if those four late-stage Heavenly Saints were to release even a sliver of their power outward, it would likely kill the majority of martial artists below the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm!


    What surprised the martial artists even more was the young Ye Chen. Now they finally understood why Ye Chen dared to disregard Ao Lei¡ªhe actually had two late-stage Heavenly Saint entities with him!


    And...


    Everyone looked towards the four late-stage Heavenly Saint experts who had clashed palms, only to see that following the frontal confrontation, the two experts from the beast alliance had been forced back by more than a dozen steps!


    But Ye Chen¡¯s combat beasts, Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba, remained unmoved.


    There was a unanimous shock in everyone¡¯s minds¡ªclearly, the two late-stage Heavenly Saint beings behind the young man were somewhat more formidable!


    "There¡¯s another late-stage Heavenly Saint expert..."


    "Heavens, the treasures Ye Chen carries within his space actually include two late-stage Heavenly Saint entities!"


    At this moment, Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s beautiful eyes sparkled even brighter.


    When she saw Ye Chen and Ao Lei come into conflict, she had only considered that Ye Chen had one Heavenly Saint strong backer, as she had seen Bing Shijiu back at the Ten Thousand Feet Platform.


    Fearing that Ye Chen would get into trouble, she flew over, ready to have the elder protecting her take action and help Ye Chen if the situation turned unfavorable.


    When Ye Chen told her that he would resolve the trouble himself, Huo Mei¡¯er thought he was just putting on a brave front, not wanting to involve her.


    Huo Mei¡¯er had already had the clan elder ready to act at any moment.


    But to her surprise, Ye Chen was indeed capable of resolving the issue on his own!


    Ye Chen, this young man, turned out to have two such powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint helpers!

 Chapter 408 - 370

    What Huo Mei¡¯er didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen had already instructed the nine Frozen Protectors to pay close attention to the situation inside the Sand Sea Palace auction house as soon as he entered.


    When Ao Lei was about to make his move previously, all nine protectors within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant wanted to burst out and teach this insolent youth a lesson for disrespecting Ye Chen.


    Their Highness Ye Chen was not someone to be insulted!


    The nine Frozen Protectors even informed Ye Chen that they had assessed the strengths of the two Heavenly Saint Realm experts behind Ao Lei. The strength of these two was not strong among the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, and neither of them could compare to any of the protectors.


    With the nine Frozen Protectors as his trump card, Ye Chen naturally wouldn¡¯t fear Ao Lei.


    As soon as Ao Lei ordered the two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts to act, Ye Chen immediately had Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba come out.


    Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba had long wanted to deal with Ao Lei¡¯s side. Once Ye Chen allowed them to act, the two protectors struck like lightning, repelling the two late-stage Heavenly Saint experts from Ao Lei¡¯s side with a single blow!


    Ye Chen was well prepared. Huo Mei¡¯er, the onlooking warriors, and the delicate young girl selling the "Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit" were still in shock, while Ao Lei was utterly disbelieving at this point.


    Ao Lei could never have imagined that the early-stage Danxiang youth whom he deemed unworthy would have two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm assistants.


    Moreover, these two assistants were stronger than his Quan Uncle and Hu Uncle!


    "This... this..."


    Ao Lei was already somewhat dumbfounded.


    Since when did the thirty-three continents have such a powerful young man with such a background?


    How had he never heard of this young man before?


    Ao Lei had already decided to thoroughly investigate Ye Chen¡¯s background.


    "Young Master!"


    While Ao Lei was in turmoil, the two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts who had been repelled by Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba had returned to Ao Lei¡¯s side with shocked expressions.


    They, along with three mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, tightly guarded Ao Lei. At the same time, the two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts said to Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba, "Two respected friends, you are very impressive. Ao Quan and Ao Hu admire you! May we know where you cultivated?"


    From their words, it was already clear that they were conceding to Ye Chen.


    This made Ao Lei extremely unhappy, but he knew that his two uncles were protecting him, especially now that their side was at a disadvantage in terms of strength.


    "Your Highness, how should we deal with these people?"


    Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba of course didn¡¯t bother with what Ao Quan and Ao Hu said. They turned to Ye Chen, waiting for his next command.


    "Alright, seniors, you can come back now," Ye Chen waved his hand.


    After taking Bing Shijiu and Bing Shiba back into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen looked at Ao Lei with a half-smile, "This time, let¡¯s just leave it at that. But if you provoke me again, it won¡¯t be so easy to let you off!"


    "You..." Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Ao Lei was furious inside.


    Accustomed to arrogance, he had not expected Ye Chen to be even more domineering, openly threatening him!


    Ao Lei almost couldn¡¯t help but explode in rage, but the two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, Ao Quan and Ao Hu, behind him kept making eye signals at him, and their voices transmitted urgently, "Young Master, the situation is compelling, don¡¯t be impulsive. We are no match for that young man right now. Clashing head-on would be foolish. Let¡¯s wait for the two elder brothers to return!"


    The words of Ao Quan and Ao Hu sobered Ao Lei somewhat. He looked at Ye Chen, suppressed the anger in his eyes, and flicked his sleeve, "This time I admit defeat to you, but there are always more encounters in life. We shall meet again!"


    After leaving behind a spiteful remark, Ao Lei led the Heavenly Saint Realm experts away.


    After walking a distance, Ao Lei vented to the two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, "This is infuriating. In front of so many warriors, I¡¯ve lost so much face!"


    "Quan Uncle, Hu Uncle, where did Xuan Uncle and Ming Uncle go, why haven¡¯t they come back yet?"


    "If they had been here, I could¡¯ve taught that kid a harsh lesson just now. Xuan Uncle and Ming Uncle could definitely defeat those two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm experts, right?"


    Ao Quan and Ao Hu nodded, "Elder Brother Xuan and Elder Brother Ming could certainly overcome those two. Although they are strong in the late Heavenly Saint Realm, Elder Brother Xuan and Elder Brother Ming are among the top ten in the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm of our Wan Beast Alliance."


    "Young Master, let¡¯s not focus on that young man for now. The upcoming grand auction is the main event. Elder Brother Xuan and Elder Brother Ming have gone to communicate with the organizers of the grand auction to inquire about that supreme treasure."


    "That supreme treasure is tied to the most important goal of your Five Elements Mountain adventure, and must not be taken lightly."


    A treasured item?


    Upon hearing "Ao Quan" and "Ao Hu" mention these two words, "Ao Lei¡¯s" anger subsided somewhat, and a glint of anticipation appeared in his eyes, "Quan, Hu, will that treasured item really be auctioned at the grand auction?"


    "Absolutely!" Ao Quan and Ao Hu nodded affirmatively at the same time, "However, once that treasured item appears, it will certainly provoke a fierce competition among the major forces. If Brother "Xuan" and Brother "Ming" could negotiate with the organizer of the auction in advance to buy that treasure, that would be perfect."


    "No matter what, I must get that treasured item!" Ao Lei spoke grimly, "Once I have the treasured item in hand and when Uncle "Xuan" and Uncle "Ming" are free, we will then deal with that boy!"


    "You three, go and gather information on that boy for me now; no matter the cost, I want a clear picture!" Ao Lei commanded the three Heavenly Saint Realm mid-stage martial artists beside him even more decisively.


    "Yes, Young Master!" The three Heavenly Saint Realm mid-stage martial artists responded and instantly vanished from sight.


    "This time father sent seven experts to help me explore the Five Elements Mountain, four at the late stage of Heavenly Saint Realm and three at the mid-stage. I thought with Uncle Quan and Uncle Hu, I would have enough power to roam freely throughout the Heavenly Evolution Continent, yet I didn¡¯t expect to trip up as soon as I arrived!"


    "Hmph, this vengeance, I will repay sooner or later!"


    Every time Ao Lei recalled the way Ye Chen had publicly ignored and slapped him in the face, he felt deeply uncomfortable; he was too proud to swallow this insult.


    He also had two even more powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm uncles who had come along this time but had yet to show themselves.


    Their Beast Alliance spanned five continents, with dozen of late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existences. His father was the number one figure within the Beast Alliance, an exceedingly close to becoming a Void Sky True God late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm peak powerhouse.


    With this solid backing, he had the confidence to reclaim the respect he¡¯d lost and settle accounts with Ye Chen!


    ...


    "Ye Chen, that Ao Lei likely harbors deep jealousy toward you, you must be careful."


    Seeing Ao Lei leave, "Huo Mei¡¯er" whispered to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled, "When soldiers come, block; when water comes, cover with earth. Here in the Sand Sea Palace, fighting isn¡¯t allowed, nor is there any need to argue with them. It¡¯s more important to search for treasures. However, if they come looking for trouble again, then like I said, I definitely won¡¯t let them off."


    Huo Mei¡¯er grew even more curious about Ye Chen, who didn¡¯t seem to take Ao Lei seriously at all.


    "What kind of secrets does Ye Chen harbor..."


    "A youth from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, a young genius of the Heavenly Sacred Palace." Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s beautiful eyes sparkled, "Truly a mysterious and interesting young man!"


    After the gambling fight, Ye Chen had inquired about Huo Mei¡¯er, who had become increasingly curious about Ye Chen, and naturally made her own inquiries about him.


    Huo Mei¡¯er had a feeling that the two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses who had taken action for Ye Chen were still not his ultimate trump cards.


    "Ye Chen, will you be attending the grand auction tonight?"


    Keeping her curiosity about Ye Chen to herself, Huo Mei¡¯er smiled and asked him again.


    "Attend, of course I will attend. I heard that there will be eighteen items to be auctioned, including three headline treasures. I¡¯m eager to see what those items will be." Ye Chen nodded.


    "Headline treasures?"


    Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s beautiful eyes twinkled, "I¡¯m not sure about the other items, but I do know that one of the three headline treasures has a connection with one of my sisters."


    "Sister?" Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Huo Mei¡¯er smiled softly, "This sister of mine, she¡¯s only three years older than me, but she has always been shrouded in mystery. I¡¯ve only met her twice. Ever since she took on the role of the Little Saintess of the Tianmiao Continent¡¯s Luoshui Holy Land, she has never left there."


    "It¡¯s quite rare for her to be willing to part with one of the holy land¡¯s water-based treasures. This time, I¡¯m determined to fight for that treasure."


    "The sister you¡¯re talking about, isn¡¯t she the Little Saintess of Tianmiao Continent, one of the five continents connected to the five great Void Sky Laws, associated with the water system Void Sky Law?" Ye Chen was surprised, "One of the three headline treasures has something to do with her?"


    Ye Chen had heard that the heirs of the holy lands of the Heavenly Evolution Continent and Tianmiao Continent were two Little Saintesses.


    He had met the Little Saintess of the Leaving Fire Continent, Huo Mei¡¯er, but he had not imagined that the Little Saintess of the Tianmiao Continent would also be connected with the grand auction.


    "What kind of treasure could it be?"


    Ye Chen was already looking forward to the grand auction of the Sand Sea Palace that evening!

 Chapter 409 - 371: The Supreme Treasure

    After chatting with Huo Mei¡¯er for a while, Ye Chen split up from her.


    Huo Mei¡¯er had matters to attend to at the Mystery Pavilion¡¯s branch at the Sand Sea Palace auction, while Ye Chen continued searching for treasures in the outskirts of the large scattered market outside the underground palace.


    Before the slight incident with Ao Lei, Ye Chen¡¯s gains had already been quite good. In addition to the "Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit" he had purchased for the little monkey, Ye Chen had also acquired a mysterious wooden token related to the three great adventures, a green bronze piece that could detect Wood Element Secret Treasures, and he had even spent ten top-quality Spirit Stones to buy a Saint Grade lower-tier Water Element Secret Treasure.


    After making another round through the large scattered market, Ye Chen had successively found three more Saint Grade lower-tier Earth Element Secret Treasures, which counted as a significant haul.


    Unfortunately, whether Gold Element Secret Treasures were exceedingly rare or just not present in this market, he hadn¡¯t come across any, nor had he found any Saint Grade mid-tier Five Elements Secret Treasures. This made Ye Chen sigh, and he could only hope for new acquisitions at that evening¡¯s formal auction.


    Having scoured every stand in the market and finding no more items of interest, Ye Chen began to entertain the idea of setting up his own stall.


    Any martial artist could set up a stall in the large scattered market on the outskirts of the underground palace.


    Having spent a considerable amount of Spirit Stones on buying treasures, Ye Chen had some items of little use to him. He planned to bring these out and trade them for some Spirit Stones to use in the evening¡¯s formal auction.


    Ye Chen took out some Rotating Pill Realm treasures that he had obtained on the Fourth Sea Island of the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, as well as the "Eight Extremes Map" and the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror," two of the three Sacred Artifacts he had gotten from Heavenly Saint Moya.


    The Rotating Pill Realm treasures didn¡¯t need to be mentioned; they were of little use to Ye Chen now.


    Of the three Sacred Artifacts acquired from Heavenly Saint Moya, aside from the "Heavenly Origin Boat," which was a flying Sacred Artifact and still of some use, the other two, "Eight Extremes Map" and "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror," were less useful to him now.


    The Eight Extremes Map was a Saint Grade lower-tier Spatial Sacred Artifact for providing cultivation space. However, Ye Chen¡¯s spatial treasures included not only the Heaven Spirit Ring but also the Spatial Divine Artifact "Ice Snow Jade Pendant," which held the nine Ice Seal guards. If Ye Chen were to completely seclude himself for cultivation, he would naturally choose to enter the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant."


    In comparison, the Eight Extremes Map was almost redundant, so Ye Chen decided to sell this Sacred Artifact.


    As for the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror," another Saint Grade lower-tier Sacred Artifact and an Attack Sacred Artifact, its greatest combat power lay in summoning combat puppets at a Heavenly Saint Level of force.


    The force of Heavenly Saint against a Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse was incredibly dreadful, because it was a power akin to that of an early-stage Heavenly Saint. However, this level of power was still inferior to that of an actual early-stage Heavenly Saint, let alone comparing it to a mid-stage Heavenly Saint.


    Ye Chen¡¯s own combat power had already reached the level of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint, so the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror" was naturally even less useful to him.


    Just like the "Eight Extremes Map," Ye Chen planned to sell the "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror" as well.


    Setting the "Eight Extremes Map" and "Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror" together with many Rotating Pill Realm treasures on his stall, Ye Chen sat down and waited for buyers.


    Ye Chen¡¯s earlier scuffle with Ao Lei, though he did not directly take action, had his late-stage Heavenly Saint Ice Seal guards, Bing Shiba and Bing Shijiu, repel that arrogantly unruly Ao Lei, sending him away covered in dirt and dust. This bout of conflict had already drawn the attention of countless martial artists and inspired the admiration of numerous young ones.


    While Ye Chen was still browsing other stalls, many martial artists were discreetly watching him. And when Ye Chen set up his own stall, numerous martial artists swiftly crowded around him, eager to see the treasures he was selling.


    When they saw that Ye Chen was selling Rotating Pill Realm treasures, with the rarest being two lower-tier Sacred Artifacts, quite a few early and mid-stage Heavenly Saint martial artists weren¡¯t very interested. However, some of the young boys and girls who had come to the underground palace auction with their elder family members for excitement, were beyond thrilled.


    "Grandpa, that big brother is so amazing. I must buy a few of his treasures!" A twelve-year-old adorable little girl, upon seeing Ye Chen setting up his stall, immediately pulled a mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse and hurriedly rushed toward Ye Chen¡¯s stall.


    A few youths, having converged around Ye Chen the moment he stopped to set up his stall, pushed their way to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    In a short while, the treasures on Ye Chen¡¯s stall were sold out.


    The Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror was directly sold to a girl in green.


    The Eight Extremes Map was bought by a young boy.


    The Rotating Pill Realm treasures were snatched up by the little girl and others.


    Ultimately, Ye Chen¡¯s treasures sold for over thirty top-quality Spirit Stones.


    Though the number of Spirit Stones was not incredibly high, it was quite good compared to the value of the treasures. Most importantly, seeing the adoring looks from these young boys and girls, Ye Chen felt a sense of pride welling up inside him.


    There was a time when he was still in the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and struggling endlessly for a single True Qi Level treasure.


    Now, he was able to bring out Sacred Artifacts to sell!


    This was the result of his relentless cultivation and growth in strength!


    "The day I can casually sell Divine Artifacts will probably be the day I become even stronger..." Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but fantasize about a far more distant future.


    To have dreams is to have a guide forward.


    Ye Chen knew that his achievements were already commendable, but there was still a longer path ahead that he had to continue on.


    After placing the thirty-plus top-quality Spirit Stones into the Heaven Spirit Ring, Ye Chen packed up his stall and stood up.


    Selling off many of the now useless treasures, he felt a lightness about him.


    However...


    Ye Chen also felt somewhat wistful.


    "The Primordial Star Scripture on me is absolutely untouchable, and the Beiming Secret Tome is a cultivation manual. Even the Ice Snow Jade Pendant is merely a spatial artifact."


    "I don¡¯t even have any attack or flying Divine Artifacts."


    "Don¡¯t even mention divine artifacts, I rarely even get precious sacred artifacts, that ¡¯Heavenly Origin Boat¡¯, is merely an inferior sacred artifact, and my treasured sword, ¡¯Black Fire Sword¡¯, is but a supreme treasure instrument, not even a sacred artifact."


    "The only supreme sacred artifact I have, the life-bound flying sword ¡¯Crimson Fire¡¯, suffered life-bound damage and hasn¡¯t been repaired yet."


    "It seems I still need to strive harder to obtain more precious sacred artifacts!"


    Having sold off the low-tier treasures, Ye Chen looked forward with anticipation to acquiring more high-tier treasures.


    Nothing in the first morning session of the Sand Sea Palace auction appealed to Ye Chen.


    Just like many others, Ye Chen waited outside the palace for the second session, the official auction in the evening, to commence.


    An afternoon was but a moment of meditation and quiet cultivation for a martial artist.


    Time passed in the blink of an eye, and unbeknownst to everyone, night had descended upon the vast desert outside the underground palace.


    And now, the climax of the Sand Sea Palace auction, the formal auction, was finally about to begin.


    Aside from those who had only planned to attend the dispersal auction outside the palace and had left after its conclusion, the other martial artists were still waiting inside.


    As the formal auction began, these people surged toward the auction hall located deep within the palace.


    Ye Chen followed along with the crowd, heading deeper into the palace.


    The entry fee for the auction hall deep within the palace was even more expensive than the fee to enter the palace itself.


    Previously, every person needed to pay ten high-grade spirit stones just to enter the palace, which left many martial artists astounded; and now, entering the formal auction hall required each person to pay a hundred high-grade spirit stones!


    Such a quantity of spirit stones suggested that few with modest fortunes could even afford entrance to the formal auction hall.


    When Ye Chen paid a hundred high-grade spirit stones and entered the auction hall, he was astonished by the number of people inside; despite the high fee, the hall was packed with well over ten thousand people!


    The entire auction hall was a sea of people, with layer upon layer of virtual seats already filled with densely packed martial artists.


    Ye Chen noticed that there were many more Heavenly Saint Realm warriors inside compared to those who attended the first dispersal auction outside¡ªclearly, many Heavenly Saints were here specifically for this formal auction and hadn¡¯t bothered with the earlier one.


    Moreover, Ye Chen sensed the presence of dozens of late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses within the hall!


    "Truly a gathering place for the powerhouses of the Thirty-Three Continents, the main event before the Five Elements Mountain Exploration. So many strong figures have come to this auction!"


    "But it makes sense, even if just one or two late-stage Heavenly Saints from each continent came here, that alone would amount to dozens."


    Ye Chen mused to himself and promptly found a virtual seat in the front of the hall to sit down.


    The design of the virtual seats in the hall involved the Space Law; sitting there, regardless of one¡¯s position in the hall, one could see the auction stage at the front clearly.


    Ye Chen also noticed that above the virtual seats were extremely luxurious void private boxes, but these required spending ten top-grade spirit stones to secure a spot. The late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm presences he had sensed mostly came from within those luxurious void private boxes.


    Sitting in a void private box allowed a clear view of every martial artist in the virtual seats below, while those below could not see the faces of those in the private box, unless the latter chose to reveal themselves.


    Those luxurious void private boxes symbolized both status and strength.


    However, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t about to waste spirit stones on a void private box and instead chose to sit in the hall¡¯s virtual seats.


    The virtual seats were quite nice too, each over two zhang in length, covered with precious spirit beast fur, emitting a faint fragrance and bathing sitters in a soothing true qi, making it exceedingly comfortable to sit on.


    Ye Chen sat down and surveyed his surroundings, while in the void private boxes above, two groups of people were taking notice of him.


    In one of the void private boxes, Huo Mei¡¯er and two other young ladies sat, watched over by the elder who had been protecting Huo Mei¡¯er discreetly from within a void rift; he was now visible within the box.


    "Ye Chen has actually chosen to sit down below; it seems he has his moments of keeping a low profile," Huo Mei¡¯er whispered with a light smile as she watched Ye Chen occupying the fifth row of the virtual seats.


    In another void private box, however, there were no such smiles¡ªsitting inside were Ao Lei and his companions.


    It wasn¡¯t just Ao Lei and the two late-stage Heavenly Saints and three mid-stage Heavenly Saints with him previously; the box also held two new late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses.


    The presence of these two newcomers was even more formidable than that of Ao Quan and Ao Hu, comparable to the combat power of Bing Shiwu, one of the top nine Ice Seal Guardians.


    At that moment, Ao Lei, pointing downwards at Ye Chen, said to the two late-stage Heavenly Saints, "Uncle Xuan, Uncle Ming, that young man down there is the Ye Chen I was just telling you about."


    "It¡¯s him who humiliated me severely out there in front of the palace!"


    "I can¡¯t believe he¡¯s from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, huh! A kid from the Barbaric Wilderness daring to swagger before our Ten Thousand Beasts Alliance, just because he has two late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses backing him. Uncle Xuan, Uncle Ming, you must help me kill this brat!"


    Ao Lei had already inquired about Ye Chen¡¯s background earlier that afternoon.


    The two new late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses, whom Ao Lei addressed as Uncle Xuan and Uncle Ming, similar to Ao Lei, both sported golden horns on their heads.


    The two observed Ye Chen for a moment and then said to Ao Lei, "Young Master, there¡¯s no need to pay too much attention to this youth. We can deal with him later. What¡¯s more important is that treasure. I didn¡¯t expect both the Heavenly Evolution Tower and the Mystery Pavilion to disregard the face of our Ten Thousand Beasts Alliance, refusing to sell it to us privately. Well, it doesn¡¯t matter; since it¡¯s up for auction, we¡¯ll just grab the treasure during the bidding!"

 Chapter 410 - 372 Confrontation

    Ye Chen could think of Huo Mei¡¯er and that Ao Lei attending this formal grand auction.


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t know that at this time both of these individuals were in the private sky boxes sizing him up. And that Ao Lei harbored even more sinister thoughts, contemplating murder especially after the arrival of two new late-stage Divine Saints.


    Yet, Ao Lei¡¯s intentions didn¡¯t concern Ye Chen in the slightest.


    Even though Ao Lei was the beloved son of the leader of the Myriad Beasts Alliance, commanding five continents with dozens of late-stage Divine Saints, when it truly came to combat power, there was hardly anyone who could contend with the nine great Ice-Sealed Guards.


    Especially the strongest of the Ice-Sealed Guards, Bing Shiyi, who would likely be among the top few if placed within the Myriad Beasts Alliance.


    No matter how extraordinary Ao Lei¡¯s birth was, could he possibly bring all the late-stage Divine Saints of the Myriad Beasts Alliance with him? Moreover, even if the five continents formed an alliance, it was unlikely that all the late-stage Divine Saints would turn against a young man because of him, as there would probably be no small amount of infighting.


    Ye Chen had not only the support of the nine great Ice-Sealed Guards but also the True God Talisman given to him by Jiang Yao, which she had obtained from both the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God!


    Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t start trouble, but if Ao Lei really attempted to kill him, he wouldn¡¯t shy away from a fight either!


    As the time for the official start of the auction drew near, more and more people arrived at the grand auction hall. When several powers unabashedly made their way into the sky boxes, there were exclamations from many martial artists.


    "Heavens Continent¡¯s number one sect, Chaotic Star Valley, has arrived!"


    "Many powerhouses from Jiumang Continent are here as well. I heard this time, their number one power, the young master of Nine-Star Palace, will also enter the Five Elements Mountain."


    Not only were the sky boxes filling up with more powerhouses, but the seats below were also becoming increasingly occupied.


    And when the grand auction officially commenced, the atmosphere in the entire auction hall reached the peak of excitement as it became a tumultuous sea of people!


    Although only eighteen treasures would be auctioned, most people here wouldn¡¯t be able to purchase any.


    But this was a rare grand event across the thirty-three continents, tied to the three major joint expeditions of the thirty-three continents, so naturally, many powerhouses didn¡¯t care for the little spirit stones and came here for the excitement.


    There were also powerful individuals who came specifically for those eighteen treasures!


    Especially for those three final auction items!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When the grand auction officially started, a shocking light suddenly surged on the hundred-yard long auction stage at the very front of the sky boxes and seats.


    This shocking light drew the attention of everyone in the great hall, and the lively surroundings suddenly fell quiet.


    In the midst of that stunning light, a black-robed elder, accompanied by two beautiful girls each with a fox¡¯s tail, suddenly appeared on the auction stage.


    Ye Chen noticed that this black-robed elder had reached the late stage of the Divine Saint realm.


    A late-stage Divine Saint powerhouse appearing on this auction stage to preside over the auction?


    The level of this grand auction was indeed very high!


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t recognize the black-robed elder, but many martial artists exclaimed upon seeing him, "The Deputy Pavilion Master of Mystery Pavilion, Elder Tian Ji!"


    "Unexpectedly, Elder Tian Ji himself would preside over this auction!"


    "It¡¯s rumored that the stronger the host of the Sand Sea Palace auction, the more precious the treasures will be. This time, Mystery Pavilion¡¯s second-in-command has made a move, suggesting that the treasures in this auction could be the most valuable in the last several occasions!"


    Elder Tian Ji?


    The Deputy Pavilion Master of Mystery Pavilion? The second most powerful in Mystery Pavilion?!


    Ye Chen silently marveled upon hearing the identity of this black-robed elder.


    While everyone was buzzing with discussion, the black-robed elder on the auction stage glanced over the sky boxes and seats and finally spoke, "Ladies and gentlemen, your presence at the Sand Sea Palace auction held by Mystery Pavilion in collaboration with Heavenly Evolution Palace is greatly appreciated on behalf of both our organizations."


    "I shall not belabor, let¡¯s begin the grand auction now."


    As they heard the black-robed elder known as "Tian Ji" declare the start of the auction, not only did each warrior in the seats sit up straight, but even individuals in the sky boxes like Ao Lei tensed their breathing.


    All eyes were on the black-robed elder.


    "For this grand auction, just like usual, we will auction off eighteen precious treasures."


    "Now, let¡¯s begin with the first treasure¡ªa mid-grade saint-level Gold-Attribute secret treasure, ¡¯Brilliant Gold Stone!¡¯"


    With a wave of his hand, one of the beautiful girls with fox tails brought forward a red tray to the black-robed elder¡¯s side.


    The black-robed elder opened the cloth cover on the red tray, revealing a fist-sized, glittering gold stone on the tray.


    "Brilliant Gold Stone originated from Xuanjin Continent and is not only of mid-grade saint-level quality suitable for forging Sacred Artifacts, but the patterns included within hold secrets to comprehending the mysteries of Gold-Attribute laws. Furthermore, these patterns pertain to a set of Gold-Attribute defensive Divine Arts!"


    "The starting bid for this item is fifty top-grade spirit stones,"


    "Each incremental bid must be at least ten top-grade spirit stones."


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    As soon as the black-robed elder finished introducing the first treasure, the entire auction hall erupted into a frenzy, with many warriors eager to comprehend the Gold-Attribute Void Heavenly Law going completely mad.


    This was a saint-level mid-grade spirit stone that could forge Sacred Artifacts. It contained Gold-Attribute laws and even involved Gold-Attribute defensive Sacred Arts. Such a treasure naturally attracted countless warriors.


    However, the starting bid of fifty top-grade spirit stones also made many warriors gasp.


    One should know that even entering this auction hall required a hundred high-grade spirit stones, which is equivalent to only one-tenth of a top-grade spirit stone.


    The first auction item actually called for fifty top-grade spirit stones, equivalent to fifty thousand high-grade spirit stones!


    The price was indeed not low and, moreover, this was just the starting bid.


    The final transaction price will definitely far exceed this figure.


    The warriors were both crazy and a bit worried that they wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it, while Ye Chen at this time, also took a deep breath.


    "The first treasure is actually a saint-level mid-grade Gold-Attribute secret treasure!"


    Ye Chen had cultivated the Five Great Divine Arts, and only the Wood-Attribute Divine Art had yet to be activated. Earlier in the casual sale area, Ye Chen searched for half a day and couldn¡¯t find any Gold-Attribute secret treasure, not even a saint-level low-grade Gold-Attribute secret treasure.


    Yet unexpectedly, the first item in this official grand auction turned out to be a saint-level mid-grade Gold-Attribute secret treasure.


    This was indeed a surprise to Ye Chen!


    "I bid sixty top-grade spirit stones!" While Ye Chen was still in shock, a warrior had already called out a bid.


    "Seventy top-grade spirit stones!"


    "Eighty top-grade spirit stones!"


    "..."


    "One hundred and thirty top-grade spirit stones!"


    In no time, the price for this Gold-Attribute secret treasure "Brilliant Gold Stone" had been raised to as much as one hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones!


    A saint-level mid-grade treasure was generally worth between one hundred to two hundred top-grade spirit stones. Any higher, and it wouldn¡¯t be worth it.


    As the price reached this level, the number of bidders gradually lessened.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, who had been silent, suddenly announced, "One hundred and eighty top-grade spirit stones!"


    This saint-level mid-grade Gold-Attribute secret treasure was of great help to Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation; naturally, he intended to win it and directly added thirty top-grade spirit stones to the price.


    With this bid, many eyes turned toward him.


    "Who is this young man that he just added thirty top-grade spirit stones at once?" Many warriors didn¡¯t recognize Ye Chen and sized him up curiously.


    "It¡¯s that young man who fought with Ao Lei!" Some warriors immediately recognized Ye Chen.


    Inside a private box.


    Huo Mei¡¯er smiled slightly, "He needs a Gold-Attribute secret treasure? When Ye Chen gambled with me on the Ten Thousand Feet Platform, I saw him use Earth-Attribute Divine Art, Fire-Attribute Divine Art, Water-Attribute Divine Art, and even Wood-Attribute Divine Art, but I¡¯ve not seen him use Gold-Attribute Divine Art. It looks like he might be cultivating the Gold-Attribute Divine Art, otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t be buying this Gold-Attribute secret treasure."


    In another private box, upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s bid, Ao Lei¡¯s expression darkened as he said from within the private box, "I bid one hundred and ninety top-grade spirit stones."


    Ao Lei thought to himself, "Hmph, Ye Chen, you want to buy this treasure? I¡¯ll make sure you can¡¯t have it!"


    As soon as Ye Chen added thirty top-grade spirit stones to the bid, raising the price to one hundred and eighty top-grade spirit stones, nearly no one else spoke up. However, Ao Lei¡¯s voice unexpectedly came through.


    Ye Chen, recognizing Ao Lei¡¯s voice, grew colder and bid again, "I bid two hundred top-grade spirit stones."


    To Ye Chen¡¯s further annoyance, Ao Lei spoke up once more, "Two hundred and ten top-grade spirit stones."


    "Two hundred and forty top-grade spirit stones," Ye Chen raised the bid again.


    "Two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones!" Ao Lei called out for the third time.


    Upon hearing this, everyone understood that the person in the private box was linked to Ye Chen, the young man who had bid first. Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t keep raising the bid by ten spirit stones and wouldn¡¯t push the price for a saint-level mid-grade secret treasure to as much as two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones.


    Even if the "Brilliant Gold Stone" was precious, it was just a saint-level mid-grade treasure; at most, it was worth two hundred top-grade spirit stones¡ªany more would just be a waste.

 Chapter 411 - 373: Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit

    "Miss, that Ao Lei is deliberately bidding up the price to suppress Ye Chen, which is really annoying,"


    In the void box where Huo Mei¡¯er sat, her two maidservants, hearing Ao Lei continuously raising the bid, pouted their rosy lips and spoke somewhat angrily.


    The two maidens felt a natural fondness for this handsome and miraculous youth, Ye Chen, who even their mistress could defeat.


    As for Ao Lei, he was obviously making things difficult for Ye Chen, which of course infuriated the two of them.


    Huo Mei¡¯er also had her brows tightly knitted at this time, "This ¡¯Brilliant Gold Stone,¡¯ although it is a medium-grade sacred treasure of the Gold Element, is not too precious, being the first out of the eighteen treasures signifies it is the least valuable one among them. Gold Element treasures are in abundance, spending more than two hundred top-grade spirit stones to purchase one would be too unworthy."


    "Ye Chen, don¡¯t get into a contest of wills with Ao Lei!"


    "He won¡¯t. I have observed Ye Chen in secret. He knows what to persist in and what to abandon," an elder from the Heavenly Fire Holy Land said reassuringly as Huo Mei¡¯er worried, glancing at Ye Chen who was sitting down in the void seats below. "He won¡¯t get into a contest of wills with Ao Lei. By driving the price up so high, Ao Lei is probably shooting himself in the foot."


    Indeed, just as the elder had predicted.


    When Ao Lei bid the price up to two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones, Ye Chen did not bid again.


    "Two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones?" Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned cold as he looked toward the void box where Ao Lei sat, "Then congratulations to you for obtaining this Gold Element treasure..."


    Ye Chen, of course, noticed Ao Lei¡¯s hindrance. He cared not for Ao Lei; what Ye Chen cared about was whether he could purchase the treasure at a reasonable value. Now, this "Brilliant Gold Stone" had obviously exceeded its own worth.


    Naturally, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t waste spirit stones on this.


    He needed to practice Gold Element divine art, but his Gold Element divine art did not have to rely solely on this "Brilliant Gold Stone." Ye Chen was confident that he would obtain more precious Gold Element treasures than the Brilliant Gold Stone!


    Even if he couldn¡¯t find one at this auction.


    He would find one elsewhere!


    After Ye Chen ceased bidding, no one else in the entire auction hall made a sound. The black-robed old man overseeing the auction looked around at everyone and asked, "Two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones, anyone else willing to bid higher?"


    All the warriors shook their heads.


    Some whispered, "Two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones for a medium-grade sacred treasure? I¡¯m not that foolish!"


    "Two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones the first time."


    "Two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones the second time."


    "Two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones the third time, sold!"


    With no further bids, the Brilliant Gold Stone ultimately went to Ao Lei.


    In the void box where Ao Lei was located, he looked smugly at Ye Chen below and coldly laughed, "Hmm, thinking of competing with me? You, a boy from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, do you think your wealth can compare with mine?"


    "I could crush you with spirit stones alone!"


    Ao Lei was reveling in self-satisfaction when a mid-stage Heavenly Saint behind him involuntarily spoke out, "Young Master, this Brilliant Gold Stone is not worth two hundred and fifty top-grade spirit stones, and you don¡¯t even practice Gold Element secrets..."


    The Heavenly Saint had not finished speaking when Ao Lei glared at him, "Shut up!"


    After being reminded by the Heavenly Saint, Ao Lei also started to feel displeased. He initially wanted to call out several more bids to suppress Ye Chen properly, but after adding bids only three times, Ye Chen had already ceased bidding.


    Ao Lei felt as if he had thrown a punch into cotton, his full strength unused.


    He even felt the sense of being ignored again.


    Although he won, he did not win satisfyingly.


    After the successful auction of the "Brilliant Gold Stone," bidding for the eighteen treasures continued.


    The second treasure up for auction was a set of high-grade Attack Sacred Artifacts.


    Attack Sacred Artifacts!


    These were greatly useful to all warriors, and what¡¯s more, they were high-grade!


    Once this item was out, it once again stirred up fierce competition among countless warriors, this time far more intense than that for the first treasure "Brilliant Gold Stone."


    In the end, this set of high-grade Attack Sacred Artifacts was bought by a young master from Nine-Star Palace, the number one power of the Jiumang Continent, for the price of three hundred and eighty top-grade spirit stones.


    Next came the third treasure, the fourth, the fifth...


    As one treasure after another was presented, each new one was more precious than the last, with high-grade divine arts and even half supreme grade sacred artifacts and divine arts.


    Such a multitude of precious treasures naturally ignited a frenzy in the entire auction hall. Thousands of strong warriors vied in the bidding.


    Ye Chen, observing one treasure after another, failed to find another that stirred his interest.


    However, when it came to the eighth treasure, Ye Chen felt his interest piqued again, and this time, it was another treasure related to Gold Element secrets.


    The eighth treasure was named "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit"!


    According to the auctioneer in the black robe, this "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit" could be referred to as a supreme Gold Element Holy Fruit!


    Supreme Holy Fruits were valued at over one thousand top-grade spirit stones.


    And the black-robed auctioneer emphasized that this "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit" being auctioned, because it had been harvested at eighty percent maturity, had a great mysterious use yet also held significant flaws. The mysterious advantage was that if one successfully refined the fruit, the Gold Element power gained would be of supreme grade, but there was a considerable risk of failure during refinement. If the refinement failed, the fruit would be wasted entirely.


    For this reason, the starting bid for this "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit" was only six hundred top-grade spirit stones.


    If it were a mature supreme Gold Element Holy Fruit, many warriors would compete for it without hesitation.


    But this 80% mature, and even possibly a failure to refine "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit," made many people hesitant.


    After all, not a single warrior dared guarantee that they could absolutely succeed in refining a Gold Element treasure.


    For a moment, the entire grand hall was silent, with no one calling out a bid.


    It was then that Ye Chen, who had been silent for a long time, finally spoke up again, "I bid six hundred and ten top-grade lingstones!"


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen¡¯s bid once again drew countless gazes upon him.


    "It¡¯s that youth again! This youth earlier snatched a mid-grade sacred treasure of the Gold Element, and after not raising the bid then, he¡¯s now actually aiming for this top-grade Gold Element Holy Fruit."


    "This time is different from the last, although this Gold Element Holy Fruit is more valuable, there¡¯s also the risk of failing to refine it. However, if the refining is successful, that would far surpass the earlier ¡¯Brilliant Gold Stone¡¯."


    Among the murmurs of the crowd, another warrior spoke, "I bid six hundred and twenty top-grade lingstones!"


    "Six hundred and thirty top-grade lingstones!" Ye Chen said without hesitation.


    Seeing Ye Chen raise the bid so decisively, that warrior also became hesitant, after all, he was scared of failing to refine it too.


    Suddenly, no one else wanted to compete with Ye Chen.


    In the private box in the void, upon seeing Ye Chen bidding for the treasure again, and that no one was competing with Ye Chen, Ao Lei¡¯s gaze shifted, preparing to speak again.


    This time, the Late Stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse Ao Xuan, however, stopped Ao Lei, "Young Master, this Holy Spirit Fruit is not worth the trouble of a grudge."


    "Earlier, the ¡¯Brilliant Gold Stone¡¯ wasn¡¯t of much use to the Young Master as you don¡¯t comprehend the laws of the Gold Element, and taking it was already not very useful. Taking this possibly failed-to-refine Holy Fruit would be even less worthwhile, and besides, the price is not low. Our lingstones still have important uses later on!"


    "Young Master, don¡¯t forget about that sacred treasure!"


    "If you compete for this treasure again, and if Ye Chen no longer wants it, the lingstones would be wasted for nothing!"


    Ao Xuan¡¯s words made Ao Lei also start to hesitate.


    He had been made somewhat afraid by Ye Chen¡¯s earlier decisive abandonment. Although he was very wealthy, obtaining that sacred treasure would probably require a huge price. If he were to be tricked by Ye Chen again, spending a large amount of lingstones for a Holy Fruit of little use would indeed be a loss that outweighed the gain.


    "Humph, let that kid have this Holy Fruit then," he said.


    "He will definitely fail to refine it. An 80% mature Holy Fruit is not so easy to refine!" Ao Lei said with a sneer.


    After Ao Lei refrained from bidding against Ye Chen, two more people called out bids.


    When Ye Chen raised the bid to seven hundred top-grade lingstones, no other voices were heard.


    Ultimately, Ye Chen successfully obtained the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit" for the price of seven hundred lingstones.


    When the beautiful girl with a fox tail, responsible for settling lingstone payments at the grand auction, brought the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit" to Ye Chen, he took out seven hundred top-grade lingstones and exchanged them for the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit."


    Upon receiving the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit," the godly pill patterns of the Gold Element jumped to life on all three hundred and fifty-five Five Apertures Rotating Pills within Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    "Worth it!"


    "So worth it!"


    "A top-grade Holy Fruit is a treasure valued at over a thousand top-grade lingstones. This Holy Spirit Fruit, due to not being fully mature, suddenly became so much cheaper. Not fully mature doesn¡¯t affect its effectiveness, it just carries the risk of failure to refine."


    "But that risk, I¡¯m not afraid of it!"


    Others might worry about failing to refine a Five Elements Treasure, but the Five Great Divine Arts that Ye Chen cultivated were of great help in refining Five Elements Secret Treasures. According to the indications in the Great Primordial Chapter, as long as one finds a Five Elements Secret Treasure, one will most definitely be able to refine it successfully.


    Ye Chen was not at all worried about failing to refine this Holy Fruit.


    "With this Gold Element Holy Fruit, I can finally start to cultivate my Gold Element Divine Art, ¡¯Golden Light Divine Slash¡¯. Also, this Holy Fruit is clearly several times more effective than that ¡¯Brilliant Gold Stone¡¯!"


    "Spending seven hundred top-grade lingstones to obtain this top-grade Holy Fruit is so much more worthwhile than competing with Ao Lei and spending three hundred or even more top-grade lingstones to get that mid-grade sacred ¡¯Brilliant Gold Stone¡¯!"


    Smiling inwardly, Ye Chen put away the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit."


    "This ¡¯Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit,¡¯ if Ye Chen can refine it successfully, then spending seven hundred top-grade lingstones is extremely worthwhile," said Huo Mei¡¯er in the private box in the void, smiling as she saw Ye Chen carefully putting away the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit."


    "Indeed, it¡¯s worthwhile if he succeeds in refining it; the fear is he will fail. Let¡¯s hope Ye Chen can succeed," the elder said, nodding in agreement.


    After the eighth treasure fell into Ye Chen¡¯s hands, they continued to auction the subsequent treasures.


    Ye Chen, having acquired the top-grade lingstones from Heavenly Saint Moya, totaled just over eight hundred. After purchasing the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit," Ye Chen had almost completely depleted his top-grade lingstones.


    For the subsequent treasures, if he wished to bid again, he would only be able to rely on the top-grade lingstones from the nine frozen guardians.


    Thinking this, Ye Chen decided not to bid for items that weren¡¯t too enticing to him.


    After all, even if the frozen guardians were willing to offer their top-grade lingstones to Ye Chen, he would not use them recklessly.


    Although the next seven treasures were extremely precious, even including real mature top-grade Holy Fruits, top-grade sacred artifacts, and top-grade divine arts, Ye Chen chose not to bid for them.


    In the end, amidst the competition of countless warriors, these treasures all found their new owners.


    And when the grand auction came to its last three showstopper items, the atmosphere in the auction hall reached a peak.


    When the elder in black robes presented the first showstopper treasure, introducing it, Ao Lei in the private box was so shocked that he stood up completely.


    And Ye Chen, who had remained silent up on the void seat, also found his breathing suddenly tightening.

 Chapter 412 - 374: The Contest!

    "The sixteenth treasure of the grand auction, also one of the three most precious finale treasures, is known as the ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯."


    On the auction stage, a robed elder lifted a black object shaped like a sword sheath.


    As the robed elder picked up this sword sheath-shaped item, all the Sword Cultivators in the auction hall felt their swords buzzing and vibrating uncontrollably, with swords below the Sacred Artifact level automatically flying out of their sheaths and speeding towards the black sword sheath on the auction stage!


    When they reached within several dozen yards from the auction stage, these automatically ejected swords were repelled by an inexplicable force and could not get any closer to the stage. To everyone¡¯s amazement, the swords levitated in mid-air, emitting mournful sword cries.


    The Sacred Artifact-level swords that did not fly away also vibrated and undulated crazily in their owners¡¯ hands!


    This scene completely astonished everyone in the auction hall.


    Ye Chen, sitting in his seat in the void, changed his complexion drastically at this time.


    The moment the robed elder presented the black sword sheath, Ye Chen felt his top-grade treasure, the Black Fire Sword, was about to go completely out of control. If it weren¡¯t for his quick response to store the Black Fire Sword in the Heaven Spirit Ring, it would have flown away just like the other swords.


    What surprised Ye Chen even more was that there was also a wild disturbance in his Sword Palace Acupoint.


    When Ye Chen had slain the Feng Lun Heavenly Saint, his Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire", which had been damaged and dormant, awoke as soon as the black sword sheath appeared, undulating wildly in Ye Chen¡¯s Sword Palace Acupoint, sounding an incredibly eager sword cry.


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword was as if telling Ye Chen that it needed that black sword sheath.


    "Void Heaven Sword Embryo?!"


    Witnessing the movement of the countless swords in the auction hall and feeling the disturbance from the Black Fire Sword, especially his Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire," Ye Chen didn¡¯t need the robed elder to elaborate on the black sword sheath called the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo"; he knew that the first finale treasure was extraordinary.


    This treasure would likely be something all Sword Cultivators would go mad for!


    "If this treasure really is of great use to the Flying Sword Crimson Fire, even able to help the Flying Sword Crimson Fire recover from my life-bound damage, then no matter what, I must obtain this treasure!"


    With this thought, Ye Chen¡¯s breathing became utterly controlled.


    In the void private box, Ao Lei also stood up in complete amazement; not just Ao Lei, but all the Heavenly Saint powerhouses beside him were deeply moved.


    "Could this be the type of treasure that Father (the Alliance Head) has been searching for?"


    Ao Lei exchanged looks with the several Heavenly Saints, unable to believe it.


    "Young Master, among the finale three treasures, if this first treasure truly is that type of treasure, then we must obtain it at all costs. Its value might even be close to that of the ultimate treasure!" Ao Lun affirmed, looking at Ao Lei.


    Ao Lei nodded deeply, "Fortunately, I brought a lot of top-grade spirit stones this time for the ultimate treasure; otherwise, I really wouldn¡¯t be able to cope with this unexpected treasure."


    "If this really is the treasure my father wants, I must win it and immediately send it back to him!"


    Not only were Ye Chen and Ao Lei greatly interested in this first finale treasure, but many warriors sitting in the void seats and the void private boxes had also stood up and were looking towards the black sword sheath.


    At this moment, the robed elder saw the movement in the entire auction hall and said with a smile, "Well, it seems that many are immensely interested in this first finale treasure."


    "Now, I will tell you all about the origin and function of this item."


    With those words, the robed elder¡¯s gaze also turned to the black sword sheath in his hand: "This item, called the ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯, is a special Semi-Divine Artifact from the Upper Realm¡¯s ¡¯Minor Spirit Realm¡¯, belonging to one of the six ancient clans of the Sword Cultivators, the ¡¯Beiming Clan¡¯!"


    Boom!


    This declaration by the robed elder instantly sent the entire auction hall into a frenzy.


    Even Huo Mei¡¯er, who had never practiced sword art and was initially just curious about the strange black sword sheath, couldn¡¯t help but stand up, incredulously saying, "Is it something from the Upper Realm? A Semi-Divine Artifact from the ¡¯Beiming Clan¡¯, one of the six ancient clans?!"


    "My God, a Semi-Divine Artifact; it¡¯s said to be an entity that can evolve into a Divine Artifact. How could it have fallen from the Upper Realm to the lower realm? Could it be that some predecessor brought it down from the Upper Realm?"


    "It¡¯s said that a Divine Artifact, without specific secret methods or true divine cultivation, simply cannot be taken away. This Semi-Divine Artifact is almost the most powerful treasure that someone in the Heavenly Saint Realm can obtain!"


    "With this item¡¯s appearance, countless late-stage Heavenly Saints, even if they are not Sword Cultivators, will go crazy for it. Those Sword Cultivators would probably be willing to spend all their fortune to buy it!"


    While Huo Mei¡¯er exclaimed, Ao Lei was also full of excitement: "It¡¯s actually a Semi-Divine Artifact, truly the type of sword treasure Father has been looking for!"


    Ye Chen was also filled with shock: "It¡¯s actually from the Beiming Clan of the six ancient clans? The same clan related to the ¡¯Beiming Secret Tome¡¯ that I possess?"


    Back in the Tai¡¯a Sword Sect, Ye Chen had entered a damaged fallen Divine Artifact sword and met the Spirit of the Divine Sword. He obtained the Beiming Secret Tome and learned about the Beiming Clan.


    Ye Chen had also promised the Spirit of the Divine Sword that once he had cultivated the Beiming Secret Tome to the fourth level, with sufficient strength, he would take both the Spirit of the Divine Sword and the damaged Divine Artifact sword back to the Minor Spirit Realm, back to the Beiming Clan.


    Now, Ye Chen had cultivated the Beiming Secret Tome to the third level, mastering the divine sword technique ¡¯Great Five Elements Sword Light¡¯.

 Chapter 413 - 374: The Struggle!_2

    Ye Chen had not expected that at the grand auction of the Heavenly Evolution Continent, he would once again encounter something related to the Northern Ming Clan!


    In a wave of shock, the robed elder continued, "This ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯ was gifted to a friend of the lower realm by the Northern Ming Clan. The friend entrusted it to me for auction."


    "This item possesses three divine powers. Firstly, it is a Semi-Divine Artifact that can evolve toward becoming a Divine Artifact; secondly, the item can nurture swords. Not to mention sacred-grade swords, but even slightly lesser treasure-grade or spirit-grade swords have the potential, through the nurturing of this ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯, to eventually evolve into a Divine Artifact sword!"


    "If the nurtured sword and the Void Heaven Sword Embryo both successfully evolve, it means that you will have two Divine Artifacts¡ªone Divine Artifact grade ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯ and one Divine Artifact grade sword nurtured from the Void Heaven Sword Embryo!"


    "Of course, nurturing and evolving could also fail. Here, I need to mention the third divine power of this item. The third divine power is that this ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯ is also a special space for Sword Cultivators. Practicing swordsmanship within the Void Heaven Sword Embryo can lead to great achievements, and this special space also contains a powerful sword technique Divine Art from the Northern Ming Clan!"


    The first treasure of the finale, three divine powers.


    First, it evolves into a Divine Artifact by itself; second, it can nurture Divine Artifact swords; third, it is a special sword path space containing Divine Arts.


    After the robed elder had finished introducing the function of this "Void Heaven Sword Embryo", countless Sword Cultivators were already prepared to start competing for the auction, and many were even lamenting that they didn¡¯t have enough top-grade spiritual stones to purchase the Void Heaven Sword Embryo!


    At that moment, the robed elder finally announced the starting bid for the Void Heaven Sword Embryo: "The first treasure of the finale, the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, starting at a bid of 10,000 top-grade spiritual stones!"


    10,000 top-grade spiritual stones¡ªthis was perhaps the entire fortune of many late-stage Heavenly Saints, and it was only the starting price for this treasure!


    This caused many warriors in the auction hall to be stunned.


    But there were some wealthy late-stage Heavenly Saints who didn¡¯t care about the high price at all. For late-stage Heavenly Saints, a Semi-Divine Artifact was more precious than any spiritual stone!


    "I bid 13,000 top-grade spiritual stones!" A late-stage Heavenly Saint elder with hair as white and fluttering as sword aura swiftly raised the auction price by an additional 3,000 top-grade spiritual stones!


    "Sword-Hiding Elder!" As soon as people saw the figure of the elder emerge from the private booth, many recognized him. "The Sword-Hiding Elder has been at the late-stage Heavenly Saint level for over three thousand years. It is said that he even once went to the upper realm to study with the Northern Ming Clan. Unexpectedly, he has also come to this auction. It seems he is determined to win the Void Heaven Sword Embryo!"


    As soon as the Sword-Hiding Elder finished speaking, another late-stage Heavenly Saint shouted a price: "15,000 top-grade spiritual stones!"


    Everyone turned to look at this late-stage Heavenly Saint and recognized him: "This is Elder He from the first sect of the Heavenly Dome Continent, Chaotic Star Valley, a formidable Sword Cultivator!"


    "17,000 top-grade spiritual stones!" As soon as Elder He spoke, the Sword-Hiding Elder once again shouted a new auction price, raising it by another 2,000 top-grade spiritual stones.


    This rate of increase made Elder He from Chaotic Star Valley hesitate, his gaze faltering.


    Many other late-stage Heavenly Saints who had been prepared to bid were also deterred by the rapidly increasing auction price.


    While Elder He was still hesitating, another voice came from a private booth: "I bid 20,000 top-grade spiritual stones!"


    This voice came from the private booth where Ao Lei was seated.


    "People from the Beast Alliance, they are also vying for this item." Many knew that Ao Lei and others were in that booth, and when they heard Ao Lei also making a bid, many warriors discussed, "It¡¯s rumored that the Alliance Leader of the Beast Alliance, the number one person of the Beast Mainland, Ao Chan, has always been exploring the great secrets of swordsmanship. It seems he too is determined to acquire this Void Heaven Sword Embryo."


    "Ao Chan is the Alliance Leader of the five continents. He probably doesn¡¯t know about this Void Heaven Sword Embryo, otherwise, he would have likely come personally. Even though he isn¡¯t here, his beloved son, Ao Lei, will probably win this item for him."


    While everyone was discussing Ao Lei, in the private void box where Ao Lei was, he looked at Ao Xuan and Ao Ming, two late-stage Heavenly Saints: "Xuan Uncle, Ming Uncle, how many spirit stones do we still have that can compete for this Void Heaven Sword Embryo?"


    Ao Xuan said, "For this occasion, the alliance leader specifically prepared seventy thousand top-grade spirit stones. That divine artifact is likely worth between thirty to forty thousand top-grade spirit stones. Young master, if the Void Heaven Sword Embryo can be had for under thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones, we should try for it. I doubt there are many Heavenly Saints who dare to call out a price over thirty thousand to compete for this item."


    "You must know, these seventy thousand top-grade spirit stones were accumulated by the alliance leader managing the entire Beast Alliance. Which other Heavenly Saint could possess a fortune like the alliance leader?"


    Hearing that there was still room to raise the bid, Ao Lei nodded in satisfaction.


    What he wanted was confidence. With thirty thousand top-grade spirit stones as backing, he had the confidence to compete with those late-stage Heavenly Saints!


    When Elder He from Chaotic Star Valley heard Ao Lei call out a bid of twenty thousand top-grade spirit stones, he sighed deeply, "What a pity, such a pity. The Void Heaven Sword Embryo has appeared with great difficulty, yet it¡¯s fated to elude me."


    Elder He looked toward the Sword-Hiding Elder, "Brother Sword-Hiding, I shall not contend for it anymore. You take a look."


    The Sword-Hiding Elder nodded. He took a deep breath and looked toward the private void box of Ao Lei, "I bid twenty-one thousand top-grade spirit stones."


    At this stage, the Sword-Hiding Elder knew that the competition was probably just between him and the Beast Alliance now.


    "Twenty-two thousand top-grade spirit stones," Ao Lei declared without so much as blinking an eye.


    "Twenty-two thousand five hundred top-grade spirit stones," the Sword-Hiding Elder called out one last time.


    "Twenty-three thousand top-grade spirit stones!" Seeing that the Sword-Hiding Elder could no longer raise the price, Ao Lei smiled and called out a new price.


    At that moment, the Sword-Hiding Elder sighed and sat back down, "Never mind, I still need to compete for the final item of the auction. I can no longer bid for the Void Heaven Sword Embryo."


    Once the Sword-Hiding Elder sat down, there was no one left in the entire auction hall still competing with Ao Lei.


    Ao Lei looked around the auction hall with a triumphant gleam in his eye, "Is there anyone else who would like to bid?"


    In Ao Lei¡¯s eyes, even the Sword-Hiding Elder couldn¡¯t outbid him. There was no longer anyone competing with him for the first finale item.


    Just as Ao Lei was surveying his surroundings with an unrivaled pride, a faint voice rose up, "I bid twenty-five thousand top-grade spirit stones!"


    Whoosh.


    When this voice rang out, it sent a shock through everyone gathered.


    Someone else was bidding?


    As they looked in the direction of the voice, and saw the bidding youth, disbelief filled their eyes. "It¡¯s him?!"


    And the look of triumph on Ao Lei¡¯s face was abruptly halted by the voice. He turned to the speaker and, seeing the person smiling lightly at him, Ao Lei could hardly believe it as he exclaimed, "Ye Chen, it¡¯s you?!"

 Chapter 414 - 375: See Who Crushes Whom

    The one who called out the price of 25,000 top-grade spirit stones, competing against Ao Lei, was none other than Ye Chen, who sat in the void seat in the fifth row and had been silent for a long while!


    The Void Heaven Sword Embryo.


    Countless Sword Cultivators yearned for it, Ao Lei wanted it, and of course, Ye Chen did too.


    As for this treasure, not to mention its three great divine powers, just the ability to nurture a Sacred Artifact was enough reason for Ye Chen to must obtain it.


    Ye Chen¡¯s natal sword "Crimson Fire" was still in a state of natal damage, awaiting recovery. The appearance of a Semi-Divine Artifact like the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo" would greatly aid in the restoration of the "Crimson Fire" sword, and Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t miss such an opportunity.


    The Brilliant Gold Stone previously auctioned wasn¡¯t a very special treasure; whether Ye Chen competed for it or not didn¡¯t matter much.


    But the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo" was truly urgently needed by Ye Chen, and under such circumstances, even if Ao Lei himself was already bidding, even if Ao Lei came in at the last moment, Ye Chen would not give up and would compete with him till the end!


    No matter how high the price, as far as Ye Chen was concerned, it was worth it for a Semi-Divine Artifact that could greatly benefit the "Crimson Fire" sword!


    "The nine senior guardians said they could provide me with 100,000 top-grade spirit stones to bid, and even if the final 100,000 aren¡¯t enough, they would bring out a few more treasures in exchange for spirit stones," said Ye Chen. "The seniors said they must help me snatch this treasure."


    "Since that¡¯s the case, then let¡¯s do it, Ao Lei. When we are all in need of a real treasure, let¡¯s see who can win it in the end!"


    Ye Chen, who had called out 25,000 top-grade spirit stones, looked directly at Ao Lei without any sign of backing down.


    With the support of the nine Icy Guardians, Ye Chen was full of confidence.


    But at that moment, Ao Lei¡¯s face twitched with anger as if he had swallowed a fly.


    Ao Lei never imagined that someone would come out to compete with him for the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo" that he thought was almost within his grasp.


    And that person competing was Ye Chen!


    It was Ye Chen, who had contested against him for the first treasure and ultimately lost to him!


    After seizing the first treasure, Ao Lei had always thought that he held far more spirit stones than Ye Chen, having outbid Ye Chen with sheer financial power.


    Now, with Ye Chen suddenly calling out a price of 25,000 top-grade spirit stones, it was a slap in Ao Lei¡¯s face.


    25,000 top-grade spirit stones!


    Even just a small fraction of that sum would have been enough to purchase the first treasure, the Brilliant Gold Stone. How could Ye Chen possibly be outmatched in spirit stones?


    It now appeared that Ye Chen simply didn¡¯t think the Brilliant Gold Stone was worth that many spirit stones and chose not to compete!


    Ao Lei¡¯s hands were trembling with rage. He had raised the price to snatch the Brilliant Gold Stone that Ye Chen didn¡¯t really want, and now Ye Chen was raising the price to compete with him for the Void Heaven Sword Embryo.


    The Brilliant Gold Stone was an optional treasure for Ye Chen.


    But the Void Heaven Sword Embryo was different. For Ao Lei, it was a thousand times, a million times more important than the Brilliant Gold Stone¡ªit was a grand treasure his father needed, and of course, he couldn¡¯t give up, he had to fight with all his might!


    With Ye Chen¡¯s price hike, it truly put Ao Lei in a difficult position.


    "25,000 top-grade spirit stones," muttered Ao Lei. "Ye Chen actually dares to bid so high."


    "No, I don¡¯t believe it. I don¡¯t believe he can compete with me. This ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯¡ªI must get it. I will bid higher again and suppress Ye Chen so he dares not bid, dares not compete with me!"


    In a fury that made him tremble, Ao Lei heard the auctioneer in a black robe starting to count down from Ye Chen¡¯s bid. Without anyone else bidding, the Void Heaven Sword Embryo would belong to Ye Chen. Ao Lei couldn¡¯t hold back any longer and blurted out: "I bid 27,000 top-grade spirit stones!"


    This time, Ao Lei came with 70,000 top-grade spirit stones, many more than usual, specifically to compete for the ultimate treasure. With the appearance of the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo," he had around 30,000 top-grade spirit stones at his disposal for the bidding, and even though Ye Chen¡¯s bid was very high, he was still in the competition.


    As Ao Lei called out 27,000 top-grade spirit stones, the whole venue once again heated up.


    Elder He from the Heavens Continent¡¯s number one sect, Chaotic Star Valley, who had previously made a bid, along with the Sword-Hiding Elder who had also bid, both sighed: "Such youthful vigor. If I had enough spirit stones, I would also compete earnestly. The Void Heaven Sword Embryo is indeed a fine item, but alas, I don¡¯t have enough spirit stones!"


    "Now that the young man is competing with Ao Lei, I wonder if he will raise the bid again."


    While the Sword-Hiding Elder, Elder He, and the rest of the Martial Artists were speculating, Ao Lei had just finished calling out his bid when Ye Chen spoke up again: "30,000 top-grade spirit stones!"


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t hesitate and immediately raised the price for the Void Heaven Sword Embryo to an astounding 30,000 top-grade spirit stones!


    Keep in mind that the nine Icy Guardians had prepared no fewer than 100,000 top-grade spirit stones for Ye Chen to compete for the Void Heaven Sword Embryo. How could Ye Chen be outdone by Ao Lei in terms of momentum?


    Ye Chen¡¯s calm declaration of 30,000 top-grade spirit stones, however, was like a thunderclap to the ears of the Martial Artists and Ao Lei.


    "My goodness."


    "30,000 top-grade spirit stones!"


    "True, a Semi-Divine Artifact is priceless, but... but not just anyone can put forward 30,000 top-grade spirit stones! This young man¡ªthis young man actually has assets amounting to 30,000 top-grade spirit stones!"


    Now everyone knew that when Ye Chen didn¡¯t compete for the first treasure "Brilliant Gold Stone," it wasn¡¯t because he lacked the spirit stones to compete, but rather because he chose not to compete.


    A young man carrying 30,000 top-grade spirit stones, how could he possibly be afraid to compete for a Sacred Artifact of intermediate quality like the "Brilliant Gold Stone," which was worth only several hundred top-grade spirit stones?


    In the void private box where Huo Mei¡¯er was located.


    "Ye Chen is so impressive!"


    "That Void Heaven Sword Embryo, such a precious treasure, I thought it would end up in Ao Lei¡¯s hands, which would be casting pearls before swine. I never expected Ye Chen to emerge and compete with Ao Lei for it, and that Ye Chen could actually offer a price of thirty thousand top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s two maidservants, those two beautiful girls, were even more excited than Ye Chen at this moment, standing up with eyes that were completely fixed on Ye Chen.


    Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s beautiful eyes were also fully focused on Ye Chen at this time, revealing a charming smile, "This Ye Chen, I understand him less and less, that he could offer thirty thousand top-grade Spirit Stones is really beyond my expectation."


    The Martial Artists in the auction hall were merely shocked and excited about the astonishing price Ye Chen had bid, but Ao Lei at this moment was breaking out in a cold sweat.


    Thirty thousand top-grade Spirit Stones.


    The price Ye Chen had called out completely stalled him.


    His highest bearable price was thirty thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, and he couldn¡¯t imagine that Ye Chen would suddenly raise the price to such an extent.


    Raising it to an extent even he was somewhat afraid to compete!


    "I, I am actually intimidated by this Ye Chen?" Ao Lei thought to himself in astonishment.


    He had vowed to crush Ye Chen with Spirit Stones, yet now, the first one who was hesitant to compete turned out to be himself.


    "No, I cannot lose to this Ye Chen. If I can snatch away the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, my father will definitely reward me greatly. He will not want me to give up on this Semi-Divine Artifact."


    At this moment, Ao Lei was no longer preoccupied with the ultimate artifact; his mind was completely filled with the thought of not losing to Ye Chen.


    "Thirty-two thousand top-grade Spirit Stones!" Ao Lei gritted his teeth and called out the price again.


    "Young Master!"


    This bid from Ao Lei startled the Heavenly Saints in the same private void booth, and Ao Xuan especially tried to stop Ao Lei, "Young Master, you can¡¯t bid any more, if you keep bidding, we might not be able to seize the ultimate artifact!"


    "Don¡¯t worry, Elder Ao, it¡¯s just two thousand more top-grade Spirit Stones than planned. I don¡¯t believe that Ye Chen will dare to compete anymore. Spending thirty-two thousand top-grade Spirit Stones to buy the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, father would agree to it too," Ao Lei said to Ao Xuan, forcing a smile.


    Ao Xuan thought about it and then nodded his head.


    After all, the Void Heaven Sword Embryo was indeed a very precious treasure, a treasure that their Beast Alliance needed very much.


    Although it was not as important as the ultimate artifact, it was still worth competing for.


    If this final bid could scare Ye Chen off and they could obtain the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, it would still be acceptable.


    "Young Master, then add this one last time, but we can¡¯t bid any more after that," Ao Xuan said to Ao Lei.


    Ao Lei nodded decisively, "Rest assured, with the price this high, that Ye Chen won¡¯t dare to bid any further."


    He hadn¡¯t heard Ye Chen¡¯s voice for a while, and his confidence in snagging the Void Heaven Sword Embryo grew.


    Just as he was beginning to feel relieved, and as the cloaked elder was about to ask if anyone would bid higher, the voice that made Ao Lei nearly faint sounded again, "I bid thirty-three thousand top-grade Spirit Stones."


    It was Ye Chen.


    Ao Lei was on the verge of tears; he thought Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t bid any further, yet Ye Chen had placed another bid!


    These thirty-three thousand top-grade Spirit Stones, although only a thousand more than what he had previously bid, became the last straw that completely broke Ao Lei.


    "Should I raise the bid?" Ao Lei¡¯s mind was totally shaken.


    "You can¡¯t raise it anymore, Young Master, you absolutely can¡¯t. Otherwise, we might miss the ultimate artifact," Ao Xuan, Ao Ming, and several other Heavenly Saints quickly cried out beside Ao Lei.


    Ao Lei clenched his teeth tightly, "One last time, I will make one final bid!"


    "Thirty-three thousand five hundred top-grade Spirit Stones!" Filled with a sense of desperation, Ao Lei cried out.


    No sooner had he spoken than Ye Chen¡¯s light laughter spread throughout the entire auction hall, "Thirty-four thousand top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    Boom!


    With that bid, Ao Lei was rendered speechless once more.


    In this competition, he was thoroughly dominated by Ye Chen.


    For the first time, he felt what it was like to not have enough Spirit Stones, to be defeated by someone else using Spirit Stones!


    Seeing Ao Lei looking utterly dispirited, Ao Xuan and Ao Ming said in his ear, "Young Master, forget about it, let this Ye Chen win this time."


    "Once we leave this auction hall, I will settle the score with him. By then, as long as the Void Heaven Sword Embryo is in his hands, the treasure will still end up with us!"


    This speech from Ao Xuan and Ao Ming finally snapped Ao Lei out of his daze.


    His eyes gradually changed from scattered to determined, and finally filled with a murderous intent, "Hmph, Elders Xuan and Ming, you¡¯re right, let this Ye Chen win this time. What does it matter if he wins once? We¡¯ll see who has the last laugh. When he¡¯s dead, I will personally snatch the Void Heaven Sword Embryo back and wave it in front of him!"


    After saying this resolutely, Ao Lei sank back into the seat of the private void booth, his face growing grim.

 Chapter 415 - 376: The Second Showstopper Treasure!

    After Ao Lei stopped bidding, no one else competed with Ye Chen.


    Eventually, the final star item "Void Heaven Sword Embryo" was acquired by Ye Chen for the price of 34,000 top-grade spiritual stones.


    When the beautiful girl with a fox tail came over to Ye Chen with the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo" to collect the auctioned spiritual stones, all the martial artists¡¯ gaze converged on Ye Chen.


    On one hand, they envied Ye Chen for obtaining the precious Void Heaven Sword Embryo.


    On the other hand, they wanted to see whether Ye Chen could actually produce the 34,000 top-grade spiritual stones.


    In the past, there had been instances at major auctions where the highest bidder could not come up with the stones and was severely punished. Although such occurrences were rare, 34,000 top-grade spiritual stones were indeed a large amount, and they were somewhat skeptical whether Ye Chen, this young boy, really had such a substantial fortune.


    Ultimately, when Ye Chen lightly extended his palm and piece after piece of glittering top-grade spiritual stones appeared in the void like a surging river, eventually all being stored in the beautiful girl¡¯s storage ring, everyone finally realized that Ye Chen, this young man, could indeed afford the sky-high price!


    Ye Chen truly secured the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo" at auction!


    As Ye Chen scrutinized the newly acquired Void Heaven Sword Embryo in his hand, envy abounded within Ao Lei¡¯s private booth, along with blossoming murderous intent, "Ye Chen, enjoy your moment of pride for now because soon you¡¯ll realize you were merely celebrating in vain!"


    In the private booth where Huo Mei¡¯er was, she seemed to have thought of something. She said to the elder from the Heavenly Fire Holy Land, "Elder Wu, let¡¯s accompany Ye Chen after the auction ends. I fear, because of the Void Heaven Sword Embryo affair, Ao Lei¡¯s jealousy towards Ye Chen has deepened, and Ao Lei might harm him. We should assist Ye Chen."


    Elder Wu nodded, "That sounds good. Although Ye Chen has the boldness to auction off such a treasure, he must have some defensive measures. However, it¡¯s always safer to be careful; we¡¯ll escort him for a stretch to be assured."


    Huo Mei¡¯er and Elder Wu¡¯s covert concern for Ye Chen went unnoticed by him.


    With the Nine Frozen Guards constantly vigilant around Ye Chen, he had no time to worry about Ao Lei¡¯s murderous intentions. Now, holding the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, Ye Chen devoted all his attention to it.


    After sensing the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, which felt smooth and warm in his hand, and scanning the artifact patterns etched upon it, Ye Chen quickly understood the usage and the miraculous ability of this masterless Semi-Divine Artifact.


    "Not bad, the senior from Mystery Pavilion who was responsible for the auction didn¡¯t speak falsely¡ªthe object is truly wondrous, significantly beneficial in nurturing various swords. Furthermore, it contains a cultivation space and a set of sword Divine Arts!"


    However, now was not the time for cultivation.


    After sensing the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, Ye Chen immediately stored it in the Heaven Spirit Ring. At the same time, he quietly transferred the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" into the Heaven Spirit Ring, eventually placing it inside the Void Heaven Sword Embryo for nurturing.


    Upon sensing that the small flying sword had a trace of radiance flickering within the black scabbard space of the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, indicating it was recovering from its damaged state, Ye Chen revealed a satisfied smile.


    "With this Void Heaven Sword Embryo, it probably won¡¯t take long for the Crimson Fire Flying Sword¡¯s life-bound damage to recover. Even more so, the nurturing from the Void Heaven Sword Embryo will allow me to utilize the life-bound damage in a critical moment once again, effectively restoring my original powerful trump card with the flying sword!"


    "Perhaps, someday in the future, my flying sword might even reach the level of a Divine Artifact under the nurturing of the Void Heaven Sword Embryo!"


    After examining the Void Heaven Sword Embryo and the Crimson Fire Flying Sword within it, Ye Chen then withdrew his attention and returned to the ongoing auction.


    At this moment, the seventeenth treasure of the auction, which was the second of the three final star items, had already made its appearance on the auction stage.


    The first star item "Void Heaven Sword Embryo" had already caused a frenzy among the Sword Cultivators, inciting a fierce bidding war that ended with a high price of 34,000 top-grade spiritual stones.


    Logically, the second star item was expected to be even more precious than the first, which naturally caused the hearts of the warriors in the auction hall to race with anticipation.


    Everyone wanted to know what this second treasure, which appeared after the semi-divine artifact Void Heaven Sword Embryo, could be.


    When the black-robed elder picked up a small white jade box and began to introduce the origin of a crystalline and translucent drop of miraculous liquid inside, countless martial artists screamed in excitement. Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er, one seated in the void and the other in the private booth, were both greatly moved as well.


    Because this second treasure turned out to be the very one Huo Mei¡¯er and Ye Chen had discussed before¡ªoriginating from the "Tianmiao Continent" Little Saintess of the Luoshui Holy Land!


    Previously, Huo Mei¡¯er had mentioned to Ye Chen outside the underground palace¡¯s outer market that she knew one of the three final star items was from one of the five great continents governed by the Void Sky law¡ªthe "Tianmiao Continent," directly from her sister, the Little Saintess of the Luoshui Holy Land.


    At that time, Ye Chen was speculating which of the final treasures it would be. Yet, when the first star item turned out to be the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, he was pondering whether the treasure from the Little Saintess of the Luoshui Holy Land would be the second or the third, only to find it appearing as the second star item!


    "Huo Mei¡¯er said she wanted to contest fiercely for this treasure. Placed after the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, I should also pay close attention to the efficacy of this treasure," Ye Chen thought.


    Ye Chen intently listened to the black-robed elder¡¯s introduction from the auction stage.


    After the elder finished mentioning that the treasure originated from the Tianmiao Continent¡¯s Luoshui Holy Land, he continued, "This treasure, personally sent by the Luoshui Holy Land¡¯s Little Saintess for auction, is a drop of divine liquid, known as ¡¯Life Essence Water¡¯!"


    Divine liquid?


    Life Essence Water?


    Just hearing this name startled countless people.


    This name carried an imposing aura!


    Without waiting for the crowd to ask, the robed elder went on to say, "This Life Essence Water is a divine liquid accidentally obtained by the Little Saintess of Luoshui Holy Land. Its effect could even be called ¡¯Small Phoenix Divine Blood¡¯!"


    "The Phoenix Divine Blood, as everyone should know, is the peerless sacred treasure of the ¡¯Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯, one of the six ancient clans in the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm. It¡¯s known as one of the two great wonders of the Minor Spirit Realm!"


    "The Phoenix Divine Blood plays a significant role for Heavenly Saint late-stage powerhouses attempting to break through to the Void Sky True God Realm, especially during their first tribulation. There are even legends that it remains significant for Void Sky True Gods undergoing subsequent breakthroughs, facing ever more challenging tribulations. It can help those transcending their tribulations repair the damage incurred and maintain their best condition throughout!"


    "Although this Life Essence Water isn¡¯t quite on the same level as the Phoenix Divine Blood, in terms of helping transcenders maintain their best condition, it can also compensate for the damage suffered during tribulation. Particularly for Heavenly Saint late-stage cultivators challenging the Void Sky True God¡¯s first tribulation, its presence greatly enhances the chances of success¡ªby potentially as much as thirty percent!"


    "We at Mystery Pavilion and Heavenly Evolution Palace have all seriously investigated this treasure, along with all the Heavenly Saint late-stage beings. It contains incredible Life Origin Energy and indeed plays a significant role in healing the damages of tribulation. Apart from the Phoenix Divine Blood, it is more precious than any other tribulation-assisting item!"


    "Had not the Little Saintess of Luoshui Holy Land insisted on auctioning it, the Mystery Pavilion and Heavenly Evolution Palace would have been unable to resist purchasing it ourselves!"


    Boom!


    The words of the robed elder sent a resonating surge through the entire auction hall.


    Particularly, the Heavenly Saint late-stage powerhouses within the auction hall were completely frantic.


    All these late-stage Heavenly Saints, facing the major challenge of transcending their first heavenly tribulation, were immensely keen on procuring this Life Essence Water which could significantly aid their effort!


    Increasing the success rate of transcending the first heavenly tribulation by thirty percent may not seem much, but it was indeed an extraordinarily high probability!


    It¡¯s known that nearly all late-stage Heavenly Saints perish during their first heavenly tribulation, which makes achieving the Void Sky True God Realm all the more difficult.


    Even having a ten percent success rate for late-stage Heavenly Saints overcoming their first heavenly tribulation is considered impressive!


    This Life Essence Water could suddenly boost the success rate of a late-stage Heavenly Saint¡¯s tribulation by thirty percent, which could likely save their life! Such a treasure could prevent them from perishing, enabling them to achieve the Void Sky True God instead.


    How could such a treasure not be precious?


    How could it not drive countless late-stage Heavenly Saints to madness?


    Even Ye Chen, who was not yet at the late-stage Heavenly Saint level, was somewhat tempted. He even thought of his nine Frosted Guards and the master of Yuan Li Palace, all of whom required this treasure; thus, Ye Chen began contemplating securing it for himself.


    "How many top-grade spirit stones will the bidding start at for this treasure?" A late-stage Heavenly Saint existence couldn¡¯t help but inquire about the starting bid for that drop of crystal-clear water¡ªthe ¡¯Life Essence Water¡¯ divine liquid¡ªencased within the white jade box on the auction platform.


    "Yes, what is the starting bid in top-grade spirit stones? Even if it¡¯s over forty thousand, I want it!" another late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse blurted out their limit!


    Everyone turned to the robed elder who was responsible for the auction, waiting for him to announce the bidding price for the "Life Essence Water."


    "This Life Essence Water is not to be bid for with spirit stones." The robed elder shook his head, "According to the demands of the Little Saintess of Luoshui Holy Land, this item requires divine arts in exchange, and specifically, three divine arts."


    While the robed elder spoke, a beautiful girl dressed in ice-blue attire also suddenly appeared on the auction platform.


    The robed elder pointed to the girl in ice-blue and said, "This is the disciple sent by the Little Saintess of Luoshui Holy Land. Only when she is satisfied with the three Divine Arts offered will the ¡¯Life Essence Water¡¯ be traded."


    Not top-grade spirit stones?


    To be exchanged for three Divine Arts?!


    Hearing the trading conditions for the second major auction item, many Heavenly Saints were taken aback.


    Divine Arts!


    These were even rarer than top-grade spirit stones. Nobody anticipated that the Little Saintess of Luoshui Holy Land would demand three Divine Arts for trading this Life Essence Water.

 Chapter 416 - 377: The Ultimate Treasure! The Ultimate Treasure!

    ```


    Hearing this condition, Ye Chen was also startled.


    If it were for trading with top-grade spirit stones for the second marquee treasure "Life Essence Water", Ye Chen, who was quite interested in the Life Essence Water, would have been prepared to fiercely compete for this treasure once again.


    But the condition of three Divine Arts completely made Ye Chen shake his head.


    It wasn¡¯t that Ye Chen didn¡¯t have three Divine Arts. On the contrary, he possessed many Divine Arts, including the Five Great Divine Arts, as well as the Swordsmanship Divine Art "Great Five Elements Sword Light".


    However, that "Great Five Elements Sword Light" was related to the Beiming Secret Tome, which he couldn¡¯t casually reveal. And the Five Great Divine Arts were even more relevant to the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Taiyuan Chapter", which was a set of unique Divine Arts belonging to the Taiyuan Chapter that Ye Chen couldn¡¯t reveal!


    Not to mention that due to the relation of the Starry Fog and the Five Great Divine Bloods within the Stars Tower, outsiders were simply incapable of cultivating these Divine Arts. Even if they could, Ye Chen would not casually trade the Five Great Divine Arts!


    "What a pity..."


    "It seems that I have no fate with this ¡¯Life Essence Water¡¯."


    Ye Chen sighed.


    While Ye Chen sighed and many of the Heavenly Saints were stunned, there were still Heavenly Saints who spoke up, "I have three Divine Arts here, please come over and review the descriptions."


    Divine Arts were indeed very precious and rare, but there were many powerful figures in the arena, and some still had Divine Arts to offer.


    At that moment, under the competition for the Life Essence Water, they couldn¡¯t help but bring them out!


    As the late-stage Heavenly Saint spoke, the ice-blue dressed girl flew over directly and landed next to the late-stage Heavenly Saint, bowing her head to review the introductions of the three Divine Arts.


    However, just after perusing the introductions, the ice-blue dressed girl shook her head, "These are not the Divine Arts my master needs."


    Hearing the words of the ice-blue dressed girl, the late-stage Heavenly Saint couldn¡¯t conceal his disappointment as he put away the Divine Arts.


    The "Life Essence Water" came from the hands of the Little Saintess of the Luoshui Holy Land from the Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    If she didn¡¯t want to trade, there was nothing that could be done.


    However, the failure of one did not mean the failure of others. After that late-stage Heavenly Saint presented his Divine Arts, more than a dozen late-stage Heavenly Saints brought out their own Divine Arts, and even a few early and mid-stage powerful Heavenly Saints brought out three Divine Arts each, waiting for the ice-blue dressed girl¡¯s inspection.


    This surprised many people.


    Only when they truly needed to trade Divine Arts did many realize that quite a few people were hoarding them all along.


    The ice-blue girl entered the Void Sky box or came to the Void Sky seats to check one by one, but in the end, without exception, she shook her head.


    "Does anyone else have three Divine Arts?"


    "If not, then I can only follow my master¡¯s orders and take the ¡¯Life Essence Water¡¯ back."


    After inspecting around and not picking any satisfactory Divine Arts, the ice-blue girl spoke up, somewhat disappointed.


    "I have three Divine Arts here as well, sister, please come and inspect them," said Huo Mei¡¯er suddenly from the Void Sky box, who had remained silent until now.


    Huo Mei¡¯er?


    Ye Chen recognized the voice as Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s and a thought struck him, "She knew in advance that the Little Saintess from the Luoshui Holy Land would auction off a marquee treasure. Could it be that she was prepared for the auction¡¯s conditions?"


    As Ye Chen pondered, the ice-blue girl flew into the Void Sky box where Huo Mei¡¯er was.


    This time, the ice-blue girl stayed much longer than she had anywhere else.


    "Could it be that the girl sent by the Little Saintess of the Luoshui Holy Land has chosen the Divine Arts she wanted?"


    As many speculated, the ice-blue girl flew out of the Void Sky box where Huo Mei¡¯er was and smilingly said to the auctioneer in the black robe on the stage, "I have chosen the Divine Arts. ¡¯Life Essence Water¡¯ now belongs to the bidder in this box!"


    There was a buzz of conversation among the countless Martial Artists. They hadn¡¯t expected someone to actually present Divine Arts that satisfied the Little Saintess of the Luoshui Holy Land and secured the Life Essence Water!


    "Did Huo Mei¡¯er really get what she wanted?!" Ye Chen was also taken aback.


    But then he smiled.


    Like the Little Saintess, Huo Mei¡¯er was astute, and her abilities should be no less than those of the Little Saintess from the Luoshui Holy Land. That she was able to secure the "Life Essence Water" wasn¡¯t too surprising.


    With the girl sent by the Little Saintess personally selecting the bidder, the auctioneer in the black robe, of course, said nothing further.


    With a wave of his hand, he sent a beautiful girl with fox tails to deliver the "Life Essence Water" to Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s position.


    The auction of the second marquee treasure, the "Life Essence Water," which caused countless late-stage Heavenly Saints to go crazy and which was a great aid for crossing the Heavenly Tribulation, had finally ended with Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s successful bidding.


    Although many were internally sighing with disappointment, they quickly adjusted their mindset and turned their attention back to the auction stage.


    Because right then, the last and most precious of the eighteen auction treasures, and the final one of the three marquee treasures, was about to be presented.


    As the last marquee treasure was about to appear, those who had secretly known about this treasure all became visibly excited.


    Strong figures from over a dozen boxes all had sharp glints in their eyes.


    ```


    Even late-stage Heavenly Saints began to grow restless.


    In Ao Lei¡¯s private box within the void, he had already stood up completely, "The final treasure is coming up, the ultimate treasure! It seems that this grand auction has indeed saved that ultimate treasure for last!"


    "This time, I have to get it, no matter what it takes!"


    Those who knew about the last main treasure were fully stirred, while Ye Chen and others who were still in the dark were equally filled with anticipation for the final treasure.


    After all, anything that could serve as the grand finale, positioned after eighteen treasures, and even more precious than ¡¯Void Heaven Sword Embryo¡¯ and ¡¯Life Essence Water¡¯, was bound to be extraordinarily captivating without a doubt.


    As everyone¡¯s gaze converged on the auction stage, the elderly figure in the black robe on the stage took a deep breath and looked out over the entire auction hall, "The eighteenth treasure is always the most precious item from our Sand Sea Palace auction, and this time is no exception."


    "This final treasure is also highly relevant to the imminent Five Elements Mountain Exploration!"


    Having said that, the man in the black robe didn¡¯t bring out the final treasure but, with a grand wave of his hand, immediately conjured images of five giant mountains within the void above the auction stage.


    Upon seeing this, Ye Chen was momentarily taken aback; these five mountain images were precisely the same as the exploration sites of the Five Elements Mountain he had inquired about.


    "The final treasure has a major connection with the Five Elements Mountain? What could it be? Could it be inside the Five Elements Mountain?" Ye Chen was brimming with doubts.


    At that moment, the black-robed elder pointed to the five giant mountains in the void and said, "These five mountains¡ªif you¡¯ve come to the Heavenly Evolution Continent and are even about to participate in the Five Elements Mountain Exploration, you probably already know that this is the Five Elements Mountain."


    "The Five Elements Mountain harbors the mighty Heavenly Void Laws and is the most concentrated place of the Thirty-Three Continents¡¯ Five Great Heavenly Void Laws, making it the most precious location for comprehending these laws!"


    "As one of the three major explorations of the Thirty-Three Continents, the Five Elements Mountain is slightly safer than the ¡¯Ancient Royal Tomb Land,¡¯ but far more dangerous than the ¡¯Void Abyss.¡¯ Even late-stage Heavenly Saints from numerous continents have not fully understood this exploration site."


    "After countless exploritions, numerous powerful beings have summarized the Five Elements Mountain and, from front to back, categorized its five giant mountains as the First Mountain, the Second Mountain, the Third Mountain, the Fourth Mountain, and the innermost Fifth Mountain."


    The black-robed elder gestured toward the images of the five mountains and sequentially said, "The First Mountain, on the outermost layer, is the least dangerous, and one must especially beware of the Five Elements Phantom Beasts, particularly those at the level of late-stage Heavenly Saints; the Second Mountain is the place where the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws play out, filled with the most primal shocks and dangers of the natural world; the Third Mountain holds the extremely precious ¡¯Five Elements Divine Temple,¡¯ within which lie the insights and experiences left by powerful adventurers from past explorations¡ªimmensely valuable."


    "As for the Fourth Mountain, it is the deepest that adventurers can reach within the Five Elements Mountain! Beyond that lies the Fifth Mountain, which even the strongest beings from various continents, including those at the pinnacle of late-stage Heavenly Saint, dare not venture into."


    After giving a rough overview of the Five Elements Mountain, the black-robed elder went straight to the point, "The final treasure of this auction is related to the deepest boundary that explorers can reach within the Five Elements Mountain¡ªthe Fourth Mountain. This treasure is the¡ªTreasure Cave Key!"


    The Treasure Cave Key!


    When these four words were spoken, the entire auction hall erupted into a buzz, and the faces of the martial artists were filled with disbelief!


    "The final item is actually the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯!"


    "Heavens, how could someone possibly put the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ up for auction?!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen was also profoundly shaken!


    He had learned much about the Five Elements Mountain during his time at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, and his understanding had deepened further thanks to the Mystery Pavilion.


    Ye Chen was familiar with everything the black-robed elder had described about the First Mountain to the Fifth Mountain of the Five Elements Mountain.


    In his search for information, Ye Chen had also heard a secret about the Fourth Mountain¡¯s "Treasure Cave Key."


    The secret spoke of a supreme Divine Heritage Cave hidden within the Fourth Mountain of the Five Elements Mountain.


    Inside the Divine Heritage Cave lay astonishing Divine Arts heritage, genuine Divine Artifacts, Divine Fruit Divine Liquid, and even, it was rumored, the inheritance of True Gods with the potential to challenge the supreme calamity of ascending to the Void Sky True God¡ªprofound Secret Techniques...


    In short, the Divine Heritage Cave held every sublime treasure that countless martial artists on the Thirty-Three Continents could only dream of!


    Who wouldn¡¯t want to enter such a Divine Heritage Cave?


    Let alone late-stage Heavenly Saints, even many low-level Void Sky True Gods would probably yearn for entry!


    However, even Void Sky True Gods can¡¯t simply barge into this "Divine Heritage Cave," not to mention those of the Heavenly Saint mid or late stages below them.


    The only method of entry into the "Divine Heritage Cave" is through a supreme treasure known as "Treasure Cave Key."


    Legend has it that every hundred years, five "Treasure Cave Keys" would emerge within the Five Elements Mountain, and with them, one could enter the Divine Heritage Cave to seek fortune.


    Though the fortunes earned after entering could vary, even the smallest fortune would at least be of Divine Artifacts and Divine Skills Level. Greater fortunes could even include the heritage of Four Tribulations True Gods!


    Who wouldn¡¯t desire such a chance to enter the Divine Heritage Cave?!


    And who wouldn¡¯t vie for the only ticket into the Divine Heritage Cave, the "Treasure Cave Key"?!


    But anyone who obtained the "Treasure Cave Key" would not divulge such news. If it weren¡¯t for the fact that three great beings who had entered the Divine Heritage Cave and eventually ascended to Void Sky True God status revealed its existence, many might never have known about the Divine Heritage Cave and the supreme "Treasure Cave Key."


    The countless martial artists in the auction hall could never have imagined that someone would auction off the "Treasure Cave Key"!


    How could someone forgo their own chance to enter the Divine Heritage Cave and instead grant that opportunity to another?!


    Supreme treasure!


    A supreme treasure, the Treasure Cave Key!


    The ultimate grand finale of the grand auction turned out to be it!

 Chapter 417 - 378 The Ownership of the Treasure

    Seeing the martial artists in the auction hall visibly shaken and unable to believe that the "Treasure Cave Key" would appear at the grand auction, the man in the black robe explained, "The ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ appears only five times every hundred years, and whoever gets the Treasure Cave Key, and ultimately enters the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave,¡¯ has always been a secret, rarely known to outsiders."


    "This time, for this treasure to appear as the final crowning piece of the auction, it¡¯s also a matter of fate and coincidence,"


    "Now, I will explain the situation to you, and then you can consider for yourselves, with what price you want to take this treasure."


    As soon as the man in the black robe said this, the martial artists were all momentarily stunned, "Could it be that this ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ has some special unexpected change?"


    Seeing all the martial artists looking at him curiously, the man in the black robe smiled and said, "This ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ was found by a mid-staged Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist in a peculiar place just outside the Five Elements Mountain."


    "After obtaining the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key,¡¯ the mid-staged Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist sensed the guidance of the key and naturally knew that this treasure was the key to open the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave.¡¯ During the last Five Elements Mountain Exploration, he went straight to the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave,¡¯ ready to enter and seek his fortune with the help of the Treasure Cave Key."


    "However, when the martial artist arrived at the location of the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ rumored to be in the Fourth Mountain, he was shocked to find that a chaotic void stream had appeared in the heavenly moat between the Fifth Mountain and the Fourth Mountain, and the entire ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ had floated into the chaotic void stream between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains!"


    "The Fifth Mountain is the domain where all martial artists dare not set foot, even those of the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, because it is the most mysterious and unexplored domain of the Five Elements Mountain. The reason everyone dares not enter the Fifth Mountain is that the level of danger therein has reached the True God level, even a Void Sky True God might fall within!"


    "Let alone the late stage of Heavenly Saint Realm, there were a dozen or so existences at this stage who tried to enter the Fifth Mountain, only to perish on the way there instantaneously."


    "Since then, the Fifth Mountain has become an absolutely forbidden territory within the Five Elements Mountain, turning into an even more mysterious and unknown land."


    "Upon discovering that the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ had floated into the chaotic void stream between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains, the mid-staged Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist was already greatly startled, after all, he dared not rashly venture there when it involved the Fifth Mountain."


    "What stopped him even more was that, while the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ had floated between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains, a sky-shocking stele appeared outside the Divine Heritage Cave. The stele explained that after the changes in the Divine Heritage Cave, even those holding the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ may encounter life-threatening dangers upon entering, and nine out of ten who enter would likely perish!"


    "Ninety percent, this chance of perishing made the mid-staged Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist hesitate. Previously, despite the possibility of little gain from entering the Divine Heritage Cave, there was no risk to life, but now there is a ninety percent chance of falling upon entering, of course, this shocked the martial artist immensely."


    "While the sky-shocking stele also stated that those who enter the cave and survive would reap greater benefits than before, the ninety percent chance of perishing still made the martial artist ultimately choose not to enter the Treasure Cave. After all, before coming to this treasure-seeking adventure, the martial artist had already been favored by the Yan Clan, one of the six Ancient Clans of the Upper Realm Minor Spirit Realm, and was permitted to practice with them. He had no need to take this risk."


    "Thus, ultimately in the last exploration of the Five Elements Mountain, the martial artist did not use the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key,¡¯ but instead, he brought it out and entrusted it to us, the Mystery Pavilion and Heavenly Evolution Palace, for auction."


    "That¡¯s why this treasure appeared in this grand auction and eventually became the final crowning treasure!"


    "What I need to explain to you all is that the issue encountered by that martial artist has been confirmed by the late-staged Heavenly Saints of our Mystery Pavilion and Heavenly Evolution Palace."


    "Now, by using the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key,¡¯ it¡¯s still possible to enter the Divine Heritage Cave, and even acquire greater valued treasures. However, everyone will be facing a ninety percent risk of perishing. Whether or not you are willing to take this risk is also an issue that must be considered when deciding whether to bid for this ¡¯Treasure Cave Key.¡¯


    "Considering the value and risk of the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key,¡¯ the starting bid for this final crowning treasure is 20,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    When the man in the black robe finished explaining everything about the "Treasure Cave Key," he reached out into the void and a black iron box half a meter in length appeared in his hand.


    "What¡¯s inside here is the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key.¡¯ Those who wish to bid for this treasure, may now place their bids!"


    Boom!


    The man in the black robe¡¯s explanation of the "Treasure Cave Key" finally made everyone understand why the person who got the treasure did not use it themselves, and why this treasure appeared at this auction.


    It turns out that using this treasure now comes with a ninety percent chance of perishing!


    Of course, although the treasure has enormous risks, it is not without value; rather, its value has become even greater. After all, the sky-shocking stele clearly stated that as long as one doesn¡¯t perish in the Divine Heritage Cave, they will reap greater rewards than before.


    To know that previously, entering the "Divine Heritage Cave," at the very least, one could obtain Divine Arts or even a Divine Artifact. It¡¯s hard to imagine what astonishing treasures one could acquire now, if they survive.


    A starting bid of 20,000 is undoubtedly worth it for a chance to attain the divine inheritance!


    As expected, even after the man in the black robe disclosed the dangers of the "Treasure Cave Key," the moment he announced the starting bid, an extremely old martial artist at the late stage of Heavenly Saint Realm immediately said, "I bid 25,000 top-grade Spirit Stones for this treasure!"


    This extremely old late-staged Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist also said, "I have sensed that my life span is coming to an end, and unlike the previous owner of this treasure, I do not have the favor of the six Ancient Clans of the Upper Realm. Now, I only have this last gamble left, this ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ and the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ are my final chance to struggle for a breakthrough, no matter how dangerous, I¡¯m all in!"


    "Senior Xiao is right, as martial artists, every time we venture into secret realms, isn¡¯t it always a narrow escape from death? Every ordeal, haven¡¯t we nearly perished? Fortune favors the bold, not to mention a ten percent chance of survival, even for half that chance, I¡¯m willing to gamble it all for the Divine Heritage Cave!" another late-staged Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist said determinedly, "I bid 27,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    "29,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    "30,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Upon the unveiling of this final showstopper treasure, all the powerhouses became agitated, their thirst for the Divine Heritage Cave undeterred by the danger.


    Unnoticeably, the price of this "Treasure Cave Key" had already been driven up to 35,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!


    Seeing this, Ye Chen sighed, "It is indeed as those martial artists said, ¡¯Fortune comes with risk.¡¯ Even if there is a ninety percent chance of falling, they still wish to compete."


    "After all, not many have the chance to cultivate with the guidance from the Ancient Clans of the Upper Realm. Missing this opportunity for the Divine Heritage Cave, one might regret it for a lifetime, or even fall faster in the outside world."


    Ye Chen could empathize with the mindset of these martial artists vying for the "Treasure Cave Key."


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t particularly interested in bidding for this "Treasure Cave Key."


    On the one hand, the ninety percent chance of perishing was not worth the risk for him; on the other, he had many opportunities still in progress.


    Not only did he possess the Primordial Star Scripture, but he also had the Beiming Secret Tome from the Beiming Clan, one of the six Ancient Clans. Even when two True Gods from the Divine Phoenix Clan were willing to teach him, he hadn¡¯t agreed.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had ties with the Yan Clan, one of the six Ancient Clans in the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm. He had previously battled the granddaughter of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Yan Ling¡¯er, in the Ancient God Tower. She gave Ye Chen an Ancient Token of the Yan Clan and told him he could go to the Yan Clan for cultivation anytime.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t compete with so many others for a Divine Heritage Cave with a ninety percent chance of downfall.


    His primary mission on this trip to the Five Elements Mountain was to break through to a higher realm within the Rotating Pill Realm and cultivate the Five Great Divine Arts of the Taiyuan Divine Pill. Everything else was secondary.


    Ye Chen may not have been keen on fighting for this "Treasure Cave Key," but countless great powers were already battling for it with intense fervor.


    Even Ao Lei from the Ten Thousand Beasts Alliance, who had been extremely interested in this supreme treasure early on, joined the bidding fray.


    "38,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!" Ao Lei had now bid a price of 38,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!


    In his heart, Ao Lei exclaimed, "I must obtain this supreme treasure!"


    "Others may think the Divine Heritage Cave is incredibly dangerous, but a powerhouse from my clan acquired a ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ last time, and secretly entered the post-transition Divine Heritage Cave, obtaining a strange object that¡¯s greatly beneficial for navigating the Divine Heritage Cave. With this supreme treasure, and relying on that strange object, I have at least a fifty percent chance of successfully entering the post-transition Divine Heritage Cave!"


    "A fifty percent chance of success is much safer than many other explorative sites. Of course, I¡¯d dare to take this risk, and of course, I¡¯d dare to snatch this ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯!"


    After Ao Lei¡¯s bid, the first elder who had also reached the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm raised the bid once more, "43,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    "46,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!" Ao Lei continued his bid.


    "47,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!" An existence from the Heavenly Vast Continent, also in the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, shouted out his price.


    "48,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!" Ao Lei, undeterred, kept bidding.


    As the end approached, the competition dwindled, but Ao Lei persisted.


    Having failed to acquire the Void Heaven Sword Embryo earlier, and with 70,000 top-grade Spirit Stones untouched, he certainly had enough to compete for this ultimate treasure.


    Even though the price had exceeded his expectations, he dared to bid.


    "52,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    "53,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    "55,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!"


    Ultimately, the eighteenth item, the most important final showstopper treasure, the key for entering the Divine Heritage Cave, "Treasure Cave Key," was successfully won by Ao Lei for the price of 55,000 top-grade Spirit Stones!


    When Ao Lei exchanged the Spirit Stones with the beautiful girl with the fox tail, and successfully got his hands on the black iron box containing the "Treasure Cave Key," taking out a nearly half-meter-long, broad and thick iron strip engraved with inscrutable Divine Patterns, he felt the pull of the strip guiding him towards that mysterious "Divine Heritage Cave," his face revealing a satisfied smile!


    With the final item finding its owner, the grand auction finally came to a close.

 Chapter 418 - 379: The Three Great Saints

    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After the grand auction ended, figures flew out of the auction hall one by one, eventually leaving the Sand Sea Palace.


    Some had come specifically for the Sand Sea Palace auction and, with its conclusion, directly headed towards their new destinations. Others were adventurers who were about to partake in the exploration of "Five Elements Mountain" starting in three days and, after the auction, hurried back to Rift Sky City.


    Ye Chen also flew out of the palace hall and returned to the vast desert.


    This trip to the Sand Sea Palace¡¯s auction had been a great success for Ye Chen.


    Not only had he secured a mysterious plaque involving secrets of three great adventures at the first dispersal sale, along with a greenish-bronze piece able to detect the Wood Element Secret Treasure, but he also acquired a box of lower-grade saintly water element treasures, three lower-grade saintly earth element treasures, and bought the strange "Five-Leaf Celestial Fragrance Fruit" for the little monkey.


    An even greater haul had come during the second part of the official auction where Ye Chen had found the long-sought-after metal element treasure, the high-grade metal element sacred fruit known as "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit"!


    With this "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit," Ye Chen could start practicing the metal element divine arts, and finally, all five of his divine arts could be cultivated!


    Besides the Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit, Ye Chen¡¯s greatest acquisition from the auction was the Semi-Divine Artifact "Void Heaven Sword Embryo."


    Having the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo," it became possible for Ye Chen to repair the damage to his life-bound flying sword "Crimson Fire" and to nurture and evolve it once again!


    Although he had not obtained the better treasures "Life Origin Water" and "Treasure Realm Key" that followed, those items were not as useful to Ye Chen as the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, and thus, he felt no disappointment.


    After flying back into the vast desert and tallying his gains from the Sand Sea Palace auction, Ye Chen was preparing to return to the "Expansion Tower" in Rift Sky City when he heard Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s voice behind him, "Ye Chen, wait up!"


    "Huo Mei¡¯er?"


    Ye Chen turned around and saw Huo Mei¡¯er, smiling like a blooming flower, flying towards him, with the two girls who always accompanied her at her side. Your adventure continues at empire


    Seeing Ye Chen looking over, the two girls also offered him a gentle smile.


    "What¡¯s up, Huo Mei¡¯er?" Ye Chen stopped and asked Huo Mei¡¯er.


    In an instant, Huo Mei¡¯er landed beside Ye Chen, giving him a light smile, "Nothing much, just where are you staying, Ye Chen?"


    Ye Chen replied, "Expansion Tower!"


    "Expansion Tower, that¡¯s such a coincidence, we¡¯re staying there too. Let¡¯s head back together," Huo Mei¡¯er smiled, "I would also like to learn about your divine arts."


    "Head back together?" Ye Chen hesitated momentarily, then nodded his head, "Alright then, let¡¯s go together."


    Seeing Ye Chen agree, Huo Mei¡¯er and the other two girls smiled and nodded their heads.


    They chatted with Ye Chen as they flew in the direction of Rift Sky City.


    Not long after Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er disappeared from the entrance of Sand Sea Palace, Ao Lei emerged with seven members of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    At that moment, Ao Lei¡¯s expression was somber as he looked at his companions, Ao Xuan and Ao Ming, and transmitted his voice, "Uncle Xuan, what should we do? I didn¡¯t expect Ye Chen to be followed by Huo Mei¡¯er as soon as he left."


    "Is Huo Mei¡¯er deliberately opposing us and protecting that Ye Chen on purpose?"


    "Uncle Xuan, shall we take action and take care of Huo Mei¡¯er as well?"


    Fuming with the thought of Ye Chen repeatedly thwarting him, even snatching away the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, Ao Lei could barely contain his killing intent.


    At this time, both Ao Xuan and Ao Ming, the two late-stage Heavenly Saints, were frowning deeply, "That Huo Mei¡¯er comes from the Heavenly Fire Holy Land, she¡¯s not that easy to deal with."


    "Don¡¯t be fooled by her being accompanied only by two maidservants, there are certainly experts protecting her in secret, likely the first warrior of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land, Elder Wu Changkong!"


    "Elder Wu Changkong? Who¡¯s that?" Ao Lei was taken aback, "Just an elder, Uncle Xuan, Uncle Ming, do you still have to fear him?"


    Ao Ming shook his head at that moment, "That Huo Mei¡¯er is rumored to be heading to Five Elements Mountain; Elder Wu certainly wouldn¡¯t leave her unprotected. If Elder Wu is there, the two of us might not even be able to handle Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s side, let alone Ye Chen¡¯s two Heavenly Saints. To kill them without attracting attention, it¡¯s too difficult."


    "Young Master, with Huo Mei¡¯er meddling, it seems this time it won¡¯t be feasible to casually kill Ye Chen and take back the Void Heaven Sword Embryo," they stated.


    Not feasible?


    Hearing his two most formidable Heavenly Saints, Ao Xuan and Ao Ming, speak like this, Ao Lei¡¯s eyebrows twitched, "Just let Ye Chen go like that? He¡¯s taken the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, the Semi-Divine Artifact that even my father needs; we absolutely can¡¯t let him off so easily!"


    "No, Uncle Xuan, Uncle Ming, we can¡¯t just let Ye Chen off!"


    "Letting Ye Chen off?" Ao Xuan and Ao Ming glanced at each other and shook their heads in unison, "Young Master, now that we¡¯ve confirmed that Ye Chen is heading to Five Elements Mountain, we¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities to eliminate him."


    "After all, in the Five Elements Mountain, even if explorers don¡¯t meet on the first mountain, they will eventually run into each other on the second or third mountains. As long as we encounter Ye Chen there, killing him on Five Elements Mountain without anyone knowing it was our doing."


    "Before, I was concerned that he came from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, such a genius, and his relationship with Yuan Li is surely not shallow. Although the Barbaric Wilderness Continent overall might not be as strong as our Beast Alliance, the number one sect of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Heavenly Sacred Palace¡¯s Master Yuan Li, is stronger than all of us, barely weaker than the Alliance Leader. If we were to kill Ye Chen outside, it could well provoke Master Yuan Li¡¯s wrath, putting our entire Beast Alliance in great danger."

 Chapter 419 - 379: The Three Saint Heirs_2

    "But if we kill Ye Chen at Five Elements Mountain, when we set up the Heavenly Saint Space barrier, no one will know it was our doing. Not even Yuan Li would guess that Ye Chen died at our hands. After all, at Five Elements Mountain, there are countless ways to perish; no one will know how Ye Chen died."


    Hearing Ao Xuan and Ao Ming speak so, Ao Lei¡¯s somber expression finally eased slightly, "Hmph, then this kid is lucky, he gets to live a few more days."


    "There are only three days left for the adventure in Five Elements Mountain. Soon, this kid won¡¯t be so lucky. I don¡¯t believe that Huo Mei¡¯er can protect him the whole time. In Five Elements Mountain, they are bound to be separated!"


    Seeing Ao Lei¡¯s face relax, Ao Xuan and Ao Ming also smiled, "Alright, Young Master, let¡¯s not worry about Ye Chen for now. We should head back and properly prepare for the adventure with the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ to explore the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯! That¡¯s the priority!"


    At the mention of the "Divine Heritage Cave", a spark of eagerness flashed in Ao Lei¡¯s eyes, "Divine Heritage Cave, I¡¯ve long heard Uncle Flying Spirit talk about his last entry, the mystery and wonders, I can¡¯t wait to go in..."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After their exchange, Ao Lei, Ao Xuan, Ao Ming, and the others moved swiftly and vanished into the vast desert.


    ...


    Heavenly Evolution Tower.


    Within Ye Chen¡¯s living quarters, inside the cultivation chamber.


    After returning to Heavenly Evolution Tower, Ye Chen talked with Huo Mei¡¯er for a while before saying farewell to each other. Ye Chen then returned to his own room.


    From the fact that Huo Mei¡¯er had been sticking to him with banter all the way back to Heavenly Evolution Tower, Ye Chen had an inkling of her intentions.


    "Probably, Huo Mei¡¯er was worried about Ao Lei causing me trouble, and that¡¯s why she accompanied me back, right..."


    Ye Chen smiled faintly.


    He didn¡¯t expose Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s intentions, nor did he say that he wasn¡¯t afraid of Ao Lei.


    After all, Huo Mei¡¯er had good intentions. On the Heavenly Evolution Continent, his acquaintance with Huo Mei¡¯er had begun with a fight; having one more caring friend was a good thing.


    As for Ao Lei...


    Thinking of Ao Lei, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes grew cold: "You dare to give me trouble? Then bring it on; we¡¯ll see who¡¯s the real trouble for whom!"


    After putting Ao Lei¡¯s matter aside, Ye Chen took out all the treasures he had acquired at the auction in the Sand Sea Palace, one by one, in the cultivation chamber.


    Void Heaven Sword Embryo, Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit, a low-grade holy Earth-attribute secret treasure, a low-grade holy Water-attribute secret treasure, and a mysterious wooden plaque...


    After taking a good look at each treasure again, Ye Chen stored all the other treasures except for several Five Elements Secret Treasures.


    "There are three days until the exploration of Five Elements Mountain. These three days, I better take the chance to cultivate more!"


    A good sword is forged with sharpening!


    Every bit of progress can¡¯t be separated from daily hard practice!


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t be complacent or neglectful of cultivation. He knew that any bit of self-indulgence could potentially bring real threats of death when facing crises in the future.


    Only by diligently training and making oneself more capable and confident can one be fearless of any threat!


    Whoosh!


    With a thought, Ye Chen began to absorb and refine the first treasure, the low-grade holy Water-attribute secret treasure.


    ...


    Three days passed in a flash.


    When the day of the Five Elements Mountain adventure officially arrived, bright and early, the Adventure Talisman on Ye Chen emitted a signal, guiding the adventurers to gather in Rift Sky City!


    Ye Chen was jolted awake from his cultivation by the resonance of the waves.


    "So soon, three days have passed?"


    Upon opening his eyes, Ye Chen glanced at his Adventure Talisman and smiled faintly as he rose from his cultivation.


    "Three days is really too short." Find your next adventure on empire


    "In these three days, I¡¯ve only managed to refine a low-grade saintly water-element secret treasure and a low-grade saintly earth-element secret treasure. I¡¯ve only just begun to cultivate and absorb the ¡¯Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit¡¯, a gold-element secret treasure, refining less than one twentieth of it."


    "I¡¯m afraid it will take at least another month to refine all of the Five Elements Secret Treasures on my body!"


    Ye Chen said, feeling sentimental.


    "However..."


    Within this sentiment, Ye Chen stretched out his hand, and poof, poof, poof, poof, poof, five divine lights simultaneously burst forth from his palm.


    These five divine lights were unmistakably the fighting lights of the Five Great Divine Arts: gold, wood, water, fire, and earth!


    "However... after beginning to refine the ¡¯Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit¡¯, I can now use all of the Five Great Divine Arts! The gold-attribute ¡¯Golden Light Divine Slash¡¯, the wood-attribute Wood-Attribute Divine Art, the water-attribute ¡¯Heaven Origin Divine Water¡¯, the fire-attribute ¡¯Devouring Heavenly True Fire¡¯, and the earth-attribute ¡¯Earth Returning Origin Jue¡¯. Now, finally, they all possess the power of combat!"


    Ye Chen looked at the five rays of divine light on his palm, his heart swelling with pride.


    Now, the power of these Five Great Divine Arts had already made his combat strength among the top in the mid Heavenly Saint stage, and in time, once he fully mastered all Five Great Divine Arts, he would fear no Heavenly Saint, fear not a single person in all thirty-three continents!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen flipped his hand and reabsorbed the five divine lights back into his body.


    His gaze then turned to the nine frozen guardians within the Divine Ice Jade Pendant, to the Heavenly Ring in the same pendant, and to the little monkey inside the Heavenly Ring.


    "Nine seniors."


    "Little monkey."


    "Today, we set off to venture into that mysterious and dangerous Five Elements Mountain!"


    ...


    As Ye Chen left the Heavenly Evolution Tower, with the nine frozen guardians and the little monkey from the Divine Ice Jade Pendant, heading towards the gathering place in Rift Sky City,


    Thousands of figures also flew towards the gathering spot.


    Among these figures were Huo Mei¡¯er, Ao Lei, disciples from the Heavenly Saint Palace from the Barbarian Continent, and powerful warriors from across the thirty-three continents...


    Meanwhile, in the void, three more people were also heading towards that gathering place.


    "Lieyang brother, being the foremost Saint Heir of our five continents, why do you also journey to the Five Elements Mountain for adventure? That Five Elements Mountain should have little to excite your interest by now," a young man among the three smiled and asked the white-clad man in the center.


    The white-clad man, smiling in response was handsome and elegant, every movement carried an air of looking down upon the world!


    His eyes shone brightly, as if with the gleam of a golden sun, and he looked towards the meeting place for the expedition to Five Elements Mountain in Rift Sky City, saying with a light smile, "This trip to the Five Elements Mountain is merely to seek one item and slay one person."


    If someone recognized these three figures in the void, they would be astounded. These three were none other than the Saint Heirs from three sacred lands on the Xuanjin Continent, Qingmu Continent, and Xugu Continent of the five great Void Heaven Law continents!


    Their reputation was akin to that of Huo Mei¡¯er and the Little Saintess of the Luoshui Holy Land on the Water Element Continent of Tianmiao Continent.


    And this handsome man in white, was none other than the foremost among the five great Saint Heirs and Saintesses of the five great sacred lands, the Inherited Saint of Xuanjin Continent, a top-tier late-stage Heavenly Saint¡ªJin Lieyang!

 Chapter 420 - 380: Gathering of Forces

    The exploration team heading towards the Five Elements Mountain converged on a huge platform to the north of Rift Sky City.


    As Ye Chen neared the gathering spot, he could see from afar that the platform and the void above it were filled with countless figures of warriors. These warriors were packed so densely that there must have been at least a thousand or two!


    "The Five Elements Mountain exploration truly lives up to its reputation as one of the three grand explorations joined by the thirty-three continents¡ªthere are indeed many participants!"


    "Moreover, these people all stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm after fusing all five Divine Patterns and are either Five Apertures Rotating Pill Realm powerhouses or Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses."


    Ye Chen had learned from Palace Master Yuan Li on his way to join the Five Elements Mountain exploration that there would be fifty people from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent participating in this exploration.


    The Barbaric Wilderness Continent was just one of the thirty-three continents. With fifty people from one continent, the total from thirty-three continents would be as many as a thousand or two thousand!


    Not to mention those continents contributing even more participants than the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Ye Chen also heard that the quotas for the Five Elements Mountain exploration were restricted only for those below the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm. Those below the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm must obtain an Adventure Talisman to enter the Five Elements Mountain.


    However, for late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses, as long as the exploration in the Five Elements Mountain begins, they can enter and have their own adventure if they wish.


    After all, late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warriors are among the most elite figures across the thirty-three continents, and many rules practically become redundant in front of them.


    When Ye Chen flew to the empty space above the platform, many warriors turned to look at him.


    After all, Ye Chen had defeated Ao Lei to win the final auction item, the "Void Heaven Sword Embryo," at the Sand Sea Palace auction, drawing the attention of many.


    Now, many warriors at the scene had attended the Sand Sea Palace auction and naturally recognized Ye Chen.


    "That¡¯s the young man who contended with Ao Lei for the Void Heaven Sword Embryo. I inquired about him; his name is Ye Chen, a talented youth from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    "He dared to vie with Ao Lei for treasures. I thought Ao Lei would cause him trouble, but seeing him safe and sound, it¡¯s clear that even Ao Lei has no way to deal with him. It seems this youth indeed has great strength. When we enter the Five Elements Mountain, we¡¯d better not provoke him."


    Many warriors were looking at Ye Chen and whispering among themselves.


    Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense was incredibly strong, so he could hear everyone¡¯s private conversations clearly. However, Ye Chen just smiled faintly without offering any explanations as he moved to seek a quiet spot to sit in meditation, waiting for the formal start of the Five Elements Mountain exploration.


    Just then, a familiar voice called out to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, come over here!"


    Looking towards the source of the voice, Ye Chen saw one of the three great palace masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Skyscraper Palace Master, smiling and waving at him.


    "Skyscraper Palace Master, are you also participating in the Five Elements Mountain exploration?"


    Ye Chen was momentarily taken aback, then his figure burst forth, instantly shooting over to the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s side. Find your next read at empire


    Behind the Skyscraper Palace Master, Ye Chen saw about thirty or forty people from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, presumably a group of the fifty from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent who were participating in the Five Elements Mountain exploration.


    "Ye Chen, I just arrived at the Heavenly Evolution Continent yesterday and already heard quite a bit of news about you," said the Skyscraper Palace Master with a smile as he saw Ye Chen settle beside him, "I heard you had a gambling match with the Little Saintess of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land and won, and that you defeated that Beast Union¡¯s Ao Lei at the Sand Sea Palace auction, securing an exceedingly valuable treasure!"


    "It seems that we, the palace masters, underestimated you. You are not only an absolute genius at our Heavenly Sacred Palace, but you also stand out among the powerful figures of the thirty-three continents."


    As the Skyscraper Palace Master praised Ye Chen, other disciples from the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the Heavenly Saints looked excitedly towards him.


    Among these people, there were disciples from the Rotating Pill Realm, as well as Heavenly Saints who had cultivated at the Heavenly Saint Mountain, with the majority being early-stage Heavenly Saints. Even the early-stage Heavenly Saints had been extremely low-profile after arriving at Rift Sky City.


    After all, the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was not considered the most powerful among the thirty-three continents, and their strengths were not prominent among the powerful figures of the thirty-three continents; being low-profile was their only option.


    They never imagined that Ye Chen, who came from the same Heavenly Sacred Palace as them, would shine so brightly upon arriving in the thirty-three continents!


    He feared not even Ao Lei from the Beast Union and defeated the Little Saintess from the Heavenly Fire Holy Land!


    This was indeed a proud moment for the warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    As fellow adventurers from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent partaking in the great exploration, they felt honored and proud to have such a young powerhouse like Ye Chen among them.


    Hearing the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s praise and seeing the excitement of others, Ye Chen smiled and shook his head. He didn¡¯t pursue the topic further but instead asked the Skyscraper Palace Master, "Palace Master, are you also joining the Five Elements Mountain exploration this time?"


    The Skyscraper Palace Master laughed, "This time, I¡¯m here on the orders of Palace Master Yuan Li to look after the adventurers from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Palace Master Yuan Li especially mentioned you to me..."


    While Ye Chen was exchanging words with the Skyscraper Palace Master and the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, many more people were flying towards the gathering spot.


    ```


    Among them, there were people from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent who came later, and even more so, there were adventurers from each of the other thirty-two continents.


    When Huo Mei¡¯er, along with Ao Lei, arrived at the gathering spot, it certainly caused quite a spectacle and clamor.


    This time, Huo Mei¡¯er brought not only two maidservants but also eight equally incomparably beautiful women. These women were all exceptionally beautiful, and especially in the Leaving Fire Continent¡¯s Fire Rune robes, they had a unique allure.


    Furthermore, with Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s pure and enchanting supreme beauty at the lead, naturally, she drew the continuous gaze of various warriors.


    Ye Chen was amidst the crowd from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, observing the eight women who came with Huo Mei¡¯er. When he saw that they were all from the Heavenly Saint Realm, Huo Mei¡¯er caught sight of Ye Chen.


    In the midst of countless warriors¡¯ stares, she led the group of beautiful women directly to Ye Chen¡¯s side and greeted him with a smile.


    This situation made the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent around Ye Chen feel both flush with excitement and slight embarrassment, while other warriors from different regions, seeing all these beautiful women gathering around Ye Chen, were filled with immense envy.


    Another great commotion was when Ao Lei made his entrance.


    The alliance of the Wan Beasts, which Ao Lei represented, spanned five continents. The adventurers from these five continents who had come to the Five Elements Mountain this time added up to over three hundred people!


    This number was the most among all the forces, naturally drawing immense attention!


    Apart from the two Heavenly Saints in the late stages leading the three hundred-plus adventurers from the Wan Beast Alliance, what was even more eye-catching were the four late-stage Heavenly Saints who were specifically assigned to protect Ao Lei.


    Having four late-stage Heavenly Saints all at once appearing to personally guard someone was probably the grandest display among all the adventurers!


    Upon arriving at the gathering spot, Ao Lei¡¯s eyes scanned the crowd and immediately spotted Ye Chen. His eyes flickered with an inexplicable meaning as he looked at Ye Chen.


    At that moment, Ye Chen also saw Ao Lei and the four Heavenly Saints beside him. Ye Chen gave a light smile and then continued to turn his head and chat with Huo Mei¡¯er.


    Seeing Ye Chen ignoring him and only talking to Huo Mei¡¯er made Ao Lei¡¯s eyes turn colder, and he thought sharply, "Hmph, Ye Chen, bask in your arrogance while you can. I want to see how long you can rely on Huo Mei¡¯er. When you part ways with her, that will be the time of your demise!"


    All the adventurers believed that Ao Lei¡¯s arrival would be the grandest scene witnessed among the gathered adventurers. However, when the Saint Heirs from the Xuanjin Continent, Qingmu Continent, and Xugu Continent arrived, the countless late-stage Heavenly Saints present were truly shaken.


    "My heavens, the three great Saint Heirs, how come they¡¯ve all come this time?"


    "Especially Jin Lieyang from Xuanjin Continent, he is already at the pinnacle of the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm. It¡¯s said that he has entered the Five Elements Mountain several times already, and he¡¯s doing so again?"


    These late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings couldn¡¯t help but be astonished. The Xuanjin Continent, Qingmu Continent, and Xugu Continent, along with the Leaving Fire Continent and Tianmiao Continent, were among the thirty-three continents known to have the most Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses.


    Though these five continents had not formed an alliance, their mutual connections made their combined strength far surpass the Wan Beast Alliance!


    Especially regarding the five Saint Heirs and Saintesses of the five continents, they were the talk of countless people across the thirty-three continents.


    All warriors did not expect that after seeing Huo Mei¡¯er arrive, they would be able to witness Saint Heirs from three other continents arriving as well.


    Aside from the Little Saintess from the Heavenly Evolution Continent¡¯s Luo Water Holy Land, it was almost as if four out of the five Saint Heirs and Saintesses of the five continents had appeared all at once!


    This was probably an unprecedented event in the history of adventures to the Five Elements Mountain!


    Everyone¡¯s attention, in particular, fell on Jin Lieyang, the white-robed handsome young man leading the three Saints. Jin Lieyang¡¯s own cultivation had already reached the absolute peak of the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, and it was rumored that he had the inheritance Holy Crystal of the Xuanjin Continent¡¯s sacred ground. With the help of the Holy Crystal, he could invoke incredible sacred ground divine abilities.


    His strength made all the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings shudder, naturally becoming the focus of everyone¡¯s attention.


    Even among Ao Lei¡¯s entourage, Ao Xuan and Ao Ming, upon seeing Jin Lieyang¡¯s arrival, had their gazes intensely solidify, and they immediately lowered their heads to instruct Ao Lei, telling him not to provoke Jin Lieyang under any circumstances!


    "Are these the Saint Heirs from the three other great continents that rival the Leaving Fire Continent?"


    Ye Chen looked towards the three great Saint Heirs, and upon seeing the faint Divine Patterns on their foreheads, his heart stirred as well.


    He knew that the faint Divine Patterns on the foreheads of these three Saint Heirs must be similar to the faint Fire Rune on Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s forehead, containing powerful Holy Crystals.


    "Huo Mei¡¯er, I¡¯ve heard that the five great continents are closely linked like branches of the same tree. Now that the three Saint Heirs have arrived, why don¡¯t you go and meet them?" Ye Chen found it strange when he saw Huo Mei¡¯er show no sign of movement upon the arrival of the three Saint Heirs, so he asked her.


    Huo Mei¡¯er gave Ye Chen a gentle smile, stepped into the void, and walked towards the three Saint Heirs; however, as she moved, Ye Chen heard her secretive transmission, "Ye Chen, our five sacred lands are not as close as they appear on the surface. Particularly this Jin Lieyang, he¡¯s not a simple man. When you enter the Land of the Five Elements, be very wary of him."


    As Huo Mei¡¯er transmitted her message, she had already reached Jin Lieyang¡¯s side.


    Seeing Huo Mei¡¯er approaching, the two Saint Heirs beside Jin Lieyang both showed smiles, and Jin Lieyang too looked at Huo Mei¡¯er with a smile, "Junior Sister Mei¡¯er, it¡¯s been a long time. I didn¡¯t expect you¡¯d come to the Five Elements Mountain this time."


    ```

 Chapter 421 - 381 Five Elements Mountain

    Huo Mei¡¯er smiled gently at Jin Lieyang and said, "I¡¯m surprised to see you, Jin, at the Five Elements Mountain."


    After exchanging pleasantries with the Three Great Saints for a while, Huo Mei¡¯er returned to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    Not long after the arrival of the Three Great Saints, five more late-stage Heavenly Saints hastened to the gathering place. After that, no one else appeared.


    All the participants for the Five Elements Mountain expedition had arrived!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s gaze swept over the area, he ascertained the number of adventurers. This time, a total of two thousand three hundred and sixty-two people from the thirty-three continents had joined the expedition to the Five Elements Mountain.


    Of course, this didn¡¯t include those hidden within spatial treasures.


    Like Ye Chen, who carried nine major icy guards with him, he was sure there were many others who also secretly brought along late-stage Heavenly Saint experts as a covert protective measure for entering the expedition site.


    Of course, martial artists below the late-stage Heavenly Saint level dared not bring anyone in spatial treasures into the Five Elements Mountain. Ye Chen had already inquired; aside from those who were late-stage Heavenly Saints and those who possessed expedition tokens, others, if hidden within spatial treasures, could easily be killed by the forces at the checkpoints.


    There were, however, exceptions regarding certain spatial treasures, like the divine artifact "Ice Snow Jade Amulet" Ye Chen carried, which could transport lower-level martial artists into the Five Elements Mountain.


    But the dangers of the Five Elements Mountain were unparalleled, and nobody would casually take low-level martial artists inside.


    Once all the personnel had arrived, the agreed-upon time for the official start of the Five Elements Mountain expedition finally came.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    At the appointed time, two figures appeared out of the void.


    One was clad in the robes of Heavenly Evolution Palace, and the other in the robes of the Mystery Pavilion¡ªnone other than the founders of the two largest second-tier sects of the Heavenly Evolution Continent: the old ancestor of the Heavenly Evolution Palace and the Mystery Heavenly Saint of the late-stage Heavenly Saint from the Mystery Pavilion.


    Upon seeing these two figures, Ye Chen¡¯s breath caught in his chest.


    Although they weren¡¯t emanating any aura, Ye Chen knew by intuition that their strength was greater than that of Palace Master Yuan Li, likely ranking among the topmost layer of power among the late-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Then, from within the divine artifact "Ice Snow Jade Amulet," came the voice of Bing Shiyi: "Ye Chen, these two are probably the strongest late-stage Heavenly Saints here. Their strength is only slightly less than Bing Shier and me, stronger than the other guards!"


    Hearing Bing Shiyi¡¯s words, Ye Chen was equally astonished: "That strong?!"


    Ye Chen knew that being one of the Heavenly Saint-level guards capable of serving the Ice-Sealed God King, from Bing Shiyi to Bing Shijiu, their strength was terrifying to contemplate.


    Now the fact that the two Heavenly Saints from the two major second-tier sects of the Heavenly Evolution Continent were only slightly weaker than the top nine icy guards of Bing Shiyi and Bing Shier naturally caused him immense shock.


    While Ye Chen was still reeling with shock, the other adventurers¡¯ gazes were all fixated on the old ancestor from Heavenly Evolution Palace and the Mystery Heavenly Saint.


    Even Jin Lieyang, the leader of the Three Great Saints, bowed respectfully to these two Heavenly Saints.


    At that moment, the old ancestor from Heavenly Evolution Palace and the Mystery Heavenly Saint, looking at the more than two thousand adventurers, finally spoke: "This expedition to the Five Elements Mountain will be led by the two of us."


    "Before heading to the Five Elements Mountain, there are some things you may already know, but I still want to emphasize them once again."


    "The Five Elements Mountain is divided into the First Mountain, Second Mountain, Third Mountain, Fourth Mountain, and Fifth Mountain. While the first four mountains are extremely dangerous, if you are extremely cautious, there is still a great chance of survival."


    "But as for the Fifth Mountain, you must absolutely not set foot there; no matter how formidable you are or how many hidden trump cards you have, once you step onto the Fifth Mountain, you are likely to face annihilation!"


    The words of the old ancestor from Heavenly Evolution Palace and the Mystery Heavenly Saint caused countless adventurers, even those who were late-stage Heavenly Saints, to have a moment of intense concentration.


    They had heard of the dangers of the Fifth Mountain, but the repeated emphasis from these two great Heavenly Saints made them all the more determined to steer clear of it!


    "Apart from the Fifth Mountain, you may attempt to explore the other four gigantic mountains."


    "There is no set pattern for the expedition; in any case, be very cautious¡ªstaying alive is the most important thing!"


    After saying this, the two great Heavenly Saints looked at the adventurers in the field with an almost amused expression: "The perils of the Five Elements Mountain don¡¯t only lie in the dangers of the expedition site but also in the dangers posed by the other martial artists."


    "This, I need not explain in detail; you should understand it yourselves."


    With this subtle hint from the two great Heavenly Saints, countless martial artists felt a jolt of alarm.


    Of course, they understood what the two great Heavenly Saints meant.


    The Five Elements Mountain, as an expedition site, was bound to reveal treasures of incredible value, and the inevitable strife that these treasures would provoke could not be avoided.


    And it wasn¡¯t just strife over valuables that was feared; many grudges and mortal enemies would likely take advantage of the Five Elements Mountain to settle things once and for all.


    In the past, countless adventurers who explored the Five Elements Mountain perished amidst the myriad dangers of the expedition, definitely not at the hands of other adventurers.


    This was something all adventurers knew in their hearts.


    Upon hearing the words of the two Heavenly Saints, many people secretly cast wary glances at those around them, and there were quite a few with plans in mind whose eyes flickered with a cold light that went unnoticed by anyone, clearly harboring malicious intentions.


    Among them was Ao Lei, who had always wanted to target Ye Chen!


    What perhaps no one knew was that Jin Lieyang, the lead figure among the Three Great Saints, also had cold light flashing in the depths of his eyes!


    Even the other two saints accompanying Jin Lieyang did not know what Jin meant by saying they were going to the Five Elements Mountain to "seize one thing, kill one person," what exactly they were to seize, and who they were to kill.


    After reminding the adventurers to beware of other martial artists, the elder of Heavenly Evolution emphasized one last thing, "The most important matter for this expedition is that you only have three months¡¯ time."


    "After three months, regardless of where you are in the Five Elements Mountain, you must make your way to one of the ninety-nine virtual void teleportation locations in the mountains and teleport out from there."


    "Remember, if you do not exit after three months, then you will be trapped in the Five Elements Mountain and die. It doesn¡¯t matter if you are of the Heavenly Saint Realm or below; even if you are a First Tribulation true god, you will certainly perish."


    "Because, after the three-month expedition time ends, a violent virtual void hurricane will sweep through the entire Five Elements Mountain, a hurricane that can kill all powerhouses. These virtual void hurricanes, not even a First Tribulation true god can withstand!"


    "Remember, the three-month expedition time, as well as the rules for entering and leaving the Five Elements Mountain, were all gained through the experience of countless martial artists at the cost of their lives. You absolutely must not violate them."


    After reemphasizing the critical timing for exiting the Five Elements Mountain, the Mystery Heavenly Saint also spoke up, "Alright, I have told you everything that needs to be said."


    "In short, grasp the three months you have, and explore within the Five Elements Mountain. How you allocate the three months, how you overcome the crises within the Five Elements Mountain, are all up to you."


    "We two, will only escort you into the Five Elements Mountain. The rest is up to your own fortune."


    "Now, everyone, board the ¡¯Aurora Holy Boat¡¯ and embark with us towards the Five Elements Mountain!"


    After the Mystery Heavenly Saint finished speaking, he pointed a big hand towards the void, and a palm-sized silver-white flying boat instantly burst into the void.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The Flying Boat rapidly expanded against the wind, and in a blink of an eye, it became a thousand feet large!


    Following the leading of the elder of Heavenly Evolution and the Mystery Heavenly Saint, figures flew one after another into the Flying Boat, making "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh" sounds.


    "Ye Chen, let¡¯s go too."


    The adventurers from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, led by the Skyscraper Palace Master, all flew into the Flying Boat as well.


    Huo Mei¡¯er and other female martial artists from the Leaving Fire Continent, along with Ao Lei, the Three Great Saints, and several thousand martial artists from other continents, flew onto the Flying Boat in just a moment.


    Once everyone had boarded, the Mystery Heavenly Saint immediately steered the Flying Boat, departing from the Rift Sky City, heading towards the vast expanse of heaven.


    "Rumors say that the Five Elements Mountain is hidden within a void vortex outside the Heavenly Evolution Continent, a series of five massive mountains obscured by the void."


    "I wonder how long it will take to enter that void vortex and see the Five Elements Mountain."


    Ye Chen stood among the crowd on the Flying Boat, watching the void pass by outside of it. After about half an hour, he could feel that the Flying Boat had left the territory of the Heavenly Evolution Continent and entered the pitch-black extraterritorial realm.


    The fierce black wind outside the Flying Boat made the protective barriers hum noisily as if they were on the verge of collapse at any moment.


    Just by looking at that black wind, Ye Chen knew that it was definitely a terrifying extraterritorial hurricane capable of killing countless powerhouses. Probably only the Mystery Heavenly Saint¡¯s high-grade Holy Boat could withstand it.


    If it were Ye Chen¡¯s lower-grade Heavenly Origin Boat, it would probably be torn to shreds by this black wind instantaneously.


    The Aurora Holy Boat carefully advanced through the pitch-black extraterritorial realm, while nearly all of the thousands of adventurers in the Boat looked through its protective barriers at the mysterious extraterritorial realm of the great continent.


    After about an hour of flight, everyone on the Flying Boat finally saw a faintly visible, shimmering light cluster in the distance.


    At this moment, the elder of Heavenly Evolution and the Mystery Heavenly Saint¡¯s voices reached everyone¡¯s ears, "That shining light cluster is the space hiding the Land of the Five Elements."


    "Once you enter it, you will reach the true Five Elements Mountain!"


    The words of the elder of Heavenly Evolution and the Mystery Heavenly Saint made the adventurers who had never entered the Five Elements Mountain before feel both excited and nervous.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, staring intently at the glowing light cluster ahead, took a deep breath, "Five Elements Mountain, the place to comprehend the laws of the five great virtual heavens, the land of adventure, here I come!"

 Chapter 422 - 382 Chapter First Mountain

    After about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, the Aurora Holy Boat finally arrived at the edge of the shining light orb.


    From a distance, the shining light orb looked very small, but only when they truly approached it did they realize that it was dozens of times larger than the thousand-zhang-long Aurora Holy Boat.


    In the pitch-black Outer Domain Void, the entire shining light orb was like a beacon tower flashing with endless light.


    When the boat finally steadied at the edge of the shining light orb, Ye Chen saw that within the orb there was a vortex of five-colored light.


    Not only did Ye Chen notice the peculiar vortex of five-colored light, but the other Adventurers did as well.


    Seeing all the Adventurers aboard the boat peering at the five-colored light vortex inside the light orb, the elderly ancestor of Heavenly Evolution and Mystery Heavenly Saint said with a smile, "This five-colored light vortex is the void vortex that leads into the inner space of the Five Elements Mountain. Step into this void vortex, and you will be directly transported to the realm of the First Mountain within the Five Elements Mountain, officially starting your three-month expedition."


    "After three months, on the day the expedition ends, you will be teleported from the ninety-nine teleportation points within the Five Elements Mountain, back through this void vortex. At that time, we will be waiting here for your return."


    "Now, all those who are to participate in the expedition to the Five Elements Mountain, prepare to enter this vortex!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After the words of the Elderly Ancestor of Heavenly Evolution and Mystery Heavenly Saint fell, all the Adventurers on board stood up.


    They had finally arrived at the Five Elements Mountain.


    The expedition to the Five Elements Mountain, filled with great dangers but also possible immense rewards, was finally about to begin.


    At this thought, everyone¡¯s hearts fluctuated intensely.


    Even many of the Adventurers who were visiting this expedition site of the Five Elements Mountain for the first time began to hesitate and fear.


    "Let¡¯s go, we¡¯re not newcomers to the Five Elements Mountain, let¡¯s head in first," said Jin Lieyang to the other two Saint Heirs in the crowd, after casting a glance and giving a gentle smile to Huo Mei¡¯er standing next to Ye Chen, he took a step into the void, leaving the boat, and then walked straight towards the five-colored light vortex.


    "Haha, then we¡¯ll go ahead!"


    The other two Saint Heirs, seeing that Jin Lieyang had taken the lead, also smiled and nodded at the other Adventurers before following Jin Lieyang¡¯s steps.


    In an instant, all three of them disappeared into the vortex of five-colored light.


    Watching the backs of these three Saint Heirs, Jin Lieyang, disappear, Ye Chen then glanced at Huo Mei¡¯er beside him. By chance, Ye Chen noticed a deep hatred in her beautiful eyes.


    Hatred?


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    He remembered that when Huo Mei¡¯er first saw Jin Lieyang, she had whispered to him that Jin Lieyang was not to be taken lightly and had asked him to be extra careful.


    Later, Ye Chen specifically asked Huo Mei¡¯er what she meant by that, but Huo Mei¡¯er just smiled lightly and did not elaborate.


    At that time, Ye Chen guessed that there might be some connection or even a likely rift between Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s home in Leaving Fire Continent and Jin Lieyang¡¯s Xuanjin Continent.


    Now, seeing the look of hatred deep in Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s eyes, Ye Chen felt even more certain about his speculation.


    The relationships between the five major holy sites were probably not as simple as they appeared!


    Perhaps Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s presence at the Five Elements Mountain and even Jin Lieyang¡¯s arrival had something to do with each other.


    Thinking of the name Jin Lieyang, Ye Chen recalled when he was at the Taixuan Sect, he had also met a fellow sect brother named Jin Lieyang.


    However, that Jin Lieyang had perished in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    It¡¯s common for warriors from the same continent to have the same name, let alone across different realms of the thirty-three continents, where countless others also share the same names.


    The Jin Lieyang brother from back then left a very good impression on Ye Chen, but this Saint Heir Jin Lieyang, just as Huo Mei¡¯er had mentioned, gave Ye Chen an odd feeling¡ªas if beneath his warm exterior, he was hiding very deep thoughts!


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but seriously take notice of this Jin Lieyang.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the three Saint Heirs led by Jin Lieyang stepped into the vortex of five-colored light and completely entered the Five Elements Mountain, the other Adventurers naturally didn¡¯t want to fall behind and flew into the void vortex like locusts.


    In the end, all of them disappeared into the vortex, vanishing from sight.


    "Let¡¯s go as well!"


    "I have been to the Five Elements Mountain three times before. The five giant mountains inside are akin to five small continents, all immensely huge."


    "Once we fly in, all of us will probably be teleported to different locations; we can only encounter each other if we charge forward through the mountains."


    "The biggest chance for a rendezvous is in the ¡¯Five Elements Divine Temple¡¯ inside the Third Mountain. Inside the Five Elements Divine Temple, there are comprehension insights of the Heavenly Void Law left by strong Adventurers from previous expeditions to the Five Elements Mountain¡ªalmost every Adventurer who reaches the Third Mountain will go there to observe these insights."


    "If we get scattered after entering, let¡¯s plan to meet at the ¡¯Five Elements Divine Temple¡¯ in the Third Mountain."


    The Skyscraper Palace Master carefully instructed Ye Chen and the other adventurers from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent before taking the lead to fly into the vortex of void.


    After nodding at Huo Mei¡¯er, Ye Chen followed the Skyscraper Palace Master and the adventurers from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent into the vortex of void.


    Behind Ye Chen, Huo Mei¡¯er, accompanied by two maidservants and eight Heavenly Saint maidens, also flew into it.


    Within moments, the thousands of adventurers on the flying boat had all vanished into the vortex of void, entering the Five Elements Mountain.


    Seeing that all the adventurers had left the Aurora Holy Boat and were embarking on their exploration of the Five Elements Mountain, the ancestors of the Heavenly Evolution and the Mystery Heavenly Saint exchanged glances and sighed, "Who knows how many of these people will be able to return alive, and how many will make good discoveries."


    "Let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll come back here in three months to pick them up."


    After a series of sighs, the ancestors of the Heavenly Evolution and the Mystery Heavenly Saint flew back into the Aurora Holy Boat. The Aurora Holy Boat then departed from the shining orb, returning to the Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    The entire pitch-black Outer Domain Void returned to tranquility, with only the lighthouse-like shining orb still floating in the darkness.


    ...


    Traversing!


    A strange sense of traversal!


    This feeling was as if he were being transmitted from the Ancient Teleportation Formation to the Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    However, this sensation quickly vanished, and soon after, Ye Chen found himself landing on a vast green plain.


    Ye Chen marveled at the immensity of the green plains, then raised his head to look forward, only to see an even higher plain ahead, and if he looked even higher, he could faintly make out more stacked plains!


    Ye Chen took flight from the massive green plain and stood in the farther reaches of the void looking down at these layered green plains, and suddenly it dawned on him.


    This was no vast green plain at all!


    This was clearly an enormous green stone, and ahead, massive green stones could also be seen. All the green stones stacked together, and he was indeed standing amidst the steps of a colossal mountain!


    Flying for nearly half an hour from these steps to the side, Ye Chen saw the astonishing giant trees and waterfalls!


    The First Mountain!


    By then, Ye Chen knew that this was the first location, the first gigantic mountain, of the Five Elements Mountain adventure.


    "The First Mountain is this big!"


    "Just one green stone stair used for climbing the mountain is like a vast green plain!"


    "I¡¯m afraid the whole First Mountain spans tens of thousands of miles. Just to fly out from here to the Second Mountain would probably take days!"


    "The Skyscraper Palace Master said that once everyone enters the First Mountain, they will be transported to different places. As immense as the First Mountain is, thousands of adventurers within it are like drops of rain in the sea, hardly likely to meet one another."


    Ye Chen felt a profound sense of awe in his heart.


    Then, taking out the map of the Five Elements Mountain he had prepared earlier, Ye Chen began to fly in the void, searching for his location on the map.


    Once he had determined his position, Ye Chen shot towards the other side of the mountainside.


    Ye Chen planned to go directly through this mountainside to reach the other side of the First Mountain, then cross the void chasm between the First and the Second Mountain, and proceed deeper into the Second Mountain.


    After collecting information about the Five Elements Mountain, Ye Chen knew that within the First Mountain there were countless Five Elements Phantom Beasts that would attack adventurers, including Five Elements Phantom Beasts with the strength of latter stages of Heavenly Saints.


    However, the First Mountain had the least amount of treasures, and it wasn¡¯t very beneficial for comprehending the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws.


    In the Second Mountain, there were places where the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws were explained, and he could even witness the birth of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws¡¯ origins. There, comprehending the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws would be far better than on the First Mountain.


    Even better were the "Five Elements Divine Temples" in the Third Mountain for comprehending the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws.


    With only three months for this adventure through the Five Elements Mountain, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t waste time in the First Mountains and hurriedly headed to the later colossal mountains.


    With such plans in mind, the other adventurers also harbored the same intentions.


    Viewed from the entire First Mountain, the two to three thousand adventurers were now scattered in different places, immense as the mountain was.


    Huo Mei¡¯er, at that moment, was a full twenty thousand miles away from Ye Chen, having been transported to a mountain hollow.


    The very first to set out, the Saint Heir Jin Lieyang, was already in the Second Mountain and had entered a giant fiery pool within it.


    The one closest to Ye Chen wasn¡¯t anyone else, but surprisingly Ao Lei!


    When Ao Lei entered the Five Elements Mountain, those four late-stage Heavenly Saints guarding him all entered one of his spatial treasures. Their transportation did not separate them, so the five of them were still together.


    At that moment, Ao Lei was only a mere three hundred miles away from Ye Chen.


    What neither party knew was that as they flew, the distance between them was getting closer and closer.

 Chapter 423 - 383 Kill Him!

    In the void.


    Ye Chen, who had been flying along the undulating slopes of the First Mountain, suddenly came to a halt.


    "Bing Shiyi, senior, are you saying that Ao Lei is nearby? And he¡¯s getting closer to me?"


    Just now, as Ye Chen was flying, the voice of Bing Shiyi suddenly reached his ears through telepathy, telling him that they had discovered Ao Lei and his group.


    At this moment, the distance between Ye Chen and Ao Lei was still over two hundred miles.


    With Ye Chen¡¯s current strength, his divine consciousness could not probe such a vast distance.


    However, Bing Shiyi, with his cultivation at the pinnacle of the late Heavenly Saint stage and the strongest among the nine Ice Guardians, naturally had a much wider range of divine consciousness than Ye Chen.


    Ao Lei and the four late-stage Heavenly Saints had just entered his range of divine consciousness and were immediately detected by him.


    "Lord Ye Chen, it is indeed that Ao Lei, and he is followed by four other late-stage Heavenly Saints," Bing Shiyi relayed from within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, sensing the situation on Ao Lei¡¯s side and speaking to Ye Chen. "Those four late-stage Heavenly Saints are the ones we saw with Ao Lei at the gathering place before setting out to explore the Five Elements Mountain."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    At the gathering site, Ye Chen had already seen Ao Lei accompanied by four late-stage Heavenly Saints. Two of them were Ao Quan and Ao Hu, who had clashed with Bing Shiba and Bing Shijiu. The other two, as the Ice Guardians had mentioned to Ye Chen before, were a bit stronger than Ao Quan and Ao Hu, with strength nearly on par with that of Bing Shiwu¡¯s combat level.


    "Who would have thought, in a place as vast as this, the first adventurers I would encounter in the Five Elements Mountain would be Ao Lei and his followers?" Ye Chen smiled.


    Contained within that faint smile, Ye Chen continued to fly forward.


    Even after discovering Ao Lei, Ye Chen did not think of turning around to avoid him.


    Was he afraid of Ao Lei?


    If Ao Lei dared provoke him, let him try!


    After Ye Chen continued to fly, the distance between him and Ao Lei grew even shorter. When the two were around two hundred miles apart, Ao Xuan, who was beside Ao Lei, suddenly lit up with excitement.


    "Young Master, guess what I¡¯ve discovered?" Ao Xuan, excited and with a strange expression, called out to Ao Lei.


    "What have you found?" Ao Lei asked, puzzled.


    "Ye Chen!" Ao Xuan laughed, "Young Master, I sensed that Ye Chen is in a place about two hundred miles away from us! Who would have thought we¡¯d encounter him here?"


    "And he¡¯s there alone, without Huo Mei¡¯er by his side!"


    Upon hearing the name "Ye Chen," Ao Lei¡¯s expression changed dramatically, "Haha, Ye Chen? What a coincidence! To think I¡¯d run into him so soon after arriving in the Five Elements Mountain?"


    "He¡¯s finally on his own!"


    "I thought we¡¯d bump into him later! It seems fate has decreed that he will die by our hands!"


    "Xuan, Ming, Quan, Hu, let¡¯s hurry and intercept Ye Chen; we can¡¯t let him get away!"


    "By killing him, we can also seize back the Void Heaven Sword Embryo he auctioned off. Once we leave the Five Elements Mountain, we can bring the Void Heaven Sword Embryo back to our father!"


    Ao Lei was bursting with excitement, and the other four Heavenly Saints also showed eager expressions.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The five of them instantly increased their speed and flew even faster toward Ye Chen.


    "That Ye Chen is still flying towards us."


    "He doesn¡¯t know that he¡¯s about to meet his end without a grave."


    While flying, Ao Xuan sneered and spoke.


    Ao Lei and the other Heavenly Saints laughed heartily.


    "Lord Ye Chen, Ao Lei and his group must have sensed you; they¡¯re quickening their pace and flying towards you," Bing Shiyi, Bing Shier, and Bing Shisan all voiced out to Ye Chen at this time.


    "They¡¯ve discovered me? And they¡¯re deliberately speeding up to come my way?" Ye Chen thought with a cold smile, "It seems they¡¯re quite convinced they can take me down."


    "Since that¡¯s the case, let¡¯s meet them!"


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the nine Ice Guardians inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant chuckled, and they began discussing among themselves, "Which one of us should make a move this time?"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Characters at the late-stage of Heavenly Saint level could fly at an astonishing speed, and neither Ye Chen nor Ao Lei were slow in their flight.


    The two parties, each with their own thoughts, instantly closed the distance between them.


    When they were about a hundred miles away, Ye Chen deliberately sped up and veered off in a different direction. As expected, Ao Lei and the four Heavenly Saints immediately changed course and continued to pursue him.


    Ao Ming, one of the four major Heavenly Saints alongside Ao Lei, said, "It seems Ye Chen has noticed us. Does he think he can escape? Let¡¯s quickly catch up to him!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ao Lei and the four others ignited their true qi and chased after Ye Chen at high speed.


    A hundred miles!


    Fifty miles!


    Thirty miles!


    In Ye Chen¡¯s deliberate acceleration and subtle slowing down, in the high-speed chase by Ao Lei and his group, the distance between the two parties grew ever closer.


    At last, when they arrived at a vast plain between the mountains, the four major Heavenly Saints from Ao Lei¡¯s group directly formed an encirclement, trapping Ye Chen in the void.


    By then, Ye Chen had already stopped in the void, his eyes fixed on the four major Heavenly Saints forming the encirclement.


    He sensed that the four major Heavenly Saints were setting up a Heavenly Saint Barrier, clearly intending to shield all interference, and deal with him within this barrier directly.


    "Setting up a Heavenly Saint Barrier to prevent others from knowing I¡¯ve been attacked by you?"


    "That¡¯s perfect. I also don¡¯t want others to know that it was I who had a conflict with you in the Five Elements Mountain."


    Ye Chen had already anticipated what was about to happen.


    He directly transmitted a message to Bing Shiyi, "Senior Bing Shiyi, make a move and shield this space, do not let others notice this place."


    "Yes, Lord Ye Chen!"


    After Ye Chen spoke, Bing Shiyi immediately acted, shielding the vast expanse of the void within tens of thousands of feet.


    Bing Shiyi was immensely powerful, and Ao Lei¡¯s group didn¡¯t sense his action at all.


    Ao Lei, standing beside Ao Xuan, heard Ao Xuan transmit to him that they had set up the barrier, and with a cold smile, looked toward Ye Chen, tauntingly saying, "Ye Chen, you think you can escape after encountering us?"


    "How is it that Huo Mei¡¯er isn¡¯t by your side this time?"


    "Let me tell you, last time outside the Sand Sea Palace, I intended to deal with you. It was Huo Mei¡¯er who meddled and saved your life. Now, just obediently give up your life!"


    "Rest assured, this whole area has been covered with a Heavenly Saint Barrier now. Not to mention that it¡¯s very unlikely to encounter other explorers here, even if they did, they wouldn¡¯t find you, they wouldn¡¯t be able to save you!"


    Listening to Ao Lei¡¯s words, Ye Chen smiled lightly and shook his head, "Escape? I¡¯ve never thought to escape."


    "I was merely leading you to a more spacious area."


    "You said that last time you wanted to take action, but only because of Huo Mei¡¯er I managed to survive by chance? Actually, Huo Mei¡¯er saved your lives, otherwise, when you made a move against me last time, you would have been dead already..."


    "As for the Heavenly Saint Barrier... not letting others see, all the better."


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s calm smile, Ao Xuan and Ao Ming were shocked.


    They had a vague feeling that Ye Chen must have some kind of ace up his sleeve to be so calm. Otherwise, it would be impossible to be so jovial and unconcerned now while being surrounded by four late-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Ao Xuan and Ao Ming became secretly wary in their hearts.


    Meanwhile, Ao Lei who was watching Ye Chen¡¯s smile, was infuriated.


    Every time he met Ye Chen, he felt ignored in various ways by him.


    Even now, with the full force of the four late-stage Heavenly Saints as guards, Ye Chen was still disregarding him.


    This feeling had already made Ao Lei quite upset!


    "Ye Chen, don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what ace you have up your sleeve. Isn¡¯t it just those two giant beast Heavenly Saints? Do you think they, who could previously barely deal with Quan and Hu, can now stop Xuan and Ming?"


    "Bring them out and die together with you!"


    With that, Ao Lei turned to the four Heavenly Saints Ao Xuan, Ao Ming, Ao Quan, and Ao Hu and said, "Four uncles, make your move, help my father seize back the Void Heaven Sword Embryo!"


    "Kill this Ye Chen, kill him!"

 Chapter 424 - 384: Purple Mist True Garment

    "Kill this Ye Chen, kill him!"


    Ao Lei¡¯s roaring voice surged throughout the entire expanse of the void.


    Yet, from the outside, one could neither hear Ao Lei¡¯s voice nor see the tense standoff of several people within this patch of the void.


    The Heavenly Saint Barrier set up by Bing Shiyi and Ao Xuan in their later stages had already concealed the imminent outbreak of a great battle in this vast mountain clearing!


    Within the barrier.


    Hearing Ao Ming¡¯s words, the four, including Ao Xuan and Ao Ming, exchanged glances. Although they were somewhat concerned about Ye Chen¡¯s composure, they knew that now was not the time for hesitation.


    Killing Ye Chen and seizing the Void Heaven Sword Embryo was a task they had to undertake!


    If there truly was a change, then they would respond to the situation as it developed!


    They couldn¡¯t possibly let go of Ye Chen simply because of a vague sense of concern!


    At that thought, the four Heavenly Saints simultaneously sprang into action. Their staggering late-stage Heavenly Saint power surged forth, converging on Ye Chen to kill him.


    The attack speed of a late-stage Heavenly Saint was exceedingly fast; in but a flash, the four Heavenly Saints were upon Ye Chen.


    Their attacks, incredibly, turned the very air of the void into lethal force, blasting toward Ye Chen.


    Seeing the four Heavenly Saints make their move, Ao Lei folded his arms within the void and looked on at Ye Chen with a cold sneer, believing that in the next moment, Ye Chen would be nothing but a corpse!


    Ao Lei¡¯s sneer had just started spreading across his face when, in the next instant, it froze.


    Because, as Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s group launched their attack on Ye Chen, Ye Chen¡¯s body instantly emitted four rays of light.


    These four rays of light were unmistakably the four great Ice Guardians: Bing Shiba, Bing Shijiu, Bing Shisi, and Bing Shiwu!


    The instant the four Ice Guardians appeared from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, they erupted with a tremendous fighting force and directly confronted Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s group.


    The bull-headed and human-bodied mighty Bing Shiba and the lion-faced and human-bodied Bing Shijiu had once exchanged blows with Ao Quan and Ao Hu. The two guardians had sent Ao Quan and Ao Hu reeling backwards with a palm strike, so their fighting power was, of course, higher than that of Ao Quan and Ao Hu.


    And the fighting power of the giant spider Bing Shiwu was already at the strongest level of Ao Xuan¡¯s group, while the nine-armed humanoid Bing Shisi, being stronger than Bing Shiwu, certainly overpowered their four opponents.


    This time, with the four Ice Guardians joining forces, and with Bing Shiwu and Bing Shisi fighting on behalf of their Lord Ye Chen for the first time, they certainly brought out their true capabilities. In just a single move, the four Ice Guardians completely suppressed Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s group of four Heavenly Saints.


    This sudden turn in the battle caused the complexions of Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s group, who were engaged in the fight, to drastically change, and plunged Ao Lei into a state akin to falling into a cavern of ice.


    In an instant, Ao Lei thought back to what Ye Chen had said earlier: if he had dared to strike at Ye Chen, he would have died already.


    Initially, Ao Lei thought Ye Chen was boasting. How could Ao Lei have imagined that Ye Chen was not in the company of two late-stage Heavenly Saint guardians, but four?


    Moreover, the two newly revealed guardians were stronger than his Uncle Xuan and Uncle Ming!


    Ye Chen had not been boasting.


    Ye Chen truly had the power to kill them!


    At this realization, Ao Lei¡¯s heart began to pound violently, and he dared not imagine the outcome for himself after Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s defeat.


    As Ao Lei¡¯s heart raced, a voice he did not wish to hear reached his ears¡ªit was undoubtedly Ye Chen¡¯s voice, "Sirs, while your Heavenly Saints are engaging with mine, shouldn¡¯t we also have a match?"


    As Ao Lei looked up, he saw Ye Chen had already appeared before him.


    Glancing at Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s group, who were already at a disadvantage and could be defeated at any moment, and then at the calmly smiling Ye Chen standing before him, Ao Lei knew that he had really bitten off more than he could chew this time.


    In a flash, the thought of fleeing sprang to Ao Lei¡¯s mind.


    He would not confront Ye Chen directly, because once those four guardians won their battle, they could easily turn to kill him, leaving him with absolutely no chance of escape.


    With this thought, Ao Lei¡¯s figure burst forth, not caring in the least about Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s group, and he made a beeline for the edge of the void to escape.


    Seeing Ao Lei¡¯s fleeing figure, Ye Chen gave a light smile and did not pursue.


    As Ao Lei saw that Ye Chen did not chase him and wondered why, during this life-and-death moment he didn¡¯t dare to waste time thinking and only wanted to flee as far away as possible. Just as he was about to fly out of the area, he heard a "boom," and he was blocked by an inexplicable force.


    A barrier!


    Instantly, Ao Lei thought of a barrier! The barrier set by Ao Xuan and Ao Ming¡¯s group wouldn¡¯t stop him. The only possibility if he was being blocked was that this barrier was set up by Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    Ye Chen¡¯s side had also set up a barrier?


    Ao Lei had no idea, and even Ao Xuan and Ao Ming beside him hadn¡¯t noticed before!


    Struck dizzy by the barrier¡¯s impact, Ao Lei¡¯s face was now pale, and at that moment, Ye Chen¡¯s faint voice reached his ears again, "You can¡¯t escape now. If you don¡¯t make a move, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll never have the chance again."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Blocked by the Heavenly Saint Barrier, Ao Lei, who turned around to look at Ye Chen, was thunderstruck when he saw the situation of the battle behind him. His mind exploded with a thunderous roar.


    In the moment he had turned to flee and been blocked by the barrier, the four behind him¡ªAo Xuan, Ao Ming, Ao Quan, and Ao Hu¡ªhad been instantly killed on the spot!


    As he turned back, he witnessed the treasures from the bodies of Ao Xuan and the others flying towards the four mighty beasts fighting for Ye Chen. At the same time, the four of them were shred by those beasts¡¯ formidable combat power, not even leaving ash behind!


    His immensely proud experts of the late Heavenly Saint stage had been killed in an instant, without even having a chance to scream!


    The vast void was now left with only him, Ao Lei!


    And at this moment, as Ye Chen spoke to him, the four protectors lazily watched him, clearly not having made a move, indicating that Ye Chen wanted to deal with him personally.


    "It¡¯s over, I¡¯m completely finished."


    Ao Lei could never have imagined that Ye Chen, whom he considered insignificant, would have so many trump cards.


    Had he known this would happen, he wouldn¡¯t have sought revenge on Ye Chen, even if Ye Chen not only sold the Void Heaven Sword Embryo but even auctioned off his Treasure Cave Key!


    But there was no pill for regret now, for Ao Lei realized that Ye Chen had already surged with incredible combat power and was now right in front of him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen¡¯s body erupted with astonishing black flames¡ªflames of the Heaven-Devouring True Fire, a fire technique divine art that had amalgamated Little Blue Flame True Fire, Green Disaster True Fire, and Purple Flame Spirit Fire!


    The black flames transformed into a terrifying black dragon and, in a swift motion, wrapped around Ao Lei and drew him close to Ye Chen.


    Ao Lei, at the late-stage Turning Dan realm, had true combat power but was no match for even one move from Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen, if you dare kill me, my father will never let you go!"


    "Our Beast Alliance will flatten your Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    Surrounded by the Heaven-Devouring True Fire transformed into a monstrous black dragon, Ao Ming bellowed, pale as a ghost.


    With his four Heavenly Saints dead, he could only resort to using the identity of his father, head of the Beast Alliance Ao Chan, to press Ye Chen and hope for a slim chance of escape.


    But Ye Chen would give no such chance to Ao Lei.


    "Your father? If your father were here today trying to kill me, I would kill him, too!"


    "Flatting the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, that¡¯s beyond his abilities!"


    "What¡¯s more, this place is covered by the Heavenly Saint Barrier. You wanted to kill me unnoticed before, but now that you¡¯re dead, it¡¯s just as silent."


    The Barbaric Wilderness Continent had the True Phoenix, a fifth-level divine deity, and Mu Lan, a third-level divine deity¡ªtwo powerful beings. Even if Ao Chan had reached the late Heavenly Saint stage or was a true deity, he wouldn¡¯t dare easily invade the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Moreover, there was no normal way to enter or exit between the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the five continents of the Beast Alliance, only through ancient transmission arrays. In a real battle, once the arrays were destroyed, the Beast Alliance couldn¡¯t even get into the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Why would Ye Chen worry about the people from the Beast Alliance?


    Seeing that Ao Lei was still stubborn, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t be bothered to waste time on him. With a gesture, the terrifying black dragon engulfing Ao Lei turned into ferocious flames, instantly engulfing his physical body.


    The new fire technique divine art, Heaven-Devouring True Fire, which had assimilated three flames, including the mid-grade Sacred Artifact Purple Flame Spirit Fire, now had the killing power of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint, easily capable of crushing most at that stage.


    Ye Chen expected that if the black flames touched Ao Lei, he would likely be killed instantly.


    However, to Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, as right when the flames made contact with Ao Lei¡¯s body, a faint purple garment light shadow suddenly appeared, as if he was wearing another garment outside his clothes.


    This purple garment shadow immediately blocked the true flames upon contact, repelling the Heaven-Devouring True Fire which could crush most mid-stage Heavenly Saints.


    "Eh?"


    Ye Chen let out a light gasp at this turn of events.


    He instantly realized that the purple shadow around Ao Lei¡¯s clothes might be a top-notch defensive Sacred Artifact vestment robe or even a Divine Artifact.


    On Ao Lei¡¯s side.


    Seeing his Divine Artifact vestment robe, the "Purple Mist True Garment," fend off Ye Chen¡¯s fiery assault, Ao Lei¡¯s ashen face slightly relaxed.


    Although his expression eased, his taut heart was still unable to settle.


    He might have a powerful defensive Divine Artifact, but he had no strong offensive power and still couldn¡¯t cope with Ye Chen. He saw the black flames that couldn¡¯t breach his "Purple Mist True Garment¡¯s" defense transform back into the huge black dragon and wrap around him again.


    Once more, he couldn¡¯t even move!


    In this situation, no matter how strong his defense, he could only passively endure the blows.


    And now, Ao Lei heard Ye Chen¡¯s devilish voice, "Quite a strong defensive robe. If so, then let¡¯s see if other means can break through this defense."


    When Ao Lei looked at Ye Chen, he saw dazzling golden arcs breaking through the void on Ye Chen¡¯s hand.

 Chapter 425 - 385

    The dazzling golden beams that pierced through the void were none other than Ye Chen¡¯s newly cultivated Golden Light Divine Slash, one of the five great Divine Arts now within his grasp, polyethnic to the gold-attribute Divine Art.


    Having refined a portion of the supreme Divine Fruit, the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit," Ye Chen¡¯s gold-attribute Divine Art had reached about ten percent of its full potential.


    Additionally, the gold-attribute Divine Art was always renowned for its powerful and sharp attacks.


    Now facing the formidable defense of the "Purple Mist True Garment," Ye Chen certainly wanted to test just how effective his newly cultivated gold-attribute Divine Art was.


    Hiss! Hiss! Hiss!


    As Ye Chen activated the gold-attribute Divine Art, "Golden Light Divine Slash," the striking golden arcs emitted a terrifying sound that slashed through the void, instantly reaching Ao Lei¡¯s vicinity.


    As a result, the golden arcs were once again blocked by the purple garment¡¯s radiance.


    "Not only has it blocked the fire-attribute Divine Art, but it can also withstand the gold-attribute Divine Art."


    "Even the gold-attribute Divine Art that hasn¡¯t been fully mastered is unable to breach this defensive garment."


    While the Golden Light Divine Slash was unable to penetrate Ao Lei¡¯s defenses, Ye Chen was not disappointed; rather, he felt an unexpected surge of excitement.


    Ao Lei had already become unable to escape. If the purple garment¡¯s radiance was sufficiently strong, then Ye Chen harbored the intention to seize this defensive artifact and refine it thoroughly for his own use.


    However...


    Before that, he still had to test whether this defensive garment was worth refining!


    With a flip of his palm, the golden arcs of the gold-attribute Divine Art vanished from Ye Chen¡¯s hand. In the next moment, he abruptly unleashed the wood-attribute Divine Art, "Wood Emperor Stacking Skill."


    In the time that followed, Ye Chen seemed to be experimenting, deploying various techniques.


    He utilized not only the fire, gold, and wood-attribute Divine Arts, but also the water and earth-attribute Divine Arts that followed; he even employed the Great Five Elements Sword Light and other sword technique Divine Arts.


    Moreover, Ye Chen even brought out the combined force of several Divine Arts, trying to breach the purple radiance surrounding Ao Lei¡¯s garment.


    As Ye Chen tested his techniques, Ao Lei, who was continuously under attack, was going utterly mad.


    Humiliation.


    This was a humiliation that Ao Lei had never experienced before!


    Although Ao Lei¡¯s Divine Artifact Garment, the "Purple Mist True Garment," could withstand all sorts of attacks from Ye Chen, there was not a trace of joy in Ao Lei.


    Of course, he couldn¡¯t feel happy.


    Ao Lei felt as though he was nothing but a target, unable to escape, forced to endure Ye Chen¡¯s relentless attacks, his constant experimentation.


    This feeling was no different from being toyed with!


    Ao Lei even momentarily hoped that Ye Chen would soon break through the defenses of the "Purple Mist True Garment" and kill him.


    If this continued, he felt he might die of rage before even being killed.


    Ye Chen, however, did not care much about Ao Lei¡¯s thoughts.


    The more he tested, the more astonished Ye Chen became.


    He had not expected the purple radiance of Ao Lei¡¯s garment to possess such an incredible degree of defense, so much so that nearly all of his techniques had been deployed, yet none could breach the garment¡¯s defenses.


    "It¡¯s possible that this purple garment is not just an exceptional artifact but indeed a defensive Divine Artifact!"


    Considering that the purple radiance garment might be a Divine Artifact, Ye Chen¡¯s heart began to pound wildly.


    "This Ao Lei, possessing such formidable defensive clothing, why doesn¡¯t he have an attack magical treasure? If he were to possess an equally powerful attack treasure, it would be quite a challenge to take him down."


    Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts raced.


    After employing the last of his techniques to no avail, relying on True Qi techniques and Martial Divine Arts that could not affect the defensive garment, Ye Chen contemplated, "It seems I must use Divine Soul techniques to deal with Ao Lei."


    "If I can¡¯t break his defenses, I could instead kill Ao Lei¡¯s Divine Soul from the inside. Once the garment becomes masterless, perhaps then it could be seized."


    With this idea in mind, Ye Chen immediately communicated with the nine ice-sealed guardians.


    Consequently, all nine guardians nodded, asserting the viability of his plan.


    Bing Shiyi even volunteered eagerly, offering to take action on Ye Chen¡¯s behalf if his Divine Soul techniques proved ineffective against Ao Lei, willing to kill Ao Lei himself.


    Even if Ao Lei owned a Divine Artifact-level Defensive Garment, Bing Shiyi claimed to have methods to bypass such defenses and kill Ao Lei directly.


    However, now was not the time for Bing Shiyi to intervene.


    Ye Chen flew directly above Ao Lei, who was entangled by the black fire dragon formed by the fire-attributed Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," and reached towards the empty space above Ao Lei¡¯s head with his hand, as an immense force of Divine Soul surged violently towards Ao Lei.


    Although the continuous thrashings had already made Ao Lei contemplate death, when Ye Chen actually came to kill him, he screamed in terror, "Ye Chen, what do you want to do, if you really kill me, my father will never let you go!"


    Ye Chen completely ignored Ao Lei¡¯s screams!


    This Ao Lei had first tried to kill him and even when he deliberately changed his flight direction, Ao Lei had followed him with four Heavenly Saints. Ye Chen would certainly not let such a person go!


    As the immense force of Divine Soul surged towards Ao Lei, Ye Chen discovered that his Divine Soul¡¯s power had actually penetrated through the defense of the purple vestment¡¯s light shadow and directly into Ao Lei¡¯s mind.


    "This Defensive Garment can block True Qi Techniques, but not Divine Soul Techniques!"


    "Divine Soul Techniques can indeed bypass the garment¡¯s defenses and directly use Divine Soul to kill Ao Lei!"


    As the immense power of Divine Soul penetrated Ao Lei¡¯s mind, Ye Chen immediately activated the Soul Searching Secret Skills, simultaneously searching Ao Lei¡¯s Divine Soul for memories and using the Soul Searching Secret Skills to strangle Ao Lei¡¯s Divine Soul.


    This Soul Searching Secret Technique was a major killing move Ye Chen obtained from the Forbidden Divine Tome, a Divine Soul cultivation scripture from Heavenly Saint Moya.


    Previously, it was with this Divine Soul Secret Technique that Ye Chen had found the mastermind behind Heavenly Saint Feng Lun¡¯s attempt on his life, hidden within Feng Lun¡¯s memories¡ªYin Qianjue.


    Now, Ye Chen intended to use this Soul Searching Secret Technique to kill Ao Lei and, incidentally, to investigate this matter of the purple vestment¡¯s light shadow.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen¡¯s Soul Searching Secret Technique was a saint-level Divine Soul technique. Ao Lei, who was in the late stage of spinning pill realm, could not defend against it at all. In just a moment, Ao Lei¡¯s entire Divine Soul was completely destroyed.


    Although his physical body still existed, with his Divine Soul eradicated, Ao Lei was completely dead!


    After destroying Ao Lei¡¯s Divine Soul and searching his memories, Ye Chen turned to the faint purple glow of Ao Lei¡¯s garment, his eyes suddenly widened: "This garment turned out to be a lower-quality Divine Artifact called ¡¯Purple Mist True Garment,¡¯ obtained by the Myriad Beasts Alliance from the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯!"


    "Furthermore, the defense of this ¡¯Purple Mist True Garment¡¯ plays a significant role in breaking through the crises of ¡¯Divine Heritage Treasures¡¯ and entering the Divine Heritage Cave. No wonder Ao Lei was so eager to snatch the ¡¯Treasure Cave Key.¡¯ He planned to use this Divine Artifact Garment to safely enter the cave!"


    Ye Chen had not expected to uncover such a great secret from Ao Lei¡¯s memories.


    Previously, at the final auction in the Sand Sea Palace, the last treasure, the key which grants access to the most mysterious and valuable ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ in the Five Elements Mountain, "Treasure Cave Key," had incited a frenzy among many attendees.


    Back then, since there was only a ten percent chance of surviving the entrance to the Divine Heritage Cave, Ye Chen chose not to contend for the "Treasure Cave Key."


    Ultimately, the "Treasure Cave Key" fell into Ao Lei¡¯s hands.


    At the time, Ye Chen wondered why Ao Lei, who was rather prestigious, would take such a big risk to enter the "Divine Heritage Cave" with the "Treasure Cave Key."


    Now, Ye Chen finally understood, Ao Lei did have a Divine Artifact Garment that could boost his safety chance up to fifty percent when entering the "Divine Heritage Cave."


    Fifty percent was already very safe for exploring secret realms, and such a risk was definitely worth taking.


    Now that Ye Chen understood why Ao Lei possessed such a powerful Defensive Garment yet had no Attack Magical Treasure, it turned out he had specially prepared this treasure to enter the "Divine Heritage Cave."


    With this realization, Ye Chen¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    Since Ao Lei could enter the "Divine Heritage Cave" with the "Purple Mist True Garment" and "Treasure Cave Key," and Ao Lei was now dead, all these treasures could be of use to him.


    Does that mean he could also enter the Divine Heritage Cave?


    "The Divine Heritage Cave, it is rumored to contain shocking Divine Arts, real Divine Artifacts, Divine Fruits, Divine Liquids, and even the divine legacy of True Gods, with unprecedented secret techniques to challenge the nine supreme heavenly tribulations of the Void Sky True God..."


    "Previously, it seemed too risky and not worth the danger, but now, with the ¡¯Purple Mist Garment,¡¯ perhaps I could have a look there!"


    Of course, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t made a final decision yet about whether to go to the "Divine Heritage Cave" or not; after all, his most important task was to advance through the middle and late stages of spinning pill in the Five Elements Mountain.


    But whether he went or not, these treasures should be properly kept on his person first.


    With that thought, Ye Chen hesitated no further. Having killed Ao Lei¡¯s Divine Soul, the faint purple light of the garment that enveloped Ao Lei¡¯s clothing had become unclaimed, and Ye Chen, following the ritual method for claiming garments from Ao Lei¡¯s memory, pinched a magical sign with his hand and directly took the purple light into his possession.


    Once the hidden restrictions of the Purple Mist Garment¡¯s light shadow were removed, revealing the garment¡¯s true form, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes lit up.


    Its true form turned out to be a purple droplet.


    Upon proper consecration, this purple droplet could transform directly into a mist of purple fog that enveloped the user¡¯s entire body and finally clung to the outside of the clothing, exhibiting a defense garment¡¯s light shadow.


    "This garment is a defensive artifact, and although it is a lower-quality artifact unable to block Divine Soul techniques, it is very effective against True Qi Techniques and attacks from Martial Skills and Divine Arts!"


    With a thought, Ye Chen placed the Purple Mist Garment¡¯s true form¡ªthe purple droplet¡ªinto the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Then, pointing a finger at Ao Lei¡¯s physical body, Ao Lei¡¯s Storage Magical Treasure also flew towards Ye Chen. As Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense soaked into the Storage Magical Treasure, he noticed the ultimate treasure from the previous auction, the black iron box that contained the "Treasure Cave Key," prominently within the Storage Magical Treasure!


    Besides the black iron box, the Storage Magical Treasure contained over ten thousand top-grade spirit stones and other treasures.


    After scanning these treasures, Ye Chen put the entire Storage Magical Treasure into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Then, with a point of his finger, the black true fire instantly incinerated Ao Lei¡¯s entire corpse to nothingness.

 Chapter 426 - 386 Encounter on the Road

    Ye Chen felt neither remorse nor excitement about the deaths of Ao Lei and those four late-stage Heavenly Saints.


    The world of Martial Arts was fraught with danger.


    Often, it was a matter of kill or be killed.


    Especially when it came to contention over treasures, secret lands, and opportunities, countless skirmishes ensued.


    If it hadn¡¯t been for the help of Ye Chen¡¯s nine Frozen Guardians, he might have been the one to die instead of Ao Lei.


    Naturally, Ye Chen felt no pity for Ao Lei.


    People like Ao Lei sought to harm others first, and their deaths were not regrettable.


    Powerful ancient clans such as the Divine Phoenix Clan faced annihilation due to the Phoenix Divine Blood and the Nirvana Pool¡ªtwo treasures that provoked disaster.


    Numerous Void Sky True Gods fell during the Great War between the three clans.


    Those deaths truly evoked sighs.


    At this moment, faced with the deaths of Ao Lei and the four Heavenly Saints and recalling the casualties of the war between the three divine clans, Ye Chen had only one realization: he needed to be even more cautious in his Martial Arts cultivation while also striving to become stronger.


    After recalling the four Frozen Guardians, Bing Shisi, Bing Shiwu, Bing Shiba, and Bing Shijiu, back into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen was the only one left in the vast clearing amidst the mountains.


    At this time, Ye Chen did not rush to leave but instead sat down cross-legged on the flat ground, preparing to refine the "Purple Mist True Garment."


    Back in the Heavenly Sacred Tomb, faced with the soul-possession attempt by the Heavenly Saint Mo Ya, Ye Chen was protected from the soul attack thanks to the soul defense Sacred Artifact "Tianga Yuan Ye" given to him by Phoenix Spirit.


    Tianga Yuan Ye was an incredibly powerful Divine Artifact of the Divine Phoenix Clan that countered soul attacks.


    Ye Chen already possessed a secret soul defense artifact, but he had yet to obtain one for True Qi defense.


    Now, the "Purple Mist True Garment" was not only a True Qi defense artifact but also of Divine Artifact grade. Furthermore, it would be greatly useful for venturing into the "Divine Treasure Cave," so Ye Chen naturally wanted to refine it for his own use right away.


    Sitting cross-legged on the ground, with a thought from Ye Chen, the true form of the Purple Mist True Garment¡ªa purple droplet¡ªflew directly out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and hovered in front of Ye Chen.


    Following the secret method of artifact refinement he searched from Ao Lei¡¯s memories, Ye Chen began to officially refine the treasure.


    As Ye Chen cast a technique toward the purple droplet of the Purple Mist True Garment in mid-air, the entire droplet suddenly pulsated and began to expand and enlarge as if boiling, eventually turning into strands of hazy purple mist that enveloped his entire body.


    At that moment, a drop of blood flew out from Ye Chen¡¯s body, and a wisp of his divine sense also directly entered the purple mist.


    What followed was the process of refining and recognizing the Purple Mist True Garment as its master.


    About the duration of one cup of tea later, the Purple Mist True Garment was finally fully refined and recognized its master. By then, the hazy purple mist was completely clinging to the outer layer of Ye Chen¡¯s clothes, even faintly wrapping around his entire body.


    Furthermore, with a thought from Ye Chen, the purple mist could completely disappear from sight, becoming invisible to others.


    Only when the Purple Mist True Garment was defending against an attack would this purple mist garment¡¯s silhouette be revealed.


    Having truly applied the Purple Mist True Garment to his clothing, Ye Chen felt that this defensive Divine Artifact was astonishingly without the slightest burden, as though a faint layer of air was encompassing his body.


    Marvelous.


    This was the wonder of a Divine Artifact.


    Powerful defense, yet as if it were nothing at all.


    After refining the Purple Mist True Garment, Ye Chen then took out the storage artifacts of Ao Xuan and Ao Ming, given to him by the four late-stage Heavenly Saints, including Ao Lei. He meticulously sorted through the treasures within and, like the treasures obtained from Ao Lei, kept them all in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    After that, Ye Chen stood up, and with a movement of his body, he shot into the void and left the mountainous area.


    ...


    In the days that followed, Ye Chen continued to journey from the First Mountain to the deeper parts of the Five Elements Mountain¡ªthe Second Mountain.


    During this period, Ye Chen was attacked by the Five Elements Phantom Beasts more than a dozen times.


    Ye Chen easily killed those Five Elements Phantom Beasts that were below the late-stage Heavenly Saint level by deploying his powerful techniques, and when encountering those Five Elements Phantom Beasts of the late-stage Heavenly Saint level that were unstoppable, the nine Frozen Guardians would take action and annihilate them.


    After three days, Ye Chen had remained safe and sound.


    Ye Chen traveled swiftly, not bothering to pick his path, so he encountered many formidable phantom beasts, especially three of the Heavenly Saint late-stage Five Elements Phantom Beasts.


    If others had encountered these creatures, many would struggle to deal with them, and it would be very troublesome, with quite a few people even facing life-threatening danger.


    As Ye Chen made his way towards the Second Mountain, over two thousand adventurers were also continuously heading towards the same destination.


    Many late-stage Heavenly Saints who could fly at incredible speeds had already entered the Second Mountain, while quite a few were still carefully advancing within the First Mountain.


    Although many were extremely cautious, the number of fallen adventurers was not insignificant.


    After all, this was the Five Elements Mountain, known as one of the three extremely dangerous areas for adventurers. Even the relatively safest First Mountain was filled with crises.


    At the foot of the First Mountain, the bodies of two mid-stage Heavenly Saints lay on the ground, and after their deaths, four mid-stage Heavenly Saint strength fire lions roared away.


    At the peak of the First Mountain, a late-stage Heavenly Saint faced a giant green snake thousands of feet long with a face ashen as death, but the giant snake showed no concern for the Heavenly Saint¡¯s expression, bursting forth and wrapping the entire being within its massive body...


    Of course, where there were falls, there were also gains.


    At a certain place on the First Mountain¡¯s waist, seven Duandan late-stage powerhouses gazed at eighteen golden fruits with surprise, exclaiming, "This... this is a top-grade Sacred Fruit, the ¡¯Golden Beard Visage Fruit¡¯! My goodness, one ¡¯Golden Beard Visage Fruit¡¯ can sell for hundreds of top-grade spirit stones. We never expected to stumble upon this..."


    At another location on the waist of the First Mountain, eight early-stage Heavenly Saints were emerging from a black cave, with faces full of excitement, looking at the ancient-colored weapons in their hands that emanated a powerful sacred light, observing them closely...


    Battles! Conflicts! Deaths! Finds!


    This was what constantly happened in the land of adventure.


    On the fourth day since Ye Chen had entered the First Mountain, according to the map, he was extremely close to the empty space of the Heavenly Moat between the First and the Second Mountain. Two more days of travel should bring him to that place, allowing him to move onto the Second Mountain.


    On this day, as Ye Chen was flying along the massive waist of the First Mountain, he suddenly heard faint sounds of battle coming from ahead.


    During these days of travel, Ye Chen had encountered many adventurers.


    To avoid trouble, Ye Chen immediately unleashed his formidable fighting strength, and thus very few warriors dared to provoke him. Only two groups of warriors tried to stop Ye Chen, wanting to search him for treasures he might have found. As a result, these two groups were severely taught a lesson by Ye Chen.


    At this moment, noticing the sound of battle ahead, Ye Chen¡¯s divine consciousness swept forward to investigate.


    If it was nothing serious, Ye Chen intended to simply breeze past those engaged in the fight and continue flying forward.


    However, when Ye Chen¡¯s divine consciousness swept over, he let out a light exclamatory sound for among the fighting crowd there were actually people from the Heavenly Sacred Palace of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    In a depression ahead in the mountain, five mid-stage Heavenly Saints had surrounded eight early-stage Heavenly Saints. Among those eight early-stage warriors, two were wearing the uniforms of the Heavenly Saint Mountain of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Seeing the eight early-stage Heavenly Saints clearly at a disadvantage, with the five mid-stage saints repeatedly making lethal moves, had it not been for three among the eight early-stage saints possessing decent Divine Artifacts and combat strength not weaker than the mid-stage Heavenly Saints, they probably would have already died.


    Seeing people from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen, without any hesitation, shot forward in an instant and in the blink of an eye he arrived above the mountain hollow where the crowd was fighting.


    Ye Chen¡¯s sudden intrusion startled all the Heavenly Saints engaged in battle.


    As Ye Chen approached, these Heavenly Saints sensed the arrival of a Duandan early-stage youth. A Duandan early-stage strength was far from comparably to theirs.


    They had originally thought that this early-stage Duandan would simply avoid the battlefield. However, he had decided to barge right into the fray.


    When the two mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses clearly saw the face of the Duandan early-stage youth, their expressions changed immediately.


    These two recognized Ye Chen and had also heard about the time Ye Chen had called upon a late-stage Heavenly Saint level helper during his great battle with Huo Mei¡¯er.


    Now seeing that the arriving Duandan youth was none other than Ye Chen, they dared not underestimate him, and their expressions changed in an instant.


    Ye Chen had a late-stage Heavenly Saint level helper, and if he decided to intervene and snatch the treasures they were eyeing, they would be in big trouble this time!


    These two mid-stage Heavenly Saints quickly communicated with the other three mid-stage saints, discussing Ye Chen¡¯s abilities.


    At this time, when the two early-stage Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain saw Ye Chen, they immediately cried out in excitement, "Ye Chen, we are Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain. We ask for your help to escape this deadly encirclement."


    Ye Chen landed directly in front of the two Heavenly Saints and nodded, "My friends, what¡¯s going on?"

 Chapter 427 - 387: Forbidden Ancient Lands

    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry, the two Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain hurriedly explained the situation in full detail.


    Through the descriptions of the two Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen finally understood why these two groups of people were fighting each other here.


    It turned out that the two Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain had, like Ye Chen, headed towards the Second Mountain while searching for treasures in the First Mountain.


    Although they were early-stage Heavenly Saint martial artists, they had to be extremely cautious in the perilous Five Elements Mountain.


    Eventually, they encountered other adventurers and, facing a large group of Five Elements Phantom Beasts, joined forces to break free from the pursuit of the beasts.


    As a result, they decided to team up together.


    Among the group, there were eight early-stage Heavenly Saint martial artists and one mid-stage Heavenly Saint martial artist. Together, they formed a force not to be underestimated and safely made their way towards the Second Mountain.


    Just the day before, the group had accidentally encountered a mid-stage Five Elements Phantom Beast during a chase and, following it, had stumbled into a cave behind a waterfall, leading to an astonishing discovery.


    They managed to acquire many precious treasures in the cave and even found a clue to the location of a map to the Forbidden Ancient Lands.


    The treasures in the cave alone were shocking to the Heavenly Saints, and it was clear that the meticulously preserved map to the Forbidden Ancient Lands would be even more valuable than the treasures in the cave.


    The group was then inspired to seek the treasures of the Forbidden Ancient Lands together.


    They should have been on their way to hunt for treasure, but the only mid-stage Heavenly Saint in the team got greedy and quietly contacted four other mid-stage Heavenly Saints while the others were not paying attention.


    With the betrayal of this mid-stage Heavenly Saint, the five mid-stage Heavenly Saints joined forces to take the treasures and the newly discovered map to the Forbidden Ancient Lands from the hands of the eight early-stage Heavenly Saints in their party.


    Moreover, to ensure the map¡¯s information did not leak, they even contemplated murdering their former allies.


    By the time Ye Chen arrived, the two Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain and the other six early-stage Heavenly Saints were almost unable to hold on any longer.


    If Ye Chen had come any later, he might have only found several corpses, and even then, it was possible their bodies would not be left behind.


    Hearing the account of the two Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain, Ye Chen sighed and shook his head.


    Before entering the Five Elements Mountain, the ancestor of Heavenly Evolution and Mystery Heavenly Saint had said that most adventurers ended up killed by other adventurers.


    Ye Chen had faced attempted murder by Ao Lei and his group, and now these early-stage Heavenly Saints were likewise facing betrayal and murder for treasure by mid-stage martial artists.


    Probably, similar incidents were continually happening in other regions of the Five Elements Mountain as well.


    "Ye Chen, you must save us; otherwise, we won¡¯t escape the clutches of those people," pleaded the two Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain after explaining the situation.


    Originally, because of the betrayal by the only mid-stage Heavenly Saint and the joining of four more from the same stage, they were already prepared for death.


    They had not anticipated encountering Ye Chen.


    These two Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain were aware of Ye Chen¡¯s prowess.


    Although Ye Chen had entered the Heavenly Sacred Palace much later than them, upon his arrival, he instantly caused a sensation at the Holy Temple Tower, attracting the attention of the powerful Heavenly Saints of Heavenly Saint Mountain and the two palace masters.


    Later, they heard that even Palace Master Yuan Li from Heavenly Sacred Palace highly esteemed Ye Chen and that he had even killed Feng Lun Heavenly Saint.


    If it was just about killing Feng Lun Heavenly Saint and being regarded highly by the three palace masters of Heavenly Sacred Palace, they would have only considered Ye Chen an exceptional genius.


    But upon arriving at Rift Sky City in Heavenly Evolution Continent, they heard even more about Ye Chen¡¯s gambling duel with the Little Saintess from the Leaving Fire Continent and his conflict with Ao Lei at the Sand Sea Palace auction.


    They also heard that Ye Chen had demonstrated techniques at the peak of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint level and had been aided by two late-stage Heavenly Saint seniors!


    Techniques at the peak of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint level!


    Aid from two late-stage Heavenly Saint seniors!


    When they heard this news, their perception of Ye Chen instantly shifted from exceptional genius to a true powerhouse capable of fighting with top mid-stage Heavenly Saint warriors.


    With the support of the two seniors, he was even a powerhouse daring to contend with late-stage Heavenly Saints!


    Now, facing a crisis between life and death, encountering a strong warrior like Ye Chen naturally filled them with immense surprise.


    It certainly gave them a glimpse of hope for survival.


    As long as Ye Chen agreed to help and one of his two late-stage Heavenly Saint seniors intervened, all eight early-stage Heavenly Saint martial artists would be able to survive the hunt by the five mid-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Bearing this thought, the two of them naturally implored Ye Chen for help.


    "Fellow Daoists, you are my fellow sect members. If I hadn¡¯t seen your situation, that would be one thing, but having seen it, of course I must help you," Ye Chen said in response to their pleas, gesturing dismissively as he spoke to the two Heavenly Saints from Heavenly Saint Mountain with a smile.


    Ye Chen¡¯s consent instantly thrilled the two Heavenly Saints.


    The two of them felt as though the weight that had been hanging over them had been completely lifted.


    The other six early-stage Heavenly Saints nearby, having discussed among themselves when Ye Chen inquired, already knew of Ye Chen¡¯s background.


    At this moment, hearing Ye Chen¡¯s willingness to help them, they were equally overjoyed!


    On the other hand, the five mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses were extremely frustrated. They had almost seized the treasures and the map, only to run into Ye Chen unexpectedly.


    Hearing the feats of Ye Chen, as relayed by the two knowledgeable mid-stage Heavenly Saints, all five were fully informed.


    The thought of confronting Ye Chen, a man daring enough to gamble with the Little Saintess from Leaving Fire Continent, left them without the courage to fight.


    Now, hearing Ye Chen¡¯s intention to intervene, the several mid-stage Heavenly Saints were completely panicked.


    Upon Ye Chen¡¯s agreement, the five mid-stage Heavenly Saints glanced at each other before simultaneously bolting away in retreat.


    With each breath, the five had already fled several miles away, burning their true qi completely in the process.


    "Hmm?"


    Ye Chen had already noticed the movements of these few.


    He said he would handle this matter, and of course, he meant it.


    Among the five, the most detestable was that mid-stage Heavenly Saint who had previously been with eight early-stage Heavenly Saints and later betrayed them for a treasure and clues to the Forbidden Ancient Lands.


    The other four mid-stage Heavenly Saints had developed murderous intents for the treasure, ruthlessly killing the eight early-stage Heavenly Saints just moments ago¡ªa scene Ye Chen witnessed vividly.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t let the five escape so easily.


    The moment those five were fleeing, Ye Chen raised his hand and instantly, there appeared five stunning golden arc lights in his palm.


    These five terrifying golden arc lights vanished the moment they appeared in Ye Chen¡¯s hand.


    In the next instant, the eight early-stage Heavenly Saints watched in horror as something unexpected occurred.


    The suddenly vanished five golden arc lights flashed through the void in an instant, reappearing directly above the heads of the fleeing five mid-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Without any effort, the five golden arc lights directly slashed down upon the five men.


    One of the arc lights instantly killed the betraying mid-stage Heavenly Saint, leaving not even ashes behind.


    The remaining four were pierced through their qi sea and meridians by the arc lights in an instant, crashing to the ground and rendered disabled on the spot.


    In just one move!


    He killed one mid-stage Heavenly Saint and disabled four other mid-stage Heavenly Saints!


    Ye Chen¡¯s action had completely changed the expressions of the eight early-stage Heavenly Saints at his side.


    They had originally thought that to deal with these five mid-stage Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen would have one of the two late-stage Heavenly Saint elders take action. What they didn¡¯t expect was that Ye Chen would take matters into his own hands.


    What was even more unexpected was the ferocity of Ye Chen¡¯s attack!


    With one move, he killed one and disabled four!


    This method of attack, striking in two different ways within a single move, was even more difficult than killing five at once!


    And these were all mid-stage Heavenly Saints!


    The eight early-stage Heavenly Saints realized that if Ye Chen had wanted to kill the other four, it would have been just as effortless.


    It was his intention to execute the ringleader and severely punish the other four that led to such an attack.


    Ye Chen¡¯s strength was not merely on par with the top-tier mid-stage Heavenly Saints. It was almost approaching that of a late-stage Heavenly Saint!


    With this thought, the eight early-stage Heavenly Saints were naturally filled with shock!


    As these eight early-stage Heavenly Saints looked at Ye Chen with changed faces and increasing awe, Ye Chen moved and was already in front of the four disabled mid-stage Heavenly Saints.


    "I will not kill you four," he said.


    "Not far from here, there should be a spatial teleportation point for returning. You can head there and, when the three-month exploration period ends, teleport out. Of course, your cultivation is now wasted, so whether you can survive until then depends on your fortune."


    After finishing his words, Ye Chen didn¡¯t bother with the several warriors lying on the ground, wailing. His figure flickered in the void and he was back beside the eight early-stage Heavenly Saints.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Thank you, Ye Chen, for your assistance!"


    At this moment, the two Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace and the other six early-stage Heavenly Saints spoke to Ye Chen again, now with utmost politeness.


    It was different from hearing about him to seeing his strength firsthand.


    Ye Chen¡¯s move had scared them terribly.


    "Alright, this matter here is settled, and I should be on my way," Ye Chen said to them with a smile, gesturing with his hand, preparing to depart.


    Although two among these people were Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, this expedition was everyone¡¯s own opportunity. Ye Chen did not intend to take them along with him.


    While Ye Chen thought this way, the several Heavenly Saints exchanged glances, then all bowed to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, please wait."


    "Hmm?" Ye Chen looked at the eight with some confusion.


    The strongest among them, a Heavenly Saint from the Heavens Continent who had previously blocked the attacks of a mid-stage Heavenly Saint, glanced at the other Heavenly Saints and then addressed Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you must know about our ambush, so you probably also know that those people came for the map to the clues of the Forbidden Ancient Lands."


    "We have a favor to ask. Even though our strength is not bad, the Forbidden Ancient Lands might not be easy to traverse. We hope that Ye Chen can travel with us to that place."


    "Should treasures be found, we will let Ye Chen choose first, and then we will distribute the rest!"


    After this Heavenly Saint finished speaking, the others nodded in agreement, "Yes, with Ye Chen¡¯s assistance, our chances of obtaining the treasures of the Forbidden Ancient Lands will be greater. Moreover, Ye Chen has saved our lives; it¡¯s only right that you should have a share of the treasures."


    They¡¯re inviting me to explore the Forbidden Ancient Lands?


    Ye Chen felt a moment¡¯s hesitation upon hearing the words of these Heavenly Saints.


    After a brief pause, Ye Chen nodded and looked at the Heavenly Saints: "Show me the map of the clues to the Forbidden Ancient Lands first."


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the leading Heavenly Saint from the Heavens Continent exchanged a look with the others before taking out an ancient scroll and handing it over to Ye Chen.

 Chapter 428 - 388 Breaking the Ban

    ```


    They certainly weren¡¯t afraid of Ye Chen leaving alone with the clue-laden map.


    The means of Ye Chen they had just witnessed with their own eyes; not to mention the rumors that Ye Chen had the help of two late-stage Heavenly Saints, just Ye Chen¡¯s own capabilities would be enough to easily kill all eight of them.


    If Ye Chen really wanted to kill for treasure and monopolize the clues to this Forbidden Ancient Lands, then even if they refused to present the map, they would still be doomed.


    Everyone had a premonition that Ye Chen was not the kind of person who would directly seize the treasure and kill them.


    As expected, when Ye Chen took hold of the ancient scroll, he merely quietly began to read.


    "This Forbidden Ancient Lands actually involves the secret treasures of the five great void heavenly laws."


    "There must be incredible treasures hidden inside!"


    On the surface, Ye Chen appeared calm, but the moment he touched the ancient scroll, he felt all the divine pill patterns on the Five Apertures Rotating Pills within his body begin to surge.


    Upon closer inspection, Ye Chen discovered that it was the material of the map itself that was causing the divine pill patterns to react.


    Anything capable of affecting the divine pill patterns was undoubtedly precious.


    The mere material of the map was so extraordinary, without even considering, one could know the treasures within the actual Forbidden Ancient Lands would be extremely precious.


    Ye Chen saw that the clue on the map pointed right to the Second Mountain of the Five Elements Mountain.


    The Second Mountain also lay on Ye Chen¡¯s essential path.


    Before he went to the Third Mountain to comprehend the insights of the void heavenly laws within the Five Elements Divine Temple, he had to observe the manifestations of the void heavenly laws at the Second Mountain, which indeed was not to be easily overlooked.


    "Since I will be spending some time on the Second Mountain, I might as well take a look at this Forbidden Ancient Lands."


    "If there are no treasures or if it¡¯s too dangerous, then it¡¯s fine to leave. But if there are truly valuable treasures, then it would be an unexpected windfall."


    Once Ye Chen made up his mind, he handed the ancient scroll back to the Heavenly Saint of the Heavens Continent and said with a smile, "I¡¯m indeed a little interested in this Forbidden Ancient Lands, so let¡¯s go together."


    "When the time comes, if we really find treasures, there¡¯s no need for me to choose first. Let¡¯s the nine of us divide them equally."


    Upon hearing that Ye Chen truly agreed to travel with them, all eight early-stage Heavenly Saints were overjoyed.


    In the perilous Five Elements Mountain, having a powerful companion would greatly ensure their safety.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen¡¯s suggestion that the nine of them share the treasures equally gave them a sense of recognition towards him.


    Ye Chen did not leverage his strength to demand more of the treasures, which made having him as a companion for treasure hunting far better than the treacherous mid-stage Heavenly Saint they had teamed up with before.


    After a private discussion, they unanimously agreed that if treasures were indeed found, for the sake of establishing a good relationship with Ye Chen, they would allow him to select the more valuable treasures.


    "It¡¯s our honor that Fellow Daoist Ye Chen is willing to join us."


    "Since that is the case, shall we set off without delay?"


    The Heavenly Saints all looked to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also responded with a light smile, "Let¡¯s set out."


    ...


    Thereafter, Ye Chen continued to make his way toward the Second Mountain.


    However, this time, he was not alone but accompanied by another eight early-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Although their speed was slightly slower due to traveling together, it took them only three days to reach the Void Rift between the First Mountain and the Second Mountain.


    This Void Rift was an abyss so deep that its bottom was invisible, and looking to the other side, one could see a towering mountain, standing on the far side of the abyss.


    This towering mountain was the Second Mountain of the Five Elements Mountain, a magical mountain where the origins of the five great void heavenly laws were manifested.


    After spending another day, the nine of them safely crossed the Void Rift and officially arrived at the territory of the Second Mountain.


    Once on the Second Mountain, Ye Chen headed directly towards the location marked on the Forbidden Ancient Lands map according to its clues.


    Four days passed in this manner.


    From their initial encounter to their journey together, it took a full eight days for Ye Chen and the other eight early-stage Heavenly Saints to finally approach the location indicated by the map.


    During these eight days, the nine of them encountered numerous dangers.


    They even faced attacks from late-stage Heavenly Saint Phantom Beasts five times.


    The less threatening dangers were directly dealt with by the eight early-stage Heavenly Saint warriors, while the more formidable mid-stage Heavenly Saint level threats were personally handled by Ye Chen.


    For the truly insurmountable late-stage Heavenly Saint level dangers, Ye Chen would then call upon seniors like Bing Shiba or Bing Shijiu to assist.


    When they saw that Ye Chen really had a spatial treasure and was indeed accompanied by late-stage Heavenly Saint seniors, the eight early-stage Heavenly Saint warriors became completely deferential to him.


    ```


    Even the thought had occurred to them that if they could always follow Ye Chen in the Five Elements Mountain, their chances of surviving safely and obtaining great gains would be much higher.


    However, these were matters to discuss with Ye Chen after exploring the Forbidden Ancient Lands.


    Now, as they were getting close to the Forbidden Ancient Lands, everyone rallied their focus and cautiously approached the area.


    After another half-day¡¯s travel, Ye Chen and the eight early Heavenly Saint martial artists finally arrived at the location indicated by the map of the Forbidden Ancient Lands.


    This was supposed to be a position at the foot of the Second Mountain, a colossal mountainside, and when Ye Chen approached with his divine consciousness, he felt it blocked by an inexplicable force.


    Yet, when Ye Chen and the eight early Heavenly Saint martial artists actually entered the mountainside, they were taken aback.


    In the mountainside, there were actually around seventy to eighty martial artists!


    The exploration area of the Forbidden Ancient Lands had unexpectedly attracted so many martial artists, and judging by their appearance, they were also explorers who had entered the Five Elements Mountain in the same batch as Ye Chen.


    Among these seventy to eighty martial artists, there were even over a dozen in the later stages of Heavenly Saint!


    But Ye Chen did not recognize these people, and by the looks they gave Ye Chen and his companions, it was clear they didn¡¯t recognize them either.


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    As Ye Chen and the eight early Heavenly Saint martial artists exchanged puzzled looks, those seventy to eighty martial artists also noticed them. One of the later stage Heavenly Saint martial artists asked Ye Chen with a wry smile, "You must have found this place because you obtained a map of the Forbidden Ancient Lands as well, right?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Is that so for you too?"


    The later stage Heavenly Saint martial artist nodded helplessly, "Indeed, all of us, including you, are the seventh group to arrive here based on the map of the Forbidden Ancient Lands."


    "At first, we thought we were the only ones who had the map, but now it seems there are many copies. We don¡¯t know if there will be others following us here."


    Hearing about the numerous copies of the map and seeing so many martial artists, even those in the later stages of Heavenly Saint, the eight early Heavenly Saint martial artists beside Ye Chen were somewhat disappointed.


    With so many people, even if there really were treasures, what fell into their hands would probably be very little.


    Moreover, with later stage Heavenly Saint martial artists present, if a fight broke out over the treasures, it would certainly be extremely dangerous.


    However, the idea of turning around and leaving was not something the eight of them were willing to consider.


    After all, having come all this way, they certainly didn¡¯t want to return empty-handed.


    At this moment, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t paying attention to the thoughts of the early Heavenly Saint martial artists. He looked at the later stage Heavenly Saint martial artist who had spoken to him, examined the situation in the mountainside again, and asked, "With so many people gathered here, have they found the treasure location or ancient cave of the Forbidden Ancient Lands?"


    As Ye Chen asked, he noticed that apart from the standing martial artists, the mountainside was empty, let alone any treasure site.


    Only at the very back of the mountainside, a space of several dozen zhang in circumference was shrouded in layers of brown fog, which seemed to hold a secret.


    At this time, many martial artists had congregated around the fog.


    "Could it be that the secret of the Forbidden Ancient Lands ultimately lies over there?"


    "Such a small area can¡¯t be the treasure site directly. The Forbidden Ancient Lands, could it be that it¡¯s a restriction leading to the ancient treasure land?"


    As Ye Chen observed the area enveloped in brown fog, the later stage Heavenly Saint martial artist, as if seeing through Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts, nodded and said, "That place might indeed be where the restriction of the Forbidden Ancient Lands is located."


    "Only by breaking the restriction can we truly find the ancient treasure land hidden within."


    "Of the seven groups here, the earliest arrived three days ago, but even they, after studying for three days, have been unable to break the restriction."


    "Stepping into that fog, there¡¯s nothing but emptiness, yet the fog contains mysterious fluctuations."


    "Based on our continuous experiments, it seems that we need to combine the five elemental magics of Gold, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth to break the restriction and truly locate the ancient treasure land amidst this enigmatic mist."


    "Among the six groups that came before us, there are already individuals who possess four types of elemental magic¡ªGold, Wood, Fire, and Earth. Do any of you understand the water elemental magic?"


    "If so, we can try again to break the restriction. If not, we may have to wait and see if anyone else comes. If all else fails, we might have to spread the word and find a martial artist who understands the water elemental magic to help."


    As the later stage Heavenly Saint martial artist spoke, Ye Chen also stepped toward the brown fog.


    As Ye Chen drew near the brown fog, he sensed a surge of colorful light churning within it. With a gesture of his finger towards the fog, countless droplets of water from the water elemental magic "Heavenly Origin Divine Water" stirred within the fog, and indeed, for an instant, the fog parted.


    However, the gap closed quickly after.


    Ye Chen¡¯s attempt had drawn the attention of many onlookers, and upon witnessing the light of water elemental magic flickering from Ye Chen¡¯s finger, a dozen later stage Heavenly Saint martial artists immediately surrounded him.


    "Fellow Daoist, you actually understand water elemental magic?!"


    Before, many martial artists didn¡¯t pay much attention to Ye Chen when they saw he was only at the early stage of Rotating Pill realm. They only started paying some attention to Ye Chen after noticing that the eight early Heavenly Saints regarded him as their center.


    Now, unexpectedly, this young man in the early stage of Rotating Pill actually had knowledge of water elemental magic.


    This naturally filled everyone in the mountainside with surprise and delight.


    With the water elemental magic, coupled with the four who had already tried to break the restriction with their own elemental magics of Gold, Wood, Fire, and Earth, the five of them joining forces might indeed have a chance at breaking the restriction.

 Chapter 429 - 389 Earth Temple, Strange Fruit

    "I have indeed cultivated a water-attribute Divine Art."


    Seeing the astonished expressions of the Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses beside him, Ye Chen smiled and spoke out.


    "Would you be willing to lend a hand with us and try to break this restriction?" At this moment, four martial artists stepped forward directly. These four were precisely the ones who had already attempted to break the restriction with gold, wood, fire, and earth Divine Arts before Ye Chen arrived at this place.


    Ye Chen nodded: "Then let¡¯s try it together."


    After examining with his water-attribute Divine Art, he found that indeed, the removal of the ancient site¡¯s restrictions was related to the Five Great Heavenly Void Law Divine Arts.


    Having come here, Ye Chen was naturally willing to give it a try to see if the restriction could be broken, and he too was curious to see what would appear in this hollow after the restriction was lifted.


    Hearing Ye Chen agree to join forces, the martial artists on the scene were genuinely excited this time.


    The earliest batch of people here had already been waiting for three days. Now, there was a great hope for breaking the strange fog restriction in the hollow, which made them thrillingly excited.


    However, before Ye Chen and the other four made their move, the Heavenly Saint from the later stage who had spoken to Ye Chen earlier turned to look at all seventy or eighty martial artists in the hollow and raised his voice: "Now that this fellow Daoist and his group have arrived, and he¡¯s willing to help break the restriction, let¡¯s stick to the rule we discussed before. If we indeed find a treasure location within this restriction, the five who break the restriction will have the priority to select one treasure, and the rest of the treasures will be obtained by the rest of us according to our luck and capabilities."


    "Agreed."


    "We agree."


    This rule had been negotiated by the first six groups, and after the late-stage Heavenly Saint reiterated it, the others nodded.


    After all, without the five of them breaking the restriction, the others wouldn¡¯t be able to search for treasures. Allowing Ye Chen and the other four to pick a treasure first was only fair.


    As for the leftover treasures, everyone would rely on luck and capabilities to obtain them. The statement was very broad, but at this moment, there were more than a dozen late-stage Heavenly Saints in the area, and of course, they did not want to share the treasures equally with others; searching for treasures based on capabilities was all they could agree to.


    "We have no objections either."


    The eight early-stage Heavenly Saint martial artists who had come with Ye Chen also nodded with a wry smile.


    They understood that the late-stage Heavenly Saint martial artist¡¯s reiteration of the rules was more for this new group. With seventy to eighty martial artists now present, the situation was no longer what the earlier few had imagined, and they too had to abide by the consensus.


    Ye Chen glanced at the martial artists around him, saw their expressions, and nodded: "Since everyone agrees with this arrangement, let¡¯s do it this way."


    "Right now, let¡¯s first try to break the restriction. If we can¡¯t break it, there¡¯s no point discussing anything else."


    "Yes, break the restriction first," Ye Chen¡¯s words rallied the crowd of martial artists to flock to the edge of the brown fog that covered dozens of yards at the deepest part of the hollow, both tense and expectant, waiting for Ye Chen and the other four to act.


    After exchanging glances, the five of them took a step at the same time and stood at the edge of the fog.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The four individuals beside Ye Chen, each mastering one of the gold, wood, fire, and earth Divine Arts, started to harness them directly.


    The one cultivating the gold-attribute Divine Art was a mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior, who suddenly spat out a small bead of pure gold from his mouth. The bead kept rotating rapidly, and as the mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior¡¯s hand movements quickened, the strength of the gold-attribute Divine Art on the bead grew increasingly powerful.


    The one who employed the wood-attribute Divine Art was a late-stage Heavenly Saint existence. He stomped fiercely on the ground, causing huge vines to emerge and grow around him, which kept getting longer as they faced the wind.


    There was also someone with a true fire light surging between his fingers as he channeled the fire-attribute Divine Art, and another mid-stage Heavenly Saint existence who took out an Earth Bowl Treasure with powerful earth-attribute Divine Art force radiating from within ¨C both made their move as well.


    The gold, wood, fire, and earth Divine Arts were respectively operated by two mid-stage and two late-stage Heavenly Saints.


    Apart from them, the fifth Divine Art, the water-attribute Divine Art, was used by Ye Chen.


    Of course, Ye Chen¡¯s mastery of Divine Arts was not just confined to the water-attribute Divine Art; he had also cultivated all five of the Heavenly Void Law Divine Arts.


    However, with many martial artists present and their strengths unclear, Ye Chen would certainly not reveal all of his techniques when four others had already exhibited theirs.


    Since only the water-attribute Divine Art was needed, he only activated the "Heavenly Origin Divine Water."


    Ye Chen¡¯s water-attribute Divine Art, the "Heavenly Origin Divine Water," had absorbed and refined two sacred-grade low-level water-attribute secret treasures. Although its power had only reached about one and a half percent of the full potential of a great achievement in the water-attribute Divine Art, when Ye Chen truly put it into action, the luminosity of the water-attribute Divine Art from his hands was in no way inferior to the other four Heavenly Saint beings.


    At the moment of Divine Art activation, Ye Chen¡¯s body was surrounded by hundreds of powerful, mysterious azure-blue water beads, each emitting a dazzling water-attribute Divine Art light!


    The majority of the other martial artists¡¯ gazes were fixed on Ye Chen.


    Before Ye Chen¡¯s arrival, they had seen the other four attempt to break the restriction multiple times, and they had some understanding of the Divine Art techniques of those four Heavenly Saint Realm warriors.


    What worried them the most was Ye Chen, the youth newly participating in breaking the restriction.


    After all, Ye Chen was only at the early stage of Rotating Pill cultivation, and although he had cultivated the water-attribute Divine Art, if its power was too weak and affected the breaking of the restriction, it would be disastrous.


    In such a situation, the martial artists couldn¡¯t help but be concerned.


    At that moment, upon witnessing that Ye Chen¡¯s Water-Attribute Divine Art was no less powerful than the other four Heavenly Saints, a group of warriors were both astonished and delighted.


    Five Great Divine Arts, each incorporating the laws of the Heavenly Void, were all powerful, with no clear weakling among them.


    In that case, the combined might of the five arts could indeed attempt to break the enchantment!


    Unconcerned with the warriors¡¯ worries, Ye Chen, having activated his Water-Attribute Divine Art, nodded at the four others channeling the Metal, Wood, Fire, and Earth Divine Arts, and forming hand seals, their surging divine power rushed toward the brown mist ahead simultaneously.


    A shocking event then took place!


    Previously, whether a single Divine Art was employed or four were used together, they could only slightly disperse the brown mist. But now, as the Five Great Divine Arts were infused at once, an exceedingly strange transformation occurred.


    The entire brown mist, covering tens of zhang, went into a frenzied flow instantly, moving similarly to the direction of True Qi flowing through a martial artist¡¯s meridians.


    After completing eighteen large circuits, the brown mist ripped apart down the middle, revealing a vast void about thirty zhang across.


    Within this void, one could see that it was not the empty space that had been previously shrouded by mist; instead, one could clearly see large stone steps enveloped in rolling True Qi.


    After the simultaneous operation of the Five Great Divine Arts of the Heavenly Void Law, the brown mist actually broke the blinding enchantment, exposing a new secret realm!


    "Steps, there are actual steps inside the brown mist!"


    "Where do these steps lead? Could it be the pathway to the treasure hunt location?"


    "The enchantment is broken! Thanks to the combined force of the Five Great Divine Arts of the Heavenly Void Law, the exterior barriers have indeed been shattered."


    Observing the phenomena within the mist, all the warriors screamed with excitement.


    These warriors, capable of reaching Five Elements Mountain, were all individuals of no ordinary caliber, having experienced countless explorations and broken through enchantments to enter secret realms.


    It was clear to them that this was indicative of a real hidden realm emerging after the enchantment was lifted.


    "Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s enter the stairs and see what treasures are inside!"


    The four Heavenly Saints who had broken the enchantment with Ye Chen, seeing the revealed stone steps within the mist, were the first to dash into the interior.


    The other warriors hesitated for a moment but soon rushed in after them, entering the space beyond the enchantment.


    Ye Chen watched as these warriors, faces filled with anticipation, surged into the true secret area of the enchantment. It held something that shielded against the probing of divine thoughts, making it impossible to see far into it.


    One could only see that the steps led upwards, reaching a higher ground.


    Ye Chen felt that, following the breaking of the enchantment, the Divine Pill Law Pattern on his Five Apertures Rotating Pill within him grew lively with movement. Clearly, as with the initial contact with the enchantment¡¯s ancient land clue map, something he needed might indeed be present within.


    After touching the Ice Snow Jade Medallion he carried, Ye Chen smiled slightly and flew into the actual secret area within the enormous void of brown mist.


    Following him were the eight Heavenly Saint Realm early-stage warriors who had come with him, each entering the secret realm as well.


    In a short time, the seventy or eighty warriors outside had all but disappeared.


    Upon entering the real secret area, Ye Chen discovered that there were hundreds of steps on the staircase.


    After ascending the steps, Ye Chen saw a small Earth Temple before him.


    In front of the Earth Temple, two trees were growing, and the warriors who had entered the secret area before him were all gathered beneath these trees.


    Looking up at the trees, one could see that they were of the same species, each bearing slender, arm-length fruits.


    Together, the two trees bore hundreds of such fruits!


    At this moment, the warriors were all staring up at the fruits, and a few even had expressions of disbelief on their faces.


    "These fruits?"


    Ye Chen also looked curiously at the slender, arm-length fruits.


    He noticed that they emitted the auras of the five aspects of the Heavenly Void Law - Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth - and were shrouded in multi-colored lights, making them seem extraordinarily mystical.


    Not only the fruits, but even the leaves on the trees beside the fruits were incredibly peculiar.


    The leaves were not of one color, but of gold, green, blue, red, and brown, variegated and resplendent to the extreme.


    Simply standing under these two large trees, Ye Chen could feel the power of the Heavenly Void Law pouring into his body, leaving him feeling invigorated.


    As for the multitude of fruits, evidently the essence of the entire trees, one could imagine just how precious they were.

 Chapter 430 - 390 Sudden Change

    ```


    "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit! These are the Void Sky Quintessence Fruits!"


    As Ye Chen was examining these peculiar fruits, the martial artists who had previously revealed an incredulous expression at the sight of them could no longer contain their exclamations, clearly recognizing the origin of these fruits.


    "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit?"


    "What kind of treasured fruit is that?"


    Hearing the astonishment of these few martial artists, all the remaining seventy or so warriors all looked towards them.


    Even just by seeing these fruits, they knew they were precious, but few actually knew the reputation of the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit."


    "The Void Sky Quintessence Fruit is a special fruit that can only be cultivated in places where the five great Heavenly Void Laws are incredibly rich and gathered together. Look at the leaves on this fruit tree; the five different colors of leaves represent the five different powers of the Heavenly Void Laws."


    Those few martial artists who recognized the origin of the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit" knew that under the watchful eyes of everyone, even if others were unaware of the origin of these fruits, they wouldn¡¯t miss out on them.


    Therefore, they didn¡¯t intend to conceal what they knew, and one of them pointed to the dazzlingly beautiful leaves of the two fruit trees and spoke out.


    Another one nodded and said, "This ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruit¡¯ is much more precious than the fruits of a single Heavenly Void Law. Under the gathering of the five Heavenly Void Law powers, it has great utility for those who cultivate all the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws at the same time!"


    "To know, cultivating any of the five great Heavenly Void Laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth is easy, but to reach complete mastery of all five at the same time is something few top-level late-stage Heavenly Saints can achieve!"


    "To reach complete mastery of all five Heavenly Void Laws not only makes one incredibly powerful but is also said to be of great use for the future breakthrough into the Heavenly Saint Realm and even for cultivation in the True God Realm. Who wouldn¡¯t want to master all five Heavenly Void Laws at once?"


    "This time, we, martial artists of the Spiraling Pill Realm and Heavenly Saint Realm who had condensed the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws and formed the Five Orifices Spiraling Pills, have gathered here at the Five Elements Mountain specifically to gain a deeper understanding of the Heavenly Void Laws, something everyone should already know."


    At this point, all the warriors nodded in agreement.


    The martial artist continued: "The ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruit¡¯ is of great utility for those who cultivate all five Heavenly Void Laws at the same time because eating this fruit harmonizes the powers of the five Heavenly Void Laws within the body. It prevents them from eroding each other and instead allows them to nurture each other."


    "After consuming this ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruit¡¯, even if one is unable to truly bring all five Heavenly Void Laws to complete mastery, it will still incredibly boost the simultaneous cultivation of the five Heavenly Void Laws!"


    Many people took a deep breath at the martial artist¡¯s words.


    The Five Great Heavenly Void Laws are interdependent and mutually restrictive.


    Cultivating several at the same time often leads to them eroding each other, so many people prefer to cultivate each Heavenly Void Law¡¯s power separately and dare not merge them.


    This Void Sky Quintessence Fruit, which could allow the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws to nurture each other, was truly unbelievable!


    Ye Chen, having heard the incredible benefits of the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit," was also full of admiration for the miraculous effects of this strange fruit.


    He was now cultivating the Five Great Divine Arts at the same time. Because the Five Elements Secret Treasures that the Five Great Divine Arts had consumed and refined were different, they had different levels of strength. If this fruit could nourish the powers of the five Heavenly Void Laws at the same time, it would be greatly beneficial for his cultivation of the Five Great Divine Arts.


    Not to mention, the fruit would also assist him much in his understanding of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws and his breakthrough to higher realms.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen eyed the few hundred fruits on the two large trees and felt the urge to obtain some of them.


    Like Ye Chen, the martial artists who had been dazzled by the peculiar appearance of these fruits shone with even greater eagerness upon learning of their remarkable uses.


    Such a fruit, where the powers of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws converged, was extremely rare!


    Now that it had been encountered, they would certainly not let it slip away!


    Everyone grew restless; had they not been mindful of the other powerful individuals present, many would have already rushed to seize them.


    At this moment, the late-stage Heavenly Saint who had earlier laid out the treasure-hunting rules after entering the restricted ancient land, stood up. He looked directly at Ye Chen and the other four who had broken the prohibition: "According to the rules, the five friends who just broke the prohibition can choose a treasure first, and then we will compete for the rest."


    "Now that this ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruit¡¯ has been discovered, would the five friends like to pick one each first? Afterward, we will start picking."


    Upon hearing the late-stage Heavenly Saint¡¯s words, everyone looked towards Ye Chen and the other four.


    Ye Chen also glanced at the other four martial artists who had broken the prohibition with him.


    The four warriros, like Ye Chen, looked at each other, but without needing any discussion, they all shook their heads: "Let¡¯s not use the opportunity to find a treasure first."


    "Let¡¯s just pick the ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruit¡¯ from these two trees based on our abilities. There are other areas to explore later, and there will presumably be other treasures to be found. When that time comes, we can use our priority to choose a treasure."


    All five had seen that in this ancient restricted land, the two large trees were only at the very outer edge. Beyond the trees was an earthen temple.


    They didn¡¯t believe that the treasures of this ancient restricted land would be limited to these "Void Sky Quintessence Fruits"¡ªthe truly precious treasures were likely inside that temple.


    Choosing a treasure first but only being allowed to pick one fruit would clearly waste that opportunity, so naturally, all five were reluctant.


    Hearing that the five were not ready to go first, the late-stage Heavenly Saint nodded: "Then, out of these several hundred fruits, we will each pick based on our abilities."


    "However, I would caution everyone that it is rumored where ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruits¡¯ are found, there tends to be guardian beasts. These fruits may not be so easy to pick. If we really start, everyone should be careful."


    ```


    This expert from the Heavenly Saint Realm obviously knew the true origin of the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit"!


    Upon hearing about the existence of guardian creatures, many warriors looked around.


    However, in this area, apart from the two fruit trees and the earth temple farther back, there were no traces of any creatures to be seen.


    Moreover, Ye Chen and his four companions no longer prioritized picking the Void Sky Quintessence Fruits either.


    Unable to resist the temptation of the mysterious fruit embodying the power of the five great Heavenly Void Laws, someone made the first move.


    The first to act was a mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior from the Heavenly Vast Continent.


    This warrior, a middle-aged man clad in grey, laughed heartily upon seeing that no one else was making a move: "There are hundreds of these fruits, neither too few nor too many. Since none of you are taking action, then I shall make the first move!"


    As he spoke, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior moved through the void and disappeared from the ground in an instant. The next moment, a flash of Spiritual Light illuminated his hand, and a net-like magical treasure swept toward three Void Sky Quintessence Fruits on a branch of the left tree.


    The mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior wasn¡¯t foolish; as he used the magical treasure to pluck the fruits, he enveloped himself within a surge of True Qi, activating several protective treasures around him, ready to defend against any potential attacks from creatures guarding the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit".


    As the mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior made his move, the other warriors watched him while also remaining alert to their surroundings.


    To everyone¡¯s surprise, however, when the warrior successfully captured the three Void Sky Quintessence Fruits in his net-like magical treasure and pulled them back without incident, there was no disturbance.


    Seeing his successful attempt without danger, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior, already commanding his net-like magical treasure, reached out for more fruits.


    Under such circumstances, the other warriors could not hold back.


    Almost instantly when the mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior safely garnered his fruits, over sixty warriors among the seventy or eighty there also simultaneously made their move.


    Even the eight early-stage Heavenly Saint warriors who came with Ye Chen reached for the Void Sky Quintessence Fruits on the tree to their right.


    In the field, only about eleven or twelve warriors did not make a move.


    Ye Chen was among them.


    At that moment, Ye Chen was frowning as he looked toward the small earth temple behind the two fruit trees.


    Due to the unique nature of this restricted ancient space, his divine consciousness was blocked and unable to probe inside the small earth temple. However, within his Divine Artifact, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, there were nine great ice guardians present.


    Previously, the nine ice guardians had not sensed anything unusual here, but the moment the mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior had plucked the three Void Sky Quintessence Fruits, Bing Shiyi from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant abruptly alerted Ye Chen, "Master Ye Chen, there is likely something formidable inside that small earth temple. Just now, for an instant, I even felt a power that made even my soul tremble leaking from that temple."


    "I¡¯m uncertain whether it¡¯s the power of a treasure or that of a mighty being, as I cannot perceive it clearly."


    Bing Shiyi is the leader of the nine ice guardians and a top powerhouse in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    A power that could make even him feel a tingling in the soul?


    Bing Shiyi¡¯s words made Ye Chen¡¯s heart skip a beat.


    Without knowing what was generating this power, Ye Chen naturally wouldn¡¯t act rashly.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze even swept toward the exit behind the steps below, ready to leave at any sign of trouble.


    Ye Chen stayed still because of Bing Shiyi¡¯s warning, and the remaining eleven who had not reached out to directly pluck the Void Sky Quintessence Fruits were being extremely cautious warriors.


    Even though the mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior had successfully picked the fruits without encountering danger, they all still planned to watch a bit longer.


    There were hundreds of fruits on those two trees, and they could not be picked clean in an instant.


    Even if all the fruits were taken, with their strength, they were confident that they could acquire a few from others.


    While Ye Chen was on high alert inside, and the other eleven warriors were still observing, and while over sixty warriors had already flown up to the two trees, vying and picking the Void Sky Quintessence Fruits, a sudden, earth-shattering buzzing sound erupted from the seemingly calm small earth temple behind the trees.


    This buzzing sound was piercing and incredibly shrill!


    As the sound reached the ears of the warriors outside, they all saw thousands of fist-sized golden demonic bees bursting out of the small earth temple.


    These thousands of golden demonic bees formed a vast, brilliant cloud of creatures, which instantly enveloped the entire space outside.


    The bees madly attacked not only the sixty-plus warriors who were picking the Void Sky Quintessence Fruits from the trees but also swarmed towards Ye Chen and others who had not yet taken action, assaulting them in an instant.


    Just sensing the power emitted by a single golden demonic bee made Ye Chen¡¯s hairs stand on end, as the power of each golden bee was indeed at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    And in the field, there were thousands of such golden demonic bees!


    The combined might of thousands of golden demonic bees, each at the late Heavenly Saint Realm, was a force so fearsome it could shake the heavens and the earth!


    This cloud of golden demonic bees enveloped Ye Chen and all the other horrified warriors, and in the next moment, all were swept up into the glimmering swarm.

 Chapter 431 - 391: Golden Demon Bee

    "Buzzing" noises filled the air, ear-piercingly shrill, echoing in all directions.


    Ye Chen and over seventy other martial artists, were utterly astounded as they watched the sky-high swarms of golden demon bees completely shrouding the world around them.


    Golden demon bees of the late Heavenly Saint stage!


    Moreover, there were thousands of demon bees of this caliber!


    Even if they had anticipated that guardian creatures might exist around the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit", no one had imagined the sheer number and level of such creatures.


    Such a horde, let alone the majority of martial artists present who were at the early or middle Heavenly Saint stage, even the formidable entities in the late Heavenly Saint stage could very likely meet their demise under the assault of this swarm of golden demon bees!


    The situation at hand left no time for the martial artists to think further.


    After enveloping everyone in the sky-darkening swarm, all the golden demon bees launched an attack on the more than seventy martial artists.


    Pluck! Pluck! Pluck!


    Each demon bee shot a slender, gleaming stinger from its tail directly at the closest martial artist. Though only the size of a fist, these bees were late Heavenly Saint stage creatures.


    The two-inch-long gleaming stingers, as soon as they aimed at the martial artists in the field, pierced through many late Heavenly Saint martial artists¡¯ defenses that had erupted instantly, not to mention those below the late Heavenly Saint stage.


    Almost all martial artists below the late Heavenly Saint stage couldn¡¯t withstand the onslaught of the golden demon bees and were struck by the stingers instantly.


    Each martial artist hit by the stingers had at least thirty to forty stingers buried in their bodies.


    Two late Heavenly Saint entities even had over a hundred stingers embedded in them!


    Then, something terrible happened.


    The martial artists struck by the stingers, be it Rotating Pill Realm or early, middle, or late Heavenly Saint stage, all exuded billowing black Qi from their flesh; their bodies visibly disintegrated at a rapid pace, and in merely a few breaths, the martial artists¡¯ entire physical bodies and even their skeletons completely turned into black smoke, evaporating into nothingness.


    Even the Divine Souls that had just emerged after the physical bodies were destroyed were directly obliterated, vanishing without a trace.


    These martial artists were all instantly slain right on the spot!


    Out of over seventy martial artists, more than sixty were killed instantly, leaving only eight survivors in this entire world.


    Witnessing the grisly deaths of their fellow martial artists, the surviving eight couldn¡¯t help but inhale sharply.


    They clearly realized that the stingers of these golden demon bees carried an unimaginable toxicity and killing power.


    At this moment, the swarm of thousands of golden demon bees, having just claimed the lives of over sixty martial artists amidst deafening "buzzing" sounds, retracted their stingers back into their abdomens, and then, this horde of late Heavenly Saint stage bees furiously circled and rushed towards the surviving eight for another round of frenzied assault.


    Launching the second wave of attack!


    Among the survivors, six were late Heavenly Saint martial artists, one was at the middle Heavenly Saint level, and one was at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    The survivor of the Rotating Pill Realm was none other than Ye Chen.


    The instant a large faction of the bee swarm attacked Ye Chen for the first time, his mind flashed with countless methods of resistance.


    The nine frozen guardians within his Ice Snow Jade Medallion couldn¡¯t wait to come out and assist Ye Chen, and at the same time, they informed Ye Chen of the strength of these demon bees. These late Heavenly Saint stage bees each possessed a combat power that was incredibly close to Bing Shijiu.


    The group of over eighty golden demon bees flying towards Ye Chen probably had a combined strength that could only be resisted by Bing Shiyi, Bing Shier, and Bing Shisan, the powerful members of the frozen guardians.


    In such a situation, Ye Chen had no time for hesitation. He immediately summoned the Qi Snake Warbeast, Bing Shisan, to protect him at his side. At the same time, with a thought from Ye Chen, his newly-refined Defensive Divine Artifact, the "Purple Mist True Garment," flashed into existence on the outside of his clothing.


    The "Purple Mist True Garment" could defend against the killing power and martial skills of the Heavenly Saint level. Ye Chen had already seen that the attack of these golden demon bees wasn¡¯t aimed at the soul. The Purple Mist True Garment was obviously capable of countering the bees¡¯ lethal power.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The Qi Snake Warbeast Bing Shisan, spanning over eight hundred zhang in length, emerged and, in a bid to protect Ye Chen, unleashed its powerful late Heavenly Saint techniques.


    Bing Shisan¡¯s massive head violently expelled a breath towards the void, and a burst of Seven-colored Danxia Cloud Qi instantly shattered the entire void. The more than eighty golden demon bees rolling towards Ye Chen were wrapped up in this Danxia Cloud Qi.


    Then, the Danxia Cloud Qi generated a thunderous sound of purple lightning and thunder, which in the midst of resounding destruction, completely disintegrated every single one of the golden demon bees.


    While Bing Shisan launched its attack at the golden demon bees, Ye Chen looked up and saw that many people had already perished under the attack of other bee swarms at this moment, and he further noticed several powerful martial artists unleashing all their techniques, engaging in a life-and-death struggle with the swarms assaulting them.


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s figure moved instantaneously, and as the "Purple Mist True Garment" enveloped his entire body, his large hand covered by the Purple Mist True Garment reached out directly toward a gold-colored Demon Bee nearby.


    Ye Chen wanted to test whether the Purple Mist True Garment could truly withstand the sting of the Demon Bee¡¯s needle.


    Despite the protection of the Purple Mist True Garment, Ye Chen still circulated a magical treasure in his large hand beneath its cover, which was none other than his life-bound flying sword "Chi Huo."


    In the past ten or so days since obtaining the "Void Sky Sword Embryo," Ye Chen had been using it to nurture his life-bound flying sword Chi Huo.


    Although the life-bound flying sword Chi Huo had not been fully restored, it was already usable once again.


    The flying sword "Chi Huo" was an exquisite sacred artifact.


    If the Purple Mist True Garment really couldn¡¯t withstand the sting of the bee needle, Ye Chen was prepared to use the exquisite sacred artifact, the flying sword "Chi Huo," to shred the piercing bee needle immediately to prevent its deadly poison from entering his body.


    The gold-colored Demon Bee seemed to be quite intelligent; it saw that an astonishing War Beast had suddenly appeared beside Ye Chen, which had wiped out all eighty or so gold-colored Demon Bees that had been attacking him.


    And yet, this young man, Ye Chen, dared to free a hand to attack it, prompting the gold-colored Demon Bee to try to turn and evade.


    However, its reaction was ultimately not as swift as Ye Chen¡¯s direct action. At this point, Ye Chen¡¯s large hand, covered by the purple mist of the Purple Mist True Garment, had already reached the top of the gold-colored Demon Bee¡¯s head.


    In such a situation, the gold-colored Demon Bee could no longer evade. When it could not escape, the Demon Bee let out a sharp screech, and its stinger on its tail immediately aimed a sting at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also held his breath completely taut at this moment.


    The Purple Mist True Garment was a Defensive Divine Artifact, and although Ye Chen speculated that it could block the sting of the bee needle, he couldn¡¯t be at ease without a true test.


    And now was the time to truly verify the defense of the "Purple Mist True Garment."


    Thud!


    In an instant, the bee needle of the gold-colored Demon Bee had already made contact with the purple vapor of the "Purple Mist True Garment" atop Ye Chen¡¯s large hand. To Ye Chen¡¯s delight, the Defensive Divine Artifact "Purple Mist True Garment" really could defend against the sting of the bee needle.


    As soon as the Demon Bee¡¯s needle touched the Purple Mist True Garment, it was immediately enveloped in an extremely soft embrace, which was precisely the wrapping of the purple mist from the "Purple Mist True Garment."


    While the purple mist wrapped around the bee needle, flashes of divine light flickered on the Purple Mist True Garment, instantly obliterating the bee needle that could penetrate the defenses of many late-stage Heavenly Saint Martial Artists.


    Seeing the remarkable effect of the "Purple Mist True Garment," Ye Chen was overjoyed.


    The bee needle was the gold-colored Demon Bee¡¯s lethal move. Now that the needle had been obliterated, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t let this opportunity slip away. As his large hand grasped at the Demon Bee, black flames from the fire-type divine art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" surged out, directly enveloping the gold-colored Demon Bee in the flames instantaneously.


    Without the bee needle retracted into its body, the gold-colored Demon Bee was at its most vulnerable. Its individual strength was weaker than the weakest of the nine Frozen Guards, Bing Shijiu, and it possessed ordinary combat power for the late-stage Heavenly Saint.


    Caught off guard by the sudden onslaught of the Heaven-Devouring True Fire, the gold-colored Demon Bee was engulfed by the flames and ultimately burned to death.


    Ye Chen, through his own combat strength and the cooperation of the "Purple Mist True Garment," had also slain a gold-colored Demon Bee!


    Just as Ye Chen had killed this gold-colored Demon Bee and Bing Shisan had helped him kill the remaining eighty or so Demon Bees, the other Demon Bees had just finished killing over sixty Martial Artists and launched their second attack.


    The second wave of gold-colored Demon Bees attacking Ye Chen exceeded five hundred in number.


    Having established that the Purple Mist True Garment could defend against the most terrifying sting of the gold-colored Demon Bee, Ye Chen felt some confidence. Seeing the Demon Bees launch their second wave of attacks, he couldn¡¯t afford to look at the remaining surviving Martial Artists. He called out to Bing Shisan while simultaneously launching another attack on the swarm of Demon Bees.


    The Qi Snake Warbeast Bing Shisan and Ye Chen engaged directly with the over five hundred gold-colored Demon Bees in battle once again.


    The Qi Snake Warbeast vastly surpassed these gold-colored Demon Bees in strength. Even with over five hundred accumulated Demon Bees, it wasn¡¯t afraid of their combined efforts, continuously watching over Ye Chen while spurting bursts of Seven-colored Danxia Cloud Qi. One after another, the Demon Bees died amid the clashes with Ye Chen and Bing Shisan.


    On one side, Ye Chen continued to resist the second wave of the gold-colored Demon Bees¡¯ attack.


    Of the seven other surviving Martial Artists, two were unable to withstand the even denser second wave of gold-colored Demon Bees and perished instantly, just like the sixty or so Martial Artists before them.


    The remaining five Martial Artists, four in the late stage of Heavenly Saint and one in the middle stage, no longer hid their combat strength and unleashed all their powerful trump cards.


    The middle-stage Heavenly Saint Martial Artist¡¯s body shone with a bright green belt, which boosted his combat strength under its glow, astonishingly reaching the top-tier of the late-stage Heavenly Saint!


    At the same time, this middle-stage Heavenly Saint Martial Artist took out a green basket, which began to rotate upon its appearance, creating a tremendous suction force that continuously drew in the Demon Bees attacking him into the basket.


    As soon as the Demon Bees were sucked into the green basket, they issued harrowing screeches, and then there were no more sounds; the situation suggested that all those Demon Bees had been killed by the green basket.


    This green basket in the hands of the middle-stage Heavenly Saint Martial Artist was clearly an outstanding and mighty treasure.

 Chapter 432 - 392 Chapter - Three-Eyed Skull

    Additionally, four late-stage Heavenly Saints also engaged in a fierce battle with the vast swarm of golden Demon Bees.


    A late-stage Heavenly Saint with white eyebrows and a yellow robe burst into the void, his body¡¯s True Qi blazing furiously, actually emitting divine might akin to high-grade True Fire of a saintly level!


    Every cluster of True Qi that leaped forth incinerated a swarm of golden Demon Bees attacking him into ash, and although there were more than eight hundred bees encircling him, not a single one could breach his defense beneath the intense blaze of True Qi, akin to superior True Fire.


    Looking at the situation, it was only a matter of time before the white-browed and yellow-robed elder would annihilate all of the golden Demon Bees.


    There was another late-stage Heavenly Saint who was likewise extraordinarily powerful.


    This late-stage Heavenly Saint was none other than the one who first greeted and spoke to Ye Chen when he arrived at the Forbidden Ancient Lands, also emphasizing the rules of treasure hunting in the ancient land.


    Initially, this Heavenly Saint only emanated an ordinary late-stage Heavenly Saint aura, but now, as his aura fully blossomed, he was not a bit weaker than Bing Shisan.


    His Combat Skills were known for Physical Combat Power, and when his aura was fully unleashed, patterns of divine flesh emerged over his body beneath the grey clothes.


    Amidst the surge of divine flesh patterns, the late-stage Heavenly Saint bellowed continuously, fearlessly plunging into the swarm of golden Demon Bees, their toxic and lethal stings notwithstanding; he crushed every single one of the bees with his bare hands!


    Another late-stage Heavenly Saint, similar to the mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth with the cyan basket, also summoned a powerful magical treasure of his creation.


    His magical treasure was a painting.


    When this late-stage Heavenly Saint unfolded the painting, flock after flock of earthy yellow sparrows flew out, flickering with spiritual light as if they were no different from living creatures.


    Moreover, each and every sparrow was at the combat level of a late-stage Heavenly Saint, their power surpassing the golden Demon Bees attacking the Heavenly Saint.


    The sky full of sparrows emerging from the painting was no less numerous than the golden Demon Bees; amidst their fluttering, they directly swooped down on the golden Demon Bees to annihilate them.


    The farthest late-stage Heavenly Saint simply sat cross-legged in the void, motionless, but above his seated physical body, suddenly appeared a small silhouette resembling himself.


    This silhouette was none other than the Divine Soul shadow of the late-stage Heavenly Saint.


    This Heavenly Saint, evidently practiced in powerful Divine Soul Attack Methods; as soon as the small Divine Soul shadow above his head appeared, his eyes shot forth beams of sky-shocking brilliance.


    Each beam, as long as it hit the golden Demon Bees attacking him, instantly annihilated them into nothingness.


    In the midst of battle,


    The six survivors who held out until the end all displayed their true formidable combat strength.


    Ye Chen had the support of his Combat Beast Bing Shisan, the Purple Mist True Garment, and the Five Great Divine Arts; the mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth had the mysterious cyan belt and cyan basket; and the other four late-stage Heavenly Saints each wielded True Qi Combat Power, Physical Combat Power, Sky-Shocking Magical Treasure, and incredible Divine Soul Attack Methods.


    All six withstood an even denser second wave of attacks from the golden Demon Bees, and as the battle progressed, the number of bees in the attacking swarm dwindled, growing fewer and fewer.


    At this rate, the six of them would certainly annihilate all of the golden Demon Bees!


    Although the six had gained the upper hand, not a trace of relaxation appeared on their faces.


    Out of the seventy or so Adventurers who came to these Forbidden Ancient Lands, merely attempting to harvest the Void Sky Quintessence Fruits under the two large trees had resulted in the fall of the overwhelming majority, leaving only the six of them alive.


    Moreover, it was clear that the swarm of golden Demon Bees wasn¡¯t solely targeting those harvesting the Void Sky Quintessence Fruit; even those who stood below without engaging in the fight, including Ye Chen and others, were attacked by the swarm of golden Demon Bees.


    Such a situation made the six aware that these golden Demon Bees, which flew out from the small clay temple behind the two fruit trees, were not as simple as guardians of the Void Sky Quintessence Fruit.


    It¡¯s very possible that something even more dangerous existed here!


    And Ye Chen, who was continuously annihilating the golden Demon Bees, was even more vigilant!


    He remembered that Bing Shiyi had told him that a power that even made Bing Shiyi¡¯s soul tremble was seeping out from that small clay temple.


    That power, it definitely wouldn¡¯t be just these Demon Bees which even Bing Shisan could withstand; there had to be something even more powerful hidden within that small clay temple!


    Under such circumstances, the six had no intention of lingering in this bizarre place and planned in their hearts that once they wiped out these golden Demon Bees and were free, they would immediately leave this area.


    Their survival up to the last moment was not only due to their incredibly strong means and trump cards but also a result of their extremely cautious and careful hearts.


    From the moment the golden Demon Bees launched their second wave of attack, they knew that this was no place to stay for long.


    Among the six, the late-stage Heavenly Saint who unleashed True Qi as fierce as True Fire was the first to be free; after killing more than four hundred golden Demon Bees, he didn¡¯t bother with the other three hundred plus still attacking him, and he burst directly towards the exit below the staircase.


    As a result, something startled all six of them occurred.


    When this late-stage Heavenly Saint existence flew to the verge of that spatial gap and was about to escape from the outlet, leaving this Forbidden Ancient Lands, the ten-zhang wide spatial gap outlet that had been revealed by Ye Chen and his five companions¡¯ breaking of the seal, suddenly closed in an instant.


    The entire secret space within the Forbidden Ancient Lands, now completely separated from the outside space.


    Ye Chen and his six companions were completely trapped inside the secret space of the Forbidden Ancient Lands, they could no longer find an exit to leave!


    Such a situation not only caused the complexion of the late-stage Heavenly Saint, who was flying towards the outlet, to drastically change, but also caused the other five people who had been paying attention to the surroundings and silently observing the movements of the Heavenly Saint, to feel a sinking feeling in the depths of their hearts.


    Although it was said that this was a secret space within the Forbidden Ancient Lands, there certainly was a way out, but now that the spatial gap had disappeared, leaving would not be so simple. They might have to completely understand this inner space.


    Under such circumstances, it seemed impossible to avoid the crises within this inner space.


    All six of them had grim expressions on their faces, but what happened next caused their hearts to sink even further.


    Right at the moment when the spatial gap was closing, from the small earthen temple behind the two fruit trees bearing Void Sky Quintessence Fruit, suddenly came a series of jarring, cold laughter.


    The instant this cold laughter was heard, those Gold Needle Bees that were still attacking towards the six people, all flew backwards, returning to the small earthen temple.


    Looking at this, these Gold Needle Bees of the late-stage Heavenly Saint level were obviously being controlled by someone!


    Could the Gold Needle Bees, which instantaneously killed more than sixty martial artists, actually be under someone¡¯s control? Was there still a living person within the small earthen temple behind the two fruit trees?


    Thinking of this, the hair on the skin of Ye Chen and his companions stood on end.


    You have to know, these Forbidden Ancient Lands had just been breached by them, how could there possibly be someone inside?


    The Five Elements Mountain, that¡¯s a place fraught with extreme danger. Each exploration lasts only three months, and after the three-month exploration period, a ferocious void hurricane will sweep through the entire Five Elements Mountain, a hurricane capable of killing all mighty beings.


    Even a First Tribulation true god could not withstand such a void hurricane.


    In such a case, other than the three months of exploration, it would be impossible for any martial artist to stay in the Five Elements Mountain at other times.


    And the human voice coming from the small earthen temple, it couldn¡¯t possibly be someone from the current group of people who had just entered the Five Elements Mountain.


    If it is not a newly arrived explorer, and other martial artists couldn¡¯t have stayed in the Five Elements Mountain before this exploration, then who could be laughing coldly in that small earthen temple?


    Could it not be a human being?


    If it isn¡¯t a human, yet it emits a cold laugh like a person, what else could it be?


    This eerie situation made even the six strong warriors who had survived to the end feel a chill running down their spines.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was thinking even more of Bing Shiyi¡¯s words ¡ª could this entity emitting the jarring laughter be the source of the power that even Bing Shiyi was afraid of?


    Ye Chen and his five companions were all staring intently at the entrance of the small earthen temple, completely unaware of what might emerge from it in the next moment.


    And at this time, after the jarring cold laugh ceased, a harsh voice that terrified all six people followed.


    "Tsk tsk! I didn¡¯t expect that of the more than seventy adventurers who came this time, there were still six decent martial artists who managed to dodge the attack of my Gold Needle Bees, not bad, not bad at all."


    As this raspy voice sounded, a figure directly walked out from the earthen temple.


    The gaze of Ye Chen and his five companions instantly fell upon this figure.


    This look made all six of them jump in their hearts!


    If this figure is to be called a person, it¡¯s definitely not human, but to call it a monster is also incorrect; the figure that walked out from the small earthen temple is actually a white skeleton with all flesh gone, only the white bones remaining!


    What caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention even more was that between the eyebrows of this white skeleton¡¯s skull, there was a socket-like hole the size of an eye socket, out of which was emitting a greenish glow, much like that of an eyeball.


    With the glow also coming from the original two eye sockets of the skeleton, this skeleton seemed to have three eyes.


    A three-eyed skeleton!


    Ye Chen had never seen such an entity before that could speak and even command Gold Needle Bees of the late-stage Heavenly Saint level!


    And the next sentence spoken by this three-eyed skeleton confused Ye Chen and the other five martial artists even more.


    After its three glowing eyes briefly scanned over Ye Chen and his five companions, it directly asked them, "In this batch of adventurers who entered the Five Elements Mountain this time, is there the Saint Heir of the Xuanjin Continent, Jin Lieyang?"

 Chapter 433 - 393: Blood Kill

    Ye Chen and the other five had never expected the Three-Eyed Skeleton to inquire about Jin Lieyang.


    Could it be that the Three-Eyed Skeleton within this mysterious forbidden ancient land had some connection with Jin Lieyang?


    "Who exactly are you, and why have you deceived us into coming here and slaughtered so many of our comrades?" At this moment, the Heavenly Saint in the late stage, who was known for his Physical Combat Skills and had previously conversed with Ye Chen, ignored the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s sudden question and directly confronted it with a challenge.


    "Slaughter them?" The Three-Eyed Skeleton let out a cold laugh, "The Five Elements Mountain is a place for exploration, and death is normal in such places. Even if they did not die by my hand, they would have perished somewhere else sooner or later."


    "Isn¡¯t it better if I send them on their way earlier?"


    The mocking words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton made the expressions of Ye Chen and the other four even uglier.


    At that moment, the Heavenly Saint in the late stage, who had previously unleashed a powerful Divine Soul attack against the Golden Needle Bee Swarm, took advantage of the moment the Three-Eyed Skeleton was speaking. His still-manifested Divine Soul Shadow suddenly opened its eyes wide at the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and five terrifying beams of light shot toward it instantly.


    Clearly, this late-stage Heavenly Saint saw the ruthless heart of the Three-Eyed Skeleton and wanted to take the initiative to kill it.


    The instant this late-stage Heavenly Saint made his move, Ye Chen and the others unleashed their full strength without any coordination.


    Anyone could tell that this Three-Eyed Skeleton, which had relied on the Golden Needle Bee Swarm to annihilate over sixty warriors and had mysteriously appeared in this forbidden land, harbored malicious intent towards them.


    Otherwise, it would not have specifically lured them here and killed so many.


    Seeing that the late-stage Heavenly Saint was the first to act, the rest had no intention of giving the Three-Eyed Skeleton any chance to catch a breath and immediately employed their respective techniques.


    Facing such a strange creature, it was essential to strike first and gain the upper hand!


    As the five terrifying beams of light from the Heavenly Saint¡¯s Divine Soul attack reached right in front of the Three-Eyed Skeleton, the old man in the late stage of Heavenly Saint, with white eyebrows and yellow clothes, also shot toward the Three-Eyed Skeleton. His surging True Qi burned even more intensely, causing the entire void to boil over with the brightness of the True Qi flames.


    The late-stage Heavenly Saint warrior, known for his immense Physical Combat Skills, also approached the Three-Eyed Skeleton rapidly, reaching out directly to grab at the skeleton¡¯s skull.


    Even the mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth and the late-stage Heavenly Saint who had summoned a painted talisman artifact used their powerful treasures.


    In an instant, the blue basket artifact emitted a hazy light that swept toward the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and the myriad of grey sparrows that had previously attacked the Golden Needle Bee Swarm now lunged at the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    The energy converging on the Three-Eyed Skeleton was filled with endless killing intent.


    Now that the other five had made their move, Ye Chen was no exception.


    Immediately, Ye Chen commanded Bing Shisan to take action, and all of his Five Great Divine Arts were unleashed simultaneously. The majestic power of the Five Great Divine Arts formed a terrifying convulsion of annihilation, which flashed across the void and struck near the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    Being able to survive an assault by thousands of late-stage Heavenly Saint level demon bees, each of the six possessed powerful fighting capabilities and trump cards. All six attacks converging at once were so fearsome that even the top late-stage Heavenly Saints would have suffered greatly under such an onslaught.


    However, to the dismay of the six, at the moment their attacks arrived instantaneously, the voice of the Three-Eyed Skeleton rang out again, "So, you¡¯ve all unanimously taken the initiative to attack? Truly worthy of being the six individuals who survived the attack of the Golden Needle Bee Swarm."


    "I originally wanted to ask you a few more things before eliminating all of you, but now it seems I will have to make the first move."


    "No matter, once I kill you, I can perform a Soul Search on your dissipating Divine Souls to find out what I need to know!"


    Amidst the voice of the Three-Eyed Skeleton, it astonishingly disappeared from the midst of the endless attacks.


    In the next moment, everyone saw six white shadows suddenly appear beside each person.


    One white shadow flashed past the late-stage Heavenly Saint, who had been inciting towering True Fire flames, and with "puff, puff, puff" sounds, the Heavenly Saint, with his overwhelming True Qi burning like true fire, was instantly pierced through the chest by three large holes.


    Another shadow flashed in front of the late-stage Heavenly Saint who had summoned the myriad grey sparrows, and similarly, the "puff, puff, puff" sounds were heard. That late-stage Heavenly Saint also had three large holes pierced through his chest.


    Even the late-stage Heavenly Saint, who had been far away from the Three-Eyed Skeleton when he launched his Divine Soul attack, was suddenly struck in the chest by a white shadow that appeared before him.


    In an instant, the three late-stage Heavenly Saints who had survived the ordeal of the Golden Needle Bee Swarm were killed on the spot!


    The remaining three were also subjected to the terrifying attacks of the white shadows.


    Ye Chen felt a flash of light near him, and just as he heard a cry of alarm from Bing Shisan and the eight other Ice Guards within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, he saw a white skeletal claw reach out for his chest.


    In an instant, Ye Chen almost subconsciously burst backward, feeling the white skeleton¡¯s claws strike violently at his chest, unleashing three deadly talon attacks.


    If he had not been constantly on guard against the Three-Eyed Skeleton, even while deploying his offensive moves without completely lowering his guard, and if he had not fully activated the defense of the Purple Mist True Garment, which ultimately resisted the three talon strikes of the white skeleton¡¯s claws, it¡¯s very likely that Ye Chen would have died on the spot from this single move!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s heart skipped a beat and he held the flying sword and the True God Talisman in his palms, looking towards the others,


    he saw directly three corpses of late-stage Heavenly Saints lying dead on the ground, their chests pierced with three gaping holes each; he also saw the pale face of a late-stage Heavenly Saint who, like him, had burst backward with exceptional Physical Combat Skills, and a middle-stage Heavenly Saint youth who wielded a cyan basket treasure.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton had, despite their preemptive strike, struck later but arrived faster, directly killing three of the six warriors!


    The sight of the six white shadows that had instantly appeared beside them and the three deadly talon moves that could penetrate the defenses of a late-stage Heavenly Saint had completely terrified the three survivors, including Ye Chen.


    The three had an epiphany, realizing that the seemingly casual move from the Three-Eyed Skeleton approached the terrifying level of the Void Sky True God!


    Otherwise, it would have been impossible for a single move to kill three powerful late-stage Heavenly Saints and nearly cause the demise of three more.


    Out of the more than seventy martial artists who had come to this forbidden ancient land in search of treasures, now, only the three including Ye Chen remained alive after the continuous slaughter.


    And whether they could continue to survive was still unknown.


    As the three of them barely escaped a nearly certain death and burst backward in utter shock, the six white shadows instantly returned to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, merging back into its white bony body.


    On the claws of the white skeleton, the fresh blood of the three recent casualties of the late-stage Heavenly Saints still clung.


    Blood dripping from the bone claws presented a blood-chilling spectacle.


    "Only three managed to survive?"


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton, having killed three late-stage Heavenly Saints with a single move, looked interestedly towards the three survivors, including Ye Chen, its three eyes emitting a green ghostly light without the slightest flicker of emotion.


    "One late-stage Heavenly Saint."


    "One middle-stage Heavenly Saint."


    "And one, is actually at the initial stage of the Spinning Dan?!"


    The gaze of the Three-Eyed Skeleton swept over the faces of the survivors, finally settling on Ye Chen.


    Being stared at by the Three-Eyed Skeleton, Ye Chen had already concentrated his mind to the utmost.


    This situation was by far the most dangerous he had ever encountered.


    Even now, he had not been able to grasp the true depth of the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s abilities, which even Bing Shiyi had feared.


    Ye Chen was prepared for a fight to the death with the Three-Eyed Skeleton!


    After watching Ye Chen for a while, the Three-Eyed Skeleton then turned its gaze to the late-stage and the middle-stage Heavenly Saint youths, eventually letting out a chilling laugh, "Having survived my initial move, I had thought of sparing you."


    "However, I have finally regained some of my strength and have important matters to attend to; your corpses will be of some use to me. Besides, what happened here must not be leaked; therefore, you still have to die!"


    Whoosh!


    The moment the words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton fell, he disappeared again from the scene, and in the next instant, he was already beside the late-stage Heavenly Saint with extraordinary physical combat prowess.


    As the Three-Eyed Skeleton arrived beside the late-stage Heavenly Saint, the third eye on its forehead instantly unleashed a peerless crystal-white light.


    This crystal-white light, unlike anything from the Five Elements of the Thirty-Three Continents, was something even the formidable body of the late-stage Heavenly Saint could not withstand. He was instantly killed on the spot.


    As the late-stage Heavenly Saint was dying, he screamed in horror, "The power of a True God, this is the True God¡¯s Power!"


    He had only time to utter these words before he died on the scene.

 Chapter 434 - 394: Decisive Battle to the Death!

    ```


    True God¡¯s Power?!


    The words of the dying late-stage Celestial Saint had completely terrified another mid-stage Celestial Saint young man.


    And in the next moment, the spot where the Three-Eyed Skeleton appeared in an instant was right before this mid-stage Celestial Saint youth.


    Similarly, from the third eye, a peerless crystal white light burst forth, and the youth, who possessed a formidable green basket magical treasure and a green belt magical treasure, could no longer withstand the entity unleashing the full might of a True God¡ªthe Three-Eyed Skeleton¡ªand was struck dead by the radiant divine light.


    The only one left in the arena was Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected the Three-Eyed Skeleton to strike with such speed, killing two people in the blink of an eye.


    As the physically strong late-stage Celestial Saint uttered "True God¡¯s Power", from within Ye Chen¡¯s Ice Snow Jade Medallion, Bing Shiyi also called out to Ye Chen, "True God¡¯s Power, Lord Ye Chen, this Three-Eyed Skeleton is a Void Sky True God!"


    Bing Shiyi immediately deduced, "He is not just a common Void Sky True God; his peak strength has likely reached that of a Four Tribulations True God!"


    "Lord Ye Chen, your two True God Talismans were crafted by the Five Tribulations True Phoenix and the Three Tribulations Mu Lan. If True Phoenix herself were here, she would certainly be able to slay this foe."


    "But with only two talismans, the greatest power they can exert is that of a Three Tribulations True God. Even if this Three-Eyed Skeleton isn¡¯t at its peak strength, it¡¯s very possible that it would still be unmatched."


    "Under such circumstances, only if all of us guardians fight to the death against it, coupled with the two talismans, might there be a chance to survive this dire situation!"


    In the instant Bing Shiyi spoke, it could no longer wait for Ye Chen¡¯s command.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Bing Shiyi, leading the other seven guardians, along with the already present Bing Shisan, all positioned themselves in front of Ye Chen.


    In this life-and-death crisis, all nine frigid guardians mobilized.


    To fulfill their promise to the deputy lord of the Minor Spirit Realm, they were determined to protect Ye Chen until the very last moment!


    Hearing Bing Shiyi¡¯s words and seeing the nine frigid guardians standing in front of him, Ye Chen also took a deep breath.


    He hadn¡¯t anticipated facing such a situation.


    This was only the second mountain, and yet here, in the heart of it, they encountered a Four Tribulations True God?


    No wonder this person could remain fearless within the ancient forbidden lands, unaffected by the spatial tempests capable of slaying even a One Tribulation True God; his strength had actually reached the level of a Four Tribulations True God!


    Not only had Ye Chen not considered this possibility, but likely none of the numerous adventurers who came to the Five Elements Mountain, including the peak existences of the various continents who organized these excursions, had anticipated such a being within the Five Elements Mountain either.


    If they truly knew, Palace Master Yuan Li would not have allowed Ye Chen to take this risk.


    If they truly knew, Jiang Yao would have done more than just procure True Phoenix and Mu Lan¡¯s True God Talismans for Ye Chen. If Ye Chen had been adamant about going to the Five Elements Mountain, Jiang Yao would certainly have arranged for True Phoenix herself to protect Ye Chen!


    But now, it was a situation that couldn¡¯t be solved simply because it wasn¡¯t expected.


    Unexpected events are inevitable on the path of a martial artist¡¯s cultivation; even the most comprehensive preparations can never address everything.


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen, whose mind had cleared considerably upon seeing the corpse of the mid-stage Celestial Saint youth, knew more than ever what needed to be done.


    Previously, he had been somewhat shocked.


    But now, faced with this truly unsolvable life-and-death crisis, Ye Chen¡¯s mind was clearer than ever, and he knew exactly what he had to do.


    "If that¡¯s the case, then let¡¯s fight with all we¡¯ve got!"


    Boom!


    Without any hesitation, Ye Chen began to burn the talisman given to him by True Phoenix.


    As the talisman burned, an astonishing True God level power began to surge towards Ye Chen, and with the blessing of True God level power, Ye Chen soared into the sky, flying in front of the nine frigid guardians.


    The nine frigid guardians had sworn to protect him with their lives, so how could he hide behind them?


    Even in a battle to the death, he would fight alongside them!


    Right as Ye Chen¡¯s True God Talisman burned and the divine power erupted, the Three-Eyed Skeleton had just slain the mid-stage Celestial Saint youth.


    Feeling the overwhelming True God¡¯s Power unleashed from Ye Chen and seeing the nine frigid guardians suddenly beside Ye Chen, the Three-Eyed Skeleton also looked at Ye Chen in unexpected interest.


    "Young lad, indeed, you have made me take another look."


    "Previously, with your early stage Revolving Core realm, surviving the attack from Gold Needle Bees and myself already piqued my interest. And now, you carry with you nine helpers at the level of late-stage Celestial Saints."


    The gaze of the Three-Eyed Skeleton swept over the nine frigid guardians, finally resting on the massive form of the snowy great roc Bing Shiyi: "These behemoths do not seem to be from the thirty-three continents, nor even from the Minor Spirit Realm. I have never seen such creatures. Young lad, from where did you obtain these beasts?"


    ```


    "Furthermore, you actually possess True God Talisman of Void Sky True God level that can provide you with True God¡¯s Power? Judging by the level of this True God¡¯s Power, the one who crafted your True God Talisman must be at least a Five Tribulations True God!"


    "Young lad, you really have so many secrets!"


    By the end, the look in the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s eyes had turned sharp.


    "There¡¯s no need for so much talk," Ye Chen¡¯s voice had become utterly calm, "Since you want to kill us all, then make your move."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen spoke, the 369 five-aperture revolving pills in his sea of qi, which he had been cultivating recently, all began to vibrate. The boundless power of his true qi began to rise around his body, reinforcing the vast True God¡¯s Power.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s actions and hearing his words, the Three-Eyed Skeleton let out a rare and hearty laugh: "Good, a young man with such decisiveness!"


    "If it were not for the blood vengeance I carry, this time, I would have let you go. But the stronger you are, the less I can afford to let you go, for the sake of my vengeance."


    "I need to refine three body avatars, and your body will definitely make an excellent main avatar!"


    "Though I am not completely certain I can kill you, if I can¡¯t even take you down, how am I to kill that beast! Therefore, use yourself to test the extent of my current strength recovery!"


    While the Three-Eyed Skeleton spoke, it released all its strength for the first time at once.


    Its power was all at True God level!


    Once this force was released, the Five Elements Law within the forbidden grounds space all shattered and merged into the spanning divine power of the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    On one side was the Three-Eyed Skeleton, completely unleashing its power and wildly gathering True God¡¯s Power.


    On the other side, Ye Chen was also fully unleashing all his power, with both the power of the five-aperture revolving pills and the True God Talisman sweeping through the skies.


    And the nine great Ice Sealed Guardians beside Ye Chen were also enhancing all their combat power.


    The next moment, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, Ye Chen, and the nine great Ice Sealed Guardians instantly flashed and directly clashed in the void!


    This Three-Eyed Skeleton was of the Void Sky True God level.


    Even the strongest among the nine great Ice Sealed Guardians, Bing Shiyi, could not withstand it, so naturally, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t let the nine guardians take the brunt of it. He alone took on ninety percent of the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s attacks!


    The nine great Ice Sealed Guardians also ignited their full combat power and launched their strongest attacks beside Ye Chen.


    The entire heaven and earth seemed to be on the verge of tearing apart!


    Were it not for this forbidden land being as mysterious as the Five Elements Mountain itself, it is likely this astonishing battle would have directly destroyed this entire forbidden land!


    In the void!


    Ye Chen, who had clashed instantly with the Three-Eyed Skeleton, was a Four Tribulations True God whose strength had been somewhat diminished, whereas the Three-Eyed Skeleton, with a True God Talisman crafted by a Five Tribulations True God, had a combat power equivalent to a Three Tribulations True God, so no superiority had been established between the two.


    As the battle unfolded, both Ye Chen and the Three-Eyed Skeleton, as well as the nine great Ice Sealed Guardians, kept getting injured.


    But the more they were injured, the more intense the battle became.


    Towards the end, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, which suddenly pulled back, had even begun to accumulate a golden killing divine light in its third eye, never used before!


    Ye Chen, on the other hand, was no longer holding back at all. He knew the True God Talisman, even if refined by a Five Tribulations True God, True Phoenix, couldn¡¯t provide an endless supply of combat power.


    He had to kill the Three-Eyed Skeleton while he still could reinforce his power!


    In terms of combat skill, Ye Chen¡¯s five great divine arts were not yet perfected, and he certainly couldn¡¯t compare with the battle techniques of True God level Three-Eyed Skeleton, but Ye Chen had many divine arts and strategies!


    Toward the end, Ye Chen even took out his still-recovering personal flying sword "Crimson Fire", not only utilizing all five great divine arts of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, but on the other hand, he also began to enhance his "Crimson Fire" with the third layer sword techniques divine art from the "North Dark Secret Tome", the Great Five Elements Sword Light!


    As he prepared to launch the Great Five Elements Sword Light, he was also ready to damage his personal flying sword once more!


    Both sides unleashed their combat power to its limits, and the next contact would be earth-shattering.


    It could even result in a life-and-death confrontation!


    And in this moment, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, with a golden killing divine light gathered in its third eye, had already conceived the final deadly thought to kill Ye Chen.


    As this thought crossed its mind, it gave Ye Chen one last look.


    In this look, it saw beside Ye Chen, the nine guardians showing a resolute expression, and also Ye Chen himself with a similar resolute expression.


    And saw the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art shining on Ye Chen¡¯s "Crimson Fire" flying sword!


    The moment it saw the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art, the entire eye of the Three-Eyed Skeleton filled with an incredulous look.

 Chapter 435 - 395 Soul Transformation

    "Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art!"


    "You¡¯ve actually cultivated the ¡¯Beiming Secret Tome¡¯, and you¡¯ve even mastered the third layer?!"


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in surprise.


    He had already made up his mind to execute Ye Chen, but when he saw the light of the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art on Ye Chen¡¯s flying sword, that determination suddenly vanished into thin air.


    "Beiming Secret Tome."


    "How does this Three-Eyed Skeleton know the name ¡¯Beiming Secret Tome¡¯?"


    The exclamation of the Three-Eyed Skeleton shook Ye Chen to his core, leaving him in disbelief.


    His Beiming Secret Tome was obtained from the Divine Sword that fell into the Barbaric Wilderness Continent from one of the six ancient clans in the Minor Spirit Realm, the Beiming Clan.


    Ye Chen had used the Beiming Secret Tome techniques many times, and this was the first time someone had called it by name directly.


    Moreover, it was the mysterious and strange Three-Eyed Skeleton from the Five Elements Mountain who had named the Beiming Secret Tome.


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but be utterly astonished.


    But at this moment, at the final phase of the life-or-death battle, Ye Chen had no time for surprise. He saw that the Three-Eyed Skeleton seemed to be caught in some inexplicable astonishment, so of course, he would not miss the best opportunity to slay the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    In an instant, Ye Chen disappeared from the void. The next moment, his flying sword "Crimson Fire," imbued with his Divine Power and flashing with the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art¡ªmetal, wood, water, fire, earth Divine Arts, and even enhanced with the might of the 810 forms of Ye Chen¡¯s ice-sealed Divine Body¡ªsuddenly shot out towards the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    At that time, with the strongest techniques of Ye Chen enhancing it, the entire supreme sacred weapon, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword, had turned entirely red. It completely pierced through the void, and for a brief moment, time and space in the void seemed to come to a mysterious halt.


    The next moment, the flying sword "Crimson Fire" pierced directly towards the skull of the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    At this point, the Three-Eyed Skeleton recovered from his shock. It seemed he was unwilling to directly confront Ye Chen, and he rapidly retreated backward.


    But his retreat was no match for the speed of the "Crimson Fire" flying sword¡ª which contained all of Ye Chen¡¯s combat power, was it?


    The flying sword still charged directly towards his skull.


    Seeing that the flying sword "Crimson Fire" could potentially pierce through the skull of the Three-Eyed Skeleton in the next moment, the Three-Eyed Skeleton finally stopped dodging. The golden lethal light from his third eye¡ªwhich had been gathering but not yet released¡ªsuddenly shot out towards the approaching flying sword.


    The red light of the flying sword "Crimson Fire" collided with the golden lethal light from the third eye in the next moment, right in the midst of the void.


    This tremendous collision created a terrifying void black hole at the point of impact, and at the same time, an immense Divine Force resulting from the collision sent the flying sword, along with Ye Chen and the Three-Eyed Skeleton on the other side, flying backward in a frantic retreat!


    Read new adventures at empire


    "I still can¡¯t slay the Three-Eyed Skeleton?"


    Seeing that even a sudden strike while the Three-Eyed Skeleton was distracted still failed to kill him, Ye Chen, mid-retreat, already knew that his only option left was to trigger the simultaneous self-destruction of the True God Talisman given to him by True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, along with the self-destruction of his life-bound flying sword, to engage in a final cataclysmic battle with the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    However, in that scenario, it was likely not just he, but also the nine ice-sealed guardians, who might not survive.


    As Ye Chen entertained this final thought, the Three-Eyed Skeleton on the other side was also in complete shock.


    Not only did he witness Ye Chen using the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art, but even his golden lethal light, which he emitted on instinct at the last moment, was still blocked by Ye Chen.


    Neither could overpower the other with their ultimate moves.


    Thinking of the origins of the Great Five Elements Sword Light, the Three-Eyed Skeleton no longer intended to fight Ye Chen.


    "Cease fighting."


    From within the void, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, having stopped his retreat, directly called out loudly to Ye Chen.


    "Cease fighting?"


    Hearing the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s voice, both Ye Chen and the nine ice-sealed guardians turning towards him looked at the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    Beforehand, the Three-Eyed Skeleton had claimed he would definitely kill him, so of course, Ye Chen would show no weakness towards the Three-Eyed Skeleton. If it were truly a fight to the death, then it would definitely last to the bitter end.


    But the sudden mention of "Great Five Elements Sword Light" by the Three-Eyed Skeleton, combined with the moment of shocked hesitation, and now the direct shout to stop fighting, made Ye Chen¡¯s heart skip a beat.


    Could it be that there was a turnaround in this battle to the death?


    Though Ye Chen remained extremely wary of the ruthlessness of the Three-Eyed Skeleton, he also knew that even if he used all of his trump cards, the best he could hope for was a mutual destruction with the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and not to emerge victorious while slaying the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    Now that the Three-Eyed Skeleton had called for a halt, Ye Chen wanted to hear what the Three-Eyed Skeleton had to say.


    "Weren¡¯t you set on killing me? Why call for a halt?"


    In the midst of the void, hundreds of zhang apart, Ye Chen, with the flying sword and True God Talisman in hand, asked the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    However, the Three-Eyed Skeleton didn¡¯t directly answer Ye Chen¡¯s question. His three eyes fixed on Ye Chen, he said, "Young man, your techniques have surprised me time and again, but what surprised me the most was the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art you just used."


    "I must ask you, where did you obtain the Beiming Secret Tome, to practice this Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art?"


    Hearing the Three-Eyed Skeleton mention the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art and the Beiming Secret Tome again, Ye Chen had an epiphany.


    This Three-Eyed Skeleton definitely had a connection with the Beiming Secret Tome and the Beiming Clan.


    Otherwise, of all Ye Chen¡¯s techniques, many were far more powerful than the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art, and the Three-Eyed Skeleton wouldn¡¯t have been so astoundingly surprised by it, let alone be able to name the Beiming Secret Tome behind it.


    "Where I got the Beiming Secret Tome from?" Ye Chen looked towards the Three-Eyed Skeleton, "I might as well tell you, I obtained this secret tome from a divine sword that had fallen from the Beiming Clan."


    "According to the Spirit of the Divine Sword, over three thousand years ago, its master, a true god of the Beiming Clan, had a battle with a true god of the Blood God Clan, which eventually led to the divine sword¡¯s fall."


    "Over three thousand years ago?"


    "You fought a true god of the Blood God Clan and caused the divine sword to fall, from which you obtained the Beiming Secret Tome?"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s three divine eyes flashed with a moment of inexplicable emotion.


    Filled with sorrow, he exclaimed, "No wonder I haven¡¯t seen my master for so many years; his Divine Sword has fallen. It turns out, he had an encounter with a true god of the Blood God Clan! It must have been over the matter of the ¡¯Beiming Divine Sea!¡¯"


    "The Blood God Clan again! Because of that beast¡¯s betrayal, I almost died at the hands of the Blood God Clan, my Divine Body nearly annihilated. As it turns out, my master also met with disaster because of the Blood God Clan!"


    "I can¡¯t deal with the Blood God Clan yet, but this time, I absolutely cannot let that beast off lightly!"


    In his indignation, the Three-Eyed Skeleton finally calmed down and collected his thoughts.


    He looked directly at Ye Chen, "Young man, I was absolutely going to kill you, but since you are related to the Beiming Clan, this time, I will spare your life."


    "Tell me, where did you encounter that fallen divine sword?"


    Ye Chen gazed deeply at the Three-Eyed Skeleton, "Spare my life? If we really fought, even if I couldn¡¯t kill you, we¡¯d both probably perish together¡ªit¡¯s not a matter of you sparing me. And as for where the Sword of the Divine Artifact is, I won¡¯t tell you."


    Though Ye Chen was surprised by the change in the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s demeanor and even faintly guessed its association with the Beiming Clan.


    But now was not the time to spill everything he knew.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the Three-Eyed Skeleton laughed instead of getting angry, "Good, you are truly worthy of being the youth who obtained the inheritance from the Divine Sword!"


    "Since you are unwilling to inform me about the Divine Sword, once I deal with the matters of the Five Elements Mountain, I will eventually unravel the truth."


    "Moreover, I want to let you know, it¡¯s indeed very hard for me to kill you, and if I truly exerted all my power to kill you, I would suffer a great loss, affecting the important matters of my Five Elements Mountain. But if it really came down to the last moment, as a True God, it would be quite difficult for you to have us both perish together," the Three-Eyed Skeleton remarked.


    "Haha, young man, until we meet again!"


    This skeleton laughed heartily and truly paid no further attention to Ye Chen, not engaging in a deadly struggle with him. Instead, it reached out a large hand toward the ground, and the corpse of the youth at the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint, who was using the cyan basket and the cyan belt magical treasures, along with the incredibly physically strong late-stage Heavenly Saint expert, and the corpse of another late-stage Heavenly Saint expert who used Divine Soul attack methods, instantly flew towards him.


    At the same time, three crystal-clear beads, carrying the dissipated and scattered Divine Souls of these three people, also entered the hand of the skeleton.


    Finally, with a large grasp toward the small earthen temple, something else flew out from within it, landing directly in his hand.


    Seeing that object, Ye Chen was also shocked, because it was exactly like the iron box that contained the Treasure Cave Key, which he had received from Ao Lei!


    In the hand of the Three-Eyed Skeleton, there also lay a "Treasure Cave Key" used to enter the Divine Heritage Cave!


    After taking all the items into his possession, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, right in front of Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, transformed into a beam of white light and plunged directly into the corpse of the youth at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint using the cyan basket and the cyan belt magical treasures.


    In the endless flashes of white light, something astonishing happened.


    The previously deceased mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth suddenly flipped his eyes open, his eyelids reopening, and even the three large blood holes in his body instantly healed.


    The mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth seemed to come back to life.


    But Ye Chen knew that this was definitely not the original mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth. Apparently, the Three-Eyed Skeleton had used some unknown method to enter the corpse of this mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth!


    "Could it be a Transmigration Technique?" Ye Chen remembered that he nearly got his body taken over by Heavenly Saint Moya in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb.


    But that had involved using a Divine Soul to enter the body of a living person, eradicating the living person¡¯s Divine Soul to take over their body for himself.


    Ye Chen had never seen anyone using a skeleton to take over a dead person¡¯s corpse like this!


    As if hearing Ye Chen say the word "Transmigration," the "revived" mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth smiled at Ye Chen, "This is not a Transmigration. This is my True God technique called ¡¯Soul Transformation¡¯ secret method!"


    The expression while talking was truly that of the Three-Eyed Skeleton!


    After addressing Ye Chen, the Three-Eyed Skeleton no longer concerned himself with Ye Chen. He collected the few treasures he had acquired, and also took the two late-stage Heavenly Saint corpses, then reached out towards the distance. The previously closed gap to the exit of the ancient forbidden land appeared once again.


    Then, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, now inhabiting the body of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth, gave Ye Chen, who was still in shock, one last deep look. In an instant, he shot towards the exit of the ancient forbidden land and disappeared in the next moment.

 Chapter 436 - 396: Eighteen Ancient Steles

    Seeing the Three-Eyed Skeleton use "Soul Transformation" to possess the body of a mid-Heavenly Saint Realm youth and then fly directly out of the ancient forbidden area, disappearing from sight, Ye Chen was also astonished.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t expect that after hearing about the "Beiming Secret Tome," the Three-Eyed Skeleton would actually cease its deadly battle with him and simply leave like that.


    However, this wasn¡¯t the time to ponder these reasons in detail.


    Seeing that the Three-Eyed Skeleton had truly left, Ye Chen quickly turned to the nine great ice-sealed guards beside him, "Honorable predecessors, are you all unharmed?"


    During the life-and-death clash with the Three-Eyed Skeleton, even though he had used the True God Talismans to exhaust ninety-nine percent of the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s combat power, the Three-Eyed Skeleton was a genuine Four Tribulations True God expert, so Ye Chen was somewhat worried that the nine great ice-sealed guards had sustained serious injuries.


    "Lord Ye Chen, we are unharmed."


    "We¡¯re fine, just some minor injuries, a bit of meditation will heal us. Lord Ye Chen, are you unharmed?"


    The nine great ice-sealed guards all shook their heads at Ye Chen with smiles.


    Seeing that the nine great ice-sealed guards were unharmed, save for some minor injuries on Bing Shiwu and Bing Shiqi, Ye Chen was relieved.


    He smiled gently at the nine great ice-sealed guards, "I am also unharmed. This place is very strange, and even though that Three-Eyed Skeleton has left, this is not a place to linger. Let¡¯s tidy up and prepare to leave."


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    The nine great ice-sealed guards all nodded their heads.


    After re-storing the nine great ice-sealed guards into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen lifted his gaze to survey the surroundings.


    Over seventy martial artists entered this enigmatic ancient forbidden land, and in the end, Ye Chen was the only one left alive.


    Most of the martial artists didn¡¯t even leave a corpse behind. Of the three corpses that remained, they were taken away by the Three-Eyed Skeleton. Now, only the corpse of the late-Heavenly Saint Realm expert, whose True Qi was like true fire, and the corpse of the late-Heavenly Saint who had summoned the grey sparrow magic treasure, remained on the ground.


    Ye Chen noticed that, aside from the bodies of the two men, the Three-Eyed Skeleton didn¡¯t take their belongings either. The grey sparrow magic treasure map that the late-Heavenly Saint had activated earlier, which had killed most of the golden wasps, was still lying on the ground.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t hesitate. With a divine sense induction, he collected the storage treasures from the bodies of the two Heavenly Saints and also took the grey sparrow magic treasure map. After making sure there was nothing else, he lightly pointed his finger, and two large holes appeared directly on the ground. Ye Chen then buried the corpses of the two late-Heavenly Saint Realm beings in the holes.


    Next, Ye Chen¡¯s figure flew toward the small earthen temple, but upon entering, he found it completely empty. Presumably, even if there were originally treasures inside, they must have been completely looted by the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    Even the remaining golden wasps were nowhere to be found.


    It was uncertain whether those golden wasps were a miraculous manifestation of the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s True Qi or if they had been taken away by it when it left.


    After seeing that there was nothing in the small earthen temple, Ye Chen returned outside and lifted his gaze to the two trees bearing Void Sky Quintessence Fruits.


    There were originally hundreds of fruits on these two trees. Some were picked by martial artists, and later, as the martial artists were killed, those fruits were incinerated by the combat power of the golden wasps.


    Now, over a hundred Void Sky Quintessence Fruits remained on the two trees.


    The Void Sky Quintessence Fruit is a miraculous treasure for harmonizing and comprehending the five Void Sky laws, and Ye Chen certainly didn¡¯t hesitate.


    He reached out with a big hand, and the fruits began to shoot towards him.


    Eventually, all over a hundred Void Sky Quintessence Fruits were collected by Ye Chen into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    After finding nothing else of use in the ancient forbidden area and worrying that the exit gap might disappear, Ye Chen didn¡¯t hesitate and directly flew out.


    When he returned to the valley outside the ancient forbidden land, Ye Chen found that the Three-Eyed Skeleton that had flown out first was not there and had long since vanished without a trace.


    There was only Ye Chen left in the entire valley.


    Recalling the boisterous scene when he and over seventy martial artists had arrived there, with more than a dozen late-Heavenly Saint Realm experts among them, and now, the only one who truly survived was himself.


    "These over seventy people died just like that, not even leaving behind the slightest ripple."


    "Even I came close to dying in there."


    With these thoughts, Ye Chen sighed and also felt a chill of fear.


    Ye Chen also thought that with such events occurring here, other martial artists who did not get the clue to the ancient forbidden area wouldn¡¯t know, and likewise, he feared that similar dangerous expeditions and slaughters were happening elsewhere and that there were countless explorers dying in places unknown to him.


    When the exploration of the Five Elements Mountain truly ended, out of the two to three thousand martial artists who entered, it was unknown how many would live to leave the Five Elements Mountain.


    "This is the exploration of the Five Elements Mountain, indeed full of extreme danger, with life and death hanging by a thread."


    After his reflections, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze became resolute once more.


    A near-extinction adventure did not dampen Ye Chen¡¯s spirits.


    Ye Chen knew that the path of martial arts cannot always be smooth sailing.


    Only through trials of blood and fire can one continue to grow and become stronger, to walk farther and reach higher!


    "The exploration of the forbidden lands on this Second Mountain has come to an end, and now it¡¯s time to look at the other realms of this Second Mountain and witness the manifestation of the five great Void Sky principles that the legends speak of!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s resolute gaze swept across the broader regions of the Second Mountain outside the valley, and then his figure vanished completely from this hollow.


    The next moment, he was flying amidst the giant peaks of the Second Mountain.


    As he flew, Ye Chen¡¯s mind kept flashing back to his battle with the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and to that strange expression the skeleton had when it heard about the Beiming Secret Tome and the Sword of the Divine Artifact.


    "It must be that the Three-Eyed Skeleton has a significant connection with the owner of the Divine Sword, which is why it ceased its life-and-death struggle with me after learning I received the heritage from the Divine Sword."


    Ye Chen also recalled the Treasure Cave Key that the Three-Eyed Skeleton held in its hand at the end.


    "It is rumored that every hundred years, five ¡¯Treasure Cave Keys¡¯ would flow out from the Five Elements Mountain; I wonder from which occasion that Treasure Cave Key in the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s hand came."


    "Looking at its behavior, it seems it intends to venture into that Divine Heritage Cave."


    Ye Chen further recalled that when they first encountered the Three-Eyed Skeleton, it immediately asked them about Jin Lieyang, the Saint Heir of the Xuanjin Continent.


    "Could it be that Jin Lieyang is also acquainted with this Three-Eyed Skeleton?"


    "I wonder if the two of them are friends or foes."


    "This Three-Eyed Skeleton was originally a Four Tribulations True God, while Jin Lieyang, even as a Saint Heir, is only at the latter stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm. How could they be acquainted?"


    Ye Chen had countless doubts in his heart, all still unresolved.


    After thinking for a while, Ye Chen carefully remembered some matters, then he directly flew towards the site where the five great Void Sky principles originated in the Second Mountain.


    On the left flank of the Second Mountain, there are five Holy Pools suffused with the five great Void Sky principles: the Metal Holy Pool, the Wood Holy Pool, the Water Holy Pool, the Fire Holy Pool, and the Earth Holy Pool.


    Not far from these five Holy Pools are five colossal void caves, within which the endless five great Void Sky principles are being born, nurtured, grown, and destroyed.


    Ye Chen even saw that those five colossal void caves seemed to lead to a higher small spirit realm, as if there was some inexplicable connection with the small spirit realm!


    Ye Chen felt that the five great Void Sky principles seemed to be derived from a special gas in the small spirit realm, which was probably not the Five Elements True Qi, but somewhat akin to the Void Sky True God power of the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    After observing the five Holy Pools and the five void caves for over half a month, Ye Chen finally left the Second Mountain and set off for the Third Mountain.


    In the deputy hall of the Ice-sealed Divine Temple, Ye Chen had been cultivating for three years within the time acceleration of a hundredfold, and the five great Void Sky principles he condensed in his rotation pill when striking at the rotation pill realm were starting to feel the touch of the breakthrough threshold.


    Although he had only observed the origins of the five great Void Sky principles on the Second Mountain for over half a month, Ye Chen had gained an even more hazy sense of comprehension.


    Now Ye Chen felt he was getting closer to breaking through from the early stage of the rotation pill realm to the middle stage.


    He was just lacking the last bit of summarization and sorting out of the five great Void Sky principles to completely break through the countless days of contemplation!


    In the Third Mountain, there lay the mysteriously profound "Five Elements Divine Temple," containing the insights and epiphanies of powerful explorers who had adventured through the Five Elements Mountain in past expeditions.


    Ye Chen hastened to the Third Mountain, aiming to use these epiphanies to corroborate with his own, to launch a true assault on the middle stage of the rotation pill realm!


    ...


    While Ye Chen was rushing from the Second Mountain to the Third Mountain, at the mid-slope of the Third Mountain, which was even further back, already hundreds of Martial Artists had flown to a colossal divine temple on the waist of the Third Mountain.


    This huge divine temple was the most precious site for comprehending the five great Void Sky principles in the Five Elements Mountain ¡ª the Five Elements Divine Temple!


    One could see that this temple covered tens of thousands of zhang in area, and even more mysteriously, on the square outside the temple, stood eighteen ancient stelae, each surpassing a thousand zhang in height.


    Looking up at these ancient stelae, one could see countless inscriptions etched by various hands.


    And upon closer scrutiny of these inscriptions, one could feel the genuine power of the five great Void Sky principles coming to life within them!


    At this moment, many people were sitting cross-legged beneath the eighteen giant ancient stelae, and yet others stood quite some distance away from the stelae.


    Among them, several Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were standing outside the stelae, their faces filled with indignation as they looked towards the twenty or so Martial Artists beneath the ninth stele in the middle, "This ninth ancient stele is rumored to record the most precious insights of the five great Void Sky principles; it is said that insights from three Void Sky True Gods were left here during their Heavenly Saint Realm days!"


    "We were the ones who first claimed this ninth stele, but it was taken over by these people!"


    "Detestable! It¡¯s so detestable! They want to gain insights, but don¡¯t we too?"


    "They¡¯re just bullying us because the Barbaric Wilderness Continent doesn¡¯t have as many strong individuals as they do, or because no late-stage Heavenly Saints have come on our behalf!"


    "They may have three late-stage Heavenly Saints, but our Skyscraper Palace Master alone is worth two of their late-stage Heavenly Saints. And there¡¯s also Ye Chen; I heard Ye Chen is accompanied by two senior helpers who are also late-stage Heavenly Saints. Just wait until the Skyscraper Palace Master and Ye Chen arrive, we¡¯ll make them pay!"

 Chapter 437 - 397: The Third Mountain

    The martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were seething with indignation after the Ninth Ancient Stele was snatched away.


    The twenty or so martial artists sitting under the Ninth Ancient Stele, some were meditating with their eyes closed, others were looking mockingly at the group from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, whispering to each other.


    "The warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent really overestimate themselves, daring to compete for the Ninth Ancient Stele."


    "Hmph, don¡¯t they know that this stele and the Tenth Ancient Stele are the two most precious steles of the ¡¯Five Elements Divine Temple¡¯? Historically, only those warriors from powerful continents could comprehend underneath these steles, anyone else would definitely be driven away."


    "In the past, these two steles were always occupied by martial artists from the Five Elements Continent or the Myriad Beasts Alliance. This time, for some unknown reason, neither of these two major forces sent any real powerhouses here. Therefore, naturally, it¡¯s our turn for continents like the Purple Dawn Continent and the Heavenly Vast Continent to occupy them!"


    "The Heavenly Vast Continent has good relations with the Heavens Continent and has a subordinate continent, the Heaven¡¯s Pole Continent. Their martial artists are cultivating under the Tenth Ancient Stele. Our Purple Dawn Continent also has two subordinate continents, adding up to six late-stage Heavenly Saints coming this time from the Purple Dawn Continent alone. This time, the number one powerhouse from our Purple Dawn Continent, a top late-stage Heavenly Saint, ¡¯Elder Minghua¡¯, has arrived at Five Elements Mountain. He is expected here in the next few days!"


    "These barbarians from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent think they can compete with our Purple Dawn Continent just because they have a Skyscraper Palace Master watching over them? They really don¡¯t know their place."


    "Heh, isn¡¯t that the truth? Look at them, still unconvinced, waiting for a strong contender from their continent to take their side. Hmph, even if the Skyscraper Palace Master of their continent comes personally, once he sees our ¡¯Elder Minghua¡¯ from the Purple Dawn Continent, he¡¯ll have to be extremely courteous and respectful, take their side? They must be dreaming!"


    "Unless the Palace Master Yuan Li from their Barbaric Wilderness Continent personally comes here, perhaps we might give Palace Master Yuan Li some face and allow them a few spots to cultivate here. But that Skyscraper Palace Master is simply not qualified."


    In the rivalry and alliance of the thirty-three continents,


    the disputes among the martial artists from the thirty-three continents are dictated by the strength of the peak powerhouses and the overall power of their continents!


    The group of martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent sitting under the Ninth Ancient Stele clearly did not take those martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, a continent with weaker strength, seriously.


    ...


    The frustration of the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent under the "Eighteen Ancient Steles" of the Five Elements Divine Temple and the cultivation and mockery of the Purple Dawn Continent martial artists under the Ninth Stele were all unknown to Ye Chen.


    At this moment, he was still on his way to the Third Mountain of the "Five Elements Divine Temple."


    After leaving the quintessential pools and void pits of the Five Great Heavenly Laws on the Second Mountain, Ye Chen flew for another seven days before he finally crossed the void chasm between the Second Mountain and the Third Mountain and reached the midst of Third Mountain.


    "The Five Elements Mountain, with its five mountains, is really too massive; just traveling consumes so much time!"


    "I only delayed half a day in that Forbidden Ancient Lands, plus over half a month observing the Five Great Heavenly Laws on the Second Mountain. Including the time it took to travel across the First and Second Mountains, I¡¯ve already spent a month and three days here within the Five Elements Mountain!"


    "There¡¯s only a total of three months for the adventure within the Five Elements Mountain."


    Ye Chen stood at the foot of the enormous Third Mountain, lamenting how quickly time was being consumed within the Five Elements Mountain.


    "Fortunately, I have finally reached the most important Third Mountain. The ¡¯Five Elements Divine Temple¡¯ is the most crucial place for my cultivation on this trip to the Five Elements Mountain."


    Ye Chen looked up at the towering Third Mountain, unable to see its peak, only gazing upon the mountain ranges rising like gigantic pillars before him.


    Reaching the Third Mountain was often the furthest many martial artists would go exploring within the Five Elements Mountain.


    The Fourth Mountain presented dangers far greater than that of the First, Second, and Third Mountains, and explorers rarely journeyed to it if not for the "Divine Heritage Cave" within it.


    As for the Fifth Mountain, it was such a terrifying place that even the most supreme beings from the thirty-three continents could not explore it, and no one dared to step foot there.


    Ye Chen never considered going to the Fifth Mountain.


    Despite having received a "Treasure Cave Key" from Ao Lei, he was still hesitant about visiting the Divine Heritage Cave on the Fourth Mountain.


    It would all depend on his cultivation progress within the Third Mountain.


    With almost two months left, Ye Chen felt time was flying by swiftly, but he simply smiled lightly.


    Almost two months should be enough for him to cultivate properly in the "Five Elements Divine Temple" at the Third Mountain.


    "That ¡¯Five Elements Divine Temple¡¯ is towards the northern side of the Third Mountain¡¯s waist. It will take about three days to reach there from the foothills, so I¡¯d better hurry!"


    Now at the verge of breaking through to the mid-stage of Rotating Pill, Ye Chen could hardly wait to see what the legendary place, where one could comprehend the five supreme Heavenly Laws, the "Five Elements Divine Temple," was like, and whether it would help him achieve a breakthrough!


    After taking a good look at the vast Third Mountain from its base, Ye Chen sped off towards the direction of the "Five Elements Divine Temple."


    Within the Third Mountain, the Five Elements Phantom Beasts were far more formidable than those on the First and Second Mountains.


    There were many more late-stage Heavenly Saint level fantastical beasts present as well.


    Of course, the pattern in which the Five Elements Phantom Beasts appear is unfathomable. Some people suddenly encounter many formidable Phantom Beasts and are directly killed by them, while others have better luck, encountering only weaker Phantom Beasts and are able to travel smoothly.


    Ye Chen¡¯s luck, whether it ran out in the Forbidden Ancient Lands or not, was certainly bad.


    On his way to the "Five Elements Divine Temple," he encountered five groups of powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint Phantom Beasts on the first day.


    Fortunately, Ye Chen had nine great Ice-Sealed Guards with him, and he also obtained a sacred-grade, top-quality secret painting treasure "He Lingerie Chart" from a fallen late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse in the Forbidden Ancient Lands, which eventually enabled Ye Chen to get through the deadly encirclement of those late-stage Heavenly Saint Phantom Beast groups with more shocks than dangers.


    After encountering the five groups of powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint Phantom Beasts on the first day, Ye Chen had a smooth journey for the first half of the second day. However, in the afternoon, when Ye Chen flew into a mountain valley, he frowned again.


    Because Ye Chen directly sensed that he had not detected any anomaly in this mountain valley before, but upon flying in, he suddenly found a mysterious black-robed late-stage Heavenly Saint figure fighting fiercely with ten late-stage Heavenly Saint level Phantom Beasts!


    This black-robed late-stage Heavenly Saint being was also extraordinarily powerful, managing to hold his own against ten late-stage Heavenly Saint level Phantom Beasts.


    Ye Chen could clearly feel that among the ten late-stage Heavenly Saint level Phantom Beasts, three had combat power not inferior to Bing Shisan! One of them, a Fire Lion Fantastical Beast, was almost at the same level of combat power as Bing Shier!


    The late-stage Heavenly Saint who was battling the ten Phantom Beasts, from the investigation of the nine Ice-Sealed Guards and Ye Chen¡¯s own observation, was probably even more powerful than Palace Master Yuan Li.


    He was just slightly weaker than the first among the nine Ice-Sealed Guards who were with Ye Chen, Bing Shiyi.


    This person could absolutely be called a peak late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse, probably one of the strongest beings in one of the Thirty-Three Continents.


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t recognize this person.


    Ye Chen only saw that even though this black-robed late-stage Heavenly Saint was likely one of the strongest beings of a continent, under the siege of ten late-stage Heavenly Saint level Phantom Beasts, especially under the attack of the three top Phantom Beasts, he was clearly at a disadvantage. If not for his tremendous strength, he would have fallen amidst this Phantom Beast onslaught much earlier.


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    Even though he was still holding on, it was doubtful that he could last much longer.


    When Ye Chen inadvertently flew into this peculiar mountain valley and stumbled upon this great battle, the late-stage Heavenly Saint in the black robes, already in deep frustration, exclaimed,


    "I¡¯ve been to the Third Mountain five times, and I¡¯ve never been so unlucky as to encounter a siege by ten high-level Phantom Beasts!"


    "If I knew this would happen, I wouldn¡¯t have taken this shortcut. Now I¡¯m in big trouble. Under the combined attack of these ten Phantom Beasts, even I find it hard to resist!"


    "To think, ¡¯Minghua,¡¯ rampaging across the Thirty-Three Continents, would I perish here?!"


    Fighting against the ten Phantom Beasts and feeling increasingly overwhelmed, the black-robed Heavenly Saint already considered escaping. But the ten Phantom Beasts didn¡¯t give him any chance to flee and kept him tightly surrounded.


    The ten Phantom Beasts coordinated flawlessly. Without killing the leading Fire Lion Fantastical Beast, escaping was impossible.


    The more he fought, the more he felt dismayed. Just as he was about to give up upon not being able to hold on any longer, he suddenly sensed someone else had broken into the mountain valley.


    The black-robed Heavenly Saint¡¯s heart surged with joy.


    If a powerful helper arrived, he might be able to escape this deathly predicament!


    When the black-robed Heavenly Saint sent out a wisp of divine consciousness to check who had entered the valley and saw Ye Chen, his heart plummeted.


    The newcomer was actually a young boy at the early stage of Rotating Pill!


    "It seems that the heavens want to abandon me. It¡¯s my extreme misfortune to be besieged by these ten Phantom Beasts. Someone finally comes by as I did, only to be a Rotating Pill!"


    "Pity that I am about to die. There seems to be no chance of survival this time. This is the way of the martial arts world. Even though I rampaged across the Thirty-Three Continents, I¡¯m about to fall here!"


    The black-robed elder¡¯s heart completely sank in that instant, and he was filled with good intentions as he approached death.


    "This Rotating Pill is also unlucky. Alas, I¡¯ll try to fight. If I can¡¯t escape, let¡¯s not let him die here, too!"


    The black-robed elder, while fighting the Phantom Beast group, shouted to Ye Chen who had just entered the valley, "Run! If you don¡¯t run now, it will be too late!"


    Because he was distracted to observe the newcomer, the black-robed Heavenly Saint, under the assault of the ten Phantom Beasts, was even more forced to keep retreating, completely at a disadvantage despite making a last stand.


    The moment he shouted, he was about to be driven into a corner. If driven to a dead end, the black-robed Heavenly Saint, who was already at an absolute disadvantage, would definitely die without a doubt!


    Just as the black-robed Heavenly Saint was about to sigh in despair and almost ready to give up resisting, suddenly, two flashes of light appeared by his side!


    The two flashes of light instantly killed the three most powerful Phantom Beasts among the ten!


    When the black-robed Heavenly Saint looked towards the two flashes of light, he was astonished to discover that the one who struck down the strongest Fire Lion Fantastical Beast was the very same early-stage Rotating Pill young boy he was warning to escape!

 Chapter 438 - 398 Surprised Martial Artists

    "How is that possible?!"


    The black-robed Heavenly Saint was completely stunned.


    He could never have imagined that a mere early Spin Dan youth would be able to directly kill the most powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint Level Fire Lion Fantastical Beast!


    He had urged him to flee quickly, but this early Spin Dan youth had not only not fled but directly saved his life!


    When the black-robed Heavenly Saint looked at the early Spin Dan youth and saw the mysterious divine light flickering on his body, even he, a top-notch late-stage Heavenly Saint with immeasurable experience, cried out in astonishment, "Divine Power! Is this the Divine Power that only a True God possesses?!"


    The one who had lent a hand to help the black-robed Heavenly Saint out of crisis was none other than Ye Chen, who had come to this valley in the mountains!


    Seeing that the black-robed Heavenly Saint was about to die, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t just stand by and watch.


    Especially since the black-robed Heavenly Saint, even at the moment of life and death, had told him to hurry and flee, Ye Chen felt a tinge of fondness for the black-robed Heavenly Saint.


    So, when he saw the ten fantastical beasts cornering the black-robed elder to a dead end, Ye Chen had Bing Shiyi take action, and he himself also burned a bit of the True God Talisman¡¯s power to directly kill the most powerful Fire Lion Fantastical Beast!


    Even that most powerful of the ten late-stage Heavenly Saint fantastical beasts, in the face of True God Talisman power, didn¡¯t stand a chance!


    Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi¡¯s lightning-fast actions directly killed the three strongest fantastical beasts.


    As for the remaining seven fantastical beasts, seeing Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi arrive like gods from the heavens, they were so scared that they instantly fled, not daring to surround Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi anymore. Of course, Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi wouldn¡¯t let these seven fantastical beasts escape.


    Pfff! Pfff! Pfff! Pfff! Pfff! Pfff! Pfff!


    In the vacuum, seven streaks of light flashed, and the seven fantastical beasts instantly died on the spot.


    From the moment Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi took action to the death of all ten fantastical beasts, not even a single breath¡¯s time had passed.


    When the black-robed Heavenly Saint saw the other seven fantastical beasts also fall dead, he finally snapped out of his stunned state. His eyes, filled with shocking awe, turned towards Ye Chen, and then to Bing Shiyi by Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    The two saviors who had rescued him.


    On the body of the early Spin Dan youth flickered the same Divine Power that he had faintly sensed during his travels in the Upper Realm.


    And the other, a white Dapeng giant beast, emitted an aura that even made the black-robed elder, one of the top beings of a continent, tremble in his heart and tighten his breathing.


    Only then did the black-robed elder realize that these were not just any martial artists who couldn¡¯t help.


    These two were clearly existences even more formidable than himself!


    After taking a deep breath, the black-robed elder regained his composure from the shock of escaping death by a hair¡¯s breadth. He looked at Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi and said respectfully, "Thank you both for saving my life. My name is Minghua from the ¡¯Lingxiao Palace¡¯ of the Purple Dawn Continent. May I know the esteemed names of my saviors?"


    Even as a top-notch late-stage Heavenly Saint, at this moment before the early Spin Dan youth, the black-robed elder did not dare to be the slightest bit presumptuous.


    Although he clearly discerned that Ye Chen was indeed a very young lad with a small bone age, and that he was truly in the early stage of Spin Dan, the immense Divine Power emitted from Ye Chen¡¯s body moments earlier told the exceedingly experienced black-robed elder that there certainly stood a True God behind this youth!


    And not just any True God, but an exceedingly formidable one! Find your next adventure on empire


    Only a supremely formidable True God could enable an early Spin Dan youth to wield such level of Divine Power!


    Not only the power of a True God, but the youth¡¯s own combat abilities were definitely extraordinary, having certainly reached Heavenly Saint Level, to wield True God¡¯s power so fluently!


    Saving his life, backed by a powerful True God, with extraordinary combat strength by himself, from every aspect, the black-robed elder had to be extremely courteous towards him!


    He was extremely courteous towards Ye Chen, and naturally, no less courteous towards Bing Shiyi.


    Bing Shiyi was an existence even more formidable than the black-robed elder himself, so of course, the elder dared not be presumptuous!


    "The Purple Dawn Continent is one of the Thirty-Three Continents, with a strength stronger than our Barbaric Wilderness Continent, I¡¯ve heard that there are even two continents that are directly subordinated to the Purple Dawn Continent."


    "And that Lingxiao Palace, I¡¯ve heard, is the number one sect of the Purple Dawn Continent!"


    "Minghua? It is said that the Supreme Elder of the Lingxiao Palace, the number one powerful being of the entire Purple Dawn Continent, is called ¡¯Elder Minghua¡¯. Could it be him?!"


    Upon hearing what the black-robed elder said, Ye Chen¡¯s mind instantly recalled some details about the Purple Dawn Continent that he had learned from the Mystery Pavilion.


    Hearing the black-robed elder¡¯s respectful inquiry, Bing Shiyi simply smiled and nodded to the black-robed elder.


    But Ye Chen, driven by curiosity, couldn¡¯t help but ask the black-robed elder, "Senior, are you the Supreme Elder ¡¯Elder Minghua¡¯ of the ¡¯Lingxiao Palace¡¯?"


    "My name is Ye Chen, from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. This honored elder here is Bing Shiyi, a senior protecting me."


    Upon being called a senior, the black-robed elder frantically waved his hands, "Senior? No, no, my friend, please don¡¯t call me senior. If you don¡¯t mind, just call me Minghua, my friend."


    "It¡¯s unexpected that Ye Chen, my friend, has heard of this old man. Yes, I am indeed that Minghua from the Lingxiao Palace."


    Friend, that is a courteous title among peers.


    The late-stage top-level Heavenly Saint, the "Elder Minghua", was directly on an equal footing with Ye Chen!

 Chapter 439 - 398 Shocked Martial Artists_2

    "Minghua, Bing Shiyi, I really have to thank you both for saving my life this time! Otherwise, I truly would have died here."


    "This mountain valley is also strange; there¡¯s no way to sense it from the outside. Who would have thought that there would be such a powerful group of Phantom Beasts inside, nearly causing me to take a nasty fall!"


    "I¡¯ve been to Five Elements Mountain several times now, and I¡¯ve never been in such a sorry state."


    Thinking back to the previous situation, the black-robed elder "Elder Minghua" still felt a shiver of fear.


    After his scare, Elder Minghua suddenly slapped his forehead.


    "Ye Chen, Ye Chen? I seem to have heard that name before. Barbaric Wilderness Continent? Could you be the one who won a gamble against the little saintess Huo Mei¡¯er of the Leaving Fire Continent, and also crossed swords with Ao Lei of the Myriad Beasts Alliance, that Ye Chen?"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s name, Elder Minghua instantly recalled some rumors from Rift Sky City that he had heard when he rushed to the Heavenly Evolution Continent for the adventure to Five Elements Mountain.


    "Elder Minghua, indeed I am that Ye Chen."


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded, yet he did not address Elder Minghua as Minghua as the latter had suggested; after all, he was a junior in the Rotating Pill Realm, and there was a vast difference in both lifespan and seniority compared to such a top-notch late-stage Heavenly Saint being.


    Hearing that this black-robed elder was truly Elder Minghua, the top figure from Purple Dawn Continent, Ye Chen was quite surprised.


    This elder¡¯s true strength was even greater than Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s, and when Ye Chen had watched him battling with ten late-stage Heavenly Saint Phantom Beasts earlier, he had felt that this man must be a supremely strong figure in a continent.


    Who would have thought that he was indeed the top figure of a continent, and not just any continent¡ªbut Purple Dawn Continent, which was even more powerful than the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Being the top figure of a continent, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel a sense of respect for him.


    Seeing that Ye Chen remained courteous toward him and didn¡¯t act arrogantly or domineeringly just because he had Bing Shiyi at his side, or because of the formidable True God behind him, Elder Minghua felt even more approval in his heart.


    Such a young man had the pride that a young man should have, and at the same time, a grace many young people lacked. He was indeed extraordinary! Your journey continues with empire


    While Ye Chen was polite to him, he would still not take Ye Chen lightly.


    "I am ashamed, truly ashamed! I have roamed across thirty-three continents for many years, and yet I nearly perished in the enigmatic Five Elements Mountain. This Five Elements Mountain is indeed a place where we all need to be extremely cautious."


    Elder Minghua shook his head and said to Ye Chen with a smile, "Your name, Ye Chen, is like thunder in my ears!"


    "It¡¯s a pity that I arrived in Rift Sky City later and didn¡¯t get to see your outstanding performance at the Thousand Zun Platform and the Desert Sea Underground Palace auction. It¡¯s truly regrettable."


    "By the way, if you two don¡¯t mind, shall we go to the ¡¯Five Elements Divine Temple¡¯ together?" Elder Minghua asked with a smile, having heard that Ye Chen and Bing Shiyi were also headed to the Five Elements Divine Temple, "It seems to be your first time at Five Elements Mountain. I have been to the Five Elements Divine Temple three times. Once there, I can give you a good introduction to some of the things inside the temple."


    "Elder Minghua, you¡¯re too kind. Let¡¯s proceed together."


    "However, my Bing Shiyi usually prefers not to show himself, so I must ask Elder Minghua to keep his affairs private."


    "Understood, understood."


    After chatting a few more sentences with Elder Minghua, Ye Chen recalled Bing Shiyi back into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, and then flew with Elder Minghua towards the Third Mountain¡¯s midsection, where the "Five Elements Divine Temple" was located.


    ...


    Frustration!


    Utter frustration!


    This was the mood of the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent who were sitting cross-legged under the fourteenth ancient stele at that time.


    They had originally thought that once the Skyscraper Palace Master arrived at the "Five Elements Divine Temple," they would be able to take back the ninth ancient stele that had been monopolized by the warriors of the Purple Dawn Continent.


    But who would have known, at the same time the Skyscraper Palace Master arrived, two more late-stage Heaven Saints from the Purple Dawn Continent side appeared.


    And when the Skyscraper Palace Master heard about the ninth ancient stele being taken, his brows furrowed, and upon seeing the five late-stage Heaven Saints under it, he sighed deeply. Finally, with no other choice, he glanced towards the direction of the ninth ancient stele, said nothing, and walked straight towards the fourteenth ancient stele.


    It was only after the Skyscraper Palace Master had a conversation with the leading late-stage Heaven Saint from the Ninth Star Continent at the site of the fourteenth ancient stele that these warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were able to cultivate there.


    The Five Elements Divine Temple, eighteen ancient steles.


    Only within specific areas beneath each ancient stele can one truly sense the inscriptions on the stele.


    Being able to cultivate under the fourteenth ancient stele was not bad, but of course, it couldn¡¯t compare with cultivating at the site of the ninth ancient stele.


    Unable to take back the ninth ancient stele, the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were naturally filled with frustration!


    They, of course, wouldn¡¯t blame the Skyscraper Palace Master; what frustrated them was that only now did they realize that back on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, they belonged to the absolute peak sects and were disciples of those sects.


    But when they arrived at this place teeming with strong warriors from thirty-three continents, they counted for nothing.


    Even the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, even the Skyscraper Palace Master, counted for nothing here.


    This was what truly frustrated these martial artists!


    While the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were filled with frustration under the fourteenth ancient stele, many warriors from the Purple Dawn Continent sitting cross-legged under the ninth ancient stele were smug.


    Seeing with their own eyes the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent helplessly walking towards the fourteenth ancient stele and not daring to come over to argue for the ninth, such a feeling almost made the warriors from the Purple Dawn Continent float on air!


    There was a time when they could only watch enviously as the warriors from the Five Elements Continent and the Alliance of Myriad Beasts cultivated at the ninth and tenth ancient steles, but now, they were the ones cultivating here!


    And they had taken the opportunity from the warriors of even lesser continents to cultivate here!


    This, of course, gave them a strong sense of pride as the more powerful!


    However, just as one side was frustrated and the other was exceedingly proud, and many other martial artists were either meditating or discussing under the eighteen ancient steles,


    A strong fluctuation of energy suddenly transmitted through the sky above the Third Mountain of the Five Elements Divine Temple.


    This kind of energy fluctuation led many martial artists meditating under the ancient steles to look up involuntarily towards the sky.


    The warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Purple Dawn Continent also looked up at the sky one after another.


    "Is this aura, could it be that a top late-stage Heaven Saint powerhouse has arrived?"


    All the martial artists, witnessing the powerful fluctuation of energy in the sky, began to speculate.


    At that moment, the void above the Five Elements Divine Temple suddenly tore open, and two figures stepped out from the cracks in the void.


    One of the figures laughed heartily as he said to the other, "Minghua, this is the Five Elements Divine Temple!"

 Chapter 440 - 399 Dispute

    When they saw these two figures smiling and conversing, all of the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, even the Skyscraper Palace Master, were so astonished that their mouths hung open.


    As for many of the martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent, they showed expressions of complete disbelief!


    The warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were surprised that their continent¡¯s genius youth, Ye Chen, was actually able to converse so freely and easily with a top-level figure in the late stage of Heavenly Sacred.


    Moreover, looking at the degree of politeness this top-level late-stage Heavenly Sacred figure showed towards Ye Chen, there was even a hint of inexplicable reverence!


    To get such a top-level late-stage Heavenly Sacred figure to act this way in front of so many martial artists, one could only imagine how seriously he must regard Ye Chen!


    The astonishment of the Skyscraper Palace Master from the barbarian warrior group was even more intense.


    Being one of the three great palace masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, he was naturally extremely familiar with the top figures of all thirty-three continents.


    The top-level late-stage Heavenly Sacred figure who had come from the sky, the Skyscraper Palace Master recognized him at a glance. This person was none other than Elder Minghua, the number one powerhouse from the Purple Dawn Continent who had some conflicts with their Barbaric Wilderness Continent at the Ninth Ancient Stele!


    The Skyscraper Palace Master knew that Ye Chen would definitely come to train at the "Five Elements Divine Temple."


    But for the life of him, he couldn¡¯t have imagined that Ye Chen would come along with Elder Minghua.


    And that Elder Minghua would be so polite to Ye Chen!


    This completely shattered the understanding of the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    You must understand that Elder Minghua was an elder warrior mightier even than Palace Master Yuan Li. Although Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s innate talent was stronger than Elder Minghua¡¯s, in terms of real combat power, the current Palace Master Yuan Li was still no match for Elder Minghua.


    Such a personage, such a dominant existence from a whole continent, being so polite to a young boy?


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that this youth, Ye Chen, had already gotten the Skyscraper Palace Master used to surprises, the palace master might have thought he was hallucinating.


    On the side of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, there was boundless astonishment.


    The degree of surprise among those from the Purple Dawn Continent was by no means less than that on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡¯s side!


    Many martial artists of the Purple Dawn Continent had never seen the number one person of their entire continent, their Supreme Elder, being so polite to any younger person!


    The politeness even carried a sense of reverence.


    If this were to be said out loud, probably no martial artists from the entire Purple Dawn Continent would believe it.


    Among the group of Purple Dawn Continent martial artists, some couldn¡¯t believe it because they recognized Ye Chen.


    These martial artists had previously arrived in Rift Sky City on the Heavenly Evolution Continent and had already taken note of Ye Chen¡¯s wager fight with Huo Mei¡¯er. Many had even witnessed the clash between Ye Chen and Ao Lei in the Sand Sea Palace firsthand.


    They naturally knew this youth was Ye Chen from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Although they recognized Ye Chen¡¯s prowess and that he even had two senior Heavenly Sacred helpers with him, they couldn¡¯t imagine that Ye Chen would have gone so far as to develop a relationship with their Supreme Elder.


    And that their Supreme Elder would personally introduce him to the matters within the Five Elements Divine Temple!


    Many of the other martial artists below the Eighteenth Ancient Steles, knowing the previous dissension between the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Purple Dawn Continent over the Ninth Ancient Stele, couldn¡¯t help but ponder, "The warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent had suffered a loss at the Ninth Ancient Stele."


    "Previously, even when the Skyscraper Palace Master came, he wasn¡¯t able to save face, and now it¡¯s very likely that things will change..."


    "If Ye Chen really has the strength to make even Elder Minghua extremely courteous, then we are in for a good show!"


    The martial artists below exhibited various expressions, while Elder Minghua in the sky, after discussing the Eighteenth Ancient Steles with Ye Chen, had already descended with Ye Chen to the plaza of the Five Elements Divine Temple where the steles resided.


    Ye Chen had already seen the Skyscraper Palace Master in the sky, and as soon as he descended, he hastened to fly over to him.


    Elder Minghua, with a smile, glanced at the martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent and, instead of going over to their side first, followed Ye Chen to the Fourteenth Ancient Stele.


    "Palace Master, you¡¯ve arrived here so early." Ye Chen said with a smile to the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    The Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s face had not yet recovered from his shock. Seeing Ye Chen and Elder Minghua fly over to his side, he nodded with a smile at Ye Chen, then made a polite bow to Palace Master Minghua, "Minghua, I didn¡¯t expect you to come to the Five Elements Divine Temple."


    As the Skyscraper Palace Master greeted Elder Minghua, the leading late-stage Heavenly Sacred presence from Jiumang Continent, a middle-aged man in grey, also approached Elder Minghua and started greeting him.


    Elder Minghua smiled, "What a coincidence, I happened to run into Ye Chen on the way and came over with him."


    Ye Chen?!


    Hearing Elder Minghua call Ye Chen a friend once again, the leading late-stage Heavenly Sacred presence from Jiumang Continent couldn¡¯t help but size up Ye Chen.


    And the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s expression became even more peculiar.


    At that moment, realizing that the Skyscraper Palace Master and the leading late-stage Heavenly Sacred presence from Jiumang Continent were greeting this top-tier, late-stage Heavenly Sacred figure in black robes who had just flown in front of them, the martial artists of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent finally came to know who this black-robed elder was.


    Upon hearing that this black-robed elder was the number one powerhouse from the Purple Dawn Continent with whom they had a conflict, the faces of the martial artists of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent also turned odd.


    They hadn¡¯t expected that, following their dispute, the opposing side¡¯s number one powerhouse would actually come directly to them and be so exceedingly polite to Ye Chen from their continent.


    Seeing everyone¡¯s strange expressions, Elder Minghua, with his keen insight, immediately spotted that something was amiss.


    And Ye Chen too felt that something was off, also turning to look at the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    "Skyscraper, what¡¯s going on, why do I feel that the gaze of the martial artists here towards me is quite hostile?" Elder Minghua asked with a smile, turning to the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    The Skyscraper Palace Master waved his hand dismissively, "It¡¯s nothing, nothing at all."


    Not wanting to explicitly mention the conflict between the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Purple Dawn Continent over the Ninth Ancient Stele, the Skyscraper Palace Master chose to remain silent. However, a Spiraling Pill late-stage youth from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent could no longer restrain himself and blurted out, "It¡¯s all because your Purple Dawn Continent¡¯s martial artists have gone too far, snatching away the Ninth Ancient Stele we had rightfully claimed!"


    Halfway through his accusation, the youth realized he was speaking to a top-tier Heavenly Sacred late-stage existence and hurriedly quieted down.


    But Elder Minghua instantly understood the situation.


    Elder Minghua¡¯s expression also turned sour in an instant.


    Had it been earlier, he might have scolded the martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent, partly out of consideration for Palace Master Yuan Li from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Of course, his reprimand wouldn¡¯t have been too severe, and there was no way they would have given back the Ninth Ancient Stele.


    But now, Ye Chen was standing right beside Elder Minghua.


    When he saw Ye Chen frown upon hearing about the dispute between the two parties, Elder Minghua¡¯s heart skipped a beat!


    Others might see Ye Chen as a talented young martial artist, but he knew just how formidable Ye Chen was!


    Not only had this young man saved his life, he also possessed the techniques of a True God, and had the backing of a fearsome Void Sky True God!


    Even now, he had a formidable Bing Shiyi within his Spatial Treasure!


    The reason why Elder Minghua had been so courteous to Ye Chen all along, even showing a trace of reverence amidst a crowd of martial artists upon their arrival at the Five Elements Divine Temple, was not only because Ye Chen had saved his life. Another reason was the dread Ye Chen¡¯s true strength inspired in him.


    At this moment, if he truly upset Ye Chen, the relationship he had built with Ye Chen during this journey would go to waste!


    With this in mind, how could Elder Minghua remain calm? With his face darkening, his eyes swiftly turned toward the group of martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent under the Ninth Ancient Stele, and his furious voice directly reached the ears of the Purple Dawn Continent martial artists: "You actually snatched the Ninth Ancient Stele directly from the martial artists of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and even drove them away?!"


    Elder Minghua, without inquiring about the cause of the incident or whether the side of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was exaggerating, directly scolded the martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent.


    The implication of this was not lost on the martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent and the others under the eighteen ancient steles.


    It was clear that Elder Minghua had no intention of backing the Purple Dawn Continent but was instead holding the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent accountable!


    Choosing not to support his own continent, but instead holding the other continent responsible¡ªno one believed that Elder Minghua was simply being generous. They all suspected there was only one possible reason: it was because of Ye Chen, the young martial artist from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent who had come with Elder Minghua!


    With that thought, the martial artists from the other continents carefully studied Ye Chen, curious to see what was so remarkable about this young man that could make a top-tier Heavenly Sacred late-stage expert pay him such attention and show such deference!


    As for many of the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, they felt a warm surge in their eyes, as the stifled resentment in their hearts seemed ready to burst forth!


    They had been incensed when the best Ninth Ancient Stele had been snatched away by the martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent.


    And with the arrival of the Skyscraper Palace Master, they were even more disheartened that he had not been able to take a stand for them!


    Now, they had never imagined that a talented young martial artist from their continent could make the most powerful figure of the opposing side personally handle the matter and speak up for them!


    The thought that they might punish the domineering martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent, even if they couldn¡¯t retrieve the Ninth Ancient Stele for enlightenment, made them want to shout out in exhilaration just for the sake of venting!


    With eyes fixed on the group from the Purple Dawn Continent beneath the Ninth Ancient Stele, the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were filled with anticipation.


    But the martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent who were directly scolded by Elder Minghua were utterly petrified.


    Elder Minghua.


    He was the foremost figure of the Purple Dawn Continent, a legendary existence!


    Who among the martial artists of the Purple Dawn Continent could bear his wrath?


    At that moment, the five Heavenly Sacred late-stage strong martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent immediately flew before Elder Minghua. Among them, two who were disciples of Elder Minghua immediately knelt before him: "Master, please calm your anger, we were not aware of these matters!"


    "We will investigate and clarify this matter immediately!"


    Those two Heavenly Sacred hastily questioned the martial artists that first came to the Ninth Ancient Stele from the Purple Dawn Continent: "Who caused the dispute with the Barbaric Wilderness Continent?"


    Trembling, over twenty people from the Purple Dawn Continent stood up.


    Explore more at empire


    Their legs shaking, they could never have imagined that a conflict over the Ninth Ancient Stele with the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would provoke Elder Minghua¡¯s ire and escalate to this extent.


    They could hardly believe what their fate would be if Elder Minghua truly decided to discipline them.


    At this time, Ye Chen, having made sense of the entire situation, finally took a deep breath and spoke calmly, "Forget it, Minghua, let¡¯s leave the matter at that. However, the Ninth Ancient Stele must be returned to our people from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    This was the first time Ye Chen directly addressed Elder Minghua as "Minghua."


    No longer calling him Elder Minghua as a senior!


    Ye Chen had realized that the Purple Dawn Continent had clashed with the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and dared to snatch away their stele simply because the overall strength of the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was inferior to theirs.


    Looked down upon because they were weaker?


    If that was the case, then I, Ye Chen, will stand for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!

 Chapter 441 - 400: Hitting the Mid-Stage of Rotary Elixir

    "The Ninth Ancient Stele must be returned to the people of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent,"


    Ye Chen¡¯s slowly uttered words resounded throughout the venue, making all the warriors around the eighteen ancient steles in the Five Elements Divine Temple tremble.


    Everyone heard that Ye Chen was directly asking Elder Minghua for the Ninth Ancient Stele!


    Although previously Elder Minghua had been extremely polite to the youth Ye Chen and might even do him the favor of directly returning the Ninth Ancient Stele to the warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent,


    but there is a stark difference between the Purple Dawn Continent returning the Ninth Ancient Stele and the Barbaric Wilderness Continent demanding it.


    The implication in Ye Chen¡¯s words was clear¡ªhe intended to retrieve the Ninth Ancient Stele, regardless of whether the Purple Dawn Continent would return it or not!


    He was set on taking it back, not waiting to see if Elder Minghua felt like returning it!


    To dare to speak so directly in front of a late-stage Heavenly Saint, one of the peak powers, naturally caused a great stir among the other warriors.


    Moreover, they were shaken by the fact that Ye Chen, this young lad, was referring to Elder Minghua as simply "Minghua."


    He was but a young boy in the early stages of Core Rotation!


    And yet he dared to address a late-stage Heavenly Saint, a mighty being of an entire continent, as his equal.


    Clearly, he was treating himself as Elder Minghua¡¯s peer.


    This left the crowd of warriors incredibly astonished.


    Meanwhile, the warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent had tears welling up upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words.


    They had been unsure of Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts since he had remained silent, but who could have known that as soon as he spoke, he would be demanding the return of the Ninth Ancient Stele for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, with no care whether Elder Minghua agreed or not.


    Such a domineering stance, of course, swept away the perpetual gloom from the hearts of the Barbaric Wilderness warriors, leaving them feeling exultant!


    Even the earlier supportive intervention of Elder Minghua reprimanding the warriors of the Purple Dawn Continent hadn¡¯t brought them such satisfaction.


    Ye Chen was one of their own from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    When a person from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent spoke up, it had a completely different impact than when Elder Minghua from the Purple Dawn Continent did¡ªYe Chen was asserting their dignity!


    However, the warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent now looked worriedly towards Elder Minghua.


    They did not understand why Elder Minghua had treated Ye Chen with such courtesy, but as Elder Minghua was a late-stage Heavenly Saint power, they feared that Ye Chen¡¯s assertive demeanor may provoke his anger.


    What these Barbaric Wilderness warriors didn¡¯t expect was that Elder Minghua was far from angry ¨C he was inwardly smiling wryly.


    Elder Minghua did not expect that on matters related to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Ye Chen would show such sharpness for the first time in front of him, leaving him somewhat at a loss.


    However, as a hero who had witnessed countless changes, Elder Minghua¡¯s facial muscles twitched unnaturally for a moment after Ye Chen spoke and then he regained his composure.


    Elder Minghua cheerfully responded to Ye Chen, "As for returning it, there¡¯s no need for Minghua to say¡ªthe Ninth Ancient Stele naturally should be returned to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    "Originally, since Minghua mentioned settling the matter, I shouldn¡¯t punish those disciples who vied for the Ninth Ancient Stele, but they have indeed broken the rules. Let¡¯s penalize them by having them leave this place, so they don¡¯t need to comprehend the laws of the five grand cosmic voids here!"


    Hum!


    This statement from Elder Minghua immediately sparked a flurry of discussions beneath the eighteen ancient steles.


    Many had wanted to see if Elder Minghua, for the sake of the Purple Dawn Continent¡¯s face, would get furious and have a head-on confrontation with Ye Chen after the direct demand for the Ninth Ancient Stele.


    Unexpectedly, Elder Minghua agreed to Ye Chen¡¯s request and continued to treat him with utmost politeness,


    not only handing over the Ninth Ancient Stele to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent but also specifically punishing those Purple Dawn Continent disciples who fought for it.


    Under these circumstances, everyone understood that there must be a reason Elder Minghua had always been so courteous to the youth Ye Chen,


    and it was even possible that Elder Minghua truly feared Ye Chen.


    Otherwise, it would not be possible to disregard the dignity of a top expert from the Heavenly Saint!


    "It seems that this youth is quite extraordinary, or else Minghua would definitely not treat him this way." Below the Tenth Ancient Stele, a late-stage Heavenly Saint existence among the warriors of the Heavenly Vast Continent murmured in his heart.


    Below the Eighth Ancient Stele, the leading late-stage Heavenly Saint existence from the Crimson Source Continent also looked towards Ye Chen and muttered to himself, "I originally thought that without Yuan Li participating, the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would be much weaker among the thirty-three continents. However, I didn¡¯t expect the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to produce such an exceptional youth. It seems it¡¯s time to forge a good relationship with this youth."


    These peak figures and late-stage Heavenly Saint experts from various continents were all martial artists with exceptional insight, naturally able to infer the hidden meaning behind Elder Minghua¡¯s utmost courtesy towards Ye Chen.


    Eventually, when Ye Chen returned to sit at the base of the Ninth Ancient Stele with the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, many formidable warriors from the other ancient steles approached Ye Chen for a chat and invited him to comprehend the inscriptions on the steles they occupied.


    Even Elder Minghua transmitted a few messages to the warriors of the Purple Dawn Continent before continuing to discuss the matters of the eighteen ancient steles with Ye Chen by his side.


    Having reclaimed the Ninth Ancient Stele and seeing Elder Minghua¡¯s extreme politeness, the slight anger in Ye Chen¡¯s heart due to the oppression faced by the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent finally dissipated.


    He greeted the formidable warriors from the other ancient steles with a smile, didn¡¯t refuse their invitations, and indeed went to each of the great ancient steles to observe.


    Finally, Ye Chen settled back into his seated position below the Ninth Ancient Stele.


    The Ninth Ancient Stele had been reclaimed, and the disciples from the Purple Dawn Continent had been punished. Ye Chen, of course, would not dwell on this matter.


    The only lesson he took from this incident was that a true powerhouse must always strive to become stronger!


    If it hadn¡¯t been for his absolute power to slay ten Phantom Beasts and save Elder Minghua, making Elder Minghua recognize his might, a prominent figure like Elder Minghua from a continent wouldn¡¯t have been so polite to him.


    If he hadn¡¯t instilled fear into Minghua, there would be no talk of reclaiming the Ninth Ancient Stele for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Perhaps the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would still be forced to cultivate below the Fourteenth Ancient Stele!


    Only when one is powerful enough can they earn the respect of others, prevent others from bullying them, and turn their reverence into utmost politeness!


    "The strength that made Elder Minghua fear me is not my true strength. Neither the True God Talisman nor Bing Shiyi are my own."


    "Reliance on external power can only last so long. Only when one is truly strong can they always have absolute confidence."


    Ye Chen also thought of the life-threatening battles he had faced in the forbidden ancient lands.


    "The eighteen ancient steles, I have finally come to the base of the Eighteenth Ancient Stele in the Five Elements Divine Temple."


    "Right here, I will completely attempt to break through to the mid-stage or even late-stage of Spinning Dan, and take my strength to the next level!"


    With countless thoughts crowding his mind to the brim and the critical moment to break through to the mid-stage of Spinning Dan upon him, Ye Chen, who had already obtained numerous cultivation treasures, was now finally seated within the Five Elements Divine Temple and would not miss this most crucial time for cultivation.


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    He was not afraid of what others might think; he directly had Bing Shiba, Bing Shijiu, and Bing Shiyi emerge from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to stand guard below the Ninth Ancient Stele for the warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    After all, this was the Five Elements Divine Temple, and who knew who else might come. Ye Chen did not want his cultivation to be disturbed, nor did he wish for the disciples of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to be bullied again.


    When the three late-stage Heavenly Saint figures, Bing Shiba, Bing Shijiu, and Bing Shiyi flew out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, even though the three War Beasts assumed a size similar to that of Ye Chen, the earth-shattering aura they emitted still shocked all the warriors present to an unbelievable extent.


    Especially the aura of Bing Shiyi, which even surpassed that of Elder Minghua!


    It immediately caused all the late-stage Heavenly Saint experts present to tremble in awe.


    "Could it be because of this powerful War Beast that Minghua was so fearful of Ye Chen?" Experience exclusive tales on empire


    Many people pondered.


    But Ye Chen no longer cared about these people¡¯s thoughts. The pressing matter at hand was to focus on cultivation.


    He transmitted a few messages to the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Skyscraper Palace Master before sitting down below the Ninth Ancient Stele and deeply immersing himself in the breakthrough to the mid-stage of Spinning Dan.


    And the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, perhaps motivated by the incident involving the Ninth Ancient Stele, adjusted their mindsets after Ye Chen began his intense cultivation. They cast aside all distractions and quietly began to cultivate while seated below the Ninth Ancient Stele.


    And Bing Shiba, Bing Shijiu, and Bing Shiyi stood as guards beside Ye Chen, not moving a step as they protected his cultivation.

 Chapter 442 - 401: Laws Backpour

    Beneath the Ninth Ancient Stele.


    Ye Chen closed his eyes and entered into a true state of cultivation.


    Within his Qi Sea, the power of the five great Heavenly Void Laws that he had cultivated over a period of time was now furiously surging atop the three hundred and seventy-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills.


    In Ye Chen¡¯s mind, the insights into the five great Heavenly Void Laws observed from the eighteen ancient steles were occasionally flashing through his brain like lightning, while at other times, they would pause, bringing forth the characters and inscriptions of the steles.


    "The eighteen ancient steles¡ªthose martial artists had invited me, and I have observed them all."


    "The Ninth and Tenth Ancient Steles offer the most comprehensive explanations of the five great Heavenly Void Laws, yet the insights on the other steles also carry their weight in reason."


    Ye Chen was slowly organizing these insights into the five great Heavenly Void Laws.


    Amidst a multitude of insights, Ye Chen needed to find those that suited him, melding them with his own experiences rather than casually cultivating any particular method of insight.


    Otherwise, the loss would outweigh the gain.


    After all, what best suits oneself is the best there is!


    "The five great Heavenly Void Laws¡ªmetal, wood, water, fire, and earth¡ªare rumored to be the sources of the Five Elements of these thirty-three continents. All things from the thirty-three continents arise from the transformation of these Five Elements..."


    "To comprehend the five great Heavenly Void Laws, according to one insight on the Ninth Ancient Stele, there is a method that starts with separating and understanding each¡ªmetal, wood, water, fire, and earth..."


    "While on the Tenth Ancient Stele it is said that, in essence, the five great Heavenly Void sources have their distinctions but share commonalities, thus they can combine to form all things or separate into the Five Elements..."


    "Another theory on the Fourth Ancient Stele mentions how many are afraid of the mutual repulsion between the five great Heavenly Void Laws and thus focus on cultivating one Heavenly Void Law to Great Perfection first. Then they find it much more difficult to bring the other Heavenly Void Laws to Great Perfection later on..."


    Ye Chen also recalled what he witnessed in the Five Elements Divine Temple within the Second Mountain¡ªthe manifestation of the sources of the five great Heavenly Void Laws.


    He remembered the peculiar gases passed down from the Upper Realm¡¯s Minor Spirit Realm, transforming into the mysterious variations of the five great Heavenly Void Laws.


    Ultimately, all insights, thoughts, and understandings transformed into Ye Chen¡¯s Enlightenment.


    "If one intends to comprehend each of the five great Heavenly Void Laws to the level of Great Perfection, there is a very difficult path to take, yet it is the one that holds the most promise of mastering all five great Heavenly Void Laws to Great Perfection. This path involves comprehending and fusing each law from Minor Accomplishment to Great Accomplishment to Great Perfection, one phase at a time. Only after thoroughly integrating and permeating each phase would one proceed to the next phase of law comprehension."


    "To achieve Minor Accomplishment, one must comprehend each of the five great Heavenly Void Laws to that level simultaneously! They must also be capable of fusing and utilizing them together before attempting to charge towards Great Accomplishment."


    "For Great Accomplishment, all must be comprehended to that level, for without each achieving Great Accomplishment, it is absolutely impossible to aim for Great Perfection."


    "Finally, when the metal, wood, water, fire, and earth¡ª all five great Heavenly Void Laws¡ªare comprehended to Great Accomplishment and can be fused in application, that is when they will collectively charge towards Great Perfection of all the five great Heavenly Void Laws!"


    "Although this approach is much slower and more difficult than immediately comprehending a single Heavenly Void Law to Great Perfection, advancing all five great Heavenly Void Laws together allows for a deeper understanding of all laws, preventing the scenario where one law is strong and another is weak."


    "Even though this method is extremely difficult¡ªso much so that few on the thirty-three continents can accomplish it, and many who cultivate to Void Sky True God status hadn¡¯t achieved it in the Heavenly Saint Realm¡ªI must cultivate this way!"


    Of course, Ye Chen would not rush to cultivate a single Heavenly Void Law to Great Perfection and directly enter the Heavenly Saint Realm, before supplementing the other Heavenly Void Laws.


    He had heard from many powerful late-stage Heavenly Saints in the Forbidden Ancient Lands that such an approach made it more difficult to comprehend the other Heavenly Void Laws.


    Moreover, simultaneously cultivating the five great Heavenly Void Laws to Great Perfection was a boon for a Void Sky True God facing the Nine Tribulations later on. Despite the difficulty of cultivation, Ye Chen would not give up this path.


    The way is hard, but laying a solid foundation is stronger than blindly aiming high in one¡¯s realm!


    Ye Chen wanted to lay the most solid foundation possible while in the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Now with combat abilities at the level of Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen was certainly not in a hurry to break through to the Heavenly Saint Realm and delay his simultaneous cultivation of the five great Heavenly Void Laws.


    "Besides, I practice the Five Great Divine Arts, which naturally give me a better sensitivity to the five great Heavenly Void Laws than others. Additionally, the ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruit¡¯ I¡¯ve recently obtained possesses marvelous uses for harmonizing the five great Heavenly Void Laws, aiding me in balancing the progress of all five laws."


    "Thus, that most difficult and also most powerful path of comprehending the five great Heavenly Void Laws¡ªI should be all the more committed to this journey!"


    Having determined the path he wished to take, Ye Chen immediately began comprehending the five great Heavenly Void Laws¡ªmetal, wood, water, fire, and earth¡ªall at the same time.


    Upon entering the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, Ye Chen¡¯s five great Heavenly Void Laws were at a basic level, and only by raising the basic level to Minor Accomplishment could he enter the middle stage of the Rotating Pill Realm. To step into the latter stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, he had to break through from Minor Accomplishment to Great Accomplishment. Finally, by breaking through from Great Accomplishment to Great Perfection, one could achieve the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Many focused solely on cultivating one or two of the five great Heavenly Void Laws to Great Accomplishment before directly charging towards Great Perfection and stepping into the Heavenly Saint Realm.


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    But Ye Chen intended to advance the five great Heavenly Void Laws evenly, collectively pushing towards Great Perfection.


    His first step into the middle stage of the Rotating Pill Realm involved simultaneously cultivating all five great Heavenly Void Laws to Minor Accomplishment.


    This concept might sound simple, but the cultivation process is indeed the most difficult of all in the Rotating Pill Realm.


    After all, where many cultivate just one, Ye Chen was to cultivate five at the same time!


    Yet, Ye Chen showed not a hint of timidity.


    As he mentally comprehended those five great Heavenly Void Laws, all five Great Divine Arts emerged atop his three hundred and seventy-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills, confirming his thoughts.


    At the same time, Ye Chen consumed three Void Sky Quintessence Fruits that he¡¯d obtained from the Forbidden Ancient Lands, allowing the power of these fruits to enter his Qi Sea and ultimately harmonize with the power of his Rotating Pill laws.


    The rate at which such comprehension occurred was extremely slow, and Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged under the Ninth Ancient Stele, remained motionless even after more than a dozen days had passed.


    However, what no one knew was that within Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, the power of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws had begun to undergo a subtle and strange transformation!


    "The Five Great Heavenly Void Laws, at their foundation, are simply the direct use of the elements of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth."


    "Only after pondering these Ancient Stele Inscriptions did I realize that the powers of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth have many levels! For instance, when comprehending the power of fire at the basic level, it is merely destructive burning power, but to reach the Minor Accomplishment level of comprehension, even for burning, one must grasp a deeper layer and understand every flicker of flame with greater depth."


    "Destructive burning power is not only capable of killing, but with a deeper understanding of these forces, it can even make burning capable of saving lives. Flames used to save people? Yes, the fire element law at the Minor Accomplishment level can indeed achieve this!"


    As Ye Chen continued his contemplation, it was as if he saw a great swath of flames striking a martial artist whose energy meridians were blocked, directly burning through those meridians, allowing Heaven and Earth True Qi to flow straight into the martial artist¡¯s meridians.


    This level of control over the Fire Element Law represented a further advancement!


    As one¡¯s grasp of the Fire Element Law deepened, not to mention saving lives, killing would become even more formidable!


    The scene of contemplation in his mind changed, and the endless flames transformed into countless sparks, each with its own unique way of burning and killing!


    Ye Chen¡¯s contemplation wasn¡¯t limited to just the Fire Element Law; he was furiously pondering the laws of metal, wood, water, and earth as well.


    Having utilized the Five Great Divine Arts, he had already fought many people, used the powers of the Five Great Divine Arts and the elemental laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth countless times, even against beings as powerful as those in the Heavenly Saint Realm and opponents like the Three-Eyed Skeletons of the Void Sky True God Realm.


    Ye Chen had already gained a profound mastery over these powers, having reached the stage where a quantitative change could lead to a qualitative transformation, and was but a hair¡¯s breadth away from another metamorphosis of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws¡¯ powers.


    After exactly twenty-one days of sitting cross-legged under the Ninth Ancient Stele, on that day, Ye Chen had yet to open his eyes, but the area of the Five Elements Divine Temple where he was seated had begun to change.


    The greatest change was that within the Five Elements Divine Temple, awe-inspiring clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws began to emerge, wildly converging at the temple¡¯s peak.


    "Clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws appearing, this indicates that someone is about to break through!"


    As the clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws began to gather above the Five Elements Divine Temple, many martial artists seated at the feet of the eighteen ancient steles, not currently in the state of cultivation, noticed the anomaly.


    Seeing the light from all five types of Heavenly Void Laws¡ªthose of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth¡ªcontained within the wildly converging clouds above the Five Elements Divine Temple, these martial artists were even more astonished.


    "How can there be a convergence of all five Heavenly Void Laws at once? Could it be that someone¡¯s breakthrough propelled all five Heavenly Void Laws to the next level simultaneously?"


    What surprised the martial artists the most was the duration over which these clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws were gathering.


    The reason why countless strong individuals came to comprehend the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws at the Five Elements Divine Temple, leaving behind their insights on the eighteen ancient steles, was because of the rich concentration of these laws, all hidden within the area of the Five Elements Divine Temple!


    Once a breakthrough occurred, one could directly harness the power of these Heavenly Void Laws from this place and infuse it into one¡¯s body.


    Typically, advancing from the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm to the mid-stage, it would take half an hour for the clouds required for breakthrough to gather at the temple¡¯s peak.


    Breaking through from the mid-stage to the later stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, the clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws needed would take three hours to accumulate enough.


    To break through from the later stage of the Rotating Pill Realm to the Heavenly Saint Realm, the largest amount of clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws ever needed would gather in just one day¡¯s time.


    Even for Heavenly Saint Realm warriors who needed to make up for the Heavenly Void Laws they had not cultivated to Great Perfection, typically it would only take one day to gather the breakthrough clouds.


    However, when these martial artists observed the clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws beginning to converge above the Five Elements Divine Temple, they found that these clouds took a whole three days to gather and still weren¡¯t finished!


    The entire area of the Five Elements Divine Temple, spanning tens of thousands of zhang, was now enveloped by thousands of zhang shrouded in these clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws!


    Such an extraordinary scene naturally astonished the martial artists cultivating under the eighteen ancient steles!


    "The power of all five Heavenly Void Laws coming together is something I¡¯ve never witnessed, nor have I ever seen someone breaking through all five Great Heavenly Void Laws at the same time!"


    "I¡¯ve never encountered a situation where it takes three days to gather the clouds needed for a breakthrough!"


    "Who is it that¡¯s breaking through with such an impressive display? If all these clouds of laws are infused into the body, how many times stronger would his Five Great Heavenly Void Laws¡¯ powers become?!"


    As the martial artists marveled, it took four and a half days for the clouds of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws to completely gather above the Five Elements Divine Temple.


    At this point, everyone turned their attention to the terrifyingly vast cloud, which had reached a staggering eight thousand zhang in diameter.


    They all wanted to see where this tremendous cloud would drift and who was breaking through, causing these clouds to gather.


    At that moment, at the center of the vast cloud, it began to slowly move.


    It moved from the eighteenth ancient stele, to the seventeenth, then to the sixteenth...


    Finally, the central point of the tremendous eight thousand zhang cloud stopped right above the Ninth Ancient Stele!


    It halted over the space above Ye Chen¡¯s head!


    "It¡¯s Ye Chen!"


    "It¡¯s that young man who made even the esteemed Ancestor Minghua act so courteously, is he about to break through?!"


    Just as all the martial artists realized that Ye Chen was the one behind the formidable gathering of clouds, the clouds in the sky directly formed a funnel shape, with the tip of the funnel carrying the massive quantity of clouds down towards the top of Ye Chen¡¯s head as he sat cross-legged directly below the Ninth Ancient Stele.

 Chapter 443 - 402 Anomaly of the Treasure Cave Key

    At the moment the tip of the law essence clouds touched the space above Ye Chen¡¯s head, he, who was seated in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes.


    With a pinch of his hand, a Rotating Pill instantly emerged from the sea of qi within him, appearing above his head.


    This Rotating Pill was none other than the Five Apertures Rotating Pill that Ye Chen had cultivated when he first stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm!


    As soon as the Five Apertures Rotating Pill appeared above his head, the vast amount of law essence clouds, as if finding an outlet, crazily poured into the Five Apertures Rotating Pill.


    Once the law essence clouds poured into the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, the five Divine Pill Law Patterns on it began to ripple in circles, and as time passed, even the Five Apertures Rotating Pill itself began to swell and expand.


    However, looking into Ye Chen¡¯s sea of qi, one would be shocked to find.


    Inside Ye Chen¡¯s sea of qi, there were another three hundred and seventy-one Five Apertures Rotating Pills, which flew into the void of the sea of qi. Like the Rotating Pill above Ye Chen¡¯s head, they too had the Divine Pill Law Patterns rippling with light, and the pills themselves were also swelling and expanding!


    These three hundred and seventy-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills of Ye Chen were all identical Rotating Pills cultivated by practicing the "Taiyuan Divine Pill."


    They were undergoing identical transformations even as he was breaking through his realm!


    Seeing the vast law essence clouds pouring into the Five Apertures Rotating Pill above Ye Chen¡¯s head, many martial artists meditating beneath the eighteen ancient steles couldn¡¯t help but gather around Ye Chen.


    The sight of such a celestial breakthrough shocked these martial artists.


    They could not have imagined that the breakthrough of a junior martial artist in the early stages of the Rotating Pill Realm could attract such a massive scale of Five Great Heavens law essence clouds!


    If not for Bing Shiyi, Bing Shiba, and Bing Shijiu blocking, this kind of phenomenon might even shock the martial artists enough to directly disturb Ye Chen, who was in the middle of his breakthrough!


    Thankfully, there were three Icebound Guardians upholding the law.


    During Ye Chen¡¯s breakthrough, the three Icebound Guardians had already prevented anyone from approaching within a five-yard radius of Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    All the startled martial artists stood beyond the five-yard radius of Ye Chen¡¯s body, watching his incredible breakthrough unfold!


    Pouring in.


    The vast Five Great Heavens breakthrough clouds poured into Ye Chen¡¯s Five Apertures Rotating Pill.


    Transformation!


    The one Rotating Pill above Ye Chen¡¯s head, along with the three hundred and seventy-one inside him, and even the five Divine Pill Law Patterns on them, were all undergoing transformation.


    This state lasted for a full two days!


    After practicing for more than twenty-seven days under the ninth ancient stele, the vast law essence clouds that spanned eight thousand zhang in radius had finally all been absorbed into Ye Chen¡¯s Rotating Pill!


    The moment all the law essence clouds were completely absorbed, the Five Apertures Rotating Pill above Ye Chen¡¯s head, which had expanded to twice its original size, flashed rapidly three times before once again thunderously flying back into Ye Chen¡¯s sea of qi.


    Law essence absorbed! Rotating Pill triple flash!


    This was unmistakably the sign of advancing to the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    Mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Since breaking through to the Rotating Pill Realm at the sword-fighting conference in Immeasurable Mountain, after countless days of cultivation, and even with the accumulation of three years¡¯ worth of time in the sub-temple of the Icebound Temple, Ye Chen had finally stepped firmly into the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm at the Third Mountain of the Five Elements Mountain!


    ...


    Five days later.


    A figure was crossing the Void Rift between the Third and Fourth Mountain, heading deeper into the Fourth Mountain.


    This figure was none other than Ye Chen, who had just broken through to the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm five days ago!


    In flight, Ye Chen looked into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant that housed the narrow iron box containing the "Treasure Cave Key" and sighed.


    "Originally, I was still considering whether to go to the Divine Heritage Cave in the Fourth and Fifth Mountains. Now, I have no choice but to go."


    Five days ago, when Ye Chen broke through to the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, a tremendous disturbance shook the ground beneath the eighteen Ancient Steles as he emerged from his breakthrough state.


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    Countless martial artists, including the Skyscraper Palace Master, Elder Minghua, and the leading late-stage Heavenly Saint of the Jiumang Continent, all flocked to congratulate Ye Chen on his successful breakthrough and inquired how he could absorb such an immense amount of Void Laws.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not reveal the matter of the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" he had been cultivating. He merely stated that his breakthrough was related to the cultivation method and divine techniques he practiced.


    When it came to divine techniques, the powerful beings nodded in shock and understanding.


    Afterward, Ye Chen continued to meditate under the ninth Ancient Stele. According to his plan, although he had cultivated to the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, it was far from sufficient. He, of course, wanted to seize the rare opportunity to comprehend at the Five Elements Divine Temple and advance towards the late-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    To advance from the mid-stage to the late-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, one has to elevate the comprehension of the five major Void Laws from minor to major accomplishment.


    This process was naturally more difficult and time-consuming than breaking through from the early to the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    In the past few days, Ye Chen had been smoothly absorbing and comprehending, but on the third day after his breakthrough to the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, he suddenly felt a sense of restlessness in his mind and spirit.


    No matter how he tried to meditate and comprehend, he could not attain any realization!


    This restlessness made it impossible for Ye Chen to continue his cultivation.


    And the source of this condition was undoubtedly related to the "Treasure Cave Key" that Ye Chen kept inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant!


    Ye Chen discovered that his restlessness coincided with the inexplicable trembling of the "Treasure Cave Key" encased in the long and narrow iron box.


    When Ye Chen submerged his divine consciousness into the mysterious divine pattern carved on the "Treasure Cave Key," he suddenly discovered the reason for the key¡¯s trembling¡ªit was the fabled "Divine Heritage Cave," rumored to hold countless divine artifacts and wondrous treasures, opening once every hundred years, had finally opened again!


    Ye Chen had not expected that the opening of the "Divine Heritage Cave" would cause such a commotion by the "Treasure Cave Key," let alone disrupt his cultivation so significantly.


    Even though it might be sensible to discard the Treasure Cave Key and continue cultivating, Ye Chen found it hard to let go.


    Ultimately, after pondering for a while, Ye Chen made a decision¡ªto take a look at the "Divine Heritage Cave".


    With his recent successful breakthrough, along with nine Icebound Guardians and two True God Talismans in his possession, and having obtained the defensive divine artifact, the "Purple Mist True Garment" from Ao Lei, Ye Chen had some confidence in venturing into the Divine Heritage Vault.


    After informing the Skyscraper Palace Master that he had matters to attend to and exchanging a few words with the other powerful beings, Ye Chen led the nine Icebound Guardians away from the "Five Elements Divine Temple" of the Third Mountain, following the guidance of the "Treasure Cave Key," and headed towards the "Divine Heritage Cave" located between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains.


    ...


    As Ye Chen flew across the Void Rift between the Third and Fourth Mountains, heading deeper into the Fourth Mountain,


    At a certain location on the summit of the Fourth Mountain, Jin Lieyang, the Holy Son of the Xuanjin Continent, stood alone at the mountain peak.


    The two other Holy Sons who had been following Jin Lieyang were nowhere to be seen and were not by his side.


    Atop the mountain summit, Jin Lieyang gazed in the direction of the Void Rift between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains, while touching a long, narrow iron box on his body.


    The item within this iron box turned out to also be a "Treasure Cave Key"!


    "The day for the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ to open has finally arrived. In a few more days, it will be time to formally venture into the vault," he mused.


    "After thirty-three cycles, this time, after three thousand three hundred years, the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯ has eventually rotated to the moment when the deepest ¡¯Ice-Fire Divine Vault¡¯ opens!"


    "I must not miss this opportunity!"


    As Jin Lieyang thought to himself, his eyes shone with an uncontrollable excitement and an inexplicable longing!


    As Jin Lieyang¡¯s eyes sparkled with anticipation, two sinister voices suddenly emerged: "Lieyang, is that thing you mentioned truly inside this Divine Heritage Cave?"


    "We¡¯ve expended much effort descending to this realm and fully recovering. If there are no significant gains, it could delay our battle with the Beiming Clan¡¯s Qingyuan True God!"


    Hearing these two voices, Jin Lieyang¡¯s eyes flashed with a flicker of light, and he said respectfully towards the source of the voices, "Elders, the information I got is from a secret text of the sacred land in my clan; it surely won¡¯t be wrong. That item is definitely inside, but over the years, no one has been able to obtain it. We will need the elders¡¯ divine might when the time comes."


    Encouraged by Jin Lieyang¡¯s confident tone, the two voices also became somewhat excited: "No problem. This time, the two of us have even brought a divine item from our clan. As long as that thing truly exists, we are certain we can get our hands on it!"

 Chapter 444 - 403: Divine Transmission Hall

    ```


    As Jin Lieyang conversed with those two strange voices, several figures were also flying towards the "Divine Heritage Cave" located between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains within the Void Rift.


    One of these figures was a young girl dressed in a snow-white vestment robe.


    Her waterfall-like hair cascaded down to her waist, and despite her young age, her chest was notably full and lifted the front of her vestment robe. What set the girl apart was the mysterious faint flame mark on her pure yet enchanting face, right between her eyebrows.


    This girl was none other than Huo Mei¡¯er, the Little Saintess from the Leaving Fire Continent, whom Ye Chen had not seen since entering the Five Elements Mountain.


    Huo Mei¡¯er had also started her journey from within the Fourth Mountain.


    And her destination was strikingly the same as the Divine Heritage Cave!


    In the midst of her flight, her fair fingers occasionally brushed against a snow-white belt at her waist, and her eyes carried an indescribable meaning.


    Another figure, recognizably familiar to Ye Chen, would certainly catch his attention.


    This figure appeared to be a True Saint mid-stage youth, but housed within this body was an incredibly powerful Void Sky True God!


    This was the Three-Eyed Skeleton that had killed more than seventy warriors in the restricted ancient land, later using the Soul Transformation secret method to take over the corpse of the aforementioned youth and also abscond with the corpses of two other late-stage True Saints.


    The "mid-stage True Saint youth" possessed by the Three-Eyed Skeleton muttered to himself as he flew towards the "Divine Heritage Cave": "This time, the beast that betrayed me in the past will surely come."


    "Dreaming of snatching the treasures hidden deep within the cave? Heh, keep dreaming!"


    After murmuring to himself, the "True Saint mid-stage youth" narrowed his eyes, and his speed increased dramatically. In just a few days, he had already reached the edge of the Void Rift that bordered the Fourth and Fifth Mountains!


    ...


    After four days of flight, Ye Chen finally caught sight of the end of the Fourth Mountain and the faint outline of the more distant Fifth Mountain.


    "Who would have thought? The Fourth Mountain, rumored to be far more dangerous than the Third, offered no dangers as I ventured through. I have actually passed through it without any trouble."


    "It took only four days to fly across the terrain of the Fourth Mountain."


    "Could it be because of the opening of the ¡¯Divine Heritage Cave¡¯?"


    As Ye Chen flew towards the Divine Heritage Cave, which he would soon reach, he reflected aloud.


    Upon entering the Fourth Mountain, Ye Chen had prepared himself for battles with powerful mystical creatures, yet to his surprise, he had not encountered even one.


    "Considering the time, there isn¡¯t much left of the three-month exploration period in the Five Elements Mountain, only twenty days remain."


    "According to the divine memories of Ao Lei, the Divine Heritage Cave opens once every cycle, allowing fifteen days for those inside to search for treasures. It seems this cave¡¯s opening is linked to the entire exploration period of the Five Elements Mountain; it couldn¡¯t be a coincidence that it opens just as the exploration is nearing its end, while also leaving five days for people to leave."


    "Such a grand arrangement for the exploration of the Five Elements Mountain, and with the Fifth Mountain rumored to be insurmountable even for Four Tribulations True Gods, the Fourth Mountain hides a Treasure Cave filled with inheritances of Divine Arts, Divine Artifacts, Divine Fruits, Divine Liquid, and countless treasures."


    "One has to wonder, who placed this Treasure Cave within the Five Elements Mountain, and who constructed the Five Elements Mountain itself? Only a true powerhouse could accomplish such a feat."


    As Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts raced, about half an hour more of flying finally brought him to the edge of the Fourth Mountain. He then laid eyes on the legendary Divine Heritage Cave!


    From the outside, the Divine Heritage Cave appeared as an ancient temple of square shape, perched atop the ceaseless void currents between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains within the Void Rift.


    The chaotic void currents, so similar to those around the further Fifth Mountain, gave Ye Chen the impression that anyone who fell into them would be killed, even a Four Tribulations True God!


    The ancient temple atop the chaotic void currents, just three hundred zhang in length, width, and height, seemed to contain a vast world within¡ªa peculiar space surely created by the manipulation of Space Law.


    Dark black in color, the surface of the Divine Heritage Cave was etched with countless enigmatic patterns, including totems of demons and ancient trees, formation arrays dizzying at a glance, and mysterious pits that flashed from time to time.


    Hanging in the bottomless rift between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains, with the endless void currents raging a hundred zhang above, the Divine Heritage Cave looked mystical and bizarre.


    Currently, a Light Gate had emerged outside the Divine Heritage Cave.


    If not for a light bridge extending from the edge of the Fourth Mountain directly to the already open gate of the Divine Heritage Cave amidst the terrifying destructive power of the below void currents, there would likely not be many daring to enter the cave!


    Ye Chen, standing on this side of the light bridge, did not rush into the cave just yet.


    His gaze turned towards a towering stone tablet beside the cave that stood over eight hundred zhang tall.


    Ye Chen remembered well that during the grand auction at the Sand Sea Palace, where the "Treasure Cave Key" was the finale, the deputy head of the Xuanji Pavilion had mentioned that since the Divine Heritage Cave relocated between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains, a stone tablet explaining the situation of the cave had surfaced next to it. Explore more at empire


    ```


    Before entering the Divine Heritage Cave, Ye Chen naturally wanted to read the characters engraved on the stele.


    After carefully reading the script on the stele and thinking it over, Ye Chen nodded.


    "Just as the Vice Hall Master of Destiny had said at the grand auction, after the location of the Divine Heritage Cave shifted, entering it became even more dangerous, with a ninety percent chance of perishing during the treasure hunt."


    "Moreover, the stele says that the entire Treasure Cave has three passages of life and death, each fraught with extremely dangerous challenges. The further one advances, the greater the peril."


    "Of course, after each passage of life and death, there lies a treasure ground. Surviving one set of challenges grants access to the next trove where one can search for treasures. The latter the challenges, the more precious the treasures they guard."


    "The entire treasure hunt lasts for fifteen days. If one lacks confidence in overcoming the perilous life and death challenges, they should remain in the safe realms. After fifteen days, they will be transported out."


    After reviewing the characters on the stele once again, Ye Chen stood by the edge of the Fourth Mountain, lost in silent contemplation for a long time, before his figure shifted, flying directly onto the light bridge.


    Upon setting foot on the light bridge, Ye Chen felt as if it contained a prohibition against flying, forcing him to move step by step towards the Divine Heritage Cave a thousand feet away.


    As he walked, the sight of the unfathomably deep Void Rift below the light bridge, with its chaotic streams of void energy wildly surging, was enough to make anyone¡¯s heart throb with apprehension.


    Fortunately, the bridge was indeed marvelous, as the chaotic void streams had no effect on those walking above. After a short while, Ye Chen safely arrived at the Light Gate of the Divine Heritage Cave.


    Taking in a deep breath, Ye Chen stepped forward and entered the Light Gate.


    Upon entering the gate, Ye Chen felt instantly transported to an enormously vast hall that indeed harbored the Space Law. It was even larger than the entire Divine Heritage Cave seen from the outside, measuring over a thousand feet high and three thousand feet in length and width.


    Above the great hall hung a plaque that bore the bold, sweeping characters of "Divine Transmission Hall"!


    Those three characters undoubtedly concealed an incredibly powerful Space Law, and Ye Chen, with a single glance, almost lost his soul in their mysterious spatial depths!


    Had it not been for the cooling sensation from the ice jade pendant jolting Ye Chen to his senses, he might have sustained spiritual injuries from just that brief glimpse.


    "Eh? To awaken from the ¡¯Divine Transmission Hall¡¯s illusory space so quickly, this young man who has come in the mid-phase of Soul Transformation is quite capable!"


    Just as Ye Chen regained his senses, he heard a soft chuckle directed at him.


    Turning towards the source of the light laughter, Ye Chen saw an elder with white brows, in the later phase of Heavenly Saint, curiously looking at him.


    This white-browed elder was seated within a circle of light.


    Ye Chen also noticed that next to the elder, there were seventeen other light circles, and already six individuals were seated within them.


    There were a total of eighteen light circles, each nine feet apart from the others, and along with the white-browed elder, seven people occupied the central ones.


    Clearly, these individuals had arrived at the "Divine Heritage Cave" before Ye Chen.


    The Divine Heritage Cave opened once every hundred years, and only five Treasure Cave Keys were released at a time. How come so many people were here now?


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    But in an instant, Ye Chen realized that, just like the Treasure Cave Key he held, which had been left unused by someone who had obtained it in the past, there must be others here who had acquired keys from previous releases and were now using them.


    Upon seeing the faces of the few who had arrived before him, Ye Chen was even more startled.


    Among them, three were people he recognized!


    One of them, a charming and lovely girl, turned out to be Huo Mei¡¯er from the Leaving Fire Continent!


    Two light circles away from Huo Mei¡¯er was none other than Saint Jin Lieyang from the Xuanjin Continent!


    What shocked Ye Chen the most, however, was seeing the young man in the mid-phase of Heavenly Saint who had been possessed by the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s Soul Transformation. Although Ye Chen had seen the Three-Eyed Skeleton procuring the Treasure Cave Key in the forbidden ancient land, encountering this existence, akin to the level of the Void Sky True God who had once battled him and then ceased hostilities upon witnessing Ye Chen¡¯s "Beiming Secret Tome Great Five Elements Sword Light", still left him profoundly shaken.


    At this moment, Jin Lieyang, seeing Ye Chen¡¯s arrival, was as curious as the white-browed elder about how quickly Ye Chen had awoken from the illusionary space of the "Divine Transmission Hall" and was scrutinizing him.


    The young man possessed by the Three-Eyed Skeleton, on the other hand, was utterly taken aback upon seeing Ye Chen.


    He had not anticipated that the only youth who had survived in the forbidden ancient land would also appear within this Divine Heritage Cave!


    Among the three, when Huo Mei¡¯er saw Ye Chen, she blurted out in surprise, "Ye Chen, how did you come to the Divine Heritage Cave as well?!"

 Chapter 445 - 404: Bloody Flash Kill

    Huo Mei¡¯er could never have imagined that Ye Chen would also appear inside the Divine Heritage Cave.


    Ye Chen smiled at Huo Mei¡¯er and telepathically said, "I also stumbled upon a ¡¯Treasure Cave Key¡¯ by chance and thought I¡¯d come take a look."


    After telepathically communicating with Huo Mei¡¯er, Ye Chen, like the seven others who had arrived before him, found a light circle towards the middle among the eighteen and sat down.


    As for Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s surprise, Ye Chen didn¡¯t see fit to explain much.


    After all, the Treasure Cave Key he possessed was obtained after he killed Ao Lei, and naturally, he couldn¡¯t disclose this matter.


    Huo Mei¡¯er looked at Ye Chen as he sat down in a meditative posture, her beautiful eyes occasionally glancing over at him. It seemed as if she had something to say, but after looking at Jin Lieyang, she fell silent again. Find adventures on empire


    In the end, after holding back a few times, Huo Mei¡¯er couldn¡¯t help but telepathically communicate with Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, this time the treasure hunt in the Divine Heritage Cave is unlike any before, marking the most unique one in thousands of years. Intense disputes are very likely to occur, and the danger is much greater, so if you¡¯re not completely confident, don¡¯t venture too deeply."


    Ye Chen was quite surprised by Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s words.


    The most unique one in thousands of years? Different from the usual treasure hunts?


    Ye Chen looked at Huo Mei¡¯er, only to see the young girl practicing with her eyes closed and paying no further heed to him, as if she had never sent any telepathic messages.


    When Ye Chen telepathically communicated with her again, Huo Mei¡¯er just smiled and was no longer willing to elaborate.


    Ye Chen pondered the meaning behind Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s words when another divine telepathic message entered his mind: "Young lad, I didn¡¯t expect you to have a Treasure Cave Key and make it to the Divine Heritage Cave!"


    This voice belonged to the Three-Eyed Skeleton-possessed mid-stage Heavenly Saint young man, who was telepathically speaking to Ye Chen.


    "Young lad, let me remind you that this time the Divine Heritage Cave is different from the past. Don¡¯t be careless, for even a moment¡¯s inattention, and even if you have a True God Talisman, you may still fall!"


    The words from the Three-Eyed Skeleton that followed gave Ye Chen a chill in his heart.


    One warning from Huo Mei¡¯er about the unusual nature and high danger of this Divine Heritage Cave had already made him take heed. Now, the Three-Eyed Skeleton also started to warn him about the dangers of this Divine Heritage Cave.


    This, of course, made Ye Chen take the situation very seriously, aware that there must be something particularly different about this Divine Heritage Cave!


    Ye Chen even hesitated for a moment - was it really wise to persevere and venture into the Divine Heritage Cave?


    After all, judging by the demeanor of both Huo Mei¡¯er and the Three-Eyed Skeleton, they seemed to understand a lot more about this place than he did, while he knew very little in comparison.


    Of course, after a fleeting hesitation, Ye Chen did not leave.


    Having arrived at the Divine Heritage Cave, he wouldn¡¯t back out, discouraged by just a couple of warnings, without even making an attempt.


    Naturally, he became even more vigilant and cautious in his heart.


    When Ye Chen similarly asked the Three-Eyed Skeleton for elaboration, the Three-Eyed Skeleton just smiled and replied telepathically, "If you survive the third segment of the Path of Life and Death, we can talk about it then. For now, it¡¯s still too early to discuss those matters."


    After sending the message, the Three-Eyed Skeleton also fell silent.


    Regarding Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s advice, Ye Chen had felt since their betting duel that the girl had been kind to him, so he wasn¡¯t surprised by her warning.


    But the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s reminder was something he completely didn¡¯t expect.


    "It seems very likely that this Three-Eyed Skeleton has a significant connection with the Beiming Clan."


    "Because of the relationship with the Beiming Clan, he shows a bit of kindness toward me."


    "Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have stopped in the end within the Forbidden Ancient Land, and now he even went out of his way to warn me."


    Certainly, even as Ye Chen felt the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s goodwill, he remained extremely cautious around this inscrutable being.


    After sitting down, Ye Chen, while keeping an eye on both the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Huo Mei¡¯er, also looked at the others present.


    These were the people who would be hunting for treasures with him in the Divine Heritage Cave, and of course, he needed to be observant of them.


    Of the seven people who arrived before Ye Chen, he had already met Huo Mei¡¯er, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and Jin Lieyang. Among the remaining four, aside from the late-stage Heavenly Saint elderly man with white eyebrows whom Ye Chen heard speaking upon his entry into the Divine Transmission Hall, there were two others at the late-stage of Heavenly Saint Realm. One was corpulent while the other was extremely skinny; such a stark contrast made one wonder if these two were acquainted.


    The only one not at the late stage of Heavenly Saint Realm was a young man in white. This young man, at the early stage of Heavenly Saint Realm, wore a headband on his forehead and held a folding fan in his hand, appearing much like a playboy.


    Through the conversation between this young man in white and the white-browed elder, Ye Chen learned of his identity.


    This young man in white was none other than the young master of the Nine-Star Palace, the leading power of the Jiumang Continent from the Thirty-Three Continents, named Ding Xiaojia.


    Even though Ding Xiaojia was the young master of the Nine-Star Palace and seemed quite young, from his conversation with the white-browed elder, he mentioned having entered the Divine Heritage Cave once six hundred years ago, and Ye Chen understood that this young man must be over six hundred years old!


    The higher the martial artist¡¯s realm, the longer their lifespan. Even at six hundred years of age, for someone in the Heavenly Saint Realm, it was indeed akin to their youth.


    While Ye Chen was sizing up the seven people in the area, no new arrivals came for a long while.


    It wasn¡¯t until half a day passed that a mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm youth flew in; after that, no one else entered the Divine Transmission Hall.


    In the end, there were only nine people who came to the Divine Transmission Hall for this exploration!


    Ye Chen thought it over and soon understood why no one else was arriving.


    Those possession of the Treasure Cave Key, like Huo Mei¡¯er and others, must have been waiting near the Divine Heritage Cave, ready to enter as soon as it opened, and must have come here earlier.


    As for Ye Chen, he hadn¡¯t decided to come to the Divine Heritage Cave from the start and only set off after the Treasure Cave Key showed activity, naturally falling a bit behind.


    This last Heavenly Saint Realm youth who arrived was even later than Ye Chen, presumably because he was farther away from the Divine Heritage Cave.


    According to the stone tablet outside the Divine Heritage Cave, once the Transmission Light Formation appeared in the Divine Transmission Hall, the treasure hunt in the Divine Heritage Cave could truly begin, and one would officially enter the first leg of the three deadly trials of the cave.


    Three hours passed after the final youth arrived. Finally, in a corner of the Divine Transmission Hall, a transmission light formation about three fathoms in circumference appeared.


    The moment the transmission light formation appeared, all nine people seated in meditation stood up!


    "This transmission light formation isn¡¯t like the ancient teleportation formations that span continents and require a Teleportation Token to transport. As long as we stand inside this formation, we can be directly teleported to the first leg of the deadly trials."


    "Haha, since the transmission light formation has appeared, it means that the fifteen-day adventure for the treasure of the Divine Heritage Cave officially begins, so this old man will take the first step!"


    "The areas where the transmission light formation sends us within the deadly trial zone will be different for each person. Whether we will see each other again depends on our fate!"


    "Everyone, until we meet again!"


    The white-browed elder, who had been curiously smiling at Ye Chen ever since his arrival, was the first to hold the Treasure Cave Key and step into the transmission light formation.


    Whoosh!


    While the Treasure Cave Key glimmered, the transmission light formation also flickered with light. Then, the white-browed elder vanished.


    "¡¯Heavenly Saint Xuanyou¡¯ is still so impatient. He¡¯s already taken the first step, I should set off as well," Jin Lieyang said, laughing as he stood up after the white-browed elder was transported away.


    He smiled at Huo Mei¡¯er, "Mei¡¯er, be cautious on these three deadly trial legs. Since we will be transported to different locations, the chance of meeting is very slim, so I won¡¯t be able to look after you."


    Huo Mei¡¯er smiled sweetly back at Jin Lieyang, "Jin, rest assured, your little sister will be very careful even if just for one or two treasures."


    Seeing this, Jin Lieyang laughed and then also stepped into the transmission light formation, disappearing from sight.


    What no one could sense, at the moment Jin Lieyang was transported, not only did the Treasure Cave Key on his person flicker, but two rays of light from the Treasure Cave Key also flickered inside a golden storage ring in his hand!


    After Jin Lieyang disappeared, Ye Chen subconsciously looked towards Huo Mei¡¯er and the Three-Eyed Skeleton, only to find a somewhat inexplicable meaning in both of their eyes.


    As if sensing Ye Chen¡¯s attention, Huo Mei¡¯er smiled at him, "Ye Chen, I¡¯m going ahead of you."


    After saying this, she too stepped into the transmission light formation and vanished from the Divine Transmission Hall.


    As Huo Mei¡¯er was transported away, similar to the unnoticed twin flickers of light on Jin Lieyang, apart from the glimmer of the Treasure Cave Key in her hand, there was also a flash of light from the Treasure Cave Key within the space of her slender, snow-white belt around her waist!


    After three individuals were transported away, the others also crowded around the transmission light formation.


    The fourth person to hurry onto the transmission light formation was the Heavenly Saint Realm youth who arrived later than Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen saw this Heavenly Saint Realm youth holding the Treasure Cave Key, standing on the platform with a mix of anticipation and nervousness, waiting to be teleported.


    But then, something astonishing happened!


    As the Heavenly Saint Realm youth¡¯s Treasure Cave Key glowed, the entire transmission light formation suddenly blazed with a bloody radiance, ejecting the youth from the formation and shooting him back into the void of the Divine Transmission Hall. In an instant, the bloody light flashed and instantly killed the Heavenly Saint Realm youth!


    Ye Chen only saw the anticipation on the young man¡¯s face turn into fear, surprise, and utter shock in an instant, and then he saw the youth perish, leaving not even ashes behind!


    This scene shocked Nine-Star Palace¡¯s young master Ding Xiaojia to the core!


    Ye Chen was equally astonished at this moment.


    Ye Chen had not expected that even before officially entering the three deadly trials of the Divine Heritage Cave, someone would already be dead!


    The two late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existences, both going pale in an instant, seemed to recall something and started to ponder deeply.


    Only the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm youth, who had been the Three-Eyed Skeleton all along, showed no change in expression from beginning to end.

 Chapter 446 - 405

    ```


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    "Why was this mid-stage Heavenly Saint young man killed by the teleportation array?!"


    Ye Chen was full of doubts.


    For a split second, Ye Chen wondered whether the Treasure Cave Key the mid-stage Heavenly Saint young man held was a fake, causing the teleportation to fail and leading the Divine Heritage Cave to kill him as an intruder.


    However, Ye Chen clearly sensed when the mid-stage Heavenly Saint young man took out the Treasure Cave Key, it was exactly the same as the one in his hand, and it also emitted that inexplicable aura unique to the Divine Heritage Cave.


    It couldn¡¯t possibly be fake!


    Without understanding this matter, Ye Chen feared stepping onto the teleportation formation next; his heart was uneasy, and he dared not stand on it lightly!


    Otherwise, if he were to be killed before even starting the treasure hunt, that would truly be a situation where even tears wouldn¡¯t come out!


    While Ye Chen was full of doubts, the two late-stage Heavenly Saint beings, one fat and one skinny, hesitated for a moment and then stepped onto the teleportation formation one after another, being teleported away.


    This made Ye Chen even more puzzled.


    Even the little prince from the Nine-Star Palace, Ding Xiaojia, who was scared stiff, was completely bewildered.


    At this time, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, who had been silent, spoke up, "Hehe, what a pity the young man died."


    As if aware of what Ye Chen and Ding Xiaojia were wondering, the Three-Eyed Skeleton sneered, "The Treasure Cave Key in the young man¡¯s hand was indeed real, no doubt. However, his Treasure Cave Key was one that had been circulated a thousand years ago."


    "Many people think as long as they have the Treasure Cave Key, no matter when it was circulated, they can enter the Divine Heritage Cave. But what these people don¡¯t know is that any Treasure Cave Key not used for over a thousand years is already invalid."


    "Trying to enter the Divine Heritage Cave with it not only prohibits entry but also results in being killed by the cave."


    A thousand years unused, the Treasure Cave Key is invalid?


    Upon use, one is directly killed by the cave?


    The words spoken by the Three-Eyed Skeleton completely stunned Ye Chen.


    "If the Treasure Cave Key is invalid, why could it still guide that young man here? The mighty being who established this Divine Heritage Cave, with his immense power, could easily destroy a thousand years unused Treasure Cave Key, right? By leaving the Treasure Cave Key to guide people here only to kill them in the end, isn¡¯t that harming them?" Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but ask the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton gave Ye Chen a look, "The intentions of the mighty being who established this Divine Heritage Cave, who could know? From the beginning, the Divine Heritage Cave contained countless treasures but also countless death traps. If you want the treasures, you must risk death!"


    At that moment, Ding Xiaojia also asked the Three-Eyed Skeleton, "Since you knew about this, why didn¡¯t you speak up to warn him?"


    "Warn?" The Three-Eyed Skeleton, transformed into a mid-stage Heavenly Saint young man, laughed, "What a joke, why should I warn anyone."


    "In this Divine Heritage Cave, each person who comes in is a competitor. If you obtain one more treasure, it may mean that someone else will not get it. Many people wish for more people to die, so they have less competition for treasures!"


    As if recalling something, the voice of the Three-Eyed Skeleton was unusually cold!


    "How do I know which time period my Treasure Cave Key came from? It could have passed through many hands for all I know." Ding Xiaojia hesitated, daring not step into the teleportation light.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton simply glanced at him indifferently, paying him no mind, and directly stepped toward the teleportation light.


    Just when Ye Chen thought the Three-Eyed Skeleton would also be teleported away, the Three-Eyed Skeleton stopped just before stepping into the teleportation light, turned around, and walked back to Ye Chen.


    He stretched out his hand toward Ye Chen, "Boy, let me see your Treasure Cave Key."


    Ye Chen had not expected this move from the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    After a brief contemplation, Ye Chen took out the Treasure Cave Key from his hand.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton closely examined the Treasure Cave Key in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, then said, "This Treasure Cave Key should have been circulated within the last three hundred years. There¡¯s no issue entering the Divine Heritage Cave."


    Ye Chen had not expected the Three-Eyed Skeleton to take the trouble to check the period of his Treasure Cave Key!


    This was indeed a surprise to Ye Chen.


    The Treasure Cave Key Ye Chen held had been obtained from Ao Lei, who in turn had purchased it at the grand auction. According to the Deputy Pavilion Master, who presided over the auction, this Treasure Cave Key had been circulated just before the last opening of the Divine Heritage Cave, which indeed was within the last three hundred years.


    As Ye Chen was still surprised by the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s actions, the Three-Eyed Skeleton gave Ye Chen another look, took out a Law-patterned Jade Token, pressed it to his forehead, and recorded some Divine Sense onto the jade token, before tossing it into Ye Chen¡¯s hands.


    Afterward, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, without looking back, directly stepped into the teleportation light and was teleported away.


    Ye Chen, holding the Law-patterned Jade Token the Three-Eyed Skeleton had thrown to him, sensed it with his Divine Sense and an expression of disbelief appeared on his face. Finally, Ye Chen smiled and stored the Law-patterned Jade Token inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    At this time, the only ones left in the Divine Transmission Hall yet to be teleported were him and the little prince from the Nine-Star Palace, Ding Xiaojia.


    Ye Chen gave Ding Xiaojia a gentle smile and then walked into the teleportation light as well.


    ```


    Although both the Three-Eyed Skeleton and the former Deputy Sovereign of Destiny had said that the Treasure Cave Key in his possession had been passed down within the last three hundred years, Ye Chen still felt some inexplicable nervousness.


    What made Ye Chen even more anxious was that he had to bring the Nine Ice Guard into the Divine Heritage Cave with him.


    Rumors had it that anyone who entered the Divine Heritage Cave without the Treasure Cave Key, whether martial artists or demon beasts, would be exterminated.


    Entering the Divine Heritage Cave while hidden in a spatial artifact certainly wouldn¡¯t work.


    However, Ye Chen learned from Ao Lei¡¯s information about the Divine Heritage Cave that unless the spatial artifact was a middle-grade divine artifact that even the Divine Heritage Cave couldn¡¯t detect, entry would be impossible.


    But a middle-grade divine artifact, that was a supremely powerful thing that only true Gods or Divine Kings could employ. And such beings, how could they regard the Divine Heritage Cave as something worth their attention?


    So basically, no one attempting to venture into the Divine Heritage Cave could directly bring others inside with a spatial artifact, unless the people inside also had a Treasure Cave Key.


    Knowing this, Ye Chen immediately inquired about the grade of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant from the Nine Ice Guard.


    Indeed, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant did not disappoint, being a legacy of the Icebound Divine King, the Nine Ice Guard declared it to be a top-grade spatial divine artifact!


    Therefore, Ye Chen prepared to bring the Nine Ice Guard into the Divine Heritage Cave, carrying them inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    With regards to both the timing of the release of the Treasure Cave Key and whether he could successfully bring the Nine Ice Guard into the Divine Heritage Cave, Ye Chen naturally had some worries since he hadn¡¯t actually set foot in the Divine Heritage Cave yet.


    In the end, the things Ye Chen worried about did not occur.


    Just as Ye Chen stood upon the transmission array, his mind anxiously unsettled, the light from the transmission array flashed, and just like Huo Mei¡¯er and Jin Lieyang before him, Ye Chen also disappeared smoothly through the transmission.


    In the end, only Ding Xiaojia was left alone in the Divine Transmission Hall.


    "Hmph, that person could sense the time when the Treasure Cave Key was released, yet he didn¡¯t help me check!"


    Ding Xiaojia felt extremely frustrated.


    He looked at the Treasure Cave Key in his hand and then at the transmission array, alternating his gaze.


    After hesitating for a while and preparing to step forward, he thought of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint young man who had been killed by the transmission array earlier. Remembering the young man¡¯s fear, surprise, and utter shock, Ding Xiaojia hesitated.


    In the end, he remembered what was written on the enormous stele outside the Divine Heritage Cave: the transmission time for the first segment of the Life and Death Path was only one hour, and missing the window meant missing the transmission. Ding Xiaojia then gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and stood within the transmission array.


    At the moment of successful transmission, he took a long breath of relief and, without even having time to wipe the sweat from his forehead, disappeared as the last person from the Divine Transmission Hall.


    ...


    After an inexplicable bout of dizziness, when Ye Chen regained consciousness, he found himself standing in the middle of a vast golden desert.


    This place was the first checkpoint of the Life and Death Path, the Desert of Death!


    Only by traversing this Desert of Death could one pass the first checkpoint and move on to seek treasures in the next location.


    Ye Chen looked at the Desert of Death and felt that the entire desert, just like the gathering continent he had seen before the Five Elements Mountain, the Heavenly Evolution Continent, was boundless and golden yellow in color.


    Moreover, Ye Chen sensed that there was a flight prohibition in this desert, making it impossible to fly within it.


    To traverse this vast desert, one could only walk across it on foot!


    "The total time allowed for treasure hunting in the Divine Heritage Cave is only fifteen days."


    "If one cannot cross this vast desert within fifteen days, they will die right here. Of course, to reach the subsequent areas to hunt for treasures, one must pass through here even faster than fifteen days! After all, there are still the second and third checkpoints of the Life and Death Path waiting ahead!"


    "I wonder what dangers lie within this great desert."


    Looking at the boundless desert, Ye Chen did not immediately set off but instead lightly moved his hand. The Law-patterned Jade Token, given to him by the Three-Eyed Skeleton before departing, appeared in his hand again.


    "That Three-Eyed Skeleton, I do not know why, but he keeps helping me. Could it really be because of the ¡¯Secret Tome of the North Ming¡¯ from the North Ming clan?"


    Within the Law-patterned Jade Token, the Three-Eyed Skeleton had left information about a very important treasure for Ye Chen.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton said that he had entered the Divine Heritage Cave five times and knew it like the back of his hand.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton told Ye Chen that in the first treasure-spot after the first segment of the Life and Death Path, there was an item known as the "Netherworld Ant," an incredibly peculiar Spirit Insect that can produce a substance immensely beneficial to Rotating Pill Realm warriors¡ªa type of Ant Crystal called "Red Sun Crystal."


    Discover hidden tales at empire


    According to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, after consuming a "Red Sun Crystal," warriors in the Rotating Pill Realm would find it remarkably effective for comprehending the Five Great Virtual Heavenly Laws to their fullest extent.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had reached the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm and was pushing towards the late stage, the Three-Eyed Skeleton specifically informed Ye Chen about this treasure.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton also said that to capture the "Netherworld Ant" capable of producing "Red Sun Crystal," one must find a certain item in the first location, the Desert of Death, which may help in successfully capturing the "Netherworld Ant" later on.


    This item, hidden within the Desert of Death, is known as "Warmsun Sand."

 Chapter 447 - 406: Deadly Danger in the Desert

    "First, I have to find the ¡¯Warmsun Sand¡¯ in this initial segment of the path between life and death, the ¡¯Desert of Death,¡¯ and then, with the help of the ¡¯Warmsun Sand,¡¯ capture the ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯ in the first treasure-hunting area?"


    "The ¡¯Red Sun Crystal¡¯ produced by the Netherworld Ants has bizarre effects on martial artists in the middle rotary pill stage for comprehending the great achievements of the five major void law principles?"


    Ye Chen pondered upon the information from the Law-patterned Jade Token left by the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    Then, as if thinking of something, his heart stirred.


    His Divine Sense instantly immersed into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, reaching out to the nine great icy guardians within.


    "Nine seniors, have you heard of ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯ and ¡¯Warmsun Sand¡¯?"


    Netherworld Ants?


    Warmsun Sand?


    Ever since Ye Chen had entered this first segment of the path between life and death, the nine great icy guardians had been vigilantly guarding against surrounding dangers on his behalf. Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry, they were slightly taken aback and began to furrow their brows in thought.


    "Never heard of it."


    "Prince Ye Chen, we have not heard of such items. Could they be unique to these thirty-three continents?"


    One after another, the icy guardians shook their heads.


    Just when Ye Chen thought these icy guardians from other continents of Star Continent might not know about these two items, Bing Shisan, one of the nine great icy guardians, seemed to recall something, and his eyes lit up: "Prince Ye Chen, I think I¡¯ve heard of ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯ and that ¡¯Warmsun Sand.¡¯


    As soon as Bing Shisan spoke, not only Ye Chen but also the other eight icy guardians turned their attention to him.


    Bing Shisan seemed to fall into reminiscence: "I remember after I arrived at the Savage Continent, I had slain a few martial artists of the Heavenly Saint stage. In the Divine Soul memories of one of them, there was mention of these two things."


    "That warrior¡¯s memory mentioned that the ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯ are a kind of strange Yin attribute spiritual insect, which especially enjoys devouring Yang attribute objects. That ¡¯Warmsun Sand¡¯ is said to be an utmost Yang object. After being consumed by the ¡¯Netherworld Ants,¡¯ the combination of Yin and Yang attributes, and the derivation of the five elements, could give birth to a bizarre substance that could greatly stimulate the origins of the five elements."


    "That bizarre substance, it seems to be called ¡¯Red Sun Crystal¡¯... Yes, it¡¯s called ¡¯Red Sun Crystal¡¯!"


    "Prince Ye Chen, these items were discovered by that warrior in an ancient text, but the ¡¯Warmsun Sand¡¯ and ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯ are said to be extremely rare; that warrior had never personally seen them..."


    The memory of a late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse was incredibly powerful. As soon as Bing Shisan accessed those past memories, he immediately brought them all out and relayed them to Ye Chen.


    Hearing Bing Shisan¡¯s words, Ye Chen nodded, said a few smiling words to the nine icy guardians, and then his Divine Sense exited the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    "So there really are ¡¯Warmsun Sand¡¯ and ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯? The Three-Eyed Skeleton really was helping me and not deceiving me?"


    This time, Ye Chen reviewed the information in the Law-patterned Jade Token given by the Three-Eyed Skeleton even more earnestly and then committed the details about the ¡¯Warmsun Sand¡¯ and ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯ deep into his mind.


    "Since that¡¯s the case, besides just getting through this first segment of the path between life and death, it seems necessary to search for the ¡¯Warmsun Sand!¡¯"


    "The Three-Eyed Skeleton said that somewhere in the east of this first segment of the path between life and death, he had once come across Warmsun Sand, but because he was pressed for time, he only took part of it and did not fully excavate the Warmsun Sand."


    "Let¡¯s go and check that place out! From my current location to that spot and then moving east for a while, I should be able to leave this first segment of the path between life and death!"


    Ye Chen looked at the blazing sun in the sky, the Treasure Cave Key in his hand also flashing with directional guidance. After identifying the bearings, Ye Chen proceeded to travel forth.


    ...


    The first segment of the path between life and death, the Desert of Death, is an endless golden yellow sand desert.


    Although there is a no-flight restriction in this area, which means flying is banned, there is no interference with the coverage of Divine Sense.


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    After cultivating to the middle rotary pill stage, Ye Chen¡¯s range of Divine Sense coverage had expanded to a radius of a hundred miles.


    This checkpoint of the path between life and death is so dangerous that one could easily perish within it, with the tablet at the entrance even mentioning a ninety percent chance of death, so of course, Ye Chen had to be extremely cautious.


    As he journeyed, Ye Chen had already extended his Divine Sense to survey the area within a hundred miles. After ensuring there were no issues, he used "Void Instantaneous Change" to instantly shift to the midpoint of the hundred-mile area. Then he continued to explore further ahead, instantly moving and progressing forward.


    Even without the ability to fly, with the help of "Void Instantaneous Change," Ye Chen could still advance very quickly.


    If not for the fact that scanning for safety took time, the continuous use of Void Instantaneous Change would hardly have been slower than flying.


    The only disadvantage for Ye Chen was that using Divine Sense for exploration and Void Instantaneous Change consumed a considerable amount of Divine Soul power.


    Though Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul had undergone two fusions and training in a specific Divine Soul Secret Art, making it much stronger than an average practitioner at the middle rotary pill stage, he still needed to rest after scouting about a thousand miles to recover his Divine Soul power before he could continue on his way.


    With a stop-and-go pace, Ye Chen estimated that it would take roughly one day to reach the area pointed out by the Three-Eyed Skeleton that might contain the "Warmsun Sand," and about a day and a half to walk out of this first segment of the path between life and death.


    After walking for six hours in the Desert of Death and covering a great distance without encountering any deadly dangers in the grand desert, Ye Chen¡¯s sense of unease only heightened, keeping him extraordinarily focused.


    Ye Chen knew that since this was the life-and-death trial, it couldn¡¯t possibly be safe. The quieter it was, the more unusual it meant it was.


    Luckily, Ye Chen was highly focused; he didn¡¯t rush forward in this Desert of Death but maintained high alert at all times.


    At a certain moment, after more than seven hours of walking, just as Ye Chen instantaneously moved into a sand dune and his Divine Sense detected no danger, a sudden and inexplicable threat of death overwhelmed him.


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart skipped a beat!


    As he had just looked around, he shockingly saw three incredibly fast streaks of light that in the blink of an eye reached right in front of him.


    In practically no time for Ye Chen to react, the streaks directly targeted his head, chest, and core vital areas!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Then, three muffled sounds followed, and the three fast streaks of light were deflected by an unknown force from Ye Chen¡¯s body, allowing Ye Chen to clearly see what they were.


    These three streaks of light turned out to be three golden scorpions, the same color as the glittering sands of the Desert of Death he was traveling through!


    The three golden scorpions were only the length of a palm, yet the power they had unleashed in an instant was on par with a late-stage Heavenly Saint!


    Even more bizarrely, they were able to evade Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense detection, and even the vigilance of the nine great ice guardians around him, instantly launching an attack on Ye Chen.


    If not for the defensive artifact "Purple Mist True Garment" on Ye Chen, which had blocked the attack of the three golden scorpions just in time, their sudden ambush could have severely wounded Ye Chen in an instant!


    Desert of Death!


    Death¡¯s menace!


    Just moments ago, Ye Chen nearly succumbed to this deadly menace with a single blow!


    When he saw the three golden scorpions reveal themselves, Ye Chen too was greatly shocked.


    The Divine Heritage Cave with a ninety percent chance of fatality had shown its first danger on this initial leg of the life-and-death path, making Ye Chen realize the ninety percent fatality rate was no exaggeration.


    The three golden scorpions were too odd, able to evade detection, possessing such rapid speed and formidable attack power!


    While Ye Chen¡¯s heart was still in shock, the three golden scorpions that had been repelled flashed once again and disappeared.


    With his Divine Sense exploration, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t determine where these golden scorpions had hidden.


    At the next moment, countless streaks of light burst forth, with over a hundred golden scorpion lights flying toward Ye Chen to attack once more.


    Although Ye Chen had some doubts the initial three golden scorpions would lurk for a while before attacking again,


    he didn¡¯t relax his vigilance at all, but was even more cautious about their potential second consecutive assault.


    The instant the hundred-plus golden scorpions shot out, Ye Chen¡¯s large hand suddenly grabbed, and the Three Hundred and Seventy-Two Five Apertures Rotating Pills of mid-stage Rotating Pill manifested from within his core explosively, unleashing peerless, fire-based Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" that rolled out instantly into a fiery dragon, engulfing the sky filled with lights of golden scorpions.


    At the same time, Ye Chen¡¯s lifebound flying sword "Crimson Fire" burst out from within the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, with its fiery red sword glow flashing, also plunging into the horde of golden scorpions.


    On another front, with a wave of his large hand, Ye Chen¡¯s ice-sealed physique infused with the basic 810 moves, while the Purple Mist True Garment protected his entire body, guarding against any sudden sneak attacks from the golden scorpions.


    After stepping into the mid-stage Rotating Pill, Ye Chen¡¯s mastery of the five great Void Heavens laws had greatly increased, enhancing his five great Divine Arts qualitatively.


    The current Ye Chen, with his true combat prowess, could even stand a fight against late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses!


    With all his methods deployed, more than thirty of the hundred-plus golden scorpions were immediately burned by the true fire or cut down by the sword.


    Only then did the remaining golden scorpions realize they couldn¡¯t kill Ye Chen anymore and, with a "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh" of flashing lights, they finally disappeared.


    After witnessing the golden scorpions vanish completely, Ye Chen took a deep breath, reinvigorated his True Qi, and then resumed his journey.


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that at the same time he encountered the high-speed assault of the Desert of Death¡¯s golden scorpions, in other realms, be it sooner or later, similar deadly threats were unfolding.


    In another realm thousands of miles from Ye Chen, the first one to enter the first leg of the Divine Heritage Cave¡¯s life-and-death path, a late-stage Heavenly Saint with white eyebrows called Heavenly Saint Xuanyou, was wiping sweat from his forehead while looking at the corpses of three golden scorpions before him: "I had heard that since the location of the Divine Heritage Cave had shifted, the danger had increased significantly, but I didn¡¯t expect this first leg of the life-and-death path to be so terrifying!"


    "If it weren¡¯t for my ¡¯Spirit Trembling Talisman¡¯ that fended off the sneak attack of these three scorpions, I might have been injured before I could react. Fortunately, I managed to kill them."


    "I have no clue what kind of strange species these scorpions are that could even evade my detection."


    The white-eyebrowed Heavenly Saint Xuanyou curled his Divine Qi, sweeping the corpses of the three golden scorpions into his palm to examine them.


    While he was observing, the next moment, hundreds of lights suddenly flashed into motion. He had just managed to raise his gaze from the scorpion corpses in his hand when he was completely swarmed by the scintillating golden lights.


    Then, an extremely horrifying scream pierced the air, and as the swarm of golden scorpions dispersed in all directions, the white-eyebrowed elder had completely vanished, not even leaving a corpse behind!


    The desert where he was located once again became quiet and tranquil.

 Chapter 448 - 407 Accident

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    Elsewhere.


    In the hands of "Ding Xiaojia," the young master of the Nine-Star Palace in the Jiumang Continent, a talisman turned into flying ash and disappeared without a trace. In front of him, the corpses of hundreds of basin-sized fire red butterflies fell onto the glittering vast Desert of Death.


    "Damn it, this treasure hunt in the Divine Heritage Cave is really dangerous!"


    "Last time I entered the Divine Heritage Cave, I never encountered so many threats!"


    "Right after teleporting in, someone was killed by the Transmission Light Formation. I¡¯ve only traveled a little over five hundred li, and I¡¯ve already been attacked by monsters three times!"


    "The first wave of attacks, that group of golden scorpions. If it hadn¡¯t been for the ¡¯Heavenly Spirit Shield¡¯ my father prepared for me, I might have fallen for their tricks! The ¡¯Weird Black Snake¡¯ and the hallucinogenic ¡¯Fire Red Butterfly¡¯ that followed have already cost me two Battle Talismans!"


    "If this keeps up, I¡¯m afraid the treasures I¡¯ve prepared won¡¯t be enough to deal with the dangers of this treasure hunt!"


    Gazing at the corpses of the fire red butterflies on the ground, Ding Xiaojia¡¯s expression shifted, then he gritted his teeth, and with a flash of light in his hand, a green flute appeared.


    "It seems that only by wielding this Divine Artifact can I be somewhat safer, though it will use up some of the Divine Jade needed to activate it in advance!"


    Looking out toward the boundless Desert of Death ahead, Ding Xiaojia finally steeled his resolve and instantly flew into the green flute.


    Then, this green flute astonishingly transformed directly into a green snake, and began to weave its way through the golden sand!


    This green flute, a Divine Artifact, was not only a spatial artifact into which one could fly but could also change shape and move at high speed!


    ...


    "Aunt, thank you for your help just now!"


    "I didn¡¯t expect the danger of this Divine Heritage Cave to exceed my expectations. Just now, I managed to fend off six rounds of attacks, but in the seventh round, I almost fell for it without being careful."


    In a certain area in the western part of the great desert, Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s charming face briefly registered shock before returning to composure. Ten zhang before her, a black rat-like monster lay dead in the desert.


    Beside Huo Mei¡¯er stood a woman in green clothing, carrying an ancient sword on her back. This woman¡¯s aura was even stronger than that of the Three-Eyed Skeleton at its full burst during the battle with Ye Chen in the restricted ancient grounds!


    Hearing Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s words, the woman in green affectionately stroked her head, "Mei¡¯er, this time is different from before. You have to avenge your mother; you can¡¯t be the least bit distracted!"


    "Yes, I understand, Aunt!" Upon hearing the words of the woman in green, Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s lovely face took on a gravely serious expression, and the faint mark of a flame on her forehead started to shimmer with a strange light!


    Seeing Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s demeanor, the woman in green smiled, and with a swift motion, she vanished instantly.


    The next moment, Huo Mei¡¯er touched the white belt around her waist and continued on her way.


    ...


    In the northern part of the first section of the Path of Life and Death in the Desert of Death.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton, now in the guise of a young man in the mid-stage of heavenly sanctity, looked out over the endless desert and sneered, "Every three thousand three hundred years, the cycle turns, and indeed, this first section of the Path of Life and Death has presented nine mortal dangers, unlike the mere three minor dangers of the past."


    "Heh heh, I wonder how many of those who came this time will be able to make it to the third section of the treasure ground."


    "That scourge, he is certainly one who will make it."


    In the end, the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s eyes gleamed with a chilling light.


    Soon after, his sleeves swept up, and he disappeared from the desert altogether.


    ...


    Ye Chen, who was journeying through the Divine Heritage Cave, was unaware of the experiences of others.


    Two days after entering the first section of the Path of Life and Death, Ye Chen finally emerged from the endless Desert of Death.


    Although it took half a day longer than expected to get out, Ye Chen, who had survived countless perilous attacks, looked at the Transmission Light Formation that appeared at the edge of the great desert with a satisfied smile on his face.


    With a flip of his palm, a small grey pouch appeared in his hand.


    "Although this first section of the Path of Life and Death was perilous, relying on numerous methods and the help of the nine great Ice Guards, I managed to get through smoothly. But unexpectedly, it was a great haul, allowing me to discover so much ¡¯Warmsun Sand¡¯!"


    Ye Chen sent his divine consciousness into the grey pouch and saw tens of thousands of golden red grains of sand shining with the brilliance of the midday sun.


    These round golden red grains were the "Warmsun Sand" needed to capture the "Netherworld Ants"!


    In the Desert of Death, following the guidance of the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s Law-patterned Jade Token, Ye Chen headed to the region where the "Warmsun Sand" mentioned by the Three-Eyed Skeleton was said to be located.


    As a result, after digging five feet below the golden sand grains, a pit filled with Warmsun Sand appeared before Ye Chen.


    In that pit, Ye Chen directly discovered over eighty thousand grains of Warmsun Sand.


    According to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, ten thousand grains of Warmsun Sand were enough to attract a "Netherworld Ant," and the remaining sand could be used to feed the Netherworld Ant once it was truly captured.


    Originally, finding over eighty thousand grains of Warmsun Sand had already satisfied Ye Chen.


    Unexpectedly, just then, Ye Chen encountered the seventh wave of life-or-death danger in the Desert of Death and was attacked by a black Burrowing Rat!


    After battling with the Burrowing Rat, the creature was defeated and fled in panic. After Ye Chen killed it in its burrow, he sensed an even stronger presence of "Warmsun Sand" not far from the Burrowing Rat¡¯s cave.


    As a result, Ye Chen dug and discovered a pit even larger than the previous one filled with Warmsun Sand, containing as many as seven to eight hundred thousand grains.


    This discovery, of course, thrilled Ye Chen immensely!


    Ye Chen directly took out a spirit sack from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and collected all seven to eight hundred thousand grains of Warmsun Sand into the bag.


    Adding to the previously found eighty thousand grains, the amount of Warmsun Sand Ye Chen had acquired this time was almost close to a million grains!


    This Warmsun Sand was an exceedingly precious item of ultimate Yang nature.


    Not only was it very useful for breeding "Netherworld Ants," it was also usable in Artifact Refining. Bing Shisan had even mentioned that it played a significant role in refining Divine Artifacts.


    Moreover, this Warmsun Sand could also remove evil spirits and nourish the soul...


    In short, it had no small number of uses.


    Such a large quantity of Warmsun Sand was found, which of course thrilled Ye Chen immensely!


    Having acquired the Warmsun Sand smoothly, Ye Chen became even more confident about the upcoming capture of the "Netherworld Ant."


    On the edge of the great desert.


    After looking at the magical grains of Warmsun Sand in the bag once more, Ye Chen put the bag back into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Afterward, his figure moved, and he flew into the Transmission Light Formation at the edge of the great desert.


    The great desert was the first checkpoint of the Path of Life and Death.


    After passing the first segment of the life-and-death checkpoint, the first treasure land would appear!


    Passing through the Transmission Light Formation would directly enter the treasure land.


    Instantly after Ye Chen stepped into the Transmission Light Formation, he vanished from the edge of the great desert, and in the next moment, as heaven and earth turned, Ye Chen had already arrived in a world of green mountains and clear waters!


    "Is this the first treasure land?"


    "According to the Sky-shocking Stele, there is only one day of treasure hunting time in each treasure land."


    "Once entering the treasure land, after one day, whether or not the treasure is found, the Treasure Cave Key will transport us out of the treasure land. This one day of treasure hunting time must be used wisely!"


    "In this first treasure land, since I already have a target in the ¡¯Netherworld Ant,¡¯ let¡¯s first go find that Netherworld Ant!"


    "This place is unlike the Path of Life and Death where there is a ban on flying; here I can freely fly to hunt for treasures without any danger. It¡¯s a place specially meant for treasure hunting, much more comfortable!"


    "It is rumored that countless treasures in this treasure land are all hidden in various treasure caves. There are caves on mountains, in water, in the earth, and even in the cracks of space, where treasure caves may be hidden."


    "First find the ¡¯Netherworld Ant,¡¯ if there¡¯s extra time, then see if other treasures can be found!"


    "The Three-Eyed Skeleton said that the last time he found the ¡¯Netherworld Ant¡¯ was more than thirteen hundred years ago. Netherworld Ants, according to legend, are a unique type of Yin Attribute Spirit Insect with a lifespan of only a thousand years. Presumably, after these thirteen hundred years, the old Netherworld Ants have long since died, and many new Netherworld Ants must have appeared!"


    Ye Chen surveyed the green mountains and clear waters of this first treasure land, then, determining his direction, he flew towards a northern pile of earth in the treasure land that was said to be over thirty zhang high and a dense cave.


    After flying for about three hours, Ye Chen finally saw the small mound over thirty zhang tall on the ground not far ahead in the void.


    But when Ye Chen flew down in front of the small mound and found a hidden cave within it, and truly entered inside, what he saw in the treasure cave completely surprised Ye Chen, who was prepared to capture the "Netherworld Ant."

 Chapter 449 - 408: Acknowledging the Master

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    The treasure cave hidden inside the small mound of earth was a long, narrow passageway, over thirty feet wide and more than three hundred feet long.


    When Ye Chen entered this secret passageway, he found that there were no "Netherworld Ants" moving about at all, he could only see several spheres the size of human heads hanging on the wall at the very end of the passageway, emanating a dark red glow.


    Besides those several head-sized spheres with dark red glow, there was an even larger sphere that displayed a mystical golden yellow color!


    What surprised Ye Chen even more was that on the walls of this very hidden secret passageway, in addition to the hanging spheres of two colors, there were deep and chaotically scattered battle marks, and on the ground, the desiccated corpses of thousands of Spirit Insects could be seen.


    When Ye Chen looked at the thousands of Spirit Insect corpses, he directly discovered that a large portion of them were indeed the corpses of the "Netherworld Ants" he had been searching for.


    Even though they were desiccated, one could still make out the general appearance of these fist-sized Netherworld Ants.


    These Netherworld Ants were completely black and even had a pair of wings. The natural and mystical patterns on their wings looked like skull totems, mysteriously and eerily so!


    What Ye Chen had not expected was, in his search for the "Netherworld Ants," they had already died and desiccated, becoming heaps of carcasses.


    Ye Chen then looked at the other Spirit Insect carcasses and saw that, apart from the Netherworld Ant carcasses, the remaining carcasses were all left by another type of Spirit Insect.


    This other type of Spirit Insect was much less in number than the Netherworld Ants, but twice as large; more so, one could see that these Spirit Insects were entirely fiery red in color, without wings on their body, but they had two fiery red fangs at the mouth, a type of fire-red giant ant that Ye Chen had never seen before.


    Upon seeing the scene before him, Ye Chen came to a realization.


    Perhaps it was the great battle between these two types of Spirit Insects that left the secret passageway in such disarray and countless battle scars. It was probably also this great battle of the Spirit Insects that resulted in so many of them dying, leaving behind these thousands of Spirit Insect carcasses.


    But what about those spheres on the wall that emitted a dark red glow?


    And what about that even larger golden yellow sphere?


    Ye Chen¡¯s divine senses instantly penetrated into these spheres, and upon immersing his senses, his eyes suddenly widened.


    The solitary larger golden yellow sphere contained something that was immensely useful for a Rotating Pill Realm martial artist to make significant progress in the five major laws of the Rotating Pill Realm, a peculiar "ant crystal" produced by the Netherworld Ants ¡ª the "Red Sun Crystal"!


    Ye Chen could not have expected that although the Netherworld Ants were dead, they had left behind an ample amount of "Red Sun Crystal" here reaching more than a dozen kilograms!


    These "Red Sun Crystals" might not be enough for him to use for advancing to the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, but they would certainly provide significant assistance!


    But even more astonishing to Ye Chen were those several head-sized dark red spheres. Inside these dark red spheres were long, slender black-red insect eggs!


    And when Ye Chen sensed these eggs, he could directly feel that life still emanated from within these eggs.


    These eggs were still alive!


    "Could it be that after the great battle between the ¡¯Netherworld Ants¡¯ and the other Species of Spirit Insects, although they all died, some of their eggs were left behind?"


    "If that¡¯s the case, as long as these eggs hatch, I will still be able to obtain Netherworld Ants, and the newly hatched Netherworld Ants will continue to produce Red Sun Crystals endlessly."


    "However, according to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, the eggs of the Netherworld Ants are black in color. These eggs, although similar in shape to the eggs of the Netherworld Ants, are black and red in color. Could it be... a new type of egg resulting from the fusion of two species of ant-like Spirit Insects?!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze directly shifted to the other carcasses of the fiery red giant ants on the ground, apart from the blackish Netherworld Ant carcasses, as if he had come upon some incredulous thought.


    "Can Netherworld Ants actually fuse with other Spirit Ants?!"


    With a thought, Ye Chen immediately called out the nine Ice Protectors from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    The nine Ice Guardians transformed into figures of Ye Chen¡¯s size and all flew out of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, standing next to Ye Chen.


    "Seniors, do you recognize this other kind of Spirit Insect?" Ye Chen pointed at the fist-sized, fiery red ant carcasses on the floor of the passageway and asked the nine Ice Guardians.


    Upon seeing the thousands of Spirit Insect carcasses on the ground, as well as the numerous battle scars on the walls of the passageway, and then noticing the skull-sized, black and red luminous spheres hanging on the walls, the Ice Guardians knew what Ye Chen was asking about.


    The nine Ice Guardians all looked closely at the fiery red ants.


    Among them, Bing Shisan, who knew of the "Netherworld Ant" and "Warmsun Sand," spoke first, "It is said that Netherworld Ants never cohabit with other ant species, for they are Yin Attribute Spirit Insects, inherently possessing extraordinary combat strength, especially a mysterious restraint against Divine Soul Power. Other Spirit Insects dare not provoke the Netherworld Ants without good reason."


    "What are these red ants? Despite being outnumbered by the Netherworld Ants, they actually managed to kill so many!"


    Bing Shisan could not identify the origins of these fiery red giant ants.


    However, at that moment, Bing Shiyi and Bing Shier exchanged glances, as if they had just recalled something.


    Bing Shiyi said directly, "These fiery red ants are very likely what Bing Shier and I once heard of, the ¡¯Flame Ants¡¯! It is rumored that even ¡¯True Flame Fire¡¯ can be produced within the Flame Ants¡¯ bodies, extremely Supreme Yang! It¡¯s said that merely approaching a martial artist, the Flame Ants could make them feel as though they are being scorched by endless true fire, unbearably hot. The venom unleashed by a swarm of adult Flame Ants is even potent enough to kill a powerful Spirit Beast in the late Heavenly Saint stage."


    Bing Shier also nodded and said, "Your Highness Ye Chen, the ¡¯Flame Ants¡¯ are a rare and extraordinary insect, probably even more formidable than the Netherworld Ants! In this passageway, despite their smaller numbers, they have killed even more Netherworld Ants!"


    "Flame Ants are of Supreme Yang, and Netherworld Ants are of Supreme Yin. Two Spirit Insects of utterly opposite attributes are fighting here, leaving behind dozens of eggs, possibly involving secrets of Spirit Insects that we are unaware of. Judging by the appearance of these eggs, they are very likely a new kind of insect egg produced by the fusion of the two types of Spirit Insects. If these new eggs can successfully hatch into new Spirit Insects, it is unpredictable what kind of new Spirit Insect, having both the attributes of Flame Ants and Netherworld Ants, will appear!"


    "If they undergo a peculiar metamorphosis, they might turn out to be even more extraordinary than the Flame Ants and Netherworld Ants!"


    Spirit Insects are a species distinct from both Demons and human Martial Artists.


    The nine Ice Guardians also knew little about Spirit Insects, but with their discerning eyes, they could sense the uniqueness of these new eggs left by the two extraordinary Spirit Insects.


    Bing Shiyi even said to Ye Chen, "Your Highness Ye Chen, these new insect eggs, while the Spirit Insects have not hatched, are best suited for establishing a master. Once you become their master, the Spirit Insects will be at your command. If these Spirit Insects undergo peculiar changes in the future, it could be a significant aid to you!"


    "Even if there are no peculiar changes, you can always release the bond, without any loss."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    In this first Treasure Cave, he had originally come to capture "Netherworld Ants," but had not expected to encounter this situation, which also took Ye Chen by surprise.


    Fortunately, there were still about ten kilograms of "Red Sun Crystals" to be used, which would help in his attempt to break from the mid-phase to the late-phase of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    As for the "Netherworld Ants" themselves, although the Netherworld Ants had all died, the potentially hybrid insect eggs from the fusion of "Netherworld Ants" and "Flame Ants" were an unexpected gain.


    "Just as Bing Shiyi suggested, let¡¯s establish a bond with these Spirit Insects to see what kind of form they will take once hatched from these eggs."


    During his cultivation in the Taixuan Sect, Ye Chen had learned the methods to tame and bond with Spirit Insects and Spirit Beasts.


    Having decided to bond with these new insect eggs, Ye Chen no longer hesitated and followed the techniques to infuse his divine consciousness into the several dozens of black and red insect eggs within the black and red spheres, beginning the bonding ritual.


    Half an hour later, Ye Chen moved and flew out of this secret cave, returning to the small mound of dirt above ground.


    By then, the dozens of black and red spheres in the passageway, as well as the golden spheres containing the "Red Sun Crystals," had all vanished without a trace.


    Even the thousands of Spirit Insect carcasses on the ground had disappeared without a trace.

 Chapter 450 - 409 Primordial Divine Light

    One day later.


    Ye Chen was taken by the Treasure Cave Key and flew away from the first treasure site, entering the second stage of the life-and-death path checkpoint.


    Standing in a vast expanse of amber-colored world, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly.


    It turned out that during the treasure hunt in the first site the day before, aside from finding the "Red Sun Crystal" and some "new insect eggs" in a little mound, he came up empty-handed for the rest of the time.


    "The day of treasure hunting opportunity that I had earned by going through the ¡¯Desert of Death¡¯ life-and-death road with immense difficulty is far from enough."


    "After coming out from the small mound, I discovered four more treasure caves, but they were all empty, the treasures inside had long been taken by warriors who entered the Divine Heritage Cave before me. Later on, when I finally found some traces of treasures, I didn¡¯t even manage to locate the caves where these treasures were hidden before I was directly teleported out."


    "It seems, to have another chance at treasure hunting, I must push through the second stage of the life-and-death road and gain access to the second treasure site."


    Ye Chen sighed.


    However, when his Divine Sense penetrated into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, and saw the to-be-hatched black-red insect eggs, the "Red Sun Crystal," and a bag of "Warmsun Sand" tucked in the corner of the pendant¡¯s space, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but nod and smile.


    After all, although he didn¡¯t find anything later on, his initial gains were not too bad, and he didn¡¯t leave the treasure site empty-handed.


    "Let¡¯s set aside the matter of treasures for now, it¡¯s more important to concentrate on getting through the second stage of the life-and-death road checkpoint."


    The Divine Heritage Cave¡¯s three stages of life-and-death roads and three treasure sites, each hiding countless treasure caves.


    This further the stage, the more dangerous the life-and-death road and the more precious the treasures within the treasure caves.


    Having gone through nine terrible crises and massacres in the first stage of the life-and-death road, Ye Chen had come to realize just how perilous these checkpoints were, with the slightest carelessness leading to possible downfall.


    With the beginning of the second stage of the life-and-death road imminent, Ye Chen naturally didn¡¯t dare to let his guard down or be distracted.


    "The first stage of the life-and-death road was the ¡¯Desert of Death¡¯ checkpoint, where the vast desert concealed various dangerous death traps. It remains to be seen what dangers the second stage of the life-and-death road holds."


    Ye Chen looked up seriously to observe the new environment of this second stage of the life-and-death road he was just transported into, and scrutinized the directional guidance on the Treasure Cave Key.


    After a long moment, Ye Chen took his first steps forward on this new journey of the life-and-death road. Discover stories with empire


    The second stage of the life-and-death road did not prohibit flying.


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t dare to fly at high speed in here, but moved forward carefully, inch by inch, and used instant spatial shifts with great caution.


    After flying over six or seven miles, Ye Chen stopped in front of a green arc of light, his expression finally turning grave.


    The green arc before him was hidden about fifteen or sixteen yards high in the void, a three-yard-long arc of light, looking much like a bridge of light in the void, seemingly dazzlingly beautiful.


    But Ye Chen found not the slightest beauty in this arc of light!


    That¡¯s because, when he passed the first arc of light earlier, Bing Shiyi from the nine Ice Guardians had alarmingly pointed out a yellow arc of light that was over eight yards long to Ye Chen, informing him of its danger.


    At that time, Ye Chen learned that these arcs of light were none other than a deadly luminescence known as "Primordial Divine Light"!


    According to Bing Shiyi, this "Primordial Divine Light" could only be refined by mighty beings above the True God of Six Tribulations.


    This divine light could take various colors and shapes, even transforming into bizarre sudden bursts of light beams, and was often used to protect the forbidden treasure lands of True Gods.


    The strength of the Primordial Divine Light¡¯s arcs and beams varied.


    The weaker ones could kill those in the Spirit Sea Realm and the Rotating Pill Realm, and the stronger ones could even kill True Gods below Six Tribulations!


    What terrified everyone the most was that no one knew where the "Primordial Divine Light" was hidden or when it would appear. If one inadvertently encountered a concealed, powerful "Primordial Divine Light," they would likely be slain before they could react!


    When Bing Shiyi pointed out the first yellow arc of "Primordial Divine Light," Ye Chen had vaguely guessed that the death threats within the second life-and-death path were probably from these divine lights.


    After traveling six or seven miles and encountering eight different-colored and different-shaped arcs, Ye Chen became even more certain of his conjecture.


    The real danger indeed came from this Primordial Divine Light!


    Although Ye Chen had not yet encountered any truly terrifying Primordial Divine Light, the newly emerged green arc alone, as Bing Shiyi had informed him, could instantly kill even a late-stage Heavenly Saint if touched unintentionally.


    This naturally put Ye Chen on high alert!


    These were only the Primordial Divine Lights he could see and detect; Ye Chen had no way of knowing whether he would encounter any concealed ones that were extremely difficult to detect, or any that could move and kill unexpectedly, or even ones that could kill True God level experts!


    If he carelessly stumbled upon one without a way to defend or without noticing, he would absolutely take a nasty fall and might even lose his life!


    While facing these Primordial Divine Lights and being extremely cautious, Ye Chen continued to fly forward.


    In the second segment of the path of life and death, several other people were also on edge because of these Primordial Divine Lights.


    About three thousand miles away from Ye Chen¡¯s position, in a certain territory, two late-stage Heavenly Saints¡ªone fat and one thin¡ªwho had entered the Divine Heritage Cave were watching a blue ray suddenly shoot out three yards in front of them and halted in their tracks.


    "Primordial Divine Light! This second segment¡¯s life-and-death path, the ¡¯Primordial Divine Light¡¯ challenge, is indeed more dangerous than the first!"


    "Had we not cultivated the ¡¯Destruction Eye Skills,¡¯ we would not have noticed the hidden arc of light ahead, and that sudden blue ray would have surely killed us!"


    The eyes of these two late-stage Heavenly Saints were simultaneously covered by a strange pale-grey light, which allowed them to see many hidden spatial fissures and beams of light in the air that other martial artists could not see through the pale-grey light.


    This peculiar mystical power enveloping their eyes with pale-grey light was the special magical ability "Destruction Divine Eye" that the two Heavenly Saints had cultivated.


    "Destruction Divine Eye"¡ªthe ¡¯destruction¡¯ aspect allowed them to perceive many hidden things such as martial artists concealing themselves, hidden traps, and lethal lights like the ones they currently faced.


    The ¡¯extinguish¡¯ aspect was a powerful Divine Eye offensive technique, an attack spell that could directly shoot rays from the Divine Eye to obliterate an opponent¡¯s Divine Soul.


    As Ye Chen had guessed when he encountered these two very different-looking late-stage Heavenly Saints in the Divine Transmission Hall, they indeed knew each other and had cultivated the same techniques. After being separated by being transported into the path of life and death, they managed to reunite.


    It was by using the "Destruction Eye Skills" that these two had made it through more than half of the second segment of the life-and-death path, narrowly avoiding several lethal "Primordial Divine Light" attacks.


    Elsewhere,


    A green snake that was swimming through the air was struck by a green ray of light and instantly burst into surges of genuine Qi before transforming into a green flute.


    At the same time, a young figure flew out directly from the green flute.


    This young figure was none other than Ding Xiaojia, the young master from the Nine-Star Palace of the Jiumang Continent.


    Ding Xiaojia looked at the green ray that had disappeared in an instant, his face paling: "This ray is too terrifying! It almost breached the defenses of my artifact, the ¡¯Green Spirit Flute!¡¯"


    "The ¡¯Green Spirit Flute¡¯ is a lower-tier divine artifact! With the ¡¯Green Spirit Flute,¡¯ I managed to smoothly get through the first segment of the life-and-death path without facing any real threats!"


    "I didn¡¯t expect that after being hit by five divine lights and divine arcs, my ¡¯Green Spirit Flute¡¯ is almost unable to withstand anymore, and even the Divine Jade powering the ¡¯Green Spirit Flute¡¯ has been depleted by half after just that momentary attack!"


    "I don¡¯t have much Divine Jade left, and if it continues like this, I fear that after two more such blasts, my ¡¯Green Spirit Flute¡¯ won¡¯t be able to defend at all!"


    "With such a long way still to go on this second segment of the life-and-death path, what should I do? What should I do?"


    Ding Xiaojia looked at the green flute in his hand and then at the still far-off end of the second segment of the life-and-death path, no longer daring to proceed.

 Chapter 451 - 410 Extreme Flash

    The second segment of the Path of Life and Death, where Ye Chen was flying.


    Just as Ding Xiaojia hesitated, not daring to move forward, Ye Chen also encountered his first brush with death on the second segment of the Path of Life and Death.


    Twenty-some li into his flight on the second segment of the Path of Life and Death, suddenly, a stream of purple "Primordial Divine Light" appeared out of nowhere and brutally struck at Ye Chen, who was carefully navigating the skies.


    While flying, Ye Chen had already spread the defensive mist of the "Purple Mist True Garment" around a radius of ten zhang from his body, always alert for any unusual movements in his surroundings.


    What Ye Chen was specifically on guard for were those unexposed bursts of "Primordial Divine Light" that could suddenly assault him!


    When this stream of purple "Primordial Divine Light" appeared out of thin air and abruptly attacked, it pierced through the defense of the Purple Mist True Garment in an instant.


    Ye Chen, who was always on guard, tensed to the extreme in a split second.


    The Purple Mist True Garment, a lower-grade Divine Artifact for defense, was unable to block the blow from the purple "Primordial Divine Light"!


    When the "Primordial Divine Light" broke through the Purple Mist True Garment¡¯s defense, attacking right in front of Ye Chen, it was already too late for him to escape. There was only one method left for him to use.


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, Ye Chen, who was flying through the air, suddenly disappeared, and the entire void was left with only a snow-white jade pendant hanging in mid-air.


    This snow-white jade pendant was none other than the Ice Snow Jade Pendant containing nine Ice Guardians!


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a legacy of the Ice King, was a superior-grade Divine Artifact. Faced with the unstoppable and unevadable purple "Primordial Divine Light," Ye Chen had no choice but to rely on the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to resist!


    Initially, in these three great unknown territories full of mystery, Ye Chen was reluctant to expose the powerful treasure he possessed, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. However, now facing a life-and-death crisis with no other means of defense, Ye Chen had no choice but to use it!


    The moment Ye Chen entered into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, the purple "Primordial Divine Light" struck the pendant a moment later.


    The purple "Primordial Divine Light," which the Purple Mist True Garment couldn¡¯t defend against at all, was obliterated the instant it touched the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, leaving not even the slightest scratch.


    As the purple "Primordial Divine Light" was extinguished and tranquility returned to heaven and earth, Ye Chen emerged from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant once again, noting that the pendant was completely undamaged, which left him with a deep sense of relief.


    "Superior-grade Divine Artifact, indeed it is! Without great fortune, such treasures could only be possessed by mighty deities or kings who have survived the eight or nine tribulations!"


    "The Ice Snow Jade Pendant is merely a superior-grade spatial Divine Artifact, and its defensive capability is so powerful!"


    "If it were a superior-grade offensive Divine Artifact, perhaps traversing these three great territories wouldn¡¯t be an exaggeration!"


    After reflecting, Ye Chen shook his head with a smile.


    Having obtained a superior-grade spatial Divine Artifact left by a divine king was already an incredibly lucky feat, let alone fantasizing about a superior-grade offensive Divine Artifact was indeed too much to hope for.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze returned to the immeasurable stretch of the second segment of the Path of Life and Death that laid ahead.


    "This segment of the passage, the Primordial Divine Light, is truly unavoidable."


    "I fear only those with great strength or powerful Divine Arts can make it through this Path of Life and Death. With my current mid-Rotating Pill cultivation and several Divine Arts not fully mastered, relying on my own strength to make it through is somewhat beyond me."


    "Since the Ice Snow Jade Pendant has been used, let¡¯s continue with this artifact until the end of this Path of Life and Death before putting it away!"


    With that thought, Ye Chen stopped wasting time.


    With a determination of his mind, he flew back into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    The next moment, the palm-sized chunk of snow-white jade pendant transformed into a point of sparkling light and bolted forward at an inconceivable speed along the Path of Life and Death.


    Now that he was truly utilizing a superior-grade Divine Artifact, Ye Chen had enough confidence that the defenses of a superior-grade Divine Artifact could not be breached by anything in these three great territories, not even the "Primordial Divine Light" from the Five Elements Mountain level.


    No matter how formidable those "Primordial Divine Light" bursts were, they could not penetrate the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    In such a scenario, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t continue flying cautiously. His speed surged tremendously.


    In just a short time, Ye Chen had already rocketed hundreds of li!


    During this process, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, which had transformed into a point of glistening light, encountered several more attacks from "Primordial Divine Light."


    As a result, the majority of the "Primordial Divine Light" didn¡¯t even manage to strike the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, instantly being deflected by it. Even the minimal amount of the Primordial Divine Light that did hit the pendant was immediately extinguished by it, without the Ice Snow Jade Pendant¡¯s speed being reduced in the slightest.


    Seeing this situation, Ye Chen now had absolute confidence that he could pass through this second segment of the Path of Life and Death!


    Whoosh!


    A point of brilliant light twinkled intensely as it glided through the second segment of the Path of Life and Death.


    No one knew that within this light hid Ye Chen, as well as nine great ice-bound guards.


    Nor did they know that this point of brilliant light was in fact transformed from a superior space Divine Artifact.


    The point darted about.


    The point twinkled intensely.


    Within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen felt the peculiar sensation of flight, the special feeling of traveling through the Path of Life and Death, and in that moment, he had an epiphany.


    The Path of Life and Death is only such in the face of the weak; to the powerful, this so-called Path of Life and Death might be as insignificant as the flight of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, leisurely ignored and instantly traversed!


    On one side was the nerve-wracking, cautious flight; and on the other, a sudden sense of security. This contrast gave Ye Chen, in the midst of his epiphany inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a surge of Qi within his body.


    Within the Qi Sea, shrouded by the starry mist, the three hundred seventy-two Five Apertures Rotating Pills experienced a sudden increase of twenty-four during this moment of epiphany, leaping to three hundred and ninety-six!


    Epiphanies are encountered by chance, not sought after.


    Ye Chen never expected to have such a momentary epiphany in the middle of this second segment of the Path of Life and Death.


    Of course, the epiphany was fleeting; Ye Chen could no longer enter that strange state which caused his Five Apertures Rotating Pills to surge in a blink, induced by stellar mist.


    Seeing that he couldn¡¯t re-enter this peculiar state, Ye Chen simply smiled.


    He continued forward on the second segment of the Path of Life and Death, controlling the flight of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant while looking around.


    Even without an epiphany, experiencing this Path of Life and Death was quite the feeling indeed.


    ...


    Tens of miles ahead of Ye Chen, Ding Xiaojia stood still with an incredibly troubled expression, his teleportation having placed him right in Ye Chen¡¯s path.


    "What to do? What to do?!"


    "Neither advancing nor retreating is an option!"


    "Could it be that I, Ding Xiaojia, will perish in this second segment of the Path of Life and Death?!"


    Ding Xiaojia had already been bombarded several times by the "Primordial Divine Light" and dared not continue onwards through this second segment of the Path of Life and Death.


    But staying within this segment of the Path of Life and Death meant that once time was up, he would be directly annihilated by the Divine Heritage Cave.


    Experience tales with empire


    In desperation, Ding Xiaojia once again activated the Green Spirit Flute to venture forward, but then, just before, a sudden blast of the "Primordial Divine Light" struck the Green Spirit Flute, creating three fissures and draining the Divine Jade that powered the flute in a moment of defense.


    This unexpected turn of events terrified Ding Xiaojia to the point where he dared not take another step forward!


    Ding Xiaojia had already been in that place for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.


    His complexion grew paler and uglier by the minute, but without the protection of the Green Spirit Flute, he dared not move at all.


    Ding Xiaojia was filled with regret for not heeding his father¡¯s advice, insisting on bringing many treasures to challenge Five Elements Mountain, to this Divine Heritage Cave!


    Just as Ding Xiaojia was losing hope, he suddenly saw an extremely bright point of light speeding towards him.


    Ding Xiaojia instinctively tried to dodge, but found that the ultimate point of light stopped abruptly when it was just over three feet in front of him, and then a young figure flew out from the point of light.


    Upon seeing this young figure, Ding Xiaojia exclaimed in shock.


    This youth, was none other than Ye Chen, who had entered the Divine Heritage Cave just before him. Who else could it be?!

 Chapter 452 - 411 Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng

    "Ye Chen, how dare you fly so quickly on this second segment of the life-and-death trial?"


    "The beams of death and the terrifying arcs of light here are incredibly powerful!"


    "A single misstep could get you killed by those beams or arcs, completely annihilating you!"


    Ding Xiaojia watched Ye Chen with utter astonishment.


    He was not only surprised at Ye Chen¡¯s sudden appearance but also that Ye Chen¡¯s speed as he flew towards him was incredibly fast, apparently unconcerned by the life-and-death trial¡¯s mysterious death beams and terrifying arcs of light.


    Ding Xiaojia possessed the artifact "Green Spirit Flute," but even he didn¡¯t dare to fly like that!


    "Could it be that he has an even more powerful artifact than mine, which is why he¡¯s not afraid of the death beams?" Ding Xiaojia gazed at the point of ultimate radiance Ye Chen had flown out from, unable to discern what that point of ultimate light was.


    Seeing Ding Xiaojia¡¯s shocked expression, Ye Chen offered a faint smile.


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant had transformed into a point of ultimate light, so of course, Ding Xiaojia couldn¡¯t see its true form.


    Originally, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected to encounter Ding Xiaojia, the young noble of the Nine-Star Palace from the Jiumang Continent, since after entering the Divine Heritage Cave, he hadn¡¯t encountered any other treasure seekers.


    As for people like Huo Mei¡¯er, Three-Eyed Skeleton, and Jin Lieyang, Ye Chen had no idea which part of the Divine Heritage Cave they had reached by now.


    Chancing upon Ding Xiaojia on this second segment of the life-and-death trial, Ye Chen naturally couldn¡¯t help but pay attention, wanting to see how Ding Xiaojia was managing the trial.


    And he saw Ding Xiaojia trapped on the road, his face a picture of despair.


    Clearly, Ding Xiaojia was completely stuck at this second segment of the life-and-death trial, not daring to proceed.


    Seeing Ding Xiaojia in such a state, Ye Chen would naturally not stand by and watch him die if he was capable of safely passing the trial.


    So, he drove the Ice Snow Jade Pendant directly in front of Ding Xiaojia.


    "Let down your guard, I¡¯ll take you into my spatial artifact and get you out of this second segment of the life-and-death trial." After a smile, Ye Chen spoke directly to Ding Xiaojia.


    "Take me out?" Ding Xiaojia was startled upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words.


    Then, Ding Xiaojia became incredibly excited.


    From Ye Chen¡¯s incredibly fast flying speed and his indifferent demeanor towards the second segment of the life-and-death trial, Ding Xiaojia knew that Ye Chen must have the absolute confidence to pass through this part of the trial.


    Otherwise, Ye Chen would not be so indifferent, nor would he offer to take him out.


    And with Ding Xiaojia¡¯s "Green Spirit Flute" damaged, and his Divine Jade exhausted, he had entered a state of despair. As time passed, his death seemed certain. So, Ye Chen¡¯s willingness to save him was exceedingly exciting!


    What Ding Xiaojia found even more incredible was Ye Chen¡¯s unhesitating assistance.


    As the Three-Eyed Skeleton had said when they first entered the Divine Heritage Cave, many treasure seekers did not care about the life or death of others. Some even hoped that more treasure seekers died, so that their chances of obtaining treasures would be greater.


    There were even those who dealt lethal blows to other treasure seekers.


    In light of that, Ye Chen¡¯s assistance seemed incredibly precious.


    "Ye Chen, do you really want to take me with you?" Ding Xiaojia looked at Ye Chen and asked again with some uncertainty.


    Seeing Ye Chen nod his head again, Ding Xiaojia did not hesitate and nodded repeatedly, "Alright, Ye Chen, thank you for saving me, otherwise, I might have perished in this second segment of the life-and-death road!"


    "If I can safely pass this trial this time, I will head straight for the safe area in the second treasure site and wait to be teleported out when the time comes. I definitely won¡¯t seek treasures in the cave any longer, nor will I be led by the Treasure Cave Key to an even more dangerous third segment of the life-and-death trial!"


    Ding Xiaojia had grown exceedingly fearful of the three segments of the life-and-death trial in the Divine Heritage Cave.


    Having struggled through two segments, he had come to realize that this transformed Divine Heritage Cave was no longer something he could venture in.


    If the second segment of the life-and-death trial was this terrifying, then the even more dangerous third segment was certainly not a place he¡¯d dare to enter!


    Watching Ding Xiaojia repeatedly nod his head and let down his guard, Ye Chen used his Divine Sense to envelop Ding Xiaojia, directly drawing him into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, and then Ye Chen also flew into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Afterward, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant continued as a point of ultimate light, flying towards the end of the second segment of the life-and-death trial.


    Inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ding Xiaojia watched as the strange spatial artifact carried him at high speed through the second segment of the life-and-death trial, and when he saw that the countless beams of death that had previously terrified him into immobility were completely ineffective against the strange artifact space, his gaze towards Ye Chen was filled with amazement.


    He knew that he had truly been rescued.


    ...


    An hour later, Ye Chen stood amidst the green mountains and waters, identical to the first treasure land he had encountered.


    This new realm was precisely the second treasure land that lay beyond the path of life and death!


    The treasures hidden within this second treasure land were even more precious than those in the first.


    At this moment, Ding Xiaojia was no longer by Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    With the help of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen and Ding Xiaojia had successfully passed through the second section of the life-and-death pathway. True to his earlier words, Ding Xiaojia no longer dared to search for treasures in this second land and had promptly headed to a safe area.


    Within the Divine Heritage Cave, all three treasure lands had safe zones.


    Those who were not confident enough to continue exploring the Divine Heritage Cave would opt for the safe zones, to avoid being transported to more perilous areas.


    After Ding Xiaojia¡¯s departure, Ye Chen found himself in possession of a map.


    The map was what Ding Xiaojia had given to Ye Chen before he left.


    According to Ding Xiaojia, his purpose for coming to the Divine Heritage Cave initially revolved around the treasure indicated on this map. However, during the challenges of the second life-and-death section, he realized the danger of treasure hunting here and decided to give up.


    After all, Ding Xiaojia was not confident enough that he could obtain the treasure.


    If he wasted any more time searching for the treasure and got sent to the third segment of the life-and-death pathway, he might lose his life in the Divine Heritage Cave.


    To repay Ye Chen for saving his life, Ding Xiaojia simply gifted the treasure hunting map to Ye Chen.


    After all, no treasure is more precious than the grace of being saved!


    As Ye Chen took the map, he saw that it marked a treasure cave located within a lake in this second treasure land. The treasure within the cave was called the "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng," an incredible item with significant benefits for strengthening the Divine Soul.


    "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng? A miraculous treasure that strengthens the Divine Soul?"


    Strengthening the Divine Soul greatly aids in comprehending Cultivation Techniques and hastening one¡¯s cultivation progress.


    Such a treasure was indeed rare.


    Ye Chen glanced at the map and nodded lightly before vanishing from the spot.


    Two hours later, Ye Chen appeared at the bottom of the lake indicated on the map. With Qi protecting his body, Ye Chen saw a large cave revealed within a mound at the lake¡¯s bottom.


    Entering the cave, one could see a dirt path stretching downward inside, winding deep below.


    Strangely enough, upon entering the cave, the surrounding lake water seemed to be segregated, not allowing a single drop into the passageway.


    "There is indeed a passage hidden under the lake."


    "It seems Ding Xiaojia¡¯s map is indeed accurate."


    Although the treasure-hunting location was not dangerous, Ye Chen remained cautious as he proceeded through the underground passage.


    After traveling for roughly twenty li along the passage and reaching an unknown depth, Ye Chen suddenly saw brightness ahead, and a round exit appeared.


    Ye Chen¡¯s face shifted in an instant, and he quickened his pace towards the exit.


    Upon reaching the exit, Ye Chen discovered another space hidden within.


    He saw a long bridge within this space, stretching from the ground towards the sky, where a floating palace hovered above the void.


    Apart from the bridge and palace, every other area in this space was completely empty.


    Mere sight of the strange space hidden at the depths of the lake¡¯s passage and a floating palace in the void above made Ye Chen realize that this was indeed a secret treasure haven within the second treasure land.


    Subsequently, Ye Chen stepped onto the bridge and began walking towards the floating palace.


    Experience more content on empire


    Once inside the palace, Ye Chen found that the grand hall contained ten white jade pedestals.


    Each of these pedestals was enveloped in an enchantment barrier, with each barrier being a dense white, making it impossible to see what was inside.


    Furthermore, next to these ten white jade pedestals stood a white jade pillar of treasures.


    Written on the pillar were the instructions for claiming treasures in the palace!

 Chapter 453 - 412: Retrieving the Treasure

    Ye Chen looked at the instructions for obtaining the treasure.


    He saw that it read, "This hall is known as the ¡¯Soul Treasure Hall,¡¯ containing ten soul-nurturing spirit treasures of immense importance to cultivating the Divine Soul¡ªthe Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng."


    "These ten Nine Suns Spirit Ginsengs vary in preciousness. The least valuable is a 300-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, while the most precious is one that is 10,000 years old!"


    "A 300-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng is only sufficient for martial artists at the Rotating Pill Realm to nourish their Divine Souls, whereas a 10,000-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng is even fit for the use of those at the Four Tribulations True God level! Even for those of lower realms, obtaining it can suffice until they reach the Four Tribulations True God tier!"


    "As for the rules of obtaining treasures here, under the cover of the protective enchantments, no one knows which platform has the most valuable Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng. Each treasure hunter in this Soul Treasure Hall only has one chance to choose a platform and take a treasure, which can only be accessed with the Treasure Cave Key to activate the treasure¡¯s protective enchantments. Once this is done, no other platform¡¯s treasures can be taken."


    "Each time the Divine Heritage Cave opens, the ten treasures inside are regenerated. However, if the treasure on the platform you¡¯ve chosen has already been taken by another treasure hunter in the current opening of the Divine Heritage Cave, then your chance to take a treasure will be directly wasted!"


    "Furthermore, even if the treasure remains, if you cannot break the protective enchantments around it, it will also be unattainable. There is only a quarter of an hour to break these enchantments, and if this time is exceeded, the opportunity to take a treasure is likewise lost."


    "Whether or not you can get the treasure you desire will depend on your luck and strength."


    After reading the instructions on the stone pillar, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes returned to the protective enchantments above the ten jade platforms.


    So you need both luck and strength to obtain the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng here?


    Indeed, as the instructions say, if one is unlucky and the treasure on the chosen platform has already been taken by someone else, then the single chance to obtain a treasure would be squandered, which is certainly very unfortunate.


    Strength is also important. Even if you pick the most valuable Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, if you don¡¯t have the strength to break the protective enchantments around it, it would all be in vain.


    "Of the ten Nine Suns Spirit Ginsengs, of course the 10,000-year-old one is the most precious! Everyone wants to obtain that Ginseng because, once acquired, it can be used up to the Four Tribulations True God level!"


    "But with the protective enchantments a hazy white, there is no way to tell which platform holds the most precious Ginseng."


    Ye Chen paced outside the ten jade platforms, observing them while figuring out a way to obtain the most valuable Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng.


    However, to his disappointment, the ten jade platforms were identical, even down to the appearance of the protective enchantments on them, making it impossible to discern any differences.


    And when he extended his Divine Sense toward these enchantments, his Divine Sense was repelled the instant it touched them!


    Even when he summoned his nine Icebound Guards, the most powerful among them, Bing Shiyi, was unable to identify which platform contained the most precious Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng.


    In the end, Ye Chen could only sigh, "The one who left this Divine Heritage Cave behind must have been a great and formidable being. There¡¯s even a legacy for Four Tribulations True Gods here; the strength of this being must far surpass that of a Four Tribulations True God! Their protective measures are not something we who have yet to reach the True God level could break through."


    "Could it be that this time, we really have to rely on luck and just randomly pick any platform?"


    With no choice left, Ye Chen paced once more around the ten jade platforms before making a decision.


    "I might as well just randomly choose a platform," he finally decided.


    "After all, this ¡¯Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng¡¯ clue was given by Ding Xiaojia, so obtaining any one of them is an unexpected gain. There¡¯s also only one day to hunt for treasures in this second treasure location; I can¡¯t afford to waste any more time here."


    Feeling the urgency and with no more hesitation, Ye Chen made up his mind to choose a platform and went straight toward the one closest to him.


    This platform was the second one among the ten.


    "I don¡¯t hope for the most precious Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng on this platform; I just wish that it hasn¡¯t been taken!"


    After standing next to the platform, Ye Chen took out the Treasure Cave Key and, following the instructions on the pillar, lightly touched the protective enchantment with it.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Instantly, the white haze within the enchantment began to flash and fade rapidly, gradually revealing the contents inside the protective enchantment.


    As the white haze started to dissipate, Ye Chen¡¯s heart rose in anticipation.


    Has the treasure inside been taken?


    How many years does the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng here account for?


    Ye Chen was both nervous and expectant.


    As the white, misty light began to dissipate by half, Ye Chen discovered that a small section of a spirit ginseng had been revealed.


    On the stone platform, Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng was present, and it had not been taken by anyone else! Explore more stories with empire


    Ye Chen felt an immense relief in his heart. As long as there was something, even the lowest-grade Three Hundred Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng would be useful to him now in the Rotating Pill Realm.


    And when the white, misty light had completely vanished, Ye Chen grew even more excited because he found that as the light completely dispersed, there appeared a golden spirit ginseng as thick as an infant¡¯s arm and over three feet long, with nine green leaves growing on it.


    At the same time, a voice echoed: "The Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng on this stone platform is a Ten Thousand Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng! You have fifteen minutes to break the enchantment barrier and claim this treasure!"


    A Ten Thousand Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng?!


    Could it be sufficient for a Four Tribulations True God to use?!


    Ye Chen had not expected that the stone platform he had chosen at random would contain the most precious one out of the ten Nine Suns Spirit Ginsengs!


    "Could it be that after almost leaving the first treasure site empty-handed, my luck has finally turned around in this second treasure site?"


    Ye Chen said with a smile.


    However, he soon suppressed his excitement and his expression turned serious again.


    Although the most precious Ten Thousand Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng had been revealed on the stone platform, the enchantment barrier on the outside was not yet broken, and he only had fifteen minutes to break through and claim the treasure.


    If he couldn¡¯t break through, the joy could very well turn into sorrow when the time was up!


    Looking at the enchantment barrier around the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    Then, in an instant, the 396 mid Rotating Pill Realm Pellets within him shone brightly, and at the same time, an extreme golden light appeared in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, the Golden Light Divine Slash from the Five Great Divine Arts!


    Boom!


    When Ye Chen unleashed the Golden Light Divine Slash, the supreme golden light directly struck the enchantment barrier.


    Yet, even a move that could kill many mid-stage Heavenly Saints on the spot didn¡¯t leave a mark on this enchantment barrier.


    "Could it be that because this Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng is the most precious, the barrier protecting it is also the strongest?"


    As the minutes to break the enchantment swiftly ticked by, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t afford to ponder any longer. In an instant, he made a move, and his Life-bound Flying Sword, "Crimson Fire", soared into action.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Ye Chen pinched the spell in his hand, and the flying sword emitted a crisp sword chant. At the same time, the power from his Five Great Divine Arts, along with the foundation power of the 810 stances from Icebound Divine Body, and the might of the Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art, all burst into the Crimson Fire Flying Sword.


    Ye Chen was ready to use his most powerful move to break the barrier!


    If he couldn¡¯t break it, he would have to let the Nine Icebound Guardians try, or else stimulate the True God Talisman and borrow the power of a True God to break the enchantment.


    Zoom!


    When Ye Chen had gathered all the Divine Arts into the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword, it thunderously flew towards the barrier, and Ye Chen¡¯s eyes were tightly fixed on the collision between the flying sword and the barrier.


    The next moment.


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword struck the enchantment barrier directly.


    Then, to Ye Chen¡¯s immense joy, a "crack" sound came, and this time, with the combined force of the Divine Arts and the unleashed flying sword, the enchantment barrier finally burst.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    And once the cracks started to appear, the sound of breaking grew louder, until at last, countless fractures covered the entire barrier, and it turned into a stream of light that "boomed" and disappeared without a trace.


    After the enchantment barrier vanished, within its confines, on top of the stone platform, the Ten Thousand Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng appeared right before Ye Chen!

 Chapter 454 - 413: Going Crazy

    Looking at the Golden "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng" on the stone platform, as thick as a baby¡¯s arm and over three feet long, Ye Chen¡¯s heart pounded furiously.


    He directly picked up the Spirit Ginseng.


    Success!


    Ye Chen had not expected that, under the simultaneous assault of the "Crimson Fire" flying sword and several Divine Arts, he eventually succeeded in breaking the prohibitive light shield surrounding the stone platform, obtaining the most precious "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng."


    This "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng" was extremely heavy to hold.


    It should be noted that Ye Chen¡¯s combat strength had reached the level almost of a late-stage Heavenly Saint existence.


    Even objects weighing thousands or hundreds of thousands of pounds, could be effortlessly lifted by Ye Chen amid the sweep of his mighty Qi.


    But this ten-thousand-year-old "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng," despite being only a little over three feet long, truly felt in Ye Chen¡¯s hands as if he was grasping a colossal mountain.


    Although small in size, the ginseng likely weighed more than ten million catties.


    It was hard to imagine what immense energy was contained within this small Spirit Ginseng!


    The entirety of the Spirit Ginseng¡¯s energy did not leak out at all; it was only when Ye Chen touched the inside of the Spirit Ginseng with his Divine Sense that he felt an exceedingly warm sensation being transmitted into his Divine Sense.


    This sensation was as if his Divine Sense had been immersed in warm seawater!


    And merely by briefly touching it, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense began to grow rapidly!


    "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, the legendary treasure that nourishes the soul, truly lives up to its reputation!" he exclaimed.


    Without even using it, but merely by touching it briefly, Ye Chen caught a glimpse of the marvel of this most precious ten-thousand-year-old "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng."


    After taking another deep look at the Spirit Ginseng, Ye Chen placed it inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Then, Ye Chen saw that as he put away the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, the prohibitive light shield that he had broken around the stone platform where the ginseng had been, flew out again and once more covered the stone platform.


    The entire stone platform returned to its original state, as if the treasure inside had never been taken.


    Seeing not just this platform, but the other nine stone platforms revert to their original state, Ye Chen mused, "These ten stone platforms, true to the treasure retrieval rules mentioned, whether the treasures had been taken by others or not, it¡¯s completely indiscernible."


    "Luckily, my luck wasn¡¯t bad this time. Not only was the treasure on the platform I chose not taken, but I also selected the most precious ¡¯Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng¡¯! Truly, after extreme misfortune comes great fortune!"


    After chuckling to himself, Ye Chen decided not to waste any more time in this "Soul Treasure Hall."


    Having used his only treasure retrieval opportunity here and having obtained the ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, it was time to leave and search for other treasures elsewhere.


    With a movement, Ye Chen disappeared from the "Soul Treasure Hall."


    Shortly after, Ye Chen left the strange space where the "Soul Treasure Hall" was located, exited the underwater passage he had come through, flew out of the lake, and headed towards other areas of the second treasure zone.


    After Ye Chen left, the lake, the passage, and even the whole "Soul Treasure Hall" returned to a state of quiet.


    As if no one had ever been there.


    However, not half an hour later, two people suddenly burst into the lakebed and entered the passage, heading straight for the "Soul Treasure Hall."


    These two individuals were precisely the late-stage Heavenly Saints, one immensely fat and the other excessively thin¡ªthe odd pair of extremes.


    As they rushed towards the "Soul Treasure Hall," the corpulent Heavenly Saint mentioned with a laugh, "Successfully cultivating the ¡¯Destruction Eye Skills¡¯ this time indeed served a great purpose!"


    "It even allowed us to successfully pass the perilous Second Segment of the Life-and-Death Path!"


    The incredibly thin Heavenly Saint also smiled, "Yes, the previous time we entered the treasure hunt a hundred years ago, the second segment of the path of life and death wasn¡¯t as dangerous. ¡¯Destruction Eye Skills¡¯, worthy of being the most powerful Divine Art we obtained from the last visit to the Divine Heritage Cave, has a significant inhibitive effect on the restrictions and lethal mechanisms of this area."


    "With it, we might actually be able to get our hands on that ten-thousand-year-old ¡¯Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng¡¯ this time!"


    Upon hearing the incredibly thin Heavenly Saint mention the "ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng," the eyes of the corpulent Heavenly Saint lit up with both greed and longing, "The ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng! Last time, we failed to obtain it!"


    "The last time, we stumbled upon this treasure cave beneath the lake and discovered the hidden ¡¯Soul Treasure Hall¡¯. Yet, both our two opportunities ended in vain, and the treasures in the stone platforms we picked were already taken by others beforehand!"


    "This time, with ¡¯Destruction Eye Skills¡¯ at our disposal, a special Divine Art learned from the Divine Heritage Cave, capable of seeing through countless hidden places and strange Divine Eye abilities! It was with its help that we smoothly saw through the ¡¯Primordial Divine Light¡¯, passing the extremely dangerous second segment of the Life-and-Death Path. Maybe in a moment, Destruction Divine Light will also help us see through the prohibitive light shields of the ten stone platforms, allowing us to choose the most precious ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng!"


    With that thought, the two Heavenly Saints, too antsy to contain their excitement, shot towards the "Soul Treasure Hall" at the end of the passage with incredible speed.


    When they once again stood inside the Soul Treasure Hall, looking at the ten treasure stone platforms they had seen a hundred years before, and the stone pillar with instructions for claiming the treasures, both of them took a deep breath.


    After a hundred years, they were back in this place!


    Whether the Divine Arts "Destruction Eye Skills" they had practiced for the past hundred years could see through the forbidden protective enchantments here was something they were uncertain about.


    After all, according to the instructions on the stone pillar, even a powerful true god might not be able to see through these protective enchantments directly.


    But when they had obtained the Divine Arts "Destruction Eye Skills" in the Divine Heritage Cave, it was said that these skills could see through many hidden things and many special restrictions.


    The ten treasures on the stone platforms were left by the master of the Divine Heritage Cave, and the "Destruction Eye Skills" Divine Arts were also left by the master of these divine treasures.


    Perhaps this Divine Art was specially designed to counter the enchantments on the stone platforms, perhaps it was a special opportunity left by the master of the Divine Heritage Cave for treasure hunters.


    Thinking this, the two Heavenly Saints, one chubby and the other lean, couldn¡¯t help but start to execute the "Destruction Eye Skills" Divine Arts, gazing at the ten stone platforms.


    They wanted to see if the "Destruction Eye Skills" left by the master of the Divine Heritage Cave could indeed counter the protective enchantments left by the same master!


    If they could not see through them, they would have to rely on luck to choose two stone platforms to claim their treasures, just as before.


    In that case, they were likely to leave empty-handed again!


    When they used the "Destruction Eye Skills" for the first time, a strange pale gray light emerged on their eyes.


    The two Heavenly Saints gazed through the pale gray light at the enchantments over the ten stone platforms, and the moment they saw through them, they screamed with unspeakable surprise!


    Under the agitation of the light from the "Destruction Eye Skills," the white mists enveloping the ten stone platforms were entirely penetrated, revealing the contents inside!


    "We can see through them!"


    "It¡¯s true, without the need for the Treasure Cave Key to activate the enchantments, we can directly see through them!"


    "If that¡¯s the case, we should pick the most valuable Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng first, then proceed to claim the treasures!"


    The two, overjoyed, immediately swept their gazes across the ten stone platforms, but as they did, their voices of surprise abruptly ceased.


    Because they discovered that of the ten stone platforms, nine had a Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng inside their protective enchantments.


    But just one stone platform was missing its Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng.


    Obviously, the Spirit Ginseng on that stone platform had already been taken!


    It would not have mattered if it was a less precious Spirit Ginseng that was taken, but when the two Heavenly Saints shifted their gaze to the remaining ginsengs, they saw that the others had only two or three verdant leaves; some even had none at all.


    The most precious of the remaining nine Spirit Ginsengs only had six verdant leaves.


    The two had specifically inquired that a true ten-thousand-year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng would have exactly nine verdant leaves!


    "Someone has already taken one of the Spirit Ginsengs!"


    "And the one that was taken was the most precious ten-thousand-year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng?!"


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    The two Heavenly Saints were on the verge of madness!


    They had finally come to the "Soul Treasure Hall" again, and they had finally obtained the Divine Arts "Destruction Divine Light" which could foresee the protective enchantments, sparing them the risk of having to choose a stone platform by chance.


    But the most precious Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng had been taken.


    If it hadn¡¯t been taken, with their methods, they would have definitely obtained that Spirit Ginseng!


    Now, the most valuable of the remaining Spirit Ginsengs, with six verdant leaves, was just a three-thousand-year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, only enough for cultivating a Heavenly Saint¡¯s spirit; it was practically useless to them!


    They had come for the ten-thousand-year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng!


    They came for that Spirit Ginseng which could even nourish the souls of Four Tribulations true gods!


    How could this situation not drive them to the brink of insanity?!


    "Who was it, who took the most precious Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng already?" bellowed the corpulent Heavenly Saint, unable to contain himself any longer!

 Chapter 455 - 414: The Tongming Mirror and the Pursuit

    ```


    The corpulent Heavenly Saint in the later stages roared in fury, and the incredibly emaciated Heavenly Saint of the same stage also bore a gloomy countenance.


    He understood that the true treasure of this "Soul Treasure Hall" was that ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng!


    All other Nine Suns Spirit Ginsengs were but mere items used by the owner of the Divine Heritage Cave to test the Treasure Hunters¡¯ luck and strength, to see if they could discern and obtain the truly precious item among the ten treasures!


    Last time, they had all left empty-handed.


    This time, having barely prepared adequately, the most precious treasure had already been taken.


    Naturally, he felt a frenzied sense of desperation!


    However, this lean Heavenly Saint did not, like the corpulent one, vent his frustrations through roaring but instead, with a swift movement of his hand, he summoned an ancient bronze mirror treasure into his palm.


    When the corpulent Heavenly Saint saw the ancient mirror treasure the lean one produced, it was as if he realized something and he exclaimed with a thrill of surprise, "The Tongming Mirror! Yes, I¡¯d forgotten Liao had such a treasure!"


    "This ¡¯Tongming Mirror¡¯ can reveal all events that occurred within the space in the last half an hour!"


    "I wonder how long it¡¯s been since that person took the ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng. If it was within the last half an hour, then we could use the ¡¯Tongming Mirror¡¯ to see exactly who took the treasure."


    "Perhaps, we could get our hands on that treasure once more!"


    Towards the end, a murderous intent stirred in the eyes of the corpulent Heavenly Saint.


    His gaze made it clear that if they found the person who took the ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, he wouldn¡¯t hesitate to kill them and seize the Spirit Ginseng!


    While harboring this murderous desire, the corpulent Heavenly Saint also felt some concern.


    Though miraculous, the "Tongming Mirror" could only reveal events that happened within the last half an hour; if the person who took the treasure had left more than an hour ago, the mirror would reveal nothing.


    If that were the case, they would have no idea who had taken the treasure!


    Thinking this, the corpulent Heavenly Saint quickly urged the lean Liao, "Quick! Quick!"


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    "Liao, there¡¯s no time to lose, we can¡¯t waste a moment, check it now!"


    And the extremely lean Heavenly Saint, not needing any reminder from the corpulent one, had already activated the Tongming Mirror.


    At that moment, the Tongming Mirror was already floating in the air, emitting rings of strange light.


    As the strange light spread, a virtual light screen about ten feet wide suddenly appeared in front of the mirror.


    The two Heavenly Saints, one fat and one thin, both peered into the interior of the Tongming Mirror.


    Upon looking, the two burst into ecstatic shouts!


    Because, at that moment, the light screen brought up by the Tongming Mirror showed the figure of a youth attacking the Prohibition Light Cover on the second stone platform, trying to break the prohibition of the second platform!


    And the second stone platform was the only one among the ten from which a treasure had been taken.


    Clearly, this youth was the one who had taken the ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng!


    "It¡¯s him!"


    "He¡¯s the one who took the Spirit Ginseng!"


    "I remember him, he¡¯s the young man who came with us to the Divine Heritage Cave this time!"


    The youth in the light screen of the Tongming Mirror, who had just taken the ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, was none other than Ye Chen!


    Looking into the light screen produced by the mirror, they could see Ye Chen attacking once without breaking the Prohibition Light Cover. But on the second attempt, his attacks greatly intensified, and he broke the Light Cover directly, revealing the ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng with nine green leaves in front of Ye Chen.


    Then, the two Heavenly Saints watched as Ye Chen picked up the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng and saw the stone platform return to its original state.


    ```


    When he saw Ye Chen fly out of the "Soul Treasure Hall" with the Ten Thousand Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, a murderous intent blazed in the eyes of the two Heavenly Saints.


    "Chase after that youth!"


    "We must seize back the most precious Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng!"


    Although Ye Chen¡¯s final explosive sword technique that shattered the Prohibition Light Cover made the two Heavenly Saints¡¯ pupils contract, they had not expected that Ye Chen, a youth at the midpoint of Revolving Core stage, could possess such formidable combat power.


    But they were even less willing to give up the Ten Thousand Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, which even a Four Tribulations True God could use, because of Ye Chen¡¯s powerful combat capabilities!


    Their own techniques were equally powerful. As for Ye Chen¡¯s flying sword attack, it had only surprised them because of Ye Chen¡¯s comparative realm. They were not at all worried if they had to face it head-on!


    "Once activated, the Tongming Mirror can only be used for an hour! After an hour, the Tongming Mirror will fall into dormancy and can only be used again after a full day!"


    "We only have an hour to chase after this youth!"


    "Chase, he must still be within this second treasure area!"


    At this point, the remarkably gaunt Heavenly Saint at the later stages took out the ancient copper mirror known as the "Tongming Mirror" and spun it, and Ye Chen¡¯s figure appeared within the mirror.


    Then, the mirror directly projected a trajectory outwards, shooting forward.


    This trajectory was precisely the path Ye Chen had taken when leaving the "Soul Treasure Hall"!


    This wondrous power was indeed the second divine ability of the Tongming Mirror, the tracking divine might!


    The ability to display spatial movements from the last half hour, combined with tracking, made the Tongming Mirror a truly formidable searching treasure.


    If Ye Chen knew about the Tongming Mirror¡¯s origin, he would be astounded. This mirror was an extremely well-known entity even among lower-grade divine instruments meant for assistance.


    Unexpectedly, the remarkably gaunt Heavenly Saint at the later stages had such a treasure in his possession!


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Following the trajectory shot out by the activated Tongming Mirror, the plump and thin Heavenly Saints at the later stages also took off, following the projection from the mirror as they flew forward.


    And not unworthily so, the Tongming Mirror, a famous auxiliary divine instrument, was spot on in the direction it took for chase, tracking the exact route Ye Chen had previously taken when leaving!


    Whether it was Ye Chen passing through corridors, leaving the lake, or even the trail towards the eastern part of the second treasure area, it was all identical!


    At this moment, Ye Chen, unaware that the plump and thin Heavenly Saints were behind him by a slight half-hour, was tracking him with the wondrous Tongming Mirror.


    He was also unaware of the resolve in the two Heavenly Saints to seize the Ten Thousand Year Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng he had just acquired, and the murderous intent they harbored to kill for treasure!


    At this time, Ye Chen, several hundred miles away from the plump and thin Heavenly Saints, was in a mountain depression.


    Ye Chen was examining a small green copper piece in this depression.


    This small green copper piece was what Ye Chen had purposely bought at the auction in the Sand Sea Palace to obtain that odd wooden plaque inscribed with the character "Illusion," which helped in finding Wood Element Secret Treasures.


    As Ye Chen flew over this depression, he sensed the presence of a treasure within it. At the same time, the small green copper piece he carried lit up with a bright glow.


    Instantaneously, Ye Chen knew that the treasure he had sensed could likely be a Wood Element Secret Treasure detected by this green copper piece.


    Ye Chen had never expected the small piece of green copper he had reluctantly bought for the "Illusion" wooden plaque to be of some use.


    Holding the green copper piece, Ye Chen relied on his own senses, as well as those of the copper piece, to search for the potentially hidden treasure or Divine Heritage Cave within this depression.


    Ye Chen was still searching for the treasure.


    Meanwhile, the plump and thin Heavenly Saints, guided by the Tongming Mirror, were drawing closer and closer to Ye Chen!

 Chapter 456 - 415 Heavenly Wood Puppet

    "I never expected that this seemingly ordinary mountain hollow would hide treasures inside."


    After searching around the hollow for a while, Ye Chen, through his own sensing and the help of the greenish copper piece in his hand, finally pinpointed the direction of the treasure¡¯s aura.


    In a flash, Ye Chen burst forth, flying deeper into the hollow, and after a dozen breaths, he stopped beside a large tree at the very end of the hollow.


    "This large tree..."


    Ye Chen scrutinized the towering tree before him, which was dozens of feet tall with luxuriant branches and leaves. He circled around it, and eventually, he still came to a stop in front of this large tree.


    "The aura of the treasure is most concentrated here at this large tree, weaker everywhere else. Could it be that the treasure is hidden inside this tree?"


    Watching the greenish copper piece in his hand turn into a dazzling green light as he neared the tree, Ye Chen fell into deep thought.


    Then, in an instant, a blinding golden light appeared in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, which was unmistakably one of the Five Great Divine Arts¡ªthe Golden Light Divine Slash!


    With a "boom," Ye Chen flicked his finger fiercely, and the Golden Light Divine Slash¡¯s killing power directly cleaved towards the large tree.


    Then, something astounding happened.


    As soon as the Golden Light Divine Slash touched the tree, waves of strange air fluctuations came from the area it struck. Amid the powerful surge of the divine slash, these air fluctuations violently boiled and suddenly expanded outward in all directions.


    The large tree Ye Chen had slashed at was instantly enveloped by the violently boiling air and then, with a thunderous "bang," the tree tens of feet tall vanished into thin air, leaving behind an entrance to a treasure cave about thirty feet in circumference directly in front of Ye Chen.


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    The large tree disappeared, revealing the entrance to the treasure cave.


    Looking at this, the previous tree was evidently a sort of illusionary enchantment, and by breaking it, the true form of the actual treasure cave was revealed!


    Seeing the entrance to the treasure cave emerge, Ye Chen allowed himself a slight smile.


    "Indeed, the large tree was concealing an enchantment, and inside it was the entrance to a treasure cave."


    "Fortunately, when I was in the Forbidden Ancient Lands, I had experience breaking this kind of enchantment that concealed secret entrances, otherwise, I might have been fooled by the tree¡¯s illusion."


    Ye Chen¡¯s figure burst forward, shooting into the interior of the treasure cave entrance.


    Within the entrance of the treasure cave was a small space, thousands of feet across.


    Ye Chen took in the entire space at a glance.


    He only saw that in the middle of this space was a small earthen platform, and on the platform rested a small green box glowing with a phosphorescent green light.


    "This treasure cave space is so small; it seems the treasure here might not be that precious, probably not reaching the value of the ¡¯Void Sky Quintessence Fruit¡¯ I encountered in the Forbidden Ancient Lands."


    Although he had a premonition that the treasure might not be very precious, Ye Chen was not the least bit disheartened.


    Even if it wasn¡¯t extremely valuable, the treasure could still be of the Saint Grade, which would be greatly useful to him. And based on the sensing from the greenish copper piece, it was likely a Wood Element Secret Treasure.


    Ye Chen cultivated the Five Great Divine Arts, and for the Wood-Attribute Divine Art, he needed to absorb and refine Wood Element Secret Treasures. Even a Saint Grade Wood Element Secret Treasure would be very useful to him.


    Moreover, this was the first treasure cave Ye Chen had found on his own, unlike the previously discovered ant-mutated bug egg treasure cave in the dirt mound or the lakebed treasure cave with the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, which were discovered through clues from the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Ding Xiaojia.


    Just the existence of a treasure within this first treasure cave he had found made Ye Chen very happy.


    It represented a promising start¡ªthe day¡¯s treasure hunt was far from over, and who knew, perhaps at this second treasure site, he might find a significant haul!


    Ye Chen looked at the small box on the earthen platform radiating phosphorescent green light and stepped towards it.


    When Ye Chen approached the small platform, ten feet away, a voice suddenly transmitted: "Treasure Hunter, do not come within three feet of this treasure, or you will face my attack."


    "If you really want to obtain it, you must kill me first."


    "Of course, if you wish to take the treasure but are not strong enough and are defeated by me, this treasure cave will expel you directly, and you will no longer be allowed to enter here."


    "If you don¡¯t have the strength, then leave early."


    As the voice echoed, a wood puppet over thirty feet tall, covered in green vines, suddenly appeared in front of the small earthen platform.


    "A guardian puppet?"


    Ye Chen looked at the wood puppet, sensing that it exuded the aura of a late-stage Heavenly Saint level.


    This wood puppet did not attack Ye Chen immediately but rather prevented him from getting close to the treasure. Only by approaching within three feet of the treasure would it trigger the wood puppet¡¯s attack.


    Ye Chen could see the situation clearly; this wood puppet was specifically meant to protect the treasure¡ªthe small box glowing with green light on the small earthen platform.


    "This wood puppet can speak?"


    "It must be left by the owner of the Divine Heritage Cave; this puppet is much stronger and far more mystical than the Combat Puppet summoned by the Holy Light Heavenly Spirit Mirror I once encountered. The puppets evoked by the mirror, they don¡¯t speak, much stiffer."


    "After passing through the challenges of the life-and-death path, it seems that the treasure hunting ground was much safer, except for the little trouble encountered when taking the treasure. It¡¯s interesting that this wood puppet even warned me not to try if my strength is insufficient."


    Ye Chen looked at the wooden puppet covered in verdant vines with great interest.


    "What is your name? And what treasure are you guarding?"


    Ye Chen attempted to communicate with the wooden puppet, curious to see if it would respond to him.


    To Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, the wooden puppet could indeed converse with him directly: "Treasure Hunter, you may call me ¡¯Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯. My combat strength is at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint level, specifically designated to guard a Saint Grade, high-quality Wood Element Secret Treasure¡ªthe ¡¯Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid¡¯."


    "The ¡¯Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid¡¯ is the essence extracted from the Green Spirit Sacred Tree. It is of great benefit for comprehending the Wood-Attribute Divine Art and cultivating Wood Element skills."


    Heavenly Wood Puppet?


    Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid?


    Upon hearing that the green box contained a Saint Grade, high-quality Wood Element Secret Treasure, Ye Chen¡¯s heart leaped with joy. Although it wasn¡¯t a Divine Artifact or a Divine Object, a Saint Grade high-quality Wood Element Secret Treasure was still incredibly precious!


    Now, aside from the Gold Element treasures, Ye Chen had yet to find any of the other four types at the Saint Grade high-quality level. If he obtained the Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid, it would provide ample support for Ye Chen to properly cultivate the Wood-Attribute Divine Art "Wood Emperor Stacking Skill"!


    What astonished Ye Chen even more was that the wooden puppet could actually reply to his questions. Heavenly Wood Puppet? Ye Chen¡¯s admiration for the master of the Divine Heritage Cave grew even stronger.


    Being able to create a combat puppet with late-stage Heavenly Saint combat strength was already remarkable. The fact that this combat puppet could speak was utterly extraordinary, and now that it could even answer questions, this undoubtedly indicated that the puppet had developed a trace of consciousness.


    To think that a puppet, an object crafted from various materials, could possess consciousness, was certainly eccentric and extraordinary!


    As Ye Chen marveled, Bing Shiwu, one of the nine ice-bound guardians residing inside Ye Chen¡¯s Ice Jade Amulet, spoke up directly: "Lord Ye Chen, the combat strength of this ¡¯Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯, although not too strong, has still reached the late stage of Heavenly Saint. My lord, allow me to strike it down and seize the ¡¯Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid¡¯ for you!"


    "Lord Ye Chen, please let me do it!" Bing Shisi, Bing Shiqi, and other guardians also eagerly volunteered for combat.


    Ye Chen looked at his nine ice-bound guardians with a smile, shaking his head: "Since entering the mid-stage of the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, I haven¡¯t engaged in a real battle yet. Not long ago, during my encounter with the ¡¯Elemental Extreme Divine Light¡¯, I had an epiphany that greatly increased the Five Apertures Rotating Pills within my energy sea. I feel that, although my combat strength may not match a powerful late stage Heavenly Saint, I should be able to hold my ground against an ordinary one."


    "Elders, I will personally battle the Heavenly Wood Puppet this time. If I am on the verge of defeat, then you can step in and help me acquire the ¡¯Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid¡¯!"


    Having said that, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned towards the Heavenly Wood Puppet, as his fighting spirit soared visibly.


    Seeing Ye Chen brimming with a desire to fight, the nine ice-bound guardians exchanged a look within the Ice Jade Amulet and smiled, "Lord Ye Chen is willing to personally engage with this late-stage Heavenly Saint level ¡¯Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯. It seems, my lord¡¯s strength has improved further!"


    Of course, the nine ice-bound guardians weren¡¯t worried about Ye Chen getting injured. Besides their protection, Ye Chen had True God-level talismans on his person.


    Even if his combat strength fell short, and they couldn¡¯t intervene in time, Ye Chen would remain unharmed thanks to the True God talismans.


    Knowing that Ye Chen wanted to test his own true combat strength, the nine ice-bound guardians naturally didn¡¯t hold him back.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Under the watchful eyes of the nine ice-bound guardians, Ye Chen stirred his True Qi and approached the Heavenly Wood Puppet and the Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid.


    In an instant, Ye Chen had already stepped within three zhang of the small earthen platform.


    Seeing the look of intense battle intent on Ye Chen¡¯s face, the Heavenly Wood Puppet knew that the Treasure Hunter intended to fight it for the treasure: "Treasure Hunter, it seems you won¡¯t be satisfied until I defeat you."


    "In that case, try the power of the ¡¯Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯ for yourself!"


    Boom!


    As the Heavenly Wood Puppet spoke, its body immediately expanded, growing to an immense size of dozens of zhang while its giant hand reached out through the void towards Ye Chen, attempting to snatch him in its grasp!


    With the overwhelming might of a late-stage Heavenly Saint puppet, the oddly powerful Heavenly Saint Space within it replenished its combat strength. As it waved its hand, the might it surged with whipped up a fierce storm in the thousand-zhang span of the treasure chamber!


    As the colossal palm of the Heavenly Wood Puppet, now larger than his own body, was about to grab him, Ye Chen instantly summoned the Water-Attribute Divine Art, "Heavenly Origin Divine Water".


    Hundreds of gloomy blue water beads appeared in front of Ye Chen¡¯s palm, which ultimately swirled together to form a huge Gloomy Pearl. Enveloped by Ye Chen¡¯s immense True Qi, it was hurled forcefully towards the Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯s hand.


    At the same time, Ye Chen¡¯s figure burst forward, charging directly towards the Heavenly Wood Puppet!


    Ye Chen was intent on testing whether he had the strength to face off against a late-stage Heavenly Saint level puppet head-on!


    Bang!


    In this collision, the huge Gloomy Pearl, formed by Ye Chen¡¯s activation of the Water-Attribute Divine Art "Heavenly Origin Divine Water", was crushed by the Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯s massive palm, and Ye Chen¡¯s body was also sent flying a hundred zhang away by another palm of the puppet!


    Sent flying backward, his aura violently fluctuating with the impact, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes nevertheless gleamed even brighter, "The power of the late stage Heavenly Saint is indeed formidable!"


    "Since that¡¯s the case, I shall unleash all my strength as well!"


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    All three hundred ninety-six Five Apertures Rotating Pills within Ye Chen¡¯s energy sea vibrated simultaneously as he halted his retreating form, suspending himself in midair.


    At the same time, Ye Chen slightly pinched his finger upon a magic formula, and the dazzling lights of the Five Great Divine Arts began to violently gather within his palms.

 Chapter 457 - 416: Hidden Arrow

    When the Five Great Divine Arts approached their peak concentration, Ye Chen was completely enveloped in an unimaginably powerful aura emanating from the Five Major Virtual Heaven Laws.


    This aura skyrocketed to hundreds of feet in height!


    As the aura surged, Ye Chen¡¯s entire body appeared more formidable than even the Heavenly Wood Puppet, which stood dozens of feet tall!


    Boom!


    With a single step, Ye Chen caused the void to tremble. Centered on his footstep, endless waves of energy crazily surged towards him within thousands of feet in every direction in this Treasure Cave Heaven and Earth.


    Facing the towering Heavenly Wood Puppet, Ye Chen, with his combat power fully unleashed, was in no way weaker in terms of aura; he was even stronger by several measures.


    With this step, the void trembled, and with his next movement, Ye Chen instantly shifted through the void, appearing directly in front of the Heavenly Wood Puppet.


    Following that, a peerless sword light shot out instantly from the point between Ye Chen¡¯s eyebrows, carrying with it the full force of the Five Major Virtual Heaven Laws, and wildly struck towards the Heavenly Wood Puppet.


    Crimson Fire Flying Sword!


    This was the Crimson Fire Flying Sword that could merge with the five Virtual Heaven Laws of Ye Chen¡¯s divine techniques!


    In this exceedingly short distance and with the full burst of Ye Chen¡¯s combat power, the Heavenly Wood Puppet had no chance to dodge.


    And this sentient puppet had no intention of dodging!


    "Very well, Treasure Hunter. Your realm may be low, but to possess such power, you are worthy of an all-out battle with me!"


    "If you truly manage to kill me, then you are indeed qualified to obtain the treasures left by my master!"


    The rolling voice echoed as the green vines covering the wooden body of the Heavenly Wood Puppet suddenly swept out like mad snakes from the heavens, stirring up the entire sky.


    In the stirring, a series of spiritual runes began to flicker on these green vines. Amidst the agitation of endless spiritual runes, the Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯s flying sword directly collided with the one sent by Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the Heavenly Wood Puppet collided directly with Ye Chen¡¯s flying sword.


    In a flash, the whole world was filled with the thunderous sound of true qi explosions.


    The tremendous waves of true qi spawned by the explosive sounds even submerged Ye Chen, who was controlling the flying sword, and the several-dozen-feet-tall Heavenly Wood Puppet!


    And in the next moment, amid the endless waves and the explosive sounds, Ye Chen once again clashed with the Heavenly Wood Puppet.


    This was a battle of the late-phase Heavenly Saint level!


    One was Ye Chen, who had reached the mid-phase of the Rotating Pill Realm but possessed an unprecedented three hundred ninety-six Five Apertures Rotating Pills within his body and had mastered the Five Great Divine Arts!


    The other was the Heavenly Wood Puppet, a sentient, speaking being crafted by a peerless powerhouse, a true late-phase Heavenly Saint level wooden puppet!


    When the battle reached its peak, the figures of Ye Chen and the Heavenly Wood Puppet could no longer be seen; all that was visible was the void being torn apart as two figures incessantly clashed and fought between the heavens and the earth!


    After dozens of moves, Ye Chen was already covered in the fresh blood of battle.


    And the Heavenly Wood Puppet had dozens of its formidable vines completely severed by Ye Chen!


    The fight between the two, even after dozens of moves, had yet to determine a victor, as if they were locked in an evenly matched struggle!


    Wiping the fresh blood from the corner of his mouth, and disregarding the many other bloodstains on his body, Ye Chen, who for the first time fought with his own strength against a powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint, was growing more and more courageous, his eyes becoming brighter and clearer!


    "Is this the power of a late-stage Heavenly Saint?"


    "I, Ye Chen, at the mid-stage Rotating Pill Realm, can now contend with this power!"


    With surging fighting intent, Ye Chen¡¯s three hundred and ninety-six Five Apertures Rotating Pills inside his body rotated even more fiercely, like swallowing and absorbing, and with a deep breath, his depleted qi was fully restored.


    Having recovered his qi, Ye Chen did not hesitate and once again engaged in combat with the Heavenly Wood Puppet!


    The Heavenly Wood Puppet, crafted from wooden materials, also possessed a hint of sentience and was full of disbelief at this moment, "This youth is so strong, capable of getting stronger as the battle goes on, showing no signs of decline."


    "Perhaps, my task of guarding the treasure will end at the hands of this person!"


    "If it truly ends at his hands, then I would not have guarded the treasure in vain for my master. In the end, let¡¯s fight openly. If he destroys me, I can return to the divine item left in the Ice Fire Divine Cave by my master and be reborn anew!"


    Seeing Ye Chen charging at him with no regard for his own safety, the Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯s mind raced as all the green vines on its body burst into flames, and in an instant, this wooden puppet seemingly turned into a burning Fire Wood Puppet!


    With a "boom" of flaming combustion, the astonishing firelight from the wooden puppet collided with Ye Chen¡¯s towering qi aura once again, and the two resumed their intense battle.


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    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The explosions of qi in this battle were even louder than the ones before!


    The entire sky was completely covered by the light of Ye Chen¡¯s Five Great Divine Arts, further enhanced by the terrifying firelight and woodlight of the Heavenly Wood Puppet!


    By the thirty-ninth explosive blast, Ye Chen was struck as though by a giant tree, sent flying hundreds of feet away, spewing a mouthful of blood, and landed on the ground.


    However, the Heavenly Wood Puppet in the sky did not emerge victorious. At the moment Ye Chen was sent flying, the Heavenly Wood Puppet¡¯s wooden body "whoosh whoosh whoosh" simultaneously showed eight cracks.


    Then, in an instant, the eight cracks spread all over the body of the Heavenly Wood Puppet, now dozens of feet tall, filling it with countless fissures, and the next moment, all the cracks exploded together, and the entire Heavenly Wood Puppet burst with a loud "bang," shattering into pieces!


    In the end, the Puppet¡¯s Prime Wood fell from the body of the Heavenly Wood Puppet, and all its energy dissipated into the void, disappearing between heaven and earth.


    The appearance of the Puppet¡¯s Prime Wood meant that the puppet had been completely destroyed!


    The final battle ended with Ye Chen injured and the Heavenly Wood Puppet exploding to death.


    Upon witnessing such a tragic scene, the nine Ice Snow Jade Pendant guardians called out in concern, "Lord Ye Chen, are you alright?"


    "I¡¯m fine," replied Ye Chen with a light chuckle, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth.


    Just as Ye Chen smiled at the nine Ice Snow Jade Pendant guardians and was about to get up and walk towards the small earthen platform, ready to lay his hands on the treasure "Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid" of this Treasure Cave Heaven and Earth, suddenly, two earth-shattering whooshing sounds directly targeted and shot towards him.


    These two earth-shattering sounds were none other than qi auras of late-stage Heavenly Saint combat power!


    Ye Chen¡¯s face changed in an instant. Were there others hidden in this treasure cave space? Had they launched an attack on him in the very moment he let down his guard, just after the fierce battle with the Heavenly Wood Puppet when he was injured?


    And there were two qi auras of late-stage Heavenly Saint combat power!


    What was even more eerie was that not only had he failed to detect the presence of other people here, but even the nine Ice Snow Jade Pendant guardians had not noticed any anomaly in this place!


    As the two combat power qi auras approached Ye Chen in an instant, he snorted coldly and immediately his Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire" turned into a terrifying fiery red sword light, engulfing the two qi auras within the flames, and promptly eradicated them.


    Ye Chen then turned towards the direction from where the qi auras had been shot and said coldly, "Who is it, attacking from the shadows? Show yourself!"

 Chapter 458 - 417 Destruction Eye Skills

    In the cold voice of Ye Chen, two figures flashed through the void, revealing themselves right at the entrance of the Treasure Cave space.


    "Not bad, at such a young age, to endure an injury from a battle with a late-stage Heavenly Saint Puppet, and then to even dodge our killing move, truly a person who is rumored to be unafraid even of Ao Lei, the son of the leader of the Myriad Beasts Alliance!"


    These two figures, speaking up, were one exceedingly plump, and the other remarkably thin: the same two late-stage Heavenly Saints who had tracked Ye Chen all the way here using the "Netherworld Mirror"!


    "It¡¯s you two."


    Ye Chen recognized them; he remembered that among the nine who had entered the Divine Heritage Cave at the Divine Transmission Hall, these two, the fat and thin saints, were present¡ªdue to their starkly contrasting physiques, Ye Chen had an extremely clear memory of them.


    Ye Chen also hadn¡¯t expected that those who had shot the dark arrow to kill him would be these two!


    "If I¡¯m not mistaken, your name is Ye Chen." As Ye Chen was sizing up the two Heavenly Saints who had made attempts on his life, the plump Heavenly Saint turned his piercing gaze toward Ye Chen, and said, "Ye Chen, just hand over the ¡¯Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng¡¯ that¡¯s ten thousand years old. Considering we have braved the Divine Heritage Cave together, we two will leave you a whole corpse."


    At the mention of "Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng," Ye Chen was startled.


    How did these two know he had obtained the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng, and that it was ten thousand years old?


    From the words of the plump Heavenly Saint, it was clear they had attempted a stealthy assassination precisely for that piece of Spirit Ginseng.


    And clearly, by revealing themselves now, they intended to kill for treasure and snatch away the most precious ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng from his hands!


    What surprised Ye Chen even more was that he could sense these two individuals were not even as powerful as Bing Shier; how could they have remained unnoticed by the nine guard protectors, let alone by the much stronger Bing Shiyi?!


    "A ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng?" Although surprised, Ye Chen didn¡¯t see these two as a threat.


    Even though it had been no easy feat to win the battle against the Heavenly Wood Puppet, that was just his own body¡¯s strength. When it came to a real life-and-death combat, Ye Chen had much more than that¡ªhe had the nine guard protectors and two True God Talismans!


    With all his means at his disposal, back at the Second Mountain, Ye Chen had even managed a fight against the Three-Eyed Skeleton with the combat power of a Three Tribulations True God.


    These two late-stage Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen had no reason to fear.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t deny having attained the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng: "That¡¯s right, I do have the Spirit Ginseng on me, but do you really think, just the two of you can make me hand it over and kill me? Are you dreaming?"


    "Haha!" Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the plump Heavenly Saint burst into loud laughter, "We saw your fight with that Puppet just now, and indeed, at such a young age, being able to battle against a late-stage Heavenly Saint-level powerhouse is already commendable. But you must know, not all late-stage Heavenly Saints are created equal. You might have killed that Puppet, but surviving even two moves from us is impossible."


    "One move, and we could kill you!"


    The reason the plump Heavenly Saint and his gaunt counterpart had not acted earlier was to gauge Ye Chen¡¯s hidden strength.


    Having seen Ye Chen¡¯s full outburst, although he managed to kill the Puppet, he was also seriously injured. They judged that Ye Chen¡¯s strength had barely reached the ordinary level of a late-stage Heavenly Saint, nowhere near the formidable combat power of that tier!


    Such strength was no threat to them. Let alone having two of them, even if any one of them were to act alone, they could easily handle Ye Chen.


    They had plenty of treasures, and even if this young man had one or two last-resort techniques he hadn¡¯t used yet, they were not afraid at all.


    They revealed themselves because they had absolute confidence in overcoming Ye Chen!


    Seeing the certainty with which the plump Heavenly Saint spoke, Ye Chen smiled lightly, "Not even two moves? Bing Shiyi, Bing Shier, what do you two seniors think? Are these guys dreaming?"


    Amid Ye Chen¡¯s light laughter, two stunning figures flew out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on his body, instantly transforming into gigantic War Beast forms, standing in front of Ye Chen.


    Both War Beasts spoke to Ye Chen: "Lord Ye Chen, indeed, they are dreaming!"


    One was Bing Shiyi, a snow-white Roc with a thousand zhang body length, and the other was Bing Shier, a humanoid giant beast with a body length of over eight hundred zhang.


    The appearance of the two War Beasts stunned the plump and the extremely thin Heavenly Saints, completely dumbfounded!


    No matter what, the two Heavenly Saints had never expected Ye Chen to have such formidable War Beasts with him, and that these beasts exuded a stronger aura than their own!


    When they had first heard the rumors about Ye Chen, they only knew that he had two rather powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint seniors by his side, but according to those rumors, the combat power of those two seniors was nowhere near theirs!


    How had it suddenly changed to two even more formidable late-stage Heavenly Saint War Beasts now?


    Just how many late-stage Heavenly Saint seniors did Ye Chen have with him?


    Furthermore, late-stage Heavenly Saints, whether humans or War Beasts, couldn¡¯t bring anything into the Divine Heritage Cave without the Treasure Cave Key. How did Ye Chen manage to bring these War Beasts here?!


    The corpulent Heavenly Saint and the exceptionally skinny Heavenly Saint were filled with utter astonishment.


    The two of them hadn¡¯t encountered Ye Chen at all in the first few mountains of the Five Elements Mountain, and even after entering the Treasure Cave in the Fourth Mountain, they were separated from Ye Chen during the teleportation. They had no idea about Ye Chen¡¯s true capabilities.


    It was precisely because they thought Ye Chen couldn¡¯t have any helpers that they were confident they could deal with him. They couldn¡¯t possibly imagine that Ye Chen possessed an upper-tier divine artifact, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, which allowed him to bring all nine of the ice-bound guardians into the Divine Heritage Cave!


    Seeing the astonished looks of these two Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen didn¡¯t care about them.


    In the Divine Heritage Cave, on the path of three life-and-death trials and three treasure zones, Ye Chen had learned from the Three-Eyed Skeleton upon entry that many Treasure Hunters would even kill others for treasures.


    Unexpectedly, Ye Chen now found himself facing such individuals in the second treasure zone!


    These two individuals had attempted to kill without any hesitation, which clearly showed their malicious intent. Now that Ye Chen had summoned his seniors Bing Shiyi and Bing Shier, of course, he wouldn¡¯t let these two off the hook.


    As for how these two managed to evade the investigation of the nine ice-bound guardians and knew about his acquisition of the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng,


    Once they were killed, a Soul Search of their Divine Souls would reveal everything!


    With that thought, Ye Chen directly addressed Bing Shiyi and Bing Shier, "Seniors, kill these two. After Soul Searching their Divine Souls, extinguish their souls as well!"


    It was indeed true that these two Heavenly Saints were much more powerful than Ye Chen, so he wouldn¡¯t take them on himself as he had with the Heavenly Wood Puppet.


    After all, these were individuals plotting against him, not mere Puppets guarding treasures.


    Ye Chen certainly had no time to waste with such people!


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s instruction to have the two War Beasts kill them, the corpulent and skinny Heavenly Saints looked shocked.


    At that moment, Bing Shiyi and Bing Shier bowed to Ye Chen and responded, "Yes, Lord Ye Chen!"


    Subsequently, Bing Shiyi and Bing Shier unleashed their formidable power and charged towards the corpulent and skinny Heavenly Saints.


    Bing Shier¡¯s combat strength was already superior to that of the two men, and Bing Shiyi was even more fearsome than Bing Shier.


    With both ice-bound guardians striking together, the corpulent and skinny Heavenly Saints couldn¡¯t withstand them at all.


    When Ye Chen saw Bing Shier kill the corpulent Heavenly Saint with one move, before he had the chance to use his techniques and artifacts, Ye Chen also speculated that Bing Shiyi could kill the exceptionally skinny Heavenly Saint in one move.


    What surprised Ye Chen, though, was that the exceptionally skinny Heavenly Saint instantly produced an ancient bronze mirror. The mirror¡¯s light rippled, momentarily halting the fabric of space, while the Heavenly Saint¡¯s eyes emitted two piercing grey beams of light, directly targeting Bing Shiyi.


    The slightly hindered Bing Shiyi naturally wouldn¡¯t fall behind in the hands of such a Heavenly Saint and merely took an extra move to break through this late-stage Heavenly Saint¡¯s space halt technique. With another move, Bing Shiyi instantly killed the exceptionally skinny Heavenly Saint on the spot.


    In the end, the two ice-bound guardians pinched their hands, capturing the divine souls of the corpulent and skinny Heavenly Saints, which were about to disperse and handed them to Ye Chen.


    "That bronze mirror artifact just now?"


    "And those peculiar eyes?"


    "Were it these two moves that managed to momentarily halt even Senior Bing Shiyi? Could it be that these two items are related to their ability to discover I obtained the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng and to conceal their tracks from us?"


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    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned to the ancient bronze mirror that had fallen to the ground after Bing Shiyi had killed the exceptionally skinny Heavenly Saint. He also reconsidered the eye attack that the Heavenly Saint had used at the last moment, and his heart stirred.


    He pinched the dissipating divine souls of the two slain Heavenly Saints in his hands and activated the Soul Searching Secret Skills, sweeping towards the two souls.


    Moments later, as the two divine souls completely vanished, Ye Chen lifted his head once again.


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes revealed a hint of surprise.


    Ye Chen murmured, "Destruction Eye Skills? Netherworld Mirror? These two Heavenly Saints actually possessed such peculiar items!"


    As he muttered to himself, Ye Chen grasped the ancient bronze mirror that had fallen to the ground, and two storage rings flew towards him from the two slain Heavenly Saints.


    Ye Chen caught the ancient bronze mirror with his left hand and reached into one of the storage rings with his right. An ancient manual inscribed with "Destruction Eye Skills" appeared in Ye Chen¡¯s right hand.

 Chapter 459 - 418 Inventory

    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze first fell upon the archaic scripture of "Destruction Eye Skills."


    "According to the Divine Soul memories of the two Heavenly Saints, they obtained this secret scripture of Destruction Eye Skills from a Treasure Cave located somewhere in the second treasure site during their last venture into the Divine Heritage Cave."


    "And it is an extremely powerful set of Divine Arts for the Divine Soul!"


    "This set of Divine Arts possesses two great Divine Mights, ¡¯Destruction¡¯ and ¡¯Extinction.¡¯ The Divine Might of ¡¯Destruction¡¯ allows one to see through many hidden things. It was with the aid of this Divine Might of ¡¯Destruction¡¯ that the two Heavenly Saints successfully evaded the shooting of the Primordial Divine Light in the second stage of the Path of Life and Death!"


    "What¡¯s more, by utilizing this Divine Might of ¡¯Destruction,¡¯ they were able to investigate the situation of the ten Nine Suns Spirit Ginsengs protected by a prohibition light barrier! Hence they discovered that the most precious ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng had been taken away!"


    Reading about the Divine Might of ¡¯Destruction¡¯ from the Divine Soul memories of the obese and skinny saints, Ye Chen was also filled with amazement.


    "As for the Divine Might of ¡¯Extinction,¡¯ it¡¯s an even more powerful offensive technique that can directly attack an opponent¡¯s Divine Soul! It was precisely by employing this technique that the extremely thin Heavenly Saint was able to momentarily hold back Bing Shiyi, who was far more powerful than him."


    "Although it was but a moment, in a battle of equal strength, that could directly determine the outcome of life and death!"


    The more Ye Chen learned about the "Destruction Eye Skills," the more precious he found this set of Divine Arts to be.


    Now that the obese and skinny saints were dead, this set of Divine Arts was in his hands, belonging to him!


    Divine Arts are powerful, and of course, Ye Chen was overjoyed, which meant that he too could cultivate the Divine Mights of this set of Divine Arts!


    "With this set of Divine Arts, once I¡¯ve learned it, I¡¯ll have yet another powerful technique! If I had known this set of Divine Arts earlier, those two hiding on the side wouldn¡¯t have been able to deceive me, and I would have directly discovered them! Even more, if I had this set of Divine Arts earlier, during the second stage of the Path of Life and Death, I could have directly passed through without relying on the Ice Snow Jade Pendant!"


    "The two great Divine Mights, ¡¯Destruction¡¯ and ¡¯Extinction,¡¯ of this set of Divine Arts, will surely be used in many places in the future!"


    After understanding this ancient scripture of "Destruction Divine Skills," Ye Chen carefully stored it away.


    Divine Arts cultivation is not achieved overnight; mastering this practice will still require much time and effort. Now, as he was venturing into the Divine Heritage Cave, time was precious, so there was no opportunity for dedicated cultivation.


    Ye Chen decided that as soon as he found an appropriate time, he would thoroughly delve into this set of Divine Arts!


    Next, Ye Chen turned his attention to the ancient bronze mirror, a magical treasure in his left hand.


    Looking at this ancient treasure mirror, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes were even more shocked than when he saw the "Destruction Eye Skills."


    "Tongming Mirror, a lower-grade Divine Artifact for assistance, an exceedingly famous type of auxiliary Divine Artifact!"


    "This item is a rare object that the extremely thin Heavenly Saint chanced upon while venturing in the upper realm¡¯s minor spirit world!"


    "This auxiliary Divine Artifact involves both spatial and temporal laws! This mirror can reflect events that occurred within a certain space half an hour earlier, possessing the divine function of observing past time!"


    "It was by relying on this Divine Might that the recently deceased obese and skinny saints knew about the Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng I acquired ahead of them and discovered that I had obtained the most precious ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng!"


    Previously, Ye Chen could not figure out how the obese and skinny saints knew about the ten-thousand-year-old Nine Suns Spirit Ginseng in his possession.


    Now, knowing the Divine Might of the "Tongming Mirror," Ye Chen finally understood the truth of the matter!


    "If it was only capable of showing events from half an hour earlier, it wouldn¡¯t be too powerful, but what¡¯s even more formidable is that this mirror directly has a tracking Divine Might, which can trace the movements of the people observed within the mirror!"


    "I was wondering how they found me, but it turned out that it was this mirror that revealed my treasure-hunting route to them, leading them here in the end!"


    "Moreover, by employing the ¡¯Tongming Mirror¡¯s¡¯ third function, concealment, they evaded my detection and that of the nine great ice sentinels!"


    Now Ye Chen also knew how the obese and skinny saints had managed to conceal themselves undetected previously; it turned out that it was also by relying on this "Tongming Mirror."


    Investigation of the past! Tracing movements! Concealing one¡¯s body!


    The three amazing effects of the Tongming Mirror left Ye Chen astounded!


    An auxiliary class Divine Artifact, this was the first time Ye Chen had encountered such a Divine Artifact, truly marvelous, and greatly beneficial to Martial Artists.


    What made Ye Chen even more excited was that now this treasure had fallen into his hands. Unlike the "Destruction Eye Skills" Divine Arts that require cultivation for use, after the extremely thin Heavenly Saint was executed later, this Divine Artifact became unowned, and he could utilize it directly after a simple act of acknowledgment and refinement.


    This meant that Ye Chen could immediately make use of this Divine Artifact!


    There was still the third segment of the Path of Life and Death to traverse in the Divine Heritage Cave, and Ye Chen, with the Great Divine Power of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, already had the confidence to get through the third stage. Now, if he could refine the "Tongming Mirror" and possess its concealment and investigation functions, Ye Chen¡¯s chances of navigating the third stage would be even greater!


    The first two stages of the Path of Life and Death were incredibly perilous, but the treasure hunting in the later areas made Ye Chen linger with attachment, and he naturally did not want to miss the even more precious third treasure site.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen did not hesitate and immediately sat down cross-legged and began to refine this newly obtained auxiliary Divine Artifact, the "Tongming Mirror."


    Whoosh!


    With a flip of his palm, Ye Chen sent the ancient mirror flying into the void, where it hovered in the air directly in front of him.


    Then, Ye Chen pinched a secret technique with his hand, and three drops of essence blood along with a thread of Divine Thought flew into the ancient mirror, beginning the process of acknowledgment and refinement of the treasure!


    About two hours later, Ye Chen, who had been sitting cross-legged on the ground, suddenly vanished without trace, his presence no longer detectable within the entire Treasure Cave space.


    The very next moment, when Ye Chen reappeared, the ancient mirror treasure lay quietly in the palm of his hand.


    "The Hidden Divine Might is indeed wondrous!"


    "With such concealment, probably only Virtual Heavenly True Gods could see through my tracks. If one in the Heavenly Saint Realm lacks a magical treasure that can break concealment, even those at the late stages of Heavenly Saint would absolutely fail to detect me!"


    After refining and acknowledging the "Tongming Mirror" as his, Ye Chen tested the mirror¡¯s Hidden Divine Might and nodded in satisfaction.


    "Unfortunately, this item is a lower-grade Divine Artifact and has one flaw: each activation can only be used for an hour, and after that time has elapsed, the artifact will enter a dormant state, only to be used again after a day."


    "It seems that the chance to use this artifact for an hour each day must be reserved for critical moments."


    After flipping the ancient bronze-colored "Tongming Mirror" over in his hand a couple of times, Ye Chen put it into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Next, Ye Chen began to examine the other contents of the storage rings belonging to the fat and thin saints who had perished.


    Inside the two storage rings, Ye Chen found an abundance of top-grade spirit stones as well as some treasures of little use to him. Only two items caught his attention and made him linger.


    One of these items was named the "Heavenly Thunder Pearl," a one-time use magical treasure that the obese Heavenly Saint had found in the first treasure site of the Divine Heritage Cave.


    The "Heavenly Thunder Pearl" was crafted by a Great Divine Practitioner using Nine Heavens True Thunder. In Ye Chen¡¯s possession, the box contained nine Heavenly Thunder Pearls. According to the instructions with the treasure, if all nine pearls were unleashed at once, they could even severely injure a First Tribulation True God and kill a peak late-stage Heavenly Saint.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen drew in a sharp breath.


    Fortunately, Bing Shier had acted promptly, killing the obese Heavenly Saint before he had a chance to use this treasure. Otherwise, even the immensely powerful Bing Shier might have been gravely wounded or killed.


    Unless Ye Chen noticed something amiss and used the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to protect Bing Shier, it would have been possible to save him.


    "It seems I need to be even more cautious in the future. Every martial artist has many hidden cards, and any one of them could kill me. I must be careful."


    Ye Chen reflected on his experiences.


    The fat and thin duo perished because they had underestimated him. Naturally, Ye Chen did not wish to make the same mistake and fall at the hands of another martial artist.


    "It¡¯s said, ¡¯Even when a lion fights a rabbit, it uses all its strength.¡¯ When it comes to life and death, there¡¯s no room for carelessness; one must act with full force and be thoroughly prepared."


    Ye Chen reminded himself, then turned his attention to the second item he had taken out from the storage ring.


    This second item was a small blue bottle containing approximately twenty drops of spiritual fluid.


    "The ¡¯Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid,¡¯ which can rapidly restore vital energy, seems to even be connected to the ¡¯Primordial Divine Light¡¯ from the second stage of the Path of Life and Death. According to the description, this spiritual fluid is nurtured from the site where Primordial Divine Light is born."


    "A single drop can directly restore the expended vital energy of a late-stage Heavenly Saint!"


    "These twenty-odd drops of ¡¯Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid¡¯ could be very useful in prolonged battles."


    After inventorying all the treasures, Ye Chen packed them away and stood up from his cross-legged position.


    He then collected the puppet wood that had dropped from the Heavenly Wood Puppet after it was destroyed into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. This puppet wood was a wondrous wooden treasure for crafting puppets, and since the Heavenly Wood Puppet was of late-stage Heavenly Saint level, the wood was, of course, exceedingly precious.


    Although Ye Chen did not know how to craft puppets, naturally, he wouldn¡¯t leave the wood behind.


    Finally, Ye Chen walked over to the small earthen platform in this Treasure Cave space and took the green box containing the high-grade wood-type secret treasure "Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid" into his hands.


    Upon opening the green box, Ye Chen saw five drops of emerald green, extraordinary liquid flowing inside.


    With just a light sniff of these five drops, the wood-type Divine Pill Law Pattern on the 396 Five Apertures Rotating Pills within his Qi Sea all leapt for joy.


    "The second treasure site, the first treasure I¡¯ve discovered on my own¡ªGreen Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid!"


    "I never expected that while obtaining this treasure, I would inadvertently come to possess so many good things like the ¡¯Tongming Mirror,¡¯ ¡¯Destruction Eye Skills,¡¯ ¡¯Heavenly Thunder Pearl,¡¯ and ¡¯Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid¡¯!"


    With a soft smile, Ye Chen closed the green box and tucked it away.


    Since arriving at the Five Elements Mountain, his gains from just a few months of adventuring were immense.


    In the First Mountain, he vanquished Ao Lei and obtained the Treasure Cave Key and Purple Mist True Garment; in the Second Mountain, he encountered the Three-Eyed Skeleton and acquired the Virtual Heaven Five Extreme Fruit; in the Third Mountain, he smoothly advanced to the mid-stage of Rotating Pill; and now, having just entered the Fourth Mountain¡¯s Divine Heritage Cave five days ago, he had already found many treasures.


    "In the Divine Heritage Cave, there are ten more days of exploration, and there¡¯s still over half a day left to search in the second treasure site. With the remaining time, I can take a look at the third segment of the Path of Life and Death and the third treasure site!"


    "After that, I can leave the mountain and prepare to return to the Savage Continent!"


    With this in mind, Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts turned to Jiang Yao, who was far away in the Heavenly Saint Palace on the Savage Continent. Having not seen her for several months, Ye Chen wondered how Jiang Yao was faring now.

 Chapter 460 - 419 Death Illusionary Realm

    While Ye Chen, far away in the second treasure site of the "Divine Heritage Cave" within the Five Elements Mountain, longed for Jiang Yao.


    In the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, within the deepest secret lake sanctuary of Heavenly Saint Mountain.


    Jiang Yao, wearing a simple and elegant white dress, was sitting by the lake, her star-like radiant and bright eyes gazing into the distance.


    "Princess Yao, you¡¯re missing Ye Chen again," a voice said.


    Hundreds of yards away from the girl, on a flat boat in the lake, the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, both transformed into human form, were seated in the boat, looking toward Jiang Yao on the lake shore, and smiling lightly as they spoke.


    "It¡¯s been three months since Ye Chen left. Princess Yao has also been practicing in the ¡¯Divine Phoenix Space¡¯ with us for three months."


    "Every month when she comes out of the Divine Phoenix Space, she spends a whole day by herself. Now the only person Princess Yao is closest to is Ye Chen, and she really misses him."


    "Yes, speaking of which, the adventure in the Five Elements Mountain is about to end. I wonder how Ye Chen¡¯s findings will turn out this time. Princess Yao has achieved great success this time with the three months of accelerated time in the ¡¯Divine Phoenix Space¡¯," Mu Lan True God said sentimentally.


    True Phoenix also smiled gently, "This young man Ye Chen does not have the bloodline of the ancient clans from the Upper Realm. With his own effort, he has achieved such feats. He¡¯s someone with great will, persistence, and fortune. His gains from this adventure in the Five Elements Mountain will certainly not be small."


    Mu Lan True God nodded, "Indeed, I do hope Ye Chen can continue this miraculous journey. Princess Yao¡¯s father and mother are still in the hands of the Divine King, and the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan, the enemies of the Divine Phoenix Clan, are also still in the Upper Realm. Ye Chen would definitely not want the Princess to face these alone. Only if he is strong enough can he stand before her and be her true support."


    True Phoenix¡¯s eyes shimmered with light, fixated on the distant sky, just like Jiang Yao¡¯s, "I believe that Ye Chen will indeed become a true and powerful support for the Princess!"


    ...


    The words of Mu Lan True God and True Phoenix could not reach Ye Chen, separated by countless spaces.


    But Ye Chen, who was far away in the Divine Heritage Cave, knew that just as he cared for Jiang Yao, she, in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, must be missing him as well.


    Thinking of the girl¡¯s beautiful face, her clear eyes, and the warm small hands that always tightly gripped his own when they met, Ye Chen felt a wave of warmth in his heart.


    The fatigue from braving the Divine Heritage Cave seemed to vanish at the thought.


    "Let¡¯s move on!"


    "For my own strength, and for Jiang Yao, for my people, and for Jiang Yao¡¯s people, I need to become even stronger!"


    "Mid-stage Spin Elixir realm, late-stage Heavenly Saint battle power? That¡¯s still far from enough! There are more powerful True Gods, Divine Kings, and even the great Divine Sovereigns... still ahead!"


    Ye Chen, filled with strength, snapped out of his reverie of Jiang Yao and reviewed his items, and his gaze towards the second treasure site became even more resolute.


    "There¡¯s still half a day left to hunt for treasure in this second site; after one more search, I can tackle the final Path of Life and Death, the last treasure site!"


    "The Fat and Thin Twin Saints have already died by my hand, and Ding Xiaojia is preparing to be teleported out. I wonder how the others are doing now. Huo Mei¡¯er, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, as well as Saint Heir Jin Lieyang from the Xuanjin Continent, it¡¯s very likely that some of them have already made it to the third section of the Path of Life and Death, or even into the third treasure site!"


    "I must hurry as well!"


    With these thoughts, Ye Chen¡¯s figure moved, and he flew out of the treasure cave space where the "Green Spirit Marrow Heart Liquid" was hidden, flying toward other parts of the second treasure site, continuing his treasure hunt.


    After half a day, having found two more treasures, Ye Chen was directly transported by the Treasure Cave Key to the checkpoint of the third section of the Path of Life and Death.


    ...


    The third section of the Path of Life and Death is the last and most dangerous checkpoint of the Divine Heritage Cave.


    After passing through this checkpoint, one can directly enter the last treasure site of the Divine Heritage Cave.


    When Ye Chen was transported to the third section of the Path of Life and Death, he found that what appeared before him this time was neither the golden, glittering "Desert of Death" from the first section nor the vast brown expanse hiding the "Light of Death" Primordial Divine Light from the second section.


    This time, Ye Chen was unexpectedly teleported directly into an extremely dark and narrow passage.


    This pitch-black passage stretched on endlessly ahead, as if there were no end in sight!


    If many unprepared treasure hunters were suddenly transported to such a place, especially being the final section of the Path of Life and Death, where even with psychic detection one couldn¡¯t see clearly through the dark passage, it is likely that many treasure hunters would be completely startled without even starting the challenge.


    But now, standing in the dark passage, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes were becoming increasingly bright.


    "The third section of the Path of Life and Death, it really is the ¡¯Death Illusionary Realm¡¯ checkpoint!"


    "The form of the checkpoint hasn¡¯t changed, but this time, every part of the Divine Heritage Cave has become much more dangerous than before. I¡¯m afraid this ¡¯Death Illusionary Realm¡¯ will pose countless times more danger."


    The first time Ye Chen came to this third section of the Path of Life and Death, he seemed to have an incomparable understanding of this place.


    This was thanks to the Fat and Thin Twin Saints who were previously killed by the Ice Eleven and Ice Twelve!


    These two Heavenly Saints had previously challenged the Divine Heritage Cave several times, and through their Divine Soul memories, combined with his own experiences from the previous two sections of the Path of Life and Death, Ye Chen had become extremely familiar with the third section!


    In the memory of the Fat and Thin Twin Saints, the first section of the Path of Life and Death was the "Desert of Death" checkpoint, the second was the "Light of Death" checkpoint, and the third was the "Death Illusionary Realm" checkpoint.


    In the "Desert of Death" checkpoint, there used to be three rounds of monster attacks, this time it turned into nine rounds, and even the monsters themselves became a lot more formidable.


    The "Light of Death" checkpoint, this time, evolved from the "Purple Orchid Holy Light" which could kill many late-stage Heavenly Saints, to the "Primordial Divine Light" that even low-grade divine artifacts couldn¡¯t withstand, and could even kill lower-ranking True Gods!


    In the memory of the Fat and Thin Twin Saints, the "Death Illusionary Realm" checkpoint used to encounter three phases of illusions that could affect and even strangle the Divine Soul.


    Now, having gone through the increased danger of the first two sections of the Path of Life and Death, Ye Chen already knew that the upcoming "Death Illusionary Realm" would likely have far more than three stages of illusions, and the lethality of the illusions would also increase many times over.


    "I wonder how many stages of illusion my Divine Soul can withstand," Ye Chen¡¯s gaze drifted towards the pitch-black passage ahead, "If it can¡¯t withstand them, I¡¯ll have to rely on the ¡¯Ice Snow Jade Pendant.¡¯


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a high-grade divine artifact, unlike the Purple Mist True Garment, a lower-grade divine artifact that could only defend against attacks at the level of True Qi, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant could even defend against attacks targeting the Divine Soul.


    It was for this reason that Ye Chen felt more confident in tackling this final challenge after realizing the third section of the Path of Life and Death was the "Death Illusionary Realm."


    Clutching the Ice Snow Jade Pendant in his hand, Ye Chen took a deep breath and strode forward into the pitch-black passage.


    After traversing about several hundred yards, Ye Chen felt the dark passage vanish, and he was instantly transported to a vast plain.


    The plain seemed incredibly real, hardly resembling an illusion.


    If Ye Chen had come to this plain for the first time, he might have thought he had entered into another space.


    But now, looking at the plain, Ye Chen¡¯s expression did not change in the slightest, knowing in his heart that he was still within that dark passage, and this plain was nothing more than an illusionary realm!


    Because this illusion, Ye Chen had once seen in the memory of the Fat and Thin Twin Saints, was precisely a trial of psychological fear.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen surveyed the vast plain illusion, a thunderous roar came from the end of the plain.


    Then, countless terrifying monsters surged over the horizon like a tide, Ye Chen saw that there must have been over ten thousand of them, each with an aura reaching the late stages of Heavenly Saints!


    The horde of monsters rushed out from the end of the plain, overwhelming Ye Chen in a frenzied flood, and in a moment, they were tens of yards away from him.


    Ye Chen could clearly see the bloodthirsty fangs of these monsters, hear their low roars, and even the putrid stench emanating from their bodies was now unmistakably discernible to him!

 Chapter 461 - 420 Chaos God

    Such a number, such a strength of demons, flooded like a tide covering the sky, a momentum enough to terrify people to their core!


    Truly caught in the midst of these demons would indeed scare countless martial artists to death on the spot!


    Tens of thousands of late-stage Heavenly Saint-level demons, ah, even the trampling of their hooves alone could absolutely crush many late-stage Heavenly Saint warriors into mud!


    But when faced with this terrifying horde of demons that had surged to just tens of yards away, about to completely engulf him the next moment, Ye Chen showed not a hint of fear, not a sign of fleeing.


    Ye Chen regarded all this with utmost calm.


    "Fear Illusionary Realm? Could it be that it¡¯s using this kind of momentum-invoking demons to scare martial artists¡¯ Divine Souls to death?"


    Knowing that this was the "Death Illusionary Realm" checkpoint, Ye Chen already understood that all of this was a test of the Divine Soul, a test of will, a test of state of mind.


    And not a real threat to the physical body.


    These hordes of demons could not possibly be real, they must just be illusions from the Illusion Realm, designed to influence the resolve of martial artists!


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen calmly faced the skyful of demons, the tide-like horde completely inundated him, and for a moment, Ye Chen even sensed his physical body being torn apart by countless demons, blood spilling everywhere, felt countless sharp teeth of demons stained with blood, devouring him.


    Even his Divine Soul felt an overwhelming sense of death wash over him.


    However, at that moment, Ye Chen¡¯s calm eyes suddenly flashed with a sharp light: "Illusion Realm, break! Nothing, absolutely nothing, can affect my will!"


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant gave no warning, so Ye Chen knew that these demons were not really tearing him to pieces, not really killing him.


    All the senses of death were illusions!


    All he had to do was guard his own mind, protect the mind from being affected or assaulted!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With Ye Chen¡¯s roar, in an instant, all the phantasmal forces that had been rolling toward his Divine Soul, all the sensations of death, were shattered by Ye Chen in a blink.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul, like a bright sword, shot up to the sky, cutting through all illusionary effects.


    In the end, when the skyful of demons had completely leaped over him, when the deep roars had all dissipated, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul remained unshaken.


    Boom!


    Suddenly, the world had transformed.


    The realm of demons vanished, and the next moment, Ye Chen found himself standing once again in the pitch-black corridor.


    Ye Chen knew that he had already passed the first segment of the Illusionary Realm challenge.


    "Death Illusionary Realm, if it were my first time in here, facing such a situation, perhaps I really would have been scared stiff."


    "They actually rely on illusions to affect people¡¯s Divine Souls. Knowing that, the Divine Soul is the most fragile thing, once it collapses, even if the physical body survives, it would lead directly to death."


    "If one were to die of fear on this third segment of the path of life and death, that would truly be an undeserved death."


    "However, although I know this is an illusion, I must absolutely not be careless. Since this path of life and death is placed as the final challenge, it clearly is the most dangerous path, and I must not be careless in the slightest, I must not relax my mind at all!"


    Although he had passed through the first segment of the Illusionary Realm, Ye Chen was even more vigilant in his heart.


    He continued to walk forward.


    This time, after walking hundreds of yards, Ye Chen felt the pitch-black corridor gradually recede, and the corridor slowly began to brighten.


    Ye Chen also discovered that there were caves on both sides of the corridor.


    When Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense swept into one of these caves, he shockingly discovered that these caves were treasure caves.


    When Ye Chen stepped into one of the Treasure Caves, on a stone platform in the center of this cave, there lay a small bottle shining with divine light.


    When Ye Chen took the small bottle into his hands, he felt it convey countless texts directly to him: "Inside this bottle lies top-grade Divine Pill ¡¯Creation Blood¡¯, which after ingestion, can directly transform a martial artist¡¯s physique. If all nine ¡¯Creation Blood¡¯ Divine Pills in the bottle are refined, one could even directly gain the bloodline powers of the Upper Realm¡¯s Ancient Clan!"


    ```


    "Creation Blood" Divine Pill? A Superior Divine Pill?


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart was startled.


    He had indeed heard of the Superior Divine Pill, which was absolutely a precious rarity in the Minor Spirit Realm, just as hard to come by as a Superior Sacred Artifact.


    And he had actually entered a Treasure Cave on this third segment of the life-and-death path and discovered such a treasure?


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen was shaken by the "Creation Blood" Divine Pill, a sudden alarm struck his heart.


    No, that¡¯s not right!


    This is still within the life-and-death trial, a stage laden with mortal danger, not yet having entered the third treasure zone. There shouldn¡¯t be any treasures here.


    Moreover, even if there were treasures, they wouldn¡¯t just be laid out in the open like this; certain restrictions would have to be broken through to acquire them.


    This treasure, it¡¯s a fake.


    All of this, it¡¯s an illusion!


    Holding the small bottle containing nine "Creation Blood" Divine Pills, Ye Chen suddenly threw the bottle against the cave wall. As the bottle smashed against the stone, the scenery before his eyes abruptly shifted, and Ye Chen found himself back in the pitch-dark passage.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was breaking out in a cold sweat!


    He hadn¡¯t felt the emergence of the Illusion Realm at all just now and thought he had simply reached the end of the passage, directly stumbling upon a treasure. Had it not been for the peculiar feeling when he was shaken by the treasure¡¯s rarity, prompting him to think it over and see through the illusion,


    he might have directly consumed all the Divine Pills in that bottle.


    In such a scenario, it was very likely that those so-called Divine Pills would have directly killed his Divine Soul!


    Terrifying, too terrifying.


    The incredibly realistic Illusion Realm from before had nearly caused Ye Chen to lose himself completely.


    Ye Chen felt that if the first segment¡¯s illusion of a swarm of Demons was meant to stir a warrior¡¯s soul with fear, then this second segment¡¯s illusion was designed to influence a warrior¡¯s soul with greed.


    If he had really coveted that Divine Pill treasure, he might already be dead!


    Confusion of the soul.


    His Divine Soul was nearly disrupted by that illusion!


    He almost fell into the life-threatening danger of that Illusion Realm!


    Bathed in cold sweat, Ye Chen continued to move forward with a grave and serious expression.


    To advance through this third segment of the life-and-death trial, he must keep going.


    Even with immense danger ahead, Ye Chen had to confront it head-on!


    At this time, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and the Sacred Artifact "Tianga Primal Leaf," meant for protecting the Divine Soul that he had received from the Phoenix Spirit at the secluded Blue Mansion, were already activated by Ye Chen.


    The experience with the second segment¡¯s greed illusion had made Ye Chen extremely vigilant.


    Although he was still insisting on using his Divine Sense to experience these illusions, to truly temper his Divine Soul, after all, this was a genuine life-and-death trial, and Ye Chen obviously wasn¡¯t going to gamble with his own life frivolously.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t let himself die in this third segment of the life-and-death trial just to train his Divine Soul. Therefore, with the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and Tianga Primal Leaf already activated, he was ready for any even more dangerous illusions that might appear ahead.


    If necessary, Ye Chen even considered flying into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to forcefully break through this trial!


    When Ye Chen walked through the dark passage for the third time, after about a thousand feet, he noticed a stone bridge ahead.


    As Ye Chen crossed the stone bridge, in front of it appeared countless young girls with graceful figures.


    These girls were clad in light, sheer gossamer, their ample bosoms and slender, creamy waists half-concealed beneath the fabric, exuding a different kind of enticing allure.


    ```

 Chapter 462 - 421 Metamorphosis

    As Ye Chen¡¯s gaze swept over the delicate bodies of these young girls, his eyes remained exceptionally clear.


    "This is the third segment of the Illusion Realm, probably the Desire Illusionary Realm!"


    "If it were someone else, perhaps this Desire Illusionary Realm would be incredibly terrifying, but I already have Jiang Yao. Even if these girls truly existed, they could never tempt me!"


    "Besides, where could their beauty compare with Jiang Yao¡¯s!"


    Ye Chen stepped forward, walking straight across the stone bridge, not even a flicker of desire in his glance as the girls swarmed toward him.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As Ye Chen strode hundreds of yards past the stone bridge, the mournful, coquettish, and even crying voices of the girls behind him did not make him stop. The bridge turned into a dark passage once again.


    Ye Chen had successfully passed through the third segment of the Death Illusionary Realm¡¯s test.


    This third segment had been somewhat easier to navigate than the second, but Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit remained undistracted.


    The first segment was the Fear Illusionary Realm, the second the Greed Illusionary Realm, and the third, the Desire Illusionary Realm.


    The Fear Illusionary Realm had appeared in the memories of the Fat and Thin Twin Saints, so Ye Chen had some understanding of it; the Greed and Desire Illusionary Realms were new challenges in the Divine Heritage Cave this time.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t know what other Illusionary Realms awaited him below or how much longer it would take to completely navigate this final Path of Life and Death!


    As Ye Chen continued to walk deeper into the pitch-black corridor, it took the time of three cups of tea for him to feel the heavens and earth around him suddenly change.


    This time, the entire world turned a blood red.


    He could even see countless Martial Artists entwined by an inexplicable force up in the sky all dead, with numerous streaks of blood dripping from their bodies, staining the ground with patches of crimson.


    And just as Ye Chen looked up at the lifeless Martial Artists who had bled out in the sky, he felt a terrifying power engulfing his entire being into the Void.


    Then, powerful forces began to assault his body directly.


    This force seemed intent on completely shredding him!


    "Blood Prison Illusionary Realm!"


    For some reason, this term suddenly came to Ye Chen¡¯s mind.


    Unlike the second segment¡¯s "Greed Illusionary Realm," which used illusions to deceive and entice, this blood-drenched world was immediately recognizable as an Illusion Realm to Ye Chen.


    But it was as if he couldn¡¯t resist at all; the Illusion Realm was attacking his Divine Soul directly.


    The Death Illusionary Realm¡¯s challenge not only confounded with illusions but also killed with them!


    If one couldn¡¯t resist the delusions, they would perish within the Illusion Realm.


    If one couldn¡¯t resist the slaughters, they would likewise perish within the Illusion Realm!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As endless forces in the Illusionary Realm space converged to tear Ye Chen apart, the same boundless forces in the actual dark corridor were attacking his Divine Soul.


    "These attacks?!"


    Ye Chen felt a suffocating force pressing against his mind and was about to use the Tianga Primal Leaf and Ice Snow Jade Pendant to defend when, under the pressure of the constricting forces, his Divine Soul unexpectedly began to feel a sensation of growth.


    It was his Divine Soul growing and resisting on its own in a life-threatening crisis!


    Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul was already much stronger than that of many Martial Artists.


    It had also experienced things that countless Martial Artists had never encountered.


    Whether it was being taken to the Barbarian Wilderness Continent by the Stars Tower, the fusion of souls, or the time he directly eradicated Heavenly Saint Moya¡¯s Soul Fragmentation attempt...


    Copious experiences had long since differentiated Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul from the ordinary, giving it a sense of transformation and sublimation.


    And now, in the "Death Illusionary Realm¡¯s" fourth segment, "Blood Prison Illusionary Realm," facing a real attack on his Divine Soul, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul began a thorough unleashing!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Sensing the movement of his Divine Soul, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense snapped to clarity, and he didn¡¯t activate the Tianga Primal Leaf or the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Instead, he used his Divine Soul to attempt to resist the Blood Prison Illusionary Realm¡¯s crushing forces.


    This resistance nearly shattered Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul into fragments under the pressure!


    However, it didn¡¯t shatter!


    Amid the bone-deep struggle, Ye Chen held on and successfully withstood the assault of the Divine Soul!


    Under the barrage of the crushing forces, the threads of his Divine Soul dispersed within the Divine Sense Sea began merging, transforming into a more defined shape!


    Looking into the Illusionary Realm, while Ye Chen fiercely resisted the Blood Prison assault, the version of him entrapped in the Void began to scream in pain and madness.


    It was a thunderous roar of agony as the soul endured the torment of resistance!


    And as the Divine Soul transformed, the howls within the Blood Prison Illusionary Realm grew louder and more resonant!


    This process lasted for a full eight days!


    ```


    Eight days, eight days of Divine Soul annihilation, eight days of Divine Soul resistance, and finally, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul reached the brink of transformation.


    Boom!


    With a loud noise, the "Blood Prison Illusionary Realm" space completely shattered. As this Illusionary Realm space broke apart, within the pitch-black corridor, countless threads of Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul had fully condensed, ultimately forming a closely entangled cluster that shone like dazzling stars¡ªa condensed Divine Soul!


    Martial Artists in the intermediate stage of the Rotating Pill Realm simply couldn¡¯t achieve such a degree of Divine Soul condensation.


    But Ye Chen, in the face of eight days of excruciating pain and the terrifying soul annihilation, endured it. Even at the intermediate stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, he managed to condense his Divine Soul!


    When Ye Chen reopened his eyes, he felt that after these eight days of transformation, his entire Divine Soul had completely changed. Now, his Divine Sense could even cover a distance from a hundred miles to three hundred miles!


    Even when he used his Divine Soul to explore the pitch-black corridor, he could see the dark corridor several times more clearly than before; he could even make out the patterns on the walls of the hidden passages within the darkness!


    The physical body, True Qi, and Divine Soul.


    These are the three signs of life.


    Ye Chen¡¯s physical body, after undergoing the practice of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and the foundation of the Icebound Divine Body with eight hundred and ten techniques, had grown much stronger. In the future, further cultivating the true Icebound Divine Body would make it even stronger.


    Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi is the most outstanding of the three signs, with the cultivation of the Primordial Star Scripture, he had even cultivated three hundred and ninety-six Five Apertures Rotating Pills in the Rotating Pill Realm, mastering the Five Great Divine Arts!


    In the future, Ye Chen would even cultivate his True Qi to an even more formidable level!


    Among the three signs of life, Ye Chen¡¯s weakest aspect was his Divine Soul. Even though his Divine Soul was stronger than many Rotating Pill Martial Artists, he still had to rely on magical treasures for protection when facing the soul attacks of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Now, after experiencing this transformation of his Divine Soul, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul power had made significant progress, laying a solid foundation for future cultivation of his Divine Soul!


    "Nine elders, how long have I been here?"


    Previously, while enduring terrifying soul oppression and transformation, Ye Chen had lost all track of time.


    Now, having regained his senses, Ye Chen directly asked the nine Icebound Guardians within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    "Eight days!"


    "Lord Ye Chen, you have been here for a full eight days!"


    "If it weren¡¯t for the fact that we felt your Divine Soul was not really harmed, we would have forcibly taken you into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant earlier."


    "Just now, we were still hesitating about whether to wake you up, after all, there¡¯s not much time left to explore the Divine Heritage Cave."


    "Lord, are you alright? It seems your Divine Sense has become much stronger."


    The nine Icebound Guardians chattered as they spoke to Ye Chen.


    Eight days?!


    Ye Chen was shocked.


    He had spent five days on the previous two stages of the Path of Life and Death and the treasure hunting in the previous two treasure lands. When he stepped into this third segment of the Path of Life and Death, there were only ten days left before the exploration time of the Divine Heritage Cave was over.


    Now, he had actually spent a full eight days on this third segment!


    That meant there were only two more days left to truly be in the Divine Heritage Cave!


    "With only two days left, I must hurry to enter the third treasure land. Otherwise, if I waste more time here, there will be no time to search the third treasure land for treasures. The third treasure land is the most precious of the three treasure lands, and I absolutely cannot miss it!"


    With this in mind, Ye Chen immediately made a decision, "I can¡¯t delay any longer on this third segment of the Path of Life and Death. Before, I wanted to train my Divine Soul and see what this Death Illusionary Realm was like."


    "I have now seen the Fear Illusionary Realm, the Desire Illusionary Realm, the Greed Illusionary Realm, and the Blood Prison Illusionary Realm."


    "My Divine Soul has now grown strong enough to form its own shape."


    "The experiences and gains were plenty, it¡¯s not wise to further indulge in witnessing other aspects of this Death Illusionary Realm, nor in continuing to temper my Divine Soul."


    "Now, I will fly out of this last stretch of the Path of Life and Death and head straight for the final treasure land!"


    Having made his decision, Ye Chen told the nine Icebound Guardians about his Divine Soul¡¯s transformation, and then his entire being flew into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Following that, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant turned into a point of brilliant light and flew towards the deeper part of the pitch-black corridor.


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant, being an upper-grade Divine Artifact, was also Ye Chen¡¯s greatest reliance while adventuring through the Divine Heritage Cave.


    Previously, on the second stage of the Path of Life and Death in the "Light of Death" segment, when facing the "Primordial Divine Light," it was the Ice Snow Jade Pendant that Ye Chen relied on to pass the challenge.


    Now, in this third segment of the Path of Life and Death¡¯s "Death Illusionary Realm," the upper-grade Divine Artifact, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, could help Ye Chen pass through as well.


    During the flight of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, even the Illusionary Realms had no effect on it whatsoever.


    Inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen felt only that it was constantly flying through the pitch-black corridor, flying, flying, and flying towards the front, never encountering any Illusionary Realm attacks again.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After flying for nearly half an hour, Ye Chen suddenly saw a Transmission Light Formation appear in the pitch-black corridor ahead.


    This was unmistakably the Transmission Light Formation leading to the third and final treasure land!


    ```

 Chapter 463 - 422 Ice Fire Divine Cave

    ```


    Seeing the transference portal appear ahead, Ye Chen was overjoyed.


    After enduring four segments of the Death Illusionary Realm¡¯s crisis and with the Ice Snow Jade Pendant flying for more than half an hour, Ye Chen finally saw the place to leave this "Death Illusionary Realm" checkpoint.


    Full of joy, Ye Chen directly maneuvered the Ice Snow Jade Pendant toward the transference portal.


    Whoosh!


    Turned into a point of brilliant light, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant instantly shot onto the transference portal.


    Then, no accident occurred.


    After the Ice Snow Jade Pendant flew onto it, the entire transference portal emitted a "buzzing" trembling sound. In an instant, a beam of transference light enveloped the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and transmitted it away from the portal.


    The next moment, as a surge of transference light flickered, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant reappeared in a new realm.


    "Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"


    With a slight shake of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen flew out from it, and then, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant returned from a point of bright light to its pendant form and flew to Ye Chen¡¯s waist.


    "Is this the third Treasure Land?!"


    After securing the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen lifted his eyes to survey the new world he had entered. The sight that met his eyes left Ye Chen in shock.


    At that moment, Ye Chen found himself on a high stone platform on the flank of a gigantic mountain peak.


    Looking forward, Ye Chen could see countless undulating mountain ranges stretching out before him, the ranges so vast that they seemed endless.


    This realm was much more majestic than the first and second Treasure Lands, and the scenery was even more stunning.


    He could also see that above those rolling mountain ranges, there were occasional surges of rosy clouds, and even towering pillars of treasure Qi bursting out of the mountains, shooting towards the endless sky above.


    Just by observing those towering streams of treasure Qi, Ye Chen knew that the mountains must be hiding countless incomparably precious treasures.


    The third Treasure Land was also the last and most valuable part of the Divine Heritage Cave!


    At first glance, Ye Chen knew there was something extraordinary about this Treasure Land!


    Ye Chen was ready to fly into the countless undulating mountain ranges ahead to search for treasures when something unexpected happened.


    Just as Ye Chen prepared to move, dozens of yards away from him, the void was torn open and a figure stepped out from it.


    Seeing this figure, Ye Chen exclaimed in surprise, "Three-Eyed Skeleton Predecessor, is it you?!"


    The figure that had walked out of the spatial rift was none other than the Three-Eyed Skeleton, whose Soul Transformation had possessed a mid-stage youth of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Since entering the Divine Heritage Cave, Ye Chen had not met anyone else apart from Ding Xiaojia and the fat and thin saints.


    Ye Chen had not encountered the Three-Eyed Skeleton, Huo Mei¡¯er, or the Saint Heir Jin Lieyang from the Xuanjin Continent.


    Ye Chen had no idea whether these people had managed to pass through the three segments of life and death. In Ye Chen¡¯s mind, it seemed very likely that the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Huo Mei¡¯er, who obviously knew plenty about the Divine Heritage Cave, had a great chance of making it to the last Treasure Land.


    Although that was his expectation, since everyone¡¯s timing to pass the levels was different, suddenly encountering the Three-Eyed Skeleton here was of course a huge surprise to Ye Chen.


    At this time, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, having appeared, directly walked toward Ye Chen and eventually stopped five yards away from him.


    "Young lad, you have indeed shocked me again by successfully reaching this final Treasure Land!" the Three-Eyed Skeleton said, his eyes bright as he looked at Ye Chen, their gaze emitting a strange light.


    Being stared at by the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and noticing the odd look in his eyes, Ye Chen too felt a stir inside, "Predecessor, were you waiting for me here? Speaking of which, I must thank you for the clue to the treasure you provided earlier, which allowed me to successfully acquire the ¡¯Netherworld Ant¡¯."


    Aside from initially attacking Ye Chen in the ancient restricted land, ever since Ye Chen took out the Beiming Secret Tome, the Three-Eyed Skeleton had always been kind to him.


    He had even specifically given him clues about the "Warmsun Sand" and "Netherworld Ant."


    Ye Chen even suspected that this person might be related to the Beiming Clan!


    In such a situation, Ye Chen temporarily set aside his grievances and addressed him as predecessor.


    "Haha, young lad, you are indeed very clever. I was waiting here for you," laughed the Three-Eyed Skeleton upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words. "Do you remember, young lad, that I told you before that this Divine Heritage Cave was no ordinary event?"


    After processing this for a moment, Ye Chen nodded, "You indeed mentioned this at the Divine Transmission Hall, and you also said that if I lived through the third segment of the life and death path, you would tell me the reason why this Divine Heritage Cave is extraordinary. Are you waiting here to discuss this Divine Heritage Cave with me?"


    When first entering the Divine Transmission Hall, Huo Mei¡¯er had warned Ye Chen that this year¡¯s treasure hunt in the Divine Heritage Cave was completely different from the past.


    ```


    Later, the Three-Eyed Skeleton also voiced out a reminder to Ye Chen.


    At that moment, Ye Chen was exceedingly curious about what made the Divine Heritage Cave different.


    After experiencing the trials of three life-and-death pathways and observing the exploits of the Fat and Thin Saints in the Divine Heritage Cave, Ye Chen noticed something off about the cave.


    This time, the Divine Heritage Cave was indeed much more dangerous, and it had many changes compared to before, with significant alterations to the three life-and-death pathway trials.


    As for the reason behind such changes, Ye Chen did not know.


    And obviously, the Three-Eyed Skeleton might know the reason.


    Hearing the Three-Eyed Skeleton bring up the matter, Ye Chen, of course, looked at the Three-Eyed Skeleton with immense curiosity, eager to hear what he would say.


    "Young lad, the reason I didn¡¯t tell you about the difference in the Divine Heritage Cave this time was also a test for you."


    "In my heart, if you could successfully make it to this last treasure land, you could become one of my assistants, and I would tell you many secrets."


    An assistant?


    Secrets?


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton said with a smile, "Young lad, do you know how many days I¡¯ve waited for you here?"


    "A few days?" Ye Chen asked in confusion, "Isn¡¯t there only one day to hunt for treasure in each treasure land? Could it be that senior has been waiting in this third treasure land for a long time?"


    "Haha, the fifteen days of treasure hunting in the Divine Heritage Cave are an ironclad rule and will not change. However, the treasure hunting time for each treasure land can vary. The first and second treasure lands indeed have a treasure hunting time of one day, but after the anomaly in the Divine Heritage Cave, the third treasure land is completely different from before. If you are strong enough and arrive here quickly, you could even spend a full fifteen days inside!"


    "Young lad, I¡¯ve been here for eight days already!"


    Stay in this third treasure land for so long?!


    Ye Chen was completely surprised by the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s words.


    If one really could stay for that long, there would be great gains from treasure hunting in the most valuable treasure land.


    Had he known this earlier, Ye Chen would have strived to reach this third treasure land a few days earlier, instead of being left with only two days to hunt for treasure like now.


    Seeing the look of regret on Ye Chen¡¯s face, the Three-Eyed Skeleton chuckled, "You need not regret it. The reason why the treasure hunting time can change in this third treasure land is that something which only appears once every three thousand three hundred years has emerged. That thing opened just three days ago, and that¡¯s the true precious place in this treasure land. Coming early would be of no use to you."


    "It¡¯s precisely because of that thing¡¯s emergence that the Divine Heritage Cave underwent such great changes and became completely different from before!"


    The words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton genuinely shocked Ye Chen.


    Secrets.


    Indeed, they were secrets.


    Ye Chen had never heard about these things before.


    "Senior, what is this thing that appears only once every three thousand three hundred years and can cause such a great upheaval in the Divine Heritage Cave?" Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but press the Three-Eyed Skeleton for answers.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton looked toward the endlessly stretching mountain range to the north, with a glint flashing in his eyes, "That thing is called ¡¯Ice Fire Divine Cave¡¯!"


    "That ¡¯Ice Fire Divine Cave¡¯ is the most precious cave left in the Five Elements Mountain by the great being who established it, containing treasures that would drive both ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, the Beiming Clan and the Blood God Clan, to madness!"


    "The Ice Fire Divine Cave appears only once in three thousand three hundred years. The astounding secrets within are known to only a few. Even the Beiming Clan and Blood God Clan from the upper realms are unaware, or else countless true gods would have descended upon this Five Elements Mountain."


    Ice Fire Divine Cave?


    The most precious cave established in the Divine Heritage Cave by the creator of the Five Elements Mountain?


    Containing treasures that would drive two great ancient clans to madness?!


    Although Ye Chen hadn¡¯t yet heard the specifics of what treasures were inside the Ice Fire Divine Cave, he was already staggered by the words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    The creator of the Five Elements Mountain, needless to say, must possess unimaginable strength, and Ye Chen even had a premonition that this great being might well be a God King level figure!


    The most precious cave he left behind, the most precious treasure inside, Ye Chen could barely imagine what those could be!

 Chapter 464 - 423 Shocking News

    "Senior, do you want me to act as your assistant and accompany you to brave the Ice Fire Divine Cave?" Ye Chen asked the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    Since the Three-Eyed Skeleton knew so much about the Ice Fire Divine Cave, he should have been prepared to take on the challenge himself. Wouldn¡¯t it be best for him alone to take the treasures within? Why would he bring others along?


    This was something Ye Chen couldn¡¯t quite understand.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton looked at Ye Chen as if he saw the confusion in his eyes and explained, "Although I am familiar with the Ice Fire Divine Cave, I am not entirely confident that I can take the treasures within by myself."


    "Young lad, with the True God Talisman, your strength is not inferior to mine. If we work together, we might stand a chance of obtaining the treasures."


    "Moreover, my coming here has another purpose apart from taking treasures from the Ice Fire Divine Cave¡ªthat is to assassinate someone."


    "That person, you know him too. He is Jin Lieyang from the Xuanjin Continent."


    "With your help, I¡¯ll be more confident in successfully assassinating Jin Lieyang!"


    Jin Lieyang?!


    Upon hearing that the Three-Eyed Skeleton intended to assassinate Jin Lieyang, Ye Chen instantly recalled their first encounter in the Forbidden Ancient Lands when the Three-Eyed Skeleton had asked him and several other Heavenly Saints about Jin Lieyang.


    Back then, Ye Chen realized that the Three-Eyed Skeleton must have had some connection with Jin Lieyang.


    However, Ye Chen had not expected the Three-Eyed Skeleton to be set on assassinating Jin Lieyang!


    What puzzled Ye Chen even more was the fact that the Three-Eyed Skeleton was a Four Tribulations True God. Even if he was injured and hadn¡¯t fully recovered, he still possessed the strength of a Three Tribulations True God.


    And Jin Lieyang was merely a late-stage Heavenly Saint, so for a Three Tribulations True God to assassinate a late-stage Heavenly Saint shouldn¡¯t take much effort. Why then did he say he needed help to be more confident?


    Could it be that Jin Lieyang also had hidden strength or powerful True God Talismans on him?


    Before Ye Chen could voice his doubts, the Three-Eyed Skeleton spoke directly, "If it were the beginning, perhaps I would have gone to face Jin Lieyang alone. Even if he had the means of the Xuanjin Holy Land, I would have ways to counter them. But eight days ago, when I arrived at this third treasure site, Jin Lieyang also entered after just one day, and to my surprise, I saw he was followed by a Void Sky True God, and a Three Tribulations one at that! This situation did catch me off guard!"


    "With you by my side, young friend, if you could hold off that Three Tribulations True God for a moment, I could focus on Jin Lieyang. This would greatly increase the chances of a successful assassination!"


    "After all, I believe that Jin Lieyang must have some prepared measures."


    A Three Tribulations True God with Jin Lieyang?!


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    You see, when he entered the Divine Heritage Cave, he had not seen any Three Tribulations True Gods. If this True God had indeed entered the treasure site, it meant that he had entered the Divine Heritage Cave concealed within Jin Lieyang¡¯s treasure space.


    But treasure spaces shouldn¡¯t be able to bring in Void Sky True Gods, unless the treasure space was a medium-grade divine artifact or high-grade divine artifacts like the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, which could allow entry into the Divine Heritage Cave.


    However, medium-grade and high-grade divine artifacts were exceedingly rare treasures, and in the Minor Spirit Realm, only immensely powerful True Gods possessed them. It was highly improbable for either Jin Lieyang or the Three Tribulations True God to have such artifacts, and even Ye Chen obtained the Ice Snow Jade Pendant only by chance through the inheritance of the Ice-Sealed God King.


    To say that Jin Lieyang or that Three Tribulations True God had also received a God King Level inheritance and owned medium-grade or high-grade divine artifacts was highly unlikely!


    If they did not enter with such divine artifacts, then there was only one possibility left¡ªthat the Three Tribulations True God also had a Treasure Cave Key and used it to enter while in the treasure space.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t know whether that Three Tribulations True God had entered with a divine artifact or a Treasure Cave Key.


    But at this moment, it wasn¡¯t the time to ponder over this matter. Regardless of how that Three Tribulations True God had entered, the key point was that he was now here.


    "Senior wants me to hold off a Three Tribulations True God?" Ye Chen laughed, "The risk is too great. Besides, even though you have shown me some kindness, you almost killed me in the Forbidden Ancient Lands."


    "If you want my help, please reveal your background to me in detail. Only then may I consider it."


    "I also want to know what kind of grudge or favor you have with Jin Lieyang, senior."


    "I also want to know why you chose not to fight me to the death in the Forbidden Ancient Lands and even helped me several times afterward."


    "I¡¯m even more curious about what the most valuable treasure in the Ice Fire Divine Cave actually is and whether it¡¯s worth the risk to join you in venturing there, not to mention dealing with that Three Tribulations True God."


    Ye Chen voiced all the doubts that were in his heart.


    Without fully understanding the situation, Ye Chen would certainly not choose to help the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    After all, whether it was to stop Jin Lieyang¡¯s Three Tribulations True God or venture into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, there was likely a life-threatening danger involved, so naturally, Ye Chen had to be extremely cautious.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the Three-Eyed Skeleton looked deeply at him for a few moments before bursting into a loud laugh, "Young man, my friend, you really are a person of meticulous thoughts who doesn¡¯t take risks without full preparation. All right, since I¡¯m asking for your help and you want to know these things, I will tell you everything!"


    "As for my origins, it¡¯s quite simple. My friend, take a look at this!"


    With a "whoosh," the Three-Eyed Skeleton flicked his fingertip, and a burst of five-colored sword light appeared at the tip of his finger.


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    Upon seeing this sword light, Ye Chen exclaimed in surprise, "The Great Five Elements Sword Light? Senior, are you really from the Beiming Clan?"


    Earlier, when Ye Chen had brought out the Great Five Elements Sword Light technique, and the Three-Eyed Skeleton had ceased fighting him, Ye Chen had suspected that the Three-Eyed Skeleton might come from the Beiming Clan, which was why he refrained from truly fighting to the death with him.


    But seeing the "Great Five Elements Sword Light" technique in the hands of the Three-Eyed Skeleton still shocked Ye Chen enormously.


    "From the Beiming Clan?" The Three-Eyed Skeleton chuckled bitterly as he shook his head, "No, while it¡¯s true I have some connection to the Beiming Clan, having cultivated there before, I am not actually a clansman of the Beiming Clan. My true origin lies in the Xuanjin Continent, and my identity was that of the Saint Heir of the Xuanjin Continent, predating Jin Lieyang by five generations!"


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton revealed something completely unexpected to Ye Chen!


    "You originate from the Xuanjin Continent? And were a Saint Heir even before Jin Lieyang?" Ye Chen was astounded as he looked at the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and then he suddenly thought of the third eye of the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    The location of that third eye, on the forehead between the eyebrows, wasn¡¯t that where the Holy Crystals were hidden by the Saint Heirs and Holy Maidens of the Five Elements Continent? Could it be that the third eye of the Three-Eyed Skeleton was originally hiding the Holy Crystal of the Xuanjin Holy Land? Is that why the third eye still had that crevice?


    Seeing what Ye Chen was thinking, the Three-Eyed Skeleton let out a "swish" sound as his skeleton form flew out of the mid-stage Heavenly Saint young man he had been inhabiting and revealed himself.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton pointed to the third eye on his forehead and said, "That¡¯s right, this place once concealed the Holy Crystal of the Xuanjin Holy Land. After my ascension to the Minor Spirit Realm, I left the Holy Crystal to the next Saint Heir. And now, that Holy Crystal is in the hands of Jin Lieyang. After the Holy Crystal vanished, I transformed this acupoint into a third eye, one with the power of a divine sword!"


    "After I ascended to the Minor Spirit Realm, I started cultivating within the Beiming Clan. My friend, the reason why I recognized the origin of your Beiming Secret Tome, and also why I know the ¡¯Great Five Elements Sword Light,¡¯ is not because it¡¯s a technique known to all Beiming Clan people but because it was the very secret tome my master truly cultivated!"


    "It was because I saw that you had received my master¡¯s legacy that I refrained from fighting you!"


    "Your master¡¯s legacy? The True God who dropped the divine sword was your master?" Ye Chen was completely shocked; he had never expected that the divine sword he had encountered when it fell to the world would have such a great connection with the Three-Eyed Skeleton!


    At this point, the Three-Eyed Skeleton also seemed to remember many things, and his voice became somber, "My master was a Six Tribulations True God. My friend, since you have received the divine sword¡¯s inheritance, you should know that the Beiming Clan and another ancient clan of the Minor Spirit Realm, the ¡¯Blood God Clan,¡¯ have a deep-seated enmity, constantly fighting over control of the ¡¯Beiming Divine Sea¡¯!"


    "My master once left to patrol the ¡¯Beiming Divine Sea¡¯, and since then I never saw him again. It was only from you that I learned his divine sword had fallen to the lower realm, and he¡¯s likely to have perished at the hands of some True God of the Blood God Clan!"


    When mentioning the Blood God Clan, the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s eyes were filled with hatred, "Not only did my master meet his end, but even my current state is inextricably linked with the Blood God Clan."


    "After the Minor Spirit Realm opened, Jin Lieyang left Xuanjin Continent to visit there, and he also specifically came to visit me in the Beiming Clan. Being a Saint Heir of generations after me, I naturally took great care of him."


    "But what I didn¡¯t expect was that Jin Lieyang would collude with the Blood God Clan, later betraying my whereabouts to them. During one of my travels, I was immediately pursued and attacked by three powerful True Gods of the Blood God Clan. If it weren¡¯t for a supreme treasure on my person, I might have truly perished under their chase."


    "Jin Lieyang thought that his conniving plots had killed me, never imagining that I was still alive, and that I had come to this Divine Heritage Cave!"


    "What he even less expected was that I had discovered the reasons behind his treachery. He colluded with the Blood God Clan simply to exploit their power for cultivation, so he could successfully venture into the Ice Fire Divine Cave that opens once every 3,300 years, to obtain the ultimate treasure within¡ªthe five ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboos¡¯!"

 Chapter 465 - 424: The Oriole and the Sparrow

    The incessant words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton continually shocked Ye Chen.


    The secrets revealed here were simply too numerous, involving not only the two ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, the "Northern Ming Clan" and the "Blood God Clan," but also the two Saint Heirs of the Xuanjin Continent, and even the most precious treasure trove of the Divine Heritage Cave¡ªthe Ice Fire Divine Cave!


    The ultimate treasure of the Ice Fire Divine Cave is, "Thunder Lightning Bamboo"?


    It was because of these five "Thunder Lightning Bamboo" that Jin Lieyang, in order to enhance his strength and obtain this treasure, plotted against the Three-Eyed Skeleton and the ascendant seniors of his clan?


    If that¡¯s the case, Jin Lieyang¡¯s intentions are truly profoundly terrifying!


    Seeing the shock on Ye Chen¡¯s face, the Three-Eyed Skeleton let out a deep sigh, "Only the Saint Heir of the Xuanjin Continent and the Saintess of the Leaving Fire Continent from our time knew about the news of the ultimate treasure ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ in the Ice Fire Divine Cave. This was deduced after countless generations explored the Divine Heritage Cave."


    "That ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ is not an object of our realm, I¡¯m afraid. It must be a divine object transported by the great power who established the Five Elements Mountain from another realm!"


    "In our realm, we study the Heavenly Void Law of the five elements: metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. As for things like ice and lightning, we can only imitate their essence by observing nature, but when ¡¯ice and lightning¡¯ truly ascend to the Law level or even higher, like the Tribulation Crossing Heavenly Thunder that even many true gods cannot withstand, we simply cannot comprehend."


    "However, the ultimate treasure ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ inside the Ice Fire Divine Cave contains ¡¯thunder and lightning power¡¯ that is absolutely beyond the concept of the Heavenly Void Laws of the five elements¡ª¡¯thunder and lightning power¡¯ from other realms, a powerful divine force!"


    Thunder Lightning Bamboo, the power of thunder and lightning, powerful divine force from other realms?!


    Ye Chen was alarmed.


    From the heritage of the Icebound God King in the Icebound Divine Palace, Ye Chen already knew that besides the Minor Spirit Realm, there were countless other starry continents and lands.


    Even realms with God Kings and God Sages, such as divine nations, existed.


    Ye Chen never expected to encounter an object from another realm within the Five Elements Mountain, and he was even more astonished to confirm, as he had suspected, that the mighty individual who established the Five Elements Mountain was capable of inter-realm travel.


    This mighty individual was undoubtedly at least a God King!


    As for powers from other realms like "ice and lightning," Ye Chen was also aware. He had once cultivated the essence of wind and lightning, wondering at the time if there was a Law of Wind and Lightning above the essence.


    But after coming into contact with higher Laws, Ye Chen realized that all thirty-three continents were governed by the Heavenly Void Laws of the five elements, and billions of essences were derivatives of these five Heavenly Void Laws. Laws like "ice and lightning," though, were incomprehensible in the thirty-three continents.


    Later, from the mouths of the nine Icebound Guardians, Ye Chen learned that other starry continents harbored different forces of Law and even countless stronger types of divine power!


    For instance, the divine power of the Icebound God King was mainly "icebound" divine power, a type of power from the "ice series."


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    Now Ye Chen understood there was also "thunder and lightning divine power."


    If the Ice Fire Divine Cave indeed contained "Thunder Lightning Bamboo" capable of generating thunder and lightning divine power, Ye Chen was quite interested in having a look for himself!


    As Ye Chen felt a stirring of interest, the Three-Eyed Skeleton continued, "The Saint Heir of the Xuanjin Continent from six generations earlier than me was the first of the thirty-three continent¡¯s warriors to discover the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo.¡¯


    Although he did not fully comprehend the full might of the thunder and lightning power of the Thunder Lightning Bamboo, just witnessing the surge of its thunder and lightning power once, the senior who later ascended to cultivate in the Northern Ming Clan knew that if this item were to be crafted into a Divine Sword, it would surely be a formidable one, and it could even restrain the true gods of our old rivals, the Blood God Clan!"


    "The ¡¯Blood God Clan¡¯ practices the ¡¯Blood Demon Path¡¯ and fears powerful thunder and lightning the most. Although they have produced many true gods by defying the heavens with their ¡¯Blood Demon Path¡¯ techniques, not one has become a nine-tribulation true god because, ultimately, their strongest true gods are all struck down by the nine-tribulation heavenly thunder during the final tribulation!"


    "As long as the Northern Ming Clan obtains the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo,¡¯ cultivates it, and acquires more ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo,¡¯ the non-realm thunder and lightning power from it will definitely allow them to completely suppress their old rivals, the ¡¯Blood God Clan!¡¯"


    "Once the ¡¯Blood God Clan¡¯ learns of this treasure, they will certainly scramble for it, to prevent this item that can restrain them from falling into other clans¡¯ hands!"


    "Of course, the senior from my clan who was cultivating in the Northern Ming Clan and learned of the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ did not report the news to the Northern Ming Clan, and the ¡¯Blood God Clan¡¯ was also completely unaware of the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo.¡¯ Otherwise, by now the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ would have likely fallen into the hands of one of the two clans."


    "Why did that senior not report the news of the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ to the Northern Ming Clan? Doing so could have possibly earned him a great reward," Ye Chen asked, somewhat puzzled.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton let out a sigh, "Because that senior ascended from the Lower Realm and wasn¡¯t highly regarded in the Northern Ming Clan. Young brother, the struggle between the six ancient clans of the Upper Realm is exceedingly complex, and within each clan, countless factions vie for power."


    "If that senior had reported the news of the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo,¡¯ it¡¯s likely he wouldn¡¯t have received any reward but rather met his end at the hands of others. After all, with his low status, he had limited access to the Northern Ming Clan¡¯s higher-ups. It¡¯s possible that upon learning of the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo,¡¯ some of those higher-ups could have been tempted to keep the treasure for themselves, leading to a direct silencing of him."

 Chapter 466 - 424: The Oriole and the Sparrow_2

    The words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton caused Ye Chen¡¯s heart to tremble too.


    Indeed, he had seen his fair share of murders for treasures, and just as the Three-Eyed Skeleton said, it was very likely that this could happen.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton continued, "That senior chose not to report the matter, firstly for safety reasons, and secondly, he wanted to improve his own strength with the help of the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ to establish a footing in the Beiming Clan."


    "Unfortunately, that senior could not make it through the Ice Fire Divine Cave and later invited the Ascendant Saintess from the Leaving Fire Continent, who was also cultivating in the Beiming Clan, to attempt the Ice Fire Divine Cave together. In the end, neither of them managed to get through the Ice Fire Divine Cave and obtain the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo.¡¯ Before undergoing his second tribulation, the senior sensed that he was likely to fail and therefore left the news of the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ in the sacred texts within the clan¡¯s holy site, bequeathing it to the clansmen of later generations. That senior also perished during the tribulation."


    "I too learned of the Thunder Lightning Bamboo from the secret texts within the clan. Of course, after ascending to the Beiming Clan, I did not disclose this to the higher-ups of the Beiming Clan either, harboring the thought of keeping the treasure for myself. Later on, as I gradually grew stronger, I also made an attempt on the Ice Fire Divine Cave when I achieved the Three Tribulations True God status. I came close to success, yet I failed at the last moment."


    "Later, as I broke through to the Four Tribulations True God, sadly, before the Ice Fire Divine Cave reopened, Jin Lieyang arrived. I never expected that Jin Lieyang would collude with members of the Blood God Clan just because of the information about the Ice Fire Divine Cave, seeking to deal with me while also strengthening himself!"


    "Him, a late-stage Heaven Saint, actually coveting the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ in the Ice Fire Divine Cave¡ªsuch an insatiable greed!"


    "Young brother, I see that your relationship with the little Holy Maiden Huo Mei¡¯er from the Leaving Fire Continent seems quite unusual. You might not be aware, but Huo Mei¡¯er inherited the position of the Holy Maiden because her mother, the previous generation¡¯s Holy Maiden of the Leaving Fire Continent, perished eight years ago. Others don¡¯t know the reason behind that Holy Maiden¡¯s demise, but I do. She was also a victim of Jin Lieyang¡¯s conspiracy!"


    "Due to the senior¡¯s connection, the Leaving Fire Continent was also aware of the Ice Fire Divine Cave and the Thunder Lightning Bamboo. Apparently, Jin Lieyang, fearing that the Holy Maiden from the Leaving Fire Continent would compete with him for the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯, took the initiative to strike her down!"


    "Jin Lieyang, his scheming is truly malicious. Our five continents, originally depending on each other, ascend and cultivate in the Beiming Clan. Not only did he collude with the Beiming Clan¡¯s adversary, the Blood God Clan, he also plotted against the sons and daughters of other continents. This time, I must kill him!"


    "Otherwise, I fear more people will fall to his hands!"


    Shocked upon hearing the Three-Eyed Skeleton mention Huo Mei¡¯er, Ye Chen exclaimed, "Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s mother, the previous generation¡¯s Holy Maiden from the Leaving Fire Continent, also died at Jin Lieyang¡¯s hands?!" Find more chapters on empire


    Ye Chen suddenly recalled what Huo Mei¡¯er had told him; she had warned him to watch out for Jin Lieyang and said he was not as simple as he seemed.


    Could it be that Huo Mei¡¯er knew her mother had been killed by Jin Lieyang?


    Ye Chen further pondered whether Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s presence in the Divine Heritage Cave meant she was unafraid of Jin Lieyang¡¯s plotting against her again, or whether she was here specifically to deal with Jin Lieyang.


    Ye Chen felt that this quest for treasures in the Divine Heritage Cave, due to the "Ice Fire Divine Cave" surfacing once more, had become exceedingly complicated!


    ...


    While Ye Chen learned from the Three-Eyed Skeleton the countless secrets of the "Ice Fire Divine Cave" and pondered the reasons for Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s intrusion into the Divine Heritage Cave.


    At the northernmost border of the third treasure location, within a hidden rift in the void.


    Huo Mei¡¯er was waiting within that spatial rift, and the green-clad woman with the ancient sword on her back, who had helped her slay the first checkpoint¡¯s creatures from the Desert of Death, once again appeared.


    At that moment, the green-clad woman¡¯s bright eyes were gazing towards a mountain ravine not far from where they were.


    Seeing the green-clad woman¡¯s gaze, Huo Mei¡¯er asked aloud, "Auntie, what¡¯s the situation?"


    The green-clad woman shook her head, "Let¡¯s wait a bit longer. Jin Lieyang has not yet made a move against the ¡¯Ice-Fire Twin Dragons¡¯ guarding the ¡¯Ice Fire Divine Cave.¡¯ Once he truly makes a move, we¡¯ll immediately reveal ourselves and kill him and the True God of the Blood God Clan at his side!"


    Upon hearing the mention of the Blood God Clan¡¯s True God, Huo Mei¡¯er also let out a cold snort, "This Jin Lieyang, he keeps colluding with the Blood God Clan, and this time he even brought a True God from the Blood God Clan here! He caused the death of my mother, and this time, he must pay with blood for his debts!"


    "He probably can¡¯t imagine that I would find you, Auntie, to make a move, and you are a Holy Maiden earlier by six generations than my mother, a great Four Tribulations True God!"


    The green-clad woman with the ancient sword on her back chuckled and patted Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s little head, "Mei¡¯er, although I¡¯m a bit stronger than that Three Tribulations True God at Jin Lieyang¡¯s side, Jin Lieyang is cunning and definitely has other cards to play. We still need to be careful."


    Huo Mei¡¯er nodded, "Understood, Auntie."


    As the young girl spoke, her eyes, like those of the green-clad woman, looked towards the mountain ravine and continued to wait.


    ...


    Looking deeper into the mountain ravine rift, one could see a dark entrance appear within the rift; venturing deeper into this mouth of the cave revealed an extremely secluded cavern within the mountainside.


    At that moment, Jin Lieyang was sitting cross-legged outside the cavern entrance, his gaze occasionally shifting towards the depths of the cave.


    Next to Jin Lieyang, a Void Sky True God was also seated in meditation, clad in blood-red robes with a formidable and terrible aura; he was unmistakably exuding the presence of a Three Tribulations True God.


    The Void Sky True God in blood-red robes occasionally glanced greedily into the depth of the cave, the sign of avarice hidden deep within his eyes. After looking several times, he couldn¡¯t help but turn to Jin Lieyang and ask, "Lieyang, when exactly can we start making our way into the Ice Fire Divine Cave? And why did you have my older brother hide and not appear with me?"


    Hearing the Void Sky True God¡¯s inquiry, Jin Lieyang smiled, "Elder Ying, no rush. On the last day of the treasure hunt, which is also the best day to venture into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, we will make our move then!"


    "As for why I let Elder Xiao remain hidden," Jin Lieyang¡¯s eyes returned to the outside of the cave, "that¡¯s because, this time, it¡¯s not just us who are after the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo.¡¯ There are others as well."


    As he said this, Jin Lieyang¡¯s eyes darkened with meaning as he smirked, "The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind. Those people think they are the oriole, waiting for us to venture into the Ice Fire Divine Cave before they strike at us, contending for the treasure."


    "They would never expect, let alone imagine, that not only do I have Elder Ying the Three Tribulations True God at my side, but also Elder Xiao, an even more formidable presence lurking in the shadows!"


    "Orioles? When they make their move, let¡¯s show them who the real oriole is!"

 Chapter 467 - 425: Ice-Fire Twin Dragons

    "The real yellow bird?"


    Upon hearing Jin Lieyang¡¯s words, the Three Tribulations True God dressed in a crimson robe was slightly taken aback, then smiled.


    "Haha, Lieyang, you¡¯ve thought this through. Since others will come, it¡¯s indeed better for elder brother to stay hidden, just in case."


    Having said that, the Three Tribulations True God in the crimson robe communicated telepathically with another hidden Void Sky True God, who was an elderly man in black clothes with a beard, currently concealed within the space of a golden ring in Jin Lieyang¡¯s hand.


    By sensing the aura of the elderly man, it was clear that he was a formidable Four Tribulations True God!


    Jin Lieyang watched the two True Gods communicate telepathically and slightly shifted his gaze before smiling.


    Then, he turned his attention towards the depths of the cave and continued to wait silently.


    ...


    At the very outskirts of the third treasure land where Ye Chen was located.


    "Well, young friend, I have told you about my origins, my grudge with Jin Lieyang, and the matters of the Ice Fire Divine Cave. Would you like to join me in visiting the Ice Fire Divine Cave?" After revealing countless secrets, the Three-Eyed Skeleton asked Ye Chen with a smile.


    This time, Ye Chen pondered gravely.


    According to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, his goal was to deal with Jin Lieyang and to obtain the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo" from within the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    With a Three Tribulations True God by Jin Lieyang¡¯s side, Ye Chen believed he had the strength to hold them off for a moment. As for any other trump cards Jin Lieyang might have, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t worried.


    Ye Chen himself had a final ace up his sleeve, the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant."


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant was a high-grade divine artifact left by the Ice-Sealing Divine King. If an accident occurred, he could retreat into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. In that case, Jin Lieyang¡¯s party would have no way to deal with him no matter what.


    Furthermore, with the Three-Eyed Skeleton, a Four Tribulations True God who had fallen to the power of Three Tribulations and who was well-versed in the Ice Fire Divine Cave¡¯s layout and personally powerful, they were a formidable force.


    Their chances of victory over Jin Lieyang¡¯s party were indeed very high.


    Joining forces with him would indeed make for a potent partnership.


    As for the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo..."


    Ye Chen spoke directly, "Senior, if I help you successfully kill Jin Lieyang and obtain the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo,¡¯ how shall we divide the Thunder Lightning Bamboo?"


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton smiled, "There are five stalks of Thunder Lightning Bamboo. If we successfully get them, I¡¯ll take three, and young friend will take the other two. Moreover, there are many other treasures in the Ice Fire Divine Cave, which I won¡¯t take any. I¡¯ll let young friend have them all. How does that sound?"


    "Would two stalks of Thunder Lightning Bamboo be enough to forge a Thunder Lightning Divine Sword?" Ye Chen asked.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton chuckled, "One stalk is enough to forge a Thunder Lightning Divine Sword, let alone two. With two stalks, young friend, you can cultivate one and directly forge a divine sword with the other."


    Ye Chen nodded, agreeing with the allocation suggested by the Three-Eyed Skeleton in his heart.


    After all, the Three-Eyed Skeleton would lead the venture into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, and he had almost succeeded in obtaining the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo" before, giving him more experience in acquiring it.


    By just holding off the Three Tribulations True God for the Three-Eyed Skeleton, Ye Chen would get two stalks of Thunder Lightning Bamboo and the other treasures from the Ice Fire Divine Cave, which was not a bad deal.


    With that in mind, Ye Chen gave a slight smile to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, "Since I¡¯ve come to this third treasure land, I would love to witness the most precious Treasure Cave. Of course, I¡¯m willing."


    "As for the conditions you offered, senior, I agree to them."


    "However, I have two more conditions that need your approval before I¡¯ll join you."


    "What conditions?" the Three-Eyed Skeleton asked directly. Experience more on empire


    Ye Chen looked toward the endless mountain ranges of the third treasure land and said, "The first condition is that I am here to hunt for treasures, not to help senior settle a vendetta. I can indeed block that Three Tribulations True God for senior. But if we encounter a situation where even I cannot hold them off and there¡¯s a risk to my life, senior shouldn¡¯t blame me for leaving first."


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the Three-Eyed Skeleton laughed heartily, "Of course. With young friend¡¯s ability and such cultivation at this age, I wouldn¡¯t expect you to risk your life for me. You only need to assist me in this endeavor. If we do encounter a problem we both can¡¯t solve, you don¡¯t have to say anything; I¡¯ll be the first to leave."


    Seeing the Three-Eyed Skeleton agreed without hesitation, Ye Chen then said, "The second condition is quite simple. Earlier, senior mentioned that Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s mother was killed by Jin Lieyang. If we encounter Huo Mei¡¯er during this journey and can lend her some aid, I would ask that you join me in helping her."


    Since Huo Mei¡¯er had also helped Ye Chen several times, Ye Chen felt it was likely they would encounter her on this journey. If Huo Mei¡¯er truly faced danger, Ye Chen would naturally return the favor and assist her.


    "No problem," the Three-Eyed Skeleton agreed without hesitation. "Huo Mei¡¯er is the young saintess of the Leaving Fire Continent, and their line of saintesses has had quite a relationship with my Xuanjin Continent. If I can help her, I will."


    Seeing the Three-Eyed Skeleton agree to both conditions without hesitation, Ye Chen also smiled, "Since senior so sincerely invites my assistance and agrees to all conditions, then I will accompany you to the Ice Fire Divine Cave!"


    "Senior, shall we set off now?"


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton glanced at the sky, then toward the northernmost part of the third treasure land, "Calculating the time, the last day is almost upon us. The last day is the best time to venture into the Ice Fire Divine Cave. Jin Lieyang will definitely choose that moment to enter the cave."


    "We should not delay any further, let¡¯s set out now to the Ice Fire Divine Cave! Looking at the time, we can rest up a bit after we arrive. Along the way, I will inform you about the ¡¯Ice-Fire Twin Dragons¡¯ guarding the Ice Fire Divine Cave, as well as how to acquire the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ from within the cave!"


    "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons?" Ye Chen murmured to himself and nodded.


    Following that, a rift tore through the void, and Ye Chen, along with the Three-Eyed Skeleton, stepped directly into the spatial fissure. In the next moment, they had completely vanished from where they were standing before.


    ...


    Early the next morning.


    The time had come to the last day of treasure hunting in the Divine Heritage Cave!


    As the first rays of sunlight shone between the mountains of the last precious land, Jin Lieyang, who was sitting cross-legged at the entrance of the dark cave, stood up immediately.


    The Three Tribulations True God beside him also stood up.


    As both looked towards the interior of the cave entrance, and heard the sound of dragon-like roars coming from within, Jin Lieyang¡¯s expression brightened, "It¡¯s starting, the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons guarding the ¡¯Ice Fire Divine Cave¡¯ are about to enter their three-thousand-three-hundred-year slumber again. It¡¯s at its weakest now, if we can find a way to eliminate it, we can enter the Ice Fire Divine Cave directly!"


    "This is the moment we¡¯ve been waiting for!" The Three Tribulations True God next to Jin Lieyang also grew excited, "Lieyang, let¡¯s go, we¡¯ll proceed as planned!"


    Jin Lieyang glanced back at the canyon outside before nodding.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Afterward, the sound of two figures cutting through the air could be heard as Jin Lieyang and the Three Tribulations True God flew straight into the darkness of the cave¡¯s entrance.


    At the same time, not far away, Huo Mei¡¯er and the lady in the green dress carrying an ancient sword also stood up from a spatial fissure.


    "Mei¡¯er, Jin Lieyang has made his move, let¡¯s go too!" the lady in the green dress said with a serious expression.


    Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s face also showed a mix of excitement and nervousness, "Yes, Aunt."


    Seeing Huo Mei¡¯er was ready, the lady in the green dress grabbed her hand, and in an instant, they both disappeared into the spatial fissure.


    Not even their silhouettes could be seen flying across the sky.


    However, a strange fluctuation burst into the dark cave.


    ...


    Shortly after Jin Lieyang¡¯s group and Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s group entered the cave.


    Two more ripples in the void appeared outside the cave.


    Within these two fluctuations, a concealed voice transmission emerged, "Young man, this place is the periphery of the Ice Fire Divine Cave. It seems that Jin Lieyang has already gone inside, so let¡¯s proceed!"


    "Since the senior is extremely familiar with this place, I will follow the senior¡¯s lead in everything," another secret voice transmission responded.


    That latter voice transmission turned out to be Ye Chen¡¯s telepathic message!


    After a few exchanges between the two voices, without showing themselves, the two fluctuations had already flown straight into the cave.


    ...


    Looking deeper into the cave where Jin Lieyang and others had flown, there appeared to be another space hidden behind a light door, at a distance of a few hundred miles deeper in the cave.


    This space was about tens of thousands feet in diameter, and the most eye-catching part of this entire space was a stone platform occupying the innermost region spanning about thirty feet across.


    In the center of this stone platform, there was a large hole with a diameter of ten feet, emitting blinding fiery light and bone-chilling icy blue light.


    Peering deeper into the hole revealed that it was profoundly deep, one could see two distinct colors of Divine Flames, icy blue and fiery red, burning ceaselessly on the inner walls of the hole.


    Looking down into the depths of the hole, the entire base was shrouded in the icy and fiery Divine Flames, making it impossible to see what was inside!


    The two-colored Divine Flames on the bottom and walls of the hole, one icy blue and one fiery red, emitted extreme cold and extreme heat, causing the entire space to alternate between intense cold and scorching heat in an instant.


    Looking down below the enticing stone platform, one could see a dragon-like monster, dozens of feet long with two heads, lying on the ground appearing slightly drowsy.


    This two-headed dragon-like monster had a blue body; however, starting from where the heads forked, one side was extremely fiery red, and the other exhibited a wondrous icy blue color.


    These two colors perfectly matched the colors of the two types of Divine Flames inside the large hole.


    This two-headed dragon-like monster was none other than the guardian of this cave, the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons!


    And behind it, the hole emitting two kinds of Divine Flames was unmistakably the most treasured place within the Divine Heritage Cave¡ªthe Ice Fire Divine Cave!

 Chapter 468 - 426: Appearing in Person

    ```


    The first group to enter the space of the Ice Fire Divine Cave was led by Jin Lieyang.


    Upon seeing the stone platform behind the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons with a glaring hole emitting fiery light and icy blue cold beams that was thirty feet in diameter, Jin Lieyang¡¯s eyes immediately lit up, "The Ice Fire Divine Cave, that is the Ice Fire Divine Cave!"


    "After three thousand three hundred years, the Ice Fire Divine Cave has finally reappeared in the world!"


    This was the first time Jin Lieyang had seen the Ice Fire Divine Cave. Although he had learned much about it from the Holy Land Secret Tome of Xuanjin Continent through the records of the predecessors, actually laying eyes on this divine cave still stirred his soul and he could hardly calm himself.


    He had planned a lot, all for this moment!


    Jin Lieyang was overjoyed, and the Three Tribulations True God beside him was equally excited, his eyes shining brightly: "Liyang, is this the Ice Fire Divine Cave you spoke of? The legendary ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ grows inside it?!"


    It wasn¡¯t just the Three Tribulations True God who was thrilled. Even another Four Tribulations True God hiding in Jin Lieyang¡¯s ring-space¡ªan old man in black clothes with a beard¡ªwas so excited that his beard trembled.


    They had long heard from Jin Lieyang about the wonder of the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo", which was why they had descended to this world. Now seeing the Ice Fire Divine Cave before their eyes, they were naturally overwhelmed with excitement.


    While Jin Lieyang and the two True Gods were emotionally stirred, the double-headed beast "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons" that had been lying at the base of the "Ice Fire Divine Cave" platform sensed the intrusion. Its previously indolent expression disappeared in an instant, and in the next moment, all four eyes from its two heads stared directly at Jin Lieyang and the others.


    At the same time, the aura of the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons shook, and its entire body, which was several dozen feet long, suddenly stood upright. In the next moment, its body burst forward, lunging to bite at Jin Lieyang and the Three Tribulations True God!


    The speed of the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons¡¯ burst was staggering, and its immense aura was in no way weaker than the Three Tribulations True God beside Jin Lieyang!


    Seeing the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons lunging forward, Jin Lieyang and the Three Tribulations True God seemed to be prepared.


    The Three Tribulations True God flipped his palm, and a small earthy gray flag appeared in his hand.


    As soon as the small gray flag appeared, the Three Tribulations True God pinched a magic formula and in an instant, the small flag duplicated: one became two, two became four, four turned into eight, and in a blink, it transformed into sixty-four fluttering battle flags, immediately confronting the charging Ice-Fire Twin Dragons. Read new adventures at empire


    In the blink of an eye, the sixty-four battle flags had completely trapped the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons from all directions within the flag formation.


    As the flag formation trapped the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons, all sixty-four gray battle flags shone brightly with earthy light, creating a large Earth Formation that completely ensnared the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons within.


    Roar! Roar!


    The Ice-Fire Twin Dragons, trapped in the Earth Formation, were unwilling to be restrained so easily. Its body, tens of feet long, swelled within the formation, and amid its roars, it slammed into the Earth Formation.


    Every strike by the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons caused the entire Earth Formation to tremble violently.


    At this rate, the formation would not hold the beast. It seemed that in just a moment, the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons would break free!


    But Jin Lieyang, upon seeing the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons trapped within the Earth Formation, directly addressed the Three Tribulations True God, "Elder Ying, it is rumored that on the day the Ice Fire Divine Cave surfaced, the beast¡¯s strength was at its peak, reaching the level of a Fifth Heavenly Tribulation True God!"


    "With each passing day, its strength ebbs away."


    "Now, the Ice Fire Divine Cave has been visible for four days, today being the last. The beast¡¯s strength is at its weakest, only that of a Three Tribulations True God."


    "Elder, I¡¯ll leave this beast to you to cope with!"


    After Jin Lieyang finished speaking, he flew straight towards the large hole of the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Seeing Jin Lieyang¡¯s action, the Three Tribulations True God nodded. As he saw that the Earth Formation he initiated was about to fail to contain the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons, he slapped his waist and dozens of talismans appeared.


    These talismans flew out instantaneously towards the Earth Formation, and finally, all of them adhered to it.


    Every talisman that landed added another layer of light shield to the Earth Formation.


    With all the talismans attached to the Earth Formation, it was now enveloped in dozens of layers of light shields, which made the previously trembling Earth Formation that was about to break apart under the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons¡¯ onslaught, become steadier again.


    The Ice-Fire Twin Dragons inside the Earth Formation, sensing the formation that trapped it becoming sturdier, grew even more outraged. Both of its huge heads raised high as it roared, one head spewing blinding flames and the other an icy blue chill.


    The dazzling flames scorched layer after layer away from the Earth Formation, while the icy blue chill, upon freezing, then churning, caused the Earth Formation to crack madly.


    ```


    It seems that the Ice-Fire Twin Dragons can still break out of the formation!


    However, it had, after all, been trapped, and in the brief time it was held, Jin Lieyang had almost reached the great cavern of the Stone Platform in the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Just then, right in front of Jin Lieyang, who was flying forward, "swoosh, swoosh," two figures appeared directly.


    These two figures, one with an extremely beautiful and charming appearance, the other dressed in green and carrying an ancient sword, were none other than Huo Mei¡¯er and her Four Tribulations true god aunt!


    "Jin, you¡¯re in such a hurry to enter the ¡¯Ice Fire Divine Cave,¡¯ huh?"


    "It¡¯s rumored that the Divine Cave contains two kinds of sacred flames, the ¡¯Ice Soul Divine Flame¡¯ and the ¡¯Burning Dust Divine Flame,¡¯ both capable of killing even Four Tribulations true gods. Are you really confident to enter, Jin?"


    As soon as Huo Mei¡¯er appeared, she sneered directly at Jin Lieyang.


    And the woman in green carrying an ancient sword beside Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s gaze was even fixed on the Three Tribulations true god who was currently using magic to contain the "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons."


    "¡¯Blood God Clan¡¯s¡¯ Xuan Ying True God, you¡¯ve actually descended to help someone on the verge of becoming a Heavenly Saint, quite a mood, isn¡¯t it!" The woman in green obviously recognized the Three Tribulations true god beside Jin Lieyang and spoke out directly.


    Jin Lieyang was not too surprised to see Huo Mei¡¯er appear, but when he saw the green-clad woman with an ancient sword beside her, he was astonished: "Qing Shuang, you actually came!"


    As soon as Huo Mei¡¯er appeared in the Divine Transmission Hall, Jin Lieyang knew that Huo Mei¡¯er must have come for the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Thinking about the danger of the three-part life-and-death path of the Divine Heritage Cave and that Huo Mei¡¯er dared to venture alone, Jin Lieyang knew that she must have brought help, just like him.


    So, before trying to venture into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, Jin Lieyang had been on guard against Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s sudden attack!


    But Jin Lieyang had thought of Huo Mei¡¯er bringing strong Heavenly Saints from the Leaving Fire Holy Continent, or of her rescuing a true god ascending from the Leaving Fire Holy Continent, but Jin Lieyang had not anticipated that she would bring this woman in green!


    This woman in green, Jin Lieyang certainly recognized her; she was one of the Holy Maidens who had ascended from the Leaving Fire Continent to the Minor Spirit Realm long ago; not only that, she was one of the strongest among the many ascending Holy Maidens, a Four Tribulations true god!


    There were even rumors that this woman had hope of overcoming the Fifth Heavenly Tribulation, which countless Four Tribulations true gods found extremely difficult, and could potentially become a powerful Five Tribulations true god in the future!


    You see, there is a huge chasm between a Five Tribulations true god and a Four Tribulations true god, and the Fifth Heavenly Tribulation is the first and most difficult hurdle among the nine tribulations of a true god!


    A woman in green who had the potential to contend with the Fifth Heavenly Tribulation would naturally stand out among Four Tribulations true gods!


    Jin Lieyang had heard that she was always in closed-door cultivation, yet he had not expected Huo Mei¡¯er to manage to invite her out.


    If it were not for Jin Lieyang¡¯s deep scheming and numerous prepared trump cards, he would probably have shown a drastic change in expression by now!


    Upon recognizing the woman in green, Xuan Ying True God, the Three Tribulations true god who was with Jin Lieyang, recognized her as well.


    Xuan Ying True God¡¯s expression changed the moment he saw the woman in green: "Qing Shuang True God, weren¡¯t you in closed-door cultivation with the Beiming tribe, why are you here?!"


    The woman in green directly took the ancient sword from her back and held it in her hand: "If the Blood God Clan¡¯s true gods can descend to the mortal world, why can¡¯t a true god from my Beiming tribe?!"


    Huo Mei¡¯er, on the side, had fury blazing in her eyes: "Aunt, don¡¯t waste words with them."


    She looked directly at Jin Lieyang: "Jin Lieyang, you murdered my mother, today my aunt and I will make you pay with your blood for your blood debts!"


    Hearing Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s words, Jin Lieyang¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted, and then a cold light flashed in his eyes, but he turned and sneered: "I originally thought, Mei¡¯er, you came to compete with me for the treasures of the ¡¯Ice Fire Divine Cave.¡¯ I didn¡¯t expect you came for revenge!"


    "Mei¡¯er, do you really think you can kill me?!"


    "Elder Mu, come out!"


    "It¡¯s surprising that Qing Shuang herself came this time. I¡¯ll leave Qing Shuang to Elder Mu and Elder Ying to deal with. As for Huo Mei¡¯er, it just so happens that I want to kill her this time. Since she wants revenge, let¡¯s see if she can get it!"


    As Jin Lieyang spoke, the bearded elderly man in black previously hidden in his golden ring space flew out directly.


    When they saw the bearded man in black, the Qing Shuang True God beside Huo Mei¡¯er also showed a gleam in her eyes: "So, the Blood God Clan didn¡¯t just bring one true god, even Mu Xiao True God, who has overcome the Fourth Heavenly Tribulation, has come!"

 Chapter 469 - 427 The Battle of Treasure Cave

    The black-robed, bearded elder who flew out of Jin Lieyang¡¯s ring space, "Mu Xiao True God," looked at the woman in green with the utmost solemnity, "Qing Shuang True God, I trust you¡¯ve been well."


    The Blood God Clan¡¯s "Xuan Ying True God," who had appeared first and was a Three Tribulations True God, recognized the woman in green.


    This black-robed, bearded elder was a Four Tribulations True God, with an even higher status in the Blood God Clan, and of course, he knew the green-clothed woman¡¯s origins even better.


    The Blood God Clan and the Beiming Clan, fighting for the Beiming Divine Sea, were irreconcilable enemies, with countless battles between their True Gods.


    However, such an encounter in the Lower Realm was indeed the first of its kind.


    With three True Gods present, the already tense situation grew even more strained, yet no one made the first move.


    On Jin Lieyang¡¯s side, with two great True Gods; even so, the stronger black-robed, bearded elder, "Mu Xiao True God," was still a notch weaker than the woman in green, "Qing Shuang True God."


    Whether the two of them together could deal with "Qing Shuang True God" was still a big unknown.


    On Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s side, although Qing Shuang True God was the strongest force present, she was worried about Huo Mei¡¯er by her side.


    If there was only one True God beside Jin Lieyang, she was confident she could take care of Huo Mei¡¯er while defeating the True God, but against the simultaneous attacks of two True Gods, she could still manage, yet taking care of Huo Mei¡¯er was beyond her strength.


    And Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s true strength was obviously less than Jin Lieyang¡¯s.


    As if knowing what Qing Shuang True God was worried about, Huo Mei¡¯er directly communicated to her through voice transmission, "Auntie, you don¡¯t need to worry about me. Jin Lieyang may be extremely treacherous, but I will be careful in response, holding him off for a moment is not a problem. Auntie, you take the initiative against those two True Gods first!"


    At this point, neither side could possibly back down, and Huo Mei¡¯er, of course, would not let go of Jin Lieyang, her mother¡¯s killer.


    Even at great peril, she was determined to confront Jin Lieyang!


    "Mei¡¯er, are you really confident?" Qing Shuang True God was still somewhat uneasy.


    If a true battle were to commence, a True God-level fight would be extremely perilous, and she absolutely could not look after Huo Mei¡¯er for the time being.


    While Huo Mei¡¯er and Qing Shuang True God were communicating, Jin Lieyang¡¯s side was also exchanging messages.


    "Lieyang, how could Qing Shuang True God appear here?!" When the two True Gods truly communicated, they were no longer as calm as they appeared on the surface, their messages carried a hint of fear, "Qing Shuang True God is a well-known figure in the Beiming Clan, with a high probability of successfully ascending to the Five Tribulations True God!"


    "Truly battling her, the two of us might not be able to defeat her!"


    Jin Lieyang¡¯s eyes flickered as he looked at the two, "Elder Ying, Elder Xiao, I did not anticipate that Huo Mei¡¯er would be able to lure this person out."


    "Given the current situation, we can only bet our lives. Elders, restrain Qing Shuang True God first. Once I¡¯ve killed Huo Mei¡¯er, I will come to assist the two of you."


    "By then, the three of us working together, even if Qing Shuang True God is formidable, she definitely won¡¯t be a match for our united efforts!"


    Upon hearing Jin Lieyang¡¯s words, the two great True Gods felt somewhat more at ease¡ªthey knew Jin Lieyang, though at the latter stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, had one or two ultimate moves of a Three Tribulations True God.


    With his participation, it equated to three True Gods simultaneously suppressing Qing Shuang True God, and since she had not truly entered the realm of Five Tribulations True God, they indeed could cope!


    "Let¡¯s do it this way then!" In the end, Mu Xiao True God directly transmitted his message.


    While Mu Xiao True God and Xuan Ying True God were discussing with Jin Lieyang, they were unaware that Jin Lieyang himself harbored other schemes, with sinister light flashing intensely in the depths of his eyes.


    Both sides were deliberating, and all that remained in the entire space were the roars of the "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons" still breaking through the formation!


    As if sharing similar intentions, the two parties, finally resolved to truly battle, heard the roar of the "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons" and simultaneously made a move¡ªvast numbers of talismans flew towards the earthen formation from both sides.


    Layer upon layer of Sealing Talismans once again trapped the "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons" within the formation!


    Both parties trapped the "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons," intent on single-mindedly slaughtering the other side before claiming the treasures within the Ice Fire Divine Cave!


    After acting to restrain the "Ice-Fire Twin Dragons," the next moment, the aura of the five people on both sides surged simultaneously.


    The battle involving three great True Gods and two Saint Heirs was on the verge of breaking out!


    Just then, at the entrance to this space and heaven, another voice emerged, "Haha, quite the lively scene! I originally thought there was only one True God here, but to think, three True Gods have come!"


    As this voice spoke, the two parties, on the brink of breaking out into combat, all startled.


    A third group had arrived?!


    Qing Shuang True God, Huo Mei¡¯er, Jin Lieyang, Mu Xiao True God, and Xuan Ying True God all turned to look towards the entrance.


    And then, they saw the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Ye Chen flying directly into the space they were in!


    Seeing Ye Chen, Huo Mei¡¯er was once again taken aback.


    The young lady couldn¡¯t believe that Ye Chen, having already unbelievably infiltrated the Divine Heritage Cave, had now also made it into the Ice Fire Divine Cave!


    When Jin Lieyang heard the previous hearty laughter, his expression had already changed dramatically; now seeing the young man at the mid-stage Heavenly Saint realm possessed by the Three-Eyed Skeleton, his gaze grew sharp, "You¡¯re actually still alive?!"


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton did not disguise his voice, allowing Jin Lieyang to readily identify the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s original voice¡ªhe recognized it as belonging to a clan ascendant elder he had once plotted against, the former Xuanyang Saint Heir, who later became Xuanyang True God!


    It was not only Jin Lieyang who recognized the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s original voice; the green-clothed woman, "Qing Shuang True God," also had a glint flash in her eyes, "You are... Xuanyang?!"


    "After all these years, you vanished. The true gods of our clan thought you were dead, yet you¡¯re still alive?!"


    As a Holy Maiden of ascending from the Fiery Continent, Qing Shuang True God had ascended a generation before the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and later they even cultivated together among the Beiming Clan.


    Of course, she knew the true identity of the Three-Eyed Skeleton!


    Seeing Jin Lieyang¡¯s astonished expression, the Three-Eyed Skeleton gave a cold laugh. His true form flickered out from the mid-stage Heavenly Saint youth, and the skull-shaped true form stared coldly at Jin Lieyang, as the aura of a true god was explosively released! Read latest stories on empire


    It was unmistakably the aura of a True God with the strength of the Three Tribulations!


    Then, with the aura fully unleashed and his true form revealed, the Three-Eyed Skeleton turned to look at the woman in green clothes, "Qing Shuang Senior Sister, had I known it was you accompanying Huo Mei¡¯er into the Treasure Cave this time, I would have shown myself earlier."


    "Xuanyang, how did you become like this!" The woman in green exclaimed in shock upon seeing the Three-Eyed Skeleton turned into a skull shape and that its combat strength had fallen to that of a Three Tribulations True God.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton said with immense resentment in his voice, "It¡¯s all because of this Jin Lieyang! Not only did he plot against Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s mother, he previously conspired against me as well. I am here this time to execute this man!"


    The reason the Three-Eyed Skeleton showed up directly alongside Ye Chen was because he saw the standoff between the two parties.


    The moment he saw Qing Shuang True God, he knew that he and Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s side was the ally, not the enemy. If he and Ye Chen joined the battle, Jin Lieyang¡¯s side would definitely be at a disadvantage.


    With this in mind, the Three-Eyed Skeleton naturally altered the original plan he had with Ye Chen. They both revealed themselves, standing on Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s side.


    Whoosh!


    The words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton brought an unexpected joy to Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s heart.


    Another person seeking vengeance on Jin Lieyang had come, and it was someone her aunt knew, as well as a mighty Three Tribulations True God!


    Originally, if they had to confront Jin Lieyang, her side was at a slight disadvantage, but now with two more allies, dealing with Jin Lieyang would definitely not be a problem.


    This of course brought great joy to the heart of Huo Mei¡¯er, who was intent on vengeance!


    On the other hand, Jin Lieyang, Mu Xiao True God, and Xuan Ying True God¡¯s faces all changed dramatically at the same time.


    Especially Mu Xiao True God and Xuan Ying True God, who had already been slightly overpowered by Qing Shuang True God. The arrival of the two newcomers, particularly another Three Tribulations True God, meant they would now definitely be completely at a disadvantage.


    Having cultivated to the level of true gods, of course, their minds were incredibly swift and their considerations thorough!


    From the very moment Jin Lieyang had invited them, they had made various preparations, guarding against Jin Lieyang as much as against other people.


    Now that the situation was unfavorable, they instantly decided to flee!


    Boom! Boom!


    When a true god decides to escape, the speed is astonishing!


    The whole void exploded, and the two disappeared in an instant.


    In the split second when the two fled, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God exchanged glances before chasing after them without hesitation.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God, having cultivated among the Beiming Clan, naturally held great enmity against the Blood God Clan. Coupled with Jin Lieyang¡¯s involvement, they would certainly not let these two escape!


    What about Jin Lieyang?


    In the moment of the glance between the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God, the former quickly informed the latter of Ye Chen¡¯s combat strength.


    He even called out to Ye Chen, "Young man, help me hold Jin Lieyang. Once the Senior Sister Qing Shuang and I have dealt with those two, we¡¯ll come back to settle with him!"


    Qing Shuang True God also sent a message to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen? Please take care of Mei¡¯er for a moment!"


    Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God also vanished.


    Originally, the Three-Eyed Skeleton had intended for Ye Chen to block the attacks of a Three Tribulations True God while he handled Jin Lieyang. However, now that the two true gods had fled, he would naturally not let Ye Chen pursue them.


    After all, Ye Chen could only wield the combat strength of a true god with the help of the True God Talisman. It was one thing to block the attacks of the Three Tribulations True God, but it was not easy to chase and kill a true god. Both he and Qing Shuang True God needed to act together for a swift and decisive battle.


    Leaving Jin Lieyang to Ye Chen, the Three-Eyed Skeleton was equally confident.


    Jin Lieyang was merely a late-stage Heavenly Saint, certainly no match for Ye Chen wielding the True God Talisman.


    Even if Jin Lieyang had other trump cards, at the very least, Ye Chen could protect Huo Mei¡¯er and himself without any issues.


    If they waited just a moment, after they dealt with the two fleeing true gods, the next moment would mark Jin Lieyang¡¯s doom!


    In the next moment, after the four true gods disappeared in an instant, Ye Chen, Huo Mei¡¯er, and Jin Lieyang, who remained in the spatial heaven and earth, heard the crumbling sounds from the falling realms outside.


    Clearly, the four true gods had already begun battling outside.


    At the same time, Huo Mei¡¯er and Ye Chen turned their gazes directly towards Jin Lieyang, and Jin Lieyang also raised his eyes to look at Ye Chen.


    With a major battle erupting outside, another unavoidable great battle was about to begin inside!

 Chapter 470 - 428: The Burning True God Talisman

    "Ye Chen."


    Huo Mei¡¯er stepped forward and moved close to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    The young girl was even more puzzled in her heart. Her aunt had been worried about her safety when facing Jin Lieyang, but now she dared to leave her and Ye Chen alone to confront Jin Lieyang.


    Moreover, the moment her aunt and Xuanyang chased after the two True Gods of the Blood God Clan, she entrusted her to Ye Chen¡¯s care, letting Ye Chen face Jin Lieyang directly.


    Could it be that Ye Chen possesses the strength that could give her aunt absolute peace of mind and was highly valued by Xuanyang?


    Last time when Huo Mei¡¯er fought Ye Chen, although she remembered he was powerful, she didn¡¯t think he was talented enough to earn such high regard from True Gods!


    As Huo Mei¡¯er was lost in her doubts, Ye Chen gave her a gentle smile, stepped forward, and positioned himself in front of her, looking towards Jin Lieyang.


    Since he had promised to leave Jin Lieyang behind for the Three-Eyed Skeleton and take care of Huo Mei¡¯er for Qing Shuang True God, he would naturally do so.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s action, Jin Lieyang narrowed his eyes, "Humph, if Xuanyang and Qing Shuang had stayed behind to deal with me, I would have had some trouble. I didn¡¯t expect them to let you, a young lad, face me."


    "Just at the middle stage of the Revolving Dan, yet they both value you so much, you must have some real skills!"


    "Since the true gods outside have started their battles, we shouldn¡¯t lag behind. Let¡¯s start fighting!"


    "I want to see what strength you two still have hidden!"


    The moment Jin Lieyang spoke, his aura surged to the sky and burst out towards Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er.


    Dragging out the situation at this time was most disadvantageous for Jin Lieyang.


    After all, with both the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God chasing after Mu Xiao True God and Xuan Ying True God, it was clear the outcome would definitely be in favor of the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s side.


    If the two of them were to return, then Jin Lieyang would indeed be in big trouble.


    Of course, he wanted to take advantage of the mutual restraint between the four True Gods and quickly eliminate Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er!


    With this in mind, Jin Lieyang would certainly not hold back. He was a top expert among the later stages of Heavenly Saint Level and, with his aura fully unleashed, a torrent of golden True Qi coiled around him.


    This golden True Qi was incredibly sharp, slicing through the void repeatedly.


    If this space wasn¡¯t specifically for storing the precious treasure of the Ice Fire Divine Cave and didn¡¯t constitute a special space refined by the powerful being who established the Five Elements Mountain, Jin Lieyang¡¯s aura alone could have completely shattered this small space!


    In an instant, Jin Lieyang, encircled by soaring golden True Qi, lunged towards Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er.


    And Jin Lieyang directly split his True Qi into two massive strands, attacking Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er at the same time.


    He intended to kill Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er with a single strike!


    Seeing Jin Lieyang¡¯s attack, the faint fire mark on Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s forehead burst forth, and as the Holy Crystal inside flickered, the girl¡¯s hair, long like a waterfall, dramatically expanded.


    The girl¡¯s beautiful and enchanting face changed again, becoming extremely mystical and bewitching.


    Facing Jin Lieyang¡¯s lethal move, Huo Mei¡¯er once again summoned her Holy Crystal, employing her Holy Crystal Charm Change Great Divine Ability!


    Amidst the girl¡¯s explosive aura, Huo Mei¡¯er heard Ye Chen¡¯s calm voice, "It¡¯s okay, leave it to me."


    Then, in the midst of transforming, Huo Mei¡¯er saw Ye Chen step through the void and face the two strands of Sky-Piercing True Qi assaulting them from Jin Lieyang.


    Just when those two strands of True Qi were about to hit Ye Chen, his True Qi also burst forth, among it a thread of Divine Power surging!


    This thread of Divine Power was provided by the True God Talisman given to Ye Chen by Mu Lan True God!


    Boom! Boom!


    Enabled by Divine Power, with True Qi exploding, Ye Chen¡¯s hand fiercely reached into the void.


    With this grasp, he completely crushed the two towering strands of golden True Qi that could slice through the void and that Jin Lieyang had sent to kill them!


    And in the next moment, Ye Chen disappeared like a ghost, and in an instant, his palm reached for Jin Lieyang¡¯s throat!


    Witnessing the surge and infusion of Divine Power in Ye Chen, Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s red lips parted in disbelief, and even her Charm Change stopped unconsciously, "Divine Power, Ye Chen, you actually have Divine Power within you!"


    Huo Mei¡¯er, who had managed to invite Qing Shuang True God out of seclusion, had certainly witnessed the power of Divine Power.


    The girl had never imagined that Ye Chen had Divine Power at his disposal!


    No wonder Xuanyang True God valued Ye Chen so much, no wonder her aunt felt at ease letting Ye Chen protect her.


    So it turned out Ye Chen had such formidable trump cards up his sleeve!


    Not only was Huo Mei¡¯er shocked beyond belief, but Jin Lieyang, whose two strands of attacking True Qi were crushed in an instant by Ye Chen, and who now faced a hand reaching for his throat, also changed color drastically, "Divine Power! This is the Divine Power left by a Three Tribulations True God!"


    "You, you have a True God Talisman on you!"


    Just as Ye Chen¡¯s palm was about to instantly reach Jin Lieyang¡¯s throat, a golden bead suddenly flew out from Jin Lieyang¡¯s body.


    The golden bead suddenly swelled and exploded towards the hand that Ye Chen was reaching out, and at the same time, Jin Lieyang burst backward in a flash retreat!


    Seeing this golden bead, Ye Chen¡¯s pupils contracted, sensing that the bead contained the same divine power as well.


    Perhaps this bead was another trump card of Jin Lieyang that he had never used before!


    Moreover, this bead could most likely be an explosive artifact like the "Heavenly Thunder Pearl" he had previously obtained, a one-time explosive device!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen instantly changed from snatching to retracting and quickly flashed backwards six or seven zhang away, wrapping Huo Mei¡¯er with his Purple Mist True Qi and amplifying both their bodies with the divine light from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    At the same time, a light flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, and a painting appeared in his grasp.


    As soon as this painting appeared, it unfolded with the wind, then grey sparrows made of earthen yellow began to fly out from the painting, swarming towards Jin Lieyang and directly meeting the golden bead he had triggered.


    This painting was precisely the magical treasure painting that Ye Chen had previously obtained in the restricted ancient grounds, the one from the hands of a late-stage Heavenly Saint expert who was killed by the Three-Eyed Skeleton, capable of summoning Grey Sparrow War Beasts!


    This late-stage Heavenly Saint expert had used this painting to annihilate the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s golden demon bees.


    Now, Ye Chen was using this painting to test the attack of Jin Lieyang¡¯s golden bead!


    The grey sparrows, each possessing the combat power of a late-stage Heavenly Saint, were not too strong, but they were numerous.


    Attacking en masse, a large number instantly reached Jin Lieyang, who was retreating backward, and another swarm collided with the golden bead with a loud bang.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Indeed, as Ye Chen had anticipated, the golden bead released by Jin Lieyang was a one-time explosive device; upon being attacked by the flock of grey sparrows, it detonated instantly.


    The tremendous explosion shook the entire void, and swathes of grey sparrows perished in the blast; not only those attacking the golden bead but also those that had been flying at Jin Lieyang fell to their deaths. Even the scroll in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, which had summoned the grey sparrows, was consumed by an unknown force in the attack and burned to ashes.


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    However, under the illumination of the Purple Mist True Garment and the divine light of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er were unharmed.


    Though the grey sparrow painting was destroyed, it served its purpose. The divine power within the golden bead that had produced that earth-shattering explosion had been completely exhausted.


    Indeed, the bead was a one-time explosive device.


    Ye Chen had managed to block a divine-grade attack with a Saint Grade magical treasure!


    Following this attack, Ye Chen and Jin Lieyang both experienced a momentary stalemate.


    And in the next moment, Jin Lieyang made the first move.


    "I did not expect that my ¡¯Golden Thunder Burning Pearl¡¯ would fail to injure you. It seems I must use another killer move!"


    Hearing that the battle sounds of the four True Gods were gradually receding, Jin Lieyang knew that time was running short for him.


    As Jin Lieyang spoke, the faint golden mark on his forehead started to shimmer as he swiftly approached Ye Chen, indicating he was tapping into the power of his Holy Crystal, just like Huo Mei¡¯er had done!


    "The Holy Crystal of Xuanjin Continent¡¯s sanctuary?!"


    Upon seeing Jin Lieyang¡¯s actions, Ye Chen¡¯s heart stirred vigorously.


    No, that¡¯s not right.


    If it were the Holy Crystal, no matter how powerful, it would only hold Heavenly Saint-level power, similar to Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s Holy Crystal.


    Having already brought forth Divine Power, Jin Lieyang couldn¡¯t possibly still be relying on Saint Grade methods.


    As Ye Chen sensed something amiss, the Holy Crystal on Jin Lieyang¡¯s forehead radiantly surged with an attack towards Ye Chen. At the same time, two golden flying needles suddenly appeared in his hand.


    As these two golden flying needles appeared, they shot towards Ye Chen with terrifying speed, swiftly enough to slice through the fabric of space itself, and in an unbelievable instant, they were already right in front of Ye Chen.


    Jin Lieyang, while invoking the Holy Crystal, had launched a surprise attack on Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen had already sensed the anomaly, and another True God Talisman was ready in his hand.


    The moment the two golden flying needles approached, another, more powerful talisman, which had been refined by a Three Tribulations True Phoenix True God, ignited in a flash in Ye Chen¡¯s hand!

 Chapter 471 - 429: Entering the Divine Cave

    As the golden needles flew toward Ye Chen, the Divine Power ignited by the True God Talisman had already been fully infused into his body.


    Boom! Boom!


    Two thunderous sounds were heard as the needles that Jin Lieyang launched in his ambush collided fiercely with the body of Ye Chen, now fortified by Divine Power.


    The impact sent Ye Chen flying dozens of feet backward, while the ambushing golden needles that struck him were ground to ash in the moment of collision by the Divine Power within him.


    Ye Chen, as he was blasted back, realized that the force behind these needles was at least that of a warrior with the might of a Three Tribulations True God!


    If he had reacted a moment later and hadn¡¯t summoned the second talisman, the one left behind by Mu Lan True God would have been absolutely incapable of withstanding Jin Lieyang¡¯s ambush.


    Even though he had blocked it, the talisman left by True Phoenix had its Divine Power depleted by more than half instantly.


    This caused Ye Chen¡¯s heart to tighten fiercely.


    Jin Lieyang, truly a ruthless and vicious schemer, had actually pretended to summon the power of the Holy Crystal to launch such a deceitful attack!


    Now Ye Chen understood why the Three-Eyed Skeleton was injured by this man, and why Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s mother died at his hands¡ªit was indeed no coincidence!


    This man was exceedingly cunning and deceitful!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s heart tightened, the expressions of Huo Mei¡¯er and Jin Lieyang, who were nearby, also changed dramatically.


    Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s expression changed because it was only when Ye Chen blocked Jin Lieyang¡¯s sneak attack that she was able to see clearly the flying needles he¡¯d used.


    There was no time for Huo Mei¡¯er to help.


    She couldn¡¯t help but cry out in shock; her changing expression had not even settled when Ye Chen had already blocked the two needles.


    The dramatic change in Jin Lieyang¡¯s expression was because he had not anticipated that Ye Chen had an even more powerful True God Talisman concealed on him, one that had even blocked his absolute killing move¡ªthe "Gold Vanquishing God Needle"!


    "This talisman, it completely blocked my ¡¯Gold Vanquishing God Needle¡¯! My God Needle, which was forged for me by a Four Tribulations True God from the Blood God Clan, could be blocked by this talisman¡ªit must be at least the work of a Five Tribulations True God!"


    "Does Ye Chen know two True Gods?!"


    "And one of them a Five-Tribulations-level True God?!"


    A Five Tribulations True God, in the Upper Realm¡¯s Minor Spirit Realm, belonged to the ranks of exceptional beings.


    To know that a Four Tribulations True God was already impressive enough, those who could pass the fifth heavenly tribulation and ascend to become a Five Tribulations True God were truly among the mightiest in the Minor Spirit Realm!


    In the Minor Spirit Realm, factions that possessed a Five Tribulations True God could be considered major powers.


    Many warriors might not encounter a Five Tribulations True God in their entire lives.


    The fact that Ye Chen possessed a talisman crafted by a Five Tribulations True God certainly caused Jin Lieyang¡¯s expression to change dramatically!


    At this moment, Jin Lieyang found that he had few trump cards left in his hand; after his golden pearl and golden needles were blocked by Ye Chen in succession, he could no longer fathom the depths of Ye Chen.


    Considering that the battle between the four great True Gods outside might end at any moment, Jin Lieyang no longer had the courage to engage Ye Chen in battle.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had destroyed the needles but was still blasted backward by their impact, Jin Lieyang knew that his only chance of escape was down to one last path.


    With this in mind, a Blood-Red Demon Robe suddenly appeared on Jin Lieyang, and with a movement of his body, he shot straight toward the Ice Fire Divine Cave on the stone platform, which emitted dazzling flames and icy blue light.


    Jin Lieyang¡¯s last path of escape was indeed into the Ice Fire Divine Cave!


    This action from Jin Lieyang startled both Huo Mei¡¯er and Ye Chen.


    The two of them had heard that the two types of Divine Flame within the "Ice Fire Divine Cave"¡ªone being the "Ice Soul Divine Flame," the other the "Burning Dust Divine Flame"¡ªcould even kill a Four Tribulations True God.


    These two Divine Flames had been left by the formidable being who had established the Five Elements Mountain and Divine Heritage Cave specifically to protect the treasures within the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    To obtain the treasures within the Ice Fire Divine Cave, one must possess a method to counteract these two Divine Flames.


    Ye Chen had heard from the Three-Eyed Skeleton that it had nearly succeeded in acquiring the treasure last time but ultimately failed due to these two Divine Flames.


    The closer one got to the depths of the Divine Cave, the more fearsome these two Divine Flames became.


    As the Three-Eyed Skeleton descended hundreds of feet, just as it caught sight of the five stalks of Thunder Lightning Bamboo at the base of the Divine Cave, it no longer could withstand the power of the two Divine Flames and was forced to hastily flee the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Now, Jin Lieyang dared to fly directly into the "Ice Fire Divine Cave", looking entirely unafraid of the two types of Divine Flames within the cave, which of course surprised both Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er.


    "Could it be because of that Blood-Red Demon Robe?"


    "Since Jin Lieyang has dared to enter the ¡¯Ice Fire Divine Cave¡¯, he must be prepared; I¡¯m afraid his Blood-Red Demon Robe is used to withstand the two types of Divine Flames inside the Divine Cave!"


    With this thought, Ye Chen, who had stopped his rapid retreat, also flew towards the "Ice Fire Divine Cave".


    Whether Jin Lieyang had entered the "Ice Fire Divine Cave" to escape or to take the treasures within, Ye Chen would not allow him to have his way.


    Jin Lieyang isn¡¯t afraid of the two types of Divine Flames in the Divine Cave?


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    Ye Chen, who possessed the Godly Artifact "Ice Snow Jade Pendant", was certainly not afraid either!


    With a "swoosh" sound, just as Jin Lieyang had flown into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, Ye Chen also entered the cave entrance.


    Following that, the divine light from Ye Chen¡¯s Ice Snow Jade Pendant flashed, and he entered into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Then, Ye Chen, driving the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, chased after Jin Lieyang below in the Divine Cave.


    Seeing Jin Lieyang flying into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, Huo Mei¡¯er was already extremely startled!


    And seeing Ye Chen also chasing after Jin Lieyang and entering the Divine Cave, Huo Mei¡¯er found it even more unbelievable.


    To know, the Ice Fire Divine Cave was a place that could kill even True Gods of the Four Tribulations; without stronger preparations, they would absolutely not dare to delve deep into the Ice Fire Divine Cave directly.


    Huo Mei¡¯er knew that her aunt had come this time with a specially prepared treasure to explore the Divine Cave.


    Now, both Jin Lieyang and Ye Chen, warriors not yet True Gods, had actually flown into the Ice Fire Divine Cave!


    This of course made Huo Mei¡¯er unable to believe what she was seeing!


    Without a treasure, Huo Mei¡¯er couldn¡¯t even get close to the stone platform where the Ice Fire Divine Cave was located.


    Huo Mei¡¯er no longer knew what was happening to Ye Chen and Jin Lieyang, who had entered the Divine Cave.


    Huo Mei¡¯er, full of worry, flew towards the entrance of this space, not seeing the figures of her aunt Qing Shuang True God and Xuanyang True God of the Three-Eyed Skeleton either.


    From the looks of it, neither had yet finished off the two fleeing True Gods and could not fly back in time.


    This situation left Huo Mei¡¯er undecided whether to leave or stay. Outside the Ice Fire Divine Cave, she was as agitated as ants on a hot pan!


    Huo Mei¡¯er was extremely worried about Ye Chen, who had entered the Ice Fire Divine Cave, but at this moment, Ye Chen, who had flown into the cave, was watching through the Ice Snow Jade Pendant as Jin Lieyang, clad in a Blood-Red Demon Robe, was diving rapidly deeper into the cave.


    "Jin Lieyang, by escaping into this Divine Cave, aren¡¯t you trapping yourself?"


    "Trapped in this Divine Cave, I want to see where you can flee to!"


    Ye Chen directly chased after the rapidly descending Jin Lieyang while shouting loudly towards him.


    Upon turning his head, Jin Lieyang saw a point of brilliant light rapidly pursuing him.


    The voice of Ye Chen was coming from that point of brilliant light.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s voice and seeing the rapidly approaching point of brilliant light, Jin Lieyang¡¯s heart was filled with immense shock: "Where did Ye Chen get all these treasures from?! He can even pursue me into the Ice Fire Divine Cave?!"


    Jin Lieyang was on the verge of going mad!


    Since learning that the Ice Fire Divine Cave would appear once every three thousand three hundred years, he made countless preparations, even going so far as to harm elders from two great holy lands, all for the sake of gaining benefits and taking the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo" from the Divine Cave.


    It was Jin Lieyang¡¯s numerous preparations that gave him the courage to bring two True Gods of the Blood God Clan into this Ice Fire Divine Cave. He even had a plan to eventually snatch the treasures from those two True Gods.


    But what Jin Lieyang completely did not expect was that after all his preparations and the use of treasures on Ye Chen ahead of time, they were all blocked by Ye Chen.


    Even the last resort, a defensive Divine Robe he had acquired through betraying the Three-Eyed Skeleton, which helped him to sneak into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, was still being chased by Ye Chen.


    Furthermore, Jin Lieyang found that Ye Chen, after entering the Ice Fire Divine Cave, was flying even faster than him.


    Ye Chen was steadily closing the distance between them; at this rate, it would not be long before he would be caught up to by Ye Chen!


    This, of course, drove Jin Lieyang completely mad!

 Chapter 472 - 430: Earth-Shattering Change

    Jin Lieyang, both frightened and frantic, had countless thoughts flashing through his mind in an instant.


    "My Defense Divine Cloth is a mid-grade divine garment, and it has to slow down to withstand the two Divine Flames inside the Ice Fire Divine Cave. Yet Ye Chen doesn¡¯t seem to have slowed down at all. What exactly is this shiny, luminous treasure of his? Could it possibly be a high-grade artifact?!"


    At that thought, Jin Lieyang shuddered.


    If it really were a high-grade artifact, then Ye Chen catching up to him would be no problem at all!


    "Could it be, could it be that I need to use my last trump card ahead of time?"


    Jin Lieyang¡¯s expression changed dramatically as he flew, and a copper-colored token appeared in his hand.


    "This Void Great Shift Token was specifically prepared for my escape using teleportation after acquiring the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯."


    "With Ye Chen pursuing me like this, he will hardly give me any time to get the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo.¡¯ If I use this Void Great Shift Token without having secured the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo,¡¯ then I will no longer have any chance to obtain it, and the Thunder Lightning Bamboo will definitely fall into Ye Chen¡¯s hands!"


    "However, if I don¡¯t use the Void Great Shift Token and get caught by Ye Chen, then my last chance of escape might be gone!"


    Jin Lieyang struggled fiercely with the decision.


    The copper-colored token in his hand was his last trump card, his final means of escape.


    Originally, Jin Lieyang rushed into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, planning to snatch the Thunder Lightning Bamboo while Ye Chen and Huo Mei¡¯er did not dare to follow, and then use the Void Great Shift Token to teleport away unnoticed.


    By then, even if Qing Shuang True God and Three-Eyed Skeleton returned and entered the Ice Fire Divine Cave, they would not be able to catch him.


    But now, his plan had been thwarted once more because of Ye Chen¡¯s pursuit.


    Jin Lieyang felt extremely frustrated and anxious.


    He didn¡¯t know whether he should use the token ahead of time.


    As Jin Lieyang descended rapidly while struggling with his decision, he noticed that Ye Chen, who was chasing after him at high speed, had slowed down.


    This discovery thrilled Jin Lieyang.


    "Could it be that Ye Chen¡¯s treasure can no longer withstand the two Divine Flames, and that¡¯s why he¡¯s slowed down? Could I have been wrong, and that glint of shine isn¡¯t a high-grade artifact after all?"


    "If that¡¯s the case and he dares not chase me further, then I might have a chance to get the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ and teleport away with my Void Great Shift Token!"


    "My Void Great Shift Token was set to teleport to the Xuanjin Continent before arriving at the Five Elements Mountain. As long as I get the ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ and teleport back to the Xuanjin Continent, no one will be able to catch me!"


    "By then, I¡¯ll take the Thunder Lightning Bamboo and leave the Xuanjin Continent for a place no one can find, to cultivate and strive for the realm of a true god. Even if Qing Shuang and Xuan Yang come to the Xuanjin Continent to kill me, they won¡¯t be able to find me!"


    Elated, Jin Lieyang turned his head back to look at Ye Chen to confirm whether his speed had indeed slowed down.


    When he looked, Jin Lieyang saw that Ye Chen had even stopped completely.


    "Indeed, indeed he dares not chase further!"


    "Heaven aids me, the Thunder Lightning Bamboo is mine!"


    Jin Lieyang, filled with joy, rushed deeper into the Ice Fire Divine Cave, heading straight toward the bottom where the five Thunder Lightning Bamboos were located.


    Above.


    The glint of a luminous light from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant stopped in the middle of the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    And Ye Chen was no longer paying attention to Jin Lieyang, who was escaping rapidly below, because what completely occupied his gaze was the two tokens that suddenly floated up in front of him.


    Written on one of these tokens was the character for "prohibition," and the other had the character for "void."


    They were the two tokens that Ye Chen, for the life of him, couldn¡¯t figure out!


    The "prohibition" token was obtained by Ye Chen from the wealth of the Heavenly Saint Moya after he had slain Moya¡¯s spirit clone; even Moya¡¯s clone didn¡¯t know its origin.


    Ye Chen had always been puzzled about what the "prohibition" token stood for.


    Later, after coming to the Heavenly Evolution Continent, he incidentally saw the other "void" token at the auction in the Sand Sea Palace.


    As a result, just because the "prohibition" token encountered the "void" token, Ye Chen directly saw the complete map of one of the three great adventure sites, the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land," within the "prohibition" token.


    Afterwards, when Ye Chen got his hands on the "void" token, he discovered the complete map of another advanture site from the three great ones, the "Void Abyss," inside it.


    The two tokens hid the complete maps of two out of the three great adventure sites.


    This had made Ye Chen speculate intensely, wondering if there was also such a token for the "Five Elements Mountain" within the three great adventure sites, also marking its complete map.


    Before entering the Five Elements Mountain, Ye Chen had taken this matter to heart, intending to search thoroughly within the Five Elements Mountain to see if there was a third token marking an adventure site.


    As it turned out, Ye Chen had braved several mountains in the Five Elements Mountain, even entering the Divine Heritage Cave within the Fourth Mountain, but he found no more such tokens.


    Ye Chen had almost forgotten about these tokens.


    But now, within the most precious cave of the Divine Heritage Cave, the Ice Fire Divine Cave, at the critical moment of pursuing Jin Lieyang, Ye Chen suddenly saw the two tokens that he had stored in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant fly up.


    This was the first time that the tokens had flown up on their own since Ye Chen had obtained them, apart from the discovery of the maps inside them.


    Naturally, this greatly startled Ye Chen and caused him, in his pursuit of Jin Lieyang, to slow down.


    And then, as the two tokens flew up, Ye Chen immediately sensed the presence of another token from the stone walls of the "Ice Fire Divine Cave" beside him.


    It was indeed the aura of the third token!


    This made Ye Chen come to a complete halt.


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant, being a superior divine artifact, naturally did not fear pursuing Jin Lieyang as he expected, and dared to follow him deeper.


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind was wholly captivated by the third token.


    Ye Chen even felt that the secrets contained within the tokens, which recorded three major sites of adventure, might be more precious than the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo" hidden at the very bottom of the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    After all, the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo" was merely a treasure within the Five Elements Mountain.


    However, the three tokens were related to all three major sites of adventure, and the "Forbidden" token in particular, which indicated the Ancient Royal Tomb Land, was even more precious than the Five Elements Mountain.


    If he truly unraveled the secrets within, it was likely not just the Five Elements Mountain that would be involved, but all three grand sites of adventure!


    With this thought, Ye Chen propelled the Ice Snow Jade Pendant towards the direction from which the aura of the third token emanated.


    Even if Jin Lieyang intended to take the Thunder Lightning Bamboo below, it would take time.


    Ye Chen was confident that he could first check out this third token and still have time to pursue Jin Lieyang afterward.


    Boom!


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant flew to the point where the aura of the third token emerged, and directly smashed into the middle part of the stone wall within the "Ice Fire Divine Cave".


    This collision made the two great Divine Flames, "Ice Soul Divine Flame" and "Burning Dust Divine Flame" that enveloped the stone wall, be squeezed aside by the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    As the Ice Snow Jade Pendant collided with the stone wall, the "Forbidden" and "Void" tokens inside emitted two dazzling beams of light. Continue your saga on empire


    In these blinding lights, Ye Chen felt that the area of the wall where the Jade Pendant had struck had cracked open, and a token of the same size as the "Forbidden" and "Void" tokens flew out towards the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    The third token!


    It was indeed the third token of the same kind!


    Whoosh!


    As the token flew into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, it landed directly in Ye Chen¡¯s hand.


    Ye Chen looked at the token and saw the character "Pardon" inscribed on it.


    Pardon?


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    As his divine sense probed into the token, Ye Chen sensed the full panorama of the Five Elements Mountain¡¯s five peaks. Even the Fifth Mountain, which no one had ever entered, was revealed within the token.


    This token was indeed the one related to the Five Elements Mountain among the three major adventures!


    "The ¡¯Forbidden¡¯ token contains the map of the Ancient Royal Tomb Land from the three great adventures; the ¡¯Void¡¯ token holds the map of the Void Abyss; and this ¡¯Pardon¡¯ token now has the map of the Five Elements Mountain I am currently entering."


    "Could it be that there are truly connections between the three major adventures?"


    "What use are these three tokens? Are they simply guides to the full layout of the maps for the three great adventure sites?"


    Ye Chen had a hunch that there was more to the tokens than just being guides to maps.


    As Ye Chen was speculating, the "Pardon" token he had just obtained suddenly broke free from his grasp and flew towards the other two tokens drifting in the void.


    Then, an event that left Ye Chen dumbfounded occurred.


    When the three tokens came together, they began to rotate in unison in one direction.


    In the midst of their rotation, the three tokens emitted one beam of light after another.


    After emitting thirty-three beams of light, the three tokens collided fiercely and finally merged into one, transforming into a token that radiated a dazzling divine light.


    Upon this merged token, a new character appeared ¡ª "Extreme"!


    Extreme?!


    The sudden transformation of the three tokens completely astonished Ye Chen. As he barely managed to glimpse the "Extreme" character on the newly formed token, the resplendent divine light it emitted shone directly at him, enveloping Ye Chen inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant completely!


    Then, the divine light burst forth from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and illuminated the entire Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    FInally, it even shot out of the Ice Fire Divine Cave, out of the Fourth Mountain, and burst through the vast sky of the entire Five Elements Mountain!


    At the same time that this divine light soared into the sky from the Five Elements Mountain, similar towering beams of light erupted from the two other great adventure sites, Void Abyss and Ancient Royal Tomb Land.


    If a powerful being was observing from the Endless Star Domain, they would see these three beams of light, originating from three adventure sites among the thirty-three continents, intertwine at the edge of the endless void above.


    The three beams of light emanating from the great adventure sites formed a massive teleportation array in the sky, with one point above and three points below, spanning the vast expanse of the void.


    This gigantic teleportation array was billions of times larger than any intercontinental teleportation ancient array possessed by the thirty-three continents!

 Chapter 473 - 431: Heaven and Earth Tremble

    Seeing the light soaring into the sky, all the adventurers in the three major exploration sites were completely stunned.


    The Void Abyss is a dark abyss spanning thousands of miles, located between Heaven¡¯s Continent and Heavens Continent of the thirty-three continents.


    At this moment, within the abyss, there were thousands of adventurers, all of whom were looking towards the light soaring up from the depths of the Void Abyss.


    "Abyss of No Return!"


    "That location, it¡¯s the Abyss of No Return that even the strongest beings of the thirty-three continents have not yet fully explored!"


    "How can there be light emerging from there, even reaching above the Endless Heavens?!"


    "What on earth is happening!"


    Some bold warriors, unable to hold back their curiosity, flew straight towards the place where the light rose, stopping only when they dared not fly any further, and continued to look at the soaring light.


    ...


    The Ancient Royal Tomb Land is the most dangerous of the three major exploration sites.


    It is also the place where countless True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm buried their divine bodies, known as the "True God Cemetery"¡ªa strange realm!


    At this moment, of the thousand adventurers who entered the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land," only eight were alive!


    These eight had made astonishing discoveries in the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land," and just as the exploration of the area was about to end, they couldn¡¯t believe that at this final moment, a change occurred at the deepest part of the land.


    In the deepest area where only True Gods after their eighth or ninth calamity dared to bury their divine bodies and leave behind their tombs, a shocking pillar of light suddenly rose.


    This caused all eight living persons in the Ancient Royal Tomb Land to be greatly alarmed.


    They feared that this already extremely dangerous Ancient Royal Tomb Land would undergo some perilous change, trapping them once again just as they were about to leave.


    Not far from where the light pillar rose in the depths of the Ancient Royal Tomb Land, an old man with white hair and beard was watching the pillar, his eyes shining with divine light as he murmured, "This... This is the ¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯ Divine Array! I never thought that in my lifetime, I would actually witness the opening of a Divine Array!"


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    "Which location triggered the Divine Array? It shouldn¡¯t be the Ancient Royal Tomb Land, since I didn¡¯t see any of those eight who are still alive activating it. Was it the Void Abyss or the Five Elements Mountain that triggered the Divine Array?!"


    The old man shifted his gaze from the soaring light pillar, looking towards the direction of the Five Elements Mountain and the Void Abyss.


    Although he was in the Ancient Royal Tomb Land and couldn¡¯t see the Five Elements Mountain and the Void Abyss, the old man was aware that at those two locations, there must also have been shocking light pillars emerging!


    "Minor Pole Sky, back in the day, a major figure from the Divine Kingdom personally established the three great exploration sites!"


    "And what nobody knows is that my lineage, the entire line of tomb protectors of the Ancient Royal Tomb Land, was chosen by that great figure to guard this place."


    "From my ancestors guarding this land, it¡¯s been a whole line of ninety-three generations, each generation guarding for a full hundred thousand years. Now, the three exploration sites have been opened for over nine million three hundred thousand years!"


    "Throughout these long years, the ¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯ Divine Array has been activated only a few hundred times, and in the last hundred thousand years, this is the only time!"


    "The method of activating the Divine Array is unknown to me! Even now, I do not know who has activated it. This will allow someone from the thirty-three continents to enter the Minor Pole Sky once again!"


    From the old man¡¯s words, one could tell that he was the tomb protector responsible for guarding the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land."


    And he seemed to have a deep understanding of the mysterious light pillars rising from the three major exploration sites!


    ...


    Minor Spirit Realm.


    The only upper realm of the thirty-three continents!


    In the entire Minor Spirit Realm, there are countless True Gods, but the strongest beings are the ones who have reached the level close to the Divine King¡ªthe True Gods after their ninth calamity.


    Since the five True Gods after the ninth calamity of the Divine Phoenix Clan left the Minor Spirit Realm, there have been only two True Gods after their ninth calamity in the realm.


    These two True Gods after the ninth calamity are the chieftain of the Flying Spirit Clan from one of the six ancient clans, and the other is the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, who crafted the Ancient God Tower that Ye Chen had entered before!


    At this time, both of these mighty True Gods in the Minor Spirit Realm opened their divine eyes and looked towards the Lower Realm.


    The other people in the Minor Spirit Realm could not sense the anomalies happening in the three exploration sites, but as beings who were True Gods after their ninth calamity, these two sensed the shocking pillars of light rising from the three sites immediately.


    "Divine Array, unexpectedly, the Divine Array recorded in the Ancestral Canon has been activated in the Lower Realm!"


    "Were it not for the edict left behind by that being back then, stating that the people of the Minor Spirit Realm cannot obtain the true inheritance of the three exploration sites¡ªbut only the ¡¯Ancient Royal Tomb Land¡¯ may be employed for the burial of True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm¡ªI would have liked to go see these exploration sites for myself."


    "It appears someone from the Lower Realm has received the opportunity from that being and is about to head to ¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯."


    The one speaking was the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    He looked hale and hearty, with a kind and generous countenance, resembling a benevolent elder.


    When he mentioned the words "Minor Pole Sky," his eyes sparkled with intense divine light.


    "It¡¯s a pity that even I have never entered Minor Pole Sky. Unless I reach the Divine King level someday, I might then have a chance to visit Minor Pole Sky."


    "Divine King!"


    At this, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan shook his head helplessly and fell silent.


    The other True God after the ninth calamity, the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, was an old man with a pair of blood-red wings on his back.


    He didn¡¯t speak a word at this moment, but his divine eyes were also full of countless meanings, hidden within them.


    ...


    The Void Abyss, Ancient Royal Tomb Land, and even the Minor Spirit Realm were all experiencing great tremors due to the rise of three extraordinary light pillars in the sky.


    As the originating location where the sky-reaching light began, Five Elements Mountain was likewise shaking continuously at this time.


    At the Five Elements Divine Temple on the Third Mountain, the one with the most gathered martial artists, all the warriors below the eighteen ancient steles turned their gaze toward the Fourth and Fifth Mountains, looking at the light pillar that pierced the heavens.


    "What is that?!"


    The late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm leaders from over a dozen continents all flew into the void, looking towards the sky-piercing light.


    "That direction, it¡¯s between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains, the rumored location of the Divine Heritage Cave for this occasion! Could it be an extraordinary change occurring from the Divine Heritage Cave?!"


    "Such a change, earth-shattering, I¡¯ve been to Five Elements Mountain numerous times, but I¡¯ve never seen such a disturbance!"


    "Is it a heaven-shocking treasure appearing in this world, or a world-alarming legacy?"


    Countless late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm beings began to speculate.


    "Divine Heritage Cave!"


    "Only with the Treasure Cave Key can one enter the Divine Heritage Cave!"


    "This time, it seems a great change has happened!"


    The rest of the warriors below the eighteen ancient steles were abuzz with whispered discussions.


    Not only the warriors at the Third Mountain, Five Elements Divine Temple noticed this anomaly, but those in the First and Second Mountains also noticed this heaven-shocking change.


    Among everyone, the most shocked were those few who were closest to the rise of the sky-piercing light, right in the deepest third treasure area of the Divine Heritage Cave.


    Outside the Ice Fire Divine Cave, among undulating mountains.


    Qing Shuang True God and the Three-Eyed Skeleton, who had just finished executing the two fleeing True Gods Mu Xiao and Xuan Ying and were hurrying back towards the Ice Fire Divine Cave, were still sighing, "True Gods, they are so difficult to kill completely; we expended so much effort just to extinguish all their divine power and prevent them from escaping! Otherwise, if the news reaches the Blood God Clan, countless True Gods from them might come here!"


    "I wonder how Ye Chen and Mei¡¯er are doing now, whether they have trapped Jin Lieyang or not."


    As Qing Shuang True God and the Three-Eyed Skeleton were reflecting, they suddenly saw the heaven-shocking light erupting from the Ice Fire Divine Cave, and both True Gods were utterly startled.


    "It¡¯s that range of mountains, the direction of the Ice Fire Divine Cave!"


    "This... this... could something have gone wrong in the Ice Fire Divine Cave?!"


    Thinking that something might have happened in the Ice Fire Divine Cave, the two True Gods¡¯ complexions instantly changed, especially Qing Shuang True God, who was extremely worried about Mei¡¯er. In their urgency, they even started to burn their divine power and hastened back toward the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Meanwhile, Mei¡¯er, who was in the space of the Ice Fire Divine Cave, stood with her beautiful eyes wide open, her rosy mouth slightly ajar in astonishment.


    She had personally seen Jin Lieyang and Ye Chen fly into the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Now, such a peculiar light had suddenly surged up within the Ice Fire Divine Cave, and Mei¡¯er knew very well that it must have been caused by either Ye Chen or Jin Lieyang!


    ...


    Inside the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Directly below Ye Chen.


    The moment before Ye Chen picked up the third tablet, triggering this earth-shattering tremor-


    Jin Lieyang, who had finally sneaked into the bottom of the Ice Fire Divine Cave, had just laid eyes on the five Thunder Lightning Bamboos growing at the base when he heard the impact from above.


    "What¡¯s that sound?"


    Jin Lieyang looked upwards, just in time to see Ye Chen driving the Ice Snow Jade Medallion slamming against the rock wall beside the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    At that sight, Jin Lieyang smiled, "What¡¯s he up to, afraid to chase after me, or can¡¯t get back up? Does this Ye Chen expect to break through the Ice Fire Divine Cave and escape?"


    Turning back after glancing at Ye Chen, Jin Lieyang paid no mind to Ye Chen¡¯s moves, and instead, a golden claw appeared in his hand, poised to throw it towards the five Thunder Lightning Bamboo below.


    Just as Jin Lieyang was about to seize the treasure, he was horrified to see the Thunder Lightning Bamboo suddenly fly up on its own.


    "Huh? I haven¡¯t even begun to collect the Divine Bamboo with my treasure, why are those shooting up now?"


    Jin Lieyang reached out to grasp the Thunder Lightning Bamboo, but with this attempt, he felt a tremendous force from the bamboo fling him straight into the rocky wall of the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    This collision was so severe that Jin Lieyang¡¯s defenses nearly broke, nearly burning him to death with the two Divine Flames.


    In his astonished state, Jin Lieyang scrambled up to see the five Thunder Lightning Bamboo shooting up even higher and eventually encircling the bright glimmering light near Ye Chen¡¯s position.


    While Jin Lieyang was completely confused by this sudden turn of events, a heaven-shocking radiance suddenly burst from the space of the bright light where Ye Chen was residing.


    This sudden, heaven-shocking light completely enveloped Jin Lieyang.


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    In an instant, Jin Lieyang, already disoriented from the blow dealt by the Thunder Lightning Bamboo, found himself unable to move at all within this heaven-shocking light.


    Even the space-shifting token in his hand, which he tried to use, wouldn¡¯t work!


    This situation utterly horrified Jin Lieyang!

 Chapter 474 - 432 Disappearance

    Enveloped by the celestial brilliance, Jin Lieyang was completely astonished.


    Above him, the one invoking such a disturbance across heaven and earth, Ye Chen inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, was taken completely by surprise.


    "Teleportation Divine Formation?!"


    "I inadvertently activated the hidden Teleportation Divine Formation of the three great adventure sites and now I am about to be teleported away?!"


    "Is this new ¡¯extreme¡¯ character wooden token, formed from the merging of the three tokens, the Divine Token of this Teleportation Divine Formation?!"


    Jin Lieyang below had no understanding of what was happening, but Ye Chen, shrouded in the dazzling divine light, gleaned the reason for all these anomalies from the information transmitted by the newly formed wooden token.


    Voice after voice of divine language resonated within the wooden token, eventually transforming into sounds that Ye Chen could understand.


    These voices directly conveyed to Ye Chen that he had entered the Teleportation Divine Formation and was about to be teleported, and only with the Divine Token to protect him would he not be torn apart by the Teleportation Divine Formation.


    With this Divine Token, Ye Chen also caught a glimpse of the activation of the Teleportation Divine Formations within the three great adventure sites in an instant.


    He saw the celestial light bursting forth from the Ice Fire Divine Cave of the Five Elements Mountain where he currently was, and also the astonishing celestial light rising from the other two adventure sites he had never visited, the "Ancient Royal Tomb Land" and the "Void Abyss," depictions of which he had seen only on the previous "Forbidden" and "Void" character wooden tokens!


    For a split second, Ye Chen even felt as though he was standing amidst the boundless void.


    Looking down from above, he saw the three beams of light shooting into the skies above the void, converging and weaving into a point above and three below, connecting the entire three great adventure sites across myriad miles to form a grand Teleportation Divine Formation.


    Then, Ye Chen¡¯s spirit returned to within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    The brief glimpse of the grand Teleportation Divine Formation spanning myriad miles had left Ye Chen utterly astounded.


    The cross-continental ancient teleportation formations he had seen before on the thirty-three continents were already considered large. Those formations had even teleported him directly from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent across numerous continents to the Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    This Teleportation Divine Formation was many times larger than the cross-continental teleportation ancient formations.


    Ye Chen did not know where this Teleportation Divine Formation would send him!


    Based on its looks, it seemed likely that the destination would be far beyond the range of the thirty-three continents and even the Minor Spirit Realm, possibly teleporting him to another star field!


    This thought unnerved Ye Chen slightly!


    Wrapped by the enormous Teleportation Divine Formation, he was about to be teleported away, unable to struggle.


    The destination was entirely unknown to Ye Chen.


    Naturally, this caused great anxiety!


    Although Ye Chen knew that such a grand display likely wasn¡¯t intended to kill him and that he might have stumbled upon a hidden opportunity within the three adventure sites, which could be a good thing,


    even a fortunate event can provoke a sense of unease and panic when facing the unknown.


    Ye Chen was more worried about the fact that his adventure to the Five Elements Mountain was planned for just over three months. Seeing that his exploration was nearly over and he would return to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to see Jiang Yao,


    now being teleported away, he had no idea how to return or how long it would take.


    Jiang Yao was unaware that Ye Chen had activated the Teleportation Divine Formation, not to mention that even True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God wouldn¡¯t expect it. Ye Chen was concerned that without news of him and not seeing his return to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Jiang Yao would be worried out of her mind!


    But all this unease and worry, Ye Chen was powerless to respond.


    As the celestial divine light emitted by the "extreme" character wooden token completely enveloped Ye Chen and even the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, he felt as though his whole body was immobilized, including the nine ice-encased guardians within the Jade Pendant, and even the little monkey hidden within the Heaven Spirit Ring, all unable to move.


    Even their spiritual communication was completely cut off!


    Ye Chen even heard the countdown of the Teleportation Divine Formation!


    Ten, nine, eight...


    As the teleportation drew nearer, Ye Chen¡¯s heartbeat grew more intense.


    When the final moment of teleportation arrived, Ye Chen¡¯s heart finally settled down.


    "It doesn¡¯t matter anymore."


    "No matter where I am taken, I must face it!"


    "If I can be teleported away, there must be a way to return!"


    "I hope this sudden teleportation won¡¯t take too long!"


    In the instant that Ye Chen¡¯s heart regained its calm, the countdown of the Teleportation Divine Token reached "one." Immediately, divine lights, strange and marvelously teleported, enveloped Ye Chen and the entire Ice Snow Jade Pendant. In a burst of celestial brilliance, they disappeared, surrounded by the five Thunder Lightning Bamboos.


    And in the instant Ye Chen vanished, the three beams of celestial light from the three great adventure sites also trembled wildly before fading away.


    ...


    Among the wild trembling of the celestial brilliance, Jin Lieyang, also shrouded below in the light, felt an incredibly strong pulling force coming at him.


    This force seemed to drag him into some unknown void.


    Jin Lieyang watched helplessly as the Great Void Shifting token in his hand, which he had been reluctant to use on several occasions, was torn to shreds by this pulling force.


    The Great Void Shifting token, a token forged from Divine Artifact Material, was utterly unable to withstand the pull of this force.


    Jin Lieyang had no time to rue the destruction of the Great Void Shifting amulet, because the next moment, he felt the same pulling force tugging at every part of his body.


    Instantly, Jin Lieyang felt his entire physical body, as well as his soul, being completely pulled apart, burst open, and shattered.


    In the end, the last thought passing through Jin Lieyang¡¯s soul was: "What is this radiance! Have I... just like this... died?!"


    His whole being, just like a heaven-reaching radiance violently vanishing, completely disappeared within the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    What Jin Lieyang did not know was that, without the Teleportation Divine Token by his side, without being wrapped in the Teleportation Divine Light, he had fallen into the Teleportation Divine Formation.


    The immense divine force of the Teleportation Divine Formation was not something he could withstand.


    Without the Teleportation Divine Token, even a Nine Tribulations True God among the True Gods of the Void Heavens would only have one path if caught in such a Teleportation Divine Formation¡ªdeath!


    If Jin Lieyang had known that he would be enveloped by the Teleportation Divine Formation, he certainly wouldn¡¯t have risked snatching the Thunder Lightning Bamboo below.


    Perhaps he would¡¯ve long since used the Great Void Shifting amulet to flee without a trace!


    Alas, there is no medicine for regret in the world.


    Jin Lieyang, who had almost succeeded in obtaining the "Thunder Lightning Bamboo," who had planned for countless days, laid down numerous strategies, and hid innumerable tricks, died just like that in the initiating light of the Teleportation Divine Formation.


    Not even a speck of ash was left behind!


    It was not only Jin Lieyang; among the heaven-reaching radiance emerging from the three major exploration sites, there were also some monsters, great demons, and even Spirit Insects and strange beasts that accidentally fell into these lights.


    In the end, they, too, were directly killed under the crushing force of the Teleportation Divine Formation¡¯s light.


    They didn¡¯t even know why they died.


    ...


    The moment the astounding radiance that erupted from the Ice Fire Divine Cave disappeared, Qing Shuang True God and the Three-Eyed Skeleton happened to fly back into the space where the Ice Fire Divine Cave was located.


    The last scene they witnessed was the light dissolving directly into the Ice Fire Divine Cave!


    Seeing that the heaven-reaching radiance truly emerged from the Ice Fire Divine Cave, both True Gods were immensely panicked!


    Turning their gaze, they saw Huo Mei¡¯er standing in shock below the stone platform of the Ice Fire Divine Cave, looking at the cave; Qing Shuang True God¡¯s tensely clenched heart finally relaxed somewhat.


    But the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s gaze suddenly narrowed.


    Because he discovered that Ye Chen, as well as Jin Lieyang, had both disappeared!


    Huo Mei¡¯er also saw the two True Gods returning and hurriedly ran towards Qing Shuang True God, calling out while running, "Auntie, Ye Chen pursued Jin Lieyang into the Ice Fire Divine Cave and then, a huge change occurred within the cave, and a heaven-shocking radiance burst forth!"


    "Auntie, please check quickly, how are Ye Chen and the others!"


    "Ye Chen and Jin Lieyang entered the Ice Fire Divine Cave?!" Upon hearing Huo Mei¡¯er¡¯s words, both the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God were taken aback.


    The anomaly in the Ice Fire Divine Cave beforehand had kept both True Gods from directly entering.


    After a brief hesitation, Qing Shuang True God maneuvered her hands and a peculiar Spirit Insect directly flew towards the cave. Only after verifying that the cave had returned to normal, appearing just as the rumors had described, did Qing Shuang True God pinch a magical formula and a suit of ice-patterned divine garment appeared on her.


    At the same time as Qing Shuang True God brought out the ice-patterned divine garment, the Three-Eyed Skeleton also reached out his hand and one of the two Late-Heavenly Saint phase corpses he had previously taken, appeared directly.


    A black divine garment similarly materialized on this corpse.


    Finally, the corpse wearing the black divine garment and Qing Shuang True God, clad in the ice-patterned divine garment, flew to the stone platform together. Eventually, they descended into the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    Upon reaching the bottom of the Ice Fire Divine Cave, the corpse controlled by the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s divine sense and Qing Shuang True God found that the entire bottom of the Ice Fire Divine Cave was empty.


    Jin Lieyang had disappeared.


    Ye Chen had disappeared.


    Even the five Thunder Lightning Bamboos had completely vanished without a trace.


    ... Explore more at empire


    One day later.


    Huo Mei¡¯er, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and Qing Shuang True God all left the Divine Heritage Cave with heavy expressions, having teleported out.


    Another living figure, the young master of the Nine-Star Palace from Jiumang Continent, Ding Xiaojia, who was saved by Ye Chen in the second segment of the life-and-death path, also teleported out from the second treasure site¡¯s safe area.


    After returning to the Divine Transmission Hall, the four of them learned that the Divine Transmission Hall was also about to close and left, returning to the Fourth Mountain.


    Ding Xiaojia did have a sense of having escaped from disaster; after all, it was thanks to Ye Chen that he had survived.


    But not seeing Ye Chen emerge together, Ding Xiaojia¡¯s heart sank. Could it be that something happened to Ye Chen?


    As for Huo Mei¡¯er, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, and Qing Shuang True God, seeing only Ding Xiaojia come out, they already knew that of the nine people who entered the Divine Heritage Cave, only the four of them truly left alive; the rest had either already died on the three life-and-death paths, or like Ye Chen and Jin Lieyang, had disappeared without a trace, their fates unknown.


    Five days passed.


    The exploration end times for the three major exploration sites arrived simultaneously.


    All surviving explorers emerged at the same time from the "Void Abyss," "Five Elements Mountain," and "Ancient Royal Tomb Land"¡ªthe three different space realms located among the Thirty-Three Continents.

 Chapter 475 - 433: Provocation

    Adventurers who emerged from the three great exploration sites brought back divine treasures and encountered wondrous adventures, filled with joy, while others had narrowly escaped death, still harboring some fear in their hearts.


    However, what everyone discussed the most was the astonishing ray of light that shot up from within their respective exploration sites!


    "Did you see that incredible burst of light on the fifth day before we left?"


    "I saw it, the light was so astonishing it pierced through the void of the entire exploration site, shooting straight up into the heavens!"


    "I don¡¯t know what caused such a major disturbance; it was hard to enter the place where the astonishing light originated, there was simply no way to check it out."


    "I don¡¯t know the reason either, perhaps it¡¯s a great secret hidden within the exploration site!"


    Countless Martial Artists from the three great exploration sites still felt immense shock in their hearts when they thought of the light that surged to the sky and entered the firmament.


    Five Elements Mountain exploration site.


    All the surviving Martial Artists who had been transported from inside the Five Elements Mountain were sent back to the void vortex outside, where they had first entered.


    At this moment, the Heavenly Evolution elder and Mystery Heavenly Saint, who had initially sent the crowd to the Five Elements Mountain, were already waiting outside the void vortex.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Seeing the Heavenly Evolution elder and the Mystery Heavenly Saint next to the flying boat, stationed beside the void vortex, the adventurers successfully leaving the Five Elements Mountain flew towards the flying boat.


    Standing back on the flying boat, many heaved a sigh of relief, "Finally out of the Five Elements Mountain, it was so dangerous this time, I almost died there!"


    Others began discussing the burst of light that had shot up into the sky.


    When the two heard the crowd¡¯s discussion, both the Heavenly Evolution elder and the Mystery Heavenly Saint were also taken aback, "What, an astonishing light surged up between the Fourth and Fifth Mountains of the exploration site?"


    The two had just arrived outside the Five Elements Mountain, and had not noticed any major anomalies on the Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    "Yes, judging by the direction, it¡¯s very likely that the light shot up from inside the Divine Heritage Cave." Numerous Martial Artists surrounded the Heavenly Evolution elder and the Mystery Heavenly Saint to share their observations.


    At this time, within the Martial Artist group from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the Skyscraper Palace Master watched as figures flew onto the flying boat, but he had yet to see Ye Chen¡¯s figure, and his face grew more and more worried.


    Seeing that no one else was being transmitted from the transmission point, the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s expression changed drastically.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t come out of the Five Elements Mountain?!


    It was the final moment to leave the Five Elements Mountain, and Ye Chen hadn¡¯t come out, something the Skyscraper Palace Master didn¡¯t dare to contemplate.


    After all, Ye Chen was the young man whom Palace Master Yuan Li had specially entrusted him to look after with great care!


    Although at the Five Elements Divine Temple on the Third Mountain, Ye Chen¡¯s performance had made the Skyscraper Palace Master realize that he couldn¡¯t protect Ye Chen at all, for Ye Chen¡¯s hidden strengths were even stronger than his. But now seeing that Ye Chen hadn¡¯t appeared, the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s concern wasn¡¯t any less.


    If something had happened to Ye Chen, the Skyscraper Palace Master didn¡¯t dare to imagine how Palace Master Yuan Li would blame him!


    "Has Brother Ye Chen not come out?"


    At this moment, not far from the Skyscraper Palace Master was Elder Minghua of the Purple Dawn Continent, a late-stage True God presence, who had gone to the Third Mountain¡¯s Five Elements Divine Temple with Ye Chen and had once been saved by Ye Chen¡ªnow noticed something was amiss.


    He furrowed his brows.


    Although Ye Chen had made the Martial Artists from the Purple Dawn Continent lose face over the incident involving the Ninth Ancient Stele at the Five Elements Divine Temple, Elder Minghua was a man of great stature and naturally would not take such a minor matter to heart.


    After all, Ye Chen had saved his life, and he was sincerely grateful to him.


    Moreover, Ye Chen¡¯s formidable strength and his young age even earned Elder Minghua¡¯s respect.


    Elder Minghua felt a tightness in his heart at the thought that Ye Chen might have encountered an accident upon not seeing him appear.


    Seeing both the Skyscraper Palace Master and Elder Minghua with worried expressions while looking for someone, Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Purple Dawn Continent both thought of the same person.


    Ye Chen!


    They immediately realized that these two late-stage True Gods must be looking for Ye Chen.


    Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Purple Dawn Continent turned their gaze towards the people landing on the flying boat, and they too did not see Ye Chen.


    This discovery suddenly turned the faces of the Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent pale.


    "Could something have happened to Ye Chen?"


    "Ever since he advanced to the mid-rotating dan stage at the Five Elements Divine Temple, he went off on his own after a few days. We don¡¯t know where he went afterward."


    "Oh heavens, Ye Chen is an unparalleled genius of our Barbaric Wilderness Continent, a rarity in a thousand, even ten thousand years, he mustn¡¯t come to harm!"


    These Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent admired Ye Chen even more than Elder Minghua did.


    Ye Chen had managed to make the Martial Artists from the Purple Dawn Continent refrain from contention at the Ninth Ancient Stele, treating Elder Minghua¡ªa top existence at the late-stage True God level¡ªas an equal, and had earned great respect for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    The Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent took pride in Ye Chen.


    If something had happened to Ye Chen...


    These Martial Artists didn¡¯t dare to think about the profound loss that would befall the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    As the Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent turned ashen, within the ranks of the Purple Dawn Continent Martial Artists, many had peculiar expressions upon realizing that Ye Chen had yet to emerge from the Five Elements Mountain.


    These Martial Artists were precisely the ones who had been chased away from the Ninth Ancient Stele by Ye Chen.


    Before Ye Chen had remained unscathed, they wouldn¡¯t dare to provoke him, a figure even their supreme elders regarded with a certain awe.


    But now, the moment when the Five Elements Mountain is about to close is imminent, and Ye Chen has yet to make an appearance. It¡¯s highly probable that this signifies his death within the Five Elements Mountain.


    The dead are no longer considered powerful, and naturally, this causes the martial artists¡¯ awe of Ye Chen to vanish completely.


    Even a daring martial artist said in a low voice, "He hasn¡¯t shown up yet, so that Ye Chen is ninety-nine percent likely dead in the Five Elements Mountain. Even if he¡¯s not dead, once the Five Elements Mountain fully closes and the void hurricane that could even annihilate a True God appears, he definitely won¡¯t survive!"


    Although the martial artist spoke softly, those present were powerful enough to traverse the Five Elements Mountain and, without a doubt, heard everything loud and clear.


    "What did you say?!"


    Upon hearing the schadenfreude in the martial artist¡¯s tone, the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were furious, and many glared angrily at the speaker.


    Even though they knew the martial artist might be speaking the truth, they refused to believe that Ye Chen would meet with disaster, and they disliked others cursing him like this even more!


    After hearing these words, the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s gaze immediately turned toward the martial artist, his eyes even carrying a hint of chilling killing intent.


    Elder Minghua, too, fixed a furious gaze on the martial artist in response.


    With the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent glaring at him, the martial artist was not fearful, but facing the Skyscraper Palace Master and Elder Minghua¡¯s gaze, he suddenly felt his heart skip a beat.


    He realized his casual remark had angered these two late-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint existences.


    "They¡¯re all dead, and the supreme elders still regard that Ye Chen so highly?" The martial artist quickly suppressed the joy at others¡¯ misfortunes from his face, but his heart filled with even more disdain.


    At that moment, however, the martial artist suddenly felt his entire body being pulled up by a force!


    This martial artist was of a mid-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint level of strength, already quite formidable. He hadn¡¯t felt any attacking force approaching him and yet was pulled into the air, which naturally scared him to the point of nearly losing his soul!


    "Spiritual Treasures can be casually consumed, but words should not be spoken carelessly!"


    Within a scolding voice, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, Huo Mei¡¯er, and even Ding Xiaojia, whom Ye Chen had once saved, advanced towards the martial artist.


    The one who had spoken was the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    As he spoke, an explosive burst of aura radiated from him, stirring the air with a True God level presence that instantly rendered the entire flying ship eerily silent.


    A True God?!


    As the martial artist was pulled into the air, numerous gazes had already turned to the area where the warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Purple Dawn Continent were stationed.


    And now, sensing the presence of a True God, even the Heavenly Evolution elder and the Mystery Heavenly Saint powering the flying ship trembled with shock.


    A True God indeed!


    And the few existences at the peak of late-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint could sense that this was not any ordinary First Tribulation True God. This aura belonged to at least a Third Tribulation True God!


    Such a powerful being could effortlessly execute them, who were among the top-tier of late-stage Mystery Heavenly Saints!


    Everyone was too scared to even breathe, let alone dare to utter respectful words towards the Three-Eyed Skeleton.


    Seeing the fear in those around him, the Three-Eyed Skeleton let out a cold laugh.


    Since Jin Lieyang had disappeared and he had revealed himself in Jin Lieyang¡¯s presence, the Three-Eyed Skeleton no longer saw any need to hide his aura.


    Hearing the martial artist speak ill of Ye Chen, the Three-Eyed Skeleton felt compelled to speak on his behalf. After all, he had not only formed a bond with Ye Chen but was also the one to lead Ye Chen to the Ice and Fire Divine Cave; it was natural for him to defend Ye Chen.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton looked directly at the martial artist with an almost mocking smile, sizing up this mid-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint warrior.


    This mid-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint warrior held a significant position within the Purple Dawn Continent, as a grand elder of a third-rank sect. Yet now, he possessed none of the grand elder¡¯s grandeur, his previously gleeful expression having completely vanished.


    He had never imagined that his single remark would anger a True God!


    Ye Chen, even in trouble, had the voice of a True God to speak for him, to stand up for him?!


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    The elder was filled with regret for his careless words.


    Trouble stems from careless talk. This was the true meaning of trouble stemming from careless talk!


    Beads of sweat emerged one by one on his body, and he had no idea how this True God would punish him.


    "Heh heh, in the past, I might not have done anything to you, but now, I¡¯m already in a foul mood, so just blame your bad luck for speaking out of turn!"


    After snorting coldly at the martial artist, the Three-Eyed Skeleton reached into the void with a large hand, instantly pulling the martial artist beside him. With a flash of divine light in his hand, the mid-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint was crushed to death with one squeeze, completely annihilated into nothingness!


    This action terrified countless martial artists from the Purple Dawn Continent so much that they knelt on the ground.


    It made the other martial artists utterly fracture in spirit!


    A True God indeed.


    Truly terrifyingly powerful, a mid-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint warrior had been snuffed out like an ant!


    What these martial artists didn¡¯t know was that the Three-Eyed Skeleton, having not personally killed Jin Lieyang, was already quite frustrated, and with Ye Chen, who had just received his master¡¯s heritage, also missing, he was even more disturbed.


    Having been schemed against by Jin Lieyang, he had always been unpredictable in his emotions; otherwise, he would not have killed so many martial artists in the Forbidden Ancient Lands, carelessly executing even late-stage Mystery Heavenly Saints without a second thought!


    Having killed this mid-stage Mystery Heavenly Saint, the Three-Eyed Skeleton didn¡¯t even stir a ripple in his heart.


    He merely snorted and then, recomposing himself, walked toward the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    Huo Mei¡¯er and Ding Xiaojia followed behind the Three-Eyed Skeleton, walking over to where the martial artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were grouped.

 Chapter 476 - 434: Minor Pole Sky, Where Is That?

    ```


    Seeing the Three-Eyed Skeleton approach, martial artists along the way all stepped aside to give way.


    After all, this was a True God!


    He had just killed a mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse without even blinking.


    Who wouldn¡¯t fear such a figure?


    Even the Skyscraper Palace Master felt a tremor in his heart when he saw the Three-Eyed Skeleton walking straight toward him, not knowing what business this merciless True God had with him.


    What the Skyscraper Palace Master didn¡¯t expect was that when the Three-Eyed Skeleton reached him, the usually stern face revealed a rare smile, "Are you the Skyscraper Palace Master from the Heavenly Sacred Palace of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent? I am a friend of Ye Chen, you may call me Xuanyang."


    A friend of Ye Chen?!


    Heaven.


    Upon hearing the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s words, all the martial artists were utterly petrified.


    This True God, to be a friend of Ye Chen? To address Ye Chen as a junior friend?


    That Ye Chen managed to befriend a personage of True God caliber, a True God who holds him in such high regard!


    Many martial artists who had already witnessed Ye Chen at the Five Elements Divine Temple took a sharp inhale. The fact that the late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse Elder Minghua treated Ye Chen as an equal and valued him highly was already inconceivable to them.


    Now, another True God held Ye Chen in the same high regard and treated Ye Chen with equally earnest decorum, which made them feel as if they were dreaming!


    A True God, after all.


    Even in front of late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses at the pinnacle, they are absolutely unreachable. Otherwise, neither Elder Tianyan nor Mystery Heavenly Saint would have been so frightened when this True God appeared.


    Such a great figure formed this good of a relationship with Ye Chen, who was merely at the mid-stage of Minor Pole Sky, which was truly beyond everyone¡¯s expectations.


    At this moment, Elder Minghua¡¯s eyes too were brimming with shock; he did not know how to express his feelings, with one thought dominating his mind, "Ye Chen... he... is just too unbelievable!"


    Everyone finally understood why the mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse had been killed by this True God.


    It was apparent that the True God valued Ye Chen greatly, while that mid-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse had been disrespectful towards Ye Chen and had revelled in his absence.


    Clearly, he had enraged this True God!


    With this realization, the martial artists began to regard the yet-to-appear Ye Chen with even more reverence.


    On the side of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Seeing the trace of a smile on the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s face and hearing his words, the Skyscraper Palace Master finally let out a sigh of relief.


    He knew that this True God must have come to talk about Ye Chen.


    "Elder Xuanyang, do you know where Ye Chen is now?"


    This True God had also emerged from the Five Elements Mountain, and the Skyscraper Palace Master guessed that he must know the real reason behind Ye Chen¡¯s continued absence.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton sighed and said, "Ye Chen has disappeared during an anomaly in the Divine Heritage Cave, and I do not know where he has gone. However, he should be safe, just missing."


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton had once battled with Ye Chen, and even he could not handle Ye Chen; he knew Ye Chen¡¯s capabilities and that he could not possibly be in danger without even the slightest ability to resist. There must have been an anomaly, most certainly related to the tremendous glow that surged from the Ice Fire Divine Cave.


    The reason for his disappearance was very likely because of that incredible glow.


    "Ye Chen disappeared?"


    "He disappeared during an anomaly in the Divine Heritage Cave?"


    Upon hearing the Three-Eyed Skeleton¡¯s words, the Skyscraper Palace Master was taken aback.


    He too immediately thought of the astonishing glow that had risen from the direction of the Divine Heritage Cave, "Could it be, that glow has something to do with Ye Chen?"


    Thinking this, the Skyscraper Palace Master directly spoke to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, "Elder Xuanyang, I would dare to invite you to the Heavenly Sacred Palace in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    "The chief palace master of our Heavenly Sacred Palace, Palace Master Yuan Li, also holds Ye Chen in very high esteem, and she definitely wants to know about Ye Chen. I hope that you could discuss in detail about Ye Chen¡¯s situation in the Divine Heritage Cave while at the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    With so many martial artists around, the Skyscraper Palace Master knew that there were many things the True God might not want to discuss openly.


    Hearing the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s invitation, the Three-Eyed Skeleton did not refuse but nodded in agreement, "The Barbaric Wilderness Continent? I too was thinking about visiting the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Since that¡¯s the case, I¡¯ll accompany you to the Heavenly Sacred Palace."


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton still remembered what Ye Chen had mentioned about the fallen Divine Sword, and although Ye Chen hadn¡¯t specified where the sword had fallen, Ye Chen came from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, so the Three-Eyed Skeleton suspected that the sword might have been encountered by Ye Chen there.


    Now that his grudge with Jin Lieyang was settled, the Three-Eyed Skeleton naturally wanted to see if his master¡¯s Divine Sword was truly on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Seeing the Three-Eyed Skeleton agree to go to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the Skyscraper Palace Master¡¯s heart eased.


    With this person willing to go to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, they would be able to learn more about Ye Chen¡¯s disappearance.


    ```


    Upon seeing a True God arrive before them and agree to follow them to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent were both excited and a bit nervous.


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    This was their first time being so close to a True God!


    After the Three-Eyed Skeleton walked up to the group of warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent without speaking further, Huo Mei¡¯er and Ding Xiaojia also made their way to the side of the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    "Skyscraper Palace Master, I am Huo Mei¡¯er, the Holy Maiden of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land from the Leaving Fire Continent. Ye Chen took great care of me in the Divine Heritage Cave. Although Ye Chen has disappeared, if there is ever an issue in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, my Leaving Fire Continent will surely offer full support!" Huo Mei¡¯er said earnestly to the Skyscraper Palace Master.


    Following her, Ding Xiaojia, with his gaze sweeping across the group of warriors from the Purple Dawn Continent, said, "And my Jiumang Continent too. This time, Ye Chen saved my life. The Jiumang Continent¡¯s Nine Stars Palace will also remember the kindness of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    The Young Holy Maiden of the Leaving Fire Continent and the first sect¡¯s heir of the Nine Stars Palace from the Jiumang Continent.


    At this moment, both of them stood up to speak for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, clearly indicating to everyone present that even if Ye Chen was gone, they would not forget the kindness he showed them!


    Hearing this, how could the gathered warriors dare look down upon those from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent?


    Not to mention that the Jiumang Continent was already considered a powerful land, the Leaving Fire Continent, as one of the five Five Elements Continents, held even more clout than the Alliance of Myriad Beasts and, furthermore, had the support of a True God on the side of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent...


    Everyone knew that this Ye Chen of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent had brought an incalculable boost to their lands.


    In the future, when warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent participated in the three great adventures, there would likely be no continent daring to provoke them lightly!


    ...


    One day later.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton, having been transported by an ancient array from the Heavenly Evolution Continent to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, conversed with Palace Master Yuan Li before leaving the Heavenly Sacred Palace and heading to the Tai¡¯a Sword Sect, the great sword sect rumored to possess a fallen Divine Sword.


    And Palace Master Yuan Li, upon learning from the True God, the Three-Eyed Skeleton, about Ye Chen¡¯s disappearance in the Divine Heritage Cave and after further questioning the disciples who had gone to the three adventure sites, did not dare hesitate and promptly went to visit the cultivation place of Jiang Yao, to meet with True Phoenix and Mu Lan, the two True Gods!


    When Jiang Yao, who was hastily emerging from her cultivation upon hearing about Ye Chen vanishing amidst the bizarre surge of light in the Ice Fire Divine Cave, almost fainted!


    Right then and there, Jiang Yao couldn¡¯t help but want to rush to the Five Elements Mountain!


    It was True Phoenix who stopped Jiang Yao.


    "Princess Yao, the Five Elements Mountain is now sealed, and you can¡¯t enter," True Phoenix said, waving her hand, "please don¡¯t worry for now."


    "But... what if Ye Chen is in danger?! Aunties, please accompany me to the Five Elements Mountain!" Jiang Yao¡¯s beautiful eyes were brimming with tears, filled with worry and longing.


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God exchanged a look and both nodded, "Princess Yao, let¡¯s first clarify the truth of the matter before investigating further."


    Mu Lan True God turned directly to Palace Master Yuan Li and asked, "Yuan Li, did the disciples who came back from the three adventure sites all see a sky-reaching light at their respective sites?"


    Palace Master Yuan Li nodded repeatedly, "Yes! After hearing about Ye Chen¡¯s incident, I gathered all the disciples who participated in the three adventures and asked about the events at the sites. Disciples from all three sites saw the sky-reaching light appear, and it¡¯s very likely that there is a connection."


    Mu Lan True God nodded gently and looked towards Jiang Yao, "Princess Yao, about that sky-reaching light, I have heard your grandfather mention it in the divine phoenix clan."


    Mu Lan True God, entrusted by Jiang Yao¡¯s parents to come down to the mortal realm and find Jiang Yao, also knew quite a lot about the core secrets of the divine phoenix clan.


    The chiefs of the Spirit Wing Tribe and the ancient Flame King both knew the secrets of the three great adventures, and the divine phoenix clan, having had five nine-calamity True Gods, understood even more about the mortal realm¡¯s secrets than the ancient Flame King.


    "The divine phoenix clan¡¯s ancestral records once mentioned that tens of thousands, or even millions of years ago, there were several occasions where three sky-reaching lights appeared in the mortal realm. This seems to be related to a being far exceeding True Gods. It is also rumored that those three sky-reaching lights can send those with destiny to a mysterious place."


    "That place is called¡ªMinor Pole Sky!"


    "Ye Chen suddenly vanished at the same time as those three sky-reaching lights appeared, so it is very likely that Ye Chen was transported to that ¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯!"


    "Minor Pole Sky?" Jiang Yao blinked in tearful surprise, "Auntie, where is that place?!"


    ...


    Everything that happened after the adventure at the Five Elements Mountain, including Jiang Yao¡¯s worry upon hearing about her own disappearance, and the guess by Mu Lan True God about Minor Pole Sky, was unknown to Ye Chen.


    Since being transmitted by the transference array in the Ice Fire Divine Cave, Ye Chen entered a state of extraordinary spatial traversal.


    This form of spatial travel was much longer and steadier than his previous journey from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to the Heavenly Evolution Continent.


    Protected by the Divine Token, Ye Chen had been safe throughout the whole process.


    After an indeterminate amount of time, Ye Chen finally felt the pitch-dark transmission tunnel bringing wave after wave of spatial fluctuations, and he could see a mysterious rippling bright light appearing ahead.


    "Is the transmission ending?"


    Just as this thought crossed Ye Chen¡¯s mind, the next moment, he felt his body shake, and he was abruptly pulled by a mysterious spatial force, surging forward.


    With a "boom," and a sense of dizziness, Ye Chen had already rushed out of that strange spatial travel.


    Before Ye Chen could even look up to see the place he had been transported to, a very low murmur of astonishment reached his ears, "Hmm? Someone from the Celestial Spirit Star¡¯s thirty-three continents of adventurers? That place hasn¡¯t had a warrior transmitted over for a hundred and sixty thousand years!"


    After this extremely low murmur finished, Ye Chen then heard a majestic voice coming his way, "Warrior of the Celestial Spirit Star, welcome to¡ª¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯!"

 Chapter 477 - 435 Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace

    "Martial Artists from Celestial Spirit Star? Minor Pole Sky?!"


    Boom!


    At the sound of that voice, Ye Chen opened his eyes to find himself standing on a stone platform with a radius of over a hundred yards. Looking to both sides of the platform, there was nothing but air.


    This platform was actually a lone Void Stone Platform, floating in the void!


    Looking down from the platform, one could see countless clouds flowing beneath.


    The height of this platform was truly unbelievable!


    Ye Chen also noticed that there were circles of Teleportation Spirit Patterns engraved on the platform, flickering faintly with spiritual light.


    He was standing right in the middle of these glowing Teleportation Spirit Patterns.


    It was obvious that he had appeared here through these Teleportation Spirit Patterns.


    "The voice that spoke just now..."


    Ye Chen suddenly remembered the voice he had heard the moment he opened his eyes.


    The voice said he was from the thirty-three mainlands of the Celestial Spirit Star expedition site. Ye Chen was not surprised by this; he had heard from the nine Ice Guard Wardens that the Minor Spirit Realm was indeed known as Celestial Spirit Star in other continents.


    However, the voice also said that it had been 160,000 years since a martial artist was last teleported here from Celestial Spirit Star. Sixteen hundred thousand years? That amount of time also shocked Ye Chen.


    The voice further said, "Welcome to ¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯." Could this place be called "Minor Pole Sky"?!


    Ye Chen had never heard of any place called Minor Pole Sky!


    Taken aback, Ye Chen quickly looked toward the source of the voice. Then, he saw a giant figure over ten meters tall, clad in a strange black scale armor robe, standing in the air with divine eyes looking straight at him.


    The aura of the giant in black scale armor robe was more terrifying than any other strong being Ye Chen had encountered, even far surpassing the Five Tribulation True Gods and True Phoenix by countless times.


    God King.


    Ye Chen instantly had the thought that this person might be a being that transcended True Gods, likely a great God King!


    Ye Chen also noticed that there were several hundred people standing next to this giant in black scale armor robe. Among these people were Martial Artists from the Spirit Sea Realm, the Rotating Pill Realm, and the Heavenly Saint Realm, but the majority were from the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    These people were curiously sizing up Ye Chen and the others around him. Judging from their behavior, it seemed these people, like Ye Chen, had just arrived here not long ago.


    Ye Chen then looked past this group and the giant in the black scale armor robe and took a deep breath.


    He saw in the distant sky, above the endless sea of clouds, a magnificent city proudly standing in the void.


    This was a giant city, floating in the sky, floating above the clouds, much like the legendary heavenly palace!


    The entire city was grand and magnificent. Ye Chen could only see the exterior of the Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace City. The city walls were a thousand yards high, with its palace towers being even taller than the wall.


    Ye Chen also saw giant larks, cranes, and Firebirds, each a thousand yards in size, flying tirelessly around the city, and incredibly powerful beings soaring across the sky.


    "What a grand city built above the sky!"


    "So this is Minor Pole Sky?"


    "What will I experience after being teleported here?"


    As these thoughts filled his mind, Ye Chen turned back to look at the giant in the black scale armor robe.


    At this moment, the giant in the black robe, having examined Ye Chen for some time, spoke to him again, "Martial Artist from Celestial Spirit Star, come here. Once the teleportation periods from all places have ended, I will send you all into the city of Minor Pole Sky."


    Ye Chen nodded and approached the giant in black.


    When he reached the giant¡¯s presence, Ye Chen gave a bow and said, "Senior, why was I teleported here? Is it a chance left by you, leading us here?"


    Despite facing someone who was likely of God King level, Ye Chen still voiced the doubts in his heart.


    "Haha, your coming here is not because of a chance I left, but because of a great existence, a great Divine Venerable who established this Minor Pole Sky," said the giant in the black robe directly to Ye Chen, "Everyone asks the same question after being teleported. I have a Jade Slip here; just take a look, and you will understand."


    With that, the giant in the black robe tossed a Jade Slip towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen caught the Jade Slip and started to examine it.


    After looking through the Jade Slip once and returning it to the robed giant, Ye Chen¡¯s understanding of why he had come to this place crystallized as he turned his gaze back to the towering Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace City.


    It turned out that this place called Minor Pole Sky was located within a secret realm under the jurisdiction of the "Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains."


    Ye Chen had long heard of the Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains from the Nine Ice Guardians; it was a higher plane shared by the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where he lived, the Minor Spirit Realm, and even the Heavenly Fierce Star where the Nine Ice Guardians resided¡ªfar above their elementary planes!


    Rumors had it that only those who had cultivated to the God King Realm could transcend the lower realms and enter the Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains.


    The former Icefrost God King and the Black Crow God King who had abducted members of Jiang Yao¡¯s Divine Phoenix Clan, they were both God Kings under the Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains!


    Ye Chen had not expected that through the three great exploration sites, he would be directly transmitted into a secret realm under the Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains.


    Although this was not the upper plane of the true Divine Kingdom,


    the mere fact that it was a secret realm under the Divine Kingdom was enough to leave one shocked and in disbelief upon hearing of it.


    As for the origins of Minor Pole Sky...


    Ye Chen also learned from the Jade Slip that Minor Pole Sky was left behind by a great Divine Venerable, "Heavenly Cloud Venerable."


    Divine Venerable, ah!


    That was an existence even mightier than a God King, a powerhouse who was said to be a dominant ruler within the Divine Kingdom!


    Ye Chen could not have imagined that he had entered a secret realm established by a Divine Venerable.


    According to the Jade Slip, "Heavenly Cloud Venerable" was someone who had ascended from a lowest-tier place like the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, cultivated all the way to the God King Realm before entering the "Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains," and there, progressed from a Lower God King to a Middle God King, then broke through to an Upper God King, before finally, achieving the grand status of Divine Venerable.


    After becoming a Divine Venerable, being mindful of his homeland, Heavenly Cloud Venerable used his devastating divine powers to leave exploration sites across all the lower realms like the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and within them, left opportunities for fortune.


    In the thirty-three continents of the Minor Spirit Realm, for instance, Heavenly Cloud Venerable left behind three great exploration sites. In other lower realms, various exploration sites were also left with opportunities for fortune.


    If one could find the most precious opportunities in these exploration sites, they would be instantly transmitted by a transportation formation left by Heavenly Cloud Venerable into Minor Pole Sky to undergo the immensely valuable training within that secret realm.


    This "Minor Pole Sky secret realm training" could be considered as Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯s grand grace to all Martial Artists of the lower realms, a great opportunity granted to those who were fortunate.


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    Let alone the lower realms, it was even said that many God Kings from the "Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains" and offspring of Divine Venerables would seek out opportunities to enter the "Minor Pole Sky secret realm" for training.


    The Jade Slip also said that the site for Minor Pole Sky secret realm training was located within this Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace City. There were numerous training opportunities within the colossal city, and after one used up these training opportunities, they also had to face a series of training assessments.


    Only after passing the first training assessment would one gain access to further training opportunities.


    If one failed the training assessment, the opportunity for secret realm training in Minor Pole Sky would come to a complete end, and they would be sent back to where they came from.


    Although Ye Chen was still unaware of what specific training opportunities the Minor Pole Sky secret realm had to offer, just the fact that they were left by a Divine Venerable, coveted even by the offspring of God Kings and Divine Venerables of the Divine Kingdom of Wanhua Mountains, made him aware of the immense value of these opportunities.


    Ye Chen also did not expect that the three random tokens he had stumbled upon would bring him such a precious adventure.


    Now aware of the truth, Ye Chen was in no hurry to return. Naturally, he wanted to make the most of this Divine Venerable-level opportunity, train well in this place, and strive to elevate his strength to an even more formidable level!


    After contemplating for a moment, Ye Chen adjusted his state of mind and looked at the others around him.


    By now, Ye Chen knew that these people, like himself, were Martial Artists from other lower realms, who had encountered their own realm¡¯s fortunes to arrive here.


    As Ye Chen was appraising the other individuals, a Rotating Pill youth standing beside him greeted him quietly, "Brother, are you from Celestial Spirit Star? I heard that it¡¯s been quite a long time since someone from your place made it to Minor Pole Sky."


    The young man was speaking the language of the Divine Kingdom.


    However, Ye Chen could understand him; upon arriving in Minor Pole Sky and perusing the Jade Slip, knowledge of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s language had miraculously infused into his mind.


    At this time, not only could Ye Chen understand the language, but he also could speak it.


    Ye Chen looked at the youth and saw that he looked very similar to the Martial Artists from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the sole difference being the young man¡¯s short stature, only reaching up to about half of Ye Chen¡¯s height.


    "I am Ye Chen," Ye Chen smiled at the Martial Artist, recognizing each other, "May I ask your name? You mentioned earlier that it¡¯s been quite a long time since anyone from Celestial Spirit Star has come, do you know much about the various lower realms?"


    "Hehe, nice to meet you, Brother Ye Chen. My name is ¡¯Fang Hua¡¯, and I hail from ¡¯Black Profound Star,¡¯ a star continent not far from Celestial Spirit Star. Someone from my family once came to Minor Pole Sky and is quite familiar with the God Kings in charge of this round of training, so I know a bit more about Minor Pole Sky and the affairs of the lower realms. After being transported here, I also quietly inquired about a few things," this youth named "Fang Hua" was quite forward, and he began chatting with Ye Chen telepathically without hesitation: "Brother Ye Chen, you must cherish this time in Minor Pole Sky, for the training opportunities here become more valuable the further you go. Let¡¯s hope we can arrive at the third training opportunity."


    "As for the fourth one, that¡¯s probably out of our reach, only those offspring from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s God Kings and Divine Venerables might have a chance."


    "Brother Ye Chen, I heard that this time, there will be a descendant of a big shot coming here, said to be an extremely beautiful girl!"

 Chapter 478 - 436: People from Various Realms

    Fang Hua spoke of some impressive figure¡¯s descendant, an extremely beautiful girl, but Ye Chen was not interested.


    After all, such a person had no connection with him.


    However, regarding the training opportunities in "Minor Pole Sky" that Fang Hua mentioned, which became more precious as one progressed, Ye Chen was quite keen to learn more, since this concerned his cultivation here.


    "Fang Hua Dao friend, what exactly are these training opportunities and assessments in Minor Pole Sky? Do you understand?" Ye Chen asked Fang Hua.


    Fang Hua gave a mysterious smile to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, you¡¯ve asked the right person. I¡¯m not clear about the fourth training opportunity, but I¡¯ve long heard of the first three..."


    "Rumor has it, these training opportunities are all used to enhance the strength of every warrior who comes to Minor Pole Sky. The most important enhancement is the understanding of laws, like the five Great Void Laws that both your Celestial Spirit Star and our Black Profound Star contemplated, as well as the other Eight Great Laws or Nine Great Laws contemplated by many lower realms, all of which will be included in these training opportunities."


    "Even more detailed and powerful versions of the Space Law and Time Law that our lower realm Heavenly Saint and True Gods comprehend are said to exist in the later training opportunities!"


    "Apart from the opportunities for law cultivation, I¡¯ve heard there are also opportunities for cultivating the physical body and Divine Soul..."


    "The first training opportunity is said to be a Physical Training Opportunity..."


    "As for the assessments, each one is different, but they are all specially designed to target the previous trainings..."


    As Fang Hua spoke, Ye Chen nodded along.


    "I didn¡¯t expect Fang Hua to actually know so much. With this information, once I enter the Minor Pole Sky¡¯s secret realm of cultivation, I won¡¯t be completely confused and directionless," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    While Ye Chen and Fang Hua were chatting leisurely, other warriors from various lower realms who had arrived at Minor Pole Sky were also getting to know each other through conversation.


    Meanwhile, the giant in the black robe paid no attention to the chatter of the warriors, instead keeping an eye on the void platform that Ye Chen had used to transport here, watching for the arrival of new warriors from the lower realms.


    This waiting continued for seven days.


    In these seven days, thousands more people arrived via the void platform. Like Ye Chen at first, they were utterly bewildered upon arriving at Minor Pole Sky, but once they learned of its true wonders, they were overjoyed.


    After seven days had passed and the transmission period for countless lower realms had ended, with no more newcomers to Minor Pole Sky, the giant in the black robe finally turned his attention back to the warriors like Ye Chen who had arrived.


    The giant with divine eyes swept over the thousands of warriors and nodded, "In the past, ¡¯Tianyun¡¯ gave countless lower realms the opportunity to come to Minor Pole Sky. Over the years, only one in a billion realms has the chance to send someone here each time."


    "There are even some realms that have not sent anyone to Minor Pole Sky in tens or even hundreds of thousands of years."


    At this point, the gaze of the giant in the black robe lingered slightly on warriors like Ye Chen who had not been to Minor Pole Sky in a long time.


    Hearing the words of the giant in the black robe, Ye Chen himself was filled with emotion, "I never thought that it wasn¡¯t the longest that our Minor Spirit Realm hadn¡¯t sent anyone here for 160,000 years. There are actually realms that haven¡¯t sent anyone for hundreds of thousands of years."


    "This ¡¯Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯ is truly formidable, leaving behind an exploration site and the opportunity of Minor Pole Sky that could last for such an extended period. I wonder if Tianyun is still alive now and just how powerful he has become..."


    Ye Chen pondered.


    Even Fang Hua, who was well-informed, had no understanding of matters involving Divine Venerable-level powers.


    While Ye Chen was pondering, he heard the giant in the black robe speak again, "This time, there are 8,653 of you, which is a moderate number in the history of Minor Pole Sky¡¯s secret cultivation realm, not too bad."


    "Get to know me, my name is ¡¯God King Lei Yun¡¯, and I am the Divine King responsible for receiving you here and sending you to the first training opportunity. I am a Middle God King!"


    As he spoke about being a Middle God King, "God King Lei Yun" also proudly puffed up his chest.


    "Middle God King!"


    There was a flash of brilliance in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes.


    From the jade slip provided by God King Lei Yun earlier and his conversation with Fang Hua, Ye Chen had learned that just like True Gods are divided from First Tribulation True God to Ninth Tribulation True God, upon cultivating to the God King Realm, there is also a classification.


    The God King Realm is divided into three stages: Lower God King, Middle God King, and Upper God King.


    Every Ninth Tribulation True God from the lower realm becomes a Lower God King upon breakthrough.


    A Lower God King, upon entering the Divine Kingdom, can only be considered an ordinary powerhouse, just a bit more powerful than the native low-ranking beings and low-ranking descendants of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s powers.


    After all, for a higher realm like the Divine Kingdom, there are innumerable lower realms like Minor Spirit Realm. Even if only one Lower God King emerges from each lower realm, the number entering the Divine Kingdom would be incredible.


    With so many Lower God Kings, they naturally aren¡¯t highly valued in the Divine Kingdom. Only by continuing to break through can one climb higher in status within the Divine Kingdom.


    And breaking through from a Lower God King to a Middle God King is already quite an achievement. A Middle God King already has a certain level of influence in the Divine Kingdom; otherwise, someone like God King Lei Yun would not have been assigned to handle a significant event like that in Minor Pole Sky.


    And those who rank higher, the Upper God Kings, stand even above, facing a Lower God King in the way a warrior with revolving dan from the lower realm would face a Qi Realm martial artist!


    The Divine Venerables above them are even more unbelievably powerful, being dominators in their own right within the Divine Kingdoms!


    With this in mind, Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts stirred, "I wonder what realm the Frozen God King was in. The ¡¯Ni Shan God King¡¯ who originally injured the Frozen God King, ultimately leading to his downfall on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, what realm was he in? And the ¡¯Black Crow God King¡¯ who captured the members of the Phoenix Clan, what level of God King is he?"


    The realm of the Black Crow God King, even Mu Lan True God, who had seen him before, might not be clear, so Ye Chen had no way to make sense of it now.


    However, Ye Chen could inquire about the Frozen God King and Ni Shan God King.


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen, standing among the crowd, instantly took a dive into his mind, connecting to the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Having been brought along to the Minor Pole Sky, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, along with its nine guardians, remained unharmed and safe.


    During the seven days of waiting, Ye Chen had quietly spoken with the nine guardians several times. When they learned that they had now come to a secret place called the Minor Pole Sky in the Divinity Mountain Divine Kingdom, they were utterly taken aback.


    They had followed the Frozen God King before and had heard of the wonders of the Minor Pole Sky.


    It had never crossed the minds of the nine guardians that their Lord Ye Chen would, during the three adventures, stumble upon the astounding transfer to the Minor Pole Sky and bring them along!


    This was a place teeming with God Kings!


    Although, under the circumstances where a space artifact had recognized its master, God Kings couldn¡¯t peer into the artifact, the guardians in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant had no worries about being seen. But arriving here still stirred a mix of nervousness and excitement within the nine guardians.


    "Lord Ye Chen," sensing Ye Chen¡¯s divine consciousness entering the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, all nine guardians turned their gaze to him.


    Enjoy new adventures from empire


    Ye Chen smiled and asked the nine guardians, "I¡¯ve heard that God Kings are classified into Lower, Middle, and Upper God Kings. Which level did our predecessor, the Frozen God King, belong to, and which level was his adversary ¡¯Ni Shan God King¡¯?"


    Knowing the enemy as well as oneself is the key to victory in every battle.


    Having received the inheritance of the Frozen God King, Ye Chen would certainly seek revenge on his behalf, so he naturally wanted a clear understanding of his predecessor¡¯s adversary.


    "Lord Ye Chen, our old master, the Frozen God King, was an Upper God King in his time, also a very famous powerhouse in the Divinity Mountain Divine Kingdom!"


    "And that ¡¯Ni Shan God King¡¯, who caused the death of our old master, was also an Upper God King," the nine guardians informed Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded slightly, exchanged a few more words with the nine guardians, then withdrew his divine consciousness from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    "Upper God King?!"


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but be astonished.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that he would obtain the inheritance of an Upper God King right in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Although he hadn¡¯t yet reached the true site of inheritance, the main hall of the Frozen God Temple, the thought already left Ye Chen quite astounded.


    At the same time, there was a heavy pressure in his heart.


    The "Ni Shan God King" was also an Upper God King who even managed to kill the Frozen God King. Seeking him out to avenge the Frozen God King was clearly a formidable challenge without even thinking about it.


    "Probably only after I cultivate to the realm of a God King will I have a chance to confront Ni Shan God King and avenge the Frozen God King," Ye Chen pondered.


    While Ye Chen was lost in thought, God King Lei Yun, who had finished introducing himself, waved his hand, quieting the murmurs below. He continued, "All 8,653 of you represent the lower realm, coming here to cultivate."


    "At the same time, I must inform you that there are also dozens of young people from the Divine Kingdom who will come here to cultivate with you. Most of them are the Descendants of God Kings within the Divine Kingdom, and even offspring of Divine Venerables. They too will cultivate and compete alongside you in this event."


    Upon hearing God King Lei Yun¡¯s words, the martial artists from the lower realm had their eyes shimmering with excitement.


    To cultivate and compete alongside the offspring of God Kings and Divine Venerables?


    Those individuals had a much higher starting point than themselves; surely they couldn¡¯t compare with them!


    Many martial artists were startled inside.


    However, some martial artists from the lower realm were boiling with enthusiasm, the idea of vying with these individuals from the Upper Realm igniting their fighting spirit!


    At this moment, God King Lei Yun waved his sleeve, and a terrifying aura enveloped all 8,000-plus martial artists; then, he led them towards the giant city in the distant clouds¡ªthe Minor Pole Sky City.


    The voice of God King Lei Yun echoed through the sky, "Those young ones from the Divine Kingdom have already entered the first site of cultivation, and now, I will take you to meet them. So together with them, you may begin the first phase of cultivation¡ª¡¯Infinity God Temple¡¯ Training!"

 Chapter 479 - 437 Little Provincial Princess

    The Divine King¡¯s methods were mighty indeed!


    The over eight thousand martial artists from the lower realm felt the world spin, as if they were being teleported by a divine array in a grand shift, barely catching a glimpse of God King Lei Yun leading them towards the southern part of the Minor Pole Sky¡¯s Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace city. The next moment, they found themselves standing in front of the massive doors to a great hall.


    This great hall stood ten thousand feet tall, its entire body dark and filled with a primordial power of shock.


    The over eight thousand martial artists standing below the great hall seemed as tiny as ants in comparison.


    This was truly a great hall, not a special space created by space laws. The sheer magnitude and grandeur of this hall were enough to warrant the title of a divine temple!


    Ye Chen looked upwards at the great hall and saw a signboard hanging above the massive doors a thousand feet high, shimmering with divine light inscribed with four large characters ¡ª "Infinity God Temple"!


    At the sight of these four characters "Infinity God Temple," Ye Chen even sensed the fluctuations of the five Heavenly Void Laws of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth. Even the power of the Thunder and Lightning Laws emanating from the five strands of Thunder Lightning Bamboo that came with him to the Minor Pole Sky and were now inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant was felt in these characters.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen even had the faint feeling that within these four characters, there were profound Laws of Space and Time hidden!


    Just by glancing at the signboard, he felt as if he had fallen into a space where time itself had come to a standstill.


    The signboard, these four characters of the Infinity God Temple, likely contained countless Law powers!


    "Is this our first opportunity for cultivation, to practice in the Infinity God Temple?"


    The divine mystery of the signboard had already caused Ye Chen¡¯s heart to surge with emotion, and he was incredibly eager to enter and see what lay inside the hall!


    Not just Ye Chen, the other eight thousand plus martial artists from the lower realm were also tremendously shaken when they looked at the signboard, apparently feeling the same astonishing Law powers from it as Ye Chen did.


    While all the martial artists were mentally stirred, God King Lei Yun pushed open the doors of the great hall and walked in first: "Let¡¯s go, follow me into the hall!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The over eight thousand martial artists followed God King Lei Yun and stepped into the Infinity God Temple.


    Upon entering, the first thing Ye Chen felt was comfort, extreme comfort.


    The hall was filled with Origin Qi rich to the extreme, denser than any Ye Chen had experienced in any other blessed land or cave heaven! Stay tuned to empire


    Moreover, these flows of Qi even contained the powers of Laws!


    In just a few breaths, several new Five Apertures Rotating Pills that were about to take shape in Ye Chen¡¯s sea of Qi instantly formed under the rich infusion of Origin Qi.


    In just a few breaths, the number of Five Apertures Rotating Pills in Ye Chen¡¯s sea of Qi went from three hundred and ninety-six to four hundred and five!


    Although these newly formed Five Apertures Rotating Pills had been cultivated by Ye Chen for a while and were bound to take shape sooner or later, their rapid formation was significantly aided by the rich Origin Qi in the Infinity God Temple!


    Ye Chen even felt that, without considering any other cultivation in this temple, simply cultivating the Rotating Pill here might allow him to successfully cultivate all nine hundred and ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills given a few months!


    Of course, the cultivation opportunity here was not limited to just Qi cultivation. While Ye Chen was feeling the newly formed Five Apertures Rotating Pills, he was led by God King Lei Yun into a side hall of the temple.


    This side hall, though called so, was more like a paradise spanning tens of thousands of feet in circumference!


    In the center of the side hall was a Spirit Pond, brimming with spiritual light, surrounded by countless Spiritual Flowers, Exotic Herbs, and even wondrous Spirit Beasts moving around.


    Ye Chen also noticed that at that moment, beside the Spirit Pond brimming with spiritual light, stood more than thirty young people, who were also being led by a strong figure emanating a Divine King presence and were talking with the Divine King figure.


    These young people were each dressed in extremely magnificent garments. Ye Chen realized that even the poorest of these garments were more precious than the Ice Snow Jade Pendant or any other Divine Artifacts like the Purple Mist True Garment Defensive Garment he had received.


    Even the Jade Pendants, Spiritual Pearls, and other decorative items that these young people wore glimmered with a dazzling divine light.


    More striking was the demeanor of these young elites, which was far beyond comparison with the eight thousand plus martial artists from the lower realm.


    Clearly, these thirty-some young people were the God Kings¡¯ descendants or the noble offspring from the Divine Kingdom!


    In comparison to them, Ye Chen and the others from the lower realm seemed like country folk who had ventured into the big city, marveling at the noble sons of the metropolis.


    After all, martial artists from the lower realm, even if they had a stroke of luck in the Minor Pole Sky, would find it quite difficult to obtain a Divine Artifact in the lower realm.


    Not to mention these divine kingdom youths who could so casually adorn themselves with divine cloth garments as mere decoration.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen and the more than eight thousand martial artists being brought in by God King Lei Yun, more than thirty divine kingdom youth simultaneously turned their gazes toward them.


    However, these youths were all haughty, not deigning to give these lower realm martial artists a second glance. Though many of them were also at the Rotating Pill stage, and the highest was only at the Heavenly Saint stage, they were born in divine kingdoms, at the very least descendants of divine kings, starting off on a different footing from these lower realm martial artists.


    It goes without saying that they wouldn¡¯t take the lower realm martial artists seriously.


    This time, coming to the "Minor Pole Sky¡¯s secret cultivation realm," they were here not only for their cultivation but also to compare themselves, and that was with other youths of the same divine kingdom lineage.


    Yet after their gaze flitted briefly over the more than eight thousand lower realm martial artists, these young individuals turned their attention to God King Lei Yun.


    On seeing God King Lei Yun, these youths¡¯ eyes showed a lot more respect.


    One of them, a young master in the early stages of the Rotating Pill realm, dressed in white divine clothes and looking quite distinguished, directly addressed God King Lei Yun, "Uncle Lei Yun, so this time you¡¯re the one welcoming these lower realm martial artists!"


    This young master seemed quite familiar with God King Lei Yun.


    God King Lei Yun also smiled and nodded to the white-clothed youth, chuckling, "Wang Xuan, this time your father has sent you here; you must perform well and strive to make it to the fourth cultivation site."


    Wang Xuan tilted his chin up, glanced at the lower realm martial artists beside God King Lei Yun, and giggled, "The fourth cultivation site? Uncle Lei Yun, I will definitely make it, and I might even reach the last, the fifth cultivation site."


    "I just wonder if any of these lower realm martial artists you¡¯ve brought this time can make it to the third site. I heard that last time, over nine thousand came from the lower realm, but they were all wiped out at the second trial, not a single one reaching the third site!"


    Upon hearing the young master¡¯s disparaging words, the thirty or so divine kingdom youths all chuckled softly, whereas the more than eight thousand martial artists from the lower realm had a somewhat unsightly look on their faces.


    They could obviously tell that these youths from the divine kingdoms looked down on them.


    Next to Ye Chen, Fang Hua, clearly quite disgruntled, transmitted a message to Ye Chen, "These guys, just because they were born a little better than us, they act all high and mighty!"


    Seeing Fang Hua so irritated, Ye Chen said with a smile, "Fang Hua, my friend, why bother with verbal squabbles with these people? There will be trials here anyway. Beat them, and they will naturally shut up."


    As for the divine kingdom youths¡¯ air of superiority, Ye Chen really didn¡¯t take it to heart.


    Ye Chen believed in one principle: no matter where you are, strength is what speaks!


    "Beat them?" Upon hearing Ye Chen, Fang Hua¡¯s face became bitter, "It¡¯s easy to say, but really doing it is too hard. These people are born in divine kingdoms, everything they¡¯ve cultivated since childhood is a hundred times more precious than what we have, not to mention they¡¯ve been taught by god king level individuals. Ah, it¡¯s so frustrating to compare ourselves with them; I hope that this time some of us can make it to the third cultivation chance to shut them up."


    Although annoyed, Fang Hua also knew the gap between them, the martial artists from the lower realm, and the divine kingdom youths.


    Fang Hua¡¯s disgruntlement and reluctant acceptance of their situation didn¡¯t discourage Ye Chen; instead, it made Ye Chen more interested in these divine kingdom youths¡¯ abilities.


    God King Lei Yun, upon hearing Wang Xuan¡¯s scornful words about the lower realm martial artists, simply smiled and patted Wang Xuan on the head, "Wang Xuan, don¡¯t underestimate those who come from the lower realm. Remember, the Heavenly Cloud Venerable who established this ¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯s secret cultivation realm¡¯ ascended from the lower realm to our divine kingdom."


    Wang Xuan muttered under his breath, "Heavenly Cloud Venerable, he¡¯s not someone these people can compare with. In all the years of the Minor Pole Sky trials, which hasn¡¯t seen our divine kingdom youths prevail? Even if occasionally one or two geniuses emerge from the lower realm, those are once in tens of thousands of years."


    Hearing Wang Xuan¡¯s mutter, God King Lei Yun just shook his head with a smile and stopped paying him attention, instead turning to the god king beside the divine kingdom youths, "God King Wucan, I¡¯ve brought all the martial artists who were transferred from the lower realm this time; I¡¯ll leave the first stage of cultivation to you."


    God King Wucan, standing beside the divine kingdom youth just like God King Lei Yun was a giant over ten meters tall, but he appeared a bit older than God King Lei Yun, clothed in a red scale-mail battle robe.


    God King Wucan responded to God King Lei Yun with a loud, joyful laugh, "Leave it to me. I also want to see the true strength of these little ones who have come from the lower realm."


    "However, we can¡¯t start with the first cultivation location yet. The Little Provincial Princess hasn¡¯t arrived this time."


    Hearing God King Wucan¡¯s words, even God King Lei Yun¡¯s expression changed, "The Little Provincial Princess is really coming this time?! Why would she choose to cultivate here, knowing that the East Territory King is even more formidable than Heavenly Cloud Venerable!"


    Not only did God King Lei Yun¡¯s face change at the mention of "Little Provincial Princess," but the divine kingdom youths who were previously laughing and chatting also fell eerily silent upon hearing those words, their movements suddenly becoming much more proper.


    From their demeanor, it seemed that even as individuals from the divine kingdoms, they held the Little Provincial Princess in great fear or, perhaps, immense respect!

 Chapter 480 - 438: The Girl and the Spirit Light God Pool

    The mysterious conditions of these young people from the Divine Kingdom along with the two Divine Kings, of course, made all the martial artists from the lower realm curious.


    "Who is that Little Provincial Princess?"


    "How did she get two great Divine Kings to wait for her?!"


    Many martial artists murmured to themselves.


    Next to Ye Chen, Fang Hua was even more startled and promptly sent a telepathic message to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, do you remember when I previously mentioned that I had heard the descendant of a formidable figure would come here?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Could it be this Little Provincial Princess?"


    Fang Hua indeed had said before that a descendant of a great figure would come, and he also mentioned it was a beautiful girl.


    Considering Fang Hua¡¯s current expression and the words of the two Divine Kings, Ye Chen immediately guessed that the person Fang Hua referred to might well be this Little Provincial Princess.


    Fang Hua nodded repeatedly, his voice trembling as he sent his message, "Previously I had no idea whose descendant would come, but to think it¡¯s the daughter of the East Territory King! Good heavens, with a status so exalted, why would she come here!"


    "Who is the East Territory King? Why are all of you so shocked?" Ye Chen asked Fang Hua.


    Ye Chen¡¯s knowledge of the notable figures from the Divine Kingdom was extremely limited; he had never even heard of the East Territory King. Explore stories on empire


    Fang Hua¡¯s voice shook as he replied, "Brother Ye Chen, our Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom is divided into four provinces and the Divine Capital, making up five major sections. The Divine Capital is personally overseen by the Divine Kingdom¡¯s ruler. The four provinces, on the other hand, are each bestowed upon four kings. The East Territory King governs the vast East Province of our Divine Kingdom, ruling over innumerable celestial continents within the East Territory!"


    "With such a great being, who even has countless Divine Venerable powerhouses at his beck and call, tell me, isn¡¯t that terrifying! It¡¯s rumored that his realm even surpasses the Divine Venerable Realm, a realm that we can¡¯t even begin to imagine!"


    Heaven.


    The words of Fang Hua deeply shocked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had once heard about the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom from the nine Ice Guardians, a colossal entity that ruled over the vast expanse of the Wanmu Mountain Star Region and countless celestial continents!


    In comparison to countless other lower realms like the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents, Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom was a behemoth.


    This colossal entity was divided into five parts, and the East Territory King governed one of them! The power of this East Territory King was certainly among the highest in the entire Divine Kingdom!


    Such a figure, surpassing the Divine Venerable Realm, naturally astonished Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen finally understood why the two Divine Kings were treating the Little Provincial Princess with such solemnity and why the young people from the Divine Kingdom had become so quiet and well-behaved upon hearing the words "Little Provincial Princess".


    The daughter of such a being must possess an extremely prestigious status.


    However, Ye Chen was also curious, with such a figure available to instruct the Little Provincial Princess, why would she come to the Minor Pole Sky secret realm for cultivation?


    Filled with curiosity, Ye Chen, like everyone else, waited with the two Divine Kings for the arrival of the Little Provincial Princess.


    This wait turned into a lengthy half-day.


    Many martial artists from the lower realm became a bit anxious, but the two Divine Kings showed no sign of impatience, still waiting quietly.


    With the two Divine Kings looking like this, no one else dared to say much, and they could only continue to wait.


    About half an hour later, a strange spatial fluctuation suddenly emanated from above the side hall of the Infinity God Temple where everyone was located.


    Waves upon waves of ripples spread across the top of the side hall.


    Then, amidst an outpouring of endless divine light, two figures stepped directly out of the space at the top, appearing within the void of the side hall.


    This Infinity God Temple was built by a Divine Venerable, so being able to appear directly from the hall¡¯s ceiling rather than entering through the entrance suggested that the person employing this method might be a Divine Venerable powerhouse!


    When the ripples in the void appeared, Ye Chen turned his gaze straight toward the two figures.


    He saw that one of the figures was a woman in red, with a spider-shaped mark between her eyebrows.


    The woman¡¯s face was hazy, impossible to see clearly, and when Ye Chen looked at her, he felt as if her presence contained a vortex of space and time hidden within, which nearly pulled Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul into it at a glance!


    This feeling of his Divine Soul being ensnared was even more intense than when Ye Chen had previously looked at the plaque outside of the Infinity God Temple!


    This woman obviously possessed tremendous power!


    Very likely, she was even more formidable than the strong being who left behind the "Infinity God Temple" plaque!


    Startled, Ye Chen quickly moved his gaze away from the red-robed woman and looked at the other figure.


    Ye Chen saw that the other figure was a pretty little girl in white, about twelve or thirteen years old.


    To call her a little girl was actually more like saying she was a little loli!


    The girl was only as tall as Ye Chen¡¯s shoulders, clearly not yet fully grown.


    Although she hadn¡¯t fully grown, one could already see the immense potential for beauty in this girl. What caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention the most, though, were her spirited eyes. The girl¡¯s bright eyes were turning around as she looked at the crowd in the great hall below, appearing to be quite lively and mischievous.


    When the girl¡¯s gaze met Ye Chen¡¯s, he even perceived a sense of curiosity and probing in her eyes.


    Spirited! Intelligent!


    That was Ye Chen¡¯s first impression of this pretty little loli.


    "Could it be, this little loli is the Little Provincial Princess? She¡¯s so young?" Ye Chen pondered in his heart.


    While Ye Chen was sizing up the two sudden arrivals, two Divine Kings directly knelt on the ground towards the two figures: "Greetings to the Little Provincial Princess! Greetings to ¡¯Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯!"


    When he heard the words "Little Provincial Princess" and "Divine Venerable," Ye Chen¡¯s heart shook: "This little loli, is indeed the Little Provincial Princess! Divine Venerable? The red-clothed woman accompanying her, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu?! A major power of the Divine Venerable Realm?!"


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s first encounter with a character of the Divine Venerable level!


    As Ye Chen was in a daze, more than thirty youths of various Divine Kingdoms also knelt on the ground: "Greetings to the Little Provincial Princess, greetings to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu!"


    It was only the warriors from the lower realm who either hadn¡¯t realized what was happening or were in a daze, that did not kneel to greet them.


    However, the two figures in the void did not seem to blame them.


    The Little Provincial Princess giggled and said to the crowd below, "Don¡¯t be so polite, get up quickly. I¡¯m here to cultivate, no need for so many formalities."


    With a giggle and a flutter, the Little Provincial Princess moved and arrived on the ground.


    The curious little loli looked toward the Spirit Pond in the center of the great hall, which was emitting streams of spirit light, and began to circle it: "This must be the ¡¯Spirit Light God Pond¡¯ of the Infinity God Temple rumored to generate Spirit Light Children, who accompany us in our cultivation and assessment in Minor Pole Sky!"


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s curious demeanor, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu in the void also smiled and shook her head. Without a visible action, she directly appeared beside everyone.


    "All of you, rise," Divine Venerable Hong Zhu said to the two Divine Kings and the thirty-some young people from the Divine Kingdoms who were kneeling on the ground.


    Seeing that both the Little Provincial Princess and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu were allowing them to rise, the two Divine Kings and the young people from the Divine Kingdoms dared to stand up.


    At this moment, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s gaze turned to Ye Chen and the other more than eight thousand warriors from the lower realm and she smiled and nodded lightly: "Are these the warriors from the lower realm this time? Heavenly Cloud Venerable has really done a great favor for warriors of the lower realm."


    Although Divine Venerable Hong Zhu was of the Divine Venerable Realm, there wasn¡¯t a hint of arrogance about her, which made the warriors of the lower realm feel quite a favorable impression towards her.


    And to think this person was of Divine Venerable standing.


    This time, many warriors reacted and were taken aback in their hearts, sincerely bowing to her in greeting: "Greetings to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu!"


    "Alright, alright," Divine Venerable Hong Zhu waved her hand, smiling as she spoke to the two Divine Kings, "I have brought the Little Provincial Princess here. The arrangements for cultivation are up to you. There¡¯s no need to make special exceptions, just follow the normal cultivation process. Although our Little Provincial Princess is young, she doesn¡¯t need any special care."


    "Yes, yes!" Hearing Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words, the two Divine Kings nodded repeatedly.


    The Divine King responsible for the first cultivation site even inquired of Divine Venerable Hong Zhu: "Then Divine Venerable, shall we start the practice at this first site now?"


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu glanced over at the Little Provincial Princess, who had circled the Spirit Pond and was now leaning over the edge, examining it, then looked toward the direction outside the side hall, and said somewhat helplessly: "Let¡¯s wait a bit longer. There are a few youths following the Little Provincial Princess here. They should be arriving shortly."


    More people coming?


    The two Divine Kings were startled but dared not ask outright who the young ones following the Little Provincial Princess were.


    But thinking about it, those who could come following the Little Provincial Princess were probably either children or descendants of some big figures.


    At that moment, the Little Provincial Princess, who had been examining the Spirit Pond for some time, upon hearing Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words, looked outside the great hall as if sensing something.


    She muttered to herself: "Those annoying hangers-on, I sent them to Heavenly Profound Star to find ¡¯Spirit Wind Grass¡¯ for me, yet they managed not to lose them and arrived so quickly! To follow me all the way from East Province to here, really, they¡¯re so annoying it could kill me!"


    Her eyes flickered as if she was contemplating some mischief.


    If Ye Chen had noticed the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s look and knew about her pranking the boys following her, he would surely have another word to describe the Little Provincial Princess: tricky!


    Meanwhile, not long after Divine Venerable Hong Zhu had spoken, at the entrance to the side hall, four youthful figures flew straight in. Their clothing and accessories were even more precious than those of the thirty or so youths from the various Divine Kingdoms, clearly of significant status.


    However, at that moment, all four of them were covered in dust, obviously having hurried here without even a moment to tidy themselves up.


    This appearance caught the attention of everyone in the great hall.


    When the two Divine Kings saw the four boys, they too were taken aback: "Aren¡¯t these the four young descendants of the four generals under the East Territory King!"


    "They¡¯ve actually come here too!"


    As soon as the four youths entered the side hall and saw that the cultivation had not yet begun, they relaxed. Then seeing that the Little Provincial Princess was there, they beamed and rushed over to her, all four speaking at once: "Little Provincial Princess, the ¡¯Spirit Wind Grass¡¯ you wanted, I¡¯ve found it!"

 Chapter 481 - 439: Spirit Light Child

    The Little Provincial Princess, however, did not pay attention to the show of achievement made by these four individuals.


    Her gaze was fixed solely on the Spirit Pond in the center of the grand hall, as if she was far more interested in it than the four youths.


    The demeanor of the Little Provincial Princess made the four young men holding the "Spirit Wind Grass" feel both embarrassed and somewhat disappointed as they stood there.


    It was the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words that broke the awkwardness of the four.


    Your adventure continues at empire


    "Alright, alright," Divine Venerable Hong Zhu waved off the four, "Give me the ¡¯Spirit Wind Grass¡¯, and I will pass it to the Little Provincial Princess. The cultivation here will begin as soon as you join us."


    The four youths grinned and scratched their heads, then walked over to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu.


    Although they had felt slighted before the Little Provincial Princess, upon rejoining the other martial artists, this quartet evidently possessed an aura that overwhelmed all the other participants who were prepared to enter the "Minor Extreme Sky Cultivation".


    Even the more than thirty young people from the Divine Kingdoms, who had previously been quite dominant in front of lower realm martial artists, became exceedingly respectful in front of these four youths of apparent significant status.


    Next to Ye Chen, Fang Hua discreetly sent a message, "Brother Ye Chen, these four young men should be the younger generation of the ¡¯Zhao Meng Hu Tian¡¯, the four great generals under the East Territory King. Those four generals are among the most formidable in the Divine Venerable ranks, and their standing in the Divine Kingdom is extraordinarily high."


    "The younger generation of the East Territory King¡¯s four generals?" Ye Chen glanced at the four youths, noting that three of them were fifteen years old, and the eldest was merely sixteen. However, all four of them were remarkably at the late stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    Even the little lolita princess, who was but twelve or thirteen, had already reached the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm!


    You should know, descendants of such esteemed Divine Kingdom figures, would naturally place more emphasis on laying a solid foundation of cultivation, rather than rashly rushing to higher levels with an unstable base.


    Being able to reach the Rotating Pill Realm or even its late stage at such a young age, on top of having such a fortified foundation, was indeed somewhat astonishing.


    Their combat abilities were likely far beyond the level of the Rotating Pill Realm, possibly reaching the level of the Heavenly Saint or even possessing the might of true divine warriors!


    The younger generation of the true great figures in the Divine Kingdoms truly should not be underestimated.


    However, Ye Chen would not show them the same excessive reverence and submissiveness as other martial artists did.


    Although his background did not compare to theirs, in the lower realm, he had used his own efforts to create one myth after another.


    At just sixteen years of skeletal age, he was already at the mid-stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, and his combat power had reached the late stage of Heavenly Saint. If it came to it, he was in no way inferior to the young descendants of these great Divine Kingdom figures!


    Even when considering progress, he was far ahead!


    After the four youths also entered the side hall, God King Wucan, who was presiding over the first practice session, sought permission from Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, and then directly announced to everyone: "Since everyone is here now, let¡¯s begin the first cultivation session!"


    Boom!


    At his proclamation, the attention of Ye Chen and the other eight thousand plus martial artists from the lower realm, as well as the more than thirty young people from the Divine Kingdoms, shifted away from the newly arrived Little Provincial Princess and the four young men, focusing entirely on God King Wucan.


    Even the Little Provincial Princess stopped her curious examination of the Spirit Pond in the center of the grand hall, turning to look towards God King Wucan.


    After all, regardless of who it was or their status, cultivating in the "Minor Extreme Heavenly Secret Realm" was what mattered most!


    God King Wucan addressed the crowd, saying directly: "This first place of cultivation, the ¡¯Infinity God Temple¡¯, is designed to improve everyone¡¯s ¡¯Physical Body¡¯ capabilities. Within the temple, there are eighty-eight practice chambers of varying conditions."


    "Some practice chambers can only be entered by one person for cultivation, while others allow for multiple people to cultivate at the same time."


    "Given the limited number of chambers and the differing conditions of each, selecting a chamber will inevitably result in an order of precedence. Some will gain the advantage of choosing the most suitable chamber first, while others may end up with less favorable options."


    "To ensure fairness, we must first test the ¡¯Essence, Qi, and Spirit - the three vital life signs¡¯. Chambers will be selected in the order of your test scores."


    First test the Essence, Qi, and Spirit, then choose a chamber based on the ranking of the scores?


    How is the test conducted?


    Many of the martial artists from the lower realm looked towards God King Wucan with curiosity.


    But those young people from the Divine Kingdom, as well as the Little Provincial Princess and the four youths, all turned their attention to the Spirit Pond in the center of the grand hall¡ªthe very pond the Little Provincial Princess had been observing all this time.


    From their expressions, it was clear that this Spirit Pond had something to do with the testing of the "three vital life signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit".


    As expected, when the attention of the Little Provincial Princess and others turned to it, God King Wucan approached the pond, a hundred yards in diameter and simmering with surging aura, at the center of the great hall.


    God King Wucan pointed directly at the pond and explained, "As the Little Provincial Princess mentioned earlier, this pond is called the ¡¯Spirit Light God Pond¡¯."


    "The Spiritual Light within can test everyone¡¯s Essence, Qi, and Spirit potentials and their current cultivational state. Ultimately, based on your condition, a ¡¯Spirit Light Child¡¯ will be born from the convergence of Spiritual Light in the pond!"


    "The stronger your three vital life signs are, the more precious the Spirit Light Child that appears will be. The preciousness of the Spirit Light Child that emerges will determine your test score. Those with higher scores will have the precedence to choose a practice chamber."


    "Of course, the Spirit Light Child doesn¡¯t just represent the hierarchy of your scores. It will also accompany you throughout your cultivation in the Minor Extreme Heavenly Secret Realm, informing you about various cultivation matters in the secret realm. It will stay with you until your cultivation period ends, and if you fail the assessment and cannot advance to the next cultivation area, the Spirit Light Child will then dissipate."


    Spirit Light Child?!


    The child formed by the convergence of Spiritual Light that can accompany cultivators and even answer various questions about secret cultivation places?


    How magical?!


    Upon hearing God King Wucan¡¯s words, a group of martial artists, including the Little Provincial Princess and other youngsters from the Divine Kingdom who had heard of the Spirit Light God Pool, all felt a sense of novelty.


    Although they had heard of the Spirit Light God Pool and the Spirit Light Child, they had never personally entered the Spirit Pool to try it out.


    "Next, I will give everyone a demonstration."


    "Speaking of the Spirit Light Child¡¯s rank, as long as one cultivates the three major life signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit to the level of perfect Heaven Saint, one can directly convene the highest-level Spirit Light Child with eighty-eight stars."


    "Just by entering this Spirit Light God Pool, once the Spiritual Light envelops your entire body, you can begin to convene the Spirit Light Child."


    As he spoke, God King Wucan took a step and stepped into the Spirit Light God Pool.


    Instantly, Aura Light steamed up in the Spirit Pool and surged towards God King Wucan.


    Seeing God King Wucan¡¯s demonstration, everyone crowded around the Spirit Light God Pool, and Ye Chen was also curious to see what the Spirit Light Child gathered by the God King would look like.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    As God King Wucan entered the Spirit Light God Pool, a purple glow immediately congregated in front of him.


    "This purple clump is the test of the ¡¯Essence Body Sign¡¯ among God King Wucan¡¯s three major life signs, testing the Physical Body¡¯s ability."


    "God King Wucan is already at the God King Realm, and he has long cultivated the three major life signs to the perfect Heaven Saint level¡ªhis purple clump is probably also at the perfect Physical Body level!"


    Knowing the matters of the "Spirit Light Child," the Little Provincial Princess looked at God King Wucan with lively eyes and murmured.


    As she finished speaking, the purple clump in front of God King Wucan grew larger and larger until it reached the size of a head and stopped.


    Then, in the chaotic rush of Spiritual Light, another clump, this time a green one, began to solidify.


    "This is the clump testing the ¡¯Qi Body Sign,¡¯ evaluating the Divine King¡¯s true Qi ability!" said a youngster from the Divine Kingdom.


    Similarly, this green clump eventually grew to the size of a head.


    Finally, the third clump, the "Divine Body Sign," testing the Divine Soul¡¯s ability, a blue clump, also began to form in front of God King Wucan. In the end, it too solidified to the size of a head.


    After the "purple, green, blue" three clumps all took shape, they collided with a fierce crash and burst open with a "bang," out of which jumped a palm-sized child with hair hanging down to its shoulders.


    The child wearing a fiery red tiny garment, with a head full of fiery red hair, and carrying a small Spiritual Ruler on its back, immediately leapt onto God King Wucan¡¯s shoulder upon appearance, and with a little open mouth addressed Wucan: "Spirit Light Child ¡¯Eighty-Eight,¡¯ greets Master!"


    "Master, I will accompany you in cultivation here!"


    God King Wucan patted the Little Spirit Child on his shoulder and turned to the martial artists who were still in shock, saying with a smile, "This is the Spirit Light Child. It calls itself Eighty-Eight, which means that it is a Spirit Child of eighty-eight stars."


    Boom!


    As God King Wucan finished speaking, the martial artists from the lower realm, more than thirty young people from the Divine Kingdom, and even the Little Provincial Princess and four young boys, all opened their mouths wide in astonishment.


    This palm-sized Little Spirit Child was too lively, too mystical!


    "Alright, I¡¯ve finished the demonstration. Now, it¡¯s your turn to undergo the test," God King Wucan said, flying out of the Spirit Light God Pool.


    He whispered something to the Little Spirit Child on his shoulder, and with a "swoosh," the child leapt into the Spirit Light God Pool and disappeared from sight again.


    Begin the test.


    The results of the test will determine the rank of the Spirit Light Child that appears as well as the selection order for the eighty-eight secret chambers in this first cultivation site.


    Thinking of this, all the martial artists who were about to participate in the test became somewhat excited.


    At that moment, a bold girl in red from the Lower Realm was the first to stand out: "I¡¯ll test first, just to give it a try!"


    Seeing that no one competed with her, the girl in red directly jumped into the Spirit Light God Pool.


    Just like God King Wucan, as the girl entered, the Aura Light in the Spirit Light God Pool surged towards her.


    However, unlike God King Wucan, whose purple, green, and blue life sign orbs were the size of a head, this girl obviously did not have the same ability as God King Wucan.


    The purple and blue orbs the girl gathered were only the size of a fingertip, pointing to the ¡¯Qi Life Sign.¡¯ The green orb was about the size of a peach pit.


    In the end, when the three orbs came together, a palm-sized little girl wearing an ice-blue garment, with a head full of ice-blue hair, also carrying a small Spiritual Ruler, jumped out directly and landed on the girl in red¡¯s shoulder.


    The little girl said in a tender voice: "Spirit Light Child ¡¯Qi,¡¯ greets Master!"

 Chapter 482 - 440 Test

    The Spirit Light Child formed by the red-clad girl¡¯s gathering of Spiritual Light was at the level of a "Seven Stars Spirit Light Child."


    Compared to the strongest Eighty-Eight Stars Spirit Light Child that God King Wucan had demonstrated earlier, this one was significantly weaker.


    Looking at the little girl, one could feel that this Spirit Light Child indeed lacked the marvelousness of the Spirit Light Child that the previous God King had formed.


    However, upon seeing the red-clad girl¡¯s Seven Stars Spirit Light Child, God King Wucan, God King Lei Yun, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu all nodded in approval, "This girl, coming from the lower realm and merely at the late stage of the Spirit Sea realm, has yet to cultivate the three major vital signs of life, Jing (essence), Qi (energy), and Shen (spirit), to a profound degree. Being able to form a Seven Stars Spirit Light Child is already quite commendable."


    "Moreover, her potential in True Qi cultivation is very strong. During the test, her True Qi energy sphere was clearly much larger than the other two spheres. The ability to form a Seven Stars Child, with True Qi being a major contributing factor among the three vital signs, played a large role!"


    "With future cultivation focusing on True Qi, she will have great prospects, and compensating for the other two paths will cause her strength to surge dramatically."


    The three powerhouses praised her while the surrounding martial artists all inhaled sharply.


    Eighty-Eight Stars is the highest level.


    This girl received Seven Stars, and that¡¯s considered quite good?!


    Doesn¡¯t that mean that others might score even lower than Seven Stars?!


    But then again, considering the highest grade of Eighty-Eight Stars Spirit Light Child condensed by a God King himself¡ªit¡¯s a powerful Middle God King, no less, stronger than even a Nine Tribulations True God!


    He attained the perfect level of the three vital signs, Jing, Qi, and Shen, at the Heavenly Saint stage. But for others, even True God level beings, probably few can cultivate these three vital signs to the perfect Heavenly Saint level, and they wouldn¡¯t be able to form the strongest Eighty-Eight Stars Spirit Light Child!


    In comparison, a late-stage Spirit Sea realm girl being able to form a Seven Stars Spirit Light Child is indeed impressive.


    By now, many had begun to worry about the level of the Spirit Light Child they would be able to form.


    The red-clad girl who had completed the test, upon seeing the beautiful Spirit Light Child "Qi" who jumped onto her shoulder, was very pleased and satisfied. Hearing the praises from the three major powerhouses, she even had a smile brimming across her face.


    After giggling, she flew straight out of the Spirit Light God Pool and stood to the side, playing with her newly acquired Spirit Light Child.


    Following her, another martial artist from the lower realm flew into the Spirit Light God Pool.


    The thirty-plus youths from the Divine Kingdom, along with the Little Provincial Princess and the descendants of the four great generals, were not in a rush to test themselves, apparently wanting to observe the performance of the lower realm martial artists first.


    The new entrant from the lower realm who flew into the Spirit Light God Pool was at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm.


    In the Spirit Light God Pool, the three major test light spheres he formed for Jing, Qi, and Shen were only the size of date pits. In the end, he managed to form only an Eleven Stars Spirit Light Child.


    He was not much stronger than the previously tested late-stage Spirit Sea realm girl.


    This was notwithstanding his higher realm advantage and significant surpassing of the red-clad girl in Jing, Qi, and Shen cultivation. Speaking purely of potential, he might not even compare to the red-clad girl.


    In the end, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint martial artist, somewhat disappointed, flew out of the Spirit Light God Pool with his Eleven Stars Spirit Light Child.


    The testing continued without pause.


    Six Stars, Thirteen Stars, Five Stars, Eight Stars, Nineteen Stars...


    After dozens of lower realm martial artists had completed their tests, not a single one surpassed Twenty Stars!


    The best result was a Nineteen Stars Spirit Light Child formed by a martial artist at the late-stage Heavenly Saint level.


    Finally, when a Rotating Pill mid-stage martial artist from the lower realm formed a Three Stars Spirit Light Child, it even elicited subdued laughter and whispers from the thirty-plus young people of the Divine Kingdom, "These martial artists from the lower realm are just too weak."


    "Someone even formed only a Three Stars Spirit Light Child, it¡¯s a wonder how they stumbled upon such luck to come to Minor Pole Sky!"


    Although the young people from the Divine Kingdom spoke in muted voices, they did not bother muffling their voices from the lower realm martial artists.


    These words, upon reaching the ears of the lower realm martial artists, turned the face of the martial artist who formed the Three Stars Spirit Light Child beet red with embarrassment, and the others from the lower realm also shared in the indignation, each with an increasingly unpleasant look. Stay tuned to empire


    Yet the two Divine Kings and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu did not prevent this friction. God King Wucan turned to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and said apologetically through a soul transmission while smiling, "Divine Venerable, it¡¯s good for the martial artists from the Divine Kingdom and the lower realm, who entered Minor Pole Sky to cultivate, to have a little friction. It can also stimulate their motivation for subsequent cultivation."


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu also nodded, "Such minor disputes are harmless, as long as no real conflict arises. Competition is always a good thing."


    While the three dignitaries were laid-back about the situation, Fang Hua, standing next to Ye Chen, could not hold back any longer and stepped forward, "I will take the test!"


    He wanted to win back some face for the martial artists of the lower realm.


    Seeing Fang Hua being tested, Ye Chen also showed interest and looked toward Fang Hua.


    Knowing that Fang Hua had a lot of information about the Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen was aware that although this person was from the lower realm, his background might not be simple, and he probably had some formidable trump cards at his disposal.


    Fang Hua was at the mid-stage Rotating Pill level, the same as Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen saw that as soon as Fang Hua flew into the Spirit Light God Pool, and the light of the spiritual energy in the pool surged towards his body, very soon, the first light orb for the physical ability test began to form.


    This time, it directly formed a walnut-sized purple light orb.


    Seeing such a size of light orb, the eyes of the martial artists from the lower realm all lit up.


    A walnut-sized light orb, compared with the previous tests, was already considered quite good. Fang Hua¡¯s three major life signs tests had a good start with the first item being the physical constitution test.


    If two more orbs of this size were produced, it might even be possible to break through to twenty stars!


    Following that, Fang Hua did not disappoint the martial artists from the lower realm. The light orb formed from his True Qi constitution test, which was also a blue orb of walnut size.


    In the last of the three major life signs tests, the Divine Soul constitution test, Fang Hua even condensed a fist-sized blue light orb, which was bigger than the previous two!


    Eventually, as the three light orbs collided, a Spirit Light Child with twenty-five stars directly burst out from the midst of them!


    Twenty-five stars.


    He was the first among the martial artists from the lower realm to break through the twenty-star level!


    Even Divine Venerable Hong Zhu rarely praised Fang Hua, "Not bad, your Divine Soul has great potential, and your True Qi and physical body are not weak either. After cultivating in Minor Pole Sky, you will definitely achieve great returns!"


    God Kings Wucan and Lei Yun also nodded and smiled at Fang Hua.


    Seeing the admiration from the three powerhouses, Fang Hua bowed to them while holding his fists, then, with the Spirit Light Child, he flew out of the Spirit Light God Pool with a grin.


    When he landed next to Ye Chen, he even winked at Ye Chen, "How about that, Brother Ye Chen? I did quite well, didn¡¯t I? Those young people from the Divine Kingdom, if they surpass me, probably won¡¯t by much. I¡¯m from the lower realm, after all. If I had their cultivation conditions, I would definitely be stronger than them."


    Hearing Fang Hua¡¯s somewhat competitive words, Ye Chen smiled, "Twenty-five stars is indeed not bad."


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze, however, was more focused on the twenty-five stars Spirit Light Child on Fang Hua¡¯s shoulder, now that they were closer, he could see the Spirit Light Children even clearer.


    Ye Chen noticed that the palm-sized Spirit Light Children, male warriors would condense little boys, whereas female warriors would condense little girls.


    The little boys were all dressed in tiny flaming red clothes, with flaming red hair all over their heads. And the little girls were all dressed in tiny ice-blue clothes, with ice-blue hair all over their heads.


    What was different, however, was the Spiritual Rulers they carried on their backs¡ª the higher the star level of the Spirit Light Child, the longer the Spiritual Ruler they carried.


    Ye Chen also noticed that the intellectual level of these Spirit Light Children seemed to be related to their ranking.


    Looking at Fang Hua¡¯s twenty-five star Spirit Light Child, it was clearly more lively in its eye and body movements compared to a Nine Stars Spirit Light Child that a warrior on the other side of Ye Chen had obtained.


    While Ye Chen was examining Fang Hua¡¯s Spirit Light Child, on the side of the thirty-plus young people from the Divine Kingdom, after seeing Fang Hua¡¯s performance, especially after hearing praises from the three powerhouses, some couldn¡¯t help themselves.


    "I¡¯ll give it a try!" A young man from the Divine Kingdom at the initial stage of Heavenly Saint directly stepped forward.


    This young Heavenly Saint remained in the Spirit Light God Pool for several breaths, and three fist-sized light orbs were directly condensed and completed.


    Eventually, this young man from the Divine Kingdom directly condensed a Thirty-Eight Stars Spirit Light Child.


    "Not bad, all three life signs are very strong. To be able to cultivate to this extent at the initial stage of Heavenly Saint is quite remarkable," God King Wucan said with a smile.


    Hearing God King Wucan¡¯s words, this young Heavenly Saint from the Divine Kingdom shot a proud glance at Fang Hua, taking his Spirit Light Child back to the group of young people from the Divine Kingdom.


    "Humph, the first one who stood out must be one of the stronger ones among those thirty-some people. The others probably aren¡¯t that formidable," Fang Hua muttered.


    Indeed, as Fang Hua had predicted, several other young people from the Divine Kingdom who tested after did not surpass Thirty-Eight Stars.


    However, they were all above Twenty Stars, and even the worst among them was only two stars lower than Fang Hua, condensing a Twenty-Three Stars Spirit Light Child.


    This made the faces of the martial artists from the lower realm turn even grimmer.


    They were actually being suppressed by the young people from the Divine Kingdom, to the extent that some of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Rotating Pills were stronger than the Heavenly Saints from the lower realm.


    This made the martial artists from the lower realm even more disgruntled, with quite a few of them going up to test.


    As a result, the vast majority were below Fifteen Stars, with only two reaching above Twenty Stars, one at Twenty-One Stars, and the other at Twenty-Two Stars.


    This outcome made the martial artists from the lower realm finally realize their inadequacies.


    In the Spirit Light God Pool, while they might count as impressive figures in the lower realm, compared to the young people from the Divine Kingdom, they were indeed lacking a lot.


    Many of the martial artists from the lower realm stopped talking, which made the thirty-plus young people from the Divine Kingdom even more pleased with themselves.


    At that moment, one of the four youths who came with the Little Provincial Princess, the oldest sixteen-year-old youth, spoke up, "Let me give it a try."

 Chapter 483 - 441 Ye Chen Makes a Move

    "This young man, if I¡¯m not mistaken, should be ¡¯Zhao Xin,¡¯ the little disciple of General Zhao, one of the ¡¯Zhao, Meng, Hu, Tian¡¯ four great generals under the command of the East Territory King," Fang Hua whispered to Ye Chen.


    Seeing the sixteen-year-old step forward, Fang Hua quietly conveyed his thoughts to Ye Chen.


    "His cultivation level is in the late stage of Core Rotation, but he¡¯s a descendant of the formidable Divine Venerable Zhao, one of the generals; I¡¯m afraid none of his three main vital signs¡ªessence, energy, and spirit¡ªare weak."


    "I wonder how many stars of the Spirit Light Child he can condense."


    Fang Hua swallowed hard and turned his gaze to "Zhao Xin."


    The disciple of General Zhao, who serves under the East Territory King?!


    Hearing Fang Hua reveal this young man¡¯s identity, Ye Chen also turned his attention to "Zhao Xin."


    This was one of the four individuals whose status was second only to the Little Provincial Princess in the arena.


    As soon as Zhao Xin made his appearance, not only did all the martial artists from the lower realm brace themselves, but even the more than thirty youths from the Divine Kingdom had their eyes twitch.


    Only the Little Provincial Princess and the other three youths could maintain a more relaxed composure.


    The moment Zhao Xin stepped forward, without a noticeable movement, he directly arrived at the center of the Spirit Light God Pool.


    This mere footwork astonished countless martial artists.


    Then, something happened that shocked the more than thirty young people from the Divine Kingdom and all the martial artists from the lower realm.


    Zhao Xin had actually managed to condense three light groups, each the size of two fists, and in the end, he successfully formed a Spirit Light Child worth a total of forty-nine stars!


    Forty-nine stars!


    It¡¯s the highest level in the arena, second only to the earlier performance of God King Wucan.


    Zhao Xin, worthy of being a descendant of the four great generals under the East Territory King, stunned everyone with his initial move. Although he was at the late stage of Core Rotation, he turned out to be stronger than many martial artists who were in the later stage of Heavenly Saint!


    Such an achievement made Fang Hua take a deep breath.


    Even Ye Chen nodded seriously for the first time.


    Many martial artists from the lower realm were so shocked by this achievement that they fell into a state of stupor.


    Their tests resulted in three, five, six stars at most, with the highest being only twenty-five stars. This young man had reached forty-nine stars, an absolute shock when compared with the martial artists from the lower realm.


    It was like the difference between heaven and earth.


    While the majority of the martial artists were astonished, the Little Provincial Princess playfully said to the young man, "Zhao Xin, you haven¡¯t even reached fifty stars. All those divine pills General Zhao fed you over the years were wasted!"


    Forty-nine stars still not enough?


    Many eyes turned towards the Little Provincial Princess.


    Hearing the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s voice, Zhao Xin¡¯s face turned somewhat red, while the other three youths revealed smiles: "Little Provincial Princess, I will definitely surpass fifty stars!"


    One particularly handsome youth flew directly into the center of the Spirit Light God Pool.


    "This is Tian Li, the little grandchild of General Tian, one of the four great generals," Fang Hua said to Ye Chen, his eyes firmly fixed on the handsome youth, Tian Li.


    Ye Chen also watched Tian Li.


    He wanted to see if all four youths were truly strong.


    Indeed, as he expected, this youth surpassed the slightly older Zhao Xin by directly forming a Spirit Light Child of fifty-two stars.


    "Little Provincial Princess, look at my child, it¡¯s worth fifty-two stars," Tian Li said as he flew out of the Spirit Light God Pool and landed beside the Little Provincial Princess, flaunting his Spirit Light Child.


    The Little Provincial Princess looked curiously at the child before her gaze returned to the Spirit Light God Pool: "I wonder how many stars I could form. By the looks of it, I must be able to form a beautiful Spirit Light little girl!"


    The Little Provincial Princess seemed quite expectant.


    She didn¡¯t make her move right away but continued to watch the trials below.


    Seeing Tian Qi showing off his feat to the Little Provincial Princess, the other two youths could not hold back and started their tests one after another.


    In the end, Meng Qi, a descendant of General Meng among the four great generals, formed a fifty-one-star Spirit Light Child, and Hu Lin, descendant of General Hu, a fifty-star Spirit Light Child.


    All four youths achieved impressive results!


    Enjoy exclusive adventures from empire


    Forty-nine stars, fifty-two stars, fifty-one stars, fifty stars.


    They were directly the top four performers in the arena!


    This display deterred the others from descending to the testing area.


    Even the thirty-some youths from the Divine Kingdom didn¡¯t dare to step forward now.


    Having just tested, the descendants of the four great generals made going now seem unappealing; even if their achievements were decent, they would pale in comparison.


    Why make a fool of oneself? Better to wait for a few more mediocre performances to temper the astonishment the four youths caused before stepping in.


    That was the mindset of the young people from the Divine Kingdom, and none of them took a step forward.


    Not only were the young people from the Divine Kingdom shrewd, but the martial artists from the lower realm were no fools either; they could also see the situation clearly.


    Stepping forward at this time was far too risky; stark comparisons were disadvantageous, so they, too, were unwilling to proceed.


    For a moment, the scene fell into an unusual silence.


    Seeing that no one else was willing to take the test, Ye Chen, who stood beside Fang Hua, smiled and shook his head: "I¡¯ll go then."


    Ye Chen was also unfamiliar with the testing method of the Spirit Light God Pool; he, too, wanted to see how many stars of Spirit Light Children he could actually condense.


    Ye Chen had not directly tested before because he wanted to observe more. Now that no one else was testing, he didn¡¯t feel like waiting any longer.


    A stark contrast?


    Results not as good as those four young men?


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t thought too much about it.


    Whether you test late or early, you¡¯ve got to test eventually, and the results have to be faced sooner or later. Could it be that delaying the test would change the outcome?


    To become fearful before even testing was not Ye Chen¡¯s style.


    Ye Chen stepped forward which completely surprised the martial artists from the lower realm and over thirty youths from the Divine Kingdom; they had never expected someone from the lower realm to volunteer for the test, seemingly unafraid of any comparison.


    Ye Chen¡¯s actions also gave Fang Hua, who was beside him, quite the start.


    Fang Hua hurriedly transmitted a message to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, this isn¡¯t a good time to test."


    "It¡¯s all right," Ye Chen said with a smile to Fang Hua and then slowly walked toward the Spirit Light God Pool.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t flash into the Spirit Light God Pool instantaneously, flaunting his movement technique like Zhao Xin. If he wanted, with the ability of Void Instantaneous Divine Travel, Ye Chen could also achieve that.


    Nor did Ye Chen fly directly into the Spirit Light God Pool as the others had done.


    Instead, he walked while feeling the sensation of getting increasingly closer to the Spirit Light God Pool.


    "This youth is out of the ordinary," Divine Venerable Hong Zhu suddenly said to the two Divine Kings via transmission, "I have a premonition that he might surprise us."


    The Divine Kings were both shocked when they heard Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words.


    They could only see that Ye Chen had a bone age of sixteen and was already in the middle stage of the Spinning Pill realm, which, for the lower realm, was already quite impressive.


    They also noticed that Ye Chen had the courage to step forward in such circumstances and maintained a calm demeanor, neither arrogant nor impetuous, revealing that Ye Chen was a composed and cool-headed youth.


    However, they did not possess the power of Divine Venerable Hong Zhu to sense directly how extraordinary Ye Chen was.


    To have a Divine Venerable speak out and say someone was extraordinary was a first in this place!


    Naturally, they wouldn¡¯t doubt a Divine Venerable¡¯s premonition!


    With this thought, both God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun focused all their attention on Ye Chen.


    Seeing the solemn attentiveness of the two Divine Kings and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu appearing quite interested, the little Provincial Princess, who was intelligent and keen, constantly observing everyone in the area, now also fixed her gaze on Ye Chen, "What¡¯s so special about him that even Aunt Hong Zhu looks so intrigued?"


    The little Provincial Princess¡¯s expression became unusually serious.


    Her seriousness, in turn, caused the four young descendants of the generals who had been paying attention to her to also look toward Ye Chen.


    As countless eyes were focused on him, Ye Chen took a dozen steps and finally arrived at the edge of the Spirit Light God Pool.


    After closing his eyes and sensing the aura of the god pool, Ye Chen¡¯s figure moved, and he flew into the Spirit Light God Pool.


    Feeling the spiritual light flowing toward him, the first thing Ye Chen felt was the activation of every cell in his flesh, as the techniques of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and Icebound Divine Body that he had practiced also started to stir.


    A purple light group began to form as the activity of his fleshly cells and the motion of his bodily techniques stimulated its condensation.


    "This purple light group is to test one of the three major signs of life, the physical body sign, that includes two parts: one is my current combat strength from my physical cultivation, the other part is the potential of my physical body," Ye Chen guessed as he sensed the changes both inside and outside his body.


    Perhaps these lights of spiritual energy transformed the changes within the body into the condensed spiritual light outside the body.


    As Ye Chen made his guess, he relaxed his physical body, allowing the purple light group representing his physical test to grow from the size of a small fingertip to that of a peach pit, and then to the size of a walnut.


    With the techniques of the Icebound Divine Body stirring, the purple light group grew even larger, approaching the size of a fist.


    When they saw that Ye Chen¡¯s physical test light group had grown larger than a fist, the martial artists from the lower realm, including Fang Hua, couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in shock!


    A physical test light group larger than a fist was, indeed, the best result from the lower realm!


    Among the exclaiming crowd, Fang Hua was the most astonished.


    He had kept in communication with Ye Chen because the latter had come from the Thirty-Three Mainland, which hadn¡¯t sent anyone to Minor Pole Sky for 160,000 years; Fang Hua was naturally curious about Ye Chen.


    On the other hand, Fang Hua also vaguely felt a mysterious calmness about Ye Chen, making it very comfortable to be around him.


    But Fang Hua never imagined that Ye Chen could be so powerful, let alone surpass him.


    Now, at the same realm, Spinning Pill middle stage as Fang Hua, Ye Chen¡¯s first condensation of the physical light group had already surpassed his strongest Divine Soul Light Group, which was a complete surprise to him.


    Not only were the martial artists from the lower realm shocked, but when Ye Chen¡¯s physical test light group reached one and a half fist in size, the thirty-three youths from the Divine Kingdom were also astonished beyond measure.


    Even the four young descendants of the generals started to become nervous.


    They had noticed the little Provincial Princess¡¯s focus on Ye Chen. When they had taken their tests earlier, the three major life signs light groups were only slightly larger than two fists or exactly two fists in size.


    Now Ye Chen was incredibly close to that level.


    For some reason, all four youths felt an inexplicable worry.


    In the end, when Ye Chen¡¯s first test, the physical test, fully stimulated the techniques of the Icebound Divine Body and the final test light group settled at nearly two fist sizes, the four youths finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    The four youths all looked at the little Provincial Princess simultaneously, their gazes carrying implicit meaning, "This youth is still not as good as us."


    However, they failed to notice that when the little Provincial Princess saw Ye Chen¡¯s physical test reach nearly two fists in size, her eyes sparkled even more brightly, "He¡¯s only in the middle stage of Spinning Pill, yet he¡¯s reached this level, and he¡¯s from the lower realm; it seems he truly is out of the ordinary."


    "I wonder, for the next two tests, the True Qi Test and the Divine Soul Test, how he will perform."

 Chapter 484 - 442: Shocking Everyone!

    ```


    The four young men could finally catch their breath.


    However, at this moment, the more than thirty youths from the Divine Kingdom were completely shocked, their mouths agape.


    In particular, the white-clothed noble son Wang Xuan, who had previously looked down on martial artists from the lower realm with disdain, was now as if he had seen a ghost.


    He had previously said that the martial artists from the lower realm definitely could not compare to them, and he had even doubted whether they could enter the third training area.


    Now, there emerged a martial artist from the lower realm who could condense a physical test light cluster to nearly the size of two fists.


    To say that such a person couldn¡¯t make it to the third training area would be unbelievable to many!


    This was a complete slap in the face for him! It made him no longer dare to underestimate the martial artists from the lower realm!


    After all, this result in the physical body test was the strongest achievement aside from the descendants of the four Great Generals.


    Even those young people from the Divine Kingdom who had previously tested in this segment of the physical body test, their light clusters were only the size of a fist. This martial artist from the lower realm had nearly doubled that!


    What¡¯s more, as one progresses further, condensing the light clusters becomes harder, and it should not be simply evaluated by size multiples. To condense a light cluster close to the size of two fists, the true worth is many times, even dozens of times greater than the strength contained within a light cluster the size of a single fist.


    This directly indicated that this young man from the lower realm, in the aspect of the physical test, was far superior in strength and potential to that young person from the Divine Kingdom who had tested earlier!


    Wang Xuan himself had a premonition that he definitely wouldn¡¯t reach this level in the physical test.


    A martial artist from the lower realm was stronger than him, much stronger, how could this not deeply shock Wang Xuan, who had always been proud of his identity as a youth from the Divine Kingdom?!


    However, amidst Wang Xuan¡¯s disbelief, he still comforted himself, "Perhaps this martial artist from the lower realm just has strong physical life vital signs, and the other two major life vital signs¡ªthe True Qi life vital sign and Divine Soul life vital sign¡ªmight not necessarily be strong. This first light cluster is his strong point, which is why he performed so well."


    There were quite a few people who speculated like Wang Xuan.


    Even among the martial artists from the lower realm, many were worried that Ye Chen was too strong in the physical cluster condensation but might be weaker in other areas.


    After all, it was extremely difficult to be strong in all respects among the martial artists from the lower realm.


    Amidst the speculation of many people, Ye Chen, who had finished condensing the physical test light cluster, began to condense the second light cluster, the True Qi test light cluster.


    At this time, all eyes became even more focused on Ye Chen.


    Some wanted to see if Ye Chen would fail miserably in the second aspect of the three major signs of life tests¡ªthe "True Qi life vital sign test"¡ªand if he was only strong in the physical test.


    Others were curious to know whether Ye Chen could once again condense such a powerful light cluster.


    Among the three powerhouses on the field, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s eyes were particularly sharp as she stared at Ye Chen, "True Qi life vital signs test. This young man, I feel that his True Qi life vital signs are far beyond his physical body. The great surprise I had premonitioned might very well lie in this True Qi life vital sign."


    The premonition was her instinct as a Divine Venerable.


    Whether it was accurate or not, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu still had to keep watching.


    As for the guesses of Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and the thoughts of other martial artists, Ye Chen had no interest in observing them.


    All his attention was now focused on the changes in his True Qi life vital signs within his body and the condensation of the green light cluster for the True Qi test outside his body.


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    Right after he finished condensing the physical life light cluster, Ye Chen noticed that the spiritual light in the Spirit Light Divine Pool surged chaotically towards him, and his Qi Sea had already begun to respond.


    With a stir of True Qi in his Qi Sea, the green True Qi test light cluster began to condense and swell.


    As for how large the green light cluster could be, Ye Chen did not know.


    But Ye Chen was absolutely confident that this True Qi test light cluster would definitely be much larger than the previous physical test light cluster!


    Because, he knew himself best of all.


    In terms of physical life vital signs, Ye Chen had not yet cultivated to the utmost limit. He had only practiced the basic 810 styles of the Nine Transformation Fighting Body and the Icebound Divine Body. During his practice, Ye Chen felt that his physical potential was also quite impressive.


    But for the True Qi life vital signs, that was always Ye Chen¡¯s ultimate card for survival, always his strongest method in countless battles to preserve his life!


    ```


    Ye Chen¡¯s comprehension and potential in True Qi cultivation, in his own feeling, were countless times greater than his physical potential!


    Not just in potential, but also in the strength of True Qi, Ye Chen was absolutely not weak. In the midway realm of Rotating Pill, his true combat power had already reached the level of late-stage Heavenly Saint, which was probably inconceivable for the youths in the Divine Kingdom!


    Moreover, the cultivation technique Ye Chen practiced was the Primordial Star Scripture, which was an unimaginably powerful Divine Art that Ye Chen felt was certainly stronger than even the Divine Kings or Divine Venerables!


    Through the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen, just by reaching Great Accomplishment in the third chapter "Taiyuan Chapter," could cultivate nine hundred and ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills that no other Rotating Pill realm powerhouses could imagine, and even unite the nine hundred and ninety-nine Rotating Pills into a unique Taiyuan Divine Pill!


    There were also the Divine Arts.


    Ye Chen had even cultivated the Five Great Divine Arts!


    Not to mention the Primordial Star Scripture, just the Beiming Secret Tome, was likely to give him a great boost in the True Qi test, let alone his Flying Sword Skills.


    Ye Chen had absolute confidence that, regarding the second Life Vital Sign test of the three, he would make another great breakthrough, just as in the physical test!


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    While Ye Chen observed the changes within and without his body, the cyan True Qi Life Vital Sign test light cluster in front of him kept swelling larger.


    From the size of a fingertip, it quickly ballooned to the size of a peach pit, and then to the size of a walnut...


    When the cyan light cluster reached the size of a fist, all the martial artists from the lower realm gaped in amazement, and the Fang Hua, who had been conversing with Ye Chen, almost jumped up in surprise, "Brother Ye Chen is not only formidable in the physical body, his True Qi is also so strong!"


    As the cyan light cluster grew beyond fist-size, advancing toward the size of two fists, the young people of the Divine Kingdom, especially the young man in white, Wang Xuan, were completely stunned.


    He had previously said that Ye Chen excelled in the physical test and thereby created a miracle in the first light cluster¡¯s coalescence, but now he watched as the second light cluster was about to surpass the first one.


    At this moment, how could Wang Xuan not see that Ye Chen was absolutely not weak in the True Qi Life Vital Sign, and might even be stronger than the Physical Body Life Vital Sign!


    When the second light cluster around Ye Chen¡¯s body surpassed the size of two fists and continued to grow, even the descendants of the four Great Generals, Zhao Xin, Tian Li, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin, were astounded.


    They had seen with their own eyes that Ye Chen, who was slightly behind them in the first Physical Body test, now had a cyan light cluster in the second True Qi test that was already larger than the light cluster of any of them.


    This meant that Ye Chen had now surpassed them in the True Qi Life Vital Sign test!


    What terrified them more was that Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi test light cluster showed no sign of slowing down and was still expanding, still challenging for greater size.


    This completely exceeded their imaginations.


    It showed that Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi Life Vital Sign was much more than just barely surpassing them; it far surpassed them!


    "How big can his True Qi test light cluster get..."


    With each increase in size of the cyan light cluster before Ye Chen, the hearts of the four youths jolted violently.


    When the second light cluster in front of Ye Chen reached the size of half a head, not only were the four youths rendered speechless, but all the warriors present were plunged into deathly silence!


    They knew that Ye Chen was merely in the midway realm of Rotating Pill!


    He was at a significant disadvantage in terms of realm.


    At this realm, to have such a level of True Qi Life Vital Sign, if he were in Heavenly Saint, it was very likely that he could reach Great Perfection in the True Qi Life Vital Sign layer!


    In the end, when Ye Chen¡¯s second light cluster, the cyan True Qi Life Vital Sign test light cluster stopped at larger than half a head, just shy of Perfection Level, the second Life Vital Sign assessment finally came to an end.


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, God King Lei Yun, and God King Wucan instantly flew over to the edge of the Spirit Light Divine Pool, their Divine Eyes bursting with excitement.


    This time, they had personally witnessed a miracle brought forth by a warrior from the lower realm.


    How could they not be immensely excited?!


    Even the Little Provincial Princess flew to the spot closest to Ye Chen, her lively eyes fixated entirely on him.


    And the more than eight thousand martial artists from the lower realm, led by Fang Hua, burst into cheers and thunderous applause!

 Chapter 485 - 443: Eighty-Eight Training Chambers

    How could the warriors from the lower realm not be excited?


    Among them, a figure like Ye Chen had emerged.


    In the face of more than thirty young people from the Divine Kingdom, and even surpassing the descendants of the four great generals of the East Territory King, this was someone from the lower realm.


    With Ye Chen as their representative, those young people from the Divine Kingdom would no longer dare to look down on warriors from the lower realm.


    After all, they could no longer say that warriors from the lower realm were inferior to them.


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    Because of Ye Chen!


    "That¡¯s enough. Even if Ye Chen¡¯s last life vital sign test, the Divine Soul Life Vital Sign test, is not good, it¡¯s still enough."


    "To surpass everyone in the True Qi Life Vital Sign test and to reach the size of nearly half a head¡ªthat¡¯s already a miracle!"


    "He is only at the mid-stage of Swirling Pill, yet his future is truly immeasurable!"


    The joy of the lower realm warriors was already great enough.


    Their greater hope was that they too, like Ye Chen, could one day stand as the pride of the lower realm, shoulder to shoulder, or even surpass the young generation of the Divine Kingdom!


    This hope, even if it couldn¡¯t be realized now, would be etched in their hearts after they returned from Minor Pole Sky, urging themselves to diligently cultivate, to constantly progress.


    This was a psychological stimulation and lift.


    This was the influence of an outstanding figure!


    After all, who doesn¡¯t want to become strong? Who doesn¡¯t want others to cheer for them, to take pride in them?


    This change in mentality, this determination, and drive, were their first gains from coming to Minor Pole Sky.


    The gains Ye Chen brought them.


    In the excitement and determination of the lower realm warriors, the second light cluster coalesced, and Ye Chen, who had created a miracle, finally began to challenge the last light cluster¡ªthe Divine Soul Life Vital Sign test.


    This time, although it wasn¡¯t as dazzling as the True Qi test light cluster, it was still very good.


    It also reached nearly the size of two fists, just like the Physical Test Light Cluster.


    In the end, among the collisions of Ye Chen¡¯s three great light clusters, a surprisingly magical Spirit Light Child with sixty-two stars¡ªburst forth.


    Sixty-two stars.


    Ye Chen¡¯s final result.


    Slightly better than the descendants of the four great generals, the four youths.


    But at this moment, the four youths breathed a sigh of relief. During Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi Life Vital Sign test, they knew that his results might surpass theirs due to the extraordinary performance of this life vital sign.


    What they were worried about was that Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul Life Vital Sign test would also be overwhelmingly strong. If that were the case, they would have found it unacceptable.


    Now it was alright, Ye Chen had only surpassed them in the True Qi Life Vital Sign aspect, and was slightly weaker than them in both Physical and Divine Soul Life Vital Signs.


    This result, they could accept.


    Otherwise, as descendants of powerful beings from the Divine Kingdom, losing to Ye Chen in all three aspects would have indeed been too much to bear.


    Whoosh!


    Once the Spirit Light Child was fully formed, Ye Chen, with his own child figure that was the size of a palm, dressed in a tiny fiery-red outfit with fiery-red hair lively and spirited, flew out of the Spirit Light God Pool.


    As Ye Chen walked past the more than thirty young people from the Divine Kingdom, heading towards the group of warriors from the lower realm, the young people from the Divine Kingdom unconsciously made way for him.


    They had already seen that this warrior from the lower realm would definitely not be an ordinary figure.


    Perhaps, he was the next God King of the Divine Kingdom or even a Divine Venerable!


    Although they were descendants of a God King, none of them had the full confidence to surpass their forebears and achieve the title of God King, yet this youth before them showed such a possibility!


    At this moment, the identity of being from the lower realm no longer made them look down on him; instead, they held Ye Chen in even higher regard.


    After all, to cultivate to such an extent and to have such talent from the lower realm was truly astonishing. The strong are respected everywhere, and Ye Chen deserved such respect.


    "Haha, Brother Ye Chen, you¡¯ve kept yourself so well hidden, I hadn¡¯t imagined you¡¯d be this powerful!"


    When Ye Chen returned to the group of lower realm warriors, he was immediately surrounded by a crowd of warriors, with Fang Hua praising Ye Chen with a smile all over his face.


    At this time, the three great figures in the arena, including Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, sent a message to the other two God Kings: "This young man deserves more attention in what follows. Let¡¯s see how he cultivates and fares in the competitions."


    "After all, the Minor Pole Sky is considered part of the East Province of the Divine Kingdom. If he continues to surprise us, we should extend our help and get him from the lower realm to the Divine Kingdom sooner. The East Territory King is indeed eager for talent!"


    The two God Kings nodded repeatedly: "Of course. The Heavenly Cloud Venerable initially established Minor Pole Sky precisely to help warriors from the lower realm. We will do our utmost to assist them."


    As everyone conversed, unexpectedly, the Little Provincial Princess, who had been observing others form the Spirit Light Child, stepped forward after Ye Chen completed the tests.


    The Little Provincial Princess.


    The person with the most revered status in the arena.


    Plus, she was also the youngest, only twelve years old.


    Her test naturally drew the attention of everyone.


    Even the lower realm warriors who had been surrounding Ye Chen turned their attention towards the Little Provincial Princess.


    Ye Chen, like the others, turned his gaze towards the Little Provincial Princess. He too wanted to know, just what level the true three life vital signs of this nobly born little loli would be.


    What Ye Chen did not expect was for the Little Provincial Princess to not head straight for the Spirit Light God Pool. Instead, she smiled at Ye Chen and said, "Big brother, your True Qi Life Vital Sign is very impressive. I¡¯ve come to Minor Pole Sky specifically to cultivate this life vital sign. However, I¡¯ll surpass you in the other two major life vital signs!"


    After saying this, the Little Provincial Princess chuckled and jumped into the Spirit Light God Pool.


    Whoosh!


    The words of the Little Provincial Princess caused everyone¡¯s gaze to once again turn towards Ye Chen.


    This was the first time the Little Provincial Princess had initiated a conversation with someone since she entered the great hall.


    The warriors from the lower realm, even the thirty-odd young people from the Divine Kingdom, all enviously looked towards Ye Chen.


    Even Zhao Xin, Tian Li, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin felt a tinge of jealousy towards Ye Chen.


    They had tried to curry favor with the Little Provincial Princess all along, but she hadn¡¯t taken any special notice of them. Now, a warrior from the lower realm had actually received her praise directly, how could they not be jealous?


    However, thinking about Ye Chen¡¯s performance in terms of True Qi Life Vital Sign, they also felt somewhat helpless.


    It was because they had not created a miracle as Ye Chen had, which had elicited the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s utmost admiration.


    Ye Chen, under the scrutiny of countless gazes, shook his head and smiled. He too did not expect this little loli princess to talk to him.


    But Ye Chen noticed the meaning in the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s words.


    From what the Little Provincial Princess had said, was it that her True Qi Life Vital Sign was the weakest among her three major life vital signs? Did she come here expressly to cultivate this life vital sign? And for the other two, she was confident that she would be stronger than him?


    Ye Chen knew that the Little Provincial Princess was only twelve or thirteen years old; her cultivation realm was even lower than his, at the initial stage of Dan rotation.


    Perhaps her potential in the physical body and Divine Soul was exceptionally high?


    Curious, Ye Chen watched the Little Provincial Princess, who had jumped into the Spirit Light God Pool.


    After speaking with Ye Chen and jumping into the Spirit Light God Pool, the Little Provincial Princess began to form the three testing light clusters.


    As the Little Provincial Princess formed light clusters, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu remained calmly smiling, showing no hint of nervousness; it was clear she had absolute confidence in the test results of the Little Provincial Princess.


    The four teenagers who accompanied the Little Provincial Princess also looked helplessly towards the Spirit Light God Pool.


    Obviously, they too seemed to be aware of the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s true strength.


    And indeed, as if confirming what those familiar with the Little Provincial Princess had expected, the purple Physical Test Light Cluster she formed in the Spirit Light God Pool was nearly as large as Ye Chen¡¯s previously most powerful True Qi Life Vital Sign test light cluster¡ªreaching the size of half a head!


    Moreover, the Divine Soul Life Vital Sign test light cluster of the Little Provincial Princess was even stronger than Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi test light cluster, almost as large as a complete head¡ªvery close to the Saint-level consummate standard!


    Indeed, as the Little Provincial Princess had said earlier, her True Qi Life Vital Sign test light cluster was slightly weaker than the other two. Yet this slight weakness was only relative, as her True Qi test light cluster was as large as two fists.


    In the end, after all three life vital sign tests were complete, the Little Provincial Princess directly formed a seventy-one-star Spirit Light Child!


    Seventy-one stars.


    The only test score in the hall that surpassed seventy stars!


    This was the result of a twelve or thirteen-year-old girl at the initial stage of Dan rotation. Setting aside the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s status, her achievement alone was enough to command the admiration of all the warriors present.


    Even Ye Chen had no choice but to concede, "This little loli is truly deserving of being the daughter of the East Territory King, with such strong potential in her physical body and Divine Soul! Especially her Divine Soul potential, which is ridiculously powerful!"


    "Is this the Spirit Light Child?"


    After completing her test, the Little Provincial Princess looked adoringly at the small girl who had hopped onto her shoulder.


    Being young herself, she naturally adored the cute and lively Spirit Light Child.


    After flying out of the Spirit Light God Pool, the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s attention was wholly captivated by her newly-acquired Spirit Light Child, even dismissing the congratulations from Zhao Xin, Tian Li, and the others.


    It was only when Ye Chen looked towards her that the Little Provincial Princess returned a look that seemed to say, "See, I told you my physical and Divine Soul tests would be really impressive!"


    The powerful results of Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess caused those waiting to test to hesitate before proceeding.


    However, the testing had to continue.


    Under the urging of God King Wucan, the remaining individuals stepped up to take their tests.


    But with such outstanding precedents set by the Little Provincial Princess and the descendants of the four great generals, subsequent participants failed to produce any more shocking results.


    Only a few young individuals from the Divine Kingdom managed to create Spirit Light Children around forty stars. Among the lower realm warriors, one managed to create a thirty-star Spirit Light Child.


    After that, there were no more surprises.


    Once all the warriors had finished their tests, each had received his or her own Spirit Light Child.


    Yet, at that moment, nobody could relax, for God King Wucan had announced that with the tests concluded, it was time to choose the training chambers.


    "As I said before, there are a total of eighty-eight training chambers in the first area."


    "Selection shall proceed according to the ranking order of the tests just completed. The Little Provincial Princess will choose first, Ye Chen will choose second, Tian Li will choose third..."


    The selection order announced by God King Wucan immediately put everyone on edge.


    Following that, another statement from God King Wucan made the warriors¡¯ hearts race even more, "I must also inform you that after selecting your training chambers, you will have only one month to train."


    "In one month, the first assessment competition will take place! Those who fail the competition will be eliminated and must leave Minor Pole Sky. Only those who pass the competition will be able to move on to the next training location!"

 Chapter 486 - 444: Undying Divine Body

    ```


    The first place of cultivation, the "Infinity God Temple," allowed only one month for cultivation.


    After one month of cultivation, there would be a contest, where the weaker participants would be eliminated and no longer able to cultivate in the secret realms that lay behind Minor Pole Sky.


    Only those who passed the assessment and contest would have the opportunity to continue their cultivation.


    The words of God King Wucan made the group of martial artists somewhat tense.


    Whether they were warriors from the lower planes, youngsters from the Divine Kingdom, or the Little Provincial Princess and the descendants of the four Great Generals, everyone who came to "Minor Pole Sky¡¯s Secret Realm" naturally wanted to cultivate here for as long as possible.


    After all, the mere emergence of the miraculous Spirit Light Children from the "Spirit Light God Pool" was enough to reveal the value of this place of cultivation.


    Moreover, since the Little Provincial Princess herself was here for cultivation, it was clear that this site was extraordinary.


    "I wonder how the assessment and contest will be conducted after a month," many pondered in their hearts.


    However, the method of the upcoming assessment and contest had not yet been clarified, and their speculations were pointless for now. What was most important at the moment was to make the most of this first place of cultivation and the one month of cultivation time.


    God King Wucan continued, "The first place of cultivation has eighty-eight cultivation chambers, all related to the physical and vital signs of your mortal bodies. Within these chambers, some contain precious materials for bodily cultivation; some contain miraculous methods for enhancing the body; and in some treasured chambers, there are even Divine Body Cultivation Skills collected by the esteemed Heavenly Cloud Venerable who established ¡¯Minor Pole Sky¡¯!"


    Divine Body Cultivation Skills?!


    At these words, Ye Chen was also startled.


    He had encountered Divine Body Cultivation Skills before; the Icebound Divine King had left behind a set called "Icebound Divine Body." Just by cultivating the basic eight hundred and ten forms of Icebound Divine Body, Ye Chen felt his physical strength had become incredibly powerful, and his vital signs had increased countless times.


    And that was without even fully cultivating the Divine Body Cultivation Skills, just the basic part of them.


    Ye Chen could only take a deep breath when he thought of how the complete "Icebound Divine Body" could even harness the power of the nine Ice Domain Divine Stars. At that time, it was probably possible for his physical strength to shatter an entire minor world!


    After all, that was the strongest Divine Body Cultivation Skill left by the upper-tier Divine King, the Icebound Divine King!


    Now, in this "Infinity God Temple," there were even Divine Body Cultivation Skills collected by the powerful Heavenly Cloud Venerable, which were far beyond Ye Chen¡¯s anticipation.


    Ye Chen speculated that not all Divine Body Cultivation Skills here might surpass "Icebound Divine Body," but surely one or two of them would be stronger than the Icebound Divine Body.


    "The question is whether I can select other Divine Body Cultivation Skills to practice alongside the basic eight hundred and ten forms of ¡¯Icebound Divine Body¡¯ I¡¯ve already cultivated."


    "My physical and vital signs are slightly weaker compared to those of the Little Provincial Princess and the four descendants of the Great Generals; further improvement is needed."


    "If I could also cultivate other Divine Body Cultivation Skills, the combined effect could make my physical combat strength even more formidable." Experience exclusive tales on empire


    Not all Cultivation Techniques are compatible, some may conflict, and cultivating more is not always better.


    With this concern, Ye Chen became somewhat worried.


    A thought stirred in Ye Chen¡¯s mind, and he entered the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to consult with the nine Icebound Guards: "Venerable seniors, is it possible to cultivate multiple Divine Body Cultivation Skills?"


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, Bing Shiyi pondered for a moment, then nodded and said, "Your Highness Ye Chen, some Divine Bodies can be cultivated simultaneously, while others must be avoided. It all depends on the specific Divine Body Cultivation Skills. However, our former master practiced two other Divine Body Cultivation Skills in addition to the Icebound Divine Body. According to the old master, the Icebound Divine Body, due to its power being derived from the Ice Domain Divine Stars, had a great tolerance and was not greatly antagonistic to other Divine Body Cultivation Skills."


    Not greatly antagonistic to other Divine Body Cultivation Skills?


    Upon hearing what Bing Shiyi said, Ye Chen nodded, feeling some hope arise in his heart.


    After all, he would be the second one to choose a cultivation chamber, so he would see which chamber suited him best and then make a decision.


    As Ye Chen was considering what to cultivate in the first chamber, the other martial artists were doing the same.


    Meanwhile, among the youngsters who were descendants of the four Great Generals, the handsome young boy Tian Li, who would pick a chamber after Ye Chen and had ranked third in the earlier test, looked towards the direction of the eighty-eight chambers.


    ```


    "Before I came here, my grandfather mentioned that it¡¯s rumored the ¡¯Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯ had collected a set of extremely powerful Divine Body Cultivation Skills, and placed the first three volumes in the eighty-eight secret chambers of the ¡¯Infinity God Temple¡¯."


    "This set of Divine Body Cultivation Skills is known as the ¡¯Undying Divine Body¡¯. It¡¯s said that if one cultivates it to the extreme, one could really achieve the state of nine transformations of lifespan and become truly undying! It can be considered the most powerful set of Divine Body Cultivation Skills among the eighty-eight secret chambers! It¡¯s of great use even for Divine Kings facing the divine tribulation!"


    "Although Divine Venerables with their overwhelming abilities may still be able to kill those who cultivate the Undying Divine Body, within the Divine King realm, this body is almost invincible."


    "Not to mention the great help this body offers to lifespan and crossing the divine tribulation, just the sustained augmentation of combat power during battle makes it absolutely worth cultivating."


    "Given the chance, I must choose this set of Divine Body Cultivation Skills to practice!"


    "There are only the first three volumes available, but I¡¯ve heard that as long as you complete the cultivation of these three volumes, you can meet the ¡¯Venerable Heavenly Cloud¡¯, and he will pass on the subsequent techniques."


    "Even my grandfather had few opportunities to encounter the Venerable Heavenly Cloud, who has always been elusive. If I can meet him, perhaps there will be unexpected gains!"


    With these thoughts, Tian Li¡¯s gaze turned towards Ye Chen.


    Only two people were selecting their cultivation chambers ahead of him, one was the Little Provincial Princess, and the other was Ye Chen.


    The Little Provincial Princess is a young girl, and Tian Li, who was aware of the Undying Divine Body, knew that it was not suitable for girls like the Little Provincial Princess to practice. The only one who might compete with him for it was Ye Chen.


    At this thought, Tian Li¡¯s breath began to quicken with nervous anticipation, "I hope that Ye Chen does not understand the preciousness of the Undying Divine Body."


    Since he was choosing after Ye Chen, he could only hope that Ye Chen was unaware of the origins of the Undying Divine Body and had not chosen the chamber to practice it, which would leave him with a chance.


    Not just Tian Li thought this way. The other three young descendants of the Great Generals after Tian Li also knew about the Undying Divine Body.


    "The Undying Divine Body is the strongest Divine Body collected by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable! It¡¯s even famous among Divine Venerables. Alas, Tian Li must certainly know the value of this body, and with us selecting after him, we probably won¡¯t have the chance to choose it."


    While everyone had their own thoughts, God King Wucan, who was presiding over this first cultivation location, spoke again, "All right, everyone will be given the time of one incense stick to first acquaint themselves with the general situation of the eighty-eight cultivation chambers."


    "Then, come back here, and in the order of your previous rankings, determine your cultivation chambers one by one."


    "The situation of each of the eighty-eight cultivation chambers is inscribed on the steles outside their doors. You¡¯ll know as soon as you see them."


    "Now, go and take a look at the chambers."


    Having finished speaking, God King Wucan then directed them towards the path leading to the eighty-eight chambers. Everyone flew towards the eighty-eight cultivation chambers of this ¡¯Infinity God Temple¡¯.


    This path was extremely wide, beginning from a side hall entrance.


    Upon flying several hundred yards forward, chambers flanked the path on both sides.


    From the outside, each chamber looked like stacks of dark, massive stones. At the entrance to each chamber hung a stone stele with inscriptions detailing the specifics of that chamber.


    As Ye Chen walked along the path, observing each chamber¡¯s description, ¡¯Spirit Light Child number sixty-two¡¯ perched on his shoulder also introduced these chambers to him.


    "Master, this third chamber contains a peculiar Divine Material for tempering all the cells in the body. It can fundamentally alter the potential of one¡¯s flesh. However, there are only three or two ounces of this material, enough to temper only a part of the cells..."


    "Master, this eighth chamber houses a Divine Body known as the ¡¯Bright Emperor Divine Body¡¯. Ranked 369th among known Divine Bodies, its function is to generate Scorching Sun Divine Power..."


    "Master, this fifty-third chamber..."


    With the explanations from the Spirit Light Child and viewing the inscriptions on the stone steles, Ye Chen walked up to chamber number eighty-one at a leisurely pace.


    He then saw an inscription at the entrance of chamber eighty-one that read, "This chamber contains the first three volumes of the ¡¯Undying Divine Body¡¯ Cultivation Technique. This chamber is restricted to one person for cultivation, and just like other Divine Body Cultivation Skills, it must not be passed on."


    "This technique¡¯s cultivation will engrave unique divine runes into the flesh and bones. After completing the first three volumes, one may use the clues from the last volume to meet me¡ªthe words of Heavenly Cloud Venerable."


    Realizing he could meet the founder of the Minor Pole Sky, the Heavenly Cloud Venerable, Ye Chen¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    At that moment, the Spirit Light Child on his shoulder seemed somewhat excited as it recommended to him, "Master, this Divine Body Cultivation Skill is extraordinary. It ranks thirty-second among all known Divine Bodies. The thirty-one Divine Bodies that rank before it can only be cultivated by specific races. And they required a Divine Venerable for initial cultivation! It can be said that, for those below the Divine Venerable level, this skill is the strongest available for cultivation!"

 Chapter 487 - 445 Chapter Selection

    "The Divine Body Cultivation Skills below the Divine Venerable Realm that can be practiced, is this technique the strongest?"


    Hearing the words of the Spirit Light Child, Ye Chen felt a tightening in his heart.


    Of course, he wanted to practice the most powerful Divine Body Cultivation Skills!


    Moreover, according to the stele in front of this secret chamber, after completing the first three volumes, he could even meet the Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    The Heavenly Cloud Venerable was the mighty being of the Divine Venerable Realm who had established the Minor Pole Sky!


    Ye Chen certainly wanted to meet such a personage!


    For a moment, Ye Chen became greatly interested in Chamber No. 81 and the "Undying Divine Body" Cultivation Skills within it.


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    However, Ye Chen also had some doubts, "If this technique is the strongest, then why is it placed in Chamber No. 81? Why not in a chamber further back?"


    There were a total of eighty-eight chambers here.


    Ye Chen had noticed a pattern: the closer to the deeper chambers, the more precious the treasures or Cultivation Techniques inside.


    At this moment, hearing the Spirit Light Child say that the "Undying Divine Body" within Chamber No. 81 was the most precious certainly made Ye Chen curious. When Ye Chen sent his divine sense to look at the steles in the chambers further behind, he could see that there were Cultivation Skills for the Divine Body in the three chambers following.


    Logic dictated that the techniques in the back should be more precious.


    The Spirit Light Child chuckled at Ye Chen and said, "Master, this ¡¯Undying Divine Body¡¯ is indeed the most precious. However, it has nine volumes in total, and only the first three volumes are placed here, unlike the complete Divine Body Cultivation Skills that are behind."


    "Moreover, this ¡¯Undying Divine Body¡¯ is extremely difficult to cultivate, and many people simply cannot fully comprehend the first three volumes, much less have the opportunity to meet the great Heavenly Cloud Venerable and ask for the latter skills. Therefore, this set of skills is placed in Chamber No. 81."


    "But if you really complete the first three volumes and obtain the latter six, this Divine Body Cultivation Skills set will definitely be the most powerful in the Infinity God Temple."


    So that¡¯s how it is.


    The skill set was incomplete and extremely difficult to cultivate, so it was placed a bit closer to the front.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Ye Chen still had another doubt at the bottom of his heart, "Spirit Light Child, is it possible to practice this set of Divine Body Cultivation Skills with other Divine Body techniques?"


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s most pressing concern.


    After all, Ye Chen still intended to cultivate the Icebound Divine Body. If the "Undying Divine Body" couldn¡¯t be practiced alongside the Icebound Divine Body, then he would have to look for other Divine Body Cultivation Skills.


    "Master, the reason why the Undying Divine Body is so powerful is not only because of the ¡¯Nine Transformations, Immortal and Indestructible¡¯ mighty abilities it possesses but also because of its compatibility. This set of Divine Body Cultivation Skills can be practiced by almost anyone, including those with other Divine Body foundations. The only requirement is extremely high comprehension in cultivation. While anyone can practice it, mastering it to a profound level is extremely difficult."


    Can anyone practice it?


    Even those with other Divine Body foundations can practice it?!


    Hearing this, Ye Chen finally exhaled in relief.


    At least this meant he could practice this set of skills alongside the Icebound Divine Body.


    As for the difficulty in understanding the skills, that wasn¡¯t Ye Chen¡¯s primary concern.


    After all, Ye Chen could still cultivate the Icebound Divine Body. Even if this set of skills couldn¡¯t be practiced completely, being able to strengthen it to a certain extent was quite good.


    "Let¡¯s take a good look at this set of skills and the chambers further back before making a decision," Ye Chen thoroughly examined the inscriptions on the stele in front of him.


    Since each person could only choose one chamber to practice in, Ye Chen would certainly not make a hasty decision.


    He had to carefully make his selection.


    While Ye Chen was choosing a chamber, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, and four young descendants of the Great General frequently glanced over at him.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was continuously discussing with the Spirit Light Child through sound transmission, obviously interested in Chamber No. 81, Tian Li became increasingly anxious.


    What Tian Li wanted the most was Chamber No. 81!


    Unfortunately, Ye Chen was making his selection before him. If Ye Chen chose it, then he would have no hope left.


    "It¡¯s over; I completely forgot about the reminder from the Spirit Light Child."


    "This Ye Chen, having obtained a sixty-two star Spirit Light Child, must be incredibly clever, knowing a great deal. It¡¯s likely that it has told Ye Chen a lot about the Undying Divine Body."


    Tian Li¡¯s feelings became worse, and his heart grew even more worried.


    It wasn¡¯t until he saw Ye Chen walk away from Chamber No. 81 towards the chambers further back that his heart finally eased a little.


    The time of one incense stick quickly passed.


    After the time to view the eighty-eight training chambers ended, everyone returned to the side hall they had been in before.


    "Brother Ye Chen, have you picked a chamber to your liking?" whispered Fang Hua to Ye Chen through sound transmission from the crowd.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    He truly had several options in mind but had to first see the choice of the Little Provincial Princess, who ranked before him.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s expression, Fang Hua was filled with envy, "Brother Ye Chen, you ranked second in the test and can choose second, so you have many options for the chambers. I¡¯m ranked thirty-seventh, and I¡¯m afraid I won¡¯t be able to choose a very precious chamber, sigh."


    "Everyone must have their eye on a chamber, right?" Seeing that all the martial artists had returned to the side hall, God King Wucan said with a smile, "Now then, let¡¯s decide your training chambers in the order of selection."


    "First up, the Little Provincial Princess, come and make your chamber selection," God King Wucan directly addressed the Little Provincial Princess.


    Ye Chen also looked towards the Little Provincial Princess.


    What he wanted the most was Chamber No. 81, recommended by the Spirit Light Child, which contained the first three volumes of the Undying Divine Body.


    However, if the Little Provincial Princess chose that chamber, he could only choose his second preference, Chamber No. 87.


    Yet the Little Provincial Princess, with a mischievous twinkle in her eyes, glanced at Divine Venerable Hong Zhu beside her and said, "I choose Chamber No. 88!"


    Chamber No. 88?! Not Chamber No. 81!


    A weight lifted from Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    Chamber No. 88 contained a set of Divine Body Cultivation Skills called "Purple Flame Divine Body."


    Ye Chen had noticed during his previous observations that this set of skills was particularly suitable for female martial artists to cultivate, and unexpectedly, the Little Provincial Princess had decided on this chamber.


    Hearing the Little Provincial Princess choose her chamber, God King Wucan nodded and said, "Chamber No. 88 can only be cultivated by one person. For this month of cultivation time, Chamber No. 88 belongs to the Little Provincial Princess."


    Then, God King Wucan looked towards Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you¡¯re second in line, now it¡¯s your turn to choose."


    When she heard that it was Ye Chen¡¯s turn to pick a chamber, the Little Provincial Princess also looked towards him curiously.


    Meanwhile, the hearts of the other three young men from the Great Generals¡¯ lineage, who also wanted Chamber No. 81, were hanging by a thread, and Tian Li was the most anxious, his gaze fixated on Ye Chen.


    As long as Ye Chen did not choose Chamber No. 81, he would be able to secure it next.


    But as Tian Li was gripping his heart tightly with tension, he heard Ye Chen say with a light smile, "I choose, Chamber No. 81!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen¡¯s words struck like thunder in Tian Li¡¯s mind.


    It was over; the chamber he coveted for cultivation was gone.


    The other three young men were somewhat better off, as they had anticipated that even if Ye Chen didn¡¯t choose that chamber, Tian Li would have taken it first. With this in mind, although there was a slight change in their expressions, they were somewhat more at ease.


    "Hehe, Brother Ye Chen, you¡¯ve chosen a good chamber. Just look at Tian Li and the others; they must hate you to death now. They certainly wanted that chamber!"


    After making his decision, Ye Chen suddenly heard the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s telepathic message.


    "Little Provincial Princess?" Ye Chen looked towards the Little Provincial Princess, only to see the mischievous little girl wink at him.


    Turning his gaze back to the four young men, Ye Chen indeed saw that Tian Li, Zhao Xin, and the other two had unpleased expressions, obviously disappointed that the chamber they longed for had been chosen.


    Since only he and the Little Provincial Princess had made their selections thus far, with Chamber No. 88 clearly being suitable only for a female martial artist to cultivate in, it couldn¡¯t have been the chamber these four men wished for.


    That left only the chamber he chose as the one these four young men desired.


    Seeing their expressions, Ye Chen could only give a helpless smile and shake his head.


    Naturally, he was not going to offer this chamber to these four.


    He wasn¡¯t close to them, so there was no need to curry favor, and besides, he also wanted to further enhance his strength in this chamber.


    Strength was of utmost importance.


    It was through strength that he, among the descendants of the four Great Generals, managed to choose a chamber first.


    Tian Li and the others were extremely frustrated.


    Even though their elders were a bit stronger than the Heavenly Cloud Venerable, they weren¡¯t that much stronger, and once they arrived at the Minor Pole Sky secret realm, they had to follow its rules.


    Besides, they had agreed to abide by the bet.


    They had not outdone Ye Chen in the previous tests, so they couldn¡¯t blame anyone else.


    Even though they were descendants of important figures in the Divine Kingdom, they had to accept the outcome.


    "Good choice, Chamber No. 81 is indeed a very precious chamber," said God King Wucan, nodding at Ye Chen¡¯s decision.


    God King Wucan surely knew which among the eighty-eight chambers was the most valuable.


    "Ye Chen, I hope you can successfully cultivate the first three volumes and have the opportunity to meet the esteemed Heavenly Cloud Venerable in the future," God King Wucan said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    After encouraging Ye Chen, God King Wucan turned to Tian Li, "Tian Li, it¡¯s your third turn to choose now."


    Tian Li, still wearing a look of dejection, could only helplessly state his second option, "I choose Chamber No. 83."


    ...


    Soon, everyone had selected their cultivation chambers.


    Most of the remaining chambers among the eighty-eight were for group cultivation, and since the single cultivation chambers were all chosen, the selection process was rather convenient.


    After everyone was done choosing, God King Wucan announced to all, "Now that everyone has made their choices, enter your respective cultivation chambers and begin a month of cultivation."


    "One month from now, we¡¯ll reconvene here, and I¡¯ll take you to the first location for the assessment and competition!"


    "You¡¯ve seen how the ranking from the previous test determined the preciousness of your first cultivation chamber. So, you must work even harder during this month of cultivation, striving for good results in the subsequent assessments and competitions. Because those results will also determine the value of your future cultivation locations!"


    "If you don¡¯t want to end up selecting last again, then make good use of this month of cultivation time, and during the assessments, achieve your best results!"

 Chapter 488 - 446: Myriad Dragon Cavern and Extreme Heaven Spirit List

    The words of God King Wucan made many in the crowd clench their fists.


    Even the younger generation of the four Great Generals¡ªTian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin¡ªwas no exception.


    These individuals had suffered due to their rankings at the first cultivation chamber, the Eighty-Eight Chambers, missing out on their desired chambers. Of course, they didn¡¯t want to continue at a disadvantage in the subsequent training.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Tian Li¡¯s gaze locked onto Ye Chen, thinking to himself, "In the first test, I was defeated by you, and I didn¡¯t even get to choose the eightieth chamber that I wanted most. In the following assessments and competitions, I must surpass you by far, and in the second and third training sites after that, I must choose before you!"


    These individuals were secretly cheering themselves up for not having chosen their favored chambers, while many other martial artists, especially those from the lower realm, became even more anxious.


    They knew that once the one-month cultivation time was up, if the assessments didn¡¯t go well, it wouldn¡¯t just be a matter of not being able to choose an ideal training site¡ªthey would be eliminated directly!


    To cultivate within the Minor Pole Sky again would be out of the question.


    They had to seize every opportunity to make the most of this one-month cultivation period!


    With various thoughts in mind, everyone headed towards their chosen cultivation chambers.


    As for Ye Chen, he walked toward the eighty-first chamber, accompanied by the Spirit Light Child, "Sixty-Two."


    "One month of cultivation time, it¡¯s too short."


    Ye Chen felt a sense of urgency.


    Back in the Icebound Temple, it took nearly two years to cultivate the eight hundred and ten techniques of the basic Icebound Divine Body, even with the acceleration of the flow of time.


    Now, with only one month to cultivate the "Undying Divine Body," Ye Chen knew it would be difficult to reach a profound level of mastery, and he would have to make the most of this time.


    As he pushed open the door to the eighty-first chamber, Ye Chen found the chamber small, spanning only a few hundred zhang.


    But when Ye Chen stepped into the chamber and sat down at the cultivation stone platform in the center, he felt as though he was sitting in a piece of starry land amidst the cosmic stars.


    In this land of stars, there was nothing but countless vines growing endlessly upwards.


    Upon seeing these vines, a myriad of cultivation techniques started pouring into his mind.


    "The Cultivation Technique of the Undying Divine Body is gleaned from the growth and immortal nature of the Undying Devil Vine..."


    "The cultivation of this technique involves spreading the Undying Factor throughout every part of the flesh, allowing the entire body to spontaneously generate the Undying Factor."


    "The first three volumes of the Undying Divine Body, with the first being about connecting with the Undying Devil Vines within the ¡¯Undying Devil Vine Star,¡¯ relating one¡¯s divine body with the undying vines..."


    "The second volume starts the actual cultivation of the Undying Factor..."


    The techniques of the first three volumes of the Undying Divine Body flowed repeatedly through Ye Chen¡¯s mind, which became ever clearer.


    Ye Chen discovered that he had previously cultivated the eight hundred and ten techniques of the basic Icebound Divine Body.


    Having once connected with the nine divine ice stars, the methods of the Undying Divine Body had much in common with the basics of the Icebound Divine Body.


    Furthermore, after completing the basic techniques of the Icebound Divine Body, deep within his body, nine divine gates appeared, identical to the nine massive ice gates on the nine divine ice stars.


    These divine gates greatly aided the cultivation of the Undying Divine Body!


    When Ye Chen began to follow the cultivation techniques of the Undying Divine Body to connect with the "Undying Devil Vine Star," he felt the nine divine gates open, sending his mind soaring through the cosmic stars.


    Ye Chen felt his entire being intertwine with the incessantly growing Undying Devil Vines on the "Undying Devil Vine Star," as if his spirit was gradually merging with them.


    In the end, he was completely immersed in this strange connection with the Undying Devil Vine.


    If one were to peer deep into his body, they could even witness the shadows of vines within the nine divine gates, increasingly distinct until they eventually manifested as soaring devil vines within the gates!


    As those soaring devil vines appeared within the nine divine gates, Ye Chen, absorbed in his cultivation, was wholly oblivious to his physical strength growing with the power of the "Undying Devil Vine," which was steadily being integrated into it!


    Moreover, due to the fusion of the two divine bodies, this power was continuously growing exponentially!


    Bang!


    The days of cultivation were short.


    Completely engrossed in his cultivation and unaware of how much time had passed, Ye Chen was jolted awake by a sudden loud noise, "The one-month cultivation period at the first training site is over. Everyone, leave the chambers and gather in the side hall!"


    "The one-month cultivation period is over?!"


    Ye Chen opened his eyes, somewhat surprised, as if he had just been cultivating for a short while, and it had already come to an end¡ªa full month of cultivation time had completely passed!


    Swish!


    Ye Chen stood up.


    Upon standing, Ye Chen felt his entire body radically different than before.


    It was hard to describe the feeling, as if... his body was filled with endless strength that seemed to continuously renew, grow and replenish itself.


    "The Undying Divine Body!"


    "Over the past month, after I committed the first three volumes of the Cultivation Technique to memory, I focused entirely on cultivating the first volume, connecting with the ¡¯Undying Devil Vine Star¡¯ within to channel the Undying Devil Vine."


    "I haven¡¯t even officially started the cultivation of the ¡¯Undying Factor¡¯ from the second volume, yet my strength has increased this much?!"


    "Could it be that channeling the Undying Devil Vine also enhances one¡¯s physical combat strength?!"


    Ye Chen was somewhat surprised, marveling at the progress he had made in just one month of cultivation.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that upon entering true cultivation, the mutual nurturing and connection between the two divine bodies had greatly accelerated his cultivation progress.


    He was also unaware that the foundation technique of the Icebound Divine Body, comprising eight hundred and ten forms, was in itself an extremely powerful and inclusive divine body cultivation technique.


    And when cultivated alongside another mighty and inclusive technique like the Undying Divine Body, it resulted in unbelievable and wondrous changes!


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    "I wonder, to what extent has my physical strength grown now?"


    Feeling the surging physical power within him, Ye Chen, lost in thought, stepped out of the eighty-first secret chamber and headed towards the convergence area of the side hall.


    He had already memorized the first three volumes of the Undying Divine Body cultivation technique and had completed the connection with the Undying Divine Vine Star. Even after leaving the secret chamber, he could continue cultivating.


    As Ye Chen made his way to the side hall, other martial artists from the lower realm, young ones from the Divine Kingdom, the Little Provincial Princess, and the four Great Generals¡¯ younger generations, too, emerged from their cultivation chambers.


    Some of them showed joyful smiles on their faces after sensing the progress they had made during the month of cultivation.


    Others had furrowed brows due to meager gains.


    And there were those filled with fighting spirit, eager to head to the first assessment site to test their improvements.


    Among the crowd, Tian Li, who had missed his preferred secret chamber because Ye Chen had chosen the eighty-first one, now had flames of combat burning in his eyes: "In the initial physical strength test, I was stronger than Ye Chen."


    "The first assessment site is all about physical abilities. I must leave Ye Chen behind in this first trial and no longer let him hold a position above me!"


    When all the warriors gathered in the side hall, God King Wucan, God King Lei Yun, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu were already waiting there.


    Seeing everyone assembled, God King Wucan, who presided over the first training site, wasted no time and immediately addressed the crowd, "The month has ended, and regardless of your progress in cultivation, it is now time to face the first assessment."


    "Now, follow me to the site for the assessment trials!"


    The first site¡¯s assessment trials were about to begin!


    At God King Wucan¡¯s words, a glint of light flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes.


    Having obtained the first three volumes of the Undying Divine Body cultivation technique from this first site of physical cultivation, Ye Chen realized the strength of Minor Pole Sky, and he was determined to press on towards even more advanced training sites.


    Regardless, he was fully intent on succeeding in this first assessment trial!


    As a glint of resolve flickered in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, the other martial artists also stirred, their gazes alight with energy. Even those worried about failing the assessment were fully mobilizing their spirits, ready for the upcoming challenge.


    The Little Provincial Princess was the most at ease among them all.


    She had emerged from the eighty-eighth secret chamber quite relaxed, and in the initial testing of the three major life signs, her physical vital signs were among the strongest.


    Clearly, cultivating the physical body was no difficulty for her!


    All followed behind God King Wucan, making their way deep into the Infinity God Temple.


    After about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, they arrived at another great hall.


    And Ye Chen noticed that this hall was empty, save for a huge portal on the wall at the far end, beyond which seemed to be another world.


    "Could it be that the site for the first assessment trial is through that portal?"


    As Ye Chen speculated, God King Wucan along with God King Lei Yun and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu were already flying towards the portal.


    At the same time, God King Wucan spoke to the assembled warriors, "Inside here is the site for the first assessment trial ¡ª the Myriad Dragon Cavern!"


    "Let¡¯s go inside, and there I will explain how to undertake the assessment trials!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After speaking, God King Wucan, God King Lei Yun, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu flew into the portal first.


    "Myriad Dragon Cavern?"


    Ye Chen whispered to himself and, along with countless warriors, flew into the portal.


    Once through the portal, Ye Chen found they were on a corner of a vast deserted island.


    As soon as he steadied himself, he heard terrifying dragon roars coming from deeper within the island.


    "Is this deserted island the ¡¯Myriad Dragon Cavern¡¯? Could it be that there are True Dragons on this island?!"


    Shock struck Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    What alarmed Ye Chen even more was that as soon as he arrived on the island, he felt as if all his True Qi was restrained, as were his Divine Soul¡¯s sensing and attacking abilities; they were all completely inhibited.


    Only his physical body abilities remained available for normal use.


    Ye Chen also discovered a huge list hanging in the sky above the corner where they stood ¡ª "Extreme Heaven Spirit List" was written in golden characters at the very top!

 Chapter 489 - 447: Slaying the Dragon!

    "What is the purpose of this list? Could it be related to the first martial arts assessment?"


    Ye Chen gazed up at the "Extreme Heaven Spirit List" suspended in mid-air, contemplating in his heart.


    Like Ye Chen, over eight thousand martial artists from the lower realms, as well as more than thirty youngsters from the Divine Kingdom, and even the Little Provincial Princess along with the four descendants of the Great Generals, all looked up at the Extreme Heaven Spirit List in the void.


    Seeing everyone fixated on the "Extreme Heaven Spirit List," as if he had guessed what they were thinking, God King Wucan smiled and said from the void, "You¡¯ve guessed right; this ¡¯Extreme Heaven Spirit List¡¯ is indeed related to the martial arts assessments you are about to undertake."


    "It¡¯s not just related to the first assessment; it¡¯s connected to all the subsequent assessments as well. Of course, the premise is that you can enter the subsequent assessments."


    Without waiting for the warriors to ask, God King Wucan took the liberty of explaining, "This ¡¯Extreme Heaven Spirit List¡¯ will record your points from the martial arts assessments for ranking."


    "Each round of assessment will set a basic threshold for points that you must exceed in order to advance to the next cultivation site."


    "Of course, just exceeding the basic assessment points is not enough; you need to find a way to accumulate more points to elevate your ranking on the ¡¯Extreme Heaven Spirit List.¡¯ These points will not reset after each assessment; they will continue to accumulate towards your total in subsequent assessments."


    "The next round will set a new threshold for points. If you¡¯ve accumulated enough points in the current round, even if you perform weaker in the following one, those points might still help you pass through the other assessments."


    Points can accumulate?


    Upon hearing this, all the warriors were inwardly stirred.


    Accumulation meant the more points one had, the better, as accumulating points early on would lay a strong foundation for later.


    For example, in this first assessment, if one far exceeded the required points, it was possible to pass through the next assessment without earning any points there.


    There were four more cultivation sites ahead, and one could not relax in any of the assessments to gain access to these sites.


    Naturally, this motivated everyone to strive their hardest to reach higher assessment points in each round, continually increasing their cumulative totals.


    God King Wucan continued, "Your task for this first assessment is to enter the ¡¯Myriad Dragon Cavern¡¯ and to hunt True Dragons within it."


    "As you¡¯ve already noticed, upon entering this place, your True Qi Techniques and Divine Soul Techniques have been sealed; you can only use physical techniques."


    "And the True Dragon clan is famously strong in body; thus, the ¡¯Dragon Hunting¡¯ assessment of this round is to evaluate your physical combat prowess."


    "Remember, no matter what kind of dragon you kill, regardless of its level, every dragon slain gives you only one assessment point. And the requirement to pass this first round is to reach or exceed one hundred assessment points to proceed to the second cultivation site."


    "I can tell you that the second cultivation site focuses on True Qi cultivation, which is crucial for many of you at this stage as your cultivation is primarily centered on True Qi."


    "Entering the second site could greatly enhance your True Qi Realm, boost your power of Law Comprehension, and even strengthen your True Qi Techniques."


    "So, to reach the second round, you must kill at least a hundred True Dragons!"


    Hum!


    The words of God King Wucan sent shock waves through the more than eight thousand martial artists from the lower realms, and the youngsters from the Divine Kingdom were equally shaken.


    Hunting dragons?!


    This first assessment required them to hunt True Dragons, relying solely on their physical strength, with no other techniques allowed?


    Keep in mind that the True Dragon clan represented incredibly powerful True Spirit Sacred Beasts, with many Heavenly Saint Realm True Dragons and even divine and god-king level True Dragons among them!


    What shocked these martial artists even more was that such a formidable clan of True Dragons had countless members corralled on the "Myriad Dragon Cavern" island for warriors to hunt.


    This was utterly terrifying and directly evidenced the formidable strength of Heavenly Cloud Venerable, the creator of the Minor Pole Sky Secret Realm!


    Seeing many people deeply shaken, God King Wucan spoke again, "Hunting True Dragons is certainly not easy. But since you can only use your physical techniques, we won¡¯t make your assessments too difficult."


    "There are no god-king level True Dragons inside the ¡¯Myriad Dragon Cavern,¡¯ and there are no True Dragons above the fifth calamity of True Gods. True God level True Dragons are rare as well, with most being from the Heavenly Saint Realm; there are even True Dragons from the Spirit Sea Realm and Rotating Core Realm."


    "Of course, although True God level True Dragons are rare, they do exist. To successfully hunt enough True Dragons, you must be careful to avoid these True God level creatures and choose dragons that you are capable of hunting."


    "This assessment tests not only your physical combat strength but also your bodily reactions, speed, and other capabilities. It even assesses your luck, as encountering a True God level True Dragon would be extremely unfortunate."


    Hearing that there were no god-king level dragons, nor dragons above the fifth calamity of True Gods, the martial artists breathed a sigh of relief.


    After all, the strongest among them were only in the later stages of Heavenly Saint Realm, and they could only rely on physical techniques. To deal with True Dragons above the fifth calamity of True Gods would certainly mean certain death.


    However, even without True Dragons beyond the fifth calamity realm, they still needed to be very cautious.


    After all, there were True Dragons of the True God level below the fifth calamity, and an encounter with such dragons pretty much meant no chance of survival.


    "This assessment will not pose a life-threatening danger. The Spirit Light Child that each of you carries, while recording your assessment points, will also be able to protect you from death once."


    "Of course, once your Spirit Light Child protects you from death, your assessment will end immediately. You will be teleported back here, and the number of True Dragons you hunted previously will be your final assessment point total, recorded on the ¡¯Extreme Heaven Spirit List.¡¯


    "This trial will last for seven days. After seven days, all of you will return here, whether Spirit Light Child transports you back or not, and the trial will conclude,"


    "Ultimately, your rankings and trial points will be displayed on the ¡¯Extreme Heaven Spirit List.¡¯ Those who have reached or exceeded one hundred trial points will be allowed to enter the second cultivation site for training. Those who fail to reach one hundred trial points will be directly eliminated and transported back to the lower realms you were in before coming to Minor Pole Sky."


    "Whether you continue to cultivate here or are eliminated and leave Minor Pole Sky will depend on the results of your trial,"


    "Now, everyone get ready to enter Myriad Dragon Cavern and start dragon-slaying!"


    After God King Wucan finished speaking, he formed a gesture with his fingers, and a teleportation array appeared in front of all the warriors.


    Pointing to the teleportation array, God King Wucan said, "This array will transport you to various domains of the ¡¯Myriad Dragon Cavern¡¯ on this desolate island. You might not sense its vastness from this corner, but once you are transported into the inner domain, you¡¯ll realize that the entire Myriad Dragon Cavern contains countless spatial domains governed by Laws, immensely vast and filled with innumerable True Dragons."


    "Seven days to hunt down a hundred True Dragons, it all depends on your performance within the inner domains of the Myriad Dragon Cavern!"


    "Now, everyone, enter the teleportation array and officially begin your first trial, ¡¯Dragon Slaying in the Myriad Dragon Cavern¡¯!"


    "The seven-day trial starts now!"


    As the words of God King Wucan fell, the warriors took a deep breath and rushed towards the array, eager to be the first to enter.


    Seven days to hunt at least one hundred True Dragons.


    And to do so while True Dragons of Divine God level are present, using only their physical prowess to kill the dragons.


    It was indeed an extremely dangerous task.


    It was also about whether they could enter the second cultivation site and how many trial points they could accumulate for subsequent trials.


    And whether they would be eliminated from the competition. Stay updated with novelhall.Co?m


    Of course, this made every warrior want to make use of every moment, to use the seven days wisely!


    Before long, over eight thousand warriors had surged into the teleportation array, vanishing from sight in an instant.


    Ye Chen, however, was in no rush to be transported.


    He looked at his Spirit Light Child perched on his shoulder.


    "This little one will accompany me in dragon-slaying and can protect me from death once,"


    Ye Chen then turned his gaze toward the Extreme Heaven Spirit List in the sky, his eyes flickering with a sharp light: "I hope that after seven days, when I return here, my dragon-slaying points will hold a high position on the list, laying a solid foundation for the upcoming trials!"


    Ye Chen steadied his mind and prepared for the imminent trial when suddenly, a figure flew up to him.


    It was none other than the beautiful little loli dressed in white, the Little Provincial Princess.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was not in a hurry to teleport, the Little Provincial Princess smiled lightly, "Ye Chen, you were just one rank behind me in the previous three vital signs tests. I hope that after this first seven-day trial, you can still be right behind me."


    "I intend to take first place in this trial!"


    "I wonder, does Ye Chen have the confidence to claim the second spot?"


    The little loli blinked at Ye Chen with a playful smile.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected the Little Provincial Princess to come directly to him. Seeing her speak to him while the descendants of the four Great Generals¡ªTian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin¡ªcouldn¡¯t help but look over curiously, Ye Chen smiled wryly in his heart.


    He could tell that the four young men harbored fond feelings for the Little Provincial Princess.


    That they would be uncomfortable with her attention toward him was a given.


    Ye Chen smiled helplessly, unsure whether the little loli princess was being deliberate or genuinely wanted to compete with him.


    However, Ye Chen had no time to consider the thoughts of the four youths; he returned the smile to the Little Provincial Princess: "Since the Little Provincial Princess is so confident in taking first place, then Ye Chen will strive for second."


    The little loli princess gave Ye Chen a thumbs up, "That¡¯s the spirit, I hope you can deliver on your word. For this trial, I plan to slay a thousand True Dragons in seven days, and I hope you won¡¯t fall too far behind me."


    After speaking, the Little Provincial Princess gave a teehee laugh and swiftly moved into the teleportation array. Her giggling voice lingered just before she vanished from sight.


    To hunt a thousand True Dragons?


    This twelve or thirteen-year-old little loli sure had grand ambitions.


    Ye Chen chuckled.


    After the Little Provincial Princess teleported away, Ye Chen also prepared to teleport.


    But at that moment, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin flew up and landed beside Ye Chen.

 Chapter 490 - 448 Misty Canyon

    All four looked at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, why does the Little Provincial Princess treat you so well, and even made a point to bid you farewell before leaving?"


    When Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin talked to Ye Chen, it was awkward and depressing.


    They came to the Minor Pole Sky partly for cultivation, but the more important reason was the instructions from their four Great Generals¡¯ elders to accompany the Little Provincial Princess well.


    The meaning of the elders was clear, they saw that these young men were not much older than the Little Provincial Princess and wanted them to build a relationship with her.


    Not to mention the instructions from the elders; they were already full of goodwill towards the Little Provincial Princess.


    However, on the way to the Minor Pole Sky, they found that the Little Provincial Princess did not want to pay them any attention. Even when she did, she was always thinking of ways to trip them up, clearly not wanting them to follow her to the Minor Pole Sky.


    After arriving at the Minor Pole Sky, in the presence of countless other Martial Artists, she didn¡¯t give them any face either.


    This, of course, hurt the hearts of these four very young men.


    Especially when compared to Ye Chen.


    The Little Provincial Princess had no particular connection with Ye Chen, yet she looked at him with increasing respect. During the previous test of the three vital signs, she even spoke specifically to Ye Chen, which of course made these four young men, who were always noticing the Little Provincial Princess, aware that something was amiss.


    When they spoke to the Little Provincial Princess, she did not want to care.


    Yet she specifically took the initiative to converse with Ye Chen in various ways.


    The sourness in the hearts of the four young men was simply indescribable.


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess specially come over to say a few words to Ye Chen before being transported to the inner regions of the "Myriad Dragon Cavern" island, made all four unable to help but approach Ye Chen, filled with both jealousy and envy of him.


    "Why does the Little Provincial Princess treat me so well?"


    Hearing the words of the four young men and seeing the looks of depression and envy on the faces of these young men about his size, Ye Chen gave a wry smile, "I¡¯m not familiar with the Little Provincial Princess and she hasn¡¯t been too kind to me, just chatted with me for a bit."


    "Just chatting? I wish the Little Provincial Princess would chat with me too." All four let out a lament.


    Seeing the expressions of the four men, Ye Chen felt a bit closer to them.


    Originally, Ye Chen assumed that these four young men born into powerful Divine Kingdom families would be like those young people from the Divine Kingdom, like Wang Xuan, arrogant and unapproachable. He hadn¡¯t expected them to have this side too.


    "It seems that they are just young boys of the same age as me after all!" Ye Chen thought with a smile.


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that his performance in the previous tests, only surpassed by the Little Provincial Princess, had thoroughly shocked these four young men. With results stronger than theirs, they certainly didn¡¯t dare to act arrogantly in front of him.


    "Ye Chen, just now I heard you talking to the Little Provincial Princess, saying that you¡¯re going to strive for second place on the ¡¯Extreme Heaven Spirit List¡¯?" Out of the four young men, the youngest and most handsome, Tian Li, spoke up again, "No matter how the Little Provincial Princess treats you, this time in the assessment competition, I must defeat you and rank above you."


    "In the previous test of the three vital signs, you ranked just ahead of me, choosing the eighty-first secret chamber I most wanted. This time, I will not fall behind you again."


    "How about it, do you dare to bet with me on who will rank higher on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List in the end?"


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected Tian Li to be so direct, challenging him to a bet on their performance in the assessment competition.


    "Why wouldn¡¯t I dare," Ye Chen smiled and looked at Tian Li, "What are the stakes?"


    Tian Li said, "If I win against you, in the future, when the Little Provincial Princess looks for you, don¡¯t pay any attention to her. If you win, I¡¯ll give you a set of powerful Divine Arts. How about it?"


    Powerful Divine Arts?


    Ye Chen said with a light smile, "Sounds like I won¡¯t be at a loss either way. Alright, I¡¯ll take the bet!"


    ...


    While Ye Chen was conversing with the descendants of the four Great Generals, the remaining Martial Artists who had not yet been transported were enviously looking towards Ye Chen.


    They witnessed themselves how the Little Provincial Princess had just finished talking to Ye Chen, and then the four descendants of the Great Generals flew to talk to Ye Chen.


    The biggest figures of origin, all five, were interacting with Ye Chen.


    This naturally filled them with immense envy.


    Some young people from the Divine Kingdom within the crowd were full of envy. They wanted to converse with these five people of great origin but couldn¡¯t find the topics or the opportunities, "Alas, if only I had Ye Chen¡¯s strength that made everyone take notice at once. Otherwise, having contact with the descendants of great figures from the Divine Kingdom would help me greatly within the Divine Kingdom!"


    The Martial Artists from the lower realm who had not yet been transported said as they flew into the transport light formation, "No, I must also cultivate harder. As long as I have strength, even if one is born in the lower realm, one can still make everyone pay attention to themselves!"


    "Starting with this ¡¯Slaying Dragon¡¯ assessment competition, I must slay a hundred True Dragons and absolutely force my way into the second place of cultivation!"


    ...


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t expect that his conversation with the Little Provincial Princess and the four young men would cause such a great stimulus to the others.


    Having set the bet with the four young men and watched them teleport away, Ye Chen touched the Spirit Light Child on his shoulder and walked towards the transport light formation.


    Whether it was about striving for second place as he said to the Little Provincial Princess or the bet with Tian Li, Ye Chen didn¡¯t take them too seriously.


    Ye Chen firmly believed that while the outcome was important, the process was even more so.


    Obsessing over the result while neglecting or even impacting the process was a loss beyond redemption.


    Of course, he would give his all in this first trialing contest, and as for the final result, that would depend on what the ultimate outcome of giving his all was!


    As long as he did his best throughout the process, then whatever the result, he would have no regrets!


    "Armed with the ¡¯Ice-Sealed Divine Body¡¯ foundation of eight hundred and ten maneuvers, along with the recently cultivated ¡¯Undying Divine Body,¡¯ not to mention the numerous treasures and methods I possess... this Dragon Slaying contest will show just how many True Dragons I can kill!"


    A gleam of determination sprang into Ye Chen¡¯s eyes and with a "swoosh," he flew into the transmission light array.


    The next moment, the aura flickered, and Ye Chen had completely vanished.


    After Ye Chen had been transmitted away, there were not many people left who had not been transported. Within less than half the time it takes for a pot of tea to steep, the rest had also disappeared without a trace.


    In the end, the only ones left in this desolate island region were the three powerhouses: Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun.


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu gazed as the Little Provincial Princess and the four youths, along with Ye Chen, were transported away one after another, then turned her eyes to the Extreme Heaven Spirit List suspended in the void, "I wonder what kind of results will be on this Spirit Ranking in seven days."


    "Which of those little fellows will lose, and which will win."


    God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun also remarked with emotion, "The outcome of the Myriad Dragon Cavern¡¯s Dragon Slaying trial is unpredictable."


    "While those with great strength have the best hope of attaining a high ranking, inside the Myriad Dragon Cavern lie countless unpredictable events, as well as True Dragons below the ¡¯Five Tribulations¡¯ that these youngsters can¡¯t deal with using just their physical abilities. It¡¯s really hard to guess the outcome."


    "Let¡¯s see. In seven days, everything will be revealed."


    ...


    After a flash of spiritual light, Ye Chen discovered that he had been transported to a valley.


    The valley was flanked by two toweringly tall and gigantic cliffs, which grew closer together the higher you looked, revealing only a sliver of sky at the very top.


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    The valley itself was extremely dim and filled with a thick, gray fog.


    At the moment, apart from him and Spirit Light Child "Sixty-Two," Ye Chen couldn¡¯t see anyone else.


    Clearly, everyone had been scattered during the transportation, dispersed throughout the various regions of the Myriad Dragon Cavern¡¯s desolate island.


    "Master, we are now in the southern region of the entire desolate island. According to my senses, this is ¡¯Misty Canyon,¡¯" reported Spirit Light Child after assessing the valley¡¯s situation.


    "Misty Canyon? Child, do you know the specific details of this place?"


    Spirit Light Child, a Martial Artist¡¯s assistant for training and trial contests, was Ye Chen¡¯s only source of information in this unfamiliar locale.


    The Child looked towards the deeper and darker areas of the canyon and said, "Master, ¡¯Misty Canyon¡¯ has three living areas for True Dragons at its innermost. The first area is inhabited by countless Gray Winged Dragons, the second by the extremely formidable Ironclad War Dragons, and the deepest part, the third area, is a gathering place for Five-Clawed Azure Dragons."


    "In the ¡¯Gray Winged Dragon¡¯ area, according to my unlocked memories, the strongest is a late-stage Heavenly Saint level winged dragon; in the ¡¯Ironclad War Dragon¡¯ and ¡¯Five-Clawed Azure Dragon¡¯ gathering zones, there are True God-level True Dragons. Within the ¡¯Ironclad War Dragon¡¯ area, the strongest is a Three Tribulations True God level dragon, and in the ¡¯Five-Clawed Azure Dragon¡¯ zone, there is an even more powerful Four Tribulations True God dragon!"


    "Master, I am Spirit Light Child number Sixty-Two, and although my unlocked memories rank second among all the children, they are not complete. There could be more unforeseen variables within."


    "Master, if you decide to hunt True Dragons in these three areas, you must be cautious."


    "Master, besides this ¡¯Misty Canyon,¡¯ if you go three thousand miles further north or south, there are several other True Dragon territories, but they are just as perilous."


    Hearing this, Ye Chen nodded and took a deep breath in his heart.


    He had been told by God King Wucan that the desolate island of the Myriad Dragon Cavern housed True God-level True Dragons. Ye Chen didn¡¯t expect that in this Misty Canyon where he¡¯d been transported, there would be such Three and Four Tribulations True Gods!


    "It seems I can try my luck in the ¡¯Gray Winged Dragon¡¯ area; as for the territories behind it, I must be careful," he pondered.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t plan to abandon this region to search for True Dragons in other areas.


    Not to mention that other territories might be even more dangerous, just the narrow valley with no visible end in sight¡ªand the narrow strip of sky above¡ªwould probably require a great deal of energy and time for Ye Chen to venture through.


    He had only seven days to hunt True Dragons, and of course, he wanted to use his time wisely, with no desire to forsake what¡¯s near for what¡¯s far.


    "Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s first check out the ¡¯Gray Winged Dragon¡¯ territory."


    A flicker of spiritual light touched Ye Chen¡¯s hands, and the defensive Divine Robe Purple Mist True Garment spread out, enveloping both himself and Spirit Light Child within its protection.


    At the same time, Ye Chen retrieved a mirror with a clench of his hand.


    This mirror, the "Tongming Mirror," was a divine artifact Ye Chen had obtained after killing the Thin and Fat Saints in the Five Elements Mountain.


    The Tongming Mirror had miraculous tracing and concealment abilities. Considering he might need it in this Misty Canyon, Ye Chen took it out.


    Then, Ye Chen strode deeper into the Misty Canyon.


    After walking about five or six miles, the canyon suddenly widened, and he heard countless roars of winged dragons ahead. He could barely make out numerous winged dragons, flapping their giant wings, flying chaotically through the dim canyon between the two mountain walls.

 Chapter 491 - 449: Dragon Heart Grass and Dragon Blood

    Looking at this scene, it was clear that the first True Dragon region, the gathering area for the "Gray Winged Dragons" was not far ahead.


    With a thought, Ye Chen flipped the Tongming Mirror in his hand and shone it towards himself.


    In an instant, the Tongming Mirror emitted a black light that fell directly upon him and Spirit Light Child "Sixty-Two".


    At once, the figures of Ye Chen and Spirit Light Child disappeared from the area.


    What Ye Chen had used was the stealth divine power of the "Tongming Mirror".


    Back at the Divine Heritage Cave within the Five Elements Mountain, the Fat and Thin Saints had relied on the "Tongming Mirror¡¯s" stealth divine power, and neither Ye Chen nor the nine frozen guards had detected their presence.


    This stealth divine power had a significant effect in countering the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Unless one was at the level of a Void Heaven True God, it was very difficult for those in the Heavenly Saint Realm to see through this kind of stealth effect.


    Ye Chen planned to use the stealth divine power of the Tongming Mirror to conceal his form and brave the "Gray Winged Dragons" gathering area ahead.


    After Ye Chen¡¯s figure had disappeared, only his murmurs could be heard in the void: "Unfortunately, once this Tongming Mirror is used, it can only last for one hour, and then it must fall into dormancy until it can be used again the next day. I need to make haste within this one hour."


    As his murmurs faded away, a hidden wave of void energy swiftly flew towards the front.


    Within the protective stealth light.


    After flying several miles, Ye Chen finally entered the "Gray Winged Dragon" gathering area for real.


    Ao! Ao! Ao!


    As soon as he entered the area, Ye Chen heard the roar of Winged Dragons, loudly echoing around him as if they were detonating right by his ears.


    Ye Chen also saw that the area he flew into was teeming with Gray Winged Dragons in the sky and on the ground, densely packed everywhere.


    The Gray Winged Dragons, with their gray wings unfurled, were at least a hundred yards long even at the smallest. The larger ones had wingspans of five to six hundred yards, each possessing the combat power of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    With just a glance, Ye Chen could see that there were thousands of Gray Winged Dragons in this area alone.


    No doubt there were countless more of these dragons hidden in even more secluded places.


    This area truly deserved to be the gathering ground for the Gray Winged Dragons with such an astonishing number of them.


    Although Ye Chen did not sense any True God-level Gray Winged Dragons in this area, with these thousands of dragons alone, he dared not act rashly and was still looking for an opportunity to hunt them.


    Otherwise, if these thousands of Heavenly Saint-level Winged Dragons attacked together, he would be completely unable to withstand them.


    However, observing these Gray Winged Dragons, Ye Chen was somewhat surprised, "These Gray Winged Dragons are at the Heavenly Saint level, with even some at the advanced stages. Creatures of such level should possess high intelligence, so why do I sense that they lack spiritual wisdom and seem to only have their combat power surging?"


    Ye Chen directly inquired to Spirit Light Child, who was hidden by his side.


    The Spirit Light Child transmitted his voice to Ye Chen, "Master, it¡¯s not just here; all the True Dragons throughout the Myriad Dragon Cavern have scarce spiritual wisdom, possessing only basic instincts and a nature for slaughter."


    "Otherwise, if they had high intelligence, it would be too dangerous for martial artists entering here. Martial artists with only physical prowess could not compete with countless shrewd Heavenly Saint Realm beasts, let alone stand a chance in a physical combat assessment."


    "Heavenly Cloud Venerable, who established the Minor Pole Sky, once offended by the True Dragon clan. Thus, he captured countless True Dragons, placed them upon the Myriad Dragon Cavern island, and erased most of their spiritual wisdom, leaving only their battle instincts for the martial artists entering Minor Pole Sky to be assessed."


    So that was the case.


    Hearing the words of Spirit Light Child, Ye Chen felt profoundly shaken.


    The Heavenly Cloud Venerable was indeed mighty!


    To be able to capture countless True Dragons and erase most of their spiritual wisdom was truly a heaven-reaching method.


    Heavenly Cloud Venerable, worthy of being a divinity of great prowess, was terrifyingly powerful!


    Knowing that these Gray Winged Dragons possessed little spiritual wisdom, Ye Chen felt even less worried about being discovered by them.


    Shoo!


    With the help of the "Tongming Mirror¡¯s" stealth, Ye Chen flew past one dragon after another, heading deeper into the territory.


    When Ye Chen reached the center of this area, he discovered that within the vast central region, there were many huge pits. Countless Gray Winged Dragons were ceaselessly flying in and out of these pits.


    Some Winged Dragons were even fighting directly within the pits, with blood splattering fiercely in combat!


    They seemed to be competing for something inside the pits.


    "Hmm? Let¡¯s go have a look!"


    There was plenty of time left for his stealth ability, so Ye Chen wasn¡¯t worried about being discovered by the Gray Winged Dragons.


    Viewing the lively disputes over the pits, Ye Chen¡¯s figure moved, and he rocketed towards the edge of a pit.


    As he drew closer to the pit, he saw that it was covered in a thin layer of white mist. Peering into the mist, Ye Chen saw that inside these pits grew strands of fiery red dragon-shaped mystical grass.


    And it was these strands of fiery red dragon-shaped mystical grass that the massive Gray Winged Dragons were zealously fighting over. Find your next adventure on


    Approaching the pit, Ye Chen saw a Gray Winged Dragon snatch a strand of the fiery red dragon-shaped mystical grass from within. Instantly, four Gray Winged Dragons launched an attack on it, trying to seize the grass from its grasp.


    In a moment, five Gray Winged Dragons were locked in combat.


    "This fiery red dragon-shaped mystical grass, what is it? Why are all these Gray Winged Dragons fighting over it?"


    As Ye Chen wondered, he heard the astonished cry of Spirit Light Child beside him: "Dragon Heart Grass, this is Dragon Heart Grass!"


    "Heavenly, how come there¡¯s so much Dragon Heart Grass here?"


    "What is Dragon Heart Grass?" Ye Chen quickly asked the child.


    The Spirit Light Child¡¯s bright eyes shone with excitement: "Master, Dragon Heart Grass is a rare treasure found in the Myriad Dragon Cavern. According to the design by Heavenly Cloud Venerable when he established the Myriad Dragon Cavern Island, Dragon Heart Grass would appear within a certain territory of the island after a period of time."


    "This Dragon Heart Grass is greatly beneficial for the countless True Dragons on the island. These True Dragons, upon consuming Dragon Heart Grass, can undergo a small-scale evolution, which helps enhance their strength. Most importantly, it can stimulate the birth of more new True Dragons."


    "The original intention of Heavenly Cloud Venerable leaving such a treasure was to maintain and increase the population of True Dragons within the Myriad Dragon Cavern, so they would continuously be hunted by Martial Artists who entered."


    At this point, the Spirit Light Child spoke to Ye Chen with even greater excitement: "Master, I didn¡¯t expect that we would encounter the emergence of Dragon Heart Grass in this territory."


    "Actually, in addition to its significant benefits for True Dragons, Dragon Heart Grass is also highly beneficial for you, Master!"


    Beneficial for me too?!¡¯


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart stirred: "Spirit Light Child, what benefits?"


    Spirit Light Child explained: "Master, you previously cultivated the Undying Divine Body, and there are many methods to enhance the power of the Undying Divine Body and accelerate its cultivation. One method is through the refinement of the body with ¡¯Dragon Blood,¡¯ which inherently has countless miraculous effects; promoting the cultivation of the Undying Divine Body is one such miraculous effect."


    "However, refining the body with Dragon Blood is extremely painful and may even have significant backlashes. Hence, I didn¡¯t tell you about this method before."


    "But now that Dragon Heart Grass has appeared here, it¡¯s different. If enough Dragon Heart Grass can be collected to soak in Dragon Blood, the backlash from the Dragon Blood can be purified. In that case, refining with Dragon Blood becomes a direct method for cultivating the Undying Divine Body."


    "Master, the appearance of Dragon Heart Grass here, especially when there are countless True Dragons from which to harvest Dragon Blood, seems like a heavenly aid for you to cultivate the Undying Divine Body!"


    The excited words of the Spirit Light Child made Ye Chen¡¯s heart throb with excitement as well.


    Together with the Dragon Blood, the Dragon Heart Grass could actually help him cultivate the Undying Divine Body?!


    Ye Chen had never imagined that bursting into this place to hunt Gray Winged Dragons would result in such an unexpected find!


    "If that¡¯s the case, then I¡¯ll collect the Dragon Heart Grass and hunt these Gray Winged Dragons!" Ye Chen¡¯s eyes shone brightly as he instantly shot towards a giant pit.


    Standing in a corner of the pit, Ye Chen looked at the hundreds of fiery red dragon-shaped mystical grass¡ªDragon Heart Grass¡ªwithin the huge pit and then turned his attention to the relentless Gray Winged Dragons arriving to compete for it.


    Instantly, Ye Chen thought of a method to collect both Dragon Heart Grass and hunt True Dragons simultaneously.


    Killing Gray Winged Dragons inside the pit, using the pit¡¯s cover and the magical stealth effect of the Tongming Mirror, along with the attraction of the Dragon Heart Grass and the distraction from the ongoing fierce battles of the Gray Winged Dragons.


    He would certainly be undetected!


    No sooner said than done.


    Hidden in a corner of the pit, Ye Chen saw five Gray Winged Dragons fighting over another strand of Dragon Heart Grass, flying towards the top of the pit. Then, a new Gray Winged Dragon flew directly towards the pit.


    In an instant, Ye Chen struck like lightning.

 Chapter 492 - 450 The Roar of the Dragon Group

    Boom!


    With the explosive power of the Divine Body, Ye Chen shot forward like a bolt of lightning, appearing in front of the Gray Winged Dragon in an instant.


    This Gray Winged Dragon was of mid-Heavenly Saint Level, and Ye Chen had been able to battle warriors at this level with his physical strength alone ever since he had mastered the eight hundred and tenth form of the Icebound Divine Body.


    Now, having gained new strength from the Undying Divine Body, his physical prowess had grown even greater.


    With a surge of tremendous power, a flash of light from Ye Chen¡¯s hand sliced off the head of the hundred-zhang tall Gray Winged Dragon.


    The first True Dragon was slain by Ye Chen in an instant!


    Ye Chen had no time to relish the sense of achievement from his first slaying of a Gray Winged Dragon, earning his initial point in the trial. His mind acted instantly, drawing the dead Gray Winged Dragon into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    He then instructed the nine Icebound Guards within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to collect the Dragon Blood from the deceased Gray Winged Dragon.


    At the same time, Ye Chen once again hid himself in the stealthy light of the Tongming Mirror.


    From the moment Ye Chen made his move, to the lightning-fast slaying of the Gray Winged Dragon, to stowing the creature in his Ice Snow Jade Pendant, and then hiding himself once more¡ªall these actions happened in the blink of an eye.


    Countless Gray Winged Dragons were still flying in the sky, some embroiled in fierce battles, with none noticing what had just happened. Not a single dragon realized that one of their companions had died!


    "Success!"


    The plan had truly succeeded, sending Ye Chen¡¯s heart racing with excitement.


    Before realizing his plan, he had been worried that other Gray Winged Dragons would notice him and that he would provoke an attack from countless dragons.


    But now, having truly slain a Gray Winged Dragon, Ye Chen finally felt relieved.


    This method was indeed effective!


    Hidden away, Ye Chen finally had the chance to observe the Gray Winged Dragon he had just slain within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Gurgle, gurgle...


    The hundred-zhang tall corpse of the Gray Winged Dragon lay across the vast land within the space of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Pools of Dragon Blood flowed forth from the severed head, with the nine Icebound Guards busily collecting this blood with spatial treasures.


    "Dragon Blood!"


    Ye Chen felt that even though this mid-Heavenly Saint Level Gray Winged Dragon was dead, its blood was still pulsating with a heart-thumping power.


    As Ye Chen breathed in the scent of this Dragon Blood, the power of his Undying Divine Body began to churn within him.


    "Dragon Blood does indeed stimulate my Undying Divine Body." Discover exclusive content at novelhall.Co?m


    "If that¡¯s the case, I should slay more Gray Winged Dragons to get enough Dragon Blood!"


    The Spirit Light Child had said that to refine the Undying Divine Body with Dragon Blood, it was best to accumulate a sufficient amount of Dragon Blood. Hunting over a hundred Gray Winged Dragons and using a hundred stalks of Dragon Heart Grass might just be enough for the refinement.


    Having only slain one Gray Winged Dragon, Ye Chen was still far from his goal.


    Hidden in the vast pit, Ye Chen began to observe and target any lone Gray Winged Dragon that strayed into the pit without being noticed by the others.


    Thud!


    Another Gray Winged Dragon was slain.


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Three Gray Winged Dragons perished.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Afterwards, even after Ye Chen had taken down one Gray Winged Dragon, four others discovered him. But before those four could even roar out a warning, Ye Chen swiftly killed all four Gray Winged Dragons that had entered the great pit.


    After slaying over thirty Gray Winged Dragons, Ye Chen finally decided to stop.


    Hunting True Dragons.


    In one breath, Ye Chen had slain thirty-eight Gray Winged Dragons of the Heavenly Saint Level.


    At that moment, Ye Chen still hadn¡¯t exhausted his physical strength. He had a boundless force at his disposal.


    In this area where Heavenly Saint Level Gray Winged Dragons gathered, as long as he didn¡¯t face an attack by over a hundred, Ye Chen was confident that he could kill about ten in one go.


    "The Undying Divine Body is indeed powerful. To think that just a month of cultivation could increase my strength so much!" Ye Chen marveled to himself.


    Only in a real battle did Ye Chen truly sense the current extent of his physical power.


    Ye Chen understood even better now; it was probably his previous cultivation of the basic 810 forms of the Icebound Divine Body that had enabled his second Divine Body¡ªthe Undying Divine Body¡ªto make such great progress!


    "Such a pity, such a pity..."


    Ye Chen shook his head helplessly, "I still have much more physical combat power, but the shame is, the Tongming Mirror can only be used for an hour before the invisibility completely ends, and it can only be used again the following day."


    The reason Ye Chen stopped was that the invisibility time of the Tongming Mirror was nearly at its end.


    Once the Tongming Mirror¡¯s invisibility time ended, being exposed here would definitely attract the attack of countless Gray Winged Dragons!


    Although Ye Chen had one more card up his sleeve that he could use, which was to escape with the help of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, doing so would undoubtedly alert these Gray Winged Dragons, and it would probably be impossible to quietly kill them while collecting the dragon corpses and harvesting the Dragon Blood afterward.


    These Gray Winged Dragons might not be highly intelligent, but their instinct for killing and alertness were just as present.


    Ye Chen would not take this risk before he had collected enough Dragon Blood!


    "Since the invisibility time is almost over, it¡¯s better to start collecting the Dragon Heart Grass!"


    "Don¡¯t wait until these Gray Winged Dragons have snatched away all the Dragon Blood Grass, leaving none of the Dragon Heart Grass."


    With that thought, Ye Chen, still cloaked in invisibility, caused a stalk of Dragon Heart Grass to disappear every time he passed by one.


    In a moment, no less than 120 stalks of Dragon Heart Grass vanished from the massive pit, all ending up on Ye Chen.


    120 stalks of Dragon Heart Grass accounted for a large portion of the several hundred stalks in the massive pit.


    The sudden disappearance of these Dragon Heart Grass drew the attention of countless Gray Winged Dragons flying in the sky outside the enormous pit. However, no matter how they observed, they could not see that it was the invisible Ye Chen who had taken the Dragon Heart Grass.


    After the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, Ye Chen flew out of the first gathering area of the Gray Winged Dragons and arrived in a safe zone outside.


    Soon after, the light of invisibility from the Tongming Mirror completely vanished and entered its dormant state.


    Ye Chen, looking at the 120 stalks of fiery red, dragon-shaped, peculiar spiritual grass¡ªDragon Heart Grass¡ªin the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, and the surging Dragon Blood that the nine Icebound Guardians had collected, now looking like a small lake, nodded in satisfaction.


    "Rest up for a bit, and continue the battle tomorrow."


    "After I¡¯ve collected enough Dragon Blood, I can start to go all out, quickly kill Gray Winged Dragons and accumulate points for the assessment!"


    Muttering to himself, Ye Chen sat down to cultivate.


    The next day, Ye Chen used the same method and killed another 46 Gray Winged Dragons.


    On the third day, just over half an hour had passed, and Ye Chen had already killed 29 Gray Winged Dragons.


    In a little over two days, Ye Chen had killed a total of 113 Gray Winged Dragons!


    113 Gray Winged Dragons of the Heavenly Saint Level. Previously, with just the basic 810 forms of the Icebound Divine Body, Ye Chen could not have reached such a level of combat power. Now, with the addition of the power of the Undying Divine Body, Ye Chen had achieved this great feat using just his physical prowess alone.


    Now, he had met the requirement to collect enough Dragon Blood.


    He had also achieved the basic threshold to enter the second cultivation site¡ªslaying one hundred True Dragons.


    "But it¡¯s still not enough."


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze shifted towards the central area, where after a little over two days, Dragon Heart Grass in the many enormous pits had greatly diminished, and then he looked at the Spirit Light Child who was using the Dragon Heart Grass in his storage ring, the Heaven Spirit Ring, to purify the lake of Dragon Blood for him.


    "Now that I¡¯ve collected enough Dragon Heart Grass and Dragon Blood, it¡¯s time to go all out and accumulate assessment points. I want to see how many Gray Winged Dragons I can kill when I put my full effort into battle."


    "Have a good spree of killing, even if these Gray Winged Dragons become alert and band together defensively afterward, I can move on to further regions like the ¡¯Ironclad War Dragon¡¯ and ¡¯Five-Clawed Azure Dragon¡¯ areas to hunt!"


    Although 113 Gray Winged Dragons were enough to meet the requirements to enter the second cultivation site, Ye Chen was naturally not satisfied.


    Not to mention his bet with Tian Li or the competition with the Little Provincial Princess for the second position on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    Just the fact that the assessment points could continue to be accumulated for later use meant that Ye Chen, in this first assessment area, would strive to obtain as many points as possible.


    Whoosh.


    Ye Chen flew into a valley where about forty to fifty Gray Winged Dragons were gathered. He no longer hid his form, put away the Tongming Mirror, and revealed himself.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    As soon as Ye Chen appeared, the Gray Winged Dragons in this valley immediately spotted him, and their instinctual killing nature made them pounce on Ye Chen instantaneously.


    At the same time, the howling of these Gray Winged Dragons alerted even more¡ªa few hundred to a thousand¡ªGray Winged Dragons that were further away.


    Those hundreds to thousands of Gray Winged Dragons roared furiously, and like a blanket blanketing the sky, they rushed toward Ye Chen.


    The real slaughter had begun!

 Chapter 493 - 451 Killing and Escaping!

    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen directly drew out the supreme treasure, the "Black Fire Sword".


    This sword, ancient and hefty, was more suitable for slaying dragons than the "Crimson Fire" flying sword when True Qi and Divine Soul techniques were prohibited.


    As he drew out the treasure sword, Ye Chen charged towards the forty or fifty Gray Winged Dragons that were pouncing on him from the hollow, his gaze sweeping even further to the additional hundreds, if not thousands, of other Winged Dragons closing in at great speed.


    "Ten breaths."


    "In at most ten breaths, that flock of Winged Dragons in the distance will be upon us."


    "In these ten breaths, I want to see just how many True Dragons I can kill!"


    As the thought flashed through his mind, the surging power of his Divine Body instantly poured into the Black Fire Sword in his hands.


    In an instant, all eighty-one Prohibition Runes on the Black Fire Sword lit up, releasing such immense power that it even stirred beyond the runes. Around the blade of the Black Fire Sword surged strands of Divine Power light that tore through the void.


    The next moment, Ye Chen¡¯s step shifted in the void, and he swung his sword to slay the three Gray Winged Dragons that were the first to lunge at him.


    Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!


    In a single sword stroke, three massive heads of Winged Dragons flew into the air.


    At the severed necks of the Winged Dragons, dragon blood spurted out like fountains, spraying all over Ye Chen.


    At this time, Ye Chen no longer needed to collect dragon corpses and dragon blood like before, nor did he need to conceal his presence.


    He did not care about the dragon blood staining his body, nor about the three dead Gray Winged Dragons that fell beside him. In an instant, Ye Chen faced even more Gray Winged Dragons!


    Then, a dazzling array of sword lights burst forth.


    These forty to fifty Gray Winged Dragons, even the strongest among them, had only mid-Tian Saint stage combat power and could not withstand the full force of Ye Chen¡¯s outburst.


    Not even ten breaths were necessary.


    The fully unleashed Ye Chen took only seven breaths to slay all forty-nine of the Gray Winged Dragons!


    The ground was now littered with the massive carcasses and severed heads of the Gray Winged Dragons, and dragon blood splattered everywhere!


    In the void, only Ye Chen stood proudly alone!


    Ye Chen himself was shocked by the immense physical combat power he possessed.


    Ye Chen had not expected that his unrestrained outburst would kill so many Gray Winged Dragons at once!


    Looking at it, after cultivating two sets of Divine Body strength, his physical combat power had undoubtedly reached the late Heavenly Saint stage, and even within that level, it was not weak.


    Additionally, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul combat power had been restrained, as well as his even more formidable True Qi combat power.


    Now, adding up all of Ye Chen¡¯s true combat capabilities, he was probably very close to the supremely powerful late Heavenly Saint stage!


    One more breakthrough, and he might well be truly invincible under the True God Realm!


    At this moment, after slaying forty-nine Gray Winged Dragons, Ye Chen was covered in dragon blood.


    The dark red fresh blood splattered on him, making the battle fervor within Ye Chen surge even more.


    Seeing the hundreds, if not thousands, more Gray Winged Dragons densely hurtling towards him, and even more Gray Winged Dragons in the far distance becoming fully alerted,


    it seemed the next moment he would be completely engulfed by this legion of Winged Dragons engulfing the skies.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s eyes held not a trace of fear, instead, his killing intent grew even stronger.


    "Come on."


    "This time, although I¡¯m absolutely no match for so many Gray Winged Dragons, killing one more means earning one more."


    "Let¡¯s see how many more it takes before they force me into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant."


    Ye Chen stood in the void, wielding the Black Fire Sword, facing the multitudes of Gray Winged Dragons surging towards him from all sides.


    The next moment, Ye Chen¡¯s small silhouette was engulfed by the sky-full of Gray Winged Dragons. Read exclusive adventures at novelhall.Co?m


    Ye Chen continuously dodged and weaved among the shadows of the overwhelming Gray Winged Dragons, avoiding those he did not have the confidence to completely eliminate with one slash ¨C the late-Tian Saint stage powerful Gray Winged Dragons.


    Meanwhile, he slashed directly at the weaker Gray Winged Dragons.


    Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!


    With each flicker of sword light, another Gray Winged Dragon was slain, plummeting from the sky.


    And the total number of True Dragons that Ye Chen had killed gradually increased from a hundred and sixty, to two hundred, to two hundred and twenty.


    When Ye Chen killed his two hundred and twenty-fifth Gray Winged Dragon, the flock that sensed something amiss began to flee, with the weaker Gray Winged Dragons scattering outward.


    And then, eight incredibly powerful Gray Winged Dragons of the late Heavenly Saint stage simultaneously launched an assault on Ye Chen from all directions!


    Seeing these eight Gray Winged Dragons attacking together with flawless coordination, Ye Chen knew that his satisfying spree of slaughter was probably coming to an end.


    If his True Qi techniques and Divine Soul abilities were still available, Ye Chen would dare to battle these eight mighty Gray Winged Dragons.


    But now that he could only rely on his physical body¡¯s techniques, he was absolutely no match for the joint attack of these eight formidable late Heavenly Saint stage Gray Winged Dragons.


    "Enough."


    "Having killed two hundred and twenty-five of them has already far exceeded my expectations."


    "Let today¡¯s carnage end here!"


    Ye Chen burst into laughter and was just about to flee into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant when suddenly, a piercing screech rang out in the sky.


    The next moment, Ye Chen saw all eight of the attacking Gray Winged Dragons halt their assault, as countless Gray Winged Dragons turned their gaze towards a certain area in the distance.


    When Ye Chen looked towards the source of the screeching sound, he saw an enormous Winged Dragon, larger than all of the Gray Winged Dragons, flying toward him.


    This colossal Winged Dragon¡¯s wings were no longer gray but were instead an incredibly strange blood-red color.


    And its presence had reached a level that made even Ye Chen feel frightened¡ªthe realm of the ethereal True God!


    This was a True God level Winged Dragon, and at least one that had survived Two Tribulations!


    "Didn¡¯t the Spirit Light Child say that in this first ¡¯Gray Winged Dragon¡¯ zone, the strongest were only supposed to be late Heavenly Saint stage?"


    "Why is there a True God level Winged Dragon here?! And with such bizarre blood-red wings?!"


    Ye Chen instantly thought of something the Spirit Light Child had said; the Spirit Light Child may rank second among all Spirit Light Children, but its memories were not fully unlocked, and there were many things it was not completely clear about.


    Obviously, this hidden True God Winged Dragon was an anomaly unknown to the child.


    Ye Chen had not anticipated that outside, there was such a True God level Winged Dragon lurking!


    It must have been his slaughter that incited the unrest of countless Winged Dragons, leading to this dragon¡¯s emergence.


    Seeing the True God level Winged Dragon coming towards him, Ye Chen, with a drastically changed expression, didn¡¯t hesitate at all before bursting into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to escape.


    His True Qi and Divine Soul techniques were prohibited; he could no longer summon the True God Talisman to fight. Otherwise, with the two True God Talismans left behind by the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, which still contained unused Divine Power, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t fear this Winged Dragon that was likely a Two Tribulations True God.


    But now, with only his physical body¡¯s combat strength to rely on, he was already having trouble with Winged Dragons of the late Heavenly Saint stage, let alone this True God level Winged Dragon¡ªit was an impossible fight!


    There was only one option left¡ªrun!


    Whoosh.


    Having entered the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen immediately transformed it into a gleaming point of light, ready to flee.


    To his shock, however, Ye Chen discovered that the Winged Dragon¡¯s divine eyes were fixated on the point of light the Ice Snow Jade Pendant had become, and it continued to relentlessly pursue the glowing point.


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant, being a high-grade space artifact, certainly wasn¡¯t afraid of destruction by this dragon.


    However, high-grade space artifacts possess little offensive power, so Ye Chen could not use the Ice Snow Jade Pendant against the dragon. Should the Winged Dragon capture the pendant¡ªeven if it couldn¡¯t destroy it¡ªhe would be trapped in the dragon¡¯s grasp.


    In that case, he would likely have to stay trapped until the seven days of assessment were over, and he would be taken away by the teleportation force.


    That would mean he would no longer have the chance to slay True Dragons.


    Ye Chen had only been in the assessment for three days and had only slain a little over two hundred True Dragons; naturally, he didn¡¯t want to get trapped already.


    Whoosh!


    Seeing the True God Winged Dragon continuing to chase the gleaming point of light from the transformed Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen shot towards the deeper depths of the canyon at high speed.


    A bright point of light was flying ahead, with a gigantic and overwhelming Winged Dragon in pursuit behind.


    The scene was bizarrely disproportionate.


    Luckily, the flight speed of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant was extremely fast. Although the Winged Dragon was following far behind without losing track, it couldn¡¯t catch up.


    In the midst of this chase, Ye Chen had already flown hundreds of miles, and he could faintly hear even more ferocious roars of True Dragons ahead.


    Ye Chen instantly realized that ahead must be the second dragon gathering area¡ªthe Ironclad War Dragon zone.


    If he continued flying forward, he would likely fall into a new group of dragons.


    In that Ironclad War Dragon zone, the Spirit Light Child had confirmed the existence of a Three Tribulations True God level True Dragon, which might be even more terrifying than this colossal Winged Dragon!


    If he were chased into the Ironclad War Dragon zone, it would definitely attract the attention of that Three Tribulations True God level True Dragon!

 Chapter 494 - 452: The Cave, The Strange Grass

    Behind him, a Sky-shocking Winged Dragon of Heavenly Saint Level caliber was in hot pursuit. Read the latest on


    Ahead, an Ironclad War Dragon, also of Heavenly Saint Level, was blocking the way, making it utterly impossible to break through.


    What to do?


    What to do?!


    Countless thoughts flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind in an instant, and the next moment, his gaze shot up above the canyon sandwiched between two True Dragon territories.


    The only way out now was up!


    Whoosh.


    The shining light from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, originally flying forward, suddenly shifted upward, bursting towards the top of the two sheer cliffs.


    Seeing Ye Chen change his flight direction, the huge Sky-shocking Winged Dragon behind him likewise changed direction, flapping its enormous wings to follow him diagonally upward, continuing the chase.


    While the huge Sky-shocking Winged Dragon and Ye Chen were still engaged in their pursuit, deep within the gathering area of the second True Dragon territory, "The Ironclad War Dragon Gathering Area,"


    stood a black war dragon, three hundred zhang in length, its body covered in dark, rough skin resembling iron armor, thick with a sense of raw power and explosive force. Suddenly, it raised its head, looking in the direction of Ye Chen and the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon.


    Despite being over a dozen li away, this black Ironclad War Dragon seemed to sense Ye Chen and the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon.


    Looking towards this black Ironclad War Dragon, one could tell that this dragon¡¯s presence was even more formidable than that of the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon pursuing Ye Chen, almost comparable to the aura given off by Mu Lan True God.


    This black Ironclad War Dragon was undoubtedly a True Dragon of the Three Calamities True God level.


    It was indeed the strongest war dragon in the "Ironclad War Dragon Gathering Area," as mentioned by the Spirit Light Child.


    The black Ironclad War Dragon stared in the direction of Ye Chen and the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon for a while, then sensing that neither were invading its territory, it lowered its head and continued to rest in the valley, squinting its eyes.


    Looking into the valley where the black Ironclad War Dragon resided, one could see that no other Ironclad War Dragons dared intrude into the territory of this True Dragon of the Three Calamities True God level.


    However, in a much larger and wider canyon beyond the black Ironclad War Dragon, the mountainous terrain was crawling with countless grey Ironclad War Dragons.


    There were even more of these grey Ironclad War Dragons than Winged Dragons in the grey Winged Dragon area, with the number reaching well over ten thousand.


    Among them were mostly Heavenly Saint Level Ironclad War Dragons, and there were even many in the late stages of Heavenly Saint Level.


    The sheer cliff walls of the valley Ye Chen was escaping through.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    With every flash of light, the Ice Snow Jade Pendant propelled him several hundred meters higher. In just a few moments, he had ascended thousands of zhang, nearly reaching a third of the height of the two massive walls surrounding the fog-shrouded valley.


    Looking down, Ye Chen saw the huge Sky-shocking Winged Dragon about eight or nine hundred meters below him, still ascending.


    "This Sky-shocking Winged Dragon is really tenacious."


    "Does it really intend to chase me out of Misty Canyon?"


    Ye Chen snorted coldly, his intent set on bursting out of Misty Canyon in one go.


    Just then, Ye Chen suddenly noticed something about two hundred meters above his head, on the left side of the two cliffs¡ªa black cave wide enough to span several zhang.


    "A cave?"


    Having flown thousands of zhang high next to a cliff that soared tens of thousands of zhang, Ye Chen had never seen a cave appear on the cliff¡¯s face.


    Now, with a cave suddenly appearing above his head, Ye Chen was understandably shocked.


    But the next moment, an idea flashed through his mind, "The cave is only a few zhang wide. I can fly into it, but the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon chasing me can¡¯t."


    With that thought, Ye Chen didn¡¯t hesitate.


    He was curious to see what was inside this suddenly appeared cave and, at the same time, wanted to take the opportunity to prevent the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon from following him any further.


    Even if there was nothing inside the cave, Ye Chen could still look for another chance to escape.


    Whoosh!


    Driven by curiosity, Ye Chen directed the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and instantly flew towards the cave above his head.


    In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen burst into the cave.


    Two breaths after Ye Chen entered the cave, the huge Sky-shocking Winged Dragon also arrived in front of the cave.


    Of course, the dragon knew Ye Chen had taken refuge inside the cave, but its body, hundreds of zhang long, couldn¡¯t fit into the small cave of just a few zhang.


    Out of frustration, the huge Sky-shocking Winged Dragon extended its sharp claws, reaching out to grasp at the mouth of the cave.


    But the stones around the cave entrance were incredibly tough; even the immense Sky-shocking Winged Dragon couldn¡¯t leave a single scratch on them with its attack.


    If Ye Chen could have seen this, he would have been extremely surprised.


    Even a Sky-shocking Winged Dragon of the True God level couldn¡¯t scratch this stone, one can imagine what grade of stone it must be.


    After the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon failed to break through the stones at the entrance of the cave and experienced surprise, it extended its claw, attempting to reach further inside the cave; unfortunately, its gigantic claw couldn¡¯t fit.


    In the end, the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon could only furiously guard the entrance, continuously screeching in rage.


    Y§Ö Chen, of course, could hear the enraged screeches of the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon, but at this moment, having entered the cave, Y§Ö Chen was not paying any attention to the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon anymore.


    Because Y§Ö Chen discovered that this mysterious cave he had entered was extremely deep, and a secluded path inside the cave continued far ahead, as if there was another world hidden within.


    "What could be inside this cave?"


    "The entire Myriad Dragon Cavern was created by the esteemed Heavenly Cloud Venerable, so why did he leave such a cave between these two insurmountable cliffs? Or was this cave formed unintentionally?"


    Y§Ö Chen flew into the cave¡¯s secluded path while he inquired about it with the Spirit Light Child, who was purifying Dragon Blood within the Heaven Spirit Ring.


    "A cave?" Upon hearing Y§Ö Chen¡¯s inquiry, the Spirit Light Child flew out of the Heaven Spirit Ring and upon seeing the cave¡¯s immeasurable depth, also shook its little head, "Master, I do not know what place this is; it is not in my memory."


    Seeing that the Spirit Light Child also did not know the place, Y§Ö Chen could only continue to fly forward, all the while, on high alert.


    If he encountered an even bigger trouble deep within this cave, that would be terrible.


    As Y§Ö Chen flew along the cave¡¯s secluded path for what seemed like half an incense stick¡¯s burning time, and the distance covered must have been hundreds of miles, even Y§Ö Chen was surprised by the cave¡¯s depth, when suddenly light appeared ahead.


    As Y§Ö Chen was wondering what he would find ahead, he saw that the path ahead suddenly expanded, revealing an area inside the cave stretching a hundred yards, right in front of him.


    And when Y§Ö Chen looked into this small space ahead, he was taken aback.


    This small space grew only one thing, and it was astonishingly like the Dragon Heart Grass he had collected earlier.


    However, the Dragon Heart Grass that Y§Ö Chen had collected was only a few feet tall, whereas this peculiar herb was a fiery red, dragon-shaped plant almost twenty feet tall, dozens of times larger than the Dragon Heart Grass Y§Ö Chen had collected earlier!


    Moreover, Y§Ö Chen realized that this enormous plant, also resembling Dragon Heart Grass, seemed extraordinarily mystical; both the fiery red glow of the plant and its dragon-like shape revealed its exceptional nature.


    Y§Ö Chen could not have imagined that such an extraordinary herb would be hidden within such a deep cave.


    "Spirit Light Child, what peculiar herb is this? Could it be, also, Dragon Heart Grass? Or is it a mutated Dragon Heart Grass?"


    Y§Ö Chen stopped at the end of this secluded path, in the void within the hundred-yard space of the cave, and looked down at the gigantic peculiar herb below, asking the Spirit Light Child once he summoned it.


    "This..." Upon seeing the massive herb that was dozens of times larger than the normal Dragon Heart Grass, Spirit Light Child¡¯s face showed an incredulous expression, "Master... this is the Dragon Heart Grass King!"


    Dragon Heart Grass King?!


    Without waiting for Y§Ö Chen to ask, Spirit Light Child continued, "Ordinary Dragon Heart Grass can facilitate the evolution of True Dragons, but for a True Dragon at the True God level, ordinary Dragon Heart Grass is of little effect."


    "But this Dragon Heart Grass King, it can have a huge effect even on True Dragons at the True God level, directly causing True Dragons of the True God level to evolve and transform."


    "It is said that every time Dragon Heart Grass appears in an area, there will be one Dragon Heart Grass King. Unexpectedly, this Dragon Heart Grass King, is hidden here!"


    Dragon Heart Grass King that meets with significant effects for True Dragons of the True God level?!


    Y§Ö Chen too was taken aback.


    "The Sky-shocking Winged Dragon of the True God level indeed did not vie for those Dragon Heart Grass. Otherwise, other Gray Winged Dragons wouldn¡¯t dare to snatch food from under the claws of a True God Winged Dragon. Clearly, the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon simply didn¡¯t care for the ordinary Dragon Heart Grass."


    "However, this Dragon Heart Grass King would likely cause a fierce scramble if it appeared, not only from the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon but if the True God-level Ironclad War Dragon or even a deeper True God-level Five-Clawed Azure Dragon discovered it, they would definitely fight fiercely over it!"


    Thinking of this, an idea struck Y§Ö Chen.


    He asked the Spirit Light Child, "Spirit Light Child, would this Dragon Heart Grass King be of use to me?"


    The Spirit Light Child shook its head, "Master, Dragon Heart Grass is only used to temper Dragon Blood. Master can¡¯t use this Dragon Heart Grass King directly unless it¡¯s used to temper True God-level Dragon Blood."


    "If it¡¯s Dragon Heart Grass King that tempers True God-level Dragon Blood, then of course it would greatly benefit Master¡¯s cultivation of the Undying Divine Body."


    "However, acquiring True God-level Dragon Blood is no simple task," explained the Spirit Light Child.


    Just as Spirit Light Child finished speaking, Y§Ö Chen was struck by a bold idea.


    If...


    If he released the scent of this Dragon Heart Grass King, then it¡¯s likely the entire Misty Canyon, where the three major True Dragons converge, would be thrown into complete disarray.


    True Dragons of the True God level would definitely come to fight over this Dragon Heart Grass King.


    And it was even possible for them to engage in mutual combat.


    So... what would be the outcome?


    It could be that Y§Ö Chen, while the three True God-level True Dragons fought, might even be able to obtain some True God-level Dragon Blood!


    With that thought, Y§Ö Chen immediately grasped at the void, directly capturing the twenty-foot tall Dragon Heart Grass King into his hand.

 Chapter 495 - 453 Battle of Ten Thousand Dragons

    Looking at the mystic grass in his hand, which emitted a fiery red brilliance and bore the shape of a dragon, Ye Chen nodded.


    "Dragon Heart Grass King!"


    "Unfortunately, without True God level dragon blood, I can¡¯t utilize this rare treasure. Then, I will use it to create chaos in Misty Canyon!"


    The next moment, Ye Chen flew into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant with the Dragon Heart Grass King and then, driving the pendant, he flew out of the mountain cave.


    Outside the cave.


    The Sky-shocking True God Winged Dragon, after having kept watch over Ye Chen for a while and hearing no noise from him, although filled with boundless fury, could only turn and leave.


    No sooner had it flown hundreds of meters from the mouth of the cave than it saw the bright pinpoint of light that had previously been chasing it zoom out from the cave once more.


    This time, the True God Winged Dragon was beside itself with rage!


    Although its intelligence had been nearly wiped clean, its innate nature made it feel that the young man who had slipped into the bright light was definitely provoking it.


    It had slain many of its underlings, the Gray Winged Dragons, and had hidden away in the cave where it could not pursue; it had originally decided not to chase any further, but just as it turned to leave, the light flew out again.


    If this wasn¡¯t a provocation, what was?!


    Ao!


    The True God Winged Dragon let out a wild cry and burst forth in pursuit of Ye Chen once again.


    This time, even if Ye Chen hid in the cave again, it planned to stand guard for three days and three nights, ensuring the young man could not leave!


    Inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen, seeing the True God Winged Dragon chasing after him once more, laughed in his heart. The "Dragon Heart Grass King" in his hand shook violently, appearing outside the jade pendant in an instant, and carried by the pendant, it flew rapidly towards the canyon below.


    The Dragon Heart Grass King, hidden in a small space at the end of a secluded path in the cave, maintained its aura without seeping outside, making it impossible for the True God Winged Dragon to sense it.


    But as soon as the Dragon Heart Grass King appeared in the void, and its unique aura began to waft into the air, the True God Winged Dragon became instantaneously exhilarated and let out a wild cry.


    Dragon Heart Grass King!


    A mystic grass of great significance to True God level True Dragons!


    To the True God Winged Dragon, this was undoubtedly the most precious treasure!


    Sniffing this scent, it couldn¡¯t hold back any longer.


    The gigantic True God Winged Dragon even forgot that it was supposed to be chasing Ye Chen, its eyes fixed only on the two-meter tall Dragon Heart Grass King being carried by the Ice Snow Jade Pendant diving toward the canyon below.


    The chase for treasure, the desire to become stronger, occupied all of its consciousness with one thought: "I must obtain this Dragon Heart Grass King! I must!"


    The Sky-shocking colossal Winged Dragon chased after the Dragon Heart Grass King like a mad creature.


    This pursuit was even more ferocious than the previous chase for Ye Chen, with its divine power starting to burn!


    "As expected, the Dragon Heart Grass King truly has a great stimulation on True God level True Dragons!"


    Seeing the Sky-shocking colossal Winged Dragon chasing after the Dragon Heart Grass King, Ye Chen felt not frightened but elated.


    And then, an even greater surprise was close at hand.


    In the second True Dragon Gathering Area, the territory of the Ironclad War Dragons.


    The moment Ye Chen had taken out the "Dragon Heart Grass King", the eyes of the Ironclad War Dragon, which was a Three Tribulations True God, went from half-closed to suddenly wide open, and in a blink, it was soaring into the void!


    Next, its divine eyes looked straight in the direction of the "Dragon Heart Grass King".


    Even though it was tens of miles away, the Ironclad War Dragon of Three Tribulations True God level instantly sensed the aura of the "Dragon Heart Grass King," and saw the glimmer of light from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant carrying it downwards, as well as the True God Winged Dragon in a high-speed chase after it.


    Ao!


    Upon seeing a True God Winged Dragon in pursuit of the "Dragon Heart Grass King," the Ironclad War Dragon, who would not allow the treasure to fall into the hands of the True God Winged Dragon, let out a fierce roar. Its massive three-hundred-meter body burst forth, speeding towards the direction of the "Dragon Heart Grass King."


    The great movement of the True God level Ironclad War Dragon startled all the other Ironclad War Dragons outside, causing them to continuously howl and look towards their True God leader.


    Inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    As he saw the Sky-shocking colossal Winged Dragon crazily pursuing and heard the True God level Ironclad War Dragon roaring as it also flew towards this area, and as the two True God level True Dragons were about to meet in a clash, Ye Chen¡¯s heart also started thumping wildly.


    What he was waiting for was the slaughter between these True God level True Dragons over the "Dragon Heart Grass King."


    Now, the slaughter was about to commence.


    At this time, Ye Chen boosted the strength of the two True God level True Dragons. Ye Chen directly tossed the "Dragon Heart Grass King" into the void, letting it fall through empty space.


    Then, Ye Chen, using the power of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, flew to the side to calmly observe the changes in the battlefield.


    Roar! Roar!


    The sight of the "Dragon Heart Grass King" within easy reach drove the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon mad. It furiously flapped its massive wings, attempting to snatch the "Dragon Heart Grass King" into its mouth.


    Just as it was about to succeed, the air in the void violently trembled, and the void was torn apart. A five-hundred-zhang long Five-Clawed Azure Dragon burst forth from the void, grabbing one of the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon¡¯s wings in its claw.


    Then, the huge Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, with a fierce swipe of its claw, tossed the True God level Sky-shocking Winged Dragon hundreds of zhang away.


    After that, the other claw of the Azure True Dragon also reached out towards the "Dragon Heart Grass King."


    The one who intervened was not the upcoming Three Tribulations True God "Ironclad War Dragon," but the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon of Four Tribulations True God level from the deepest part of the True Dragon gathering area!


    Even the Four Tribulations True God level Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, hundreds of miles away, was summoned by the "Dragon Heart Grass King!"


    It had arrived even faster than the Three Tribulations True God level "Ironclad War Dragon!"


    Ye Chen was also surprised as he watched the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, who with one move overturned the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon. It was five hundred zhang long, with two dragon horns, and an extraordinary aura.


    The third True God level True Dragon had also arrived!


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    "They¡¯re all here, they¡¯re all here!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes sparkled: "However, this Four Tribulations True God level Five-Clawed Azure Dragon seems much more formidable than the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon. I fear the Winged Dragon is no match for the Azure Dragon."


    While Ye Chen was observing the evolving situation, the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon, sent flying by the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, was unwilling to let the "Dragon Heart Grass King" fall into the Azure Dragon¡¯s clutches.


    Even though it feared the mighty Azure Dragon, it still attacked the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon with a frenzy.


    Moreover, the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon let out several thunderous roars into the void, which traveled crazily toward the first True Dragon gathering area, the "Gray Winged Dragon" settlement.


    Upon hearing this formidable roar, thousands of Gray Winged Dragons were mobilized and took to the sky in a massive swarm, heading toward the location of the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon.


    The group of Gray Winged Dragons was fully mobilized by the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon, all joining the great battle for the "Dragon Heart Grass King."


    As the swarm of Gray Winged Dragons blanketed the sky, the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon had already reached the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon. It flapped its wings fiercely, sending countless sharp, sword-like bolts of air blasting toward the Azure Dragon¡¯s body.


    The Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, just after securing the "Dragon Heart Grass King," sensed the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon¡¯s attack and let out a furious roar. Twisting its massive body, it turned to bite at the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon¡¯s head.


    But as it was about to bite down, its massive jaws were suddenly grabbed by two incredibly strong claws.


    It was the Three Tribulations True God "Ironclad War Dragon," that had finally made its move!


    Seeing the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon at a disadvantage against the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, the Three Tribulations True God "Ironclad War Dragon" directly joined forces with the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon to take on the Four Tribulations True God level Five-Clawed Azure Dragon!


    Three True God level True Dragons had unexpectedly formed a two against one situation.


    Roar! Roar!


    The Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, being of Four Tribulations True God level, was far more powerful than the combined might of the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon and Ironclad War Dragon.


    Seeing the Ironclad War Dragon intervening, the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon suddenly twisted its body, roaring and thrashing with its claws, clashing with the two True God level True Dragons.


    One against two.


    This Four Tribulations True God Five-Clawed Azure Dragon was completely dominating.


    And by this time, an even greater number of Gray Winged Dragons than had chased Ye Chen earlier had arrived, covering the sky.


    Ao! Ao! Ao! Ao! Ao!


    The sky was filled with the roars of Gray Winged Dragons. Amid their tumultuous cries, thousands of Gray Winged Dragons attacked the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    With a single swipe of its claws, the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon killed dozens of Gray Winged Dragons, but more of them, driven mad, continued to furiously bombard and bite at the Azure Dragon.


    And the two True God level True Dragons, the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon and the Ironclad War Dragon, with the joining of the swarm of Gray Winged Dragons in the fray, surged with divine True God power and clashed with the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon once again.


    Meanwhile, the Three Tribulations True God level Ironclad War Dragon let out a mighty howl.


    In the second True God Gathering Area, the tens of thousands of Ironclad War Dragons heard the call of their leader. Instantly, they rose to their feet, then all the Ironclad War Dragons, in a frenzy, surged toward the battlefield.

 Chapter 496 - 454: Dragon Blood! Divine Blood!

    When the tens of thousands of Ironclad War Dragons also joined the battle group, the entire region of Misty Canyon had completely become an ocean of rampaging dragons.


    Dense clouds of countless Gray Winged Dragons filled the skies.


    The surging and roaring Ironclad War Dragons, numbering over ten thousand, were filled with boundless strength!


    And in the core area of the great battle, the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon of Four Tribulations True God level was roaring up to the sky, fighting against thousands single-handedly!


    The ones continuously attacking the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon were the giant Sky-shocking Winged Dragon and the black True God Ironclad War Dragons!


    On the ground of the canyon, with the dragons¡¯ slaughter, pools of dragon blood stained the earth red.


    Countless Gray Winged Dragons and Ironclad War Dragons died, and the besieged Five-Clawed Azure Dragon had also fallen into disadvantage, with terrifyingly huge bloodstains appearing on its body.


    Gurgle, gurgle.


    Drops of Divine Blood from the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon fell from its body. The fist-sized droplets of blood, emitting Spiritual Light, rolled onto the ground and, within a few breaths¡¯ time, did not disperse, and finally, they merged with the earth.


    As it merged with the earth, the Dragon Blood of the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon even pushed back the blood of other Heavenly Saint Level dragons.


    Clearly, the power of this Divine Blood was extraordinary, far surpassing that of regular dragon blood!


    Ultimately, the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, having fallen completely into disadvantage, let out a skyward roar.


    In the third gathering place for True Dragons, hundreds of miles away from the battle of the dragon hordes.


    In the gathering place of the Five-Clawed Azure Dragons, tens of thousands of them, upon hearing the roar, burst into flight directly toward that region.


    It seemed that the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, unable to withstand the assault, was now summoning its fellow dragons to its aid.


    Merely dozens of breaths later, those tens of thousands of Five-Clawed Azure Dragons had joined the great battle.


    This moment truly shook heaven and earth!


    Over thirty thousand True Dragons were battling on this land.


    ¡ª All for a mere "Dragon Heart Grass King"!


    Ye Chen, observing the battle from one side, truly saw what it meant to "die for wealth, as birds perish for food." These True Dragons, having had their intelligence almost completely erased, leaving only their instinct to kill, had been incited into a great battle by the "Dragon Heart Grass King," and were fighting with reckless abandon.


    The bloodshed was even shocking to Ye Chen!


    "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," countless Gray Winged Dragons died, and even more were injured, with broken wings and blood spurting like fountains.


    The Ironclad War Dragons and Five-Clawed Azure Dragons were similarly suffering heavy casualties, with corpses strewn everywhere.


    And the three True God-level True Dragons at the very center of the battle were unleashing immense fury.


    With the joining of the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon horde, the True God-level Five-Clawed Azure Dragons, relieved of some pressure, went into a frenzy with their godly powers surging wildly, grabbing the Sky-shocking Winged Dragons and the black Ironclad War Dragons, ripping wounds all over their bodies.


    This great battle continued for nearly half an hour.


    Eventually, tens of thousands of True Dragons lay dead on the field, with countless more injured.


    A small portion of the True Dragons, stimulated by the soaring bloodlust and unable to bear it any longer, disregarded their leaders¡¯ calls and retreated explosively back to their respective territories.


    And at the very center of the great battle, those three True God-level True Dragons were also severely wounded.


    The Five-Clawed Azure Dragon of Four Tribulations True God level, however, had the last laugh. Its body covered with numerous wounds each dozens of feet long, with rolling Divine Blood streaming down, forming pools of blood on the ground.


    But its two opponents, the Ironclad War Dragon and the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon of Three Tribulations True God level, were even more gravely injured!


    One of the wings of the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon was almost entirely shredded, and the Ironclad War Dragon, with its iron-like dark flesh, was torn open in several places, revealing many horrifyingly large wounds.


    These two True God-level True Dragons, their vitality severely depleted, had fallen to the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Level and could no longer fight the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon.


    The two True God-level True Dragons, looking at the "Dragon Heart Grass King" still in the grasp of the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, then at the dead or fled and the many injured True Dragons left on the field, and seeing the still First Tribulation True God-level aura of the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, no longer dared to continue the fight.


    All they could do was let out a sharp cry before giving up.


    And the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, although grievously wounded, still laughed last, for it had obtained the "Dragon Heart Grass King"!


    The Five-Clawed Azure Dragon roared up to the sky as if it were the ruler of this world!


    Clutching the "Dragon Heart Grass King" in its talons and seeing its two True God-level adversaries no longer daring to attack it, it prepared to triumphantly return home.


    The battle, it appeared, was about to conclude with the victory of the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon.


    At this moment, however, that tiny glint of light, which had been hiding on the sidelines and had gone completely unnoticed by the dragons embroiled in the fierce battle, stirred once again.


    Ye Chen.


    It was Ye Chen, who had been manipulating the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, springing into action once more.


    Ye Chen had not expected that tens of thousands of True Dragons from the three major dragon groups would battle to such extremes over a single "Dragon Heart Grass King."


    Indeed, True Dragons, stripped of most of their spiritual intelligence and left only with their nature, had nothing but this instinct for slaughter and the struggle for treasures!


    Seeing the True Dragons either dead or crippled, Ye Chen certainly wasn¡¯t going to miss this critical opportunity!


    Now was not the time to lament for these True Dragons. Captured by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable, stripped of much of their intellect, whether they died now or later, their fate was the same.


    Yet from this, Ye Chen was alerted; he needed to become stronger. Otherwise, if a powerful being were to erase his intellect, his fate would likely be even more tragic than that of these True Dragons.


    To become stronger, the current method was to seize the precious cultivation opportunities within the "Minor Pole Sky."


    Killing True Dragons to obtain more assessment points was now the most crucial task!


    The path of martial arts, filled with bloodshed and cruelty.


    At this time, Ye Chen certainly wasn¡¯t going to give these three Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons any chance to recover. Otherwise, he might find himself struggling to kill these True Dragons another time, and even with the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a slight lack of caution could result in his death at the hands of these Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons.


    Ye Chen, manipulating a glint of Spiritual Light from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, instantly appeared above the three Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons. In the next moment, he burst forth from the pendant.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen, the three Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons, still not entirely free of their murderous aura, all turned their attention to him.


    Their instinctive drive to kill even made their divine eyes brim with murderous intent.


    Without waiting for the three Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons to strike, Ye Chen clenched his hand, and a magical treasure appeared in his palm.


    This magical treasure was nine ice-white pearls, which were none other than the Heavenly Thunder Pearls¡ªa powerful one-time offensive treasure that Ye Chen had acquired in the Divine Heritage Cave, after slaying the Fat and Skinny Holy Ones.


    The "Heavenly Thunder Pearls" were forged by a Great Divine Practitioner using Nine Heavens True Thunder. If all nine pearls were unleashed together, even a True Dragon facing the First Tribulation could be gravely injured or killed.


    Previously, facing the Sky-shocking Winged Dragon with strength surpassing a First Tribulation True God, as well as the Ironclad War Dragon and the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon of the Three and Four Tribulations, respectively.


    Taking out the "Heavenly Thunder Pearls" was obviously futile.


    But now, these three Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons had fought each other to a devastating extent; even the most formidable Five-Clawed Azure Dragon had seen its strength fall to the level of a True God facing the First Tribulation.


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    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Ye Chen, in an instant, flicked his fingers, and the nine Heavenly Thunder Pearls instantly formed a Heavenly Thunder Formation, enveloping the three Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons within.


    Then, earth-shattering explosions sounded from within the formation as Ye Chen watched countless thunderstorms, each a yard thick, tear through and explode wildly, directing all their force at the three True Dragons.


    The three True Dragons were completely caught off guard by such a treasure in Ye Chen¡¯s possession. Slightly delayed in their reaction, they were engulfed by the exploding force of the Heavenly Thunder Pearls.


    In the instant explosion of thunderous power, they had no time to dodge. In the next moment, the three Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons were blasted apart in different directions, before thunderously crashing to the ground.


    Under the destructive force of the nine "Heavenly Thunder Pearls," the Sky-shocking Giant Winged Dragon had both wings completely blown off and was directly killed by the pearls, which had the power to severely wound a True God facing the First Tribulation.


    The other two Heavenly Saint Level True Dragons, the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon and the black Ironclad War Dragon, were not instantly killed, but the Ironclad War Dragon had been utterly knocked unconscious by the blast, and the Five-Clawed Azure Dragon, although its divine eyes were still open, showed a look of terror in its gaze.


    The next moment, the Black Fire Sword suddenly appeared in Ye Chen¡¯s hand as he shot towards the yet unconscious Five-Clawed Azure Dragon.


    Thrust!


    With one sword strike, the dragon¡¯s head was severed, and Divine Blood gushed out.


    Ye Chen stepped through the void, and with another sword strike, he slashed towards the faint Ironclad War Dragon. With the surging power of his Ice-Forged Divine Body and Immortal Divine Body infused into the Black Fire Sword, he pierced through the thick hide of the Ironclad War Dragon, completely decapitating it as well.


    And the next moment, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze shifted towards the thousands of the three types of True Dragons still screaming in agony in the area, his sword flashing with renewed brilliance.


    As "Sixty-Two," the Spiritual Light child that flew out from Ye Chen¡¯s Heaven Spirit Ring, looked upon the fallen three Mighty True Gods and then at the several thousand injured Gray Winged Dragons, Ironclad War Dragons, and Five-Clawed Azure Dragons.


    The child exclaimed in shock, "Master, with this strike, you might just set a record for slaughtering True Dragons in the Myriad Dragon Cavern!"

 Chapter 497 - 455 The Turmoil of the Extreme Heaven Spirit List

    The first trial¡¯s assessment, spanning a period of seven days, swiftly came to an end.


    In a corner of the "Myriad Dragon Cavern" mystic island, many candidates failed the assessment over these seven days, brought out by the Spirit Light Child and returned to the departure point of this locale.


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    This signified that they didn¡¯t survive the seven-day assessment period and were slain by True Dragons during the trial, thus concluding their assessment.


    If it weren¡¯t for the Spirit Light Child¡¯s intervention to shield them from death once, it would mean that they had perished in the trial of the Myriad Dragon Cavern!


    As these candidates were sent out, God King Wucan, who was waiting outside, directed the Spirit Light Child that accompanied these candidates to fly into the Extreme Heaven Spirit List that hovered in the void.


    When the Spirit Light Child flew into the Extreme Heaven Spirit List and emerged once again, their masters¡¯ scores were already recorded on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    "Murong Xiaoxiao, from Black Dragon Star, assessment points: two hundred sixty-two."


    "Wucan, from Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province, Aoshan Divine City, assessment points: two hundred forty-one."


    "Zhao Xuan, from Heaven Martial Star, assessment points: one hundred ninety-two."


    "..."


    The scores on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List were arranged from highest to lowest.


    And as more and more individuals were sent out from the "Myriad Dragon Cavern" assessment area, the rankings on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List kept changing.


    Among those sent out in the first seven days, especially those eliminated within the first three days, the vast majority had not slain one hundred True Dragons.


    All of them sat in the desolate island corner, pale-faced.


    Not slaying one hundred True Dragons meant that their opportunity to cultivate in Minor Pole Sky had come to an end.


    They couldn¡¯t advance to the second cultivation locale, which of course left many hearts shattered, as they had already witnessed the wonders of Minor Pole Sky.


    But there was nothing they could do. Failing to pass the assessment, they could only leave after the seven days were up.


    Now, they could only wait idly; once everyone returned, they would be transported back.


    These candidates were disheartened, but those who had managed to slay one hundred True Dragons were chatting excitedly, "I can finally break into the second cultivation locale!"


    "The second cultivation locale is for True Qi cultivation. Inside, my True Qi realm might very well increase significantly!"


    "I wonder how one cultivates in the second locale. I¡¯m so eager to see it for myself!"


    Most of their casual conversations revolved around slaying dragons inside the Myriad Dragon Cavern: "Reduced to using only physical combat without any techniques, yet facing True Dragons. That was close, I nearly didn¡¯t make it to a hundred. Lucky for me, I found a valley where the True Dragons were of lower ranks, allowing me to smoothly take down over one hundred and twenty."


    "In the end, it was a late-stage Heaven Saint True Dragon that suddenly appeared and eliminated me!"


    Others said, "I went through several tough battles, persevered for five days, and finally slew two hundred True Dragons. Now, I¡¯m ranked sixteenth on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List. I wonder what my final ranking will be."


    When the conversation turned to rankings, many spontaneously thought of those who had excelled in the previous three vital signs tests.


    "The Little Provincial Princess, the four descendants of the four generals, and Ye Chen haven¡¯t been sent out yet. It looks like they¡¯ll endure the full seven days and won¡¯t die at the hands of the True Dragons. They¡¯ll only be brought out by the Spirit Light Child when time runs out."


    "I really wonder how many True Dragons the Little Provincial Princess and the others will have slain!"


    "Then there are those youngsters from Divine Kingdom. Out of over thirty, only a few have been sent out so far. And from what they say, it was due to accidents; some even encountered True Gods amongst the True Dragons and were instantly struck down and eliminated. Such unlucky souls."


    "The remaining Divine Kingdom youngsters, who have not been eliminated yet, must have achieved remarkable scores. They are certainly capable of breaking into the second cultivation locale."


    All those who were prematurely eliminated were discussing among their respective circles.


    As the seven-day assessment drew to a close, the time came for everyone to be transported out. Over five thousand warriors who had been previously eliminated all stood up.


    Even those warriors who had definitively failed the assessment and were ineligible for the next cultivation locale managed to suppress their sorrow and looked toward the transportation array.


    They too wanted to see what the final assessment results would be once everyone was transported out.


    Though they would be sent back, the events that had unfolded at Minor Pole Sky would serve as a significant experience, and upon their return to the lower realm, it would become a major topic of conversation.


    As all the prematurely eliminated warriors stood up to watch the transportation array, the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu who had been waiting outside in the void, along with God Kings Wucan and Lei Yun, also began to chat with smiles: "It¡¯s a pity we couldn¡¯t see the trials inside the Myriad Dragon Cavern. Otherwise, we could have known about these youngsters¡¯ performances in advance."


    "Speaking of which, I¡¯m really quite looking forward to the surprises these kids might bring!"


    God Kings Wucan and Lei Yun chuckled to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, "Divine Venerable, the Little Provincial Princess might set an amazing record this time. Her vital signs test for physical strength was incredibly strong, which clearly shows her exceptional combat capabilities. In this trial of physical combat, she is sure to slay many True Dragons."


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu smiled and nodded, "I¡¯m not the slightest bit worried about the Little Provincial Princess, I¡¯m just rather curious about Ye Chen¡¯s final results."


    "Ye Chen?" God Kings Wucan and Lei Yun exchanged glances, "Soon, they will all be transported out and we will quickly know Ye Chen¡¯s results. I should think he¡¯ll have no problem entering the second cultivation locale. It¡¯s just a matter of how far beyond a hundred base assessment points he can reach."

 Chapter 498 - 455 Sudden Changes in the Extreme Heaven Spirit List_2

    ```


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Under the watchful eyes of three powerful warriors and countless martial artists, as the time limit for the seven-day assessment contest came to an end, the Transmission Light Formation where everyone had been teleported into the assessment area was filled with innumerable phantom light silhouettes.


    Subsequently, a multitude of figures densely emerged from the Transmission Light Formation, returning to their initial departure point.


    These people were all who had lasted the full seven days without being eliminated!


    The majority of these individuals displayed smiles on their faces, clearly having successfully slain enough True Dragons over seven days to earn an opportunity to advance to the next training location.


    However, there were a very few with rather unsightly expressions.


    Although they had lasted the seven days without early elimination, they had been too afraid to hunt and kill enough True Dragons in the assessment area.


    Now, with time up, their being teleported out also signified their failure.


    After everyone had been teleported out, the majority of gazes were drawn to the most dazzling figures in the arena.


    These were none other than the Little Provincial Princess, the younger generations of the four great generals of the Divine Kingdom, the youths of the Divine Kingdom, and... Ye Chen!


    At that moment, Ye Chen was landing among the group of warriors from the lower realm, his face unreadable with calmness, but the Spirit Light Child on his shoulder was grinning from ear to ear, unable to contain his laughter.


    Just by looking at the Spirit Light Child¡¯s demeanor, all the warriors from the lower realm knew that Ye Chen¡¯s achievements were surely extraordinary.


    Among the crowd and most familiar with Ye Chen, Fang Hua, who was teleported out, couldn¡¯t help asking as Ye Chen flew down next to him, "Brother Ye Chen, how many True Dragons did you kill?"


    Ye Chen smiled, "Not bad, you¡¯ll know soon enough. But, Friend Fang Hua, you must also have slain enough True Dragons, no?"


    "Still playing coy," Fang Hua laughed, "I also killed enough True Dragons, far beyond the basic assessment points."


    While Ye Chen and Fang Hua conversed, the Little Provincial Princess and the younger generations of the four great generals were somewhat eager to approach Ye Chen and inquire about his performance.


    Especially Tian Li, who had a bet with Ye Chen, was even more eager to know Ye Chen¡¯s assessment points: "I hit the jackpot this time, accidentally stumbling into a lair of juvenile dragons, and slew far more True Dragons than I ever expected!"


    "Ye Chen¡¯s original combat strength was never as strong as mine, and he certainly hasn¡¯t had my luck, this time, I¡¯m sure to far surpass him!" Tian Li looked at Ye Chen with a gleam in his eyes.


    Seeing that everyone had come out and many were still chatting amongst themselves, God King Wucan smiled at Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and God King Lei Yun before stepping out from the void.


    His voice echoed across the entire field, "Now, all those who have not yet had their results logged onto the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, proceed to record your scores."


    "Have your Spirit Light Children fly into the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, and your achievements will be recorded there."


    As God King Wucan¡¯s voice fell, many excitedly commanded their Spirit Light Children to fly towards the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    As the Spirit Light Children darted into the Extreme Heaven Spirit List that hung in the void and then flew back out, the rankings on the list began to change continuously.


    "Jiang Long, from the Multi-Spirit Divine City in East Province of the Divine Kingdom, assessment points: three hundred and eight."


    The first score to be recorded on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List significantly altered the rankings.


    It pushed down everyone on the list a spot all at once.


    And as more scores were recorded on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, its rankings were in a constant state of flux.


    Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, and the younger generations of the four great generals, as if by some unspoken agreement, all delayed in having their scores recorded without any hurry.


    They were the six individuals who performed strongest in the previous three vital sign tests, and the others were not rushing them either, all wanting to wait for the end, to witness their astonishing achievements.


    After the scores of over eight thousand warriors from the lower realm, along with more than thirty youths from the Divine Kingdom were all recorded on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, the top ranker was a young individual from Myriad Light Divine City in East Province of the Divine Kingdom, Zhao Ming, with assessment points reaching three hundred and fifty-six.


    Fang Hua, standing beside Ye Chen, also performed well, securing two hundred and thirty-five assessment points, surpassing the basic assessment requirement of one hundred and thirty-five points by a substantial margin.


    ```


    At this moment, all eyes turned toward Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, and the four younger generations of the four great generals.


    The six of them exchanged glances, and Zhao Xin said with a smile, "There are six of us left without recorded scores, let me go first."


    The Spirit Light Child on Zhao Xin¡¯s shoulder immediately flew towards the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    Finally, Zhao Xin¡¯s score was revealed: Zhao Xin, from Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province, First Divine City, General Zhao¡¯s Mansion, martial trial points: five hundred sixty-nine!


    When Zhao Xin¡¯s score was announced, the entire arena was stunned.


    Five hundred sixty-nine points, indicating that Zhao Xin had slain five hundred sixty-nine True Dragons with his physical combat strength alone!


    Next, it was Meng Qi¡¯s turn to record his score, and his result once again shocked the crowd.


    Meng Qi, from Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province, First Divine City, General Meng¡¯s Mansion, martial trial points: five hundred sixty-eight!


    The third youth, Hu Lin, had a score not much different from Meng Qi¡¯s, also reaching five hundred seventy-two points!


    Finally, Tian Li, who had ranked third in the initial three vital signs test, also stepped forward and let his Spirit Light Child fly into the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, smiling as he looked towards Ye Chen.


    In the end, his score reached an impressive nine hundred thirty-six points!


    This score utterly surprised the other three youths by his side.


    Tian Li smiled as he glanced at the three youths beside him, nodded to them, and then looked provocatively towards Ye Chen, "I was quite lucky this time, having killed quite a number of True Dragons. Brother Ye Chen and I have a bet, I wonder how many True Dragons you have slain?"


    Tian Li directly challenged Ye Chen.


    His astonishing martial trial score of nine hundred thirty-six points had already shocked countless people. On the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, he surpassed the second-ranked Hu Lin by more than three hundred points!


    Hearing Tian Li challenge Ye Chen, all eyes turned towards Ye Chen.


    The Little Provincial Princess was also curious and thought, "A bet? What kind of bet do Ye Chen and Tian Li have? Tian Li looks so excited; he must be certain he¡¯ll win against Ye Chen. Yet, looking at Ye Chen¡¯s expression, it seems like he isn¡¯t worried at all about Tian Li¡¯s score."


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has slain more than nine hundred thirty-six True Dragons?"


    As she considered this, the Little Provincial Princess was also stirred, "I¡¯ve killed more True Dragons than I expected this time. I wonder how many Ye Chen has."


    The Little Provincial Princess was extremely curious, as were Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun, all of whom looked towards Ye Chen with great interest.


    And in that moment, under the watchful gaze of the multitude, Ye Chen smiled at Tian Li and said, "Brother Tian Li says he¡¯s quite lucky, but I¡¯ve also been rather fortunate this time."


    As he spoke, Ye Chen nodded to the Spirit Light Child "Sixty-Two" on his shoulder.


    The ecstatic Spirit Light Child "Sixty-Two" quickly flew toward the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s expression and the excitement of the Spirit Light Child, Tian Li felt his heart sink, "Could it be that Ye Chen has surpassed me? Otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have that look, and his child wouldn¡¯t be so thrilled."


    "But, I¡¯ve slain nine hundred thirty-six True Dragons, and luck was a big part of it. How could Ye Chen¡¯s slain dragons possibly exceed mine?!"


    Tian Li eagerly looked towards the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    When he saw Ye Chen¡¯s Spirit Light Child enter the Extreme Heaven Spirit List and then fly back out, with all the ranks dropping one place, including his own fall to second, Tian Li couldn¡¯t believe his eyes and had to rub them.


    And when he saw the number at the top, Tian Li was completely aghast, hearing incredulous exclamations from the warriors around him.


    Among these exclamations were even the voices of the Little Provincial Princess, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun.


    At the very top of the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, in the first-place position, glimmering in golden light, the following was displayed: Ye Chen, from Celestial Spirit Star, martial trial point score: three thousand nine hundred sixty-nine!

 Chapter 499 - 456: Qianye Platform, Chaos Begins

    Ye Chen, examination competition points, three thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine points.


    This figure was simply beyond Tian Li¡¯s imagination!


    No matter how Tian Li guessed, he could never imagine Ye Chen scoring so many examination competition points. It was even more than three thousand points higher than the score he was very proud of.


    He was ranked second, yet he couldn¡¯t even match the fraction of Ye Chen¡¯s score!


    Three thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine points, that represented Ye Chen had slain three thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine True Dragons.


    The True Dragon is not any ordinary Demon Beast, it is an exceedingly powerful existence even among the True Spirit Sacred Beasts.


    Many people in the field couldn¡¯t even come close to killing a hundred True Dragons, while Ye Chen had slain as many as three thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine, nearly forty times more than the basic requirement!


    In the seven days of assessment, on average, he killed more than five hundred True Dragons each day.


    This was simply beyond human imagination!


    Tian Li had also participated in the dragon-slaying assessment, so he knew the difficulty of hunting True Dragons. He had hunted nine hundred and thirty-six True Dragons, which was extremely difficult, and only managed that by luckily finding a young dragon cavern.


    Tian Li had no idea how Ye Chen could have killed so many True Dragons.


    When he looked at Ye Chen again, Tian Li¡¯s heart was filled with only one thought, "How on earth did this guy do it, how did he manage it!"


    It wasn¡¯t just Tian Li who couldn¡¯t believe it and was utterly surprised; everyone else was too.


    This number was simply beyond everyone¡¯s expectations.


    At this moment, the Little Provincial Princess, with her lively eyes, was also exceedingly astounded as she looked at Ye Chen.


    She had thought beforehand that Ye Chen might very well surpass Tian Li, and even conjectured that Ye Chen¡¯s number of True Dragons slain could be a hundred more than Tian Li¡¯s, possibly around a thousand or so.


    But the Little Lolita Princess never thought that Ye Chen would actually kill over three thousand True Dragons!


    Keep in mind, the Little Provincial Princess herself had incredibly strong physical combat power, yet at the beginning, she only dared to claim she could kill a thousand, not daring to say she could reach over three thousand.


    "This Brother Ye Chen... he has shocked me once again," said the Little Lolita Princess, tilting her head as she looked at Ye Chen.


    At the bottom of her heart was a thought; if Ye Chen did not reveal why he had killed so many True Dragons after all the results were announced, she would go and ask him herself.


    The Little Provincial Princess could hold back from asking now, but God King Wucan in the void could not restrain himself any longer.


    God King Wucan simply couldn¡¯t understand how a youth at the Mid Spin Elixir stage could have managed to kill over three thousand nine hundred True Dragons.


    Three thousand nine hundred plus True Dragons, within this number of dragons, there were definitely True Dragon existences at the True God level.


    God King Wucan had a premonition that judging by Ye Chen¡¯s manner, he had likely killed True Dragons at the True God level as well!


    At this thought, God King Wucan couldn¡¯t hold back any longer and directly asked Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, how did you achieve this result?"


    After asking, God King Wucan felt a bit abrupt and added with a smile, "Of course, there is no obligation to explain the dragon-slaying assessment process to everyone, I¡¯m just concerned and astonished. If it¡¯s inconvenient for you, you don¡¯t have to answer."


    Despite saying this, God King Wucan¡¯s gaze towards Ye Chen was still full of curiosity, clearly indicating his desire to hear the truth from Ye Chen.


    "Yes, how did you manage to kill so many True Dragons? I¡¯m so curious to know."


    "Three thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine dragons, heavens, I was eliminated after killing just ninety-three. To hunt three thousand nine hundred and sixty-nine dragons, I¡¯d probably die from exhaustion just from fighting!"


    Not only God King Wucan, but other Martial Artists were also curiously looking at Ye Chen.


    They wanted to hear how Ye Chen had created this myth-like achievement.


    Even Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and God King Lei Yun watched Ye Chen with shining eyes, evidently eager to hear him speak in detail.


    Seeing everyone¡¯s expressions, Ye Chen had no intention of hiding the truth.


    All three powerhouses on the field were extremely curious, and he felt obliged to give them face.


    Ye Chen said with a smile, "The assessment area I entered this time was a place called ¡¯Misty Canyon¡¯, where there are three major dragon gathering zones with thirty-four thousand True Dragons."


    "I fortuitously discovered a ¡¯Dragon Heart King Grass¡¯ and used it to trigger a great battle among the three dragon hordes, ultimately, killing three heavily injured True God level True Dragons and clearing out other surviving True Dragons, reaching this number."


    As Ye Chen spoke, the Spirit Light Child "Sixty-two" on his shoulder also chimed in, "The master is so formidable. Those three True God level True Dragons included Four Tribulations True God True Dragons, but the master dared to initiate a battle with tens of thousands of dragons and decisively struck to kill the injured True God True Dragons, even slaying all three of them."


    Ye Chen and the Spirit Light Child made it sound simple, but when everyone in the field heard how Ye Chen killed so many True Dragons, they all gasped.


    Easy to say, but doing it is another story!


    The Martial Artists on the scene had seen their fair share of turmoil and clearly knew how difficult it was to instigate a great dragon battle and survive it, let alone take advantage of it to kill so many True Dragons, even those at the True God level.


    Even if the dragon group was wounded, without extremely high intelligence, predictive ability, combat power, and fortunes, it would not be possible.


    A little carelessness would definitely make them victims of the dragon massacre.


    Especially since there were Four Tribulations True God level True Dragons among them, such beings would scare many present just by hearing about them, let alone plotting against them; they would have long steered clear.


    Considering this, countless Martial Artists grew even more admiring of Ye Chen.


    They knew that the young man before them was not only highly talented and strong but also possessed incredible courage!


    He dared to kill True Dragons at the True God level! He dared to provoke them!


    "Interesting, very interesting."


    The Little Lolita Princess¡¯s eyes shone even brighter upon hearing Ye Chen speak of the dragon-slaying incident.


    She was already an incredibly intelligent and trouble-seeking young girl. Excited beyond measure at the mention of the Myriad Dragon Battle, she said, "The Dragon Heart Grass King, I¡¯ve heard of it. It¡¯s a pity that there¡¯s no Dragon Heart Grass King in my area; otherwise, I would have initiated a Myriad Dragon Battle myself. Such a scene would be astonishing¡ªto witness it once would make my assessment trip to the Myriad Dragon Cavern worthwhile!"


    The Little Provincial Princess was filled with excitement, when suddenly, upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s eyes glittered brightly, and she spoke directly to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, would you be interested in visiting the First Divine City in the East Province of the Divine Kingdom after you finish cultivating in Minor Pole Sky? I believe many important figures in the East Province would like to meet you."


    Direcly inviting Ye Chen to visit the First Divine City in the East Province of the Divine Kingdom?!


    Upon hearing Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words, both God King Lei Yun and God King Wucan were taken aback, and the other Martial Artists were so stirred they couldn¡¯t find the words to speak.


    They certainly saw that Divine Venerable Hong Zhu was extending an olive branch to Ye Chen, seeking to bring him under the banner of the East Territory King.


    A junior cultivator at the middle stage of Spinning Pill, having only gone through one cultivation session and one assessment trial in Minor Pole Sky, had already attracted the interest and invitation of a Divine Venerable¡ªa powerful figure of such high standing, and to the First Divine City in the East Province of the Divine Kingdom no less. This filled everyone with admiration and envy towards Ye Chen.


    Even the more than thirty young people from the Divine Kingdom were extremely envious of Ye Chen.


    Although they were also from the Divine Kingdom, they did not have the opportunity to visit the First Divine City in the East Province and meet the great figures there!


    When the Little Provincial Princess heard Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words, her eyes also lit up, "Right, Brother Ye Chen, if you go to the First Divine City in the East Province, I¡¯ll definitely have father meet you!"


    The words of the Little Provincial Princess added fuel to the fire, directing countless envious gazes towards Ye Chen.


    Even the younger generation representatives of the four great generals, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin, all lamented in their hearts, "It¡¯s over, Ye Chen has impressed once again, and the Little Provincial Princess will probably pay him even more attention now!"


    Amidst all the gazes, Ye Chen just smiled, "The First Divine City in the East Province of the Divine Kingdom? I too want to see it, but after I finish cultivating in Minor Pole Sky, I need to return to Celestial Spirit Star for a while. Maybe I¡¯ll visit it another time."


    After heading to the "Five Elements Mountain," one of the three great adventure destinations, Ye Chen unexpectedly arrived at this Minor Pole Sky.


    He had not returned to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent or seen Jiang Yao in a very long time.


    Ye Chen was deeply concerned about both Jiang Yao and his parents and naturally did not wish to make another detour to the Divine Kingdom in the East Province; he had no idea how long it would be before he could return to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    As for the First Divine City in the East Province?


    Ye Chen believed that as long as he worked hard, even if he did not accept the invitation from Divine Venerable Hong Zhu this time, he would eventually be able to visit it!


    Ye Chen declined Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s invitation?


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, everyone couldn¡¯t believe it. Fang Luo, standing beside Ye Chen, couldn¡¯t help but nudge him with his elbow, "Brother Ye Chen, the First Divine City in the East Province of the Divine Kingdom, that¡¯s the provincial capital of the East Province! It¡¯s a place countless God Kings in the Divine Kingdom long to visit! And you would even meet the East Territory King there! You¡¯re really... not going?"


    The Little Lolita Princess and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu also never expected Ye Chen to refuse.


    "Maybe I¡¯ll have the chance to go later; I¡¯ve been out for a long time, and I¡¯m starting to miss home," Ye Chen smiled and said in response to Fang Luo¡¯s words.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was not tempted by fame and gain, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s eyes sparkled even more.


    She smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Alright, since you plan to go straight home after your cultivation in Minor Pole Sky is completed, I won¡¯t stop you. The First Divine City in the East Province of the Divine Kingdom, well, I believe you will make it there one day."


    Once Ye Chen¡¯s results were recorded, the only one remaining whose results had yet to be documented was the Little Provincial Princess.


    As she sent her Spirit Light Child flying towards the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, the Little Provincial Princess said to Ye Chen, "I had hoped to rank first this time, but it seems I won¡¯t be able to. However, Brother Ye Chen, I will surpass you in the future!"


    In the end, the Little Provincial Princess hunted a total of one thousand three hundred and forty-four True Dragons, ranking second just behind Ye Chen.


    When everyone¡¯s results were finalized, the Extreme Heaven Spirit List fluttering high in the sky, all eyes followed the list from top to bottom, looking at the rankings displayed.


    First place: Ye Chen!


    Second place: Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo!


    Third place: Tian Li!


    Fourth place: Hu Lin...


    As all the scores became visible, God King Wucan announced to everyone, "Those with assessment scores below one hundred are eliminated and will be transported back to their original realms!"


    "Those with assessment scores of one hundred and above will enter the second cultivation site, the True Qi Cultivation Site¡ª¡¯Qianye Platform¡¯, to begin True Qi cultivation!"


    ...


    A month had passed since Ye Chen began cultivating in the first site of Minor Pole Sky, and after seven days of assessment trials, he had successfully secured the opportunity to enter the second site for cultivation.


    Unbeknownst to Ye Chen, a great disaster was quietly brewing in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Sea of Chaos.


    In the very same waters where two heaven-saints from the ten great demon sects of West Wilderness had been slain, endless sea waves shot up into the sky, and a figure with disheveled hair burst forth from the deepest depths of the seabed, instantly shooting into the void.


    "Finally, the injuries I sustained coming to the lower realm have fully recovered."


    "Now, it¡¯s time to see what that earth-shattering secret is, the one hidden beneath the Southern Domain according to the memories of those two heaven-saints I killed."


    "The Southern Thirteen Kingdoms, Treasure Nation? Is that the earth-shattering secret within this realm?"


    "Then let¡¯s go take a look!"


    Boom!


    As soon as this disheveled figure finished speaking, they vanished in an instant.


    This speaker was none other than the Void True God from the Fei Ling tribe, one of the two ancient tribes who had originally attacked the Phoenix Clan¡¯s small spirit realm and had descended to this realm specifically to search for hidden clansmen of the Phoenix Clan. In the Sea of Chaos, they had slain the two heaven-saints from the ten great demon sects of West Wilderness with a giant hand that reached the heavens!


    This Void True God, speaking of Treasure Nation where that earth-shattering secret was hiding, was right next to Ye Chen¡¯s homeland, the Wind Nation!

 Chapter 500 - 457: Calamity Spreads Over a Hundred Thousand Miles

    True Gods traverse voids even faster than Heavenly Saints manifesting through projections!


    Especially in these thirty-three continents of the lower realm without True God-level restrictions, True Gods can instantly flash across thousands of miles!


    This Void Sky True God did not conceal his movements like True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God.


    Once his injuries fully healed, in this lower realm, he had no concerns at all.


    In just a moment, this Void Sky True God from the Flying Spirit Clan of the Upper Realm, with his hair flowing loose, flew to a place within the territory of Heavenly Treasure Kingdom in the Southern Territory, a location remembered by two Heavenly Saints of the ten great Demon Sects in the Western Wilderness that hid an earth-shattering secret.


    It was a large city with a population of millions.


    Gazing at the bustling city, the Void Sky True God furrowed his brows, "The earth-shattering secret is located beneath this city in the depths of the earth?"


    "To investigate that great secret, it seems the entirety of this city must be destroyed."


    Destroying a large city of millions would be as easy as flipping his hand for this Void Sky True God.


    However, what made him hesitate was another matter, "Destroying the city is easy, but doing so will surely draw the attention of countless individuals!"


    "Such a commotion might even reach the ears of other Void Sky True Gods in the Upper Realm. Once others take note of this place, the secret may be exposed!"


    "No, this secret is rumored to drive even Void Sky True Gods mad, and one that even the elders of my clan must not reveal, lest the opportunity slips through my fingers! It seems I cannot be hasty and must plan carefully."


    "This earth-shattering secret was not fully understood even by the founding ancestors of the ten great Demon Sects in the Western Wilderness; it definitely involves a lot of time and effort to break the secret restrictions."


    "I need to ensure no one notices this place, and at the same time, I would require time to break the restrictions of this earth-shattering secret..."


    The Void Sky True God¡¯s divine eyes pierced through the void, watching the people coming and going in the large city with millions of inhabitants, contemplating his next move.


    Within this populous city were countless martial artists, with the highest realm being only at the Dan Rotation level. They were utterly unaware that their entire city was under the gaze of a True God.


    "Since the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness plan to attack the thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory, their intent is to drive out the locals and exploit the chaos to unlock the great secret underground."


    "Their approach can work for me too. Moreover, I could make the battle even more intense! Not just involving this city and Heavenly Treasure Kingdom, but even the whole of the thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory, and possibly even involve the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness along with the Chaotic Sea Area in a three-way great war!"


    "If countless cities are destroyed during a great war, surely no one will take notice of one such city. Then, I could freely investigate the underground restrictions!"


    Instantly, a comprehensive plan formed in the mind of the Void Sky True God.


    The next moment, the Void Sky True God vanished from above the large city with a population of millions.


    Half a day later, the two remaining Heavenly Saints and one Half-step Heavenly Saint from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness suddenly disappeared from their seclusion.


    And unbeknownst to all disciples of the Demon Sects, these three were directly taken by the Void Sky True God into the boundless void during their cultivation.


    Two of these individuals had previously clashed with Ye Chen.


    One was the Heaven Saint Moyan whom Ye Chen had defeated and whose Soul Fragmentation was killed, forcing him to flee back to the Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness; after retaking a body, he could only be considered a Half-step Heavenly Saint.


    The other was Elder Kugu, the strongest Heavenly Saint of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, who had encountered Ye Chen in the past.


    It was Heavenly Saint Long Xuan of the thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory who had rescued Ye Chen from Elder Kugu back then.


    The only one who had not crossed paths with Ye Chen was a Demon Sect Heavenly Saint named Xuancang.


    These three Heavenly Saints were terrified beyond belief when they were suddenly taken from their cultivation into the infinite void and then saw the Void Sky True God before them.


    All three, who had been to the Minor Spirit Realm, sensed the aura of a fifth calamity True God from this Void Sky True God.


    They had been formidable in their day, but they were only at the early stages of Heavenly Saint realm; now, even Ye Chen could defeat them, and facing a fifth calamity Void Sky True God naturally scared them out of their wits.


    "Senior, why have you brought us here?" Elder Kugu asked with a trembling voice, addressing the Void Sky True God.


    Heaven Saint Moyan and Heavenly Saint Xuancang trembled fiercely alongside him.


    Since their two Heavenly Saints perished in the Chaotic Sea Area and the True God Mu Lan of the Southern Territory broke through to the middle stage of Heavenly Saint,


    they also heard that the miraculous youth Ye Chen had become incredibly strong through cultivation in the Heavenly Sacred Palace, reaching unbelievable levels of combat prowess.


    The three great Saints of the Western Wilderness had long given up on confronting the Southern Territory, focusing solely on their rigorous training and avoiding trouble. They could not comprehend why a True God had seized them.


    Seeing the fear in the eyes of the three great Saints of the Western Wilderness, the Void Sky True God smiled faintly, "Do not be afraid. I come from one of the six ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, the Flying Spirit Clan; you may call me ¡¯Chixiao True God.¡¯"


    "Truth be told, those two Heavenly Saints from the Western Wilderness were killed by me. Furthermore, I¡¯ve learned about the great secret in the territory of the thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory that you¡¯re aware of, and I¡¯m quite interested in that secret."


    "I¡¯ve sought you out for just one thing, which is to proceed as you have previously planned. Have your ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness attack the thirteen kingdoms of the Southern Territory. You¡¯d best destroy countless cities there to cover my tracks so that I can delve into the secret restrictions beneath the city in Heavenly Treasure Kingdom."


    Hearing the words of Chixiao True God, the three Heavenly Saints from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness were utterly stunned.


    What?


    The two Heavenly Saints who died, did they perish at the hands of this True God?!


    What caused even greater alarm was the fact that this True God actually knew the grand secret beneath the Southern Territory.


    This was their only hope to continue cultivating.


    They had hoped to grow stronger in order to probe into that secret, yet they had not anticipated that it would be known to this True God.


    If this True God were to unravel that secret, no matter how great the benefits, they would certainly not fall into their lap.


    Only now did they realize that they had been captured with the purpose of serving this True God, to instigate a major war with the Southern Territory, thus shielding the excavation of the secret for this True God.


    There was a time when they too had planned a major war, one that would engulf the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory in flames of war, unnoticed by all, giving them a chance to seek out that grand secret.


    But now, bound to serve this True God without any benefit to themselves, it naturally filled them with immense frustration!


    However, they dared not defy the command of a True God.


    Elder Kugu, with a pained expression said, "Chixiao predecessor, we are certainly willing to wage a great battle against the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory for you. However, the current strength of the Western Wilderness has fallen far behind that of the Southern Territory, we are no longer a match for its thirteen nations."


    "Unless you personally take action! Only then, we will have the confidence to destroy all the cities in the Southern Territory!"


    Hearing Elder Kugu¡¯s words, Chixiao True God sneered, "I do not need to act. What if I were to give you another helper, what about adding the Chaotic Sea Area?"


    Add the Chaotic Sea Area?


    The three Heavenly Saints of the Western Wilderness had not yet grasped the meaning behind Chixiao True God¡¯s words when, in the next moment, they were abruptly lifted by Chixiao True God and flew toward the Chaotic Sea Area.


    As Chixiao True God¡¯s voice echoed in their minds, he said, "I will subjugate the entire Chaotic Sea Area and have them join your Western Wilderness in the battle against the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory!"


    "Under the pretense of an alliance between the Chaotic Sea Area and the Western Wilderness to dominate the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, perhaps no one will know the true reason behind the war is the great secret beneath the ground."


    "Hehe, of course, to ensure you will obey my commands and my plan remains secret, I must leave something within your souls!"


    As the words of Chixiao True God fell, within the fluctuating void, three shrill screams were heard!


    After that, there was no further sound.


    ...


    The Chaotic Sea Area, by nature, was a place where countless itinerant cultivators and innumerable forces resided in disorder.


    Here, the forces were incredibly complex.


    Here, the territories were massively chaotic.


    Here, there were tens of thousands of miles of dominions.


    And on this day, the most core force of the Chaotic Sea Area, rumored to be as strong as the first sect of the Heavenly Sacred Palace among the three great dynasties of the central territory, the Sea God Palace, suddenly issued an order.


    The Sea God Palace Master, an existence in the late stages of Heavenly Saint, abruptly decreed that the entire Sea God Palace would unite the Chaotic Sea Area!


    After the news was released, the entire Chaotic Sea Area erupted in an uproar.


    Countless forces accustomed to ruling their own domains were utterly unwilling to submit to the Sea God Palace.


    And when the deadline for submission set by the Sea God Palace arrived, the Palace, displaying a level of bloodthirstiness like never before, deployed scores of mighty warriors, embarking on a campaign to level every force that had not submitted.


    Following that, a wave of great battles surged across the entire Chaotic Sea Area.


    A disaster encompassing tens of thousands of miles throughout the Chaotic Sea Area began to unfold completely!


    This great war even shocked countless mighty beings from the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory located near the Chaotic Sea Area when they heard the news.


    The war even later reached the ears of the powerful beings within the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    But what no one knew was that this widespread and disastrous conflict spanning tens of thousands of miles was just the beginning.


    Once the entire Chaotic Sea Area was unified, the war would even extend into the Western Wilderness and the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    What everyone was even more unaware of, was that all of this was the grand scheme of a fifth tribulation True God!


    This True God, in order to unearth the grand secret, did not hesitate to plunge three vast territories into the throes of war. It was only in the chaos of war that others would remain oblivious to his actual plan!


    ...


    Ye Chen who was far in the Minor Pole Sky, could not possibly know that a great disaster was about to befall the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    He also had no clue that the subsequent development of this matter would reach a level beyond his wildest imagination, even to the extent that not even the Chixiao True God, who had orchestrated the conflict among three major powers, could have anticipated!


    At this moment, Ye Chen, along with all the warriors who had successfully passed the first trial, were flying towards the second cultivation site of the Minor Pole Sky¡ªthe Qianye Platform.

 Chapter 501 - 458 Green Spirit Bottle and Law Thunder Sea

    While flying, Ye Chen became curious about the second training ground, "Qianye Platform."


    At the first assessment location, "Myriad Dragon Cavern,"


    everyone saw only Ye Chen¡¯s astonishing assessment results, but what no one knew was that compared to the 3,969 assessment points he obtained, Ye Chen gained something even more significant.


    That is, on the third day of the assessment, after finally hunting three True God level real dragons, Ye Chen directly obtained True God level Dragon Blood!


    Furthermore, there was the "Dragon Heart Grass King" that had not been used yet and had caused a war of myriad dragons.


    The low-level dragon blood that Ye Chen had previously purified was no longer of much use; the Luminescent Child directly purified genuine True God level dragon blood for Ye Chen!


    Ultimately, after slaughtering over three thousand nine hundred true dragons, Ye Chen used the "True God level Dragon Blood" in the remaining four days to start cultivating the Undying Divine Body.


    In the prior month of the 88 secret room¡¯s physical cultivation, Ye Chen¡¯s Undying Divine Body already saw a huge increase in divine strength, and in combination with the foundational 810 forms of the Frozen Divine Body, his physical strength surged.


    And with the "True God level Dragon Blood," after four more days, Ye Chen truly completed the cultivation of the first volume of the Undying Divine Body.


    Ye Chen, thoroughly linked the Undying Divine Body with the "Undying Devil Vine Stars," drawing upon an immensely powerful physical strength from the Undying Devil Vines.


    After completing the cultivation of the first volume of the Undying Divine Body, Ye Chen began cultivating the second volume, starting with the Undying Factor.


    This Undying Factor has the amazing ability to recover fighting strength, and it is the key power that lets the Undying Divine Body showcase its might!


    Summarizing both the first training ground and the first assessment location, Ye Chen¡¯s gains in physical combat were definitely significant.


    This naturally made him extremely curious and anticipating towards the second and more precious "True Qi Cultivation" ground.


    Not just Ye Chen, but other martial artists who were flying with him to the second training ground were also very excited.


    At this time, after the first round of eliminations, over five thousand people remained to continue their cultivation at the second training ground.


    The little provincial princess, "Fang Luo," was by Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    Ever since Ye Chen¡¯s results far exceeded the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s, the little girl grew even more curious about Ye Chen and found excuses to talk to him.


    On the way to the second training ground, she flew alongside Ye Chen.


    This made the four young men, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin, both envious and jealous of Ye Chen.


    Each time the Little Provincial Princess spoke with Ye Chen, the four young men felt pained.


    At this moment, while flying towards the "Qianye Platform," the little princess was giggling as she said to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, you were the strongest among all of us in the previous three life sign tests."


    "When we go to ¡¯Qianye Platform¡¯ for cultivation, your gains will definitely be the greatest."


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s expression, it was obvious she was quite knowledgeable about Qianye Platform.


    From his conversation with Fang Hua, Ye Chen only knew about the general situations of several cultivation grounds, but even Fang Hua was not clear about the specific features of each ground.


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess appearing to know about the "Qianye Platform," Ye Chen looked at the white-clothed little girl beside him, who was only shoulder high and not yet fully grown but already resembled a beautiful young lady, and asked with a smile, "Little Provincial Princess, what exactly is the Qianye Platform used for in the cultivation of True Qi?"


    "Qianye Platform," said the Little Provincial Princess with rotating large eyes and shining black pupils looking at Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, the Qianye Platform is situated above a sea of laws."


    "In the past, the Heavenly Cloud Venerable traveled through countless realms and Star Continents, leaving opportunities for them to be transmitted to Minor Pole Sky and at the same time, collected the foundational Law Force of countless realms, placing it inside a Divine Artifact called the ¡¯Green Spirit Bottle.¡¯ Eventually, he refined a sea of laws from the Divine Artifact."


    "This Law Sea, containing the foundational Law Force from numerous realms, greatly aids in the cultivation of True Qi and law comprehension! Even my father has not gone through the trouble of collecting such a vast amount of foundational Law Force like Heavenly Cloud Venerable. That¡¯s why I specifically came here to cultivate and make up for the deficiencies in my True Qi and law comprehension."


    "Once you reach that Law Sea, Brother Ye Chen, you¡¯ll know how to cultivate. I heard it¡¯s very dangerous there, but it also offers great opportunities. Maybe Brother Ye Chen, if you persevere, you can make a breakthrough to the late Rotating Pill stage!"


    A breakthrough to the late Rotating Pill stage?!


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    One should know that going from the middle to the late Rotating Pill phase requires deeper comprehension of laws, which takes a considerable amount of time to achieve.


    Many cultivators in the Rotating Pill phase remained in the middle stage for hundreds of years, never succeeding in reaching the late phase until the end of their lifespan.


    Ye Chen was prepared to invest several years, or even over a decade, to earnestly strive for the late Rotating Pill phase.


    This was only possible after he had acquired countless secret treasures and insights for cultivation from the Five Elements Mountain.


    Ye Chen had not anticipated that, according to what Little Provincial Princess had said, the second cultivation area in Minor Pole Sky, Qianye Platform and Law Sea, could directly assist him in entering the later stages of Rotating Pill?


    Combining the danger mentioned by the Little Provincial Princess, with the need to persist, Ye Chen grew even more curious about the "Qianye Platform" that lay ahead.


    Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess conversed in low voices as they flew.


    As for the little lolita princess, Ye Chen had no particular thoughts; seeing that she had not yet fully matured, he merely regarded her as a little sister who had not grown up.


    However, the sight of their conversation, to others, stirred different thoughts in their minds.


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu was indeed happy to see the Little Provincial Princess and Ye Chen talking together.


    As for the four young descendants of the four great generals, Zhao Xin, Tian Li, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin, at this moment their hearts wailed in despair: "It¡¯s over, it¡¯s over, Ye Chen keeps showing his prowess, and the Little Provincial Princess no longer pays any attention to us."


    "Where on earth did this monster Ye Chen come from? He¡¯s definitely not like a warrior from a lower realm, he¡¯s even more powerful than us who have cultivated in the Divine Kingdom!"


    The lower realm warriors flying beside Ye Chen, such as Fang Hua and others, admired him greatly.


    Forget about gaining the favor of the Little Provincial Princess, they couldn¡¯t even talk to her with the ease and composure that Ye Chen had.


    This was the little daughter of the East Territory King of the Divine Kingdom!


    Among the top echelons of the truly powerful in the Divine Kingdom, the warriors from the lower realms feared even fearing her, let alone conversing with her so casually.


    Yet Ye Chen was totally indifferent about the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s status, casually chatting and joking with her, which required a tremendous inner strength!


    Of course, this earned him the profound admiration of the various warriors from the lower realm.


    With various thoughts in their minds, after leaving the "Infinity God Temple," the group headed westward toward the giant Cloud Summit Heavenly Palace city for about half an hour when they finally saw a sea of clouds on the west side of the city.


    Upon seeing this sea of clouds, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes widened in shock.


    At a glance, one could see endless Law Force light churning within the sea of clouds, and even standing several miles away from the sea of clouds, Ye Chen could feel the numerous Rotating Pills in his Qi Sea inside his body becoming lively.


    Such a rich Law Force!


    Such a powerful True Qi Land!


    Ye Chen also noticed, within the churning Law Force light of the sea of clouds, countless red, green, golden, and even black and purple lightning bolts, as thick as several meters or even tens of meters, incessantly cleaving down from the sky.


    The entire sea of clouds was, quite simply, a terrifying sea of thunder!


    Ye Chen took further notice of a huge, incredible green bottle suspended upside down in the sky above the Law Thunder Sea, its mouth pointed directly downwards.


    Streams of Law Force, like pouring seawater, were gushing down from this green bottle, converging into the Law Thunder Sea below.


    Even the countless thunderbolts striking above the Law Thunder Sea were spouting forth from this green bottle!


    "This green bottle must be an extraordinary Divine Artifact!"


    "Could this be the ¡¯Green Spirit Bottle¡¯ that the Little Provincial Princess spoke of, the Divine Artifact used by Heavenly Cloud Venerable to hold endless primal Law Force?"


    "And this terrifying sea of thunder, could it be the Law Sea of Qianye Platform that the Little Provincial Princess mentioned for our cultivation?"


    As Ye Chen pondered, he and the rest of the warriors, led by King Wu Can, King Thunder Cloud, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, continued toward the sea of thunder ahead.


    Within the Law Thunder Sea, giant stone platforms resembling leaves began to rise from the sea.


    These leaf-like stone platforms numbered in the thousands!


    Qianye Platform.


    Ye Chen instantly knew that these stone platforms must be the Qianye Platform where they would be cultivating.


    Ye Chen then saw a stunning beauty in blue, with long hair trailing down to her ankles and bare feet, rising with the platform, appearing amidst the Law Cloud Sea.

 Chapter 502 - 459: Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact

    "The woman is responsible for the second cultivation site and the second assessment contest, the Lan Xi God King,"


    When the stunningly beautiful woman in blue appeared, God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun, flying ahead, introduced her to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu beside them.


    In Minor Pole Sky cultivation, each segment has a dedicated person in charge.


    God King Lei Yun is responsible for receiving all the warriors coming to Minor Pole Sky, while God King Wucan is in charge of the first cultivation site and the first assessment contest.


    Now, this blue-dressed woman who suddenly appeared in the Cloud Sea of Laws was the person in charge of the second cultivation site.


    Hearing the words of God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu nodded with a light laugh.


    The long-haired, barefooted beauty "Lanxi" in blue, whose hair fell to her ankles, noticed Divine Venerable Hong Zhu at the very front of the crowd the moment she appeared.


    As a renowned Divine Venerable under the East Territory King, and as the person in charge of the second challenge in the Minor Pole Sky secret cultivation realm, Lan Xi God King of course recognized Divine Venerable Hong Zhu instantly.


    Whoosh!


    With a ripple in the void, Lan Xi God King appeared at the very front of the group, beside Divine Venerable Hong Zhu: "Lanxi pays respects to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu!"


    Lan Xi God King also noticed the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo next to Ye Chen in the group, and with a startle, she knelt before the Little Provincial Princess: "Are you... the Little Provincial Princess?!"


    Seeing this beautiful woman kneel, the surrounding warriors quickly stepped aside.


    They certainly did not dare to accept the salutations meant for a princess who could receive the respects of a god king.


    Ye Chen, too, stepped back.


    Seeing the respectful demeanor of Lan Xi God King, the Little Provincial Princess waved her small hand dismissively.


    "Alright, there¡¯s no need for such formalities. Please pass along the news of my coming to train to the subsequent cultivation sites, so that I need not be greeted this way upon arriving at each site," the Little Provincial Princess said with a giggle, then turned to Lan Xi God King, "Beautiful sister, are you in charge of the second cultivation site? Ye Chen has been eager to hear about how to cultivate there, so I¡¯ll need your help to tell us."


    Ye Chen?


    Upon hearing the name mentioned by the Little Provincial Princess, Lan Xi God King was taken aback.


    She recognized the Little Provincial Princess, but she had never heard of a Ye Chen.


    Was Ye Chen the descendant of a powerful family or a powerful being from the Divine Kingdom?


    When the Little Provincial Princess spoke and glanced towards the young man who¡¯d edged away beside her, Lan Xi God King was even more taken aback: "Is this young man Ye Chen?"


    "He looks as if he¡¯s from the Lower Realm. Why would the Little Provincial Princess bring up his name?"


    Of course, Lan Xi God King kept her doubts to herself.


    After hearing what the Little Provincial Princess said, Lan Xi God King quickly spoke up with a smile to the crowd: "Since the Little Provincial Princess has asked about the second cultivation site, I won¡¯t waste any more time and will explain to everyone how to cultivate in this place."


    As she spoke, Lan Xi God King led the group to the edge of the Law Thunder Sea, pointing at the incredibly large green bottle floating above, and said: "This green bottle at the very top is a ¡¯Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact¡¯ used by the venerable founder of Minor Pole Sky, the ¡¯Heavenly Cloud Venerable,¡¯ and it¡¯s called the ¡¯Green Spirit Bottle.¡¯"


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact?!


    Hearing this term, numerous martial artists were taken aback, even Ye Chen was somewhat surprised.


    From the Little Provincial Princess, he had already learned the name of this green bottle as the "Green Spirit Bottle", but the Little Provincial Princess only mentioned that it was a Divine Artifact used by Heavenly Cloud Venerable in the past to contain countless Fundamental Law Powers.


    It was the first time Ye Chen had heard of the appellation "Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact" among Divine Artifacts.


    Seeing the multitude of martial artists entirely puzzled, only the Little Provincial Princess and the four scions of the four great generals, namely Tian Li, Zhao Xin, and two others, seemed to be familiar with Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts. Lan Xi God King explained, "Divine Artifacts are of many types. Generally, the ones used by Void Sky True Gods are just ordinary Divine Artifacts, categorized into lower-grade, middle-grade, and upper-grade Divine Artifacts."


    "When it comes to the God King level, they use even more powerful Divine Artifacts; typically, they utilize higher-level ¡¯Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts¡¯."


    "At the Divine Venerable level, the Divine Artifacts they use are even more powerful. Some are even forged from countless stellar cores, possessing unimaginable great might. Such level of Divine Artifacts is known as ¡¯Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts¡¯."


    Void Sky True Gods mostly use ordinary Divine Artifacts.


    God Kings use higher-level Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts.


    And Divine Venerables can even use higher-level "Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts" forged from countless stellar cores!


    The words of Lan Xi God King left the martial artists of the Lower Realm astounded, and even many youths from the Divine Kingdom were hearing about Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts for the first time.


    They had never imagined that there were so many classifications of Divine Artifacts!


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, eh? Just the mention of being forged from countless stellar cores is enough to know how inconceivable they are.


    Ye Chen was also shocked.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that this "Green Spirit Bottle" would have such an extraordinary origin.


    Seeing everyone¡¯s astonished expressions, Lan Xi God King smiled and continued, "This ¡¯Green Spirit Bottle¡¯, precisely because it is a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, possesses great might. In the past, Heavenly Cloud Venerable used it to collect the Fundamental Law Power from countless subordinate celestial lands, all forged within this Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact."


    "Finally, a Law Sea was forged within the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact using countless Fundamental Law Powers."


    "That Law Sea is what you see in front of you, the Cloud Sea filled with lightning and Law radiance."


    Lan Xi God King pointed to the incredibly vast green bottle "Green Spirit Bottle" below, towards the Cloud Sea rolling with endless radiance of Laws, towards the myriad hues of lightning, and spoke slowly.


    Lan Xi God King further stated, "This Law Sea, because it was specially forged by a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact and has amalgamated countless celestial lands¡¯ different Fundamental Law Powers, eventually transformed into the Law Pathway."


    "Your second training location is specifically for cultivating True Qi and Laws. Regardless of whether you cultivate the five or the eight Heavenly Void Laws, or even more types of Heavenly Void Laws, you can cultivate all of them within the Law Sea ahead."


    "And the method of cultivation is to step onto the stone platforms ¡¯Qianye Platform¡¯ within the Law Sea, and withstand the bombardment of Law Spirit Thunder!"


    "When the Law Spirit Thunder strikes you, your Qi Sea will be attacked by the Law Spirit Thunder. As long as you can continuously withstand the bombardment, you will integrate countless Fundamental Law Powers into your Qi Sea, eventually aiding you in breaking through the Bottleneck of Laws and truly comprehending the Law Pathway!"


    "The second training site will last for one month."


    "The first step is choosing the Qianye Platform, the second step is to begin withstanding the strikes of Law Spirit Thunder. Once you can no longer withstand the bombardment and fall from the Qianye Platform into the Law Sea below, your cultivation will come to an end."


    "If you can withstand the bombardment of Law Spirit Thunder for an entire month, you will achieve the highest cultivation accomplishments at this site! It might even enable you to cultivate all your Laws to Great Perfection, helping you break through from the Rotating Pill Realm to the Heavenly Saint Realm! Moving from not having cultivated a particular Heavenly Void Law to Great Perfection in the Heavenly Saint Realm, to eventually reaching Great Perfection in all Heavenly Void Laws!"

 Chapter 503 - 460 Terrifying Law Spirit Thunder

    When it came to the Lan Xi God King¡¯s words, everyone¡¯s eyes shone brightly.


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    Their greatest purpose in coming to Minor Pole Sky was to enhance their strength. Here, they could directly improve their realm¡ªit naturally made everyone look forward with great anticipation!


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s heart was also pounding fiercely.


    The Little Provincial Princess had already told him that it was very likely that he could advance from the mid-phase of Rotating Pill to the later phase here, or even higher.


    Now that the Lan Xi God King had reiterated this, it certainly let Ye Chen know that this incredible feat of directly enhancing the True Qi realm was not mere fancy talk, but could truly happen.


    However, Ye Chen had also noticed the emphasis placed by the Lan Xi God King.


    The Lan Xi God King said that only by withstanding the bombardment of Law Spirit Thunder for an entire month could one achieve the highest cultivation gains in this place and possibly receive the greatest increase in their realm.


    But looking at the terrifying Law Spirit Thunders, some as thick as dozens of meters, constantly striking down over the Law Sea in a storm that made the whole world seem like a world of thunder, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t even stepped into it and knew how incredibly difficult it would be to persist in cultivation there.


    If one couldn¡¯t withstand the Law Spirit Thunder¡¯s assault and fell from Qianye Platform into the Law Sea below, it would mean the immediate end to this second phase of cultivation.


    If one didn¡¯t last a month, the gains in this place wouldn¡¯t be maximized, and it was very likely that they wouldn¡¯t amass enough Law Force to break through to a higher realm.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen took a deep breath, his eyes becoming resolute, "No matter what, I must persist in this sea of Law Spirit Thunder until I can no longer withstand, to see just how great the gains can be!"


    As Ye Chen¡¯s eyes grew determined, Fang Luo, the Little Provincial Princess beside him, also showed steely resolve for the first time.


    Among the three major life signs of little Luo¡¯er, it was the True Qi life sign that was the weakest. She needed to make up for this aspect of her cultivation. Now, finally arriving at the "Qianye Platform Law Sea" that she had long been interested in and even her father, the East Territory King, had praised immensely, she naturally cherished this opportunity to cultivate a hundredfold.


    It wasn¡¯t just Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess¡ªevery Martial Artist who was about to participate in the second phase of cultivation became both nervous and solemn.


    They knew the amount of cultivation opportunity they could gain in the second phase depended on how long they could persist in this sea of Law Spirit Thunder.


    Seeing everyone prepared and eager to enter and begin cultivating, the Lan Xi God King, after consulting with the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, finally announced the start of the one-month cultivation period for the second phase.


    "Now, begin your ¡¯True Qi cultivation¡¯!"


    "Start with the first step, the selection of Qianye Platforms."


    "You have seen, the Qianye Platforms are scattered throughout the Law Sea, numbering in the thousands; yet the ones closer to the top Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact ¡¯Green Spirit Bottle¡¯, hold even more abundant Law Force. Cultivating there can lead to greater achievements."


    "Of course, the Law Spirit Thunder there is also the most terrifying and formidable. You cannot resist this kind of Law Spirit Thunder with your flesh or Divine Soul techniques, but only with True Qi techniques can you withstand and assimilate this Law Force."


    "Therefore, choosing a precious Qianye Platform also means selecting one where you can withstand the bombardment of Law Spirit Thunder, which is something you need to consider."


    "Now, according to your ranking from the previous first phase of the assessment, proceed to select your Qianye Platforms in order!"


    After the Lan Xi God King spoke, she nodded towards the God King Wucan.


    With a smile, God King Wucan pointed to the void, and the "Extreme Heaven Spirit List" that had appeared during the first phase of the assessment trials emerged once again.


    The Lan Xi God King also curiously looked toward the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, wanting to see the ranking order of the Martial Artists who were about to choose their Qianye Platforms.


    When she saw the top few names on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List: "First place: Ye Chen; Second place: Fang Luo; Third place: Tian Li; Fourth place: Hu Lin..." the Lan Xi God King was suddenly stunned.


    She knew the second-ranking Fang Luo was the Little Provincial Princess.


    And even the ones behind¡ªTian Li, Hu Lin, Zhao Xin, and others¡ªshe knew them as the four junior youths under the East Territory King¡¯s four generals.


    But this first place, Ye Chen? Ye Chen from the lower-tier Celestial Spirit Star?


    The Lan Xi God King was utterly astounded to see that Ye Chen had surpassed the Little Provincial Princess and the four junior youths of the four generals.


    She could never have imagined that a youth from a lower-tier world could surpass the Little Provincial Princess!


    The Lan Xi God King also recalled that Ye Chen was the name the Little Provincial Princess had mentioned repeatedly earlier.


    While previously astonished about who had captured the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s attention, she now knew the reason: this youth had surpassed everyone in the physical trial, claiming the first place!


    At that thought, the devastatingly beautiful God King Lan Xi, with her long hair falling to her ankles and bare feet draped in blue, gazed intently at Ye Chen, who stood beside the Little Provincial Princess.


    She was very curious about how this Ye Chen had managed to take first place on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    "It seems it¡¯s time to inquire with God King Wucan about the first phase of cultivation and the assessment," she mused.


    Previously, Lan Xi God King hadn¡¯t been too concerned with the details of the first phase of the assessment. She was strictly responsible for this second phase of cultivation and the examination.


    ```


    But now, she was so eager to know how a martial artist from a lower realm could surpass everyone, especially when the competition included the presence of the Little Provincial Princess and the descendants of the four great generals, and still managed to secure first place.


    After Lan Xi God King finished speaking, her beautiful eyes surveyed Ye Chen, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s voice also reached all the martial artists who were about to train: "The second training opportunity is extremely rare, so you must grasp it well."


    "Now, proceed to choose your Qianye Platform according to the rankings," she said.


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu specifically spoke for the sake of the Little Provincial Princess. She smiled and said to Luo¡¯er, "Your father has allowed you to choose the core Qianye Platform for your training, so you mustn¡¯t fear the Law Spirit Thunder there. You have to persevere."


    The little Provincial Princess looked toward the core area of Qianye Platform, at the several platforms located beneath the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, the Green Spirit Bottle, with some worry in her eyes.


    There, indeed, as Lan Xi God King had said, was the most precious training spot, directly underneath the endless Law Forces pouring into the Law Sea from the Green Spirit Bottle.


    But the Law Spirit Thunder there was also the most terrifying; almost all the thick and fearsome lightning, dozens of feet in diameter, converged in that area.


    The Little Provincial Princess took a deep breath and then looked at Ye Chen: "Brother Ye Chen, which Qianye Platform will you choose?"


    Ye Chen glanced at the little loli, who was only twelve years old and barely reached his shoulder, and smiled at her, "I will train in the most central area. Since the Little Provincial Princess is also going there, then we can both persevere together and see who can withstand the Law Spirit Thunder for a longer time."


    Ye Chen had already planned to choose the most central Qianye Platform for his training; even though it was extremely dangerous, the opportunity there was greatest, and he didn¡¯t want to pass it up.


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s somewhat fearful look, and after hearing Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words, Ye Chen secretly encouraged her.


    Knowing that Ye Chen was also going to train in the most central area, the little loli felt slightly relieved.


    She didn¡¯t want to be the only one choosing to train in the most fearsome place while others were too scared to go there.


    With Ye Chen accompanying her, and his proposal to see who could last longer under the Law Spirit Thunder, the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s competitive nature helped her to overcome her fear.


    "Brother Ye Chen, then let¡¯s have a competition. I hope we can both withstand the Law Spirit Thunder for a whole month and gain the greatest harvest!" Fang Luo¡¯s eyes even showed a spirit of eagerness to try.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After Lan Xi God King and God King Hong Zhu successively announced it was time to start training, and after Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess had their conversation, the rumbling of Spirit Thunder above the Law Sea became even more thunderous.


    It was as if urging those martial artists about to enter for training, to hasten into it.


    Then, after nodding to the Little Provincial Princess and Fang Hua, Ye Chen was the first to step out.


    He was ranked first on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, so of course, he was to choose his Qianye Platform first.


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes looked toward the deepest part of the Sea of Law Spirits ahead, at the huge leaf-shaped Qianye Platform, dozens of feet in diameter, directly beneath the Green Spirit Bottle.


    Then, Ye Chen took a deep breath, his eyes sparkling with a sharp light, and in an instant, he flew toward the vast Law Sea ahead.


    Rumble! Boom! Boom!


    As soon as Ye Chen entered the Law Sea, as if sensing someone had come in, the Law Spirit Thunder slashing down from the skies above the sea became even more fearsome, nearly tearing the heavens apart. Like dazzling sword lights, the Spirit Thunder immediately targeted Ye Chen with a barrage of strikes.


    Before even reaching the Qianye Platform, since he couldn¡¯t absorb the Law Force from these Law Spirit Thunders, Ye Chen naturally would not waste time and energy confronting them.


    Amidst the bombardment of Spirit Thunder, the 405 Five Apertures Rotating Pills he had cultivated during this time all violently shook, and his speed instantly soared to an unbelievable level.


    In a flash, he evaded countless slashes of Law Spirit Thunder aimed at him and rocketed towards the innermost region of the Law Sea.


    In mere moments, Ye Chen had flown over a dozen miles amidst the bombardment of Spirit Thunder!


    Not a single thunderbolt hit him.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s movement technique, Lan Xi God King, witnessing his capability for the first time, her beautiful eyes brightened: "Such a powerful movement technique!"


    "This youngster is only in the middle stage of Rotating Pill, but his movement technique is even stronger than those in the late stage of Heavenly Saint!"


    "He truly deserves his first place on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List!"


    Amidst Lan Xi God King¡¯s admiration, Ye Chen flew dozens of miles further, penetrating deep into the Law Sea¡¯s most central area.


    There, it was a world of Law Spirit Thunder.


    There, the thunder rolling and slashing across heaven and earth was denser, thicker, and more terrifying than outside!


    Tearing the void and raging to the extreme, the dozens of feet thick and horrifying Spirit Thunder were commonplace there! They even frequently interweaved and slashed together!


    ```

 Chapter 504 - 461 Crossing the Sea of Lightning

    At this moment, Ye Chen could no longer completely avoid the Spirit Thunder with his movement technique; it was simply not possible. The dense barrage of Spirit Thunder could only be resisted with various means.


    Facing the terrifying purple Spirit Thunder, which tore through the void and slashed down furiously, thick as dozens of feet, Ye Chen looked up and his eyes shone brightly as he unleashed all Five Great Divine Arts.


    Instantly, the light of fire, gold, water, wood, and earth, the glow of the Five Great Law Divine Skills, enveloped Ye Chen¡¯s entire body.


    The endless Divine Art power on Ye Chen surged to the skies, even stirring up hundreds of feet high.


    In the end, this sky-scorching terrifying Divine Art power directly clashed against the horrifying Spirit Thunder that struck from the heavens and earth.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The entire core area echoed with the explosive sounds of colliding True Qi.


    Amidst the explosive sounds, Ye Chen, with Divine Art power that continued to surge skyward without weakening in the slightest against the terrifying Spirit Thunder, kept rushing towards the Qianye Platform he had set his sights on.


    As Ye Chen surged forward at extreme speed, even more Law Spirit Thunder fell like a torrential downpour, bombarding him relentlessly.


    And at this time, Ye Chen even employed a Swordsmanship Divine Art, the "Great Five Elements Sword Light", in addition to the Five Great Divine Arts.


    Sword light interwove with thunder light.


    It caused the depths of the Law Sea to surge with countless rays of light that cut through the void!


    Nearer and nearer.


    With all his techniques deployed, Ye Chen drew closer and closer to the Qianye Platform that was directly below the "Green Spirit Bottle".


    Finally, with a long howl, bursting with True Qi, he completely landed in the center of the Qianye Platform that stretched dozens of feet in radius.


    "Ye Chen has succeeded!"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen traverse the vast sea of thunder and enter the most core area, all the martial artists exclaimed in shock.


    The Lan Xi God King, Wucan God King, Lei Yun God King, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s eyes sparkled even more brightly.


    From Ye Chen¡¯s straightforward move, these powerhouses had already seen an unbelievable True Qi power and techniques on him.


    For a martial artist from a lower realm to possess such True Qi power and skills at the mid-stage of Rotating Pill Realm was astonishing even to the experienced powerhouses of the Divine Kingdoms.


    Especially Ye Chen¡¯s Five Great Divine Arts of metal, wood, water, fire, and earth, they gave these powerhouses an inexplicable feeling.


    These formidable beings sensed that even if Ye Chen had not yet cultivated these Five Great Divine Arts to their limits, they were already inconceivably powerful. If he did master them completely, it was quite possible that Ye Chen could sweep away all the Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses!


    Of course, this was incredibly shocking to them!


    "Brother Ye Chen has succeeded."


    "He really chose the most central Qianye Platform."


    Seeing Ye Chen fly onto the Qianye Platform right beneath the Green Spirit Bottle, Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo¡¯s eyes also lit up, "Now it¡¯s my turn to choose."


    She promptly stood up.


    After nodding her little head to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and the three Divine Kings, she fixed her gaze on a Qianye Platform right beside where Ye Chen was.


    Another massive stone platform directly below the Green Spirit Bottle.


    Then, with a flicker of her body, Little Fang Luo also shot into the Law Sea in an instant.


    Unlike Ye Chen, who resisted the Law Spirit Thunder with True Qi movement skills and techniques, Little Provincial Princess had no intention of resisting, as it was not yet time to absorb the Law Force within the thunder while outside the Qianye Platform.


    Ding! Ding! Ding!


    The instant Little Provincial Princess flew into the Law Sea, three small bronze bells flew out from her body.


    These three bells, only the size of a palm, immediately started orbiting around Little Provincial Princess once they flew out. The bells jingled gently, emitting a hazy light that shrouded her entire being.


    Once the hazy light from the three bells enveloped Little Provincial Princess, even the wildly raging Law Spirit Thunder in the Law Sea could not get within inches of her.


    Clearly, these three bells were incredibly top-tier treasures!


    If it weren¡¯t for the requirement to endure the strikes of Law Spirit Thunder for final cultivation, Little Provincial Princess wouldn¡¯t need to fear the Law Spirit Thunder within the Law Sea at all with these three bells.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Under the protection of the three bells, Little Provincial Princess was literally without any danger, instantly landing on the Qianye Platform that was a little over ten feet away from Ye Chen and to his immediate left.


    Ye Chen was seated in meditation on the Qianye Platform, looking at the three bells fluttering around Little Provincial Princess, and felt a slight shock in his heart.


    Having reached the Qianye Platform himself, the first step of selecting the platform had ended. The second step of officially beginning cultivation under the bombardment of Law Force had not started yet, and the Law Spirit Thunder had stopped bombarding him.


    He was of course very aware of Little Provincial Princess¡¯s approach.


    Ye Chen could clearly see the miraculous nature of these three bells.


    Seeing Ye Chen look over, the Little Provincial Princess giggled, retracted the three bells, which landed on her fair, delicate palm, dimming their light.


    "Brother Ye Chen, I¡¯ve come over too," the Little Provincial Princess called out to Ye Chen. "These three bells are a set of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, called the ¡¯Xuni Bells.¡¯ They can withstand attacks from True Qi and can also resist physical and Divine Soul attacks."


    Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    It¡¯s something that Divine King Level beings frequently use, a level above ordinary Divine Artifacts!


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel moved, the Little Provincial Princess, being the daughter of the East Territory King, could use Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts so casually.


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant that he obtained from the sub-palace of the Icebound Temple was merely a high-grade Divine Artifact and didn¡¯t reach the level of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts.


    Probably only by entering the main hall of the Icebound Temple and truly obtaining the legacy of the Ice-Seal Divine King could he possibly obtain one or two Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts.


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t feel too envious of the Little Provincial Princess.


    He had two treasures on him that the Little Provincial Princess would probably be extremely envious of if she saw them. Discover hidden tales at novelhall.Co?m


    That is, the Primordial Star Scripture and the Stars Divine Tower containing the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Ye Chen had a premonition that the Primordial Star Scripture was a miraculous Cultivation Technique that absolutely surpassed the Divine Venerable Level.


    As for the Stars Divine Tower, Ye Chen knew even more that within it surged countless starlights, as if housing an entire starry universe, undoubtedly stronger than the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Green Spirit Bottle" above his head and far surpassing ordinary Divine Artifacts and Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts.


    In contemplating the one who left behind the Primordial Star Scripture and the Starlight Tower, the Zi Ji Star Lord, Ye Chen reckoned that his status was much higher than that of the East Territory King, and it was even very likely stronger than the ruler of the entire Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    Possessing these two amazing objects, Ye Chen naturally did not envy the Little Provincial Princess.


    What he needed to do was to make good use of these two treasures to strengthen himself and, at the same time, take advantage of other cultivation opportunities to grow stronger.


    One day in the future, Ye Chen wished to meet the East Territory King, the ruler of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, and even the Zi Ji Star Lord who left him the Primordial Star Scripture, to ask why he received such a treasure!


    After Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess consecutively selected their Qianye Platforms, all the other people followed suit according to their rankings, each choosing their Qianye Platforms.


    After the Little Provincial Princess, it was Tian Li¡¯s turn to choose.


    Tian Li initially wanted to resist the pervasive Law Spirit Thunder with his techniques just like Ye Chen, flying directly to one of the Qianye Platforms beside the Little Provincial Princess in the deepest area.


    But when he really used his techniques to confront the pervasive Law Spirit Thunder, Tian Li realized just how formidable these Law Spirit Thunders were.


    Even after he penetrated into the deepest area, he was struck by five Law Spirit Thunders, each dozens of meters thick, that sent him flying hundreds of meters away. If he hadn¡¯t quickly activated a magical treasure to defend against the Law Spirit Thunders, he would have almost dropped into the Law Sea, getting eliminated before he even started cultivating!


    This incident scared Tian Li into a cold sweat!


    It also surprised the countless Martial Artists watching him choose the Qianye Platforms by the side of the Law Sea.


    At that moment, these Martial Artists and Tian Li remembered that in the previous three Signs of Life tests, Ye Chen was far ahead of everyone in True Qi Life Vital Sign, very close to the Heavenly Saint Realm of Great Perfection.


    Just because Ye Chen could withstand the Law Spirit Thunder and fly straight in didn¡¯t mean that others could withstand it.


    In the end, Tian Li finally reached the Qianye Platform beside the Little Provincial Princess by relying on a treasure.


    This situation left Tian Li, who had wanted to show off in front of the Little Provincial Princess, with a somewhat flushed face.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After Tian Li made his selection, all the others consecutively chose their Qianye Platforms.


    From those thousands of Martial Artists stepping into the Law Sea did they realize the horror of the Law Spirit Thunder that struck down from the sky and how miraculous it was for Ye Chen to penetrate to the core area without any treasures.


    Boom!


    One late-stage Heavenly Saint Martial Artist also tried to fly deeper to get closer to the Green Spirit Bottle and choose a more precious Qianye Platform; however, three terrifying Law Spirit Thunders instantly shattered his Protective True Qi, and even one of his defensive treasures was directly destroyed.


    In a hurry, the late-stage Heavenly Saint Martial Artist landed on a nearby Qianye Platform, narrowly escaping the crisis.


    Even after settling down, his face was pale with fright.


    Rumble!


    Another mid-stage Heavenly Saint Martial Artist, in his determination to choose a more valuable Qianye Platform, was instantly struck by five huge bolts of Law Spirit Thunder, each dozens of meters thick, and was directly blasted a thousand meters away, spitting out a mouthful of blood. He ended up falling into the Law Sea.


    And the moment he fell into the Law Sea, a burst of light swept him up and returned him to the edge of the Law Sea, next to the other Martial Artists.


    The Lanxi God King, who presided over the second cultivation site, then declared, "Falling into the Law Sea means the end of this second cultivation opportunity. Stay on the shore, and after everyone else¡¯s cultivation is over, you can participate in the second assessment to see if you can get the next cultivation opportunity."


    Before the second cultivation session even began, the chance to cultivate was directly lost.


    Seeing this, those who were picking their Qianye Platforms later all showed shocked expressions and ended up picking platforms they could bear, slightly further away from the Green Spirit Bottle.


    AfPicking precious Qianye Platforms was important, but not losing the opportunity to cultivate was even more crucial!


    Eventually, apart from three Martial Artists who fell into the Law Sea during the process of choosing their Qianye Platforms and thus lost their cultivation opportunity, all the remaining Martial Artists selected their respective Qianye Platforms.


    And at this point, the Lanxi God King finally announced that the second step of True Qi cultivation in the Qianye Platforms was officially starting!

 Chapter 505 - 462: The Great Impact! The Great Transformation!

    Countless Law Forces streamed down from the "Green Spirit Bottle," a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact suspended high in the void, flowing into the Law Sea below.


    The Law Sea glimmered with the radiance of Laws, and the Law Pathway¡¯s water waves flowed.


    Over five thousand martial artists, scattered around the numerous Qianye Platforms floating above the Law Sea with the "Green Spirit Bottle" at their center.


    And there, at the very heart of these Qianye Platforms, were Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, Tian Li, and others!


    The moment Lanxi God King declared that the True Qi cultivation on Qianye Platform had officially begun, the Law Spirit Thunder that had not yet struck the Qianye Platforms surged violently forth, slashing towards everyone once more.


    This time, it was not the same as the earlier Law Spirit Thunder during the selection and cultivation on Qianye Platform.


    Previously, during the crossing of the Thunder Sea, the slashing of the Law Spirit Thunder was merely a test for their selection of the Qianye Platforms and did not enable these martial artists to cultivate True Qi.


    But now, as they truly entered the second step of cultivation, the Law Spirit Thunder that struck them¡ªemerging not just from the "Green Spirit Bottle," but also nurtured within the endless Law Pathway waves of the Law Sea, rising into the void.


    These Law Spirit Thunders contained endless True Qi Power and Law Forces.


    As long as you could withstand the impact of a single Law Spirit Thunder, numerous Fundamental Law Powers from within the Law Spirit Thunder could be absorbed into the Qi Sea to aid in cultivating True Qi, the Laws, and breaking through realms.


    Upon hearing Lanxi God King¡¯s voice declaring the beginning of cultivation and seeing the endless rolling Law Spirit Thunder, a gleam sparked in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes as he stared directly at the Law Spirit Thunder slashing towards him.


    "These Law Spirit Thunders are not just tests but opportunities!" he thought.


    "As long as I can withstand their onslaught, my True Qi Combat Power will keep soaring!"


    "With that in mind, let them come!"


    Ye Chen instantly rose from his seated position, boldly facing the barrage of Law Spirit Thunder.


    At the same time, he swept his sleeve, and various treasures appeared on the Qianye Platform in front of him.


    Among these treasures were the "Virtual Gold Holy Spirit Fruit" and other five-elemental Treasures that Ye Chen had obtained from a major auction, which were beneficial to the cultivation of the Five Great Divine Arts.


    There were also the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit," which greatly aided in harmonizing the Five Great Law Forces obtained from the Five Elements Mountain, and the "Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid" for restoring True Qi and other Treasures he had found in the Divine Heritage Cave.


    Preparing to begin True Qi cultivation, Ye Chen laid out these Treasures in advance.


    As Ye Chen readied himself to withstand the onslaught of Law Spirit Thunder and begin cultivating True Qi Techniques, a massive cyan thunderbolt, like an immense python, burst out directly above him from the "Green Spirit Bottle." It then transformed into a terrifyingly large serpent that struck down swiftly towards the top of Ye Chen¡¯s head.


    This cyan thunderbolt, over twenty meters thick, was like a thunderstorm sweeping ferociously towards him.


    Seeing this cyan thunderbolt, Ye Chen was not panicked but rather pleased.


    During the previous crossing of the Thunder Sea, he had faced even more terrifying Law Spirit Thunder; this thunderbolt, he feared not. Ye Chen was eager to see what kind of Law Forces this thunderbolt would bestow upon him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the thunderbolt struck Ye Chen. He did not use the Five Great Divine Arts to shatter it but let it touch his body at the very moment, causing the four hundred and five Five Apertures Rotating Pills within his Qi Sea to tremble, their Divine Pill Law Patterns all flashing.


    Ye Chen intended to endure the thunderbolt¡¯s power with his body!


    As the cyan thunderbolt thundered into Ye Chen¡¯s body, he felt a surging force nearly bursting his Qi Sea, swiftly merging into it.


    Within this cyan thunderbolt was an unbelievable amount of Wood Element Law Pathway and Wood Element True Qi.


    Others would dare not directly absorb the power of the Spirit Thunder, but Ye Chen cultivated the "Taiyuan Chapter," the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, and he needed to cultivate as many as nine hundred and ninety-nine Taiyuan Divine Pills before fusing them into one.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, whether in terms of the number of Rotating Pills or their quality, far surpassed countless others, even exceeding numerous Heavenly Saints.


    He had enough confidence to withstand the thunderbolt¡¯s strike.


    As the cyan thunderbolt¡¯s incredible Wood Element True Qi and Wood Element Law Pathway entered Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, the four hundred and five Five Apertures Rotating Pills within absorbed these forces. At the same time, new Five Apertures Rotating Pills materialized amidst the spreading Starry Fog within his Qi Sea and the disturbance of the Law Spirit Thunder¡¯s True Qi, popping into existence with "pop, pop, pop."


    Four hundred and six! Four hundred and seven!


    This single thunderbolt increased the number of Rotating Pills within Ye Chen¡¯s body to a total of four hundred and thirteen.


    Although most of these Rotating Pills were condensed with the help of the preexisting Starry Fog within the Qi Sea, for otherwise it would be impossible to form perfect Five Apertures Rotating Pills.


    But their rapid formation was greatly aided by this thunderbolt¡¯s Law Spirit Thunder.


    Before Ye Chen could even rejoice, more thunderbolts, one after another, continued to slash down towards him.


    These thunderbolts varied in type; there were fire-red ones resembling flames of the Fire Element Law Thunder, and even gold shimmering golden thunderbolts!


    While enduring these thunderbolt strikes, Ye Chen inhaled deeply, drawing several "Void Sky Quintessence Fruits" into his Qi Sea to start harmonizing the five major Virtual Heavenly Law Forces surging into him.


    When faced with a more terrifying thunderbolt strike that he simply could not assimilate, Ye Chen no longer resisted with his body but used the increasingly powerful Five Great Divine Arts Techniques to shatter these Law Spirit Thunders and to absorb the manageable forces.


    Ye Chen truly entered the state of True Qi cultivation within this Law Sea.


    While Ye Chen was cultivating, the Little Lolita Princess seated next to him also entered into a state of cultivation.


    The Little Provincial Princess, only twelve years old and yet to reach maturity, was merely at the early stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    But as she entered cultivation, she became incredibly serious, watching the Law Spirit Thunder slashing down towards her from the sky with her little face, like Ye Chen, she also activated countless Treasure Refining items.


    The Little Provincial Princess came from the East Province, the youngest daughter of the East Territory King and his most cherished child.


    Her specific trip to the Minor Pole Sky for cultivation was to better compensate for the weakness in her True Qi, a sign of life; naturally, the East Territory King prepared countless treasures for her.


    Any one of these treasures, if taken to a lower realm, would be enough to incite frantic looting from countless people.


    Yet, in front of the Little Provincial Princess, she used them as if they were common items.


    In addition to the Treasure Refining items, the Little Provincial Princess also produced many treasures capable of withstanding the bombardment of Law Spirit Thunder; apart from the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact "Xuni Bell," the Little Provincial Princess also used other magical treasures to disperse and absorb the power of the Spirit Thunder.


    With the assistance of the magical treasures and use of the Treasure Refining items, the Little Provincial Princess also entered a state of cultivation.


    Unlike Ye Chen, who cultivated the five great Heavenly Void Laws, the Little Provincial Princess cultivated a method of True Qi Law different from the thirty-three continents, one of the nine great Heavenly Void Laws.


    Among these, there were even the Ice Element Heavenly Void Law and the Thunder and Lightning Heavenly Void Law.


    The Law Spirit Thunder, which cleaved towards the Little Provincial Princess, also included Ice Element Law Thunder and Thunder and Lightning Law Thunder.


    The Sea of Laws was indeed a marvelous Law Pathway, created by Lord Yun who used the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Green Spirit Bottle" to collect the Fundamental Law Power of countless continents within the Starry Fog.


    It could even generate different kinds of Law Spirit Thunder to strike the cultivating martial artists, depending on their unique cultivation in Heavenly Void Laws.


    Truly a Divine Marvel.


    Not only Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, but all the more than five thousand martial artists on the thousands of Qianye Platforms entered the state of True Qi Cultivation.


    Naturally, many of these people couldn¡¯t cultivate as effortlessly as Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess.


    In their struggle against Law Spirit Thunder, they suffered immensely, yet when they sensed the Law Force entering their bodies, they were also immensely overjoyed.


    In the midst of suffering and joy, they were also enhancing their strength.


    Of course, there were martial artists who, from the start, couldn¡¯t withstand the sudden and immense force of the Law Spirit Thunder; after several attacks, they were directly blasted off the Qianye Platform into the Sea of Laws.


    In the end, they were swept back to the edge of the Sea of Laws, ending their opportunity to cultivate, eliminated from the proceedings.


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    At the edge of the Sea of Laws, as day by day of cultivation went by, the number of eliminated martial artists increased.


    Following elimination, these martial artists could only stand beside figures like Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, Lan Xi God King, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun to watch others cultivate.


    Meanwhile, the gazes of shore-side powerhouses like Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, Lan Xi God King, and others, were almost entirely fixed on the Little Provincial Princess, and also, on Ye Chen.


    Only occasionally would their Divine Eye shift to look at the four juniors of the four Great Generals.


    As for those young people from the Divine Kingdoms and the martial artists from the lower realms, the number of times they managed to catch the attention of these strong individuals was countable on one¡¯s fingers.


    One month of Qianye Platform cultivation in the Sea of Laws, time continued to pass.


    When ten days of cultivation time had passed, more than five thousand martial artists who entered the Sea of Laws were reduced to over three thousand.


    When over twenty days had passed, only more than one thousand remained.


    And by the time the last seven days arrived, within the Sea of Laws, only about a dozen people were still cultivating on the Qianye Platform!


    Among these dozen, aside from Ye Chen, all the martial artists from the lower realm had been eliminated; even Fang Hua, whom Ye Chen knew well, couldn¡¯t withstand the bombardment of the Law Spirit Thunder on the eighteenth day and was eliminated.


    The remaining dozen included only Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, the four juniors of the four Great Generals - Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, Hu Lin - and a few young people from the Divine Kingdoms, still persevering.


    At the edge of the Sea of Laws.


    Fang Hua gazed at Ye Chen, who was still cultivating on the Qianye Platform in the deepest part, and felt emotional, "I only cultivated for eighteen days, and I¡¯ve gained so much that even the three Laws that were always my weakness have greatly improved, my realm¡¯s bottleneck has started to loosen, and there are even signs of a breakthrough."


    "The deeper into the cultivation of the Sea of Laws, the greater the gains. Ye Chen has been cultivating on the core, most precious Qianye Platform for so long, his gains must be tens or even hundreds of times greater than mine."


    "Under such circumstances, he hasn¡¯t yet made a breakthrough to the latter stage of the Rotating Pill? How can a single minor realm increase accommodate so much power?!"


    Fang Hua was shocked.


    The well-informed him knew that Ye Chen must be cultivating a tremendously powerful and incomprehensible Cultivation Technique.


    While Fang Hua was shocked, his guess was very accurate; Ye Chen had now truly entered a major breakthrough and transformative process.


    Although it seemed Ye Chen was trying to break through from the intermediate to the latter stage of the Rotating Pill, he was also cultivating the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Taiyuan Chapter. Just to cultivate a Taiyuan Divine Pill, he had to first cultivate a total of nine hundred and ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills.


    And now, after twenty-three days of cultivation, the number of Five Apertures Rotating Pills in Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea had astonishingly reached nine hundred and ninety-eight!

 Chapter 506 - 463 The Final Step

    During these twenty-three days of cultivation, Ye Chen had absorbed the power of countless Law Spirit Thunders, greatly increasing not only the quantity of his True Qi but also his mastery over True Qi Laws.


    His cultivation of the Taiyuan Divine Pill was only one pill away from reaching the level of "Extreme Realm Dispersion" for nine hundred ninety-nine Rotating Pills, as required by the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Taiyuan Chapter".


    At that time, as long as he combined these nine hundred ninety-nine Rotating Pills into one, he would be able to transform the Extreme Realm Dispersion Rotating Pills into an "Extreme Realm Fusion", resulting in the unique "Taiyuan Divine Pill"!


    If so, Ye Chen would be able to thoroughly complete the internal skill cultivation requirements of the "Taiyuan Chapter" of the Taiyuan Divine Pill!


    Just then, a blue Law Spirit Thunder, eight zhang thick, hurtled directly towards Ye Chen. Explore new worlds at novelhall.Co?m


    Ye Chen knew that this Law Spirit Thunder would help him to completely finish the cultivation of the nine hundred ninety-nine Rotating Pills!


    "Bring it on!"


    Above the Qianye Platform, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes fixed on the blue Law Spirit Thunder. His entire body even burst forth from the platform, directly meeting the Law Spirit Thunder.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the Law force of the Spirit Thunder struck Ye Chen, penetrating into his Qi Sea.


    In that moment, Ye Chen was suspended in the void.


    Even the myriad Law Spirit Thunders unconsciously avoided Ye Chen, who was in the void.


    Clearly, Ye Chen was in an extraordinarily remarkable state at this time.


    Looking inward at Ye Chen¡¯s body, it was even more apparent that under the infusion of this new Law Spirit Thunder force, the Starry Fog within Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, once again attracted a large amount of the Spirit Thunder¡¯s Law force, eventually beginning to congeal into a Rotating Pill.


    After several breaths, beside the nine hundred ninety-eight Rotating Five Apertures Pills floating in Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, the nine hundred ninety-ninth Rotating Five Apertures Pill took its complete form!


    Having prepared the nine hundred ninety-nine Extreme Realm Dispersion Rotating Pills required for the "Taiyuan Divine Pill", Ye Chen immediately began to follow the cultivation method of the "Taiyuan Chapter" to fuse these disperse Rotating Pills into one, launching an assault towards the unique "Taiyuan Divine Pill".


    While Ye Chen operated the Primordial Star Scripture¡¯s Taiyuan Chapter cultivation method, all of the Law Spirit Thunders in the sky retreated from his vicinity.


    This scene, observed from the edge of the Law Sea by the four major powerhouses who had been keeping an eye on Ye Chen, took them by surprise.


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, Lan Xi God King, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun all felt a shock in their hearts.


    Being Divine Venerables and God Kings, their insights were naturally exceptional.


    At this time, they could clearly see that Ye Chen was cultivating an unusual True Qi Technique.


    "Indeed, a youth who could reach such a height must have extraordinary fortune," they thought.


    The four powerhouses had already speculated that Ye Chen¡¯s ascent from the lower realm and his significant strength must be due to some fortuitous opportunity.


    As beings at the level of God King Venerables, they too had encountered innumerable opportunities in the past, otherwise, they would never have reached their current status.


    They recognized that Ye Chen also possessed his own fortunes.


    This kind of fortune was likely related to the cultivation of the Rotating Pill Realm and the mastery of True Qi Laws!


    "He might very well be on the verge of breaking through to the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm!" Divine Venerable Hong Zhu sighed, "Luo¡¯er successfully stepped from the early to the middle stage of the Rotating Pill Realm three days ago. Now, Ye Chen is also about to attempt a realm breakthrough."


    In these twenty-plus days, many martial artists had successfully broken through their realms with the infusion of the Law Spirit Thunder¡¯s power.


    Now, seeing the surge of True Qi around Ye Chen¡¯s body, these few powerhouses knew that Ye Chen was also on the verge of a True Qi Realm breakthrough.


    What these powerhouses were unaware of was that beneath the Starry Fog within Ye Chen¡¯s body, a place even they could not observe, there lay nine hundred ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills.


    At this time, Ye Chen was not only on the cusp of a breakthrough in the True Qi Realm, but a greater achievement was in the offing: his breakthrough in the cultivation method of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Under the watchful eyes of countless onlookers, Ye Chen, who was suspended in the void, reached into the void with his hands, and unimaginable True Qi Power from within his Qi Sea began to surge throughout his body.


    In the midst of the surging True Qi, the nine hundred ninety-nine Rotating Five Apertures Pills in Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea boiled even more intensely.


    They began to pulsate wildly!


    This was the manifestation of the pills being driven by the "Taiyuan Chapter" cultivation mantra.


    And at the next moment, as the cultivation mantra of the Taiyuan Chapter flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind, the nine hundred ninety-nine Rotating Pills floating in his Qi Sea started to collide frenetically.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    With each collision, one Five Apertures Rotating Pill disappeared, merging two pills into one.


    The merged pill immediately not only bore the original five apertures and five Divine Pill Law Patterns but also began to sparkle with twinkling starlight.


    After all nine hundred ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills had collided once, all of the pills merged upon impact, and finally, they merged into a single pill.


    This pill was still a Five Apertures Rotating Pill.


    However, unlike other martial artists¡¯ Five Apertures Rotating Pills, Ye Chen¡¯s pill was covered with countless sparkles of starlight.


    This is not an ordinary Five Apertures Rotating Pill, but the Taiyuan Divine Pill that Ye Chen had cultivated by practicing the Primordial Star Scripture "Taiyuan Chapter"!


    Within the starlight that covered the Taiyuan Divine Pill, Ye Chen even felt the presence of a vast and incomparable cave heaven.


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen simply could not enter the interior of this starlight.


    Even though he couldn¡¯t enter, just by gazing at the starlight, Ye Chen sensed that the power of this unified "Taiyuan Divine Pill" was absolutely far greater than the sum of the scattered nine hundred and ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills from before.


    Ye Chen felt that, just based on the power of the True Qi Rotating Pill alone, he could absolutely sweep away any existence at the Heavenly Saint level!


    While Ye Chen had not yet had the chance to carefully observe this newly formed "Taiyuan Divine Pill," another breakthrough, triggered by the Taiyuan Divine Pill, also suddenly arrived.


    This breakthrough was a breakthrough in the True Qi Realm.


    Over these twenty or so days, Ye Chen had absorbed countless Law Pathways, which had already demonstrated the levels of the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws numerous times in his mind.


    And now, it was time for these Law levels to break through to the late Rotating Pill stage!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" formed inside Ye Chen, the surging True Qi inside and outside his body suddenly reversed into the Qi Sea Taiyuan Divine Pill, and at the same time, the Law Spirit Thunder in the Void Heaven that originally avoided Ye Chen was once again drawn back towards Ye Chen with lightning strikes.


    This time, the lightning strikes were those associated with a leap in Realm.


    As if twenty or more Law Spirit Thunders struck together, Ye Chen, surrounded by a circle of Law Spirit Thunder, saw the Five Great Divine Patterns on the Taiyuan Divine Pill in his Qi Sea¡ªGold Element Divine Pattern, Wood Element Divine Pattern, Water Element Divine Pattern, Fire Element Divine Pattern, and Earth Element Divine Pattern¡ªall flash.


    Finally, these Divine Patterns absorbed all twenty or so Law Spirit Thunders onto the Taiyuan Divine Pill.


    This time, Ye Chen¡¯s Taiyuan Divine Pill did not expand but rather shrank down to the size of a walnut, and because it had shrunk, the power inside became even more concentrated and powerful.


    It even caused the Five Great Divine Patterns on the Taiyuan Divine Pill to flash nine times in rapid succession.


    Law infusion!


    Rotating Pill Nine Flashes!


    This undoubtedly signified that Ye Chen had simultaneously brought all five of the Great Heavenly Void Laws to the Great Accomplishment level, thoroughly cultivating his True Qi Realm to the late stage of the Rotating Pill.


    Late-stage Rotating Pill.


    From now on, Ye Chen was a strong performer in the late-stage Rotating Pill!


    As he officially stepped into this level, Ye Chen suddenly opened his eyes while in the void, emerging from his meditative state.


    In his eyes flickered the light of the Five Heavenly Void Laws.


    Ye Chen murmured to himself, "Late-stage Rotating Pill, and now to rush towards the Heavenly Saint!"


    "When I bring all five Great Heavenly Void Laws to Perfection, that¡¯s when I will step into the Heavenly Saint Realm."


    Ye Chen felt that although he had now broken through to the late-stage Rotating Pill, the Five Great Heavenly Void Law Pathways that entered his body already placed him on the cusp of stepping into the Heavenly Saint Realm at any moment.


    He had absorbed countless Law Pathways, which had already brought him incredibly close to reaching the level of Great Perfection.


    The only reason he had not completely broken through to Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen knew, was due to the cultivation of "Primordial Star Scripture Taiyuan Chapter."


    "The Taiyuan Chapter is divided into two major parts of cultivation: one is the Internal Skills cultivation of ¡¯Taiyuan Divine Pill,¡¯ and the other is the External Skills cultivation of ¡¯Five Great Divine Arts.¡¯


    "Right now, my Internal Skills ¡¯Taiyuan Divine Pill¡¯ have been fully cultivated, but the "Five Great Divine Arts" have not yet been cultivated to the highest level of tenfold Combat Power."


    "Once I also cultivate the "Five Great Divine Arts" to the strongest tenfold Combat Power, with both Internal and External Skills cultivation complete, I can make a push towards the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture."


    "At that point, when I hit the bottleneck of reaching the Heavenly Saint Realm, I¡¯m likely to be able to break through smoothly!"


    The more Ye Chen practiced the Primordial Star Scripture, the deeper his understanding of this Divine Art became.


    Ye Chen discovered that this Divine Art was closely related to his Realm cultivation, hence he had already sensed the timing for his breakthrough into the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    That would undoubtedly be when he stepped into the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but become excited.


    The fourth chapter. the Zi Ji Star Lord had once said that by cultivating to this chapter, one could dominate an entire continent.


    Now Ye Chen knew that this definitely meant that, after cultivating this chapter, he would possess the power of a True God level.


    Ye Chen, of course, wanted to see what the methods of cultivation for the fourth chapter were, of course, he wanted to bring his own power to the level of a True God!


    With the aid of True God Talisman, he had sensed the power of the True God level, but that, after all, was external.


    Only his own methods are the most precious!


    And now, he was just one step away from that level!

 Chapter 507 - 464: The Great Changes in the Barbarian Wilderness

    "The final step!"


    "Once I have cultivated the External Skills of the Five Great Divine Arts to their peak power, I can directly enter the fourth volume of the Primordial Star Scripture and advance into the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    Ye Chen felt the power of the Five Great Divine Arts within his body.


    The Five Great Divine Arts were the Gold-Element Divine Art "Golden Light Divine Slash," the Wood-Element Divine Art "Wood Emperor Stacking Skill," the Water-Element Divine Art "Heavenly Origin Divine Water," the Fire-Element Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire," and the Earth-Element Divine Art "Earth Returning to Origin Art."


    The power of these Five Great Divine Arts was related to the cultivation of the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" with Internal Skills.


    In recent days, Ye Chen made a great breakthrough with the Taiyuan Divine Pill in the Law Sea of his cultivation site, not only cultivating from four hundred and five Five Apertures Rotating Pills to nine hundred and ninety-nine but also successfully uniting all these rotating pills into the "Taiyuan Divine Pill"!


    The Taiyuan Divine Pill¡¯s aid to the Five Great Divine Arts had almost reached its limit.


    Moreover, the power of the Five Great Divine Arts was also related to the comprehension of Laws, and the deeper the comprehension, the stronger the Five Great Divine Arts became.


    During this time, Ye Chen absorbed no less than a thousand strands of Law Spirit Thunder. Under the harmony of the "Void Sky Quintessence Fruit," his comprehension of the laws had almost reached the level of Great Perfection, similarly enhancing the power of the Five Great Divine Arts immensely.


    Another way to increase the power of the Five Great Divine Arts was to devour and refine the Five Great Secret Treasures associated with the elements of gold, wood, water, fire, and earth, of which Ye Chen had absorbed a considerable amount.


    Now, with various factors combined, Ye Chen¡¯s Five Great Divine Arts were no longer what they once were.


    At this moment, the power of Ye Chen¡¯s Five Great Divine Arts had reached ninety percent of their potential, and with just these Five Great Divine Arts, Ye Chen could absolutely annihilate any being in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    However, he was still one step away from the perfect level of ten percent.


    He was just missing that last bit of opportunity.


    "Seven more days, continue to absorb Law Spirit Thunder!"


    Ye Chen looked towards the vast expanse of Law Spirit Thunder in the void. Although he felt that the Law Spirit Thunder had helped him as much as it could, to take the final step, his opportunity might not lie within the Law Sea of the Qianye Platform.


    Nevertheless, Ye Chen would certainly not miss this final phase of cultivation.


    In the last seven days, with even stronger True Qi Techniques, Ye Chen continued to absorb Law Spirit Thunder, familiarizing himself with his newly enhanced True Qi Techniques while resisting the Law Spirit Thunder.


    Days passed by, one after the other.


    In these final seven days, each day was a new test for everyone who remained.


    Because the closer to the end, the more terrifying and formidable the Law Spirit Thunder between heaven and earth became. Even the Law Spirit Thunder that emerged from the Law Sea and the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Green Spirit Bottle" became increasingly dense.


    In the midst of the intensifying challenges, the remaining few were eliminated one after another.


    By the last three days, in the entire Law Sea, only Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, Tian Li, Meng Qi, Zhao Xin, and Hu Lin remained.


    These six, except for Ye Chen, were all descendants of Great Powerholders.


    Seeing Ye Chen persist in cultivating within the Law Sea alongside these six made all the Martial Artists from the lower realm and the youth from the Divine Kingdoms who had been eliminated admire Ye Chen once again.


    By the last day, even Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin could only rely on treasures to withstand the Law Spirit Thunder.


    Had they not insisted on accompanying the Little Provincial Princess until the end of the cultivation, they would have been ready to give up the Law Sea.


    Because they, too, had reached their greatest gains in the Law Sea.


    Originally at the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, all of them had reached the edge of the Heavenly Saint Realm due to the absorption of the laws. They were suppressing their breakthrough, planning to return to their elders before advancing to the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Because under those circumstances, with their elders¡¯ help¡ªall four Divine Venerables, the Great Generals¡ªtheir gains would be even greater.


    The only ones continuing the real cultivation were Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess.


    Ye Chen, too, had reached the limit of his gains this time. He continued to cultivate, trying to find the last step to enhance the power of the Five Great Divine Arts.


    Meanwhile, the Little Provincial Princess was genuinely in the midst of cultivation.


    She had already broken through from the initial to the middle stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, having assimilated innumerable amounts of Law forces and pathways. She was always waiting for an opportunity to evolve from the middle to the later stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    In the final day, with not much time left, the Little Provincial Princess, who had already grasped the nine great Void Heaven laws such as ice, lightning, electricity, and fire to near Great Perfection, finally began her assault on the later stage of the Rotating Pill Realm.


    In the end, she also successfully broke through to the later stage!


    One month¡¯s time, breaking through from the initial to the later stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, was simply inconceivable!


    However, in this second place for True Qi cultivation in the Minor Pole Sky, the "Law Sea of Qianye Platform," with the assistance of countless treasures and under the extensive preparations made by the East Province King for the Little Provincial Princess, she achieved this!


    Because she was the East Province King¡¯s little daughter.


    Her father was a being even more powerful than the Divine Venerables!


    When the one-month period came to an end, the six who persisted in the Law Sea, including Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, were all teleported back to the shore of the Law Sea.


    "Brother Ye Chen, you really did cultivate to the later stage of the Rotating Pill!" As soon as she reached the shore, the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo looked towards Ye Chen.


    During cultivation, she had observed Ye Chen, who wasn¡¯t far from her. It was Ye Chen¡¯s determined gaze, in the face of countless Law Spirit Thunder, that kept the very young Little Provincial Princess from giving up whenever she nearly did so.


    Therefore, in her heart, the Little Provincial Princess was truly grateful to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen too sensed the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s aura, and when he saw that she had progressed from the initial to the later stage of the Rotating Pill Realm, he was genuinely astounded.


    The Little Provincial Princess was still a twelve-year-old little girl!


    ```


    He had actually cultivated up to the late stage of Rotating Pill.


    Placed in the Lower Realm, this would be considered an inconceivable feat!


    While Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess were conversing, Lan Xi God King also smiled and addressed everyone, "Alright, the opportunity for cultivation at the second location, regardless of how many days you¡¯ve trained or how great your gains, has also come to an end."


    "Now, you must begin preparations to enter the examination and competition of the second location!"


    "Only by passing the examination and competition of the second location will you have a new chance to advance to the third cultivation site to cultivate your Divine Soul techniques!"


    The first site was for cultivating Physical Skills; the second site, True Qi Techniques; and the third site would be related to Divine Soul techniques pertaining to the three main signs of life.


    Upon hearing Lan Xi God King¡¯s announcement of the second location¡¯s examination and competition, everyone turned their gaze to the Extreme Heaven Spirit List suspended in the void, particularly at the names at the top: Ye Chen in first place and the Little Provincial Princess in second.


    Everyone knew that the chance to change the rankings on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List had arrived once more.


    ...


    Just as Ye Chen made his way through the first cultivation site and the first examination, and after a month of training in the second cultivation site,


    Far within the Minor Spirit Realm¡¯s Lower Realm on the thirty-third continent, in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent,


    At the same time Ye Chen entered the second cultivation site, the Five Tribulations True God of the Flying Spirit Clan, Chixiao True God, had officially commenced the unification of the entire Chaotic Sea Area using the power of the Sea God Palace, making preparations for the invasion of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    A month had passed, and the situation in the entire Chaotic Sea Area had drastically changed.


    Tens of thousands of miles of the Chaotic Sea, countless sea areas, countless forces ¡ª under the overwhelming control and absorption of the Sea God Palace ¡ª a large portion had already been unified under its banner.


    The complete unification of the entire Chaotic Sea Area seemed to be merely a matter of time, and not much time would be needed at that.


    The changes occurring within the Chaotic Sea Area had already drawn the attention of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, located closest to the Sea.


    The Chaotic Sea was known to be a place where Heavenly Saint level experts of the late stage existed, its overall power far surpassing that of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    The strongest among the countries of the Southern Territory was merely Heavenly Saint Long Xuan at the mid-stage.


    At this moment, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan was convening a meeting with many powerful figures from the Southern Territory nations, with Jia Luo, Jiang Yao¡¯s master from Taixuan Sect, also among them.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan worriedly addressed the assembly, "The Chaotic Sea has always been a place of fragmented powers and utter chaos."


    "This time, the sudden move by the Sea God Palace to unify the Chaotic Sea makes one wonder what their intentions are."


    "Once the Chaotic Sea is unified, a powerful force will arise in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. The unified Chaotic Sea might even rival the power of the three major dynasties in the central region. At that time, the Sea God Palace, leading the unification, could well contend with the Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡¯s strongest power, the Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "In such a situation, we in the Southern Territory lie closest to the Chaotic Sea. Should the Sea desire to conquer us, we might not even have the strength to resist."


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan¡¯s worries ran deep.


    The strong figures from the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen nations were equally fraught with concern.


    Even though the Chaotic Sea was still in the process of unification, and there had been no signs of them invading the Southern Territory, the prospect of such a formidable power emerging naturally caused extreme unease among the Martial Artists of the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen nations.


    In the assembly, Fairy Jia Luo was also filled with worry.


    If the Chaotic Sea set its sights on the Southern Territory and decided to invade, her Sect, Taixuan, would be in grave danger.


    And what of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Although Fairy Jia Luo was aware that both Jiang Yao and Ye Chen had gone to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen¡¯s hometown lay within Heavenly Wind Kingdom, one of the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    Should the Southern Territory be invaded, Ye Chen¡¯s parents could be in mortal peril.


    Fairy Jia Luo thought to herself, "It appears I must make arrangements to have Ye Chen¡¯s parents taken to the Heavenly Sacred Palace as a precaution."


    While Fairy Jia Luo was increasingly troubled by the upheavals in the Chaotic Sea Area and their potential impact on the political stability of the Southern Territory, within the Heavenly Sacred Palace, a group of individuals had also taken note of the situation in the Chaotic Sea Area.


    This group included Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Palace Master Yuan Li, and others.


    When Jiang Yao had quietly followed True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God to the Five Elements Mountain without finding any trace of Ye Chen, her concern for him had grown.


    Upon her return to the Heavenly Sacred Palace, when Jiang Yao heard from Palace Master Yuan Li of the drastic changes in the Chaotic Sea Area and the potential threats to the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory that lay close to the Sea, she grew exceptionally worried.


    "This won¡¯t do. Ye Chen is still not back, and his father and mother are still in Heavenly Wind Kingdom. My master is also in the Southern Territory."


    "Should the Chaotic Sea¡¯s situation affect the Southern Territory, they would all be in danger!"


    "True Phoenix, Mu Lan, what exactly is happening in the Chaotic Sea? Why would the Sea God Palace suddenly aim to unify it?"


    "Aunties, let¡¯s go to Heavenly Wind Kingdom. Only there can we protect my master and Ye Chen¡¯s parents and respond timely to the Southern Territory¡¯s changing situation."


    Hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God looked at each other and nodded in agreement.


    They were of the True God Realm, but due to their origin from the Divine Phoenix Clan, they had to keep a low profile to avoid drawing attention from the True Gods of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan from the Upper Realm.


    However, given the matters concerning Ye Chen and the connection to Jiang Yao¡¯s master, they would have to make a trip to the Southern Territory for their sake.


    Even the two True Gods had a premonition that the sudden unification of the Chaotic Sea Area might not be as straightforward as it seemed.


    They too felt they needed to investigate the matter further!


    ```

 Chapter 508 - 465: Black Card, White Card, Blood Card

    The situation on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was constantly changing.


    Countless strong individuals from the Chaotic Sea Area, Western Wilderness, and even the Heavenly Sacred Palace were incessantly drawn into it.


    In the secret cultivation realm of the Minor Pole Sky where Ye Chen was located, the group of martial artists who had just completed the second cultivation site "Thousand Leaves Platform Sea of Law True Qi Cultivation" were finally about to begin their second assessment test.


    When the five thousand-plus martial artists all looked towards the Extreme Heaven Spirit List in the void, the Lan Xi God King said to everyone, "The second assessment test is more difficult than the first and has higher requirements."


    "I can tell you that last time, more than six thousand people entered the second assessment test, but in the end, only twenty-five people successfully passed and progressed into the third cultivation site."


    Six thousand people took the assessment test, with only twenty-five passing?!


    The words of the Lan Xi God King shocked all the martial artists present.


    Many martial artists from the lower realms thought back to what Wang Xuan, the young man from the Divine Kingdom, had said in the Infinity God Temple.


    Wang Xuan had mentioned that in the previous assessment test, not a single one of the thousands of martial artists from the lower realms made it to the third cultivation site, and all were annihilated in the second assessment.


    Ye Chen also remembered what Fang Hua had told him earlier, that securing a third opportunity for cultivation was extremely difficult.


    This alone indicated the difficulty of the second assessment test.


    While everyone was still shocked, Lan Xi God King continued to say, "The second assessment test is conducted in a special place called ¡¯Ice God Mountain.¡¯ Come, I¡¯ll take you there, and then I¡¯ll explain the rules of the assessment test."


    Ice God Mountain?


    Just as Ye Chen quietly uttered these four words, he and all the other martial artists were swept up by Lan Xi God King¡¯s sleeve and flew directly from the site of the Thousand Leaves Platform Sea of Law, heading towards a direction in the north.


    After flying for about the duration of a cup of tea and passing through a rainbow bridge-like peculiar transportation formation, Ye Chen and all the martial artists entered a new domain.


    They were now at an extremely high place in the void.


    Looking down, they could see an extremely cold world of ice and snow below.


    They could even see a tremendously large and inconceivable ice-capped mountain standing amid the land.


    Obviously, this was the second assessment site referred to by Lan Xi God King¡ª "Ice God Mountain"!


    This Ice God Mountain was so vast that it was almost akin to a continent itself, covered everywhere with ice and snow. It could be seen that the entire Divine Mountain was dotted with tens of thousands of cave entrances. The diameter of the smallest cave entrance was several miles wide, and the largest was even more than thirty miles wide!


    The cave entrances led deep into the Ice God Mountain, with no knowing what lay inside.


    As Lan Xi God King led everyone downwards, Ye Chen felt dwarfed by the enormity of the Ice God Mountain, feeling as insignificant as an ant.


    Only when they had truly landed on the ground of this frozen world, and not just looking down from a high place in the void, did Ye Chen raise his head to find he could no longer see the entirety of the massive mountain!


    "This is the ¡¯Ice God Mountain.¡¯"


    After landing, Lan Xi God King pointed towards the immense and unbelievable mountain covered in snow and ice, and spoke to everyone.


    Beside Lan Xi God King, God King Wucan, God King Lei Yun, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu also looked towards the Divine Mountain.


    "Inside Ice God Mountain lives a special tribe¡ª the ¡¯Ice Wing Tribe.¡¯ The people of the ¡¯Ice Wing Tribe¡¯ have a close connection with Heavenly Cloud Venerable."


    Lan Xi God King began to explain the matters concerning "Ice God Mountain."


    "Your previous first assessment test in ¡¯Myriad Dragon Cavern¡¯ was inhabited by countless True Dragons. Those True Dragons had most of their consciousness wiped away to be used for your hunting. That was because the True Dragon clan had once offended Heavenly Cloud Venerable."


    "But the people of the ¡¯Ice Wing Tribe¡¯ are different. In their tribe, an ancestor had a close relationship with Heavenly Cloud Venerable. After their ancestor¡¯s demise, the Star Continent where the ¡¯Ice Wing Tribe¡¯ lived was destroyed in war. In order to care for the surviving members of the Ice Wing Tribe, Heavenly Cloud Venerable specially established this ¡¯Ice God Mountain¡¯ for them to live and cultivate in."


    "The people of the Ice Wing Tribe are extremely intelligent, especially strong in their True Qi law abilities. Therefore, Heavenly Cloud Venerable designated the front half of this place as the second ¡¯True Qi¡¯ assessment test site."


    "Once the assessment test begins, each of you will be given a ¡¯Blood Card,¡¯ and only with this ¡¯Blood Card¡¯ can you officially enter the assessment area in the front half of the Ice God Mountain to undertake the test."


    "Similarly, among them there are 50,000 powerful warriors from the Ice Wing Tribe of the Heavenly Saint Realm, who will also receive a ¡¯White Card¡¯ and enter the assessment area. Their mission is to eliminate you, taking your Black Cards. And your mission is to eliminate them and take their White Cards."


    "Remember, whether it¡¯s a Black Card or a White Card, it can help you and the Ice Wing Tribe warriors to resist a death crisis once."


    "If you want to take a White Card from an Ice Wing Tribe warrior, you must be able to eliminate them. At the moment when you can kill them, when they absolutely cannot resist, their White Cards will act in their stead to resist this death for them, and will directly fall, simultaneously determining that they have failed the task and transporting them out of the assessment area. This is equivalent to you having eliminated an Ice Wing Tribe warrior and obtained a White Card."


    "Obtaining a White Card counts as one assessment point. To pass this second assessment, you must reach a thousand assessment points. That is to say, if you didn¡¯t accumulate extra points from the previous round, you must eliminate at least a thousand members of the Ice Wing Tribe in this round to successfully pass the assessment and earn the qualification to enter the third training ground."


    As he spoke, Lan Xi God King solemnly reminded the more than five thousand warriors about to partake in the assessment, "The fifty thousand Ice Wing Tribe warriors you will be fighting against are all warriors of the Heavenly Saint Realm, including many top experts from the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm. Unlike those True Dragons from the first area whose intelligence was wiped out, these warriors possess extremely high intelligence. It certainly won¡¯t be easy to eliminate a thousand Ice Wing Tribe warriors and obtain a thousand White Cards!"


    "And undoubtedly, they also very much want to eliminate you because Lord Heavenly Cloud Venerable had promised them that as long as they can collect a certain number of Black Cards, he will take them out of the Ice God Mountain and into the Divine Kingdom to cultivate."


    "So, this second assessment is a real-life battle to see which side, you or the Ice Wing Tribe warriors, can overcome the other!"


    Hearing Lan Xi God King¡¯s words, countless warriors were visibly shaken.


    Their assessment this time was actually a direct confrontation against the strong warriors of a tribe!


    They must find ways to eliminate a thousand Ice Wing Tribe warriors to break through this second assessment, while the Ice Wing Tribe warriors also aim to eliminate them in order to seize the opportunity given by Heavenly Cloud Venerable."


    This is the real contest!


    A contest of strength! A contest of intelligence!


    Not as simple as hunting the True Dragons whose intelligence had mostly been erased before.


    And thinking about the number of a thousand assessment points, many of them took a sharp breath.


    After the first assessment, many had only accumulated dozens or slightly over a hundred assessment points. To pass this second round, they would need to eliminate nearly a thousand Ice Wing Tribe members to gather a thousand assessment points, which is extremely difficult.


    Thinking this, many eyes turned towards Ye Chen and Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo.


    After the first round of assessment, Ye Chen had accumulated a total of three thousand nine hundred sixty-nine points, which was more than three thousand eight hundred points above the requirement, indicating that his excess points were already sufficient for him to pass this second assessment.


    Even if Ye Chen does not eliminate a single Ice Wing Tribe warrior, he would smoothly progress to the next training ground!


    Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo similarly had an excess of over a thousand points from the first time, also enough for the second round.


    This, of course, made many warriors envious of the Little Provincial Princess and Ye Chen.


    Seeing everyone¡¯s expressions, both Ye Chen and Little Provincial Princess shook their heads with a smile.


    Although they could pass this second assessment with the accumulation from the first, they also didn¡¯t relax their efforts. After all, there were still assessments to come, and they wanted to accumulate more points here to establish a good foundation for later.


    Meanwhile, Lan Xi God King also looked towards Ye Chen and Little Provincial Princess in the crowd and said aloud, "Of course, those among you who are leading in assessment points on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List should not relax in the slightest. Because in this second assessment, there¡¯s a special task involving special rewards."


    A special task?


    Ye Chen and Little Provincial Princess both looked towards Lan Xi God King.


    Lan Xi God King said, "During the assessment, apart from the fifty thousand Ice Wing Tribe warriors of the Heavenly Saint Realm fighting you, there will also be ten special Ice Wing Tribe warriors entering the assessment area as hunters. Each of these ten special Ice Wing Tribe warriors is of the True God Realm and carries a ¡¯Blood Card¡¯!"


    "The task of these True God Hunters is to hunt down warriors with high assessment points and those who have eliminated many Ice Wing Tribe warriors!"


    "They hunt you, but you can also eliminate them!"


    "If your strength is sufficient to eliminate any one of the True God level Ice Wing Tribe warriors and obtain a Blood Card, you will receive a special reward after the assessment is concluded, getting to choose special treasures left by Lord Heavenly Cloud Venerable in this ¡¯Ice God Mountain¡¯!"


    "One Blood Card allows you one opportunity to choose a special treasure. If you can kill ten True God Hunters and obtain ten Blood Cards, you could even select ten special treasures!"


    "Remember, although I do not know what exactly those special treasures are, every one of them is definitely something numerous True Gods and even some God Kings would covet!"

 Chapter 509 - 466: Ice Wing Tribe

    The second assessment site at Ice God Mountain features two major tasks.


    The first task is to accumulate a thousand assessment points, securing the qualification to enter the next cultivation site.


    For the over five thousand martial artists, this task is certainly no easy feat.


    After all, there are only fifty thousand members of the Ice Wing Tribe, and even if all were eliminated, distributing the white cards they hold would barely suffice for fifty contestants.


    Even taking into account the additional points garnered in the first assessment, on average, no more than sixty people will have the chance to accumulate the necessary thousand points.


    Moreover, during the actual assessment, it¡¯s absolutely impossible for distribution to be even. Surely some will obtain many white cards, while others will only receive a few, causing the fifty thousand white cards to be even more dispersed.


    Furthermore, the Ice Wing Tribe will also be eliminating these martial artists; the thought of them completely defeating all fifty thousand tribe members is utterly ludicrous.


    It¡¯s upon this realization that everyone finally understood why only twenty-five contestants passed this assessment last time.


    The hope of passing this challenge is exceedingly slim.


    Only those with overwhelming strength against the members of the Ice Wing Tribe stand a chance of advancing.


    As for the second major task, eliminating ten True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe, it¡¯s even more challenging.


    True Gods!


    Anyone of them surpasses the realm of all the contestants present.


    Even Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess cannot confidently claim they can eliminate a True God Hunter from the Ice Wing Tribe; despite having some powerful trump cards, they cannot guarantee success.


    For those True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe are True Gods after all, and likewise have their own trump cards and ace up their sleeves.


    To not just fail in eliminating them, but to avoid being eliminated by these True God Hunters is considered quite an accomplishment already.


    The offer from Lan Xi God King to exchange the Blood Cards in the hands of these True God Hunters for special treasures naturally enticed many.


    Since acquiring the qualification to Minor Pole Sky, they were well aware of the power of Heavenly Cloud Venerable; the treasures left behind in various lower realms by Heavenly Cloud Venerable were extremely precious.


    Being a site for even higher-level assessments, the special treasures here were undoubtedly extraordinary even without thinking.


    Upon hearing Lan Xi God King mention treasures that countless True Gods and even some Divine Kingdom monarchs would covet, everyone naturally desired these special treasures even more.


    But without sufficient strength to face those True God Hunters, all hope for these treasures is mere fantasy.


    In the field, it was only Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, and a few others who were truly considering the matter of the special treasures and the True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe.


    The rest were focused on how to accumulate a thousand assessment points, concerning themselves with this first task.


    After explaining the two assessments of the Ice God Mountain, Lan Xi God King pointed into the void, and a series of black cards flew towards the five thousand plus martial artists about to undertake the second assessment.


    At the same time, Lan Xi God King said, "Keep these black cards safe. Once you enter the assessment area, as soon as a member of the Ice Wing Tribe approaches within a hundred miles of you, you will be able to sense it."


    "Likewise, those Ice Wing Tribe members can sense your presence within a hundred-mile radius through the white cards they hold."


    "Also, take a look at the black card in your hand."


    "It records the current number of your assessment points. As soon as you eliminate a member of the Ice Wing Tribe, the number of your assessment points will increase by one."


    "The number on this black card will also trigger the True God Hunters with Blood Cards of the Ice Wing Tribe to sense you. Those with high assessment points must be cautious of these True God Hunters."


    Hearing Lan Xi God King¡¯s words, Ye Chen looked down at the black card he had just received in his hand.


    He immediately saw that as soon as he received the black card, the Spiritual Light child on his shoulder flickered, and a number "three thousand eight hundred sixty-nine" appeared on the face of the card, while the back displayed Ye Chen¡¯s name.


    This number, three thousand eight hundred sixty-nine, represents the assessment points Ye Chen had accumulated from hunting True Dragons minus the one hundred Passing Points required for entering the second cultivation site, leaving him with the remaining points.


    On Ye Chen¡¯s card were three thousand eight hundred sixty-nine points, while the card in the hand of the Little Provincial Princess showed one thousand two hundred forty-four points.


    They ranked the highest.


    Furthermore, recalling that the Lan Xi God King mentioned the True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe would prioritize those martial artists with higher assessment points, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess exchanged a glance.


    "Brother Ye Chen, you¡¯re the most likely to catch the attention of those True God Hunters, please be careful," the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo said to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked towards the towering Ice God Mountain and nodded solemnly.


    The other martial artists also looked at the black cards in their hands, calculating the difference between their own scores and the one thousand points needed to pass.


    After everyone had received a black card, the Lan Xi God King pointed in the air before the over five thousand martial artists. A teleportation array appeared on the snowy land ahead of them.


    "Entering this array will teleport you to the assessment area of the Ice God Mountain."


    "Once the black card in your hand falls, you will be eliminated and teleported back here; I will wait for you here," she said.


    "The duration of the second assessment is the same as the first, also seven days."


    "Now, take your black cards and go for the assessment!"


    As the Lan Xi God King finished speaking, Ye Chen, Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, the young people from the Divine Kingdom, along with a host of martial artists from the lower realm, all secured the black cards in their hands and flew into the teleportation array.


    In the end, all were transported to the assessment area on the front half of the Ice God Mountain!


    ...


    Within the Ice God Mountain.


    In a vast expanse of ice and snow.


    There sat fifty thousand members of the Ice Wing Tribe at the Heavenly Saint Realm, each with a pair of white ice wings on their backs, pointed ears, and a pair of small white horns on their heads, all sitting in meditation.


    At this time, these fifty thousand Ice Wing Tribe members were all looking at the white cards in their hands, each with a sharp glint in their eyes.


    A beautiful late-stage Heavenly Saint girl from the Ice Wing Tribe looked at the number "9939" on her white card and murmured, "I¡¯ve taken part in the assessment battles ten times already, eliminating nine thousand nine hundred and thirty-nine martial artists who entered the Ice God Mountain from the outside world. Just sixty-one more, and I will meet the requirement set by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable!"


    "Then, I can directly receive cultivation from the Heavenly Cloud Venerable and enter the Divine Kingdom!"


    Thinking of this, the beautiful girl from the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s breathing hastened.


    Like this beautiful girl, the other members of the Ice Wing Tribe had myriad thoughts swirling in their minds.


    "I still need to eliminate three thousand five hundred martial artists from the outside world!"


    "This is my first participation in the assessment battles. This time, I heard more than five thousand martial artists from the outside world will come in. I must accumulate as many assessment points as possible to prepare for entering the Divine Kingdom!"


    While these fifty thousand Ice Wing Tribe members at the Heavenly Saint Realm were filled with thoughts, above them in the void of the enormous space of ice and snow, ten individuals in ice armor robes, emanating a formidable aura, were also looking at the tokens in their hands.


    However, the tokens in the hands of these ten were not white, but blood-colored.


    These ten were none other than the ten great True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe set to participate in the assessment competition!


    Looking towards these ten, one could sense that among them, the weakest were two Two Tribulations True Gods, and the strongest was even a presence of a Six Tribulations True God!


    The moment Ye Chen and the other five thousand plus martial artists entered the teleportation array and flew into the assessment area of the "Ice God Mountain."


    All fifty thousand Ice Wing Tribe members at the Heavenly Saint Realm in this space of ice and snow, as if sensing something, instantly rose to their feet.


    "They¡¯re here!"


    "It¡¯s time for us to act!"


    "For the future of our Ice Wing Tribe, let¡¯s eliminate these martial artists from the outside world!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As they spoke, the white ice wings on the backs of these Ice Wing Tribe members flapped, and they instantly flew into a teleportation array within the ice and snow space, vanishing from sight.


    At the same time they disappeared, the ten True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe in the void didn¡¯t use the teleportation array but directly vanished into thin air.

 Chapter 510 - 467: Ice God Mountain

    ```


    Outside Ice God Mountain.


    Above the snowy landscape.


    Seeing Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, and over five thousand others flying into the teleportation array and completely entering the assessment area of the front half of Ice God Mountain, Lan Xi God King smiled and flew back to the side of Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun, the three great powerhouses.


    "The seven-day assessment period, I wonder how many of this batch of youngsters will acquire the qualifications to enter the third training ground this time," Lan Xi God King said, her gaze towards the Extreme Heaven Spirit List floating in the void.


    God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun glanced at Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and laughed, "Anyway, the Little Provincial Princess and Ye Chen have already scored more than enough to meet the requirements to enter the third training ground. Those two will definitely make it."


    "The four young descendants of the four great generals are also very close to the thousand-point assessment requirement. Given their strength, it should be easy for them to break into the third training ground."


    "Others will depend on their combat power and fortune!"


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s beautiful eyes also gazed towards the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    At this moment, as over five thousand warriors officially began their assessment, their scores on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List began to change.


    Jumping and shifting dynamically.


    The battles against the Ice Wing Tribe didn¡¯t proceed like the previous assessments, where results were counted after the assessments and then integrated into the Extreme Heaven Spirit List by the spirit child.


    In this combat, when eliminating opponents, their assessment points would instantly display on the black cards in the warriors¡¯ hands and show directly on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    Although the detailed assessment inside Ice God Mountain remained unseen, by observing the numerical changes in assessment points on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and the others could gauge the situation of these warriors¡¯ assessments.


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s gaze rested continuously on the assessment scores of Ye Chen and Fang Luo, the Little Provincial Princess, who were ranked in the top two.


    She murmured to herself, "Entering the third training ground shouldn¡¯t be a problem. But I wonder to what extent Luo¡¯er and Ye Chen will manage in this trial, with True God Hunters chasing them."


    "Will they continue to expand their leading advantage in assessment points or even manage to take one or two red cards from the hands of True God Hunters to exchange for special treasures left by Lord Tianyun, or will they be eliminated early by the True God Hunters?" Stay updated through empire


    The actual assessment was unpredictable with countless variations; everything would depend on their actual combat preparations and reactions.


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu also couldn¡¯t predict to what extent the Little Provincial Princess and Ye Chen would succeed.


    All she could do was wait outside. Just wait.


    ...


    Ice God Mountain.


    Inside the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s residential area of the back half of the mountain.


    Here, one could see numerous huge screens spanning across several voids behind the mountains of Ice God Mountain.


    Countless Ice Wing Tribespeople scattered across these realms were watching the enormous screens between the voids.


    Among these tribespeople were children who had not yet started cultivating, young boys and girls who had just reached the True Qi Realm or Spirit Sea Realm, and even Ice Wing Tribe warriors who were at the Rotating Pill Realm, Heavenly Saint Realm, or True God Realm.


    They watched the names and white card numbers of the fifty thousand Ice Wing Tribespeople who had entered the assessment area of the front half of the mountain shown on the screens, as well as the names of the ten True God Hunters.


    At that time, these Ice Wing Tribespeople were intently watching the screens and chatting.


    "Our Ice Wing Tribe once again faces combat against external warriors," they said.


    "Last time, our tribe sent out fifty thousand warriors, and in the end, thirty of them accumulated enough to have the opportunity to go to the Divine Kingdom to follow Lord Tianyun for training!"


    "This time, who knows how many more will succeed in earning the chance to train under Lord Tianyun in the Divine Kingdom, and how many can endure to the end!"


    Some of the extremely powerful eight-tribulation and nine-tribulation True Gods among the Ice Wing Tribe were even more keen-eyed: "Other than cultivating to the Divine King Realm and being taken away by Lord Tianyun, our tribe members can only be recognized by Lord Tianyun by accumulating achievements in battle against external warriors."


    "This time, those selected from our tribe are either the promising descendants or strong Heavenly Saints, including the ten True God Hunters, who are both potential and powerful warriors of our tribe."


    "Let¡¯s hope they seize this opportunity!"


    The children and young boys and girls of the Ice Wing Tribe were even more captivated by the stories of their elders, their eyes sparkling as they looked up at the names on the massive screens: "These are the strong warriors of our Ice Wing Tribe entering the battle?"


    "When I grow up, I also want to participate in this battle, representing our Ice Wing Tribe to face those external warriors!"


    ...


    Ye Chen was unaware that his and the other warriors¡¯ performances were under constant scrutiny by Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, Lan Xi God King, and the other four powerhouses.


    Ye Chen was also unaware that their opponents, the Ice Wing Tribe, also had countless tribespeople following the combat situation of their members.


    At this moment, after the teleportation, Ye Chen had arrived inside an ice cave in the assessment area at the front half of Ice God Mountain.


    Cold.


    Bone-chilling cold!


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s first impression upon entering Ice God Mountain.


    ```


    This feeling was even more direct than the cold in the ice and snow outside.


    The temperature here could absolutely freeze the energy channels of countless low-level martial artists, shatter their skin, bones, and cells, and severely damage their souls!


    After experiencing this extreme cold for a while, Ye Chen stimulated his True Qi, transforming it into protective light, keeping the piercing cold out.


    "Within the Ice Divine Mountain, it¡¯s a trial of True Qi techniques, where only True Qi methods can be used in battle. Physical and spiritual techniques are prohibited."


    As soon as he entered the Ice Divine Mountain, Ye Chen sensed that his physical strength and spiritual probing methods were both restrained.


    Thinking back to the first assessment area "Dragon¡¯s Lair" where only physical strength could be used, Ye Chen understood.


    Each battle area corresponded to a training area, he had just completed his True Qi training, so it seemed that here they were assessing the achievements of his True Qi cultivation.


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and instantly transformed into an unbelievable streak of light, flying towards the front.


    True Qi methods.


    For an assessment like this, Ye Chen was not afraid!


    True Qi methods were always Ye Chen¡¯s strongest, in the past, he could compete with late-stage Heavenly Saints using True Qi methods. Now, after training in the "Thousand Leaf Stage¡¯s Sea of Rules," just the number of Rotating Pills increased from four hundred and five to nine hundred and ninety-nine, eventually fusing into an even more powerful Taiyuan Divine Pill!


    Not to mention his realm, which also upgraded from the mid Rotating Pill Realm to the late Rotating Pill Realm!


    Now, Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi methods, though still not enough to overcome those True Gods, he was absolutely not afraid of anyone in the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    As for True Gods?


    Now that True Qi methods could be used, Ye Chen could finally use those two True Phoenixes and True God Talismans given to him by Mu Lan True God!


    Plus, with the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a space mystical artifact, even if he couldn¡¯t defeat the True God Hunter from the Ice Wing Tribe this time, Ye Chen was confident he could escape!


    Even facing those True God Hunters was not out of the question!


    Ye Chen flew rapidly through the icy caves within the "Ice Divine Mountain," the deeper he went, the more he felt the vastness of the assessment area of the Ice Divine Mountain.


    From the outside, Ye Chen had previously looked down at the entire Ice Divine Mountain and felt that it was as massive as a starry continent.


    Now, truly inside, flying in the endless white icy caves, encountering new cave openings and passages intermittently, Ye Chen felt like it was an endless labyrinth.


    But Ye Chen did not need to recognize directions. He knew that since this was an assessment area, the fifty thousand members of the Ice Wing Tribe that entered would surely encounter him.


    While flying, Ye Chen had the spirit child "Sixty-Two" following him, observing the surroundings, and he also paid attention to the resonance of the black badge on his body.


    After entering the "Ice Divine Mountain," his spiritual probing was no longer usable, but he still had other methods to stay aware of the situation inside.


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    A short while after Ye Chen started flying, his black badge vibrated softly, and at the same time, the spirit child "Sixty-Two" immediately spoke up, "Master, there are members of the Ice Wing Tribe nearby! It¡¯s a mid-stage Heavenly Saint martial artist!"


    "Hahaha, it¡¯s actually a late-stage Rotating Pill outsider martial artist!"


    When Ye Chen sensed the presence of a member of the Ice Wing Tribe, a middle-aged warrior of the tribe with snow-white ice wings behind him also had his eyes flash with a sharp light as he sensed Ye Chen.


    He burst towards the direction he sensed Ye Chen at in an instant.


    In just a few breaths, he flew into Ye Chen¡¯s line of sight.


    This mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior from the Ice Wing Tribe immediately had an Ice Divine Saber appear in his hand, and with a cold glint in his eye, he vanished in a flash, reappearing before Ye Chen the next moment, bringing down a slash towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen just shook his head and smiled.


    As the saber from the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior came slashing towards his neck, Ye Chen made his move.


    Whiz.


    It was just a spark of fire.


    In the next instant, the middle-aged warrior felt his Ice Divine Saber engulfed by an overwhelming fiery force, and a spark of flame piercing straight towards his skull.


    He had no chance to dodge, and instantly his white badge fell off his body, and he was teleported out of the assessment area.


    This meant that without the white badge warding off a deathly blow, the member of the Ice Wing Tribe would have died by Ye Chen¡¯s hand!


    Whiz!


    Ye Chen reached out and captured the mid-stage Heavenly Saint¡¯s white badge in his hand.


    A mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior?


    Before he even entered the "Thousand Leaf Stage¡¯s Sea of Rules" for training, Ye Chen could easily kill such characters.


    How much more now!


    His power from the Five Great Divine Arts had improved from its original two or three tenths to almost the perfect nine tenths, just shy of completing the divine arts.


    Killing this middle-stage Heavenly Saint from the Ice Wing Tribe was now as easy as crushing an ant!

 Chapter 511 - 468: Ye Chen? Kill him!

    After taking a look at the white card dropped by the mid-Celestial Spirit Star warrior, Ye Chen stored it in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    At the same time, Ye Chen noticed that the number of assessment points on the black card in his hand had increased by one.


    "Eliminating one person yields one assessment point."


    "It seems I must hurry to obtain more assessment points!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s combat prowess was formidable; taking down a mid-Celestial Spirit Star warrior from the Ice Wing Tribe was simple, unlike many lower-powered warriors who would likely find it troublesome to face a mid-Celestial Spirit Star opponent from the Ice Wing Tribe, and even if they could kill one, it would consume some of their energy.


    But Ye Chen had a problem.


    That was, the stronger he became, the more likely he would draw the attention of those ten True God Hunters from the Ice Wing Tribe.


    Now, both he and the Little Provincial Princess were ranked in the top two on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, and they would undoubtedly be targeted by the True God Hunters.


    Although unaware of the methods used by these True God Hunters, Ye Chen, of course, wanted to accumulate more assessment points before encountering them.


    Whoosh!


    After slaying the mid-Celestial Spirit Star warrior from the Ice Wing Tribe, Ye Chen didn¡¯t pause for a moment and continued flying in a chosen direction towards the front of the ice cave.


    One hour, two hours, three hours.


    Ye Chen flew swiftly, and the likelihood of encountering Ice Wing Tribespeople also greatly increased.


    In just three hours, Ye Chen had eliminated one hundred sixty-four individuals from the Ice Wing Tribe, gaining one hundred sixty-four white cards.


    Outside the Ice God Mountain.


    The beautiful ladies Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and Lan Xi God King, along with the mighty God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun, were all observing the fluctuations in the assessment points on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List.


    "It¡¯s changed! It¡¯s changed again!"


    "In a short time, Ye Chen has eliminated another five warriors from the Ice Wing Tribe."


    "Just by the assessment points obtained in this Ice God Mountain, Ye Chen is already far ahead!"


    "It¡¯s true his vital energy techniques are the strongest among the three major signs of life. They¡¯re even more formidable than physical combat techniques. The assessment points are jumping continuously, indicating that he doesn¡¯t waste much time every time he makes a move. Probably Ye Chen¡¯s biggest problem is the time spent encountering those from the Ice Wing Tribe."


    Watching the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, Lan Xi God King voiced her astonishment.


    God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun also exchanged glances and said, "Speaking of the second assessment location¡¯s points alone, only Ye Chen and Tian Li have eliminated over a hundred people. The Little Provincial Princess has not yet truly exerted herself. It looks like if Ye Chen doesn¡¯t meet any True God Hunters, he could easily obtain over a thousand assessment points just in this round within seven days."


    However, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu was somewhat worried, "Ye Chen, who was already ranked first on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, has now eliminated the most tribespeople from the Ice Wing Tribe. Those True God Hunters are probably frantically searching for him now."


    ...


    Inside the Ice God Mountain, in the living area of the Ice Wing Tribespeople on the rear half of the mountain.


    On dozens of domains, the constantly changing situations of the assessment were displayed within dozens of Void Sky Screens.


    At this moment, countless Ice Wing Tribespeople were turning their gazes towards the two topmost areas on the Void Sky Screens.


    In the upper left region, it displayed the rankings of the highest number of outsiders eliminated by the fifty thousand Celestial Spirit warriors from the Ice Wing Tribe who entered the assessment competition.


    "Bing Lan¡¯er has already eliminated eighty-four outsiders. She has now reached a total of ten thousand and twenty-three outsiders eliminated, including the previous ten participations,"


    "On the first day alone, Bing Lan¡¯er has met the requirement of one thousand outsiders set by Heavenly Cloud Venerable. Regardless of whether she is eliminated later, she can now go to the Divine Kingdom for cultivation!"


    "And Bing Xiaoyun, he is also formidable. This time, he has eliminated fifty-two outsiders, ranking second!"


    Looking at the accomplishments of their fellow tribespeople in the assessment area, the Ice Wing Tribespeople were filled with pride.


    At that moment, an Ice Wing Tribesgirl from the Spirit Sea Realm shifted her gaze towards the topmost right area of the Void Sky Screens.


    This area displayed the rankings of the highest number of their tribespeople eliminated by outsiders.


    "This warrior named Ye Chen is so powerful. Is he from the Celestial Spirit Star? Only sixteen years old? He has already eliminated one hundred ninety-three of our tribespeople!"


    Looking at the Void Sky Screens for the Ice Wing Tribespeople, one could see that Ye Chen was ranked first among all outsiders for eliminating Ice Wing Tribespeople on the upper right side.


    "At sixteen years old, and not from the Divine Kingdom, he has eliminated so many of our people in just over three hours ¨C how can this outsider be so powerful?!"


    Not only had this little girl noticed the ranking situation on the right, but countless members of the Ice Wing Tribe were also watching and discussing these rankings.


    Powerful warriors are respected everywhere.


    Although Ye Chen had eliminated Ice Wing tribespeople, it was a battle of strength, and others from the Ice Wing Tribe did not harbor hatred towards Ye Chen, instead, they held him in high regard.


    "Every time Heavenly Cloud Venerable selects external warriors to battle with our tribespeople, there are always a few who are incredibly powerful."


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    "It looks like an extraordinary person has emerged amongst the lower-ranking realm¡¯s external warriors this time!"


    Some of the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s Void Sky True Gods were sighing.


    And some Ice Wing girls around fifteen or sixteen years old, with sparkling eyes, said, "This Ye Chen is about the same age as me, and I still don¡¯t qualify to enter the battle zone to fight the external warriors, yet he has already been chosen by Heavenly Cloud Venerable to come here."


    "I really want to see what he looks like, to be so powerful."


    Of course, there were also some Ice Wing tribespeople who were not convinced, saying, "This Ye Chen has eliminated so many of our tribespeople, he will probably become a prime target for our ten True God Hunters."


    "It¡¯s said that all external warriors who come to Ice God Mountain are below the level of True Gods, and Ye Chen is only sixteen, so it¡¯s even more impossible for him to be a True God. As soon as he encounters our tribe¡¯s True God Hunters, he is doomed!"


    ...


    In the midst of discussions among the Ice Wing tribespeople and the concerns of beings like Divine Venerable Hong Zhu,


    at the first half of the Ice God Mountain trial and assessment area, likewise, ten individuals were looking at the Blood Cards in their hands, their eyes flickering non-stop.


    These ten were the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s ten True God Hunters who had entered the assessment area.


    Looking into their Blood Cards, one could see twenty names appearing within them.


    On the left side of the Blood Cards were the top ten names from the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, and on the right were the rankings of the external warriors who had eliminated the Ice Wing tribespeople.


    In both rankings, Ye Chen was in the first place, naturally attracting the attention of all the True God Hunters.


    "This Ye Chen has already accumulated more than four thousand points in the Extreme Heaven Spirit List¡¯s trials! That¡¯s nearly three thousand more than Fang Luo, who is in second place! He¡¯s far ahead of everyone else!"


    "Moreover, he has already eliminated nearly two hundred of our tribespeople! That¡¯s more than fifty more than Tian Li, who has the second most eliminations of our people."


    "We must find this Ye Chen and kill him!"


    All the external warriors participating in the trials did not know how the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s ten True God Hunters were hunting them down.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that the Blood Cards in the hands of the True God Hunters could sense all twenty ranked individuals on the card within a thousand-li radius.


    This sensing area was much wider than that of the black and white cards!


    They were also unaware of the bounty for hunters who pursued those ranked highest.


    For every name they eliminated from the Blood Card, they would directly receive the corresponding trial points as a reward, which could be used to exchange for treasures left by Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had accumulated more than four thousand trial points.


    If they could kill Ye Chen and eliminate him, the Reward Points they would get from him alone would be enough for them to exchange for four powerful artifacts!


    Heavenly Cloud Venerable had stipulated that an external warrior who obtains one of these True God Hunters¡¯ Blood Cards could exchange it for a special artifact.


    At the same time, Heavenly Cloud Venerable had also laid down the rule that these True God Hunters, for every external warrior they eliminate and every thousand Reward Points they accumulate, could also exchange for a special artifact.


    The Reward Points accumulated on Ye Chen had already exceeded four thousand, which, of course, made all ten True God Blood Killers extremely eager to kill Ye Chen and eliminate him.


    "Too bad, he hasn¡¯t entered my thousand-li sensing range yet. No, I need to patrol more areas, I must find this Ye Chen!"


    "The Reward Points on him are astonishingly high, much higher than everyone else¡¯s!"


    Among the ten Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s True God Hunters holding Blood Cards, the most powerful Six Tribulations True God had a thought and instantly disappeared from the area where he stood.


    Not just the Six Tribulations True God, but the remaining nine True Gods were also rapidly flashing and scouting in their respective transmission areas, searching for Ye Chen.


    At this time, in the southern area of the first half of Ice God Mountain, a three Tribulations True God Hunter from the Ice Wing Tribe flashed through the void several times and revealed a look of complete surprise, "I¡¯ve found him!"


    "This Ye Chen is actually just over nine hundred li away from me!"


    "Haha, this time, I must kill this Ye Chen, eliminate him, and get those incredible Reward Points from him!"

 Chapter 512 - 469: True God Hunter "Bing Luo

    How could this Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s Void Sky True God not be shocked? How could he not be filled with immense excitement?!


    As one of the ten True God Hunters participating in this assessment trial, his primary goal was to hunt down powerful warriors from the outside world, earn reward points, and exchange them for the treasures bestowed by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    As a Void Sky True God, he certainly knew how precious and substantial the rewards bestowed by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable were!


    Many treasures were not only desired crazily by him but even many Divine Kings longed for them greatly!


    It was only because the Heavenly Cloud Venerable had significant ties with their Ice Wing Tribe that he had this opportunity to obtain such treasures, and he definitely cherished it immensely!


    Of course, he wanted to hunt down powerful existences among the outside world warriors, to gain as many reward points as possible, to exchange for as many treasures as he could!


    And Ye Chen.


    He carried over four thousand reward points on his person, just this one outsider warrior, if eliminated, would allow him the chance to exchange for four treasures.


    He was naturally filled with immense excitement!


    Through the Blood Card, this Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s Void Sky True God had already seen the performances and assessment scores of other outsiders, aside from Ye Chen who had enough reward points to exchange for four treasures, there was another girl named Fang Luo who had over a thousand points, enough to exchange for one treasure.


    The rest did not even have enough points to exchange for one treasure.


    Of course, the one he most wanted to encounter was Ye Chen!


    This Void Sky True God of the Ice Wing Tribe knew all too well that not only was he looking for Ye Chen, but other True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe were also in search of him, and being able to get there first certainly filled him with immense excitement!


    "Ye Chen is more than nine hundred miles away from me."


    "My Blood Card can probe within a thousand-mile radius, while the black card held by those outsider warriors only has a hundred-mile range. He definitely doesn¡¯t know I¡¯ve found him!"


    "Now, it¡¯s time to hunt him down!"


    Hum.


    The eyes of this True God Hunter of the Ice Wing Tribe flashed with a sharp light, and in the next moment, space fluctuated, and he disappeared without a trace.


    ...


    "The two hundred and fifth white card."


    In a huge ice cave passage, Ye Chen looked at the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s early Heavenly Saint strongman who had just been killed and eliminated, vanishing out of sight, then, Ye Chen smiled and directly snatched the fallen white card from mid-air into his hand.


    Together with the Ice Wing Tribe warriors he had previously eliminated, he now had a total of two hundred and five white cards.


    At this time, on the black card in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, the displayed assessment score had reached "four thousand and seventy-four points."


    "Four thousand and seventy-four points, deducting the one thousand points needed to enter the third cultivation site, I still have over three thousand points left."


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    However, Ye Chen was not complacent enough to stop accumulating assessment points.


    "Entering the second cultivation site requires a hundred assessment points; entering the third cultivation site, on the other hand, needs a thousand assessment points."


    "I¡¯ve heard that there are even more precious fourth and final fifth cultivation sites later on."


    "Judging by this trend, I fear that the required assessment points will be higher later on. Now, with just over three thousand assessment points left, it¡¯s not enough. I need to continue accumulating more!"


    After completing this assessment trial, Ye Chen already knew that the third site he was about to enter was the "Divine Soul Cultivation Site."


    The first three cultivation sites each correspond to one of the three major vital signs of life.


    "Eighty-Eight Mystical Caves Physical Cultivation Site," "Thousand Leaves Platform Law Sea True Qi Cultivation Site," and the upcoming "Divine Soul Cultivation Site" were designed to align with and enhance the three major life vital signs.


    Ye Chen was extremely curious about what the later fourth cultivation site would involve and what would be enhanced?


    What about the final fifth cultivation site?


    Hearing from Fang Hua, Ye Chen already knew that the further the site, the more precious it was, and of course, he wanted to see what the latter sites were like.


    He certainly wanted to gain more opportunities for cultivation enhancement from several sites!


    This point of trial won¡¯t suffice if one wishes to move forward, of course.


    "Continue onward."


    "Strive to acquire more trial points from the Ice Wing Tribe within these seven days."


    With a thought, Ye Chen was about to fly forward again.


    However, at this moment, an inexplicable sense of threat halted Ye Chen¡¯s movement.


    It was the intuitive reaction of a high-level expert who had cultivated to profound realms!


    In this Ice God Mountain, the only beings that could pose a threat to Ye Chen were those ten True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe within the trial area.


    This immediately led Ye Chen to speculate whether a True God Hunter was nearby.


    Since entering the Ice God Mountain, what Ye Chen was most cautious of were those ten True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe.


    From the rules of the trial explained by the Lan Xi God King, Ye Chen knew that he would definitely attract the attention of these True God Hunters, which made him constantly vigilant.


    "Master, what¡¯s wrong?"


    Seeing Ye Chen suddenly stop, Spirit Light Child "Sixty-two" on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder asked.


    Spirit Light Child and the black card detected nothing amiss, and upon seeing Ye Chen¡¯s expression change, Spirit Light Child was naturally surprised.


    Without having spoken to Spirit Light Child yet, as Ye Chen had just touched his True God Talisman and Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a voice directly emerged in the space where Ye Chen stood.


    "Worthy of being the youth who secured the first place on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, indeed worthy of being the one who¡¯s eliminated the most of our Ice Wing Tribe members!"


    "You are more than two hundred li away from me, and your black card didn¡¯t even react to my presence, yet you had this inexplicable intuitive response!"


    While stating a distance of over two hundred li from Ye Chen, in the next breath, Ye Chen saw the void ahead being torn apart as a figure emerged within the space of the ice cavern¡¯s passage.


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    This figure, dressed in a suit of ice armor and with long hair flowing freely, had the appearance of a handsome young man, and behind him sprouted a pair of massive white ice wings; even his ears were pointed, unlike Ye Chen¡¯s, and two small white horns adorned his head.


    An Ice Wing Tribe member!


    Upon seeing the figure, Ye Chen recognized it¡ªthe person, like those members of the Ice Wing Tribe he had previously eliminated, came from the Ice Wing Tribe.


    What made Ye Chen¡¯s face stern, however, was the atmosphere emanating from the young man in the ice armor and the token in his hand.


    The aura swirling around this young man in ice armor was unmistakably that of a Three Tribulations True God!


    And the token in his hand, which Ye Chen had never seen before, was a blood-colored token, the Blood Card belonging to the ten True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe, redeemable for special treasures left by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable!


    This person was indeed one of the ten True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe!


    Seeing that the True God Hunter was a Three Tribulations True God, Ye Chen¡¯s face was grave, yet he did not immediately flee into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to escape.


    Three Tribulations True God.


    Ye Chen had faced one before.


    Back in Five Elements Mountain, Ye Chen had an earth-shaking battle with the Three-Eyed Skeleton, who had fallen from the Four Tribulations True God rank to the Three Tribulations True God strength.


    Although he was aided by the True Phoenix¡¯s True God Talisman, having already battled against such strong entities, Ye Chen felt a certain confidence in his heart.


    Ye Chen¡¯s solemn face, yet without the look of fear or the intent to flee, caught the eye of the armored True God Hunter of the Ice Wing Tribe, prompting a surprised hum from the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s True God: "Hmm, you¡¯re actually not running away?"


    "Run?" Ye Chen said with a smile, "In the presence of a great True God, even if I wanted to run, I couldn¡¯t escape, right?"


    "Haha, interesting, very interesting!" The True God Hunter of the Ice Wing Tribe laughed heartily at Ye Chen¡¯s composed demeanor, "You and I have met here by chance, thanks to the opportunity granted by Lord Heavenly Cloud Venerable. Indeed, the person who is ranked first by Lord Heavenly Cloud Venerable is no ordinary individual!"


    "If we had met elsewhere, maybe we could have made each other¡¯s acquaintance."


    "But here, we each have Lord Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯s trial to contend with, you to eliminate our Ice Wing Tribe members, and we to eliminate you."


    "So, Ye Chen, let me introduce myself, I am Bing Luo, a Three Tribulations True God from the Ice Wing Tribe. Being eliminated by me, you¡¯ve no reason to feel aggrieved!"


    As the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s True God "Bing Luo" spoke, the pair of massive white ice wings on his back began to vibrate buzzingly, and an aura belonging to a True God instantly swept across the entire ice cavern, enveloping Ye Chen.

 Chapter 513 - 470: Slaying the Gods

    True Gods, for countless martial artists, represent a deity-like existence!


    Their True God¡¯s Power far surpasses the power of the Heavenly Void Law, even capable of directly shattering and assimilating the Heavenly Void Law power of lower-realm martial artists.


    In the presence of such beings, even Heavenly Saint top powerhouses are absolutely powerless.


    When the True God aura of "Bing Luo" from the Ice Wing Tribe swept towards Ye Chen, it instantly aimed to suppress all of Ye Chen¡¯s essence, energy, and spirit!


    In Bing Luo¡¯s eyes, no matter how strong Ye Chen was, even if he had the combat strength of a top Heavenly Saint after only reaching the late Rotating Pill stage, even if Ye Chen stood out among these examiners, he would absolutely not be a match for his True God level move.


    If Ye Chen only possessed Heavenly Saint Level skills, then indeed, he would not be a match for Bing Luo.


    But of course, Ye Chen¡¯s abilities were not limited to the Heavenly Saint Level!


    Boom!


    As Bing Luo¡¯s True God aura enveloped Ye Chen, the True God Talisman left by the True Phoenix in Ye Chen¡¯s hand was already being stimulated, and the divine light of tremendous Divine Power instantly poured into every part of Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    Ye Chen, too, was imbued with True God level strength!


    The True Phoenix, being a Five Tribulations True God, had crafted a talisman with divinely powerful energy contained within it.


    Even when Ye Chen was only in the early Rotating Pill stage, invoking its Divine Power, he was able to fight against a Three-Eyed Skeleton, who had fallen from a Four Tribulations True God to a Three Tribulations True God.


    Now, Ye Chen had gone through breakthrough after breakthrough, greatly increasing his strength, and his true qi realm had risen to the late Rotating Pill stage!


    Using the True God Talisman left by the True Phoenix now, he could of course unleash even more of its stored power.


    Whoosh!


    With Divine Power infusing him, Ye Chen reached out with a grand gesture, completely shredding the True God aura that Bing Luo had swept towards him.


    Then, Ye Chen looked at Bing Luo with a smile, "True God Bing Luo, bring out your real skills. That bit of power is far from enough!"


    Sensing the formidable Divine Power bursting from Ye Chen, Bing Luo was completely shocked.


    He had thought that Ye Chen, at best a cross-realm top Heavenly Saint, actually used a True God level skill... and furthermore, this Divine Power even slightly terrified him.


    "This is a True God Talisman crafted by a Five Tribulations True God, you actually have a Five Tribulations True God Talisman!"


    "You¡¯re just a Rotating Pill from a lower plane, how do you have such a thing?!"


    Bing Luo was astonished, but Ye Chen was not about to waste words with Bing Luo.


    Each had their own mission; they needed to eliminate the other.


    After the grand battle, only one of them would be able to remain in this examination area.


    The True God Talisman in Ye Chen¡¯s hand had been through a great battle with the Three-Eyed Skeleton in the Five Elements Mountain and later against Gold Luminous Sun, and it had lost much of its Divine Power, with not much of it left now.


    He certainly had to act quickly, taking care of this Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s True God as soon as possible.


    "True God Bing Luo, there¡¯s no need for more words. Let me see the abilities of a True God!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With Divine Power infusing him, Ye Chen suddenly charged at Bing Luo; and within the radiance of the Five Great Divine Arts in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, the Wood-Attribute Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" transformed into eight astonishing fire dragons, which blazed furiously towards Bing Luo from all directions.


    Divine Arts are martial skills that can be stimulated with Divine Power.


    Ye Chen¡¯s "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" was already close to the level of great mastery. Driven by his own combat strength alone, it was capable of reaching the extreme peak of the Heavenly Saint level. Now, infused with Divine Power, the potency of "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" truly possessed the ability to shatter the void and kill True Gods.


    Eight astonishing fire dragons instantly enveloped Bing Luo, and as Ye Chen continued his assault, he immediately triggered another Divine Art, the Metal-Attribute Divine Art¡ª"Golden Light Divine Slash."


    With one slash from Ye Chen, the boundless golden light also slashed towards Bing Luo.


    Bing Luo had not expected that Ye Chen, a foreign martial artist he had hoped to eliminate with a single move, would actually launch an attack on him, and moreover, an unceasing attack.


    He, a Three Tribulations True God, was actually being forced into a reactive defense by a mere Rotating Pill!


    When Bing Luo fully unleashed his Divine Power and cast the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s Divine Art, the "Ice Vast Nine Secrets," transforming himself into a towering ice storm to confront Ye Chen¡¯s deadly moves, he was even more astonished.


    His ice storm Divine Art couldn¡¯t completely extinguish Ye Chen¡¯s eight astonishing fire dragons. And at that moment, Ye Chen¡¯s "Golden Light Divine Slash" had already reached his body.


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    The titanic ice storm that Bing Luo had transformed into was continuously shattered by the "Golden Light Divine Slash"!


    It seemed that his move¡¯s might was even below the power of the two Divine Arts powered by Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Power.


    Ye Chen, who had traded blows with Bing Luo, hadn¡¯t expected his killing move to increase in potency so much.


    With his realm advancement and improvement in Divine Arts, his combat strength using the True God Talisman¡¯s Divine Power had reached a new level.


    Now, facing the Three Tribulations True God Bing Luo from the Ice Wing Tribe, he was gaining the upper hand!


    He had many other moves he hadn¡¯t used yet. If deployed all at once, eliminating this True God was possibly within reach!


    Once he could eliminate this True God, he would directly obtain the Blood Card from him.


    With the Blood Card, one could directly exchange for the special treasures left by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable!


    At this thought, Ye Chen became even more intent on thoroughly slaying and eliminating True God Bing Luo!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s "Golden Light Divine Slash" and "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" were simultaneously unleashed, momentarily suppressing True God Bing Luo, Ye Chen¡¯s inner "Supreme Origin Pill" surged, simultaneously drawing on the robust True God¡¯s Power from the True God Talisman once more.


    Ye Chen then unleashed the third Divine Art¡ª the Earth-Attribute Divine Art "Earth Returning to Origin Secret"!


    In the void, one by one, spheres of earth appeared, each with an unfathomable force capable of penetrating mountains and rivers, blasting towards Bing Luo.


    Bing Luo was greatly shocked.


    He had already faced the Golden Light Divine Slash, the fiery blaze consuming him, and now he was facing the explosive killing power of the earth bead!


    Ye Chen¡¯s various methods, enhanced by the power of a True God, were each at the combat strength of a True God level, which completely caught him off guard.


    "I can¡¯t keep being passive like this!"


    As the saying goes, it¡¯s slower to talk than to act.


    The exchange at the level of the True God was virtually instantaneous.


    Seeing that his "Ice Vast Nine Secrets" Divine Art¡¯s ice explosion could not withstand Ye Chen¡¯s incessant layers of attack, Bing Luo¡¯s pair of ice wings on his back furiously fluttered.


    Within the vast ice cave channel, endless ice flowers suddenly burst forth, plummeting at high speed cluster after cluster, instantly petrifying the entire void.


    Even time itself came to a momentary halt!


    This Divine Art, which exceeded the power of the Heavenly Void Law and could only be comprehended by a True God, was a combination of spatial and temporal laws¡ªthe "Silent Ice Domain"!


    In an instant, the entire ice cave was completely enveloped by endless ice flowers, covered by the "Silent Ice Domain."


    Ye Chen and Bing Luo¡¯s figures were no longer visible.


    "Suppression, with my ¡¯Silent Ice Domain¡¯s¡¯ divine might that arrests space and halts time momentarily, I will completely crush you!"


    Amidst the endless ice flowers, only Bing Luo¡¯s sudden roar could be heard.


    "Really?"


    "Then let¡¯s have a real showdown!"


    At that moment, within the space obscured by the endless ice flowers, Ye Chen¡¯s voice calmly carried over.


    And at the same time, two more Divine Arts began to unleash their power, the Wood-Attribute Divine Art and the Water-Attribute Divine Art power also explosively blooming within this domain of endless ice flowers.


    This bloom signified that Ye Chen had not been immobilized by the "Silent Ice Domain"!


    Ye Chen was still directly and openly confronting Bing Luo!


    Until the end, within the vast ice cave channel, one could only sense the continual clashing of True God level powers and the endless flashing of lights.


    Ye Chen and Bing Luo¡¯s figures had completely vanished.


    The Ice God Mountain was created by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    Especially the front half of the mountain in the examination area, which was meticulously refined by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable, able to withstand attacks at the God King Level.


    If not for the Ice God Mountain being exceptionally sturdy, the grand battle at the True God level between Ye Chen and Bing Luo would have been enough to cause all ice cave channels within the Ice God Mountain to collapse!


    To completely shred this shockingly huge Ice God Mountain!


    But even if the Ice God Mountain remained unaffected, the battle still caused the ice cave channels to boom and explode endlessly, shocking to the core!


    It was only at the end, when a clear, piercing sword cry sounded, that the real powers of the void, the endless light, and the terrible noise of battle finally dissipated.


    When the true scene within the ice cave was revealed, one could see Ye Chen¡¯s figure reemerging.


    And the True God Bing Luo of the Ice Wing Tribe had vanished without a trace!


    On the ground, a token fell¡ªa blood-colored token!


    The evident outcome was that Bing Luo, the Three Tribulations True God of the Ice Wing Tribe, had been eliminated by Ye Chen!


    "Whoosh," Ye Chen reached out and directly snatched the blood token from the ground into his hand.


    Looking at the blood token, then at the True God Talisman in his other hand, Ye Chen sighed, "My True God Talisman has less than one-fifth of its power remaining."


    "Having used all five of my Divine Arts, and even mobilized my flying sword ¡¯Crimson Fire¡¯ at the end, I killed and eliminated Bing Luo, but even my divine power has been exhausted so much. I¡¯m afraid that the remaining divine power might not be enough to deal with another True God like him."


    "But fortunately, it¡¯s not without gain. Having obtained such a blood token, I can at least exchange it for a special artifact left by the great Heavenly Cloud Venerable!"


    Ye Chen smiled, put away the blood token, and with a move of his figure, he disappeared from the ice cave.


    Ye Chen might remain unperturbed, but the other realms were in utter chaos!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment Ye Chen eliminated Bing Luo, True God Bing Luo was teleported out of the Ice God Mountain examination area. Bing Luo¡¯s face was filled with disbelief as he was teleported out, unable to fathom how he could have been defeated by Ye Chen¡¯s unbelievable final flying sword strike!


    And in the hands of the other nine True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe, a red light simultaneously appeared on their blood tokens. In those tokens, right beside Ye Chen¡¯s name, a blood token symbol directly appeared.


    This signified that Ye Chen had slain and eliminated a True God Hunter!


    "The eighth blood token is Bing Luo. Bing Luo has actually been eliminated by that Ye Chen!" The nine True Gods of the Ice Wing Tribe looked at the blood token symbol behind Ye Chen¡¯s name, completely in disbelief.


    When a True God falls, the blood token reveals!


    In their blood tokens, Ye Chen¡¯s location appeared.


    "This Ye Chen is in the southern part of the Ice God Mountain, in passage nine hundred and five!"


    The remaining nine True Gods of the Ice Wing Tribe let out high-pitched screams: "No matter how he eliminated Bing Luo, I must meet him, see what exactly is going on!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The nine True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe flew frantically from all directions towards where Ye Chen was located.

 Chapter 514 - 471: Fighting While Retreating

    When Bing Luo was eliminated, and the other nine True God Hunters were all frantically chasing after Ye Chen.


    Behind the Ice God Mountain, the gathering place of the Ice Wing Tribe.


    At this time, on the Void Heaven Light Curtain, in the ranking list showing the number of Ice Wing tribespeople eliminated by the martial artists of the outer world, Ye Chen¡¯s name still occupied the top spot.


    The moment True God Hunter Bing Luo was eliminated by Ye Chen, a Blood Card icon directly appeared behind Ye Chen¡¯s name on the Void Heaven Light Curtain.


    Upon seeing this Blood Card icon, all the Ice Wing tribespeople who knew what it represented couldn¡¯t help but cry out in disbelief.


    "One of our True God Hunters has been eliminated!"


    "It¡¯s that Ye Chen ranking first. He, he eliminated one of our True Gods!"


    The Ice Wing tribespeople were incredibly shocked, utterly unable to believe it.


    Other young Ice Wing tribespeople, who were unaware of what the Blood Card icon meant, were perplexed when they heard what the others were saying, "Eliminated one of our True Gods? Does the Blood Card symbol behind that Ye Chen¡¯s name signify the defeat of a True God Hunter?"


    The previously screaming Ice Wing tribespeople explained, "The ten True God Hunters are tasked with hunting the higher-ranking outside martial artists. Likewise, the external warriors can also kill and eliminate the ten True God Hunters."


    "Once an outside martial artist achieves that, a corresponding number of Blood Cards will appear behind their name."


    "One Blood Card signifies the elimination of one True God Hunter."


    "It is rumored that Heavenly Cloud Venerable himself places great value on such powerful outsiders; for every True God Hunter they eliminate, they get a chance to select a reward from the treasures."


    "But over the years, through countless battles between the Ice Wing Tribe and outsiders, very few have managed to kill and eliminate a True God Hunter."


    "And those who have managed to do so are, without exception, powerful martial artists with significant backgrounds from the Divine Kingdoms."


    "This Ye Chen, the Void Heaven Light Curtain shows he¡¯s from the lower realm, not a person from the Divine Kingdom. Yet he also managed to do this!"


    "It¡¯s unimaginable by what means he killed our True God. His strength and fortune are definitely remarkable, not just any ordinary lower realm martial artist!"


    Hearing these narrations from those Ice Wing tribespeople who understood the truth, the other members of the tribe shifted their gaze to Ye Chen¡¯s name on the Void Heaven Light Curtain, especially to the shining Blood Card icon behind it.


    This time, countless Ice Wing tribespeople truly recognized the strength of Ye Chen, who ranked first!


    ...


    Outside the Ice God Mountain.


    While the countless Ice Wing tribespeople were astonished, God King Hong Zhu, Lan Xi God King, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun, who were closely following the progress on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, were also profoundly moved.


    Looking toward the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, they saw that, just like on the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s Void Heaven Light Curtain, a Blood Card had appeared behind Ye Chen¡¯s name.


    These powerful individuals, of course, understood the significance of this Blood Card far more clearly than the Ice Wing tribespeople.


    Lan Xi God King¡¯s exquisite eyes shone with excitement, "I never thought that the first to slay a True God Hunter of the Ice Wing Tribe would be Ye Chen!"


    "Apparently, he must have True God level abilities! He can even contend with a True God of the Ice Wing Tribe!"


    "Those martial artists from the lower realm who make it to Minor Pole Sky can only be at the Heavenly Saint Realm or below. They wouldn¡¯t bring True Gods here. In the lower realms, they belong to martial artists of the Lower Realm; it¡¯s rare to encounter a True God there. Under such circumstances, obtaining a True God level opportunity is nearly impossible!"


    God King Hong Zhu¡¯s eyes also sparkled, "This young fellow Ye Chen really had extraordinary fortune in the lower realm. I am somewhat tempted to visit his hometown, Celestial Spirit Star."


    God King Wucan and God King Lei Yun also shook their heads and smiled, "That Celestial Spirit Star hasn¡¯t had martial artists with the opportunity to come to Minor Pole Sky for tens of thousands of years. It¡¯s surprising that this time, such a remarkable genius has come."


    These powerful beings knew that the opportunity in Minor Pole Sky was left by Lord Heavenly Cloud Venerable in the lowest places of the lower realm. Places like Celestial Spirit Star, not even the Upper Realm¡¯s Minor Spirit Realm, had the chance to obtain the Minor Pole Sky opportunity; only warriors from the thirty-three lands of the Lower Realm had the chance.


    And the thirty-three lands were realms where True Gods hardly ever descended.


    In such lower realms of the Lower Realm, getting the opportunity of a True God was something these powerful beings knew to be extremely difficult.


    ...


    Ye Chen did not know that his elimination of Bing Luo would make all other members of the Ice Wing Tribe aware, nor did he realize the four powerful beings, God King Hong Zhu, Lan Xi God King, God King Wucan, and God King Lei Yun, were reflecting deeply upon it.


    Ye Chen was also unaware that the other nine True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe had located his position through the recently acquired Blood Card and were rapidly converging on him from all directions.


    After eliminating Bing Luo and obtaining a Blood Card, Ye Chen continued his accumulation of white cards.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea later, Ye Chen encountered three groups of Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s Heavenly Saint martial artists in rapid succession, eliminating all eighteen of them without pause.


    The total number of white cards Ye Chen had obtained had soared to two hundred twenty-three.


    Ye Chen¡¯s total points in the assessment competition had reached "four thousand ninety-two points."


    And this was just the first day!


    Just when Ye Chen thought he had just eliminated a True God Hunter and wouldn¡¯t encounter another one anytime soon, there was a "boom" as the void directly exploded.


    A True God of the Void stronger even than Bing Luo tore through the void and appeared not far in front of Ye Chen in the vast Ice Cave passageway.


    This person was none other than Bing Ao, the strongest six-robbery True God among the remaining nine True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe!


    His distance from Ye Chen was the closest among the True God Hunters, except for the earlier Bing Luo.


    And his strength was the greatest among the top ten True God Hunters.


    Of course, he was the first to find Ye Chen!


    Seeing the aura on Bing Ao, Ye Chen¡¯s face changed dramatically.


    If he was somewhat confident he could handle Bing Luo, this newly arrived True God was someone Ye Chen dared not confront.


    This was a six-robbery True God who was even stronger than the five-robbery True Phoenix who had crafted the True God Talisman for him.


    Even with the divine power of the True God Talisman, he was absolutely no match for him.


    "You actually eliminated Bing Luo!" Just as the six-robbery True God, Bing Ao, had begun to speak with Ye Chen and was about to ask how Ye Chen had eliminated Bing Luo, the next moment, the six-robbery True God discovered that Ye Chen had completely disappeared into the void.


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    Bing Ao was completely astonished; glancing at the Blood Card in his hand, he was shocked to see that Ye Chen¡¯s position was still close by, sprinting towards the Ice Cave entrance at great speed.


    "Ye Chen actually has a way to conceal himself?"


    "And escape so quickly?!"


    Bing Ao hadn¡¯t expected Ye Chen to be so decisive, fleeing the moment he saw him.


    What he didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen had flown directly into the superior-quality divine artifact Ice Snow Jade Pendant and, with the Concealed Divine Might of the Tongming Mirror, had stealthily flown away.


    The Tongming Mirror could be used once a day.


    Since hunting a true dragon in the Myriad Dragon Cavern, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t used it for a long time.


    Now faced with the sudden assault of a six-robbery True God, Ye Chen immediately employed its Concealed Divine Might. Unexpectedly, the combination of the Tongming Mirror and the Ice Snow Jade Pendant even prevented the six-robbery True God from noticing his escape for a moment.


    Escape!


    Ye Chen was fleeing rapidly ahead with the aid of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Pursuit!


    The six-robbery True God, Bing Ao, used the guidance of the Blood Card in his hand to relentlessly chase after Ye Chen.


    A superior-quality divine artifact would normally allow for extremely swift escape; even if a powerful True God were using it, the six-robbery True God, Bing Ao, would be unable to catch up.


    But Ye Chen, who was only at the late stage of the pill rotation, even though he had made significant progress since hunting the true dragon in the Myriad Dragon Cavern, couldn¡¯t fully harness the escape speed of the superior-quality divine artifact Ice Snow Jade Pendant. He was merely managing to avoid being caught by the six-robbery True God.


    Thus, a bizarre scene unfolded in the Ice God Mountain.


    An outsider martial artist, Ye Chen, was fleeing rapidly ahead, while the six-robbery True God, Bing Ao, was furiously chasing him from behind!


    In the end, when Ye Chen realized he couldn¡¯t shake the six-robbery True God with the Tongming Mirror, he even put it away and began to fly ahead at full strength using the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    When this scene finally collided with other members of the Ice Wing Tribe, those tribespeople were completely stunned by the sight of a point of brilliant light transformed by the Ice Snow Jade Pendant rushing towards them and their powerful True God Hunter clansman in hot pursuit behind.


    And Ye Chen, where would he let go of such an opportunity? Already being pursued by the six-robbery True God, the chances of him claiming another white card were slim. As these Ice Wing Tribe martial artists fell into a moment of distraction, Ye Chen passed by them in an instant, striking swiftly as he flew by.


    Whoosh!


    Instantly, the attacked Ice Wing Tribe Heavenly Saint Realm martial artist was eliminated by Ye Chen, and the white card that fell from his body hadn¡¯t even hit the ground, falling less than an inch before Ye Chen collected it into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Ye Chen continued to flee and, at the same time, kept striking, eliminating white card warriors of the Ice Wing Tribe.


    This drove the six-robbery True God, Bing Ao, who was chasing behind him, to the brink of madness.


    After chasing through dozens of Ice Caves, with Ye Chen fleeing and killing as he went, he had eliminated thirty-three Ice Wing Tribe warriors, Bing Ao was even forced to, while chasing Ye Chen, transmit a divine sound for the Ice Wing Tribe warriors ahead to get out of the way.


    Despite that, there were still many Ice Wing Tribe warriors who couldn¡¯t avoid in time, and Ye Chen instantly killed them and took their white cards.


    About half an hour into the chase, another True God Hunter joined the pursuit of Ye Chen.


    However, even with one more, the new True God Hunter was not as strong as Bing Ao and, of course, could not catch up to Ye Chen.


    In the end, after three days had passed, all nine remaining True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe were chasing after Ye Chen from behind, an event so extraordinary that it spread through the entire Ice God Mountain with the help of numerous martial artists who had moved out of the way in advance.

 Chapter 515 - 472: Trade and Special Rewards

    They pursued Ye Chen for an entire day.


    In the end, after attempting to encircle, blockade, burn True God energy and even deploying Divine Artifacts to chase, they still couldn¡¯t catch up to Ye Chen who continuously escaped using the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Eight of the remaining nine True God Hunters were left with no choice but to give up.


    There wasn¡¯t much time left for the trial. Continuing like this, they feared they might not get any Reward Points at all.


    "This Ye Chen is really tough to deal with; he has such a powerful Divine Artifact Treasure!"


    "Although the Reward Points on him are tempting, there¡¯s nothing we can do if we can¡¯t get them. If we keep chasing him, we might miss out on the points from other martial artists from the outside world."


    Eventually, eight of the Ice Wing Tribe True God Hunters turned to search for other martial artists with Reward Points in their Blood Cards, completely giving up the pursuit of Ye Chen.


    The only one who still insisted on pursuing Ye Chen was Bing Ao, the True God of the Six Tribulations.


    Bing Ao couldn¡¯t believe it: "This Ye Chen, even if his Divine Artifact is formidable, given his realm, using the artifact must deplete a lot of his true qi. How can he manage to be on the run for four straight days without any break?"


    "Keep chasing! I refuse to believe he can keep running away!"


    What this Six Tribulations True God Bing Ao didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen had something else besides the Ice Snow Jade Pendant¡ªa treasure he obtained after killing the Fat and Skinny Holy Saints in the Five Elements Mountain: over twenty drops of "Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid."


    This Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid could restore a martial artist¡¯s depleted true qi very quickly.


    One drop could instantly replenish the completely exhausted true qi of a powerhouse at the late stage of Heaven Saint.


    Ye Chen¡¯s newly cultivated "Taiyuan Divine Pill" was immensely powerful, with an astonishing amount and recovery rate of true qi. Coupled with the more than twenty drops of "Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid" he had, after being chased by the nine True God Hunters for four days, Ye Chen had only used up eight drops, still having more than a dozen left.


    If this continued, even if Bing Ao pursued him until the seven days of trials ended, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t let him catch up.


    Bing Ao, who was completely unwilling to give up on Ye Chen¡¯s Reward Points, became increasingly anxious as he chased.


    When time reached the last day of the trial, and it was about to end soon, Bing Ao finally realized that he absolutely couldn¡¯t catch up to Ye Chen like this.


    At that moment, after struggling a bit on his face, Bing Ao called out to Ye Chen from afar, "Young friend Ye Chen, I will no longer chase you. Can we discuss something that is greatly beneficial to both of us?"


    "If you don¡¯t trust me, I can stop first."


    After Bing Ao called out from a distance, he indeed stopped.


    "Discuss something greatly beneficial to both of us?" Being chased by Bing Ao and the other eight True God Hunters, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t had much energy to kill more Ice Wing tribe members he encountered while escaping in recent days. Especially since he had spent quite a bit of his precious "Primordial Extreme Spiritual Fluid", Ye Chen had long hoped that Bing Ao, the last to insist on the chase, would give up.


    To Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, when Bing Ao gave up, he didn¡¯t leave but actually spoke out, wanting to discuss something with him.


    Ye Chen hesitated for a moment inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, but seeing that Bing Ao had indeed stopped, he also stopped the Ice Snow Jade Pendant from a distance.


    Of course, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t the slightest bit careless and didn¡¯t come out of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    The one facing him was a True God of the Six Tribulations; no matter what the other party was planning, he had to be extremely cautious.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s wary demeanor, Bing Ao couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly.


    As a Six Tribulations True God, after pursuing Ye Chen for several days and now that the trial was about to end without having caught up, he really didn¡¯t have the energy to keep fighting with Ye Chen.


    "Young friend Ye Chen," Bing Ao started, signaling his goodwill, "To be able to escape from us nine True God Hunters, and even previously eliminating one of our True Gods, is truly impressive. I am Bing Ao of the Ice Wing Tribe, a Six Tribulations True God, and I feel quite ashamed."


    "Senior Bing Ao, just speak frankly. We are all participating in this trial according to the Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯s requirements; no need for courtesy with me," Ye Chen¡¯s voice transmitted from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Bing Ao smiled wryly and nodded, "Since you know we are all participating in the trial at the command of the Heavenly Cloud Venerable, let me talk about the matter I mentioned earlier, which would be greatly beneficial to both of us."


    "The reason we hunt you and other front-runners from the outside world is because the Heavenly Cloud Venerable decreed that if we eliminate any of you high-ranking martial artists, we can obtain Reward Points corresponding to your trial points from you."


    "Friend Ye Chen, you have more than four thousand Reward Points on you, far surpassing all other martial artists who entered the Ice God Mountain with you. Just eliminating you would be enough to exchange for four precious treasures! And since you eliminated one of our True Gods, your location has been exposed on our Blood Card, so we were all racing to hunt you down."


    The True God Hunters also get treasure rewards?


    Like I can get special rewards from the Blood Cards in their hands?


    Ye Chen finally learned the reason behind these True God Hunters¡¯ mobilization.


    It turns out they were also motivated by treasures from the Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    Ye Chen also realized why the nine True God Hunters had successively located him. It turns out after he eliminated Bing Luo, his position was exposed on the other True God Hunters¡¯ Blood Cards.


    But Ye Chen was puzzled, "Senior Bing Ao, what is the matter that would be greatly beneficial to both of us that you mentioned?"


    Bing Ao laughed, "Young friend Ye Chen, even if I eliminate you and obtain more than four thousand Reward Points from you, it does not affect your trial points. It only means that your trial is over and you no longer have the chance to accumulate trial points in the Ice God Mountain."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Indeed, as the Lan Xi God King had said, every martial artist eliminated from the competition merely ended their trial, and the points accumulated prior were not erased but maintained. The Reward Points gained by these True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe, however, had nothing to do with them.


    Ye Chen had already guessed what Bing Ao was about to propose.


    Sure enough, Bing Ao said, "Now that we¡¯ve reached the last day of the trial, there¡¯s not much time left for the competition. Ye Chen, you¡¯ve been pursued by me all this time and have hardly had the energy to snatch the white card from my fellow tribesmen. Why not make a deal with me?"


    "I can let you pick two Divine Artifact Treasures from my collection in exchange for deliberately getting eliminated once and giving me your more than four thousand Reward Points."


    "This way, Ye Chen, you can obtain two treasures, while I can exchange for four treasures. Deducting the two treasures I give to you, I too can gain an additional two treasures. We¡¯ll both be happy, what do you say?"


    This Six Tribulations True God Bing Ao had actually thought of a profit-sharing scheme with Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen glanced at Bing Ao.


    Bing Ao¡¯s proposal was indeed beneficial to both parties. If Ye Chen obtained two treasures from him, even if he were to be eliminated afterward, he wouldn¡¯t lose anything and would end up with two treasures for free.


    Otherwise, if they continued at this rate, even if he emerged unscathed, he would have no chance of gaining any more treasures.


    Moreover, since Bing Ao was a Six Tribulations True God, the treasures he possessed should also be of no small value. By trading with him, the two could also make each other¡¯s acquaintance.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen was already considering agreeing to the trade with Bing Ao.


    However, Ye Chen naturally wanted to see what Divine Artifact Treasures Bing Ao had first.


    When Bing Ao waved his hand grandly, displaying all his treasures and introducing them one by one, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes lit up upon seeing two of the items.


    ...


    Outside Ice God Mountain.


    As the seven days of the second trial location were about to end, more than five thousand martial artists who had entered the Ice God Mountain had mostly been eliminated by the people of the Ice Wing Tribe!


    Fang Hua was among them.


    However, at this moment, Fang Hua¡¯s expression was very relaxed. Although he had been eliminated, he had accumulated enough points before the elimination. His trial points had reached 1,103 points, and he barely managed to qualify for the third training location he had longed for.


    Looking at the Extreme Heaven Spirit List in the void with great ease, Fang Hua said, "Brother Ye Chen is still ranked first on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, and he even eliminated a True God of the Ice Wing Tribe!"


    At this time, on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, behind Ye Chen¡¯s trial points, there was a striking Blood Card symbol.


    This Blood Card symbol had every eliminated martial artist asking its meaning. Upon hearing that it signified Ye Chen eliminating a True God of the Ice Wing Tribe and earning a chance to exchange for a special treasure left by Heavenly Cloud Venerable in the Ice God Mountain, every eliminated martial artist was both shocked and envious.


    Fang Hua was, of course, aware of the significance of the Blood Card symbol.


    When he thought of the dozens of martial artists who had been eliminated from the Ice God Mountain mentioning that they had witnessed the nine True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe chasing Ye Chen in the ice caves of the Ice God Mountain, not even halting their pursuit upon seeing him, Fang Hua was even more astonished.


    Fang Hua speculated that the nine great True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s pursuit of Ye Chen must be related to that Blood Card symbol behind Ye Chen¡¯s name.


    It was very likely that Ye Chen¡¯s elimination of a True God Hunter had triggered the frenzied pursuit of the other nine hunters!


    "Brother Ye Chen seems to have worked another great miracle in this second trial," Fang Hua mused.


    "Once he comes out, I must ask him about what happened inside."


    "The seven days are almost over; Brother Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, along with the last few who haven¡¯t come out of the Ice God Mountain, should be coming out soon."


    As Fang Hua was lost in his thoughts, a flash of light swept across the Extreme Heaven Spirit List and another Blood Card symbol suddenly appeared behind Ye Chen¡¯s name.


    This indicated that Ye Chen had eliminated another True God Hunter of the Ice Wing Tribe!


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    Not just Fang Hua, but the other eliminated martial artists were also surprised by such a last-minute change during the end of the seven-day trial.


    While they were still in shock, on the Extreme Heaven Spirit List, a flash of light also appeared behind the name of the Little Provincial Princess, Fang Luo, displaying a Blood Card symbol.


    "The Little Provincial Princess eliminated a True God Hunter of the Ice Wing Tribe too?!"


    This continuous change in the situation at the last moment completely stunned those martial artists that had been eliminated earlier.


    In the midst of their astonishment, the teleportation array leading in and out of the Ice God Mountain flickered with light, and Ye Chen¡¯s figure appeared directly in the center of the array.


    Soon after Ye Chen¡¯s appearance, "swoosh, swoosh, swoosh," the Little Provincial Princess, Tian Li, and the rest who were still in the Ice God Mountain, were all transported out as well.

 Chapter 516 - 473: Divine Artifact, Divine Treasure

    Under the watchful eyes of countless onlookers, Ye Chen smiled, fondled the two treasures and two Blood Cards in his embrace, and walked toward the crowd.


    Those two treasures, of course, had come from Bing Ao, the Six Tribulations True God of the Ice Wing Tribe.


    In the end, Ye Chen chose to make a deal with Bing Ao, maximizing benefits for both sides.


    Ye Chen opted to have Bing Ao eliminated, allowing him to acquire the more than four thousand Reward Points on Bing Ao¡¯s person. In return, before being eliminated himself, he selected two treasures from Bing Ao that caught his eye.


    These two treasures were both mid-grade Divine Artifacts.


    Although they were not as precious as the space Divine Artifact "Ice Snow Jade Pendant", taking two mid-grade Divine Artifacts back to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would be enough to drive countless martial artists mad. Even among the countless True Gods of the upper realms of the Minor Pole Sky on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, not many possessed mid-grade Divine Artifacts.


    It was only because Bing Ao was a Six Tribulations True God that Ye Chen was able to obtain such treasures from him.


    One of these mid-grade Divine Artifacts was an offensive one named "Thunder Gourd".


    The Thunder Gourd could attack over a wide range, directly capturing countless martial artists within a hundred miles into the gourd and refining them into nothingness. If one did not have the means to block the attack of the "Thunder Gourd", even a Four Tribulations True God captured within the gourd could be directly killed.


    Not to mention those at the Heavenly Saint Realm¡ªwithout powerful divine-level methods, once captured by the "Thunder Gourd", they would certainly be killed instantly.


    Even Five Tribulations and Six Tribulations True Gods, despite their immense strength, would not be killed outright by the "Thunder Gourd", but if they were carelessly captured within, they would still be trapped and could possibly suffer significant losses.


    Ye Chen¡¯s divine-level methods included only the two True God Talismans left by True Phoenix and Shepherd Cloud True God. Now with the addition of this offensive Divine Artifact "Thunder Gourd", Ye Chen had gained another immensely powerful method of attack.


    The second treasure obtained from Bing Ao was an auxiliary Divine Artifact called the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring".


    This "Ice Treasure Divine Ring", forged by a powerful Nine Tribulations True God of the Ice Wing Tribe, involved countless divine power rules and possessed three amazing effects: "Treasure-seeking, Space, and Concealment".


    Treasure-seeking meant that the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring" had a special sensitivity to treasures within a hundred miles. In exploratory territories, it could help True Gods easily discover treasures, not to mention aiding other realm martial artists¡ªthis was the feature Ye Chen valued most.


    For martial artists, exploring to find treasures is an important part of cultivation.


    With the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring¡¯s" treasure-seeking ability, Ye Chen¡¯s chances of finding treasures would be greatly increased.


    As for the "Space" function, it turned the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring" into a storage space. Ye Chen already had the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and the Heavenly Spirit Ring and thus wasn¡¯t lacking in storage space, but acquiring another large storage space was still quite satisfying for him.


    The third special effect, "Concealment", was another feature that caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention and made him choose this item. Once Ye Chen activated the Concealment function of the Ice Treasure Divine Ring, martial artists below the rank of the Fifth Order True God, unless they possessed powerful treasures capable of breaking through Concealment, would absolutely not be able to detect Ye Chen while concealed.


    This "Concealment" effect was far more significant than that of artifacts like the Tongming Mirror, which was only effective on those at the Heavenly Saint Level!


    With this treasure, even without relying on True God Talismans and still lacking the power to oppose Three Tribulations and Four Tribulations True Gods, Ye Chen stood a good chance at successfully attacking or escaping through stealth and Concealment!


    Trading a single elimination that did not affect his own assessment points for the "Thunder Gourd" and "Ice Treasure Divine Ring", Ye Chen was quite satisfied with the results.


    As for the two Blood Cards in his hand, touching them made Ye Chen shake his head and smile.


    The first Blood Card was obviously the one he obtained when he eliminated that True God Hunter of the Ice Wing Tribe, Fang Luo.


    The second Blood Card, coincidentally, came just before the end of the assessment when Ye Chen had just reached a deal with Bing Ao. With a little time still on his hands, Ye Chen asked to continue eliminating other Ice Wing Tribe martial artists to accumulate more assessment points.


    Bing Ao naturally wouldn¡¯t refuse Ye Chen¡¯s request.


    After all, the more assessment points Ye Chen amassed, the more Reward Points Bing Ao would ultimately receive from him.


    As a result, after Ye Chen had killed and eliminated several Ice Wing Tribe Heavenly Saints, he encountered one of the remaining nine True God Hunters.


    Find adventures on


    It was a Two Tribulations True God.


    This time, Bing Ao no longer pursued him, and Ye Chen naturally had the confidence to directly attack this Two Tribulations True God who had also participated in the pursuit earlier.


    In the end, Ye Chen used up the last fifth of the divine power of the True God Talisman left by True Phoenix and successfully killed the Two Tribulations True God, obtaining yet another Blood Card.


    Using the last bit of remaining divine power to obtain a Blood Card, a chance to exchange for treasures left by Heavenly Cloud Venerable within Ice God Mountain, was definitely worth it for Ye Chen.


    Ultimately, the entirety of Ye Chen¡¯s spoils from the "Ice God Mountain" consisted of two Divine Artifacts, two Blood Cards, and three hundred sixty-seven combat achievements for eliminating Heavenly Saint warriors of the Ice Wing Tribe.


    When Ye Chen walked towards the crowd with his great haul, Fang Hua and the other warriors from the lower realm all surged towards him.


    "Ye Chen, you actually obtained two Blood Cards! You actually managed to kill and eliminate two True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe?!"


    "How did you do it!"


    Although he hadn¡¯t really killed those True God Hunters of the Ice Wing Tribe, this was because the Blood Cards had taken their place to shield them from a death crisis once.


    If it hadn¡¯t been a trial but a real battle instead, it would have meant that Ye Chen had slain two great True Gods of the Ice Wing Tribe.


    That, of course, left numerous warriors from the lower realm incredibly shocked and deeply curious about how Ye Chen managed to do this.


    With a smile, Ye Chen began to tell these people about the True God Talismans.


    Not long after Ye Chen, the second trial also came to a complete end, and when the Little Provincial Princess and others returned, many of the remaining people surrounded the Little Provincial Princess and her group as well.


    The scene was lively for a while.


    ...


    Half an hour later.


    After transporting the majority of the warriors back to the realms they came from¡ªthose who had accumulated less than one thousand points from the second trial¡ªonly thirty-one warriors remained in the Minor Pole Sky cultivation site.


    Among these thirty-one warriors, there were three from the lower realm: Ye Chen, Fang Hua, and a young man named Xiao Yi. The rest were the young people from the Divine Kingdom and the Little Provincial Princess, along with the four descendants of the four great generals.


    The thirty-one warriors had the opportunity to enter the third cultivation site, the "Divine Soul Cultivation Site," which was somewhat stronger than those who had come to cultivate in the Minor Pole Sky last time.


    However, these thirty-one did not proceed directly to the third cultivation site.


    Before that, the two people who had obtained Blood Cards, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, had the chance to select treasures left behind by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable in the Ice God Mountain.


    Under the envious gazes of the other twenty-nine, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, led by Lan Xi God King, were transported to a special space within the Ice God Mountain.


    The special space where the Heavenly Cloud Venerable had left unique treasures.


    Upon seeing the Divine Platforms in the special space, each housing no less than a thousand Divine Artifacts and Divine Treasures, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess exchanged glances, both of their eyes shining brightly.


    Even though the Little Provincial Princess came from an Eastern Provincial noble house, the sheer number of treasures left by the Heavenly Cloud Venerable still broadened her horizons significantly.


    "Big Brother Ye Chen, let¡¯s go select some treasures," the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo said to Ye Chen with a giggly smile.


    This time, the Little Provincial Princess had eliminated a Four Tribulations True God. Ye Chen had also heard the Little Provincial Princess speaking about this process. When he heard how she fiercely battled the Four Tribulations True God using a powerful Divine Artifact, and even had to deploy three Divine Artifacts in succession to completely eliminate that True God, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but admire the much younger Little Provincial Princess.


    Ye Chen knew all too well how difficult it was to deal with True Gods. Even possessing True God Talismans and Divine Artifacts, without rich combat experience and strong personal strength, it would be impossible to truly adeptly wield such external means, nor achieve this feat.


    After nodding to the Little Provincial Princess with a smile, Ye Chen joined her in selecting from among the thousands of Divine Artifacts and Divine Treasures.


    In the end, Ye Chen picked out two new treasures that pleased him even more than the two he had previously obtained from Bing Ao.


    One Divine Artifact, one Divine Treasure.


    A Divine Treasure is a god-level treasure naturally nurtured into being, unlike a Divine Artifact which is forged by powerful beings.


    The precious Divine Treasures, compared to the value of Divine Artifacts, are hardly less remarkable.


    The new Divine Artifact chosen by a very satisfied Ye Chen was a divine sword called "Purple Lightning."


    The Divine Treasure was a bar-shaped object that would continuously nourish and strengthen the three vital signs of Ye Chen¡¯s spirit, qi, and essence¡ªthe "Heaven Origin Stone."

 Chapter 517 - 474: Four Months Later

    Ye Chen looked at the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword" and "Heavenly Origin Divine Stone" in his hand, nodding in satisfaction.


    Heavenly Cloud Venerable had left more than a thousand Divine Artifacts and Divine Treasures in this special treasure space, and from the vast collection, Ye Chen had chosen just these two pieces, which spoke volumes about their allure to him.


    The Purple Lightning Divine Sword was a superior-grade offensive Divine Artifact, more powerful than the medium-grade Divine Artifact "Thunder Gourd" Ye Chen had previously obtained from Bing Ao.


    The reason this divine sword caught Ye Chen¡¯s eye was not just because of its superior-grade offensive artifact status but more importantly, it had three major forbidden sword techniques hidden within.


    The three forbidden sword techniques were respectively known as "Purple Glow," "Extreme Lightning," and the Ultimate Sword Technique, sharing the same name as the sword itself¡ª "Purple Lightning"!


    By mastering the first forbidden sword technique "Purple Glow," one could directly unleash thirty percent of the Purple Lightning Divine Sword¡¯s hidden power; mastering the second technique "Extreme Lightning" would unlock sixty percent.


    Once the Ultimate Sword Technique "Purple Lightning" was mastered, it would fully unleash all ten levels of hidden power within the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, even potentially doubling its combat prowess to the level of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    On the surface, the Purple Lightning Divine Sword appeared to be just a superior-grade offensive Divine Artifact, but with all its hidden powers combined, it truly reached the level of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact.


    Although the three forbidden sword techniques were extremely difficult to learn, the mere true power of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact was more than enough to attract Ye Chen.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had been looking for a sword-type weapon to wield.


    The "Black Fire Sword" he was previously using was simply a top-grade treasure artifact, which was now far from sufficient for his use in battle.


    The "Red Fire" flying sword, although of top-grade holy artifact quality and very useful, posed potential to transform into a Divine Artifact under the nourishment of the embryonic form of the Virtual Heaven Sword, but as a flying sword, its combat style was more suited for sneak attacks rather than direct confrontations.


    With the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," Ye Chen once again truly possessed a very important weapon for direct combat.


    As for choosing the Divine Treasure "Heavenly Origin Divine Stone," which could continually nurture and strengthen the three major signs of life¡ªessence, qi, and spirit¡ªit was because Ye Chen realized that enhancing these three vital signs was most crucial for the cultivation of both lower-plane martial artists and those from the Divine Kingdom.


    Ye Chen already possessed quite a few treasures, but upon seeing that the "Heavenly Origin Divine Stone" was highly regarded by Heavenly Cloud Venerable himself as greatly beneficial for the three signs of life and required no special cultivation¡ªif one merely carried it daily¡ª


    Ye Chen naturally did not hesitate to choose this treasure.


    With this treasure, Ye Chen believed that even without cultivating in the Divine Kingdom, his foundation would not be weaker than that of the cultivators there.


    After Ye Chen chose his treasures, he waited for Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo to make her selection.


    Although the Little Provincial Princess was only twelve years old, still a little girl, her insights were anything but shallow, given she came from the Eastern Provincial King¡¯s Residence.


    In the end, the Little Provincial Princess did not select a Divine Artifact; instead, like Ye Chen, she chose a Divine Treasure known as the "Multi-Spirit Treasure Jade."


    This "Multi-Spirit Treasure Jade" had a significant effect on enhancing the True Qi Life Vital Sign, one of the three major life signs, even stronger in that aspect than Ye Chen¡¯s "Heavenly Origin Divine Stone."


    While it did not enhance the other two life signs as much as the "Heavenly Origin Divine Stone," the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s weakest aspect was her True Qi Life Vital Sign, so she preferred the "Multi-Spirit Treasure Jade" more.


    After both Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess chose their desired treasures, Lan Xi God King smiled and nodded before leading them out of the special treasure space.


    Only long after the three of them had left did an elder of the Ice Wing Tribe bring the True God Hunters, who had earned enough reward points, into the special treasure space to make their selections following Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess.


    Among them was Bing Ao, the True God Hunter who had exchanged his two Divine Artifacts with Ye Chen for over four thousand points, and he became the one who could redeem the most treasures.


    After selecting four treasures he wanted, Bing Ao smiled in satisfaction and muttered to himself, "Thanks to my trade with young friend Ye Chen, I had this opportunity to exchange for these four treasures. I must keep this favor from Ye Chen in my heart."


    ...


    Of course, Ye Chen was unaware of Bing Ao¡¯s thoughts. Once he, the Little Provincial Princess, and Lan Xi God King returned to the icy land outside Ice God Mountain, they, along with the other twenty-nine martial artists who had broken into the third level, set off for the third cultivation site.


    ...


    Four months later.


    Ye Chen burst forth from the ultimate fifth training location in the Minor Pole Sky.


    Behind Ye Chen, of the original thirty-one who entered the third training location, only the Little Provincial Princess remained besides him.


    This meant that, in the end, only Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess had managed to enter the ultimate fifth training location!


    During these four months, a lot had happened.


    As before, in the first physical training location "Eighty-Eight Training Chambers" and the second True Qi training location "Thousand Leaves Platform of the Laws," Ye Chen and the other thirty-one cultivators spent a month training in the third location dedicated to Divine Soul cultivation, the "Shock the Divine Tower."


    In this month, others might not have been clear, but Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul strength had truly undergone a qualitative leap.


    After being refined by the venerable level training secret realm of the "Shock the Divine Tower," Ye Chen¡¯s already powerful Divine Soul had become even more terrifyingly strong. Now, even true gods below the level of the fifth tribulation launching a Divine Soul attack against Ye Chen would find him confidently resilient.


    Besides the tremendous increase in Divine Soul strength, another significant gain was Ye Chen¡¯s completion of the incredibly powerful Divine Arts of the Divine Soul, "Destruction Eye Skills," which he originally acquired from the Fat and Thin Saints. He had not only completed his training but even surpassed the level that the Fat and Thin Saints had achieved.


    The Destruction Eye Skills of the Divine Soul possessed two great divine mights: "Destruction" and "Annihilation."


    The divine might of "Destruction" could see through many hidden things, concealed attacks included.


    And the divine might of "Annihilation" was even capable of directly launching Divine Soul attacks.


    Having learned this set of Divine Arts, Ye Chen also made a qualitative improvement in terms of Divine Soul techniques.


    With three major life signs, Ye Chen now had the basis of the Icebound Divine Body with its 810 forms and the Undying Divine Body for his physical techniques; he had the Five Great Divine Arts and sword arts for his True Qi techniques; and now, for his Divine Soul techniques, Ye Chen also possessed the divine might of the "Destruction Eye Skills!"


    After the three training locations, Ye Chen¡¯s combat skills had truly reached the pinnacle of what he could master at his current stage! Stay tuned for updates on


    After completing the training at the third location, "Shock the Divine Tower," Ye Chen and the other thirty martial artists proceeded to the third test area for assessment, the "Shock the Divine Bridge," where they underwent the third seven-day assessment.


    This assessment had even higher requirements than the previous two.


    They needed to accumulate a total of ten thousand assessment points to pass this test and enter the fourth training location.


    The method of assessment involved killing a type of spirit object that attacked with Divine Soul known as "Puppet Dolls" on the "Shock the Divine Bridge."


    As expected, very few people managed to break into the fourth training location, not only Fang Hua and Xiao Yi, the two remaining martial artists from the lower planes apart from Ye Chen, but all were eliminated.


    Even the young people of the Divine Kingdom, over thirty in number who had broken into the third assessment location, were all eliminated.


    In the end, only Ye Chen, Little Provincial Princess, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin six people successfully broke into the fourth training location.


    Among these six, aside from Ye Chen, the remaining five were all descendants of the great powers of the Divine Kingdom.


    This caused Fang Hua and Xiao Yi, who were eliminated and eventually sent back to Minor Pole Sky¡¯s previous realms, to talk with Ye Chen for a long time, even expressing their admiration and amazement!


    It also made all the young people from the Divine Kingdom who were eliminated remember Ye Chen¡¯s name, remembering the deeds of Ye Chen in overcoming the first three challenges!


    After Ye Chen and the other five entered the fourth training location.


    On the Extreme Heavenly Rankings, after three rounds of assessments, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess were still far ahead!


    And the fourth training location was after the "Three Major Life Sign" training locations, entirely different from the previous three.


    This fourth training location turned out to involve cultivating a secondary profession¡ªarray formation!

 Chapter 518 - 475

    ```


    This "Formation," involves the mysteries of spatial laws¡ªlaws far more profound than those comprehended by the Heavenly Saint of the lower realm during their assault on becoming a Void Sky True God. It touches upon deeper layers of spatial laws.


    It also involves many other infinite and wonderful laws besides spatial ones, including some aspects of the Time Law.


    This "Formation" even includes Teleportation Formations, Attack Formations, Defensive Arrays, and other categories of cultivation.


    Although Formation arts are a secondary profession, not like the cultivation of Essence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªthe three primary vital signs of life¡ªit¡¯s as mysteriously profound even as a secondary vocation.


    Only upon reaching this fourth cultivation site did Ye Chen realize that what made Heavenly Cloud Venerable truly formidable was his mastery of Formation arts.


    It was due to such skills that Heavenly Cloud Venerable could establish Teleportation Divine Formations across various lower realms, allowing martial artists from incredibly distant lower realms to enter Minor Pole Sky.


    It was because of these Formation arts that Heavenly Cloud Venerable was able to traverse major lower realms, leaving behind countless sites of adventure. Ye Chen came to understand the deep connections among the three major adventure sites of the Thirty-Three Continents and their mysterious link to the Formations.


    At the fourth cultivation site, Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, Tian Li, Zhao Xin, Meng Qi, and Hu Lin¡ªthe six of them were engaging for the first time in this wondrous secondary profession of "Formation" cultivation, something completely different from the primary cultivation methods of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.


    Formation arts, with their boundless mysteries, an entire month at the fourth site wasn¡¯t nearly enough for Ye Chen and his companions to pursue this cultivation.


    They had only just gained a basic understanding of Formations when the month of cultivation came to an end.


    And in the next trial, the fourth test, they were to compete in a seven-day Formation competition.


    In the end, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, thanks to their previously accumulated huge points advantage from the Celestial Spirit Leaderboard and their deeper comprehension of Formations compared to Tian Li and the other three, became the only two to break into the fifth cultivation site¡ªthe final destination within Minor Pole Sky.


    For both to break into the final cultivation site was an event rarely seen in the countless years of Minor Pole Sky¡¯s secret realm.


    And the ultimate, fifth cultivation site offered a full one and a half months of cultivation, focused on a manual personally penned by Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡ªthe "Nine Volumes of Formation Array."


    It turned out that the basic Formation practice in the fourth site was merely Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯s way of selecting martial artists for the ultimate cultivation site. Only those truly passing through the fourth site earned the right to cultivate the true arts of Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯s "Nine Volumes of Formation Array."


    Also, by cultivating this manual, they indeed established a connection with Heavenly Cloud Venerable, becoming the inheritors of his techniques.


    While not officially apprentices, Heavenly Cloud Venerable made it clear that after mastering the first three volumes of "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," one may directly request to become his disciple if one wishes.


    Only after earnestly beginning the cultivation of "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" did Ye Chen realize the strength of Formations and the power of Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    Based on Ye Chen¡¯s premonition, after completely mastering these nine volumes, even if he didn¡¯t use his physical body, Qi, or spiritual life signs, his Formation skills alone would surely slay countless Divine Kings.


    Of course, Heavenly Cloud Venerable wouldn¡¯t leave the complete "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" in the ultimate cultivation site; he only left the first three volumes here.


    Heavenly Cloud Venerable stated that the fifth site is the last cultivation site within Minor Pole Sky. These first three volumes must be learned one by one.


    With one and a half months, if one could master the first volume, they could take the remaining two volumes to continue their cultivation.


    Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, while at the fourth cultivation site, developed an intense interest in deepening their understanding of this new method of Formation arts.


    Especially Ye Chen, who wanted to thoroughly understand the principles behind the ancient and mysterious Teleportation Formations and Attack Formations.


    As a result, upon entering the fifth site, both began to earnestly cultivate the first three volumes of "Nine Volumes of Formation Array."


    They did not disappoint Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    After the one and a half months of cultivation, both had mastered the techniques of the first volume of "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," and moved on to studying the second volume.


    Ultimately, by the end of the cultivation period, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess managed to obtain copies of the last two volumes of "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" to continue their study and cultivation after leaving Minor Pole Sky.


    The third site, along with its associated tests and trials, had taken Ye Chen one month and seven days.


    The fourth site, with all its tests and trials, also took Ye Chen another month and seven days.


    For the final, fifth cultivation site, Ye Chen engaged in an entire month and a half of cultivation.


    After entering the third site, Ye Chen spent nearly four months to finally emerge from the ultimate cultivation realm of Minor Pole Sky.


    Adding on the cultivation and trials at the first and second sites, since Ye Chen came to Minor Pole Sky, he had altogether spent a total of six and a half months!


    Six and a half months!


    Plus the three months of adventure on Five Elements Mountain, and the time it took to reach the mountain earlier.


    Ye Chen had not returned to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent for ten months.


    Emerging from the ultimate cultivation site, Ye Chen knew he was finally going back to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, back to Heavenly Sacred Palace, back to seeing Jiang Yao!


    Ten months.


    Ye Chen missed Jiang Yao immensely.


    ...


    Outside the fifth cultivation site, which is the ultimate destination in Minor Pole Sky.


    As Ye Chen flew out from the ultimate cultivation site, the Little Provincial Princess emerged by his side as well.


    Besides Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, the only other onlookers were the six Divine Kings and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu.


    The six Divine Kings included God King Lei Yun, who had led Ye Chen to Minor Pole Sky, God King Wucan in charge of the first cultivation site and first set of trials, and God King Lan Xi, responsible for the second site and its trials.


    The other three Divine Kings were "Troy God King," overseeing the third site and its trials, "Bright Tower God King," in charge of the fourth site and its trials, and "Heavenly Scripture God King," responsible for the ultimate cultivation site.


    The six Divine Kings, like Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, had watched step by step as Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess made it to the very last challenge.


    Even "Heavenly Scripture God King," towards the end, had been kept informed about their progress and trials by the previous kings, thereby learning of Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s cultivation journey.


    ```


    The Little Provincial Princess was a being that surpassed a Divine Venerable, the youngest daughter of the East Territory King, a top figure of the Mountain Divine Nation.


    Ye Chen, on the other hand, was a martial artist from the lower realm.


    One was of such high status that it was inconceivable; the other was of such common origin that it was extreme, and these two of such tremendous contrast had both reached the end, naturally leaving a profound impression on all six God Kings!


    Especially at the last moment, Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess had successfully cultivated the first volume of the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" from the great Heavenly Cloud Venerable, which made all six God Kings remember Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess distinctly.


    After all, the six God Kings knew that with their speed of cultivation, it probably wouldn¡¯t be a problem to receive personal instruction from the great Heavenly Cloud Venerable in the future.


    And the six of them were God Kings under the great Heavenly Cloud Venerable, so of course, they paid exceptional attention to both of them.


    Especially to Ye Chen, the martial artist from the lower realm, they truly began to take notice.


    ...


    "Brother Ye Chen, are you really not coming with me to the First Divine City of the East Territory?"


    "If you come with me to the First Divine City, I can have daddy personally take action to send you back."


    The Little Loli Princess, Fang Luo, looked into Ye Chen¡¯s eyes and asked aloud.


    The cultivation in Minor Pole Sky had come to a complete end, and now the remaining Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess also had to return to their respective homes.


    Thinking of how it might be another unknown day before seeing Ye Chen again if he returned to the Celestial Spirit Star, the Little Loli was very reluctant to part with him.


    Having cultivated and braved challenges together with Ye Chen, the Little Loli Princess had started out merely curious and with a small admiration for him.


    The more they faced assessments and challenges, and the more they cultivated, the deeper the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s admiration for Ye Chen grew.


    Eventually, when all the cultivation assessments were complete, and Ye Chen consistently occupied the first place on the Ultimate Spirit List, he fully captured the heart of the Little Provincial Princess, who had always considered her own talent for cultivation as exceptional.


    Although the Little Provincial Princess was much younger than Ye Chen, securing the second rank on the Ultimate Spirit List, her achievements were not far off from Ye Chen¡¯s when it really came down to it.


    But Ye Chen came from the lower realm, unlike the Little Provincial Princess who could cultivate under the guidance of the East Territory King.


    In the heart of the Little Loli Princess, Ye Chen was the first peer of the younger generation that she truly recognized as surpassing her.


    Now, faced with parting from Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess was, of course, very reluctant to let go.


    Ye Chen, smiling at the Little Loli Princess whose stature reached only to his shoulders, said with a smile, "I¡¯m going to head back, so I won¡¯t be going to the Divine Nation¡¯s First Divine City."


    Ten months had passed.


    Ye Chen was missing Jiang Yao terribly, longing for his parents, yearning for everything about the Barbaric Wilderness Continent...


    He did not want to delay his return any longer!


    "Oh." Seeing the look of eagerness to return home in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, the Little Provincial Princess gave a soft, reluctant hum. But immediately thereafter, the Little Loli seemed to think of something exciting, bouncing and saying, "Brother Ye Chen, if I visit the Celestial Spirit Star in the future, if I come to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to play, you wouldn¡¯t mind, right?"


    Ye Chen laughed, "Of course, we would welcome the Little Provincial Princess to visit our Celestial Spirit Star!"


    Hearing Ye Chen agree, the Little Loli Princess smiled sweetly.


    This time, she had told her father, the East Territory King, that she was coming to cultivate in Minor Pole Sky, and even the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu had accompanied her here.


    The East Territory King had further instructed that once the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s cultivation was complete, she should hurry back to the East Territory King¡¯s estate, where he wanted to personally assess the results of her cultivation and help her consolidate her achievements.


    It was not proper for the Little Provincial Princess to go directly to the Celestial Spirit Star with Ye Chen.


    However, as long as Ye Chen agreed, and with her father¡¯s tremendous divine powers, Fang Luo, the Little Provincial Princess, was confident that she could definitely visit the Celestial Spirit Star and see the Barbaric Wilderness Continent that Ye Chen spoke of!


    She also wanted to know, the place where Ye Chen was born, what the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was really like.


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess finally put her reluctance aside, the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu smiled and also exchanged a few words with Ye Chen.


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    Even all six God Kings came to bid farewell to Ye Chen.


    In the end, the most powerful among the six God Kings, Heavenly Scripture God King, even said to Ye Chen with a smile, "Little friend Ye Chen, I am a disciple of my master, the Heavenly Cloud Venerable. Since you have successfully cultivated the first volume of the Nine Volumes of Formation Array, you can consider yourself my junior brother too."


    "Since you are returning to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent of the Celestial Spirit Star, let me help you on your journey. Otherwise, if you were to teleport back in the same way you came, you would have to return to the original Teleportation Divine Formation and take quite a detour. The Barbaric Wilderness Continent, I have looked it up, my master had once left a teleportation anomaly in the Chaotic Sea Area there."


    "I can send you directly to that teleportation anomaly, and you¡¯ll be able to reach the Barbaric Wilderness Continent immediately!"


    Hearing what the Heavenly Scripture God King said, Ye Chen was overjoyed.


    Being directly teleported to the teleportation anomaly in the Chaotic Sea Area of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent?!


    In that case, he wouldn¡¯t have to rush back to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent from the Five Elements Mountain!


    Although he now possessed the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" from the great Heavenly Cloud Venerable and had come to truly understand even the Three Great Adventure Zones, no longer fearing the formidable restrictions within the Five Elements Mountain.


    But to be directly teleported back to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, without having to take a detour to the Heavenly Evolution Continent, would certainly be more convenient!


    "After ten months, I¡¯m finally going back to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    A smile flickered in Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    However, what Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that since he entered into the final phase of cultivation in the Minor Pole Sky, especially after the last four months, the situation on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent had already reached a turning point of real change.


    Even the formal great war between the Chaotic Sea Area and the Western Desolation¡¯s Ten Great Demon Sects against the Southern Thirteen Nations had truly erupted!

 Chapter 519 - 476: Senior, Spare My Life!

    Black Spirit Trench is a notorious sea trench within the Chaotic Sea Area of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, known throughout the entire Chaotic Sea.


    This sea trench, every martial artist in the Chaotic Sea Area, even those in the Heavenly Saint Realm, knows the four words associated with it¡ª "Do Not Approach"!


    The Black Spirit Trench is the most dangerous territory in the entire Chaotic Sea Area.


    Even supreme martial artists in the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm entering this area would surely die within.


    It is rumored that even powerful Void Sky True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm who inadvertently entered the Black Spirit Trench met their demise directly.


    Due to the terror of this territory, "Black Spirit Trench" is infamous throughout the entire Chaotic Sea Area, and all martial artists who come to this region are warned by others never to approach the trench.


    Thus, despite the Black Spirit Trench being well-known in the entire Chaotic Sea Area, the area within hundreds of miles of the trench, as usual, remains absolutely uninhabited and unapproached.


    On this day.


    Within the Black Spirit Trench, which in the eyes of countless martial artists is a Deadly Forbidden Land, waves continuously rippled, and finally, amidst the infinite surging waves that soared to the sky, a figure directly flew out from this deadly forbidden land that even True Gods wouldn¡¯t dare to approach.


    This figure, tall and slender with an extraordinary bearing, had delicate features and exceptionally bright eyes.


    It was none other than Ye Chen, who had returned to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent from the Minor Pole Sky!


    The Black Spirit Trench, seen by all as a Deadly Forbidden Land, was actually the Transcendental Transfer Point left in the Chaotic Sea Area by Lord Tianyun years ago.


    Because of the Lord¡¯s divine body skills inside, even True Gods absolutely couldn¡¯t approach this place.


    Of course, Ye Chen had been teleported here with the help of the Heavenly Scripture God King, and holding "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" from Lord Tianyun, he had mastered the first volume and naturally could see through the killing prohibitions within this Transcendental Transfer Point.


    Where others dared not to intrude upon this territory, Ye Chen emerged unscathed, directly flying out!


    Fortunately, since all martial artists in the Chaotic Sea Area dared not approach, otherwise, if someone saw Ye Chen flying out from the Black Spirit Trench, they would likely faint from shock!


    Suddenly soaring into the sky and being teleported from the depths of the sea trench to the void, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze fell upon the vast expanse of sea in the Chaotic Sea Area below him.


    This was his first visit to the Chaotic Sea Area, but Ye Chen felt a profound sense of familiarity rather than unfamiliarity.


    Because this was no longer the Minor Pole Sky, but rather the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where he had lived for over a decade.


    He had finally returned here!


    "I didn¡¯t expect that after parting with the Little Provincial Princess, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, and the six Divine Kings, I would return to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent so quickly."


    "This process was even faster than when I was initially teleported from the Five Elements Mountain to the Minor Pole Sky."


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    "Indeed, as Lord Tianyun said in the ¡¯Nine Volumes of Formation Array,¡¯ one-to-one cross-realm pinpoint teleportation is much simpler than large-scale teleportation methods and techniques."


    When Ye Chen left for the Five Elements Mountain from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, he had been but a junior Rotating Pill stage youth.


    While his skills had already enabled him to battle mid-stage Heavenly Saint practitioners and even stand his ground against quite a few late-stage Heavenly Saints using certain methods, ten months had passed, and Ye Chen had become completely different from when he left for Five Elements Mountain.


    Now, after special training in the Five Elements Mountain and particularly in the Minor Pole Sky, Ye Chen had experienced qualitative improvements, leaps, and transformations!


    In terms of the True Qi Realm, Ye Chen had advanced directly from the early stage of Rotating Pill to the late stage, and was even just half a step away from the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    An even greater achievement was that he had cultivated the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Taiyuan Chapter," to an almost extreme level, just a whisker away from advancing to the fourth chapter.


    As for his physical body skills, Ye Chen had progressed from the basic Nine Transformation Fighting Body and Icebound Divine Body¡¯s eight hundred and ten forms, to mastering a new divine body skill¡ª the Undying Divine Body!


    Ye Chen now possessed even the Undying Factor within his body, significantly enhancing both his combat power and endurance.


    Even for his Divine Soul skills, Ye Chen had developed the Destruction Eye Skills!


    The Ye Chen of today didn¡¯t only dare face mid-stage Heavenly Saints but was bold enough to battle late-stage Heavenly Saint practitioners.


    The Ye Chen of now could easily dispatch even the strongest among the late-stage Heavenly Saints!


    Ye Chen was confident he could sweep across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent and even all of the thirty-three continents¡¯ Heavenly Saints!


    Having transformed in the cultivation secret realm of Minor Pole Sky at the level of a Heavenly Divine Venerable, Ye Chen now had the confidence to do so.


    Even though Ye Chen didn¡¯t yet have the real combat power to fight Void Sky True Gods head-on without relying on True God Talismans, with treasures like "Thunder Gourd" and "Purple Lightning Divine Sword" that he acquired in the Minor Pole Sky, along with other treasures, he was confident he could slay any Four Tribulations or Three Tribulations True Gods with divine artifacts!


    Even against Five Tribulations or Six Tribulations True Gods, with the divine artifacts in his hand, Ye Chen could ensure they would not be able to oppress him easily!


    Ye Chen had grown from a junior youth of inferior realm into a true overlord in the present, at least on this Barbaric Wilderness Continent, he was truly powerful!


    After reminiscing for a while about the events and people he encountered in the Five Elements Mountain and Minor Pole Sky, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned northwards towards the thirteen countries of Southern Territory and even further to the center region of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.

 Chapter 520 - 476 Senior, Spare My Life!_2

    ```


    "After leaving the Chaotic Sea Area, I can return to the Heavenly Splendor Kingdom and visit my parents, and then go to the Heavenly Sacred Palace to see how Jiang Yao¡¯s cultivation has progressed under the guidance of True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God."


    "After that, it will be about time to open the main hall of the Icebound Temple and obtain the true inheritance of the Ice Seal Divine King!"


    The Hall Spirit of the Icebound Temple¡¯s Sub Palace had said that after about a year¡¯s time, Ye Chen would be able to go to the main hall of the Icebound Temple to receive the inheritance.


    Counting the time since Ye Chen left the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, it¡¯s been almost ten months; in just one or two more months, he should be able to enter the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    Although Ye Chen has become exceedingly powerful now, he is not the least bit satisfied.


    He still aims for the Heavenly Saint Realm, the Void Sky True God Realm, and even to reach for the Divine King and Divine Venerable Realms!


    The family members of the Divine Phoenix Clan and countless martial artists are still in the hands of the Black Crow God King. Ye Chen promised Jiang Yao to rescue her clan members and her parents from the Black Crow God King, and he will definitely fulfill that promise!


    Moreover, after receiving the inheritance of the Ice Seal Divine King, to take revenge against "Ni Shan God King" on behalf of the Ice Seal Divine King, Ye Chen promised the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace and the nine Ice Seal Guardians, and he will definitely fulfill this promise as well!


    Then there¡¯s the person who gave him the inheritance, Lord Tianyun, whom Ye Chen also wants to meet and see what kind of mighty figure he is. He also wants to meet the Little Provincial Princess of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, the East Territory King who surpasses the Divine Venerable Realm, and even the supreme beings like the Divine Nation¡¯s ruler. Ye Chen wants to see for himself what kind of powerful beings they are.


    Even more so, there is the Zi Ji Star Lord who left behind the Primordial Star Scripture...


    Ye Chen has made many promises and has countless pursuits, all of which require him to continue becoming stronger.


    With that thought, Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit stirred, and he flew away from the Black Spirit Trench.


    Returning to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, everything starts again, and the journey continues!


    ...


    Chaotic Sea Area.


    A group of thousands of martial artists was being captured on a giant flying boat thousands of feet long, heading deeper into the Chaotic Sea Area.


    These thousands of martial artists were all wearing the clothing of Sect martial artists from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, and among them, three were even clad in the attire of the Heavenly Sacred Palace.


    Among these people, the strongest were at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, while the weakest were at the Spirit Sea Realm. Regardless of their realm, each of them appeared disheveled, with faces and garments smeared with blood, their bodies bound by thick chains of prohibition, looking extremely haggard.


    Standing beside them were several dozen martial artists who spoke loudly and boastfully. These martial artists were wearing the unified black attire of the Chaotic Sea Area, among them even a late-stage Heavenly Saint!


    At that moment, those thousands of martial artists looked at the dozen or so from the Chaotic Sea Area beside them with eyes brimming with rage.


    "These scumbags have launched a massive war against our Southern Territory for the past three months, plunging our entire Southern Territory into war!"


    "How many cities have been burned down, how many families torn apart, homes destroyed and people killed¡ªthese people are to blame!"


    "If it weren¡¯t for reinforcements from the Heavenly Sacred Palace to our Southern Territory, I fear our entire Southern Territory would have been completely destroyed at the hands of these Chaotic Sea and Western Wilderness Demon Sects¡¯ scum!"


    "Unfortunately, the Heavenly Sacred Palace has always been indifferent to worldly affairs, with very few restraints on the Heavenly Saints. Even if the three Palace Masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace all came to our aid in the Southern Territory, facing the countless crazed Heavenly Saints in the Chaotic Sea Area, many Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace chose to withdraw from the battle. During the war, our situation grew increasingly dire."


    ```


    ```


    "It¡¯s only Heavenly Wind Kingdom, with the three Palace Masters of Heavenly Sacred Palace personally overseeing it, that hasn¡¯t fallen into the disadvantage, but the other twelve nations, despite the support of many Heavenly Saints, are completely at a disadvantage!"


    "This time, a group of people from our Tian Yun Nation, carelessly fell into the conspiracy of these Chaotic Sea bastards, a large number of them died, and the rest were captured and taken to the Chaotic Sea, I¡¯m afraid these people are harboring no good intentions by seizing us to the Chaotic Sea."


    The anger in the eyes of these thousands of Martial Artists seemed to enrage the dozens of Martial Artists beside them, as seven or eight of them immediately picked up whips and lashed fiercely at these Martial Artists.


    While whipping, the seven or eight people cursed, "Keep it together! All of you are going to die soon anyway, what¡¯s the use of glaring! Sooner or later, your entire Southern Territory will be conquered by us!"


    The bound Martial Artists, with their combat power already forbidden, could hardly resist; after a few lashes, their bodies were instantly flayed open. Find adventures at novelhall.Co?m


    Even the powerful mid-stage Heavenly Saints were whipped to the point where their skin split and flesh burst open!


    But the seven or eight people who were whipping them showed no signs of stopping, continuing their assault, while the dozens of Martial Artists from the Chaotic Sea Area and that late-stage Heavenly Saint existence laughed loudly as they watched this group scream in agony.


    Just when the thousands of Martial Artists from the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, even those three Martial Artists from Heavenly Sacred Palace, were beginning to falter under the lashing, about to faint from the pain, amid the raucous laughter of the dozens of Martial Artists from the Chaotic Sea Area.


    This giant Flying Boat, flying through the void, suddenly burst open with a "bang," and then, a boundless force enveloped the thousands of bound Martial Artists completely within it.


    The seven or eight people whipping these thousands of Martial Artists were directly swept up by a force, completely devoid of any ability to resist, and were dragged up into the high void, unable to move an inch.


    Then, a piercingly bright sword light flashed before everyone¡¯s eyes, instantly shooting towards these people and piercing them all in the void, killing them on the spot!


    Among these people, even a mid-stage Heavenly Saint existence had no power to resist and also died in the void.


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    "Who is it that dares to kill my Chaotic Sea Martial Artists?!"


    This sudden turn of events saw the remaining Martial Artists from the Chaotic Sea Area flying out from the wreckage of the exploded Flying Boat, looking towards the void.


    The thousands of Martial Artists from the thirteen nations of Southern Territory and the three Martial Artists from Heavenly Sacred Palace were also incredibly shocked as they looked into the void.


    At this moment, everyone saw a young man step into the void, crossing thousands of zhang in one step, and appear before them all.


    The youth then reached out a hand, grabbing at the void, and all the remaining dozens of Martial Artists from the Chaotic Sea were caught and flung backwards, flying towards him.


    Even that late-stage Heavenly Saint existence from the Chaotic Sea had no power to resist whatsoever.


    When this scene unfolded, all the Martial Artists flying backwards from the Chaotic Sea Area were so frightened that they turned pale, and even that late-stage Heavenly Saint existence from the Chaotic Sea Area screamed out loud, "Senior, please spare our lives, senior, please spare us!"


    At this time, how could they not realize that the young man who had made a move was an existence beyond all of them.


    It was even very likely that he was a Void Sky True God!


    And the three Martial Artists from Heavenly Sacred Palace, the one in the middle, upon seeing this young man, couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in disbelief, "Ye Chen! It¡¯s Ye Chen! Ye Chen was said to have disappeared in the Five Elements Mountain... He, he¡¯s back!"


    ```

 Chapter 521 - 477: Changing Situations

    The Heavenly Sacred Palace martial artist who called out Ye Chen¡¯s name had also participated in the Five Elements Mountain expedition and had witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s exceptional performance within Five Elements Mountain, thus his memory of Ye Chen was unmistakably profound.


    This martial artist also knew that in the end, Ye Chen had not come out of Five Elements Mountain and even attracted the attention of a True God.


    A martial artist from Purple Dawn Continent who had spoken disrespectfully of Ye Chen was even killed directly by that True God. Later that True God specifically made a trip to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent for Ye Chen, to meet Palace Master Yuan Li.


    No matter how the Heavenly Sacred Palace martial artist racked his brain, he couldn¡¯t have imagined that Ye Chen, who had disappeared in the Five Elements Mountain, would actually appear in the Chaotic Sea Area.


    Even more unimaginable to him was that Ye Chen had become so formidable that even the terrifying late-stage existences of Heavenly Saint Realm in the Chaotic Sea were completely powerless in Ye Chen¡¯s hands.


    It had been only seven months since they had seen each other.


    When Ye Chen reappeared, his strength had increased to such an extent!


    With just his hands, he killed mid-stage Heavenly Saint figures and even caused massive, thousand-zhang-long flying boats to burst instantly, also effortlessly controlling thousands of people with a wave of his hand!


    Could it be that Ye Chen¡¯s strength had surpassed that of late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm existences, reaching the realm of the Void Sky True God?!


    Void Sky True God.


    At the thought of these four words, the heart of the martial artist from Heavenly Sacred Palace trembled completely.


    A nameless excitement and agitation swirled around his entire body.


    If Ye Chen truly returned with the combat power of a True God level, then perhaps Ye Chen alone could change the battle situation of the entire war between the Southern Territory and the Western Wilderness in the Chaotic Sea!


    Ye Chen alone could turn the whole universe around!


    As this Heavenly Sacred Palace martial artist let out an incredulous exclamation, the several thousand martial artists from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory who heard the name "Ye Chen" were also extremely shocked and turned to look at the young man in the void.


    Was this young man, who crossed thousands of zhang in one step and killed seven or eight Chaotic Sea martial artists with just one hand, also rendering all other Chaotic Sea martial artists and even late-stage Heavenly Saint existences utterly defenseless and flying towards him, Ye Chen?!


    The martial artists of the thirteen Southern Territory countries had, of course, heard the name Ye Chen!


    Ever since Ye Chen struck down Yin Qianjue, the first of the Western Wilderness Demon Sects practicing in Heavenly Sacred Palace, and the Western Wilderness came to the Southern Territory to beg for mercy, Ye Chen¡¯s name and deeds had been spread among all martial artists in the Southern Territory.


    But they had only heard that Ye Chen was very young and possessed mid-stage Heavenly Saint combat power.


    Now seeing this young man, he was far more than just mid-stage Heavenly Saint combat power¡ªhe was like a True God!


    Could it be that Ye Chen had become so powerful?


    True God indeed.


    That could practically be called the first person on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Naturally, this left the crowd of Southern Territory martial artists in utter disbelief!


    The youth who had been subjected to numerous gazes and had taken action was, of course, Ye Chen.


    Although Ye Chen had not reached the realm of Void Sky True God as the martial artists from Heavenly Sacred Palace and the thousands of martial artists from the thirteen Southern Territory countries had speculated, his current combat power could be considered that of the first person in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent without question.


    He was not a True God, but he could be called the strongest below the True Gods, even an existence capable of slaying True Gods.


    He naturally had the absolute power to punish these Chaotic Sea martial artists, even late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists; he could easily do it if he wanted to.


    Ye Chen, on his way back to the Southern Territory, encountered this flying boat.


    His Divine Soul, having undergone transformative training at the third location of Minor Pole Sky, had already become immensely powerful.


    Even separated by a hundred li, the scene within the flying boat¡ªChaotic Sea martial artists whipping and capturing martial artists from the Southern Territory¡ªfell into Ye Chen¡¯s spiritual perception.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen instantly knew that there must have been major changes throughout the entire Southern Territory.


    He no longer hurried on his journey and instead, instantly shattered the flying boat, rescued the people from the Southern Territory, and flew to this part of the world in an instant.


    He wanted to find out what had happened in the Southern Territory!


    After Ye Chen nodded with a smile at the Heavenly Sacred Palace martial artist who called out his name, his gaze "swooshed" and turned towards the dozens of Chaotic Sea Area martial artists who were flying towards him, begging for mercy.


    "Spare your lives?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned cold.


    With a grab in the void, the dozens of Chaotic Sea Area martial artists, including that late-stage Heavenly Saint existence from the Chaotic Sea, were suddenly suspended in the air.


    Following that, Ye Chen¡¯s Soul Searching Secret Skills instantly swept towards the minds of these dozens of people.


    The more he searched their souls, the colder Ye Chen¡¯s gaze became.


    Eventually, after clarifying the situation of the battle in the Southern Territory in these Chaotic Sea martial artists¡¯ minds and discovering that each of them had killed countless martial artists in the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, dyeing the entire region with blood,


    Ye Chen closed his hand in the void.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The dozens of warriors from the Chaotic Sea, who previously had been arrogantly mocking and laughing as they watched warriors from the Southern Territory being whipped on the flying boat, and who had killed countless Southern Territory warriors during the great battle, now all exploded into oblivion in the void!


    Even that late-stage Heavenly Saint existence was unable to withstand the attack and was killed instantly!


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned towards the direction of the Southern Territory, "I didn¡¯t expect such a big change to have happened in the Southern Territory over these few months."


    "The Sea God Palace, the number one force in the Chaotic Sea, has unified the Chaotic Sea and together with the ten great Demon Sects from the Western Wilderness invaded the Southern Territory?!"


    "The Heavenly Sacred Palace has joined the battle, and all three palace masters are defending the Heavenly Wind Kingdom. They must be protecting my family. What about Jiang Yao and seniors True Phoenix and Mu Lan? They must also be in Heavenly Wind Kingdom, so why didn¡¯t they take direct action? Could it be..."


    Ye Chen immediately thought of a possibility. The only reason that seniors True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God did not personally join the battle could be that this situation might involve the enemies of the divine phoenix clan¡ªthe Zhu Yian Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan from the higher realms.


    If the Chaotic Sea has been unified and a great battle is happening in the Southern Territory, it¡¯s very likely that the Zhu Yian Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan are behind it. Otherwise, the Chaotic Sea Area, always chaotic and with a complex myriad of forces, would not have been able to unite!


    "From the memories of the divine souls of these Chaotic Sea warriors, I didn¡¯t see any signs of the True Gods from the Zhu Yian Clan or the Flying Spirit Clan descending en masse. It¡¯s likely that one or two True Gods are making trouble behind the scenes. Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t just be a great battle in the Southern Territory. If two ancient clans from higher realms were to invade the lower realm, the entire Barbaric Wilderness would surely fall into utter chaos."


    "Since it¡¯s only one or two True Gods, and seniors True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God find it inconvenient to act, I must step in."


    "Now that I¡¯m back, it¡¯s time for the situation of this great battle to change!"


    Ye Chen pointed into the void, and his vast True Qi swept out towards the thousands of Southern Territory warriors and the three warriors from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, removing the restraints on their combat power.


    After freeing these people from the constraints on their power, Ye Chen gathered them up with a sweep of his sleeve and led them towards several locations in the Chaotic Sea where Southern Territory warriors were imprisoned.


    Now that he knew the truth, before returning to the Southern Territory, it was necessary to do a thorough cleansing of the Chaotic Sea!


    ...


    Heavenly Wind Kingdom, among the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    Of all the battles across the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, only the Heavenly Wind Kingdom was still able to withstand the combined invasion of the Chaotic Sea and the ten great Demon Sects, gaining the upper hand.


    Just as Ye Chen had anticipated, the reason the Heavenly Sacred Palace was involved in the great battle of the Southern Territory was because Ye Chen¡¯s homeland was among the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    All three palace masters of the Heavenly Sacred Palace were personally stationed in the Heavenly Wind Kingdom to protect Ye Chen¡¯s hometown.


    At that moment, on the summit of a great peak of the Taixuan Sect, Palace Master Yuan Li was looking at the three figures before him.


    These three figures were none other than True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and Jiang Yao!


    Reports about the battle situation of the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory kept arriving at the Taixuan Sect, and the expressions on the faces of True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and Jiang Yao were growing increasingly grave.


    Ye Chen¡¯s guess was not wrong. True Phoenix had personally investigated the Chaotic Sea Area during its unification process.


    And what she discovered was that this great battle was instigated by an existence on the same level as her¡ªa five calamity True God from the Flying Spirit Clan.


    This discovery greatly shocked True Phoenix.


    True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Zhu Yian Clan had been searching to exterminate the remaining members of the divine phoenix clan, intent on eradicating them root and branch, according to Mu Lan True God.


    Now seeing a True God from the Flying Spirit Clan descent to the lower realm, one that even True Phoenix felt unsure of confronting, she naturally could not interfere directly.


    Otherwise, if Princess Jiang Yao were to be exposed, drawing more powerful beings from the Flying Spirit Clan and Zhu Yian Clan to the lower realm, it would indeed be a major calamity.


    True Phoenix could only join Mu Lan True God in hiding, protecting Ye Chen¡¯s hometown, and safeguarding Ye Chen¡¯s parents.


    Only the Heavenly Sacred Palace could be publicly involved in assisting the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


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    Now, the situation of the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory was becoming increasingly perilous. The Heavenly Sacred Palace seldom involved itself in the internal strife of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and its authority to enforce orders was low. The number of saints willing to wade into these troubled waters in the battle was dwindling.


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God¡¯s hearts sank even lower.


    But both True Gods, along with Jiang Yao, shared one conviction.


    No matter what, they had to protect the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, to safeguard Ye Chen¡¯s parents.


    ...


    Red Crow Island.


    One of the three major islands in the Chaotic Sea Area where prisoners from the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory were detained.


    When Ye Chen arrived above this island, accompanied by the thousands of Southern Territory warriors and the three Heavenly Sacred Palace warriors, whose combat constraints he had removed, and called out the nine late-stage Heavenly Saint-level ice seal guards from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, instructing them to begin purging the island and rescue the warriors detained within.


    The thousands of Southern Territory warriors who followed Ye Chen here were ecstatic to the point of madness.


    When they had witnessed Ye Chen killing dozens of warriors from the Chaotic Sea with a wave of his hand, and even the immensely powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint existence from the Chaotic Sea dying at Ye Chen¡¯s hand, they finally believed that their Southern Territory had welcomed a truly supreme warrior, capable of sweeping away all top-tier Heavenly Saints from the Chaotic Sea!


    Now, seeing Ye Chen accompanied by nine late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses, their excitement was even more overwhelming.


    Nine late-stage Heavenly Saint existences¡ªa force absolutely capable of changing the course of the battle.


    Ye Chen not only possessed exceptional strength himself, but also had so many powerful allies.


    These Southern Territory warriors, fresh from being rescued by Ye Chen, knew that there was hope for the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory!

 Chapter 522 - 478: Sweeping Across the Chaotic Sea

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the nine great Ice Enforcers flew into Red Crow Island, the entire place was instantaneously engulfed by their astounding combat power.


    All nine Ice Enforcers were at the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and their attacks were earth-shattering.


    It should be known that, in the entire Central Region, there were only three late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses: Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, and Skyscraper Palace Master.


    Now, with nine Ice Enforcers¡ªeach a late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse¡ªmaking their move, not a soul in the Central Region could withstand them, let alone this insignificant Red Crow Island that was imprisoning the warriors from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    In a matter of moments, the nine Ice Enforcers had flown out from the island with countless figures in tow, returning to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    "Prince Ye Chen, I have slain thirty-four warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area who had previously killed warriors from the Southern Territory and captured twenty-one of them, rescuing nine hundred and six imprisoned Southern Territory warriors!" Bing Shisan reported to Ye Chen.


    "Prince Ye Chen, I have slain fifty-two warriors from the Chaotic Sea, captured thirty-six, and rescued three thousand four hundred and sixty-nine warriors from the Southern Territory and Heavenly Sacred Palace!" Bing Shiyi also rushed back.


    "Prince Ye Chen!"


    "Prince Ye Chen!"


    Finally, all the detained warriors, along with the newly captured warriors from the island of the Chaotic Sea Area, were brought back to Ye Chen by the nine great Ice Enforcers.


    Ye Chen nodded and looked down at the now desolate Red Crow Island.


    With a grand wave of his hand through the void, a gigantic palm that encompassed the entire Red Crow Island crashed down onto the island below.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The whole Red Crow Island, spanning dozens of miles, was shattered to pieces by Ye Chen¡¯s palm strike, sunk into the boundless Chaotic Sea with a single slap.


    One palm, annihilating an entire island!


    Such a feat made the nine Ice Enforcers exchange glances, completely taken aback and thrilled by the dramatic increase in strength of their prince, Ye Chen.


    This also caused the several hundred warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area who had just been captured to inhale sharply with shock.


    And the tens of thousands of warriors from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory that had been newly rescued by the nine Ice Enforcers were utterly astounded.


    At that moment, among the thousands of Southern Territory warriors Ye Chen had previously rescued, some recognized the newly rescued warriors and flew towards them. Tears welled up in their eyes as they cried out, "Brother Feng Chi, I haven¡¯t seen you since you were captured. You are alive, you are still alive!"


    "Brother Zhao Yang, I see you again!"


    "We are saved, this time, the Southern Territory is saved!"


    "It was Ye Chen who saved us!"


    "Senior Ye Chen has returned!"


    ...


    An hour later.


    Black Smoke Island, the second island imprisoning warriors from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, billowed with thick smoke.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The nine great Ice Enforcers took flight from Black Smoke Island, once again bringing with them tens of thousands of warriors.


    Moments later, jubilant screams and sobbing cries filled the enormous flying vessel carrying the tens of thousands of warriors.


    Afterward, the colossal vessel flew off towards Blood Flame Island, the third island where warriors from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory were held captive.


    ...


    Three hours later.


    In the territory of the Sea God Palace, the preeminent power of the Chaotic Sea Area, whirls of panic shrieked across Sea God Island as hundreds of figures hastily took to the skies.


    "It¡¯s bad, an invasion, a late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouse is invading!"


    "Most of our island¡¯s warriors have gone to the Southern Territory, we can¡¯t fend off these people, we can¡¯t stand against them!"


    "Run! Quick, escape!"


    After these several hundred figures fled from Sea God Island, they tried to scatter in all directions.


    Most of these figures were warriors of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    At that moment, suspended in the sky was an immense flying vessel, nearly housing a hundred thousand people, hovering motionlessly.


    Nearly one hundred thousand warriors from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory and the Heavenly Sacred Palace, all looked down at the chaotic Sea God Island below, and at the young man, Ye Chen, at the forefront of the flying vessel.


    At this moment, seeing that several hundred warriors from the Sea God Palace were trying to escape, Ye Chen made his move.


    He pointed at the void, and a green gourd flew out from his body, instantly swelling to a thousand zhang in size.


    Then, the mouth of the gourd violently spewed out countless strands of cyan and white energy, enshrouding the hundreds of figures flying out of Sea God Island.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Amidst their struggles, all of these figures were sucked into the gourd.


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    Even those fleeing in all directions, not a single one escaped!


    With another hand seal from Ye Chen, the green gourd that had swollen to a thousand zhang immediately shrank, spinning back into Ye Chen¡¯s hand.


    Ye Chen turned the mouth of the gourd upside down, and all the captured figures tumbled out from the gourd onto the flying vessel.


    When they saw that nearly one hundred thousand warriors from the Southern Territory looked toward them, as well as Ye Chen, who had used the magical Thunder Gourd to capture them, each one of the figures was so stunned they couldn¡¯t speak, their mouths agape.


    And on the ground below, more figures were captured, all seized by nine enormous ice guardians, and in the end, they were all brought back onto the flying vessel.


    "Prince Ye Chen, we have captured a total of one thousand three hundred and fifty-six warriors who were still on Sea God Island," reported Bing Shiyi to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded and smiled, "Hmm, along with the three hundred and five people I captured with the ¡¯Thunder Gourd,¡¯ it seems there are only a bit over sixteen hundred people left on Sea God Island now."


    The green gourd that had captured the several hundred flying figures was none other than the mid-grade offensive divine artifact ¡ª the Thunder Gourd ¡ª which Ye Chen had obtained from Bing Ao in the Minor Pole Sky.


    Ye Chen had not yet unleashed the true killing power of the Thunder Gourd, otherwise, instead of capturing these hundreds of people, he could have instantly killed them all.


    After confining the newly captured thousand and more people in a sealed space on the flying vessel, Ye Chen looked at the nearly one hundred thousand warriors on the boat and at the nine major ice guardians.


    "The Chaotic Sea Area has countless islands, and we don¡¯t have the time to clear them one by one," he said.


    "The three islands where warriors from the Southern Territory were imprisoned have all been broken through, and all the remnants on Sea God Island have been captured."


    "Now, it¡¯s time to return to the real battlefield, to the battlefield of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, to deal with the main forces of the Chaotic Sea and the Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the nearly one hundred thousand warriors from the Southern Territory and the Heavenly Sacred Palace on the flying vessel erupted with jubilation.


    They had witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s strength along the way, and now, hearing that Ye Chen was issuing orders to return to the Southern Territory to face the enemies from the Chaotic Sea on the battlefield, they were naturally overjoyed.


    Previously, they had been constantly suppressed by the Union Army of the Chaotic Sea and the Ten Great Demon Sects of the Western Desolation, and were at an absolute disadvantage in battle.


    But now, they were no longer afraid.


    Because they had Ye Chen, and they had the help of the nine late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm ice guardians!


    They knew that once this group returned, the Southern Territory would be poised to turn the tides of the battle!


    Seeing the cheering warriors from the Southern Territory and the Heavenly Sacred Palace, Ye Chen gently pressed his hand down, and in an instant, tranquility fell inside the flying vessel.


    All warriors looked toward Ye Chen, knowing that he had something to say.


    After smiling and nodding to the crowd, Ye Chen spoke to the nine major ice guardians, "Nine seniors, please take these comrades back to the Southern Territory, back to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, to see Palace Master Yuan Li. Tell Palace Master Yuan Li that I have returned!"


    "Then, you should cooperate with Palace Master Yuan Li and join the great battle of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory," he continued.


    "I still need to visit a certain place. Afterwards, I will return to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom."


    "Yes, Prince Ye Chen," the nine major ice guardians responded in unison.


    As the nine major ice guardians led the flying vessel, along with the nearly one hundred thousand warriors of the Southern Territory and the Heavenly Sacred Palace, back to the Southern Territory, Ye Chen¡¯s figure remained alone in the skies of the Chaotic Sea.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned in a direction of the Chaotic Sea, muttering to himself, "Previously, I was planning to see Jiang Yao first before handling other matters. Now, since I have ventured deep into the Chaotic Sea, a visit to one place is indeed necessary."


    "Elder Tuoshan!"


    "The Mantuoshan Mountain Master of the Chaotic Sea Area!"


    "Hmph, back then, you had severely injured Senior Qian Ji and Senior Lian Yue, with Senior Lian Yue even self-detonating her flying sword and falling into a deep slumber. Before, I lacked the strength to deal with you. Now, I can personally capture you to avenge Senior Qian Ji and Senior Lian Yue!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind flickered through the sea charts of the Chaotic Sea he had searched from the memories of the souls of those Chaotic Sea warriors, and then his figure burst towards the direction of Mantuoshan in the Chaotic Sea in an instant.


    From the memories of the souls of the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warriors he had killed earlier, he learned that several groups from the Chaotic Sea had completed several missions in the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory and had already returned to their respective islands to rest and recuperate.


    And Elder Tuoshan was one of those resting, who by this time, had already returned to that Mantuoshan.

 Chapter 523 - 479: Tuoshan, Get Out Here

    Mantuo Mountain is the collective term for three towering small islands located in the northwest of the Chaotic Sea Area, about three thousand li away from Sea God Island where the Sea God Palace is situated.


    When Ye Chen flew from Sea God Island toward Mantuo Mountain, there was a lively scene happening within Mantuo Mountain.


    On this day, it was the time when the Mountain Lord of Mantuo Mountain, respectfully known as Elder Tuoshan¡ªan existence at the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint¡ªwas hosting a banquet for the five great Heavenly Saints of the surrounding islands.


    The countless younger generation on the island under Elder Tuoshan, along with the young ones brought by the five great Heavenly Saints to Mantuo Mountain, were amusing themselves on the two small islands outside Mantuo Mountain.


    Meanwhile, Elder Tuoshan and the other five great Heavenly Saints were in the central island¡¯s core palace, clinking their cups in toast, engrossed in enthusiastic conversation.


    "Elder Tuoshan, this time in the Heaven Departure Nation of the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, your battle achievements were truly outstanding. You slew a large number of powerful beings from the thirteen Southern Territory nations, seized vast cities, and were even appointed by the powerful predecessor Jiao Xuan, the Palace Master of Sea God Palace, as one of the top ten generals to be dispatched to battle. After this period of rest, you¡¯ll be able to take up your post. From then on, Elder Tuoshan, you will be directly under the command of predecessor Jiao Xuan, following by his side. Congratulations, Elder Tuoshan!" said one of the early-stage Heavenly Saint existences from the five great Heavenly Saints as he congratulated Elder Tuoshan.


    Another mid-stage Heavenly Saint also spoke up, "Indeed, Elder Tuoshan, although you reached the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint later than I did, you are now a renowned mid-stage Heavenly Saint in the Chaotic Sea Area. Your future prospects are truly boundless. Elder Tuoshan, I will have to ask you to put in a good word for me in front of predecessor Jiao Xuan."


    The remaining three great Heavenly Saints also began to lavish praise upon Elder Tuoshan.


    Since Elder Tuoshan was the one hosting the banquet, and as he had gained favor from the Palace Master of Sea God Palace due to his role in the great battle against the Southern Territory, this was a time when he was riding high. Naturally, they all wanted to flatter Elder Tuoshan properly.


    Elder Tuoshan was a somewhat hunchbacked old man, with white hair and a face full of wrinkles but possessing a rather upright appearance.


    However, the cunning and sinister expression hidden deep in his eyes was something no one could detect.


    Hearing the three early-stage Heavenly Saints and two mid-stage Heavenly Saints around him offering compliments and even some flattery, Elder Tuoshan felt extremely pleased, yet he maintained a composed exterior, and faintly smiled, "It is all thanks to the mutual support of fellow Taoists that this old man was able to achieve such battle merits."


    "If ever there is an opportunity, I will certainly recommend my fellow Taoists to predecessor Jiao Xuan. Our seven islands of the northwest are branches of the same tree, and in time, our reputation will surely resonate throughout the entire Chaotic Sea."


    Upon hearing what Elder Tuoshan said, the faces of the others lit up with joy.


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    Predecessor Jiao Xuan was the Palace Master of the most powerful force in the Chaotic Sea Area, the Sea God Palace, and he was an immensely powerful late-stage Heavenly Saint.


    They had spent many years in the Chaotic Sea without even the chance to meet such a formidable being.


    Now, with the prospect of receiving attention from predecessor Jiao Xuan through Elder Tuoshan, they were naturally excited beyond words!


    "Then we must thank Elder Tuoshan (brother)!"


    "Come, let¡¯s properly savor this sea-bottom wine I¡¯ve collected from the Black Mist Sea Trench, and properly celebrate Elder Tuoshan¡¯s promotion, wishing Elder Tuoshan a swift ascent!"


    "Haha, come on, let¡¯s drink, drink up!"


    The several great Heavenly Saints were drinking and laughing heartily while talking.


    In their conversation, they even touched upon the battle against the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory: "In this battle against the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, we were the main force of the Chaotic Sea, with the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness assisting from the side. Those thirteen nations of the Southern Territory kept falling back in defeat!"


    "Hmph, if it weren¡¯t for the intervention of Heavenly Sacred Palace, those thirteen nations of the Southern Territory would have been captured by us long ago."


    "Even so, Heavenly Sacred Palace, despite being regarded as the number one sect on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, is focused more externally than internally. This time, the Palace Master of Heavenly Sacred Palace wanted the Heavenly Saints of the Palace to participate in the battle against the Southern Territory, to help resist us. But it¡¯s becoming increasingly evident that more and more Heavenly Saints are unwilling to join the battle."


    "Without the support of those Heavenly Saints, even though the three great Palace Masters of Heavenly Sacred Palace are powerful, we still have several late-stage Heavenly Saints including predecessor Jiao Xuan. We are certainly not afraid of them."


    "The thirteen nations of the Southern Territory, it¡¯s only Heavenly Wind Kingdom that can still hold out, but sooner or later, they will all be in our possession!"


    "Yes, it¡¯s quite strange, this time the three great Palace Masters are all stationed within the boundaries of Heavenly Wind Kingdom, even personally participating in the defense. Could it be that there¡¯s someone they need to protect in Heavenly Wind Kingdom?"


    "Someone they need to protect? I heard that a formidable youth named Ye Chen has emerged from the Southern Territory, who is cultivating in Heavenly Sacred Palace and has even garnered the attention of the three great Palace Masters of Heavenly Sacred Palace. Ye Chen¡¯s hometown is in Heavenly Wind Kingdom."


    "Could it be that the three Palace Masters are helping Ye Chen, protecting his homeland? For a mere youngster, for three late-stage Heavenly Saints to personally join the battle and protect him, it doesn¡¯t make sense!"


    These Heavenly Saints chatted idly while drinking heavily, occasionally heaping praises on Elder Tuoshan. The whole hall was a hive of activity.


    As they spoke of the events in which they had slain warriors from the Southern Territory during the great war among Thirteen Nations, these Heavenly Saints became even more animated and excited.


    Their descendants were also enjoying themselves on the other two islands.


    In contrast to the Southern Territory¡¯s Thirteen Nations, where war, slaughter, and death were rampant, Mantuoshan seemed like a haven of peace.


    ...


    Boom!


    After flying across more than three thousand miles in less than half an hour, Ye Chen finally arrived above the three islands of Mantuoshan.


    "Is this Mantuoshan?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze and divine consciousness swept towards the three great islands of Mantuoshan.


    At the same time, the might of "Destruction" from Ye Chen¡¯s soul technique, "Destruction Eye Skills," pierced through the protective barriers of the islands, allowing him to see everything on the three islands.


    Ye Chen saw the younger generation of the six major Heavenly Saints playing on the outer two islands and also caught sight of Elder Tuoshan and five others drinking and talking merrily in the central island!


    Upon laying eyes on Elder Tuoshan, Ye Chen immediately recognized him.


    Back in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the apparition of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji had shown Ye Chen Elder Tuoshan¡¯s appearance, and Ye Chen had committed the face of the person who afflicted Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue to memory.


    The Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, left behind by Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, was the place where Ye Chen and Jiang Yao first met and also the place where Ye Chen truly began his journey in martial arts.


    Both predecessors had granted Ye Chen great kindness.


    Ye Chen was waiting for the day when he could avenge Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue.


    Now, he had acquired enough power.


    And now, he had finally laid eyes on Elder Tuoshan.


    The day for revenge had arrived!


    Whoosh!


    After using the "Destruction Eye Skills" to clearly inspect the situation inside Mantuoshan Island, Ye Chen drew the Divine Artifact "Purple Blood Divine Sword" from his hand.


    With a thunderous boom, Ye Chen slashed with the Purple Blood Divine Sword in his hand, and a heaven-shaking purple sword light streaked across the sky, instantly shattering the protective barriers of the central island of Mantuoshan with a sword light tens of thousands of feet long, splitting the entire center island in two!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Where the sword light of the Divine Sword struck, the immense force caused endless seawater to surge up from below, fiercely flooding the land of the central island, which had been split in half.


    Clearly, even the concealed landmass underwater was completely rent asunder by that sword!


    And Ye Chen¡¯s voice echoed across all three great islands of Mantuoshan, "Tuoshan, come out and face me!"

 Chapter 524 - 480 Savage Tremors

    This was Ye Chen¡¯s first time using the superior artifact "Purple Blood Divine Sword".


    With one stroke, he severed an entire island!


    The waves surged violently, the island churned with wild waves, and the earth split open with a thunderous crack.


    Such a world-shaking commotion had already caused the youngsters among the six saints of the two outer islands to feel numb on their scalps. They all hastily took to the sky from the peripheries of the two islands, looking towards the source of the loud noise at the central giant island behind them.


    On the bisected central giant island, the six saints were even more shocked to the core!


    Their hall was nearly split in half, and that tens of thousands of feet long sword light from the divine sword barely missed the six saints as it slashed down by their sides.


    This had frightened the six saints so much that they leaped out of the hall.


    Upon leaping up, they realized that the entire central island where they were located had been cut into two halves. The enormous waves, lifted by the massive sword force, surged skywards, rolling towards the void where they stood.


    Needless to say, this terrified them even more and they all frantically fled towards the sky.


    As Ye Chen¡¯s voice echoed through the three islands of Mantuoshan, the five fleeing saints incredulously turned to look at Elder Tuoshan.


    "Tuoshan, come out!"


    This earth-shaking voice was obviously challenging Elder Tuoshan.


    And this earth-shaking voice came right after the tens of thousands of feet long divine sword light split the entire central island, which made the five saints realize that the voice was obviously emitted by the person who had unleashed the terrifying sword light.


    Clearly, Elder Tuoshan had provoked an incredibly mighty being, and that being had come knocking!


    The five saints who had fled to the sky, along with Elder Tuoshan, all turned towards the direction from which the challenging voice had come.


    The younger generation of saints who had flown up from the other two islands also all looked up towards the sky.


    Subsequently, they saw Ye Chen holding a purple-red divine sword, standing proudly in the void.


    "Is it him? Did he sever the central island with a radius of hundreds of miles?!"


    "Is it him, challenging Elder Tuoshan?!"


    Not only couldn¡¯t the six saints believe it, but even the younger generation was in disbelief that Ye Chen, at such a young age, possessed such astounding strength.


    "You are..." Elder Tuoshan had just begun to speak to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes were directly fixed on Elder Tuoshan, who had just flown up. With a grand gesture, Ye Chen reached out into the void, and Elder Tuoshan, who had been complimented and praised by the five saints and was about to assume the position of one of the ten great expeditionary generals of the Chaotic Sea after recuperation, a mid-stage Heavenly Saint, was caught by Ye Chen and flung towards him.


    Ye Chen¡¯s unabated attack made everyone on the three islands of Mantuoshan realize, those juniors, the five saints, and even Elder Tuoshan himself, that the previous action had been executed by this young man.


    This young man, holding a purple-red strange divine sword, had left Elder Tuoshan with no power to resist.


    Apparently, the tens of thousands of feet long sword light that had severed the entire central island was unleashed by this young man!


    Elder Tuoshan, in mid-flight, was terrified beyond belief. He simply couldn¡¯t understand what he had done to provoke this young man and could only cry out desperately, "Fellow Daoist, please stop, please stop! A misunderstanding, this is definitely a misunderstanding. I have never met you before, why would you attack me?"


    "A misunderstanding?!"


    Ye Chen, looking at the Elder Tuoshan flying towards him, grew colder with his gaze. With a surge of vast Taiyuan Divine Pill qi from his hand, the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Elder Tuoshan was caught by this qi and was violently smashed towards the ground from his flight.


    "Back then, you were friends with predecessors Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, yet you turned against them and attacked. Is that a misunderstanding?!"


    In Ye Chen¡¯s words, Elder Tuoshan, who was being smashed towards the ground, made a thunderous impact on the giant island which had already been cleaved into two halves, hitting the right half on the ground.


    This smash created a giant crater hundreds of feet wide around Elder Tuoshan¡¯s body as the epicenter, instantly shattering the ground!


    Despite using his qi to defend, Elder Tuoshan was rebounded by the immense force of the qi shockwave, causing him to spit out a mouthful of blood.


    Even more so, it shook Elder Tuoshan¡¯s mind to its core, "Qian Ji? Lian Yue?"


    Instantly, Elder Tuoshan remembered a betrayal he had partaken in years before in the Chaotic Sea Area, after a sword fighting competition, where he united with two other Heavenly Saints to besiege and backstab Qian Ji and Lian Yue.


    "Was this young man sent by Qian Ji and Lian Yue?"


    "How could Qian Ji and Lian Yue have such a powerful junior?"


    Elder Tuoshan was still in disbelief when Ye Chen, in the void, paid no heed to Elder Tuoshan¡¯s thoughts. With another sweep of his hand through the air, he grabbed Elder Tuoshan from the crater and lifted him up again.


    "A misunderstanding?! Back then, you caused Heavenly Saint Lian Yue to self-destruct their flying sword, suffering severe injuries. Was that a misunderstanding?!"


    As Ye Chen spoke again, he smashed Elder Tuoshan towards a mountain peak within the Mantuoshan islands, causing the mountain to collapse from the middle.


    Elder Tuoshan, with his mid-stage Heavenly Saint realm, was so affected by the smash that all his meridians and qi were thrown into disarray.


    He was also utterly panicked by Ye Chen¡¯s words, "Self-destructing Lian Yue¡¯s flying sword? This young man really came for revenge for Lian Yue!"


    In those years, he conspired with two other great Heavenly Saints to attack Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, and those two other saints died in the self-destruction of Heavenly Saint Lian Yue¡¯s flying sword.


    Only he had survived.


    This secret, he never disclosed, and those who could know it were likely only the descendants of Qian Ji and Lian Yue!


    When looking at this junior who came on behalf of Qian Ji and Lian Yue, and having no power to fight back against him, Elder Tuoshan was utterly shocked, "It¡¯s over, it¡¯s all over. Could it be that my rare opportunity to make a name for myself in the Chaotic Sea Area will end in this age-old feud?"


    Elder Tuoshan, terrified out of his wits, was grabbed by Ye Chen for the third time from the smashed mountain and lifted up. This time, a fiery red sword light suddenly flew from Ye Chen¡¯s forehead.


    The fiery red sword light instantly transformed into a flying sword and shot towards Elder Tuoshan¡¯s danjian point.


    "A misunderstanding?! This ¡¯Crimson Fire¡¯ flying sword was brought back by predecessors Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue from the Chaotic Sea. You tell me, is that a misunderstanding?"


    Bang!


    Ye Chen¡¯s words had barely left his lips when the "Crimson Fire" flying sword instantly pierced through Elder Tuoshan¡¯s sea of qi, completely shredding the mid-Heavenly Saint stage Elder Tuoshan¡¯s sea of qi and utterly collapsing both his Heavenly Saint power and Heavenly Saint space within his body.


    This sword strike utterly crippled Elder Tuoshan!


    "No!"


    With a piercing scream, as his cultivation was completely destroyed, Elder Tuoshan fainted and fell from the sky, crashing violently onto the ground.


    From the moment Ye Chen made his move and captured Elder Tuoshan, smashing him into the earth and mountains and finally crippling his cultivation, all of this happened in the blink of an eye. Discover hidden stories at novelhall.Co?m


    The remaining five Heavenly Saints, along with countless younger generations, had just heard Ye Chen¡¯s three sentences when they saw Elder Tuoshan faint and plummet from the sky, his life and death unknown.


    Ye Chen¡¯s terrifying move had completely stunned everyone present.


    Among the countless younger generations, many were so scared they hurriedly fled in all directions, while the five great Heavenly Saints¡¯ faces turned pale, unsure how to proceed.


    And Ye Chen¡¯s words directly made those five great Heavenly Saints completely dare not waver in the least, even causing the panicking youths fleeing in all directions to suddenly freeze in mid-air.


    They heard Ye Chen say, "Whoever dares move, dies!"


    Whoever dares move, dies!


    That was the voice of Ye Chen, the youth whom even Elder Tuoshan couldn¡¯t resist.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the fleeing younger generations naturally froze instantly, no longer daring to make the slightest movement!


    The five great Heavenly Saints, of course, could only obey the forthcoming outcome, not daring to defy Ye Chen¡¯s command in the slightest.


    All of them could see that this youth¡¯s strength was far greater than any they had ever encountered, including the most formidable being in the Chaotic Sea Area, the late-stage Heavenly Saint of Sea God Palace, Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan.


    This youth¡¯s strength was probably at the True God level!


    True God level.


    Thinking of these three words, they dared not make any sudden moves, feeling as if their scalps were exploding.


    Seeing everyone silent as cicadas in winter, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze swept over everyone¡¯s faces before finally resting on Elder Tuoshan, who had fainted on the ground.


    If it hadn¡¯t been for his past promise to the specter of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji, that if he were capable, he would capture Elder Tuoshan alive and bring him back to Thousand Lotus Cave Abode for Heavenly Saint Qian Ji to deal with personally¡ª


    At this moment, Ye Chen wanted nothing more than to kill this mastermind behind the harm to Heavenly Saint Lian Yue!


    "Tuoshan,"


    "You will not die yet. But your time of death won¡¯t be far off."


    "Follow me back to the Southern Territory, to Thousand Lotus Cave Abode. That is where you will meet your end!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen reached out his hand again towards Elder Tuoshan, who was still unconscious, and directly grabbed Elder Tuoshan, confining him within a spatial ring, completely sealing it shut.


    His earlier move had greatly punished Elder Tuoshan and even abolished his cultivation.


    But Ye Chen did not kill Elder Tuoshan.


    With Ye Chen¡¯s current strength, ensuring that Elder Tuoshan wished for death but could not achieve it was exceedingly simple, and before bringing this mastermind behind the harm to Heavenly Saint Lian Yue back to Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, of course, he would not let Elder Tuoshan die so easily!


    After seizing Elder Tuoshan, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned to the other people in the void.


    "You just said that you participated in the great battle of the Southern Territory and killed many warriors of the Southern Territory?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s cold gaze swept towards the remaining five great Heavenly Saints.


    "Let me tell you, My name is Ye Chen, and I am from the Southern Territory. Elder Tuoshan¡¯s debt is settled, now it¡¯s time to settle yours!"


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s cold gaze fell upon the remaining five great Heavenly Saints, they all trembled, and them and the countless younger generations all cried out in their hearts, "Ye Chen, the peerless genius of Heavenly Sacred Palace? The same Ye Chen for whom even the three great Palace Masters of Heavenly Sacred Palace went to help protect his homeland?!"


    "He has grown this powerful!"


    As the five great Heavenly Saints and countless younger generations trembled, they all knew that their troubles had just intensified.


    ...


    In the Chaotic Sea Area,


    When Ye Chen headed to Mantuoshan, he arranged for the nine great Ice Sealing Guards to escort nearly one hundred thousand warriors from the Southern Territory and Heavenly Sacred Palace towards the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    Furthermore, the nine great Ice Sealing Guards selected warriors who were in contact with the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory to send messages ahead of time.


    As Ye Chen captured Elder Tuoshan and intimidated everyone remaining on Mantuoshan,


    The messages intended for the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory had already reached several locations.


    In the Heavenly Wind Kingdom within the Southern Territory, at the main camp on the side of the Southern Territory on the battlefield of Heaven Departure Nation, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, clad in fiery red clothes, held a shining messaging charm in her hand and cried out in disbelief, "Ye Chen is hurrying back from the Chaotic Sea Area to the Southern Territory? He has the strength to overpower late-stage Heavenly Saints?! He¡¯s also bringing back nine late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses?!"


    In the Heavenly Wind Kingdom, within the Southern Territory, Palace Master Yuan Li held a shiny messaging amulet in hand and flew urgently towards the mountain where Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and True God Mu Lan were located. While flying, Palace Master Yuan Li shouted loudly, "Ye Chen, he¡¯s back!"


    As the news of Ye Chen¡¯s return to the Southern Territory with resounding battle strength spread across the entire Barbarian Continent,


    Countless strong individuals following the great battle of the Southern Territory were profoundly shaken.


    Ye Chen had returned!

 Chapter 525 - 481: The Battle of the Southern Territory

    The Southern Territory¡¯s Great War.


    The thirteen countries of the Southern Territory suffered a joint invasion by the forces of the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten great demon sects from the west wilderness.


    The Southern Territory had merely three Heavenly Saints, and their strength was only slightly superior to that of the western wilderness¡¯s ten great demon sects, but far inferior to the unified power of the Chaotic Sea Area.


    If it weren¡¯t for the support of the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory would have fallen long ago.


    This great war involved the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Chaotic Sea Area, and the western wilderness¡¯s ten great demon sects, and it stretched over hundreds of thousands of miles within the Southern Territory!


    Naturally, the absolute power of the later stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm had the greatest impact on the war, with the number of Heavenly Saint Realm warriors being the key factor.


    But the true battle was waged among the countless warriors of the Rotating Pill Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and True Qi Realm!


    As numerous Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace were unwilling to get involved in the Southern Territory¡¯s Great War, the morale of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory was continuously eroded, utterly at a disadvantage in battles at the Heavenly Saint Realm level. Warriors of the Rotating Pill Realm and Spirit Sea Realm were gradually unable to hold off the enemy, and throughout the entire war in the Southern Territory, the thirteen countries were in constant retreat.


    Across the vast lands of the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries, smoke from signal fires rose everywhere, battle flames roared, cities were destroyed, and corpses littered the ground. Numerous citizens and warriors of the Southern Territory died, retreated, or fled. The hearts of all people sunk lower and lower.


    However, when news of Ye Chen¡¯s return spread, the entire situation changed drastically!


    "Ye Chen has returned?!"


    In the Central Region, the eastern Polar Star Archipelago, the northern icy palaces and snowy plains, countless eyes were focused on the Southern Territory¡¯s Great War, with various intelligence networks and communication methods spread out over the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    Upon hearing that Ye Chen was about to return to the Southern Territory, the first to be overjoyed were those more than forty warriors from the Heavenly Sacred Palace who had witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s prowess in the Five Elements Mountain.


    These warriors were already very strong, otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been selected to participate in the expedition to the Five Elements Mountain.


    Previously, during the great war in the Southern Territory, they didn¡¯t really have much desire to get involved. After all, following Ye Chen¡¯s disappearance from the Five Elements Mountain, many rumors spread that he had perished there.


    In such a case, even if Ye Chen had been formidable, it would have been useless.


    But now, upon hearing that Ye Chen was returning to the Southern Territory, these warriors would not stay on the sidelines anymore.


    In the Five Elements Mountain, they had witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s might! Even Minghua, the top-tier strongman from Purple Dawn Continent¡¯s Heavenly Saint Summit, showed immense respect to Ye Chen. Even the little saintess from the land of Lihuo was defeated by Ye Chen. Even a true god had spoken on behalf of Ye Chen.


    All of this absolutely confirmed Ye Chen¡¯s strength.


    And Ye Chen, this immensely powerful Ye Chen, had returned!


    He alone had the absolute power to call upon these warriors to join the Southern Territory¡¯s Great War, all for a chance to show their faces in front of Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Among these more than forty warriors, those who were already contributing to the war effort in the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory were extremely excited.


    And the rest of the warriors, who were not in the Southern Territory, rushed from all directions to the thirteen countries upon hearing the news, immediately joining the battle against the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten great demon sects of the western wilderness.


    It wasn¡¯t just these more than forty warriors who had explored the Five Elements Mountain that were mobilized; numerous Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace who had either given up or never gone to the Southern Territory were also stirred into action.


    "Ye Chen is a once-in-a-millennium unparalleled genius of our Heavenly Sacred Palace!"


    "He didn¡¯t die in the Five Elements Mountain, he has become even stronger?!"


    "He actually possesses the combat power to sweep through Heavenly Saints?!"


    "The thirteen countries of the Southern Territory are his homeland. Previously, his absence meant that helping the Southern Territory was of no significance, but now that he¡¯s back, it¡¯s a completely different story!"


    "Making an effort for the Southern Territory to network with Ye Chen is definitely worthwhile."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Stay connected through empire


    All these Heavenly Saints flew towards the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    The major sects from the Central Region that had been continuously monitoring the Southern Territory¡¯s Great War also moved. Quite a few of these sects¡¯ strongmen led their disciples towards the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries.


    Even if they did not directly join the Southern Territory¡¯s Great War or support the thirteen countries, these people wanted to see for themselves whether Ye Chen was as formidable as the rumors suggested, and whether he really brought with him helpers from the late stages of the nine great Heavenly Saints.


    If the rumors were true, then they would certainly aid in the Southern Territory¡¯s Great War, making an effort to form a good relationship with Ye Chen.


    As the message of Ye Chen¡¯s return to the Southern Territory echoed throughout the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, more than tens of thousands of warriors rushed to the Southern Territory!


    ```


    Among them, thousands of martial warriors directly threw themselves into the wars raging across various regions of the Southern Thirteen Kingdoms!


    When the Nine Great Ice Guards led almost a hundred thousand previously captured Southern Territory and Heavenly Sacred Palace war prisoners back to the Southern Territory, it set off a huge uproar.


    Countless martial warriors, upon hearing the news that late-stage Heavenly Saint War Beasts commanded by Ye Chen were joining the war, went completely insane.


    "Nine late-stage Heavenly Saints!"


    "Heavens, in this great battle of the Southern Territory, the Southern side originally had only three palace masters from the Heavenly Sacred Palace in the late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm, and the Chaotic Sea Area side also had only three late-stage Heavenly Saints. Now, there have suddenly appeared nine late-stage powerhouses!"


    "The Southern Territory now far exceeds the Chaotic Sea Area in terms of top-level combat power. The situation of the war has completely turned around!"


    The fire burned even fiercer.


    Previously, with the Southern Territory at a disadvantage in the war, many naturally sought to avoid danger and did not want to be dragged into it.


    The situation is different now. With the Southern Territory having the upper hand in terms of top-level combat power, numerous onlooking martial warriors with ties to Ye Chen or the Heavenly Sacred Palace, as well as those wishing to curry favor with Ye Chen¡ªfrom the Heavenly Saint Realm, Rotating Pill Realm, and Spirit Sea Realm¡ªall flew towards the Southern Thirteen Kingdoms.


    Even countless disciples from the True Qi Realm took flying boats from various places to rush to the Southern Territory to support the Southern cause!


    Within half a day, those headed to the Southern Thirteen Kingdoms to join the great war had reached the hundreds of thousands!


    Dense crowds of martial warriors, from the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and even from the eastern Polar Star Archipelago and the northern Ice Palace Snow Plains, swarmed into the Southern Thirteen Kingdoms like locusts covering the sky and earth.


    Skyfrost Nation.


    It is the northernmost country among the Southern Thirteen Kingdoms and also the one closest to the central region.


    The overall command of the great war within Skyfrost Nation was in the hands of the greatest elder of the ¡¯Mystic Maple Valley¡¯ within Skyfrost Nation, the late-stage Rotating Pill realm powerhouse "Mo Chong".


    Initially, in the battle against the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten great demon sects of the Western Wilderness, Skyfrost Nation was under the least pressure because it was situated in the far north. However, besieged by four great demon sects, Skyfrost Nation had also completely fallen into a disadvantageous position.


    In the great war that lasted nearly three months, hundreds of cities within Skyfrost Nation had been completely conquered, countless homes had been burned to the ground, and many civilians and warriors from Skyfrost Nation had already fled to the last few cities, putting up their final resistance.


    All the warriors of Skyfrost Nation knew in their hearts that with the situation progressing as it was, the complete occupation of Skyfrost Nation was just a matter of time.


    The overall commander of the great war within Skyfrost Nation, the late-stage Rotating Pill Realm powerhouse "Mo Chong", felt his heart sinking completely.


    But on this day, when the news of Ye Chen¡¯s return to the Southern Territory had just reached Skyfrost Nation, before Mo Chong could fully grasp the real significance of this message, he saw countless figures cross over from the central region to the Southern Territory, flying into Skyfrost Nation.


    Mo Chong also saw countless Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses flying before him.


    These Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses, whom he could not have asked for help from before, were now directly inquiring about the whereabouts of the Western Wilderness¡¯s ten great demon sects¡¯ strongholds from him and flying straight toward those bases.


    Suddenly, countless strongholds of the Western Wilderness¡¯s ten great demon sects were uprooted, and hundreds of thousands of their disciples were continuously killed!


    One after another, cities began to be reclaimed.


    Throughout Skyfrost Nation, the skies were ablaze with war, and screams echoed, but this time, they were the screams of the disciples from the ten great demon sects of the Western Wilderness!


    As victories kept being reported back to the last few cities where civilians and warriors from Skyfrost Nation had taken refuge, countless citizens and warriors cried out in joy and tears.


    When the news reached the ears of "Mo Chong", the commander in charge of the Skyfrost Nation campaign, his head spun: "What¡¯s happening?! How did we get so many helpers?! Even more than when the Heavenly Sacred Palace first joined the war!"


    "Could it be because of Ye Chen and the return of those nine late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses to the Southern Territory?!"


    "Heavens, we are saved, we are saved!"


    Skyfrost Nation, being at the very north and closest to the central region and other territories, felt this change most directly.


    And as countless martial warriors moved from Skyfrost Nation deeper into the southern countries like Sky Desert Country, Tian Yun Nation, Heavenly Splendor Kingdom...


    The entire Southern Thirteen Kingdoms felt this shift!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the grand expanse of the Southern Thirteen Kingdoms, which span tens of thousands of miles, in thousands of large cities and tens of thousands of smaller towns, countless martial warriors arrived to help.


    Especially when the Nine Great Ice Guards joined the most intense battlefronts within the kingdoms of Tian Li and Tian Bao, it even motivated numerous Heavenly Saints to rush to these two countries.


    The balance of the great war of the Southern Territory had been completely overturned!


    ```

 Chapter 526 - 482 Blood Sacrifice

    Ye Chen¡¯s return to the Southern Territory as well as the participation of the nine major Icebound Guardians in the war had, with extreme speed, influenced the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent and, with a speed that many people could not imagine, was changing the situation in the Southern Territory¡¯s warfare.


    Moreover, as time went by, and as more and more warriors flooded into the Southern Territory, this situation would continue to change, shifting toward a direction increasingly favorable to the Southern Territory!


    Amidst this situation, Ye Chen, who had rushed to Mantuoshan to capture Elder Tuoshan, finally returned to the Southern Territory after the nine major Icebound Guardians.


    In Mantuoshan, after Ye Chen crippled Elder Tuoshan, he also thoroughly used soul-searching techniques to investigate the situations of those five Heavenly Saints and the countless juniors.


    Among them, those who had committed heinous crimes in the battle of the Southern Territory were all executed by Ye Chen!


    Those who had made great mistakes were also punished by Ye Chen, either by having their cultivation abolished or their meridians injured, varying from case to case.


    Those juniors who had not participated in the battle of the Southern Territory and had no faults were spared by Ye Chen.


    However, Ye Chen warned these people that if he ever found them committing crimes in the future, he would certainly not be merciful!


    Ye Chen¡¯s methods, of course, caused these juniors to nod repeatedly in alarm, swearing solemn oaths to Ye Chen and promising to absolutely obey his commands. Many of them even decided to leave the Chaotic Sea and go to other domains to cultivate.


    After completely dealing with the matters in Mantuoshan, Ye Chen boarded the flying divine artifact, the "Heavenly Origin Boat," and rushed back to the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    Several days later, Ye Chen entered the Southern Territory. Your adventure continues at novelhall.Co?m


    After entering the Southern Territory, looking down from the Heavenly Origin Boat at the successive territories of the thirteen Southern countries, looking at those cities that had been burned to the ground, and the land still emitting billowing smoke, Ye Chen¡¯s brows furrowed ever more deeply.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected this war to leave the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory in such a state!


    It was all caused by the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten major Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness!


    Ye Chen had already sentenced countless warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten major Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness to death in his heart.


    He was back, and these accounts would be settled, one by one!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the Heavenly Origin Boat flew, wherever Ye Chen saw fighting, he would directly descend with the boat and join the battle.


    His strength was so terrifying that with just a gesture of his hand, he could change the tide of battle.


    Traveling and stopping like this, and continually taking action, word of Ye Chen¡¯s true return to the Southern Territory also spread further and further.


    Moreover, countless nearby warriors heard the news, came to see Ye Chen on the wind, and paid their respects to him!


    As more and more warriors came to support the Southern Territory and took part in the great war, Ye Chen finally accelerated his return to the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and the Taixuan Sect after the Southern Territory gradually gained the upper hand in various battlefields.


    After seven or eight days of fighting and traveling, Ye Chen finally flew into the territory of the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and saw the mountain peaks of the Taixuan Sect from afar.


    When he saw the familiar landscape of the Taixuan Sect¡¯s mountains, Ye Chen took a deep breath, "I¡¯m back!"


    Originally, he had left the Taixuan Sect because the great war between the Western Wilderness and the Southern Territory was about to erupt. Under Fairy Jia Luo¡¯s arrangements, he went to the Central Domain, preparing to cultivate at the Tai¡¯a Sword Sect.


    At that time, Ye Chen was just a young man in the Spirit Sea Realm.


    But now, after some unpredicted events, he ultimately cultivated at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, gained the opportunity of the Fallen Divine Sword, and was granted the chance to practice at the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the deputy hall of the Icebound Temple, the Five Elements Mountain, and even the Minor Pole Sky.


    Ye Chen¡¯s realm had already directly advanced to the late Rotating Pill Realm!


    His strength had reached the terrifying level where he could sweep away all Heavenly Saints and had the power to battle True God level beings!


    With this return, everything had changed!


    Amidst the turmoil in his heart, Ye Chen saw numerous figures flying toward him from inside the Taixuan Sect.


    These figures were clearly waiting for him. As soon as they discovered he was back at the Taixuan Sect, they immediately flew toward him.


    Among these figures, the ones in the front were none other than Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God!


    Following them were Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Mu Qingqing, Skyscraper Palace Master, and others.


    Further behind were countless companions who had cultivated with Ye Chen at the Heavenly Sacred Palace and those he had trained with at the Taixuan Sect, including people like Sister Yu.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze met Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes from thousands of kilometers away, and in that instant, tears welled up in Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes.


    Jiang Yao had been constantly worried about Ye Chen encountering danger in the Five Elements Mountain. Even after True Phoenix speculated that Ye Chen had gone to the Minor Pole Sky, Jiang Yao¡¯s heart had remained heavy.


    It was only slightly relieved when Ye Chen told the nine major Icebound Guardians to send back the message that he was coming back.


    But not having seen Ye Chen with her own eyes, Jiang Yao still couldn¡¯t truly ease her mind.


    Now, Jiang Yao saw Ye Chen. He appeared before her, showing her the smile she was so familiar with. In that moment, the heart that Jiang Yao had been holding up for a full ten months finally settled.


    At that moment, Jiang Yao¡¯s tears flowed freely.


    ...


    Taixuan Sect, Snowdrift Peak.


    Countless disciples of the Taixuan Sect crowded outside Snowdrift Peak, while within Snowdrift Peak, figures such as Palace Master Yuan Li and Mu Yao Palace Master were all looking up towards the summit of Snowdrift Peak.


    Atop Snowdrift Peak, only four figures stood, the newly returned Ye Chen, alongside Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God.


    After welcoming Ye Chen, he spoke with everyone for quite some time and also visited his parents and the little maid Tao¡¯er, whom Jiang Yao and senior True Phoenix had specially brought to the Taixuan Sect for protection.


    Subsequently, Jiang Yao pulled Ye Chen aside and brought him to the summit of Snowdrift Peak.


    She had far too many things that she wanted to ask Ye Chen!


    Although the nine Icebound Guardians had already relayed Ye Chen¡¯s journey to the Minor Pole Sky after arriving at the Taixuan Sect, Jiang Yao still wanted to hear from Ye Chen himself about what had happened to him during that period.


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God were even more concerned¡ªhad Ye Chen truly advanced in combat power to the level of True God?


    Seeing the looks in the eyes of Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, Ye Chen smiled and recounted the events within the Five Elements Mountain, as well as how he inadvertently activated the teleportation formation and ended up in the Minor Pole Sky.


    Even as Ye Chen returned safely, listening to the various dangers he encountered in the Five Elements Mountain caused Jiang Yao¡¯s delicate hands to clench tightly.


    Upon hearing that Ye Chen had braved through five major cultivation sites in the Minor Pole Sky and even gained the opportunity bestowed by a great Godly Ancestor, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God were left gaping in astonishment.


    And seeing the divine artifacts and treasures that Ye Chen produced, both True Gods understood¡ªYe Chen had promised to become Jiang Yao¡¯s support, to help the Divine Phoenix Clan avenge their grievances, and he could definitely do it!


    Having finished with his own affairs, Ye Chen then inquired about the real cause behind the great war in the Southern Territory.


    Upon hearing True Phoenix say that a Five Tribulations True God from the Flying Spirit Clan was behind the war in the Chaotic Sea Area, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze grew cold.


    ...


    Heavenly Treasure Kingdom.


    The Five Tribulations True God of the Flying Spirit Clan, Chixiao True God, was seated in meditation in the void, not far from the city where he had uncovered that astounding secret.


    The large city that once housed millions had been leveled by Chixiao True God, using the chaos of the war amongst the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory!


    The hidden agenda behind igniting this war was to cover up his investigation into the astounding secret; capturing this domain was naturally the primary objective of Chixiao True God.


    Now, the entire area of the great city was under a lockdown, and nobody dared to enter.


    Chixiao True God, sitting in the void, looked at the nearby city domain with an extremely ugly expression on his face.


    In this period, wars raged everywhere, diverting attention from this domain, which he had thoroughly investigated.


    From this investigation, Chixiao True God experienced both shock and delight.


    The delight was that within his investigation, he felt a force beneath the colossal city, causing even his heart to palpitate¡ªa clear sign that the earth-shaking secret involved here might truly be something countless True Gods would go mad for!


    The shock was that, with his power, he couldn¡¯t break through the protective barriers of the secret realm! He could only sigh in frustration at the treasures beyond his reach.


    This result was, of course, unacceptable to Chixiao True God.


    He had put so much effort, even instigating the war in the Southern Territory, all for this earth-shaking secret¡ªhe naturally didn¡¯t want to fall short at the last moment.


    With a very ugly look on his face, Chixiao True God¡¯s gaze turned towards the ground below.


    "So many days have passed, and with the war as cover, I have arranged for those three late-stage Heavenly Saints from the Chaotic Sea to capture for me one thousand Rotating Pill Realm warriors with the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, as well as ten Heavenly Saint Realm warriors with the Five Apertures Rotating Pill. Now, I have nearly gathered the majority."


    "Once I capture eight more Rotating Pill Realm warriors with the Five Apertures Rotating Pill and three more Heavenly Saints with the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, I¡¯ll have enough to carry out the ¡¯Blood Sacrifice¡¯!"


    Directly below him, nine hundred ninety-two Rotating Pill fighters and seven Heaven Saints lay unconscious.


    All of them were warriors with the Five Apertures Rotating Pill!


    "This Blood Sacrifice is a forbidden breaking method I learned in my clan. Once I¡¯ve sacrificed these people, let¡¯s see if the protective restrictions over this great secret can stand!"


    Chixiao True God¡¯s gaze once again fell on the city domain that he had completely sealed off from the outside, his eyes flashing with insatiable greed.


    Just as Chixiao True God was waiting for his subordinates to capture the individuals he needed to complete the number for the Blood Sacrifice secret method, five figures hurriedly flew towards him.


    Among these five figures were Elder Kugu of the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness and Heavenly Saint Moya; the other three figures were all late-stage Heavenly Saints. These three were the strong late-stage Heavenly Saints from the Chaotic Sea Area.


    "True God, something terrible has happened!"


    As these five approached, they all shouted to Chixiao True God in a panic.


    Seeing their frantic demeanor, Chixiao True God¡¯s eyebrows rose, and he frowned, asking, "What¡¯s with the panic? What¡¯s happened? Where are the people I asked for?!"


    The leading figure among them, the Sea God Palace Master Jiao Xuan from the Chaotic Sea Area, spoke to Chixiao True God in utter panic, "True God, over in the Southern Territory, nine new late-stage Heavenly Saints have appeared, even drawing countless warriors to join the great war against us in the Southern Territory, and now we¡¯re constantly retreating in the realm of the thirteen nations!"


    "All of this, they say, was caused by a young man named Ye Chen. That Ye Chen is said to be at a combat power that has reached True God level!"

 Chapter 527 - 483 Bloodstains on the Azure Sky

    ```


    True God level?


    Chixiao True God furrowed his brows and looked toward Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan, "Which Tribulation True God?"


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    Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan, the Palace Master of the Sea God Palace, was a yellow-browed old man with a withered and lean body.


    Hearing Chixiao True God¡¯s question, he hurriedly replied, "Reporting to the True God, that Ye Chen is not a genuine True God level martial artist. It is said that he is merely a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm warrior, yet his combat power is absolutely enough to sweep through the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm. I¡¯m afraid he has reached the level of a First Tribulation True God."


    This Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan, together with the other two late-stage Heavenly Saints from the Chaotic Sea, all had restrictions placed within them by Chixiao True God and were thoroughly subdued. Of course, just like Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya from the ten great demon sects of the Western Desolation, he did not dare to conceal anything from Chixiao True God and directly reported all the information he had heard.


    "A late-stage Rotating Pill Realm possessing True God level combat power? How is that possible?" Chixiao True God gave Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan a stern look, "Are you trying to deceive me?"


    Even though Chixiao True God came from the Flying Spirit Clan, one of the six ancient clans of the Upper Realms, he had never heard of a late-stage Rotating Pill Realm martial artist possessing True God level combat power.


    This completely shattered his understanding, making him unable to believe what Jiao Xuan was saying.


    Under the menacing glare of Chixiao True God, Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan, who was at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, was scared to the extent that he rolled directly onto the ground, "True God, I¡¯m not lying!"


    The other four great Heavenly Saints - the two late-stage Heavenly Saints from the Chaotic Sea and Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya from the ten great demon sects of the Western Desolation - likewise knelt down in haste, all saying aloud, "True God, what Jiao Xuan has said is indeed true. That Ye Chen, for reasons unknown, is extraordinarily powerful."


    Heavenly Saint Moya, who had previously had a cluster of his true spirit soul extinguished by Ye Chen, even said, "True God, I am acquainted with that Ye Chen!"


    "This young man must not be treated as an ordinary person. Even when he was just a minor Spirit Sea Realm disciple, he managed to extinguish my Heavenly Saint level true spirit soul. This child is a great demon, undeniably the greatest calamity of the Southern Heavens. He must be eliminated!"


    "We implore you, True God, to take action and kill Ye Chen, to kill the other nine late-stage Heavenly Saints. If so, the other martial artists will doubtlessly scatter like monkeys without a leader, daring not to meddle in the affairs of the Southern Heavens battle. Otherwise, our defeat in the Southern Heavens is almost certain!"


    "We implore you, True God, to take action!" The other Heavenly Saints also echoed in succession.


    They were aware of the formidability of the Chixiao True God in front of them.


    This was a Fifth Tribulation True God!


    No matter how powerful Ye Chen was, he definitely could not stand against a Fifth Tribulation True God.


    As long as Chixiao True God was willing to make a move, then the Chaotic Sea region and the ten great demon sects of the Western Desolation could still crush the Southern Heavens!


    Seeing that the five great Heavenly Saints before him were convinced of Ye Chen¡¯s strength, Chixiao True God knew that this youth he had not yet encountered, Ye Chen, must indeed be unimaginably powerful.


    However, at this moment, Chixiao True God¡¯s mind was not on Ye Chen, nor on the battle of the Southern Heavens.


    He had initiated the battle of the Southern Heavens in order to conceal his investigation into the astonishing ultimate secret beneath the huge city. Now, he was exceedingly close to discovering this ultimate secret and naturally did not wish to be distracted by anything else.


    "That Ye Chen, I will naturally go and execute him," Chixiao True God looked at the five great Heavenly Saints before him.


    "However, before that, the matter of my Blood Sacrifice is the most crucial. Have you not captured the people I asked you to?"


    Hearing that Chixiao True God intended to complete the Blood Sacrifice before executing Ye Chen, of course, Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan and the four others dared not utter any complaints, much less raise objections against Chixiao True God.


    The restrictions Chixiao True God had placed on them meant their lives were in his hands. It was because of this that they were willing to ignite the great battle of the Chaotic Sea region and initiate the invasion of the Southern Heavens.


    They absolutely complied with Chixiao True God¡¯s orders!


    Putting aside the situation of the battle of the Southern Heavens for the moment, Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan reported back to Chixiao True God, "Replying to the True God, we¡¯ve captured a few more of the last people you¡¯re looking for. We¡¯re only missing three Five Apertures Rotating Pill Realm martial artists."


    As he spoke, the light flickered from the spatial treasure on his body, and five unconscious Five Apertures Rotating Pill Realm martial artists, along with three unconscious Five Apertures Rotating Pill Realm Heavenly Saints, tumbled out from the spatial treasure.


    Seeing that Jiao Xuan and the others had captured eight more people, Chixiao True God¡¯s cold expression slightly relaxed. He glanced sideways at Jiao Xuan and the others, his voice cool as he said, "The last three Five Apertures Rotating Pill Realm martial artists, I give you three days to capture them for me. Otherwise, I will use you few for the Blood Sacrifice first!"


    "As for the battle of the Southern Heavens, prioritize it second. Let your subordinates handle it. Even if we¡¯re at a disadvantage for now, once my Blood Sacrifice is complete, I will naturally help you clean up the opponents!"


    "Yes, True God!" Hearing Chixiao True God¡¯s command that they would be subjected to the Blood Sacrifice if they did not complete their task, Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan, Elder Kugu, and Heavenly Saint Moya shivered in fear.


    Everyone cast aside the disadvantage in the battle of the Southern Heavens and hurriedly considered where else Five Apertures Rotating Pill Realm martial artists could be found.


    After all, although the battle of the Southern Heavens could help them increase their influence and expand their territory, their own lives were of the utmost importance.


    Of course, they had to meet Chixiao True God¡¯s demands first to ensure their survival!


    ...


    The day Ye Chen returned to the Taixuan Sect, the day he met Jiang Yao Zhenfeng and Mu Lan True God.


    ```


    It was indeed Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan and Elder Kugu, the leading figures of the Chaotic Sea and the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness, who were following the orders of Chixiao True God and striving to capture the final warriors needed for the Blood Sacrifice on the last day.


    While Ye Chen was still conversing with the Mu Lan True God and the Real Phoenix, bloody battles raged in various places across the thirteen countries of the southern lands. Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan, Elder Kugu and others had already brought back the last three warriors from the Rotating Pill Realm who had reached the Five Apertures Rotating Pill level, to the realm where the Chixiao True God resided, next to the vast city that had been leveled to the ground.


    With the capture of these three warriors from the Rotating Pill Realm who had cultivated the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, the requirement set by the Chixiao True God¡ªthe capture of one thousand warriors of the same caliber and ten warriors from the Heavenly Saint Realm¡ªwas finally met.


    The requirements for Chixiao True God to initiate the Blood Sacrifice had been thoroughly fulfilled.


    Pu! Pu! Pu!


    With a grab into the void, Chixiao True God tossed the last three warriors captured by Jiao Xuan and others onto the ground, where they collapsed among the crowd of over a thousand warriors who had already been subdued.


    Subsequently, Chixiao True God directly expelled Jiao Xuan and the others from the realm, "Guard the perimeter for me on the outside. For these three days, no one must come near this realm!"


    "Yes!" Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan and the others repeatedly complied. They retreated tens of thousands of zhang away, vigilantly guarding the area from afar.


    Chixiao True God¡¯s gaze then returned to the massive city not far away, sensing the forbiddingly powerful concealed prohibitions lurking beneath it that even he found slightly terrifying.


    After that, Chixiao True God¡¯s gaze fixated directly on the one thousand and ten warriors lying prostrate and unconscious beneath him.


    "Blood Sacrifice!"


    "It is rumored in my clan that this secret technique can blast through countless formidable and extraordinary hidden prohibitions!"


    "I want to see if this grand secret¡¯s prohibition can withstand my Blood Sacrifice!"


    Chixiao True God snorted coldly, and with a grab into the void, a thousand and ten beams of blood light instantly surged from his palm straight toward the one thousand and ten prostrate and unconscious warriors below.


    At the moment the blood light entered their bodies, the thousand and ten warriors awoke from their unconsciousness, involuntarily letting out agonized screams toward the sky.


    Clearly, the blood light that penetrated their bodies was causing them immense pain!


    All of these one thousand and ten warriors had stepped into the Rotating Pill Realm by cultivating the Five Apertures Rotating Pill, and among them, ten had even cultivated to the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    But amidst this immense pain, they were completely bound by the power of Chixiao True God, unable to escape the torment¡ªthey could only kneel and howl ceaselessly.


    And then, something even more horrifying happened.


    The screams of these one thousand and ten warriors became more and more heart-rending. Eventually, layers of blood-red light started to appear on their bodies, tearing apart their flesh bit by bit and causing blood to spray forth in torrents.


    In the end, the eyes of all one thousand and ten warriors turned blood-red, and their bodies exploded with blood spouts, turning them into beings of pure blood.


    Even Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan and the others, who were standing tens of thousands of zhang away, felt a paralyzing horror at the scene.


    The methods of Chixiao True God were too strange and too terrifying!


    Heavenly Saint Jiao Xuan, Elder Kugu, and the others¡ªall of whom had killed no small number of people¡ªwere utterly terrified by Chixiao True God¡¯s methods at this moment.


    However, what happened next frightened them even more.


    As the one thousand and ten warriors continued to scream in agony while blood-red light tore through their bodies and blood fountains surged from them, their blood began to merge together.


    Following that, the one thousand and ten warriors "bang bang bang" all exploded at once, each one transforming into a terrifying blood fountain that shot skyward into the void.


    All one thousand and ten warriors died instantly, exploded into one thousand and ten blood fountains, all hurtling towards the heavens!


    The ground was already soaked with the blood of these warriors.


    When the one thousand and ten blood fountains shot into the sky, even the blue heavens seemed to be dyed blood-red by the geysers.


    The Heavens stained with blood.


    As for Chixiao True God, who was higher up in the void, seeing the instant death of all one thousand and ten warriors didn¡¯t evoke even a trace of pity in his eyes; instead, delight surged forth.


    "Good, the Five Apertures Rotating Pills within these people are all perfect, sufficient for a complete Blood Sacrifice!"


    As a gleam flashed in the eyes of Chixiao True God, he fixed his gaze on the one thousand and ten blood fountains shooting into the void. At the moment they reached their apex, he made a grabbing motion with his hand.


    Instantly the one thousand and ten blood fountains began rapidly twisting, intertwining in the void like blood chains.


    Eventually, all the blood fountains twisted together to form a massive blood chain, even pulling along the endless blood flow from the ground, and with a thunderous crash, it slammed towards the location of the hidden prohibitions beneath the massive city.

 Chapter 528 - 484: The Battle of the True Gods

    A thousand and ten Five Apertures Rotating Pill martial artists¡¯ blood sacrifice transformed into a blood spring, the chains made from it were tens of thousands of feet long!


    Moreover, with the drawn-out streams of blood that coated the earth, the entire chain appeared even more ferocious and terrifying, filled with mysterious power!


    Just as this terrifying mysterious force, this tens of thousands of feet long ferocious blood chain was about to smash down on the location of the hidden forbidden spell beneath the giant city, the massive blood chain rose again like a living being. All the chains devoured endless air currents, growing even bigger, and within the blood-red chains, even more strange runes began to flicker.


    This blood chain, formed from the blood sacrifice of a thousand and ten martial artists, was not directly smashing into the hidden forbidden spell but was instead gathering power once more.


    If there were any powerhouses who could recognize this blood sacrifice method, they would definitely know that such a blood sacrifice required a full three days of accumulation. In the end, it would gather a blood sacrifice god chain that was eighty thousand feet long and over ten thousand feet wide, amassing a blood sacrifice force that could pierce the heavens, and launch a full assault on the forbidden battle array.


    At the moment, the blood sacrifice had just begun, its true power was still gathering, still rising, and had not yet reached the optimal moment to break the formation.


    The Chixiao True God was using bizarre means to control the three days of blood sacrifice to break the protective forbidden spell that concealed an earth-shattering secret.


    In various territories of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, war raged across the sky. Martial artists from the Southern Territory, supported by those from the Heavenly Sacred Palace, major sects from the central region, as well as martial artists from the Polar Star Archipelago in the east and the Ice Palace Snowfield in the north, began a counterattack against martial artists from the Chaotic Sea Area and the western desolate ten great demon sects!


    All of the Southern Territory was embroiled in chaos!


    All of the Southern Territory was a sea of blood!


    In such a situation, Ye Chen, having returned to the Taixuan Sect along with Jiang Yao and the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God hidden within the void, sped towards the location of the Chixiao True God in the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom, where a great city had been leveled.


    Previously, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God didn¡¯t have the courage to confront the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Chixiao True God head-on.


    One reason was the lack of confidence in killing the Chixiao True God, who had also reached the level of a Five-Calamities True God.


    The second reason was the fear that if they failed to kill the Chixiao True God and exposed Jiang Yao and themselves, they would provoke more true gods from the Flying Spirit and Zhu Yan clans to descend to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to capture them, bringing even greater trouble!


    During this time, they had been stealthily monitoring the Chixiao True God¡¯s tracks using divine spells and secret methods. Seeing the Chixiao True God¡¯s bizarre actions, continually capturing martial artists from the Southern Territory, they had long wanted to make a move but also feared that acting would cause even more trouble, which put them in agonizing indecision.


    But now, Ye Chen had returned.


    They had also seen the Chixiao True God start his incredibly eerie blood sacrifice, the horrific act of directly sacrificing a thousand and ten warriors by blood!


    This Chixiao True God, totally indifferent to the lives of the martial artists from the Southern Territory, sacrificed a thousand and ten Five Apertures Rotating Pill martial artists at once.


    Previously, the Chixiao True God was hidden in the background, not personally killing low-level martial artists, and they were still struggling.


    But now, the Chixiao True God¡¯s brutal methods meant they could no longer hesitate.


    They had to take action!


    They couldn¡¯t stand by and watch the Chixiao True God kill more martial artists, bringing deeper calamities to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Additionally, after Ye Chen shared the Divine Artifacts and Treasures he obtained in the Minor Pole Sky,


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God unanimously decided to confront the Chixiao True God.


    With Ye Chen joining them, their combined strength greatly increased their chances of killing the Chixiao True God.


    It was worth the gamble!


    They also had no choice but to gamble!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao ignited the True God Talisman refined by True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God and unleashed the True God¡¯s Power, their speed towards the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom became unbelievably fast!


    And the hidden True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God followed closely beside them.


    In just half a day, the four crossed the boundaries between the Heavenly Wind Kingdom and the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom, reaching the outskirts of the massive city that had been razed by the Chixiao True God.


    They immediately spotted the five great Heavenly Saints guarding the outside, the master of the Sea God Palace from the Chaotic Sea Area, Jiao Xuan, and three other late-stage Heavenly Saint martial artists, as well as Elder Kugu from the western desolate ten great demon sects and Heavenly Saint Moya. Find your next read on


    They also caught sight of the Chixiao True God at the high void, who was controlling the massive Blood Sacrifice God Chain!


    "Is that the bizarre method formed by killing a thousand and ten warriors?!" Ye Chen, upon seeing the massive Blood Sacrifice God Chain in the void, seemed as if flames were about to erupt from his eyes.


    These methods were all formed from the martial artists related to the Southern Territory and the Heavenly Sacred Palace, who were killed by the Chixiao True God.


    Those who died were all warriors associated with the Southern Territory!


    Ye Chen had previously been discussing matters of the Minor Pole Sky with True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God and immediately decided to take action against the Chixiao True God when he hastily learned of this situation from them.


    Now, seeing all this with his own eyes, Ye Chen could no longer hold himself back.


    Boom!


    Ye Chen instantly invoked the flying speed of True God¡¯s Power and, together with Jiang Yao, revealed themselves, heading straight towards the five Heavenly Saints, including Jiao Xuan and Elder Kugu, who were guarding the outside, and flew towards Chixiao True God, who was in the midst of the Blood Sacrifice at the center.


    When Ye Chen appeared, he startled Jiao Xuan and the other four Heavenly Saints greatly.


    Especially Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya, who were completely frightened and jumped up, "Ye Chen!"


    They could never have anticipated that soon after hearing the news of Ye Chen¡¯s return to the Southern Territory, Ye Chen would personally come to kill them!


    Ye Chen had no intention of wasting words with these people. He exchanged a glance with Jiang Yao, and the True God Talisman given by the True Phoenix flashed with Divine Power, surging and attacking towards Jiao Xuan, Elder Kugu, and the other three.


    Without relying on True God¡¯s Power, Ye Chen absolutely had the strength to execute the five individuals at the scene, let alone now with the boost of True God¡¯s Power.


    In an instant, Ye Chen directly reached the side of Jiao Xuan and the other four Heavenly Saints.


    With a vast grab of his hand in the void, his enormous true qi completely restrained the three late-stage Heavenly Saints of the Chaotic Sea Area, and then, the "Redfire" flying sword at Ye Chen¡¯s brow suddenly flew out.


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Ye Chen instantly pierced through the Qi Seas of the three late-stage Heavenly Saints from the Chaotic Sea Area!


    The three late-stage Heavenly Saints, under Ye Chen¡¯s incredibly powerful techniques, further augmented by True God¡¯s Power, couldn¡¯t withstand a single blow and had their Qi Seas completely destroyed.


    Then, with a surge of strength in his hands, Ye Chen completely crushed their Heavenly Saint Power, completely crippling the cultivation of the three late-stage Heavenly Saints and turning them into invalids!


    Ye Chen¡¯s move took merely a blink of an eye. Just as he disabled the three, on the other side, Jiang Yao, who had also made her move, had combined the strength bestowed by True God¡¯s Power with the formidable combat ability she had honed under the tutelage of the two True Gods. She completely disabled Elder Kugu and Heavenly Saint Moya as well.


    In a single breath, all five Heavenly Saints were disabled!


    And Ye Chen, along with Jiang Yao, faced Chixiao True God head-on in the void!


    Chixiao True God himself did not expect that these two juniors could act so quickly; he was reluctant to give up the Blood Sacrifice he was conducting.


    Unexpectedly, due to a moment of hesitation, the five Heavenly Saints under his control were directly rendered invalid by the two juniors.


    Given the situation, Chixiao True God knew that he could no longer continue the Blood Sacrifice.


    The interruption of the Blood Sacrifice and the disabling of the five Heavenly Saints ignited a fury in Chixiao True God¡¯s divine eyes.


    With a grasp of his bloody hands in the void, a wooden puppet avatar appeared beside him to continue controlling the Blood Sacrifice formation above.


    Meanwhile, Chixiao True God burst forth from the void toward Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    His wooden puppet avatar couldn¡¯t properly control the Blood Sacrifice formation and could only maintain it for a short time. Chixiao True God resolved to kill Ye Chen and Jiang Yao within this brief window!


    Boom!


    The speed of a True God is incredibly fast.


    In a flash, Chixiao True God¡¯s bloody hands reached just above the heads of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    When he reached Jiang Yao and sensed her aura, Chixiao True God¡¯s eyes suddenly widened, "Divine Phoenix Clan, are you a member of the Divine Phoenix Clan?!"


    Boom! Boom!


    As Chixiao True God revealed a look of surprise in his eyes and was about to strike down Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the void trembled and True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God also revealed themselves.


    The two of them slapped their fair palms towards Chixiao True God forcefully, their sweeping Divine Power shielded Ye Chen and Jiang Yao from Chixiao True God¡¯s lethal move, pushing him back dozens of feet.


    When Chixiao True God saw True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, his divine eyes shone with an incredulous expression, "Both are members of the Divine Phoenix Clan, and both are True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Hearing Chixiao True God¡¯s words, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God exchanged a look and faced Chixiao True God head-on, while Ye Chen quickly summoned the Divine Artifact "Thunder Gourd" he obtained from Minor Pole Sky, directing it at Chixiao True God.


    Jiang Yao also revealed an ice-blue bracelet on her wrist, its gentle clinking emitting peerless divine light that shrouded Chixiao True God entirely.


    The four of them acted in an instant, all shouting at Chixiao True God together, "Flying Spirit Clan True God, meet your death!"

 Chapter 529 - 485: Divine Transformation!

    As soon as the four of them made a move, they knew that the True God from the Flying Spirit Clan would definitely recognize Jiang Yao as the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God as originating from the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    In such a situation, the minds of Ye Chen and his companions were all the same, they must kill this True God!


    Whether it was because of the life-and-death blood feud between the Divine Phoenix Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, to avenge the warriors who died in the Southern Thirteen States and Heavenly Sacred Palace, or to prevent the affair of Jiang Yao True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent from being exposed, this True God of the Flying Spirit Clan must die without fail!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The "Thunder Gourd" that Ye Chen offered was a mid-grade offensive Divine Artifact.


    Even if a True God of the Four Tribulations was captured inside the gourd, without some incredible method, they could be directly killed!


    And even if True Gods of the Five Tribulations or Six Tribulations were immensely powerful and could resist being taken by the "Thunder Gourd," they would still be bound by the Thunder Gourd, causing them great trouble.


    On the way to kill Chixiao True God, Ye Chen had already discussed with Jiang Yao True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God the strategy to confront this True God of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    Now, Ye Chen directly offered the "Thunder Gourd" to restrain the True God of the Flying Spirit Clan and to win an opportunity for True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God to strike in earnest.


    In an instant.


    As soon as Ye Chen offered the "Thunder Gourd," the azure Thunder Gourd soared into the sky, swelling to a thousand feet in size.


    The mouth of the Thunder Gourd was upturned, directly aimed at Chixiao True God, from within the gourd erupted countless surges of green-white essence, which instantly enveloped Chixiao True God completely.


    This was the divine essence of a mid-grade Divine Artifact; ordinary True Gods and warriors below the True God realm found it very difficult to resist this terrible divine essence and would be directly drawn into the gourd and destroyed.


    At this moment, even Chixiao True God paused for a moment under Ye Chen¡¯s move, clearly affected by the divine essence.


    As Ye Chen made his move, Jiang Yao also took action.


    The ice-blue bracelet on Jiang Yao¡¯s wrist was a defensive item specifically given to her by Mu Lan True God, entrusted by her father, a high-grade Divine Artifact named the "Starry Nebula Spirit Chain."


    Although Jiang Yao was not yet able to fully unleash the divine might of the Starry Nebula Spirit Chain, her control over it still momentarily impacted Chixiao True God.


    Both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, with their deployed treasures, managed to affect Chixiao True God.


    And True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, who were about to confront Chixiao True God head-on, certainly did not miss this opportunity!


    In the blink of an eye, the vast Divine Power within both True Gods erupted, swirling outwards, covering thousands of feet in its fury.


    Meanwhile, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, with incredible speed, instantly bombarded towards Chixiao True God.


    This assault directly sent Chixiao True God, momentarily incapacitated and unable to act, flying backwards a thousand feet, his Defense Divine Cloth completely shattered, revealing an inner suit of blood-red armor shining with a strange light.


    This Chixiao True God was actually wearing another, even more powerful, Divine Armor!


    Boom!


    Chixiao True God was sent flying backward thousands of feet by the joint strike of the four, even damaging one of his lower-grade Defense Divine Cloths.


    If not for the mid-grade Defense Divine Cloth he was wearing, that blow might have left him severely wounded.


    This greatly startled Chixiao True God.


    He realized that the four people in the arena were determined to kill him, and indeed had the capability to do so.


    Thinking this, Chixiao True God, while still in mid-flight, attempted to first flash into the void to catch his breath before mounting a counterattack.


    But Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, the four of them, would not give him the chance.


    Upon seeing that the True God of the Flying Spirit Clan was wearing another Divine Armor, capable of resisting their sudden attack, the four¡¯s eyes flashed with resolve as they once again coordinated their next moves, striking again at Chixiao True God.


    Ye Chen and his companions of course knew that this Five Tribulations True God of the Flying Spirit Clan could not possibly be without countermeasures, and that it was unlikely they could kill him with just one move. They were prepared to fight to the end.


    Boom! Boom!


    This time, Mu Lan True God suddenly produced an ice-blue sword in her hand, and with one sweep of the blade, she shattered the space that Chixiao True God was trying to escape into, revealing gigantic cracks in the void.


    True Phoenix instantly launched a spectacular blue light from her forehead, powerfully striking at Chixiao True God as he emerged from beside the void cracks.


    At the same time, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also made their moves, once again using the "Thunder Gourd" and the "Starry Nebula Spirit Chain," covering Chixiao True God with another barrage of Divine Power essence.


    The instantaneous coordination of the four allowed True Phoenix¡¯s main attack to hit Chixiao True God once again.


    This time, the assault was even more terrifying than the previous one.


    The awe-inspiring azure light that burst forth from the center of True Phoenix¡¯s brow shot out directly, sending Chixiao True God flying over a thousand yards away. He violently smashed into the ground, and even though Chixiao True God was defended by the Divine Armor, he was struck by the immense Divine Power in this assault and spat out a great mouthful of blood!


    This impact caused the ground below to suddenly collapse, blasting out a massive hole spanning ten thousand yards in diameter!


    Having been struck by two consecutive blows, Chixiao True God no longer had the capacity to attend to the nearby wooden puppet clone that was controlling the Blood Sacrifice Array. The unattended wooden puppet clone caused the entire Blood Sacrifice Array to collapse. The vast chains of blood all shattered, and countless blood spilled over the city limits, which harbored a great secret.


    Spitting out a great mouthful of blood had already filled Chixiao True God¡¯s heart with shock.


    With the destruction of the Blood Sacrifice Array, he saw all his efforts over this period come to nothing. As for breaking the protective enchantments concealing that great secret, Chixiao True God didn¡¯t even know if he would have another chance.


    At the same time, Chixiao True God saw Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God flying toward him again, and for the third time, launching a combined attack!


    Chixiao True God had already recognized that True Phoenix was a True God of the same level as him, a True God of the Five Tribulations, who could fight him on equal footing even in single combat.


    True Phoenix didn¡¯t fight alone but instead joined forces with another True God and two juniors wielding Divine Artifacts. Obviously, they intended to suppress him continuously and weren¡¯t going to rest until he was thoroughly killed.


    Chixiao True God had a premonition that if he didn¡¯t use his trump card soon, the relentless attacks might leave him without the opportunity to fight back, and he could actually be killed on the spot!


    "I can¡¯t go on like this!"


    "The Blood Sacrifice Array is already broken; I absolutely cannot let these people off lightly!"


    Boom!


    With this thought in mind, as Ye Chen and the others launched their third joint attack and when Divine Power and methods were once again bearing down on him, Chixiao True God¡¯s hair, which had been flowing loose, suddenly erupted with a sinister blood light. At the same time, behind his frame, out of the crimson battle armor, suddenly sprung two massive wings.


    Divine Transformation!


    This was the forbidding method of the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation, a bloodline taboo technique of the True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan, one of the ancient six clans of the Minor Spirit Realm!


    Once this taboo method was invoked, a True God of the Flying Spirit Clan who originally had a human form would immediately sprout Flying Spirit Wings, and their Divine Power would soar. However, this taboo method also had a significant drawback: once used, all of the body¡¯s Divine Power would disappear after a day, rendering the user powerless for a month.


    At this moment, surrounded and attacked by four individuals - two True Gods and two extraordinary Divine Artifacts - Chixiao True God was no longer concerned about the risks of the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation. If he didn¡¯t make a move now, he might not even survive until tomorrow, let alone be powerless for a month.


    He had to take action!


    Only the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation could give him a chance to turn the tables!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The moment Chixiao True God¡¯s back sprouted a pair of enormous wings, his speed escalated to inconceivable levels.


    He managed to avoid the third combined attack from Ye Chen and the others instantly.


    Meanwhile, Chixiao True God¡¯s entire body began to swell as he flew into the void, instantly bulking up to an overwhelming height of over twenty meters. When combined with the two massive blood-red wings, his appearance became odd to the extreme!


    This was the ultimate form of a True God from the Flying Spirit Clan, complete with the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation!


    Experience more content on


    Boom!


    After the Divine Transformation, Chixiao True God¡¯s divine eyes fiercely locked onto Ye Chen and his group. He instantly launched himself toward Jiang Yao, who was among the four.


    He was on the counterattack to take down Jiang Yao first among the four!


    Chixiao True God knew he couldn¡¯t flee because even if he did, he wouldn¡¯t last under the pursuit of these four. Once the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation wore off and his Divine Power vanished, he would still be left with only one path: death.


    Only by making use of the surge in Divine Power granted by the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation to kill these four, could he then lay a trap to survive the month of depleted Divine Power. That way, he could eventually regain his strength and return to the fray!


    With this in mind, naturally, Chixiao True God would first target Jiang Yao, whom he regarded as the weakest.


    Killing Jiang Yao first and then Ye Chen, he planned to eliminate these two juniors, whose Divine Artifacts were thwarting him, and after that, fight the two True Gods. This was Chixiao True God¡¯s plan!


    As Chixiao True God activated the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation and targeted Jiang Yao, Ye Chen and the others were shocked by his sudden increase in speed and power. However, they showed not the slightest fear.


    Having waged war against the Flying Spirit Clan for thousands of years, the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God were well aware of the True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Divine Transformation technique.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The instant Chixiao True God unleashed the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation and counterattacked, the originally humanoid True Phoenix twisted its body and reverted to its true form, transforming into a colossal ice-blue phoenix!


    Mu Lan True God, too, burst forward with his clothes rustling loudly, propelling himself toward Jiang Yao to assist her in defending against Chixiao True God¡¯s direct killing intent.


    At this time, Ye Chen also drew out his Divine Sword, Purple Blood, in a "swoosh". Controlling both the "Thunder Gourd" and the "Purple Blood Divine Sword" Divine Artifacts, he also flew towards Jiang Yao.


    As for Jiang Yao, who was the direct target of Chixiao True God¡¯s attack, her body suddenly surged upward. Her waist-length hair billowed out explosively, and an endless divine light radiated from her entire figure. Her wrist¡¯s "Starry Nebula Spirit Chain" also released bead after bead, each transforming into clusters of supremely bright ice-blue light that enveloped her entire body within its protection.

 Chapter 530 - 486: Spirit Mirror Divine Body and the True Crisis

    Chixiao True God underwent the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation.


    Ye Chen and his three companions likewise unleashed their own truly formidable ultimate techniques!


    In that instant, Mu Lan True God, Ye Chen, and Jiang Yao directly faced Chixiao True God head-on. In this confrontation, Jiang Yao¡¯s hair grew explosively to dozens of feet long, and her delicate body¡¯s endless divine radiance, along with the Protective Spirit Pearl from the "Starry Nebula Spirit Chain", allowed her to withstand Chixiao True God¡¯s direct bombardment without taking the slightest injury or stepping back!


    Additionally, with the divine light interference from Ye Chen¡¯s "Thunder Gourd" and the earth-shattering slash of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," along with Mu Lan True God¡¯s bombardment, they actually blocked the Flying Spirit Divine Transformed Chixiao True God yet again for a moment.


    Meanwhile, the True Phoenix, having transformed into its true phoenix form, also unleashed its most potent combat strength, charging directly towards Chixiao True God.


    After transforming into the phoenix form, True Phoenix¡¯s body stretched thousands of feet long, and its entire body¡¯s ice-blue phoenix feathers ignited, radiating dazzling ice-blue flames.


    These ice-blue flames traced across the void, burning huge rifts thousands of feet long in the void, and eventually, entire spans of the void collapsed.


    True Phoenix, being a Five Tribulations True God, naturally had strength comparable to Chixiao True God. Although it might not be able to kill Chixiao True God, facing him head-on was certainly not a problem.


    Plus Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the Three Tribulations True God, Mu Lan True God, they definitely had the upper hand over Chixiao True God!


    At this moment, even though Chixiao True God had undergone the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation, under True Phoenix¡¯s real assault, he was once again blasted to the ground, his divine body¡¯s radiance scorched away in large patches, and once more, he created a gigantic crater thousands of feet wide on the terrain as he spewed out a mouthful of blood.


    The Flying Spirit Divine Transformed Chixiao True God could not withstand the combined assault from Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, and was injured yet again!


    This situation truly made Chixiao True God¡¯s complexion change drastically!


    His most powerful technique, the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation, was not gaining the upper hand against the four individuals.


    Chixiao True God could not have imagined that two juniors, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, could be so powerful that with the aid of divine artifacts, they could withstand a True God!


    Nor could Chixiao True God have anticipated the two Divine Phoenix Clan True Gods would also be terrifyingly strong, especially True Phoenix, who was not the slightest bit weaker than him!


    "What should I do, what should I do?!"


    Instantaneously, countless thoughts surged in Chixiao True God¡¯s mind.


    Having revealed his Flying Spirit Divine Transformation and only having a few divine artifacts left unused, but considering the situation, even if he brought out his divine artifacts, it would be doubtful if they could withstand the combined assault of the two True Gods and their divine artifact-wielding juniors.


    Chixiao True God was rapidly weighing his options, whereas Ye Chen and the other three were not willing to give Chixiao True God a chance to catch his breath.


    The four needed no verbal communication and once again simultaneously launched their fourth joint attack on Chixiao True God in the crater!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This time, the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" formed by the nine hundred and ninety-nine Five Apertures Rotating Pills within Ye Chen¡¯s body erupted into motion, unleashing a massive and unparalleled True Qi of the Taiyuan Divine Pill, rolling out like billowing smoke from his body, swelling to over a thousand feet high.


    The divine, mysterious black Taiyuan Divine Pill True Qi shone with five major celestial rules¡¯ divine lights on the outside, the quality of the True Qi not much weaker than the Divine Power of a True God level.


    Simultaneously, Ye Chen also gathered together the Divine Body Strength of the Icebound Divine Body foundational eight hundred and ten forms with the Undying Divine Body.


    Even the Destruction Divine Might of his soul technique, the "Destruction Eye Skills", was fully unleashed.


    After deploying the three major life sign techniques of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, Ye Chen was no mere Rotating Pill Late Stage; he had truly reached the level of the topmost attack beneath True Gods.


    Added to that were the two great offensive divine treasures in Ye Chen¡¯s hands, the "Thunder Gourd" and the "Purple Blood Divine Sword"; Ye Chen¡¯s attacking power at this moment legitimately reached the True God level!


    Not just Ye Chen, but also Jiang Yao.


    With her hair explosively grown to dozens of feet long, fluttering in the void, Jiang Yao¡¯s strength was also soaring rapidly, clearly having unleashed a forbidden bloodline divine technique of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    In that period, under the guidance of two strong entities, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, Jiang Yao¡¯s already extraordinarily powerful talents had certainly begun to manifest definitively, and with her precious Divine Phoenix Clan True Phoenix bloodline, her combat power also became incredibly strong.


    Although there was still some gap compared to Ye Chen after undergoing the Minor Spirit Realm metamorphosis, with the help of her own strength and the divine power from the "Starry Nebula Spirit Chain" in her possession, Jiang Yao¡¯s combat power also soared to True God level!


    The two juniors had already proven extraordinary, not to mention the two bona fide True Gods, Mu Lan True God and True Phoenix!


    As both True Gods¡¯ Divine Power fully ignited, the entire sky was enveloped as if swept by two colossal divine power storms!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Mu Lan True God, and True Phoenix, four individuals who truly could be called powerhouses, in a flash, once again reached Chixiao True God!


    In a blink, the sky shattered and the earth split!


    In a blink, there was no light in heaven and earth!


    All that could be heard across the void were the thunderous roars of the divine artifacts, the earth-shaking collisions of Divine Power, and the terrifying sounds of the void¡¯s howls and the land¡¯s collapse and destruction!


    In the end, one could hear the pitiful, anguished screams of Chixiao True God!


    Chixiao True God, unafraid in one-on-one combat with anyone from the Lower Realm, was ultimately unable to withstand the joint attack of Ye Chen and the others, and he screamed in agony!


    Looking towards where the real battle unfolded, it was more than just a scream.


    Chixiao True God¡¯s entire body, having undergone the Flying Spirit Divine Transformation, was now completely drenched in blood, and even the secondary divine artifact armor protecting him, the blood-red battle armor, was torn with gaping holes.


    This mid-grade divine artifact level defense armor was partially destroyed under the combined attack of Ye Chen¡¯s four-person team!


    As for Chixiao True God himself, his hair was entirely disheveled, his body¡¯s Divine Power began to wane, and the blood-red spear divine artifact in his hands, smeared with his own flowing blood, was now covered with bloodstains.


    Chixiao True God had completely fallen into a disadvantage!


    He was even at a life-or-death moment!


    "You can¡¯t kill me, you can¡¯t kill me!"


    "Otherwise, my entire Flying Spirit Clan will definitely kill all of you!"


    The shrill screams of Chixiao True God, covered in blood, were a far cry from his former glory as he plotted to unify the Chaotic Sea and planned the great battle of the Southern Territory; his whole body was a mess of bloodstains, and he looked utterly wretched.


    Hearing Chixiao True God¡¯s words, not a single emotion flickered in the eyes of Ye Chen and his three companions.


    Chixiao True God came from the Flying Spirit Clan and was a True God sworn to a blood feud with the Divine Phoenix Clan. The blood of the Divine Phoenix Clan members on his hands was surely not little!


    Moreover, he had plunged the entire Southern Territory into warfare.


    Not long ago, he had even sacrificed a thousand and ten Five Apertures Rotating Pill martial artists from the Southern Territory and Heavenly Sacred Palace!


    This executioner, this man whose hands were stained with fresh blood, how could Ye Chen and the others possibly spare him!


    To let the tiger return to the mountain is to create endless trouble.


    From the moment they acted, Ye Chen and his companions had one thought, and that was to kill this man without fail!


    Now was the moment to kill him!


    Ignoring Chixiao True God¡¯s screams, threats, and pleas, Ye Chen stepped through the void and his Purple Blood Divine Sword once again surged with unparalleled sword light, slashing towards Chixiao True God.


    At the same time, Jiang Yao, Mu Lan True God, and True Phoenix also launched their attacks again!


    In a world-shattering uproar, with violent winds raging across tens of thousands of feet, Chixiao True God had no chance to escape under the joint assault of the four; his Divine Power was being eroded away, and soon he was merely passively taking hits.


    "Kill him!"


    "Even a trace of Divine Power in a True God can bring about resurrection!"


    "Therefore, we must completely extinguish all his Divine Power!"


    As True Phoenix spoke, a tremendous blue glow burst forth from her gigantic icy blue phoenix body, completely sealing off tens of thousands of feet of the void, not allowing a single trace of Chixiao True God¡¯s Divine Power to escape.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Mu Lan True God began to incinerate every bit of Divine Power within Chixiao True God.


    True Gods are hard to kill.


    But it is also possible to kill them!


    In the end, as True Phoenix, Ye Chen, and the others completely shattered and extinguished every trace of Chixiao True God¡¯s Divine Power locked within the tens of thousands of feet of sky and earth, Chixiao True God met his final moment of death.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Finally, Ye Chen¡¯s divine sword brilliance, Jiang Yao¡¯s "Starry Nebula Spirit Chain" divine light, along with the vast Divine Power of Mu Lan True God and True Phoenix, all struck at Chixiao True God, whose Divine Power had been completely annihilated.


    The final blow from these four powerful fighters caused Chixiao True God¡¯s entire being to explode in the void, with all his Essence, Qi, and Spirit being utterly obliterated into nothingness.


    Chixiao True God, who once reigned supreme across the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, had perished completely!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Only after sensing no traces of Chixiao True God¡¯s essence fleeing in the void did Ye Chen and the others stop their assault.


    The four exchanged a glance and had just taken a long breath of relief when a dark aura suddenly swept through the void. Immediately afterward, a ghostly apparition of Chixiao True God appeared in the void, screaming frantically at them, "You¡¯ve killed my physical body, and you will certainly pay in blood for this debt!"


    "I will definitely bring countless True Gods down from the Minor Spirit Realm and completely wipe out every last one of you remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    Continue reading at


    Bang!


    After these words were spoken, the phantom of Chixiao True God explosively vanished, disappearing completely.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had not expected that, even after killing Chixiao True God, a phantom could still appear and threaten them.


    However, upon witnessing the appearance of this phantom, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God¡¯s expressions drastically changed, and they both exclaimed, "Spirit Mirror Divine Body!"


    ...


    Minor Spirit Realm.


    Within the territorial domain of the six ancient clans, the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s realm.


    At this moment, in a vast and grand mountainous divine sanctuary, another True God bearing the exact same features as Chixiao True God abruptly woke from his slumber and immediately shot into the void of the sanctuary.


    This True God with the same face as Chixiao True God was at the level of Three Tribulations True God.


    "My physical body has actually died in the Lower Realm, on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, at the hands of three remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan and a junior youth from the Lower Realm!"


    This new Three Tribulations True God, who spoke and looked exactly like Chixiao True God, was like a revived version of Chixiao True God, only at a different realm!

 Chapter 531 - 487: Great Catastrophe, Temple

    ```


    This method, to their astonishment, had been recognized by True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God as a technique called "Spirit Mirror Divine Body," and this new Three Tribulations True God was actually Chixiao True God!


    The Spirit Mirror Divine Body is an extremely powerful divine body. When cultivated to advanced levels, one can transform their body to create a perfect replica known as the Spirit Mirror Avatar, into which the original self¡¯s unique soul is infused.


    The Spirit Mirror Avatar can even inherit the memories of the original body.


    Apart from being of a lower realm, the Spirit Mirror Avatar is identical to the original in every way.


    It even allows a martial artist who cultivates the "Spirit Mirror Divine Body" to resurrect through the Spirit Mirror Avatar after the death of the original body!


    Although this form of resurrection is not as miraculous as the "Undying Divine Body" that Ye Chen is still cultivating, which can resurrect completely at the same level, a martial artist with the Spirit Mirror Divine Body is very hard to kill. One must kill his Spirit Mirror Avatar as well in order to truly defeat him.


    The cultivation method of the Spirit Mirror Divine Body is exceedingly rare. True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God had only seen it in the ancient records of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    They had never expected Chixiao True God to have cultivated the Spirit Mirror Divine Body!


    "Luckily, I happened to obtain this Spirit Mirror Divine Body technique in the ¡¯Northern Dark Divine Sea¡¯. Otherwise, I would¡¯ve been truly dead this time!"


    "Those four people, they caused my original body to die. Even though this avatar has kept me alive, my strength is now only that of a Three Tribulations True God!"


    A Three Tribulations True God was incomparably inferior to a Five Tribulations True God¡ªit was a difference as vast as that between heaven and earth.


    This "Chixiao True God" had no idea if he could ever cultivate back to the level of a Five Tribulations True God.


    At this thought, Chixiao True God was completely driven to madness.


    Furthermore, he realized that if his strength did not increase, the earth-shattering secret hidden beneath the huge city of the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would be forever out of his reach.


    Even as a Five Tribulations True God, he had been unable to unravel this secret, let alone at his current Three Tribulations True God realm.


    It was even more probable that the secret would be obtained by the four individuals who had killed him!


    At this point, Chixiao True God was no longer hesitant. His entire mind was consumed by one thought¡ªrevenge, revenge on the four who had killed him!


    "The earth-shattering secret of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent could very likely be a great secret left behind by an Eight Tribulations True God or a Nine Tribulations True God, or it might even be a secret of Divine King level!"


    "Since I can no longer obtain this secret, I¡¯ll report it to the high-ranking powerhouses of my clan!"


    "This great secret will certainly draw countless strong fighters from our clan to descend to the Lower Realm to explore."


    "Moreover, with the remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan hiding in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, once the high-ranking powerhouses in the clan learn of this, they will definitely send more people to capture them."


    "By then, these individuals will definitely not be able to withstand the onslaught."


    "They will all be annihilated without exception!"


    "Even the Barbaric Wilderness Continent may be completely destroyed!"


    With these thoughts, Chixiao True God¡¯s eyes grew wild with frenzy.


    The Flight Spirit Clan was inherently a bloodthirsty ancient lineage; otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have joined forces with the Zhu Yan Clan to besiege the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    The hatred from the murder of his original body made Chixiao True God utterly reckless.


    With a move, he flew out of the True God cave dwelling, heading towards the gathering area of the high-ranking fighters of the Flight Spirit Clan.


    ...


    In the Lower Realm, on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    In the Southern Territory, in the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom¡¯s thirteen nations.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao heard True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God explain what "Spirit Mirror Divine Body" was, their faces turned completely pale.


    They had thought that by thoroughly killing Chixiao True God, they had eliminated a future threat, only to realize that Chixiao True God still had a Spirit Mirror Avatar that retained the original¡¯s memories and knew everything!


    If, as the Spirit Mirror Avatar¡¯s final illusory image threatened, he brought countless True Gods to the Lower Realm to capture Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, it would truly be a calamity for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    A single Five Tribulations True God had already plunged the Chaotic Sea Area into war, putting the Southern Territory into flames.


    If more True Gods descended from above, they would undoubtedly be more dreadful than Chixiao True God, and there certainly wouldn¡¯t be just one.


    In such a scenario, not only Jiang Yao and True Phoenix, but all the martial artists of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would find themselves in grave danger.


    After all, they had all witnessed the disaster wrought by Chixiao True God on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    With more arrogant and indifferent True Gods descending, any of their casual actions would definitely turn the Barbaric Wilderness Continent upside down.


    A great calamity.


    Such a situation would undoubtedly be a true catastrophe for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    At this thought, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God fell into a momentary silence, no longer speaking.


    Finally, it was Ye Chen who broke the silence, "Regardless, Chixiao True God was causing harm in the Lower Realm, and it was necessary to kill him. If we had not killed him, endless troubles would follow."


    ```


    "Now, we should first finish the battle in the Southern Territory."


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God all nodded in agreement.


    They were all decisive individuals, and faced with a potential crisis, they would remain vigilant, but obviously, they were not afraid of anything.


    What was meant to come would come sooner or later!


    All they could do was to make every effort to prepare for it!


    Jiang Yao¡¯s gaze went straight to the ground where the five subordinates of Chixiao True God, including Heavenly Saint Moya and Ao Xuan, had been previously crippled by her and Ye Chen.


    She and Ye Chen had left these five alive intentionally, thinking to use them to completely resolve the great battle in the Southern Territory.


    With the miserable state of these five leaders, people from the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten major demon sects of the Western Wilderness would definitely not dare to continue fighting. The whole battle would surely become the start of the Southern Territory¡¯s campaign to pacify the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten major demon sects of the Western Wilderness!


    "Let¡¯s go."


    "We will take these five to the nine Icebound Guardians still in battle, to Palace Master Yuan Li and the others!"


    With a wave of Ye Chen¡¯s hand, he swept up the unconscious five, including Heavenly Saint Moya and Ao Xuan, who had been incapacitated, into the void.


    "Let¡¯s go."


    "First, we¡¯ll completely resolve the battle in the Southern Territory, then see how to deal with the likely divine tribulation descending upon the Lower Realm!"


    Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God all nodded, ready to follow Ye Chen and leave.


    Just as the four of them were about to depart, a second shocking event, after the appearance of the Spirit Mirror Divine Body of Chixiao True God, took place that greatly surprised Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God.


    Right when the four of them were about to set off, the site where Chixiao True God had performed a blood sacrifice¡ªa place harboring a great secret that had yet to be unraveled¡ªsuddenly rumbled intensely from the ground beneath the leveled giant city.


    These thunderous noises caused Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God to halt their steps.


    Previously, when Chixiao True God performed the blood sacrifice, Ye Chen and the others thought that this place certainly concealed a mysterious secret.


    Otherwise, Chixiao True God would not have stayed in this location continuously.


    Ye Chen and company had planned to fully resolve the affairs of the battle in the Southern Territory and to be wary of the possible divine tribulation descending upon the Lower Realm before considering the secrets of this land.


    They had not anticipated that this land would start to change now.


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances while even True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God turned in surprise toward the source of the rumbling beneath the giant city.


    As the rumbling continued, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God both sensed an aura capable of killing them descending.


    "There¡¯s a great secret here!"


    "It¡¯s likely related to a higher-level True God or even a Divine King!"


    Just as True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God¡¯s expressions changed and they were about to warn Ye Chen, Ye Chen himself was completely stunned.


    At that moment, the Inheritance Token given to him by the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace when he had left the Icebound Temple started to stir unexpectedly.


    The Inheritance Token, which Ye Chen had kept inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, began to shake violently!


    Finally, the token flew out of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on its own, without Ye Chen¡¯s intervention, and crashed into the ground at the spot where the rumbling had come from, beneath the devastated giant city. Then, the token transformed into its original form¡ªa thousand meters tall¡ªand inserted itself into the ground.


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    Witnessing this, Ye Chen was hit by an unbelievable thought: "Could it be, this place is... the domain of the main hall of the Icebound Temple?!"


    When Ye Chen had left the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, the Hall Spirit had told him that his Inheritance Token would guide him when the main hall opened.


    Considering the time, it was almost at the mark mentioned by the Hall Spirit for the opening of the main hall of the Icebound Temple!


    What shocked Ye Chen was that he had never imagined that this place, where Chixiao True God had conducted the blood sacrifice and evidently stayed to uncover the secret, could possibly be the domain of the main hall of the Icebound Temple!


    As this thought emerged, with Ye Chen still in profound astonishment, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God saw the Inheritance Token flying from Ye Chen¡¯s side, enlarging and rushing toward the ground where the rumbling noise had originated. Just as they were about to inquire about it¡ª


    On the spot where the token had landed, amidst the thunderous sounds and the terrifying aura even True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God feared¡ª


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    Five phantoms suddenly shot out from the ground below.


    Upon their emergence, these phantoms merged into one and manifested as the Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, which Ye Chen had encountered before.


    This combined Hall Spirit then knelt before Ye Chen: "Lord Ye Chen, the main hall of the Icebound Temple has now been opened. Please enter!"


    Hearing the familiar voice of the Hall Spirit, Ye Chen was deeply moved.


    This place was indeed the site of the main hall of the Icebound Temple!


    The great secret that the founder of the ten major demon sects of the Western Wilderness had always sought to unravel, the astounding secret that even Chixiao True God could not break through, turned out to be the mystery of the main hall of the Icebound Temple, left by the Divine King!

 Chapter 532 - 488: Main Shrine of the Icebound Temple

    "The Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall has been opened; Lord Ye Chen, please enter!"


    As the voice of the merged five spectral images of the Hall Spirit echoed across the world, Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God, stared at Ye Chen in disbelief.


    They had long heard Ye Chen talk about the Icebound Temple, and heard him mention that he would later enter the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall.


    But they had never imagined that the area blood-sacrificed by the Chixiao True God would actually be the location of the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall that Ye Chen was about to visit!


    Not only were Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God, shocked, but Ye Chen was equally astonished.


    His seemingly inconceivable speculation had actually become reality!


    Since returning from Minor Pole Sky, Ye Chen had been waiting for the guidance of the God King¡¯s Inheritance Token, but he never expected that the inheritance boundary of the Icebound God King would be right here!


    "Are you... the predecessor Hall Spirit of the Sub Palace? Please get up, Hall Spirit predecessor!" Ye Chen looked at the merged figure of the five spectral images kneeling before him. He quickly helped it up and asked, "Predecessor, is this the location of the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall? How come the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall is within the territories of our thirteen countries of the Southern Territory?"


    The Hall Spirit looked at Ye Chen and smiled, "Lord Ye Chen, now that we, the five Sub Palace Hall Spirits, have merged, I can be considered the main Hall Spirit of the Icebound Temple."


    Ye Chen nodded, recalling that the Sub Palace Hall Spirit had told him back in the Icebound Temple¡¯s Sub Palace that the great Icebound God King had left behind five Sub Palaces across the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Only after the rightful heir was confirmed, and all the Sub Palace Hall Spirits had returned to the main hall and merged into the main Hall Spirit, could the true Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall¡¯s inheritance be unlocked.


    As Ye Chen nodded, the Hall Spirit smiled and pointed to the void, and in an instant, a vast map of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent appeared in the void.


    On the map, five locations were marked, representing the original positions of the five Sub Palaces.


    These five Sub Palaces, with two hidden within the Chaotic Sea Area, one in the eastern star-spread isles, and another in the Extreme North Ice Palace Snowfield. The one Ye Chen was most familiar with was precisely the Sub Palace he had endured trials in, hidden beneath the Nine Nether Pond in the central region!


    "Lord Ye Chen, after you left the Sub Palace under the Nine Nether Pond, we returned from these five Sub Palaces, and the place of return is here, in the territory of these thirteen countries of the Southern Territory!"


    As the Hall Spirit pointed a finger into the void, Ye Chen saw five beams of light, carrying the five Sub Palaces from their original locations, flying towards the Southern Territory. Finally, they all flew into the territory of the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom within the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, right to the spot where Ye Chen was standing now!


    "We do not know why the Divine King chose to establish the main hall here back then," said the Hall Spirit.


    "Perhaps, there are even higher secrets involved."


    The Hall Spirit continued to speak.


    A thought struck Ye Chen.


    The thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, seemingly the barrenest region of the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, so much so that disciples of the Great Sects in the central region were unwilling to come here to cultivate. Had it not been for the war started by the Chixiao True God, countless Martial Artists throughout the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would have hardly noticed the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    But Ye Chen always had a doubt.


    After obtaining the Primordial Star Scripture, he was transported to the boundaries of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory. This transportation couldn¡¯t have been unintentional. It was very likely that there was something valued by the Zi Ji Star Lord, the master of Starlight Tower, here, which was why the transport point was set in the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    It was after acquiring the Starlight Tower and the Primordial Star Scripture that he came here.


    Now, the Icebound God King had also chosen this place for the Land of Inheritance. Moreover, after being severely injured, the Icebound God King did not go anywhere else but rushed to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent; this was most likely also no random choice.


    Ye Chen pondered that the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory must have secrets that he did not know!


    Secrets of the God King level, or perhaps even beyond the Divine Venerable level!


    Of course, Ye Chen now has no way to know this secret, unless he can find Zi Ji Star Lord and ask him the reason in person.


    Setting aside the matter of why the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen kingdoms have drawn the repeated interest of the Zi Ji Star Lord and the Divine King of Ice Seal, Ye Chen turned his gaze to the Hall Spirit.


    The Icebound Temple was right here, and the Hall Spirit was guiding him to enter and cultivate within, which was the most important thing at present!


    Ever since the Chixiao True God used the "Spirit Mirror Divine Body" to threaten Ye Chen and the other three, Ye Chen had been worried that True Gods from the Upper Realm would descend to the Lower Realm to capture Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God.


    But now, with the Icebound Temple, Ye Chen finally had a trump card for defense.


    Ye Chen remembered what the Sub Palace¡¯s Hall Spirit had said, that within the Icebound Temple, there were three even more powerful Ice Seal guardians left by the Icebound Divine King¡ªthe True God level Ice Seal guardians!


    The three Ice Seal guardians were Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, among whom Bing Yi was one of the topmost beings among the Void Sky True Gods. He was the strongest under the Divine King of Ice Seal and a legendary Nine Tribulations True God level figure!


    If Ye Chen could obtain these three Ice Seal guardians...


    Then, even if he was not yet able to defeat the two great adversaries of the Divine Phoenix Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, he was absolutely confident in ensuring the safety of Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God!


    With this thought, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t wait to enter the Icebound Temple to see how he could obtain these three stronger Ice Seal guardians!


    Ye Chen was even more eager to see what the true legacy of the Divine King of Ice Seal would be!


    "Senior Hall Spirit, did the Chixiao True God perform the blood sacrifice here just for the legacy of the main hall of the Icebound Temple?" Ye Chen finally asked the Hall Spirit.


    As soon as the Chixiao True God was slain, the Hall Spirit appeared. Ye Chen believed that the Hall Spirit definitely knew the truth.


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    The Hall Spirit looked at Ye Chen and then at Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God, who were also looking at it with great curiosity. The Hall Spirit smiled and said, "The Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall is here, and with the nourishment of the temple¡¯s aura, this region has always been extraordinary. When one¡¯s cultivation is profound enough, one can sense it."


    "A long time ago, the people from the ten great Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness, who occupied this region, sensed the aura of the temple. The True God who was just killed by you all must have sensed this aura as well and hence came here."


    "However, it doesn¡¯t matter if he was a Five Tribulations True God or even a Nine Tribulations True God; without the Inheritance Token from the Divine King, he wouldn¡¯t be able to enter here! Blood sacrifice? Even God sacrifice wouldn¡¯t work!"


    "Now, only Lord Ye Chen is qualified to enter this Icebound Temple."


    From the Hall Spirit¡¯s words, Ye Chen finally understood why the Chixiao True God performed a blood sacrifice here¡ªhe wanted to break through the protective prohibitions of the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    Unfortunately, all his actions were in vain and cost him his life, as well as the lives of countless Martial Artists from the Southern Territory.


    With this thought, Ye Chen took a deep breath and then turned to discuss with Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God.


    With the opening of the main hall of the Icebound Temple, they now had a way to deal with the great calamity that might very well descend upon the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    After Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God came to an arrangement, Ye Chen immediately followed the Hall Spirit and flew below this region, entering the true main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    As for Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan, the True God, after seeing Ye Chen disappear, they stood in that region for a while before taking the unconscious Ao Xuan, Heavenly Saint, Elder Kugu, and Heavenly Saint Moya, and left the area.


    Ye Chen had entered the main hall of the Icebound Temple to obtain the inheritance and to secure a countermeasure against the threat from the Upper Realm for the Southern Territory and the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, whereas they also had very important tasks to undertake.


    That was to completely resolve the great battle that had unfolded across the Southern Territory!

 Chapter 533 - 489 Heaven-reaching Bridge

    Heaven Departure Nation.


    A colossal mountain thousands of feet high was engulfed in rolling black clouds.


    Within the massive mountain, countless banners fluttered, emblazoned with the unifying totem of the Chaotic Sea Area.


    Around the vast mountain, densely packed flying boats were parked en masse; one could see figures of martial artists continuously flying in and out of the mountain.


    This mountain was the main base for the Chaotic Sea Area¡¯s siege on the Heaven Departure Nation.


    It was also the largest stronghold of the Chaotic Sea Area within the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory.


    On the entire mountain, there were easily hundreds of Heavenly Saint Realm warriors, while those of the Rotating Pill Realm and Spirit Sea Realm were uncountable.


    But at this moment, all the warriors within the mountain, including those flying in and out, had panic written all over their faces!


    Just a few days ago, they were all extremely excited because they had been crushing the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory in the great war, with continuous reports of victory coming from the Southern Territory battle zone.


    But now, everything had changed!


    Ever since the news of Ye Chen¡¯s return to the Southern Territory, along with the addition of his nine late-stage Heavenly Saint guards into the great war of the Southern Territory, the whole war had taken a one-sided turn.


    All the battle fronts within the territory of the thirteen nations of the Southern Territory had completely fallen into disadvantage for the Chaotic Sea Area!


    If this situation continued to develop, the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten great demon sects of the Western Wilderness would be entirely defeated!


    Atop the mountain, within a grand hall.


    Eight mid-stage Heavenly Saint warriors sat restlessly, "What¡¯s going on, why hasn¡¯t Palace Master Ao Xuan returned after going for reinforcements!"


    "We can¡¯t hold out, the territories we had taken over in the Southern Territory have mostly been reclaimed by the people of the Southern Territory. Now, those nine late-stage Heavenly Saints haven¡¯t arrived at Heaven Departure Nation yet, but once they do, we will certainly be defeated!"


    "If the Palace Master doesn¡¯t return soon, we won¡¯t be able to hold this stronghold much longer!"


    While these eight mid-stage Heavenly Saint warriors were in utter panic, they suddenly heard a thunderous roar from the sky, "All warriors of the Chaotic Sea Area, come out to me!"


    This roar was so powerful it even knocked the eight mid-stage Heavenly Saint warriors to the ground!


    "What¡¯s happening?" The eight mid-stage Heavenly Saint warriors exchanged looks, fear written all over their faces.


    They could sense that the person who issued the thunderous roar was definitely a late-stage Heavenly Saint!


    Could it be that Ye Chen¡¯s nine frigid guards have already reached Heaven Departure Nation, this territory?


    While still filled with dread, the eight mid-stage Heavenly Saint warriors suddenly felt eight incomparable ice-blue lights sweeping towards them, and in an instant, they were all dragged by these lights from the great hall to the skies above.


    Once these eight mid-stage Heavenly Saints reached the sky, they saw countless other warriors, just like them, all dragged into the air by ice-blue lights.


    Not counting those who flew up themselves, just those controlled by the ice-blue lights numbered in the tens of thousands!


    Among these tens of thousands, all the Heavenly Saint Realm powerhouses were included!


    Such a move utterly terrified these eight mid-stage Heavenly Saint warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area.


    Even a late-stage Heavenly Saint warrior could not achieve such a feat!


    Could it be that the ones who have come are...


    As these eight Chaotic Sea Area warriors, together with the tens of thousands of other Chaotic Sea Area warriors in the void, all looked up into the void, they saw three exquisitely beautiful female figures standing high above in the void.


    Furthermore, they saw nine late-stage Heavenly Saint level Sky-shocking War Beasts standing respectfully beside these three stunning women. The one who had spoken earlier turned out to be one of the late-stage Heavenly Saint level Sky-shocking War Beasts!


    They also saw that Palace Master Ao Xuan, whom they had hoped would return with reinforcements, along with two other late-stage Heavenly Saint beings from the Chaotic Sea Area, and even two Heavenly Saints from the ten great demon sects of the Western Wilderness, were all controlled by these newcomers, their cultivation completely disabled, now fainted and unconscious in the void!


    "Palace Master Ao Xuan... his cultivation has been disabled!?"


    "And the other two late-stage Heavenly Saint Deputy Palace Masters!"


    "And the old ancestor of the Western Wilderness¡¯ ten great demon sects, Skyscraper Moya Heavenly Saint, they¡¯ve all been taken under control!"


    This scene left all the warriors of the Chaotic Sea Area completely astounded.


    These three stunningly beautiful women were, of course, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and True God Mu Lan, who had just discussed subsequent arrangements with Ye Chen in the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom and had come to fully resolve the war of the Southern Territory.


    Their whereabouts had already been learned by Chixiao True God and would be reported to the Flying Spirit Clan.


    At this time, there was no need for Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and True God Mu Lan to conceal their identities any longer.


    They directly brought with them the nine frigid guards from various territories and arrived at the Chaotic Sea Area¡¯s largest stronghold to intimidate everyone from the Chaotic Sea Area at once, to settle scores, and to completely resolve the war of the Southern Territory!


    Boom! Boom!


    As True Phoenix and True God Mu Lan unleashed their divine aura without any concealment, the stunned warriors of the Chaotic Sea Area in the sky now truly trembled uncontrollably!


    They never imagined that the Southern Territory would not only have nine late-stage Heavenly Saint guardians but also two True Gods!


    True Gods.


    Everyone understood who had used the ice-blue light to take them out.


    It was definitely these two True God beings!


    The more perceptive warriors of the Chaotic Sea Area could even see that the True God levels of True Phoenix and True God Mu Lan were not low, especially True Phoenix, who was a True God of the fifth calamity.


    This discovery made the warriors hold their breath in sheer nervousness!


    Seeing all the warriors of the Chaotic Sea Area trembling and even kneeling, True Phoenix turned to Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, the most senior Heavenly Saint of the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen nations, and said, "Long Xuan, the rest is up to you to handle!"


    "Yes, True God!"


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan bowed solemnly to True Phoenix, then led countless excited Southern Territory warriors toward the kneeling Chaotic Sea Area warriors on the ground.


    A series of binding chains began to restrain all these people!


    As Heavenly Saint Long Xuan and the others made their move, none of the Chaotic Sea Area warriors dared to move, let alone resist or struggle.


    ```


    Here there were two True Gods and nine Ice-Sealed Guards watching; how could they dare make the slightest move? They could only surrender obediently!


    The warriors from the Southern Territory and Heavenly Sacred Palace who had remained standing in the back, along with Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Skyscraper Palace Master, and others, saw that all the warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area had been subdued. They all knew that the battle of the Southern Territory, incited by the Western Wilderness¡¯s ten great demonic sects, was finally drawing to a close!


    In the end, the warriors from the Southern Territory and Heavenly Sacred Palace were so excited that they even screamed out loud.


    They had won!


    In the great war of the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries, they had triumphed in the end!


    ...


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When the largest stronghold in Heaven Departure Nation was taken, more news was sent to every part of the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries. Continue your journey with


    All the news contained but one command, that all warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness must surrender and await subsequent punishment!


    The order also stated that anyone who dared to resist or flee would be put to death without mercy!


    When this command reached the ears of all the warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten great demonic sects within the borders of the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries, all the warriors of the Chaotic Sea Area ceased fighting, completely in disbelief.


    When thousands of warriors attempted to flee, at the very moment they started to escape through the sky, they were all instantly killed in the void!


    The ones who had struck were none other than True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, who controlled the entire region!


    Seeing this, all warriors from the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness dared not move any longer.


    When news arrived that all late-stage Heavenly Saints from the Chaotic Sea Area, along with all Heavenly Saints from the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness, had been executed, all these people lost any thoughts of resistance. They gave up fighting and knelt to surrender!


    ...


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After that, figures began to emerge from the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory, flying towards the territories of the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness and the Chaotic Sea Area.


    These figures were none other than the warriors of the Southern Territory, who, after reclaiming their entire realm, turned to attack the territories of the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness and the Chaotic Sea Area.


    Leading them were the nine Ice-Sealed Guards!


    They received orders that the great battle of the Southern Territory was thoroughly shifting into a counter-offensive phase, to completely subjugate the Chaotic Sea Area and the territories of the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness, and to capture all those warriors from both territories who had committed heinous crimes within the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory.


    The entire Chaotic Sea Area, the ten great demonic sects of the Western Wilderness, henceforth would be governed by the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries!


    From now on, the landscape of the Southern Territory, Western Wilderness, and Chaotic Sea Area, would be forever changed.


    ...


    "Where is Ye Chen?"


    "It was Ye Chen who saved us, who saved our entire Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries."


    "Two esteemed True God seniors, friend Jiang Yao, we request to see friend Ye Chen!"


    When all the battles across the Southern Territory had ended, countless warriors flooded to the side of Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, who were still remaining in Heaven Departure Nation.


    To meet with Ye Chen.


    Even Jiang Yao¡¯s master, Fairy Jia Luo, who had been participating in the great war within Heaven Departure Nation, rushed over.


    Even the three highest-ranking Heavenly Saints from the Southern Territory¡¯s thirteen countries, led by Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, could not help but yearn to see Ye Chen.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan¡¯s heart was also filled with shock; she remembered the youth she had saved from the Old Ancestor of Dry Bones. She could not have imagined that in such a short span of time, this youth could have grown to this extent!


    This youth actually commanded nine late-stage Heavenly Saints and even received the assistance of two True Gods!


    Seeing the countless eager eyes wishing to meet Ye Chen, Jiang Yao touched the Ice Snow Jade Pendant that Ye Chen had entrusted to her, her gaze turning toward the direction of the main temple of the ice-sealed divine palace within the borders of Heavenly Treasure Kingdom.


    In Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes, there was a mix of worry and anticipation.


    "Ye Chen has important matters to attend to right now," said True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, turning their gazes toward Palace Master Yuan Li, Long Xuan Palace Master, and others. "Yuan Li, Long Xuan... I have an important task for you. It is likely that a great crisis is imminent for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Go to the Central Region and the Southern Territory, and send a message to other regions of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, telling them to hide inside their spatial artifacts. They must not come out during this time."


    "For true safety, they can even hide inside the superior divine artifact ¡¯Ice Snow Jade Pendant¡¯ left by Ye Chen!"


    "Soon, many True Gods may descend from the Minor Spirit Realm, they are our mortal enemies, and might trigger a cataclysmic calamity! This could threaten the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    "Ye Chen is now making the final preparations for this event!"


    Hum!


    The words of True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God left all the warriors present dumbstruck.


    True Gods descending from the heavens?!


    Ye Chen is preparing to resist the descent of True Gods?!


    Nobody had anticipated that, just after the conclusion of the great Southern Territory war, an even greater crisis was looming.


    ...


    As Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God completely resolved the great Southern Territory war and began preparations to face the descent of the True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan, Ye Chen, following the guidance of the temple spirit, had truly arrived at the main hall of the ice-sealed divine temple.


    After the dizziness from the teleportation had passed, Ye Chen found himself standing amidst a boundless void.


    This void was like a vast cosmic starry sky!


    Ye Chen saw an astonishingly huge bridge of ice and snow that began beneath his feet, extending into the high skies of the starry space; the end of this ice and snow divine bridge was even submerged among countless stars!


    "Is this... the main hall of the ice-sealed divine temple?!"


    While Ye Chen was feeling astonished, a voice from the temple spirit reached his ears: "Welcome, Lord Ye Chen, to the heritage site of the ice-sealed divine temple¡¯s main hall¡ªthe Heaven-reaching Bridge!"


    ```

 Chapter 534 - 490 Bing Yi

    The inheritance site of the main hall of the Icebound Temple?


    The Heaven-reaching Bridge?


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes turned to the Hall Spirit beside him, filled with an inquisitive expression.


    He knew nothing of this Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    "Your Highness, you have passed the trial of the successor in the auxiliary hall of the Icebound Temple, and you have become the sole heir of my old master, the Icebound God King," the Hall Spirit said to Ye Chen.


    "In this main hall, my old master has prepared many inheritances for you. However, to obtain these things, you still need to walk on this Heaven-reaching Bridge and meet the requirements set by the old master."


    "The Heaven-reaching Bridge is divided into countless sections, each tens of thousands of feet long. Your Highness must walk ten sections of this tens-of-thousands-feet-long bridge to obtain the first portion of the old master¡¯s inheritance, the Heavenly Saint Level inheritance."


    "Only by walking over fifty sections of this tens-of-thousands-feet-long bridge can you obtain the old master¡¯s second portion of inheritance, the True God level inheritance."


    "Only by walking over one hundred sections of this tens-of-thousands-feet-long bridge can you obtain the old master¡¯s final and complete inheritance, the God King Level inheritance!"


    "If Your Highness cannot obtain all of the inheritance at once, I will keep these inheritances safe until Your Highness is powerful enough and has fulfilled the old master¡¯s requirements, only then will I bestow them upon you."


    Hearing the Hall Spirit¡¯s words, Ye Chen nodded his head.


    He understood that the Icebound God King had divided the inheritance into three parts, to be given according to the successor¡¯s strength.


    Ye Chen also agreed with the Icebound God King¡¯s approach.


    How precious is the inheritance of a God King.


    If one does not have the sufficient strength and yet obtains such an inheritance, it might not be a blessing but a curse instead.


    If it were to provoke the greed and plundering of countless people, one might get killed and have the inheritance snatched away before it even gets warm in their hands.


    Only with great strength can one protect the inheritance and truly grow as a successor.


    Thinking this, Ye Chen asked the Hall Spirit, "Senior Hall Spirit, I wonder how one should walk on this Heaven-reaching Bridge to reach the end. Surely there must be countless difficulties involved, and it can¡¯t be that just anyone can make it to the end."


    The Hall Spirit shook its head. "I am not clear about how the master designed this Heaven-reaching Bridge. However, as there are three levels of inheritances, I¡¯m afraid the further one goes, the more difficult it becomes. No matter how difficult, the walking of this Heaven-reaching Bridge is probably related to the three vital signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit of a martial artist."


    Ye Chen nodded again.


    The Icebound God King designed the Heaven-reaching Bridge to observe the strength of the inheritors and bestow the corresponding inheritance.


    The strength of the inheritors is, after all, reflected in their Essence, Qi, and Spirit.


    The prerequisites of the Heaven-reaching Bridge are likely related to these three aspects as well.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen gained confidence.


    His vital signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit had already been tested in the cultivation site of Minor Pole Sky. Even compared to the youths from the Divine Kingdom, or descendants of powerful beings like the Little Provincial Princess, he was not inferior.


    With his strength at that time, he was likely able to travel a great distance on this Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    Moreover, now he had undergone the true cultivation and transformation of Minor Pole Sky. His current vital signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, even Fang Luo, the Little Provincial Princess and daughter of the East Territory King from the Star Divine Mountain, would not dare to claim strength superior to his.


    Of course, Ye Chen¡¯s chances of succeeding on this Heaven-reaching Bridge were even greater!


    "I wonder, to gain the assistance of the three mighty beings, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, how far must one travel on the Heaven-reaching Bridge."


    What Ye Chen was most concerned about were the three True God level powerhouses in the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    Especially Bing Yi, who was a Nine-Tribulation True God!


    She was Ye Chen¡¯s biggest trump card against the likely coming threat of the countless True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan of the Minor Spirit Realm descending to the Lower Realm.


    If he can¡¯t take Bing Yi out of the main hall of the Icebound Temple, that would truly be a problem!


    With these thoughts, Ye Chen quickly inquired the Hall Spirit about the three True God level Icebound guardians.


    He specifically asked about how to take Bing Yi with him.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry, the Hall Spirit said, "Your Highness, currently, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi are watching Your Highness¡¯s attempt on the Heaven-reaching Bridge from within a special space in the Icebound Temple."


    "As long as Your Highness can walk the second type required by the old master, fifty sections of tens-of-thousands-feet long bridge, and obtain the True God level inheritance, you can take Bing Wu and Bing Qi as your two assistants."


    "As for the most powerful Bing Yi, she is a Nine-Tribulation True God and the number one warrior under the old master. She holds the old master¡¯s most precious God King Level inheritance. To take Bing Yi with you, Your Highness must walk one hundred sections of tens-of-thousands-feet long bridge and meet the old master¡¯s highest requirements, thus earning the qualifications for the God King Level inheritance!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart clenched upon hearing the Hall Spirit¡¯s words.


    He must complete the ultimate trial, walk the highest category of one hundred sections of tens-of-thousands-feet long bridge, and obtain the qualifications for the God King Level inheritance to take Bing Yi with him?


    This left Ye Chen with no way back.


    Ye Chen remembered that the nine Heavenly Saint Level Icebound guardians had said that Bing Qi was a Six-Tribulation True God, and Bing Wu a Seven-Tribulation True God.


    The Flying Spirit Clan had Nine-Tribulation True Gods among them, along with countless other True Gods. Relying only on Bing Qi and Bing Wu might not be enough to fend off the possible descent of a great calamity from the True Gods of the Lower Realm.


    Only with the Nine-Tribulation True God Bing Yi could there be hope to help Jiangya Zhenfeng and Mula Zhen Shen resist the crisis, to help himself and the entire Barbarian Continent withstand the calamity!


    "It seems, I must meet the supreme demands of a God King."


    Ye Chen clenched his fists and looked towards the endless expanse of the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    Subsequently, Ye Chen remembered the words the Hall Spirit had mentioned before, that Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi were watching him from a special space.


    "Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, are all watching me challenge the Heaven-reaching Bridge from within the special space of the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze swept around, attempting to spot where Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi might be.


    He also wanted to see these three True God level guardians for himself.


    However, all was silent around him; aside from the Heaven-reaching Bridge under his feet and the endless starry sky, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t see any trace of them.


    "Your Highness, you cannot see Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi from here," the Hall Spirit said with a gentle smile, noticing Ye Chen¡¯s actions. "Once you have crossed the Heaven-reaching Bridge, you will inevitably meet them."


    Ye Chen nodded his head.


    As Ye Chen nodded, in a hidden realm within the endless starry sky of the Icebound Temple, three individuals were watching Ye Chen.


    These three, transformed from three True Spirit Sacred Beasts of True God level, were none other than Ye Chen¡¯s sought-after Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi!


    Bing Qi, a Six-Tribulation True God, originally a True Spirit Sacred Beast "Three-Eyed Fire Qilin," had taken the form of a young man in fiery clothes.


    Bing Wu, a Seven-Tribulation True God, initially the "Nine-headed Serpent Emperor," had transformed into a woman clad in blue robes, exuding a chilly aura.


    And Bing Yi, a juvenile bird found by the Icebound God King on Star Divine Mountain, belonging to the "Ice Nether Divine Sparrow" clan, had now reached the Nine-Tribulations True God rank and had taken the shape of a girl in a pure white dress.


    Even though Bing Yi was the youngest of the three True God-level guardians both in actual age and appearance, Bing Wu and Bing Qi showed the utmost respect in her presence!


    After all, Bing Yi was a Nine-Tribulation True God, and the Icebound God King, who looked upon her as a daughter, highly valued her, nurturing and teaching her.


    Had it not been for the fact that Bing Yi was unsuited to practice the techniques of the Icebound God King, he would have passed on his entire legacy to her.


    Bing Yi¡¯s experiences naturally earned her immense respect from the other True God guardians!


    At that moment, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, all in human form, were watching Ye Chen.


    In their gaze lay expectation and curiosity towards Ye Chen.


    They were curious how formidable this youth, who had qualified for their old master¡¯s legacy, really was.


    They were even more eager to see whether this youth could perform prodigiously, eventually leading them to venture into more distant lands as their old master, the God King of the Icebound Temple, had done, traversing many star continents!


    Meanwhile, Bing Yi, now in the guise of a girl in a snow-white dress, was also watching Ye Chen, "What does this new master want with me that he would have me leave the Icebound Temple with him?"


    Though she was in this hidden space, she could still hear the conversation between Ye Chen and the Hall Spirit.


    "New master, if you want to take me away and have me assist you, you¡¯d better put on a good show!" Bing Yi watched Ye Chen, a smile flickering in her eyes as she murmured softly to herself.


    At the base of the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    Of course, Ye Chen was unaware of Bing Yi¡¯s whisper or the anticipatory, curious gazes of the three True God-level guardians. He was now preparing to officially tackle the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    "The Heaven-reaching Bridge has countless sections, each tens of thousands of feet long."


    "To walk, no matter what, I must traverse a hundred sections!"


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and strode forward, climbing up the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    ...


    As Ye Chen entered the Icebound Temple and began to acquire the legacy of the Icebound God King.


    Minor Spirit Realm, Flying Spirit Clan.


    The Chixiao True God, who was heading towards the higher echelons of the Flying Spirit Clan, had now arrived outside one of the clan¡¯s Divine Mountains.


    This Divine Mountain was only accessible for cultivation by members of the Flying Spirit Clan who were Six-Tribulation True Gods or above.


    Even before his true form had been slain, as a Five-Tribulation True God, the Chixiao True God could not enter it.


    This was the true stronghold of the Flying Spirit Clan!


    The gathering place of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s upper echelon!


    When the Chixiao True God arrived at the entrance of this Divine Mountain, he was immediately stopped by two guardians who were Five-Tribulation True Gods stationed at the entrance.


    These two True Gods recognized Chixiao True God.


    Seeing his hurried and annoyed expression, they asked, "Chixiao, what brings you here in such a state? Right, didn¡¯t your true form descend to the Lower Realm? How did it go, when are you coming back?"


    When asked about the situation of his true form, the Chixiao True God, remembering that his Five-Tribulation True God form had been slain by Ye Chen and his companions, was consumed with rage. He addressed the two True Gods guarding the entrance to the Divine Mountain, "My true form has been destroyed in the Lower Realm!"


    "I¡¯ve also uncovered a huge secret in the Lower Realm. Xuanxu, Xuane, you two need to help me quickly, go and ask to see the old clan chief. I have very important matters to report to him!"

 Chapter 535 - 491: Ten Thousand Feet Bridgehead, Great Accomplishment of Taiyuan

    My true form was destroyed in the Lower Realm?


    The great secret of the Lower Realm?


    Hearing the words of the Chixiao True God, the two Five Tribulations True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan, "Xuane" and "Xuanxu," were both shocked. When they heard Chixiao True God demand an audience with the old clan leader, they said, "The old clan leader has gone to the occupied ancient city of the Divine Phoenix Clan, ¡¯Divine Phoenix City,¡¯ at the invitation of the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan and is not in the clan."


    "It is said that the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan felt the approach of the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation and plans to break through to the Nine Tribulations True God using the ¡¯Nirvana Pool¡¯ within Divine Phoenix City!"


    "That¡¯s why he has requested the presence of our old clan leader, to assist him by protecting the law."


    "What, our old clan leader has gone to Divine Phoenix City? And the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan is attempting to break through to the Nine Tribulations True God?!" Chixiao True God was stunned.


    He wanted to use the possibly God King Level earth-shattering secret of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to take revenge for Ye Chen and his three companions who had killed his true form. The best course of action would be to report the news to the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, a great Nine Tribulations True God powerhouse.


    In that case, Chixiao True God was certain that, with the old clan leader¡¯s arrangements, they could definitely kill Ye Chen and the three remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Now, hearing that the old clan leader was not present, Chixiao True God did not know to whom he should report this news.


    "Chixiao, although the old clan leader is not here, the young clan leader and several of the clan elders are within the Divine Mountain. We will inform them about your true form being destroyed in the Lower Realm and your request to meet the old clan leader, then see how they decide," said the two Flying Spirit Clan True Gods, Xuane and Xuanxu to Chixiao True God.


    Chixiao True God nodded and saw Xuane True God transform into a shadowy figure, flying into the Divine Mountain of the Flying Spirit Clan to deliver the message.


    Shortly after, a shocking voice emanated from within the Divine Mountain: "Chixiao? Come to the Divine Mountain, I have questions for you."


    Boom!


    The moment that voice was heard, Chixiao True God felt a powerful force envelop his entire body.


    Before he could react, he completely vanished from where he stood.


    And the voice that reached him, he had heard before¡ªit was unmistakably the voice of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s young clan leader, who had reached the level of an Eighth Tribulations True God!


    ...


    Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall.


    Upon the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    Ye Chen was walking along the icy surface of the Heaven-reaching Bridge, heading towards the boundless starry sky above.


    "This feeling..."


    As he walked on the Heaven-reaching Bridge, initially Ye Chen didn¡¯t feel anything unusual about the bridge, as if he were walking on an ordinary bridge.


    It wasn¡¯t until he had passed ten sections, each a ten thousand feet long, walking a total of sixty thousand li on the Heaven-reaching Bridge, that Ye Chen didn¡¯t detect anything amiss.


    Passing ten sections each ten thousand feet long on the Heaven-reaching Bridge meant that Ye Chen had met the first requirement of the Icebound Divine King and he could directly receive the first part of the Icebound Divine King¡¯s Heavenly Saint Level legacy.


    The fact that he had encountered no trouble was, of course, strange to Ye Chen.


    While Ye Chen found this peculiar, the Hall Spirit watching over Ye Chen¡¯s progress through the Heaven-reaching Bridge was already quite surprised.


    "The Heaven-reaching Bridge, although I do not know how the old master designed it, it should not be this easy to traverse! Lord Ye Chen seems to be walking as if he¡¯s not facing any obstructions at all!"


    "When Ice One asked me about Lord Ye Chen¡¯s assessment in the Icebound Temple¡¯s Sub Palace, after hearing about Lord Ye Chen¡¯s performance, Ice One also offered nothing but praise for Lord Ye Chen. However, when she mentioned that Lord Ye Chen was to cross the Heaven-reaching Bridge, she said that he would start facing trials from the very first barrier."


    "Ice One is someone who knows the true methods of testing the Heaven-reaching Bridge, so her word is definitely not wrong."


    "Could it be that, after Lord Ye Chen left the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, he made great progress, which is why he now finds traversing the Heaven-reaching Bridge so effortless?"


    "It must be so!"


    "When Lord Ye Chen left the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, he was merely at the initial phase of Rotating Pill, but now he has advanced to the later phase of Rotating Pill!"


    Although the Hall Spirit didn¡¯t know that after Ye Chen left the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple, he had gone on an adventure to Five Elements Mountain and received countless opportunities from the Five Elements Mountain, being transported from there to the Minor Pole Sky training ground, where he obtained the chance to train left by a Divine Venerable Level character.


    But the Hall Spirit had guessed that Ye Chen was now fundamentally different from the time he had left the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple!


    While the Hall Spirit was shocked and speculating, Ice One, Ice Seven, and Ice Five, who were hidden in a mysterious space and had been observing Ye Chen crossing the Heaven-reaching Bridge, were also surprised at how easily Ye Chen was traversing the bridge.


    They had not expected Ye Chen to be able to walk this easily on the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    "It seems that this new master is truly extraordinary," said Ice One, who was dressed in a snow-white gown and had taken on the appearance of a young girl, her eyes shining brightly as she watched Ye Chen.


    She shifted from a casual to a formal seated posture, with eyes fixed on Ye Chen, not blinking an eyelash.


    Seeing Ice One¡¯s manner, Ice Seven and Ice Five also watched Ye Chen with greater seriousness.


    On the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    It was not until he had walked over twenty sections, each ten thousand feet long, and had come to the true height of the void, that Ye Chen began to sense something peculiar about the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    At this point on the bridge, strange repulsion forces seemed to be coming at him, as if trying to prevent him from proceeding further.


    The repulsive force was created by a mysterious aura, one that Ye Chen found hauntingly familiar, akin to the aura he sensed while cultivating in the Minor Pole Sky, from the first to the third training sites.


    When Ye Chen crossed this inexplicable barrier, he felt a slight enhancement in all three major life vital signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.


    "This Heaven-reaching Bridge truly relates to the three major life vital signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit."


    "Here, the mysterious aura that hinders my advance, if one¡¯s strength isn¡¯t sufficient, will block me; yet, if it is enough, can enhance my life vital signs."


    "Clearly, this Heaven-reaching Bridge is not just a test for obtaining the inheritance but is also a place greatly beneficial for cultivation."


    "The Ice Sealed Divine King left behind this Heaven-reaching Bridge, apparently not solely to challenge the inheritors but also to provide a unique opportunity!"


    With this in mind, Ye Chen pushed forward even more determinedly.


    He intended to pass through a hundred sections of the Ten Thousand Feet Bridge to obtain the Ice Sealed Divine King¡¯s legacy and to take away powerful allies Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi; he certainly would not give up.


    Now, the Heaven-reaching Bridge was even bringing him benefits, which naturally spurred Ye Chen to proceed further!


    Ye Chen knew the immense advantage of enhancing the life vital signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. His physical body¡¯s life vital sign was in the midst of cultivating the Undying Divine Body and desperately needed uplifting. His True Qi life vital sign was only a step away from fully mastering the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, and of course, he wished to elevate it!


    Even Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul life vital sign, which he felt was immensely beneficial after cultivating the Destruction Eye Skills, he naturally wanted to raise as well.


    Forward!


    Ye Chen continued to advance!


    The obstruction posed around the twentieth segment of the Ten Thousand Feet Bridge was minuscule for Ye Chen, and he certainly would not be stopped.


    Even as Ye Chen progressed further, reaching beyond the fiftieth segment, qualifying him for the "True God level inheritance," the second part of the Ice Sealed Divine King¡¯s legacy, he did not feel fatigued while walking on the Heaven-reaching Bridge under the hindrance of the mysterious aura.


    Meanwhile, in the mysterious space, Bing Qi and Bing Wu, who had been watching Ye Chen¡¯s progress on the Heaven-reaching Bridge, had already stood up!


    Ye Chen¡¯s passage of the fiftieth segment on the Ten Thousand Feet Bridge signified that he had the right to lead Bing Qi and Bing Wu out of the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    This naturally thrilled Bing Qi and Bing Wu to no end!


    After Bing Qi and Bing Wu stood up, Bing Yi¡¯s heart pounded even faster.


    "Looking at this, our new master might indeed be capable of directly crossing the hundred segments of the Heaven-reaching Bridge!"


    Having served the Ice Sealed Divine King, Bing Yi was one of the Divine King¡¯s most valued subordinates, and she knew all too well the difficulty of crossing the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    Based on the Ice Sealed Divine King¡¯s instructions when he was at death¡¯s door, he had even suggested that the inheritor might initially be weak and unable to complete the bridge in one go, advising Bing Yi to keep waiting for the inheritor to grow stronger before fully handing over the God King¡¯s Legacy.


    Now, it seemed the Ice Sealed Divine King had miscalculated.


    The young man receiving his legacy had become strong beyond the Divine King¡¯s predictions!


    While Bing Qi and Bing Wu watched Ye Chen with excitement, and Bing Yi with a racing heart, Ye Chen continued to trek the Heaven-reaching Bridge. Reaching a depth of over four thousand miles at the seventieth section, he suddenly stopped.


    Ye Chen¡¯s abrupt halt alarmed the Hall Spirit, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, who had been closely observing him.


    "What¡¯s the matter?"


    "Lord Ye Chen (our new master), he doesn¡¯t seem exhausted at all, why did he suddenly stop?"


    While the Hall Spirit, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi were confused and somewhat concerned, Ye Chen, who had stopped at the seventy-thousand-foot bridgehead, simply sat down to meditate.


    Ye Chen wasn¡¯t too tired to walk.


    Instead, after accumulating the enhancement of the mysterious aura of the Heaven-reaching Bridge over seventy sections for his Essence, Qi, and Spirit, Ye Chen finally reached the ultimate level of the Primordial Star Scripture¡¯s third chapter, the Taiyuan Chapter, that he had long yearned for!


    Inside Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, the Taiyuan Divine Pill, atop which the Five Great Divine Arts had finally reached a tenfold perfection in cultivation level through the stimulus of the mysterious aura!


    The Taiyuan Divine Pill had already reached Great Accomplishment in the Minor Pole Sky.


    The Five Great Divine Arts had now finally achieved the same.


    The Primordial Star Scripture¡¯s Taiyuan Chapter stated that once both the internal skill "Taiyuan Divine Pill" and the external skill "Five Great Divine Arts" reached Great Accomplishment, it would be time to unlock the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Now, that moment had finally arrived!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Sitting cross-legged at the seventy-thousand-foot height on the Heaven-reaching Bridge, Ye Chen appeared tranquil from the outside, but within his Qi Sea, the Star Tower, which towered over and anchored his Qi Sea, finally stirred again after the previous opening of the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Rumble!


    Amidst thunderous roars,


    The Star Tower once again attracted the entirety of Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit, fully drawing it into the tower.


    He was taken to the fourth layer of the Star Tower!


    Following the acquisition of the first chapter "Gang Yuan Chapter" from the first layer, the second chapter "Primordial Chapter" from the second layer, and the third chapter "Taiyuan Chapter" from the third layer of the Star Tower, Ye Chen finally had the opportunity to obtain the even mightier fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!

 Chapter 536 - 492 Primordial Beginning!

    "What will the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture be?!"


    The moment Ye Chen¡¯s mind and spirit were drawn into the Stars Tower, countless thoughts flashed through his heart.


    What he most wanted to know was what kind of cultivation methods the fourth chapter of the Star Scripture would reveal.


    When Ye Chen first acquired the Primordial Star Scripture, the Zi Ji Star Lord had mentioned that cultivating to the fourth chapter would lead to a qualitative transformation and achieve the first significant leap in strength, enough to dominate an entire world!


    If cultivating to the fourth chapter was already so powerful, then completing it would probably not just be about dominating a world, but transcending it and ascending to the higher levels of Divine Kingdoms, in the universe!


    With this in mind, Ye Chen was, of course, filled with immense anticipation for the fourth chapter!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Ye Chen¡¯s entire mind and spirit entered the fourth floor of the Stars Tower, this time, he directly saw an extremely brilliant constant star surrounded by countless stars, forming a mysterious and divine "Stellar Divine Diagram" high in the void of the grand hall. Explore more at novelhall.Co?m


    Initially, on the first floor of the Starlight Tower, Ye Chen saw five Fire Altars and eventually acquired the Gang Yuan Chapter, the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    On the second floor of the Stars Tower, he saw five drops of Divine Blood, which ultimately led him to obtain the second chapter of the Star Scripture, the Primordial Chapter.


    On the third floor of the Stars Tower, when Ye Chen obtained the Taiyuan Chapter, he saw a Starry Fog that twinkled like stars.


    Ye Chen never expected that he would directly see the real stars in this fourth floor, seeing the vast "Stellar Divine Diagram"!


    Just as Ye Chen was gazing at this Stellar Divine Diagram, trying to figure out what the brilliant constant star and the countless stars surrounding it signified, the entire diagram shone out endless light, and in the radiance, he could see visible characters flying towards his mind and spirit.


    In the end, they all entered Ye Chen¡¯s mind and spirit.


    These characters turned out to be the cultivation method of the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    As Ye Chen looked into this cultivation technique, he saw countless characters saying, "The Gang Yuan Chapter, Primordial Chapter, and Taiyuan Chapter, the methods of cultivation, are all confined within the Qi Sea, within one world."


    "Cultivating to the fourth chapter will transcend the Qi Sea, transcend one world! Internally, cultivation will expand from the Qi Sea to the entire physical body universe; externally, strength will also move from one world to the true cosmos and stars!"


    "Starting from the fourth chapter, one will officially step into the intermediate stage of cultivating the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    "The fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture is called ¡¯Primordial Beginning Chapter¡¯!"


    When he saw the three characters "Primordial Beginning Chapter," Ye Chen¡¯s heart trembled.


    He had thought that after the Gang Yuan Chapter, Primordial Chapter, and Taiyuan Chapter, there would be another "certain Yuan Chapter," but to his surprise, it turned out to be the "Primordial Beginning Chapter" that started with the character for "primordial."


    Ye Chen was even more surprised to find out that the Primordial Beginning Chapter marked the entry into the intermediate stage of the Primordial Star Scripture¡¯s cultivation.


    "Gang Yuan Chapter, Primordial Chapter, Taiyuan Chapter, Primordial Beginning Chapter..."


    "This Primordial Beginning Chapter says it will expand cultivation from the Qi Sea to the entire physical body universe, but how is it to be cultivated?"


    Ye Chen could not help but take a closer look at the cultivation methods of the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Upon looking, Ye Chen was also startled; he had not anticipated that the method of cultivation in the fourth chapter would be even more miraculous than the first three chapters.


    This fourth chapter turns out to be identical to the "Stellar Divine Diagram" I¡¯m now viewing on the fourth floor of the Starlight Tower, which actually requires cultivating such a Stellar Divine Diagram within the physical body.


    "The fourth chapter, the Primordial Beginning Chapter, is based on the Primordial Divine Pill, which is cultivated to the extreme in the third chapter, further transforming the ¡¯Primordial Divine Pill¡¯ into a ¡¯Primordial Star¡¯. At the same time, the ¡¯Five Great Divine Arts¡¯ are operated to create Stellar Vortex Spaces within the body!"


    "With every Stellar Vortex Space created, a star¡¯s stellar power can be directly drawn from the ¡¯Stellar Divine Diagram¡¯ into the Stellar Vortex inside the body, and simultaneously, the Taiyuan Divine Pill can also absorb the constant star power within the Stellar Divine Diagram, evolving towards a ¡¯Primordial Star¡¯."


    "Ultimately, forming within the body a Cultivation Secret Diagram with the ¡¯Primordial Star¡¯ at its core and the boundless stellar power hidden within countless Stellar Vortex Spaces as innumerable stars."


    "Once the ¡¯Primordial Beginning Chapter¡¯ is cultivated to Great Accomplishment, the entire ¡¯Stellar Divine Diagram¡¯ on the fourth floor will be fully manifested within the body, and eventually communicate with the external universe. By then, it will be possible to step into the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    Looking at this, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze once again turned to the mysterious "Stellar Divine Diagram" high in the void of the fourth floor of the Starlight Tower.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that the cultivation method of this fourth chapter, the "Primordial Beginning Chapter," would actually involve absorbing the endless number of stars and the central constant star power from this Stellar Divine Diagram into his body, allowing the patterns of stars to be displayed within.


    Ye Chen saw that there are perhaps thousands, even millions of stars within this "Stellar Divine Diagram" on the fourth floor.


    Could it be that one has to absorb such an enormous amount of stellar power into the body?!


    Doesn¡¯t that mean that one has to create thousands, perhaps millions of Stellar Vortex Spaces within the body?!


    Ye Chen further considered that the stellar power within this "Stellar Divine Diagram" must be incredibly powerful, or else it wouldn¡¯t be placed in the fourth floor of the Starlight Tower.


    Once he absorbs so much stellar power into the countless Stellar Vortices within his body, his true combat power will surely reach an unbelievable level.


    Sweeping through True Gods might well be entirely possible!


    Otherwise, it would not be said that after cultivating the fourth chapter, one¡¯s strength could advance from the level of a continent to that of the true cosmic stellar level!


    At this thought, Ye Chen¡¯s mind and spirit were both shaken.


    Of course, he wanted to further increase his strength, and he hadn¡¯t expected that the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture would indeed make this possible!


    Ye Chen could no longer resist beginning the cultivation of this fourth chapter¡¯s Cultivation Method.


    Outside, Ye Chen¡¯s body was still sitting cross-legged on the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    Within the Starlight Tower, however, Ye Chen focused his entire mind and spirit on the "Stellar Divine Diagram" of the fourth floor, starting to connect his whole body with the "Stellar Divine Diagram" according to the Cultivation Methods inside.


    Only after the body is fully connected with the Stellar Divine Diagram can he open Stellar Vortices within the body and directly draw the stellar power from the Stellar Divine Diagram into the Stellar Vortices within the body.


    As Ye Chen¡¯s body entered into communication with the "Stellar Divine Diagram," the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" within his Qi Sea and his cultivation of the Five Great Divine Arts began to run wildly.


    Even without having fully completed the communication with the "Stellar Divine Diagram," the first change had occurred within him.


    That is, in the mysterious cultivation place of Minor Pole Sky, with the help of the Qianye Platform and the Law Sea obtained through cultivation, the bottleneck he had reached, already at the limit of understanding the Five Great Heavenly Void Laws and assaulting the Heavenly Saint Realm, finally began to loosen!


    This signified that Ye Chen had the opportunity to assault the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Ye Chen was actually bestowed with the chance to assault the Heavenly Saint Realm while cultivating the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Even without having completed the opening of the first Stellar Vortex in the "Primordial Beginning Chapter," Ye Chen was about to set foot into the Heavenly Saint Realm first!

 Chapter 537 - 493: True God Descends to the Lower Realm

    ```


    Heavenly Saint Realm.


    The highest realm that can be cultivated on the Lower Realm continent!


    Only after cultivating one of the Void Heaven Laws to its utmost limit can one step into the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    And to simultaneously cultivate all five of the major Void Heaven Laws to their utmost limit and step into the Heavenly Saint Realm is even more exceedingly difficult!


    If it weren¡¯t for Ye Chen having spent three years cultivating in the Icebound Temple Sub Palace under a hundredfold accelerated time flow, having had the opportunity to comprehend from the Ninth Ancient Stele at the Five Elements Mountain, and reaping great rewards at "Qianye Platform Law Sea" in the "Minor Pole Sky" true qi law cultivation site, it would have been utterly impossible for Ye Chen to bring all five major Void Heaven Laws to their ultimate extent.


    However, even with countless days of arduous cultivation and numerous opportunities grasped to perfect the five major Void Heaven Laws, Ye Chen did not achieve Heavenly Saint at the first opportunity.


    Because Ye Chen knows that the Primordial Star Scripture he cultivates corresponds with various major martial arts realms and is a method of cultivation that transcends martial arts realms.


    Only by cultivating his own martial arts realm to its limit and simultaneously perfecting the corresponding chapter of Primordial Star Scripture could he have sufficient opportunity to delve into the layer beneath the five martial arts realms.


    This demand is thousands of times more difficult than a mere realm breakthrough!


    After all, whether it is the comprehension of the Void Heaven Law to Great Perfection required for the breakthrough to Heavenly Saint Realm or the cultivation of the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" and the "Five Great Divine Arts" to Great Accomplishment needed for the Taiyuan Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, both are unquestionably very difficult tasks.


    But Ye Chen did it.


    After countless days of painstaking cultivation and undergoing transformation after transformation in battle, he finally did it.


    He not only cultivated the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" and the "Five Great Divine Arts" to Great Accomplishment but also achieved Great Accomplishment in the Rotating Pill Realm.


    He finally met the criteria for a breakthrough!


    Now, it was time for him to reap the rewards!


    He would not only break through to the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture but also to the fourth grand martial arts realm, "Heavenly Saint Realm"!


    As soon as Ye Chen succeeded in breaking through to the Heavenly Saint Realm, from then on, Ye Chen would be a Heavenly Saint!


    A prominent figure of the highest realm on the Lower Realm continent!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When the bottleneck of the Heavenly Saint Realm loosened and the opportunity to break through arrived, Ye Chen, sitting in meditation, remained neither sorrowful nor joyful, his mind and spirit completely serene.


    Ye Chen momentarily set aside the process of connecting with the "Stellar Divine Diagram" and instead entered into the assault on the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    The assault on the Heavenly Saint Realm involves using the power of the Void Heaven Law, understood to the utmost limit, to guide the transformation of the True Qi power throughout the Qi Sea into the unique "Heavenly Saint Power" of a Heavenly Saint Realm powerholder.


    Only by transforming all of the True Qi power into "Heavenly Saint Power" can one truly step into the Heavenly Saint Realm and become an early-stage Heavenly Saint powerholder!


    Typical Heavenly Saints use the power of a single Void Heaven Law to guide the transformation of True Qi.


    But Ye Chen, he had fully comprehended five major Void Heaven Laws to Perfection.


    His guidance naturally caused a storm of all five major Void Heaven Laws within the Qi Sea at once!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Like the heavens shattering and the earth splitting.


    Above the Heaven-reaching Bridge, Ye Chen¡¯s body began to emanate the divine aura of all five major Void Heaven Laws!


    Within his body, in the Qi Sea, the assault on the Heavenly Saint Realm truly began!


    ...


    Inside the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    When the Hall Spirit, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, who were observing the Heaven-reaching Bridge, saw Ye Chen seated there and no longer challenging the bridge, they were initially greatly worried.


    But when Ye Chen truly started his assault on the Heavenly Saint Realm, the bizarre changes in the aura around his body let the exceptionally knowledgeable Hall Spirit, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi know that Ye Chen was in the midst of a realm breakthrough. Stay updated through novelhall.Co?m


    Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi were all True God Realm powerholders.


    The Hall Spirit was also a Divine Sense spirit that had followed the Divine King of the Icebound Temple across countless territories.


    They had, of course, witnessed numerous instances of Rotating Pill Realm martial artists making their assault on the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    They immediately realized that Ye Chen was challenging the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s situation completely shocked them.


    What stunned them was not that Ye Chen was attempting a realm breakthrough while challenging the Heaven-reaching Bridge but that Ye Chen, at the mere age of sixteen or seventeen, was actually about to step into the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    And he was doing it by fully perfecting all five major Void Heaven Laws for his assault on the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    To think that breaking through to the Heavenly Saint Realm after perfecting all five major Void Heaven Laws; let¡¯s not say the Lower Realm continent, even in a plane like the Minor Spirit Realm in the Upper Realm, it was very rare for someone to directly achieve this level.


    More often, one would first step into the Heavenly Saint Realm with one or two maximally perfected Void Heaven Laws, and only then make up for the deficiencies of other Void Heaven Laws after being in the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    To be able to break through to the Heavenly Saint Realm by perfecting all five major Void Heaven Laws to Perfection is something that perhaps only the offspring of the great powerholders of the Divine Kingdom could accomplish!


    Not to mention Ye Chen¡¯s age.


    At his age, to be able to assault the Heavenly Saint Realm after mastering all five major Void Heaven Laws to Perfection, even within the Divine Kingdom, he would be considered to possess extremely high talent.


    Knowing that Ye Chen¡¯s identity was that of a Lower Realm continent martial artist, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, Bing Yi, and the Hall Spirit were all astounded beyond measure!


    ```


    "Heavenly Saint!"


    "Once one achieves Heavenly Saint, their strength will undergo a drastic change!"


    "This new master, he originally traversed the Heaven-reaching Bridge with unmatched ease, and it¡¯s very possible he could meet the old master¡¯s highest expectations. If he succeeds in assaulting the Heavenly Saint Realm, he might very well fulfill the old master¡¯s ultimate demands!"


    At this moment, Bing Yi, dressed in snow-white garments and bearing the visage of a young girl, just like Bing Qi and Bing Wu, also stood up excitedly.


    Her eyes were fixedly staring at Ye Chen, who was in the midst of breaking through the realm.


    She was attentively tracking every slight change in Ye Chen¡¯s Qi!


    ...


    While Ye Chen was traversing the Heaven-reaching Bridge in the main hall of the Icebound Temple beneath the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom, training to break through and accepting the inheritance of the Ice Seal Divine King to raise his power and prepare for the possible threats from the Upper Realm...


    The thirteen countries of the Southern Territory were already abuzz.


    The commotion was partly because, under the surprise attack of Ye Chen, and after the emergence of two True Gods, the joint forces of the Chaotic Sea Area and the ten Demon Sects of the Western Wilderness were thoroughly defeated, bringing immense joy to countless martial artists and citizens of the Southern Territory.


    On the other hand, countless martial artists received orders from the two True Gods to begin rallying the warriors and citizens of the thirteen countries of the Southern Territory to take refuge inside spatial treasures.


    The freshly minted heroes who saved the Southern Territory instructed, especially regarding another great calamity, naturally compelling countless people to comply and enter the spatial treasures.


    Afterward, these spatial treasures, along with countless Heavenly Saints, were hidden inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant given to Jiang Yao by Ye Chen.


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant is a top-grade Divine Artifact left by the Ice Seal Divine King.


    Even a Nine Tribulations True God might not be powerful enough to destroy it.


    Before entering the main hall of the Icebound Temple, Ye Chen discussed with Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God the first point of his plan: before he could bring back a Nine Tribulations True God helper, he would try to hide as many people as possible inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    The Ice Snow Jade Pendant, forged by a Divine King, has immense space inside. Coupled with the help of other spatial treasures, it can conceal countless people. Whether or not the threat from the Upper Realm comes, taking refuge here first is the safest option.


    Whew! Whew! Whew! Whew! Whew!


    One by one, the Heavenly Saints, following the orders of Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God under the direction of Palace Master Yuan Li and others, swiftly arranged for people from all realms to hide in batches.


    After the nine Ice Seal Guardians resolved the matter with the Western Wilderness and Chaotic Sea Area, they too engaged in the efforts to find refuge from the impending calamity.


    Ultimately, not only was the Southern Territory making preparations, but upon hearing that a great number of True Gods might descend from the Minor Spirit Realm, potentially threatening countless people¡¯s safety, martial artists from the Central Region, the Polar Star Archipelago in the east, and the Ice Palace Snowfield in the north also began urgent preparations just like those in the Southern Territory.


    The entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent was in an uproar and turmoil!


    Except for a few who didn¡¯t believe that a large number of True Gods would really descend to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and bring a calamity, within a day, nearly everyone had found a way to hide, entering into spatial treasures and concealing themselves all over the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, no longer revealing themselves.


    ...


    Amidst all the preparations on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, in the Upper Realm, within the Minor Spirit Realm...


    The Chixiao True God, who had entered the Divine Mountain of the Flying Spirit Clan, once again flew out from the mountain.


    A smile appeared on his face.


    Because the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, a powerful Eighth Tribulations True God, after hearing his report of the Divine Phoenix Clan remnants in the Lower Realm, and particularly after hearing about the appearances of the three women, speculated that among these women might be the legendary missing princess of the Divine Phoenix Clan. Interested by this possibility, the Young Clan Leader became inclined to descend to the Lower Realm.


    And upon hearing about a possible Divine King Level secret on the Lower Realm¡¯s continent, the Young Clan Leader was even more resolved to descend himself to investigate what could well be a secret of the Divine King Level.


    The Young Clan Leader also promised that if what Chixiao True God had reported was true, he would massacre the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to avenge the destruction of Chixiao¡¯s original form.


    This of course brought immense satisfaction to Chixiao True God!


    With the Young Clan Leader¡¯s words, Chixiao True God was utterly confident that the youth and the three women of the Divine Phoenix Clan who had caused his original form¡¯s demise could not withstand the descent of the truly strong beings from the Flying Spirit Clan.


    The four were at most a Five Tribulations True God, and even combined, they were only just able to defeat him.


    Should a Six Tribulations True God descend, it would be enough to strike down all four of them.


    Chixiao True God even surmised that knowing about the remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan and the Divine King Level secret, the Young Clan Leader would certainly send more than one Six Tribulations True God.


    Fearing the secret of the Divine King Level, it was even possible that the Young Clan Leader himself would descend to investigate!


    Leaving the Divine Mountain of the Flying Spirit Clan and returning to his Cultivation Cave Abode, Chixiao True God was eagerly awaiting this moment.


    After he reported the news to the Young Clan Leader, the leader immediately went to "Divine Phoenix City" to report the matter to the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    With the realm of the Young Clan Leader as an Eighth Tribulations True God, Chixiao True God believed it would not take long for an order to come back to the Flying Spirit Clan.


    Indeed.


    Chixiao True God¡¯s guess was accurate.


    Only three days after he reported to the Young Clan Leader, the leader returned from Divine Phoenix City to the Flying Spirit Clan.


    The Young Clan Leader also gathered him and several hundred other True Gods.


    "Follow me, we will all descend to that Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    "Accompany me to unlock a great secret land. Should we gain anything, I will reward each and every one of you!"


    Boom!


    As the Young Clan Leader¡¯s voice echoed through the grand hall of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s council, and upon seeing that among those several hundred True Gods, there were many at the Six Tribulations and Seven Tribulations levels, a grim expression spread across Chixiao True God¡¯s eyes: "Martial artists of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan, prepare yourselves to meet your end!"

 Chapter 538 - 494: The Great Catastrophe Arrives! Heavenly Saint Achieved!

    ```


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After another mobilization by the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, these hundreds of true gods, following the Young Clan Leader, all flew out of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s council hall and headed towards the nearest Void Teleportation Point within the clan.


    For true gods of the Minor Spirit Realm to descend to the Lower Realm, they must first leave the Minor Spirit Realm.


    And to leave the Minor Spirit Realm, they would have to exit through the areas where the void¡¯s power is weakest.


    Such places, where the void¡¯s power is the weakest, are known as Void Teleportation Points.


    The six Ancient Clans have explored and occupied countless Void Teleportation Points, specifically for the purpose of leaving the Minor Spirit Realm.


    When the hundreds of true gods successfully passed through the Void Teleportation Point with the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader and left the Minor Spirit Realm, they stood in the dark void beneath the Minor Spirit Realm, looking towards the vast thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm.


    Afterwards, these figures all burst forth, flying towards the direction of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent among the thirty-three continents.


    True gods descend.


    When shuttling into the spatial barriers of the Lower Realm continent, they would be repelled and could be injured.


    But these Flying Spirit Clan true gods were not at all afraid.


    This time, it was not just one true god descending, but hundreds of true gods descending together.


    Moreover, the stronger the true god, the lesser the injuries they would sustain from the Lower Realm¡¯s spatial barriers. They were not worried about encountering any threats on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Let alone these hundreds of true gods, even if it were just the Young Clan Leader alone, with the Realm of an Eighth Tribulations True God, descending to the Lower Realm would almost result in no injury, and they would be more than capable of sweeping across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    The reason why the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader brought hundreds of true gods to descend together, including many Six Tribulations and Seven Tribulations True Gods, was to follow the orders of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Old Clan Leader from afar in Divine Phoenix City, to ensure that the Divine King Level great secret was thoroughly unearthed.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As these hundreds of true god figures shuttled through the dark void between continents, their whole bodies were wrapped in blazing True God¡¯s Power, dragging thousands of feet long Divine Light, like hundreds of meteors, plummeting toward the Barbaric Wilderness Continent at breakneck speed.


    The Minor Spirit Realm was extremely far from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, with a true distance of millions of miles.


    However, in the midst of these true gods¡¯ meteor-like rapid descent and impact, it only took them a few days to cross this distance of millions of miles in its entirety.


    Finally, these hundreds of true god figures, from afar, all saw the vast Lower Realm continent of the Barbaric Wilderness, appearing tens of thousands of meters below them.


    "Head down!"


    "Those with a Realm lower than Five Tribulations True God, activate the defensive magical treasure I gave you earlier to withstand the rebounding force of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡¯s spatial barrier."


    "The rest, follow me and charge down directly!"


    Even amidst their meteoric descent, the voice of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader clearly reached every true god¡¯s ears.


    "Yes, Young Clan Leader!"


    All the true gods responded loudly in unison.


    Chixiao True God, whose Realm had fallen to that of a Three Tribulations True God, along with the other true gods who knew how to break the Forbidden and were brought out by the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader, activated the defensive magical treasure on their bodies.


    Immediately, the True God Divine Light around their bodies emitted an endless light of treasures.


    These true gods, along with the stronger Five Tribulations and above true gods, increased their speed crazily, dragging an even larger Divine Light radiance as they shot towards the Barbaric Wilderness Continent below at high speed!


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    As they were about to truly reach the Barbaric Wilderness Continent above and directly break into its space, these hundreds of figures produced tremendously powerful collision sounds with the void above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    This was the sound of true gods shuttling through the spatial barriers of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    These sounds, like thunderclaps, exploded.


    If it were just one sound, it wouldn¡¯t amount to much, but this was hundreds of sounds, and the impact noises brought by numerous formidable Six Tribulations, Seven Tribulations, and even Eight Tribulations True Gods, virtually caused a stir across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Countless Martial Artists hiding in Spatial Treasures, along with those who did not believe true gods would descend and did not hide, all looked towards the sky.


    At that moment, they saw directly above, near the central region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent close to the Northern Region, in the high sky, that there were hundreds of earth-shattering fireball meteors impacting the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Hundreds of astonishing Divine Lights erupted in terrible thunderous booms, tearing through the spatial barrier above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and completely entering into the Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡¯s spatial domain.


    And at an incredibly terrifying speed, they explosively plummeted towards the surface of the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    "What... what is this?!"


    "Could it be the legendary descent of true gods?!"


    Those who hadn¡¯t hidden were completely stunned!


    And those hiding within Spatial Treasures could not believe that after waiting for several days, they had truly witnessed the arrival of the incredibly terrifying true gods from the Upper Realm.


    They had seen the arrival of these hundreds of meteor-like plummeting figures!


    In the end, these people dared not watch any longer, hiding their entire figures deeper within their Spatial Treasures, even concealing their Spatial Treasures deep away!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Find your next read at novelhall.Co?m


    After passing through the spatial barrier of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the hundreds of True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan, whether wanting to intimidate the Martial Artists of the Lower Realm or for some other reason, didn¡¯t seem to have any intention of slowing down. They kept up their frightfully terrifying speed as if they were earth-shattering meteors, and they plummeted directly towards the ground of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    At last, these hundreds of figures all smashed onto the surface of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    In an instant, each figure caused a large expanse of the ground to collapse, and each figure created a gigantic crater thousands of feet in diameter and seemingly bottomless. All the figures connected, simply turning the vast land of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where they descended into a crater-ridden mess!


    ```


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Eventually, those figures burst out of the deep pit from which they had been smashed, laughing heartily as they flew back up to the surface of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Every one of these figures gathered around the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    The Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, looking toward the somewhat silent Barbaric Wilderness Continent, said with a smile, "This is my first visit to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent."


    "Chixiao, did you say your true body was destroyed here?"


    "Then let us use the blood of the people from this Barbaric Wilderness Continent to compensate you on our way to the realm you spoke of!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, those figures vanished from where they stood.


    And the next moment, within a few hundred miles, countless piercing screams of agony reverberated through the air.


    Among these piteous screams, a snort could be heard: "Hmm? They guessed we were descending to the Lower Realm, and many have gone into hiding?"


    "Do they think they can escape by hiding in Spatial Treasures?!"


    Following that snort, wherever those hundreds of figures passed, swathes of land and cities were churned up.


    Some lower-grade Spatial Treasures, those not well-hidden, simply could not evade the scrutiny of these True Gods.


    Even without these True Gods putting in full effort to search meticulously, merely flying toward the Southern Territory and casually probing their surroundings, they uncovered one Spatial Treasure after another.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Instantly, all these Spatial Treasures were crushed, and the countless Martial Artists hiding inside were slaughtered by the True Gods¡¯ power, all killed in an instant!


    Wherever these hundreds of True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan passed, the cities and lands were destroyed, screams arose without end, and blood flowed like rivers.


    A great catastrophe.


    Indeed, these True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan, who had once attacked the Divine Phoenix Clan, displayed no mercy upon descending to the Lower Realm¡ªthey were extremely cruel and ruthless.


    Truly, they brought about a devastating great catastrophe throughout the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Had it not been for the prior agreement between Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, and if not for the warnings from the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, which led countless people to hide exceptionally well, with even more tucking away into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, the disaster that this catastrophe brought forth would have been dozens or even hundreds of times more tragic!


    ...


    Meanwhile, as hundreds of True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan descended from the Minor Spirit Realm to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent over several days, causing widespread disaster and catastrophe,


    underneath the massive city of the Heavenly Treasure Kingdom, within the main hall of the Icebound Temple,


    Ye Chen had finally completed his cultivation of the Heavenly Saint Realm to perfection after several days of training!


    Boom!


    Ye Chen, seated on the Heaven-reaching Bridge, rose to his feet. When his presence surged out once more, it was already distinctly that of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Heavenly Saint.


    This signified that Ye Chen, who was previously at the late phase of the Rotating Pill, had completely stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Ye Chen was now a being of the Heavenly Saint Realm!


    Looking inside Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, one could see that his Rotating Pill, which should have transformed entirely into Heavenly Saint power upon entering the Heavenly Saint Realm, not only hadn¡¯t dissipated but became even more resplendent with Divine Light.


    All around the Taiyuan Divine Pill within the Qi Sea, there was a proliferation of Heavenly Saint power.


    Moreover, within a secret location beyond Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea, deep within his physical body, a Stellar Vortex had been fully opened, even radiating a dazzlingly bright stellar light and emitting a terrifying stellar power!


    The radiant "Taiyuan Divine Pill" and the first Stellar Vortex were unexpected gains from the fourth chapter of the newly acquired Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Chapter," which revealed itself due to a sudden inexplicable connection within Ye Chen when he was advancing to the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Even more so, when Ye Chen had truly entered the early phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm after completing the breakthrough, the connection he previously set aside with the "Stellar Divine Diagram" was fully established unconsciously.


    If it weren¡¯t for the need to continue braving the Heaven-reaching Bridge, Ye Chen would have wanted to directly attempt opening several more Stellar Vortices and complete his cultivation within the Icebound Temple.


    However, now was not the time for peaceful cultivation.


    Ye Chen was deeply concerned about the events unfolding outside, deeply worried that Chixiao True God would indeed lead countless True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan to descend to the Lower Realm.


    He was not able to truly concentrate on his cultivation.


    Therefore, upon breaking through to the Heavenly Saint Realm and etching the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Chapter," firmly in his heart, finishing the foundation of his cultivation, Ye Chen left the Stars Tower and got up from his training, ready to launch another assault toward the Heaven-reaching Bridge ahead.


    "Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "I am now a Heavenly Saint!"


    "At the late phase of the Rotating Pill, my combat power and the three signs of life were already enough to sweep away all Heavenly Saints. Now, I feel that even a low-rank True God is within my capability to fight."


    "This time, this Heaven-reaching Bridge definitely won¡¯t stop me!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With a determined gaze, Ye Chen looked toward the endless Heaven-reaching Bridge ascending higher up, and then, he took large strides, heading toward even greater heights on the bridge.

 Chapter 539 - 495: The True Legacy

    The Heaven-reaching Bridge, with incomparable prohibitions laid upon it, forbids flying; one can only walk.


    But even if flying were possible, likely no one could manage to fly across the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    Because the entire expanse of the bridge is filled with a powerful resisting aura, let alone flying, even walking would utterly immobilize many.


    To be able to inch forward step by step, reaching the midpoint of the Heaven-reaching Bridge, would undoubtedly be considered miraculous.


    And yet, at this moment, Ye Chen, who was striding toward the higher reaches of the bridge, truly achieved a stride as meteoric as one could imagine!


    His walking pace was even faster than before!


    Earlier, before commencing his cultivation preparation, Ye Chen had already traversed seventy sections, each one a myriad feet in length of the bridge¡¯s surface; he was only thirty sections¡ªeach one a myriad feet¡ªfrom the Icebound Temple¡¯s Divine King¡¯s highest demand for the most complete legacy of God King Level inheritance.


    At that time, even as Ye Chen faced some obstructions towards the end, he still had strength to spare.


    But now, having stepped into the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Primordial Beginning", and at the same time entered the Heavenly Saint Realm, Ye Chen¡¯s entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªthree major signs of life¡ªhad leaped forward again, undergoing qualitative improvement.


    Challenging the Heaven-reaching Bridge, which tests the three major signs of life, he certainly had more confidence and strength than before!


    Eighty sections, each a myriad feet in length!


    When it took Ye Chen only the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea to traverse another ten sections, each a myriad feet, the Hall Spirit watching from below wanted to leap up in excitement.


    It already knew, the person destined to inherit the Icebound Divine King¡¯s mighty legacy¡ªthis young man who kept surprising it¡ªwas on the verge of a victorious return!


    Ninety sections, each a myriad feet in length!


    As Ye Chen reached the highest reaches of the starry sky, nearly drowning amid the countless stars on either side of the bridge, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, who had been observing from within the mysterious space, all clenched their fists tightly, their hearts hanging in their throats.


    They, too, were waiting for the moment their new master would meet the highest requirement!


    Ninety-three sections, each a myriad feet in length!


    Ninety-five sections, each a myriad feet in length!


    Ninety-seven sections, each a myriad feet in length!


    He was close.


    The distance to meet the Icebound Divine King¡¯s highest demand, to obtain the most complete inheritance of God King Level, was becoming nearer and nearer...


    As Ye Chen maintained his unslowing pace, even sprinting faintly towards the end, he finally leapt across three more sections, each a myriad feet, thoroughly traversing one hundred sections of the bridge and stepping completely into the endless stars above the Heaven-reaching Bridge, a momentary stillness fell over the entire Icebound Temple.


    Then, four voices of utter surprise and joy erupted within the Icebound Temple.


    They were the voices of the Hall Spirit as well as Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi!


    Especially Bing Yi, who had not expected that she would cheer so for this new master she had not yet met.


    She had not anticipated that her new master¡¯s perseverance could make her so concerned that, in the moment of ultimate success, she couldn¡¯t help but feel tears of excitement wanting to flow.


    This was a natural attraction she felt.


    Her new master had a powerful charm, an innate talent and temperament that made her unconsciously acknowledge, approve, and from the bottom of her heart, swear allegiance and admiration to this new master.


    Thus, she exhibited such an uncontainable reaction!


    And it wasn¡¯t just Bing Yi who felt this way; Bing Qi and Bing Wu had acknowledged Ye Chen from the bottom of their hearts quite some time before.


    They even felt, their former master, the Icebound Divine King, had never been so strong, and perhaps under their witness, this new master could reach heights even their old master had not!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Amidst the boundless excitement of Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, the shackles of their mysterious space were completely unlocked, and they flew out. Filled with intense emotion, they soared towards the direction of the Heaven-reaching Bridge, flying towards their new master, Ye Chen!


    The Hall Spirit, at this moment, also lifted its head to gaze across the boundless Heaven-reaching Bridge, looking towards Ye Chen at the far end of the bridge. In its eyes, there was gratification, relief, and even more so, hope.


    Its gaze ultimately shifted towards a region of the Icebound Temple as it murmured, "Old Master, your new successor is beyond all of our expectations in strength! One day, he will surely avenge you, and make you exceedingly proud of him!"


    In the end, the Hall Spirit could not help but shed tears.


    At the highest point of the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    After crossing a hundred sections of the bridge, each spanning ten thousand zhang, Ye Chen arrived at a platform on the far end of the bridge.


    Standing in the midst of the platform, Ye Chen even felt as if he was standing within the universe itself, amidst the myriad stars!


    Ye Chen also saw that, in the end, these myriad stars transformed into a faint phantom, a towering and majestic silhouette.


    The moment Ye Chen saw this phantom, he knew that this person must be the master of the Icebound Temple, the Icebound Divine King!


    At this moment, the phantom of the Divine King of Ice Seal also looked towards Ye Chen. A faint smile appeared on his majestic face, "Successor, seeing my phantom, my true body, must have died who knows how many years ago."


    "Let me introduce myself first, my name is ¡¯Zhou Liuxu¡¯, titled as the Icebound Divine King..."


    With every sentence spoken by the "Phantom of the Icebound Divine King," a fragment would float out beside him, filled with remnants left by his true body.


    As his speech concluded, the sky was filled with hundreds of these fragments.


    All of these were the things the Icebound Divine King imparted to his successor at his dying moments: countless insights, realizations, gains, and summaries. In the end, all these fragments flew towards Ye Chen.


    Finally, the phantom of the Icebound Divine King even produced three keys above its hand, which flew towards Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After doing all this, the phantom of the Icebound Divine King began to slowly dissipate, but its final words still thundered in Ye Chen¡¯s mind, "Successor, you must carefully comprehend these fragments. They contain what I wanted to tell you. Even if they¡¯re not actual Cultivation Techniques, they will help your future growth immensely."


    "These three keys correspond to three major levels of inheritance. With these three keys, the ¡¯Heavenly Saint Level¡¯ inheritance, ¡¯True God level inheritance,¡¯ and ¡¯God King Level inheritance¡¯ I left for you... all of them now belong to you."


    "Within these three levels of inheritance, I have prepared for you Cultivation Techniques, Divine Artifacts, and Divine Treasures, as well as the three Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts I used back in the day! And also the means to unlock the staggering wealth I left in the Divine Kingdom!"


    "Successor, I am an Upper God King. Though I have fallen, I was once among the renowned powerhouses in the Divine Kingdom. I hope that you will go further than I did, reach higher than I did. If so, my passing on this legacy to you will fill me with pride! Since you have personally received the keys of inheritance from my hand, I know you definitely have a chance to achieve this!"


    Even as the phantom of the Icebound Divine King was vanishing, it still spoke earnestly to Ye Chen like an elder.


    Finally, the Icebound Divine King¡¯s phantom let out a sigh, "Successor, I come from the Southern Territory¡¯s ¡¯Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯ within the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain. Should you get the chance one day, visit the Southern Territory on my behalf, to see my family, my friends, my descendants, my dearest..."


    As it spoke, the voice of the Icebound Divine King¡¯s phantom grew weaker and weaker, the remaining phantom energy completely expended, and eventually, it disappeared without a trace.


    Ye Chen gazed at the spot where the Icebound Divine King¡¯s phantom disappeared, silent for a long while before bowing deeply.


    Then, taking the hundreds of fragments and the three keys given by the Icebound Divine King, Ye Chen was engulfed by a ray of light, and teleported back down the Heaven-reaching Bridge.


    ...


    As soon as Ye Chen arrived at the bottom of the Heaven-reaching Bridge, before he fully recovered from the feeling of loss left by the last moments of the Icebound Divine King, he saw the Hall Spirit coming towards him, and he also saw three figures flying towards him.


    These three figures, one a youth clad in fiery clothing, one a young woman in blue garments exuding a chilly aura, and another a girl dressed in snow-white attire. Your journey continues with novelhall.Co?m


    These three were none other than Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi¡ªthe very people Ye Chen had long wished to meet!


    "Bing Qi pays respects to the Master!"


    "Bing Wu pays respects to the Master!"


    The young man in fiery clothing and the young woman in blue bowed down to the ground before Ye Chen.


    Both of them also produced a small box, lifting it high above their heads, "Master, this is the Heavenly Saint Level inheritance (True God level inheritance) left for you by the old Master!"


    The girl in snow-white attire, who resembled a young woman, also reverently and solemnly knelt before Ye Chen after locking eyes with him for a few moments, and with a snowy-white box in her hand, she said, "Bing Yi pays respects to the Master! The highest inheritance from the old Master, the God King Level inheritance, is presented to the Master!"

 Chapter 540 - 496: True Form and the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact

    Seeing the three figures prostrating on the ground, Ye Chen hurried to help them up, "There¡¯s no need for such formality, esteemed seniors."


    These three True God Level guards had followed the Icebound God King through countless realms and had cultivated for innumerable years. Even though Ye Chen had inherited the legacy of the Icebound God King, he was unwilling to act superior in front of them, and even less so to accept such a grand gesture.


    Noticing Ye Chen¡¯s slightly awkward manner, the three True God Level guards smiled faintly, stood up, and respectively presented the box in their hands to Ye Chen with great reverence.


    Bing Yi chuckled at Ye Chen, "Master, don¡¯t call us seniors. Although we¡¯ve cultivated for many years, as True Spirit Sacred Beasts, considering our life spans, we¡¯re not really that old."


    "You can simply call us ¡¯Bing Qi¡¯, ¡¯Bing Wu¡¯, and ¡¯Bing Yi¡¯."


    At this moment, the Hall Spirit spoke up to the three True God Guards, "Lord Ye Chen has been eager to meet you. Please quickly show your true forms to the lord and explain your situation."


    Hearing the Hall Spirit¡¯s words, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi all turned to look at Ye Chen.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was indeed very interested, Bing Qi stepped forward. He bowed to Ye Chen and said, "Master, my true form is that of a ¡¯Three-Eyed Fire Qilin¡¯. Please observe, Master."


    Boom!


    Bing Qi¡¯s figure shuddered and, in an instant, a flash of light caused him to disappear from in front of Ye Chen.


    The next moment, the void suddenly revealed an enormous Fire Qilin, over two thousand zhang long, surrounded by flames and roaring with its head held high.


    On its forehead was a Flame Eye Divine Vision, adding an extraordinary and majestic air to its countenance!


    If not for the vastness of the main hall in the Icebound Temple, Bing Qi¡¯s huge size alone could have burst through a significant portion of space!


    Not to mention the aura emanating from its body. Once its true form was revealed, Bing Qi¡¯s True God aura was fully unleashed as well.


    This True God aura, of course, would not harm its master Ye Chen.


    However, Ye Chen could sense that this mighty and extreme aura was even stronger than the one he and Jiang Yao, True Phoenix Mu Lan, True God, had faced when they jointly killed the five-tribulation True God, Chixiao True God!


    Six Tribulations True God, Three-Eyed Fire Qilin, Bing Qi!


    Boom!


    Amidst Ye Chen¡¯s amazement, Bing Qi once again became enveloped in a divine glow and transformed back into his youthful appearance with fiery clothes, returning to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    Seeing Ye Chen nodding in appreciation of Bing Qi¡¯s display, Bing Wu also stepped forward, seeking Ye Chen¡¯s recognition.


    Bing Wu¡¯s aura was cold, making her seem standoffish.


    However, when facing Ye Chen, she was exceptionally gentle. With a light smile, as beautiful as a pear blossom in bloom, she said, "Master, my true form is ¡¯Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor¡¯."


    "Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor?!" Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Ye Chen had heard that such True Spirit Sacred Beasts existed, alongside creatures like the phoenix and the divine dragon, capable of cultivation to the God King Level. He had not expected that Bing Wu was of this divine species.


    As Ye Chen¡¯s heart trembled, Bing Wu gave him a radiant smile, and her curvaceous body twisted, disappearing instantaneously as well.


    The next moment, a creature even more gigantic than the Three-Eyed Fire Qilin, measuring a full ten thousand meters in length, an extraordinary and majestic Nine-Headed Green Snake, appeared in the void. Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    This Nine-Headed Green Snake seemed to wear crowns upon each of its heads.


    Indeed, it was the distinctive appearance reserved for the "Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor" species!


    With its emergence, the entire void uncontrollably filled with countless streaks of purple lightning; amidst the thunderous lightning, the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor "Bing Wu" appeared even more mysterious and noble.


    The chilling aura she radiated was stronger than Bingo¡¯s, unmistakably the aura of a Seven Tribulations True God!


    Observing Bing Wu, Ye Chen was reminded of the origins of the remaining three True God Level Icebound Guards, as once told to him by the phantom of the Icebound God King.


    The Icebound God King¡¯s phantom had told him that Bing Wu, of the noble "Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor" line, was not favored in her clan due to her talent. But Bing Wu, unwilling to accept this, ventured out alone, determined to become an unparalleled warrior.


    She cultivated along a path fraught with countless dangers, braving many death-level areas, and grew amidst the storms.


    By chance, she was saved by the Icebound God King in a place of ultimate peril, which led her to follow him.


    Elegant and aloof on the outside, yet inside possessing great determination and loyalty, and always repaying kindness¡ªthis was the Icebound God King¡¯s assessment of Bing Wu!


    Boom!


    Transformed into the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, Bing Wu, all nine pairs of eyes looked towards Ye Chen, nodding in respect.


    After seeing Ye Chen¡¯s nod and smile in return, she resumed her form as a lady in green clothes and returned to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    After Bing Qi and Bing Wu had showcased themselves, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze finally shifted to Bing Yi.


    Bing Yi.


    Nine Tribulations True God!


    The strongest under the throne of the Icebound God King!


    Ye Chen had learned through the phantom of the Icebound God King that the God King himself valued and cherished Bing Yi immensely, raising and instructing her as if she were his own daughter.


    When delegating tasks to the three God King Level Icebound Guards, the phantom mentioned Bing Yi the most, giving her the greatest number of instructions.


    He even specifically told Ye Chen that the Ice Nether Divine Sparrow Clan, to which Bing Yi belonged, was a legendary God Clan that had vanished; he had stumbled upon Bing Yi by chance on Star Divine Mountain.


    Ye Chen had long wanted to meet Bing Yi, and after hearing the phantom¡¯s words, his curiosity about her grew even stronger.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen glance her way, Bing Yi¡¯s cheeks flushed with rare embarrassment before revealing her true form, "Master, please don¡¯t despise my true form for being unsightly."


    As she spoke, divine light flickered about her, and in an instant, she soared into the void above, revealing her true self.


    What appeared was an extraordinary divine bird with feathers as white as snow, each radiating with a halo of pristine brilliance.


    Although Bing Yi¡¯s true form was not as massive as that of Bing Wu¡¯s Nine-headed Serpent Emperor, or even as the Fire Qilin¡¯s body of Bing Qi, stretching only over three hundred zhang long, she seemed incredibly delicate compared to the other two True God Guards.


    But Bing Yi exuded a divine radiance and a beauty that Bing Qi and Bing Wu completely lacked.


    Bing Yi had worriedly blushed when she transformed, concerned that Ye Chen would find her true form unattractive.


    However, upon seeing Bing Yi¡¯s true form, Ye Chen could not possibly find it unattractive; it was the most extraordinary True Spirit Sacred Beast he had ever seen!


    Witnessing the admiration in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, Bing Yi¡¯s own pupils shimmered even brighter within the void.


    Each feather on her glowed with divine light, and as she unfolded them slowly, she fully released her Nine Tribulations True God aura for Ye Chen to see.


    With this release, the entire void seemed to freeze, as if everything in that space had condensed into Bing Yi alone.


    Ye Chen felt that Bing Yi¡¯s divine might had reached the highest pinnacle of a True God Level, suggesting that she was perhaps just one opportunity away from stepping into the realm beyond True Gods, the God King Level!


    Powerful!


    This was true power!


    Having fully witnessed Bing Yi¡¯s aura, Ye Chen felt truly confident in dealing with the worrisome matter of the True God from the Flying Spirit Clan descending into the lower world!


    Amidst Ye Chen¡¯s astonishment and delight, Bing Yi transformed back into the white-clad girl and returned to his side.


    Even after Bing Yi had returned, Ye Chen¡¯s mind was still filled with the image of her true form, as pure as snow and as noble as an ice deity.


    A presence of the Nine Tribulations True God¡¯s might to the extreme.


    After witnessing the true forms of the three True God Guards, Ye Chen used the three keys left by the Icebound God King to open the inheritance boxes of three different levels, as narrated by the guards.


    Calling them boxes, inside there were actually spaces filled with treasures.


    Within the Heavenly Saint Level inheritance box, there were countless premium spirit stones that Ye Chen could have never imagined, along with innumerable Holy Artifacts, Heavenly Saint Arts...


    The True God Level inheritance box contained a large stack of True God Talismans, ten Divine Artifacts and Treasures, and countless Divine Beads needed for True God cultivation. The Icebound God King had even prepared many items necessary for transcending the Nine Tribulations of a True God for Ye Chen...


    After examining the Heavenly Saint Level and True God Level inheritance boxes, Ye Chen finally set his eyes on the God King Level white box that Bing Yi had provided.


    When the white box was opened, with Bing Yi¡¯s explanation, Ye Chen saw that it contained the three Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts previously mentioned by the Icebound God King!


    Bing Yi added that if it weren¡¯t for the Icebound God King¡¯s final life-and-death battle with his nemesis, which destroyed many of the Divine Artifacts he used, there would have been more than three God King Level Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts left behind.


    Among these three Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, there were no offensive weapons; the Icebound God King¡¯s offensive Divine Artifacts had been destroyed in the great battle.


    Nonetheless, the value of these three Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts was not at all inferior to offensive types.


    The first was a battleship covered in scars from warfare, a supreme flying Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact that had even helped the Icebound God King to escape pursuers. It was capable of traveling through the endless stars!


    The second was a set of defensive armor. The Icebound God King¡¯s own defensive armor had been damaged during the major battle, and this set, acquired by accident and yet unused, was considered mid-grade even among Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts.


    The last Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact was a Divine Cauldron inscribed with text, which were precisely the most precious cultivation patterns of the Icebound Divine Body legacy from the Icebound God King.


    Only by possessing this Divine Cauldron, one could cultivate the genuine Cultivation Technique of the Icebound God King!


    A Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact for flight, defensive armor as a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, and a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact for Hall Spirit¡¯s Art.


    Ye Chen had heard back in Minor Pole Sky that only those at the God King Level could use Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, and those at an even higher God Sovereign Level could access the more precious Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    At the time, Ye Chen had thought that the Ice Snow Jade Pendant he obtained from the Sub Palace of the Icebound Temple was already a superior Divine Artifact, and that upon entering the main hall of the Icebound Temple, he would certainly acquire an even more precious Divine Artifact than the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Unexpectedly, he had indeed obtained God King Level Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts¡ªand three of them at that!

 Chapter 541 - 497 Kill Them All!

    Outside the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    Near the ruin once hidden by the main hall of the Icebound Temple, a point of bright light flickered.


    This bright light was unmistakably the illumination of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a high-quality divine artifact.


    Looking into the vast space within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, one could see Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, their expressions filled with both worry and anxiety as they stared in the direction of the Icebound Temple.


    On Jiang Yao¡¯s shoulder, even the little monkey that had always been cultivating within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant had jumped out, joining the three in looking towards the Icebound Temple.


    The nine Icebound Guardians were also by their side, all of them looking towards the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    Behind them, within the endless space of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and the more hidden spatial treasures within it, there were countless people.


    Among these people were Ye Chen¡¯s parents, the little maid Tao¡¯er, Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Mu Qingqing, Skyscraper Palace Master, and others. There were clansmen of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families of Qingyang City where Ye Chen was born, and even more so, countless martial artists and citizens of the entire Heavenly Wind Kingdom and the thirteen kingdoms of the south.


    Even from other realms, many martial artists were hiding within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    At this moment, everyone¡¯s faces were filled with worry.


    They had already heard the news within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant that true gods from the Minor Spirit Realm had indeed descended to the Lower Realm!


    Moreover, it was hundreds of true gods who had descended together!


    They had also heard news from the Central Region that these hundreds of true gods had descended between the Central Region and the Far North. As a result, these gods swept across towards the south, sparing nothing in their path.


    A great calamity!


    These hundreds of true gods truly brought about a great calamity on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Everywhere they went, countless cities were destroyed, countless martial artists and citizens of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent who had not hidden were killed. Even many who were hidden inside spatial treasures were rooted out by these true gods and slain without exception!


    Blood flowed in rivers, and screams of anguish and death filled the skies!


    If it weren¡¯t for some who had hidden themselves exceedingly well, perhaps countless people across the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would have perished!


    If it weren¡¯t for those who disseminated the news to the southernmost edges after these true gods had vanished, allowing many more to prepare early and hide deeply, it¡¯s likely that even more people would have perished in this great calamity.


    But even with hiding and preparation, no one knew what they would be facing next.


    Especially the people in the south, they had heard that those hundreds of true gods were heading directly southward. Judging by the timing of the message and the speed of the gods¡¯ advance, it likely wouldn¡¯t be long before these hundreds of true gods arrived in the southern region, turning everything upside down!


    Hundreds of true gods.


    It was unthinkable, let alone resisting them.


    Such a number of true gods had the power to destroy an entire Lower Realm continent, not to mention slaughtering them, martial artists like them. If they were captured by these gods, they would certainly be killed!


    Even though they were hiding inside the high-quality divine artifact Ice Snow Jade Pendant, countless people were still extremely worried, terrified, with many children even starting to cry out of fear because of the nervous looks on the adults¡¯ faces.


    Chaos reigned within the countless spatial treasures of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant!


    At the forefront of the crowd.


    True Phoenix looked at Jiang Yao and Mu Lan True God and said, "Judging by the time, it won¡¯t be long before those true gods get here!"


    As she spoke, her eyes were filled with hatred.


    She was well aware that the true gods who came from the Lower Realm were led by Chixiao True God, true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    The Flying Spirit Clan, along with the Vermilion Bird Clan, had destroyed the entire Divine Phoenix Clan, making them the blood enemies of her clan.


    Now, the Flying Spirit Clan had descended to wreak havoc on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    True Phoenix wished she could kill all of these true gods.


    But, she was merely a True God of the Fifth Tribulation. Such thoughts were beyond her capability. She could join forces with Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Mu Lan True God to kill a single Chixiao True God, but facing hundreds of true gods, rumored to include even Eighth Tribulation True Gods, their descent was a force she couldn¡¯t match on her own, let alone the full might of the Divine Phoenix Clan, which would require hundreds of true gods to counter.


    What to do!?


    What to do!?


    The endless hatred was matched by a feeling of powerlessness, fueling the flames of True Phoenix¡¯s anger without an outlet.


    She was even more worried that those hidden inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and other spatial treasures from different places wouldn¡¯t be able to escape this great calamity.


    "Those true gods are definitely coming for this place; they must be after the inheritance of the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall!" Mu Lan True God also spoke up.


    With the Hall Spirit revealing herself and ushering Ye Chen into the Icebound Temple, Mu Lan True God and others were aware of Chixiao True God¡¯s initial purpose in this realm. The purpose behind igniting the Great War in the south was for the inheritance left by the Lower God King of the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall.


    Although Mu Lan True God knew that Chixiao True God definitely lacked the ability to obtain it, this news still drew countless true gods from the Upper Realm, and they were utterly powerless against them.


    Mu Lan True God and True Phoenix even contemplated whether to evacuate the people from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant from this area first. Otherwise, once they were caught in the crossfire of hundreds of true gods, it was likely that even within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, there could be great trouble.


    But this thought was fleeting and quickly abandoned by them.


    Because they knew Jiang Yao absolutely didn¡¯t want to leave Ye Chen, Jiang Yao absolutely believed that Ye Chen could lead the Nine Tribulations True God out of the Icebound Temple.


    But time was running out.


    Those True Gods were getting closer and closer to the Southern Heavenly Realm.


    If it weren¡¯t for those True Gods sweeping through and destroying major cities along the way, they might have already arrived here!


    In the end, Mu Lan True God and True Phoenix both looked towards Jiang Yao, waiting for her decision.


    The nine Icebound Guardians and the little monkey all turned their gazes towards Jiang Yao as well.


    But Jiang Yao¡¯s starry, brilliant eyes weren¡¯t the least bit uncertain. She looked towards the Icebound Temple and enunciated clearly, "Ye Chen said that the Ice Snow Jade Pendant can block the attacks of True Gods. Ye Chen also said that he could surely lead the Nine Tribulations True God out."


    "He will definitely come out!"


    Just as the cries of the children in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant filled the air, as countless warriors waited with growing fear, and as True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God were extremely worried, amidst Jiang Yao¡¯s stubborn persistence¡ªa mysterious trust was supporting her¡ªall of them heard a thunderous boom.


    Even those hiding within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, those hiding inside its countless Spatial Treasures, everyone heard the boom.


    "Have those hundreds of True Gods come to kill us?"


    All the warriors hidden in the countless spaces within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant looked outside with utmost fear.


    "No, it¡¯s not the sound of those hundreds of True Gods coming to kill us."


    "It¡¯s Ye Chen, Ye Chen has come out!"


    At that moment of grave concern among those warriors, Jiang Yao¡¯s excited voice echoed throughout the entire Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, the nine Icebound Guardians, the little monkey¡ªall their eyes saw amidst the earth-shattering rumble, atop the ruins of the mammoth city above the main hall of the Icebound Temple¡ªfour divine lights suddenly emerged.


    Within those four divine lights, a young man with three figures appeared directly out of thin air above the ruins of the massive city.


    This young man was none other than Ye Chen, whom Jiang Yao had been waiting for, the one who had entered the main hall of the Icebound Temple!


    And the nine Icebound Guardians, upon seeing the three figures behind Ye Chen, also called out with overwhelming excitement: "It¡¯s Lord Bing Yi and others, Lord Bing Yi, Lord Bing Wu, Lord Bing Qi, they have come out, following Lord Ye Chen!"


    Boom!


    Amid the voices of the nine Icebound Guardians, Jiang Yao controlled the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and flew towards Ye Chen with everyone at top speed.


    Above the ruins of the huge city.


    Ye Chen immediately saw the Ice Snow Jade Pendant flying towards him, and saw Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God and others flying out from it towards him.


    "What happened?"


    "Could it be that those True Gods have descended to the Lower Realm?!"


    Seeing the expressions of Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, Ye Chen¡¯s heart sank.


    After completing the inheritance, having met Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, and having been led by the Hall Spirit to pay respects at the grave of the Icebound God King, he had hurriedly exited the Icebound Temple.


    Only the Hall Spirit remained guarding inside the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    Ye Chen had not expected that the True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm would actually come down to the Lower Realm, and so quickly at that!


    Whoosh!


    Ye Chen instantly flew towards Jiang Yao with Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi.


    "Ye Chen!"


    When Jiang Yao reached Ye Chen, she threw herself into his arms.


    And True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God also hurriedly informed Ye Chen about the arrival of the True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan.


    Upon hearing that hundreds of True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan had descended, including the existence of Eight Tribulations True Gods, and that even six and seven Tribulations True Gods were numerous, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes narrowed sharply.


    When he heard that these True Gods had descended from the junction between the Central Region and the Far North and had been slaughtering their way towards the Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡ªburning cities and lands, killing many people¡ªYe Chen¡¯s expression instantly turned grave.


    Without waiting for Ye Chen to give an order, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi behind him stepped forward, with Bing Yi being the first to reveal a stern look on her face. Looking at Ye Chen, she declared, "Master, rest assured, no True God shall harm you! Not to mention an Eight Tribulations True God, even if a Lower God King were to come, I would dare to fight!"


    "Hundreds of True Gods, the strongest being an Eight Tribulations True God? Master, at your command, I will kill them all!"


    Boom!


    As Bing Yi spoke, a snow-white Divine Sword appeared in her hand.


    The radiance emitting from this Divine Sword matched even the divine might of the Purple Blood Divine Sword when its hidden restraints were fully unleashed, clearly revealing it as a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact.


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    As the strongest fighter under the Icebound God King and the most beloved Nine Tribulations True God, who the Icebound God King had raised as a daughter, Bing Yi naturally possessed a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact.


    Bing Yi was confident that she could resolve this monumental crisis for her master, Ye Chen!

 Chapter 542 - 498: A Sword Cuts Across the Wild Savannah

    When Bing Yi finished speaking, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and Jiang Yao all looked at her in disbelief.


    They never imagined that this seemingly young girl would have such immense confidence.


    "Could she be the Nine Tribulations True God that Ye Chen mentioned?"


    Bing Yi hadn¡¯t fully revealed her aura yet, so Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God hadn¡¯t sensed the aura of a Nine Tribulations True God from her. However, from Bing Yi¡¯s words and the fearsome aura of the Divine Sword in her hand, they guessed Bing Yi¡¯s identity.


    As Bing Yi was speaking, Bing Wu and Bing Qi also stepped forward: "Master, we will all fight for you!"


    "We were powerful subordinates of the old master, and we are certainly not afraid of any True Gods from the Celestial Spirit Star!"


    Seeing the respect and reverence Bing Qi, Bing Wu, especially Bing Yi had for Ye Chen, the nine great ice guardians also took a deep breath.


    As guardians of the Heavenly Saint Level, their status under the rule of the Divine King was vastly different compared to those True God level guardians like Bing Yi.


    Of course, they knew how noble and terrifyingly powerful Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi were.


    They never expected that their lord Ye Chen, in such a short time, would gain complete recognition from these three True God guardians, who willingly sought to fight on Ye Chen¡¯s behalf.


    It was apparent to the nine ice guardians that Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi were absolutely obedient to Ye Chen, not just reluctantly following him because he was the heir.


    Hearing Bing Yi¡¯s words and seeing Bing Wu and Bing Qi also standing up, a resolute look flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes: "Good, these True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan have harmed the Divine Phoenix Clan, and I was already seeking to settle the account with them. Now that they have come to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to wreak havoc, I certainly can¡¯t spare them."


    "Bing Qi, Bing Wu, Bing Yi, this time we will rely on you to exterminate all of them without leaving a single one!"


    "Yes, master!" Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi replied resolutely.


    Ye Chen then informed Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God about the identities of Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi.


    Following that, Ye Chen led Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, along with Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, taking the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, flying toward the direction from which hundreds of True Gods were approaching.


    ...


    In the Central Plains, the closest great empire to the south was the Great Qi Dynasty.


    When Ye Chen first rushed from the south to the Central Plains, after crossing the boundary river between the south and the Central Plains, the first large city he saw, Dragon Abyss City of the Great Qi Dynasty, had now become a complete ruin.


    The enormous city, spanning hundreds of miles, had buildings that seemed to have been uprooted and then violently smashed back onto the ground, all of them collapsed and broken.


    Even the huge bluestone city walls, reaching hundreds of feet high and stretching around the perimeter of Dragon Abyss City, had been completely destroyed and lay in ruins.


    "Haha, there are still dozens of people hiding under the walls of Dragon Abyss City, do they think they can escape our search?"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Several figures flew up from the broken walls and followed up towards the army of True Gods a few hundred strong in the distance.


    Among these figures, there were also the silhouettes of Chixiao True God¡¯s Three Tribulations True God incarnations.


    At that moment, a Five Tribulations True God beside Chixiao True God teased him: "Chixiao, you really are unlucky to have your true body destroyed even in the Lower Realm."


    "This time, the Young Clan Leader has personally come to snatch the treasure you talked about, to bloody kill so many people and destroy numerous cities along the way, you better be grateful to the Young Clan Leader."


    Hearing this True God¡¯s words, Chixiao True God said, "Young Clan Leader, I am certainly grateful. However, there are a few more people I haven¡¯t killed yet, and my anger is far from quelled!"


    As Chixiao True God conversed with this Five Tribulations True God, their army in front suddenly stopped.


    "What¡¯s the matter?"


    The True Gods responsible for destroying Dragon Abyss City quickly flew into the main army of True Gods in front.


    Upon flying in, they directly saw several figures in the distance of the sky, swiftly approaching them.


    Since descending to the Lower Realm, these True Gods had only seen frightened and wailing figures everywhere; they had never encountered anyone daring to fly straight towards them, which naturally caused Chixiao True God and the others to be startled.


    However, when they extended their divine senses and saw the figures flying from afar, Chixiao True God¡¯s eyes widened, "It¡¯s them, the four who killed my true body!"


    "The ones who killed your true body?" Upon hearing Chixiao True God¡¯s words, the other True Gods looked at him in surprise, "Could it be the remaining few of the Divine Phoenix Clan and that young man you mentioned?"


    "Have they gone mad? Aren¡¯t they at most a Five Tribulations True God at their strongest? And yet, they dare to appear directly in front of us?"


    As the Flying Spirit Clan True Gods said this, they all burst into mocking laughter.


    Just then, the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Eight Tribulations True God Young Clan Leader frowned.


    He noticed among the approaching figures, he could sense the realms of the others, including the Five Tribulations True God and the Three Tribulations True God Chixiao had mentioned, as well as one Six Tribulations True God and one Seven Tribulations True God, which surprised him slightly.


    But there was one girl whom he, as an Eight Tribulations True God, couldn¡¯t even sense her realm.


    This made the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan become more cautious.


    To be undetectable to him indicated a very high possibility that this person was of a higher cultivation than his, or otherwise, only a supreme treasure capable of concealing one¡¯s realm could evade his detection.


    Higher than his cultivation? He was an Eight Tribulations True God, and only a Nine Tribulations True God or a Divine King would have a higher realm than him.


    The Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan refused to believe that this insignificant Barbaric Wilderness Continent would hide a Divine King or a Nine Tribulations True God.


    It was noteworthy that even the Upper Realm¡¯s Minor Spirit Realm only had a handful of Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    At this moment of doubt for the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, who had come from the distant horizon, had already instantly traversed countless distances and were about to fly right before them.


    "The remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan? Are you seeking death?!"


    A few powerful True Gods, who were on good terms with Chixiao True God, flew up directly from the group of Flying Spirit Clan True Gods and called out to Ye Chen and the others as they approached.


    Upon hearing these True Gods¡¯ voices, seeing the hundreds of Flying Spirit Clan True Gods beside them, and then seeing the collapsed and burning ruins of Dragon Abyss City behind them, Ye Chen didn¡¯t say much. Instead, he narrowed his eyes and said to Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi beside him, "Take action!"


    Take action?


    The voices of Ye Chen had just reached the ears of the hundreds of Flying Spirit Clan True Gods, and they thought they had heard wrong.


    The next moment, they saw three figures beside Ye Chen fiercely charging towards them.


    One of the figures directly transformed into a towering giant Nine-headed Serpent Emperor. From the nine heads of this Nine-headed Serpent Emperor, a burst of peerless purple Divine Light was suddenly spit out, instantly attacking the few Flying Spirit Clan True Gods who had spoken.


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    This Flying Spirit Clan True God, who was on good terms with Chixiao True God, was at the Five Tribulations True God realm.


    They actually didn¡¯t have the chance to react and were instantly killed by the peerless purple Divine Light spit out by the Nine-headed Serpent Emperor!


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    The corpses of these people instantly plummeted from the sky, and as they fell, they directly turned into nothingness, not even a trace of Divine Power remaining.


    This scene completely dumbfounded Chixiao True God.


    It also thoroughly shocked all the other Flying Spirit Clan True Gods.


    "A Seven Tribulations True God, this is a Seven Tribulations True God!"


    "We¡¯ll take action!"


    Hundreds of powerful True Gods among the Flying Spirit Clan flew up one after another, charging towards the three figures.


    As for the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, he had been shocked for a moment by the words "take action" from Ye Chen, not expecting that the next moment, his subordinates would die at the hands of the opponent.


    This caused the complexion of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader to darken.


    He could kill the martial artists of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and even members of the Divine Phoenix Clan, but he definitely did not desire to see his own subordinates killed.


    "Hmph, I want to see what confidence you three have to dare to make enemies out of our hundreds of True Gods!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader spoke, Divine Power on his body burst forth, billowing Divine Power suddenly swept up thousands of feet high, and behind him, a pair of terrifying blood wings materialized. With the blood wings unfurled, the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader, leading hundreds of True Gods, charged towards Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi.


    Seeing the blood wings materialize on the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan and other Flying Spirit Clan True Gods, the True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, at Ye Chen¡¯s side, had her eyes turn red.


    They were reminded of the time when the entire Divine Phoenix Clan faced the murderous assault of countless members of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    "We¡¯ll also take action!"


    With a loud cry, the True Phoenix¡¯s body shifted form, transforming into a massive phoenix and charged towards the group of Flying Spirit Clan True Gods.


    Just as Mu Lan True God was about to take action, Ye Chen stopped both her and Jiang Yao, "Let Bing Yi and the others deal with those powerful True Gods first. The rest, we will handle afterward."


    Of course, Ye Chen would not allow Jiang Yao to take risks, nor would he let the martial artists and people from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, who were inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant that Jiang Yao carried, take any risks.


    With Bing Yi and the others taking action, Ye Chen had absolute confidence that they could annihilate all of these people!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As soon as the True Phoenix transformed into her true form and attacked into the group of True Gods, a large number of Flying Spirit Clan True Gods moved to kill the True Phoenix, "This is the remnant of the Divine Phoenix Clan, kill her!"


    Among these Flying Spirit Clan True Gods were even two at the Six Tribulations True God level.


    As these Flying Spirit Clan True Gods moved to kill the True Phoenix, as the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader also led a sky full of True Gods in an assault, and some True Gods even charged towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Bing Yi¡¯s aura suddenly exploded.


    This was the aura of a Nine Tribulations True God!


    With this explosion, the entire heaven and earth were instantly thrown into turmoil, and all the Flying Spirit Clan True Gods who had been shooting forward were, in an instant, completely immobilized in the void.


    And the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader had an incredulous expression on his face, "A Nine Tribulations True God, she... she really is a Nine Tribulations True God!"


    Only now did the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader finally understand why he had never been able to see through this young woman.


    It wasn¡¯t that the young woman had an artifact to conceal her realm, but because she was even more powerful than him, even absolutely top-tier in the Minor Spirit Realm¡ªa Nine Tribulations True God!


    At this moment, countless members of the Flying Spirit Clan realized that Ye Chen and his companions had not come here out of madness, but indeed had the confidence; among them, there was a hidden Nine Tribulations True God powerhouse!


    As the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was filled with disbelief, as countless True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan were internally screaming while being controlled in the void, Bing Yi¡¯s voice echoed throughout the area, "I act upon the command of my master, Ye Chen, to kill all of you."


    "So, all of you must die!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the moment that Bing Yi spoke, the Divine Sword in her hand drew a swift arc, coming out of its scabbard. In the sky, all the Flying Spirit Clan True Gods below the Five Tribulations level exploded on the spot with a series of ¡¯bang bang bang,¡¯ without even witnessing Bing Yi¡¯s actual move, these lower-level True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan were all instantly killed!

 Chapter 543 - 499: The Ancient Clan Trembles

    "This is the legendary Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!"


    "My God, a Nine Tribulations True God using a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, its divine might is unpredictable!"


    When they saw Bing Yi unsheathe the Divine Sword, all the low realm True Gods on their side had their divine bodies exploded, instantly killed, and the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was completely petrified, crying out in disbelief!


    Even though he was the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, he didn¡¯t have a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact.


    The divine might of this Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact was so terrifying it made his heart tremble with fear and astonishment!


    It wasn¡¯t only the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Young Clan Leader who was completely shocked; the remaining high-ranking True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan who hadn¡¯t been instantly killed felt their hands and feet turn ice-cold.


    The several hundred True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan who had come down to the Lower Realm this time, mostly were beneath the Five Tribulations True Gods, with only a dozen or so being above the Five Tribulations.


    And now, all of these sub-Five Tribulations True Gods were instantly killed!


    Even the Three Tribulations True God incarnation that Chixiao True God had cultivated with the "Spirit Mirror Divine Body" and had led the others here, died again, dying with eyes wide open, without peace.


    This time, Chixiao True God truly fell!


    He absolutely couldn¡¯t have anticipated that the descent of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s True Gods to the Lower Realm, instead of eliminating Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, would also directly result in the death of his lucky survivor of an incarnation.


    It led to the complete extinction of his Divine Soul between heaven and earth.


    He had only himself to blame.


    The dead Chixiao True God, in his last moments, thought that he had brought this upon himself, and that he had caused his own death.


    With all the sub-Five Tribulations True Gods dead, the remaining high-ranking True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan also went from being arrogantly invincible right after descending to the Lower Realm to a state of utter despair.


    A Nine Tribulations True God holding a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, ah!


    How could they resist any further?


    What was left for them, perhaps, was only death!


    Bing Yi¡¯s action caused an instant mass death among the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s forces, and the surviving True Gods were all terrified and their Divine Souls were shaking, while Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Mu Lan True God, and the True Phoenix, who had also entered the battlefield, were filled with disbelief.


    They had considered Bing Yi¡¯s strength, but they had not foreseen that Bing Yi could be so powerful!


    With just a draw of the sword in her hand, she had resolved most of the enemy True Gods!


    They remembered the words Bing Yi had said before; Bing Yi had promised that she would fight for Ye Chen, killing all the invaders, and surely, Bing Yi had the ability to do so!


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    After instantly killing a large number of Flying Spirit Clan True Gods, Bing Yi immediately took control of all True Gods, and those high-ranking True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan, amidst their endless struggle, finally broke free.


    At that moment, all the remaining Flying Spirit Clan True Gods, even the Young Clan Leader, had lost the will to fight anymore. The instant they broke free from the constraints, they blasted off towards the high skies above.


    They wanted to flee back to the Minor Spirit Realm, back to the Flying Spirit Clan!


    They no longer dared to fight, nor face Ye Chen¡¯s group where a Nine Tribulations True God was present.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The last remaining dozen or so figures instantly blasted towards the high void, and even their divine energy burned wildly as they fled, using all their strength in the escape.


    "Thinking of fleeing?!"


    Seeing the actions of these Flying Spirit Clan True Gods, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi¡¯s eyes turned cold in an instant.


    They had promised Ye Chen to eradicate all these Flying Spirit Clan True Gods.


    This was the first thing they were doing for Ye Chen, and they were surely going to accomplish it!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, Bing Qi roared up to the sky, his entire body revealed its astonishingly huge, over two thousand zhang long Three-Eyed Fire Qilin true form.


    He exhaled a breath that utterly burned the void into nothingness. Flames gushed out from his mouth, scorching towards those fleeing figures above him in an instant.


    At the same time, Bing Qi also leapt high with his massive body, pursuing the Flying Spirit Clan True Gods with inconceivable speed.


    As Bing Qi took action, Bing Wu already transformed into his true form, the ten-thousand-meter-long Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor. Disappearing into the void in an instant, the next moment, he appeared above the six high-ranking True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan, blocking their path.


    At this time, Bing Yi also made her move.


    Bing Yi didn¡¯t transform into her true form. As a Nine Tribulations True God, she didn¡¯t need to reveal her true form to kill these people.


    Her steps shifted in the void, and in the next moment, she outpaced all the Flying Spirit Clan True Gods who had fled in advance, even surpassing Bing Qi and Bing Wu who had made the first move, and she directly appeared at the extremely high part of the void.


    Then, the sword light of the Ice Snow Divine Sword in Bing Yi¡¯s hand flashed, and in an instant, it shone down like an incomparable brilliance of icy sunlight, with "peng peng peng peng peng," all the fleeing Flying Spirit Clan True Gods felt billions of unstoppable sword lights slashing towards them.


    In an instant, another four Five Tribulations True Gods were decidedly killed.


    The entire sky had already become an unbelievable scene.


    More than a dozen powerful true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan, burning divine power to flee, flapped their blood wings to the extreme behind them.


    Around them, the enormous Three-Eyed Fire Qilin named Bing Qi, whose entire body was engulfed in flames that set the entire sky alight, was in hot pursuit. Accompanying it was the Nine-Headed Serpent Emperor, Bing Wu, who with her noble and icy aura shone through the void, every flicker of her movement blocking a swath of fleeing members of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    But the real executioner, Bing Yi, was the most mystical. Her small girl¡¯s stature changed when she held the Ice Snow Divine Sword in her hands. Empowered by the vast aura of a ninth tribulation true god added to the Divine Sword, the Ice Snow Divine Sword exhibited a might that nobody had ever witnessed before, the true power of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    One after another, the true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan were killed instantly, plummeting from the sky and dissolving into nothingness in a blink.


    Looking at this, it seemed that the invincible true gods from the Lower Realm, who had plunged the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent into catastrophe, were all destined for death; it was only a matter of time.


    Seeing the highly agitated Jiang Yao and Mu Lan True God at her side, their eyes gleaming with unshed tears as they watched their enemies die one by one, Ye Chen also spoke up. "Let¡¯s go, they have no desire to resist now. We¡¯ll take action too. Even if we can¡¯t kill anyone, at least we can make it not so easy for them to escape!"


    "Mm." Jiang Yao knew Ye Chen wanted to let her vent her anger for the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s clansmen.


    In an instant, Jiang Yao¡¯s wrist flickered with divine light as she unleashed her Starry Nebula Spirit Chain, her True Phoenix Bloodline igniting. Her waterfall-like long hair began to surge as she, along with Ye Chen who had drawn his Purple Blood Divine Sword, and True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, charged into the vast expanse.


    Instantly, the remaining true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan realized that escape was impossible, and a look of resolution flashed in their eyes. They ceased their flight and turned to fight to the death instead.


    In the sky, more than a dozen figures clashed in battle in an instant.


    When the Flying Spirit Clan had hundreds of true gods, they could not withstand the onslaught of Ye Chen¡¯s group. What more now when only a mere twelve or thirteen remained?


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    The entire situation had become completely one-sided.


    Even under Bing Yi¡¯s watchful eye, not a single person from Ye Chen¡¯s side was injured, while the true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan fell one by one.


    All Six Tribulations true gods, dead!


    All Seven Tribulations true gods, dead!


    In the end, all that remained in the entire sky was the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, an Eight Tribulations true god.


    At this moment, the heart of this Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan had completely sunk, and though he had sacrificed all his divine artifacts and exhausted all his means, he still had no power to resist in front of Bing Yi, a Nine Tribulations true god.


    Thud!


    In the end, he was directly penetrated through the head by Bing Yi¡¯s Ice Snow Divine Sword from afar, instantly obliterating his entire Divine Body into nothingness.


    Finally, all that remained in the void were Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, still proudly standing in the expanse of space.


    All the true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan, hundreds of them, were all killed!


    The moment all the true gods were killed, a hush fell over the void.


    Meanwhile, within the ice jade pendant at the side, through the display of the outside battle situation by the jade pendant¡¯s nine ice guardians, all the warriors and citizens of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent hiding within saw the outcome of the invasion¡ªthe hundreds of true gods had all fallen.


    In an instant, cries of surprise, cheers, and unbelievable screams rang throughout the space within the ice jade pendant!


    ...


    In the Upper Realm, the ancient lands of the Six Great Clans, the Flying Spirit Clan.


    In a grand hall of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s ancestral lands, all the life jade stones of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s true gods were on display.


    The two true gods guarding the hall were quietly cultivating as usual, when they suddenly heard a succession of "thud" sounds.


    The sounds startled them, causing their eyes to fly open in alarm.


    As they looked, they were horrified to see that in the life jade stone area, hundreds of life jade stones had shattered into powder!


    Life jade stones represented the safety of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s true gods, treasured items left in the clan to detect when any of them faced danger.


    Normally, when the life jade stones develop cracks, it means the owner has encountered peril, and the clan¡¯s powerful members would rush to the aid of the owner based on the situation.


    But when the life jade stones completely shattered into powder, it spelled the direct death of the stone¡¯s owner.


    The two guardians in the grand hall had encountered Flying Spirit Clan true gods dying and their life jade stones breaking. However, they had never faced an event where hundreds of true gods¡¯ life jade stones shattered all at once.


    This implied that hundreds of true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan had been killed almost simultaneously!


    The two guardians of the grand hall could hardly believe it!


    Keep in mind, even when the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans combined forces to besiege the Divine Phoenix Clan and many true gods fell, it was never like this time, where so many gods perished in an instant.


    Just as the two guardians of the grand hall were about to scream and spread the word, an even more astonishing event occurred. The life jade stones of true gods below five tribulations, which had previously shattered, were only the beginning. Following that, they found that the life jade stones of those above five tribulations also began to crack.


    In the end, even the life jade stone of their Young Clan Leader, a powerful Eight Tribulations true god, had completely shattered into dust.


    This development left the two grand hall guardians trembling all over in shock.


    "The Young Clan Leader... The Young Clan Leader has... died?!"


    After a moment of trembling, the wailing voices of the two guardians echoed out from the grand hall to the entire Flying Spirit Clan. "The Young Clan Leader has fallen, and hundreds of our true gods have all perished!"

 Chapter 544 - 500: The Second 9-Tribulation True God

    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the sound resounded throughout the entire Flying Spirit Clan, countless figures from the Heavenly Saint Cave Mansions and True God Cave Mansions, even the highest-ranking members within the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Divine Mountain, flew out. All of them rushed towards the grand hall.


    Upon entering the grand hall and witnessing the hundreds of Life Jade Stones reduced to powder, especially the one representing the Young Clan Leader, shattered into dust at the highest place, everyone was utterly shocked.


    A moment later, an Eight Tribulations True God elder screamed, "Quickly report to the Elder Clan Leader, something terrible has happened, something terrible indeed!"


    ...


    Divine Phoenix City.


    After the Divine Phoenix Clan was besieged by a joint attack from the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, suffering near annihilation with clan members either dead or fled, the Divine Phoenix City was completely dominated by the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans.


    In the deepest, core secret area of Divine Phoenix City lay two treasures coveted by countless warriors of the Minor Spirit Realm, which sparked the joint siege of the Divine Phoenix Clan by the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans: the Phoenix Divine Blood and the Nirvana Pool.


    The Phoenix Divine Blood was located in a secret realm on the eastern side of Divine Phoenix City.


    There was an unbelievably huge pool that covered a thousand miles!


    At the center of the pool stood a giant Phoenix Statue Mountain. Within it, drops of mystical Phoenix Divine Blood, like stalactites, formed periodically, dripping down into the pool below.


    Sometimes, the dripping Phoenix Divine Blood would undergo a strange transformation, sprouting Phoenix Feathers or even a juvenile Phoenix from the pool!


    At this moment, the Phoenix Divine Blood was completely occupied by the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans. Their top experts ceaselessly collected the endlessly forming Phoenix Divine Blood, Phoenix Feathers, and juvenile Phoenixes, transporting them to their respective clan territories.


    The other treasure, the Nirvana Pool, was situated within a secret realm on the western side of Divine Phoenix City.


    Unlike the Phoenix Divine Blood which was a solitary great pool with the Phoenix Statue Mountain, the Nirvana Pool was located amongst the Eight Great Shocking Peaks, as if it were protected by their embrace.


    One could see that each of the Eight Great Shocking Peaks surged over thirty thousand feet high, and what was more astonishing was that each peak was carved with countless mystical patterns, clearly the divine inscriptions left by the God King Level Phoenix that bestowed the Nirvana Pool to the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    The Eight Great Shocking Peaks, adorned with these divine inscriptions, shone with divine light. Even more peculiar was the fact that each of the Eight Great Shocking Peaks had a celestial waterfall cascading down.


    This was no ordinary waterfall, but rather the divine light that poured from the peaks.


    In the end, all the divine light coalesced into a small pool only ten thousand square feet in size, surrounded by the Eight Great Shocking Peaks.


    This small pool, countless times smaller than the Phoenix Divine Blood pool, was the most powerful treasure of Divine Phoenix City¡ªthe Nirvana Pool!


    Looking into the Nirvana Pool, one could see countless divine lights flickering above, which in their convergence, revealed an incredible gigantic Yin Yang fish pattern within the water.


    At this time, atop the Eight Great Shocking Peaks surrounding the Nirvana Pool sat numerous figures.


    The weakest among these figures were of the Seven Tribulations True God rank, with the strongest being an imposing Nine Tribulations True God!


    This Nine Tribulations True God, with white hair and beard, wearing a blood-red robe, was none other than the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, a being of the Nine Tribulations True God existence.


    At this moment, the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, along with countless other figures, was focusing intently on the Nirvana Pool amid the Eight Great Shocking Peaks.


    There, an elder with a head full of black scales was sitting cross-legged above the Nirvana Pool in the void.


    Waves of Nirvana Pool water transformed into endless mists that showered upon the elder, and at the same time, incredible phenomena were unfolding.


    Amidst the fierce winds and torrential rains swirling around this elderly figure, countless lightning bolts, each a yard thick, streaked down from the void above the Nirvana Pool, striking the elder below without mercy.


    The incessant barrage of yard-thick lightning bolts grew increasingly ferocious, and finally, all the lightning turned into terrifying black thunderbolts, as if they were supreme divine swords intent on cleaving the elder apart, all slamming down upon him relentlessly.


    The elder, with an aura so immensely powerful it was inconceivable, couldn¡¯t help but release agonizing, pitiful cries under the endless onslaught of black lightning.


    Seeing this, the eyes of everyone on the Eight Great Shocking Peaks grew tense.


    Whispers circulated among their minds.


    "The ninth heavenly tribulation is truly too horrifying!"


    "The clan leader has been battered by this intense lightning for a full three months. If he were an ordinary Eight Tribulations True God, he would¡¯ve perished in this heavenly tribulation long ago!"


    "If not for the Nirvana Pool and the Phoenix Divine Blood that the clan leader prepared, he might not have lasted this long!"


    "It¡¯s almost over; this is the final wave of heavenly tribulation thunder. Once he withstands this, the clan leader can directly transcend the Eight Tribulations True God rank, stepping into the realm of a Nine Tribulations True God!"


    "By then, our Vermilion Bird Clan will also possess a Nine Tribulations True God!"


    From these telepathic messages, it was clear that the one undergoing the ninth heavenly tribulation above the Nirvana Pool was none other than the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    He had actually faced the arrival of the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation after taking over Divine Phoenix City, using its two great treasures, "Phoenix Divine Blood" and the "Nirvana Pool," to launch an assault on the status of a True God!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the endless final wave of black divine tribulation thunder struck down above the Nirvana Pool upon the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, eventually, all the thunder of tribulation turned the whole world into a sea of black lightning.


    Suddenly, the gigantic Yin Yang Fish pattern on the Nirvana Pool burst forth with endless divine light.


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    Within the boundless divine light, the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, who had been howling in agony, seemed to be reborn, suddenly opening his eyes amidst his pitiful screams.


    The countless black scales unique to the people of the Vermilion Bird Clan atop his head began emitting one ray of divine light after another, and finally, amidst the surging divine light, the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan shot up from above the Nirvana Pool into the sky.


    He actually charged directly into the sea of black thunder from the divine tribulation!


    Seeing this situation, the people of the Vermilion Bird Clan on the Eight Great Shocking Peaks all stood up nervously, and they all turned to look at the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, asking anxiously, "Elder Clan Leader Situ, can our clan leader survive this tribulation?!"


    Whoosh.


    The Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan also stood up, his divine eyes fixating on the endless sea of black lightning from the divine tribulation. Upon sensing an ever-growing life force within it, the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Elder Clan Leader¡¯s face changed with excitement, "He¡¯s going to make it, Shi, he¡¯s going to succeed!"


    Boom!


    Just as the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan had finished speaking, the sea of black thunder above the Nirvana Pool exploded with a sudden boom, and amidst an exceptionally clarion long cry, the endless black divine tribulation thunder instantly vanished.


    Then, the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan was seen bursting with laughter, soaring from above the Nirvana Pool, and proudly standing in the void.


    Looking at the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, his previous weariness had completely vanished; his vigor, spirit, and divinity had seemingly reached their peak.


    It was as if he had been reborn!


    Stepping into the rank of a True God, his entire life¡¯s plane made another leap; the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan was no longer a dying old man, once again filled with boundless life force.


    With a great grasp in the void, he could see wave after wave of divine and mysterious light ceaselessly flashing and flowing around his body, all eventually merging into his divine form.


    Finally, after casting one glance at the Nirvana Pool below, the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan moved swiftly, flying toward the Eight Great Shocking Peaks where the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was located.


    "Congratulations, Shi, for successfully breaking through the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation and reaching the status of a True God, becoming another True God of the Minor Spirit Realm!" Elder Clan Leader Situ Nan of the Flying Spirit Clan said to the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan with a smile.


    The Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan was named Shi Yan.


    Having successfully challenged the status of a True God, he was now in high spirits. He laughed heartily towards the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, "Thank you, Elder Brother Situ, for protecting the law for me!"


    "Congratulations, Elder Clan Leader, on successfully overcoming the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation and becoming a True God!"


    As the two great Elder Clan Leaders conversed, the other warriors of the Vermilion Bird Clan on the Eight Great Shocking Peaks flew towards the mountain where their Elder Clan Leaders were and knelt to offer their congratulations.


    "Our success is also thanks to the Nirvana Pool and Phoenix Divine Blood of the Divine Phoenix Clan."


    "Otherwise, I would have had no chance of overcoming this Ninth Heavenly Tribulation!"


    The Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, Shi Yan, looked down at the Nirvana Pool, his eyes shining with divine light, "With this pool and the Phoenix Divine Blood, the true gods of our two clans will be more numerous and more powerful in the future!"


    "It could even be possible to recreate the peak prosperity of the Divine Phoenix Clan in the old days!"


    While the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan spoke, the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan laughed heartily, "Speaking of which, a few days ago, my son came to report that remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan were discovered in the Lower Realm."


    "I wonder how he¡¯s dealing with those remnants now."


    The Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was even more concerned about the unspoken possibility of God King Level secrets, which the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan had reported to him.


    Previously, he was preoccupied with protecting the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan and couldn¡¯t leave; now, he couldn¡¯t help but want to see that God King Level grand secret for himself.


    "Remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan have been discovered in the Lower Realm?" The Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan also chuckled, "A few remnants, what significant trouble could they cause? By now, they are probably dead already."


    Elder Clan Leader Situ Nan of the Flying Spirit Clan nodded with a smile, and with a gesture of his hands, he started to perform a powerful Divine Art to calculate the situation of his Young Clan Leader as he explored the grand secret in the Lower Realm.


    With this calculation, the face of Elder Clan Leader Situ Nan changed dramatically.


    In his divination, he saw that his son, the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, had been slain and had already fallen!


    "What¡¯s the matter, Situ?" Upon seeing the changed expression on the face of the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, the Elder Clan Leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan and other Vermilion Bird powerhouses felt a surge of apprehension.


    At that moment, outside the Eight Great Shocking Peaks, countless figures swiftly flew in. An elder among them called out loudly to the Elder Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan atop the Shocking Peaks, "Elder Clan Leader, there¡¯s been terrible news: the Young Clan Leader has fallen in the Lower Realm!"

 Chapter 545 - 501: Kill as Many as They Come!

    Boom!


    The elder¡¯s voice, like a thunderbolt from a clear sky, exploded in the hearts of everyone on the Sky-shocking Giant Mountain.


    The Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan has fallen?


    The powerful members of the Vermilion Bird Clan knew that the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was an eight-tribulation True God.


    An eight-tribulation True God!


    That was almost the pinnacle of existence in the Minor Spirit Realm!


    Even during the great war with the Divine Phoenix Clan, the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan had not fallen, not even sustained an injury. How could he have perished in the Lower Realm?


    The recently ascended nine-tribulation True God, the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, couldn¡¯t believe it at all.


    However, all the powerful members of the Vermilion Bird Clan knew that for an elder from the Flying Spirit Clan to come forward with such news, it was absolutely impossible for it to be false. Recalling the sudden change in the expression of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s old clan leader when making his calculations, everyone from the Vermilion Bird Clan made the grim judgment that, perhaps, the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan had indeed perished in the Lower Realm!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In the midst of the powerful beings¡¯ minds reeling from shock, countless figures that had flown from beyond the eight Sky-shocking Giant Mountains had already landed in front of the crowd.


    Among these countless figures were the True Gods of the Vermilion Bird Clan who were responsible for defending the perimeter, and even more were from the Flying Spirit Clan, rushing to report the news.


    The elder who had just shouted, his hands trembling as he held the pulverized remnants of the Flying Spirit Clan Young Clan Leader¡¯s Life Jade Stone, presented it to the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, his voice quivering, "Old Clan Leader..."


    The old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, Situ Nan, had already turned a complete iron blue.


    When he made his calculations earlier, he saw his youngest son being slain in the Lower Realm and was utterly unwilling to believe it.


    But now, the remnants of his son¡¯s Life Jade Stone were right before his eyes, and he could no longer disbelieve.


    The old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, who had always treated killing as trivial and had slaughtered countless warriors from the Divine Phoenix Clan, even utilizing his nine-tribulation True God realm to completely eradicate the family grounds of the hugely influential Divine Phoenix Clan, clenched his teeth fiercely.


    He could kill others.


    But when his own youngest son was slain by someone else, he couldn¡¯t accept it at all!


    Seeing that the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was on the verge of exploding, everyone fell silent as if stricken by frost, except for the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan who dared to speak up, "Situ, what exactly happened? Yue was an eight-tribulation True God, how could he die in the Lower Realm?"


    Yue was the familial name for the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, whose full name is Situ Yue.


    Upon hearing the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s question, images of his youngest son, Situ Yue, being executed flashed through the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s mind again. With the thought of that earth-shattering sword, his whole body shuddered, "A nine-tribulation True God executed my son!"


    "A nine-tribulation True God? How could there possibly be a nine-tribulation True God in the Lower Realm?" Not just the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan was shocked; all the members of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans could hardly believe it either.


    Let alone the Lower Realm, in the Minor Spirit Realm, nine-tribulation True Gods had been nonexistent since the few old predecessors from the Divine Phoenix Clan disappeared. The entire Minor Spirit Realm was left with only the Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, who were nine-tribulation True Gods, and even the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan had only just stepped into that realm.


    In total, the current Minor Spirit Realm only possessed three nine-tribulation True Gods.


    How could there appear a nine-tribulation True God in the Lower Realm?


    This was a matter that puzzled everyone immensely.


    Yet, they wouldn¡¯t doubt the words of the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan. The old clan leader himself practiced divination as a great divine ability. Moreover, as it concerned his son, Situ Yue, he certainly would have refined some secret technique to investigate his death and would not casually claim that his son was killed by a nine-tribulation True God.


    Noticing everyone¡¯s confusion, the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan gritted his teeth and with a great sweep of his hand towards the sky, he directly manifested the scene of his son, the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, being executed in the air above the Sky-shocking Giant Mountain.


    Seeing a girl in a white dress wielding a heaven-shaking snow-white divine sword, instantly piercing through hundreds of True Gods, and in the end, even piercing the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s head with her sword from afar, everyone on the scene trembled with fear.


    In the Lower Realm, there truly was an incomparably powerful nine-tribulation True God!


    Not only did she execute the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, but she also killed hundreds of True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan!


    Hundreds of True Gods! Even if the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans combined, they had just over a thousand True Gods. The number of Gods that died was almost a fifth of the total number of True Gods from the two Ancient Clans!


    Even the earth-shattering war with the Divine Phoenix Clan had not resulted in so many True Gods dying at once!


    This is the combat power of a nine-tribulation True God!


    Cruelly overpowering other True Gods as if a late-stage Heavenly Saint were crushing beings in the Rotating Pill Realm or Spirit Sea Realm!


    The countless warriors of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan sighed inwardly. They had relied on their sole nine-tribulation True God, and with the cooperation of numerous True Gods, they had even uprooted the profoundly influential Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Now, they were also facing the slaughter of a nine-tribulation True God!


    "This nine-tribulation True God is much stronger than me. The sword in her hand, it resembles the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts of legend!"


    At this moment, after seeing the figure of the nine-tribulation True God, the girl in white who executed the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, disappear slowly in the sky, the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan also took a deep breath and spoke out.


    Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    This was a treasure said to be possessed only by God King level entities!


    Even the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, both Ancient Clans, had no such treasures. They had only a few Ancient Treasures that were infinitely close to the level of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts.


    Upon hearing the words "Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact," the True God¡¯s eyes of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan suddenly narrowed.


    A nine-tribulation True God was already unthinkable, but armed with a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact sword, she was indeed terrifying to the extreme.


    All the real gods of the Vermilion Bird Clan turned their gaze towards the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    His youngest son, along with his fellow clansmen, was executed by a Ninth Tribulation Real God, and none of the Vermilion Bird Clan knew whether the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan would swallow this insult or seek revenge against this Ninth Tribulation Real God.


    Even the true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan who came to report the news, upon hearing that it was a Ninth Tribulation Real God who executed their Young Clan Leader, did not dare to speak out further. They could only wait for the final arrangements of their elder clan leader.


    At this moment, the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s gaze turned to the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan: "This Ninth Tribulation Real God, her true strength is actually ten percent stronger than mine, and with the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts sword in her hand, I¡¯m not her match."


    "However, she¡¯s only one person, and at her side, as far as I could see, there are only a handful of real gods."


    "We, on the other hand, have two Ancient Clans!"


    "We, in our clans, possess Ancient Treasures powerful enough to approach the status of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts!"


    "Shi, are you willing to help me, to execute her? The Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact in her hand can¡¯t be fully wielded by her at the level of a real god. United, we two Ninth Tribulation Real Gods are certainly capable of slaying her."


    "As long as you are willing to aid me in executing her, the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact in her hand, along with all the treasures on her, will be yours. I won¡¯t take a single item!"


    "This..." Upon hearing that the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was willing to give him the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s eyes shone brightly, but the thought of the other party¡¯s identity as a Ninth Tribulation Real God made him hesitate, "This Ninth Tribulation Real God has an unclear origin. Directly engaging with her may also be somewhat inappropriate."


    Seeing the hesitation of the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan dangled another huge temptation. He directly said to the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan: "Shi, when I sent my son, along with several hundreds of real gods to the Lower Realm, it was actually for a major secret, one that may involve God King Level secrets!"


    "I suspect that this Ninth Tribulation Real God suddenly appeared in connection to this God King Level secret; otherwise, she wouldn¡¯t possibly have come to the Lower Realm given her status as a Ninth Tribulation Real God!"


    Originally, the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan was puzzled as to why the Flying Spirit Clan would deploy so many real gods just to execute a few remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Now, upon hearing of the God King Level secret, he finally understood that the deployment of so many real gods was for this reason.


    Of course, he wasn¡¯t going to blame the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan for keeping it hidden, for he would have done the same.


    This was a God King Level secret, after all!


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    Even as a Ninth Tribulation Real God himself, he was greatly tempted!


    "As long as you¡¯re willing to assist, once we solve this God King Level secret, I¡¯ll only take forty percent of the benefits. The remaining sixty percent will all be yours!"


    "Brother, we must act quickly on this matter, delay could lead to complications. We must avenge my son and uncover that God King Level secret!"


    "She¡¯s just one Ninth Tribulation Real God; we have two Ninth Tribulation Real Gods. United in action, we surely have nothing to fear!"


    To rally the Vermilion Bird Clan to take action, the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan promised an enormous benefit.


    Furthermore, he dispelled all the doubts that the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan had.


    In the end, the eyes of the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan also began to shine with determination. Finally, he took a deep breath and declared, "Fine, our two clans managed to sweep through the Divine Phoenix Clan, and we shall certainly not fear a single Ninth Tribulation Real God from the Lower Realm!"


    "Then let our two clans meet this Ninth Tribulation Real God and see what in the Lower Realm is so significant that it prompted this Ninth Tribulation Real God to suddenly appear!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Upon hearing the decisive voice of the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, all the true gods of the Vermilion Bird Clan knew that following their assault on the Divine Phoenix Clan, another joint operation between the two great Ancient Clans was about to erupt!


    ...


    The Lower Realm.


    Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    After hundreds of true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan were entirely executed, everyone in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant space burst into cheers and screams of elation!


    Outside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, once again flew back to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    "Master, your orders have been fulfilled. All real gods have been executed!" Bing Yi said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    Seeing Bing Yi, Ye Chen felt a surge of excitement in his heart.


    He hadn¡¯t expected a Ninth Tribulation Real God to be so supremely powerful, far beyond his expectations!


    "Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, I have you to thank for this time," Ye Chen said earnestly to the three supreme real god guards.


    "Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, thank you for avenging our clan," Jiang Yao, standing beside Ye Chen, also bowed gravely to the three supreme real god guards.


    Even the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God offered their respects to Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi.


    Bing Qi, Bing Wu, and Bing Yi, having already witnessed the intimacy between Jiang Yao and Ye Chen, dared not accept her grand gesture. As Jiang Yao was just about to bow, Bing Yi quickly helped her to stand, while Bing Wu and Bing Qi also helped the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God to their feet.


    With a gentle smile, Bing Yi addressed Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, "Alleviating the master¡¯s worries and overcoming difficulties is our duty!"


    "Yes, master, and sister Jiang Yao, please don¡¯t treat us with such formality," Bing Wu said likewise with a smile.


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    However, he soon put away his smile and looked up to the ethereal sky.


    "Although the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan and these real gods have been executed by us, the Flying Spirit Clan will probably not let this go. The elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan is rumored to be a Ninth Tribulation Real God. And the Vermilion Bird Clan, who joined forces with the Flying Spirit Clan to besiege the Divine Phoenix Clan, is also very likely to take action together."


    Seeing the worried look on Ye Chen¡¯s face, Bing Yi stepped forth and said solemnly, "Master, if there are more real gods descending to harm you, however many come, that many will I slay!"


    Bing Wu added, "Master, you possess a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, which not even higher God Kings can destroy. If more real gods descend, at worst, you can take everyone to the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, and Bing Qi, Bing Yi, and I will fight until the heavens shatter and the earth splits. Let¡¯s see if they dare to descend then!"

 Chapter 546 - 502 Hate!

    Hearing the words of Bing Yi and Bing Wu, Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi had followed the Icebound God King, so of course they wouldn¡¯t take the True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm seriously.


    But what Ye Chen worried about were the countless martial artists and common folk across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Indeed, just as Bing Wu had said, he had the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat, so he truly didn¡¯t need to fear the combined assault of countless True Gods from the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan descending from the Higher Realm.


    However, if that were the case, the countless martial artists and commoners of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would fear that they couldn¡¯t return to their native land and live and cultivate normally as in the past for a long time.


    You must know, when the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan besieged the Divine Phoenix Clan, it was a divine war that lasted for thousands of years. Could this catastrophe be allowed to continue on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent for thousands of years as well?


    Deep in his heart, Ye Chen desperately hoped to become even more powerful.


    If his strength now matched that of Bing Yi, as a Nine Tribulations True God, he and Bing Yi together, how could they fear more True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan descending?


    If his strength surpassed Bing Yi¡¯s, reaching the level of a Divine King, then the Flying Spirit Clan wouldn¡¯t dare to descend upon the realm, fearing only grovelling at his feet!


    "Still not strong enough!"


    A light flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes as he sighed to himself.


    As if she knew what Ye Chen was thinking, Jiang Yao walked up to Ye Chen¡¯s side, took his hand, and with her star-like dazzling eyes, looked at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you have done well enough. This catastrophe, just like the one faced by our Divine Phoenix Clan, is not something we wished to trigger. It was started by the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan over treasures."


    "Sooner or later, they will pay the price!"


    Hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, Ye Chen took her hand in his and nodded with a smile.


    Yes, this catastrophe originated from the great battle in the Southern Territory, from the inheritance within the main hall of the Icebound Temple, just as the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s catastrophe was triggered by the "Phoenix Divine Blood" and the "Nirvana Pool."


    It was all due to the greed of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan!


    Their greed had led to the destruction of the Divine Phoenix Clan, resulting in chaos throughout the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Not being able to exterminate them completely didn¡¯t matter for now.


    He had cultivated for only a short while, advancing from the True Qi Realm to the current Heavenly Saint Realm, and now he had obtained the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Primordial Chapter, as well as the Undying Divine Body and Icebound Divine Body Cultivation Techniques, and also Lord Tianyun¡¯s "Nine Volumes of Formation Array"...


    Ye Chen believed that it wouldn¡¯t take him long to reach a level where he could even exterminate the True Gods, including the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan who was a Nine Tribulations True God!


    Ye Chen had this confidence!


    If the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan really wanted to bring the full force of their clans to wreak havoc in the Lower Realm, then he was prepared to outlast them, to see who would have the last laugh!


    With this thought, Ye Chen ruffled Jiang Yao¡¯s head, his eyes brightening again.


    He looked at Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, and resolutely said, "All right, then let¡¯s wait and see if those from the Flying Spirit Clan dare to descend again!"


    ...


    For fear that more True Gods would descend, Ye Chen did not allow the martial artists and common folk hidden within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to emerge.


    He had the nine great Icebound Guards, along with Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, use countless spirit stones to support the cultivations of the martial artists inside.


    Bing Yi, with his overwhelming Divine Might, employed his Great Divine Power to bring endless mana rain in numerous spaces, allowing even the ordinary citizens who could not cultivate to draw immense energy and replenish their bodily exhaustion.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, among others, all sat cross-legged on the ground, cultivating while awaiting the potentially horrific battle.


    In this waiting time, Ye Chen practiced the "Primordial Chapter" while beginning to cultivate the Icebound Divine Body.


    Jiang Yao continued to cultivate the Bloodline Secret Skills specific to the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Bing Yi used his Great Divine Power to surveil the vast expanse of the Barbaric Wilderness, watching for any stir within the void.


    This wait didn¡¯t last too long.


    Just five days later, countless explosive sounds from high in the void above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent resounded, unmistakably signaling the arrival of more True Gods descending, as they breached the spatial barriers of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent causing explosions.


    "They have come!"


    Bing Yi was the first to stand up, flying to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi also rose to their feet.


    The nine great Icebound Guards, Palace Master Yuan Li, and others inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant looked toward the void.


    Looking up at the high spaces of the void, one could see what seemed like a meteor shower; the True Gods appearing this time numbered more than the hundreds of previous True Gods.


    It appeared, roughly, that there were seventeen or eighteen hundred figures!


    Looking at them, it seemed that the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan had come in full force, bringing almost all of their True Gods except those below that Realm, down to the Lower Realm!


    All these thousand figures were dragging long trails of Divine Light, densely spilling like a rain of meteors from the sky at an extremely high speed, plummeting toward the ground.


    Seeing this scene, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Bing Yi, and the others exchanged looks, and with a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," they all flew toward the sky.


    Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God¡¯s eyes filled with boundless hatred.


    Witnessing this scene, they were reminded of the moment when the Divine Phoenix Clan was besieged by the two Ancient Clans.


    Not satisfied with besieging the Divine Phoenix Clan, these two Ancient Clans were now leading so many True Gods to lay siege to the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Boom! Boom!


    Among the falling figures of seventeen or eighteen hundred, the leaders were none other than the Elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    Both of them were Nine Tribulations True Gods, descending so swiftly it seemed as though they were about to shatter the very barrier of the void itself!


    Upon seeing two Nine Tribulations True Gods descending, Ye Chen¡¯s pupils suddenly constricted.


    Two Nine Tribulations True Gods?


    He remembered that among the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans, only the Elder of the Flying Spirit Clan was a Nine Tribulations True God. He had not anticipated that the Elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan had also transformed into a Nine Tribulations True God!


    At this moment, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God also sensed something amiss. Exchanging a glance, they immediately thought it very likely that the Elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan had transformed into a Nine Tribulations True God by using the two great treasures of their clan, the Phoenix Divine Blood and the Nirvana Pool.


    Thinking of this, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God¡¯s fervent rage ignited even further. Their clan¡¯s treasures had fallen into such hands, and now these people, having enhanced their power with the treasures, were rampaging through the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, which made True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God grind their teeth in hatred.


    At this point, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God shared Ye Chen¡¯s sentiment, feeling that their own power was insufficient.


    Otherwise, they would have ascended to the heavens and plunged into battle against the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans¡¯ True Gods, fighting until the skies darkened and the earth dimmed!


    "Master!"


    Seeing two Nine Tribulations True Gods leading a descent of seventeen or eighteen hundred True Gods from the Lower Realm, Bing Yi¡¯s eyes slightly contracted before she "swooshed" and drew her Ice Snow Divine Sword, calling out to Ye Chen, "Master, do not worry. Even if there are two Nine Tribulations True Gods, Bing Yi will fight for you!"


    Bing Wu and Bing Qi also stepped forward: "Master, we too will fight for you. These people can¡¯t harm us!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After speaking, Bing Yi charged into the sky, flying straight towards the descending group of True Gods.


    Bing Wu and Bing Qi flashed in the void and followed closely behind Bing Yi, flying upwards.


    Ye Chen, of course, would not let his three True God Guards face so many True Gods alone. He addressed Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, "Let¡¯s go too!"


    Whoosh.


    With a wave of his hand, the top-notch Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, which he had refined after acquiring from the main hall of the Icebound Temple, materialized beside him. Then, Ye Chen, accompanied by Jiang Yao and True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, followed in the wake of Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi into the sky.


    One side was a descent from the heavens, with more than a thousand True Gods, among which were two Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    On the other side, there were only a few such as Ye Chen, yet they were wholly unafraid, directly confronting this endless number of True Gods!


    When the two sides were a few thousand feet apart, both parties came to a halt in the void, facing each other from a distance.


    "You, are you the chief culprit who slaughtered my son?!"


    Upon seeing Bing Yi, the Elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, Situ Nan, looked as if he were about to spew fire from his eyes. He glared at Bing Yi, ready to attack.


    Bing Yi, gazing at Situ Nan, said indifferently, "It was me who killed him. So what? If you want to fight again, then I shall kill again!"


    Boom!


    As Bing Yi spoke, her Ice Snow Divine Sword radiated with Divine Light, shining like ice glows from the Nine Heavens, unleashing a radiance never seen before.


    Seeing the sword in Bing Yi¡¯s hand, a look of greed and fear flashed through the eyes of the Elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan. His gaze swept past Bing Yi and fixed on Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, "Indeed, there are remnants of the Divine Phoenix Clan still in the Lower Realm."


    When he saw Jiang Yao, he was startled, "Hmm, your face resembles that of Elder Jiang from the Divine Phoenix Clan. Could you be the little princess who escaped from the Divine Phoenix Clan back then?!"


    Confronted with the vast armies of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans, Jiang Yao was reminded of what she had witnessed from her retreat in Azure Blue Mansion¡ªthe destruction of Divine Phoenix City, her parents¡¯ ultimate sacrifice to hold back countless True Gods of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s heart surged with boundless hatred.


    It was these people who had torn her from her father and mother, from her clansmen!


    It was these people who had caused the deaths and wounds among her clansmen, with the majority being enslaved by the Black Crow God King, unable to reunite!


    "One day, I will execute every single one of you who has wronged my Divine Phoenix Clan!" Jiang Yao declared slowly and clearly to the two great clan leaders and the numerous True Gods from their clans.


    Jiang Yao, who always spoke softly and gently, revealed such intense hatred with her words that it was imaginable just how bitter her heart was.


    This caused Ye Chen¡¯s heart to ache, and he tightly grasped Jiang Yao¡¯s hand.


    "Execute all of us?" The elders of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans exchanged glances, burst into laughter, and their eyes turned frosty the next moment, "I¡¯m afraid you won¡¯t have the chance. Now, we will execute all of you!"


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    With a sweep of their hands, all the True Gods in the sky sprang into action.


    And the two Nine Tribulations True Gods simultaneously launched an attack on Bing Yi!

 Chapter 547 - 503: Heaven and Earth Overturned

    ```


    A Nine Tribulations True God, Bing Yi was absolutely confident she could take one down, and even had spare energy to look out for others.


    However, with two Nine Tribulations True Gods joining forces to besiege her, Bing Yi would have to fight both alone, which meant she couldn¡¯t spare attention to anyone else in the short term, let alone have the opportunity to kill other True Gods.


    And with another seventeen or eighteen hundred True Gods combined in their assault, even if Bing Wu and Bing Qi could hold off some, the rest would definitely pose a real threat to Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God.


    The transformation of the old clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan into a Nine Tribulations True God completely disrupted the predictions of Ye Chen and his group!


    But fortunately, Ye Chen still had the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat.


    In the instant the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan led the sky-full True Gods in a sudden murderous assault, Ye Chen pointed in the void, and the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat by his side instantly swelled to thousands of zhang in size.


    In an instant, it took him, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and True God Mu Lan into the Flying Boat.


    At the same time, Ye Chen controlled the Flying Boat, lingering not far from Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and Bing Yi¡¯s side, ready to take them all back into the Flying Boat at the first sign of trouble.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan arrived before Bing Yi, while the rest of the sky-filled True Gods all charged towards Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat.


    At Bing Yi¡¯s location.


    Facing the siege of two great Nine Tribulations True Gods, Bing Yi¡¯s first concern was not for herself, but for Ye Chen.


    When she saw that Ye Chen had already flown into the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat, the worried look in Bing Yi¡¯s eyes vanished, and her eyes immediately revealed an overlooking demeanour.


    Clang!


    The Ice Snow Divine Sword in her hand suddenly trembled with divine light, instantly drawing a dazzling arc piercing the sky, and she directly slashed towards the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan.


    At the same time, within the dazzling arc of the Ice Snow Divine Sword, countless streams of energy each dozens of zhang long emerged, cutting through the defenses of the two Nine Tribulations True Gods with incredible speed and aiming even further behind them at the sky-full True Gods, lessening the pressure on Ye Chen, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi.


    Seeing the blinding light from Bing Yi¡¯s Divine Sword, the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s eyes flashed with a grave expression.


    Despite their serious looks, they would not allow Bing Yi to slay other True Gods in front of them.


    "You think you can kill others while fighting the two of us? Do you think you¡¯re a Divine King?" the two old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan said, and as they spoke, an unmatched divine light from their bodies immediately transformed into tens of thousands of Divine Light Shields, blocking all the streams of energy flashing from the sword¡¯s arc.


    Thump! Thump! Thump!


    The energy streams collided with the Divine Light Shields, and the whole sky resounded with numerous explosive and muffled sounds.


    Bing Yi, of course, knew she could not easily slay other True Gods when faced with the combined efforts of two Nine Tribulations True Gods; her attack was meant to distract their attention.


    While the two Nine Tribulations True Gods were occupied defending the other True Gods from the countless energy streams, the main offensive move from Bing Yi, the thousands of zhang long terrifying sword arc, had already completely fallen above their heads.


    At that moment, both the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan snorted coldly, and from their bodies flew an ancient bronze gong and a crimson bell, respectively.


    In an instant, these two treasures grew boundlessly large, soaring towards the terrifying sword arc.


    This clash was a thousand times more intense than the earlier confrontation of Divine Light Shields blocking countless energy streams!


    Instantly, at the point where the arc met the two great treasures, the entire void burst with earth-shattering sounds! The entire expanse of the sword arc, stretching thousands of zhang, was filled with explosion sounds, the void fracturing, and the shockwaves even affected more True Gods behind it, causing many to dodge out of the way.


    In the end, even the ground was lifted layer by layer, unearthing thousands of zhang long deep trenches!


    Just a single move was terrifying to the extreme!


    This was the battle of Nine Tribulations True Gods!


    "Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!" Seeing the two old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan bring out treasures to block her move, Bing Yi was not at all surprised.


    She quickly performed hand seals, and her Ice Snow Divine Sword transformed from one to two, two to four, and eventually into countless bright swords, all revolving around Bing Yi.


    With one pinch of the seal in Bing Yi¡¯s hand, it was as if the entire sky was whipped up into a terrifying blade storm, which disappeared instantly from beside her into the void, and in the next moment, appeared right outside the two clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, enveloping them within endless blades, and with an incredible speed, whirled towards them in a savage slash.


    Bing Yi, fighting against two, was gaining the upper hand against the two great Nine Tribulations True Gods!


    Although she couldn¡¯t completely slay the two in a short time, she was definitely able to ensure her own safety!


    Elsewhere.


    While Bing Yi battled the two old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, the seventeen or eighteen hundred True Gods had completely overwhelmed Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat where Ye Chen was. These sky-filled True Gods were like a swarm of locusts, intending to engulf Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the Flying Boat entirely.


    ```


    At this moment, the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel controlled by Ye Chen suddenly emitted a thunderous roar. Within this roar, divine light overflowed from the entire flying vessel. This kind of divine light, which even surpassed that of a True God, was unmistakably the divine might only a God King Level Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact could possess!


    The entire Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel was pitch black, undeniably a peerless creation, even more divine than any other flying vessel Ye Chen had ever seen!


    Moreover, the numerous scars of battle that covered the vessel were left from a fight between two Divine Kings, adding an inconceivable sense of shock to this Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel.


    When the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel fully surged with its protective glow, not even the combined assault of more than a thousand True Gods could shake it in the slightest. Instead, they were sent reeling in all directions by the impact from the flying vessel.


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that this Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel only possessed divine might for flying and defense, lacking any offensive power, Ye Chen would be confident he could slay all these True Gods with the might of the flying vessel alone.


    In the end, the divine marvels and Supreme Divine Light of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel even caught the attention of the Vermilion Bird Clan elder and the Flying Spirit Clan elder, who were engaged in a fierce battle with Bing Yi.


    The two of them instantly recognized it as a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    Apart from the Divine Sword in Bing Yi¡¯s hands, they had now encountered another Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact. This made them realize that very likely, the secrets of the God King Level they sought had already fallen into the hands of Ye Chen, who controlled the flying vessel!


    With this thought, the two clan elders¡¯ minds were filled with greed. They wished they could immediately kill Ye Chen and seize both the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel and any other treasures that might be hidden on him!


    Unfortunately, they were completely tied up in their fight with Bing Yi and couldn¡¯t free themselves; otherwise, they would probably have already attacked the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel.


    True Gods swarming like locusts, unable to do anything to the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel or those within it like Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, burst into the void and turned their killing intent towards Bing Wu and Bing Qi.


    Among these one thousand seven to eight hundred True Gods, there were several Eight Tribulation True Gods and even more than twenty Seven Tribulation True Gods. They dared not provoke Bing Yi, but they had no fear of confronting Bing Wu, a Seven Tribulation True God, and Bing Qi, a Six Tribulation True God.


    Hum! Hum! Hum!


    Countless treasures trembled, and boundless divine power surged forth; they had already closed in on Bing Wu and Bing Qi.


    Even as Ye Chen used the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact to knock away a large swath of True Gods, he couldn¡¯t stop the remaining throngs from besieging Bing Wu and Bing Qi.


    Bing Wu and Bing Qi, fighting on their own, were absolutely fearless against these True Gods, with Bing Wu even daring to battle Eight Tribulation True Gods. But this was an assault by one thousand seven to eight hundred True Gods in unison¡ªan instant later, Bing Wu and Bing Qi were utterly overwhelmed!


    Seeing this situation, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t let Bing Wu and Bing Qi take any more risks. He directly controlled the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel to ram open a path through the True Gods attacking Bing Wu and Bing Qi, while mentally communicating with them, he immediately drew both Bing Wu and Bing Qi into the flying vessel.


    In the end, the only battle remaining in the entire sky was the lone fight of Bing Yi!


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    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The battle between Bing Yi, the Vermilion Bird Clan elder, and the Flying Spirit Clan elder¡ªthree Nine Tribulation True Gods¡ªwas so intense that it turned the heavens upside down, the entire space thoroughly engulfed by their warfare.


    On the other side, stood the countless True Gods of the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan who dared not approach, as well as Ye Chen and others inside the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel, unable to join the fight.


    Seeing this scenario, the two clan elders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan called out to the legion of True Gods while combating Bing Yi, "What are you waiting for? If you can¡¯t handle that Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel, then destroy the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    Boom!


    After the two clan elders spoke, the divine power of the countless True Gods wildly whirled, their hands slicing through the void, tearing the land of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent beneath them to shreds!


    Their boundless divine forces struck down, intending to destroy all life essence within the land, rendering it into a lifeless dead zone, devoid of any greenery!


    If they carried on like this, those True Gods would definitely have the capability to reduce the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent to a wasteland!


    Seeing this unfold, fire seemed to spew from Ye Chen¡¯s eyes within the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel!


    From within the flying vessel, he was indeed helpless against these True Gods, but he couldn¡¯t stop them from devastating the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    The two elders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan were indeed malevolent, having fully wrecked the Divine Phoenix Clan, they now sought to vent their fury on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Ye Chen was filled with hatred!


    Hateful that his power was still not enough!


    Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God by Ye Chen¡¯s side were in extreme agony.


    And the countless martial artists and citizens of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent within the Ice Snow Jade Amulet space, through the eyes of the nine Ice Guardians, as they witnessed the unfolding battle outside and saw swathes of land being destroyed one after another, screamed in frenzy and wept tears of despair!


    Helpless.


    But everyone was helpless.


    In the field, only Bing Yi continued the battle, utterly restrained by the two Nine Tribulation True Gods, unable to block the actions of the other True Gods, and Ye Chen and the others, facing more than a thousand True Gods, were completely powerless.


    Were they to simply watch as these True Gods razed one parcel of land after another, obliterating swathes of land, turning the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent into ruins?


    If so, they would survive, but their homeland would never recover!

 Chapter 548 - 504: The Arrival of the Ancient Emperor

    ```


    Just when all the martial artists and citizens of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent had plunged into despair; just when Bing Yi could no longer restrain herself after hearing Ye Chen¡¯s angry howl, morphing her body to appear, only to still be desperately blocked by two Ninth Tribulation True Gods; just when the Divine Phoenix Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan True Gods flew across the sky in droves, lifting up swathes of the continent¡¯s land, turning it into ruined wastelands...


    There came a deafening roar from the high heavens.


    It was as if an inconceivable object suddenly burst through the spatial barrier of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, penetrating into its realm.


    This world-shaking roar made Bing Yi, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡ªall three Ninth Tribulation True Gods¡ªsimultaneously cease their fighting in an instant.


    This earth-shattering roar caused the True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan, who were devastating pieces of land, to jolt in alarm.


    This heaven-shaking roar also made Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Bing Qi, and others within the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact helplessly fly out in an instant, wanting to see what had happened in the high void.


    In the end, everyone lifted their heads and looked toward the sky, toward the highest reaches of the heavens.


    And there, everyone witnessed an incredible scene.


    They saw a colossal ancient vine, descending from the ninth heaven.


    The tremendous booming sound, was indeed the sound of this enormous ancient vine piercing through the spatial barrier of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    As this ancient vine broke through the spatial barrier and fell into the high skies of the continent, countless branches rapidly grew from the main vine.


    No sooner had these branches appeared than they extended rapidly, shooting out fiercely, and before long, they all wound toward the one thousand seven to eight hundred True Gods of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans, who were destroying the land.


    Incredibly, before any of the True Gods could even react, all of them, aside from the two clan elders, were entangled and swept up by the countless branches into the void.


    In the end, an astonishing sight unfolded.


    An immense ancient vine too unbelievable to comprehend descended from the heavens. The vine instantly shot out one thousand seven to eight hundred branching tendrils, ensnaring all of the True Gods, binding them upon its spreading branches as if they were fruits borne upon this incredible vine!


    These one thousand seven to eight hundred True Gods, those below the rank of Sixth Tribulations, were unable to break free from the vine¡¯s entwined grasp no matter how hard they struggled.


    Even the mighty Six, Seven, and Eighth Tribulation True Gods struggled for a long time before they could extricate themselves from the tendrils of the ancient vine.


    Once they had fearfully flown a safe distance away, they turned once again to gaze at the colossal vine in the sky, trembling as they beheld the remaining True Gods still bound in the heavens.


    A heaven-startling vine descended from the sky.


    In an instant, it ensnared over a thousand Six Tribulation and below True Gods.


    It even made dozens of True Gods above Six Tribulations avoid it from afar, trembling all over.


    This scene left Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and the others who had flown out of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact completely dumbfounded!


    As for the two clan elders of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans, who were in the midst of battling Bing Yi, when they saw this earth-shattering, massive green vine descend, binding countless True Gods of their clans in an instant, they too exclaimed out loud, "Ancient Emperor!"


    Clearly, they recognized the one behind this action!


    Ancient Emperor?


    At the mention of these two words, a flurry of thoughts crossed Ye Chen¡¯s mind. He also noticed that the "Yan Clan Ancient Order," which he had always carried with him and which he had obtained in the Ancient God Tower, had begun to tremble.


    The Yan Clan Ancient Order had been acquired by Ye Chen in the Ancient God Tower, from Yan Ling¡¯er of the six ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Ye Chen immediately thought of one person, Yan Ling¡¯er¡¯s grandfather, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan!


    Could it be that the "Ancient Emperor" the two clan elders of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans were referring to, was him?!


    Ye Chen was aware that the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was the only Ninth Tribulation True God in the Minor Spirit Realm, aside from the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, following the departure of the seniors from the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    However, judging by the heaven-shattering might of the act, where even Eighth Tribulation True Gods were helplessly bound in an instant, Ye Chen had a premonition that this person¡¯s divine power might even surpass that of Bing Yi in her full form.


    Could it be that the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, whom he had never met, was actually this powerful?!


    As Ye Chen was shaken and speculating in his heart, and as the two clan elders of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans had just shouted "Ancient Emperor," and while Bing Yi was also solemnly looking toward the highest reach of the heavens, an old man¡¯s figure, along with several others, directly flashed out from the high void.


    Upon appearing, the old man said with a smile to the two clan elders of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans, "Situ my friend, Shi my friend, it¡¯s been a while since we¡¯ve met."


    "The way you¡¯ve been conducting yourselves in the lower realm, well, it¡¯s not very nice."


    Ye Chen saw that the old man had a tall figure and a lively spirit, with exceptionally bright eyes. He also noticed several figures behind the elder.


    Among these figures, three were extremely familiar to Ye Chen; one of them was Ding Xiaojia, the young prince of the Nine Pointed Continent, whom Ye Chen had once saved in the divine treasure trove within the Five Elements Mountain.


    ```


    ```


    Another person, who had once dueled with Ye Chen and also faced a life-and-death crisis with him in the ultimate treasure cave of the divine inheritance, was the little saintess from the Li Fire Continent, Huo Mei¡¯er!


    Ye Chen had never expected that these two would also come here!


    At this moment, seeing Ye Chen looking towards him, Ding Xiaojia smiled and nodded at Ye Chen.


    When Huo Mei¡¯er saw that Ye Chen was safe and sound, she seemed to breathe a sigh of relief and gave Ye Chen a bright smile, her eyes twinkling as if she had countless things to say to him.


    Apart from Ding Xiaojia and Huo Mei¡¯er, the third familiar figure Ye Chen recognized turned out to be the true image of Yan Ling¡¯er, whom he had caught a glimpse of after fighting his way through all eighteen levels of the Ancient God Tower and acquiring the "Yan Clan Divine Order" from the spiritual projection of Yan Ling¡¯er!


    This figure was indeed the real Yan Ling¡¯er!


    The Yan Ling¡¯er who had transformed into a true god!


    Yan Ling¡¯er, the Yan Clan, the Ancient Emperor, this elder who made his move, indeed may be the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, potentially another Nine Tribulations True God from the Minor Spirit Realm!


    Why had Yan Ling¡¯er, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, suddenly appeared here, and judging by the actions of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, it seemed like he was assisting Ye Chen.


    Could it be that Ding Xiaojia and Huo Mei¡¯er had asked the Ancient Emperor to come?


    Ye Chen only remembered that Huo Mei¡¯er was extremely familiar with the Beiming Clan among the six ancient clans, but he had never heard that Huo Mei¡¯er was also acquainted with the Yan Clan.


    Ye Chen was filled with doubts.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s surprised and puzzled look, the Yan Ling¡¯er in the void also looked towards him. This was the first actual encounter between Yan Ling¡¯er and Ye Chen since she had left the "Yan Clan Divine Order" and caught a glimpse of him.


    Yan Ling¡¯er was also curiously sizing up Ye Chen, examining the youth who had defeated her spiritual projection back then.


    And the elder, after greeting the clan elders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, looked directly at Ye Chen and said with a faint smile, "Young friend Ye Chen, it¡¯s our first meeting, and I never expected it to be under these circumstances. Allow me to introduce myself; I am the person who left the Ancient God Tower that you have traversed, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan."


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan!


    This elder, as Ye Chen had guessed, was indeed the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, the one who, with his heaven-shaking supernatural ability of spatial transference, had moved countless martial artists from thirty-three continents to duel, ultimately establishing the Ancient God Tower!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Upon seeing the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan greeting Ye Chen with a smile, the clan elders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan felt turbulent waves in their hearts.


    They had never expected that the young man in front of them was acquainted with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Even more so, they could not have imagined that the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, who was rumored to have long since entered seclusion and withdrawn from worldly affairs, would appear again and personally intervene, binding their clans¡¯ true gods and seeming determined to assist the youth before them!


    "Ancient Emperor, you have bound our clans¡¯ true gods; what is the reason for this? Could it be that you intend to intervene in our clans¡¯ affairs?" At last, the clan elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, with a livid face, asked the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    He had to be livid.


    Although, after several seniors of the Divine Phoenix Clan had left, and before the clan elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan had transformed into a Nine Tribulations True God, there were only him and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan left as the two Nine Tribulations True Gods in the entire Minor Spirit Realm.


    But the clan elder of the Flying Spirit Clan knew very well that the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was much stronger than him, not just slightly but by a significant margin.


    Even he dared not face the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan in a direct confrontation.


    At this moment, although the clan elder of the Flying Spirit Clan was questioning the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, he lacked any confidence at heart.


    If the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan truly intended to intervene in their affairs, he and the clan elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan might dare to fight together.


    But at this time, they were also facing Bing Yi, who was equally powerful.


    If the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Bing Yi joined forces, then they would have absolutely no chance of winning.


    The clan elder of the Flying Spirit Clan could only hope that the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was not here to assist Ye Chen but had some other purpose.


    However, the words of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan that followed dashed his hopes.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan¡¯s exceptionally bright eyes looked over all those present, especially noting Bing Yi who was fighting with the two Nine Tribulations True Gods and the vast expanse of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent that had been destroyed by the true gods of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans, before he slowly spoke, "Situ, Shi, cease your actions, or else, today, I may have to break my usual practice and begin a massacre."


    Boom!


    Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    The words of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan sent a shiver down the spines of all the true gods below the Six Tribulations of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans who were bound by countless vines in the sky.


    Even those who had freed themselves from the vines¡¯ binding, the Six, Seven, and Eight Tribulations true gods, instantly turned pale.


    The faces of the clan leaders of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans became thoroughly unflattering.


    ```

 Chapter 549 - 505 The Major Changes in the Minor Spirit Realm

    Seeing that the two old clan leaders from the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan had not yet made a move, the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor shook his head and in a flash, his figure disappeared.


    The next moment, he had arrived beside Bing Yi from an extremely high point in the void, directly facing the old clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan.


    Several figures by the side of the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor, including three Eighth Tribulation True Gods, as well as Yan Ling¡¯er, Huo Mei¡¯er, and Ding Xiaojia, flew straight towards the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat beside Ye Chen, and ultimately, they all stood next to Ye Chen.


    With this action, the Ancient Emperor and his companions had directly proven with their deeds that they were standing on Ye Chen¡¯s side!


    Even though they were only a few in number, there was among them a Ninth Tribulation True God.


    Previously, the old clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan, both Ninth Tribulation True Gods, had struggled against Bing Yi, barely managing to cope. They even had to unleash their Ancient Clan¡¯s Ancient Treasures that had been passed down for countless years and were exceedingly close to the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact in might, just to barely hold their ground.


    Now seeing that the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor had truly sided with Ye Chen and was poised to join forces with Bing Yi in combat, both old clan leaders immediately retreated explosively.


    They knew well that even though they were Ninth Tribulation True Gods and of the same rank as Bing Yi and the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor, they now had absolutely no strength left to resist.


    If they didn¡¯t retreat now, once Bing Yi freed up his hands, it was feared that countless True Gods from both clans could potentially die in quick succession, following in the footsteps of the several hundred True Gods who had been killed earlier!


    Realizing their defeat, the retreating old clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan understood that this venture to the Lower Realm, to avenge Situ Yue and the other True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan, as well as the plan to find the God King Level earth-shattering secret, were now completely shattered!


    Even the scheme of devastating the land of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, forcing Ye Chen to give up resistance and surrender, was no longer feasible!


    Thinking of this, the two old clan leaders exchanged a glance, gritted their teeth, and fiercely uttered a single phrase to their own True Gods, "We leave!"


    As they spoke, they headed towards the miraculous Heavenly Vine above, determined to rescue the True Gods of their clans who were bound by it. Your adventure continues at novelhall.Co?m


    Witnessing the actions of the two old clan leaders, the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor let out a light chuckle and, with a flick of his finger in the air, the gigantic vine that had bound more than seventeen hundred True Gods immediately loosened its grip, releasing all the True Gods. Then, the vine that was massive to the extreme suddenly shrunk to a small segment several feet in length and shot back into the hands of the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor.


    Seeing that the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor had released their people, the old clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan looked down, swept their sleeves, and with all the freed True Gods, as well as the Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth Tribulation True Gods who had been hiding earlier, they all flew upwards into the sky.


    "Master!"


    At this moment, Bing Yi flew directly to Ye Chen¡¯s side, looked at him and asked, "Shall we just let them leave like this?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, filled with raging fury, gazed at the sky.


    He knew that, although Bing Yi was extraordinarily powerful, he had still not stepped into the God King level and remained a Ninth Tribulation True God.


    Facing these myriad True Gods, including the two same-rank Ninth Tribulation True Gods who had cultivated for countless years and had the strong heritage of the Ancient Clans, relying purely on the power of Bing Yi alone, they would be unable to block them all.


    The help he could offer Bing Yi was too insignificant.


    The presence of the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor had deterred these two clans and spared the Barbaric Wilderness Continent from destruction. Now that they were going to let these people leave, Ye Chen didn¡¯t feel it right to object.


    Ye Chen had made a firm resolution in his heart that he must become stronger, and one day not let these people be so rampant!


    The grudge of attacking the Divine Phoenix Clan and the resentment towards those endangering the Barbaric Wilderness Continent will be avenged one by one!


    For this time, he would let these people go!


    As if sensing Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts, the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor chuckled and said to Ye Chen, "Young friend, the cataclysm of the Minor Spirit Realm is already upon us. These people are alive for a greater purpose. It¡¯s fine to let them go now. Should they survive this cataclysm, you can settle your scores with them later."


    "As for the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, you need not worry, young friend. I¡¯ll cast the ¡¯Ancient Emperor¡¯s True Seal¡¯ to prevent them from coming to the Lower Realm to cause harm again." While speaking, the Ancient Emperor looked towards Bing Yi, "Joined with this friend¡¯s powerful presence for deterrence, I¡¯m afraid the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan won¡¯t dare to venture to the Lower Realm again."


    "A few months from now, when the cataclysm unfolds fully, and the threat of the Great Purification looms, they certainly won¡¯t have the heart to attend to matters of the Lower Realm anymore."


    The cataclysm of the Minor Spirit Realm has already arrived?


    A few months from now, the cataclysm unfolds fully, and the threat of the Great Purification looms?


    The words of the Ancient Emperor caused Ye Chen to startle.


    At that moment, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan didn¡¯t say anything more, but his figure moved, and he flew towards the sky.


    His voice rang out, echoing majestically in the ears of all the True Gods from the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan who were flying towards the outer space of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, "Fellow Daoists, as True Gods from the Upper Realm, I allow you to leave this time, but you must not descend to the Lower Realm to cause harm again. Otherwise, I will not let you leave so easily next time."


    "If you descend to cause harm again, you will be shown no mercy!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan spoke, he formed a hand seal that pointed into the void, and divine symbols flickered with spiritual light, finally, all merging into the vast emptiness above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Seeing the divine symbols pointed out by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan were both shocked, cursing in their hearts, "¡¯The Ancient Emperor¡¯s True Seal¡¯, this old fellow, he really intends to protect the void above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    "Hmph, even if we cannot descend to the Lower Realm, I don¡¯t believe that these warriors from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent won¡¯t go to the Upper Realm. The moment we discover them, we will show no mercy!"


    "Let¡¯s go!"


    After gritting their teeth, these True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, knowing the overall situation was against them, burned their divine power and eventually all passed through the spatial barrier of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, disappearing without a trace.


    Below.


    Seeing these True Gods from the two clans completely disappear, and hearing that a supreme powerful being would protect their entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, all the warriors and people within the jade pendant of ice and snow cheered wildly.


    Their homeland was saved!


    They could finally return to their homes!


    As long as their homeland was preserved, they believed that Ye Chen, the incredible young genius of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, would eventually grow strong enough to instill fear in these True Gods from both clans by himself, even without the help of this supreme powerful being, and protect the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    Seeing the True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan vanish, Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God also deeply suppressed the hatred in their eyes, knowing that letting these people go was only temporary, and their vengeance would be exacted sooner or later!


    Bing Wu, Bing Qi and Bing Yi also stood by Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    Huo Mei¡¯er, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke up, "Ye Chen, why didn¡¯t you tell me when your Barbaric Wilderness Continent faced such a great threat? I only heard about the great battle in the Southern Territory from a warrior from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent who arrived at the Leaving Fire Continent."


    "Otherwise, during the great battle in the Southern Territory, I would have brought the Heavenly Saints of the Leaving Fire Continent to help you!"


    "When I heard that countless True Gods might be descending to threaten you, I rushed to seek help from my aunt and the others at the Beiming Clan. There was a major event happening with the Beiming Clan, and my aunt directed me to pay respects to the Ancient Emperor, thankfully the Ancient Emperor descended to the Lower Realm."


    Ding Xiaojia also added, "Brother Ye Chen, when I found out about the threat to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, I went straight to the Yan Clan. Our Jiumang Continent is a subsidiary continent of the Yan Clan. As a result, I ran into Huo Mei¡¯er who had come to seek help, and the Ancient Emperor himself descended when he heard about your situation!"


    "By the way, Brother Ye Chen, the last time you didn¡¯t come out of Mount Wuxing, where did you go? Could it be that you were really sent to the legendary Minor Ultimate Heaven?"


    From the words of Huo Mei¡¯er and Ding Xiaojia, Ye Chen finally understood why the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had descended to help.


    It turned out that Huo Mei¡¯er had sought help from the Beiming Clan, who in turn directed her to seek the assistance of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Meanwhile, Ding Xiaojia had gone directly to the Yan Clan, alerting the Ancient Emperor.


    However, what surprised Ye Chen even more was that Ding Xiaojia and the others actually knew that he had gone to the Minor Ultimate Heaven.


    Furthermore, Huo Mei¡¯er mentioned that a major event was about to unfold with the Beiming Clan, and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had previously mentioned that a great change had arrived in the Minor Spirit Realm, and a vast cleansing threat was imminent.


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind was filled with countless doubts.


    Clearly, something unknown to him had happened in the Minor Spirit Realm.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen nodded with a smile at Huo Mei¡¯er and Ding Xiaojia, then hurriedly called out to the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, "Senior Ancient Emperor, what did you mean when you said a great change has come to the Minor Spirit Realm? What exactly has happened?"


    "What has transpired in the Minor Spirit Realm?!"

 Chapter 550 - 506

    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, who were beside Ye Chen, also turned their gazes toward the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Because they realized that after Ye Chen asked his question, the previously indifferent smiling face of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan became extremely serious, his brows furrowing tightly.


    Clearly, the great changes in the Minor Spirit Realm involved very serious matters.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan looked up at the sky, toward the Minor Spirit Realm above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. After a few moments, he turned his head back to Ye Chen.


    "Young friend Ye Chen, the great changes in the Minor Spirit Realm are a calamity that all true gods and Heavenly Saints of the Minor Spirit Realm must face¡ªas must all the Heavenly Saints from the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm!"


    "If this calamity cannot be overcome, all true gods and Heavenly Saints of the Minor Spirit Realm and all Heavenly Saints of the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm may very well perish!"


    Boom!


    The words of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan left everyone present in shock.


    All the true gods and Heavenly Saints will die?!


    How is that possible?!


    What kind of calamity could kill all true gods and Heavenly Saints?


    Keep in mind, even the divine battles of the three ancient clans of the Divine Phoenix Clan, Vermilion Bird Clan, and Flying Spirit Clan in the Minor Spirit Realm couldn¡¯t possibly result in the death of all the true gods and Heavenly Saints!


    Even someone as powerful as Bing Yi, a Nine Tribulations True God, could only claim to have killed hundreds of true gods from the Flying Spirit Clan. Upon the arrival of even more true gods, he would be unable to kill them all!


    Moreover, this involved the entire Minor Spirit Realm and all the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm. What kind of power could cover such a vast area, affecting so many warriors?


    Even a Divine King would hardly be able to do this!


    Seeing the astonishment on the faces of Ye Chen and the others, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God seemed to think of something even more shocking, their eyes wide with horror when the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan waved his hand and a vast map projection appeared out of nowhere in the void.


    This projection was a scaled-down map of the entire Minor Spirit Realm. Within the projection, a large expanse of ocean in the northern region of the Minor Spirit Realm was conspicuously displayed in a sinister and unusual blood-red color by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan!


    Seeing this ocean, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God exchanged a glance and exclaimed, "The North Dark Divine Sea, ancient emperor, could it be that the legendary ¡¯Great Cleansing Calamity¡¯ is about to descend upon the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents once more?!"


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, coming from the Divine Phoenix Clan, the most powerful among the six ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, obviously had surmised something from the information revealed by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Upon hearing the words "Great Cleansing" from True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, Ye Chen¡¯s heart tightened even further.


    He knew that a situation more dire than the battle in the southern skies, more dire than the arrival of hundreds of true gods to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and more dire than the combined invasion of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was about to unfold.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, with a grave expression, nodded in response to the words of True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God.


    He pointed his finger toward the vast ocean occupying nearly half of the border of the northern region of the Minor Spirit Realm in the void map projection, explaining to Ye Chen, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the others, "This ocean is the famously known ¡¯North Dark Divine Sea¡¯ of the Minor Spirit Realm."


    "The North Dark Divine Sea is flanked by the two Ancient Clans, the North Dark Clan and the Blood God Clan."


    Ye Chen nodded; he had heard of the disputes between the North Dark Clan and the Blood God Clan over the North Dark Divine Sea from the Divine Weapon - Fallen Sword. After encountering the Three-eyed Skeleton in the Five Elements Mountain, he had come to understand even more about the ongoing enmity between the two Ancient Clans because of the North Dark Divine Sea.


    Could it be that this great calamity was related to the North Dark Divine Sea?


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan continued, "The reason why it is called a divine sea, and why the ¡¯North Dark Clan¡¯ and ¡¯Blood God Clan¡¯ are constantly vying for it, is because this sea is a place that all true gods of our entire Minor Spirit Realm cannot comprehend!"


    "This divine sea is shrouded in mystery and, according to legend, has existed in the northern region of the Minor Spirit Realm since the birth of the Minor Spirit Realm continent."


    "No one is allowed to set foot in this divine sea. Even if I, as a Nine Tribulations True God, were to enter the North Dark Divine Sea, I would certainly die without a doubt! There are rumors that even God King Level beings, after coming to the Minor Spirit Realm and attempting to enter the North Dark Divine Sea, perished directly!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen was taken aback by the words of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Divine Kings would perish entering the North Dark Divine Sea?!


    What in the world could be inside this North Dark Divine Sea?!


    "If the North Dark Divine Sea cannot be entered, why do the North Dark Clan and the Blood God Clan still contest for this sea?" Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but ask out loud.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan explained, "That is because, although one cannot enter the sea, treasures continue to fly out from it. The treasures that emerge are at least of Sacred Artifact level, with higher level ones being superior divine artifacts. Many of the Ancient Treasures, nearly reaching Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact status that serve as the defining treasures of these ancient clans, are almost all obtained after they flew out of the North Dark Divine Sea."


    "Moreover, it¡¯s rumored that deep within the North Ming God Sea, countless Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts are hidden! Some people even claim to have seen the ¡¯Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact¡¯ of a God King Level!"


    Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts!


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts!


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind was reeling.


    He felt that there must be unimaginable secrets hidden within the North Ming God Sea.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan said, "The Ancient Treasures that the two old clan chiefs of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan fought over with Bing Yi just now came from the North Ming God Sea."


    "This divine sea, being so far from the three Ancient Clans to the south, makes it difficult for them to compete for its treasures. But the North Ming Clan and the Blood God Clan are right on the border of the North Ming God Sea, so for the treasures that fly out of it, can you imagine they wouldn¡¯t fight over them?!"


    Treasures flying out. Explore new worlds at novelhall.Co?m


    The lowest grade among them are Sacred Artifacts, while higher grades include divine artifacts, superior divine artifacts, and even Ancient Treasures close to Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts!


    Ye Chen finally understood why the North Ming Clan and the Blood God Clan had always wanted to dominate the North Ming God Sea.


    To dominate the North Ming God Sea was to greatly increase the chances of obtaining the treasures that flew out of it!


    However, what connection does this North Ming God Sea, from which treasures constantly flew out, have with the "Great Cleansing Catastrophe"?


    Furthermore,


    if even Divine Kings cannot enter the North Ming God Sea, how does anyone know that Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts and even Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts are hidden deep within it?


    How did those who saw the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts and Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts manage to enter the North Ming God Sea?


    Before Ye Chen could ask, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan already spoke up, "The North Ming God Sea, in normal times, is indeed a blessed land for our entire Minor Spirit Realm. The countless treasures that fly out from it are used by the martial artists of our entire Minor Spirit Realm."


    "However, the North Ming God Sea is not always a blessed land for the Minor Spirit Realm. It bestows treasures to the Minor Spirit Realm, but after a certain period, the North Ming God Sea will also bring a life-and-death threat to the entire Minor Spirit Realm and even to the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm."


    "When this life-and-death threat arrives, a huge change will occur throughout the North Ming God Sea. All the seawater in the North Ming God Sea will begin to retreat, eventually revealing layer upon layer of Undersea Divine Palaces within the North Ming God Sea."


    "When all thirty-three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace in the entire North Ming God Sea are exposed, the palace will emit an incredible suction force, drawing in all the True Gods and Heavenly Saints born in the entire Minor Spirit Realm, as well as all the Heavenly Saints from the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm, into the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "All those inside will face countless threats and deadly crises, but they will also have the opportunity to come into contact with infinite treasures and numerous cultivation paradises."


    "However, everyone has one mission, and that is, within one year of entering the Undersea Divine Palace, they must find the hidden ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ within the palace!"


    "Finding the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ will allow one to successfully escape from the North Ming God Sea when its waters refill the entire sea, at the end of that one year."


    "But within the tremendously vast thirty-three layers of Undersea Divine Palace, it¡¯s rumored that there are at most thirty-three ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯. This means that even if all thirty-three ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ were to be found, at most only thirty-three people could escape from the North Ming God Sea."


    "But among the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm, there are far more than thirty-three True Gods and Heavenly Saints¡ªeasily hundreds of thousands. The rest who don¡¯t get an Eye of Creation will all die inside the North Ming God Sea when the waters return and fill it once again!"


    As he said this, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan looked at Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, think about it, there are at most thirty-three chances to escape from the Undersea Divine Palace, but every person has countless friends. Even for your Heavenly Sacred Palace, there are innumerable Heavenly Saints. Even if all thirty-three ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ were obtained by the Heavenly Sacred Palace, many Heavenly Saints would still perish."


    "Not to mention that in addition to the countless Heavenly Saints from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, there are also Heavenly Saints from the other thirty-two continents, countless True Gods and Heavenly Saints from the Minor Spirit Realm."


    "In the end, all the True Gods and Heavenly Saints who didn¡¯t obtain an Eye of Creation will die in the North Ming God Sea, which is why it is called the ¡¯Great Cleansing Catastrophe¡¯. The Great Cleansing represents the near-total extermination of all the strong from the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents, fundamentally altering the landscape of the entire Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents!"


    "Now, the six Ancient Clans of the Minor Spirit Realm were established by Heavenly Saint True Gods who were lucky enough to survive the previous Great Cleansing. Before the last Great Cleansing Catastrophe, there were many more Ancient Clans older than the six Ancient Clans, but after all their strong were killed in the North Ming God Sea, those Ancient Clans completely fell into ruin and were utterly wiped out!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The words of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan sent shockwaves through Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    So the six Ancient Clans were founded by Heavenly Saint True Gods who had luckily survived the last Great Cleansing.


    Even more Ancient Clans had perished in the previous cataclysmic event!


    No wonder there had been no Divine Kings emerging for so many years in the Minor Spirit Realm, and the number of True Gods had always been limited; it was the repeated Great Cleansing Catastrophes of the North Ming God Sea wiping out countless True Gods and Heavenly Saints that kept the number of True Gods in the Minor Spirit Realm so scarce.


    Otherwise, with the endless passage of years, the number of True Gods in the Minor Spirit Realm would likely have been beyond imagination!

 Chapter 551 - 507: Eye of the Divine Sea

    Cataclysm.


    This colossal upheaval brewing in the North Dark Sea, which could almost annihilate all the Heavenly Saints and True Gods in the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents, indeed, was a vast catastrophe of cleansing.


    "Senior, there must be other ways to avoid the great cleansing of the North Dark Sea," Ye Chen asked the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    If there were no alternatives, countless True Gods and Heavenly Saints could only hope for at most thirty-three survivors. Given this, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan who had learned of the news should have specially prepared a response within his clan.


    His descent to the mortal realm, and his specific conversation with Ye Chen, made Ye Chen feel that the Ancient Emperor had more to say.


    As Ye Chen guessed, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan nodded and said, "To avoid death in the great cleansing catastrophe of the North Dark Sea, the first method is as I previously mentioned, finding the ¡¯Eye of Creation.¡¯ However, the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ can at most save thirty-three people."


    "It¡¯s not enough. This number is definitely not enough, not for all the Sects and ancient clans, not for all the martial artists!"


    "The second method, on the other hand, can ensure the safe escape of everyone drawn into the Undersea Divine Palace of the North Dark Sea. That is, to find another item within the North Dark Sea¡ªthe ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯!"


    "The Eye of Creation can only save an individual, but the Eye of the Divine Sea has the power to save everyone!"


    "It is rumored that the Eye of the Divine Sea is the most unfathomable object in the North Dark Sea."


    "As long as we find the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ and return it to its special location within the North Dark Sea, then everyone who has been drawn in can be safely transported out! And the one who finds the Eye of the Sea God will gain an inconceivable and divine encounter."


    "I sought you out this time, partly to resolve the crisis of the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s encirclement, and partly to discuss with you the matter of finding the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯."


    The Eye of the Divine Sea?


    To rescue everyone?!


    Ye Chen nodded, indeed. This mysterious and immeasurable North Dark Sea could not be aiming simply to exterminate everyone with a great cleansing. It had evidently left a lifeline for the Heavenly Saints and True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents.


    As for what the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan mentioned, about discussing the search for the Eye of the Sea God with him...


    Ye Chen was somewhat puzzled.


    After all, he was merely a martial artist at the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and even though his combat strength was now on par with someone of the First Tribulation True God level, he surely wasn¡¯t significant compared to the countless True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Why had the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan sought him out specifically?


    Could it be because of Bing Yi, a Nine Tribulations True God?


    Yet Ye Chen distinctly felt that the reason the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan came to him didn¡¯t seem related to Bing Yi at all.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s perplexity, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan said, "Young friend Ye Chen, although almost no one is aware of your transmission from the Five Elements Mountain to the Minor Pole Sky, I am."


    "Because in the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancestral Canon, there is a record of the astonishing heavenly phenomena that occur during the transmission to the Minor Pole Sky. Later, when I heard that Ding Xiaojia and Huo Mei¡¯er, these two little ones, came to the Yan Clan seeking help and mentioned your disappearance in the Five Elements Mountain, I knew then that the one who went to the Minor Pole Sky had to be you."


    "Senior, indeed I have been to the Minor Pole Sky," Ye Chen nodded, "But what does going to the Minor Pole Sky have to do with searching for the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯?"


    Ye Chen now finally understood why Ding Xiaojia and Huo Mei¡¯er could move the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan to action; it turned out that the Ancient Emperor had long been paying attention to matters regarding the Minor Pole Sky, hence he took special interest in him and descended to his realm.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan said, "The Minor Pole Sky is a legendary Divine Venerable level training ground, available only to those with exceptional destiny and unparalleled talent to seize such opportunity."


    "Furthermore, according to the records in the Ancestral Canon of my Yan Clan, after investigating numerous ancient records of past generations, among the known great cleansings of the North Dark Sea, out of eighty-four cases, only five had someone find the Eye of the Divine Sea and thus avoided being eradicated by the cleansing."


    "Among those five who found the Eye of the Sea God, two had once been to the Minor Pole Sky."


    "This suggests that those who have been to the Minor Pole Sky possess an extraordinary destiny, and they might well help the entire Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents to escape this great catastrophe. Young friend Ye Chen, your ability to reach the Minor Pole Sky after countless eons, and the coincidental timing of the turbulent changes in the North Dark Sea, naturally compelled me to find you and inform you of all this."


    "Perhaps with your destiny, you too can obtain the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ this time and spare everyone from this disaster."


    "Of course, the ¡¯Eye of the Sea God¡¯ is notoriously difficult to locate, potentially appearing anywhere within the thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "The search for the ¡¯Eye of the Sea God¡¯ is a task for everyone, and this matter won¡¯t be solely entrusted to you."


    "The reason I let those numerous True Gods from the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan escape was that, once they enter the Undersea Divine Palace of the North Dark Sea, they will also search for the ¡¯Eye of the Sea God¡¯ for their own safety. The more people searching, the greater the chances of finding the Eye of the Sea God."


    "For countless True Gods and Heavenly Saints of the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents to survive this great calamity, everyone must make an effort to seek out that ¡¯Eye of the Sea God¡¯!"


    "This is, after all, about the survival of everyone!"


    Towards the end, the voice of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan trembled with excitement.


    Even though he was a Nine-Tribulation True God, facing the great cleansing catastrophe of the divine sea in the far north, he was hardly able to extricate himself, and was naturally extremely nervous.


    Although he was somewhat confident that with the appearance of the "Eye of Creation," he, with the strength of a Nine-Tribulation True God, could obtain one, he also had countless clansmen to consider; he couldn¡¯t just think of his own survival!


    He wanted everyone to survive!


    Thirty-three Eyes of Creation were definitely not enough; even if he obtained them all, they would not save all his clansmen, so of course, he wanted to find the Eye of the Divine Sea!


    The words of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan stirred waves in Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    He finally understood why the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan specifically mentioned the upheaval of the divine sea in the far north.


    It turned out that the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan wanted to make use of his fate and have him earnestly search for the Eye of the Sea God as well.


    Ye Chen certainly decided in his heart that if he was truly drawn into the Undersea Divine Palace in the divine sea of the far north, then for his own survival and the survival of those around him, he would earnestly explore for both the "Eye of Creation" and "Eye of the Sea God."


    He would explore at all costs!


    However, Ye Chen also knew that since the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan said that in the eighty-four great cleansings that have been investigated, only five resulted in the discovery of the Eye of the Sea God, it indicated that the chances of finding the Eye of the Sea God were extremely low, and the likelihood of everyone being annihilated in the great cleansing was extremely high.


    If there was any way to avoid entering the divine sea of the far north, Ye Chen naturally did not want to enter!


    Not entering the divine sea of the far north means not having to fear the great cleansing annihilation conducted on the people inside the Undersea Divine Palace when the waters of the divine sea in the far north refill the entire sea.


    "Senior, is there any way to avoid being drawn into the Undersea Divine Palace of the divine sea in the far north?" Ye Chen asked, looking at the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, "I mean, if someone hides in a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, or let¡¯s say, flies away from the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents, is there any way to avoid this catastrophe?"


    If this method worked, Ye Chen had an extremely good Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying ship left behind by the Divine King of Ice on hand; he could take all the familiar Heavenly Saints and True Gods into the flying ship to avoid the great calamity and even leave the Celestial Spirit Star!


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan shook his head: "Unless one has surpassed the realm of True Gods and reached the God King Realm, they will not be actively drawn in after the upheaval of the divine sea in the far north; all others, as long as they are Heavenly Saints and True Gods transformed from the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents, will absolutely not escape this great absorption, even if they have fled from the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents, they would still be pulled back by boundless power."


    "Young friend Ye Chen, the divine sea of the far north is a mysterious place where even Divine Kings can be killed, filled with Divine Venerable-level Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts. The great secrets inside are simply beyond our knowledge, and it¡¯s quite possible that not even Divine Venerables can comprehend them!"


    "It wants to cleanse all the True Gods and Heavenly Saints; apart from following its rules and searching for the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ to escape the great cleansing, there is no other way!"


    "You will learn all these matters after you enter the divine sea of the far north, from the inscriptions in the first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "In this great calamity, none of us can escape!"


    Boom!


    The words of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan shattered the last bit of wishful thinking in Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    It looked like once the divine sea in the far north began its absorption of True Gods and Heavenly Saints, then he, the True Phoenix, the Mu Lan True God, and other Heavenly Saints like the Lord of Yuan Li Palace, would definitely not escape this great absorption!


    Fortunately, Jiang Yao had not yet stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm, so she might avoid this great cleansing.


    But upon hearing that Ye Chen, the True Phoenix, and the Mu Lan True God would be drawn into the divine sea in the far north, Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes were already filled with worry. She gripped Ye Chen¡¯s hand tightly and even her voice trembled as she asked the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, "Ancient Emperor, how much longer until the great absorption of the divine sea in the far north occurs?"


    She had already lost countless clansmen; she did not want to let Ye Chen, nor did she want the True Phoenix and the Mu Lan True God, her two aunts, enter a place where life and death were completely unpredictable!


    Yet, from the meaning of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan¡¯s words, they were definitely going to be involved!


    "The divine sea in the far north has already begun to change; the waters have started to recede. The Vermilion Bird Clan and the Blood God Clan are constantly watching the divine sea in the far north," the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan took a deep breath and slowly said, "According to the records in the Ancestral Canon, I¡¯m afraid at most, there are only three months left. By then, the waters within the divine sea in the far north will have completely receded, the Undersea Divine Palace will be fully exposed, and all the True Gods and Heavenly Saints will be absorbed into it."


    "Once drawn in, there is one year to find the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and ¡¯Eye of the Sea God¡¯ within the Sea God Divine Palace. Once the year is up, if they have not come out from the divine sea in the far north, then when the waters there resume, everyone inside will die in the great cleansing annihilation!"


    "Only three months left?!" Jiang Yao clenched her teeth, biting her lips tightly as her face turned pale.


    With at most three months left, Ye Chen, the True Phoenix, and the Mu Lan True God would face the immensely terrifying threat of the divine sea in the far north, and Jiang Yao was utterly overwhelmed with worry.


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    Whether it is the thirty-three "Eyes of Creation" or the "Eye of the Divine Sea," which was found only five times in the eighty-four great cleansings, the chances of finding them were incredibly slim.


    If Ye Chen, the True Phoenix, and the Mu Lan True God were annihilated in the great cleansing of the divine sea in the far north...


    Jiang Yao didn¡¯t know how she would face it!


    She even had a resolute thought in her heart to quickly break through to the Heavenly Saint Realm, to enter the divine sea in the far north with Ye Chen, to live or die together!

 Chapter 552 - 508

    Seeing Jiang Yao¡¯s expression, Ye Chen knew what worries occupied her mind, what she was thinking.


    Ye Chen firmly grasped Jiang Yao¡¯s hand.


    No matter what, he would not let Jiang Yao suffer any harm!


    Since this Great Cleansing was inevitable.


    Since he could not escape being swept into this catastrophe.


    Then no matter what, he had to get through this ordeal of Great Cleansing, not only for himself but also to ensure that those close to him would get through, even striving to ensure everyone made it through this disaster!


    The Eye of the Divine Sea?


    Even if he had to comb through all thirty-three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace, he would find it!


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s extremely grave expression, and after everyone fully absorbed the news, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan finally looked at Bing Yi beside Ye Chen and asked, "This fellow cultivator has reached the Ninth Tribulation True God, but I have never seen you in the Minor Spirit Realm. Are you not from our realm?"


    Bing Yi shook her head and looked towards Ye Chen, "I was brought to Celestial Spirit Star by my old master, and now, my new master is Ye Chen."


    "A person from other Star Continents?!" The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was inwardly shaken.


    What shook him even more was the fact that a being of the same rank as himself was willing to address Ye Chen as master.


    If it were an ordinary time, he would probably have bombarded Bing Yi with endless questions about other Star Continents. But with the Great Cleansing catastrophe imminent, and the outcome of life and death unknown, he did not have the mindset to inquire anymore.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan simply said to Bing Yi, "Since fellow cultivator comes from another Star Continent and is not a Heavenly Saint True God born from the Minor Spirit Realm nor the thirty-three continents, you do not need to be involved in this catastrophe."


    There was envy in the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan¡¯s words for Bing Yi.


    Even as a Ninth Tribulation True God, if he got involved in the Great Cleansing catastrophe of the Northern Dark Divine Sea, death was a very likely possibility, and naturally, he envied Bing Yi not having to face this enormous risk.


    However, in the midst of the Ancient Emperor¡¯s envious look, Bing Yi said directly, "If I¡¯m not involved, I will still follow my master into the Undersea Divine Palace of the Northern Dark Divine Sea, and those ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯, I will definitely help my master obtain them!"


    Bing Yi was a Ninth Tribulation True God, among the absolute pinnacle in both the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents.


    She naturally did not want Ye Chen to venture into the Northern Dark Divine Sea alone; Bing Yi was confident that accompanying Ye Chen would provide greater help to him - at the very least, absolutely no one would dare to provoke Ye Chen.


    But no sooner had Bing Yi said this than the Ancient Emperor shook his head, "After the Great Cleansing catastrophe descends, all life forms not from the Minor Spirit Realm or the thirty-three continents will be absolutely unable to enter the Undersea Divine Palace of the Northern Dark Divine Sea."


    "Even if you were to fly into the Northern Dark Divine Sea at this stage, you would be repelled by the boundless power."


    "What?!" When the Ancient Emperor said this, not only was Bing Yi greatly shocked, but Bing Qi and Bing Qi were also taken completely by surprise.


    They, of course, all wanted to accompany Ye Chen to the Undersea Divine Palace of the Northern Dark Divine Sea.


    The best chance they had was to face this catastrophe together with Ye Chen.


    But if none of them could accompany Ye Chen, then even though his powers far surpassed all Heavenly Saints now, even capable of battling lower-tier True Gods, he would still be in immense danger facing the countless high-tier True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm!


    Not to mention, there were the numerous dangers inherent to the Undersea Divine Palace of the Northern Dark Divine Sea itself.


    "The Great Cleansing catastrophe of the Northern Dark Divine Sea is a tribulation and a test of life and death for the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm and thirty-three continents; others cannot participate," the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan finally shook his head and sighed again.


    In the end, he said to Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, I have told you everything about the Great Cleansing catastrophe. Now, I too must return to the Yan Clan to make proper arrangements to confront this great disaster. When the catastrophe truly descends, young friend Ye Chen, we shall meet again!"


    Boom!


    After the Ancient Emperor finished speaking, with a sweep of his sleeves, he flew into the void.


    The three Eighth Tribulation True Gods beside him nodded at Ye Chen and then ascended into the sky.


    Yan Ling¡¯er cast a glance at Ye Chen and after saying her farewells, followed behind the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the three Eighth Tribulation True Gods into the sky.


    In an instant, they all vanished completely from sight.


    "Master!" Although the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had left, the shocking information he imparted left everyone present unsettled, especially Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, who all rallied to Ye Chen¡¯s side, looking at him.


    They never expected that having just met their new powerful master, they would soon face separation and never anticipated that their new master would be swept up into such a terrible Great Cleansing catastrophe!


    "Alright." Seeing Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi with countless things to say, Ye Chen smiled and silenced them with a gesture.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned towards the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent, looking up to the void of the Minor Spirit Realm above!


    "Since this great disaster is unavoidable, then before it arrives, there are some matters that must be completely resolved!"


    ...


    The first matter Ye Chen sought to resolve was to bring back all of the Divine Phoenix Clan members who had fled to the thirty-three continents after the chaos within their clan!


    At this time, Huo Mei¡¯er and Ding Xiaojia, who had heard the dire news of the great cleansing catastrophe, were completely unable to stay calm.


    Although Huo Mei¡¯er was neither in the Heavenly Saint Realm nor the True God Realm and would not be involved in this great calamity, she had seniors who were Saints and even True Gods, and she naturally had to go and inform them.


    As for Ding Xiaojia, who was only at the initial stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, his face had turned pale upon hearing that in just two or three months, he would be engulfed in a terrifying great cleansing catastrophe.


    He needed to rush back to the Jiu Mang Continent to discuss these matters with the seniors of his clan!


    While Huo Mei¡¯er and Ding Xiaojia hastily bid farewell to Ye Chen, he immediately sent Bing Qi to accompany Mu Lan True God to the Li Fire Continent and Jiu Mang Continent to search for the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Likewise, Ye Chen had Bing Yi accompany True Phoenix to the other continents among the thirty-three to search for the Divine Phoenix Clan members there.


    With True Phoenix present, and even the Nine Tribulations True God Bing Yi, Ye Chen believed that all the Divine Phoenix Clan members scattered across the Lower Realm¡¯s thirty-three continents could be brought back!


    Although Jiang Yao was extremely eager to bring back the clan members herself, she was even more adamant about entering the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s Divine Treasure, which had a tenfold increase in cultivation time, to break through to the Heavenly Saint Realm. She planned to join Ye Chen on the journey to the Beiming Divine Sea later on.


    Even the efforts of True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God to dissuade her could not shake Jiang Yao¡¯s determination.


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God also understood that they were the closest to Jiang Yao; she did not want them to risk everything alone, nor did she want to experience an unpredictable outcome again. She wanted to be personally involved!


    In the end, True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God could only agree to let Jiang Yao attempt to break through to the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Ye Chen knew in his heart that upon hearing of the great cleansing catastrophe in the Beiming Divine Sea, Jiang Yao would have such thoughts. He had already decided that he would not let Jiang Yao suffer any harm, regardless of whether she went to the Beiming Divine Sea or not. He would ensure her safety!


    Even if Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi could not enter the Beiming Divine Sea or accompany him,


    Ye Chen had many trump cards in his hand. Should any True God dare to provoke him or Jiang Yao, even higher-ranking True Gods would face a situation from which they could not return!


    Besides retrieving the Divine Phoenix Clan members, which was the most critical issue, the second matter Ye Chen needed to address was related to the "Thousand Lotus Cave Abode."


    The Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the mortal enemy of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, Elder Tuoshan, had been captured and utterly defeated by him.


    Ye Chen had promised the shadow left behind by Heavenly Saint Qian Ji in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode that he would one day capture Elder Tuoshan and bring him back there.


    A promise made to Heavenly Saint Qian Ji was, of course, a promise Ye Chen would fulfill!


    Before Jiang Yao went into secluded cultivation, Ye Chen specially took her to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    The Thousand Lotus Cave Abode was where Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had first met. The pair revisited it with many emotions flooding their hearts. If it were not for the looming shadow of the great cleansing catastrophe, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would have prepared to stay in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode a little longer.


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao returned to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and the Giant Feathered Bird, which originally guarded the inner and outer parts of the abode and whom Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had met before, were completely dumbfounded by the overwhelmingly terrifying aura emanating from them.


    Only a few years had passed since the pair, one in the True Qi Realm and the other in the Flying Spirit Realm, were far weaker than these two creatures. Now, they had cultivated to an untouchable height!


    Even when the Three-Eyed Giant Ape learned that Ye Chen¡¯s true combat power had reached the True God level, it was so astonished that it couldn¡¯t speak!


    It wasn¡¯t until Ye Chen threw the crippled Elder Tuoshan out of his spatial treasure, and the shock of seeing him finally brought the Three-Eyed Giant Ape and Giant Feathered Bird back to their senses.


    Eventually, under the guidance of two mounts of Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao met the shadow of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and saw Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, who was severely injured and unconscious after her flying sword exploded, for the first time.


    When Ye Chen brought the crippled Elder Tuoshan to the side of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji¡¯s shadow, Heavenly Saint Qian Ji looked at the unconscious Lian Yue, tears streaming down his face, "Lian Yue, do you see this? Tuoshan, who once harmed us both, has been captured by Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the successors of our Flying Swords!"


    Of course, Ye Chen would not let Lian Yue remain unconscious indefinitely.


    The body of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji had gone to the Minor Spirit Realm and had not yet returned. This time, he might encounter the body of Heavenly Saint Qian Ji in the great cleansing catastrophe.


    As for Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, severely injured from her flying sword¡¯s explosion with her cultivation completely destroyed, she was no longer considered a Heavenly Saint and would not be swept up in the great cleansing catastrophe.


    Ye Chen left several of his precious Secret Treasures with Lian Yue.


    Ye Chen was confident that with these Secret Treasures, Lian Yue needed only a few months at most to completely recover from the life-threatening injuries caused by the self-explosion of her flying sword. In a few more months, she would be able to wake up and even start cultivating again!


    Ye Chen lamented in his heart that if he survived this great cleansing catastrophe, and if Heavenly Saint Qian Ji did as well, perhaps next time he returned, he might see Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and Lian Yue in true form reunited!


    Having settled the matters of the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, Jiang Yao entered the true tenfold accelerated time cultivation Divine Treasure and began her assault on the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    And Ye Chen moved on to his third matter.


    That was to find Heavenly Saint Di Kong for the little monkey!

 Chapter 553 - 509: The Catastrophe of The Great Purge Descends

    Ye Chen remembered that Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had mentioned before that he had once sensed the power of Heavenly Saint Di Kong in the Ice Palace Snowfield of the Northern Region of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    This was the closest Ye Chen had come to knowing of Heavenly Saint Di Kong¡¯s whereabouts.


    At the Sword Fighting Tournament in Immeasurable Mountain, Ye Chen had even encountered Murong Qiqi from the Ice Palace Snowfield.


    Murong Qiqi had promised to help Ye Chen investigate news of Heavenly Saint Di Kong.


    Later, Ye Chen had entered the Heavenly Sacred Palace, the Icebound Sub Temple, the Five Elements Mountain, Minor Pole Sky, and even been through the battle in the Southern Territory and the great war against Chixiao True God, as well as witnessing hundreds of true gods from the Lower Realm and countless True Spirits of both the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan arriving from other realms¡ª a series of momentous events.


    Now, Ye Chen finally had the time and the power to look for Heavenly Saint Di Kong!


    Although Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation level was only in the early stages of Heavenly Saint Realm, his combat power was now unmatched across the entire Barbaric Wilderness Continent; he could go anywhere he wanted!


    Ye Chen also remembered the scene when he first saw the incredible Dharma Embodiment of Heavenly Saint Di Kong through the Ancestral Blood within his family.


    At that time, the true body of Heavenly Saint Di Kong was a golden behemoth taller than a Giant Mountain, its length over a thousand zhang, dressed in a Purple-Golden Holy Robe, crowned with a Gold-Illuminating Crown, wielding a huge black staff, and cloaked in a long red cape, standing proudly in the void¡ª a majestic presence that left a deep impression on Ye Chen!


    It was an indelible shock to a young boy who had just embarked on the path of Martial Arts upon seeing a Heavenly Saint level entity, especially one as divine and marvelous as the true body of Heavenly Saint Di Kong.


    Even now, having reached the Heavenly Saint Realm and seen Divine Beasts from the Star Continent with even more divine marvels than Heavenly Saint Di Kong such as Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t forget Di Kong¡¯s appearance.


    Back then, it was the great opportunity left in the Ancestral Land by Heavenly Saint Di Kong, the "Ancient God Tower," that truly started Ye Chen¡¯s peerless growth.


    Ye Chen obviously wanted to find Heavenly Saint Di Kong now; on one hand, to let the little monkey meet Heavenly Saint Di Kong, and on the other, to warn Heavenly Saint Di Kong of the impending cleansing tribulation in the Beiming Divine Sea.


    However, when Ye Chen actually traveled to the Ice Palace Snowfield in the Northern Region, he was completely taken aback.


    In the Ice Palace Snowfield, Ye Chen found Murong Qiqi¡¯s cultivation Sect, the Ice Snow Divine Palace, and met Murong Qiqi once again.


    When Murong Qiqi took Ye Chen to a vast ice field deep within the Ice Palace Snowfield, claiming that this was where Di Kong had last been seen, Ye Chen conducted a thorough search of the entire ice field.


    In the end, after Ye Chen had used his supreme power to completely search the ice field and even explored countless underground ice caves beneath it, he still failed to find any trace of Heavenly Saint Di Kong!


    The little monkey by Ye Chen¡¯s side was also extremely anxious!


    Just as Ye Chen was puzzled about where Heavenly Saint Di Kong could have gone to and why he had yet to come looking for the little monkey, Ye Chen came across a massive Ice Cave in a deep underground ice cave of this Ice Palace Snowfield.


    This Ice Cave gave Ye Chen the same feeling as when he had fallen into the endless Ice Cave in the South Pole Ice Field on Earth, where he had acquired the Stars Tower and then traversed to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent¡ª the feeling was exactly the same!


    This discovery completely astonished Ye Chen!


    He had always wondered how he came to arrive at the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. Now, discovering an Ice Cave that looked identical in the Ice Palace Snowfield, of course, shocked him immensely!


    And when Ye Chen tried to enter this Ice Cave, he found that the entire cave emanated a strangely unique radiance of stars, and even with his strength now at True God level, he couldn¡¯t enter this Ice Cave!


    This Ice Cave, it seemed, was sealed by some unfathomable force!


    Finding this significant revelation while searching for Heavenly Saint Di Kong made Ye Chen suddenly feel that the Barbaric Wilderness Continent might be more complex than it appeared.


    Even when Ye Chen had finally called back Bing Yi, one of the Nine Tribulations True Gods who had rushed back from the other 33 continents, and found that even Bing Yi couldn¡¯t enter the Ice Cave, Ye Chen knew that this cave was undoubtedly a realm beyond True God level.


    Eventually, leaving with immense doubts, Ye Chen departed from this Ice Palace Snowfield in the Extreme North.


    ```


    Although Heavenly Saint Di Kong was not found, Ye Chen could follow the instructions of the Artifact Spirit left by Heavenly Saint Di Kong and entrust the little monkey to the care of the Jin Di Clan where Heavenly Saint Di Kong resided.


    However, Ye Chen was not at ease letting the little monkey stay alone with the Jin Di Clan.


    Taking the little monkey into the perilous Beiming Divine Sea was something Ye Chen was even less comfortable with.


    In the end, Ye Chen decided that should he be taken away by the Beiming Divine Sea, he would leave the little monkey in the care of Bing Yi.


    Once he returned from the Beiming Divine Sea, he would continue looking after the little monkey.


    When all matters were settled, Ye Chen began his true cultivation, in preparation for the imminent great catastrophe of the Beiming Divine Sea.


    This cultivation was not about retreating for intensive training.


    Having just finished a breakthrough in his realm, he was not in the state of mind for seclusion and arduous practice.


    Moreover, Ye Chen wanted to make the most of his remaining time to accompany his parents.


    So, during the day, Ye Chen would talk with his parents and the little maid Tao¡¯er while contemplating his cultivation, and at night, he would practice the cultivation insights he had contemplated.


    When they discovered Ye Chen¡¯s current strength commanded the admiration of countless martial artists on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Ye Chen¡¯s parents swelled with pride for him.


    And the little maid Tao¡¯er could not believe that her young master, after going to the Taixuan Sect and then to the legendary Heavenly Sacred Palace, had now reached the unbelievable Heavenly Saint Realm; every time she saw Ye Chen, her eyes shone with stars, her admiration for her young master was utterly boundless!


    Had it not been for the shadow of the great disaster of the Beiming Divine Sea looming over Ye Chen¡¯s parents and the little maid Tao¡¯er¡¯s hearts, their excitement and pride would have been many times greater.


    The little maid Tao¡¯er even complained to Ye Chen, blaming his excessive martial prowess for this catastrophe; if he had not cultivated to the Heavenly Saint realm, this great disaster would not even exist.


    Ye Chen, of course, just smiled at Tao¡¯er¡¯s childish words.


    He understood that the catastrophe was not something one could avoid by hiding; even if he did not go, with people like True Phoenix Mu Lan True God caught in it, he would not be at ease.


    Although he could not take Bing Yi with him this time, he had three Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts on him, as well as countless trump cards. His direct involvement was the only way to truly control many things!


    The most critical aspects of Ye Chen¡¯s contemplation and cultivation were threefold.


    One was the Undying Divine Body and the Icebound Divine Body; another was the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture; and the third was the three major prohibitions of the Purple Blood Divine Sword: "Purple Light," "Extreme Lightning," and "Purple Lightning" sword techniques!


    Especially for these three major prohibitions, Ye Chen applied the greatest effort.


    These three major prohibited sword techniques could elevate the attack power of Ye Chen¡¯s "Purple Blood Divine Sword" beyond that of a supreme-grade Divine Artifact, being the quickest means for Ye Chen to enhance his combat prowess. Hence, Ye Chen naturally studied them attentively.


    Peaceful times always pass quickly.


    When True Phoenix Mu Lan True God and others brought the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan back from the 33 continents in succession, when Jiang Yao had spent more than a month training in the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s Time Flow Rate Divine Treasure¡ªequivalent to nearly two years of real cultivation due to the tenfold time flow rate, and successfully advanced to the Heavenly Saint Realm, emerging from her training.


    When Ye Chen had finally solidified the foundation of his Icebound Divine Body and Undying Divine Body, and mastered seventy percent of the "Purple Light" technique, the first prohibition of the Purple Blood Divine Sword.


    Then, the massive upheaval in the Beiming Divine Sea arrived earlier than expected!


    Just when Ye Chen and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had parted for only two months and ten days, the waters of the Beiming Divine Sea in the Minor Spirit Realm had completely drained, and the Thirty-Three Layers of the Undersea Divine Palace were now exposed.


    And on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent where Ye Chen resided, the formal arrival of the great cleansing catastrophe could finally be sensed!


    ```

 Chapter 554 - 510: Cataclysm, Little Provincial Princess

    First to appear in the void above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent was an incredibly vast oceanic mirage, and strikingly, it was the illusion of the "Northern Dark Divine Sea."


    All the people of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, no matter where they were, could see this huge oceanic mirage in the void.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Barbaric Wilderness Continent; the other thirty-two continents, even those in the Upper Realm¡¯s Minor Spirit Realm, all beheld the spectacle of this oceanic mirage.


    All the Heavenly Saints and True Gods felt a terrifying power descending from this oceanic mirage, slowly enveloping their whole beings.


    This process of being enveloped was incredibly slow, yet it was filled with an unstoppable force!


    This was the mighty power of nature!


    This was the unshakable, mysterious force of nature¡¯s creation!


    "It¡¯s come, the great cataclysm of the Northern Dark Divine Sea has arrived!"


    Minor Spirit Realm, Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Leaving Fire Continent, Jiumang Continent, the Beast Mastery Continent...


    In each of the continents, the True Gods and Heavenly Saints all began to tremble with fear.


    Lately, the news of the cataclysm of the Great Cleansing of the Northern Dark Divine Sea had spread throughout the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm.


    Countless True Gods and Heavenly Saints were unwilling to believe that this catastrophe would befall them.


    But when the initial signs of this cataclysm truly manifest, many Heavenly Saints and even True Gods began to cry out in terror.


    From the messages they had heard, they knew the chances of surviving this great cleansing were incredibly slim.


    They had, not without difficulty, reached the Heavenly Saint Realm, ascended to True God status, and they did not want to die!


    How could this not cause them immense worry and fear?!


    Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the thirteen Southern Kingdoms, Heavenly Wind Kingdom, Qingyang City.


    Lately, Ye Chen had been in Qingyang City accompanying his parents who had returned there.


    After Ye Chen returned to Qingyang City, countless Heavenly Saints came to visit, and even True Gods from the Upper Realm descended to meet with Ye Chen.


    The entire Qingyang City, with the Ye, Bai, and Qian families, experienced an unprecedented buzz.


    The descendants of the three great families, who once found it difficult to even meet with a Heavenly Saint, could now encounter True Gods, and even since the return of Bing Yi, had the opportunity to meet with the great True Gods of the ninth symbolic passing.


    Of course, this filled everyone in the three great families with immense pride!


    But everyone knew that Ye Chen, the bringer of this immense glory to their families, would soon face a terrible cataclysm, which left them feeling proud yet immensely worried for Ye Chen.


    As the awe-inspiring phenomenon of the "Great Cleansing Cataclysm of the Northern Dark Divine Sea" began to emerge in the sky, the descendants of the three great families, along with all the warriors who had been worried about this day¡¯s arrival, all gathered outside Ye Chen¡¯s residence.


    The chiefs of the Ye, Bai, and Qian families, Ye Chen¡¯s childhood companion Bai Xiaodong, Qian Yun, and disciples like Bai Xiaodie from various sects, all came to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    Above the sky and across the land, powerful figures were already densely packed and standing.


    Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, the nine great Ice Guard Protectors, Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Skyscraper Palace Master, Mu Qingqing...


    And there were nearly a hundred members of the Divine Phoenix Clan, young and old, who had been brought back from across the thirty-three continents!


    In the very center, surrounded by everyone, were Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God!


    The Heavenly Saint True Gods present in the arena had already sensed the power of the Northern Dark Divine Sea¡¯s mirage descending upon them from the void, enveloping them, and their faces were beginning to show signs of distress.


    At this moment, Ye Chen knew that he didn¡¯t have much time left. He turned his gaze directly to Bing Yi in the crowd, and to the little monkey that Bing Yi was holding.


    Ye Chen said to Bing Yi, "Bing Yi, just as I told you before, I need you to take good care of my clan and my sect."


    "Even if I can¡¯t return, you must train more powerful warriors!"


    No sooner had Ye Chen finished, Bing Yi had already begun to cry, "Yes, Master, Bing Yi will definitely do it!"


    At his side, Bing Wu cried out even more directly, "Master, you will definitely come back. You¡¯ve received the old master¡¯s inheritance, you¡¯ve passed through the Minor Pole Sky, so you will certainly emerge unscathed from the Northern Dark Divine Sea. Master, we¡¯ll be waiting for you!"


    Although Bing Qi, unlike Bing Yi and Bing Wu who were both female spirit beasts, was not as direct in expressing emotions, his face was also filled with worry at this time.


    Even though Bing Qi had spent only a short time with Ye Chen, Ye Chen¡¯s performance in the main hall of the Ice Sealing Divine Palace had completely won him over to accept this new master.


    How could he not be worried about his master¡¯s ordeal?!


    "Chen¡¯er!" At the side, seeing Bing Yi and Bing Wu shedding tears, Ye Chen¡¯s parents were also stricken with tears streaming down their faces.


    Their child was about to face such a terrible threat, how could they not be anxious and worried to the utmost?!


    The little maidservant Tao¡¯er, with tears rolling down her little face, shouted loudly, "Young Master, you are the strongest. You must come back soon; Tao¡¯er will be waiting for you to return!"


    Seeing the worried expressions on his parents¡¯ and Tao¡¯er¡¯s faces, Ye Chen¡¯s heart was also filled with immense distress.


    "Father, Mother, Tao¡¯er, don¡¯t worry, I will definitely come back safely!" Ye Chen declared decisively!


    Finally, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze drifted again to the teary eyes of the crowd waving at him, towards Mu Qingqing, Murong Qiqi who had rushed in from the Snow Plains of the Ice Palace, towards his childhood companions Bai Xiaodong and Qian Yun, and towards Bai Xiaodie, with whom he had competed in the clan contest...


    Facing this life-and-death unknown great cleansing catastrophe, Ye Chen had long left behind countless treasures and had arranged everything.


    Despite his concerns, he was ready to let go of everything and confront the cataclysm of the Northern Dark Divine Sea with all his might.


    Finally, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze settled on Jiang Yao.


    He gripped Jiang Yao¡¯s hand tightly.


    Life and death.


    They would brave it together!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As if to allocate time for their final farewell, the power of the North Ming Divine Sea wrapped around every Heavenly Saint True God at an incredibly slow pace.


    However, this slowness would eventually come to an end.


    Once the final wrapping was completed, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and all the Heavenly Saints and True Gods from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the other thirty-two continents, and even those from the Minor Spirit Realm emitted a burst of unparalleled red light.


    Red light soared into the sky, tens of thousands of red beams shimmering across the Minor Spirit Realm and all thirty-three continents!


    Finally, all the Heavenly Saints and True Gods were enveloped in this unparalleled red light, and they ascended, flying at an inconceivable speed toward the direction of the North Ming Divine Sea!


    This red light even pushed away all other beings who were not wrapped in red light far, far away.


    Even Bing Yi, the Nine Tribulations True God, was completely repelled by the power of the red light!


    As they watched Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and others take flight, the ground and sky erupted with the cries of the Ye, Bai, Qian tribes, the Divine Phoenix Clan, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the nine great Frozen Guard. It was a chorus of shouts and weeping.


    And the next moment, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and Palace Master Yuan Li completely vanished from sight.


    ...


    When all the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm flew towards the North Ming Divine Sea in the Minor Spirit Realm,


    In the Divine Kingdom of Wan Mu Mountain on a higher realm.


    In the Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province, at the palace of the Duke of the East Province,


    A towering figure was in a secret chamber, looking at a painting that seemed to emanate from the chamber¡¯s wall.


    Looking at the painting, one could see a mysterious spatial law within it; a small painting containing innumerable stars twinkling within!


    Among these countless stars, tens of thousands had turned a bloody red!


    As the towering figure observed the painting, a woman in red stood beside him.


    The woman in red had a spider-shaped mark on her forehead; had Ye Chen seen her, he would surely have recognized her as Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, who once accompanied the Little Provincial Princess to train in the Minor Pole Sky.


    At this moment, the towering figure spoke to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, "Hong Zhu, is that extraordinarily talented young man from the Lower Realm whom Luo¡¯er keeps thinking about from ¡¯Celestial Spirit Star¡¯?"


    Upon hearing the towering figure¡¯s question, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu quickly replied, "Yes, Sovereign! Ye Chen was born on Celestial Spirit Star, a native of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent among the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm!"


    "Celestial Spirit Star." The towering figure nodded and pointed his finger in the air, touching one of the tens of thousands of stars that had turned bloody red in the painting before him, "This time, Celestial Spirit Star has also fallen into the ¡¯Great Purging Catastrophe¡¯."


    "The Great Purging Catastrophe?!" Divine Venerable Hong Zhu exclaimed in surprise upon hearing these words, "Has the Lower Realm undergone the Great Purging Catastrophe again?"


    The towering figure nodded, "The Great Purging Catastrophe is a calamity inherent to our star field since its birth. It¡¯s not just the Lower Realm that has it; our Divine Kingdom realm does too."


    "The Great Purging Catastrophe is a natural selection by the heavens and earth, a way to maintain cosmic balance, undeniable by anyone."


    "The catastrophe in the Lower Realm involves only the Heavenly Saints and True Gods. However, the calamity in our Upper Realm encompasses even Divine Kings, Divine Venerables, and myself, and not even the divine country¡¯s ruler can escape this catastrophe."


    As he spoke, a hint of awe appeared in the eyes of the towering figure,


    A reverence for the cosmos and the universe!


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu nodded as well, "The Great Purging Catastrophe ensures that the number of powerful beings in the universe doesn¡¯t increase indefinitely, maintaining a balance by keeping their numbers within a reasonable range. Fortunately, our Wan Mu Mountain Divine Kingdom just went through a major catastrophe tens of thousands of years ago. The Sovereign himself turned the tide and saved the strong beings of the entire Divine Kingdom. There will not be another Upper Realm catastrophe happening for some time."


    "Nevertheless, when Ye Chen left the Minor Pole Sky, he was still at the late stage of the Spinning Pill Realm. He shouldn¡¯t be involved in the Lower Realm¡¯s Great Catastrophe."


    Hearing Divine Venerable Hong Zhu¡¯s words, the towering figure shook his head, "I¡¯ve already divined it; Ye Chen has stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm, and thus his entanglement in this calamity is inevitable. Whether he can escape this disaster and survive the cosmic balance, we cannot know."


    "Ye Chen has advanced into the Heavenly Saint Realm?!" Divine Venerable Hong Zhu was taken aback.


    Realizing something, she spoke up, "No wonder the Sovereign forbids Luo¡¯er from going to Celestial Spirit Star for the time being. It turns out he has foreseen Ye Chen¡¯s fall into this great calamity!"


    The towering figure nodded, "That Ye Chen, with his remarkable display in the Minor Pole Sky, has indeed caught my attention. However, the great calamity of the cosmos is irreversible. Whether he can overcome this trial will serve as my test for him."


    "Should he fail, his soul will be scattered, permanently lost to the universe, making a visit futile and only causing sorrow. Yet, if he survives, it will prove once more his vitality¡¯s tenacity. At that time, I will take Luo¡¯er to see him."


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu nodded at his side, emitting a sigh.


    At the Duke of the East Province¡¯s palace, next to a vast Divine Pond, the Little Provincial Princess in white, Luo¡¯er, was seated earnestly in meditation.


    Only after she finished meditating did she open her eyes.


    "Father said that I must master the ¡¯Circulation of Heaven Divine Art¡¯ within a year before he agrees to take me to Celestial Spirit Star to see Ye Chen," the Little Provincial Princess said softly, watching the divine water flowing in the Divine Pond.


    "Hmph, I will surely complete it within a year, and Father will lose his bet!"


    "I wonder how Ye Chen is doing. I¡¯ve only mastered the second of the nine scrolls of the ¡¯Formation Art¡¯ from the venerable Tian Yun of the Minor Pole Sky. I don¡¯t know if Ye Chen has reached the third scroll yet."


    After murmuring to herself, she rested for a while, then resumed her focused training.

 Chapter 555 - 511: Undersea Divine Palace

    Ye Chen certainly didn¡¯t know that within the Divine Kingdoms of the higher planes, some great beings were already aware of the impending massive cleansing catastrophe set to befall the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents.


    Even less could Ye Chen imagine that this figure, one whom even Divine Venerable Hong Zhu treated with utmost reverence, was silently watching him, awaiting the outcome of the massive cleansing catastrophe.


    Wrapped in the surging red light that the power of the Northern Dark Ocean had stirred, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Palace Master Yuan Li, and others had disappeared from the territory of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent one moment, and in the next, they had abruptly arrived above an unimaginably vast crater.


    No, it wasn¡¯t a crater, but the Northern Dark Ocean after the waters had receded!


    For Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and everyone else saw below them a sprawling expanse of enormous palace complexes descending layer upon layer. Even though Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense could now cover hundreds of miles, he couldn¡¯t entirely take in these palaces, only sensing that some levels of palaces at the deepest part dipped into a region of darkness impenetrable to divine sense.


    Even without being able to completely survey the layers of palaces within the Divine Sea, Ye Chen understood that these were undoubtedly the thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, revealed after the waters of the Northern Dark Ocean had receded, as mentioned by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    It was the very Undersea Divine Palace where all Heavenly Saints and True Gods would undergo the great cleansing catastrophe.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the others were observing the endless, descending layers of the enormous Undersea Divine Palace, the entire palace complex emitted an incomparable crimson radiance. With a sweep of the light, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the others were directly drawn into the first level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    After a slight dizziness, when Ye Chen¡¯s consciousness cleared, he found himself within an immensely large palace.


    This immense palace, with its ceiling above, was carved with countless strange figures of mythical creatures, humans, spiritual insects, dark demons, and even some bizarre creatures that Ye Chen couldn¡¯t even guess the species of.


    Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Palace Master Yuan Li, and other Heavenly Saints True Gods, who were taken from Qingyang Town alongside Ye Chen, were now by his side.


    Ye Chen also saw that countless individuals had already appeared in the vast palace, and amid the fluctuations of illusory shadows, more and more figures continued to materialize.


    All of these arriving figures were unmistakably from the Heavenly Saint Realm and the True God Realm.


    In just an instant, the vast hall was filled with hundreds of thousands of figures.


    Among these hundreds of thousands, there were seven to eight thousand True Gods alone!


    Clearly, these figures were the countless powerhouses from the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents brought here by the cleansing catastrophe of the Northern Dark Ocean.


    Such an assembly of powerhouses, especially with seven to eight thousand True Gods gathered in one place, was an event that the entire Minor Spirit Realm had not seen for tens of thousands of years.


    But at this moment, no one felt the slightest excitement; all faces were horror-stricken, and even the True Gods were no exception.


    For everyone knew that they were now caught in the midst of the great cleansing catastrophe.


    Their prospects for life and death were unpredictable.


    "Is this really the first level of the ¡¯Undersea Divine Palace¡¯ of the ¡¯Northern Dark Ocean¡¯?!"


    "Heavens, we¡¯ve actually been brought here, truly drawn into the great cleansing catastrophe!"


    Many of the Heavenly Saint True Gods cried out in alarm upon appearing in this hall.


    Others, however, remained silent with grave expressions, their eyes frantically scanning around, evidently contemplating strategies in their minds.


    These Heavenly Saint True Gods clustered together in groups, and from the distribution of these clusters, it was evident that their positions differed based on the different realms from which they had been brought.


    One could distinctly feel that there were several groups where the concentration of powerhouses was the greatest.


    These were the groups of the five great ancient clans within the Minor Spirit Realm that remained after the Divine Phoenix Clan was overrun.


    The five great ancient clans were the Yan Clan, Vermilion Bird Clan, Flying Spirit Clan, Beiming Clan, and Blood God Clan.


    Each group was crowded with seven to eight hundred, or even more than a thousand True Gods, and tens of thousands from the Heavenly Saint Realm. Had the great hall not been large enough, it could not possibly have contained so many powerful beings.


    Besides the five great ancient clans, the other circles with strong auras converging together belonged to the countless forces of the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Although these countless forces could not rival the five great ancient clans with an incredible number of True Gods and Heavenly Saints, they were still numerous in power and also had True Gods among them, presenting a similarly formidable aura.


    In comparison, the martial artists from the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm seemed much weaker in strength.


    All the martial artists present were from the Heavenly Saint Realm and the True God Realm. Despite the large number of powerful individuals scattered across the vast hall, their divine senses were sharp enough to clearly discern each circle.


    Many people from the same realm gathered together, while at the same time, everyone was observing each other.


    Ye Chen, holding Jiang Yao¡¯s hand, stood together with True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Palace Master Yuan Li, Palace Master Mu Yao, and many others from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, surrounded by countless Heavenly Saints.


    With a sweep of Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense, he immediately saw the circles of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan in the grand hall.


    The martial artists from the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan were all gathered together.


    As Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense reached out, the nine-tribulation True Gods, the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, seemed to sense something and turned their divine gazes sharply towards him.


    Boom!


    Seeing one¡¯s enemy brought a surge of resentment.


    If it were not for the current grave crisis where everyone¡¯s lives were at stake, and everyone needed to work together to search for the Sea God¡¯s Eye to save their lives, the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans might have even launched an attack to kill Ye Chen on the spot!


    Even when it was inconvenient to take action, these two old clan leaders, upon setting their divine gazes upon Ye Chen, directly sent him a telepathic message, "Hmph, Ye Chen, you brat, looks like your nine-tribulation True God ally can¡¯t make it to the Undersea Divine Palace this time, can they?"


    "Without a nine-tribulation True God¡¯s assistance, let¡¯s see how you withstand our killing blow!"


    "Don¡¯t think that we will let you go; killing you won¡¯t affect our search for the Divine Sea¡¯s Eye and the Eye of Fortune. When the opportunity arises, be ready to die!"


    The old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan did not hide their murderous intent towards Ye Chen in their telepathic messages!


    Especially the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan¡ªhundreds of True Gods from his clan had fallen at the hands of Bing Yi under Ye Chen¡¯s command, and his beloved son, the Young Clan Leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, had met his demise. The enormous loss had greatly weakened his clan. How could he possibly let go of Ye Chen?!


    If it were not for the presence of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, he might have been unable to restrain himself from attacking Ye Chen right then!


    The actions of the old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan had long been under the watchful eye of many.


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    As they saw the gaze of both old clan leaders turn toward Ye Chen, many in the hall looked at him, wondering why this young man in the early stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm had caught the special attention of both old clan leaders.


    They were unaware of the murderous intent hidden deep in the eyes of the two clan leaders, and the overt murderous intent in their messages to Ye Chen!

 Chapter 556 - 512: Death Bloodlight and the Mysterious Ice Cave

    Being stared down by the elders of both the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan, and simultaneously receiving threats from them through telepathic messaging, Ye Chen directed his gaze at the two clan elders, his eyes also becoming piercingly cold.


    During the time in which he prepared to face the calamity of the great purge, Ye Chen had received many ancient records from the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor regarding the Northern Dark Sea¡¯s great purge calamity sent from the upper world.


    These ancient records included summaries derived from past calamities, detailing various issues that must be kept in mind when attempting to navigate through the thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    One of these items stated that the great purge calamity is a major cleanup and elimination trial for all the Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents.


    Therefore, after entering the Undersea Divine Palace, all Heavenly Saint True Gods would encounter countless life-and-death crises and killings within the thirty-three levels, and obtaining the Eye of Creation and the Eye of the Sea God was definitely not going to be easy.


    However, the real threat of death was not limited to dangers within the Undersea Divine Palace; there was also the threat of other warriors seeking to kill one another.


    The great purge calamity was inherently a process of elimination for the strong, so of course there were no prohibitions against mutual slaughter.


    Still, with countless Heavenly Saint True Gods drawn in, if True Gods were to truly commence slaughtering the Heavenly Saints, it¡¯s likely none of the Heavenly Saints would survive long enough to see the next moment in the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Hence, these "Undersea Divine Palace rules" also gave countless weaker individuals a chance to take on the challenge and seek opportunities to escape the threat of death.


    On one hand, the "Eye of the Divine Sea" was extremely difficult to find, the more people alive meant greater strength in numbers, and hence a larger chance of finding the "Eye of the Divine Sea". This rule effectively meant that True Gods would basically not attack Heavenly Saints.


    However, when there were grudges between individuals, many would not consider the increased opportunity to find the "Eye of the Divine Sea" and would still opt to kill their adversaries.


    Thus, a second rule of the "Undersea Divine Palace" was that warriors who entered could kill each other, but those of higher realms who killed someone of a lower realm would incur severe punishment.


    For every warrior that a higher realm person killed beneath their own level, a "Death Bloodlight" would appear on their body. This Death Bloodlight would provoke the threats of death within the Undersea Divine Palace even more.


    The more one was stained with "Death Bloodlight", the higher the probability they would encounter the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s threats of death, and correspondingly, the higher the probability of being killed by the palace¡¯s threats of death.


    All individuals, even Nine Tribulations True Gods, dared not claim they could handle the threats of death from the Undersea Divine Palace; naturally, they would not rashly kill other warriors and risk being marked by the "Death Bloodlight".


    Just one Death Bloodlight could potentially expose them to a fatal threat from the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Who would dare to take that risk lightly?


    This rule allowed warriors of the same realm to eliminate each other but greatly prevented the slaughter of lower realm warriors by those of higher realms.


    Upon learning this rule, Ye Chen knew that the True Gods from the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan, as well as the two old clan elders, would definitely not dare to easily kill those Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan who were brought back from the other thirty-two continents, nor the Heavenly Saints of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent after being transferred into the Undersea Divine Palace, lest they become tainted with the "Death Bloodlight".


    But Ye Chen would not underestimate the madness of the two elders from the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans.


    Discover more stories at novelhall.Co?m


    They might not dare to kill others, but Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God shared a blood feud with them, and even a death feud with the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan. Ye Chen had no doubt that the Flying Spirit Clan elder would risk being marked with one or two "Death Bloodlights" and still make a move against them.


    Moreover, Ye Chen was aware that the treasures he possessed had long attracted the coveting of the two old clan elders; it was highly probable that they, willing to bear the mark of a Death Bloodlight, would prefer to kill him in order to seize his treasures.


    After all, although the "Death Bloodlight" might expose them to more danger in the Undersea Divine Palace, treasures could also help them fend off danger. Weighing the options, there¡¯s a very likely chance they would make their move.


    Knowing that the other Divine Phoenix Clan members and the Heavenly Saints from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent would not attract fatal danger, Ye Chen felt quite relieved.


    As for the possible dangers that he, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God might encounter, Ye Chen had already discussed countermeasures with Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God before being taken to the Northern Dark Sea.


    In Ye Chen¡¯s hands was a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying vessel, and he feared no attack by the Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    Jiang Yao also possessed the Ice Snow Divine Sword, a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact given to her specifically by Bing Yi. Moreover, she had top-grade divine treasures that would absolutely give her the assurance to escape even when threatened by Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, after retrieving countless clan members, also specifically found several powerful treasures of the Divine Phoenix Clan, as well as a few given by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan. Additionally, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi provided them with various Protective Dharma Treasures. With these, the two were also confident in facing any threats from the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan.


    If the two Nine Tribulations True God elder clan leaders from the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan were fearful of the "Death Bloodlight" and chose not to act, that was one thing; but should they make a move, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God were not afraid.


    In the Undersea Divine Palace, where life and death were unpredictable and the threat of death was omnipresent, it was truly uncertain who would kill whom!


    Ye Chen, who was already prepared in his heart, heard the threatening voice transmissions from the two old clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans, and of course, he was not intimidated.


    His eyes cold, deep within he thought that if they dared to kill him, he would definitely not let them off easily!

 Chapter 557 - 512: Death Bloodlight and the Mysterious Ice Cave_2

    While prepared for the threats posed by the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, Ye Chen was most perturbed not by the dangers these two Nine Tribulations True Gods presented, but by his two great doubts.


    The first grave doubt stemmed from Ye Chen thoroughly scanning every Heavenly Saint True God in the grand hall with his Divine Sense, only to find that Heavenly Saint Di Kong was nowhere to be seen!


    According to the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, all the Heavenly Saint True Gods from the thirty-three continents and the Minor Spirit Realm were inescapable from this grand purge, certain to be drawn into the Undersea Divine Palace.


    However, at this moment, Heavenly Saint Di Kong was absent, much to Ye Chen¡¯s astonishment.


    Ye Chen immediately recalled the Mysterious Ice Cave he had discovered in the Ice Palace Snowfield of the Northern Region, the very location where Heavenly Saint Di Kong had vanished.


    That Mysterious Ice Cave gave Ye Chen a feeling of profound connection, even to the fortunate encounter he had had with the Tower of the Stars, an enigma beyond his and Bing Yi¡¯s comprehension.


    Ye Chen had always felt that great secrets lay hidden within the Mysterious Ice Cave, and now that Heavenly Saint Di Kong was missing, he even suspected that it was due to this cave that Di Kong had managed to resist the grand purge of the Divine Sea of Beiming.


    It seemed likely that the Mysterious Ice Cave held a presence even more enigmatic than the Divine Sea of Beiming, possessing a powerful mystery force that could transcend the suction power of the Divine Sea.


    Ye Chen had fallen into such a strikingly similar Mysterious Ice Cave, where he had obtained the Tower of the Stars and the Primordial Star Scripture, leading him to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent. The Primordial Star Scripture was, without a doubt, a Supreme Divine Art that surpassed the Divine Venerable level.


    Naturally, Ye Chen would conjecture the tremendous power of such a cave.


    Ye Chen¡¯s second major quandary was that he had not seen any of the abducted Divine Phoenix Clan members, who were taken by the Black Crow God King, nor the five senior Nine Tribulations True Gods of the clan who had gone missing, in the great hall either.


    According to the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, even if they had left the Celestial Spirit Star, every Heavenly Saint True God who had transformed within the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents would be inevitably drawn back by the boundless power of the Divine Sea of Beiming.


    At the time, Ye Chen thought that those Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan, taken by the Black Crow God King, along with the five senior Nine Tribulations True Gods, would appear in the Undersea Divine Palace given this rule.


    Yet, Ye Chen had an inkling they would not return so easily.


    And at this moment, he truly did not find them! Continue your adventure with novelhall.Co?m


    Only Heavenly Saint True Gods would be taken for the grand purge.


    Had the five senior Nine Tribulations True Gods advanced into the Divine King Realm, and was that why they hadn¡¯t been taken?


    If they had truly broken through to the Divine King Realm, why hadn¡¯t they returned to the Minor Spirit Realm, to the Divine Phoenix Clan?


    Or had they perished?!


    Ye Chen had no clue whatsoever.


    As for the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan taken by the Black Crow God King, their chances of breaking through to the Divine King Realm were nearly nonexistent.


    This only intensified Ye Chen¡¯s suspicion that perhaps there was a force exceeding that of the Divine Sea of Beiming, which had prevented the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan from being taken back.


    Could it be the power of the same Mysterious Ice Cave that had made Heavenly Saint Di Kong disappear?


    Ye Chen shared his speculations with Jiang Yao through a sound transmission, and both were utterly perplexed.


    Although the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan were not teleported back, sparing them from the threat of the Great Purge, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao became increasingly worried about them.


    What Ye Chen and Jiang Yao didn¡¯t know was that their speculation about the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan who were taken away by the Black Crow God King and not brought back was actually very close to the truth.


    When the Great Purge catastrophe descended, the boundless power of the Beiming Divine Sea even swept out of the boundaries of the Celestial Spirit Star, rolling towards a vastly distant Star Continent.


    However, when this force came into contact with a Mysterious Ice Cave within this Star Continent, it was directly blocked.


    At this moment, looking deeper into the Mysterious Ice Cave, one could see the Black Crow God King, who had taken away the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan, laughing maniacally at the three hundred and sixty-five Divine Beads that had reached the level of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, and there were even three that had achieved the level of Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts: "I¡¯ve struck it rich, I¡¯ve struck it rich, I never expected that by accidentally entering this Star Continent, I would encounter such an astonishing stroke of fortune!"


    If Ye Chen were aware of the situation the Black Crow God King had stumbled upon, he would have been shocked.


    That Mysterious Ice Cave could actually block the limitless power of the Beiming Divine Sea.


    In that Mysterious Ice Cave were numerous treasures; although they were not as marvelous as his own Primordial Star Scripture and Stars Tower, Ye Chen would definitely have wondered why there were treasures in this strange ice cave, and why each treasure was unique?!


    Could it be that there was some connection inside?!


    Of course, at this moment Ye Chen had no knowledge of everything occurring in the realm where the Black Crow God King was, and he kept his vague guesses about the Mysterious Ice Cave to himself.


    Because, after everyone was teleported to the Undersea Divine Palace within the Beiming Divine Sea, as everyone was either sizing up others or preparing their next move, numerous Jade Slips suddenly fell down into the first floor of the palace.


    These Jade Slips landed in the hands of every martial artist in the grand hall of the first floor.


    The Jade Slips clearly stated the rules for the Great Purge calamity of the Undersea Divine Palace in the Beiming Divine Sea.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had previously mentioned the task of finding the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Sea God" to escape the calamity. There was a time limit of one year to search for treasures across the thirty-three floors of the Undersea Divine Palace, and the rule that killing martial artists of lower realms would stain one with "Death Bloodlight" was clearly included.


    The Jade Slips also explained that the deeper one went into the thirty-three floors of the Undersea Divine Palace, the more dangerous it became, the threats of death increased, and correspondingly, the probability of the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea" appearing also increased.


    If one were to die from these threats, it would mean true death.


    If one does not dare to venture further down and hasn¡¯t found the "Eye of Creation," they could hide in a safe place and wait for the one-year period of the Great Purge calamity to end.


    At that time, if someone finds the "Eye of the Divine Sea," those who have hidden away may survive, but if no one finds the "Eye of the Divine Sea," then those in hiding will still face death.


    Moreover, hiding won¡¯t guarantee absolute safety; there will be numerous rogue demons of the Undersea Divine Palace targeting martial artists hidden throughout the various realms.


    One must choose whether to take control of their own fate, risking death to search for the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea," or leave their fate in others¡¯ hands and hide away waiting for the final outcome ¡ª the choice is entirely up to the individual!


    When the Jade Slip containing the rules of the Great Purge calamity of the Undersea Divine Palace fell into each martial artist¡¯s hands, an endless blood-red light emerged from the first floor of the palace.


    From within the blood-red light, all martial artists, even those standing together, those who flew into the same Treasure Space together, and even those like Ye Chen and Jiang Yao who were holding hands, were completely scattered and teleported to the second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace in the Beiming Divine Sea.


    The real threat of death and the real search for the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea" had begun!

 Chapter 558 - 513: The Second Layer of the Undersea Divine Palace

    Ye Chen barely managed to hear a transmission from the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan in his mind reminding him to be cautious of everything, heard Jiang Yao¡¯s soft cry, and then felt her tender hand he was holding torn away by a mysterious blood-red light. Next thing he knew, amidst dizziness and disorientation, Ye Chen found himself in a completely new world.


    "I¡¯ve arrived at the second level of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    Ye Chen looked at the jade slip in his hand, which contained the rules of the Undersea Divine Palace, and saw the symbol for the second out of the Thirty-Three levels light up.


    "According to the jade slip, starting from the second level of the Undersea Divine Palace, the space of each level is as vast as one of the Thirty-Three continents of the Lower Realm, with lengths and widths exceeding hundreds of thousands of miles!"


    "Just by flying, it would take quite a lot of time to traverse these places. If I were to meticulously search these realms for the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and the ¡¯Eye of the Sea God¡¯, it would take even longer!"


    "Moreover, the jade slip also states that each level of the Undersea Divine Palace contains countless folded spaces. Different people may fall into different folded spaces, and it is not possible for warriors in different spaces to encounter each other unless they pass through their respective spatial exits and enter the next level of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "I don¡¯t know if Jiang Yao is in the same folded space as I am, or how many other people are in this folded space!"


    While Ye Chen was contemplating, he tucked the jade slip of the Undersea Divine Palace rules into his chest.


    This jade slip had another special function¡ªit would give a specific alert if a warrior entered the same folded space within a three hundred miles radius.


    Ye Chen planned to search the area while looking for other warriors to see if he could encounter Jiang Yao or True God Murong Lan and the others.


    Once he stored the jade slip away, Ye Chen looked up and observed the second level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Roar! Roar!


    The land was filled with fierce winds, like the howling of beasts, and everything was shrouded in a gray haze.


    Ye Chen touched the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring" on his thumb, and with a flick of his sleeve, he turned into a streak of light, flying forward.


    The Ice Treasure Divine Ring was an auxiliary artifact that Ye Chen acquired from True God Bing Ao of the Ice Wing Tribe in the Minor Pole Sky.


    This artifact, crafted by a powerful Nine Tribulations True God of the Ice Wing Tribe, possessed three extraordinary effects: "Treasure Seeking, Space, and Concealment."


    Ye Chen wore this ring primarily for its "Treasure Seeking" ability. Although it wasn¡¯t certain that he could find the exceedingly precious "Eye of Creation" and "Eye of the Divine Sea" with it, Ye Chen of course wanted to try.


    Apart from the Ice Treasure Divine Ring, Ye Chen also extended the defensive Divine Robe, the "Purple Mist True Garment," to a radius of ten zhang around his body, guarding carefully against everything.


    At the same time, Ye Chen took out the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat and the Purple Blood Divine Sword, keeping them ready in his hands.


    The Undersea Divine Palace was full of deadly threats, and Ye Chen was of course proceeding with caution!


    Ye Chen flew while carefully sending out his divine sense to probe the entire piece of land below him.


    Although the chances of the "Eye of Creation" and "Eye of the Divine Sea" appearing on the second level were extremely low, Ye Chen was not about to relax his search.


    He hadn¡¯t flown for long when sharp, piercing screeches echoed from the ground. In an instant, five beams of black light shot towards Ye Chen at an inconceivable speed.


    Ye Chen instantly felt the tremendous force of the five attacks, all of which possessed the combat power of the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, bombard his body.


    The five beams of black light were incredibly fast and possessed immense power!


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t take attacks of this caliber seriously at all.


    When the five beams of black light were about to strike Ye Chen, he didn¡¯t even need to use the Purple Blood Divine Sword. Instead, he just pointed his finger precisely in the air, and with five "Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!" sounds, he repelled the black lights, making them tumble backward before dissipating to reveal the creatures within.


    These were five half-meter tall, mink-like mystical creatures with strange black armor on their bodies.


    Ye Chen had not expected these incredibly fast and powerful Black Armored Beasts to have such strong defenses.


    Although Ye Chen had only used a pointing motion, the lethal force he unleashed was certainly enough to penetrate the bodies of top-tier mystical creatures at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    It was unexpected that these five Black Armored Beasts could withstand it.


    What surprised Ye Chen even more was that after being struck and sent flying backward, revealing their true forms, these five Black Armored Beasts actually spoke human language, saying, "So powerful, this human, our tribe of ¡¯Black Armored Beasts¡¯ cannot withstand him!"


    "Run! Quick, run!"


    After a few shouts, the five Black Armored Beasts turned back into beams of black light and sped away, disappearing without a trace in an instant.


    "Black Armored Beasts?"


    "Creatures that can speak the human language?"


    Watching the fleeing creatures, Ye Chen had no intention of continuing the pursuit to finish them off. He kept flying forward.


    According to the jade slip of the Undersea Divine Palace rules, every level of the palace was home to two murderous life-form tribes.


    Having encountered the "Black Armored Beast" tribe, Ye Chen wondered what the second murderous life-form tribe would be.


    To Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, after flying for most of an hour and searching hundreds of miles without encountering the second murderous life-form tribe, he had to become even more cautious.


    As Ye Chen flew into a depression in the terrain, a series of light beeping sounds, dozens in all, suddenly came from the jade slip in his chest.


    "Are there other warriors ahead?!"


    "Listening to that sound, there are quite a few martial artists gathered!"


    Whoosh.


    Sensing the presence of other martial artists nearby as indicated by the jade slip, Ye Chen¡¯s speed instantly increased, and he flew toward the valley ahead.


    Before long, Ye Chen saw dozens of figures gathering on a flat land ahead.


    "Another fellow Daoist has arrived!"


    As Ye Chen flew toward those dozens of figures, they also noticed him.


    However, when they saw that the aura on Ye Chen¡¯s body was only at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, their faces showed disappointment.


    They had suddenly arrived in the perilous Undersea Divine Palace and were constantly on edge; naturally, they preferred to be with stronger martial artists. That way, their venture through the Undersea Divine Palace would be much safer.


    .Co?m


    The lowest realm to be drawn to the Undersea Divine Palace was the early stage of the Heavenly Saint, so seeing that Ye Chen was of the lowest realm amongst them, they were understandably disappointed.


    Ye Chen, on the other hand, didn¡¯t pay attention to their expressions. He noticed that he had never seen any of these dozens of faces before. It seemed that these people had not noticed Ye Chen either.


    Ye Chen also noticed that among these dozens of figures, there were two who were Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact level powerhouses; the rest were at the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    At that moment, everyone was gathered around the two First Tribulation powerhouses.


    Whoosh.


    When Ye Chen landed in front of the group, most people were worried about their safety. Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s low realm, they cared even less about him.


    However, an older man in the late phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm approached Ye Chen and said with a smile, "Fellow Daoist, do you come from our Minor Spirit Realm, or from which continent in the Lower Realm?"


    "I come from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent," Ye Chen responded with a smile.


    "The Barbaric Wilderness Continent?" Hearing that Ye Chen was from one of the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm, many martial artists in the crowd sighed.


    The Barbaric Wilderness Continent was one of the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm, certainly not as strong or well-founded as the sects of the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Many in the crowd were disciples of small sects from the Minor Spirit Realm. Although they did not come from the five ancient clans, they obviously did not think highly of martial artists from the thirty-three continents.


    Nevertheless, the older Heavenly Saint who had spoken to Ye Chen did not despise him and said with a laugh, "There are countless dangers in this Undersea Divine Palace. On our way here, we encountered several waves of ¡¯Black Armored Beasts¡¯ ambushing us, and we even witnessed some fellow Daoists die at their hands."


    "Since you have encountered us, let¡¯s explore the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace together."


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded his head, not refusing.


    The Undersea Divine Palace was fraught with life and death crises¡ªit was indeed better to move in larger groups for increased safety.


    The elder, who clearly had strong interpersonal skills, began introducing the other martial artists to Ye Chen as he pulled Ye Chen into the crowd.


    The two First Tribulation powerhouses were named Liao Hua True God and Du Ling True God, each from small sects in the Northern Region of the Minor Spirit Realm.


    In the Minor Spirit Realm, small sects did not have powerhouses beyond the Three Tribulations level; only those with powerhouses above the Three Tribulations could be considered large sects.


    And among the large sects, only those with Fifth Tribulation level powerhouses could be considered major forces.


    Of course, existences like the ancient five clans were something that countless Heavenly Saints and true gods in the Minor Spirit Realm looked up to.


    Besides Liao Hua True God and Du Ling True God, more than twenty of the Heavenly Saints came from small sects in the Minor Spirit Realm, while over a dozen others, like Ye Chen, also came from one of the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm.


    "Alright, let¡¯s move on!"


    When Ye Chen arrived, the group, led by Liao Hua True God and Du Ling True God, was resting. After the two true gods finished resting and were ready to move on, everyone stood up, preparing to continue their journey together.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The two true gods led the way, flying in front, followed by the Heavenly Saints behind.


    While continuing to fly, Ye Chen and the others encountered another dozen or so martial artists, who all joined the group, venturing together through the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen and his companions also encountered dozens of ambushes by "Black Armored Beasts," including two that were at the First Tribulation true god level.


    Liao Hua True God and Du Ling True God were decisive; they not only killed the two First Tribulation level "Black Armored Beasts," but also eliminated any late stage Heavenly Saint level beasts, ensuring the group¡¯s safe passage.


    This made the many Heavenly Saints praise Liao Hua True God and Du Ling True God without end.


    Liao Hua True God and Du Ling True God seemed quite pleased with the praise, smiling as they conversed with the Heavenly Saints flying behind them.


    This process of flying, killing, and treasure hunting continued for half an hour until, just as Liao Hua True God and Du Ling True God had jointly slain another First Tribulation level Black Armored Beast and were enjoying the praises of many Heavenly Saints, Ye Chen¡¯s expression suddenly tightened as he blurted out, "Be careful!"


    No sooner had Ye Chen spoken than Liao Hua True God, who had been smiling at the front, turned pitch-black and plummeted from the sky to the ground, ending his life instantly.

 Chapter 559 - 514: Black-Boned Bug

    Liao Hua True God¡¯s sudden fall to death completely terrified everyone, to the point their souls nearly left their bodies!


    Aside from Ye Chen, who was still cautiously watching over the deceased Liao Hua True God with furrowed brows, reminding everyone to be careful, the rest of the people were simply scared into flying chaotically in all directions!


    Especially the other First Tribulation True God, Du Ling, who was closest to Liao Hua True God, his heart was scared to the point it almost leapt out.


    Although both he and Liao Hua True God were First Tribulation True Gods, Liao Hua True God was a bit stronger than him. And now, Liao Hua True God had died right in front of him.


    This, of course, made Du Ling True God feel that he had narrowly escaped a similar untimely death.


    Very likely, it was only by extreme luck that he had evaded a massacre!


    "What in the world is going on?!"


    Du Ling True God, who had frantically flown to the side, roared out loud, his voice trembling excessively.


    "Liao Hua True God is dead!"


    "Heavens, he was a First Tribulation True God! Without any sign of aberration, he just died suddenly. What is it that killed Liao Hua True God?!"


    The other martial artists who were frightened into flying randomly stopped after a short distance upon facing the vast expanse of the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, even more terrified, and not daring to fly on their own anymore. They stopped at a distance, looking towards the corpse of Liao Hua True God, and began to speak out in panic.


    The previous killings by the Black Armored Beasts, they could see how the Black Armored Beasts killed the martial artists, but now even Liao Hua True God, the strongest in the field, had suddenly perished. And since nobody could see how he was killed, it naturally left everyone utterly frightened.


    Just as they focused their attention on Liao Hua True God, and while Ye Chen¡¯s brows were furrowed as he looked at the corpse of Liao Hua True God, an alarming ¡¯crackle¡¯ noise suddenly came from the pitch-black face of Liao Hua True God, specifically from his forehead.


    There was something in the skull of the dead Liao Hua True God!


    Just as this thought crossed everyone¡¯s mind, Liao Hua True God¡¯s forehead was abruptly cracked open by the ¡¯crackle¡¯ noise, and a monstrosity, as thin as a finger, resembling a tiny black snake with a pair of transparent wings attached to its body, crawled out from the hole in Liao Hua True God¡¯s forehead!


    Everyone knew that it was probably this strange monster bug that had killed Liao Hua True God!


    A thought flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind, this monster bug was likely the second kind of murderous creature group that he had been on guard against in the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Aside from the Black Armored Beast murdering group, this was the second, even more threatening monster bug to all who entered the Undersea Divine Palace!


    As this thought passed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind, the finger-length monster bug that had crawled out of Liao Hua True God¡¯s forehead stuck out its tongue to lick its lips, emitting an incredibly shrill sound, "The life aura of a Heavenly Saint tastes truly delicious, perfectly suits the palate of my ¡¯Black-Boned Bug¡¯ clan!"


    Having said that, the finger-length monster bug then turned its eerie eyes towards Ye Chen and the rest of the people, finally resting its gaze upon Du Ling True God, "I haven¡¯t had enough to eat yet, pity that there¡¯s only one Heavenly Saint left here. I¡¯ll consume this Heavenly Saint first, then exterminate the other intruders!"


    Whoosh!


    As the finger-length monster bug spoke, its transparent wings instantly wrapped around its whole body, and it disappeared from sight in an instant. Then, a whirlwind arose, heading towards Du Ling True God at an unbelievable speed.


    Hearing this talking finger-length monster bug saying it would eat him first, Du Ling True God was already scared to the point of turning pale.


    How could he not realize that Liao Hua True God, who was stronger than him, had died at the hands of this monster bug?!


    Even as a Heavenly Saint, and even though his body was vastly larger than the finger-length monster bug, faced with this unpredictable creature, Du Ling True God was so frightened he had no will to fight left.


    The instant the monster bug vanished, Du Ling True God¡¯s figure rolled up, trying to disappear into the far distance, into the beyond.


    But his speed was not as fast as that of the disappearing monster bug. The very moment Du Ling True God tried to use his Heavenly Saint techniques to escape, he felt his entire body enveloped by an unknown force, leaving him unable to move.


    At the same time, he felt a gust of wind coming towards him, and the boundless deadly force was already piercing through his body in an instant.


    "Am I about to die, just like Liao Hua True God?!"


    "No!"


    Just as the thought flashed through True God Du Ling¡¯s mind, he was so terrified that he let out a scream, even closing his eyes out of fear, but suddenly he felt that the lethal force shooting towards him disappeared instantly.


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    The moment True God Du Ling opened his eyes, expecting death, he saw a hand, which had directly grabbed the fierce monster wind that was scraping towards him, and had caught it entirely in its grip!


    True God Du Ling looked towards the owner of the hand, his mouth hanging open in complete disbelief.


    The person who had intervened was none other than the young Ye Chen from the early Heavenly Saint Realm, whom he had looked down upon and hadn¡¯t even spoken a word to before!


    Not only was True God Du Ling utterly shocked, but the other Heavenly Saints around him also stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding before their eyes.


    They saw the moment the strange monster bug disappeared, followed by True God Du Ling¡¯s startled cries, and finally, they saw Ye Chen, who had been frowning and observing from the side, striking out like lightning.


    When Ye Chen actually made a move, it gave all the Heavenly Saints the impression that the strength this young man from the early Heavenly Saint Realm had suddenly unleashed was even more formidable than that of First Tribulation gods like Liao Hua True God and True God Du Ling!


    Remembering the "Be careful" that Ye Chen had shouted before Liao Hua True God was instantaneously killed, all the Heavenly Saints realized in a flash that this young man called Ye Chen was no ordinary Heavenly Saint.


    He most likely had noticed the weird assassination attempt by the monster bug even before!


    "Squeak squeak!"


    "Let me go! Don¡¯t crush me, let me go quickly!"


    As True God Du Ling and all the other Heavenly Saints looked towards Ye Chen, they heard a shrill scream coming from Ye Chen¡¯s palm.


    This scream was unmistakably the voice of the strange monster bug that had disappeared earlier!


    Ye Chen, who had intervened, had indeed caught the strange monster bug and even made it beg for mercy!


    This young man truly had an incredible method to subdue the terrifying monster bug!


    Unbelievable! Shocking! Overjoyed! Regretful! Worried!


    Countless emotions surged into the hearts of the Heavenly Saints present at the scene.


    They found it hard to believe that a monster bug capable of killing True God Liao Hua was now begging for mercy from this young man from the early Heavenly Saint Realm. Stay tuned with novelhall.Co?m


    They were shocked that a young Heavenly Saint at the beginning stage possessed such unbelievable strength!


    Their joy stemmed from the realization that such a powerful expert was hidden among them, which gave them a greater chance of survival when faced with countless deadly threats!


    Their regret was that they had been too distant from this young Heavenly Saint from the beginning, failing to establish a good relationship with such a strong expert in advance.


    They were worried that this expert might not bother with them, which would mean they were missing a truly powerful support, apparently even more formidable than True Gods Liao Hua and Du Ling!


    While these countless emotions were swirling through the Heavenly Saints, the late-stage Martial Artist who had previously spoken to Ye Chen and had gone to meet him, was also wearing an expression of disbelief at Ye Chen¡¯s strength, but Ye Chen simply pinched with both hands, squeezing the caught strange monster bug between his fingers.


    The black, snake-like monster bug, which resembled a long finger, once again revealed itself.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was no longer holding it in his palm but was instead pinching it with two fingers, the monster bug sensed an opportunity to escape and frantically struggled within the confines of Ye Chen¡¯s fingers.


    However, no matter how much it squirmed, it couldn¡¯t break free from the bond of Ye Chen¡¯s two fingers!


    When Ye Chen said in an indifferent voice, "If you struggle again, I¡¯ll kill you right now," the evidently intelligent monster bug instantly stopped struggling, not daring to make the slightest move!


    It even begged Ye Chen with a piercing voice, "Great one, spare my life, please spare me, great one!"


    The image of a monster bug capable of killing a First Tribulation True God, speaking in a human tongue and begging a young Heavenly Saint for mercy, left True God Du Ling and the other Heavenly Saints with their mouths agape.

 Chapter 560 - 515 The Exile

    At this moment, Ye Chen looked coldly towards the finger-sized, black-colored Little Demon Insect that was pleading for mercy and said, "I would like to ask you, you just mentioned that you are of the ¡¯Black-Boned Bug¡¯ clan. Are your people the second type of killing life form on the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace?"


    "How many of your clan are present on this layer, and what is the battle power of the strongest among you?"


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s questions, the Black-Boned Bug as long as a finger actually started haggling with Ye Chen as a human would: "If I tell my Lord the answers, will you let me go?"


    This "Black-Boned Bug", with its exceptional wit, seemed as if a Spirit Insect had obtained human-like intelligence!


    Ye Chen had heard that it is very difficult for Spirit Insects to have such intelligence.


    The "Black-Boned Bugs" hidden within the mysterious Undersea Divine Palace of the Beiming Divine Sea had clearly shattered Ye Chen¡¯s understanding on this matter.


    "Let you go?" At this point, Ye Chen also became greatly interested in this "Black-Boned Bug" clan, speaking with a faint smile, "As long as you no longer attack any martial artist that enters the second layer, I will allow you to leave."


    "You can¡¯t let it go!" True God Du Ling, standing nearby, changed color in fright upon hearing Ye Chen agree to let this terrifying demon insect go.


    Just because this young boy Ye Chen could block the attack of this demon insect didn¡¯t mean he could.


    If this demon insect attacked him again, he would most likely lose his life instantly.


    Therefore, upon hearing Ye Chen say he would let the demon insect go, True God Du Ling, fearful, immediately voiced his objection.


    However, his voice of opposition ceased abruptly when this "Black-Boned Bug" Little Demon Insect heard his objection and furiously glared at him with its small menacing eyes.


    And the indifferent glance Ye Chen cast his way made True God Du Ling dare not speak again.


    True God Du Ling realized that this Early-Stage Heavenly Saint youth obviously did not fear his First Tribulation True God status.


    This Early-Stage Heavenly Saint youth was clearly not going to change his decision based on what he wanted.


    True God Du Ling dared not voice opposition anymore, and the other Heavenly Saints nearby dared not do so either.


    They all knew that the strongest person present was this Early-Stage Heavenly Saint youth, Ye Chen. Strength determined power, and clearly in their group, Ye Chen truly had the right to speak!


    They also believed that this youth, who had maintained a low profile until the real killing had started and then revealed his formidable strength, must have a way of dealing with these insects since he dared to let one go.


    When no one else raised any further objections, the Black-Boned Bug saw its chance of survival increase greatly and quickly said to Ye Chen: "If my Lord is willing to let me go, I will tell you everything I know!"


    "My Lord asked if our ¡¯Black-Boned Bug¡¯ clan is the second type of killing life form in the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace; indeed, apart from the ¡¯Black Armored Beast¡¯ clan, the only other group that specifically targets the martial artists entering the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace is our ¡¯Black-Boned Bug¡¯ clan."


    "Our ¡¯Black-Boned Bug¡¯ clan exists in all ten folded spaces of this layer. Apart from a great number of Black-Boned Bugs that are tasked with rearing the young and do not participate in the killings, each folded space has as many as ten thousand Black-Boned Bugs involved in the slaughter. The strongest among the Black-Boned Bugs has reached the Two Tribulations True God level."


    Ten thousand Black-Boned Bugs participating in slaughter?!


    The strongest among the Black-Boned Bugs has reached the Two Tribulations True God level?!


    Hearing what the Little Demon Insect "Black-Boned Bug" had said, all the Heavenly Saints present took a sharp breath, and even True God Du Ling felt his scalp tingle.


    Such a number of terrifying insects could possibly annihilate all the Heavenly Saints, and might even kill many First Tribulation True Gods!


    They had no idea how the other Heavenly Saints and First Tribulation True Gods would be able to survive this dire slaughter, and if they couldn¡¯t encounter a powerful True God to assist them, and had no formidable means themselves, then perhaps those Heavenly Saints and First Tribulation True Gods only had one path to death!


    At this time, Ye Chen noticed another layer of information in the words of the Black-Boned Bug.


    The second layer has ten folded spaces?


    Doesn¡¯t that mean that the hundreds of thousands of people brought into the Undersea Divine Palace would be distributed among these ten folded spaces?


    That would mean that there are likely tens of thousands of people in each folded space, and probably seven or eight hundred, if not a thousand, True Gods.


    Your adventure continues at novelhall.Co?m


    "Ten folded spaces, it looks like the odds of encountering Jiang Yao, True Phoenix Mu Lan, and Divine Venerable Dragon Xuan from the Divine Kingdom are going to be low."


    "However, against a killing group of the Two Tribulations True God level, they should have ways to deal with them."


    "Other Heavenly Saints will probably gather around True Gods like us to deal with the crisis."


    After considering the situation in the other folded spaces of the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace for a while, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze returned to the Little Demon Insect Black-Boned Bug pinched between his fingers.


    "Is there anything else you would like to ask, my Lord?"


    The Little Demon Insect Black-Boned Bug kept its gaze fixed on Ye Chen, fearing that he would not let it go. Seeing Ye Chen looking at it again, it quickly spoke up first.


    Ye Chen did not expect the Little Demon Insect Black-Boned Bug to be so astute. He smiled and said, "Little Demon Insect Black-Boned Bug, why has your clan appeared in the Undersea Divine Palace? And how did you come to possess such intelligence?"


    "My lord, we have been banished to the second level of the Undersea Divine Palace by a mysterious force!"


    "Our entire clan, as recorded in our clan annals, did not originally belong to this Star Domain. A mysterious force brought us into this Star Domain. After we were banished to the second level of the Undersea Divine Palace, our spiritual intelligence continuously awakened!"


    Exiled to the Undersea Divine Palace from another Star Domain?!


    Ye Chen was greatly shocked to hear the Black-Boned Bug Little Demon Insect¡¯s answer.


    Another Star Domain?


    Doesn¡¯t that mean the "Black-Boned Bug" clan isn¡¯t originally from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent Star Domain?!


    Ye Chen realized that the Undersea Divine Palace might well be a natural divine calamity of this world, but from the words of the Black-Boned Bug Little Demon Insect, it seemed that transcendent beings were controlling all of this!


    Perhaps they were even adhering to this universal law of natural selection!


    "What kind of being would have the power to banish a clan from another Star Domain to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent Star Domain? It¡¯s likely that such a being¡¯s strength has reached an unimaginable level! Possibly even more formidable than the East Territory King, the father of the Little Provincial Princess, who has transcended the Divine Venerable realm!" Ye Chen¡¯s heart was trembling.


    From the mysterious ice cave that likely made the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s Heavenly Saint Di Kong and others disappear, to the perilous Undersea Divine Palace situated in the Northern Dark Sea, chosen by the divine calamity, Ye Chen felt ever more the mystery of the universe.


    Above the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the Minor Spirit Realm, clearly, the Divine Kingdoms were not the limit. Beyond the Star Domains of the Divine Kingdoms, there were endless other Star Domains, and endless unknown existences, unknown cosmic forces, and transcendent beings!


    Ye Chen took a deep breath, his gaze at last returning to the Black-Boned Bug Little Demon Insect, "I have one last question for you. Those murderous life forms in the lower levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, were they also exiled from other Star Domains? Do you know their strength?"


    "The lower levels of the Undersea Divine Palace?" Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry, the Black-Boned Bug Little Demon Insect repeatedly shook its head, "We don¡¯t know about the situation in the lower levels of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    As if afraid that Ye Chen would not be satisfied with this answer, the Little Demon Insect quickly added, "However, judging from the records of previous openings of the Undersea Divine Palace documented in our clan annals, there are thirty-three levels in the Undersea Divine Palace, and every eleven levels constitute a tier of crisis. With each subsequent set of eleven, the danger increases dramatically! The final eleven levels are so perilous that even higher-ranking True Gods entering there are in extreme danger!"


    "Many who ventured into the deeper levels of the Undersea Divine Palace were ultimately unable to withstand the threats and fled back to the upper levels to escape the calamity. Based on the information brought back by those adventurers, there are definitely incredible beings in the lower levels, including even those at the God King Level!"


    Beings at the God King Level?!


    Hearing the Little Demon Insect¡¯s words, the other Heavenly Saints and True Gods, including Ye Chen himself, all took a sharp intake of breath.


    If there truly were God King Level beings, then perhaps even nine-tribulation True Gods would stand no chance and would be left with no option but death.


    How, then, could one explore the Undersea Divine Palace, and how could one search for the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eyes of the Divine Sea"?


    "Those God King Level beings, I heard that many of them do not easily strike, and they all have many secrets," the Little Demon Insect spoke again.


    Those?!


    The word ¡¯those¡¯ used by the Little Demon Insect made Ye Chen pause in surprise.


    Could it be that there is more than one God King Level existence?!


    With his heart continually shocked, Ye Chen eventually could only let out a long sigh.


    No matter what, one step at a time was the only way to navigate this Undersea Divine Palace.


    After all, there was a year¡¯s time to explore, so first getting through the second level of the Undersea Divine Palace was the priority.


    "Alright, I am satisfied with your answers," Ye Chen finally said to the slender black serpent-like Little Demon Insect with transparent wings that he was pinching between his fingers. He nodded and declared, "As I promised before, I will spare you. However, if you go against what was said earlier and attack martial artists entering the second level again, you will most certainly die."


    "My lord, I wouldn¡¯t dare!" the Black-Boned Bug Little Demon Insect declared, bowing repeatedly upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s threat.


    Seeing the frightened appearance of the Little Demon Insect, Ye Chen smiled lightly and nodded, his fingers gently opening.


    Upon seeing that Ye Chen had indeed spared it, the Little Demon Insect instantly shrieked with joy, and with a bow that resembled that of a human to Ye Chen, it wrapped its translucent wings around itself and disappeared from the scene.


    Had this formidable young man, Ye Chen, truly spared the Little Demon Insect?


    Fearing that the Little Demon Insect might suddenly launch a sneak attack, the other Heavenly Saints and even True God Du Ling gathered closer to where Ye Chen was standing.


    After a long while, upon seeing that no danger had befallen them, they all breathed a sigh of relief.


    At that moment, Ye Chen said out loud, "Let¡¯s go."


    After speaking, he took the lead and flew forward.


    The rest of the group, all the Heavenly Saints, and even True God Du Ling hurriedly followed behind Ye Chen.


    Before, everyone had to follow the arrangements of Liao Hua True God and True God Du Ling, but now, even True God Du Ling was following Ye Chen¡¯s commands!

 Chapter 561 - 516 Man-eating Flower

    Through the Little Demon Insect of the Black-Boned Bug that Ye Chen had captured earlier, he had already learned that the two types of lethal life forms in the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace were the "Black Armored Beast" clan and the "Black-Boned Bug" clan.


    As for the Black Armored Beast clan, the strongest among them was at the First Tribulation True God level.


    And the Black-Boned Bug clan, according to the Little Demon Insect, had its strongest only at the Two Tribulations True God level.


    Ye Chen, of course, had not the slightest fear of such levels!


    Let alone ten thousand murderous Black-Boned Bugs scattered throughout the vast second level realm, which made it difficult to encounter a large number at once, even if all these Black-Boned Bugs came at Ye Chen together, he would not be afraid.


    In Ye Chen¡¯s hands was a large-range attack artifact¡ªthe Thunder Gourd, eliminating Two Tribulations True God-level Black-Boned Bugs as easily as killing chickens!


    With a calm heart, Ye Chen continued to fly forward, exploring as he went.


    The True God Du Ling and the Heavenly Saints following Ye Chen, however, were constantly on pins and needles, afraid that they might carelessly suffer a sneak attack and perish at the hands (or mandibles) of the Black-Boned Bugs.


    However, when they encountered several sneak attacks by Black-Boned Bugs in succession, Ye Chen finally took action and completely annihilated these attacking bugs, which finally put True God Du Ling and the Heavenly Saints at ease.


    They knew that they had followed the right person this time.


    This young Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen, had an inconceivably strong power. With Ye Chen leading them through the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, there clearly wouldn¡¯t be any problems!


    Suddenly, many Heavenly Saints, even True God Du Ling himself, gathered around Ye Chen, lavishing him with praise and adoration.


    But Ye Chen didn¡¯t feel even the slightest bit of pride or concern for the fawning of these Heavenly Saints and True God Du Ling.


    He would not follow in the footsteps of Heavenly Saint Liao Hua, who succumbed to pride and perished without even knowing how he died. Experience more tales on novelhall.Co?m


    Ye Chen constantly reminded himself that he was still traversing the Undersea Divine Palace; he had to find the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea" as soon as possible, in addition to locating the True Phoenix Jiang Yao, Mu Lan True God, and some other familiar Heavenly Saints he could possibly look after.


    But to Ye Chen¡¯s disappointment, after leading these Heavenly Saints and True God Du Ling through a large expanse of territory, they didn¡¯t find even the faintest trace of the "Eye of Creation" or the "Eye of the Divine Sea," which were revealed in the Jade Slip.


    Even after spending nearly ten days, almost completely scouring the entire second layer, they came up empty-handed.


    Even after encountering many warriors within this folded space, they neither discovered any familiar faces nor heard any news of the "Eye of Creation" or the "Eye of the Divine Sea" from these warriors, which greatly disappointed Ye Chen.


    Finally, when Ye Chen stopped beside a revealed passage leading to the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, he let out a sigh, "The second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace is still too shallow, not very challenging, and yields almost no gain. We didn¡¯t even see any of the treasures or unusual places within the palace."


    "It seems, just as the Jade Slip indicated, that the farther down one goes into the Undersea Divine Palace, the more challenging and wondrous it becomes. The ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ are very likely in the deeper levels of the palace."


    "Looks like it¡¯s time to head for the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    The Undersea Divine Palace, consisting of thirty-three levels, gave Ye Chen just one year to find the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea." Naturally, he wouldn¡¯t want to waste too much time on this second layer!


    Preparing to go to the third layer, Ye Chen looked back at the warriors following him.


    At this moment, the number of warriors following Ye Chen had swelled to several hundreds, including several more First Tribulation True Gods among them.


    As for others not present, they, like Ye Chen and his group, were countless Heavenly Saints and lower-ranking True Gods, following behind the strong True Gods, searching together through the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Ye Chen, looking at the several hundred warriors behind him, spoke out, "Fellow Daoists, I am ready to proceed to the third layer. When going to the third layer, we will be transported again into different locations of folded space, and the chances of us meeting again will be slim. I, Ye Chen, hereby bid farewell to all fellow Daoists in advance."


    Hearing that Ye Chen was going to the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, the Heavenly Saints and First Tribulation True Gods behind him became jittery and hesitant.


    While they wanted to continue delving deeper in the hopes of discovering the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea" which could ensure their escape from this great cleansing tribulation, they also feared encountering greater dangers below.


    If they met dangers they couldn¡¯t withstand in the next layer without Ye Chen¡¯s powerful protection, then they might not even have a chance to flee for their lives.


    Looking at these hesitant warriors, Ye Chen chuckled and took strides toward the passage leading to the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Regardless of whether these people chose to go to the third layer or not, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t hesitate for a moment.


    He had to move on to the next layer!


    And even deeper into the layers of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Ye Chen would not sit waiting for death.


    It wasn¡¯t just about the "Eye of Creation;" even if he found one or two Eye of Creation artifacts, he would continue to delve deeper. One or two Eye of Creation artifacts were simply not enough for the survival of those around him!


    Whoosh.


    As Ye Chen entered the passage, a flash of light later, he arrived directly at the third level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    After Ye Chen had completely disappeared from the second level, many of the warriors who were still hesitating clenched their teeth and said, "We¡¯ve only made it to the second level, we can¡¯t stop now. If the third level proves too dangerous, we can still use the passage to return to the second level. If we just hide on the second level, then after a year, the great cleansing tribulation will utterly annihilate the Heavenly Saints and True Gods, and without the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea,¡¯ we will also lose our lives outright!"


    "Let¡¯s go for it!"


    "Continue to the third level and see!"


    In the midst of their conversation, these warriors also flew into the passage one after another, eventually disappearing.


    In the end, there were only a few individuals left hesitating, churning with reluctance, afraid to continue venturing downward.


    The third level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    This was a world densely covered with jungle, and as soon as Ye Chen teleported in, he found himself in a thick forest.


    Within this dense forest were gigantic trees and vines everywhere. Some of the trees had leaves that were even bigger than a house, and the grass on the ground was exceptionally lush.


    From time to time, one could also see an assortment of uniquely shaped flowers with fragrant scents along the path.


    After entering such a densely vegetated world, Ye Chen became even more cautious in his heart.


    With countless trees, countless vines, and countless branches blocking the way, one could never know where dangers lay hidden.


    This was yet another new world, facing a new threat of slaughter. Ye Chen, who knew nothing about this place, of course had to be extremely careful!


    Like in the second level of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen flew forward while on high alert, using his Divine Sense and detection treasures to scrutinize everything.


    "Hm, someone?" After flying for a short while, Ye Chen suddenly heard sharp, piercing screams from ahead, along with numerous shouts of alarm.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense immediately probed towards the source of the sounds.


    Although this jungle world greatly interfered with his Divine Sense, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul had undergone specialized training in the Heavenly Saint Realm and had grown much stronger. Even though it was still greatly affected, within a ten-li radius, he could still discern everything clearly.


    When Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense focused toward the source of the sounds, he saw a scene that was both shocking and thrilling.


    The shock came when Ye Chen saw, on a patch of open ground in the jungle ahead, beside the path were five gargantuan plants in the shape of flowers. At that moment, the five massive flowers were actually attacking five of the dozens of people on the open ground.


    When Ye Chen probed with his Divine Sense, he directly saw five Heavenly Saints wrapped by these huge flowers, with half their bodies engulfed within the petals, only their lower halves exposed.


    Moreover, the lower halves of these five Heavenly Saints were continually being enveloped by the flowers, dragging them into the petals¡¯ interior.


    From a distance, it looked as if the flowers were consuming these Heavenly Saints!


    It wasn¡¯t just a semblance. When Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense probed inside the flowers, he saw that it was a real act of swallowing!


    These flowers were actually a species of "Man-eating Flowers"!


    The petals and stamens inside were like grinding disks, continuously shredding the flesh of the Heavenly Saints that had been wrapped inside. Large patches of blood were flowing out from within the petals.


    The earlier screams were indeed from the five Heavenly Saints who were being devoured and dragged into the petals.


    The shouts of alarm were from the other people nearby!


    In addition to the shock of the "Man-eating Flowers" being able to devour even Heavenly Saints, what delighted Ye Chen was that he finally saw someone he knew all too well in the distance.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan!


    It was indeed the strongest figure from the thirteen countries of the south of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, who had reached the middle stage of Heavenly Saint Realm.


    At that moment, dressed in a yellow robe, with a fiery red mark between her brows and a face fair and pure, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan was casting fire magic, joining forces with several other dozens of warriors to attack the five "Man-eating Flowers" that were devouring the Heavenly Saints.


    Even though these dozens of warriors were all Heavenly Saints, and among them were a few late-stage Heavenly Saints, they were helpless against those five Man-eating Flowers.


    Even more so, upon seeing that in almost the blink of an eye, the five Heavenly Saints who had earlier been attacked by the gigantic Man-eating Flowers were completely devoured, leaving no trace of life, and those five enormous Man-eating Flowers, seemingly unsatiated, launched another lightning-quick attack on the people, causing all the Heavenly Saints to be so frightened that they instantly retreated.


    And then, something even more unbelievable happened.


    Around these Man-eating Flowers, countless gigantic trees, vines, and grasses seemed to "come to life," all moving wildly and launching frenzied attacks toward the dozens of warriors who were now surrounded by them.


    One particular blade of grass, which was originally only a few feet long, suddenly grew to dozens of feet in an instant, like an awe-inspiring green ribbon, and in a flash wrapped around Heavenly Saint Long Xuan who was among the crowd!

 Chapter 562 - 517: Black Rose

    The attack power of these enormous trees, vines, grasses, and huge flowers is incredibly astounding.


    Even the Heavenly Saints within, including those in the later stages, couldn¡¯t fully resist with just their combat power. Only a few people managed to barely fend off the assault of these trees, vines, grasses, and huge flowers by summoning powerful magical treasures.


    The vast majority of the others had already fallen completely into crisis!


    Among the crowd, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, even with exceptional combat power in the Southern Territory, was at a disadvantage in the enormous crisis of the Undersea Divine Palace, which enveloped the whole Barbarian Wilderness Continent and countless Martial Artists from the thirty-three continents and the Minor Spirit Realm.


    At this moment, facing the crazed entanglement of the suddenly enlarged grass that resembled a horrifying cyan ribbon, even her use of a Fire Element Divine Art to attack it was still bound by this blade of grass.


    The Fire Element Divine Art she cultivated could incinerate thousands of trees, yet it couldn¡¯t burn even a bit of this vastly enlarged blade of grass.


    As the grass tightened its grip, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan felt a genuine threat to her life!


    It was very likely that in the next moment, she would share the fate of the five Heavenly Saints who had been killed by the man-eating flowers!


    Just as a look of panic appeared on the pure and holy face of Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, she suddenly felt that a figure flew to her side.


    Then, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan saw the figure slash through the void, and the wildly enlarged blade of grass that had bound her and which she couldn¡¯t breach with all her methods, was instantly chopped into countless segments.


    The constricting force that had bound her vanished in an instant.


    Someone had saved her!


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan quickly looked towards the figure, and when she saw his face, she exclaimed in surprise, "Ye Chen!"


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had heard rumors long before the battle in the Southern Territory that Ye Chen¡¯s strength was so formidable it rivaled that of a True God.


    But she had never seen it for herself.


    This time, however, she truly witnessed it!


    The one who rescued Heavenly Saint Long Xuan was, of course, Ye Chen!


    Years ago, in the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had rescued Ye Chen from Elder Kugu¡¯s hands. Now, seeing Heavenly Saint Long Xuan in danger, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t stand idly by.


    When Ye Chen used the Stellar Power he had cultivated from the "Primordial Chapter" to execute the Gold Element Divine Art "Golden Light Divine Slash," he instantly cut through the enormous grass that had entangled Heavenly Saint Long Xuan.


    The Gold Element Divine Art "Golden Light Divine Slash" is one of the Five Great Divine Arts from the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Taiyuan Chapter."


    When Ye Chen completed the Taiyuan Chapter, the power of the Five Great Divine Arts reached Perfection Level. The power of the Five Great Divine Arts alone could instantly kill a late-stage Heavenly Saint. Find more to read at novelhall.Co?m


    What¡¯s more, Ye Chen had now infused them with the Stellar Power from the "Primordial Chapter."


    The power of the Gold Element Divine Art at this moment was so tremendous that not only could it defeat late-stage Heavenly Saints, but Ye Chen was also confident he could severely injure or even kill Gods undergoing the First or Second Tribulation!


    Ye Chen had sensed early on that the killing force of the enormous blade of grass entangling Heavenly Saint Long Xuan was merely at the level of a First Tribulation True God. Naturally, cutting such force was as easy as flipping his hand.


    Seeing Heavenly Saint Long Xuan looking at him in surprise and greeting him, Ye Chen nodded back with a light smile and then immediately flew back up into the high sky.


    Although Heavenly Saint Long Xuan¡¯s crisis had been resolved, there were still dozens of Heavenly Saints completely enveloped in crisis. Since Ye Chen had taken action, he certainly wouldn¡¯t watch these people get killed without doing anything.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Ye Chen, who had flown high into the sky, suddenly reached down with a massive hand, and immense power immediately enveloped all the "alive" enormous trees, vines, grasses, and flowers within several miles.


    Then, Ye Chen fiercely lifted his hand upward.


    This unparalleled power astonishingly uprooted all the enormous trees, vines, grasses, and flowers. Countless trees, vines, grasses, and huge flowers began to struggle wildly in the sky, flailing madly!


    Ye Chen¡¯s Great Five Elements Sword Light Divine Art erupted from his palm in an instant, "Sizzling," wave after wave of sword light power began to wildly race along the branches and leaves of these plants and even eventually slashed towards them.


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    In an instant, the enormous trees, vines, grasses, and huge flowers in the sky were all chopped into innumerable pieces.


    The Heavenly Saints who had been entangled by these plants all fell out of their bounds and hurriedly flew to the side, escaping to safety!


    As Ye Chen made another grabbing motion in the air at this time, these chopped segments of enormous trees, vines, grasses, and huge flowers were all imprisoned in the void. Immediately after, Ye Chen¡¯s Fire Element Divine Art "Heaven-Devouring True Fire" was activated, and in an instant, the sky-full of plant segments chopped into pieces blazed furiously into flames!


    Gold Element Divine Arts, Swordsmanship Divine Arts, Fire Element Divine Arts¡ªYe Chen unleashed several Great Divine Arts, completely annihilating this terrifying patch of man-eating plants in an instant!


    In the end, as all the plants were restrained and burned in the sky, everyone even heard the plants emitting a bone-chillingly miserable scream.


    Clearly, these plants were a kind of murderous life form in the third level of the Undersea Divine Palace, hidden within this jungle world, specifically targeting Martial Artists for killing.


    Crackle! Crackle!


    But no matter how the murderous life forms screamed in agony, they couldn¡¯t escape their fate of being cut down and burned. Eventually, the pitiful screams faded away, and the whole world became utterly quiet again.


    All the Heavenly Saints who had fortuitously escaped death all looked towards Ye Chen in the void above, their mouths agape in awe.


    Just now, Ye Chen¡¯s earth-shattering move made them feel as if they were witnessing a True God wielding punishments!


    Overwhelming the world, unmatched!


    ...


    "Ye Chen!"


    As the crowd continued flying forward, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan kept looking towards Ye Chen at her side.


    She couldn¡¯t understand how this boy, who was much younger than her, had grown to such an extent.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan felt that, whether it was the Martial Skills Ye Chen cultivated, or his True Qi, even his Physical Body and Divine Soul, they all seemed much stronger than her, not at all like what a young Heavenly Saint at the early stages should possess!


    Not to mention the early stages of Heavenly Saint, she had never even felt such a level of power in those at the late stages of Heavenly Saint!


    Feeling a bit embarrassed under the continuous gaze of the stunningly pure and dignified Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, who had a dot of cinnabar at her forehead, Ye Chen smiled and said to her, "Elder Long Xuan, how did so many of you come together? Did you encounter Jiang Yao in the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace?"


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan also realized the impropriety of staring at Ye Chen like this for so long. Her beautiful and pure face turned a shade of crimson. She looked at Ye Chen and smiled, saying, "The dozens of us were transmitted directly from the gateway of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s second layer to the third and met each other right after arriving."


    "It seems we were directly transported into a realm of danger!"


    "Ye Chen, luckily we ran into you this time. Otherwise, we might all be dead now!"


    Speaking of the end, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan also felt a chill in her heart, and her pretty face turned somewhat pale.


    At the mention of Jiang Yao, whom Ye Chen had asked about, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan shook her head: "I didn¡¯t see Jiang Yao in the second layer, but I did encounter the Mu Lan True God. Thanks to the Mu Lan True God, I managed to safely get through the attacks of the ¡¯Black-Boned Bugs¡¯ and charge into the third layer!"


    "Now the Mu Lan True God should also be in the third layer, but it is unknown whether he is in this particular folded space or not."


    "Didn¡¯t meet Jiang Yao, but encountered Mu Lan True God?" Ye Chen nodded and his eyes shifted towards the void.


    Having not heard any news about Jiang Yao, nor having seen her, he was quite worried about Jiang Yao.


    ...


    "Auntie!"


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that at this moment, Jiang Yao had also arrived at the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace and had encountered the True Phoenix!


    However, the space Jiang Yao and True Phoenix were in did not belong to the same folded space of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s third layer as Ye Chen.


    "Auntie, have you seen Ye Chen?"


    Now, flying beside True Phoenix, Jiang Yao, also worried about Ye Chen, was asking about his whereabouts.


    When she saw True Phoenix shaking her head, Jiang Yao¡¯s small face became filled with concern.


    Although Ye Chen was much stronger than her, in this deadly Undersea Divine Palace, having great strength didn¡¯t guarantee safety.


    How could Jiang Yao not be deeply worried, having not met Ye Chen all this time!


    "Princess Yao, let¡¯s go. The deeper we go, the fewer Martial Artists we meet, and it¡¯s said that there are fewer folded spaces too, so the chances of encountering others are greater. Let¡¯s quickly search through this third layer and find the entrance to the fourth layer. Maybe on the fourth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, we could meet Ye Chen," True Phoenix spoke to Jiang Yao, whose face was full of concern.


    "Okay," Jiang Yao nodded, then took off with True Phoenix.


    As the two flew out of a vast forest region, they suddenly discovered a dazzling array of roses blooming in the valley ahead.


    All of these roses were an astonishing, mystical black color!


    ...


    "Black roses?!"


    As Jiang Yao and True Phoenix encountered black roses in another folded space, Ye Chen¡¯s group, ahead in a valley, also spotted a vibrantly blooming expanse of the same mystical black roses.


    These black roses were much larger than normal ones, each plant standing five to six meters tall, and what was even more astonishing was that upon smelling the fragrance of the black roses, everyone felt their own True Qi surging rapidly inside.


    "Is this field of black roses the second lethal life form in this third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, or is it a Land of Wonders?"


    Even though the aroma of the black roses caused everyone¡¯s True Qi to rapidly increase, the Martial Artists who had just traversed a vast region of man-eating plants were still hesitant to act rashly.


    Ye Chen, at the forefront of the group, looking out over the valley filled with blooming black roses, felt a stir in his emotions.


    Having studied Lord Tianyun¡¯s "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," he realized at a glance that this entire field of black roses was actually a Grand Formation.


    A Grand Formation buzzing with vital energy for cultivation!


    "This place is a Land of Life, not a land of death. It is said besides deadly dangers, there are also numerous wondrous places in the Undersea Divine Palace. It seems we have encountered one such wonder!"


    Taking the lead, Ye Chen headed straight for the valley of black roses.

 Chapter 563 - 518: Guidance of the Divine King

    From the outside, this appears to be a small valley covering thousands of zhang.


    However, upon truly entering this black Rose Valley, Ye Chen discovered that it was an immensely vast world!


    World within a world!


    Inside the Rose Valley, there was another hidden space, another realm within the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Ye Chen saw that in this immeasurabily vast world, there were plants of black roses as tall as five to six meters everywhere, each black rose blooming gorgeously upon the thorny stalks, dazzling and eye-catching!


    Ye Chen also saw that within this world of black roses, endless light was shining on a place in the void.


    Looking towards that place, one could see a figure with long legs, dressed in black, and sitting in the void like a queen!


    The aura of this woman in black caused Ye Chen¡¯s heart to tremble; it was the aura of a Divine King that he had once sensed in the Minor Pole Sky.


    Was this woman a Divine King?!


    How could a Divine King appear in the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace?!


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes were filled with disbelief.


    After Ye Chen flew into this space, those following him, including Heavenly Saint Long Xuan and the others, also flew into this space.


    "So many black roses!"


    "Heavens, such dense true qi! Cultivating here for a year might be as effective as cultivating outside for a hundred years!"


    "What place is this, could it really be a miraculous place within the Undersea Divine Palace?!"


    Seeing the sky full of black roses and sensing the extremely rich true qi in the world, all the martial artists who entered this space let out cries of surprise.


    However, when their gazes shifted from the ground to the figure in black in the sky bathed in an endless glow, their cries of surprise stopped abruptly.


    Because all of them realized that the aura emanating from this woman in black was something they had never encountered before, it was more special and more terrifying than the aura of a Nine Tribulations True God that they had faintly sensed before!


    Although they had never seen a God King-level being, they all thought, just like Ye Chen, that this woman in black might very likely be a Divine King!


    "Divine King!"


    Thinking of this title, everyone was holding their breath and dared not make any sudden moves!


    It was not only the people in the folded space where Ye Chen was located who discovered this Rose Valley and the woman in black inside the valley.


    In the other seven folded spaces of the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, including the space where Jiang Yao the True Phoenix was, where the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was, where Palace Master Yuan Li and others were, where the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan at Nine Tribulations True God realm was, and where the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan was...


    In every folded space, as long as the martial artists had passed through the Man-eating Forest, they all encountered a Rose Valley and discovered the woman in black in the valley, likely a God King-level being!


    After discovering this woman in black, even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, the elder clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, the elder clan leader of the Vermilion Bird Clan, and those at the Nine Tribulations True God realm dared not make any sudden moves or even speak!


    In the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, there were a total of eight folded spaces, and each one contained such a black Rose Valley with such a woman in black. It was extremely abnormal!


    This woman in black seemed as if she could simultaneously control all eight folded spaces! Your next chapter awaits on novelhall.Co?m


    She looked at everyone in the eight folded spaces, at Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan... Her cold and stunningly beautiful eyes swept over everyone and then turned towards the outside of the valley, as if she was waiting for something else.


    After waiting for several hours, countless figures of martial artists passed the previous checkpoints and flew into the Rose Valley of the eight folded spaces. Once no more people entered, the woman in black finally spoke.


    Her voice resonated simultaneously in all eight folded spaces.


    "I am called Hei Mei, and you may address me as ¡¯God King Hei Mei¡¯."


    Boom!


    The first sentence spoken by the woman in black sent shockwaves through the hearts of all the martial artists in the eight folded spaces.


    Even though many had speculated that the woman in black was a Divine King, it was less startling than hearing it from her own lips.


    A Divine King! That was a being capable of traversing the starry skies and different continents of stars!


    It was definitely an existence that transcended a True God!


    To know that even a Nine Calamities True God could only be confined to a single Star Continent, incapable of traversing the starry universe, yet a Divine King could do it.


    They had actually encountered a Divine King in the third level of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Everyone was unable to believe it, they dared not believe it.


    Such a being, if they wanted to kill them, it would be as easy as flipping their hand, filling countless warriors¡¯ hearts with panic.


    Amidst the panic of countless warriors, the woman in black, "God King Hei Mei," continued, "Those of you who have entered the Undersea Divine Palace this time, some are incredibly fortunate, yet others highly unfortunate."


    "The great fortune is that this time, I have been assigned to guard the third level. Encountering me on this level, I can provide you some guidance, allowing you to better navigate the Undersea Divine Palace later on."


    "The great misfortune is, my appearance in the first three levels also signifies that the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ will definitely appear in the last three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace. The last three levels, the thirty-first, thirty-second, and thirty-third, are also the most dangerous ones!"


    "If you want to obtain the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯, you must enter these last three levels for a chance!"


    The words of God King Hei Mei turned the faces of countless warriors deathly pale.


    Even Ye Chen, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, the Elder Chief of the Flying Spirit Clan, and others had their expression turn exceedingly uglier in an instant.


    Previously, according to the rules of the Undersea Divine Palace jade token, the "Eye of the Divine Sea" could appear on any of the thirty-three levels. Everyone was hoping that the "Eye of the Divine Sea" would appear among the earlier levels.


    After all, the levels above were safer, and their chances of obtaining the "Eye of the Divine Sea" were greater.


    Looking at the histories of the eighty-four recorded Beiming Divine Sea great purgations, the mere five times someone found the "Eye of the Divine Sea" were all within the first twenty-two levels.


    If the Eye of the Divine Sea didn¡¯t appear within the first twenty-two levels, the chance of finding it was virtually zero!


    Even if it was possible that during unrecorded great purgations, someone found the Eye of the Divine Sea in the last few levels, the chances were extremely slim.


    The words of God King Hei Mei were essentially announcing that it was very likely all the hundreds of thousands of warriors would encounter a great cleansing, and in the end, the only ones likely to survive would be the person who obtains the "Eye of Creation," with at most thirty-three survivors!


    How could this not leave the myriad of warriors in despair, making faces like Ye Chen, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, who wished to save all their companions, look exceedingly grim?


    God King Hei Mei saw the expressions of the crowd, but her cold and stunning face remained completely undisturbed.


    She continued, "I¡¯m afraid all of you have guessed that the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ is almost beyond your reach."


    "That¡¯s why I say this is your great misfortune."


    "However, as I¡¯ve mentioned before, encountering me is your great fortune as well. I shall provide you with some guidance. Now, listen carefully to these guidelines!"


    "These guidelines involve the search for the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯!"


    Boom!


    The words of God King Hei Mei made the countless previously despairing warriors all turn their gaze towards her.


    Even Ye Chen, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and others all looked towards God King Hei Mei.


    If...


    The Eye of the Divine Sea was in the last three levels, in the most dangerous levels, almost impossible to obtain, then those thirty-three Eyes of Creation were truly invaluable.


    Everyone, of course, wanted to obtain them!


    Everyone, of course, wanted to strive for more Eyes of Creation, to allow themselves and even more of their companions to survive!


    "I can tell you the locations of the thirty-three ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯."


    The guidance from God King Hei Mei startled everyone from the get-go.


    Only to hear God King Hei Mei say, "The thirty-three ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ are spread across four levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, the closest to you being in the sixth level of the Undersea Divine Palace. Inside, there is one Eye of Creation!"


    "And further down, in the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, there are eight Eyes of Creation."


    "In the twenty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace, there are ten Eyes of Creation."


    "The last fourteen Eyes of Creation are in the thirty-third level of the Undersea Divine Palace!"

 Chapter 564 - 519: Despair!

    Boom!


    As the words of God King Hei Mei fell, all eight folded spaces within the eight Rose Valleys were filled with noise.


    Everyone had even stopped caring about their reverence for the powerful aura of God King Hei Mei, completely unable to suppress the agitation, panic, surprise, and madness within their hearts!


    The thirty-three Eyes of Creation were actually distributed among the four levels of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    In the sixth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, there was one Eye of Creation; in the fifteenth level, eight Eyes of Creation; in the twenty-first level, ten Eyes of Creation; and in the thirty-third level, fourteen Eyes of Creation!


    These thirty-three Eyes of Creation represented the only thirty-three chances for survival in the great Divine Cleansing Calamity!


    Who wouldn¡¯t want to survive?


    Who wouldn¡¯t want to snatch them?!


    If it weren¡¯t for the fear that God King Hei Mei still had guidance to offer, countless individuals would immediately seek the passages to the deeper levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, and hurry to the sixth level as quickly as possible.


    The lowest thirty-third level of the Undersea Divine Palace had the most Eyes of Creation, a total of fourteen, but everyone knew that it was almost impossible to find an Eye of Creation in the most dangerous thirty-third level.


    The next best possibility was to snatch the remaining nineteen Eyes of Creation from the sixth, fifteenth, and twenty-first levels.


    Though the sixth level had only one Eye of Creation, it was obviously the easiest place to obtain an Eye of Creation, so naturally, countless Martial Artists wanted to head there first to find that one!


    After all, for many, it would probably already be very difficult to reach the sixth level, let alone venture to even deeper levels.


    It was only individuals like Ye Chen and the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan who were still considering the Eyes of Creation in the deeper realms, as well as the Eye of the Divine Sea that might exist on the very last three levels, which was extremely difficult to obtain.


    Witnessing countless individuals unable to restrain their nervous and crazed emotions, God King Hei Mei let out a light laugh.


    With her laugh, her stunningly beautiful face, like melting snowflakes or blossoming pear flowers, mesmerized countless Martial Artists in an instant.


    After her light laugh, God King Hei Mei spoke again, "Seeing you all like this is like seeing the bewildered, scared, fearful, and panicked state I was in when I was banished to the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "This kind of emotion even caused countless life forms banished to the Undersea Divine Palace and many God Kings to fall into madness, to kill you all in order to alleviate their anger and fear."


    "However, after I figured it out, I was willing to offer you more guidance."


    These words of God King Hei Mei caused utter turmoil among the countless Martial Artists.


    Clearly, what God King Hei Mei meant was that in the deeper levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, the intention of many life forms to kill them might intensify and there were even mad God Kings!


    Their journey through the lower levels of the Undersea Divine Palace would definitely not be easy!


    The Martial Artists in turmoil could only continue to listen to the guidance of God King Hei Mei.


    They could only try to find more help for their adventure in the Undersea Divine Palace from the guidance given by God King Hei Mei.


    Indeed, as she said, God King Hei Mei was willing to provide the Martial Artists with more guidance.


    She continued, "The Divine Cleansing Calamity is extremely difficult to get through. Finding the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ is definitely not simple either!"


    "In the deeper levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, the lower you go, the more dangerous it gets. Among tens of thousands of you, if a few hundred manage to survive, that would be truly remarkable."


    "I fear that before the Divine Cleansing Calamity comes to completely annihilate you Heavenly Saint True Gods, before you even find the Eyes of Creation, the vast majority of you will have already died within the thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "Let me tell you, those of you who are Heavenly Saints, if you do not have absolute strength and support, do not try to venture below the eleventh level."


    "Although there is only one Eye of Creation in the first eleven levels, even if you await death, you still have a certain chance of survival. Perhaps some of you might obtain the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ and escape with your lives by luck. But if you take the risk and go below the eleventh level, I fear that all the Heavenly Saints among you will die!"


    This is a warning from God King Hei Mei to all Heavenly Saints.


    Upon hearing the words of God King Hei Mei, countless Heavenly Saints were torn apart inside.


    They had already ventured through two levels of the Undersea Divine Palace and had witnessed the terrifying life-threatening entities within, and the life-threatening entities in the parts of the Undersea Divine Palace they had seen so far were even the weaker ones.


    Without even thinking, they knew what lay further ahead would be even more horrifying!


    However, if they were to just sit and wait for death, that was something they were absolutely unwilling to do.


    As countless Heavenly Saints struggled with their decision, God King Hei Mei turned her gaze towards all the True Gods within the eight folded spaces, "As for True Gods, I must remind you, if you don¡¯t have powerful means and strength to rely on, True Gods below the fifth calamity should absolutely not set foot below the twenty-second level; even in the first twenty-two levels, you must be extremely careful to stay alive."


    "As for True Gods above the fifth calamity, you can try to enter the Undersea Divine Palace below the twenty-second level, but it¡¯s just that, a trial. Once you enter the Undersea Divine Palace below the twenty-second level, any level could be the end of your life."


    "Alright, that is all the warning I have for everyone," she concluded.


    "Now, all of you who are willing to take the challenge can continue to venture downward, those who are not can simply stay in my Rose Valley to cultivate."


    "After this point, such calm and safe places will be rare!"


    After God King Hei Mei finished speaking, a flash of divine light sparked in the void, and her figure disappeared simultaneously from the eight Rose Valleys within the eight folded spaces.


    At the same time, the teleportation array leading out of Rose Valley appeared before everyone.


    When God King Hei Mei had completely vanished, the entire eight folded spaces instantly plunged into chaos.


    "Charge!" Stay updated via novelhall.Co?m


    "No matter what, I must quickly enter the sixth level to find that Eye of Creation!"


    Many people immediately moved, entering the teleportation array inside Rose Valley, transmitting themselves outside of Rose Valley, and directly flying through the third-level domain of the Undersea Divine Palace, searching for the passage to the fourth level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    At this moment, it was already certain that neither the "Eye of Creation" nor the "Eye of the Divine Sea" were present in the third or even the fourth and fifth levels, so of course they would not waste time in these levels any longer.


    Of course, many people, especially many Heavenly Saints, hesitated completely.


    "God King Hei Mei said that without absolute reliance, Heavenly Saints shouldn¡¯t enter below the eleventh level. But in the first eleven levels, there¡¯s only one ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯."


    "Just one, with so many people competing for it, even True Gods are vying for it. How could I, merely in the Heavenly Saint Realm, possibly obtain it?"


    "Moreover, to go to the sixth level, I still have to get past the fourth and fifth levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, it is very likely that I¡¯ll die before I even reach the sixth level."


    "What to do, what to do?!"


    These people didn¡¯t dare go any further down.


    Yet they also knew that if they didn¡¯t go down to seek the "Eye of Creation", waiting here would also not offer them much chance of survival.


    After all, without the Eye of Creation, the only thing that could save their lives, the "Eye of the Divine Sea," had an almost zero chance of being obtained by anyone in the final three levels.


    Waiting like this, at best, they would just live a little longer. Even if they cultivated fiercely in Rose Valley, when the great cleansing catastrophe began to eliminate the Heavenly Saint True Gods, they would still inevitably die.


    To go was to die.


    Not to go was also to die.


    Countless Heavenly Saints had already fallen into despair.

 Chapter 565 - 520: The First Eye of Creation

    Countless people were in despair, and countless others had already begun to take action!


    At that moment, Ye Chen turned to look at Heavenly Saint Long Xuan beside him.


    "Elder Long Xuan, do you wish to continue venturing deeper?" Ye Chen asked Heavenly Saint Long Xuan.


    If Heavenly Saint Long Xuan chose to continue the descent, then Ye Chen would certainly need to take her along as they searched for the passage to the fourth level of the Undersea Divine Palace within the third level.


    If Heavenly Saint Long Xuan decided to stay within Rose Valley...


    Then Ye Chen would naturally respect Heavenly Saint Long Xuan¡¯s choice.


    He would act on his own!


    With a resolute look in her beautiful eyes, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan glanced at the warriors who were already flying out of Rose Valley and said, "I will continue downwards. At the very least, I cannot just remain on the third level to wait for death."


    Ye Chen nodded, "Then let¡¯s go together!"


    Whoosh.


    After two flashes of light, both of them were transported out of Rose Valley and returned to the world outside the third level.


    Knowing that the "Eye of Creation" was on the sixth level, Ye Chen was not about to waste any more time on the third level.


    With a grand gesture, he grasped at the void, and the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact¡ªhis mystic vessel¡ªappeared right beside him, suddenly expanding from a small craft into one a thousand zhang long.


    "Elder Long Xuan, let¡¯s take this vessel and break through the third level of the Undersea Divine Palace!" Ye Chen called out directly to Heavenly Saint Long Xuan.


    "This vessel!" When Heavenly Saint Long Xuan laid her eyes on the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, the mystic vessel that appeared beside Ye Chen, she was utterly astonished!


    As a Heavenly Saint who had once been the foremost warrior among the Thirteen Countries of the Southern Territory, her vision was anything but ordinary.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan could feel that the vessel Ye Chen commanded was unlike any mystic vessel she had ever seen; it was even more wondrous than any divine-level vessel she had observed from afar.


    The divine radiance spilling from the entire vessel was so dazzling that even as a mid-stage Heavenly Saint, she found it hard to keep her eyes open.


    And the battle scars that adorned the vessel¡¯s dark hull exuded a suppressing force that made even Heavenly Saint Long Xuan¡¯s spirit tremble with awe.


    Clearly, the one who had left those battle marks on the vessel must have been an unbelievable powerful being!


    Clearly, this vessel must have been a mystic vessel of an unbelievable level!


    It was likely the legendary¡ªHeaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    And when Heavenly Saint Long Xuan truly accompanied Ye Chen aboard the vessel, witnessing the incredible power that enveloped it as it flew at a speed surpassing most True Gods within the second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, even when they encountered the second type of killing entity on the third level, mighty treants that stood a hundred zhang tall and intended to block their way, and the vessel shattered countless of them instantaneously into dust, including several treants leaders at the level of a Third Calamity True God


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan was absolutely certain¡ªthis was indeed a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    Ye Chen, the genius youth from the Thirteen Countries of the Southern Territory, had a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact in his possession!


    It wasn¡¯t until they had reached the entrance of the passageway from the third level of the Undersea Divine Palace to the fourth level and disembarked the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact that Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, still feeling dizzy, managed to recover from the shock of the vessel¡¯s power.


    "Ye Chen." After stepping off the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact and feeling a gust of wind blow by, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan¡¯s dizziness finally dissipated.


    With gleaming eyes, she looked at Ye Chen, "You possess such treasures!"


    "With a vessel of this level, we can reach anywhere in the Undersea Divine Palace with due caution, save for its most dangerous levels. You will definitely obtain the Eye of Creation and escape to safety!"


    "As long as you escape, there is still hope for our Southern Territory, even for the entire Barbarian Wilderness!"


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had a feeling that Ye Chen, who had always created miracles, would continue to do so within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    She believed that Ye Chen would surely survive!


    Ye Chen gravely nodded at Heavenly Saint Long Xuan.


    Not only did he need to survive, but he was also determined to ensure the survival of those around him, and he would strive to enable every Heavenly Saint in the Barbarian Wilderness, as well as the Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Divine Phoenix Clan, to live on!


    "Elder Long Xuan, I obtained this vessel from a relic. I will definitely utilize this vessel, along with my capabilities and treasures, to search for the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ to the best of my ability," Ye Chen declared.


    "Please take good care of yourself, Elder Long Xuan, and be cautious in everything. Only by staying alive is there hope!"


    Ye Chen could not guarantee that he would obtain the "Eye of the Divine Sea," but he did want to remind Elder Long Xuan to be vigilant.


    Otherwise, if Elder Long Xuan were to fall within the Undersea Divine Palace, then even if he obtained the "Eye of the Divine Sea," he would not be able to save her.


    Understanding Ye Chen¡¯s intention, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan gave a lovely smile and nodded gently.


    ```


    "Let¡¯s go,"


    "This passage to the fourth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, I wonder if it will transport us to different folded spaces separately. In any case, wherever we are sent, we must be cautious."


    After Heavenly Saint Long Xuan finished speaking, she and Ye Chen, who had retracted his flying boat, walked together toward the passage.


    Whoosh!


    After a flash of divine light, the two vanished from the third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The next moment.


    Ye Chen had arrived in the fourth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The fourth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace was an immensely vast desert world.


    In the first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, everyone was drawn into a grand hall; in the second layer, the warriors encountered two murderous life forms, the "Black Armored Beast" and the "Black-Boned Bug."


    In the third layer, they encountered man-eating plant life forms and a large group of tree people.


    In this fourth layer, the boundless desert realm, it was clear that there were also murderous life forms present.


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t have the time to worry about what murderous life forms were in this fourth layer nor did he intend to search thoroughly through it.


    It wasn¡¯t just the fourth layer, he even intended to swiftly pass through the fifth layer,


    to quickly head to the sixth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace to find the sole "Eye of Creation" in that layer!


    "As expected, I¡¯ve been separated from Elder Long Xuan."


    "Since that¡¯s the case, there¡¯s no time to lose, let¡¯s quickly search for the passage to the fifth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    Boom!


    With a grand gesture, Ye Chen activated the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat once again and boarded it. Then, riding the flying boat, he explored the entirety of the fourth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, searching for the passage to the fifth layer!


    ...


    While Ye Chen was hurriedly heading to the sixth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace on the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, silhouettes of others also sped towards the sixth layer at the highest speed possible.


    The Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Elder, a True God of the Nine Tribulations, didn¡¯t bother with his clansmen. As soon as he left Rose Valley, he conjured a superior-grade divine artifact flying boat and sped on his way.


    Being at the realm of the True God of the Nine Tribulations, although his flying boat was not as powerful as Ye Chen¡¯s Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, he could utilize the full power of his superior-grade divine artifact flying boat. His speed was much greater than that of Ye Chen, who could only harness a tiny fraction of the powers of his Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat.


    By the time Ye Chen had just reached the fourth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, the Elder of the Flying Spirit Clan had already arrived at the fifth layer and was continuing to search for the passage to the sixth layer!


    Not only was the speed of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Elder extraordinarily fast, but the speed of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s Elder was also no slower than that of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Elder.


    They weren¡¯t thinking about the "Eye of the Divine Sea" just yet, but for their own survival, the "Eye of Creation" was of greater importance to them!


    They were determined to do whatever it took to seize the sole "Eye of Creation" in the sixth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    At this moment, their true natures were revealed; they didn¡¯t even care whether their clansmen were alive or dead in these layers. Even when they encountered their own people, they would not stop to take them along.


    In a life or death situation, they needed to survive!


    To ensure their own survival first!


    Clansmen? They were now left behind!


    ...


    In contrast to the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Elder and Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s Elder, who were first taking care of themselves, the equally powerful Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was constantly looking after his people and was much slower than the two great Elders of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans.


    And those True Gods and Heavenly Saints, who were flying rapidly on their own, were not as powerful as the two Elders of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans, and were naturally far behind.


    In fact, many Heavenly Saint True Gods, while flying at high speeds, were ambushed by murderous life forms and perished directly.


    The Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s Elder and Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s Elder, who were rushing to the sixth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, encountered the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan on the fifth layer. Seeing even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan being left behind, they felt a surge of excitement.


    They were confident that, very likely, the first "Eye of Creation" would fall into their hands!


    Boom! Boom!


    When the two of them, almost simultaneously, arrived at the sixth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, ready to begin a thorough search of the entire layer, a voice that crushed their hearts to the depths of despair rang out.


    They heard a voice echoing throughout the entire Undersea Divine Palace, reaching the ears of all the martial artists who had entered: "The first ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ has been obtained by a martial artist!"


    "Of the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ left in the Undersea Divine Palace, there are still thirty-two!"


    ``` Enjoy new adventures at novelhall.Co?m

 Chapter 566 - 521 Jiang Yao鈥檚 Encounter

    Stay tuned to novelhall.Co?m


    When the elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan heard this voice, they were completely dumbfounded.


    "The first Eye of Creation has already been obtained?!"


    "How is that possible? Our flying speed is absolutely the fastest among all, even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan is behind us!"


    "Who else could surpass us?!"


    "Impossible!"


    "Impossible!"


    The elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan simply refused to believe it.


    The two of them had almost simultaneously flown from the fifth level of the Undersea Divine Palace into the sixth and had been in the same folded space all along.


    Both of them had thought that the fight for the first Eye of Creation was between the two of them, but to their astonishment, someone else had beaten them to it.


    And it wasn¡¯t just a simple case of being beaten to the punch.


    It meant that their chances of survival had just decreased!


    In the entire Undersea Divine Palace, there were only thirty-three life-saving opportunities, and now, even the single easiest-to-obtain survival qualification on the sixth level had been taken by someone else.


    Only thirty-two chances to survive remained, and the rest were even deeper within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    This outcome was something the elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan just couldn¡¯t accept.


    For a moment, they remained utterly stupefied upon just entering the sixth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, in a world where flames engulfed everything as far as the eye could see.


    The elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan were unable to accept that someone had snatched the Eye of Creation before them. At this moment, in the fifth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen, who had just encountered a group of Heavenly Saints from the Heavenly Sacred Palace and was leading them towards the sixth level, was also somewhat stunned.


    "So quickly, the first ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ has been obtained? Who could be so fast? Could it be one of the three Nine Tribulations True Gods¡ªthe Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, or the elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan?"


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t know that not only were the elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan at a loss, even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was guessing whether it was the two elder clan leaders who had obtained the "Eye of Creation".


    None of the three great Nine Tribulations True Gods had any gain whatsoever!


    The one who obtained the first Eye of Creation was someone else!


    At this moment, as all the warriors in the entire Undersea Divine Palace heard that the first Eye of Creation had been claimed and were plunged into shock, in the sixth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, within a world of seas of fire, stood a young beautiful girl in a light blue dress, holding in her hands a crystal-clear, fist-sized, purple-red mysterious crystal inlaid with mysterious magical runes, her delicate face filled with disbelief.


    "Is this the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯?"


    The purple-red mysterious crystal in the hands of this stunning girl looked exactly like the Eye of Creation described on the Jade Slip that all warriors who entered the Undersea Divine Palace had.


    This purple-red mysterious crystal was none other than the "Eye of Creation"!


    The beautiful girl was the one who had obtained the first "Eye of Creation"!


    Looking at this stunning girl, one could see her skin was fair and flawless, her face exquisitely beautiful, and especially her pair of bright, clean eyes, pure as the stars.


    This stunning girl, if not Jiang Yao, then who?!


    Nobody knew that the person who had obtained the first "Eye of Creation" was Jiang Yao.


    Even Jiang Yao herself could hardly believe it!


    After flying out of the third level¡¯s Rose Valley of the Undersea Divine Palace, Jiang Yao and True Phoenix headed toward the fourth level.


    Their speed was not fast compared to many others, and they couldn¡¯t even outpace many True Gods, let alone the elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    Jiang Yao had never even entertained the thought that she would obtain the first "Eye of Creation."


    All she wanted was to make her way downward as quickly as possible to see if she could encounter Ye Chen.


    But to Jiang Yao¡¯s surprise, after she and the True Phoenix entered the passage from the third to the fourth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace,


    she didn¡¯t get directly transferred into the fourth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace; instead, she was directly teleported to the sixth floor!


    And she was directly transmitted onto a fire island in the middle of a fire lake within this fiery sea world, where she immediately saw a strange crystal that closely resembled the "Eye of Creation" lying on the ground in front of her.


    Initially, Jiang Yao thought she had arrived at the fourth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace and that the strange crystal was not the "Eye of Creation." But when Jiang Yao picked up the strange crystal, suddenly the whole sky and earth resounded with a voice.


    The voice announced that the first "Eye of Creation" had been obtained by a warrior!


    As the voice rang out, Jiang Yao¡¯s mind sensed a strange life force emanating from the odd crystal in her hand, this life force informed Jiang Yao that she had become the master of this "Eye of Creation," and she had earned the qualification to escape the great purge.


    In an instant, Jiang Yao knew the strange crystal she had acquired was indeed the first "Eye of Creation" within the sixth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    In a way completely beyond her imagination, she had bypassed the fourth and fifth floors of the Undersea Divine Palace, arriving directly at the sixth floor, and directly before the "Eye of Creation."


    She had arrived faster than the Vermilion Bird Clan and Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s elder chieftains, who were swiftly flying through the Undersea Divine Palace floor by floor!


    "What on earth happened?"


    "Why did I go from the third floor of the Undersea Divine Palace directly to the sixth floor, and straight to the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯?"


    With the "Eye of Creation" in her hand, her starry, bright eyes filled with confusion and bewilderment.


    At that moment, something even more unexpected happened to Jiang Yao!


    In the fire lake where Jiang Yao was, on the fire island, the entire expanse of void in front of her was completely torn apart, revealing a passage enveloped by five-colored lights that suddenly appeared before her.


    As soon as the passage appeared, an inexplicable force wrapped around Jiang Yao and the "Eye of Creation" in her hand, drawing her entirely into the passage.


    In a flash, Jiang Yao disappeared from the sixth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The next moment, Jiang Yao found herself in a sealed cave filled with countless runes and symbols on its walls!


    At the same time, an ancient female voice sounded in Jiang Yao¡¯s mind: "Little girl, inscribed within this cave is a set of Divine Soul Secret Art called ¡¯Nirvana Nine Transformations.¡¯ Although you have obtained the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ if you cannot comprehend this secret art within half a year, I will take back the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ I bestowed upon you."


    "Little girl, do not let me down, and come to understand this Divine Soul Secret Art!"


    This sudden ancient voice completely astounded Jiang Yao.


    "Divine Soul Secret Art ¡¯Nirvana Nine Transformations¡¯?! Comprehend this art within half a year?"


    Jiang Yao¡¯s gaze turned to the countless runes on the walls of the entire sealed cave.


    What amazed Jiang Yao even more was the identity behind the voice.


    Did this voice just say it was she who bestowed the Eye of Creation upon her?


    Who is this voice?!


    And it can control the Eye of Creation?


    Why did she bring me here?


    And what place is this cave?


    Jiang Yao had become completely engulfed in confusion.

 Chapter 567 - 522

    While Jiang Yao was engulfed in confusion,


    if a being of immense power had looked towards the location of the sealed cave dwelling where she was, one would have seen that this sealed dwelling was situated on the very bottom of all thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Jiang Yao, having obtained the first Eye of Creation on the sixth level, was directly transported by a mysterious force to the deepest, most dangerous, and also the most secret thirty-third stratum of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Furthermore, it was not just any part of the thirty-third stratum.


    The cave dwelling where Jiang Yao resided was in the most secluded depths of the thirty-third stratum in the Undersea Divine Palace, a hidden void realm that was sealed off.


    This void realm didn¡¯t even belong to the thirty-three strata of the Undersea Divine Palace that all martial artists aspired to explore; it seemed as if it was detached from the Undersea Divine Palace altogether!


    Looking into this sealed void realm, besides the sealed cave where Jiang Yao was, there were continuous mountain peaks in existence.


    At this time, ten figures were seated in meditation at the summit of the highest mountain peak in this void realm.


    These ten figures were all female, and among them, nine radiated an aura similar to that which Ye Chen had encountered in Minor Pole Sky from Divine Venerable Hong Zhu.


    These nine figures were actually nine Divine Venerables!


    And in the center of the nine figures, there was an old crone whose aura was even more powerful than that of the nine Divine Venerables.


    She was a being that had transcended the level of Divine Venerable!


    All the martial artists who had been transported to the Undersea Divine Palace could never have imagined that within the most hidden void realm of the thirty-third stratum, there were nine Divine Venerables and even one existence that had surpassed the level of Divine Venerable.


    Not only would all those martial artists be unaware, but even the myriad murderous life forms banished within the thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace would have no knowledge of this power hidden in the deepest areas of the thirty-third stratum.


    Even the two major murderous tribes tasked with guarding the dangerous thirty-third level of the Undersea Divine Palace had no idea of such beings existing within the same realm!


    At this moment, after Jiang Yao was transported into the mysterious cave dwelling, those nine Divine Venerable figures also looked towards the central figure who had transcended their level. One of them spoke up to the old crone, "Mrs. He, why have you brought that young girl into our Feathered Spirit Clan¡¯s most precious first stratum secret cave dwelling?"


    The old crone surrounded by the nine Divine Venerables had a face full of wrinkles, her age unknown, but her aura was still surging and frightfully powerful.


    Upon hearing the question of the female Divine Venerable, the old crone sighed and spoke, "The few of us left the Divine Beast Star Domain years ago and blundered into the Star Death Realm, fortuitously saved by Lord Emperor Yan, thus escaping from death¡¯s clasp."


    "We promised to oversee the great cleansing catastrophe in the lower realm of the Thousand Veil Mountain Star Domain for three million years on behalf of Lord Emperor Yan. By my calculations, once this catastrophe is over, we will finally have fulfilled the promise we made to Lord Emperor Yan!"


    Upon hearing the old crone¡¯s words, the nine female Divine Venerables showed excited expressions, "Yes, Mrs. He! Three million years, even with Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s Supreme Divine Art to alleviate the torment of time and the decay of lifespan, these years have been unbearably long!"


    "We have overseen two hundred and sixty-three great cleansing catastrophes in the lower realms! Our divine avatars combated across countless lower realm stars and continents within the Thousand Veil Mountain Star Domain; we are truly exhausted!".


    "Finally, finally, we are about to fulfill our promise to Lord Emperor Yan and are able to return to our Divine Beast Star Domain!"


    "After millions of years, the sea turned into mulberry fields, and we don¡¯t know what¡¯s become of our Feathered Spirit Clan back in the Divine Beast Star Domain!"


    Listenting to the passionate voices of the nine female Divine Venerables, the old crone nodded, "For so many years, while completing the task set by Lord Emperor Yan, his Supreme Divine Art has helped us get rid of the torment of time and the eternal decline of lifespan, and similarly, it has kept our realms sealed at the level they were at the time."


    "During these years, while overseeing the great cleansing catastrophe in the lower realm, we refined countless cultivation methods, including those of our Feathered Spirit Clan and the ones we knew from other races."


    "Unfortunately, we were not able to break the seal and cultivate ourselves."


    "After many years of organizing and summarizing, we¡¯ve made great progress in our clan¡¯s cultivation methods from the most fundamental to the most profound. We truly hope to find a suitable successor to truly practice our newly refined cultivation methods."


    "Sadly, all these years, we haven¡¯t found a suitable successor!"


    At this point, the old crone¡¯s gaze turned towards Jiang Yao in the sealed cave, "This young girl carries the lost bloodline of our Feathered Spirit Clan. She must be a descendant of the few members of the Divine Phoenix Clan we spared during the last great cleansing catastrophe of the Celestial Spirit Star."


    "The Divine Phoenix Clan carries our Feathered Spirit Clan¡¯s lost bloodline, likely inherited from the lineage of true divine beasts that once strayed into the Thousand Veil Mountain Star Domain from our clan in the Divine Beast Star Domain."


    "While we oversee the great cleansing catastrophe for Lord Emperor Yan, we absolutely cannot interfere with the Eye of the Divine Sea, but the Eye of Creation, we can actually influence. Over the years, throughout countless cleansing catastrophes in the lower realms, we have covertly aided some martial artists carrying our Feathered Spirit Clan¡¯s lost bloodline, but just as aids. These martial artists had such diluted bloodlines that they had no qualification to pass our tests to become our successors."


    "Even those members of the Divine Phoenix Clan we aided during the last great cleansing catastrophe didn¡¯t meet the conditions to enter our trials."


    "But this time is different!"


    As she spoke, the transcendent being, the old crone, had her eyes shining with exceptional brilliance.


    Seeing the change in the old woman¡¯s eyes, the nine Female Divine Venerables beside her all looked towards Jiang Yao inside the Sealed Cave Dwelling. An incredulous expression appeared on their faces, "Mrs. He, could it be that this little girl has the potential to become our successor?"


    "Over the years, we have tested countless individuals, yet no one has been able to pass our trials. This little girl is so young; can she really meet our standards?"


    The old woman took a deep breath and slowly said, "This young girl from the Divine Phoenix Clan, although her ¡¯Feathered Spirit Clan¡¯ bloodline is equally thin, gives me the feeling that she is exceptionally suited to practice the arts of our ¡¯Feathered Spirit Clan¡¯."


    "Perhaps, with our return to the ¡¯Feathered Spirit Clan,¡¯ we can bring back a true successor of ours!"


    "For many years, because we needed to eliminate the torment of time and the perpetual decline of our lifespans, our cultivation has been affected. However, if there is a suitable successor who can practice the new arts we have spent millions of years developing and summarizing, then our trip to the Wa?n Mu? Mountain Star Domain will not have been in vain!"


    The nine Female Divine Venerables had never before seen the being in front of them, this ¡¯Mrs. He,¡¯ who far surpassed their own cultivation, value a candidate chosen for the test of succession so highly.


    For a moment, the gaze of all nine once again fell on Jiang Yao within the Sealed Cave Dwelling, their hearts filled with the same anticipation, "Can this girl truly pass our tests as Mrs. He has said, and become our successor?"


    "If she truly can become our successor, then our endless journey back from the Wa?n Mu? Mountain Star Domain to the Divine Beast Star Domain will not be so lonely."


    ...


    Jiang Yao had no idea that she had caught the attention of ten beings far beyond her imagination.


    She was even more oblivious to the fact that at this moment, she had fallen into a destiny of immense fortune.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s entire focus was on the countless glyphs inscribed on the cave walls within the Sealed Cave Dwelling.


    Having been bestowed with the "Eye of Creation," and brought to this mysterious cavern, Jiang Yao knew that the voice that spoke to her must possess boundless divine power.


    The voice had said that she had only half a year to comprehend the Divine Soul Secret Art "Nirvana Nine Transformations" inscribed on the walls. If she failed to penetrate its mysteries, the Eye of Creation in her possession would be reclaimed.


    Of course, Jiang Yao did not want the Eye of Creation to be taken away!


    She intended to use it to escape the great cataclysm, to continue being with Ye Chen; how could she simply die in this calamity?


    Jiang Yao longed even more to see Ye Chen sooner!


    Of course, she would make every effort to fully master the "Nirvana Nine Transformations" Divine Soul Secret Art and leave this mysterious cavern as soon as possible to find Ye Chen!


    With that thought, Jiang Yao cast aside all distractions and earnestly studied the "Nirvana Nine Transformations" inscribed on the wall.


    Initially, Jiang Yao had only studied the art out of necessity to meet the demands of that voice.


    But once she truly began to delve into this Divine Soul Secret Art, she discovered its extraordinary and enigmatic appeal, filled with endless attraction.


    Before she knew it, Jiang Yao had completely immersed herself in the state of comprehension and cultivation!


    ...


    Ye Chen knew nothing of Jiang Yao¡¯s experiences.


    He wasn¡¯t even aware that Jiang Yao had received the first Eye of Creation.


    At this moment, having entered the sixth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, a realm of flames, Ye Chen thought of the Eye of Creation that had been taken from the sixth layer and could only continue to descend deeper.


    Towards the fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace that housed eight Eyes of Creation!


    The first Eye of Creation had already been lost.


    Ye Chen certainly did not want to lose the chance of obtaining more Eyes of Creation.


    He still needed to seek as many Eyes of Creation as possible to help himself, to aid Jiang Yao, to assist the True God of the True Phoenix, and to help many others around him to escape this great cataclysm.


    Every Eye of Creation had to be fought for.


    Even the Eye of the Divine Sea was imperative to strive for!


    With this in mind, Ye Chen, maneuvering the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, crossed the realm of flames of the sixth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, continuing to search for the passageway leading to the even deeper layers.

 Chapter 568 - 523 Gourd of Void Heaven Falling

    From the sixth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, to reach the fifteenth level, one must cross eight levels, including the eleventh level.


    God King Hei Mei had previously warned that within the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s thirty-three levels, every eleven levels represent a tier of difficulty.


    Once one surpassed the eleventh level, for a Heavenly Saint Realm warrior, it was absolutely impossible to set foot there without full reliance.


    In the previous levels, although there were dangers of True God level, those were after all a minority of realms.


    As long as one didn¡¯t meticulously search every single realm and carefully avoided the True God-level dangers, there was still hope for a Heavenly Saint Realm warrior to survive.


    However, from the words of God King Hei Mei, it was clear that after passing the eleventh level, even with great care, a Heavenly Saint Realm warrior would most likely be doomed.


    That place was almost reserved for True Gods to enter.


    If a Heavenly Saint Realm warrior wanted to go there, one needed the means of a True God to do so.


    When the news that the first Eye of Creation from the sixth level had been obtained reached the ears of all the warriors who had entered the Undersea Divine Palace, many Heavenly Saints had completely given up hope.


    "There¡¯s no hope left. The next opportunity to compete for the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ is on the fifteenth level. There¡¯s no way I can make it to the fifteenth level with my strength."


    "Waiting for death is all that¡¯s left. I can only pin my hopes on the last slim chance, who obtains the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ can save my life."


    These Heavenly Saint Realm warriors had lost their fighting spirit and had stopped completely on the third, fourth, or fifth levels they were currently on within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Some gave up, but there were also many who absolutely refused to accept defeat!


    Even though the danger was great beyond the twelfth level, still many Heavenly Saints were rushing toward the eleventh level.


    They wanted to see with their own eyes the kinds of dangers present on the eleventh level.


    Only after reaching the eleventh level would they consider whether to proceed to the twelfth level, to enter realms where only True Gods could!


    It was still too early to give up now!


    Out of the several hundred thousand Heavenly Saints, the vast majority had completely given up, but there were still tens of thousands of Heavenly Saints who were still making their way toward the eleventh level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The sixth level of the Undersea Divine Palace was the Flame World. Inside there were two deadly lifeform clans: the Flame Elf Clan and the Flame War King Clan.


    After passing through the sixth level¡¯s domain, they entered the "Frost World" of the seventh level, the "Mountain World" of the eighth level, the "Hill World" of the ninth level, the "Death Valley World" of the tenth level...


    They fought through each level, elimination following each tier.


    In the end, more than thirty thousand Heavenly Saints successfully made their way into the eleventh level of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    As these Heavenly Saints broke into the eleventh level of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen, who had been riding a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact airship, had long since arrived amongst the vast realms of the eleventh level.


    Ye Chen flew at great speed through the eleventh level, hoping to find the passage to the twelfth level quickly, just like he had in the previous levels, and directly enter it.


    The danger of entering the twelfth level?


    Many Heavenly Saints were worried, but Ye Chen was determined to enter!


    Not to mention having the combat power of a True God to attempt entry, he already possessed True God-level combat power, and with countless treasures, he already had the confidence to proceed. Even without the confidence to proceed, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t just wait for death.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t even have a single Eye of Creation in hand, how could he possibly just wait for death?!


    Just as Ye Chen was flying at high speed in a beige, desolate world within the eleventh level of the Undersea Divine Palace, something unexpected happened.


    Before he found the passage to the twelfth level, he unexpectedly discovered a "Strange Realm" within the eleventh level itself!


    Like the Strange Realm of Rose Valley encountered in the third level of the Undersea Divine Palace, this new Strange Realm was clearly a special realm that would bring new and certain adventures to the warriors entering the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The Undersea Divine Palace, despite the countless killings, also had many hidden treasures.


    This was also considered giving warriors a little hope while conducting a massive cleansing test.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t pass by a treasure land without entering.


    When Ye Chen discovered this strange land¡ªa green island amid the brownish-yellow desolate world, radiating an endless life force¡ªhe immediately flew towards the green island.


    Ye Chen wanted to see what was inside this "strange land."


    After truly entering the green island, the scene before him completely surprised him!


    From the outside, it appeared to be a green island.


    But once Ye Chen actually flew into this green island, he found out it was an illusion; it was not as simple as just an island.


    Instead, it was a vast plain, and above the plain, within the Void Heaven, hung gigantic gourd vines, from which grew numerous gourds.


    These gourds, each as large as a millstone, numbered exactly one hundred in total¡ªnot one more, not one less!


    A strange land with a hundred Heaven-reaching giant gourds!


    This sight somewhat shocked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t understand what was so peculiar about this realm and what these gourds symbolized.


    As Ye Chen was puzzling over this, a figure appeared directly on one of the hanging gourd vines. This figure was humanoid, but peculiarly had three tails, looking quite extraordinary.


    The presence of this figure shook Ye Chen, for he was emitting the aura of a True God of the fifth tribulation.


    Seeing Ye Chen as the first to arrive in this strange land, the five-tribulation True God also expressed his surprise, "Hmm, young boy, you¡¯ve managed to reach the ¡¯Void Heaven Gourd Realm¡¯ so quickly despite being only at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    "It seems you¡¯re quite impressive!"


    "I, Zhou Lin, have guarded this ¡¯Void Heaven Gourd Realm¡¯ many times, and you are the warrior with the lowest realm to arrive the fastest!"


    Hearing the words of the five-tribulation True God with three tails, Ye Chen was taken aback.


    This strange land is called "Void Heaven Gourd Realm"?


    This True God has guarded this strange land many times?


    Ye Chen knew that each Great Cleansing Cataclysm happened tens of thousands of years apart¡ªif this True God had guarded this realm many times, didn¡¯t that mean he was a warrior who had lived for hundreds of thousands of years?


    But seeing that this True God didn¡¯t seem to have any malicious intent, Ye Chen relaxed.


    He asked the True God, "Senior, what is so peculiar about this realm? What are these one hundred Heaven-reaching gourds for?"


    Ye Chen realized that the specialty of this strange land was likely associated with the one hundred Heaven-reaching gourds.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s bewildered look, the True God smiled faintly and said, "This strange land lies within the eleventh layer of the Undersea Divine Palace. In fact, it is an opportunity given by the heavens and earth to all you Heavenly Saints."


    "Only the Heavenly Saints pulled in by the Great Cleansing Cataclysm can see this place! Any True Gods that are pulled in cannot discover this realm!"


    Hearing the True God¡¯s words, Ye Chen was startled, "No wonder I arrived here first, and the ancestors of the Yan Clan, the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the elders of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡ªseveral nine-tribulation True Gods¡ªhaven¡¯t made it here. It turns out True Gods cannot find this realm."


    "A realm only accessible by Heavenly Saints? An opportunity for all Heavenly Saints, what opportunity?"


    Before Ye Chen could inquire further, the True God continued, "This ¡¯Void Heaven Gourd Realm,¡¯ as a strange land, possesses a bizarre time-accelerating spatial realm."


    "Inside there are a hundred gourds. Entering any one of them will grant you a one-hundred-fold acceleration in the flow of time for cultivation."


    "A hundred days of cultivation inside is equivalent to just one day passing outside!"


    "The Undersea Divine Palace is not an easy place for you Heavenly Saints to traverse, and reaching the twelfth layer below is incredibly difficult! However, just as there are great cleansing tribulations offered by the heavens and earth, there is also a lifeline given to you."


    "As long as you Heavenly Saints have sufficient strength and seize the opportunity of these one hundred gourds for time-accelerated cultivation, advancing into the True God Realm is possible. Then, heading to the twelfth layer afterwards would not be impossible!"


    "A hundred gourds, each offering a hundredfold time-accelerated cultivation opportunity, await all you Heavenly Saints here."


    "Any Heavenly Saint who does not wish to give up and ventures into this realm has the chance to obtain the cultivation opportunity of these one hundred gourds!"

 Chapter 569 - 524

    A hundred Void Heaven Falling Gourds, each offering a hundredfold increase in Time Flow Rate for cultivation opportunities!


    Ye Chen had not anticipated that the Undersea Divine Palace in the "Beiming Divine Sea" held such divine marvels. As countless Heavenly Saints faced the grand purge and were close to despair, lacking the strength to proceed to the twelfth level of the Divine Palace, an opportunity like this was left for the Heavenly Saints on the eleventh level.


    Indeed.


    If those Heavenly Saints could successfully ascend to True God within these giant gourds, they would indeed have a certain level of confidence to venture further down into the Undersea Divine Palace. Perhaps, there was hope for obtaining the "Eye of Creation".


    Opportunities are truly reserved for those who never give up!


    If those Heavenly Saints had stopped earlier, too scared to venture further or had given up too soon, without reaching this eleventh level, they would probably have no idea that such an opportunity awaited them here.


    To give up on one¡¯s self,


    Is to be given up on by the Undersea Divine Palace!


    At this moment, Ye Chen also had a question, which was how long one could cultivate with a hundredfold increase in Time Flow Rate.


    If one could only cultivate for a few days, then this opportunity wouldn¡¯t be too precious.


    If one could cultivate for a long time, then... this opportunity would indeed be invaluable!


    "Elder, how long can one cultivate inside these gourds with a hundredfold Time Flow Rate?" Ye Chen asked True God "Zhou Lin," who was in charge of guarding this "Void Celestial Gourd Realm".


    Zhou Lin, the True God with three tails, smiled and replied, "One month. As long as you possess the qualifications to enter these hundred gourds, you can cultivate inside the space of the gourd for one month."


    "The space within the gourd contains many preparation resources for ascending to True God. Even if you reach the bottleneck for ascending to True God, you can even attract the Heavenly Tribulation required for the ascension. This Land of Wonders is here to assist you Heavenly Saints in your cultivation!"


    "Young lad, cultivating for a month in here is equivalent to cultivating for three thousand days outside, over eight years!"


    "More than eight years, enough for many to leap in strength substantially!"


    Hearing the words of True God "Zhou Lin," Ye Chen also took a deep breath.


    More than eight years!


    Three thousand days!


    A hundredfold Time Flow Rate for a month of cultivation!


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but be shocked and excited, knowing that the most precious Time Flow Rate cultivation site he had ever been to similarly offered a hundredfold Time Flow Rate, which was located in the God King Level Inheritance Land "Icebound Temple Sub Palace" left behind by the Icebound Divine King.


    However, even in the Icebound Temple Sub Palace, Ye Chen¡¯s hundredfold Time Flow Rate cultivation was limited to only ten days of cultivation opportunities.


    Inside this gourd, one could cultivate for a whole month, which is simply three times longer than in the Icebound Temple Sub Palace¡ªwhen truly calculated, it amounts to five to six more years of cultivation!


    Ye Chen was well aware of the preciousness of Time Flow Rate cultivation opportunities.


    It was precisely because of Time Flow Rate cultivation opportunities that he could repeatedly smash through realms at a rapid pace, successfully comprehend Martial Skills time after time, and accumulate strength.


    If he were given over eight more years of cultivation time...


    Then only a month would pass on the outside, with plenty of time before the end of the great purge¡ªa year away¡ªleaving him ample time to explore even deeper realms.


    Ye Chen believed that even if the True Gods had a month¡¯s time, they couldn¡¯t possibly explore too deeply.


    After all, the Undersea Divine Palace further down was incredibly dangerous; even Nine Tribulations True Gods could perish if they were not careful.


    Clearly, it was impossible to continue leaping directly from one level to the next, as before!


    To spend a month cultivating yet reaping over eight years of cultivation results, Ye Chen was naturally willing to cultivate first before venturing further.


    After all, what Ye Chen currently lacked was cultivation time!


    His Physical Combat Power, Icebound Divine Body, and Undying Divine Body all needed cultivating; his True Qi Combat Power, and even more, the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture "Primordial Beginning," which could definitively boost his strength, needed cultivation; his Divine Soul Combat Power also needed cultivating to strengthen his Divine Soul; and even his auxiliary combat strength¡ªthe "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" left by the Heavenly Origin Venerable¡ªneeded attention!


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    There was also Swordsmanship Divine Arts, as well as the three forbidden moves of the Purple Blood Divine Sword!


    Ye Chen had too much to cultivate.


    Each one of these could elevate his strength, allowing him to have more cards up his sleeve within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Naturally, Ye Chen wished to gain this cultivation opportunity inside the gourd!


    However, it was clear that this opportunity was not something that could be directly obtained. From the words of True God Zhou Lin, Ye Chen understood that one had to qualify for the privilege to cultivate within the gourd.


    What were the qualifications to enter the gourd?


    Unable to restrain his desire to take advantage of the expedited time flow for cultivation offered by the gourd, Ye Chen asked True God Zhou Lin.


    "The qualification to cultivate inside the gourd?" Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, True God Zhou Lin answered with a smile, "It¡¯s quite simple, only the strong may enter."


    "This bizarre place is available to every Heavenly Saint Martial Artist who dares to venture into the eleventh layer of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "As long as you¡¯re a Heavenly Saint Martial Artist, after entering the eleventh layer and searching for the passageway to explore this layer, you shall discover this peculiar place."


    "Moreover, this peculiar place has no folded space, meaning all Heavenly Saints, upon reaching the eleventh layer, can come here!"


    "I will start from the first person who sets foot in this peculiar place and give the others ten days to break into the eleventh layer. After ten days, all Heavenly Saints who have arrived at this place will be eligible to compete for the chance to cultivate in one of the hundred gourds!"


    "This competition shall be called¡ª¡¯The Great Martial Contest¡¯!"


    "The rules of the Great Martial Contest are straightforward. The first hundred to arrive in this place automatically have a reserved chance to enter the gourd for cultivation. Those arriving later will have a single chance to challenge one of the first hundred for their reserved qualification. If they win, they take over the slot; if they lose, they forfeit the opportunity outright."


    "Ultimately, after all challenges are made during the Great Martial Contest, the remaining hundred with reserved qualifications will be the victors and will directly enter the hundred gourds for cultivation!"


    "The Great Martial Contest aims to discover Martial Artists with potential among you brave souls who have reached the eleventh layer, to accelerate their cultivation with the time flow rate, and to offer them a chance to brave the later levels of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "Young man, you are the first one to arrive here. Congratulations, you have effectively earned a reserved qualification. As long as you are not defeated in subsequent challenges, you¡¯ll be able to enter the gourd and cultivate for a month with the internal flow rate, which is equivalent to over eight years of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s time!"


    The Great Martial Contest.


    When True God Zhou Lin finished explaining how to qualify for entering the gourd, Ye Chen nodded in understanding.


    It turns out that the Great Martial Contest was a test of strength between all Heavenly Saints who reached the eleventh layer and entered this bizarre land.


    As long as one could succeed in the challenge, they could start cultivating.


    Ye Chen wasn¡¯t worried about the hundred opportunities.


    His strength now surpassed that of the Heavenly Saints and even surpassed that of the First Tribulation and Second Tribulation True Gods; he was confident, even if the Heavenly Saints of the Minor Spirit Realm had some peculiar methods, he would not be concerned!


    No matter how peculiar the methods, it was almost impossible for them to be stronger than his Primordial Star Scripture, or the techniques he had cultivated from the Minor Pole Sky!


    Let alone a hundred opportunities¡ª even if there were only ten, or even just one, Ye Chen was confident in seizing them!


    In the Great Martial Contest, what Ye Chen needed to do was wait for everyone to arrive for a great trial of strength!


    In comparison, what Ye Chen was more concerned about was Zhou Lin¡¯s statement that all Martial Artists who arrived at the eleventh layer wouldn¡¯t be separated by folded space and could all meet here.


    Doesn¡¯t that mean, as long as Jiang Yao, Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Skyscraper Palace Master, and Heavenly Saint Long Xuan breach into this eleventh layer, Ye Chen could meet them?


    Ten days of passage to this place.


    Ye Chen wasn¡¯t entirely sure about Heavenly Saint Long Xuan and the others, but he knew that Jiang Yao would definitely have the ability to reach the eleventh layer.


    Ye Chen, having separated from Jiang Yao in the first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, had not seen her for a long time and was eagerly wanting to reunite, to discuss the subsequent journey through the Undersea Divine Palace!


    With this thought, Ye Chen became filled with anticipation as he waited.


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that Jiang Yao had already embarked on another extraordinary encounter, even more exceptional than his own experience in the bizarre land of the Void Heaven Falling gourd.


    Moreover, Ye Chen was unaware that Jiang Yao was now in the thirty-third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace and would not return to this eleventh layer!


    As Ye Chen waited, days passed by.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Continually, more Heavenly Saints discovered this peculiar place and flew towards it, learning through True God Zhou Lin of the opportunity to cultivate within this piece of Void Heaven Falling gourd with a hundredfold accelerated time flow for a month!


    All the Heavenly Saints who arrived at the peculiar land were utterly astounded and overjoyed!


    They were eagerly gearing up for the "Great Martial Contest," preparing to vie for one of the hundred cultivation opportunities.


    When the ten days since Ye Chen¡¯s arrival in this strange land surpassed, and the deadline set by True God Zhou Lin for the Heavenly Saints to enter this bizarre land arrived, the place was teeming with over thirty thousand Heavenly Saints!


    The Great Martial Contest, the competition for the opportunity to cultivate within the gourd with a hundredfold time flow acceleration, was finally about to begin!

 Chapter 570 - 525: The Challenge of Thousands of Heavenly Saints

    When the time for the grand martial arts tournament arrived, the entire Land of Wonders was already boiling with excitement!


    Over thirty thousand Heavenly Saints had gathered here, plus a hundred divine gourds that had descended from the skies¡ª this scene was truly astonishing.


    Especially for the Heavenly Saints from the thirty-three continents, each and every one of them felt a tremor in their hearts.


    This was their second encounter with so many powerful beings since they first entered the Undersea Divine Palace, and this time, all of them were martial artists of the same great realm, the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    In the thirty-three continents, a continent that had several hundred or even a thousand Heavenly Saints was considered very powerful, but here, they actually encountered over thirty thousand Heavenly Saints! Find exclusive stories on novelhall.Co?m


    In the thirty-three continents, if a continent had about ten late-stage Heavenly Saint powerhouses, that would be utterly inconceivable. Yet here, there were over a thousand late-stage Heavenly Saints alone!


    The addition of the Minor Spirit Realm¡¯s Heavenly Saints certainly filled countless Heavenly Saints from the thirty-three continents with awe, admiration, reluctance, and even the thought of challenging them!


    And now, as the grand martial arts tournament was about to officially start, everyone would be able to showcase their strengths and see who was the strongest!


    In the crowd.


    Amidst the boiling fervor.


    Ye Chen, however, was somewhat worried.


    At this moment, Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Skyscraper Palace Master were all by Ye Chen¡¯s side, and even Heavenly Saint Long Xuan had hurried to this Land of Wonders the day before the start of the tournament.


    But Ye Chen had not seen Jiang Yao.


    This, of course, made Ye Chen extremely anxious.


    Moreover, Ye Chen heard from many Heavenly Saints who had seen Jiang Yao that they hadn¡¯t seen her since the third level, and this made Ye Chen even more worried that Jiang Yao had encountered danger.


    For a moment, the start of the grand martial arts tournament made it difficult for Ye Chen to stay calm.


    Amidst Ye Chen¡¯s extreme concern, True God Zhou Lin, who presided over this Land of Wonders, finally declared the grand martial arts tournament officially underway!


    The tournament rules dictated that the first hundred Heavenly Saints who arrived at this land as reserves were to accept challenges."


    "Others can challenge them, but each person only has one chance to challenge, so you must choose carefully whom you want to challenge. Once chosen, you cannot change it. If you lose, you will have no more opportunities to challenge."


    True God Zhou Lin began to explain the rules of the grand martial arts tournament to everyone.


    Although these rules had spread through word of mouth over the days, and everyone was aware of them, hearing True God Zhou Lin repeat them still made many people nervous all at once.


    An opportunity to cultivate inside a divine gourd for a month with a hundredfold acceleration of time flow¡ªwho wouldn¡¯t want it?!


    Everyone, of course, wanted to compete for it!


    "Now, the first hundred who came to this Land of Wonders, I told you before, you who obtained the position of reserves, step forward," True God Zhou Lin said, looking at martial artists like Ye Chen, who were among the first to arrive at the Land of Wonders.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    One figure after another flew forward, stepping out.


    These figures, the vast majority of whom were late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists, with a very few being mid-stage, and early-stage Heavenly Saints like Ye Chen were absolutely rare¡ªthere was only Ye Chen!


    Seeing Ye Chen, who was only at the beginning of the Heavenly Saint Realm, among the potential candidates, many were shaken.


    "This young man, he actually arrived at the Land of Wonders among the first hundred?!"


    "He¡¯s only at the early stage of being a Heavenly Saint, how could he arrive so fast! Even though I¡¯m at the later stage of Heavenly Saint, I had to proceed with extreme caution through the Undersea Divine Palace, encountering several crises that almost killed me. When I finally arrived here, there were already thousands of people who had come before me. This young man, who¡¯s merely at the early stage, came even faster than me?!" An existence at the later stage of Heavenly Saint who hadn¡¯t qualified as a backup candidate was shocked.


    "This young man must have relied on some special flying treasure to get here so quickly, otherwise it would be impossible!"


    "However, even if a flying treasure helped him arrive among the first hundred, it won¡¯t assist him in battle. The real competition relies on strength! Even if he is a candidate now, being only at the early stage of Heavenly Saint, he will definitely be defeated by others!" Some were certain.


    What those at the later stage of Heavenly Saint didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen was not only among the first hundred to arrive at this Land of Wonders, but he was also the very first person to arrive!


    Those Heavenly Saints who knew the truth and had arrived shortly after Ye Chen, especially the first ten to reach the Land of Wonders, watched the situation unfold around Ye Chen with excitement, eager for the drama.


    They too were curious about why this young Heavenly Saint arrived before them and wanted to see just what abilities he possessed.


    Meanwhile, those in the crowd who knew Ye Chen best, such as Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Skyscraper Palace Master, and others, started to smile when they saw many were itching to challenge Ye Chen.


    They, of course, knew Ye Chen¡¯s strength!


    "These people want to challenge Ye Chen? Then their one opportunity to challenge will be wasted," Palace Master Yuan Li thought to himself.


    As discussions buzzed among the crowd, True God Zhou Lin announced, "To test your judgment, the selection of opponents for the grand competition must be done first, before beginning the contest."


    "If a candidate is defeated, the victor automatically takes their place as a candidate and continues to accept challenges from others within the same area."


    "Now, the hundred backup candidates, stand under the hundred gourds, representing your challenge areas. The rest of you, choose your opponents from these hundred candidates and decide which area you want to challenge!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As True God Zhou Lin declared the start of the opponent selection and candidates like Ye Chen took their positions under the magical gourds, over thirty thousand Heavenly Saints rushed towards the hundred candidates.


    Among them, those flowing towards Ye Chen to pick him as their challenge area were the most numerous!


    In the arena, Ye Chen, with the lowest realm and the sole early-stage Heavenly Saint candidate, naturally drew the most attention.


    Even though some presumed that Ye Chen must possess strong methods to be among the first hundred to reach this eleventh layer of the Land of Wonders,


    among the hundred candidates present, which one wasn¡¯t formidable? Which one lacked methods? Which one hadn¡¯t passed through countless tests to get here?


    Compared to many later-stage Heavenly Saints with renowned reputations in the Minor Spirit Realm, they naturally preferred to challenge the early-stage Heavenly Saint, Ye Chen.


    In a moment, out of more than thirty thousand warriors, those who flooded into Ye Chen¡¯s challenge area numbered as many as five or six thousand!


    In contrast, in the areas of some later-stage Heavenly Saints with big names from the Minor Spirit Realm, there were only a few, or at most a dozen challengers.


    In the other ninety-something candidate areas, the most anyone had challenging them was a little over five hundred.


    The number of Heavenly Saints choosing to challenge Ye Chen was ten to a hundred times more than those opting to challenge other candidates!


    And if it weren¡¯t for the overwhelming crowd surging towards Ye Chen, which made it impractical, as even if one defeated Ye Chen, the strength of subsequent replacement candidates might vary too greatly¡ªincreasing the risk of victory¡ªprobably over twenty thousand of the thirty thousand would choose to challenge Ye Chen!


    Even so, there were still quite a few who had to choose other Heavenly Saints¡¯ challenge areas, and they lamented in their hearts, "What a pity, the area around that early-stage Heavenly Saint was too crowded. Otherwise, defeating that young early-stage Heavenly Saint would have been an absolute certainty!"

 Chapter 571 - 526 Wailing Heavenly Saints!

    Ye Chen, surrounded by five or six thousand Heavenly Saints eager to challenge him, could only helplessly shake his head at this moment.


    Especially one very old late-stage Heavenly Saint warrior, seeing Ye Chen constantly frowning with a look of worry and concern, said to Ye Chen, "Little guy, stop worrying. After I defeat you, I¡¯ll take your place. I¡¯ll be the ultimate candidate to enter the Magical Gourd for cultivation in this area!"


    The words of this late-stage Heavenly Saint elder made Ye Chen feel both amused and helpless.


    He was clearly worried about Jiang Yao, but to these Heavenly Saints, it seemed as if he was worried about being defeated by others?


    Thinking of Jiang Yao, Ye Chen could only keep his worries and concerns in his heart in the end.


    For one thing, there were countless folded spaces inside the Undersea Divine Palace, making it impossible for him to search for Jiang Yao. Secondly, there was not the slightest stir from the "Crimson Fire" flying sword within Ye Chen¡¯s Sword Palace Acupoint. His "Crimson Fire" flying sword was a twin to Jiang Yao¡¯s "Ghostly Water" flying sword; if Jiang Yao were in real danger, he should have been able to sense it.


    Lastly, even if the Undersea Divine Palace blocked this kind of sensing, Ye Chen still believed in Jiang Yao¡¯s skills, her strength!


    Not only did Jiang Yao have the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s treasure, but she also had the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact "Ice Snow Divine Sword" given to her by Bing Yi. With so many Heavenly Saints making it to the eleventh layer of the Undersea Divine Palace without incident, Ye Chen believed that nothing would happen to Jiang Yao either!


    In the midst of various emotions, Ye Chen could only keep his worries about Jiang Yao in his heart and look for an opportunity to find her later.


    Now, he had to deal with these challengers first.


    "Five thousand nine hundred and twenty-four challengers?"


    With a sweep of his divine sense, Ye Chen ascertained the exact number of Heavenly Saints challenging him.


    Frustrated about Jiang Yao¡¯s situation, Ye Chen thought to himself, "Let me relieve some frustration with these challengers."


    Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts were unknown to these challengers.


    These people were crowding Ye Chen¡¯s challenge area, all itching to fight!


    When True God Zhou Lin announced the start of the "grand martial contest" challenges across the hundred zones, an early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior jumped out in front of Ye Chen first: "I¡¯ll challenge you first, young man!"


    Seeing this early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior leap forward, quite a few Heavenly Saints muttered with envy, "He got ahead of us!"


    "Hmph, it doesn¡¯t matter; we all have to face a challenge in this area anyway. If he wins first, we can still beat him!" With this thought, the Heavenly Saints calmed down.


    Ye Chen looked at the early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior who had jumped out with a smug look and said indifferently, "Well, with over five thousand nine hundred challengers, it seems I¡¯ll need to make this quick."


    "What?" The casual words of Ye Chen took the early-stage Heavenly Saint challenger by surprise.


    Then, what Ye Chen said next sent him into a towering rage. He heard Ye Chen tell him, "Ten breaths¡¯ time¡ªI will defeat you within ten breaths. Make your move, or you¡¯ll lose the chance to attack altogether. Don¡¯t waste time."


    Defeat him in ten breaths¡¯ time?!


    No chance to make a move if he doesn¡¯t take action?!


    A waste of time?!


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, this early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior was furious! Explore more at novelhall.Co?m


    He¡¯d confidently taken the initiative to challenge because he was somewhat certain of his own strength. Although he did not come from one of the six ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, he hailed from a powerful force with True God Realm experts who had endured Two Tribulations, and even facing late-stage Heavenly Saint warriors, he was not the least bit daunted.


    Even if he wasn¡¯t certain he could make it to the end, he still had the confidence to occupy a spot among the alternatives for a while, to prove his might.


    Now, he was being looked down upon by an early-stage Heavenly Saint youth, told that a match with him was a waste of time.


    Of course, his heart was ablaze with anger!


    "Ten breaths? Humph, young man, I¡¯ll see what abilities you have to speak such big words!"


    Boom!


    With his anger surging, the early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior instantly unleashed a terrifying Heavenly Saint force and, with an aggressive move, charged towards Ye Chen.


    Even though Ye Chen had spoken quietly, everyone present in the arena had the cultivation of the Heavenly Saint Realm and heard everything crystal clear.


    As they saw this early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior make his move, all the Heavenly Saints outside the combat ring turned their gazes towards Ye Chen to see how this slightly arrogant youth would defend himself.


    True God Zhou Lin, hovering in the void, also looked towards Ye Chen.


    True God Zhou Lin wanted to see what was exceptional about this young man who had been the first to reach the strange land.


    Even the likes of Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, and Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, who were standing at the outskirts of other fighters¡¯ challenge zones and had not yet started their own challenges, turned their eyes toward Ye Chen.


    And several alternative late-stage Heavenly Saint warriors, who were fighting, also looked over towards the busiest circle, where Ye Chen was the center of attention.


    Beneath countless watching eyes, as the first early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior charged towards him, Ye Chen muttered a number to himself: "Five breaths."


    Then, he took action.


    Before all the Heavenly Saints could grasp what was happening, the early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior who had lunged at Ye Chen was sent flying back even faster than he had approached, finally crashing down onto the ground with a thunderous impact!


    The early-stage Heavenly Saint warrior couldn¡¯t even get back up, lying on the ground groaning in pain!


    "What happened?!"


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    All the Heavenly Saints watching Ye Chen¡¯s area blinked and saw the early-stage Heavenly Saint challenger defeated in the blink of an eye.


    They hadn¡¯t even reacted, and the battle was already over?!


    They hadn¡¯t even seen clearly how Ye Chen had defeated that mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior!


    Outside the crowd, in the void, True God Zhou Lin inhaled sharply at this moment!


    As a True God of the Five Tribulations, he had clearly seen Ye Chen¡¯s move.


    He could sense that in the blink of an eye, Ye Chen had used an extremely powerful attacking divine technique, and obviously, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t even used his full strength before he instantly defeated the challenger from the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm.


    "This young lad, he¡¯s got great strength!"


    "No wonder he¡¯s the first to break into this ¡¯Void Celestial Gourd¡¯ realm!"


    "His true combat power has likely reached the level of a True God of the Two Tribulations or even the Three Tribulations!"


    True God Zhou Lin was guessing.


    While countless Heavenly Saints were confused and shaken, and True God Zhou Lin was surprised, Ye Chen turned to look at all the Heavenly Saints in front of him and then to the first challenger who had fallen to the ground: "Do you concede? If so, the rest can continue to fight, no need to waste time! There are more than five thousand warriors here, and it will take some time for me to defeat them all!"


    This time, when Ye Chen mentioned not to waste time again, the Heavenly Saints who previously thought Ye Chen was a bit arrogant, were now silent.


    Even though they hadn¡¯t seen clearly how Ye Chen had defeated the mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior in the first battle, as warriors of the Heavenly Saint Realm, their knowledge was extensive, and now it was clear to them that this young man was not to be trifled with!


    This young man, might truly have the ability to be arrogant!


    "I accept the challenge!"


    Seeing that the fallen mid-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior couldn¡¯t even get up, another late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior stood out.


    "I come from the Blood God Clan of the Minor Spirit Realm, lad, you¡¯re thinking too much if you say you will defeat us all. Remember, the one who will defeat you is called ¡¯Crimson Source Heavenly Saint¡¯!"


    The late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior spoke directly.


    "Crimson Source Heavenly Saint!"


    "He is a well-known late-stage Heavenly Saint from the Blood God Clan, and it¡¯s said that he has a great chance to break through to the True God Realm in the future!"


    "In this challenge area, the most powerful one I know of is him. He very well might end up owning the final cultivation spot of our area!"


    "Even if the young lad is powerful, he is unlikely to be a match for Crimson Source Heavenly Saint!"


    Countless Heavenly Saint Realm warriors who knew the name of Crimson Source Heavenly Saint were whispering among themselves.


    Amid the low whispers of these Heavenly Saint Realm warriors, Ye Chen looked at Crimson Source Heavenly Saint and smiled, "Crimson Source Heavenly Saint? Since you¡¯ve come to challenge, then make your move, similarly, within ten breaths¡¯ time!"


    Again, ten breaths¡¯ time?!


    Hearing Ye Chen mention ten breaths¡¯ time again, the Heavenly Saints paying attention to Ye Chen no longer thought he was simply arrogant, some even thought he was utterly clueless about the difficulties of reality.


    To know, Crimson Source Heavenly Saint was a late-stage Heavenly Saint Realm warrior, and furthermore, one who had the hope of advancing to the True God Realm.


    Defeat Crimson Source Heavenly Saint in ten breaths¡¯ time?


    Even the top-tier late-stage Heavenly Saints wouldn¡¯t dare to make such a boastful claim!


    While these Heavenly Saints found Ye Chen¡¯s bold words unbelievable, Crimson Source Heavenly Saint¡¯s face swelled red with blood, feeling both called an elder by Ye Chen and also told he would be defeated within ten breaths, which left him feeling incredibly frustrated, unable to vent his anger.


    Only by defeating Ye Chen could he release this pent-up frustration.


    With this thought, Crimson Source Heavenly Saint didn¡¯t wish to speak another word, and his figure flashed and vanished into thin air.


    As he disappeared, a Heavenly Saint who knew about Crimson Source Heavenly Saint¡¯s techniques spoke out directly, "Crimson Source Heavenly Saint has a set of powerful Void-Shifting techniques that are extremely hard to guard against. The moment he appears will be the moment he strikes to kill..."


    Before the Heavenly Saint could finish speaking, he abruptly stopped.


    For he was shocked to see that the moment Crimson Source Heavenly Saint disappeared, the young man opposite him, Ye Chen, reached out towards a spot in the empty space to his left.


    This grasp actually pulled out the hidden and vanished Crimson Source Heavenly Saint out of thin air!


    What left all the Heavenly Saints who had previously marveled at Crimson Source Heavenly Saint¡¯s strength dumbstruck was that the young lad, with a strong swing of his hand, caused the formidable Crimson Source Heavenly Saint they revered to, just like the first challenger, be completely unable to resist, and be slammed to the ground with the same method.


    In the end, Crimson Source Heavenly Saint lay on the ground wailing continuously, struggling to stand up, but completely unable to do so!


    Seeing this, how could the Heavenly Saints present not understand Ye Chen¡¯s strength?


    This young man, it wasn¡¯t a case of not knowing the immensity of heaven and earth!


    Clearly, he possessed a combat power many times stronger than Crimson Source Heavenly Saint!


    And thinking that they too stood within this challenge area.


    Recalling their own earlier thoughts of defeating this young man and occupying the reserved spot.


    The more than five thousand nine hundred Heavenly Saints who hadn¡¯t yet challenged Ye Chen wailed in their hearts.


    It was over.


    They had chosen the wrong person to challenge!

 Chapter 572 - 527

    "Next, who will challenge me?"


    As Ye Chen spoke out, asking the Heavenly Saints in the area, many Heavenly Saints even "swooshed", directly scared into retreating several steps back.


    This situation, compared to earlier when these people were desperately vying to challenge Ye Chen and complained incessantly when they were not the first to get the opportunity to fight him, formed a stark contrast.


    At this time, the Heavenly Saints looked nothing like they were eager and warming up for battle.


    After Ye Chen had defeated a mid-stage Heavenly Saint warrior and the powerful late-stage Crimson Source Heavenly Saint, having realized Ye Chen¡¯s true strength, they no longer harbored any thoughts of underestimating Ye Chen like before.


    No.


    It was not just a lack of underestimation; many of them didn¡¯t even want to face Ye Chen anymore.


    They certainly didn¡¯t want to end up like Crimson Source Heavenly Saint, who was beaten to the ground, unable to even stand up, nor did they want to humiliate themselves with involuntary cries of pain in front of everyone!


    For a time, these over fifty-nine hundred Heavenly Saints eerily quieted down, with not a single one stepping forward to challenge Ye Chen.


    "No more challengers?" Ye Chen looked at the quiet crowd, smiled slightly, and then said to True God Zhou Lin in the Void Celestial Gourd, "Senior, if there are no more challenges, does that mean I¡¯ve won?"


    True God Zhou Lin was extremely shaken by Ye Chen¡¯s strength.


    At this moment, hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, he smiled and nodded to Ye Chen, then said to all the Heavenly Saints in Ye Chen¡¯s area, "If no one challenges, then it will be considered that you have given up on this challenge opportunity. The final candidate from your area to enter the ¡¯Void Celestial Gourd¡¯ for cultivation will be Ye Chen."


    True God Zhou Lin¡¯s words left many Heavenly Saints in a conundrum, afraid they would look bad if they lost the challenge, and feeling it too wasteful to give up the opportunity directly. They hesitated even more.


    Eventually, many Heavenly Saints made up their minds and gave up the challenge.


    After all, they knew their own strength.


    Compared to the Crimson Source Heavenly Saints, they were obviously inferior and had no chance of winning the spot to enter the "Void Celestial Gourd" for cultivation in this area.


    Their strength, even among all the areas, was not good enough to be ranked at the front and have a chance at one of the hundred cultivation opportunities.


    Earlier, they had wanted to demonstrate their power against Ye Chen, but now they simply gave up.


    Many Heavenly Saints gave up, but there were still some who were unwilling to waste the chance.


    In the end, another late-stage Heavenly Saint warrior stood up to challenge Ye Chen.


    As expected, Ye Chen defeated this late-stage Heavenly Saint warrior within a single move.


    Eventually, even after consecutive challenges from a dozen or so people, Ye Chen didn¡¯t use a second move at all. Having resolved each opponent with a single strike, all the Heavenly Saints in the area knew that none of them was a match for Ye Chen.


    Even the strongest, top-tier late-stage Heavenly Saint warriors were no match!


    Finally, of the five thousand nine hundred and twenty-four Heavenly Saints who chose to challenge Ye Chen, only a little more than fifty actually fought. The rest, all gave up the challenge.


    After all, nearly all of those fifty plus who fought Ye Chen were late-stage Heavenly Saint warriors. Even if they weren¡¯t late-stage warriors, they were famously formidable mid-stage warriors, but all these people were defeated, which naturally deterred everyone else from challenging and led to the subsequent warriors giving up on the challenge straight away.


    In the end, even though Ye Chen¡¯s area had the most contestants for challenges, it was almost the first to finish the fights, completely confirming the candidate to enter the Void Celestial Gourd for cultivation.


    Ye Chen, starting as a reserve candidate, had successfully held his position till the end, gaining the spot to cultivate inside the "Void Celestial Gourd" for one month at a time flow rate one hundred times that of the outside!


    Ye Chen, faced with the challenge of five thousand nine hundred and twenty-four Heavenly Saints, still came out smiling in the end!


    Once Ye Chen¡¯s area had completed the challenges, the rest, who had been keeping an eye on Ye Chen¡¯s movements, were tremendously shocked by his strength. They stopped observing Ye Chen and began their own grand matches against the warriors challenging them.


    In the end, the results of challenges from various regions kept coming in.


    More than half of the initial candidates came out smiling in the end.


    Having the ability to arrive at this mystical realm in the first place, it was not difficult for them to seize one of the hundred training opportunities.


    Of course, a small number of the initial candidates lost to the challenging Heavenly Saints in subsequent challenges, leading to a fresh turnover of contenders who would be entering the "Void Celestial Gourd" for training within their regions.


    Among the Heavenly Saints familiar to Ye Chen, Palace Master Yuan Li unsurprisingly secured one of the hundred opportunities effortlessly!


    Nevertheless, it was unfortunate for Mu Yao Palace Master and Skyscraper Palace Master. Even though they overcame numerous opponents, they could not hold out till the end and thus lost the chance to train inside the Void Celestial Gourd.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan also failed to make it to the end.


    Among the true warriors of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, only Ye Chen and Palace Master Yuan Li successfully secured two spots.


    The other thirty-two continents of the Lower Realm only snagged about a dozen places.


    The Senior Elder of Heavenly Fire Holy Land who once accompanied Little Saint Huo Mei¡¯er of the Leaving Fire Continent and the two powerhouses from Heavenly Evolution Continent who escorted Ye Chen and others into the Five Elements Mountain ¨C Mystery Heavenly Saint and the Ancestral Master, as well as Ancestral Master Minghua from Purple Dawn Continent, all obtained a precious spot.


    The vast majority of the remaining spots were dominated by the late-stage Heavenly Saints from the minor spiritual realms.


    Once the final hundred training spots were settled, True God Zhou Lin spoke to the crowd from the void: "The hundred chosen ones to enter the ¡¯Void Celestial Gourd¡¯ may start their training from today."


    As he spoke, divine light shimmered in his hand, and a hundred tokens flew into the hands of the hundred victorious martial artists, including Ye Chen.


    "These are the tokens to enter the Void Celestial Gourd. With these tokens, you can train within. Once the training period ends, you will be automatically expelled."


    After arranging for the hundred victorious Heavenly Saints, True God Zhou Lin turned to the others.


    "Those who wish to stay and train in this region may do so. Although this region does not offer the chance of accelerated time flow like within the ¡¯Void Celestial Gourd,¡¯ the Heaven and Earth True Qi here is also quite extraordinary, and cultivating here should yield some results."


    "Those who do not wish to train here may continue venturing into the deeper twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace or return to the previous levels. However, for you Heavenly Saints wanting to challenge deeper layers of the Undersea Divine Palace, I need not stress the increased danger. You are undoubtedly well aware of it."


    "Whichever choice you make is entirely up to you. Now, go forth and act on your decisions!"


    After True God Zhou Lin finished speaking, he gave Ye Chen, who was among the crowd, a smiling nod before vanishing from sight.


    Subsequently, over thirty thousand Heavenly Saints bid farewell to each other and made their own choices.


    Those who chose to leave the region flew away, those who stayed started their training immediately, and many of the hundred who had access to the "Void Celestial Gourd" could hardly wait and swiftly flew into it.


    Your next read is at novelhall.Co?m


    After speaking with Mu Yao Palace Master, Skyscraper Palace Master, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, and the others, Ye Chen finally looked with Palace Master Yuan Li towards the hundred gourds hanging from the void.


    "One month with a hundredfold acceleration of time for training, that¡¯s equivalent to more than eight years of cultivation time!"


    "I can finally start a thorough and invigorating period of intense cultivation!"


    Such a lengthy period of cultivation was even longer than the total time Ye Chen had spent training from the beginning of the True Qi Realm!


    Ye Chen had long been looking forward to a proper period of cultivation!


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After exchanging a glance with Palace Master Yuan Li, Ye Chen moved swiftly, each choosing one of the gourds descending from the void and, using their tokens, shot into the Void Celestial Gourd.

 Chapter 573 - 528

    From the outside, each Void Celestial Gourd was as big as a millstone, which was unbelievably huge compared to a normal gourd.


    But when Ye Chen actually entered the interior of the Void Celestial Gourd, he found that the space inside was even larger¡ªa cultivation treasure land with a square circumference of ten thousand zhang!


    Within the entire cultivation treasure land, one couldn¡¯t feel any change in the time flow rate; one could only sense the dense True Qi everywhere, so rich that it converged into several Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Ponds within this treasure land, emitting dazzlingly brilliant True Qi Divine Light.


    It was not just the True Qi that was extremely dense; the whole cultivation treasure land was also full of the flashing breath of countless Laws, and one could even sense the mysterious aura of the Space Law and Time Law.


    Even the lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation, which strikes during the crossing of the tribulation, flickered in and out among the clouds of this treasure land, as if the moment of the tribulation¡¯s assault was imminent, it could induce the descent of the Heavenly Tribulation.


    After observing the cultivation treasure land within the "Void Celestial Gourd," Ye Chen flew directly to a spiraling cultivation platform surrounded by several Heaven and Earth True Qi Spirit Ponds and immediately sat down cross-legged.


    After pondering the things he intended to cultivate, Ye Chen began his thorough cultivation on the cultivation platform.


    One year...


    Two years...


    Three years...


    While only eleven days had passed on the outside, more than three years had elapsed within the Void Celestial Gourd.


    And as time passed on the outside, Ye Chen¡¯s arduous cultivation within the Void Celestial Gourd continued.


    ...


    While Ye Chen, Palace Master Yuan Li, and countless Heavenly Saints had started their cultivation spanning over eight years inside and just a month outside on the eleventh floor of the Undersea Divine Palace,


    Countless True Gods had already crossed the eleventh floor, entering the depths of the Undersea Divine Palace below.


    Upon entering the deeper areas, beginning with the twelfth floor, all True Gods discovered that the difficulty level of the entire Undersea Divine Palace had suddenly surged dramatically.


    Even at the passages leading to the levels below, each was guarded by numerous fearsome lethal life forms.


    At this time, attempting to traverse the Undersea Divine Palace relied not on luck or timely avoidance of danger but on sheer strength to penetrate deeper into the palace.


    Suddenly, the speed at which all True Gods tackled the Undersea Divine Palace slowed considerably.


    There were even many True Gods who continuously fell within the Undersea Divine Palace!


    And the Heavenly Saints who ventured into the twelfth floor and lower levels of the Undersea Divine Palace were almost all killed!


    Even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, the elder chieftain of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the elder chieftain of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡ªthree Nine Tribulations True Gods¡ªfaced danger several times, greatly slowing their pace through the Undersea Divine Palace.


    When the three Nine Tribulations True Gods reached the fourteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, with the opportunity to enter the fifteenth floor where eight "Eyes of Creation" were present, they encountered a God King Level Rock Giant that stood over five thousand zhang tall at the entrance to the passage from the fourteenth to the fifteenth floor.


    Around the Rock Giant was a massive chessboard with a square circumference of a thousand zhang.


    On the chessboard were thirty-two chess pieces, which were none other than Rock Warriors.


    "Intruders, if you wish to pass this level and enter this ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ you must battle with my clansmen!"


    "Only by conquering this ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ will you be qualified to enter the fifteenth floor!"


    Under the demands of the Divine King, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, the elder chieftain of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the elder chieftain of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡ªthree Nine Tribulations True Gods¡ªdared not disobey.


    After they successively flew into the chessboard, they astonishingly found that the entire board was governed by an incredible Space Law.


    The entire chessboard was actually a vast killing field!


    Within the vast killing field, there were thirty-two True God level Rock Warriors, each guarding one of the thirty-two checkpoints.


    And there were two Rock Warriors at the Nine Tribulations True God level!


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, the elder chieftain of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the elder chieftain of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡ªeach confronted the challenge of the thirty-two checkpoints alone.


    These Rock Warriors would not attack them proactively, but as soon as they stepped into the guarding range of these Rock Warriors, they would be immediately attacked.


    For a time, the three Nine Tribulations True Gods were intercepted within the vast space of the "Slaughter Chessboard"!


    The True Gods that followed, entering the fourteenth floor, all entered the Slaughter Chessboard space separately, each facing the test of the thirty-two checkpoints and the thirty-two Rock Warriors.


    Stay updated with novelhall.Co?m


    The quest of countless True Gods through the Undersea Divine Palace was for the moment halted at the fourteenth floor.


    Outside the Slaughter Chessboard.


    The God King Level Rock Giant watched the billowing smoke within the vast world of the Slaughter Chessboard with Divine Eyes, observing the intruding martial artists as they became entangled within the immense world of overlapping spatial dimensions.


    ```


    His voice murmured outside the Slaughter Chessboard realm, "The Slaughter Chess Game, thirty-two levels. Each level has a life path and a death path. If one fails to break through the life path and falls into the death path, even a Nine Tribulations True God would die within!"


    "Of course, if one possesses absolute wisdom to break the life path, then even those with strength inferior to my kin can pass through this Slaughter Chess Game."


    "To live or die, whether or not you can break through this chess game and enter the fifteenth layer, it now depends on the fortune of you martial artists!"


    After murmuring to himself, the God King Level Rock Giant¡¯s Divine Eyes were projected toward the eleventh layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, seemingly waiting for something!


    ...


    The eleventh layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Within the Void Celestial Gourd where Ye Chen was located.


    Eight years passed in the blink of an eye!


    In this period, Ye Chen had been immersed in arduous cultivation. He only actively moved a few times.


    And these few times, were precisely when Ye Chen confirmed the Great Accomplishment of each Cultivation Technique he practiced in solitude!


    During the first year of cultivation inside the Void Celestial Gourd, the Cultivation Technique Ye Chen confirmed was the Physical Combat Power Skill "Icebound Divine Body"!


    To truly cultivate the Icebound Divine Body, it was divided into nine volumes, each corresponding to the assimilation of Divine Energy from nine Ice Seal Divine Stars. Within one year, Ye Chen cultivated the Icebound Divine Body directly to the fourth volume, reaching a bottleneck where he could no longer continue before ceasing.


    Then, Ye Chen began the cultivation of the Undying Divine Body.


    For the Undying Divine Body, Ye Chen only had the first three volumes obtained from Minor Pole Sky, and it was even more formidable than the Icebound Divine Body!


    After spending a year and a half, Ye Chen finally succeeded in completely cultivating the three volumes in his hands!


    Upon successful cultivation of these three volumes, Ye Chen¡¯s physical combat power and recovery capabilities reached an incredibly terrifying stage. He also earned the opportunity to meet Lord Tianyun and obtain the further Cultivation Methods for the Undying Divine Body!


    After two and a half years spent cultivating two mighty means of physical combat power, Ye Chen began to assault the True Qi Combat Power Means.


    Over the remaining five to six years, besides contemplating the Nine Volumes of Formation Array and the three forbidden moves of the Purple Blood Divine Sword, Ye Chen dedicated almost all his energy to the cultivation of True Qi Techniques.


    In these five to six years of strenuous cultivation, his True Qi Combat Power Means improved even more than his Physical Combat Power Means!


    During the cultivation of the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Chapter", over five to six years, Ye Chen had created a total of four hundred and sixty-five Stellar Vortex Spaces within his body, drawing in the power of four hundred and sixty-five stars from the "Stellar Divine Diagram".


    At this point, Ye Chen, wielding the Stellar Power to execute the Five Great Divine Arts, could easily obliterate a Four Tribulations True God!


    Furthermore, with the creation of Stellar Vortex Spaces within his body, Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation of the Space Law within his body was greatly advanced.


    This significant advancement allowed Ye Chen to step into the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint in the seventh year of cultivation!


    It¡¯s known that advancing from the early stage to the mid-stage of a Heavenly Saint is extremely difficult, requiring the understanding of external Space Laws to the insight of internal Space Laws.


    Many early stage Heavenly Saints spend their entire lives unable to achieve this feat.


    However, amidst the creation of Stellar Vortex Spaces during the cultivation of the Star Scripture and the boost provided by the "Primordial Chapter" to Space Law, Ye Chen took just over six years to leap from the early stage to the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint!


    Ye Chen had now, leveraging the Time Flow Rate of the Void Celestial Gourd, soared directly into the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint, becoming a powerful mid-stage Heavenly Saint!


    In addition to significant leaps in both Physical Combat Power Means and True Qi Combat Power Means, even without dedicated cultivation, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul also grew considerably stronger.


    Moreover, Ye Chen made major breakthroughs in the remaining Nine Volumes of Formation Array and the three forbidden moves of the Purple Blood Divine Sword.


    More than eight years.


    Three thousand days of relentless cultivation.


    Transforming countless Martial Skills and Cultivation Techniques into genuine combat means.


    Ye Chen truly welcomed his own great metamorphosis¡ªa transformation of combat power level!


    Boom!


    When all the cultivation time was completely used up, and Ye Chen, along with the other ninety-nine cultivators, were expelled from the Void Celestial Gourd, there was not much change in Ye Chen¡¯s appearance, as if the more than eight years had left no trace on him.


    However, Ye Chen¡¯s entire aura had undergone a completely different transformation.


    If Ye Chen were to fully release his aura, it is likely that countless Five Tribulations and Six Tribulations True Gods, who could be considered powerful in the Minor Spirit Realm of the Upper Realm, would shudder with fear!


    They would tremble with awe!


    ```

 Chapter 574 - 529: Jiunan鈥檚 Challenge

    A hundred figures emerged from the Void Celestial Gourd and returned to the Land of Wonders outside, each wearing a different expression.


    More than eight years of cultivation had been a lengthy period of arduous training, yet the harvests for the hundred individuals were diverse.


    The vast majority of people, apart from their True Qi becoming slightly more condensed, had no other changes.


    It wasn¡¯t surprising, since many of these Heavenly Saint Realm martial artists had practiced for thousands of years; some had even stayed in the same minor realm for over hundreds of years.


    If they hadn¡¯t broken through their realm after staying for hundreds of years, how could it be possible to break through after just over eight years of cultivation?


    These people emerged from the Void Celestial Gourd with somewhat disappointed expressions on their faces.


    After all, having not succeeded in breaking through to the True God Realm, they lacked the confidence to continue venturing into the stages ahead in the Undersea Divine Palace, with little assurance of even exploring the closest twelfth layer.


    Of course, there was also a small group of individuals whose faces revealed uncontrollable delight.


    Some of them had made significant gains in the training of special martial skills, some had broken through from the mid-phase to the late-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and there was even a martial artist from the Minor Spirit Realm who had overcome the First Heavenly Tribulation within the Void Celestial Gourd and successfully become a True God, a First Tribulation True God!


    First Tribulation True God.


    Only one more step beyond the late-phase Heavenly Saint, but already a realm apart in level!


    A realm apart on the path of martial arts!


    At that moment, this newly minted First Tribulation True God even puffed out his chest unconsciously, feeling outstanding like a crane standing among chickens in the crowd in his heart.


    Upon exiting the Void Celestial Gourd, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze shifted towards a few familiar people.


    When he saw Palace Master Yuan Li, Ye Chen was taken aback, "Palace Master Yuan Li..."


    Ye Chen was startled to see that aside from one late-phase Heavenly Saint of the Minor Spirit Realm breaking through to the True God, Palace Master Yuan Li had also managed to break through to the True God Realm!


    It¡¯s known that it¡¯s exceedingly difficult for someone in the late phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm to reach the bottleneck to break through to the True God Realm, and even more challenging to actually succeed in the breakthrough, as the vast majority perish in the Heavenly Tribulation during their first attempt.


    Therefore, the appearance of two martial artists succeeding in breaking through to the True God Realm at the scene was naturally tremendously shocking.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Palace Master Yuan Li also saw Ye Chen¡¯s gaze and, with a slight smile, she flew over to him.


    "Congratulations to Palace Master Yuan Li on your successful breakthrough to the True God Realm!" Ye Chen said to Palace Master Yuan Li with a smile.


    Palace Master Yuan Li replied with a gentle laugh and a shake of her head, "Even though I¡¯ve broken through to the True God Realm, my strength is still not a match for yours. Ye Chen, I¡¯m aware that during the previous grand martial competition, you did not fully exert your strength."


    While talking and laughing, Palace Master Yuan Li suddenly opened her beautiful eyes wide in surprise, "Ye Chen, you¡¯ve broken through to the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm?!"


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Palace Master Yuan Li couldn¡¯t believe it and covered her mouth in astonishment.


    She was simply too shocked!


    This shock, for her, was even a hundredfold more surprising than her own breakthrough to the True God Realm!


    You see, Palace Master Yuan Li herself had been in the late phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm for countless years, always just half a step away from triggering the descent of the First Heavenly Tribulation to attack the True God Realm.


    One could say that her success in the Void Celestial Gourd in breaking through to the True God was partially due to good fortune and also related to her countless years of accumulation.


    But Ye Chen was different.


    Palace Master Yuan Li, more than anyone else, knew that it was just after the recent grand battle in the Southern Territory that Ye Chen had broken through to the early phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    To have just advanced to the early phase of the Heavenly Saint and now to have reached the mid-phase, despite the accelerated time flow rate of over eight years within the Void Celestial Gourd, was simply unimaginable!


    Many who were in the early phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm and spent hundreds or thousands of years trying to push into the mid-phase could not achieve it.


    To expect to progress from the early to the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint in just a little over eight years was truly beyond belief!


    What Palace Master Yuan Li didn¡¯t know was that when Ye Chen had stepped into the Heavenly Saint Realm in the Rotating Pill Realm, he was already comprehending five major Heavenly Void Laws simultaneously, reaching a profound understanding of the Laws.


    And after cultivating the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture and opening the Stellar Vortex Space within his body, he had delved into an even deeper understanding of the Laws pertaining to internal spatial levels, comprehension that was deeper than what was needed to advance from the early to the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    With this facilitation of different Law comprehensions, his assault on the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm was of course a success.


    In the midst of Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s astonishment, as Ye Chen conveyed some matters to her through mental communication, several figures flew towards Ye Chen.


    These figures were all well-known to Ye Chen, being Elder Minghua, the Senior Elder of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land from the Leaving Fire Continent, Heavenly Evolution Elder, and Mystery Heavenly Saint, who had also entered the Void Celestial Gourd for cultivation.


    "Young Friend Ye Chen!"


    These people, after eight years of practice, had made no significant gains and were somewhat disappointed in their hearts. Stay updated via novelhall.Co?m


    Now, as they flew in front of Ye Chen, they all asked him, "Young Friend Ye Chen, are you planning to continue venturing into the Undersea Divine Palace below?"


    These individuals were quite familiar with Ye Chen¡¯s strength.


    Especially Elder Minghua, who had personally witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s use of True God level techniques, and Heavenly Evolution Elder, Mystery Heavenly Saint, and the Senior Elder of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land from the Leaving Fire Continent, knew of Ye Chen¡¯s power, which had allowed him to stand as an equal to the Three-Eyed Skeleton, a Three-Tribulations True God.


    All hailing from the thirty-three lands of the Lower Realm, they inevitably centered themselves around Ye Chen.


    "Honored seniors," Ye Chen nodded with a smile toward these older generations, "I will indeed continue further down!"


    At this moment, Elder Minghua let out a long sigh, "Young Friend Ye Chen, it¡¯s all up to you to venture forth now. We, a few, haven¡¯t been able to break into the True God Realm and dare not go any lower."


    The other late-stage Heavenly Saints also let out long sighs.


    They understood that their inability to continue downward could very likely lead to their death in this great cleansing catastrophe.


    Although they had lived for countless years and had long since become indifferent to life and death, the sense of powerlessness and the inability to fight on still left them deeply sighing, disappointed, and sorrowful.


    Just like Ye Chen and his peers, other familiar Heavenly Saints were also grouping together in twos and threes, discussing what to do next.


    Even many Heavenly Saints who hadn¡¯t entered the Void Celestial Gourd but chose to cultivate in this Land of Wonders gathered around their familiar peers after seeing the hundred martial artists come out from the Void Celestial Gourd, starting conversations.


    Although they had been cultivating inside the Void Celestial Gourd for over eight years, only one month had passed in the real-time of the Undersea Divine Palace, and they still had a long time to stay there.


    After everyone had shared their experiences for a while and was about to go their separate ways again, a group led by a First Tribulation True God who had just succeeded in breaking through in the Minor Spirit Realm headed in the direction where Ye Chen was.


    Seeing this group approaching suddenly, Ye Chen, Palace Master Yuan Li, Elder Minghua, and a few others stopped their conversation and turned to look at them.


    The First Tribulation True God, who had just achieved a breakthrough, noticed Palace Master Yuan Li beside Ye Chen had also succeeded in ascending to the True God Realm, and his eyes revealed a shocked expression. However, ultimately, his gaze settled on Ye Chen.


    "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, my name is ¡¯Jiunan,¡¯" the First Tribulation True God greeted Ye Chen with a smile, "Previously, in a different challenge zone, I witnessed your combat and felt a desire to spar with you, Young Friend Ye Chen."


    "It¡¯s a pity that at that time, I was still in the late Heavenly Saint stage and felt that I was no match for you."


    "Now that I have successfully broken through to the True God Realm and have fully mastered my two sets of Divine Arts, I wonder if you would exchange a few moves with me, Ye Chen. I want to see if you, who swept through the Heavenly Saints, possess the combat power of a First Tribulation True God!"


    This Jiunan, who had just made a breakthrough to become a True God, actually came to challenge Ye Chen!


    When the other Heavenly Saints heard the newly minted True God "Jiunan" issue a challenge to Ye Chen, who had astounded everyone in the previous grand competition, all eyes turned to Ye Chen.


    Many murmured among themselves, saying, "This is going to be a good show!"


    "That young man Ye Chen was astounding before; he could defeat any Heavenly Saint with ease. I suspected that he might have True God level combat power."


    "Alas, there was no one among the Heavenly Saints back then who could really push the young man to reveal a second move."


    "Now, Jiunan has broken through and has become ¡¯True God Jiunan.¡¯ Just by breaking through the Realm, a True God is infinitely stronger than a Heavenly Saint. Plus, he said he¡¯s made significant breakthroughs in his Divine Arts too. It¡¯s very possible that he has the strength to match this miraculous young man, Ye Chen!"


    "I wonder if Ye Chen will accept the challenge."


    Some Heavenly Saints also remarked, "Fighting a True God is too risky, and even if he wins, there won¡¯t be any more opportunities to enter the Void Celestial Gourd. Ye Chen might not accept the challenge."


    In the midst of the buzzing conversations, Jiunan looked at Ye Chen with a light smile and then turned his gaze to Palace Master Yuan Li beside him, saying, "My fellow Daoist has also broken through to the True God Realm. Congratulations to you. However, you won¡¯t stop me from fighting with fellow Daoist Ye Chen, will you?"


    Palace Master Yuan Li hadn¡¯t expected True God Jiunan to address her. She glanced at Jiunan and then at Ye Chen, smiling, "Of course, I won¡¯t stop you. However, Jiunan, even though you have just succeeded in breaking through to the True God Realm, I¡¯m afraid you are still far from being a match for Ye Chen."


    Not only did Palace Master Yuan Li smile gently, but Elder Minghua, Heavenly Evolution Elder, Mystery Heavenly Saint, and others beside Ye Chen showed a kind of helpless amusement upon hearing that Jiunan, who had just become a First Tribulation True God, wanted to challenge Ye Chen.


    The expressions on their faces made it clear, they didn¡¯t hold much hope for this True God Jiunan at all!


    The attitudes of those around Ye Chen left True God Jiunan feeling quite unhappy inside.


    He had only just managed to break through to the True God Realm, where his power had multiplied countless times. Of those present in this Land of Wonders, only Palace Master Yuan Li, who had also ascended to the True God Realm, could be compared with him.


    All the others were still Heavenly Saints.


    Now, to be looked down upon by this group was irksome.


    Even though the young man Ye Chen had repeatedly defeated many challengers, frightening thousands of martial artists from challenging further, True God Jiunan guessed that Ye Chen¡¯s real strength had just surpassed the Heavenly Saint Realm; at most, it was at the level of a First Tribulation True God.


    He simply couldn¡¯t believe that Ye Chen had the power to disdain him!

 Chapter 575 - 530

    Seeing the dissatisfied look on True God Jiunan¡¯s face, Ye Chen also smiled and shook his head, speaking, "Since Daoist Jiunan wants to challenge me, then make your move."


    "Ten breaths, just like the bouts with the Heavenly Saints before, I will end this challenge within ten breaths."


    Ten breaths!


    When the Heavenly Saints present heard Ye Chen utter these words again, many of them gasped in shock.


    These Heavenly Saints had been paying attention to Ye Chen¡¯s previous sparring matches; some had even participated in the challenges against Ye Chen, so they certainly knew what he meant by ten breaths.


    In the past, Ye Chen had defeated all challengers within ten breaths, using just one move, and now, faced with True God Jiunan, he still dared to make such a statement!


    Was he confident that he could defeat True God Jiunan within one move?!


    A true god, after all, is not the same as the previous Heavenly Saints.


    "Ye Chen is really too arrogant!" Many Heavenly Saints thought to themselves.


    They felt that, even if Ye Chen was formidable and could sweep through Heavenly Saints in one move, it was impossible for him to defeat a true god with just one move!


    If true gods were that easy to deal with, they wouldn¡¯t be true gods!


    The Heavenly Saints felt that Ye Chen was arrogant, and at this moment, True God Jiunan even felt like spitting blood!


    Contempt.


    He once again felt that he had been deeply scorned!


    The joy that True God Jiunan had from breaking through to the True God Realm had been entirely swept away.


    He was eager to fight against Ye Chen, to prove his strength and affirm that he was definitely not an opponent Ye Chen could defeat with one move!


    In an instant.


    The True God¡¯s Power that True God Jiunan had just successfully cultivated was released, frightening many Heavenly Saints, causing those like Elder Minghua beside Ye Chen to involuntarily retreat dozens of steps!


    "True God Jiunan is making his move!"


    "The aura of a true god is indeed terrifying!"


    When Jiunan released his aura, the Heavenly Saints in the area all moved quickly back, leaving space for Ye Chen and True God Jiunan to fight.


    While the Heavenly Saints were getting out of the way, Jiunan reached into the void, and instantly, the entire sky fell with countless thrilling flames, bombing towards Ye Chen.


    This shocking flame engulfed thousands of feet of space above Ye Chen¡¯s head, causing a large area of the void to be burned through, creating countless spatial rifts.


    Then, the sky full of flames turned into extremely terrifying stormy flames, bombarding Ye Chen furiously.


    Unable to bear the contempt, True God Jiunan made his real move after releasing his aura!


    The True God¡¯s Power, together with the divine flames that burnt the skies and the void, were all aimed at Ye Chen. This scene made the watching Heavenly Saints worried for Ye Chen, even though they had seen his strength.


    They had forgotten Ye Chen¡¯s earlier domineering words.


    They had forgotten that Ye Chen said he would defeat True God Jiunan within ten breaths, with one move.


    They simply couldn¡¯t believe that under such a terrifying True God-level attack, with thousands of feet of void being burnt into cracks, Ye Chen could still defeat Jiunan with one move.


    All they wanted to see was how Ye Chen, as a middle-stage Heavenly Saint, would withstand this move!


    As all the Heavenly Saints held their breath, Ye Chen, facing Jiunan¡¯s flame, showed no sign of fear.


    Ye Chen smiled lightly, took a step, and instantly made his move.


    With a grasp of his left hand towards the void, the shooting flames that had burned thousands of feet of the void and had finally converged into the ultimate killing power were shockingly grabbed into his palm in an instant, as the shadow of his hand abruptly expanded.


    "This fire-based Divine Art is still too weak."


    With a gentle squeeze of his hand¡¯s shadow, Ye Chen extinguished and shattered the flame storm of the Divine Art that even late-stage Heavenly Saints dreaded.


    At the same time, with an effortless pat of his right hand,


    True God Jiunan, despite having successfully broken through to the True God Realm, was sent flying backward by Ye Chen¡¯s slap, unable to withstand it. He was blasted hundreds of feet away and eventually crashed heavily onto the ground.


    In the end, like the Heavenly Saints who had challenged Ye Chen before, True God Jiunan couldn¡¯t get up from the ground for a long time, the immense pain causing him to cry out involuntarily!


    This scene made all the Heavenly Saints on the field widen their eyes and open their mouths in disbelief.


    ```


    Palace Master Yuan Li, Elder Minghua, the Great Elder of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land from Leaving Fire Continent, Elder Tianyan, Mystery Heavenly Saint, and others all revealed deep admiration in their eyes, as if to say, "Indeed, it is as expected."


    Everyone finally understood.


    Ye Chen was not being arrogant before.


    He clearly had great strength, great domineering presence!


    Everyone finally understood.


    Even if someone achieved the True God Realm in eight years, they still wouldn¡¯t be a match for Ye Chen!


    In this strange land, Ye Chen¡¯s power still easily swept through everyone!


    Ye Chen was still unstoppable!


    ...


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen!"


    After Ye Chen once again demonstrated his power, in the end, those gathered around Ye Chen were not only Palace Master Yuan Li and the rest, but the majority of the Heavenly Saints had surrounded him as well.


    Even when Ye Chen and Palace Master Yuan Li were ready to venture further down, many of the Heavenly Saints respectfully saw them off.


    The shadow of the great cleansing catastrophe loomed over everyone¡¯s hearts.


    These people had a premonition that this young man, who was only at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm but had a strength far surpassing a one-tribulation True God, if so incredible within the first eleven layers, would likely display even more unimaginable feats in the following twenty-two layers.


    Even if this young man did not possess the colossal power of a nine-tribulation True God, the mere disparity between his combat strength and realm made everyone aware that this young man¡¯s potential absolutely surpassed the several nine-tribulation True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm!


    In the mysterious and unpredictable Undersea Divine Palace, strength is important, but potential, opportunity, and even destiny and fortune are even more crucial!


    Many people even had a premonition that the "Eye of the Divine Sea," which might allow them to escape with their lives, could possibly be obtained by this young man in the end.


    Thinking of this...


    The numerous Heavenly Saints, who had originally been in despair, now harbored a sliver of hope.


    ...


    "Elder Yuan Li, be careful in the next few layers," Ye Chen said to Palace Master Yuan Li as they approached the entrance to the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    This time, Elder Minghua, the Great Elder of the Heavenly Fire Holy Land, Elder Tianyan, and others had not chosen to continue their adventure into the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Among those Ye Chen knew in the eleventh layer of strange land, only he and Palace Master Yuan Li had chosen to continue venturing downward.


    God King Hei Mei had said that entering the twelfth layer would make the journey through the Undersea Divine Palace dangerous and extremely difficult.


    At this moment of separation, possibly being transported to different folded spaces in the next layer, Ye Chen naturally worried for Palace Master Yuan Li and couldn¡¯t help but remind her to be careful.


    Palace Master Yuan Li smiled and nodded, "I know, I¡¯ve just entered the True God Realm, and it will definitely be difficult to venture further, so I will be careful."


    "Ye Chen, you must also be careful. If it truly becomes impassable, don¡¯t force your way through," Palace Master Yuan Li also advised Ye Chen in return.


    Palace Master Yuan Li was aware of Ye Chen¡¯s intentions and knew that he was reluctant to give up on finding the "Eye of the Divine Sea," which could only potentially appear in the last three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The last three layers, even though Palace Master Yuan Li knew of Ye Chen¡¯s strength, also realized that it wouldn¡¯t be easy for Ye Chen to break through and there was a great risk of falling.


    "I understand," Ye Chen nodded.


    As he nodded, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze skimmed the passageway of the Undersea Divine Palace, looking towards the deeper and more unexplored areas below.


    "Perhaps many True Gods are already further below by now," he mused.


    "True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan... and also the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan..."


    "I wonder if Jiang Yao has gone further below. No matter what, I will do my utmost to continue venturing downward! I must obtain the Eye of Destiny, search for Jiang Yao, and I¡¯ll even try to find the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯!" Experience exclusive tales on novelhall.Co?m


    Boom! Boom!


    After Ye Chen took a deep breath, he and Palace Master Yuan Li stepped into the passageway from the eleventh layer to the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    In a flash of light, Ye Chen fully entered the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    ```

 Chapter 576 - 531: Skypiercing Clams

    "Is this the twelfth level of the Undersea Divine Palace?"


    When the dizziness from the teleportation passed, Ye Chen found himself in an immensely large grand hall.


    "It looks similar to the first level of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    Ye Chen surveyed the massive grand hall and spoke aloud.


    The grand hall on the twelfth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, like the one on the first level, was incredibly vast, with the ceiling carved with numerous exotic monsters, humans, spirit insects, dark demonic creatures, and peculiar beings.


    The only difference was that, originally, in the grand hall on the first level of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen had descended with hundreds of thousands of martial artists. But at this moment, in this twelfth level, Ye Chen found only himself in the enormous grand hall.


    Palace Master Yuan Li, who had teleported with him, was nowhere to be seen; clearly, he had been sent to some other folded space.


    "I wonder what kind of lethal entities this level contains?"


    Ye Chen looked around the twelfth-level grand hall and saw it completely empty, not even sensing a trace of killing intent, as if there were no dangers at all.


    A somewhat strange feeling.


    "No matter, finding the passage is the priority!"


    With a thought, the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat flew out from Ye Chen¡¯s body, enlarging instantly. Ye Chen flew into the flying boat and maneuvered it around the grand hall, searching for the passage that led to the thirteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    After flying about for quite some time, Ye Chen did not spot a shadow of any lethal entity.


    And just when Ye Chen finally sensed the passage to the lower level in the northeastern corner of the grand hall, he suddenly heard a series of "thuds" coming from outside the Void Heaven Flying Boat.


    As Ye Chen looked outside the Void Heaven Flying Boat, he saw directly that more than a hundred True God level toad-shaped monsters were all lying on top of his flying boat.


    And Ye Chen also noticed that even more toad-shaped monsters were flying out from the ceiling of the twelfth-level grand hall, heading straight for his flying boat.


    The "thuds" were precisely the sound of these True God level toad monsters hitting his Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat!


    In just a moment, more than three hundred True God level toad monsters were perched on Ye Chen¡¯s flying boat!


    These toad monsters were all more than half a meter long, with most being at the First Tribulation True God level, though there were also several at the Two Tribulations True God level.


    Even if their True God Realm wasn¡¯t high, the sheer number that appeared was quite terrifying.


    Moreover, they all appeared near the boundary of the passage to the lower level, making it impossible to avoid them if one wished to enter the passage.


    Indeed, as God King Hei Mei had said, upon entering the twelfth level, the difficulty of advancing greatly increased, with most in the Heavenly Saint Realm likely meeting their demise.


    It was truly so.


    Think about it, if an ordinary warrior in the Heavenly Saint Realm suddenly encountered an attack by hundreds of True God level toad monsters, death was likely the only path left!


    However, at that moment, with the intervention of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, these more than three hundred True God level toad monsters could do nothing to Ye Chen.


    Even as Ye Chen maneuvered the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat with a sudden roll and shake, he directly flung all the more than three hundred True God level toad monsters off, causing them to crash onto the hall¡¯s ceiling and the ground with a thunderous noise.


    Afterwards, Ye Chen directly operated the flying boat, flying swiftly towards the passage into the thirteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t want to tangle with these True God level toad monsters; it was more important for him to make his way to the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace as soon as possible.


    After all, in the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, there were eight incredibly precious "Eyes of Creation." Having spent quite some time cultivating in the eleventh level, Ye Chen had been delayed, and many True Gods had already advanced ahead of him. Ye Chen didn¡¯t want to waste any more time.


    But the outcome of the situation was not as simple as Ye Chen had thought.


    In the first eleven levels, upon discovering a teleportation passage, one could directly enter it.


    But at that moment, as Ye Chen was about to fly into the teleportation passage, he found that the entire passage in the twelfth level of the Undersea Divine Palace was generating an immense repulsive force, slamming his Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat backwards.


    This teleportation passage actually barred Ye Chen¡¯s entry!


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    Just as Ye Chen stabilized the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat and was puzzled to the extreme, outside the flying boat, those True God level toad creatures that Ye Chen had bumped into and sent flying started laughing with a "gaga gaga" sound. At the same time, they began to speak human language, "Haha, intruder, you think you can pass through the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace that easily."


    "Relying solely on the flying boat to fly directly into the passage is absolutely impossible."


    "Unless you kill a hundred of our True God ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯ to accumulate enough points to break through this layer, only then will the passage open for you to enter!"


    The words of these True God level toad creatures left Ye Chen stunned.


    Can¡¯t fly in directly?


    Need to kill a hundred True God level creatures to pass?


    These True God level toad creatures are called "Skypiercing Clams"?


    With a thought, Ye Chen flew directly out of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat and came to its exterior.


    At the same time, he put away the flying boat and looked at the densely packed three hundred or more "Skypiercing Clams" before him.


    Seeing Ye Chen fly out of the flying boat, these three hundred or more True God level "Skypiercing Clams," like humans, showed an expression of great joy.


    "Kill this intruder!"


    "We are in charge of guarding this checkpoint; we can¡¯t let any weakling leave!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    These True God level "Skypiercing Clams" all crazily flew toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked calmly at the more than three hundred True God creatures charging towards him.


    The strongest of these creatures was of the Two Tribulations True God level; even without the assistance of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, Ye Chen was not the least bit afraid. Read latest stories on novelhall.Co?m


    As the three hundred or more "Skypiercing Clams" frenziedly pounced towards him, Ye Chen waved his sleeves, unleashing a force even more mighty than the previous collision force of the flying boat, which directly hit these "Skypiercing Clams."


    Many of the "Skypiercing Clams" were instantly hit and flew thousands of feet away, some were directly killed upon impact, and the most formidable few Two Tribulations True God level "Skypiercing Clams," while being knocked back, were grabbed by Ye Chen¡¯s large hand, directly caught in the void, and pulled back in front of him.


    Ye Chen¡¯s strike, with power terrifying to the extreme, caused numerous "Skypiercing Clams" to descend into chaos.


    These True God level "Skypiercing Clams" had not anticipated that such a formidable person would come to the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace this time!


    What they didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen¡¯s move had not even used one-tenth of his strength.


    Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t just be many "Skypiercing Clams" being knocked away; even if these "Skypiercing Clams" were of the First Tribulation or Two Tribulations True God level, Ye Chen could have killed them all with a single move!


    The reason Ye Chen was still holding back was that he had many questions to ask these "Skypiercing Clams."


    Looking at the five Two Tribulations True God level "Skypiercing Clams" he had caught in his hand, Ye Chen asked, "I ask you, does everyone who enters the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace get attacked by you?"


    Ye Chen found it odd, even though the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace was bound to be extremely dangerous, there were too many "Skypiercing Clams" ambushing him at the passage.


    He had enough combat power, so it was not an issue for him.


    If other martial artists who broke into the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace encountered so many "Skypiercing Clams," then it¡¯s likely that many First Tribulation and Two Tribulations True Gods would directly perish!


    Ye Chen was extremely concerned whether Palace Master Yuan Li, who had entered the twelfth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace at the same time as him and was now in another folded space, would encounter such dangerous situations as well.


    If Palace Master Yuan Li really faced such crises, being a First Tribulation True God, she could likely encounter great trouble.

 Chapter 577 - 532: The Real Crisis

    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry, the five Two Tribulations True Gods level "Skypiercing Clams" that Ye Chen had grasped in the void all trembled over their entire bodies.


    In a flurry, they answered, "We report to you, sir, that every person who enters the 12th floor of the Undersea Divine Palace will encounter an attack, but the attacks vary."


    "They vary?" Ye Chen frowned and looked at the "Skypiercing Clams", "How do they differ?"


    A Two Tribulations True God Skypiercing Clam responded, "Sir, within the 12th floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, aside from our ¡¯Skypiercing Clam¡¯ clan, there is the even more powerful ¡¯Skyscraper Wall Gecko¡¯ clan."


    "The strongest among our ¡¯Skypiercing Clam¡¯ clan are the Three Tribulations True Gods, whereas the ¡¯Skyscraper Wall Gecko¡¯ clan even has True Gods of Five Tribulations!"


    "Our two clans are responsible for guarding the 12th floor of this Undersea Divine Palace."


    "Every Martial Artist who intrudes into the 12th floor of the Undersea Divine Palace will encounter a random number of ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯ or ¡¯Skyscraper Wall Geckos¡¯ besieging them."


    "The luckiest Martial Artists might only face an attack by one or two One Tribulation True God level ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯. The unlucky ones, however, might encounter an assault by hundreds of ¡¯Skyscraper Wall Geckos¡¯ of Five Tribulations True God level. Many Six Tribulations True Gods would fall under such an assault!"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    So, the 12th floor of this Undersea Divine Palace actually randomly allocates life forms as killing opponents.


    "Does this mean that my test isn¡¯t too dangerous?" Ye Chen asked as he looked at these True God level clam demon creatures.


    Although he faced more than three hundred True God level clam demon creatures, the strongest was only of the Two Tribulations True God level, and he did not encounter the more powerful "Skyscraper Wall Gecko" clan. Clearly, his crisis was relatively manageable.


    "Sir, your strength is extraordinarily formidable. I believe that even the most dangerous scenario in the 12th floor of this Undersea Divine Palace, with hundreds of ¡¯Skyscraper Wall Geckos¡¯ at the True God level of Five Tribulations descending, you would be able to break through!" a few Two Tribulations True God "Skypiercing Clams" said in a continuous stream after hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t take the compliments of these "Skypiercing Clams" to heart. He then asked, "Since it is a random allocation of opponents, what force compels you to attack us Martial Artists? Does the strength or realm of a Martial Artist influence this random allocation? Moreover, if you are always being killed, won¡¯t your race be exterminated?"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s questions, a few Two Tribulations True God level "Skypiercing Clams" spoke, "Sir, the strength of a Martial Artist does not affect the random allocation. Even a First Tribulation True God, if unlucky, may encounter an attack by hundreds of Five Tribulations True God level ¡¯Skyscraper Wall Geckos¡¯. If lucky, even a Three Tribulations True God might only face one or two One Tribulation True God level ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯."


    "This random allocation begins as soon as you enter the Undersea Divine Palace. A mysterious power from the ceiling of this palace will then transport us into the 12th floor battleground to fight against you."


    "As for whether we¡¯ll be made extinct? Sir, this Undersea Divine Palace is incredibly peculiar. Both our races, exiled within it, won¡¯t be exterminated. Even if many of our clansmen die, they can still revive after the next great purge calamity arrives!"


    Regarding what the "Skypiercing Clams" said about the assignment of opponents being completely random and unrelated to power or realm, Ye Chen could only nod.


    He could only hope that Palace Master Yuan Li would not be so unlucky as to encounter an attack by "Skyscraper Wall Geckos" of the Five Tribulations True God level. If Palace Master Yuan Li were lucky and only encountered some "Skypiercing Clams" of the First Tribulation True God level, he should be able to smoothly get through the 12th floor.


    And about what these "Skypiercing Clams" said¡ªthat even if they died, they could still be revived at the arrival of the next great purge calamity¡ªshook Ye Chen somewhat.


    Revival?!


    That was an immensely mysterious power, and it was a great purge calamity that came once every tens of thousands of years. After so long, this power could revive the dead "Skypiercing Clams".


    The mysteriousness and might of this Undersea Divine Palace were truly inconceivable!


    Even the "Undying Divine Body" that Ye Chen practiced, which possessed some of the majesty of revival, was only for his individual self, and it had to be cultivated to perfection to work. Moreover, it couldn¡¯t bring anyone else back to life!


    Amidst his astonishment, Ye Chen took a deep breath and then looked at the "Skypiercing Clams" again, "Since you can revive after death, why do you fear me so much?"


    "Even if I kill you, you can still revive in the future. What¡¯s there to fear?"


    Ye Chen was somewhat puzzled by the fear the "Skypiercing Clams" showed towards him.


    The five Two Tribulations True God level "Skypiercing Clams" then hurriedly spoke up, "Sir, we admire your strength, and of course, we must respect you!"


    Seeing Ye Chen frown, the five Two Tribulations True God level "Skypiercing Clams" hastened to tell the truth, "To speak truly to you, sir, the number of ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯ or ¡¯Skyscraper Wall Geckos¡¯ that appear each time is more than what the Undersea Divine Palace itself requires for a Martial Artist to pass the trial."


    "Like this time, although there are more than three hundred ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯ that have been brought forth to besiege you, sir, you only need to kill one hundred ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯ to pass this level."


    "Those ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯ that are killed, even if they revive later, will be severely punished by the Undersea Divine Palace. If we do not revive, even if we fail to complete the task and don¡¯t kill the intruding Martial Artists, there will only be a small punishment, which doesn¡¯t affect our own cultivation."


    "Of course, if we succeed in killing the intruding Martial Artists, we would receive a reward, and if the rewards are sufficient, we might even be able to escape our exile!"


    Hearing the words of these Skypiercing Clams, Ye Chen finally understood why they had been so aggressively attacking him previously.


    It turned out that killing intruders like him came with rewards for these Skypiercing Clams!


    Even if they truly encountered an opponent they couldn¡¯t kill, these Skypiercing Clams were still bent on preserving their own lives, not wishing to be punished severely as sacrifices.


    No wonder these "Skypiercing Clams" kept appeasing him. It was because they feared being killed by him and feared the severe punishment of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    "To get through this 12th floor, I merely need to kill a hundred ¡¯Skypiercing Clams¡¯, and then I can spare the lives of over two hundred Skypiercing Clams."


    "However, this Undersea Divine Palace can not only punish these exiles but also revive them. Obviously, the Undersea Divine Palace possesses some inexplicable power that is in control."


    Ye Chen pondered in his heart.


    After thinking for a while, Ye Chen finally turned to the Skypiercing Clams and said, "I can spare you, but I have a few more questions. Answer them truthfully."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s promise to spare them, the Two Tribulations True God-level "Skypiercing Clams" were overjoyed.


    They knew they were no match for the powerful intruding Martial Artist. Managing to keep their lives was hard enough, and of course, they were thrilled!


    "Ask any questions you like, sir. We will answer truthfully everything we know," replied the five Two Tribulations True God-level "Skypiercing Clams," eagerly competing to speak first.


    Ye Chen looked at the five "Skypiercing Clams" and asked, "Besides fighting with me, have you encountered any other Martial Artists?"


    All five Skypiercing Clams shook their heads in unison. "No, sir. Each batch of Skypiercing Clams or Skyscraper Wall Geckos faces different Martial Artists in combat. We have no idea about the fights of others!"


    Ye Chen felt disappointed with this answer.


    He had hoped to gather information about Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God from these "Skypiercing Clams," but now it seemed they knew nothing.


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    "Then let me ask you, do you know what kind of lethal creatures I will encounter if I enter the lower levels?"


    Ye Chen was confident about getting through the twelfth layer, but he was unsure about the levels below it. It was necessary to inquire with these "Skypiercing Clams."


    "The lower layers?" the Skypiercing Clams took a glance at one another upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry. They pondered for a while, and as if they recalled something, they quickly said, "We all have lived through the previous great purge catastrophe. In that catastrophe, those who came back from the lower levels had talked about how they had also encountered randomly assigned opponents. The Martial Artist who had returned to the twelfth layer last time did so after facing an onslaught of countless ¡¯Ice Demon Creatures¡¯ on the thirteenth layer and had retreated after being overwhelmed in battle."


    "For the deeper levels of the Undersea Divine Palace, we do not know, but upon entering the thirteenth layer, sir, you might also face a random onslaught of lethal creatures. The lethal creatures in the thirteenth layer are certainly more terrifying than those in the twelfth. We hope that sir will be fortunate enough not to face the more powerful lethal creatures through random assignment."


    Ye Chen nodded his head.


    After asking everything he wanted to know, Ye Chen finally had some understanding of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s twelfth layer and the thirteenth layer he was about to enter.


    It seemed that both these layers randomly assigned a certain number of lethal creatures to fight the Martial Artists.


    After some thought, Ye Chen said to the few Two Tribulations True God Skypiercing Clams, "I can spare you. However, I must kill a hundred Skypiercing Clams. Who do you think should be killed, and who should be revived next time, to be fair?"


    ...


    A tea time later, Ye Chen finally entered the teleportation corridor from the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s twelfth layer to the thirteenth layer smoothly.


    Remembering how the five Two Tribulations True God-level Skypiercing Clams were scared to suggest which of the First Tribulation True God-level Skypiercing Clams should be killed, the First Tribulation True God Skypiercing Clams were jumping around frantically in fear. But because they were bound by the Undersea Divine Palace and could not escape, in the end, a hundred Skypiercing Clams were still killed by him. Ye Chen did not feel the excitement of passing the eleventh layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, but rather some helplessness.


    He did not want to kill those Skypiercing Clams, but there was no choice, to survive, to journey further into the depths of the Undersea Divine Palace in search of the "Eye of Creation," he had to do it.


    Often, the path of the Martial Artist is replete with helplessness.


    Those Skypiercing Clams, bound by the Undersea Divine Palace, sometimes could not avoid the danger of death.


    Wasn¡¯t Ye Chen himself, like countless other Martial Artists who entered the Undersea Divine Palace, the same?


    Numerous Martial Artists have died at the hands of lethal creatures exiled within the Undersea Divine Palace, or they will die in the future during the great purge calamity of the Divine Palace.


    Martial Artists and exiled lethal creatures are both involuntary.


    They are all controlled by the mysterious power of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    "Only by becoming stronger can one escape the crises of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "Only then one can avoid dying an involuntary death like those First Tribulation True God Skypiercing Clams!"


    As Ye Chen was transitioning from the twelfth to the thirteenth layer, such thoughts flashed through his mind.


    When he finally arrived at the thirteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen put all distractions aside.


    With countless dangers ahead, this was not the time to let his guard down.


    Just as Ye Chen entered the thirteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, he heard surges of voices coming towards him, "Intruder, to pass our Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s thirteenth layer, you must kill a thousand True Gods among us!"


    When Ye Chen looked up to the sky, he was startled to see, in the vast expanse of the thirteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, over five thousand flame True God creatures densely packed.


    The weakest of these True God creatures were at the Three Tribulations True God level, and the most powerful were even at the Six Tribulations True God level!

 Chapter 578 - 533: A Swift Kill

    ```


    On the twelve floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, the murderous lifeforms were encountered only at the final passage. Now, upon entering the thirteenth floor, murderous lifeforms were immediately met!


    On the twelfth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, the encountered creatures were the relatively weak "Skypiercing Clams," but on the thirteenth floor, five thousand formidable flame-shaped True God demons were faced right away!


    Moreover, as Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense swept through, it became clear that there were a total of five thousand eight hundred sixty-three flame-shaped True God demons densely packed within the vast expanse of the thirteenth floor.


    Each of these flame-shaped True God demons were about the size of an adult human, with appearances Ye Chen had never seen before on demons, exuding a ferocity that made one¡¯s Mind and Spirit tremble.


    Within these flame-shaped demons, there were two thousand three hundred and eight at the level of Three Tribulations True Gods; two thousand two hundred sixty-three at the level of Four Tribulations True Gods; and even a thousand at the level of Five Tribulations True Gods.


    And the most powerful among them, the Six Tribulations True God level demons, numbered a staggering two hundred ninety-two.


    The number of these True God demons was horrifyingly vast and their strength was terrifying!


    It was feared that if they were to move out, they could completely flatten the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm without any problem!


    Previously on the twelfth floor, those "Skypiercing Clams" had mentioned that "Ice Demons" would appear on the thirteenth floor, yet they were nowhere to be seen now.


    Ye Chen felt that perhaps those "Ice Demons" were akin to the weaker "Skypiercing Clams" on the twelfth floor, while these "Flame Demons" were equivalent to the powerful, murderous "Skyscraper Wall Geckos."


    It was likely that Ye Chen was simply unlucky to encounter the most formidable group of opponents randomly assigned on the thirteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    As Ye Chen pondered, one of the Six Tribulations True God level demons from the vast number of Flame Demons on the thirteenth floor spoke again, "Intruder, consider yourself extremely unlucky. In this thirteenth floor, you¡¯ve encountered us, the ¡¯Flame Scorcher Clan,¡¯ and not the weaker ¡¯Ice Liao Clan.¡¯"


    "Additionally, we must inform you, intruder, that our group is the one with the highest number of True God opponents, as well as the most powerful combat strength, on the thirteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "Your misfortune is great for having met us. If you cannot kill at least a thousand True Gods among us, you will never reach the lower floors of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "Intruder, brace yourself for our all-encompassing slaughter!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After the Six Tribulations True God of the Flame Scorcher Clan finished speaking to Ye Chen, it let out a piercing howl, and the other five thousand Flame Scorcher Clan demons began howling as well.


    The sky full of howls assaulted the eardrums and pierced the Divine Soul.


    Finally, all the True God demons of the Flame Scorcher Clan took to the skies, rushing towards Ye Chen in a frenzy to slaughter him.


    The staggering number of five thousand eight hundred sixty-three Flame Demons, with as many as one thousand two hundred ninety-two of them being at the level of Five and Six Tribulations True Gods!


    This sheer number of demons was astonishing to the extreme!


    Even a Seven Tribulations True God might not be able to withstand the onslaught of these Flame Demons.


    A weaker True God witnessing this scene might simply die of fright!


    At this moment, seeing the sky full of demons rushing to attack, Ye Chen¡¯s expression was extremely serious!


    If it wasn¡¯t for the fact that he had spent more than eight years training in the "Void Celestial Gourd" on the eleventh floor, drastically increasing his strength, he definitely would not have been able to pass through such a challenge on the thirteenth floor!


    Even though he had spent more than eight years training in the "Void Celestial Gourd," facing such a number and level of demons now, he had to be extremely cautious!


    The slightest carelessness could possibly lead to his demise!


    After all, there were more than five thousand eight hundred demons, all above the level of Three Tribulations True Gods. Any oversight could definitely lead to a real threat of death.


    "I¡¯ve actually encountered the most powerful group of murderous creatures on the thirteenth floor? How unlucky can I get?!"


    "I need to kill a thousand to get past the thirteenth floor?"


    "In that case, hiding in the ¡¯Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat¡¯ won¡¯t work. If I didn¡¯t kill even one head, just like on the twelfth floor, I would be blocked by the transmission hall."


    ```


    "It looks like a real battle is inevitable now!"


    Countless thoughts flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind in an instant.


    As the 5,863 Flame Demons rapidly approached him, Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts flickered and with a "swoosh," he drew the Purple Blood Divine Sword.


    After more than eight years of arduous cultivation, Ye Chen had not yet truly tested his combat power.


    Now, it was time to test that power!


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    If a battle could not be avoided, then he would fight with a vengeance!


    Clang!


    The vast stellar power cultivated by Ye Chen from the "Primordial Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture surged wildly and was suddenly channeled into the Purple Blood Divine Sword, causing the sword in Ye Chen¡¯s hand to suddenly emit an unmatched divine radiance of a purple-blood hue.


    With a mighty slash of this purple-blood divine light, Ye Chen created a thousand-zhang-long terrifying sword energy that instantly sliced through dozens of Flame Demons!


    And at that moment, even more Flame Demons had completely pounced towards Ye Chen.


    Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!


    The flames on these Flame Demons¡¯ bodies even began to burn away the layers of Protective True Qi around Ye Chen, while countless Flame Demons rammed towards him with fierce abandon.


    The combined impact of over five thousand True God level demons was terrifying.


    This collision sent Ye Chen flying thousands of meters away!


    If Ye Chen had not been wearing Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact-level protective armor obtained from the legacy of the Icebound Divine King, and had not cultivated the extremely defensive Icebound Divine Body and Undying Divine Body cultivation skills, this terrible collision from the thousands of True God level Flame Demons would have surely killed him on the spot!


    "To withstand the collision from so many of our clan members?!"


    Seeing Ye Chen sent flying thousands of meters without coughing up a single drop of blood, the Flame Scorcher Clan¡¯s True God Demons in the sky were also somewhat shocked.


    They had thought that their attack would certainly kill this extremely young intruder.


    Unexpectedly, they were stopped, and dozens of their clansmen had died in the process.


    The Flame Scorcher Clan¡¯s True God Demons realized in an instant that Ye Chen wasn¡¯t as simple as he seemed on the surface.


    After exchanging glances, the leading Six Tribulations True Gods howled furiously and led over five thousand True God Demons in a sprawling attack towards Ye Chen once more.


    This time, the Flame Scorcher Clan¡¯s True God Demons transformed into beings with sharp, unparalleled teeth, all intending to tear Ye Chen apart with their bites.


    Seeing the Flame Scorcher Clan¡¯s True God Demons launching another attack, would Ye Chen merely stand there and be attacked?


    He erupted from the ground where he had been sent crashing and flew upward, as the four hundred and sixty-five Stellar Vortex Spaces developed within him over more than eight years stirred violently.


    Unrivaled stellar power swept out from within Ye Chen, creating over eight thousand meters of dazzling Stellar Divine Light fires around his body.


    At the same time, Ye Chen, holding the Purple Blood Divine Sword, vibrated the tip of the sword sharply, and the Golden Light Divine Slash, the most lethal of the Five Great Divine Arts of the Gold Element, was unleashed with a roar.


    The Golden Light Divine Slash instantly cut through more than a hundred of the over five thousand demons rushing towards Ye Chen in mid-attack.


    As an even greater number of demons charged from all directions, the two hundred and ninety-two leading Six Tribulations True God level Flame Scorcher Clan demons also caused their flames to surge, unleashing peerless Divine Arts towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen¡¯s hand flashed again, and the Thunder Gourd, a middle-grade attack-type Divine Artifact obtained in the Minor Pole Sky, flew out at once.


    The Thunder Gourd instantly swelled to a thousand zhang in size, and from its mouth, countless streams of cyan-white breath were violently spewed out, crazily absorbing the Flame Scorcher Clan¡¯s True God Demons that filled the skies.

 Chapter 579 - 534 Its Wait

    The Thunder Gourd is a large-area damage-type Divine Artifact.


    At this moment, facing the siege of over five thousand terrifying True God demon creatures from the Flame Scorcher Clan, Ye Chen finally brought out this treasure, ready to take in a large batch of the "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures, to be directly killed by the "Thunder Gourd"!


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    With this intake, the dozens of "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures closest to the Thunder Gourd were instantly drawn into the gourd, where those at the level of Three and Four Tribulations True Gods were killed upon entry!


    Even the more powerful Five Tribulations True Gods, though not killed immediately, were completely trapped within the Thunder Gourd!


    Death was clearly imminent!


    The countless screams coming from within the Thunder Gourd caused the "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures, further away from the "Thunder Gourd," to change their expressions dramatically. When they felt the great suction power of the "Thunder Gourd" pulling at them too, many of the demon creatures¡ªeven unconsciously dragged towards the "Thunder Gourd"¡ªstarted to scream in terror!


    This screeching was no longer the howling of slaughter from before, but one of dread!


    Clearly, these creatures knew that if they were pulled into the terrible gourd treasure wielded by the young man in front of them, they would most likely meet death!


    "This young man is too strong. We must use our true methods now!"


    Seeing that in just a few moments of exchange, over two hundred of their kin had died, those "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures at the Six Tribulations True God level, who could still resist the suction power of the "Thunder Gourd," after screeching, actually spit out streams of molten lava from their mouths.


    The sky filled with molten lava furiously wrapped around the "Thunder Gourd." Even though Ye Chen maneuvered the "Thunder Gourd" to dodge this vast enclosure of molten lava, the lava¡¯s interference completely halted the gourd¡¯s ability to take in and kill the "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures.


    At the same time, the leading two hundred and ninety-two Six Tribulations True God level "Flame Scorcher Clan" demon creatures were all brandishing weapons that glowed with divine light, appearing in each of their hands as fiery, shining, halberd-like weapons.


    Not only them, but all the remaining "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures also suddenly had halberd-shaped weapons appear in their hands.


    These halberd-shaped weapons of the "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures violently collided with one another, and the over two thousand clashing sounds gathered in the air forming a tremendously powerful shock wave that charged directly at Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul.


    This was clearly a Divine Soul Attack Method!


    And it was a combined force Attack Martial Skill!


    Seeing the "Thunder Gourd¡¯s" killing force blocked, Ye Chen was not surprised in the least.


    Ye Chen knew that the creatures guarding the thirteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace could not be directly dealt with by the mid-grade Divine Artifact "Thunder Gourd."


    He had stepped slightly the instant the "Thunder Gourd" was blocked, shifting to the heights of Void Heaven.


    Now, facing the tremendously powerful combined Divine Soul damage shock wave attack from the "Flame Scorcher Clan" True God demon creatures, a "Destruction Eye Skill" divine light suddenly appeared from Ye Chen¡¯s brow.


    Boom!


    The "Destruction" character divine light from the Destruction Eye Skill directly faced and blasted the shock wave.


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    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    The thousand-zhang-long massive shock wave was destroyed by over three hundred zhang by the Destruction Divine Light emitted from Ye Chen¡¯s brow, but still, over seven hundred zhang of the shock wave had already penetrated Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul.


    The Divine Soul is the weakest sign of life for a martial artist.


    Facing the combined Divine Soul Attack Methods of these thousands of demon creatures, many Seven Tribulations True Gods would not be able to withstand it.


    After all, even many Seven Tribulations True Gods have limited Divine Soul defensive abilities.


    But even as over seven hundred zhang of the shock wave pierced into Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul, Ye Chen was not killed.


    In that instant, the Defensive Battle Armor Ye Chen was wearing, obtained from the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall, a mid-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact level defense, immediately released an infinite defensive power, directly protecting Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul and eradicating the shock wave that had intruded into it.


    A Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact level Defensive Battle Armor, of course, has not only physical body and True Qi defense but also Divine Soul defense!


    While defended by the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact level Defensive Battle Armor, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul was also frantically utilizing this defensive power.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul is by no means an ordinary Heavenly Saint Divine Soul!


    His cultivation in the Primordial Star Scripture had already greatly strengthened his Divine Soul far beyond those of his peers, and in the Minor Pole Sky¡¯s cultivation grounds, Ye Chen had even specifically cultivated his Divine Soul.


    His Divine Soul, something that these strongest Six Tribulations True God level creatures from the Flame Scorcher Clan certainly couldn¡¯t kill!


    Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt! Spurt!


    As the over seven hundred zhang-long shock wave entered Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul, his Divine Soul, along with the defensive power of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact armor, had already annihilated the terrifying shock wave!


    Afterward, with a clear and sharp gaze, Ye Chen looked towards the densely packed Flame Scorcher Clan demon creatures in the heavens and earth, his hand wielding the Purple Blood Divine Sword swung, unleashing a Forbidden Sword Move that he had never displayed before¡ªit burst forth!


    Seeing that Ye Chen was not killed when the over seven hundred zhang-long Divine Soul shock wave entered his Divine Soul and that he was attacking again, the dense multitudes of over five thousand Flame Scorcher Clan True God demon creatures on the great land were completely stunned!

 Chapter 580 - 534 Its Waiting_2

    They couldn¡¯t imagine that the young man before them would be so powerful!


    His physical body could withstand their collisions, his True Qi could equally resist their tearing bites, and his Divine Soul could even fend off their combined soul attacks!


    This young man was simply "Essence, Qi, and Spirit", the three signs of life, at a level of strength they had never seen before!


    At this moment, seeing Ye Chen make his move again, the shocked true god demon creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan screamed in fear.


    For they found that the entire world around them, for tens of thousands of zhang in radius, was suddenly covered by terrifying "purple rays".


    These "purple rays" even completely bound them, rendering them utterly immobilized!


    Even True Gods of the Six Tribulations couldn¡¯t move an inch!


    This situation left them completely petrified!


    Then, something even more incredible happened, the "purple rays" that bound the radius of tens of thousands of zhang suddenly twisted, turning into a net of light, with each thread starting to flow and generating an unfathomably powerful net-killing force.


    All the true god demon creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan that touched these "purple rays" died in an instant!


    Over two thousand True God creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan at the level of the Three Tribulations, all dead!


    Over two thousand True God creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan at the level of the Four Tribulations, all dead!


    Even True God creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan at the level of the Five and Six Tribulations, all dead!


    In the very moment of death, countless true god demon creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan still screeched in disbelief, "How is this possible?! What kind of move is this?!"


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    In the midst of these incredible screams, the true god demon creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan were cut into segments by the giant net formed of "purple rays", and eventually, they all fell from the void and turned into nothingness.


    The move that killed all the true god demon creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan and caused them to howl in terror was none other than Ye Chen¡¯s first move of the forbidden sword technique of the Purple Blood Divine Sword¡ª"Purple Light"!


    The three major forbidden sword moves of the Purple Blood Divine Sword could make the superior-grade attack Divine Sword unleash the killing force of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact.


    At this point, even if Ye Chen hadn¡¯t fully comprehended all three major forbidden sword moves, having only grasped the first two, "Purple Light" and "Extreme Lightning", the first move "Purple Light" alone, by triggering thirty percent of the hidden prohibitions of the superior Divine Sword Purple Blood Divine Sword, was already enough to kill these most powerful True God creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan at the level of the Six Tribulations!


    "Finally, I¡¯ve killed all these demons!"


    Seeing that all the true god demon creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan in the sky had turned into nothingness, Ye Chen also descended from the void.


    Using the first move of the forbidden sword technique, "Purple Light", from the Purple Blood Divine Sword, had almost completely drained the Stellar Power within his body, and at this point, he was extremely weak.


    Ye Chen collected the "Thunder Gourd" and looked inside, finding that all the previously unslain True God creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan of the Five Tribulations had been refined into nothingness, completely dead.


    After putting away the "Thunder Gourd", Ye Chen released the Heaven-reaching Divine Flying Boat and entered it, beginning to meditate and recuperate.


    It wasn¡¯t until three days had passed that Ye Chen finally fully recovered his Essence, Qi, and Spirit to perfection.


    During these three days, perhaps because Ye Chen had killed the "Flame Scorcher Clan" true god demon creatures, passing the challenge of the thirteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, he did not encounter any new attacks from demons.


    Ye Chen, emerging from the Heaven-reaching Divine Flying Boat, looked once again at the ground of the thirteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace and murmured, "It seems that the True Qi within my body is only enough to fully release the first sword move ¡¯Purple Light¡¯ of the Purple Blood Divine Sword just once, I probably can¡¯t even fully release the second sword move ¡¯Extreme Lightning¡¯."


    The forbidden sword techniques of the Purple Blood Divine Sword, consumed vast amounts of True Qi.


    This is a sword technique close to the level of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    ```


    Fearfully, many powerful True Gods might find the True Qi within their bodies insufficient to even carry out a single move.


    Ye Chen, however, had cultivated the "Primordial Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture, which enabled him to fully unleash the first move of the Purple Blood Divine Sword¡¯s prohibition move.


    This exertion nearly exhausted all of Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi.


    This was also the reason Ye Chen initially did not use this move.


    "It seems, I must continue to cultivate True Qi, and practice the ¡¯Primordial Chapter.¡¯ "


    "However, I have finally met the requirements to pass through the thirteenth floor!" Ye Chen said with a light smile, then he again entered the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Flying Boat, maneuvering the vessel as he searched for the passage leading to the fourteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    ...


    The fourteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    At this time, numerous powerful True Gods, including the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan, and even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, were still trapped in the "Slaughter Chess Game" on the fourteenth floor.


    All were still navigating the thirty-two levels of the "Slaughter Chess Game", battling against thirty-two powerful Rock Warriors.


    While Ye Chen was cultivating inside the "Void Celestial Gourd", many of them had come to this fourteenth floor, and now they were still trapped inside!


    At this moment, the gaze of the God King Level Rock Giant, who deployed the "Slaughter Chess Game" blocking everyone¡¯s path and stood over five thousand zhang tall, was fixed on the thirteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, his divine eyes full of shocked expression!


    "True God Zhou Lin was right, this young man who had shown extraordinary prowess in the eleventh floor is indeed miraculous!"


    "He is only in the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint, yet he was able to use such a high level killing move, even passing the most difficult challenge of the thirteenth floor!"


    "Not only did he kill the required one thousand True God demons set by the Undersea Divine Palace, he even annihilated all over five thousand of them!"


    At this moment, the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s gaze was directed at the young man, which was none other than Ye Chen, still searching for the passage to the fourteenth floor inside the thirteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Listening to the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s words, it seemed to have seen Ye Chen¡¯s battles within the thirteenth floor!


    It even appeared to have heard the message transmitted by True God Zhou Lin who was in charge of the eleventh floor¡¯s "Void Celestial Gourd Realm"!


    Previously, there was almost no way for different levels of the Undersea Divine Palace to communicate with each other.


    For the killing lifeforms of the lower floors of the Undersea Divine Palace to know what happens in the upper levels was even more impossible!


    Now, the Rock Giant Divine King was able to receive messages from both the thirteenth and the eleventh floors, which was simply miraculous to the extreme!


    What¡¯s more miraculous was that after commenting on Ye Chen, the Rock Giant Divine King murmured to himself: "Soon, this young man will enter the fourteenth floor and step into the Slaughter Chess Game as well."


    "I wonder, whether he can break through and solve the chess game."


    "The several Nine Tribulations True Gods who entered this time have spent so much time and still have not cracked the game, even if they eventually break out, it¡¯s too disappointing."


    "None of the other True Gods have shown any noteworthy performance."


    "Among this batch of Great Cleanse warriors, evidently, it¡¯s this young man who is the most unimaginable. Perhaps, my ¡¯hope¡¯ lies with this young man..."


    After the Rock Giant Divine King murmured to himself, he became quiet.


    He quietly waited for Ye Chen to come to the fourteenth floor, no longer concerned with the progress of other martial artists in the "Slaughter Chess Game" on the fourteenth floor.


    ```

 Chapter 581 - 535: The 14th Floor of the Undersea Divine Palace

    Ye Chen didn¡¯t know that within the fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, a Divine King was guarding.


    Ye Chen was even more unaware that this Divine King was paying attention to him, waiting for him.


    After dealing with a True God monstrous being from the Flame Scorcher Clan and resting for three days, Ye Chen began to search for the transmission channel leading from the thirteenth to the fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    After searching for a good half hour and flying through countless realms, Ye Chen finally found the transmission channel.


    This time, having experienced the slaughter of the True God monstrous being from the Flame Scorcher Clan, Ye Chen did not encounter any further obstacles or other slaughtering monsters.


    After a flash of transmission light, Ye Chen arrived directly at the fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    "The fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "As long as I break through this level, I can go straight into the fifteenth level."


    "The fifteenth level, after the sixth level, is the second place to possess the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯. And unlike the sixth level that only has one Eye of Creation, the fifteenth level has as many as eight!"


    Thinking of the imminent entry into the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace and the opportunity to find the "Eye of Creation," Ye Chen felt a surge of excitement.


    He had missed the only "Eye of Creation" on the sixth level, but Ye Chen did not want to miss the ones on the fifteenth level!


    However, before that, he still had to break through the fourteenth level.


    "This fourteenth level..."


    Ye Chen looked up at the heavens and earth of the fourteenth level and found that this realm was hazy, filled with a sense of ancient vastness, and from time to time, he could see huge stone carvings towering in various places of this world.


    "I wonder what kind of slaughtering life form is guarding the fourteenth level. I¡¯m afraid it will be even more fearsome than the monstrous beings from the Flame Scorcher Clan."


    While pondering, Ye Chen flew towards various places in this world, searching for the transmission channel leading to the fifteenth level.


    ...


    "He¡¯s here!"


    "This young man has finally reached the fourteenth level!"


    Seeing Ye Chen enter the fourteenth level, the rocky Divine King became excited.


    When he saw Ye Chen operating a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact-level flying boat within the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s fourteenth level, the rocky Divine King¡¯s eyes widened completely in shock, "A Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!"


    "This young man actually possesses a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!"


    "Moreover, this is not just any ordinary Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, but a top-tier flying Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!" The rocky Divine King marveled at Ye Chen¡¯s Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, his gaze filled with disbelief.


    When he saw the scars of battle left on the flying artifact by the battles between the Icebound Divine King and Ni Shan God King, the rocky Divine King couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in amazement, "The battle scars on this flying artifact... are likely left by two high-ranking Divine Kings! It seems that this young man has inherited the legacy of a high-ranking Divine King!"


    The rocky Divine King himself was a high-ranking Divine King.


    He certainly knew what it meant for warriors from the Minor Spirit Realm and the Thirty-Three Continents to encounter a high-ranking Divine King and to use a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact wielded by one.


    One might say that even a Ninth Tribulation True God from the Minor Spirit Realm would have absolutely no power to resist upon meeting a high-ranking Divine King.


    A Ninth Tribulation True God from the Minor Spirit Realm would hardly ever have the chance to receive an inheritance from a high-ranking Divine King. Possessing a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact of such a level was practically a dream!


    Now, this young man who was merely at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm had actually obtained the inheritance of a high-ranking Divine King, how could this not make the rocky Divine King, who had been watching Ye Chen all along, look at Ye Chen with new eyes?!


    Combining this with the news of True God Zhou Lin from the eleventh level, this young man was the first to enter the Land of Wonders, and he was not at all panicked when facing challenges from thousands of Heavenly Saints at the early stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, defeating countless Heavenly Saints with a single move...


    And considering the recent battle Ye Chen had on the thirteenth level against the thousands of monsters from the Flame Scorcher Clan.


    The rocky Divine King, observing Ye Chen, mused to himself, "This young man possesses tremendous strength, fortune, opportunity, and combat power!"


    "It seems that his chances of making it through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ have increased again!"


    As for the inheritance of a high-ranking Divine King, the rocky Divine King, who was also of high rank, didn¡¯t mind.


    What he cared about more was Ye Chen¡¯s potential, and even more so, whether Ye Chen could use his exceptional performance from the prior levels of the Undersea Divine Palace to get through this fourteenth layer.


    For this stone giant Divine King harbored a great hope, one that only the most supreme talents could help fulfill.


    The stone giant Divine King had endured countless great purges and sought out numerous geniuses, but none had been able to aid him.


    Now, in Ye Chen, he saw that hope!


    ...


    "Heavens."


    "There is actually a Divine King guarding this fourteenth layer!"


    After flying for more than an hour, when Ye Chen finally saw the passage to the fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, he was suddenly confronted with the colossal figure of the stone giant Divine King, towering over five thousand zhang tall.


    Coming across a Divine King on this fourteenth layer naturally caused Ye Chen some fear, prompting him to bring his Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat to a halt.


    Even with his formidable combat strength, facing a Divine King, he had absolutely no confidence in coming out victorious.


    What¡¯s more, Ye Chen sensed an aura of a superior Divine King emanating from this stone giant Divine King.


    A superior Divine King!


    In that case, he had even less hope of defeating such an exalted being.


    "They surely wouldn¡¯t have us fight a superior Divine King. If that were the case, nobody would have ever made it through the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "This superior Divine King guarding here must have some other purpose."


    As Ye Chen pondered the situation, he saw the stone giant Divine King smile gently at him and say, "Ye Chen, young friend, you have finally arrived!"


    Had the True Gods who entered this fourteenth layer seen the stone giant Divine King speaking so amiably to Ye Chen, or had the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan seen it, they would have been greatly astonished.


    When they reached the fourteenth layer, they had never seen the stone giant Divine King being so courteous to them!


    Of course, Ye Chen was equally filled with surprise.


    "Young friend Ye Chen?"


    "How does this stone giant Divine King know my name? And why is he calling me ¡¯young friend¡¯?"


    Ye Chen was taken aback and puzzled, somewhat bewildered by the stone giant Divine King¡¯s polite greeting.


    "Young friend, there is no need to panic," the stone giant Divine King said with a smile, as if noticing Ye Chen¡¯s confusion and fear, and waved his hand, "I am the Guardian of this fourteenth layer and will not harm you."


    "Elder, how do you know me?" Seeing that the Divine King was extremely polite and bore no trace of hostility, Ye Chen also maneuvered his flying boat to approach the Divine King.


    This was a superior Divine King, and if he truly intended to harm him, even with a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, there would be no escape.


    In such a situation, for the stone giant Divine King to be so amiable clearly indicated no ill intent.


    Seeing Ye Chen approach, the stone giant Divine King nodded in approval.


    His esteem for Ye Chen grew even more.


    This youth was courageous and astute, clearly perceiving that he meant no harm.


    "Young friend Ye Chen, I learned your name from True God Zhou Lin, responsible for the Land of Wonders on the eleventh layer," the stone giant Divine King said with a light laugh to Ye Chen, "True God Zhou Lin has nothing but praise for you."


    "Your performance on the thirteenth layer, annihilating those countless ¡¯Flame Scorcher Clan¡¯ slaughter troops, was especially shocking to me!"


    "Elder, you can see what happens in the upper levels of the Undersea Divine Palace?!" Ye Chen exclaimed in surprise once again upon hearing the stone giant Divine King¡¯s admiration.


    He had never before encountered a Guardian from a lower level who was privy to the events occurring in the higher levels of the Undersea Divine Palace!


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    Witnessing Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, the stone giant Divine King smiled and said, "I can only see what happens on the thirteenth layer, and True God Zhou Lin has some connections with my clan, hence, I was able to receive news from him."

 Chapter 582 - 536 The Promise of the Divine King

    Although the Stone Giant Divine King stated that he could only observe what takes place within the thirteenth layer, Ye Chen was nonetheless moved.


    Can see into the thirteenth layer?


    Does that not mean that, as long as someone had traversed the thirteenth layer, this Stone Giant Divine King would be aware of it?


    Ye Chen had yet to encounter Jiang Yao.


    If this Stone Giant Divine King truly knew about the situations in the thirteenth layer, then perhaps it was possible to learn from him whether Jiang Yao had been to the thirteenth layer. Experience new tales on novelhall.Co?m


    However, at this time, it wasn¡¯t appropriate to ask such a question. Ye Chen didn¡¯t know much about this Stone Giant Divine King and it wasn¡¯t wise to directly inquire about Jiang Yao¡¯s situation.


    "Do you show such courtesy to everyone, Senior, or is it just particular to Ye Chen?" Ye Chen asked the Stone Giant Divine King.


    Ye Chen felt that the Stone Giant Divine King was being consistently polite, as if he had some matter for him to handle.


    Looking at Ye Chen, the Stone Giant Divine King smiled gently, "Of course, I am only so courteous toward you, young friend Ye Chen. Others do not reach the level that would merit my courtesy."


    "Being so intelligent, you should guess that I have a favor to ask of you," he said.


    "A favor?" Ye Chen chuckled and shook his head, "Ye Chen is only at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint rank, what could I possibly help with, Senior? You, after all, are a high-ranking Divine King."


    The Stone Giant Divine King laughed and waved his hand dismissively. Instead of directly stating what he wanted from Ye Chen, he pointed toward the massive chessboard a thousand zhang in size next to him and said, "Do you know what this is, young friend?"


    Ye Chen had already noticed the gigantic chessboard a thousand zhang in size next to the Stone Giant Divine King, as well as the thirty-two rock warrior chess pieces on it.


    With a stir in his heart, Ye Chen spoke out, "This chessboard, it contains the aura of space laws. Could it be that this is a trial world? Does our passing through this fourteenth layer have something to do with this board?"


    It was at the entrance to the fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace that he encountered the Stone Giant Divine King and this peculiar chessboard.


    It was unlikely that the Stone Giant Divine King was related to the slaughtering trial, so Ye Chen guessed that the slaughtering trial of the fourteenth layer probably rested upon this chessboard.


    "Young friend is really astute!" The Stone Giant Divine King, upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s guess, smiled and nodded in affirmation.


    At the same time, he waved his great hand, releasing a small chessboard, half a meter in size and radiating dazzling divine light, from his grasp.


    The chessboard flew into the void, enveloped by countless divine lights, obscuring any clear view of its specifics. However, upon seeing this small, dazzlingly lit chessboard, Ye Chen knew that it was likely far more mystical and precious than the massive chessboard by the Stone Giant Divine King.


    Looking at the tiny chessboard wrapped in divine light in the void and then at the massive chessboard by his side, the Stone Giant Divine King finally said to Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, this massive chessboard a thousand zhang in size contains the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game.¡¯ As for the small chessboard that I have just released, it contains another set of game known as the ¡¯Creation Chess Board.¡¯"


    The Stone Giant Divine King heaved a deep sigh and continued, "The ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ is a trial for all warriors who enter the Undersea Divine Palace. The ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ on the other hand, is a trial for me and my people."


    Slaughter Chess Game?


    Creation Chess Board?


    A trial for all warriors?


    A trial for this Divine King and his people?


    Ye Chen listened intently to the words of the Stone Giant Divine King, knowing that what the Divine King was about to speak of must be a matter of great importance regarding the fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s attentive demeanor, the Stone Giant Divine King nodded and continued, "My Rock People Tribe was exiled to the fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, and as the Divine King, I received these two chess games."


    "Back then, when an unparalleled powerhouse exiled my tribe here, he told us that as long as warriors traversing the great cleansing ordeal passed the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ they would successfully make it through the fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace. If we could pass the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ we too could leave the Undersea Divine Palace and regain our freedom."


    "Unfortunately, while warriors have managed to pass the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ countless years have gone by and we, the exiled tribe, have never been able to fully comprehend or pass the ¡¯Creation Chess Board!¡¯"


    At this point, the Stone Giant Divine King looked at Ye Chen, "That unparalleled powerhouse had also mentioned that if we ourselves were incapable of comprehending the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ we could choose one from among those who have passed the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ in every great cleansing ordeal to help us understand the ¡¯Creation Chess Board.¡¯


    "As long as someone can help us comprehend the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ it would also enable us to break free from the state of exile!"


    "Ye Chen, young friend, I have selected one warrior from the many who have passed the Slaughter Chess Game to help me with the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ but sadly, no one has been able to decipher it."


    "Among this group that has entered the fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace and begun the Slaughter Chess Game, not a single person has displayed extraordinary traits. To have them assist with our tribe¡¯s ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ was even less hopeful."


    "That¡¯s why I¡¯ve been waiting for you here, young friend. You demonstrated such extraordinary capabilities earlier on, perhaps the hope for passing the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ and simultaneously helping my tribe comprehend the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ lies with you!"


    Concluding his speech, the Stone Giant Divine King¡¯s gaze upon Ye Chen was filled with expectation.


    After hearing the Stone Giant Divine King finish discussing the "Slaughter Chess Game" and the "Creation Chess Board," Ye Chen¡¯s gaze also shifted toward the gigantic chessboard on the ground and the small chessboard wrapped in divine light in the void.


    It turns out that this Stone Giant God King was so polite to him because he wanted his help in solving the little divine light-wrapped chessboard in the sky¡ª the "Creation Chess Board"!


    "Thank you for your high regard, senior! However, I haven¡¯t even passed through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯, so how can senior believe that I have the ability to understand the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯?" Ye Chen spoke softly, "If I disappoint senior, it wouldn¡¯t be good."


    The Stone Giant God King waved his hand: "Ye Chen, my young friend, among this group of people who have entered the fourteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, I have already seen that your potential and talent are the highest!"


    "If even you are not capable of understanding it, then I have no hope for the others."


    "I only hope that if my young friend can truly pass through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯, after passing through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯, you will help my tribe once. Regardless of whether you can help my tribe understand the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯, I won¡¯t blame you, and I will definitely reward you!"


    Reward?


    Hearing that the Stone Giant God King would give a reward, Ye Chen was also moved in his heart.


    The reward from a Divine King, one did not need to think to know how precious it must be.


    "Senior, could you show that ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ to Ye Chen? If I really can see through this chess game, it¡¯s not impossible for me to help senior ponder over it?" Ye Chen pointed at the small chessboard wrapped in dazzling divine light within the void and spoke out.


    "The ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ will only be revealed to you after you have passed through the Slaughter Chess Game and I designate you as the only one in this batch to help my tribe ponder over this chessboard," the Stone Giant God King shook his head and said.


    However, upon hearing that Ye Chen had agreed to help understand the "Creation Chess Board" after passing through the Slaughter Chess Game, the Stone Giant God King was quite pleased in his heart.


    "As long as my young friend is willing to agree, that¡¯s good. Everything else can wait until after you have passed through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯!"


    "As for the reward I mentioned, I can inform my young friend now. Once you hear what the reward is, you will definitely try harder to pass through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯!"


    "Senior, what is the reward?" Ye Chen also wanted to hear what kind of item this Stone Giant God King would offer in exchange for his help.


    The Stone Giant God King smiled lightly and said, "My young friend, you must be traversing this Undersea Divine Palace in search of the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ to escape from the great purge calamity."


    "As for the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯, I don¡¯t have the strength to interfere. However, in the fifteenth layer beneath this fourteenth layer, which possesses the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯, I can interfere a bit."


    "As long as my young friend agrees to help my tribe ponder over the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯, if you can¡¯t fully understand it, we will still give you a Jade Slip to help you safely navigate the dangers of the fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "Of course, if my young friend can help us fully understand the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ and free my tribe from exile, then I can reveal the locations of all eight ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ in the fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace to my young friend!"


    "At that time, my young friend will definitely be able to obtain at least eight Eyes of Creation!"


    Hearing the reward promised by the Stone Giant God King, Ye Chen was greatly shaken.


    The locations of eight Eyes of Creation? To reveal them to me if I can understand the "Creation Chess Board"?!


    "Senior, how do you know the locations of the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ in the fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace?" Ye Chen asked with some disbelief, "Also, aren¡¯t there a few Ninth Tribulation True Gods? Haven¡¯t they entered the fifteenth layer yet? Haven¡¯t they obtained the Eyes of Creation inside?"


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s disbelief, the Stone Giant God King chuckled and said, "I am a Divine King, after all. I know a lot about the thirteenth and fifteenth layers closest to the fourteenth layer that I am responsible for guarding. The locations of the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯, I am very clear about!"


    "As for those Ninth Tribulation True Gods." the Stone Giant God King pointed at the Slaughter Chessboard that covered thousands of feet of the ground and said, "Right now, they are all still trapped inside it. If my young friend doesn¡¯t believe me, I can take you inside to have a look."


    "I can see how others are faring in the Slaughter Chess Game?" Ye Chen queried with some confusion.


    "Why not?" the Stone Giant God King smiled gently, "As long as it doesn¡¯t directly let you pass through the fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, anything that¡¯s within the rules, I can decide upon!"


    "My young friend, let me take you inside now!"


    As if to prove his ability, the Stone Giant God King waved his hand, and enveloped in a surge of divine light, he flew directly into the layered folding space of the "Slaughter Chess Game" with Ye Chen.


    Within a layer of the folding space of the "Slaughter Chess Game", the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan was at that moment practicing outside the thirty-second level¡¯s thirty-first checkpoint.


    He had been trapped here for nearly a month and had still not managed to pass through the thirty-first checkpoint!


    As the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan was practicing, he suddenly heard the Nine-Tribulation True God level Rock Warrior responsible for the thirty-first checkpoint of the Slaughter Chess Game speak out unexpectedly not far in front of him: "Lord Divine King, what brings you here!"


    Lord Divine King?


    Hearing this voice, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan quickly opened his eyes and looked up into the sky, and then he saw an unbelievable scene.


    Following a strange fluctuation in the void, the huge Stone Giant God King that he encountered before entering the Slaughter Chess Game appeared in the sky; at this moment, the Stone Giant God King was smiling and talking to a young man.


    And this young man, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan would never forget, was none other than Ye Chen, the young man he longed to kill at every moment!

 Chapter 583 - 537: Ye Chen and Jiang Yao

    "Ye Chen!"


    "How is this possible?!"


    "How can he be so familiar with this Divine King, with the Divine King smiling at him so warmly!"


    The elder of the Flying Spirit Clan felt the hairs on his body stand on end in that instant.


    He had never anticipated that his first encounter with Ye Chen, whom he had always wanted to meet and kill, would be under such circumstances after entering the Undersea Divine Palace!


    A strong sense of dread filled the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s heart. If... if Ye Chen asked the Divine King to deal with him, then even if he was a Nine Tribulations True God, he would definitely be doomed!


    How could this not fill the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan with immense terror?!


    For the first time, he felt that this young man, Ye Chen, had exceeded his understanding; even as a Nine Tribulations True God, he seemed somewhat lesser in Ye Chen¡¯s presence.


    At this moment, in the void above this folded space of the Slaughter Chess Game, Ye Chen, who had been brought into the Slaughter Chess Game by the Rock Giant Divine King, also saw the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    Ye Chen had not expected that this Nine Tribulations True God, with whom he had a grudge, would actually still be trapped within the fourteenth layer!


    He had trained for over eight years in the "Void Celestial Gourd" on the eleventh floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, which amounted to a delay of a month in the outside world, but he had not expected the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan to not have gotten much farther than him in the Undersea Divine Palace.


    "Life sure has a way of bringing people together, doesn¡¯t it?" Ye Chen said coldly as he looked at the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan below.


    The Flying Spirit Clan bore a deep-seated hatred toward Jiang Yao¡¯s Divine Phoenix Clan, and they had almost destroyed the Barbaric Wilderness Continent; it was only natural that Ye Chen couldn¡¯t wait to kill the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    "Young friend, wasn¡¯t I right? These Nine Tribulations True Gods, they¡¯re all still trapped inside," the Rock Giant Divine King said to Ye Chen with a laugh, pointing at the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan after bringing Ye Chen to this space.


    Seeing the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s utterly frightened expression and Ye Chen¡¯s cold gaze towards him, the Rock Giant Divine King was taken aback and then instantly understood.


    It was likely that his young friend had great enmity with the Nine Tribulations True God below!


    "Divine King Senior, could you help me eliminate this Nine Tribulations True God? If you could help me get rid of him, then I will surely risk my life to get through the Slaughter Chess Game and assist you in comprehending the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯!" Ye Chen took a deep breath and said this to the Rock Giant Divine King.


    As Ye Chen spoke to the Rock Giant, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan below seemed to realize what Ye Chen was saying, and cold sweat broke out all over him.


    The Rock Giant Divine King looked at the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, then at Ye Chen, and finally sighed and shook his head, "Young friend Ye Chen, I cannot strike to kill the examinee warriors; I can¡¯t interfere with the rules of the test here. However, rest assured, if he doesn¡¯t obtain the Eye of Creation, he will eventually die in the great purge catastrophe."


    Hearing that the Rock Giant Divine King couldn¡¯t make a move, Ye Chen took a deep breath and nodded, "Then, Senior, please take me to see the other folded spaces. Out of sight, out of mind."


    At the same time, Ye Chen firmly thought to himself, "Since the Divine King cannot help me, I will leave this Flying Spirit Clan elder alive a while longer! It¡¯s not a bad thing that the Divine King cannot intervene. Sooner or later, both Jiang Yao and I will personally take action to kill this perpetrator who has brought calamity upon the Divine Phoenix Clan and the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    After burying his hatred in his heart, Ye Chen was taken by the Rock Giant Divine King towards another folded space.


    The cold sweat on the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan continued to flow non-stop even after Ye Chen and the Rock Giant Divine King had completely disappeared.


    He knew he had narrowly escaped a brush with death.


    "That kid Ye Chen!" As the cold sweat poured, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s killing intent towards Ye Chen grew even stronger, "I must kill this boy, or he will definitely be a huge threat to my Flying Spirit Clan!"


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    The elder of the Flying Spirit Clan truly felt the pressure emanating from Ye Chen.


    After observing the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan for a while, the Rock Giant Divine King also took Ye Chen to see the elders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and an ancient emperor of the Yan Clan, both Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    The elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan, just like the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, was completely dumbfounded when he saw Ye Chen appear suddenly with the Rock Giant Divine King.


    And the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan was equally astonished.


    It was only because the Rock Giant Divine King had only taken Ye Chen to have a look at them, without actually interfering in their endeavors inside, otherwise, the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan would have insisted on asking Ye Chen why he was so familiar with a Divine King!


    After seeing the three Nine Tribulations True Gods, the Rock Giant Divine King took Ye Chen back outside the Slaughter Chess Game and said with a smile, "How about it, young friend Ye Chen, I didn¡¯t lie to you, did I?"


    "All these people are still in the fourteenth layer. As long as young friend Ye Chen can get through the Slaughter Chess Game and help my people comprehend the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ I will definitely tell you the locations of the eight ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ on the fifteenth layer. Keeping the lives of at least eight people during this great purge catastrophe will be no problem for you!"


    Having witnessed the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s methods, Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    Just as the Divine King had said, he definitely wanted the eight Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth layer! He definitely wanted to save at least eight people¡¯s lives first!


    "Senior, I will try my best to get through the Slaughter Chess Game. As long as I make it through, I will assist you in comprehending the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯! Whether I fully grasp it or not, I will give my all to comprehend it!" Ye Chen said solemnly.


    The Rock Giant Divine King desired exactly that answer.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, he felt greatly relieved, "Good, good, good! As long as the young friend does his best!"


    "So will the young friend now attempt the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯? There are thirty-two levels in the Slaughter Chess Game, each protected by one of our thirty-two Rock Warriors. I cannot tell the young friend about the Slaughter Chess Game. You must rely on yourself to face the challenge. Let me see the strength of the young friend once more!"


    As the Rock Giant Divine King spoke, Ye Chen shook his head, "Senior, Ye Chen has a question to ask. Once I have a clear understanding of the matter, I will start the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯."


    "What matter?" the Rock Giant Divine King asked with curiosity.


    "Senior, have you seen this girl challenging the thirteenth floor or now, the fourteenth floor?" Ye Chen pointed lightly, and the phantom image of Jiang Yao appeared in the void.


    "This girl?" The Rock Giant Divine King looked at Jiang Yao¡¯s image and shook his head, "I have not seen her. In all of the folded spaces of the thirteenth floor, I did not see this girl enter. She has not been to the thirteenth floor, nor has she entered the fourteenth floor that I guard."


    "Not been there?!" Ye Chen¡¯s heart suddenly tightened.


    "What about these people?" Ye Chen pointed again, and the phantom images of True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God also appeared in the void.


    "These two True Gods, I have indeed seen them," the Rock Giant Divine King nodded, "They are currently in the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ still undergoing the trial!"


    Hearing the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s statement that he had seen True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God but not Jiang Yao, Ye Chen¡¯s heart immediately panicked.


    He had not seen Jiang Yao on the eleventh floor, and now on the thirteenth and fourteenth floors, the Rock Giant Divine King said that Jiang Yao had not entered. Could it be that Jiang Yao had had some accident?


    Seeing the sudden panic on Ye Chen¡¯s face, the Rock Giant Divine King immediately knew that the girl in the image previously shown by Ye Chen must have an extremely intimate relationship with him.


    "Young friend, do not worry. I have a divine power that can divine the current location of this girl," the Rock Giant Divine King spoke to Ye Chen.


    "Then please, Senior, quickly help me divine it!" Ye Chen urged anxiously.


    The Rock Giant Divine King nodded, and with a light touch of his finger, the phantom image of Jiang Yao that just appeared in the void suddenly radiated countless divine lights, slowly spreading out like ripples.


    However, after the ripples spread for a while, they suddenly exploded with a loud burst.


    At the same time, the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s face also drastically changed, "Such powerful force!"


    "Ye Chen young friend, this girl might be in an extraordinary place, somewhere that even I absolutely cannot probe!"


    "I only vaguely sense that she is further below the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "Further below the Undersea Divine Palace?" Ye Chen¡¯s face also changed, "Jiang Yao has never been to the thirteenth or fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, how could she be further down?!"


    Shock filled the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s eyes as he said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, young friend, there are many secrets in the Undersea Divine Palace that even I, an Upper God King, cannot probe. This girl you speak of may have stumbled upon an even more astonishing secret!"


    Upon hearing the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s words, Ye Chen furrowed his brows deeply.


    He did not know whether the astonishing secret that the Rock Giant Divine King mentioned Jiang Yao had stumbled upon was fortune or disaster.


    ...


    As the Rock Giant Divine King was probing, in the thirty-third level of the Undersea Divine Palace where Jiang Yao was located, in the void realm inhabited by the nine Female Divine Venerables and the guardian who surpassed Divine Venerables, Mrs. He, all nine Female Divine Venerables suddenly opened their eyes from meditation and looked beyond the void realm.


    "Hm, someone is trying to investigate the whereabouts of the young girl we value?" The brows of the nine Female Divine Venerables furrowed, and they looked towards the vast Undersea Divine Palace. In the end, they saw into the heart of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s fourteenth floor.


    "It turns out that the little Divine King of the Rock People Tribe is investigating!"


    At the same time, the nine Female Divine Venerables also noticed Ye Chen, and they heard the conversation between Ye Chen and the Rock Giant Divine King. The Nine Female Divine Venerables looked at Ye Chen somewhat surprised, "Could this young man have some relation to the young girl we value?"


    While speaking, the nine Female Divine Venerables looked towards the Sealed Cave Dwelling where Jiang Yao was located.


    At that moment, the existence that surpassed even the Divine Venerables, Mrs. He, was seated in meditation directly outside the Sealed Cave Dwelling where Jiang Yao was cultivating, carefully guarding Jiang Yao.


    Looking towards the Sealed Cave Dwelling.


    They could also see that within the dwelling, Jiang Yao¡¯s entire being was shrouded in endless divine light. Within this divine light, countless mysterious feathered wings could be seen gracefully circulating.


    When the nine Female Divine Venerables saw the endless divine light around Jiang Yao, they inhaled deeply once again, their faces revealing incredibly excited expressions, "This young girl is incredible, in just over a month she has managed to comprehend the ¡¯Nirvana Nine Transformations¡¯ to the Seventh Transformation, completely astonishing even Mrs. He!"


    "It seems that she might indeed be the first one capable of completing our trial!"

 Chapter 584 - 538 Slaughter Chess Game

    Ye Chen was unaware that the significant secret Jiang Yao had stumbled upon was not a disaster, but an earth-shattering opportunity.


    Nor did Ye Chen know that his request to the Rock Warrior Divine King to investigate Jiang Yao¡¯s situation had already come to the attention of a more powerful entity on the thirty-third floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    At this moment, with his brows deeply furrowed, Ye Chen ultimately had no choice but to fold away his worry for Jiang Yao deep inside his heart.


    "Since Jiang Yao is in a lower part of the Undersea Divine Palace, then no matter what, I must go down there to check!"


    "For now, let¡¯s get through this fourteenth floor first!"


    Ye Chen took a deep breath, then turned to the Rock Warrior Divine King, "Senior, I am now ready to tackle the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯!"


    Whether it was to search for Jiang Yao further below, or to get information about the location of the "Eye of Creation" on the fifteenth floor, everything had to start by tackling the "Slaughter Chess Game"!


    Ye Chen understood in his heart that if he couldn¡¯t get through the "Slaughter Chess Game," all of this was just idle talk.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen finally decide to challenge the "Slaughter Chess Game," a look of expectation also filled the eyes of the Rock Warrior Divine King, "Good, Ye Chen my friend, I will be outside watching your performance!"


    After giving the Rock Warrior Divine King a serious nod, Ye Chen moved, flying towards the space above the enormous chessboard thousands of feet in circumference next to the Rock Warrior Divine King.


    As soon as Ye Chen¡¯s figure completely touched down on the giant chessboard, he was enveloped in a burst of light and was directly absorbed into the spatial realm of the chessboard.


    "Is this the internal space of the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯?"


    As Ye Chen looked into the space he had flown into, he saw directly in front of him that a series of Giant Rock Formations had appeared.


    These Rock Formations, constructed from countless oddly shaped boulders, were only discernible to Ye Chen at the closest front. The successive Rock Formations behind them were shrouded in deeper space, indistinct and mysterious.


    "The Rock Warrior Divine King Senior mentioned that there are thirty-two levels within the Slaughter Chess Game. Presumably, this first Rock Formation is the first level. Beyond that, there are thirty-one more Rock Formations, which are the other thirty-one levels."


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    "Let¡¯s go take a look inside this first Rock Formation!"


    Ye Chen made a move, preparing to fly toward the formation in front of him.


    However, Ye Chen discovered that within the internal space of the "Slaughter Chess Game," there was a restriction against flying, preventing flight.


    He could only walk forward.


    Just as Ye Chen was about to enter this first Rock Formation, a loud boom resonated from within, and a towering Rock Warrior, standing over eight meters tall with a giant stone club in hand, stepped to the entrance of the first Rock Formation and looked towards Ye Chen, "Intruder, halt!"


    "Once you enter the Rock Formation I guard, you will be subject to my attack!"


    "You must either kill me or comprehend the crucial point of this level to pass through."


    "Intruder, I advise you to contemplate the crucial point of this level from the outside; otherwise, entering here could very likely result in death by my hand!"


    After saying this, the towering Rock Warrior then stamped his giant stone club and took his stand inside the Rock Formation.


    Ye Chen looked at this Rock Warrior, whose aura was of the Three Tribulations¡¯ real deity level.


    For Ye Chen, passing this level by killing this Rock Warrior would be quite easy.


    But Ye Chen did not attack directly.


    He thought back to what he had seen earlier when the Rock Warrior Divine King showed him the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan, Vermilion Bird, and an Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan tackling this trial.


    "At that time, those three Nine-Tribulations real deities encountered Rock Warriors at the same power level as themselves, which suggests that the guardians within this ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ become stronger the further one goes."


    "If one were to force their way through, they would certainly encounter real deities of the Seven Tribulations, Eight Tribulations, and even Nine Tribulations levels at the end."


    "Forcing our way through is definitely not the best way to solve this ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯; it¡¯s quite possible to really fall into a deadlock and be instantly killed by the Rock Warriors."


    "Chess game, chess game, since this ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ is indeed a game, there must be a method to solve it. It seems that comprehending the crucial point that the Rock Warrior spoke of is the method to break this game."


    "You can¡¯t brute-force your way through the game; otherwise, you¡¯ll be just a piece inside it, subjected to the game¡¯s control. Only as the player of the game can you successfully break through this chess formation!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze was fixed on the countless boulders that formed the first Giant Rock Formation.


    He immediately began searching for the key point of the formation.


    Seeing that Ye Chen didn¡¯t force his way through the first Giant Rock Formation but was contemplating outside, the observing Rock Giant Divine King couldn¡¯t help but nod in approval, "Ye Chen is really smart! I saw him killing members of the Flame Scorcher Clan on the thirteenth floor. With his strength, he probably could brute force his way through to the twenty-seventh checkpoint, but beyond that, it would likely become incredibly dangerous."


    "Starting by understanding the game, comprehending the key points of the Rock Formations that make up the chess game, is indeed the best method to unravel it layer by layer and pass through all thirty-three layers of this ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯!"


    "Ye Chen¡¯s insight is spot on; the question is whether he can successfully comprehend the key point of the Giant Rock Formation."


    In the end, even the Rock Giant Divine King began to worry a little.


    Despite his high hopes for Ye Chen, when it came to this critical test, he didn¡¯t know whether Ye Chen had the capability to pass.


    If Ye Chen lacked the capability, then all of his expectations would come to nothing.


    As the Rock Giant Divine King began to feel anxious, with his heart almost in his throat, he suddenly saw that Ye Chen, who had been motionless outside the first Giant Rock Formation, made a move.


    In a flash, Ye Chen shot toward the third boulder on the left side of the entrance to the first Giant Rock Formation; after slapping that boulder, he immediately moved to the fifth boulder on the right side of the entrance and slapped that one too.


    Then came the sixth on the left, the ninth on the left, the first on the right, and the seventh on the right!


    After Ye Chen slapped the boulders six times in total, a thunderous roar suddenly erupted from the entire first Giant Rock Formation.


    Amid the thunderous noise, the countless boulders making up the first Giant Rock Formation collapsed into nothingness, and even the Rock Warriors that were inside vanished.


    A grand path now led directly to the second Giant Rock Formation behind the first one!


    The collapse and disappearance of the first Giant Rock Formation signaled the opening of a route to the second.


    This scenario indicated that Ye Chen had bypassed the first layer of the trial without even fighting the Rock Warriors!


    This turn of events, before the eyes of the Rock Giant Divine King, who had been watching Ye Chen anxiously and worrying over his ability to pass the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ came as such a shock that he almost leaped to his feet.


    "How is this possible?!"


    "How did he pass the first level so quickly, even faster than battling our clan¡¯s warriors!"


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has... has he seen this first layer of the Rock Formation before?!"


    "But still, with thirty-two more layers, each one different and progressively more difficult, even if Ye Chen has seen this first layer, he definitely can¡¯t claim to have seen all the subsequent ones. Breaking through so quickly might not be a good thing!"


    The Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s heart was a mix of excitement, disbelief, and worry.


    While the Rock Giant Divine King was intensely shaken, what he didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen, now heading towards the second Giant Rock Formation, was thinking to himself, "The first Giant Rock Formation was quite simple."


    "Although I haven¡¯t seen this particular formation before, I have cultivated Lord Tianyun¡¯s ¡¯Nine Volumes of Formation Array,¡¯ and I even specifically studied the basics of the formation in the fourth training ground of Minor Pole Sky. This first Giant Rock Formation, considered the lowest-ranked first-order defensive formation in the Nine Volumes of Formation Array, is not enough to stymie me."


    If only the Rock Giant Divine King knew that Ye Chen had endured the test of a Divine King and cultivated the ¡¯Nine Volumes of Formation Array¡¯ from the more powerful Lord Tianyun, that he had even passed all five training grounds of Minor Pole Sky alongside the young county princess.


    Then, the Rock Giant Divine King would undoubtedly be ecstatically jumping for joy.


    He would certainly exclaim that this time, he had truly found the right person!

 Chapter 585 - 539: Momentum Like Splitting Bamboo

    In a matter of just over ten breaths, Ye Chen arrived in front of the second Giant Rock Formation.


    There were significantly more boulders constituting the second Giant Rock Formation than the first one, and their shapes were even more peculiar.


    As Ye Chen reached the front of the second Giant Rock Formation, like before, a Rock Warrior wielding a stone bar appeared from within.


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    This Rock Warrior had an aura even mightier than the one guarding the first Giant Rock Formation.


    While the second Rock Warrior, just like the first, started explaining the rules of breaking the Giant Rock Formation to Ye Chen, his gaze was already locked onto the entire layout of the second Giant Rock Formation.


    Before the second Rock Warrior could finish speaking, Ye Chen¡¯s figure flashed as he shot toward a massive boulder on the right side of the entrance to the second Giant Rock Formation.


    "Young friend Ye Chen, he..."


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s actions, the Rock Giant Divine King outside of the "Slaughter Chess Game" felt his heart skip a beat.


    An incredible thought flashed through its mind, "Could it be that young friend Ye Chen has also deciphered the second Giant Rock Formation?"


    "This, this is too fast! It¡¯s even quicker than breaking the first one!"


    Just as the Rock Giant Divine King was struggling to believe it, he saw Ye Chen, upon reaching the fourth boulder on the right side of the entrance to the second Giant Rock Formation, strike out directly at the fourth boulder.


    After slapping the fourth boulder on the right, which let out a soft sound, Ye Chen did not pause and immediately struck toward the fifth boulder on the right.


    Right four, right five, left three, left six, left seven, right two!


    Ye Chen struck six times in succession.


    He was unmistakably breaking the Formation!


    The Rock Warrior tasked with guarding the second Giant Rock Formation hadn¡¯t even finished speaking, and Ye Chen had already begun to break the Formation!


    This situation left the Rock Giant Divine King outside of the "Slaughter Chess Game" completely agape.


    While the Rock Giant Divine King was still too shocked to utter a word, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" loud crashes reverberated. The second Giant Rock Formation, just like the first one, suddenly collapsed, dissipating into nothingness.


    The guardian Rock Warrior vanished, and the path to the third Giant Rock Formation appeared once again.


    Ye Chen, remarkably, had broken through the second Giant Rock Formation!


    After that, Ye Chen continued in his unstoppable momentum, crazily blazing through the path ahead.


    With seven strikes, he broke the third Giant Rock Formation.


    With nine strikes, he broke the fourth Giant Rock Formation.


    With thirteen strikes, he broke the fifth Giant Rock Formation...


    When Ye Chen unceasingly shattered sixteen Giant Rock Formations in one go and approached the seventeenth, the Rock Giant Divine King outside the "Slaughter Chess Game" was so thrilled that he jumped up.


    He had defended the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s fourteenth layer for countless years and seen numerous martial artists break the "Slaughter Chess Game," but he had never seen anyone break the Formation as swiftly as Ye Chen!


    He had never seen any martial artist break the Formation with such ease!


    Previously, the Rock Giant Divine King had been worried that Ye Chen had seen the formation of the first Giant Rock Formation beforehand, which was why he broke it so effortlessly.


    But now, Ye Chen had sequentially broken sixteen Giant Rock Formations without a single mistake.


    At this point, the Rock Giant Divine King fully realized that this young friend, Ye Chen, truly possessed great strength!


    Ye Chen was not simply knowledgeable of the Formation of the Giant Rock Formations!


    After all, even being familiar with the Formation wouldn¡¯t allow someone to know the Formations of so many Giant Rock Formations; clearly, his young friend Ye Chen had discerned the method behind the Giant Rock Formations!


    He was breaking the Formations with absolute strength!


    Thinking this, the heart of the Rock Giant Divine King pounded even more fiercely.


    For the first time, it felt that it was so close to breaking the "Creation Chess Board," and it was very likely that the hope for their "Rock People Tribe" to escape the exiled state was resting on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulders!


    At this moment, the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s eyes widened, fully observing every move Ye Chen made, every technique he used to break the formations.


    It wanted to see if Ye Chen could, like before, break the next sixteen Giant Rock Formations as well!


    When Ye Chen arrived at the seventeenth Giant Rock Formation, he saw a Rock Warrior of the sixth tribulation true god level emerge from it.


    Seeing the state of the seventeenth Giant Rock Formation, Ye Chen smiled lightly.


    "The previous sixteen Giant Rock Formations were only third-order or lower. This seventeenth one finally looks a bit more challenging, reaching the fourth-order formation level."


    With a slight smile, Ye Chen nodded at the Rock Warrior of the seventeenth Giant Rock Formation and then, with an explosive movement, he began breaking through it as well.


    This time, Ye Chen struck the giant rocks twenty-three times, and with a "boom," the seventeenth Giant Rock Formation was also broken!


    A fourth-order Formation could not trouble Ye Chen at all!


    During his more than eight years of cultivation inside the "Void Celestial Gourd," Ye Chen had already fully mastered the first three volumes of the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" left by Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    The first three volumes of the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" not only covered fourth-order formations but also encompassed all the foundational nine orders of formations, even touching upon true god level and Divine King level formations!


    The fourth-order Formation involved in this seventeenth Giant Rock Formation was far from reaching Ye Chen¡¯s limit of breaking formations!


    The seventeenth Giant Rock Formation, broken!


    Next was the eighteenth Giant Rock Formation, broken!


    Ye Chen advanced with an unstoppable momentum, breaking thirty Giant Rock Formations in one breath and arrived in front of the thirty-first!


    At this point, the Rock Giant Divine King watching from outside the "Slaughter Chess Game," had clenched both of his massive hands tightly.


    It had speculated that the miraculous Ye Chen might be able to get through the Slaughter Chess Game, but it never imagined that Ye Chen could advance through the game with such speed and in such a manner.


    In less than the time it took to finish a cup of tea, Ye Chen had reached the second to last of all thirty-two Giant Rock Formations!


    Keep in mind, even the current three great ninth tribulation true gods took a whole month to reach this penultimate Giant Rock Formation!


    "Only the last two Giant Rock Formations remain."


    "Once Ye Chen breaks these final two, he will be able to get through this ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ and qualify to help us comprehend the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯!"


    Thinking this, the Rock Giant Divine King had already taken out the half-meter wide "Creation Chess Board," waiting for Ye Chen.


    The Rock Giant Divine King now knew that Ye Chen must have profound knowledge in formations to be able to decode the game like this.


    Mastery over formations.


    Likewise, it could help decode the "Creation Chess Board"!


    At this point, the hopes of the Rock Giant were greatly elevated!


    While the Rock Giant Divine King took out the "Creation Chess Board," waiting for Ye Chen, Ye Chen finally approached the thirty-first Giant Rock Formation.


    Looking at the ninth tribulation true god guard emerging from the Giant Rock Formation, Ye Chen smiled lightly.


    This was the first time he had tasted the benefits of cultivating this "side job" in formations.


    If he had to rely on brute force to break through the formations, with his current realm, it would have been impossible for him to reach this thirty-first Giant Rock Formation and face a ninth tribulation true god level Rock Warrior in combat.


    But now, with his expertise in formations, he didn¡¯t need to battle the ninth tribulation true god level Rock Warrior; he could break the formation directly and advance!


    "The last two big formations are left, then let¡¯s continue breaking through!"


    After a faint smile, Ye Chen moved without wasting time and began breaking through the thirty-first Giant Rock Formation!

 Chapter 586 - 540: Emperor Yan鈥檚 Triple Flash Triple Kill

    The penultimate Giant Rock Formation guarded by the Nine Tribulations True God Rock Warrior was much more complex than all the previous ones.


    If a master of formations were to see this array, they would recognize it as a ¡¯True God level¡¯ defense formation!


    A True God level defense formation, if not broken, could continuously provide defensive energy to the guardians inside, the Nine Tribulations True God Rock Warriors.


    This was also why the ancient emperors of the Yan Clan, the old chieftains of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the old chieftains of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡ªthree great Nine Tribulations True Gods¡ªwere stopped outside this grand formation.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, who had begun to break this formation, was moving much more intricately than before.


    Previously, Ye Chen¡¯s approach was to strike the giant rocks that constituted the Giant Rock Formation, directly destroying the formation eyes through different positions and numbers of strikes.


    But this time, not only were the positions and counts of Ye Chen¡¯s strikes different, but even the force behind each strike was distinctly varied!


    After striking fifty-six giant rocks, some of which were hit several times with varied force, Ye Chen finally burst back.


    And with Ye Chen¡¯s retreat, the thirty-first Giant Rock Formation also collapsed thunderously and vanished.


    In the end, the entire ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ all thirty-two layers and thirty-two Giant Rock Formations, was left with only the last one¡ªthe thirty-second Giant Rock Formation!


    This time, Ye Chen did not linger long. After observing the thirty-second Giant Rock Formation for a moment, he continued to break the formation.


    The difficulty of the thirty-second Giant Rock Formation was nearly the same as the thirty-first.


    Breaking the thirty-first Giant Rock Formation was merely more complex for Ye Chen, but not too difficult, so breaking the thirty-second Giant Rock Formation was naturally just a matter of time!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Ye Chen, after spending the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, struck over a hundred and twenty giant rocks on the thirty-second Giant Rock Formation one hundred and fifty-six times, this thirty-second Giant Rock Formation was also successfully breached!


    All thirty-two Giant Rock Formations were broken, signifying that Ye Chen had successfully passed through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ conquered the test of the fourteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, and earned the right to enter the fifteenth floor!


    Although Ye Chen arrived at the fourteenth floor later than those true gods,


    he became the first person to successfully break through the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯!


    Swoosh.


    As the binding force within this folded space completely dissipated with the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ being broken, Ye Chen¡¯s figure shifted, and he flew out from the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game.¡¯


    Ye Chen immediately saw the Stone Giant Divine King looking at him with overwhelming excitement.


    "Ye Chen, my friend..."


    The Stone Giant Divine King was at a loss for words to express his surprised and exhilarated state.


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    He had imagined that Ye Chen might be able to break the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game,¡¯ but never expected Ye Chen to use his formation-breaking skills to destruct all thirty-two Giant Rock Formations!


    He had thought highly of Ye Chen¡¯s miraculous ability, but had wholly underestimated how easily and quickly Ye Chen would break the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ formation!


    In the end, the Stone Giant Divine King took a deep breath and addressed Ye Chen, "My friend Ye Chen, have you studied formations?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Yes, senior."


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s nod, the Stone Giant Divine King couldn¡¯t help but ask further, "My friend, up to what level have you studied formations?"


    Ye Chen smiled, "I have also delved into God King Level formations."


    "God King Level!" The Stone Giant Divine King gasped.


    It had been struggling with the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ but to no avail. Through its countless years of study, it, of course, had developed a profound understanding of formations.


    The Stone Giant Divine King knew how difficult it was to cultivate formations.


    It could be said that without talent, even cultivating for a hundred million years might not allow one to achieve mastery.


    Some of the Rock People Tribe under the Stone Giant Divine King also cultivated formations, but the most profound among these tribespeople only reached the eighth-order level, and not even the True God level.


    The Stone Giant Divine King could never have imagined that Ye Chen, at such a young age, had already comprehended formations to the level of a Divine King!


    Of course, while this was unexpected, the Stone Giant Divine King was even more thrilled!


    The Stone Giant Divine King had been diligently studying the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ sensing that it might well be a God King Level formation.


    Now, hearing that Ye Chen had ventured into God King Level formations, naturally, the Stone Giant Divine King was filled with great hope.


    Perhaps, this friend Ye Chen could indeed meet his expectations and break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯!


    And become the one, after countless years, who could finally free his people from their banished state!


    Thinking of this, the Rock Giant Divine King could no longer contain himself. He directly took out the chessboard of the "Creation Chess Board," looking at Ye Chen with a mixture of excitement and nervousness: "Young friend Ye Chen, take a rest first. Once you¡¯ve recuperated, help me break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board.¡¯


    "I will first project your shadow into the chessboard, designating you as the only one to help our clan comprehend this board. In a moment, you¡¯ll be able to break through this game!"


    As the Rock Giant Divine King spoke, he gently pointed with his large hand, and a shadowy image of Ye Chen appeared out of thin air, then flew towards the "Creation Chess Board."


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze followed the movements of the Rock Giant Divine King and looked towards the small chessboard in its hand that measured half a meter across and radiated dazzling divine light.


    As soon as Ye Chen¡¯s shadowy image entered the "Creation Chess Board," brilliant divine light began to flutter and dance over the entire board.


    In the midst of this movement, Ye Chen felt a faint force probing towards him.


    As this force reached out to him, Ye Chen also discovered that the "Creation Chess Board," which he had never been able to clearly see, finally started to reveal itself bit by bit before his eyes.


    Clearly, having been designated by the Rock Giant Divine King as the sole helper for the Rock People tribe to comprehend the game, the "Creation Chess Board" was finally allowing him to see!


    When the almost imperceptible force had fully probed Ye Chen, he could at last see the "Creation Chess Board" distinctly and clearly.


    The moment he truly saw the entire "Creation Chess Board," Ye Chen was greatly moved.


    This "Creation Chess Board" was made up of chess pieces, each a convergence of starlight, totaling fifty-four pieces, altogether forming a marvelously unique Starry Chessboard.


    Even though the fifty-four pieces were arranged incredibly simply without forming any complex patterns, Ye Chen knew that this chessboard was definitely of God King Level!


    What seemed simple contained endless variations, endless power!


    A God King Level Chess Formation.


    A God King Level Formation!


    Ye Chen, having cultivated the first three volumes of the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" from Heavenly Cloud Venerable, only had partial insights into God King Level formations, and even those insights were incomplete.


    Ye Chen did not have full confidence that he could break the "Creation Chess Board."


    But at this moment, Ye Chen was completely captivated by the "Creation Chess Board."


    Having studied the theoretical first three volumes of the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," this was his first time seeing a true God King Level formation presented before him, and he naturally wanted to delve into it thoroughly.


    Not to mention, this formation was connected to the promise made by the Rock Giant Divine King regarding the location of the eight "Eyes of Creation" in the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    If he could break the formation, he would gain clues to the locations of the eight Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth level.


    Ye Chen naturally wanted to try his best to break the formation!


    "Senior, I didn¡¯t expend much energy breaking the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ earlier; no need to rest anymore. Now, I will start breaking this ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯," Ye Chen said aloud to the Rock Giant Divine King.


    At the same time, Ye Chen also expressed his concern, "However, Senior, this ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ is much more difficult than the previous ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game.¡¯ I don¡¯t have full confidence that I can break it, and I¡¯m afraid it will take a lot of time to comprehend and break this game."


    "If during this time someone else comes out of the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ and enters the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace before me, searching for the ¡¯Eyes of Creation,¡¯ what then?"


    Ye Chen was willing to help the Rock Giant Divine King break the "Creation Chess Board;" however, if it impacted his acquisition of the "Eyes of Creation," he would have to hesitate.


    After all, even if he eventually received the clues to the "Eyes of Creation," if others had already gone ahead to the fifteenth level and obtained the "Eyes of Creation," then the clues would be of no use to him.


    Ye Chen was naturally worried about such a scenario.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s wish to immediately break the "Creation Chess Board," the Rock Giant Divine King was, of course, willing.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s concerns, the Rock Giant Divine King glanced at the myriad True Gods still trapped in the "Slaughter Chess Game" and smiled at Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, you need not worry about this issue. They haven¡¯t broken the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ yet and probably won¡¯t be able to for some time; they might have to wait for half a year when the difficulty of the Slaughter Chess Game starts to wane before they have hope of breaking out."


    "Of course, if anyone manages to break free and go to the fifteenth level in the meantime, I promise, in the name of a Divine King, to summon you out of the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ if you have not succeeded by then. I will give you a jade slip that ensures your safe passage to the fifteenth level, making sure you do not fall behind others."


    "If that situation really happens, then it is destined by the heavens, and my clan is not yet meant to be freed from the exiled state. I will not blame you, young friend," said the Rock Giant Divine King with utmost sincerity.


    He even made a vow in the name of the Divine King to Ye Chen.


    Seeing the earnest attitude of the Rock Giant Divine King, Ye Chen acknowledged him even more, and with a slight smile said to the Rock Giant Divine King, "Since Senior has said so, what else do I have to worry about? I will start breaking the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ now!"


    Ye Chen felt the faint probing force coming from the "Creation Chess Board," and he had already obtained the method to enter the "Creation Chess Board" from this probing force.


    Following the method to enter the "Creation Chess Board," Ye Chen channeled a divine technique with his mind, and amidst a flash of divine light, he was directly teleported into the "Creation Chess Board."


    As soon as Ye Chen entered the "Creation Chess Board," he heard a voice transmitting into his sea of consciousness: "Another helper to assist the Rock People Tribe in breaking the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯? And such a young boy at that?"


    "Young man, before you break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ let me tell you two things to boost your motivation. The first is that after you break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ I will not concern myself with the benefits the Rock People Tribe may offer you for lifting their exiled status. The second is that if you succeed in breaking the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ not only will you help the Rock People Tribe lift their exiled status and receive their benefits, but I will also specially bestow upon you a reward left in the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ by my master."


    "This reward is known as ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯!"

 Chapter 587 - 541 Lord Emperor Yan

    "Voices suddenly emanated from the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯, startling Ye Chen."


    What surprised Ye Chen even more was that the voice claimed that once he broke through the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯, he would receive a reward left within it by the voice¡¯s owner.


    Was this ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ left behind by the great entity who had exiled the likes of the Rock Giant Divine King, and could it be that this great entity was the owner of the voice?


    Ye Chen no longer knew what realm the mighty being capable of exiling countless races and slaughterous beings within the Undersea Divine Palace belonged to.


    Perhaps not even a Divine Venerable could achieve this feat!


    It was very likely that not even the father of the Little Provincial Princess, the God King of the Mountain Divine Nation from Wanmu Mountain of East Territory, an existence that transcended the Divine Venerable, possessed such formidable power.


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but look towards the source of the voice, and to his surprise, he saw that within the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ there was actually a thirty-three-story pagoda.


    Next to the pagoda floated the silhouette of a small marten, which was watching him.


    "Was it you... speaking to me just now?" Ye Chen asked the Xiaodiao Guangying, unable to contain his curiosity, "Is your owner the one who exiled countless beings in this Undersea Divine Palace?"


    The Xiaodiao Guangying looked at Ye Chen, its tiny head proudly raised, and said, "That¡¯s right, I was the one talking to you. I am an Ethereal Spirit left by my master in this ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯, responsible for presiding over the trials of the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯."


    "As for my master, he is indeed the great person who exiled countless beings in the Undersea Divine Palace. Not only did he oversee this Undersea Divine Palace, but also the great purges during catastrophic upheavals across many lower Star Continents, and even in numerous Divine Nations of the Upper Realm¡ªall orchestrated by my master!"


    "My master is an ultimate existence who has transcended the God King Realm, the Divine Venerable Realm, and even the ¡¯Sovereign Realm¡¯! He is an ultimate existence who rules over countless Star Domains, surpassing the Lower Star Continent and the Divine Nations of the Upper Realm! You may refer to my master as¡ª¡¯Lord Emperor Yan¡¯!"


    Lord Emperor Yan!


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    An ultimate existence that transcends the God King Realm, the Divine Venerable Realm, and even the Sovereign Realm!


    An ultimate existence that surpasses the Lower Star Continent and the Divine Nations of the Upper Realm, ruling over countless Star Domains!


    Hearing Xiaodiao¡¯s words, Ye Chen was utterly dumbfounded.


    It was the first time he had heard of a realm beyond the Divine Venerable Realm.


    Could it be that beyond the Divine Venerable Realm lies the ¡¯Sovereign Realm¡¯? And the father of the Little Provincial Princess is a ¡¯Sovereign Realm¡¯ powerhouse?


    And these catastrophic upheavals, could it be they were not exclusive to the Minor Spirit Realm but also occurred in other Star Continents, and even many Divine Nations of the Upper Realm faced such great purges?


    And this ¡¯Lord Emperor Yan¡¯ was able to arrange the catastrophic upheavals across countless realms?!


    Ye Chen knew that the Mountain Divine Nation contained innumerable Star Continents and governed the entire Wanmu Mountain Star Domain.


    Just being able to arrange affairs for the Mountain Divine Nation was inconceivable.


    Yet Lord Emperor Yan could even orchestrate the great purges of other Divine Nations, transcending the domains of the Mountain Divine Nation, extending his control to other Star Domains.


    Inconceivable, truly too inconceivable!


    Ye Chen had a premonition that perhaps ¡¯Lord Emperor Yan¡¯ and ¡¯Zi Ji Star Lord¡¯, the one who left him the Primordial Star Scripture, might be entities of the same caliber!


    After all, Ye Chen remembered that Zi Ji Star Lord had said that the Primordial Star Scripture was created by him after traveling across countless Star Domains! Evidently, ¡¯Zi Ji Star Lord¡¯ was also an entity that transcended a single Star Domain, capable of dominating countless Star Domains!


    The True Qi Realm, the Spirit Sea Realm, the Rotating Pill Realm, the Heavenly Saint Realm, the True God Realm, the God King Realm, the Divine Venerable Realm, the Sovereign Realm...


    Ye Chen felt that as his strength improved, he was encountering higher levels and a vaster universe.


    And now, he had even come into contact with a being that transcended the level of Star Domains!


    "Lord Emperor Yan!"


    Ye Chen once again repeated the name in his mind, imprinting it deeply within his memory.


    Taking a deep breath, Ye Chen then looked towards Xiaodiao Guangying, "Senior, did you just say that your master, ¡¯Lord Emperor Yan,¡¯ left behind a reward in the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ called ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯? What is that?"


    Now knowing how powerful a person Lord Emperor Yan was, Ye Chen became extremely interested in the reward mentioned by Xiaodiao about Lord Emperor Yan.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that by helping the Rock Giant God King solve the "Creation Chess Board", he would actually come into contact with such a person, with such matters!


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, Xiaodiao smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Young lad, my master has arranged countless sweeping calamities across numerous realms, leaving behind countless opportunities in each realm of the sweeping calamity, opportunities that help talented individuals escape from the dangers of the sweeping calamity."


    "After all, the sweeping calamity is a natural state of old and new alternation that arises in this universe. Although my master can arrange a lot for the sweeping calamity, he cannot interfere with the entire universe¡¯s state of alternation. The master can only try to give every martial artist with great accomplishments a glimmer of hope."


    "In this ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ if it were a member of the Rock People Tribe that broke the formation, there wouldn¡¯t be any special reward from my master. But if a martial artist helps the Rock People Tribe break the formation, my master would then instruct me to present the reward."


    "If a martial artist is successful in helping the Rock People Tribe break the formation, it would mean this martial artist definitely possesses great strength and potential. Naturally, my master would not let him perish in the sweeping calamity of the Undersea Divine Palace¡ªof course, he would leave some means behind."


    "The reward I mentioned before, ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill,¡¯ is a special tactic from my master."


    "This ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯ can only be used within the realm of the Undersea Divine Palace during the sweeping calamity, but its capability is absolutely extraordinary!"


    "Three flashes symbolize three chances to evade. In the Undersea Divine Palace, as long as you have the ¡¯Three Flashes¡¯ ability, even attacks from a Divine King, those from a Divine Venerable, or even a ¡¯Sovereign¡¯ level entity can all be evaded."


    "Three kills, the same principle applies. In the Undersea Divine Palace, three kills represent three chances to slay; even if they are Divine Kings, Divine Venerables, or Sovereigns, these three opportunities can definitely kill them!"


    "Of course, Three Flashes Three Kills only works against other martial artists who have also entered the Undersea Divine Palace, as well as the exiled killing life forms within. The most powerful beings you martial artists, and those killing life forms in the Undersea Divine Palace, may encounter are at the Divine King Level, which means you won¡¯t need the full power of my master¡¯s ¡¯Three Flashes Three Kills.¡¯"


    After Xiaodiao Guangying finished speaking, Ye Chen¡¯s mouth was wide open.


    Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill.


    It could even kill Divine Venerables and Sovereigns!


    This was simply too terrifying.


    Unfortunately, this kind of method was limited in uses and could only be used within the Undersea Divine Palace; otherwise, possessing such a method would certainly cause great waves in the Divine Kingdom!


    Although it was a pity, Ye Chen was still tremendously moved.


    Even if it could only be used in the Undersea Divine Palace, having such a method meant that one would have three chances to avoid being killed and three chances to execute absolute powerhouses. That signified he now had a strong card to play in navigating the Undersea Divine Palace.


    One must know that Ye Chen had only made it to the fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace so far, and there were still many layers ahead to be challenged.


    Moreover, God King Hei Mei had mentioned that there were many Divine Kings guarding the lower levels, many of whom were utterly insane.


    The two Divine Kings Ye Chen had encountered so far, God King Hei Mei and the Rock Giant God King, were both rather reasonable.


    But if he were to encounter a truly insane Divine King, his current strength would also be in considerable danger!


    If he obtained this "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill", then he would have a means to respond. He might even have a chance of obtaining the "Eye of the Divine Sea"!


    Thinking this, Ye Chen suppressed the excitement in his Mind and Spirit, looking towards Xiaodiao Guangying as he said aloud, "Senior, if I can break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯, then I can obtain this ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯, correct?"


    Xiaodiao Guangying nodded its head but then smiled and looked at Ye Chen, "Young lad, the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ is not so easy to break. Regarding ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯, I have told all the martial artists who have come to help the Rock People Tribe with the ¡¯Creation Chess Board.¡¯"


    "Unfortunately, through so many sweeping calamities, not a single person has been able to break through the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ and obtain the ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯. Many martial artists ended up dying in the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "Young lad, if you can¡¯t break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯, everything I¡¯ve said just now will be of no use. I will even erase all that I¡¯ve told you from your memory once you leave the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯."


    "If you want ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯, you¡¯d better break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ first."

 Chapter 588 - 542: Creation, Chess Game, Illusion Change

    Only by breaking the Creation Chess Board can one obtain the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" technique.


    Upon hearing the words of Xiaodiao¡¯s shadow, Ye Chen nodded in agreement.


    His gaze turned directly towards the thirty-three-story pavilion within the Creation Chess Board.


    Ye Chen had not expected that from the outside, the Creation Chess Board appeared to be comprised of chess pieces, yet upon entering, there stood a thirty-three-story pavilion within the chessboard!


    "Is it within this pavilion that the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ is broken? Elder?" Ye Chen asked Xiaodiao¡¯s shadow.


    Xiaodiao¡¯s shadow nodded, "The true chess array of the Creation Chess Board is divided into thirty-three layers. If you can make it to the top of these thirty-three layers, to the very top of the chess pavilion, then you will have directly broken the Creation Chess Board."


    "Young lad, to break the chess formation, now enter this pavilion and rush upwards!"


    Ye Chen nodded, took a deep breath, and flew to the base of the thirty-three-story pavilion, pushed open the main door of the first floor, and walked in.


    When Ye Chen fully entered the thirty-three-story pavilion, one could see from outside the "Creation Chess Board" that all of the star chess pieces of the entire "Creation Chess Board" began to shine brightly.


    The Rock Giant Divine King, who had been closely watching the "Creation Chess Board" from outside, tightened its breath.


    It knew that Ye Chen had finally begun to officially decipher the "Creation Chess Board"!


    Inside the spatial realm of the Creation Chess Board, outside the thirty-three-story pavilion, upon seeing Ye Chen entering the pavilion, Xiaodiao¡¯s shadow murmured to itself, "Creation Chess Board, chess creates fortune, these thirty-three layers of chess formation are a major test left by the master of the past, but also a great opportunity. Countless have failed to grasp it, now let¡¯s see if this young man can seize it."


    "If he grasps it, not only will this youth attain ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill,¡¯ but he will also gain the real benefits of this ¡¯Creation Chess Board.¡¯ If not, all of it will be nothing more than a dream within a dream..."


    ...


    Upon entering the first layer of the thirty-three-story pavilion, Ye Chen saw countless glowing wooden tags drifting within this floor.


    Looking at these tags, an extremely strong sense of sleepiness suddenly overwhelmed Ye Chen¡¯s entire body.


    Unconsciously, Ye Chen fell asleep right inside the first layer of the thirty-three-story chess formation pavilion of the "Creation Chess Board."


    ...


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    At this moment, at the center of this valley, numerous little sparrows of various shapes and colorful feathers descended.


    After these little sparrows landed, they all looked towards a huge rock at the center of the valley.


    And on that giant rock, a large grey sparrow sat, watching all the little sparrows.


    This large grey sparrow chirped away, seemingly speaking to the assembled little sparrows.


    And these little sparrows, upon hearing the chirps and chatter of the large grey sparrow, some were excited beyond measure, others utterly perplexed.


    At this moment, among the little sparrows, there was one that looked very ordinary. Hearing the large grey sparrow¡¯s chirps and looking at its own feathers, a hint of disbelief appeared in its eyes.


    Then, the little sparrow suddenly assumed a strange cultivation pose and began to cultivate.


    After three days had passed, this ordinary little sparrow emitted a crystal-clear and brilliant light!


    Seeing such a brilliant light burst forth from the little sparrow, the other sparrows were utterly astonished and flew toward it, chirping frantically, while the huge gray sparrow also showed an extremely satisfied expression, nodding at the little sparrow and chirping a few words.


    The little sparrow then flew away from the flock towards a big tree and eventually settled into a nest.


    As if very tired, the little sparrow slowly fell asleep in the nest.


    ...


    In the first layer of the Creation Chess Game Pavilion on the thirty-third floor of the "Creation Chess Board," Ye Chen, who was deep in slumber, suddenly woke up with a disbelieving expression on his face!


    When Ye Chen looked around the first layer again, he found that the shining wooden placards of the entire first layer had completely vanished, revealing the staircase leading to the second layer.


    Seeing the stairs to the second layer, Ye Chen looked down and pinched a spell with his hand, and a bright and brilliant light surged from his body.


    This bright light was exactly the same as the light that had shot from that ordinary little sparrow in the world of countless sparrows!


    Ye Chen stared at the brilliant light for a long time.


    After a while, he exclaimed with great emotion, "The Creation Chess Board truly lives up to its reputation as a Divine King-level formation, including ¡¯Space-Time Formation,¡¯ ¡¯Illusionary Formation,¡¯ and even ¡¯Dream Formation¡¯!"


    "This strange formation directly transported my mind to a new world where I inhabited the body of a little sparrow and cultivated alongside many other sparrows!"


    "And that huge gray sparrow was directly teaching all the little sparrows a Cultivation Technique from the ¡¯True Qi Realm First Layer¡¯!"


    "Only after cultivating the ¡¯True Qi Realm First Layer¡¯ Technique as the sparrow was my spirit returned to my original body, back to the first layer of the Creation Chess Game Pavilion. And then, the staircase leading to the second layer of the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ was revealed."


    "Could it be that to break through this ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ one must cultivate a different set of techniques in another world?!"


    Incredulous, Ye Chen stepped toward the second layer of the Creation Chess Board Pavilion.


    Next, in the second layer, he once again saw the shining wooden placards similar to the first layer and, inevitably, fell into a deep sleep once more.


    ...


    Boom!


    In the world of the valley where countless sparrows resided, the little sparrow that had fallen asleep in the nest opened its eyes again, only to see that the clear day before it slept had turned into a rainy one.


    The valley where it had been before sleeping had turned into a vast forest full of towering trees.


    As the little sparrow displayed a shocked expression, three other sparrows flew toward it, chirping at it.


    Then, the little sparrow followed the three other sparrows, flying toward a region in the forest.


    Looking at that region, a huge purple sparrow was chirping away about something.


    When the enormous purple sparrow saw the small one, it nodded its head, then started chirping and talking again, as if it were continuing to tell a story.


    And the small bird, in its tiny sparrow form, understood the huge grey sparrow¡¯s language and incredulously exclaimed in its mind, "Indeed, the second layer of the Creation Chess Board, I¡¯ve come to this world again, and this enormous purple sparrow is talking about a Cultivation Technique for the ¡¯second level of the True Qi Realm¡¯!"


    "Could it be that I can only escape this Chess Formation Illusion and return to my original form after I¡¯ve learned this Cultivation Technique of the True Qi Realm¡¯s second level, just like before?"


    Startled, the small sparrow began to cultivate according to the Cultivation Technique described by the enormous purple sparrow after listening to its words.


    Seven days later, with the enormous purple sparrow¡¯s nod of satisfaction, the small sparrow soared into the sky!


    ...


    At the second level of the Creation Chess Game Pavilion, Ye Chen, who had fallen into a deep sleep, once again woke from his astonishment.


    With a pinch of his fingers, two beams of bright, crystalline light burst forth from his body.


    At this moment, Ye Chen also discovered that the shining wooden tile from the second level had once again vanished, and the staircase leading to the third level had reappeared.


    "Indeed, it¡¯s a mysterious cultivation within an illusion, indeed it¡¯s the enigmatic Creation Formation!"


    After a few emotional exclamations, Ye Chen furrowed his brow and stepped towards the third level of the thirty-three layered Creation Chess Game Pavilion.


    ...


    When Ye Chen entered the third level and fell into slumber once again.


    The small bird had once again awakened in the forest.


    And it was brought to a new realm, beginning its cultivation!


    ...


    As one year passed in that world.


    The small bird had grown into a gigantic feathered sparrow, seven to eight zhang long, even carrying a layer of True Qi Spiritual Light when it flew in the sky, which only creatures of the Spirit Sea Realm possessed!


    At that time, Ye Chen had directly reached the thirteenth level inside the Creation Chess Game Pavilion!


    ...


    After three years had passed in that world.


    The seven to eight zhang long gigantic feathered sparrow had become tens of zhang long, and even the flapping of its wings brought with it endless gusts of the laws of the void.


    Meanwhile, within the Creation Chess Game Pavilion, Ye Chen had directly reached the sixteenth level!


    ...


    When ten years had elapsed in that world.


    The several tens of zhang long gigantic feathered sparrow had grown to several hundred zhang in size, and with a sweep of its colossal wings, it lifted lands and severed mountain peaks!


    And at this time, the gigantic feathered sparrow let out a human voice, "I never thought that in this world, I would achieve the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    Boom!


    As the gigantic feathered sparrow flew into a palace atop a massive peak and entered a state of slumber.


    Ye Chen awoke directly in the nineteenth level of the Creation Chess Game Pavilion!


    ...


    When a hundred years passed in that world.


    The gigantic feathered sparrow that had grown several hundred zhang long had now reached several thousand zhang in size. As it flew in the sky, countless feathered sparrows falling from mountains, covered in endless divine light, prostrated in worship before it.


    The several thousand zhang gigantic feathered sparrow then changed its form and directly transformed into a human shape.


    And this human form was none other than Ye Chen himself!


    At this time, looking towards the Creation Chess Game Pavilion, Ye Chen had already reached the thirtieth level!


    ...


    Outside the thirty-three leveled Creation Chess Game Pavilion at this moment.


    Xiaodiao was looking up at the thirty-three levels of the pavilion, its mouth agape with surprise.


    Looking towards the pavilion, one could see that the entire pavilion¡¯s lower thirty levels had all completely lit up!


    Xiaodiao, astonished beyond belief, spoke out, "So quickly, this young man has broken through to the thirtieth level!"


    "One must know that the thirty-three levels of the pavilion correspond to the thirty-three minor realms of the ¡¯Divine Feather Illusion.¡¯ The first twelve levels of the pavilion correspond to the twelve levels of the True Qi Realm; levels thirteen to fifteen correspond to the early, middle, and late stages of the Spirit Sea Realm; levels sixteen to eighteen correspond to the early, middle, and late stages of the Rotating Pill Realm; levels nineteen to twenty-one correspond to the early, middle, and late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm; levels twenty-two to thirty correspond to the nine calamities and nine stages of the True God Realm!"


    "Breaking through to the thirtieth level represents the realms of the nine calamities of the True God. Doesn¡¯t this mean that this young lad, in his master¡¯s ¡¯Divine Feather Illusion,¡¯ has cultivated to the nine calamities as a feathered sparrow with his original form?!"


    "My heavens. Even though the ¡¯Divine Feather Illusion¡¯s¡¯ time flows at a ratio of ten thousand to one compared to the outside, it¡¯s only been a little over three days outside, which is at most a hundred years in the Divine Feather Illusion."


    "To cultivate to the nine calamities in a hundred years?! And his real body is only at the mid-phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm, he hasn¡¯t even cultivated in the True God Realm, yet he¡¯s able to cultivate to the nine calamities in the illusion without dying, having passed all the stages¡ªit¡¯s simply too incredible!"


    "One must know that the time given by the master for breaking the formation in the ¡¯Divine Feather Illusion¡¯ is a full thousand years. He still has countless years to cultivate!"


    "Could it be that this young man could really breakthrough the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ and within it cultivate to an Upper God King at the thirty-third level as a grey sparrow?!"


    "Heavens. If he truly achieves such a feat, then even if his body does not reach the Upper God King like within the ¡¯Divine Feather Illusion¡¯ once he exits from the ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ the experiences from this illusion will truly be engraved in his heart, as if he had cultivated to an Upper God King in a dream! Moreover, he would obtain a set of Cultivation Techniques that his master used to reach the Upper God King!"


    "With these techniques, his future cultivation to the Upper God King Realm wouldn¡¯t be just talk!"

 Chapter 589 - 543: Breaking Out of the Formation!

    "Creation Chess Board" chess tower outside, the silhouette of the little marten expressed utter shock.


    Ye Chen, who awoke from the third floor of the Chess Tower, had already discovered that the passage to the thirty-first floor had appeared.


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze had become extremely calm, revealing a demeanor of looking down upon the world that he had never possessed upon first entering the Chess Tower.


    This was the temperament he gained after ascending through the layers of the "Creation Chess Board" chess tower, falling into dream-laden slumbers, and cultivating within the mysterious realm of countless feathered birds to reach the ninth tribulation as a True God.


    The demeanor of a truly powerful being!


    Even though the cultivation in the dream realm couldn¡¯t truly transfer the realm and combat power to his physical body, having experienced the process from the True Qi Realm to become a ninth tribulation True God in the dream realm, Ye Chen¡¯s entire temperament had completely transformed!


    Teaching through dreams!


    At this time, how could Ye Chen not understand that each chess formation challenge of the "Creation Chess Board" was in fact a trial of teaching through dreams?


    If one failed the trial, they could only stay at a certain realm stage in the dream and also could only remain on a certain floor of the Creation Chess Board.


    Yet, passing the trial meant directly learning techniques and martial skills from the dream realm, directly experiencing a major transformation of one¡¯s realm within the dreamscape.


    Even if such a major transformation in the dream realm couldn¡¯t truly increase the actual body¡¯s realm significantly, such an experience would undoubtedly have an incredibly significant impact on his physical body¡¯s future cultivation!


    After all, having cultivated once, even if only in a dream realm, was indeed genuine cultivation!


    After all, this was the Creation Chess Board left by the supreme being beyond the Sovereign Realm, "Lord Emperor Yan".


    That was by no means a simple dream, but rather a genuine learning and cultivation within another world!


    Ye Chen, who had woken up on the thirtieth level, turned his gaze towards the higher thirty-first level of the Creation Chess Board chess tower.


    By then, Ye Chen had understood that once he stepped onto the thirty-first level, it was very likely he would come into contact with the "God King Realm".


    "The Divine King Realm?"


    "Then I shall go to that world and see for myself how one cultivates in the God King Realm!"


    Ye Chen strode towards the thirty-first floor of the Creation Chess Board.


    ...


    When Ye Chen stepped into the thirty-first floor and once again fell into slumber.


    In that world of countless feathered birds, within a Purple Mist Divine Palace amid a sea of clouds, a feathered bird thousands of zhang in size awakened.


    This bird was precisely the being in this world of countless feathered birds that bore Ye Chen¡¯s spirit, with which Ye Chen had cultivated from the True Qi Realm up to the ninth tribulation as a True God.


    Boom!


    When the thousand-zhang large bird awoke, it was immediately enveloped by an inexplicable summons.


    Subsequently, the giant bird flew out of the Purple Mist Divine Palace, and amidst the reverent gazes of countless other birds in the palace, it soared towards the heavens above.


    Flying.


    Rapidly soaring toward the heavens above.


    This thousand-zhang large bird crossed layers upon layers of sea clouds, leaping through eighteen strata of such clouds. Finally, so high above that its pinnacle wasn¡¯t clear, it saw a scripture, a tome encircled by black thunder and black lightning¡ªthe secret manual¡¯s shadow.


    When the giant bird looked towards this secret manual¡¯s shadow, it saw five words clearly written upon it¡ª"Myriad Feathers God King Classic"!


    "Myriad Feathers God King Classic!"


    "This is the sixth scripture that I¡¯ve obtained for breaking through the realms, after having cultivated the ¡¯Myriad Feathers True Qi Classic,¡¯ ¡¯Myriad Feathers Spirit Sea Classic,¡¯ ¡¯Myriad Feathers Rotating Elixir Classic,¡¯ ¡¯Myriad Feathers Heavenly Saint Classic,¡¯ ¡¯Myriad Feathers True God Classic¡¯ in this world."


    "It seems that only by thoroughly cultivating this scripture can I leave this world and return to my physical body!"


    The voice of Ye Chen emanated from within the giant bird.


    Then, this thousand-zhang large bird began to cultivate this new secret manual¡¯s shadow, "The Myriad Feathers God King Classic," atop the summit of the eighteen strata of sea clouds.


    Upon the passage of five hundred years in that world.


    On this day, the very summit of the eighteen strata of sea clouds suddenly resounded with a heavens-shaking peal of thunder.


    Endless thunder and lightning oscillated across the firmament and throughout the skies of the entire feathered bird world!


    ```


    This scene made all the feathered birds in this world of feathered creatures, whether on the ground or flying in the skies, gaze upward toward the even higher heavens above their heads.


    Then, all the feathered birds witnessed an incredible sight.


    Two colossal wings, each tens of thousands of feet in length, stretched out from the vault of the heavens, bathing in the endless roaring of thunder and lightning.


    Those terrifying black bolts of lightning eventually converged onto the two gigantic wings, turning into patterns of lightning that traced their span.


    After that, the owner of those two colossal wings finally revealed its form.


    That form was none other than a peerless celestial bird with mysterious lightning patterns on its head and thousands of divine feathers on its body radiating endless divine light.


    A peerless celestial bird that had reached the very limits of the highest quality Divine King Realm!


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    Upon beholding this peerless bird, countless feathered birds throughout the avian world burst into excited and joyful chirping.


    And in the firmament above, the peerless celestial bird lowered its head to look at all the feathered creatures of this world, a faint smile seemingly appearing before its gaze once again shifted toward the higher skies.


    There, fifty-four stars twinkled far above in the higher heavens.


    "This world, thirty-three cycles of cultivation, six hundred and fifty-seven years!"


    "Now, it¡¯s time to return home!"


    The moment the peerless celestial bird saw the fifty-four stars in the higher skies, it furiously flapped its two colossal wings, its entire body primed to surge toward those stars.


    In the end, the peerless celestial bird completely vanished between the realms of this world.


    Completely vanished from the excited gazes of countless feathered birds.


    ...


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The very instant that the great bird disappeared from that world,


    the Creation Chess Board¡¯s previously illuminated thirty-three towers, all towers once again soared into the sky with light, emitting endless divine radiance!


    Outside the Creation Chess Board, the marten shadow, beholding the brilliantly lit thirty-three towers, also soared into the heavens, its voice trembling with vibration: "The Creation Chess Board, after infinite ages, has finally been broken!"


    As soon as the words "has been broken" fell, the thirty-three towers of the Creation Chess Board suddenly exploded, transforming into twinkling starlight.


    And within this endless starlight, a silhouette slowly appeared.


    This silhouette was unmistakably that of Ye Chen!


    ...


    Outside the Creation Chess Board.


    The stone giant Divine King, who had been intently watching the "Creation Chess Board," after waiting for twenty-four days, suddenly felt his entire mind tremble.


    An incredible premonition emerged within his spirit.


    "Could it be... young friend Ye Chen..."


    As this premonition surfaced within its spirit, the stone giant Divine King saw the chess pieces formed by the fifty-four stars¡¯ light on the Creation Chess Board suddenly shift in position.


    Finally, all the chess pieces formed a mysterious pattern resembling a circular black hole.


    The instant this mysterious pattern formed, the stone giant Divine King was completely dumbfounded, his mind as if soaring beyond the ninth heaven.


    Because this mysterious pattern was precisely the one that the great being, who once banished it, had said would only appear when the Creation Chess Board was broken.


    The star-transmitting pattern that could allow him to return to his original homeland!


    "The Creation Chess Board¡ªbroken?!"


    In a tremble of excitement, the stone giant Divine King finally burst out in ecstatic shouting, "The Creation Chess Board has been broken by young friend Ye Chen!"


    As the stone giant Divine King couldn¡¯t help but shout excitedly, two silhouettes flew directly from the circular pattern resembling a black hole formed by the fifty-four chess pieces of the Creation Chess Board.


    These two silhouettes were a man and a marten.


    It was none other than Ye Chen and the marten shadow that oversaw the Creation Chess Board!


    ```

 Chapter 590 - 544 The Three Brothers of Panpoluo

    "Young Friend Ye Chen!"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen flying out of the Creation Chess Board, the stone giant God King hurriedly greeted him.


    Now, Ye Chen was a great benefactor to it.


    Even though the stone giant God King was a powerful being of the God King Realm, he was profoundly grateful to Ye Chen from the bottom of his heart.


    "This is..." Upon seeing the little mink shadow by Ye Chen¡¯s side, the stone giant God King was momentarily stunned.


    Although it had acquired the "Creation Chess Board" in the past, it had never seen the little mink shadow inside the Creation Chess Board.


    "Senior, this is the Ethereal Spirit who presides over the ¡¯Creation Chess Board.¡¯ If your Rock People Tribe wishes to return to your homeland from the Undersea Divine Palace, we will need the assistance of Senior Ethereal Spirit," Ye Chen said with a smile as he introduced the little mink shadow to the stone giant God King.


    "Ethereal Spirit Senior?!" Even as a powerful God King Realm being, the stone giant God King did not dare to be presumptuous in front of the little mink, whose realm it could not discern. It looked at the little mink shadow with respect, speaking with a hint of excitement, "Is it Ethereal Spirit Senior who will send our tribe back to ¡¯Heavenly Rock Star¡¯?"


    Having finally solved the "Creation Chess Board" and fulfilled the demand of the great figure who had exiled it to the Undersea Divine Palace, the stone giant God King could not help but yearn to leave the Undersea Divine Palace and return to its homeland!


    The little mink shadow glanced indifferently at the stone giant God King and nodded, "That¡¯s right, Ye Chen has successfully helped your Rock People Tribe break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board.¡¯ In accordance with my master¡¯s promise, I will also send you away."


    "However, you must wait until the end of this great cleansing catastrophe before I can send you away; and then, after this great cleansing catastrophe, another tribe will take over your responsibilities."


    "For now, you must continue to manage the ¡¯Slaughter Chess Game¡¯ here on the fourteenth layer."


    Upon hearing the words of the little mink shadow, the excitement on the stone giant God King¡¯s face did not diminish at all; instead, it grew even more intense.


    Although they could not leave yet, they had personally heard from the little mink shadow that they could return to their homeland. Even if they had to wait for the great cleansing catastrophe to end, it was only a few months away.


    The stone giant God King and its Rock People Tribe had been in the Undersea Divine Palace for countless years; what were a few more months to them?


    To be able to return after this great cleansing catastrophe was an absolute delight!


    With this thought, the stone giant God King bowed deeply to Ye Chen, "I must thank Young Friend Ye Chen for his assistance; without you, who knows how much longer our tribe would have been exiled here!"


    As the stone giant God King bowed deeply to Ye Chen, in the void, countless Rock People Tribe members also appeared, bowing down to Ye Chen, "Thank you, Lord Ye Chen, for saving our Rock People Tribe!"


    Ye Chen saw that there were tens of millions of members of the Rock People Tribe.


    They filled the entire firmament densely packed!


    Apart from those of the Rock People Tribe who were still managing the "Slaughter Chess Game" during the thirty-two layers of folding space, it seemed that all the other members had already come out!


    As the stone giant God King and countless members of the Rock People Tribe bowed down and spoke to Ye Chen, their voices trembled with excitement.


    Back in the day, their Rock People Tribe had engaged in a titanic war with another tribe across two Star Continents, and because the aftermath of the battle had affected another Star Continent and involved another innocent tribe, they were exiled to the Undersea Divine Palace by a great figure.


    Years had passed, and the Rock People Tribe, having been exiled to the Undersea Divine Palace and separated from their homeland, deeply regretted the great war from the past.


    Countless members of the Rock People Tribe simply wished to return to their homeland and live in peace.


    But this hope had been unobtainable because the "Creation Chess Board" had not been broken.


    For many years, countless members of the Rock People Tribe had tried, and the stone giant God King had asked numerous warriors who had passed the "Slaughter Chess Game" to help, but none had been able to break the "Creation Chess Board."


    Now, with Ye Chen¡¯s intervention, the Rock People Tribe¡¯s wish had been fulfilled. How could they not be immensely grateful to Ye Chen?!


    Upon seeing the stone giant God King and countless members of the Rock People Tribe bowing deeply to him, Ye Chen quickly helped the stone giant God King to his feet, and also spoke to all the members of the Rock People Tribe, "God King Senior, and fellow members of the Rock People Tribe, there is no need for such formalities. I broke the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ because of the God King¡¯s promise, and besides, I have made a great discovery within the Creation Chess Board!"


    As Ye Chen spoke, he unconsciously glanced at the Six Paths Divine Rune hidden in his hand, which even the stone giant God King could not see.


    These Six Paths Divine Runes, three blue and three red, were decidedly the trump card given to Ye Chen by the little mink shadow in accordance with Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s promise¡ªthe method of "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" that could slaughter everything and evade everything!


    Not only did he obtain the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," but in the dreamlike illusions of the chess formations in the "Creation Chess Board," Ye Chen cultivated for more than six hundred years in a different world¡¯s heart and mind, progressing from the True Qi Realm all the way to the upper echelon of the God King Realm!


    While the cultivation in the dreamscape was not the true cultivation of the self, Ye Chen now had an exceedingly clear understanding of how to breakthrough from the Heavenly Saint Realm step by step to the upper echelon of the God King Realm.


    All he lacked now was time and true cultivation!


    The Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill gave him a strong foundation to continue venturing further into the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The cultivation in the dreamscape, however, gave Ye Chen an even greater certainty of his future accomplishments!


    In addition, the stone giant God King had promised that after breaking the "Creation Chess Board," he would reveal the location of the eight "Eyes of Creation" on the fifteenth layer to him.


    It could be said that Ye Chen¡¯s gains in this fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace were extraordinarily great!


    Furthermore, he had smoothly broken through from the early stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm to the middle stage within the "Ethereal Gourd" and significantly enhanced many of his skills and battle power.


    If it were not for the shadow of the great cleansing catastrophe looming in his heart, if it were not for his concern for Jiang Yao¡¯s safety, Ye Chen might even feel that this great cleansing catastrophe was a good opportunity for him.


    Of course, even now, with the shadow of the great cleansing catastrophe still looming, once he had the clues to the eight "Eyes of Creation" on the fifteenth layer, Ye Chen would at least have eight chances to save his life and the lives of the eight people he most wanted to save.


    With the method of "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" in hand, plunging deeper into the Undersea Divine Palace to find the "Eye of the Divine Sea" also held a solid foundation of confidence!


    While Ye Chen silently marveled, the colossal hand of the rock giant Divine King that Ye Chen had helped up also moved, and two half-meter-long stones appeared in its grasp.


    Then, after the rock giant Divine King¡¯s fingers flickered with divine light over the two stones for a moment, it handed them to Ye Chen.


    "Young friend Ye Chen, one of these stones is a message I wish you to carry to the guardians of the fifteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, the ¡¯Panpoluo¡¯ tribe. With this stone, the ¡¯Panpoluo¡¯ tribe will not interfere with your search for the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯" the rock giant Divine King said.


    "The second stone holds the locations of the eight Eyes of Creation in the fifteenth floor."


    "A message for the ¡¯Panpoluo¡¯ tribe? And the locations of the eight Eyes of Creation?" Ye Chen looked at the two stones he had received. As he sensed the information in the divine light fluctuations on the stones, his eyes lit up as well.


    At this moment, the little marten shadow beside him laughed and looked at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, being able to break the ¡¯Creation Chess Board¡¯ means you are a person of great fortune and great strength. This great cleansing calamity should hardly be an obstacle for you."


    "I hope that, in the future, you will have the chance to meet my master in person."


    "My master is a supreme being. The Creation Chess Board is just a minor treasure among the countless he possesses, and there are many more astonishing items that even I have never seen!"


    "Should you have the opportunity to meet my master, you might gain even greater fortunes from him! I believe my master will pay great attention and place great value on a young genius like you!"


    Hearing the words of the little marten shadow, Ye Chen put away the two stones, looked at the shadow, and smiled as he nodded.


    Then, Ye Chen also raised his head to look at the heavens beyond.


    "Lord Emperor Yan?"


    "An existence that surpasses the realm of Sovereigns!"


    "Indeed, I do wish to meet this great being who commands countless star domains and orchestrates so many great cleansing calamities across numerous worlds. What might they be like!"


    ...


    In the midst of conversation between Ye Chen, the rock giant Divine King, and the little marten shadow,


    On the thirty-third floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, in the mysterious void where Jiang Yao was situated, the nine goddesses were also revealing expressions of disbelief.


    They had begun to pay attention to the fourteenth floor when the rock giant Divine King was helping Ye Chen in the search for Jiang Yao.


    Unexpectantly, this attention led them to witness Ye Chen breaking the great formation of the "Creation Chess Board" on the fourteenth floor¡ªand ultimately, Ye Chen actually succeeded in dismantling it.


    This certainly shocked them to the core!


    "This young man, who might be related to the little girl we value, actually broke through ¡¯Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s¡¯ ¡¯Creation Chess Board,¡¯ and even helped the Rock People Tribe on the fourteenth floor escape their exile!" they exclaimed.


    These nine divine ladies, along with Mrs. He who had transcended to the realm of Sovereigns, were appointed by "Lord Emperor Yan" to preside over the great cleansing calamities of the lower planes in the "Million Veils Mountain Star Domain" for three million years.


    They, of course, had a thorough understanding of the affairs within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    They operated independently from the little marten shadow, who was solely responsible for the fourteenth floor¡¯s "Creation Chess Board," and were unknown to it.


    However, after presiding over the great cleansing calamities of the lower planes within the "Million Veils Mountain Star Domain," they had already learned from "Lord Emperor Yan" about the countless opportunities left by him for martial artists during countless cleansing calamities.


    And of course, they were aware of the matters concerning the "Creation Chess Board" and the "Rock People Tribe."


    They also knew how difficult the "Creation Chess Board" was to break!


    None of the nine divine ladies had expected the array to be broken by this young teenager in the middle phase of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    "It seems that after our valued young girl emerges from her cultivation, we must inquire about this young man."


    "Although he is a teenager and not suitable to be the heir of our tribe, he is somehow connected to the young girl we value, and his miraculous nature makes it necessary for us to get to know him."


    As the divine ladies spoke, their gazes shifted back from the fourteenth floor to Jiang Yao, who was cultivating in the sealed cave.


    Since Jiang Yao¡¯s arrival in the sealed cave just over two months had passed, but astonishingly she had already cultivated the "Nirvana Nine Transformations" required by Mrs. He to the eighth transformation!


    She was only one step away from fulfilling Mrs. He¡¯s request of completing the "Nirvana Nine Transformations" within six months!


    ...


    Ye Chen was unaware that on the deepest thirty-third floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, there lurked figures more mysterious than the little marten shadow from the fourteenth floor¡¯s Creation Chess Board, such as Mrs. He and the nine divine ladies.


    He also didn¡¯t know that Jiang Yao was in their company, cultivating.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had already flown into the passage leading from the fourteenth floor to the fifteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    After receiving the locations of the eight Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth floor from the rock giant Divine King and discussing the care of those related to him still in the Slaughter Chess Game, such as the true god Zhen Feng Muyan, Ye Chen could hardly wait to enter the fifteenth floor.


    He was eager to get his hands on the eight Eyes of Creation!


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    "The fifteenth floor is guarded by the ¡¯Panpoluo¡¯ tribe?" Ye Chen thought. Having heard from the rock giant Divine King, the Panpoluo tribe was led by three Panpoluo brothers, notorious for their prowess. It seemed he would soon be meeting them.

 Chapter 591 - 545: Meeting Each Other

    As thoughts flickered through Ye Chen¡¯s mind, he had already been transported from the fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace to the fifteenth.


    Each level of the Undersea Divine Palace was a new world.


    He would face new lethal life forms, new crises, and of course, new opportunities.


    However, when Ye Chen entered the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, his state of mind was completely different from when he entered the previous levels.


    Because in the fifteenth level there were eight "Eye of Creation," and Ye Chen now had the locations of these eight "Eye of Creation" in hand.


    Even for the guardian of the fifteenth level, the Panpoluo Clan, Ye Chen no longer needed to worry about them thanks to the communication stone from the Divine King of the stone giants.


    The fifteenth level was destined to be a level where Ye Chen would make a great harvest!


    Ye Chen was certainly full of anticipation for entering it!


    "Whoosh..."


    As soon as Ye Chen arrived in the fifteenth level, his first feeling was fresh air, vast expanses, a sense of freedom like a fish bounding in the ocean and a bird soaring in the high heavens!


    For this fifteenth level was an ocean world as far as the eye could see!


    At that moment, Ye Chen was teleported into the sky above this ocean world, looking down at an endless expanse of azure seas, and up at a sky as clear blue as crystal.


    The sky was clear and bright.


    This world made Ye Chen involuntarily take several deep breaths, feeling that the fatigue from navigating the previous levels had been wiped away.


    "This fifteenth level, worthy of having ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ is truly a wonderful place!"


    Ye Chen exclaimed.


    While Ye Chen was marvelling, the azure sea below suddenly rippled, followed by a rustling sound, and a large group of halberd-wielding half-fish, half-human creatures flew out of the sea, completely surrounding Ye Chen.


    "This person has come to the fifteenth level, he must be here to search for treasures on our fifteenth level!"


    "Capture the intruder and lock him in the sea prison!"


    After surrounding Ye Chen, these half-fish, half-human creatures directly rushed forward, making a move on Ye Chen.


    This group of half-fish, half-human creatures, numbering fifty-two in total, had an extraordinary aura about them. Almost uniformly, they were all at the level of a Five Tribulations True God, and there were even eight among them who were Six Tribulations True Gods.


    Seeing these creatures come at him, Ye Chen smiled lightly, waved his sleeve, and sent all fifty-two creatures flying backward, ten or so meters away!


    Even the Six Tribulations True Gods among them were spun around in the air by Ye Chen¡¯s force, taking several turns before finally stabilizing their forms!


    Ye Chen¡¯s move shocked these half-fish, half-human creatures.


    These half-fish, half-human creatures, upon scouting below and seeing that it was just a young boy who had come alone, and that the young boy¡¯s aura was only at the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint, decided to send a small team to capture him.


    But they never expected that this young boy alone could repel all of them.


    Not even the Six Tribulations True Gods could resist the power of this young boy¡¯s true qi!


    This was truly inconceivable for these half-fish, half-human creatures.


    "Are you members of the Panpoluo Clan?" Ye Chen asked, smiling at the half-fish, half-human creatures he had just sent flying.


    However, these half-fish, half-human creatures paid no mind to Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry, staring at him in terror while emitting sharp cries.


    These sharp cries rapidly spread into the azure sea below.


    In almost an instant, vast waves, thousands of meters in diameter, stirred up within the blue ocean, and countless creatures, densely packed, burst out from beneath the waves.


    There were tens of thousands of creatures in total!


    The vast majority of these tens of thousands of creatures looked exactly like the ones from before, also half-fish and half-human in form.


    And their realms were roughly at the level of Five Tribulations and Six Tribulations True Gods.


    However, there were ten demonic creatures that were starkly different from these half-fish, half-human creatures. These ten creatures, also emerging densely from the tens of thousands, were notably the most powerful among them, each one having reached the level of a Seven-Tragedies True God.


    These ten creatures, humanoid in form and roughly the size of an adult warrior, oddly had a strange shell shaped like an enormous sea snail shell growing from their backs.


    When Ye Chen saw the bizarre appearance of these ten Seven-Tragedies True God creatures, a thought struck him, "Could it be that the earlier half-fish, half-human creatures weren¡¯t from the ¡¯Panpoluo Clan,¡¯ and these ten Seven-Tragedies True God creatures actually are?"


    Originally, Ye Chen was puzzled when, on the thirteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, he encountered an assault by the ¡¯Flame Scorcher Clan¡¯ creatures¡ªover five thousand of them, including two to three hundred of the Six-Tragedies True God level.


    As a result, on the fifteenth floor, the mere fifty-two half-fish, half-human creatures that had tried to capture him earlier made Ye Chen wonder why there were so few creatures on this level.


    Now, suddenly surrounded by tens of thousands of creatures, nearly all of them Five-Tragedies or Six-Tragedies True Gods, with even ten Seven-Tragedies True Gods among them, Ye Chen realized that this fifteenth floor, hiding the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ was indeed extraordinary!


    As Ye Chen was marveling internally, the foremost among the ten creatures with the strange sea snail-shaped shells on their backs directly shouted at Ye Chen, "Young boy, you dare resist the capture of the ¡¯Panyu Clan,¡¯ a subordinate clan of our ¡¯Panpoluo Clan¡¯?!"


    "This fifteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace is guarded by three great kings of our clan. Even a Nine-Tragedies True God would not dare to be rampant here, yet you are quite bold!"


    "Men, capture him! If he resists again, kill without mercy!"


    The creature with the strange shell was obviously a decisively murderous one. With a wave of its hand, the tens of thousands of half-fish, half-human creatures surged towards Ye Chen.


    "Subordinate Panyu Clan of the Panpoluo Clan?"


    "I had thought this floor was only inhabited by creatures of the Panpoluo Clan, and that another type of murderous life-form, similar to the one on the fourteenth floor, lay concealed, never to emerge. It turns out that the Panpoluo Clan is capable indeed, having made another murderous life-form willingly serve as their subordinate."


    "Three great kings in command, and not even a Nine-Tragedies True God dares to run amok? Could it be that the three Panpoluo brothers are those three great kings? And they are not among these ten powerful demons? Are the Panpoluo brothers even stronger than a Seven-Tragedies True God?"


    Ye Chen had originally thought that the three Panpoluo brothers, who were to convey messages from the Rock Giant Divine King, would be among these Seven-Tragedies True God creatures. Yet, they hadn¡¯t shown themselves.


    It seems that there are indeed many hidden demonic creatures in this ocean world!


    Seeing the Panpoluo Clan creature summon the tens of thousands of Panyu Clan creatures to move against him again, Ye Chen had no intention of wasting words with these demons any longer.


    With a "swoosh," Ye Chen directly took out the half-meter-long rock given to him by the Rock Giant Divine King, specifically for the Panpoluo clan leaders, the three Panpoluo brothers, to carry a message.


    "I have a message from the Rock Giant Divine King, three great kings of the Panpoluo Clan, please come out and meet me!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s thunderous voice spread through the azure sea.


    At the same time, he waved his large hand, throwing the half-meter-long rock right into the azure sea.


    With the Divine Light left on the half-meter-long rock by the Rock Giant Divine King, Ye Chen believed that once it entered the ocean below, the three Panpoluo brothers would definitely sense it.


    "Thud!"


    The half-meter-long rock plunged into the sea, causing just a small splash.


    The tens of thousands of ¡¯Panyu Clan¡¯ creatures, as well as the ten ¡¯Panpoluo Clan¡¯ creatures heading towards Ye Chen, were taken aback by his words and actions.


    "A message from the Rock Giant Divine King?"


    "Who is that?"


    These creatures were not at a level to know about the Rock Giant Divine King, and for a moment, they were somewhat perplexed.


    Just as they thought Ye Chen was pulling some trick and many of them were itching to attack him again, the azure ocean below suddenly stirred up towering waves.


    Amidst the towering waves, a voice of utter shock called out, "A message from the Divine King!"


    "The esteemed friend of the Divine King, Mr. Ye Chen has come to our fifteenth floor?"


    Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.


    Amidst this voice full of shock, the towering waves split apart, and three figures, each several tens of zhang long and also bearing odd sea snail-shaped shells on their backs, rose from the ocean and flew into the air.


    Looking at these three figures, one of them was holding the very piece of half-meter rock that Ye Chen had just thrown into the sea.


    All three figures were indeed of the Nine-Tragedies True God realm!


    Three sets of divine eyes shone as they flew from the sea and directly looked towards Ye Chen, all shaking as they addressed him, "Are you, Mr. Ye Chen?!"

 Chapter 592 - 546: Eye of Creation

    ```


    As these three Nine Tribulations True Gods burst forth, the creatures of the "Panyu Clan" and the "Panpoluo Clan" quickly backed away, prostrating on the ground: "Your Majesty!"


    However, the three Nine Tribulations True Gods were oblivious to them, merely watching Ye Chen with caution.


    Ye Chen, at this moment, offered a faint smile as he looked at the three figures before him and said, "Are the three of you the three brothers from the Panpoluo Clan that Senior Divine King mentioned? Indeed, I am Ye Chen."


    The indifferent demeanor of Ye Chen starkly contrasted with the fright of the creatures behind him.


    Clearly, Ye Chen¡¯s expression revealed that he had no fear, even in the presence of three Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    The three Nine Tribulations True Gods harbored no anger at Ye Chen¡¯s indifferent attitude.


    Upon hearing that the person before them was Ye Chen, the one mentioned in the communication stone by the Rock Giant Divine King, all three Nine Tribulations True Gods approached him with beaming smiles. The eldest among them said with a laugh, "Ye Chen is a benefactor of Lord Divine King; please don¡¯t call us seniors. You may address us as fellow daoists."


    "Ye Chen, this is my second brother, ¡¯Panpo Wu,¡¯ and this is my youngest brother, ¡¯Panpo Qing,¡¯" said the eldest, pointing to the two Nine Tribulations True Gods beside him as he introduced them to Ye Chen.


    Lastly, he added with a smile, "My name is ¡¯Panpo Zhan.¡¯ Ye Chen may address me as ¡¯Fellow Daoist Zhan.¡¯"


    "Senior Zhan, Senior Wu, Senior Qing!" Ye Chen greeted the three Nine Tribulations True Gods with a fist salute and said with a smile, "It¡¯s a disturbance for Ye Chen to be here on the fifteenth level."


    Although the three Nine Tribulations True Gods were cordial, Ye Chen did not presume to act arrogantly in front of these creatures who had cultivated for countless years. He maintained a respectful tone without being overbearing or humble.


    By his side, the second brother from the Panpoluo clan, "Panpo Wu," nodded at Ye Chen with a smile, glanced at the two terrified clans of creatures, and then raised his voice to them, "This Ye Chen is our honored guest. You may all stand down; we three will attend to Fellow Daoist Ye Chen."


    "As you command, Your Majesty!" Tens of thousands of creatures from the "Panyu Clan" and the "Panpoluo Clan" quickly kneeled, hurriedly withdrew, and then flew into the blue ocean below.


    As they flew away, the creatures were incredibly shocked, "My heavens, who is this youth that all three Majesties have come out personally to greet?"


    "We have followed the Majesties for so many years and have never seen them treat anyone with such courtesy!"


    Among them, the ten Seven Tribulations True Gods of the "Panpoluo Clan" were especially astonished, "Look at the Majesties; they even seem somewhat fearful of this youth!"


    "The Majesties also mentioned that the youth is a benefactor of a Divine King. Heavens, although we do not know which Divine King, being able to become a benefactor of such a being is simply terrifying."


    "Divine Kings are beings even more powerful than our Majesties. Such entities, would they really need the help of common warriors? And this youth was able to aid a Divine King?!"


    Amidst their astonishment and shock, even after they had returned to the sea, the creatures were still unable to calm their emotions for a long time.


    They knew that the one who had arrived at the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace was not an ordinary intruder but a formidable figure indeed!


    After seeing the two clans of creatures disperse, the eldest of the Panpoluo Clan triplet, "Panpo Zhan," then said to Ye Chen, "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, you must be here on the fifteenth level to find the ¡¯Eye of Creation.¡¯"


    Within the communication stone given to them by the Rock Giant Divine King, he spoke of Ye Chen¡¯s purpose on the fifteenth level and asked them to aid Ye Chen. Therefore, having seen their clan creatures withdraw, the eldest of the triplets directly inquired about this matter with Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded, "Yes, I indeed came for the eight ¡¯Eyes of Creation.¡¯"


    While speaking, Ye Chen gazed up at the vast sea below, comparing the position of the eight "Eyes of Creation" given to him by the Rock Giant Divine King with the location and positioning himself accordingly.


    The Panpoluo triplets all smiled, "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, we have been in this fifteenth level for tens of thousands of years and are familiar with every place."


    "Though we do not know the exact locations of the ¡¯Eyes of Creation,¡¯ Lord Divine King mentioned that Fellow Daoist Ye Chen already has their positions. Wherever you wish to go, we three brothers can guide you."


    Seeing the enthusiastic offering of the Panpoluo Clan triplets, Ye Chen paused for a moment before nodding with a smile, "Then I will be in your care, seniors."


    Ye Chen could see that these three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan were truly warm towards him, not because of any ulterior motives but due to the Rock Giant Divine King¡¯s influence.


    Moreover, "Eyes of Creation" were only useful to warriors entering the Undersea Divine Palace; they held little value to exiles, so it was clear that these brothers would hardly harbor any ill intentions towards him because of the "Eyes of Creation."


    Furthermore, with Ye Chen¡¯s trump card, "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," even if there was a one-in-a-million chance of danger, he had the means to respond.


    Under these circumstances, Ye Chen was unabashed about accepting the brothers¡¯ eager assistance.


    After all, the Panpoluo Clan triplets were three Nine Tribulations True Gods and were extremely familiar with the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s fifteenth level. Their help would undoubtedly make the search for the "Eyes of Creation" much easier.


    "No trouble at all, no trouble at all." Seeing Ye Chen agree to their aid, the Panpoluo Clan triplets were overjoyed. They smiled at Ye Chen, "Where does Fellow Daoist Ye Chen wish to go first?"


    Ye Chen took out another stone given by the Rock Giant Divine King with the locations of the eight "Eyes of Creation" and, pointing in a northern direction, said, "There happens to be an Eye of Creation closest to this teleportation spot; let¡¯s head to that location first."


    ```


    "Great!" The three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan also saw the location pointed out by Ye Chen and, after estimating the distance, led the way directly in front of Ye Chen, "This position is only thousands of miles away from here, we will arrive very soon."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As they spoke, the three Jiu Jie True Gods of the clan flew ahead.


    Ye Chen too smiled and followed closely behind them.


    Initially, the three Jiu Jie True Gods, worried that Ye Chen¡¯s realm might not keep up, deliberately slowed down. To their surprise, they found Ye Chen followed them effortlessly.


    The Panpoluo siblings exchanged glances and unconsciously picked up the pace slightly, only to see that Ye Chen still followed them steadily and unhurriedly.


    It was not until they increased their speed to the level of Qi Jie True Gods that they felt Ye Chen could keep up with their pace.


    Just as the siblings were preparing to boost their speed to the level of Ba Jie True Gods, they heard Ye Chen laugh and say, "Seniors, if you speed up any more, I won¡¯t be able to keep up."


    Upon finally hearing Ye Chen¡¯s voice, the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan heaved a long sigh of relief, with the youngest, Panpo Qing, laughing and exclaiming to Ye Chen, "If Friend Ye Chen hadn¡¯t spoken up, we three brothers might have been scared to death!"


    "Even though it appears you¡¯re only in the mid-phase of Heaven Saint, the speed at which you fly is incredibly fast¡ªit¡¯s truly unbelievable!"


    At this point, the three brothers became even more interested in how Ye Chen had assisted the Rock People Divine King, "Right, Friend Ye Chen, since the Divine King is an Upper God King, how were you able to help him? He even regards you as his great benefactor!"


    When the Panpoluo siblings received the message stone from the Rock People Divine King and saw the message, especially the part where the Divine King referred to Ye Chen as his great benefactor, they were utterly astounded.


    That was also the reason why they were so courteous to Ye Chen as soon as they left the ocean.


    If the Rock People Divine King was so courteous to Ye Chen, how could they dare not to be?


    Of course, amidst their extreme politeness, they were also very curious about Ye Chen¡¯s assistance to the Rock People Divine King, and had been too shy to ask all the way. Now, they couldn¡¯t help but ask.


    Ye Chen smiled lightly and explained the affair of the Creation Chess Board.


    At this point, the Creation Chess Board was already broken, and the Rock People Divine King and his tribe could finally extricate themselves from their exiled state; thus, there was no need to continue hiding information about the Creation Chess Board.


    "The Creation Chess Board?!" Hearing Ye Chen finish talking about the Creation Chess Board, the Panpoluo siblings were also shaken, "We heard from the Divine King long ago that their people were trapped in a great puzzle, struggling for countless ages without escape. We didn¡¯t expect that it was Friend Ye Chen who helped the Divine King and his people break free."


    "Friend Ye Chen saved the entire Rock People Tribe, no wonder the Divine King calls you a great benefactor!"


    The three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan were deeply moved.


    Hearing what the Panpoluo siblings had to say, Ye Chen also finally asked a question he had, "Speaking of which, since you three seniors guard the fifteenth level, how did you become so acquainted with the Divine King? It seems that you three seniors and the Divine King have a deep friendship, to the extent that you even know about the Divine King¡¯s people being trapped in a great puzzle."


    "Speaking of this, there¡¯s a long story," answered Panpo Zhan, the eldest of the Panpoluo siblings, with a light sigh after Ye Chen¡¯s question, "Actually, it¡¯s thanks to the Divine King¡¯s assistance that the three of us had the opportunity to be assigned to safeguard the fifteenth level."


    "All this started after every major purge, when all the exiled clans were required to face a great trial."


    The Panpoluo siblings spoke with Ye Chen about the affairs between them, other exiled clans, and the Rock People Divine King as they flew towards the location of the first Eye of Creation.


    Through the siblings¡¯ words, Ye Chen finally understood why they had relations with the Rock People Divine King.


    It turns out that after each major purge cataclysm, all of the exiled clans were transported to a mysterious space to undergo a grand test of strength between the clans.


    The clans had to endure various trials to contend for their exiled positions within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The Undersea Divine Palace spanned thirty-three levels, each with its differences: levels with the "Eye of Creation," precious cultivation sites, and levels with hidden treasures were extremely precious to the exiled clans.


    Naturally, such levels sparked fierce competition among countless exiled clans.


    Many clans that failed to prevail often did not even qualify to enter the thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace and were instead confined to a special space.


    The three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan had managed to secure the guardianship of the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace during such a competition, thanks to the care of the Rock People Divine King.


    Within the fifteenth level, the True Qi of heaven and earth was immeasurably abundant, and the myriad precious cultivation sites greatly assisted the cultivation of the entire Panpoluo Clan.


    Naturally, the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan were extremely grateful to the Rock People Divine King!


    Finally understanding the connection between the Panpoluo siblings and the Rock People Divine King, Ye Chen reached the territory of the first Eye of Creation with the Panpoluo siblings during their flight.

 Chapter 593 - 547: Gaining Control and the Giant Beast

    ```


    This is a sea area shrouded in mist.


    From outside this sea area, one could hardly feel the aura of any treasures. Even after flying into this mist-, the difference between this sea area and others was not detectable.


    It was only after Ye Chen and the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan had stood firm in this domain and searched carefully, that they finally noticed something wrong with this sea area.


    In a very small range, the waters from all directions were flowing toward the same central point.


    It was as if all these waters were pouring into the same deep hole.


    "Something¡¯s not right here!"


    Panpo Wu, the second of the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan who first noticed the anomaly in this small area of the sea, cried out.


    In an instant, Ye Chen, Panpo Zhan, and Panpo Qing, flashed through the void and flew to Panpo Wu¡¯s side.


    All four sets of eyes turned to the center of the small area where the water was flowing.


    "Hm? This water..."


    "It is very likely that one of the eight ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ from the fifteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace is hidden here."


    Upon exchanging glances, the same thought flashed through their minds.


    At that moment, Ye Chen activated his Divine Soul skill "Destruction Eye Skills," known for unveiling hidden secrets. With the imposing power of the "Destruction" character, he gazed toward the center where all the waters converged.


    After observing for a few breaths, Ye Chen pointed sharply in the air, and an ordinary-looking droplet of water was suddenly ejected from the flowing waters at the center, flying into Ye Chen¡¯s hand.


    "Ye Chen, my friend?!"


    When Ye Chen made his move, the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan were taken aback.


    Having noticed something amiss with this part of the sea, they had activated various divine powers, ready to assist Ye Chen in finding the "Eye of Creation."


    However, even as their divine powers were at work, they had not noticed any signs of the "Eye of Creation." They could only watch Ye Chen¡¯s actions, causing the brothers¡¯ hearts to skip a beat: "Could it be that friend Ye Chen has discovered the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯?"


    "We are all Nine Calamities True Gods and we haven¡¯t detected the Eye of Creation. Could it be that friend Ye Chen has some special treasure hunting method?"


    The three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan stared disbelief at the droplet that Ye Chen had drawn from the water.


    Even now, staring at this droplet, they couldn¡¯t detect anything unusual.


    At this time, Ye Chen let out a light smile and sharply tapped on the droplet. As if a mysterious force had been activated, the ordinary droplet started to expand rapidly.


    In an instant, it grew from the size of a mung bean to the size of a human head.


    What was even more amazing was that the head-sized droplet still maintained its pure appearance. The only difference was the lines of divine patterns that began to surface on it.


    After Ye Chen¡¯s tap, these divine patterns started to twist in various directions. After a few breaths, a light "crack" sounded, and the head-sized droplet shattered, revealing an object inside.


    This object was a fist-sized, translucent crystal orb with mysterious and intricate patterns embedded within, displaying an unusually beautiful purple-red color.


    If it wasn¡¯t the "Eye of Creation" that had been described on the rule tokens of the Undersea Divine Palace, then what could it be?!


    "The Eye of Creation!"


    "My God, this ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ was actually hidden inside an ordinary droplet in the vast ocean. If not for the location received from the Divine King, I¡¯m afraid that even if many overturned the fifteenth floor entirely, they would likely never find this droplet containing the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯!"


    "What¡¯s even more amazing is that you, friend Ye Chen, could discover the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ inside this droplet! The three of us have worn out our eyes and still failed to see any anomaly in it!"


    The three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan looked at the now-revealed "Eye of Creation" in Ye Chen¡¯s hand and exclaimed in amazement.


    "Senior brothers, I have cultivated a special Divine Soul skill that allows me to detect what is wrong with this droplet," Ye Chen said with a smile to the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan.


    At the same time, Ye Chen took a deep breath and looked at the "Eye of Creation" in his palm.


    This was the first "Eye of Creation" Ye Chen had obtained.


    It meant that Ye Chen now had a chance to escape the catastrophe of the Great Purge!


    Looking at the fist-sized, crystal-clear, beautiful purple-red crystal in his palm, how could Ye Chen not be emotionally stirred? How could he not be filled with immense sentiments?


    Ye Chen gripped the round crystal tightly, his gaze turned toward the vast ocean of the fifteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, his eyes blazing with determination: "Having obtained an ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ is not enough!"


    There were a total of eight Eyes of Creation in the fifteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, and Ye Chen had only obtained one. How could he be satisfied? He wanted to acquire more "Eyes of Creation" to help more of his loved ones escape the Great Purge¡¯s devastation!


    "Next, let¡¯s search for the remaining seven!"


    After murmuring to himself, Ye Chen turned his gaze back to the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan and said with a smile, "Let¡¯s go, senior brothers. Let¡¯s find the next Eye of Creation!"


    "Right, let¡¯s get moving! Haha, this is not a bad start!" they laughed heartily and then, along with Ye Chen, they flitted through the waters and once again set off!


    ...


    As Ye Chen obtained the first "Eye of Creation" from the fifteenth floor, following Jiang Yao¡¯s acquisition of the first one on the sixth floor, it was the second "Eye of Creation" found in the entire Undersea Divine Palace at that time.


    On the thirty-third floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, where the Nine Female Divine Venerables, Mrs. He, and Jiang Yao were located in that mysterious void domain, all nine Female Divine Venerables nodded involuntarily.


    "This young man is so skilled, he found the Eye of Creation so quickly!"


    They were in charge of overseeing the entire purge of the lower planes, so events inside the Undersea Divine Palace could not escape their eyes.


    After discovering earlier that Ye Chen had helped the "Rock Giant Divine King" break the "Creation Chess Board," they knew Ye Chen had received clues to the "Eye of Creation" on the fifteenth floor.


    At that time, the nine Female Divine Venerables wondered how quickly Ye Chen, with the clue, could find the "Eye of Creation."


    They did not expect Ye Chen to obtain one so swiftly.


    ```


    ```


    The nine Female Divine Venerables were also full of admiration for Ye Chen.


    As they waited for Jiang Yao to cultivate, they became increasingly interested in observing Ye Chen.


    ...


    The nine Female Divine Venerables could see Ye Chen¡¯s actions.


    However, people from other realms, whether they were Martial Artists taken into the Undersea Divine Palace or the lifeforms of exiled clans, did not possess such great divine powers.


    But, after Ye Chen had acquired the first Eye of Creation on the fifteenth level, just as Jiang Yao had on the sixth, a heaven-shaking voice thundered through the Undersea Divine Palace, echoing across each level where the Martial Artists were.


    "The second Eye of Creation has been acquired by a Martial Artist."


    "In the Undersea Divine Palace, thirty-one more ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ remain!"


    Upon hearing this voice, the Divine King of the rock giants on the fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace stood up with excitement in his divine eyes, "Ye Chen, the young friend... he¡¯s succeeded on the fifteenth level!"


    The Divine King of the rock giants had given Ye Chen a clue and defended the fourteenth level; knowing that only Ye Chen had entered the fifteenth level, it was clear to him who had acquired the Eye of Creation there!


    "With this Eye of Creation, young friend Ye Chen will be able to escape the killing of this great purge catastrophe!"


    "Haha, my clan has also escaped the fate of exile. It seems that I and young friend Ye Chen will have the opportunity to meet again outside the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    The Divine King of the rock giants was extremely excited about Ye Chen¡¯s acquisition.


    Meanwhile, many people still struggling through the "Slaughter Chess Game" on the fourteenth level and trapped by the thirty-second tier of rock warrior guards directly changed their expressions.


    The elder of the Flying Spirit Clan couldn¡¯t believe it and exclaimed, "The second Eye of Creation, that¡¯s from the fifteenth level! Who could have passed the fourteenth level¡¯s Slaughter Chess Game before me and already entered the fifteenth level!"


    For some reason, the image of the rock giant Divine King watching his challenges in the Slaughter Chess Game alongside Ye Chen suddenly surfaced in the elder¡¯s mind.


    An incredible thought instantly swept through the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s mind, "Could it be that Ye Chen is the one who has broken into the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace and obtained the second ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯?!"


    ...


    As the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan was exclaiming, the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan, similarly trapped in another folded space within the Slaughter Chess Game, stood up incredulously as well.


    He too roared out, "Who has taken the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯?!"


    The elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s heart was racing.


    He had reached the fourteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace without acquiring a single Eye of Creation. As time passed, the moment of destruction during the great purge drew nearer.


    Without finding an "Eye of Creation," even as a Nine Tribulations True God, his death was certain!


    At this time, he was still trapped in the "Slaughter Chess Game" on the fourteenth level.


    How could the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan remain calm, how could he not seem mad with frenzy?!


    ...


    "The Eyes of Creation in the fifteenth level have also begun to be acquired," noted the ancient emperors of the Yan Clan, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and countless True Gods, who were also trapped in different folded spaces of the "Slaughter Chess Game," all of whom were shaken.


    They involuntarily stopped their trials and looked up at the sky of the Slaughter Chess Game.


    ...


    It wasn¡¯t just the fourteenth level that was greatly shaken.


    The True Gods and Heavenly Saints in other levels of the Undersea Divine Palace also looked up at the sky, their expressions filled with immense envy and worry.


    They envied the individual who had acquired the Eye of Creation, for they now had the means to escape the catastrophe of the great purge.


    But they were worried about their own fate, what to do with themselves.


    ...


    As Ye Chen acquired the second Eye of Creation, which was also the first Eye of Creation in the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, all Martial Artists except Jiang Yao, who was immersed in mysterious cultivation, were deeply shaken.


    Then, something even more shocking happened that caused the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan to turn completely pale with horror and fall to the ground.


    Not long after, everyone heard another voice that reached the ears of all, "The third Eye of Creation has been acquired by a Martial Artist. In the Undersea Divine Palace, thirty ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ remain!"


    It wasn¡¯t just that voice¡ªsubsequently, more and more voices rang out.


    "The fourth Eye of Creation has been acquired by a Martial Artist..."


    "The fifth Eye of Creation has been acquired by a Martial Artist..."


    When the voice indicated that the ninth Eye of Creation had been acquired by a Martial Artist, all knew that, following the single Eye of Creation taken from the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s sixth level, the eight Eyes of Creation in the fifteenth level had all found their masters.


    And with these successive announcements occurring nearly on the same day, countless Martial Artists had the premonition that all eight Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth level might have ended up in the hands of one person!


    ...


    At this moment, the eight Eyes of Creation that many speculated about were indeed all in Ye Chen¡¯s hands.


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen, holding the eight spectacularly divine "Eyes of Creation" purple-red crystals, was staring in shock at the vast expanse of sea before him.


    It wasn¡¯t only Ye Chen; the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan by his side were also looking at the sea ahead with astonishment.


    And looking forward, they saw amidst the raging waves a colossal sea monster rising from the water, revealing its form in front of Ye Chen and the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan.


    ```

 Chapter 594 - 548: Secret Passage

    This colossal beast, over two thousand zhang in length, exuded a God King Level aura that was unparalleled and terrifying.


    Even more wondrous was that, after revealing itself amidst the endless waves, the beast could not only swim through them but also instantly sprouted a pair of vast wings on its back. With a flap of its wings, it soared from the waves into the sky, expanding in size by dozens of times, covering the entire horizon with its form.


    This towering creature was none other than the supreme divine beast spoken of in legends and known to every Martial Artist since their training began¡ªthe Kunpeng Divine Beast!


    Legends say the "Kunpeng Divine Beast" in its original form is a massive Kun, an adult Kun can be so colossal that it spans thousands of miles, and it can transform into a divine shape, becoming a gigantic Peng, so large that its size is said to be immeasurable in miles! Experience new tales on novelhall.Co?m


    The Kunpeng Divine Beast, a creature of legends, was only something Martial Artists of the Minor Spirit Realm and the Thirty-Three Land of the Lower Realm had heard of but never seen.


    Yet who would have thought that in this North Ming Divine Sea, within the Undersea Divine Palace, one could witness such a being with their own eyes!


    At this moment, such a legendary towering beast had suddenly appeared in the vast oceans ahead, manifesting in front of Ye Chen and the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan, shifting between the forms of a massive Kun and a gigantic Peng.


    This sight completely dumbfounded Ye Chen and the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan!


    On one hand, they were astonished by the God King Level aura of this colossal creature, and on the other hand, they were shocked because, tasked with guarding the fifteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, they had never heard that there was such a legendary God King Level giant beast within this layer.


    This was simply beyond their imagination!


    Ye Chen was taken aback not only by the sight of this Kunpeng Divine Beast, which despite appearing juvenile, had already reached the terrifyingly powerful God King Level, comparable even to the upper echelon of the Divine Kings like the Stone Giant Divine King, but he was also astounded by its strength.


    At the same time, he was surprised that the appearance of this "Kunpeng Divine Beast" was somehow related to him.


    It was only after he had finally collected all eight "Eyes of Creation" in the fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace that the "Kunpeng Divine Beast" appeared.


    "Could it be that gathering all eight ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ in this layer could also summon this ¡¯Kunpeng Divine Beast¡¯?!"


    "What purpose does it have for appearing now?"


    Thoughts raced through Ye Chen¡¯s mind.


    He had just collected the eighth Eye of Creation, intending to proceed to the sixteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace below, but he had not anticipated such a turn of events to occur right before his eyes.


    As both Ye Chen and the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan were still in a state of shock, the Kunpeng Divine Beast, having transformed into a gigantic Peng form and with its wings outstretched concealing the sky, looked towards Ye Chen and spoke.


    The "Kunpeng Divine Beast" first looked at the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan and said, "There is no need for alarm, you exiles who guard this fifteenth layer. I do not belong to this layer, I am the Wandering Sky Kunpeng, a divine beast left behind by my master to roam freely within the Undersea Palace of the North Ming Divine Sea."


    Then the "Kunpeng Divine Beast" turned its gaze to Ye Chen and continued, "The reason I have appeared here is because this youth has assembled all eight ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ in the fifteenth layer, a truly rare feat that has triggered a rule left by my master from the past, prompting my appearance."


    Hearing that the "Kunpeng Divine Beast" was not restricted to the fifteenth layer and could roam freely throughout the entire Undersea Divine Palace in the North Ming Divine Sea, being left there by its owner, the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan could not help but exclaim, "Predecessor, could it be that you were left in the Undersea Divine Palace by that supreme being who exiled us here?"


    The Panpoluo Clan¡¯s three brothers knew very well how terrifying that supreme existence was.


    Even a Divine King would have no power to resist in its presence.


    Upon seeing the "Kunpeng Divine Beast" nod, the Panpoluo Clan brothers suddenly recalled the figure of the important person who had banished their countless kin to the Undersea Divine Palace, whom they had caught but a fleeting glimpse of back then.


    And at this moment, Ye Chen was also deeply shaken.


    He knew that the existence calling itself the "Wandering Sky Kunpeng," this "Kunpeng Divine Beast," must have a master who was none other than the supreme being who transcended the Lord level¡ª"Lord Emperor Yan"!


    Ye Chen had not expected to encounter the shadow of Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s little ferret within the "Creation Chess Board" on the fourteenth level.


    In this fifteenth level, he had encountered even a Kunpeng Divine Beast left by "Lord Emperor Yan"!


    It appeared that "Lord Emperor Yan" had left behind many things in the great purge disaster of the Undersea Divine Palace, and evidently, all these things were of great use to Martial Artists.


    Within the "Creation Chess Board," he had received the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" technique from the shadow of the little ferret and had gone through an incredible dream training session.


    Now that the "Kunpeng Divine Beast" had appeared, what would it bring him?


    Thinking how the "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" had earlier said that it revealed itself because he had gathered all eight "Eyes of Creation" on the fifteenth level, thereby triggering a rule left by "Lord Emperor Yan," Ye Chen could not help but inquire, "Wandering Sky Kunpeng senior, for what purpose have you revealed yourself?"


    The Wandering Sky Kunpeng, whose wings fell and shrouded the entire sky, looked at Ye Chen and said, "My master set a rule long ago, that should any Martial Artist gather all eight Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth level, they would be given a choice."


    "This choice is to use my power to traverse the entire North Ming Divine Sea and the ¡¯Undersea Divine Palace,¡¯ to help this Martial Artist open up two secret passages; these could directly transport the Martial Artist either to the twenty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace, which also houses the ¡¯Eyes of Creation,¡¯ or to the thirty-third level, allowing them to find the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ more quickly."


    "Of course, there is also the choice not to use my assistance to open the passages, and instead continue fighting through each level on one¡¯s own."


    "Young lad, you are the one who has gathered all eight Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth level. Now, the choice is yours to make."


    Boom!


    The words of the "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" left Ye Chen utterly astonished.


    Ye Chen had already learned from God King Hei Mei that the distribution of the thirty-three "Eyes of Creation" was such that there was one on the sixth level, eight on the fifteenth level, ten on the twenty-first level, and fourteen in the deepest thirty-third level.


    Ye Chen had not expected that by acquiring all the Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth level, he would have the chance to use the pathways opened by the "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" to go directly to either the twenty-first or thirty-third level!


    What an immense opportunity it was!


    After all, whether advancing from the fifteenth level to the twenty-first or to the thirty-third, he would have to face numerous dangerous levels; even with the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," there was no absolute assurance he would succeed in breaking through.


    Now, the possibility of using these secret passages to reach these two levels could certainly save Ye Chen a great deal of effort.


    Moreover, the other levels didn¡¯t contain any "Eyes of Creation," and except for the necessity to search for the "Eye of the Divine Sea" in the final three levels, there was not much point in entering the other levels; Ye Chen would not miss this chance to traverse directly through the passages.


    However, should he go directly to the twenty-first level or to the thirty-third?


    Ye Chen hesitated.

 Chapter 595 - 549: Divine King "Youbo

    Seeing Ye Chen in deep thought about making a choice, the three siblings of the Panpoluo Clan beside him quieted down, not disturbing Ye Chen¡¯s contemplation.


    After all, this concerned Ye Chen¡¯s upcoming adventures in the Undersea Divine Palace. It wouldn¡¯t be right for them to interject.


    The Divine Beast "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" above in the sky did not urge him either, just quietly watching Ye Chen, waiting for his decision.


    After pondering for dozens of seconds, Ye Chen suddenly raised his head to look at the "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" and asked, "Senior, I have a question. If I were to collect the twentieth ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯, would there be new opportunities?"


    Having encountered the chance to travel directly through a secret pathway across the thirty-three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace after collecting eight Eyes of Creation on the fifteenth layer, Ye Chen naturally wanted to inquire about the situation on the twenty-first layer.


    "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" responded directly, "Of course there will be new opportunities. As far as I know, when the master left behind the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ and ¡¯Eyes of the Divine Sea¡¯, many corresponding opportunities were arranged."


    "The ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ goes without saying. Possessing this item, not only can all martial artists escape the annihilation of the great cleansing calamity, but there will also be incredible benefits for the martial artist who obtains this treasure."


    "While the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ is not as powerful as the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯, as long as you can obtain all the Eyes of Creation on a certain layer, there are also corresponding opportunities and benefits."


    "The sixth layer, although there is only one ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯, to the martial artist who obtains this first ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯, my master will bestow astonishing fortune. He (or she) will have a better chance than others to gain unexpected rewards when adventuring through the rest of the Undersea Divine Palace."


    Wandering Sky Kunpeng first spoke of the benefits of the Eye of Creation on the sixth layer.


    Hearing this, Ye Chen nodded, thinking to himself: "The sixth layer, with only one Eye of Creation, is the first of the entire thirty-three Eyes of Creation. The person who obtains it receives astonishing fortune? I wonder, who has obtained the first Eye of Creation."


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that the one who had procured the first Eye of Creation was Jiang Yao, whom he had been worried about and searching for.


    And Jiang Yao, even though she did not proceed to other layers of the Undersea Divine Palace to garner unexpected rewards with her astonishing fortune, had caught the attention of the nine Female Divine Venerables and Mrs. He of the Sovereign Realm from the Feathered Spirit Clan. She was directly transported to a mysterious place on the thirty-third layer.


    This unexpected reward was indeed massive!


    After finishing about the opportunities related to the Eye of Creation on the sixth layer, Wandering Sky Kunpeng continued to Ye Chen, "The fifteenth layer is the second one with the Eyes of Creation. You already know the benefits of obtaining all the Eyes of Creation here, which is to directly use the ¡¯secret pathway¡¯ to reach the remaining two layers that have the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯."


    "This opportunity, while seeming not very clear in benefits, is actually very useful. It gives you a greater chance than others to obtain the ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ on the subsequent layers ahead of time and without the risk of adventuring through them!"


    Ye Chen nodded in agreement.


    "As for the ten Eyes of Creation on the twenty-first layer, if obtained by the same person, as far as I know, he might directly gain some clues about the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯!" Wandering Sky Kunpeng finally mentioned the benefit of obtaining all the Eyes of Creation on the twenty-first layer.


    At this, Ye Chen¡¯s heart suddenly stirred!


    Clues to the Eye of the Divine Sea!


    To know that even though he now had eight Eyes of Creation, it wasn¡¯t enough to save all the people he wanted to from the annihilation of the great cleansing calamity.


    People like Jiang Yao, like the True God of the Phoenix Herding Wind, like the Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Divine Phoenix Clan, and Heavenly Saint Long Xuan from the Southern Territory of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent...


    Eight Eyes of Creation were clearly not enough.


    Even having all thirty-three Eyes of Creation wouldn¡¯t be enough.


    But the Eye of the Divine Sea could save everyone from the great cleansing calamity and even offer additional benefits.


    Who wouldn¡¯t want the most precious thing in the entire Undersea Divine Palace?


    Earlier, through God King Hei Mei, Ye Chen and the others knew that the Eye of the Divine Sea was within the last three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace. If one could obtain all the Eyes of Creation on the twenty-first layer and gain some clues,


    it might even be possible to pinpoint the exact location of the Eye of the Divine Sea!


    With this thought, Ye Chen found himself very interested in competing for all the Eyes of Creation on the twenty-first layer!


    "The twenty-first layer is the one with clues to the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯¡¯, but on the last layer with Eyes of Creation, the thirty-third layer, if someone can obtain all fourteen Eyes of Creation inside, it is said that they will gain significant personal benefits in their martial arts cultivation."


    "Exactly what it is, I do not know, but it¡¯s definitely an incredibly precious benefit!"


    Finally, Wandering Sky Kunpeng added to Ye Chen, "Of course, it¡¯s not just the four levels where obtaining all the Eyes of Creation will be greatly beneficial. If someone could collect all thirty-three Eyes of Creation from all four layers, they would receive the ultimate benefit of the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯. It is said they could directly obtain something left by my master in the Undersea Divine Palace!"


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    Boom!


    These final words of the Wandering Sky Kunpeng made Ye Chen¡¯s mind explode.


    His master, that¡¯s Lord Emperor Yan.


    Something Lord Emperor Yan left in the Undersea Divine Palace?


    Without thinking, one knew it would be an extraordinarily precious item!


    However, among the shock, Ye Chen calmed down instantly. To collect all thirty-three Eyes of Creation was clearly impossible for him.


    After all, the Eye of Creation from the sixth layer had already been taken by someone else.


    ```


    "Alright, I¡¯ve told you everything about the Eye of Creation. So, what have you decided?" The Wandering Sky Kunpeng looked at Ye Chen and asked aloud.


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and said slowly, "I choose to go to the twenty-first layer."


    His decision to do so was after much contemplation.


    After all, if he were lucky enough to obtain all the Eyes of Creation in the twenty-first layer, he would acquire clues about the "Eye of the Divine Sea." By that time, venturing further down to the last three layers in search of the "Eye of the Divine Sea" would be much easier.


    Furthermore, the twenty-first layer was obviously a bit safer than the thirty-third layer. Heading there first allowed for a buffering process, making the journey to the thirty-third layer somewhat easier afterward.


    If he were to head to the thirty-third layer first, then it would be much more troublesome to return to the twenty-first layer, and he might miss out on the Eyes of Creation there.


    After all, he wasn¡¯t the only one looking for the Eyes of Creation in the Undersea Divine Palace; others were seeking them as well.


    Even though many were still trapped in the fourteenth layer¡¯s "Slaughter Chess Game," what if they reached the twenty-first layer while he was at the thirty-third, and found the Eyes of Creation first? Then Ye Chen would have missed numerous opportunities.


    Having made his decision, Ye Chen felt much more at ease. His thoughts shifted as he turned to the Wandering Sky Kunpeng with a smile and asked, "Senior, if I go directly to the twenty-first layer, will I miss a lot of opportunities on the other layers?"


    After all, Ye Chen had already obtained the opportunity to cultivate with the Void Celestial Gourd on the eleventh layer and had the rare opportunity to experience dreamlike cultivation in the "Creation Chess Board" on the fourteenth layer.


    Although he had made his decision and his choice had been made, Ye Chen was still curious about the affairs of the other layers.


    The Wandering Sky Kunpeng glanced at Ye Chen and, quite unusually, a hint of a smile appeared on his face: "The items on the other layers, while present, are not considered precious. Compared to the opportunities provided by the Eyes of Creation and the Eye of the Divine Sea later on, they are far inferior. Moreover, venturing there might not get you the items, but might cost you your life instead."


    "Young lad, there are so many treasures in the world, you don¡¯t have to grasp every one of them in your hands."


    Ye Chen nodded and replied with a smile, "Senior¡¯s lesson is well received."


    Time was limited, and since he had chosen to go directly to the twenty-first layer, Ye Chen was certainly not going to regret it.


    He was only at the mid-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, and even with countless treasures, his actual combat strength was only at the level of a True God of the Seventh Calamity. Even if he fought with all his might without using the ultimate move "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," he could at best perform at the combat level of an ordinary True God of the Eighth Calamity.


    Several True Gods of the Ninth Calamity were still trapped on the fourteenth layer, so of course, Ye Chen would not be complacent.


    After all, whether it was the realm of the Void Celestial Gourd or the "Creation Chess Board," Ye Chen was able to seize the opportunities presented only by using a heavenly vessel to fly and through arduous cultivation of various divine arts, as well as his cultivation of the "Nine Volumes of Formations."


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t dare to assure himself that he would always be so lucky to encounter problems he could solve.


    If he were to get trapped on a particular layer, unable to descend, or if he had to waste the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" move prematurely, then the loss would outweigh the gain.


    "Alright, since you¡¯ve made up your mind, I¡¯ll take you to the twenty-first layer now!" the Wandering Sky Kunpeng said directly to Ye Chen.


    "Senior, please wait a moment."


    Ye Chen turned around to bid farewell to the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan who were by his side.


    Although he had spent only a short time with the three brothers, the Panpoluo Clan had helped Ye Chen a lot in the search for the eight Eyes of Creation. Naturally, he wanted to say a proper goodbye to them before leaving.


    The three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan were all smiling at Ye Chen and said, "Friend Ye Chen, now that you have obtained the eight Eyes of Creation, you have secured a chance to save your life. When moving on further, be careful above all else..."


    Ye Chen nodded, committing these words to heart.


    "Let¡¯s go!"


    Once Ye Chen had said all that needed to be said and was ready, the Wandering Sky Kunpeng swept its heavenly spanning wings with a mighty swoosh. In the sky, endless waters stirred.


    The boundless waters surged in the void, unfolding into a deep blue pathway that extended forward, leading into a realm of bright red light.


    With a wave from the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan, Ye Chen followed the Wandering Sky Kunpeng onto this deep blue path and finally stepped into the bright red light, ultimately vanishing completely from the fifteenth layer.


    As Ye Chen disappeared from the fifteenth layer, taking a secret path activated by the Wandering Sky Kunpeng to head toward the twenty-first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace,


    In the thirty-third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, the nine great Female Divine Venerables who had been watching Ye Chen sighed softly, "The young lad has gone to the twenty-first layer."


    "The twenty-first layer is not a simple one, and the guardian ¡¯Youbo¡¯ of that layer seems to have gained something in the last great trial of the expelled clans, granting him more freedom. If he goes mad, I¡¯m afraid the warriors are in for some bad luck."


    "However, this young lad has the ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯ life-saving method from the Creation Chess Board, which should help him cope to some degree. The question is whether he will use it directly on the twenty-first layer or not."


    Suffice to say, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t hear the words of the nine great Female Divine Venerables on the thirty-third layer.


    When Ye Chen flew into the secret pathway opened by the Wandering Sky Kunpeng, entering into that bright red light, he felt the world spinning in transport for a moment. Then, he emerged in a new world.


    Right then, a voice thunderously echoed in his ears: "Welcome, young lad, welcome to the twenty-first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "I am the guardian of the twenty-first layer, the God King ¡¯Youbo.¡¯ You may address me as Lord Youbo!"


    ```

 Chapter 596 - 550: The Mad Divine King

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    Ye Chen looked up and saw that the twenty-first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace that he had just entered was a yellow-brown and somewhat desolate world.


    There stood a disheveled old man, wearing an ancient vestment robe stained with numerous wine spots, holding a shabby wine gourd, and speaking to him.


    "God King Youbo, is it you?"


    Ye Chen sized up the old man.


    This unkempt old man was actually an upper tier Divine King!


    Ye Chen had not expected to encounter only upper tier Divine Kings in the Undersea Divine Palace.


    However, these Divine Kings were all different from one another.


    The first Divine King Ye Chen had encountered, God King Hei Mei, was elegantly cold and noble; the second Divine King, the giant from the Rock People Tribe, was full of worry and concern for his tribe¡¯s escape from exile; and the upper tier Divine Beast "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" that had just sent Ye Chen to the twenty-first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace was mysterious and terrifying.


    Now, this God King "Youbo," gave Ye Chen the impression that the disheveled Divine King had a somewhat mad and crazy demeanor.


    At the moment, God King "Youbo" was continuously eyeing Ye Chen as if he were looking at an inconceivable treasure.


    Being stared at by this scruffy old man made Ye Chen feel a bit uncomfortable.


    Eventually, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but speak out, "Lord Youbo, why do you look at me so strangely?"


    "Isn¡¯t it odd, young boy?" said God King Youbo, his eyes fixed on Ye Chen, muttering, "I never expected that the first martial artist to break into the twenty-first layer I¡¯m guarding would be a young boy at the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint."


    "To be the first one to come here, you must be quite extraordinary!"


    Ye Chen had been sent directly to the twenty-first layer by the Wandering Sky Kunpeng, so God King Youbo was unaware of Ye Chen¡¯s experiences in the other layers.


    The only layers he could sense were the closest ones, the twentieth and twenty-second, and he hadn¡¯t seen Ye Chen there.


    Thus, he was very curious about how Ye Chen, at the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint, could have reached the twenty-first layer.


    Yet Ye Chen was not about to divulge all of his secrets to this seemingly mad God King Youbo. Hearing his words, Ye Chen just smiled and said, "Lord Youbo, now that I have arrived at the twenty-first layer, I wonder if you are aware of the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ here. If you would kindly inform Ye Chen, I would be deeply grateful to you."


    Finding the "Eye of Creation" in the twenty-first layer was Ye Chen¡¯s most important task, and naturally, it was his main concern.


    God King Youbo didn¡¯t mind that Ye Chen had changed the subject.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, he picked up the old wine gourd in his hand, took a long drink, let out a long sigh, and then said, "This twenty-first layer, since I¡¯m guarding it, doesn¡¯t require the presence of other exiled life form tribes, so I¡¯m certainly the most knowledgeable about the situation here."


    "Young boy, are you looking for the ten Eyes of Creation in the twenty-first layer?"


    "Actually, there¡¯s no need to search; these Eyes of Creation are in my possession."


    Towards the end, God King Youbo squeezed his eye at Ye Chen with a smug look.


    "They¡¯re in your hands, Lord Youbo?!" Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Ye Chen thought that the ten Eye of Creations in the twenty-first layer would be scattered like those in the fifteenth layer. He never expected that "God King Youbo" would claim to have all the Eye of Creations in his possession.


    Ye Chen found it somewhat hard to believe.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s skeptical expression, God King Youbo gave a slight smile, opened his mouth to exhale, and a burst of alcohol fumes sprayed into the void, forming a light screen in the air.


    On the screen, Ye Chen could see another ten Eye of Creations, identical to those he had earlier acquired on the fifteenth layer, gathered together in a large hall, each emitting a mystical purple-red glow.


    Seeing these ten Eye of Creations caused Ye Chen¡¯s breathing to tighten.


    Once he obtained these ten Eye of Creations, he would earn ten more chances to escape the great cleansing cataclysm.


    More precious still, the Divine Beast "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" had mentioned that gathering together the ten Eye of Creations within the twenty-first layer would yield a clue to the "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    Of course, Ye Chen coveted the clue to the Eye of the Divine Sea.


    Unfortunately, Ye Chen did not know where the hall containing the ten Eye of Creations was located; otherwise, he would have flown there directly to seize them.


    Noticing Ye Chen¡¯s quickened breath upon seeing the Eye of Creations on the light screen, God King Youbo chuckled and made a move that took Ye Chen by surprise.


    He slapped his worn vestment robe at the waist, and from one of its patterns, a palm-sized miniature hall-shaped magical treasure directly flew out.


    This miniature hall-shaped magical treasure instantly began to enlarge in the wind with a "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," and eventually turned into a massive hall several dozen feet high, landing right in front of Ye Chen.


    "Could it be that the hall containing the ten Eye of Creations of the twenty-first layer is this very one? Are the ten Eye of Creations inside this hall?" The thought crossed Ye Chen¡¯s mind as he watched the large magical hall land before him.


    At that moment, as if discerning Ye Chen¡¯s guess, God King Youbo straightforwardly said, "Young lad, your guess is correct. The ten Eye of Creations of the twenty-first layer are indeed inside this ¡¯Youbao Hall.¡¯"


    "However, this ¡¯Youbao Hall¡¯ is an extremely fine heavenly magical artifact, and without the specific incantations, even a Divine King wouldn¡¯t be able to enter! If you want to search for the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ inside now, you¡¯ll have to wait a bit longer."


    Ye Chen was somewhat confounded by the unpredictable actions of the slightly mad God King Youbo.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that all ten Eye of Creations would be in this man¡¯s hands, let alone that this Divine King would now produce the hall containing them so openly before him.


    Yet he was now being told that to enter the "Youbao Hall" to obtain the "Eye of Creation," he had to wait.


    "Wait for what?" Ye Chen asked God King Youbo, puzzled.


    God King Youbo chuckled and replied, "Naturally, we¡¯re waiting for the other intruders. After all, the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ cannot possibly be given to just you alone to take away."


    Wait for others as well?


    Ye Chen had a hunch that this seemingly eccentric Divine King wouldn¡¯t be thinking so simply.


    Just as Ye Chen was considering whether to bring out the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" technique to threaten God King Youbo into handing over the "Eye of Creation," weighing whether such action would provoke this slightly insane Divine King and potentially introduce other complications to obtaining the "Eye of Creation,"...


    God King Youbo then added to Ye Chen, "However, young lad, you needn¡¯t be in a hurry. Of course, I will not wait forever for the other martial artists. I¡¯ll give those martial artists four months of time. If they don¡¯t arrive here within four months, and you¡¯re the only one on this twenty-first layer, then these ten ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ will all belong to you."

 Chapter 597 - 551: Changes and Reunion

    Four months?


    Ye Chen was half skeptical about what God King Youbo had said.


    However, if it was indeed a matter of four months, he could wait a bit longer.


    The great cleansing calamity gave a total of one year to find the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    In rushing through the previous levels and the one month he spent cultivating in the Void Celestial Gourd (where more than eight years had passed due to the discrepancy in the flow of time, making it only a month outside), plus the twenty-four days spent challenging the Creation Chess Board, Ye Chen had used only about three months to arrive at this twenty-first level.


    There were still nine months left for the treasure hunt.


    If waiting here for another four months would give him the chance to obtain ten Eyes of Creation, Ye Chen was certainly willing to wait.


    After all, even though he possessed "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," he could kill God King Youbo if needed.


    But firstly, he had no grudge against God King Youbo and therefore would not attack, and secondly, even if he killed God King Youbo, he was not certain he could break into the Youbao Hall and take out the Eyes of Creation. Aware of the strength of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, Ye Chen knew their power well, owning a Heaven-reaching divine vessel himself.


    Furthermore, with many more levels ahead, "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" had only three chances to kill, and unless facing a deadly foe, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t use it lightly.


    "Then I¡¯ll wait here for four months,"


    In the end, Ye Chen made his decision.


    "These four months will give me a good opportunity to cultivate further and enhance my strength, ensuring a greater chance of success in navigating the deeper levels of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    After emerging from the Creation Chess Board, Ye Chen had gone directly to the fifteenth level and then to this twenty-first level. Although he had cultivated in his dreams within the Creation Chess Board, he had gained much and hadn¡¯t had the chance to properly meditate and comprehend his gains.


    Now that God King Youbo had requested a four-month wait, it gave Ye Chen a chance to cultivate.


    "Alright, since Lord Youbo has set the rules for treasure hunting on this level, I will comply and wait another four months," Ye Chen said to God King Youbo with a light chuckle in the end.


    At the same time, Ye Chen smiled at God King Youbo and asked, "However, Lord Youbo, during this time, may I look around the twenty-first level as I wish?"


    Although God King Youbo claimed to have the Eye of Creation in his possession and had displayed it on the screen, even producing a palace,


    Ye Chen obviously wouldn¡¯t just take his word for it without seeing the Eye of Creation for himself.


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    He also wanted to take this time to search around.


    If the twenty-first level truly lacked other life forms bent on slaughter, as God King Youbo claimed, then searching wouldn¡¯t take too long.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, God King Youbo seemed to see through his intentions.


    He chuckled, saying, "You young lad, want to search for the Eyes of Creation yourself, huh? Well, since you¡¯ve agreed to wait here for four months, I won¡¯t stop you from going wherever you want. Of course, after four months, you must return punctually to this place. If someone else arrives and enters the Youbao Hall to take the Eye of Creation and you¡¯re too late to return, don¡¯t blame me for not giving you a chance."


    "I won¡¯t, I won¡¯t. I¡¯ll just wander around a bit and then come back here," Ye Chen assured God King Youbo with a smile.


    God King Youbo nodded noncommittally: "Alright, I¡¯ve said what needed to be said. Little young man, plan your actions on this twenty-first level as you please; I won¡¯t interfere."


    After speaking, the frenzied God King Youbo simply gathered the Youbao Hall from the ground and left directly, vanishing from sight.


    Seeing God King Youbo disappear, Ye Chen stood still for a while, as if contemplating something, and then, with a slight smile, he too flew into the void.


    Three days later.


    Ye Chen returned to that piece of land.


    "It seems, indeed as God King Youbo said, the Eye of Creation is in his hands!" a resigned Ye Chen murmured as he descended.


    Over these three days, Ye Chen had virtually turned the twenty-first level upside down.


    He had even taken out the Destruction Eye Skills and the helpful divine artifact for treasure hunting, the Ice Treasure Divine Ring.


    And yet, there was utterly no trace of the Eye of Creation in this world.


    It wasn¡¯t just the Eye of Creation; there were no other demons or even humans in this world, just a desolate expanse of yellow and brown earth.


    In the end, the only lead to the Eye of Creation pointed back to God King Youbo.


    "So it is, then I can only wait for four months. I wonder if the others will be able to get through the previous challenges and reach this twenty-first level in that time," Ye Chen mused to himself.


    Ye Chen remembered that when he left the fourteenth floor, the remaining people were still trapped within it, and he didn¡¯t know whether they could pass the "Slaughter Chess Game" trial in these four months.


    "The Slaughter Chess Game, the Rock Giant God King predecessor once said that the difficulty would diminish over time. Perhaps they will eventually break free from the Slaughter Chess Game."


    "But aside from the Slaughter Chess Game, there are numerous other levels filled with countless dangers. I¡¯m afraid that after these four months, there won¡¯t be many who could reach this twenty-first floor."


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen thought of Jiang Yao.


    "The Rock Giant God King predecessor had sensed Jiang Yao¡¯s movements, saying she was in the levels far below, most likely after the thirtieth level. How did she get to such deep levels? Below the thirtieth level, once I resolve the matters on this twenty-first floor, I must quickly head down to check!"


    While Ye Chen was searching for the "Eye of Creation" on the twenty-first floor, he also found the passage leading to the twenty-second floor. However, the passage was sealed at the moment, and he was unable to go down.


    There was also a passage leading to the higher levels, but Ye Chen lacked the energy to explore them. After all, there was no "Eye of Creation" on the higher levels; going there would be a waste of time and could be dangerous. Moreover, missing the four-month deadline would be an even greater loss.


    After some contemplation, Ye Chen retreated into the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat on the twenty-first floor and began to cultivate.


    Four months passed in the blink of an eye.


    Many things happened during these four months that Ye Chen knew nothing about.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t know that within the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s fourteenth floor, three Ninth Tribulation true gods had broken through and ventured into further levels.


    Among them, an ancient emperor of the Yan Clan even encountered an earth-shattering opportunity on the eighteenth level and managed to break through to the God King Realm in spite of already being a Ninth Tribulation true god!


    This caused the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s elder leader and the Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s elder leader, who had battled their way to the eighteenth floor with him, to be filled with extreme envy and jealousy!


    For the warriors of the Minor Spirit Realm and the Thirty-three Continents, breaking through to the God King Realm meant escaping the great cleansing catastrophe.


    Once the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan made it to the God King Realm, he was directly transported out of the Northern Mysterious Divine Sea, not even requiring the rescue chance from the "Eye of Creation" and "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    Ye Chen also didn¡¯t know that, just a month into these four months, Jiang Yao in the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s thirty-third level, within the mysterious realm, had completed the "Nirvana Nine Transformations" cultivation and successfully emerged from the sealed cave dwelling.


    In the end, she was completely surrounded by Mrs. He and the nine goddesses, who were all overwhelmingly excited, and began to instruct her for a second time!


    Nor did Ye Chen know that Jiang Yao had even learned from Mrs. He and the nine goddesses that he had obtained eight Eyes of Creation and had mastered the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill."


    During these four months, countless things happened outside, while Ye Chen was completely immersed in his cultivation.


    These four months, without the chance for accelerated time flow in cultivation, were incredibly brief.


    Yet, these four months brought great gains to Ye Chen!


    Especially in the realm of qi cultivation, ever since he incarnated as a feathered bird in that dream realm and cultivated all the way to an upper-tier God King Realm, Ye Chen had a clear understanding of how to break through the boundaries.


    Ye Chen even learned the method to break through from the middle to the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    To break through from the middle to the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, one must allow the qi within the body and the power of the spatial law to continuously grow strong enough to begin nurturing the soul, allowing the soul to integrate with the spatial law to the extent that the soul can control the spatial law outside of the body!


    Now, Ye Chen is crystal clear on how to integrate his soul with the spatial law, controlling it with his soul. What he lacked was building his inner qi and the power of the spatial law to the point of sensing and charging at the bottleneck of the late Heavenly Saint stage.


    During these four months of arduous cultivation, Ye Chen felt that as the spatial vortex within him continued to expand, his qi grew more vast, bringing him ever closer to the late Heavenly Saint stage.


    The breakthrough to the late Heavenly Saint stage was no longer distant for Ye Chen!


    After four months of cultivation, Ye Chen flew out from the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat. Then, he saw three people appear before him.


    Among these three people, the first was all too familiar to Ye Chen, none other than "God King Youbo."


    At that moment, seeing Ye Chen emerge from the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, God King Youbo also grinned at him, saying, "Little lad, no wonder you were the first to reach this twenty-first level, you have quite a treasure."


    "A Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, huh? It seems your fortunes are indeed profound."


    Hearing God King Youbo¡¯s words, Ye Chen gave a smile and put away the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat.


    When Ye Chen looked at the other two people, however, his eyes narrowed.


    He certainly recognized these two, as they were the elderly clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that, after four months, these two would have successfully made it here!


    Right now, as the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s elder leader and the Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s elder leader looked at Ye Chen emerging from the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, their eyes seemed to shoot flames.

 Chapter 598 - 552: Only One Survives!

    The elder chieftains of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan had gone through trials and tribulations, with several of their clan¡¯s ancient treasures damaged and they themselves nearly losing their lives before they made it to the twenty-first level.


    To their surprise, they found Ye Chen¡¯s Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat just moored inside!


    This nearly made the two of them cough up blood in frustration.


    They immediately thought that it was clear the "Eye of Creation" previously in the fifteenth layer had been obtained by Ye Chen.


    After all, the two of them had broken through the fourteenth layer together with the elder emperor of the Yan Clan and entered the fifteenth layer where the three of them had combined forces to surpass the checkpoint set by the Panpoluo Clan and ventured further.


    And after reaching the twenty-first layer, they even heard from God King Youbo that only Ye Chen had arrived at the twenty-first layer before them.


    This obviously meant that the one who had ventured through the fifteenth layer before them was none other than Ye Chen alone.


    It was Ye Chen who had taken the eight Eyes of Creation from the fifteenth layer while they were still trapped in the "Murderous Chess Game"!


    They did not obtain the sole Eye of Creation in the sixth layer, and Ye Chen had snatched the eight Eyes of Creation in the fifteenth layer; even the elder emperor of the Yan Clan with them had achieved an earth-shattering harvest, breaking through directly to the God King Realm, whereas they ended up with nothing.


    Of course, this made the two elder chieftains feel like spitting blood!


    If it weren¡¯t for their last-minute rush to the twenty-first layer, where they heard from God King Youbo that they nearly missed the opportunity to contend for the Eyes of Creation, nearly letting all of the twenty-first layer¡¯s Eyes of Creation fall into Ye Chen¡¯s hands, and if God King Youbo weren¡¯t there, they would have even been unable to restrain their urge to attack Ye Chen and seize the eight Eyes of Creation on him!


    Looking at the hostile gazes of the two elder chieftains from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, Ye Chen simply ignored them.


    After experiencing countless events, even seeing many God Kings and hearing tales of Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s feats beyond the Esteemed Lord Realm, these two old fellows no longer mattered to him.


    Even now, if Ye Chen wished to slay the two, with "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," it would be exceedingly easy.


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen was contemplating whether to slay them right now or not.


    Although he would inevitably kill these two sooner or later, to avenge the Divine Phoenix Clan, it would be a pity to waste "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" on these two at this time.


    "Let¡¯s see, if I prevent these two from obtaining the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ they will also die in the great purge¡¯s cataclysmic slaughter, sparing me the use of my ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill.¡¯"


    "Of course, if they dare to make a move against me, then there¡¯s also no need for courtesy. I¡¯ll just directly execute the two of them and completely resolve these culprits that brought calamity to the Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    Ye Chen made up his mind.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was ignoring their presence, the elder chieftains of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan felt an intense annoyance in their hearts.


    They had never been so dismissed by someone at the mid-stage of Heaven Saint.


    Moreover, this mid-stage Heaven Saint had a deep-seated grudge against them!


    "It¡¯s unfathomable how this kid ran into such dogshit luck, managing to arrive at the twenty-first layer faster than us and snatching away the Eyes of Creation from the fifteenth layer."


    "It¡¯s very possible that he relied on that Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat!"


    "However, his ally, the female Nine Tribulations True God, was unable to enter the Undersea Divine Palace, and the elder emperor of the Yan Clan has also been expelled from the palace. Now, within the entire Undersea Divine Palace, the most powerful warriors are the two of us."


    "No matter how powerful this kid is, he absolutely cannot withstand the joint attack from both of us. Killing him, this time, we absolutely can¡¯t let him slip away again!"


    The elder chieftains of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan communicated telepathically, sealing their intent to kill Ye Chen.


    Upon seeing the discordant expressions between Ye Chen and the two True Gods, God King Youbo, who was beside them, raised his eyebrows and finally spoke up, "It seems like you all know each other?"


    "Hehe, if you know each other, that¡¯s perfect. Now, since the time has come, and only the three of you have arrived here, I¡¯m going to announce the rules for contending for the ten Eyes of Creation within this twenty-first layer."


    When God King Youbo mentioned the ten Eyes of Creation, Ye Chen and the two elder chieftains looked towards him.


    Despite their grudges, the Eyes of Creation were more important.


    After all, they related to ten opportunities to escape the cataclysmic purge!


    Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    Seeing that all three had turned their attention to him, God King Youbo continued, "As I¡¯ve already told you, the Eyes of Creation are placed within the ¡¯Youbao Hall.¡¯


    "To obtain the ten Eyes of Creation is quite simple; you need to enter the Youbao Hall and fight to the death."


    "In the end, only one of you should be left alive. Whoever survives will own the ten Eyes of Creation within the Youbao Hall."


    "How about it? This method isn¡¯t bad, right? Initially, I was hoping for more people to join the scramble and witness a grand melee to see who the strongest among them would be. Unexpectedly, it¡¯s only the three of you."


    "However, it¡¯s still good. Two Nine Tribulations True Gods and one somewhat surprisingly talented young genius. Now, let¡¯s watch the thrilling show among the three of you!"


    God King Youbo laughed proudly as he spoke.


    The three were to fight to the death inside "Youbao Hall," and only one survivor could claim all ten Eyes of Creation!


    Upon hearing God King Youbo announce the rules of the treasure hunt, the expressions of the four individuals from different realms all changed!

 Chapter 599 - 552: Only One Survives!_2

    The first ones to have their expressions drastically change were the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    Although both harbored intentions of killing Ye Chen, if only one person could truly survive, it meant that they would have to fight each other to the death.


    Among them, only one could live on!


    This naturally made their moods change abruptly.


    Even the way they looked at each other was now filled with a trace of hostility and caution.


    To defy the decree of God King Youbo was something they knew was likely impossible.


    Since God King Youbo dared to establish this rule, it was clear he wouldn¡¯t let them escape it easily.


    The two of them even had the thought that perhaps, by killing Ye Chen and their opponent, they could obtain all of the Eye of Creation and gain even greater benefits!


    For a moment, various thoughts flickered through their minds.


    At this time, Ye Chen, upon hearing this rule, also had his expression change.


    In his heart, he cursed, "This God King Youbo seems crazy and indeed is a madman, actually coming up with the idea of letting us fight to the death over a treasure and leaving only one survivor!"


    Despite cursing internally, Ye Chen was not afraid if it truly came down to a fight with the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    He was merely considering whether or not to take action.


    And the last one to have her expression greatly change was Jiang Yao, who was in the mysterious location on the thirty-third level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Looking towards this mysterious area, one could see that in front of Jiang Yao, a screen of light was erected, vividly displaying the situation of the twenty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Next to Jiang Yao, the nine Female Divine Venerables, along with Mrs. He, were also watching this screen of light.


    At the moment when Jiang Yao¡¯s expression changed dramatically, Mrs. He shook her head and said, "This Youbo, during the last great trial of the banished clans, obtained the opportunity to guard the twenty-first level and also received the ¡¯Key of Ethereal Spirit,¡¯ giving him the authority to arrange the distribution of the ten Eyes of Creation." Discover more stories at novelhall.Co?m


    "I never imagined that he would decide to allocate them in such a manner."


    "It seems, despite the endless years passing, while many God Kings can remain calm, there are still those who become crazed and maddened!"


    Mrs. He, being a Sovereign Realm powerhouse, and also responsible for overseeing the great cleansing calamities of countless lower planes, had witnessed numerous life-and-death scenarios and was above the affairs of the world, dispassionately judging God King Youbo¡¯s actions.


    "Grandma!" Jiang Yao, however, couldn¡¯t be indifferent at the moment. This matter pertained to Ye Chen, and she was worried about his safety, "Ye Chen won¡¯t be in danger, right?"


    Even though Jiang Yao also wanted to deal with that calamitous elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan who had brought disaster upon the Divine Phoenix Clan, at this moment, with two Ninth Tribulation True Gods in front of Ye Chen, her biggest worry was his safety.


    Even knowing that Ye Chen had the technique "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," Jiang Yao was still anxious.


    After all, it¡¯s better to be safe than sorry, and if anything were to happen to Ye Chen, she simply could not bear it.


    Seeing Jiang Yao¡¯s anxious appearance, Mrs. He couldn¡¯t help but sigh with a hint of helplessness.


    The girl in front of her had managed, in just over two months, to successfully cultivate the extremely difficult "Nirvana Nine Transformations" of the Feathered Spirit Clan, passing their test.


    Coupled with Jiang Yao¡¯s serene and gentle disposition, she had become extremely dear to both Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables!


    After Jiang Yao completed the "Nirvana Nine Transformations," for the past three months, they had been teaching her the foundation parts of a new technique that they had summarized over millions of years. The more they taught her, the more they grew fond of and cherished Jiang Yao.


    During this time, they had also been discussing with Jiang Yao about taking her as an apprentice, even mentioning taking her to the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain" to train her intensively.


    But Jiang Yao had never agreed.


    Even after they knew of Jiang Yao¡¯s Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s hatred, they had already promised that once this mission entrusted by Lord Emperor Yan was completed and their freedom regained, they would personally take action to help Jiang Yao avenge the blood feud against the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan and to help her find her clansmen taken by the Black Crow God King.


    Jiang Yao had only agreed to practice with them, yet she was still unwilling to go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain with them.


    Mrs. He knew that what Jiang Yao was most concerned about and couldn¡¯t let go of was Ye Chen, who was currently on the twenty-first level.


    It was this young man that made her unwilling to leave.


    Now, seeing Jiang Yao¡¯s extremely worried expression for Ye Chen, Mrs. He sighed and said to Jiang Yao, "Yao¡¯er, although we are the overseers of the great cleansing calamity, once we have chosen the wardens for each level, we cannot meddle in it at will."


    "However, rest assured, that Ye Chen, having the ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯, will surely be able to face this trial and nothing will go wrong,"


    "If he were truly in mortal danger..." Mrs. He shook her head finally, "then we would violate Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s rule for once and step in to save the young man."


    Intervening to save someone on the brink of death is different from directly bringing the perfectly safe Jiang Yao to the thirty-third level; it is an act that interferes with the rules of new and old succession in the great cleansing calamity.


    According to Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s rules, such a transgression would result in their being trapped in the great cleansing calamity three more times as punishment.


    However, although they had not known Jiang Yao for long, they had grown very fond of the young girl and were unwilling to see her distressed, hence they still spoke these words.


    Mrs. He¡¯s words brought a tear to Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes.


    During this time with Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, Jiang Yao could feel that they all cared for her very, very much.


    It was exactly because they genuinely cherished her that they did not force her, pressuring her to become an apprentice and take her to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Otherwise, with their strength, doing so would have been incredibly easy.


    Jiang Yao could feel this concern; she wanted to practice with them and make herself even stronger.


    But to go to another star domain and be far from Ye Chen? She simply could not bear it.


    Bring Ye Chen along?


    Jiang Yao had mentioned it before, but the Feathered Spirit Clan only took female disciples and could not bring Ye Chen for instruction.


    Moreover, when it came to matters involving Ye Chen, Jiang Yao did not feel it was right to make decisions for him without his consent.


    At this moment, Jiang Yao was filled with struggle.


    As Mrs. He spoke, the nine Female Divine Venerables also nodded to Jiang Yao and said, "Yao¡¯er, don¡¯t worry, this Ye Chen, being the first to break through to the twenty-first level, is someone we have personally witnessed overcoming many marvels. He will be fine."


    Jiang Yao nodded slightly.


    Having spent time with Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, she already knew how powerful they were.


    With their reassurances, Jiang Yao¡¯s troubled mind finally gained some peace.


    In the end, Jiang Yao¡¯s gaze returned to the light screen, looking at Ye Chen within it, "Ye Chen, you will definitely be alright, wait for me to complete the second phase of training set by grandma and the others, and I¡¯ll come find you!"

 Chapter 600 - 553 Death and Life

    The twenty-first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Seeing his own words cause the three people in front of him to simultaneously change complexion drastically, God King Youbo burst into laughter, "Indeed, the more I think about it, the more I believe my method is excellent."


    Amidst the hearty laughter, God King Youbo swept his grand sleeves, and the "Youbao Hall" once again flew out from the patterns of his tattered robe, "whoosh whoosh whoosh," enlarging in the wind before landing in front of Ye Chen, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    This time, even the grand doors of the "Youbao Hall" swung wide open, revealing the interior of the hall.


    Ye Chen and the two elders could clearly see that ten "Eyes of Creation," radiating a divine purple-red light, were indeed floating within the grand hall of the "Youbao Hall."


    God King Youbo had not lied; the twenty-one Eyes of Creation were truly in his possession and indeed stored within the "Youbao Hall"!


    "I¡¯ll give you ten breaths to decide. If no one chooses to participate in the ¡¯battle to the death with only one survivor¡¯ within ten breaths, then none of you will be able to take away these ten ¡¯Eyes of Creation,¡¯ and you also won¡¯t be able to proceed to the pathway leading further down."


    "If one person chooses to participate and the other two do not, then the ten Eyes of Creation will belong to that one individual. If two participate, then those two will have a contest, and the remaining one will have no chance. Of course, if all three of you are willing to join the fight to the death, then all the better. The person who survives will own the ten Eyes of Creation!"


    "Now, you have ten breaths. Begin making your choices!"


    After God King Youbo finished speaking, the eyes of the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan instantly reddened.


    The ten Eyes of Creation were laid out clear before their eyes.


    They didn¡¯t have a single Eye of Creation in their hands yet, and when the time comes for the great purge and slaughter, if they still didn¡¯t have the Eyes of Creation, then they would only have one path left¡ªdeath.


    Now, with the Eyes of Creation right before them, they naturally wanted to seize them!


    Moreover, among the three of them was Ye Chen, their sworn enemy.


    They were even more eager to kill Ye Chen and be done with it!


    Almost instantly, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan made their decisions, their faces showing a resolute expression, both turning towards each other: "Old friend, it seems only one of us can live. But before that, let¡¯s eliminate this kid Ye Chen first."


    "Haha, then let us, the two old brothers, have one final face-off!"


    In their mutual glances was not only resolution but also a touch of greed hidden very deep within.


    The greed to possess all of the Eyes of Creation for themselves.


    After the two exchanged messages, they directly turned to face God King Youbo and simultaneously declared, "Lord Youbo, we will join the ¡¯battle to the death with only one survivor¡¯!"


    "And you? Little lad?" Hearing that both the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan wanted to join the fight, God King Youbo nodded his head in satisfaction, finally turning his gaze to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked at the two elders with a calm gaze.


    He had been hesitating over whether or not to use "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill." If these two were not seeking his death, then the feud between them could possibly be resolved later, during the more pressing search for the "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    However, now seeing both of them with murderous intent and directly staring at him, evidently wishing to eliminate him first, Ye Chen naturally would not hesitate.


    If these two were courting death, then he would grant their wish!


    "If that¡¯s Lord Youbo¡¯s arrangement, then Ye Chen will participate as well! And of course, I would also like to have the ten Eyes of Creation," Ye Chen said indifferently.


    Seeing Ye Chen agree, a flicker of unease crossed the hearts of the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    They had not expected that Ye Chen would dare to join what was essentially a deadly trap.


    Did Ye Chen have confidence in opposing both of them, or had he been dazzled by the reward of the ten Eyes of Creation?


    However, that unease quickly vanished from the minds of the two.


    In this situation, no matter what, they had to kill the other two. With only one person allowed to survive, they obviously wanted to ensure their own survival!


    "Good, good, good!" Seeing that all three had agreed, the madly laughing God King Youbo exclaimed, "Indeed worthy of those who could fight their way to the twenty-first floor. Truly decisive in killing and resolute in thought."


    "Since that¡¯s the case, enter the ¡¯Youbao Hall.¡¯ Whoever remains alive at the end, the ten Eyes of Creation inside will belong to them!"


    After God King Youbo finished, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan Rushed towards the Youbao Hall.


    Their goal was to claim the ten Eyes of Creation first!


    After glancing at God King Youbo, Ye Chen¡¯s figure flashed, and he shot into the Youbao Hall as well.


    The Youbao Hall¡¯s interior space spanned thousands of feet, with an even greater height of several hundred feet.


    Once the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan flew in, they directly grabbed five of the ten Eyes of Creation floating in the void.


    Then, as if by prior agreement, they both turned to Ye Chen.


    With murderous intent blazing in his eyes, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan glared fiercely at Ye Chen and said, "Let¡¯s get rid of this kid first, and then we two can have our showdown. The survivor takes all the Eyes of Creation!"


    "Alright, let¡¯s, the two old brothers, join forces one last time!" The elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan nodded in agreement.


    Seeing the expression of the two men, a hint of disgust flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, "Old brothers? You who collaborated in slaughtering the Divine Phoenix Clan for profit, and now turn against each other for the same reason, fighting to the death, dare to call each other brothers?!"


    "Men die for wealth, birds die for food," I see it fits you well. Enough, let me clear all the blood debts stained on your hands today!"


    Ye Chen gently touched the invisible "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" tattoo on his right hand ¨C three blue and three red divine marks ¨C and spoke out.


    "What a sharply tongued young man!" Hearing Ye Chen uncover their thoughts without care, both the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan and the elder of the Vermilion Bird Clan¡¯s faces turned red with anger, their killing intent surging, "Your sharp tongue is useless, today will be your death!"


    "Without the help of a ninth calamity true god, let¡¯s see how arrogant you can be!"


    In the midst of speaking, the divine power aura on the two ninth calamity true gods burst forth abruptly.


    This was the aura that only manifested after passing through nine heavenly tribulations. As it burst forth, the entire void instantly filled with this terrifying aura, laden with a destructive killing force, and directly rolled towards Ye Chen.


    These two ninth calamity true gods made their move without hesitation, regardless of the difference in realm, intent on directly killing Ye Chen!


    Outside the Youbao Hall.


    Seeing the two ninth calamity true gods launch an attack on Ye Chen, God King Youbo, with his ragged clothes and disheveled hair, squinted his eyes and looked at Ye Chen, "I always felt this young man was not simple, but with two ninth calamity true gods attacking him together, even if he is formidable, he¡¯s facing certain death."


    "Haha, indeed, indeed, my trap being able to kill such a genius, it¡¯s quite an accomplishment!"


    Inside the 33rd layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Jiang Yao watched the two clan elders attack together, her pale palms clenched tightly, her eyes revealing an intense wish to fly to Ye Chen¡¯s side. Continue your saga on novelhall.Co?m


    Seeing Jiang Yao¡¯s complexion, Mrs. He from the Sovereign Realm also stood up, her large hand gently spreading wide, as if she had the vast space of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s 33rd layer in her grasp.


    And in her hand, she formed a spatial transit point in an instant, which was right inside the Youbao Hall.


    Mrs. He had promised Jiang Yao that she would intervene if Ye Chen was truly in mortal danger.


    Now, with the spatial transit point in her hand, should she decide to help, not even the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Youbao Hall or the different levels of the Undersea Divine Palace could stop her!


    In the midst of countless gazes filled with expectations, tension, or attention.


    Just as the elders of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans, their minds clouded with killing intent, desired to be the last one standing and joined forces to strike at Ye Chen.


    Seeing the killing force of the two ninth calamity true gods approaching, Ye Chen let out what seemed like a sigh, then his gaze turned resolute.


    His right hand suddenly clenched, and in that instant, a shocking red light flashed out from his palm.


    This shocking red light, even as it flickered, caused the entire Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Youbao Hall to feel like it was trembling on the verge of collapse.


    Had this red light not had another target for its attack, any diffused energy might have caused the Youbao Hall to be obliterated into fragments!


    At this moment, the target of this shocking red light was none other than the combined killing force of the elders of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans, and the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan himself!


    Boom!


    It was as though it was devouring everything.


    The aura that covered the entire Youbao Hall from the two ninth calamity true gods was completely devoured into nothingness the moment the shocking red light flashed from Ye Chen¡¯s palm.


    Then, with virtually no delay, this shocking red light shot towards the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    And then, under the disbelieving stares of the two clan elders, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan was instantly penetrated through the forehead with a bloody wound and was killed on the spot!


    A ninth calamity true god, the chief culprit behind the calamity of the Divine Phoenix Clan, met his instantaneous demise!


    In the moment of his death, the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan¡¯s eyes flashed with the hardships of his cultivation to become a ninth calamity true god. He remembered how he led countless members of his clan to slaughter the Divine Phoenix Clan for the Nirvana Pool and Phoenix Divine Blood.


    It also flashed through his mind the fear he felt when he was pulled into the Undersea Divine Palace in the Divine Sea but could never obtain the Eye of Creation!


    He had lived a lifetime in pursuit of power, his hands stained with countless blood, and yet, he could not escape the fate of death.


    Regret, so much regret!


    Fear, the fear of facing death!


    This was the final expression of the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    But in the end, all his expressions vanished along with his death, dissipating completely.


    Boom!


    The body of the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan plummeted from the void to the earth, instantly turning to nothingness. The five Eyes of Creation he had just seized and some other trinkets and storage pouches of his fell to the ground, emitting tremble-inducing clinks.


    The red light released by Ye Chen was a killing technique from "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" he had acquired from the Game of Divine Creation.


    This technique, if used to kill the elder of the Flying Spirit Clan, whether he was a Divine King or a Divine Venerable, would leave him with no choice but death!

 Chapter 601 - 554: Death and the Eye of the Divine Sea

    The elder chief of the Flying Spirit Clan was slain by Ye Chen with a single move, completely terrifying the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief who was standing by!


    The Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief couldn¡¯t have imagined that he and the Flying Spirit Clan elder chief¡¯s combined strike would be broken by Ye Chen and, at the same time, the Flying Spirit Clan elder chief would be directly killed.


    The Flying Spirit Clan elder chief was a powerhouse who had achieved the rank of a Nine-Tribulation True God even before the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief had.


    His death at the hands of Ye Chen caused the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief¡¯s heart to instantly plummet into an abyss.


    The Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief could feel that he absolutely could not withstand that streak of crimson light unleashed by Ye Chen, even if he were a thousand times stronger.


    If that streak of crimson light had been shot at him instead of the Flying Spirit Clan elder chief, he would have already been dead!


    The terror in his heart and the shock at facing an unbelievable, dreadful power left the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief¡¯s mind reeling in an instant.


    Now, having slain the Flying Spirit Clan elder chief, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t miss the opportunity to also kill the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief.


    Whoosh!


    In the fraction of a moment, a fiery red light suddenly shot out from the Sword Palace Acupoint between Ye Chen¡¯s eyebrows.


    The fiery red light instantly pierced through the void and streaked directly towards the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief.


    Seeing yet another attack of fiery red light, the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief was so scared that he rapidly retreated backwards. Only after retreating dozens of meters did he suddenly realize that this fiery red light was not as powerful as the crimson light that had killed the Flying Spirit Clan elder chief.


    "Crimson Fire Flying Sword!"


    "This is not the same killing move from before, it¡¯s a flying sword!"


    The Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief instantly reacted. With a great grab, a vast palm formed in the void and directly blocked the fiery red light.


    The fiery red light revealed its true form, and it was indeed a flying sword.


    Ye Chen¡¯s life-bound flying sword¡ª"Crimson Fire Flying Sword"!


    The Crimson Fire Flying Sword was originally a supreme Saint weapon. Since Ye Chen acquired the Void Heaven Sword Embryo at the grand auction in the Heavenly Evolution Continent, he had been nurturing the Crimson Fire Flying Sword with it.


    At this moment, the quality of the Crimson Fire Flying Sword had been nurtured by the Void Heaven Sword Embryo from a supreme Saint weapon to True God level!


    A True God level flying sword is exceedingly terrifying.


    Especially when wielded by Ye Chen, it could easily slay six and seven Tribulation True Gods.


    Unfortunately, the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief was a Nine-Tribulation True God and he still managed to block the Crimson Fire Flying Sword.


    Seeing the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" blocked, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t the slightest bit surprised. In fact, before the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief even managed to block the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword," Ye Chen had already launched his second killing move.


    He used the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" first to draw the already disturbed attention of the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief, precisely to execute his second killing move.


    And at this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s second killing move was finally unleashed.


    Clang!


    A sudden burst of sword cry echoed as Ye Chen¡¯s most powerful weapon, the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," was drawn.


    The moment this top-grade divine weapon, which could reach the level of a Transcendent Divine Weapon with its unleashed sword techniques, was drawn, the vast Star Force within Ye Chen surged crazily into the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword."


    At the same time, the immense battle forces from Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation of "Undying Divine Body" and "Icebound Divine Body," along with his Divine Soul Power, also all surged into the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword."


    Last but not least, Ye Chen directly unleashed his never-before-used second sword technique of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword"¡ªthe "Extreme Lightning" move!


    Back when Ye Chen was on the thirteenth level of the Undersea Divine Palace, he slaughtered countless True God beasts from the Flame Scorcher Clan with the first sword technique "Purple Lightning" of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword."


    At that time, Ye Chen¡¯s combat strength was insufficient to activate the even more powerful second sword technique "Extreme Lightning."


    But now, after the months of arduous cultivation on the twenty-first level, his True Qi had grown much vaster and he could finally utilize the second of the three prohibitive sword techniques of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In an instant, the entire sky erupted with endless, brilliant crimson light and lightning.


    The moment these brilliant crimson lights and lightning pierced through the void, they all shot towards the Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief.


    The Vermilion Bird Clan elder chief was already in complete disarray from the sudden death of the Flying Spirit Clan elder chief and had just managed to block Ye Chen¡¯s "Crimson Fire" flying sword in a hurry, still not fully recovered from the shock. Then, the next moment, he saw Ye Chen¡¯s new killing move already upon him.


    If these endless brilliant crimson lights and lightning had come when he was at his peak, he might have been able to withstand them.


    But now, with his heart and soul already shaken, he found himself frozen on the spot in the next moment, facing the dreadful Divine Sword¡¯s prohibitive sword technique.


    And in the moment of life and death, the most brilliant and endless crimson light and lightning in the sky reached their peak splendor and instantaneously converged at an inconceivable speed, forming an extremely bright flash of electrical light.


    Thump!


    In the moment the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder was dazed, streaks of extreme lightning pierced through his body.


    Facing the imminent danger of death, the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder snapped back from his horror; he had barely thought to muster his divine power when he felt the extreme lightning that had surged into his body completely annihilate all his divine power into nothingness.


    It even obliterated his entire body into nothingness!


    The Vermilion Bird Clan Elder¡¯s gaze only saw his entire form disintegrating, his divine power shattered, and then, amid an expression of shock and astonishment, he thunderously fell!


    Following the death of the Flying Spirit Clan Elder, the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder was also killed by Ye Chen.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Finally, like the Flying Spirit Clan Elder before, the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder dropped the five newly acquired Eyes of Creation, along with other treasures, scattering them on the ground.


    The Vermilion Bird Clan Elder himself, however, was thoroughly dead, turned into nothingness.


    Originally, three had entered the "Youbao Hall," but now only Ye Chen was left!


    "Phew!"


    Seeing the Flying Spirit Clan Elder and Vermilion Bird Clan Elder killed, completely turned into nothingness, Ye Chen also "thud" placed the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword" on the ground, gasping for breath deeply.


    He had killed the Flying Spirit Clan Elder with "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" without expending any effort.


    However, when he saw the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder become dumbfounded at the death of the Flying Spirit Clan Elder, a thought flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind.


    Perhaps, facing the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder who was now panicked and disordered, it might not be necessary to expend another "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill."


    After all, "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" only had three opportunities for slaughter, and Ye Chen did not wish to waste two of them so quickly.


    With this thought in his heart, Ye Chen instantly took advantage of the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder¡¯s stunned state to unleash the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword and the second forbidden move of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," the "Extreme Lightning" Sword Technique, which nearly depleted all his combat strength.


    While executing these two moves, Ye Chen also tightly held back the maneuvers of "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," prepared to unleash the second move in case the situation turned dire.


    Unexpectedly, Ye Chen¡¯s plan worked.


    The mentally disordered Vermilion Bird Clan Elder, who had only recently stepped into the True God level, was killed outright by the "Extreme Lightning" technique.


    Ye Chen had slain a True God without relying on "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill!"


    "Phew!"


    Having completely dealt with the two primary culprits behind the plight of the Divine Phoenix Clan, Ye Chen finally felt a release.


    With these two main perpetrators dealt with, the remaining members of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan who had participated in the slaughter of the Divine Phoenix Clan could certainly not escape.


    After emerging from the great cleansing catastrophe of the Undersea Divine Palace, it would be time to fully resolve this matter!


    With these thoughts flashing through his mind, Ye Chen took a deep breath to restore his nearly depleted energy and spirit. First, he recalled his life-bound "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword back into the Sword Palace Acupoint, then with a sweep of his hand, he captured the ten Eyes of Creation that had fallen to the ground.


    Seeing that these ten Eyes of Creation were identical to the eight he had obtained earlier, Ye Chen nodded in satisfaction.


    As these ten Eyes of Creation were gathered into Ye Chen¡¯s hands, a mysterious message also transmitted into his mind.


    This message was indeed the reward for a martial artist who obtained all ten Eyes of Creation at the same time on the twenty-first floor.


    It was the reward associated with the "Eye of the Divine Sea," as mentioned by the "Wandering Sky Kunpeng."


    The mysterious message that entered Ye Chen¡¯s mind revealed that the "Eye of the Divine Sea" was located on the thirty-second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, in a place known as the "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords."


    Finally obtaining the news about the Eye of the Divine Sea, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes shone brightly.


    Following that, Ye Chen placed the ten Eyes of Creation into his icy jade amulet, and with another sweep of his hand, he collected all the treasures that had fallen from the bodies of the Flying Spirit Clan Elder and the Vermilion Bird Clan Elder.


    Then, with a forceful yank, Ye Chen pulled out the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword" and, while inside the "Youbao Hall," turned to look outside at the Sovereign You Bo.


    Feeling the intensity of Ye Chen¡¯s gaze, the somewhat maniacal Sovereign You Bo was so frightened that he explosively retreated hundreds of feet in an instant!


    Although the confrontation between Ye Chen and the Elders of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans took only a moment, Sovereign You Bo was now utterly stunned.


    Especially the move Ye Chen used to execute the Flying Spirit Clan Elder, "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," had, in the instant it was unleashed, made Sovereign You Bo feel a terrifying power that was completely beyond his tolerance.


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    Instantly, Sovereign You Bo realized that this terrifying power was from the great being he had once seen from a distance¡ªLord Emperor Yan.


    Lord Emperor Yan, as the supreme being who had banished countless murderous lifeforms in the great cleansing catastrophe, was known to Sovereign You Bo to have slain not a few Divine Venerables.


    Even in his madness, sensing the power of Lord Emperor Yan had completely terrified him, and he even sobered up from his maniacal state.


    Seeing Ye Chen looking his way, how could he not be utterly frightened?


    No matter how he thought about it, he could not have imagined that this young man possessed a technique from Lord Emperor Yan!

 Chapter 602 - 555: When Affections Have Grown Over Time

    Seeing the crazed God King Youbo retreat frantically in fear, Ye Chen in the "Youbao Hall" shook his head, then took strides and walked out of the "Youbao Hall."


    After leaving the Youbao Hall, Ye Chen sighed deeply as he looked at the world that now only consisted of him and God King Youbo.


    Then, he looked at God King Youbo and said, "Lord Youbo, can the passage to the twenty-second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace be opened now?"


    The events of the twenty-first layer were concluded. He had not only obtained all ten "Eyes of Creation" inside, bringing the total number of "Eyes of Creation" he possessed to eighteen, but he had also slain the old clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, the archenemies of the Divine Phoenix Clan. Moreover, he had even obtained news about the "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    This twenty-first layer had proven to be a level of great gains.


    At this moment, there was nothing left in the twenty-first layer that Ye Chen felt nostalgic for; he only wanted to quickly head to the last few layers.


    Firstly, to find Jiang Yao, who was very likely somewhere below the thirtieth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, and secondly, he absolutely had to reach the thirty-second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, to a place called "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords," to find the "Eye of the Divine Sea!"


    Then, to see if he could reach the thirty-third layer and get the last fourteen Eyes of Creation. After all, the final fourteen Eyes of Creation of the thirty-third layer also involved the reward for collecting them all: a reward that the Divine Beast "Wandering Sky Kunpeng" had mentioned was of great benefit to an individual martial artist¡¯s cultivation.


    This reward, left by Lord Emperor Yan, was naturally something Ye Chen desired!


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry about whether the passage from the twenty-first to the twenty-second layer could be opened, God King Youbo¡¯s neck shrank violently as he looked at Ye Chen, and trembled, "It¡¯s open, the passage is now open. Go quickly!"


    "Could this crazed God King Youbo have spotted the ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯ technique I used to kill the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan?" Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected God King Youbo to become so timorous all of a sudden.


    Muttering to himself in mind, Ye Chen had no intention to communicate much with the somewhat deranged God King Youbo. With a flicker of his figure, he turned into a rainbow light, flying towards the passage to the next layer which he had already discovered while searching this twenty-first layer.


    Only when Ye Chen¡¯s figure had completely vanished from his sight did God King Youbo¡¯s frightened expression begin to calm down slightly.


    "This young lad is truly a calamity star, to even possess Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s techniques!"


    "Damn it, lucky I didn¡¯t provoke him more. Otherwise, I might have died by his hands!"


    After patting his chest with some lingering fear, God King Youbo finally put away the "Youbao Hall" and grabbed his old Wine Gourd, taking a large gulp of wine. Your journey continues with novelhall.Co?m


    After a fierce drink, God King Youbo¡¯s racing heart finally began to settle down amid his dizziness.


    ...


    "Finally, I¡¯m heading to the twenty-second layer!"


    Ye Chen stood at the entrance of the passage from the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s twenty-first layer to the twenty-second layer, muttering to himself.


    "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill, still remains ¡¯three chances to evade, two chances to kill.¡¯ I hope it can sustain me through the rest of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    Recalling the sight of the killing red light from Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill instantly killing the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan, Ye Chen was greatly shaken.


    The old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan was a Nine Tribulations True God, and without "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," Ye Chen, even if he had exerted all his combat power, would not have been a match for the old clan leader of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    Yet, against the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill," such a being did not have the slightest ability to resist.


    This of course, left Ye Chen extraordinarily shaken!


    "To surpass the Sovereign Realm, this is the strength that surpasses the Sovereign Realm, merely a beam of combat light, effortless in killing a Nine Tribulations True God!"


    The more he knew, the more Ye Chen felt his own strength was too weak.


    Ever since in the "Creation Chess Board," he heard about Lord Emperor Yan from the Xiaodiao Guangying.


    Knowing the countless realms of "True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Rotating Pill Realm, Heavenly Saint Realm, True God Realm, God King Realm, Divine Venerable Realm, Sovereign Realm, and existences beyond the Sovereign..."


    Only then did Ye Chen realize he was still at a very low level of strength; mid-Heavenly Saint was far from enough!


    Forget mid-Heavenly Saint, even the True God Realm or God King Realm was somewhat insufficient!


    Ye Chen still wanted to visit the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain, to explore other Star Domains, and even find the Zi Ji Star Lord who left behind the Primordial Star Scripture.


    To meet this Lord Emperor Yan!


    With his current strength, how could he keep up?


    "Once I survive this great calamity, I must strive to break through to the ¡¯True God Realm¡¯!"


    "But first, everything must wait until after I¡¯ve survived this great cleansing calamity!"


    "The twenty-first layer took up four months of time. Now, there¡¯s not much time left; better hurry to the last layers of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    After Ye Chen pondered his future cultivation goals and pursuits, with a move of his mind and spirit, he flew into the passage from the twenty-first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace to the twenty-second layer.


    Finally, he was transported to the twenty-second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    ```


    ...


    As Ye Chen continued his foray deeper into the Undersea Divine Palace, within the enigmatic Void Realm of the thirty-third level, where the nine divine goddesses and Mrs. He resided,


    Jiang Yao, after witnessing Ye Chen¡¯s safety and how he had personally taken action to kill the archenemies of her Divine Phoenix Clan¡ªthe elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan¡ªfinally let go of the worry that had gripped her heart.


    And having avenged much of the great vengeance, Jiang Yao felt an urge to cry.


    Cry for the deceased members of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    "Clan members, do you see? The two main culprits responsible for your deaths have been killed by Ye Chen! He has avenged you!" Jiang Yao shouted silently in her heart.


    But she knew the departed clanspeople could no longer hear her.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s heart, once heavy with concern for both Ye Chen¡¯s safety and for mourning the vengeance for her fallen clan members, lightened, yet at the same time, the nine divine goddesses and Mrs. He were staring at Ye Chen¡¯s figure and took a deep breath.


    They were not as shocked as God King Youbo by Ye Chen¡¯s ability to deploy "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill."


    They had known beforehand that Ye Chen possessed such a technique and had anticipated it.


    What shocked them was that Ye Chen had managed to kill a Nine Tribulations True God without relying on "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill."


    After all, Ye Chen was still just a young mid-stage Heavenly Saint!


    Even if in the end, the Nine Tribulations True God was completely rattled and fearful, resulting in a decreased combat power before the true battle began, being able to slay such a being indicated that Ye Chen¡¯s combat power had definitely reached the level of an Eighth Tribulations True God.


    A mid-stage Heavenly Saint young lad possessing the combat power of an Eighth Tribulations True God was something not even the nine divine goddesses or the Sovereign-level Mrs. He could believe without astonishment!


    Such talent was not befitting a martial artist from the lower realms, even in the Divine Nations of the Upper Realm, it would absolutely count as being among the Heaven¡¯s Chosen!


    After taking a deep breath, Mrs. He was the first to speak out, "This young lad has an unpredictable future."


    "Perhaps, he might even rise to the level of someone like Lord Emperor Yan one day!"


    Lord Emperor Yan?!


    Upon hearing Mrs. He¡¯s assessment of Ye Chen, while the nine divine goddesses felt it was a bit exaggerated, some agreed.


    After all, he was the strongest youth they had encountered after guarding against countless great purges in numerous lower realms!


    One of the divine goddesses couldn¡¯t help but say to Jiang Yao, "Yao¡¯er, this lad you fancy is incredibly powerful. If you don¡¯t work harder, perhaps, you won¡¯t be able to keep up with him in the future."


    The unintentional words of this divine goddess made Jiang Yao¡¯s heart tremble violently.


    Jiang Yao remembered the first time she met Ye Chen; he was just a young lad in the True Qi Realm, yet, within a few years, he had grown to a mid-stage Heavenly Saint whose combat prowess now allowed him to clash with a Nine Tribulations True God.


    Jiang Yao had always been proud of Ye Chen¡¯s strength.


    But now this remark from the female Divine Venerable made Jiang Yao also feel a tinge of worry.


    She wasn¡¯t worried that Ye Chen¡¯s affection for her would change.


    What worried her was that she wouldn¡¯t be able to accompany Ye Chen in traversing the world!


    If one day, Ye Chen became a Divine King, Divine Venerable, or even a Sovereign while she was still just a Heavenly Saint, how could she catch up with him and accompany him to the ends of heaven and earth?


    Even more, if one day, Ye Chen faced danger from entities at the level of Divine King, Divine Venerable, or Sovereign while she was still just a Heavenly Saint, how could she help Ye Chen?


    Jiang Yao felt unsettled, worried that she couldn¡¯t keep up with Ye Chen, worried that she couldn¡¯t assist him.


    "Yao¡¯er." Seeing that Jiang Yao looked distraught, Mrs. He stopped the talking Divine Venerable and looked toward Jiang Yao.


    However, after hesitating, she also couldn¡¯t help but say to Jiang Yao, "Yao¡¯er, if love lasts for a long time, does it really matter whether we are together every single morning and evening? You¡¯re not willing to part with Ye Chen now, but one day if the gap in strength between you grows too wide, separation is inevitable."


    "A brief parting, if you can become stronger, means you can have a longer companionship in the future!"


    "Your grandmother isn¡¯t forcing you to make a decision, but if you were to cultivate with us, I can guarantee that at least until the Sovereign Realm, you won¡¯t fall behind Ye Chen!"


    Mrs. He¡¯s words made Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes well up with tears.


    Of course, she wanted to be with Ye Chen forever, not just for a short period of time.


    Moreover, her clan members, who had been captured by the Black Crow God King, her parents, her grandfather... all needed her to be stronger.


    Ye Chen helped her kill the elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, but she couldn¡¯t always rely on Ye Chen to deal with all opponents, couldn¡¯t let Ye Chen face all dangers alone.


    She must become stronger!


    ```

 Chapter 603 - 556

    "Grandma, nine aunts, if I follow you to the ¡¯Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯ to cultivate, how long before I can return?" Jiang Yao asked Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables.


    Upon hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s question, Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables all trembled in their hearts.


    This was the first time they heard Jiang Yao actively inquire about following them to the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain" for cultivation!


    Clearly, the earlier conversation had truly worried Jiang Yao, truly making her consider the future. Experience more tales on novelhall.Co?m


    Jiang Yao finally began to seriously consider following them to the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain" to cultivate, no longer rejecting the idea!


    "Yao¡¯er," Mrs. He looked at Jiang Yao with some excitement.


    As a Sovereign Realm powerhouse, she seldom felt such excitement, which shows how much she valued and cherished Jiang Yao.


    "If you cultivate with us, as long as you lay a solid foundation and are able to start cultivating on your own, you can return to the ¡¯Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯ at any time."


    "Your goal is to reach the Sovereign Realm or even stronger realms. To lay a solid foundation for this goal, with your talent and the compatibility of our Feathered Spirit Clan¡¯s techniques, you should be able to reach the high stage of the True God Realm to lay down your foundation. This stage, at most, will take no more than a hundred years¡ªit¡¯s simply a snap of the fingers!" Mrs. He said.


    A hundred years was indeed like a snap of the fingers for a Sovereign Realm powerhouse.


    Even without mentioning Sovereign Realm powerhouses, even for those in the Rotating Pill Realm, it was considered quite short.


    Hearing that it would take at most a hundred years, and that she could leave the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain" to cultivate on her own once she advanced to the high stage of the True God Realm, Jiang Yao also nodded slightly.


    If she could exchange a hundred years to be with Ye Chen for thousands or even longer.


    She was willing to bear this century of waiting!


    "Grandma, nine aunts, I promise you, I will follow you to the ¡¯Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯ to cultivate." Jiang Yao suddenly stood up and kowtowed to Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables.


    "However, before leaving, I hope grandma and the nine aunts will let me explore the Undersea Divine Palace with Ye Chen, and I hope you can help me find the clanspeople taken away by the Black Crow God King!" Jiang Yao made her small request from the bottom of her heart.


    "Get up quickly, Yao¡¯er!" Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables helped Jiang Yao to her feet.


    "As long as you finish the basic part of the techniques we¡¯ve taught you during this time, we will take you to see Ye Chen. Judging by the progress, you should be able to complete the basic part in about one more month."


    "As for your clanspeople, rest assured, Yao¡¯er, we will resolve these matters for you before we leave the ¡¯Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯!"


    Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables earnestly said to Jiang Yao.


    "One month¡¯s time, finish the basic part, and I¡¯ll be able to see Ye Chen!" Hearing the words of Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, Jiang Yao¡¯s gaze turned towards the world beyond this mysterious realm, as if looking in the direction where Ye Chen was, "Ye Chen, I will finish my cultivation as soon as possible to find you, so we can face the Undersea Divine Palace together!"


    "After we get through the Undersea Divine Palace, even if I go to the ¡¯Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯, I will strive to complete the foundational cultivation set by grandma and the rest within a hundred years, quickly reach the high stage of the True God Realm, and come back to find you!"


    After firmly speaking to herself, Jiang Yao looked at Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, her face revealing a determined expression, "Grandma, I will start cultivating now!"


    "Mhm." Seeing the expression on Jiang Yao¡¯s face, Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables felt both gratified and a bit heartache.


    But they knew, the path of a powerful being sometimes requires enduring loneliness.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s persistence would surely bring her an exceedingly worthy reward.


    Jiang Yao would surely become a pride for them in the future!


    ...


    One month later.


    At the entrance to the passage from the thirtieth to the thirty-first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Ye Chen stood in front of the fallen colossal giant¡¯s corpse, spitting fiercely, "Damn it, such bad luck, to encounter a crazed Divine King at the very end of this thirtieth layer, causing me to lose one of the ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯ techniques."


    Since leaving the twenty-first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen had been hurrying towards the final few layers of the palace.


    Along the way, Ye Chen faced countless crises and was attacked by numerous terrifying lethal beings.


    Thanks to his vigilance, the protection of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying ship, and many other methods, Ye Chen managed to respond successfully and kept advancing downwards.


    Of course, on the twenty-fifth and twenty-eighth layers, when Ye Chen faced two threats that he couldn¡¯t avoid, he also used up two of the dodging opportunities from "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill".


    Originally, Ye Chen thought he could continue advancing smoothly.


    But to his surprise, at the very end of the thirtieth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, he directly encountered a Divine King that was even more frenzied than the previous Youbo Divine King.


    This Divine King even issued a challenge to him, saying that either it would die, or Ye Chen would.


    If it died, the passage to a lower layer would open.


    But if Ye Chen died, his journey through the Undersea Divine Palace would utterly end.


    A life-and-death battle with a Divine King?!


    Even if Ye Chen were incredibly powerful, he couldn¡¯t contend with a Divine King!


    Seeing this frenzied Divine King resolved to fight to the death with him, Ye Chen had no chance to continue downward. Other than killing this Divine King, Ye Chen had no other choice.


    In the end, Ye Chen had to use the second "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" killing method to finally slay this frenzied, towering giant of a Divine King.


    This, on top of the killing method used previously to execute the elder chieftain of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the two evasion methods expended on the twenty-fifth and twenty-eighth levels.


    Now, what remained of Ye Chen¡¯s "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" ultimate techniques was just one killing method and one evasion method.


    And Ye Chen had only just passed through the thirtieth level, with the most dangerous three levels still ahead, the thirty-first, thirty-second, and thirty-third levels of the Undersea Divine Palace yet to be conquered.


    This caused Ye Chen some worry as well.


    However, the one thing that somewhat eased Ye Chen¡¯s mind was the fact that the frenzied Divine King he had just slain hadn¡¯t lied; after killing this Divine King, the passage from the thirtieth level to the thirty-first level did indeed open up.


    "Only the last three levels remain."


    "No matter what, I still have one killing method and one evasion method left. Let¡¯s charge to the next level!"


    "The ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ on the thirty-second level and the final fourteen ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ on the thirty-third level are getting closer. I can¡¯t give up now!"


    After gritting his teeth, Ye Chen flew into the passage from the thirtieth level to the thirty-first level.


    A moment later, he entered the thirty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace, the last three levels!


    The thirty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    This was a desert realm, where sand filled the sky and ground in every direction, and gusts of fierce wind made the world appear dull and filled with a haze of swirling sand.


    After entering the thirty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen carefully navigated this level on the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, searching for the passage to the thirty-second level.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    About half an hour after Ye Chen had been flying through this level, suddenly, from the desert below, long, thick, brown vines burst forth, reaching for the sky and tightly ensnaring Ye Chen¡¯s Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat.


    The Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, being of the highest grade, could only display a very small portion of its might under Ye Chen¡¯s control at the moment.


    Facing an attack of the True God Realm, the flying boat struggled to resist.


    And these tens of thick brown vines that shot up to the heavens, each harbored the strength of a True God.


    Upon being completely bound, the flying boat was rendered utterly unable to fly!


    Inside the flying boat, Ye Chen, taken aback by this sudden predicament, was considering his options when several enchanting voices came from the vast desert below: "Little brother inside the flying boat, come out!"


    "At such a young age, you¡¯re quite impressive to have reached the thirty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace. We sisters would love to keep you here to cultivate with us in the thirty-first level!"


    "Sisters?" Ye Chen, hearing these seductive voices, had already extended his Divine Sense toward the source of the sounds.


    Upon probing, Ye Chen saw five exceptionally curvaceous and beautiful women, dressed in skimpy clothes woven from green leaves, seated on the thick vines that had ensnared the flying boat, smiling mischievously at him.


    But what caught Ye Chen¡¯s attention more was that all five women were at the God King Realm!


    In this thirty-first level of the Undersea Divine Palace, there were actually five Goddess Kings!


    Seeing Ye Chen staring at them, the five women giggled and said, "Little brother, do you find us sisters attractive? Stay with us here for cultivation. We¡¯ve heard that you¡¯re quite powerful!"


    "You¡¯ve heard of me?" Ye Chen, unconcerned with the provocative actions of these beautiful women, was instead surprised by their mention of having heard of him.


    "Little brother, on the twenty-eighth level, you escaped our sister of the Red-Refinement Snake Clan¡¯s trap by relying on a powerful and extraordinary evasion method. Our sister had already passed on news of you to us."


    "Hehe, get to know us, little brother. We five are God Kings of the Green Silk Clan, and cultivating with us will bring you great benefits!"


    "The Red-Refinement Snake Clan?" Ye Chen recalled the encirclement he had faced from a giant gray snake God King on the twenty-eighth level. In the end, it was only by using one of the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" evasion methods that he was able to escape and leave the twenty-eighth level.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that the giant gray snake God King had connections with these five God Kings on the thirty-first level and could even send messages.


    This was somewhat unexpected for Ye Chen.


    Thinking further that these five Goddess Kings said they were of the "Green Silk Clan," and considering the situation of the "Red-Refinement Snake Clan¡¯s" gray giant snake God King, Ye Chen began to speculate.


    Could it be that these five Goddess Kings were five giant green snakes?


    However, regardless of what race these five Goddess Kings belonged to, Ye Chen had no interest whatsoever in their offer to cultivate together.


    With only about four months left until the one-year deadline of the great cleansing treasure hunt, he needed to hurry to the thirty-second level of the Undersea Divine Palace. How could he afford to waste time on this thirty-first level?


    "My apologies to the Divine Kings, I need to continue on my journey and cannot afford to linger here," Ye Chen said to the five seductive and beautiful women on the thick brown vines below, shaking his head.

 Chapter 604 - 557 Kiss!

    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the five seductive and beautiful Goddess Kings couldn¡¯t help but look displeased, "Little brother, we sisters don¡¯t want to deal with you, so we let you stay here to cultivate. But if you really want to leave, then we sisters won¡¯t be so polite anymore."


    As they spoke, the five voluptuous Goddess Kings of the Green Silk Clan stretched out their palms, and once again, strands of vines flew out, dancing in the sky as if the next moment they would shoot out and bind Ye Chen just as they had bound the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat.


    Watching the actions of these five Green Silk Clan Goddess Kings, Ye Chen frowned slightly.


    Clearly, for some reason, these five Green Silk Clan Goddess Kings were not willing to let him leave.


    As for the so-called cultivation together that these five Green Silk Clan Goddess Kings mentioned, Ye Chen knew without thinking that it was just an excuse.


    Even if he stayed here and cultivated with these Goddess Kings, it wouldn¡¯t be any different from being trapped here, unable to leave.


    "The God King seniors wouldn¡¯t want to keep me here just for simple cultivation, right? Please, seniors, tell me, what exactly do you want by keeping me here?" Ye Chen asked the five Green Silk Clan Goddess Kings.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, one of the Green Silk Clan Goddess Kings, the one with the longest and most seductive legs, laughed playfully, "Little brother, you really are smart. We sisters kept you here because we¡¯ve heard how incredibly powerful you are. There¡¯s a Cultivation Technique we sisters have that requires a formidable young man to practice it thoroughly with us!"


    "Don¡¯t worry, as long as you cooperate with us sisters, it won¡¯t take too much of your time. We¡¯ve heard you already possess the Eye of Creation. Once the Great Purge and treasure-hunting time is over, we sisters will naturally let you go."


    After the seductive beauty with the longest legs finished speaking, the other four beautiful Goddess Kings also giggled and looked at Ye Chen, even winking flirtatiously at him.


    Feeling a chill in his heart upon hearing the words of these five Goddess Kings, Ye Chen looked at their expressions and could tell that the Cultivation Technique they mentioned practicing together was certainly not a good one; he might end up with not even his bones left if he practiced with them!


    Seeing that Ye Chen was still hesitant, one of the seductive Goddess Kings, seemingly impatient, stood up from the thick vines she was sitting on, her form instantly transforming into a huge, heaven-shocking green serpent, flicking her tongue and speaking in a coquettish human voice toward Ye Chen within the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, "Little brother, don¡¯t force your sister¡¯s hand, now. This Cultivation Technique is very interesting. It¡¯s a ¡¯Divine Cultivation¡¯ secret technique of our Green Silk Clan, only to be practiced between partners. If we hadn¡¯t taken a liking to you, we would never consider cultivating it with you!"


    This Green Silk Clan seductive Goddess King¡¯s true form was, as Ye Chen had guessed, a Green Silk Giant Serpent!


    "Hehe, little brother, do you find your sisters¡¯ true form beautiful?"


    "Swish, swish, swish, swish", the remaining seductive and beautiful Goddess Kings also instantly transformed, all turning into huge, heaven-shocking green serpents, giggling and speaking to Ye Chen in human voice.


    These God King Level heaven-shocking giant serpents indeed possessed a noble beauty unique to serpents and perhaps counted as stunning beauties within the Green Silk Clan.


    But Ye Chen certainly couldn¡¯t appreciate it!


    The thought of practicing the partner-exclusive Cultivation Technique with them was even more unacceptable to him.


    "It looks like I¡¯ll have to resort to using ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯!"


    Ye Chen furrowed his brows deeply.


    He hadn¡¯t expected that his earlier success in passing the challenges would bring him such great trouble on this thirty-first level, directly leading to these five Goddess Kings wanting to cultivate with him.


    At this moment, facing the five Goddess Kings, even with the "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" technique, Ye Chen was somewhat worried.


    After all, he only had one killing opportunity and one chance to dodge left in his "Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill" technique, and he was now confronted by the siege of five Goddess Kings.


    Probably, these two opportunities would most likely not be enough to break this deadlock!


    After all, although his ability to dodge could break through such an encirclement, he had not yet found the passage from the thirty-first to the thirty-second layer.


    If at this stage, he were to be caught and trapped by these five Goddess Kings again, his last remaining opportunity to dodge would be wasted in vain. Find your next read on novelhall.Co?m


    But staying here was simply not an option!


    Just as Ye Chen had no other choice and was preparing to risk using his last chance to dodge, hoping he could escape the thirty-first layer, the five bewitching Goddess Kings, who had turned into giant serpents in the sky toying with Ye Chen and laughing as they watched him struggle, suddenly raised their huge serpentine heads to look into the sky.


    Their teasing expressions directed at Ye Chen vanished.


    Seeing that the demeanor of the five Goddess Kings had changed, Ye Chen, who was ready to make a last stand, also looked toward the direction they were staring at.


    He hadn¡¯t fully made out that part of the sky when a familiar voice reached his ears, "You can¡¯t just bully Ye Chen like that!"


    This voice was unmistakably Jiang Yao¡¯s!


    After a month of arduous training, Jiang Yao had finally completed the second phase of the training required by Mrs. He and, just in time for Ye Chen¡¯s moment of crisis, she had arrived!


    "Jiang Yao!"


    Ye Chen looked up toward the source of the voice and saw a stunningly fast streak of silvery light speeding through the heavens. As the light drew closer to where he and the five Goddess Kings were, a feather shot out from within the dazzling streak of light.


    This mere half-meter long feather, in a flash through the void, instantaneously sliced through the four or five dozen thick vines that were binding Ye Chen¡¯s Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, all of which held the power of the ninth tribulation true god level.


    That single feather multiplied into five in an instant, transforming into five feathers that "ding, ding, ding, ding, ding" shot directly in front of the five Goddess Kings¡¯ huge green serpent heads in a split second.


    It was as if in the next moment, if those five feathers so wished, they could completely annihilate the five Goddess Kings!


    As this feather flew out and instantly reversed the situation where Ye Chen was bound, a girl of peerless beauty, with eyes as bright as the stars, emerged from the brilliant light of the escape.


    This girl, if not the one Ye Chen had been desperately searching for in the Undersea Divine Palace, the one he had not seen since the first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, who else could it be but Jiang Yao?!


    Indeed, as the Divine King of the Stone Giants had probed, Jiang Yao was at the very bottom of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    She appeared just when Ye Chen had no way to break free from the entrapment of the five Green Silk Clan Goddess Kings!


    Seeing Jiang Yao appear and instantly reversing the situation where he was trapped, the feather she used even radiated a strong aura that Ye Chen had not even sensed on higher-level Divine Kings, suggesting it could possibly be at the level of Divine Venerable, which also took Ye Chen by surprise.


    What surprised Ye Chen even more was that upon her appearance, Jiang Yao, as soon as she saw him, flew straight toward his Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat.


    Of course, Ye Chen immediately let Jiang Yao in.


    But what Ye Chen did not expect was that, as soon as Jiang Yao flew in, she looked at him with teary eyes, and then, to Ye Chen¡¯s utter astonishment, she threw herself into his arms. To top it off, she tiptoed up and with her soft, tender red lips, she pressed them against Ye Chen¡¯s lips with a fervent joy.


    A kiss!


    This was their first kiss, happening in such a reunion after a long separation, after Jiang Yao made the painful decision to head to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.

 Chapter 605 - 558

    The soft and tender touch between delicate lips and the faint scent emanating from Jiang Yao¡¯s body caused Ye Chen¡¯s heart to tremble uncontrollably, intoxicating him.


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but embrace Jiang Yao, who had thrown herself into his arms, holding her tightly and even kissing her back on the lips.


    Holding this girl, Ye Chen felt as though he was embracing the entire world!


    It seemed like an eternity had passed, yet it also felt incredibly brief, before Jiang Yao finally realized what she had done.


    Her stunningly beautiful face instantly blushed, her petite ear tips turned even redder with embarrassment, and her heart pounded "thump thump thump" violently. She gently stretched out her arms and finally wriggled free from Ye Chen¡¯s embrace, then bounced away like a little rabbit.


    Seeing Jiang Yao¡¯s bashful demeanor, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    This was the girl he liked¡ªinnocent and beautiful!


    Seeing Jiang Yao shyly lower her head, Ye Chen walked in front of her, took her soft white hand in his, and was very concerned about the reason behind her sudden actions.


    Ye Chen had a feeling that Jiang Yao¡¯s sudden outburst of emotions was probably related to their recent separation.


    "Yao¡¯er, where have you been during this time? In the fourteenth layer, I heard a Divine King say that you might be in these last few layers, and I was really worried," Ye Chen asked Jiang Yao.


    After their intimate kiss, Ye Chen¡¯s terms of endearment for Jiang Yao became much more affectionate.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, Jiang Yao finally raised her head from her shyness. Her eyes looking at Ye Chen, they sparkled slightly, "Ye Chen, after I obtained the first Eye of Creation in the sixth layer, I was suddenly transported to a mysterious place in the thirty-third layer, where I met Grandma and nine Aunties who are Female Divine Venerables." Continue your adventure at novelhall.Co?m


    The first Eye of Creation in the sixth layer?!


    Ye Chen was somewhat stunned.


    He had never imagined that the first Eye of Creation in the sixth layer had been obtained by Jiang Yao.


    And Jiang Yao was transported to the thirty-third layer?


    And who were this Grandma and the nine Female Divine Venerables?!


    There are nine Female Divine Venerables in the thirty-third layer?!


    Seeing Ye Chen shocked and frozen, Jiang Yao gave a gentle smile and explained to Ye Chen, "I was told by Grandma and the nine Aunties that their ¡¯Feathered Spirit Clan¡¯ has a certain connection with our Divine Phoenix Clan, which is why she helped me. They are not just the guardians of the thirty-third layer but are responsible for overseeing the great cleansing calamity of the entire Undersea Divine Palace and even the entire lower realm..."


    "Ye Chen, after I finished my cultivation in the thirty-third layer, through Grandma and the others, I could see your adventures in the Undersea Divine Palace. At that time, when you were battling the elders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, I was so worried..."


    "Ye Chen, thank you for helping the Divine Phoenix Clan eliminate our great enemy..."


    Jiang Yao shared her experiences with Ye Chen without holding anything back.


    When Ye Chen heard that Mrs. He was a Sovereign-level powerhouse, he too was shocked.


    Sovereign-level, that¡¯s the level of authority like the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s father, the East Territory King, just below the stature of Lord Emperor Yan¡ªtop-tier powerhouses. Ye Chen never expected that the thirty-third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace would hide such a group of people.


    And that they were following the orders of Lord Emperor Yan, in charge of the great cleansing calamity of the lower realm.


    From the Roc King and the three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan, Ye Chen already knew many exiled beings would face special trials, administered by someone.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t expect that it was Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables who were in charge!


    And when Ye Chen heard that Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables had taught Jiang Yao a Cultivation Technique and even intended to take her as a disciple, he was truly happy for Jiang Yao from the bottom of his heart.


    However, upon hearing that Mrs. He and the others planned to take Jiang Yao to the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain," Ye Chen felt an extreme sense of unwillingness to part with her.


    "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain," while he did not know where it was, it clearly wasn¡¯t within the "Boundless Mountain Star Domain," indicating it was a place far, far away.


    The idea of being so far apart from Jiang Yao was, of course, unbearable for Ye Chen.


    But Ye Chen also understood that this was Jiang Yao¡¯s opportunity, and he certainly didn¡¯t want to be so selfish as to ask her to give up her opportunity just to be with him.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s reluctant look, Jiang Yao¡¯s heart softened, and she said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, if you are unwilling, I won¡¯t go."


    Even though she had thought things through at Mrs. He¡¯s, she still didn¡¯t want to leave Ye Chen while by his side.


    Ye Chen, hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, smiled and pinched Jiang Yao¡¯s nose, saying, "Silly girl, although I can¡¯t bear to see you go so far, the fact you will be able to follow the Venerable and the nine Female Divine Venerables to cultivate, of course I¡¯m happy."


    "Do you still remember the first time we met, in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode? Back then, you were in the Spirit Sea Realm, and I was only in the True Qi Realm. I will never forget how beautiful and strong you were. I hope that after you cultivate with the Sovereign He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, you will become a beautiful true Goddess King, a Female Divine Venerable!"


    "Although the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain is not within the domain of the Wumu Mountain Star Field, as long as you and I are strong, how could the distance between these star fields stop us from meeting again?!"


    "We¡¯ve only been cultivating for a few years and we have become Heavenly Saints. Even if we later cultivate to the Divine King Realm, it won¡¯t take many years!" Ye Chen¡¯s eyes radiated absolute confidence, "Yao¡¯er, wait until we both become true Gods, Divine Kings, and Divine Venerables, and together we¡¯ll explore the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Wumu Mountain Star Field! We¡¯ll explore countless star fields!"


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s bright, spirited eyes, Jiang Yao¡¯s heart began to race, and she nodded her head earnestly, "Mm, Ye Chen, we will definitely become true Gods, Divine Kings, and Divine Venerables, and we will definitely explore countless star fields together!"


    Thinking of the things that might happen in the future made them both smile at each other, but the possibility of separating soon also brought a tinge of sadness between them.


    It was only now that Ye Chen understood why Jiang Yao kissed him so intimately upon meeting him; she too had thought of their imminent separation and couldn¡¯t keep her emotions steady.


    Ultimately, it was Ye Chen who, with a wave of his hand, pushed the matter of Jiang Yao leaving for the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain aside, "Alright, we can talk about the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain later. For now, Yao¡¯er, it¡¯s more important for us to venture through the Undersea Divine Palace."


    "However, about that feather..." Ye Chen pointed to the feather that had cut through the vines tying down the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, which had split into five, each hovering in front of the five Goddess Kings of the Green Silk Clan, who didn¡¯t dare to move, and said to Jiang Yao, "Yao¡¯er, is this a treasure given to you by Sovereign He and the nine Female Divine Venerables?"


    With a gentle smile and the blossoming of her dimples, Jiang Yao said to Ye Chen, "Yes, Ye Chen, I heard from grandma that you were very impressive, solving the Eye of Creation chessboard, and received Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯. Grandma sent me from the thirty-third layer to meet you here on the thirty-first and also bestowed this feather treasure upon me, saying that it would aid me three times."


    "The rest, we¡¯ll have to figure out on our own as we brave the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "Doesn¡¯t that mean we¡¯ve already used one chance now?" Ye Chen smiled lightly, "Well, this opportunity can¡¯t be wasted. We must completely resolve the matter with these five Goddess Kings."


    Armed with Jiang Yao¡¯s feather treasure and his remaining Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill, and most importantly, having Jiang Yao back by his side, Ye Chen was now even more confident in venturing through the Undersea Divine Palace and seeking the "Eye of the Divine Sea" and the "Eye of Creation."


    Now, they would start by dealing with the issues on the thirty-first layer!


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s decision to deal with the five Goddess Kings, Jiang Yao also looked out towards the five who had turned into a sky-shaking Green Silk giant serpent, her cheeks flushing as she said to Ye Chen, "They spoke to you that way. Ye Chen, I¡¯m glad you didn¡¯t agree to ¡¯Divine Cultivation¡¯ with them, otherwise... otherwise I wouldn¡¯t even want to see you!"


    "Haha!" Seeing Jiang Yao¡¯s slightly jealous manner, Ye Chen laughed heartily and took Jiang Yao¡¯s hand, flying out of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, landing directly in front of the five Goddess Kings.


    "Dear sisters, now can you let us leave?" Ye Chen said to the five Goddess Kings.


    At that moment, the five Goddess Kings from the Green Silk Clan, who had lost their previous charm, were trembling in fear from the sudden display of the feather treasure by Jiang Yao.


    Even though they had cultivated to the Divine King Realm, they had never seen such a powerful treasure.


    This was no longer a Heaven-reaching Treasure used by Divine Kings or even a Mysterious Heaven Treasure used by Divine Venerables, it was clearly a legendary "Extreme Heaven Treasure" that only masters of the Venerable level could possess!


    They never imagined that the young man they fancied would have such a formidable woman with him, holding such a supreme treasure!


    Now, hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question and seeing the unspoken glances from Jiang Yao towards them, they no longer entertained any thoughts of "Divine Cultivation" with Ye Chen. The five Goddess Kings hastily smiled bitterly at Ye Chen, "Little brother, the passage from the thirty-first layer to the thirty-second layer is open. You should hurry and take this little sister to the thirty-second layer!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao shared a smile upon hearing the Goddess Kings¡¯ words.


    Then, with a gentle gesture from Jiang Yao¡¯s fair hand, the five feathers that were floating in front of the Goddess Kings merged into one, transforming back into a single white half-meter-long feather, which Jiang Yao tucked away.


    After that, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao rode the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat and left the domain.


    And long after Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had gone, the five Goddess Kings of the Green Silk Clan, collapsing weakly, murmured, "Such a pity to lose that little brother. No chance to cultivate with him."


    While the five Goddess Kings were murmuring, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had already found the passage from the thirty-first to the thirty-second layer.


    Recalling the news they got after collecting ten Eyes of Creation on the twenty-first layer, that the "Eye of the Divine Sea" was hidden in a place called "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords" on the thirty-second layer, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t wait to head to the thirty-second layer.


    He squeezed Jiang Yao¡¯s hand tightly and said to her, "Yao¡¯er, for the remaining two layers, let¡¯s venture through them together, let¡¯s seek the treasures together!"


    Jiang Yao looked up at Ye Chen, her eyes shining, "Just like when we first journeyed through the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode and the Heavenly Saint Ancient Tomb, let¡¯s venture through this¡ªUndersea Divine Palace together!"

 Chapter 606 - 559: The Sea of Ten Thousand Swords and An Old Friend

    The thirty-second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    When Ye Chen stepped into the passage and set foot on this level with Jiang Yao, he couldn¡¯t help but take a deep breath.


    After nearly eight months, he had braved layer after layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, passed through numerous checkpoints, and survived crisis after crisis, finally reaching this thirty-second layer, the penultimate of the entire thirty-three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    It was the most special layer that possessed the "Eye of the Divine Sea"!


    At this moment, there were only four months left before the end of the one-year search for the "Eye of Creation" and the "Eye of the Divine Sea" prior to the Great Cleansing Calamity, which would bring about the annihilation of all martial artists in four months¡¯ time.


    If he could find the "Eye of the Divine Sea" hidden within this layer in these four months, he would be able to ensure that countless martial artists would survive this calamity!


    This, of course, made Ye Chen feel both nervous and excited.


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen suppressed his nervous and excited emotions and, together with Jiang Yao, looked towards the new world of the thirty-second layer they had just entered.


    This layer was a world with swamps, lakes, and mountains, but Ye Chen and Jiang Yao did not immediately see the ocean known as the "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords," which was rumored to conceal the "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    "It seems our teleportation drop-off isn¡¯t on the edge of the ¡¯Sea of Ten Thousand Swords.¡¯ We¡¯ll need to search thoroughly through this land to find that ¡¯Sea of Ten Thousand Swords¡¯!" Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao, "Yao¡¯er, let¡¯s go. Let¡¯s use the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Vessel to thoroughly search this land and see if there¡¯s an ocean!"


    "Mhm."


    Jiang Yao nodded, and together with Ye Chen, they entered the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Vessel.


    Whoosh!


    Next, the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Vessel began to fly through this vast land at an extremely fast speed.


    The vessel traversed vast expanses of land and mountains and even flew over numerous lakes that dotted the land.


    When they had thoroughly searched the southern part of this land and saw no hint of the ocean, the vessel continued its flight towards the north.


    Eventually, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally saw a vast and boundless ocean at the northernmost tip of this land.


    "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords!"


    Upon seeing this ocean, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both exclaimed in surprise.


    The reason they recognized this ocean as the "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords" they were seeking was that looking towards the vastness of the ocean, they could see sword lights soaring from the ocean into the sky. Even without stepping into the ocean, they could feel the marvel of the countless sword lights soaring skyward.


    Among these numerous soaring sword lights, they saw the strongest beam of sword light, towering and spanning the ocean, as if it were a colossal pillar stabilizing the sea, incredibly vast.


    Atop this beam of sword light, three characters shone brightly¡ª"Sea of Ten Thousand Swords"!


    Seeing the characters "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords" on the strongest beam of sword light towering into the heavens, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew for certain that they had come to the right place!


    This ocean is entirely a sea of sword lights. It¡¯s hard to imagine what lies within to create so many sword lights," Jiang Yao exclaimed as she looked at the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords ahead.


    Ye Chen smiled, "Let¡¯s go in and find out!"


    They took the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Vessel and headed straight into the "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords."


    To find the "Eye of the Divine Sea" hidden within the "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords," they must brave through it, even if it were a field of blades or a sea of flames!


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao rode the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact Vessel into the region of the "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords" and entered among the soaring sword lights, they discovered that the seawater, which looked quite normal from the outside, formed a straight passageway to the ocean floor once they were inside.


    This water channel seemed to be guiding them towards something.


    And as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao flew along this water channel for nearly half an hour, they found that the endless sea had vanished, and they had come directly into a special space hidden within the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords.


    While they had prepared to thoroughly search the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords, they never expected to come directly into a special space following the water channel, which certainly left Ye Chen and Jiang Yao immensely shocked.


    And what shocked them even more was that within this special space, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao saw countless people¡ªor more accurately, countless Sword Cultivators!


    At least tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators had gathered within this not so large special space, and strikingly, every one of these Sword Cultivators was someone Ye Chen had encountered on the first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace from the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm.


    No matter what, Ye Chen had never imagined that he and Jiang Yao would encounter so many martial artists on the thirty-second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Could it be that all these people had successfully broken into the thirty-second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace?


    Read exclusive chapters at novelhall.Co?m


    But that¡¯s impossible!


    On his way here, Ye Chen had not seen so many people descending further down, as practically all the martial artists were blocked within the first fourteen floors.


    Moreover, many of these martial artists were of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and even among those in the True God Realm, many were considered low-tier True Gods.


    Their strength was simply not enough to support them entering this place.


    Even the old clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, both Nine Tribulations True Gods, were killed by Ye Chen on the twenty-first floor; it was impossible for so many martial artists to have successfully reached the thirty-second floor.


    What¡¯s more, these tens of thousands of martial artists were all Sword Cultivators.


    This was even stranger.


    Clearly, there must be some astounding secret hidden in the depths of the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords within this special space!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also noticed that in this rather small special space, aside from the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators, there was only a colossal sword that stood a thousand zhang high in the center of the special space.


    All the Sword Cultivators were sitting in meditation around this thousand-zhang colossal sword.


    Obviously, it was very likely that this colossal sword was the key to this special space.


    While Ye Chen was amazed at encountering so many Sword Cultivators suddenly in the "Sea of Ten Thousand Swords" on the thirty-second floor, the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators sitting around the colossal sword also noticed Ye Chen.


    Among them, two Sword Cultivators flew over to Ye Chen in astonishment after recognizing him straight away.


    These two Sword Cultivators turned out to be the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God, the blue-robed sword-bearing woman from the Northern Dark Clan who accompanied Huo Mei¡¯er in the Five Elements Mountain, both of whom Ye Chen knew very well from his escapades there.


    By this time, the Three-Eyed Skeleton had already returned to the Four Tribulations True God level, which was somewhat surprising to Ye Chen.


    And Qing Shuang True God, who was a Four Tribulations True God initially, had even stepped into the realm of the Five Tribulations True God!


    Both had made progress in their realms, to the surprise of Ye Chen, but what surprised him even more was that, even with their improved states, it seemed unlikely for them to have broken into this thirty-second floor at the levels of Four or Five Tribulations True Gods!


    In the midst of Ye Chen¡¯s surprise, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God had already flown to his side.


    Looking at the stunningly beautiful girl Jiang Yao beside Ye Chen, they said to Ye Chen as their opening line, "Ye Chen, how did you also end up here? Don¡¯t tell me, after being unable to continue in the Undersea Divine Palace, you too were mysteriously brought here?"


    "Unable to continue in the Undersea Divine Palace? Mysteriously brought here? Are you saying, Three-Eyed Skeleton Senior and Qing Shuang Senior, that you did not find this place by yourselves?" Ye Chen asked the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God.


    At the same time, he added, "Jiang Yao and I came in from outside, we weren¡¯t brought here."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, "Boom! Boom! Boom!" the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators seated in meditation all stood up in shock, staring at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao in disbelief.


    "Made it here?"


    "Are you two youngsters saying that you fought your way through the Undersea Divine Palace, floor by floor, until you arrived at this thirty-second floor?"


    The tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators couldn¡¯t believe it.


    The Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God also couldn¡¯t believe it, and with a wry smile, they said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, all of us here were trapped within the first dozen or so floors and didn¡¯t dare to proceed further. In the end, we were all taken here from various realms by some inexplicable force."


    "Most of these tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators are from our Northern Dark Clan and the Blood God Clan, and the remainder are also from the thirty-three continents. However, without exception, all had previously failed to make it through the Undersea Divine Palace and didn¡¯t continue, choosing a realm to settle down before being brought here."


    "Ye Chen, the fact that you two could find this place on your own is truly unbelievable!" At the end, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with immense astonishment.

 Chapter 607 - 560

    The Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God were in awe.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance, equally stunned.


    They hadn¡¯t expected that these tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators had not simply made their way to the thirty-second level of the Undersea Divine Palace on their own, but rather been pulled into this place by some mysterious force from various levels.


    What mysterious power could actually transport so many Sword Cultivators here?!


    Jiang Yao transmitted her voice to Ye Chen, "Mrs. He, such a formidable Sovereign Realm expert, could only take me from the sixth level to the thirty-third level. This mysterious power has brought so many people into the thirty-second layer, could it be as formidable as Mrs. He?"


    "I haven¡¯t heard Mrs. He or the nine goddess aunts mention that there¡¯s such a formidable person in the thirty-second level!"


    Jiang Yao was somewhat baffled by the events that were unfolding.


    What Jiang Yao didn¡¯t know was that at that very moment, in the thirty-third level of the Undersea Divine Palace, Mrs. He and the nine goddess aunts, who had been keeping an eye on Jiang Yao and caring for her in secret, were also speaking.


    Mrs. He, somewhat taken aback, said, "I didn¡¯t expect that this time the ascetic cultivator would release his cultivation realm for so many Sword Cultivators to enter. Could it be that after all these years, the ascetic has finally come out of his seclusion?"


    "The influx of the Eye of the Divine Sea into the thirty-second level¡¯s Sea of Ten Thousand Swords this time, was initially thought to be just like the previous instances, overseen by that ascetic¡¯s Sword Spirit. Now, it seems quite different. The ascetic has opened his cultivation realm, apparently ready to preside over it himself."


    Upon hearing Mrs. He mention "ascetic cultivator," the nine goddess aunts, too, showed surprise on their faces, "Mrs. He, are you saying it¡¯s that person from the Heavenly Curtain Mountain God Nation...?"


    Mrs. He nodded.


    When the nine goddess aunts saw Mrs. He nod, they couldn¡¯t help but express their amazement, "That person... is no ordinary individual. We haven¡¯t seen him for countless ages, and it¡¯s really unknown what he¡¯ll be like when he comes out of seclusion, or whether he will leave the Undersea Divine Palace..."


    Speaking of which, "He is not an exile, and his status is extremely high. It was rather surprising that he chose to practice in the Undersea Divine Palace among the myriad lower realms in Celestial Spirit Star. It seems Celestial Spirit Star is not as simple as it looks..."


    Mrs. He said, "Celestial Spirit Star may seem ordinary among the lower realms, but the legends have mentioned figures of extraordinary shock and awe!"


    "Since that ascetic chose to cultivate in the Undersea Divine Palace, clearly he had his reasons. It¡¯s a matter of the Heavenly Curtain Mountain God Nation, and I don¡¯t know much about it, but surely, there were reasons."


    "However, no matter what the reasons, I hope Yao¡¯er and Ye Chen can successfully make their way through the thirty-second level. The ascetic is a good person and will not bring harm to them. If they can gain some benefits from him, it would be incredibly advantageous..."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, of course, were unaware of Mrs. He and the nine goddess aunts¡¯ conversation.


    At this moment, hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, Ye Chen also furrowed his brows and transmitted back to her, "It¡¯s indeed strange that so many people were brought here. It might be related to the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ hidden in this thirty-second level. Let¡¯s ask them about their situation first."


    Ye Chen then spoke to the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God, "It doesn¡¯t matter much that we made it here, but since the two of you seniors have also arrived, have you discovered the reason why we were brought here?"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God also remembered something crucial.


    They hurriedly said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, and Daoist Jiang Yao, have you seen the thousand-foot tall giant sword that we¡¯re sitting around in meditation?"


    "We too were puzzled when we were first drawn in here, but then we discovered this thousand-foot tall giant sword. Approaching within three feet of it, we sensed something different."


    "This thousand-foot tall giant sword, upon nearing within three feet, allowed us to receive special messages. Ye Chen, Daoist Jiang Yao, go within its three-foot radius, and you¡¯ll understand!"


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, upon hearing this, both looked towards the singularly existing towering thousand-foot tall giant sword in the center of this special space.


    When they first arrived, they had seen the giant sword surrounded by tens of thousands of martial artists in seated meditation, already sensing that it might be the key. Now, after hearing what the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God said, it turned out there indeed was something special about the giant sword.


    "Let¡¯s go and take a look," said Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen took Jiang Yao¡¯s small hand and walked towards the giant sword.


    As soon as they stepped within a three-foot radius of the giant sword, both their expressions changed. After a long while, they looked at each other with astonishment in their eyes.


    Indeed, just as the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God had said, approaching within three feet of the thousand-foot tall giant sword allowed them to receive special messages.


    And these special messages directly addressed Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, revealing that the "Eye of the Divine Sea," sought after by countless martial artists, was within this giant sword!


    Not only the "Eye of the Divine Sea," but there are even other things within this giant sword, only those with the ability can enter the sword and have a chance to encounter them.


    This special message even goes on to say that as long as one is a Sword Cultivator, they can attempt to enter the giant sword, just wrap oneself with the unique Sword Qi of a Sword Cultivator, and they can try to enter.


    Although anyone can try, only those with a fate destined with this giant sword, and who truly have great talent in the way of Sword Cultivators, will be able to truly enter this giant sword.


    The special message also states that at this time, eight people have entered the giant sword, but they have yet to find the "Eye of the Divine Sea" inside.


    The message further suggests that if one fails to enter the giant sword, they could sit in meditation near the giant sword, sense the Sword Qi emitted by the sword, practice the sword techniques contained within the Sword Qi, and after mastering those techniques, try again to enter.


    Through this special message transmitted from the giant sword, Ye Chen finally understood why so many Sword Cultivators were sitting in meditation near this giant sword.


    Clearly, these individuals were likely those who had tried and failed to enter the sword, thus being blocked outside.


    Ye Chen was even more astonished to discover that the "Eye of the Divine Sea" he and Jiang Yao had been seeking was actually hidden within this giant sword.


    Space! Space! The third layer of space!


    Originally, the thirty-second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace was a space for refinement, and now this special realm within the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords, another refined space of the Undersea Divine Palace, contained yet another special space within the giant sword - space within the sword!


    Three layers of space overlapped.


    Even now that Ye Chen had entered the Heavenly Saint Realm and studied the Space Law, he knew that the Space Law they practiced in the Heavenly Saint Realm could not touch upon this level of complexity.


    Clearly, the person who had created this special realm within the giant sword was an extraordinary figure!


    "Ye Chen, it looks like we, too, must try to enter this space within the giant sword." Glancing at each other and seeing the surprise in each other¡¯s eyes, Jiang Yao said to Ye Chen.


    "Yeah, Yao¡¯er, this special message says that eight people have already gone in, and they haven¡¯t found the Eye of the Divine Sea yet, we have to give it our all and attempt to enter and look for the Eye of the Divine Sea," Ye Chen nodded to Jiang Yao, "just don¡¯t know if we¡¯ll be able to enter successfully."


    Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen with a light laugh, her beautiful eyes shining with trust, "Whether we can enter or not, we have to try, but I believe that you will definitely be able to enter!"


    Jiang Yao could not forget the talent that Ye Chen had shown when they were braving the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode together, nor could she forget the talent that Ye Chen had demonstrated along their journey.


    If Ye Chen could not enter, then probably none of the countless Martial Artists of the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents could.


    "Yao¡¯er, you can¡¯t say that, it also depends on the fate we have with this giant sword," Ye Chen said, gently pinching Jiang Yao¡¯s delicate nose with a smile.


    But jokes aside, when they looked at the giant sword again, both their expressions became serious.


    After all, this was about the "Eye of the Divine Sea"!


    Even though together they already possessed nineteen Eyes of Creation, the friends and family caught in the great cataclysm outnumbered these nineteen, so of course they strove to find the "Eye of the Divine Sea"!


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao step into the three-zhang range around the giant sword and gaze intently at it, tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators nearby knew that these two newcomers were probably going to attempt to enter the giant sword.


    At this moment, a Five Tribulations Real God elder stepped forward and said to the two, "Fellow Cultivators, this giant sword is not easy to enter! I was one of the first to be brought here when the special message from the sword clearly indicated that not a single person had entered it yet."


    "Later, I personally saw countless people try to enter the giant sword, all failing. Even the last eight who managed to enter the sword did so only after several failures, by sitting in meditation near the sword to cultivate, and then retrying," said the elder.


    As the Five Tribulations Real God elder spoke, the other Sword Cultivators also sighed and shook their heads, their expressions filled with pain, "It seems our abilities are still lacking, even those eight who entered haven¡¯t found the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯; it¡¯s truly saddening to have the treasure right before our eyes yet unable to obtain it!"


    They had all failed in their previous ventures in the Undersea Divine Palace and had no Eyes of Creation at all.


    The "Eye of the Divine Sea" was their one and only hope of escaping the impending cataclysm!


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    When they had just been brought here and heard that the giant sword contained the Eye of the Divine Sea, they were ecstatic. Yet, after their continuous attempts and failures, they were deeply disheartened.


    As the time left before the cataclysmic cleansing grew shorter, their hearts sank further.


    Seeing the Sword Cultivators shaking their heads, sighing, expressing pain and sorrow, the Three-Eyed Skeleton next to them directly exclaimed, "Don¡¯t sigh just yet, let Fellow Cultivators Ye Chen and Jiang Yao try first!"

 Chapter 608 - 561: Meditation Cushion, Blue Light, Buddhist Image

    The Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God certainly hold great hopes for Ye Chen.


    They both were well aware of the grand battle in the Southern Territory of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and the battle between Ye Chen¡¯s group and the True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan.


    At that time, facing the imminence of the great purge cataclysm, it was Qing Shuang True God who guided Huo Mei¡¯er to seek help from the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan, eventually leading him to descend to the Lower Realm to assist Ye Chen.


    Afterward, from what they learned from Huo Mei¡¯er, when they heard that Ye Chen had the audacity to directly confront countless True Gods from both the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan led by their respective elder chieftains, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God were utterly astonished.


    Thinking back on Ye Chen¡¯s experiences at the Five Elements Mountain and recalling how he was mysteriously transported to the legendary Minor Pole Sky, and now, considering how Ye Chen had breached into the thirty-second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace by his own strength, the duo readily recognized Ye Chen as a young man endowed with true prowess and talent, arguably a peerless prodigy seldom seen across countless eras in the thirty-three continents of the Minor Spirit Realm and the Lower Realm.


    For them, their attempt to enter the colossal sword had failed, but such a peerless prodigy might well succeed where they did not!


    Of course, they wanted to first watch Ye Chen and Jiang Yao make their attempt!


    Hearing the words of the Three-Eyed Skeleton, the other Sword Cultivators also turned their gaze towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, halting their lamentation.


    They too remembered that these two newcomers were different from them.


    They had failed their challenge in the Undersea Divine Palace and were then mysteriously drawn to this place, but these two youngsters had managed to come here on their own accord.


    In front of this giant sword, they had been the unsuccessful ones.


    But that didn¡¯t mean these two youngsters would also fail.


    "Hmm, let them have a try!"


    "¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea,¡¯ although the one who obtains it will reap the greatest benefits, the obtainer would also save everyone trapped in the calamity of the great purge. If these two Dao companions can enter the colossal sword and obtain the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea,¡¯ it would be a tremendous good news for us. They would be our great benefactors!"


    "I hope these two Dao companions can create a miracle!"


    Tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators, regardless of being in the Heavenly Saint Realm or the True God Realm, all looked towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    In their anxious and hopeful gazes, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances.


    Ye Chen said softly to Jiang Yao, "Yao¡¯er, let¡¯s start trying!"


    "Mm." Jiang Yao nodded slightly.


    Immediately following, the two leapt up, soaring into the void.


    As they moved, the vast Sword Qi suddenly burst forth from their bodies, enveloping them completely within its surging power.


    Seeing their actions, the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators left watched tensely, their eyes fixated on the two figures in the void.


    Although everyone who had tried to directly enter the colossal sword before had failed, they still harbored a glimmer of hope for these two youngsters who managed to directly reach the thirty-second floor...


    Within the piercing gazes of the crowd, as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, shrouded by Sword Qi, began to communicate with the colossal sword using the method dictated by its special message, the giant sword that stood a thousand zhang tall started emitting halos of light, one after another.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    With the halos flashing, it seemed as if the sound of sword cries stirred within them!


    Seeing these halos and hearing the sword cries emanating from within, the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators looking up at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could not help but stir uproariously.


    These halos were the very same phenomena previously triggered by the eight individuals who entered the colossal sword, after practicing the swordsmanship contained within the Sword Qi of the great sword and attempting again successfully.


    Those eight individuals had failed their first attempt at entering the colossal sword but, after practicing the swordsmanship found within the great sword¡¯s Sword Qi several times, they entered the sword and triggered such a scene.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, without having practiced the swordsmanship of the colossal sword¡¯s Sword Qi, directly induced such phenomena, which naturally excited the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators into exclaiming out loud.


    All of them, in their attempts to enter the colossal sword, had never induced this kind of phenomenon!


    "Could it be that these two youngsters really will succeed in their first attempt to enter the colossal sword?!" The Five Tribulations True God elder who had stepped forward earlier watched Ye Chen and Jiang Yao enveloped in Sword Qi in disbelief.


    "It looks like they will succeed!"


    More Sword Cultivators, observing the successive halos emanating from the colossal sword, felt a premonition rising within them.


    ```


    Just when the old True God of Five Calamities couldn¡¯t believe his eyes, when countless sword cultivators had a premonition, and when the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God¡¯s eyes were shining brightly.


    Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Following two extremely faint sounds, a series of halos on the giant sword suddenly formed two huge bubbles, instantly enveloping the figures of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Then, amidst the illusions, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were completely drawn into the giant sword.


    "They really went in!"


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao completely disappear from the outside of the giant sword, the tens of thousands of sword cultivators present all stood up.


    As they approached the giant sword, they all heard its message: the number of people who had entered the giant sword had reached ten.


    Besides the eight who had entered earlier, these two new entrants were unmistakably Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!


    ...


    "Two more daoists have arrived!"


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao disappeared from the outside of the giant sword, stirring the tens of thousands of sword cultivators outside into an uproar of excitement.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who had just been drawn into the giant sword, immediately heard a voice.


    And when the two of them opened their eyes, they saw eight people looking towards them.


    Clearly, these eight were the ones who had entered the space within the giant sword earlier, and it was one of them who had just called out to them.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s gazes swept over these eight people, and then towards the newly entered space within the giant sword, both had thought that the space inside the giant sword would be vast, but to their surprise, the space inside was just a small Buddhist hall of only a hundred zhang in radius.


    In this small Buddhist hall, aside from the eight people who had entered before them and were now looking at them, Ye Chen also noticed a small meditation cushion fit for one person to sit cross-legged. In front of the cushion was a small incense table with two green lamps lit upon it.


    Behind the incense table, directly facing the cushion, on the foremost wall of the Buddhist hall, there was a painting of Buddha radiating a faint smile.


    Ye Chen had not expected that the space within the giant sword would be like this.


    It appeared to be a tranquil meditation place under the dim light of ancient lamps!


    This tranquil meditation place contains the "Eye of the Divine Sea"?!


    Ye Chen remembered the message from the giant sword earlier that mentioned the "Eye of the Divine Sea" was hidden within the giant sword, but clearly, he didn¡¯t see anything related to the "Eye of the Divine Sea" here.


    Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao, who also shook her head.


    Obviously, Jiang Yao hadn¡¯t discovered the Eye of the Divine Sea either.


    While Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were surveying this newly entered space within the giant sword, the eight who had entered before them approached Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Fellow daoists, you both seem unfamiliar. Are you martial artists from the Minor Spirit Realm or one of the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm?" asked an elder among the eight, addressing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Although both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s auras remained at the Heavenly Saint Realm, while all eight were True Gods of the True God Realm, the eight held no contempt for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    They who had entered the giant sword first knew how difficult it was to enter this space.


    That these two young people could enter here showed that they clearly had some ability unknown to the rest!


    "I am Ye Chen, and this is my companion Jiang Yao. We are from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent," Ye Chen said with a smile to the elder, while also inquiring, "May I know, have you made any discoveries since arriving here?"


    "So it¡¯s Daoist Ye Chen and Daoist Jiang Yao!" The elder saluted Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with a cupped fist, meanwhile introducing the identities of their group.


    Upon this introduction, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both felt a stir in their hearts.


    The elder who spoke was none other than the chieftain of the Northern Ming Clan, one of the six ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm. Among the seven people beside him, a black-clothed elder was in fact the chieftain of the Blood God Clan, another of the six ancient clans.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hadn¡¯t expected that these two ancient clans, which bore ancient grudges and lived beside the Northern Ming Divine Sea, would now be peacefully coexisting here.


    It seemed that for the sake of the "Eye of the Divine Sea," these two great ancient clans had temporarily set aside their enmity and had come together in search of the treasure. Experience exclusive tales on novelhall.Co?m


    In addition to the Northern Ming Clan¡¯s senior chieftain and the Blood God Clan¡¯s senior chieftain, both True Gods of Eight Calamities, the other six were also from the Northern Ming and Blood God clans.


    ```

 Chapter 609 - 562: The Fourth Dimension!

    Ye Chen was wondering why the eight people who entered the Giant Sword Space were all from the Beiming Clan and the Blood God Clan, when the Beiming Clan chieftain finished introducing the eight people¡¯s identities, he finally mentioned to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao the situation regarding the search for the "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    "Two fellow Daoists, our eight people have turned this place upside down, but have not found the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea.¡¯ We speculate that it is very likely related to the ¡¯Ancient Buddha Painting¡¯ hanging on the wall above this small hall. However, this is merely speculation; we can¡¯t discern anything unusual from this ancient painting," said the chieftain of the Beiming Clan, his frustration evident.


    They were much stronger than the tens of thousands of sword cultivators outside and had finally broken into this Giant Sword Space. However, after getting in, they couldn¡¯t find anything, which left them quite disheartened.


    Not only the Beiming Clan chieftain was frustrated; the remaining seven, including the chieftain of the Blood God Clan and the other six, also had particularly ugly expressions on their faces.


    They were considered powerful entities in the Minor Spirit Realm, but ever since they arrived at the Undersea Divine Palace of the Beiming Divine Sea, they encountered obstacles at every turn and found their own strengths lacking.


    Even the chieftains of the Blood God Clan and Beiming Clan, both of whom were Eighth Tribulations True Gods, felt that their own strengths were utterly insufficient.


    Previously, they were transported to an outer minor world and managed to enter this Giant Sword Space, briefly regaining some confidence. But finding nothing in this space further deflated their spirits.


    At this point, they understood that even as powerhouses of the Minor Spirit Realm, as Eighth Tribulations True Gods and masters of Ancient Clans, they were powerless in the grand scheme laid out by the forces of the universe and greater beings.


    Hearing that the Beiming Clan chieftain and his party had come up empty-handed, without even a clue about the "Eye of the Divine Sea," Ye Chen nodded.


    If the Eye of the Divine Sea were that easy to find, it wouldn¡¯t be the most precious item in the Undersea Divine Palace, capable of allowing all martial artists to escape the great catastrophe.


    Ye Chen glanced at Jiang Yao, and the two of them walked around the small hall, searching for any possible clues.


    The hall had few items: a small meditation cushion for one to sit cross-legged, an incense table, two green lamps, and a Buddha painting.


    These items had already been thoroughly examined by the eight people who came before, without any unusual findings.


    But they had made their investigation, and of course, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would carry out their own.


    As Ye Chen approached the Buddha painting, initially, he did not notice anything unusual about the Buddha depicted with a faint smile. However, when he looked closely at the Buddha¡¯s eyes, he suddenly sensed a slight movement within the "Star Tower" in his Qi Sea.


    "This image of the Buddha truly has something special about it!" Ye Chen was shocked inside.


    Although the "Star Tower" calmed down after a slight tremor, Ye Chen had already noticed this subtle movement.


    The Star Tower! It was something left to him by Zi Ji Star Lord, a supreme divine artifact containing the Primordial Star Scripture.


    The fact that this Buddha painting could cause a reaction in the "Star Tower" indicated it was no ordinary item.


    With immense focus, Ye Chen gazed at the Buddha painting.


    As if the movement of the "Star Tower" caused a change in the painting, the moment Ye Chen looked at it again, the Buddha painting emitted a Buddhist light unseen to all but Ye Chen, who could both see and sense it.


    This light enveloped Ye Chen completely the instant it appeared.


    Ye Chen suddenly felt all the swordsmanship intentions, laws, and divine arts related to his sword cultivation incredibly agitated and started evolving on their own.


    Even the three forbidden moves of Ye Chen¡¯s "Purple Lightning Divine Sword" he was comprehending¡ª"Purple Light," "Extreme Lightning," and "Purple Lightning"¡ªbegan to evolve in the presence of the Buddhist light.


    It should be noted that Ye Chen had only managed to comprehend the second forbidden move, "Extreme Lightning," up until now. He hadn¡¯t grasped the ultimate forbidden move, "Purple Lightning," which could unleash all the hidden prohibitions of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword." But now, before his eyes, "Purple Lightning" was performing its act as if an unparalleled expert was demonstrating the move, conveying its essence to Ye Chen.


    In just an instant, Ye Chen had fully comprehended the third forbidden move of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," the ultimate move "Purple Lightning."


    Full comprehension of "Purple Lightning" meant that Ye Chen could unleash the most powerful strength of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," nearly doubling its power to the level of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    This filled Ye Chen¡¯s heart with unparalleled excitement.


    What Ye Chen did not expect was that after all the sword techniques he practiced had evolved under the Buddhist light, the light suddenly burst forth and completely absorbed Ye Chen from within the Buddha hall, causing him to vanish.


    Not only did Ye Chen experience something unusual while viewing the Buddha painting, but Jiang Yao, who was sitting cross-legged on the small cushion, also sensed something off. As soon as she sat down, the feather given to her by Mrs. He for protection began to tremble. Like Ye Chen, all the swordsmanship she cultivated began evolving in her mind. Even the sword divine arts passed down to her by the nine Female Divine Venerables, which she had just begun to practice, were being cultivated.


    Eventually, the small cushion emitted a divine light, enveloping Jiang Yao completely and causing her to disappear without a trace from within the hall, just like Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao disappeared almost simultaneously.


    The clan leaders of both the Beiming Clan and the Blood God Clan, along with their six other companions, were observing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao as they investigated several items in the Buddha hall. They thought that like themselves, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao would fail to find anything and have to leave dejectedly. However, they were shocked to witness Ye Chen, who was standing and observing the Buddha painting, and Jiang Yao, who was sitting cross-legged on the meditation cushion, suddenly disappear from sight.


    "Where have the two fellow Daoists gone?!"


    The eight individuals hastily retreated several steps, their expressions changing. Only after a moment did they approach the spot where Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had vanished.


    Even the clan leader of the Blood God Clan seated himself on the meditation cushion just like Jiang Yao had earlier, but regardless of what they did, the feeling remained the same as when they previously investigated the objects, with no anomalies detected.


    The items that seemed to have no anomalies had, just moments ago during Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s inspection, caused the two of them to disappear. This left the eight of them feeling quite bewildered.


    Finally, a thought flashed through the mind of the Beiming Clan¡¯s clan leader, and he exclaimed, "The fourth layer of space! There must be a fourth layer of space hidden here, which is why we couldn¡¯t find the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea.¡¯ The ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ is likely within the fourth layer of space." Your journey continues with novelhall.Co?m


    "It seems that for some reason, our fellow Daoists Ye Chen and Jiang Yao have triggered the transmission prohibition of the fourth layer of space. They may have entered the fourth layer of space!"


    The fourth layer of space!


    As soon as the Beiming Clan¡¯s clan leader mentioned this, the other seven people felt a tremor in their hearts as well.


    They never imagined that, on top of the already existing first layer of space in the Undersea Divine Palace, plus the second heaven-and-earth space on the thirty-second layer hidden beneath the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords that had absorbed tens of thousands of sword cultivators, and the third layer of space in the Giant Sword Space, there would also be a fourth layer of space hidden within the Giant Sword Space!


    ...


    "The fourth layer of space!"


    Not only were the eight clan leaders of the Beiming Clan shaking with realization inside the Giant Sword Space, but Ye Chen, too, shouted in surprise as he felt a force pulling him and suddenly found himself in a vast, desolate plain after the world around him had spun and changed, bringing him back to consciousness.


    This vast wasteland emitted an incredibly ancient and majestic aura. Remembering the Buddha¡¯s light that had enveloped him and the transformations of swordsmanship and the prohibitions of the Purple Lightning Divine Sword in his mind before he was pulled away, Ye Chen understood that this space, hidden deeper than the Giant Sword Space, was anything but ordinary.


    Perhaps, the "Eye of the Divine Sea" may truly be hidden inside!


    As Ye Chen was lost in thought, Jiang Yao¡¯s voice rang in his ears, "Ye Chen!"


    Ye Chen saw that Jiang Yao was flying swiftly toward him from not far away.


    Jiang Yao had also been pulled into this space!


    Ye Chen rushed towards Jiang Yao. After explaining the strange occurrences they had each experienced in the small Buddha hall, both of them looked up towards the mysterious wasteland of the fourth layer of space.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew that perhaps all the secrets were hidden right here.


    Just as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were preparing to thoroughly search the wasteland, a sound seemed to echo through heaven and earth, like the distant tolling of a Buddhist bell or the resonant cry of a great sword.


    They saw three figures appear above the wasteland, not far above them in the sky.


    People were present in this deeply hidden fourth layer of space, and not just one person, but three!


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao saw the three figures, they were already filled with disbelief. But as they made out the figure on the far right, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both cried out in shock, "Heavenly Saint Qian Ji!"


    They couldn¡¯t have imagined that they would see Heavenly Saint Qian Ji, whom they had once seen as a shadowy figure in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, hidden deep beneath the thirty-second layer of the Sea of Ten Thousand Swords of the Undersea Divine Palace, and even deeper within the fourth layer of the Giant Sword Space.


    In the first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t found Heavenly Saint Qian Ji and thought that he, like those of the Divine Phoenix Clan who had been taken away by the Black Crow God King and disappeared, and like Heavenly Saint Di Kong who had vanished in the Mysterious Ice Cave, might have been blocked by a mysterious force greater than the Beiming Divine Sea and failed to arrive at the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Ye Chen could not have imagined that he would see Heavenly Saint Qian Ji here.


    No, he could no longer simply be called a Heavenly Saint. His realm had transformed into the True God Realm, and within that realm, he had reached the level of the Nine Tribulations True God.


    This was truly unbelievable!


    When they heard Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exclaim "Heavenly Saint Qian Ji" out loud, Thousand Extremes True God, no longer just Heavenly Saint, also looked at them curiously.


    Thousand Extremes True God had not expected these two youths to recognize him.


    However, at that moment, Thousand Extremes True God did not speak. He stood with utmost respect beside the figure in the middle, just like the little child on the far left.


    The figure in the middle was a gaunt old man, dressed in monk¡¯s robes, with twelve incense scars on his head, and Buddhist beads in hand¡ªclearly a Buddhist monk.


    What shocked Ye Chen and Jiang Yao even more was that this monk¡¯s aura surpassed that of the Divine Venerable level, almost comparable to that of Mrs. He.


    This monk was a powerhouse of the Sovereign Realm.


    At that moment, this formidable Sovereign Realm figure looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao and then at Thousand Extremes True God beside him, and said with a smile, "Unexpectedly, you two youngsters happen to know my newly accepted disciple. It seems that we are indeed quite fated."

 Chapter 610 - 563 Elder Ku Du

    Ye Chen bowed with cupped fists to this Sovereign Realm powerhouse, as well as to the Thousand Extremes True God beside him, "When this junior was in the True Qi Realm, I visited the ¡¯Thousand Lotus Cave Abode¡¯ left on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent by Senior Thousand Extremes and saw his illusionary phantom. I even received great help from the illusionary phantom of Senior Thousand Extremes, so I recognize Senior Thousand Extremes."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen explain his acquaintance with the Thousand Extremes True God, the Sovereign Realm powerhouse smiled and nodded, "So that¡¯s the case."


    However, the complexion of the Thousand Extremes True God drastically changed as he quickly asked Ye Chen, "You¡¯ve been to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode? Have you... have you seen Lian Yue?"


    "Jiang Yao and I obtained the Twin Flying Swords from the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, and we promised the illusionary phantom left in the abode that we would deal with Heavenly Saint Tuoshan when we were strong enough. Now, we have captured Heavenly Saint Tuoshan and brought him back to the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, and we have also found some medicine to help Heavenly Saint Lian Yue awaken. I¡¯m afraid that by the time we can emerge from this great cleansing cataclysm, Heavenly Saint Lian Yue will likely have awakened!" Ye Chen said to the Thousand Extremes True God as he and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance.


    While speaking, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also released their Life-bound Flying Swords, "Crimson Fire" and "Ghostly Water," for the Thousand Extremes True God to see.


    The Thousand Lotus Cave Abode was the place where Ye Chen and Jiang Yao met, and it was also the site of their first significant opportunity in martial cultivation. Encountering the true person of the Thousand Extremes True God here, they naturally had to share these matters with him!


    When he saw the "Crimson Fire" and "Ghostly Water" Twin Flying Swords, the Thousand Extremes True God recognized them at a glance. Weren¡¯t they precisely the pair of flying swords he and Heavenly Saint Lian Yue had obtained back then?!


    He later went to the Minor Spirit Realm to find medicinal herbs to treat Lian Yue¡¯s illness and left the Twin Flying Swords in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, intending to leave them for someone predestined.


    The Thousand Extremes True God could never have imagined that this young man and woman before him would be the ones to obtain these Twin Flying Swords!


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    Moreover, this young man and woman had avenged a great grudge for him by capturing Elder Tuoshan and starting to heal Lian Yue.


    Thinking of Heavenly Saint Lian Yue...


    The Thousand Extremes True God¡¯s breath shook slightly.


    Seeing the state of the Thousand Extremes True God, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also grew intensely curious as to why he would appear in the Undersea Divine Palace and how he managed to break through to the Ninth Tribulation True God level in the Minor Spirit Realm while searching for medicinal herbs for Heavenly Saint Lian Yue.


    At that moment, the Sovereign Realm powerhouse glanced at the emotionally overwhelmed Thousand Extremes True God and at the curiously looking Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, then spoke, "It turns out, you two youngsters have such a connection with my disciple."


    "Speaking of which, my young disciple being able to become my apprentice also has to do with searching for medicinal herbs. During an occasional awakening while I was in seclusion, I surveyed the outside world from the depths of the Beiming Divine Sea and spotted my disciple waiting at the edge of the Beiming Divine Sea for treasures to emerge."


    "At first, I thought he was just like the other treasure hunters. But decades later, when I woke again, I still found him searching for treasures, even trading the treasures he found for medicinal materials to treat injuries. It was then that I realized my disciple had come to the Beiming Divine Sea to save someone¡¯s life."


    "Counting the time, it¡¯s been one hundred and twenty-four years since I brought my disciple into the Beiming Divine Sea."


    When the Sovereign Realm powerhouse spoke to this point, the Thousand Extremes True God also knelt before the Sovereign Realm powerhouse, "I searched in the Minor Spirit Realm for hundreds of years, but alas, as only a Heavenly Saint, I couldn¡¯t obtain precious medicine to treat Lian Yue. I was fortunate that my master took me in as a disciple and taught me martial skills, promising that I could return after the great cleansing cataclysm ended. Furthermore, in just over a hundred years, I transformed into a Ninth Tribulation True God. Unexpectedly, now Lian Yue has been treated by these two young friends!"


    Through the words of the Thousand Extremes True God and the Sovereign Realm powerhouse, Ye Chen finally learned why the Thousand Extremes True God had not shown himself before and why he appeared in the Undersea Divine Palace, having transformed into a Ninth Tribulation True God.


    Apparently, he had been taken into the Beiming Divine Sea by this Sovereign Realm powerhouse more than a hundred years ago to practice cultivation with this great figure.


    Rumor has it, not even God King Venerables could step into the Beiming Divine Sea where the seawater exists.


    Probably no one could imagine that there was such a Sovereign Realm powerhouse in the Beiming Divine Sea, and that he also let a Heavenly Saint enter to cultivate before the great cleansing cataclysm.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen became even more curious about the identity of this Sovereign Realm powerhouse.


    Ye Chen remembered that the murderous life form species in the Undersea Divine Palace only had powerhouses up to the Divine King Realm and that it was impossible for a Sovereign Realm guardian to exist there.


    Ye Chen heard from Jiang Yao that Mrs. He, the Sovereign Realm powerhouse, was in the Undersea Divine Palace because she was carrying out Lord Emperor Yan¡¯s orders to preside over the great cleansing cataclysm.


    Moreover, only Mrs. He and those nine Female Divine Venerables presided over the great cleansing cataclysm, with no one else.


    Then who is this Sovereign Realm powerhouse? He¡¯s neither a guardian nor the one presiding over the great purge catastrophe. Who is he then, and why is he here?


    Moreover, the giant sword outside said, "The Eye of the Divine Sea" is right here; what is the connection between this Sovereign Realm powerhouse and the Eye of the Divine Sea?


    Ye Chen had countless doubts in his mind.


    As if seeing through Ye Chen¡¯s confusion, the Sovereign Realm powerhouse smiled and said, "I am an ascetic cultivator who, in an effort to break through the Sovereign Realm, strives to reach higher levels. You may address me as ¡¯Elder Ku Du¡¯."


    "I am not the guardian of this place. After I requested to come here to cultivate from Lord Emperor Yan, who was in charge of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s interface and the lower interface¡¯s great purge catastrophe, I was allowed in."


    "Of course, I have always practiced on the thirty-second layer of the Undersea Divine Palace. This time, the Eye of the Divine Sea flowed into the thirty-second layer just as I happened to awaken, so I came here to take charge of this matter with the Eye of the Divine Sea."


    "Certainly, if you go to the Divine Kingdom of the Wanmu Mountain after this, you will learn of my other identity. I was the Southern Territory King of the Wanmu Mountain¡¯s Divine Kingdom. However, the position of the Southern Territory King in the Divine Kingdom has now been passed on to my disciple. As for me, I have long since turned to Buddhism and devoted myself to arduous cultivation."


    Boom!


    The words of the Sovereign Realm powerhouse, Elder Ku Du, completely shocked Ye Chen.


    He had not expected that this "Elder Ku Du" would turn out to be the former Southern Territory King of the Divine Kingdom. My god, doesn¡¯t that mean he was a renowned figure in the Wanmu Mountain¡¯s Divine Kingdom, just like the father of the Little Provincial Princess, the East Territory King?


    No wonder he was a Sovereign Realm powerhouse!


    Ye Chen also remembered that when he encountered the last mirage left by the Icebound Temple¡¯s Divine King in the main hall of the Icebound Temple, the Icebound Divine King had said that he came from the "Circulation of Heaven Divine City" in the Southern Territory of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom. He even asked Ye Chen to visit his family, friends, and descendants in the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom should he have the chance.


    Ye Chen had not expected that now, within the Undersea Divine Palace, he would encounter the old Southern Territory King of the Divine Kingdom!


    What shocked Ye Chen even more was that such a prominent figure from the Divine Kingdom chose to practice asceticism in the North Dark Divine Sea and decided to convert to Buddhism, aiming to surge towards a higher realm from the Sovereign Realm.


    Renouncing the identity of the Southern Territory King and choosing thorough ascetic cultivation, as an ascetic cultivator, was indeed admirable!


    "Have you, senior, managed to break through the level beyond the Sovereign Realm?" Ye Chen asked Elder Ku Du.


    Elder Ku Du shook his head and chuckled, "Break through the level beyond the Sovereign Realm? That is not at all easy. I¡¯ve been practicing asceticism here in the Undersea Divine Palace for millions of years and still haven¡¯t grasped that level."


    "I have vowed that I would not leave the North Dark Divine Sea until I succeed in my realm breakthrough. I don¡¯t even know how many more years I will spend here."


    Towards the end, Elder Ku Du¡¯s eyes did not reveal a hint of discouragement; instead, they shone with even more intensity.


    Clearly, his determination would not be shaken by the lengthy fruitlessness of his cultivation!


    Hearing Elder Ku Du say that he had been practicing asceticism for millions of years without a successful breakthrough, and that he intended to continue, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked at each other and both involuntarily clicked their tongues in wonder.


    Millions of years!


    This was an age beyond Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s imagination.


    Although they had heard that upon reaching the Divine Venerable Realm one would possess an exceedingly long life span, for youngsters who had only been cultivating for a dozen or so years, millions of years were just too remote, and the Sovereign Realm, even more so.


    How long it would take them to reach that level was still unknown.

 Chapter 611 - 564 The Secret of the Eye of the Divine Sea

    "Alright, after talking so much about my little disciple and myself, it¡¯s time to discuss the matter of the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯." Elder Ku Du said with a smile as he looked towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao. "You two kids, having made your way here, must be very eager to obtain the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea,¡¯ right?"


    The Eye of the Divine Sea was related to a treasure that could allow all Heavenly Saints and True Gods to escape the grand cleansing calamity. As the most precious treasure in the Undersea Divine Palace, it was natural that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao wished to obtain it.


    Hearing Elder Ku Du¡¯s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao nodded repeatedly.


    "Senior, do you have the Eye of the Divine Sea with you? How can we obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea?" Jiang Yao spoke up and asked Elder Ku Du. Find your next read at novelhall.Co?m


    Elder Ku Du laughed and said, "I¡¯ve set up numerous spatial barriers, allowing only those with fate to enter. The Beiming Clan and the Blood God Clan have practiced the sword techniques I disseminated outside, which is why I brought them and many other sword cultivators to the thirty-second layer, to give them a chance to escape this great crisis. Unfortunately, they lacked the ability to make it to the innermost part, wasting my painstaking efforts."


    "You two, to have made it here, it shows you have strength, and are likewise fated with the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea.¡¯ Of course, I wouldn¡¯t deceive you into coming here."


    "Indeed, the Eye of the Divine Sea is within this space. Soon, you¡¯ll have the chance to see it."


    Upon hearing Elder Ku Du¡¯s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally understood why tens of thousands of sword cultivators had been taken to the thirty-second layer. It turned out they had been given a chance by Elder Ku Du, who had taught them sword techniques, to search for the Eye of the Divine Sea.


    And upon hearing that the Eye of the Divine Sea was right in this space and would soon be seen, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao grew even more excited.


    They had been searching for half a day, passing through four spatial barriers, and finally arrived here.


    In this place, they not only met the Thousand Extremes True God but also saw the elder Prince of the Southern Province from the Divine Kingdom; now, they even had the opportunity to encounter the "Eye of the Divine Sea," which certainly made them feel that their efforts passing the numerous spatial barriers had not been in vain!


    Seeing the excited expressions on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Elder Ku Du smiled and said, "Both of you have come here together, yet there is only one ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea.¡¯ However, I must first tell you the secret of the Eye of the Divine Sea, so that the two of you can properly compete for it."


    Hearing Elder Ku Du¡¯s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked at each other and both smiled as they turned to Elder Ku Du, "Senior, it doesn¡¯t matter who gets the Eye of the Divine Sea."


    While speaking, Jiang Yao was holding Ye Chen¡¯s hand tightly.


    "Oh?" Seeing how close Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were, Elder Ku Du paused for a moment and then nodded with a smile, "It seems that not only did you obtain my disciple¡¯s Twin Flying Swords, your relationship with each other is also quite special."


    Jiang Yao¡¯s face turned slightly red on being pointed out by Elder Ku Du, but she didn¡¯t let go of Ye Chen¡¯s hand at all.


    "Alright, even though you two say it doesn¡¯t matter who gets the Eye of the Divine Sea, I¡¯ve emerged from my seclusion to oversee the matter of the Eye of the Divine Sea, so I still need to tell you its secret," Elder Ku Du said, his expression turning unusually serious.


    Hearing Elder Ku Du continually mention "the secret of the Eye of the Divine Sea," Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also became serious.


    Clearly, the Eye of the Divine Sea concealed something more significant¡ªand it was likely related to its status as the most precious treasure of the Undersea Divine Palace in the Beiming Divine Sea.


    Elder Ku Du continued, "This lower plane¡¯s grand cleansing calamity is a natural selection process born from the lower plane itself. Although Emperor Yan is able to arrange all affairs of the grand cleansing calamity, saving oneself and everyone else still relies on your own strength¡ªto obtain the ¡¯Eye of Creation¡¯ and the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea.¡¯"


    "Since the grand cleansing calamity involves natural selection, the weak may perish directly during the calamity, while the strong should not only suffer; the calamity will also grant them the ultimate reward."


    "Apart from the countless opportunities left by Emperor Yan, the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ is the most precious reward he left for you following the natural selection of the world."


    "Not just the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea,¡¯ but in countless lower planes, the most precious items that can decipher and survive the grand cleansing calamity are also tied to the most valuable reward."


    "And this most valuable reward is¡ªan eligibility to participate in the examination of the ¡¯Nine Great God Academies¡¯ of the Divine Kingdom."


    The Eye of the Divine Sea, along with the most precious items from other lower planes that are involved in the grand cleansing calamity, offer a reward of an eligibility slot?


    An eligibility to participate in the examination of the "Nine Great God Academies" of the Divine Kingdom?


    What are the Nine Great Divine Institutes?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked at Elder Ku Du, knowing he would surely explain to them.


    As expected, Elder Ku Du said, "The Nine Great Divine Institutes are the most powerful nine academies in the Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Curtains, specializing in teaching cultivation."


    "These Nine Great Divine Institutes are vast with countless cultivation resources and insights; even Divine Venerables of the Sovereign Realm preside over them. By entering these institutes, some people in less than a hundred years have cultivated from the True God Realm to the Divine Venerable Realm!"


    "The Nine Great Divine Institutes are places countless martial artists in the Divine Kingdom aspire to enter. There, one can receive the best guidance and the most precious resources, laying the most solid foundation for their cultivation! One can even stay within the Institutes and cultivate incessantly, which is hugely beneficial for understanding the Divine Venerable and Sovereign Realms!"


    "Even I, and the countless prominent figures of the current Divine Kingdom, including the Lord of the Ten Thousand Curtains Divine Kingdom, all emerged from these Nine Great Divine Institutes."


    "The Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Curtains spans countless upper-plane Divine Cities and lower-plane Star Continents, attracting numerous Divine Kings from the lower planes to the Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Curtains, a place that is already home to innumerable citizens. The entire Divine Kingdom possesses over millions of cultivation institutes."


    "However, these Nine Great Divine Institutes are by far the most formidable out of all the academies throughout the Divine Kingdom. Even many offspring of Divine Venerables don¡¯t have the chance to enter for cultivation, let alone secure a spot to participate in the assessments of the Nine Great Divine Institutes. So tell me, is the opportunity to take part in the assessments of the Nine Great Divine Institutes precious or not?"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were both deeply stirred.


    So it turned out that the secret behind the "Eye of the Divine Sea" and its most precious reward was actually the chance to participate in the assessments of the Nine Great Divine Institutes in the Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Curtains.


    It turned out that the Nine Great Divine Institutes were so powerful that one could cultivate to the God King Realm within them, or even have the chance to understand the Divine Venerable and Sovereign Realms!


    "Ye Chen, you must seize this opportunity!" After learning about the Nine Great Divine Institutes, Jiang Yao excitedly transmitted her voice to Ye Chen.


    She was about to follow Mrs. He to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to cultivate the exclusive Cultivation Technique of the Feathered Spirit Clan and was worried about Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation.


    If Ye Chen could cultivate within the most powerful Nine Great Divine Institutes in the entire Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Curtains, learning alongside countless geniuses of the whole kingdom, competing with them, then Ye Chen¡¯s future achievements would be boundless.


    This opportunity with the Nine Great Divine Institutes could let Ye Chen cultivate to the realms of the God King and even the Divine Venerable and Sovereign Realms, so naturally, Jiang Yao hoped he would seize it!


    Ye Chen was also profoundly moved.


    Although he had gained insights into the Upper God King Realm during his dreamlike training in the Creation Chess Board, Ye Chen was well aware of the immense resources required to cultivate to the Upper God King Realm.


    Even in that dreamlike world, he had exhausted countless resources.


    And such resources were evidently not available in the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three lower realms.


    Previously, Ye Chen had put the idea of going to the Divine Kingdom on hold due to his concerns for Jiang Yao and his parents and family.


    But now, with Jiang Yao heading to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Ye Chen, wanting to meet her again or even visit her in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, surely needed to enhance his strength.


    Remaining in the thirty-three lower realms and in the Minor Spirit Realm could not enable his continued growth.


    To advance to the levels of the Upper God King or even the Divine Venerable and Sovereign, he must cultivate in the Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Curtains!


    And this "Eye of the Divine Sea," linked to the once-in-a-lifetime chance to train at the precious Nine Great Divine Institutes of the Divine Kingdom of Ten Thousand Curtains, naturally stirred Ye Chen, who wished to grasp this opportunity firmly.

 Chapter 612 - 565: Battle with the Ancient Beast

    Seeing the expressions on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s faces, Elder Ku Du knew that Jiang Yao hoped Ye Chen would seize the Eye of the Divine Sea, and Ye Chen, too, had become extremely interested in the grand reward of the Eye of the Divine Sea.


    Elder Ku Du smiled and then said, "I have also told you the secret of the Eye of the Divine Sea."


    "The most precious reward behind the Eye of the Divine Sea, whoever among you wants to obtain it, can. But, you will also need to have absolute strength to do so."


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    "Keep in mind that over the years, through countless great purges and calamities, very few have managed to obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea, which already speaks to the difficulty of achieving it."


    "And this time, the Eye of the Divine Sea has appeared on the thirty-second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, which makes obtaining it all the more challenging. The difficulty you faced to get here was considerable, and likewise, the difficulty to acquire the Eye of the Divine Sea will be just as great!"


    The words of Elder Ku Du did not intimidate Ye Chen, who said to him, "Senior, please advise on how to obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea."


    Let alone the fact that the Eye of the Divine Sea is connected to the precious opportunity to go to the Divine Kingdom and participate in the assessment for the "Nine Great God Institutes"¡ªeven without this most valuable award, to help the True God Heavenly Saint beside him escape the mass extinction of the great purge, Ye Chen would not give up the chance to acquire the Eye of the Divine Sea.


    No matter how difficult, he would strive to obtain it!


    He had already breached up to the thirty-second floor of the thirty-three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    He had even broken into the fourth-dimensional space hidden within the thirty-second layer!


    Would he fear the remaining challenges?!


    Observing Ye Chen¡¯s serious demeanor and the determined look in his eyes, Elder Ku Du silently nodded in approval.


    This youth displayed a courageous and unyielding spirit.


    Elder Ku Du said to Ye Chen, "As I mentioned earlier, the Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯s difficulty varies depending on where it appears in the Undersea Divine Palace. Appearing on the thirty-second floor is one of the most challenging scenarios."


    "Aside from the inherent difficulty of entering the thirty-second floor, the greatest challenge is that to gain the Eye of the Divine Sea from the thirty-second floor, one must kill a hundred Ancient Beasts each at the Five Tribulations True God level!"


    A hundred Ancient Beasts at the Five Tribulations True God level?


    This is the greatest challenge?


    Ye Chen thought he had heard wrong.


    After all, in the thirteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, he faced the assault of more than a thousand Five Tribulations and Six Tribulations True God level demon creatures of the Flame Scorcher Clan and had even slain thousands of them in succession.


    To slay Ancient Beasts at the Five Tribulations True God level?


    Ye Chen feels that is hardly a challenge at all!


    Could it be that the issue wasn¡¯t with the Five Tribulations True God level, but with the Ancient Beasts themselves?


    Could these Ancient Beasts have some special trait?


    As Ye Chen was puzzled, Jiang Yao next to him was equally bewildered, when Elder Ku Du spoke again: "These Five Tribulations True God Ancient Beasts are not the same as the demon creatures with the combat power of Five Tribulations True Gods; although these Ancient Beasts are at the Five Tribulations True God level, their actual combat power is far stronger than many Nine Tribulations True God demon creatures inside the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "These Ancient Beasts, just like countless prodigies who can fight above their level, surpass their own realms in combat power!"


    "Forget these Ancient Beasts for now. Young man, if you have the chance to go to the Divine Kingdom someday, do not compare the True Gods there with those of the Minor Spirit Realm. You must understand that the True Gods of the Divine Kingdom are not only very powerful in their practice of True Qi Technique in the True Qi Realm but also extraordinarily strong in other aspects."


    "Many Five Tribulations True Gods of the Divine Kingdom are far superior to Nine Tribulations True Gods from this Minor Spirit Realm!"


    Elder Ku Du¡¯s words made Ye Chen nod repeatedly.


    So that¡¯s how it is!


    Ye Chen was very clear about this, for he was able to combat Seven and Eight Tribulations True Gods in the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint because he cultivated Stellar Power from the Primordial Star Scripture, and he also possessed the Undying Divine Body and the Icebound Divine Body, as well as Divine Soul Category Divine Arts.


    Because of these techniques, Ye Chen far surpassed martial artists of the same level in the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm, even exceeding countless True Gods.


    But this superiority only applied to the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm.


    When Ye Chen would face the formidable beings of the True God Realm from the Divine Kingdom, many of his advantages would no longer be so apparent.


    The Primordial Star Scripture, which might be a trump card surpassing even the Sovereign level, indeed was extraordinarily powerful, but Ye Chen had only cultivated up to the fourth chapter and had not yet fully mastered it.


    And the Divine Body and Divine Soul techniques Ye Chen had cultivated would surely also exist among the True Gods of the Divine Kingdom.


    Even some True Gods, perhaps those taught by Divine Venerable or Sovereign level beings, might possess techniques even more formidable than Ye Chen¡¯s!


    In that case, if Ye Chen wished to battle Eight Tribulations True Gods from the Divine Kingdom while in the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint, it would be nothing but a dream.


    Even if he encountered divine prodigies as exceptional as himself from the Divine Kingdom, he might need to be cautious even against lower-ranking True Gods.


    While Ye Chen might surpass many in the Divine Kingdom, it certainly wouldn¡¯t be as effortless as it was in the Minor Spirit Realm and the thirty-three continents of the Lower Realm.


    Unless he further enhanced his techniques!


    "After truly entering the Divine Kingdom, one must compete with the geniuses of the kingdom; at the very least, there must be no weaknesses," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    The greatest gap between him and the strong practitioners of the Divine Kingdom was likely the difference in their realms.


    This made Ye Chen feel an even greater sense of urgency to break through to the True God Realm!


    As Ye Chen pondered, Elder Ku Du said, "This Ancient Beast of the Five-Tribulations True God level was cultivated by a warrior of the Divine Venerable Realm. Its true combat power surpasses that of an ordinary Nine Tribulations True God. Thus, to slay a hundred such Ancient Beasts is exceedingly difficult!"


    "Young lad, are you ready to take on this most difficult challenge and seize the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯?"


    Hearing that these Five-Tribulations True God Ancient Beasts actually had combat power surpassing that of ordinary Nine Tribulations True Gods, and that he had to slay a hundred of them, even Jiang Yao began to worry for Ye Chen.


    And Ye Chen took a deep breath himself.


    Previously, in his battle against the elder patriarch of the Flying Spirit Clan, his combat power had not reached the level to fight an ordinary Nine Tribulations True God without resorting to the method of Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill.


    If it had been before, Ye Chen would not have been confident in slaying a hundred such Ancient Beasts.


    But now, Ye Chen had a new technique up his sleeve.


    He had not fully tested this technique yet, but now, it was time to thoroughly put it to the test.


    Ye Chen said to Elder Ku Du, "Senior, I am ready. No matter how powerful those Ancient Beasts are, I want to give it a try!"


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s expression, Elder Ku Du nodded his head.


    Whoosh!


    With a spread of his hand, a miniature ancient pagoda appeared in his palm.


    "Within this ancient pagoda are contained the Eye of the Divine Sea and a hundred Ancient Beasts. Only by killing all hundred Ancient Beasts will you be able to obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea."


    "If you fail to kill these hundred Ancient Beasts, you may even lose your life inside."


    "I¡¯ll ask you one last time, are you sure you want to challenge the tower, slay the Ancient Beasts, and seize the Eye of the Divine Sea?"


    Elder Ku Du lifted the pagoda, looking at Ye Chen as he spoke.


    "Ye Chen..." Jiang Yao looked at Ye Chen with concern as well.


    Even Tianji True God, who was nearby, began to worry for the young lad. Having followed Elder Ku Du in his cultivation, he naturally knew how formidable these Ancient Beasts cultivated by Divine Venerables from the Divine Kingdom could be. Although they were only Five-Tribulations True God level Ancient Beasts, their combat power was nothing to scoff at!


    Seeing the concerned looks from Jiang Yao and Tianji True God, Ye Chen smiled, nodding at Tianji True God and transmitting his voice to Jiang Yao, "It¡¯s alright, Yao¡¯er. Even if I cannot defeat these Ancient Beasts, it¡¯s impossible for them to kill me. You¡¯ve forgotten that I still have one use of Emperor Yan¡¯s Three Flashes Three Kills escape technique. If it comes to it, I¡¯ll simply flash out of there."


    "Besides, I might not necessarily be defeated by these Ancient Beasts!"


    Ye Chen then gazed directly at the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword" in his hands.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Jiang Yao nodded her head. She even took out the feather given to her by Mrs. He and handed it to Ye Chen, also telling him how to activate the feather.


    Jiang Yao said to Ye Chen, "Take this feather for safety¡¯s sake."


    When Elder Ku Du saw the feather Jiang Yao presented, a flash of recognition shone in his eyes.


    Of course, he recognized the Sovereign-level power on the feather!


    This was a Protective Talisman created by a Sovereign Realm expert to safeguard oneself¡ªall it required was activation.


    Elder Ku Du also sensed the familiar power within the feather.


    Looking at Jiang Yao, he thought with some surprise, "It seems this young girl has had quite the opportunity to have met Mrs. He herself."


    Aside from his secluded cultivation, Elder Ku Du had only observed the Undersea Divine Palace when he collected the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators for the thirty-second layer. At that time, Jiang Yao was cultivating on the thirty-third layer while Ye Chen was in the Void Celestial Gourd, so Elder Ku Du hadn¡¯t noticed the encounter between Jiang Yao, Mrs. He, and the nine Female Divine Venerables.


    While Elder Ku Du reflected, Ye Chen also accepted the feather. He knew Jiang Yao¡¯s intentions; without taking the feather, she would surely be extremely worried.


    However, Ye Chen did not plan to use the feather to either escape or slay enemies. First, Jiang Yao had mentioned that the feather could only be used against three opponents. Mrs. He intended to prevent Jiang Yao from becoming overly reliant on it, leaving only three chances for one-on-one combat. Given there were a hundred Ancient Beasts to face, it clearly would not suffice, just like the three uses of Emperor Yan¡¯s Three Flashes Three Kills would not.


    Secondly, Ye Chen was eager to test the new technique he had just cultivated!


    After securing Mrs. He¡¯s Divine Feather, Ye Chen looked at Elder Ku Du and said, "Senior, please open this ancient pagoda and let me enter to claim the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯."


    Seeing Ye Chen determined to enter the ancient pagoda and seize the "Eye of the Divine Sea," Elder Ku Du no longer hesitated.


    With a flicker of Divine Light from his hand, the tiny pagoda began to spin and grow before their eyes until it landed on the ground, transforming into a colossal Pagoda.


    The grand doors of the Pagoda swung open towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen gave Jiang Yao a reassuring smile, nodded at Thousand Mechanisms True God and Elder Ku Du, and then "whooshed" as he flew into the ancient tower.

 Chapter 613 - 566: Bloody Battle at the Ancient Tower

    Seeing Ye Chen fly into the ancient tower, even though she knew Ye Chen had the Emperor Yan¡¯s triple-flash triple-slash and the divine feather technique, Jiang Yao¡¯s delicate little face couldn¡¯t help but show concern.


    Beside Elder Ku Du, the quiet little boy and the Thousand Extremes True God both turned their gaze to Elder Ku Du.


    Elder Ku Du nodded, smiled gently, and with a flick of his finger in the air, a screen of light appeared in the void.


    The screen revealed the scene inside the ancient tower!


    Looking at the screen, Ye Chen was already within the world of the ancient tower.


    The inner world of the ancient tower.


    It was a desolate wasteland.


    As soon as Ye Chen stepped into it, he saw a hundred huge beasts lying on the ground.


    "Could it be that these are the supremely powerful ancient beasts?"


    Ye Chen sized up the hundred beasts, noticed that each truly possessed the aura of a fifth calamity True God, but their surging combat power was clearly different from that of ordinary fifth calamity True Gods.


    The sense of threat to Ye Chen was even stronger than the one brought by the former chieftains of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan!


    And these huge beasts were also quite strange in appearance, as each beast exuded an indescribable ancient aura. Each beast was over two hundred zhang long and resembled the Divine Lions of ancient legends, with a strong and powerful body, mysterious cold light shining from their divine eyes, and their enormous lion heads were crowned with long manes that glimmered with divine light.


    But there was one unusual trait¡ªthese beasts that resembled lions had tails like Divine Pythons, complete with a serpent-headed tip on each tail.


    Divine Python Lions!


    If a warrior from the Divine Kingdom were to recognize this species, they would know that these fierce ancient creatures were bred from ancient blood remnants on a stone tablet!


    Battle prowess unmatched by fierce ancient beasts!


    Ye Chen also saw a crystal clear blue spherical crystal hovering in the void behind the hundred giant ancient beasts, shining down on what lay below like an eye that could penetrate anyone¡¯s mind.


    Was this sparkling clear blue spherical crystal none other than the "Eye of the Divine Sea," the supremely desired object seen on the rule talisman for warriors who entered the Undersea Divine Palace, an object coveted by countless people?!


    At that moment, this "Eye of the Divine Sea" blue crystal was enveloped in powerful restrictions emanating an energy that even made Ye Chen shudder, clearly far surpassing the restriction power Ye Chen could currently comprehend!


    To break these restrictions and obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea, it seemed that one would have to obey the rule and slay a hundred ancient beasts!


    The Eye of the Divine Sea!


    Right behind these hundred ancient beasts!


    Within the thirty-second layer of space in the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Looking at the "Eye of the Divine Sea," Ye Chen¡¯s breath tightened.


    As long as he could kill the hundred ancient beasts in front of him, then this pinnacle treasure allowing all warriors to escape the cataclysm, this pinnacle treasure granting the right to participate in the Divine Kingdom¡¯s nine great godly institutes¡¯ examinations, would be his!


    As Ye Chen was examining the ancient beasts and the Eye of the Divine Sea, the hundred beasts lying on the wasteland, as if sensing an intruder entering their territory, all stood up in an instant with a series of thunderous movements.


    The aura emanating from the hundred beasts suddenly burst forth, filling the entire wasteland with endless killing intent.


    In the next instant, the hundred ancient beasts, like a sheet of rain, charged madly towards Ye Chen.


    A hundred ancient beasts with combat strength surpassing that of a ninth calamity True God!


    This terrifying onslaught would have likely caused Real Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm to die from sheer fear!


    Even the previously encountered chieftains of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan, nine calamity True Gods themselves, would have been terrified to their core!


    This "Eye of the Divine Sea" challenge proved to be the most difficult in the Undersea Divine Palace, inconceivably tough!


    Seeing the soaring ancient beast aura charging towards him, Ye Chen¡¯s expression immediately turned grave. Then, with a "swoosh," Ye Chen drew his Purple Lightning Divine Sword.


    Before, Ye Chen did not feel confident fighting against a ninth calamity True God, but since he had just comprehended the third killing move of the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, the ultimate forbidden sword technique "Purple Lightning," he now possessed the means to battle beings of this level of combat strength.


    The ultimate forbidden sword technique "Purple Lightning" could unleash all of the hidden restrictions in the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, transforming its power to the level of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact. Being akin to the level of a divine king, Ye Chen certainly dared to clash with these ancient beasts.


    Whoosh.


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    Sword in hand, Ye Chen began to furiously channel True Qi and combat strength into the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, triggering hundreds of zhang of radiant purple arcs that pierced the sky.


    At this moment, the dozen or so ancient beasts closest to Ye Chen had already lunged towards him!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In an instant, Ye Chen¡¯s figure danced through the air, soaring into the void. He erupted with a thousand zhang tall astral power and, at the same time, the hundreds of zhang of radiant purple arcs emitted from his Purple Lightning Divine Sword rapidly retracted into the sword.


    Following this, Ye Chen, wielding the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, turned to face the oncoming ancient beast closest to him and with a sudden swing, unleashed a sword strike.


    In that instant, the dazzling spectrum previously absorbed into the sword burgeoned from the Purple Lightning Divine Sword with a might that swelled to dozens of times its size, and burst forth once again!


    This sword strike, unstoppable!


    This sword strike, was Ye Chen¡¯s strongest technique he could muster now!


    With one slash, a thousand-zhang long sword rainbow, like peerless Purple Lightning, cleaved through the sky, its sword Qi piercing through, grinding everything to nothingness!


    In the end, it fell directly upon the Ancient Beast closest to Ye Chen.


    Spurt!


    Even though this Ancient Beast¡¯s strength had surpassed that of a common nine tribulations True God, it was still directly slain by Ye Chen with one strike from the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact in the midst of the arena.


    Boom!


    At the moment that Ancient Beast was slain, a restriction on the distant "Eye of the Divine Sea" directly shattered.


    The slaying of the Ancient Beast and the breaking of the restriction on the "Eye of the Divine Sea" left Ye Chen no time to feel joy, as more Ancient Beasts had already pounced in front of him.


    And at this moment, Ye Chen was powerless to stop them.


    The previous "Purple Lightning" Ultimate Sword Technique had almost completely drained Ye Chen¡¯s strength in one go, leaving him with only enough cultivation and combat power to use the ultimate move of the Purple Lightning Divine Sword once.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In just a moment, five Ancient Beasts lunged fiercely before Ye Chen, their massive paws thundering down in a smack, sending Ye Chen flying tens of thousands of zhang, violently crashing into the ground, his body shattering layer by layer, blood spilling all over!


    Outside the ancient tower.


    Seeing Ye Chen conjure the sword technique and instantly slay an Ancient Beast, Thousand Extremes True God and the young boy both gasped in amazement.


    They had never expected that this youth in the middle stage of Heaven Sanctity was also a supreme talent capable of combat beyond his realm! And it was not merely a simple cross-realm battle; this youth had managed at the realm of middle-stage Heaven Sanctity to possess a fighting strength that matched an Ancient Beast surpassing a nine tribulations True God!


    This degree of crossing realms, even in the Divine Kingdom, would definitely belong to a truly remarkable talent!


    Many Divine Envoys of the Divine Kingdom would likely vie to cultivate such a talent!


    Not only were Thousand Extremes True God and the young boy shocked, but Elder Ku Du was somewhat trembling as well.


    He murmured, "This young warrior actually possesses such a formidable killing move. It seems that he truly has the qualifications to go to the nine great Divine Institutes of the Divine Kingdom for cultivation!"


    "However... it¡¯s a pity his realm is too low. I¡¯m afraid his combat power won¡¯t support such a powerful killing move."


    No sooner had Elder Ku Du¡¯s voice fallen than Ye Chen within the ancient tower was violently smacked by five Ancient Beasts and sent flying tens of thousands of zhang, his flesh torn and blood oozing everywhere. This sight caused both Thousand Extremes True God and the young boy to cry out in alarm.


    And Jiang Yao, even more anxious, shouted, "Ye Chen!"


    Jiang Yao was shocked by Ye Chen¡¯s powerful combat strength as she saw him slay an Ancient Beast, but Ye Chen was facing a hundred Ancient Beasts of that caliber, not just one.


    Now, seeing that the remaining Ancient Beasts were all pouncing towards Ye Chen and that he was exhausted, Jiang Yao was so worried she almost wanted to fly into the ancient tower regardless of everything else.


    Just as Jiang Yao¡¯s mind went blank, Elder Ku Du waved his hand broadly, a power enveloping Jiang Yao and halting her movement. At the same time, Elder Ku Du let out a light exclamation, "Don¡¯t panic yet, this young man still has some tricks up his sleeve!"


    He still has tricks?!


    Thousand Extremes True God and the young boy both looked towards Ye Chen on the screen.


    Jiang Yao too looked towards Ye Chen, her eyes brimming with tears.


    To their surprise, Ye Chen¡¯s body, which had been battered to the point where his flesh was torn and blood streaming, was suddenly healing at an incredible speed. In an instant, he had completely recovered to his original state.


    At the same time, Ye Chen reached out and grabbed a bundle of True God Talismans, appearing directly in his hand.


    Ye Chen clenched his fist, and the peerless power of the True God surged wildly towards him.


    This boundless power of the True God, when added up, was incredibly powerful, perhaps far surpassing a nine tribulations True God. If an ordinary warrior were to absorb so much power at once, their body would likely explode into pieces and die.


    But Ye Chen, he could withstand all that power!


    Seeing this scene, Elder Ku Du exclaimed in admiration, "The youth¡¯s True Qi was already extremely powerful, and to think, his willpower and physical techniques are just as formidable."


    "His previous severe injury was fully endured by his willpower, and moreover, he stimulated a potent Divine Body technique that instantaneously healed the wounds."


    "This Divine Body technique is likely the famous - Undying Divine Body technique renowned even in the grand Divine Kingdom of Wan Mu Mountain!"


    Elder Ku Du¡¯s speculations were correct!


    Ye Chen relied on the Undying Divine Body and the Icebound Divine Body to withstand the brutal blow from the five Ancient Beasts, and the True God Talismans in his hand were from that multitude obtained from the main hall of the Icebound Temple.


    At this moment, the exhausted Ye Chen could only rely on these True God Talismans.


    He certainly had to infuse the power of the True God Talismans into his body to battle these Ancient Beasts once more!

 Chapter 614 - 567: Great Tremor

    ```


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    ```


    ```


    Everything unfolded in the blink of an eye. Just as Ye Chen was sent flying tens of thousands of feet away, nearly dying, and the remaining ancient beasts saw that Ye Chen had not been killed in one move and once again pounced to finish him, Ye Chen absorbed a large amount of power from the True God Talisman. His combat power within instantly recovered to its peak, and even surpassed his original peak.


    ```


    ```


    Next, with the "Purple Lightning" in his hand, Ye Chen unleashed his ultimate sword technique once more.


    ```


    ```


    This time, it wasn¡¯t just a single strike, but three consecutive sword strikes!


    ```


    ```


    With each strike, an ancient beast was slaughtered, and with three strikes, Ye Chen had directly killed three ancient beasts!


    ```


    ```


    After the three ancient beasts were slain, their entire bodies were completely obliterated by the restraining sword technique of the Purple Lightning, leaving not a trace of their divine power to escape.


    ```


    ```


    Clearly, Ye Chen, who had fully unleashed the killing power of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," was now fully capable of dealing with such ancient beasts.


    ```


    ```


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    ```


    ```


    The constraints on the "Eye of the Divine Sea" broke three times more after the death of another three ancient beasts.


    ```


    ```


    The "Eye of the Divine Sea," wrapped in layers of constraints, was becoming clearer and clearer to see.


    ```


    ```


    At that moment, on the earth below and in the heavens above, the remaining ninety-six ancient beasts were also struck by Ye Chen¡¯s thunderous methods, even experiencing a momentary freeze in the void.


    ```


    ```


    The next instant, they all roared towards the sky, and even their tails, which resembled those of a Divine Python, emitted piercing screeches.


    ```


    ```


    The Desolate Python Divine Lions, creatures with the Ancient Desolate Bloodline, are known to grow stronger as the battle rages on, fighting until the very end!


    ```


    ```


    Although Ye Chen¡¯s methods had shaken them, it had also ignited their fighting spirit.


    ```


    ```


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    ```


    ```


    Amidst their roars towards the heavens, the aura of these ancient beast giants surged once again, and the ninety-six of them formed an encirclement, trapping Ye Chen within.


    ```


    ```


    After realizing they could not defeat Ye Chen one-on-one, they decided to gang up and attack him simultaneously.


    ```


    ```


    Surrounded by the ninety-six ancient beast giants, Ye Chen stood in the air, wielding the Purple Lightning Divine Sword.


    ```


    ```


    The fierce wind blew, whistling through Ye Chen¡¯s black hair as it fluttered in the air.


    ```


    ```


    Casting a glance at the "Eye of the Divine Sea," where four constraints had shattered, Ye Chen pointed his "Purple Lightning Divine Sword" down and held all the True God Talismans he had obtained from the main hall of the Icebound Temple in his other hand.


    ```


    ```


    "Come then, let¡¯s engage in a true blood battle!" Ye Chen called out to the ancient beast giants.


    ```


    ```


    In the next moment, Ye Chen and the Desolate Python Divine Lions, scattered in the void, all moved simultaneously.


    ```


    ```


    In an instant, the entire world was filled with the presence of killing intent!


    ```


    ```


    All one could hear were terrifying roars of the lions and the poignant whistling of the sword, echoing to the extreme.


    ```


    ```


    The true blood battle had begun. Amidst the pervasive killing intent, Jiang Yao, Thousand Extremes True God, and the Little Child could no longer see clearly what was happening in the battle.


    ```


    ```


    However.


    ```


    ```


    They all saw that as the battle against the ninety-six ancient beasts waged on, the constraints on the "Eye of the Divine Sea" continued to break.


    ``` Enjoy exclusive chapters from novelhall.Co?m


    ```


    This indicated that Ye Chen was still slaughtering these ancient beasts.


    ```


    ```


    Even while facing the onslaught of the horde of ancient beasts, Ye Chen kept on killing!


    ```


    ```


    The only one who could see the specifics of the battle was Elder Ku Du.


    ```


    ```


    Elder Ku Du, a warrior of the Sovereign Realm, could not be obstructed by the light from such a battle.


    ```


    ```


    And as he observed the battle, Elder Ku Du¡¯s heart stirred with tumultuous waves.


    ```


    ```


    He could see more clearly than Jiang Yao, Thousand Extremes True God, and the Little Child, of course, and had a clearer view of the situation within the great battle.


    ```


    ```


    In the midst of the battle, although Ye Chen was continuously slaying ancient beasts, his own situation was also quite dire.


    ```


    ```


    Facing the assault of dozens of incredibly powerful ancient beasts, Ye Chen too was wounded countless times. Even though he possessed the powerful physiques of the Icebound Divine Body and the Undying Divine Body, his body was covered in blood!


    ```


    ```


    After being lashed several times by the tails of the Desolate Python Divine Lions, which were akin to those of a Divine Python, Ye Chen even spewed out several mouthfuls of blood.


    ```


    ```


    But Elder Ku Du saw that the hand Ye Chen used to hold the Divine Sword did not tremble or waver in the slightest!


    ```


    ```


    Despite his injuries, Ye Chen kept on attacking!


    ```


    ```


    "This young man knows that he cannot show weakness or cease attacking, because the moment he stops, he might very well be dead the next second!"


    ```


    ```


    "This young man is now relying solely on willpower to sustain the fight!"


    ```


    ```


    In the end, Elder Ku Du could not bear to watch anymore.


    ```


    ```


    Like Jiang Yao, Thousand Extremes True God, and the Little Child, he too, turned his attention to the continuously breaking constraints on the "Eye of the Divine Sea."


    ```


    ```


    "His realm is still too weak. If it weren¡¯t for the power provided by the True God Talismans, he probably would have exhausted his strength long ago. For this young lad to fight to this extent at the middle stage of the Heavenly Saint realm is already inconceivable. His combat power, even if placed within the Divine Kingdom, would be a match for those peerless geniuses!"


    ```


    ```


    "At the same level, even against geniuses cultivated by warriors of the Sovereign Realm, he is not at all inferior!"


    ```


    ```


    "It¡¯s unimaginable how powerful he will become once he raises his realm."


    ```


    ```


    "I truly wish for him to go and cultivate in the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes.¡¯ If he does, the institutes might once again produce a Divine Venerable or even a Sovereign!"


    ```


    ```


    Elder Ku Du thought to himself.


    ```


    In the midst of Elder Ku Du¡¯s contemplation, he heard exclamations from Little Child and Thousand Extremes True God beside him, "Another seal has been broken!"


    "Ye Chen has now broken a total of eighty-five seals!"


    When Elder Ku Du looked back towards the great battle, he could already see that only fifteen of the Desolate Python Divine Lions remained in the battle.


    At this moment, Jiang Yao¡¯s heart was also occupied by various emotions such as pride, admiration, fear, and more.


    She was proud of Ye Chen¡¯s strength!


    She admired Ye Chen even more for being able to contend with Ancient Beasts nurtured by Divine Venerables of the Divine Kingdom with mid-stage Heavenly Saint strength, whose combat power had surpassed that of Martial Artists in the nine calamities True God realm!


    And what she feared was that she couldn¡¯t keep up with Ye Chen¡¯s pace...


    "Grandmother was right, I really need to follow her and cultivate properly. Only by doing so can I keep up with Ye Chen¡¯s pace and explore countless star domains with him!"


    In the end, all such thoughts solidified in Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes, eventually turning into a resolute belief.


    Going to the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain," she must grow, both for Ye Chen and for herself!


    As Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes became firm, when she turned to look at Ye Chen again, she saw that in the space of the ancient tower within the light screen above the sky, Ye Chen¡¯s sword was siling down on the last Ancient Beast...


    Boom!


    With one slash, the Ancient Beast was dead.


    All one hundred Ancient Beasts, as Ye Chen nearly exhausted all the True God Talismans left by the Icebound Divine King in the Icebound Temple¡¯s main hall, were finally slain by him!


    Bang!


    And at that moment, the heavily sealed "Eye of the Divine Sea," its remaining restraints completely shattered and vanished, and the "Eye of the Divine Sea," as if sentient, flew directly towards Ye Chen in the void.


    Looking towards Ye Chen in the void, his whole body was already covered in bloodstains.


    His clothes were tattered, revealing the battle armor he wore underneath.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s eyes were radiating a confidence and determination that no one could ever forget!


    Holding the "Eye of the Divine Sea" in his hand, with every step Ye Chen took, drops of blood fell, and at the same time, the wounds on his body began to heal with incredible speed.


    By the time Ye Chen walked out of the ancient tower, he had fully recovered to his original state!


    ...


    The fifteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God finally managed to get through the "Slaughter Chess Game" guardian level of the fourteenth layer and arrived at the Panpoluo Clan domain on the fifteenth layer.


    The fourteenth layer of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Heavenly Saint Long Xuan could no longer advance on this floor, realizing that her hope of acquiring the Eye of Creation and the Eye of the Divine Sea was utterly dashed.


    The twelfth, eighth, and sixth layers of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    True Gods and Heavenly Saints from the Divine Phoenix Clan, who had been brought back from various parts of the thirty-three continents, like Palace Master Yuan Li and others, also stopped in their tracks, their faces showing a look of disappointment and sorrow.


    And then there were the fifth, seventh, ninth, and other layers of the Undersea Divine Palace, where True Gods and Heavenly Saints who had not yet perished in the trials of the Palace remained.


    All these individuals were filled with worry and despair.


    As the Great Purge calamity approached, they were all halted by various difficult situations, and upon hearing that the Eye of Creation had been obtained one by one ahead, they had nothing to show for it!


    They knew that the only outcome awaiting them was to be obliterated by the Great Purge calamity.


    Unless.


    Unless someone could obtain the "Eye of the Divine Sea," only then could they be saved.


    But the Eye of the Divine Sea, ah, the most precious treasure of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Who could possibly obtain it?


    Just when countless Heavenly Saints and True Gods were in despair, a voice echoed across all thirty-three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace, "The Eye of the Divine Sea has been obtained by a Martial Artist!"


    As this voice echoed across all thirty-three layers of the Undersea Divine Palace, all the True Gods and Heavenly Saints, including Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, Palace Master Yuan Li, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and many others, stood up in disbelief.


    "The Eye of the Divine Sea has been obtained?!"


    "Who could it be?!"


    All of them cried out in a thrilled exclamation!


    The acquisition of the Eye of the Divine Sea meant that this person had saved the lives of everyone¡ªhow could it not make these Martial Artists ecstatic?!


    "The Eye of the Divine Sea has been obtained."


    "My God, this time the Eye of the Divine Sea is rumored to be on the thirty-second layer, a situation said to be the hardest to come by! In the past, it seemed like no one could obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea on this layer! Who has managed to do it this time?!" Inside the Undersea Divine Palace on the fourteenth layer, the Rock Giant Divine King, whose massive body spanned more than five thousand zhang, stood up from his seated position in shock.


    As he speculated about who might have obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea, the Rock Giant Divine King suddenly thought of someone¡ªthe young man who had once helped it solve the Creation Chess Game¡ªYe Chen.


    "Could it be Young Friend Ye Chen who obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea?" the Rock Giant Divine King said with a thundering voice.


    "It must be Young Friend Ye Chen, it has to be Ye Chen!"


    In the end, the Rock Giant Divine King asserted with certainty!

 Chapter 615 - 568 Supreme Divine Institute

    ```


    Not only did the Rock Giant Divine King stand up, but all the other lethal life forms on the various floors of the Undersea Divine Palace also rose to their feet, their gazes turning toward the depths of the Divine Palace.


    The three brothers of the Panpoluo Clan that Ye Chen had encountered also flew up from the sea, looking down below.


    Their guess was that the one who had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea was also Ye Chen.


    Meanwhile, the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators on the thirty-second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace had already gone completely mad!


    They knew that the Eye of the Divine Sea was within the Giant Sword; they clearly heard the mystical message emanating from the Giant Sword, "The Eye of the Divine Sea within the Giant Sword has been acquired by someone!"


    These tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators were all wondering whether the Eye of the Divine Sea was obtained by the eight who entered first, or by the last ones to enter, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Among these tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and Qing Shuang True God knew that the one who had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea was either Jiang Yao or Ye Chen!


    How could it be those eight who had entered long before and had not obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea!


    At that moment, the eight True God Sword Cultivators in the Giant Sword Space, including the Beiming Clan¡¯s chief and the Blood God Clan¡¯s chief, were already greatly shaken when they saw Ye Chen and Jiang Yao disappear. They exclaimed in shock, "The Eye of the Divine Sea has been acquired? Those two friends just vanished; they must have entered a deeper space. Did they truly find the Eye of the Divine Sea?!"


    The eight of them could hardly believe it!


    Just as the outside world was boiling over with the news that Ye Chen had obtained the "Eye of the Divine Sea," within the desolate space, Ye Chen had already walked out of the ancient tower and approached Jiang Yao, Elder Ku Du, Thousand Extremes True God, and the Little Child.


    Seeing Ye Chen come out, Jiang Yao threw herself into his arms. She looked at Ye Chen with tearful eyes, incessantly saying, "Ye Chen, you¡¯ve succeeded, you really did it!"


    Thinking of Ye Chen obtaining the Eye of the Divine Sea, which could save countless lives; thinking of Ye Chen using the reward from the Eye of the Divine Sea to go to the Divine Kingdom and participate in the assessment for the nine great Divine Institutes, Jiang Yao was overwhelmed with excitement.


    Ye Chen stroked Jiang Yao¡¯s waterfall-like black hair, smiling as he kissed her fair forehead.


    He could feel Jiang Yao¡¯s excitement and thrill, and of course, he himself was also positively elated!


    Seeing the closeness between Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the nearby Thousand Extremes True God seemed to recall his past with Heavenly Saint Lian Yue, murmuring in his heart, "Lian Yue, once this great cleansing calamity concludes, I will be able to return..." Discover more content at novelhall.Co?m


    When Elder Ku Du saw the intimacy between Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, his eyes also flashed with a hint of yearning.


    He had turned to the Buddhist path and was practicing asceticism in the Undersea Divine Palace to attempt a breakthrough to a higher realm from the Sovereign Realm, but there was another reason for this, related to a female cultivator.


    While Elder Ku Du was gently sighing to himself, Ye Chen had already led Jiang Yao to his side.


    Ye Chen asked Elder Ku Du, "Senior, I have obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea. How should I use this treasure to protect others from the annihilation of the great cleansing calamity? Also, about the reward for the slot to participate in the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment in the Divine Kingdom, how do I claim it?"


    Elder Ku Du, seeing the divine blue spherical crystal "Eye of the Divine Sea" in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, smiled and said to Ye Chen, "To protect others from the annihilation of the great cleansing calamity? That¡¯s quite simple. On the last day of the treasure hunt during the great cleansing calamity, all the living Martial Artists will be transported back to the first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace. If someone has the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ they can leave the Undersea Divine Palace directly with its help."


    "If they don¡¯t have the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ the person who possesses the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ simply needs to channel True Qi into the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ and shine it towards any Martial Artist, and that person will be able to leave the Undersea Divine Palace safely. Of course, the one with the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ can choose not to save others. However, those who have obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea previously generally helped everyone else leave, except their enemies."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He had obtained the "Eye of the Divine Sea," and certainly wouldn¡¯t use it just for himself; he would also help others escape the annihilation of the great cleansing calamity.


    However...


    Given the miraculous use of the "Eye of the Divine Sea" as described by Elder Ku Du, Ye Chen immediately thought that he shouldn¡¯t release some Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan that easily.


    Those from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan had genocidal enmity with Jiang Yao¡¯s Divine Phoenix Clan, with many responsible for the deaths of Divine Phoenix Clan members.


    He had already dealt with the old clan leaders from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, but he certainly couldn¡¯t let the others who had invaded the Divine Phoenix Clan go!


    At this thought, Ye Chen exchanged a glance with Jiang Yao, and she understood what was in his heart.


    "Alright, regarding the matter of using the Eye of the Divine Sea to save others, you can decide on your own when the time comes," Elder Ku Du seemed to have noticed Ye Chen¡¯s conflicts with some Heavenly Saint True Gods in the Undersea Divine Palace, but as a being of the Sovereign Realm, he did not concern himself with the grudges among the juniors.


    Elder Ku Du continued to speak to Ye Chen, "As for the slot reward for the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment in the Divine Kingdom you asked about, that is simple, too. The quota reward is with me."


    Whoosh.


    ```


    As Elder Ku Du spoke, a token engraved with the image of the Ninefold Mountain Range appeared in his hand. He handed the token over to Ye Chen, "With this token, you can directly participate in the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯¡¯ assessment. Take good care of this token. Should you lose it, you would miss this opportunity."


    "Is it this token?" When he heard Elder Ku Du¡¯s words, Ye Chen took a closer look at the token in his hand, then he promptly secured the token on his person.


    Since Elder Ku Du mentioned that losing the token would mean missing the chance, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t allow anything to happen to it!


    At that point, Elder Ku Du turned to Ye Chen and said, "Young man, although you have obtained the opportunity to go to the Divine Kingdom and participate in the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯¡¯ examination, I have also witnessed your combat power."


    "However, I still need to remind you that although your combat power, for your current Heavenly Saint mid-stage realm, is exceptionally strong, even greater than those of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s top talents in the same stage, it¡¯s still not enough to smoothly pass the assessment of the strongest ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ and enter one of them for cultivation. Because those you will be competing against are not the Heavenly Saints of the Divine Kingdom but the True Gods of the Divine Kingdom, and they are very powerful True Gods! Especially if you want to enter the most powerful ¡¯Supreme Divine Institute¡¯ among the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯, with your current strength, it is absolutely not enough!"


    Elder Ku Du¡¯s words made Ye Chen inwardly shiver, causing Jiang Yao¡¯s little face to tense up.


    Before Ye Chen could speak, Jiang Yao couldn¡¯t help but ask, "Senior, is the assessment of the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ very difficult? And the most powerful ¡¯Supreme Divine Institute¡¯ you mentioned, what level of combat power is needed to enter?"


    Elder Ku Du said, "The ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯¡¯ assessment is a selection of disciples for the most powerful divine institutes in the entire Divine Kingdom. Many descendants of Divine Venerables don¡¯t even have the qualifications to participate in the assessment. Think about it, what kind of immense combat power would be needed to enter the assessment and stand out from the rest?"


    "From my experience back when I was in the Divine Kingdom, to ensure with absolute certainty that you can join one of the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯, at the very least, your combat power must be able to match and remain unbeaten against True Gods of the Eighth and Ninth Tribulations, who possess extremely formidable Essence, Qi, and Spirit in the Divine Kingdom!"


    "In other words, even if you are to face the immensely powerful True Gods of the Eighth and Ninth Tribulations in the Divine Kingdom, you need to be able to match them in combat to have confidence in entering the Nine Great Divine Institutes."


    Elder Ku Du¡¯s words made Ye Chen clench his fists as well.


    He knew that the geniuses nurtured by the powerful Divine Venerables of the Divine Kingdom were not as simple as the True Gods of the Minor Spirit Realm. Just like the Five Tribulations True God ancient beast that he had just battled, which was nurtured by a Divine Venerable from the Divine Kingdom, its combat power far surpassed that of the Nine Tribulations True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm.


    If even the Five Tribulations True God ancient beast was so difficult to deal with, reaching a level where he could defeat those immensely powerful Eight and Nine Tribulations True Gods in the Divine Kingdom would certainly be even more challenging.


    Even if he had the Primordial Star Scripture, a secret technique not even possessed by Divine Venerables or Sovereigns, he still had to cultivate the Primordial Star Scripture even more deeply.


    Moreover, his realm was still too low. For a mid-stage Heavenly Saint to fight against the topmost True Gods of the Divine Kingdom across different realms was clearly not enough. At least, he likely had to break through to the True God Realm to have a glimmer of hope.


    After explaining the general situation of the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment, Elder Ku Du mentioned, "As for the ¡¯Supreme Divine Institute¡¯, it is the top institute among the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯. If you wish to attempt entry into this institute, you must not have any weaknesses at all! Real combat power, even strong enough to defeat ordinary Lower God Kings, is required to have a chance."


    To defeat an ordinary Lower God King?


    One must know, Divine Kings are beings who can transcend the limits of one part of heaven and earth and enter the Divine Kingdom.


    Furthermore, it is said that after evolving from a True God to a Divine King, the Divine Power inside one¡¯s body will transform, increasing their strength manifold!


    Such beings, let alone their explosive increase in strength, just the fact that they could rise from a Star Continent already ensures they are no weaklings.


    This challenge wasn¡¯t just about matching them in battle, but truly defeating them. Just thinking about it shows how difficult it would be!


    Luckily Elder Ku Du mentioned defeating the ordinary Lower God Kings. If one were to speak of defeating Lower God Kings reared by the powerful Divine Venerables in the Divine Kingdom, then the difficulty would be unimaginably higher.


    "Young man, the ¡¯Supreme Divine Institute¡¯, along with the various Territory Kings of the Divine Kingdom and even the current ruler of the Divine Kingdom, all emerged from it. It¡¯s the most profound among the Nine Great Divine Institutes."


    "If you can enter there to cultivate, that¡¯s truly a marvelous fortune!"


    Elder Ku Du said with a sigh.


    "Senior, how much longer until the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯¡¯ assessment takes place?" Ye Chen inquired from Elder Ku Du.


    If the assessment was scheduled to take place soon, then Ye Chen, with his current realm, might not have much hope of entering the "Supreme Divine Institute". But if Ye Chen was given more time to further strengthen the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, then he would have some certainty of making a challenge.


    "The ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯¡¯ assessment occurs one year after the end of the Lower Realms¡¯ Great Cleansing Catastrophe. That is to say, you have just over a year to prepare for this major assessment," Elder Ku Du said to Ye Chen.


    One year?


    Ye Chen felt a tightness in his heart.


    This time was too short.


    By the time he reached the Divine Kingdom, this time would almost be up.

 Chapter 616 - 569: Nine Swords of Annihilation

    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s solemn expression, Elder Ku Du looked at him seriously and said, "Young man, I have observed your battle with the ancient beast. Your physical skills possess the Undying Divine Body, and although you have not fully cultivated it, this Undying Divine Body would be considered absolutely powerful even in the Divine Kingdom. Your physical skills are not weaker when compared to the peerless geniuses in the Divine Kingdom."


    "Your True Qi Technique, your special True Qi, is the key to your ability to combat across realms. I, too, sensed a powerful and extraordinary force within it. Unfortunately, your realm is still far from sufficient. If you were able to break through to the True God Realm or even to the level of Two Tribulations True God or Three Tribulations True God, perhaps your True Qi Technique could also cross realms and battle with those True God Heaven¡¯s Chosen in the Divine Kingdom!"


    "However, your Divine Soul skills are the weakest. I see you have not cultivated any truly formidable Divine Soul tactics."


    Hearing Elder Ku Du¡¯s words, Ye Chen could not help but admire the vision of this Sovereign Realm powerhouse.


    He had directly seen the extraordinary nature of the Primordial Star Scripture¡¯s Primordial Chapter¡¯s stellar power that Ye Chen cultivated, as well as Ye Chen¡¯s insufficient realm and the weakness in his soul tactics.


    As for Divine Soul tactics, although Ye Chen had practiced them in the Minor Pole Sky, his actual combat means only consisted of the Destruction Eye Skills, which was a Divine Art from the Minor Spirit Realm. If placed in the Divine Kingdom, it was, like many of the techniques he had cultivated before, somewhat insufficient.


    Indeed, as Elder Ku Du pointed out, only Ye Chen¡¯s Primordial Star Scripture¡¯s techniques and skills like the Undying Divine Body and Icebound Divine Body could still hold their ground in the Divine Kingdom.


    "It seems that in addition to raising my realm, I need to continue cultivating several powerful skills!" Ye Chen thought to himself.


    As Ye Chen pondered ways to make himself stronger, Elder Ku Du sighed and said to Ye Chen, "Young man, being able to achieve what you have in the lower realm is already incredibly difficult. You can be said to be a true rare Heaven¡¯s Chosen in tens of thousands of years!"


    "Since we are fated to meet, and I am presiding over the most precious ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ challenge in the Undersea Divine Palace, besides the reward from the Eye of the Divine Sea, I will also give you two special rewards."


    Hearing Elder Ku Du¡¯s words, not only did Ye Chen and Jiang Yao feel moved, but even the nearby Thousand Extremes True God and the Little Child turned their attention toward Elder Ku Du.


    Elder Ku Du, a Sovereign Realm powerhouse, was offering Ye Chen a reward; without thinking, one knew how precious it would be.


    Seeing the eager looks of the few youngsters, Elder Ku Du smiled lightly, turned his wrist, and a simple and ancient Manual appeared in his palm.


    "This ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯ Manual is a Divine Soul Category offensive Manual, which, according to the Divine Kingdom¡¯s categorization of Manuals, can be considered a top-grade ¡¯Heaven-reaching Divine Art.¡¯"


    Heaven-reaching Divine Art?!


    Ye Chen had never heard this term before. He had only heard of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, which Divine Kings often used. Could it be that Heaven-reaching Divine Arts were at the level of Divine Kings?


    Then why had the Icebound Divine King not left him any Heaven-reaching Divine Arts?


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s puzzled look, the Little Child beside Elder Ku Du spoke up first: "Heaven-reaching Divine Arts are Divine Arts created by Divine Venerables or Sovereigns themselves; even many Upper God Kings don¡¯t have the chance to come into contact with them."


    "And a top-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Art can be said to be the strongest Divine Art that martial artists at the level of True God can cultivate. As for the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts, which are even more powerful than Heaven-reaching Divine Arts, even martial artists with the combat power of True Gods, if they exhausted all their power, could not perform a single move of the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art. For you right now, they are not as useful as the Heaven-reaching Divine Arts."


    The Little Child¡¯s words made Ye Chen draw in a deep breath.


    Heaven-reaching Divine Arts, Divine Arts created by Divine Venerables and Sovereigns!


    And top-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Arts are the strongest Divine Arts that martial artists at the level of True God could cultivate! Enjoy more content from novelhall.Co?m


    As for the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts that could drain all combat power and still not be performed, Ye Chen could relate deeply. When he used the Purple Lightning Divine Sword¡¯s Prohibition moves, allowing the sword to exert the combat power of a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, he could only use one move before his combat power was completely depleted.


    Such was the extraordinariness of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts and Divine Arts.


    As for the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts, without thinking, Ye Chen knew that even if he were to exert all his combat power now, he likely couldn¡¯t activate them in the slightest.


    Such things were still far beyond Ye Chen¡¯s reach, unless he cultivated to the much stronger Divine King Realm.


    Hearing the Little Child explain, Elder Ku Du scolded with a smile: "You Sword Spirit, sure are talkative."


    Elder Ku Du¡¯s teasing scold made the Little Child also stick out his tongue playfully.


    Hearing Elder Ku Du addressing the Little Child as Sword Spirit, Ye Chen came to understand the identity of this Little Child.


    Sword Spirits are said to be born within the Divine Swords of exceptionally powerful Sword Cultivators or are extraordinary beings absorbed by powerful Sword Cultivators into their Divine Swords to become Sword Spirits.


    Given that Elder Ku Du could impart Swordsmanship skills, causing numerous Sword Cultivators to emerge from the Beiming Clan and Blood God Clan, it was clear he had high attainments in the art of the sword. It was not surprising that he had a Sword Spirit.


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s attention returned to the top-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Art "Nine Swords of Annihilation" that Elder Ku Du had just presented.


    Clearly, this was a form of swordsmanship divine art, and it belonged to the category of divine soul attack techniques ¡ª a heaven-reaching divine art!


    Seeing Ye Chen curiously examining the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" manual, Elder Ku Du smiled and handed the manual to Ye Chen, "This manual is the first reward I am giving you."


    "Cultivate well, and if you can master the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯ up to the fourth sword, then your divine soul means won¡¯t fear anyone in the assessments of the ¡¯Nine Great God Institutes.¡¯"


    "Thank you, senior!"


    Holding the manual in his hands, Ye Chen gave a deep bow in gratitude to Elder Ku Du.


    A heaven-reaching divine art, and a high-grade one at that. Only a venerable practitioner like Elder Ku Du could casually offer it ¡ª it was coveted by countless Divine Kings in the Divine Kingdoms. Naturally, Ye Chen was extremely grateful to Elder Ku Du.


    Receiving a high-grade heaven-reaching divine art manual was definitely a tremendous reward for Ye Chen!


    Not only Ye Chen but Jiang Yao also deeply bowed in gratitude to Elder Ku Du, thanking him on behalf of Ye Chen.


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the two youngsters bowing in gratitude, Elder Ku Du waved his hand and chuckled, "Speaking of which, the second reward I have prepared is related to both of you youngsters."


    "Bring out that pair of flying swords you displayed to my little disciple earlier."


    Flying swords?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance.


    They had indeed displayed their flying swords when they first met Thousand Mechanisms True God, to encounter her. Unexpectedly, the second reward Elder Ku Du mentioned was related to these flying swords.


    Could it be that Elder Ku Du intended to help them reforge the flying swords?


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao suspected, they indeed brought out their flying swords.


    Ye Chen¡¯s flying sword, nurtured by the Void Heaven Sword Embryo, had broken through to the divine artifact level, but it was still considered low-grade among divine artifacts. Meanwhile, Jiang Yao¡¯s flying sword had only been nurtured in the Void Heaven Sword Embryo while Ye Chen was by her side. Due to insufficient time, it was still originally at the highest grade of sacred artifact level.


    "A low-grade divine artifact, and a supreme sacred artifact. These are far from enough for you two youngsters," said Elder Ku Du as he lightly summoned the two flying swords into the void, smiling. "Let me enhance this pair of Twin Flying Swords to the supreme heaven-reaching divine artifact level for you."


    "In my martial arts cultivation technique, swordsmanship is supreme, and I still have plenty of materials suitable for reforging these flying swords."


    "A stronger Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact level would be of no use to you right now; you wouldn¡¯t be able to activate it. It would draw too much attention, and might even bring about a major disaster."


    Indeed, as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had guessed, Elder Ku Du truly intended to help them reforge their flying swords!


    As for Elder Ku Du¡¯s statement that a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact could bring a great disaster, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also understood the principle of not flashing wealth too openly, and they naturally did not harbor extravagant hopes of obtaining a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact just yet.


    Regarding the materials mentioned by Elder Ku Du, Ye Chen thought of something. With a big grab, the five Thunder Lightning Bamboos that had once escorted him to the Minor Pole Sky, obtained from the deepest part of the Ice Fire Divine Cave in the Five Elements Mountain, appeared in his palm, "Senior, do you think these could be integrated into the flying sword?"


    "Thunder Lightning Bamboo?" Elder Ku Du¡¯s eyes lit up slightly at the sight of the five Thunder Lightning Bamboos in Ye Chen¡¯s hand. "This is indeed a fine material for forging flying swords. With this, in reforging your flying swords, I can even imbue them with the power of thunder and lightning, making your deployment of the flying swords even more powerful."


    "Ye Chen, the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯ manual I gave you works best when using a flying sword. Once I have reforged your flying swords, you will understand," he said.


    Hearing that the Thunder Lightning Bamboo was useful, Ye Chen handed all five Thunder Lightning Bamboos to Elder Ku Du.


    As for Elder Ku Du¡¯s remark about the flying swords being more formidable when deploying the Nine Swords of Annihilation, it became an unexpected joy for Ye Chen.


    "Reforging the flying swords won¡¯t take long. You can wait for me here for five days, or go to the thirty-third level to venture, and come back later to get your flying swords," Elder Ku Du said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao after taking the Thunder Lightning Bamboos into his hands.


    When Elder Ku Du mentioned the thirty-third level, Jiang Yao suddenly remembered something.


    She hastily asked Elder Ku Du, "Senior, are you clear about the situation on the thirty-third level? Within the thirty-third level, there are still the last fourteen Eyes of Creation. Rumor has it that obtaining the last fourteen Eyes of Creation will bring great benefits to a martial artist¡¯s cultivation, and gathering all thirty-three Eyes of Creation will grant access to something left by Lord Emperor Yan in the Undersea Divine Palace. Senior, do you happen to know what these two rewards are specifically?"


    "The reward of the thirty-third level?" Upon hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s question, Elder Ku Du¡¯s eyebrows twitched, then he spoke, "I do know of both rewards."


    "If someone could obtain those fourteen Eyes of Creation from the thirty-third level, they could have the opportunity to directly advance one Realm. If either of you manages to get them, you could break through from the mid-phase of Heavenly Saint directly to the late phase without spending time on cultivation and preparation!"


    "As for the reward for gathering all thirty-three Eyes of Creation? That reward is indeed precious. However, the Eyes of Creation from the upper levels have already been secured. Unless you have some Eyes of Creation, there¡¯s no chance for you to claim that reward anymore."

 Chapter 617 - 570: Life Origin Wheel, Nine Spirits Sparrow

    Upon hearing this, Jiang Yao let out a slight smile and said to Ye Chen, "I obtained the Eye of Creation from the sixth layer, and Ye Chen even got all the Eyes of Creation from the fourteenth and twenty-first layers. Now, we have also acquired the Eye of the Divine Sea. Naturally, all these Eyes of Creation can be gathered in Ye Chen¡¯s hands."


    "As long as we get the Eye of Creation from the thirty-third layer, we¡¯ll be able to redeem the reward for collecting all thirty-three Eyes of Creation."


    "Ye Chen, this time, you won¡¯t refuse to take the Eye of Creation from the sixth layer again, right?"


    When Ye Chen and Jiang Yao met and talked about their respective experiences, Jiang Yao learned about the rewards for the Eyes of Creation from Ye Chen¡¯s description.


    Back then, Jiang Yao had planned to give the Eye of Creation she obtained from the sixth layer to Ye Chen.


    After all, Jiang Yao was cultivating with Mrs. He and nine Female Divine Venerables, and her future resources were certain to be plentiful. Ye Chen, on the other hand, did not have such resources, and naturally, Jiang Yao wanted Ye Chen to exchange for more treasures from the Undersea Divine Palace.


    However, Ye Chen did not accept the Eye of Creation from Jiang Yao because, after all, the Eye of Creation was needed to escape the annihilation of the great cleansing. Even Mrs. He could not help Jiang Yao escape the annihilation of the great cleansing directly.


    But now, with the Eye of the Divine Sea in hand, Jiang Yao was no longer worried about this.


    She definitely wanted to give the Eye of Creation to Ye Chen, and she didn¡¯t want Ye Chen to refuse.


    Hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, Ye Chen looked at her with doting eyes.


    This girl was always thinking of him.


    This time, Ye Chen did not refuse. He knew that if he refused again, Jiang Yao might be heartbroken.


    The two of them didn¡¯t need to be so clearly separated, so much of each other.


    "Let¡¯s first see what the reward for collecting all thirty-three Eyes of Creation is," said Ye Chen as he rubbed Jiang Yao¡¯s head and looked at Elder Ku Du, wanting to hear from this Sovereign Realm powerhouse what the reward for gathering all thirty-three Eyes of Creation would be.


    Being stared at by these two youngsters and hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, Elder Ku Du was shocked by them once again.


    The Eyes of Creation from the sixth, fourteenth, and twenty-first layers were all in the hands of these two youngsters?!


    Elder Ku Du had not expected that he had been unaware of the events that had happened earlier, and these two youngsters had managed to find all the most precious Eyes of Creation.


    Combining the earlier efforts of Ye Chen to compete for the "Eye of the Divine Sea," Elder Ku Du came to regard Ye Chen even more highly!


    "You two little fellows have surprised me again," Elder Ku Du said with a smile, "Not only have you managed to reach this fourth space, but you¡¯ve also gathered all of the Eyes of Creation in your hands."


    "It seems that you really have a chance to obtain the reward for collecting all thirty-three Eyes of Creation."


    Elder Ku Du didn¡¯t keep them guessing any longer and said directly to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "As far as I know, the treasure left by Lord Emperor Yan specifically for collecting all thirty-three Eyes of Creation is called the ¡¯Life Origin Wheel.¡¯


    The Life Origin Wheel?


    What is that?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, both somewhat puzzled.


    "The Life Origin Wheel is a treasure that many Divine Venerable Realm and even Sovereign Realm powerhouses would leave for their descendants."


    "This treasure is a time flow rate treasure that can be carried directly on one¡¯s person to constantly enter and leverage the time flow rate for cultivation."


    "Of course, the quality of the Life Origin Wheel can vary greatly. Martial artists in the God King Realm can even create Life Origin Wheels, but their Life Origin Wheels only allow martial artists to cultivate inside for a brief period before collapsing."


    "The Life Origin Wheels created by Divine Venerables are much more stable, but cultivating inside with accelerated time flow rate can have a significant backlash, so one cannot cultivate for too long, and there must be a lengthy interval between each session of cultivation."


    "The truly precious ones are the Life Origin Wheels created by those in the Sovereign Realm or higher. These Life Origin Wheels are incredibly stable and allow martial artists to cultivate to the utmost limit of their abilities, providing the strongest time flow rate level that they can currently withstand, a hundredfold time flow rate!"


    "Additionally, Life Origin Wheels created by those in the Sovereign Realm or above have much shorter intervals between cultivation sessions, even allowing for direct cultivation inside for a month every year."


    "The Life Origin Wheel is extremely difficult to create. I myself spent countless time and effort to leave behind three Life Origin Wheels for my clan members."


    "In the Divine Kingdom, martial artists all wish to obtain a Life Origin Wheel to cultivate within, and the Life Origin Wheels created by those in the Sovereign Realm are especially designated for the most outstanding disciples to use."


    "Jiang Yao, following Mrs. He in your cultivation, you will definitely enter a Life Origin Wheel to cultivate in the future."


    "Ye Chen, among the martial artists you¡¯ve met who will be participating in the assessments for the nine Great Divine Institutes of the Divine Kingdom, virtually all would have entered a Life Origin Wheel to experience cultivation with accelerated time flow rate, and many of them would have certainly undergone cultivation in a Sovereign-level Life Origin Wheel!"


    "I don¡¯t have a Life Origin Wheel here, but Lord Yan has left you a good thing. If you can obtain the Life Origin Wheel, in terms of cultivation time, you won¡¯t be far behind those martial artists from the Divine Kingdom with significant backgrounds."


    Elder Ku Du¡¯s words sent a shock through both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao!


    Having trained in a space with accelerated time flow before, they were well aware of the significance of this type of training for martial artists.


    Ye Chen had not expected that time flow rate training, which in the Minor Spirit Realm and the Lower Realm¡¯s thirty-three continents was considered a grand opportunity, would be so readily available in the Divine Kingdom in the form of treasures one could carry at all times.


    Moreover, many martial artists in the Divine Kingdom were even constantly using such treasures for their training!


    No wonder the warriors of the Divine Kingdom were stronger.


    Imagine, if one could enter a hundredfold time flow rate for a month each year, that meant each year one would have over eight more years of training than martial artists without such an opportunity!


    Even the descendants of Divine Venerable Realm warriors, who could not enter a hundredfold time flow rate, would still train for much longer than many others!


    The Life Origin Wheel!


    Indeed, it could save martial artists a significant amount of time, allowing them to enhance their cultivation within a different time flow rate without sacrificing their original time.


    "Ye Chen, you must exchange for this ¡¯Life Origin Wheel,¡¯" Jiang Yao said urgently to Ye Chen after hearing about the great benefits of the Life Origin Wheel, "I will be able to train in the Life Origin Wheel eventually, following Mrs. He, so don¡¯t worry about me. When we are in the thirty-third layer, we must find the last fourteen Eyes of Creation!"


    Jiang Yao¡¯s words left no room for Ye Chen to demur, and he nodded in agreement.


    He was contemplating the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Great God Institute Assessment that would take place in a little over a year.


    The warriors nurtured by the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Divine Sovereigns must have also trained in the Life Origin Wheel, and when they attend the Great God Institute Assessment, they would surely be at their strongest.


    It was likely that there would be no shortage of powerful warriors who had reached the Eighth Tribulations True God or even the Nine Tribulations True God!


    For Ye Chen to feel confident about joining one of the Great God Institutes and to compete with these most outstanding warriors, it was essential that he seize the opportunity to train using the Life Origin Wheel.


    Otherwise, he would fall behind the footsteps of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s most exceptional young warriors.


    Already having trained within the Void Celestial Gourd at a hundredfold time flow rate once, and with over a year left, Ye Chen could enter the Life Origin Wheel for training at least one more time.


    With another session of training, he would gain over eight more years of time.


    In preparation for the Great God Institute Assessment of the Divine Kingdom, if Ye Chen could break through to the True God Realm, he would have a certain level of confidence.


    Even breaking through to the Two Tribulations True God was within the realm of possibility!


    Combined with his most potent method, the Primordial Star Scripture, as well as the Undying Divine Body and Ice Seal Divine Body, and the recently acquired Nine Swords of Annihilation, competing with the Divine Kingdom¡¯s martial artists was not entirely hopeless!


    Seeing the expressions on Ye Chen¡¯s and Jiang Yao¡¯s faces, Elder Ku Du could tell that Ye Chen was truly moved by the Life Origin Wheel.


    Elder Ku Du also nodded and said to Ye Chen, "Young man, if you seize that Life Origin Wheel, with your talent, perhaps you could shoot for the stars and try to enter one of the Great God Institutes, even attempting to join the number one Divine Institute, the Supreme Divine Institute."


    "By the way, I will also tell you about what to expect on the thirty-third layer."


    "Lord Emperor Yan has never included the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ in the thirty-third layer because he wanted to give any warrior who might obtain it, a glimmer of hope."


    "In the thirty-third layer, he left behind a kind of magical soul beast called the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow.¡¯ For us Sword Cultivators, this soul beast can even be refined into the Divine Sword, causing it to transform into a Sword Spirit!"


    "What¡¯s more precious is that these ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrows¡¯ were imbued with endless knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan, so they are incredibly smart! The more precious the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrows,¡¯ the more knowledge they possess, and the more secrets they know."


    "For the warrior who obtains the Eye of the Divine Sea and later goes to the Divine Kingdom, having a ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ by your side will be a significant assistant, helping you quickly adapt to the affairs of the Divine Kingdom without being completely in the dark."


    "Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, you two youngsters, when you head to the thirty-third layer to find the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ try to capture a ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ each. It will undoubtedly be beneficial for your future. Especially for you, Ye Chen, if you want to participate in the Great God Institute Assessment in the Divine Kingdom, you must get a ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ to avoid being a stranger in a strange land, knowing nothing."


    "As for the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrows,¡¯ they can be found on the ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯ in the thirty-third layer. And at the base of the ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain,¡¯ there is a powerful entity that thrives on slaughter guarding it. If you get past the guardian creature, you can enter the ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯ and capture the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrows.¡¯


    Having been brought into the thirty-third layer by Mrs. He, Jiang Yao entered a mysterious Void Realm within it and was unaware of the existence of the "Nine Spirits Sparrow."


    Upon hearing that the "Nine Spirits Sparrows" were extremely intelligent and held a wealth of information, Ye Chen became incredibly curious about them as well.


    "The thirty-third layer seems to have a lot of things to do, capturing the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow,¡¯ finding the Eyes of Creation, exchanging for the ¡¯Life Origin Wheel¡¯..."


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    "Let¡¯s wait a few more days. Once Elder Ku Du finishes refining the flying sword, we will set off for the thirty-third layer to make a thorough challenge in the last level of the Undersea Divine Palace!"

 Chapter 618 - 571: Refining the Flying Sword Again

    After settling the matters of the thirty-third layer, Elder Ku Du directly began re-reforging the flying swords for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao didn¡¯t waste their time waiting, and they immediately began cultivating in this space.


    Jiang Yao, having trained with Mrs. He for some time, had broken through to the midway point of the Heavenly Saint realm and also cultivated the formidable foundation techniques of the Feathered Spirit Clan. She continued to familiarize herself with these techniques.


    Ye Chen, on the other hand, continued to carve out Stellar Vortex Space within himself to enhance his Stellar Power, while studying the top-grade sky-reaching technique "Nine Swords of Annihilation," a secret tome just handed to him by Elder Ku Du.


    In the blink of an eye, five days had passed.


    It was a thunderous storm that rumbled through the heavens and earth that awoke Ye Chen and Jiang Yao from their state of cultivation.


    When the two looked towards the void, they saw that the red and blue lights of the flying swords, which had been hovering in front of Elder Ku Du since the start of the re-forging process, had now turned into two fist-sized orbs of flying swords, radiating dazzling divine light.


    Surrounding the entire orb of the flying swords were strands of electrical sparks and swirls of stormy essence!


    The sounds that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had heard came precisely from these orbs of the flying swords.


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    Neither of them had expected that re-forging flying swords could cause such an enormous anomaly, and they were both somewhat shocked by the terrifying lethal power of the electric sparks and storm that surrounded the orbs.


    That thunderous electrical spark was very likely the phenomenon produced due to the incorporation of Thunder Lightning Bamboo into the flying swords.


    And the fearsome storm was probably another kind of material manifesting its anomaly!


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were sizing up these two orbs of the flying swords, Elder Ku Du, who had been sitting cross-legged in the void re-forging the flying swords, gave a slight smile and opened his eyes.


    The instant he opened his eyes, the two orbs of the flying swords exploded violently.


    Whiz! Whiz!


    After the two orbs of the flying swords burst open, two palm-sized flying swords were revealed within.


    These were even more mystical than the previous flying swords!


    The flying swords belonging to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Crimson Fire and Ghostly Water, were originally crimson and deep blue in color.


    Now, they remained crimson and deep blue.


    But after being re-forged, the red and blue light of these two flying swords had been enhanced countless levels; one could tell at a glance that they had completely transcended the ordinary levels of Holy and Divine Artifacts and had actually reached the level of Sky-reaching Divine Artifacts!


    What was even more miraculous was that Elder Ku Du had inscribed divine patterns on the body of the originally plain flying swords. These patterns included shapes of lightning and storms, clearly possessing special attributes!


    While Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were examining the transformed flying swords, the two flying swords instantly burst upward towards the high void. When they shot up hundreds of yards high, the two swords shone like twin suns, casting endless divine light in the firmament, too dazzling to look directly at!


    This was the spontaneous display of the divine might of the flying swords after their re-reforging was completed!


    Only after more than a dozen breaths did the two flying swords finally retract their divine light, and then, as if sentient, flew towards their respective owners, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    When they handed their flying swords over to Elder Ku Du for re-forging, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had erased the swords¡¯ recognition enchantments.


    Both of them hadn¡¯t expected that, even so, their flying swords would still recognize them so familiarly!


    After catching the flying swords in their hands, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao began the process of re-acknowledgment. In the midst of it, they felt the stark difference in the quality of the flying swords.


    Before, one flying sword was a supreme Holy Artifact, and the other was an ordinary Divine Artifact, both limited in the amount of combat power they could withstand. In fact, if too much power was infused into them, the swords might have just collapsed.


    But now, after being re-forged, Ye Chen found that, even if he channeled all his combat power into the flying sword, it wouldn¡¯t shake the quality of the sword in the slightest.


    Clearly, this top-tier Divine Artifact level flying sword could withstand his attacks even if he had cultivated to the God King Realm!


    As they carefully sensed every nuance of change in the flying sword, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally stored the sword away.


    The two of them gave Elder Ku Du a deep bow.


    A flying sword, being a weapon of combat, was crucial to a martial artist¡¯s very survival. Elder Ku Du had improved their flying swords to a top-tier Divine Artifact level, which was akin to giving them a great boost, and it might even save their lives in the future.


    Understandably, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt immense gratitude toward Elder Ku Du!


    At this moment, Elder Ku Du simply smiled and waved his hand, saying to the two, "This flying sword, besides having the five pieces of Thunder Lightning Bamboo you provided refined into it, I added another material called the ¡¯Heavenly Wind Pearl¡¯. After the flying sword was re-refined, its quality reached that of a top-tier Divine Artifact. Moreover, with the addition of ¡¯Thunder Lightning Bamboo¡¯ and ¡¯Heavenly Wind Pearl¡¯, the sword has gained an additional sensitivity and enhancement to thunder and wind attributes. You will slowly understand once you use the flying sword."


    "Elder, we cannot repay your great kindness and favor. If there¡¯s anything you need us to do, Jiang Yao and I will do our best to accomplish it!" Ye Chen said to Elder Ku Du.


    Elder Ku Du had given him two major rewards, the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" and the re-refinement of the flying sword. Ye Chen wished to express his thanks to Elder Ku Du.


    "Yes, Elder, if you need anything done while cultivating here in the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen and I could certainly handle it on your behalf," Jiang Yao also spoke up.


    "You two youngsters are too courteous," Elder Ku Du said with a laugh, shaking his head. "I don¡¯t really have anything urgent ..."


    As he spoke, Elder Ku Du seemed to recall something and looked toward Ye Chen, "Right, young man, the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯ manual I gave you, have you studied it in these past few days, and have you made any progress?"


    "Junior has indeed made some progress. Since Elder has already re-forged the flying sword for junior, then junior shall give a demonstration," Ye Chen said.


    While speaking, Ye Chen directly summoned the Crimson Fire Flying Sword once again.


    Seeing Ye Chen take out the flying sword to practice the "Nine Swords of Annihilation," Jiang Yao, Elder Ku Du, the Thousand Extremes True God, and the Sword Spirit Little Boy standing next to Elder Ku Du all turned their attention to Ye Chen.


    They all wanted to know to what extent Ye Chen had comprehended the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" after just five days.


    After a moment of connecting with the flying sword, Ye Chen abruptly opened his eyes, and the very instant he did so, the flying sword suddenly disappeared from the void.


    The next moment, on the distant ground, a boundless sword light explosively surged forth.


    This entire boundless sword light tore through the land and raised a furious storm in the void, within which, one could sense that the storm harbored eighteen vortexes.


    Looking into the vortexes of the storm, one could see the glowing silhouettes of eighteen flying swords!


    The storm that shook both the void and the land was powerful enough to destroy heaven and earth!


    Seeing the violent destructive force of the storm and sensing the glow of the eighteen flying sword silhouettes, Jiang Yao, the Thousand Extremes True God, and the Sword Spirit Little Boy were all deeply shaken.


    They couldn¡¯t understand how Ye Chen, with a single flying sword, could manifest eighteen sword silhouettes, each as powerful as the previous third banishment sword technique "Purple Lightning" of the Purple Lightning Divine Sword used by Ye Chen.


    That is to say, if Ye Chen were now to counter the ancient beasts with this technique, this single move could likely kill a great number of them!


    In just five days, Ye Chen¡¯s combat power had soared so dramatically, it was astonishing!


    Elder Ku Du, who had personally re-forged the flying sword and provided the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" to Ye Chen, was the most aware of all these changes.


    He too was surprised and exclaimed, "In just five days, young man, you¡¯ve actually mastered the first sword ¡¯Mountains and Rivers Chaos¡¯ of the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯?"


    "Even with the flying sword you¡¯ve just received, you can sense its changes and manifest its eighteen sword phantoms!"


    "Your soul power is so strong!"

 Chapter 619 - 572 The Commission of the Old Territory King

    ```


    Elder Ku Du couldn¡¯t help but be astonished!


    He knew even better than others the difficulty of cultivating the Nine Swords of Annihilation.


    This set of swordsmanship, even for him, took a full month to master the first of the Nine Swords, and yet this young boy had mastered it in merely five days!


    This was a superior Heaven-reaching Divine Art, not just an ordinary divine art.


    Elder Ku Du was utterly shocked by Ye Chen¡¯s extraordinary comprehension power!


    As for the flying sword he had reforged, thanks to the quality being elevated to the level of a top-tier Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, it could even display up to ten thousand Flying Sword Shadows!


    These weren¡¯t ordinary Flying Sword Shadows; they were equivalent to the combat power of the flying sword itself.


    The true simultaneous release of ten thousand Flying Sword Shadows was in fact the Ninth Sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation!


    Elder Ku Du had forged this flying sword specifically for Ye Chen, thinking that it would take some time for Ye Chen to get the hang of controlling the Flying Sword Shadows, but unexpectedly, the first time Ye Chen used the flying sword, he successfully displayed all eighteen Flying Sword Shadows required for the first sword, "Mountains and Rivers Chaos," of the Nine Swords of Annihilation.


    What shocked Elder Ku Du most was Ye Chen¡¯s divine soul power.


    One must know that to display the first sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, which even had greater power than the previous Purple Lightning Divine Sword¡¯s third prohibition move, required an immense amount of divine soul power.


    Even Elder Ku Du, back then, was only able to display it with sufficient divine soul power at the level of a powerful Six Tribulations True God in the Divine Kingdom.


    That Ye Chen was able to perform this first sword during the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint certainly astonished Elder Ku Du enormously.


    Elder Ku Du remembered that when Ye Chen used all of his combat power to execute that ultimate "Purple Lightning" forbidden move, he was completely drained of strength. Only five days had passed, and now his Divine Soul Combat Power alone was strong enough to perform an even more powerful "first sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation"?


    However, what Elder Ku Du didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen¡¯s divine soul power had already undergone a transformation in the Minor Pole Sky. After his cultivation there, Ye Chen¡¯s divine soul power had not yet been fully exerted due to lack of a proper cultivation technique. Now, with the Nine Swords of Annihilation, his divine soul power could finally burst forth completely!


    Naturally, even with his divine soul power fully unleashed, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t truly activate the first sword "Mountains and Rivers Chaos" of the Nine Swords of Annihilation. However, during these five days of cultivation, Ye Chen finally realized the strength of the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Primordial Chapter."


    Previously, Ye Chen had been pondering that while the third chapter of Primordial Star Scripture, "Taiyuan Chapter," had not only the Taiyuan Divine Pill cultivation but also the cultivation of the Five Great Divine Arts,


    the fourth chapter "Primordial Beginning" only involved cultivating the "Stellar Vortex Space" and "Stellar Power."


    It appeared that although the Stellar Power in the fourth chapter was more terrifying, it seemed to have fewer methods than the third chapter.


    But this time, when Ye Chen¡¯s divine soul power was insufficient to fully execute the first sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, he suddenly discovered that his internal Stellar Power could instantaneously turn into divine soul power, beginning to perform the first sword of Annihilation!


    Only then did Ye Chen realize that Stellar Power was not ordinary True Qi Power; even divine arts of the Divine Soul Category could be performed with Stellar Power!


    This discovery greatly delighted Ye Chen.


    His own soul power was already strong, and combined with his Stellar Power, the sum of the two was simply enough to support the first sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, leading to another new breakthrough in his combat power!


    Powerful Heaven-reaching Divine Art.


    Powerful combination of Stellar Power and Divine Soul Power.


    This merging together directly provided Ye Chen with another fearsome trump card, different from physical skills and True Qi techniques, a more mysterious and unpredictable Divine Soul Attack Method!


    After demonstrating the first sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, Ye Chen gestured grandly, and the eighteen Flying Sword Shadows instantly merged into the newly formed flying sword "Crimson Fire" and flew back to his hand before finally being stored back into his Sword Palace Acupoint.


    Only the land, stirred into wild chaos by the sword¡¯s killing force, remained behind, along with the dumbfounded expressions of Jiang Yao, Thousand Mechanisms True God, the Sword Spirit Little Boy, and Elder Ku Du!


    "Senior, this set of swordsmanship is indeed powerful. Did I perform it alright?" Ye Chen asked Elder Ku Du with a smile.


    "More than alright!" Elder Ku Du, profoundly gratified, took a long breath, his eyes shining as he looked at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, my boy, over the years, I intentionally let my swordsmanship flow out of the Beiming Divine Sea to let the Beiming Clan and the Blood God Clan cultivate it, but they never satisfied me. Now, in you, I am completely satisfied!"


    "It seems that entrusting the Nine Swords of Annihilation to you was the right choice."


    "Back in the day, it wasn¡¯t until I reached the Divine King Realm that I completely mastered the Nine Swords of Annihilation. Now it looks like you might fully comprehend this Heaven-reaching Divine Art even in the True God Realm!"


    The praises Elder Ku Du gave to Ye Chen shocked Thousand Mechanisms True God and the Sword Spirit Little Boy by his side.


    They had never heard Elder Ku Du lavish such praise on someone before.


    Clearly, Ye Chen had won Elder Ku Du¡¯s approval with his absolute strength!


    ```


    And when Jiang Yao heard the praise Elder Ku Du had for Ye Chen, her beautiful eyes were filled with smiles as well, and holding Ye Chen¡¯s hand, she gently tightened her grip.


    "Little youth, when I asked you to practice the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation,¡¯ there indeed lay an intention to test your heart. Earlier, you said you wanted to help me with something. I was thinking, if you could gain an understanding of the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯ within five days, I would entrust you with a task."


    "Unexpectedly, you went beyond just grasping the basics and even successfully cultivated the first sword. It seems that I must indeed ask you to complete the task!" Elder Ku Du said, looking at Ye Chen.


    "Senior, whatever you instruct, just say the word." Ye Chen said to Elder Ku Du.


    Elder Ku Du smiled, "It¡¯s not really a big deal. I have been cultivating in this Undersea Divine Palace for many years and have some insights into cultivation that I want to pass on to my clansmen. The strength you displayed just now gives me great hope for your entry into the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes.¡¯


    "Ye Chen, when you participate in the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment, if you encounter young members from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory ¡¯Mu King Mansion,¡¯ give this Law Bead to whoever performs the best after the assessment is over."


    As he spoke, a fist-sized blue bead appeared directly in Elder Ku Du¡¯s hands.


    Ye Chen took the blue bead emitting a faint, misty light and said solemnly to Elder Ku Du: "Senior, I will carry out your instructions."


    "But aren¡¯t you worried, senior, that I might keep the bead for myself? Also, what if I cannot attend the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment for some reason, and I don¡¯t get to meet anyone from ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯ to give them this bead? Wouldn¡¯t this be a waste of your efforts?" Ye Chen expressed the doubts in his heart.


    He would certainly help Elder Ku Du complete the task, yet Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but ask about these uncertainties.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Elder Ku Du smiled: "Ye Chen, I trust your character. Besides, this Cultivation Technique is different from the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯; it is only suitable for the bloodline of the ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯ clansmen to practice. Others will only find disadvantage rather than benefit from it, so I¡¯m not worried it will be misused."


    "As for your concern about being unable to attend the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment, if the clansmen from ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯ miss the chance to receive this bead, it¡¯s not a big issue."


    With these words from Elder Ku Du, Ye Chen reminded himself even more to fulfill the entrusted mission.


    Having received significant help from Elder Ku Du, he naturally sought to repay the favor.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s earnest expression, Elder Ku Du knew Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts.


    He smiled, and as if thinking of something, he moved his palm again, and another bead, similar in size to the earlier blue one but purple in color, appeared in his hand.


    Elder Ku Du held the bead for a few moments before slowly opening his palm.


    Finally, he handed the second bead to Ye Chen.


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    "Ye Chen, this second purple bead, if in the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment you encounter the young generation from Southern Territory¡¯s ¡¯Divine Miao Peak,¡¯ do as you would with the first bead. Give it to whoever performs the best in the assessment," Elder Ku Du said softly.


    At the same time, Elder Ku Du felt a sense of melancholy in his heart: "Millions of years have passed, I wonder how she is doing now... But ¡¯Divine Miao Peak¡¯ will definitely stand unshaken even after tens of millions of years, perhaps even stronger than when I was there!"


    Ye Chen looked at the blue and purple beads entrusted to him by Elder Ku Du.


    The first blue bead, Elder Ku Du said to give it to someone from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory "Mu King Mansion." Ye Chen guessed that the Mu King Mansion must be Elder Ku Du¡¯s family.


    As for the second purple bead, Elder Ku Du instructed to hand it to someone from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory "Divine Miao Peak," which Ye Chen was clueless about which Sect or power it might be. However, he presumed it would also have significant ties to Elder Ku Du.


    Recalling that the family of Ice Seal Divine King from the Southern Territory had his three True God guards including Bing Wu, Ye Chen felt that even though he had not yet been to the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory, he already shared countless ties with it.


    "Alright, young man, I¡¯ve said all I needed to say."


    "Now, you and little Miss Jiang Yao should go ahead and challenge the thirty-third floor of the Undersea Divine Palace. Remember, each of you must catch one ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ and strive to catch the most precious one!"


    "As for the ¡¯Life Origin Wheel,¡¯ if you can collect all thirty-three Eyes of Creation, don¡¯t miss the chance!" Elder Ku Du added finally.


    After Elder Ku Du had spoken, the Thousand Extremes True God and the Sword Spirit Little Boy also began to bid their farewells to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    They all knew that the time for a real farewell was approaching.


    The Thousand Extremes True God might have the chance to meet them again, but for the Sword Spirit Little Boy and Elder Ku Du, who knew when they would meet again.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao bowed respectfully to Elder Ku Du and then stood up. After exchanging a glance, they turned their gaze toward the deeper part of the Undersea Divine Palace, the last and only remaining layer of space!


    In this thirty-second layer, they had conquered four spaces, obtained the most precious treasure, the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea,¡¯ gained the opportunity granted by Elder Ku Du, and accepted the tasks he entrusted to them.


    Now, it was time to challenge the final layer!

 Chapter 620 - 573 Divine Flame Mountain

    In the Giant Sword Space, the chieftains of the Ancient Clan and the Blood God Clan, along with six other True God Sword Cultivators, were still inside the modest temple, staring at the meditation cushion, incense table, green lantern, and Buddha painting.


    Five days had passed.


    Ever since they heard that the "Eye of the Divine Sea" had been obtained, a full five days had elapsed!


    During these five days, they had been waiting for the two companions who had suddenly disappeared to reappear.


    The longer they waited, the more anxious they grew. The original excitement of hearing that the "Eye of the Divine Sea" had been found turned into fear and worry.


    From the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s explorer badges, they knew that the one who found the "Eye of the Divine Sea" would have the ability to save everyone from the Great Cleansing Cataclysm.


    However, if the person who possessed the "Eye of the Divine Sea" was unwilling to save others, then the rest could only perish in the cataclysm of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    The eight True God Sword Cultivators were fearful that if the two companions who most likely had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea chose to ignore them, then they would still die within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    They also worried that the two who had acquired the "Eye of the Divine Sea" had encountered accidents.


    Such fears and worries couldn¡¯t be avoided even by the two eight-tribulation True Gods, the chieftains of the Ancient Clan and the Blood God Clan.


    As the eight people spent a full five days in worry and fear, and waited in the temple for the same duration, they suddenly saw a divine light, as shocking as the heavens, burst forth from the ancient Buddha painting hanging on the temple¡¯s upper wall.


    Following that, two figures landed beside them.


    Who else could these two figures be, if not Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, who had previously vanished inside the temple?!


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the eight people were overjoyed and rushed over to them.


    The chieftains of the Ancient Clan and the Blood God Clan were particularly anxious as they asked Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Fellow Daoists, did you two obtain the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯?"


    Jiang Yao looked at the eight True God Sword Cultivators and said with a slight smile, "Yes, Ye Chen has found the Eye of the Divine Sea."


    Hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, the eight True God Sword Cultivators felt as if struck by thunder, they felt a tingling on their scalps and looked at Ye Chen anxiously, even stumbling over their words, "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen... Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, you must use the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ to save our lives!"


    How could these eight people not be nervous?


    Even the chieftains of the Ancient Clan and the Blood God Clan, both eight-tribulation True Gods, would have no other choice but death if Ye Chen did not save them!


    Such a fate, naturally, made them nervous!


    To wrest the Eye of the Divine Sea from Ye Chen¡¯s hands?


    Forget the fact that the Eye of the Divine Sea had already chosen its master upon being found; even if it hadn¡¯t, those who could obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea were these same two people who had made it to the thirty-second level. Without thinking, one would know how formidable they were.


    To snatch the Eye of the Divine Sea from their hands would likely result in a premature death, even more certain than the Great Cleansing Cataclysm.


    The only thought of the eight was to form a good relationship with Ye Chen, fulfilling any high demands he might have.


    Ye Chen looked at the eight nervous True God Sword Cultivators before him, smiled, and said, "Don¡¯t worry, on the last day, when the Eye of the Divine Sea can be used to save you, I will save you."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen¡¯s words were like long-awaited rain after a drought, like thunder in a heavy rain, instantly transforming the eight people¡¯s nervous, worried, anxious, and fearful hearts into ecstatic joy!


    They were saved!


    This Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, without demanding anything from them, directly agreed to save them.


    How could this not fill them with immense joy?!


    In the end, even the Ancient Clan and the Blood God Clan, who had been mortal enemies until now, all pressed towards Ye Chen, and the chieftains promised that if Ye Chen ever needed anything done, their clans would spare no effort!


    After all, their lives were saved by Ye Chen. This great grace was truly beyond compensation, something they must forever remember in their hearts.


    The chieftains even thought to themselves that upon returning to their clans, they would tell all their clan members to remember Ye Chen¡¯s great grace!


    The owner of the Eye of the Divine Sea deserved such respect!


    "Let¡¯s go, it¡¯s time for us to leave as well." After smiling at the eight excited True God Sword Cultivators, Ye Chen took Jiang Yao¡¯s hand and flew out from the Giant Sword Space.


    Outside Giant Sword Space, within a hidden small space of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s thirty-second level Sea of Ten Thousand Swords with tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators.


    Just like the eight True God Sword Cultivators in the Giant Sword Space, tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators outside the Giant Sword Space had also been waiting beside the giant sword, waiting for the ten people who entered to come out, waiting for the one who obtained the "Eye of the Divine Sea" to emerge.


    Their five days of waiting had made them equally as anxious and nervous.


    And the next moment, when the giant sword emitted endless light, these tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators saw Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the last to enter the giant sword, accompanied by the eight True God Sword Cultivators who had entered before them, flying out from the sword.


    Upon seeing even the chiefs of the Beiming Clan and the Blood God Clan exhibiting the utmost respect towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, it was clear to the eight True God Sword Cultivators.


    It didn¡¯t take long for the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators to realize that these last two young people to enter the Giant Sword were the ones who had obtained the "Eye of the Divine Sea"!


    And when Ye Chen, smiling, took out the "Eye of the Divine Sea" and told the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators that he would rescue them, they all erupted into joyful cheering, with many even shedding tears.


    In the crowd, the Three-Eyed Skeleton and the Qing Shuang True God were muttering to themselves, "It¡¯s really Ye Chen, it really is our friend Ye Chen who has obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea!"


    ...


    An hour later. Continue your adventure at novelhall.Co?m


    Inside the deepest thirty-third layer of the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao stood in this new land, exchanging smiles.


    "Yao¡¯er, it¡¯s a good thing we made a quick escape, otherwise, we really wouldn¡¯t have been able to withstand that fervent enthusiasm from the tens of thousands of Sword Cultivators," Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao with a smile.


    After Ye Chen and Jiang Yao left the Giant Sword Space, especially after Ye Chen announced that he would save these Sword Cultivators, they were so eager to repay his kindness that they would have given him their all.


    Many Sword Cultivators even rushed to Ye Chen¡¯s side, inviting him to visit their homes after leaving the Undersea Divine Palace, promising to treat him well!


    In the end, seeing that both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were beginning to frown, the chiefs of the Beiming Clan and the Blood God Clan hastily managed to quell the overly enthusiastic Sword Cultivators, finally allowing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to reach the thirty-third level of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Jiang Yao also recalled the previous scene, and she too smiled lightly, "It¡¯s not their fault. Freeing themselves from a catastrophe like the Great Cleansing, it¡¯s natural for their hearts to be greatly stirred."


    The two of them discussed what had happened earlier, then turned their attention to this new realm on the thirty-third layer.


    "Ye Chen, now we only have this last layer to venture through," Jiang Yao called out to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen clasped Jiang Yao¡¯s hand tightly, looked over the land of rolling hills, and said, "For this last layer, let¡¯s search this realm thoroughly and then find the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ clan and ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯ that Senior Ku Du spoke of!"


    After exchanging glances, the two began to fly around and search within the space of the thirty-third layer!


    ...


    After Ye Chen and Jiang Yao reached the thirty-third layer, Mrs. He and the nine goddesses hidden in the deepest reaches of this layer¡¯s void boundary also turned their attention to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    They were unable to observe the situation of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao at the Elder Ku Du¡¯s place due to the peculiarity of his realm.


    However, when the news of the Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯s acquisition spread throughout the thirty-third layer, Mrs. He and the nine goddesses knew it must be Ye Chen and Jiang Yao who had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea!


    Now, seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao arrive at the thirty-third layer, Mrs. He¡¯s eyes revealed a smile, "This young man Ye Chen is truly worthy of being the young man Yao¡¯er is fond of, indeed formidable."


    "It seems we must meet him before we leave," she said.


    The nine goddesses also smiled, "The young man that Yao¡¯er likes, we indeed must meet him."


    ...


    Beyond the void boundary where Mrs. He in the Undersea Divine Palace thirty-third layer resided, deep within the endless mountains, was a divine mountain emitting towering flames of divine light.


    This divine mountain was none other than "Divine Flame Mountain," where the "Nine Spirits Sparrow" clan left behind by Lord Emperor Yan, as mentioned by Elder Ku Du, was located.


    Looking down towards the Divine Flame Mountain, one could see gigantic beasts carrying long trident-like weapons, guarding this "Divine Flame Mountain."


    Looking up towards the Divine Flame Mountain, one could see young girls in green gowns leaping about, and on their fair foreheads, you could glimpse mysterious divine marks that appeared and disappeared.


    Every so often, one could see these girls in green gowns transform into giant green sparrows, soaring over the Divine Flame Mountain.


    Far from being affected by the divine light of flames, it seemed to greatly benefit these green sparrows. Many of the birds would open their mouths to swallow whole, flames of divine light thousands of feet long!


    At the highest point of the Divine Flame Mountain, two girls were sitting in meditation.


    Surrounded by many green-gowned girls, these two seemed to command utmost respect from them all.


    At this moment, one of the two girls, who appeared to be around eleven or twelve years old, looked at her slightly older companion, around the age of fourteen or fifteen, and asked, "Sister, is the person who obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea from the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s thirty-second layer about to come to the thirty-third layer?"


    The older girl smiled gently and answered, "Shuang¡¯er, that person has already arrived on the thirty-third layer!"


    Upon looking at all the shapes of the green-gowned girls and the green sparrows, it was evident that, whether in human form or sparrow form, the green divine marks on their foreheads varied from one to another.


    Some had three divine marks, others five, and some even seven.


    However, among all of the sparrows and girls, only these two seated at the peak of Divine Flame Mountain had nine divine marks adorning their fair foreheads!

 Chapter 621 - 574 Shuang鈥檈r and Xiaojiu

    "We¡¯ve finally seen ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯!"


    At the highest point of Divine Flame Mountain, embraced by countless young ladies in green, when it came to the matter of Ye Chen obtaining the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea,¡¯ Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had spent most of an hour searching peak after peak, and finally caught sight from afar of the endless mountain ridges emitting a blazing divine radiance.


    Upon seeing this mountain, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew that it must be Divine Flame Mountain, mentioned by the Elder Ku Du, where the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ clan resided.


    "We haven¡¯t found the final fourteen ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ in other regions," Jiang Yao said to Ye Chen. "It seems that the remaining ¡¯Eyes of Creation¡¯ must be within Divine Flame Mountain."


    Ye Chen nodded, "I¡¯m afraid that¡¯s indeed the case. It looks like whether we intend to catch the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ or search for the ¡¯Eyes of Creation,¡¯ we¡¯ll have to make our way through Divine Flame Mountain."


    After inspecting Divine Flame Mountain from a distance for a while, Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao, "Let¡¯s go, Yao¡¯er."


    "Mhm," Jiang Yao nodded lightly.


    Their figures soared, heading towards the distant Divine Flame Mountain.


    As they approached Divine Flame Mountain, they released their auras, remaining vigilant against everything.


    Because they remembered Elder Ku Du had mentioned that at the base of Divine Flame Mountain, there was one of the powerful beings that guarded the thirty-third layer.


    They had to be cautious.


    And soon after Ye Chen and Jiang Yao released their auras, they saw creatures wielding long pitchfork-like weapons, guarding ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain.¡¯


    These creatures had bodies like giants and heads like bulls, each standing hundreds of zhang tall.


    To Ye Chen, these beasts felt just as terrifyingly powerful as the ancient creatures they had fought in the ancient tower; indeed, their power far surpassed that of an ordinary True God who had overcome nine tribulations.


    Moreover, there were more of these gigantic creatures than the hundred ancient ones in the tower¡ªthousands of them!


    A dense mass of giant creatures patrolled at the base of Divine Flame Mountain.


    If it had been earlier, facing these thousands of giants with strength exceeding that of ordinary True Gods, Ye Chen might not have been completely sure he could pass through the horde.


    But now, his life-bound flying sword, ¡¯Crimson Fire,¡¯ had been reforged by Elder Ku Du, and with his newly practiced powerful move, ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯s first sword,¡¯ along with the remaining light of ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯ in his hand and the feather given to Jiang Yao by Mrs. He, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao felt confident they could make it through.


    "Let¡¯s hope these beasts won¡¯t collectively attack us; otherwise, we¡¯ll have to expend some of our methods," Ye Chen said with a light chuckle to Jiang Yao, then took her hand and flew over the territory occupied by this horde of giants.


    As soon as they stepped into the domain of the group of giants, the creatures below, patrolling with long forks, all raised their heads as their auras burst forth mightily.


    Simultaneously, these giant creatures even spoke human language, directly shouting to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "You two intruders, daring to infiltrate ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain,¡¯ must first pass the ¡¯Black Python Clan¡¯ test!"


    "Surrender swiftly, or face the sole outcome of being slain by our ¡¯Black Python Clan¡¯!"


    The roar of the thousands of Black Python Clan giants resounded like thunder.


    Within the thundering noise, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao glanced at each other; Jiang Yao said with a smile, "Looks like we can¡¯t avoid a battle, can we?"


    Whoosh.


    Jiang Yao¡¯s fair hand extended, revealing the feather bestowed by Mrs. He, now appearing in her palm.


    Previously, Jiang Yao had handed the feather to Ye Chen, who gave it back to her after exiting the ancient tower for her protection; now, Jiang Yao brought out the feather once more.


    The terrifying lethal force emanating from the feather caused the noisy Black Python Clan giants below to fall into a stunned silence, many retreating rapidly.


    A large area of the ground below Ye Chen and Jiang Yao was cleared.


    "These giants possess high intelligence," Ye Chen said with a light smile as the ¡¯Purple Lightning Divine Sword¡¯ appeared in his hand, and with a wave of his other hand, the remaining light of the ¡¯Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill¡¯ also radiated brilliantly.


    Ye Chen declared to the giants, "Fellow friends of the Black Python Clan, we bear no enmity with you. We only wish to visit ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain.¡¯ If you let us pass, it would be beneficial. Otherwise, unavoidable battle awaits us!"


    Seeing the lethal force in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, the giants retreated even further in fear.


    The leader of the giants, a colossal black bull, cursed inwardly, "How do these youngsters possess such formidable means?!"


    As the leader of the Black Python Tribe, it could sense the lethal force in Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s hands.


    The force from the feather that Jiang Yao had taken out had already put it on edge, and now, the force from Ye Chen made the leader of the Black Python Tribe feel an imminent threat of death.


    It felt that either of these young people could kill it outright if it attempted to block their way. Find exclusive stories on novelhall.Co?m


    However, despite the immense fear, the leading creature, along with the thousands of Black Python Clan giants behind it, did not clear the path for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Instead, the leading creature said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Young friends, we cannot let you pass!"


    "We are under orders to patrol the base of ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain,¡¯ and no one is to be allowed into the mountain."


    "You may be powerful, but if you want to go to Divine Flame Mountain, you¡¯ll have to step over the corpses of our Black Python Clan¡¯s people!"


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    As the leader of the Black Python Tribe spoke, the other giant beasts of the Black Python Tribe also roared, "We will fight to the death until the last moment!"


    "These two young people, daring to kill our clan members, we¡¯ll make sure they die here as well!"


    The entire scene suddenly became a standoff!


    Seeing this situation, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew that a great battle was probably inevitable.


    After exchanging a glance, their expressions became solemn.


    Meanwhile, "Whoosh! Whoosh!" With two sounds, both of them took out their life-bound flying swords.


    Jiang Yao planned to use her life-bound flying sword for protection, and if she were to truly battle these giant beasts, she could only rely on Mrs. He¡¯s techniques.


    As for Ye Chen, he decided not to use Emperor Yan¡¯s Triple Flash Triple Kill directly. After all, they hadn¡¯t yet ascended to Divine Flame Mountain, and he couldn¡¯t use his strongest methods right away.


    He planned to drive the "Nine Swords of Annihilation, First Sword ¡¯Mountains and Rivers Chaos¡¯" with his Crimson Fire Flying Sword and battle these giant beasts!


    Just as the battle was on the brink of eruption, to everyone¡¯s surprise, from within Divine Flame Mountain came a crisp voice, "Let the two of them enter Divine Flame Mountain."


    When this voice rang out, both sides looked towards Divine Flame Mountain.


    What they saw was the divine light of the flames on Divine Flame Mountain slowly parting to either side, revealing the situation at the very top of the towering Divine Flame Mountain.


    And the one who spoke was indeed one of the two older girls surrounded by numerous young girls in green at the top of Divine Flame Mountain.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao saw that the speaking girl looked about fourteen or fifteen years old, with delicate features and an inherent sense of dignity.


    Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looking over, the girl smiled gently at them, and the younger girl beside her likewise stood up and smiled gently at them.


    "Who are these two girls?"


    "Could it be that they are the ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrows¡¯ of the Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan?"


    "Why do they seem so friendly towards us?"


    While Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were feeling curious, the Black Python Tribe, upon seeing the nine Divine Patterns flashing on the young girl¡¯s forehead, was greatly shaken, and they all knelt down one by one!


    The leader of the Black Python Tribe, the giant black ox beast, even responded loudly to the girl, "The orders of the Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯s higher clan are not to be disobeyed! The orders of the ¡¯Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor¡¯ are not to be disobeyed!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After paying their respects to the girl, the giant black ox beast leader, along with the giant beasts of the Black Python Tribe, opened a wide pathway for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao to Divine Flame Mountain, leaving them dumbfounded as they retreated.


    The Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯s higher clan?


    The Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor?!


    Hearing the words of the giant black ox beast leader, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao instantly understood that these girls in green on Divine Flame Mountain were members of the Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan they had been seeking!


    It was the miraculous soul beast, the "Nine Spirits Sparrow" that Elder Ku Du had mentioned, into whom Emperor Yan had poured countless knowledge, making them extremely intelligent.


    But what astonished Ye Chen and Jiang Yao was that, according to the Black Python Tribe leader¡¯s words, the Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan was the higher clan of the Black Python Tribe?


    What surprised them even more was that the speaking girl, who appeared to be only fourteen or fifteen years old, was referred to by the Black Python Tribe leader as the "Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor." Could it be that this young girl was the highest-ranking Nine Spirits Sparrow in the entire clan?


    Amidst their surprise, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance and decided to put their curiosity aside for now, as they flew toward Divine Flame Mountain.


    Once they reached Divine Flame Mountain, everything would naturally become clear!


    Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh.


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao flew up to Divine Flame Mountain, they saw countless giant green sparrows curiously looking at them.


    Some of the green sparrows even transformed into young girls in green, standing by the roadside of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s flight path, curiously observing them.


    And when Ye Chen and Jiang Yao finally flew to the largest green stone platform at the highest point of Divine Flame Mountain, the two young girls with nine Divine Patterns on their foreheads, surrounded by a throng of girls in green, walked up to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with smiles on their faces.


    The older of the two girls said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Hello, welcome to Divine Flame Mountain!"


    "This is my sister, you can call her ¡¯Shuang¡¯er,¡¯" the girl said, pointing to the younger girl beside her.


    At the same time, she lifted her snow-white chin, looking at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao with a smile, and said, "As for me, you can call me ¡¯Xiaojiu.¡¯"

 Chapter 622 - 575: Nine Spirits Stone

    ```


    Shuang¡¯er? Xiaojiu?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had not expected that the members of the Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan would harbor no malice towards them, but instead treated them with incredible politeness.


    Could it be that the Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan, known for their unparalleled intelligence as Elder Ku Du had said, did not object to being captured by them?


    Just as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were pondering, the eleven or twelve-year-old girl named "Shuang¡¯er" turned to them and said, "Did you two actually manage to obtain the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ from the thirty-second level of the Undersea Divine Palace? That¡¯s so impressive!"


    "According to the rules set by Lord Emperor Yan, acquiring the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ from the thirty-second level of the Undersea Divine Palace is the most difficult!"


    In Shuang¡¯er¡¯s words, there was a strong sense of respect and admiration.


    Jiang Yao was also amused by Shuang¡¯er¡¯s words, and with a heartening smile, she looked at the young girl who was much younger than herself and said, "It was Ye Chen beside me who obtained the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯."


    "Ye Chen?" Hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, Shuang¡¯er¡¯s eyes lit up, and she turned to look at Ye Chen, who was beside Jiang Yao. She also saw Jiang Yao and Ye Chen holding hands, and as if realizing something, the young girl softly asked Jiang Yao, "Then, what¡¯s your name, sister? Being with this brother Ye Chen, you must be very impressive too."


    "My name is Jiang Yao," Jiang Yao replied with a smile, "But of course, I¡¯m not as remarkable as Ye Chen."


    Hearing the two young girls¡¯ conversation veering off-topic, Ye Chen chuckled, then he turned his attention to Shuang¡¯er and Xiaojiu, who were standing at the forefront of the group of cyan-clad young girls.


    Ye Chen spoke up and asked, "Are you the astoundingly intelligent Nine Spirits Sparrows, into whom Emperor Yan has poured a wealth of knowledge? From the looks of it, you don¡¯t seem to oppose us coming to ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯?"


    "With your level of intelligence, you must know that we came to ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯ with the intention of capturing you," he added.


    In conversing with the reputedly highly intelligent Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan, Ye Chen decided against beating around the bush and simply expressed his doubts outright.


    "Of course we object to Martial Artists entering the Undersea Divine Palace to capture members of our Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan," said the slightly older girl Xiaojiu, laughing lightly. "However, if a true genius comes to the Undersea Divine Palace, we certainly hope to follow that genius and leave the Undersea Divine Palace to venture out into the world!"


    As Xiaojiu spoke, Shuang¡¯er also giggled, adding, "If it was anyone else who hadn¡¯t obtained the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ and tried to brave ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯, they¡¯d probably be captured by members of the Black Python Clan before even ascending the mountain. Of course, if the person who obtained the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ found it on an easier level, my sister and I wouldn¡¯t personally welcome them either. They would still have to rely on their own abilities to challenge ¡¯Divine Flame Mountain¡¯."


    "It is only because you found the Eye of the Divine Sea on the extremely difficult thirty-second level that we truly welcome guests like you to our clan!"


    The words of Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er finally made it clear for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao why they had been able to arrive at Divine Flame Mountain so smoothly.


    It turned out to be because they had found the Eye of the Divine Sea on the thirty-second level!


    As Xiaojiu had mentioned, they were not opposed to being taken away and were willing to follow Ye Chen and Jiang Yao out of the Undersea Divine Palace, which was undoubtedly great news for them.


    The Nine Spirits Sparrows were truly an extremely intelligent clan, understanding the concept of venturing out with powerful individuals!


    Dealing with the intelligent Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan was easy.


    Ye Chen straightforwardly addressed Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, "We indeed obtained the ¡¯Eye of the Divine Sea¡¯ from the thirty-second level of the Undersea Divine Palace. Jiang Yao and I, without boasting, can indeed be considered among the most powerful young Martial Artists in the Minor Spirit Realm and the Lower Realm¡¯s thirty-three continents. Would you be willing to follow us and leave the Undersea Divine Palace?"


    Ye Chen had also noticed that among the Nine Spirits Sparrows, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er held the highest status.


    Elder Ku Du had said that the higher the status and the more precious a Nine Spirits Sparrow was, the smarter they were and the more knowledge Emperor Yan had infused within them. Naturally, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao wanted to take these two most intelligent Nine Spirits Sparrows away with them.


    In speaking, Ye Chen directly addressed Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er with his query.


    While speaking, Ye Chen also took out the "Eye of the Divine Sea" and openly displayed it to the Nine Spirits Sparrows.


    Seeing the "Eye of the Divine Sea" in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, the young girls, transformed from Nine Spirits Sparrows, uttered exclamations of surprise, and both Shuang¡¯er and Xiaojiu¡¯s eyes shone brightly.


    In the end, it was Xiaojiu who was the first to collect her thoughts; she spoke to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Even though you have obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea from the thirty-second level of the Undersea Divine Palace, which already proves you are very strong, to take a Nine Spirits Sparrow away from Divine Flame Mountain, you must still undergo a test."


    "If you can complete enough tests, taking me and Shuang¡¯er away isn¡¯t out of the question!"


    A test?


    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao asked in unison, "What kind of test?"


    Shuang¡¯er laughed and explained, "It¡¯s the ¡¯Nine Spirits Stone¡¯ test of our Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan. The Nine Spirits Stone is divided into nine layers of Spiritual Light. For each layer you activate, you can take away a Spirit Bird of the corresponding level. Otherwise, even if you forcefully capture a Nine Spirits Sparrow, you won¡¯t truly earn its willingness to assist you."


    "Every time before a great cleansing catastrophe on Divine Flame Mountain, many Nine Spirits Sparrows will emerge from the original stones left by Emperor Yan. The levels of Nine Spirits Sparrows vary, ranging from the lowest One-patterned Spirit Birds to the highest, the Nine-patterned Spirit Birds."


    "To take away a One-patterned Spirit Bird, you only need to activate one layer of Spiritual Light from the ¡¯Nine Spirits Stone¡¯, making it assist you."


    "But for the Nine-patterned Spirit Bird, which is the most powerful and most intelligent among our clan, with the most knowledge instilled by Emperor Yan¡¯s original stones, known as the ¡¯Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor¡¯, you must activate the extremely difficult ninth layer of Spiritual Light to take it away."


    ```


    "Hehe, my sister and I, we are both Nine-patterned Spirit Birds, known as the ¡¯Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors,¡¯ oh. Not to mention the godly kingdom of Wanmu Mountain, we know a lot about the affairs of many other star domains and godly kingdoms as well!"


    Upon hearing Shuang¡¯er¡¯s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances and were both taken aback.


    No wonder the leader of the Black Python Clan had called "Xiaojiu" the "Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor"; it turned out she indeed was the most esteemed Nine-patterned Spirit Bird of the Nine Spirits Bird Clan.


    What truly surprised Ye Chen and Jiang Yao was that "Shuang¡¯er" was also a "Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor."


    Even more astonishing was that they not only knew about the affairs of the Wanmu Mountain godly kingdom but also about those of other godly kingdoms!


    If that was the case, did that mean that even if Jiang Yao went to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, these Nine Spirits Sparrows could help her?


    "The Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, do you know about it?" Jiang Yao couldn¡¯t help but ask Shuang¡¯er and Xiaojiu.


    Shuang¡¯er giggled and said, "The Ten Thousand Beasts Domain is far from the Wanmu Mountain star domain, but of course, I know what¡¯s inside. As long as it¡¯s a star domain that Lord Emperor Yan has traversed, my sister and I know many secrets!"


    Xiaojiu also nodded, "Lord Emperor Yan is an entity that soars across countless star domains, and much of his perspective and knowledge has been passed down to our Nine Spirits Bird Clan. My sister and I, as Nine-patterned Spirit Birds, indeed know quite a lot."


    Saying this, Xiaojiu looked towards Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, smiling, "How about it, do you have the courage to challenge the Nine Spirits Stone and try to take my sister and me away?"


    "The Nine Spirits Bird Clan, although it frequently incubates Nine Spirits Sparrows, rarely does it give rise to the most precious ¡¯Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors.¡¯ This time, you are indeed fortunate to have encountered two Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors, my sister and I."


    Upon hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s inquiry about having the courage to challenge the Nine Spirits Stone, where would Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hesitate?


    Forget the Nine Spirits Stone, even through mountains of knives and seas of flames, they¡¯d dare to challenge!


    "Xiaojiu, Shuang¡¯er, where is the Nine Spirits Stone, and how shall we be tested?" Ye Chen directly asked these two Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor girls.


    Your next read awaits at novelhall.Co?m


    "You really want to challenge?" Xiaojiu smiled lightly, "Then follow us to the domain of the Nine Spirits Stone!"


    "If you get lost, then don¡¯t blame us, oh!"


    After finishing her words, Xiaojiu¡¯s figure shifted, and she transformed into an incredibly magnificent azure giant bird tens of zhang in length, fluttering into flight.


    Next to her, Shuang¡¯er also giggled, winked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, and transformed into an azure giant bird, flying next to Xiaojiu.


    Even the countless young girls in green nearby all transformed into birds and flew into the sky.


    And the next moment, these numerous Nine Spirits Sparrows, flapping their huge wings, flew towards the deeper regions of Divine Flame Mountain.


    Hearing Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er¡¯s words and seeing their actions, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao knew their offer to lead the way to the "domain of the Nine Spirits Stone" was indeed a test in mind.


    If the two of them couldn¡¯t even keep up with Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, obviously, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er wouldn¡¯t acknowledge them or follow them to leave the Undersea Divine Palace.


    "Since these two Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors want to test us, let¡¯s show them our capabilities!" Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao with a gentle smile.


    Jiang Yao also smiled and nodded.


    The two of them moved and transformed into two streaks of light, following behind the flock of Nine Spirits Sparrows.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The winds within the depths of Divine Flame Mountain were strong, and the powerful resistance would probably strain even many true gods flying in it.


    However, the Nine Spirits Bird Clan only flew faster and faster.


    Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, leading the way, occasionally looked back to see if Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were keeping up.


    To their surprise, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er found that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were not lagging behind at all, closely following them.


    Even as Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er accelerated, leaving the other Nine Spirits Sparrows of their clan far behind, they still found that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao hadn¡¯t been shaken off and were still following their flight.


    The performance of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao made Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er¡¯s eyes brighter and brighter.


    What Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen¡¯s strength now surpassed even that of the True Gods of the Nine Tribulations from the Minor Spirit Realm, and his flying speed was extraordinarily fast, obviously undeterred by their little test.


    And Jiang Yao, after being nurtured by Mrs. He and cultivating the Basic Skills of the Feathered Spirit Clan, included the Flight Divine Art, so she naturally had sufficient means to follow them.


    Eventually, with Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er leading the way, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao flew behind them, breaking into the myriad fog-shrouded domain deep within Divine Flame Mountain, landing upon a massive Sky-reaching Divine Stone.

 Chapter 623 - 576: Nine Layers of Spiritual Light!

    This Sky-reaching Divine Stone stood over eight hundred zhang tall.


    After Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er landed on it, they saw Ye Chen and Jiang Yao following behind them, also descending onto the Divine Stone. They flashed a light smile, then flew down from the Divine Stone and landed on a huge stone platform where the Sky-reaching Divine Stone was situated.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao examined the Divine Stone under their feet and saw rings of patterns spreading downwards, dividing the Divine Stone into nine parts.


    The thought struck them both: "Could this be the ¡¯Nine Spirits Stone¡¯?"


    Following Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao also flew from the Divine Stone, landing on the stone platform.


    "You two are indeed quite formidable!" Seeing Ye Chen and Jiang Yao descend, Shuang¡¯er¡¯s eyes shone brightly as she looked at them.


    "My sister and I were born from a Raw Stone, and though we are not old, as natural Soul Beasts, we were born with unusual strength. Our speed is such that ordinary Nine Tribulation True Gods can¡¯t keep up, yet you were able to follow us without falling behind at all!" Read the latest on novelhall.Co?m


    Shuang¡¯er exclaimed in admiration.


    Xiaojiu, standing nearby, also had sparkling eyes as she looked at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    She felt that perhaps welcoming these two young Martial Artists to Divine Flame Mountain was indeed a correct decision.


    Perhaps, these two truly had sufficient strength, worthy of her and her sister leaving the Undersea Divine Palace, to accompany them, and explore the world outside thoroughly!


    "However, everything still depends on passing the ¡¯Nine Spirits Stone¡¯ test!"


    Xiaojiu whispered to herself.


    Then, Xiaojiu pointed to the eight-hundred-zhang-tall Sky-reaching Divine Stone in front of them and said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "This one, is the ¡¯Nine Spirits Stone¡¯."


    "Throughout the years, despite many great purges and calamities, numerous people have come here to undergo the test, attempting to take away a Nine Spirits Sparrow, but almost no one has managed to activate the nine layers of Spiritual Light in the ¡¯Nine Spirits Stone¡¯ which is the most difficult task."


    "Next, the level of the Nine Spirits Sparrow you can take from Divine Flame Mountain will depend on your strength."


    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao took a few steps closer to the "Nine Spirits Stone" and examined it more closely.


    Jiang Yao even asked aloud, "How can we activate the Spiritual Light of this Nine Spirits Stone? Do we imbue it with True Qi, or..."


    Xiaojiu said, "It¡¯s very simple. Infuse the combat power you¡¯ve cultivated from your Essence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªthe three major Signs of Life¡ªinto the ¡¯Nine Spirits Stone.¡¯ The stronger your three Signs of Life, the more Spiritual Light the Nine Spirits Stone will activate."


    "As long as you meet a certain standard, you can activate the most difficult nine layers of Spiritual Light!"


    Infuse combat power cultivated from the three major Signs of Life?


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao both nodded their understanding.


    Ye Chen wasn¡¯t too worried, for he had endured a test of the Essence, Qi, and Spirit Signs of Life in the Minor Pole Sky, even comparing well to the descendants of the Great Powerholders from the Divine Kingdom, like the Little Provincial Princesses.


    Moreover, during this time, he had transformed the techniques related to these three Signs of Life into combat power. Even the weakest Divine Soul technique, through the "Nine Swords of Annihilation," had become part of his combat ability.


    He was fairly confident about this "Nine Spirits Stone" challenge.


    As long as the difficulty wasn¡¯t inconceivably high, Ye Chen was confident that if anyone in the Minor Spirit Realm or the thirty-three continents had ever activated the nine layers of Spiritual Light, he could too!


    Ye Chen was, however, somewhat concerned about Jiang Yao.


    Of course, he hoped Jiang Yao would also activate the nine layers of Spiritual Light and successfully obtain the most valuable Nine-patterned Spirit Bird¡ªthe Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor.


    However, if Jiang Yao didn¡¯t possess sufficient techniques pertaining to Essence, Qi, and Spirit, then it would be difficult for her to pass this type of test.


    "Yao¡¯er, is everything okay?" Ye Chen asked, looking into Jiang Yao¡¯s beautiful eyes.


    Gazing toward the Nine Spirits Stone, Jiang Yao smiled lightly and nodded at Ye Chen, "No problem."


    Immediately, the two of them approached the Nine Spirits Stone.


    "Ye Chen, you go first," Jiang Yao said with a smile to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded: "Alright."


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen placed his palm firmly against the Nine Spirits Stone.


    The Nine Spirits Stone challenge!


    If he could activate all nine layers of Spiritual Light, he would be able to take away the most precious Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor, and that would mean completing over half of the task for the thirty-third level!


    The rest would be to find those fourteen Eyes of Creation!


    Ye Chen suspected that Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er might know where they are.


    He had not asked yet, waiting instead until he and Jiang Yao had sufficient strength to get Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er to follow them before inquiring.


    By then, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er would surely not hide anything from him and Jiang Yao.


    "Whether it¡¯s the Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor or the Eyes of Creation, let¡¯s get through this Nine Spirits Stone challenge first!"


    After muttering to himself, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes suddenly burst with Divine Light, and his hand that was touching the Nine Spirits Stone suddenly filled with unparalleled combat power.


    This overwhelming power included the might of the Undying Divine Body, the force of the Icebound Divine Body, and the power of his Divine Soul transformed into the Nine Swords of Annihilation.


    There was also the Stellar Power from practicing the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the combat power poured into the Nine Spirits Stone, a thunderous roar echoed from it. Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er then saw the Spirit Stones from the lowest part of the Nine Spirits Stone beginning to light up, followed by the second, the third, the fourth... layer by layer, the stones started to shine brilliantly.


    Hum!


    In an instant, the entire Nine Spirits Stone, divided into nine separate regions, lit up completely!


    The towering Sky-reaching Divine Stone, over eight hundred zhang tall, deep within the Divine Flame Mountain, shrouded in endless fog, emitted a dazzling divine light that captured everyone¡¯s attention.


    All nine regions of the Spirit Stone were illuminated.


    This undeniably symbolized that all nine layers of Spiritual Light of the Nine Spirits Stone had been activated!


    Seeing this development, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er¡¯s eyes sparkled with an unprecedented brilliance.


    Seeing this development, Jiang Yao unclenched her small fists, her face breaking into a smile.


    Seeing this development, Ye Chen, who had his palm on the Nine Spirits Stone, also let out a sigh of relief, thinking to himself, "My Stellar Power has not entirely been poured in, yet the Nine Spirits Stone has already activated all nine layers of Spiritual Light. It seems this test isn¡¯t as difficult as I thought."


    Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er did not hear the sighs of Ye Chen.


    Otherwise, they would have been even more astonished by Ye Chen¡¯s true strength.


    Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er were well aware of the difficulty of this test.


    Not only Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er knew about the challenge, but all the Nine Spirits Sparrows of their clan were aware of its difficulty.


    At this moment, seeing the nine layers of Spiritual Light emitting from the Nine Spirits Stone in the endless foggy depths of Divine Flame Mountain, those Nine Spirits Sparrows who were still behind and hadn¡¯t arrived yet, all stopped in shock, floating in the void, exclaiming, "Nine layers of Spiritual Light! Just now, those two people, someone activated all nine layers of Spiritual Light!"


    Even those Nine Spirits Sparrows who hadn¡¯t flown deeper into Divine Flame Mountain were shaken upon seeing the nine layers of Spiritual Light from deep within. Their eyes revealed a look of awe, "Nine layers of Spiritual Light, does this mean someone is going to take the Sparrow Emperor away from here?"


    Ye Chen, unaware of the Nine Spirits Sparrows¡¯ astonishment, saw that all nine layers of Spiritual Light had been emitted from the Nine Spirits Stone and asked Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, "Does this mean I¡¯ve passed the test?"


    "Passed, of course, you¡¯ve passed!" Shuang¡¯er immediately jumped in front of Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you activated the most difficult nine layers of Spiritual Light, whether it¡¯s my sister or me, you can take whoever you want to leave!"


    Xiaojiu also looked at Ye Chen with some anticipation.


    She had been full of hope for Ye Chen, who had obtained the "Eye of the Divine Sea" from the 32nd layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, and now that Ye Chen had proven his strength at the Nine Spirits Stone, she naturally wanted to follow him and venture outside the Undersea Divine Palace!


    Otherwise, her batch of Nine Spirits Sparrows would only be able to cultivate within the Undersea Divine Palace and wouldn¡¯t even be able to participate in the next Great Purge Catastrophe.


    After all, by the time of the next Great Purge Catastrophe, the Raw Stone would have nurtured a new batch of Nine Spirits Sparrows.


    Xiaojiu was not willing to stay in one place and cultivate every day like the older members of her clan.


    She wanted to see the world, to witness the true nature of the various Divine Kingdoms as described in the knowledge imparted by Lord Emperor Yan.


    Upon hearing from Shuang¡¯er that he had passed the test, Ye Chen finally removed his palm from the Nine Spirits Stone.


    However, he did not immediately respond to the expectant looks from Shuang¡¯er and Xiaojiu about his selection.


    He wanted to wait for Jiang Yao to finish her test.


    "Yao¡¯er, it¡¯s your turn to take the test," Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao gently, "After your test, we¡¯ll discuss choosing between them."


    Jiang Yao nodded her head, smiled softly, and walked toward the Nine Spirits Stone.


    As Jiang Yao placed her delicate palm on the Nine Spirits Stone, Ye Chen felt a surge of nervousness, and not just him, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er were also somewhat anxious.


    "This Jiang Yao, she isn¡¯t the one who got the Eye of the Divine Sea, so I wonder if she can activate all nine layers of Spiritual Light," Shuang¡¯er thought, "If she can¡¯t, then one of my sister and me will have to stay behind on Divine Flame Mountain."


    "However, this Jiang Yao is so intimately close with Ye Chen; she must be very formidable too."


    While Shuang¡¯er was lost in her thoughts, she saw the Nine Spirits Stone in front of Jiang Yao begin to light up layer by layer.


    Finally, like Ye Chen, all nine layers of the Nine Spirits Stone were illuminated, radiating a resplendent glow!


    "Nine layers of Spiritual Light!"


    "Another nine layers of Spiritual Light!"


    Shuang¡¯er jumped with excitement, while Xiaojiu and Ye Chen also heaved a sigh of relief.


    In the distance, the other Nine Spirits Sparrows, who had just been shocked by Ye Chen activating all nine layers of Spiritual Light, were taken aback again, "A second nine layers of Spiritual Light?!"


    "Do both of those young people have the ability to activate the most challenging nine layers of Spiritual Light?!"


    After completing the test, Jiang Yao turned around, smiling as she winked at Ye Chen, "How about that, Ye Chen? I¡¯ve made quite a lot of progress training with Grandma, haven¡¯t I?"


    "A lot of progress!" Ye Chen nodded with a smile, "It seems I need to train in the Divine Institutes of the Divine Kingdom even more, otherwise, I will soon be left behind by you."


    As Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged smiles, they both let out a sigh of relief.


    They knew that, with the end of this test on the Nine Spirits Stone, their goal for the 33rd layer, and perhaps even the entire Undersea Divine Palace, was close to completion.


    At that moment, Shuang¡¯er could not contain herself any longer. She chuckled and asked Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Both of you are so powerful. Tell us, who¡¯s going to choose me, and who¡¯s going to choose my sister?"

 Chapter 624 - 577 Everything in Hand

    ```


    Whom to choose?


    After exchanging a glance, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao looked towards Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er.


    Although their interactions with the two "Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors" were limited, both of them had noticed the differences between the girls.


    Shuang¡¯er, the younger one, seemed livelier and more mischievous, while Xiaojiu carried a hint of the dignity and majesty fitting of the Nine Spirits Sparrow Emperor.


    Overall, however, the differences weren¡¯t significant, as both were Nine-patterned Spirit Birds, both equally knowledgeable with the highest level of teachings infused by Lord Emperor Yan, and both equally excellent companions from the Nine Spirits Bird Clan.


    "I¡¯m okay with either, Yao¡¯er, who do you want to accompany you?" Ye Chen asked with a smile.


    Jiang Yao replied with a gentle smile, "I¡¯m fine with either as well. How about we ask for their opinions?"


    Ye Chen nodded and turned towards Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, "Which one of us do you want to follow?"


    Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er looked at each other and saw a touch of anticipation in each other¡¯s eyes.


    "Shuang¡¯er, you go first," said Xiaojiu to Shuang¡¯er.


    With a giggle, Shuang¡¯er suddenly leapt to Jiang Yao¡¯s side, "I¡¯m going to follow Sister Jiang Yao! Sister Jiang Yao, I¡¯ll accompany you in your cultivation and tell you everything I know."


    At this moment, Xiaojiu unusually showed a hint of shyness as she approached Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I¡¯ll assist you well, but since I¡¯m a spirit beast by nature, if possible, you¡¯ll have to help me improve my strength."


    "Don¡¯t worry," Ye Chen said, nodding with a smile.


    Ultimately, Ye Chen took Xiaojiu as the Nine Spirits Sparrow he sought, while Jiang Yao took Shuang¡¯er as her chosen Nine Spirits Sparrow.


    Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er were both tremendously satisfied with their choice of companions in Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    It was a win-win situation!


    Having resolved the matter of obtaining the Nine Spirits Sparrows from Divine Flame Mountain, there was still one important task that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had yet to accomplish.


    That was to find the last fourteen Eyes of Creation on the thirty-third floor of the Undersea Divine Palace! Your next read awaits at novelhall.Co?m


    The last fourteen Eyes of Creation involved two major rewards.


    The first prize was simply the reward for collecting all fourteen Eyes of Creation from the thirty-third floor.


    The old man from the bitter crossing had said that if one could obtain these fourteen Eyes of Creation, it was possible to directly advance one¡¯s realm by a whole level, which meant both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could bypass the long cultivation periods and leap directly from the mid-stage to the late-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm!


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had discussed this reward, with Jiang Yao saying she would follow Mrs. He in her cultivation, not in a rush to increase her realm, whereas Ye Chen, about to face the major assessment from the "Nine Great Divine Institutes," urgently needed to boost his strength to contend with the prodigies from the Divine Kingdom.


    Of course, Jiang Yao wanted Ye Chen to get the fourteenth Eye of Creation and make a direct breakthrough to the late-stage of the Heavenly Saint realm!


    The second major reward was for collecting all fourteen Eyes of Creation from the thirty-third floor along with the nineteen Eyes of Creation from the sixth, fifteenth, and twenty-first floors, accumulating all thirty-three Eyes of Creation.


    This led to the reward promised by the old man from the bitter crossing, the great treasure left by Lord Emperor Yan¡ª"The Life Origin Wheel"!


    Whether it was directly advancing a level in cultivation or the opportunity to train with the accelerated time flow of the "Life Origin Wheel," both rewards would be available upon obtaining the last fourteen Eyes of Creation.


    It goes without saying that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were determined to find them all on the thirty-third floor!


    At this moment, with the two most precious Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, having chosen to follow them, Ye Chen certainly wasn¡¯t going to miss the chance to ask the floor¡¯s two "Little Overlords."


    "Xiaojiu, Shuang¡¯er, do you know the whereabouts of the fourteen Eyes of Creation on this thirty-third floor?" Ye Chen asked.


    As Ye Chen inquired, he and Jiang Yao couldn¡¯t help feeling a bit anxious.


    They had previously searched countless mountains on the thirty-third floor without finding a trace of the fourteen Eyes of Creation, and if they couldn¡¯t get any information from Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, they would be at a loss.


    Just as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao grew concerned, Xiaojiu spoke up with words that brought immediate surprise and joy to their hearts.


    "The last fourteen Eyes of Creation are not far from here, in the ¡¯Creation Treasury,¡¯" Xiaojiu said with a smile to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Come on, I¡¯ll take you to get those ¡¯Eyes of Creation.¡¯"


    Shuang¡¯er added, "That ¡¯Creation Treasury¡¯ is a place only known to our Nine Spirits Bird Clan, and only those who pass our clan¡¯s test can obtain the treasures within."


    "If it were someone else, even if they passed the test from our clan, without a sufficient number of activated Spiritual Light layers and only taking away a lower-level Nine Spirits Sparrow, they wouldn¡¯t be able to leave with the most precious treasures from the Creation Treasury."


    ```


    "My sister and I are the most precious Nine Spirits Sparrow Emperors of the Nine Spirits Bird Clan. Accordingly, the person we choose to follow can select the two most precious things from the Creation Treasury."


    "Aside from the most precious ¡¯fourteen Eyes of Creation,¡¯ you can choose another most precious thing!"


    Creation Treasury.


    It has fourteen Eyes of Creation.


    And you can choose another most precious thing?!


    Hearing Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er¡¯s words, both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were thrilled beyond measure, with Ye Chen saying to Xiaojiu, "Let¡¯s go, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, lead the way! We¡¯ll have a good look at the ¡¯Creation Treasury¡¯!"


    ...


    The "Creation Treasury" was just dozens of miles away from the Nine Spirits Stone Realm.


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er flew into the realm of "Creation Treasury" in the blink of an eye.


    When Xiaojiu opened the restrictions hiding this realm in the sky, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao directly saw a vast temple sitting on the ground below.


    Entering the grand temple, Ye Chen finally understood the rumors he¡¯d heard before entering the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Ye Chen had heard that inside the Undersea Divine Palace, not only were there various cultivation treasures, there was also a treasury hiding countless precious treasures, in which not only many Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts were contained but also Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    Ye Chen had witnessed cultivation treasures in the Void Celestial Gourd realm.


    And he had yet to see the treasury that hid countless precious treasures.


    Ye Chen had not expected that right in the depths of the thirty-third level, there lay hidden a treasury¡ªthe "Creation Treasury"!


    Having truly entered the "Creation Treasury," Ye Chen saw countless treasures and Ancient Treasures, and even many Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, as well as three of the legendary Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts!


    Ye Chen now realized that the rumors were true¡ªthere really was a treasury in the Undersea Divine Palace!


    The secret of the treasury was probably spread by the warriors who had once taken the Nine Spirits Sparrow from Divine Flame Mountain.


    However, according to Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, those warriors probably only saw those precious treasures but had no ability to take them away. And now, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao could take the "Eye of Creation" and choose another precious treasure.


    In the end, Ye Chen directly took the last fourteen Eyes of Creation into his hands and, using these fourteen Eyes of Creation, directly went into one of the treasury¡¯s cultivation secret chambers, and under the endless divine energy left by Lord Emperor Yan, he broke through to the late stages of the Celestial Saint realm!


    Moreover, Ye Chen exchanged all thirty-three Eyes of Creation for the legendary treasure that provided a hundredfold time acceleration for cultivation and could be carried with him at all times¡ªthe "Life Origin Wheel"!


    The Life Origin Wheel was a palm-sized, circular stone-like magical artifact, but when Ye Chen infused his spiritual sense into it, he directly sensed a colossal cultivation space within.


    If it were not for the fact that Ye Chen had cultivated in a hundredfold time acceleration environment in the Void Celestial Gourd and temporarily could not enter, being repelled by the Life Origin Wheel, Ye Chen could have even cultivated inside it for another month.


    Though repelled for now, after a period of time, once a year had passed, Ye Chen would also be able to enter the Life Origin Wheel for cultivation again, utilizing the fortune of its accelerated time flow!


    By choosing the fourteen Eyes of Creation, Ye Chen had gained the opportunity to break through to the late Celestial Saint realm and to possess the Life Origin Wheel.


    Jiang Yao, too, used her remaining precious treasure selection privilege to choose one of the three Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts¡ªa Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact jade pendant that could protect her without the need for energizing it with true qi!


    With this Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact jade pendant, Ye Chen felt even more at ease about Jiang Yao traveling to the Myriad Beasts Starfield.


    In the end, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, along with Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, left the "Creation Treasury" with their great gains and flew away from Divine Flame Mountain.


    "It¡¯s over, all thirty-three levels of the Undersea Divine Palace have finally come to an end!"


    "We¡¯ve found the ¡¯Eyes of Sea Spirit,¡¯ and gained countless opportunities and fortunes."


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged a glance, and there was a hint of excitement in their eyes.


    "Next, we just have to wait for the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s one-year treasure hunting period to completely end."


    "After it ends on the last day, we¡¯ll save those who need to be saved. As for those from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Zhu Yan Clan who had surrounded and killed the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan, it¡¯s time for retribution!"


    Just as Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were thinking about future matters and feeling a bit sentimental about their upcoming separation in the sky, they both heard a voice, "Ye Chen, Yao¡¯er, along with your two Nine Spirits Sparrow friends, come to me."


    Hearing this voice, Jiang Yao excitedly said to Ye Chen, "That¡¯s Grandma¡¯s voice!"

 Chapter 625 - 578 Visitors from the Divine Kingdom

    Hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s words, Ye Chen was startled.


    The voice of Sovereign He?!


    Ye Chen had heard from Jiang Yao that Mrs. He was a power in the Sovereign Realm. Such existences were on par with Elder Ku Du and the father of the Little Provincial Princess, the East Territory King.


    Ye Chen had not expected that Mrs. He would directly call for him and Jiang Yao to go see her.


    However, Ye Chen had long wished to meet Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables of the Feathered Spirit Clan.


    After all, Jiang Yao would follow them to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, and without meeting them, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t be at ease.


    "Since Sovereign He has summoned, then Ye Chen shall impose!"


    Ye Chen spoke up towards the void.


    He knew that even if he spoke aimlessly into the void, Mrs. He, with her Sovereign Realm cultivation, would definitely hear him.


    As expected, after Ye Chen responded, Mrs. He¡¯s voice appeared again in the void, "I seem to have forgotten, when I sent Yao¡¯er away, I directly sent her to the thirty-first level, and she doesn¡¯t know the way to the ¡¯Void Realm¡¯."


    "Then follow this bridge of light to me!"


    Upon Sovereign He¡¯s voice ringing, instantly, a bridge of light appeared under the feet of Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er, extending from beneath them to an endless distance on the thirty-third level!


    Such a divine feat made Ye Chen inwardly praise in amazement.


    Truly worthy of a powerhouse in the Sovereign Realm!


    At that moment, seeing the bridge of light suddenly appearing under their feet and hearing the previous voice, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er were also shocked.


    Suddenly, as if they thought of something, they said incredulously, "The Void Realm? Could it be that the speaker is Sovereign He of the Feathered Spirit Clan, mentioned in the knowledge bestowed upon us by Lord Emperor Yan, who is responsible for the great cleansing catastrophe in the lower realm?!"


    Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er were Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors with many secrets known to them, and they were aware of the existence of Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables.


    Thinking of Mrs. He¡¯s affectionate nickname for Jiang Yao and the caring tone in her voice, Shuang¡¯er said excitedly, "Sister Jiang Yao, have you already met Sovereign He? She even mentioned sending you to the thirty-first level?"


    "Sovereign Realm! That¡¯s a figure of great importance, the pinnacle existence in a Divine Kingdom!"


    Seeing Shuang¡¯er so excited for Jiang Yao¡¯s impressive following, Ye Chen said with a smile, "Shuang¡¯er, not only does Yao¡¯er know Mrs. He, but she will also follow Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables of the Feathered Spirit Clan to the ¡¯Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯ for cultivation. Once at the ¡¯Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯, you must assist Yao¡¯er well."


    "Sister Jiang Yao is going to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?" Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Shuang¡¯er¡¯s eyes gleamed even brighter, "No wonder Sister Jiang Yao asked about the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain before. So, she is going there! Hehe, I also really want to see the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain! Brother Ye Chen, rest assured, I will accompany Sister Jiang Yao to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and will definitely assist her well."


    Seeing Shuang¡¯er, a little girl of about eleven or twelve years old, solemnly making such a promise, Jiang Yao couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    Jiang Yao knew that with Shuang¡¯er accompanying her, she would indeed have a companion on her journey.


    "All right, let¡¯s go, don¡¯t keep Sovereign He waiting anxiously."


    Looking at the bridge of light underfoot, Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er.


    "Okay," Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er nodded one after another.


    Subsequently, the four of them followed the bridge of light, flying toward the Void Realm mentioned by Mrs. He.


    The more they flew, the more astonished they became.


    They had flown for half an hour, and with their speed, they must have covered hundreds of thousands of miles, yet they had not reached the end of the bridge of light.


    At that moment, the four of them realized just how vast this thirty-third layer of heaven and earth was.


    Their admiration grew for Mrs. He, who could lay down such a bridge of light with just a few words.


    This was the strength of a Sovereign Realm powerhouse!


    "Yao¡¯er, you must cultivate well with Sovereign He and the nine Female Divine Venerables. In the future, with such abilities, we could traverse numerous Star Domains!" Ye Chen said to Jiang Yao while they were flying.


    "Mhm." Jiang Yao nodded earnestly, her beautiful eyes looking at Ye Chen with a confident sparkle, "Ye Chen, you must also cultivate diligently. You said you would become stronger before me and come find me in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain."


    "I will," Ye Chen promised solemnly to Jiang Yao.


    He did not want to be parted from Jiang Yao for too long.


    He could not wait for Jiang Yao to fulfill Mrs. He¡¯s requirements and return to Wan Mu Mountain Star Domain before seeing Jiang Yao again.


    Ye Chen had already planned that as soon as he had sufficient strength, he would go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to see Jiang Yao!


    "Now that the matter of the Undersea Divine Palace has been completely resolved, I will strive to join the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ and have the opportunity for further growth. It won¡¯t take long for me to reach the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!"


    As Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er flew and talked, after another half an hour of flight, they finally saw a realm with a Void Light Gate appearing in the distance.


    The four knew that they had arrived at the "Void Realm," where Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables were!


    ...


    After flying into the Void Light Gate, the gate behind Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er slowly sealed shut, while ahead of them, an old woman accompanied by nine young ladies was waiting in the void with smiling faces.


    Seeing the old woman and the nine young ladies, Ye Chen knew they were Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables.


    "Ye Chen, this is grandma, this is ¡¯Aunt Yuchen¡¯, this is ¡¯Aunt Yu Ling¡¯..."


    Jiang Yao took Ye Chen¡¯s hand and flew over to Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables to introduce them to him.


    "Grandma, nine aunts, you are already familiar with Ye Chen, right?" When introducing Ye Chen to Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, Jiang Yao¡¯s delicate face turned slightly red.


    She had missed Ye Chen while in the Void Realm and had been often teased by the nine Female Divine Venerables.


    "Familiar indeed, we have certainly observed the young man whom Yao¡¯er adores," replied Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, nodding with a smile upon hearing Jiang Yao¡¯s introduction.


    When their gaze fell upon Ye Chen, sensing the age of his bones and the aura of his battle strength, Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables couldn¡¯t help but admire inwardly, "He truly is an exceptional and splendid youth!"


    ...


    At the highest peak of the Void Realm. Continue reading stories on novelhall.Co?m


    Mrs. He, the nine Female Divine Venerables, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er sat cross-legged respectively.


    Mrs. He looked at Xiaojiu beside Ye Chen and Shuang¡¯er beside Jiang Yao, nodding and saying, "You two little ones are quite impressive, managing to bring down the two born Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperors from Divine Flame Mountain."


    Upon hearing Mrs. He mention her, Xiaojiu quickly stood up and bowed gracefully, "Xiaojiu pays respects to Sovereign He."


    Shuang¡¯er, however, curiously sized up Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables before speaking up, "Grandma, you have an eye for talent just like Shuang¡¯er, both having chosen Sister Jiang Yao."


    What Shuang¡¯er referred to by ¡¯having chosen,¡¯ was Mrs. He picking out Jiang Yao to instruct and Shuang¡¯er deciding to follow Jiang Yao.


    Hearing Shuang¡¯er compare herself with Mrs. He, the remaining Female Divine Venerables, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Xiaojiu all chuckled.


    Shuang¡¯er sure was interesting, showing no fear of Mrs. He¡¯s status.


    Ye Chen nodded inwardly.


    This was good, in this way, Shuang¡¯er following Jiang Yao to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain would be able to help Jiang Yao more independently without being too intimidated by Mrs. He¡¯s status.


    After sharing a laugh, Mrs. He turned to more serious matters.


    She looked at Ye Chen and spoke, "Ye Chen, although you and Yao¡¯er like each other, Yao¡¯er will be following us to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to cultivate. You must be patient. I have told Yao¡¯er before, only when both of you become truly strong, can you be together for a longer time.


    "Heavenly Saint is far from sufficient. Above you, there are the True God Realm, God King Realm, Divine Venerable Realm, Sovereign Realm, and even realms that surpass the Sovereign Realm..."


    "Your journey is still very long," she added.


    Mrs. He¡¯s words prompted Ye Chen to nod, "Rest assured, Sovereign He, Yao¡¯er and I will work hard. While Yao¡¯er heads to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain for cultivation, I will strive to join the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutions¡¯ in the Divine Kingdom of the Wanmu Mountain."


    "The Nine Great Divine Institutions?" Mrs. He nodded, "The reward of the Eye of the Divine Sea indeed involves a trial spot for the Nine Great Divine Institutions. With your strength, if you put in the effort, you might just have hope."


    "There are a few months left before the treasure hunt havoc of the Undersea Divine Palace comes to an end. Only then can you leave the Undersea Divine Palace. For these remaining months, cultivate here with Yao¡¯er. If we¡¯re not back by that time, wait for us outside the Undersea Divine Palace. Before we leave, I¡¯ll provide you with the access to the first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace," Mrs. He said to Ye Chen at last.


    Upon hearing the words "if we¡¯re not back" and "before we leave" from Mrs. He, both Jiang Yao and Ye Chen were momentarily taken aback.


    Jiang Yao, in particular, asked, "Grandma, where are you going?"


    Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables all smiled and explained, "With both the Eye of the Divine Sea and the Eye of Creation having found their masters, our role in overseeing this cycle of the cleansing havoc in the Undersea Divine Palace has come to an end. Our divine apparitions are presiding over the cleansing havoc in other lower realms."


    "With the time we have now, we can finally address the matter that¡¯s been on your mind," they revealed.


    At those words, Jiang Yao stood up excitedly, "Grandma, aunts, are you going to find my parents and clan members and rescue them from the Black Crow God King¡¯s grasp?"


    Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables nodded and smiled, "Exactly! We are about to return to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, and it¡¯s best to resolve this matter sooner rather than later."


    ...


    Once Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables had made arrangements for Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s cultivation in the Void Realm, they left the Undersea Divine Palace and flew toward the Divine Kingdom of the Wanmu Mountain, searching for traces of the Black Crow God King.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao embarked on their cultivation journey in the Void Realm with the company of Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, using the last three months of the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s year-long treasure hunt.


    The surviving martial artists within the other layers of the Undersea Divine Palace were all waiting for the treasure hunt to finally end.


    After all, the Eye of the Divine Sea had been found, and all of the Eye of Creation had long been taken by others; they certainly wouldn¡¯t risk further descent into the lower levels of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    They waited restlessly and hopefully to return to the first layer of the Undersea Divine Palace, waiting for the one who had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea to reach out and save them.


    At this time, however, the people within the Undersea Divine Palace were unaware that another group was en route from the Divine Kingdom of the Wanmu Mountain, heading towards the direction of the Celestial Spirit Star.

 Chapter 626 - 579 Plotting and Escape

    ```


    These people were the five Divine Venerables and a young True God Realm martial artist.


    At the moment, they were in a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat, engaged in conversation.


    One of the Divine Venerables spoke up, "Soon, the ¡¯Nine Great God Institutes¡¯ assessment will take place. Regrettably, as ¡¯Earth Divine Venerables,¡¯ the five of us don¡¯t have an opportunity to secure a spot for Lin¡¯er in the Nine Great God Institutes¡¯ assessment!"


    Another Divine Venerable expressed his grievances as well, "Those assessment spots for the ¡¯Nine Great God Institutes¡¯ have long been monopolized by the Heavenly Divine Venerables and the Immortal Divine Venerables, who grant them to their descendants. Even mighty beings of the Sovereign Realm have taken up quite a few spots. We are merely Earth Divine Venerables with little standing among our peers. How could we possibly get a spot from the ¡¯Nine Great God Institutes¡¯?"


    "However, fortunately, a portion of the star maps denoting the locations of the great calamities erupting in the lower realms has leaked from the Western Territory King Mansion."


    "These great calamities erupting in the lower realms are said to offer a chance at securing a spot for the Nine Great God Institutes¡¯ assessment."


    "With much difficulty, we¡¯ve purchased a small piece of the star map, pinpointing the exact locations of five continents undergoing the great cleansing calamities. We hope that this won¡¯t end up being a wasted effort."


    The oldest among them let out a sigh, "The complete star map that marks all the erupting great cleansing calamities in the lower realms is said to have countless stars, and the Western Territory King Mansion only let out a very small part. Yet that small part was divided into countless maps and auctioned off; we only managed to secure the star maps of five continents with great cleansing calamities. Rumor has it that the chances of surviving the lower realm¡¯s great cleansing calamities and obtaining an assessment spot for the Nine Great God Institutes are minuscule. Relying on the star maps of these five continents, it¡¯ll be difficult for us to secure the Nine Great God Institutes¡¯ assessment spot."


    "For the most part, our chances amount to nothing."


    The other Divine Venerables understood the implications of what their peer had said.


    "While that may be true, we must still strive for that slight hope," another Divine Venerable said. "Just imagine if we manage to secure an assessment spot from these five Star Continents, we will have hit it big. After all, precisely because the odds of getting an assessment spot from the lower realms are so low, we were able to secure this piece of the star map at a not-so-high price."


    As the Divine Venerable spoke, he turned to the young True God Realm martial artist beside him, saying, "Lin¡¯er, if we are able to get a spot in the Nine Great God Institutes¡¯ assessment, you must perform well. Even if you are not chosen by one of the Nine, the event will be observed by countless other institutes. If you perform well, joining another institute is also a very good outcome!"


    The young True God Realm martial artist known as ¡¯Lin¡¯er¡¯ nodded repeatedly, "My five esteemed teachers, I will try my best. Humph, who would¡¯ve thought that even those garbage martial artists from the lower realms could get an opportunity for the Nine Great God Institutes¡¯ assessment, while we in the Divine Kingdom can¡¯t."


    "There¡¯s no helping it. Those mighty figures always like to give lower realm martial artists some opportunities," the five Divine Venerables sighed. "But without the strength, even if they receive an opportunity, they won¡¯t be able to hold onto it. Let¡¯s not talk about this anymore. These five continents experiencing the great cleansing calamities ¡ª Celestial Spirit Star, Heavenly Fierce Star, Bright Moon Star... They¡¯re not too far apart. We should focus on finding out whether there¡¯s a chance to secure an assessment spot for the Nine Great God Institutes among them!"


    In the midst of this discussion, the five Divine Venerables, along with the young True God Realm martial artist, boarded the Flying Boat and headed towards the direction of the Celestial Spirit Star, where the Minor Spirit Realm was located.


    ...


    While these five Divine Venerables were scheming to capture the potential assessment spots born from the five Star Continents,


    at Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, the East Territory King Mansion.


    A burly figure was seated at the head of a long table within a great hall, poring over an ancient tome.


    Beside this stately figure was a little girl dressed in white, busily writing and drawing on a piece of paper.


    "Daddy, I¡¯ve finished practicing the ¡¯Circulation of Heaven Divine Art¡¯ you asked me to cultivate. You promised to take me to Celestial Spirit Star to see Ye Chen; when are we going?" In the midst of her writing and drawing, the little girl suddenly threw down her pen with a trace of irritation and addressed the burly figure in the center of the hall.


    Judging by the voice and the intelligent, beautiful eyes and face of the white-clad girl, who else could she be but the Little Provincial Princess?


    And the burly figure she was addressing, was none other than the most powerful being in Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation ¡ª the Sovereign Realm powerhouse, the King of the Divine Kingdom in the East Province!


    Upon hearing the complaints of the Little Provincial Princess, the East Territory King smiled and said, "Luo¡¯er, be patient. A year has not yet passed."


    "A year! Daddy, you insist on waiting a year as if I don¡¯t know the reason," the Little Provincial Princess spun her beautiful eyes, radiating craftiness and wit. "I heard that the great cleansing calamity has erupted on the Celestial Spirit Star where Ye Chen resides. Daddy, you¡¯re telling me to wait a year, aren¡¯t you waiting to see if Ye Chen survives the great cleansing calamity?"


    "There¡¯s no need to guess; he definitely will survive! Ye Chen is the only one besides me who made it through all five major cultivation sites in the Minor Pole Sky!"


    The East Territory King gave a noncommittal smile in response to the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s words.


    Arguing with his most beloved daughter was not something he wished to do.


    As the East Territory King and Little Provincial Princess were talking, the figure of the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu hurriedly flew into the hall. Excitedly addressing the East Territory King, she said, "Sovereign, the star map of Wanmu Mountain has turned blue for the Celestial Spirit Star!"


    "This indicates that someone on the Celestial Spirit Star has found the Ultimate Treasure, one that can allow everyone to escape the calamity of the great cleansing!"


    "With this, Ye Chen is surely safe. Perhaps, he¡¯s the one who discovered the Ultimate Treasure on the Celestial Spirit Star!"


    Hearing the words of Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, the eyes of the East Territory King brightened, while the Little Provincial Princess stood abruptly, "Aunt Hong Zhu, are you saying Ye Chen is safe?!"


    "I knew he would escape this crisis!"


    "Daddy, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s hurry to Celestial Spirit Star and see for ourselves!"


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s eagerness, the East Territory King shook his head and smiled, "Even if the Ultimate Treasure has been found, these martial artists have to wait until one year has passed before they can escape the calamity. There are still a few months to go, Luo¡¯er, your anxiety won¡¯t help."


    "It¡¯ll take a few more months before Ye Chen can emerge?" Upon hearing it would take a few more months, the Little Provincial Princess pouted slightly, looking somewhat petulant.


    "However," seeing the discontent in the Little Provincial Princess, the East Territory King smiled and glanced in the direction of the Celestial Spirit Star, "it seems that after a while, we indeed have to make a trip to that Celestial Spirit Star."


    ```


    Hearing the words of the East Territory King, the Little Provincial Princess¡¯ eyes swirled with anticipation, "Finally, I can go to the Celestial Spirit Star. I promised Brother Ye Chen that I would visit him, and I always keep my word."


    At this moment, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu spoke to the East Territory King, "Sovereign, I¡¯ve heard that the Western Territory King Mansion is going to reveal tens of thousands of positions on the Star Continent during the great cleansing calamity and has already leaked thousands."


    "I wonder if they¡¯ve leaked the position of the Celestial Spirit Star. If they have, that might mean quite a bit of trouble for the Celestial Spirit Star."


    Hearing the words of Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, the East Territory King frowned slightly, "That Western Territory King Mansion always likes to pull little tricks."


    "However, they wouldn¡¯t dare leak all of the star maps related to the great cleansing calamity nor the precise locations of the Star Continents that have survived the calamity. Otherwise, many warriors from Divine Kingdoms would head there to snatch the treasures of the great cleansing tragedy, and that would be the real trouble."


    "I was already planning a trip to the Celestial Spirit Star, but now it seems even more necessary to do so. I might as well check out some other Star Continents while I¡¯m there to make sure warriors from the Divine Kingdoms don¡¯t ruin the hard-earned opportunities of many martial artists from lower realms."


    ...


    Ye Chen had no idea that the great cleansing calamity in their lower realm would attract the attention of so many in the Divine Kingdoms.


    He did not know that before they even emerged from the calamity, many from the Divine Kingdoms were already coveting the benefits they had obtained, and a significant number of them were already en route to various Star Continents.


    At this time, together with Jiang Yao, Ye Chen was cultivating in the Void Realm under the accompaniment of Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, using the final moments to their advantage.


    While they cultivated, they were also waiting for Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables to return with Jiang Yao¡¯s family.


    But this wait went on for over three more months.


    Just as the great cleansing calamity was drawing to a close, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, and Shuang¡¯er had still not seen Mrs. He and the others return.


    This situation had Jiang Yao worried, "Could it be that the grandma has not found the Black Crow God King, or has something happened?"


    Jiang Yao¡¯s exquisite brows were tightly furrowed.


    "Don¡¯t worry, Yao¡¯er. With the strength of Sovereign He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, there¡¯s nothing in the Mountain Divine Nation that could threaten them. It¡¯s likely that the Black Crow God King is just very good at hiding. Let¡¯s wait a bit longer," Ye Chen comforted Jiang Yao.


    "Okay," Jiang Yao nodded lightly.


    "In five days, we will return to the first level of the Undersea Divine Palace, and then we can leave the palace," Ye Chen changed the subject.


    At the mention of just five more days, Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er became excited.


    Especially Shuang¡¯er, who said to Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, "Brother Ye Chen, Sister Jiang Yao, even though you haven¡¯t broken through to the next realm in the past few months, your martial skills have improved greatly. In my opinion, even going up against the incredibly powerful high-order True Gods from the Divine Kingdom wouldn¡¯t be a problem for Brother Ye Chen and Sister Jiang Yao right now."


    Hearing Shuang¡¯er¡¯s words, Xiaojiu nodded in agreement.


    Ye Chen clasped Jiang Yao¡¯s hand, and they shared a smile.


    Indeed, they had reaped significant rewards during this period.


    Jiang Yao had delved deeper into cultivating the techniques taught to her by Mrs. He over the past few months.


    As for Ye Chen, he had expanded the Stellar Cave Heaven spaces within the fourth chapter, "Primordial Chapter," of the Primordial Star Scripture from hundreds to over a thousand!


    Your next chapter is on novelhall.Co?m


    The power he drew from the stars had reached about one percent of the "Primordial Chapter Star Divine Chart!"


    This one percent was not to be underestimated; Ye Chen could now activate the Five Great Divine Arts with stellar power and easily slay an ordinary Nine Tribulations True God or one of the five-tribulation ancient beasts reared by a Divine Venerable of the Divine Kingdom he had fought previously!


    And using the stellar power from the Primordial Star Scripture combined with Divine Soul Power, Ye Chen was now confident that with the most powerful Heaven-reaching Divine Art "Nine Swords of Annihilation" and having cultivated the second of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, he could even defeat an incredibly powerful Six or Seven Tribulations True God from the Divine Kingdom!


    This was just the achievement of cultivating for a little over three months.


    Then there were the combat means of the physical body such as the Undying Divine Body and the Icebound Divine Body.


    By the time the assessments at the Great God Institute start, with another opportunity for Ye Chen to train in the Life Origin Wheel at a hundredfold time flow rate, he was even confident of cultivating the Nine Swords of Annihilation to the fourth or fifth Sword.


    And to cultivate the "Primordial Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture to over ten percent!


    If so, Ye Chen might well contend with the truly mightiest True Gods of the Divine Kingdom and even stand a good chance of entering the number one institute of the "Nine Great Divine Institutes," the Supreme Divine Institute!


    In the midst of sharing this smile with Jiang Yao, Ye Chen chatted with Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er a while longer before they all resumed their cultivation.


    And soon enough, the five days passed.


    On the final day of treasure hunting in the Undersea Divine Palace, all the warriors were transferred back to the first level of the palace.


    The time to escape annihilation at the hands of the "Eye of the Divine Sea," before the great cleansing, had arrived.

 Chapter 627 - 580

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Beams of divine light enveloped the surviving warriors on various floors of the Undersea Divine Palace, instantly transporting them into motion.


    The next moment, these warriors found themselves back in the massive hall of the first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Returning to the first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, everyone¡¯s feelings had drastically changed.


    Previously, there were hundreds of thousands of people in this great hall, but now, upon their return, over half of them had died in the trials within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Only a little over a hundred thousand warriors remained!


    An even greater change was that previously, everyone was filled with worry about whether they could escape the calamity of the great purge; many had even fallen into despair.


    But now, all were brimming with great hope.


    Because by now, everyone knew that the most precious artifact of the Undersea Divine Palace, the ultimate treasure "Eye of the Divine Sea" that could allow everyone to escape the great purge, had been found.


    The person who possessed the "Eye of the Divine Sea" was among the crowd!


    As long as this person took action, they could save them from the disaster of the great purge!


    "Who is it, who has obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea?!"


    "Save us! Save us!"


    "The powerful being who has received the Eye of the Divine Sea is our great benefactor!"


    Many people looked around, trying to catch a glimpse of the person who had found the Eye of the Divine Sea.


    Their gazes were especially in search of the three True Gods of the Nine Tribulations from the Minor Spirit Realm since they speculated that the Eye of the Divine Sea might very well be in the hands of one of them.


    However, upon searching, whether they were warriors of the Yan Clan, the Flying Spirit Clan, or the Vermilion Bird Clan, they were shocked to find that none of the old clan leaders, the three True Gods of the Nine Tribulations, had returned to this first floor.


    Were all three True Gods of the Nine Tribulations dead?!


    Contemplating this possibility, the surviving Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan, the Vermilion Bird Clan, and even the Yan Clan felt their minds go blank.


    Seeing that none of the three True Gods of the Nine Tribulations had appeared, everyone else also exclaimed: "If not the three True Gods of the Nine Tribulations, who then has obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea?"


    The crowd was in complete chaos.


    At this time, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were also transported back to the first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace; Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er were hiding within their spatial treasures and had not shown themselves.


    Thousand Extremes True God was also teleported back to the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s first floor along with Ye Chen. Your journey continues on novelhall.Co?m


    However, Thousand Extremes True God had concealed his aura, so nobody noticed the presence of his True God of the Nine Tribulations.


    In the last few months within the Undersea Divine Palace, after Mrs. He had left, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao visited the Elder Ku Du several times in between their cultivation sessions.


    Naturally, parting was inevitable.


    In the final moments, Elder Ku Du even took Thousand Extremes True God to the thirty-third floor, arranging for Thousand Extremes True God to leave the Undersea Divine Palace with Ye Chen and Jiang Yao and return to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    This was to fulfill his original promise to Thousand Extremes True God: to let him return to his homeland after the conclusion of the great purge.


    As for Elder Ku Du, he and his Sword Spirit Little Boy continued to retreat into seclusion, relentlessly striving for the supreme realm beyond the Sovereign Lord.


    Once back on the first floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, Thousand Extremes True God casually observed the Heavenly Saint True Gods around him, while Ye Chen and Jiang Yao immediately noticed True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Palace Master Yuan Li, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, and others.


    True Phoenix, Palace Master Yuan Li, and the others also saw Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Princess Yao!"


    True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Heavenly Saint Long Xuan, and the rest quickly gathered around Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    Not just them, but the remaining Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan, the saints from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and even some Heavenly Saint True Gods who were familiar with Ye Chen, like Elder Minghua, the Great Elder of the Skyfire Sacred Land from the Fiery Land continent, Elder Tianyan, Ding Xiaojia, the young master from the Jiuxing Palace of the Jiuxiang continent, all gravitated towards Ye Chen.


    For a moment, the area where Ye Chen was became bustling and lively.


    "Are you all okay?"


    "Thank goodness, thank goodness, we are all alive!"


    Seeing that Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were fine and that no one from their group had died during the great purge, everyone was overwhelmed with excitement.


    "Ye Chen, you actually broke through to the late stages of Heavenly Saint!"


    "Princess Yao, your aura has also grown much stronger!"


    "Could it be, you¡¯ve encountered great opportunities within the Undersea Divine Palace?"


    Many Heavenly Saint True Gods were amazed after noticing the changes in Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    "Yuan Li, you have also broken through to the realm of a True God!" True Phoenix was surprised to see Palace Master Yuan Li¡¯s breakthrough.


    Palace Master Yuan Li smiled and said, "Along with Ye Chen, I went into the Void Gourd on the eleventh floor of the Undersea Divine Palace for cultivation, and both of us made great progress."


    "After that, we parted ways..."


    The group chatted, sharing the experiences they had in the Undersea Divine Palace.


    "We just don¡¯t know who got the Eye of the Divine Sea; we need the help of the person who obtained it to leave the Undersea Divine Palace," True Phoenix said with some concern during the conversation.


    Hearing True Phoenix¡¯s worried words, Jiang Yao replied with a gentle smile, "Aunt True Phoenix, don¡¯t worry. The Eye of the Divine Sea is indeed with Ye Chen."


    The Eye of the Divine Sea was with Ye Chen!


    Jiang Yao¡¯s gentle words struck everyone¡¯s minds like a bolt from the blue.


    Whoosh.


    In an instant, all eyes turned toward Ye Chen.


    "Friend Ye Chen, is it true? Is it really you who have obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea?" At this moment, Elder Tianyan from the land of Tianyan and others trembled as they asked Ye Chen.

 Chapter 628 - 580: Changes in the Minor Spirit Realm Structure_2

    When they saw Ye Chen nodding with a light smile, their minds instantly turned blank.


    Ye Chen had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea, which meant that their safe departure from the Undersea Divine Palace was now without any issue!


    In an instant, the area erupted with cheers!


    The cheering in this area naturally caught the attention of the nearby areas. When the martial artists from the adjacent areas heard that a youth from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent named "Ye Chen" had received the Eye of the Divine Sea, they too rushed over to Ye Chen¡¯s side, shouting with excitement.


    Apart from the circle where Ye Chen was, there were the circles of the North Ming Clan and the Blood God Clan.


    When the clan leaders of the North Ming Clan and the Blood God Clan, along with the tens of thousands of sword cultivators who had met Ye Chen and Jiang Yao on the thirty-second floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, spread the news that Ye Chen had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea and promised to rescue them, it took less than a moment for all the surviving warriors in the grand hall to learn of it.


    This time, the person who had obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea was named Ye Chen!


    Almost everyone rushed toward the area where Ye Chen was.


    How could they not rush toward Ye Chen?


    After all, only Ye Chen with the Eye of the Divine Sea could save them from the annihilation of the great cleansing catastrophe!


    Of course, among the crowd, there were two groups of people who felt a chill in their hearts at this moment.


    These two groups were the Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    These two clans had once joined forces to besiege the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, and they had deadly blood feuds with the Divine Phoenix Clan where Jiang Yao belonged. When they learned that the Eye of the Divine Sea was obtained by Ye Chen, a youth from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent whom the princess of the Divine Phoenix Clan, Jiang Yao, was fond of, their hearts felt as if they had deteriorated into ash.


    Especially those who had participated in the besieging of the Divine Phoenix Clan and the Barbaric Wilderness Continent from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan Heavenly Saint True Gods knew that it would be difficult for them to leave the Undersea Divine Palace safely now.


    Ye Chen stood in the middle of the grand hall, he could see the countless warriors surging towards him with joy, and he could also see the faces of the Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan turning pale in an instant.


    "Fellow Daoists..."


    Ye Chen instantly soared to the mid-air of the grand hall, and his powerful aura swept toward all the warriors, stopping the frantic crowding of many.


    When Ye Chen¡¯s aura was fully released, nearly all the warriors in the venue held their breath and trembled!


    For they realized that the aura Ye Chen exhibited was a formidable one they had never encountered before.


    It was even stronger than the auras of the Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, the elder chieftains of the Flying Spirit Clan, and the elder chieftains of the Vermilion Bird Clan whom they had felt before, all of whom were True Gods of the Nine Tribulations!


    "Ye Chen¡¯s aura!"


    At this moment, even the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God, upon sensing Ye Chen¡¯s true aura after its release, were shocked to the core.


    They had not expected that Ye Chen¡¯s advancement to the late stage of the God King Realm was not simply that, and even his true combat aura seemed to have surpassed the level of the Nine Tribulations True Gods from the Minor Spirit Realm!


    How could this not amaze the True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God?!


    Even when entering the Undersea Divine Palace, they knew Ye Chen was incredibly powerful, even capable of clashing with them, but they could never imagine, in just a short year, Ye Chen had grown to such an extent and left them far behind!


    "The aura of Young Friend Ye Chen!"


    "The aura of Daoist Ye Chen!"


    "Brother Ye Chen¡¯s aura!" Enjoy more content from novelhall.Co?m


    "My god, this aura, it surpasses the True Gods of the Nine Tribulations from the Minor Spirit Realm?!"


    "Could it be the God King Realm? No, breaking through to the God King Realm is said to result in being directly transported outside of the Undersea Divine Palace, it¡¯s impossible for him to be in the God King Realm. Could it be some powerful force we are unaware of!"


    "It¡¯s too powerful!"


    Not only were True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God in shock, but others beside them, Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Elder Minghua, Tianyan Elder Ancestor, Mystery Heavenly Saint, the young master Ding Xiaojia of Jiumang Continent, and even all the warriors in the great hall were completely astonished!


    Especially the True Gods from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, who bore grudges against Ye Chen, their hearts were once again pounding.


    They hadn¡¯t expected that their Nine Tribulations True God clan leader would vanish without a trace, while their adversary, Ye Chen, had become so powerful, not only obtaining the Eye of the Divine Sea but also experiencing such an explosive increase in strength!


    In the midst of the shock, there was only a bright gleam in Jiang Yao¡¯s beautiful eyes.


    Jiang Yao had personally accompanied Ye Chen in his cultivation and had witnessed his progress step by step.


    Jiang Yao knew that Ye Chen¡¯s growth to this extent was the result of many days of arduous cultivation, having gone through countless terrifying trials and crises.


    At this moment, as Ye Chen stunned everyone, Jiang Yao felt happy and proud of Ye Chen!


    In the void, Ye Chen¡¯s release of aura wasn¡¯t to surprise these people, but to stop the chaotic scene of people rushing towards him in a disorderly manner.


    Now, seeing that everyone had indeed stopped their unruly behavior and was instead looking at him in shock, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but shake his head in resignation.


    However, as long as it achieved the desired effect, that was what mattered.


    Ye Chen looked at the crowd that had stopped pushing forward and looked towards the familiar and completely unfamiliar faces among them.


    He first nodded and smiled at Yan Ling¡¯er from the Yan Clan, and then said to her, "Friends from the Yan Clan, you do not need to worry about the safety of the Ancient Emperor. As far as I know, he has successfully broken through to the ¡¯God King Realm¡¯ and has already been transported out of the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    Ye Chen had already learned about the situation of the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor from Granny He, and seeing the worried looks on the faces of Yan Ling¡¯er and the other Yan Clan warriors, he informed them about the Ancient Emperor¡¯s situation first.


    "My grandfather has broken through to the ¡¯God King Realm¡¯?!"


    Yan Ling¡¯er had been extremely worried about the safety of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, but upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, she immediately went from panic to great joy.


    Not just Yan Ling¡¯er, but other True Gods and Heavenly Saints of the Yan Clan were also overjoyed.


    Even though many of their Heavenly Saints and True Gods had perished within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    As their Ancient Emperor had successfully broken through to the "God King Realm," it represented a tremendous boost in strength for the entire Yan Clan!


    Ye Chen¡¯s words, coupled with the joyous expressions of Yan Ling¡¯er and the other Yan Clan warriors, made the other warriors extremely envious of the Yan Clan.


    At this point, the warriors from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan felt their hearts skip a beat, with a hint of anticipation rising: "Could it be that our two clan leaders have also broken through to the God King Realm, which is why they haven¡¯t appeared here?"


    As they were lost in their wild thoughts, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze moved from the faces of the people of the Yan Clan to the faces of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan.


    Ye Chen said indifferently to these warriors, "As for the two Nine Tribulations True God clan leaders from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, they, indeed, did not break through to the God King Realm."


    "The reason they didn¡¯t appear here is because I¡ªkilled them!"

 Chapter 629 - 581: Revenge, Ecstasy

    "The reason they didn¡¯t show up here is because they have already been killed by me!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s words silenced the entire hall so suddenly that not even the sound of a breath could be heard.


    Both the elder clan leaders of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan were killed?


    Two Nine Tribulations True Gods, just like that, were dead?


    Even though everyone had already felt Ye Chen¡¯s terrifying aura earlier, upon hearing with their own ears that two Nine Tribulations True Gods had fallen at his hands, they still found it utterly inconceivable and were immensely shocked.


    Nine Tribulations True Gods were the most powerful beings in the Minor Spirit Realm, the mightiest individuals of two great Ancient Clans, and they were dead just like that.


    Initially, when they did not return to the first floor of the great hall, everyone speculated that they might have encountered murderous lifeforms within the Undersea Divine Palace and met with an accident, but it never crossed anyone¡¯s mind that these two mighty figures could have fallen to the youth standing before them!


    The impact this had on the crowd was even more intense than the earlier news of the Ancient Emperor from the Yan Clan breaking through to the God King Realm.


    After all, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had already lingered in the Nine Tribulations for countless years, and though his breakthrough was shocking, it was still acceptable. But this young man, Ye Chen, was merely at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm, yet he was able to slay two Nine Tribulations True Gods!


    What further shocked everyone was that this youth dared to openly declare the slaughtering of the two old clan leaders right in front of countless Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan.


    Clearly, he didn¡¯t even consider these Heavenly Saint True Gods worth his attention!


    He wasn¡¯t afraid of their retaliation at all!


    But then again, upon reflection, everyone realized that Ye Chen indeed had no reason to fear retaliation.


    Not to mention that Ye Chen¡¯s own strength was already terrifying, just possessing the Eye of the Divine Sea was enough for countless Heavenly Saint True Gods from the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans to beseech him.


    Even if the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans united against Ye Chen, if he chose not to act, the other martial artists would certainly not stand idly by.


    Ye Chen was the key to their survival. If the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans dared to touch Ye Chen, the Heavenly Saint True Gods from the other three Ancient Clans¡ªthe Yan Clan, the North Ming Clan, the Blood God Clan¡ªwould not stand for it!


    Nor would all the other martial artists!


    The Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans clearly understood this logic. After hearing that their old clan leaders had truly died, even if they were extremely horrified, they didn¡¯t dare utter any harsh words to Ye Chen, nor did they even dare to raise their heads and meet his gaze.


    While these people didn¡¯t dare to say anything, Ye Chen had no intention of easily letting them off.


    The enmity of the Divine Phoenix Clan, the hatred for the descended True Gods who brought harm to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, if not avenged now, then when?!


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze swept across everyone in the great hall, and finally settled on the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Flying Spirit and Vermilion Bird Clans.


    He slowly said, "I have obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea, and I will help everyone else escape the Mass Purge and slaughter. However, the Vermilion Bird and Flying Spirit Clans have some scores that we must settle first!"


    Whoosh.


    The words of Ye Chen stirred a wave of commotion among the people.


    From the previous statement where Ye Chen claimed to have killed the two nine-tribulation true god clan leaders of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan, everyone understood that Ye Chen likely held a grudge against these clans.


    Now, hearing that Ye Chen wanted to settle the score with the two clans, everyone immediately realized that this feud was probably not light.


    Many people quickly transmitted their voices secretly, trying to probe into the entanglements between Ye Chen and the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan.


    When they heard that this great vendetta was related to the Divine Phoenix Clan where Jiang Yao came from, and when countless true gods from both the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan descended to the world to besiege the people of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, including Ye Chen, many remembered the great battle between the three Ancient Clans that happened in the Minor Spirit Realm.


    They remembered how the strongest Ancient Clan in the Minor Spirit Realm, the Divine Phoenix Clan, after their nine-tribulation true god seniors left for another world, were besieged by the combined forces of the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan.


    They thought of the countless Heavenly Saints and true gods of the entire Divine Phoenix Clan who died in the great battle. The whole Divine Phoenix Clan was almost completely uprooted from the Minor Spirit Realm, even their greatest Divine Phoenix City was occupied.


    Then everyone looked at Ye Chen, and Jiang Yao by his side.


    All knew that this great vengeance, Ye Chen was finally about to completely avenge the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    "Back then, the Divine Phoenix Clan was good to the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan. Unexpectedly, later on, these two clans besieged the Divine Phoenix Clan for the Phoenix Divine Blood and the Nirvana Pool."


    "Now, the Divine Phoenix Clan has risen a powerful Jiang Yao, and they have also gained a powerful young man like Ye Chen to aid them. This time, this blood feud might finally be settled completely!"


    Warriors unrelated to the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan sighed in their hearts.


    In their sighs, as the Heavenly Saint true gods of both the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan turned deathly pale when Ye Chen mentioned settling accounts, Ye Chen directly said to the Thousand Extremes True God by his side, "Senior Thousand Extremes, please make your move and find out those who endangered the Divine Phoenix Clan in the past, as well as those who joined forces to invade the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!"


    Ye Chen had previously talked with the Thousand Extremes True God about many things that happened on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and learned that the Thousand Extremes True God had a powerful and extraordinary Soul Searching Divine Ability. Even the eight-tribulation and nine-tribulation true gods from the Minor Spirit Realm could have many things instantly revealed through a soul search.


    Ye Chen had mentioned this to the Thousand Extremes True God before, requesting his help in dealing with the enemies from the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, and of course, the Thousand Extremes True God agreed on the spot.


    Now, Ye Chen let the Thousand Extremes True God make his move!


    Seeing Ye Chen call out to the seemingly ordinary Thousand Extremes True God next to him, many were still wondering who this person was. But when the Thousand Extremes True God smiled and nodded at Ye Chen, instantly unleashing his aura which enveloped all the Heavenly Saint true gods of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan in the hall, everyone was shocked.


    Because they discovered that this seemingly ordinary warrior, when he truly unleashed his aura, was that of a nine-tribulation true god!


    Moreover, it wasn¡¯t just any ordinary nine-tribulation true god¡¯s aura. The combative aura he released seemed to be countless times stronger than that of an ordinary nine-tribulation true god!


    Even some of the seven-tribulation and eight-tribulation true gods from both the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, who thought of fleeing or resisting when they heard Ye Chen was about to take action, were instantly suppressed by the Thousand Extremes True God!


    With one move from the Thousand Extremes True God, nearly tens of thousands of Heavenly Saint true gods from both the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan were completely subdued!


    Frightening.


    Unbelievably frightening!


    "This Ye Chen, is truly amazing. Just any warrior by his side is so hidden and powerful!"


    "It seems that even without the Eye of the Divine Sea, relying on him or any one of these warriors alone, the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan stand no chance of escaping!"


    Countless Heavenly Saint true gods were exclaiming.


    ```


    These people did not know that Thousand Extremes True God was personally nurtured by the Sovereign Realm powerhouse Elder Hardcross as his junior disciple, so of course, he could not be measured by the standards of the average True God from the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Even Ye Chen, now upon calculation, was no match for Thousand Extremes True God.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In just a few breaths of time, Thousand Extremes True God, with his sky-reaching techniques, had divided the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan into two groups.


    One group was comprised of the Heavenly Saint True Gods who had not participated in the incident involving the Divine Phoenix Clan and the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, while the other group was made up of the enemies who had endangered the Divine Phoenix Clan and invaded the Barbaric Wilderness Continent!


    "Young friend Ye Chen, these are the people you are looking for. You shall deal with them," Thousand Extremes True God said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    Ye Chen nodded and responded with a smile, "Thank you, Senior Thousand Extremes."


    Then, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze fell directly onto these people.


    Among them, there were many at the Seventh or Eighth Tribulation of True Gods, and at this moment, all were trembling.


    Turning back, Ye Chen looked at Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, as well as the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan. He saw that the eyes of Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and others were all red.


    Clearly, seeing these enemies reminded them of their fellow clan members of the Divine Phoenix Clan who had died!


    Ye Chen held Jiang Yao¡¯s hand tightly and asked her, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, "How should these people be dealt with?"


    Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God all had red eyes. After exchanging glances, the True Phoenix bit her lip and said, "We would love nothing more than to kill them with our own hands, but we also don¡¯t wish to stain our hands with the blood of these disasters."


    "Ye Chen, just leave them here in the Undersea Divine Palace, and let the Great Purge Catastrophe eradicate them for good!"


    Great Purge Catastrophe, without the aid of the Eye of Creation and Eye of the Divine Sea to escape, these people would have no other fate but death.


    Hearing the decision from the True Phoenix and seeing Jiang Yao, Mu Lan True God, as well as the Heavenly Saint True Gods of the Divine Phoenix Clan all nodding, agreeing not to cast another glance at these enemies, Ye Chen nodded.


    "Then let heaven take their lives from these people!"


    Whoosh.


    With a wide sweep of his arm, Ye Chen took out the Eye of the Divine Sea and said to everyone, "Apart from these people, I shall save the rest of you from this place now!"


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Following that, in a series of flashing lights, Jiang Yao, the True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, the Master of Yuan Li Palace, Thousand Extremes True God, Elder Minghua... all were teleported out of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Ye Chen, holding the Eye of the Divine Sea, flew out of the Undersea Divine Palace as well.


    In the end, within the first-floor main hall of the Undersea Divine Palace, only the group of bloodstained enemies from the Vermilion Bird Clan and the Flying Spirit Clan remained, left in the hall, howling in insane fear!


    And when the Great Purge Catastrophe finally arrived in full force, a stream of blood-red air flowed through the main hall, conclusively ending the lives of these remaining people!


    ...


    Outside the Undersea Divine Palace.


    As the day when the Great Purge Catastrophe was to conclude approached, the area of the Divine North Sea near the Undersea Divine Palace was swarmed with countless people.


    These people included warriors of the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and Rotating Pill Realm from all the Ancient Clans and major forces of the Minor Spirit Realm, as well as the former Yan Clan ancient emperor who had broken through to the God King Realm and had been transmitted out of the Undersea Divine Palace. Further, there were Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and others who had been waiting outside for Ye Chen.


    Everyone waited, anticipating the final outcome of the Great Purge Catastrophe.


    They did not know whether anyone would obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea, whether they could save countless warriors from the eradication of the Great Purge Catastrophe.


    Even the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan looked worried.


    When he left the Undersea Divine Palace, he had only heard that the Eyes of Creation had been obtained on both the sixth and fourteenth floors. He knew that those who got the Eyes of Creation might have a chance to escape the Great Purge Catastrophe, but he had no knowledge of what happened afterward, whether the Eye of the Divine Sea had been found or not.


    Thinking of his Yan Clan members, thinking of his granddaughter Yan Ling¡¯er, he was filled with worry.


    Meanwhile, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi were full of longing.


    However, they believed that their master, Ye Chen, would certainly come out of the Undersea Divine Palace, he must!


    As countless people waited, a figure flew out from the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Bing Yi and the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan were the first to shout, "Someone is coming out!"


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    As Bing Yi and the ancient emperor of the Yan Clan shouted, everyone saw that countless figures, dense like a swarm of locusts, emerged from the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Finally, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi spotted Ye Chen among the crowd.


    Overwhelmed with excitement, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi called out, "Master!"


    ...


    As Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Yan Ling¡¯er, and others emerged from the Undersea Divine Palace, stirring excitement and shouts among the countless waiting warriors outside the Divine North Sea,


    Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    Far beyond the Celestial Spirit Star, a million miles into the starry sky in a location that was rushing towards the Celestial Spirit Star and five other star continents, where observation enchantments had been set up earlier on the star continents, five Divine Honorables suddenly stood up, faces alight with wild joy.


    "That is..."


    "Someone has emerged from the Great Purge Catastrophe of the Celestial Spirit Star!"


    "Not just below thirty-three individuals but a full hundred thousand people or more! This... this indicates that someone on this Celestial Spirit Star has discovered the ultimate treasure, saving countless warriors engulfed by the Great Purge Catastrophe¡¯s eradication!"


    "Heavens, the little fragment of a star map we got that contains five star continents, there indeed is a star continent among them that has obtained the ultimate treasure, securing the qualifications to attend the assessment at the nine great divine institutes!"


    ```

 Chapter 630 - 582: The Five Great Earth Divine Venerable

    How could these five Divine Venerables not be overjoyed?


    One must know that within the entire Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, there are hundreds of millions of stars, hundreds of millions of Star Continents.


    For them to have the opportunity to auction for the location of five Star Continents that had experienced the Great Cleansing Calamity was already a sign of great fortune.


    But even after acquiring the locations of these five Star Continents, the five Divine Venerables knew that the chance for someone to obtain the Ultimate Treasure of the Great Cleansing Calamity from these five Star Continents was extremely slim, almost next to impossible.


    After all, whenever a Great Cleansing Calamity erupted across tens of thousands of Star Continents in the lower realm, the chance of someone passing through and obtaining the Ultimate Treasure was minuscule, and it would be considered very good if even a few hundred obtained the Ultimate Treasure.


    Out of these tens of thousands of Star Continents, they only obtained the location of five, and the probability of simply stumbling upon one that housed an Ultimate Treasure was understandably tiny.


    Initially, these five Divine Venerables, while observing these five Star Continents, saw that the Great Cleansing Calamity on Star Continents such as Heavenly Fierce Star, Skyflame Star, and Bright Moon Star had already ended without any signs of anyone obtaining the Ultimate Treasure of the Great Cleansing Calamity, and their hearts grew cold.


    However, they unexpectedly discovered from Celestial Spirit Star an incredible number of warriors who had been rescued from the Great Cleansing Calamity and found signs of the emergence of the Ultimate Treasure.


    This naturally filled them with immense joy!


    "Let¡¯s go!"


    "To Celestial Spirit Star!"


    "We must seize that precious opportunity bestowed by the Great Cleansing Calamity for the Ultimate Treasure, the slot to participate in the examination for the nine major divine institutes!"


    The five Divine Venerables, unable to conceal their excitement, steered the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat at extreme speed towards Celestial Spirit Star.


    Inside the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat, the True God youth referred to as "Lin¡¯er" by the five Divine Venerables, was so thrilled that his hands trembled somewhat.


    He never thought he would have the chance to obtain a slot to participate in the examination for the nine major divine institutes.


    Originally, he believed that his five masters would come back empty-handed, but lo and behold, a miracle had indeed happened on Celestial Spirit Star.


    "The slot is ours!"


    "It¡¯s ours!"


    "Having this slot, even if I¡¯m not selected by the nine major divine institutes during the examination, as long as I perform well, I can still join other lesser-divine institutes within the Divine Nation, which will greatly enhance my strength."


    "Perhaps like my five masters, I can achieve the status of Earth Divine Venerable, or even surpass my masters and become a Heavenly Divine Venerable¡ªit¡¯s not just a dream!"


    The youth known as "Lin¡¯er" had already considered the slot to participate in the nine major divine institutes¡¯ examination from Celestial Spirit Star as his own.


    In his mind, a lower realm Star Continent like Celestial Spirit Star was hardly noteworthy.


    His five masters were Earth Divine Venerables, and though they were the lowest among Divine Venerables, they were still far beyond the existence of all warriors from the lower realm Star Continents!


    One should know that it was already remarkable for a lower realm Star Continent to produce a Lower God King, and such a God King would surely journey to the Divine Nation to seek his fortune.


    The strongest remaining in the lower realm Star Continents would be, at most, a Nine Calamities True God.


    What is a Nine Calamities True God?


    Not to mention a Nine Calamities True God, even Lower God Kings, Middle God Kings, and even Upper God Kings were nothing in the eyes of the rank of Earth Divine Venerable that his five masters possessed.


    The True God youth known as "Lin¡¯er" knew well that his five masters, had even annihilated dozens of desolate Star Continents to cultivate their techniques.


    To a Divine Venerable, destroying Star Continents was incredibly easy!


    There was no issue whatsoever in seizing treasures from the lower realm!


    Even the individual who obtained the Ultimate Treasure from the Great Cleansing Calamity would at most be at the level of a Nine Calamities True God and would be utterly unable to block their way!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    In the midst of the five Divine Venerables¡¯ excitement and the youth called "Lin¡¯er¡¯s" exhilaration, the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat sped towards Celestial Spirit Star at an incomprehensible velocity.


    The Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat was incredibly fast, covering hundreds of millions of miles within just dozens of breaths, and soon they saw Celestial Spirit Star from afar¡ªthat is, the Minor Spirit Realm Star Continent!


    ...


    At this time, outside the Northern Dark Divine Sea of the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Seeing a group of warriors fleeing from the Undersea Divine Palace, those waiting outside were completely filled with joy, eagerly welcoming their awaited ones.


    In the crowd, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, who had already broken through to the God King Realm and was now a Lower God King, was the fastest and instantly flew into a group of Yan Clan warriors, arriving in front of his granddaughter, Yan Ling¡¯er.


    "Ling¡¯er, how did you come out? Did you find the ¡¯Eye of Creation,¡¯ or did someone save you with the ¡¯Divine Sea Eye¡¯?"


    "And all our clan members who escaped annihilation must have been saved by the ¡¯Divine Sea Eye¡¯! Who obtained the Divine Sea Eye?!" the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan asked Yan Ling¡¯er urgently as he flew to her side.


    Yan Ling¡¯er turned to the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and said, "Grandfather, it was Ye Chen who saved us, he obtained the ¡¯Divine Sea Eye¡¯!"


    "Ye Chen?!"


    Upon hearing Yan Ling¡¯er¡¯s words, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was utterly stunned.


    He had not expected that when he specifically went to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to inform Ye Chen of the imminent divine catastrophe in the Minor Spirit Realm, he had hoped that this young man, who had been to the "Minor Ultimate Heaven," would perform well.


    Unexpectedly, Ye Chen did indeed obtain the Eye of the Divine Sea, and he really saved countless lives!


    "Yes, my chief, it was Ye Chen who saved all of us," other warriors from the Yan Clan also excitedly chimed in. These warriors went on to say, "Not only did Ye Chen save us, his strength is also unimaginably extreme. Those two nine-calamity True Gods, the old clan chiefs of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan who once besieged the Divine Phoenix Clan, were both killed by Ye Chen."


    Boom!


    The words of these Yan Clan warriors further confounded the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Both the old clan chief of the Flying Spirit Clan and the old clan chief of the Vermilion Bird Clan, the two nine-calamity True Gods, were killed by Ye Chen?!


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan remembered that when he had gone to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Ye Chen was far from being a match for those two old clan chiefs.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan also remembered that after he parted ways with those two old clan chiefs on the eighteenth floor of the Undersea Divine Palace, those two continued to venture deeper.


    Unexpectedly, within the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen had managed to increase his strength to such an extent that he could even slay the two nine-calamity True Gods he had originally had no hope of defeating!


    The gaze of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan couldn¡¯t help but turn towards the many figures flying out, seeking out the figure of Ye Chen.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan knew that this young man, who had performed such a miracle during the divine catastrophe in the Undersea Divine Palace, would achieve accomplishments far surpassing his own.


    Although he had already broken through to the God King Realm, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had a premonition that he should not provoke Ye Chen, otherwise, great trouble would befall him.


    Just as the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the people of the Yan Clan had come together, the people of the North Sea Clan and the Blood God Clan were also gathering with their own members who had flown out from the Undersea Divine Palace, the Heavenly Saint True Gods.


    Through the narratives of the Heavenly Saint True Gods, the warriors of the North Sea Clan and the Blood God Clan who had not been involved in the great cleansing catastrophe, and who were of the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, and Rotating Pill Realm knew of the significant events that had taken place within the Undersea Divine Palace.


    They also learned that the warriors from their clans were saved by a warrior from the Barbaric Wilderness Continent named Ye Chen.


    Moreover, they learned of the demise of the old clan chiefs of the two great ancient clans of the Minor Spirit Realm, the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, and the extensive deaths among their Heavenly Saint True Gods.


    The warriors of the North Sea Clan and the Blood God Clan knew that now, the structure of the entire Minor Spirit Realm had completely changed!


    In the midst of the crowd, warriors from various powers and sects gathered, but the warriors of the Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan only saw a mere few hundred Heavenly Saint True Gods flying out from their clans.


    When they heard what had happened to their clan, these lower realm warriors who had been waiting outside were instantly scared pale.


    They knew that both of their great ancient clans, the Flying Spirit Clan, and the Vermilion Bird Clan, were finished.


    Revenge?


    Let alone these lower realm warriors who were of the True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Rotating Pill Realm, and who did not even qualify to take part in the great battle against the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Even if they were strong, they would definitely not dare to provoke Ye Chen again.


    Their old clan chiefs, the nine-calamity True Gods, had already died at the hands of Ye Chen, so how could they dare to seek death?


    Furthermore, they knew that if there were any Heavenly Saint True Gods from their clans who had survived, it was because they had not taken part in the siege against the Divine Phoenix Clan, and those who had perished were all involved in the killing of countless Divine Phoenix clanspeople.


    An eye for an eye, they would not risk their lives for those people. Enjoy new stories from novelhall.Co?m


    At this moment, in the midst of the crowd, none were more excited than Bing Yi, Bing Qi, Bing Qi, and Bing Shiyi, along with other Heavenly Saint Realm Ice Guardians.


    They were welcoming back their master, and they had also heard the surrounding buzzing voices discussing how their master had obtained the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s most precious treasure, the Eye of the Divine Sea, and saved everyone.


    This made the Ice Guardians immensely proud.


    Their master Ye Chen was indeed the most formidable and miraculous youth; even the great cleansing catastrophe had not been able to defeat him!


    "Master!"


    Bing Yi, Bing Qi, Bing Qi, three True God Realm Ice Guardians, and Bing Shiyi along with the other ten Heavenly Saint Realm Ice Guardians surrounded Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Palace Master Yuan Li, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and others, babbling and asking about what had happened in the Undersea Divine Palace during the great cleansing catastrophe.


    Outside the North Sea Divine Sea, the commotion was already at its peak.


    Just as the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was gathering the people of the Yan Clan to express their gratitude to Ye Chen,


    Boom!


    Around the North Sea Divine Sea, a frighteningly powerful voice echoed from the highest heavens as the tens of thousands of warriors who had emerged and those who were waiting suddenly heard it.


    Then, these tens of thousands of warriors saw an incredibly mystical flying boat instantly cut across the sky, appearing above the Void Heaven, above the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Upon seeing this flying boat, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao exchanged glances, both revealing shocked expressions in their eyes.


    Because both of them could see that this flying boat was a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat!


    Then, what shocked them even more, and what filled the other tens of thousands of warriors with dread, occurred: the flying boat¡¯s prohibitions were suddenly unleashed, and six figures flew out from within.


    Among these six figures, one was a True God Realm youth, and the other five exuded the aura of Divine Venerables, they were five great Divine Venerables!


    As soon as these five great Divine Venerables flew out of the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat, they stood in the air, looking down at everyone on the ground.


    One of the Divine Venerables even announced to the tens of thousands of warriors below, "Who among you obtained the Ultimate Treasure of the divine catastrophe and saved everyone? Hand over that spot to participate in the assessment at the nine great God Institutes!"

 Chapter 631 - 583 Threats

    The voice of this Divine Venerable rolled across the heavens and earth, shocking all the people on the land.


    The martial artists on the ground had never seen such domineering presence, it was almost as if such beings could crush the entire Minor Spirit Realm to dust with a flick of their hands!


    Even many true gods who had seen Divine Kings visiting the Minor Spirit Realm throughout the Star Domain had not felt such an aura from those Divine Kings!


    And the Yan Clan¡¯s Ancient Emperor, who had just broken through to the God King Realm, seemed like a Spirit Sea Realm martial artist facing a Heavenly Saint, his aura completely suppressed when compared with the one speaking in the void.


    Moreover, this aura wasn¡¯t emanating from one person¡ªthere were a full five individuals with such staggering presence!


    Who were these newcomers?


    Where did they come from? What realm were they of?


    The hundreds of thousands of martial artists on the ground were entirely shaken.


    Upon hearing the speaker mention the ultimate secret treasure from the great cleansing cataclysm that would save everyone, many martial artists on the ground quickly turned their gaze towards Ye Chen in an instant.


    As if realizing that such attention could bring immense trouble to Ye Chen, these martial artists hurriedly withdrew their gazes from Ye Chen.


    After all, the speaker had mentioned a spot in the assessment at the nine divine institutes, and although the crowd didn¡¯t know what it was, they understood without thinking that the terrifying beings above had come here for that very thing!


    But even though the martial artists withdrew their gazes, the action of them looking toward Ye Chen together had not escaped the notice of the five Divine Venerables in the sky.


    "It seems that the one who obtained that ultimate treasure is you!"


    Boom!


    The five Divine Venerables, together with the true god youth, the six individuals in the sky, all set their sights directly on Ye Chen.


    "A mere late-stage Heavenly Saint youth was actually able to obtain the ultimate treasure of the great cleansing cataclysm?!"


    When they sensed Ye Chen¡¯s realm, the five Divine Venerables were taken aback.


    However, they quickly revealed a look of unspeakable greed in their eyes, directly addressing Ye Chen, "You must be a genius youth of Celestial Spirit Star! But no matter how talented you are, promptly hand over that spot!"


    "If you could obtain the ultimate treasure, then you should know the preciousness of that spot. Such a treasure is not something a lower realm martial artist can possess!"


    Whoosh.


    Being stared at by such important figures, directly under their watchful eyes, many martial artists from the Minor Spirit Realm who had been close to Ye Chen were scared stiff and quickly moved to the side.


    They dared not meddle in such a situation.


    A careless move could cost them their lives!


    Although many had distanced themselves from Ye Chen, there were also many who, despite knowing that the situation was not right, moved directly closer to him!


    Jiang Yao held onto Ye Chen¡¯s hand tightly without the slightest intention of letting go!


    Jiang Yao, of course, recognized the auras of the Divine Venerables in the sky, but even if the Divine Venerables threatened Ye Chen, she would face it together with him!


    True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and others also stood firmly by Ye Chen¡¯s side, while Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, the three true god guards, sensing the crisis their master might face, drew their weapons.


    Even though Bing Yi and the others knew that the newcomers were even more formidable than their old master, the once upper God King known as the Frozen Divine King, they too would guard Ye Chen!


    Seeing those close to him still standing with him under the overwhelming aura of the five Divine Venerables in the sky, not retreating in fear like the martial artists from the Minor Spirit Realm, a touch of emotion surged in Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    But Ye Chen also knew that he was now truly standing at the eye of the storm.


    Truly in the midst of an absolute crisis!


    With the five mighty Divine Venerables, and his current strength, let alone five, even if there were just one, he would be absolutely unable to defeat it.


    He still had one killing technique and one evasive technique left from Emperor Yan¡¯s Three Flashes and Three Kills, but they had become ineffective after leaving the Undersea Divine Palace.


    And the feathers that Mrs. He had bestowed upon Jiang Yao, which allowed for three instances of aid, had likewise lost their potency after the great cleansing catastrophe of the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Ye Chen knew that his strongest defensive Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, the flying boat, was useless to think about; he just knew it absolutely couldn¡¯t withstand a being of the Divine Venerable level. Discover stories at novelhall.Co?m


    What to do?


    What to do?!


    Could it really be that, according to the demands of these five Divine Venerables, the hard-earned spot to attend the "Nine Great Divine Institutes" exam, obtained only through finding the Eye of the Divine Sea, must be surrendered without a fight?


    Ye Chen certainly didn¡¯t want to.


    Without that exam spot, he would miss the chance to go to the "Nine Great Divine Institutes," losing the opportunity to cultivate in the most powerful divine institute in the Divine Kingdom!


    But even if unwilling, what could be done?


    Ye Chen knew that under the watchful eyes of the five Divine Venerables, if he didn¡¯t hand over the spot to attend the exam at the Nine Great Divine Institutes, he would only have death to face.


    Even giving it up, he might still be killed to silence him!


    Countless thoughts flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind like lightning as he sought a solution, and meanwhile, Jiang Yao, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Thousand Extremes True God, and even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan began to send messages to Ye Chen in rapid succession.


    "Ye Chen, what should we do? Grandma and the others haven¡¯t come back yet. How do we resist these five Divine Venerables?" Jiang Yao said to Ye Chen, fraught with worry.


    "Ye Chen, who are they? Could it be that they are messengers from the Divine Kingdom?"


    "And what about that Nine Great Divine Institutes exam spot they mentioned?"


    True Phoenix and Mu Lan True God were also somewhat panicked as they sent messages to Ye Chen.


    And Thousand Extremes True God even sent a message to Ye Chen: "These five people are of Divine Venerable realm, and I am absolutely no match for them. Only my master can withstand these people, but my master has entered closed-door cultivation and might not be aware of what¡¯s happening outside! Ye Chen, my friend, I shall attempt to communicate with my master!"


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan also anxiously said to Ye Chen: "Friend Ye Chen, the people who have arrived are feared to be Divine Venerables, according to legend, stronger than those of the God King Realm. We absolutely cannot withstand them!"


    Furthermore, there were messages from the lord of Yuan Li Palace, the lord of Mu Yao Palace, the old ancestor Ming Hua, three-eyed skeletons, True God Qing Shuang...


    A host of people concerned for Ye Chen resonated in his mind.


    At that moment, the five Divine Venerables in the sky seemed to have grown impatient with waiting, and directly said to Ye Chen, "Young one, aren¡¯t you handing it over yet? Do you really want us to make a move and take it ourselves?"


    Indeed, as soon as they knew it was Ye Chen who had obtained the ultimate treasure, they wanted to personally take the Nine Great Divine Institutes exam spot.


    However, these five Divine Venerables had never seen what the spot for the Nine Great Divine Institutes exam looked like, and they were worried that if they made a move personally and damaged the treasure, it would be a loss not worth the risk.


    Therefore, they wanted to use their Divine Might to force Ye Chen to obediently offer up the treasure.


    Of course, if Ye Chen still refused to hand it over, they were already unable to restrain themselves and were prepared to take action!


    While these five Divine Venerables were still pressuring Ye Chen due to their concerns about the treasure, the Divine Youth named "Lin¡¯er" at their side could not hold back any longer.


    He directly said to the five Divine Venerables, "Masters, why bother with such trifling talk with these lower realm rabble? Just kill them and perform a Soul Search, and then the treasure will directly fall into our hands!"


    "We don¡¯t have that much time to waste with them!"

 Chapter 632 - 584: Who Dares to Touch My Brother Ye Chen!

    ```


    Boom!


    The words of this True God youth, "Lin¡¯er," caused the faces of True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, and others below to change drastically, and Jiang Yao¡¯s mind also exploded in an instant.


    All Jiang Yao could think was that if these people wanted to kill Ye Chen, she would fight to the death against them!


    At that moment, from the spatial treasures on Ye Chen and Jiang Yao¡¯s bodies, two figures flew out.


    These two figures were Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er, whom Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had kept hidden.


    "Just a Seventh Tribulation True God and you dare to boast so shamelessly! Are you just relying on the backing of the five Earth Divine Venerables? Without the Earth Divine Venerables, my brother Ye Chen and sister Jiang Yao could easily kill you!"


    Shuang¡¯er, upon seeing Ye Chen threatened by the five Divine Venerables, couldn¡¯t help but rush out after hearing the True God youth "Lin¡¯er" say he was going to make a move to kill and Soul Search, and she angrily lashed out at the youth.


    Although Xiaojiu didn¡¯t curse, she also flew down next to Ye Chen, her eyes fixed on the five great Divine Venerables and the True God youth above, poised for any sudden movements.


    When Shuang¡¯er mentioned the "Earth Divine Venerables," Ye Chen¡¯s heart stirred.


    He sensed that these five Divine Venerables, though of the Divine Venerable Realm, appeared much weaker than the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu he had seen before, and the nine female Divine Venerables accompanying Mrs. He; they were obviously at a relatively low level within the Divine Venerable Realm.


    Now that Shuang¡¯er had mentioned the "Earth Divine Venerables," Ye Chen guessed that this might be a division within the Divine Venerable Realm.


    Ye Chen quickly communicated with Xiaojiu to inquire about the Earth Divine Venerables, hoping to analyze a strategy from these five individuals¡¯ power levels.


    "The God King Realm is divided into lower, middle, and upper God Kings. But within the Divine Venerable Realm, there are three major tiers and nine minor tiers," Xiaojiu explained.


    "The three major tiers are ¡¯Earth Divine Venerable,¡¯ ¡¯Heavenly Divine Venerable,¡¯ and ¡¯Immortal Divine Venerable.¡¯ The nine minor tiers refer to each of the major tiers having its own lower, middle, and upper divisions, totaling nine levels of Divine Venerables."


    "Among these five Divine Venerables, four are merely lower-level Earth Divine Venerables, while one is a middle-level Earth Divine Venerable."


    "Like the nine female Divine Venerables accompanying Mrs. He, all of them are upper-level Immortal Divine Venerables!"


    "An Immortal Divine Venerable is incredibly close to the Sovereign Realm, even more formidable than the Heavenly Divine Venerable, while the Heavenly Divine Venerable is countless times more powerful than the Earth Divine Venerable!"


    Enjoy new tales from novelhall.Co?m


    "Any one of those nine female Divine Venerables could instantly annihilate these five individuals!"


    Xiaojiu swiftly explained the hierarchy of the Divine Venerable Realm to Ye Chen.


    After hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but smile bitterly.


    Even if these five Divine Venerables were the weakest, being lower and middle-level Earth Divine Venerables, they were still entities surpassing upper-level God Kings, more formidable than even the frozen God King.


    He too was helpless against these Divine Venerables.


    While Xiaojiu and Ye Chen were conversing, in the void above, the five Divine Venerables heard Shuang¡¯er¡¯s words and their divine eyes turned to her.


    After seeing the strange energy fluctuations on Shuang¡¯er¡¯s body, the five seemed to have thought of something and then turned to look at Xiaojiu beside Ye Chen.


    Finally, the five great Divine Venerables glanced at each other, and the oldest, a middle-level Earth Divine Venerable, called out with some excitement, "Soul Beasts, could these be the rumored exceedingly clever Soul Beasts?!"


    "I didn¡¯t expect to encounter two Soul Beasts on the way to seize the assessment quota for the nine great divine institutes. Let¡¯s see from which Soul Beast group these articulate creatures hail!"


    Boom!


    This middle-level Earth Divine Venerable reached out with a gesture, and Shuang¡¯er was sent flying backward!


    Shuang¡¯er had only emerged from the original stones of the Undersea Divine Palace shortly before the great cleansing catastrophe. Although she was extremely intelligent due to her species and knew countless pieces of knowledge, her actual combat power was only equivalent to that of the True God level.


    Under the grasp of Divine Venerable level power, she couldn¡¯t resist at all.


    In mid-flight, Shuang¡¯er also cried out, "Sister Jiang Yao!"


    Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and Xiaojiu hadn¡¯t expected the Divine Venerables above would target Shuang¡¯er first.


    Of course, they wouldn¡¯t let Shuang¡¯er be captured by the Divine Venerable like this.


    Boom!


    Instantly, Ye Chen¡¯s combat power was shockingly activated, and Xiaojiu¡¯s soul force also erupted tumultuously. As the two took flight, Jiang Yao also headed straight for Shuang¡¯er.


    Seeing Ye Chen intercepting Shuang¡¯er¡¯s capture, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan also clenched his teeth. His lower-level God King aura swirled, skyrocketing as he followed Ye Chen and the others towards Shuang¡¯er in the sky.


    As for Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and others, there was no need to mention them. The moment Ye Chen moved, they flew directly to Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    In a moment, many figures took to the air, all launching a desperate rescue attempt for Shuang¡¯er.


    Seeing these people¡¯s actions, another Divine Venerable in the sky scoffed with disdain, "Are these merely warriors from a lower realm, lacking in vision, thinking they can block a chariot with their arms?!"


    Boom!


    He swung his hand gently, and an incredibly terrifying killing force directly aimed at everyone below.


    If spread, this killing force could probably annihilate the hundreds of thousands of warriors on the scene.


    As it was, this killing force was even swifter than the power capturing Shuang¡¯er, striking toward Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the others. How could they possibly stop it?


    Just as the killing force approached, colder than even the power used to capture Shuang¡¯er, a chill swept through many hearts. Then, everyone saw a bluish light radiating from Jiang Yao, enveloping all the people present and directly confronting the killing force descending from the sky.


    Boom!


    In an instant, the earth-shattering explosion echoed across the entire firmament.


    ```


    The Divine Venerable¡¯s killer move in that void was completely blocked.


    It was the crystalline Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact pendant that Jiang Yao had obtained from the "Creation Treasure Trove" of the Undersea Divine Palace that played a significant role!


    "Hmm?" Seeing his move blocked, and the power from the captured Shuang¡¯er also inexplicably severed, both the lower Earth Divine Venerable who had made the move and the older, middle Earth Divine Venerable were taken aback.


    In an instant, they saw the miraculous pendant on Jiang Yao¡¯s body emitting divine light.


    "A high-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!"


    When they sensed the light from the pendant, both Divine Venerables, along with the three others beside them, exclaimed in surprise.


    The oldest middle Earth Divine Venerable¡¯s eyes lit up completely, "I didn¡¯t expect that you obtained so many treasures from the Undersea Divine Palace!"


    "A high-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, in your hands, is like a pearl covered in dust, only when used by someone of the Divine Venerable Realm can it truly shine!"


    Boom!


    As he spoke, the middle Earth Divine Venerable¡¯s divine power swept out in an instant, reaching out for the pendant on Jiang Yao¡¯s body.


    This middle Earth Divine Venerable, as if familiar with such autonomously defended Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, actually bypassed the pendant¡¯s defense and snatched it directly from Jiang Yao¡¯s body, sending it flying. The entire pendant flew straight towards the Divine Venerable and finally landed in his hand.


    Seeing Jiang Yao¡¯s hard-earned treasure taken by the Divine Venerable, Ye Chen was on the verge of going mad!


    However, his current realm was only at the late stage of Celestial Saint, far too distant from even the lowest level of the Divine Venerables, the Earth Divine Venerables, unable to resist at all.


    Ye Chen once again experienced the insufficiency of his power!


    His power, even if fighting to the death, might not be enough to resolve these Divine Venerables!


    "Even if it won¡¯t resolve them, I must still fight!"


    From the greediness of these five Divine Venerables, Ye Chen knew that these people would definitely not spare them after taking the treasures.


    Ye Chen, with his teeth tightly clenched, finally took a deep breath and his eyes became incredibly resolute.


    Fight!


    Even if to die, he would die fighting, not sit here waiting for death!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s eyes firmed, Jiang Yao also seemed to sense the arrival of a life-and-death moment. The Taboo Secret Method that Mrs. He had imparted to her and which she had never used before, started to flicker wildly!


    Just as Jiang Yao utilized the Taboo Secret Method, far from her across the endless Star Continent, outside of a peculiar ice cave, Mrs. He and nine female Divine Venerables all changed their expressions: "Yao¡¯er!"


    Instantly, Mrs. He and the nine female Divine Venerables disappeared from their long investigation of the peculiar ice cave!


    Minor Spirit Realm, upon the great earth.


    Not only Ye Chen and Jiang Yao were preparing for their final desperate fight, but Bing Yi, Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Thousand Extremes True God, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God... one after another, the warriors all revealed a decisive look in their eyes.


    In the end, the remaining hundreds of thousands of warriors also sensed the coming of a deadly calamity from the five Divine Venerables above, knowing their only outcome was death if they did not fight, and they all started trembling as they took up arms.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Hundreds of thousands of auras, regardless of strength, surged towards the heavens!


    Directly facing the five great Divine Venerables in the sky and that True God youth.


    Seeing the action below, the True God youth sneered disdainfully, "Ignorant of death!"


    And the five Divine Venerables all laughed loudly, "We originally planned to take the treasures first then settle with all of you afterwards, to avoid any leaks. "


    "It seems we need to take you down first, then collect the treasures!"


    "So be it, it¡¯s not the first time we¡¯ve destroyed Star Continents, we¡¯ll just add your Sky Spirit Star Continent to the list!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the five great Divine Venerables spoke, they all moved directly in the air.


    Instantly, five forces powerful enough to devastate the entire Minor Spirit Realm burst forth.


    By now, the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact on Jiang Yao had been taken, leaving no strength to withstand the attacks from these five great Divine Venerable level forces.


    As the five devastating forces struck directly towards the tens of thousands of ascending auras and towards everyone on the ground, including Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Bing Yi, True Phoenix, and Mu Lan True God, and wrapped themselves around Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er...


    The next moment, the land would probably shatter, and blood would flood like a sea!


    But at that moment, a voice as if coming from the boundless starry domain said, "Who dares to touch my brother Ye Chen!"


    Then, the hundreds of thousands of warriors on the ground already prepared for a do-or-die battle, the five great Earth Divine Venerables in the sky, and the True God youth, all saw an unbelievable rainbow, seemingly from the depths of the starry sky, arriving in the void of the Minor Spirit Realm in an instant.


    Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump! Thump!


    Before even making contact, this incredible rainbow caused the five forces unleashed by the Divine Venerables to collapse on their own, and it swept up the five Divine Venerables and the True God youth, hanging them in mid-air!


    Then, everyone saw the void of the Minor Spirit Realm being torn open, revealing the endless starry domain usually only visible during the serene nights.


    They also saw three figures, two big and one small, stepping directly from the depths of the boundless starry domain into the void of the Minor Spirit Realm.

 Chapter 633 - 585: The Three Supreme Masters

    ```


    This scene, with its divine mystery, completely shattered the understanding of all the martial artists from the Minor Spirit Realm and the Lower Realm¡¯s thirty-three continents who were present at the scene.


    And the five Divine Venerables, who were now suspended upside down in the void by a rainbow arc, screamed in disbelief upon seeing two of the three newcomers: "Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!... Sovereign! You are... Lord East Territory King?!"


    The three figures, two leading one smaller, were none other than the East Territory King, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, and the Little Provincial Princess.


    Though these five Earth Divine Venerables held rather low positions within the Divine Kingdom, they had still once glimpsed the kingdom¡¯s prominent figures from afar.


    They recognized the East Territory King at first glance!


    Thinking back on the childish voice that had said, "Who dares to hurt my brother Ye Chen," it was obviously the Little Provincial Princess that the East Territory King was now holding by the hand.


    Ye Chen, the young man below who had acquired the ultimate treasure from the great cleansing catastrophe.


    He... He knows Lord East Territory King?!


    The five Divine Venerables were on the verge of collapse, unable to imagine in any way how a martial artist from the Heavenly Saint Realm of the Lower Realm could have acquaintance with the East Territory King, such a formidable figure in the Divine Kingdom!


    "It¡¯s over! It¡¯s all over!" The five Divine Venerables¡¯ hearts sank into a pit of ice.


    Not to mention the East Territory King, even the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable who was with him could snuff them out effortlessly.


    Seeing his five masters silent and pale as death, the True God Youth "Lin¡¯er," still hanging upside down, had yet to recover from his shock.


    His five teachers at the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, all suppressed?


    What level of power was that rainbow arc that seemed to shoot from the depths of the starry sky in an instant?


    "Lin¡¯er" could hardly believe that he and his powerful five masters could fall into a trap in this Lower Realm¡¯s Star Continent, which he had never regarded highly.


    The East Territory King, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, and the Little Provincial Princess, of course, were unconcerned with the expressions of the five Divine Venerables and the True God Youth.


    After they arrived in the void of the Minor Spirit Realm, the East Territory King directly looked towards the shocked crowd of martial artists below, and his gaze found Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, my young friend, we meet for the first time, haven¡¯t I arrived too late?" the East Territory King said with a smile to Ye Chen.


    As the East Territory King spoke, the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo beamed with laughter looking at Ye Chen and Jiang Yao beside him: "Brother Ye Chen, I¡¯ve come to see you. Just now it was my daddy who personally saved you! This is the... Sister Jiang Yao you¡¯ve mentioned?"


    Divine Venerable Hong Zhu also smiled and nodded at Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, it¡¯s been a while since Minor Pole Sky, but here we meet again."


    The East Territory King, the Little Provincial Princess, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu each greeted Ye Chen in turn.


    Recalling how the three had miraculously appeared and subdued the five strong beings in the void, the hundreds of thousands of martial artists present knew that they had been saved!


    Ye Chen, this young man, knew influential figures who had come to their rescue!


    "This is a Sovereign!" Thousand Extremes True God, watching the faintly smiling East Territory King in the void, felt a profound shock.


    His master was Elder Ku Du, also a strong presence in the Sovereign Realm, so he was well aware of the significance of the aura radiating from the East Territory King.


    Thousand Extremes True God had never imagined that when he could not contact his master, who was in retreat, and Ye Chen and the martial artists were in dire straits, Ye Chen would actually be able to receive aid from a Sovereign Realm powerhouse!


    Not just Thousand Extremes True God was deeply moved; the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, True Phoenix, Mu Lan True God, Palace Master Yuan Li, and countless martial artists continually shifted their gazes between Ye Chen and the divine figures of the East Territory King, the Little Provincial Princess, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu in the void.


    Even Xiaojiu and Shuang¡¯er were somewhat surprised to encounter a Sovereign here.


    The day¡¯s events had indeed been too much for everyone to take in.


    First was the escape of the Heavenly Saint True God from the catastrophe of the great cleansing, followed by five beings who exceeded the Divine King randomly showing up wanting to kill and seize treasures, and now, another mighty figure had arrived, one even more powerful than those five!


    The Minor Spirit Realm had never been so bustling!


    In the center of all the attention, Ye Chen looked up at the East Territory King, Little Provincial Princess, and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu in the void, a bit surprised himself.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that, in this moment of crisis, the Little Provincial Princess would happen to arrive, and her father, the East Territory King from the Divine Kingdom, would personally come here too!


    "Thank you, Lord East Territory King, for your timely help and for saving Ye Chen!"


    "Greetings to Divine Venerable Hong Zhu!"


    Ye Chen solemnly thanked the East Territory King and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu with a clasped fist salute from the void.


    Then, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned towards the Little Provincial Princess whom he was quite familiar with from their adventures in Minor Pole Sky, and he smiled, "Little Provincial Princess, we meet again. Yes, this beside me, is Jiang Yao."


    While talking, Ye Chen turned his head slightly and said to Jiang Yao beside him: "This is the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu, and Lord East Territory King I¡¯ve told you about!"


    Jiang Yao had already activated the Taboo Secret Method passed down by Mrs. He, ready to fight to the death, but she never expected that in their moment of certain doom, a figure like the East Territory King would appear and resolve the situation.


    Jiang Yao had also heard Ye Chen talk about the events in Minor Pole Sky, including the Little Provincial Princess and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu.


    "Jiang Yao pays respect to Lord East Territory King, Divine Venerable Hong Zhu," Jiang Yao likewise gave a clasped fist salute to the divine figures, and then with a smile, she looked at the beautiful young girl dressed in white: "Little Provincial Princess, hello."


    ```


    The East Territory King, suspended in the void, saw Ye Chen and Jiang Yao bowing to him with cupped fists and smiled as he nodded, "I did not expect that this Heavenly Spirit Star would produce such a talented pair of geniuses."


    "Ye Chen, I heard from Luo¡¯er that when you left the Minor Pole Sky, you were still at the latter stage of the Rotating Pill Realm. It¡¯s only been a little over a year, yet you¡¯ve broken through to the late Heavenly Saint Realm. Not bad, not bad at all!"


    "It seems that the Great Purge Catastrophe, this major crisis, has also made you grow a lot. The ultimate treasure of the Great Purge Catastrophe involves the assessment slots for the ¡¯Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ in the Divine Kingdom. With such talent as yours, staying in Heavenly Spirit Star is indeed a waste of cultivation time. Only in the Divine Kingdom can you truly flourish."


    The East Territory King¡¯s words made Ye Chen nod deeply.


    For Jiang Yao, he had already planned to go to the Divine Kingdom.


    This sudden encounter with the threat from the five Divine Venerables made Ye Chen realize that his own strength still fell far too short. Although he was absolutely strong among his peers and could even fight across levels, his current strength was not enough to handle even a Lower God King, let alone the realms of Earth Divine Venerable, Heavenly Divine Venerable, and Immortal Divine Venerable.


    As for beings like the East Territory King, Mrs. He, Elder Ku Du of the Sovereign Realm¡ªlet alone an existence that surpassed the Sovereign Realm like Lord Emperor Yan, and the Zi Ji Star Lord...


    All of this, he could only hope to surpass by going to the Divine Kingdom and possessing the Divine Kingdom¡¯s cultivation resources!


    It was time to go to the Divine Kingdom.


    Ye Chen thought to himself.


    While Ye Chen pondered, the Little Provincial Princess glanced over the several hundred thousand martial artists below, then looked at the five Divine Venerables and the True God Youth "Lin¡¯er," who were suspended upside down by her father¡¯s great divine power, and said to the East Territory King, "Father, let¡¯s deal with these six first, and then we can have a good chat with Brother Ye Chen."


    The Little Provincial Princess¡¯s words made the East Territory King chuckle lightly.


    The East Territory King looked at Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, how do you plan to deal with these six?"


    The East Territory King was leaving the decision of how to handle the situation with the five Divine Venerables and the True God Youth, who came to kill and plunder for treasure, up to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen cast his gaze directly at the five Divine Venerables and the True God Youth, now upsidedown in the void, devoid of their previous arrogance, and looking utterly embarrassed.


    Ye Chen remembered how they had snatched the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact jade pendant from Jiang Yao and attempted to kill all the several hundred thousand martial artists present.


    "Senior East Territory King, they took a jade pendant treasure from Jiang Yao, which needs to be retrieved first," Ye Chen said.


    "As for them, since they seem so fond of coming to the Lower Realm, perhaps they could be imprisoned here for hundreds of years, so they can no longer harm others?"


    For such murderers and plunderers, Ye Chen even had the impulse to kill them outright.


    However, lacking sufficient strength, Ye Chen was reluctant to ask the East Territory King to kill these people, especially since this was their first meeting.


    Imprisoning these people for hundreds of years, by which time Ye Chen was confident that his strength would surpass theirs¡ªhe could personally deal with this group!


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s solution, the East Territory King nodded and smiled.


    With a flick of his finger in mid-air, the storage spaces on the five Divine Venerables shattered instantly, and the crystal-clear jade pendant previously snatched from Jiang Yao flew out, drifting towards her.


    Jiang Yao caught the jade pendant, and seeing it intact, she carefully put it away.


    Then, with another flick of the East Territory King¡¯s finger, the auras of the five Divine Venerables along with the True God Youth were completely sealed. The rainbow that bound the six dissolved gently, and they plummeted straight from the void.


    As they fell, a light prison appeared out of nowhere, completely confining the five Divine Venerables and True God Youth in the void, "Since young friend Ye Chen suggests to imprison you for hundreds of years, then you shall be kept in the Minor Spirit Realm¡¯s void for nine hundred years!"


    As the East Territory King exercised his power, another voice echoed through the heavens, "Nine hundred years, that¡¯s hardly enough. The people who wanted to kill my disciple should be stripped of their cultivation and imprisoned for ninety thousand years, allowing their divine bodies to self-destruct!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    At the upper part of the Minor Spirit Realm¡¯s void, space was torn open once more, revealing an endless starry sky only visible during the quiet of night. Then, ten figures flew from that infinite expanse!


    These ten figures were Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, who, sensing that Jiang Yao was in danger, had hurried back.


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    Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables were seething with killing intent.


    The taboo secret method previously activated by Jiang Yao was a protective measure they had specially left for Jiang Yao, seeing her weakness.


    It was a precaution against possible dangers to Jiang Yao.


    Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables had not expected Jiang Yao to encounter such danger so soon. When they saw through their senses that Jiang Yao was almost killed, and they were nearly too far to return in time, they were almost driven mad.


    The excellent disciple they had finally found, they did not want to be hurt so easily!


    Of course, they were not willing to let off the six who were to be imprisoned so easily!


    The murderous aura of Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables seemed to freeze the heavens of the Minor Spirit Realm, and at that moment, from the Undersea Divine Palace in the North Sea below, another figure flew out.


    This figure was none other than Elder Ku Du.


    The commotion from Mrs. He had startled Elder Ku Du from his seclusion, causing him to fly out directly from the Undersea Divine Palace.


    For a moment, in the heavens above, three Sovereigns directly confronted one another!

 Chapter 634 - 586: Revisiting the Ice Cave

    Three Sovereigns, meeting directly on a Lower Star Continent, such an event would be hard to witness even once in a million years!


    Upon seeing Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, the East Territory King was already somewhat surprised, but upon seeing Elder Ku Du, he was even more incredulous as he exclaimed, "Old Provincial King, you¡¯ve disappeared for so many years, and you were here?!"


    Elder Ku Du first looked at the murderous Mrs. He, smiled, and said, "Sovereign He, long time no see."


    Although both had stayed at the Undersea Divine Palace before, they had each been busy with their matters and hardly ever met. The last time they had encountered each other was countless ages ago.


    Then, Elder Ku Du turned to look at the East Territory King and chuckled, "Fang Kui, my younger brother, haven¡¯t seen you for a long time, you still look eminent as always!"


    Hearing Elder Ku Du¡¯s address to the East Territory King, Ye Chen then learned his true name.


    Thinking further, since Elder Ku Du was once the old Southern Provincial King in the Divine Kingdom, it wasn¡¯t surprising for him to be acquainted with the East Territory King.


    By this time, Mrs. He, one of the three great Sovereigns, was fixating a concerned gaze upon Jiang Yao, relieved to see that Jiang Yao was safe and sound.


    Mrs. He looked at the East Territory King and expressed her solemn gratitude, "Esteemed fellow Daoist, thank you for saving my disciple."


    Seeing Mrs. He¡¯s affectionate gaze resting on Jiang Yao, the East Territory King was taken aback, then he laughed heartily and said, "I did not expect that Young Master Ye Chen¡¯s little female companion is actually your disciple, Elder Sovereign! Elder Sovereign, I am the East Territory King of the Divine Kingdom, may I inquire from which domain you hail?"


    The East Territory King had an understanding of the Sovereigns of the Divine Kingdom, yet he had never seen Mrs. He before.


    Mrs. He replied, "I come from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, but I am not someone from the Wan Mu Mountain Star Domain."


    "The Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?!" The East Territory King exclaimed in surprise, "That star domain is quite some distance from the Wan Mu Mountain Star Domain!"


    Elder Ku Du also smiled and said, "It¡¯s a long story why Sovereign He is in this place."


    The exchange between the three Sovereign Realm powerhouses utterly stunned all the martial artists below.


    The most shocked were the five Divine Venerables who were imprisoned by the East Territory King.


    They had never imagined they would encounter three Sovereign Realm powerhouses on a Lower Star Continent!


    If they had known earlier, they wouldn¡¯t have dared to come here even if they were beaten to death!


    They were already scared stiff when they met the East Territory King because of Ye Chen, but after hearing Mrs. He¡¯s previous declaration of not letting them off, and learning Jiang Yao was her disciple, the five Divine Venerables felt like hitting their heads against the wall.


    They had actually offended a disciple of a Sovereign Realm powerhouse!


    And when they saw Elder Ku Du speaking to the True God Qian Ji, also addressing the True God as his disciple, the five Divine Venerables were completely shaken.


    If they still had a chance to survive, they would never dare to come to this star continent again, even if it offered them opportunities to become a Celestial Divine Venerable or even an immortal Divine Venerable.


    It was simply too bizarre!


    Of course, they also knew they had no such opportunity anymore.


    Not only were the five Divine Venerables astonished, but the several hundred thousand warriors of the Celestial Spirit Star were also shaken by the series of events and were a bit slow to react.


    They didn¡¯t even know the true realms of the three enormous figures conversing in the sky above them.


    They only knew that the five powerhouses, who were far above the God King Realm, were absolutely no match in front of these three figures.


    Let alone these three figures, even the several strong women standing beside these figures made them feel that each one had the absolute power to easily destroy the Minor Spirit Realm!


    The only ones not stunned at the scene were Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, Xiaojiu, Shuang¡¯er, and a few others.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, driven by curiosity, asked Xiaojiu, "Xiaojiu, can you feel which of these three Sovereigns is more powerful? Also, how is the Sovereign Realm divided? And the realm above Sovereign Realm, the realm where Lord Emperor Yan resides, what kind of realm is it?"


    Ye Chen had already learned the divisions of the God King Realm and the Divine Venerable Realm.


    However, he was still unfamiliar with the Sovereign Realm.


    Now that he had encountered three Sovereigns, it was natural for Ye Chen to be curious about whether there was a hierarchy in their strength.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Xiaojiu secretly conveyed to Ye Chen, "From the knowledge Lord Emperor Yan instilled in me, I understand that the Sovereign Realm is divided from a one-star Sovereign to a nine-star Sovereign. It seems, both Sovereign He and Sovereign Kugu are nine-star Sovereigns. The East Territory King, I¡¯m afraid, is also an eight-star Sovereign."


    "As to who is more powerful, when true powerhouses clash, in addition to their realms, many other factors can influence the outcome, so it is unclear. However, it¡¯s likely that Sovereign He and Sovereign Kugu are a bit more formidable."


    "As for the realm above the Sovereign Realm, Lord Emperor Yan has sealed off that knowledge from me, I¡¯m currently unable to access it. Perhaps when my strength grows further, I might be able to know."


    Upon hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s admission of not knowing the realm where Lord Emperor Yan resides, Ye Chen sighed.


    When he had earlier inquired Xiaojiu about the mysterious ice cavern and whether Xiaojiu had heard of the Purple Extreme Star Lord, Xiaojiu had no idea.


    It seemed that some mysteries surpassing the Sovereign Realm were still beyond the reach of both him and Xiaojiu.


    However, knowing the division within the Sovereign Realm and realizing that the East Territory King was an eight-star Sovereign while Mrs. He and Elder Ku Du were both nine-star Sovereigns was an unexpected and pleasant surprise.


    Ye Chen had heard from Jiang Yao that for many years, Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, because they were dealing with the great cleansing calamity for Lord Emperor Yan as repayment for his life-saving grace from before, had their cultivation and life spans sealed.


    Mrs. He is a Nine Star Sovereign and, with her guidance, Jiang Yao will surely make great progress in her cultivation.


    And the nine Female Divine Venerables are also upper-rank immortal Divine Venerables. During these years, their cultivation progress was sealed, preventing a breakthrough. I fear that once they return to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, breaking through to the Sovereign Realm is not an impossibility.


    In such case, the help for Jiang Yao would be even greater!


    "Yao¡¯er, with Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables nurturing you, I fear your training may be even stronger than that of the teachings from the Nine Divine Institutions. I must work hard, for only by joining the Nine Divine Institutions can I progress together with you!" Ye Chen held Jiang Yao¡¯s hand and looked at her.


    With this look, however, Ye Chen saw that something was off about Jiang Yao¡¯s expression.


    In an instant, Ye Chen thought of the reason.


    It must be because Jiang Yao hadn¡¯t seen Mrs. He return with her parents, grandparents, and members of the Divine Phoenix Clan, and she was worried.


    Ye Chen also found it somewhat strange.


    That Black Crow God King was merely in the God King Realm; with Mrs. He¡¯s divine might as a Sovereign, finding someone like that should be extremely easy.


    How could it be that after several months, she still hadn¡¯t found him?


    And she hadn¡¯t brought back any of the Divine Phoenix Clan¡¯s members upon her return.


    Could there have been some accident?


    Ye Chen held Jiang Yao¡¯s hand even tighter and gave her a reassuring look.


    In the void, among the conversations of three Sovereigns, Mrs. He also noticed the change in Jiang Yao¡¯s expression. She paused her conversation with the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du and looked toward Jiang Yao.


    Mrs. He slowly said, "Yao¡¯er, there seems to have been some incident with your parents."


    ...


    Half an hour later, this region of the Minor Spirit Realm, which had gathered hundreds of thousands of martial artists, had cleared out.


    Only a void prison was left, detaining those five Divine Venerables and the true divine youth "Lin¡¯er."


    At this moment, the cultivation of these five Divine Venerables and the true divine youth "Lin¡¯er" had been utterly crippled; even with their Divine Bodies, it¡¯s doubtful they could survive the long erosion of time.


    In the end, Mrs. He even reinforced the light prison laid out by the East Territory King with another powerful seal, truly intending to seal these individuals for ninety thousand years.


    Ninety thousand years¡ªif these individuals¡¯ cultivation hadn¡¯t been crippled, they might have withstood it.


    But now, with their cultivation wiped out, even if their bodies had already transformed into Divine Bodies, it¡¯s doubtful they could survive to the end of this period and would utterly perish within the light prison.


    And the six people within the light prison knew all too well that they likely wouldn¡¯t survive for ninety thousand years.


    Because before the masses dispersed, they couldn¡¯t forget the indifferent look that the youth named Ye Chen had given them.


    That look clearly indicated that imprisoning them in the void was just a warning to the many invaders of Celestial Spirit Star, and Ye Chen had not forgotten the grudge they almost killed him over!


    Inside the light prison, the five Earth Divine Venerables were filled with regret.


    And the true divine youth "Lin¡¯er" no longer had any semblance of arrogance, now wailing inside the prison.


    ...


    At this time, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi and their group, along with the Nine Great Celestial Ice Guardians and true divinities like Mu Lan, had already left the Minor Spirit Realm and returned to the Savage Continent to reassure Ye Chen¡¯s family, who were still anxiously concerned about Ye Chen and Jiang Yao on the Savage Continent.


    The ancient flame emperor, the North Ming tribal chief, the Blood God tribal chief, and others also took their clansmen back to their respective tribes.


    The martial artists from the thirty-three continents of the Lower Star Continent also returned to their territories. Discover stories at novelhall.Co?m


    However, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had not yet returned to the Savage Continent; they followed Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, accompanied by Elder Ku Du and the Red Spider Divine Venerable, the Little Provincial Princess, to another part of the Star Continent.


    This Star Continent is exactly the one Mrs. He had investigated for a long time before hurrying back to save Jiang Yao.


    This Star Continent was also the one involved in the great calamity of the Undersea Divine Palace, when a force had swept through attempting to abduct the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan for the catastrophe, and a mysterious force from the ice cave had blocked it.


    Currently, the three Sovereigns, the Red Spider Divine Venerable, the nine Female Venerables of the Feathered Spirit Clan, Ye Chen, Jiang Yao, and the Little Provincial Princess, all stood before a strange ice cave.


    This ice cave was the very one that the Black Crow God King, who had taken the Divine Phoenix Clan people away, had entered without intent!


    "I investigated that Black Crow God King¡¯s trail to help find Yao¡¯er¡¯s clan, and it turns out, over a year ago, that Black Crow God King had been here."


    "In the end, he disappeared inside this ice cave, and I couldn¡¯t sense his traces anymore."


    "And with this ice cave, even at my Nine Star Sovereign level, I can¡¯t enter!"


    "Dear friends, have you ever seen an ice cave like this, do you know what it is?" Mrs. He looked at the ice cave radiating a strange and unparalleled stellular glow in front of her and asked the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du.

 Chapter 635 - 587 Supreme Secret

    Upon hearing Mrs. He¡¯s inquiry and seeing the Mysterious Ice Cave, the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with a surge of alarm.


    "Such an ice cave!"


    East Territory King and Elder Ku Du simultaneously exclaimed in shock.


    From their expressions, it was apparent that they had either seen or heard about some matters concerning this kind of ice cave!


    The expressions of the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du caused Mrs. He¡¯s eyes to flicker, while Ye Chen, at this moment, felt tumultuous waves churning in his heart.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected to see another Mysterious Ice Cave!


    This was the third Mysterious Ice Cave he had encountered!


    The first Mysterious Ice Cave was the one where Ye Chen had obtained the Primordial Star Scripture and the Stars Tower. To this day, Ye Chen still couldn¡¯t understand why such an ice cave existed beneath the South Pole Ice Field, or why there was a scene of Ten Thousand Beasts worshipping.


    The second Mysterious Ice Cave was the one Ye Chen discovered underneath the Ice Palace Snowfield in the Extreme North of the Barbarian Wilderness Continent while searching for Heavenly Saint Di Kong on behalf of the little monkey.


    Heavenly Saint Di Kong had vanished beneath that ice cave.


    Now, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected to encounter such an ice cave again while searching for Black Crow God King, who had taken away the people of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    That Black Crow God King had also disappeared within such a Mysterious Ice Cave, just like Heavenly Saint Di Kong!


    Where had the people of the Divine Phoenix Clan gone? Where are they now?


    What exactly was this Mysterious Ice Cave?!


    Ye Chen had not found any information about this mysterious ice cave from Xiaojiu and had long considered it a secret he must unravel once he became powerful.


    Now, seeing the expressions of the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du, Ye Chen¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    Could it be that these two Sovereign Realm powerhouses knew the secret of the ice cave?


    Under the gaze of Mrs. He, Ye Chen, and everyone present, even the Little Provincial Princess and Divine Venerable Hong Zhu curiously looked at the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du, whose shocked expressions finally prompted them to speak.


    Elder Ku Du spoke first, "The true secret of this ice cave is unknown to us, and even the ruler of our Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation is unaware."


    "However, in recent years, dozens of such ice caves have been found in the Divine Nation, and we, being in the Sovereign Realm, are unable to enter them!"


    "There were, however, two accidents wherein the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince of our nation¡¯s ruler each entered one of these ice caves."


    "As a result, the Crown Prince discovered a Divine Body Cultivation Secret Technique within the ice cave he entered, which allowed his divine body¡¯s combat power to advance rapidly to the level of a Heavenly Divine Venerable in just a few decades!"


    "The Fourth Prince, on the other hand, acquired three Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts from another ice cave! These are only crafted by those surpassing the Sovereign Realm and can only be used by powerful Sovereign Realm warriors¡ªthe Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts!"


    "After the Crown Prince and the Fourth Prince emerged from the ice caves, our ruler wanted to enter those two caves again, but like the other discovered caves, they were unable to re-enter."


    "Sovereign Realm powerhouses in our Divine Nation who know the secret of these ice caves speculate that these caves might be an opportunity left by existences that have transcended the Sovereign Realm!" Stay updated via novelhall.Co?m


    "This opportunity seems to vary in scale; for example, the opportunity the Crown Prince obtained seemed much smaller than the Fourth Prince¡¯s. However, it¡¯s probable that the three Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts obtained by the Fourth Prince are not the greatest opportunity within the ice cave and that there might be something even more powerful than the Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts inside!"


    "It¡¯s a pity that such ice caves, we have searched countless lands across the Star Continent, but haven¡¯t found a single one," they said. "It seems that only those who are truly fortunate can stumble upon them and gain this opportunity."


    "Ultimately, those of us from the Divine Kingdom who are in the Sovereign Realm have come to refer to these enigmatic ice caves we fail to understand as¡ª¡¯the Supreme Secret!¡¯"


    "Perhaps one day, when we surpass the Sovereign Realm and advance to even higher levels, will we understand what these mysterious ice caves truly represent."


    After Elder Ku Du finished speaking, the East Territory King also nodded, "In these years, while the old Territory King has been in secluded cultivation, our Divine Kingdom has discovered several ice caves that others have entered, all emanating peculiar stellar light."


    "We have also encountered a familiar person who entered an ice cave¡ª the Northern Territory King once stepped into such a cave."


    "After emerging from the ice cave, even our national leader said he wouldn¡¯t dare be an enemy of the Northern Territory King. Later, when the Northern Territory King passed her position to her sister, she disappeared from the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain."


    "The Northern Territory King didn¡¯t disclose specific details about the ice cave, but all of us Sovereigns know that it must involve an incredibly significant event!"


    Hearing the East Territory King¡¯s words, Elder Ku Du was also shocked, "The Northern Territory King, that girl Xuan, she also entered such an ice cave? Now her sister is in charge of the Mountain Divine Nation of the Northern Region? She left?"


    The East Territory King nodded.


    The discussions about the ice caves by the two Sovereigns left Mrs. He and others deeply stunned.


    They had not expected that the Mountain Divine Nation would discover not just one ice cave, but indeed so many, and this secret had yet to be fully unearthed.


    At this moment, Jiang Yao¡¯s eyes were filled with immense worry.


    She had originally thought that Mrs. He could help her find her father, mother, grandfather, and the people of the Divine Phoenix Clan. But unexpectedly, the Black Crow God King had disappeared inside this ice cave, and even those in the Sovereign Realm can¡¯t fully understand the secrets of the ice cave!


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen was also deeply shaken at this point.


    He had not told anyone about obtaining the Primordial Star Scripture and the Stars Tower from the mysterious ice cave.


    Because this matter was too important, so significant that if others knew, it could invite immense trouble.


    Ye Chen had not even told Jiang Yao, fearing that she would become involved.


    Now, hearing that some had already entered the ice caves and obtained treasures, treasures of varying worth, from Elder Ku Du and the East Territory King...


    Ye Chen knew this more clearly than anyone else.


    What treasures the missing Northern Territory King had obtained, Ye Chen didn¡¯t know.


    However, he did know that what the great Prince of the Divine Kingdom had gained for cultivation to the Heavenly Divine Venerable¡¯s Divine Body, and the three Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts that the Fourth Prince had obtained, in terms of value could not compare to the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Ye Chen had a premonition that those who had left these ice caves were likely as the Great Powerholders of the Divine Kingdom had speculated¡ªexistences that surpassed the Sovereign Realm.


    Just like Zi Ji Star Lord, who left the Primordial Star Scripture and the Stars Tower to him, Ye Chen knew that he must be an existence beyond the Sovereign Realm!


    "Why would these existences, who have surpassed the Sovereign Realm, leave behind cave after cave, entrust so many treasures?"


    "Where does Zi Ji Star Lord stand among these existences that have surpassed the Sovereign Realm? Among the treasures of these ice caves, how valuable is the Primordial Star Scripture he left behind?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind was filled with countless questions.

 Chapter 636 - 588: Farewell

    As Ye Chen was pondering in his heart, Mrs. He, who was by his side, seemed to remember something and suddenly said, "This ¡¯Supreme Secret¡¯ of yours is somewhat similar to something we have in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain."


    "However, instead of having these mysterious ice caves, the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain has ¡¯Zixuan-colored treasure palaces¡¯ that appear."


    "These ¡¯Zixuan Treasure Palaces¡¯ are places that not even the Sovereign Realm powerhouses of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain can enter. However, those with destiny can enter and also obtain some extremely precious items from within."


    "We, the Sovereign Realm powerhouses of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, call these insoluble ¡¯Zixuan Treasure Palaces¡¯ the ¡¯Zixuan Mystery¡¯."


    Having said this, Mrs. He sighed deeply, "Back then, I once asked Lord Emperor Yan about the ¡¯Zixuan Mystery¡¯. Lord Emperor Yan told me that encountering such things is a martial artist¡¯s destiny; if you can¡¯t encounter them, then it¡¯s impossible to force it."


    "As for the secret behind this destiny, Lord Emperor Yan didn¡¯t say. He only mentioned that knowing about these things is useless until you break through the Sovereign Realm to a higher realm."


    "I¡¯m afraid that our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡¯s ¡¯Zixuan Treasure Palaces¡¯ and the ¡¯Mysterious Ice Caves¡¯ of the Wanmu Mountain Domain share the same secret, and even other domains may have this secret as well."


    "To unravel these secrets, one must break through to a higher realm. The more powerful you become, the more secrets you will know!"


    Mrs. He¡¯s words made the remaining two Sovereigns nod in agreement.


    "Zixuan Treasure Palace, Zixuan Mystery?" Ye Chen pondered, "Since the secret manifestations of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain are different from those of the Wanmu Mountain Domain, could it be that the ones who left these secrets have different origins?"


    "Doesn¡¯t that mean that the Zi Ji Star Lord might actually be from the Wanmu Mountain Domain? Doesn¡¯t that mean that the Earth where I originally came from might actually be within the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain?"


    But Ye Chen also had his doubts; when he inquired Xiaojiu about the Earth, Xiaojiu said she had never heard of such a planet in the Divine Kingdom, and Ye Chen didn¡¯t know the stellar position of Earth¡¯s continent, thus he had no way to investigate.


    As for the Zi Ji Star Lord, Xiaojiu knew even less.


    These matters were not something Ye Chen could conveniently ask the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du about.


    And Ye Chen guessed that likely, they did not know about these things either.


    "It seems that I can only wait until later when my realm is high enough, then I can investigate these matters," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    Thinking this, Ye Chen looked toward Jiang Yao and gently transmitted his voice, "Yao¡¯er, don¡¯t worry. The fact that the Black Crow God King disappeared in this ice cave means he probably encountered some destiny. It¡¯s improbable that he would let the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan face danger."


    "When we are powerful enough, we will definitely be able to unravel the secrets of this ice cave and find that Black Crow God King!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s words gradually stabilized the chaos in Jiang Yao¡¯s heart.


    Jiang Yao knew that worrying now was useless.


    If Mrs. He, the East Territory King, and Elder Ku Du could not solve it and were in the dark, then what could she do to investigate?


    The heartbreaking part for Jiang Yao was that she was too weak.


    Weak to the point where she couldn¡¯t even find her own tribespeople!


    She couldn¡¯t even understand their whereabouts!


    "Ye Chen, am I useless?" Jiang Yao transmitted her voice to Ye Chen, filled with despondency, "The tribespeople from the thirty-three continents were saved by you, the grievances with the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan were avenged by you. I can¡¯t do anything, I can¡¯t even find my parents!"


    Ye Chen stroked Jiang Yao¡¯s head lightly, "Yao¡¯er, why should you and I distinguish between each other? How can you be useless when Mrs. He herself eagerly wanted to take you as a disciple? Now, don¡¯t blame yourself. When we are strong enough, every problem can be easily solved, just like how we resolved the issues with the Flying Spirit Clan and Vermilion Bird Clan!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s words felt like a warm current, flowing through Jiang Yao¡¯s heart.


    Jiang Yao could feel the confidence in Ye Chen¡¯s words.


    She needed that confidence, too!


    "Ye Chen, I will work hard to cultivate alongside Grandmother and the others, striving to grow," Jiang Yao earnestly said, "For you, for my parents, my grandfather, and my tribespeople, I will one day become a powerhouse that surpasses the Sovereign Realm!"


    Amid the voice transmission between Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, Mrs. He also looked over to Jiang Yao, "Yao¡¯er, regarding the tribespeople of the Divine Phoenix Clan who were taken away by the Black Crow God King, I will arrange for people to continue searching in the Wanmu Mountain Domain. As soon as the Black Crow God King appears, we will definitely save your tribespeople!"


    Mrs. He was still speaking when the East Territory King added, "I will also have the martial artists of the Divine Kingdom keep an eye out for that Black Crow God King."


    Jiang Yao looked to Mrs. He and the East Territory King, her face serious as she spoke, "Thank you, Grandmother. Thank you, Senior East Territory King."


    "Alright, let¡¯s go," Mrs. He spoke up to the others.


    She glanced at Elder Ku Du, "Sovereign Kugu, are you continuing to return to the Undersea Divine Palace?"


    Elder Ku Du nodded, "I¡¯ve said I won¡¯t leave the mountains unless I make a breakthrough, and coming out this time was already an exception. I must return to the Undersea Divine Palace to continue cultivating."


    Mrs. He also nodded, "Once Yao¡¯er has settled the matters of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, I will take her to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. As for Ye Chen... Friend East Territory King, since Ye Chen will go to the Divine Kingdom to participate in the examination of the nine great divine institutes, I¡¯m entrusting him to your care."


    "Old Sovereign, you take it too seriously. Ye Chen and Luo¡¯er met in Minor Spirit Realm, and he will be well taken care of in the Divine Kingdom without you having to mention it," the East Territory King smiled, glancing at Ye Chen and then at the nearby young princess, "As it happens, I was also planning to have Luo¡¯er participate in the nine great divine institutes examination. She should be able to take the examination with Friend Ye Chen."


    The young princess looked at Jiang Yao, then at Ye Chen, and softly said, "Brother Ye Chen, are you going to be separated from Sister Jiang Yao..."


    After a tea hour.


    Ye Chen and his party left the somewhat desolate icy caverns of the stellar continent.


    Another half an hour later, they were back in the boundary of the Celestial Spirit Star.


    Minor Spirit Realm, Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Thanks to the safe return of Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the three major families of Qingyang Town buzzed with excitement.


    Ye Chen¡¯s parents and the little girl Tao¡¯er, although not martial artists, had been left with precious pills from the Icebound Temple that Ye Chen had acquired before he was taken to the Undersea Divine Palace by the great purge calamity.


    With these pills, even if they were not martial artists, it was no problem for them to live for thousands of years and break through the lifespan of ordinary people.


    At this time, they were even more spirited, welcoming the martial artists from the Minor Spirit Realm and even from the thirty-three continents who came to pay respects to Ye Chen, as well as figures such as the East Territory King.


    After meeting Ye Chen¡¯s parents, the East Territory King personally took action to directly open the Qi Sea for Ye Chen¡¯s parents and Tao¡¯er, an accomplishment nearly impossible for ordinary people, allowing them to begin cultivation.


    This was in order to remove Ye Chen¡¯s worries about familial ties when he left for the Divine Kingdom, to completely relieve Ye Chen of any concerns for his family¡¯s safety.


    Once capable of cultivation, paired with the countless precious pills left by Ye Chen in the family, and the Nine Great Heavenly Saints Icebound Guards such as Ice Eleven, Ice Twelve, and Ice Nineteen he planned to leave in the family. Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    By the time Ye Chen would return to his family, his parents would definitely be safe.


    Not only would they be safe, but given Ye Chen¡¯s current abilities and his interactions with the major powers of the thirty-three continents, probably no one on the Celestial Spirit Star would dare to provoke Ye Chen¡¯s family members!


    After all, these days even the ancient emperors of the Yan Clan and clan leaders from the Divine Phoenix Clan and Blood God Clan, who had broken through to the God King Realm in the Minor Spirit Realm, personally descended to pay respects to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also considered bringing his parents with him to the Divine Kingdom.


    However, he was going to participate in the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, and he hadn¡¯t even passed the assessment yet. His realm was not yet established in the Divine Kingdom, and he couldn¡¯t guarantee their safety, nor could he completely rely on the East Territory King, so he wasn¡¯t in a hurry to bring his parents to the Divine Kingdom.


    One day, when he had become powerful enough, Ye Chen indeed planned to bring his family to the Divine Kingdom!


    In the following days, Ye Chen and Jiang Yao began to deal with various matters.


    The waters of the North Sea of the Minor Spirit Realm were reinfused into the entire divine sea, and Elder Ku Du even entered the North Sea to cultivate, as if the great calamity had never happened.


    But the structure of the Minor Spirit Realm had completely changed.


    The Flying Spirit Clan and the Vermilion Bird Clan, both ancient clans that had lost many Heavenly Saints and true gods to Ye Chen¡¯s hands, had utterly declined and could no longer be counted among the six ancient clans.


    The truly powerful forces left in the Minor Spirit Realm were only the North Sea Clan, the Blood God Clan, and the Yan Clan.


    And Ye Chen had saved the lives of members from these three clans.


    Under these circumstances, the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan who had fled to the thirty-three continents during the original crisis returned to the Minor Spirit Realm once more, and under the leadership of true gods such as True Phoenix Shepherd Lan, they resettled in their original territory, reclaiming Divine Phoenix City.


    With the assistance of the North Sea Clan, the Blood God Clan, and the Yan Clan, the Divine Phoenix Clan might have fewer members now, but regaining their strength was only a matter of time!


    Meanwhile, in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, the Thousand Extremes True God who had returned to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent finally met with the Heavenly Saint Lian Yue once again in the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode.


    By that time, owing to Ye Chen¡¯s healing, the Heavenly Saint Lian Yue had awoken from her long slumber during the year of great cleansing calamity.


    When the two of them met again, accompanied by Ye Chen and Jiang Yao, the scene deeply affected both Ye Chen and Jiang Yao.


    And then there was Fairy Jia Luo.


    The martial artist who had raised Jiang Yao and taught her how to care for Ye Chen.


    Though at this point, the young geniuses Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had surpassed Fairy Jia Luo in strength, they still held immense respect for her!


    Jiang Yao even insisted on introducing Fairy Jia Luo to Mrs. He and the nine goddesses.


    In the end, the nine goddesses exceptionally agreed to take Fairy Jia Luo, who was only at the later stages of the Rotating Pill Realm, to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    There were also Palace Master Yuan Li, Mu Yao Palace Master, Mu Qingqing, and others...


    Having broken through to the True God Realm, Palace Master Yuan Li planned to cultivate in the Minor Spirit Realm, and ultimately, she went to Divine Phoenix City of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    Mu Yao Palace Master then succeeded the role of the great master of the Heavenly Saint Palace.


    Mu Qingqing felt reluctant when she heard that Ye Chen was leaving.


    The young girl assured Ye Chen with utmost determination, promising that one day, she too would go to the Divine Kingdom and join the Nine Great Divine Institutes just like him!


    Finally, after Ye Chen and Jiang Yao had arranged for many people and things, hand in hand, they traversed the thirty-three continents of the lower realm once more, and once again through the Minor Spirit Realm.


    They even embraced and kissed at dusk in Divine Phoenix City...


    On the tenth day after their return from the Undersea Divine Palace to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, when all matters had been settled, the moment of parting finally arrived.


    Jiang Yao, along with Mrs. He and the nine goddesses, took Fairy Jia Luo and eventually left for the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    After seeing Jiang Yao off, who left step by step and kept looking back, Ye Chen set out on his journey to the Divine Kingdom with the East Territory King¡¯s daughter Red Spider Divine Sovereign.


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t plan to follow the East Territory King¡¯s daughter to the Eastern District of the Divine Kingdom; instead, he asked the East Territory King to send him to the Southern District.


    Because he had promised the Icebound Divine King to check up on his family members and see how they had been over these many years.

 Chapter 637 - 589: Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain

    On this journey to the Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen brought along only Xiaojiu, Little Monkey, and the three True God Guards, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi.


    There¡¯s no need to mention Xiaojiu, the exceptionally intelligent Soul Beast that knew a great deal about the Divine Kingdom and was specifically instructed by the old man to accompany Ye Chen on his journey there.


    As for Little Monkey, since Heavenly Saint Di Kong could not be found, Ye Chen decided to take the little guy with him to venture in the Divine Kingdom.


    In recent times, he had been so occupied with cultivation and dealing with crisis that he hadn¡¯t taken good care of Little Monkey. Now that he was headed to the Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen intended to give Little Monkey a chance to grow as well.


    The True God Guards, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, left by the Divine King, were essential for Ye Chen to complete many of the Divine King¡¯s entrusted tasks, and thus had to be brought along.


    With so many companions by his side, although Ye Chen was heading to the unfamiliar Divine Kingdom, he did not feel alone.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was inside the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Flying Boat provided by the East Territory King, gazing at the boundless starry sky outside.


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s first time going to the Divine Kingdom.


    Last time, although he visited Minor Pole Sky, he was transported there directly from the three great exploration sites, and he never saw the journey to the Divine Kingdom. On the other hand, Minor Pole Sky did not count as a true Divine Kingdom but was a special secret realm under its jurisdiction.


    But now, Ye Chen was truly flying towards the Divine Kingdom!


    As the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Flying Boat sailed, Ye Chen could see it occasionally pass by continents amid the stars, threading through mysterious mists in the starry void.


    Xiaojiu, at Ye Chen¡¯s side, also curiously examined the starry sky, "The star continents we can see are all from the Lower Star Continent."


    "It¡¯s said that the true path to the Divine Kingdom can only be seen by those who have evolved to the God King Realm. We can only wait until this Ultimate Flying Boat completely traverses into the higher plane of the Divine Kingdom before we can actually witness the sights of the Divine Kingdom," Xiaojiu explained.


    While Xiaojiu had been imbued with much knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan, this was also her first time going to the Divine Kingdom since she had emerged from the Raw Stone, and she felt both excited and fascinated by the novelty.


    At that moment, Little Monkey held in Ye Chen¡¯s arms was also curiously surveying the beautiful starry vistas outside.


    Bing Yi then said with a smile to Ye Chen, "Master, we have never ridden an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Flying Boat before. A sovereign-class flying boat really is unimaginably fast!"


    "Yes, yes," Bing Wu and Bing Qi at the side also chimed in, "At this speed, it probably won¡¯t be long before we reach the Divine Kingdom¡¯s territory in the higher plane."


    Ye Chen too nodded in agreement, feeling moved.


    Because of his company, the East Territory King did not directly use great divine powers to traverse the starry sky but instead chose to use the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Flying Boat to take them forward, allowing Ye Chen to truly witness the spectacle of the cosmos.


    With this view, Ye Chen felt even more profoundly the vastness and grandeur of this boundless starry sky!


    At his current realm, he couldn¡¯t even find the path to the Divine Kingdom within this expanse.


    Existences like the East Territory King and Mrs. He, however, could traverse and shuttle through the endless expanse of the starry sky with their physical bodies, even crossing from one star domain to another.


    It was truly inconceivable!


    While Ye Chen was in the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Flying Boat, contemplating these thoughts, the Little Provincial Princess walked into the room where Ye Chen was, accompanied by the Divine Venerable Hong Zhu and the East Territory King, from another room on the flying boat.


    "Brother Ye Chen, are you really not going with us to the East Province of the Divine Kingdom?" As soon as the Little Provincial Princess appeared, she asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded to the Little Provincial Princess, "I obtained an inheritance from a Divine King in the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom and promised him I would visit his homeland. There¡¯s about a year left before the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment, and during this time, I plan to venture in the Divine Kingdom to enhance my strength."


    "Oh," the Little Provincial Princess replied, her head drooping in disappointment.


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess looking somewhat downcast, the East Territory King smiled and patted her head, "Alright, Luo¡¯er, the reason Ye Chen has grown so fast, becoming so powerful, is exactly because he has been continuously adventuring and striving to improve himself."


    "One year of true adventuring in the Divine Kingdom, with Ye Chen¡¯s talent, could indeed allow for a vast improvement. Perhaps by the time the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment arrives, his strength will have increased several folds."


    At this point, the East Territory King also cautioned Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, I won¡¯t stop you from venturing into the Southern Territory. However, when adventuring in the Divine Kingdom, be very careful!"


    "In the Divine Kingdom, there are too many powerful individuals. Even if you have great talent and strong combat power, there is always someone stronger, so it¡¯s best to be cautious above all."


    "I won¡¯t provide you with any other means, lest you rely too much on external things and fail to truly temper yourself."


    "Of course, in the face of true life and death danger, you must be prepared. I have a talisman here, and if you encounter danger you truly cannot withstand, crush it, and I will come to save you. However, after I save you, you must promise me to come back to the East Territory with me immediately."


    While speaking, the East Territory King handed a talisman directly to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen took the talisman and nodded solemnly, "Thank you, East Territory King, for your guidance. I¡¯ll strive not to use this talisman."


    Ye Chen understood the East Territory King¡¯s well-intentioned efforts.


    Indeed, the East Territory King could have provided him with many trump cards, just like the feather Mrs. He gave Jiang Yao in the Undersea Divine Palace.


    But in doing so, he would lack a true sense of crisis, relying on external objects, and it would be impossible for his strength to truly improve.


    The East Territory King only left him with a protective talisman, and once the talisman was crushed, he would have to return to the East Territory, forfeiting his chance to adventure on his own.


    This was also the East Territory King¡¯s way of letting Ye Chen truly cherish the opportunity to improve his strength through this venture, to really stand on his own in the Divine Kingdom!


    This was the East Territory King¡¯s great trust and encouragement for Ye Chen.


    He trusted Ye Chen could make his own way in the Divine Kingdom.


    He encouraged Ye Chen to enhance his strength through life and death trials!


    Ye Chen understood the East Territory King¡¯s kind intentions, but the Little Provincial Princess pouted, "Daddy, you¡¯re being too stingy, you should at least give Brother Ye Chen a few Slaughter Talismans!"


    Before the Little Provincial Princess could finish, Ye Chen interrupted with a smile, "It¡¯s okay. If you really give me a lot of Slaughter Talismans, I¡¯ll be too safe and won¡¯t be able to truly temper myself."


    "Going to the Divine Kingdom isn¡¯t like the Undersea Divine Palace¡¯s great calamity. As long as I¡¯m careful, I¡¯ll be fine. There are so many martial artists in the Divine Kingdom who are also safely cultivating."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the Little Provincial Princess didn¡¯t press further, and looking at Ye Chen with her eyes, she smiled and said, "Since Brother Ye Chen wants to rely on himself, Luo¡¯er believes that your strength will rise even higher!"


    "When the examination for the nine divine institutes starts, we¡¯ll meet again, Brother Ye Chen."


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    The East Territory King also smiled and said, "Young friend Ye Chen, when the examination for the nine divine institutes officially begins, I will come to see you and tell you more about it then."


    While Ye Chen was conversing with the East Territory King and the others, the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact flying vessel had finally passed through mysterious mists and entered a new world!


    This new world belonged to a higher plane, a realm where only great powers could enter on their own.


    This too was a boundless expanse of starry sky, but here the continents among the stars, each one, were magnitudes larger than those of the Lower Star Continent.


    Even numerous continents, dozens in number, had been joined by the mighty using earth-shattering divine abilities, creating countless magnificent palaces, high towers, countless martial artists in flight, forming towering cities stretching across the starry sky!


    This was the Divine Kingdom of the Myriad Veils!


    Enjoy new stories from novelhall.Co?m


    Upon truly entering the Divine Kingdom of the Myriad Veils, Ye Chen, Xiaojiu, and the little monkey, who were visiting the Divine Kingdom for the first time, all stood up from the vessel, gazing at each passing continent with astonishment and admiration.


    At this moment, the East Territory King smiled at Ye Chen and said, "Young friend Ye Chen, this transport extreme point is within the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom, now, I will take you to the ¡¯Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯ in the Southern Territory."

 Chapter 638 - 590 Blood Moon Forest

    The Circulation of Heaven Divine City is a very small divine city in the Southern Territory of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    The big cities of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom occupy entire Upper Realm continents that are countless times larger than a lower realm¡¯s Star Continent.


    Some of the massive cities are even forged together by powerful beings using several, or even dozens of Upper Realm Star Continents, like the number one divine city of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Territory.


    However, the Circulation of Heaven Divine City only occupies a very small piece of land on a remote Star Continent in the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    When the East Territory King brought Ye Chen into this divine city, he investigated and found that the strongest martial artist in "Circulation of Heaven Divine City" was only at the realm of Lower God King.


    But this wasn¡¯t surprising.


    Ye Chen had also learned from the memories left in the main hall of the Icebound Temple by the once Icebound Divine King that small cities like this were often places where Divine Kings of many divine kingdoms arranged for their families to live.


    After all, in the Divine Kingdom, the God King Realm is considered a relatively weak realm.


    If families were moved to big cities, on one hand, many Divine Kings didn¡¯t have such great abilities; on the other hand, there were too many powerful people in the big cities, making it too dangerous for their family members.


    The Icebound Divine King, who was originally a martial artist from the lower realm, after cultivating to the Lower God King level, brought his family into the Divine Kingdom and settled them in "Circulation of Heaven Divine City."


    Originally, the Icebound Divine King had planned to move his family out of Circulation of Heaven Divine City to a larger city once his strength had increased a bit more.


    Unexpectedly, after he left Circulation of Heaven Divine City, although he had managed to break through to the Upper God King Realm in his subsequent adventures, before he could return to his family, he perished at the hands of another Upper God King, "Ni Shan God King."


    Through Ice One, Ice Five, and Ice Seven, Ye Chen also knew that the enmity between the Icebound Divine King and Ni Shan God King originated from their exploits outside, which wouldn¡¯t jeopardize his family.


    However, after so many years had passed, Ye Chen didn¡¯t know how the Icebound Divine King¡¯s family, left in "Circulation of Heaven Divine City," was faring.


    "Having received the legacy of Senior Icebound Divine King, no matter what, I must properly repay his family," he thought.


    "Senior Icebound Divine King said that when he created the Icebound Divine Body technique, he only left the initial volumes with his family. He had not yet managed to give the latter volumes to his family before he fell. The complete Icebound Divine Body technique, however, could be given to his family members."


    "Also, Senior Icebound Divine King said he had left quite a lot of wealth in the Divine Kingdom, which could be given to his family after it was unsealed," Ye Chen reflected.


    Even before Ye Chen arrived at Circulation of Heaven Divine City, he had already pondered some of the things he should do when encountering the descendants of the Icebound Divine King.


    But when Ye Chen actually arrived at Circulation of Heaven Divine City, some things completely caught him by surprise.


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s second day in Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    By this time, the East Territory King had already left, and Ye Chen certainly couldn¡¯t expect him to stay with him all the time, delaying the East Territory King¡¯s matters.


    After being brought to Circulation of Heaven Divine City by the East Territory King, Ye Chen bid farewell to the East Territory King, the Red Spider Sovereign, and the Little Princess, and settled down in Circulation of Heaven Divine City for the time being.


    Then, Ye Chen began to inquire about the Icebound Divine King¡¯s descendants in Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    The Icebound Divine King, whose real name was "Zhou Liuxu," originally settled his family in Circulation of Heaven Divine City with the status of a Lower God King, and the Zhou Family occupied a large estate in the north of the city.


    However, when Ye Chen went with Ice One, Ice Five, Ice Seven, and Xiaojiu toward the northern part of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, to the area of the family land remembered by the Icebound Divine King, they discovered that it had long since changed hands and was now occupied by several other families.


    At that moment, Ye Chen realized that with tens of thousands of years having passed, the situation was likely to have transformed dramatically, and the Icebound Divine King¡¯s family had undergone considerable change.


    Consequently, Ye Chen arranged for Xiaojiu to investigate the matter of the Icebound Divine King¡¯s descendants in detail.


    And when the next day Xiaojiu presented the gathered information to Ye Chen, he, looking through the news, heaved a deep sigh.


    Over the years, the Zhou Family¡¯s descendants, after the Icebound Divine King¡¯s departure, had not flourished but instead, the entire family had gradually declined.


    Not only had they lost the large estate in the north of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, but eventually, they even had to leave Circulation of Heaven Divine City. Now, they had fallen to living in a small city called "Fallen Moon City" outside Circulation of Heaven Divine City, and became a very minor family.


    Xiaojiu also found out that over the years, the Zhou Family had hardly produced any formidable martial artists, and the strongest among them was said to be currently at the Six Tribulations True God realm.


    Although a Six Tribulations True God could make a living in "Fallen Moon City," an affiliated small city of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, this was entirely incomparable to the time when the Icebound Divine King left his family, during which the family had many Nine Tribulations True Gods!


    Hearing this news, Ye Chen let out a deep sigh, while Ice One, Ice Five, and Ice Seven were even more heartbroken.


    Especially Ice Seven, which was the first to follow the Icebound Divine King and had even spent time in Circulation of Heaven Divine City when he was still a Lower God King, felt deeply saddened by the decline of the Zhou Family.


    "Alright, no need to grieve. Let¡¯s hope that our arrival can bring some help to the descendants of the Divine King," Ye Chen said at last, patting the shoulders of Ice One, Ice Five, and Ice Seven as he stood up.


    "Since they are no longer in Circulation of Heaven Divine City, let¡¯s go to that ¡¯Fallen Moon City¡¯ and have a look."


    ...


    Blood Moon Forest is an ancient forest that occupies at least tens of thousands of square miles, located between Circulation of Heaven Divine City and Fallen Moon City.


    What is more peculiar is that this forest naturally forbids flying, so that even with Ye Chen¡¯s current strength, he cannot directly fly over the forest to reach Fallen Moon City.


    This forest thus serves as a natural boundary between Fallen Moon City and Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    Whether coming from one side or the other, one must pass through this vast Blood Moon Forest.


    "Xiaojiu, from the information you¡¯ve gathered, does the Blood Moon Forest have a natural aura that greatly aids Divine Soul cultivation?" Ye Chen walked through the Blood Moon Forest, speaking to Xiaojiu, who had transformed into a little spirit finch perched on his shoulder.


    At this time, the little monkey, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi were all gathered in a spatial treasure by Ye Chen, where they were cultivating according to the techniques he had passed on to them.


    In the past, Ye Chen would of course not have instructed Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, but after experiencing the great calamity of cleansing, he had seen Sovereign Realm powerhouses and even obtained the Heaven-reaching Divine Art, "Nine Swords of Annihilation."


    Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi were originally trained by the Icebound Divine King, and they were somewhat lacking in Martial Skills, so Ye Chen taught them the first of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation."


    When they heard Ye Chen say that whoever learned the first sword would continue to be taught the second sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, and after witnessing the power of this Heaven-reaching Divine Art, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi were naturally overjoyed and immediately began to cultivate it within the spatial treasure.


    As for the little monkey, Ye Chen taught it the Icebound Divine Body. Experience more on novelhall.Co?m


    The little monkey being a True Spirit Sacred Beast with an inherently strong physical body was indeed suitable for cultivating such a Divine Body.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, Xiaojiu turned to him and said, "Yes, there is a natural blood-red aura within the Blood Moon Forest that can nourish the Divine Soul. Even many warriors from Circulation of Heaven Divine City often cultivate in the Blood Moon Forest."


    "It¡¯s also said that at the middle of every month, when the blood-red aura in the Blood Moon Forest is at its thickest, many fearsome beasts would emerge from various parts of the Blood Moon Forest. On that day, those warriors wouldn¡¯t dare to roam the Blood Moon Forest recklessly."


    "Ye Chen, counting the days, today is the middle of the month, so it is likely the day when there are the most beasts."


    "However, the strongest beast said to be in the Circulation of Heaven Divine City area is just at the Nine Stages True God level, and since these Nine Stages True God beasts are not cultivated by Divine Sovereigns, they¡¯re not much more powerful than the ones in the lower realms. With your current strength, you really don¡¯t need to worry," Xiaojiu added.


    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen smiled, "Then let¡¯s hurry towards ¡¯Fallen Moon City,¡¯ and meanwhile, we can cultivate our Divine Souls in the Blood Moon Forest. Xiaojiu, as a soul beast, you also need to cultivate your Divine Soul power, so this will be a good opportunity for you as well."


    Xiaojiu nodded with a smile.


    As Ye Chen and Xiaojiu talked and proceeded deeper into the Blood Moon Forest, just like Xiaojiu had said, the deeper they went, the thicker the blood-red aura of the Blood Moon Forest became.


    After breathing in this blood-red aura, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul felt incredibly refreshing.


    This aura indeed could nourish and strengthen the Divine Soul.


    At that moment.


    Hiss!


    Suddenly, amid a loud noise, a gigantic blood-red bat-like beast, easily measuring three hundred yards in length, burst out from beside a huge tree. This blood-red bat even spat flames, directly burning towards Ye Chen.


    This flame was even more terrifying than the true fire of the lower realm, and its burning power had astonishingly reached the level of a Five Stages True God!


    A Five Stages True God level beast might pose some trouble for the warriors of Fallen Moon City to handle.


    But when Ye Chen faced the flames spewed by this bat, a powerful aura of killing intent released from him in an instant.


    Pfft!


    With just a faint sound, this gigantic blood-red bat, along with the flames it expelled, were directly annihilated by Ye Chen into nothingness.


    Ye Chen looked at the dead beast, shook his head, then with a swift movement, he disappeared from the spot with Xiaojiu.


    ...


    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were progressing through the Blood Moon Forest, another small group was also carefully moving along the forest¡¯s outskirts.


    "Brother, today is the day when the aura of the Blood Moon pervades. You have to be careful in here. Stick with dad and the uncles, and don¡¯t get lost," a slender girl carrying a giant cyan bow spoke out to a boy about fourteen or fifteen years old within the group.


    "Hmm, sister, don¡¯t worry. Today, I¡¯m determined to gather enough Blood Moon Stones for you, exchange them for ¡¯Black Divine Coins,¡¯ and send you to Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute for cultivation," the boy said earnestly.


    The girl patted the boy¡¯s head and smiled upon hearing his words.


    In front of the girl and boy were six middle-aged men.


    Upon hearing the brother and sister¡¯s conversation, these men all sighed inwardly: "When did our Zhou Family fall to this? We once had vast estates within Circulation of Heaven Divine City, and now, our family can¡¯t even afford to send Yue¡¯er to the Divine Institute in the city for cultivation."


    After their sigh, the gazes of these middle-aged men hardened: "No matter the danger, we must take advantage of tonight, when other warriors dare not venture into the Blood Moon Forest, and dig up more Blood Moon Stones."

 Chapter 639 - 591 Fallen Moon City Zhou Family

    Half an hour later.


    "Sister, I found another ¡¯Blood Moon Stone.¡¯" The boy¡¯s hand, coated with dark mud, was held high, and within his palm, a crystal-clear red stone emitted a faint red halo.


    Just as the boy raised the stone, the girl beside him hurriedly yelled, "Be careful!"


    In that moment, a shadow over ten meters in length suddenly pounced from the side, biting straight toward the red stone in the boy¡¯s hand.


    Only when the girl saw that the shadow was a wolf-shaped monster did she relax the tensed bowstring.


    This monster was merely at the mid-stage of Heavenly Saint; her younger brother could handle it.


    Indeed, as the wolf-shaped monster pounced toward the boy, a cold, frosty aura burst forth from him, surging toward the sky. Then, with a fierce punch, the boy struck the monster, sending the ten-meter-long wolf-shaped creature flying backward, tumbling several times before it lay motionless on the ground, dead.


    Upon seeing that he had killed a mid-stage Heavenly Saint monster with a single punch, the boy excitedly said to the girl, "Sister, I¡¯m impressive, aren¡¯t I?"


    The girl smiled and nodded: "Impressive!"


    But in her heart, she felt a sour pang. Her brother¡¯s talent was indeed high, hardly weaker than hers.


    At the age of fifteen, to cultivate to the mid-stage Heavenly Saint realm was already remarkable, even in the higher planes of the Divine Kingdom where spiritual energy was abundant.


    Regrettably, her family was declining and could only afford for her brother to practice the family¡¯s martial arts. They couldn¡¯t even pay for entrance fees to the Divine Institute.


    At this rate, even if her brother broke through to the True God Realm, he wouldn¡¯t be able to attend the Divine Institute.


    "Once I get the chance to join ¡¯Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute,¡¯ I must save enough ¡¯Black Divine Coins¡¯ to let my brother come and cultivate at the institute as well," the girl resolved firmly in her heart.


    "Sister, what are you thinking about?" Seeing the girl in a daze, the boy spoke up, "Let¡¯s go; this area has already been searched. We should quickly catch up with father and uncle and look for ¡¯Blood Moon Stones¡¯ elsewhere."


    The girl gathered her thoughts and smiled at the boy, nodding, then continued to follow the several middle-aged men ahead, moving forward.


    A short half-hour later.


    When the party of eight arrived at a valley, they saw a young man at the late stage of Heavenly Saint, with a small bird on his shoulder, sitting amidst a mass of blood-red aura. Suddenly, a gigantic lion-shaped monster with a fiery-red body, over fifty meters long, shot out like lightning, ferociously attacking the young man in the valley.


    Yet the young man, still sitting within the blood-red aura, simply turned to look at the giant lion-shaped creature without any reaction.


    "It¡¯s a ¡¯Blood Mane Lion,¡¯ a Three Tribulations True God monster!"


    "Has this young man gone mad with fear, so recklessly coming to the Blood Moon Forest while only at the late stage of Heavenly Saint?!"


    Seeing the giant lion-shaped monster about to reach the young man, six middle-aged men from the team were shocked, with several prepared to take action.


    At that moment, with a "swoosh," a purple-golden arrow shot out like electricity, carrying terrifying lethal power, flying instantly from the team toward the Blood Mane Lion that was lunging at the late-stage Heavenly Saint young man.


    Thud!


    This arrow struck directly at the center of the head of the larger, over fifty-meter-long Blood Mane Lion.


    The center seemed to be the lion¡¯s deadly weak spot. As soon as it was hit, the entire body of the massive lion-shaped monster exploded and died.


    The purple-golden arrow that killed the Three Tribulations True God monster, the Blood Mane Lion, instantly flew back, returning straight to the hands of the person who shot it.


    The archer, with a curvy figure, a bold chest, and a tall stature, her appearance elegant, holding a cyan great bow, turned out to be the girl from the team.


    At this moment, the girl who had shot the arrow to save someone slightly furrowed her brows and looked toward the young man in the valley who was watching her, "Where did you come from, and how did you end up here? Do you realize how dangerous this is?"


    The girl saw the late-stage Heavenly Saint young man smiling as he stood up, glanced at the small bird on his shoulder as if it were nothing serious, and said to her, "Thanks."


    Then, the young man, who was of course Ye Chen, started walking deeper into the valley.


    The small bird on his shoulder was Xiaojiu, transformed into a little sparrow.


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were absorbing and refining the blood-red aura in the valley to nourish their divine souls when they suddenly encountered the attack from the Three Tribulations True God monster, the Blood Mane Lion. Yet, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t worried in the slightest.


    He had planned to wait for the Blood Mane Lion to attack, then simply exhale a breath to kill the creature.


    But unexpectedly, a girl from the suddenly appearing team had intervened and saved him.


    Ye Chen naturally appreciated the girl¡¯s kindness.


    He wouldn¡¯t say that she was meddling.


    So, after thanking the girl, Ye Chen planned to leave, as he still intended to absorb more of the blood-red aura.


    However, Ye Chen¡¯s nonchalant demeanor somewhat irritated the girl.


    The young girl looked at Ye Chen, who was only a few years older than her brother, yet he was blundering through the Blood Moon Forest like a greenhorn.


    Although Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation at the late Heavenly Saint realm was impressive for his age, the fact that today was the day when the blood moon¡¯s aura pervaded, the young girl was well aware of the threat posed by the Blood Moon Forest.


    Even with Martial Artists in the True God Realm among them, they would only venture around the outskirts of the forest and dared not delve deeper. Was this young man really planning to go further in?


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    "Stop right there!" the young girl stomped her foot at Ye Chen, "Are you here for the first time? It¡¯s very dangerous inside today!"


    "You should get out of here, if you go deeper and encounter danger again, I won¡¯t save you!"


    Hearing the young girl¡¯s somewhat annoyed words, Ye Chen smiled gently, about to explain to this "kind-hearted" young girl that he was not afraid of the Blood Moon Forest, and that he had long passed through the core area of the forest before arriving at this side of Fallen Moon City.


    Just then, Ye Chen heard the six middle-aged men in front of the young girl also speak up, "Indeed, young man, today is different. There are demons running rampant inside the Blood Moon Forest, and you must not blunder in."


    "We are Martial Artists from the Zhou Family of Fallen Moon City and are extremely familiar with the Blood Moon Forest. You should listen to us and leave quickly."


    The Zhou Family of Fallen Moon City?


    Upon hearing these words, Ye Chen¡¯s mind was stirred.


    Were these people the descendants of the Ice Sealed God King who had fallen to the Zhou Family in Fallen Moon City that he was looking for?


    Ye Chen turned to look at those few people.


    Xiaojiu also quietly transmitted to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, there is indeed a hint of the Ice Sealed Divine Body¡¯s aura on these people. With my strong Divine Soul Power, I can sense it even though they haven¡¯t released it."


    Really members of the Zhou Family?!


    Ye Chen eyed the group, the six middle-aged people were all in the True God Realm, three of them in the Four Tribulations True God stage, two in the Five Tribulations True God stage, and the strongest was a Six Tribulations True God middle-aged man.


    The girl following them, however, was somewhat of a surprise to Ye Chen. Although she looked to be only around twenty years old, she was already at the Three Tribulations True God realm.


    Although cultivating to the True God Realm was much easier in the higher plane Divine Kingdoms than in the lower planes,


    in the remote area of the Circulation of Heaven Divine City within this Divine Kingdom, this was still quite an achievement.


    "The reports said that the strongest member of the Zhou Family is a Six Tribulations True God. Could it be that this is the Six Tribulations True God among this group?"


    "If they know that the Blood Moon Forest is exceptionally dangerous today, then why come to the forest? And why send out their strongest Martial Artists?"


    "The people of the Zhou Family seem to have good hearts, and even if it weren¡¯t for the Ice Sealed God King¡¯s reason, I would have to repay them for repeatedly warning me to be cautious. With the entrustment from the Ice Sealed God King, I even more want to check on their situation."


    With that thought, Ye Chen smiled and stepped towards the group.


    Ye Chen said to the eight people, "I¡¯ve just arrived near Circulation of Heaven Divine City from another Divine City and heard that the Blood Moon Forest is a good place for cultivation, so I came here to cultivate."


    "You all are very familiar with the Blood Moon Forest, how about you take me along with you?"


    Go along with them?


    The eight people from the Zhou Family had intended to persuade Ye Chen to leave, but to their surprise, Ye Chen wanted to join them.


    This time, the eight had come out with the intention of harvesting Blood Moon Stones. Along the way, they had encountered assaults from many demons, but fortunately, they had all managed to get through the dangers safely.


    However, bringing along a young man at the late Heavenly Saint stage made them hesitate.


    At this moment, the fourteen- or fifteen-year-old boy spoke up, "You can follow us, but you¡¯ll have to help my sister find more ¡¯Blood Moon Stones.¡¯ As long as you help my sister find ¡¯Blood Moon Stones,¡¯ we will ensure you leave the Blood Moon Forest safely."


    Blood Moon Stones?


    Just as Ye Chen was pondering, Xiaojiu transmitted to him, "Blood Moon Stones are a special type of ore formed by the condensation of the red aura in the Blood Moon Forest. They are said to be exchangeable for the Divine Kingdom¡¯s universal currency, ¡¯Black Divine Coins.¡¯


    "However, Blood Moon Stones are difficult to collect, and the Black Divine Coins they fetch are quite limited. Now that it¡¯s so dangerous and they¡¯ve come here to collect the stones, it seems that the Zhou Family is indeed in decline, to be so impoverished."


    Ye Chen nodded upon hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words.


    "Brother," the young girl frowned when she heard the boy agreeing to bring Ye Chen along.


    She was somewhat concerned that this somewhat rash young man joining their group might cause trouble for them.


    But thinking that the young man was only at the late Heavenly Saint stage and that it was too dangerous for him to roam the Blood Moon Forest alone, she eventually didn¡¯t refuse and just said to Ye Chen, "If you follow us, you must obey our arrangements. Once we¡¯ve gathered enough Blood Moon Stones, we¡¯ll take you out of the Blood Moon Forest."


    "No problem," Ye Chen smiled and readily agreed.


    As for the young girl¡¯s mention of following their arrangements, of course, Ye Chen was not going to refuse.


    He was following these people from the Zhou Family partly to learn more about them, and partly with the intention that if the group really encountered danger, he would help them out.

 Chapter 640 - 592 The Magical Youngster

    With Ye Chen joining them, the team grew to nine people.


    The six middle-aged men still led the way, with Ye Chen, the young boy, and the girl trailing behind.


    "Why are you collecting ¡¯Blood Moon Stones¡¯? I heard that these ¡¯Blood Moon Stones¡¯ aren¡¯t even that valuable, and they are quite difficult to gather too," Ye Chen whispered to the young boy as they walked.


    "My sister has already become a True God of the Three Tribulations, but because our family doesn¡¯t have enough ¡¯Black Divine Coins,¡¯ she can¡¯t even go to the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute. Now that another year of recruitment is upon us, we don¡¯t want my sister to miss another opportunity to cultivate. So, we came out to look for Blood Moon Stones to exchange for ¡¯Black Divine Coins.¡¯ This year, if we can find a thousand ¡¯Blood Moon Stones¡¯ and exchange them for a thousand ¡¯Black Divine Coins,¡¯ together with the ¡¯Black Divine Coins¡¯ saved by our family in previous years, it should be enough for my sister to attend the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute," the young boy replied to Ye Chen.


    "Little brother," the girl noticed the young boy speaking to Ye Chen about their desire to go to the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute and couldn¡¯t help but get a little annoyed, "Stop talking, and concentrate on keeping up with dad and our uncles."


    "Oh," the young boy hummed lightly and stopped speaking.


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    Ye Chen, however, felt rather conflicted at this moment.


    He understood why the girl was reluctant to discuss the topic. She probably felt ashamed to reveal her family¡¯s decline in front of a stranger like him.


    That Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute was a mere ordinary cultivation institute in the Circulation of Heaven Divine City, a place Ye Chen had inquired about after arriving in the city.


    This kind of institute, when compared to the nine major divine institutes of the Divine Kingdom, was incomparable, not even on par with some great divine cities¡¯ institutes within the Wan Mu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    And yet, descendants of the highly respected Divine King, even unable to afford the entrance fee to such an institute, gave Ye Chen quite a heavy heart.


    "Once I unlock the wealth left behind in the Divine Kingdom by the Divine King predecessor, not to mention the Circulation of Heaven Divine City, even the cultivation institutes of larger divine cities would be sufficient for this girl to attend!" Ye Chen thought.


    "Sigh, for now, let¡¯s just help them find the Blood Moon Stones and fulfill this wish of theirs!"


    With that thought, Ye Chen directly transmitted his voice to Xiaojiu, "Xiaojiu, search around carefully and see if there are any Blood Moon Stones nearby."


    Xiaojiu, as a Soul Beast, was also of the extraordinarily powerful ¡¯Nine Spirits Sparrow¡¯ kind!


    She was naturally gifted with extraordinary Divine Soul strength, and almost her entire combat power was derived from that Divine Soul strength. Not only was she exceptionally intelligent and quick at absorbing knowledge, but Xiaojiu¡¯s ability to use Divine Soul to probe her surroundings was even stronger than Ye Chen¡¯s.


    She could almost compare to the most top-notch True Gods of the Nine Tribulations in the Divine Kingdom!


    In such a scenario, Xiaojiu¡¯s probing was naturally far superior to the exploration outcomes of the Zhou Family¡¯s six strongest middle-aged men from Fallen Moon City, who were merely common True Gods of the Six Tribulations.


    Indeed, after hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Xiaojiu immediately sent her Divine Soul strength into the earth. The Zhou Family¡¯s six middle-aged men had passed by an area without any reaction, but Xiaojiu discovered quite a few Blood Moon Stones hidden below.


    "Ye Chen, there are fifty-six fully formed Blood Moon Stones seven or eight meters to the left up ahead," Xiaojiu transmitted to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded and headed in that direction.


    "What are you doing? Don¡¯t fall behind," the girl stomped her feet impatiently when she saw Ye Chen leaving the group.


    For some reason, whenever she saw the always calm Ye Chen, she felt as if he was just like her younger brother, a rash and troublesome young boy, and couldn¡¯t help but want to scold him more.


    "It¡¯s nothing, I just have a feeling there¡¯s something strange around here, I believe, it seems like there are ¡¯Blood Moon Stones,¡¯" Ye Chen said with a faint smile, walking toward the place Xiaojiu had indicated.


    "You think there are Blood Moon Stones?" The girl patted her forehead, somewhat at a loss with Ye Chen.


    She, a True God of the Three Tribulations, hadn¡¯t detected any Blood Moon Stones, nor had her father and uncles who were True Gods of the Five and Six Tribulations in front of her, yet this young man in the late stage of Heaven Saint claims he feels the presence of Blood Moon Stones?


    This left the girl somewhat at a loss for words with a mix of laughter and tears.


    Just as the girl was about to stop Ye Chen and hurry him to catch up with the group, the young boy, upon hearing about Blood Moon Stones, became somewhat excited, "Where? Hurry up and dig them out. We¡¯ve been searching for half a day and have only found a little over thirty Blood Moon Stones. Let¡¯s quickly search."


    The young boy immediately ran in front of Ye Chen.


    "Don¡¯t dawdle, you two, time is precious," the girl was saying, when she saw the spot where Ye Chen stood, and Ye Chen pointed his finger to the ground, flipping over heaps of dirt, revealing a pit several meters deep all at once.


    Then, a pile of translucent red stones appeared in the pit, embedded in the dark soil.


    Could it really be Blood Moon Stones?!


    And not just one or two, but a good fifty pieces, far more than the thirty-some they had found after more than an hour of searching!


    Seeing the fifty-plus shimmering Blood Moon Stones at the bottom of the pit under Ye Chen¡¯s feet, the girl was so astonished that she almost cried out in shock.


    The girl managed to restrain herself, but the young man beside her had already started to shout excitedly, "It¡¯s really Blood Moon Stones, wow, more than fifty of them, sister, what a discovery!"


    The young man hurriedly grabbed the Blood Moon Stones from the dirt with his hands.


    Holding them in his hand and sensing that these Blood Moon Stones were indeed identical to the ones he had collected earlier, the young man was so excited that he was nearly fainting!


    "Blood Moon Stones?" The six middle-aged men leading the way, hearing the boy¡¯s shrill cry, also turned around and walked towards Ye Chen and the young man and girl.


    Upon seeing the fifty-six Blood Moon Stones revealed in the pit, these six middle-aged men were also so surprised that their mouths hung open.


    "He¡¯s the one who found them!"


    "He¡¯s so amazing!"


    After the young man collected all the Blood Moon Stones, his gaze towards Ye Chen was filled with admiration.


    Ye Chen touched his nose, smiled at the few people who were staring at him in amazement, and said, "The feeling, it¡¯s just a feeling."


    They continued on their journey.


    "I have a feeling there are Blood Moon Stones here too."


    "We should take a look over there."


    Every time Ye Chen pointed to a spot, the excited young man by his side would rush over to dig out the Blood Moon Stones.


    The girl had her doubts about Ye Chen¡¯s sense at first.


    But when her brother dug time after time, finding Blood Moon Stones again and again, and in less than half an hour, under Ye Chen¡¯s guidance they had unearthed more than four hundred Blood Moon Stones, the girl was so shaken that she felt dizzy.


    On days when the Blood Moon aura was pervasive, they couldn¡¯t gather four hundred Blood Moon Stones in a whole night, and now, in less than half an hour, they had found over four hundred?


    If this rate continued, they wouldn¡¯t need to wait until next month to gather a thousand Blood Moon Stones, they could collect enough today!


    "Is this really Ye Chen¡¯s sense? Or does he truly have the strength to discover Blood Moon Stones?"


    During their journey, she and her brother had talked with Ye Chen and learned each other¡¯s names.


    The girl looked at Ye Chen, her gaze no longer the same as before when she looked at an impetuous young man, now filled with astonishment and shock.


    "However, he¡¯s only at the late stage of Heavenly Saint, it¡¯s not possible to discover Blood Moon Stones by strength alone. After all, even my father, a Six-Tribulations true god, couldn¡¯t find them! Could it really be a feeling?"


    Just when the girl still couldn¡¯t quite believe it, her brother, under Ye Chen¡¯s guidance, dug up another fifty-plus Blood Moon Stones.


    Seeing her brother holding up piece after piece of Blood Moon Stone, the girl named Zhou Yue, her beautiful eyes looking at Ye Chen, had only one thought.


    They had encountered a magical young man!

 Chapter 641 - 593: Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon

    As the group¡¯s spirits were bolstered by their consistent gains, they gathered Blood Moon Stones with even greater vigor within the Blood Moon Forest.


    Ye Chen¡¯s "intuition" contributed the most.


    Of course, several of the Zhou Family¡¯s true gods, and the young Zhou Yue, also made discoveries.


    With everyone working together, in less than an hour, they had gathered more than nine hundred Blood Moon Stones, which left them with just a few short of their target of a thousand!


    They even began to hope that they might gather even more Blood Moon Stones to save up some Black Divine Coins for Zhou Yue¡¯s brother, Zhou Dun.


    This day was indeed when the Blood Moon Forest was teeming with the most monsters, and along the way, the group encountered numerous monster attacks.


    However, as they searched for Blood Moon Stones on the outer edge of the forest, the strongest monsters they encountered were only of the Five Tribulations True God level. The six middle-aged men leading the way easily dispatched these monsters, ensuring that Ye Chen, Zhou Yue, and Zhou Dun remained unharmed.


    Just when everyone thought this day would be a day of great harvest for the Zhou family from Fallen Moon City, they entered a mountain valley shrouded in a blood-red aura.


    "Ye Chen, there are so many Blood Moon Stones hidden underground here!"


    "This is strange, the bloody aura filling this valley is even thicker than when we first came from Circulation of Heaven Divine City and passed through the core area of the Blood Moon Forest!"


    As soon as they entered the valley, Xiaojiu called out to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen too was somewhat shaken.


    As soon as he entered the valley, he could feel the rich blood-red aura entering his body with every breath, nourishing his spirit wonderfully.


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind swept over the ground and likewise discovered countless Blood Moon Stones hidden beneath the earth.


    Clearly, this valley was no ordinary place; it was likely a precious treasure site or some peculiar realm!


    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were closely examining this area, the six middle-aged men of the Zhou Family ahead also noticed the valley¡¯s extraordinariness.


    "We¡¯ve never been to this area before, but the Blood Moon aura here is so strong!"


    "Blood Moon Stones, there must be many here!"


    The six middle-aged men grew excited, and the young Zhou Yue and her brother Zhou Dun were similarly thrilled.


    They had already gained much on their journey and had ventured off their usual path. Now they had entered an area with such a dense blood-red aura.


    Having already found more than nine hundred Blood Moon Stones, if they discovered more here, reaching over a thousand to provide Zhou Yue with enough Black Divine Coins to go to the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute would be no problem at all!


    At this thought, the graceful and elegant Zhou Yue couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    At that moment...


    Both Ye Chen and Xiaojiu exclaimed, "Not good!"


    Zhou Yue, who was next to Ye Chen, saw him burst forward at a speed she had never seen before, towards the six middle-aged men of the Zhou Family who were examining the Blood Moon Stones.


    "What¡¯s happened?!"


    Both siblings, Zhou Yue and Zhou Dun, were shocked.


    Then, they saw a surge of blood mist suddenly rise in the valley ahead of them. Within the mist, the six middle-aged Zhou Family members vanished in an instant!


    This sudden change completely stunned Zhou Yue and her brother Zhou Dun!


    Their father and uncles were True Gods of the Four, Five, and Six Tribulations. How could they just disappear all of a sudden?


    This was only the outskirts of the Blood Moon Forest; it simply wasn¡¯t possible to encounter something that could overpower True Gods of the Six Tribulations without a fight! Could this odd valley be the reason?


    While the siblings were still in shock, they heard Ye Chen¡¯s voice, "It¡¯s a special space; this valley hides a special realm within it."


    "They¡¯ve been pulled into the special realm!"


    "Let¡¯s hurry in and find them, don¡¯t let anything happen to them!"


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen spoke, he swept his True Qi toward a half-meter tall rock in front of him. The rock emitted a bloody mist that enveloped Ye Chen, making him vanish from sight.


    Ye Chen had seen that the blood mist which had taken the six middle-aged men was emanating from that very rock, leading him to discover the special space hidden within it.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words and seeing him disappear, Zhou Yue and her brother Zhou Dun bit their lips in determination. They flew to the rock where Ye Chen had disappeared and like him, swept their True Qi toward the rock, vanishing from sight.


    Once the dizziness of entering the special realm dissipated, the young Zhou Yue saw the scenery before her, and her rosy little mouth opened wide in shock, her chest heaving dramatically.


    She saw that it was a vast, somewhat desolate and dilapidated space, with piles of white bones strewn across the ground before her. Ye Chen, who had disappeared earlier, along with her father and uncles, were now looking up into the sky.


    Her younger brother, Zhou Dun, was equally shocked as he looked toward the sky.


    Looking into the sky, one could see a gigantic dragon, over a thousand zhang in length, lowering its head, its divine eyes staring right at them!


    This enormous dragon had a pair of blood-red wings and eight blood-red claws.


    As soon as she saw the dragon, Zhou Yue couldn¡¯t believe her eyes and screamed, "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon!"


    She had never seen such a creature before, but there was a legend in Fallen Moon City about a formidable Nine Tribulations True God monstrous beast, the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon, in the Blood Moon Forest. This Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon had devoured many warriors who entered the Blood Moon Forest, including a large number of Seven Tribulations and Eight Tribulations True Gods!


    Zhou Yue had always believed that such a Nine Tribulations True God monstrous beast would be at the core region of the Blood Moon Forest. She never imagined that this creature would appear on the outskirts of the Blood Moon Forest, within this special space, and had even captured her father and uncles within it.


    Looking at the countless white bones on the ground in this space, Zhou Yue knew that these must be the remains of the warriors who had been captured into this space by the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" and killed!


    The families of these gone warriors likely could never imagine that their loved ones died within this special space.


    Zhou Yue couldn¡¯t believe that they had actually encountered such a Nine Tribulations True God monstrous beast. Could it be that they all were destined to die in this place, becoming nothing but piles of bones?


    Now that Zhou Yue had recognized the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon," so had the other members of the Zhou Family.


    At that moment, everyone¡¯s faces were deathly pale.


    This was a Nine Tribulations True God monstrous beast, after all. The most powerful among them was none other than Zhou Yue¡¯s father, Zhou Tianhao, who was at the Six Tribulations True God realm. Facing a Nine Tribulations True God monstrous beast, a Six Tribulations True God had absolutely no chance of resisting and was doomed to die!


    Originally, when the six middle-aged men from the Zhou Family were drawn into this space and discovered the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon," their hearts sank completely. Now, seeing that Zhou Yue, Zhou Dun, and Ye Chen had followed them in, they became even more panicked: "Yue¡¯er, Dun¡¯er, Ye Chen, how did you come in here, too?"


    "Run, run for your lives!"


    In the midst of speaking, Zhou Tianhao and the other five turned their bodies around and were about to fly towards Zhou Yue, Zhou Dun, and Ye Chen, intending to quickly flee with them across the land.


    At that moment, the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" in the sky simply opened its mouth and exhaled. A burst of blood-colored breath instantly immobilized all six True Gods, including Zhou Tianhao, on the ground.


    Moreover, the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" looked at Ye Chen, Zhou Yue, and Zhou Dun and spoke in a human voice, "I was content to eat these six tough old fellows first, but I didn¡¯t expect you younglings to walk right into my trap."


    "Oh well, I might as well eat you all together!"


    The "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" opened its mouth and exhaled again, and a burst of blood-colored breath shot towards Ye Chen, Zhou Yue, and Zhou Dun, binding them as well.


    Then, as the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" seemed to pace leisurely in the sky, it glanced at Zhou Tianhao and the other five, then at the youngest Zhou Dun, and slowly said, "Which one should I eat first?"


    The words of the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" made the youngest on the scene, Zhou Dun, cry in fear: "Sister, Father!"


    Zhou Dun, just fifteen years of age, had never seen such spectacle.


    The "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" wasn¡¯t planning to kill them instantly but seemed to savor their taste, wanting to eat them one by one, which utterly terrified Zhou Dun.


    Hearing Zhou Dun¡¯s cries, Zhou Yue, Zhou Tianhao, and the others who were also bound felt their hearts being torn apart.


    They hadn¡¯t expected what was supposed to be a day of great harvest to end this way.


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    Tears also streamed down Zhou Yue¡¯s beautiful eyes as she looked at Ye Chen, her heart filled with just one thought.


    What a pity it was for such a young man who could instinctively detect the Blood Moon Stones.


    She had promised to lead him out of the Blood Moon Forest, but in the end, she had caused him to lose his life along with them.


    With her heart heavy with sorrow as she looked at Ye Chen, Zhou Yue was taken aback when her gaze fully fell upon Ye Chen¡¯s face.


    Because she noticed that Ye Chen, who should have been restrained like her, was suddenly stepping forward, taking a step forward, and as if sensing her gaze, he turned and smiled at her.


    "Ye Chen, how can he move under the confinement of a Nine Tribulations True God?" Zhou Yue¡¯s tears hung on her face, confused.


    Then she suddenly remembered the way Ye Chen had swiftly flown towards her father and uncles outside of this special space, trying to save them.


    That movement, Zhou Yue knew, was impossible for her own father, Zhou Tianhao, even at the Six Tribulations True God realm, to perform!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen... his strength is greater than Father¡¯s?!" An idea suddenly flashed through Zhou Yue¡¯s mind.


    As her thoughts raced, she then heard Ye Chen¡¯s calm and collected voice in the face of the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon": "Xiaojiu, it seems I have to make a move."


    Xiaojiu?


    When Zhou Yue was still in shock, she saw the little sparrow on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder suddenly lift off, transforming into an immense azure giant bird, a thousand zhang in size.


    An azure giant bird even more mystical than the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" in the sky.


    This azure giant bird even chuckled at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, go ahead and make your move. This is just an ordinary Nine Tribulations True God monstrous beast. It¡¯s no match for you!"

 Chapter 642 - 594 Shatter the Space!

    When they saw Xiaojiu transform into a thousand-foot-tall giant azure sparrow in an instant, even the "Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon" in the sky was so shocked that it flew backwards tens of thousands of feet!


    On the ground, Zhou Yue and her brother Zhou Dun, along with Zhou Tianhao and six others, were completely astonished with their mouths agape.


    They simply couldn¡¯t believe that a moment ago, it was the ordinary-looking small sparrow on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder, and the next, it had transformed into a Spirit Sparrow infinitely more mystical than the "Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon".


    And although they couldn¡¯t sense the aura of this huge azure Spirit Sparrow, it gave them a feeling that the Spirit Sparrow might be even more formidable than the "Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon".


    What shocked Zhou Yue, Zhou Dun, Zhou Tianhao, and the others even more were the words of the azure Spirit Sparrow.


    The azure Spirit Sparrow actually said that the "Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon" was just an ordinary ninth calamity true god demon, and not a match for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen?


    The young man in the later stages of the Heavenly Saint realm who had walked with them all this way, collecting Blood Moon Stones?


    He could deal with a ninth calamity true god demon?!


    Wasn¡¯t he just in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, how could he possibly contend against the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon, a ninth calamity true god?


    Keep in mind, even among those in the later stages of the Heavenly Saint realm from the Circulation of Heaven Divine City, not one would dare claim they could oppose a ninth calamity true god demon, fearing they couldn¡¯t even cope with a fifth calamity one!


    To confront a ninth calamity true god demon at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, it would probably take those renowned geniuses nurtured by the Divine Venerable in the biggest divine cities of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory to do so!


    Zhou Tianhao and the others couldn¡¯t believe it.


    Zhou Yue and her brother Zhou Dun were even more incredulous!


    As they were in disbelief, Ye Chen, looking at Xiaojiu taking to the skies, merely smiled faintly, "Xiaojiu, leave them to you for protection. I¡¯ll see what sort of combat power the demons of the Divine Kingdom possess."


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, Ye Chen drew out the Purple Lightning Divine Sword and, with a move, he shot up into the sky.


    When Ye Chen soared into the sky and released all of his immense battle aura, the sky for thousands of feet around was completely filled with his overwhelming presence, leaving Zhou Tianhao, Zhou Yue, and the others on the ground utterly astounded to the point where their eyeballs nearly fell out.


    The young man Ye Chen, who had accompanied them the whole way and who had a profound "intuition" for sensing Blood Moon Stones, indeed possessed a terrifying aura that could absolutely oppose the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon!


    "We¡¯re saved!"


    "We won¡¯t die here!"


    Zhou Yue¡¯s eyes brimmed with tears of excitement.


    And Zhou Dun, who had been scared into crying by the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon¡¯s earlier threat to eat them, gazed at Ye Chen in the sky, his battle power fully unveiled, resembling a true god of the nine heavens, and could only mutter, "This... this..."


    In the sky.


    Ye Chen, having drawn the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, looked at the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon and spoke with a light smile, "Come on, you can¡¯t escape now. Will you defend your demon¡¯s honor in the Divine Kingdom by fighting a grand battle against me, or will you wait for death without a fight?"


    The Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon was utterly bewildered at this point.


    It had roamed the Blood Moon Forest for tens of thousands of miles, devouring countless seven calamity and eight calamity true gods. Even when powerhouses from the Circulation of Heaven Divine City had come to kill it, it always managed to hide in a special space ahead of time and never truly faced danger.


    One could say it was the master of the Blood Moon Forest.


    It had never considered that it might capsize in the gutter, that it would sense the threat of death from a young man in the later stages of the Heavenly Saint realm, whom it had previously not taken seriously.


    The Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon also understood that, just as the youth had said, if it tried to flee, it would probably die even faster.


    The only chance at survival, perhaps, was to fight, and by killing this young man, it might be able to break out of this dangerous situation.


    With this thought, the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon¡¯s massive wings flapped violently, and it called out to Ye Chen and Xiaojiu in the sky, "Will you two gang up on me, or will we fight one-on-one?"


    "Both of you coming at me together?" Ye Chen knew this was a provocation by the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon, but for him, this mere demon from a small town outside the Divine Kingdom was not worth worrying about.


    If it were a ninth calamity true god Great Demon nurtured by the Divine Venerable, he might have taken it more seriously.


    To deal with this ordinary ninth calamity true god demon, he wouldn¡¯t even need to use his extreme-grade heaven-reaching magical sword; the Purple Lightning Divine Sword in his hand was sufficient!


    "If I can¡¯t kill you within three strikes, I¡¯ll let you go," Ye Chen, holding the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, declared to the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon. Your journey continues on novelhall.Co?m


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s arrogant words, the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon roared in rage, "Audacious!"


    Boom!


    In an instant, the thousand-foot-wide wings of the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon flapped violently, and its entire form turned into a frenzied cyclone, hurling itself towards Ye Chen.


    At the same time, its eight clawed limbs, like eight fearsome divine weapons capable of tearing the sky, were furiously clawing towards Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    Seeing the Bloodwing Eight-Clawed Dragon take action and go straight for Ye Chen, even Zhou Yue, who had previously been shaken by Ye Chen¡¯s formidable killing force, couldn¡¯t help but flash a hint of worry in her eyes.


    After all, she had never truly seen Ye Chen in action.


    As she worried, she heard Xiaojiu¡¯s voice reach her, "Don¡¯t worry, look, Ye Chen will definitely kill this demon within three moves."


    In an instant, Zhou Yue felt the constraints on her body lifted and saw the massive azure Spirit Sparrow in the sky smiling and nodding at her.


    When Zhou Yue looked to the side again, she also saw her father, her uncles, and her younger brother, all freed from their constraints and flying toward her.


    As the eight of them gathered together and looked up at the battle in the sky, they just caught sight of Ye Chen facing off against the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon, launching his attack.


    This move was none other than the first of the "Purple Lightning Divine Sword¡¯s" three major forbidden sword moves¡ªPurple Light!


    In an instant, the eight members of the Zhou Family saw Ye Chen¡¯s unmatched combat power surge into the Divine Sword in his hand. As the sword swung, the skies above, for tens if not hundreds of thousands of feet around, were completely engulfed by killing power.


    The entire world burst forth with countless extremely terrifying purple beams in a flash.


    Seeing the purple beams, Zhou Tianhao, a Sixth Tribulation True God from below, felt that any single one that struck him would kill him on the spot!


    Following the appearance of these purple beams, the shocking tornado conjured by the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon was completely shattered, revealing the blood-stained figure of the dragon.


    The Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon¡¯s eight enormous claws reaching toward Ye Chen were instantly splattered with blood across the sky!


    The Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon let out a sharp, agonized scream and burst upwards for thousands of feet again!


    One move.


    Ye Chen¡¯s first move had wounded the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon!


    "Such a terrifying sword move, so powerful!" Zhou Yue gazed at Ye Chen in the sky, his black hair fluttering in the wind, her eyes sparkling.


    At that moment, the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon, roaring beyond thousands of feet in the sky in a scream that seemed prompted by fury, bellowed at Ye Chen below, "Youngster, you¡¯ve angered me!"


    Then, they saw the bloodlight around the entire body of the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon burn madly. Realizing it couldn¡¯t match Ye Chen, it began to burn its divine life force to trigger forbidden killing moves to compete with Ye Chen!


    Seeing the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon starting to risk its life, the Zhou Family members clenched their fists tightly.


    Just then, they saw Ye Chen, his expression unwavering, holding the Divine Sword and bursting into the sky again.


    Ye Chen, soaring upwards, calmly spoke again, "Purple Lightning Divine Sword second form¡ªExtreme Lightning!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In a split second, the Zhou Family of eight saw Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sword draw a stunning streak of extreme electric sword aura that shot straight into the heavens and onto the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon.


    Even though the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon had burned its divine life force, Ye Chen¡¯s second sword move sent it flying tens of thousands of feet away yet again.


    And at that moment, Ye Chen misstepped and appeared in front of the retreating Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon, announcing, "Three moves are over, now try my Purple Lightning Divine Sword¡¯s third form¡ªthe ultimate killing move ¡¯Purple Lightning¡¯!"


    This was an incredibly brilliant sword move!


    It was also a sword move that the sparkling-eyed Zhou Yue below would never forget!


    This sword move cut through the air with a rainbow that was thousands of feet long, like peerless purple lightning penetrating and destroying everything!


    The Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon, already sent flying backward by the second move, was completely punctured in mid-air by this strike, its enormous thousand-foot body utterly bursting apart, its life force wholly extinguished.


    In the end, the Great Demon "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon" that had dominated the Blood Moon Forest collapsed completely amidst this pile of skeletal ruins.


    And still, it did not stop.


    The final burst of "Purple Lightning" from the Purple Lightning Divine Sword¡¯s ultimate forbidden move continued even after killing the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon," directly blasting towards the space between the nine heavens.


    Finally, the massive destructive power of this sword strike hit the mysterious spot at the very top of this space and made that place emit bursts of halos.


    Within the halos, the entire space seemed as if its vital point had been shattered, emitting "cra-cra-cra" sounds. Eventually, in full view, the entire area collapsed.


    Ye Chen¡¯s sword move had even shattered this piece of special spatial world!


    In the end, as the space shattered, the half-meter-long rock outside in the depression also burst apart, becoming swirling dust.


    And amidst the swirling dust and the tumult of the void, Zhou Yue and the other seven were thrown out of the spatial turbulence, falling back into the depression they were in before being pulled into the special space.


    Once back in the depression, Zhou Yue couldn¡¯t help but look around, eager to see Ye Chen, who could shatter space with a single sword move, Ye Chen, who had executed that unforgettable strike.


    At that moment, Zhou Yue saw a young man with a small sparrow on his shoulder slowly walking out of the billowing dust.


    His sword had already been sheathed back into its scabbard.


    His aura had returned to that of the late Heavenly Saint stage.


    The young man was still smiling at her, looking at her younger brother, as if they were back to collecting Blood Moon Stones.


    Instinctively, Zhou Yue called out, "Ye Chen!"

 Chapter 643 - 595: The Ancestral Behest!

    Zhou Yue had never seen a boy younger than herself who was so powerful!


    Zhou Yue had never seen a late-stage Heavenly Saint teenager, about seventeen or eighteen years old, capable of slaughtering a Nine Tribulations True God!


    At that moment, when she looked at Ye Chen again, the girl no longer felt like she was looking at the same reckless boy as before; she finally understood why Ye Chen had been wandering through the Blood Moon Forest as if nothing mattered.


    What recklessness?


    That was clearly the sign of true great strength, a total fearlessness of everything within the Blood Moon Forest; that¡¯s why he was so composed!


    When Zhou Yue looked at Ye Chen again, a hint of admiration even emerged in her beautiful eyes.


    "Ye Chen, finding the Blood Moon Stone earlier was your doing, wasn¡¯t it? It was not just some ¡¯intuition¡¯, right?" Zhou Yue gently spoke to Ye Chen.


    Zhou Yue now understood that the so-called intuition was just an excuse Ye Chen made up; a youth who could defeat a Nine Tribulations True God was certainly capable of finding the Blood Moon Stone that they couldn¡¯t see themselves!


    Upon hearing Zhou Yue¡¯s words, Ye Chen looked at Xiaojiu on his shoulder and smiled, "That wasn¡¯t my merit; it was all thanks to Xiaojiu!"


    Xiaojiu?


    Zhou Yue remembered the little sparrow on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder that had transformed into a giant azure sparrow even more mystical than the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon," and a tremor of astonishment couldn¡¯t help but flicker through her eyes.


    Indeed, a remarkable youth, with such a miraculous sparrow as a companion!


    Seeing Zhou Yue¡¯s astonished gaze, Xiaojiu on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder smiled softly and rubbed its small head against Ye Chen¡¯s neck.


    Xiaojiu found that after arriving in the Divine Kingdom, it was indeed much more interesting than at the Undersea Divine Palace.


    Now, being able to make the martial artists of the Divine Kingdom look up to her with such admiration and shock was quite a delightful feeling, giving Xiaojiu a slight sense of pride.


    Xiaojiu also knew that by accompanying Ye Chen, in the future she might not just impress and awe divine warriors like Zhou Yue from the Divine Kingdom. Perhaps, given the chance, she could awe and earn the admiration of Divine Kings and Divine Venerables of the Divine Kingdom!


    "That would be even more interesting," Xiaojiu thought to herself.


    Zhou Yue, with the shyness of a young girl, was still able to converse normally with Ye Chen, but the other members of the Zhou Family, when they looked at Ye Chen, appeared completely shaken, as if they were about to faint.


    Zhou Dun, Zhou Yue¡¯s little brother, looked at Ye Chen with eyes full of reverence akin to those reserved for a Divine King, unreachable for him, "Brother Ye Chen, you are... simply too incredible!"


    "How did you cultivate to become so powerful!"


    The six middle-aged members of the Zhou Family also deeply bowed to Ye Chen, expressing their utmost respect.


    If it weren¡¯t for Ye Chen, they might have perished at the hands of the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon, becoming just another pile of bones in that desolate space!


    "Brother Ye Chen, thank you for saving our lives!"


    However, they were also puzzled¡ªhow could someone as powerful as Ye Chen be accompanying them and willingly help them collect the Blood Moon Stones?


    Such a significant figure logically shouldn¡¯t care about small fries like them! Read new adventures at novelhall.Co?m


    "Brother Ye Chen, why are you so kind to us? Not only did you help us find Blood Moon Stones, but you also helped us deal with the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon?" Zhou Tianhao couldn¡¯t help but voice his confusion.


    "Yes, Brother Ye Chen, why have you been helping us all along, and even found so many Blood Moon Stones for my sister!" When Zhou Dun heard his father¡¯s words, he too wondered aloud.


    The young boy even thought, could it be that this Brother Ye Chen fancied his sister and thus lent a hand?


    "My sister¡¯s beauty is among the top tier in Fallen Moon City, many young men from the great powers there want to pursue my sister. It¡¯s not impossible for Brother Ye Chen to have taken a fancy to her." With this thought, Zhou Dun involuntarily glanced at his sister Zhou Yue.


    Zhou Yue felt both shy and annoyed under Zhou Dun¡¯s gaze, realizing the implication in her brother¡¯s eyes.


    When the girl looked at Ye Chen again, her face unconsciously blushed, and she even harbored a little thought in the bottom of her heart.


    Could it be that this powerful youth, Ye Chen, had truly taken a liking to her?


    That was the only reason that made sense for why he would help her.


    Hearing Zhou Tianhao¡¯s inquiry and seeing Zhou Yue and Zhou Dun¡¯s expressions, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but smile.


    He knew that if he didn¡¯t explain, the misunderstanding might deepen.


    "These people of the Zhou Family have a good moral character."


    "It¡¯s also time to tell them about the matter of the Divine King predecessor."


    With that thought, Ye Chen didn¡¯t say much more. He extended his hand, and layers of the formidable aura of the Icebound Divine Body burst forth from his palm.


    At the same time, Ye Chen smiled at Zhou Tianhao, Zhou Yue, and the others, saying, "You should recognize this aura, I believe."


    When the Zhou Family witnessed the surging aura on Ye Chen¡¯s palm, which could freeze the air, exhibiting an incredibly powerful presence, they were almost jumping with shock.


    "This... this is the Icebound Divine Body?!" Zhou Tianhao exclaimed in disbelief, "Brother Ye Chen, how do you have the Icebound Divine Body! This divine body can only be cultivated by the core offspring of our family!"


    What shocked Zhou Tianhao even more was that the Icebound Divine Body wielded by Ye Chen was evidently more powerful than the version passed down through their family legacy.


    And Zhou Yue¡¯s mind suddenly recalled a family legend.


    The legend said that the Icebound Divine Body was left by their ancestor, a powerful Lower God King. Initially, the ancestor only left the first volume, which contained the basics of the Icebound Divine Body. After the ancestor advanced to Middle God King, he transmitted back to the family the second volume of the technique.


    Our ancestor also said that once he broke through to Upper God King or even Divine Venerable and restored the Icebound Divine Body, he would pass it all back to our family.


    Unfortunately, after the ancestor disappeared, he never returned, and the Icebound Divine Body only circulated within the Zhou Family for the first two volumes.


    Now, seeing the Icebound Divine Body in Ye Chen¡¯s hands, which clearly seems more powerful than the first two volumes, Zhou Yue immediately speculated. Could it be that Ye Chen is a descendant of our ancestor, and that¡¯s why he possesses the Icebound Divine Body?!


    Could it be that after tens of thousands of years, news of our ancestor has surfaced again?!


    For the Zhou Family, tens of thousands of years meant many generations had passed, but for an almighty God King like their ancestor, it was nothing!


    At this thought, Zhou Yue¡¯s jade hands began to tremble with excitement.


    If their ancestor, the powerful God King, returned, their Zhou Family would no longer be a lower-tier force in Fallen Moon City!


    Then she, her brother, and the young ones in their family could go to practice in Circulation of Heaven Divine City or even in a better Divine City!


    Even their entire family might be able to return to Circulation of Heaven Divine City!


    Keep in mind that the most powerful in Circulation of Heaven Divine City was merely a Lower God King, and their ancestor was known to have broken through to Middle God King long ago. Now, after tens of thousands of years, they didn¡¯t know how powerful their ancestor had become!


    "Ye Chen, are you really a descendant of our ancestor? Is our ancestor coming back?!" Zhou Yue asked excitedly.


    When the others from the Zhou Family heard the word "ancestor," they too were reminded of the ancestor who had left behind the Icebound Divine Body, which was part of their family lore.


    This miraculous youth possessed the Icebound Divine Body technique, which was even more powerful than the one passed down in their family, and had been helping them all along.


    It was very likely that indeed a descendant of their ancestor had returned!


    "Ancestor! Could it be that our ancestor is still alive?!" Zhou Tianhao was on the verge of tears, "Young Brother Ye Chen, did our ancestor send you to find us?!"


    For many years, the Zhou Family had been declining and suffered much oppression.


    They thought their ancestor had long since passed away, having not seen him for so many years.


    But now, they had encountered someone who carried the legacy of their ancestor¡¯s technique!


    If their ancestor returned, that would be wonderful. Then, he could help the entire Zhou Family rise up again!


    Seeing the eight members of the Zhou Family so agitated, Ye Chen sighed inwardly.


    He knew how desperately the declining Zhou Family longed for the return of a powerful ancestor.


    "If I tell them that the Icebound God King predcessor died at the hands of Ni Shan God King, they might fall into despair."


    "Well, then, let me avenge the predecessor Icebound God King by dealing with Ni Shan God King myself!"


    "Just to give the people of the Zhou Family something to remember and hope for. Only with hope will they practice even harder with the eventual emergence of a new God King or even a Divine Venerable to uphold the entire family. By then, knowing the predecessor is gone, they will be able to accept it!"


    Thinking this, Ye Chen smiled and said to the excited Zhou Tianhao, Zhou Yue, and the others, "Yes, although I¡¯m not a true disciple of ¡¯Zhou Liuxu¡¯ predecessor, I have received his great legacy and can be considered half a disciple."


    "¡¯Zhou Liuxu¡¯ predecessor is currently in a hidden place practicing and is not able to return. He instructed me to hand over the complete Icebound Divine Body to you and will also pass on a treasure he left in the Divine Kingdom. Predecessor asked me to tell you to practice diligently and make our family stronger!"


    Sometimes, benevolent deception is better.


    When they heard their ancestor¡¯s name "Zhou Liuxu," when they heard Ye Chen say he came to help them because of their ancestor, when they heard the aspirations of their ancestor conveyed by Ye Chen, the eight members of the Zhou Family cried out in excitement, "Our ancestor is alive, truly alive!"


    Zhou Liuxu was their ancestor¡¯s name!


    If he wasn¡¯t the heir of their ancestor, how could he possibly know!


    "We have failed our ancestor deeply. Ever since he left, our family has been in decline."


    "But this generation has seen Yue¡¯er and Dun¡¯er, whose talents are no less than the younger generation of other God Kings. What we lack are resources for cultivation, the very resources we long to give them to practice. We do wish to become powerful, but we just haven¡¯t had the chance!"


    "Collecting Blood Moon Stones desperately is all for letting Yue¡¯er study in the Divine Institute to cultivate, all so that the family may produce another powerful being to lead us to greater prosperity!"


    "Ancestor, we definitely will not let you down!"


    Zhou Tianhao resolved in his heart; armed with their ancestor¡¯s complete Icebound Divine Body technique and the treasures he left, they would train the young generation of the family to make the entire family more prosperous!


    They needed such an opportunity.


    Now, their ancestor had brought them hope, and of course, they had to cherish it!


    If they allowed their family to fall into decay as their previous family ancestors had done, they would indeed be the great sinners of their family!


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen watched their excitement, he smiled, waved his sleeve, and the Divine Cauldron¡ªimprinted with the cultivation runes of the complete Icebound Divine Body technique, obtained from the main hall of the Icebound Temple¡ªlanded in front of the eight Zhou Family members.


    Ye Chen had already memorized the full technique of the Icebound Divine Body, and he possessed the even more precious Undying Divine Body to cultivate. He decided to fulfill the trust of the Icebound God King and leave this treasure for the Zhou Family members.


    "This ¡¯Divine Cauldron¡¯ contains the complete technique of the Icebound Divine Body. With this technique, if you practice well, producing another God King is not out of reach!"


    "Later, you can assign someone to accompany me to retrieve the treasure that Zhou Liuxu predecessor left behind. Use the treasure¡¯s resources to cultivate more powerful beings for our family!"


    Ye Chen said to the Zhou family members directly.

 Chapter 644 - 596 Get Lost!

    When the eight members of the Zhou Family left the Blood Moon Forest with Ye Chen and headed towards their family residence in Fallen Moon City, joy radiated from their faces.


    Before coming to the Blood Moon Forest, they had worried about not being able to find enough Blood Moon Stones to exchange for Black Divine Coins, allowing Zhou Yue to enter the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute for cultivation.


    Now, after harvesting all the Blood Moon Stones beneath that strange hollow just before they left, not only had they returned with more Blood Moon Stones than expected, but they had also obtained the complete Icebound Divine Body technique that the family had longed for!


    Zhou Yue would be able to cultivate at the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute.


    All of the Zhou clansmen now possessed a precious technique, allowing them to become increasingly powerful!


    Change.


    This trip to the Blood Moon Forest had completely changed the fate of the Zhou clansmen!


    And the source of all these changes was the miraculous youth beside them, Ye Chen!


    Whether it was the six middle-aged men including Zhou Tianhao, or the siblings Zhou Yue and Zhou Dun, they all regarded Ye Chen as the most precious guest, warmly inviting him to stay with the Zhou Family for a couple of days.


    Ye Chen also wanted to see the rest of the Zhou Family, descendants of the ancestor with the Icebound Divine Body, besides these eight people, so he agreed to their invitation.


    Seeing that Ye Chen agreed to stay with the family, the eight from the Zhou Family were, of course, overjoyed. They wanted to share the good news that the ancestor brought by Ye Chen with all their clansmen.


    With hearts filled with excitement, their steps towards Fallen Moon City lightened considerably.


    Once they left the Blood Moon Forest and were not subject to the no-fly zone anymore, the eight of them took to the skies, flying directly towards Fallen Moon City on the opposite side of the Blood Moon Forest with Ye Chen.


    After flying for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ye Chen saw the outline of a small city appearing ahead.


    This small city, compared to Circulation of Heaven Divine City, was much smaller and could not be compared to the real grand divine cities of the Thousand-Curtain Divine Nation.


    This was the current residence of the Zhou Family, a subsidiary city of Circulation of Heaven Divine City ¡ª Fallen Moon City.


    The nine travelers continued flying until they were just outside the gates of Fallen Moon City before they stopped flying and descended.


    "Young Brother Ye Chen, our Zhou Family lives in the western part of Fallen Moon City. It¡¯s just a tea-time walk away," Zhou Tianhao said with a smile to Ye Chen.


    "It¡¯s also a good opportunity to show you around Fallen Moon City," he added, still smiling.


    The young lady Zhou Yue also smiled brightly at Ye Chen, "Although Fallen Moon City is small, it¡¯s been home to our clan for thousands of years, and it¡¯s quite nice."


    The young girl walked alongside Ye Chen, strolling down the streets of Fallen Moon City, introducing him to various sights around the city.


    Seeing the girl¡¯s buoyant demeanor, Ye Chen smiled too.


    Previously, Zhou Yue had always been worried about not being able to gather enough Black Divine Coins to enter the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute, bearing a sorrow that belied her age.


    Now that Ye Chen had fully alleviated her worries, she had finally regained the vivacity appropriate for her age.


    Listening to Zhou Yue talk about Fallen Moon City, Ye Chen felt a connection.


    Fallen Moon City wasn¡¯t big, but for Zhou Yue, it was her hometown, to which she naturally felt an affinity.


    Just like Ye Chen felt towards his own hometown in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, Qingyang City.


    Qingyang City was also small, but for Ye Chen, it was where his clansmen and the fellow members of the Qian and Bai clans resided, making it incredibly warm for him, no matter its size.


    Seeing that Ye Chen was moved and paid serious attention to every plant and tree in Fallen Moon City, Zhou Yue became even more enthusiastic in telling him about the city.


    On the side, the six elders of the Zhou Family, including Zhou Tianhao, watched Zhou Yue and Ye Chen walking side by side, noticing Zhou Yue showing an unprecedented closeness to another youth. Their faces were etched with light smiles.


    "It¡¯s a pity that Young Brother Ye Chen is too impressive; Fallen Moon City simply cannot keep him. Otherwise, he might have been the perfect match for Yue¡¯er..." Zhou Tianhao even harbored such a thought.


    It wasn¡¯t only Zhou Tianhao and the other elders who were moved. The young Zhou Dun, seeing his sister so lively for the first time, also knew that all of this was brought about by Ye Chen, whom he had just met.


    "If only Brother Ye Chen could become my brother-in-law, that would be wonderful..." thought Zhou Dun to himself.


    As Ye Chen and Zhou Yue continued their stroll and sightseeing, and with Zhou Tianhao and the other six men, as well as the young Zhou Dun, entertaining their fanciful thoughts, the group finally saw a large courtyard ahead.


    "Young Brother Ye Chen, that ahead is our family estate. Although our family is not as glorious as during our ancestor¡¯s time, we still have over a hundred people. In a moment, I will introduce you to them all," Zhou Tianhao said, chuckling as he saw the family gate was not far ahead.


    As the nine people were walking towards the Zhou Family¡¯s main gate, the gate suddenly "creaked" open from the inside, and a young man in white emerged. As he walked out, the young man in white chuckled and called out to Zhou Tianhao and Zhou Yue who were returning to the clan, "I heard early in the morning that Uncle Zhou and my dear sister Yue have gone into Blood Moon Forest. My dear sister Yue, that place is somewhat dangerous today. What would I do if something happened to you?"


    "Is my dear sister Yue still worried about going to Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute for cultivation? I¡¯ve said before, if my dear sister Yue is willing, I, Wei Teng, am ready to bear all the costs for you to go to Circulation of Heaven Divine City."


    Following behind this young man in white were four to five middle-aged men, each at the realm of a Six Tribulation True God, and the young man in white was not weak either, also at the realm of a Four Tribulation True God.


    Seeing the young man in white addressing her as "my dear sister Yue" at every turn made Zhou Yue frown tightly, as if afraid that Ye Chen would misunderstand. She quickly transmitted a message to Ye Chen, "This is Wei Teng, the young master of the Wei Family, the most powerful force in Fallen Moon City. He¡¯s really annoying, always pestering me."


    Zhou Tianhao¡¯s face flashed with anger upon seeing Wei Teng emerge from the Zhou Family¡¯s main gate.


    After all, the Zhou Family was also a mid-level powerful family in Fallen Moon City, and here was Wei Teng barging directly into their compound, now even walking out of the main gate as though he owned the place and talking to them, naturally stirring a surge of anger in Zhou Tianhao¡¯s heart.


    In the past, even though Wei Teng, relying on the Wei Family¡¯s power, often lingered outside the Zhou Family, he had never been as brazen as today to barge into their home.


    Today, his arrogance had reached such a level!


    "Uncle Quan, how could you let someone into our Zhou Family compound like this?" Zhou Tianhao roared towards the inside of the gate.


    At this moment, hearing Zhou Tianhao¡¯s voice, quite a few Zhou clansmen ran out of the main gate, led by an old man who looked like a steward.


    This old man was clearly the Uncle Quan mentioned by Zhou Tianhao.


    The old man, seeing Zhou Tianhao return, breathed a sigh of relief, and upon seeing Wei Teng standing at the doorway, a flash of anger also appeared in his eyes. He said to Zhou Tianhao, "Clan Leader, this Wei Teng insisted on barging into our residence, claiming he wanted to see young miss Yue. We couldn¡¯t stop him!"


    Upon hearing the old man¡¯s words, Zhou Tianhao¡¯s anger was directed at Wei Teng, and Zhou Yue also gave Wei Teng a cold look, saying, "Wei Teng, my Zhou Family does not welcome you. If there¡¯s a next time, we will not be polite!"


    During the conversation, Zhou Yue whispered to Ye Chen, "Don¡¯t worry about this guy, let¡¯s go inside!"


    Zhou Yue took Ye Chen by the hand and started walking towards the gate.


    Wei Teng¡¯s brow furrowed upon hearing Zhou Yue¡¯s cold words to him.


    The reason he dared to so presumptuously invade the Zhou Family today was that his father, the foremost expert of the Wei Family, had just achieved a breakthrough, breaking through to the Nine Tribulations True God.


    A Nine Tribulations True God was undoubtedly the top expert in Fallen Moon City!


    Under such circumstances, Wei Teng looked down on the Zhou Family even more.


    The only thing he valued in the Zhou Family was the beautiful and graceful Zhou Yue.


    Wei Teng hadn¡¯t expected Zhou Yue to be so blunt with him!


    When he saw Zhou Yue¡¯s hand in Ye Chen¡¯s, jealousy flashed in his eyes. He had never even touched Zhou Yue¡¯s hand, and yet, this Late Heaven Saint youth managed to receive such closeness from her.


    How could this not fill Wei Teng with intense jealousy!


    "Yue¡¯er, who is this young man?!"


    "Hmph, my father has just advanced to a Nine Tribulations True God today. From now on, even in Circulation of Heaven Divine City, he¡¯s considered a prominent figure. Yue¡¯er, if you continue to treat me this way, don¡¯t blame me for being unkind!"


    As he spoke, Wei Teng stretched out his arm, blocking the path of Zhou Yue and Ye Chen at the entrance.


    The several Six Tribulations True God middle-aged men beside him also chuckled and blocked the doorway.


    When they heard Wei Teng¡¯s words, both Zhou Yue and Zhou Tianhao finally understood why Wei Teng was acting so arrogantly.


    It turned out his father had indeed broken through to a Nine Tribulations True God.


    If this were before, Zhou Tianhao might have been somewhat apprehensive and sought ways to deal with the Wei Family. But now, seeing Ye Chen¡¯s furrowed brows, where would he be willing to swallow this indignity.


    "Wei Teng, if you dare to offend Ye Chen, beware that even your father can¡¯t save your life!"


    "Ye Chen? Who is that?" Wei Teng looked around, and finally, his gaze settled on Ye Chen, whom Zhou Yue was holding by the hand, "Him, a Late Heaven Saint youth?" Explore new worlds at novelhall.Co?m


    As he spoke, Wei Teng grabbed at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen, however, coldly looked at the approaching hand and said indifferently, "Withdraw your claw, get out of the way quickly, or you can¡¯t blame me for being impolite!"

 Chapter 645 - 597: Visitors from the City Lord鈥檚 Mansion

    Ye Chen¡¯s indifferent words fell on Wei Teng¡¯s ears, turning Wei Teng¡¯s face instantly red with anger, his head almost dizzy with fury.


    He had never been so looked down upon by someone in the late stage of Tian Sheng, and especially in front of Zhou Yue, the girl he had always wanted to win over.


    "Don¡¯t be polite? I would like to see how you¡¯re going to be impolite to me!" Wei Teng¡¯s claw, reaching towards Ye Chen, not only didn¡¯t retract in the slightest but even shone with more brilliant Divine Power, the ferocious killing intent about to crush Ye Chen¡¯s arm in one move!


    Seeing Wei Teng¡¯s ferocious and menacing appearance, the five Six Tribulations true gods, whom Wei Teng¡¯s father had arranged to be by his side, also looked at Ye Chen with a cold sneer.


    "Trying to show off in front of a woman?"


    "Wait till your arm breaks, you won¡¯t even be able to cry!"


    They had followed Wei Teng and had seen many people who were dissatisfied with and had openly confronted Wei Teng¡¯s arrogance. Invariably, the end for those people was always very miserable.


    They knew that this young man would definitely meet the same fate!


    Wei Teng¡¯s subordinates sneered, and the Zhou Family members who came out of the large courtyard upon hearing the commotion were terrified when they saw Wei Teng¡¯s dreadfully murderous claw aimed at Ye Chen and let out screams.


    At this moment, Wei Teng¡¯s claw had already grabbed onto Ye Chen¡¯s arm!


    Ye Chen looked coldly at Wei Teng. Without dodging or avoiding, he surged the immense power of his Undying Divine Body into his arm.


    The Undying Divine Body, below the level of Divine Sovereign, could be called the strongest divine body, with such formidable combat strength that even with Ye Chen having cultivated only the third volume, relying solely on this divine body, it would be no problem to fight ordinary Seven or Eight Tribulations true gods.


    This Wei Teng was nothing more than an exceedingly ordinary Four Tribulations true god. Thinking of crushing Ye Chen¡¯s arm? It was simply a dream!


    In the midst of countless gazes, some sneering, some shocked, some worried, Ye Chen didn¡¯t dodge at all. When Wei Teng¡¯s claw reached Ye Chen¡¯s arm, it was immediately struck by an immense force, smashing directly onto his claw.


    Instantly, Wei Teng let out an extremely miserable scream, his hands bloody and blurred from the impact as he flew backward more than a dozen yards and smashed into the ground, creating a large hole.


    Looking at Wei Teng¡¯s hands, one could see that both claws were shattered by the force of Ye Chen¡¯s counterattack, blood flowing everywhere!


    This scene made the cold smiles on the faces of Wei Teng¡¯s Six Tribulations true god subordinates freeze instantly.


    It also stopped the screaming Zhou Family members in their tracks!


    What was happening?


    This late-stage Tian Sheng young man, without any movement, had shattered the Four Tribulations true god Wei Teng¡¯s hands and sent him flying backwards more than a dozen yards?


    If he had actually made a move, does that mean Wei Teng could have been killed on the spot?!


    Where did this late-stage Tian Sheng young man come from?


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    Could it be that his strength far surpassed that of the Four Tribulations true god Wei Teng?!


    Everyone at the scene, regardless of which side they were on, was completely stunned.


    Hearing Wei Teng¡¯s exceedingly miserable scream and recalling the youth¡¯s words, "Scram now, or I won¡¯t be polite," everyone knew that it wasn¡¯t just bragging on the youth¡¯s part.


    This young man truly had such great strength!


    In the crowd, the calmest were Zhou Yue and Zhou Tianhao and the other seven.


    But even they couldn¡¯t help showing a trace of surprise on their faces.


    They had already witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s strength in the Blood Moon Forest; Ye Chen was an imposing person who could even kill a Nine Tribulations true god beast, the "Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon."


    Of course, they knew Wei Teng was no match for Ye Chen.


    But they hadn¡¯t expected that without Ye Chen even moving, Wei Teng couldn¡¯t lay a finger on him, not only that, but Wei Teng was shaken to the point of his claws being shattered and being sent tumbling away!


    Clearly, Ye Chen¡¯s combat strength was even more terrifying than they had imagined!


    "Ye Chen¡¯s formidable sword technique aside, even his physical body is so strong, the force of the counterattack, enough to severely injure or even kill a Four Tribulations true god," Zhou Yue said as she looked at Ye Chen with another flash of shock in her beautiful eyes.


    The girl realized that the more she interacted with Ye Chen, the more she felt his strength!


    In the midst of countless shocked gazes, Wei Teng, with shattered hands and in so much pain that he was almost fainting, crazily shouted at his Six Tribulations true god subordinates: "It hurts! Damn it! Kill him for me, kill that brat!"


    As Wei Teng roared, the five Six Tribulations true gods began to converge towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked at these five Six Tribulations true gods the same way he had looked at Wei Teng earlier.


    "If you dare to make a move, you¡¯ll end up just like him," Ye Chen said indifferently.


    Ye Chen¡¯s indifferent words fell on the ears of these five Six Tribulations true gods, causing them to stop in their tracks in fear!


    Instantly, these five Six Tribulations true gods had a premonition that if they really made a move, even if the five of them ganged up on Ye Chen, they would probably meet the same miserable end as Ye Chen said!


    In such a situation, where would these five Six Tribulations true gods dare to make a move against Ye Chen? After retreating a few steps, they directly flew towards Wei Teng, who had been smashed into the ground: "Young master, discretion is the better part of valor, we should retreat!"


    "Retreat my ass, kill him for me!" Wei Teng continued to wail and bellow.


    The five Six Tribulations true gods exchanged a glance, ignoring Wei Teng¡¯s wails and shouts. One of them picked up Wei Teng, and the group flew straight in the direction of the Wei Family in Fallen Moon City.


    In an instant, several people had escaped without a trace!


    "Patriarch!"


    "Yue¡¯er!"


    Seeing Wei Teng and his people¡¯s pitiful end, as they beat a hasty retreat, many from the Zhou Family surged out from the courtyards, all gathering around Zhou Tianhao and the eight people including Zhou Yue.


    When the eyes of the Zhou Family fell on Ye Chen standing beside Zhou Yue, shock took over their hearts, "Where did the Patriarch find this young man? He¡¯s so powerful!"


    At this moment, Zhou Tianhao, with a trembling voice, addressed all the approaching Zhou Family members, "My fellow clansmen, our Zhou Family, is saved, is saved!"


    "Ye Chen has come to us with a mission from our first-generation ancestor, Zhou Liuxu. Our ancestor is still alive, and he has reached the realm of an Upper God King!"


    As Zhou Tianhao¡¯s words reached the ears of the numerous Zhou Family members, they stood startled for a few moments before their expressions drastically changed!


    They instantly recalled the tales about the first-generation ancestor that had been passed down through their clan!


    When they heard that this ancestor was still alive, when they heard that this ancestor had become an Upper God King, and that he sent such a miraculous young man to them, all the Zhou Family members felt a surge of emotion.


    All of the Zhou Family members knew that from now on, their Zhou Family would no longer be the one that anyone in Fallen Moon City could bully.


    An Upper God King!


    Even in the mighty Circulation of Heaven Divine City, the strongest were only Lower God Kings. With an Upper God King as their ancestor, there was no need for them to take any more of Wei Teng¡¯s insults!


    It wasn¡¯t just Fallen Moon City; even within Circulation of Heaven Divine City, as long as their ancestor returned, they could absolutely hold their heads high!


    ...


    "Patriarch, Wei Teng has escaped back to the Wei Family. His father, Wei Mingtong, is a true god of the Ninth Tribulations. If he comes for revenge, what shall we do?!"


    As emotions settled, many Zhou Family members looked at Ye Chen with worry in their hearts.


    No matter how powerful this young man was, he was ultimately just a late-stage Heaven Saint youth. Even if he could overpower Wei Teng, facing Wei Mingtong, the Wei Family¡¯s top powerhouse and a true god of the Ninth Tribulations, he would surely be no match!


    Although their ancestor was an Upper God King, he had not returned in person. The most powerful among their family was only Zhou Tianhao, a true god of the Six Tribulations. Facing Wei Mingtong, a true god of the Ninth Tribulations, he was not an opponent.


    Using the name of their ancestor might indeed intimidate Wei Mingtong, but if Wei Mingtong lost his senses and sought revenge for his son, then how could they withstand him?


    "If only our ancestor could come back directly!" many members of the Zhou Family thought to themselves.


    At this time, the Zhou Family members heard Zhou Tianhao¡¯s hearty laughter: "Don¡¯t worry, Brother Ye Chen is an absolute genius who can even deal with a true god of the Ninth Tribulations. Wei Mingtong is no match for him!"


    Zhou Tianhao had seen Wei Mingtong before, and he knew that even if Wei Mingtong had broken through to a true god of the Ninth Tribulations, he would definitely not be a match for the Blood Winged Eight-Clawed Dragon, let alone a match for Ye Chen!


    Hearing Zhou Tianhao¡¯s words, the Zhou Family members looked at Ye Chen with disbelief.


    How could this young man manage to deal with a true god of the Ninth Tribulations? Impossible!


    Then, Zhou Yue spoke to the Zhou Family members, "Ye Chen¡¯s strength is unmatched in Fallen Moon City!"


    ...


    While the Zhou Family was abuzz with excitement over Zhou Tianhao and Zhou Yue¡¯s words about Ye Chen,


    Wei Teng, under the escort of five Six-Tribulation true gods, also flew back to the Wei Family.


    Before he arrived at the Wei Family, Wei Teng¡¯s wretched screams had already startled many of the Wei Family members, causing them to rush out to meet him.


    When they saw Wei Teng¡¯s hands, broken and bloody beyond recognition, the members of the Wei Family nearly popped their eyeballs out in shock.


    Their Wei Family was the leading clan of Fallen Moon City; how could their young master end up in such a sorry state?!


    "Dad, Dad, come out quickly, you have to stand up for me, take revenge for me!" Wei Teng couldn¡¯t care less about the stares of his clan members as he shouted loudly toward the Wei Family mansion.


    At this time, the Wei Family¡¯s number one powerhouse, the Nine-Tribulations true god Wei Mingtong, was sitting in an elegant room accompanied by an elderly man dressed in gray.


    Looking at this gray-clad elder, it was clear that he was a Lower God King level martial artist.


    Just then, the elderly man shook his head at Wei Mingtong, "Wei Family head, though you¡¯ve broken through to a true god of the Ninth Tribulations, your combat power is far from meeting our City Lord¡¯s requirements. You¡¯re not qualified to assist our City Lord in the ¡¯Battle of Divine City¡¯."


    Upon hearing this, a disappointed and resentful expression crept onto Wei Mingtong¡¯s face, "Vice City Lord Wang, although I¡¯m only a true god of the Ninth Tribulations, my two Cultivation Techniques are extremely powerful. I can serve our City Lord well!"


    The old man did not pay him further attention, smiling and shaking his head instead, "I¡¯ve already witnessed your Cultivation Techniques. Never mind, I have said what I came to say, and this trip to Fallen Moon City is now in vain. Farewell."


    While Wei Mingtong was still arguing, he heard his son Wei Teng¡¯s screams. Wei Mingtong¡¯s complexion changed, he offered an apologetic salute to the gray-clad elder, and hurriedly flew outside.


    The gray-clad elder glanced outside; even from his room, he could see Wei Teng¡¯s condition.


    Seeing Wei Teng¡¯s mangled wrists, the elder¡¯s eyes narrowed in focus, "Hmm, isn¡¯t this Wei Family supposed to be the top clan of Fallen Moon City? How has their young master ended up in such a wretched state? Could it be he¡¯s provoked a powerhouse from Circulation of Heaven Divine City?"


    "Let¡¯s take a look."


    Without moving from his place, the gray-clad elder disappeared from the elegant room in an instant and appeared in the void outside the next moment.

 Chapter 646 - 598: Battle Against the Nine Tribulations True God

    Outside the Wei Family Estate.


    When Wei Mingtong saw Wei Teng¡¯s hands had shattered into nothingness, leaving only bloodied and indistinct wrists, and heard it was a young man invited by the Zhou Family who had inflicted such damage, he was furious.


    Recently, he had been busy trying to break through the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation to become a Nine Tribulations True God, and had no time to attend to the family affairs.


    However, he was aware that his son had his sights set on Zhou Yue, the girl from the Zhou Family.


    In Wei Mingtong¡¯s eyes, it was a trivial matter for his son to take down Zhou Yue. He didn¡¯t pay much attention to it, just allowing Wei Teng to do as he pleased, confident he would have his back.


    What Wei Mingtong didn¡¯t expect was that merely half a day after Wei Teng left, he returned in such a wounded state.


    Upon hearing that it was a late-stage Heavenly Saint young man who had injured his son, Wei Mingtong¡¯s rage was even more explosive.


    A late-stage Heavenly Saint capable of injuring a Four Tribulations True God, and even scaring several Six Tribulations True Gods into inaction¡ªWei Mingtong knew that this youth must be an absolute genius.


    And what Wei Mingtong hated the most was geniuses!


    He had just been rejected by the Vice City Lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City from participating in the upcoming "Divine City Battle" against another Divine City, precisely because the Vice City Lord deemed him not enough of a genius, thinking that although he had stepped into the Nine Tribulations True God realm, his combat power still fell short.


    At that moment, seeing the Vice City Lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City hovering in the void watching the commotion at his side, an idea suddenly formed in Wei Mingtong¡¯s mind.


    That was to completely annihilate the genius who injured his son, proving his might to the Vice City Lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City!


    In Wei Mingtong¡¯s eyes, no matter how formidable the late-stage Heavenly Saint youth was, he couldn¡¯t possibly win against a Nine Tribulations True God like himself.


    After all, in his knowledge, a late-stage Heavenly Saint fighting a Nine Tribulations True God was an impossibility!


    He had never seen anyone in Circulation of Heaven Divine City accomplish such a feat!


    "Let¡¯s go, I want to see what¡¯s so extraordinary about this youth who dared to provoke a member of my Wei Family!" A gleam flashed in Wei Mingtong¡¯s eyes as he stepped into the void.


    He looked back at Wei Teng, who was still groaning, frowned, and said, "Teng, I will find spiritual medicine to heal your severed hand. Stop whimpering! Now follow me to the Zhou Family and identify the one who injured you."


    Wei Teng still harbored some fear of Wei Mingtong. Hearing his words, he quickly ceased his painful groans and flew beside Wei Mingtong.


    At this moment, Wei Mingtong turned toward the grey-clothed elder in the void and smiled while clasping his hands in greeting, "Vice City Lord Wang, the divine technique that I practiced earlier can only truly unleash its power in a great battle. Please accompany me and allow me to demonstrate the full force of this technique for you to see."


    Hearing Wei Mingtong¡¯s words, the grey-clothed elder smiled ambiguously and replied, "Indeed, I am quite interested to see this."


    However, what the grey-clothed elder didn¡¯t explicitly state was that his real interest lay in the youth who had injured Wei Teng.


    After all, a late-stage Heavenly Saint who had injured a Four Tribulations True God and even frightened off Six Tribulations True Gods was not something seen in Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    "Let¡¯s go have a look."


    "That youth dared to provoke the Wei Family; I wonder if he¡¯s overly bold or genuinely unafraid of a Nine Tribulations True God like Wei Mingtong. If a late-stage Heavenly Saint isn¡¯t afraid and dares to confront even a powerful Nine Tribulations True God like Wei Mingtong, that would be miraculous!"


    "Perhaps he possesses the exceptional talent of the top geniuses from the grand Divine Kingdom cities. If that¡¯s the case, maybe he could meet the City Lord¡¯s requirements and be the one we¡¯re looking for!"


    As these thoughts flashed through the grey-clothed elder¡¯s mind, Wei Mingtong, accompanied by the Wei Family warriors, charged towards the Zhou Family with murderous intent.


    The grey-clothed elder chuckled and shook his head before his figure flickered and disappeared instantly, reappearing in the void above the Zhou Family!


    ...


    The people of the Zhou Family were still outside the courtyard, engaged in conversation and had not entered when they saw the Lower-Ranked God King in grey clothes flying into the space above their residence.


    Feeling the formidable aura emanating from the grey-clothed elder, the Zhou Family¡¯s expressions changed drastically, "A Lower-Ranked God King... Could he be the Wei Family¡¯s reinforcement?"


    "No, it¡¯s impossible, the Wei Family couldn¡¯t possibly invite a Lower-Ranked God King to help!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen also noticed the grey-clothed elder, narrowing his eyes and clenching his hand.


    His current combat power was not afraid of Nine Tribulations True Gods from a small city, but facing Nine Tribulations True Gods cultivated by Divine Venerables, with varied and formidable strengths, he would definitely be at a disadvantage.


    Against a Lower-Ranked God King, defeat was certain.


    Unless Ye Chen was willing to let his Crimson Fire Flying Sword¡ªwhich had reached the level of a supreme Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact¡ªself-destruct. Perhaps then he might be able to slay the Lower-Ranked God King.


    But in that case, Ye Chen would undoubtedly be severely injured as well.


    Just as Ye Chen was contemplating his strategy and Xiao Jiu was watching the grey-clothed elder in the sky with vigilant eyes, the elder seemed to sense their wary and fearful glances and spoke with a light laugh, "I am ¡¯Wang Chong,¡¯ the Vice City Lord from Circulation of Heaven Divine City. I have no connection with the Wei Family. Merely heard that it was lively here and came to have a look, you need not concern yourselves with me."


    The Vice City Lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City?


    At the mention of his identity by the grey-clothed elder, the Zhou Family members were shocked. Coming from an affiliate city like Fallen Moon City, it was rare for them to encounter such an important figure.


    However, hearing that the Vice City Lord wasn¡¯t there to deal with them, the Zhou Family¡¯s hearts settled.


    Ye Chen, too, relaxed his clenched fist.


    But inwardly, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but wryly ridicule himself, "The Divine Kingdom is indeed full of powerful individuals; a Lower-Ranked God King could pose a threat to me. It seems I must boost my strength even further."


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t wish to continue venturing through the Divine Kingdom with such worries.


    Calculating the time, in two to three months, he would be able to enter the cycle of life¡¯s wheel and benefit from the accelerated flow of time for his cultivation. Ye Chen had already made up his mind that when he emerged, he must strive to break through to the True God Realm!


    Amidst Ye Chen¡¯s contemplation, in the distant sky, dozens of martial artists were rapidly advancing toward the Zhou Family, exuding a murderous aura.


    Leading these martial artists was none other than Wei Mingtong of the Wei Family!


    At this point, the Zhou Family finally understood what Vice City Lord Wang had meant by coming to watch the excitement¡ªit turned out that the Wei Family really had come knocking on their door!


    Many Zhou Family members looked worriedly at Ye Chen.


    Although Zhou Tianhao and Zhou Yue had said that Ye Chen could handle Wei Mingtong with no problem, the thought of someone at the Saint King stage dealing with a Nine Tribulations True God was unimaginable for them in Fallen Moon City.


    "Are you the kid who hurt my son? Hmph, a mere Saint King stage dares to be so presumptuous in Fallen Moon City; truly seeking death!"


    In the sky, Wei Mingtong¡¯s voice boomed crazily toward the Zhou Family¡¯s territory, and the next moment, he led the Wei Family warriors, flying into the void above the Zhou Family.


    Although the Zhou Family was just a minor clan in Fallen Moon City, the Wei Family was the number one clan there!


    Wei Mingtong, flying through the sky with such murderous intent and roaring with rage, naturally drew the attention of many of Fallen Moon City¡¯s warriors, who flew into the sky to look toward the Zhou Family¡¯s land from afar.


    "The Zhou Family dares to provoke the Wei Family?"


    "This time, the Zhou Family has really brought disaster upon themselves!"


    The warriors in the void were buzzing with discussions.


    Outside the Zhou Family courtyard, on the ground, Ye Chen watched the Wei Family warriors approaching with murderous intent, his eyes settled on the leading Wei Mingtong.


    After sensing Wei Mingtong¡¯s aura, Ye Chen shook his head.


    This Wei Mingtong was nothing more than an ordinary Nine Tribulations True God from a very small affiliated city in the Divine Kingdom of Wan Mu Mountain. He probably hadn¡¯t even cultivated a single Heaven-reaching Divine Art.


    His aura wasn¡¯t even comparable to the Five Tribulations True God ancient beast that Ye Chen had battled in the Undersea Divine Palace, which was fostered by a Divine Venerable.


    Ye Chen, who had slain a Five Tribulations True God ancient beast, why would he fear this man?


    If it had been someone like Vice City Lord Wang, a lower-rank Divine King attacking, Ye Chen would have treated it seriously, but this Wei Mingtong¡ªYe Chen knew he was nothing special from the moment he injured Wei Teng!


    "Boy, are you struck dumb?" After Wei Mingtong flew above the Zhou Family, his body bristling with killing intent, he thought that Ye Chen was afraid of him since he said nothing.


    Wei Mingtong first gave a fist salute towards the grey-robed elder watching the commotion in the void: "Vice City Lord Wang, you won¡¯t intervene in the disputes of Fallen Moon City, right?"


    The grey-robed elder smiled faintly: "Why should I involve myself in your disputes? I¡¯m just here to watch the show."


    Hearing the grey-robed elder¡¯s words, Wei Mingtong felt greatly assured. When he looked at the Zhou Family members again, he shouted, "You Zhou Family have quite the nerve. I used to overlook your well-behaved demeanor, but now that you¡¯ve injured my son, I cannot let you off!"


    Wei Mingtong¡¯s words turned many Zhou Family members pale.


    At that moment, the young girl Zhou Yue couldn¡¯t hold back and retorted, "Can¡¯t let us off? You¡¯re not even as formidable as Ye Chen, so what are you bragging about!"


    "Not as formidable as Ye Chen?" Wei Mingtong¡¯s eyes turned to Ye Chen, "Is this the kid you brought back who injured my son?"


    "Hmph, I want to see just how formidable he is!"


    Boom!


    Instantly, Wei Mingtong¡¯s aura surged towards the heavens. His huge hand reached toward the ground, and a towering, gigantic hand that was hundreds of feet long viciously reached out for Ye Chen.


    This Sky-reaching Giant Hand hadn¡¯t even neared Ye Chen when the void started to violently burst.


    It even caused the earth to churn!


    A Nine Tribulations True God indeed lived up to the name, as the display of divine might of just this one move was astoundingly formidable.


    And the actual Sky-reaching Giant Hand aiming for Ye Chen, forming an even more terrifying killing move within, shocked everyone to the extreme. So much so that just before it was about to grasp Ye Chen, the hand condensed a fiercely powerful black killing force storm within!


    Seeing Wei Mingtong¡¯s move, many Zhou Family members cried out in shock.


    For many of them, it was the first time witnessing a Nine Tribulations True God in action. The killing force was so chilling that many even felt a slight touch of it could turn them into ashes.


    "Can this powerful young man the patriarch spoke of withstand the assault of a Nine Tribulations True God like Wei Mingtong?" Amidst their chilling fright, many Zhou Family members turned their eyes to Ye Chen, who was being targeted by the Sky-reaching Giant Hand.


    That¡¯s when they saw Ye Chen breathe out towards the void. His breath, sharp like a sword, struck directly at the Sky-reaching Giant Hand.


    The Sky-reaching Giant Hand, which had seemed terrifying to the extreme to the Zhou Family members, exploded and shattered under Ye Chen¡¯s breath, vanishing without a trace.


    And Ye Chen stood beneath where the Sky-reaching Giant Hand had been, without even a wrinkle in his clothing!


    One breath to break a Nine Tribulations True God¡¯s killing move?


    The Zhou Family members were so astonished, their eyes nearly popped out.


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    And that grey-robed lower-rank Divine King watching the excitement in the void also showed a sudden surprise, his body instantly standing erect.


    At that moment, Ye Chen indifferently said to Wei Mingtong, "If you want to deal with me, then use your real killing moves."


    "These tricks of yours are far from enough!"

 Chapter 647 - 599: The True Killing Move!

    Witnessing Ye Chen challenge Wei Mingtong, a Nine Tribulations True God, this time, no one harbored the slightest concern about Ye Chen.


    This time, everyone recognized that Ye Chen truly possessed the strength to battle a Nine Tribulations True God!


    At this moment, even Wei Mingtong¡¯s heart skipped a beat, he had not anticipated that this youth in the late Heavenly Saint stage could shatter one of his killer moves with just a single breath.


    However, under the watchful eyes of the crowd, he certainly wouldn¡¯t show weakness. Wei Mingtong looked directly at Ye Chen and sneered, "It seems you do have some ability."


    "But the move before used less than ten percent of my fighting power. Since you¡¯re courting death, then try my true divine technique¡ª¡¯Celestial Fall Million Stone Fist¡¯!"


    As Wei Mingtong¡¯s words fell, his entire battle aura was fully unleashed, the tremendous aura even blowing the Zhou Clansmen not far from Ye Chen backward in a tumble!


    After the Zhou Clansmen, with the aid of True Gods like Zhou Tianhao and Zhou Yue, finally regained their footing with shocked expressions, everyone saw a gigantic golden fist coming straight down from the void toward Ye Chen on the ground.


    What was more terrifying was that this golden fist, while hurtling down at breakneck speed, split into two, then four, four into eight, eight into countless. In the end, within a hundred yards around Ye Chen, the entire area was filled with unceasingly pounding golden fists!


    Moreover, all the golden fists were not simply dispersed attacks. Once they multiplied into infinity, they formed an incredibly sinister Killing Formation, a formation that greatly amplified the combat power of each golden fist!


    Each fist was more deadly than the previous gigantic golden fist that fell from the void, with countless fists combined, they were almost bursting the very void and tearing open a chasm thousands of yards wide on the ground!


    And at the center of the chasm was Ye Chen, facing the onslaught of countless golden fists!


    "¡¯Celestial Fall Million Stone Fist¡¯?" At this moment, Ye Chen was floating above the chasm, looking at the countless golden fists forming the Killing Formation, with a gaze unstirred by panic and calm as ever, "Indeed, it is a fine divine technique, but it is still far from enough!"


    In the midst of speaking, Ye Chen suddenly drew the Purple Lightning Divine Sword from his hand.


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    Swish!


    Instantly, with a shimmer of the sword light, countless dazzling sword beams bombarded the endless golden fists descending from the sky.


    In just a moment, with thunderous roars of true qi exploding, the sound reverberated around the entire perimeter of the Zhou Family compound.


    In the end, all onlookers could see that the countless dreadful golden fists had all been intercepted and shattered by Ye Chen¡¯s sword light.


    Ye Chen had once again directly broken through Wei Mingtong¡¯s killer move!


    This time, even the myriad of martial artists watching from afar in the void above Fallen Moon City sucked in a breath of cold air.


    Previously, Wei Mingtong had argued that he only used ten percent of his fighting power in the first attack, so Ye Chen breaking it was nothing remarkable.


    But with this move, everyone could see that Wei Mingtong had used his full strength.


    Yet even with full strength, he still could not overcome Ye Chen. Seeing how effortlessly Ye Chen countered the moves, everyone realized that Ye Chen, this youth in the late Heavenly Saint stage, was evidently far more fearsome than the Nine Tribulations True God, Wei Mingtong!


    "How many percent was that?" Holding the Purple Lightning Divine Sword with its tip angled downwards, Ye Chen looked towards Wei Mingtong in the void and smiled lightly, "If you haven¡¯t used your full strength yet, then you won¡¯t have another chance!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen instantly flicked the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, unleashing its ultimate move "Purple Lightning" directly at Wei Mingtong in the void.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t keep passively countering; this Wei Mingtong had come to provoke him, and after testing two of his moves, Ye Chen no longer had the patience to tarry with him.


    Once Ye Chen¡¯s "Purple Lightning" was released, instantly, a heaven-shaking sword rainbow, like a peerless surge of purple lightning, shot forth.


    This move made the distant Zhou Yue, who was watching the battle, light up with admiration once more as she witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s unstoppable and terrifying sword move.


    This strike had even left the Lower God King, Vice City Lord Wang, who was watching from the void, internally screaming in shock, exclaiming in disbelief, "This is almost the power of a heavenly divine weapon!"


    It also instilled such fear in the Wei Family warriors and Wei Teng up in the void that they wanted to flee.


    And Wei Mingtong, facing this attack, his expression changed drastically; he clearly felt that he couldn¡¯t withstand this move.


    But unable to resist, the move bore down on him directly, he had to face it whether he liked it or not.


    Wei Mingtong, his complexion turning pale, forcefully spat out a mouthful of essence blood, which infused into his body, causing it to grow an extra two to three meters tall in an instant.


    At the same time, Wei Mingtong once again threw out a punch at the Purple Lightning sword move released by Ye Chen, this time as though a golden waterfall spanning a thousand yards poured down from the sky at an alarming speed.


    Wei Mingtong had already unleashed his strongest move, using a forbidden technique to bring it forth.


    This was the second of the two formidable skills Wei Mingtong had mentioned to Vice City Lord Wang, his "Celestial Fall Million Stone Fist" being the first¡ªnow came the "Nine Heavens Divine Waterfall"!


    In an instant, Ye Chen¡¯s Purple Lightning Sword Skill clashed with the golden waterfall in the sky!


    However, everyone saw that even though there was only one strike from Ye Chen¡¯s Purple Lightning Sword Skill, the sword energy fluctuations in the void alone were enough to disperse the entire golden waterfall, and the main attack didn¡¯t lose any of its power as it directly bombarded Wei Mingtong.


    With a single sword strike, Wei Mingtong was blasted tens of thousands of feet away and finally crashed onto a building in Fallen Moon City, collapsing the structure and even creating a giant crater with a radius of tens of thousands of feet on the ground!


    Even though Wei Mingtong used a forbidden technique, he was still no match for Ye Chen and was directly knocked unconscious!


    This was still without Ye Chen truly using his killing power, otherwise, Wei Mingtong might have been directly killed by this move!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Upon seeing Wei Mingtong being blasted tens of thousands of feet away and falling unconscious on the ground covered in blood, the Wei Family members in the void had all turned deathly pale.


    They now knew that even their strongest reliance was no match for the young man before them!


    At this point, Wei Teng, the source of all this trouble, had no thought of seeking revenge against Ye Chen; he only wished to leave immediately, to be as far away from the fearsome Ye Chen as possible.


    But the look in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes made him too afraid to move an inch!


    "You... you... don¡¯t kill me!" In the end, Wei Teng was so frightened that he knelt down in the void to Ye Chen!


    "Kill you?" Ye Chen looked at Wei Teng, then at all the Wei Family warriors, "I have no interest in killing you, but if you dare to trouble the Zhou Family again, then there will only be a dead end waiting for you!"


    Finally, Ye Chen raised his voice toward the group of Wei Family members, "Scram!"


    Instantly, the Wei Family members fled like startled rabbits, disappearing without a trace!


    Witnessing this scene, the warriors of Fallen Moon City watching from the void all knew that from then on, in Fallen Moon City, probably no one, no force, would dare to provoke the Zhou Family.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the Zhou Clansmen were overwhelmed with emotion.


    They knew that this youth, who had a connection with their first-generation ancestor, had helped them to deter everyone, and from now on, the Zhou Family would truly stand tall in Fallen Moon City!


    At that moment, Vice City Lord Wang, who was a Lower God King lurking in the void, suddenly moved and shot out towards Ye Chen.


    At the same time, Vice City Lord Wang fiercely clawed out, unleashing a killing move that was a hundred times more powerful than Wei Mingtong¡¯s earlier attack, directly hurtling towards Ye Chen.


    Seeing this spectacle, the Zhou Family members all gasped in shock.


    This Vice City Lord Wang, who had previously said he would only watch and not intervene, had actually launched an attack on Ye Chen?!


    Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s attack was incredibly fast; the Zhou Family members had neither the time nor the ability to help Ye Chen.


    Just as Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s move was about to hit Ye Chen, amidst the screams of the Zhou Clansmen and countless warriors in the void who had thought the battle over and were preparing to leave, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes suddenly turned cold.


    Boom!


    From the Sword Palace Acupoint on Ye Chen¡¯s forehead, his Life-bound Flying Sword "Crimson Fire," refined by Elder Ku Du to the level of a superior heavenly-grade divine weapon, flew out directly.


    The first of the Nine Swords of Annihilation was released with a bang!


    This single sword peeled up the earth and created a sword energy storm in the void, more terrifying than anything before, dozens of times more powerful than Ye Chen¡¯s previous "Purple Lightning" ultimate sword skill.


    Eventually, the storm met Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s attack head-on, driving him dozens of feet back before his true Lower God King power was unleashed, and he steadied himself from retreating further.


    Seeing this, young lady Zhou Yue couldn¡¯t help but nearly scream in shock.


    She finally understood that Ye Chen had a powerful move, even stronger than the sword skills he used to slay the Bloodwing Oct claw Dragon and defeat Wei Mingtong!


    However, amidst numerous shocked gazes, Ye Chen¡¯s flying sword hovered in the void, as he directly faced Vice City Lord Wang, "Lower God King, do you really wish to battle me?"

 Chapter 648 - 600: Invitation to the Battle of Divine City

    Xiaojiu also flew down from Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder at this moment, transforming into a monolithic, thousand-foot-long azure giant bird, and directly gazed at Vice City Lord Wang.


    "Lower God King, if you fight against Ye Chen, although Ye Chen will be seriously injured, you will definitely suffer severe injuries, and even death!" Xiaojiu spoke coldly to Vice City Lord Wang.


    Faced with the intervention of Vice City Lord Wang, a Lower God King, although she knew she was no match for those of this realm, Xiaojiu still stood shoulder to shoulder with Ye Chen.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that Xiaojiu had noticed that although the attack of Vice City Lord Wang was terrifying, the technique was still at the True God level, perhaps Xiaojiu would not have spoken to Vice City Lord Wang so coldly, and would have launched her mightiest attack alongside Ye Chen against this Lower God King!


    Seeing Ye Chen standing in the void with his flying sword hovering in front, and seeing that the little bird who had always been watching the scene on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder had now turned into a monolithic azure bird.


    All those watching the battle, members of the Zhou family, Martial Artists from Fallen Moon City in the void, finally realized that Ye Chen had not yet revealed his full killing force, and even now, he still had room to spare.


    If Vice City Lord Wang, this Lower God King, decided to really battle with Ye Chen, Ye Chen would still be capable of resisting!


    Upon witnessing this scene, Zhou Tianhao felt intense fluctuations in his heart.


    He finally understood why his first ancestor had asked for Ye Chen, this youth, to come to their Zhou family. Ye Chen seemed to be limitless, always proving to be stronger than he previously showed!


    Seeing this scene, Zhou Yue, who was greatly shaken, instantly flew to Ye Chen¡¯s side and stood next to him as they both looked at Vice City Lord Wang.


    Even though Zhou Yue knew that she could not be of any help to Ye Chen in a confrontation of this level, she couldn¡¯t help but want to stand with Ye Chen.


    In the end, even all the members of the Zhou family stood behind Ye Chen, glaring at Vice City Lord Wang.


    They were unwilling to let this youth, who had helped the Zhou family, face the oppression of a Lower God King alone.


    At this moment, Vice City Lord Wang, who was blasted dozens of feet backwards by Ye Chen¡¯s strike, and who had even released the power of a Lower God King, suddenly withdrew his fighting strength.


    His gaze was unprecedentedly clear as he looked at Ye Chen, "Young man, you are called Ye Chen, right? I have no intention of being your enemy. I only acted before to see that you had not yet fully unleashed your fighting strength, hence my probing attack."


    But Ye Chen frowned as he looked at Vice City Lord Wang, "Such a test, causing misunderstandings, is not good."


    Ye Chen had sensed that Vice City Lord Wang had not used his real killing power, and he could still withstand it, which is why he hadn¡¯t allowed his flying sword to self-destruct and carry out the mutually destructive act that could seriously injure or even kill a Lower God King.


    Nevertheless, Ye Chen still expressed his dissatisfaction.


    "Do not blame me, fellow Ye Chen," the Vice City Lord Wang in grey garments said with a gentle smile, his bright eyes directed at Ye Chen, "This act of mine was a last resort because I am looking for an assistant for our Lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, the strongest assistant with True God-level combat power!"


    "The Lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City?"


    "The strongest assistant with True God-level combat power?"


    Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s words made Ye Chen startle.


    At that moment, Vice City Lord Wang continued to speak to Ye Chen, "I don¡¯t know if you have heard of ¡¯Divine City Battle¡¯, but the person I am looking for is to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Divine City Battle!"


    ...


    A short while later, Vice City Lord Wang, with a satisfied smile, drifted away through the void.


    And Ye Chen stood there in the void, stroking his chin, deep in thought.


    From his conversation with Vice City Lord Wang, he finally understood why Vice City Lord Wang had probed him, and what exactly this Divine City Battle was about.


    Turns out, the Divine City Battle involved a major event related to a peculiar ancient area of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory called "Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    The Nine Suns Ancient Land is located on a part of the stellar mainland within the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory and spans an even larger area than the land where Circulation of Heaven Divine City is situated.


    Legend has it that the "Nine Suns Ancient Land" was left by a Heavenly Divine Venerable known as the Nine Suns Venerable.


    What¡¯s more mysterious is that this ancient land has always been sealed, only opening every thousand years at a specific time.


    Inside this ancient land, there are countless spiritual herbs and elixirs, as well as many cave dwellings and ancient relics left by the Nine Suns Venerable and his disciples.


    Those who enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land even have the chance to find the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Elixir that can break through from Divine King to Divine Venerable, and Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts used by Divine Venerable Realm powerhouses!


    And there are innumerable divine pills and marvelous medicines that can help True God Realm beings to face the heavenly tribulation!


    Only those below the Divine Venerable Realm could enter when the Nine Suns Ancient Land was opened, for the mid-level Divine Venerables who wanted to enter would be repelled directly.


    Heavenly Divine Venerables and Immortal Divine Venerables of the Divine Venerable Realm, as well as the Nine Suns Venerable who left behind this ancient land, were of the same level or even more formidable than the Nine Suns Venerable.


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    The treasures left in the ancient land by the Nine Suns Venerable were intended specifically for those at the True God and Divine King levels. These treasures were utterly useless to beings of the Heavenly Divine Venerable and Immortal Divine Venerable level.


    Even if they had the power to break the prohibition and enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they wouldn¡¯t do so. Instead, they preferred to use this realm as a training ground for their juniors.


    Thus, the Nine Suns Ancient Land became an exclusive and mysterious realm for True Gods and Divine Kings!


    Of course, every time it was opened, it would trigger countless scrambles for entry. It attracted not only True Gods and Divine Kings from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory, but those from other realms of the Divine Kingdom rushed to the Nine Suns Ancient Land as well.


    Under such circumstances, the powerful forces of the Divine Kingdom in the Southern Territory, like the Southern Territory Royal Mansion, could not possibly allow all True Gods and Divine Kings to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Eventually, after dividing the interests, the Southern Territory Royal Mansion allotted just ten slots for Martial Artists at the Divine King Realm to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    At the same time, each major Divine City was granted ten slots for Martial Artists below the Divine King Realm to enter.


    Of course, there were countless smaller Divine Cities in the Southern Territory, and cities like Circulation of Heaven Divine City did not have the opportunity to directly secure ten slots; they had to compete with seventeen other cities of the same level to vie for those ten slots through what was known as the Battle of the Divine Cities.


    The Battle of the Divine Cities involved eighteen smaller Divine Cities, each sending three Martial Artists below the Divine King Realm to fight. The city that emerged victorious from among the eighteen would be entitled to the ten slots for entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Although the lords of each minor Divine City, like the lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, were at the Divine King Realm, they had no chance to obtain slots for entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    However, of course, every Divine City wanted those ten slots for Martial Artists below the Divine King Realm to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    After all, the lords of these Divine Cities had descendants and heirs to fight for these coveted slots.


    Even if the Martial Artists from the minor Divine Cities could hardly compete with those from the major Divine Cities, let alone the ten Divine Kings sent by the Southern Territory, obtaining even a minor advantage in the Nine Suns Ancient Land would be immensely beneficial.


    Moreover, this Battle of the Divine Cities would also showcase the foundation and strength of the minor Divine Cities, and could even attract attention from some powerful forces within the Divine Kingdom, so naturally, every small Divine City would fight with all their might.


    Over the years, Circulation of Heaven Divine City had participated in hundreds of Battles of the Divine Cities and had only occasionally managed to defeat the other seventeen and secure ten slots.


    In the last ten instances, they had not succeeded even once.


    This made the lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City lose face.


    The current lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, who had taken office only in the past few centuries, definitely did not want this humiliation to continue.


    He certainly wanted to snatch those ten slots for the Nine Suns Ancient Land in the Battle of the Divine Cities!


    In such a situation, Circulation of Heaven Divine City began to seek out Martial Artists with formidable strength below the God King Realm.


    It was in these circumstances that Vice City Lord Wang began to assess various powerful True Gods to find the three individuals who could assist the lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Battle of the Divine Cities.


    Previously, Wei Mingtong obviously failed to catch Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s eye, but Ye Chen¡¯s miraculous performance truly dazzled him!


    Vice City Lord Wang had observed the battles among Martial Artists in the minor Divine Cities during the Battle of the Divine Cities.


    Vice City Lord Wang felt that if Ye Chen participated in the Battle of the Divine Cities, there was a high probability he could help Circulation of Heaven Divine City win a crucial battle!


    Therefore, Vice City Lord Wang extended an earnest invitation to Ye Chen.


    As for the Battle of the Divine Cities, where each minor Divine City sent three people to fight for ten slots, Ye Chen appeared indifferent.


    However, the Nine Suns Ancient Land, which possessed all sorts of strange items and even had things that could enable True Gods and Divine Kings to break through, had somewhat moved Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen was even more interested in witnessing the ten Divine King powerhouses sent by the Southern Territory, as well as the powerful True Gods from the various major Divine Cities of the Southern Territory.


    When he heard that the Battle of the Divine Cities would take place in three months, and that the Nine Suns Ancient Land would open one month after the battle¡¯s conclusion, providing one month of exploration time, Ye Chen calculated that there was indeed enough time to participate in the exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    In the end, he agreed to go to Circulation of Heaven Divine City to see about the Battle of the Divine Cities.

 Chapter 649 - 601: Defiance

    Three days later, early in the morning, Ye Chen kept his promise and left the Zhou Family of Fallen Moon City to head for the City Lord¡¯s Mansion of the Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    Ye Chen planned to sort out the issue of the Divine City War quota and then set off to open the treasure trove left by the Ice-sealed Divine King in another part of the Star Continent and conclude his repayment to the descendants of the Ice-sealed Divine King.


    Only after that would he truly face the Divine City War in just over two months!


    But before agreeing to be one of the three candidates for the Divine City War, Ye Chen wanted to assess the other two companions who would take part in the battle with him.


    After all, the "Divine City War" between the smaller divine cities was a three-person appearance where the victory was determined by a best-of-three system.


    If the other two were too weak and there was no certainty they could help the Circulation of Heaven Divine City achieve ultimate victory, and secure those ten spots to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, then Ye Chen saw no need to involve himself in this chaos and waste his time.


    By the time Ye Chen arrived at the assembly square for the Circulation of Heaven Divine City War candidates mentioned by Vice City Lord Wang, over a dozen people had already gathered.


    These dozen or so people were all young men and women, with only three being at the eighth tier of True God level, while the rest were at the ninth tier of True God level.


    Vice City Lord Wang was also within this thousand-zhang radius of the huge square.


    When Vice City Lord Wang saw the figure of Ye Chen flying down to the square of the City Lord¡¯s Mansion, he changed his indifferent attitude towards the others on the square and came flying towards Ye Chen with a smile, "Friend Ye Chen, you really are punctual!"


    Ye Chen also smiled at Vice City Lord Wang, "Wang, why are so many people gathered here?"


    "These are martial artists sought out by the City Lord¡¯s Mansion. To select the real candidates to represent the Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the battle of the Divine City War, we need to test their combat strength. Of course, you do not need to undergo combat strength testing, Ye Chen, because I have already personally tested you," said Vice City Lord Wang with a smile to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen and Vice City Lord Wang were talking quietly in the corner of the square where Ye Chen had just landed. This scene, seen from the center of the square by the dozen or so young men and women, caused them to be momentarily stunned.


    "Who is this late-stage Sky Saint youth?"


    They couldn¡¯t help but be surprised.


    When they arrived at the square, this Lower God King realm Vice City Lord Wang hardly paid them any attention, only saying a few indifferent words to ask them to wait.


    Now, after this late-stage Sky Saint youth had arrived, Vice City Lord Wang greeted him with a smile and kept talking with him cheerfully.


    When compared, the attitudes were starkly different.


    Of course, this made the young men and women at the eighth and ninth tier of True God level take much more notice of Ye Chen.


    "Could this person be a junior relative of Vice City Lord Wang? But that doesn¡¯t seem quite right either. Why has he come to this gathering place for the ¡¯Divine City War¡¯ candidates?"


    "Could it be that he is also participating in the ¡¯Divine City War¡¯ candidate selection? But with his late-stage Sky Saint level, isn¡¯t he a bit too weak?" many murmured to themselves.


    As these people speculated, Vice City Lord Wang walked over to the group with Ye Chen in tow.


    "Gentlemen and ladies, this is friend Ye Chen," Vice City Lord Wang introduced Ye Chen to the young men and women, "Our Circulation of Heaven Divine City has three spots for the ¡¯Divine City War,¡¯ and the City Lord has personally decided on one of them; friend Ye Chen will occupy one."


    "The remaining one undecided spot will be contended for once everyone is here. You will all have to undergo a test of strength to determine who is most capable."


    Wow!


    The words of Vice City Lord Wang caused a stir among the dozen or so young men and women on the square. They exchanged looks, disbelief flashing in their eyes.


    Had Vice City Lord Wang lost his mind?


    Allowing this late-stage Sky Saint youth to represent the Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Divine City War? Occupying a spot directly without any testing?!


    After all, if the Circulation of Heaven Divine City ended up with the opportunity to travel to the "Nine Suns Ancient Land," then the three who fought in the war would be guaranteed to explore the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    The remaining seven spots would definitely be allocated to the juniors of the City Lord¡¯s Mansion, with little chance for others to get this opportunity.


    To the young people on the scene, wanting to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land meant representing the Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the "Divine City War," which was the only chance they had.


    But now, one of these extremely precious three spots had inexplicably fallen into the hands of this late-stage Sky Saint youth?


    And with the City Lord having already personally decided on another spot, all the others were left to fight for that single remaining spot for battle?


    The martial artists in the square felt very dissatisfied inside.


    Why should they, as ninth-tier True Gods, struggle for a spot and yet still need to undergo testing, while this late-stage Sky Saint youth directly took a spot for himself?


    Their dissatisfied expressions, of course, did not escape the eyes of Ye Chen and Vice City Lord Wang.


    Ye Chen shook his head with a smile. Naturally, he felt no need to go out of his way to explain anything to these people.


    Vice City Lord Wang simply smiled wryly, and in the end, he spoke to the group of young men and women, "Ye Chen¡¯s combat power is beyond your imagination. It¡¯s our great fortune to have him help our Circulation of Heaven Divine City, a minor divine city, participate in the great war."


    Hiss!


    The praise from Vice City Lord Wang made all the young men and women present take a sharp breath of cold air.


    A youth in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint realm, to receive such high praise from Vice City Lord Wang?!


    One must know, even the Nine Tribulations True Gods present didn¡¯t seem to catch much of Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s fancy.


    Could this youth be even more formidable than the Nine Tribulations True Gods?!


    All the young men and women present were native martial artists from the minor Circulation of Heaven Divine City. They had never heard of a youth in the late stage of the Heavenly Saint realm who could match or even surpass the Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    Regarding Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s words, they were completely dubious!


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    "Ye Chen, don¡¯t mind them. I have already engraved the scene of our battle into a Battle Fragment and handed it over to the City Lord. The City Lord has personally determined that you are the second candidate to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Battle of Divine Cities. Don¡¯t worry," Vice City Lord Wang transmitted a message to Ye Chen.


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Vice City Lord Wang no longer spoke and turned his eyes toward the void, waiting for the rest of the candidates to arrive.


    But at that moment, Ye Chen suddenly looked toward a seemingly empty space not far behind him!


    Ye Chen had been sensing that someone was quietly observing him, and upon looking, he activated his "Destruction Eye Skills" and directly saw two figures standing within a spatial crack in that seemingly empty void.


    One of them was a tall middle-aged man in a green robe with a beard, and the other was a young girl in white.


    "Could this tall middle-aged man be the lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City? And the girl in white, could she be the young lady predetermined by the City Lord as one of the participants in the Battle of Divine Cities?" Ye Chen thought to himself.


    As soon as he looked, Ye Chen even sensed a dangerous aura emanating from the white-clad girl, which made his heart tremble a bit.


    "The feeling this girl gives me, if we were to battle, I might not be confident of winning. If she truly is one of the chosen candidates to represent this minor divine city in the Battle of Divine Cities, then it¡¯s possible for Circulation of Heaven Divine City to stand out among the eighteen minor divine cities," Ye Chen thought as he turned his head back, his eyes flashing a sharp light.


    As Ye Chen glanced over, the green-robed middle-aged man and the white-clad girl in the void also started momentarily.


    The girl in white then smiled gently at the green-robed man, "Uncle Nie, is this the powerful youth you mentioned, the one chosen by Vice City Lord Wang?"


    "To be able to discover us in our hidden state at his Heavenly Saint later stage realm indeed shows he¡¯s extraordinary!"


    "Look at the other young men and women down there, completely unaware of our presence."


    At this moment, the green-robed middle-aged man also deeply nodded, his eyes revealing a look of shock and satisfaction, "It seems this young man¡¯s miraculousness far exceeds my expectations!"


    "Perhaps he really comes from one of the big divine cities, for otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t possess such a terrifying combat power across boundaries."


    "Such talents are rare even in the big divine cities! Either they have their own fortune and wouldn¡¯t come to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, or they would directly take one of the ten slots from the big divine cities and look down upon the need to battle for a spot to the Nine Suns Ancient Land offered by a minor divine city."


    "I heard this youth came here for the Divine King of the Zhou Family from Fallen Moon City who has been missing for a long time. This time, it seems we¡¯ve stumbled upon a treasure!"


    "Lady Wan, with your help, we have a good chance of securing a spot to the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time!" the green-robed middle-aged man said.


    Hearing the green-robed man¡¯s words, the girl in white simply smiled lightly, neither affirming nor denying, her eyes once again looking down toward the square.


    Not long after the conversation between the green-robed man and the girl in white, five figures hurriedly arrived one after another, landing in the square.


    By then, all the candidates Circulation of Heaven Divine City was looking for the Battle of Divine Cities had finally all arrived.


    Once everyone was assembled, the young men and women in the square could no longer afford to dwell on their dissatisfaction with Ye Chen. They understood that the situation could not be changed, and they had to compete with all their might for the last available slot!


    At this time, Vice City Lord Wang smiled and nodded at Ye Chen, then stepped forward and walked before the group of young men and women.


    Boom!


    Vice City Lord Wang shook his sleeve, and a twenty-zhang tall huge circular luminous pillar flew directly from his sleeve and crashed onto the ground, its base plunging into the earth of the square.


    "This pillar is a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact called the ¡¯Three Divine Pillars.¡¯ This pillar can absorb the combat power generated from the three vital signs of Essence, Qi, and Spirit. I have altered it a bit to serve as a treasure for testing your combat power."


    "All of you come forward, and use your strongest combat methods to strike this pillar. This pillar can even withstand the combat power of a Lower God King like myself; you needn¡¯t worry about breaking it."


    "In the end, whomever¡¯s light from the combat power pillar is the highest, indicating the strongest combat method, that person will win the last slot to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the ¡¯Battle of Divine Cities.¡¯


    "Now, you can all come up in turn to test and compete!"

 Chapter 650 - 602 Submission and Departure

    Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s voice fell, and the young male and female martial artists in the arena walked up to the light pillar, one by one, to start the test.


    Ye Chen watched from the side, curious about whom among them would be chosen to fight alongside him in the Divine City battle.


    The test of the "Three Divine Pillars" was quite straightforward¡ªjust launch all your combat power at the pillars, and a blue light would flash upon them.


    The stronger the combat power, the higher the blue light column.


    Next to the blue light column, different height levels of the light were marked.


    "Combat Power Level Twenty-Seven."


    "Combat Power Level Twenty-Nine."


    "Combat Power Level Thirty-One..."


    After each test, Vice City Lord Wang announced the results based on the height of the blue light columns from the force of the combat power.


    In just the time it takes to brew a cup of tea, the entire test was over.


    In the end, a male martial artist with a dark mole between his eyebrows, a Niner Tribulation True God, achieved a combat power level of thirty-two, the strongest among the nearly twenty contestants.


    Two others were close behind him, having achieved a combat power level of "Thirty-One" through the test of the Three Divine Pillars.


    When the results came out, the best-performing male martial artist breathed a sigh of relief.


    Although he was confident in his combat power before the test, he still inevitably worried after the actual test that he wouldn¡¯t be able to secure the only remaining spot to join the Divine City battle.


    Unexpectedly, there were no surprises, and he dominated the competition!


    The man was thrilled, but the two whose combat power levels reached "Thirty-One" paled in comparison.


    Just one step away!


    They¡¯d missed the rare opportunity to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the "Divine City Contest"!


    How could they not be extremely annoyed and disheartened!


    It¡¯s known that even if they represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the "Divine City Contest," there¡¯s no guarantee of victory over other smaller divine cities or securing one of the ten spots to enter Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    However, just by participating in the "Divine City Contest," they stood a chance of being noticed by other forces, which could bring enormous opportunities for their future cultivation.


    And should they be fortunate enough to win the grand contest among the eighteen small divine cities belonging to Circulation of Heaven Divine City and gain access to Nine Suns Ancient Land, it would be an immense opportunity for their martial cultivation.


    Now, they almost had this chance, and it was slipping through their fingers¡ªthey were naturally annoyed and disheartened!


    At this point, the two frustrated and disheartened individuals, either blinded by failure or revived by their previous grievances, simultaneously turned their gaze to Ye Chen, who had been observing the test.


    They both remembered that this late-stage Heavenly Saint young man had claimed a spot in the Divine City Contest without testing.


    While it might not have affected their interests before, they had refrained from speaking up.


    However, now both thought that if this young man was not as strong as them and gave up his spot, they might be able to participate in the Divine City Contest.


    With this in mind, the two spoke out directly to Ye Chen and Vice City Lord Wang, "Wang, we refuse to accept this!"


    "We acknowledge Zhao Luo¡¯s victory over us, but this late-stage Heavenly Saint young man, who didn¡¯t test and is only at the late-stage Heavenly Saint realm, has taken a spot; we absolutely cannot accept this!"


    "We hope Senior Wang will allow him to compete against us. If we are stronger, we should rightfully earn that sole spot!"


    "Zhao Luo," mentioned by the two, was the black-moled Niner Tribulation True God who had achieved a combat power level of thirty-two in the test.


    While they admitted their inferiority to Zhao Luo, they suddenly turned their complaints onto Ye Chen.


    At this moment, Zhao Luo seemed quite content to stand by and watch the drama unfold, since he had already passed the test and secured his spot, he was more than happy to watch the unrest.


    And the other martial artists, although they had no opportunity to contest for Ye Chen¡¯s position, felt the same indignation at him claiming a spot in the Divine City Contest while only being at the late-stage Heavenly Saint realm.


    Remembering Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s earlier praise of Ye Chen, claiming that his combat power was beyond their imagination, they were entirely skeptical.


    Suddenly, amid the dissenting voices of the two individuals closest to Zhang Luo¡¯s prowess, others also began to mutter under their breath, expressing their reluctance to have Ye Chen represent the Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Divine City Contest.


    This turn of events greatly angered Vice City Lord Wang.


    Clearly, he did not want his authority to be challenged.


    "You¡¯ve already failed the test and have no chance to contend for anything, step back," Vice City Lord Wang raised his eyebrows, looking at the two martial artists who started the commotion, and then he turned his attention to Zhao Luo, "Zhao Luo, come over here. I will take you and Ye Chen to meet with City Lord Nie and also introduce you to the contender selected by the city lord to participate in the Divine City Contest."


    Upon hearing Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s words, Zhao Luo stepped forward.


    However, Zhao Luo¡¯s gaze towards Ye Chen also carried a hint of disbelief.


    Meanwhile, the two martial artists, designated failures by Vice City Lord Wang, seemed either crazed by their loss or utterly unwilling to forgo the chance to participate in the Divine City Contest. They actually disregarded the authority of Vice City Lord Wang, a lower-ranking Divine King, and shouted, "Senior Wang, you show favoritism!"


    "This young man, if he represents our Circulation of Heaven Divine City and loses even a single match, it will be a disgrace to all martial artists of our city!"


    "We don¡¯t accept him as our representative, nor do we believe in his strength!"


    ```


    Boom!


    As the two men shouted, Vice City Lord Wang¡¯s expression turned cold, and with a point of his finger in the air, he directly sent the two men flying dozens of yards away, crashing heavily onto the ground.


    Vice City Lord Wang glanced at the green-robed middle-aged man hidden in the void, who was watching the lively scene, then turned his head back angrily towards the two martial artists he had sent flying.


    "Ye Chen has a place in the Divine City competition, approved by the lord of the city. Are you dissatisfied, or would you dare to challenge the authority of the lord of the city?"


    "I am merely giving you a minor punishment for not following the rules this time. If you continue to disrupt the selection of my City Lord¡¯s Mansion, it won¡¯t be a minor punishment anymore!"


    Before Vice City Lord Wang could finish his words, the two martial artists yelled, "It¡¯s clearly you, Senior Wang, who is not following the rules! As long as this youngster has greater combat power than me, I will be absolutely convinced. You have been protecting him all along; could it be that he really does not possess the strength you claim?"


    This clamor made others nod in agreement.


    At this time, Ye Chen, who had been silent until now, finally sighed and looked at Vice City Lord Wang: "Senior Wang, since these people all insist that I must also take the test, then let me do it. After all, it won¡¯t delay much of my cultivation technique." Enjoy new stories from novelhall.Co?m


    While speaking, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze directly settled on the two Nine Tribulation True Gods martial artists who had been discontentedly clamoring, "You¡¯re saying that as long as my combat power is greater than yours, you will be convinced, right?"


    "Alright then, your previous combat power test was ¡¯Level Thirty-One¡¯. I¡¯ll just achieve ¡¯Level Thirty-Two¡¯ then."


    As Ye Chen was speaking, his figure suddenly flashed and disappeared from beside Vice City Lord Wang.


    The next moment, he landed beside the "Three Divine Pillars."


    Before the clamoring martial artists could react, Ye Chen¡¯s palm gently slapped one of the Three Divine Pillars.


    With that slap,


    Whooosh! Whooosh! Whooosh! Whooosh!


    The blue light columns of the Three Divine Pillars surged upwards madly, and to everyone¡¯s astonishment, it indeed reached the level above "Combat Power Thirty-Two" as Ye Chen stated!


    This scene silenced those who were clamoring with discontent, their mouths hanging wide open.


    The same scene also made Zhao Luo, who had some doubts about Ye Chen, narrow his eyes.


    Zhao Luo knew that he had exerted his full strength during his earlier test, yet Ye Chen¡¯s casual slap had achieved a score comparable to his.


    What was more frightening was that Ye Chen had said he would achieve this score, and indeed, he hit that specific number exactly.


    With such performance, how could Zhao Luo not realize that this Sky Saint late-stage young man, Ye Chen, was much stronger than himself. To achieve the exact score one aims for meant absolute precision and control over combat power, something far beyond his own capabilities!


    In the midst of their stunned silence, Ye Chen merely glanced at those martial artists who had doubted him and said, "This time, I am representing Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Divine City competition. There are no more objections, right?"


    This time, not a single person dared to raise a doubt!


    Seeing this, Vice City Lord Wang shook his head helplessly.


    He had already said how strong Ye Chen was, but those people would not believe him until they were overawed.


    Of course, Vice City Lord Wang also understood these people¡¯s eagerness for a place in the grand competition of Divine City, so he did not say anything more. With a sweep of his hand, he collected the Three Divine Pillars into his sleeve and then, nodding at Zhao Luo and Ye Chen, took the two away from the plaza.


    The plaza was left with a group of martial artists who still felt as if they were in a dream.


    Finally, these martial artists seemed to come back to their senses from their shock. As they looked at the spot where Ye Chen had stood, which was now empty, many screamed, "A late-stage Sky Saint with the powerful combat power of a Nine Tribulation True God ¨C where did this young man come from?!"


    Meanwhile, the green-robed middle-aged man and the white-clothed young lady hidden in the void¡¯s crack shared a knowing smile, their eyes shining brightly as they too disappeared from the void.


    Half an hour later, Ye Chen left the City Lord¡¯s Mansion.


    In this half-hour, under the guidance of Vice City Lord Wang, Ye Chen and Zhao Luo met Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯s City Lord Nie Yuan.


    As Ye Chen had guessed before, the green-robed middle-aged man was Nie, the City Lord of Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    At the same time, Ye Chen also met the young lady who made him feel a hint of threat.


    The things he learned from this young lady surprised Ye Chen even more ¨C she was from the strongest Divine Institute among the nine of the Myriad Veils Mountain God Kingdom, the Supreme Divine Institute that even Old Man Ku Du had urged him to strive to join!


    This revelation was both surprising and pleasing to Ye Chen.


    He had seen Zhao Luo¡¯s strength and doubted whether he could keep winning in Divine City¡¯s grand battle, but for this young lady, Ye Chen was confident; probably no one could defeat her as the representative of the small Divine City¡¯s battle.


    Together with himself, Ye Chen thus had great confidence in Circulation of Heaven Divine City securing the ten places to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    In the end, Ye Chen truly agreed to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Divine City grand competition that would start in a little over two months.


    After leaving the City Lord¡¯s Mansion, Ye Chen went straight back to the Zhou Family in Fallen Moon City.


    The next day, he set out with the Zhou Family¡¯s young lady, Zhou Yue, towards the treasure ground left behind by the Ice-Sealed God King.


    There were still more than two months until the Divine City battle, and only a little over three months for the crucial exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Ye Chen wasn¡¯t worried about the Divine City battle, but the Nine Suns Ancient Land would be entered by martial artists at the Divine King realm, so naturally, he wanted to increase his strength before heading to the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Apart from being able to enhance his strength by entering the Life Origin Wheel in about two months, Ye Chen would not miss out on the treasure ground of the Ice-Sealed God King.


    The Ice-Sealed God King had mentioned that in addition to treasures left for his people, he had also left something for Ye Chen.


    Of course, Ye Chen wanted to see what was there in the treasury that could help increase his combat power even more!


    ```

 Chapter 651 - 603 Green Spirit Dragon Fruit

    The Buried Dragon Mountain Range is a gigantic mountain range located on the "Dragon Star Continent" of the Southern Territory, which is part of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom on the Upper Plane Star Continent.


    Stretching for millions of miles, it contains countless deep ravines, giant mountains, numerous valleys, and unique spatial areas. What¡¯s more, from the inside out, the mountain range is enveloped in layers of azure fog. This type of mist not only affects martial artists¡¯ ability to fly but also hinders their Divine Sense from exploring the Buried Dragon Mountain Range.


    When martial artists fly through this mountain range, their speed is tens to hundreds of times slower than in other areas. The range of Divine Sense detection is also significantly reduced.


    Add to that the already intricate terrain of the mountain range, so for the martial artists of the "Dragon Star Continent," the Buried Dragon Mountain Range spanning millions of miles is an eternally mysterious territory that seems impossible to fully explore.


    In the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, countless Ancient Beasts reside, and rumors suggest that even Super Ancient Beasts, reaching the level of Middle God King, exist deep within the Buried Dragon Abyss.


    There is also a legend about the Buried Dragon Mountain Range. It is said that millions of years ago, this mountain range was an inconspicuous range on the "Dragon Star Continent."


    However, one day, a True Spirit Sacred Beast Azure Dragon, which had reached the rank of a higher God King, fought a great battle with a martial artist also of the Upper God King realm. The battle started in the starry sky and descended to this continent. Ultimately, the True Spirit Sacred Beast Azure Dragon was slain within this mountain range.


    The Dragon Star Continent is just an ordinary celestial continent within the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, where the strongest native martial artists are only at the Lower God King level.


    In such a continent, the sudden outbreak of a battle between martial artists at the Upper God King level and a True Spirit Sacred Beast of the same rank can only be imagined as extremely terrifying!


    That battle turned the heavens and the earth upside down, completely altering the landscape of the earth and forming the vast Buried Dragon Mountain Range as it stands today!


    Following that battle, the Divine Blood of the True Spirit Sacred Beast Azure Dragon spilled across the sprawling mountain range, transforming it from an ordinary mountain range into a treasure trove for adventurers, filled with lush spiritual plants and Ancient Beasts running amok!


    The name of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range thus originated from this event.


    Due to the nourishment of dragon blood, natural treasures continuously emerged in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range. Since then, many martial artists from the "Dragon Star Continent" have flooded into the mountain range for exploration and cultivation.


    Some of these martial artists gained greatly in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, but others perished in the jaws of its Ancient Beasts.


    On this day, among the countless martial artists within the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, there were two figures that landed on the peak of a mountain.


    These two figures were a young man dressed in azure robes with a small spiritual sparrow perched on his shoulder, and a beautiful young girl in goose-yellow attire.


    These two were none other than Ye Chen and Zhou Yue, who had left Fallen Moon City and were rushing to find the treasure of the entombed Divine King.


    Atop the mountain peak, Ye Chen gazed at the endless expanse of the undulating Buried Dragon Mountain Range before him and sighed with emotion, "The Divine King predecessor sure knew how to pick a place, hiding the treasure in such an ordinary mountain range within the countless beast-infested Upper Plane Star Continent."


    "In a continent like this, there are few martial artists at the level of an Upper God King who visit, with most just passing through. The native martial artists of this continent are only at the level of Lower God King. Even if there are Middle God King level Ancient Beasts in these mountains, they absolutely cannot break the secrecy of the predecessor Divine King¡¯s treasure hiding spot. Indeed, it is a suitable place for concealing treasures."


    Hearing the meaning in Ye Chen¡¯s words, this "Buried Dragon Mountain Range" was evidently the ultimate destination where Ye Chen, accompanied by Zhou Yue, was searching for the treasure of the entombed Divine King.


    As it turned out, after leaving Fallen Moon City, Ye Chen took Zhou Yue to a transmission Divine Array located on a continent where the Circulation of Heaven Divine City stood.


    In many continents of the Southern Territory¡¯s Divine Kingdom, there are interconnecting Divine Arrays. To travel from one continent to another, besides using flying boats to cross countless territories, a more convenient method is to use the Divine Arrays for transmission.


    Of course, this type of Divine Array transmission is extremely expensive. The cost of transmission between smaller celestial continents ranges from "ten thousand to fifty thousand Black Divine Coins," the currency commonly used in the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    From a smaller celestial continent to a major Divine City of the Divine Kingdom, the cost is even more substantial!


    Just to think, even Zhou Yue, who wanted to go to the Circulation of Heaven Divine Institute in Circulation of Heaven Divine City for cultivation, only needed one thousand five hundred Black Divine Coins. In contrast, the cheapest Divine Array transmission costs ten thousand Black Divine Coins, indicating the significant expense.


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    Naturally, for many influential figures in the Divine Kingdom, this expense is a trifle. And to Ye Chen, who was in a hurry to find the treasure of the entombed Divine King and whose cultivation time was also immensely precious, it wasn¡¯t a big deal, either.


    During his journey to Circulation of Heaven Divine City, the East Territory King had given Ye Chen one million Black Divine Coins, which were enough for Ye Chen¡¯s temporary needs.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t waste time traveling between continents, so he directly took out the Black Divine Coins and sought the shortest transmission path. After crossing four continents¡¯ Divine Arrays and spending sixty thousand Black Divine Coins, he finally reached his destination on the Dragon Star Continent.


    Of course, sixty thousand Black Divine Coins were not much to Ye Chen, but they completely stunned the young girl Zhou Yue who followed him!


    Zhou Yue had never seen so many Black Divine Coins in her life, yet Ye Chen had simply taken them out to bring her on the road!


    Zhou Yue had never left Circulation of Heaven Divine City in her life; now, she had arrived at another star continent far from Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    When Ye Chen smiled at her and said that after the treasure of the Ice Sealed Divine King was opened, she would also have enough Black Divine Coins.


    This wondrous knowledge and the possible future changes in her family¡¯s status filled Zhou Yue with boundless emotions.


    Even now, inside this peak in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, when she heard Xiaojiu fly away and return with news gathered from the martial artists who entered the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, Zhou Yue still felt dizzy with happiness.


    In the mountain peak, after Ye Chen had expressed his feelings in a few words, he smiled and looked at Zhou Yue beside him, "Let¡¯s go, we should continue on our way. The treasure left by the Divine King predecessor is located in a territory in the central region of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range. Although it¡¯s not too far from here, there is a mysterious green mist in the mountains that greatly affects flying and Divine Sense scanning, so we still need to hurry."


    Zhou Yue, now completely looking to Ye Chen for guidance, naturally would not oppose. After she nodded slightly, the two of them transformed into sparrows and flew off the mountain peak, continuing their journey forward.


    The ancient beasts in the outer regions of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range were relatively weak, and thus a key target for martial artists to explore. For Ye Chen, such realms were nothing; he quickly flew past them with Zhou Yue.


    However, as they delved deeper into the central territory of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, the speed at which Ye Chen and Zhou Yue traveled had noticeably slowed down. There were far fewer martial artists exploring this area.


    Because, although this region did not contain the legendary Middle God King level ancient beasts that were deep within the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, there were quite a few ancient beasts at the levels of the Eight Calamities Real God and Nine Calamities Real God here, which were already very troublesome to deal with. Inside, there were even Lower God King level ancient beasts; naturally, martial artists had to be more cautious when entering.


    However, the Buried Dragon Mountain Range was immensely vast. As long as they carefully avoided the dangerous territories and those identified realms where the Lower God King ancient beasts resided, the safety of their exploration could be greatly increased.


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After Ye Chen and Zhou Yue had traveled for about tens of thousands of miles, their figures suddenly stopped on a huge boulder in the forest.


    Xiaojiu, too, flew up from Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder and directly looked towards a place not far ahead.


    Not far ahead, there was a small valley filled with damp air, and in a very secluded and shady corner of that valley, there grew a purple plant.


    Even more extraordinary was that this purple plant bore three fist-sized fruits.


    These three fruits were identical, all showing a clear green color, and were extremely transparent. Through the flesh of the fruits, one could even see their cores.


    The most magical thing was the core of these fruits, which was a small, lifelike dragon-shaped core!


    "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit!"


    Xiaojiu, who had flown into the air, exclaimed in amazement and turned to say to Ye Chen, "This ¡¯Green Spirit Dragon Fruit¡¯ is a famous strange fruit in the Divine Kingdom, only found in realms infused by the blood of a true dragon, and has a great effect on the cultivation of a martial artist¡¯s Divine Soul, even serving as a key Spirit Material for refining Divine Pills that increase the power of the Divine Soul!"


    "Such fruit, for both True Gods and Lower God Kings, has a great use, and selling one for a hundred thousand Black Divine Coins would be easy!"


    Xiaojiu¡¯s words surprised Ye Chen as well.


    Ye Chen had not expected this mysterious fruit, which indeed looked very mystical but with no scent making it hard to discover, only found due to Xiaojiu¡¯s strong Divine Soul, to be so precious.


    A hundred thousand Black Divine Coins, more than the total expense of his journey here, no wonder so many martial artists risked their lives to explore the mountain range, finding precious treasures could indeed make many martial artists rich overnight!


    While Ye Chen was marveling, Xiaojiu smiled and said to him, "Legend has it that there is always an ancient beast called ¡¯Green-Eyed Toad¡¯ guarding near this ¡¯Green Spirit Dragon Fruit.¡¯ The ¡¯Green-Eyed Toad¡¯ does not eat the Green Spirit Dragon Fruit but can sense the unique aura of the fruit, using it to continuously cultivate."


    "Of course, the strongest of these ancient beasts are only at the level of Nine Calamities Real God, so you don¡¯t have to worry," said Xiaojiu with a light laugh.


    In the midst of Xiaojiu¡¯s light laughter, Ye Chen also smiled softly, his figure flying towards the damp valley ahead, towards the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit."


    "Seeing treasure, of course we should take it!" Ye Chen instantly shot to the location of the Green Spirit Dragon Fruit.


    At that moment, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense, which had already enveloped and discovered the corner of the damp valley where the "Green-Eyed Toad" that Xiaojiu mentioned was hiding, also surged forth like lightning, speeding towards him!

 Chapter 652 - 604: A Sudden Disaster Strikes!

    This "Green-Eyed Toad" was at least several zhang in size; compared to the normal size of an ordinary toad, it was terrifyingly huge!


    What was even more terrifying was its tongue.


    As it shot explosively towards Ye Chen, the toad¡¯s tongue stabbed straight at him like lightning, resembling a cold gleam shooting through the sky directly targeting Ye Chen¡¯s head!


    Ye Chen, who had been on alert for this "Green-Eyed Toad," certainly wouldn¡¯t let an entity of mere ordinary Nine Tribulations True God Realm hit him. With a light smile, the aura around his body burst forth all at once.


    This aura not only made the rapidly shooting tongue of the "Green-Eyed Toad" retract abruptly, but it also made the large monster halt its swiftly moving figure, causing it to flee backward in a flash.


    In the end, it vanished without a trace instantly!


    Ancient beasts have a natural sensitivity to danger.


    This "Green-Eyed Toad" sensed that Ye Chen¡¯s aura was powerful enough to kill it, and without engaging Ye Chen in battle, it fled straight away!


    This surprised Ye Chen a bit; the "Green-Eyed Toad" was indeed very vigilant.


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that it was precisely because of his formidable strength that the "Green-Eyed Toad" was scared away.


    Over the years, many people had discovered the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit," but in the end, they were all killed by this "Green-Eyed Toad," and that¡¯s why the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit" had remained here until now.


    "Alright, now that the ¡¯Green-Eyed Toad¡¯ has fled, it¡¯s time to take the ¡¯Green Spirit Dragon Fruit.¡¯ Xiaojiu, Zhou Yue, there are exactly three fruits, one for each of us."


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    Having said that, Ye Chen gently caressed the purple plant¡¯s fruit with his finger, and the three fruits fell into his palm.


    Ye Chen tossed two of the fruits directly to Xiaojiu and Zhou Yue.


    "Hehe, as a Soul Beast, I do indeed need this kind of fruit! Ye Chen, I won¡¯t stand on ceremony with you!" Xiaojiu chuckled softly, spread her wings to fly, grew a bit larger, and directly grasped the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit" in her claws.


    Zhou Yue, who caught the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit," was somewhat incredulous, "Ye Chen... Ye Chen, I can have a share of such a precious thing?!"


    Zhou Yue had just heard Xiaojiu say that such a fruit could be auctioned off for a hundred thousand Black Divine Coins apiece!


    A hundred thousand Black Divine Coins!


    Even if all of the Zhou Family¡¯s assets in Fallen Moon City were added up, it wouldn¡¯t amount to that much.


    Now, such a precious fruit was in her own hands, given to her by Ye Chen, which made Zhou Yue almost unable to believe it.


    "It¡¯s okay, finder¡¯s keepers," Ye Chen said to Zhou Yue with a gentle smile, "Although the fruit is precious, as we move forward, there will be many more opportunities to obtain even more valuable treasures. Don¡¯t be shy."


    "Mm, thank you, Ye Chen." Seeing that Ye Chen was sincere, Zhou Yue thought for a moment, then smiled and accepted the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit."


    Zhou Yue knew that only someone as powerful as Ye Chen could readily give away such things.


    Because for such powerful individuals, obtaining these things was as simple as mortals picking peaches.


    Ye Chen said there would be more opportunities to obtain precious treasures, and Zhou Yue certainly believed him; Ye Chen had the ability!


    "Xiaojiu, how do you eat this fruit? Can you just consume it directly?" Holding the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit" in his hand, Ye Chen examined it and asked Xiaojiu.


    Ye Chen noticed that the fruit hadn¡¯t emitted any fragrance at first, but after being picked from the plant on which it grew, it was fragrant and tempting, making Ye Chen almost unable to resist devouring it on the spot.


    And seeing the lifelike dragon-shaped core inside the translucent flesh of the fruit only added to his amazement.


    Xiaojiu was indeed a know-it-all; upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, she smiled lightly and said, "With this kind of fruit, both the flesh and the core can be consumed directly, but the core is the truly valuable part. Of course, it¡¯s best to use it when breaking through in your cultivation, as the sudden increase in Divine Soul power will make the breakthrough easier."


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind stirred, and he stopped the impulse to consume it directly.


    Breaking through realms?


    Ye Chen knew that within the next few months, he would be cultivating within the Life Origin Wheel and might well break through to a new realm!


    "I¡¯ll consume this treasure when I break through from the late stage of the Heavenly Saint to the True God Realm. After all, I have to have treasures to face the first of the Three Tribulations."


    Seeing that Ye Chen hadn¡¯t consumed the fruit, Zhou Yue also smiled and said, "I¡¯ve just cultivated to the Three Tribulations True God not long ago, and the sense of the fourth divine tribulation has yet to arrive, so I¡¯ll refrain from using it too. I¡¯ll keep it, and in case I need Black Divine Coins in the future, I can sell it directly!"


    As she finished speaking, Zhou Yue playfully winked at Ye Chen and giggled lightly.


    The young girl¡¯s talk of selling it, of course, was just a joke. Such precious fruit sometimes cannot even be bought with Black Divine Coins, so she naturally wouldn¡¯t sell it.


    And the Zhou Family, about to inherit the treasure of the Ice Snow King, wouldn¡¯t be in need of Black Divine Coins.


    Just as Ye Chen, Xiaojiu, and Zhou Yue were brimming with smiles from obtaining the three "Green Spirit Dragon Fruits," Ye Chen¡¯s brow suddenly furrowed, and Xiaojiu landed directly on his shoulder, looking into the distance.


    "What¡¯s wrong, Ye Chen?" Zhou Yue noticed the troubled expressions on Ye Chen and Xiaojiu and she was momentarily stunned.


    Ye Chen summoned Zhou Yue with a gentle wave of his hand, and the girl stood beside him. Then, just like Xiaojiu, Ye Chen turned his gaze toward a direction in the north.


    Just as Zhou Yue settled next to Ye Chen, a series of booming flight sounds filled the air, and she saw five streaks of light shooting towards their location.


    Finally, the light faded, revealing the figures of five people.


    All five of them were at the Nine Tribulations True God Realm, and the one in the front was a young man with a somewhat sinister face.


    As soon as this young man landed, he greedily eyed the three "Green Spirit Dragon Fruits" that Ye Chen, Xiaojiu, and Zhou Yue were holding.


    "The Green Spirit Dragon Fruit, it really is the aura from when the Green Spirit Dragon Fruit has appeared!"


    "I didn¡¯t expect my ¡¯Multi-spirit Treasure Belt¡¯ to actually find such treasures!"


    After clicking his tongue in admiration, the young man fixed his gaze on the small bird transformed by Ye Chen, Zhou Yue, and Xiaojiu, "One of you is in the late Heavenly Saint stage, and the other at the Three Tribulations True God Realm, yet you managed to obtain Green Spirit Dragon Fruits, you must have some shit luck!"


    "Hand over the fruits and get lost!"


    With his arms crossed in front of his chest, the young man appeared completely sure of himself, as if he had Ye Chen and the others pegged.


    After all, they were five Nine Tribulations True Gods; why would they fear two lower-realm Martial Artists like Ye Chen and Zhou Yue?


    Ye Chen¡¯s brow also furrowed.


    "There was no sign of these people before, but as soon as I picked the fruit, they flew over. Could it be that the aura released by the ¡¯Green Spirit Dragon Fruit¡¯ after being picked alerted them?"


    Ye Chen shook his head and then looked back at the sinister-faced youth who demanded they hand over the fruit and leave.


    "Get lost?" Ye Chen smiled lightly, his palm caressed the air, and he stowed the Green Spirit Dragon Fruit into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on his person, "You wish."


    Xiaojiu also glared at the sinister-faced youth. She blurted out, sucking the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit" from her claw into her stomach in one gulp, and even seemed to savor its deliciousness with a smacking sound, "So fragrant, so fragrant."


    Zhou Yue also concealed her "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit" at Ye Chen¡¯s silent cue.


    Ye Chen and Zhou Yue¡¯s actions, coupled with Xiaojiu¡¯s direct consumption of the "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit," instantly infuriated the sinister-faced youth before them.


    "Good, good, today has really been an eye-opener. Here in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, there are actually people who dare to disobey our ¡¯Black Dragon Stronghold¡¯!"


    "Boy, you and your little bird have successfully angered me. And there¡¯s only one outcome for angering me, and that is¡ªdeath!"


    Boom!


    As the sinister-faced young man spoke, his aura erupted forth. The immense Nine Tribulations True God aura formed a conical storm that blasted directly towards Ye Chen.


    At the same time, the young man leered towards Zhou Yue, "Of course, this girl has some looks; I won¡¯t kill her. I¡¯ll take her back to the stronghold and enjoy her for a few days before rewarding her to my brothers!"


    Seeing the sinister-faced youth make his move, Ye Chen could only shake his head in resignation, but when he heard what he said, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze instantly turned icy.


    Ye Chen did not say much. Watching the conical storm that the sinister-faced youth had launched, he reached out into the void with a big hand and crushed the terrifying storm in his grasp.


    Then, with another grab in the void, Ye Chen directly pulled the sinister-faced youth towards him.


    Even as a Nine Tribulations True God, the sinister-faced young man couldn¡¯t resist Ye Chen¡¯s grip!


    This turn of events caused the originally arrogant and sinister countenance of the youth to transform drastically, as he screamed in alarm. The other four Nine Tribulations True Gods, sensing things had gone awry, also attacked Ye Chen at the same time.


    Ye Chen waved his sleeve once.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The four incoming Nine Tribulations True Gods were blown back hundreds of yards by a tremendous force, slamming against the vast ancient trees of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, breaking the giant trees upon impact.


    The screaming sinister-faced youth was now held in front of Ye Chen by his upside-down grasp, and with a clench of his hand in the air, Ye Chen crushed the lower body of the youth into the void. Then with a flick of his palm, he sent the youth flying hundreds of yards away, to smash into the trees as well.


    "Hearing you talk, you¡¯ve done plenty of evil things, so it¡¯s only right to cripple you, so you can¡¯t do any more evil deeds!" Ye Chen¡¯s voice reached directly into the ears of the five men lying on the ground.


    The sin of the sinister-faced youth with the destroyed lower body was already unbearable, and after being smashed so fiercely, he fainted from the pain.


    As for the other four, noticing the blood on the sinister-faced youth¡¯s lower body, they were all shocked and cried out, "Young master, young master!"


    One of the four looked at Ye Chen and said, "Boy, you¡¯re dead, definitely dead!"


    As he spoke, a signal flare of extreme speed shot up into the sky, releasing a huge blood-colored dragon pattern in the sky!

 Chapter 653 - 605: Divine King, Ancient Ape

    The signal flare streaked across the sky with such blinding speed that both Ye Chen and Xiaojiu had no time to halt it.


    When Ye Chen saw the blood-red dragon-shaped pattern that formed in the sky, thousands of zhang in size and pulsing wildly, his face instantly turned sour.


    Ye Chen was keenly aware that this was the distress signal of the five people before him.


    Clearly, upon realizing that they were no match for Ye Chen, they had sent out a call for help to others!


    And these five, having witnessed his combat power yet still daring to call for help, combined with the earlier insinuations by the sinister young man about their affiliation with Black Dragon Stronghold¡ªan entity that was feared throughout the Buried Dragon Mountain Range¡ª


    led Ye Chen to surmise that the individuals they represented could very likely include some of the mightiest beings on the Star Continent¡ªa Lower God King!


    Hearing them address the incapacitated youth as the young master, Ye Chen was even more certain that a calamity had indeed swooped down upon him!


    A Lower God King was far beyond Ye Chen¡¯s current strength; even if he risked damaging his life-bound flying sword, it might not be enough, possibly only by triggering the self-destruction of the blazing life-bound flying sword could he kill a Lower God King.


    But Ye Chen was well aware of the dangers of a flying sword¡¯s self-destruction.


    After all, when Heavenly Saint Lian Yue¡¯s flying sword self-destructed, he had become little more than a living dead!


    Until it was a matter of life and death, Ye Chen certainly would not casually resort to self-destructing his flying sword! Find your next adventure on novelhall.Co?m


    "Hmph!"


    With these thoughts, Ye Chen let out a cold snort, flicked his fingers and knocked the five unconscious, then sent a message to Zhou Yue with a gesture and, grasping the air, pulled her into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Taking Xiaojiu with him, he then fled the valley with the greatest of speed.


    As Ye Chen sped away from the valley, many martial artists within the Buried Dragon Mountain Range who noticed the massive blood-red dragon pattern in the sky were shocked.


    "The Blood Dragon pattern! That¡¯s the highest level of distress signal from Black Dragon Stronghold!"


    "Who has provoked Black Dragon Stronghold?!"


    "Remember, ¡¯Sima Feng,¡¯ the ghostly chief of Black Dragon Stronghold, is a fearsome Lower God King, renowned even in the Divine King strength rankings of the entire Dragon Star Continent."


    "In this region of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, ¡¯Sima Feng¡¯ is the foremost powerhouse; absolutely no one dares to offend him."


    "Whoever has gotten into trouble with Black Dragon Stronghold is in for a world of pain!"


    Amongst the astonished martial artists, several dressed in black, upon seeing the direction from which the signal flare came, had their expressions change dramatically. With streams of light flashing from their hands, they flew from all directions toward the same spot deeper within the Buried Dragon Mountain Range.


    At the same time, these martial artists rushed towards the direction of the signal flare with extreme speed.


    Following the trails of light released by these black-clad martial artists, one could see that they all converged towards a location near the core area, deep in the central parts of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range.


    This location was a massive valley, many times larger than the one where Ye Chen had previously picked the Green Spirit Dragon Fruit, and the entire valley radiated with the terrifying presence of demonic creatures.


    At this very moment, outside this immense valley, dozens of figures were stealthily hiding, quietly observing the valley.


    The leader, a gaunt middle-aged man in black, had eerie green eyes and black ghostly patterns imprinted on his forehead.


    The aura emanating from this gaunt middle-aged man reached the level of a Lower God King, even stronger than that of Vice City Lord Wang whom Ye Chen had encountered in Circulation of Heaven Divine City, and on par with City Lord Nie.


    All the dozens of people behind the gaunt man were, without exception, at the realm of the Nine Tribulations True God.


    At this time, one of the Nine Tribulations True Gods beside the gaunt man, seeming a bit anxious, transmitted a message: "Fort Chief, we¡¯ve waited twenty days now, yet the ¡¯Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯ has shown no sign of movement. Could something have gone wrong?"


    The gaunt middle-aged man gazed unwaveringly into the valley and replied icily, "Even if it takes two hundred days, we must wait."


    "This ¡¯Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯ is the ultimate ruler of the central part of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, a peak Lower God King that¡¯s nearly at the level of a Middle God King. Even I am no match for its power!"


    "However, the ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯ inside its body is extremely precious and even beneficial for my Divine Tribulation."


    "Under normal circumstances, I wouldn¡¯t dare provoke such a creature. This time, however, it just so happens to be facing its Divine Tribulation. If it overcomes this second Divine Tribulation, it can directly strike at the Middle God King level, and we¡¯ll no longer have a chance to obtain the ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯ from it."


    "Our only chance is to wait for it to start its Divine Tribulation, and while it¡¯s weakened fighting the tribulation, we will strike it down!"


    "On any other day, our lurking presence would have been detected by it already. Its current silence indicates that its Divine Tribulation is truly imminent, likely within the next few days, possibly even today!"


    "So wait, wait for that moment when it¡¯s injured fighting the Divine Tribulation! It¡¯s impossible not to suffer injuries during the second strike at the Middle God King level!"


    Toward the end, the green eyes of the gaunt middle-aged man glowed with intense greed and anticipation.


    Just then, those streaks of light from outside the mountain zipped rapidly to the outskirts of the region. The gaunt man as if sensing something, vanished from his spot in an instant.


    The next moment, he appeared where the glinting lights were drifting.


    When the slender middle-aged man in black clothes grasped the streak of light and immersed his Divine Sense into it, his face instantly sank: "Hmm? Is that a distress signal flame coming from Huan¡¯er¡¯s area? And the highest-level distress blood dragon pattern, too? Has something happened to Huan¡¯er?!"


    Boom!


    In an instant, the slender middle-aged man in black clothes returned to the original hidden boundary. He transmitted a message to the dozens of Nine Tribulation True Gods beside him: "I¡¯ll be leaving for a bit, will be right back. Keep a close watch on that ¡¯Thunder Ancient Ape.¡¯ If there¡¯s any unusual movement, quickly send me a message!"


    Without waiting for these dozens of Nine Tribulation True Gods to respond, the slender middle-aged man in black clothes vanished once again.


    Only the dozens of Nine Tribulation True Gods who were somewhat puzzled remained, transmitting messages to one another: "What¡¯s going on? What has happened? Why would the Fort Chief rush off at this moment?!"


    After discussing among themselves for a while and still puzzled, they continued to monitor the vast valley.


    ...


    In the vast valley.


    Under the watchful eyes of these Nine Tribulation True Gods Martial Artists, they could see nothing at all¡ªevidently, these Martial Artists did not dare to get too close to this vast valley.


    However, if one were to move further into the valley for several hundred miles, one could see an even larger area brimming with the aura of demon beasts. Within this area, there sat a gigantic ancient ape as tall as a thousand zhang, seated cross-legged just like human Martial Artists.


    Looking at this gigantic ancient ape, one could see that its fur was a divine silver-red color, as if countless thunderbolts were raging within the strands of its fur.


    And in the eyes of the gigantic ancient ape, which were slightly closed, the occasional aura that leaked out carried the breathtaking essence of thunder!


    Above the head of this giant ancient ape, massive black clouds had begun to gather, and with the passage of time, the gathering grew more and more substantial.


    ...


    The speed of spatial travel for a Lower God King was incredibly fast.


    Even though the Buried Dragon Mountain Range greatly affected speed, the slender middle-aged man in black clothes only took a few dozen breaths to arrive at the valley where Ye Chen had been before, by the side of the five people Ye Chen had knocked out.


    By this time, by the side of these five knocked-out individuals stood quite a few black-clothed Martial Artists. As soon as they saw the slender middle-aged man in black clothes, they hurriedly cried out to him: "Fort Chief, something terrible has happened!"


    Without a word from these people, the slender middle-aged man in black clothes saw the bloodstains under the strange young man who had been crippled by Ye Chen. His gaze turned icy in an instant. With a flick of his finger in the air, the techniques Ye Chen had used to knock them out, which countless Martial Artists could not untangle, were instantly undone.


    The five who had been knocked unconscious all came to their senses one after another.


    Seeing the slender middle-aged man in black clothes, four of them cried out: "Fort Chief, a young man has crippled our young master. You must avenge him!"


    The strange young man also awoke in agony; upon seeing the slender middle-aged man in black, he wailed: "Daddy, it was that kid, that kid hurt me, you must catch him and tear him to pieces!"


    Hearing the strange young man¡¯s words, the slender middle-aged man in black closed his eyes. In an instant, a mysterious sensing spread from this valley outward.


    Ten miles away, a hundred miles away, a thousand miles away, ten thousand miles away...


    Finally, he actually managed to track Ye Chen, who had already left the area by a good twenty thousand miles, using the aura Ye Chen had left in the area, and he directly saw Ye Chen!


    "Boy, it was you who hurt my son!"


    Utilizing the great Divine Skills of a Lower God King, the slender middle-aged man crossed a distance of over twenty thousand miles. A thunderous roar shook the air, directly assaulting Ye Chen¡¯s mind.


    And the slender middle-aged man vanished on the spot as well.


    If there were any Martial Artists who recognized this slender middle-aged man in black clothes, they would definitely know that this person was Sima Feng, a supreme lord of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range and one of the top twenty in the Divine King power rankings across the entire Dragon Star Continent!


    ...


    After stowing Zhou Yue into a Spatial Treasure, Ye Chen, moving at breakneck speed with Xiaojiu, became dozens of times faster than before when traveling through the Buried Dragon Mountain Range.


    In a moment, he had reached a place over twenty thousand miles away.


    Just as Sima Feng activated his Divine Sense to track Ye Chen, and his Divine Sense came to within a few hundred miles from Ye Chen, Ye Chen¡¯s heart suddenly skipped a beat.


    "Not good!"


    Ye Chen immediately rallied his Divine Soul and released all his aura in a blast, protecting his entire body.


    At that moment, the thunderous roar from Sima Feng that targeted Ye Chen¡¯s mind rushed into Ye Chen¡¯s brain.


    Even with Ye Chen¡¯s extraordinarily strong Divine Soul, this impact made his mind spin. His sea of Qi and physical body, as if struck by a heavy hammer, let out a "puh" as he spat out a mouthful of blood.


    This caused Xiaojiu, flying beside Ye Chen, to change its expression dramatically. It instantly grew to a thousand zhang in size to shield Ye Chen, asking, "Ye Chen, what¡¯s wrong?"


    Ye Chen did not respond to Xiaojiu¡¯s question but swiftly drew out the Purple Lightning Divine Sword and then turned around to face a certain area behind him.


    At this moment, in the area where Ye Chen was looking, space itself fluctuated, and the slender black-clothed middle-aged man, Lower God King Sima Feng, directly appeared within that domain.

 Chapter 654 - 606: Battle with the Lower God King

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    Sima Feng actually crossed tens of thousands of miles in an instant and directly tracked down Ye Chen!


    Seeing the thin, black-clad middle-aged man suddenly appearing, Ye Chen felt a sudden heaviness in his heart.


    This was Ye Chen¡¯s first time witnessing the true supernatural prowess of a Lower God King!


    Being able to traverse tens of thousands of miles, to make him spit out blood with a mere roar, and moreover to instantly track him down, such strength was simply unimaginable for warriors in the Heavenly Saint Realm or True God Realm!


    Ye Chen knew that when a Nine Tribulations True God broke through to the Lower God King Realm, not only would their True Qi increase by countless multiples, but their entire True Qi Divine Power would undergo a transformation to a higher level.


    Even if Ye Chen, in the late Heavenly Saint Realm, could battle a Nine Tribulations True God and possessed means far beyond ordinary warriors, the gap between his realm and that of a Lower God King was too vast; he definitely could not defeat a Lower God King now.


    Unless his star power expanded by countless multiples and his realm made a great advance, perhaps then he might stand a slight chance!


    While Ye Chen¡¯s heart was shaking, the thin, black-clad middle-aged man, "Sima Feng", fixed his ghostly green eyes on Ye Chen.


    His voice was extremely hoarse, like a ghostly wail, "Kid, you¡¯re merely at the late Heavenly Saint stage, yet you¡¯ve managed to injure my son and withstand my soul-shattering strike!"


    Sima Feng himself was somewhat shaken by Ye Chen¡¯s combat capabilities.


    However, such shock was fleeting and even though Ye Chen¡¯s level of strength earned him some respect from Sima Feng,


    Ye Chen had injured his son, Sima Huan, so he would absolutely not let Ye Chen go.


    In the midst of speaking, Sima Feng¡¯s expression looking at Ye Chen turned incredibly grim, "No matter how strong you are, no matter how talented, since you¡¯ve injured my son, you only have one path¡ªdeath!"


    "In this Buried Dragon Mountain Range, no one dares to defy me, no one dares to clash with my Black Dragon Stronghold!"


    "Meet your death, and remember, the one who kills you is the Lower God King, Sima Feng!"


    Boom!


    As Sima Feng finished speaking, he didn¡¯t bother saying anything more to Ye Chen, immediately unleashing the aura of a Lower God King.


    He had big plans to deal with in the Ancient Ape Valley, and of course, he wouldn¡¯t waste time!


    As the aura exploded, within a radius of ten thousand zhang, the sky darkened amidst howling winds, accompanied by terrifying cries and wolf howls.


    More horrifying still, amidst the chaotic aura, Sima Feng slapped his own head, and a palm-sized skull appeared above him instantly.


    The skull¡¯s eye sockets flickered with ghostly green flames, which in a flash stirred up, as two unmatched ghostly green beams fiercely shot towards Ye Chen!


    Clearly, the skull was an incredible offensive treasure!


    Ye Chen, while in the underwater divine palace¡¯s Illusory Chessboard Formation, had already practiced up to the Upper God King Realm. Although it was all just a dream, Ye Chen possessed profound knowledge about the methods used by God King Realm warriors.


    In the God King Realm, the Divine Power they held was significantly elevated compared to the True God Realm.


    And their lifespan experienced a tremendous leap compared to the True God Realm!


    This elevation and leap meant that warriors of the God King Realm were no longer solely reliant on True Qi Divine Power for battle; they would spend long periods of time cultivating their Life-bound Divine Treasures to execute even stronger attacks.


    These Divine Treasures, honed over extensive periods of time, exerted attack power countless times stronger than Divine Arts, and could even incorporate Heaven-reaching Divine Arts within them. By utilizing the treasures, one could unleash these divine arts directly, causing their destructive power to combine with the might of the treasures and increase explosively!


    At this moment, seeing the thin, black-clad middle-aged man, "Sima Feng", directly operating the skull to emit ghostly green beams, Ye Chen knew that this was likely the attacking prowess of one of Sima Feng¡¯s Life-bound Divine Treasures!


    Struck by the ghostly green beams with an unimaginable speed, Ye Chen was hit before he could grasp what was happening.


    Ye Chen, even before Sima Feng¡¯s appearance when coughing up blood, had already redirected all his strength to protect himself; otherwise, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to defend in time and would have been killed on the spot!


    However, even with Ye Chen¡¯s preparedness, the two ghostly green beams sent him flying tens of thousands of zhang away, smashing through no less than a hundred massive ancient trees in the process!


    It was only because Xiaojiu rapidly flew out to unload the terrifying force from Ye Chen¡¯s body as he was being sent flying, that they ultimately managed to stop Ye Chen¡¯s continuous collision with the large ancient trees.


    "Ye Chen!" Xiaojiu¡¯s eyes were already entirely red.


    And in the Icebound Temple Jade Pendant, Zhou Yue, who could see everything happening outside, also had red-rimmed eyes. Even Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the little monkey, who were meditating inside the pendant, were all shaken awake!


    Were it not for Ye Chen halting them, they would probably have flown out of the Icebound Temple Jade Pendant!


    Ye Chen knew that with a Lower God King¡¯s battle strength, even with Bing Yi and the others¡¯ help, it would be absolutely futile, and could even lead to their deaths as well.


    Therefore, Ye Chen had stopped them from coming out.


    At this moment, Ye Chen felt as if his entire sea of qi was being torn apart, and his whole body was churning as if it were about to be shredded!


    Puh! Puh! Puh!


    When he had been blasted away just moments before, Ye Chen had spat out several mouthfuls of fresh blood. His clothes were completely shattered, revealing the mid-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact level armor he had acquired from the inner sanctum of the Icebound Temple.


    Without the protection of this armor, even if Ye Chen had been on guard, he might have been killed on the spot!


    After glancing at the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact armor that had been revealed, Ye Chen quickly circulated the Divine Power of his Undying Divine Body, rapidly repairing his damaged body; at the same time, he flicked his palm and a top-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat appeared in his hand.


    With his current strength, he was not yet able to fully wield the protective abilities of the mid-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact armor, let alone the flying speed of the top-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat.


    Therefore, Ye Chen had not used the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat when moving around before.


    But now, facing the attack of a Lower God King he could not possibly withstand, Ye Chen had no choice but to rely on the defensive power of the top-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat.


    Seeing that his own strike had not killed Ye Chen, who was still able to move, Sima Feng¡¯s eyes twitched.


    He knew very well that he had not held back in his attack.


    Under such a blow, even a mighty Nine Tribulations True God could have been slain, yet this young man before him had managed to block it, taking Sima Feng completely by surprise.


    When Sima Feng saw the armor revealed by the torn clothing on Ye Chen, along with the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, a sneer spread across his face, "I didn¡¯t expect that a mere late-stage Heavenly Saint like you, in addition to being powerful in combat, actually possesses Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts! And they¡¯re not even of low quality!"


    "It seems you come from no ordinary background!"


    "However, no matter how extraordinary your origins may be, if I kill you here in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range and erase all traces of what happened, there won¡¯t be anyone to avenge you!"


    "You can¡¯t fully harness the power of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, and you think they will protect you from me? Dream on!"


    Boom!


    As Sima Feng spoke, the skull above his head flashed in an instant, and two more green rays shot out towards Ye Chen.


    Clearly, Sima Feng had no intention of giving Ye Chen a chance to recover his strength, intending to use this Divine Treasure to completely finish him off!


    Before the green rays reached him, Ye Chen instantly flew into the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, which then took the brunt of the assault directly.


    The Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat was of the highest grade, so Sima Feng¡¯s Ancient Treasure could not destroy it. However, even if it could not be destroyed, the attack still managed to send the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat hurtling tens of thousands of feet away, with Ye Chen unable to fully activate its power.


    In the end, Sima Feng reached out with a large hand and, regardless of Ye Chen controlling the flying boat, the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flew back towards Sima Feng!


    Sima Feng, seeing that the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat could protect Ye Chen, seemed to want to take it for himself!


    Without the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, he would be directly exposed to attacks, and within the Divine Artifact, he had no way to prevent it from being seized. In the end, Ye Chen and Xiaojiu, who had also entered the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact flying boat, shared a significant glance. Then, Ye Chen instantaneously retracted the flying boat and revealed his figure.


    As he was being grasped and pulled towards Sima Feng, and as Sima Feng once again charged up the skull to shoot out the third green ray, Ye Chen flashed with divine light and suddenly stopped the momentum at which he was being captured.


    This divine light turned out to be Xiaojiu pouring all her Soul Power into Ye Chen¡¯s body, giving him a significant increase in Divine Power!


    "Hm? Able to fuse Divine Power? It seems your Spirit Beast is a Soul Beast!" Sima Feng noticed Ye Chen¡¯s halted motion, his eyes growing cold, "You think with Divine Power fusion you can withstand my mortal blow? It¡¯s still far from enough!"


    As he spoke, the two green rays shot by the skull heads were about to strike Ye Chen for the third time.


    At that moment, the Life-bound Flying Sword, Crimson Fire, that resided within the Jian Palace acupoint on Ye Chen¡¯s forehead, took flight, gathering boundless Divine Power. It activated the second strike of the Nine Swords of Annihilation that Ye Chen had never before used, "Wandiding," to meet the two green rays head-on.


    The moment the second strike of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, "Wandiding," was unleashed, the earth within a radius of ten thousand feet seemed utterly overturned, each piece of ground incinerated into nothingness, as if every breath of life had been drained!


    These breaths, at an incredible speed, all flowed into the second strike of the Nine Swords of Annihilation wielded by Ye Chen¡¯s Life-bound Flying Sword, Crimson Fire!


    A single sword met the attack, splitting heaven and earth, and finally shattered the two green rays completely!


    This turn of events left Sima Feng with a shock in his eyes, "Flying Sword, Heaven-reaching Divine Art!"


    "You, boy, sure do have quite a few hidden cards. It looks like I need to employ my trump card to deal with you!"


    In Sima Feng¡¯s astonished gaze, he patted his forehead once more, and another Ancient Treasure that he nurtured within his body space emerged above his head.


    This Ancient Treasure was a black Ancient Banner adorned with countless ghastly specter patterns.


    And at that moment, Ye Chen too moved his palm, grabbing onto the life-saving talisman East Territory King had left behind.

 Chapter 655 - 607: Divine Tribulation, Treasure

    Ye Chen knew that the upcoming battle was reaching its most critical moment.


    If his Divine Power, fused with Xiaojiu¡¯s, couldn¡¯t withstand the strike from Lower God King Sima Feng, then Ye Chen would have no choice but to use the Life-saving Talisman left by the East Territory King.


    Although activating the Life-saving Talisman meant, according to the agreement with the East Territory King, Ye Chen could no longer wander freely in the Southern Territory and would have to be taken back to the East Territory King¡¯s residence for protection, under those circumstances, Ye Chen would be unable to participate in the upcoming Divine City battle and the exploration of Nine Suns Ancient Land. He truly didn¡¯t wish to use the talisman.


    However, compared to resisting with the self-explosion of his flying sword, which might turn him into a walking corpse, the better choice for Ye Chen was evidently to use the Life-saving Talisman.


    After all, using the Life-saving Talisman wouldn¡¯t cause him any injury, it would just deprive him of the freedom to explore for a while.


    As Ye Chen¡¯s mind raced, on the other side, the Ancient Banner in the hands of Sima Feng had been fully activated by his unique Heaven-reaching Divine Power as a Lower God King.


    In an instant, Ye Chen felt countless Evil Ghost figures flying out of the black Ancient Banner and surging toward him.


    To Ye Chen, each of these Evil Ghost figures felt as powerful as the terrifying spirits of a Ninth Tribulation True God, and what was more frightening was that upon emerging from the black Ancient Banner, they howled manically. These howls possessed incredible killing power against the Divine Soul. Even with Ye Chen¡¯s formidable Divine Soul Power, he felt his Divine Soul shaking as if starting to disperse, amidst the howls of the countless Evil Ghost figures!


    Ye Chen was greatly alarmed and could no longer afford to use the soul power, merged with Xiaojiu, to execute the Jie?mie? Jiu? Jia?n technique. Instead, he instantly fused Xiaojiu¡¯s soul power with his own Divine Soul Power to resist the Evil Ghosts¡¯ howling attacks.


    At the same time, using his physical combat strength and the power of the stars, Ye Chen wielded the first of the Jie?mie? Jiu? Jia?n to deal with the numerous Evil Ghost figures that had come close.


    In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen was completely surrounded by a sky full of ghostly shadows, and from a distance, it seemed as if he were being attacked by a gigantic black sphere!


    Beyond the countless ghostly shadows,


    The black-robed, gaunt, middle-aged Sima Feng, seeing Ye Chen wrapped in countless Evil Ghost figures and frantically responding to them, smiled coldly, "My Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner is an Ancient Treasure forged from the souls of countless powerful beings. Its might ranks first among all my possessions!"


    "This treasure not only attacks the physical body and true energy, but it is also immensely damaging to the Divine Soul!"


    "With this treasure, many Lower God Kings are no match for me, and you, boy, let¡¯s see how long you can hold out!"


    "However, the night is long and dreams are many¡ªrelying solely on the ¡¯Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner¡¯ to attack is insufficient; I shall also attack and directly kill this youngster!"


    While speaking, a flash of cold light appeared in Sima Feng¡¯s hand, and a thin Divine Light Cold Blade materialized in his palm. In an instant, Sima Feng prepared to flash forward to directly strike Ye Chen, who was enveloped by countless Evil Ghost figures.


    Just then, Sima Feng¡¯s expression suddenly changed, and he stopped dead in his tracks.


    He slapped his hand, and a tablet appeared in his palm. The ghastly, fanged specter carved on the tablet suddenly began to flicker with an inexplicable bright light.


    "Hmm, my ¡¯Mother-Child Yin Soul Pendant¡¯ is showing unusual activity. Could it be that the other half of the ¡¯Mother-Child Yin Soul Pendant,¡¯ which I placed in the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s valley to sense any movement, is responding now? Has the Divine Tribulation of the Thunder Ancient Ape finally arrived?!"


    The Thunder Ancient Ape was related to the "Thunder Beast Crystal," an item immensely helpful to Lower God Kings undergoing their Divine Tribulation. For Sima Feng, that was naturally more important than killing Ye Chen!


    "Crossing the divine ordeal, every moment is critical, if you miss the best chance to kill the ¡¯Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯, then it¡¯s all over."


    "Enough, let¡¯s deal with that ¡¯Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯ first, and then kill this boy. After all, having launched an attack with my ¡¯Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner¡¯, I¡¯ve already planted the Evil Ghost mark on this boy¡¯s body. Even if he can fend off the attacks of the ten thousand ghosts now, he absolutely can¡¯t escape my tracking!"


    Thinking this, Sima Feng¡¯s cold gaze towards Ye Chen flashed, he slapped his head, and in an instant, the ¡¯Ancient Treasure¡¯ ¡¯Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner¡¯ he had summoned was retracted back into his body. At the same time, he also directly put away ¡¯Divine Light Cold Blade¡¯ and his figure zigzagged, disappearing straight from the scene.


    This Sima Feng, at such a critical moment, didn¡¯t kill Ye Chen!


    The next moment, Sima Feng arrived tens of thousands of miles away. As he shuttled through the void, he sensed messages from his subordinates left outside the huge valley where the Thunder Ancient Ape was, his eyes flashing with surprise, and then he disappeared into the void once again.


    Although Sima Feng headed straight for the valley of the Thunder Ancient Ape, the Evil Ghosts he had activated beforehand were still attacking Ye Chen.


    However, without Sima Feng¡¯s simultaneous attacks, these Evil Ghosts were gradually slain and resisted by Ye Chen, and the pressure began to lessen.


    Eventually, when Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Power was nearly depleted, even the Divine Power integrated into his body from Xiaojiu was almost exhausted, Ye Chen finally slaughtered all the countless Evil Ghost figures surrounding him.


    Then, Ye Chen saw that his surroundings were completely empty, with Sima Feng long gone without a trace.


    "Hmm, I almost used the Life-saving Talisman. Did Sima Feng miss such a good opportunity to kill me?" Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Of course, he did not believe that Sima Feng let him go out of kindness. From Sima Feng¡¯s earlier move, there was not the slightest mercy.


    "Could it be that there was something big that made him leave in such a hurry?"


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    "No matter, at this moment my Divine Power is about to be exhausted, and I am extremely weak. I fear I couldn¡¯t withstand even a five-tribulation true god Ancient Beast. It¡¯s better to make my way to the treasure land of the God King as quickly as possible for safety!"


    As Ye Chen¡¯s gaze flickered, with a pat of his hand, two figures were pulled out from his spatial treasure.


    These two figures, one was Xiaojiu, just like Ye Chen, whose soul power was almost exhausted and who was feeling a bit hollow. The other figure was Bing Yi.


    "Xiaojiu, are you alright?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu smiled wryly and shook his head, "No major harm done, just need to meditate and recuperate to replenish my soul power. Ye Chen, that Lower God King is probably quite formidable even among his peers, to have beaten us in such a bad shape together!"


    Seeing that Xiaojiu was alright, Ye Chen felt somewhat relieved. Then, he directly said to Bing Yi, "Bing Yi, take me to the treasure land of the God King as fast as possible. I will guide you from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant!"


    "Yes, Master!" Bing Yi, seeing Ye Chen¡¯s condition, also felt immense heartache.


    Seeing Ye Chen and Xiaojiu both flying into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant in a flash, Bing Yi held the Ice Snow Jade Pendant in her hand, and the next moment, her figure too disappeared without a trace.

 Chapter 656 - 608: The Ancient Ape Crosses the Divine Tribulation!

    The vast valley inhabited by the Thunder Ancient Ape.


    As Sima Feng rushed toward this immense valley, it had already become drastically different from before!


    One could see that the monstrous aura emanating from the entire valley was many times more formidable than earlier. The Nine Tribulation True Gods from Black Dragon Stronghold couldn¡¯t withstand this terrifying monster aura at all, and had been forced to retreat dozens of miles away.


    Not only was the monstrous aura sky-high in the valley, but one could also see that the sky above the huge valley was now completely covered by dark, oppressive clouds of calamity.


    Moreover, the thousand-foot-tall gigantic ancient ape, which had previously been seated in meditation, had now stood up. Proudly standing upright like a human, its divine eyes were fixed intently above its head.


    Finally, after letting out a thunderous roar to the heavens, the colossal ancient ape fiercely pounded its massive chest several times, then, with a powerful spring of its legs, it shot towards the terrifying black calamity clouds in the void.


    As it charged at the calamity clouds, spirals of thick lightning dozens of feet thick suddenly burst forth from the mystic silver and red fur covering its divine body.


    The entire ancient ape was completely enveloped in lightning, as if it were donning a suit of lightning armor!


    In an instant, the ancient ape plunged into the terrible calamity clouds, and the already poised clouds let out an earth-shattering thunderous boom. Then they struck at the ancient ape with a force as mighty as thunderbolts!


    Despite the thousand-foot stature of the ancient ape, it seemed as minuscule as an ant compared to the calamity clouds that spread across the entire sky.


    When the calamity clouds produced thunderous divine tribulation lightning, each bolt was pitch-black and dozens of times larger than the ape¡¯s body, relentlessly slamming onto the ape.


    This ancient ape was an absolutely powerful being even among the Lower God Kings, so naturally, it wasn¡¯t afraid of the initial strikes of divine tribulation lightning.


    Roar! Roar! Roar!


    Amidst its heaven-shaking roars, the ape astonishingly reached out its great hand and tore apart bolt after bolt of Divine Tribulation lightning, each dozens of times larger than its own body!


    However, as countless bolts of Divine Tribulation lightning cascaded down like torrential rain and their power grew ever stronger, the ancient ape began to be suppressed. The fur on its body stood on end, and right in the center of its brow, a silver-white crystal emitted endless brilliance.


    This silver-white crystal was none other than the most precious thing on the Thunder Ancient Ape, the supreme treasure it had been cultivating and nurturing¡ª the Thunder Beast Crystal!


    The ancient ape had indeed begun to undergo the Divine Tribulation, using the power of the Thunder Beast Crystal to counter the tribulation!


    In the void, for thousands of miles around, the sky was covered with dense lightning flashes, accompanied by constant thunderous rumblings. Together with the occasional earth-shattering roars of the Thunder Ancient Ape, this composed a scene of tribulation that was terrifying to the extreme!


    This sight completely stupefied the Nine Tribulation True Gods who had retreated a great distance!


    They couldn¡¯t imagine that the Divine Tribulation for a Lower God King to advance to the Middle God King was countless times more fearsome than the Heavenly Tribulations they had faced time and again!


    "Too terrifying!"


    "Is this the legendary Divine Tribulation?!"


    "No wonder many Lower God Kings perish in this Divine Tribulation; its power is simply horrifying to the extreme! Any fraction of it would undoubtedly kill us instantly!"


    "This Thunder Ancient Ape is truly too strong, it can still hold on in the face of such a terrifying Divine Tribulation!"


    The dozens of Nine Tribulation True Gods from Black Dragon Stronghold were all pale at the sight of this frightening Divine Tribulation lightning.


    They trembled at the thought of facing the Divine Tribulation when they would eventually attempt to break through to the God King Realm.


    None of them could say with certainty that they would be able to pass through the Divine Tribulation of the God King Realm!


    With pale faces, these Nine Tribulation True Gods watched the Thunder Ancient Ape roaring amidst the heaven-wide Divine Tribulation lightning, anxious expressions appearing in their eyes.


    "Why hasn¡¯t the Fort Chief come yet?"


    "If we miss the critical moment to kill this Thunder Ancient Ape, that would be terrible!"


    "Could it be that our message hasn¡¯t reached the Fort Chief yet?!"


    Just as these Nine Tribulation True Gods were growing extremely anxious, space fluctuated, and the lean, middle-aged Sima Feng in black clothing, appeared right beside them.


    "Fort Chief, you¡¯ve finally arrived!"


    "The Thunder Ancient Ape has begun to undergo the Divine Tribulation!"


    Seeing Sima Feng arrive, the Nine Tribulation True Gods surged towards him with great joy.


    But Sima Feng didn¡¯t even glance at these Nine Tribulation True Gods; his green eyes were fixed on the void, on the Thunder Ancient Ape bathed in the immense Divine Tribulation lightning.


    Sima Feng¡¯s fists were clenched tightly, his heart filled with both tension and excitement, "It¡¯s here, finally here!"


    "Whether we can obtain the ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯ all depends on this battle!"


    ...


    While Sima Feng hurried back to the immense valley, intently watching every move of the Thunder Ancient Ape, ready to seize the opportunity, Bing Yi, who had been traversing the void, crossed over a hundred thousand miles of territory and finally arrived on the other side of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, opposite the gigantic valley.


    There, a huge black abyss stood surrounded by a ring of peaks.


    At this moment, Ye Chen emerged once again from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and stood beside Bing Yi, looking towards the giant black abyss.


    "The Divine King¡¯s treasure trove is right here!"


    "This time, entering the treasure trove, no matter what treasures are found, we must wait for the right moment to enter the Life Origin Wheel for cultivation! We must break through into the True God Realm!"


    Ye Chen had somewhat recovered his vitality by now, but his face still looked a bit haggard.


    The brief clash with the Lower God King, Sima Feng, filled Ye Chen¡¯s heart with deep sentiments.


    He was far from being a match for a person like Sima Feng!


    Moreover, if it weren¡¯t for Sima Feng being preoccupied, if he didn¡¯t have the life-saving talisman from the East Territory King, facing such peril, it was very likely that he was bound to die!


    This, of course, was something Ye Chen could not accept.


    Ye Chen had already felt that his trump cards were somewhat inadequate in the vast God Kingdom of the Wa?n Mu? Mountains. Rising all the way from the Heavenly Wind Kingdom in the Barbaric Wilderness Continent, he certainly understood the importance of having aces up his sleeve.


    He had already made up his mind that once the opening time for the Life Origin Wheel arrived, he would enter it at once to cultivate at a hundredfold time velocity!


    Another reason Ye Chen was so resolved was that upon introspecting his body, he discovered mysterious black marks within his cells.


    These black marks appeared after he had slain countless evil spirits summoned by Sima Feng¡¯s Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner.


    No matter what means Ye Chen employed to remove these black marks, he was unable to shake them.


    His heart immediately tensed up.


    Ye Chen knew that these black marks were surely left behind by Sima Feng as a measure against him.


    It was clear that although Sima Feng had left due to some urgent matters, he had not let Ye Chen off, leaving this special mark on him ¨C likely to continue pursuing him later on.


    In such a situation, lacking the ability to contend with Sima Feng, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t leave the treasure site of the Ice-Sealed Divine King rashly.


    After all, within the Dragon Star Continent, no place was safer than the treasure site left by the Ice-Sealed Divine King.


    When the Ice-Sealed Divine King left his treasures here, he had already stepped into the tier of Upper God Kings. His treasure site, even if pushed by Sima Feng, a much stronger Lower God King than Ye Chen, would absolutely remain unshakable!


    In the midst of his troubled thoughts, Ye Chen flipped his palm, and three peculiar keys appeared in his hand.


    Then, following the method taught by the Ice-Sealed Divine King to enter the treasure site, Ye Chen struck a spell with his hands. The three peculiar keys turned into three beams of light, enveloping Ye Chen¡¯s body layer by layer.


    After that, having retracted Bing Yi back into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen peered into the black abyss below before leaping headlong into it!


    A moment later, Ye Chen paused on the leaf of a vast and ordinary ancient vine, deep within the black abyss that was tens of thousands of feet deep.


    Then, as the three beams of light around him flashed, Ye Chen flew directly into the miraculous realm within the leaf.


    Looking into this miraculous realm, it could be seen to be a colossal hall where countless treasures were gleaming brightly.


    This place was none other than the treasure site left by the Ice-Sealed Divine King!


    With a thought, Ye Chen summoned Xiaojiu and Zhou Yue from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Together, they began scrutinizing each piece of treasure before them.


    ...


    Just as Ye Chen finally entered the treasure site of the Ice-Sealed Divine King,


    In that vast valley, the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s Divine Tribulation had reached an extremely critical moment.


    By now, the body of the Thunder Ancient Ape was covered in spots of blood.


    Even as powerful as the Thunder Ancient Ape was, under the terrifying Divine Tribulation thunder, it had suffered some injuries.


    At this moment, the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s sagacious eyes shone even brighter. Amidst its roaring towards the sky, its huge, fuzzy palm flipped, and a giant silver-red spear appeared in its grasp.


    The Thunder Ancient Ape stepped deftly and, raising the spear, slammed it against the countless bolts of Divine Tribulation thunder that were crashing down on it.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    On one side was the fearsome Divine Tribulation thunder spreading across thousands of miles, and on the other, the Thunder Ancient Ape, minuscule by comparison but continuously resisting the onslaught.


    The entire process of crossing the Divine Tribulation gradually lasted for a good half an hour!


    At this pivotal moment, using the silver-red spear, the Thunder Ancient Ape was still holding up against the ceaselessly heaven-thrusting Divine Tribulation thunder!


    Just then, hidden outside, Sima Feng, who had been closely watching the Thunder Ancient Ape, had his expression turn completely tense.


    "Legend has it that there are three colors of Divine Tribulation thunder when a Lower God King strikes at becoming an Upper God King," he muttered to himself.


    "The first color is the black Divine Tribulation thunder!"


    "The second one is crimson Divine Tribulation thunder!"


    "And the last color is the starry Divine Tribulation thunder, signifying the final transformation to ascend as a Middle God King!"


    "Of the three colors of Divine Tribulation thunder, one is more terrifying than the next. This Thunder Ancient Ape has already endured the first type of Divine Tribulation thunder. Next, it faces the second type!" Read latest stories on novelhall.Co?m


    "During the second Divine Tribulation thunder, it will surely not exert its full strength, as it must conserve power to face the even more terrifying third type. Therefore, it is very likely that during this second thunder, it will show flaws and suffer grave injuries!"


    "My chance to strike at it comes at the most critical time!"


    As Sima Feng¡¯s thoughts surged wildly, above the void, just as he had anticipated, the oppressive black Divine Tribulation thunder that covered the sky suddenly whirled and turned into a crimson red in an instant!


    Then, more fearsome and enormous than the previous sky-filling black Divine Tribulation thunder, bolts of crimson red Divine Tribulation thunder roared down from the sky and struck the Thunder Ancient Ape.

 Chapter 657 - 609: The Icebound Puppet and the Extreme Vision Divine Mirror

    While Sima Feng stared intently at the Thunder Ancient Ape undergoing its Divine Tribulation for a large part of the hour, Ye Chen, who had entered the treasure trove of the Frozen God King, had also made a major discovery.


    Inside the treasure hall of the Frozen God King.


    When Ye Chen, accompanied by Xiaojiu and Zhou Yue, turned his gaze to the treasures in the center of the hall, he saw countless shining treasures divided into two large sections.


    The first section was placed on the left, and a stone stele with treasure patterns explained that the treasures here were all for the descendants of the Zhou Family.


    However, it was clear that when the Frozen God King left this treasure trove behind, he trusted immensely in the future inheritor he had entrusted to open the treasure trove, and had not set any prohibitions here at all.


    Of course, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t going to covet the Zhou Family¡¯s treasures. He had already received many gifts from the Frozen God King, and repaying the descendants of the Frozen God King was even more appropriate.


    After seeing the inscription, Ye Chen smiled and let Zhou Yue go over to collect the treasures there.


    Zhou Yue stepped forward, and as she looked at those treasures, the splendor in her beautiful eyes grew brighter and brighter.


    Among these treasures were "Black Divine Coins" that could be used directly, stored in four treasure chests. There were Cultivation Manuals particularly suitable for the Zhou Family¡¯s bloodline, Divine Artifacts and Treasures, several Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, and a bunch of Divine Power Talismans specially refined by the Frozen God King.


    There were also many manuals on how to use these treasures and the Frozen God King¡¯s instruction to his descendants.


    Seeing these treasures and the earnest teachings of the Frozen God King, an ancestor who had traveled to other worlds to cultivate, Zhou Yue wiped away her tears.


    The girl knew that Ye Chen hadn¡¯t deceived her. She really had received a great treasure from her ancestor, which could change the entire Zhou Family once again, rising once more!


    Zhou Yue also knew the principle of not flaunting wealth. She would follow her ancestor¡¯s instructions, properly use these treasures, and continuously strengthen her family!


    With those Divine Power Talismans, at least within the Star Continent where Circulation of Heaven Divine City was located, no one could threaten the Zhou Family anymore!


    While Zhou Yue looked at the treasures belonging to the Zhou Family, Ye Chen and Xiaojiu then moved to the treasure section on the right side of the hall.


    This area was where the Frozen God King had left treasures specifically for those who gained his inheritance.


    The treasures here, unlike those left to the Zhou Family, were not as varied, but their preciousness was by no means less than that of the treasures on the left side.


    Ye Chen saw that just the treasure chests alone were the same as on the left, with four in total, containing a full ten million Black Divine Coins, the common currency of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    Of course, this was not all of the Frozen God King¡¯s fortune at the time, but even this portion of Black Divine Coins left in the treasure trove was enough for Ye Chen¡¯s expenses during the initial stages in the Divine Nation!


    Besides "Black Divine Coins," Ye Chen¡¯s attention was even more drawn to a stone platform beside the treasure chests.


    On top of the stone platform, there were three palm-sized snow-white stone puppets. When Ye Chen read the inscription beside them, his spirits lifted!


    "These three palm-sized snow-white stone puppets are actually a kind of battle puppet known as ¡¯Frozen Puppets¡¯!"


    "Inside these battle puppets is a Heaven-reaching Divine Technique refined by the Frozen God King, which can be activated using the Divine Stones commonly used to drive puppets in the Divine Nation."


    "These three ¡¯Frozen Puppets¡¯ can exhibit the highest combat power of a Middle God King level. However, to drive this level of combat power for a quarter of an hour, it will consume ten thousand Divine Stones!"


    "The Divine Stones left by the Frozen God King to drive these puppets are only one hundred thousand in total. It seems, to be able to leverage the combat prowess of these three puppets, I will need to search for more of these Divine Stones!" Ye Chen thought slowly to himself.


    However, even though the Divine Stones for powering this treasure were limited and more needed to be found, this treasure was of great use to Ye Chen, even more so than many Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts!


    After all, Ye Chen¡¯s current combat power was not even enough to defeat Sima Feng of Black Dragon Stronghold, let alone battle a Middle God King.


    But with these three Frozen Puppets, as long as he found enough Divine Stones for activation, even if faced with a Middle God King, Ye Chen would have had a means to contend.


    These three Frozen Puppets could at the very least be used until Ye Chen¡¯s combat power reached the Middle God King level!


    Now, they were of great use to Ye Chen!


    With these three Frozen Puppets, Ye Chen didn¡¯t have to fear Sima Feng anymore. Even if Sima Feng came looking for trouble now, the Divine Stones left by the Frozen God King were sufficient to power the Frozen Puppets to execute him!


    This, of course, was a huge relief for Ye Chen.


    After examining the three snow-white puppets in his hands for a moment, Ye Chen took these three Frozen Puppets and the Divine Stones that powered them into his spatial treasure.


    Then, Ye Chen turned his gaze to the last remaining stone platform.


    On this platform, there was an ancient-colored mirror.


    Seeing the inscription next to the mirror, Ye Chen read the message left by the Frozen God King: "This mirror is a mighty auxiliary Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact that I used all the way up to the Middle God King level. After I advanced to Upper God King, I no longer used this treasure and left it here in the treasure trove."


    "This treasure is known as the ¡¯Extreme Vision Divine Mirror.¡¯ With this mirror, one can even survey a small portion of the Star Continent!"


    "Of course, operating the ¡¯Extreme Vision Divine Mirror¡¯ consumes a tremendous amount of combat power. If one¡¯s combat power is insufficient, the range of exploration will be much smaller. However, even then, the scope of its survey far exceeds that which a warrior could achieve by merely using their Divine Soul to explore the terrain!"


    Even Xiaojiu, who was beside Ye Chen, was somewhat shaken upon reading the description of the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror."


    Xiaojiu turned to Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, this is quite a treasure. As a Soul Beast, my Divine Soul possesses a vast scope of exploration, but the ¡¯Extreme Vision Divine Mirror¡¯ covers an even wider range! With this treasure, it will be much more convenient for you to survey the land in the future!"


    "Normally, the two of us can use Divine Sense to explore, but when we need to survey a larger area, we can directly use the Extreme Vision Divine Mirror!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    This treasure indeed seemed very useful!


    However, his combat strength had not fully recovered after his battle with Sima Feng and he couldn¡¯t immediately test the power of the Extreme Vision Divine Mirror.


    "After I meditate and regulate my breath for a while, I¡¯ll try it, activating the treasure to survey the Buried Dragon Mountain Range to see just how far my current combat power can reach?"


    After examining the treasure "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror" that was placed at the very end and memorizing the spell to operate the mirror in his mind, Ye Chen swept his sleeve and gathered all of the treasures the Ice-sealed God King had left for him in this treasure trove.


    At that moment, on the other side, Zhou Yue also activated her spatial treasure and collected all the treasures the Ice-sealed God King had left for the descendants of the Zhou Family.


    Gazing at the now empty treasure hall, Ye Chen smiled at Zhou Yue and said, "Zhou Yue, we¡¯ve finished finding all the treasures. I plan to cultivate and attempt to break through realms for a while. You may return to the Circulation of Heaven Divine City first; I¡¯ll have Bing Yi take you back."


    Zhou Yue shook her head and offered a gentle smile, "I¡¯ll stay and cultivate with you here, and we¡¯ll go back together when you return to the Circulation of Heaven Divine City to join the battle for the Divine City."


    Zhou Yue thought that Ye Chen was worried that Sima Feng would harm her, and that¡¯s why he suggested she leave first.


    The young girl was somewhat stubborn in her heart, wanting to face the difficulties alongside Ye Chen. She believed that Ye Chen would definitely overcome these challenges.


    Even without the issues concerning Sima Feng, she wanted to spend more time with Ye Chen.


    She knew that in the future, she might not have another opportunity to be with Ye Chen.


    Seeing the determination in Zhou Yue¡¯s eyes, Ye Chen simply smiled and said nothing more.


    "Alright, Xiaojiu, let¡¯s sit and meditate to restore the combat power we¡¯ve depleted. After we¡¯ve recovered, we¡¯ll test out the power of the ¡¯Extreme Vision Divine Mirror,¡¯" Ye Chen suggested to Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu nodded repeatedly and sat down next to Ye Chen.


    Since Ye Chen had the Undying Divine Body, his vitality recovered extremely quickly, and Xiaojiu, being one of the immensely powerful Nine Spirits Sparrow clan of Soul Beasts, also had an exceptionally strong recovery ability for the Divine Soul.


    The two sat meditating for merely the time it takes to drink a cup of tea and had completely restored the vitality and combat power they had lost while defending against Sima Feng¡¯s deadly moves. Discover hidden stories at novelhall.Co?m


    At this point, Ye Chen immediately retrieved the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror."


    When Xiaojiu explained the power of the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror," Zhou Yue also became astonished by the strength of this treasure and eagerly clustered around Ye Chen to see him test it out.


    Meanwhile, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the little monkey all flew out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, gathering beside Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen glanced at his curious companions, smiled softly, and with a pinch of a spell in his hand, he began testing the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    All they saw was that, as Ye Chen pinched the spell, the ancient mirror flew up from his hand. As combat power surged from Ye Chen into the mirror, a vast screen of light began to spread outward from the grand hall where they were, extending further and further.


    Ten li, a hundred li, a thousand li, ten thousand li...


    As Ye Chen¡¯s combat power drained by a third, the vast screen of the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror" had projected an area tens of thousands of li away.


    The Divine Sense of Xiaojiu, Zhou Yue, Bing Yi, and the others, once it entered this screen of light, was as if they had truly stepped into the immense territory being surveyed by the mirror!


    It was wondrous beyond compare.


    While Ye Chen was still expanding the survey of the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror," curious to see just how far he could reach with his current combat power, the mirror¡¯s sweep passed over a huge valley. Ye Chen¡¯s eyes suddenly narrowed.


    Zhou Yue at Ye Chen¡¯s side let out an exclamation, "Isn¡¯t that Sima Feng? He¡¯s outside that massive valley, tens of thousands of li away from us!"


    Looking towards the territory uncovered by the Extreme Vision Divine Mirror, they could see Sima Feng, dozens of Nine Tribulations True Gods from the Black Dragon Stronghold, and the Thunder Ancient Ape undergoing Divine Tribulation in the massive valley¡ªall of them appearing within the scope of the Extreme Vision Divine Mirror!


    Their actions were laid bare before the eyes of Ye Chen and the others!

 Chapter 658 - 610: Battle that Shocked the Heavens

    When Xiaojiu saw the ancient ape thousands of feet tall in that massive valley, facing the vast tribulation clouds above its head, she directly said to Ye Chen, "Thunder Ancient Ape, the giant ape in that valley is a powerful ancient creature of the Divine Kingdom called the ¡¯Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯! My goodness, it¡¯s undergoing Divine Tribulation, and it looks like it¡¯s trying to break through to the Middle God King realm!"


    At this, Xiaojiu felt even more shocked, "Ye Chen, I finally understand why Sima Feng left in such a hurry earlier, he must be plotting against this Thunder Ancient Ape undergoing Divine Tribulation!"


    "To know, during Divine Tribulation is when one is most vulnerable, strength significantly falls. That Sima Feng, might be planning to kill this Thunder Ancient Ape."


    "It is said, Thunder Ancient Apes carry a treasure called the ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯, which is of great use to God Kings facing Divine Tribulations, and even more infinitely marvelous for True Gods facing Heavenly Tribulation!"


    As Xiaojiu spoke, Ye Chen also suddenly stood up.


    "I was wondering why Sima Feng left in such a hurry, it turns out he¡¯s after this ¡¯Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯! Perhaps he¡¯s gone for the ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯!"


    At this point, a sharp light flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes, "He wants to take advantage of the Thunder Ancient Ape underdoing Divine Tribulation, to plan behind its back for the Thunder Beast Crystal? If it was before, I indeed had no way to deal with him; I even had to avoid him."


    "But now..." Ye Chen¡¯s hand flipped, and three Ice Sealed Puppets appeared in his palm, "With these Ice Sealed Puppets, I no longer need to fear him! Ten thousand Divine Stones are indeed enough to support the Ice Sealed Puppets in combat against a Middle God King for a long time, and to kill him, a Lower God King, I fear not even a thousand Divine Stones will be necessary!"


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t forget the deadly attack Sima Feng had previously made on him.


    Originally, he was preparing to cultivate completely before dealing with Sima Feng, but now, seeing Sima Feng plotting against the Thunder Ancient Ape, Ye Chen would not wait any longer.


    Naturally, he would not let the Thunder Beast Crystal fall into the hands of Sima Feng, giving Sima Feng one more method!


    "Let¡¯s go, to that massive valley!"


    Ye Chen reached out, and the ice jade pendant emitted a misty light as Zhou Yue, Bing Yi, Bing Five, Bing Qi, and the little monkey all flew into the ice jade pendant.


    After storing the ice jade pendant away, Ye Chen left the great hall with Xiaojiu.


    The treasure land of the Ice Sealed God King had completely become deserted.


    ...


    As the Thunder Ancient Ape in the void above the massive valley continuously resisted the Divine Thunder of the Divine Tribulation,


    in a territory immeasurably far from the valley, as long as one noticed the commotion above the massive valley, countless martial artists in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range were flying in the void, looking towards the place where the Thunder Ancient Ape was undergoing Divine Tribulation from afar. Explore more stories with novelhall.Co?m


    However, these countless martial artists were only watching from a distance, not daring to approach that area by even a hairbreadth.


    Not to mention the terrifying Thunder of the Divine Tribulation scared them, but the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s formidable combat power deterred them from coming any closer.


    To know, even the slightest offensive power released by the Thunder Ancient Ape during its Divine Tribulation could potentially kill them on the spot.


    Even many True Gods of the Black Dragon Stronghold only dared to hide outside and watch this terrifying commotion.


    Even a few weaker Lower God Kings didn¡¯t dare to come close to the perimeter of the massive valley!


    Sima Huan, the Young Family Head of Black Dragon Stronghold whose lower body had been ruined by Ye Chen, was also pale-faced as he watched the terrifying scene in the void.


    "I wonder if my father has killed the youth who injured me, executed that person or not?"


    "My father came to the Buried Dragon Mountain Range this time just for that Thunder Ancient Ape, and now the Thunder Ancient Ape has begun its Divine Tribulation; I don¡¯t know if my father has gone back yet."


    "In this Buried Dragon Mountain Range, only my father dares to truly plan against this Thunder Ancient Ape. After all, my father is the strongest in this entire region!"


    Sima Huan¡¯s heart was proud as he considered this.


    The countless martial artists outside the massive valley, upon seeing the heavens-wide black Divine Thunder bombarding the Thunder Ancient Ape, who was holding a silver-red long spear to withstand these black Divine Thunders, were already shocked beyond belief.


    And when the Divine Thunder assailing the Thunder Ancient Ape switched from black to an even more terrifying crimson Divine Thunder, countless martial artists took in a breath of cold air!


    They witnessed with their own eyes, the most powerful ancient beast in the central region of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, the Thunder Ancient Ape, as it was being striked by the sky-splitting crimson Divine Thunder, and massive streaks of beast blood spilled from its body.


    When the Thunder Ancient Ape had resisted quite a few waves of crimson Divine Thunder, and after a dozen or so huge crimson Divine Thunders struck the Thunder Ancient Ape at once, the Thunder Ancient Ape vomited a mouthful of vital blood!


    This made the countless martial artists watching the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s Divine Tribulation tighten their hearts completely.


    Many exclaimed, "When Divine Tribulation descends, there is no escape, the more you flee, the more severe the divine punishment becomes!"


    "My God, this Thunder Ancient Beast is the strongest ancient beast in the central region of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, it probably sensed the Divine Tribulation would descend long ago and has made comprehensive preparations, but even so, it has been injured!"


    Amidst the exclamations of these people, another series of immense crimson Divine Thunders plummeted towards the Thunder Ancient Ape in the void.


    This time, the Thunder Ancient Ape, which had been preserving its strength for the upcoming third round of Starlight Divine Thunder, but was unexpectedly wounded, didn¡¯t dare to hold back anymore.


    It roared skywards, the silver-white crystal at the center of its forehead emitting an extremely piercing light.


    In the blinding light, the already thousand-feet-tall Thunder Ancient Ape grew several fold taller, reaching over six or seven thousand feet.


    The breath of the Thunder Ancient Ape surged even more violently, and the silver-red spear in its hand swelled tremendously!


    However, the injuries it had previously sustained were clearly affecting its vital energy and spirit. Even as its aura surged and its body grew larger, when facing the more terrifying descent of the crimson Divine Thunders, the Thunder Ancient Ape still seemed as insignificant as an ant, spitting out a mouthful of pure blood once again after being struck by the fearsome crimson Divine Thunders.


    And it wasn¡¯t just as simple as spitting out a mouthful of blood. Before the Thunder Ancient Ape could even react, the terrifying tribulation clouds spanning thousands of miles in the sky began brewing another round of crimson Divine Thunders.


    This round of crimson Divine Thunders was so powerful that it even bent the colossal body of the Thunder Ancient Ape, who seemed unable to resist any longer and was blasted from the sky, plummeting to the ground.


    Seeing this, countless martial artists in the distant echoed with a regretful cry, "It looks like the Thunder Ancient Ape is truly injured."


    "It¡¯s almost impossible for it to get through this Divine Tribulation. Even if it barely manages, it will likely suffer grave repercussions, and it will definitely die when it faces the Divine Tribulation to break into the ranks of the Upper God Kings in the future!"


    "I wonder if it will completely burn the most precious ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯ on its body as a last resort. That ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯ is incredibly valuable, but alas, we are not capable of obtaining it!"


    Amidst the conversations of these numerous martial artists, the Thunder Ancient Ape, which had been blasted down from the sky, suddenly let out a fierce roar, and the completely silvery-white crystal at its brow began to burn.


    "The Thunder Beast Crystal is burning; it seems like the Thunder Ancient Ape is prepared to give up everything for one final struggle, willing to risk serious harm to its body just to survive!"


    Seeing the Thunder Ancient Ape actually burn the Thunder Beast Crystal just as many martial artists had guessed, countless of them took in a deep breath.


    At this moment, something unbelievable occurred.


    They actually saw a thin man dressed in black soar up from not far away from that huge valley, directly flying towards the Thunder Ancient Ape in the void!


    "That is... "


    "The strongest warrior of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, Black Dragon Stronghold¡¯s Fort Chief, Sima Feng?!"


    "He¡¯s been hiding near that huge valley all along. My God, he couldn¡¯t be plotting against this Thunder Ancient Ape undergoing tribulation, could he!"


    Countless martial artists couldn¡¯t believe the scene unfolding before them.


    Meanwhile, Sima Huan, the Young Family Head of Black Dragon Stronghold surrounded by many martial artists, exclaimed with joy, "It¡¯s father, father is making his move!"


    In the void.


    Sima Feng, flying directly towards the Thunder Ancient Ape, had a look of immense greed and excitement in his eyes.


    He had been observing from the side for a long time, waiting for this exact moment!


    Now, the Thunder Ancient Ape had been injured and was no longer able to resist the Divine Thunders. Even if the Thunder Ancient Ape was burning its Thunder Beast Crystal, Sima Feng was not afraid of it at this moment.


    After all, there were endless Divine Thunders in the void still targeting the Thunder Ancient Ape.


    And the Divine Thunders would not strike him.


    This meant the Thunder Ancient Ape had to face both him and the Divine Thunders in a dual assault.


    At this moment, Sima Feng was ninety-nine percent certain that he could kill the Thunder Ancient Ape!


    Of course, he would not wait any longer for the Thunder Beast Crystal it desired to burn out. Seizing the best opportunity to strike, he made his move!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Sima Feng arrived not far below the Thunder Ancient Ape, he tapped his head and a black Ancient Banner decorated with countless Evil Ghost patterns flew straight out from within him.


    A swirl of motion and the black Ancient Banner expanded to a hundred feet in size, fluttering in the wind and releasing countless fearsome Evil Ghost figures.


    After a roar, these Evil Ghost figures swept towards the Thunder Ancient Ape, wailing as they attacked!


    This black Ancient Banner was precisely the "Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner" that Sima Feng had previously used against Ye Chen.


    Now, in the face of the Thunder Ancient Ape, Sima Feng invoked the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner even more powerfully and terrifyingly than before when he had tried to kill Ye Chen!


    After all, Sima Feng had previously refrained from fully depleting the energy he had spent countless years imbuing into the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner against Ye Chen, as he wanted to preserve its true power for the Thunder Ancient Ape.


    But now, Sima Feng didn¡¯t hesitate. He unleashed the most powerful tactics of the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner, bringing out his strongest combat power to kill the Thunder Ancient Ape in one fell swoop!


    Awoo! Awoo! Awoo! Awoo! Awoo!


    Countless Evil Ghosts howled and attacked.


    Swish.


    Sima Feng also drew out the Divine Light Cold Blade following the horde of Evil Ghosts and targeted the Thunder Ancient Ape.


    And in the sky, endless colossal crimson Divine Thunders descended upon the Thunder Ancient Ape once again.

 Chapter 659 - 611: Killing

    Under the various pincer attacks, the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s divine eyes gazed at the descending God¡¯s Tribulation lightning in the sky and betrayed a fearful expression.


    However, when it turned its head and saw Sima Feng launching a sneak attack, its divine eyes erupted with furious rage.


    Boom!


    The Thunder Ancient Ape suddenly flapped its huge hand, blowing away the countless evil ghost figures that were swooping toward it, turning them into nothingness. Just as it was about to launch an attack at Sima Feng, the endless crimson divine lightning from above had struck its body once again.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This strike, like countless giant hammers of immense size, directly knocked the Thunder Ancient Ape from the high void.


    This strike also instantaneously caused a significant depletion of the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s spirit, vigor, and essence, leaving its aura feeble and diminished.


    At this moment, Sima Feng, who followed behind the legion of evil ghosts with the Divine Light Cold Blade in his hand, had greed and excitement shining in his pale green eyes, "Die, Thunder Ancient Ape, your time is up!"


    Swish!


    Wielding the Divine Light Cold Blade, Sima Feng burst toward the Thunder Ancient Ape falling from the high void!


    The countless warriors observing the Thunder Ancient Ape¡¯s passage through the God¡¯s Tribulation from far away in the void screamed out simultaneously, "It¡¯s over, the Thunder Ancient Ape, already having a hard time dealing with the God¡¯s Tribulation, is now severely wounded from attacks on both sides, and is certainly no match for Sima Feng."


    "That Sima Feng, deserving of his reputation as the Black Dragon Stronghold¡¯s Fort Chief, the mightiest in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, his timing was impeccable. His attack comes just as the Thunder Ancient Ape was exhausted from facing the lightning, it absolutely can¡¯t withstand it!"


    As these countless warriors screamed, Sima Huan, the Young Family Head from Black Dragon Stronghold, surrounded by a crowd of warriors, became ecstatic, "It¡¯s a success, father is finally about to slay the Thunder Ancient Ape!"


    Just as everyone saw Sima Feng¡¯s Divine Light Cold Blade descending upon the Thunder Ancient Ape, knowing the next moment it would be slain right there, an earth-shattering sound of spatial travel suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.


    This sound, clear to the extreme, was as if a powerful warrior issued a long roar.


    And in the next instant, everyone saw a snow-white figure, almost the same size as Sima Feng, suddenly piercing through the void to appear in front of the Thunder Ancient Ape, right at the direction of Sima Feng¡¯s attack.


    Then, to the shock of all warriors, an astonishing scene unfolded.


    They saw the snow-white figure, upon revealing itself, immediately reach out with a large hand, and astonishingly catch Sima Feng¡¯s Divine Light Cold Blade directly, then with a fierce pull, actually extracted the blade from Sima Feng¡¯s hands.


    Following that, with a powerful kick, this figure sent Sima Feng, the strongest in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, flying down into the void!


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    This turn of events caused the countless warriors in the distant void to cry out in astonishment.


    "Someone has appeared, coming to the aid of the Thunder Ancient Ape? This person¡¯s strength is terrifying, managing to kick the powerful Lower God King Sima Feng away with a single move!" Your journey continues with novelhall.Co?m


    These countless warriors could not have anticipated that the crossing of the God¡¯s Tribulation by the Thunder Ancient Ape would have so many twists and turns¡ªfrom the Thunder Ancient Ape being injured and ambushed by Sima Feng, to now, the sudden emergence of a powerful figure blocking Sima Feng!


    While the previously ecstatic Sima Huan saw his father Sima Feng being kicked into the void by the sudden appearance, his joyful expression instantly froze on his face.


    The most shocked of all was Sima Feng.


    He was about to slay the Thunder Ancient Ape and obtain the invaluable "Thunder Beast Crystal," yet a figure had emerged out of nowhere to stop him. This figure seemed to possess strength even greater than his own, leaving him unable to resist.


    Sima Feng¡¯s eyes immediately turned toward the figure that had kicked him, and upon looking, he saw a stone figure with no expression, ending its action, standing still in the middle of the field.


    With not a trace of a human¡¯s aura, Sima Feng recognized it at a glance¡ªit was a Combat Puppet!


    Seeing the Combat Puppet had stopped as if controlled by someone, Sima Feng looked up and called out into the void, "Which senior has graced us with their presence, and why have you acted against me?"


    Sima Feng knew that to control a Combat Puppet of such caliber, at least a powerful Middle God King must be involved, hence he addressed them as senior.


    Moreover, Sima Feng couldn¡¯t fathom why a Middle God King would bother themselves with the Thunder Beast Crystal of a mere Lower God King such as the Thunder Ancient Ape, and why they would act against him?


    As Sima Feng respectfully called out into the void, the void suddenly tore open, and a figure that Sima Feng could never have imagined appeared.


    "Is it you?!"


    Sima Feng was so shocked he nearly fainted.


    The one who appeared, the one driving the Combat Puppet that had kicked him away, if not the youth Ye Chen whom he had previously pursued and injured, then who else could it be?!


    "Wasn¡¯t this youth injured by me, with countless evil ghosts set upon him to kill? Even if he could escape, he would surely be gravely wounded; how has he now fully recovered?!"


    "And what happened to the marks I left on him; why have they completely disappeared now?!"


    "Where did he get such a formidable puppet, and why did he not act against me earlier, but now he sabotages my great endeavor?!"


    Sima Feng was completely horrified, and Sima Huan, who was already feeling uneasy when he saw his father kicked away, was now utterly agape in astonishment.


    He could have never imagined that the same youth his father had previously pursued and seriously injured would reappear, and it seemed that it was this youth who controlled the powerful figure that kicked his father away.


    "How is this youth, this Ye Chen, so formidable?!"


    Sima Huan¡¯s heart shook with fear, and he wanted to flee!


    In the void, Ye Chen, who controlled the "Icebound Puppet" had just intercepted Sima Feng¡¯s lethal move against the Thunder Ancient Ape, his gaze first turned towards the Thunder Ancient Ape.


    He saw the grateful look in the eyes of the Thunder Ancient Ape looking towards him; he also saw the Thunder Ancient Ape roar and once again charge towards the divine thunder slashing down from the void.


    Ye Chen nodded slightly, turned back, and then looked at Sima Feng.


    "That¡¯s right, it¡¯s me."


    "Sima Feng, your son tried to snatch my treasure earlier, so I injured him. Yet, you went straight for the kill. This vengeance, cannot go unanswered."


    "So today, you shall fall!"


    After Ye Chen finished speaking, his gaze shifted to the Icebound Puppet he was controlling, which, as if driven, instantly charged towards Sima Feng, who had just been kicked away.


    The mighty aura of the Icebound Puppet tore through the sky and the earth, leaving behind countless shards of space.


    "No, how can you, who is merely at the latter stage of Heavenly Saint, possibly kill me?!"


    "Do you think controlling a puppet is enough to kill me? I will kill you first!"


    Sima Feng shouted, and the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner he had previously wielded, in complete self-sacrifice, transformed into an enormous black mass directly blocking the Icebound Puppet that was lunging at him.


    Meanwhile, Sima Feng moved instantly, appearing in front of Ye Chen. He reached out with a large hand, intending to capture Ye Chen.


    "You¡¯re delusional."


    Seeing Sima Feng still struggling in the throes of death, Ye Chen said indifferently as he disappeared from his position in the void. The next moment he reappeared, another Icebound Puppet was already standing in front of him.


    Even without an Icebound Puppet before, Ye Chen would not have been caught by Sima Feng in one move. Now, with three Icebound Puppets in hand, Ye Chen certainly would not let Sima Feng harm him in the slightest.


    "Another Combat Puppet?!"


    Sima Feng was utterly shocked. It was inconceivable for a Heavenly Saint later-stage youth to possess one powerful Combat Puppet, and now, he had taken out another equally mighty one.


    When his heart was filled with shock, he suddenly felt a sense of death engulfing his heart.


    The next moment, as if sensing something, he turned his head and saw that the first Combat Puppet, which he had attempted to stop with his all-consuming Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner, had completely broken through the giant black mass and reappeared behind him. This Combat Puppet thrust its large hand fiercely into his body, piercing through his Divine Body in an instant!


    "No!"


    Sima Feng screamed as his Divine Power seemed to burn up, rapidly vanishing.


    In the blink of an eye, Sima Feng perished amidst his sheer panic, with his Divine Power completely extinguished, his corpse utterly collapsing onto the ground.


    The strongest fighter of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, the one-time mighty figure of the Black Dragon Stronghold, was certainly killed, falling on the spot!


    This scene made the countless warriors observing the battle from afar within the void jump in their hearts. When their gaze shifted from Sima Feng¡¯s fallen body to the sky above and saw the youth standing beside the two snow-white puppets, they felt as though they were looking upon a ruler of the heavens!


    This youth had actually controlled a Combat Puppet to kill an extremely powerful Lower God King!


    How could this not shake them profoundly, fill them with immense fear!


    The most frightened were the warriors of the Black Dragon Stronghold area. Upon seeing their Fort Chief killed outright, these Black Dragon Stronghold warriors, after a brief stupor, began to flee madly into the distance without concern for anything else, not even their Young Family Head, Sima Huan!


    Clearly, they feared that the powerful youth in the void would take his anger out on them and slay them all.


    That Sima Huan, upon seeing his father Sima Feng fall, was left with a blank mind.


    No matter what, he could not have imagined that the youth he had sent his father to kill would end up killing his father instead.


    "No, impossible!"


    "It¡¯s over!"


    "It¡¯s over!"


    A profound sense of loss, a deep-rooted fear, turned Sima Huan into a complete fool.


    In the void.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze swept over the distant warriors, immediately silencing the group whose hearts had been pounding.


    Then, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned towards the fleeing warriors from the Black Dragon Stronghold, and towards Sima Huan.

 Chapter 660 - 612: Mental Shock

    Ye Chen¡¯s voice suddenly echoed in the ears of all the Black Dragon Stronghold martial artists, "I have a debt of vengeance to repay with Sima Feng, as for you, I have no quarrel with you, nor will I kill you. Of course, if you wish to seek revenge for Sima Feng, feel free to come find me!"


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s voice, those Black Dragon Stronghold martial artists frantically fleeing stopped in their tracks.


    "No, senior, we will not seek revenge!"


    "Sima Feng got what he deserved!"


    They did not dare look back and, after yelling just once, they started to flee once more.


    What a joke, they were just martial artists of the Black Dragon Stronghold, serving Sima Feng only for personal gain. Now that Sima Feng had fallen, why would they face a powerful enemy just for a dead man?


    They couldn¡¯t escape from the situation fast enough.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze then turned to the somewhat dazed and foolish Sima Huan and merely shook his head.


    Ye Chen could see that Sima Huan was completely ruined.


    If he hadn¡¯t relied on the Black Dragon Stronghold¡¯s power to try to seize his treasure, he wouldn¡¯t have ended up like this. Of course, Ye Chen felt no sympathy for Sima Huan¡ªseeing how Sima Huan tried to rob his treasure earlier, it¡¯s likely that this man had a considerable amount of blood feuds to his name and didn¡¯t deserve any pity!


    As Ye Chen shook his head at Sima Huan, several lower-ranking Divine Kings in the void saw this, and as if they had realized something, their eyes turned frosty when they looked at Sima Huan again.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not concern himself with the thoughts of countless martial artists. By now, the treasure of the Ice Sealed Divine King had been obtained by him and Zhou Yue, and all their previous enmities had been resolved. Dragon Star Continent was ultimately just a stopover on his journey.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze had already returned to the Thunder Ancient Ape in the void, who was once again preparing to resist the Divine Tribulation.


    Because at that moment, Xiaojiu¡¯s voice had already reached Ye Chen¡¯s mind, "Ye Chen, although you helped the Thunder Ancient Ape fend off Sima Feng, I¡¯m afraid this Thunder Ancient Ape won¡¯t be able to withstand this Divine Tribulation."


    As Xiaojiu spoke, Ye Chen saw the Thunder Ancient Ape under the vast ultimate tribulation clouds. Even with a stature thousands of feet tall, it seemed as frail as an ant, covered in bloodstains.


    Desperation and unwillingness filled the gaze of the Thunder Ancient Ape!


    Previously, it had been struck by the Divine Tribulation thunder and ambushed by Sima Feng, suffering consecutive injuries. Even now, as it continued to burn the "Thunder Beast Crystal" and tried to ignite its power desperately, it could no longer hold back the terrifying waves of Divine Tribulation thunder.


    In the end, the Thunder Ancient Ape even let out a heavenward roar, its tone of despair causing Ye Chen¡¯s own heart to tremble upon hearing it.


    "Whether it¡¯s a Heavenly Tribulation or Divine Tribulation, it¡¯s something martial artists absolutely can¡¯t escape. If you can push through it, it¡¯s possible to reach a higher level, but if you can¡¯t, you¡¯ll only fall amidst the catastrophe," Xiaojiu¡¯s voice was also somewhat somber. "I¡¯ve heard that the more powerful the martial artist or mystical beast, the greater the tribulation they draw upon themselves."


    "This tribulation is a test, as well as an elimination process. Only the true strong can constantly transform through these trials and shine with an unparalleled divine light!"


    "But most people, most mystical beasts, will fall during this process of trials."


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and looked towards the Thunder Ancient Ape in the void.


    He also remembered the time he was practicing and breaking through in the dream space of the Creation Chess Board.


    Just like Xiaojiu said, whether it¡¯s a Heavenly Tribulation or a Divine Tribulation, it¡¯s incredibly terrifying, and as he grew stronger and stronger, so too did the tribulations he faced.


    Seeing the Thunder Ancient Ape now covered in bloodstains, hearing its roar of despair, it had a tremendous impact on Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen even felt that, maybe one day, if he didn¡¯t have enough means to cope, he might be the one emitting such a roar of despair!


    Of course, Ye Chen didn¡¯t want such a situation to occur.


    He had his parents, family, friends, and Jiang Yao...


    He couldn¡¯t bear to part with everyone, so even when the Heavenly Tribulation or Divine Tribulation arrived, he would have to face it and persevere!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts churned intensely, the Thunder Ancient Ape in the void, already struggling to endure the Divine Tribulation, finally managed to survive the second wave of red Divine Tribulation thunder.


    However, at that moment, the Thunder Ancient Ape showed no joy.


    Neither Ye Chen, Xiaojiu, nor anyone else down below showed any joy, and even the distant martial artists let out a sigh.


    Because they all knew that the next and most terrifying last wave of star-colored Divine Tribulation thunder would likely cause the central region¡¯s overlord of the Buried Dragon Mountain Range to fall.


    Many could not bear to keep watching and lowered their heads.


    The instant gap between the second and third waves of Divine Tribulation thunder seemed incredibly long.


    The next moment, that incredibly long yet fleeting gap in the Divine Tribulation passed, and the tribulation clouds in the sky indeed turned the color of stars.


    And numerous terrifying star-colored Divine Tribulation thunders began to gestate, swell, surge, and strike down within the clouds.


    At that time, even Ye Chen let out a sigh.


    He was unable to help the Thunder Ancient Ape. Whether it was Divine Tribulation or Heavenly Tribulation, it could only be overcome by the strength of the one invoking it. If others tried to help resist the Divine Tribulation thunder, it would only draw down even stronger Divine Tribulation thunder upon them.


    Just as Ye Chen no longer had the heart to watch, unwilling to witness the Thunder Ancient Ape turned to ash under the Divine Tribulation thunder and was about to turn away, he suddenly sensed a voice speaking directly to him.


    "Young man, since you helped me earlier, I have nothing with which to repay you as I face my demise. Take this remaining ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯ that hasn¡¯t yet fully burned away. It won¡¯t help me resist the Divine Tribulation anymore; in my hands, it would only end up as ash like myself."


    "To think that I, ¡¯Guman Tian¡¯, after numerous years of arduous cultivation in the mountains, would meet such an end. Young man, I hope my ¡¯Thunder Beast Crystal¡¯ may offer you a speck of assistance, that it might help you withstand your calamity."


    The voice that reached Ye Chen¡¯s ears was shockingly that of the Thunder Ancient Ape, who had never spoken before, not even when attacked by Sima Feng, and who was now undergoing the Divine Tribulation!


    "Senior!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind was shaken. He had barely managed to utter these two words when he saw the Thunder Ancient Ape give him a squeezed smile. With a giant swipe of its paw, the half-remaining Thunder Beast Crystal in its forehead flew towards Ye Chen.


    Roar!


    As soon as Ye Chen caught the Thunder Beast Crystal, he saw the Thunder Ancient Ape let out one final roar before its entire body burst towards the sprawling clouds of tribulation.


    In the end, amidst the relentless strikes of the tribulation lightning filled with the hues of endless stars, the Thunder Ancient Ape let out several pitiful wails and laughter before completely vanishing into nothingness.


    It had perished.


    The Thunder Ancient Ape, in the end, had still perished.


    Ye Chen¡¯s hand, holding the Thunder Beast Crystal, felt very hot. This was the heat radiating from what could aid True Gods and even Divine Kings in transcending tribulations.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s heart was icy cold, for he knew that even the Thunder Ancient Ape, with its powerful lower-tier Divine King realm within the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, had failed to breach the barrier of this Divine Tribulation; naturally, he would also have to face such a situation in the future.


    Every martial artist in the world who wishes to grow stronger must face such a situation!


    It¡¯s either life or death.


    And for Ye Chen, the day when he would face this predicament was not far off.


    To transform from the late stages of the Heavenly Saint to the Void Sky True God, Ye Chen must first overcome the first Heavenly Tribulation.


    Xiaojiu had said, the stronger the person, the more terrifying the Heavenly and Divine Tribulations they incite. Ye Chen, now in the late stages of the Heavenly Saint realm, already possesses the combat strength to match many nine-tribulation True Gods and is even many times more potent than when he trained in the dream state of the Creation Chess Board.


    Under such circumstances, it was clear to both Xiaojiu and Ye Chen that the first Heavenly Tribulation Ye Chen would face when breaking through to the True God Realm would undoubtedly be many times more horrifying than what others experienced. It wasn¡¯t impossible for it to even reach the level of a Divine Tribulation!


    "Let¡¯s go, no matter what lies ahead, we must continue to advance!"


    With a heart full of tumultuous waves, Ye Chen, in the end, still tightly clutched the Thunder Beast Crystal in his hand, his gaze becoming firm once again.


    "The senior Thunder Ancient Ape has failed the Divine Tribulation. I fear that soon, I will have to undergo the Heavenly Tribulation and attempt to break into the True God Realm. I want to see just how fearsome that tribulation is and whether I will fail or not!"


    Boom!


    With a gaze of utter determination, Ye Chen reached out a great hand, and gathered the storage treasures and miraculous divine treasures that had fallen beside Sima Feng¡¯s corpse. Then, with Xiaojiu and Zhou Yue, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the little monkey all inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, he flew away from the vast valley.


    After the Thunder Ancient Ape had fallen and Ye Chen had left, the whole vast valley became empty and deserted once again. All that remained on the ground was the lifeless body of Sima Feng, drained of divine power.


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    Warriors from afar had also gradually begun to disperse.


    At that moment, several weaker lower-tier Divine Kings in the void cast somber glances once again toward the foolish Sima Huan.


    One of these lower-tier Divine Kings spoke, "This senior probably does not wish to deal with this Sima Huan of Black Dragon Stronghold personally. The senior hasn¡¯t endangered us, yet we will have to take on the responsibility of removing this threat for the senior."


    As he spoke, the lower-tier Divine King flashed next to Sima Huan.


    With a swift grab, this notorious brat, Sima Huan, from the Buried Dragon Mountain Range, immediately collapsed under the immense pressure of the Divine King¡¯s aura.


    ...


    Three days later, atop a massive mountain range on the other side of the Dragon Star Continent, the figures of Ye Chen and Xiaojiu appeared.


    "In this region, the strongest are merely nine-tribulation True Gods. It¡¯s quite safe to attempt to break into the True God Realm here."


    "Then let¡¯s start cultivating here, and we¡¯ll return to the Circulation of Heaven Divine City before the battle for the Divine City. I hope that during this time, I¡¯ll be able to successfully transcend that first Heavenly Tribulation and break into the True God Realm!"


    Ye Chen looked at the immense mountain range spanning hundreds of thousands of miles. In the end, he chose a peak and directly carved out a cave dwelling within it. Using the formations he had learned from the ¡¯Nine Volumes of Formation Array¡¯ to completely conceal the cave within a great array, he then sat down inside it.


    "Xiaojiu, you guard me," Ye Chen said as he handed a sealed puppet and some Divine Stones to Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu took the sealed puppet and Divine Stones, guarding earnestly by his side.


    At the same time, Ye Chen took out the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and placed it on the ground beside him.


    If he was to attempt a breakthrough in his cultivation, it was very possible that he might incite a heavenly tribulation, so he naturally would not keep the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on his person.


    After all, inside the space of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, there were others awaiting to return with Ye Chen to the Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡ªZhou Yue, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the little monkey. Ye Chen would not want to put them at risk.


    Immersing his divine sense into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, he exchanged a few words with Zhou Yue, Bing Yi, and the others, instructing them to cultivate within the pendant. Then, holding the Life Origin Wheel in his hand and placing the Purple Lightning Divine Sword by his side, he also kept the half-piece of the Thunder Beast Crystal given to him by the Thunder Ancient Ape close to his body.


    Subsequently, Ye Chen closed his eyes and entered deep into cultivation.


    After a little over a month had passed, Ye Chen even flew directly into the Life Origin Wheel to continue his cultivation at a hundredfold acceleration of time.

 Chapter 661 - 613: Ye Chen鈥檚 Heavenly Tribulation

    More than twenty days later.


    Hundreds of figures descended upon this massive mountain range.


    The vast majority of these figures were from the Rotating Pill Realm, while at the forefront were four young late-stage Heavenly Saints.


    At this moment, these hundreds of Rotating Pill cultivators looked up to the four great Heavenly Saints with admiration and respect in their eyes, and they also began to speak in low voices.


    "The four great renowned Heavenly Saints from our Dragon Star Continent¡¯s Heavenly Origin Domain are finally going to settle their scores here at the ¡¯Bluegold Mountain Range¡¯."


    "A battle at the summit of Bluegold Mountain, to witness such a grand event, we are truly blessed with great fortune."


    "Rumor has it they have never crossed hands before, but none have been defeated within the Heavenly Saint Realm. It¡¯s truly hard to say who among these undefeated Heavenly Saints is the strongest."


    While these hundreds of Rotating Pills were buzzing with discussion, the four great Heavenly Saints with flying hair in front of them exchanged glances, their eyes also brimming with the desire to do battle.


    "Since the Dragon Star Divine Institute will only take one of us four, we must determine who is superior," a black-clad youth holding an ancient sword said indifferently.


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    Another gray-clothed youth laughed, "Hehe, as we agreed, whoever among us is the strongest will win the spot to enter the Dragon Star Divine Institute. The Dragon Star Divine Institute is renowned far and wide among the third-tier Divine Institutes in the Divine Kingdom. People from other continents yearn to cultivate there. In previous years, they never accepted Heavenly Saints. Now that this opportunity has arisen, I, Lin Chenfeng, shall secure it!"


    "Fellow Daoist Lin Chenfeng, the spot won¡¯t be decided by bragging." The tallest among the four great Heavenly Saints, a youth in a blue robe, spoke with a light chuckle, flicking his fingers on a green flute he held, clearly looking down on the other three.


    The last of the four great Heavenly Saints to speak was a woman in white, who didn¡¯t waste words: "We¡¯ll know to whom the spot belongs after the battle."


    "Haha, if even Xia Xianzi says so, what are we hesitating for?"


    "Let¡¯s get started!"


    "We pair off and fight; whoever stands till the end is the strongest. Begin the battle!"


    The eyes of the four great Heavenly Saints were full of fighting spirit, ready to test their skills against each other.


    Just at that moment, however, an abrupt change occurred.


    From a nearby mountain peak, there came a sudden and earth-shattering roar. This breathtaking roar caused the several hundred Rotating Pill cultivators watching from a distance to tremble in fright, and the four great Heavenly Saints, all full of their own superiority and eager to determine who was best, also changed their expressions drastically.


    As their complexions violently shifted, these hundreds of individuals saw endless auras of heaven and earth rushing toward the peak from where the roar emanated. They could even see the sky above the mountain start to gather a surge of ominously dark thunderclouds.


    In less than a moment, the terrifyingly dark clouds had amassed over an area of more than a hundred miles and were still expanding!


    Such an astonishing sight even enveloped all the warriors in the shadow of these fearsome thunderclouds.


    This scene sent the several hundred Rotating Pills and the four great Heavenly Saints into such a panic that they hurriedly flew back, leaving the range of the thunderclouds before coming to a halt, now watching the mountain where the roar originated from a safer distance.


    "Heaven."


    "Thunderclouds, these are extremely formidable thunderclouds!"


    "Could it be that some senior is about to undergo tribulation here? Judging by the level of these thunderclouds, they are far more terrifying than the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation clouds that I glimpsed from afar when an eight-tribulation True God was attempting to break through to the ninth. Could it be... Divine Tribulation clouds? Is this a nine-tribulation True God attempting to break through to the God King Realm?" Lin Chenfeng blurted out in disbelief.


    "No, these are not Divine Tribulation clouds; legend has it that when Divine Tribulation clouds start to form, they flash with three different colors of light. This thundercloud looks more like the Heavenly Tribulation level." The blue-robed Heavenly Saint frowned deeply, staring at the gathering thunderclouds in the sky, and spoke with utmost seriousness.


    The black-clad youth holding the ancient sword seemed unable to believe it: "Heavenly Tribulation thunderclouds? But how can the Heavenly Tribulation thunderclouds spread across hundreds of miles to this frightening extent? And they¡¯re still expanding!"


    The white-dressed female Heavenly Saint, who had been quite silent so far, showed a look of utmost shock: "To call it the Heavenly Tribulation and yet reach the level of the Divine Tribulation, I fear that the senior who will soon face this tribulation is an utmost genius, one who can summon thunderclouds stronger than his realm should allow!"


    "Having observed various Heavenly Tribulations, I feel that this senior originally faced quite low-level thunderclouds. Yet, he has managed to provoke thunderclouds at the level of Divine Tribulation. This indicates that this senior might be a lower-level True God capable of contending with the frighteningly powerful nine-tribulation True Gods, perhaps even battling those in the God King Realm!"


    ```


    "What?!" The words of the lady in white, the Heavenly Saint Xia Xianzi, completely shocked the other three Heavenly Saints, "To combat the formidable Ninth Heavenly Tribulation True Gods, and even the Divine Kings, with a lower True God Realm¡¯s strength?! Such talent capable of battling across so many realms is undoubtedly among the elite in the Divine Kingdom! How could they appear on our modest Dragon Star Continent?"


    While the four Heavenly Saints found it entirely inconceivable, the hundreds of Rotating Pills were also staring dumbfoundedly as the tribulation clouds in the entire sky finally took complete form.


    The extent of the tribulation clouds even reached a terrifying diameter of five hundred li, and were absolutely thicker than several thousand feet!


    The moment the immense tribulation clouds formed, terrifying black lightning began to slash out from within, crashing down continuously upon the mountain peak below with booming sounds.


    Crack!


    Amidst the thunderous clamor, the terrifying black lightning had even shattered the peak of the mountain, and as more thunderous sounds of even larger heavenly tribulation lightning resonated, endless fearsome cyclones began to blow from all directions toward the mountain, as if wanting to completely tear it apart!


    This scene frightened the hundreds of Rotating Pills and the four Heavenly Saints, who had already retreated a good distance, causing them to fly even further back into the void.


    The situation also startled several powerful True Gods who were cultivating in nearby caves, waking them from their meditations as they flew out from the caves.


    Among these powerful True Gods were Eighth Tribulation True Gods as well as Seventh Tribulation True Gods who, upon emerging, instantly darted into the void.


    Witnessing the fearsome specter of tribulation clouds in the void, these True Gods displayed shocked expressions.


    Once they grabbed the Heavenly Saints and learned what had transpired, the hearts of the True Gods were shaken: "Could it be that a genius from another Star Continent happened to pass by our Dragon Star Continent and is undergoing tribulation here?"


    "Heaven, at such a level they could easily annihilate us without effort, and we absolutely must not provoke them!"


    The True Gods immediately ordered the four Heavenly Saints and the hundreds of Rotating Pills not to interfere with the entity undergoing tribulation.


    The four Heavenly Saints, who had originally planned to spar here, were now caught by these True Gods as easily as chickens, with no strength to resist, and the thoughts of competition had long since vanished into thin air.


    Upon hearing the commands of these True Gods, they nodded in agreement: "Esteemed predecessors, we absolutely dare not interfere with the transcendent undergoing tribulation!"


    Hearing the words of the four Heavenly Saints, the True Gods then released them, and turned their gazes solemnly toward the front.


    "The Divine Tribulation has arrived, that being must be about to undergo the tribulation."


    As the True Gods spoke, two figures suddenly flew up from the shattered mountaintop.


    One was a youth in green clothes with black hair flying behind him, and the other was a gigantic spiritual sparrow.


    The youth spoke to the spiritual sparrow, "Xiaojiu, take the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and retreat to the side for now. This tribulation is a bit different; I must face it seriously now."


    Upon hearing the youth¡¯s voice, the sparrow nodded, eyes filled with worry, and after transmitting a few messages to the youth, it flew to the side.


    As the spiritual sparrow¡¯s gaze turned to the True Gods, as well as the four Heavenly Saints and the hundreds of Rotating Pills behind it, everyone heard the voice of the sparrow: "No one is allowed to approach the tribulation cloud area, or else, do not blame me for striking you down."


    The calm words of the sparrow even caused the True Gods¡¯ expressions to change drastically.


    The True Gods repeatedly voiced their agreement, having a feeling that this sparrow was even more fearsome than some of the Ninth Tribulation True Gods they had encountered; annihilating them would indeed be as easy as blowing away dust!


    Seeing that the True Gods, Heavenly Saints, and Rotating Pills were merely watching from afar, not daring to come closer, the sparrow then turned its head again and looked towards the youth beneath the Heavenly Origin Domain¡¯s tribulation clouds in the void.


    "Who would have thought that the first Heavenly Tribulation triggered by Ye Chen would reach such a level. It appears to be more than just the first Heavenly Tribulation; most likely, it¡¯s the legendary, compound Heavenly Tribulation formed by the superposition of multiple layers! The power of this tribulation is simply equivalent to a Divine Tribulation; with Ye Chen¡¯s current strength, it could be very dangerous!" The worry in Xiaojiu¡¯s eyes deepened.


    This spiritual sparrow was, of course, Xiaojiu.


    And the youth who had flown into the void to face the Heavenly Tribulation was, of course, Ye Chen!


    Having come to the mountain for cultivation, especially after entering the Life Origin Wheel, Ye Chen¡¯s strength had increased every single day. With the Life Origin Wheel offering a hundredfold time acceleration, he had cultivated for over six years at this accelerated pace, which was the equivalent of twenty-four days passing outside, and his strength had incredibly surged by an unfathomable degree. He finally felt the moment for his breakthrough to the True God Realm drawing near.


    Under these circumstances, Ye Chen cultivated a few more days within the Life Origin Wheel until, sensing that the Divine Tribulation was imminent and he could not ignore it any longer, he could no longer continue his cultivation within the Life Origin Wheel and had to come out.


    ```

 Chapter 662 - 614 Breakthrough! Crisis!

    Above the Void Heaven.


    In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen flew under the endless tribulation clouds, and at this moment, the boundless terrifying hurricane and the dreadful celestial lightning had already struck him like a waterfall.


    Ye Chen stood beneath the tribulation clouds without making any moves, but suddenly, an endless amount of Stellar Power surged out of him, transforming into a star-colored Light Shield that enveloped him completely.


    Every terrifying hurricane and every bolt of celestial lightning exploded upon contact with the star-colored Light Shield surrounding Ye Chen, turning the entire void where he was into a chaotic sea of True Qi shattering!


    Although the endless hurricanes and tribulation lightning were blocked, Ye Chen was not the slightest bit relieved. He knew that this was just the beginning, and greater tests were still to come.


    Ye Chen was dealing with it in all seriousness, while those True Gods, Heavenly Saints, and hundreds of pill-spinning martial artists watching him undergo the celestial tribulation were all astounded.


    Even the first wave of dreadful tribulation lightning, which was just the beginning, was something none of the martial artists present dared to claim they could withstand.


    But they saw with their own eyes that Ye Chen easily made the sky-full of tribulation lightning and the terrifying hurricane burst apart without even using his full strength.


    A master reveals himself with a single move.


    Just seeing the initial resistance against the celestial tribulation, the martial artists in the arena knew how terrifying the combat power of the young man beneath the tribulation clouds above the Void Heaven was.


    Even Xiaojiu¡¯s eyes flickered with surprise.


    She had sensed the arrival of the terrifying celestial tribulation earlier and was extremely worried for Ye Chen, who had not spoken to her about his cultivation inside the Life Origin Wheel after flying out of it.


    But just seeing this single move, Xiaojiu knew that Ye Chen¡¯s strength must have increased dozens of times more than before he entered the Life Origin Wheel!


    Otherwise, there was no way he could have handled the first wave of dreadful celestial tribulation so easily.


    "Ye Chen is indeed an unparalleled genius!"


    "But the more talented one is, the more terrifying the celestial tribulation they invoke. The previous tribulation was extremely fearsome already, and I fear that the final tribulation Ye Chen brings upon himself will be even more dreadful than I anticipated."


    "Ye Chen¡¯s strength has increased so much, which is indeed a big surprise, but if the level of the celestial tribulation is higher, it is also a great crisis."


    "I hope that Ye Chen can get through this and transform and ascend to become a True God!"


    While Xiaojiu¡¯s thoughts were racing, after Ye Chen had blocked the first wave of dreadful tribulation, the second wave, even more terrifying, descended upon him.


    This time, the tribulation lightning turned a greenish hue, and even the raging hurricane directly pierced into Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul.


    This round of celestial tribulation, sensing the strength of Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi, bred an attack on the Divine Soul.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Under the slashing of the dozens of feet thick greenish tribulation lightning and the brutal hurricane assaulting his Divine Soul, Ye Chen pinched a spell with his hands, and two treasures flew directly to the space above his head.


    These two treasures, one a palm-sized skull and the other a black Ancient Banner with a demon pattern painted on it.


    These two items were precisely the treasures of Sima Feng, who was killed by the Ice Puppet.


    In the Life Origin Wheel, Ye Chen cultivated while also refining these two treasures.


    Now facing the descent of the celestial tribulation, Ye Chen directly brought out these two items.


    These treasures retained only a bit of their divine might, which was not much use to Ye Chen, so he prepared to let them exert their last bit of power.


    Awooo! Awooo! Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!


    Once Ye Chen activated the Ancient Banner, countless demonic shadows burst out of the banner and flew wildly toward the celestial lightning in the void.


    As for the palm-sized skull, it shot out relentless green rays, bombarding the terrifying hurricane.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Chaotic explosions resonated through the entire heavens and earth, and the dreadful tribulation lightning, continuing to surge in the sky, was also continuously extinguished until the energy from the Ancient Banner and the skull were completely exhausted. Ye Chen successfully resisted dozens of waves of tribulation lightning and the accompanying hurricane blasts.


    At that moment, the tribulation lightning changed again, becoming more dense and powerful, forming once more, and this time they directly attacked Ye Chen¡¯s physical body.


    After withstanding two waves of heavenly tribulation thunder, Ye Chen could feel that although his combat power had been compromised, he had also gained something.


    That was a slight transformation in his True Qi and Divine Soul brought about by the tribulation thunder.


    Ye Chen knew this was the function of the heavenly tribulation, with destruction came rebirth.


    As long as he could withstand the heavenly tribulation, these transformations would completely metamorphose him into a True God!


    With this thought, facing the third wave of the terrifying physical body tribulation, Ye Chen¡¯s entire body burst forth with endless snowy-white icy sealing Divine Power and pitch-black Undying Divine Body power.


    Encased in these two great powers, Ye Chen let out a long howl to the sky, then flew straight into the densely packed heavenly tribulation thunder in the sky, as if bathing in the endless thunder of the tribulation!


    This scene left the several True Gods watching Ye Chen¡¯s tribulation from afar with their mouths agape.


    When they underwent their heavenly tribulation, they had only dared to resist from below, continuously blocking the descending tribulation thunder. Now, the youth before them had flown straight into the ocean of tribulation thunder!


    This situation was far more terrifying in terms of the density and power of the tribulation thunder than what they had endured. Naturally, the resulting transformation was also much stronger!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Under the watchful eyes of countless spectators, Ye Chen, having flown into the ocean of tribulation thunder, reached out and tore apart one strip of tribulation thunder after another. Within the tribulation thunder, points of light merged into Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    After dozens of waves of heavenly tribulation thunder descended, Ye Chen once again let out a long howl in the void. At this time, everyone seemed to hear a "bang," like the sound of divine gates opening and divine power pouring down!


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    All saw the terrifying tribulation clouds that shrouded a radius of five hundred miles suddenly shoot out a brilliant column of light, enveloping Ye Chen entirely within it.


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but to continuously spin his body within the column of light.


    And with that spinning, Ye Chen¡¯s body gradually emitted the light of Divine Power, something only a True God possessed.


    This light persisted for longer than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea before dissipating, and from Ye Chen¡¯s eyes burst forth endless Divine Light, even shattering a distant mountain peak!


    This scene, witnessed by those Heavenly Saints and True Gods, left them completely astonished and shouting out loud.


    "This... this is the scene of a Heavenly Saint ascending to True God status!"


    "Is this senior a Heavenly Saint?!"


    "Heavens, how could a Heavenly Saint trigger such a terrifying tribulation cloud, how could the Divine Light produced upon ascending to True God be so strong!"


    In their astonishment, these Heavenly Saints and True Gods noticed that the tribulation clouds, which normally dissipated after the transformation and breakthrough, did not do so after Ye Chen¡¯s emergence of Divine Light and transformation into a True God. They re-condensed into tribulation thunder instead.


    This scene had only been seen by these Heavenly Saints and True Gods in ancient texts and heard of from legends whispered within the mighty Divine Kingdoms.


    "This is... the stacking of layered tribulations?! Could it be, this senior, not only ascended from Heavenly Saint to True God, but is also continuing to break through within the True God Realm?!"


    "Heavens, it must be so, only then could one trigger the layers of tribulation clouds!"


    "Such situations, they can only occur if one has boosted their combat power to an unimaginably extreme level before the breakthrough, something only legendary figures could accomplish. Even the top geniuses in the Divine Kingdoms could not possibly trigger the layered tribulation clouds continuously!"


    In the midst of these Heavenly Saints¡¯ and True Gods¡¯ screams, Xiaojiu also transformed into human form, her fists clenched tightly.


    Meanwhile, inside the ice jade pendant, Zhou Yue, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the little monkey all looked outside nervously, watching the scene of Ye Chen¡¯s tribulation.


    Because they knew the multi-layered tribulations to come were probably the most terrifying yet!


    Indeed, once Ye Chen¡¯s body had surged with Divine Light and he had broken through into the True God Realm, the tribulation thunder born from the clouds in the sky was tens of times more powerful than before!


    Even the accompanying hurricane, with its slightest motion, blasted pieces of mountain ranges into smithereens!


    Just when Ye Chen had no time to experience the change in essence, energy, and spirit that came with entering the True God Realm, nor to transform this metamorphosis into actual combat power, he saw the tribulation thunder and accompanying hurricane strike down above his head once again.


    At that moment, Ye Chen reached out, and a half piece of silver-white crystal appeared in his hand.


    This half-piece of silver-white crystal was none other than the remaining, not yet fully consumed "Thunder Beast Crystal" left to Ye Chen by the fallen Thunder Ancient Ape.

 Chapter 663 - 615: Four Tribulations True God!

    Faced with a more terrifying Heavenly Tribulation descending, Ye Chen would of course have to come up with new, stronger ways to cope!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Divine Power from Ye Chen¡¯s body merged into the Thunder Beast Crystal, it immediately activated the crystal, producing a series of terrible ripples of bright light.


    In an instant, the dreadful light from the Thunder Beast Crystal collided with the lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation and the accompanying tornado that descended from the Void Heaven.


    For a moment, a scene far more chaotic than the sea of tempestuous True Qi that Ye Chen had faced during the first Heavenly Tribulation unfolded, descending directly upon them.


    The world around Ye Chen had turned into a dark, gloomy realm where only flashes of blinding light could be seen and the endless sound of the tumultuous wind tearing was heard!


    The Martial Artists in the Rotating Pill Realm and the Heavenly Saint Realm watching Ye Chen endure his tribulation from afar could no longer clearly see what was happening!


    And the True Gods were completely agape.


    They couldn¡¯t imagine how they would have crossed such a scene themselves.


    Perhaps, most likely, they would have fallen directly in this Heavenly Tribulation!


    Closest to Ye Chen, Xiaojiu, as well as Zhou Yue, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the little monkey inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, had eyes full of immense worry.


    They did not know if Ye Chen could withstand even more formidable and terrifying layers of Heavenly Tribulation.


    "He can withstand it, he must be able to!" Xiaojiu muttered.


    As countless eyes watched, after dozens of waves of Heavenly Tribulation lightning had exhausted their strikes, when the dark gloomy world began to reveal the scene within, everyone saw that Ye Chen was still standing under the clouds of tribulation, unshaken!


    "He blocked it, Ye Chen blocked it!"


    Zhou Yue inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, upon seeing Ye Chen¡¯s figure emerge safely, leaped up with joy.


    No sooner had her words fallen than the dreadful clouds of tribulation in the Void Heaven seemed to be pressed together, rapidly converging toward the center. As they converged, the color of the storm clouds changed from a thick black to a terrible starry color.


    Seeing the discoloration of the clouds, the four Heavenly Saints and the few True Gods exclaimed in shock, "The Heavenly Tribulation is changing color, this... this is a rare sight even among multi-layered Heavenly Tribulations! This means that the attack power of this Heavenly Tribulation has reached the level of a God King!"


    "I fear that this final wave of tribulation will strike down all the power of the tribulation clouds. If the young senior enduring the tribulation can overcome it, his cultivation will surge once again from the First Tribulation True God. If not, he fears he might fall right here!"


    As their words fell, they directly saw terrible streaks of starry-colored Heavenly Tribulation lightning dart through the void.


    Though this dreadful starry-colored Heavenly Tribulation lightning was somewhat weaker than the lightning that the Thunder Ancient Ape faced when breaking through to the Middle God King Realm, it was definitely beyond an ordinary Ninth Heavenly Tribulation, even stronger than the first Divine Tribulation many Nine Tribulations True Gods faced when attacking the God King Realm!


    In the blink of an eye, these streaks of starry-colored Heavenly Tribulation lighting completely struck Ye Chen.


    Crack!


    A loud shattering noise startled the hearts of numerous Martial Artists who were focused on Ye Chen.


    They saw that the piece of Thunder Beast Crystal in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, which he used to block the Heavenly Tribulation lightning, had exhausted its energy and shattered after withstanding several strikes of starry-colored lightning.


    More starry-colored lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation continued to fall unremittingly, and had Ye Chen no other means, they would certainly be unstoppable!


    Just then, everyone saw a Sword Shadow suddenly fly out from between Ye Chen¡¯s eyebrows.


    "A flying sword, it¡¯s Ye Chen¡¯s Life-bound Flying Sword!" Zhou Yue exclaimed upon seeing the sword emerge.


    However, Xiaojiu still looked incredibly worried, "Ye Chen deploying his flying sword means he¡¯s about to use the Heaven-reaching Divine Art ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation.¡¯ But he has only cultivated its second strike, and even with his greatly increased strength, I fear it won¡¯t be enough to withstand the power of the tribulation lightning descending all at once from this multi-layered Heaven!"


    "Unless, he can cultivate a stronger third strike of Nine Swords of Annihilation and deploy even greater combat power!"


    As Xiaojiu spoke, the Sword Shadow that flew from Ye Chen¡¯s forehead suddenly flickered crazily, and in an instant, it turned into a hundred Sword Shadows.


    Then, these hundred Sword Shadows twisted and tore through pieces of the void, even ripping apart the starry-colored lightning of Heavenly Tribulation descending towards Ye Chen.


    "Is this... the third strike of Nine Swords of Annihilation?" Xiaojiu leaped up upon seeing the killing move Ye Chen had never shown before, "Rumors say, the Nine Swords of Annihilation become harder to cultivate as one progresses. Ye Chen was also cultivating True Qi in his Life Origin Wheel, having little time to understand the sword technique; how did he master the third strike of Nine Swords of Annihilation?!"


    While Xiaojiu was leaping with joy and speaking, Ye Chen, who had deployed the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword in the Void Heaven, looked up at the persistent Heavenly Tribulation lightning with an extremely lucid gaze.


    "Let¡¯s battle! With eight years of arduous cultivation in the Life Origin Wheel, I have now opened up one thousand eight hundred and fifty-three Stellar Vortex Spaces within my body, and have absorbed over one-fifth of the Stellar Power in the ¡¯Stellar Divine Diagram¡¯! And I have cultivated the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture to Minor Accomplishment! This Stellar Power, combined with my Divine Soul Power, is enough to support me in executing the third strike of Nine Swords of Annihilation, ¡¯Void Shattering,¡¯ that I have comprehended in my Life Origin Wheel, for the duration of a cup of tea!"


    "If a cup of tea¡¯s time is not enough to withstand the Heavenly Tribulation, then I fear I¡¯ll have to use the last Secret Treasure I¡¯ve consecrated¡ª the Ice Seal Puppet!"


    Ye Chen had felt the distinct nature of this Heavenly Tribulation early on, and though he continuously employed various techniques at his disposal, there were still some ace moves he kept in reserve, waiting to use at the last moment.


    One of these ace moves was the third sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, "Void Shattering"!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As Ye Chen executed the Crimson Fire Flying Sword and activated the third sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, "Void Shattering," he managed to tear apart the incoming star-colored lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation. The sword move "Void Shattering" even caused the space around Ye Chen to fracture violently as it unleashed its fury.


    Anything that entered this fractured space, be it the lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation or the accompanying tornadoes, was instantly reduced to nothingness by the third sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation.


    Indeed, the third sword "Void Shattering" proved to be much more powerful than the first sword "Mountains and Rivers Chaos" and the second sword "Wandiding"; this strike even possessed the attack level of a Lower God King!


    When the Stellar Power within Ye Chen fully erupted and the third sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation was completely deployed, the area around Ye Chen had become a realm of void fragmentation.


    For a moment, an equilibrium was reached.


    Thunderclouds in the sky continuously spawned new lightning bolts, and as these bolts entered the range of Ye Chen¡¯s void-tearing sword move, they were all shredded into nonexistence, while below the sword move, Ye Chen kept spurting out Stellar Power and Divine Soul Power, launching continuous attacks with his sword move.


    Everyone knew that this was the final confrontation phase between Ye Chen and the Heavenly Tribulation.


    Either Ye Chen would muster his strength to completely withstand the Heavenly Tribulation, or he would no longer hold out, and his technique would be broken through.


    At this time, Xiaojiu, Bing Yi, Zhou Yue, and a few others who cared the most about Ye Chen were on tenterhooks.


    They did not know which way the scales of victory would tip.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    All they could hear were the sounds of the Void continuously sending down lightning bolts of the Heavenly Tribulation, and the sounds of the Void being torn asunder, with the lightning bolts being ground into nothingness.


    This scene continued for the better part of an incense stick¡¯s burning time until Ye Chen¡¯s Stellar Power was nearly depleted and he was about to use his final Ice Seal Puppet¡ªbut then it finally stopped.


    Bang! Bang!


    Then, everyone saw the thunderclouds in the sky completely dissipate, and from between the heavens, two sounds emerged as the Divine Sects that had aided Ye Chen¡¯s entry into the True God Realm opened once more, and divine beams of light shot out again. Discover stories with novelhall.Co?m


    After the Divine Light enveloped Ye Chen again, surges of Divine Power descended from the Polar Heaven above, all fusing into Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    Inside Ye Chen¡¯s body, the three signs of life ¡ª Essence, Qi, and Spirit ¡ª began undergoing unbelievable changes, and Ye Chen¡¯s realm "zoomed" forward in leaps and bounds, breaking through from the First Tribulation True God level all the way to the Four Tribulations True God level!


    The multilayered Heavenly Tribulation had brought Ye Chen an incredible breakthrough, charging through several bottlenecks and barriers, reaching the pinnacle of the lower-tier True Gods!


    Four Tribulations True God!


    When they saw the four circular Divine Light shadows slowly emerging and then disappearing behind Ye Chen, signifying his entrance into the Four Tribulations True God level, the onlookers, including several Heavenly Saints and True Gods, were completely shocked, their eyes nearly popping out.


    They had witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s progression from the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm to the True God Realm, and now, they saw him directly break through from a First Tribulation True God to a Four Tribulations True God!


    This was truly unheard of!


    Moreover, considering the terrifying level of the multilayered Heavenly Tribulation Ye Chen had just withstood, they realized that they might have truly witnessed a miracle!


    It was a significant risk leading to a great opportunity, a miraculous breakthrough!


    "This young senior, even as a Four Tribulations True God, will definitely surpass countless Nine Tribulations True Gods. Perhaps his combat power is now strong enough to fight against a Lower God King, and he might even be able to defeat one!"


    These Heavenly Saints and True Gods couldn¡¯t forget Ye Chen¡¯s terrifying sword move that could tear the lightning of the Heavenly Tribulation to shreds!


    They knew it was a sword move that definitely surpassed the combat power of the True God Realm!


    "However, the stronger the power, the more dangerous the upcoming Heavenly Tribulations."


    "If the next Heavenly Tribulation is as terrifying as this one, even if it¡¯s not multilayered but just a single layer, it will be many times more formidable than the current one!"


    "After all, advancing from the Four Tribulations True God to the Five Tribulations True God is already a huge challenge, let alone his extraordinary situation where his combat power far exceeds his realm!"


    "If this young senior cannot counter the next Heavenly Tribulation with as many tactics as he did this time, he might still face a great crisis!"


    "This is the nature of the Heavenly Tribulation, just like the Divine Tribulation; it greatly promotes peerless geniuses and poses great risks. Many peerless geniuses in the Divine Kingdom have perished under increasingly powerful Heavenly and Divine Tribulations one after another."


    These thoughts filled the hearts of the Heavenly Saints and True Gods with awe.

 Chapter 664 - 616 The Battle of Divine City Arrives

    These Heavenly Saints and True Gods knew that each Heavenly Tribulation would be more terrifying than the last. Above the Void Heaven, Ye Chen, who had just broken through to the status of a Four Tribulations True God, was certainly aware of the crises he must face later on.


    Ye Chen, in his early years, cultivated within the dream realm of the Creation Chess Board and had always trained up to and beyond an Upper God King level. He was certainly familiar with the pattern of the Heavenly Tribulations.


    Therefore, even though he had suddenly broken through to the Four Tribulations True God level, Ye Chen¡¯s face remained somewhat somber.


    He had used almost all his techniques to deal with this Heavenly Tribulation, leaving only one or two tactics unused. In the future, to confront the next Heavenly Tribulation, these techniques would definitely not suffice, and he would certainly need to prepare many more.


    Despite his somber expression, Ye Chen, of course, would not be discouraged.


    No matter how great the difficulties he had encountered, he had overcome them all. He had just broken through a realm and had ample time to prepare¡ªhe certainly would not fear or dread the next Heavenly Tribulation.


    With strength, he must become stronger!


    Faced with a great crisis, he would eliminate it with absolute power!


    "My True Qi Techniques, having reached Minor Accomplishment in the Primordial Chapter, just need to be cultivated to Great Accomplishment, or even Perfection¡ªand perhaps step into the even mightier fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture. By then, even facing a Heavenly Tribulation at the level of an Upper God King would most likely pose no problem at all!"


    "My Divine Soul Techniques include the Nine Swords of Annihilation; I have only cultivated up to the third sword. I can continue to cultivate further, mastering all of the Nine Swords¡¯ Heaven-reaching Divine Art. By then, my combat power would probably be sufficient to battle an Upper God King!"


    "And there¡¯s my powerful Physical Skills of the Undying Divine Body. Once I¡¯ve dealt with the battle in the Divine City and the matters in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, it will be time to seek out Lord Tianyun for the remaining chapters of the Undying Divine Body."


    Ye Chen considered all kinds of methods that could enhance his strength and prepare him for the next Heavenly Tribulation.


    With Essence, Qi, and Spirit - the three signs of life - he still had techniques that could push through breakthroughs, continuously boosting his combat power!


    "After my intensive cultivation in the hundredfold time flow rate of the Life Origin Wheel, my original combat power was already on par with an Upper God King. Once I fully transform the essence, qi, and spirit enhanced by this breakthrough into combat power, I¡¯ll have no fear facing a Lower God King like Sima Feng again!"


    "Back in the Undersea Divine Palace, Elder Ku Du said that only those who can defeat an ordinary Lower God King would have a chance to attempt entering the number one Divine Institute among the nine¡ªthe Supreme Divine Institute. Now, my strength is finally sufficient to make a charge for the ¡¯Supreme Divine Institute¡¯."


    Ye Chen came to the Divine Kingdom primarily to join one of the nine Divine Institutes.


    Especially the number one Divine Institute "Supreme Divine Institute," which Elder Ku Du reminded him about, is Ye Chen¡¯s primary target.


    Previously, Ye Chen was still lingering in the later stages of the Heavenly Saint and was uncertain about passing the assessment of the nine Divine Institutes, but now he felt considerably more confident.


    There was still some time before the examination of the nine Divine Institutes. He still had the chance to seek opportunities in the Nine Suns Ancient Land through the battle in the Divine City, and he might also try to find Lord Tianyun. By enhancing his strength and stockpiling more techniques before the examination of the nine Divine Institutes, it might not be impossible for him to truly enter the "Supreme Divine Institute!"


    "One step at a time!"


    "Keep walking step by step!"


    "As long as I join one of the nine Divine Institutes, my chances of surmounting the Heavenly Tribulation and even the Divine Tribulation to achieve the God King Venerable level will be much greater. I must cherish this opportunity and rapidly enhance my strength to quickly traverse the Star Domain and meet Jiang Yao!"


    Ye Chen could not forget that there was a girl waiting for him in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain,


    The faster he increased his strength, the shorter the days of separation from Jiang Yao would be.


    Ye Chen knew that Jiang Yao must also be continuously enhancing her cultivation under the guidance of Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, eager to meet him as soon as possible.


    If the girl was doing this much, Ye Chen, of course, would not relax his efforts!


    After his mind whirred with thoughts, Ye Chen¡¯s fingers moved slightly, and a ring appeared in his palm. Your next journey awaits at novelhall.Co?m


    This ring was none other than the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring," a Divine Artifact that Ye Chen had acquired back in the Minor Pole Sky.


    Besides the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring," Ye Chen also obtained treasures like the "Thunder Gourd," "Purple Lightning Divine Sword," and "Heavenly Origin Divine Stone" in the Minor Pole Sky.


    The Purple Lightning Divine Sword was always in use by Ye Chen, and he naturally wore the "Heavenly Origin Divine Stone," which nurtured and strengthened his Essence, Qi, and Spirit.


    Compared with these, the Thunder Gourd and the Ice Treasure Divine Ring, which Ye Chen exchanged from the Ice Wing Tribe¡¯s True God Bing Ao, became somewhat less useful.


    Ye Chen had barely used the Thunder Gourd since, after all, such a treasure that could only slay lower-level True Gods is now surpassed by a mere gesture of his current combat power.


    Ye Chen planned to find an opportunity to sell the Thunder Gourd along with some treasures from the deceased Sima Feng¡¯s storage ring to gather some Divine Stones to power the Ice Seal Puppets, for they would continuously consume Divine Stones.


    As for the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring," with its three remarkable effects of "Treasure Hunting, Concealment, and Space," it was slightly more useful than the Thunder Gourd. This time, Ye Chen had let Xiaojiu with others like Bing Yi and the little monkey avoid the Heavenly Tribulation using the Ice Treasure Divine Ring, keeping the ring with him.


    What Ye Chen was utilizing was the spatial effect of the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring."


    At this moment, looking into the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring," one could see over twenty massive, black and red flying ants, each several feet long, flying within the space of the divine ring.


    These huge black and red flying ants were none other than the mutated Netherworld Ant eggs that Ye Chen found in the Five Elements Mountain, which had hatched into mutated flying ants!


    Initially, Ye Chen had acquired dozens of these black and red spherical eggs, containing hundreds of ant larvae.


    Since leaving the Five Elements Mountain, Ye Chen had kept these eggs within a spatial treasure, slowly incubating them with his True Qi. Now, after the accelerated time of cultivation within the Void Celestial Gourd and the recently completed cultivation within the Life Origin Wheel, a few days before Ye Chen emerged from the Life Origin Wheel, he noticed that these long-awaited eggs had finally hatched into a new breed of flying ants.


    Although only a little over twenty flying ants hatched from the hundreds of eggs, these new ants were indeed, as Ye Chen had anticipated, not normal "Netherworld Ants."


    All of them had mutated; it¡¯s very likely that the mutation resulted from the fusion of the Netherworld Ant eggs with those of the "Flame Ants" during their combat, giving rise to a previously unknown type of flying ant.


    When Ye Chen discovered these mutated flying ants, the Heavenly Tribulation was already brewing. He felt that these ants seemed to be excited by the tribulation, as if they wanted to devour the power of the tribulation itself. It was because of this that he brought with him the newly hatched mutated ants that he had not yet had the chance to study.


    Sure enough, during the tribulation, Ye Chen really sensed that the twenty-odd mutated ants hiding in the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring" were indeed devouring a significant amount of the Heavenly Tribulation.


    Originally, the ant crystals produced by the Netherworld Ants were only effective for those at the Rotating Pill Realm, so Ye Chen could no longer use them. But now, seeing that the mutated ants could even devour the power of a tribulation, naturally sparked Ye Chen¡¯s interest in this entirely new breed of mutated ants.


    "Having devoured a substantial amount of the tribulation¡¯s power, these ants seem to have increased in strength," Ye Chen thought. "Each one now possesses the power of about the midway point of a Heavenly Saint. Though this power isn¡¯t much, their ability to devour tribulations could prove useful when I face the next, even more terrifying tribulation."


    "Let¡¯s call this new breed of mutated ants ¡¯Scarlet Ming Ants.¡¯ Perhaps, they could be an important means for me in the future."


    After examining the flying ants for a while, Ye Chen put away the "Ice Treasure Divine Ring" and secured it on his person again.


    Now that these ants had devoured some of the tribulation¡¯s power, they had enough to refine for a long time. Ye Chen planned to take some time out to study these "Scarlet Ming Ants" more closely!


    Ye Chen¡¯s contemplation on enhancing his capabilities and his assessment of the Scarlet Ming Ants only took a few moments. By that time, the clouds of the Heavenly Tribulation had dissipated following his breakthrough to the Four Tribulations True God, vanishing without a trace.


    Gazing upon the mountain range that had returned to its clear and bright state, Ye Chen smiled and descended from the skies of the Void, walking toward Xiaojiu.


    "Considering the time, the battle for Divine City isn¡¯t far off. It¡¯s about time to bring Zhou Yue back to Circulation of Heaven Divine City to participate in the battle for the city."


    As Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts raced, Xiaojiu, carrying the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, flew towards him excitedly, "Ye Chen, you¡¯ve broken through to a Four Tribulations True God, that¡¯s incredible! I bet City Lord Nie will be shocked when he sees you at the battle for Divine City in Circulation of Heaven Divine City!"


    When Ye Chen and Xiaojiu met, they quickly spoke with Zhou Yue, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, Bing Qi, and the little monkey inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Then Ye Chen¡¯s gaze swept over the few True Gods who had been watching from afar, as well as the four Heavenly Saints and several hundred Rotating Pills.


    Feeling Ye Chen¡¯s gaze, they couldn¡¯t help but greet him with a respectful fist-clasp.


    Ye Chen simply nodded to them with a smile and refrained from engaging in further conversation. He then stowed away the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, took Xiaojiu, and directly tore through the space, shuttling towards the Teleportation Divine Formation of the Dragon Star Continent.


    It wasn¡¯t until Ye Chen had been gone for quite some time that the onlooking True Gods could finally breathe a sigh of relief.


    Reflecting on what they had witnessed earlier, these True Gods were still excited and incredulous. After taking a few deep breaths, they too disappeared into the void.


    The four Heavenly Saints who had initially intended to fight exchanged looks, smiling wryly before speaking, "Fellow Daoists, let us postpone our battle to another day. After witnessing that senior¡¯s tribulation today, I no longer have the mood for competition."


    "Indeed, witnessing the senior¡¯s tribulation has left me somewhat shaken. I need to return and reflect on this experience."


    After exchanging a few more words, the four Heavenly Saints transformed into escaping lights and flew off. Ultimately, the several hundred Rotating Pills also departed from the mountain range.


    As the news of their departure and the events they witnessed began to spread, many Martial Artists of the Dragon Star Continent gradually learned that an exceptional Heaven¡¯s Chosen had undergone tribulation on the Bluegold Mountain Range of Dragon Star Continent.


    Even many Lower True Gods from the continent came to the site where Ye Chen had faced the Heavenly Tribulation to investigate.


    However, Ye Chen had long since departed, so they could no longer see any trace of him.


    Nevertheless, the remnants of the tribulation in the Bluegold Mountain Range made these Lower God Kings extremely solemn.


    As these Lower God Kings dispersed what they had seen and felt, Martial Artists across the entire Dragon Star Continent became aware that their small Star Continent had been visited by an extraordinary individual.


    Many even speculated whether it was that young Heaven¡¯s Chosen from the Divine Kingdom who had come to their Dragon Star Continent.


    Meanwhile, in Circulation of Heaven Divine City, at the City Lord¡¯s Mansion.


    "There are only three days left before the battle for Divine City. Why hasn¡¯t Ye Chen returned to Circulation of Heaven Divine City yet?" City Lord Nie paced anxiously around the City Lord¡¯s Mansion.

 Chapter 665 - 617 Supreme Goddess Long Li

    City Lord Nie was certainly uneasy.


    This time, he had entrusted a powerful friend to find "Lin Xiaowan," who was cultivating at the Supreme Divine Institute, to help.


    He had absolutely no concerns about "Lin Xiaowan"; after all, she was training at the most powerful Divine Institute in the Divine Kingdom, the Supreme Divine Institute!


    Moreover, he had heard from his friend that "Lin Xiaowan" was rather formidable among the Nine Tribulations True Gods at the Supreme Divine Institute. Participating in the Battle of the Small Divine Cities was an underuse of her talents. There was no chance she would be defeated.


    Lin Xiaowan was sure to secure a victory slot for Circulation of Heaven Divine City, and since each competition was decided by best of three matches, they needed another stable victory point to stand out from the battles against the other seventeen Small Divine Cities.


    As for the other two chosen to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Battle of Divine Cities, the young Zhao Luo and the youth Ye Chen, City Lord Nie naturally had more faith in Ye Chen¡¯s strength.


    He had heard his "Niece Wan" praise Ye Chen¡¯s capabilities.


    However, now with only three days left before the Battle of Divine Cities, City Lord Nie had received no news of Ye Chen¡¯s return to Circulation of Heaven Divine City, and it was starting to worry him.


    If Ye Chen did not return and was unable to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the battle, using a replacement would make the assurance of victory uncertain, apart from Lin Xiaowan¡¯s guaranteed win.


    In that case, the chances of standing out in the Battle of Divine Cities would become extremely slim.


    That, of course, caused City Lord Nie, who was set on securing one of the ten spots to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land for Circulation of Heaven Divine City among the eighteen Small Divine Cities, to become increasingly anxious.


    At that moment, Lin Xiaowan and Zhao Luo were both beside City Lord Nie.


    Zhao Luo was also worried about Ye Chen¡¯s absence. He had finally obtained the opportunity to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the Battle of Divine Cities. Zhao Luo knew all too well that it was unlikely for him to keep winning in the battle without relying on Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan.


    Without Ye Chen, if another warrior had to substitute, then the chances of Circulation of Heaven Divine City securing a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land would be incredibly bleak, and his own chance to go there would be lost.


    At this time, Lin Xiaowan looked at City Lord Nie with her eyes twinkling and said with a light chuckle, "Uncle Nie, if Ye Chen doesn¡¯t come back, I¡¯m afraid I will have to withdraw as well."


    "Withdraw?" City Lord Nie was shocked, "Niece Wan, even if Ye Chen doesn¡¯t return, if we find another Nine Tribulations True God, we still have a chance to obtain a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Why would you withdraw?"


    Lin Xiaowan spoke seriously, "Uncle Nie, previously I didn¡¯t care much about obtaining a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and I only hurried over to assist you because of my family ancestor."


    "However, a major event occurred a few days ago, and now it¡¯s imperative for me to secure a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "If Ye Chen were to join forces with me, I¡¯m confident we could lead Circulation of Heaven Divine City to victory¡ªon one hand helping you, Uncle Nie, and on the other, securing a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land. But if Ye Chen does not return, I must seek alliance with Great Divine City and obtain an entry spot into the Nine Suns Ancient Land directly through them."


    "After all, I¡¯m absolutely unwilling to miss out on the Nine Suns Ancient Land spot now simply to assist Circulation of Heaven Divine City."


    Hearing Lin Xiaowan¡¯s earnest words, City Lord Nie¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    A few days ago, an important change had occurred, and his niece Wan must secure a spot to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land?


    He had always heard Lin Xiaowan say she didn¡¯t care about the slot for the Nine Suns Ancient Land, so what exactly had happened to make her suddenly care about it and need to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land?


    "Niece Wan, what exactly happened?" City Lord Nie quickly asked Lin Xiaowan.


    He was still waiting for Ye Chen to return, and now he heard Lin Xiaowan say she wanted to withdraw. Without these two assistants, the chances for his Circulation of Heaven Divine City to win the Divine City Battle were practically nonexistent.


    Hearing City Lord Nie¡¯s query, Lin Xiaowan turned her beautiful eyes toward the void: "Uncle Nie, although the Nine Suns Ancient Land is a realm left behind by a Heavenly Divine Venerable, the treasures that have flowed out from numerous explorations there are not many. Although it is attractive to many True Gods and Divine Kings, it is not that significant to us at the Supreme Divine Institute and the strongest among the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Eight Great Divine Institutes."


    "After all, there are many places we can enter that are more precious than the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    Lin Xiaowan¡¯s words made City Lord Nie nod repeatedly.


    He certainly knew of the status of the nine Divine Institutes of the Divine Kingdom; it was rumored that even Sovereign Realm powerhouses were among them, so of course they wouldn¡¯t care about a relic site left by a Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    So why did his niece Wan care so much about the Nine Suns Ancient Land now?


    Could it be that something had changed within the Nine Suns Ancient Land?


    City Lord Nie became even more perplexed.


    Seeing the expression on City Lord Nie¡¯s face, as if guessing what he was thinking, Lin Xiaowan laughed and said, "Uncle Nie, it¡¯s not because of the Nine Suns Ancient Land itself. I don¡¯t know if anything has changed there. I must obtain a slot to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, because the Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s number one Divine Girl, ¡¯Long Li,¡¯ is going to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land!"


    The number one Divine Girl, Long Li?!


    When he heard Lin Xiaowan mention that name, City Lord Nie was greatly shocked: "Could it be the legendary Divine Girl ¡¯Long Li¡¯ from the nine Divine Institutes of the Divine Kingdom? It is rumored that despite being only sixteen years old this year, she is already a High-Level Divine King! She¡¯s simply the first legend in the history of the Divine Kingdom! And among the Divine King Realm powerhouses of the nine Divine Institutes, she ranks absolutely first! It¡¯s said that she can even fight against Divine Venerables and has defeated many Earth Divine Venerables, and has even encountered Heavenly Divine Venerables. She, she is the absolute prodigy of the Supreme Divine Institute and even the entire Divine Kingdom of Wan Mu Mountain. I heard that the old Venerables of the Supreme Divine Institute have specially opened up many invaluable cultivation sites for her. How could she be interested in the Nine Suns Ancient Land?"


    "The Nine Suns Ancient Land may indeed be good for many Divine Kings, but for someone of her stature, she definitely wouldn¡¯t be interested!"


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    City Lord Nie was utterly astonished.


    Even in the Small Divine Cities of the Southern Territory¡¯s Circulation of Heaven Divine City within the Divine Kingdom of Wan Mu Mountain, he had heard of the Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s number one Divine Girl, "Long Li."


    At this moment, Lin Xiaowan¡¯s tone also revealed an immense admiration: "Sister Long Li is the foremost person among the younger generation in the entire Supreme Divine Institute. Even many Divine Venerables wouldn¡¯t dare to provoke her. She is also the idol of the Supreme Divine Institute and countless martial artists from the Divine Institutes. She is younger than me but has reached such an incredible level of cultivation, truly dauntingly powerful!"


    "I have seen Sister Long Li a few times, and her talent is unbelievably powerful."


    "Precisely because the news of Sister Long Li going to the Nine Suns Ancient Land has spread, now many True Gods and Divine Kings from the eight Divine Institutes also want to follow to the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "There have even been quite a few who went directly to the Southern Territory King Mansion to secure a slot to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land. As far as I know, among the ten Divine Kings who can enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time, aside from Sister Long Li, the other nine are all prodigies from the Divine Kingdom."

 Chapter 666 - 618: Ye Chen Returns!

    "Within the ¡¯God King List¡¯ jointly created by the nine major Divine Institutes, aside from Sister Long Li ranking first, there are three others among the top ten who, because of Sister Long Li, will be entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time."


    "Those three are not only the absolute admirers of Sister Long Li but also talented individuals with significant backgrounds in their respective Divine Kingdoms."


    "The God Kings who can enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time are much more formidable than usual, and this time, I¡¯m afraid that many powerful true gods and true gods with great backgrounds from the nine Divine Institutes will take away many of the ten spots allocated to the various Divine Cities of the Southern Territory."


    "Even countless smaller Divine Cities, and the battles between our eighteen Circulation of Heaven Divine Cities, I am afraid, will attract many true gods who couldn¡¯t get a spot from the larger Divine Cities, all vying for those ten entries to the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "So, not only will the candidates entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time be countless times stronger than usual, I¡¯m afraid that the upcoming battles for the spots in the smaller Divine Cities will be countless times fiercer, too."


    "Uncle Nie, I¡¯m among the top ranks of true gods at the Supreme Divine Institute, so it will be very easy for me to secure a spot to the Nine Suns Ancient Land from one of the larger Divine Cities. Now do you understand why I said that if Ye Chen doesn¡¯t come back, I will leave? I don¡¯t want to miss the chance to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land and miss the opportunity to explore it with Sister Long Li!"


    "Moreover, even if Ye Chen comes back, I also want to see the extent of his strength and determine whether he can be sure to win the battle between the eighteen Divine Cities of Circulation of Heaven Divine City. If the chances are not great, I¡¯ll consider other options."


    After hearing Lin Xiaowan¡¯s words, City Lord Nie took a deep breath.


    He did not know that, just these past few days, so many things had happened because of Long Li, the ¡¯First Goddess¡¯ of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    In that case, as Lin Xiaowan said, the once prized exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land in the Southern Territory has now, because of "Long Li," attracted the attention of many true gods and Divine Kings across the entire Divine Kingdom.


    He also understood his niece Lin Xiaowan¡¯s desire to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    City Lord Nie took a deep sigh, "I¡¯m afraid that this time the battle for the Divine City will indeed be more difficult than before. While many powerful true gods will get their spots to the Nine Suns Ancient Land from the larger Divine Cities, plus, considering the sheer number of smaller Divine Cities, the number of powerful true gods that will eventually enter the battle of our eighteen Circulation of Heaven Divine Cities won¡¯t be many. But, even if it¡¯s just a few, there will definitely be a few."


    "If Ye Chen really hasn¡¯t come back, then relying only on you, my niece, our Circulation of Heaven Divine City indeed won¡¯t have much confidence."


    After sighing, City Lord Nie looked seriously at Lin Xiaowan and said, "My niece, if Ye Chen has not returned by today, I won¡¯t hold you back any longer. Don¡¯t waste your chance to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land for the sake of our small Divine City."


    Hearing City Lord Nie¡¯s words, Lin Xiaowan smiled lightly, "Let¡¯s wait one more day. I heard from the Zhou Family that Ye Chen was out cultivating, and I want to see if this young man, who could overpower many nine calamity true gods at the mere late stage of Heavenly Saint, has improved this time."


    "If he doesn¡¯t come back tomorrow, it won¡¯t be too late for me to secure a spot in another Divine City."


    City Lord Nie also nodded in agreement.


    Together with Lin Xiaowan, he waited for news about Ye Chen¡¯s return.


    Zhao Luo, on the other hand, couldn¡¯t get a word in edgewise with City Lord Nie and Lin Xiaowan, yet he didn¡¯t feel the slightest bit irate.


    At this moment, he was stunned by the news Lin Xiaowan mentioned.


    Countless true gods and Divine Kings from the nine Divine Institutes are going to flood into the Nine Suns Ancient Land?


    This will likely turn into a major event for the Southern Territory!


    "Ye Chen, you¡¯d better hurry back."


    "I really want to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land to see what the ¡¯First Goddess¡¯ Long Li of the Supreme Divine Institute looks like! If you don¡¯t come back, and Lin Xiaowan leaves too, I won¡¯t have the slightest chance of entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land!"


    Zhao Luo¡¯s desire to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land became even more urgent.


    As Zhao Luo was about to start pacing anxiously, while City Lord Nie and Lin Xiaowan quietly waited, a voice suddenly came from the void: "I just got back to the Zhou Family and heard from them that City Lord Nie, you were looking for me?"


    Whoosh!


    City Lord Nie, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo immediately turned their gazes toward the void above.


    What they saw made their eyes widen; the figure of Ye Chen, for whom they had been anxiously waiting, was appearing out of the void and flying toward them.


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    Ye Chen had returned!


    "Ye Chen!" City Lord Nie and Zhao Luo called out with excitement at the same time.


    Lin Xiaowan¡¯s beautiful eyes opened wide in shock as she sensed the aura of a true god emanating from Ye Chen.


    Moreover, it was the aura of a Fourth Tribulation True God.


    "Ye Chen, when you left Circulation of Heaven Divine City, weren¡¯t you only at the later stages of the Heavenly Saint realm? How is it that in barely three months of not seeing you, you¡¯ve cultivated to the Fourth Tribulation True God?" Lin Xiaowan exclaimed in disbelief.


    Even with her training at the Supreme Divine Institute, advancing from the later stages of the Heavenly Saint realm to a Fourth Tribulation True God within such a short span of three months, and breaking through several realms in the process, was something she had almost never heard of!


    It was only ¡¯Long Li,¡¯ the First Goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, who had entered the Life Origin Wheel for training and managed to break through from a Sixth Tribulation True God straight to a Ninth Tribulation True God.


    At that time, Long Li had sent ripples throughout the entire Supreme Divine Institute with her achievement.


    Granted, breaking through from the later stages of the Heavenly Saint realm to a Fourth Tribulation True God wasn¡¯t as difficult as advancing from a Sixth Tribulation True God to a Ninth Tribulation True God, but that all depended on who you compared it with.


    To even come close to achieving a miracle like that of Long Li, the pride of the younger generation of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s nine great institutes, was an accomplishment that would undoubtedly shake all nine institutes.


    Even if Ye Chen had utilized the Life Origin Wheel¡¯s one hundred times acceleration of time, it only offered just over eight years of additional time. Reaching such heights in that timeframe was beyond belief!


    Yet, such an event was happening to a youth like Ye Chen, which naturally astonished Lin Xiaowan.


    Lin Xiaowan immediately questioned Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, did you enter the Life Origin Wheel for cultivation? What level has your strength reached now?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s strength was of utmost importance for the competition for a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, so Lin Xiaowan was naturally very concerned.


    Seeing Lin Xiaowan¡¯s excited expression, Ye Chen felt a bit puzzled.


    He wasn¡¯t yet aware of the fact that ¡¯Long Li,¡¯ the First Goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, was planning to head to the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t hide much from Lin Xiaowan and replied with a smile, "I indeed entered the Life Origin Wheel for my cultivation; otherwise, there¡¯s no way I could have broken through so many realms in a mere three months."


    "As for my current strength," Ye Chen¡¯s eyes conveyed a confident sheen, "if only warriors below the God King Realm are participating in the Divine City battle, then there will be no problem at all for me to achieve victory on my side."


    "What if you are faced with powerful Ninth Tribulation True Gods as opponents? You still won¡¯t have any problems?" Lin Xiaowan asked.


    Ye Chen smiled and said, "No problem!"


    His current strength was such that he could suppress even Lower God Kings, let alone the Ninth Tribulation True Gods participating in the minor Divine City battles.


    Ye Chen was also eager to see if anyone in the Divine City battle could push him to use his full strength!

 Chapter 667 - 619 Departure

    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s confident words, Lin Xiaowan¡¯s eyes sparkled brightly.


    "Words alone are no proof. Ye Chen, you wouldn¡¯t mind having a bout with me, would you?" Lin Xiaowan said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    When Lin Xiaowan challenged him, Ye Chen had a thought stirring in his heart.


    Lin Xiaowan always gave him a dangerous feeling.


    Moreover, this woman was a martial artist from the Supreme Divine Institute, which meant she must be extraordinary. After his breakthrough, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t had a real fight with a strong opponent yet, and Lin Xiaowan¡¯s challenge could be a good match.


    Ye Chen also wanted to try out his actual combat capabilities after his breakthrough to see if there was any difference from what he anticipated. He also wanted to see just how formidable a warrior from the Supreme Divine Institute who had overcome the Nine Tribulations truly was, to better gauge his chances in the upcoming assessments of the nine divine institutes.


    "A duel? I had the same thought," Ye Chen said with a smile to Lin Xiaowan. "I have been keen to see the extent of a martial artist¡¯s strength who has trained in the Supreme Divine Institute."


    Hearing that Ye Chen was going to spar with Lin Xiaowan, the young man Zhao Luo felt an unexplainable excitement in his heart; these two individuals, far stronger than himself, would be participating in the Divine City Battle alongside him. Naturally, Zhao Luo wanted to know just how powerful these two companions of his were.


    And City Lord Nie laughed, "If you two wish to spar, my City Lord¡¯s Mansion happens to have a training ground that is perfect for duels. You can use that."


    ...


    A short time later,


    Ye Chen left the City Lord¡¯s Mansion and flew back towards the Zhou Family¡¯s territory in Fallen Moon City.


    Looking towards the training ground of the City Lord¡¯s Mansion, one could see the distinct expressions of Zhao Luo, City Lord Nie, and Lin Xiaowan, who were still in the training ground.


    The duel between Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan wasn¡¯t a real fight to the death, just a trial, and it ended quickly.


    Moreover, it was Lin Xiaowan who initiated the end of the bout. Stay updated through novelhall.Co?m


    Even though they only sparred for a very short time, Lin Xiaowan was still extremely thrilled.


    In that brief exchange, she found herself equally matched with Ye Chen.


    One must know, Lin Xiaowan was a warrior who had been training at the nine divine institutes, having entered the strongest of them all, the Supreme Divine Institute, after the last set of institute assessments.


    Even when she was a mere Seven Tribulations True God, she could fight against many Lower God Kings, and as an Eight Tribulations True God, she had already defeated quite a few Lower God Kings, marking herself as a genius capable of fighting beyond her own realm!


    Add to that her new breakthroughs in techniques and divine skills acquired during her training days at the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Lin Xiaowan at this stage was among the formidable Nine Tribulations True Gods within the Supreme Divine Institute, and she could even take on many Middle God Kings from outside.


    Under these circumstances, the fact that Ye Chen could fight on equal terms with her naturally shook Lin Xiaowan.


    Even if she didn¡¯t use her full strength, even if she didn¡¯t deploy her true trump cards, Lin Xiaowan knew that Ye Chen definitely had the capability to fight alongside her and win the battle for Divine City.


    Lin Xiaowan even felt that Ye Chen still had many hidden cards unplayed and that his strength may not be much less than hers, enough to qualify for joining the Supreme Divine Institute!


    Lin Xiaowan was quite satisfied with Ye Chen as a companion.


    Zhao Luo and City Lord Nie, however, were completely astonished.


    Zhao Luo had not expected that although he too was a Nine Tribulations True God, the gap between him and a fellow Nine Tribulations True God like Lin Xiaowan would be so immense!


    Indeed, his training in an ordinary Small Divine City was simply no match for a Nine Tribulations True God refined by the supreme divine institute of the Divine Kingdom. Lacking the capacity to fight across realms, for him, Lin Xiaowan seemed even stronger than many Lower God Kings!


    If Lin Xiaowan was a surprise, then Ye Chen, who was only a Four Tribulations True God, was even more astonishing to Zhao Luo.


    Zhao Luo hadn¡¯t expected that Ye Chen, being at a lower realm than him, could match Lin Xiaowan in combat for so long without falling behind. This showed that Ye Chen¡¯s strength in cross-realm combat was incredibly formidable!


    As for City Lord Nie, his heart was filled with shock and a wry smile.


    He was a Lower God King and among the more formidable in his rank.


    Originally, he knew his beloved niece might actually be stronger than him in a life or death battle.


    City Lord Nie could accept the strength of Lin Xiaowan, who had an extraordinary background and trained at the Supreme Divine Institute. But when he saw Ye Chen fighting Lin Xiaowan, he was shocked to find that this young man was so strong, seemingly no weaker than him as a Lower God King, perhaps even stronger!


    How could this not shock City Lord Nie?


    Just a few months earlier, when City Lord Nie first met Ye Chen, he was merely a Heavenly Divine Venerable late-stager, whom City Lord Nie felt he could suppress effortlessly with a mere gesture.


    Now, in just a matter of months, this young man seemed to have displayed signs of surpassing him. Such rapid progress, even for someone experienced as City Lord Nie, was utterly astonishing.


    Of course, City Lord Nie was also thrilled.


    His beloved niece¡¯s combat ability goes without saying. Now, with the already formidable Ye Chen having broken through to a Four Tribulations True God and his combat power reaching such levels, the two of them teaming up to help his Circulation of Heaven Divine City win the battle for Divine City seemed almost a certainty.


    "An unexpected shock, an unexpected delight!" mused City Lord Nie internally.


    While Zhao Luo, City Lord Nie, and Lin Xiaowan were all having their own reflections after the recent battle, Ye Chen, having left the City Lord¡¯s Mansion, also wore a somewhat surprised expression.


    On one hand, Ye Chen was amazed at Lin Xiaowan¡¯s strength as well.


    This girl could train at the Supreme Divine Institute, and she was among the formidable beings in the Nine Tribulations True Gods of the Institute. She was truly not ordinary.


    Even though Ye Chen was now capable of defeating many Lower God Kings, he wasn¡¯t entirely sure he could triumph over this girl.


    Ye Chen had also come to realize that Lin Xiaowan was a genius capable of crossing realms in battle!


    This made Ye Chen even more interested in joining the Supreme Divine Institute to meet more such talents.


    The second thing that completely surprised Ye Chen was what Lin Xiaowan told him about the new developments in the Nine Suns Ancient Land after their spar.


    When he heard that the first goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, "Long Li," intended to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, causing many talented true gods and God Kings to rush there, it stirred upheaval among the young generations of the nine great god institutes and even the true gods and God Kings outside; Ye Chen was also shocked.


    And when he heard Lin Xiaowan speak of this first goddess "Long Li" of the Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen felt an inexplicable sense of awe.


    "Sixteen years old, and already an Upper God King? Having defeated many Earth Divine Venerables and even clashed with a Heavenly Divine Venerable?!"


    Ye Chen was absolutely astonished by the combat power of this Long Li!


    Ye Chen felt that his own breakthroughs in cultivation were incredibly fast, but even then, compared to this legendary foremost proud daughter of the younger generation from the Divine Kingdom known as "Long Li," he still felt far weaker.


    It must be known that by bone age, Long Li was even a few years younger than him!


    "Long Li was born in the Divine Kingdom, indeed her starting point is higher than those from the lower realm."


    "Perhaps, she¡¯s also entered the cycle of life¡¯s origin several times."


    "Yet, even so, to achieve such a level at sixteen, reaching the realm of Upper God King, it¡¯s absolutely fitting to call her the number one pride of the Divine Kingdom!"


    "After all, countless Martial Artists in the Divine Kingdom can¡¯t even compare to me, let alone her!"


    Amidst his admiration, Ye Chen grew curious about this rumored first beauty and first God King of the Supreme Divine Institute, Long Li, who had enchanted countless Martial Artists across the nine great god institutes.


    "The battle for Divine City, I must win that entry spot into the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "I can¡¯t miss this chance to witness Long Li for myself, as well as the talents from the younger generation of the Divine Kingdom!"


    As Ye Chen pondered this, he traversed through the Blood Moon Forest and eventually returned to the Zhou Family¡¯s residence in Fallen Moon City.


    Three days passed in the blink of an eye.


    In these three days, because of Zhou Yue¡¯s safe return with many treasures, the Zhou Family was ecstatic. Even though Zhou Yue didn¡¯t share all of the treasures with her clan members, revealing them only to the upper echelons, when they heard that the Zhou Family had obtained numerous Black Divine Coins, providing the younger generation with resources and opportunities for cultivation, the members of the Zhou Family couldn¡¯t calm their excitement.


    And Ye Chen, who brought all this to the Zhou Family, became the savior in the eyes of the Zhou clan members!


    The Zhou Family members wished they could stay by Ye Chen¡¯s side every day to express their gratitude.


    Understanding the Zhou Family members¡¯ joy, Ye Chen was empathetic, but he was slightly overwhelmed by their enthusiasm.


    In the end, it was only when Ye Chen needed to prepare for the battle for Divine City, after Zhou Tianhao and Zhou Yue informed the family, that the Zhou clan members ceased disturbing Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation.


    When the day of the battle for Divine City finally arrived after three days, Ye Chen flew out from the Zhou Family¡¯s residence early in the morning, followed by Zhou Yue, Zhou Tianhao, and others who were reluctant to part with him.


    The young girl, Zhou Yue, had red-rimmed eyes. She knew that this farewell with Ye Chen might be the last; after participating in the battle for Divine City, it was unlikely he would return to Fallen Moon City. They might never meet again.


    Ascending from the Zhou residence, Ye Chen looked back in mid-air, his gaze landing on those standing next to Zhou Yue, vigorously waving goodbye¡ªit was none other than Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi.


    Just as Ye Chen had settled the matters with the Zhou clan, descendants of the Ice-Sealed God King, and was about to leave for the battle for Divine City, Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi expressed their sorrowful wish to stay behind. They wanted to accompany the Zhou Family members for a while longer and, in the future, they planned to cultivate on their own.


    Through conversations with Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, Ye Chen learned the reasons behind their decision.


    On one hand, they wanted to repay the kindness of the Ice-Sealed God King; on the other, they felt helpless during formidable tribulations when faced with his rapid progress in cultivation.


    They knew they were no longer of much help to their new master and even believed that their master¡¯s achievements would surely surpass the Ice-Sealed God King in the future.


    They needed to cultivate on their own; perhaps in the future, they could be of help to Ye Chen again and meet with him. Otherwise, following Ye Chen would only result in being left further and further behind.


    Bing Yi, tearing up, told Ye Chen that she would strive to join the Great Divine Institute to find him again in the future!


    Seeing Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi in the crowd, waving goodbye with tears on their faces, Ye Chen¡¯s heart was heavy.


    But he couldn¡¯t refuse their decision.


    After a while, Ye Chen sighed deeply and set his sights forward.


    At the same time, glancing at Xiaojiu who was resting his head on his neck to comfort him with his actions, and the little monkey sleeping inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, he thought at least he still had these two little companions by his side!


    "Partings are a precursor to reunions!"


    "Let go of the sorrowful thoughts, the battle for Divine City, and the Nine Suns Ancient Land await ahead!"


    As Ye Chen¡¯s eyes gradually cleared, he reached the skies above Circulation of Heaven Divine City and saw City Lord Nie, Zhao Luo, and Lin Xiaowan taking off from the Divine City.


    "Ye Chen, you¡¯ve arrived?"


    "Let¡¯s go, this battle for Divine City will take place in a place called ¡¯Endless Mountain¡¯ on our Star Continent. We¡¯ll use the Teleportation Divine Formation to rush there now!"


    City Lord Nie told Ye Chen with a smile.

 Chapter 668 - 620: The Bet

    Endless Mountain is a vast and continuous mountain range, located in the central region of Star Continent where Circulation of Heaven Divine City is situated.


    At this moment, within a grand valley of this massive mountain range, eighteen vast void stone platforms, each spanning dozens of zhang in diameter, had been erected, forming a circle. Encircled by these platforms at the center of the area was a colossal arena spanning tens of thousands of zhang in diameter.


    This was the battle site for the War of Divine Cities, where the eighteen Small Divine Cities assigned to Circulation of Heaven Divine City would compete.


    When Ye Chen, City Lord Nie, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo arrived near Endless Mountain through the small transmission Divine Array between different Divine Cities within Star Continent, and after a short flight, they finally reached this huge valley.


    At this time, on the eighteen void stone platforms, thirteen were already occupied by martial artists sitting cross-legged.


    Each void stone platform was occupied by one Lower God King with three warriors of the True God Realm. It seemed that all the Small Divine Cities participating in the War of Divine Cities, like Circulation of Heaven Divine City, were led by Lower God Kings.


    At this time, the martial artists on these void stone platforms were either conversing with one another, meditating in silence, or sizing up Ye Chen and his party as they flew in.


    Upon seeing this situation on the platforms, Ye Chen, City Lord Nie, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo flew directly onto one of the unoccupied void stone platforms.


    "Once everyone arrives, we can start preparing for the War of Divine Cities. The overseer for our battle among the eighteen Small Divine Cities this time is an Upper God King dispatched by the Southern Territory King Mansion. It looks like that Upper God King hasn¡¯t arrived yet," City Lord Nie said to Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo.


    Ye Chen and his companions nodded, then carefully observed the other martial artists on the platforms.


    After scanning their gazes over the martial artists, Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan exchanged a look, then withdrew their probing eyes.


    Having sensed the strength of their opponents for a short while, they had some understanding of these adversaries¡¯ capabilities. Of course, there might be those who were concealing their strengths, so real combat abilities could only be determined in a live battle.


    Nevertheless, Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan, who aspired to venture to the Nine Suns Ancient Land and compete with many formidable beings of the True God Realm, were not overly concerned about the upcoming battle of the Small Divine Cities.


    Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan appeared calm and composed.


    However, Zhao Luo¡¯s palms were now sweating lightly.


    Although he felt confident about Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯s victory through the support of Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan, he knew he must also fight in the best-of-three matches, and naturally did not wish to lose all of his battles.


    Yet, after sensing the auras of the warriors on the void stone platforms, Zhao Luo¡¯s heart began to pound with apprehension.


    Although he was considered strong within Circulation of Heaven Divine City and was roughly on par with many of the warriors on the platforms, there were still a dozen or so whose presence made him feel a threat.


    Just as Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan withdrew their gazes, and Zhao Luo was still worrying about the upcoming battle, a loud burst of laughter suddenly approached the platform where they were.


    "Haha, Nie, my brother, you¡¯ve arrived even faster than me this time!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Four figures descended from the void, flying directly towards the stone platform occupied by Circulation of Heaven Divine City and landed on the spacious void stone platform adjacent to it.


    The leader was a skinny, yellow-robed middle-aged man, the one who had spoken.


    His small eyes were bright and full of life, shining with astuteness. As a Lower God King, it was clear he was also the lord of one of the eighteen Small Divine Cities.


    "Hmph, God King Wucan, it¡¯s been a while, and you still have that same devious look! It seems you¡¯ve been doing quite well for yourself in ¡¯Mingji Divine City,¡¯" City Lord Nie said, not mincing his words as he responded to the yellow-robed middle-aged man.


    As City Lord Nie spoke to the yellow-robed man, he whispered to Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo, "This God King Wucan and I both came from the Fourth Battalion under the Southern Territory King Mansion. The ¡¯Mingji Divine City¡¯ he was assigned to is the largest among our group of eighteen Small Divine Cities this time."


    "Our main competitors would very likely be this ¡¯Mingji Divine City.¡¯"


    While City Lord Nie was speaking, Lin Xiaowan and Ye Chen turned their attention to the three warriors behind God King Wucan.


    All three were at the Nine Tribulations of the True God Realm.


    Upon seeing these three, Lin Xiaowan¡¯s gaze immediately narrowed.


    She communicated to Ye Chen, "Even though these three are concealing their aura deeply, they give off the impression of the Tai Lin Divine Institute¡¯s techniques from among the nine great Divine Institutes."


    "I didn¡¯t expect that ¡¯Mingji Divine City¡¯ could recruit such True Gods."


    "In my sensing, their strength is not much weaker than mine, and they would have easily secured a place to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land from the Great Divine Cities. Yet they are participating in the War of Divine Cities among the Small Divine Cities."


    Lin Xiaowan was somewhat surprised.


    Ye Chen was also assessing the three True Gods and his eyes narrowed upon hearing Lin Xiaowan¡¯s words.


    It seemed that just as Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯s City Lord Nie was able to invite Lin Xiaowan, the other Divine Cities were similarly able to enlist some aid.


    As Ye Chen and the others assessed the three True Gods, the trio of True Gods representing "Mingji Divine City" in the God-city War, who were behind God King Wucan, were likewise assessing Ye Chen¡¯s group.


    All three were tall and slender young men, but their gazes initially settled on Lin Xiaowan, completely overlooking Ye Chen and Zhao Luo standing beside her.


    When they saw Lin Xiaowan, their eyes also showed some shock.


    Apparently, they too could sense the extraordinary background of Lin Xiaowan.


    After exchanging glances, their gazes swept over Ye Chen and Zhao Luo; upon noticing that Ye Chen was only at the Four Tribulations True God level, they revealed a look of surprise.


    It was known that almost all participants in the God-city War were at the Nine Tribulations True God level, with only a few at the Eight Tribulations level. Thus, it was quite unexpected to see a Four Tribulations True God here.


    When they sensed Ye Chen¡¯s aura more carefully but didn¡¯t detect anything special, the trio retracted their gazes.


    "This woman in white actually carries the aura of the Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s techniques! The Supreme Divine Institute is even stronger than our Tai Lin Divine Institute. Who would have thought we¡¯d encounter a disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute at the God-city War in the Small Divine Cities," the three communicated through voice transmission. "Our chances of defeating her seem slim."


    "However, the God-city War of the Small Divine Cities has a best of three format; one must win two out of three matches. Even if we can¡¯t defeat this woman in white, taking down the other two shouldn¡¯t be a problem."


    "That Four Tribulations True God youth, being able to represent Circulation of Heaven Divine City in the God-city War, must have some uniqueness to him. Nevertheless, his chances of victory against us are slim!"


    While they conversed through voice transmission, one of the brown-clothed young men also transmitted his voice to the others: "Having both my masters assist me this time, I am truly grateful. I have some connections with God King Wucan, and this time I must help him secure the ten spots for entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "No need for such politeness, big brother," the other two replied via voice transmission. "Helping you is one thing, but we also covet those spots for the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Rumor has it that the First Goddess ¡¯Long Li¡¯ of the Supreme Divine Institute will be heading there; how could we miss the chance to meet Long Li!"


    "Securing spots from the Great Divine Cities requires a significant price, whereas winning spots from the God-city War of the Small Divine Cities tends to be an easier task."


    .Co?m


    Upon mentioning the name Long Li, the trio¡¯s gazes turned fiery.


    Long Li had a renowned reputation throughout the entire Wamu Mountain Divine Nation, and among the nine divine institutes, she was the object of countless young martial artists¡¯ secret affection.


    Although they never had the chance to even speak with Long Li, their desire to see her was not one bit less!


    The True Gods from both Circulation of Heaven Divine City and Mingji Divine City assessed each other while engaging in voice transmission. City Lord Nie and God King Wucan were also looking towards those who were participating in the God-city War.


    When God King Wucan saw Lin Xiaowan, a flash of brilliance passed through his eyes, but when he saw that Ye Chen was merely a Four Tribulations True God, he was quite surprised.


    "Haha, Nie, you actually brought a Four Tribulations True God to partake in the God-city War. Is Circulation of Heaven Divine City running out of contenders, or does this young man have some unique attribute?" God King Wucan said to City Lord Nie with a chuckle.


    City Lord Nie, of course, would not reveal his secrets to a sly old man like God King Wucan, so he replied indifferently, "My chosen candidate certainly has a unique aspect."


    "Haha, it seems you¡¯re quite confident about your selections, Nie!" God King Wucan said with a cryptic smile as if he had thought of something. "By the way, Nie, I recently came across a fine item. I wonder if you might be interested."


    "What item?" City Lord Nie, observing the expression of God King Wucan, braced himself internally.


    Back when he and God King Wucan were training in the Southern Territory King Mansion¡¯s fourth camp, every time God King Wucan mentioned a good find, it meant he was plotting to obtain treasures from City Lord Nie through trade.


    Although City Lord Nie too had traded for some fine items from God King Wucan, God King Wucan likewise managed to obtain precious treasures from him. In fact, by using one of his treasures, God King Wucan combined it with several others to forge a powerful Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, eventually securing the position of lord over Mingji Divine City, which was much more formidable than Circulation of Heaven Divine City, leaving City Lord Nie somewhat regretful.


    Now, seeing the secretive look on God King Wucan¡¯s face, City Lord Nie couldn¡¯t help being on his guard.


    Yet the following words from God King Wucan instantly caused City Lord Nie¡¯s complexion to change as he heard, "Not long ago, I discovered three Purple Sun Flowers. I¡¯ve heard, Nie, that you¡¯re searching for Purple Sun Flowers to refine a Divine Pill to break through to the Middle God King level. I wonder if you¡¯re interested in these Purple Sun Flowers."


    As he spoke, God King Wucan flipped his palm, and a fist-sized flower emitting sparks of purple flame directly appeared in his hand.


    Hearing God King Wucan¡¯s words and seeing the purple flower in his hand, even City Lord Nie¡¯s breathing tightened.


    He indeed needed those Purple Sun Flowers!


    Nevertheless, City Lord Nie knew that God King Wucan wouldn¡¯t just bring out Purple Sun Flowers for nothing. Taking a deep breath, City Lord Nie addressed God King Wucan, "Out with it, old fellow, what treasure of mine have you set your eyes on this time?"


    God King Wucan flashed a cunning smile, "I heard, Nie, that you happen to possess a Heavenly Bell Herb..."


    Before God King Wucan could finish, City Lord Nie erupted in anger, "Old man, you¡¯re actually coveting my ¡¯Heavenly Bell Herb¡¯!"


    "My ¡¯Heavenly Bell Herb¡¯ is much more precious than ¡¯Purple Sun Flowers.¡¯ Don¡¯t think I will exchange it with you!"


    As if expecting this reaction from City Lord Nie, God King Wucan smiled blandly, "Who said I wanted to trade treasures with you? Seeing as you¡¯re so confident about your candidates for the God-city War, and I¡¯m equally confident about mine, how about we make a wager?"


    "If my selections outperform yours in the God-city War, then I win, and you will have to give me your ¡¯Heavenly Bell Herb.¡¯ Naturally, should my side lose, I will also give you the Purple Sun Flowers, and even throw in a few auxiliary herbs needed to refine the ¡¯Purple Sun Elixir.¡¯ How about that?"

 Chapter 669 - 621: The Battle Begins!

    God King Wucan¡¯s proposal brought a surge of joy to City Lord Nie¡¯s heart.


    "This old fellow, so he¡¯s had this in mind."


    "A bet? Whoever wins just takes the other¡¯s treasure directly? That¡¯s clever, with a trade he would have to give up a ¡¯Purple Sunflower¡¯ to exchange for my ¡¯Heavenly Bell Herb¡¯, but with the bet, if he wins, he gets the ¡¯Heavenly Bell Herb¡¯ without having to pay anything."


    "He must have figured out that I invited Niece Wan, a strong fighter, and he¡¯s likely to bet with me. He thinks his remaining two martial artists can beat the two on my side, but he has absolutely no idea that, besides Niece Wan, I have another trump card, that is Ye Chen!"


    City Lord Nie had seen the match between Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan, and even he, a lower-ranked God King, was not sure if he could defeat Ye Chen.


    Of course, City Lord Nie knew that even if God King Wucan brought a powerful true god as his aid, it was almost impossible for him to win against Ye Chen. Discover more content at novelhall.Co?m


    "Bet."


    "Indeed, we can bet! This old fellow wants to win my ¡¯Heavenly Bell Herb¡¯ for nothing, I¡¯ll make him lose his wife and his troops, and directly lose the ¡¯Purple Sunflower¡¯ to me!"


    In an instant, City Lord Nie had made up his mind.


    However, City Lord Nie kept a poker face, deliberately turning his gaze to the three true gods behind God King Wucan as if he were struggling with a difficult decision.


    Seeing that City Lord Nie did not outright refuse, God King Wucan was delighted, and he said to City Lord Nie with a smile, "Nie, my dear brother, a bet has risks for everyone, I¡¯m also taking a big risk here, if I lose, my three ¡¯Purple Sunflowers¡¯ will be given to you for nothing, you do realize these ¡¯Purple Sunflowers¡¯ are not easy to find..."


    God King Wucan was still urging City Lord Nie.


    City Lord Nie found it amusing internally, but he did not relent, "Old fellow, by the looks of it, you¡¯re quite confident in winning against me, I can¡¯t fall into your trap. Those three Nine-Tribulations true gods you¡¯re putting forth for battle, did you invite some powerful helpers from someplace?"


    In fact, Lin Xiaowan had already informed City Lord Nie through a secret voice transmission about the strength and origins of the three Nine-Tribulations true gods behind God King Wucan, and City Lord Nie was equally clear about it.


    Hearing City Lord Nie¡¯s somewhat reluctant tone, God King Wucan¡¯s eyes shifted, and he laughed, "Nie, my dear brother, these three Nine-Tribulations true god friends of mine are indeed strong, but brother, have you not invited a helper from the Supreme Divine Institute yourself? With another Nine-Tribulations true god on your side, and this young man who can fight as a Four-Tribulations true god, I may not necessarily be stronger than you."


    "If you¡¯re unwilling, I can take the ¡¯Purple Sunflower¡¯ and exchange it with other city lords."


    "Hold on, let me think about it some more!" City Lord Nie pretended to be somewhat reluctant to part with the Purple Sunflower and insecure about winning the bet, furrowing his brows and pondering for several moments before finally saying to God King Wucan, "Old fellow, I¡¯m willing to accept your bet, but even if I lose, you don¡¯t have to give me all three Purple Sunflowers, you must still provide me with one Purple Sunflower as a base guarantee. Otherwise, I¡¯m risking giving you the ¡¯Wind Chime Grass¡¯, which I am not willing to do."


    "This is my final condition, if you agree, I¡¯ll bet with you, if you don¡¯t, then forget it."


    City Lord Nie appeared to have finally made up his mind.


    After considering, God King Wucan¡¯s eyes twirled, and then he burst into laughter, agreeing, "Alright, Nie, my dear brother, your ¡¯Wind Chime Grass¡¯ is indeed a bit more precious than my ¡¯Purple Sunflower¡¯, so I¡¯ll agree to your condition. If I win, you¡¯ll give me the ¡¯Wind Chime Grass¡¯, and I¡¯ll additionally give you a ¡¯Purple Sunflower¡¯. If I lose, I¡¯ll directly give you all three ¡¯Purple Sunflowers¡¯. How about that, brother, I truly want to have this bet with you!"


    Observing God King Wucan¡¯s serious demeanor, City Lord Nie knew this old fox must be rejoicing inside.


    "Hehe, old fellow, you¡¯ve fooled me a few times, this time, I¡¯ll make you bleed!" City Lord Nie was internally laughing without stop.


    The two god kings, each with their own schemes, finally struck hands and agreed upon the bet.


    Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan watched the verbal sparring between God King Wucan and City Lord Nie, exchanged glances, and started whispering and laughing to each other.


    They both, of course, had seen through the intentions of both god kings.


    However, Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan were indifferent to the bet itself, what concerned them were the places to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    As for the extra treasures that City Lord Nie could win, they were pleased to see it happen.


    After City Lord Nie and God King Wucan settled the bet, they exchanged a few words and then each sat cross-legged on their respective empty stone platforms, waiting for the battle for the Divine City to begin.


    Before long, the city lords of the remaining smaller divine cities who had not yet arrived also hurried into the valley with their three chosen combatants.


    All eighteen representatives of the small divine cities set to partake in the battle for the Divine City finally arrived.


    And when the appointed time for the Divine City battle officially arrived, a wave of motion occurred in the void, and a man in green clad clothes with a sword on his back directly appeared in the middle of the void.


    When they saw the green-clothed middle-aged man, the city lords from the eighteen Void Stone Platforms all stood up with their respective true gods who were slated for battle.


    City Lord Nie also turned to Lin Xiaowan, Ye Chen, and Zhao Luo, and said, "This sword-carrying, green-clothed middle-aged man is the Upper God King appointed by the Southern Territory King Mansion to oversee the Divine City battle between our eighteen smaller divine cities. He is a famous powerhouse from another Star Continent not far from our own, known as ¡¯Lanling God King¡¯."


    As City Lord Nie introduced the identity of the sword-carrying, green-clothed middle-aged man, many city lords also directly greeted the man in the void with a fist salute, saying aloud, "Lord Lanling, long time no see!"


    The Lanling God King didn¡¯t say much. He smiled and nodded toward the eighteen divine city lords below, then his gaze moved across the fifty-four true gods representing the eighteen smaller divine cities, scrutinizing each one.


    When the Lanling God King saw Lin Xiaowan, the three Nine Tribulations true gods from the Tai Lin Divine Institute behind God King Wucan, as well as several hidden yet powerful martial artists within the crowd, he smiled slightly, thinking to himself, "Unexpectedly, this Divine City battle of the eighteen smaller divine cities has attracted some skilled fighters."


    Seeing the arena full of Eight Tribulations and Nine Tribulations true gods, yet including Ye Chen, a Four Tribulations true god, the Lanling God King showed a slightly puzzled expression, "Is there really a Four Tribulations true god participating in the Divine City battle? It seems this Four Tribulations true god must also have something special, probably another genius capable of crossing levels in combat."


    Immediately afterward, his gaze shifted away from Ye Chen and looked toward the others.


    He wasn¡¯t concerned about what specific techniques Ye Chen possessed. As an Upper God King, he had seen many with lower realms but strong combat capabilities. Only through real battle could one¡¯s true strength be revealed. He suspected that Ye Chen must also be a minor genius with combat power around the level of a Nine Tribulations true god.


    After observing everyone in the field, Lanling God King no longer hesitated. He addressed everyone, "I am here by the decree of the Southern Territory King Mansion to preside over your eighteen smaller divine cities¡¯ Divine City battle."


    "The ultimate victor among your eighteen smaller divine cities will earn ten spots to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "As for how the ultimate victor will be decided, it will be the same as previous Divine City battles. Each of the eighteen divine cities will face off against each other once, for a total of seventeen rounds of combat. The divine city with the most victories will be the ultimate winner."


    "If there is a tie in the number of victories at the end, and it involves two divine cities, then the outcome of the battle between these two cities will determine who is stronger. If multiple cities have the same number of victories, the battles will continue until the final victor is decided."


    "However, based on past experience, the likelihood of a tie is basically nonexistent. It¡¯s very likely that the final victor among your eighteen divine cities will be decided very quickly."


    "Alright, now all city lords, come draw the lots for your first-round opponents!"


    As soon as Lanling God King finished speaking, City Lord Nie, God King Wucan, and the other city lords of the eighteen smaller divine cities flew up to Lanling God King¡¯s side to draw their opponents.


    When City Lord Nie flew back, he directly said to Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo, "Our first round opponent is ¡¯Wind Dark God City¡¯."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After each opponent was determined, the nine pairs of opponents from the eighteen smaller divine cities, the first pair to fight, went straight into the huge battle arena surrounded by the eighteen Void Stone Platforms.


    The Circulation of Heaven Divine City that Ye Chen represented was set as the fifth pair to fight, which gave them a chance to observe the battles from above.


    The first pair to fight, coincidentally, included the Mingji Divine City governed by God King Wucan.


    Consequently, the three Nine Tribulations true gods from the Tai Lin Divine Institute representing Mingji Divine City achieved a clean and swift victory in two bouts, winning two out of three rounds, and secured the first win.


    Seeing his true gods return victorious, God King Wucan, watching the battle from the void, was all smiles.


    Having already made a bet with City Lord Nie and sworn an oath, at this moment he was not worried about others knowing the strength of his side, in case City Lord Nie might go back on his word.


    When God King Wucan looked over at City Lord Nie while smiling, he noticed that City Lord Nie¡¯s expression was utterly unchanged, as if he didn¡¯t care in the slightest about Mingji Divine City¡¯s victory.


    "Keep pretending, Nie, but wait until Mingji Divine City sweeps all seventeen victories. Then you¡¯ll recognize our strength," God King Wucan thought to himself.


    City Lord Nie could guess what God King Wucan was thinking, but at the moment, he wasn¡¯t concerned with God King Wucan¡¯s thoughts anymore. He was simply waiting for the Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯s battle to begin.


    After four battles concluded, determining four victorious divine cities, the match between Circulation of Heaven Divine City and Wind Dark God City finally began.


    Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo flew directly into the battle arena below, while the three true gods from Wind Dark God City also entered the battlefield.


    The battle started quickly and ended just as swiftly.


    Even without Ye Chen lifting a finger, Lin Xiaowan and Zhao Luo won the first two bouts, directly securing victory in this round of the contest.

 Chapter 670 - 622: The Unstoppable Winning Streak

    "Not bad at all."


    "No wonder Nie dared to bet with me. Both individuals who participated are pretty good, especially the girl from the Supreme Divine Institute. She is indeed formidable, winning without exerting much strength."


    Seeing Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo fly back from the battle arena, God King Wucan on the other side could still maintain his composure, smiling faintly in his heart.


    City Lord Nie also greeted Ye Chen and the others with a beaming smile.


    Following the end of the first round of competition in Circulation of Heaven Divine City, the first-round battles between the other divine cities continued.


    Soon, the fights between the nine pairs of opponents in the first round all ended, and the results of the first round came out.


    Whoosh!


    Lanling God King, who was presiding over the battle of the divine cities, waved his hand, and a huge screen appeared in the void. Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    In the giant screen were the names of eighteen divine cities, and alongside them, the first-round scores appeared.


    Circulation of Heaven Divine City, Mingji Divine City, and seven other divine cities successfully obtained their first victory.


    Following that, the second, third, and fourth rounds of competition were held consecutively.


    In these rounds of matches, Circulation of Heaven Divine City and Mingji Divine City did not encounter each other. However, as the battles progressed, and even as Mingji Divine City continued to win, God King Wucan began to feel increasingly uneasy.


    Because Circulation of Heaven Divine City was also continuously winning!


    What made God King Wucan even more uneasy was that with each move by Ye Chen, who cleanly defeated opponents from other divine cities who were Nine-Tribulations True Gods, God King Wucan suddenly found that he couldn¡¯t see through this Four-Tribulations True God youth anymore.


    "On the side of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, I originally thought the weakest was this Four-Tribulations True God youth named Ye Chen. Unexpectedly, the weakest turned out to be that Zhao Luo."


    By now, God King Wucan already knew Ye Chen¡¯s name from their exchanges during the battles.


    "That Zhao Luo is not worth mentioning. The three True Gods on my side can take him down without any problem."


    "But this Ye Chen, I can¡¯t quite see through him. It seems like he has never used his full strength, and his battles against Nine-Tribulations True Gods seemed quite relaxed. I fear only a formidable Nine-Tribulations True God can test his true combat power."


    God King Wucan was confident about winning against Zhao Luo.


    Regarding Lin Xiaowan, God King Wucan had no confidence at all.


    Now, with Ye Chen adding an uncertain factor to the mix, God King Wucan, who was once confident he could win the bet, began to worry a bit.


    However, this worry wasn¡¯t strong, since he still had utmost faith in the three individuals from the Tai Lin Divine Institute who represented Mingji Divine City.


    As the battle progressed to the tenth round, Circulation of Heaven Divine City finally faced a formidable divine city. In the end, they still won the battle relying on Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan, which made God King Wucan somewhat panicked.


    Because during that tenth-round battle, he found that the sensation Four-Tribulations True God Ye Chen gave him was that he still hadn¡¯t given his all!


    You should know that the Nine-Tribulations True God that Ye Chen fought against this time, even in this Star Continent, belonged to a somewhat renowned Nine-Tribulations True God, not just an ordinary one.


    In such circumstances, Ye Chen, a Four-Tribulations True God, won, and it seemed that he hadn¡¯t exerted full effort, naturally making God King Wucan feel uneasy.


    He felt that even his three Nine-Tribulations True Gods from the Tai Lin Divine Institute might not be as at ease as Ye Chen had been in that situation.


    God King Wucan¡¯s heart was in turmoil, but City Lord Nie was thrilled beyond measure at this time.


    "Niece Wan is formidable, and so is Ye Chen! They both seem invincible! Although Zhao Luo has been defeated several times, with Niece Wan and Ye Chen consistently bringing two victories, we have already achieved ten consecutive wins!"


    "Just after ten rounds, there are not many divine cities left that can compete with us!"


    "We¡¯re getting closer, the final victory is within reach!"


    At this moment, high in the void, Lanling God King, who was hosting this battle of the divine cities, was also somewhat surprised at Ye Chen.


    He found that, although he had anticipated this young man could fight across realms, it looked as though he had still underestimated him. The youth was handling many formidable Nine-Tribulations True Gods with ease!


    The other divine cities also took notice of the continuously victorious Circulation of Heaven Divine City, paying particular attention to their three combatants, especially Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan.


    The battle continued.


    Whenever it was Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯s turn to fight, those divine city lords who had not yet faced them sat upright and intently watched Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan¡¯s battle.


    And the following battles kept surprising them.


    Circulation of Heaven Divine City kept winning. They didn¡¯t lose a single round. Even if Zhao Luo lost one of the three matches, the other two would definitely win, ultimately securing that round¡¯s victory.


    All divine city lords understood that the greatest reliance of Circulation of Heaven Divine City was the undefeated Lin Xiaowan and Ye Chen, who won every time they stepped forward!


    When the battle reached the end of the sixteenth round, God King Wucan¡¯s face had turned somewhat pale.


    Because at this moment, within the light screen of the void, there were only two divine cities at the very top.


    Both of these divine cities had achieved sixteen consecutive victories, and the remaining divine cities, having lost at least two matches each, lost to these two ever-victorious divine cities and had completely lost the chance to compete for the slots in the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    And these two divine cities were none other than Mingji Divine City and Circulation of Heaven Divine City, which had yet to battle each other!


    God King Wucan was confident about Mingji Divine City¡¯s continued victories.


    However, as the battles progressed, Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan from Circulation of Heaven Divine City displayed increasingly extraordinary prowess, making God King Wucan grow more and more worried.


    He finally understood why City Lord Nie had dared to bet with him.


    It wasn¡¯t that his brother Nie was coveting the "Purple Sunflower", but that his brother Nie was very certain he could win the final bet!


    Thinking of how he could not only gain nothing if he lost the bet but would also have to give three stalks of "Purple Sunflower" to City Lord Nie for nothing had God King Wucan feeling somewhat anxious.


    Still, he comforted himself, "Circulation of Heaven Divine City has been winning because they have not faced us yet. If they had encountered us earlier, they would surely have lost a match!"


    "It¡¯s not too late. Although both cities have sixteen consecutive victories, as long as we win this final round, Mingji Divine City will still have the last laugh and be the ultimate victor. Then, Circulation of Heaven Divine City will still have lost to us."


    "And Wind Chime Grass, I can win it as well!"


    God King Wucan turned to the three true gods beside him: "Qin Feng, Wang Lian, Wang Shan, the last round of battle is in your hands now."


    "To secure our slot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, defeat Circulation of Heaven Divine City!"


    Qin Feng, Wang Lian, and Wang Shan were the names of the three Nine Tribulation True Gods representing Mingji Divine City, hailing from the Tai Lin Divine Institute.


    At this time, the trio¡¯s expressions were solemn.


    They had indeed realized Lin Xiaowan¡¯s formidable strength beforehand.


    But they had not expected that within Circulation of Heaven Divine City, there would be another formidable youth. Ye Chen, who was merely a Four Tribulations True God, had so far prevented them from gauging his real depth.


    Thinking of how losing the fight could mean losing their slot to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and how obtaining a slot from other major divine cities might not be feasible in time, the three of them began to look uncomfortable.


    They certainly didn¡¯t want to miss the opportunity to travel to the Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    They equally did not want to miss the chance to see the first Goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, "Long Li", in person!


    "We must win this final round."


    "As for Lin Xiaowan, the three of us might not be able to defeat her. Wang Shan, since you are the weakest among us, you will fight against Lin Xiaowan. Losing this match doesn¡¯t matter."


    "For the remaining two matches, Wang Lian, you will fight against Zhao Luo, and you will surely win."


    "As for Ye Chen, leave him to me!"


    Qin Feng, the strongest among the three, spoke up.


    Wang Shan and Wang Lian nodded in agreement. They knew that Qin Feng had defeated many lower-tier God Kings and was indeed the strongest among them.


    Having the strongest Qin Feng to confront the enigmatic Ye Chen was indeed the best choice.


    As long as Qin Feng could defeat Ye Chen, they were certain to win.


    On the matter of Lin Xiaowan, they were uncertain of victory, so they had to ensure absolute victory in the other two matches!


    "However, for the battle to occur, both sides have to agree to the lineup, otherwise, it would have to be decided by drawing lots. I wonder if Circulation of Heaven Divine City would agree to our arrangement." Wang Shan said with some concern.


    What they didn¡¯t expect was that after reporting their lineup to the Lanling God King, upon his inquiry with Circulation of Heaven Divine City, they readily agreed!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen is not even afraid of me?" Qin Feng suddenly had a bad premonition. "Otherwise, they would have at least gone for a draw to determine the opponents, possibly facing a weaker opponent and allowing me to face Lin Xiaowan."


    "No matter, I have defeated many lower-tier God Kings, how could he, a Four Tribulation True God, possibly defeat me?!"


    After confirming the order of battle, Qin Feng¡¯s expression hardened as he flew with Wang Lian and Wang Shan towards the arena.


    On the other side, Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, Zhao Luo, the trio, also entered the battlefield.


    For the final round, only one of these two divine cities could secure the ten slots for the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Therefore, the other divine cities didn¡¯t even proceed with the last round of battle.


    All the divine city lords, along with the true gods who had no chance of winning a slot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, all turned their gaze towards the two parties in this final round of battle.


    And for the lords of these two divine cities, God King Wucan and City Lord Nie, their breathing became even more constricted.


    God King Wucan¡¯s palms were even sweating!

 Chapter 671 - 623: The Final Battle

    The first match was between Zhao Luo of Circulation of Heaven Divine City and Wang Lian from Mingji Divine City.


    Zhao Luo was just an ordinary Nine Tribulations True God from Circulation of Heaven Divine City, who had lost many times in previous battles with other Divine Cities. Wang Lian, on the other hand, was a disciple from Tai Lin Divine Institute, one of the nine great divine institutes, and his strength was formidable among the Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    The clash between the two was devoid of any suspense. Stay connected through novelhall.Co?m


    No matter how hard Zhao Luo tried, it took only five moves for Wang Lian to eliminate him from the competition!


    In the best of three rounds, Mingji Divine City directly won the first round.


    "Brother Ye Chen, Daoist Lin Xiaowan, I am still too weak; we have to rely on you," Zhao Luo said, somewhat dejected, after his loss. The seventeen rounds of Divine City battles had dealt a significant blow to him.


    If it weren¡¯t for Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to fight until this last moment.


    Ye Chen patted Zhao Luo on the shoulder and reassured him with a smile.


    Lin Xiaowan also said with a light laugh, "The way Mingji Divine City has deployed its troops, they are probably banking on the final battle with Ye Chen. If we intend to win, we can¡¯t afford to lose the next two rounds."


    "I¡¯ll go even the score first!"


    As she spoke, Lin Xiaowan flew directly into the central area of the battlefield.


    Wang Shan, the weakest among Mingji Divine City¡¯s three Nine Tribulation True Gods, was arranged to specifically exhaust the strongest Lin Xiaowan, and at this moment, he, too, flew into the arena.


    The result was even quicker than the first battle, with Lin Xiaowan ending the fight in just three moves!


    Circulation of Heaven Divine City successfully evened the score, and with a best of three rounds system, both Divine Cities now had one win and one loss each.


    This situation was predictable by City Lord Nie of Circulation of Heaven Divine City and God King Wucan of Mingji Divine City once the combatants were decided.


    Both knew that the final match, where the dark horse Ye Chen from Circulation of Heaven Divine City fought against Qin Feng, the strongest Nine Tribulation True God of Mingji Divine City, would be crucial.


    The side that won would secure the final victory in the battle of the Divine Cities.


    When the situation truly reached this moment, even with prior anticipation, City Lord Nie and God King Wucan couldn¡¯t help but become anxious.


    "Go Ye Chen," Lin Xiaowan said, looking at Ye Chen with full confidence.


    Zhao Luo, standing beside her, also cheered Ye Chen on with a pumped fist.


    With a faint smile, Ye Chen flew into the middle of the battlefield.


    On the other side, Qin Feng entered the battlefield almost at the same time.


    "Ye Chen, it¡¯s quite impressive that you¡¯ve made it this far as a Four Tribulations True God," said Qin Feng, his eyes brimming with intense light as he looked at Ye Chen, "But your victory ends here."


    "I, Qin Feng, will defeat you completely! You¡¯ll realize that even if you can fight across realms, you are still far from matching a truly powerful Nine Tribulations True God!"


    Hearing Qin Feng¡¯s words, Ye Chen, holding the Purple Lightning Divine Sword, pointed at Qin Feng and said, "Many Nine Tribulations True Gods have said the same to me, however, they either lost or died."


    "I wonder which category you fall into."


    Ye Chen stood unyielding, directly challenging Qin Feng.


    Whoosh!


    Seeing this situation unfold, the lords and True Gods on the outer Void Stone Platform were all stirred up inside.


    They had learned that Qin Feng was a disciple from the Tai Lin Divine Institute, one of the nine great divine institutes, and they had never before seen a Four Tribulations True God dare to speak to a Nine Tribulations True God disciple of a great divine institute in such a manner.


    The lords and True Gods knew the real spectacle was about to begin.


    This battle was not only about who was stronger between Ye Chen and Qin Feng, but also about which Divine City¡ªCirculation of Heaven or Mingji¡ªwould have the last laugh and secure the ten spots to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    "I bet Qin Feng wins!"


    "This time, Mingji Divine City has deliberately used their weakest Nine Tribulations True God to deal with Lin Xiaowan and kept their strongest, Qin Feng, for Ye Chen, just to ensure victory in this final round."


    "If Qin Feng can arrange it like this, he must be exceedingly confident about winning the last round!"


    "A Nine Tribulations True God who trains at one of the nine great divine institutes inherently possesses exceptional combat strength, even capable of battling Lower God Kings. Although Ye Chen is formidable, he is, after all, just a Four Tribulations True God, and the gap in Divine Power between them is too great. I¡¯m not optimistic about his chances."


    Despite being greatly surprised by Ye Chen¡¯s previous battles, most spectators still believed that Qin Feng would win when Ye Chen was actually up against Mingji Divine City¡¯s strongest, Qin Feng.


    "Brother Qin Feng, defeat this Ye Chen, crush him completely!" God King Wucan had risen from his meditative pose, his gaze not leaving the battlefield below for a moment.


    On the side of Circulation of Heaven Divine City, City Lord Nie could no longer maintain a calm expression: "It¡¯s up to you, Ye Chen."


    On the outskirts of the battlefield, the other two Nine Tribulations True Gods from Tai Lin Divine Institute and Zhao Luo from Circulation of Heaven Divine City were already extremely nervous, with only Lin Xiaowan remaining composed.


    As everyone watched with varying expressions, Ye Chen and Qin Feng were locked in a fierce confrontation at the center of the arena.


    The next moment, the great battle was on the verge of erupting!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Qin Feng was the first to make a move. His vast divine power surged to the sky, and in an instant, he soared into the void. Around him, gigantic fireballs with a diameter of ten meters appeared, numbering in the hundreds!


    Each fireball contained earth-shattering energy that burned and cracked the void.


    If this combat arena hadn¡¯t been specifically designed for battle, just the release of these massive fireballs might have shattered the very heavens and earth!


    Even from a distance, some of the weaker Nine-Tribulation True Gods struggled to endure the terrifying heat emanating from the hundreds of fireballs. Had it not been for their city lords who promptly created light shields to protect them, just the heat alone would have forced these True Gods to flee far away!


    "What terrifying power! These fireballs must contain some unfathomable divine arts!" Even with the assistance of their city lords, these Nine-Tribulation True Gods still looked pale and horrified as they watched Qin Feng, surrounded by hundreds of fireballs.


    They finally realized the strength of this Nine-Tribulation True God from the Tai Lin Divine Institute.


    Clearly, Qin Feng had not used his full strength in the previous battle. Just this one move he was unleashing now vastly exceeded his previous level of combat power!


    "Any one of these fireballs could probably annihilate a large mountain!"


    "Can Ye Chen withstand such terrifying fireballs?!"


    Many turned their gaze towards Ye Chen.


    Surprisingly, what shocked them was that Ye Chen, who was closest to the hundreds of fireballs and bore the brunt of the scorching heat, did not move an inch.


    It was as if the fireballs had no effect on him whatsoever!


    "Heavens."


    "How is Ye Chen doing this!"


    None of these Nine-Tribulation True Gods could discern Ye Chen¡¯s protective measures, but they were equally astonished to see him withstand such intense heat.


    Only the city lords and the truly powerful Nine-Tribulation True Gods in the arena could see what was happening.


    "It¡¯s a divine body... This... This seems to be the power only an Undying Divine Body would possess!" A few city lords even exclaimed out loud.


    They were perceptive enough to notice that although Ye Chen hadn¡¯t moved at all, there were faint black divine runes imprinting themselves around his body.


    These divine runes eerily resembled the marks of the legendary divine body, the Undying Divine Body, spoken of in the Divine Kingdom!


    The Undying Divine Body!


    Even the city lords, who were Lower God Kings, had never cultivated it!


    "Undying Divine Body?" Surrounded by hundreds of fireballs in the void, Qin Feng¡¯s eyes narrowed, "It seems you are so formidable because you have some powerful techniques. But looking at your Undying Divine Body, you haven¡¯t cultivated it deeply. Dream on if you think it can block my ¡¯Fiery Flame God Skills¡¯!"


    Qin Feng certainly knew that mere fireballs could not defeat Ye Chen. With a flick of his finger towards Ye Chen in the void, the surrounding hundreds of massive fireballs plummeted towards Ye Chen like a torrential downpour.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    These ten-meter diameter fireballs left cracks and fissures in the void wherever they passed. The sight of hundreds of them striking at Ye Chen was truly astounding.


    In this situation, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t just passively take the hits. It was finally his turn to act.


    Swish.


    Ye Chen abruptly drew out the Purple Lightning Divine Sword. His vast stellar power infused into the sword, and it immediately burst forth with piercing purple rays.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Each purple ray accurately penetrated a giant fireball.


    As the purple rays pierced through them, the hundreds of fireballs in the void exploded simultaneously, blossoming like endless flowers of flame in the sky above the combat arena!


    Ye Chen¡¯s move turned out to be the "Purple Light," one of the three major forbidden sword moves of the Purple Lightning Divine Sword. With the nascent level Star God Power of the Primordial Chapter energizing it, the "Purple Light" move¡¯s lethality skyrocketed, instantly shattering Qin Feng¡¯s "Fiery Flame God Skills" and their massive fireballs!


    Witnessing Ye Chen¡¯s move, Qin Feng¡¯s expression turned solemn. He pointed his finger into the air, and the exploded remnants of the fireballs transformed into a vast, flaming red waterfall that streamed back towards his fingertips. Eventually, they consolidated into a palm-sized bundle of fiery red divine flames.


    With another flick of his finger, more bundles of fiery red divine flames flew out from his body.


    There were even thousands of these fiery red bundles now.


    If a single bundle of divine flames could form a terrifyingly powerful fireball previously, imagine the power when thousands of these bundles were released simultaneously¡ªthe strength of the flames soared to inconceivable heights.


    Even the protective light shields summoned by many of the Divine City lords were unable to withstand the fire¡¯s power, shattering instantly.


    This scene caused many city lords to change their expressions dramatically and, along with the True Gods beside them, they quickly retreated.


    They couldn¡¯t comprehend how Qin Feng¡¯s second move, after a mere test of strength, could escalate his combat power to such a frightening degree!

 Chapter 672 - 624 Outburst vs. Outburst!

    Ultimately, it was the Upper God King "Lanling God King" from the void who made a move, triggering a series of pale blue protective auras, enveloping the Divine City Masters and True Gods below who could not resist, allowing these God Kings and True Gods to finally settle down again.


    This situation made all the Lower God Kings realize that Qin Feng¡¯s currently activated moves might likely reach a level capable of defeating many Lower God Kings!


    How could this not astonish these Divine City Masters who were merely at the level of Lower God Kings?!


    Even City Lord Nie¡¯s expression underwent a drastic change at this time.


    He had not expected Qin Feng to be so formidable¡ªas soon as the trial exchange was over, he had unleashed such a trump card.


    Now, facing these thousands of clusters of fiery red Divine Flames, even he felt somewhat overwhelmed!


    Zhao Luo, who was the closest to the battle between Ye Chen and Qin Feng, could not withstand the power emanating from those terrifying clusters of Crimson Red Divine Flames, and it was only because Lin Xiaowan took action that he could continue to stay in place and watch the battle.


    But when Zhao Luo looked at Qin Feng again, he was filled with worry for Ye Chen, "Qin Feng has used his trump card, can Ye Chen still block it?"


    While Zhao Luo was extremely worried, in the void, Qin Feng, who had stimulated the thousands of clusters of fiery red Divine Flames, looked down at Ye Chen and smirked coldly before pinching a spell in his hand.


    Whiz! Whiz! Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!


    All of these fiery red Divine Flames suddenly converged into one, forming a gigantic firebird a thousand feet in size in the void.


    This gigantic firebird even seemed like a living creature, its eyes sparkling with intelligence and even letting out several cries to the sky.


    "Spirit-communicating Divine Flame, could it be that these Divine Flames were collected by Qin Feng from the ¡¯Spirit Communication Divine Mountain¡¯? That place is where the True Spirit Sacred Beast, the ¡¯Fiery Nine Brahma Bird¡¯ of Upper God King level, was nurtured! After the ¡¯Fiery Nine Brahma Bird¡¯ successfully struck at becoming an Upper God King, the feathers it shed turned into clusters of Divine Flames that constantly burned on the Divine Mountain."


    "Rumor has it, when these Divine Flames gather together, they can even condense again into the spirit of the ¡¯Fiery Nine Brahma Bird¡¯s¡¯ divine powers. Although the spirit doesn¡¯t reach the level of an Upper God King, defeating many Lower God Kings would be effortless."


    "That ¡¯Spirit Communication Divine Mountain¡¯ is governed by the Tai Lin Divine Institute; it¡¯s very likely that Qin Feng obtained the opportunity from there to collect these Divine Flames."


    "This is bad for Ye Chen¡ªfacing such a Spirit of Divine Powers that can defeat many Lower God Kings, with his Four Tribulations True God realm, he likely can¡¯t hold on at all!"


    Several city masters, recognizing the origins of the gigantic firebird formed from the fiery red Divine Flames in the void, cried out in shock.


    Lanling God King, who presided over this Divine City battle, also had a surge of brilliant light in his eyes, "Indeed, it¡¯s the Spirit-communicating Divine Flame collected from the Spirit Communication Divine Mountain. A single cluster of Divine Flame might not be much, but these thousands of clusters can indeed condense a powerful ¡¯Fiery Nine Brahma Bird¡¯ Spirit of Divine Powers."


    "Now, if Ye Chen wants to withstand it, relying solely on his previous moves will certainly not be enough!"


    At this moment, seeing the gigantic Spirit-communicating Firebird that could cry out to the sky and measuring a thousand feet, Ye Chen narrowed his eyes too.


    Looking at this gigantic firebird, Ye Chen remembered the huge Fire Sparrow he had subdued when he first entered the Taixuan Sect on the lower realm.


    The divine might of the giant Fire Sparrow, of course, could not compare to the gigantic firebird that Qin Feng had provoked.


    That giant Fire Sparrow was now only at the middle stage of the Dan rotation realm. When Ye Chen left the Barbaric Wilderness Continent to come to the Divine Kingdom, he brought it back to his clan to protect his father, mother, and Tao¡¯er.


    But now, facing this gigantic firebird evoked by Qin Feng, Ye Chen felt that it was about as strong as the Lower God King Sima Feng, whom he had battled against before.


    "It looks like it¡¯s time to face this battle seriously!"


    Just as this thought flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind, the gigantic firebird in the void, following a soft whistle from Qin Feng, also issued a soft whistle and, with a flap of its immense fiery wings, dived towards Ye Chen.


    Seeing the gigantic firebird swooping down on him, Ye Chen instantly burst into the void. With a flicker of divine light between his eyebrows and a "whiz," his natal flying sword "Crimson Fire" flew straight out.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Once the "Crimson Fire" flying sword was unleashed, it instantly generated an endless torrent of sword light; within the endless sword light, the Crimson Fire flying sword instantly turned into eighteen flying sword shadows, forming eighteen terrifying whirlwinds of the eyes of storms, completely enveloping Ye Chen.


    It was as though there were eighteen terrifying whirlwinds of lethal force flashing around Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    The next moment, the eighteen flying sword shadows, forming those terrifying whirlwinds, collided with the gigantic Fire Sparrow that was swooping down from the void.


    Everyone saw Ye Chen pinch a spell with his hand, stirring up a series of terrifying flying sword tornadoes with eighteen winds of the storm, slicing apart layer by layer of Divine Flames on the surface of the gigantic firebird. At the same time, the gigantic firebird¡¯s pair of fiery red giant claws also flashed past the eighteen flying sword shadows and reached for Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    In an instant, amid a thunderous explosion, Ye Chen, shrouded by the eighteen storm vortices, and the gigantic firebird violently collided and both retreated hundreds of feet into the void to stabilize once more.


    Everyone saw that Ye Chen was still wrapped in the eighteen storm vortices flying sword shadows, unscathed, while the gigantic firebird had many of its Divine Flames sliced off its body.


    After unleashing the flying sword, Ye Chen successfully blocked the gigantic firebird¡¯s attack.


    Even the gigantic firebird¡¯s pair of fiery red giant claws aiming to rip into Ye Chen caused him no harm.


    This scene, witnessed by the real gods and city masters present, made them all tremble in their hearts.


    They had not expected that even Qin Feng, who had summoned the spirit of the "Fiery Nine Brahma Bird," was still unable to suppress Ye Chen, who was merely a Four Tribulations True God.


    At the highest reaches of the void, the Upper God King "Lanling God King" was completely shaken at this moment upon seeing the eighteen flying sword shadows around Ye Chen.


    "Flying swords, they are top-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts!"


    "That killing move, it¡¯s a Heaven-reaching Divine Art as well!"


    "Heavens, this youth, who didn¡¯t use this technique before, I didn¡¯t expect that he actually cultivated such a terrifying flying sword Heaven-reaching Divine Art!"


    "It seems that this youth¡¯s origin is definitely not ordinary; it¡¯s very likely that he is an enormous talent from one of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s major forces!"


    Lanling God King couldn¡¯t help but inquire to City Lord Nie of the Circulation of Heaven Divine City, and City Lord Nie also gave a wry smile and shook his head to Lanling God King.


    He didn¡¯t know the origin of Ye Chen either.


    In the void, when he saw the attack of the huge Fire Sparrow blocked, Qin Feng¡¯s expression darkened, and with a pinch of his hand forming a spell, the huge Fire Sparrow which had lost much of its Divine Flame in the sky seemed to be more intensely spurred on as it roared towards the heavens, its Divine Flame billowing as it burned and surged once more towards Ye Chen.


    At the same time, Qin Feng suddenly slapped his head, and a small green bell flew out from within him instantly. Upon flickering, the green bell emitted a Soul-seizing Sound, which ferociously howled as it assaulted Ye Chen¡¯s mind.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, surrounded by the eighteen flying sword shadows, saw Qin Feng¡¯s continuous attacks but his eyes remained still and undisturbed. He reached out and grasped, and the eighteen flying sword shadows directly formed into one giant flying sword, which fell into his hand.


    "You think I¡¯ll just passively defend? You thought wrong!"


    "Soul-seizing Sound, how could it disturb my attack?!"


    "My Nine Swords of Annihilation are indeed true Divine Soul attack Heaven-reaching Divine Arts!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s hand suddenly swung the flying sword towards the ground, and even though the ground had been specially refined to withstand huge impacts, it burst apart layer by layer. Following that, an endless surge of the earth¡¯s essence madly flocked towards Ye Chen.


    In the entire void, a sword cry of ultimate clarity rang out.


    This sword cry completely suppressed even the Soul-seizing Sound emitted by Qin Feng¡¯s green bell, and at the same time, the entire flying sword soared from Ye Chen¡¯s hand, turning into an unbelievable sword light that shot straight at the huge Fire Sparrow.


    Simultaneously, Ye Chen¡¯s body explosively moved, reaching the huge Fire Sparrow alongside the flying sword. The Star God Power in Ye Chen, combined with the strengths of the Undying Divine Body and the Icebound Divine Body, suddenly coursed into his hands.


    Ye Chen actually grabbed the giant Fire Sparrow¡¯s head directly with his hands and then ferociously yanked it, violently tearing apart layer upon layer of terrifying Divine Flames on the Fire Sparrow¡¯s head.


    In an agonizing cry, the giant Fire Sparrow was also pierced straight through by the second sword of Nine Swords of Annihilation, "Wandiding."


    Even though this sword did not completely eliminate all the Divine Flames of the huge Fire Sparrow, it still bore a large hole through its body.


    When the huge hole began to mend, the aura of the giant Fire Sparrow weakened by more than a tenth.


    And of course, Ye Chen would not give the giant Fire Sparrow any time to breathe; his mighty divine power surged out once more, grabbing towards the giant Fire Sparrow. At the same time, the second move of Nine Swords of Annihilation, "Wandiding," once again formed a killing move, crazily assaulting the Fire Sparrow again.


    It seemed that Ye Chen intended to completely tear apart this giant Fire Sparrow formed from countless clusters of Divine Flames!


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    This scene, seen by the Lower God Kings of the Divine Cities, made them all draw in a cold breath.


    They were completely horrified in their hearts.


    This youth, Ye Chen, was too fierce!


    Even the Fiery Nine Brahma Bird, a Spirit of Divine Powers that many Lower God Kings could defeat, Ye Chen dared to directly and violently tear it apart!


    Terrifying.


    Too terrifying.


    At this moment, these City Lords and the True Gods beside them came to realize just how formidable this Four Tribulations True God youth in front of them was.


    They now knew that even they were completely no match for this Four Tribulations True God.


    No wonder the Circulation of Heaven Divine City brought this Four Tribulations True God youth to participate in the Divine City battle. This youth, is simply too ferociously powerful; it¡¯s likely that even many upper echelons cultivated by the Divine Venerable in the Divine Kingdom wouldn¡¯t dare to say that they are more formidable than this youth!


    While these City Lords and True Gods were in shock, Qin Feng¡¯s complexion had completely changed.


    He would certainly not allow the Divine Flame and divine might he had painstakingly collected to be continuously damaged. Seeing Ye Chen constantly tearing and slashing the Divine Flame¡¯s divine might, Qin Feng¡¯s expression darkened as he pinched his hands together forming a spell. The giant Fire Sparrow no longer dared to entangle with Ye Chen. With a tragic wail, it crazily retreated and finally turned into a fiery red streak of light, flying into Qin Feng¡¯s body.


    And at that moment, Qin Feng with a grim expression, opened his mouth and spouted out a green orb that came straight from within him, floating in front of him.


    Upon seeing this green orb, the other two Nine Tribulations True Gods from Tai Lin Divine Institute had their complexions change, "Big Brother is about to use his ultimate move..."


    Ye Chen, at this time seeing this green orb, also felt an unprecedented sense of crisis. His expression darkened as the flying sword in his hand flashed with divine light, and the killing power of the third sword of Nine Swords of Annihilation began to gather.

 Chapter 673 - 625 Victory and Defeat!

    ```


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    As Qin Feng ejected the green bead, it swiftly spun and shot straight into the void above with bursts of light flickering from it.


    With each flicker, the green bead released swathes of a faint greenish Void Wind Blade, and after over a dozen flickers, the sky was densely packed with these terrifying blades!


    Each blade shimmered with an inconceivable Killing Force, where their collective might could effortlessly annihilate many a Lower God King!


    Clearly, this green bead was an incredible Divine Treasure, even more terrifying than the Ten Thousand Ghosts Banner wielded by the Lower God King, Sima Feng, whom Ye Chen had battled in the Buried Dragon Mountain Range of the Dragon Star Continent.


    Even Qin Feng couldn¡¯t fully unleash the power of this Divine Treasure.


    Now, having forcefully stimulated the bead to unleash a series of Void Wind Blades, his complexion had turned pale.


    Yet in Qin Feng¡¯s heart, the array of blades he had released should be more than enough to defeat Ye Chen, who might even fall here and now if he didn¡¯t surrender.


    But was it truly as Qin Feng had anticipated?


    On the other side.


    Seeing the myriad of terrifying wind blades released by the green bead, Ye Chen¡¯s expression was solemn, yet he wasn¡¯t the least bit panicked.


    If he had not undergone multiple Heavenly Tribulations before, indeed he may not have been able to withstand such a fearsome attack.


    But now, after the transformation through Heavenly Tribulations, his Essence, Qi, and Spirit had strengthened countless times, having broken through from the late stages of the Heavenly Saint to the Four Tribulations True God Realm.


    With the powerful Divine Soul of a Four Tribulations True God and the Stellar Power of over eighteen hundred Stellar Vortices condensed by the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen, summoning his most powerful Heaven-reaching Divine Art, the Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯s third sword, no longer feared this level of assault.


    Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯s third sword, Void Shattering!


    Facing the onslaught of wind blades driven by Qin Feng, Ye Chen amassed endless power and slashed out with the third of the Nine Swords of Annihilation.


    With one slash, a vast expanse of the void shattered, forming a colossal sword-shaped void black hole!


    The sword-shaped void black hole, with its terrifying pull, not only swept up all nearby faint greenish Wind Blades into it but also the blades far away were all absorbed.


    In an instant, the wind blades dispersed by the green bead in the void had nearly all vanished!


    Even under the overwhelming force of "Void Shattering", the bead that had released endless wind blades seemed to recoil, sensing the threat, it shot back towards Qin Feng.


    Divine Treasures are naturally occurring objects, which only after being obtained by Martial Artists, are nurtured to be used as one¡¯s own.


    Qin Feng had never seen his "Wind Spirit Divine Bead", famed in the Divine Kingdom¡¯s notorious "Devouring Cold Abyss", retreat without a fight like this!


    This was his ultimate move, yet it was still wholly repelled, even turned back by Ye Chen!


    Now, Qin Feng at last realized that the youth before him, in the realm of the Four Tribulations True God, wielded a might even greater than his own, capable of slaying many Lower God Kings just the same.


    As Qin Feng was flabbergasted, the third strike of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, unleashed by Ye Chen, having obliterated the countless wind blades from the green bead, suddenly surged with residual force and slammed right in front of Qin Feng.


    Despite Qin Feng wearing a protective Divine Garment of unparalleled defensive power, he was sent flying thousands of zhang away, crashing far off onto the ground below.


    Whoosh.


    This scene sent the entire place into an uproar!


    No one expected the outcome of the clash to see Ye Chen, a Four Tribulations True God, completely overpower Qin Feng of the Tai Lin Divine Institute, a Nine Tribulations True God.


    Had Qin Feng not relied on the Divine Power in his body to halt his backward flight, he would not have flown back just thousands of zhang; he would have been completely blown off the arena, losing the match outright.


    Even though he was not defeated yet, by barely clinging onto the edge of the arena, everyone knew that if it happened once, it could happen again, and Qin Feng probably wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand Ye Chen¡¯s attacks any longer.


    At that moment, all eyes turned towards the Circulation of Heaven Divine City, towards City Lord Nie.


    And City Lord Nie, his fists clenched with excitement.


    City Lord Nie had considered the possibility that Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan could help him win the Divine City battle, but even as the moment arrived, he was still overwhelmed with excitement!


    In contrast, God King Wucan of Mingji Divine City, on the other side, was filled with disbelief.


    God King Wucan couldn¡¯t believe the powerful ally he had invited from the Tai Lin Divine Institute would lose to a Four Tribulations True God.


    After all, Qin Feng had the strength to defeat many Lower God Kings.


    ```


    ```


    He couldn¡¯t even block the attack of the Four Tribulations True God youth, doesn¡¯t that mean that this Four Tribulations True God youth could also defeat countless Lower God Kings?


    A Four Tribulations True God can defeat many Lower God Kings.


    The implication of this realization made even God King Wucan draw in a cold breath.


    Such a cross-realm talent capable of challenging far beyond his own, if placed in the presence of many major forces in the Divine Kingdom, would incite a frantic scramble for him.


    Even within the Nine Divine Institutes, he would still stand out immensely!


    Now, such a youth had actually appeared in the small skirmishes of the Divine City in the small Divine Kingdom of the Southern Territory, something God King Wucan found unbelievable.


    It wasn¡¯t just God King Wucan who couldn¡¯t believe it, even the Upper God King "Lanling God King," who presided over the battle from the void, looked at Ye Chen in the fighting arena with a gleam in his eyes.


    He even thought of taking Ye Chen, a person of such talent, back to the Southern Territory King Mansion to be properly cultivated.


    However, this thought had barely flashed in Lanling God King¡¯s mind before he abandoned it.


    Lanling God King knew that this kind of youth wouldn¡¯t wait for the Southern Territory King Mansion to recruit him; with the realm of the Four Tribulations True God, he possessed combat power enough to defeat Lower God Kings and was endowed with an Undying Divine Body and had cultivated Heaven-reaching Divine Arts.


    Just these means alone let Lanling God King know that the major figure backing this youth was very likely no weaker than the Sovereign of the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    While various City Lords and True Gods in the void had their own thoughts, down on the ground, Ye Chen, who had just broken Qin Feng¡¯s ultimate killing move with a single sword and sent Qin Feng flying thousands of feet away, took a step into the void and appeared in front of the struggling Qin Feng.


    The "Crimson Fire" flying sword circled around Ye Chen¡¯s body as an immense aura surged from him. He looked directly at Qin Feng and asked indifferently, "Do you concede?"


    Clearly, if Qin Feng didn¡¯t concede, Ye Chen would launch another attack and completely blast him out of the fighting arena!


    "Concede?" Facing Ye Chen, who now stood before him like a giant mountain, the thought of conceding actually flashed through Qin Feng¡¯s mind.


    However, thinking about how conceding would not only mean God King Wucan would lose his bet with City Lord Nie, but he and the other two Tai Lin God Kings, all Three Tribulation True Gods, would lose their spots to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land and lose the chance to meet the First Goddess "Long Li" of the Supreme Divine Institute, Qin Feng definitely didn¡¯t want to concede!


    "No, I will never concede!" After letting out a great shout, Qin Feng¡¯s eyes turned blood-red, and he burst out a Jade Pendant to save his life.


    This Jade Pendant wasn¡¯t a skill of his own but had been specifically refined for him by a Middle God King powerhouse in his family to give him one chance to save his life and launch a powerful one-time attack in the Tai Lin Divine Institute.


    Qin Feng squeezed the Jade Pendant without reservation, triggering its strongest attack in an attempt to kill Ye Chen on the spot.


    In the Divine City battles, life-or-death struggles were not shunned, but many would stop their killing once victory was determined. Someone like Qin Feng, who resorted to using his life-saving method without hesitation, was unprecedented among the eighteen Divine Cities.


    Seeing the Jade Pendant flare up, even evoking the aura of a Middle God King in battle, changed the expressions of many City Lords on the scene, some even crying out in alarm.


    City Lord Nie¡¯s complexion also changed drastically. He wanted to save Ye Chen but knew his own power absolutely couldn¡¯t block the terrible attack from the Jade Pendant.


    Lanling God King, who presided over the Divine City battle, also did not expect Qin Feng to resort to such a deadly move in the end. He could help Ye Chen block it, but according to the rules, he was not allowed to intervene in the Divine City battles, or else he couldn¡¯t explain himself to the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    "Could this youth fall to the killing force of the Middle God King¡¯s refined Jade Pendant?" The thought flashed through Lanling God King¡¯s mind, but as soon as it appeared, Lanling God King completely suppressed it, instantly realizing something.


    Ye Chen, a youth who possessed such formidable combat power even at the Four Tribulations True God Realm, could not possibly lack a final defensive trump card.


    Indeed, even if Qin Feng fought desperately, Ye Chen might still have the means to cope.


    Apart from Lanling God King, who could block this terrible move, Lin Xiaowan, who was not far from Ye Chen, also had a magical Secret Treasure that could help Ye Chen withstand it.


    When she saw the attack launched by Qin Feng, Lin Xiaowan was ready to fly into the arena in a flash and break Qin Feng¡¯s fatal strike.


    But as she was about to move, she suddenly stopped in her tracks.


    Because Lin Xiaowan saw that facing Qin Feng¡¯s final life-and-death strike, Ye Chen showed no fear, instead, his gaze grew colder as he suddenly flipped out a Treasure from his palm.


    This Treasure was astonishingly a palm-sized snow-white stone figure.


    Boom!


    The palm-sized snow-white stone figure that emerged from Ye Chen¡¯s hand instantly flew out, transforming into a huge and remarkable snow-white Puppet.


    With an open mouth, the snow-white Puppet suddenly swallowed, absorbing the terrifying killing light unleashed by Qin Feng¡¯s desperately crushed life-saving Jade Pendant into its belly.


    The fearsome killing force fashioned by the Middle God King was completely swallowed by this snow-white Puppet, totally consumed within its belly.


    Furthermore, with a fierce stomp, the snow-white Puppet appeared instantly in front of the dumbfounded Qin Feng. The Puppet reached out and grabbed Qin Feng like picking up a small chicken, then with a swift motion, smashed him onto the ground.


    Even as a Nine Tribulations True God, Qin Feng was smashed so hard by this blow that his blood sprayed wildly, his Divine Power was annihilated, his Divine Body dissipated, and he was thoroughly reduced to a cripple! Explore more adventures at novelhall.Co?m


    ```

 Chapter 674 - 626: The Power of the Divine Kingdom

    This snow-white puppet was, of course, one of the three frozen puppets Ye Chen obtained from the treasury of the frozen Divine King.


    Just as Qin Feng had a life-saving Jade Pendant, Ye Chen also had three life-saving frozen puppets.


    The life-saving Jade Pendant forged by Qin Feng was made by a Middle God King, and its maximum strength could only reach a level close to that of a Middle God King. However, Ye Chen¡¯s frozen puppets were crafted by an Upper God King.


    At their strongest, by consuming ten thousand Divine Stones, they could even reach the true might of a powerful Middle God King!


    Even if the Middle God King who helped craft Qin Feng¡¯s life-saving Jade Pendant were here, he wouldn¡¯t dare to claim he could stop the frozen puppets, let alone a life-saving Jade Pendant forged by a Middle God King.


    If Qin Feng intended to kill Ye Chen, Ye Chen would certainly not go easy on Qin Feng.


    He drove the frozen puppet to obliterate the power of the life-saving Jade Pendant and at the same time, incapacitated Qin Feng completely.


    If it weren¡¯t for the fact that there were too many people present, Ye Chen would have even killed Qin Feng outright.


    Ye Chen was certainly not one to show mercy!


    However, although he didn¡¯t kill him, by completely incapacitating Qin Feng, Ye Chen ensured that he had no chance of retaliation whatsoever. This was the consequence of Qin Feng¡¯s lethal attempt on Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen looked coldly at Qin Feng, who had already fainted, his gaze then shifting to the frozen puppet in the center of the arena. The frozen puppet delivered a hefty kick, kicking Qin Feng entirely out of the fighting ring.


    Then, Ye Chen reached toward the frozen puppet in the air, causing it to shrink instantaneously before he collected it back into his possession.


    Afterward, Ye Chen looked up at Lanling God King in the void and asked aloud, "Senior Lanling, the three rounds have concluded. Please announce the results of the battle."


    Boom!


    Ye Chen¡¯s ruthless move and his calm demeanor after incapacitating Qin Feng made many Small Divine City lords shudder inwardly. Experience tales at novelhall.Co?m


    Of course, they didn¡¯t sympathize with Qin Feng. They all clearly saw how Qin Feng made the first move to kill Ye Chen. If they had the capability, they would do the same to incapacitate or even kill Qin Feng.


    The true reason these Small City lords shuddered was that they were in awe of Ye Chen¡¯s potent methods and his calm demeanor at the end.


    These lords, having weathered many storms themselves, knew that a person with such a mindset and talent could one day become someone they would look up to!


    And now, the two Tai Lin God Kings from the Tai Lin Divine Institute, Wang Lian and Wang Shan, who had come with Qin Feng, were completely dizzy.


    "Brother Qin Feng... he¡¯s become a cripple?!" Wang Lian and Wang Shan could scarcely believe the scene before their eyes.


    They had not expected that in their quest to secure a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, not only did they fail to seize the spot, but they also suffered such a disastrous defeat, even causing their strongest, Qin Feng, to become a cripple.


    Wang Lian and Wang Shan knew Qin Feng¡¯s background and knew that there was even a Heavenly Divine Venerable within his family¡¯s ranks.


    However, with Qin Feng now a cripple, whether that Heavenly Divine Venerable would seek revenge was uncertain, after all, a cripple had no value.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s utterly calm gaze, Wang Lian and Wang Shan felt their hearts pound even faster.


    They even had a premonition that even if that Heavenly Divine Venerable descended to seek revenge on Ye Chen, Ye Chen might not fear him at all.


    These two True Gods of Nine Calamities weren¡¯t wrong in their guess.


    Facing Qin Feng, who wanted to kill him, Ye Chen would not hesitate, but he also had an absolute life-saving trump card, which was the protection talisman given to him by the East Territory King.


    Qin Feng took lethal action, and of course, Ye Chen would incapacitate him. The cause and consequences were known by many in the arena; Qin Feng brought it upon himself, so he could hardly blame Ye Chen.


    Even if someone were to seek vengeance, Ye Chen had the East Territory King¡¯s life-saving card, so he didn¡¯t have to worry.


    Once he entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and then joined one of the nine great Divine Institutes, he would worry even less.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t believe that Qin Feng, who only had a Jade Pendant forged by a Middle God King, could possibly call upon someone who the East Territory King would fear.


    While Ye Chen¡¯s eyes flickered in thought, Lin Xiaowan¡¯s voice also entered his mind.


    "Ye Chen, don¡¯t worry. This person tried to harm you grievously, so incapacitating him is his own fault. You joined this fight to secure a spot in the Nine Suns Ancient Land to accompany me."


    "If anyone troubles you because of this, I will help you and completely resolve this trouble!"


    In Lin Xiaowan¡¯s voice, there was absolute confidence.


    Having the chance to join the Supreme Divine Institute, she was already stronger than Qin Feng of the Tai Lin Divine Institute. Furthermore, behind her stood the might of the Lin Family¡¯s great figure, an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    Hearing Lin Xiaowan¡¯s words, Ye Chen nodded with a smile toward her.


    At that moment, the Upper God King "Lanling God King," who presided over the battle of Divine Cities from the void, finally spoke, "The seventeen rounds of the battle are now concluded. The final victor is ¡¯Circulation of Heaven Divine City¡¯!"


    "The ten spots to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land belong to Circulation of Heaven Divine City. On the day when the Nine Suns Ancient Land opens, these ten tokens will be personally distributed to you by the Southern Territory King Mansion. When the time comes, just head to the gathering place of the Nine Suns Ancient Land directly!"


    At this point, the Lanling God King paused, his gaze shifting toward Ye Chen, and then toward Wang Lian and Wang Shan, who had accompanied Qin Feng.


    "As for the outcome of the final battle, I saw it all with my own eyes. Since everyone participated in the battle for the Divine City, of course, the result, life or death, must all be adhered to."


    "Had Ye Chen been defeated and perished at the hands of Qin Feng, I would have said the same. Now that Qin Feng lies defeated at Ye Chen¡¯s hand, my stance remains unchanged."


    "That is to say, the outcome of the battle for the Divine City must be honored by all, and the rules of the battle for the Divine City must likewise be respected by all. No one can seek revenge because of life or death that resulted from the battle."


    "To go against this would be to defy the rules of the entire Southern Territory King Mansion, who will personally take action and completely erase the one seeking revenge!"


    The words of the Lanling God King were clearly meant for Wang Lian and Wang Shan to convey back to Qin Feng¡¯s clan members.


    Upon hearing these words, Wang Lian and Wang Shan both shuddered, thinking of the powerful Sovereign Realm existence of the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    They knew that, with such a statement, even the Heavenly Divine Venerable with the courage of the heavens behind Qin Feng wouldn¡¯t dare make the slightest move.


    ...


    The battle for Divine City at Circulation of Heaven Divine City finally concluded, determining the ten slots for the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    In the Southern Territory of the Wan Miao Divine Kingdom, countless Small Divine Cities, also vying for slots to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, were similarly conducting their battles, with results continuously decided.


    In the great Divine Cities of the Wan Miao Divine Kingdom, the ten slots for each city were also being allocated without end.


    As for the most precious ten God King slots, they too had long since found their owners.


    In the Southern Territory of the Wan Miao Divine Kingdom, in its grandest Divine City, Wan Miao Divine City, there were two mansions.


    One was known as "Mu King Mansion," and the other was "Hong Royal Mansion" built by the ruler of the entire Divine Kingdom Southern Territory, the Southern Territory King.


    At this moment, in a grand hall of Hong Royal Mansion, a towering figure sat in the seat of honor.


    Below him, two middle-aged men knelt, while two young men stood respectfully.


    The towering figure, dressed in blue robes, was a dignified middle-aged man whose presence was marked by an intensely formidable aura of the Sovereign Realm.


    Looking at him, one could even see divine light shining and stars transforming, as if countless stars were studded on his clothing.


    This person was indeed the powerful eight-star Sovereign Realm figure, the Southern Territory King, Hong Xuanzong!


    At that time, the Southern Territory King looked at the two middle-aged men kneeling on the ground and asked one of them, "Did the Mu King Mansion receive the two God King Tokens sent to the old Territory King Mansion for the Nine Suns Ancient Land?"


    The middle-aged man addressed by the Southern Territory King promptly responded, "Reporting to the Sovereign, those two tokens have been received by the Mu King Mansion. It is said that the Mu King Mansion¡¯s young princess and the third young master had reserved these two tokens long ago, both intending to visit the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    The Southern Territory King nodded and smiled, "Mu Ling that girl, she does enjoy the excitement, probably wants to join in the fun with ¡¯Long Li¡¯ in the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Those two tokens can be arranged by the old Territory King Mansion as they see fit."


    After expressing this sentiment, he looked toward the other middle-aged man and inquired, "And about the other two tokens, has Divine Miao Peak accepted them?"


    "Replying to the Sovereign, Divine Miao Peak, as usual, did not regard the tokens for the Nine Suns Ancient Land highly. Even though ¡¯Long Li¡¯ will be going to the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time, they still rejected the two tokens," answered the middle-aged man hastily.


    Hearing the middle-aged man¡¯s words, the Southern Territory King sighed deeply and shook his head, saying no more.


    If Ye Chen had heard the Southern Territory King¡¯s words, he would have been undoubtedly astonished.


    The "Mu King Mansion" and "Divine Miao Peak" involved in the distribution of God King slots by the Southern Territory King were directly related to the task entrusted to him by the old Southern Territory King, the hermit known as the old man, during their encounter in the underwater divine palace.


    The two inheritance beads containing the old man¡¯s countless years of cultivation insights, one blue and one purple, were meant for Ye Chen to deliver, one to the descendants of the Mu King Mansion, the other to those of Divine Miao Peak.


    That Mu King Mansion was indeed the hermit¡¯s own family mansion.


    And that Divine Miao Peak, whether from the perspective of the hermit or from the current behavior of the Southern Territory King, was presumably also a significant force in the Divine Kingdom Southern Territory.


    It appeared that even the Southern Territory King seemingly found himself in a difficult position with them.


    After another sigh, the Southern Territory King turned his attention to the two young men standing respectfully in the grand hall, "This time, a total of ten slots to the Nine Suns Ancient Land have been appropriated."


    "The ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ from the Supreme Divine Institute personally came to me for one slot token for ¡¯Long Li.¡¯


    "The Divine Dragon Mountain, Danxia Valley, Tai Yun Heaven¡ªthe three great forces¡ªalso came to me for their younger generation studying at the nine great divine institutes, taking away five slot tokens."


    "Ordinarily, these slots to the Nine Suns Ancient Land wouldn¡¯t be considered much. However, due to ¡¯Long Li,¡¯ countless individuals covet these slots, and I dare not provoke those four great forces above us and could only hand over the slots. Whatever I could refuse, I have refused. Now, I have four slots left in my hands."


    "Initially, after allocating four slots to the Mu King Mansion and Divine Miao Peak, I would have had no slots left. Considering that our Southern Territory King Mansion has explored the Nine Suns Ancient Land many times, I had no intention of letting you two enter it."


    "Now, since Divine Miao Peak has refused those two slots, in accordance with my previous promise to you, Hong Ming and Hong Yi, these two slots will be granted to you!"

 Chapter 675 - 627 Blazing Sun Divine City

    A streak of light shot out from Endless Mountain, flying towards the continental teleportation array of this part of the Star Continent at a speed that seemed to rip through the void.


    This streak of light was none other than Ye Chen, who had just completed the battle within Divine City and secured a spot to go to Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    The battle of Divine City had ended, and the crowd had dispersed.


    Among this group from Circulation of Heaven Divine City, Lin Xiaowan was set to return to the Supreme Divine Institute first, while City Lord Nie and Zhao Luo were hurrying back to Circulation of Heaven Divine City to prepare for their journey to Nine Suns Ancient Land. Ye Chen bid them farewell, having arranged to meet them again before the opening of Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    There was still one month left before the official opening of Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Ye Chen planned to go to "Blazing Sun Divine City" outside Nine Suns Ancient Land first.


    By now, numerous True Gods and even Divine Kings must have rushed to "Blazing Sun Divine City." This already bustling Great Divine City would undoubtedly be even more lively with the upcoming opening of Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Ye Chen¡¯s journey to "Blazing Sun Divine City" had a dual purpose: to wait for the official opening of Nine Suns Ancient Land and to scour the "Blazing Sun Divine City" for items to prepare for his entrance into Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    At present, Ye Chen had reached the realm of a Four Tribulations True God.


    The leap in strength brought about by the successful boundary breakthrough had been deeply felt by Ye Chen during the recent battle in Divine City, and it also motivated him to continue striving towards the realm of a Five Tribulations True God and even higher.


    The "Green Spirit Dragon Fruit" and "Thunder Beast Crystal" that Ye Chen had acquired at the Buried Dragon Mountain Range played a large role during his boundary breakthrough.


    To further improve his realm, continuing to search for necessary cultivation resources was definitely a must.


    At the same time, the terrifying crisis he had faced while overcoming several layers of heavenly tribulations not long ago made Ye Chen constantly vigilant in his heart.


    Before the next heavenly tribulation arrived, preparing more methods to cope with it was also something Ye Chen needed to consider.


    There was also the gathering of information related to Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Furthermore, he needed to stock up on more divine stones to power the ice-sealed puppets, ensuring that he had enough divine stones to activate three ice-sealed puppets in case of emergencies after entering Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Whether it was preparing cultivation resources, methods to deal with heavenly tribulations, or gathering information about Nine Suns Ancient Land, "Blazing Sun Divine City" was very suitable.


    On one hand, "Blazing Sun Divine City" was a Great Divine City with numerous resources; on the other hand, it was currently the moment when many warriors were converging at "Blazing Sun Divine City" before the opening of Nine Suns Ancient Land, so there was likely to be a lot of treasure trading and information exchange taking place.


    "Haha, Ye Chen, your vitality wheel cultivation combined with overcoming the heavenly tribulations to achieve Four Tribulations True God has greatly enhanced your strength!" At this moment, Xiaojiu had transformed into a tiny spiritual sparrow and flew onto Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder, laughing and saying to Ye Chen, "With the opening of Nine Suns Ancient Land this time, aside from those ten powerful Divine Kings entering it, there might not be many at the True God stage who can overpower you."


    "Since that First Goddess ¡¯Long Li¡¯ of the Supreme Divine Institute, who can battle Upper God Kings comparable to Heavenly Divine Venerables, is also going to Nine Suns Ancient Land, it indicates that there might indeed be some miraculous things inside it. This time, you can also try to explore Nine Suns Ancient Land in depth."


    This time, because of Long Li, it was clear without thinking that the strength of the ten Divine Kings entering Nine Suns Ancient Land would be incredibly formidable. With Ye Chen¡¯s current strength, even if he could defeat many Lower God Kings, the gap with these ten would still be immense.


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    However, as Xiaojiu said, aside from these ten Divine Kings, Ye Chen could indeed compete with the other True Gods who were entering Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    "I hope that this time in Nine Suns Ancient Land, I can gain some benefits. The greatest benefits will probably go to Long Li and those nine other Divine Kings, but it would be nice to get some other benefits and enhance my strength as well," Ye Chen said to Xiaojiu with a light laugh.


    Xiaojiu blinked and laughed, "That¡¯s not necessarily true. While those ten Divine Kings are indeed terrifyingly powerful, fortune and treasures also depend on destiny. Plus, with my assistance¡ªeven though those Divine Kings who got the spot might come from extraordinary origins¡ªI am the Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor left by Lord Emperor Yan, and my Divine Soul sensing is not weak either. Maybe if we work together, Ye Chen, you could also gain a lot."


    At the same time, Xiaojiu also started to feel expectant, "They all say that the First Goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, Long Li, is incomparably beautiful and extraordinarily talented. I really want to see what she looks like, and whether she¡¯s more beautiful than Sister Jiang Yao."


    Hearing the first part of Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen was nodding, but when he heard Xiaojiu comparing Long Li with Jiang Yao, he couldn¡¯t help but laugh.


    Was Xiaojiu, a Nine Spirits Sparrow, also so gossipy?


    "Even if that Long Li is beautiful, she definitely can¡¯t be more beautiful than Sister Jiang Yao," chimed in the little monkey, turning into a streak of light and landing on the other shoulder of Ye Chen.


    Although the little fellow still couldn¡¯t speak directly, it had long been able to communicate using divine sense, and it instantly rebutted Xiaojiu¡¯s words.


    "You little one, only at the late stage of the Spinning Dan realm, dare to contradict me!" Xiaojiu playfully scolded the little monkey.


    Watching Xiaojiu and the little monkey bicker, Ye Chen smiled gently.


    Although Xiaojiu had been imbued with a lot of knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan, it had only been born from the seabed Divine Palace shortly before the great cleansing calamity came, so it was still very young.


    The little monkey had been born not long after he entered the ancestral land; it too was incredibly young.


    Listening to their bickering made Ye Chen¡¯s flying journey less lonely.


    Half an hour later, Ye Chen finally arrived at another intercontinental transmission array location on this part of the Star Continent where the Circulation of Heaven Divine City was situated.


    This transmission location was different from the ones he had used when he went to other Star Continents to unlock the treasures of the frozen Divine King.


    This transmission array was located in the central region of this Star Continent, and it even had arrays that led to many Great Divine Cities in the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    Ye Chen, carrying Xiaojiu and the little monkey, went straight through one of the arrays and entered another Star Continent in the Southern Territory.


    After several transmissions, he finally arrived at his ultimate destination, the Great Divine City outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land, "Blazing Sun Divine City"!


    Blazing Sun Divine City was an unbelievably vast city suspended in the void outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Rumors had it that this Divine City did not previously exist; it was created after the discovery of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, when a Immortal Divine Venerable from the Southern Territory King Mansion of the Divine Kingdom personally lifted an entire region of the Star Continent along with several immensely huge mountain ranges and, using astounding Divine powers, moved them to the void outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land, eventually forging "Blazing Sun Divine City."


    Blazing Sun Divine City was countless times larger than the smaller Circulation of Heaven Divine City.


    The countless buildings throughout the entire Divine City were radiating dazzling divine light like the blazing sun, shining across the void day and night without dimming or extinguishing.


    This was the origin of the name "Blazing Sun Divine City."


    As Ye Chen emerged from the transmission array hall in Blazing Sun Divine City and saw the colossal buildings, and the countless warriors flying or moving around in the sky and on the ground, and heard the bustling noise of the entire city, he felt deeply awestruck.

 Chapter 676 - 628: Divine Stone, Tattered Cloth

    After finding an inn in Blazing Sun Divine City, Xiaojiu took the little monkey out to gather information, while Ye Chen began to meditate and regulate his breath in his room.


    Not long after Ye Chen had replenished his energy from the journey and reflected on his combat experiences in the battles of Divine City, Xiaojiu and the little monkey returned with the information they had gathered.


    Xiaojiu, indeed a powerful member of the Nine Spirits Sparrow clan, was not only shrewd but also extremely intelligent. In a short time, she managed to find out a great deal of the information Ye Chen needed.


    From Xiaojiu¡¯s description, supplemented by the little monkey, Ye Chen learned that Blazing Sun Divine City was specifically built by the Southern Territory King Mansion to guard the Nine Suns Ancient Land and is always guarded by three Heavenly Divine Venerables of the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    And the Nine Suns Ancient Land would only open at specific times, being completely sealed by the prohibitive formations laid down by the Southern Territory King Mansion on regular days.


    In Blazing Sun Divine City, apart from the three Heavenly Divine Venerables, there were also many Earth Divine Venerables; as for Divine Kings and warriors of the True God Realm, they were simply too numerous to count.


    Moreover, with the impending opening of the Nine Suns Ancient Land and the rumors of the "Long Li," the maiden of the Supreme Divine Institute coming to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, many martial artists from different parts of the Divine Kingdom flocked to the Blazing Sun Divine City.


    At this moment, Blazing Sun Divine City was indeed a hundred times livelier than usual.


    As for the matters Ye Chen was most concerned about, finding resources for cultivation and the Divine Stones needed for activating the icebound puppets, Xiaojiu also brought back an important piece of news.


    That was, in eight days¡¯ time, there would be a massive trading conference taking place in Blazing Sun Divine City.


    Xiaojiu further mentioned that the scale of the upcoming trading conference was huge, and due to the influx of countless martial artists into Blazing Sun Divine City, the treasures to be traded would definitely not be few.


    Whether it was the Divine Stones needed for activating the icebound puppets that Ye Chen was looking for, precious cultivation resources, or even some rarely seen Divine Treasures and Artifacts and possibly even Artifacts of Heaven, it was very likely they would appear at the conference.


    As long as one had enough Black Divine Coins, it was very likely they could find anything they desired.


    Hearing this news, a spark flashed in Ye Chen¡¯s eyes.


    Apart from the one million Black Divine Coins that the King of the Eastern Territory had left him of which much remained, he had also obtained ten million Black Divine Coins left to him by the icebound Divine King from his treasure trove.


    This fortune, although not comparable to many Middle God Kings, was far more than the majority of lower Divine Kings.


    It was already enough for Ye Chen to shop for what he wanted at the trading conference Xiaojiu mentioned.


    And if that wasn¡¯t enough, Ye Chen also had some treasures on him that he could exchange for more Black Divine Coins.


    After finding out the information he wanted, Ye Chen chatted with Xiaojiu and the little monkey for a bit. He didn¡¯t go wandering around Blazing Sun Divine City but continued to cultivate with closed eyes in his room.


    Without taking the first step, there can be no journey of a thousand miles.


    Ye Chen understood this principle.


    Only with the accumulation of each day¡¯s efforts could his strength continue to grow.


    It wasn¡¯t until eight days had passed, the day of the trading conference Xiaojiu spoke of, that Ye Chen opened his eyes from cultivation.


    "Let¡¯s go, let¡¯s go see what the trading conference has to offer," Ye Chen said with a smile to Xiaojiu and the little monkey who had been eagerly waiting by his side.


    Xiaojiu and the little monkey nodded enthusiastically.


    When Ye Chen stepped out of the inn, he felt that Blazing Sun Divine City had become even more lively after a few days.


    Clearly, as the day the Nine Suns Ancient Land would open drew nearer, the number of martial artists entering Blazing Sun Divine City had increased even further. Continue reading stories on novelhall.Co?m


    After crossing dozens of extremely long streets and even flying over several massive mountains within the city, Ye Chen finally arrived at the western side of Blazing Sun Divine City where the trading conference was being held.


    This grand trading conference, which always served as the main event before the opening of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, was specifically scheduled by the three Heavenly Divine Venerables stationed in Blazing Sun Divine City from the Southern Territory King Mansion, organized by the mansion¡¯s martial artists.


    When Ye Chen arrived at the venue for the trading conference, he directly saw a Treasure Palace hundreds of zhang in circumference standing suspended in the void of this domain.


    The entire Treasure Palace was divided into three floors.


    Although this Treasure Palace was only a few hundred yards in diameter, Ye Chen knew that inside the palace there must be a special space forged, one that would be incredibly vast.


    Ye Chen personally witnessed thousands of martial artists flying into this Treasure Palace, and countless more continuously pouring in.


    If there wasn¡¯t a special space inside, the palace, which was only several hundred yards in diameter, would not be able to accommodate so many martial artists at all.


    It wouldn¡¯t be considered suitable for holding a grand-scale trade fair.


    "Ye Chen, the three floors of this trade fair palace are divided for people of different realms to enter. The first floor is where martial artists of the True God Realm conduct their trades. The second floor is for those of the God King Realm, and as for the third floor, that¡¯s even for the Divine Venerable Realm to trade,"


    "However, most of this trade fair is concentrated on the first floor, with very few martial artists from the God King Realm and Divine Venerable Realm on the second and third floors."


    Xiaojiu whispered to Ye Chen from his shoulder, transmitting her voice quietly.


    After Ye Chen nodded, he walked toward the entrance of the Treasure Palace.


    Upon reaching the entrance of the Treasure Palace, Ye Chen saw a team of guards clad in Divine Armor standing guard at the entrance.


    The leader of these guards was even a being from the Earth Divine Venerable rank, and the remaining seven or eight were all of the God King Realm.


    All these guards were from the Southern Territory King Mansion stationed in Blazing Sun Divine City.


    The fact that an existence like an Earth Divine Venerable could only serve as the head of the guards in such a Divine City hinted at the sheer might of the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    To enter this Trade Fair Palace, one had to pay Black Divine Coins.


    Simply entering the first-floor palace required a fee of "fifty thousand Black Divine Coins," not to mention getting to the higher floors, which made Ye Chen inwardly click his tongue in amazement.


    Given the number of people streaming into the Trade Fair Palace, just the Black Divine Coins collected at this trade fair would surely reach an astronomical figure.


    But on second thought, it made sense.


    The Southern Territory King Mansion was the overlord of this province in the Divine Kingdom, with countless martial artists to foster. What was an astronomical number to an individual martial artist was nothing for the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    After paying fifty thousand Black Divine Coins, Ye Chen smoothly entered the first-floor of the Trade Fair Palace.


    Indeed, as Ye Chen had expected, the space inside the first floor was unbelievably vast; even with his Divine Sense now capable of enveloping hundreds of miles, he couldn¡¯t see the end at a glance.


    In the entire space of the first-floor hall, there seemed to be tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of stalls displaying trade goods, and the number was still increasing as the crowds kept flowing in.


    "So many stalls, just taking a look once would take quite a bit of time," Ye Chen muttered softly.


    Xiaojiu, sitting on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder, smiled and said to him, "Ye Chen, there¡¯s no need to rush. This trade fair lasts for ten days, plenty of time to properly pick out the things you need."


    Ye Chen nodded, released his Divine Sense, and began to search through the trade fair hall.


    Divine Stones for powering Combat Puppets were easy to find; in just the time it took to drink a cup of tea, Ye Chen saw no less than dozens of stalls displaying Divine Stones.


    In the end, Ye Chen spent five hundred thousand Black Divine Coins and bought another three hundred thousand Divine Stones.


    With the Divine Stones he had left, even if he were to drive three Ice-Sealed Puppets with the strongest Middle God King combat power, he would have enough to last a very long time.


    After finding the Divine Stones, Ye Chen continued to look for other items.


    After several more hours, Ye Chen had already purchased many precious treasures.


    However, as Ye Chen passed by a stall set up by a Nine Tribulations True God, Xiaojiu¡¯s voice suddenly transmitted in his mind, "Ye Chen, that piece of ¡¯rag¡¯ on this stall seems a bit unusual."


    On hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s telepathic message, Ye Chen looked directly at the stall, and saw that there were many treasures displayed, but in the center, there was a palm-sized piece of blue rag.

 Chapter 677 - 629: The Magical Rag

    Such a palm-sized piece of rag, given its placement at the center of the stall, evidently had something special about it.


    By now, quite a crowd had gathered around the stall, with many Nine Tribulations true gods scrutinizing the treasures on display, the most eye-catching of which was indeed the rag at the heart of the stall.


    Ye Chen let out a slight chuckle and then made his way towards the stall.


    Xiaojiu, being a member of the Nine Spirits Sparrow clan, possessed innate divine soul strength. With her caution, Ye Chen of course wanted to take a closer look.


    However, when Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense reached out to probe the rag, he let out a slight gasp of surprise.


    When his Divine Sense touched the rag, it was sharply rebounded, and had Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Soul not been strong enough, this rebound could have very well caused him some backlash.


    This, of course, astonished Ye Chen!


    Normally, treasures that have not been bound by a master can be probed with Divine Sense. Since this rag was put up for sale and clearly had no master, it was surprising that it could block probing and even cause a rebound.


    At this time, many of the martial artists who had just flocked to the stall, just like Ye Chen, were also probing the rag. However, many of them suffered from the rebound, with a few Nine Tribulations true gods suddenly turning pale, obviously having their Divine Souls attacked.


    These occurrences caused the complexions of those examining the rag to drastically change.


    Seeing the crowd¡¯s reactions, the stall owner laughed heartily and proclaimed, "I suppose you all must have noticed something unusual about this rag of mine."


    With a grand gesture, the stall owner grasped the palm-sized rag in his hand and began showing it off to the people around.


    "This cloth not only blocks the probing of the Divine Soul but also defends against Divine Soul attacks. And it¡¯s not just soul attacks; even physical strength blows and true qi divine power attacks, this cloth can rebound them all."


    "Unless a Divine Venerable Realm powerhouse acts, it would be difficult to break through this rag. However, even if they did break it, the cloth can quickly heal and return to its original state. It would take an extraordinary Divine Venerable¡¯s power to completely destroy it."


    While speaking, the stall owner demonstrated to the crowd.


    His finger extended, and a powerful force began to accumulate on it, until the gathered energy was even stronger than that of Qin Feng, whom Ye Chen had battled in the Divine City.


    Compared to Ye Chen¡¯s power, it was hardly any weaker.


    Certainly, this Nine Tribulations True God stall owner was no ordinary individual¡ªhis combat power was exceptionally extraordinary!


    This revelation surprised many of the true gods spectating.


    What surprised these onlookers even more was that, when the stall owner¡¯s power coalesced to an overwhelmingly strong point and he suddenly jabbed towards the rag.


    Such a jab could easily pierce through a giant mountain, yet upon contacting the rag, a peculiar thing happened.


    Without any glow or flicker of light, the rag simply repelled the stall owner¡¯s attack completely.


    If the stall owner didn¡¯t prepare in advance and launched another blow to shatter the rebounding attack¡¯s force, it could have landed on the surrounding onlookers, potentially injuring many of them.


    This truly caused a dramatic shift in the onlookers¡¯ expressions!


    In the whole scene, the only ones who could remain calm were Ye Chen and a mere handful of others. But even Ye Chen now looked towards the rag with an extremely solemn gaze.


    "Pity, if this rag weren¡¯t so small, if it weren¡¯t merely the size of a palm, it could¡¯ve been an incredibly fierce defensive treasure," said one powerful Nine Tribulations true god who, like Ye Chen, managed to maintain composure, took a deep breath and spoke.


    Hearing the words of this Nine Tribulations true god, the other martial artists all nodded in agreement.


    Indeed.


    Regardless of the rag¡¯s formidable defensive power, its small size rendered it of little use. One could simply target an area not protected by the rag to kill its user.


    Moreover, since the rag couldn¡¯t be integrated and bound to a master¡¯s Divine Soul, it was even easier for others to snatch it away.


    For a moment, many who were intrigued by this enigmatical rag began to hesitate on whether to purchase it.


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    Seeing the crowd¡¯s expressions, the stall owner sneered, "If this cloth were larger than just a palm size, would I have brought it here to trade?"


    "Based on my guess, this rag might very well be a piece sheared off the Divine Robe of a formidable figure. It blocks all but the Divine Venerable Realm powerhouses and could, therefore, come from a Divine Robe used by the Venerables!"


    "If it were a complete Divine Venerable grade Divine Robe, the price would be astronomical, so much so that it wouldn¡¯t be here for sale, and you wouldn¡¯t be able to afford it anyway!"


    The stall owner was speaking the truth.


    If it were a complete Divine Robe, one that only Divine Venerables could breach and would rapidly heal, indeed it wouldn¡¯t be available on the first floor of this trading hall.


    Not to mention these true gods, even God Kings, without substantial wealth, would absolutely not be able to afford it.


    "The item is precious, indeed, but definitely has too small a defensive range. Stall owner, how many Black Divine Coins are you asking for?" Ye Chen, who had been silent, suddenly asked.


    Seeing the Four Tribulations true god Ye Chen inquire about the price, the stall owner was quite surprised.


    But, of course, he wouldn¡¯t refuse to sell just because the inquiring martial artist held a lower realm; the stall owner said with a smile, "The starting bid is one million Black Divine Coins. If there are multiple parties interested, the price will increase by one hundred thousand Black Divine Coins each time. The highest bidder will claim it."


    Hiss!


    The stall owner¡¯s words made the surrounding martial artists sharply inhale.


    One million Black Divine Coins!


    To think that amount could buy a precious Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, and we¡¯re talking about a palm-sized ragged cloth?


    And this is just the starting price? The price has to be raised in competition?


    Even if this ragged cloth has a strong defensive power, its area is simply too small!


    Many shook their heads, giving up the idea of purchasing it.


    Only a few powerful Martial Artists who had survived the Four Tribulations, along with Ye Chen, were still considering it.


    "You said this item could withstand attacks from anyone below the Divine Venerable Realm. The combat power you tested just now was only at the level of a Lower God King. May I try it too?" A young man in a brocade robe spoke up.


    The vendor smiled, "Sure, go ahead."


    After saying that, he tossed the ragged cloth directly to the young man in the brocade robe.


    In this trading hall managed by the martial artists from the Southern Territory King Mansion, he wasn¡¯t worried about this martial artist running away with the item.


    The young man in the brocade robe caught the ragged cloth, suspended and twisted it in mid-air, then he pinched a spell with his hand, and a black palm-sized puppet appeared in front of him.


    Next, the black puppet lunged fiercely at the ragged cloth, its terrifying killing force charged towards it.


    Even Ye Chen was taken aback upon seeing the combat power emitted by this black puppet.


    This black puppet, in fact, exhibited a combat power even stronger than his own Icebound Puppet, reaching the level of an Upper God King.


    Clearly, this young man in the brocade robe had an extraordinary identity, capable of possessing an Upper God King level puppet.


    This deepened Ye Chen¡¯s sense of caution.


    "It seems that, owing to that Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s Divine Maiden Long Li, even more capable martial artists than anticipated have been drawn here. Not only do I need to be wary of those Divine Kings, but also of powerful true gods with various means!"


    Ye Chen knew that if he were to truly face the brocade-robed young man using all his means, he probably wouldn¡¯t win and could only escape with a life-saving charm from the East Territory King.


    It looked like there wouldn¡¯t be a shortage of true gods like him arriving in the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    However, thinking about it, it made sense. His Icebound Puppet was left by an Upper God King, and there were countless martial artists in the Divine Kingdom surpassing Upper God Kings. Not to mention Earth Divine Venerables and Heavenly Divine Venerables, there were many Immortal Divine Venerables.


    For their kin or those close to them, acquiring one or two powerful treasures was not a big deal.


    Although Divine Venerable level treasures might not be activated by true gods, it¡¯s likely that many true gods with significant backgrounds could possess a few Upper God King level treasures.


    This only made Ye Chen all the more eager to improve his own abilities.


    Without a few powerful trump cards, he might not even know how he died!


    As Ye Chen¡¯s mind wrestled with this, the powerful killing force from the black puppet controlled by the brocade-robed young man had already struck the ragged cloth.


    What followed was a shocking development.


    Even though the black puppet¡¯s killing force reached the level of an Upper God King, it still failed to pierce through the ragged cloth.


    It seemed the vendor¡¯s claims weren¡¯t false¡ªthis piece of cloth couldn¡¯t be penetrated unless by a Divine Venerable!


    After testing it, the brocade-robed young man retracted the black puppet and also returned the ragged cloth to the vendor.


    He spoke, "This item indeed serves as a very good defensive piece. However, it¡¯s a pity that it¡¯s too small to be of practical use, more like a collectible memorabilia."


    "One million Black Divine Coins. I¡¯ll take it."


    Whoosh.


    The young man, stating he¡¯d merely collect it as memorabilia, was still willing to spend one million Black Divine Coins, leaving many true gods beside him gasping in amazement, their expressions filled with envy.


    It became clear to the crowd that this brocade-robed young man, who casually offered one million Black Divine Coins and possessed a puppet with the attacking power of an Upper God King, must have an extensive background and considerable wealth.


    Many had already been discouraged from buying the ragged cloth, which was only the size of a palm and seemed miraculous but ultimately useless, especially for one million Black Divine Coins. Seeing that this young man with an evident background was interested in the item deterred them even further from bidding.


    For a moment, the voice of the brocade-robed young man was the only one bidding in the hall.


    "Is there only this fellow who wishes to purchase this item?" The vendor seemed indifferent, content as long as someone bought it for above his reserve price, "If no one else is bidding, then I¡¯ll sell it to this fellow."


    At this moment, Ye Chen, who had been silent all along, let out a reluctant sigh and finally said, "I¡¯m also interested in this object. I¡¯ll offer 1.1 million Black Divine Coins then."


    Ye Chen had been hesitating whether to bid or not, still considering how to use the ragged cloth. But Xiaojiu, who had remained quiet, had been staring at the cloth for a long time, and then discreetly sent a message to Ye Chen, insisting that he must buy this cloth.


    Xiaojiu further mentioned that the ragged cloth seemed very similar to an extremely powerful object from her memories. If it was indeed that kind of object, then even if Ye Chen spent ten million Black Divine Coins, it would be worth it.


    This, of course, made Ye Chen bid without hesitation.


    Even if the brocade-robed young man with a background wished to compete, Ye Chen was also ready to put up a fight!

 Chapter 678 - 630: Retreat in Alarm!

    Ye Chen¡¯s bid took everyone at the venue by surprise.


    At this moment, many formidable Nine Tribulations True Gods had abandoned the idea of purchasing this "rubbish cloth," and yet this youth, merely a Four Tribulations True God, still wanted to buy it?


    And to compete with the obviously well-connected young man in the brocade robe?!


    Many were shocked by Ye Chen¡¯s boldness, while others viewed him with curiosity, trying to discern the origins of a youth who could casually offer more than a million Black Divine Coins while being just in the Four Tribulations realm.


    But after observing for a while, they couldn¡¯t find anything particularly special about Ye Chen.


    The young man in the brocade robe was also taken aback.


    He didn¡¯t expect that, after showing some of his capabilities, someone would still compete against him, especially a Four Tribulations True God youth.


    While the young man in the brocade robe was not very interested in the "rubbish cloth," seeing it as merely a curiosity to collect and remember, Ye Chen¡¯s offer ignited his competitive spirit.


    "I bid one million and two hundred thousand Black Divine Coins," said the young man in the brocade robe, casting a glance at Ye Chen, speaking indifferently.


    Of course, Ye Chen had no idea about the young man¡¯s competitive thoughts. His only intention was to secure the piece of "rubbish cloth" and to examine it thoroughly with Xiaojiu.


    "One million and three hundred thousand," Ye Chen spoke up again.


    "I bid one million and four hundred thousand!" The young man in the brocade robe raised his voice, his gaze toward Ye Chen filled with a hint of anger.


    He came from a family of Immortal Divine Venerables, although a collateral branch, and he had some wealth, but it was not vast.


    To call out a bid of one million and four hundred thousand Black Divine Coins for a piece of "rubbish cloth" that was somewhat magical yet impractical, and knowing this wouldn¡¯t be the final price, he started to feel the pinch.


    "One million and five hundred thousand," Ye Chen said, disregarding the fiery look from the young man in the brocade robe as he calmly raised the bid.


    As Ye Chen and the young man in the brocade robe successively raised their bids, the vendor nearby could hardly contain his joy.


    This "rubbish cloth" was passed down in his family. He and his ancestors had studied it for a long time without comprehending its purpose; it was useless to them. He was about to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land and had decided to sell it in order to acquire a Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact to use.


    The current bid far exceeded his expectations!


    He was, of course, surprisingly delighted.


    While the vendor could hardly contain his glee, the young man in the brocade robe felt embarrassed under the public gaze. Looking at Ye Chen, he spoke with a threatening tone, "Are you really intent on competing with me?"


    Simultaneously with his words, he took out the black puppet again and started swinging it in his hand.


    Even though he wouldn¡¯t dare make a move inside the Trading Treasure Hall, under the supervision of the Southern Territory King Mansion, the implication of his gesture was unmistakably threatening.


    Seeing the action of the young man in the brocade robe, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but laugh silently.


    However, in an instant, Ye Chen¡¯s mind flickered with an idea.


    With a gentle flip of his palm, the life-saving talisman left to him by the East Territory King appeared in his hand.


    The group of Martial Artists spectating nearby, upon seeing the young man¡¯s action, were just wondering how Ye Chen, a Four Tribulations True God youth, would respond.


    When they saw that Ye Chen also took out an object, a thought instantly crossed their minds: "Could it be that this young man isn¡¯t afraid of the young man in the brocade robe and has a powerful trump card?"


    Suddenly, dozens of attentive eyes around the stand focused on Ye Chen¡¯s hand, closely inspecting the item.


    When they saw the faint golden light emanating from Ye Chen¡¯s palm and the characters "East Province" inscribed on the talisman, many Martial Artists were somewhat puzzled, "What is this? A talisman? Could it be a powerful talisman?"


    "These characters ¡¯East Province,¡¯ could it mean that this talisman has been passed down from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province?"


    While those unfamiliar with the talisman were still pondering, several individuals at the scene, upon seeing the talisman in Ye Chen¡¯s hand, had their expressions change drastically. Experience tales with novelhall.Co?m


    Among them were the stall owner and the young man in brocade!


    "This is... a talisman from the Southern Territory King Mansion! And it¡¯s golden! It¡¯s rumored that only talismans personally crafted by the East Territory King are golden, and no one else in the East Territory King Mansion dares to use gold. Could it be that this talisman was made for this young man by the East Territory King himself?" The stall owner, a Nine Tribulations true god, felt his heart pounding uncontrollably.


    The East Territory King!


    A famous figure in the Divine Kingdom, an overwhelmingly powerful Sovereign Realm expert.


    Who among the Divine Kingdom Martial Artists would not know, would not be aware?!


    Such an entity, even the Immortal Divine Venerable would kneel before.


    The youth bestowed with a talisman by him, what kind of powerful background must he have?


    The stall owner already felt so nervous he was nearly unable to breathe.


    At this moment, the brocade-clad young man was even more terrified, his face completely pale.


    This young man in brocade came from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province, and his entire family¡¯s most powerful Immortal Divine Venerable patriarch was under the jurisdiction of one of the East Territory King¡¯s Four Great Generals.


    His patriarch had once received a silver-colored talisman from the East Territory King Mansion, bestowed by a Great General. They celebrated with a grand feast for three days and nights, and even enshrined the silver-colored talisman in the most precious treasury of their family.


    The young man in brocade was all too familiar with talismans that circulated from the East Territory King Mansion!


    He had once heard his father mention, after the Immortal Divine Venerable patriarch of their family got drunk, he let slip a truth, saying that if one day they could obtain a golden talisman personally given by the East Territory King, even death would be worth it! It would bring their family immense glory in the Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province!


    Now, seeing that the young man he was competing against possessed a golden East Territory King Mansion talisman that even his family¡¯s Immortal Divine Venerable patriarch didn¡¯t have, how could he not be shocked to the core?!


    This young man, he has a talisman personally crafted by the East Territory King?!


    What could his background possibly be?!


    If the Immortal Divine Venerable patriarch of his family knew that he dared to trouble a young man who was personally given a talisman by the East Territory King, then there would be no need for the East Territory King to act; his family patriarch would most likely tie him up himself and deliver him to the East Territory King Mansion for judgment!


    With this thought in mind, the brocade-clad young man no longer had any thoughts of competing with Ye Chen, and with a forced smile, he said to Ye Chen, "This fellow Daoist... fellow Daoist, I¡¯m no longer buying that scrap of cloth!"


    After uttering those words, the brocade-clad young man didn¡¯t even look at Ye Chen and instantly ran off, disappearing without a trace!


    This scenario left the crowd of Martial Artists who were watching in astonishment.


    They hadn¡¯t expected that the young man, who had earlier been so high and mighty and obviously came from a powerful background, would, upon seeing the talisman in the hands of the young Four Tribulations true god, flee in terror like a rat seeing a cat!


    By then, even if these Martial Artists didn¡¯t understand the true significance of the talisman in Ye Chen¡¯s hands, they could guess that this young man¡¯s background was probably a hundred times more terrifying than that of the brocade-clad youth!


    Otherwise, the brocade-clad young man would not have reacted in this manner!


    Not just the brocade-clad young man, but even the stall owner was repeatedly smiling at Ye Chen, saying, "Fellow Daoist, since you¡¯ve taken a liking to my piece of scrap cloth, then I¡¯ll just give it to you!"


    Even a pleasing smile had crept onto the stall owner¡¯s face as he tried to ingratiate himself with Ye Chen.

 Chapter 679 - 631

    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that taking out the life-saving talisman given to him by the East Territory King would produce such a significant effect.


    Originally, he had just wanted to show the talisman to make use of the powerful aura left on it by the East Territory King, so the young man in the brocade robe with somewhat of a background might sense the formidable aura emitted by the talisman and become somewhat wary.


    Unexpectedly, the young man in the brocade robe seemed to have directly recognized the true origin of the talisman and fled at the mere sight of it!


    This caused Ye Chen to shake his head and smile, quite surprised by the outcome.


    "It seems that many people directly recognize the talismans from senior East Territory King," he mused.


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    "I¡¯ve kind of ¡¯borrowed the tiger¡¯s might¡¯ this time."


    Of course, Ye Chen was also very satisfied with this result. With the young man in the brocade robe scared off and no longer competing with him, that was all for the best.


    As for the stall owner¡¯s offer to give him the tattered cloth for free...


    Ye Chen would certainly not just take it without paying.


    He did not deem it worthwhile to be in debt to the stall owner for a bit over a million Black Divine Coins, let alone tarnish the reputation of the East Territory King.


    "There¡¯s no need to give it for free, just go with the agreed price," Ye Chen said as he directly took out the final bid of one million five hundred thousand Black Divine Coins and handed it over to the stall owner.


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s demeanor, the stall owner certainly dared not refuse or say much else. He kept nodding his head, swept his hand, and gathered the stacks of Black Divine Coins into his storage space: "You are too kind, fellow daoist. This tattered cloth now belongs to you!"


    As he spoke, the stall owner even directly handed over the palm-sized blue tattered cloth to Ye Chen with great respect.


    Having finally gotten his hands on the mysterious tattered cloth, Ye Chen and Xiaojiu exchanged a smile.


    "Ye Chen, when we get back, we¡¯ll study this tattered cloth thoroughly," Xiaojiu communicated to Ye Chen excitedly.


    "If this tattered cloth really is that item, then you¡¯ve made a huge profit!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu continuously praise the marvels of the tattered cloth, Ye Chen grew even more curious about it.


    "Then let¡¯s hurry up and find the items we need, and then head back to the inn to properly study this tattered cloth," he said.


    After securing the tattered cloth, Ye Chen left the stall and continued to look around the other areas.


    It wasn¡¯t until Ye Chen had walked far away that the stall owner finally let out a long sigh of relief.


    He even exclaimed: "This young man is quite extraordinary, indeed someone who has been given a golden talisman by Lord East Territory King, his spending is so generous. At only the Four Tribulations True God level, he could take out one million five hundred thousand Black Divine Coins!"


    The stall owner¡¯s words caused all the True Gods who were still near the stall and hadn¡¯t left to be shocked.


    A person given a golden talisman by Lord East Territory King?!


    These watching martial artists finally understood why the young man in the brocade robe ceased to contend and threaten after seeing the talisman in the hands of the young man, running away in such fear.


    It turned out that the talisman in the young man¡¯s hands was given by Lord East Territory King!


    The East Territory King, indeed.


    Even with a significant background, how could the young man in the brocade robe have a connection bigger than that of the East Territory King?


    As these martial artists looked towards the gradually disappearing figure of Ye Chen, their eyes were filled with astonishment.


    For the following period, Ye Chen continued to stroll through the Trading Treasure Hall which was massive, with an overwhelming number of martial artists setting up stalls.


    Even with just a cursory look, only paying detailed attention when sensing an interesting treasure, it took Ye Chen three full days to thoroughly go through the entire Trading Treasure Hall.


    After that, Ye Chen left the Trading Treasure Hall and returned to his room in the inn.


    As soon as he returned to the room, Ye Chen immediately set up prohibitions, completely sealing off the room. Then, he took out all the treasures he had picked from the Trading Treasure Hall.


    At this moment, both Xiaojiu and the little monkey were extremely excited, staying by Ye Chen¡¯s side, looking at these treasures.


    Among these treasures, besides the three hundred thousand Divine Stones Ye Chen purchased to operate the Ice Seal Puppet, the majority were pills and Spirit Grass that could help increase True Qi and assist in raising his realm.


    With these pills and Spirit Grass, Ye Chen¡¯s time to strive towards the Five Tribulations True God could be much shorter!


    However, these pills and Spirit Grass weren¡¯t cheap, costing Ye Chen nearly two million Black Divine Coins.


    Apart from a large number of pills and Spirit Grass, Ye Chen didn¡¯t care for ordinary treasures. The real treasure he chose to buy was contained within a brocade box.


    When Ye Chen opened the brocade box, inside were nine fist-sized silver beads.


    These nine silver beads were a one-time attack treasure known as "Divine Thunder Pearls."


    The "Divine Thunder Pearls" were made by a powerful Upper God King who collected the Divine Thunders from a Divine Tribulation, and their attack power was extraordinarily remarkable. Once the Divine Thunder Pearls were launched, it was very likely that even the slightly weaker Upper God Kings could be blasted into injury or death.


    Of course, these nine "Divine Thunder Pearls" were also very expensive, costing Ye Chen a full five million Black Divine Coins.


    Yet, having such an ace up his sleeve, Ye Chen would not feel helpless when entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land again against True Gods like the young man in the brocade robe who had taken out a puppet with the combat power of an Upper God King.


    Even if it was not possible to kill them outright, inflicting serious injuries was still doable.


    After all, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t always rely on the life-saving talisman given by the East Territory King to scare others. Once or twice could work, but if he encountered someone unyielding, wasting the life-saving talisman would be a pity.


    Pills and Spirit Grass, Divine Thunder Pearls, and the expenses for buying Divine Stones and the tattered cloth left Ye Chen with little of the ten million Black Divine Coins he obtained from the Ice-Sealed Divine King.


    "Indeed, whether it¡¯s cultivation or adventuring, the expenses are massive!"


    "Without Black Divine Coins, I can¡¯t even think of buying Treasures or using Divine Arrays to teleport. It seems I need to earn more Black Divine Coins when I get the chance."


    Ye Chen sighed to himself.


    Although it pained him, Ye Chen was quite satisfied with the Treasures he bought with his Black Divine Coins.


    Especially the tattered cloth that Xiaojiu kept reminding him about!


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze finally settled on that tattered cloth. He intended to study it thoroughly; this cloth had to have some amazing secrets for Xiaojiu to believe so firmly in its extraordinary value.


    "Xiaojiu, you said this tattered cloth is similar to something very powerful in your memory, what is it? Could it really be, as some have guessed, a fragment of a Divine Venerable¡¯s Divine Robe from some important figure?" Ye Chen asked, holding the palm-sized blue tattered cloth, examining it, and directing his question at Xiaojiu.


    Off to the side, Xiaojiu, too, blinked rapidly and said telepathically, "Xiaojiu, this tattered cloth cost Ye Chen one and a half million Black Divine Coins, so if it¡¯s not precious, he¡¯ll definitely have to give you a beating!"


    "You little fart monkey!" Xiaojiu, riled by the monkey¡¯s comment, pinched its cheeks hard until the monkey begged for mercy and let go.


    Afterward, Xiaojiu stopped clowning around with the monkey and became serious.


    Xiaojiu looked carefully at the cloth, her eyes growing brighter as she looked until she finally said excitedly to Ye Chen, "Those people who guessed this is a fragment of a Divine Venerable¡¯s Divine Robe are underestimating this cloth."


    "If the Divine Venerables knew its origin, I¡¯m afraid many of them would fight over it!"


    "If I¡¯m not mistaken, this might be an ¡¯Extreme Heavenly Object¡¯ that hasn¡¯t been fully cultivated to success!"


    Extreme Heavenly Object?


    Hearing this term from Xiaojiu, Ye Chen was startled.


    He had heard of Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts at the God King Level, Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts at the Divine Venerable Level, and Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts at the Sovereign Level.


    And with the term "Extreme Heavenly," it must be related to the Sovereign Level Treasures.


    Could it be that this tattered cloth had something to do with Sovereign Level Treasures?


    This gave Ye Chen a huge shock!


    If it was related to Sovereign Level Treasures, then its value was too great, how could it have ended up in the hands of that stall owner?


    Besides, if it really was a Polar Heaven Treasure, how could Divine Venerables possibly blast through this cloth? Even an Immortal Divine Venerable would likely be unable to blast through a Polar Sky Level Treasure!


    Ye Chen voiced all his doubts to Xiaojiu.


    The little monkey beside them was scratching its ears and cheeks, immensely curious.


    Xiaojiu smiled at Ye Chen and the little monkey, "As I said before, this cloth is likely an ¡¯Extreme Heavenly Object¡¯ that hasn¡¯t been completely nurtured. Because it isn¡¯t fully nurtured, it hasn¡¯t reached the level of Polar Heaven Treasures, so it can only be considered an embryonic form of an Extreme Heavenly Object. If it were fully nurtured, it would turn into a True Polar Heaven Treasure that even powerful figures in the Sovereign Realm would scramble for."


    "Of course, because it isn¡¯t fully nurtured, someone obtained it, and ordinary people can¡¯t recognize its magical properties; otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t have been put up for sale."


    "Hehe, I have been imbued with countless pieces of knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan; I know a lot. Even as an embryonic form of an Extreme Heavenly Object, others might not recognize it, but I certainly can!"


    "If it really is an embryonic Extreme Heavenly Object, even if it hasn¡¯t reached the true wonders of an Extreme Heavenly Treasure that can restrain Divine Venerable level powerhouses, fully unleashing its Divine Might would certainly provide you, Ye Chen, with an exceptionally powerful method! At least restraining many God King Level powerhouses shouldn¡¯t be a problem."


    "In the future, further nurturing it into a true Extreme Heavenly Treasure could also allow you to truly possess an Extreme Heavenly Object!"


    Ye Chen was deeply moved by Xiaojiu¡¯s words.


    "Then let¡¯s quickly test whether this is the embryonic form of that Extreme Heavenly Object," Ye Chen, looking at the cloth, "The stall owner and that brocaded youth both tried and couldn¡¯t pierce this cloth with God King Level Combat Power, how should we research it?"


    Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu winked at Ye Chen and smiled gently, "As an embryonic form of an Extreme Heavenly Object, which hasn¡¯t been properly nurtured, others who get their hands on it can¡¯t fathom its secrets. Using Physical Combat Power, True Qi Combat Power, or even Divine Soul Combat Power will be utterly useless against this object. But Ye Chen, you are extraordinary!"


    "Your Stellar Power is an exceptionally powerful force. Others may not see it, but having been filled with countless pieces of knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan, I know this power is no ordinary thing! I suspect that your Stellar Power can definitely break this cloth, revealing its true mystery!"


    Stellar Power?


    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen was moved.


    Indeed, his Stellar Power was something that other martial artists did not possess.


    This was the power contained within the Stellar Divine Diagram of the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture left behind by the Zi Ji Star Lord!


    Ye Chen had already witnessed the countless wonders of this Stellar Power, which could even merge with Divine Soul Power to drive the Divine Soul Heaven-reaching Art "Nine Swords of Annihilation"!


    He hadn¡¯t expected that now even this embryonic Extreme Heavenly Object could be opened up.


    "Let¡¯s give it a try then!"


    Ye Chen extended his finger, and vast Stellar Power began to condense at the tip.


    Then, Ye Chen gently swiped his finger across the cloth.


    Something astonishing happened.


    This cloth, which even Upper God King level black puppets had been unable to pierce, split open directly under the gentle touch of Ye Chen¡¯s finger, which was condensed with Stellar Power!

 Chapter 680 - 632: Star Blue Divine Garment and Gathering

    What shocked Ye Chen even more was that, when he applied the Stellar Power to tear open this ragged cloth, he saw dazzling Divine Patterns shining through the torn fabric.


    Lines etched in patterns, as if they contained great secrets.


    They were somewhat similar to some of the formations in the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" that Ye Chen had contemplated, but were countless times more mysterious and extraordinary than the formations in the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array"!


    When Xiaojiu saw the shimmering Divine Patterns in the torn cloth, he quickly said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, remember these patterns!"


    "It¡¯s not just these patterns. If you continue to tear open the cloth, more will be revealed until all the patterns are fully displayed!"


    "It¡¯s these complete patterns that are the truly precious part of the Extreme Heavenly Object. Once you fully comprehend these patterns, you will be able to truly harness the nascent form of this Extreme Heavenly Object!"


    "Even a Divine Venerable who could tear open this cloth wouldn¡¯t be able to make the Divine Patterns of the Extreme Heavenly Object appear. Your Stellar Power is indeed very useful!"


    As Xiaojiu spoke, Ye Chen also discovered that after he tore open the cloth and revealed the glittering and extraordinary patterns, it slowly healed over time, returning to its original state.


    When Ye Chen used his Stellar Power to tear at the cloth again, and after the cloth split open, new brilliant Divine Patterns appeared within the gap.


    These Divine Patterns were completely different from the previous ones!


    Just as Xiaojiu said, still more of these mysterious patterns could be revealed, clearly indicating that there were many more.


    "Xiaojiu, you know too much!" praised Ye Chen, and with a flip of his hand, a jade plaque appeared in his palm.


    Then, using his Divine Sense, Ye Chen engraved all of the patterns he saw onto the jade plaque.


    After that, Ye Chen continued to tear open the cloth, watching for new Divine Patterns.


    Time and again he tore it open; the radiant patterns appeared and then merged back together. This process lasted a full ten days!


    Ye Chen tore open the entire piece of cloth more than a million times until he saw the Divine Patterns hidden within repeat three times. Only after he had truly engraved all of the Divine Patterns did he finally stop collecting them from the cloth.


    Because by then, he had completely memorized all the Divine Patterns of the nascent form of the Extreme Heavenly Object!


    Recording the Divine Patterns was only the first step.


    Next, what was more important was to dissect these Divine Patterns and truly comprehend them to really harness this nascent form of the Extreme Heavenly Object.


    Thus, the following period was spent by Ye Chen delving into the true understanding of the countless Divine Patterns.


    Time passed.


    Ye Chen sat motionless in the room.


    Xiaojiu and the little monkey were also quietly guarding beside Ye Chen.


    Three days before the opening of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Ye Chen, who had been sitting for a long time without moving, suddenly opened his eyes.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Seeing Ye Chen open his eyes, Xiaojiu and the little monkey were excitedly by his side, "Have you comprehended the Divine Patterns?"


    Both Xiaojiu and the little monkey asked Ye Chen with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded at Xiaojiu and the little monkey.


    "Ye Chen, you are amazing!" Xiaojiu¡¯s cheeks flushed with excitement, "It¡¯s very difficult to grasp the essence of the nascent form of the Extreme Heavenly Object, and you¡¯ve done it so quickly!"


    The little monkey also excitedly waved its little fists.


    Ye Chen smiled gently at Xiaojiu and the little monkey¡¯s excitement, "The formations in the ¡¯Nine Volumes of Formation Array¡¯ that I¡¯ve understood have helped me comprehend the Divine Patterns in the nascent form of the Extreme Heavenly Object."


    "These Divine Patterns actually describe how to use the material of this nascent form of the Extreme Heavenly Object to truly construct a Polar Heaven Treasure."


    "Of course, this understanding is just my speculation; it needs to be tested to be sure."


    As he spoke, Ye Chen stood up.


    "Try it, try it right now!" Xiaojiu and the little monkey stood nervously beside Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked directly at the ragged cloth in front of him, then reached out and grabbed it.


    This time, the ragged cloth, which couldn¡¯t be taken by Divine Sense, was directly captured by Ye Chen¡¯s telekinetic grip!


    Seeing this scene, Xiaojiu and the little monkey exchanged glances, their eyes flashing with excitement.


    After Ye Chen telekinetically captured the cloth, he hesitated no longer, and began to pinch out one after another mysterious spell.


    These spells were strikingly in harmony with the mysterious Divine Patterns that Ye Chen had observed within the cloth, clearly, they were the spells to manipulate the nascent form of the Extreme Heavenly Object!


    And as Ye Chen¡¯s hand moved with the spells, the palm-sized piece of blue cloth began changing from stillness to constant transformation.


    The blue cloth swelled and shrank, then spun rapidly at times. Your next journey awaits at novelhall.Co?m


    Finally, with a "boom," a sound of explosion, the palm-sized blue cloth turned into a sky full of dazzlingly intense blue light!


    Upon seeing this blue light, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes brightened even more.


    He sped up the movement of the spells in his hands.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Under the manipulation of Ye Chen¡¯s spells, the blue rag turned into a sky full of splendid, extreme blue light, which began to converge at an incredible speed.


    Finally, it formed an extraordinarily divine robe radiating dazzling blue light to the extreme!


    This divine robe was exceptionally light and seemingly invisible, but the dazzling blue light it emitted was like the starry cosmos itself, with vast blue universes contained within and countless stars sprinkled throughout.


    What a divine robe!


    With a gentle beckoning of his palm, the blue divine robe flew directly onto Ye Chen¡¯s body and disappeared within his clothes.


    Ye Chen also felt a faint defensive force enveloping his entire body.


    "Those secrets hidden within the Divine Patterns were indeed correct, this embryonic Extreme Heavenly Object is actually a natural material for constructing a divine robe!"


    "This divine robe, if truly nurtured into a Polar Heaven Treasure, will become a Polar Sky Divine Garment!"


    "Although it is still an embryo now, and the divine robe birthed from it has not reached the Polar Sky Level, the innate defensive power of this Extreme Heavenly Object embryonic material allows me to handle attacks below Divine Venerable battle power."


    "What¡¯s more special is that, once this divine robe is truly nurtured successfully and I claim ownership, it can completely block Divine Sense detection; even powerful Divine Venerables will not be able to detect this divine robe on me! Probably only existence at the Venerable Master level could detect it, but once I claim it, I can instantly retract it if someone probes, providing an additional defense against detection!"


    "With this divine robe, I have gained another trump card for my adventures in the Nine Suns Ancient Land!"


    "Even this divine robe might help me withstand heavenly tribulation and exert significant effort in the future!"


    Ye Chen, sensing the magic of the divine robe, tried out its various extraordinary effects and nodded in satisfaction.


    "However, to fully nurture this divine robe into a Polar Heaven Treasure, according to those secrets of the Divine Patterns, I still need to collect quite a few items, to refine into the robe, allowing it to evolve continuously."


    "Those items are not easy to find..."


    At the same time, Ye Chen began to ponder over the subsequent nurturing of this divine robe.


    "I previously obtained a ¡¯Purple Mist True Garment,¡¯ but as my strength has improved, the True God level Purple Mist True Garment has become of little use. This even more powerful divine robe shall be called the ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment!¡¯"


    In the end, Ye Chen named the divine robe.


    Xiaojiu and the little monkey who had been observing Ye Chen the entire time were completely stunned.


    The little monkey had never expected that a rag could transform into countless splendid blue lights, and then finally, all disappear.


    It wasn¡¯t until Ye Chen revealed it again that it realized these blue lights had turned into a divine robe!


    Even Xiaojiu, though imbued with abundant knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan and understanding much, had never seen the true form of an Extreme Heavenly Object embryonic form with her own eyes.


    She couldn¡¯t help but touch the divine robe that Ye Chen showed her, marvelling repeatedly.


    "Star Blue Divine Garment, that¡¯s really a good name!" Xiaojiu said with a smile.


    In the following time, Ye Chen continued to stay in the inn, getting used to the newly acquired "Star Blue Divine Garment," while also getting familiar with other techniques for his upcoming entrance into the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    It was not until the second to last day before the opening of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, when the meeting time with City Lord Nie, Lin Xiaowan, Zhao Luo, and others was due, that Ye Chen finally left the inn.


    ...


    On the west side of the Blazing Sun Divine City, atop the third floor of a building known as Danfeng Tower.


    City Lord Nie, Lin Xiaowan, and others were waiting on this floor. Besides Zhao Luo, there were seven other True God men and women.


    These seven True God men and women were related to City Lord Nie as family or descendants. However, their strengths were not particularly high; the strongest was only an Eighth Tribulation True God while the weakest even included a Fourth Tribulation True God girl.


    This time, with the Blazing Sun Divine City having won ten slots to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they had a chance to venture there.


    At that moment, these seven True God men and women, looking at the bustling Blazing Sun Divine City, were also extremely excited.


    "We can enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land tomorrow; the number of warriors pouring into Blazing Sun Divine City is simply uncountable now!"


    "I heard that the First Goddess, Long Li, from the Supreme Divine Institute will also come to the Nine Suns Ancient Land tomorrow; we will be able to see Goddess Long Li!"


    The excited expressions of these seven True God men and women caused City Lord Nie and Lin Xiaowan to smile gently.


    However, Lin Xiaowan¡¯s gaze was constantly searching around, obviously waiting for someone.


    When Lin Xiaowan had swept her gaze around for what seemed the hundredth time, she suddenly stood up, looking excitedly towards the east: "Ye Chen is here!"


    "Ye Chen? Is that the miraculous young man who helped you, Sister Wan, secure our places for the Nine Suns Ancient Land?" the seven descendants of City Lord Nie also hurriedly stood up to look in the eastern direction.


    At that moment, they directly saw a young man with flowing black hair and exceptionally bright eyes, smiling and nodding at them as he flew over.


    This young man, of course, was Ye Chen, who had left the inn to meet with City Lord Nie and the others.


    Ye Chen immediately landed on the third floor of Danfeng Tower, and smilingly said to City Lord Nie, Lin Xiaowan, and Zhao Luo, "City Lord Nie, Lin Xiaowan, Zhao Luo, we meet again!"

 Chapter 681 - 633: The Prodigies of the Divine Kingdom

    After a month¡¯s time, seeing Ye Chen again, Lin Xiaowan felt differently. She could sense that Ye Chen now seemed much stronger than he had been a month ago!


    "Ye Chen, it¡¯s only been a month since we last met, how come I feel like your combat power has increased by a lot?!" Lin Xiaowan exclaimed in astonishment.


    It wasn¡¯t just Lin Xiaowan; City Lord Nie, who felt the faint pressure emanating from Ye Chen, also couldn¡¯t believe it and said, "Yes, a month ago, Ye Chen, the feeling you gave me was just that of peril. Now, however, I feel like I¡¯m completely no match for you!"


    The words of Lin Xiaowan and City Lord Nie were somewhat acceptable to Zhao Luo, who had witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s strength, but the seven junior relatives of City Lord Nie all showed a change in their expressions.


    Especially the Four Tribulations True God young girl, who simply couldn¡¯t believe it and cried out, "Stronger than great-uncle, but great-uncle, you are a Lower God King!"


    These seven successors only knew that Ye Chen had helped them obtain the spot to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land but were unaware of the true situation of the battle in Divine City.


    Hearing that Ye Chen, with the realm of a Four Tribulations True God, had made City Lord Nie, a Lower God King, submit, they naturally couldn¡¯t believe it.


    Seeing Lin Xiaowan and City Lord Nie exclaiming in astonishment, alongside the incredulous expressions of those True Gods, Ye Chen smiled and said, "Lin Xiaowan, City Lord Nie, you¡¯re too kind. I¡¯ve merely obtained an artifact and just now, I wanted to try out the power of this artifact, so I let some of its aura seep out."


    In this one month¡¯s time, Ye Chen¡¯s strength indeed had some improvements, especially after purchasing many pills and spiritual herbs at the trade fair in Blazing Sun Divine City, which, after consumption, greatly advanced his combat power cultivation.


    However, what truly raised Ye Chen¡¯s trump card was the recently successfully refined "Star Blue Divine Garment."


    When Ye Chen flew towards Lin Xiaowan and City Lord Nie, even Lin Xiaowan and City Lord Nie were unable to detect the power of the "Star Blue Divine Garment." It was only because Ye Chen wanted to try out the true effect of the "Star Blue Divine Garment" that he showed a very small part of its power, which made Lin Xiaowan and City Lord Nie realize it.


    Through the words of Lin Xiaowan and City Lord Nie, Ye Chen had a better grasp of the "Star Blue Divine Garment¡¯s" concealing effect and its divine power.


    "An artifact? Well, this artifact must be quite extraordinary!" Lin Xiaowan¡¯s beautiful eyes looked towards Ye Chen.


    She could sense the aura of the artifact that Ye Chen revealed, but when she tried to probe it, she absolutely couldn¡¯t find out what the artifact was.


    What Lin Xiaowan didn¡¯t know was that, let alone her, even many strong Divine Venerables wouldn¡¯t be able to detect Ye Chen¡¯s "Star Blue Divine Garment." In fact, if Ye Chen hadn¡¯t activated the garment¡¯s defensive power, her probing alone might have been met with a backlash attack from the garment!


    Ye Chen, however, didn¡¯t continue to discuss the matter of the artifact. He looked towards the seven people behind City Lord Nie: "Are these seven the ones who will be entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land with us?"


    "Yes, they are." City Lord Nie hurriedly explained the identities of the seven to Ye Chen, "These seven are all my juniors. It was quite difficult to get a chance to go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, so I decided to let them go out and get some experience."


    "This is my grandniece, called ¡¯Nie Ningnin.¡¯" City Lord Nie pointed to the Four Tribulations True God young girl and said.


    At the same time, City Lord Nie smiled at the Four Tribulations True God young girl and said, "Ningnin, although you and Ye Chen are of the same realm, Ye Chen is a peerless genius of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s caliber, and you are just an ordinary Four Tribulations True God from the Small Divine Cities of the Southern Territory. The gap between you and him is not a small one!"


    Hearing her great-uncle mention Ye Chen¡¯s formidability again, when Nie Ningnin looked at Ye Chen, her gaze had completely changed, as if looking at an elder.


    "This is my grandnephew, Eight Tribulations True God Nie... This one is Nie Ying..." City Lord Nie introduced the other True Gods one by one.


    Finally, City Lord Nie also said to Ye Chen, "Even though when we enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, everyone will be separated at random according to the situation in previous years, if you, Ye Chen, encounter my juniors in the ancient land, I hope you will take good care of them."


    "Certainly," Ye Chen agreed with a smile.


    No wonder City Lord Nie was concerned; his several juniors were just ordinary warriors from the Small Divine Cities of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, and it was only with the help of Ye Chen and Lin Xiaowan that they obtained the opportunity to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Among the countless True Gods who would enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they likely belonged to the batch at the very bottom, and indeed needed to be extremely cautious in their adventures there.


    After getting to know each other, Ye Chen took a seat and chatted about various matters with Lin Xiaowan, City Lord Nie, Zhao Luo, and others. After a while, Ye Chen said goodbye to them and returned to the inn.


    After a night had passed, the day when the Nine Suns Ancient Land was officially set to open finally arrived.


    Early in the morning, Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, City Lord Nie, and the others gathered together once again.


    When City Lord Nie came to Blazing Sun Divine City, he had handed over his residence location and the proof of victory given to him by Lanling God King, the organizer of the battle of Divine City, to the manager of the King¡¯s Mansion in the Southern Territory of Blazing Sun Divine City.


    As the day the Nine Suns Ancient Land was officially set to open arrived, early in the morning, the King¡¯s Mansion of the Southern Territory dispatched an Earth Divine Venerable to distribute the tokens for entry into the Nine Suns Ancient Land, giving them into their hands.


    After Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and City Lord Nie had gathered together, City Lord Nie also handed over the entry tokens to the ten of them.


    Clutching the small token, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes were sparkling, "Today, the Nine Suns Ancient Land is about to open. I really want to see what¡¯s so special about this Nine Suns Ancient Land!"


    It wasn¡¯t just Ye Chen; Lin Xiaowan¡¯s heart was also somewhat excited, "Nine Suns Ancient Land has attracted countless people this time, especially Sister Long Li. She has come here as well. I really wonder, how does this mere Nine Suns Ancient Land, left by the Heavenly Divine Venerable, manage to attract even Sister Long Li!"


    The remaining few, Zhao Luo, Nie Ningnin, City Lord Nie, and a few other ordinary True Gods, had managed to secure the highly coveted slots to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, were, needless to say, even more excited and nervous.


    "Alright, let¡¯s go, let¡¯s hurry to the gathering place. Once there, we can enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land when the time comes." Finally, City Lord Nie raised his hand and called out, "Now, I fear that many people have already gathered there. I wonder if any of the formidable individuals mentioned in the rumors have arrived."


    ...


    Standing at the easternmost edge of the Blazing Sun Divine City, one could see the immense outline of a part of the Star Continent far off in the distance, just a bit further east.


    That enormous part of the Star Continent was none other than the Nine Suns Ancient Land, left behind by a Heavenly Divine Venerable¡ªthe Nine Suns Venerable!


    The whole Nine Suns Ancient Land had been completely sealed off, and this day was the day it opened, an event that only occurred once every thousand years!


    At this moment, in the void above the easternmost edge of the Blazing Sun Divine City, where adventurers gathered for the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the space was already densely filled with warriors.


    By the time Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and their group arrived, there were no fewer than a million warriors in sight, and the number was still growing!


    Among these people were the True Gods about to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land as well as the formidable warriors who had brought these True Gods here. Ye Chen could sense countless God King Realm warriors, and even some Earth Divine Venerables and Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    Normally, the Nine Suns Ancient Land wouldn¡¯t attract the descendants of the Heavenly Divine Venerables, but this time, due to Long Li¡¯s involvement, the caliber of attendees had increased significantly.


    Powerful auras surged through the Void Heaven.


    The Earth Divine Venerable was one thing, but where the Heavenly Divine Venerable stood, others didn¡¯t dare to approach, save for their descendants who were about to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land and could stay near them.


    When they saw the gazes of many True Gods from the Great Divine City and the Small Divine Cities of the Southern Territory below them, the descendants of these Heavenly Divine Venerables couldn¡¯t help but hold their heads high in pride.


    They reveled in the feeling of being the center of attention!


    At Ye Chen¡¯s side, Lin Xiaowan was smiling as she whispered to him, "Those Heavenly Divine Venerables are nothing special. Ye Chen, in a while, you might even see Divine Venerable Realm powerhouses!"


    Divine Venerable Realm powerhouses?!


    Ye Chen was shocked, "Could it be that the elders of those God Kings who are going to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land will personally escort them here?"


    Ye Chen could only guess that the Divine Venerable Realm powerhouses he expected were due to the legendary God Kings with significant backgrounds who were about to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Lin Xiaowan smiled and nodded, "You¡¯ll see in a while." Read latest stories on novelhall.Co?m


    Lin Xiaowan hailed from an immortal Divine Venerable family and had trained at the Supreme God Institute, so it was clear that she was well-informed.


    The Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom in the Southern Territory governed countless Star Continents, and each Great Divine City assigned just ten slots for entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land numbered in the tens of thousands.


    As for the Small Divine Cities, they were innumerable. Even if only eighteen Small Divine Cities compete for ten slots for entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the Southern Territory would still allocate millions of slots for the Nine Suns Ancient Land among them.


    It was only because the Nine Suns Ancient Land occupied a vast part of the Star Continent that it could accommodate so many people to venture within.


    In lesser realms¡¯ adventure sites, the notion of millions of people entering to explore was simply unimaginable.


    When Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan, and their group had waited at the gathering place for the time it takes to drink three cups of tea, and the number of warriors pouring in had even reached over ten million, the influx of people finally began to slow.


    As the time to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land drew closer, it was clear that most of those who were coming had almost arrived.


    Just as many were inquiring whether the ten God Kings who were to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land had yet to arrive, suddenly, roaring laughter and conversation echoed through Void Heaven.


    "Brother Mu Shan, I didn¡¯t expect you to personally escort the little princess and the third young master to the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time!"


    Amidst the laughter, the entire southern side of the Void Heaven was torn open, and an old man in yellow, accompanied by two youths, appeared in the void.


    Without looking at the countless warriors below, the old man in yellow focused his gaze on another part of the void.


    Following his words, another part of the void was completely ripped apart, and an old man with white eyebrows and beard, escorting a young girl and a young man, came into view.


    The white-bearded old man laughed back at the man in yellow, "Brother Zhao Kuo, long time no see. With your Four Tribulations Divine Venerable Realm status, coming here surely involves more than just chaperoning these two youths!"

 Chapter 682 - 634

    "Brother Mu Shan is also a Four-Star Sovereign, isn¡¯t he here now?"


    The yellow-robed elder let out a hearty laugh, "Old brother should know, there are really quite a few descendants of significant figures who will come to the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time, and I fear that many Sovereigns will come here as well. The Southern Territory King himself has ordered me to come here to receive them; I have a heavy duty on my shoulders."


    The white-browed elder nodded, "I didn¡¯t expect that this small place established by a lesser known Heavenly Divine Venerable would attract those youngsters to come here. If it wasn¡¯t for the order from ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ that no one should interfere with the young ones¡¯ adventure, I would have been keen to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land to thoroughly investigate what is so mystical about this realm."


    As he spoke the name "Sovereign Xuechen," a look of utmost respect appeared on the face of the elder with white eyebrows and beard.


    "The affairs of the younger generation should be left for them to venture on their own." The yellow-robed elder waved his hand, "That ¡¯Long Li¡¯ is the favored disciple of ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen,¡¯ who even personally went to the Southern Territory King Mansion to ask for a Divine King spot in this ancient land for her. We wouldn¡¯t dare interfere in the affairs of this elder."


    As the two Sovereign Realm beings conversed in the high void, more than ten million martial artists below were utterly silent!


    Sovereign Realm powerhouses!


    In the entire Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain, they were top-tier figures. Who would dare to speak out or interject while such individuals conversed in the void?!


    Even the earlier arriving Heavenly Divine Venerables had lost their proud composure and bowed respectfully toward the two Sovereign Realm beings in the sky.


    Not to mention the others, many True Gods were so frightened that they tightened their breathing, fearing even the slightest sound that might displease the two mighty figures above.


    Among the crowd, Lin Xiaowan quietly transmitted a message to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, that yellow-robed elder is a powerful figure under the Southern Territory King of the Divine Kingdom, known as ¡¯Zhao Kuo.¡¯ He is a Four-Star Sovereign. The two youths beside him are the upper Divine Kings from the Southern Territory King Mansion who are to participate in the Nine Suns Ancient Land adventure, one named Hong Ming, the other Hong Yi."


    "And that white-browed elder, Mu Shan, is from another mansion of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Southern Territory, ¡¯Mu King Mansion.¡¯ He is a powerhouse who served under the previous Southern Territory King and is also a Four-Star Sovereign. The old Southern Territory King from ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯ is the current king¡¯s teacher, so ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯ also receives a great deal of attention from the Southern Territory King."


    "This time ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯ also has two Divine Kings who will go to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the young girl and young man beside Mu Shan. The girl, named ¡¯Mu Ling,¡¯ is the legitimate bloodline successor of Mu King Mansion and the young princess of the younger generation. She is a lower Divine King. The young man, named ¡¯Mu Xiao,¡¯ ranks third among the young generation of Mu King Mansion and is referred to as the ¡¯Third Young Master,¡¯ also a lower Divine King."


    "Don¡¯t look down on them just because they are lower Divine Kings. The descendants from such powerful Sovereign Realm forces are much stronger than many upper Divine Kings!"


    Hearing Lin Xiaowan¡¯s words caused Ye Chen¡¯s gaze to shift directly to the white-browed elder Mu Shan, the girl ¡¯Mu Ling,¡¯ and the boy ¡¯Mu Xiao.¡¯


    ¡¯Mu Ling¡¯ had a petite and sweet appearance, while ¡¯Mu Xiao¡¯ appeared to be an honest and straightforward young man.


    At this moment, the two of them were observing the conversation between the two Sovereign Realm beings by their side, seemingly unaware of the many scrutinizing gazes from below, and they did not notice Ye Chen.


    "This girl and boy are relatives of the Old Southern Territory King, Elder Ku Du?!"


    Ye Chen had not expected to encounter the descendants of Elder Ku Du so soon.


    "Elder Ku Du previously entrusted me to deliver his Inheritance Law Bead to the younger generation of Mu King Mansion, but he instructed me to give it to the one who performs the best in the assessment at the nine Supreme Divine Institutes. I¡¯m afraid even Elder Ku Du did not expect that I would meet someone from Mu King Mansion before the assessment at the Supreme Divine Institutes had even begun."


    "There¡¯s no hurry to make their acquaintance now; I¡¯ll wait until the assessment of the Supreme Divine Institutes to hand over the bead to the descendant of Mu King Mansion."


    Ye Chen would not casually alter Elder Ku Du¡¯s instructions.


    As Ye Chen was contemplating the Inheritance Law Bead, Lin Xiaowan thought he was still in awe of the two Sovereign Realm beings in the sky.


    However, Lin Xiaowan could never have guessed that Ye Chen had a significant connection with Mu King Mansion.


    Even the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯ he practiced were imparted by the old Southern Territory King of Mu King Mansion!


    "By the way, who exactly is this ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ that the two Sovereign Realm beings mentioned earlier? Why do these two Four-Star Sovereigns appear so apprehensive at the mention of ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯?" After pondering for a moment, Ye Chen inquired further with Lin Xiaowan via transmission.


    Since the two Sovereign Realm beings above had mentioned Long Li as the beloved disciple of "Sovereign Xuechen," Ye Chen surmised that Sovereign Xuechen must be a significant figure in the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry about "Sovereign Xuechen," Lin Xiaowan¡¯s transmitted reply also revealed profound admiration, "¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ is the strongest figure in our Supreme Divine Institute, a legendary Nine-Star Sovereign! Moreover, it is rumored that she has the potential to break through beyond the Sovereign Realm!"


    "Such a figure has a status in the Divine Kingdom that is almost on par with the Lord of the Divine Kingdom. Even Mu Shan and Zhao Kuo, two Four-Star Sovereigns, would absolutely not dare to provoke our Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯!"


    Nine-Star Sovereign!


    A jolt went through Ye Chen¡¯s heart.


    "Doesn¡¯t that mean that Elder Ku Du and Mrs. He are on the same level?"


    "Even more powerful than the East Territory King?!"


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that "Long Li," the top goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, was actually the beloved disciple of such a significant figure. No wonder countless people were so infatuated with Long Li.


    As if guessing what Ye Chen was thinking, Lin Xiaowan quietly transmitted her voice to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, don¡¯t think that sister Long Li is so highly regarded just because of Sovereign Xuechen."


    "Not to mention that sister Long Li is touted as the number one talent in the entire Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain, even her identity is absolutely terrifying. It¡¯s said that it has a lot to do with the most mysterious Northern Territory of the Divine Kingdom. Even ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ruler of Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom wouldn¡¯t dare to easily provoke the Northern Territory of the Divine Kingdom!"


    The Northern Territory of the Divine Kingdom?


    When Lin Xiaowan mentioned this place, Ye Chen immediately thought of some words spoken by the three Sovereigns, the East Territory King, Elder Ku Du, and Mrs. He, when they explored the mysterious ice cave.


    At that time, the East Territory King had said that the Northern Territory King of the Divine Kingdom had once entered that kind of mysterious ice cave. Even the ruler of Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom said that he did not dare to be an enemy of the Northern Territory King. Later, the Northern Territory King handed over her position to her sister and disappeared from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom. Find your adventure at novelhall.Co?m


    The East Territory King also said that the Northern Territory King might have encountered something that even Sovereigns would find significant. Ye Chen guessed that it might involve matters beyond the Sovereign Realm that the mysterious ice cave touched upon.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that "Long Li" was actually so closely related to the Northern Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    As Ye Chen was struck by this revelation, two four-star Sovereigns conversing in the void, Zhao Kuo and Mu Shan, suddenly stopped their conversation and turned their attention to a direction in the void.


    "Another big shot has arrived! I wonder which young Divine King they have brought this time." Lin Xiaowan¡¯s eyes also moved.


    Following the gaze of the two four-star Sovereigns towards the east of the void, Ye Chen saw a colossal dragon boat suddenly emerge from the void.


    There were only two people on the dragon boat, one a middle-aged man dressed in flowing robes embroidered with a pattern of a soaring dragon, the other a young man holding a dark green flute.


    "Elder He from Divine Dragon Mountain is here too?" Seeing the middle-aged man in robes with the soaring dragon pattern, the two four-star Sovereigns, Mu Shan and Zhao Kuo, smiled and approached him in welcome, "This must be the talented grand-disciple of Patriarch Qin!"


    Lin Xiaowan quietly began to explain the identity of the newcomers to Ye Chen, "Divine Dragon Mountain is also a great power in the Divine Kingdom, on par with the nine divine institutes, located within the territory of the East Territory. That young man, who also cultivates at our Supreme Divine Institute, is named ¡¯Qin Feng,¡¯ a direct descendant of the eight-star Sovereign Patriarch Qin Yuntian of Divine Dragon Mountain."


    Divine Dragon Mountain, the East Territory of the Divine Kingdom, the eight-star Sovereign Qin Yuntian?


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but smile wryly at that moment.


    It seemed that because of Long Li, indeed many mighty forces and young martial artists of the Divine Kingdom had been stirred.


    "I just don¡¯t know whether Divine Dragon Mountain located in the East Territory has any connection with the East Territory King?" Thinking this, Ye Chen directly inquired through telepathy with Xiaojiu, who was inside the ice jade pendant.


    Lin Xiaowan was well-informed, but concerning the East Territory King, it wasn¡¯t appropriate for Ye Chen to ask Lin Xiaowan, so he inquired with Xiaojiu, who also knew many secrets.


    Xiaojiu, even more of a know-it-all, explained to Ye Chen upon hearing his question, "That ¡¯Divine Dragon Mountain,¡¯ along with ¡¯Danxia Valley,¡¯ ¡¯Tai Yun Heaven,¡¯ and ¡¯Divine Miao Peak,¡¯ respectively occupy one of the four great territories of the Divine Kingdom. Divine Dragon Mountain is located in the East Territory, Danxia Valley in the Northern Territory, Tai Yun Heaven in the Western Territory, and Divine Miao Peak in the Southern Territory."


    "These four major forces were established by the express order of the ruler of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom and serve as a power base arranged in the four territories by the ruler of the Divine Kingdom."


    "The relationships between these four forces and the four king mansions of the Divine Kingdom vary. It is said that Divine Dragon Mountain doesn¡¯t get along well with the East Territory King Mansion, while Danxia Valley has somewhat broken free from the control of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom¡¯s ruler and now follows the orders of the Northern Territory King."


    "Then, Tai Yun Heaven has an exceptionally close relationship with the Western Territory; as for Divine Miao Peak, it remains aloof from worldly affairs, doesn¡¯t concern itself with the Southern Territory¡¯s matters, and hardly heeds the Divine Kingdom¡¯s ruler¡¯s commands, being an aloof power."


    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen nodded his head.


    Divine Miao Peak, indeed, the old Southern Territory King had mentioned it, Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected that the founding of Divine Miao Peak was actually related to the Divine Kingdom¡¯s ruler.


    Yet it seemed understandable; although the four kings of the Divine Kingdom managed the four respective territories, the ruler would certainly not let them be autonomous and would arrange forces to oversee them.


    Of course, as these forces became rooted in the four great territories of the Divine Kingdom, the situation would definitely keep changing.


    Some relationships would become confrontational, some intimate, and some distant, all of which were understandable.


    Hearing that the newly arrived "Divine Dragon Mountain" did not get along well with the East Territory King Mansion, Ye Chen became even more aware of Divine Dragon Mountain.

 Chapter 683 - 635 First Encounter with Long Li

    After the forces of Divine Dragon Mountain arrived, it was only a dozen or so breaths of time before several Sovereigns in the Sky Void could exchange a few words when two more groups of people successively arrived out of thin air.


    These two groups of people were precisely the ones mentioned by Xiao Jiu earlier, people from the "Danxia Valley" of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Northern Region and people from the "Tai Yun Heaven" of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Western Region.


    The visitors from "Danxia Valley" directly appeared in the void atop a snow-white flying lotus, upon which sat one older and two younger women.


    The woman in white leading the group was known as the "Dong Mei Sovereign," a four-star Sovereign Realm existence.


    Beside her, the two young women, who closely resembled each other, were both carrying snow-white divine swords on their backs.


    Through Lin Xiaowan¡¯s introduction, Ye Chen learned that these two were sisters practicing at the "Tai Qing Divine Institute" situated in the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Northern Region; one was named Zhu Qianqian, and the other was named Zhu Qingqing.


    This pair of sisters both were at the level of Upper God Kings, and were among the ten God Kings who were set to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    The visitors from "Tai Yun Heaven," a major power said to have an incredibly intimate relationship with the Western Region King Mansion, consisted of a middle-aged man and two youths.


    The aura exuded by these three upon arrival was equally astonishing as all three of them rode upon a gigantic eagle spanning a thousand zhang, tearing through the void in an instant to descend upon this domain.


    The middle-aged man leading the group, dressed in black, was a four-star Sovereign Realm like the Dong Mei Sovereign from Danxia Valley and Elder He from Divine Dragon Mountain, known as the "Fei Yuan Sovereign."


    Lin Xiaowan took special care to introduce the two youths beside him to Ye Chen.


    One was named Yang Yun, and the other was named Yang Yan, both of whom, like Qin Feng from Divine Dragon Mountain, were training at the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Lin Xiaowan further mentioned that Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng were ranked as the second, fourth, and fifth strongest contenders on the "Divine King Ranking," co-established by the nine great Divine Institutes.


    All three were unquestionable admirers of Long Li.


    They had come here specifically because Long Li was heading to the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    In particular, the tall and slender Yang Yun, dressed in a flowing white robe with a handsome and elegant demeanor, was said by Lin Xiaowan to be incomparably powerful; he was an Upper God King who had even defeated Upper Realm Divine Sovereigns!


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    Yang Yun was also acclaimed by countless disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute as the only prodigy worthy of the Supreme Divine Maiden, Long Li, and was the most significant admirer among her numerous admirers.


    Ye Chen noticed that when Qin Feng and Yang Yan arrived, many of the young female martial artists remained rather unmoved, but as soon as Yang Yun made his appearance, they visibly became extremely excited.


    Clearly, Yang Yun was also an exceptionally notable figure within the nine great Divine Institutes!


    With the arrival of people from the Southern Territory King Mansion, Mu King Mansion, and the three major forces, there were suddenly five Sovereign-tier individuals in the area!


    As if by prior arrangement, these five Sovereigns¡ªZhao Kuo of the Southern Territory King Mansion, Mu Shan of the Mu King Mansion, Elder He of Divine Dragon Mountain, Dong Mei Sovereign of Danxia Valley, and Fei Yuan Sovereign of Tai Yun Heaven¡ªturned out to all be four-star Sovereigns.


    The nine God King Realm martial artists destined to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land had also all assembled.


    There were two Upper God Kings, Hong Ming and Hong Yi, from the Southern Territory King Mansion; the young princess Mu Ling and the third young master Mu Xiao from the Mu King Mansion; Qin Feng from Divine Dragon Mountain; Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, the pair of sisters from Danxia Valley; and from Tai Yun Heaven, Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Among these nine great God Kings, besides Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, all were Upper God King Realm powerhouses, and among the Upper God Kings, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng were particularly notorious.


    At that moment, the only one who had not yet arrived was the most attention-grabbing Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s Divine Maiden, Long Li.


    People didn¡¯t have to wait long, however.


    Just a dozen or so breaths after the arrival of the factions from Danxia Valley and Tai Yun Heaven, the high Sky Void was suddenly torn open, and two women walked side by side out of it.


    Unlike the visitors from Divine Dragon Mountain who rode a dragon boat, or those from Danxia Valley who arrived on a flying lotus, or even Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Fei Yuan Sovereign from Tai Yun Heaven, who made a grand entrance riding a thousand zhang giant eagle amidst its resounding cries that stirred the entire void, these two women simply walked out of the void, very calmly.


    However, these two women immediately captured everyone¡¯s attention, causing the expressions of the five great Sovereigns and the nine God Kings in the Sky Void to shift dramatically.


    Among the two women, one was a red-dressed lady with an ancient god sword on her back, exuding a dashing spirit and a forceful aura that was even stronger than the five four-star Sovereigns present; she was actually a six-star Sovereign!


    "Sovereign Hong Li, Ye Chen, this woman is a disciple of the ¡¯Snow Dust Sovereign,¡¯ the strongest in our Tai Qing Divine Institute, known by the name ¡¯Sovereign Hong Li,¡¯" Lin Xiaowan introduced the red-dressed woman¡¯s identity to Ye Chen.


    There was no need for Lin Xiaowan to introduce the other young girl; simply from the infatuated and admiring gazes of Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng, it was evident that she was Long Li, the first Divine Maiden of the Supreme Divine Institute and the premier prodigy of the younger generation in the Wan Mu Divine Kingdom who had attracted numerous formidable warriors to come to the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Ye Chen looked towards the young girl, Long Li.


    He saw that she was clad in a light blue plain dress, her skin as fair and tender as frozen snow, her eyes as bright as stars. At the young age of sixteen, her body was not fully developed, yet she possessed a peerless beauty that could make the heaven and earth pale in comparison.


    What was even more arresting was her immensely pure and cool temperament, as if she were a fairy from the Cold Moon Temple, or a Divine Maiden from the Frost Spirit Palace, giving off the impression that no speck of earthly dust could ever taint her.


    She truly was a beauty of the highest order in the world!


    Even Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but praise when he first laid eyes on Long Li.


    She was a beautiful girl who could rival Jiang Yao in every aspect!


    Unlike Jiang Yao, who was gentle like water, Long Li seemed to be elegant like ice, unaffected by any gaze in the crowd, as if no glance could perturb her state of mind in the slightest.


    She didn¡¯t even glance at the countless warriors below, not giving a single look back even to Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng, who gazed at her with ardent adoration¡ªLong Li simply looked distantly towards the eastern Nine Suns Ancient Land, as if measuring something.


    When Sovereign Hong Li and Long Li arrived, there was a moment of deathly silence between heaven and earth.


    Then, the five great Sovereigns, along with the nine Divine Kings about to enter Nine Suns Ancient Land, all surged forward to greet the two arrivals.


    Among them, the three ladies from Danxia Valley of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Northern Region, Dong Mei Sovereign, and both Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, promptly stood right beside Long Li.


    Rumors had it that Danxia Valley, a major force, had come under the full jurisdiction of the ruler of the Northern Region of the Divine Kingdom, and Long Li, having significant connections with the Southern Territory King Mansion, evidently shared a deep relationship with them.


    Zhao Kuo from Southern Territory King Mansion also respectfully addressed the red-robed, ancient sword-bearing Sovereign Hong Li, "Sovereign Hong Li, I didn¡¯t expect you, with the status of a six-star Sovereign, to personally come here this time!"


    At the same time, he turned towards Long Li, who stood next to Sovereign Hong Li, and smiled, "This lady must be the renowned prodigy ¡¯Long Li¡¯ who is famous throughout the Divine Kingdom!"


    Hearing Zhao Kuo¡¯s words, Long Li turned back and softly nodded at Zhao Kuo, but did not say much.


    It appeared that the girl was not the talkative type.


    Sovereign Hong Li also smiled, "I am following my master¡¯s command to escort Junior Sister Long Li to Nine Suns Ancient Land. If Master didn¡¯t have important matters to attend to, he would have personally come here."


    Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s master was the strongest in the Supreme Divine Institute, a nine-star great Sovereign, "Sovereign Xue Chen."


    Upon hearing Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s words, the hearts of the five great Sovereigns present all trembled.


    From the words of Sovereign Hong Li, they understood that Sovereign Xue Chen indeed held much affection for Long Li.


    "Junior Sister Long Li!"


    At this moment, Yang Yun, who had previously been graceful and carefree, could no longer remain calm as he called out to Long Li, his voice quivering with excitement.


    Even though he practiced at the Supreme Divine Institute, the number of times he had seen Long Li were few; each meeting left him extraordinarily excited.


    However, Long Li¡¯s reaction to Yang Yun was just like her earlier response to Zhao Kuo¡ªshe merely nodded slightly without uttering a word.


    Clearly, the Yang Yun worshipped by countless female warriors of the nine great Divine Institutes held no special place in her eyes.


    This realization brought a hint of disappointment to Yang Yun¡¯s eyes.


    This tinge of disappointment amused Qin Feng and Yang Yan beside him, who both revealed smiles as they approached and paid respect to Long Li in turn.


    Of course, Long Li treated these two no differently, nodding gently and then shifting her gaze away from their faces.


    Seemingly accustomed to being ignored by Long Li, Qin Feng and Yang Yan awkwardly touched their noses but showed no offence on their faces.


    At this time, Long Li finally turned her gaze to the countless warriors below.


    Those caught by Long Li¡¯s gaze felt emptiness in their hearts, as if everything quieted down a great deal.


    Many who had struggled hard to earn a place in Nine Suns Ancient Land just for a glimpse of Long Li, the foremost goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, felt that just being seen by her made everything worth it.


    They finally witnessed the most well-known prodigy among the young generation in the entire Divine Kingdom!


    When Long Li¡¯s gaze landed on Lin Xiaowan, who was standing beside Ye Chen, she unexpectedly gave Lin Xiaowan a rare nod with a smile.


    That smile, blossoming like hundreds of flowers, made heaven and earth pale in comparison.


    This smile had Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng, standing not far from Long Li, utterly enchanted.


    "Sister Long Li!" Lin Xiaowan responded with a smile.


    As Lin Xiaowan said, she did seem to know Long Li, even sharing some kind of relationship with her.


    And when Long Li¡¯s gaze moved from Lin Xiaowan to Ye Chen beside her, everyone was still immersed in the beauty of Long Li¡¯s smile, which made heaven and earth pale in comparison, but they failed to notice the puzzled look that appeared in the depths of the girl¡¯s beautiful eyes.


    At this moment, when Ye Chen¡¯s gaze met Long Li¡¯s, he felt a profound disturbance within him.


    He actually sensed the Stars Tower left in his Qi Sea by Zi Ji Star Lord trembling violently!

 Chapter 684 - 636: Stars Tower and Star Luo God Ring

    ```


    Ye Chen, even when he faced the East Territory King of the Eight Stars Venerable realm, and the Nine Suns Venerable figures such as Mrs. He and Elder Ku Du, couldn¡¯t make the Stars Tower within the depths of his inner sea tremble violently.


    Yet, a mere glance from Long Li caused the Stars Tower in Ye Chen¡¯s inner sea to shake intensely; how could this not shock Ye Chen immensely?!


    Although Ye Chen knew that Long Li had not detected the Stars Tower on him, the fact that she could induce such a reaction from the Stars Tower astonished him to the extreme.


    What Ye Chen didn¡¯t know was that at that moment, the beautiful young lady Long Li, with her cold gaze, showed a hint of confusion in her eyes, but her heart was also greatly perturbed.


    Because in the depths of her own inner sea, there was a ring-shaped treasure radiating the light of stars that was trembling frantically!


    Only after several moments of trembling did this treasure finally calm down simultaneously with Ye Chen¡¯s Stars Tower.


    Even after calming, Long Li couldn¡¯t believe it, "How could my ¡¯Star Luo God Ring¡¯ react like this?! Even my master can¡¯t stir this treasure at all!"


    After taking a deep look at Ye Chen, Long Li shifted her gaze away.


    What no one else knew was that the girl¡¯s heart, as serene as her demeanor appeared to be, could no longer remain calm; she was now fully attentive to Ye Chen.


    Their gazes diverged.


    Ye Chen was also paying close attention to Long Li.


    His attention was not due to Long Li¡¯s identity, but because of the disturbance of the Stars Tower!


    Above the void.


    After the six Venerables exchanged a few words, the time for the opening of the Nine Suns Ancient Land finally arrived.


    At that time, Sovereign Zhao Kuo, appointed by the Southern Territory King to oversee this exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, nodded to the various Venerables before stepping forward.


    His voice echoed throughout the void, "The Nine Suns Ancient Land is an exploration site left by the Heavenly Divine Venerable, the Nine Suns Venerable, belonging to our Southern Territory."


    "This land of exploration lies above the Sealed Nine Suns Continent to the east."


    When Sovereign Zhao Kuo mentioned the Nine Suns Ancient Land, over ten million Martial Artists in the gathering all turned their gazes toward the large mainland continent to the east, where part of its massive silhouette could be faintly discerned.


    Even Long Li couldn¡¯t help but become unsettled at the sight.


    Sovereign Zhao Kuo continued, "This time, the participants venturing into the exploration are countless times more powerful than those from before, but the rules remain the same; the exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land will last one month. After one month, those still alive will be teleported out."


    "This land was the domain left by the Heavenly Divine Venerable, and the treasures within erupt regularly every thousand years. Moreover, since our Southern Territory King Mansion has been in charge of this site, we have also placed numerous treasures and opportunities within it." Discover stories at novelhall.Co?m


    "These treasures and opportunities are highly beneficial to Martial Artists below the Divine Venerable realm. Once inside, how much fortune you garner will depend on your own destiny."


    "With opportunity, of course, comes peril."


    "Many among you have already inquired about the dangers of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, but I will reiterate it now."


    "The founder of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the Nine Suns Venerable, was a Refining Master. The treasures he left behind are abundant. Similarly, there are numerous perilous areas. Many of these danger zones can easily annihilate Divine Kings."


    "Furthermore, since the Southern Territory King Mansion has taken charge of this ancient land, it has been used as a training ground for the many Gods and Divine Kings of the Southern Territory. Along with the countless treasures and opportunities placed by the Southern Territory King Mansion, numerous terrifying Ancient Beasts have been introduced, and countless deadly traps have been set."


    "Training brings rewards but also death! In every exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, millions enter, but the number of deaths often reaches a third or even half!"


    "Therefore, I would like to remind you not to be blinded by the lure of treasures; while seeking them out, ensure you also preserve your lives!"


    "The entire Nine Suns Ancient Land exploration will last for one month. I hope that after one month, I will still see most of you here!"


    Whoosh!


    After Sovereign Zhao Kuo finished speaking, only a few individuals, like the ten God Kings with significant backgrounds above the void, and many true Gods with their own methods, managed to maintain their composure.


    However, the vast majority of true Gods in the arena exhibited drastic changes in their expressions.


    Individuals like City Lord Nie¡¯s seven juniors and Zhao Luo, although they had heard about the dangers of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, were on edge after hearing a sovereign¡¯s emphasis on it.


    The true Gods from numerous Small Divine Cities and many from the Great Divine Cities were also looking extremely solemn.


    Of course, although most true Gods were worried about their safety, they were even less willing to give up the opportunity to explore the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    The path of martial cultivation inherently carries great risk.


    Events like heavenly tribulations and divine calamities, which have a high likelihood of being fatal, are impossible to avoid.


    For the sake of gaining strength, these Martial Artists would naturally not miss out on opportunities simply due to risk.


    However, everyone reminded themselves that once inside the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they must be extremely cautious and not become one of the many who die there.


    Seeing the drastic change in the expressions of countless true Gods and their solemn attitudes, Sovereign Zhao Kuo nodded.


    ```


    He said again, "The Nine Suns Ancient Land where the entire Nine Suns Continent is located is almost as vast as the large Star Continent in the Divine Kingdom. Although there are millions of martial artists wanting to enter, once they step into this immense Star Continent, they will be like droplets of water dispersing into the sea, scattering across various places."


    "All your actions will depend on your own strength!"


    "Once the Nine Suns Ancient Land officially opens, step into the Teleportation Divine Formation that leads into the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and start your one-month exploration!"


    After finishing these words, Sovereign Zhao Kuo nodded towards a squad from the Southern Territory King Mansion that stood by in the void.


    This squad had 108 members, 72 of whom were in the Divine King realm, led by 36 Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Upon seeing the signal from Sovereign Zhao Kuo, the 108 martial artists immediately vanished from the void.


    In the next moment, they appeared alongside the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    All 108 martial artists had divine light flashing in their hands as a Divine Light Law Plaque materialized simultaneously in their grasp.


    Then, these 108 Divine Light Law Plaques were raised, and beams of divine light shot into the sky from the plaques, transforming into massive Divine Beasts that pounced towards the many restrictive areas of the Nine Suns Ancient Land below.


    Something shocking happened.


    The entire sealed Nine Suns Ancient Land, with its Sealing Great Formations visible to the naked eye, began to dissolve as these tremendous Divine Beasts struck them. In the end, outside the Sealing Great Formation, 108 Teleportation Divine Formations, each spanning ten thousand feet, took shape.


    "Just step into any of these 108 Teleportation Divine Formations to be transported into the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "Now, martial artists who hold tokens for entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land can use their tokens to step into the Nine Suns Ancient Land!"


    With a wave of his grand arm, Zhao Kuo and other martial artists exchanged glances before rushing towards the 108 Teleportation Divine Formations of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    After taking several deep breaths, the others, not wanting to fall behind, spoke a few words to their relatives who had come with them and, under the watchful instructions of their families, also flew towards the Teleportation Divine Formations.


    Among the more than ten million martial artists gathered in the void, millions swarmed into the 108 Teleportation Divine Formations like locusts, continuously disappearing from sight.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned to the few Venerables above and the ten Divine Kings who hadn¡¯t moved yet, as if they were waiting for the martial artists below to enter before proceeding.


    When Ye Chen looked at Long Li, this time, Long Li didn¡¯t look back but instead focused on the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    "Why can Long Li trigger my Stars Tower?"


    "With her strength at the Upper God King realm, even capable of battling a Heavenly Divine Venerable, why would she enter an ancient land left by a Heavenly Divine Venerable?"


    Ye Chen was filled with confusion.


    However, he soon pushed these doubts to the back of his mind.


    Ye Chen¡¯s primary goal in entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land was to improve his strength; as for the rest, if he couldn¡¯t understand it now, he would have to wait for another opportunity to figure it out.


    "Let¡¯s go, too."


    Ye Chen addressed Lin Xiaowan, Zhao Luo, and the seven descendants of City Lord Nie, including Nie Ningnin.


    "Ningnin, be very careful after you enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land!"


    "Brother Ye Chen, if you have the chance, please take care of my descendants."


    Just like the other Divine Kings who stayed outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land to see off their kin, City Lord Nie admonished his descendants and also sought Ye Chen¡¯s assistance once more.


    After seeing Ye Chen nod in agreement once again, he felt somewhat relieved.


    Nevertheless, City Lord Nie knew that given the vastness of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the chances of his descendants encountering Ye Chen were slim; they still had to rely on themselves.


    After a brief conversation, Ye Chen, along with Lin Xiaowan, Zhao Luo, Nie Ningnin, and others, flew towards one of the 108 Teleportation Divine Formations.


    Unbeknownst to Ye Chen, as they flew toward the Teleportation Divine Formation, although Long Li didn¡¯t look at him, her voice directly reached Lin Xiaowan¡¯s ears: "Sister Wan, what is the name of that young man in green clothes beside you? Right, Sister Wan, don¡¯t look at me, and don¡¯t tell anyone that I asked about his name."


    Lin Xiaowan was utterly astounded and couldn¡¯t help but stop in mid-flight.


    "Sister Long Li, his name is Ye Chen."


    Lin Xiaowan, heeding her words, didn¡¯t look at Long Li but replied through a message.


    But in her heart, Lin Xiaowan felt a surge of shock: "Why would Sister Long Li inquire about Ye Chen?!"


    Lin Xiaowan had never seen the usually cold and detached Long Li ask about any male martial artist before.


    If the countless martial artists from the nine divine colleges who adored Long Li knew she was inquiring after Ye Chen¡¯s name, Ye Chen would undoubtedly be submerged by an onslaught of jealous glares!

 Chapter 685 - 637 Snow Crystal, Fire Crystal, Ice Flame

    "Fellow Daoist Lin Xiaowan, what¡¯s the matter?"


    Ye Chen, who was next to her, saw Lin Xiaowan suddenly stop on her way to the Teleportation Divine Formation, also halted in place and looked towards her.


    Zhao Luo and Nie Ningnin, along with their five companions, also stopped and turned their attention to Lin Xiaowan.


    "It¡¯s nothing," Lin Xiaowan quickly refocused her mind. Seeing that Long Li did not ask further questions, she then smiled gently at Ye Chen and the others and said, "Let¡¯s go, we should hurry into the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    However, when she looked at Ye Chen again, Lin Xiaowan¡¯s gaze turned strange.


    Even though she calmed her mind, the mere thought of Long Li personally inquiring after Ye Chen¡¯s name unsettled her.


    Feeling puzzled by Lin Xiaowan¡¯s odd gaze, Ye Chen also couldn¡¯t figure out what was going on. When he asked Lin Xiaowan about it and she refused to say, Ye Chen could only smile and shake his head before continuing towards the Teleportation Divine Formation.


    A few moments later, Ye Chen and his group of ten stepped onto one of the one hundred and eight Teleportation Divine Formations and were completely transmitted into the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    It wasn¡¯t until after Ye Chen had vanished from sight that Long Li in the void turned towards the direction where Ye Chen had disappeared.


    Her beautiful eyes flickered, seemingly pondering something.


    After the martial artists below had all been teleported into the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the ten Divine Kings in the heavens above also bid farewell to the Sovereign Realm beings escorting them and flew into the Nine Suns Ancient Land one after another.


    At last, the vast expanse of the void was left with only those who had come to see them off and a few Sovereigns.


    "Sovereign Hong Li, do you know why the young Daoist Long Li decided to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land?" At this moment, Zhao Kuo of the Southern Territory King Mansion couldn¡¯t help but ask Sovereign Hong Li, who had accompanied Long Li to the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    "Indeed, considering how highly Lord Snow Dust Sovereign regards young Daoist Long Li, this mere Heavenly Divine Venerable¡¯s Nine Suns Ancient Land should not have caught her discerning eye. So why has she taken the trouble to come here for an adventure?" The other Sovereigns too expressed the doubts they had harbored for a long time.


    Seeing the curious expressions on the faces of the other Sovereigns, Sovereign Hong Li smiled and said, "I¡¯m not clear on the affairs of junior sister Long Li. It seems that the Heavenly Divine Venerable had something that made junior sister desire it. After all, although the Nine Suns Venerable was only a Heavenly Divine Venerable, he was a master in artifact refinement, and perhaps he had some items that could be of use to junior sister."


    Hearing Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s words, the remaining Sovereigns nodded in agreement, "That¡¯s true. Since young Daoist Long Li has not yet broken through to the Divine Sovereign Realm, some treasures from a Divine Venerable who is a master in artifact refinement may indeed help her."


    "In any case, with young Daoist Long Li¡¯s strength, the Nine Suns Ancient Land will hardly be a challenge for her. Let her gain some valuable experience inside and find what she¡¯s looking for!"


    At this, Sovereign Zhao Kuo also smiled and said, "One month¡¯s time is but the blink of an eye for us. Let¡¯s wait here for their return. Meanwhile, please, my fellow Daoists, have a taste of the ¡¯Ice Snow Divine Brew¡¯ brought personally by the lord of the Southern Territory, which he entrusted me to present to you." Read new chapters at novelhall.Co?m


    "Ice Snow Divine Brew?"


    At hearing these four words, the eyes of the Sovereigns lit up.


    Sovereign Fei Yuan from Tai Yun Heaven even laughed and said, "I have long heard that within the Southern Territory ruled by the lord of the Southern Territory, there is an Ancient Star Continent with an Extreme Mo Divine Tree and the Five Extreme Divine Flower. Using the leaves of the Extreme Mo Divine Tree as fuel to boil the Five Extreme Divine Flower, the resulting ¡¯Ice Snow Divine Brew¡¯ is said to be extremely delicious and has wondrous effects in nourishing the Extreme Heavenly Divine Power of those at the Sovereign Realm."


    "I didn¡¯t expect that, by taking the opportunity of these youngsters venturing into the Nine Suns Ancient Land, we would also get to savor such a delicacy!"


    "Fellow Daoist Zhao Kuo, please bring it out quickly, we are somewhat impatient to taste it!"


    Sovereign Zhao Kuo laughed and nodded. With a flick of his hand, a stone table and several stone stools appeared out of thin air in the void, and the Sovereigns then sat on the stone stools.


    With another flick of his hand, a translucent and snowy-white small bottle and several cups appeared on the stone table.


    As the snowy-white bottle was opened, the Sovereigns watched Sovereign Zhao Kuo pour drop by drop of snowflake-shaped crystalline droplets into the cups, their gazes turning fervent.


    Looking at these snowflake-shaped crystalline droplets, one could see that each drop shimmered with exceedingly strange speckles of starlight, as if endless divine power was contained within these translucent droplets.


    ...


    The Nine Suns Ancient Land, a mysterious realm left behind by the Nine Suns Venerable.


    Even though it had come under the administration of the Southern Territory King Mansion, the original appearance of this realm had not been altered.


    It was said that the Nine Suns Venerable was an exceptionally skilled master of artifact refinement, who had specially processed the entire Nine Suns Ancient Land, using three types of flames to divide the land from outside to inside into three major zones.


    The outermost zone, called the "Icy Realm," is an entire world of ice, unbearably cold.


    Legends say this extensive peripheral area was formed after the Nine Suns Venerable steeped it in a cold iceflame, resulting in a special realm.


    The second area, surrounded by the "Icy Realm" and closer to the center, is known as the "Fiery Realm."


    This "Fiery Realm" is the exact opposite of the extreme cold of the Icy Realm, scorchingly hot within, and rumored to be home to countless formidable beings of fire.


    Further inside from the "Icy Realm" and "Fiery Realm" lies the core area of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    This area is known as the "Nine Suns Realm," where, according to rumors, the cave dwellings of the Nine Suns Venerable and his disciples are hidden.


    The entire outer perimeter of the Nine Suns Realm was fully sealed, leaving only nine colossal cauldrons as entrances.


    Only after meeting certain conditions could one pass through those nine colossal cauldrons to enter the very core of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the "Nine Suns Realm."


    At this moment, the millions of martial artists who had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land, regardless of their teleported positions, were in the outermost circle of the Nine Suns Ancient Land known as the "Icy Realm."


    Only by moving toward the core area of the Nine Suns Ancient Land from the position they were in could they reach the more internal "Fiery Realm" and the most central "Nine Suns Realm."


    At this time, in the eastern direction of the outermost Icy Realm, amidst a dense snow forest, Ye Chen appeared directly in this snow forest after a spatial twist.


    The first sensation Ye Chen felt as he landed was the cold.


    It was worth noting that Ye Chen¡¯s strength had already reached the level of a Divine King, so the temperature here must be extremely low for him to feel cold.


    Many true gods from the lower realms would probably be frozen to death just by entering this Icy Realm!


    Not to mention true gods from lower realms, even many of the weaker true gods who had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land had to activate powerful protective artifacts to fend off this cold.


    Only a few people as powerful as Ye Chen could withstand the cold of the Icy Realm without relying on any artifacts.


    Besides the cold, Ye Chen¡¯s second sensation was that the true qi between heaven and earth in this "Icy Realm" was incredibly rich.


    Merely breathing in, he could feel streams of energy being refined into divine power and merging into his body.


    The speed of refining this divine power was more than ten times faster than outside!


    In other words, the Nine Suns Ancient Land, not to mention the treasures inside, was a place where even mere cultivation was much stronger than outside.


    "Truly worthy of an ancient land left by a Heavenly Divine Venerable, it is indeed marvelous!"


    With a soft smile, Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts stirred, and Xiaojiu flew out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, settling on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder.


    In the Nine Suns Ancient Land, martial artists could only enter with the eligibility tokens; however, the spirit beasts and soul beasts they carried could be brought in as well.


    Xiaojiu, after emerging from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, also curiously examined this snowy world.


    "Ye Chen, there is a rumor that the three realms of the Nine Suns Ancient Land have increasingly dense true qi as one goes deeper, and that treasures are more abundant. The most beneficial items for true gods and Divine Kings are mostly in the Nine Suns Realm. We should hurry to the Nine Suns Realm," Xiaojiu said to Ye Chen after taking a look around the "Icy Realm."


    Ye Chen nodded, "However, before we move from the ¡¯Icy Realm¡¯ into the ¡¯Fiery Realm,¡¯ according to the information we¡¯ve collected on braving the Nine Suns Ancient Land, we must gather ten thousand ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ to meet the entry requirements and pass through the domain barrier of the ¡¯Fiery Realm¡¯ smoothly."


    "Those ten thousand ¡¯Snow Crystals,¡¯ we indeed need to search for them thoroughly."


    As Ye Chen spoke, he lightly tapped in the air with his finger, and a crystal-clear diamond-shaped crystal pattern appeared in the void.


    This diamond-shaped crystal was snow-white throughout, with three special lines adorning each of its five corners.


    This crystal was precisely the "Snow Crystal" Ye Chen mentioned.


    Only by relying on these "Snow Crystals" could one activate the Teleportation Divine Formation to travel through to the "Fiery Realm" and smoothly enter the more central "Fiery Realm."


    Naturally, to proceed from the "Fiery Realm" into the most central "Nine Suns Realm," one also needed to find an odd crystal called the "Fire Crystal," buried within the vast land of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Only by relying on that "Fire Crystal" could one successfully pass through the nine colossal cauldron entrances surrounding the "Nine Suns Realm" and smoothly enter the "Nine Suns Realm."


    Seeing Ye Chen examining the "Snow Crystal" pattern, Xiaojiu chuckled lightly, "While we make our way, we can look for the ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ buried in this Icy Realm. With our soul sensing abilities, finding ten thousand ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ shouldn¡¯t pose much difficulty."


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu contemplated their action plan in the Nine Suns Ancient Land from where they landed.


    The other millions of martial artists scattered throughout the Icy Realm of the Nine Suns Ancient Land were likewise reflecting on their own adventure strategies.


    Some martial artists planned to explore only the outermost Icy Realm of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Others, like Ye Chen, aspired to enter the innermost "Nine Suns Realm" of the Nine Suns Ancient Land and had already begun searching for "Snow Crystals."


    In the area of the Icy Realm on the northern side of the outermost border of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the silhouette of an exquisitely beautiful young girl descended.


    This young girl was none other than Long Li, the number one goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, who had reached the Sovereign Realm of Upper God King at the tender age of sixteen.


    At the moment, Long Li gazed towards the deepest part of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, murmuring, "That ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ must be inside the innermost Nine Suns Realm."


    "Had I not cultivated the ¡¯Heavenly Pulse Nine Arts¡¯ hidden inside the Star Luo God Ring to the Fifth Articulation, I would not have sensed that deep within the domain of the Southern Territory, an Extreme Heavenly ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ had come into being! By subduing this flame, my Fifth Articulation will successfully break through, entering the Sixth Articulation!"

 Chapter 686 - 638: Ice Shadow Fox

    ```


    On the western edge of the Icy Realm, the outermost area of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Yang Yun, who hailed from one of the four major powers, "Tai Yun Heaven," touched down, only to frown and vanish again in an instant.


    The next moment, he appeared a hundred miles away.


    "Yan, I didn¡¯t expect that you and I would be teleported such a short distance apart," Yang Yun called out into the void.


    As he spoke, another youthful figure slowly revealed itself.


    This young man was none other than Yang Yan, another youth from "Tai Yun Heaven."


    With a smile, Yang Yan said to Yang Yun, "Brother Yun, your strength is indeed formidable. I hadn¡¯t even detected you, yet you sensed my teleportation spot right away. However, I won¡¯t concede to you in pursuing Sister Long Li."


    Upon hearing Yang Yan¡¯s words, Yang Yun appeared unconcerned, his eyebrow raised in confidence, "Each of us relies on our own abilities. If I cannot win over Sister Long Li among the youth of the Divine Kingdom, I doubt anyone else can!"


    Yang Yan let out a laugh but didn¡¯t continue on the topic, instead, his gaze shifted towards the interior region of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, "We don¡¯t know Sister Long Li¡¯s purpose in coming to the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time, but she must also be here to seek the precious treasures within. The most precious treasures of the Nine Suns Ancient Land are in the ¡¯Nine Suns Realm.¡¯ Brother Yun, let¡¯s part ways here and see who reaches the Nine Suns Realm first!"


    "That¡¯s exactly what I was thinking. To collect the ¡¯Snow Crystal¡¯ and the ¡¯Fire Crystal,¡¯ it would only lead to conflict if we stayed together. Better to act separately," said Yang Yun. As his words faded, he disappeared from the void.


    Seeing Yang Yun vanish, Yang Yan¡¯s eyes flickered, and he too disappeared without a trace.


    Tens of thousands of miles from where Yang Yun and Yang Yan had disappeared, atop a giant snow mountain on the western edge of the Icy Realm section of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, a pair of sisters, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing from "Danxia Valley," one of the four major powers of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Northern Territory, also landed.


    The two women had refined and pretty features, and they looked very much alike. Both had snow-white divine swords on their backs.


    After landing, the two exchanged a glance. Zhu Qianqian said to Zhu Qingqing, "This time, Sister Long Li has asked us to help her obtain an item. Let us hurry to the ¡¯Nine Suns Realm¡¯ to meet up with Sister Long Li."


    "Mm, I¡¯ll take care of the traveling, and you handle the search for the ¡¯Snow Crystal.¡¯ As soon as we find a Snow Crystal, we¡¯ll collect it immediately. Let¡¯s try to gather a thousand Snow Crystals while we¡¯re on the move," Zhu Qingqing nodded as she agreed.


    As she spoke, Zhu Qingqing¡¯s fair fingers gently pinched the air, and the pristine white divine sword behind her soared into the air, transforming into a sword dozens of feet long.


    The two women moved in unison onto the flying sword, which then vibrated through the void, carrying them off and disappearing amidst the nothingness.


    ...


    In the dense snow forest on the eastern side of the Icy Realm of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Ye Chen had been moving through the snow forest for tens of thousands of miles in under an hour.


    This snow forest was terrifyingly vast, and even after Ye Chen had traveled tens of thousands of miles, he still hadn¡¯t completely escaped its boundaries.


    At that moment, over an open area within the snow forest, with a flicker in the void, Ye Chen¡¯s figure reappeared.


    And Xiaojiu had transformed into a small sparrow, sitting on Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder.


    No sooner had Ye Chen and Xiaojiu appeared, than a lion-shaped ancient beast, covered in snow-white fur, shot towards Ye Chen like a bolt of lightning.


    It was a seventh tribulation true god-level ancient beast!


    The body of this lion-shaped ancient beast was tens of feet long, yet its assault was completely silent. It wasn¡¯t until it was three or four meters away from Ye Chen that its formidable combat power burst forth with a bang.


    But Ye Chen and Xiaojiu seemed as if they hadn¡¯t noticed the lion-shaped ancient beast at all.


    Just as the ancient beast was about to snatch Ye Chen in the next moment, showing a human-like smugness on its face, something bizarre happened.


    At the very instant the beast made contact with Ye Chen¡¯s body, its entire form was sliced open by a sword light, instantly bisected into two halves.


    Boom!


    The giant body of the lion-shaped ancient beast crashed to the ground, sending a large swath of the thick snow covering the forest tumbling down. The ancient beast¡¯s giant body then began to wither at a visibly rapid pace, its divine power quickly dissipating into nothing, leaving behind nothing but a withered husk.


    Through this entire process, Ye Chen and Xiaojiu didn¡¯t even turn around!


    Only Xiaojiu¡¯s light laughter echoed through the snow forest, "There aren¡¯t many powerful ancient beasts in the outskirts. This seventh tribulation true god beast wanted to launch a sneak attack; it probably didn¡¯t understand how it died even in its final moments!"


    Ye Chen also chuckled, "It¡¯s just this ancient beast¡¯s bad luck to encounter a ¡¯Snow Crystal¡¯ hidden in this area just as I was materializing. Otherwise, if it hadn¡¯t attacked me, it wouldn¡¯t have died."


    As Ye Chen spoke, his finger pointed towards a spot in the void.


    ```


    Suddenly, a gigantic sword-shaped shadow appeared in the void and, with the momentum of the giant sword, slashed fiercely toward the snow forest ahead.


    The entire ground was cleaved with a massive sword mark spanning four to five hundred zhang!


    Then, the giant sword mark trembled violently as the surrounding soil collapsed, causing the area within a thousand zhang to cave in, forming a huge pit. Stay tuned for updates on novelhall.Co?m


    Looking down into the pit, one could see hundreds of shining diamond-shaped crystals hidden within the thick ice and snow.


    Ye Chen reached out his hand toward the collapsed pit of ice and soil, and hundreds of the shining diamond-shaped crystals flew towards him like a downpour.


    In the end, they were all collected into Ye Chen¡¯s spatial treasure.


    "Another four hundred or so ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ obtained, bringing the total number of Snow Crystals collected to over a thousand," he thought.


    "Let¡¯s continue on our way and search for ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯!"


    After saying this to Xiaojiu, Ye Chen once again disappeared into the void.


    In this manner, while heading towards the deeper ¡¯Fiery Realm¡¯, Ye Chen continued his search for Snow Crystals.


    Along the way, Ye Chen encountered numerous ancient beast attacks, but the ancient beasts in the outermost ¡¯Icy Realm¡¯ of the Nine Suns Ancient Land were not too formidable, and he dispatched them with ease.


    Of course, in addition to finding Snow Crystals, Ye Chen also had other gains.


    Throughout the journey, Ye Chen found many treasures for Xiaojiu and the little monkey, as well as for the twenty or so mutant flying ants ¡¯Scarlet Ming Ants¡¯ he had with him.


    The treasure Ye Chen found for Xiaojiu was a bunch of exotic flowers that nourished Soul Power.


    The little monkey, on the other hand, consumed several magical fruits that were greatly beneficial to it.


    As for the ¡¯Scarlet Ming Ants¡¯, Ye Chen discovered some blood-colored ice crystals on a snow cliff within the ¡¯Icy Realm¡¯. After killing a few formidable ancient beasts near the ice crystals, Ye Chen released the ¡¯Scarlet Ming Ants¡¯, which were inexplicably excited after sensing the blood-colored ice crystals.


    In less than a moment, a large swath of blood-colored ice crystals covering hundreds of zhang was completely devoured by the twenty or so ¡¯Scarlet Ming Ants¡¯.


    Naturally, Ye Chen himself also obtained many spiritual materials and strange herbs along the way that were helpful for cultivation.


    In the outside world, these treasures would likely cost him a substantial amount of Black Divine Coins, but in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, he could pick them directly.


    Having just started and already reaping significant rewards, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel that the Heavenly Divine Venerable¡¯s legacy of exploration truly contained extraordinary treasures.


    However, Ye Chen¡¯s smooth journey, treasure-hunting, and Snow Crystal collecting came to an abrupt halt after traveling tens of millions of li and delving deep into a large portion of the ¡¯Icy Realm¡¯.


    In a glacial valley within the ¡¯Icy Realm¡¯, Ye Chen encountered the first formidable opponent since entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    At this moment, within the valley, Ye Chen was in an intense battle with a small beast.


    The speed of this small beast was so incredible that, despite Ye Chen¡¯s extraordinary combat abilities, he was still a notch slower than the beast.


    The attacking power of the small beast was even more fearsome, and Ye Chen¡¯s clothes were already torn to shreds by its claws.


    Had it not been for the ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment¡¯ with its exceptional defensive power hidden on his body, Ye Chen¡¯s flesh might have sustained considerable damage from the beast.


    Of course, the small beast was not having an easy time either. Although it was remarkably fast, under the cover of Ye Chen and Xiaojiu¡¯s Divine Souls, it too had been struck by Ye Chen numerous times.


    Furthermore, its attacks on Ye Chen were met with the backlash from the ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment¡¯, shaking it to the core.


    After battling the small beast for about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, the beast finally landed, with much of its snow-white fur having been shed.


    At this time, both Ye Chen and the small beast temporarily stopped the fight and began to recover their divine powers.


    Looking at the small beast that was an even match for Ye Chen, it appeared to be an ancient beast no more than half a meter long, entirely snow-white, and even in the shape of a fox.


    "Ice Shadow Fox, this is one of the famous formidable ancient beasts placed by the Southern Territory King Mansion within the Nine Suns Ancient Land. It is said that this beast can even absorb the cold ice energy to continuously cultivate. It seems that this Ice Shadow Fox has also been cultivating here in the Nine Suns Ancient Land for quite some time, its combat power is truly terrifying!" Xiaojiu, who had been taken into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant during the fight, looked at the snow-white beast and spoke to Ye Chen.

 Chapter 687 - 639 Flame Mountain and Fire Elemental Lotus Seed

    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    With his current combat strength, ordinary Lower God Kings stood no chance against him. Yet this small Ancient Beast could actually fight him to a draw, revealing its terrifying prowess.


    If this diminutive beast could transform into human form, it would likely have more than enough strength to dominate a small Divine City as its Lord!


    Moreover, the beast¡¯s incredible speed and attack power gave Ye Chen a feeling that surpassed the usual levels of Divine Power, suggesting that it might no longer be at the True God level, but had reached the God King level!


    Even if it hadn¡¯t reached the Middle God King level with dual-colored Heavenly Divine Power, within the ranks of the Lower God Kings, it definitely stood out as one of the strong ones, far surpassing Lower God Kings of City Lord Nie and Sima Feng¡¯s caliber!


    Of course, Ye Chen still had a few powerful trump cards up his sleeve to deal with this "Ice Shadow Fox."


    For example, utilizing an Ice Puppet to launch a Middle God King level attack could be a way to kill the beast.


    But killing this beast, with no benefits and a sheer waste of Divine Stones to drive the Ice Puppet, was not something Ye Chen wished to do.


    Ye Chen now planned to use his own techniques to properly fight with the "Ice Shadow Fox," honing his combat skills.


    Although the beast was strong, it was not strong enough to force Ye Chen to reveal all his trump cards!


    Whoosh!


    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were observing the "Ice Shadow Fox" and contemplating their next move, the beast, having regained some Divine Power, bared its teeth and roared at Ye Chen before lunging at him again.


    Ye Chen¡¯s figure flashed in the blink of an eye, and the beast slammed into the ground, shattering the earth and collapsing it for tens of thousands of yards around.


    Ao! Ao!


    This creature, no more than half a meter long, was able to bring down an area of tens of thousands of yards; its attack power was truly fearsome!


    What was even more terrifying was that these blows seemed to bring no recoil damage to the beast itself. It caused the ground to collapse and then, roaring loudly, it shot up from the earth like lightning and pounced at Ye Chen again.


    Adding to the upheaval of the snowy forest from the earlier battle, the nearby area of hundreds of miles was thrown into chaos!


    Naturally, Ye Chen was not about to just stand there and take a beating.


    Just like before, Ye Chen fully activated the defense of his "Star Blue Divine Garment," and his Fiery Flying Sword had long been unsheathed, engaging in fierce combat with the beast once more.


    The sky and the earth within a few hundred miles of the battlefield were enveloped in an aura of combat, with both man and beast rapidly changing their positions and clashing at high speed!


    The void was constantly being torn asunder and then mending, while the earth was repeatedly collapsing.


    The giant trees in the snowy forest were being wiped out one after the other in the clash between Ye Chen and the beast!


    They fought for quite a long while.


    Just as Ye Chen was becoming increasingly proficient with the first three of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation," even gaining a basic understanding of the fourth sword, the beast suddenly let out a shrill scream at Ye Chen and then, turning its body, disappeared without a trace.


    The beast, having fought Ye Chen for half the day, managed to gain no advantage and was instead wounded by Ye Chen¡¯s "Star Blue Divine Garment" and "Nine Swords of Annihilation."


    It had intended to use its strong recovery abilities to exhaust Ye Chen¡¯s fighting power, but found that after half a day of combat, Ye Chen showed no signs of fatigue.


    In the end, the beast reluctantly gave up on the idea of attacking Ye Chen, helplessly fleeing.


    Watching the beast escape, Ye Chen chuckled and shook his head.


    The beast¡¯s speed was even faster than his; he couldn¡¯t stop it even if he wanted to.


    Besides, if it wasn¡¯t for the purpose of honing his combat skills, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t want to get too entangled with a beast that wouldn¡¯t provide any benefits from its death.


    Moreover, a certain hidden situation also made Ye Chen unwilling to continue battling with the beast...


    Seeing that the beast had fled, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned towards a location in the void not far off and spoke out, "Two esteemed friends have been watching for quite some time now; perhaps it¡¯s time for you to come out and meet."


    From Ye Chen¡¯s words, it seemed that the region where he had been fighting with the beast was also hiding two other people?!


    As Ye Chen spoke, the space in the location he was looking towards fluctuated, and two somewhat surprised voices came out, "So the esteemed friend had discovered us long ago!"


    "It seems that not only is the esteemed friend¡¯s combat strength far beyond his realm, but even his Divine Soul¡¯s probing capabilities surpass those of numerous True Gods!"


    As the voices echoed, two young figures emerged from where the spatial ripples occurred.


    Both youths were at the Nine Tribulations True God realm, but they felt stronger to Ye Chen than Qin Feng from Tai Lin Divine Institute, whom he had battled before!


    Clearly, these two young men were not simple characters to have entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and they possessed the ability to defeat ordinary Lower God Kings across realms!


    Shortly after Ye Chen and the little beast started fighting, Ye Chen and Xiaojiu noticed two people secretly appearing and concealing their presence.


    If Ye Chen hadn¡¯t realized that these two were only watching the battle between him and the little beast, without any intention of attacking him, he would not be addressing them this way right now.


    However, having two powerful Nine Swords of Annihilation True Gods secretly watching the battle, Ye Chen also felt somewhat displeased, "Fellow Daoists, you have come to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, instead of seeking treasures, you¡¯ve spent so much time watching my battle, which I find quite perplexing!"


    Although he said he was perplexed, what Ye Chen meant was he wanted the two to give a proper explanation!


    Seeing that Ye Chen faced the two of them without any fear, and recalling how Ye Chen had effortlessly fought against the "Ice Shadow Fox," the young men¡¯s eyes lit up even more.


    The taller of the two youths smiled and gave Ye Chen a fist salute, "Fellow Daoist, please forgive us, we mean no harm. We were just passing by and saw that you were fighting the ¡¯Ice Shadow Fox.¡¯ Curiosity got the better of us, and we wanted to watch the battle." Experience new tales on novelhall.Co?m


    Hearing that the youth knew the name "Ice Shadow Fox," Ye Chen¡¯s gaze flickered.


    The tall youth continued, "Originally, we planned to leave after watching Fellow Daoist¡¯s battle to proceed towards the ¡¯Fiery Realm.¡¯ However, Fellow Daoist¡¯s impressive abilities compelled us to stay."


    "We are heading to the ¡¯Fiery Realm¡¯ for an important task that requires capable hands to accomplish. Fellow Daoist¡¯s skills are more than enough to participate, and I wonder if you might be interested in this task."


    "A task?" Ye Chen was startled.


    The other youth jumped in, "Brother Dongfang, you might as well explain the matter of ¡¯Flame Mountain¡¯ and our own origins to this Fellow Daoist. Otherwise, it will be difficult for him to decide whether or not to join us in our task."


    The tall youth slapped his forehead and laughed, "I was indeed too hasty and impolite. Fellow Daoist, please listen to me as I explain in detail."


    After the time it takes to drink a cup of tea passed, the tall youth had spoken at length and finally stopped.


    Ye Chen stroked his chin, deep in thought.


    It turned out that these two youths, the taller one named Dongfang Xuanyi and the shorter one named Wang Chen, both came from a highly reputable City Lord¡¯s Mansion in the Southern Territory of a Divine Kingdom.


    Furthermore, these two were cultivators from the "Tai Wu Divine Institute," ranked third among the nine great Divine Institutes.


    Both were well-known powerful figures among the Nine Swords of Annihilation True Gods.


    The two of them had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time with an important mission to go to the "Fiery Realm," a second region within the land, to a place known as "Flame Mountain," to harvest something called "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed."


    This was also an assessment their family had for them upon entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    These "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" grew in the deepest parts of "Flame Mountain" and were guarded by an immensely powerful Middle God King level Ancient Beast.


    Not only did a Middle God King level Ancient Beast guard the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds," but "Flame Mountain" also harbored many other formidable ancient beasts and was extremely dangerous.


    Even though these two were powerful figures among Nine Swords of Annihilation True Gods and possessed a number of treasures and methods, it was simply impossible for just the two of them to harvest the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" from "Flame Mountain."


    Of course, their family would not assign them a task that was utterly impossible to complete.


    The family allowed the two to seek other True Gods as helpers to accomplish this mission together, as long as they could bring back a prescribed number of "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds."


    After inquiring about "Flame Mountain" and the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds," before entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they had already sought four helpers.


    Now, by chance, having passed by here and seeing Ye Chen¡¯s combat strength, the two of them also had the idea to invite Ye Chen.


    According to the two, there were many "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" in "Flame Mountain." After deducting the amount needed to complete their family task, there would still be enough for seven or eight people to share.


    The two promised Ye Chen that as long as they completed the mission together and harvested the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds," everyone would be able to obtain a fair share.


    When Ye Chen heard the two invite him to go to the "Flame Mountain" in the "Fiery Realm," the second region of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, to accomplish the mission of harvesting the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds," he finally understood why these two had been covertly watching his fight.


    Regarding the dangers of "Flame Mountain" and the Middle God King level Ancient Beast guarding the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds," Ye Chen, with his "Star Blue Divine Garment" and Divine Thunder Pearl among other treasures, felt confident enough to take the risk.


    However, Ye Chen was considering whether it was worth it to join these people in completing this somewhat dangerous mission.


    But what the two said about the wondrous uses of the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed," along with Xiaojiu¡¯s quiet telepathic message, made Ye Chen contemplate visiting "Flame Mountain."


    According to what both the two and Xiaojiu said, the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" are the seeds of a rare lotus born in realms where Fire Elemental Divine Power is exceedingly dense.


    These seeds can be consumed directly and can enhance the consumer¡¯s Divine Power within their body, even helping them to breakthrough realms or surpass bottlenecks in facing the Heavenly Tribulation.


    According to the records, taking ten "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" at a time could help a warrior beneath the Nine Swords of Annihilation True Gods to ascend one realm, and even significantly increase the chances for a Nine Swords of Annihilation True God to break through to the God King Realm.


    Such treasures were, of course, immensely precious!


    Although the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" can only help a martial artist advance through one realm once, and subsequent use would be ineffective, such wondrous natural resources could still incite a scramble among countless powers to use for the cultivation of their descendants.


    In the Divine Kingdom, such "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" were already very rare, and it was only in the remnants of Heavenly Divine Venerable¡¯s ancient lands that such treasures were discovered.

 Chapter 688 - 640 Pursuit and Kill

    Hearing about the marvelous uses of the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed," Ye Chen was certainly tempted.


    He was now at the True God has of the Four Tribulations, and although his combat power was formidable, he was considered to have a quite low realm within the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    Not to mention others, take Long Li for example, who was only sixteen years old and had already reached the Upper God King realm, possessing combat power comparable to that of a Heavenly Divine Venerable, which was far stronger than Ye Chen.


    Let alone those genuine Immortal Divine Venerables, Sovereign Realm existences.


    Ye Chen, of course, wanted to seize every opportunity to enhance his strength.


    Treasures like the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed," which greatly benefited the increase of one¡¯s realm, were rare opportunities. Ye Chen had come to the Nine Suns Ancient Land in search of precious treasures that could improve his cultivation; encountering them now, he didn¡¯t want to miss out.


    However, Ye Chen also had some doubts.


    "Dongfang, Wang, if we go together to pick the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, it will be due to our lack of strength if we can¡¯t get them. But if we do pick them, can we really allocate more than ten seeds per person?" Ye Chen asked Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen.


    The two had said they had also invited four others to assist, which would bring the total number of people to seven.


    The Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds were not ordinary items; finding enough to allocate more than ten seeds per person for seven people would require a large cluster of fire lotuses.


    Even though the two had said the lotus seeds were enough for seven or eight people to share, ten seeds were needed to aid a True God in breaking through to the next realm. Ye Chen, who was at a critical period of breaking through from the Four Tribulations True God to the Fifth Tribulations True God, naturally wanted to ask exactly how many he could get.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s question, Dongfang Xuanyi knew that Ye Chen was interested in going to Flame Mountain.


    He smiled at Ye Chen and said, "One of the God Kings of our City Lord¡¯s Mansion had obtained a slot to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land the last time it was opened. After he came here, he stumbled upon a cluster of fire lotuses hidden deep within the ¡¯Flame Mountain¡¯ while chasing a flame demon in the ¡¯Fiery Realm.¡¯


    "At that time, the lotuses had just bloomed and had not yet produced ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.¡¯ Moreover, since these items cannot be moved, our City Lord¡¯s Mansion¡¯s God King sealed off that area.


    "Now a thousand years have passed, and by our calculations, this time the Nine Suns Ancient Land has opened, the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯ should have truly matured. The City Lord¡¯s Mansion decided to use the picking of the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds as a trial for us."


    "That God King has estimated that the cluster of fire lotuses he found produced well over a hundred ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.¡¯ These seeds are greatly useful to us at the True God realm but not so much at the God King realm. Our City Lord¡¯s Mansion¡¯s God King would not deceive us."


    Wang Chen also smiled and said, "With over a hundred Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, there will definitely be more than enough for each of us to get at least ten. Rest assured, friend, since we invited you to join us in this task, we will ensure that each of you gets at least ten seeds. If it¡¯s not enough, we will give up our share to ensure you get ten."


    Clearly, both were fully confident about the quantity of Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds discovered by their City Lord¡¯s Mansion in the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Hearing the two speak thus, Ye Chen smiled and replied, "Since both of you have said so, I will accompany you to the ¡¯Flame Mountain¡¯ to take a look."


    "However, to enter the ¡¯Fiery Realm,¡¯ we need to find at least ten thousand ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ first."


    When Ye Chen agreed, smiles appeared on the faces of Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen. They had observed Ye Chen¡¯s strength before, and with his help, their chances of getting the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" and completing the mission would be much greater.


    "Ten thousand ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ shouldn¡¯t be difficult for us. Let¡¯s search for ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ while we head towards the ¡¯Fiery Realm!¡¯" said Dongfang Xuanyi.


    Wang Chen added, "The four helpers we agreed to meet before entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land have now been scattered by the teleport. We agreed to meet at the ¡¯Black Mist Valley¡¯ in the ¡¯Fiery Realm.¡¯ Once we¡¯ve collected enough ¡¯Snow Crystals,¡¯ we¡¯ll go wait at the ¡¯Black Mist Valley¡¯ for them. Once everyone arrives, we can all advance to ¡¯Flame Mountain¡¯ together!"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    After conversing a bit more, the three of them moved swiftly and disappeared into the snowy forest.


    The following period was similar to before, with Ye Chen moving and searching for "Snow Crystals."


    However, this time, in addition to Xiaojiu and the little monkey who were hidden in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were with him.


    All three were powerful True Gods, and for them, the outer perimeter of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the "Icy Realm," was not an obstacle.


    They didn¡¯t encounter any troublesome ancient beasts like the "Ice Shadow Fox" again, and their journey went smoothly.


    By the second day, each of the three had collected ten thousand "Snow Crystals," meeting the requirements to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land¡¯s "Fiery Realm."


    By that time, they had reached the depths of the "Icy Realm" and could reach the territory of the "Fiery Realm" after about a day¡¯s journey.


    Having collected enough "Snow Crystals," the three pushed on at full speed. But as they passed through a huge valley, the scene that suddenly appeared in front of them made all three stop their flight.


    Looking towards the vast valley ahead, one could see a snow-white streak of fleeing light flying at an extreme speed in the distance, followed by five brown-yellow streaks of fleeing light in hot pursuit.


    The martial artist within the snow-white fleeing light was clearly not as strong as the five chasing in the brown-yellow light, often having their distance closed in on, but whenever it happened, the snow-white light would emit an eye-stingingly bright blue glow.


    As soon as the blue light emitted, the speed of the snow-white escaping light greatly increased, and it quickly pulled away from the five brownish-yellow chasing lights behind it.


    In this manner, the distances would shrink and then expand as a total of six escaping lights dashed through the sky at extreme speeds. In just an instant, they were about to streak across the vast valley where Ye Chen was located.


    "Sigh, looks like it¡¯s another chase, probably that person in the front got hold of some treasure, which sparked the greed of those behind, prompting them to make a move and snatch it," Dongfang Xuanyi, standing next to Ye Chen, said as he watched the lights streaking across the sky at high speed.


    Wang Chen likewise said, "This happens every time the Nine Suns Ancient Land is opened. Each time, a third or even half of the martial artists fall not just because many die in the dangerous areas of the ancient land, but also at the hands of other martial artists."


    Although the two of them were discussing this, they had no intention of intervening.


    After all, for a martial artist, such chases and killings were all too common; having nothing to do with them, they wouldn¡¯t get involved without good reason.


    Even though they had no intention of stepping in, they noticed Ye Chen furrowing his brows as they spoke.


    "Ye Chen, you..." Before the two could inquire what was wrong, they saw Ye Chen suddenly soar into the skies, calling out toward the quickly approaching snow-white light, "Ningnin, what¡¯s going on?"


    "Ningnin?" Hearing Ye Chen directly call out a name, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were taken aback.


    Could it be that the fleeing person was acquainted with Ye Chen?


    While the two were still in shock, the fleeing snow-white light, having heard Ye Chen¡¯s voice reverberating across the skies, suddenly emitted a surprised and delighted voice of a female martial artist, "Ye Chen, is it you?!"


    Then, they saw the extremely fast snow-white light in the sky, with its blue luminosity shining brightly, make a few flashes before landing next to Ye Chen.


    Afterward, the escaping light dissipated, revealing the figure of the martial artist within.


    This was a white-robed young girl at the level of the Four Tribulations True God, and who else could it be but Nie Ningnin, a junior member of City Lord Nie¡¯s lineage?!


    When Ye Chen had first observed the fleeing snow-white light, he felt an extremely familiar aura emanating from it, and in a split second, he thought of Nie Ningnin, one of the seven juniors City Lord Nie had asked him to look after.


    Seeing that it was likely Nie Ningnin being pursued by five martial artists, Ye Chen naturally wouldn¡¯t stand by idly.


    And it turned out to be really Nie Ningnin!


    Ye Chen looked toward Nie Ningnin, who had now revealed herself, and saw her holding a blue amulet in her hand.


    Nie Ningnin¡¯s strength couldn¡¯t possibly sustain the extreme speed of flight she previously displayed; it must be the blue amulet in her hand providing her with special Divine Might, allowing her to continue escaping without being caught by the five pursuers. Explore stories on novelhall.Co?m


    "What happened?" Ye Chen asked, looking at Nie Ningnin.


    Seeing that it was indeed Ye Chen in front of her, Nie Ningnin¡¯s frantic heart suddenly calmed.


    She remembered the incredible stories about Ye Chen her great-uncle had told her before coming to the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Ye Chen was an exceptional genius who could overpower even an Upper God King like her great-uncle! Moreover, seeing that Ye Chen was asking about her situation, it was obvious that he intended to help her, which of course dispelled all of Nie Ningnin¡¯s worries.


    Nie Ningnin hastily said to Ye Chen, "After being transported to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, I happened to land in a place of opportunity and found a precious treasure. Somehow, those five people discovered my treasure and have been chasing me to take it... Fortunately, I have this Divine Power Amulet given to me by my great-uncle, or they would have succeeded!"


    "Ye Chen, the Divine Power in this amulet is almost depleted. If I hadn¡¯t run into you, I probably wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold on much longer!"


    Nie Ningnin¡¯s words quickly informed Ye Chen of the reason she was being pursued.


    It really was a case of someone trying to kill and steal a treasure!


    As Ye Chen was inquiring from Nie Ningnin, the five lights from the void also stopped in the heavens, revealing their figures.


    The figures within these five lights were five martial artists wearing brownish-yellow robes, all at the rank of Nine Tribulations True God.


    These five dressed in the same attire clearly came from the same place.


    Seeing that Nie Ningnin had taken refuge by Ye Chen¡¯s side, they scanned Ye Chen¡¯s face and then their gaze moved toward Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen.


    Upon sensing the aura of Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, the five brow-beaten figures twitched.


    However, upon clearly seeing the patterns on the garments of Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, they seemed to recall something and, with a sneer, shifted their gaze away.


    Then all five looked squarely at Ye Chen and Nie Ningnin, with one speaking forthrightly, "The item in this girl¡¯s possession is coveted by our ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯. It would be best for you all to not interfere. Otherwise, don¡¯t blame us for being rude."

 Chapter 689 - 641: Displaying Great Divine Might

    Nie Ningnin¡¯s heart skipped a beat when she saw that the five men pursuing her still dared to threaten them in front of Ye Chen and two other powerful Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, standing beside Ye Chen, also furrowed their brows and transmitted a message to Ye Chen, "These five men are from ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯! That ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯ is even stronger than the ¡¯Lingxuan God City¡¯ we belong to in the southern province big divine cities."


    "However, these five are not as strong as us," they continued to transmit, "yet they dare to threaten like this. Could it be that the truly formidable ¡¯Golden Light Quintuplets¡¯ of ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯ are also nearby?"


    As Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were speaking, the five men from Golden Light God City pursuing Nie Ningnin emitted a clear chirping sound at the same time.


    Upon hearing this chirp, all five of them were overjoyed, "The other five brothers are about to catch up! Haha, this time we don¡¯t have to worry anymore!"


    While overjoyed, in the gazes they directed at Nie Ningnin and Ye Chen, a trace of intent to kill was revealed.


    Murder and plunder for treasures.


    Clearly, they intended to seize the treasures on Nie Ningnin and had no plans to spare Nie Ningnin or Ye Chen, whom they could tell was quite familiar with her!


    The five men directly addressed Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, "Fellow daoists from ¡¯Lingxuan God City,¡¯ you must know the might of our five brothers. The gathering place of our ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯ in Nine Suns Ancient Land is not far from here; our brothers received our message earlier and have already transmitted that they are on their way. Our two divine cities do not interfere with each other¡¯s waters, so I advise you two to leave first."


    "As for the other two," the men heh-heh¡¯d coldly as they looked at Ye Chen and Nie Ningnin, "they can leave their lives here forever!"


    Clearly, the five men aimed to intimidate Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, while also planning to take the lives of Ye Chen and Nie Ningnin!


    In the eyes of the five, without the interference of Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, these two youths, mere Four Tribulations True Gods, would obviously be unable to escape from their palms.


    Upon hearing the five men¡¯s words, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen deeply furrowed their brows, but they hesitated for a moment and did not immediately leave.


    They knew the might of the ¡¯Golden Light Quintuplets¡¯ from Golden Light God City.


    The strength of each of those ¡¯Golden Light Quintuplets¡¯ was no weaker than theirs, and the two of them obviously couldn¡¯t overcome a fight against five.


    However, they were not willing to simply abandon Ye Chen and leave.


    On one hand, they had to go with Ye Chen to Flame Mountain to complete their mission; on the other hand, they vaguely felt that this youth, who could fight the Ice Shadow Fox calmly and composedly, must possess some formidable trump cards.


    They suspected that facing the ¡¯Golden Light Quintuplets,¡¯ he was not afraid. Your next read awaits at novelhall.Co?m


    Otherwise, this youth would have long since flown away with the girl who was fleeing for her life, instead of staying here with a calm demeanor.


    Seeing that Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen had not left, the five Nine Tribulations True Gods from Golden Light God City darkened their countenance, "Do the two of you really intend to meddle in this muddy water?"


    "Our five brothers will be here soon. If you do not leave by then, you can explain yourselves to our five brothers!"


    As the five men spoke, a terrifying sound of flying could be heard from the distant sky.


    In the void above, one could vaguely see five terrifying streaks of light speeding toward the valley!


    Upon catching sight of those five terrifying streaks of light, the men from Golden Light God City were again overjoyed, "Our five brothers are coming!"


    "Run now, I want to see how you escape?!" This time, when they looked at Ye Chen and Nie Ningnin, they no longer concealed the killing intent in their eyes!


    Witnessing the confidence of these five men, Ye Chen, who had remained silent, sighed.


    "Escape, why should we escape?"


    "You wish so ardently for us to die, to snatch our treasures, then you shall die first!"


    Boom!


    In an instant, Stellar Power exploded from Ye Chen¡¯s body, and at the same time, a sword light flashed between his eyebrows¡ªCrimson Fire Flying Sword suddenly shot out!


    When the Golden Light God City¡¯s group of five, who were certain they could take down Ye Chen and Nie Ningnin, saw the terrifying aura suddenly released by the Four Tribulations True God, their souls were completely shocked out of them!


    They could never have imagined that this Four Tribulations True God youth in front of them had hidden his strength so deeply that his combat power seemed to be no weaker than any of their five senior brothers!


    What was even more unexpected for them was that with their five senior brothers about to arrive any moment, this youth would still dare to strike!


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s flying sword hurtling toward them at extreme speed, the five of them were utterly terrified as they maneuvered their treasures to protect themselves while frantically fleeing.


    At the same time, a thought flashed through their minds, "He really has a death wish. Just wait until we dodge this move, and the next moment our five senior brothers arrive, you¡¯ll all be dead!"


    But as this thought crossed their minds, they were horrified to discover that their defensive treasures shattered almost simultaneously, and in the next moment, a fiery presence completely penetrated their skulls!


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The five fleeing Nine Tribulations True Gods fell from the void at nearly the same time, their corpses crashing heavily onto the ground.


    Their defensive treasures and even their True God Defensive Combat Power couldn¡¯t withstand Ye Chen¡¯s single move!


    To their deaths, these five True Gods would never have expected to perish at the hands of Ye Chen.


    After all, even their "Golden Light Quintuplets" senior brothers could not claim their lives with just one move like that. They had the ability to survive at least two moves from their senior brothers!


    Otherwise, they would never have dared to be so brazen towards Ye Chen!


    In almost the space of a breath, Ye Chen had killed the five Nine Tribulations True Gods from Golden Light God City!


    This terrifying attacking power also gave Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen a huge fright.


    They realized that a truly murderous Ye Chen was apparently more formidable than when he faced the Ice Shadow Fox; these five Nine Tribulations True Gods didn¡¯t have the formidable defenses of the Ice Shadow Fox and were no match for a single move from Ye Chen!


    Nie Ningnin¡¯s hands trembled with excitement as well.


    The young girl couldn¡¯t believe that faced with five from the Golden Light God City who were out for her life, and with powerful reinforcements on their way, Ye Chen remained so calm and even wiped them out with a single move!


    Seeing the terrifying flying sword that instantly killed five Nine Tribulations True Gods drawing a radiantly beautiful trail of light before returning to Ye Chen¡¯s side, the young girl finally understood that her great-uncle had not lied to her.


    Ye Chen was indeed many times more formidable than her great-uncle, City Lord Nie!


    While Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were in shock and Nie Ningnin¡¯s spirit shook with excitement, Ye Chen stood in the void, squinting at the five streaks of light speeding toward the sky.

 Chapter 690 - 642: Battle in the False Heavens

    Within the five streaks of light that flew in extremely fast from the Void Sky, were five youths dressed in dazzling golden Divine Robes.


    These five were none other than the renowned "Golden Light Quintuplets" from the various Divine Cities in the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom, all famous True Gods of the Nine Tribulations.


    Originally, when the "Golden Light Quintuplets" had seen from afar their five Divine City¡¯s True Gods of the Nine Tribulations surrounding two True Gods of the Four Tribulations, along with two other True Gods of the Nine Tribulations, they remained calm.


    But when they saw Ye Chen, a True God of Four Tribulations, suddenly make a move against the five True Gods of Nine Tribulations from their Divine City, they were both shocked and furious.


    The shock came from the fact that they hadn¡¯t expected a True God of Four Tribulations to possess such a terrifying aura of combat power.


    The fury came from the apparent disrespect; despite their arrival, this True God of the Four Tribulations still dared to make a move right in front of them!


    And when Ye Chen beheaded the five True Gods of the Nine Tribulations with a single sword strike, the "Golden Light Quintuplets" were no longer just shocked and furious, but a cold chill emanated from them.


    They hadn¡¯t expected this young True God of Four Tribulations to be so strong!


    He had killed five True Gods of Nine Tribulations in the blink of an eye!


    Even they were not this formidable!


    The idea of turning tail and fleeing without concerning themselves with this dispute crossed their minds in an instant. After all, even the sight of that terrifying sword light from the flying sword sent chills down their spines.


    However, thinking of the powerful treasures they had just successfully consecrated before setting off, the five regained their confidence.


    Also considering the plan that might fall apart due to the death of those five True Gods, the five streaks of light hesitated for a moment but still flew towards the vast valley where Ye Chen was located.


    After the five had stopped in the void not far from Ye Chen, they all looked at him with icily harsh eyes, "You¡¯ve got some nerve, killing our people from the ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯!"


    Hearing their words, Ye Chen shook his head and smiled, "Some nerve? They wanted to kill me, why shouldn¡¯t I kill them?"


    "As for this ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯? Sorry, never heard of it."


    Ye Chen¡¯s calm words nearly caused the five to plummet from the sky in anger.


    "You¡¯re quite the smooth talker, kid. I hope you can still laugh later!" They glared intensely at Ye Chen, then their gazes swept towards Dongfang Xuanyi, Wang Chen, and Nie Ningnin.


    Nie Ningnin was outright ignored by the five of them.


    But upon seeing Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, the five sneered, "So it¡¯s Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, the esteemed friends from ¡¯Lingxuan God City¡¯. It seems you two really don¡¯t show any respect towards our Golden Light God City!"


    This time, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen didn¡¯t say much, but both stepped closer to Ye Chen, standing even nearer to his side.


    Ye Chen¡¯s decisive action earlier utterly dispelled their intention to sit back and watch, truly allying themselves with him.


    Seeing the two¡¯s actions, the "Golden Light Quintuplets" grew even more sullen, and the leading youth among them laughed arrogantly towards the sky, "Wonderful, wonderful. It seems we five haven¡¯t killed in so long that our deterrence has decreased significantly!"


    "After all, it doesn¡¯t matter how many die in the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Since that¡¯s the case, the lot of you can just die!"


    "Bao, Chen, you two take on Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen. The three of us will execute this little one first!"


    As the youth spoke, he waved his hand and the five charged towards Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen.


    Three of them converged on Ye Chen, while the other two launched attacks at Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen respectively.


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    Clearly, the "Golden Light Quintuplets" had recognized Ye Chen¡¯s prowess and decided to focus on him first.


    Seeing that the five were really about to make a move, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze also flashed.


    With a grasp of his hand, he sent a transmission to Nie Ningnin and promptly put her into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to prevent the girl from being killed by the aftershocks of the battle.


    Then, Ye Chen directly said to Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, "I seem to have dragged you two sirs into this."


    "Not at all, Ye Chen sir. Since we¡¯re teamed up, we¡¯re in this together. Let¡¯s face this trouble as one," Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen replied, each activating their own Divine Artifacts.


    As they spoke, the "Golden Light Quintuplets" already bore down upon the three of them.


    Dongfang Xuanyi¡¯s Divine Artifact was a blood-red greatsword, which he wielded to directly meet one of the "Golden Light Quintuplets."


    Wang Chen, on the other hand, brought forth a mirror-like Divine Artifact to face another one of the youths.


    The three converging on Ye Chen seemed to be the most formidable of the "Golden Light Quintuplets," with two of them displaying a flash of divine light in their hands, each wielding a golden divine banner.


    As soon as these two golden divine banners appeared, they radiated a powerful divine light.


    This divine light even had the might to make time and space stagnate, causing Ye Chen¡¯s movements to pause for an instant.


    At that moment, the third member, also the most formidable leader of the "Golden Light Quintuplets," flashed a divine light on his hand and unsheathed a pair of scissors-shaped, powerful divine artifact.


    The divine artifact, originally the size of a palm, instantly expanded to dozens of feet in size. Just as Ye Chen¡¯s movements were frozen by two golden divine banners, a flash of divine light on the giant scissors-shaped artifact clamped towards him, threatening to cut him in half!


    "A top-notch divine artifact, the ¡¯Void Sky Shears¡¯!" Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, who were in fierce battle with two other members of the "Golden Light Quintuplets," exclaimed in shock upon seeing the mighty scissors-shaped divine artifact wielded by the leading youth, "This is one of the three treasures of the Golden Light God City, and you¡¯ve actually brought it out!"


    As they saw Ye Chen¡¯s movements come to a sudden halt and the "Void Sky Shears" looming in front of him, both felt a chill in their hearts and screamed toward Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, be careful!"


    It was too late for them to save Ye Chen. The top-notch divine artifact "Void Sky Shears" was extremely powerful. Even as they spoke, it had already closed upon Ye Chen.


    Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen felt a cold surge in their hearts and inwardly cried out in alarm.


    As they couldn¡¯t help but look towards Ye Chen, something astonishing happened.


    The "Void Sky Shears," rumored to even slice a Divine King Realm warrior in half, killing them instantly, emitted an ear-piercing noise upon touching Ye Chen.


    As if obstructed by some powerful object, the "Void Sky Shears" couldn¡¯t cut through Ye Chen at all and were instead deflected directly off his body.


    This completely shocked Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen.


    You see, this top-notch divine artifact, when wielded by a higher-level Divine King, could kill even another of its kind!


    Even now, wielded by the likes of the "Golden Light Quintuplets," who were mere True Gods of the Nine Tribulations, and unable to unleash the full might of the "Void Sky Shears," it would still be easy for them to slay a lower-ranking Divine King or even a slightly weaker middle-ranking Divine King!


    And now, this extraordinary top-notch divine artifact was rendered ineffective in front of Ye Chen, a True God of the Four Tribulations. How could that not utterly astound Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen?


    The two of them instantly recalled the time when Ye Chen had repelled the attacks of the Ice Shadow Fox, effortlessly deflecting its assaults.


    In an instant, they understood that Ye Chen must possess an extraordinary defensive magical treasure, a protective divine artifact that even the top-notch "Void Sky Shears" couldn¡¯t breach!


    Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were extraordinarily surprised, but the three members of the "Golden Light Quintuplets" who surrounded Ye Chen were equally shocked, their eyes nearly popping out of their sockets!


    They had already been immensely surprised by the strength of Ye Chen¡¯s assaults.


    They had not anticipated that Ye Chen¡¯s defensive capabilities seemed far more formidable than his offensive power, by countless measures!


    What these three didn¡¯t know was that the "Star Blue Divine Robe" Ye Chen wore was crafted from a supreme celestial artifact¡ªthe "rag" itself.


    This Divine Robe, let alone a top-notch divine artifact, even the attacks from a true higher-ranking Divine King couldn¡¯t breach it. Even a slightly weaker Divine Sovereign who managed to tear the robe would find it healing rapidly.


    These "Golden Light Quintuplets," merely True Gods of the Nine Tribulations, thought they could wield the "Void Sky Shears" to slay Ye Chen?


    They were dreaming!


    After the "Void Sky Shears" failed to cut, the control the two golden divine banners had over Ye Chen was also completely nullified.


    Ye Chen instantly broke free from the feeling of being stuck in a time and space limbo.


    "Hmm, these three artifacts work well together!" Ye Chen looked at the three men, whose eyes were wide with astonishment, and also at the two golden divine banners and the scissors-shaped divine artifact.


    Upon seeing that Ye Chen had broken free from restraint and was now looking at them, the leading youth of the "Golden Light Quintuplets" cried out, "Keep controlling him, don¡¯t let him make a move!"


    As he spoke, the leading youth once again drove the "Void Sky Shears" towards Ye Chen, while the other two once again waved the golden divine banners.


    "You still wish to trap me?" Ye Chen said with a cold laugh.


    He had been caught off guard by the golden divine banners before, but having sensed their divine might when breaking free, he was certainly not going to be controlled by them again.


    Ye Chen¡¯s figure flashed and vanished directly into thin air.


    The next moment, Ye Chen appeared behind one of the three men wielding the golden divine banners, reaching out with a giant cyan hand to grab him.


    This young man was indeed much more formidable than the five who had perished earlier; sensing Ye Chen¡¯s attack, he immediately unleashed the divine power within him. At the same time, the golden Divine Robe he wore transformed into a spiked armor.


    The force of the colossal cyan hand that Ye Chen conjured was significantly diminished by the armor.


    The entire cyan hand was completely dissipated by the youth.


    As the youth blocked Ye Chen¡¯s attack and managed a cold smile, he and the other two quickly faced Ye Chen, ready to strike again.


    At that moment, however, the youth suddenly felt an immense sword cry resonate within his mind, as if his brain were struck by a gigantic drum, plunging him into dizziness and stupor instantly.


    And in that split second of confusion, Ye Chen¡¯s "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword had already made its deadly advance towards the young man.


    The youth hadn¡¯t recovered from his stupor when he was pierced through the head by the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword," falling straight down from the void.

 Chapter 691 - 643: Secret Treasure Map

    ```


    The young man, he was actually killed by Ye Chen with a single move in the arena!


    This outcome truly turned the remaining four of the "Golden Light Quintuplets" completely cold.


    They had previously recognized Ye Chen¡¯s prowess and had prepared for a three-on-one assault. Moreover, they possessed powerful treasures, and all five had thought they could definitely suppress Ye Chen.


    They never expected that their powerful treasures would not even harm Ye Chen. Instead, in the blink of an eye, one of their five had fallen!


    "Retreat!"


    They couldn¡¯t see how Ye Chen had blocked the "Void Sky Shears," let alone how he made the previously killed young man instantly succumb to dizziness and confusion before being struck down. The remaining four of the "Golden Light Quintuplets" didn¡¯t dare to engage Ye Chen any longer.


    The four only wanted to flee as far as possible!


    After the leader among the youths trembled out the word "retreat," he quickly fled with the youth beside him who had been attacking Ye Chen, while the other two, who had been fighting Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, also abandoned them and fled swiftly.


    Only Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were left behind, staring dumbfounded.


    Seeing the killed youth, they were stunned for a moment, then seemed to think of something and hurriedly shouted to Ye Chen, "Fellow Ye Chen, don¡¯t let these four escape, otherwise a great trouble will befall us!"


    When they looked over to where Ye Chen was standing, Ye Chen¡¯s figure was nowhere to be seen; he had already vanished from the spot.


    The next moment, they saw Ye Chen appear behind the leader of the "Golden Light Quintuplets."


    At the same time, they saw three snow-white puppets appear behind the other three.


    "Fellow, do you not think it¡¯s too late to flee now?" Ye Chen asked the leader calmly.


    He certainly wouldn¡¯t let these four just escape.


    Not to mention that these four had sought to kill him earlier, and he couldn¡¯t easily pardon them, but also the "Golden Light God City" they represented¡ªYe Chen couldn¡¯t let these four get away easily.


    By killing these four in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, all their grudges could be completely resolved. If he let these four leave, when they left the Nine Suns Ancient Land, there¡¯s no telling what troubles they would stir up.


    Ye Chen intended to completely solve this trouble!


    Seeing that the four instantly fled, each in a different direction, Ye Chen directly summoned the three "Ice Cave Puppets," activating their strongest combat power to stop three of them.


    He himself pursued directly after the leader.


    The leading youth suddenly saw Ye Chen appear behind him and his heart jolted with shock, his voice trembling: "Your name is Ye Chen, right? What do you want to do? If you kill me, my Golden Light God City will never let you go until I¡¯m avenged!"


    "Never let me go until you¡¯re avenged?" Ye Chen snorted coldly, "When you were about to kill me earlier, why didn¡¯t you consider that?!"


    "Die!"


    Boom!


    In the midst of Ye Chen¡¯s cold snort, an invisible sword wave that no one could see blasted toward the leader.


    Then, something eerie happened.


    The leader, like the one who was executed earlier, instantly felt as if his brain was shaken by a huge drum, completely plunging into dizziness.


    He didn¡¯t even manage to execute a defensive move!


    Before he could regain his senses, Ye Chen¡¯s "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" struck his body.


    When the terrifying stellar power of the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" burst forth fully, all the Divine Power within the leader¡¯s body began to be utterly crushed.


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes flashed sharply, and he suddenly flew in front of the dazed leader.


    With a grab at the dizzy leader¡¯s head, the "Soul Searching Technique" was directly employed, searching the leader¡¯s Divine Soul.


    By the time the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" had completely killed off the Divine Power within the leader¡¯s body, Ye Chen had finished searching the soul.


    With a snort from Ye Chen, the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" pierced the leader¡¯s head completely through, and then Ye Chen casually threw the leader¡¯s lifeless body onto the ground.


    Boom!


    The corpse hit the ground, kicking up dust and debris.


    While Ye Chen was executing this man, the three "Ice Cave Puppets" that had acted on the other side had already killed the other three even faster.


    The strongest combat power of the "Ice Cave Puppets" could reach the level of a real Middle God King, whereas these three were only in the Nine Tribulations realm. No matter how strong they were, how could they match the Ice Cave Puppets?


    In an instant, the corpses of the three also fell to the ground.


    Then, the three "Ice Cave Puppets" shrank instantaneously, returning to the size of a palm and flew back to Ye Chen¡¯s hand, where he stored them again in the Spatial Treasure.


    From the time Ye Chen first killed one, to the four turning to flee, and then to Ye Chen pursuing and killing all four, it was all but a moment¡¯s work.


    Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen standing by were simply astonished!


    ```


    They could never have imagined that in the blink of an eye, all five of the "Golden Light Quintuplets" had been killed by Ye Chen!


    They didn¡¯t even have the strength to resist!


    The two of them had no idea, for previously, when Ye Chen had fought the "Ice Shadow Fox," he hadn¡¯t intended to use all his techniques.


    Now, facing the four "Golden Light Quintuplets" trying to flee, he naturally wouldn¡¯t leave any troubles behind, so he directly took out the "Ice Cave Puppet" and executed three of them.


    As for the method that instantly dazed the other two and led to their deaths...


    It was the embryonic form of attack of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation"¡¯s fourth sword!


    During the battle with the "Ice Shadow Fox," Ye Chen had gained new insights into the soul attack Heaven-reaching Divine Art, "Nine Swords of Annihilation."


    The fourth sword of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" is a move even more powerful than the first three, named "Qiankun Shake"!


    Once this move is executed, it can instantly make the entire universe tremble, and everyone within this space¡ªbe it their physical body, qi, or Divine Soul¡ªwill be thrown into chaos and dizziness.


    Although Ye Chen had not yet fully grasped this move and was unable to shake a large expanse of the universe, after gaining a superficial understanding and releasing an unexpected soul attack, he managed to catch the "Golden Light Quintuplets" completely off guard, directly killing two of them.


    If it weren¡¯t for his rudimentary grasp of this fourth sword move, Ye Chen could still have killed the two, but it wouldn¡¯t have been so easy and would have taken more effort.


    "Senior Ku Du once said that if I fully comprehend the first four swords of ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation,¡¯ I wouldn¡¯t have to fear anyone in the assessment of the nine divine institutes when it comes to soul techniques. This fourth sword is indeed terrifyingly powerful, belonging to the true high level of Heaven-reaching Divine Arts!"


    "It seems that while I need to focus on raising my realm, I should also work on fully understanding the fourth sword of ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation¡¯!"


    After pondering for a while, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned directly towards the ground.


    On the ground, aside from the corpses of the "Golden Light Quintuplets," there were also their magical treasures, the "Void Sky Shears," the golden divine banner, and other treasures.


    With a gesture, Ye Chen seized the magical treasures that the five had dropped, along with the Spatial Treasures on their bodies, all flying towards him.


    "No wonder these ten true gods from ¡¯Golden Light God City¡¯ would meet here. It turns out that together, they were also plotting after the same thing."


    A thought crossed Ye Chen¡¯s mind, and he found a "Secret Treasure Map" within the spatial treasure of the lead youth.


    Previously, when killing the lead youth, Ye Chen deliberately performed a Soul Searching Technique in a flash, wanting to see what exactly these ten true gods from "Golden Light God City" were planning to do in the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Unexpectedly, this soul search yielded an unexpected gain.


    It turns out that "Golden Light God City," just like Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen¡¯s "Lingxuan God City," found an unclaimed treasure location during the last opening of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    The "Lingxuan God City" of Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen discovered "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" within the Flame Mountain.


    And the treasure discovered by "Golden Light God City" was even more precious than the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds," located in the most profound part of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, in a treasure spot within "Nine Suns Realm."


    Originally, an Upper God King from the Golden Light God City planned to personally claim the treasure, but due to Long Li¡¯s arrival in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the entry slots for God Kings became extremely precious.


    As a result, that Upper God King from Golden Light God City naturally missed the chance to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and he had to entrust the treasure-hunting task to ten true gods of the Golden Light God City.


    These ten true gods, five of whom were extraordinarily powerful, and the other five, though weaker, practiced a set of special formations. Combined with treasures like the "Void Sky Shears" and the golden divine banner, retrieving the treasure shouldn¡¯t have been too difficult.


    However, the Upper God King from the Golden Light God City would never have imagined that all ten true gods from "Golden Light God City" would die at the hands of Ye Chen.


    Even the secret of the "treasure spot" fell into Ye Chen¡¯s hands.


    "According to the soul memory of that lead youth, the ¡¯Secret Treasure Map¡¯ involves an ancient Heaven-reaching tree. If I enter it, there would also be a shocking gain..."


    "After I deal with the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds matter in the Fiery Realm¡¯s ¡¯Flame Mountain,¡¯ I¡¯ll head to the Nine Suns Realm to see what that Heaven-reaching ancient tree is really like..."


    While Ye Chen was contemplating, he flipped his hand, and the "Secret Treasure Map" disappeared from his grasp.


    Then, Ye Chen turned to Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen with a smile. "Fellow Daoists, you lent a hand just now. The treasures from the true gods you fought with earlier belong to you."


    Ye Chen directly threw the Spatial Treasures from two of them towards Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen.


    Looking at Ye Chen once again, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen no longer regarded him as an equal but had truly recognized Ye Chen as an absolute powerhouse.


    After all, joking aside, a Four Tribulations true god who instantly killed five powerful Nine Tribulations true gods¡ªtheir inexplicable methods were even beyond their comprehension.


    They had seen a powerful Combat Puppet like the "Ice Cave Puppet" before, but the method Ye Chen used to kill the lead youth, rendering him completely unable to defend himself, was something they had never seen!


    This was not a technique any ordinary Martial Artist could possess.


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    The two guessed that Ye Chen¡¯s background was probably countless times stronger than their own!


    If it weren¡¯t for their concern about completing their task and a feeling that Ye Chen had no intention of threatening them, they probably would have lacked the courage to even follow Ye Chen to "Flame Mountain."


    At this moment, the two certainly would not accept the items Ye Chen threw at them.

 Chapter 692 - 644: Black Mist Valley

    Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen both smiled, "Fellow Taoist Ye Chen, you killed these five people, so you should take all their belongings. We two didn¡¯t exert much effort."


    After some polite refusals, seeing that Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen insisted, Ye Chen could only accept the items.


    These "Golden Light Quintuplets," as the renowned Nine-Tribulation True Gods from the Golden Light God City, carried items of significant value. Not to mention various treasures, the Black Divine Coins alone amounted to several million.


    Originally, after purchasing the "Divine Thunder Pearl" and the Divine Stones for controlling the ice puppets, Ye Chen was running low on Black Divine Coins. Now, having acquired several million Black Divine Coins from the Golden Light Quintuplets, he had stumbled upon an unexpected windfall.


    Of course, the most valuable were the two golden divine banners and the "Void Sky Shears."


    Especially the "Void Sky Shears," an exceptional Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, ranking at the same level as Ye Chen¡¯s "Crimson Fire" flying sword.


    If it weren¡¯t for Ye Chen wearing the "Star Blue Divine Garment," forged from the rudimentary form of a supreme heavenly item, and having the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" taught by the powerful nine-star Sovereign Ku Du, he might have truly fallen into the hands of the Golden Light Quintuplets.


    "The Void Sky Shears have not yet recognized a master. I¡¯ve found the method to activate them from the soul of the young leader, so I can try to refine them and use them as a powerful treasure."


    "Now that this matter is over, it¡¯s time to head to the ¡¯Flame Mountain¡¯ in the Fiery Realm."


    "But before that, there¡¯s another matter to attend to..."


    With a thought, Ye Chen let Nie Ningnin, who had been hiding from the battle inside the jade pendant, fly out from the pendant.


    "Fellow Taoist Nie Ningnin, I will be heading to the Fiery Realm with these two fellow Taoists. What are your plans?" Ye Chen glanced at Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, then turned to Nie Ningnin with a smile.


    "Ye Chen!" Nie Ningnin¡¯s eyes shone brightly as she looked at Ye Chen.


    The girl never expected that her granduncle, City Lord Nie, asking Ye Chen to help them in the Nine Suns Ancient Land if possible would result in Ye Chen actually saving her life!


    Not only did he slay the five Nine-Tribulation True Gods pursuing her, but even the five stronger True Gods who arrived later were no match for Ye Chen.


    Nie Ningnin¡¯s admiration for Ye Chen reached its ultimate extent.


    The girl flipped her palm, and a ruler-shaped treasure emitting a faint blue divine light appeared in her fair hand: "This treasure is a high-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact. I stumbled upon it and was pursued by those five because of it."


    "Ye Chen, if not for you, I would definitely be dead by their hands by now. Take this treasure; as a Four Tribulations True God, I¡¯m not yet capable of truly wielding its power."


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    A high-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact?


    Ye Chen looked at the ruler-shaped treasure in Nie Ningnin¡¯s palm, emitting a faint blue divine light, and saw that the restrictions on it were extraordinarily powerful; it seemed to be a rather impressive attack-type Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact.


    Though it did not compare to the "Crimson Fire" flying sword and the "Void Sky Shears," such top-tier Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts, many a God King would likely covet this item.


    No wonder the slightly weaker Nine-Tribulation True Gods from Golden Light God City relentlessly pursued Nie Ningnin, eager to snatch this treasure from her.


    However, precious as the treasure was, Ye Chen certainly wouldn¡¯t take it.


    He had killed the "Golden Light Quintuplets" and collected their items as an afterthought, but this ruler-shaped treasure was Nie Ningnin¡¯s chance encounter, and of course, he wouldn¡¯t take it away.


    "Fellow Taoist Nie Ningnin, keep the treasure safe. If I were to take it from you, wouldn¡¯t I be no different from those who pursued you?" Ye Chen said with a smile, shaking his head.


    At the same time, Ye Chen also advised, "Although you can¡¯t fully wield this artifact yet, you should claim it as your own as soon as possible, to prevent others from sensing it and causing further trouble."


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s earnest expression, with no intention of taking the treasure, Nie Ningnin bit her lip and nodded, "Thank you, Ye Chen."


    "I hadn¡¯t had the chance to claim the treasure when those five pursued me, nearly allowing the treasure to fall into their hands!"


    Then, with Ye Chen watching, the girl immediately consecrated the ruler-shaped treasure as her own, storing it on her person.


    After successfully consecrating the treasure, Nie Ningnin relaxed quite a bit. She looked at Ye Chen and smiled, "Ye Chen, it¡¯s all thanks to you that I was able to come to the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "Acquiring this high-grade Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact was an unexpected gain I couldn¡¯t have even dreamed of. I¡¯m already more than satisfied. I plan to head straight to the safe zone in the Icy Realm, to wait for the day we leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "Straight to the safe zone in the Icy Realm?" Ye Chen was taken aback and then nodded, "Then let me escort you there. In that place, you indeed have nothing to worry about."


    The Nine Suns Ancient Land¡¯s three regions, the Icy Realm, the Fiery Realm, and the Nine Suns Realm, each have a safe zone.


    These safe zones were specifically constructed by the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    If the martial artists who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land were unable to withstand the threats, they could take refuge in these safe zones.


    In the safe zones, guarded by powerful warriors from the Southern Territory King Mansion, neither the various perils of the Nine Suns Ancient Land could reach the people there, nor was slaying among martial artists permitted within the safe realms.


    Indeed, the safe zones were the safest places in the perilous Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    Of course, exploring the Nine Suns Ancient Land isn¡¯t as simple as allowing anyone to just hide in a safety zone. The Southern Territory King Mansion has a rule: once you enter a safety zone, you can¡¯t leave it again, and when the exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land is over, you¡¯ll be directly teleported out.


    That means, once you enter a safety zone, you forfeit any further chance to explore the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Because of this, even if it¡¯s incredibly dangerous outside, the martial artists who enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land rarely take refuge in safety zones¡ªunless they absolutely can¡¯t withstand the danger or feel their haul is sufficient enough to justify retreating into these areas.


    As for Nie Ningnin¡¯s decision, Ye Chen actually agreed with her.


    After all, Nie Ningnin was merely at the Four Tribulations True God Realm, and the Nine Suns Ancient Land really was too dangerous for her. The Icy Realm was manageable, but the Fiery Realm and the Nine Suns Realm were absolutely off-limits for her, since her chances of survival in those places were probably less than ten percent.


    Now that she had acquired a top-quality Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, going to a safety zone to wait for the exploration to end and then leave was indeed a good choice.


    "Since friend Nie Ningnin wishes to go to the safety zone of the Icy Realm, let¡¯s escort her there first and then head to the Fiery Realm," Ye Chen said to Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen.


    Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen smiled, "Since we¡¯ve already found all our ¡¯Snow Crystals¡¯ and don¡¯t have anything else to do¡ªand there are still two days before the meeting time we arranged with the others in the ¡¯Black Mist Valley¡¯¡ªescorting this friend won¡¯t cause any delays."


    "Let¡¯s go, then. We¡¯ll take this friend to the safety zone first!"


    Amidst the laughter, Wang Chen glanced at the corpses of the two batches of ten Nine Tribulations True Gods from the Golden Light God City on the ground, and with a flick of his finger, ten bursts of flame shot towards the corpses.


    With a "boom", the flames ignited into rolling infernos, burning the ten corpses to ashes.


    Then, Wang Chen, along with Ye Chen, Nie Ningnin, and Dongfang Xuanyi, left the vast valley and headed towards the safety zone of the Icy Realm.


    The vast valley returned to its previous silence.


    Unknown to all, ten True Gods from the divine nation¡¯s Southern Territory grand God City, the Golden Light God City, had completely fallen here.


    ...


    Black Mist Valley is a famous valley in the second region of the Nine Suns Ancient Land called the Fiery Realm.


    The entire valley was shrouded in darkness.


    On the black earth, terrifying black flames burned continuously, creating the illusion of drifting black mist when seen from afar.


    The whole valley was like a massive black fire basin.


    This place was where Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen had agreed to meet the other four before going to Flame Mountain to collect Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.


    At this moment, four figures were standing in the mid-air of Black Mist Valley.


    These figures, two men and two women, were all at the Nine Tribulations True God Realm.


    Their strength was quite formidable and they seemed on par with Dongfang Xuanyi, Wang Chen, and the Golden Light Quintuplets.


    Otherwise, they wouldn¡¯t have been able to stay so relaxed in the Black Mist Valley, where the terrifying black flames burned and many lesser True Gods dare not enter.


    At this time, the two men and two women were quietly conversing.


    The two male Nine Tribulations True Gods wore white and grey robes, respectively.


    The two female martial artists, one was tall and slender, and the other was petite and lovely.


    The tall and graceful female martial artist raised her eyebrows and said, "How come Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen are taking so long to get here? It¡¯s only the small Icy Realm, it shouldn¡¯t have been able to stop the two of them!"


    Even though this female martial artist had delicate features, her tone was quite commanding and imposing.


    The petite and lovely martial artist beside her lightly smiled, "Ruan sister, there¡¯s no need to worry. We¡¯re the ones who arrived early. There¡¯s still more than a day left before our agreed upon time."


    "Little sister Bi, I have important matters to handle after dealing with Flame Mountain. I would prefer to go as soon as possible rather than waste too much time here," Warrior Ruan replied with a cold huff, not appeased by the petite warrior Bi¡¯s words.


    The young man in white clothes also chimed in with a smile, "Warrior Ruan is the most powerful among our group. With her joining us on this expedition, the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds are as good as ours. You must know that Ruan sister is famously skilled, ranking third at the ¡¯Tai Wu Divine Institute¡¯ among the nine great divine institutes."


    Upon hearing the young man¡¯s words of admiration, the tall and graceful female martial artist, Ruan Yuan, allowed a flash of pride to cross her face, before modestly saying, "The strength of the three companions here is also enough for entry into the great divine institutes; it¡¯s just that you haven¡¯t taken the assessment yet. After we leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the assessment day for the nine great divine institutes will soon arrive, and then you three will be able to join too."


    At the mention of the assessment for the nine great divine institutes, both of the male warriors and the petite female warrior Bi showed a look of longing in their eyes.


    Bi thought, "After waiting so long, I¡¯ve finally got a spot for the assessment of the nine great divine institutes. This time in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, I must gather as many treasures as possible to prepare for the upcoming assessment!"


    While Bi was silently musing to herself, the quiet man in grey clothes suddenly looked towards the sky at three rapidly approaching figures, a glint in his eye, "Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen are coming!"


    "Oh? It seems there¡¯s another acquaintance arriving. Could it be that they are also part of our expedition group?"

 Chapter 693 - 645 Red-Crowned Fire Python and Green Flame Grass

    ```


    The gray-clothed martial artist spoke, and the other three also turned to look into the distant void.


    When they saw that one of them had the aura of a Four Tribulations true god, the slender and graceful female martial artist "Ruan Yuan" raised her eyebrows slightly. "Hmm, why is there a Four Tribulations true god?"


    "Could it be that Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen have also invited this person for our mission?"


    "To pick ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds,¡¯ we have to face an ancient beast of the Middle God King level. Do they think this is a joke? When they arrive, I must ask them properly!"


    Ruan Yuan, with her eyebrows tightly knit, was clearly quite dissatisfied.


    "Perhaps this person has some unique abilities to be invited. Friends Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen who summoned us for this task wouldn¡¯t act recklessly," said the petite and adorable female martial artist "Bi" softly.


    "A Four Tribulations true god, no matter how special, cannot be that extraordinary!" Ruan Yuan snorted coldly.


    As the four of them were conversing, three figures in the sky finally flew into the Black Mist Valley.


    These three figures were none other than Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen, who after escorting Nie Ningnin to a safe area in the Icy Realm, had hurried to the Fiery Realm.


    All three were entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land for the first time.


    After stepping into the Fiery Realm from the Icy Realm with the help of ten thousand Snow Crystals to traverse the boundary barrier, Ye Chen and his companions were deeply moved.


    The Fiery Realm was even more vigorously dense with true qi than the Icy Realm they had previously been in.


    Moreover, in stark contrast to the bone-chilling cold of the Icy Realm, the Fiery Realm was a completely scorching expanse.


    The terrifying ancient beasts living within were more than tenfold in number compared to the Icy Realm.


    En route to Black Mist Valley, the trio encountered attacks by lower God King level beasts no less than ten times.


    Naturally, the trio made no small gains; along the way, they each collected two to three thousand Fire Crystals.


    Just as "Snow Crystals" were the pass to enter the Fiery Realm from the Icy Realm, "Fire Crystals" are the pass to enter the deepest part of the Nine Suns Realm from the Fiery Realm, and Ye Chen and his companions needed to collect them as well. Continue reading stories on novelhall.Co?m


    Escorting Nie Ningnin, battling ancient beasts, and collecting "Fire Crystals," delayed their journey considerably, and by the time they arrived at Black Mist Valley, the other four were already waiting there.


    "The four friends have arrived so quickly!"


    As they landed beside the four, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen immediately addressed Ruan Yuan and her companions with smiles.


    At the same time, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen began introducing the identities of the four to Ye Chen.


    "This tall, beautiful female martial artist is our senior sister from Tai Wu Divine Institute, Ruan Yuan. Friend Ye Chen, Senior Sister Ruan Yuan is even more powerful than the two of us, and in Tai Wu Divine Institute, she has been adored by many male martial artists," they first introduced the slender and graceful female martial artist "Ruan Yuan."


    Ye Chen glanced at "Ruan Yuan" and noticed that although she possessed a somewhat delicate and beautiful face, her eyes and thin lips made her appear quite harsh and difficult to get along with.


    Having someone like Jiang Yao, a beauty beyond compare, and having seen Divine Lady Long Li who was on par with Jiang Yao, Ye Chen was unimpressed.


    Not to mention Ruan Yuan¡¯s looks were no match for Jiang Yao¡¯s and Long Li¡¯s, even their demeanor was far from Ruan Yuan¡¯s reach.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t say much about Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen¡¯s praises for Ruan Yuan, merely smiling and nodding at her before shifting his gaze to the other three.


    Upon hearing Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen¡¯s words of praise, Ruan Yuan¡¯s face revealed a faint smile.


    Although her appearance did not rival that of the stunning Divine Lady Long Li, she was indeed popular in Tai Wu Divine Institute, and was nearly always the center of attention wherever she went.


    Ruan Yuan thoroughly enjoyed this feeling.


    However, when she noticed that the Four Tribulations true god youth in Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen¡¯s company merely gave her a cursory glance before moving on, the smile on Ruan Yuan¡¯s face stiffened a bit. She frowned slightly and asked, "I still don¡¯t know the name of this Four Tribulations true god friend!"


    Ruan Yuan deliberately emphasized the words "Four Tribulations true god," her tone carrying a hint of mockery.


    "This is Friend Ye Chen!" Upon hearing Ruan Yuan emphasize the words "Four Tribulations true god" with a tone of disdain, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were taken aback.


    They knew well the extent of Ye Chen¡¯s prowess!


    Even for their senior sister Ruan Yuan, they were aware that she was definitely no match for Ye Chen.


    ```


    If it weren¡¯t for Ye Chen mentioning it to the two on the way, telling them not to reveal his method of killing the Golden Light Quintuplets to avoid trouble, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen couldn¡¯t wait to speak of Ye Chen¡¯s wonders directly to the four people in front of them.


    Although they knew that Ye Chen was reluctant to reveal his trump cards, both of them were also unwilling to see Ye Chen being belittled. Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen said to Ruan Yuan, "Sister Ruan Yuan, Martial Artist Ye Chen is actually very strong, not as simple as his realm appears!"


    "Oh?" Ruan Yuan frowned slightly. Just as she was about to ask more, Ye Chen smiled and shook his head.


    He certainly had no desire to show off to this stranger.


    Ye Chen turned to the other three, "I still don¡¯t know the names of these other three Martial Artists."


    Distracted by Ye Chen¡¯s change of subject, Ruan Yuan felt a twinge of irritation: "Hmph, I¡¯d like to see just how formidable you are. Flame Mountain is no ordinary place; once inside, if you are not strong enough, you¡¯ll surely suffer!"


    Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, unaware of Ruan Yuan¡¯s thoughts, introduced the remaining three to Ye Chen upon hearing his inquiry.


    "This lady Martial Artist is named ¡¯Chen Bi¡¯; the one in white is called ¡¯He Ye¡¯; and the one in gray is called ¡¯Tang Xuan¡¯. These three are well-known powerful Nine Tribulations True Gods from our Lingxuan God City."


    The other three did not have the same overbearing airs as Ruan Yuan; they all gave Ye Chen a smiling salute.


    "The three of us couldn¡¯t compare to sister Ruan Yuan, Dongfang, and Martial Artist Wang Chen. Sister Ruan Yuan is quite famous among the True Gods of Tai Wu Divine Institute. Dongfang and Martial Artist Wang Chen have also joined the Tai Wu Divine Institute and are outstanding talents from the mansion of the city lord of Lingxuan God City. Plus, with Martial Artist Ye Chen, our trip to Flame Mountain now seems to have a greater chance of success," the white-clad youth spoke smoothly, complimenting everyone around him.


    After the introductions, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen didn¡¯t indulge in much idle chat.


    Dongfang Xuanyi directly said, "Originally, we planned for six people to work together, but on the way, we met Martial Artist Ye Chen, so for this trip to Flame Mountain, the seven of us will act together."


    "As for the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯, we¡¯ll stick to the usual rule. Whatever we get, the seven of us will share equally."


    Ye Chen, Chen Bi, He Ye, and Tang Xuan all nodded their heads, Ruan Yuan glanced at Ye Chen and then nodded as well.


    Seeing this, Wang Chen smiled and added, "The place in Flame Mountain that has the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯, Dongfang and I will lead everyone there."


    "However, before we set off, we must also remind all Martial Artists."


    "The Fiery Realm is already much more dangerous than the Icy Realm, and Flame Mountain, being situated deeper within the Fiery Realm, is even more perilous. Even though our strength is strong among the Nine Tribulations True Gods and even sufficient to suppress quite a few Lower God Kings, we must still act with caution!"


    "Otherwise, if anyone were to fall in this Nine Suns Ancient Land, they would be dead without a trace!"


    Hearing Wang Chen¡¯s words, the remaining six nodded solemnly.


    The Nine Suns Ancient Land is a remnant of the Heavenly Divine Venerable, with many ferocious ancient beasts released by the Southern Territory King Mansion, and numerous dangerous checkpoints established.


    Even Middle God Kings would not dare to say they could be absolutely safe, let alone that they were just Nine Tribulations True Gods!


    "However, everyone need not worry too much. The Divine King relative who informed us of the secret of the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯ has already scouted Flame Mountain. He has told us much about the dangers, so as long as we are cautious, there should not be any major problems."


    "We will work together to deal with the ancient beasts around Flame Mountain."


    "The main thing to look out for is the demonic beast guarding the Fire Lotus area in the depths of Flame Mountain¡ªa Middle God King level ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯! This ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ is said to have a strength that is almost on par with an Upper God King. To obtain the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, this ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ is our biggest challenge!" Dongfang Xuanyi added.


    Hearing about the guarding beast "Red-Crowned Fire Python" having a strength close to that of an Upper God King made everyone¡¯s expressions change, even Ruan Yuan and Ye Chen became truly serious.


    The gray-clad youth "Tang Xuan" even showed a fearful expression, "A strength close to that of an Upper God King... the few of us absolutely can¡¯t match that!"


    At this point, Wang Chen waved his hands, "Of course, obtaining the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds won¡¯t be easy, but we haven¡¯t come unprepared."


    "On this trip, the Divine King of our family bestowed upon us a Divine Treasure, called ¡¯Green Flame Grass.¡¯" Wang Chen flipped his hand, and three foot-long green plants with faintly distinctive fiery patterns naturally grown on them were revealed, encased in a white jade box.


    Ye Chen noticed that this "Green Flame Grass" emitted a faint fishy scent, and what was more extraordinary was the unusual flame patterns that naturally grew in rings around the three green grasses.


    Wang Chen explained, "This ¡¯Green Flame Grass¡¯ has a great attraction to the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯. All we need to do is allocate some individuals to ignite this grass outside to lure the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ out from its guarding spot."


    "Then, the others will head to the Fire Lotus location to pick the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯. As long as we get the seeds before the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ notices, we won¡¯t even need to fight it, and our mission will be accomplished!"


    After Wang Chen¡¯s explanation, the remaining few examined the three "Green Flame Grasses" in the white jade box. Ruan Yuan took a careful look at the grasses and then nodded, "This is indeed the ¡¯Green Flame Grass¡¯ that can attract a demon like the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯."


    "However, both luring the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ away from its territory and collecting the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯ are extremely dangerous endeavors. After all, any mishap could very likely lead to a direct confrontation with the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯. How should we seven allocate our tasks?"

 Chapter 694 - 646: Terrible Fireflies

    Ruan Yuan¡¯s words made everyone nod in agreement.


    Indeed, the person responsible for luring the "Red-Crowned Fire Python" could directly trigger its attack if they were not careful enough to avoid detection.


    Facing the attack of an ancient beast with combat power close to that of an Upper God King could only be imagined as extremely dangerous.


    Of course, the danger for those responsible for collecting "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" was also not minor.


    If the "Red-Crowned Fire Python" returned to its territory early or sensed an intrusion in the Fire Lotus area and rushed back before the group could retreat, the collectors would be completely blocked by the "Red-Crowned Fire Python," making escape very difficult!


    Dongfang Xuanyi seemed to have already thought of a strategy as he spoke up, "The one who lures the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ must be strong in combat and even has to buy time for those collecting ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.¡¯ Even if it means engaging with the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ to delay it, they cannot allow it to easily return to its territory and interfere with the collection of ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.¡¯


    "Similarly, those who collect the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯ must be incredibly fast¡ªthe quicker they can collect the seeds, the safer it will be!"


    "As for the seven of us, let¡¯s split into two groups. One will be responsible for luring the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python,¡¯ and the other will handle the collection of the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.¡¯


    "Whoever is faster should be in charge of collecting ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds,¡¯ and the rest will take on the task of luring the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python.¡¯


    Upon hearing Dongfang Xuanyi¡¯s plan, the rest hesitated.


    "Ye Chen, which group¡¯s task will you choose?" Dongfang Xuanyi asked Ye Chen first.


    Ye Chen smiled, "Either task is fine."


    As for the difficulty of these two tasks, Ye Chen felt that collecting "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" was probably more dangerous. After all, this task had the greatest variables¡ªif one was not careful, they could be completely surrounded by the "Red-Crowned Fire Python."


    Luring the "Red-Crowned Fire Python" outside at least offered a chance to escape.


    Of course, Ye Chen had some methods to handle both tasks.


    His evasion speed was already astonishingly fast, and his combat power was exceptional. Coupled with the "Star Blue Divine Garment" that even an Upper God King couldn¡¯t damage, even if faced with the near Upper God King level strength of the "Red-Crowned Fire Python," he was confident that, even if he couldn¡¯t kill the beast, he could at least escape with his life.


    Ye Chen simply let the others choose first.


    After all, team coordination should still be based on what the rest were good at.


    After pondering for a moment, the gray-clothed youth Tang Xuan spoke up first, "I have a few treasures that are effective at delaying the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ for a while. I will take on the task of luring it."


    The other white-clothed youth He Ye and the petite female warrior Chen Bi also spoke up one after another, "We don¡¯t have an advantage in stealth and evasion speed, so let¡¯s choose to lure the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python.¡¯


    Ruan Yuan, like Ye Chen, said she could take on either task.


    In the end, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen exchanged glances before Dongfang Xuanyi declared, "Then the seven of us will divide into two groups. One group led by sister Ruan Yuan together with ¡¯Chen Bi,¡¯ ¡¯He Ye,¡¯ and ¡¯Tang Xuan¡¯ will be responsible for drawing the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ away from its territory."


    "The other group, consisting of Ye Chen and the three of us, will take care of collecting ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.¡¯


    Seeing Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen both unanimously opting to handle the same task as Ye Chen, the rest were somewhat surprised.


    The petite warrior Chen Bi even said, "The task of collecting ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯ seems to be more dangerous. Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, with Ye Chen added to the mix, are you all truly confident?"


    Even trusting Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen¡¯s judgment, Chen Bi couldn¡¯t help but worry since Ye Chen was only at the Four Tribulations Divine God realm.


    He Ye and Tang Xuan shared the same concerns.


    Dongfang Xuanyi smiled and said, "With Ye Chen on our side, we don¡¯t have to worry. It¡¯s your group that needs to be careful when luring the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python.¡¯


    Wang Chen also nodded with a smile.


    Seeing both of them so trusting in Ye Chen caught the rest truly off guard.


    After all, the task was incredibly dangerous, involving life and death, and everyone knew that Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, despite their casual attitudes, would not joke with their own lives.


    Their words indicated they had absolute trust in Ye Chen¡¯s abilities.


    For a Four Tribulations Divine God to earn such complete trust from two mighty Nine Tribulations Divine Gods, appearing even more trusted than Ruan Yuan, was indeed astonishing to the rest. Discover exclusive tales on novelhall.Co?m


    When Chen Bi, He Ye, and Tang Xuan looked at Ye Chen again, they were more serious, scrutinizing him carefully.


    Ruan Yuan, often haughty, also didn¡¯t expect Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen to organize the groups this way. She gave Ye Chen a surprised glance, thinking, "I want to see if this youth can truly complete the mission smoothly!"


    Once the seven had no more objections to the arrangements, they wasted no more time and transformed into seven streaks of light. Carefully avoiding the various demon creatures of the Fiery Realm, they flew towards Flame Mountain under Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen¡¯s lead.


    After flying for over half a day, the seven finally arrived at the foot of a sprawling mountain range.


    This sprawling mountain range stretched for tens of thousands of miles, with numerous towering peaks rising within.


    Moreover, one could see that each of the mountain peaks on the range was a fiery red color, with flames shooting up to the sky from time to time!


    Frightening howls of demonic beasts were heard from within this vast mountain range, shaking one¡¯s soul.


    This mountain range was none other than the famous "Flame Mountain" within the Fiery Realm of the Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    Just flying close to this undulating mountain range, Ye Chen and the other six felt waves of formidable heat assaulting their faces, as if they were being scorched by fierce flames!


    Even though all seven of them possessed extraordinary strength, they had to activate their protective auras to defend against the terrible heat.


    After flying to the foot of the mountain, the seven of them landed.


    Dongfang Xuanyi said to the others, "This area is where the temperature entering ¡¯Flame Mountain¡¯ is the lowest. Many areas within Flame Mountain are so incredibly hot that even Divine Kings cannot enter! Many True Gods have been instantly burned to death by the flames upon entering!"


    "Once we enter ¡¯Flame Mountain,¡¯ we¡¯re entering a truly dangerous area. Although this journey was explored by my Divine King predecessor the last time the Nine Suns Ancient Land opened, a thousand years have passed, and we don¡¯t know what changes there might have been here. Everyone must be cautious all the way!"


    While speaking, Dongfang Xuanyi pinched a spell, and a small stone disk flew directly out of his body, floating in front of him.


    This stone disk radiated a blood-red light, pointing the way forward.


    At the same time, Dongfang Xuanyi slapped his storage bag on his waist, and a purple Divine Robe flew out from it, instantly transforming into a purple light shield that enveloped him completely.


    "Let¡¯s go, follow the Sun Dial Disk¡¯s guidance to the Fire Lotus domain."


    As Dongfang Xuanyi spoke, he took the lead and started guiding the way.


    The rest of them also activated their defensive magical treasures, turning into protective auras that wrapped around their bodies.


    Upon actually entering the "Flame Mountain" range, the group found that while the mountain range looked similar to the outside, the air inside was incredibly thin due to the burning heat.


    Even the void was cracked with rifts in space, lying between the void.


    The ground itself was an eerie dark red color, and even though the seven of them were flying through the air without touching the ground, they could feel the terrifyingly high temperature of the soil.


    Despite the "Flame Mountain" being incredibly hot, there were no fewer plants and demonic beasts within it.


    Along the way, the group could easily spot huge, dark red, bizarre plants. After traveling hundreds of miles, they even encountered attacks from over a dozen waves of demonic beasts.


    There were fiery red birds that swooped down in frenzy, strange fiery red wasps, and even an encounter with a man-eating demon tree.


    Nevertheless, as all seven were powerful fighters, they were able to thoroughly dispatch these creatures without much trouble as they proceeded.


    This somewhat eased the minds of the group that had been on high alert since entering "Flame Mountain."


    An hour and a half later, the seven had delved thousands of miles deep into Flame Mountain.


    When they reached a valley filled with billowing dark red flames and steam within Flame Mountain, they saw hundreds of peach-pit-sized fire-red insects flying towards them.


    "These fire-red insects are only at the level of Nine Tribulations True Gods. Although they are numerous, they don¡¯t seem as terrifying as the demonic beasts we have faced before," said Tang Xuan, a youth in gray, with a smile.


    As he spoke, he reached out to grab a few of the fire-red insects, intending to crush them all at once.


    Not just Tang Xuan, but the others¡ªHe Ye, Chen Bi, Dongfang Xuanyi, Wang Chen, and even Ruan Yuan¡ªalso smiled lightly, preparing to exterminate these insects directly.


    Just as Tang Xuan¡¯s hand touched one of the fire-red insects, Ye Chen¡¯s expression suddenly changed, and he shouted, "Stop!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s voice made the others halt their actions in surprise.


    But Tang Xuan¡¯s hand had already reached and squished one of the fire-red insects.


    "What¡¯s wrong?" Tang Xuan turned back to Ye Chen, puzzled, while the Nine Tribulations True God-level fire-red insect in his hand exploded as he expected.


    However, the unexpected happened!


    Even though the fire-red insect was crushed by Tang Xuan, at the moment of its death, it released a fire-red Divine Flame from its carcass that latched onto Tang Xuan like a maggot sticking to bone, flying straight onto his body.


    Even with the protection of his defensive aura, Tang Xuan¡¯s shield shattered the instant the fire-red Divine Flame touched him.


    Before the eyes of the others, Tang Xuan¡¯s entire body was unbelievably consumed by the fire-red Divine Flame that emerged from the dead fire-red insect, incinerating him completely, leaving not even ashes behind!

 Chapter 695 - 647 Canyon Black Crow

    A living person, a powerful Nine-Tribulations True God, was instantly incinerated into nothingness!


    Witnessing all this, Dongfang Xuanyi, Wang Chen, and the others involuntarily turned deathly pale, their hands and feet completely icy cold.


    They had never imagined that a team of seven coming to Flame Mountain to pick "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds" would lose someone before they even reached the territory of the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds!


    This sudden turn of events disrupted everyone¡¯s plan.


    Seeing that there were still hundreds of peach pit-sized fiery red bugs flying towards them, even within the blazing heat of the Fiery Realm, everyone felt a chill from their bodies to their souls.


    Now, where would they dare to underestimate these Nine-Tribulations True God¡¯s Fire Bugs!


    These Fire Bugs might appear to be of Nine-Tribulations True God level, but the flames they turned into after death were terrifying to the extreme!


    Everyone felt that the flames that had killed Tang Xuan just now certainly surpassed those at the Lower God King level and might have reached the Middle God King or even Upper God King level.


    If they were to be touched by these flames, their end would likely be the same as Tang Xuan¡¯s, dead without even ashes remaining!


    Right then, not only were Dongfang Xuanyi, Wang Chen, He Ye, and Chen Bi scared enough to have somewhat shaky legs, but even the previously imposing and elegant Female Martial Artist "Ruan Yuan" was terrified, her lips turning somewhat pale.


    While these people were unsure whether to resist or run from the hundreds of terrible Fire Bugs still flying toward them, they heard a voice at the same time: "These ¡¯Fire Bugs¡¯ are called ¡¯Death Phosphorus Bugs.¡¯ Once they die, they can burst into flames hundreds of times more powerful than their combat strength, instantly killing a martial artist."


    "To deal with these Fire Bugs, you cannot run; otherwise, they will chase and hit you, directly burning you to death. Quickly suppress all your auras, stand still, and don¡¯t move, even if these Fire Bugs land on you. After they fly past, you¡¯ll be safe!"


    This voice was precisely Ye Chen¡¯s!


    Ye Chen¡¯s voice carried an absolute calmness, awakening everyone from their panic with hearts racing.


    Remembering how Ye Chen¡¯s earlier warning had helped them avoid a fatal crisis, where else could their thoughts wander? They quickly held their breaths as Ye Chen had said, standing still without moving a muscle!


    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    When the six people stood still without moving, the whole world seemed to fall silent, with only the "buzzing" of the flying Fire Bugs audible.


    Thud!


    One Fire Bug directly landed on the delicate "Chen Bi."


    The cute and petite Chen Bi was so scared she almost cried out loud!


    It was only at the last moment that she managed to control her mind and not cry out, the consequences of which would have been unimaginable. Yet even so, her clothes were completely soaked through! Enjoy new stories from novelhall.Co?m


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    Not just one Fire Bug landed; among the hundreds, dozens as if exploring, also landed on the bodies of the people present, causing the other people¡¯s hearts to tighten completely.


    They had no idea if Ye Chen¡¯s words would work, and they didn¡¯t know whether these terrifying Fire Bugs would suddenly erupt in flames, burning them alive!


    Although the Fire Bugs stayed on them for only a short time, it felt like an eternity for these people.


    Only after several dozen breaths passed did the Fire Bugs on the six people take off, having noticed nothing unusual. They rejoined the main body of the several hundred flying Fire Bugs and finally flew away from everyone¡¯s vicinity.


    Only when the Fire Bugs were completely out of sight did the people at the scene collapse to the ground.


    Even though they had faced many dangerous situations, these terrifying Fire Bugs capable of instantly incinerating people into nothingness still scared them badly!


    Only after taking several deep breaths did Dongfang Xuanyi, who had finally calmed his mind, look at the only calm Ye Chen, bowing with his fist to him, "Brother Ye Chen, we owe you our lives this time. Otherwise, we all might have died here!"


    "These damnable Fire Bugs, we¡¯ve never heard of them before. How could they appear in this Flame Mountain!"


    Hearing Dongfang Xuanyi¡¯s words, Wang Chen, He Ye, and Chen Bi all stood up and expressed their gratitude toward Ye Chen. They understood that even with their methods, attacking these unknown Fire Bugs rashly could have made them the ones dead by now.


    Even the usually arrogant Ruan Yuan didn¡¯t dare to look down on Ye Chen this time.


    While she didn¡¯t express her gratitude to Ye Chen directly, the pallor in her face was evident, and she looked deeply at Ye Chen, her eyes devoid of any disdain!


    She had been so scared just now, while Ye Chen remained calm, clearly not afraid of these Fire Bugs. Moreover, Ye Chen knew that the bugs were "Death Phosphorus Bugs." Ruan Yuan realized that Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen hadn¡¯t lied; this Four-Tribulations True God, Ye Chen, truly had something extraordinary about him!


    Seeing the grateful looks from everyone, Ye Chen simply waved his hand and looked toward the place where Tang Xuan had been incinerated into nothingness, sighing, "It¡¯s a pity I only found out about these ¡¯Death Phosphorus Bugs¡¯ from the Soul Beast in my Ice Snow Jade Pendant after they appeared. I was still a step too late to save Tang Xuan."


    It was only after the Mini Nine inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant reminded him that Ye Chen knew these suddenly appearing hundreds of Fire Bugs were called "Death Phosphorus Bugs."


    By that time, Tang Xuan had already reached out to capture a Fire Bug, and it was too late for him to withdraw his hand, even for Ye Chen to come to his rescue, leaving no choice but to watch him die.


    "Tang Xuan, my friend..."


    Hearing Ye Chen mention Tang Xuan, the other people also showed a saddened face.


    ```


    After all, the seven had come together, yet now one was dead. It was difficult for the remaining members to describe their feelings.


    After a long silence, Wang Chen finally spoke again, "Let¡¯s go. We mustn¡¯t let Tang Xuan die in vain, nor can we let this venture be for nothing. We must get our hands on the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seed¡¯!"


    "On the journey ahead, everyone must be more careful. If there¡¯s a demon we don¡¯t understand, we should avoid it if possible. Safety is the priority!"


    The remaining members nodded in agreement.


    They had already reached Flame Mountain, and of course, they were not going to beat a retreat now!


    The team continued to advance.


    They encountered over a dozen waves of demons. Some of the demons were recognized by Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen or Ye Chen, and the six of them joined hands to eliminate these beasts.


    For some demons that appeared incredibly strange, the group couldn¡¯t figure out their abilities and carefully circled around them instead.


    With caution, the six of them finally reached a valley flanked by two huge cliff walls deep within Flame Mountain.


    This valley stretched further than the eye could see, its length and depth completely unknown!


    "According to what the Divine King ancestor of our clan told us, crossing this valley will take us to our destination, the ¡¯Flame Lotus Pond¡¯ where the Fire Lotuses grow," said Ye Chen.


    "In the Flame Lotus Pond, there¡¯s the Red-Crowned Fire Python, and no other demon dares to enter. Within a thousand miles of that region, it¡¯s all the territory of the Red-Crowned Fire Python."


    "This valley at the perimeter of that territory is the last difficulty we must face. Within this valley are Flame Black Crows. These Flame Black Crows are all of the ordinary Nine Tribulations True God strength. Although they are not difficult to deal with, there are so many of them that crossing this valley is impossible without confrontation. We must be ready for a tough battle ahead," said Dongfang Xuanyi, looking at the valley in front of them and addressing the others.


    Ye Chen and the others nodded their heads, each bringing out their weapons and magical artifacts.


    Then, they stepped forward and headed into the depths of the valley.


    After progressing only a few miles into the valley, Ye Chen and the others saw the cliff walls on both sides of the valley covered with countless massive black crows.


    Each crow was several meters in size with black flames flickering over its body. Its beak and claws shone with a terrifying lethal light.


    When Ye Chen and the others saw these black crows, the Flame Black Crows also spotted the group of six.


    Squawk! Squawk!


    Suddenly, the Flame Black Crows let out harsh, discordant cries as thousands of them flapped their wings, attacking Ye Chen and the group.


    In the farther reaches of the valley, even more Flame Black Crows crowded the sky, the exact number impossible to gauge.


    Countless Flame Black Crows covered the sky in a blanket of fire and darkness. This scene caused the complexion of the six people below to change drastically.


    "Charge through to the area near the ¡¯Flame Lotus Pond¡¯ where these black crows dare not venture!"


    "Let¡¯s all break through using our own methods!" shouted Dongfang Xuanyi. He wielded a blood-light broadsword that transformed into a giant blade a thousand meters long, slaying dozens of Flame Black Crows in one swing.


    As Dongfang Xuanyi killed dozens of Flame Black Crows, even more of the birds swooped toward him. With a grave expression, he pinched a magic formula with his hands, and his external true qi twisted violently, instantly shredding countless Flame Black Crows, their remains falling to the ground.


    In another location, Wang Chen summoned a mirror artifact, which emitted golden rays of light. Each ray cut through the air, felling swathes of Flame Black Crows. Despite their numbers, the crows couldn¡¯t get anywhere near Wang Chen.


    Seizing the opportunity when a large number of Flame Black Crows fell, Wang Chen shot forward tens of meters.


    The petite and lovely female martial artist, Chen Bi, activated a blue ribbon that protected her body, and with a flash of divine light, she flew into the horde of Flame Black Crows and began fighting them.


    The white-clothed youth He Ye brought out a Mini Tower Artifact which spun and grew to a hundred meters tall.


    With each impact or suppression from the Mini Tower, a large number of Flame Black Crows met their demise.


    Ruan Yuan, who was powerful, moved even faster while killing the Flame Black Crows. The protective flames around her emitted terrifyingly cold auras, freezing every Flame Black Crow that touched it before they exploded into pieces.


    As Ruan Yuan moved forward, she couldn¡¯t help but look for Ye Chen.


    She wanted to see for herself how formidable the young man, a Four Tribulations True God, really was.


    Looking backwards, Ruan Yuan couldn¡¯t see Ye Chen, but looking forward, even she, who was very quick at killing Flame Black Crows, was taken aback.


    She saw that Ye Chen didn¡¯t make any moves but simply shot forward. Wherever he passed, any Flame Black Crow that touched him was thrown back and shredded into pieces.


    Both Ye Chen¡¯s speed of progression and his rate of killing the crows were several times faster than hers!


    ```

 Chapter 696 - 648: Triggering

    Half an hour later, the six of them finally made it through the obstruction of countless Flame Black Crows in the gorge and reached the end of this section of the gorge.


    After a fierce battle, the six looked completely different.


    The most disheveled were the petite Female Martial Artist "Chen Bi" and the white-clad young man "He Ye."


    Both were in tattered clothes, revealing the armor they wore underneath. He Ye even suffered minor injuries under the siege of numerous Flame Black Crows, and a clump of his hair had been singed.


    After finally reaching safety, the two quickly took out replacement garments from their spatial treasures to change into, and He Ye also sat cross-legged, starting to cultivate to heal his wounds.


    Although Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen were not as disheveled, their faces and bodies were also stained with a lot of fresh blood and black ash marks, far from their previously clean and carefree appearance.


    The one who fared slightly better was Ruan Yuan.


    It was no wonder that this woman carried herself so arrogantly ¨C she certainly had some skills. As she fought her way through the gorge, she killed many more Flame Black Crows than the others, yet she was unscathed, with only a slight disarray in her breathing. She was the second to arrive safely.


    Of course, stronger than Ruan Yuan, and the first one to reach safety, was Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen not only had no sign of having been in a battle on him, but his breath was also incredibly steady. Obviously, these ordinary True God level Flame Black Crows, no matter how numerous, did not trouble Ye Chen in the slightest.


    This comparison made it clear who was superior.


    At this point, the way Chen Bi and He Ye looked at Ye Chen had completely changed.


    Whether it was facing the terrifying Fire Bugs earlier or dealing with the tens of thousands of Flame Black Crows later, Ye Chen¡¯s performance had shown them how frighteningly powerful he really was.


    Chen Bi and He Ye even felt some regret that they hadn¡¯t chosen the same mission as Ye Chen; they both wanted to join Ye Chen in the task of collecting the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, feeling that with him, their safety would be greatly enhanced!


    Seeing the admiring looks Chen Bi and He Ye were giving Ye Chen, along with Dongfang Xuanyi¡¯s and Wang Chen¡¯s expressions acknowledging Ye Chen¡¯s strength, Ruan Yuan was exceptionally annoyed.


    She was originally the strongest member of the team, but now she hadn¡¯t gotten any attention at all. All of it was focused on Ye Chen!


    Of course, even though she was extremely annoyed, Ruan Yuan no longer dared to mock Ye Chen, and she retracted some of her haughtiness.


    She had already recognized Ye Chen¡¯s incredible abilities and wouldn¡¯t provoke him again.


    The events that laid ahead were unpredictable, and if they encountered anything as strange as the Fire Bugs again, she would need to rely on the miraculous Ye Chen!


    "Alright, let¡¯s rest and recuperate here," said Dongfang Xuanyi, smiling for once as he saw that all six had successfully fought their way out of the Flame Black Crow Gorge.


    "Up ahead is the territory of the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯¡ªthe ¡¯Flame Lotus Pond¡¯ area. Other demons don¡¯t dare to step into the Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯s realm; this is truly a place of safety."


    "After we¡¯ve rested up, we¡¯ll go and truly accomplish our mission, to get those Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds!"


    Hearing Dongfang Xuanyi mention the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, a gleam flashed in the eyes of the others.


    They had come all this way, killing many demons, even losing one of their own, and now they were considerably harried, all for the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds!"


    Thinking that they might soon acquire the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, which were greatly beneficial for breaking through realms, how could they remain calm?


    After taking a few deep breaths, their minds gradually calmed down.


    An hour later, the six, who had finished their meditative recovery, finally stood up again.


    Wang Chen said, "Let¡¯s first go take a look at the situation with the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ and the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds,¡¯ then follow our previous arrangement, splitting into two groups to lure the Red-Crowned Fire Python and collect the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds."


    "Tang Xuan has fallen. Sister Ruan Yuan, Brother Chen Bi, Brother He Ye, the three of you are left to lure the Red-Crowned Fire Python. No problem, right?"


    Ruan Yuan, Chen Bi, and He Ye looked at each other and nodded.


    With only six people remaining and two different tasks, they each had to complete their respective missions!


    Seeing them nod, Wang Chen smiled, flipped his hand, and a gossamer-like, thin, silky object appeared in his hand.


    "This treasure is called the ¡¯True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe.¡¯ Once activated, it can hide the wearer¡¯s form for the duration of a cup of tea. When it truly conceals the wearer, even an Upper God King without a counter-stealth ability can¡¯t detect the person¡¯s whereabouts."


    "We¡¯ll use this treasure to first observe the movements of the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ and then split up to act!"


    True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe?


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned towards the gossamer-like, thin, silky object in Wang Chen¡¯s hand.


    This object could mask one¡¯s figure, but it only lasted for the duration of a cup of tea, which was somewhat similar to the divine might of the "Tongming Mirror" he had obtained in the past. Stay connected via novelhall.Co?m


    However, the Tongming Mirror was only an auxiliary class inferior divine artifact, effective only against weaker True Gods. In front of stronger True Gods, the concealment ability of the Tongming Mirror was completely useless, and now it had little use.


    Compared with the "True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe," which even Upper God Kings could not detect, its function might be somewhat similar, but in terms of divine might, it was far inferior to the True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe.


    While Ye Chen was examining the "True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe," the others were also sizing up this treasure, then everyone stood together as directed by Wang Chen.


    At last, with a pinch of a spell in Wang Chen¡¯s hand, the silk-like treasure suddenly flew up, transforming into a spherical light dome with a radius of several zhang, completely enveloping the six of them.


    "The True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe, once activated, only works for the duration of a cup of tea. We will need it to collect the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯ later, so let¡¯s hurry up and check out the situation with the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯!"


    Wang Chen spoke out to Ye Chen and the other four, and, seeing them nod, he then propelled the "True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe," concealing all six figures as they flew towards the vast realm ahead of the gorge.


    After flying for about ten breaths, the six of them saw a giant lake dozens of miles across in the distance.


    The entire giant lake was a red hue as if the water within was made of red magma.


    Clearly, the temperature of the lake water was frightfully high!


    Even more wondrous was that within the red magma-like lake water, grew thousands of Fiery Red Lotus Leaves, and on several dozen of these leaves bloomed Flame Lotus Flowers, resembling red flames. Near the Flame Lotus Flowers, there were eight mature lotus pods, which slightly drooped under the weight of the hundreds of plump Fiery Red Lotus Seeds within them!


    "This Fire Lake is the ¡¯Flame Lotus Pond¡¯! Those seeds within the eight lotus pods are the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds¡¯ we aim to harvest!"


    Upon seeing the hundreds of mature Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, everyone inside the True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe had their breathing quicken with excitement.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze then shifted from the "Flame Lotus Pond" to the outside.


    He then directly saw a gigantic Fire Python, thousands of zhang long, lying motionless on the ground outside the Flame Lotus Pond, unaware if it was in slumber or cultivating.


    This gigantic Fire Python, with an unusual red comb-like crest on its head, was precisely the Demon guarding the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds, with a realm reaching the level of a Middle God King and a combat strength approaching that of an Upper God King¡ªthe Red-Crowned Fire Python!


    "The Red-Crowned Fire Python is indeed here!"


    At this moment, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen also turned their gaze towards the Red-Crowned Fire Python. "The situation with this Red-Crowned Fire Python is just as the God King elder described. It is indeed in a weakened state, which makes it easier to provoke."


    "Fellow Daoists, we are pressed for time. Let us split up and act now!"


    As he spoke, Wang Chen drove the "True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe" as he and several others flew far away from the Red-Crowned Fire Python, traveling about a few hundred li before finally landing.


    Wang Chen then took out a white jade box containing the "Green Flame Grass," and handed it over to Ruan Yuan.


    "From this distance, igniting the ¡¯Green Flame Grass¡¯ will be sufficient to lure the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python.¡¯ Sister Ruan Yuan, Daoist friend Chen Bi, and Daoist friend He Ye, the task of using the three sticks of ¡¯Green Flame Grass¡¯ to lure the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ falls to you!"


    "As previously agreed, you¡¯ll ignite the ¡¯Green Flame Grass¡¯ ten breaths after we commence our dive into the ¡¯Flame Lotus Pond.¡¯


    "If the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯ is truly attracted by the ¡¯Green Flame Grass¡¯ and there is no other disturbance, the three of you must also conceal yourselves well and not be discovered by the ¡¯Red-Crowned Fire Python.¡¯ If it senses something wrong with the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds and immediately returns, you three must hold it off for at least thirty breaths!"


    "Now, let us split up and act!"


    After discussing a few more details, Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen, covered by the "True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe," flew back towards the Flame Lotus Pond to harvest the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds.


    In this realm, only Ruan Yuan, Chen Bi, and He Ye were left behind.


    At this moment, both Chen Bi and He Ye had nervous hands that were somewhat sweaty.


    Meanwhile, Ruan Yuan began counting down, "Ten, nine, eight..."


    When she reached one, Ruan Yuan followed the spell taught to her by Wang Chen, moving her hands swiftly, and three one-foot-long sticks of "Green Flame Grass" flew out of the white jade box under her spell.


    Something wondrous occurred.


    As soon as these three sticks of "Green Flame Grass" flew out of the white jade box, they suddenly enlarged and transformed into towering grasses several zhang high, firmly planting themselves onto the ground.


    Simultaneously, Ruan Yuan changed the spell in her hands, and in an instant, the three enlarged sticks of "Green Flame Grass," with their strange rings of fiery patterns, started to frantically flicker. After several breaths, the entire towering stalks of the three grasses burst into flames.


    As they burned, the "Green Flame Grass" was not consumed at all, but an odd fishy smell wafted from the three giant stalks, spreading in all directions.


    It reached a few li away, tens of lis away, hundreds of lis away...


    In a moment, the strange fishy smell of the Green Flame Grass was about to envelop the area where the Red-Crowned Fire Python was located.

 Chapter 697 - 649: Sudden Change

    "Retreat!"


    "We need to pull back to a safe area and observe the Red-Crowned Fire Python¡¯s movements!"


    As soon as she saw that the Green Flame Grass had indeed been lit, Ruan Yuan immediately spoke up, and she, along with Chen Bi and He Ye, swiftly flew away from the area where the Green Flame Grass was located.


    Just after they had left, the scent of the Green Flame Grass had already spread to the region where the Red-Crowned Fire Python was lying on the ground outside the Flame Lotus Pond.


    When it smelled the fishy scent of the Green Flame Grass, the previously motionless Red-Crowned Fire Python, as if stimulated, suddenly lifted its head from the ground. Its red crown even flashed with strange lights.


    Instantly after that moment, the Red-Crowned Fire Python seemed to have located the position of the Green Flame Grass,


    Whoosh!


    It was as if a streak of light shot through the void; the Red-Crowned Fire Python traveled hundreds of miles through the void and landed near the Green Flame Grass.


    With a "boom," the massive body of the Red-Crowned Fire Python slammed to the ground.


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    Strangely, the Red-Crowned Fire Python seemed to be extremely fond of the Green Flame Grass, not touching it in the slightest.


    It coiled its body into a bunch, assuming a peculiar pose, and started cultivating right next to the Green Flame Grass¡ªinhaling its scent on one side and cultivating on the other!


    Tens of miles away from the Red-Crowned Fire Python and the Green Flame Grass, Ruan Yuan, Chen Bi, and He Ye were carefully concealing their bodies and stealthily lurking.


    Seeing the Red-Crowned Fire Python actually being lured away from the vicinity of the Flame Lotus Pond by the Green Flame Grass and beginning to cultivate near it, Ruan Yuan, Chen Bi, and He Ye looked at each other and were so overjoyed they almost shouted out loud.


    The three excitedly communicated with each other, "It worked; we really managed to lure the Red-Crowned Fire Python out!"


    "Looking at it like that, it won¡¯t return to the Flame Lotus Pond area for a while. Now, it¡¯s all down to whether Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen can seize this moment to harvest the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds!"


    While the three of them were excitedly watching the Red-Crowned Fire Python cultivate near the Green Flame Grass, anxiously anticipating Ye Chen and the others¡¯ actions,


    On the other side.


    Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen, under the cover of the True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe, had already snuck back near the Flame Lotus Pond.


    Seeing that the Red-Crowned Fire Python had not discovered them and had left the Flame Lotus Pond under the influence of the Green Flame Grass, Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen were also thrilled.


    They had not anticipated that the operation would go so unexpectedly smoothly!


    "Hurry up and pluck the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds!"


    "The Red-Crowned Fire Python will finish absorbing the scent of the Green Flame Grass soon enough if it keeps inhaling it. We need to collect the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds as quickly as possible!"


    As soon as Dongfang Xuanyi finished speaking, he, along with Wang Chen and Ye Chen, transformed into three streaks of lightning, rapidly flying towards the eight lotus pods inside the Flame Lotus Pond.


    The three of them exerted their combat power and struck towards the roots below the eight lotus pods.


    These eight lotus pods of the Fire Elemental Lotus Seed were incredibly tough; likely even ordinary Middle God Kings would not be able to damage the pods in the slightest.


    But Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen were not ordinary individuals.


    With their combat power surging, Ye Chen directly chopped off the roots of three pods, collecting a total of thirty-nine plump Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds from the three pods that fell into his hands.


    On the other side, Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen harvested three and two pods respectively.


    All eight pods were successfully collected!


    Seeing that the Red-Crowned Fire Python had not returned, Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen looked at each other with excitement gleaming in their eyes, "We did it!"


    Dongfang Xuanyi, even more thrilled, squeezed a talisman by his waist. A light flashed across this talisman in an instant.


    This talisman was clearly for signaling Ruan Yuan, Chen Bi, and He Ye on the outside.


    Dongfang Xuanyi was informing the trio that they were successful and urging them to quickly leave the area they were hiding in to regroup at a predetermined location.


    After sending the message, Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen rapidly ascended into the sky.


    On the other side, Ruan Yuan, sensing the signal from another talisman she carried, was also elated, "It worked, Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen got it!"


    "Let¡¯s quickly leave as well, lest the Red-Crowned Fire Python senses something wrong and chases after us!"


    Hearing Ruan Yuan¡¯s message transmission, Chen Bi and He Ye were also overjoyed.


    They had not expected to complete the mission so successfully without having to engage in combat with the Red-Crowned Fire Python or use their combat powers to hold it off!


    "It seems that the Red-Crowned Fire Python, having been near the Flame Lotus Pond for a long time without incident, has lowered its guard," Chen Bi commented with a smile.


    He Ye¡¯s face was filled with joy as he said, "Haha, who would have thought our past encounters would be so perilous, yet this final operation went so smoothly!"


    Their joyful message transmissions made Ruan Yuan relax her brows as well. She transmitted back with a smile, "Let¡¯s go; we still have to distribute the Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds at the rendezvous!"


    "Missions always carry a risk, and of course, they can go smoothly. Many have died undertaking missions; we are just fortunate this time around!"


    While Ruan Yuan was transmitting her message, she suddenly felt something was amiss and abruptly looked up.


    Next, Ruan Yuan saw an unbelievable scene.


    A colossal leg, with its foot alone spanning hundreds of zhang, appeared out of the void, and with a sudden force, it descended from the sky towards the area where she was standing.


    "Not good!"


    Ruan Yuan¡¯s reaction was incredibly fast; she didn¡¯t even have time to see who the owner of the leg was before her graceful body shot out, weaving through the void.


    At the same time, a powerful protective light, stronger than any she had ever emitted, radiated from her body, fully enveloping her in defense.


    But then, a terrifying change occurred.


    Just as Ruan Yuan¡¯s body entered into the void, a sharp shadow of a finger tens of zhang in length appeared behind her; its nails, flashing a horrific cold light, pierced through Ruan Yuan¡¯s body in an instant!


    Ruan Yuan only had time to let out a single scream before this female martial artist, an incredibly powerful being even among the true gods of nine calamities, fell then and there.


    Elsewhere, at the same time Ruan Yuan made her escape, the petite "Chen Bi" and the white-robed youth "He Ye" also felt a massive shadow engulfing their entire area.


    Looking up, they saw an incredible scene.


    A gigantic black ape, reaching a height of ten thousand meters, was lifting its massive foot, preparing to stomp down upon this expanse of earth.


    The "Red-Crowned Fire Python," which had been cultivating just moments before, was so frightened that it immediately fled into the void.


    However, this colossal Red-Crowned Fire Python, nearly a thousand zhang long and with a strength approaching that of an Upper God King, was caught in the very instant it entered the void by the huge black ape.


    With a single tear, the giant black ape ripped the Middle God King-level Red-Crowned Fire Python into shreds, brutally killing it!


    In the blink of an eye, both Ruan Yuan and the Red-Crowned Fire Python had fallen.


    Chen Bi and He Ye were so terrified that they stood paralyzed on the spot!


    "This... This is a true Upper God King-level demon beast!"


    "My god, how can such a beast appear in the Fiery Realm? I thought such creatures were only found in the Nine Suns Realm!"


    "And it¡¯s not just this one Upper God King-level beast!"


    Chen Bi and He Ye saw that the giant black ape that had killed the Red-Crowned Fire Python and Ruan Yuan had its entire right arm severed, with copious amounts of blood gushing out like a fountain.


    This giant black ape was a wounded Upper God King-level Demon Ape!


    What was more terrifying was that above the head of this gigantic black ape, there were seven or eight similarly immense flying demon beasts circling, completely obscuring the sky as soon as they spread their wings.


    Just by looking, these seven or eight giant flying demon beasts were all at the Upper God King level!


    Moreover, these flying demon beasts had battered feathers and were covered in blood.


    Certainly, these flying demon beasts were wounded as well!


    "Who could have injured these Upper God King-level terrifying creatures?!"


    "How did these gigantic monsters get here?"


    No sooner had Chen Bi and He Ye thought this than they had no time to flee. Under the watchful eyes of these fearsome Upper God King-level beasts, there was no chance to escape. Suddenly, a mighty Divine Eagle, spanning ten thousand meters, spotted them.


    Two terrifying beams of golden light burst forth from the eyes of the golden eagle, crazily shooting towards Chen Bi and He Ye.


    These two terrifying beams of golden light completely immobilized the land for hundreds of zhang around Chen Bi and He Ye, and not only did they kill the two of them on the spot, but they also created a massive, bottomless pit in the hundreds of zhang of land around them.


    Roar!


    Howl!


    Ruan Yuan, Red-Crowned Fire Python, Chen Bi, and He Ye fell one after another within this domain, and after letting out a heaven-shaking roar, the beasts that killed them turned their terrifying eyes towards the deeper regions of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, their gazes filled with shock. Then, they turned their heads and rampaged towards the outer regions.


    On the other hand, Ye Chen, Dongfang Xuanyi, and Wang Chen, who had just obtained the Fire Elemental Lotus Seed, had no idea that Ruan Yuan and the others had perished hundreds of li away.


    Because at that moment, they also encountered grave trouble.


    Just as they flew into the void, eight colossal demon beasts appeared around them.


    The one in the lead was also an Upper God King-level incredible demon beast.


    It was a giant flame wolf, its entire body engulfed in rolling blue flames. As soon as it appeared, its eyes locked onto the void, and a strange blue light flashed within them.


    Even Dongfang Xuanyi and Wang Chen, who were hidden under the "True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe," felt the robe disintegrating in an instant. Before they could react, they were enveloped by two terrifying blue flames and instantly incinerated to ash.


    Only Ye Chen managed to escape the "True Hidden Rosy Clouds Robe" at the critical moment of life and death and flew up to the void.


    But even so, a terrifying blue flame pursued him relentlessly.


    Ultimately, it was only thanks to the "Star Blue Divine Garment" he wore that Ye Chen managed to deflect the blue flame away.


    When Ye Chen looked around, even he, with his many methods, couldn¡¯t help but take in a sharp breath of cold air.


    Ye Chen saw the eight terrifying Upper God King-level demon beasts around him and noticed behind them more fearsome beasts charging out of the depths of the Nine Suns Ancient Land towards the Flame Mountain domain.

 Chapter 698 - 650: The Lives of the Weak are as Worthless as Grass

    This sight had shaken Ye Chen to his core.


    "What the hell happened?!"


    Ye Chen found that many of the Upper God King level beasts that had suddenly appeared in this land were injured, and even those who weren¡¯t injured still looked utterly panicked, roaring incessantly!


    Clearly, these formidable creatures had been wounded by someone. Therefore, upon arriving in this place, they were furious and, upon seeing human warriors like East Territory King Wang Chen and Ye Chen, they wanted to kill them all!


    Upper God King level beasts.


    Who could have wounded them?!


    Could it be the ten powerful God King level warriors who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land?


    Ye Chen¡¯s mind raced with thoughts.


    However, there wasn¡¯t much time for Ye Chen to ponder because the eight formidable beasts, upon seeing that Ye Chen had dodged one attack, roared even more loudly and desperately wanted to kill Ye Chen.


    Three of the eight formidable beasts, swinging their huge palms, lunged towards Ye Chen to grab him again!


    If Ye Chen hadn¡¯t been wearing the Star Blue Divine Garment, which could deflect attacks even from Upper God Kings, allowing him to fend off the blows while fleeing, he probably would have already used the lifesaving talisman from the East Province King by now.


    But even with the defense of the Star Blue Divine Garment, Ye Chen was gradually becoming unable to withstand the pressure as the Upper God Kings constantly changed their modes of attack.


    ...


    Just as Ye Chen and the six others were heading to Fiery Mountain to pick "Fire Elemental Lotus Seeds," with Tang Xuan dying at the horrific fire bugs¡¯ hands first, followed by the others who also successively perished at the hands of the suddenly arriving Upper God King level beasts, nearly wiping out the entire squad and leaving only Ye Chen still desperately defending himself.


    Looking out from the Fiery Mountain territory, one could also see many places within the Fiery Realm filling up with countless terrible beasts.


    By the shore of a giant lake tens of thousands of miles away from "Fiery Mountain."


    About a dozen True God Realm practitioners screamed in horror upon seeing the sudden arrival of numerous massive beasts, larger than mountains and of Middle God King level, flying towards them: "What¡¯s going on?!"


    "Why have so many beasts suddenly come to ¡¯Bolan Lake¡¯?!"


    No sooner had these dozen or so True God Realm practitioners cried out than they were burnt to ashes in the void by a ball of fire belched by one of the Middle God King level flying beasts during their frantic escape.


    In the north of the Fiery Realm, near the Nine Suns Realm, in a mountain area.


    Eight True God Realm warriors had just emerged from an ancient ruin, full of smiles, when they suddenly saw a monstrous vine wrapping towards them.


    These eight True God Realm warriors, though all were Eight or Nine Tribulation True Gods, couldn¡¯t withstand the vine that abruptly descended upon them. They were throttled into segments by the vine, their life forces extinguished in an instant, all dying on the spot.


    After killing these warriors, the vine swiftly retracted back.


    Looking towards the vine, one could see its entirety belonged to a moving monstrous tree. The vine that had killed several True Gods was just one of the tree¡¯s branches!


    And this monstrous tree, emitting an aura, was also of the astonishing Upper God King realm!


    Moreover, it was clear that many of the tree¡¯s branches were broken, but such damage did not affect its strength in the slightest.


    After killing the eight True God Realm warriors, all the branches of the monstrous tree wrapped around it tightly, and the whole tree turned into a streak of light, disappearing back into the void like a human warrior...


    Such scenes unfolded all over the Fiery Realm.


    Countless terrible beasts, whether Lower God Kings, Middle God Kings, or even many Upper God Kings, all started to act chaotically.


    Wherever these beasts passed, large swaths of land crumbled under their stomping, and the warriors who encountered these beasts mostly perished within the Fiery Realm.


    Beast Rampage. Experience more content on novelhall.Co?m


    The Rampage of Fierce Beasts!


    This beast rampage and slaughter began near the Fiery Realm, close to the Nine Suns Realm, and rapidly spread throughout the vast Fiery Realm, even showing signs of reaching the very fringes of the Icy Realm, located on the outer edges of the Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    The scene shocked countless martial artists who heard this terrifying news; they all frantically fled outward, seeking refuge in the safe zones of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    This scene also caused several powerful Earth Divine Venerables, responsible for guarding the safe zones of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, to take flight from within the safe areas, their gazes extending deeper into the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Eventually, their gazes crossed millions of miles of land to rest upon a place on the western side of "Nine Suns Realm", situated at the deepest part of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    "This calamity was man-made."


    "It was caused by Qin Feng, an Upper God King from the forces of ¡¯Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯ from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province, who dares to directly oppose the East Territory King Mansion!"


    "That ¡¯Qin Feng¡¯ actually stirred up numerous monsters within the ¡¯Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts¡¯ in the ¡¯Nine Suns Realm¡¯, causing them to panic and flee in disarray!"


    An Earth Divine Venerable spoke out after understanding the root cause of everything.


    Another Earth Divine Venerable swept his gaze over the entire Nine Suns Ancient Land, over the horde of monsters that had escaped from the "Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts" killing in the land, and over the martial artists being continuously slain by these monsters.


    The gaze of this Earth Divine Venerable was neither sad nor joyful.


    As if the fall of these people could not stir the slightest ripple in the heart of such an existence.


    "Exploring the Nine Suns Ancient Land, whether it is a natural disaster or a man-made calamity, as long as it does not violate the regulations set by the Lord of the Southern Territory King Mansion, we must not intervene," said the Earth Divine Venerable.


    Another Earth Divine Venerable, visibly moved by compassion, could only nod in agreement after hearing the former¡¯s words: "This beast rampage was triggered by ¡¯Qin Feng¡¯. Before, there have been God Kings who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land and brought great calamities that led to the deaths of countless True Gods."


    "However, this time ¡¯Qin Feng¡¯s¡¯ strength is simply too overwhelming, directly causing the innumerable Upper God King level monsters within the ¡¯Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts¡¯ to hastily escape! This beast rampage is countless times more terrible than any before."


    "It remains to be seen how many of the millions of martial artists who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land will die in this beast rampage."


    "Those martial artists who have already made it into the safe zone are fine, and those in the outer Icy Realm are still safe for now, but the Fiery Realm has become the most dangerous land to be in!"


    The Earth Divine Venerables talked among themselves, yet did not intervene.


    The entire beast rampage and slaughter continued within the Nine Suns Ancient Land, with countless martial artists who had managed to enter the Fiery Realm dying in a calamity they could have never expected.


    The lives of the weak were like mustard seeds.


    They would never have imagined that it was the actions of an Upper God King that had begun the calamity leading to their deaths.


    Even less imaginable to them was that the terrifying monsters slaughtering them had been frightened into escaping from the "Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts" by that Upper God King!


    In the eyes of that Upper Earth Divine Venerable, the monsters they feared so greatly weren¡¯t worth mentioning at all!


    Following the gaze of the Earth Divine Venerables towards a huge abyss on the western side of the "Nine Suns Realm" deep within the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    One could see in the void of the great abyss, a young man holding a dark green flute, smiling faintly as he watched the monsters fleeing in panic from the deep abyss before him.


    This young man was none other than Qin Feng, the Upper God King from Divine Dragon Mountain, one of the ten God Kings who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    At that moment, Qin Feng touched the flute in his hand and muttered to himself, "Having slain several Upper God Kings level monsters and wounded hundreds more, now, these monsters are all scared off."


    "In less than half an hour, the monsters on the periphery of the ¡¯Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts¡¯ will have all fled. By then, I can deal with the ¡¯Sky-swallowing Azure Python¡¯, a Lower Earth Divine Venerable level monster within the ¡¯Abyss¡¯, without any disturbance."


    "Obtaining the ¡¯inner core¡¯ of that ¡¯Sky-swallowing Azure Python¡¯, I will have an additional ten percent assurance of breaking through to the Earth Divine Venerable realm."

 Chapter 699 - 651: An Encounter on the Road

    ```


    While Qin Feng schemed for the "Sky-swallowing Azure Python" within the "Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts," it caused the entire Fiery Realm and even the Icy Realm of the Nine Suns Ancient Land to fall into chaos.


    The other nine Divine Kings who had secured the spots to enter the Divine Kingdom of the Nine Suns Ancient Land had likewise stepped into the very heart of the three great realms of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the "Nine Suns Realm."


    However, among these nine Divine Kings, some had noticed the commotion Qin Feng had caused, while others were at that moment hidden away in secret caves, completely unaware of the situation outside.


    In a place hundreds of thousands of miles away from the "Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts" in the Nine Suns Realm, on top of a massive peak, stood the upper Divine King Yang Yun, who was ranked second on the "God King List" set by the nine great Divine Institutes. He placed only behind Long Li. His eyes calmly glanced over the region of the "Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts" and then shifted towards the outer areas of the Fiery Realm and the Icy Realm.


    The divine sense of an upper Divine King was terrifyingly powerful and covered vast distances.


    And Yang Yun, among the upper Divine Kings, was an absolute power, even a super genius capable of fighting across great realms against an Earth Divine Venerable.


    Though separated by boundless distances, he clearly sensed the turmoil unfolding in the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    However, like the Earth Divine Venerables, he remained indifferent to the deaths of countless warriors at the claws of formidable beasts.


    He even scoffed coldly, "That Qin Feng is quite vicious with his methods. He¡¯s headed to that ¡¯Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts¡¯ probably to scheme for the Divine Beasts inside. But with his actions, many have become unintended victims, likely not even knowing the cause of their misfortune until their dying breath."


    "Hmph, although I could easily deal with these beasts, I have no kind intention of meddling with such affairs! How could I waste my time saving these weak warriors? Finding Long Li is the utmost priority! I have already searched half of this Nine Suns Realm and still haven¡¯t caught a trace of her. Where on earth could she have gone after entering the Nine Suns Realm?!"


    After muttering to himself, Yang Yun¡¯s figure disappeared instantly from the giant peak where he stood, and he continued through the void towards another region of the Nine Suns Realm.


    Just like Yang Yun¡¯s indifference, within the central area of the void in the Nine Suns Realm, Yang Yan, an upper Divine King from the same power as Yang Yun and from one of the "Tai Yun Heaven" forces in the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom, had also noticed the changes in the Fiery Realm and the Icy Realm.


    This Yang Yan glanced outside just once before turning his head away, not caring anymore about the events unfolding outside.


    His gaze, as it swept through the Nine Suns Realm in search of something, vanished into the void after a moment.


    The two upper Divine Kings from the Mu King Mansion of the Southern Region, Hong Ming and Hong Yi, were meanwhile inside a cold pool wrapped in seven colors within the Nine Suns Realm.


    The entire pool was enveloped in a halo of seven colors, completely isolating Hong Ming and Hong Yi¡¯s divine senses from the outside world, keeping them oblivious to the events transpiring outside.


    At that moment, their attention was completely captured by a huge old turtle lying in the middle of the cold pool.


    Looking towards the old turtle, one could see it performing a strange act of swallowing and spitting out water from the pool, with a rhythm that proved to be an extremely rare breathing exercise!


    "The ¡¯Tortoise Spirit Divine Breath Skills,¡¯ the miraculous breathing technique recorded by the mansion, indeed resides within this millennia-old turtle found in the Nine Suns Ancient Land¡¯s ¡¯Seven-Colored Glazed Pool¡¯!"


    With delighted expressions, Hong Ming and Hong Yi observed the old turtle for several hours before they began to meditate right in the cold pool, enveloped by the seven colors.


    While Hong Ming and Hong Yi came across their chance, the number one divine girl of the Supreme Divine Institute, Long Li, whom many were searching for, was also in a hidden realm.


    At that time, two Divine Kings were by her side.


    These two Divine Kings were sisters, each carrying a snow-white Divine Sword, none other than Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing from Danxia Valley, a major force in the Northern Region of the Divine Kingdom.


    Looking towards the realm where Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing were located, one could see the three women standing within a heaven-reaching ancient tree.


    This ancient tree was so massive that it was even larger than a mountain range.


    The diameter of the tree spanned hundreds of miles, its height unknown, as it grew all the way into the sky, seemingly a pillar supporting the heavens!


    The branches of the heaven-reaching ancient tree stretched in all directions, each covering thousands of miles in the realm, with some even cloaking tens of thousands of miles.


    It hardly seemed like a tree at all.


    Without Heaven-Piercing Eye Power, many who found themselves within this tree¡¯s reach would believe they were in an immeasurably vast, mysterious realm!


    In the deepest parts of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the Nine Suns Realm, there were still many such unbelievable ancient beings and realms.


    Such heaven-reaching ancient trees and other ancient beings were either left by the Heavenly Divine Venerable "Nine Suns Venerable" who established the Nine Suns Ancient Land or created by other Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Mu King Mansion who took over the estate.


    Legends say that an Earth Divine Venerable could shatter a somewhat ordinary star continent, while a powerful Heavenly Divine Venerable, with their heaven-defying abilities, were fearsome beyond measure!


    If Ye Chen could see the heaven-reaching ancient tree where Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing were situated, he would be utterly astonished.


    ```


    ```


    This tree turned out to be exactly the same as the Sky-piercing Ancient Tree related to the secret map he had obtained from the "Golden Light Five"!


    However, the secret map from the "Golden Light Five" only showed a route to enter a tree hole at the very bottom of this colossal Sky-piercing Ancient Tree.


    Looking up at the Sky-piercing Ancient Tree, one could see that it had thousands of tree holes, sealed with prohibitions and seals.


    Your next read awaits at novelhall.Co?m


    And within the highest of these tree holes were Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing!


    Inside the tree hole, there were stairs extending upwards endlessly, seemingly without end.


    At the moment, Long Li stood on one of the steps, her beautiful eyebrows knitted tightly, as if pondering something.


    Next to her, Zhu Qianqian let out a sigh, "We have been here for over a day now, and that object is just too hard to find. With so many steps, it¡¯s impossible to walk them all; it¡¯s like a vicious cycle, and it¡¯s simply impossible to see where the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ is hidden."


    As Zhu Qianqian spoke, Zhu Qingqing raised her hand to stop her, saying, "Sister, don¡¯t disturb Little Sister Long Li¡¯s thinking. Little Sister Long Li has unparalleled talent and extraordinary comprehension; a mere nuisance set by the Heavenly Divine Venerable won¡¯t hold her back for long."


    Long Li, however, wasn¡¯t paying attention to Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing¡¯s words. She had been standing on the stair motionless for half an hour already.


    Suddenly, Long Li¡¯s delicate brows moved, her beautiful face blooming like a pear flower, "So that¡¯s how it is."


    After uttering those four words, Long Li smiled at Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing beside her, "Two sisters, follow me. I¡¯ve found the way to break through the first barrier of the ¡¯Polun Ancient Tree¡¯!"


    Hearing Long Li¡¯s words, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing looked at each other, their eyes showing a surprised and delighted expression.


    Without asking any more questions, they immediately followed behind Long Li.


    Long Li then lightly stepped forward onto the stair in front of her and leapt to the ninth step ahead. After pausing there, she flew another three steps forward. After moving swiftly for thirty-three times, the last step she landed on suddenly surged with a blue light formation.


    Long Li waved to Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, and the three women flew into the blue light formation and disappeared without a trace.


    After they vanished, the blue light formation disappeared as well, and the countless steps they had occupied returned to their original state.


    It was as if no one had ever been there.


    Among the ten divine kings who had entered Nine Suns Ancient Land, Qin Feng had triggered a beast riot; Yang Yun and Yang Yan disregarded the disaster, uncaring; and Hong Ming, Hong Yi, Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing, who were exploring the land, were completely unaware of what was happening outside.


    Of the ten divine kings, the only ones who noticed the disaster outside and took action were members of the family of Old Man Ku Du, two lower-ranked divine kings from the Mu King Mansion in the Southern Region: the little princess "Mu Ling" and the third young master "Mu Xiao."


    At this moment, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were hurrying from the Nine Suns Realm toward the Fiery Realm outside. Mu Ling couldn¡¯t help but huff angrily, "That Qin Feng ignored our obstruction and still plotted against the ¡¯Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts¡¯; he really has caused a huge disaster!"


    "According to the rules of Nine Suns Ancient Land, I¡¯m afraid even the Earth Divine Venerables won¡¯t bother themselves with this. In such a high-level disaster, many warriors will likely fall," Mu Ling said, her youthful face filled with anger.


    Mu Xiao sighed, "Qin Feng comes from ¡¯Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯ and is not scared of our ¡¯Mu King Mansion.¡¯ Even if we managed to stop Qin Feng, many beasts have already escaped. Little sister, we are only lower-ranked divine kings; although we¡¯re not afraid of higher-ranked divine beasts, with so many of them, we can¡¯t stop them all. Let¡¯s just try to save as many people as we can."


    "Yeah, save as many as we can. After all, we also came to Nine Suns Ancient Land just for the excitement, not to really do anything," Mu Ling nodded.


    In an instant, the two figures shuttled through the void, stepping from the Nine Suns Realm into the Fiery Realm where the beast riot erupted.


    At this time, the Fiery Realm was in shambles, with the ground of many lands pocked with huge pits, and many mountains had collapsed and toppled.


    After Mu Ling and Mu Xiao had saved several groups of people and slain numerous beasts, they arrived at a location in the northern part of the Fiery Realm. There, they saw a young man being pursued by dozens of higher-ranked divine beast kings.


    "A youngster at the Four Tribulations True God level?!"


    "Heavens, how can he withstand the pursuit of so many higher-ranked divine beast kings without dying?"


    "Looks like he wants to escape into the Nine Suns Realm. His idea isn¡¯t wrong; these beasts dare not casually return there, but if he flees elsewhere, those beasts might chase him to the ends of the earth!"


    Watching the young man being chased by dozens of higher-ranked divine beast kings, Mu Xiao was full of emotion.


    Meanwhile, Mu Ling¡¯s eyes were drawn to the sword shadow shuttling beside the young man, continuously slashing at those higher-ranked divine beasts. She frowned slightly and murmured in surprise, "Hmm? This swordsmanship looks very similar to our ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯s¡¯ ¡¯Devouring Obliteration Sword Skills¡¯, but it seems even more formidable?"


    ```

 Chapter 700 - 652: Rescue and Recognition

    "Even more powerful than the ¡¯Devouring Obliteration Sword Skills¡¯?"


    Hearing Mu Ling¡¯s words, Mu Xiao immediately turned to look at the sword shadow beside the young man.


    At this glance, Mu Xiao was also startled, "Yes, it is indeed very similar to the ¡¯Devouring Obliteration Sword Skills,¡¯ the oldest inheritance of our Mu King Mansion. That ¡¯Devouring Obliteration Sword Skills¡¯ is a Heaven-reaching Divine Art left by our ancestor, the old Territory King, when he departed. It is an exceptionally suitable set of techniques for True Gods and Divine Kings to cultivate."


    "Looking at this young man¡¯s sword technique, it seems that he hasn¡¯t cultivated it to Great Accomplishment yet, but even these few moves are much more powerful than the initial moves of the ¡¯Devouring Obliteration Sword Skills¡¯."


    "Could it be that this young man has some connection to our ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯?"


    While Mu Xiao was still puzzled, Mu Ling, upon seeing the youth being chased by dozens of Upper God King level monsters, quickly spoke up, "We must hurry to help him. His realm is too low, being only a Four Tribulations True God, and it¡¯s already incredible that he¡¯s alive despite being chased by so many Upper God King monsters. Even so, he is currently in grave danger. Let us save him first and talk later."


    Mu Xiao nodded as well.


    In an instant, the two of them flew towards the youth being pursued by dozens of Upper God King level monsters.


    The young man being chased by these dozens of Upper God King level monsters was, of course, Ye Chen!


    And the sword technique that surprised both Mu Ling and Mu Xiao from the Mu King Mansion was none other than Ye Chen¡¯s most powerful supreme Heaven-reaching Divine Art in hand now, the "Devouring Obliteration Nine Swords."


    Since being chased by eight appalling monsters in "Flame Mountain," Ye Chen had been fleeing towards the direction of the Nine Suns Realm.


    Ye Chen knew that probably only the mysterious and infinite Nine Suns Realm would make the pursuit of these fearsome monsters stop.


    As Ye Chen had expected, once they saw him escaping towards the Nine Suns Realm and that they could not kill him, many of the fearsome monsters ceased their pursuit. However, too many of these appalling monsters had poured into the Fiery Realm.


    Even if some did not continue pursuing Ye Chen, new fearsome monsters joined the chase against him.


    If it weren¡¯t for the Star Blue Divine Garment, an extraordinary divine artifact on Ye Chen, which could repel and deflect physical, True Qi, and soul attacks altogether from these fearsome monsters, he probably couldn¡¯t have held on for so long.


    But even after enduring for a long time, Ye Chen was in a sorry state, being pursued by dozens of appalling monsters, close to exhaustion as he neared the boundary of the Nine Suns Realm, and he was barely hanging on.


    "My strength is still too weak!"


    "These fearsome monsters, probably any one of the ten Divine Kings who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land could easily deal with, but for us True Gods, it¡¯s too hard!"


    "Simply no match for them!"


    "If it weren¡¯t for the powerful defense of my ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment,¡¯ the robust recovery power of the stellar forces and the immortal divine body, and the occasional attacks from the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation,¡¯ I simply couldn¡¯t have lasted this long!"


    As Ye Chen fled, thoughts flashed rapidly through his mind, contemplating ways to shake off these monsters.


    But after a long time of thinking, he could come up with no solution.


    The only method was to use the life-saving talisman given to him by the East Territory King as a plea for rescue.


    Although the Nine Suns Ancient Land was under the jurisdiction of the Southern Territory King Mansion, and even many supreme masters could not enter it at the time of true exploration, what kind of person was the East Territory King?


    He was on the same level as the Southern Territory King, the number one existence of the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    As long as Ye Chen sought help from the East Territory King, he would undoubtedly be able to reach the Nine Suns Ancient Land and rescue him.


    However, Ye Chen was reluctant to use the life-saving talisman.


    On the one hand, he did not want to waste this hard-earned opportunity to explore the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Although he had just entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land for a few days and had encountered numerous dangers, his gains were also substantial. Not only did the encounter with the "Ice Shadow Fox" lead to a breakthrough in comprehending the fourth of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation,"


    but in "Flame Mountain," he acquired the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed."


    Although acquiring the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed" was near fatal, now that it was in his possession, Ye Chen could easily advance to the next True God Realm.


    With such significant gains in just a few days, Ye Chen naturally did not want to use the life-saving talisman during this monster chaos and be taken to the East Territory King Mansion by the East Territory King.


    Ye Chen still wanted to continue his adventure in the Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    "But if I don¡¯t use the life-saving talisman, what else can I do?!"


    "Escape. Just keep running to the end. If I still can¡¯t shake off these monsters in the end, I can¡¯t help but use the life-saving talisman!"


    As Ye Chen alternated between blocking and fleeing, gradually finding it harder to keep up, he suddenly saw two figures flying towards him.


    "It¡¯s the two Divine Kings from the Mu King Mansion!"


    Ye Chen immediately recognized that the newcomers were Mu Ling and Mu Xiao!


    At that moment, Mu Ling also shouted loudly to Ye Chen, "Fellow Daoist, don¡¯t panic; we¡¯re here to save you."


    As the girl spoke, she pinched a magic formula with her fingers, and with continuous "whooshing" sounds, a large swarm of flying swords shot out directly from her body.


    These flying swords, a total of over twenty sword shadows, instantly turned into more than twenty gigantic treasure swords.


    Each of these gigantic treasure swords emitted a combat power far beyond what Ye Chen could reach, definitely belonging to the Upper God King level, and among the powers at the Upper God King level, they were absolutely formidable!


    Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!


    The monstrous creatures that had been relentlessly pursuing Ye Chen could only flee in panic when the young girl released her flying swords. They instantly took to flight, seeking escape.


    Clearly, these creatures had high intelligence and recognized that the girl¡¯s flying swords were not to be trifiled with.


    But it was too late for them to escape now.


    The twenty-some gigantic flying swords, each a flash of light, cut down a monstrous creature where it stood. Then the swords flashed again, turning to strike at the others.


    In the blink of an eye, amidst the dazzling sword light, scores of Upper God King level monstrous creatures were all slain within moments.


    Throughout the process, the girl herself did not engage in combat at all; she relied solely on her flying swords!


    Standing beside her, Mu Xiao did not lift a finger either; he simply watched the girl slay the creatures.


    Witnessing how Mu Ling of the Mu King Mansion, who was just a lower Tier God King, could in the blink of an eye slay dozens of terrifying Upper God King creatures, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but take a sharp breath.


    Indeed, she was worthy of being the descendant of someone as exalted as Elder Ku Du, a Nine Stars Supreme Master!


    She was incredibly powerful!


    This was the first time Ye Chen had seen a true genius of the Divine Kingdom in action, and this display left him profoundly shaken.


    Ye Chen could feel that the girl¡¯s sword techniques might have fully mastered a set of Heaven-reaching Divine Art sword skills to Great Accomplishment. Coupled with her lower Tier God King realm and combat power that surpassed her realm, those creatures stood no chance against her.


    Perhaps only if Ye Chen¡¯s realm were much stronger, having truly mastered all of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, might he possibly stand shoulder to shoulder with this girl.


    "Thank you for your assistance, fellow cultivator!"


    "Your skills truly astound me, Ye Chen!"


    Seeing his crisis finally averted, Mu Ling retracted her flying swords into her body, and with Mu Xiao smiling at his side, they started walking towards him. Ye Chen greeted them with cupped fists.


    "So your name is Ye Chen!" Mu Ling said with a light smile, her eyes sparkling. "Ye Chen, you shouldn¡¯t belittle yourself."


    "Me, a lower Tier God King, slaying these monstrous creatures, can¡¯t compare to you, a mere Four Tribulations True God, surviving their pursuit."


    "When I was at the Four Tribulations True God stage, I was far from being able to do that!"


    Mu Xiao also spoke with a smile, "Fellow Ye Chen is indeed remarkable, the most impressive True God I have ever seen."


    Both Mu Ling and Mu Xiao spoke courteously, showing no pride or boastfulness for having saved Ye Chen¡¯s life.


    This increased Ye Chen¡¯s favorable impression of both of them greatly!


    "These two are truly worthy descendants of Elder Ku Du; they possess such admirable character," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    As Ye Chen reflected, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao took a step in midair and swiftly approached him.


    Mu Ling, who had just put away her flying sword, couldn¡¯t help but ask, "What¡¯s the name of your sword technique, fellow cultivator? My brother and I both feel that it is very similar to one of the sword techniques from our Mu King Mansion."


    At this, Mu Ling smiled and said, "Of course, don¡¯t take this the wrong way. Though your sword technique is similar to one from our Mu King Mansion, we can tell that yours is even more powerful; it must have an extraordinary origin."


    Hearing Mu Ling¡¯s words, Ye Chen inwardly smiled bitterly.


    The Nine Swords of Annihilation originated from the former Southern Territory King, so it¡¯s no wonder it resembled a technique left behind by him.


    These two had saved Ye Chen¡¯s life, and he did not wish to conceal the truth from them.


    When he had left the Undersea Divine Palace, Elder Ku Du had told Ye Chen that he could disclose his whereabouts to the people of the Mu King Mansion.


    However, Elder Ku Du also told Ye Chen to inform the people of the Mu King Mansion not to seek him out; he would not meet with them until his cultivation was complete.


    "My set of sword skills is called ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation,¡¯ passed down to me by a formidable senior," Ye Chen replied openly.


    "Nine Swords of Annihilation? It has a name very similar to our ¡¯Devouring Obliteration Sword Skills,¡¯" Mu Ling muttered upon hearing the name.


    At that moment, Mu Xiao¡¯s expression shifted, looking at Ye Chen in surprise, "Fellow Ye Chen, the senior who taught you the ¡¯Nine Swords of Annihilation,¡¯ do you know his name, or anything about his background?"


    Ye Chen simply extended his palm without saying much.


    A glowing silhouette immediately appeared in his hand.


    It was none other than the likeness of Elder Ku Du!


    When Mu Ling and Mu Xiao saw the glowing silhouette of Elder Ku Du, they first paused in shock, then, as if unable to believe their eyes, they each rubbed them in disbelief.


    Finally, after exchanging glances, they exclaimed in unison, "This is our ancestor, the old Territory King!" Discover hidden tales at novelhall.Co?m


    "My heavens, Ye Chen, the person who taught you the Nine Swords of Annihilation, could it be our very ancestor?!"

 Chapter 701 - 653: Heart of the Strong

    Shortly after, Ye Chen, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao continued to soar through the skies.


    The beast chaos persisted, and as Mu Ling and Mu Xiao still had to rescue others, they naturally could not spend all their time chatting idly with Ye Chen.


    However, they didn¡¯t part ways with Ye Chen but instead had him join them in their actions. After the great beast turmoil had subsided, they would have a detailed discussion.


    At this moment, seeing the beast chaos ravage the entire Fiery Realm and spread toward the Icy Realm, Ye Chen also thought of following Mu Ling and Mu Xiao around the Nine Suns Ancient Land to witness the situation of this great chaos.


    Even though their conversation had been brief, Ye Chen¡¯s relationship with Mu Ling and Mu Xiao had already changed markedly.


    Through Ye Chen, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao now knew that their ancestor, the former Territory King also known as Elder Ku Du, was currently undergoing arduous cultivation in a secret realm of the lower realm.


    The two of them also learned that Ye Chen was a martial artist who came to the Divine Kingdom from that lower realm, having truly received the cultivation technique taught by Elder Ku Du. Moreover, the power of this technique showed that Ye Chen was held in high regard by Elder Ku Du.


    Since their ancestor valued Ye Chen so highly, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao naturally treated Ye Chen with great courtesy!


    Furthermore, when they learned that Ye Chen had obtained the opportunity to participate in the assessment of the nine great divine institutes and thus came to the Divine Kingdom, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were tremendously shocked.


    Of course, they knew just how difficult it was to get a chance to participate in the assessment for the nine divine institutes from the lower realms.


    Only those legendary martial artists from the lower realm who could survive the grande purge catastrophe of the lower realm and obtain the most precious treasures amidst that catastrophe could possibly earn a spot in the assessments of the nine divine institutes.


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao had already witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s miracles.


    Now, considering that Ye Chen had been able to raise his combat strength to this level in the lower realm and even obtained a spot for the divine institute assessments, they no longer considered themselves superior as powerful Divine Kings. Instead, they began to interact with Ye Chen as peers.


    "Ye Chen, my friend, the Supreme Divine Institute is the most powerful among the nine great divine institutes. You must strive to join the Supreme Divine Institute during the assessment!" Mu Ling said earnestly to Ye Chen.


    Mu Xiao also said, "Yes, both Mu Ling and I are disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute. Indeed, it is the best place for martial artists in the Divine Kingdom to cultivate."


    "With your current strength, joining the Supreme Divine Institute shouldn¡¯t be a problem. I¡¯m afraid you even have a good chance of competing for one of the top spots among the institute¡¯s assessment disciples!"


    Hearing what Mu Ling and Mu Xiao said, Ye Chen nodded.


    The Supreme Divine Institute.


    Whether it was Elder Ku Du or the East Territory King, both had spoken of the institute¡¯s power.


    The formidable Divine Kings Ye Chen had encountered this time, such as Long Li and the powerful Mu Ling and Mu Xiao standing before him, all hailed from the Supreme Divine Institute.


    If he were to join an institute, it would naturally be the most powerful one.


    Ye Chen was, of course, extremely interested in the Supreme Divine Institute! Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    While flying and conversing, the three soon encountered another group of martial artists being pursued by demon creatures.


    This time, Mu Xiao took action directly, saving another group of people.


    They continued this way, flying, rescuing, and talking.


    It took Ye Chen, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao most of the day to scour a large part of the Fiery Realm. They saved many people and also witnessed the deaths of countless martial artists in the beast turmoil before it finally began to subside.


    The terrifyingly fierce demon creatures, after rampaging and killing for most of the day, finally calmed their raging hearts and found new habitats within the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Above the void.


    Looking at the ravaged Fiery Realm and the Icy Realm that was also heavily affected, Mu Xiao sighed, "Martial artists keep cultivating, but they will encounter natural disasters and also suffer many man-made calamities."


    "Just take this great beast turmoil for example; I¡¯m afraid more than a million martial artists have been killed. None of these million could have imagined that it was the actions of that Higher Divine King Qin Feng from the Divine Dragon Mountain that led them to death within the Nine Suns Ancient Land!"


    Mu Ling¡¯s brows knitted, "That Qin Feng is truly ruthless. He doesn¡¯t care about these demon creatures, yet his actions led to their killing so many true gods!"


    Ye Chen, standing beside the two, had a cold light flashing in his eyes.


    Through his conversation with Mu Xiao and Mu Ling along the way, Ye Chen had learned that this great beast turmoil was caused by "Qin Feng" from Divine Dragon Mountain, due to his actions in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts within the Nine Suns Realm.


    Qin Feng¡¯s actions had almost led to Ye Chen¡¯s death at the hands of numerous Higher Divine Kings¡¯ demon creatures and caused the rest of the team with whom he had grouped to all fall.


    During his escape, Ye Chen had seen with his own eyes the corpses of the few who had come with him to Flame Mountain being killed, as well as the corpses of many more fallen martial artists.


    All this was the result of the evil caused by Qin Feng.


    How could it not fill Ye Chen with righteous indignation!


    The thought of eliminating this hateful Qin Feng and making him experience the feeling of being killed without a care for his life surged in Ye Chen¡¯s heart!


    Unfortunately, that Qin Feng was a Higher Divine King, extraordinarily powerful even among Higher Divine Kings, capable of battling with Earth Divine Venerable.


    Ye Chen was not even able to deal with those terrifying demon creatures that feared Qin Feng, let alone contend with Qin Feng himself.


    This left Ye Chen feeling somewhat powerless.


    "Hmph, fortunes change like the rotation of the rivers and mountains. Once I have cultivated to a Divine King and defeated him, it won¡¯t be impossible!"


    "That Qin Feng comes from the Divine Dragon Mountain of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s East Province, a power that doesn¡¯t get along with the East Territory King¡¯s estate. In the future, I¡¯m afraid I¡¯ll have plenty of opportunities to confront this person. Once I¡¯m strong enough, I certainly need to make him pay dearly for his actions today!"


    In the end, Ye Chen thought, grinding his teeth.


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao could very well understand Ye Chen¡¯s feelings.


    Mu Xiao said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, this is the world of survival of the fittest in the Divine Kingdom!"


    "That Qin Feng is indeed detestable, but he¡¯s strong enough not to care about the wrath of true gods. Many true gods didn¡¯t even get a chance to resent him before they died."


    "Such things happen too often in the Divine Kingdom."


    "Once, two Heavenly Divine Venerables fought, resulting in the destruction of a Star Continent inhabited by martial artists. They had no idea how many martial artists died in the aftermath of the battle between those two Heavenly Divine Venerables."


    "Those martial artists, like those who died in this beast chaos, probably didn¡¯t know until their deaths what caused their homelands to crumble, nor did they understand what had happened."


    "And those two Heavenly Divine Venerables, who also came from prominent backgrounds, were not pursued in the end by the Western Territory King, who governed that Star Continent. Thus, those martial artists died in vain."


    "Fellow Ye Chen, we live in the Divine Kingdom where countless heavenly tribulations and divine calamities are inevitable. Similarly, innumerable man-made disasters sometimes cannot be avoided."


    "There¡¯s only one way, and that is to make ourselves strong enough, strong enough to deal with all natural disasters and man-made afflictions!"


    Mu Xiao¡¯s words made Ye Chen nod deeply in agreement.


    In the eyes of the strong, the lives of the weak are nothing more than chaff, unworthy of their attention.


    Then do not be weak, be the absolute strong!


    Be the existence that those who regard life as worthless must look up to!


    "My path is still very long..."


    "I don¡¯t want my homeland to be destroyed without cause one day, as Mu Xiao described, by the actions of powerful beings."


    "Nor do I want to die inexplicably in natural or man-made disasters. My father and mother are still waiting for me, Jiang Yao is waiting for me in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!"


    "How could I not become stronger?!"


    "One day, once I become an existence like the East Territory King, like Elder Ku Du, who in the Divine Kingdom would dare disregard my feelings?"


    "And one day, when I become an existence like Lord Emperor Yan, like Zi Ji Star Lord, would I still need to worry about disasters in the Divine Kingdom?"


    "Only strength matters!"


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and clenched his fists.


    The heart of the strong surged within Ye Chen.


    After their conversation,


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao asked Ye Chen, "Fellow Ye Chen, the great beast turmoil has now subsided. What are your plans next?"


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned straight to the Nine Suns Realm.


    In his hand, he still held the Secret Treasure Map he had obtained from the Golden Light Quintuplets, which claimed that a great opportunity lay within the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, and entering it might enhance his combat power once again.


    Ye Chen, wanting to become stronger, would naturally not miss such an opportunity.


    He already had the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed," enough for a breakthrough to a five-tribulation true god.


    But of course, Ye Chen was not satisfied with being just a five-tribulation true god; he intended to strive for an even higher realm!


    "I plan to go to the Nine Suns Realm, to a place called ¡¯Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree,¡¯" Ye Chen said to Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, "If you two friends have no other plans, you can come with me and check it out."


    "Nine Suns Realm, Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree?"


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao looked at each other and nodded with a smile, "Since we came to the Nine Suns Realm just for a diversion, let¡¯s join Ye Chen and check it out together!"


    Ye Chen intended to take the two people who owed him a life-saving favor to the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree; if there were an opportunity, it would also count as repaying their kindness.


    Meanwhile, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, after learning of Ye Chen¡¯s background, thought to protect him along the way, to ensure Ye Chen didn¡¯t fall into danger again in the treacherous Nine Suns Realm.


    Little did the trio know that Long Li was currently within the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree they aimed to visit.


    And moreover, several others were also gradually making their way to that place!

 Chapter 702 - 654: Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree

    After Long Li and Zhu Qianqian, Zhu Qingqing entered the tree hole at the very top of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    The second person to arrive at the area of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree was none other than Yang Yun, whose strength was only second to Long Li.


    Upon reaching the area of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Yang Yun directly flew down to the trunk of the tree, lifting his head to gaze at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree that grew into the sky, resembling a colossal pillar supporting the heavens.


    Eventually, his gaze fell upon the numerous tree holes sealed by enchantments on the trunk, assessing thousands of them from top to bottom.


    "To chase after Junior Sister Long Li¡¯s traces, with her formidable strength, I can hardly notice them," he said.


    "For that reason, I¡¯ve searched for a long time but haven¡¯t found Junior Sister Long Li."


    "However, fortunately, I thought of those two women, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing!"


    "These two women, having suddenly come from the ¡¯Danxia Valley¡¯ of the Northern Region to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and now ¡¯Danxia Valley¡¯ is completely obedient to the commands of the Northern Territory King. I¡¯ve heard that the matter of Junior Sister Long Li coming to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the Northern Territory King is extremely concerned. It seems, indeed, that Her Highness the Northern Territory King sent Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing to aid Junior Sister Long Li!"


    "I cannot find Junior Sister Long Li directly, but I can speculate about Junior Sister Long Li¡¯s whereabouts from the movements of Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing. My Mysterious Heavenly Divine Treasure has detected that they have come here; presumably, it¡¯s very likely that Junior Sister Long Li has also arrived here!"


    Thinking of this, Yang Yun¡¯s breathing grew more rapid.


    "This Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree is rumored to be a mystical place left by the Nine Suns Venerable, that Heavenly Divine Venerable. Could it be that Junior Sister Long Li came here for this Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree?"


    Yang Yun¡¯s gaze turned toward the tree holes sealed by enchantments on the ancient tree, his eyes gleaming with brilliance, "It¡¯s a pity that after I detected Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing¡¯s arrival here, their traces disappeared, leaving me clueless as to which tree hole they entered."


    "Additionally, these tree holes were left by the Heavenly Divine Venerable. Without a specific method to break the seals or guidance on the route, it¡¯s impossible to enter. Even though I can fight against the Upper Divine Venerables, I¡¯m still not a match for the Heavenly Divine Venerable. How can I enter these tree holes?!"


    The speculation that Long Li might be in one of these tree holes, yet being unable to enter and investigate, filled Yang Yun with immense frustration.


    In the end, he could only stay beneath the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, wandering around while pondering over the method to enter the tree holes.


    After Yang Yun arrived at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree and had not yet found the method to enter the tree holes, before long, another figure flew down to this place.


    This figure was Yang Yan, who hailed from the same domain as Yang Yun and also came from the "Tai Yun Heaven" forces.


    "Hmm, how come you are here too?" Seeing Yang Yan also arrive at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Yang Yun raised his eyebrow in slight dissatisfaction and asked.


    Yang Yan replied with a smile, "If Brother Yun can be here, why can¡¯t I?"


    Yang Yun snorted coldly, "Hmph, don¡¯t think I don¡¯t know what you¡¯re thinking. Let me tell you, it¡¯s useless to come here; you won¡¯t find any trace of Junior Sister Long Li."


    Upon hearing Yang Yun¡¯s words, Yang Yan, disbelieving, flew toward various parts of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, only to return after a while with a somber expression.


    "Strange, why is it that it was clear Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing had come here, yet now there are no traces to be found? Could they have entered these tree holes?"


    "But there are thousands of tree holes in this Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree. I¡¯ve tried for half a day and couldn¡¯t break the seal on any of them. How am I supposed to find Junior Sister Long Li?"


    Just like Yang Yun, Yang Yan was filled with immense frustration.


    Both of them were proud talents of the Divine Kingdom, and they had never taken the Nine Suns Ancient Land left by the "Nine Suns Venerable," the Heavenly Divine Venerable, seriously, let alone sought the treasures within.


    Their sole purpose in coming to the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time was to create more opportunities to be around Long Li.


    However, upon entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they had not seen Long Li, and she had no intention of communicating with them. Now, unable to find any trace of Long Li, they were naturally filled with immense frustration.


    Nevertheless, neither was willing to leave.


    Both guessed that Long Li was with Zhu Qingqing and Zhu Qianqian in this vicinity of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, so naturally, they were not willing to waste time elsewhere.


    After exchanging glances, both Yang Yun and Yang Yan snorted coldly and sat down beneath the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, opting to directly wait.


    After more than one hour had passed, a third Upper God King arrived at the area of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    This Upper God King was none other than Qin Feng, who had plotted to obtain the inner core of the "Sky-swallowing Azure Python" in the Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts, which resulted in the outbreak of beast turmoil throughout the whole Fiery Realm!


    Before Qin Feng completely flew into the area of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Yang Yun and Yang Yan noticed him, and he too had already spotted the two of them.


    "Haha, Brother Yang Yun, Brother Yang Yan, the two of you are truly smitten with Junior Sister Long Li, to actually come here so early and wait for her," Qin Feng¡¯s loud laughter reached Yang Yun and Yang Yan from afar.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan, of course, were extremely familiar with Qin Feng.


    All three of them were disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute, and at the same time, they were the second, fourth, and fifth top geniuses ranked on the jointly established "Divine King Ranking" by the nine major divine institutes. They were also admirers of Long Li, competing with each other since their time at the Supreme Divine Institute, and were as familiar with each other as one could possibly be.


    "Qin Feng, judging by your smug look, have you really managed to get that thing you wanted?" Yang Yun glanced indifferently at Qin Feng and spoke out.


    Hearing Yang Yun¡¯s words, Qin Feng proudly raised an eyebrow, "That¡¯s right, although I¡¯m ranked lower than you two brothers on the Divine King Ranking, I¡¯m not as carefree as you two, waiting for Junior Sister Long Li since arriving at the Nine Suns Ancient Land."


    "I must seize this opportunity to get a few treasures. Haha, after getting my hands on the inner core of that ¡¯Sky-swallowing Azure Python,¡¯ I might step into the ranks of the Earthly Divine Venerable even before you two!"


    "Earthly Divine Venerable?" Yang Yan on the other side scoffed, "If I weren¡¯t fortifying my foundation to challenge the Earthly Divine Venerable with the ¡¯Golden Toad Twelve Transformations,¡¯ I would have entered their ranks a long time ago!"


    "Qin Feng, the trouble you¡¯ve caused this time for the inner core of that ¡¯Sky-swallowing Azure Python¡¯ is not insignificant. The beast chaos you¡¯ve incited has resulted in at least a million true gods dead!"


    "You better be careful when you face the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Tribulation, lest the Heart Tribulation strikes you and turns you to ashes!"


    Yang Yan¡¯s words made Qin Feng¡¯s face change, and he glared back fiercely at Yang Yan, "Since when have you become so merciful, Brother Yang Yan? I heard that you also sacrificed quite a few martial artists¡¯ lives in the Western Territory to practice the ¡¯Golden Toad Twelve Transformations.¡¯ The Blood Fate on your hands is no less than mine!"


    "Besides, aren¡¯t they just some true gods? Hmph, every day countless true gods die in the Divine Kingdom. Those who died in this minor beast chaos simply lacked the strength. It¡¯s not my fault!"


    Qin Feng and Yang Yan confronted each other sharply, while Yang Yun waved his hand, "Stop arguing, those true gods are dead and arguing is pointless."


    "What matters is finding the whereabouts of Junior Sister Long Li. We can¡¯t just wait around like this. I heard that after she returns from the Nine Suns Ancient Land this time, she¡¯ll likely enter the ¡¯Supreme Ultimate Heaven¡¯ for cultivation. Then, meeting Junior Sister Long Li will become even more difficult!"


    Hearing Yang Yun¡¯s words, Yang Yan and Qin Feng also stopped their squabbling and began to ponder over how to unlock this Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree¡¯s tree hole, but despite thinking for a long time, they had no solution. Read exclusive chapters at novelhall.Co?m


    "Someone else is coming!"


    As the three were frowning, they almost simultaneously sensed a disturbance in the void and looked directly into the emptiness.


    The result was that Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng saw three figures emerging from the void, flying towards their location at the trunk of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Upon recognizing the three figures, Yang Yun narrowed his eyes, "Hmm? It turns out to be Mu Ling and Mu Xiao from the Mu King Mansion, two lower-ranked Divine Kings, and a young true god of the Four Tribulations?"


    "What are they doing here? Could it be that they are also searching for Junior Sister Long Li?"


    At that moment, above the void, Ye Chen, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao also noticed Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng.


    Seeing these three high-ranking Divine Kings gathered under the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Ye Chen, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao were all somewhat surprised.


    However, although Mu Ling and Mu Xiao practiced in the Supreme Divine Institute like Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng, they didn¡¯t have much of a relationship with them.


    They just glanced at Yang Yun and his group once and, along with Ye Chen, flew towards the lowest tree hole of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, is this the tree hole you were talking about?" Mu Xiao sent a message to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded and replied, "That¡¯s right, the guidance from the secret chart definitely points to this place."


    However, Ye Chen did not directly follow the guidance of the secret chart to open the lowest tree hole.


    With Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng, three high-ranking Divine Kings eyeing them closely, Ye Chen naturally did not want to reveal anything about the secret chart.


    Upon seeing Qin Feng, a cold light flashed in the depths of Ye Chen¡¯s eyes.


    Ye Chen also didn¡¯t expect that the culprit behind the beast chaos would leave the Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts so quickly and appear here.


    Although Ye Chen didn¡¯t take any action, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng were not simple characters.


    They immediately guessed the reason Ye Chen, Mu Xiao, and Mu Ling had come to the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    It seemed that the three were not here for Long Li, so the only possibility was that they had some connection with the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree itself.


    With Long Li possibly inside the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree at that moment, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng certainly did not want Ye Chen and the others to have any involvement with the tree.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan had not taken any action yet, but Qin Feng didn¡¯t care about Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts in the slightest. Looking at Ye Chen, he gave a cold smile, "This territory has been requisitioned by us!"


    "If Mu Xiao and Mu Ling, both from the Mu King Mansion, wish to stay here for a while, that¡¯s no problem."


    "Kid, is this place meant for a mere Four Tribulations true god?"


    "Scram!"

 Chapter 703 - 655: Confrontation

    This Qin Feng, as soon as Ye Chen had landed, directly began to rant and berate him.


    He even wanted to directly drive Ye Chen out of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree area!


    This person was not only ruthless in his methods, but was also so arrogantly domineering!


    Upon hearing Qin Feng¡¯s words, Ye Chen¡¯s expression turned cold.


    Due to the beast chaos, Ye Chen had long found this Qin Feng displeasing to the eye, and now hearing him berating him, how could Ye Chen be intimidated by an Upper God King?


    Even if Ye Chen could not yet overcome this Qin Feng, but for Qin Feng to think he could chastise Ye Chen at will with his Upper God King realm?


    That was simply a fantasy!


    Ye Chen, who could even speak frankly with great powers of the Sovereign Realm, how could he fear an Upper God King?!


    "Get lost?" Ye Chen looked at Qin Feng indifferently, "Based on you, what do you even count for?"


    As Ye Chen spoke, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao landed one to the left and one to the right of him, both staring angrily at Qin Feng and said coldly, "Qin Feng, what do you think you¡¯re doing?"


    Although Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were much younger than Qin Feng and were only at the Lower God King realm, unable to defeat Qin Feng, originating from Mu King Mansion, they were not at all intimidated by Qin Feng.


    Ye Chen had significant connections with their ancestors. Experience tales at novelhall.Co?m


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao had come to the Nine Suns Realm with the intention to protect Ye Chen, and they certainly wouldn¡¯t let Ye Chen be bullied!


    Ye Chen¡¯s words left Yang Yan and Yang Yun utterly surprised.


    They could not have imagined that a minor Four Tribulations true god would dare to speak to Qin Feng, an Upper God King, in such a manner.


    Seeing Mu Ling and Mu Xiao standing by Ye Chen, obviously not going to stand by and let Ye Chen be bullied, it made Yang Yun and Yang Yan speculate about Ye Chen¡¯s identity even more.


    For a moment, the two exchanged glances, but didn¡¯t say anything.


    As for that Qin Feng, he was nearly exploding with rage.


    He had never heard a nobody dare to speak to him like this from his childhood to adulthood.


    Coming from one of the four great forces, "Divine Dragon Mountain," moreover a direct descendant of the eight-star Sovereign Realm powerhouse Qin Yuntian, leader of "Divine Dragon Mountain," he had only ever scolded and bullied the weak, never experiencing defiance from them.


    Only in the presence of an exceptionally talented individual like Long Li, whose strength and status both surpassed his own, would he show some weakness.


    And Ye Chen, being a mere Four Tribulations true god, was of course an absolute weakling, an absolute nobody in Qin Feng¡¯s eyes.


    Now, that such a nobody says he doesn¡¯t amount to anything, of course, he couldn¡¯t stand it.


    Qin Feng, who was used to arrogance, didn¡¯t even care about Mu Ling and Mu Xiao standing beside Ye Chen.


    Just as Mu Ling and Mu Xiao came from Mu King Mansion and did not fear him, he came from Divine Dragon Mountain and likewise did not fear Mu Ling and Mu Xiao!


    "What a sharp-tongued brat you are, I¡¯ll let you know today what kind of punishment comes from showing disrespect to your superiors!" Qin Feng¡¯s large hand suddenly reached out, aiming to grab Ye Chen directly.


    "You really dare to make a move?!" Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were furious, and both flashed out a sword that was unimaginably fast, aiming to slash at Qin Feng¡¯s large hand.


    At that moment, however, Qin Feng let out a cold smile. His large hand met Mu Ling¡¯s and Mu Xiao¡¯s attacks head-on, and at the same time, a bizarre and eerie black light bypassed them both, instantly striking towards Ye Chen.


    Being at the Lower God King realm, even if they were extraordinarily strong, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao could not completely block the attack from the equally formidable Upper God King Qin Feng.


    Seeing the strange black light aiming for Ye Chen, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao hurriedly retracted their swords and rushed to rescue Ye Chen.


    At that moment, they heard Qin Feng¡¯s cold voice, "Too late now, do you think I still possess the same strength as when you last saw me, dreaming of rescuing someone in front of me? Dream on!"


    Before Qin Feng¡¯s words had even finished echoing, the sinister black light aimed at Ye Chen surged in speed to an unbelievable degree, reaching him just as Mu Ling and Mu Xiao had begun to move to Ye Chen¡¯s aid.


    Then, something unexpected happened.


    The moment this peculiar black light touched Ye Chen¡¯s body, it was violently repelled and even rebounded towards Qin Feng.


    A cold sneer froze on Qin Feng¡¯s face.


    He could not comprehend how his move, which could easily kill an Upper God King, was blocked by a mere Four Tribulations True God!


    Of course, Qin Feng couldn¡¯t have anticipated that Ye Chen was clad in the "Star Blue Divine Garment", forged from a Mysterious Heavenly Object.


    Although Ye Chen was not capable of defeating Qin Feng, the formidable defensive power of the "Star Blue Divine Garment" left Ye Chen unfazed by Qin Feng¡¯s attacks.


    Even if Qin Feng were to use his most powerful techniques, reaching the skills of a Sovereign Realm, he might possibly pierce through the "Star Blue Divine Garment", but Ye Chen still had nine Divine Thunder Pearls at his disposal, and life-saving talismans too!


    Ye Chen certainly had his countermeasures ready!


    With Qin Feng¡¯s attack repelled, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao deployed flying swords to fully shield Ye Chen.


    Having almost exposed Ye Chen to mortal peril, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao naturally would not allow Ye Chen to be threatened again.


    The two directly said to Qin Feng, "Qin Feng, do you really want to turn against Mu King Mansion?"


    "Turn against us?" Qin Feng looked at Mu Ling and Mu Xiao coldly, "Is this insignificant Four Tribulations True God truly worth your Mu King Mansion turning against me?"


    To Qin Feng¡¯s surprise, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao did not hesitate at all before replying, "Of course, he is worth it!"


    Mu Ling went further, chastising him, "Qin Feng, do you think you¡¯re something special? You¡¯ve cultivated for hundreds of years to reach the Upper God King Realm, but Ye Chen has only cultivated for over a decade, yet he¡¯s able to suppress Lower God Kings with the power of a Four Tribulations True God and defend against the siege of countless Upper God King beasts. Compared to Ye Chen, your talent is far inferior!"


    "You¡¯re only taking advantage of the fact that you¡¯ve cultivated for longer than Ye Chen. By the time Ye Chen reaches your age, reaching the Sovereign Realm will be a breeze for him!"


    "Such a talent is naturally valued by our Mu King Mansion, certainly more so than you, Qin Feng!"


    Mu Ling¡¯s words caused Qin Feng¡¯s expression to change repeatedly.


    He had not expected that the little princess of Mu King Mansion would dare to rebuke him like this, and seem willing to fall out with him over a mere Four Tribulations True God.


    "Hmph, a dead genius is no longer a genius. I don¡¯t believe that your Mu King Mansion would really seek trouble with Divine Dragon Mountain over a genius who has not yet matured!"


    "Just the two of you think you can block me from killing him? Go ahead and try!"


    A cold smile on his lips, Qin Feng was poised to strike once again.


    At that moment, high above in the void, suddenly came two voices: "You think Mu Ling and Mu Xiao can¡¯t stop you?"


    "What if we join them?"


    "Does your Divine Dragon Mountain really want to make enemies with both King Mansions of the Southern Territory?"


    Boom! Boom!


    The space where the voices originated tore open, and two Upper God Kings revealed themselves.


    Those two Upper God Kings turned out to be Hong Ming and Hong Yi from the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    The two of them had also arrived at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Adding Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing who were already inside the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, all of the ten great God Kings who had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land had now assembled here!

 Chapter 704 - 656: The 9th Level

    "Hong Ming, Senior Brother, Hong Yi, Senior Brother!"


    Seeing Hong Ming and Hong Yi suddenly appear, Mu Ling called out excitedly.


    She and her brother, Mu Xiao, were both Lower God Kings, and they faced great pressure to protect Ye Chen from Qin Feng, an Upper God King, who was aggressively bearing down on them.


    But Hong Ming and Hong Yi were both Upper God Kings.


    Although Hong Ming and Hong Yi individual strength didn¡¯t surpass that of Qin Feng, who was ranked fifth on the God King List, their joint effort could easily defeat Qin Feng!


    Besides, they represented the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    Qin Feng might disregard Mu Ling and Mu Xiao from Mu King Mansion, but with both Mu King Mansion and the Southern Territory King¡¯s Hong Royal Mansion standing behind Ye Chen, Qin Feng had to rein in his arrogance.


    After all, he wouldn¡¯t dare to truly offend both Mu King Mansion and Hong Royal Mansion over killing Ye Chen, for fear that Divine Dragon Mountain would not let him off the hook.


    If that were the case, he might not even needed to worry about Mu King Mansion and Hong Royal Mansion settling the score with him; the elders of Divine Dragon Mountain would not let him off easily.


    For a moment, Qin Feng could only hold back, his gaze flickering.


    He had been publicly humiliated by Ye Chen and had intended to severely punish or even execute Ye Chen, but now he was abruptly stopped, and Qin Feng really didn¡¯t dare to make a move, which left him feeling like he had a stifled breath stuck in his chest, a feeling of frustration that lingered for a long time.


    Of course, Qin Feng was even less likely to back down.


    Qin Feng knew that Hong Ming and Hong Yi spoke for Ye Chen because of the deep relationship between the old Southern Territory King and the current Southern Territory King, and they were speaking on behalf of Mu Ling and Mu Xiao of Mu King Mansion, not for Ye Chen himself.


    It was Mu King Mansion that was truly looking after Ye Chen.


    Thinking of this, Qin Feng took a deep breath and coldly looked towards Ye Chen, "Hmph, I didn¡¯t expect that a mere Four Tribulations true god like you could cling to the coattails of Mu King Mansion."


    "Alright, this time, for the sake of Mu King Mansion and Hong Royal Mansion, I¡¯ll spare you."


    "But, boy, don¡¯t let me see you alone again. Otherwise, I will teach you a good lesson and show you the consequences of not behaving!"


    Although Qin Feng refrained from physically confronting Ye Chen under the voices of the four God Kings -- Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi -- he still clearly had no intention of letting Ye Chen off the hook.


    He still threatened Ye Chen vocally!


    Hearing Qin Feng¡¯s words, both Mu Ling and Mu Xiao¡¯s expressions soured.


    But Mu Ling and Mu Xiao also knew that Qin Feng was someone who bore grudges and that while they could stop him once, they certainly couldn¡¯t stop his future actions.


    Both looked worriedly at Ye Chen.


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were well aware that Qin Feng was right; it was impossible for Ye Chen to always follow them, and once alone facing Qin Feng, it would be extremely dangerous.


    However, Ye Chen just gave them a reassuring glance and then turned back to look at Qin Feng, "Fix me up? Well, I¡¯ll be waiting."


    Ye Chen was currently at the Four Tribulations True God realm and, relying on items like the "Star Blue Divine Garment" and the "Ancient Sword Skills", was already not afraid of Qin Feng.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen held in his hand the "Fiery Lotus Seed" that could elevate him by one minor realm.


    Ye Chen was confident that he could swiftly boost his strength again.


    By then, even if facing Qin Feng alone, Ye Chen would have more trump cards, and he was confident that at the very least, he could fend off Qin Feng and was not at all intimidated by Qin Feng¡¯s threats; instead, it spurred Ye Chen to grow even stronger!


    The standoff between Ye Chen and Qin Feng caught the special attention of Hong Ming and Hong Yi.


    The two could see that this youth, a Four Tribulations True God, was not fearless just because they came to his support; it seemed he genuinely had the courage to clash head-on with Qin Feng.


    Naturally, this piqued Hong Ming and Hong Yi¡¯s curiosity about Ye Chen¡¯s background and identity.


    Both of them covertly communicated with Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, inquiring about Ye Chen.


    When they heard from Mu Ling and Mu Xiao that Ye Chen came from the lower realm, and his combat strength was extraordinary, potentially surpassing even Yang Yun and Yang Yan present at the scene, and that he had obtained an examination slot for the Nine Great Divine Institutes while in the lower realm, and even met the old Southern Territory King who had been cultivating hard in the lower realm,


    Hong Ming and Hong Yi were shocked and their eyes widened.


    They had not expected the old Southern Territory King, who had disappeared for quite some time, to be hiding and cultivating in the lower realm.


    Nor did they expect that the young man they had helped, would be so powerful that he could cultivate in the lower realm to a point where, as a Four Tribulations True God, he could suppress Lower God Kings and withstand Upper God Kings!


    "No wonder Junior Sister Mu Ling and Junior Brother Mu Xiao sought to assist this Ye Chen."


    "This Ye Chen indeed has exceptional potential; even before his real growth, he is this formidable. His future is completely unpredictable. With his incredible power to cross realms in battle, he will likely make a name for himself in the Divine Kingdom very soon."


    "Perhaps the Nine Great Divine Institutes examination will be the opportunity that draws the attention of all the institutes! Once he garners the focus of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, it¡¯s very possible that he will skyrocket to fame, and surpassing Qin Feng and the others might not be impossible!"


    Hong Ming and Hong Yi couldn¡¯t help but harbor thoughts of befriending Ye Chen.


    Explore stories at novelhall.Co?m


    At this moment, Yang Yun, who had been mostly silent, saw that the quarrel between Ye Chen and Qin Feng was bound to fizzle out with the intervention of Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi.


    Yang Yun finally stepped forward with a smile, playing the mediator, "Alright, everyone is quite familiar with each other, let¡¯s not damage our camaraderie."


    "Hong Ming, Hong Yi, why have the two of you suddenly..."


    Just as Yang Yun was about to ask why Hong Ming and Hong Yi had suddenly come to the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, a loud noise erupted from high up the massive trunk that pierced the sky, interrupting Yang Yun¡¯s words.


    "What¡¯s happening?"


    Yang Yun quickly looked up towards the top of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Not just Yang Yun, but the other onlookers, Yang Yan, Qin Feng, as well as Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, and Ye Chen himself, all turned their gaze towards the source of the loud noise above the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    The Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree was towering beyond compare, yet everyone present was powerfully gifted with a wide-ranging Divine Sense. At a glance, they were able to clearly discern the events unfolding above.


    Every one of them had their expressions shift dramatically!


    They saw, clearly, at the top of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, in a tree hollow, a small crack had appeared out of nowhere.


    The loud noise had come precisely from this small crack.


    At first, the crack was tiny, nearly invisible, but as the loud noise grew louder, the crack widened and ultimately surged into a colossal vortex a thousand zhang in radius, completely obscuring the seals and restrictions of the tree hollow above.


    What surprised everyone even more was that as soon as they noticed the crack and heard the thunderous noise, a strange beam of light shone out from the crack, enveloping their entire bodies.


    At first, the light was weak, and even Yang Yun, the strongest among them, could not break free from the bonds of this strange light¡ªlet alone the rest, like Yang Yan, Qin Feng, and Ye Chen.


    As the crack became larger, the odd light grew brighter, and Ye Chen and the others were entirely restrained.


    And when the crack transformed into a gaping void, the peculiar light reached a blinding intensity, eventually, this beam of light swept up all the onlookers and dragged them into the black hole!


    What they didn¡¯t know was that while they were swept into the black hole in shock, Divine Lady Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing, who were already deep inside the tree hollow at the top of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, had been engulfed by another strange black hole that had emerged there.


    Before their arrival at the region around the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing had already penetrated deep within to the eighth checkpoint inside the tree hollow.


    Eventually, Long Li, together with Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, all three being Upper God Kings, combined forces and deployed a special Ancient Sword Skills. They managed to break the eighth checkpoint inside the tree hollow only by working together.


    "This eighth checkpoint¡ªI sensed it was a layer of protection very close to the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ when I sensed the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯," Long Li said.


    "Because I deduced after my research that breaking through this checkpoint would require coordination with the Ancient Sword Skills practiced by sisters Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing from Danxia Valley, I invited both sisters to help," explained Long Li.


    "I didn¡¯t expect that we would truly manage to break through it!"


    "Having broken through this checkpoint that is extremely close to the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ it¡¯s likely that the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ will appear in this world very soon!"


    "The ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ is something I desperately need; I must obtain it!" Long Li¡¯s small face showed utmost solemnity. As she watched the eighth checkpoint disappear before her, she expected to see the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ but instead, a void black hole appeared.


    Long Li had just enough time to realize that perhaps she hadn¡¯t completely destroyed the checkpoint, and that this void was actually the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯s¡¯ final barrier, the ninth checkpoint, when the black hole suddenly swallowed her, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing whole.


    At the same time, the black hole spread from the highest point of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree¡¯s hollow, engulfing outsiders like Ye Chen, Mu Ling, Qin Feng, and Yang Yun, sweeping them all into its depths.


    Little could Yang Yun and the others have imagined that their sought-after Divine Lady Long Li was not only really within the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree but had also solved a deeply-guarded checkpoint of a treasure they knew nothing about, ultimately dragging them into the challenges surrounding the Blue Extreme Iceflame!


    ...


    After experiencing a strange void fluctuation, Ye Chen, who had been pulled into the black hole, regained consciousness to find himself standing in a narrow passageway lined with crimson flames that could only accommodate a dozen or so people.


    This cramped passageway led downward at an angle, with its depth entirely unknown!


    All around the passageway, including its walls, were flames.


    These flames, despite Ye Chen¡¯s immense strength, were of such a high temperature that he found difficult to withstand, and he even had to activate his "Star Blue Divine Garment" defense in order to ward off the heat of the flames.


    The heat from these flames was far hotter than the ¡¯Fiery Realm¡¯ outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land¡ªcountless times hotter!


    What shocked Ye Chen further was that when he sent his Divine Sense down the passageway, he could not determine the bottom even after probing for hundreds of li.


    Even when he asked Xiaojiu, who was hiding within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and had immensely powerful Divine Soul Power, along with profound probing abilities, Xiaojiu also was unable to detect the bottom of the passageway.


    This passageway seemed like a bottomless inferno!


    Furthermore, Xiaojiu relayed to Ye Chen that she could sense the flames getting more terrifying further down. If they continued downward, it might not just be great gods like Ye Chen who would be unable to enter; possibly even God Kings and Divine Venerables, or even the most powerful among the Divine Venerables, the Immortal Divine Venerable, might not be able to reach the depths of this place!


    Unless, there was a special method to pass through these dreadful flames!

 Chapter 705 - 657 Reunion

    Xiaojiu¡¯s words made Ye Chen take an incredulous deep breath.


    The Nine Suns Ancient Land was left by the Nine Suns Venerable.


    How could there be a domain within the land left by the Nine Suns Venerable that not even the Immortal Divine Venerable could enter?


    One must know, the Immortal Divine Venerable is countless times more powerful than the Heavenly Divine Venerable!


    But Ye Chen did not doubt Xiaojiu¡¯s words, for Xiaojiu was a powerful Soul Beast infused with endless knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan, and the situations she discerned were almost never wrong.


    "Given the strength of the Nine Suns Venerable, it¡¯s unlikely he could have left such a terrifying fire domain," Xiaojiu continued to speak to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I think it¡¯s very possible that we have entered the domain where a true Ultimate Heavenly Object exists."


    "Only an Ultimate Heavenly Object could leave behind a special domain that countless Divine Venerables, even the most powerful Immortal Divine Venerable, cannot fully enter!"


    Ultimate Heavenly Object!


    When he heard these four words from Xiaojiu, Ye Chen¡¯s heart surged with shock.


    Ye Chen¡¯s incredibly powerful "Star Blue Divine Garment" was forged from the prototype of an Ultimate Heavenly Object, that piece of "Tattered Cloth."


    Merely the prototype of an Ultimate Heavenly Object was so powerful, and without thinking, Ye Chen knew the true Ultimate Heavenly Object would be exceptionally mighty.


    Ye Chen had long since heard from Xiaojiu that the true Ultimate Heavenly Object could forge a real Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!


    A real Ultimate Heavenly Artifact was something only a few powerful Sovereigns possessed, and many weaker Sovereigns did not even have an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact.


    The appearance of each Ultimate Heavenly Object would trigger a frantic scramble among countless Divine Venerables, and if the powerful beings of the Sovereign Realm knew about it, those mighty ones would snach it directly.


    Ye Chen had also been harboring the thought of slowly upgrading his "Star Blue Divine Garment" to the level of an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact.


    How could Ye Chen have imagined that he would enter the true domain of an Ultimate Heavenly Object within the Nine Suns Ancient Land left by a Heavenly Divine Venerable!


    "It¡¯s just that I don¡¯t know why I and the others have been drawn into this place¡ªis it perhaps related to that Ultimate Heavenly Object?" Ye Chen speculated.


    While Ye Chen was shaken and speculating, the other Divine Kings who were transported into this narrow passage with Ye Chen were also utterly astounded!


    These powerful Divine Kings¡ªYang Yun, Yang Yan, Qin Feng, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao¡ªwere all exceptionally strong, but like Ye Chen, they too sensed the terrifying power of the flames where they stood in the narrow passage.


    Even they were struggling to barely withstand it.


    When they probed downward and discovered the bottomless fire pit below and the more terrifying flames the deeper it went, the countenances of these Divine Kings also rapidly changed.


    They had the feeling that if they delved a few hundred meters deeper, the flames down there would be completely unbearable with their combat power.


    They were afraid that if they ventured further inside, they would be burned to death!


    Not only the terrifying domain and the horrifying flames surprised them, but these Divine Kings and Ye Chen were also shocked to discover three other people in this bottomless fire pit.


    They were the other three Divine Kings among the ten who had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    They were Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing!


    "Junior Sister Long Li, how come you¡¯re here too?!" When they saw Long Li, Yang Yan, Yang Yun, Qin Feng and the others were both startled and overjoyed.


    The surprise came from the fact that even Long Li, who was more powerful than them, had arrived in this dreadful domain, obviously indicating that this domain was not as simple as it seemed.


    The joy came from the fact that they were finally seeing Long Li again!


    Although Ye Chen, Mu Ling, and the others were not as thrilled as the three admirers of Long Li¡ªYang Yun, Yang Yan, Qin Feng¡ªthey were equally surprised.


    They had not expected to see Long Li here.


    On Long Li¡¯s side.


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were just as surprised as many others to find themselves drawn into this realm.


    However, neither of the women spoke; they simply stayed quietly by Long Li¡¯s side.


    When Long Li¡¯s gaze shifted toward Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng, she just nodded faintly without any fluctuation in her composure. But when she saw Ye Chen again, she couldn¡¯t help but fix her eyes firmly on him.


    "How did he also come here?"


    Long Li hadn¡¯t expected the young man, Ye Chen, who could trigger the mysterious and profound "Star Luo God Ring" within her, to also appear here.


    Especially since Ye Chen was merely at the Four Tribulations True God Realm.


    It made sense for powerful Divine Kings like Yang Yun and Yang Yan to break into the Nine Suns Realm, and end up here inadvertently, but for Ye Chen, who was only at the Four Tribulations True God level, to arrive in this realm was totally unexpected to Long Li.


    With her usually clear and detached mind, Long Li wouldn¡¯t typically pay attention to anyone else. But Ye Chen was not an ordinary person; he was the only one in the entire Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation who could influence the mysterious "Star Luo God Ring" on her, so naturally, Long Li gave him significant attention.


    When entering Nine Suns Ancient Land, Long Li had even specifically asked Lin Xiaowan for Ye Chen¡¯s name.


    Seeing Ye Chen again now, a great surge of emotions unavoidably stirred within her.


    Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng had been fixated on Long Li¡¯s stunning face since they saw her.


    When they noticed that Long Li paid no mind to them, the three had already grown accustomed to it and found nothing unexpected.


    But they also remained indifferent when Long Li¡¯s gaze moved to others, knowing well that with her cold temperament, she wouldn¡¯t take any interest in them either.


    What completely surprised the three was the moment they saw Long Li¡¯s gaze settle upon Ye Chen and remain still.


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    In fact, she lingered on him for much longer than on the three of them combined, without even shifting her gaze away!


    This of course caught Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng completely off guard!


    They had never seen Long Li pay such close attention to any male warrior before.


    Even when they noticed a trace of imperceptible fluctuation in Long Li¡¯s beautiful eyes, all three felt as though their hearts had been hammered.


    The divine maiden they adored beyond measure, Long Li, was showing ripples in her eyes because of Ye Chen.


    Both Yang Yun and Qin Feng were no ordinary warriors; they immediately perceived that Long Li had an inexplicable focus on Ye Chen!


    Although they knew this attention might not involve any romantic feelings, it still filled Yang Yun and Qin Feng with intense jealousy!


    Their beloved divine maiden was paying attention to Ye Chen instead of them, and of course, they were envious.


    Especially Qin Feng, who normally held Ye Chen in contempt and even harbored thoughts of killing him, didn¡¯t expect that Long Li, who wouldn¡¯t normally glance at him twice, would pay such attention to Ye Chen.


    This filled Qin Feng with a mixture of jealousy and hatred toward Ye Chen!


    At this moment, Long Li, after initially being startled by the sight of Ye Chen, gained her composure. Her eyes left Ye Chen, glanced over Mu Ling and the others, and then turned toward the flame-encircled passageway.


    But Long Li¡¯s unusual attention to Ye Chen had not only been noticed by Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng but also by Zhu Qianqian, Zhu Qingqing, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi who stood by her.


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing gave Ye Chen a peculiar look, also not expecting their sister Long Li to pay such attention to a Four Tribulations True God.


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, as well as Hong Ming and Hong Yi, all silently exclaimed in admiration: "Ye Chen is truly extraordinary; even meeting Long Li, she too has noticed him!"


    "I¡¯ve never heard of Long Li paying such close attention to any male warrior before!"


    Little did Ye Chen know that because of Long Li¡¯s attention to him, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi held him in even higher esteem and respect.


    Ye Chen knew why Long Li took notice of him¡ªit was because he paid equally close attention to her.


    For Long Li was the only one in Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation who could invoke the "Stars Tower" inside him!

 Chapter 706 - 658: Bottomless Fire Cave and Extreme Heaven鈥檚 Test

    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned toward Long Li.


    At this moment, after sizing up the fire pathway, Long Li seemed to have discovered something and directly walked toward a spot beside the pathway.


    Then, with a flick of her small hand, a large swath of rolling flames on the fire pathway was extinguished.


    Seeing this action, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but draw a sharp breath.


    This sixteen-year-old young girl, Long Li, truly deserved to be the first prodigy of the younger generation in the Wandering Spirits Divine Kingdom, truly living up to the reputation of being a powerful young girl who could contend with Heavenly Divine Venerables even at the God King Realm.


    She actually managed to extinguish these terrifying flames!


    These flames were too much for Ye Chen to bear, let alone the other God Kings present in the area, yet Long Li seemed unaffected and could even extinguish them. This just showed how terrifying Long Li¡¯s strength was.


    It was very likely that all the people present combined were no match for Long Li.


    Ye Chen noticed that after Long Li extinguished that patch of flames, a blue flame mark the size of a human head appeared on the wall of the passage.


    Ye Chen examined this blue flame mark and felt it was like a mysterious Array engraving.


    Unfortunately, Ye Chen had only cultivated the first three volumes of the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array"; he had not obtained the Array Technique Secret Tome for the latter volumes, and had not yet cultivated them. Otherwise, he might have been able to discern something from these blue flame Array engravings.


    "What is that..."


    At this time, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, Qin Feng, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing, the nine God Kings, also noticed Long Li¡¯s actions and discovered the blue flame mark that became visible on the passageway wall after the flames were extinguished.


    However, these God Kings were not as insightful as Ye Chen. While Ye Chen could tell this was a mysterious Array engraving, these God Kings had no clue what the blue mark represented.


    At this moment, after examining the blue flame mark the size of a human head for a dozen breaths, Long Li¡¯s beautiful eyes shone brightly, and she walked a few steps diagonally down toward another spot, where she stopped.


    Seeing Long Li¡¯s movements, the surrounding God Kings were somewhat puzzled.


    Whether it was Yang Yun and Yang Yan or Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, these God Kings guessed that Long Li must have discovered some secret of the Fire Cave and was investigating something.


    Of course, they dared not disturb Long Li¡¯s exploration and quietly waited on one side, observing her every move.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze also followed Long Li.


    This sixteen-year-old young girl, whose height reached only Ye Chen¡¯s shoulders and whose figure had not yet fully matured, possessed skin as pure as fresh snow, unspeakably beautiful, and yet was incredibly formidable.


    This made Ye Chen take a few more glances at the young girl¡¯s face.


    Ye Chen noticed that Long Li¡¯s face also showed a serious expression as her bright and clear eyes seriously observed the fire pathway wall, as if searching for something.


    Suddenly, as a flame on the fire pathway wall flared up, Long Li reached out swiftly and grabbed it, actually pulling the flame up by itself.


    This flame, as if it were a tangible object, was pulled out from the wall by Long Li and dissipated into nothingness.


    At that moment, another blue flame mark the size of a human head was revealed on the wall.


    This second blue flame mark, roughly the same size as the first one Long Li discovered, but with drastically different patterns within it.


    The second blue flame mark, seemingly more profound and with a more intricate pattern, was obviously more mysterious than the first.


    "Two flame marks now, perhaps these marks contain the secrets of the Fire Cave!"


    Now, seeing Long Li uncover two flame marks in succession, the nine God Kings next to her started to catch on as well.


    Ye Chen, however, narrowed his eyes at the sight of this second flame mark.


    Although he couldn¡¯t discern the specific Formation of the blue flame mark, he could see that with the revelation of this second mark, the whole Array seemed to be gradually coming together.


    An additional flame mark unearthed by Long Li would probably activate the mysterious Array hidden in the marks.


    This made Ye Chen look at Long Li with even greater solemnity!


    "It seems Long Li has also cultivated Formation techniques and has deeper accomplishments in it than I do."


    "It seems that to unravel the secrets of the Bottomless Fire Cave, we really might have to rely on Long Li!"


    At this moment, Long Li, who was being watched by Ye Chen and the nine great God Kings, glanced briefly at the second blue flame mark before heading diagonally downward into a deeper place, taking a dozen steps.


    Long Li had truly delved deep into the Fire Cave.


    Where Long Li stood at this moment, the terrifying temperature of the flames would probably cause the nine great God Kings to struggle even if they could stand there.


    As for Ye Chen, even with the "Star Blue Divine Garment", he wasn¡¯t sure if he could reach that place.


    Yet there stood Long Li, appearing comfortably amidst the flames, as if her movement through this Fire Cave was as swift as her actions, which had now become much quicker.


    It seemed that after discovering two blue flame markings in succession, Long Li truly grasped the key to this place and had a clear idea of what to do next.


    With the pinch of her delicate fingers, a radiant white jade stone suddenly flew out from her body.


    This jade stone resembled a pendant.


    As it flew out, the stone, driven by Long Li, soared toward a spot on the wall of the fire channel.


    When the pristine white jade stone touched the wall of the fire channel, what appeared to be nothing more than a palm-sized, ordinary white pendant emitted an incredibly fearsome divine white light.


    This divine white light, bearing unimaginable majestic power, instantly absorbed a vast expanse of terrifying flames into the stone.


    These flames, which could probably be easily burned by many superior beings in the God King Realm, were now effortlessly captured by Long Li.


    At this time, the nine God Kings and Ye Chen could hardly pay attention to the miraculous jade stone summoned by Long Li. They, along with Long Li, all fixed their eyes on the spot where the flames had been absorbed from the channel wall.


    Upon closer inspection, Ye Chen and the others, along with Long Li, saw yet another head-sized blue flame marking emerge on the wall of the channel.


    The third blue flame marking!


    Now, three blue flame markings had appeared at three different spots along the downward stretch of the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    Then, something astonishing happened.


    After the appearance of the third blue flame marking, the markings on it suddenly lit up one by one until the entire third marking became brilliantly translucent.


    As this third blue flame marking turned translucent, the previous two markings also lit up one after the other.


    In the end, all three blue flame markings were emitting a mysterious blue glow within this expanse of scarlet flames in the fire channel.


    What followed was even more shocking.


    After all three blue flame markings were lit, they shockingly detached from the channel wall and floated into the void.


    Eventually, all three blue flame markings converged at a central point between them, merging together in a strange and intertwined rotation.


    In an instant, the three blue flame markings constructed a four-sided, luminous blue array comprised of flowing light!


    Atop this four-sided mystical array, blue characters fluttered and fiercely struck the adjacent wall of flames.


    When these blue characters touched the wall of flames, the blazing scarlet fire there extinguished in patches, revealing a blue character.


    In the end, as the four-sided mystical array continuously ejected characters, tens of thousands of tiny characters formed on the entire wall of the fire channel.


    Ye Chen swept his eyes across the wall and saw the words "Bottomless Fire Cave," "Method of Fire Control," and "Extreme Heaven Inheritance."


    And when Ye Chen looked closely at the wall, after reviewing each of the tens of thousands of tiny characters, a deep shock surged in his eyes.


    Through these characters, Ye Chen finally understood what this place truly was ¡ª a realm known as the "Bottomless Fire Cave"!


    Ye Chen also understood the reason for this realm¡¯s existence. As Xiaojiu had previously speculated, hidden deep underground, at the profound depths of the "Bottomless Fire Cave," there indeed was an "Extreme Heavenly Object," a clump of terrifyingly potent fire ¡ª the Blue Extreme Iceflame!


    And these characters also told of a special "Method of Fire Control." Only by learning this method could one withstand the terrifying flames of the fire channel and continue downwards.


    Furthermore, as one moved downward, they could discover deeper layers of the "Method of Fire Control," which would help in advancing into the deeper reaches of the "Bottomless Fire Cave."


    And only by mastering the entire set of the "Method of Fire Control" hidden within the fire channel could one truly enter the place where the Extreme Heavenly Object, "Blue Extreme Iceflame," was concealed and obtain it!


    The entire process of learning the "Method of Fire Control" was the "Extreme Heaven Inheritance."


    And only by fully completing the "Extreme Heaven Inheritance" and passing the trials of the "Method of Fire Control," could one ultimately acquire the most precious "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    An Extreme Heavenly Object, ah!


    Something that would even make beings of the Sovereign Realm covet.


    Who wouldn¡¯t want such a thing?!


    Ye Chen, reminded by Xiaojiu, had already guessed at the presence of an Extreme Heavenly Object here and was incredibly astonished.


    Not to mention the other God Kings.


    Not only were people like Yang Yun and Yang Yan already breathing heavily in eagerness, but Mu Ling and Mu Xiao also greatly desired the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    The text explained that the "Extreme Heavenly Object" possessed a spirit communication attribute, granting all those drawn into its trial the right to cultivate the "Method of Fire Control" and the chance to attempt to obtain this Extreme Heavenly Object. Experience tales at novelhall.Co?m


    If anyone tried to prevent others from cultivating the "Method of Fire Control," aiming to monopolize the Extreme Heavenly Object for themselves, the spirit-communicating Extreme Heavenly Object would immediately repel the one intending to claim it exclusively.


    This explanation set everyone¡¯s heart racing.


    It meant they all had a chance to obtain this Extreme Heavenly Object; it was now a question of who could truly master the entire "Method of Fire Control"!

 Chapter 707 - 659: Vying to be First and Fearing to be Last

    The only ones in the arena who were not surprised by the appearance of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" within the "Bottomless Fire Cave," the Extreme Heavenly Item, were Long Li, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing.


    These three were already privy to the matter of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    It was precisely because they had previously traversed the first eight trials that they led everyone to this ninth trial with the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" inside the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    At this moment, rather than being surprised, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing felt a sense of urgency.


    They were tasked with assisting Long Li in obtaining the "Blue Extreme Iceflame." However, now others had become involved. Even though they were fully confident in Long Li¡¯s strength and talent, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing didn¡¯t wish to see others compete with Long Li for the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    "Sister Long Li, what should we do? These small characters on the wall have revealed everything about the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame.¡¯


    "Now, everyone can join in the competition for the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame!¡¯


    "It¡¯s a pity that these small characters state we cannot interfere with others competing for the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ or we¡¯ll be kicked out of the Bottomless Fire Cave. Otherwise, if Sister Long Li made a move, she could just kick everyone else out and cultivate the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ herself!"


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing grumbled and transmitted their words to Long Li.


    The young girl Long Li heard their words but simply shook her head and smiled.


    "Even if there wasn¡¯t this rule about not interfering with others competing for the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ I wouldn¡¯t consider kicking these people out," she said.


    "The Extreme Heavenly Item is something that belongs to those with destiny. If I deliberately kicked the others out, it would show that I¡¯m taking a lower stance, that I fear the competition, and that I lack confidence in myself."


    "A contest in cultivating the ¡¯Method of Fire Control?¡¯ I, Long Li, have never lost to anyone since I was young!"


    Long Li smiled gently, thinking to herself.


    As the most adored youth of the Wanmu Divine Nation, Long Li truly did not care about others competing with her for the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Since the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" had drawn everyone here, Long Li was also confident about competing with everyone present.


    However, some people did not share the same thoughts.


    After seeing the small characters describing the Extreme Heavenly Item, the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng instantly directed their gazes toward Ye Chen, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao.


    Neither of the three wanted others to compete with them for the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Even with Long Li present, they had almost no hope of surpassing her, but they were even less willing to let Ye Chen, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao compete for it, and they didn¡¯t want to give these three the chance to cultivate the "Method of Fire Control" either.


    If it weren¡¯t for the rule stated by the small characters, perhaps Qin Feng and the others would have joined forces to kick out the weaker individuals first!


    Especially Qin Feng.


    His jealousy and enmity toward Ye Chen had spiked due to Long Li¡¯s attention to him. Seeing that Ye Chen also had the opportunity to cultivate the "Method of Fire Control" and compete for the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Qin Feng was especially displeased!


    "Hmph, this mere Four Tribulations True God has had such luck, to be able to come here with Mu Ling and Mu Xiao and gain this opportunity," he thought.


    "It¡¯s really like heaven has no eyes!"


    Angrily, Qin Feng could only console himself: "Hmph, what can a Four Tribulations True God possibly know? How experienced can he be? Even if Mu Ling and Mu Xiao praised him to the heavens before, he¡¯s still just a Four Tribulations True God!"


    "According to these small characters, one must progress layer by layer, cultivating all twenty-two layers of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ in order to withstand the Extreme Heavenly Trial and finally obtain the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame.¡¯ If one fails to pass these tests, even if they have learned the initial layers of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control,¡¯ the insights gained will be erased upon being transported out of here!"


    "Giving him this chance is also futile. I fear this kid won¡¯t even be able to learn the first layer of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control!¡¯"


    "I want to see how embarrassed he will be, being the weakest among so many!"


    Qin Feng even envisioned the scenario where Ye Chen would face a humiliating defeat before Long Li, while he himself would shine splendidly in front of her.


    Although Qin Feng wasn¡¯t sure he could learn all twenty-two layers of the "Method of Fire Control," he was confident that he would be stronger than Ye Chen and even many other people present!


    "Kid, just wait to be disgraced!"


    Qin Feng looked at Ye Chen, wanting to see how nervous he was facing the upcoming "Method of Fire Control" cultivation.


    What he saw, however, was Ye Chen already sitting cross-legged on the ground, beginning his cultivation with his eyes closed.


    "Hmph, just putting on an act!" Qin Feng scoffed, sat down cross-legged, and started to cultivate according to the first layer of the "Method of Fire Control" as described by the small characters on the wall.


    Qin Feng¡¯s mental state was unknown to the others, and nobody cared.


    Because at this moment, others harboring their own thoughts also sat down one after another to start their cultivation.


    Everyone had the opportunity to cultivate the "Method of Fire Control;" everyone had a chance to obtain the Extreme Heavenly Item, the "Blue Extreme Iceflame;" they naturally wanted to cultivate as quickly as possible and complete the Extreme Heavenly Trial!


    Dozens of breaths later, everyone in the arena had begun their cultivation while sitting cross-legged.


    The ten mighty god-kings, along with Ye Chen, the Four Tribulations true god, eleven in total, had all commenced their cultivation.


    As they closed their eyes to cultivate, they immersed themselves in the mysterious intricacies of the "Method of Fire Control" first layer.


    They had no idea how much time had passed.


    It was only when a sudden loud noise jolted them awake from their cultivation.


    Then, they discovered that Long Li, who had been sitting, had already stood up.


    With Long Li¡¯s rise, a blue symbol flew directly from the tetrahedral array formed by the fusion of three flame marks of the size of a human head and landed on her body.


    At the same time, engraved within the tetrahedral array was the numeral "one".


    Seeing the blue symbol flying toward Long Li, everyone was startled.


    It signified, unmistakably, the aspect described in the fine print, the successful comprehension of the "Method of Fire Control" first layer.


    This indicated that Long Li had completed the first layer¡¯s cultivation of the "Method of Fire Control" and now possessed the ability to proceed farther!


    After standing up, Long Li nodded to Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, who were watching her with excitement, and after casting a meaningful glance at Ye Chen, she continued towards the passage below.


    "Junior Sister Long Li is truly the most formidable!"


    Seeing Long Li progress forward, Yang Yunyang Hao and Qin Feng all took a deep breath.


    The three admirers of Long Li, who were also among the top ranks on the "God-King chart" of the Nine Great God Institutes, were unwilling to be outdone. They simultaneously thought, "We may not be as talented as Junior Sister Long Li, but we must become the second person to complete the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ first layer!"


    The three of them promptly closed their eyes and resumed their contemplation.


    As for the others, witnessing Long Li¡¯s continued advancement instilled them with a mix of respect and shock, and they too closed their eyes and carried on with their practice.


    As for Ye Chen, upon opening his eyes and seeing that Long Li had completed the first layer of the "Method of Fire Control", he immediately closed his eyes again.


    What the others didn¡¯t know was that Ye Chen had also completed the first layer¡¯s practice. He just had yet to activate the successfully cultivated symbol according to the spell of the first layer of the "Method of Fire Control".


    "This ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ requires more layers of practice before properly understanding the secrets hidden within. Just contemplating the first layer doesn¡¯t hold much significance."


    "Now that Long Li has succeeded, I cannot lag behind. Time to activate the successfully cultivated symbol!"


    With his eyes closed, Ye Chen followed the guideline provided by the first layer¡¯s spell of the "Method of Fire Control" and directly activated the symbol.


    In just over a dozen breaths, as the others had just closed their eyes and Yang Yunyang Hao and Qin Feng had just resolved to compete for the completion of the "Method of Fire Control" first layer, they all heard another loud noise.


    At that sound, they knew another person had succeeded in completing the "Method of Fire Control" first layer.


    "Who is it?!"


    "How could someone cultivate so quickly? Junior Sister Long Li has just succeeded!"


    Since neither Yang Yunyang Hao nor Qin Feng had completed their cultivation, naturally, they panicked and couldn¡¯t help but look at the other two.


    However, they too saw the disbelief on the other¡¯s faces.


    "It¡¯s not them!"


    "Then who is it?"


    Yang Yunyang Hao and Qin Feng hastily looked towards the tetrahedral array, only to see a blue symbol flying out of it towards a corner of the passage.


    Looking towards that corner, Yang Yunyang Hao and Qin Feng saw a young man standing up.


    The blue symbol, representing the completion of the "Method of Fire Control" first layer, flew straight to this young man.


    "Is it him?!"


    Yang Yunyang Hao exclaimed in disbelief. Stay connected via novelhall.Co?m


    And Qin Feng stood there, completely astonished.


    For they had seen that this standing young man was the very Four Tribulations true god that they had completely underestimated.


    It was Ye Chen!

 Chapter 708 - 660 Side by Side

    "How is it possible, how can this kid comprehend the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ faster than me on the first layer?!"


    Qin Feng¡¯s heart was simply overturned by towering waves.


    He would accept that Long Li had a higher comprehension power than him, and he had also considered the possibility that Yang Yun and Yang Yan might surpass him.


    But no matter what, Qin Feng could never have imagined that Ye Chen, the one he had had a dispute with earlier, would be the second person to complete the first layer of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ after Long Li.


    It was this Four Tribulations True God whom he did not take seriously at all!


    When he saw Ye Chen stand up, with the blue imprint that signified the completion of the first layer of ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ falling upon his body when he saw that the number representing those who had completed the first layer on the four-way body-shaped Array had changed to "two," Qin Feng had no choice but to believe it all.


    Ye Chen, in terms of comprehension power, was truly stronger than him!


    Qin Feng only felt his face burning, as if he had been slapped.


    He thought of the way he had previously looked down on Ye Chen, but now the situation made him realize perhaps Mu Ling and Mu Xiao hadn¡¯t spoken wrongly¡ªthis young Four Tribulations True God indeed possessed exceptional traits that he could not compare with!


    While Qin Feng was dealing with his complex and inexplicable feelings, others¡¯ gazes toward Ye Chen were also entirely shaken.


    Not to mention the incredulous expressions of Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Just the glances thrown Ye Chen¡¯s way by Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, who had followed Long Li to the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, were no longer ordinary.


    Ye Chen completing the first layer of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ comprehension so quickly was almost comparable to Long Li, which certainly made the two women recognize Ye Chen¡¯s strong comprehension power.


    Thinking back to how Long Li¡¯s gaze had lingered on Ye Chen for a long time, the two women muttered to themselves, "No wonder Sister Long Li took notice of this young man. This youth indeed has an impressive ability, it seems Sister Long Li had already discovered his extraordinariness!"


    "Such a talented youth, why have I never heard of him before? Where did he come from?"


    On the other side, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, all stood up with expressions that mixed surprise and shock.


    They too hadn¡¯t expected Ye Chen to be the second one to complete the cultivation.


    Mu Ling directly smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Congratulations, Ye Chen, for being the first to complete the first layer of ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯. Please quickly continue to progress to cultivate the second layer!"


    Next to her, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi were also nodding repeatedly, "Yes, that Extreme Heavenly Object ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯, only those with sufficient talent can obtain it by cultivating all twenty-two layers of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯.


    "Ye Chen, you have completed the first layer so quickly, it seems that you have the greatest chance of competing with Long Li for the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯. There¡¯s no need for further delay, continue your cultivation, we too must hasten our practice, hoping to catch up with you!"


    Hearing the words of Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, Ye Chen smiled and nodded to them, "Then I¡¯ll take the lead, my fellow cultivators continue your cultivation."


    The comprehension of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ can only be cultivated individually and cannot be taught to each other, otherwise, it would violate the rules of the Extreme Heaven Test. Hence, Ye Chen was unable to help Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and the others, they could only rely on their own realization.


    After exchanging a few words with Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze then took in the others like Zhu Qianqian, Zhu Qingqing, Yang Yan, Yang Yun, Qin Feng, and the rest.


    Ye Chen wasn¡¯t very familiar with Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, who followed Long Li; seeing the two women¡¯s eyes shocked as they looked at him, he simply smiled and nodded to them.


    As for Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng, Ye Chen merely glanced over without a hint of emotion in his demeanor.


    Then, Ye Chen also made his way further down to the deeper parts of the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    Seeing Ye Chen as if ignoring his own gaze, Qin Feng felt choked up with frustration; he clenched his fists tightly and bitterly thought to himself, "This kid, so arrogant!"


    "It¡¯s just completing the first layer of ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ before me, huh? Hmph, I will catch up with you soon, and surpass you!"


    After making up his mind, Qin Feng resumed his seated position to comprehend the first layer of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯, but his mood was difficult to calm for a long time.


    Obviously, the fact that Ye Chen completed cultivation before him was far too big a blow to handle.


    Meanwhile, Yang Yun and Yang Yan, having seen Ye Chen follow Long Li deeper into the Bottomless Fire Cave, were mulling over something with flickering eyes.


    It wasn¡¯t long after that the two of them also sat down to continue their cultivation.


    On another side, Hong Man, Hong Yi, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were all continuing with their comprehension.


    And after a while, finally, the third person to complete the cultivation stood up.


    This third person was none other than Yang Yun, who ranked second only to Long Li on the "God King List" from the nine major Divine Institutes.


    Who completed their cultivation afterward and continued moving forward did not concern Ye Chen.


    As soon as he left his previous cultivation spot, he proceeded towards even deeper parts of the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    Originally, given Ye Chen¡¯s status as a Four Tribulations True God, even if his combat power was strong, he wouldn¡¯t be able to move much further through these terrifying flames.


    Even with the protection of the ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment¡¯, it wouldn¡¯t be possible.


    After all, Ye Chen¡¯s combat power was now clearly inferior to the top ten God Kings present.


    And the ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment¡¯, not yet fully transformed into an Extreme Heavenly Object, could only withstand attacks at the level of a God King, and was not of much use in a genuine Polar Sky Level test.


    However, having learned the first layer of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control,¡¯ Ye Chen could now continue in the Bottomless Fire Cave for at least a few thousand kilometers!


    The Method of Fire Control spoke of how to manipulate fire, how to harness the might of flames.


    After mastering all twenty-two layers of the true "Method of Fire Control," one could even control flames of the Polar Heaven level.


    Polar Heaven level flames, those were typically the domain of powerful beings within the Sovereign Realm, capable of effortlessly annihilating countless Divine Venerables.


    Even though Ye Chen had not yet mastered all twenty-two layers of the Method of Fire Control, having learned just the first layer allowed him to move forward with ease in the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    As he advanced, Ye Chen used the spell from the Method of Fire Control, and with a fierce grab towards the flames encircling the passageway and its center within the Bottomless Fire Cave, caused them to scatter immediately, not daring to come close to Ye Chen in the slightest.


    Ye Chen then strode forward confidently.


    After traveling roughly over two thousand meters and delving deeply into the Bottomless Fire Cave, Ye Chen saw the small figure of Long Li ahead of him.


    At that moment, Long Li stood not far below in the passageway, scrutinizing a cubic-shaped Array that had emerged from the ground, along with new tiny characters sparked into existence by the Array.


    Clearly, the place where Long Li stood was where the second layer of the Method of Fire Control was recorded.


    Long Li had just arrived at this realm.


    According to the guidance of the first layer of the Method of Fire Control, she went directly to this place, where the new cubic-shaped Array and the second layer¡¯s spells promptly appeared. Experience new tales on novelhall.Co?m


    It seemed that the cultivation of the "Method of Fire Control" was a true test; unlike before, there was no need to seek out the blue flame mark to activate the Array and unlock the spell.


    The spell was already there; whether one could learn it depended on individual skill!


    Just as Long Li was seeing the spells, she heard someone approaching and turned to look back.


    Long Li¡¯s gaze fell upon Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, is that you?"


    At this time, in this particular passageway, only Long Li and Ye Chen were present. Inevitably, Long Li couldn¡¯t help but call out upon seeing Ye Chen.


    Long Li did not expect that the young man she had been keeping an eye on would so quickly complete his cultivation and catch up to her.


    Hearing Long Li call out his name, Ye Chen also felt somewhat surprised. Then, with the knowledge that Long Li could influence his Stars Tower, Ye Chen¡¯s Mind and Spirit stirred slightly, "Long Li, do you know me?"


    Long Li¡¯s beautiful eyes slightly widened in surprise.


    She couldn¡¯t very well say that she had been keeping her eye on Ye Chen because he could stimulate her Star Luo God Ring.


    And to mention another reason for her attention toward Ye Chen, it was even more unlikely, given her naturally aloof demeanor.


    Long Li could only give Ye Chen a shy smile, "Ye Chen, you¡¯ve made it this far, as a Four Tribulations True God, of course, I know you."


    Hearing Long Li¡¯s words, Ye Chen knew that the young girl did not speak the complete truth.


    Of course, it was not easy for Ye Chen to directly inquire about Long Li¡¯s ability to influence the Stars Tower, as he and Long Li were not well acquainted yet.


    In the end, the two merely exchanged glances and laughed awkwardly, then turned their eyes towards the second layer of the Method of Fire Control on the wall.


    Certainly, although they only exchanged a glance and a bashful smile, had their interaction been seen by countless admirers of Long Li at the Supreme Divine Institute or across the nine major Divine Institutes,


    those countless admirers of Long Li would surely be green with envy towards Ye Chen.


    After all, they had never seen Long Li share such a look and smile with any other martial artist.


    Once the two of them had read the second layer of the Method of Fire Control, they both sat down cross-legged and began cultivating the new spells.


    By this time, the pair had ventured deeply into the "Bottomless Fire Cave." Without relying on the "Method of Fire Control," even Long Li could not advance much further.


    As for Ye Chen, without the support of a more powerful Method of Fire Control, it would be impossible to continue advancing towards the territory of the third layer of the Method of Fire Control.


    Both of them, if they wished to reach the place where the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" resided, needed to successfully cultivate this second layer first!


    Of course, despite the wall¡¯s second layer of the Method of Fire Control being extremely challenging to comprehend, neither Ye Chen nor Long Li were overly concerned.


    Both of them were far from ordinary.


    Long Li ranked as the foremost Heaven¡¯s Chosen among the younger generation of the entire Mountain Divine Nation, a mighty young woman who reached the Upper God King at just sixteen!


    And Ye Chen, although not as well-known in the Divine Kingdom as Long Li, was equally remarkable.


    In the lower realm, Ye Chen had risen with unparalleled speed, a peerless genius seen once in tens of thousands of years. After arriving in the Divine Kingdom, he continued to shine with brilliance, attracting the attention of powers like the city lord of Divine City, as well as younger members of influential families like Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi.


    Having successfully cultivated the "Primordial Star Scripture," Ye Chen was certainly up to the challenge of this Polar Heaven level Cultivation Technique.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Comprehension Power was no less formidable when facing the spells of the "Method of Fire Control"!


    After approximately the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, Ye Chen and Long Li, almost simultaneously, completed their cultivation and rose to their feet.

 Chapter 709 - 661: The Final Test

    As both of them stood up at the same time, the cubic formation in the second training passage directly emanated two blue marks, which flew down onto Ye Chen and Long Li.


    Ye Chen and Long Li had both completed the second level of the "Method of Fire Control" at the same time!


    Such a situation, even Ye Chen and Long Li themselves hadn¡¯t expected.


    Ye Chen was rather calm about it; he knew Long Li was the top talent of the younger generation in the Divine Kingdom of the Wan Mu Mountain, so her fast cultivation speed was not a surprise to him.


    But Long Li was once again surprised because of Ye Chen.


    "It seems that Fellow Daoist Ye Chen is even more formidable than I imagined," Long Li said to Ye Chen with a gentle smile.


    Looking at this petite girl whose height only reached his shoulders and who was younger than himself, praising him, Ye Chen smiled and said, "Fellow Daoist Long Li is very impressive too!"


    The two who were originally strangers, one whose fame echoed throughout the entire Divine Kingdom of Wan Mu Mountain, and the other a youth who had just arrived in the Divine Kingdom.


    The two, who had almost no intersection, were now brought together by the extreme test of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    And their contention, surprisingly, neither of them conceded to the other!


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s relaxed demeanor, Long Li¡¯s beautiful eyes stirred.


    Most male martial artists, when speaking to her, didn¡¯t have this kind of calm. Either they were mesmerized by her stunning beauty, or they were in awe of her power.


    Ye Chen was the first to speak to her as an equal.


    Long Li could tell that the strength inside this youth seemed not to be the least bit weaker than hers!


    Moreover, with Ye Chen able to activate her "Star Luo God Ring," Long Li also had the thought of having a good competition with him: "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, we completed the second layer of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ in this second training place at the same time. Next, let¡¯s see who can complete the third layer of the Method of Fire Control first, shall we?"


    Long Li actually voiced the idea of a competition to Ye Chen.


    If the countless martial artists of the Supreme Divine Institute knew about this scene, countless jaws would drop in astonishment.


    They had never heard of Long Li being convinced by anyone or wanting to compete with anyone.


    If those powerful sovereigns in the Supreme Divine Institute knew about this, they would probably pay great attention to Ye Chen.


    And it was very likely they would preemptively take Ye Chen into the Institute for training.


    After all, the ones who could match Long Li among the Divine Kingdom¡¯s younger generation were very few!


    "A competition?" Hearing Long Li¡¯s proposal to compete in cultivating the third layer, Ye Chen was slightly taken aback.


    Ye Chen hadn¡¯t expected this young girl, known for her cool demeanor, to suggest a competition with him.


    However, Ye Chen didn¡¯t refuse, "Alright, let¡¯s have a competition then!"


    After exchanging a glance, they walked side by side towards the deeper levels of the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    Just as they exchanged a glance and took their first steps, Yang Yun, who had just completed the first layer of the Method of Fire Control behind them, was rushing towards the second training area.


    Yang Yun was thinking of hurrying to the second training place to cultivate, hoping to surpass Ye Chen.


    But Yang Yun couldn¡¯t have imagined that upon his arrival at the second training area, he would see Ye Chen and Long Li sharing a smile and moving forward shoulder to shoulder.


    When he saw that smile from Long Li, which made heaven and earth pale in comparison, directed at Ye Chen,


    When he saw Long Li and Ye Chen walking side by side,


    Yang Yun felt as if his heart was being smashed by a hammer, filled with an immense sense of sourness.


    The entire Supreme Divine Institute knew of his admiration for Long Li,


    But he had never seen Long Li smile at him like that.


    Now, Long Li showing such a smile to Ye Chen was a scene Yang Yun had never witnessed before.


    "They both have completed the second layer of the Method of Fire Control?"


    "I haven¡¯t even started the second layer, and they¡¯ve already finished cultivating?!"


    "Are they going to cultivate the third layer of the Method of Fire Control together now!"


    Yang Yun could no longer suppress the jealousy he had toward Ye Chen, which he had previously managed to keep under control, unlike Qin Feng¡¯s obvious display.


    But now, Yang Yun had a bad feeling that this Four Tribulations True God, whom he originally didn¡¯t care about at all, could be his greatest rival in pursuing Long Li. Discover hidden tales at novelhall.Co?m


    Yang Yun even had malicious thoughts welling up inside.


    If he truly couldn¡¯t compete with Ye Chen, he didn¡¯t mind, he would kill Ye Chen in advance to remove one competitor!


    After all, Long Li¡¯s smile towards Ye Chen was a threat too great for him to ignore.


    As evil thoughts stirred in Yang Yun¡¯s heart, Ye Chen and Long Li walking shoulder to shoulder towards the deeper parts of the Bottomless Fire Cave seemed to sense something and simultaneously turned to look back.


    Seeing the resentment in Yang Yun¡¯s eyes that he couldn¡¯t retract in time, Ye Chen also shook his head with a smile.


    He knew that he might have offended Yang Yun again.


    Of course, Ye Chen had no such intentions towards Long Li, his heart was only with Jiang Yao.


    But he couldn¡¯t ensure that Yang Yun wasn¡¯t harboring mistaken ideas.


    "Beauty is a curse; I suppose this is what they are talking about," Ye Chen mused with an inward chuckle.


    However, he certainly wasn¡¯t going to explain anything to Yang Yun just because of his jealous gaze.


    The free-spirited Ye Chen wasn¡¯t so concerned about Yang Yun¡¯s feelings!


    Long Li also seemed to have perceived something, but her naturally cool temperament didn¡¯t allow her to care about these matters.


    She was still very young, only sixteen years old.


    Though her combat prowess was extraordinary, she had never been involved in any matters between men and women.


    However, thinking that it was her proposal to compete with Ye Chen that had led them to travel together, which might bring trouble to Ye Chen, Long Li transmitted her voice to Ye Chen in a low tone, "Fellow Daoist Ye Chen, I apologize. Would you like me to..."


    Seeing that Long Li was about to say something more, Ye Chen raised his hand to stop her words, "Let¡¯s go. It¡¯s still most important to cultivate. The Method of Fire Control has a total of twenty-two levels, and we don¡¯t have that much time to care about what others think."


    "Mm." Long Li nodded and continued to move forward with Ye Chen.


    Long Li didn¡¯t care about these trivial matters in the first place. If it weren¡¯t for Ye Chen, she might not even have voiced her concern.


    As for Ye Chen, he knew that it was useless to explain too much to people like Yang Yun or that Qin Feng. The only way not to fear those with such dark thoughts was to truly elevate one¡¯s strength.


    Ye Chen certainly wasn¡¯t going to waste time on this!


    Seeing Long Li and Ye Chen whispering to each other and then walking away shoulder to shoulder, Yang Yun¡¯s jealousy blazed even more fiercely.


    After Long Li and Ye Chen had disappeared without a trace, he clenched his teeth viciously, his eyes dark, contemplating something unknown.


    At the very edge of the "Method of Fire Control," where the first layer was located.


    Qin Feng had just completed the cultivation of the first layer of the Method of Fire Control and was standing up when a light screen suddenly appeared in the void.


    This light screen directly showed that Ye Chen and Long Li had passed through the second cultivation site and completed the cultivation of the second layer of the Method of Fire Control. They were heading towards the third layer of cultivation deep in the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    When Qin Feng saw this, the joy he felt from just completing the first layer of the Method of Fire Control instantly vanished, and he couldn¡¯t believe what he exclaimed, "How is it possible, this kid has finished the second layer of cultivation too?! And this time, with Junior Sister Long Li at the same time?!"


    And the remaining cultivators like Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were also agape, exclaiming in amazement, "My heavens, this time, Fellow Daoist Ye Chen is on par with Fellow Daoist Long Li?!"


    "They are both heading to the third layer of the Method of Fire Control cultivation site deeper down?"


    "We haven¡¯t even finished cultivating the first layer, and they¡¯re going to the third?!"


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, on the other hand, covered their mouths in shock.


    Seeing Ye Chen follow after Long Li in cultivation had already surprised the two women.


    This time, seeing Ye Chen and Long Li advancing together further shocked them to the core.


    A single instance of leading didn¡¯t prove much.


    But completing the cultivation so quickly for two consecutive times made the women realize that this Four Tribulations True God youth might really be able to compete with their incredibly talented sister, Long Li!


    It was the first time the two women felt pressure.


    At this rate, the outcome of the struggle for the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" really couldn¡¯t be predicted!


    "Let¡¯s keep looking down."


    In the end, Zhu Qianqian exhaled deeply, shook her head and said to herself, "It¡¯s a competition of twenty-two layers after all, one really can¡¯t tell what the final result will be."


    "No matter what, Junior Sister Long Li will probably make it to the end."


    "But as for that youth, whether he can reach the end remains to be seen."


    "If he does make it to the end, it would mean his comprehension skills are definitely not weaker than Junior Sister Long Li. Perhaps this youth shouldn¡¯t simply be considered a Four Tribulations True God, and it wouldn¡¯t be impossible for him to attract widespread attention in the Divine Kingdom in the future!"


    Zhu Qianqian pondered as she looked down.


    The others also harbored the same thought.


    While they were cultivating on their own, they also paid attention to the progress of those leading, like Ye Chen, Long Li, Yang Yun, and others.


    This challenge of the Bottomless Fire Cave was quite unique, with each cultivation site announcing breakthroughs with a screen of divine consciousness.


    It was unclear whether the extremely perceptive Blue Extreme Iceflame was trying to stimulate or encourage others by broadcasting everyone¡¯s progress.


    What happened next could only be described with the words "unimaginable" and "shockingly inexplicable."


    The unimaginable part was that aside from Long Li, who continuously advanced, completing the "Method of Fire Control" and heading deeper into the Bottomless Fire Cave with an ever-deepening comprehension of its techniques, the other nine amongst the ten God Kings had all come to a halt.


    Yang Yun, ranked second on the "God King List" of the Nine Divine Institutes, could progress no further beyond the seventeenth layer of the cultivation site for the Method of Fire Control.


    As for Yang Yan, he only reached the fifteenth layer.


    Qin Feng, like Yang Yan, also managed to reach the fifteenth layer.


    Zhu Qingqing, Zhu Qianqian, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, however, all stopped before the thirteenth layer, completely confounded by the increasingly difficult Method of Fire Control.


    Eventually, these individuals spent an entire hour at their respective cultivation sites and, failing to fully comprehend their layers, were all transported back to the very first cultivation site.


    Moreover, the cubic formation broadcasted with divine consciousness that these individuals had failed the cultivation test and had lost the qualification to continue!


    For nine out of the top ten God Kings to be eliminated so early was indeed unimaginable.


    The "shockingly inexplicable" aspect was that there was still one person, like Long Li, who was continuing to advance.


    This person was none other than Ye Chen!


    The nine eliminated God Kings, through the immensely perceptive messages of divine consciousness from the Blue Extreme Iceflame, knew of Ye Chen and Long Li¡¯s cultivation progress even without seeing them. They were astounded to find that Ye Chen¡¯s performance was in no way inferior to Long Li¡¯s, with the two of them continuously competing neck and neck.


    At the third layer, Ye Chen was ahead of Long Li.


    At the fourth layer, Long Li overtook Ye Chen again.


    Both had reached the twentieth layer¡ªequaling their scores up to that point!


    And now, with only the last two out of the twenty-two layers of the Method of Fire Control to go, who among the two could truly make it to the end was something the eliminated nine God Kings couldn¡¯t predict, nor did they dare to!

 Chapter 710 - 662: Divine Stone, Fire Pond, Ice Flame

    The topmost cultivation site.


    Having lost the qualification to continue cultivating and already eliminated from the "Extreme Heaven Test," the nine Divine Kings were all seated cross-legged in this place.


    At this moment, these nine Divine Kings stared at the square-shaped array, which from time to time transmitted Divine Sense, each with their own thoughts.


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, the four Divine Kings who were relatively closer to Ye Chen, although slightly disappointed about their elimination, didn¡¯t take it too seriously.


    Originally, their strength was not among the strongest in the top ten Divine Kings, and their venture to the Nine Suns Ancient Land was more about gaining experience and meeting Long Li.


    Having participated in the "Extreme Heaven Test" alongside Long Li was satisfying enough for them; they had anticipated not making it to the end.


    The most shocking thing for these four at this moment was the miracle created by Ye Chen, whom they had just befriended!


    A Four Tribulations True God, a warrior from the lower realm, was currently competing to the end alongside the first prodigy of the younger generation of the Divine Kingdom and Long Li, the first goddess from the Supreme Divine Institute. Even figures like Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng had been eliminated, yet he continued to persevere.


    And it seemed that he was on par with Long Li.


    How could this not shock the four of them enormously?!


    "Friend Ye Chen... is simply incredible!" Mu Ling communicated to Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi through transmission, full of wonder.


    Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi all nodded in agreement.


    "After this journey in the Nine Suns Ancient Land ends, we must invite friend Ye Chen to visit our two great houses in the Southern Region."


    "I imagine the elders of our clans would be very delighted to meet such a talented youngster!"


    "Who would have thought that our trip to the Nine Suns Ancient Land would yield such an invaluable gain, befriending such an impressive individual!"


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi were a bit excited and agitated.


    At this point, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng had completely sour expressions on their faces.


    On one hand, they hadn¡¯t expected that the "Method of Fire Control" would be so difficult to comprehend, causing even them to be eliminated.


    What they had even less anticipated was that there was someone who was stronger than they were, and still persisted.


    This made Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng feel as though they had been slapped in the face.


    They were celebrities at the Supreme Divine Institute but now, in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they had been surpassed by a mere Four Tribulations True God, their faces slapped by this same minor deity, which was naturally humiliating for them.


    What annoyed Yang Yan and Qin Feng even more was the hint of information leaked by Yang Yun that this Four Tribulations True God seemed to be remarkably valued by Long Li.


    Long Li had smiled lightly at Ye Chen?


    Had spoken intimately with Ye Chen?


    They remembered that before the "Extreme Heaven Test" had started, when Ye Chen met Long Li, she seemed to look at him a little differently.


    Jealousy blazed fiercely within Yang Yan and Qin Feng.


    "Hmph, let that boy be proud for a moment!"


    "Though his comprehension is indeed strong, he is just a Four Tribulations True God. Tall trees catch much wind, and I¡¯ll make him learn what happens if he doesn¡¯t stay modest!"


    Qin Feng¡¯s killing intent towards Ye Chen had become utterly uncontrollable.


    He was eager to find a chance to kill Ye Chen immediately.


    And Yang Yan¡¯s eyes shimmered with a chill, pondering something or other.


    As for Yang Yun, after releasing the news that Long Li took a special interest in Ye Chen, he just sneered as he looked down at the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    "Ye Chen, I¡¯m afraid this time, you will die a terrible death without me having to lift a finger."


    "Qin Feng and Yang Yan are not the kind to easily quench their jealousy."


    Among the nine eliminated Divine Kings, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were the most concerned about who would obtain the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Their thoughts were immensely conflicted.


    On one hand, they were in awe of Ye Chen¡¯s powerful performance, and thinking back to Ye Chen¡¯s composed demeanor, they now understood that this young man was truly formidable.


    What girl doesn¡¯t admire a hero?


    Especially for a genuine genius like Ye Chen, who could contend with Long Li, the two girls had never met anyone like him in the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Northern Region or within their own Institute, the Tai Qing Divine Institute.


    This even made the two young women feel an inexplicable emotion towards Ye Chen.


    But on the other hand, they could not forget about Long Li, whom they exceedingly cared for.


    "Blue Extreme Iceflame," this magical flame from the treasures of the heavens, was something they knew Long Li was desperate to obtain.


    Initially, both girls had believed that the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" would undoubtedly be in Long Li¡¯s possession, only to find out that others had also been drawn into the competition for it.


    Nor had they expected that a miraculous young man would emerge, capable of truly competing with Long Li.


    They no longer knew whether they hoped for the miraculous young man to continue creating miracles, or if they wished for their sister Long Li to get the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" as she desired.


    "Let¡¯s hope it¡¯s sister Long Li who gets the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ in the end."


    "That Ye Chen... is formidable; he has already proven his capabilities. If there¡¯s a chance, we¡¯ll invite him to visit the Northern Region, to Danxia Valley..."


    Thinking of this, the faces of the two young women even began to flush with embarrassment.


    While the nine eliminated Divine Kings were each preoccupied with their thoughts, the square-shaped array before them suddenly transmitted another Divine Sense, reaching out to the nine individuals in the midst of the field.


    This Divine Sense, unexpectedly addressed the nine people, noting that the last two remaining had both simultaneously breached the twenty-first training ground, and had both completed the twenty-first level of the Method of Fire Control training.


    The two were heading towards the twenty-second layer of the training ground located at the very bottom of the Bottomless Fire Cave!


    Upon hearing this news, Zhu Qianqian, Zhu Qingqing, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi all stood up with a "whoosh".


    They of course knew, the last two remaining were none other than Ye Chen and Long Li.


    They hadn¡¯t expected that even at the end, Ye Chen and Long Li were still closely following each other, still charging downwards without yielding the lead!


    "Heavens."


    "He actually completed the twenty-first layer of the Method of Fire Control!"


    "Ye Chen and Long Li have gone to the twenty-second layer of the training ground, that¡¯s the last layer of the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯!"


    "Doesn¡¯t this mean that the two of them are already heading towards the final realm? Perhaps that legendary Extreme Heaven item, the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯, lies there!"


    "The last layer, whoever can train successfully, will be able to obtain the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯!"


    Zhu Qianqian, Zhu Qingqing, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi all grew extremely tense.


    They had no idea who between Long Li and Ye Chen would succeed in the end.


    At the same time, they were filled with doubts. Continue your story on novelhall.Co?m


    If...


    If both of them completed the last layer at the same time, then to whom would the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" belong?


    At that moment, among the nine Divine Kings, the ones who didn¡¯t care much about who obtained the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" were Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng.


    To them, it was all the same whoever got it.


    In their hearts, they were already bent on killing Ye Chen.


    Even if Ye Chen obtained that Extreme Heaven item, the three coming from the forces of the Sovereign Realm might, they also knew that such objects were beyond Ye Chen¡¯s current realm and were hardly utilizable by him.


    It also did not affect their plans to kill Ye Chen in the slightest.


    The only reason they considered the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" was that if Ye Chen indeed got it, they could consider taking possession of the item after they killed him.


    Although the rumors spoke of the true Extreme Heaven items as being incredibly sentient, once conquered, they would not accept a second master; even if the owner died, the Extreme Heaven item would likewise perish.


    But if Ye Chen¡¯s realm was too low, and he hadn¡¯t truly conquered the Blue Extreme Iceflame, then they might be able to claim it for themselves.


    Thinking of this made the three of them inwardly startled.


    They suddenly realized that unconsciously, they had no significant doubt that Ye Chen could obtain the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" competing with Long Li.


    While the nine eliminated Divine Kings had their own different thoughts, upon hearing that Ye Chen and Long Li had simultaneously reached the final step of the Extreme Heaven Test and both completed the twenty-first level of the Method of Fire Control, thereby proceeding to the twenty-second level.


    Looking towards the depths of the Bottomless Fire Cave, tens of thousands of zhang below, one could see Ye Chen and Long Li standing amidst a field of purple flames.


    At their current location in the realm, the terrible lethal power of the purple flames could easily slay an immortal Divine Sovereign!


    Were it not for the fact they both had trained in the Method of Fire Control, specifically created to counter the lethal power of flames, even Long Li would not have been able to reach this place!


    After standing up and receiving the twenty-first blue mark, signifying that both had passed the twenty-first stage of the Method of Fire Control training, Long Li and Ye Chen looked towards each other once again.


    Through the continuous training and competing, they had become very familiar with each other.


    Both were shocked by each other¡¯s powerful comprehension abilities.


    Especially Long Li, whose usually cold expression had melted like snowflakes, looked at Ye Chen and took a deep breath before smiling and saying, "Fellow Ye Chen, only the last layer of the Method of Fire Control remains to be trained."


    "To be honest, I no longer feel confident in my heart now, you¡¯ve truly surprised me!"


    "If you had been cultivating in the Divine Kingdom from the beginning, I¡¯m afraid that by now, your achievements would be even stronger than mine!"


    In the course of their rivalry, Long Li had learned that Ye Chen came from the lower realm.


    Hearing Long Li¡¯s words, Ye Chen smiled as well: "Fellow Long Li is only sixteen, two years younger than me. Even if I had been cultivating in the Divine Kingdom, reaching your level of combat strength would be extremely difficult. You are being too modest."


    "The last layer of the Method of Fire Control, I imagine in that realm, we might actually see the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯. I too am curious to see what it looks like."


    "As for which of us two can obtain the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ that will depend on our respective fortunes."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Long Li nodded.


    After exchanging glances, they both began to step forward, descending deeper into the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    This time, as they walked down the slanted depth of the Bottomless Fire Cave for about the time it took to brew two cups of tea, and even crossed a bridge burning with flames, they finally arrived at the twenty-second layer of the Method of Fire Control training ground.


    Upon reaching this place, both Ye Chen and Long Li felt a tremor in their hearts.


    They saw that the site they finally reached was no longer an endlessly downward-extending corridor but rather, they had arrived on a vast platform.


    The very bottom of the Bottomless Fire Cave was actually an immensely huge platform.


    Even more wondrous was that this platform had twelve large Divine Stones burning with flames standing erect, and in the center of the platform, surrounded by the twelve colossal flames of the Divine Stones, was a small Fire Pond.


    Above the Fire Pond, in the empty space, floated a three-feet-long, brilliantly sparkling blue flame.


    The Blue Extreme Iceflame!


    The moment they saw this flame, Ye Chen and Long Li knew that this was the most precious Extreme Heaven item hidden within the Bottomless Fire Cave!

 Chapter 711 - 663: Sky Melding Flame

    ```


    Even while standing outside the twelve massive Flame Divine Stones, looking through the Divine Stones at the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" floating above the firepit, Ye Chen and Long Li both understood the strangeness and power of this "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Because they had not yet completed the twenty-second level of the Method of Fire Control¡¯s cultivation, they couldn¡¯t truly approach the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," both could feel a bone-chilling cold emanating from the ground where they stood.


    Even the twelve massive Flame Divine Stones and the terrifyingly hot firepit, which Ye Chen and Long Li, having cultivated twenty-one levels of the Method of Fire Control, could barely withstand, could not block out this piercing coldness.


    The incredibly hot Flame Divine Stones and the firepit were paradoxically the birthplace of the icy "Blue Extreme Iceflame," a marvel unparalleled.


    As Ye Chen and Long Li observed the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," it seemed to have a life of its own, drifting slowly as if it were appraising the two of them.


    At that moment, the twelve massive burning Flame Divine Stones before Ye Chen and Long Li suddenly flashed with a mysterious light.


    Within the light, a series of characters began to appear on the twelve massive burning Flame Divine Stones.


    These characters contained the spell for the twenty-second level of Method of Fire Control¡¯s cultivation.


    It was also the final level of the Method of Fire Control that must be completed in order to collect the Extreme Heavenly Object "Blue Extreme Iceflame"!


    "Fellow Ye Chen, it¡¯s our last competition, let¡¯s see who among us can be the first to complete the cultivation of this final level of the Method of Fire Control," Long Li said with a smile to Ye Chen after they had reviewed the characters on the twelve Flame Divine Stones.


    Ye Chen smiled in return, "The further we progress in the ¡¯Extreme Heaven Test,¡¯ the more I sense the magic of the ¡¯Extreme Heavenly Object.¡¯"


    "It is said that Extreme Heavenly Objects born successfully possess high spirituality and can construct the Extreme Heaven Test to select their master. I used to think it was just a legend, but now I see it¡¯s true!"


    "Now I¡¯m all the more curious about why such Extreme Heavenly Objects appear in the Heavenly Divine Venerable¡¯s domain and even more curious about this ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame.¡¯


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    "Only by obtaining the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ can this mystery be unraveled. Fellow Long Li, I will hold nothing back in our competition."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, Long Li also smiled gently, "Ye Chen, I also want this Extreme Heavenly Object ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ and I won¡¯t hold back either. However, if I get it and learn its secrets, I will tell you."


    The two exchanged a couple of jokes to relieve the tension of the imminent final level of cultivation they were about to undertake.


    Even though they were both extraordinarily powerful individuals, it was impossible not to feel nervous when facing the last level of the Extreme Heaven Test.


    However, after their brief exchange of jokes, both became instantly composed.


    Almost simultaneously, they sat down outside the twelve Flame Divine Stones.


    Boom! Boom!


    As the two began to cultivate, countless streaks of flames suddenly rose all over the platform, eventually forming into two massive flaming silhouettes that slowly revolved around them.


    These flaming silhouettes were a result of their powerful control over flames from completing the previous twenty-one levels of the Method of Fire Control, causing the flames within the domain of this platform to react abnormally!


    And as they began cultivating the twenty-second level of the Method of Fire Control, the fiery silhouettes around them started to change rapidly.


    Sometimes, they transformed into towering, raging infernos shooting towards the sky, resembling massive Flame Divine Mountains.


    Sometimes, they became a seething sea of fire.


    Occasionally, figures of Flame Spirit Beasts emerged from the fiery silhouettes, roaring and shifting within the flames!


    After about the time it takes to brew a pot of tea had passed.


    Boom!


    With a sudden loud noise, from among the twelve burning Flame Divine Stones, one closest to the two cultivators, a streak of firelight shot out and flew directly into the fiery silhouette outside Long Li.


    The fiery silhouette around Long Li suddenly became entirely different, adorned with ancient characters flowing upon it!


    This clearly indicated that Long Li had successfully cultivated the first portion of the Method of Fire Control¡¯s twenty-second level spell contained on one of the Flame Divine Stones!


    ```


    It seems that Long Li took the lead by one step!


    At that moment, after a streak of firelight flew to the fiery light shadow outside of Long Li¡¯s body, the loud noise did not awaken Long Li from his cultivation; Long Li continued to keep his eyes closed, persisting in his cultivation.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen also remained completely unaffected by Long Li¡¯s slight head start in cultivation, his entire being still immersed in the practice.


    Then, another half a stick of incense¡¯s time passed.


    Suddenly, "boom boom boom" three loud blasts were heard in succession.


    This time, not only did one stream of firelight fly out towards Long Li¡¯s Flame Divine Stone, but another streak of firelight did as well.


    From two other Flame Divine Stones, almost simultaneously, two more streaks of firelight shot out.


    All three streams of firelight unexpectedly headed straight for Ye Chen!


    This clearly indicated that Ye Chen had grasped the spells from three Divine Stones all at once!


    Ye Chen had once again overtaken Long Li!


    The intense competition continued.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Long Li activated four Divine Stones, surpassing Ye Chen once more.


    But after just a few more incense sticks¡¯ time, Ye Chen likewise activated three Divine Stones, overtaking Long Li once again.


    Ye Chen and Long Li, even in the final layer of the Method of Fire Control¡¯s cultivation, remained neck and neck, each indistinguishable from the other!


    Luckily, both were so deeply engrossed in their cultivation that they were completely unaware of the other¡¯s progress; otherwise, they would probably have exchanged glances once again.


    One moment Long Li was in the lead.


    The next it was Ye Chen ahead.


    After an hour passed, both Ye Chen and Long Li had acquired firelight from eleven out of the twelve Divine Stones.


    Only the final step remained for the two of them to complete the cultivation of all the Method of Fire Control spells, which was the ultimate spell on the last Divine Stone.


    And this ultimate spell was about how to use the Method of Fire Control to create a special fiery object called "Golden Spirit Silk" to capture the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," preventing the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" from accidentally harming oneself!


    Therefore, both Ye Chen and Long Li approached the cultivation of this technique with the utmost care, taking the most time to do so.


    Unbeknownst to them, as they both successfully cultivated the spells from eleven of the twelve Flame Divine Stones and were nearing completion of the spell on the twelfth stone,


    The "Blue Extreme Iceflame" inside the fire pit surrounded by the twelve Flame Divine Stones began to stir even more violently.


    At the same time, even the fiery red liquid in the fire pit beneath the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" boiled tumultuously.


    Just when Ye Chen and Long Li, almost simultaneously, fully mastered the final step of the "Golden Spirit Silk" cultivation technique written on the twelfth Flame Divine Stone,


    Two streams of firelight shot out from the twelfth Flame Divine Stone, flying into the fiery light shadow outside both Ye Chen and Long Li.


    Ye Chen and Long Li opened their eyes at the same time.


    At that moment, they barely had time to see the twelve huge burning Flame Divine Stones crumbling at a visible speed, followed by the sight of the fire pit holding the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" suddenly emitting a tremendous suction force, drawing both of them into the pit.


    Then, the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" floating above the fire pit split into two violent streams, merged back into one, and shone with a more miraculous light than before!


    And Ye Chen and Long Li, who were sucked into the fire pit, felt a peculiar fragrance of flames invading their divine consciousness.


    Upon smelling this strange fire fragrance, both Ye Chen and Long Li¡¯s consciousness quickly became numb, and a heat that seemed to emanate from the depths of their hearts instantly surged towards their chests.

 Chapter 712 - 664: Sudden Change

    As Ye Chen and Long Li were sucked into the Fire Pond, and the peculiar aroma of the flames invaded their Divine Souls, Xiaojiu, who was hidden inside Ye Chen¡¯s Ice Snow Jade Pendant, felt the abnormal changes in the Fire Pond and suddenly her heart was alarmed.


    "Heavenly Union Flame! Inside this Fire Pond, there actually lies the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯!"


    "No wonder this divine place of the Heavenly Gods can give birth to an object of extreme heaven like the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame.¡¯ ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ is the most wonderful nurturing entity between heaven and earth. The strongest of Divine Fires are nurtured by the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ continuously merging the most mysterious essences of the world."


    "However, after the Divine Fire is nurtured, the Heavenly Union Flame itself will also merge into the Divine Fire."


    "Now, after the emergence of the object of extreme heaven, the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ has not completely disappeared; it has not fully integrated into the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame.¡¯ Does that not mean that the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ is not yet a completely successful nurturing form? Is it possible that it could further transform and elevate its power?!"


    "If an object of extreme heaven were to enhance its power, it could possibly become a true ¡¯Stellar Divine Object¡¯!"


    Xiaojiu¡¯s thoughts were as fast as lightning, and she was utterly shocked.


    At the same time, what shocked her even more was the potential influence of the "Heavenly Union Flame" that she had realized.


    "The place where the Heavenly Union Flame nurtures Divine Fire significantly affects the Divine Souls and desires of human Martial Artists. Ye Chen and Long Li, who have been sucked into it together, I¡¯m afraid..."


    Thinking of that possibility, Xiaojiu¡¯s face flushed red.


    Xiaojiu had no time to warn Ye Chen and Long Li.


    The influence of the Heavenly Union Flame was so strong that even Xiaojiu, who was not a human Martial Artist but a Soul Beast, had her Divine Soul completely restrained within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant immediately after her rapid thoughts, unable to ponder the slightest bit further!


    At this moment, in the entire Fire Pond, strands of flames surged up, enveloping Ye Chen and Long Li completely, like a huge cocoon layer by layer.


    Although Ye Chen had a powerful Divine Soul, under the influence of the "Heavenly Union Flame," he had no time to react and his Divine Soul was instantly lost.


    And Long Li, whose Divine Soul was even stronger than Ye Chen¡¯s, only managed to hold on for two or three breaths longer, but even with holding on, the impact on Long Li¡¯s Divine Soul was tremendously intense.


    In an instant, Long Li realized what the strange aroma signified, just like Xiaojiu did.


    Long Li only had the time to glance at Ye Chen; her face instantly turned a deep shade of blush, and then she knew no more.


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    At the very top of the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    Upon hearing the message from the four-directional body-shaped Array, which stated that Ye Chen and Long Li had both completed the cultivation of the Method of Fire Control¡¯s twenty-second layer and had qualified for the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," the nine eliminated Divine Kings, including Yang Yun, were completely dumbfounded.


    They had not expected that in the end, Ye Chen and Long Li would tie without a clear winner!


    The nine of them were puzzled as to who would ultimately obtain the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" now that both Ye Chen and Long Li had qualified for it.


    But the four-directional body-shaped Array did not convey any further messages about who would receive the "Blue Extreme Iceflame"; instead, a strange force suddenly transported the nine of them directly out of the Bottomless Fire Cave tunnel and placed them outside the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Standing once again on the ground outside the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, all nine of them looked up towards the very top, towards the tree hole concealing the "Bottomless Fire Cave."


    They all began to wait, waiting for Ye Chen and Long Li to emerge, awaiting the final outcome.


    However, this wait lasted for an entire day, and they saw neither Ye Chen nor Long Li come out.


    This made the nine of them somewhat anxious.


    "Since the cultivation of all twenty-two layers of the Method of Fire Control has been completed, obtaining the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ should be quick! Why have Sister Long Li and Ye Chen not come out yet?" Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were particularly anxious.


    Although they knew that with Long Li¡¯s formidable combat strength, there shouldn¡¯t be any mishaps, the fact that the pair had not shown up made them inevitably worry.


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi were also somewhat worried.


    However, the four suppressed their concerns, making jokes to ease their anxious minds.


    "Ye Chen is indeed lucky to be able to cultivate with Long Li, and to spend so much time together."¡¯


    "If you think about it, no other male martial artist in the entire Supreme Divine Institute has spent such a long time with Long Li!"


    Their teasing remarks, however, caused Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng to look quite upset.


    Just the thought of Ye Chen and Long Li being alone together, and how Long Li seemed so intimate with Ye Chen, made the three of them feel very uncomfortable.


    "Hmph, it¡¯s probably because Junior Sister Long Li is competing with Ye Chen for the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ which is why it¡¯s taking some time."


    "Who knows, maybe Ye Chen dared to contend with Junior Sister Long Li and ended up getting killed by her inside!"


    These thoughts turned over in the minds of Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng.


    One day passed, then two days passed...


    After waiting for a full three days without any sign of Ye Chen and Long Li emerging, Zhu Qianqian, Zhu Qingqing, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi all looked worriedly at the tree hole above, no longer uttering jokes.


    Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng¡¯s expressions also kept changing.


    They had no idea what exactly had happened inside the Bottomless Fire Cave between Long Li and Ye Chen.


    ...


    Ye Chen felt like he had just had an exceedingly sensual dream.


    In the dream, he and an exquisitely beautiful girl, who appeared to be either a fairy of the Guanghan Temple or a goddess of the Ice Spirit Palace, clung tightly to each other amidst a sea of flames...


    The girl¡¯s soft murmurs made his body go limp; her smooth, snow-like skin intoxicated him.


    The two of them were utterly lost in tender affection, utterly unable to extricate themselves.


    Time slipped by, unnoticed for a long time.


    Gradually, Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense began to clear up amid an endless haze. Looking at the beauty in his arms, who was as soft as boneless, and staring at her stunning face, he felt in a daze that she seemed like Jiang Yao, yet also resembled Long Li, whom he had only recently met.


    The exceptional beauty, whose divine sense seemed somewhat clearer than his, had a flushed face full of embarrassment. Her white arms strained to push him away but were too weak, pulling them back into a close embrace.


    After another long while, Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense further cleared, and he began to recall everything that happened before. He remembered practicing the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ with Long Li, how both were drawn into the Fire Pond, and how it seemed as though something mysterious had influenced their divine sense...


    "She is... Long Li!"


    Ye Chen was shocked, looking at the girl in his arms. At that moment, the girl was also looking up at him, her exquisitely beautiful face showing a complex expression of both shyness and annoyance.


    "Ye Chen, you..."


    The girl managed to utter just three words before another wave of heat surged over them, and Ye Chen¡¯s divine sense, which had just cleared, clouded over once more, as inexhaustible yearning surged through his body.


    The two clung tightly to each other again...

 Chapter 713 - 665 Breakthrough

    This time, in a state of half-consciousness, Ye Chen and Long Li both knew they were together with each other.


    The feeling was extremely awkward.


    Yet, despite the desire to separate, they could not resist the profound influence of the "Heavenly Union Flame" on their Divine Sense, and they even indulged in this intoxicating sensation.


    Time passed unknowably long...


    Ye Chen and Long Li were shocked to discover that within the entire Fire Pond, a mysterious power was frantically infusing into their bodies as they melded together.


    When this mysterious power infused into their bodies, it would flow into Long Li¡¯s body for a while, then into Ye Chen¡¯s body for a while.


    Eventually, even the realms of Long Li and Ye Chen showed signs of surging upward due to the infusion of this mysterious power.


    Unfortunately, Xiaojiu¡¯s Divine Sense had been completely sealed within Ye Chen¡¯s Ice Snow Jade Pendant, otherwise Xiaojiu would have certainly informed Ye Chen and Long Li that the divine might of the "Heavenly Union Flame" was revealing itself!


    The "Heavenly Union Flame" intended to fully integrate into the two of them so that after they collected the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," they could continue to cultivate it within their bodies.


    Even to an existence that transcends Sovereigns, the "Heavenly Union Flame," a marvel capable of giving birth to "Extreme Heavenly Objects" and even objects that surpass those, its uses are infinite.


    This "Heavenly Union Flame," capable of birthing "Stellar Divine Objects" that surpass even "Extreme Heavenly Objects," has an unfathomable origin.


    But each time it emerges, it brings immense benefits.


    Although the "Heavenly Union Flame" primarily nurtures Divine Fires, even a slight flow of its divine might to young Martial Artists like Ye Chen and Long Li would certainly bring them boundless benefits!


    Long Li had already reached the Upper God King Realm, and her next step was to challenge the Lower Earth Divine Venerable Realm.


    Originally, Long Li needed to accumulate more before challenging the Lower Earth Divine Venerable, but after the "Heavenly Union Flame" was infused into her body, she instantly transcended the barrier between God King and Divine Venerable without even invoking the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Tribulation, and directly entered the Earth Divine Venerate Realm.


    Long Li thus became a true Lower Earth Divine Venerable powerhouse!


    The enhancement of Ye Chen¡¯s realm was even greater.


    Ye Chen, originally at the Four Tribulations True God Realm, broke through the Fifth Heavenly Tribulation, the Sixth Heavenly Tribulation, and the Seventh Heavenly Tribulation in succession under the infusion of the "Heavenly Union Flame¡¯s" divine might and the Divine Power fluctuations coming from Long Li, becoming a Seven Tribulations True God in an instant.


    Although a Seven Tribulations True God may not seem like much to many God Kings and even Divine Venerables,


    Ye Chen had swiftly broken through in a very short amount of time, even bypassing the full brunt of the Heavenly Tribulation thunder, directly overcoming the barrier of the Heavenly Tribulation, and achieving the status of a Seven Tribulations True God with the grand divine might of the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the Divine Power fluctuations from Long Li.


    If not for the "Heavenly Union Flame" and Divine Power fluctuations from Long Li, helping Ye Chen stabilize his realm without excessively elevating it and causing his foundation to be unstable, such vast power could have even propelled Ye Chen into the God King Realm!


    Nonetheless, just the breakthrough into the Seven Tribulations True God Realm already represented an immense gain for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Power increased by dozens of times if not more, and what¡¯s more precious is that Ye Chen currently was lost in a state where his Divine Soul could not control himself, still unable to cultivate the Primordial Star Scripture "Primordial Chapter" Star God Power.


    Once he recovers, if he cultivates the Star God Power, it¡¯s likely that he could directly advance the "Primordial Chapter" Star God Power from the Minor Accomplishment Realm to the Great Accomplishment Realm in one fell swoop!


    This would probably allow Ye Chen¡¯s power to once again increase by countless times.


    Even if he still couldn¡¯t truly battle someone like Yang Yun, an Upper God King, without relying on external methods like the "Star Blue Divine Garment," just by his combat power, it would probably be effortless for Ye Chen to deal with an average Middle God King or even an average Upper God King!


    If this were told to others, they probably wouldn¡¯t believe it.


    A Four Tribulations True God, rapidly advancing to a Seven Tribulations True God, upgrading his combat power from the Lower God King class to the Upper God King class in a short period of time!


    However, under the nurturing of the "Heavenly Union Flame" capable of producing "Extreme Heavenly Objects" and even objects beyond that, and nourished by Long Li¡¯s Divine Power, coupled with Ye Chen¡¯s "Primordial Star Scripture" methods, Ye Chen truly achieved this feat!


    When the "Heavenly Union Flame" within the Fire Pond separated into two streams, each infusing into the Qi Sea Acupoint of Ye Chen and Long Li, the three-foot-long brilliant crystal blue "Blue Extreme Iceflame" above the Fire Pond also bifurcated into two streams, heading towards each of them.


    As the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" burst towards Ye Chen and Long Li, the "Method of Fire Control" they had previously cultivated unexpectedly acted on its own without their control.


    Directly following the flight of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," streams of golden flame silk lines instantly formed from their Divine Power, enshrouding the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," and leading it deep into their Qi Sea Acupoints.


    This golden flame silk line was precisely the Golden Spirit Silk, specially cultivated by the "Method of Fire Control" to envelop the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Looking into the worlds of their Qi Sea,


    You could see that both of their Qi Sea Worlds were exceptional compared to everyone else¡¯s.


    Within the Qi Sea Acupoint of Ye Chen, besides the surge of vast Divine Power, there stood an earth-piercing, heaven-supporting seven-layered Pagoda, standing tall in the Qi Sea like a Sea-Calming Divine Needle.


    This seven-layered Pagoda was none other than the "Star Divine Tower," which concealed the "Primordial Star Scripture"!


    And at this moment, besides Divine Power and the Star Divine Tower, two more things appeared in Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea Acupoint.


    One was the very stream of "Heavenly Union Flame" that had entered Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea World. Read new chapters at novelhall.Co?m


    This stream of "Heavenly Union Flame" directly formed a little Fire Pond within Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea World.


    The other object was the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," wrapped in Golden Spirit Silk and entering into Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea World.


    The wisp of Blue Extreme Iceflame finally flew into the Fire Pond formed by the Heavenly Union Flame, slowly drifting within it!


    Long Li¡¯s Qi Sea World was also entirely unique compared to others!


    Long Li had already stepped into the Earth Divine Venerable Realm; not only was her Divine Power present within the Qi Sea, but it had also filled all the special spaces opened within every cell and acupoint throughout her body.


    Long Li¡¯s entire body brimmed with the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Power only an Earth Divine Venerable could possess.


    However, within Long Li¡¯s Qi Sea there was also something absolutely extraordinary.


    This thing, which was shockingly a Divine Ring emitting the same divine marvel of light as Ye Chen¡¯s Stars Tower.


    This Divine Ring, though seemingly extraordinarily small, also felt as vast as countless Divine Kingdoms, as if harboring an entire cosmos of stars within the ring itself.


    This Divine Ring was indeed the wondrous object Long Li possessed¡ªthe Star Luo God Ring!


    Originally, the Star Luo God Ring¡¯s tremor had alerted Ye Chen to it, just as his Stars Tower had caused a similar tremor in the ring belonging to Long Li.


    Clearly, there was an inexplicable connection between these two objects!


    It was the trembling of these two things that made Long Li and Ye Chen take notice of each other and later venture together into the "Bottomless Fire Cave," leading to everything that followed.


    At this moment, beside Ye Chen¡¯s "Stars Tower" were the "Heavenly Union Flame" and "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    By Long Li¡¯s "Star Luo God Ring," there was also both the "Heavenly Union Flame" and "Blue Extreme Iceflame"!


    Though neither the "Heavenly Union Flame" nor the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" dared to approach the Stars Tower or the Star Luo God Ring, merely drifting in a corner of the Qi Sea World, it was evident that they were somehow inferior to these two objects in terms of mystery.


    Yet, if either the "Heavenly Union Flame" or the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" were to be taken out, many Great Powerholders at the Sovereign Realm would be extremely envious!


    All of this happened while Ye Chen and Long Li could sense it, but were utterly unable to do anything about it.


    They merely accepted everything passively, muddled in their haze.


    It took a long while before the two truly regained their vitality and fully awakened from their stupor.


    Upon waking, Long Li was too embarrassed to even glance at Ye Chen, her mind preoccupied with the initial pain and shyness rather than the recent ascension in realm or the absorption of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Instantly, with a gesture of her hand, Long Li¡¯s scattered garments flew rapidly back onto her body.


    Following that, Long Li fled the scene like a frightened rabbit, speeding away from the Fire Pond.


    She vanished in an instant.


    Watching Long Li escape like a scared rabbit, Ye Chen¡¯s eyes reflected a complicated and indescribable sentiment.


    He did not harbor any romantic feelings towards Long Li, feeling only a sense of camaraderie towards another powerful individual and curiosity about how she was able to trigger a response in the Stars Tower within him.


    Ye Chen had never imagined that he would find himself in such a situation with Long Li!


    Although Long Li was unparalleled in beauty, a goddess in the dreams of countless Martial Artists, Ye Chen only wished for such experiences to occur with Jiang Yao.


    After all, the one Ye Chen truly cared for was only Jiang Yao!


    Yet now that things had taken place, there was no way for Ye Chen to change them.


    While it was common for powerful warriors in the Divine Kingdom to have multiple wives and concubines, Ye Chen had only ever thought of being with Jiang Yao, never considering anyone else.


    Of course, to claim that Ye Chen was entirely unaffected by the fact that Long Li was his first woman would be impossible.


    But the fact that she was Long Li and not Jiang Yao caused Ye Chen to heave a deep sigh in his heart.


    There was no joy in Ye Chen¡¯s heart, not even the joy from the breakthrough in realm or acquiring the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    "Xiaojiu."


    "What exactly happened? How did I completely lose control over my Divine Soul? What in the Fire Pond influenced our Divine Sense?"


    With a furrowed brow and a movement of his mind and spirit, Ye Chen summoned Xiaojiu from within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Now that the Heavenly Union Flame had fully entered both Ye Chen¡¯s and Long Li¡¯s bodies, Xiaojiu¡¯s restraint had been completely lifted.


    As Xiaojiu flew out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, she too spoke to Ye Chen with a hint of shyness, "Ye Chen, that thing is called ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame.¡¯ This ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ is incredibly divine, the very reason for the birth of an Extreme Heavenly Object like the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame.¡¯ You and Long Li, it¡¯s because of it..."


    While Xiaojiu and Ye Chen were speaking,


    Long Li had already completely left the enormous platform at the bottom of the Bottomless Fire Cave, and as she re-entered the cave¡¯s passageways, she didn¡¯t dare look back to see if Ye Chen was following, hurriedly flying towards the upper reaches of the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    She had never experienced such things, completely unsure of how to face Ye Chen after such an intimate encounter.

 Chapter 714 - 666: The Stunned God-Kings

    ```


    At this time, Long Li had just taken the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" into her body, and by subduing these two things, she instantly knew how to leave the Bottomless Fire Cave.


    Seeing that the others were no longer above the Bottomless Fire Cave, Long Li directly flew out of the Bottomless Fire Cave and arrived outside the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Outside the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    The nine Divine Kings who were eliminated early had already been waiting for seven whole days, their hearts filled with extreme impatience.


    Just then, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, who had been closely watching the tree hole at the very top of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, became excited and jumped up when they saw Long Li¡¯s figure flying out: "Sister Long Li!"


    "Sister Long Li has come out from the Bottomless Fire Cave!"


    "Junior Sister Long Li!" Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng hurriedly looked up. Seeing that it really was Long Li flying out, they quickly moved toward her.


    But Long Li had no intention of paying attention to Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng.


    Of course, she was even less willing to let others see anything unusual about her. After flying out from the tree hole, Long Li immediately transmitted a message to Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing: "Sisters, let¡¯s... let¡¯s leave quickly!"


    "Leave?" Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were utterly confused.


    Why did their Sister Long Li want to hurry away just after coming out of the Bottomless Fire Cave?


    And what about the other young man, Ye Chen? Why hadn¡¯t he come out from the Bottomless Fire Cave yet?


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were just about to ask Long Li, but she didn¡¯t give them the chance, rushing past everyone and flying towards the area beyond the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Under such circumstances, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing could only frantically follow Long Li and fly away.


    Leaving the remaining seven people under the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree completely bewildered.


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    "Why did Junior Sister Long Li fly off in such a hurry as soon as she came out? What happened in the Bottomless Fire Cave?"


    Yang Yan couldn¡¯t understand what was happening at all.


    "Ye Chen?"


    "Long Li is out. Why hasn¡¯t Ye Chen come out from the Bottomless Fire Cave yet?"


    "That ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯, was it Long Li or Ye Chen who ended up with it?"


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi were all looking towards the tree hole at the top of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, also full of doubt.


    At this moment, Yang Yun and Qin Feng had a strange feeling.


    Although Ye Chen and Long Li had both completed the twenty-two layers of the Method of Fire Control and had the final opportunity to seize the "Blue Extreme Iceflame", if it came down to strength in competing for the "Blue Extreme Iceflame", Ye Chen couldn¡¯t possibly win against Long Li.


    If Long Li had truly killed Ye Chen and taken the "Blue Extreme Iceflame", with her status and position, there would be no one daring to trouble her. Long Li would not have fled in such a panic.


    It must be that something happened between Ye Chen and Long Li that made her act this way.


    Moreover, when recalling how Long Li flew off in haste, her beautiful face blushing with embarrassment, Qin Feng¡¯s heart skipped a beat.


    Long Li¡¯s blush suggested that she had been very shy, and since she spent quite some time alone with Ye Chen, could it be that something happened between them that made Long Li so embarrassed?


    Could it be that Ye Chen made some inappropriate move towards Long Li?


    Qin Feng was indeed quick-witted, considering the whole situation hastily.


    However, he could probably never imagine that Ye Chen not only made a special move toward Long Li but even shared an intimate moment with her!


    Qin Feng didn¡¯t think too deeply.


    But at this moment, Yang Yun seemed to realize something, his complexion becoming incredibly ugly.


    "Junior Sister Long Li, she... when she flew away in panic, she didn¡¯t conceal her aura. How come... how come I can sense Ye Chen¡¯s aura within hers?!"


    Yang Yun suddenly uttered a statement that stunned everyone present.


    At the same time, Yang Yan also seemed to remember something, his expression changing: "The aura that Junior Sister Long Li exuded, unexpectedly, was already that of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable!"


    "Could it be, inside the Bottomless Fire Cave, Junior Sister Long Li made a breakthrough?!"


    "A breakthrough should be an occasion for great joy; Long Li would not have hurried away in such a panic."


    "And in the aura she emitted, there definitely was Ye Chen¡¯s, the Four Tribulations Divine King¡¯s, aura! This mingling of their auras suggests only one possibility, that they just shared an incredibly intimate moment!"


    Yang Yan¡¯s words hit like a thunderclap, stunning everyone at the site.


    Long Li, that¡¯s the first proud daughter, the number one goddess of the younger generation of the Supreme Divine Institute and even the Divine Kingdom!


    She is also the object of secret affection of countless Martial Artists in the Divine Kingdom!


    No one has ever heard of Long Li having any involvement with any male Martial Artist. Now, both Yang Yun and Yang Yan say her aura carries Ye Chen¡¯s scent?


    This could only mean that Long Li and Ye Chen must have had a very intimate encounter indeed!


    Long Li and Ye Chen.


    ```


    They had a relationship?


    This is simply unimaginable!


    The few people at the scene recalled the sight of Long Li hurrying by just now. Long Li was an immensely powerful figure, and even before her breakthrough, they couldn¡¯t probe her situation at all.


    Just now, they indeed couldn¡¯t see Long Li¡¯s specific situation, but Long Li did indeed reveal some of her aura, and within it, there was certainly the unique stellar power aura of Ye Chen.


    Thinking back to Long Li¡¯s immensely shy demeanor, it indeed seemed like something had happened to make her so embarrassed.


    If she really had an incredibly intimate relationship with Ye Chen, it would indeed cause Long Li, the pampered girl of heaven, to be immensely embarrassed.


    All these circumstances together really suggested that it was very likely that something had happened between Ye Chen and Long Li!


    At this thought, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng felt like they were about to spew blood.


    They hadn¡¯t even held Long Li¡¯s hand, yet that Four Tribulations Martial Artist, Ye Chen, could actually taste the fragrance of her kiss, could actually have a relationship with the goddess of their dreams?!


    The three of them could not accept this possibility at all!


    At this moment, Qin Feng¡¯s eyes seemed to be spitting fire.


    He had already had a grudge against Ye Chen, and after hearing from Yang Yun that Long Li and Ye Chen were close while staying in the Bottomless Fire Cave, Qin Feng wanted to kill Ye Chen.


    Now, Qin Feng¡¯s killing intent towards Ye Chen grew even stronger.


    "This Ye Chen... no matter... whether or not he¡¯s had a relationship with Junior Sister Long Li, I will kill him, completely kill him!"


    Qin Feng, looking at the tree hollow above, wished he could fly right in and personally settle the score with Ye Chen.


    If it weren¡¯t for his inability to enter the tree hollow, he wouldn¡¯t have been able to hold back.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan, although not as overt as Qin Feng, were also clearly filled with the intent to kill Ye Chen.


    They were only waiting for Ye Chen to come out so they could personally ask what had happened and settle the account with Ye Chen!


    The only ones at the scene without killing intent towards Ye Chen were Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi.


    At this time, the four of them were also completely shocked.


    "Did Brother Ye Chen, he and Long Li... have a relationship?"


    "Heavens, if this is true... if this news were to spread, I¡¯m afraid the entire Divine Kingdom would be in an uproar!"


    Hong Ming and Hong Yi were completely dumbfounded.


    They had just made the acquaintance of their fellow Martial Artist, Ye Chen, and their admiration for him knew no bounds.


    A Four Tribulations true god, able to have a relationship with a pampered girl of heaven capable of battling the Heavenly Divine Venerable, backed by the number one power of the Supreme Divine Institute, "Sovereign Xuechen," and supported by powers like the Northern Province King of the Divine Kingdom.


    This was simply too formidable!


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were completely dumbfounded.


    "This is madness."


    "If this is true, probably the entire Divine Kingdom will know about Brother Ye Chen!"


    In such a situation, the four of them naturally wouldn¡¯t leave the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Together with Qin Feng, Yang Yun, and Yang Yan, who harbored a strong killing intent for Ye Chen, they waited under the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, waiting for Ye Chen to appear, to ask for the truth.


    They didn¡¯t have to wait long.


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    Suddenly, an incredibly brilliant light appeared from the tree hollow at the top of the entire Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree. Then, just like Long Li had flown out from the tree hollow, Ye Chen flew out from the tree hollow.


    However, Ye Chen was frowning, evidently wearing a worried expression.


    As soon as Ye Chen appeared, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, along with Qin Feng, Yang Yun, and Yang Yan, seven people, all shot their gazes towards Ye Chen at once.


    When they saw Ye Chen emanating not the familiar aura of a Four Tribulations true god, but that of a Seven Tribulations true god, the complexions of the seven people at the scene changed dramatically!


    Ye Chen had only entered the Bottomless Fire Cave a few days ago and had suddenly gone from a Four Tribulations true god to a Seven Tribulations true god?!


    This situation was almost entirely impossible.


    Unless, unless he really did have a relationship with Long Li, and under the nourishment of Long Li¡¯s formidable battle power, he could break through this fast!


    That was the only possibility!


    Could it be, just as everyone speculated, that Ye Chen had really slept with Long Li?!


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi suddenly wore very peculiar expressions.


    Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Feng looked like they were about to spit fire from their eyes.


    Qin Feng immediately flew towards Ye Chen, his immense battle power covering thousands of feet around like a ferocious wind and he screamed out loud, "Ye Chen, I¡¯m going to kill you!"

 Chapter 715 - 667: Burning and Killing

    Qin Feng was a true Upper God King.


    And on the "God King List" jointly established by the nine divine academies, he was ranked fifth among the mighty.


    His true combat power was such that he could even take on an Earth Divine Venerable!


    Previously, he had struck at Ye Chen once, using only an ordinary attack at the time, which was blocked by Ye Chen¡¯s "Star Blue Divine Garment." Furthermore, with Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi successively backing Ye Chen, he did not continue his attack on Ye Chen.


    But now, in his fury, Qin Feng no longer held back his strength.


    He brought out his strongest attacks all at once.


    Before, Qin Feng had caused the entire Fiery Realm to erupt into a beastly chaos, even slaughtering the Sky-swallowing Azure Python, which was an Earth Divine Venerable level demon beast, terrifying countless Upper God King level beasts of the "Abyss of Ten Thousand Beasts" into frantic flight.


    His true attack, of course, was unbelievably powerful!


    When Qin Feng attacked, within a radius of thousands of feet, the entire void burst into fragments time and time again. The lethal force that permeated any part of the void was sufficient to shred countless God Kings!


    When that real lethal force was fully unleashed, it could pierce through an ordinary Star Continent!


    Even this realm of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, which had been refined by both the Heavenly Divine Venerable and the royal family of the Southern Territory, was tossed upside down by the mighty surge of Qin Feng¡¯s killing power.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    And the most powerful lethal force, like a storm covering the sky, was all headed toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen, practically the instant he emerged from the uppermost hollow of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, was completely caught in this endless killing force.


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, the four God Kings who were close to Ye Chen, had not expected Qin Feng to strike at Ye Chen with killing intent as soon as he appeared.


    At this moment, all four of them held Ye Chen in boundless reverence and admiration, and naturally would not let Ye Chen be directly killed by Qin Feng.


    "Stop!"


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi¡¯s combat power surged wildly in an instant, as they rushed to Ye Chen¡¯s rescue.


    This time, Yang Yun and Yang Yan were no longer standing by, enjoying the spectacle.


    These two, upon witnessing Ye Chen looking as though he truly had an affair with Long Li, hated Ye Chen to the core, just like Qin Feng, and naturally did not want to see Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi rescue Ye Chen.


    "Do not interfere with the personal grudge between Brother Qin Feng and that Ye Chen!"


    Boom! Boom!


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan also exploded with astonishing combat power.


    The two of them, whose true combat power was even stronger than Qin Feng¡¯s and countless times more so than Mu Ling¡¯s, Mu Xiao¡¯s, Hong Ming¡¯s, and Hong Yi¡¯s, blocked them in an instant.


    At this time, even if Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi had other cards to play, it was too late to bypass Yang Yun and Yang Yan to rescue Ye Chen.


    Because Qin Feng¡¯s attack had already landed on Ye Chen.


    Just as Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi watched Ye Chen enveloped by the omnipresent lethal force, fearing that the next moment he would fall at Qin Feng¡¯s hands, they saw a golden flame, half a finger long, suddenly fly out from Ye Chen¡¯s body.


    This strand of golden flame, upon appearing, scattered its outer layer of golden light to reveal an inner flame of a wondrously crystal-blue color.


    This crystal-blue flame, even amidst the endless surge of Qin Feng¡¯s killing power, shone with a brilliance that made the whole world pale in comparison!


    This crystal-blue flame was precisely what Ye Chen had just acquired, the extremity of heavenly objects, shared between Long Li and him¡ªone each¡ªthe Blue Extreme Iceflame!


    The surrounding golden light turned out to be the Golden Spirit Silk that wrapped around the Blue Extreme Iceflame, and when the Golden Spirit Silk dispersed, the true divine might of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" surged forth completely.


    Pffft!


    In an instant, the crystal-blue flame, which was just half a finger long, transformed into a palm-sized crystal-blue bird.


    This crystal-blue bird, upon emerging, moved with inconceivable speed, circling around Ye Chen.


    All the lethal light burst by Qin Feng that was about to strike Ye Chen was burnt to nothing upon contact with the crystal-blue bird transformed from the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Subsequently, the crystal-blue bird let out a piercing cry and suddenly grew to thousands of feet in size. With a sweep of its wings, engulfed in blue flames, it vaporized all the terrible lethal force within a radius of thousands of feet unleashed by Qin Feng.


    Then, the bright eyes of the crystal-blue bird suddenly glanced at Qin Feng, transforming once again into a stream of flame, swiftly flying straight toward Qin Feng.


    Qin Feng had never imagined the flame that appeared on Ye Chen could be so terrifying, that it would instantly break his strongest move in an instant!


    It was even coming straight for him!


    "This is the extremity of heavenly objects, the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯!"


    "But, as a True God of the Seven Tribulations, you can¡¯t possibly control a true extremity of heavenly objects. How can you get it to attack me?!"


    Qin Feng could not believe it!


    He came from the "Divine Dragon Mountain," one of the four major forces, where its lord Qin Yuntian was an Eight Star Sovereign.


    An Eight Star Sovereign stood as an absolutely formidable figure among those in the Sovereign Realm, and naturally possessed extremity of heavenly objects in his hands.


    Qin Feng, who grew up in the "Divine Dragon Mountain," certainly knew what extremity of heavenly objects were, and knew full well that even many Divine Venerables could not drive them.


    Therefore, Qin Feng was not worried at all about Ye Chen attacking him after obtaining an artifact like the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    However, Qin Feng could never have imagined that Ye Chen would actually obtain the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," let alone use it to attack him!


    The speed of an attack from such a heaven-defying object was incredibly fast!


    At this moment, it was already too late for Qin Feng to dodge.


    His Divine Sense had just been in complete disbelief, just as a few thoughts were turning in his mind, the flame transformed from the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" burst forth at an incredibly terrifying speed, exploding towards his skull.


    Qin Feng¡¯s arrival at the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the relic of the Heavenly Divine Venerable, was originally with no concern for others, and he had not prepared any trump cards for a calamity.


    He had only the usual defensive and offensive items on him.


    But even though these defensive items were considered absolutely not bad among Upper God Kings, even confident against many an Earth Divine Venerable, they stood no chance against the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," comparable to the attack of someone in the Sovereign Realm.


    In the midst of his utter horror, the protective artifacts on Qin Feng¡¯s body were directly penetrated by the Blue Extreme Iceflame, and Qin Feng¡¯s body itself was instantly engulfed by the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    Boom!


    With a mere soft sound, Qin Feng¡¯s entire body was completely engulfed in flames from the Blue Extreme Iceflame and, no matter how he howled, within a few breaths, he was burned to ashes without a trace left.


    Afterwards, the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" recondensed into a half-inch length and flew back towards Ye Chen at high speed.


    Seeing the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" flying back, countless strands of true qi wafted from Ye Chen¡¯s body, transforming back into "Golden Spirit Silk," wrapping around the half-inch long "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and reabsorbing it into his body.


    From Qin Feng¡¯s move, to Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi acting to rescue, to Yang Yun and Yang Yan¡¯s obstruction, and finally to Ye Chen¡¯s counterattack.


    Everything happened in the blink of an eye.


    Yang Yun, Yang Yan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi were just confronting each other when they saw Ye Chen¡¯s divine fire erupt and witnessed Qin Feng being directly incinerated!


    This turn of events completely astonished the six of them!


    They could never have imagined that Qin Feng, who sought to kill Ye Chen, would end up being instantaneously slain by Ye Chen instead!


    And thinking of Qin Feng¡¯s identity, he was the direct descendant of "Qin Yuntian" from the "Divine Dragon Mountain" force among the four major powers!


    Otherwise, the "Divine Dragon Mountain" would not have personally dispatched someone to the Southern Territory to secure a God King quota for Qin Feng to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Now, Qin Feng had unexpectedly died at the hands of Ye Chen.


    This made Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi realize that Ye Chen had probably stirred up earth-shattering trouble.


    Meanwhile, Yang Yun and Yang Yan did not concern themselves with the huge trouble that Ye Chen had brought on, as both were shivering with cold throughout their bodies.


    They had similarly wanted to kill Ye Chen.


    Had it not been for Qin Feng¡¯s premature action, they would have already made a deadly move against Ye Chen.


    But had it been them facing Ye Chen, they likewise would not have been able to withstand his "Blue Extreme Iceflame," and they feared that they would be the ones dead on the spot by now.


    How could this not make Yang Yun and Yang Yan feel an icy chill in their hearts and limbs?


    Ye Chen dared to kill even Qin Feng.


    Although they, too, had powerful backgrounds, they feared Ye Chen would dare to kill them just the same!


    At this time, when they looked at Ye Chen again, they had to suppress their full killing intent, filled with fear as if looking at a god of slaughter.


    Although they would not let Ye Chen go,


    they had to wait for another opportunity in the future. At this moment, they dared not provoke Ye Chen anymore!


    When Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi looked at Ye Chen, they saw that after incinerating Qin Feng and taking back the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Ye Chen¡¯s face, neck, and body instantly turned red, as if flames were burning.


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi were all startled, "Not good, this is backlash!"


    "Although we don¡¯t know why Brother Ye Chen could control an artifact like ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ it¡¯s clear that he¡¯s not without consequence, he is suffering from backlash!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen¡¯s entire body was like flames burning, completely red!


    He had just left the tree hollow when he was attacked by Qin Feng.


    And after subduing the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," because of the relationship he had formed with Long Li, Ye Chen didn¡¯t have time to finely attune to the power of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    When Qin Feng attacked him, a burst of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" on his body spontaneously flew out, killing Qin Feng. Your next read is at novelhall.Co?m


    And when the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" flew back into Ye Chen¡¯s energy sea, the fire pit transformed from the already wildly raging "Heavenly Union Flame" within the energy sea became even more violent after retaking the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Ye Chen¡¯s entire energy sea was tumultuously surging, and his entire body was on the verge of being directly burned and backlashed by these terrifying flames!


    Even Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense had become wildly violent under the influence of the terrifying "Heavenly Union Flame!"


    "Ah!"


    With his Divine Sense raging and his body about to be consumed by backlash, Ye Chen let out a mad roar and charged towards a nearby Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    With a "boom," when a spark burst out from Ye Chen¡¯s body, it instantly burned a large section of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree¡¯s trunk to a pitch-black char.

 Chapter 716 - 668: Long Li鈥檚 Thoughts

    The Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree was a relic left behind by the Heavenly Divine Venerable, the "Nine Suns Venerable," and a wondrous creation of heaven and earth.


    Even many formidable Divine Kings and even the Earth Divine Venerable could not leave a mark on the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Yet the flames that erupted from Ye Chen¡¯s body instantly turned a large section of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree¡¯s trunk into pitch-black charred wood, indicating just how immense the power of these flames was!


    It was only because Ye Chen was the master of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and, despite the backlash, was not directly subjected to the full onslaught of the flame¡¯s killing power. Otherwise, even with his Undying Divine Body, he would likely have been burnt alive!


    At this moment, seeing Ye Chen in such distress from the backlash of the extreme "Blue Extreme Iceflame," even though they knew Ye Chen seemed to be gradually losing consciousness, appearing as if mad, Yang Yun and Yang Yan did not dare to approach him in the slightest.


    They feared that the terrifying "Blue Extreme Iceflame" that killed Qin Feng might erupt from Ye Chen again, incinerating them on the spot as well!


    They could only watch as Ye Chen madly crashed against the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree and the ground, their eyes filled with shock and darting around rapidly, as if they were contemplating something.


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, on the other hand, were extremely worried and anxious at Ye Chen¡¯s current state.


    But the four of them were completely powerless to help.


    The backlash from this extreme artifact left them without a solution, despite their extraordinary combat strength within the God King Realm.


    "What do we do!"


    "If Ye Chen continues like this, I fear a serious problem will occur!"


    "We are currently exploring the Nine Suns Ancient Land, with no way to seek external help, and the outside world will not intervene in this expedition. If something serious happens to Ye Chen due to the backlash, it would be a great loss for our entire Divine Kingdom!"


    Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi all furrowed their brows, urgently contemplating if there was any way to help Ye Chen.


    Hidden within the snow jade pendant, Xiaojiu was the most nervous of all.


    Xiaojiu hadn¡¯t expected that right after Ye Chen emerged from the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, he would be attacked by Qin Feng. Nor had she expected the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" to be even more terrifying than imagined, actually intervening directly and killing Qin Feng on the spot.


    Killing Qin Feng was, of course, not something Xiaojiu regretted.


    But the sudden activation of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and its backlash against Ye Chen completely worried Xiaojiu.


    "The Heavenly Union Flame has not been fully nurtured into the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ and the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ itself is an extreme artifact. With Ye Chen¡¯s current realm, it is impossible to fully control it."


    "How can I help Ye Chen break free from this backlash?!"


    "Perhaps, only Long Li can help Ye Chen now!"


    In an instant, Xiaojiu thought of someone.


    She thought of Long Li, who was swept into the lava pool with Ye Chen and had absorbed the other half of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Although Xiaojiu¡¯s Divine Soul had been confined within the snow jade pendant by the Heavenly Union Flame, and she had not witnessed Ye Chen and Long Li absorbing the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," based on what she later heard from Ye Chen and the fact that she received the remaining half of "Blue Extreme Iceflame," she could easily piece together the situation of the two people.


    Xiaojiu knew that they had faced the terrifying influence of the Heavenly Union Flame together before and had coped with it.


    If Long Li were present during this backlash, she would definitely have a way to help Ye Chen.


    Thinking of the solution, which likely involved the two of them cultivating together to suppress the impact of the "Heavenly Union Flame" on the Divine Soul, Xiaojiu couldn¡¯t help but blush.


    But at this moment, Xiaojiu could no longer be concerned with her embarrassment.


    Her eyes peered through the jade pendant, searching desperately for Long Li as she looked at Ye Chen, who was being tortured by the backlash of both the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," appearing utterly frenzied.


    "Long Li quickly flew away from the Bottomless Fire Cave earlier; she must have done so because of what happened with Ye Chen... perhaps she didn¡¯t know how to face him."


    "I fear by now she¡¯s already vanished without a trace, completely unaware of Ye Chen¡¯s condition!"


    "If this goes on, even though Ye Chen has subdued the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ and isn¡¯t in mortal danger, a backlash that injures his Divine Soul and body will greatly affect his future cultivation!"


    "Ye Chen can probably only endure at most for the duration of an incense stick¡¯s burning before he can no longer withstand the killing force of the backlash, and his Divine Soul and body¡¯s foundation will be thoroughly damaged!"


    "What do I do? What do I do?!"


    Xiaojiu was so anxious inside the snow jade pendant that she paced back and forth.


    ...


    At this time, right after Ye Chen had killed Qin Feng and fallen into the backlash, Xiaojiu was extremely worried and simultaneously searching for Long Li.


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    Long Li, carrying Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, had almost flown out of the Nine Suns Realm and was about to enter the Fiery Realm at the central region of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    During their flight, seeing Long Li¡¯s face flushed with embarrassment, her delicate ears completely red, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing also began to realize that something unusual was going on with Long Li.


    "Why has Long Li become like this ever since she came out of the Bottomless Fire Cave?"


    "She has always been composed, even when facing great powers from the Sovereign Realm. She¡¯s never had such intense emotional turmoil."


    "What exactly happened in the Bottomless Fire Cave!"


    "In the Bottomless Fire Cave, Long Li was with Ye Chen. Could it be that something happened between the two of them?"


    The more they thought about it, the more Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing felt that something was wrong.


    Eventually, both women couldn¡¯t help but fly up to Long Li and asked her, "Sister Long Li, what exactly is wrong?"


    "Who got the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ in the Bottomless Fire Cave between you and Ye Chen? And why does Sister Long Li seem so out of sorts?"


    When Long Li heard Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing mention the name of Ye Chen, her mind went blank in an instant.


    Ye Chen was the young man she had had relations with!


    The mere mention of Ye Chen¡¯s name caused images of their competition in cultivating the "Method of Fire Control" within the Bottomless Fire Cave to involuntarily surface in Long Li¡¯s mind.


    Images of being swept into the fiery pit together with Ye Chen.


    Even more so, images of her and Ye Chen embraced in a way that made her so ashamed she dared not think about it further!


    Long Li¡¯s feelings for Ye Chen were truly complex.


    Before anything happened with Ye Chen, she had a slight fondness for him.


    After all, Ye Chen was the first peer she had met whose talent was on par with hers, the first who could compete with her head-to-head.


    He was, moreover, the only one who could trigger the "Star Luo God Ring" within her body!


    In short, Ye Chen possessed qualities that differed from others, qualities that allowed Long Li, a typically cool and detached girl, to feel no aversion upon meeting him.


    But even with that fondness, the sixteen-year-old Long Li had never even considered other matters.


    She had never imagined that she would become involved with Ye Chen.


    This completely shattered Long Li¡¯s perception.


    Let alone being intimate, she had never even held hands with any other male martial artist. In fact, she kept her distance from other male martial artists in her daily life and didn¡¯t have any close male friends.


    But now, to suddenly become so intimate with Ye Chen, and to have such an encounter was naturally a cause for both shyness and frustration in the utterly unprepared Long Li.


    "Ye Chen he..." Long Li looked at Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, completely at a loss for what to say to them.


    She was, of course, too embarrassed to say that she had been intimate with Ye Chen.


    She was even more embarrassed to admit that her panic was due to her fear of facing Ye Chen.


    Long Li¡¯s evasive demeanor only made Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing more suspicious.


    When both women sensed the peculiar aura of Ye Chen on Long Li¡¯s body, their hearts skipped a beat.


    "Could it be that Sister Long Li and Ye Chen..."


    Considering a possibility, both women were so shocked they almost plummeted from the sky.


    Their Sister Long Li, what kind of person was she?


    She was the first goddess of the entire Supreme Divine Institute, and the darling younger girl dearly beloved by sisters of the preceding two Northern Territory Kings!


    The number of people pursuing Long Li throughout the entire Divine Kingdom of Wan Mu Mountain ranged in the hundreds of thousands, if not millions.


    But no one had ever heard of anyone getting close to Long Li.


    If Ye Chen had truly been involved with Long Li...


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing had no idea what kind of tumult this would cause in the Divine Kingdom!


    The two women couldn¡¯t help but turn around to look towards the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree to see if Ye Chen had emerged from there.


    Although they had already flown far away from the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, as upper God King Realm cultivators, their Divine Sense was incredibly powerful, instantly spanning the vast distance to see what was happening there.


    The instant they turned around, they saw Ye Chen reeling from the backlash after slaying Qin Feng.


    "What¡¯s wrong with Ye Chen?!"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen as if engulfed in flames, crashing against the earth and the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree like a madman, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing screamed in shock.


    "Ye Chen?!"


    When Long Li heard the screams of Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, heard something seemed to have happened to Ye Chen,


    she immediately halted in flight, in a panic, looking back towards the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree as well.


    When she saw Ye Chen in agony, wildly thrashing due to the backlash from the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ her heart tightened.


    "No good, that¡¯s the backlash from the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ Ye Chen he... why would he use the Blue Extreme Iceflame!"


    Long Li stomped her foot in the void anxiously.


    She didn¡¯t even have time to alert Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing; her speed increased tenfold in an instant, traversing countless realms in the void, flying rapidly toward where Ye Chen was near the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Previously, Long Li had been waiting for Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing to fly together, and although their flight was fast, it was certainly not her fastest.


    But seeing Ye Chen in trouble, Long Li had no hesitation whatsoever.


    Subconsciously, she flew at top speed, rushing to Ye Chen¡¯s aid!


    Despite not knowing how to face Ye Chen, Long Li had an instinct deep within her heart.


    She didn¡¯t want to see Ye Chen get hurt!

 Chapter 717 - 669: Like

    ```


    Long Li had already broken through to the Earth Divine Venerable realm.


    When she was in the God King Realm, she was an absolute powerhouse, ranking first on the "God King List" of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, and she was not the least bit afraid to battle Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Now that she had broken through to become an Earth Divine Venerable, her combat power had surged to an inconceivable extent. Her speed alone left countless Heavenly Divine Venerables far behind.


    In the blink of an eye, Long Li had traversed tens of millions of miles and returned to the location of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree!


    Long Li didn¡¯t even have time to pay attention to the others nearby; her gaze was immediately drawn to Ye Chen, who was in a state of frenzy under the backlash of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and "Heavenly Union Flame."


    "Ye Chen!"


    At this moment, Long Li couldn¡¯t afford to be shy. With a ripple in the void, she appeared right in front of Ye Chen.


    The next moment, a vast surge of True Qi gushed from her body, within which formed strands of "Golden Spirit Silk" that wrapped around Ye Chen and the surging backlash flames encasing him.


    Then, the petite girl Long Li, who only reached Ye Chen¡¯s shoulders, wrapped her arms around his waist and blushed as she glanced at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, focusing on the sealed tree hole at the very bottom near her.


    A golden beam of light burst from Long Li¡¯s brow, instantly destroying the tree hole¡¯s seal that had stopped the other God Kings.


    Carrying Ye Chen, Long Li then flew straight into the tree hole and resealed it from inside!


    From Long Li¡¯s sudden appearance to stopping Ye Chen¡¯s backlash fury and carrying him into the tree hole¡ªall of this happened in the span of a flash.


    Under the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, the six individuals, had just seen Long Li hurriedly fly back, only to witness her embracing Ye Chen and flying into the tree hole.


    This clearly indicated that Long Li had returned for Ye Chen.


    She had come back to save Ye Chen!


    To see the usually aloof goddess Long Li embrace Ye Chen without a moment¡¯s hesitation shocked the group under the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree to their very core!


    Even though they had previously surmised that Ye Chen and Long Li had a deep relationship, possibly of an intimately close nature,


    speculation was, after all, speculation - nothing could compare to witnessing it with their own eyes.


    "Long Li she... Long Li she..."


    At this point, Yang Yun was trembling with anger.


    His affection for Long Li was well-known throughout the Supreme Divine Institute and the other eight Divine Institutes¡ªa fact known to countless warriors. Yet, he had difficulty even striking up a few words with her.


    Now, Long Li had taken the initiative to embrace Ye Chen. Clearly, Yang Yun was nothing more than an ordinary, insipid person in her eyes, while Ye Chen evidently stood out.


    Yang Yun¡¯s heart utterly shattered. He knew Long Li¡¯s nature: unless she was close and fond of someone, she would never act in such a manner. This surely meant Long Li¡¯s heart was already taken, and he had no chance of winning her affections.


    How could he not be utterly heartbroken?


    And as for Ye Chen, who had earned Long Li¡¯s tender concern, Yang Yun was filled with extreme jealousy and hatred!


    He envied the closeness Ye Chen shared with Long Li and despised the great fortune Ye Chen had in love.


    If not for the fear of dying by the hands of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" like Qin Feng, Yang Yun would have killed Ye Chen on the spot!


    "This Ye Chen, I must kill him, he must be killed!"


    "That ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ is incredibly bizarre, and I have no means to control it right now, so it¡¯s not wise to make a move. However, it¡¯s clear that even this divine object ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ is not something Ye Chen can wield easily, otherwise it wouldn¡¯t backfire so terribly."


    "I can¡¯t act personally, but I can get someone else to do it. Without the aid of the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ Ye Chen is just a seven-tribulation True God; killing him would be as easy as crushing an ant!"


    "Now that Ye Chen has killed Qin Feng, the people of Divine Dragon Mountain will not let him off easily. Divine Dragon Mountain is one of the four major forces of the Divine Kingdom; its strength is nothing less than that of the four duke¡¯s mansions. Just let the news of him killing Qin Feng spread, and Divine Dragon Mountain will definitely flay Ye Chen layer by layer!"


    Malignant schemes flickered through Yang Yun¡¯s mind.


    Every time he thought of Ye Chen holding a beauty like Long Li in his arms, his teeth clenched with hatred.


    Yang Yan, beside him, harbored similarly venomous thoughts as Yang Yun.


    Yang Yan had even thought of several individuals who could act on his behalf to deal with Ye Chen without him lifting a finger!


    As for Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, they were too preoccupied to wonder about Yang Yun and Yang Yan¡¯s thoughts. Their minds were focused on one fact: their acquaintance, Ye Chen, was indeed so intimately connected with Long Li!


    Long Li really did treat Ye Chen differently!


    "Once this news gets out, it¡¯s likely that the entire Divine Kingdom and all of the Nine Great Divine Institutes will know of Ye Chen, our friend."


    "It¡¯s uncertain whether this will be a blessing or a curse for Ye Chen."


    Mu Ling pondered.


    Among the ten God Kings who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Long Li had carried Ye Chen into the tree hole, and Qin Feng had been executed.


    The remaining eight¡ªYang Yun, Yang Yan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi¡ªall stood under the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, watching the tree hole where Long Li and Ye Chen disappeared.


    And the last two, following Long Li and also flying back toward the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, the sisters Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, had finally flown back to the vicinity of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree as well.


    ```


    Both of them had already seen from afar the scene of Long Li holding Ye Chen in her arms.


    At this moment, the two women were incredibly disturbed, "Little sister Long Li... she actually got so intimate with Ye Chen!"


    Both were Upper God Kings, whose realms far surpassed Ye Chen¡¯s, but they harbored a hidden fondness for Ye Chen, who had matched Long Li in the art of fire control during cultivation.


    However, seeing their little sister Long Li so close with Ye Chen let them know that there was no longer any possibility between them and Ye Chen.


    ...


    Inside the prohibition tree hole at the very bottom of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    This was a vast and special treasure space.


    Initially, Ye Chen came here to enter this tree hole at the very bottom of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree using the secret map obtained from the "Golden Light Sons" of the Golden Light Divine City.


    Instead, he accidentally got sucked into the Bottomless Fire Cave, where he encountered Long Li and got involved with her in that incident.


    After exiting the Bottomless Fire Cave, before Ye Chen had a chance to further explore this tree hole at the bottom, he was attacked by Qin Feng, and following Qin Feng¡¯s death faced the backlash of the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Ye Chen could never have anticipated that he would enter this tree hole at the bottom in this manner.


    It was Long Li who had carried him in.


    At this point, although the backlash forces were temporarily contained by Long Li, all of Ye Chen¡¯s fighting strength was completely suppressed by the backlash force, and his Divine Sense was becoming weaker.


    Ye Chen¡¯s consciousness retained only a sliver of clarity, enough to sense everything happening outside.


    "Ye Chen..."


    Long Li looked at Ye Chen tightly wrapped in the Golden Spirit Silk, her beautiful eyes flashed a trace of distress as she saw Ye Chen in a wretched state from the backlash.


    "The backlash of the Heavenly Union Flame can only be resolved by re-stabilizing the flame."


    "Could it be that I have to... have to do that with him again..."


    Long Li thought of a way to help Ye Chen out of the crisis; even her pretty face couldn¡¯t help but blush at the thought.


    Long Li¡¯s beautiful eyes showed a struggling expression. She did not reject Ye Chen, but she was also unwilling to actively use such a method to help Ye Chen.


    If she had not already been intimate with Ye Chen, she would not even dare to think of such a method, let alone consider it.


    But without this method, she was completely unable to help Ye Chen deal with the damage from the backlash force.


    This made Long Li utterly hesitant and struggling.


    Finally, after what seemed like the time it took to brew a pot of tea, when she saw the Golden Spirit Silk she had stimulated gradually unable to suppress the increasingly violent backlash force on Ye Chen¡¯s body, when she saw Ye Chen, whose Divine Sense was becoming less conscious due to the strengthening backlash force, involuntarily showing a pained expression, Long Li finally made up her mind.


    Long Li bit her pearly teeth hard, her body emitting streaks of golden light that completely enveloped her and Ye Chen within a golden sphere.


    Half an hour later.


    The golden light dispersed, and Long Li¡¯s figure was revealed once more.


    By then, Long Li had redressed, appearing as if nothing had happened, just like before. But the flush on her face indicated what had just transpired.


    Long Li glanced at Ye Chen, whose breathing had gradually steadied and whose backlash force had completely disappeared, now fallen into deep sleep, and her face reddened again.


    Then, Long Li took out a white jade tablet, pressed it against her fair forehead for a moment, recording some words she wanted to say to Ye Chen, and placed the jade tablet beside him.


    Afterward, Long Li took one last deep look at Ye Chen, then passed through the prohibitions of the tree hole space and flew back outside the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Not long after Long Li left, Xiaojiu also flew out from Ye Chen¡¯s Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Xiaojiu glanced in the direction where Long Li had departed, then at the sleeping Ye Chen, and murmured, "This young girl is really good to Ye Chen. She actually helped Ye Chen by... with him again..."


    Thinking of the method Long Li used to solve Ye Chen¡¯s backlash force, Xiaojiu¡¯s face couldn¡¯t help but redden.


    Having seen Long Li¡¯s actions before, Xiaojiu was aware of Long Li¡¯s thoughts. Embarrassed by the method, Xiaojiu immediately isolated the Ice Snow Jade Pendant completely.


    Still, Xiaojiu knew that Long Li had saved Ye Chen and was aware of everything that had transpired.


    "It seems that she really does like Ye Chen a bit, and probably she doesn¡¯t even realize it,"


    "What a pity Ye Chen already has his favorite, Jiang Yao. It¡¯s uncertain what the outcome with this young girl will be..."


    Xiaojiu sighed, looking again at the sleeping Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen has fallen into sleep to recuperate from some of the earlier damage caused by the backlash force; it shouldn¡¯t be long before he awakens."


    "Once he¡¯s awake, I should really discuss this ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ with him thoroughly. We can¡¯t always rely on Long Li to save him like this..."


    Xiaojiu mumbled to herself.


    Before long, just as Xiaojiu had predicted, Ye Chen awoke from his deep slumber.

 Chapter 718 - 670 Two Pieces of News

    "Ye Chen, you¡¯re awake?"


    Seeing Ye Chen awaken from his deep sleep, with the backlash injuries already completely healed, Xiaojiu exclaimed with joy.


    "Xiaojiu." Ye Chen nodded gently at Xiaojiu.


    Then, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze shifted to where Long Li had vanished.


    After a long while, Ye Chen retracted his gaze and looked at the white jade token that Long Li had left by his side.


    While experiencing the backlash, even though Ye Chen was engulfed by it, he still had a sliver of Divine Sense left clear, allowing him to sense everything that had happened.


    Even when he fell into a deep sleep, Ye Chen still sensed Long Li¡¯s quiet departure.


    Ye Chen naturally understood all that Long Li had done for him!


    If it weren¡¯t for Jiang Yao, perhaps Ye Chen really would have felt a liking for the young girl Long Li.


    But after all, there was Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen didn¡¯t know how he would face Long Li afterward. However, no matter what, Ye Chen would not let go of Jiang Yao!


    After a deep sigh, Ye Chen picked up the message jade token that Long Li left behind and placed it on his forehead, using his Divine Sense to sense the words inside.


    Within the jade token, Long Li didn¡¯t mention the shameful incident between her and Ye Chen, but instead told him all she knew about the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    She warned Ye Chen to be cautious with the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" to avoid another unresolvable backlash crisis in the future.


    The line-by-line exhortation from Long Li, candidly explaining the situation of the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the "Blue Extreme Iceflame", made Ye Chen¡¯s heart feel an indescribable mix of emotions.


    Ye Chen could certainly feel Long Li¡¯s concern for him!


    Without that concern, Long Li wouldn¡¯t have come back to save him, helping him escape the major injury caused by the backlash.


    Without that concern, Long Li would certainly not have told him all the secrets she knew about the "Heavenly Union Flame" and the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" without holding back!


    Towards this young girl with whom he had an intimate relationship, this "First Goddess" of the young generation of the Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen had only one sentiment, and that was¡ª"Deep gratitude to a beautiful benefactor"!


    Deep gratitude to a beautiful benefactor.


    Yet the outcome is unknown.


    When Ye Chen put the jade token left by Long Li back down, he let out a long sigh.


    Xiaojiu, who was by his side, naturally knew what troubled Ye Chen.


    She knew Ye Chen liked Jiang Yao, and she knew Jiang Yao liked Ye Chen as well.


    Now, however, the young girl Long Li had suddenly appeared, and this young girl had also become so intimately involved with Ye Chen.


    Even Xiaojiu was somewhat worried, uncertain whether Long Li or Jiang Yao would end up with Ye Chen in the end.


    Both girls were so outstanding, both so stunningly beautiful.


    And both were so kind to Ye Chen.


    "Otherwise, why not just marry them both?" Xiaojiu thought in distress, and finally couldn¡¯t help but mumble to Ye Chen, "Anyway, many great powerholders in the Divine Kingdom have several wives and concubines, Ye Chen, you are outstanding enough to match both Jiang Yao and Long Li!"


    Although Xiaojiu favored Jiang Yao, with whom she had experienced adventures in the Undersea Divine Palace, a bit more, considering how Long Li had shamelessly saved Ye Chen and then left silently, Xiaojiu did not want Long Li to be hurt either.


    Xiaojiu¡¯s words made the troubled Ye Chen give her an involuntary white-eyed glance.


    Whether it was Jiang Yao or Long Li, both were unique girls in this world.


    Let alone whether they would agree, even if they did, their elders would probably not accept it.


    After all, behind Long Li was the Northern Territory King and "Sovereign Xuechen," the strongest individual from the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Such great powerholders would never agree to a situation where two women shared one husband!


    "Forget it, we¡¯ll deal with the matters of the future when they come."


    In the end, Ye Chen was unwilling to dwell on this troublesome matter any longer.


    The urgent priority was that he had to resolve the backlash issue with the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and the "Heavenly Union Flame."


    Otherwise, every instance of backlash would have to be resolved through the intimate connection with Long Li, which he wouldn¡¯t want, not to mention that Ye Chen was unwilling to continuously take advantage of Long Li without any clarity!


    This time it was the unexpected backlash from annihilating Qin Feng, but in the future, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t let such an accident occur again!


    "According to Long Li, she cultivates a special cultivation method left by a great powerholder, which was once triggered by me."


    "Initially, my ¡¯Stars Tower¡¯ and ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture¡¯ were also triggered by Long Li."


    "It seems likely that the cultivation method Long Li mentioned is on the same level as my ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture¡¯!"


    Since Long Li had had relations with Ye Chen, she didn¡¯t withhold the incident of her "Star Luo God Ring" being triggered by Ye Chen and straightforwardly explained the situation to Ye Chen in the message jade token.


    From what Long Li said, Ye Chen immediately guessed that Long Li might possess something of the same level as his "Stars Tower" and "Primordial Star Scripture"!


    Now that Long Li had left, if she hadn¡¯t, Ye Chen would have even discussed this level of existence with her thoroughly.


    After all, Ye Chen still knew too little about the existence beyond the Sovereign Realm, like the Zi Ji Star Lord!


    At this time, Long Li had also received an item of the same caliber left by a being of that level, and Ye Chen, of course, had to inquire about Long Li¡¯s situation carefully!


    "Long Li said she had cultivated her special cultivation technique to an extremely profound degree, which was the only way she could resist the recoil of ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ allowing her to summon the Blue Extreme Iceflame and use it to practice the technique."


    "I¡¯m afraid that if I want to freely use ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ and ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame,¡¯ I must also cultivate the ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture¡¯ to a deeper level. The fourth chapter, the ¡¯Primordial Chapter,¡¯ obviously isn¡¯t enough."


    "It¡¯s very likely that I would be able to do this only by practicing the ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture¡¯ to the fifth or even the sixth chapter!"


    After Ye Chen and Long Li fused, he broke through from the Four Tribulations True God Realm to the Seven Tribulations True God Realm in one fell swoop.


    He had not yet taken the time to properly refine the benefits of this breakthrough, nor had he taken advantage of the breakthrough to further practice the ¡¯Stellar Divine Diagram¡¯ of the fourth chapter of the ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture,¡¯ the ¡¯Primordial Chapter.¡¯


    At this moment, the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ within Ye Chen¡¯s body were like a thunder ready to explode at any moment, which naturally made him even more resolute in pushing towards a higher level of mastery in the ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture.¡¯


    Only by cultivating the ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture¡¯ to a higher level could Ye Chen be confident and no longer worry about ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ and ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame.¡¯


    "Long Li left me a method in the jade token that can temporarily suppress the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ preventing them from erupting spontaneously. Until ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ are completely handled, these two powerful forces must not be used again."


    "The exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land still has some time before it ends."


    "During this period, I will cultivate diligently within this hollow of the tree, aiming to make further progress in the fourth chapter, the ¡¯Primordial Chapter!¡¯"


    "With the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seed¡¯ I risked my life to obtain from Flame Mountain, which can enhance my strength by an entire minor realm, I will at least break through to the Seven Tribulations True God. After I have cultivated the ¡¯Primordial Chapter¡¯ to the level of Great Accomplishment, only then will I leave!"


    "Once I have completely finished cultivating the ¡¯Primordial Chapter¡¯ and entered the later chapters of the ¡¯Primordial Star Scripture,¡¯ I will see if there¡¯s even a fraction of a chance to resolve the recoil from ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame!¡¯"


    After much thought, Ye Chen began to meditate and cultivate directly in the hollow of the tree.


    ...


    While Ye Chen awoke and entered into cultivation.


    Long Li, who had previously left the hollow, had already arrived outside of it.


    Long Li¡¯s cheeks were still flushed with shyness from her recent intimacy with Ye Chen.


    Her appearance immediately caught the complete attention of the few God Kings outside.


    This time, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing had become absolutely certain of the special relationship between Long Li and Ye Chen, and their gazes towards Long Li fundamentally changed.


    The meaning in their eyes made Long Li even more embarrassed and irritated.


    Long Li glanced back at the hollow where Ye Chen was.


    Her gaze was complex.


    When Long Li turned her head back, she suppressed the shyness in her heart and looked at Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, speaking out, "Sisters, I¡¯ve already obtained what I should have from the Nine Suns Ancient Land; I will take my leave first."


    "You sisters stay here and wait... wait for Ye Chen to come out safely, then you can leave!"


    Seeing Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing nodding, and without waiting for the two women to say more, Long Li suddenly appeared at an extremely high point in the Void Heaven.


    With a grasp towards the Void Heaven, Long Li tore open a rift in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, which had been sealed off during the exploration period. Then, she directly escaped from the Nine Suns Ancient Land region.


    The Nine Suns Ancient Land was a domain left by a Heavenly Divine Venerable such as the Nine Suns Venerable, which was later refined again by the Heavenly Divine Venerable of the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    Such a domain, being sealed during the exploration period, couldn¡¯t be breached by even other Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Yet, Long Li effortlessly tore open the rift and left the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    This, of course, shocked the remaining eight God Kings to the utmost.


    All eight understood that after Long Li¡¯s encounter with Ye Chen, her strength had similarly surged.


    Previously, Long Li, still at the Upper God King Realm, was capable of battling a Heavenly God. Now, having advanced to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, it was probably not impossible for her combat power to have climbed to the level of an Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Otherwise, she would not have been able to leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land so easily!


    Seeing Long Li leave and the rift in the Void Heaven close up again, the expressions of Yang Yun and Yang Yan darkened to the extreme.


    The stronger Long Li became, the more they felt a sense of loss, and their hatred towards Ye Chen increased.


    Because, before she left, Long Li had asked Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing to look after Ye Chen, clearly indicating her heart was tied to Ye Chen, and they had no hope of competing successfully against him!


    Seeing the dark expressions on Yang Yun and Yang Yan¡¯s faces, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing understood their thoughts.


    After exchanging a glance, both women unsheathed their treasured swords and stood guard outside the hollow where Ye Chen was cultivating.


    This situation infuriated Yang Yun and Yang Yan even more.


    Since they already lacked confidence to strike down Ye Chen personally due to the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ and now with Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing guarding nearby, the two eventually left the scene with a cold snort.


    As for where they went, what they did, no one knew.


    However, after Yang Yun and Yang Yan left, two pieces of news spread throughout the entire Nine Suns Ancient Land, causing a great stir among all the surviving explorers.


    One of the news was that Qin Feng from the "Divine Dragon Mountain," a notable Upper God King from the four major forces, was killed by a True God named "Ye Chen."


    The death of the renowned Qin Feng at the hands of a True God naturally caused a huge uproar in the entire Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    The other piece of news shocked all the martial artists in the Nine Suns Ancient Land and even astonished the Earth Divine Venerables stationed there by the Southern Territory King Mansion, as it was simply unbelievable.


    The second message being circulated claimed that the First Goddess of the younger generation of the Divine Kingdom, the First Goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, Long Li, had also formed an intimate relationship with Ye Chen, the True God who had killed Qin Feng!

 Chapter 719 - 671: The Shaking of the Divine Kingdom

    When these two pieces of news spread throughout the Nine Suns Ancient Land, in no time, everyone knew Ye Chen¡¯s name!


    Long Li.


    Which warrior entering the Nine Suns Ancient Land didn¡¯t know of her, didn¡¯t admire her?


    This young girl, merely sixteen years old, had already reached the realm of an Upper God King, shocking countless people.


    Whether it was her stunning beauty, her formidable strength, or even her mysterious and unpredictable background, she earned the deep respect, admiration, and worship of many!


    Such a young girl was also the secret love of countless warriors.


    However, no one had ever heard of Long Li being close to any male warrior. Find more to read at novelhall.Co?m


    Now, the news had spread that Long Li had broken through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm and that she had become involved with Ye Chen.


    How could this not shock countless people to their core?!


    Moreover, this Ye Chen had killed the Upper God King Qin Feng while only at the True God realm, which made many feel it was utterly inconceivable.


    Qin Feng, hailing from one of the four major forces, "Divine Dragon Mountain," was a supreme figure among Upper God Kings yet died at the hands of a True God.


    This was simply unimaginable!


    In no time, everyone within the Nine Suns Ancient Land knew the name Ye Chen, and everyone was inquiring about the situation of this young man who was able to kill Qin Feng and win over Long Li!


    "Ye Chen, he... He actually became involved with Sister Long Li?!"


    Lin Xiaowan, who had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land with Ye Chen and had also practiced at the Supreme Divine Institute, was now in a place within the Fiery Realm of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Upon hearing the two pieces of news about Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan was so startled that she jumped up!


    Having participated in the Divine City Battle alongside Ye Chen, Lin Xiaowan of course knew how formidable he was.


    But even if Ye Chen was formidable, he was still only a True God, and the gap between him and the Upper God King realm was just too large.


    When Lin Xiaowan heard the news that Ye Chen had killed Upper God King Qin Feng, she felt like she was about to faint!


    Even at the Supreme Divine Institute, Lin Xiaowan had never heard of such a tremendous leap in strength to kill an opponent!


    What shook Lin Xiaowan even more was the news of Ye Chen¡¯s involvement with Long Li.


    Originally, Lin Xiaowan had been full of speculation about the relationship between Ye Chen and Long Li since Long Li had suddenly approached her with inquiries about Ye Chen. Now, hearing that the two of them had become involved, Lin Xiaowan felt both astounded and a sense of realization.


    Lin Xiaowan had always had a premonition that there was some connection between Long Li and Ye Chen, never expecting the connection to be so profound.


    So profound that even the proud daughter of heaven, Long Li, had become Ye Chen¡¯s woman!


    It wasn¡¯t only Lin Xiaowan who was shaken; several descendants of City Lord Nie, who had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land with Ye Chen and were still alive, were also tremendously shaken.


    Especially Nie Ningnin, who Ye Chen had once saved, now hiding in a safe area of the Icy Realm within the Nine Suns Ancient Land. When she heard the two pieces of news from other warriors within the safe area, Nie Ningnin couldn¡¯t believe that the True God in the news was Ye Chen, whom she knew.


    However, the description of Ye Chen in the news matched exactly with the Ye Chen that had saved her, which made Nie Ningnin realize that the True God in the news was indeed Ye Chen!


    For Nie Ningnin, Long Li was no mere young girl, but a legend in the entire Divine Kingdom!


    Even in the Small Divine Cities, Nie Ningnin had heard of Long Li¡¯s name.


    The chance to catch a glimpse of Long Li¡¯s true visage had already thrilled Nie Ningnin immensely.


    Nie Ningnin could have never imagined that during her journey to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, not only had she seen Long Li, but Ye Chen, who had come along with her, had even had such an affair with Long Li!


    After this incident, it was likely not only Ye Chen¡¯s reputation that would soar, but even the Circulation of Heaven Divine City would probably be mentioned countless times.


    After all, Ye Chen had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land with a spot from the Circulation of Heaven Divine City!


    Yet, Nie Ningnin was also worried.


    Although she had never met that Upper God King Qin Feng, she had heard that this Qin Feng was very influential.


    Ye Chen¡¯s killing of Qin Feng would likely bring great trouble upon him.


    Nie Ningnin admired Ye Chen greatly but was also concerned that Ye Chen might not be able to handle such a massive problem.


    "Ye Chen is so formidable; he dared to kill Qin Feng, so he must have a way to deal with the forces behind Qin Feng," Nie Ningnin thought to herself.


    As the two pieces of news spread, countless people, just like Lin Xiaowan and Nie Ningnin, were discussing Ye Chen.


    They discussed Ye Chen¡¯s background.


    They discussed the matter between Ye Chen and Long Li and what might happen between Ye Chen, Qin Feng, and the "Divine Dragon Mountain" backing Qin Feng in the future.


    About the veracity of these two pieces of news, although many warriors were astonished, they did not doubt them.


    Because the details of the two pieces of news were so intricate that they simply did not seem fabricated, and the news was easily verifiable.


    By the time the exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land came to an end, everyone would know whether these two pieces of news had really happened or not.


    For a time, everyone continued their adventures in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, all the while waiting for the day when the exploration would end.


    Everyone was curious to see what Ye Chen, the one who could kill Qin Feng and become close with Long Li, looked like.


    Even more so, everyone was eager to see what kind of waves these two events would cause in the Divine Kingdom!


    While these two pieces of news were fermenting within the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Outside of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, there was already a stir.


    Before the news had even left the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Long Li, who had torn through the land¡¯s barrier and left, had already surprised the elite guardians waiting outside.


    Originally, the elite guardians from the Southern Territory King Mansion led by Sovereign Zhao Kuo, from Mu King Mansion led by Sovereign Mu Shan, from Divine Dragon Mountain led by Elder He, as well as "Sovereign Dong Mei" from Danxia Valley, "Sovereign Fei Yuan" from Tai Yun Sky, and "Sovereign Hong Li" from the Supreme Divine Institute, these six sovereigns were leisurely drinking and chatting above the void outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land, waiting for the month-long exploration to end.


    What they did not expect was that just a few days in, they would see the forbidden barrier over the land of the Nine Suns Ancient Land being torn open, and a figure escaping out.


    If anyone else had left the Nine Suns Ancient Land during the exploration, breaking the land¡¯s prohibitions, the Southern Territory King Mansion would have probably imposed severe penalties.


    But when they saw that the escaping figure was Long Li, the guards outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land didn¡¯t dare say a word!


    Not to mention that Long Li was already extraordinarily strong.


    With the support of the strongest in the Supreme Divine Institute, the nine-star Divine Venerable "Sovereign Xuechen," and even the more mysterious power of the Northern Territory Prince, which was rumored to be so terrifying that even the ruler of the Divine Kingdom wouldn¡¯t provoke it, the Southern Territory King Mansion couldn¡¯t dare show any disrespect towards Long Li!


    So when they saw Long Li flying out of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the Divine Venerables standing guard were merely shaken and stepped aside, giving Long Li a clear path while marveling at the sixteen-year-old girl¡¯s ability to tear through the restrictions of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and out of immense curiosity, they watched Long Li, wanting to know why she came out so early.


    The six sovereigns outside were also somewhat surprised to see Long Li emerge.


    The strongest among them, the six-star Divine Venerable Sovereign Hong Li, hurried to greet Long Li as soon as he saw her: "Sister Long Li!"


    Seeing Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s actions, the other sovereigns followed suit and greeted Long Li as well.


    "Sister Long Li, why did you come out so quickly?"


    "Did you find what you were looking for?"


    "My god, Sister Long Li, did you break through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm?!"


    Upon seeing Long Li, Sovereign Hong Li immediately started talking, and when he noticed Long Li had broken through to the lower Earth Divine Venerable Realm, he couldn¡¯t help but exclaim in astonishment.


    Even though the lower Earth Divine Venerable was still leagues away from Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s six-star Venerable Realm, Sovereign Hong Li was well aware of his sister¡¯s prowess.


    His sister Long Li was only sixteen years old!


    A sixteen-year-old Earth Divine Venerable was unheard of, not just in the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain, but also in the other Divine Kingdoms!


    Even Sovereign Hong Li himself was merely a weak Divine King when he was sixteen.


    Not only was Sovereign Hong Li shocked, but the other sovereigns were also astounded by Long Li¡¯s promotion.


    This young pride of the Divine Kingdom left these sovereigns feeling that given enough time, Long Li surpassing them would be all too easy!


    "Could it be that my Divine Kingdom is about to see another entity surpassing the Divine Venerable Realm!" These thoughts even occurred to the sovereigns.


    Seeing the astonished looks from the sovereigns, Long Li didn¡¯t show any joy about her breakthrough.


    Her mind was full of Ye Chen¡¯s image, all the events that had happened between her and Ye Chen!


    She had no time to care about anything else, feeling her mind entwined in chaos!


    "Sovereign Hong Li, let¡¯s... let¡¯s head back to the Supreme Divine Institute first," Long Li said, her cheeks flushed with embarrassment, without answering Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s questions.


    "Ah!" Sovereign Hong Li was momentarily stunned upon hearing Long Li¡¯s words.


    She also noticed that her little sister had an unusual expression.


    But for her little sister, Sovereign Hong Li didn¡¯t dare to ask too much. In the end, Sovereign Hong Li nodded to Long Li and said, "Alright, if sister wants to go back, then let¡¯s go back first."


    Sovereign Hong Li thought to herself that they could ask Long Li what happened after they returned to the Supreme Divine Institute ¨C she didn¡¯t dare to inquire, but her master, "Sovereign Xuechen," would likely have questions.


    After bidding farewell to the other sovereigns and hastily leaving with Long Li, the rest of them were slightly confused.


    They did not expect Long Li to come out of the Nine Suns Ancient Land so soon, nor could they have anticipated that Long Li appeared so preoccupied, as if something had happened within the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    What could it be that filled this prodigy with such thoughts?


    The sovereigns were deeply curious.


    And when the two pieces of news from the Nine Suns Ancient Land were finally conveyed by the guardians inside, the sovereigns finally understood the reason behind Long Li¡¯s preoccupation.


    "Long Li, she... she actually had relations with a young man named Ye Chen?!" The Sovereigns from both the Southern Territory King Mansion, Zhao Kuo, and Mu King Mansion, Mu Shan, leaped to their feet!


    The Elder from Divine Dragon Mountain was even more thunderstruck in his mind.


    Because the other piece of news was that Qin Feng had died by the hands of Ye Chen.


    Qin Feng was a member of his Divine Dragon Mountain, a direct descendant of the mountain¡¯s deity leader!

 Chapter 720 - 672: Eighth Tribulations True God

    Although the news about Heaven¡¯s Chosen maiden Long Li and Ye Chen¡¯s affair was shocking, Elder He was a martial artist from Divine Dragon Mountain, the one who sent Qin Feng to Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Since Qin Feng died at the hands of Ye Chen, naturally Elder He had no time to care about anything else.


    There was only one thought in Elder He¡¯s mind, and that was how he was going to explain this to the Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master, "Qin Yuntian"!


    After all, Elder He knew very well that Qin Feng was exceedingly dear to "Qin Yuntian," one of the few juniors whom "Qin Yuntian" cherished the most.


    Otherwise, "Qin Yuntian" wouldn¡¯t have personally asked the Southern Territory King for a God King slot for Qin Feng to enter the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    "Qin Feng...he¡¯s dead."


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    "Now, the Sect Master will probably be furious!"


    Thinking of Qin Yuntian¡¯s strength, even as a four-star Sovereign Realm Great Powerholder, Elder He felt a shiver of fear.


    He didn¡¯t dare to hide the slightest bit!


    As soon as he received the news that Qin Feng had died in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Elder He immediately transmitted the message to Divine Dragon Mountain, reporting Qin Feng¡¯s slaying by Ye Chen back to Divine Dragon Mountain.


    It wasn¡¯t long before Divine Dragon Mountain sent back a decree.


    The decree ordered Elder He to execute Ye Chen as soon as he came out and to bring Ye Chen¡¯s head back to Divine Dragon Mountain!


    The transmission speed of a Sovereign Realm Great Powerholder was unimaginably fast.


    Elder He¡¯s actions couldn¡¯t be hidden from the other Sovereigns at the scene.


    The other Sovereigns, of course, knew that Elder He¡¯s actions were due to the second piece of news, "Ye Chen killed Qin Feng."


    Several Sovereigns from the major forces sighed as they looked in the direction of Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    "Who exactly is this Ye Chen, such a young man?"


    "How could he, at the True God Realm, have such an affair with Long Li, and also kill Qin Feng?!"


    "It¡¯s unclear how the Supreme Divine Institute and the Northern Territory King Mansion will deal with him, but no matter how those two handle him, ¡¯Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯ certainly won¡¯t spare him lightly."


    "Seeing Elder He¡¯s demeanor, it¡¯s clear that he has received the execution order from ¡¯Divine Dragon Mountain.¡¯ It¡¯s likely that the moment Ye Chen comes out of Nine Suns Ancient Land, he¡¯ll die at the hands of Elder He."


    These Sovereigns all began to wait on the sidelines.


    Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s matter was unrelated to them and Ye Chen, and they were not in a position to intervene. They could only stand by and watch the drama unfold.


    Moreover, the Sovereigns all had an inkling that Ye Chen, with his True God Realm strength, killing the Upper God King level Qin Feng and having an affair with Long Li without her punishing him, did not seem like someone who would die easily at the hands of Elder He.


    Perhaps there would be a surprise!


    For a while, the Sovereigns were somewhat looking forward to the end of the Nine Suns Ancient Land exploration and the scene of Ye Chen emerging.


    They also wanted to see what this "outrageously bold" Ye Chen really looked like!


    ...


    While the news of Qin Feng¡¯s execution and the affair with Long Li were rippling through the inside and outside of Nine Suns Ancient Land, causing countless martial artists and even the big shots of the Divine Kingdom to be shocked, Ye Chen was quietly cultivating within the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Days passed one after the other.


    As the time for the one-month exploration of Nine Suns Ancient Land drew closer, Ye Chen still hadn¡¯t come out from the Prohibition Tree Hole at the very bottom of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    This made Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, and those arranged by Long Li to stay behind, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, all God Kings, become somewhat anxious while waiting.


    In the end, after waiting for more than ten days, Hong Ming and Hong Yi could no longer persist and left the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    They still had cultivation tasks to attend to and couldn¡¯t keep wasting time at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Although they really wanted to meet Ye Chen again, the one who had caused such a huge stir in Nine Suns Ancient Land, they could only wait to see him when they left Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    After Hong Ming and Hong Yi left, the siblings Mu Ling and Mu Xiao from Mu King Mansion did not move.


    They originally came to Nine Suns Ancient Land just to watch the excitement. At this point, they only wanted to wait for Ye Chen to come out and interrogate him properly; how could they willingly leave?


    As for Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, they were commanded by Long Li to stay behind and protect Ye Chen, so they certainly weren¡¯t going anywhere either.


    While these four God Kings continued their arduous wait, unbeknownst to them, within just a short period in the Forbidden Tree Hole of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Ye Chen¡¯s combat power had once again undergone an earth-shattering change.


    Inside the Forbidden Tree Hole.


    Two days before the exploration of Nine Suns Ancient Land was finished.


    Ye Chen was seated cross-legged in the void of the Prohibition Tree Hole space!


    At this moment, the realm aura surrounding Ye Chen¡¯s entire body had already broken through to the level of the Eighth Tribulations True God!


    Eighth Tribulations True God.


    Just two months ago, Ye Chen was still in the late stages of the Heavenly Saint Realm, and now, in just one or two months, he had actually become an Eighth Tribulations True God. If this news were to spread, it would probably shake the entire Divine Kingdom even more than his affair with Long Li!


    After all, no one in the entire Divine Kingdom has ever heard of anyone transforming from the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm to the Eighth Tribulations True God in just one or two months!


    At this moment, Xiaojiu and the little monkey were standing in the void thousands of feet away from where Ye Chen was cultivating.


    Even Xiaojiu, who had been infused with countless pieces of knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan, couldn¡¯t help but click his tongue in amazement upon seeing Ye Chen successfully break through to the Eighth Tribulations True God!


    "Ye Chen, he¡¯s too strong!"


    "Not only does he have exceptional talent, but he also has extraordinary encounters!"


    "When he was charging from the Heavenly Saint Realm to the True God Realm, he triggered multiple Heavenly Tribulations, going from the late Heavenly Saint directly to the Fourth Tribulations True God, which was already beyond belief. And then he encountered the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame,¡¯ the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ and the number one Heaven¡¯s Chosen girl of the Divine Kingdom, Long Li!"


    "Without Long Li, Ye Chen would have probably died amidst the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ never obtaining these two things! Without the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame,¡¯ Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t have been able to charge through the realms so quickly!"


    "All these circumstances combined allowed him to break through from the Fourth Tribulations True God to the Seventh Tribulations True God after the multiple Heavenly Tribulations!"


    "Moreover, with the ¡¯Fire Elemental Lotus Seed¡¯ that he risked his life to obtain in the Flame Mountain, which has the miraculous effect of promoting one small realm, Ye Chen truly became an Eighth Tribulations True God after consuming it!"


    "At this rate, it probably won¡¯t take Ye Chen too long to break through from the True God Realm to the God King Realm!"


    Thinking of this, Xiaojiu¡¯s eyes became brighter and brighter.


    "Although Ye Chen is from a lower realm and had a later start than many people in the Divine Kingdom, his combat power is by no means weak, and his progress speed is unbelievably fast!"


    "I really look forward to the day Ye Chen becomes a Divine Venerable or even a Sovereign. It¡¯s even highly possible for him to surpass the Sovereign Realm and become someone like Lord Emperor Yan!"


    "At this pace, it won¡¯t be long before Ye Chen can go find Sister Jiang Yao. With what has happened with him and Long Li, Ye Chen must be even more eager to see Sister Jiang Yao and share his feelings with her."


    "Eighth Tribulations True God, Ye Chen has successfully broken through. However, the Stellar Power he cultivates is the truly crucial thing. After such a long time, I wonder how well Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation is progressing?"


    In the end, Xiaojiu¡¯s gaze fell back on Ye Chen, looking at him with a mix of worry and anticipation.


    The little monkey at Xiaojiu¡¯s side was also quietly watching Ye Chen, waiting for Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation to end, just like Xiaojiu.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had also reached the critical period of cultivating the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Beginning Chapter."


    Back in the Starlight Tower, Ye Chen not only obtained the cultivation mantra for the "Primordial Beginning Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture but also acquired a "Stellar Divine Diagram."


    This "Stellar Divine Diagram" was the foundation of cultivating the "Primordial Beginning Chapter"!


    The entire "Stellar Divine Diagram" consists of two major parts: one is cultivating the "Taiyuan Divine Pill" into the "Primordial Star" and the other is creating Stellar Vortex Spaces within the body to integrate all the Stellar Power from the "Stellar Divine Diagram."


    Ultimately, forming an internal Stellar Secret Map with the "Primordial Star" at its center and myriad Stellar Vortex Spaces hiding boundless Stellar Power.


    When the entire inner Stellar Secret Map is unraveled, it can connect with the outer cosmos, advancing into the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Since obtaining the "Primordial Beginning Chapter," Ye Chen had been persistently cultivating the "Primordial Star" and the Stellar Vortices.


    When Ye Chen broke through from the Heavenly Saint Realm to become a Fourth Tribulations True God, the "Stellar Divine Diagram" within him had reached the Minor Accomplishment stage.


    After merging with Long Li and breaking through to the Seventh Tribulations True God, Ye Chen had not yet had the chance to further cultivate the "Stellar Divine Diagram."


    During this time in this tree hollow space, aside from leveraging the "Fire Elemental Lotus Seed" to break through to the Eighth Tribulations True God, Ye Chen spent all his time cultivating the "Stellar Divine Diagram," focusing on the "Primordial Star" and the Stellar Vortices of the "Primordial Beginning Chapter."


    After spending more than twenty days, Ye Chen had finally made significant progress!


    At this moment, endless Divine Power surged in the Qi Sea within Ye Chen¡¯s body, indicating the immense strength of an Eighth Tribulations True God.


    Moreover, his continuous breakthroughs in realm allowed him to absorb the "Stellar Divine Diagram" even more swiftly, and Ye Chen had now created tens of thousands of Stellar Vortices inside his body!


    It truly formed a dense swarm of Stellar Vortices within him!


    Furthermore, these Stellar Vortices had captured the vast majority of the limitless Stellar Power from the "Stellar Divine Diagram."


    Even the "Taiyuan Divine Pill," cultivated from the third chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Taiyuan Chapter," had transformed into a glowing "Primordial Star" in Ye Chen¡¯s Inner World, shining like a star.


    The "Primordial Star" shone at the center of Ye Chen¡¯s Inner World, surrounded by densely packed Stellar Vortex Spaces, radiating endless light of Stellar Power.


    This scenario clearly indicated that the cultivation of the "Primordial Beginning Chapter" had reached Great Accomplishment!


    Ye Chen was only one step away, just needed to connect the "Primordial Star" and the Stellar Vortices with the outer cosmos, to achieve Great Perfection in the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Beginning Chapter," and step into the fifth chapter!


    Unfortunately, Ye Chen still couldn¡¯t sense the opportunity to connect with the outer cosmos.


    In the end, Ye Chen, who was seated in meditation, had to stop his cultivation and opened his eyes.


    As another day had passed.


    The day to leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land had finally arrived!

 Chapter 721 - 673: On the Verge

    "It seems that the final step of the ¡¯Primordial Chapter¡¯ to reach Great Perfection isn¡¯t the right moment yet, and cannot be forced."


    "However, although I did not manage to make a breakthrough in one fell swoop with the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, my combat power has surged enormously after reaching Great Accomplishment, and especially after the advancement in the True God Realm and the creation of the Stellar Vortex. Now, I fear even the truly powerful Middle God Kings no longer pose a threat. I might even stand a chance against an Upper God King!"


    Ye Chen smiled and rose from the void.


    In the past, Ye Chen had no chance of fighting Middle God Kings and Upper God Kings, and could only rely on the ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment¡¯ for defense.


    When Qin Feng had provoked the beast chaos, Ye Chen had been relentlessly pursued by demon creatures of Upper God King level.


    But now, his realm had increased tremendously in speed, and the practice of the ¡¯Primordial Chapter¡¯ to Great Accomplishment had once again qualitatively improved Ye Chen¡¯s combat power.


    Although he still wasn¡¯t a match for extraordinarily strong God Kings like Yang Yun and Yang Yan based on combat power alone, if he encountered the usual kind of God King level demons again, Ye Chen would have a lot of confidence to face them without relying on the ¡¯Star Blue Divine Garment¡¯!


    The exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land indeed brought Ye Chen huge gains.


    Not only did he break through from the Fourth Tribulations True God to Eighth Tribulations True God, mastering the ¡¯Primordial Chapter¡¯ to Great Accomplishment, but he also obtained miraculous treasures like the ¡¯Heavenly Union Flame¡¯ and the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯.


    Although he can¡¯t use these two treasures at will for the time being due to their backlash, Ye Chen knew that such Polar Sky Level miraculous treasures would be of great help to him in the future!


    The only thing that troubled Ye Chen was... his relationship with Long Li.


    "Well, regardless, what¡¯s done is done, and I must face it and resolve it!"


    After sighing, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze became determined.


    "Let¡¯s leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land first," he said, "The ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ annihilated Qin Feng, which is likely to cause quite a bit of trouble."


    Ye Chen touched the talisman in his chest pocket and walked towards Xiaojiu and the little monkey.


    "Ye Chen, have you finished your cultivation?!"


    "Ye Chen! Ye Chen! There are quite a few treasures in this tree hollow world. I¡¯ve taken a lot, and there are many I couldn¡¯t reach. Let¡¯s go get them!"


    Xiaojiu and the little monkey flew straight towards Ye Chen.


    Seeing the excited Xiaojiu and little monkey flying towards him, Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    ...


    Outside the prohibition tree hollow, beneath the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao paced back and forth, their faces showing signs of anxiety.


    "Today is the last day of the exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Why hasn¡¯t Fellow Ye Chen come out yet?"


    "Could something have happened to him inside?!"


    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao both looked towards the prohibition tree hollow at the very bottom of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    Regrettably, this prohibition tree hollow was surrounded by powerful and extraordinary prohibitions set by Long Li when she brought Ye Chen in. As powerful as they were, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were unable to break the prohibition set by Long Li and could not enter.


    Even as they worried about Ye Chen, all they could do was wait outside.


    Their worried words made Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, who were standing by on orders from Long Li, show a look of concern on their pretty faces as well.


    However, thinking that their Sister Long Li had instructed them to wait here for Ye Chen to come out safely, their worried hearts were slightly relieved.


    If Long Li said Ye Chen would come out unharmed, then he likely would be fine. Your next chapter is on novelhall.Co?m


    Just as Zhu Qianqian, Zhu Qingqing, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao, the four God Kings still waiting at the vicinity of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, stared unblinkingly at the prohibition tree hollow at the base of the tree.


    On the last day of the exploration of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, near noon.


    A tremendous golden light suddenly burst forth from the tree hollow at the very bottom of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree!


    Within the golden light, Ye Chen, holding the white jade token given to him by Long Li, directly used the method she provided to break the prohibition and flew out from the prohibition tree hollow at the base of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree.


    "Ye Chen, you¡¯re out?!" Mu Ling quickly flew towards Ye Chen as soon as she saw him, chattering, "Ye Chen, the way you were affected by the backlash earlier looked really scary. Are you okay now?"


    Mu Xiao followed Mu Ling as she flew towards Ye Chen. Thinking of how Ye Chen had become involved with Long Li and had killed Qin Feng, Mu Xiao felt her head spin with dizziness.


    "Fellow Ye Chen, the entire Nine Suns Ancient Land is rife with two pieces of news about you killing Qin Feng and about you and Long Li... I¡¯m afraid you¡¯re going to face some troubles now that you¡¯re out," she said.


    "These two pieces of news must have been deliberately spread by Yang Yun and Yang Yan."


    Finally, Mu Xiao expressed her concerns to Ye Chen.


    Although they had been waiting at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree for Ye Chen all this time, they were of course aware of the two sensational rumors circulating throughout the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Those rumors, spreading far and wide after Yang Yun and Yang Yan left the vicinity of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, were already suspected by Mu Ling and Mu Xiao to be deliberate actions of the two.


    Hearing Mu Xiao mention the rumors, Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing, who had just breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing Ye Chen emerge safe and sound, tensed up again.


    Although they were ordered by Long Li to wait here for Ye Chen¡¯s safe return,


    they didn¡¯t know what Long Li was planning to do next with Ye Chen, and they also didn¡¯t know how the Northern Territory King Mansion and the "Sovereign Xuechen" of the Supreme Divine Institute would hold Ye Chen accountable.


    Yet from the concern Long Li showed for Ye Chen, they could tell that she probably wouldn¡¯t harm Ye Chen.


    As long as Long Li did not wish to harm Ye Chen, then even if the Northern Territory King Mansion and the "Sovereign Xuechen" of the Supreme Divine Institute were involved, they probably wouldn¡¯t do anything to him.


    Thus, regarding the news about Long Li, the two sisters weren¡¯t too worried.


    What Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were most concerned about was the rumor of Ye Chen killing Qin Feng.


    After all, Qin Feng belonged to one of the four major powers, "Divine Dragon Mountain," which was on par with their own "Danxia Valley." If Divine Dragon Mountain decided to trouble Ye Chen, then Ye Chen really would be in a world of trouble!


    "It¡¯s a pity that Sister Long Li left early, otherwise, if she were here, as long as she wanted to protect Ye Chen, even Divine Dragon Mountain wouldn¡¯t dare to touch him!"


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing thought in the end.


    Ye Chen, who was nearby, also had a flash of sharpness in his eyes when he heard Mu Xiao¡¯s words.


    From what Mu Xiao said, Ye Chen knew that Mu Xiao¡¯s guess was right, and it was likely that Yang Yun and Yang Yan were indeed responsible for spreading the news about him killing Qin Feng and his involvement with Long Li.


    Ye Chen couldn¡¯t forget, when Qin Feng wanted to execute him earlier, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi had stepped forward to help, only to be stopped by Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    At that moment, Ye Chen saw that Yang Yun and Yang Yan also had the intention to kill him.


    "It¡¯s likely that Yang Yun and Yang Yan, after seeing the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ on me kill Qin Feng, didn¡¯t dare to confront me directly and came up with this sneaky plan instead," he thought.


    "They deliberately spread the news of me killing Qin Feng, wanting Divine Dragon Mountain to know and cause trouble for me. Coupled with the incident involving Long Li, there must be even more people who hate me and want my life!"


    Thinking this, Ye Chen clenched his fists.


    Ye Chen was not one to shy away from trouble!


    "Yang Yun and Yang Yan, huh..."


    "Once I¡¯ve dealt with these matters, I will definitely settle the score with you!"


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen gathered his thoughts and looked towards Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing.


    Ye Chen said with a smile, "It¡¯s fine. In half a day, we¡¯ll be able to leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Fellow daoists, let¡¯s get ready to go out as well."


    Seeing Ye Chen still able to smile, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing couldn¡¯t help but admire him.


    If they were in Ye Chen¡¯s place, fearing that they might be killed by Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s mighty warriors, they probably wouldn¡¯t be able to laugh at all, filled only with worry.


    "Indeed, he¡¯s a young man who can cultivate the ¡¯Method of Fire Control¡¯ side by side with Sister Long Li, and even she is worried about him. He really does possess such a steady mind and spirit!"


    "Unmoved in the face of a crumbling earth and heaven!"


    "I just don¡¯t know how he will resolve this crisis."


    Zhu Qianqian quietly looked towards Ye Chen, towards the young man she was faintly fond of, feeling a mix of admiration and concern in her heart.


    ...


    Above a high mountain in the Fiery Realm in the west of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Yang Yun and Yang Yan, two Upper God Kings, stood shoulder to shoulder, looking towards the direction of the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree in the Nine Suns Realm.


    "Hmph, the time to leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land is almost upon us."


    "The news must surely have spread beyond the Nine Suns Ancient Land by now. This time, let¡¯s see how Ye Chen cleans up this mess!" said Yang Yun, with a mysterious cold light flashing in his eyes.


    Yang Yan also snorted coldly, "This youngster Ye Chen is undoubtedly doomed this time!"


    "Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master ¡¯Qin Yuntian¡¯ is notoriously protective of his own. The clamor over his descendent being killed by a True God, he won¡¯t let it go easily."


    "It¡¯s just regrettable that someone as stunning as Sister Long Li was taken by that youngster Ye Chen..."


    At this thought, Yang Yan felt a surge of frustration in his chest.


    He wished he could tear Ye Chen into a million pieces to alleviate the rage in his heart!


    ...


    Within the safety zone of the Icy Realm inside the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Nie Ningnin looked towards the sky of the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    "In half a day, we will be able to leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Ye Chen helped me this time, and he¡¯s made such a big name for himself in the Nine Suns Ancient Land; I really hope to see him again."


    "I just don¡¯t know if him killing Qin Feng will cause any trouble."


    Thinking to the end, Nie Ningnin also felt uneasy.


    ...


    Not only Nie Ningnin, but others familiar with Ye Chen, like Lin Xiaowan, other descendants of City Lord Nie, and countless martial artists who wanted to see Ye Chen after hearing the two pieces of news, were all waiting for the final moment to leave the Nine Suns Ancient Land to arrive.


    As time passed, the prohibition of the Nine Suns Ancient Land was reactivated, and the moment to teleport all the martial artists out of the Nine Suns Ancient Land finally came.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When that moment arrived, a series of earth-shattering lights surged throughout the vast land of the Nine Suns Ancient Land. These tremendous lights enveloped the entire Nine Suns Ancient Land, covering all the martial artists within!


    Out of the millions of martial artists who entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land, over half had died in the chaos of the beasts, the dangers of the adventure, and at the hands of other martial artists. Only a little over a million were still alive.


    In the end, these million or so survivors were enveloped by over a million beams of light, teleported back into the Teleportation Divine Formation within the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Finally, from these formations, they were transported back outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    "They¡¯re out!"


    As they watched over a hundred and eight Teleportation Divine Formations outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land continuously spewing out figures of martial artists, the Sovereigns in the void all stood up.


    Among them, Elder He of Divine Dragon Mountain, a four-star Sovereign power, was surging with Divine Light in his eyes, scanning the fleeing figures while searching for the silhouette of Ye Chen, who killed Qin Feng.


    He was following the orders of Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master "Qin Yuntian" to bring back Ye Chen¡¯s head to Divine Dragon Mountain and, of course, he would not let Ye Chen escape from under his watch!

 Chapter 722 - 674: The Confrontation of the Almighty Lord

    Seeing Elder He¡¯s gaze, the other Sovereigns¡¯ eyes also flickered with the same intense light.


    Besides searching for the Divine King who brought them to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they also wanted to witness the youngster of the rumors, Ye Chen.


    This search didn¡¯t take long.


    When the last surviving warriors were all transferred out of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the Sovereigns saw the Divine Kings at the rear, and they also spotted the youth described in the messages, the one who killed Qin Feng and had an affair with Long Li¡ªYe Chen!


    Boom!


    Upon seeing Ye Chen, rage burst forth from Elder He, burning towards the sky as if it was tangible.


    Elder He¡¯s divine eyes directly traversed the endless distance, fixating on Ye Chen. Meanwhile, he bellowed, "Boy, are you the Ye Chen who killed someone from my Divine Dragon Mountain?!"


    Whoosh!


    The forceful shout from Elder He exploded like thunder in the heavens, and in an instant, all eyes turned to the youth he was staring at.


    "Is that Ye Chen?!"


    "So young?!"


    "Good heavens, he¡¯s just a God of the Eight Tribulations. How could he have killed the Upper God King Qin Feng?!"


    In the Nine Suns Ancient Land, after hearing those two incredibly shocking pieces of news, countless warriors wanted to see what Ye Chen looked like.


    They did not expect that they¡¯d see Ye Chen as soon as they left the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Even more unexpectedly, this Ye Chen truly was at the True God Realm and so young!


    While they were extremely astonished by Ye Chen, these warriors also felt a sudden tightness in their hearts.


    At this moment, as Elder He directly targeted Ye Chen, it certainly informed these warriors that however formidable Ye Chen was, he most likely wouldn¡¯t survive the day.


    After all, if a Sovereign Realm powerhouse wanted to kill him, no matter how powerful he was, even if he could contend with Divine Kings, he had absolutely no chance of resisting or escaping.


    It wasn¡¯t just those who came out from the Nine Suns Ancient Land who were incredibly shaken.


    Outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land, the elder warriors who had sent these True God warriors there were equally shaken upon seeing Ye Chen.


    During this time, they too had heard the two pieces of news coming from the Nine Suns Ancient Land. Continue reading at novelhall.Co?m


    They had never imagined that these rumors could indeed be true.


    There really was such a miraculous youth who could kill the Upper God King Qin Feng and have an affair with Long Li, the number one goddess from the Supreme Divine Institute!


    "This Ye Chen has certainly made a name for himself."


    "However, fortune and disaster are intertwined. He may have enjoyed a moment of fame, but I¡¯m afraid his life will also be lost here. After all, with Sovereign Mu Shan from Divine Dragon Mountain looking for trouble, he definitely won¡¯t be able to hold out!"


    Within the crowd, City Lord Nie, who was familiar with Ye Chen, and people like Lin Xiaowan and Nie Ningnin, who had entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land with Ye Chen, now saw Elder He confront Ye Chen, ready to strike him down at any moment, their palms were completely sweaty.


    "How did Ye Chen get himself into such big trouble?"


    "Although he is powerful, he absolutely should not have provoked Divine Dragon Mountain. It is one of the four great forces of the Divine Kingdom!"


    City Lord Nie was just an ordinary Divine King and had no power to help Ye Chen resist the wrath of Elder He. Being anxious was entirely futile.


    Lin Xiaowan and Nie Ningnin felt equally helpless, full of urgency but utterly powerless.


    There was no need to mention Nie Ningnin; as an ordinary God, she couldn¡¯t be of any help to Ye Chen.


    Although Lin Xiaowan was more formidable than Nie Ningnin, a disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute with an Immortal Divine Venerable in her family,


    even in the face of a four-star Sovereign like Elder He, her Immortal Divine Venerable relative was not enough, not even to speak a word in defense of Ye Chen.


    In the crowd, the only ones who could and dared to speak up for Ye Chen were Mu Ling and Mu Xiao.


    Although Hong Ming and Hong Yi also wanted to say something, they still did not know the Southern Territory King¡¯s stance and weren¡¯t in a position to interfere with Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s affairs.


    Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were also unclear about Long Li¡¯s attitude and weren¡¯t ready to interject just yet.


    Only Mu Ling and Mu Xiao stood directly by Ye Chen¡¯s side.


    After all, Ye Chen was related to their ancestor, the old Southern Territory King, and they admired Ye Chen greatly; they certainly would not stand by and watch Elder He single him out.


    Mu Ling spoke out to Elder He, "Elder He, it was Qin Feng who first tried to kill Ye Chen, and as a result, he was killed by Ye Chen. This was all witnessed by my brother and me, and there are several other Divine Kings who can testify. They have already resolved their life-and-death struggle; Elder He, for you to intervene now represents great bullying the weak, that can¡¯t be right!"


    Murmurs rippled through the crowd.


    The entire assembly was shaken by Mu Ling¡¯s words.


    No one expected the little princess of Mu King Mansion to speak up for Ye Chen.


    Could it be that Ye Chen had dared to provoke the people of Divine Dragon Mountain because he was relying on Mu King Mansion?


    But the people from Divine Dragon Mountain were not afraid of Mu King Mansion at all!


    Especially since the old Southern Territory King had left, Mu King Mansion¡¯s strength was considered weaker compared to Divine Dragon Mountain.


    For a moment, everyone turned to look at Sovereign Mu Shan, who had brought Mu Ling and Mu Xiao to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, wondering if he would speak up for Ye Chen.


    At this moment, Mu Shan felt somewhat dizzy.


    ```


    He had not expected Mu Ling to speak in favor of Ye Chen, nor that both Mu Ling and Mu Xiao seemed very close to Ye Chen.


    In a rush, Mu Shan quickly transmitted a message to Mu Ling and Mu Xiao inquiring about the situation.


    At this moment, Elder He, who had received orders from the leader of Divine Dragon Mountain, "Qin Yuntian", to bring back Ye Chen¡¯s head, did not care about Mu Ling¡¯s interjection. Even if the Mu King Mansion wanted to interfere, he would not cease his pursuit, nor did he dare to!


    Boom!


    With an airborne step, Elder He ascended above the heads of the countless martial artists who had just emerged from the Nine Suns Ancient Land. He reached out his large hand towards Ye Chen, attempting to capture him in mid-air!


    "Elder He, please wait a moment!"


    Mu Shan was asking about the situation and had not expected Elder He to have already taken action. Without further thought, he instantly flashed through space and appeared above Ye Chen, clashing his palm against Elder He¡¯s attack.


    A confrontation between two potentates of the Sovereign Realm was exceedingly terrifying.


    Even though Elder He and Sovereign Mu Shan had not used their full strength, the surge of combat power fluctuations caused the vast space of several hundred thousand zhang [1 zhang = 3.3 meters] to completely shatter!


    If it were not for the fact that the attacks of these Sovereign Realm powerhouses could be exercised with precise control, any stray shockwave would have been enough to instantly kill all the martial artists who had just left the Nine Suns Ancient Land on the spot!


    Despite this, countless martial artists were terrified and fled in all directions. In an instant, only Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, Zhu Qianqian, and Zhu Qingqing, a few Divine Kings, remained by Ye Chen¡¯s side. Everyone else had already escaped tens of thousands of zhang away before they stopped to watch the conflict from a distance.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan also flew away from Ye Chen¡¯s side, standing in a corner of the void, their gazes fixed on Ye Chen, the angered Elder He, and the anxious Sovereign Mu Shan, looking as if they were watching an exciting show.


    "Friend Mu Shan, does your ¡¯Mu King Mansion¡¯ really want to interfere in the affairs of Divine Dragon Mountain?"


    Seeing Mu Shan helping Ye Chen, Elder He was fuming with rage. He flipped his hand, and a "Divine Dragon Token" appeared in his palm.


    "Hmph, even if you try to stop me today, you won¡¯t be able to prevent me from killing Ye Chen. I don¡¯t believe that your Mu King Mansion truly wants to make an enemy of Divine Dragon Mountain just for a single True God!"


    As he spoke, Elder He¡¯s "Divine Dragon Token" suddenly radiated a dazzling light that shot up into the sky.


    Upon seeing this soaring light, Mu Shan was shocked: "The Divine Dragon Order, Elder He is really set on quickly killing Ye Chen. Even going so far as to seek assistance from other Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain!"


    In the instant that Mu Shan¡¯s thoughts raced, the soaring light from the "Divine Dragon Token" vanished abruptly, and a figure appeared in the sky above.


    This figure was a thin man in yellow robes in his middle age.


    When the other Sovereigns present saw this figure, Sovereign Zhao Kuo of the Southern Territory King Mansion, "Eastern Brow Sovereign" of Danxia Valley, and "Feiyuan Sovereign" of Taiyun Heaven were all startled.


    While they were each four-star Sovereigns, the person who had just arrived was a six-star Sovereign, naturally causing them great alarm!


    "It¡¯s Protector Zhuge from Divine Dragon Mountain. It is said that each Sovereign of Divine Dragon Mountain carries a Divine Dragon Token that can call for assistance from the nearest high-ranking Sovereign. But I never would have thought that Elder He would actually summon Protector Zhuge!"


    "Protector Zhuge is a six-star Sovereign. Now, even if Mu Shan wants to protect Ye Chen, it would be completely impossible!"


    The arrival of another potent Sovereign prompted the other martial artists at the scene to dare not even breathe.


    They never expected Divine Dragon Mountain to dispatch two Sovereigns at once, and the atmosphere of dreadful power enveloping the land from the latter Sovereign made him seem even more terrifying than the earlier ones!


    As soon as Protector Zhuge arrived, his divine gaze turned toward Elder He.


    Elder He communicated the situation with a single thought, instantly informing Protector Zhuge.


    Protector Zhuge¡¯s eyes then focused directly on Mu Shan, speaking indifferently, "The affairs of Divine Dragon Mountain are not to be meddled with by Mu King Mansion, wouldn¡¯t you agree?"


    Then, Protector Zhuge¡¯s gaze swiftly shifted to Ye Chen, "Kid, do you think you can provoke Divine Dragon Mountain by relying on Mu King Mansion? Even if all the experts from Mu King Mansion were to come, the powerhouses of Divine Dragon Mountain would dare to face them all!"


    "Our leader wants your head as atonement, so just surrender it obediently!"


    Protector Zhuge, a six-star Sovereign, dared to rebuke Ye Chen in front of Mu Shan of Mu King Mansion without any courtesy!


    This caused Mu Shan¡¯s expression to darken.


    However, Protector Zhuge¡¯s words also made him hesitate. Although he had learned from Mu Ling about the small connection between Ye Chen and the old Southern Territory King associated with Mu King Mansion, it was, after all, just a minor link. To have Mu King Mansion directly confront Divine Dragon Mountain over this was a decision he could not make without consulting with the director of Mu King Mansion.


    But the current situation gave him no time to send a message to Mu King Mansion.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, who all eyes were fixed upon, finally spoke up.


    He first looked toward Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and Sovereign Mu Shan, bowing with a cupped fist salute: "Thank you, friends Mu Ling and Mu Xiao for your assistance, and thank you, Elder Mu Shan, for taking action on behalf of a junior like me."


    "Since I¡¯m the one who caused this trouble, I will resolve it myself."


    Ye Chen¡¯s words startled Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and Mu Shan, and shocked the rest of the martial artists watching from outside the fray.


    Had Ye Chen lost his mind?


    He was going to resolve it himself?!


    His opponents were from Divine Dragon Mountain; how was a mere True God going to resolve it?


    Could he possibly have a card up his sleeve capable of confronting Divine Dragon Mountain?


    However, Divine Dragon Mountain was already one of the four major powers of the Divine Kingdom. Where would he find a trump card powerful enough to oppose one of the four great powers?


    While the martial artists speculated wildly, Ye Chen already had a talisman in his hand that he gently shook, and a divine light immediately enveloped the entire void.


    Then, everyone heard a voice from the heavens, "Haha, friend Ye Chen, the grand affairs you¡¯ve stirred up since our parting have thoroughly shaken me, even from afar in the East Province!"


    Along with this voice, everyone saw the heavens completely rupture, revealing a passageway stretching into the boundless starry realm.


    Following that, a figure walked directly from the depths of the starry space toward the gathering.


    ```

 Chapter 723 - 675 Tit for Tat

    This figure, towering and commanding, carried an aura of a supreme overlord who dominated the world.


    Even the stars of the Endless Star Domain seemed to pale in comparison when beside this figure.


    In the blink of an eye, this figure had crossed endless boundaries and appeared above the Nine Suns Ancient Land in Void Heaven.


    Upon seeing this figure, the several Sovereigns at the scene, including Protector Zhuge of Divine Dragon Mountain who had just arrived at Nine Suns Ancient Land, exclaimed in shock, "East Territory King!"


    This approaching figure was, of course, none other than the East Territory King who had left Ye Chen with a Life-saving Talisman!


    East Territory King, oh.


    The great eight-star Sovereign powerhouse.


    He was also one of the only four Kings in Divine Kingdom!


    Everyone had never expected that Ye Chen, the one who killed Qin Feng, could summon the East Territory King.


    Moreover, the East Territory King referred to Ye Chen as "Young Friend Ye Chen"!


    Just from the East Territory King¡¯s affectionate words toward Ye Chen, one could see that the East Territory King must have an extremely close relationship with Ye Chen!


    For a moment, all eyes were on Ye Chen, all focused on the East Territory King.


    It was then that these people understood why Ye Chen, who was merely in the True God Realm, still had confidence even when facing the two great Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain.


    It turned out that he had the East Territory King as his trump card!


    "Ye Chen... he actually knows the senior East Territory King!"


    Mu Ling was also trembling with emotion at this time.


    She had been worried about Ye Chen¡¯s safety because two Sovereigns from Divine Dragon Mountain had arrived; after all, to protect Ye Chen, she only had the protection of Sovereign Mu Shan by her side, which was no match for the two Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain.


    But Mu Ling never anticipated that Ye Chen would suddenly bring in an eight-star Sovereign!


    Now, even if Qin Yuntian, the strongest in Divine Dragon Mountain, were to come, they needn¡¯t fear him!


    After all, Mu Ling had heard that in Divine Kingdom, not even once had the East Territory King been defeated by anyone!


    Not only was Mu Ling astounded, but even Hong Ming and Hong Yi by her side were taken completely by surprise.


    The East Territory King was a figure who ranked alongside the Southern Territory King, the foremost figure of the Southern Territory King Mansion to which Hong Ming and Hong Yi belonged. Such a being rarely showed himself in Divine Kingdom, yet he directly descended for Ye Chen¡¯s sake, which naturally shocked Hong Ming and Hong Yi to the point of disbelief!


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    Yang Yun and Yang Yan, who had been enjoying the spectacle from the side, now wore utterly unsightly expressions.


    They had not anticipated that their actions in spreading news and drawing Divine Dragon Mountain to target Ye Chen would result in Ye Chen receiving East Territory King¡¯s assistance; now, it seemed very possible that their schemes against Ye Chen might come to naught.


    "This kid really has dog¡¯s luck, actually getting to know the East Territory King!"


    "I wonder if Qin Yuntian will swallow this grievance. Divine Dragon Mountain is already at odds with the East Territory King Mansion. If Qin Yuntian insists on confronting the East Territory King, together with his few Sovereigns, it might not be impossible to kill Ye Chen!"


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan were turning these thoughts over in their minds.


    At this moment, the ones with the most awkward expressions were the two Sovereigns from Divine Dragon Mountain, Protector Zhuge and Elder He.


    Although Divine Dragon Mountain was at odds with the East Territory King Mansion, in the face of the East Territory King, both Protector Zhuge and Elder He dared not show the slightest disrespect.


    After all, between each level of the Sovereign Realm lies an immeasurable chasm, even greater than the difference between major realms such as God King and Venerable. The strength of the East Territory King was such that he could kill them with a single finger, so naturally, they dared not provoke such an existence as the East Territory King!


    "Senior East Territory King!"


    Protector Zhuge and Elder He were obliged to bow respectfully to the East Territory King.


    However, after bowed, Protector Zhuge and Elder He remembered the orders of their sect leader, and still had to toughen up and ask, "We wonder what relationship senior East Territory King has with this Ye Chen. This Ye Chen has killed people of our Divine Dragon Mountain, and our sect leader has ordered us to capture him. We beseech senior East Territory King to do us a favor."


    Upon hearing the words of Protector Zhuge and Elder He, all eyes turned to the East Territory King.


    Indeed.


    Although the East Territory King had come for Ye Chen¡¯s sake, it was not necessarily the case that he would confront Divine Dragon Mountain outright for Ye Chen.


    Everyone wanted to hear what the East Territory King would say.


    However, what they saw was the East Territory King looking at Protector Zhuge and Elder He with a jesting gaze, and heard him say, "Do you a favor? That can¡¯t be done!"


    "Never mind my personal relationship with Young Friend Ye Chen, if I don¡¯t protect him, that little girl of mine would probably never pay me any mind again!"


    "What¡¯s more, I have been entrusted by two nine-star Sovereigns to take good care of Young Friend Ye Chen in Divine Kingdom, how could I let you hurt him?"


    Whoosh.


    The words of the East Territory King made everyone in the venue, even the several Sovereigns, so shocked that their jaws nearly dropped!


    The little girl mentioned by the East Territory King was guessed by many at the scene to be the Little Provincial Princess that the East Territory King doted on the most.


    Thinking that the Little Provincial Princess was also connected to Ye Chen, many martial artists felt envious enough to grit their teeth.


    Ye Chen had managed to build a relationship with Divine Lady Long Li, the most promising youth of the Divine Kingdom, and now he was also acquainted with the East Territory King¡¯s Little Provincial Princess.


    And according to the East Territory King, clearly, the Little Provincial Princess had a considerably deep relationship with Ye Chen!


    "This Ye Chen, he even has such good fortune with women!" Yang Yunyang lamented in his heart.


    Although both of them had been favored by countless female warriors at the Supreme Divine Institute, none could compare to the likes of the Little Provincial Princess, Long Li!


    Yet, the mere True God Realm Ye Chen had more blessings of beauty than they did, making them extremely jealous.


    What shocked the crowd the most was the East Territory King¡¯s next statement.


    The East Territory King actually mentioned that he had been entrusted by two Nine Stars Sovereign Realm experts in the Divine Kingdom to take good care of Ye Chen!


    Two Nine Stars Sovereign Realm experts?!


    This Ye Chen, not only did he know the East Territory King, but he also knew Nine Stars Sovereign Realm experts, and not just one, but two?


    For the few Sovereign Realms present, such a thing was simply unimaginable!


    Of course, they dared not doubt the East Territory King¡¯s words.


    Who was the East Territory King? He would certainly not lie to them.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that the East Territory King wasn¡¯t mistaken; indeed, outside the underwater divine palace, both Nine Stars Sovereign Realm experts, Mrs. He and Elder Ku Du, had indeed entrusted him with taking good care of Ye Chen.


    In the beginning, no one was optimistic about Ye Chen¡¯s chances of escaping alive in the face of Divine Dragon Mountain.


    But who could have expected Ye Chen to have such a powerful background!


    In the crowd, Nie Ningnin, who had been worried about Ye Chen¡¯s safety, excitedly transmitted a message to City Lord Nie who had flown to her side, "Uncle Ancestor, does this mean Ye Chen will be safe?"


    City Lord Nie was also extremely excited, "He should be fine, I had considered that Friend Ye Chen came from no ordinary background, but never expected it to be so significant!"


    "Good heavens, he knows the East Territory King, and even Nine Stars Sovereigns. Now, it¡¯s likely that in the entire Divine Kingdom, there won¡¯t be many who would dare to openly target Ye Chen. Even if they wanted to target him, they¡¯d only dare to do so covertly, absolutely not daring to provoke someone of the East Territory King¡¯s standing!"


    The East Territory King¡¯s few words powerfully backed Ye Chen.


    Clearly indicating that he would never allow Divine Dragon Mountain to harm Ye Chen and that he would definitely protect him!


    Just when everyone thought the two Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain would back down in the face of difficulty, suddenly, from the far reaches of the void, thunderous dragon roars could be heard one after another.


    Then, everyone saw what seemed to be a giant dragon¡¯s head fiercely biting towards a distant point in the void, and a figure with a presence as formidable as the East Territory King¡¯s appeared above Void Heaven.


    Another significant figure had arrived!


    Upon seeing this significant figure, both Sovereigns from Divine Dragon Mountain called out in surprise, "Master!"


    This figure, wearing a purple Divine Robe and adorned with a Gilded Dragon Crown, was none other than the strongest figure from Divine Dragon Mountain¡ªthe Eight Stars Sovereign, Qin Yuntian!


    "The leader of Divine Dragon Mountain has actually come!"


    "Good gracious, Qin Yuntian, he has actually shown himself here!"


    Upon seeing Qin Yuntian¡¯s arrival, the warriors at the scene were completely overwhelmed.


    No one had imagined that a dispute would attract one Sovereign after another, culminating in the arrival of both the East Territory King and the leader of Divine Dragon Mountain, two Eight Stars Sovereigns!


    Divine Dragon Mountain was one of the four great forces stationed in the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Eastern Territory, always in opposition to the Southern Territory King Mansion. It was clear that Qin Yuntian was acquainted with the East Territory King.


    Upon his arrival, he didn¡¯t even glance at his two subordinates but looked directly at the East Territory King, "Fang Kui, we are about to accompany our sovereign and four great force leaders into the ¡¯Splendid Star Sea.¡¯ You should be preparing back at the East Territory King Mansion instead of meddling in the affairs of Divine Dragon Mountain. You¡¯re quite free indeed!"


    Fang Kui was the East Territory King¡¯s real name.


    Qin Yuntian was quite unreserved, directly addressing the East Territory King by his real name!


    The East Territory King looked at Qin Yuntian with a smile, "If Brother Yuntian is going through trouble for a junior, why can¡¯t I be here? As for the ¡¯Splendid Star Sea,¡¯ with our sovereign and the Northern Territory King around, what do I have to worry about?"


    As the two Eight Stars Sovereigns conversed, a hush fell over the entire area.


    Although others didn¡¯t know what that "Splendid Star Sea" matter was, who would dare to interject when two Eight Stars Sovereigns were speaking?


    Even the few Sovereigns present all bowed their heads in silence, quietly listening to the conversation of these two powerful beings.


    In the crowd, only Xiaojiu, hidden in the ice jade pendant on Ye Chen, stirred slightly at the mention of the "Splendid Star Sea."


    Xiaojiu murmured to himself, "The ¡¯Splendid Star Sea¡¯ is about to open again? Could it be that the power divisions of the countless star realms in this universe are starting anew?"


    "If that¡¯s the case, the competition among the geniuses of the Endless Star Domain is about to begin..."


    While Xiaojiu contemplated, Qin Yuntian¡¯s gaze swept directly toward Ye Chen, "Brother Fang Kui, do you think that just by coming here alone, you can stop me and my two Sovereigns from joining forces to kill this youngster?"


    "I wasn¡¯t necessarily intent on killing him, but since you want to get involved, I¡¯ve become rather eager to see if I can actually kill him!"


    At Qin Yuntian¡¯s words, the East Territory King just smiled lightly, "Then, Brother Yuntian, feel free to make your move!"


    The two Eight Stars Sovereigns exchanged words casually, yet there was a clear clash of wills between them.


    Everyone could see that there was discord between Divine Dragon Mountain and the East Territory King Mansion. The killing of Qin Feng was just a pretext; now, it had turned into a confrontation between Qin Yuntian and the East Territory King!

 Chapter 724 - 676: Step Forward!

    ```


    "Go ahead and strike? Fine!"


    Seeing the East Territory King¡¯s carefree demeanor, Qin Yuntian also laughed heartily, "The last time I fought with Brother Fang Kui at ¡¯Xueyue Mountain,¡¯ I was half a move short of victory. Tens of thousands of years have passed since then. I am curious to see how much Brother Fang Kui has improved in this time!"


    As he spoke, divine light began to surge around Qin Yuntian¡¯s body, within which countless divine dragons seemed to roar and tumble!


    As divine light swirled around Qin Yuntian, he further instructed the two Sovereigns under his command, Elder He of the four-star Sovereign Realm and Protector Zhuge of the six-star Sovereign Realm, "I will handle Brother Fang Kui. You two, kill that kid for me!"


    "Yes, master!" Hearing Qin Yuntian¡¯s command, divine power also began to surge wildly around Protector Zhuge and Elder He.


    Qin Yuntian¡¯s battle with the East Territory King was to determine the higher standing between them, which would be decided by whether they could kill Ye Chen and whether the East Territory King could protect Ye Chen.


    At this moment, the three were clearly intent on making a lethal move against Ye Chen!


    The East Territory King didn¡¯t even spare a glance at the divine power surging around Protector Zhuge and Elder He.


    However, seeing the astonishing divine light around Qin Yuntian, the East Territory King narrowed his eyes.


    "It seems, Brother Yuntian, that your ¡¯Starry Nebula Divine Dragon Art¡¯ has made a breakthrough, no wonder you have such confidence."


    "But do you truly think that the three of you together can stop me from protecting my young friend Ye Chen?"


    "Let¡¯s try then!"


    Boom!


    As he spoke, the East Territory King suddenly swept his sleeve, and boundless starlight burst forth from him, within which seemed to swirl endless black holes!


    This technique was none other than the East Territory King¡¯s immensely powerful Jitian Shen Technique, the ¡¯Black God Prison Skills.¡¯


    The Black God Prison Skills, with starry black hole prisons, could suppress thousands of Divine Venerables and Sovereigns!


    In the past, it was with this technique that the East Territory King had resoundingly defeated Qin Yuntian, who was of an eight-star Sovereign Realm. Now, facing the combined attack of three great Sovereigns from Divine Dragon Mountain, the East Territory King once again deployed this move.


    The East Territory King showed no fear in facing the three alone.


    Four Sovereigns, including two at the eight-star level, unleashed their divine power, causing a vast aura to surge through heaven and earth, growing increasingly intense.


    Just the release of energy alone was blinding and engulfing the sky.


    If a real battle ensued, it could easily annihilate the entire region and the surrounding Star Continent!


    Such a high-level battle, even before it started, the mere release of energy was enough to horrify millions of warriors present.


    Even the lower-ranked Sovereigns from various forces who had come to the scene were too stunned to breathe.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, watching the two eight-star Sovereign powerhouses, the East Territory King and Qin Yuntian, who stood proudly above the void as if they were the absolute center of the world, had his eyes dazzling with excitement!


    This is the power of a Sovereign!


    This is what it looks like to be an unrivaled mighty force among Sovereign Realm powerhouses, a paramount figure in the Divine Kingdom!


    "When will I ever be like this?!"


    Even as a battle that could turn out to be the most dangerous moment of his life due to him was about to unfold, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but feel his heart surge with emotion.


    Ye Chen believed that since the East Territory King said he could protect him, he would surely do it!


    Now, although Ye Chen still needed the protection of the East Territory King, witnessing the divine might of this Sovereign Realm powerhouse, he also made a vow in his heart.


    In the future, he would definitely become as strong as the East Territory King!


    In the future, when faced with an opponent like Qin Yuntian, he would no longer hide behind the East Territory King!


    He wanted to be truly strong, truly capable of confronting any enemy!


    As a great battle was about to erupt, Sovereign Zhao Kuo from the Southern Territory King Mansion found himself forced to speak out, hardening his complexion in urgency.


    "Elder East Territory King, Elder Qin Yuntian."


    Sovereign Zhao Kuo addressed the two main forces saying, "The two of you, being eight-star Sovereign powerhouses, together with Zhuge and He, if you were to fight here, not only the Nine Suns Ancient Land but also its surrounding areas of hundreds of millions of miles would likely not withstand it."


    "The destruction of this region is not a major issue, but I ask the two of you to please allow the others to leave first."


    Sovereigns are set to clash.


    One can imagine how terrifying the scene would be. Experience more content on novelhall.Co?m


    Divine Venerables can already pierce through ordinary continents of the Star Continent, let alone the existence of Sovereigns that far surpass Divine Venerables.


    True battles involving individuals like the East Territory King and Qin Yuntian are usually fought in uninhabited wastelands suitable for battle within the Divine Kingdom.


    If they were to clash in a densely populated region, it would not just be one Star Continent that would be destroyed, but hundreds and thousands could be annihilated with ease!


    Upon hearing Zhao Kuo¡¯s words, the East Territory King in the sky smiled softly and nodded, then looked towards Qin Yuntian, "Brother Yuntian, this place indeed isn¡¯t suitable for our fight. Otherwise, destroying this land, I¡¯m afraid the Southern Territory King would have objections."


    "Why don¡¯t we find a suitable place to fight and have a satisfying battle?"


    "Hmph, this place is indeed not suitable for us to battle," Qin Yuntian responded upon hearing the name of the Southern Territory King, his expression shifting as he nodded.


    ```


    Following that, he continued, "However, our battle arose because of this young man. Others may stay here, but this young man must come with us to the battlefield!"


    "I want to see, Fang Kui, if you can ultimately protect this youngster!" he said while pointing directly at Ye Chen, his voice ringing out.


    As the four Sovereigns from both sides were about to clash, everyone present was already shocked to their core. At this moment, when Qin Yuntian pointed at Ye Chen, all eyes again swiftly turned towards Ye Chen.


    At this time, everyone remembered that it was because of this youth that the looming battle between the two forces had been incited!


    "If one day, I could have Sovereign-level powerhouses battle on my behalf, I would die with no regrets!" countless warriors sighed to themselves.


    However, whilst feeling this awe, the warriors also worried about Ye Chen.


    After all, Ye Chen was only of the True God Realm. If he were to be taken to where the Sovereigns battled, the odds were likely not in his favor.


    At this moment, those most concerned for Ye Chen¡ªMu Ling, Mu Xiao, Lin Xiaowan, Nie Ningning, Lord Niecheng, and others¡ªwere extremely anxious.


    They hadn¡¯t expected that the East Territory King would come, and that Qin Yuntian would indeed arrive as well.


    Despite the protection of the East Territory King, a battle of this level did not guarantee Ye Chen¡¯s safety¡ªit wasn¡¯t impossible for danger to befall him.


    A moment¡¯s inattention could very likely result in Ye Chen¡¯s death at the hands of a Sovereign from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    How could they not worry?


    Unable to contain herself, Mu Ling turned to her escort to the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Mu Shan, and implored, "Uncle Mu Shan, please also go with them. Help Ye Chen as much as you can!"


    "Regarding this matter, I will inform my grandfather, and he¡¯s certain to agree to assist Ye Chen!"


    Mu Ling¡¯s grandfather was the current steward of Mu King Mansion.


    Hearing Mu Ling¡¯s words, Mu Shan¡¯s gaze flickered momentarily.


    If before, owing to Ye Chen¡¯s ties to Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, and a slight connection to the old Territory King, Mu Shan would not have dared to decide.


    But now, with even the East Territory King backing Ye Chen, Mu Shan knew that Ye Chen truly had exceptional potential and was worth looking after.


    After a brief hesitation, Mu Shan stepped forward, addressing the East Territory King above the void, "Divine Dragon Mountain has three Sovereigns, whom the East Territory King says he can withstand; Mu Shan believes him. Nevertheless, I wish to follow and protect our friend Ye Chen as best as I can!"


    Whoosh.


    Mu Shan¡¯s declaration sent a ripple of surprise and shock through the other warriors present.


    They hadn¡¯t expected that, at such a critical juncture, Mu Shan of Mu King Mansion would take a stand!


    Clearly, with the appearance of the East Territory King, Mu Shan was now daring to openly oppose Divine Dragon Mountain!


    After Mu Shan took a stand, a voice suddenly echoed in the mind of Zhao Kuo, the Sovereign from the Southern Territory King Mansion, causing him to startle.


    "Territory King!" Zhao Kuo exclaimed internally.


    The voice in his mind was none other than that of the Southern Territory King.


    The Southern Territory King had instructed him to follow Mu Shan and protect Ye Chen, offering assistance to Mu Shan as well!


    Zhao Kuo had not anticipated that the situation here would attract the attention of the Southern Territory King.


    Although the Southern Territory King did not appear in person, likely due to the influence of Divine Dragon Mountain, making it inconvenient for him to directly intervene, Zhao Kuo would not dare ignore the Territory King¡¯s order.


    Swish!


    Despite his immense fear of Qin Yuntian, Zhao Kuo stepped forward as well, saying, "Mu King Mansion is closely aligned with our Southern Territory King Mansion. Since Mu Shan wishes to fight, I shall join the battle too!"


    "Of course, I speak only for myself, not for the Southern Territory King Mansion!"


    Boom!


    What was initially a three-on-one situation from Divine Dragon Mountain had unexpectedly been joined by Mu Shan, the Sovereign from Mu King Mansion, and Zhao Kuo, the Sovereign from Southern Territory King Mansion, aligning with the East Territory King¡¯s side.


    Suddenly, the scene shifted to three against three, with six great Sovereigns ready to engage in a grand battle!


    This development left the hundreds of thousands of warriors outside stupefied, uncertain of what this standoff between Sovereigns would lead to.


    All they knew was that their visit to the Nine Suns Ancient Land might witness a grand situation rarely seen even in Divine Kingdom!


    At this point, seeing Mu Shan and Zhao Kuo stand up one after the other, Qin Yuntian furrowed his brows only to relax them again, before loudly proclaiming, "Good, if Mu King Mansion and Southern Territory King Mansion want to join in, then I want to see which three can have the last laugh in our three-on-three battle!"


    By this time, the only ones not having declared their stance were from the "Tai Yun Heaven"¡ª"Sovereign Fei Yuan" and from "Danxia Valley"¡ª"Dong Mei Sovereign," representatives of the four major forces.


    Both Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing were secretly hoping that Dong Mei Sovereign would also stand up for Ye Chen, while Yang Yunyang Yan was urging "Sovereign Fei Yuan" to take action.


    However, these two four-star Sovereigns, faced with the tense standoff, especially against the leading two eight-star Sovereigns, were not willing to wade into these troubled waters and stayed quietly aside, waiting to see how the situation would unfold.


    At this moment, Qin Yuntian was becoming somewhat restless, and with a grand gesture to the space below, his voice boomed across the landscape, "Enough, since the Sovereigns from both sides ready for battle have stepped forward, let¡¯s not hesitate any longer and decide the victor now!"


    "I don¡¯t want others to say that Divine Dragon Mountain struggled to kill a True God and took half a day to do it!"


    Amidst his taunting, Qin Yuntian appeared eager for the impending grand battle to commence.

 Chapter 725 - 677: Sovereign Order

    In response to Qin Yuntian¡¯s taunts, the East Territory King simply smiled and didn¡¯t reply directly to Qin Yuntian.


    He then turned to Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, come with me to the battlefield. Rest assured, I promised to protect you, and I will keep you safe and sound!"


    Ye Chen could see in the East Territory King¡¯s eyes that he was worried about him.


    This whole affair had started because of him, and the East Territory King was fighting because of him; how could Ye Chen feel afraid?


    "Elder East Territory King, there¡¯s no problem, let¡¯s go to the battlefield together!" Ye Chen called out to the East Territory King.


    The trouble had started because of him; naturally, he wouldn¡¯t stay here and bring harm to others!


    There was not a tremor in Ye Chen¡¯s voice, which carried an utterly calm tone.


    It was as if he wasn¡¯t afraid at all, even though the three Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain wanted to kill him and his life or death was uncertain!


    This made the millions of martial artists outside the field once again admire Ye Chen.


    If they were in his place, even with the support of the East Territory King, and the help of Sovereign Mu Shan and Sovereign Zhao Kuo, facing the three other Sovereigns who harbored intent to kill, they absolutely couldn¡¯t remain as calm!


    "This young man is really something special."


    "No wonder he could get close to Long Li, and even develop a relationship."


    "No wonder he could slay Qin Feng of the higher Divine King realm while only being in the True God Realm!"


    "No wonder he could call upon the East Territory King for help and even get Sovereign Mu Shan and Sovereign Zhao Kuo to stand up for him under great pressure!"


    Countless martial artists looked at Ye Chen, filled with emotion.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words, the East Territory King also laughed aloud, "Good, young friend Ye Chen, then let¡¯s go meet the three friends from Divine Dragon Mountain!"


    While talking, the East Territory King turned directly towards Qin Yuntian and said, "Brother Yuntian, let¡¯s go, you lead the way to find the battlefield!"


    Whoosh!


    Qin Yuntian snorted coldly and took off flying first, followed closely by the other two Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain, Protector Zhuge and Elder He.


    The East Territory King also laughed and took Ye Chen along as they followed suit.


    Mu Shan and Zhao Kuo gave a few instructions to Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi before they also soared into the sky.


    As the millions of martial artists left behind thought the six great Sovereigns would vanish from the spot and go fight in another realm, speculating about the outcome,


    They all saw Qin Yuntian, the East Territory King, and the others, who were flying up into the sky, suddenly stop.


    Everyone also saw, high above, the sudden appearance of a female silhouette.


    This female figure was none other than Sovereign Hong Li from the Supreme Divine Institute, who had followed Long Li when she left earlier ¨C a six-star Sovereign!


    If it was just Sovereign Hong Li, it wouldn¡¯t be a surprise.


    After all, though Sovereign Hong Li was a substantial six-star Sovereign, compared to the two eight-star Sovereigns already present, East Territory King and Qin Yuntian, she paled significantly.


    But even Qin Yuntian and the East Territory King stopped when faced with Sovereign Hong Li.


    It was because Sovereign Hong Li was holding two items in her hands, both radiating endless divine light.


    One item was a red flower basket, and the other, a purple bell.


    Even Qin Yuntian and the East Territory King were shocked upon seeing these two items.


    That red flower basket was one of the personal divine artifacts of the number one powerhouse of the Supreme Divine Institute, the nine-star Sovereign Xuechen.


    And that purple bell was the personal divine artifact of the mysterious Northern Territory King from the Divine Kingdom!


    Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King were individuals that even the East Territory King and Qin Yuntian wouldn¡¯t dare to provoke ¨C especially the Northern Territory King.


    Even though it was rumored that the Northern Territory King was only at eight-star Sovereign status, the extent of Qin Yuntian¡¯s fear of her was deeper than that for Sovereign Xuechen!


    Because, rumor had it that the current Northern Territory King had taken over her sister¡¯s position.


    Her sister, the former Northern Territory King, even ventured into the Supreme Secret of the Divine Kingdom ¨C the Mysterious Ice Cave.


    After her sister emerged from the Mysterious Ice Cave, even the ruler of the Divine Kingdom said he didn¡¯t dare to make an enemy of her.


    Countless Sovereigns in the Divine Kingdom speculated that it was possible that the former Northern Territory King had exceeded the Sovereign realm, stepped into a deeper realm, and had become an existence surpassing Sovereigns!


    It was precisely for this reason that the former Northern Territory King passed her position to her sister and left the Divine Kingdom of Wanhumu Mountain.


    The current Northern Territory King, with such an extraordinarily powerful sister whom even the ruler of the Divine Kingdom, rumored to have been in the nine-star Sovereign realm for countless years, dared not provoke,


    Who in the entire Divine Kingdom would dare to provoke the Northern Territory King?!


    Not to mention that the Northern Territory King herself was also powerful. Rumors even suggested that she could be the foremost among the four Territory Kings under her sister¡¯s tutelage.


    After all, when her sister transferred the position to her, it attracted discontent and contention from several eight-star and nine-star Sovereigns within the Divine Kingdom. In the end, without relying on her sister, the Northern Territory King defeated all challengers, smoothly maintaining her position.


    With a sister whom even the ruler didn¡¯t dare to provoke, her own strength formidable beyond measure, and rumors that the Northern Territory King¡¯s every action shook the Divine Kingdom to its core,


    Such a being, even Qin Yuntian, despite being an Eight-Star Sovereign, of course dared not provoke and was completely filled with fear!


    At this moment, not only was Qin Yuntian¡¯s heart shaken upon seeing Sovereign Hong Li arrive, holding in his hands Divine items from both "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King", other Sovereigns who recognized the origin of these items were also profoundly horrified.


    Could it be that Ye Chen¡¯s matter had once again stirred up trouble and had already caught the attention of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King?!


    These were the thoughts preoccupying the Sovereigns.


    In an instant, these Sovereigns thought of one person¡ªLong Li!


    Only she, the number one pride of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s younger generation and goddess Long Li, could be related to both "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King", convincing both great powers to issue their tokens.


    "Could it be that Sovereign Hong Li holds ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯s¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯s¡¯ divine items on behalf of Long Li?"


    "That makes sense. Ye Chen killed Qin Feng, stirring the people of Divine Dragon Mountain. But in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, there¡¯s another major event¡ªthat is, the rumor that Ye Chen and Long Li had a relationship."


    "Long Li, reportedly extremely doted on by both ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯. Her affairs, certainly they will inquire!"


    "Just don¡¯t know if this time, Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s arrival will be a blessing or a curse for Ye Chen." Your adventure continues at novelhall.Co?m


    In an instant, several Sovereigns all turned to look at Ye Chen.


    Sovereigns like the East Territory King, Zhao Kuo, and Mu Shan, who were inclined towards Ye Chen¡¯s side, were worried about how "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King" would deal with Ye Chen.


    Whereas those from the Divine Dragon Mountain side were faintly expectant.


    If "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King" decided to execute Ye Chen over Long Li, it would save them a lot of effort.


    "Divine items from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King?"


    "They want to stand up for Long Li?"


    At this moment, through communication from the East Territory King, Ye Chen also understood the origins of the two items in Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s hands that had caught the attention of all Sovereigns present.


    Thinking of Long Li, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    The relationship between him and Long Li was truly a tangled mess.


    Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned behind Sovereign Hong Li, but he didn¡¯t see the shadow of that young girl with whom he had a physical relationship.


    This made Ye Chen sigh even more deeply in his heart.


    He knew that the young girl probably didn¡¯t know how to face him either.


    Just when everyone harbored their own thoughts, Sovereign Hong Li, holding the two great Divine items, finally spoke up.


    Sovereign Hong Li directly looked at the several Sovereigns in the middle, looking towards Ye Chen, and loudly said, "I have come here upon the orders of my master ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯, and also at the behest of my junior sister Long Li, to announce some matters!"


    "The first matter is that, my junior sister Long Li said that Qin Feng was killed by Ye Chen because Qin Feng struck first with the intent to kill, so the outcome should have been settled, and everything should have subsided. But since Qin Feng was a man of Divine Dragon Mountain, it is understandable that the people of Divine Dragon Mountain would seek revenge."


    "However, junior sister Long Li also said that as Ye Chen is at the True God Realm, it wouldn¡¯t be fair for Divine Dragon Mountain to bully the weaker by sending a Divine Venerable Sovereign to kill him."


    "Therefore, my junior sister pleaded with ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯ for a ¡¯Sovereign Order¡¯, to protect Ye Chen!"


    As she spoke, Sovereign Hong Li took out a command token, which immediately emitted layers of divine light, shining directly onto Ye Chen and eventually, forming a circular divine rune on his wrist.


    "With this Sovereign Order, any Divine Venerable or Sovereign from Divine Dragon Mountain who strikes at Ye Chen will be sensed by my master ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯. When that happens, my master ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ as well as the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯ will personally eliminate them!"


    "Of course, if other Divine Venerable Sovereigns attack Ye Chen, the ¡¯Sovereign Order¡¯ will also sense it. ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯ have specially crafted two puppet Divine items that can perform ¡¯Soul Search¡¯ instantly. If those Divine Venerable Sovereigns were invited by Divine Dragon Mountain, they too will be eliminated."


    "As to whether they can ¡¯Soul Search¡¯ in time to discover if they were sent by Divine Dragon Mountain, one should not doubt the strength of the two Sovereigns!"


    "At the same time, junior sister Long Li is not unreasonable. If Divine Dragon Mountain sends someone at the Divine King level to kill Ye Chen in revenge for Qin Feng, junior sister Long Li will not interfere, and the ¡¯Sovereign Order¡¯ will not either."


    "That¡¯s the first matter entrusted to me by junior sister Long Li that I wanted to announce."


    Huah.


    As the words of Sovereign Hong Li fell, the whole world was suddenly abuzz.


    Ye Chen had a relationship with Long Li, and Long Li actually personally sought out a "Sovereign Order" from "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King" to protect Ye Chen?!


    With this situation, how could anyone not know the extent of Long Li¡¯s concern for Ye Chen?


    With this "Sovereign Order", neither the Divine Venerables nor the Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain could attack Ye Chen, and even the example of inviting other Divine Venerable Sovereigns to attack was forbidden.


    This was clearly protecting Ye Chen!


    Never mind the possibility of a Divine King moving against Ye Chen. After all, Ye Chen had already slain the superior Divine King Qin Feng; Divine Kings probably couldn¡¯t harm a hair on Ye Chen¡¯s head!


    After this first matter was announced, the Sect Leader of Divine Dragon Mountain, Qin Yuntian, and the two Sovereigns Protector Zhuge and Elder He, all had changes in their expressions.


    Given this situation, they simply had no means to act against Ye Chen anymore, and even the challenge against the East Territory King had become a joke!


    "Elder Qin Yuntian, I wonder, for this first matter, does Divine Dragon Mountain, agree or not?" After announcing the first matter, Sovereign Hong Li directly addressed Qin Yuntian.


    Qin Yuntian¡¯s complexion changed back and forth and could only say, "The arrangements made by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, how dare I disobey."


    Even if he were unwilling, Qin Yuntian had no choice but to yield on the spot!


    Joking aside, this was a matter decided by both "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King". Even if Qin Yuntian were domineering, he absolutely didn¡¯t dare to provoke "Sovereign Xuechen", much less the "Northern Territory King"!

 Chapter 726 - 678: Three Demands

    Qin Yuntian instantly yielded, causing countless martial artists below to take a deep breath.


    This is the deterrence of absolute power!


    Even though Qin Yuntian was arrogant and domineering before, even though he was an Eight Stars Sovereign.


    Facing the more powerful Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, he had no choice but to bow down!


    Countless martial artists held even greater respect for "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King."


    Such characters.


    Without even being present, they had deterred an Eight Stars Sovereign Great Powerholder.


    Such poise was truly captivating!


    Meanwhile, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Lin Xiaowan, Nie Ningnin, and City Lord Nie, who had been extremely worried for Ye Chen¡¯s safety, were now breathing a sigh of relief.


    Ye Chen was safe!


    With "Sovereign Xuechen" and the "Northern Territory King," with Long Li¡¯s concern, and with the protection of the "Sovereign Order," Divine Dragon Mountain couldn¡¯t send a Divine Venerable or a Sovereign to deal with Ye Chen. His life-and-death crisis was finally over!


    Even if Divine Dragon Mountain could still send a God King Level martial artist to face Ye Chen, Mu Ling and the others knew that with Ye Chen¡¯s strength, a God King Level would definitely not pose a life-threatening danger to him!


    "The Sovereign Order."


    "The Sovereign Order that Long Li sought from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King was actually to protect me..."


    When he heard Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s words, images of the young girl he had been with in the Fire Pond and the hurrying figure of Long Li who came to save him when he was hit by backlash flashed through Ye Chen¡¯s mind!


    Long Li, after their encounter, no matter how shy or angry she was, still treated him so well!


    "I knew it, that young girl couldn¡¯t possibly harm Ye Chen," Xiaojiu also sighed with relief inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    She was originally concerned that Ye Chen, following the East Territory King and others, would face danger from the three Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain, but now, with the "Sovereign Order" given by Long Li, she didn¡¯t have to worry about Ye Chen at all!


    The three Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain no longer dared to make a move against Ye Chen!


    This made Xiaojiu feel even more fondly towards Long Li.


    "Long Li looks so serene and delicate, yet her kindness towards Ye Chen is almost on par with Jiang Yao," Xiaojiu thought to herself.


    The first matter announced by Sovereign Hong Li, concerning the "Sovereign Order" and the warning to Divine Dragon Mountain, left everyone pondering.


    Then, Sovereign Hong Li continued to speak.


    "Alright, the first matter about the trust of Junior Sister Long Li has been announced," she said.


    "Next, there are several other matters to announce."


    Whoosh!


    The words of Sovereign Hong Li caused everyone¡¯s gaze to focus on her once again.


    Millions of martial artists were eager to hear what else she would say.


    At this moment, Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s gaze swept across Qin Yuntian, the East Territory King, and other Great Powerholders, eventually settling on Ye Chen.


    Sovereign Hong Li said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, regarding the matter between you and Junior Sister Long Li, my master ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯ are already aware."


    "Both of them say, this young man, you have quite the nerve!"


    By the end, the brows of Sovereign Hong Li were almost furrowed.


    The thought that her stunningly beautiful Junior Sister had been involved with Ye Chen was something even Sovereign Hong Li was somewhat incredulous of.


    Boom!


    The slightly stern words of Sovereign Hong Li instantly shocked countless martial artists.


    Indeed.


    The "Sovereign Order" was after all something Long Li sought from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King to protect Ye Chen.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s involvement with Long Li was not something Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King could overlook or let pass without action.


    Perhaps, they would have a more special punishment for Ye Chen!


    The three Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain, Qin Yuntian, Protector Zhuge, and Elder He, who had been feeling dejected over the "Sovereign Order" matter, were filled with hope.


    They wanted to kill Ye Chen, but were prevented from doing so, and those who stopped them were not ones they dared to resist, which of course frustrated them!


    However, hearing the stern tone of Sovereign Hong Li, the three found a glimmer of hope.


    Could it be that the next announcement by Sovereign Hong Li was specifically targeting Ye Chen?


    "Hmph, I¡¯ve said it, Long Li is dearly loved by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, they wouldn¡¯t just let Ye Chen take advantage of her without consequence," Qin Yuntian glanced sideward, looking at Ye Chen to see how he¡¯d react to Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s stern voice.


    Yet, Qin Yuntian was disappointed.


    Ye Chen¡¯s expression didn¡¯t change drastically; it only showed some helplessness.


    Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King said Ye Chen had quite the nerve, and all Ye Chen could do was smile wryly in helplessness.


    After all, his encounter with Long Li was due to the Heavenly Union Flame, and it was something neither Long Li nor he had anticipated in the slightest.


    Of course, Ye Chen was not one to shirk responsibility.


    After sighing, Ye Chen looked at Sovereign Hong Li and said directly, "Senior Hong Li, the matter concerning Long Li and me is indeed a result of me causing harm to Long Li. Whatever punishment that Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, the two seniors, have in mind, I, Ye Chen, am ready to accept!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s bright and resolute gaze shocked Sovereign Hong Li, who was initially somewhat annoyed.


    Sovereign Hong Li recalled the moment they heard about the incident with Long Li, how Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had both rushed over in a hurry.


    She also remembered how furious Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King appeared, ready to take action and capture Ye Chen.


    What none of Sovereign Hong Li, Sovereign Xuechen, and the Northern Territory King expected was Long Li standing in their way, also securing a "Sovereign Order" for Ye Chen¡¯s sake and explaining to Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King that she absolutely would not allow the two to harm Ye Chen!


    Long Li¡¯s protectiveness towards Ye Chen astonished Sovereign Hong Li beyond belief at the time.


    Sovereign Hong Li couldn¡¯t believe that a True God could inspire such protectiveness from her Heaven¡¯s Chosen younger sister.


    This clearly wasn¡¯t something that could be explained away by merely having a relationship.


    Obviously, this True God had something special about him that caused her disciple sister Long Li to develop feelings of love!


    At that moment, seeing Ye Chen¡¯s firm and luminous gaze, Sovereign Hong Li felt that this youth in front of her might really be no ordinary individual.


    He stood unafraid even in the face of the three great Sovereigns of the Divine Dragon Mountain!


    He faced the likely punishment from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King with composure!


    Such demeanor, such grace, was not at all like that of a True God!


    Perhaps many Sovereigns lacked such composure!


    This caused Sovereign Hong Li, who was originally quite displeased with Ye Chen due to Long Li, to involuntarily soften her stern expression.


    When Sovereign Hong Li spoke to Ye Chen again, although her voice was still cold, it carried a few degrees less reproach.


    "Ye Chen," Sovereign Hong Li said to Ye Chen, "about the matter with disciple sister Long Li, originally my master and the Northern Territory King were going to severely punish you; however, taking my sister¡¯s plea into consideration, the two Sovereigns reduced your punishment, imposing only three demands on you."


    "These three demands, if you can meet them, then the matter with disciple sister Long Li will be forgiven by the two Sovereigns. If you cannot meet them, the punishment will come directly upon you!"


    Three demands?


    Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had three demands for Ye Chen?


    Hearing Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s words, countless martial artists became curious as to what three demands Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King would make.


    Ye Chen, too, was somewhat surprised that the resolution of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King would be three demands.


    What three demands?


    Ye Chen looked toward Sovereign Hong Li.


    "While there are three demands, in fact, it is three trials set by the two Sovereigns for you. If you can pass them, it indicates that you are worthy of being close to disciple sister Long Li. If you cannot, it will prove that you are not as formidable as my disciple sister claimed, and of course, punishment must be imposed!" Sovereign Hong Li said.


    "The first demand is that you must enter the ¡¯Supreme Divine Institute¡¯ ranked first during the upcoming assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes, a few months from now!"


    The commotion erupted as countless martial artists outside the arena gasped at this first demand made by Sovereign Hong Li.


    They did not expect that the first demand on Ye Chen by the two Sovereigns would be for Ye Chen to attain the first rank in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes!


    The assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes¡ªthis is the strongest assessment where geniuses from the entire Divine Kingdom come together.


    This kind of assessment involves not only combat power but also encompasses every aspect, including talent and comprehension.


    Even if Ye Chen could kill Qin Feng, showing strong combat power, achieving the first rank in the cutthroat competition of countless geniuses from the entire Divine Kingdom is absolutely going to be incredibly challenging!


    Not to mention attaining the first rank in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes, even gaining entry to any of the nine great Divine Institutes is an aspiration for countless martial artists of the Divine Kingdom, and gaining entry to the strongest among them, the "Supreme Divine Institute," would make countless martial artists leap with joy.


    And yet Ye Chen is being asked not only to enter the Supreme Divine Institute but to seize the top rank in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes?!


    This is truly too difficult!


    "In every assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes, countless prodigal youths emerge from the Divine Kingdom. They may either be secluded individuals in secretive cultivation or those raised by reclusive figures, or ones who have always concealed their edge, waiting to burst forth during the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes."


    Among the crowd, Lin Xiaowan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and other disciples who already belonged to the Supreme Divine Institute, having gone through the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes, knew the difficulty of attaining first rank in the assessment.


    Even they had fallen far short of the first rank in their time.


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    Not to mention them, even Qin Feng was not the first rank in the assessment back then!


    Upon hearing this demand, Ye Chen also felt his heart shake.


    Previously, in the Undersea Divine Palace, Elder Ku Du told him that getting into the Supreme Divine Institute would be an outstanding achievement.


    Ye Chen did not expect that now, through an unexpected turn of events, he would be required not only to enter the Supreme Divine Institute but also to win first rank in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes!


    However.


    Ye Chen did not lack confidence in himself.


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen raised his voice to Sovereign Hong Li and said, "I will strive for the first demand of the two seniors!"


    Ye Chen did not know the outcome of events yet to occur.


    But his statement of intent to strive indicated that he was indeed confident in achieving the first rank!


    If this were before, perhaps Ye Chen would not have much assurance. But now, he had transformed from the late stage of Heavenly Saint to an Eighth Tribulations True God and had even brought the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Beginning Chapter," to Great Accomplishment!


    His natural talent, combat power, and comprehension were all extraordinary.


    Even in a competition with the entire Divine Kingdom¡¯s geniuses, Ye Chen harbored no fear!

 Chapter 727 - 679: Battle of Talents between Heavenly God Mountain and Star Domain

    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s composed expression and hearing his resonant words, numerous martial artists were startled in their hearts, "Does Ye Chen really have the confidence to seize the first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments?"


    "My God, the first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments¡ªI can¡¯t even dare to think about it, but he actually dares to strive for it!"


    Many true gods who had just emerged from the Nine Suns Ancient Land were especially shocked.


    The gaze of several Sovereigns in the crowd was now converged on Ye Chen.


    For the assessments of the Divine Institutes, with their statuses, they wouldn¡¯t necessarily go to watch.


    But this time, with Ye Chen involved, the Sovereigns knew that probably both Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King would be present.


    Moreover, they had already decided to definitely go to the site of the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments to see if this young man could truly meet the two Sovereigns¡¯ expectations and capture the first place!


    At this moment, the East Territory King¡¯s anxious heart was somewhat relieved.


    When he heard Sovereign Hong Li say that Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had three demands for Ye Chen, the East Territory King was also worried for Ye Chen.


    But when he heard that the first demand of the two Sovereigns was for Ye Chen to win the first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments, the East Territory King was more confident than everyone else that Ye Chen had a great chance of achieving this first place.


    Others might not know of Ye Chen¡¯s wonders, but the East Territory King was well aware!


    Keep in mind, it was the East Territory King who brought Ye Chen to the Divine Kingdom of Wamumu Mountain.


    The East Territory King not only knew that Ye Chen had obtained the most precious "Eye of the Divine Sea" in the undersea Divine Palace, but he also knew when he initially brought Ye Chen to the Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen was merely at the late stage of the Heavenly Saint Realm.


    In just a few months, Ye Chen had already become an Eight Tribulations True God!


    An Eight Tribulations True God might not mean much, but to go from the late stage of Heavenly Saint Realm to an Eight Tribulations True God in a few months, even by the standards of the entire Divine Kingdom of Wamumu Mountain, that was absolutely a legend!


    Even the East Territory King, when he first saw that Ye Chen was an Eight Tribulations True God, could hardly believe it!


    Because the three Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain kept giving Ye Chen a hard time, the East Territory King had no chance to ask Ye Chen in detail about what had happened during this time.


    But the East Territory King knew that Ye Chen¡¯s natural talent and comprehension were absolutely among the prodigies of the Divine Kingdom!


    Such a person certainly had the confidence to contend for the first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments!


    The East Territory King believed that if Ye Chen said he would strive to achieve it, he would definitely do it!


    Another Sovereign in the crowd, Qin Yuntian from Divine Dragon Mountain, did not share the same thoughts as the East Territory King at all.


    "The first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments?"


    "Hmph, this kid, I want to see how he will seize the first place!"


    "This assessment has many variables, and the assessed aspects are also numerous. Even in my prime, I wouldn¡¯t dare to claim that I had the assurance to win the first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments, and yet he talks big!"


    Qin Yuntian¡¯s eyes flickered with thought, "I was planning to cultivate a few peerless geniuses from my Divine Dragon Mountain a bit more before allowing them to participate in the next Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments. This time, though, they have to come out. Even if they have no hope of winning the first place, giving this Ye Chen some trouble is a must!"


    "Hmph, they think that since the ¡¯Sovereign Order¡¯ forbids the Divine Venerables and Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain from dealing with Ye Chen, we have no means left?"


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    "We from Divine Dragon Mountain alone are not enough. This time, I heard that the descendants of several friends of mine will also participate in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments, including two who are very confident about seizing the first place. I must also speak to them!"


    "I want to see what the outcome will be for Ye Chen if he fails to meet the demands of ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the ¡¯Northern Territory King¡¯!"


    Up in the void.


    Sovereign Hong Li nodded upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s words.


    If this youth had been daunted after hearing the first demand and had not dared to face it, then she would have been greatly disappointed.


    Although she did not hold much hope for this youth to win the first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments, the courage Ye Chen displayed had pleased Sovereign Hong Li even more.


    "Ye Chen, seizing the first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessments is just the first demand placed upon you," Sovereign Hong Li continued to speak to Ye Chen.


    "And the second demand from the two Sovereigns is, if you complete the first demand and join the ¡¯Supreme Divine Institute¡¯, in three years, you must enter ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain¡¯, and safely emerge from ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain¡¯!"


    As soon as they heard the three words "Heavenly God Mountain", not only did Lin Xiaowan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and those of the Supreme Divine Institute who were filled with animosity towards Ye Chen, like Yang Yun and Yang Yan, have their expressions change drastically, but even the few Sovereigns present were visibly shaken.


    Clearly, this "Heavenly God Mountain" was not an ordinary place!


    Seeing everyone¡¯s reactions, Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Having recently arrived in the Divine Kingdom, he had no idea what "Heavenly God Mountain" was.


    "Ye Chen, I never expected that those two Sovereigns would actually allow you to enter ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain,¡¯" Xiaojiu said in a mixture of surprise and panic, communicating telepathically with Ye Chen from within his Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Clearly, Xiaojiu knew of this place called "Heavenly God Mountain"!


    "What is Heavenly God Mountain like?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu curiously through telepathic communication.


    "This ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain¡¯ is a death-level secret realm within the Divine Kingdom of the Nine Suns Ancient Land, but it is also an exceptionally precious place of transformation!"


    "I¡¯ve heard that without great power, one simply cannot enter ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain,¡¯ but even among those who can, despite being formidable, once inside, if one in ten thousand survives, that would be considered exceedingly fortunate. This illustrates just how perilous this region is!"


    "Of course, though it is incredibly dangerous, countless warriors strive with all their might to enter, and many never even get the chance. This is because those who manage to safely return from this realm improve their cultivation by at least a small level, and there are even those whose cultivation has advanced by a whole level¡ªtransforming directly from a True God to a God King, or from a God King to a Divine Venerable, inside Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "As for the specific conditions inside Heavenly God Mountain, Lord Yan didn¡¯t imbue me with that knowledge," Xiaojiu admitted.


    Ye Chen was distinctly shaken by Xiaojiu¡¯s words.


    Heavenly God Mountain was truly miraculous, a place where everyone who came out had advanced their cultivation levels? And there were some who had advanced by an entire level?!


    And Xiaojiu¡¯s mention of the dangers also put Ye Chen on alert.


    Ye Chen understood that a place with such extraordinary miracles would naturally have great dangers; otherwise, everyone would rush in to increase their cultivation.


    While Ye Chen was inquiring about Heavenly God Mountain from Xiaojiu, Sovereign Hong Li said to him, "Heavenly God Mountain is not a simple place, and many of the unparalleled geniuses from our Supreme Divine Institute have fallen inside it."


    "Ye Chen, this second requirement is an opportunity for you, as well as a test," she added.


    "Back then, when Junior Sister Long Li was fourteen, she entered Heavenly God Mountain, where she transformed into an Upper God King."


    "I hope you can come out safely, just like Junior Sister Long Li."


    Hearing Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    Xiaojiu had mentioned that the opportunity to enter "Heavenly God Mountain" was something many would violence for, yet could not attain. The dangers were immense, but the rewards and importance were clear to imagine.


    Ye Chen knew that the two Sovereigns¡¯ second requirement for him was not meant as a mere difficulty. Characters like Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King didn¡¯t need to offer him such an opportunity just to trouble him.


    The two Sovereigns had arranged this with the hope that he could make as big a breakthrough and improvement as Long Li had inside.


    The subsequent words of Sovereign Hong Li confirmed Ye Chen¡¯s speculation.


    "The reason for this second requirement is actually related to the third requirement the two Sovereigns have for you," she went on to say.


    "Ye Chen, the third requirement the two Sovereigns have for you is to snatch one of the ten God King positions representing the Divine Kingdom of the Nine Suns Ancient Land in the ¡¯Star Domain Genius War¡¯ that will take place in ten years. You must fight in the ¡¯Battle of the God Kings¡¯ against other equally outstanding God Kings from different Divine Kingdoms in the Star Domain Genius War¡ªand you must make it to the final round!"


    "Originally, Junior Sister Long Li was going to represent the Nine Suns Ancient Land in the Genius War of God Kings, and she definitely had the capability to secure a top-three position for our land. However, due to you, she has already broken through to the realm of Divine Venerable. Now, even if she were to participate in the ¡¯Star Domain Genius War,¡¯ she could only take part in the ¡¯Battle of the Divine Venerables.¡¯"


    "Thus, you are to take up her place. This also demands that you, within ten years, break through to the God King Realm, and you must possess formidable capabilities within the God King Realm! This is why the two Sovereigns have arranged for you to undertake this trial at ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain,¡¯ as the second requirement," she explained.


    Boom!


    Upon hearing Sovereign Hong Li mention that Ye Chen would participate in the "Star Domain Genius War," many of the Sovereigns present were stunned.


    With the "Star Domain Genius War" approaching in ten years, and Ye Chen still being an Eighth Tribulation True God, the two Sovereigns were actually demanding that he partake in the "Battle of the God Kings"!


    Others might not understand the extent of the "Star Domain Genius War," but surely the Sovereigns were more than familiar with it.


    "Star Domain Genius War" was a grand event in which countless Star Domains and Divine Kingdoms, just like the Nine Suns Ancient Land, participated!


    Such a "Star Domain Genius War" could even impact many aspects of a Divine Kingdom!


    The entire "Star Domain Genius War" is separated into the "True God Battle," the "God King Battle," and the "Divine Venerable Battle."


    Each confrontation shows each Divine Kingdom presenting ten contenders.


    These ten contenders are indeed the strongest ten individuals in their respective Divine Kingdoms participating in the battle, which indicates how intensely fierce the situation is.


    These battles could attract the attention of countless Divine Kingdoms and warriors, and even beings who have surpassed the status of Sovereign might appear at the grand event of the "Star Domain Genius War!"


    For such a grand event, naturally, each Divine Kingdom is extremely cautious in selecting their contenders, and they would hold competitions to pick those who would participate in the genius war.


    Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had actually instructed Ye Chen to seize a spot representing the Nine Suns Ancient Land in the "Battle of the God Kings," and they also demanded that Ye Chen make it to the final round when competing against the God Kings from other Divine Kingdoms.


    This difficulty was truly immense!


    To know that even formidable beings like Yang Yun and Yang Yan couldn¡¯t assure their progress to the final round when clashing with God Kings from other Divine Kingdoms!

 Chapter 728 - 680: No Retreat, No Need to Retreat!

    Moreover,


    Ye Chen was but an Eight Tribulations True God!


    An Eight Tribulations True God, within ten years, must become a Divine King. The degree of difficulty here would certainly deter countless others.


    It was well known that many an Eight Tribulations True God had spent thousands or even tens of thousands of years without being able to break through to the Nine Tribulations True God, let alone the fact that merely succeeding in that was not enough; one must also break through to become a Divine King.


    It could be said that to rise from an Eight Tribulations True God to a Divine King within ten years not only required an excellent cultivation speed but also enormous luck.


    Without fate¡¯s blessing, even if one could strike at the level, it was very likely they would perish in the heavenly tribulation or godly ordeal, making it virtually impossible to breakthrough to the Divine King Realm in such a short period of time!


    Difficult.


    Exceedingly difficult.


    If the requirement set by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for Ye Chen to take first place in the competition among the nine great divine institutes was scaled at a hundred in difficulty.


    Then the second requirement, to enter the Heavenly God Mountain and moreover, to come out alive, had an absolute difficulty of ten thousand!


    And the third requirement, to claim one of the ten spots representing the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain in the "Battle of the Divine Kings," and advance to the final round of the "Battle of the Divine Kings" while facing the prodigy Divine Kings from other divine nations, this difficulty was absolutely in the millions or even billions!


    Three requirements, each more challenging than the last.


    If Ye Chen, at his age, could reach these three requirements within ten years from his lower realm beginnings, that would definitely be a legend for the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain!


    One worthy of comparison to the legend of Long Li, the pride of the younger generation in Wanmu Mountain¡¯s Divine Kingdom!


    At this moment, the several Sovereigns looking at Ye Chen were all inwardly shaking and marveling.


    The East Territory King and Sovereign Mu Shan, who were siding with Ye Chen, had not expected Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King¡¯s demands to be so high.


    The East Territory King even wondered, "Could it be that these two Venerables see potential in Ye Chen and specifically laid out these three requirements to motivate him?"


    However, at this time, the three Sovereigns from Divine Dragon Mountain who wished to kill Ye Chen had their eyes flickering with a sharp light.


    Especially Qin Yuntian, who sneered as he looked at Ye Chen, thinking, "Hmph, these three requirements are nearly impossible challenges. I really want to see how you, boy, will end in utter defeat!"


    At this moment, in the void,


    Having laid out the three requirements, Sovereign Hong Li directly addressed Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, these three requirements are the trials set for you by my master ¡¯Sovereign Xuechen¡¯ and the Northern Territory King."


    "You must accept them and strive to complete them!"


    "If any requirement remains unfulfilled, the two Venerables will personally take action, capture you¡ªeven if Sister Long Li forbids them from harming you, they will imprison you for ten thousand years as punishment!"


    "Each requirement completed offers hope for facing the next one. Thus, you now need to start preparing for the ¡¯competition of the nine great divine institutes,¡¯ the very first requirement, which is fast approaching."


    "Of course, if you are not capable of meeting these three requirements, you need not exert yourself, for the day you fail the divine institute competition will be the day you are imprisoned!"


    Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King were both domineering powers of the Divine Kingdom.


    One governed the Supreme Divine Institute, the other the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Northern Territory.


    Their words were divine decrees, divine orders.


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    There was simply no room for Ye Chen to negotiate.


    Ye Chen had to comply, had no choice but to comply!


    Otherwise, he would face the same fate of a ten-thousand-year imprisonment!


    Hearing Sovereign Hong Li¡¯s words, the millions of martial artists outside the arena looked at Ye Chen with immense sympathy.


    Although they envied Ye Chen for having ties with Long Li, the thought of these three requirements also made them inwardly click their tongues.


    If it were them, there was absolutely no way they could fulfill these three requirements!


    Under such immense pressure, Ye Chen seemed to have no path of retreat.


    But in his heart, he had not thought of backing down.


    He did not need to retreat!


    These three requirements, each incredibly difficult, did not seem like challenges to Ye Chen but rather as true tempering for himself.


    Ye Chen aspired to become a powerful being like the East Territory King, the Northern Territory King.


    Naturally, he would seize every opportunity to grow stronger.


    To join the Supreme Divine Institute? To be first in the divine institute competition?


    Such opportunities, such honors, Ye Chen certainly wanted to claim!


    And then there was the Heavenly God Mountain, a place countless people longed to go to, where if one could survive, they were bound to improve their levels¡ªthat was an opportunity Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t miss.


    Even if Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King hadn¡¯t made their demands, Ye Chen knew about the magical "Heavenly God Mountain" and wanted to see it, to brave it!


    Ye Chen would certainly not be daunted by the dangers within!


    As for the last requirement, when Ye Chen heard of the "Star Domain Genius Battle¡ªDivine King¡¯s War" that would take place in ten years, his heart surged with excitement.


    Just think¡ªa Star Domain Genius Battle where even entities who surpass Venerables would appear, a battle that gives one the chance to face off against powerhouses from various Star Domains and Divine Kingdoms.


    Which warrior wouldn¡¯t yearn to participate?


    Which warrior wouldn¡¯t crave to witness the geniuses from countless Star Domains?!


    Ye Chen even thought that his realm might not allow him to traverse the Star Domain to see Jiang Yao anytime soon.


    But with this "Star Domain Genius Battle," it was very likely that Jiang Yao would participate as well.


    In that case, he might be able to meet Jiang Yao in advance during the Star Domain Genius Battle!


    This, of course, strengthened Ye Chen¡¯s resolve to take part in the "Star Domain Genius Battle."


    As for the requirement to break through to the God King Realm within ten years.


    Having been in the Divine Kingdom for less than a year, Ye Chen had already transformed from the late stages of the Heavenly Saint to an Eight Tribulations True God.


    With ten more years and the opportunity of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen had a strong belief that he could become a Divine King, and even stand out among them, capable of contending with Divine Kings from various Star Domains.


    With these thoughts, Ye Chen took a deep breath, his eyes shining brightly as he raised his voice to Sovereign Hong Li, "Sovereign Hong Li, I accept these three requirements!"


    ...


    An uproarious confrontation.


    It started with Ye Chen¡¯s emergence from Nine Suns Ancient Land, followed by repeated attempts by Elder He and Protector Zhuge to execute Ye Chen, the arrival of the East Territory King, the arrival of Qin Yuntian, reaching its climax.


    And in the end, with Sovereign Hong Li bearing Long Li¡¯s entrustment and the three requirements from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, the affair came to a close.


    After announcing the three requirements, Sovereign Hong Li left once again.


    Ye Chen, following the East Territory King, left the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom and made his way to the residence of the East Territory King in the East Province.


    The East Territory King had said that since Ye Chen had used the Life-saving Talisman he left behind before the assessment of the nine major Divine Institutes, Ye Chen must train at the residence of the East Territory King and not wander outside anymore.


    Following his return from Nine Suns Ancient Land, where he had reaped great rewards, and after what had transpired with Long Li, Ye Chen had no desire to continue wandering abroad.


    He only wanted to go to the residence of the East Territory King and train in seclusion, preparing for the Nine Divine Institutes assessment that would begin in a few months!


    After Ye Chen, the center of attention, left with the East Territory King.


    Qin Yuntian of Divine Dragon Mountain, with a glint in his eye, also left with Elder He and Protector Zhuge.


    Because of the "Sovereign Order," they could not lay hands on Ye Chen. However, knowing the three requirements set by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for Ye Chen, they would certainly strategize to make Ye Chen fail to meet them.


    Once the two opposing parties had left, the rest of the Venerables, along with the countless warriors who had emerged from Nine Suns Ancient Land, also dispersed.


    The families of the warriors who perished in Nine Suns Ancient Land, after mourning for a while, left the area as well.


    As one warrior after another returned to the Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom, and even to various places within the Divine Kingdom,


    The events that occurred in Nine Suns Ancient Land spread rapidly throughout the entire Divine Kingdom!


    Warriors from numerous territories heard about Ye Chen¡¯s killing of Qin Feng, a senior Divine King from one of the four major forces, and even more about Ye Chen¡¯s relations with the young prodigy Long Li of the Divine Kingdom!


    For a time, the name Ye Chen spread across every corner of the Divine Kingdom, drawing the attention of many divine Venerables and Sovereigns!


    And when they heard about the three requirements Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had set for Ye Chen, everyone was looking forward to the Nine Divine Institutes assessment starting in a few months.


    Even many capable individuals had already planned to travel to the site of the assessment to see Ye Chen and whether he would fail at the very first requirement!


    Ye Chen¡¯s fame spread throughout the Divine Kingdom.


    And at this moment, Ye Chen had returned to the residence of the East Territory King in the East Province of the Divine Kingdom.


    When he saw the little princess again, for an entire day she pestered Ye Chen, inquiring about everything that had happened to him since he arrived in the Divine Kingdom.


    The little princess was filled with one thought; her brother Ye Chen had Jiang Yao, and now with what had happened with Long Li, what would he do in the future?


    "Could it be, Brother Ye Chen plans to marry both Jiang Yao and Long Li?" the little princess finally pondered.


    After conversing with the little princess and East Territory King for a few days, and strolling through the First Divine City of East Province under the little princess¡¯s company, and even receiving visits from Zhao Xin, Tian Li, and others, who were descendants of the four major Generals of East Province that he had met in Minor Pole Sky, Ye Chen began to immerse himself in intensive training at the residence of the East Territory King.


    Despite having successfully transformed into an Eight Tribulations True God, Ye Chen was not going to allow himself to relax in the slightest if he wanted to secure the first place in the Nine Divine Institutes assessment!


    He wanted to further enhance every combat capability at his disposal.


    "It¡¯s a pity that the physical combat technique I¡¯ve been cultivating, the ¡¯Undying Divine Body,¡¯ only includes the first three volumes, thereby preventing me from continuing the subsequent volumes."


    "And the same goes for the ¡¯Nine Volumes of Formation Array¡¯; I cannot cultivate the later volumes either."


    Back in Minor Pole Sky, Ye Chen had acquired the first parts of "Undying Divine Body" and "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," planning to visit the master of Minor Pole Sky, "Heavenly Cloud Venerable," after the affair at Nine Suns Ancient Land to obtain the remaining parts of these techniques.


    Unfortunately, after the events at Nine Suns Ancient Land and various unexpected developments, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t visit "Heavenly Cloud Venerable" just yet.


    Ye Chen had no choice but to set aside the "Undying Divine Body" for the time being and start cultivating True Qi, Stellar Power, and the fourth sword of the Divine Soul Attack Methods, "Nine Swords of Annihilation."

 Chapter 729 - 681: The Examination of the Nine Great God Institutes Approaches

    Ye Chen¡¯s True Qi Technique, empowered by the stellar power from the "Primordial Chapter" of the fourth volume of the Primordial Star Scripture, was already among the mightiest.


    Especially after Ye Chen cultivated the "Primordial Chapter" to Great Accomplishment, his combat power soared to an inconceivable degree. Facing an Upper God King with his Eighth Tribulations True God Realm, Ye Chen was quite confident!


    Regrettably, having broken through realms consecutively, Ye Chen knew all too well that reaching the Nine Tribulations True God in a short period wasn¡¯t so straightforward.


    Moreover, to fully cultivate the "Primordial Chapter" to Great Perfection, thus stepping into the fifth volume of the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen knew he lacked a critical opportunity.


    Hence, Ye Chen shifted his focus onto comprehending the Divine Soul Attack Method "Nine Swords of Annihilation" and its fourth sword.


    The Nine Swords of Annihilation was a Divine Soul Attack Heaven-reaching Divine Art passed down to him by the mighty Sovereign of the Nine Stars, Elder Ku Du.


    At that time, Elder Ku Du had said that once Ye Chen cultivated the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" to the fourth sword, his Divine Soul Attack Methods wouldn¡¯t fear anyone in the assessments of the Great God Institutes.


    However, Ye Chen was aware that this time the assessments of the Nine Great God Institutes might differ from the usual.


    This time, because of the three demands from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, coupled with his enmity with Divine Dragon Mountain, Ye Chen speculated that the opponents in the Great God Institute assessments would likely be far stronger than in the previous ones.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t lower his guard and be content with just cultivating to the level of the fourth sword.


    Ye Chen looked forward to truly mastering the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" fourth sword, reaching complete cultivation, and stepping into the comprehension of the Fifth Sword!


    In the days that followed, Ye Chen devoted himself to arduously studying the fourth sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation.


    The fourth sword, named "Qiankun Shake," was an even more formidable technique than the first three swords¡ª "Mountains and Rivers Chaos," "Wandiding," and "Void Shattering."


    Upon deploying this sword technique, the entire cosmos within hundreds of miles would tremble, and everyone within the space, whether physical body, True Qi, or Divine Soul, would be thoroughly disoriented and dizzy from the shaking.


    If truly cultivated to Great Accomplishment, most Divine Kings would have no power to counter against Ye Chen¡¯s attack with this technique!


    Currently, Ye Chen had only grasped the surface of the fourth sword, capable of shaking a minuscule part of space, and only succeeding in causing a brief dizziness to martial artists if catching them off guard.


    He was still a long way from the fourth sword¡¯s level of Great Accomplishment.


    As Ye Chen incessantly pondered every day, his understanding of the fourth sword grew ever deeper.


    Just over a month into Ye Chen¡¯s secluded cultivation at the Territory King Mansion of East Province, an unforeseen boon arrived.


    Ye Chen had been lamenting his missed opportunity to meet the "Heavenly Cloud Venerable" and not obtaining the latter parts of "Undying Divine Body" and "Nine Volumes of Formation Array."


    But more than a month into his seclusion, Heavenly Cloud Venerable unexpectedly made a personal visit to the Territory King Mansion of East Province, paying his respects to the Territory King, and even held an audience with Ye Chen!


    Heavenly Cloud Venerable went so far as to bestow upon Ye Chen the remaining volumes of "Undying Divine Body" and the later portions of "Nine Volumes of Formation Array."


    This allowed Ye Chen to continue cultivating both his physical skills and formation techniques.


    Naturally, this filled Ye Chen with immense joy!


    From his conversation with Heavenly Cloud Venerable, Ye Chen learned why he had come to see him.


    All this could be thanked for the events that transpired in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, which spread his fame across the entire Divine Kingdom.


    Although the events at Nine Suns Ancient Land earned him enmity with Divine Dragon Mountain and numerous unknown enemies,


    they also brought Ye Chen an extensive amount of attention.


    It was because of the three demands from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, along with Ye Chen¡¯s performance in Minor Pole Sky, that Heavenly Cloud Venerable traveled countless miles to East Province specifically to see Ye Chen.


    According to Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯s words, a talented youth who has caught the attention of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King is someone he would certainly lend a helping hand to!


    Heavenly Cloud Venerable even joked that once Ye Chen had truly matured, perhaps one day he would need to seek Ye Chen¡¯s help and hoped that Ye Chen would not forget him then.


    Ye Chen was, of course, very grateful for the "timely help" from Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    Although Heavenly Cloud Venerable was only joking, Ye Chen took it very seriously, indicating that he would do his utmost to help Heavenly Cloud Venerable whenever possible!


    After all, the opportunities Heavenly Cloud Venerable left in the lower realms of the Star Continent helped countless people, which made Ye Chen have immense respect for him.


    Furthermore, the Minor Pole Sky founded by Heavenly Cloud Venerable significantly boosted Ye Chen¡¯s gains at the time.


    It was precisely because of the experience in Minor Pole Sky that Ye Chen was able to improve all his Essence, Qi, and Spirit techniques, meet people like the Little Provincial Princess, and lay the foundation for his later journey to the Divine Kingdom.


    Ye Chen would certainly not forget Heavenly Cloud Venerable¡¯s kindness!


    After having a conversation with Heavenly Cloud Venerable, a great Divine Venerable Realm expert, Ye Chen knew that his experiences and insights were far beyond his own current reach.


    In their conversation, many of Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation puzzles were swiftly resolved with just a few words from Heavenly Cloud Venerable.


    After parting from Heavenly Cloud Venerable, Ye Chen not only kept contemplating the Nine Swords of Annihilation, but he also began to cultivate the Undying Divine Body and the remaining volumes of the Nine Volumes of Formation Array.


    Days of cultivation are short.


    Unbeknownst to him, several months had quietly passed.


    The day for the nine great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment was drawing nearer and nearer.


    And on this day, the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes had finally officially arrived!


    "Ye Chen, come out quickly, Daddy is taking us to participate in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes!"


    Early in the morning, Ye Chen was woken up from his cultivation by the Little Provincial Princess.


    "The assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes is finally starting, is it?"


    In a precious and extraordinary cultivation spot within the East Province King Mansion, upon hearing the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s voice, Ye Chen chuckled lightly and rose from the cultivation spot.


    Xiaojiu, who was initially preparing to ask Ye Chen to stop cultivating, also transformed into a little sparrow, flying excitedly to Ye Chen¡¯s shoulder: "Ye Chen, you¡¯ve made such great progress during this time. You should have no problem taking first place in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes!"


    Xiaojiu had been closely observing Ye Chen¡¯s cultivation and naturally knew his progress!


    Xiaojiu was looking forward to seeing Ye Chen shine in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes!


    Hearing Xiaojiu¡¯s words, Ye Chen smiled and his eyes sparkled with a bright gleam.


    The assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes, joining the Supreme Divine Institute, and seizing the top position was the first requirement given to him by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King.


    If he failed to meet this requirement, he would be imprisoned by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for ten thousand years.


    There would be no need to mention matters like "Heavenly God Mountain" and the "Stellar Domain Genius Battle" afterward.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not falter at this first step!


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    "Xiaojiu, let¡¯s go to the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes and properly meet the geniuses of the younger generation from the Mountain Divine Nation!"


    With big strides, Ye Chen walked out of the cultivation area.

 Chapter 730 - 682 Turbulence

    ```


    The Supreme Divine Institute is the top martial arts academy within the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain.


    It¡¯s reputed to be the most coveted cultivation ground among countless warriors in the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain!


    The Supreme Divine Institute is situated in a special location within the Star Domain of Wanmu Mountain, encompassing eighteen enormously vast Star Continents.


    At this moment, on the Divine Mountain in the innermost Star Continent of the Supreme Divine Institute, where only those in the Sovereign Realm could cultivate, two women stood out gracefully.


    One woman wore purple Divine Robe, the other red, both exuding extraordinary poise and arrogance that looked down upon the world!


    If a power of the Divine Kingdom saw these two, they would definitely recognize them as two famous figures in the Divine Kingdom, the "Northern Territory King" and "Sovereign Xuechen", the strongest in the Supreme Divine Institute!


    These were the same two who had made three demands of Ye Chen!


    The Northern Territory King was clad in a purple Divine Robe, with eyebrows like crescents and a dot of vermillion between them.


    Her gaze turned towards the exterior of the Supreme Divine Institute as she said, "It has been quite a while since I observed the assessments of the nine great divine institutes. I never thought I¡¯d have to go see because of Li¡¯er¡¯s situation."


    Sovereign Xuechen too, smiled and said, "I wonder, Northern Territory King, how confident are you in Ye Chen securing the first place in the assessments of the nine great divine institutes?"


    "Confident?" The Northern Territory King¡¯s eyes shone like starlight, "Given that Li¡¯er has agreed to present our three demands to Ye Chen, she must believe deep down that Ye Chen is indeed capable of fulfilling them."


    "I, of course, have not the slightest doubt in Li¡¯er¡¯s judgment."


    Sovereign Xuechen nodded as well, "If that Ye Chen falls at the first demand, it would be such a disappointment to Li¡¯er¡¯s expectations..."


    "However, we have also collected quite a bit of information about this Ye Chen recently."


    "For a youth of his background to grow so rapidly is truly astonishing. Perhaps, as Li¡¯er said, he is indeed someone who can stand shoulder to shoulder with her."


    "I can¡¯t help but look forward to meeting this youth."


    After discussing the assessments of the nine divine institutes, the conversation between the two powerful figures shifted as they brought up the recent condition of Long Li.


    "Ever since Li¡¯er returned from the Nine Suns Ancient Land, she has abandoned her original cultivation plans and actually went to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain."


    "According to the information we¡¯ve gathered, there¡¯s a girl closely related to Ye Chen in that Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, known as Jiang Yao. It seems Li¡¯er has gone to meet with Jiang Yao."


    Thinking of this, even Sovereign Xuechen revealed a hint of helplessness in her eyes.


    Despite being the top powerhouse of the Supreme Divine Institute, a Divine Master of the Nine Stars, and Long Li¡¯s mentor, there were times when she couldn¡¯t influence Long Li¡¯s decisions.


    The Northern Territory King also sighed, "That Jiang Yao, it is said, is Ye Chen¡¯s favorite girl. Given what has happened between Li¡¯er and Ye Chen, she likely went to explain their relationship to Jiang Yao to avoid any misunderstandings Jiang could have about Ye Chen."


    "I¡¯ve never seen Li¡¯er place such importance on any young man before. It seems like this Ye Chen truly is Li¡¯er¡¯s nemesis..."


    As she spoke, the Northern Territory King¡¯s gaze turned towards the distant horizon, "Although Li¡¯er has gone to another Star Domain by herself, she has just stepped into the Divine Venerable Realm and will definitely not encounter any trouble."


    "After all, she was personally brought back from the Azure Sky Star Sea by my sister, and she has the blood of those two existences flowing in her. Let alone our Divine Kingdoms, no one in our entire universe could harm her!"


    When the Northern Territory King mentioned Long Li¡¯s secretive past, even Sovereign Xuechen¡¯s gaze grew more serious.


    "Those two existences..."


    "I wonder how the Azure Sky Star Sea, with so many legendary figures gathered, is fairing now."


    The Northern Territory King shook her head, "How could we possibly intervene in battles of that magnitude? Even my sister, who has become a ¡¯Divine Master¡¯, cannot intervene."


    "Let¡¯s leave it. We should head to the site of the nine divine institutes¡¯ assessments first to see what this year¡¯s assessments bring."


    After their reflections, the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen moved and disappeared from the Divine Mountain within the Supreme Divine Institute.


    ...


    In the eastern province of the Divine Kingdom, Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Inside a grand temple, Qin Yuntian, the Sect Master of Divine Dragon Mountain and an Eight Stars Sovereign, sat atop the temple¡¯s head seat, observing the hundreds of True God youths kneeling below.


    These hundreds of True God youths were all Eight Tribulation True Gods, Nine Tribulation True Gods!


    "This time, when you participate in the assessments of the nine divine institutes, securing good results is secondary."


    ""The key is to hinder Ye Chen. Anyone who can cause trouble for Ye Chen during the assessments will be substantially rewarded!"


    "I will be watching your actions closely, don¡¯t disappoint me!"


    Upon hearing Qin Yuntian¡¯s words, the True God youths were incredibly excited, all of them shouting loudly, "We will not fail the Sect Master¡¯s trust!"


    The rewards promised by an Eight Stars Sovereign were, of course, highly coveted!


    As for Ye Chen.


    Although they had heard of Ye Chen¡¯s extraordinary capabilities and that he had a deep grudge with their Divine Dragon Mountain, they were not scared in the slightest, nor were they tasked to defeat Ye Chen directly.


    They were confident they could cause trouble for Ye Chen!


    Seeing the confident expressions on these True Gods, Qin Yuntian nodded in satisfaction.


    ```


    His gaze swept over the faces of several individuals at the forefront of the hundreds of True Gods kneeling before him.


    Upon receiving Qin Yuntian¡¯s attention, these individuals all discreetly nodded their heads in his direction.


    These were the True Gods that Qin Yuntian had specifically chosen to deal with Ye Chen.


    All of them were absolute geniuses, capable of fighting above their realm and challenging mid-tier Divine Kings!


    After his gaze passed over the faces of these True Gods, Qin Yuntian¡¯s eyes narrowed, and he muttered coldly to himself, "I¡¯ve made inquiries; that Ye Chen managed to kill Feng¡¯er with the aid of a supreme heavenly object, the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯!"


    "Humph, a supreme heavenly object is something Ye Chen, with his cultivation level, definitely cannot control. Yangyun told me, if it weren¡¯t for Long Li¡¯s help, Ye Chen would have been severely injured by the backlash from the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ long ago. During this exam of the nine great Divine Institutes, he won¡¯t be able to use the Blue Extreme Iceflame!"


    "Once he can¡¯t use the Blue Extreme Iceflame, Ye Chen¡¯s combat power will be greatly reduced. With the obstruction from my Divine Dragon Mountain, as well as the competition from the juniors of my two friends, I really want to see how he plans to snatch the first place in the exam of the nine great Divine Institutes!"


    Thinking of this, Qin Yuntian couldn¡¯t help the urge to burst into loud laughter.


    He was already impatient to witness Ye Chen failing to secure first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ examination!


    "Let¡¯s go, set forth to the examination realm!"


    With a sweeping gesture, Qin Yuntian¡¯s immense divine power enveloped the hundreds of True Gods kneeling below, and they vanished from the great hall.


    ...


    The Heavenly Palace Divine Temple was an illustrious divine temple within the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain of the Divine Kingdom!


    The reason being, it was home to a hermit cultivator from the Divine Kingdom, a great Sovereign of the Eight Stars¡ªSovereign Tianyu!


    At this moment, Sovereign Tianyu, the great Sovereign of the Eight Stars, turned to a young man standing beside him and asked, "Beiling, do you have confidence in securing first place in this exam of the nine great Divine Institutes?"


    The young man lifted his head confidently and said, "First place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ exam? Grandfather, rest assured, it will be a cinch for your grandson!"


    Hearing the young man¡¯s confident words, Sovereign Tianyu smiled and nodded, "I am indeed very confident in your strength."


    "Of course, you mustn¡¯t take it lightly. Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master Qin Yuntian has promised me that if you take first place and prevent that Ye Chen from doing so, he will gift me a supreme heavenly divine treasure. Beiling, once you win first place, that supreme heavenly divine treasure will be yours."


    At the mention of "supreme heavenly divine treasure," the young man¡¯s eyes lit up with unparalleled excitement.


    When he heard the name Ye Chen mentioned by his grandfather, the young man snorted coldly, "The Ye Chen that Senior Qin Yuntian mentioned, is he the one who accepted the three requests of the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen?"


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    "Such an insignificant person relies on the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ to kill Qin Feng. Humph, and he even had that kind of relationship with Long Li, whom I deeply admire!"


    "This time, I, Tianyu Beiling, will ensure he loses miserably!"


    Although the young man cultivated within the Heavenly Palace Divine Temple, he was well aware of the incidents concerning Ye Chen¡¯s slaying of Qin Feng and the relationship with Long Li, as well as the three requests made to Ye Chen by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King.


    Just thinking about his deeply admired goddess Long Li, whom he planned to pursue once he entered the Supreme Divine Institute, being involved with Ye Chen filled the young man with rage!


    Seeing the young man getting angry, Sovereign Tianyu chuckled lightly, "Beiling, getting angry won¡¯t help. The key is to defeat Ye Chen decisively in the examination and show Long Li how powerful you are!"


    "Let¡¯s go, the Divine Institutes¡¯ exam is about to start. Head towards the exam site, that ¡¯Shattered Ancient Battlefield¡¯!"


    ...


    In the same vein, Sovereign Tianyu of the Eight Stars set off with his junior, Tianyu Beiling, toward the examination site, fully determined to win first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ exam.


    Another Eight Stars Sovereign also set off to the examination site with his junior in tow.


    This Eight Stars Sovereign wore tattered clothes and had unkempt hair, and in the Divine Kingdom, many Sovereigns called him "Madman Mo."


    Of course, only Sovereigns of similar standing dared call him Madman Mo; others would respectfully address him as "Sovereign Mo" in the presence of such a distinguished personage.


    At this time, the junior that "Sovereign Mo" was accompanying was a young man of about the same age as Ye Chen.


    This young man, named "Mo Yuan," had a broad and sturdy build, and the physical strength his body exuded was so profound it was incredible, clearly the result of a formidable Physical Body Cultivation Technique.


    When the duo traveled through space and arrived at a desolate Star Continent, Sovereign Mo suddenly halted with Mo Yuan in tow.


    Looking toward the uninhabited Star Continent, you could see countless terrifying beasts roaming within.


    Madman Mo¡¯s divine gaze then fell on two Upper Divine King level mighty beasts among them, and he turned to the young man beside him, saying, "Yuan¡¯er, go down there and pluck the ¡¯Beast Hearts¡¯ from those two ¡¯Chi-Li Divine Beasts¡¯ for your great-grandfather¡¯s drink!"


    The young man followed Madman Mo¡¯s gaze to the two Upper Divine King level mighty beasts and the dozens of Mid Divine King level mighty beasts around them.


    He bared his teeth in a grin, "Just two Beast Hearts? That¡¯s not enough! Great-grandfather, I¡¯ll go down there and kill all those mighty beasts, so you can enjoy a proper drink!"


    Roar!


    As the young man spoke, his figure burst towards the Star Continent below.


    In an instant, the area where the mighty beast herd was located echoed with the agonized roars of the beasts.


    Watching the young man charge into the midst of the beasts, Madman Mo smiled proudly, "This great-grandson of mine will definitely make his great-grandfather proud this time."


    "Heh, that Qin Yuntian has also promised me a ¡¯Light Divine Bamboo.¡¯ As long as my great-grandson clinches first place in the Divine Institutes¡¯ exam, that Light Divine Bamboo will be mine."

 Chapter 731 - 683: The Shattered Ancient Battlefield

    ```


    Along with "Sovereign Tianyu" and "Sovereign Mo," they brought their juniors to the site of the examination for the Nine Great Divine Institutes.


    Everywhere in the expansive Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain, countless warriors were escorting their juniors, who would participate in the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, to the examination site.


    These warriors accompanying their juniors had at least a powerful existence within the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, while the number of Heavenly Divine Venerables and Immortal Divine Venerables was countless.


    There were even many from the Sovereign Realm.


    After all, the entire Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain was too vast.


    Even if only one formidable Divine Venerable emerged from hundreds of Star Continents, the number of Divine Venerables in the entire Divine Kingdom would still be terrifying.


    The assessment for the Nine Great Divine Institutes takes place only once every so often.


    With so many extraordinary warriors vying for the select spots at the Nine Great Divine Institutes, one can imagine how precious these spots must be.


    Previously, at the Undersea Divine Palace, the old sage had told Ye Chen that the spots for the examination of the Nine Great Divine Institutes were exceptionally valuable.


    Many Divine Venerables within the Divine Kingdom had no chance of securing a spot for their juniors.


    The Divine Venerables who managed to secure spots were all extraordinary individuals.


    Of course, aside from these powerful God-Divine Venerables and Sovereigns who could directly secure a spot for their juniors at the Nine Great Divine Institutes.


    There were two other ways to obtain a spot for the examination.


    One was the initial selection conducted by the Nine Great Divine Institutes throughout the Divine Kingdom, where selected candidates would get the chance to be examined.


    This also provided many ordinary-born warriors of the Divine Kingdom with an opportunity to leap over the dragon gate.


    Another way was for lower-realm warriors from Star Continents, like Ye Chen, who managed to secure a spot token amidst the major purging catastrophe, thus gaining the opportunity to enter the Divine Kingdom and participate in the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes.


    In total, there were tens of millions of warriors participating in the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ examination!


    The Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ examination, however, only accepts less than ten thousand disciples altogether in one intake.


    Among tens of millions, to compete for those few thousand coveted spots at the Nine Great Divine Institutes is an unimaginably fierce competition!


    And to snatch the first place in the examination among these tens of millions of people is an even more exceedingly difficult task!


    No wonder, when Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King proposed to Ye Chen that his first demand was to win first place in the examination of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, countless Sovereigns were shocked.


    After all, for the countless warriors of the Divine Kingdom, not just capturing first place, but to even join any of the Nine Great Divine Institutes would absolutely shake their entire family to its core and cause ecstatic jubilation!


    Of course, while the vast majority of warriors participating in the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ examination would be eliminated, as long as they performed well, even if they were eliminated, they could still attract the attention of countless powers.


    Even if they ultimately did not join the Nine Great Divine Institutes, joining a second-tier divine institute or power was a respectable outcome for many true gods in the Divine Kingdom.


    The examination for the Nine Great Divine Institutes took place on a shattered ancient battlefield on the fringe of the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain.


    This ancient battlefield is rumored to have been the site of a great war between the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain and another divine kingdom.


    The intense battles had shattered numerous Star Continents at the junction of the two great divine kingdoms.


    Eventually, when the war ended, several Sovereigns of the Nine Great Divine Institutes wielded their mighty divine powers to reforge these shattered Star Continents of the ancient battlefield together, turning them into the examination grounds for the institutes!


    Although reformed, the examination grounds, being an ancient battlefield, were fraught with murderous energy!


    Rumors abounded that the native monsters and ancient beasts that grew within were tremendously ferocious!


    There are also rumors of many remnants of battles and deadly battlefield locations within!


    The warriors who entered for the examination had to compete not only with other warriors but also contend with the monstrous ancient beasts of the ancient battlefield itself, as well as endure the remnants of battles and deadly battlefield locations! Your adventure continues at Freewebnovel


    Before the start of this Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ examination, countless warriors had already rushed to the outskirts of the shattered ancient battlefield.


    Those from the lower realms who had obtained the tokens to participate in the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ examination amid the great purge were also specially brought into the Divine Kingdom via the four great provincial kings¡¯ mansions to participate in the examination.


    Three days before the start of the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ examination, the number of warriors gathered outside the shattered ancient battlefield was already over a hundred million.


    And on the day the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ examination fully commenced, the number of warriors gathered outside the shattered ancient battlefield had reached over three hundred million!


    Among these people, there were those who came to watch the grand event, those from the Nine Great Divine Institutes responsible for recruiting new disciples, from other divine institutes and powers, as well as warriors who came to see off the participants and the tens of millions of warriors who came to participate in the examination.


    Furthermore, as the examination drew nearer, more and more people continued to rush towards the examination grounds.


    ...


    When Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, and the hundreds of true gods from the East Territory King¡¯s Mansion arrived at the gathering place just outside the shattered ancient battlefield under the guidance of the East Territory King,


    Seeing the skies and the earth teeming with hundreds of millions of warriors at the gathering place, Ye Chen was utterly shocked.


    So many people!


    ```


    Ye Chen saw that there were no fewer than a hundred Sovereign Realm powerhouses alone.


    And as for the Divine Venerable Realm powerhouses, there were as many as several hundred thousand!


    This, of course, left Ye Chen incredulously shocked.


    Ye Chen became increasingly aware of the vastness of the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain and the warriors of the Divine Kingdom!


    Among the crowd, Ye Chen also saw many familiar faces.


    Lin Xiaowan, who had participated in the Battle of Circulation of Heaven Divine City with him and entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land together, was now standing next to an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    Beside the Immortal Divine Venerable, there were a few true gods, who looked to be the several true gods from Lin Xiaowan¡¯s family taking part in the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes this time.


    Seeing Ye Chen looking in her direction, Lin Xiaowan nodded at him, anxious yet full of anticipation.


    Originally, since Lin Xiaowan was already a disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute, she didn¡¯t need to come to watch the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes.


    However, because Ye Chen was participating in the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, she couldn¡¯t help but want to see it for herself.


    Lin Xiaowan also wanted to see whether Ye Chen could fulfill the first requirement set by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King.


    Many others shared Lin Xiaowan¡¯s sentiments.


    At the very top of the crowd, where the real powerhouses gathered, Ye Chen saw people from the Mu King Mansion, including Mu Ling and Mu Xiao.


    At this moment, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were accompanied by several hundred true gods from the Mu King Mansion, who were participating in the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes.


    Of course, Ye Chen also spotted the visitors from the Southern Territory King Mansion.


    He even saw people from Tai Yun Heaven, the force where Yang Yun and Yang Yan, who had a grudge against him, belonged to, and saw Yang Yun and Yang Yan among the crowd.


    When they noticed Ye Chen looking at them, a flash passed in the eyes of Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Sneers echoed in their hearts.


    They came in person this time just to witness Ye Chen¡¯s downfall!


    As for the expression of Yang Yun and Yang Yan, Ye Chen completely ignored it.


    Ye Chen then turned his gaze towards other forces.


    Although there were already hundreds of millions of martial artists gathered at the site, only the truly top forces of the Divine Kingdom dared to stand at the very top of the ethereal space!


    Even some eight-star Sovereigns with their descendants could only stand a bit lower.


    The truly top forces at the very top of the Divine Kingdom were none other than the four great King Mansions of the Divine Kingdom, the four great forces, as well as the people under the national lord of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s capital!


    Now, with the arrival of the East Territory King, all the visitors from the four great King Mansions of the Divine Kingdom were present.


    Under the guidance of the East Territory King, Ye Chen recognized another one of the four great Territory Kings of the Divine Kingdom for the first time.


    The Southern Territory King of the Divine Kingdom¡ªHong Xuanzong!


    When Ye Chen saw the Southern Territory King, dressed in a blue robe, shimmering with divine light, with stars shifting and a majestic aura, he was taken aback.


    The Southern Territory King left an impression on Ye Chen as being no less formidable than the East Territory King.


    At this moment, the Southern Territory King, seeing Ye Chen¡¯s gaze directed at him, also nodded with a smile and said to Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, I have heard that you have met with my teacher, the old Southern Territory King, and you have made quite a name for yourself in the Nine Suns Ancient Land under my jurisdiction. Although this is our first meeting, we seem to have quite a connection!"


    Wow!


    The words of the Southern Territory King immediately caused countless martial artists below to turn their gaze to Ye Chen.


    Just being brought here personally by one of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s four great Territory Kings was enough to make countless martial artists speculate about Ye Chen¡¯s identity.


    Now, seeing another Territory King speaking to him made countless people envy Ye Chen.


    And when they heard the Southern Territory King refer to him as "young friend Ye Chen," many martial artists from the Divine Kingdom exclaimed in surprise, "That¡¯s Ye Chen?!"


    "The remarkable youth who was given three requirements by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King?!"


    "I heard he killed a high-ranking Divine King from one of the four great forces at the realm of a true god, truly extraordinary!"


    "What¡¯s more, I heard he has significant connections with the number one divine maiden of the Supreme Divine Institute, our Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom¡¯s most proud young lady, Long Li!"


    "He is even required to secure first place in the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment. If he fails to obtain the first place, he will be imprisoned for ten thousand years."


    "Heavens, to even think of competing for the first place in the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment is beyond my wildest dreams, yet he is going to contend for it."


    "I really don¡¯t know just how formidable this youth¡¯s true strength is!"

 Chapter 732 - 684: Rumors of Divine Miao Peak

    As soon as Ye Chen¡¯s name was mentioned, it immediately caused a stir outside the ancient battlefield.


    True Gods who did not yet understand why Ye Chen was so famous quickly inquired and discovered the reason.


    Upon hearing that Ye Chen was involved with the four major powers, had connections with the powerful and extraordinary Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen from the Divine Kingdom, and also had relations with the genius girl Long Li, these out-of-the-loop True Gods, some of whom came from the lower realm just like Ye Chen and were unaware of the incidents in the Divine Kingdom, couldn¡¯t help but gasp in shock.


    Everyone knew that Ye Chen was probably the most watched person in this examination of the nine great divine institutes!


    "Ye Chen, feeling much pressure?"


    Seeing countless eyes on Ye Chen, the Southern Territory King asked him with a smile.


    "Senior Southern Territory King," Ye Chen greeted the Southern Territory King with a cupped fist smile, "Pressure is motivation, I will do my best!"


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s carefree demeanor, the Southern Territory King nodded in approval.


    And behind the Southern Territory King, people from the Southern Territory including Hong Ming and Hong Yi blinked at Ye Chen, indicating that they also came to watch his examination.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded back to Hong Ming and Hong Yi.


    The East Territory King and the Southern Territory King, both had arrived at the examination site.


    However, Ye Chen did not see the Western Territory King and the Northern Territory King.


    Noticing Ye Chen¡¯s scrutiny as if knowing what he was thinking, the East Territory King transmitted his voice to Ye Chen, "That Western Territory King probably won¡¯t come this time. However, the Northern Territory King should arrive; she might be here very soon."


    As for the Western Territory King, Ye Chen did not pay much attention.


    But the Northern Territory King was a different story altogether.


    After all, the Northern Territory King and Long Li were quite close, and she had made three requests of him and was rumored to be both exceptionally mysterious and powerful.


    Ye Chen was also curious to see the true face of the Northern Territory King.


    After sizing up the emissaries from the four great territorial residences, Ye Chen turned his gaze to the people under the jurisdiction of the ruler of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s capital.


    This time, the ruler of the Divine Kingdom did not come in person.


    Instead, he sent an eight-star Sovereign with thousands of followers to the ancient battlefield to attend the examination of the nine great divine institutes.


    Through conversations between the East Territory King and the leader of this delegation, an eight-star Sovereign, Ye Chen learned that none of the true scions of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s ruler who were of the right age were attending the examination of the nine great divine institutes, so the ruler did not pay much attention to this event.


    Ye Chen also learned that the ruler of the Divine Kingdom was focusing on the impending event of the "Splendid Starry Sea" in the Wanmu Mountain area.


    Little Nine had already informed Ye Chen that the "Splendid Starry Sea" concerned the ruler of the Divine Kingdom leading nine other experts, competing with the sovereign-level powerhouses of other divine countries in a significant event.


    It involved the major decision of power divisions across numerous star territories in the universe.


    And after the "Splendid Starry Sea" event concludes, the "Star Territory Genius Battles" of the various divine countries will officially commence.


    For this reason, the ruler of the Divine Kingdom was even less likely to come.


    Not seeing the ruler of the Divine Kingdom made Ye Chen feel somewhat regretful.


    But Ye Chen knew that having met several great territorial kings of the Divine Kingdom, as long as he continued to grow, the day when he would meet the ruler of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom would not be too distant!


    After meeting with people from the four great territorial mansions and the Divine Kingdom¡¯s capital, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned to individuals from the four major forces.


    The four major forces were located within the territories: "Divine Dragon Mountain" in the East Province, "Tai Yun Heaven" in the Western Territory, "Divine Miao Peak" in the Southern Territory, and "Danxia Valley" in the Northern Region.


    At this moment, the people from Tai Yun Heaven and Danxia Valley had already arrived.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan, as well as Zhu Qianqian and Zhu Qingqing whom Ye Chen had met in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, were all present.


    But the group from Divine Dragon Mountain, who had great enmity with Ye Chen, had not yet arrived.


    As for the people from "Divine Miao Peak," they were even more elusive.


    The people of Divine Dragon Mountain, Ye Chen was not too concerned about.


    What Ye Chen was truly focused on was "Divine Miao Peak".


    Originally, when Ye Chen heard Lin Xiaowan introduce the four major forces, he was told that they were set up by the sovereign of the Divine Kingdom in the territories governed by the four kings as spies.


    But after countless years, the relationship between the four major forces and the sovereign of the Divine Kingdom had changed.


    Divine Dragon Mountain was still outwardly in a decent relationship with the sovereign of the Divine Kingdom, while Tai Yun Heaven had become exceedingly close with the Western Territory.


    And Danxia Valley, because of the strength of the Northern Territory King, had completely sided with the mansion of the Northern Territory King.


    As for Divine Miao Peak within the territory of the Southern Territory, it was the most detached, neither meddling in the affairs of the Southern Territory nor following the orders of the sovereign of the Divine Kingdom too closely, the most indifferent among the four major forces.


    The reason Ye Chen cared about Divine Miao Peak was that he had something entrusted to him by the old man Ku Du to deliver to the descendants of Divine Miao Peak.


    Originally, Ku Du had given Ye Chen two legacy beads, one cyan and one purple, and had him hand them over to the best-performing descendants of the Mu Mansion and Divine Miao Peak who participated in the assessments of the Nine Great Divine Institutes.


    This time, someone from the Mu Mansion had already come, and after the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes ended, Ye Chen could directly find the best performer to hand over the legacy bead, fulfilling Old Man Ku Du¡¯s trust.


    However, no one from Divine Miao Peak had come at all.


    If by the end of the assessment no one had come, then Ye Chen would have no chance to deliver the legacy bead to the people of Divine Miao Peak.


    This naturally made Ye Chen exceedingly attentive to Divine Miao Peak.


    "Senior East Territory King, will someone from Divine Miao Peak come this time?" In the end, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but quietly ask the East Territory King.


    "Divine Miao Peak?" Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s inquiry, a spark flashed in the eyes of the East Territory King.


    "Young Friend Ye Chen, your inquiry about Divine Miao Peak must have something to do with the old Southern Territory King."


    The East Territory King knew that Ye Chen had almost no chance of coming into contact with Divine Miao Peak. If he mentioned Divine Miao Peak now, it must be because of his encounter with Old Man Ku Du in the underwater palace.


    The East Territory King also knew that the old Southern Territory King had significant ties with a certain figure from Divine Miao Peak...


    "That Divine Miao Peak is enshrouded in mystery and is the least visible among the four major forces."


    "Brother Ye Chen, why have you become concerned with Divine Miao Peak?" the Little Provincial Princess curiously asked Ye Chen from the side.


    Ye Chen looked at the Little Provincial Princess and the East Territory King and gently smiled, "Originally, Old Man Ku Du entrusted me to deliver some items to the descendants of Divine Miao Peak. The chosen one is the person who performs best in this round of assessments at the Nine Great Divine Institutes."


    "However, if no one from Divine Miao Peak comes to the assessment, then I won¡¯t be able to fulfill Old Man Ku Du¡¯s trust."


    Ye Chen explained the situation to the Little Provincial Princess and the East Territory King.


    "I see!" the Little Provincial Princess nodded lightly.


    Then, she looked towards her father, the East Territory King, "Daddy, will someone from Divine Miao Peak come to the assessment this time? Do you know?"


    The East Territory King nodded to Ye Chen and said, "Young Friend Ye Chen, don¡¯t worry. In past assessments of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, Divine Miao Peak always sent ten female disciples to participate. This time should be no exception. Just wait a little longer."


    At the same time, the East Territory King also reminded Ye Chen through a private message, "Young Friend Ye Chen, be extremely careful with Divine Miao Peak, and do not make enemies with them."


    "Even though all of Divine Miao Peak¡¯s disciples are female, the kings of our four great provincial mansions are aware that the true strength of Divine Miao Peak is the first among the four forces, much stronger than Divine Dragon Mountain, Danxia Valley, and Tai Yun Heaven."


    "Divine Dragon Mountain can be provoked, but not Divine Miao Peak!" Discover exclusive tales on novelhall.Co?m


    "Because, unlike the other three forces, Divine Miao Peak has not just one Nine Stars Sovereign, but several!"


    "If it weren¡¯t for Divine Miao Peak¡¯s general policy of non-interference in the affairs of the Divine Kingdom, I¡¯m afraid the fame of Divine Miao Peak would be a thousand times more resounding!"


    Hearing the words of the East Territory King, Ye Chen was deeply shocked.


    Could Divine Miao Peak really be that formidable?!

 Chapter 733 - 685: The Assessment Begins

    While Ye Chen was speaking with the East Territory King and the Little Provincial Princess,


    Boom!


    Suddenly, the void violently shook, and a high rift in the far-off heavens was torn open, allowing yet another large group of people to emerge from the spacetime gap.


    Another batch of participants for the Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment had arrived!


    And merely from the imposing aura exhibited upon arrival, it was evident that this new group was far from ordinary.


    Ye Chen lifted his head to look at the newcomers.


    Upon seeing them, his eyes narrowed instantly.


    The leader of the group was none other than Qin Yuntian, the eight-starred Sovereign from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    The new arrivals were indeed from Divine Dragon Mountain!


    "The people from Divine Dragon Mountain are here too, three of the four major powers have arrived!"


    As hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain made their grand entry under the leadership of Qin Yuntian to the ancient battlefield outside the Divine Institutes, many people declared aloud.


    Upon arrival, Qin Yuntian¡¯s divine gaze swiftly fixed upon Ye Chen within the crowd.


    The killing intent in his eyes towards Ye Chen was undisguised.


    Frigid killing aura!


    This caused many in the assembly who knew of the enmity between Ye Chen and Divine Dragon Mountain to sweat profusely for Ye Chen.


    Having provoked one of the four major powers was indeed no trivial matter!


    Confronting the icy glare full of murderous intent from Qin Yuntian, Ye Chen merely sneered coldly, entirely unconcerned.


    With the deterrence of the "Sovereign Order," Qin Yuntian wouldn¡¯t dare touch him.


    If Qin Yuntian kept looking for trouble,


    Ye Chen firmly believed that one day he would make Qin Yuntian regret it!


    The East Territory King, standing nearby, caught Qin Yuntian¡¯s gaze and, with a sweep of his sleeve, stepped forward to stand beside Ye Chen.


    The East Territory King equally raised his voice towards Qin Yuntian, saying, "Brother Yuntian, I heard you¡¯ve been ardently cultivating your True Gods lately, but to think you¡¯re planning to trouble Ye Chen with them? I¡¯m afraid your schemes might be in vain!"


    The Territory King Mansion had always been at odds with Divine Dragon Mountain, so the East Territory King was not one to mince words with Qin Yuntian, who¡¯s plotting against Ye Chen could not escape his attention.


    Hearing the East Territory King¡¯s words and seeing Ye Chen¡¯s disregard, Qin Yuntian¡¯s gaze grew even colder.


    However, because of the "Sovereign Order," he could not make a move against Ye Chen, which intensified Qin Yuntian¡¯s frustration.


    "Kid." Finally, Qin Yuntian looked at Ye Chen and said with a cold laugh, "Just keep your arrogance for a while longer."


    "Once you fail to secure the first place in the Divine Institutes assessment and get imprisoned for ten thousand years, haha, I will visit you in your place of confinement to see your pitiful state!"


    If it had been an ordinary person addressed in such a manner by an eight-starred Sovereign of great power, they would probably not even dare breathe too loudly.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s expression remained unaffected.


    Instead, looking back at Qin Yuntian, Ye Chen said with a light smile, "Sovereign Qin need not go to such trouble."


    "As for the first place in the Divine Institutes assessment? Since I, Ye Chen, have promised to fulfill three requests, I will of course achieve it!"


    Hum!


    Ye Chen¡¯s boldness to speak back to an eight-starred Sovereign of great power shook the multitude of warriors present deeply.


    And hearing the implication in Ye Chen¡¯s words, many were startled: "My goodness, does Ye Chen truly have the confidence to seize the first place in the Divine Institutes assessment?"


    "Now, this is certainly going to be quite the spectacle!"


    The True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, standing behind Qin Yuntian, originally had no particular feelings regarding Ye Chen prior to arriving.


    They only knew that Ye Chen had slain their Qin Feng, marking him as an enemy of Divine Dragon Mountain.


    If it hadn¡¯t been for the "Sovereign Orders" from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, these True Gods believed that Ye Chen would likely have already met his demise at the hands of Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Yet.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen in person, seeing the East Territory King speaking up for him, and the Southern Territory King observing Ye Chen with a light chuckle,


    Not to mention Ye Chen¡¯s direct confrontation with their leader,


    The True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain even momentarily felt as though Ye Chen¡¯s demeanor was not that of a True God, but rather like a Sovereign himself¡ªone who could talk to their leader on equal terms without any fear.


    "My heavens, why do I feel this way?!"


    The True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain were inwardly shaking in shock.


    The clash between Ye Chen and Qin Yuntian sparked a wave of discussion across the region.


    However, this chatter did not persist for long because, as the time for the Divine Institutes assessment neared, one formidable figure after another continued to arrive.


    "Haha, what a lively scene! So many old fellows have come this time!"


    With a robust voice, the eight-starred Sovereign of great power, "Madman Mo," alongside his great-grandson "Mo Yuan," directly appeared in the void as well.


    "Sovereign Mo has arrived!"


    "I¡¯ve heard that Sovereign Mo¡¯s descendant, Mo Yuan, is a hot favorite to win the Divine Institutes assessment this time!"


    The buzzing discussions resounded around the edges of the ancient battlefield once again.


    Madman Mo was by no means an ordinary person, and of course, these discussions did not escape his ears.


    Having heard these words, Madman Mo also smugly stroked his beard.


    This time, he heard that the majestic families, including the capital and other forces, hadn¡¯t put forth any formidable True Gods to participate in the examination.


    The real core disciples of those traditional powers either had already taken the examination early and had entered into the nine godly academies,


    or they were still in the midst of training.


    Or, just like the Little Provincial Princess, they had not fully matured yet and merely thought of joining the nine godly academies without any intention of competing for first place.


    In such a scenario, Madman Mo had long since considered himself assured of the first place in this examination of the nine godly academies!


    "My dearest great-grandson, it¡¯s all on you now!" Madman Mo patted Mo Yuan¡¯s shoulder and burst into hearty laughter.


    The arrival of Madman Mo had sparked discussions that hadn¡¯t yet subsided when another eight-star Sovereign, Sovereign Tianyu, made an appearance.


    The progeny of "Sovereign Tianyu," Tianyu Beiling, was also a popular candidate to win the crown, igniting much discussion as well.


    Afterward, several more Sovereigns arrived with their descendants.


    Whenever a renowned True God from a divine kingdom arrived, it always led to a flurry of discussion.


    Your journey continues on novelhall.Co?m


    But the moment that truly brought the billions of martial artists to the peak of excitement was when the entourage from Divine Miao Peak, which Ye Chen had been eagerly awaiting, arrived!


    There were only eleven individuals from Divine Miao Peak this time, but their presence instantly hushed all martial artists.


    That¡¯s because among the eleven from Divine Miao Peak, whether it was the leading seven-star sovereign or the other ten True God maidens, all were rarely seen beauties!


    Many spectators were even exclaiming in their hearts, "I¡¯ve long heard that among the four major powers, Divine Miao Peak only recruits female disciples."


    "Moreover, every female disciple is an exceptionally beautiful personage in the world!"


    "Seeing them today proves the rumors indeed!"


    Yet those Sovereigns who truly knew the depth of Divine Miao Peak¡¯s foundation were scanning the faces of those ten female disciples.


    Because these Sovereigns knew, although Divine Miao Peak only sent ten female disciples to each nine academies examination, the results from past examinations showed that all female disciples from Divine Miao Peak had joined the nine academies!


    Such a one hundred percent success rate was a legend in the Divine Kingdom!


    Even more impressive was that the ten female disciples sent by Divine Miao Peak in each examination performed exceedingly well, even often capturing first place in the nine academies examination.


    And these individuals, even after joining the nine academies, were always among the best within the academies.


    Upon achieving Divine Venerable status, they would return to Divine Miao Peak for further cultivation!


    Such a mysterious and powerful Divine Miao Peak, of course, drew the attention of countless people!


    At this time, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze, too, was turned towards the ten True God maidens of Divine Miao Peak.


    Ye Chen saw that these True Goddesses seemed as if it was their first time leaving Divine Miao Peak, curiously observing the other martial artists around them.


    Ye Chen also noticed that among them were even two Four Tribulations True God little damsels, not much different in age from the Little Provincial Princess.


    "Four Tribulations True Gods also participating in the examination?"


    "However, Four Tribulations True Gods nurtured by the four major powers should also be strong."


    "Just like the Little Provincial Princess, who bade me farewell as a child and, leveraging the time flow speed of the Life Origin Wheel, broke through to Three Tribulations True God within a little over two years. Though just a Three Tribulations True God, the Little Provincial Princess has said for certain, she has the confidence to join the nine godly academies."


    Ye Chen thought as he looked at the two little damsels from Divine Miao Peak,


    Immediately afterward, Ye Chen cracked a smile, "I wonder who among these ten will perform the best."


    "No matter, now that the people from Divine Miao Peak have also arrived, there will definitely be someone among these ten who is the strongest."


    "I¡¯ll wait for the final result, and at that time, I will entrust the Inheritance Pearl, as bequeathed by my elder Suffering, to the strongest among them."


    After the arrival of those from Divine Miao Peak, the contestants from the four major forces, the four Territory King Mansions, and the capital¡ªthese traditional, powerful forces¡ªhad all arrived!


    And the rest of the participants arrived in succession.


    As if knowing everyone had gathered, at that moment, everyone finally saw the arrival of the leading figures of this examination of the nine godly academies.


    They awaited the arrival of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King!


    Boom!


    When the exceptionally dignified "Northern Territory King" and "Sovereign Xuechen" arrived, everyone within the nine academies area stood up in unison and bowed towards Sovereign Xuechen!


    Even the Sovereigns from the four major forces and Territory King Mansions, as well as the eight-star Sovereign from the capital, watched the Northern Territory King with solemn and somewhat respectful expressions, greeting him with a fist and palm salute!


    Even the ever-arrogant leader of Divine Dragon Mountain, Qin Yuntian, narrowed his eyes when he saw the Northern Territory King and was the first to bow deeply!


    Boom!


    This scene filled Ye Chen with surging passion!


    "Is this the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen?"


    "When will the day come that I, Ye Chen, can be like the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen?"


    Ye Chen gazed at the two Sovereigns above in the void, who seemed like the Nine Heavens Goddess, taking a deep breath, his eyes shining brightly!


    However, the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen swept their gazes over the millions in the crowd, and finally, their eyes rested on Ye Chen¡¯s face.


    The two Sovereigns didn¡¯t say anything to Ye Chen, only surveying him for a few moments before shifting their gazes away.


    Then, with a wave of Sovereign Xuechen¡¯s hand, his voice spread all around, "The examination of the nine godly academies shall now officially begin!"

 Chapter 734 - 686: The Great Elimination Match

    Boom!


    When Sovereign Xuechen announced the start of the divine institutes¡¯ grand selection, the tens of millions of true gods about to participate were all instantly invigorated!


    "It¡¯s started!"


    "The grand selection of the nine divine institutes is finally beginning!"


    "Whether we can join the nine divine institutes or not will all come down to this!"


    Initially, because Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had briefly laid their gazes on everyone, it just happened to linger on Ye Chen for a few breaths, which made many people take notice of Ye Chen once again.


    But after Sovereign Xuechen declared the start of the selection, everyone had no energy left to pay attention to Ye Chen¡ªthey were fully preoccupied with the forthcoming trials of the nine divine institutes¡¯ grand selection!


    Following Sovereign Xuechen¡¯s announcement, a six-star sovereign who was responsible for recruiting new disciples for this event flew out from the group of nine divine institutes.


    This six-star sovereign first bowed towards Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, and after seeing them nod in his direction, he then turned to address everyone else.


    "I will be overseeing this grand selection of the nine divine institutes," said the six-star sovereign.


    Upon hearing his voice, everyone in the venue knew that this six-star sovereign was about to announce the specific details on how the selection would proceed.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, the true gods from various powers, the lower-ranking gods present for the selection, loner juniors like Mo Yuan and Tianyu Beiling, along with the multitude of martial artists who had come to send them off or watch the grand selection, all turned their attention to the six-star sovereign, eager to learn about the rules of the selection he would announce.


    This six-star sovereign didn¡¯t keep them in suspense, stating directly, "The overall number of rounds in this grand selection of the nine divine institutes for recruiting new disciples remains the same as in previous times, though there have been slight changes in the specific methods."


    "The selection will still be conducted in four rounds!"


    "The first round will be a ¡¯Battle Royale¡¯!"


    "I won¡¯t disclose how the following three rounds will be conducted for now; the details will be announced after the first round is over."


    "Now, let me explain the rules of this ¡¯Battle Royale¡¯!"


    Battle Royale?!


    Upon hearing these four words spoken by the six-star sovereign, everyone except for a very few individuals from the nine divine institutes, who knew the specifics of the selection, were baffled.


    However, the tens of millions of true gods like Ye Chen, who were about to participate in the selection, could tell from merely these four words that the first round would likely eliminate a significant number of gods.


    Otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be called a battle royale!


    As everyone speculated, the six-star sovereign continued, "Due to the sheer number of participants in the nine divine institutes¡¯ grand selection, there are a total of fifty-six million, seven thousand seven hundred and forty-nine true gods taking part!"


    "However, all nine divine institutes combined will only select nine thousand disciples this time."


    "Therefore, in the first round ¡¯Battle Royale,¡¯ a vast majority will be eliminated to facilitate the following selection process."


    "The rule is simple: all participating true gods will be randomly teleported to various locations within the ¡¯First Ancient Battlefield,¡¯ a shattered remnant of the ancient battlefield used for the selection."


    "The fifty-six million participating true gods will spend seven days within the First Ancient Battlefield."


    "Each participant will possess one ¡¯Protective Talisman¡¯."


    "During these seven days, you may engage in battle and eliminate each other. As soon as you unleash a life-and-death move powerful enough to kill your opponent, the Protective Talisman will activate, defending the contender from a fatal blow for once, while simultaneously, the defeated will be teleported out and eliminated from the selection!"


    "Besides battling each other, every day, a great number of monstrous beasts and ancient creatures will emerge within the First Ancient Battlefield to hunt the participants. As the seven days progress, the creatures that appear will become increasingly formidable."


    "Should you be attacked by one of these mythical beasts or ancient creatures and lack the strength to defend, finding yourself in a deathly crisis, the Protective Talisman will also fend off a fatal attack once and you will be eliminated!"


    "In summary, these seven days will essentially be a great culling among the contenders."


    "Those who manage to survive until the end of the seven days without being eliminated will progress to the next round of the selection!"


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    "Of course, this battle royale has an additional rule, which is that if any participant succeeds in eliminating a hundred others in combat, they will immediately pass the first round. They won¡¯t need to last for seven days but will be directly teleported out of the First Ancient Battlefield to the staging area for the second round¡ªthe Second Ancient Battlefield!"


    "Therefore, during the battle royale, you have to either survive seven days without being eliminated by others or by the monstrous beasts and ancient creatures, waiting for time to pass and proceed through the selection. Or, you can directly eliminate a hundred opponents and pass through the selection immediately."


    "Also, participants, I must remind you. Once you enter the selection area, all items of external aid will become ineffective. You can rely only on your own combat strength and the Life-bound Magic Treasure that you have personally cultivated. So, don¡¯t even think about relying on talismans or other objects from your elders to pass the selection. The only thing you can count on is yourselves!"


    "The above are the rules for the first round ¡¯Battle Royale¡¯!"


    Boom!


    After the six-star sovereign finished announcing the rules for the first round, the crowd immediately erupted into a chorus of voices!


    Obviously, the chances of being eliminated in this battle royale were huge.


    The participants could directly engage in combat to eliminate one another, and if anyone managed to eliminate a hundred opponents, they would advance to the second round.


    This would inevitably lead to the stronger participants hunting down the weaker true gods in a frenzy to quickly move on to the second round.


    In such circumstances, even with tens of millions of true gods participating in the selection, it¡¯s likely that several million or even tens of millions could be eliminated in an instant!


    With the relentless attacks of monsters and ancient beasts getting stronger, I fear that after the first round of the grand elimination match, those who can advance to the second round will be significantly reduced!


    "Grand elimination match!"


    At this moment, upon hearing the rules of this first round of assessment, the leader of Divine Dragon Mountain, Qin Yuntian¡¯s eyes shone brightly, "As expected, although this first round of assessment is different from past methods, the essence is the same, it¡¯s about eliminating a large number of people first!"


    "The assessors can directly engage in lethal combat, huh, this time, there are several hundred true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain participating in the assessment. I want to see how Ye Chen can escape the encirclement and fight against our true gods!"


    Thinking of this, Qin Yuntian immediately transmitted instructions to the true gods of Divine Dragon Mountain about to participate in the assessment, arranging their strategy against Ye Chen.


    While Qin Yuntian was arranging his plans, other Divine Venerable Sovereigns also started to instruct their juniors.


    Some Divine Venerable Sovereigns directly told their juniors to be cautious, to stealthily hide and not exert too much strength, with the main goal being to safely get through the seven days of the assessment.


    Others asked their juniors to quickly eliminate one hundred opponents to advance to the second round as soon as possible!


    For true gods like Mo Yuan and Tianyu Beiling, who were hot favorites to win the championship, hearing the rules of the first round of the grand elimination match didn¡¯t worry them in the least.


    Their goal was to join the nine great divine institutes and to take the most prestigious first place. With a total of four rounds of assessments, this was just the first one¡ªthey of course had no worries at all!


    "Heh heh, eliminate a hundred opponents to advance to the next round?"


    "Isn¡¯t that as easy as reaching out and taking it?"


    "Let¡¯s see who¡¯s unlucky enough to be near me then."


    Mo Yuan chuckled lightly, clenching his fist, muttering to himself.


    Tianyu Beiling¡¯s gaze flashed, thinking to himself, "It¡¯s a pity, once someone has eliminated a hundred opponents, they will be transported to the next round area. A hundred is just too few."


    "If there was no limit to the number of eliminations, I would have eliminated tens of thousands in this first round alone!"


    Tianyu Beiling was indeed full of bluster.


    As he pondered, Tianyu Beiling¡¯s gaze once again turned towards Ye Chen, "Ye Chen keeps saying that he wants to take first place in the assessment of the nine great divine institutes?"


    "Hmph, once we enter the grand elimination match, I might not be in a hurry to eliminate the others. It could be quite interesting to seek out Ye Chen. If I eliminate him in the first round, that would be very amusing..."


    At the end of his thoughts, Tianyu Beiling couldn¡¯t help but raise an eyebrow slightly.


    In the area where Ye Chen was located.


    "Young friend Ye Chen, with unrestricted lethal combat in this grand elimination match, Qin Yuntian will probably arrange for the true gods of Divine Dragon Mountain to target you for assassination," said the East Territory King.


    "One-on-one I¡¯m not worried, but I fear it would be dangerous if they banded together against you."


    "How about, once we enter the assessment area, the true gods from my East Territory King¡¯s mansion will look for you immediately? That way, you can act together."


    The East Territory King suggested to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled and shook his head, "Elder East Territory King, there¡¯s no need for such trouble."


    Having said that, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze directly fell on the Divine Dragon Mountain area, "Those people from Divine Dragon Mountain daring to besiege me is pretty good too¡ªlet them come without return!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s assertive words made the East Territory King¡¯s eyes light up.


    Clearly, the East Territory King saw that Ye Chen had a lot of confidence.


    "It appears that young friend Ye Chen has already given it thought, that¡¯s good." The East Territory King laughed, "It¡¯s also good for you to act alone. Your actions this time will definitely draw intense attention from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King. If you rely on others from the first round, I¡¯m afraid you¡¯ll be seen as having fallen short in front of the two Sovereigns."


    "I believe young friend Ye Chen will surely make it through this first round!"


    Ye Chen himself was not worried about making it through the first round.


    If he couldn¡¯t even pass the first round, then all the hard training from the past days would have been in vain, not to mention competing for the first place in the nine great divine institutes¡¯ assessment!


    Ye Chen dared to speak of taking first place because he had absolute confidence!


    This was his absolute self-confidence after countless years of hard cultivation and turning innumerable opportunities into battle power!


    He wasn¡¯t worried about himself, but Ye Chen was somewhat concerned about the Little Provincial Princess.


    After all, the Little Provincial Princess was still very young, only fourteen years old, and was just a Three Tribulations true god.


    Even having witnessed the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s talent and combat power in Minor Pole Sky, Ye Chen couldn¡¯t help but worry.


    Ye Chen looked towards the Little Provincial Princess and asked, "Luo¡¯er, you won¡¯t have any problems with the first round of the grand elimination match, will you?"


    The Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo, seeing Ye Chen¡¯s worried expression, giggled, "Brother Ye Chen, you don¡¯t need to worry about me. Although I can¡¯t use my father¡¯s talismans during the assessment, my own combat strength is not weak at all."


    "I¡¯m still looking forward to making it to the final round with Brother Ye Chen!"

 Chapter 735 - 687: Siege

    Seeing Little Provincial Princess¡¯s confident demeanor, Ye Chen also smiled and felt at ease.


    The most indifferent within the crowd were the people from Divine Miao Peak.


    The leading Divine Venerable of Divine Miao Peak didn¡¯t even bother to explain anything to the ten True God maidens he had brought for the assessment.


    And those ten True God maidens weren¡¯t worried at all, just quietly waiting for the time to enter the assessment land to come.


    The six-star Sovereign in charge of presiding over this assessment of the nine major divine institutes seemed to specifically leave some time to let the various Divine Venerables give their juniors some final advice.


    After waiting for the time it takes an incense stick to burn, he finally spoke, "Alright, now, the first round of the grand elimination begins!"


    "All True Gods who have received the participation tokens for the inspection of the nine great divine institutes, take out your tokens. I will distribute ¡¯Protective Talismans¡¯ to safeguard you, and then, you will be teleported into the ancient battlefield to start the assessment!"


    Hearing the words of this six-star Sovereign, the tens of millions of True Gods in the arena took out their assessment tokens.


    Ye Chen flipped his hand, and a token engraved with the image of nine mountain ranges appeared in his palm.


    Looking at the token for the assessment of the nine divine institutes, Ye Chen recalled the events that took place in the Undersea Divine Palace.


    It was in the Undersea Divine Palace where he obtained the Eye of the Divine Sea and then received this assessment token.


    At that time, the old man Bitu told Ye Chen he hoped Ye Chen could use this token to join any of the nine divine institutes, and if he could join the Supreme Divine Institute, that would be truly excellent.


    Now, not only did Ye Chen want to join the Supreme Divine Institute, but he also aimed to compete for first place in the assessment of the nine divine institutes.


    The vicissitudes of life couldn¡¯t help but make Ye Chen feel contemplative.


    After swiftly recalling the various memories of the Undersea Divine Palace, Ye Chen looked up, his eyes shining brightly at the six-star Sovereign.


    Since the assessment of the nine divine institutes was about to begin,


    Let¡¯s confront it with earnest!


    As Ye Chen looked at this six-star Sovereign, the tens of millions of True Gods who had taken out their assessment tokens also turned their gaze toward him.


    It was then that the six-star Sovereign brought out a glittering golden token, pinching a magic formula with both hands. The golden token burst into the void.


    What followed was an unbelievable scene.


    The golden token kept spinning in the void, astonishingly shooting out one small token after another.


    As soon as these small tokens appeared, they flew towards the tens of millions of True Gods in the arena holding assessment tokens.


    These small tokens were precisely the ¡¯Protective Talismans¡¯ the six-star Sovereign spoke of, which could help the assesses withstand a life-or-death attack during the examination!


    When Ye Chen received the Protective Talisman in his hand and looked up again at the golden token floating in the void, he couldn¡¯t help but be shocked.


    This golden token, capable of transforming into tens of millions of Protective Talismans, was simply an astonishment to the extreme!


    Most likely, this golden token was an unbelievable item from the heavens!


    Ye Chen had two things related to heavenly items on him.


    One was the "Star Blue Divine Garment" forged from the embryonic form of a heavenly item, and the other was the genuine heavenly item "Blue Extreme Iceflame" hidden within his dantian!


    Just as Ye Chen was about to scrutinize this golden token, which was very probably a heavenly item, the little Protective Talisman he had just received in his hand suddenly emitted a blinding light, enveloping his entire being within it.


    Suddenly, Ye Chen knew that the moment to enter the assessment land had arrived!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Indeed, just like Ye Chen, the others who received Protective Talismans also had their talismans emitting blinding light, enveloping them incrementally.


    In the end, all fifty million True Gods participating in the assessment of the nine divine institutes were shrouded in light.


    Then, with a sudden loud "hum," those fifty million True Gods all turned into streaks of light flying towards the distant, sealed assessment land¡ªthe shattered ancient battlefield!


    When they saw that the True Gods had finally officially started the assessment, the hundreds of millions of martial artists remaining in the venue also became solemn.


    They knew that the results of the assessment would start to emerge bit by bit!


    At this moment, the most prestigious Northern Territory King in the venue waved his hand, and a giant screen suddenly appeared above the heavens.


    This huge screen even projected the entire assessment land completely.


    As long as one¡¯s divine sense entered the screen, one could even see every detail of the assesses during the assessment!


    With a flip of his hand, he arranged the spatial projection.


    The projection of the void actually synced with the scenes of the assessment field!


    This mighty divine power was truly astonishing!


    However, everyone was too preoccupied to be shocked by the Northern Territory King¡¯s divine power as they immersed their divine senses into the screen, seeking out the assesses they cared about.


    The East Territory King in the screen was looking for the Little Provincial Princess, Ye Chen, and the various True Gods from the East Territory King Mansion.


    The Southern Territory King was concerned about the True Gods from the Southern Territory King Mansion being assessed.


    Then there were the four major forces, the capitals of divine nations, other Territory King Mansions, and Great Powers of Loose Cultivators...


    Everyone was engrossed in observing the assessments of the assesses.


    After setting up the spatial screen, the Northern Territory King exchanged a glance with Sovereign Xuechen; their divine eyes barely probed before focusing on one figure.


    This figure was none other than Ye Chen, who had just been teleported into the First Ancient Battlefield!


    ...


    The First Ancient Battlefield was a vast and desolate expanse of heaven and earth.


    This realm was so immense that even if Ye Chen¡¯s lower realm¡¯s thirty-three continents and the Minor Spirit Realm were added together, it would still dwarf them by a considerable margin!


    The sky of this realm was even more bizarre, as it displayed an eerie blood color.


    Boom!


    A figure emerged amidst divine light and landed squarely in a particular spot on the western side of the First Ancient Battlefield.


    This figure, adorned in the garb of Divine Dragon Mountain, was startlingly a True God of Divine Dragon Mountain.


    "The Lord said we should first assemble at ¡¯Qi Blood Mountain¡¯ in the First Ancient Battlefield, then use my cultivated ¡¯Snow Wheel Divine Eye¡¯ to find Ye Chen¡¯s traces and kill him and eliminate him from the competition!"


    "For now, let¡¯s meet up with the others!"


    After muttering to himself, the True God surveyed his surroundings, discerned the direction, and sped through the void towards the eastern part of the ancient battlefield.


    Like this True God, the several hundred True Gods of Divine Dragon Mountain who had entered the First Ancient Battlefield, though scattered in various locations, all converged towards the same direction once they settled.


    As the members of Divine Dragon Mountain prepared to unite and confront Ye Chen, the other True Gods who had been transmitted to the First Ancient Battlefield also began to take action.


    Some were directly seeking hidden places, preparing to conceal themselves well during these seven days, so they wouldn¡¯t be killed by others.


    Others, with a glint in their eye and a cold smile, started sensing the presence of others, ready to begin eliminating the other examinees.


    And as tens of millions of examinees were transported to the First Ancient Battlefield, the entire ancient battlefield suddenly shook with a thunderous noise.


    Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!


    Afterward, as if a hidden gate had opened, a torrent of True God level and lower God King level ancient beasts and monstrous creatures flew out from the blood-colored sky above the ancient battlefield, shooting towards different parts of the battlefield.


    The first day of the ancient beast hunting trial for examinees had officially begun!


    While the undercurrents surged throughout the entire First Ancient Battlefield, Ye Chen was sitting serenely on top of a giant mountain within the ancient battlefield.


    The first round of massive elimination, a seven-day trial.


    Ye Chen truly had no interest in eliminating a hundred opponents directly to advance into the next zone.


    After all, Ye Chen knew that for many True Gods who came to take the exam, opportunities did not come by easily.


    If others didn¡¯t initiate conflict with him, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t go out of his way to confront others and cause them to lose their chance at the trial.


    Since the first round of the trial didn¡¯t involve ranking, it was sufficient just to pass safely.


    What Ye Chen had in mind was to cultivate in peace on this giant mountain where he had been transported, and smoothly get through the seven days of the trial.


    If someone attacked him during this time, he wouldn¡¯t mind teaching them a lesson.


    As for the attack of the monstrous ancient beasts, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t too concerned about it either.


    "This Ye Chen..."


    "Just sitting there like that? He¡¯s not planning to hunt down the other examinees?"


    Outside the trial site, many were paying attention to Ye Chen¡¯s actions through the projection screen.


    After all, Ye Chen was too famous, prompting many to involuntarily want to see how he would act.


    When they saw that Ye Chen was simply sitting without taking any action, many were taken aback.


    "Just sitting there, neither hiding nor actively eliminating others, this... could it be that Ye Chen has the confidence to safely pass the first round of elimination?!"


    These onlookers also noticed the movements of the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, who were rumored to have grievances against Ye Chen.


    When they saw the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain spread out across different regions of the First Ancient Battlefield all converging towards the same direction, and later, one of them seemingly discovered Ye Chen¡¯s location and led these hundreds of True Gods towards where Ye Chen was, many of those watching Ye Chen gasped in shock.


    "My God, those hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain are actually moving together, all headed for Ye Chen."


    "Could it be... could it be that they plan to jointly ambush Ye Chen?!"


    "Good heavens, Ye Chen is just a True God of the eighth calamity. If he gets ambushed by hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, he would definitely be eliminated!"


    "Given the enmity between Divine Dragon Mountain and Ye Chen, they will surely confront him, yet he still sits there calmly. Does Ye Chen not have any sense of vigilance, or does he have the means to confront all crises?"


    "Yet, to withstand the ambush of hundreds of True Gods with Ye Chen¡¯s level, it¡¯s simply impossible!"


    Many began to worry about Ye Chen¡¯s safety.


    Qin Yuntian, who had been closely watching the movements of the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, chuckled coldly when he saw Ye Chen simply sitting at the teleportation site without taking any action, while his own True Gods were swarming towards Ye Chen: "This Ye Chen must be out of his mind."


    "The True Gods under my command, especially the likes of Qin Wu, could even combat Middle God Kings, let alone hundreds added together¡ªmany Upper God Kings might not be able to withstand them even if they wanted to face a hundred at once!" Continue your journey on novelhall.Co?m


    "Ye Chen has no chance of escape, and yet he dares to sit so openly? He simply doesn¡¯t know how to write the word ¡¯death¡¯!"


    "It¡¯s a pity that due to the Body-protecting Talisman, I can¡¯t kill him directly, and can only eliminate him at most."


    Qin Yuntian¡¯s eyes flickered.


    "Hmph, let¡¯s eliminate him, then. Being eliminated on the very first of the three great requirements and during the first round of evaluation is embarrassing enough for him!"


    Thinking of this, Qin Yuntian turned his gaze towards Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, who had set the three requirements for Ye Chen.


    However, Qin Yuntian saw that Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King were watching the projection screen with an utterly unflustered demeanor, even as they saw the host of Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s True Gods moving to ambush Ye Chen.

 Chapter 736 - 688: Kick Them All Out

    "Are the two of you, by any chance, not the least bit concerned about whether Ye Chen will be eliminated or not?"


    "Or is it that you simply don¡¯t care that Ye Chen is about to be besieged by hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, confident that Ye Chen has a way to deal with it?"


    Seeing that both Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King showed no trace of emotion, Qin Yuntian was also startled.


    He could not fathom the thoughts of the two Sovereigns.


    Unable to guess, Qin Yuntian was unwilling to ponder any further, "Hmph, anyway, the ¡¯Sovereign Order¡¯ only restricts Divine Venerables from acting against Ye Chen, not Lower God Kings and True Gods. I¡¯ve sent these hundreds of True Gods to assassinate Ye Chen, which doesn¡¯t violate the ¡¯Sovereign Order¡¯ nor the rules of this grand elimination competition."


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    "I¡¯d like to see if Ye Chen has extraordinary abilities to deal with this!"


    After his gaze turned cold, Qin Yuntian continued to focus on the screen.


    Inside the First Ancient Battlefield.


    Hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain moved en masse through the ancient battlefield terrain, heading toward Ye Chen¡¯s location with murderous intent.


    Originally, tens of millions of True Gods participating in the assessment were scattered upon being teleported to the First Ancient Battlefield, with only a few True Gods in many areas.


    To gather hundreds of people to act together was indeed a remarkable sight.


    Along the way, quite a few True Gods saw this overwhelming crowd from Divine Dragon Mountain and were frightened enough to flee hastily.


    It¡¯s a joke to treat the grand elimination competition lightly!


    Once they were besieged by these hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, they would undoubtedly have no chance to escape and would be directly eliminated.


    This, of course, filled them with immense fear!


    Only after fleeing far away and realizing that these hundreds of True Gods were not pursuing them, and didn¡¯t seem to be after them, did those fleeing True Gods stop, still with lingering fear.


    "What¡¯s going on?!"


    "Isn¡¯t it that everyone¡¯s position is random after being teleported in, scattering everyone, so how did so many True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain gather together?"


    "With such a murderous drive moving forward, could it be that they are targeting someone?"


    These True Gods immediately thought of someone.


    They thought of Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s archenemy.


    Ye Chen!


    "Could it be that these hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain have come together to besiege Ye Chen? They march directly forward; have they discovered Ye Chen¡¯s tracks?"


    "My god, with hundreds of True Gods acting together, Ye Chen would have no chance of escaping."


    "If the hot favorite to win, Ye Chen, is eliminated in the first round of the ¡¯grand elimination competition,¡¯ that would truly be earth-shattering!"


    With this thought, these True Gods could not contain their curiosity.


    Though they didn¡¯t dare to follow closely behind the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, many kept their distance behind, eager to see if Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s True Gods were really heading to confront Ye Chen.


    "Hmm? So many True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain are acting together?"


    "It seems I¡¯m not the only one looking for Ye Chen; Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s people are also searching for him."


    "I heard that among the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain who came to the assessment this time, there is one who has cultivated a special divine eye technique. It seems they¡¯ve discovered Ye Chen¡¯s whereabouts."


    Atop a huge mountain, the hot favorite Tianyu Beiling peered from the peak at Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s group flying in the distance, narrowing his eyes.


    Before entering the First Ancient Battlefield, Tianyu Beiling had already thought about eliminating Ye Chen outright.


    He certainly would not miss such a spectacle.


    "It¡¯s a pity I said I would personally take action and kick Ye Chen out of the competition myself."


    "Seems like with hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain taking action, there¡¯s no need for me to intervene anymore."


    With a sneer, Tianyu Beiling took off, following behind the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, moving quickly toward the direction where Ye Chen was located.


    Tianyu Beiling had gathered quite a bit of information and surely knew the strength of the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Although he considered those hundreds of True Gods insignificant, either in one-on-one or one-vs-many scenarios,


    if it were really hundreds of True Gods coming together to besiege him, even he would not dare to claim a certain escape.


    Tianyu Beiling was even more convinced that Ye Chen absolutely could not escape!


    Tens of millions of miles, millions of miles, tens of thousands of miles...


    Getting closer.


    The group from Divine Dragon Mountain was drawing nearer to the mountain where Ye Chen was meditating.


    At this time, many other martial artists watching the grand elimination competition outside also noticed the unusual situation on the screen.


    After all, in other areas, many assessors were moving on their own, either fighting against each other or facing the fierce ancient beasts and demons that had emerged.


    Yet there was such a large group, heading straight forward incessantly, which naturally attracted a lot of attention.


    And when they saw that all of those flying in front belonged to Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s True Gods and that far ahead of the direction these True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain were heading was Ye Chen, these viewers of the competition were shocked.


    Everyone understood that these people were likely targeting Ye Chen!


    "Heavens."


    "Ye Chen may be about to be eliminated!"


    "Rumors say that Divine Dragon Mountain has a grudge against Ye Chen. I didn¡¯t expect that right at the start of the assessment, during the first round of the grand elimination competition, Divine Dragon Mountain would target Ye Chen!"


    The martial artists watching the assessment felt their hearts hanging in suspense.


    The movement of a True God is incredibly fast.


    Let alone those who could participate in the examination of the nine great god academies.


    Not long after the outside crowd sensed something was amiss, the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain had already traversed tens of thousands of miles in the blink of an eye and arrived around the giant mountain where Ye Chen was located.


    And just when this group got within a few hundred miles of Ye Chen¡¯s surroundings, Ye Chen, who had been meditating, suddenly opened his eyes.


    "Hmm, the people from Divine Dragon Mountain really can¡¯t sit still, can they?"


    Although his eyes were open, Ye Chen¡¯s expression remained completely undisturbed, as he looked with interest in the direction of the people coming from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    In that instant, hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain had already appeared, completely surrounding Ye Chen.


    Originally, the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain thought that when Ye Chen realized he was being attacked, he would be scared into fleeing, or at least turn pale with fear.


    These people never anticipated that Ye Chen would remain completely unfazed, as if he regarded their encirclement as nothing at all.


    However, despite the surprise, the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain had no intention of letting Ye Chen go.


    The leader among them, a Nine Tribulations True God, immediately shouted at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you¡¯re already aware of our purpose for coming here, aren¡¯t you?"


    "So don¡¯t bother resisting, just obediently let us eliminate you from the competition!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As the leading Nine Tribulations True God was speaking, the other True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain also released their Divine Power explosively, each of them looking at Ye Chen with a slight sneer.


    Clearly, with hundreds of them surrounding Ye Chen, they felt completely confident that eliminating Ye Chen would be a piece of cake.


    As the Divine Power of these hundreds of True Gods surged and the leading True God spoke with bluster, Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged, shook his head and stood up.


    Ye Chen looked at the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain and said indifferently, "Out of you more than three hundred people, which hundred have the strongest combat power?"


    Hm?


    What does he mean?


    Not only were the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain confused, but even other True Gods who were observing from afar didn¡¯t understand what Ye Chen meant.


    Seeing their puzzled looks, Ye Chen laughed and said, "In this grand elimination tournament, each person can only eliminate up to a hundred people before being transported to the next round."


    "As much as I would like to eliminate you all, unfortunately, there are only a hundred spots. I certainly have to pick some of the stronger ones among you to kick out!"


    Whoosh.


    Ye Chen¡¯s words made the expressions of the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain turn dark, looking extremely unpleasant.


    They had come to slay Ye Chen expecting to see him begging for mercy, but they didn¡¯t expect Ye Chen to be even more arrogant, complaining that there weren¡¯t enough elimination spots and that he could only eliminate a hundred of them.


    "Has Ye Chen lost his mind?"


    "Thinking about eliminating us? It¡¯s utterly preposterous!"


    The True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain were seething with rage, wishing they could tear Ye Chen to pieces right then and there!


    The other True Gods who were there just for the thrill were simultaneously amused and astonished by Ye Chen¡¯s nonchalance.


    Had they been in his place, surrounded by hundreds of True Gods, they surely wouldn¡¯t have dared to speak so freely, let alone talk about eliminating their opponents.


    Wasn¡¯t this adding fuel to the fire, infuriating the other side even more?


    Up in the void, Tianyu Beiling, who had also come and was hiding, heard Ye Chen¡¯s words and let out a cold laugh, "What a big talker!"


    "It seems Ye Chen is even more arrogant than I am!"


    "I wouldn¡¯t dare claim I could choose whom to eliminate among the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain; he even dares to pick his opponents?"


    "I want to see if his skills are as formidable as his boasts!"


    At that moment, the leader among the Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s True Gods, the Nine Tribulations True God who had spoken earlier, was deeply provoked by Ye Chen¡¯s words.


    He didn¡¯t want to waste any more words on Ye Chen.


    "Attack, and eliminate him right now!"


    With a powerful shout, the Nine Tribulations True God burst forth with combat power that seemed to equal that of many Middle God Kings.


    The other True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain who were already eager to strike also unleashed their killing force.


    Hundreds of streams of killing force came alive in an instant, blasting towards Ye Chen at the center of the encirclement!


    Hundreds of True Gods took action together, with many of them possessing combat power at the levels of Lower God Kings and Middle God Kings. All their combined forces instantly shattered the mountain at the center where Ye Chen was into nothingness.


    And the next moment, all that killing force had reached right in front of Ye Chen!


    This fearsome killing force would likely have shattered a considerable part of an ordinary Star Continent if it had been in the outside world.


    "Ye Chen is finished!"


    As the terrifying power of hundreds of killing forces surged toward Ye Chen, many of the onlookers exclaimed in shock.


    But the next moment, their voices abruptly stopped.


    Their eyes nearly popped out in astonishment!


    They saw Ye Chen wave his sleeve, and a myriad of divine lights burst from his body. These rays of divine light instantly blocked all the hundreds of killing forces capable of shattering a Star Continent, even reflecting those powers back at their owners!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    A few True Gods were even unexpectedly blasted tens of thousands of zhang away by the rebounding killing force, nearly being eliminated on the spot!


    This turn of events drastically changed the expressions of the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain!


    And what shocked these hundreds of True Gods even more was hearing Ye Chen¡¯s indifferent voice continue to speak, "Let¡¯s kick out the first one."


    "It¡¯ll be you!"


    The True Gods saw Ye Chen aim at their leading Nine Tribulations True God, Qin Wu, whose combat power could rival a Middle God King, and strike him head-on.


    Then, to the astonishment of the True Gods, something unbelievable happened.


    Qin Wu, whom many of them looked up to, was suddenly grabbed out of thin air by Ye Chen like a little chick and held in his hand.


    Next, with a loud "boom", Qin Wu let out a wretched scream as his body emitted a protective divine light and he was directly eliminated from the competition.


    Qin Wu didn¡¯t even withstand a single blow before he was kicked out of the First Ancient Battlefield by Ye Chen!


    The hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, along with the other spectators and even Tianyu Beiling, hadn¡¯t recovered from their shock at the stunning sight.


    Yet Ye Chen¡¯s voice continued, "Eliminated, next!"

 Chapter 737 - 689: The Entire Venue Shook

    ```


    Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen moved again, and the next moment, another powerful Divine from Divine Dragon Mountain had his Protective Talisman directly shaken out, becoming the second person Ye Chen kicked out of the First Ancient Battlefield.


    The second person, eliminated!


    Although the hundreds of Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain didn¡¯t say who among them was stronger, after their attack on Ye Chen, he had already discerned the varying strengths among these individuals.


    Having consecutively eliminated two people, Ye Chen certainly didn¡¯t soft-pedal.


    In the blink of an eye, Ye Chen eliminated another five Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain one after another.


    In just three or four breaths of time, Ye Chen had eliminated seven major Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Moreover, these seven Divines were the strongest among the hundreds from Divine Dragon Mountain who had come!


    This turn of events completely horrified those from Divine Dragon Mountain who had attempted to besiege Ye Chen, nearly causing them to faint.


    They had originally thought that after surrounding and eliminating Ye Chen, they would continue with the selection exams of the nine divine institutes. They had never imagined that even with hundreds of them attacking Ye Chen, they couldn¡¯t cause him the slightest injury. On the contrary, it was Ye Chen who instantly eliminated seven of their top experts!


    And those seven experts had no power to resist or fight back against Ye Chen at all!


    This development caused the hearts of the remaining Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain to pound wildly in fear.


    In their hearts they cried out, how could they continue with the selection exams? They¡¯d be lucky not to be kicked out by Ye Chen in this grand elimination!


    "Eliminated, the eighth person!"


    As Ye Chen¡¯s figure burst forth again, aiming to kick out another Divine from Divine Dragon Mountain, the remaining Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain scattered in terror.


    None of them wanted to be the eighth person kicked out of the Ancient Battlefield.


    After all, once kicked out of the Ancient Battlefield, their examination for the nine divine institutes would be completely over!


    "Run!"


    "Run quickly, this Ye Chen is too formidable!"


    "We¡¯re no match for him at all!"


    Although the Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain had no idea how Ye Chen had managed to block the combined attack of hundreds of them, just from Ye Chen¡¯s defensive strength and his dreadful attack power, these Divines knew if they didn¡¯t flee, they would be kicked out of the exams just the same.


    They certainly didn¡¯t want to sit still for death.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the situation reversed.


    The hundreds of Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain who had come with great momentum to besiege Ye Chen now found themselves terrified and desperately fleeing in all directions!


    "Thinking of escaping?"


    "Too late!"


    Seeing the hundreds of Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain fleeing, Ye Chen softly uttered four words.


    Ye Chen certainly wasn¡¯t going to let the Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain get away easily.


    They thought they could just come and kill him, and then flee when they wanted to?


    What did they take Ye Chen for?!


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen uttered the four words, his body was suddenly enveloped in endless divine light, and amid the light, an earth-shattering sword chant emanated from him.


    When this sword chant sounded, the space for hundreds of miles around vibrated.


    This vibration not only caused the fleeing Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain to become instantly dizzy in mind and weak in body, their True Qi wildly chaotic, but also some of the weaker Divines immediately fell from the sky.


    It even made other Divines who had come to spectate feel their spirit shaken and their heads spin!


    Even Tianyu Beiling, a favorite to win the selection exams of the nine divine institutes and who was hidden in the high void, had his complexion change dramatically. It was only after his body involuntarily radiated divine light that he was able to suppress the inexplicable shaking.


    Then, everyone within hundreds of miles was completely stunned.


    Everyone felt that Ye Chen¡¯s sword chant was terrifyingly powerful, possibly a Heaven-reaching Divine Art! Continue your adventure at novelhall.Co?m


    And within the Heaven-reaching Divine Arts, it was considered an extremely powerful stun attack!


    "Damn it, not only is Ye Chen¡¯s defense powerful, his attack is also so terrifying, and he even possesses such a wide-ranging attack method!"


    "We¡¯re not his match at all. Who said he relied on an extreme heavenly item to kill Qin Feng? I feel that he has truly obtained the formidable combat power of a high-level Divine King! We Divines are no match for him! Even crossing realms in battle won¡¯t do!"


    The Divines from Divine Dragon Mountain, now in a state of spiritual dizziness and chaos in their True Qi, cursed in horror and panic.


    They finally understood why Ye Chen dared to sit and cultivate openly in the First Ancient Battlefield.


    They finally realized why Ye Chen was completely fearless even when he saw hundreds of Divines coming to kill him.


    Ye Chen¡¯s combat power was simply beyond their imagination!


    It was even beyond the imagination of the Divine realm!


    ```


    Of course.


    Ye Chen dared to sit calmly on the great mountain of the First Ancient Battlefield precisely because he had absolute confidence.


    The "Star Blue Divine Garment" on Ye Chen¡¯s body was a powerful divine robe made from the prototype of celestial objects, capable of defending against any attack from upper-level Divine Kings.


    Moreover, it had acknowledged Ye Chen as its master, becoming his signature tactic, a divine item that he could truly use during the assessment!


    Back in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, when Ye Chen¡¯s power was still at the Four Tribulations Divine God level, he relied on the "Star Blue Divine Garment" to withstand the pursuit of dozens of upper-level Divine Kings¡¯ formidable demon beasts.


    Although there were several hundred True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, after all, they were only True Gods. Even if some among them could match mid-level Divine Kings, the combined might of all these people was not comparable to the dozens of upper-level Divine King beasts from the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Ye Chen, who was not afraid of the dozens of upper-level Divine King beasts, why would he be afraid of these hundreds of True Gods?!


    Even if Ye Chen let these True Gods attack him for a month, these hundreds of True Gods wouldn¡¯t be able to injure him in the slightest!


    While Ye Chen¡¯s offensive abilities might not be as formidable as the defensive powers of the "Star Blue Divine Garment," which could counter the entire battle power tier of Divine Kings,


    dealing with the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain was more than enough.


    Because in the few months after returning from the Nine Suns Ancient Land to participate in the assessment of the nine major divine institutes, Ye Chen had been in closed-door cultivation in the Duke Dongguo¡¯s mansion, and he had truly mastered the Fourth Sword of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation," officially starting his cultivation of the Fifth Sword.


    The Nine Swords of Annihilation was an exceptional Heaven-reaching Divine Art taught to Ye Chen by Bitter Traversal, a powerful and extraordinary technique!


    Heaven-reaching Divine Arts were divine techniques created by Divine Venerables or even supreme lords. Many upper-level Divine Kings didn¡¯t have the opportunity to come into contact with them, let alone the superior Heaven-reaching Divine Arts, which were the highest level among them.


    Although Ye Chen had not yet mastered all nine forms of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation," the completion of the fourth form was more than enough to handle these True Gods!


    That Qin Yuntian thought sending some True Gods would pose a threat to Ye Chen?


    Forget True Gods, even many Divine Kings wouldn¡¯t suffice, unless he sent dozens or hundreds of upper-level Divine Kings!


    After unleashing the Fourth Sword of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation," the "Qiankun Shake," he stunned all the True Gods within hundreds of miles.


    Ye Chen, however, did not bother himself with those True Gods who had come to spectate, instead fixing his gaze directly on the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Then, Ye Chen struck again.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Without waiting for those True Gods to recover from their dizziness, Ye Chen kicked out, with each kick sending ninety or more True Gods flying, their Protective Talismans ejected, eliminating them from the competition!


    Ye Chen had said he would eliminate a hundred True Gods. In less time than it takes to brew a pot of tea, he had indeed accomplished this!


    Following that, Ye Chen waved his hand grandly and shouted at the remaining True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, "Scram!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The remaining True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain were flung tens of thousands of feet away by the divine force Ye Chen unleashed, crashing far away onto the ground.


    Then, Ye Chen glanced at those True Gods who had come for the spectacle, swept his gaze over the void where Tianyu Beiling was hiding, and subsequently, rings of light emerged around him, as he disappeared from the scene.


    Having successfully eliminated a hundred opponents, Ye Chen advanced through the first round of the assessment, breaking into the secondary area of assessment¡ªthe Second Ancient Battlefield.


    Originally, Ye Chen had not intended to go directly to the Second Ancient Battlefield, but he hadn¡¯t expected those from Divine Dragon Mountain to come looking for trouble.


    Towards those from Divine Dragon Mountain harboring murderous intents, Ye Chen, of course, would not show mercy.


    Eliminating the hundred most powerful among them and causing a significant loss to Divine Dragon Mountain, while allowing himself to smoothly advance to the next round, Ye Chen was, of course, very pleased.


    If not for the rules limiting him, Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t mind eliminating all the hundreds of True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    If not for being teleported away by the rules, Ye Chen would not mind settling accounts with Tianyu Beiling, who was hiding in the void and emitting strands of murderous intent!


    Boom!


    When Ye Chen was successfully transported to the Second Ancient Battlefield and vanished from the spot, the rest of the individuals stood there stupefied.


    Everything that had just happened felt like a dream to the True Gods present.


    Whether it was the remaining two hundred or so True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain or those who had come to watch the excitement, none of them had expected the attack by hundreds of True Gods on Ye Chen to end this way.


    The remaining True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain even felt a sense of having survived a calamity.


    They knew that if the assessment had not stipulated that an assessor could only eliminate a hundred opponents, they might have been ousted just like the hundred True Gods already eliminated by Ye Chen!


    As for those True Gods who had come to watch, their minds were filled with one thought:


    This Ye Chen is too powerful, absolutely not to be provoked, even if they become Divine Kings!


    As for Tianyu Beiling, who had previously harbored the idea of eliminating Ye Chen, his hands and feet were somewhat soft at the moment.


    The faint glance Ye Chen had swept over his hiding spot as he left made Tianyu Beiling feel detected by Ye Chen, and that Ye Chen was not afraid of him at all!


    Furthermore, with Ye Chen¡¯s thunderous methods of eliminating a hundred True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain by shaking hundreds of miles of the void, Tianyu Beiling felt for a moment that he might not be Ye Chen¡¯s match!


    This feeling made Tianyu Beiling very uncomfortable and darkened his expression completely.


    "We haven¡¯t truly clashed yet; I might not necessarily lose to this Ye Chen!"


    "Besides, the assessment of the nine divine institutes is not just about combat power, but also about talent and comprehension, among other aspects."


    "I, Tianyu Beiling, will definitely be the true first in the final contention!"

 Chapter 738 - 690: Ye Chen鈥檚 Name

    Inside the assessment area, the previous location of Ye Chen shook violently.


    Outside the assessment area, when Ye Chen had eliminated all one hundred true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, the entire world outside fell silent in an instant.


    Then, with a "boom", a tumultuous wave of discussion erupted among the hundreds of millions of spectators, and the whole place exploded into an uproar!


    "My God, what just happened."


    "Hundreds of true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain ganged up on Ye Chen, yet they couldn¡¯t even scratch him? And they were all eliminated by Ye Chen?!"


    "The defensive technique Ye Chen used against those hundreds of true gods...it seemed...it seemed like the glow of an ultra-celestial object! Does Ye Chen possess an ultra-celestial object on him?!"


    "An ultra-celestial object, even many of us Divine Venerables and Sovereigns don¡¯t have one, how can Ye Chen, at such a young age, have an ultra-celestial object?!"


    "Moreover, this ultra-celestial object isn¡¯t the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ that is rumored Ye Chen acquired. With the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯, doesn¡¯t it mean he has two ultra-celestial objects?!"


    When they recalled the divine light that sparkled on Ye Chen, resisting the numerous killing moves from the hundreds of true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, countless Divine Venerables exclaimed in amazement!


    "There¡¯s more."


    "Ye Chen¡¯s offensive methods are also incredibly powerful!"


    "That final move by Ye Chen shook an area several hundred miles in radius, stopping those Divine Dragon Mountain true gods attempting to flee in their tracks!"


    "This move is an extraordinary soul-attacking Heaven-reaching Divine Art. Such a set of Heaven-reaching Divine Art must have been created by a remarkable figure; otherwise, it wouldn¡¯t be able to wield such power at the Heaven-reaching Level!"


    Many Sovereigns were stunned by the lethality of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" displayed by Ye Chen.


    The most shocked in the arena were none other than those who came to watch the assessment, including Yang Yun, Yang Yan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Lin Xiaowan, and others.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan were so shocked they couldn¡¯t close their mouths.


    In the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Yang Yun and Yang Yan had personally witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s strength.


    Back then, they felt that without the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Ye Chen probably wouldn¡¯t be able to withstand even one move from Qin Feng.


    However, in just a few months¡¯ time, judging by the power of Ye Chen¡¯s moves when he eliminated the one hundred true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, both felt that Ye Chen¡¯s qi combat strength and techniques had greatly improved.


    To them, Ye Chen was once barely capable of contending with a Lower God King and not worth their attention, but now, both felt that Ye Chen¡¯s lethality had likely improved to the true level of an Upper God King, and that he belonged among the most formidable in the Upper God King ranks!


    A true god of Eight Tribulations, boosting his power to the level of Upper God King in such a short time.


    Even though he still couldn¡¯t reach the level of Yang Yun and Yang Yan¡¯s capability to resist an Earth Divine Venerable, this rate of progress sent chills down their spines.


    The two Upper God Kings even had the feeling that giving Ye Chen a few more years to grow, surpassing them would likely be a breeze!


    Originally, they wanted to see how miserably Ye Chen would fail in the grand assessment of the nine divine institutes.


    But now, they realized they had completely lost sight of Ye Chen¡¯s limits, and they even had a premonition that Ye Chen might actually snatch the top place of the nine divine institutes for himself!


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan saw Ye Chen as a thorn in their side and even secretly planned to deal with him, but seeing Ye Chen¡¯s rate of progress was as uncomfortable as swallowing a fly.


    Others familiar with Ye Chen, such as Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, Hong Yi, and Lin Xiaowan, were overjoyed!


    Especially Mu Ling and Lin Xiaowan.


    In the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Mu Ling and her brother Mu Xiao had rescued Ye Chen from several dozen Upper God King-level terrifying beasts.


    Back then, when pursued by several dozen Upper God King-level terrifying beasts, Ye Chen had no choice but to flee for his life.


    But just a few months later, Mu Ling clearly felt that if Ye Chen now faced the pursuit by those Upper God King beasts, he definitely wouldn¡¯t flee in such a sorry state.


    Even if he couldn¡¯t kill all those terrifying beasts, Mu Ling knew that the ability to slay a few and scare off the others was definitely within Ye Chen¡¯s reach!


    As for Lin Xiaowan, who had fought alongside Ye Chen in the Divine City battle, she only had one thought: she had encountered a peerless genius, Ye Chen, who was no less formidable than Long Li!


    Lin Xiaowan knew that the first time she met Ye Chen, he was just a warrior in the late Heavenly Saint stage.


    But after Ye Chen left the Circulation of Heaven Divine City for a while and returned, he had already become a true god of Four Tribulations.


    This rate of progress had already stunned Lin Xiaowan.


    And when Lin Xiaowan entered the Nine Suns Ancient Land with Ye Chen, he transformed from a true god of Four Tribulations into one of Eight Tribulations. Although she knew this was because of his relationship with Long Li and the aid of the ultra-celestial object "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Lin Xiaowan was still unbelievably astounded.


    After all, Lin Xiaowan personally witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s transformation from late Heavenly Saint to Eight Tribulations true god in less than one year¡¯s time.


    This impact was truly inconceivable for Lin Xiaowan!


    Even in Lin Xiaowan¡¯s immortal Divine Venerable family, in the Supreme Divine Institute, she had never heard of any geniuses cultivating so quickly!


    In the crowd, the person with the ugliest expression was undoubtedly the leader of Divine Dragon Mountain, Qin Yuntian.


    Especially when he saw the hundred true gods under his command, eliminated by Ye Chen and kicked out to the outside elimination area one by one from the First Ancient Battlefield, Qin Yuntian felt like vomiting blood!


    Because Qin Yuntian knew that these hundred true gods were the strongest among the more than three hundred true gods Divine Dragon Mountain had brought to the assessment of the nine divine institutes.


    As a result, these hundred people were eliminated even before the assessment was fully conducted.


    Qin Yuntian originally wanted to eliminate Ye Chen first, but trying to steal a chicken only resulted in losing his rice: his subordinates were eliminated instead.


    Without looking back, he knew this would likely be Divine Dragon Mountain¡¯s worst performance ever in the history of the assessments.


    This, of course, infuriated Qin Yuntian to the point of spitting blood!


    And as Qin Yuntian felt so infuriated that he could spit blood, there was also a chill in his heart.


    Even as an eight-star Sovereign, Qin Yuntian couldn¡¯t help but feel apprehensive.


    That was because Ye Chen¡¯s rate of progress was simply too fast!


    Qin Yuntian had inquired about Ye Chen¡¯s past, witnessing his step-by-step growth from the lower realm, it was as if he was watching the rise of an unprecedented powerhouse.


    At present, although Ye Chen was still an Eight Tribulations true god, far from his own Sovereign Realm, the disparity was immense.


    But Qin Yuntian was already filled with dread, and a thought had taken root: he absolutely must not allow Ye Chen to continue growing like this.


    "Kill Ye Chen!"


    "No matter what it takes, he must be killed!"


    "Otherwise, once he grows stronger, he will indeed become a great trouble for our Divine Dragon Mountain!"


    In the end, a divine light flickered in Qin Yuntian¡¯s eyes.


    In the entire spectator area, there was a shock, and the calmest appeared to be the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen.


    The two Sovereigns, watching Ye Chen¡¯s performance, rarely nodded in approval.


    "Not bad."


    "Li¡¯er said that Ye Chen is very powerful; in one competition within the Nine Suns Ancient Land, she trained alongside him and they progressed shoulder to shoulder."


    "It seems that Ye Chen truly is a peerless genius."


    "It¡¯s a pity he wasn¡¯t born in the Divine Kingdom; otherwise, his achievements might not be any less than Li¡¯er¡¯s at this moment."


    "Such a pity that he met Jiang Yao first; otherwise, Ye Chen and Li¡¯er would indeed be a match made in heaven."


    "Let¡¯s continue watching the next section. In this first round of assessment, Ye Chen has already proven his battle strength. There are three more rounds to go; let¡¯s see how he performs."


    "I truly hope he can take first place among the nine divine academies, and then, we¡¯ll be able to witness his performance at Heavenly God Mountain and in the Star Domain genius battle!"


    The two Sovereigns¡¯ lustrous eyes were brimming with anticipation.


    Both within and outside the ancient battlefield, there was a tremor of astonishment over Ye Chen¡¯s miracle feat of eliminating a hundred true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Inside the First Ancient Battlefield, people from the other regions still didn¡¯t know about the major events that had transpired during the assessment.


    However, this ignorance did not last long.


    As soon as Ye Chen was completely transported into the second ancient battlefield, a voice suddenly resounded in the skies of the First Ancient Battlefield.


    It was the voice of the six-star Sovereign presiding over this assessment of the nine divine academies.


    This six-star Sovereign¡¯s voice echoed throughout the entire First Ancient Battlefield: "The first candidate to pass the first round of the ¡¯Major Elimination Trial¡¯ has now emerged."


    "This candidate is none other than Ye Chen, who obtained the opportunity to participate in the assessment from the lower realm¡¯s Star Continent!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As this voice announced the outcome, everyone within the First Ancient Battlefield, all the candidates, looked incredulously toward the void.


    "Someone has already entered the second round so quickly?!"


    "This... There can only be one possibility, which is that they have eliminated a hundred opponents and successfully passed the trial!"


    "How long has it been, and someone has already eliminated a hundred other candidates?!"


    "Ye Chen? Could it be the same Ye Chen who has a grudge with Divine Dragon Mountain and accepted the three requests of the two great Sovereigns, vowing to win first place in this assessment of the nine divine academies?"


    Innumerable candidates were filled with astonishment.


    In the northern region of the First Ancient Battlefield, Mo Yuan, the hot favorite to win and the great power, an eight-star Sovereign known as Madman Mo¡¯s great-grandson, was also stunned upon hearing this result.


    "Someone has passed the trial?!"


    "Ever since I entered the First Ancient Battlefield, I¡¯ve been fighting against other candidates. I have only eliminated a bit more than thirty people until now, and someone has eliminated a hundred?!" Experience more content on novelhall.Co?m


    "Ye Chen? Is that Ye Chen the same young man my great-grandfather told me to surpass?!"


    After being stunned for a while, Mo Yuan immediately started flying at high speed, searching for the next candidate to eliminate.


    "No, I can¡¯t lag too far behind Ye Chen. Even if I can¡¯t be the first to break into the second round, I must be the second!"


    "I have to see if it¡¯s really that Ye Chen who got through the ¡¯Major Elimination Trial¡¯ before me!"


    Similarly, there were groups of people who still didn¡¯t know about Ye Chen¡¯s situation and even those who had never heard of Ye Chen¡¯s deeds in the Divine Kingdom.


    This group was the ten true god maidens from Divine Miao Peak who had arrived at the assessment ground last and had been in quiet cultivation until then.


    "Ye Chen?"


    "A young man from the lower realm?"


    "He¡¯s so impressive, to pass the ¡¯Major Elimination Trial¡¯ so quickly."


    The ten true god maidens from Divine Miao Peak immediately took notice of the name Ye Chen.

 Chapter 739 - 691 Divine Blade

    It seemed that Ye Chen¡¯s quick passage through the assessment and the spreading of his fame by the six-star Lord had stimulated the contestants, making the assessment for the entire elimination competition even more intense.


    Many contestants who had previously held back their true strength began to unleash it.


    It wasn¡¯t long before one contestant after another eliminated a hundred opponents in succession and newcomers kept entering the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    "The second person to pass the first round of the ¡¯great elimination competition¡¯ ... he is ¡¯Mo Yuan¡¯ from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Western Territory ..."


    "The third person to pass the first round of the ¡¯great elimination competition¡¯ ... is ¡¯Fang Lie¡¯ from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Northern Region ..."


    "..."


    "The fifth ... Tianyu Beiling ..."


    "The tenth ... Hong Chen ..."


    Every time a contestant passed the assessment, the six-star Lord who was in charge of the assessments for the nine Divine Institutes would announce the result throughout the entire First Ancient Battlefield.


    This announcement immediately invoked envy and admiration among the audience.


    Naturally, the six-star Lord only announced the names of the first ten who passed the assessment, not spreading the news of those who passed afterward throughout the First Ancient Battlefield.


    However, although their names weren¡¯t broadly declared by the six-star Lord, it didn¡¯t lessen the competition within the First Ancient Battlefield.


    With fierce combat underway, more contestants were successively breaking through to the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    While some succeeded in passing the assessment, of course, others failed.


    Those contestants who were eliminated were kicked out of the First Ancient Battlefield and transmitted to the elimination area outside the ancient battlefield.


    In just half a day¡¯s time, the number of martial artists eliminated to the elimination area had reached several hundreds of thousands!


    Even though each of the eliminated contestants was utterly dejected,


    after all, being eliminated meant losing their precious opportunity to enter the nine Divine Institutes.


    But, there were still those who had gained unexpected rewards.


    "This youth, although he attacked others and ended up being eliminated by a true goddess from ¡¯Divine Miao Peak¡¯ from one of the four great forces, he is only a six-tribulation true god and was able to withstand three moves from a Divine Miao Peak heir. His potential is quite extraordinary."


    "Our ¡¯Gu Ling Divine Institute,¡¯ although not one of the nine Divine Institutes, is still ranked in the top one hundred among all Divine Institutes in the Divine Kingdom."


    "Our ¡¯Gu Ling Divine Institute¡¯ is willing to accept this youth to cultivate within our Divine Institute!"


    "This girl was truly unlucky. She encountered three lower god-king level ancient beasts simultaneously. However, in such a situation, she managed to slay two of them, and although she was eventually eliminated, her combat strength has caught the eye of our ¡¯Red Desolate Divine Institute¡¯!"


    Gold will always shine.


    Even among the defeated contestants, as long as they performed well, they could still catch the eye of other Divine Institutes or powers present to witness the assessments and garner a new opportunity to cultivate.


    Thus, during the seven days of the "great elimination competition," the assessment continued non-stop.


    Many martial artists had successfully eliminated others, smoothly advancing to the second round.


    There were also many who were still in the First Ancient Battlefield and did not engage in combat with other contestants, choosing to stay the full seven days of the assessment.


    Even more people were eliminated from the competition, either picked up by other powers or losing their opportunity completely.


    As time passed by, the number of contestants in the First Ancient Battlefield, the assessment area of the first round of the "great elimination competition," dwindled, while more and more contestants entered the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    And when the seven days had completely passed, out of the total of fifty-six million and fifty-three thousand contestants, an astonishing forty-seven million had been eliminated.


    Only over nine million had successfully passed the first round of the "great elimination competition" and moved on to the second round.


    Among these nine million plus people, the Little Provincial Princess and the ten true goddesses of Divine Miao Peak were all included.


    ...


    The location of the second round of assessments was called the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    Among all the contestants, Ye Chen was the first to enter the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    On the very first day of the assessment, he had eliminated a hundred true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain and arrived in the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    However, as soon as he was transported to the Second Ancient Battlefield, Ye Chen was completely astonished.


    For he had been sent to an area that was simply a plain.


    And in front of Ye Chen, there appeared a colossal Divine Blade, piercing the earth right in front of him.


    This Divine Blade was undoubtedly the largest Ye Chen had ever seen; it was over ten thousand zhang in length, taller than many towering mountains!


    Ye Chen could hardly imagine who could wield such a gigantic blade.


    What shocked Ye Chen even more were the mysterious prohibitions on the Divine Blade.


    Due to these mysterious prohibitions blocking his view, Ye Chen could only see the Divine Blade enveloped in divine light without being able to discern its true appearance.


    These prohibitions, even with Ye Chen having acquired the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," were utterly beyond his comprehension.


    "Perhaps this Divine Blade is related to the second round of assessments."


    "Maybe, it¡¯s only after all the contestants who successfully pass the first round have arrived in this area that the prohibitions on the Divine Blade will be lifted, and we will be able to see what this Divine Blade actually looks like."


    Ye Chen looked up at the heaven-reaching giant blade, speculating in his heart.


    In the nine major Divine Institutes¡¯ examination, there was a particular force that severed the spiritual communication between Ye Chen and Xiaojiu.


    Ye Chen knew that this was likely the situation caused by the previously mentioned rule by the Six-Star Sovereign Lord, stating that examinees could not rely on external objects for the examination and had to depend solely on themselves.


    Meanwhile, within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, although Xiaojiu was restrained by an inexplicable force and couldn¡¯t communicate with Ye Chen,


    she could still see everything that was happening outside.


    When Ye Chen defeated the hundred True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain and successfully advanced to the second round, both Xiaojiu and the little monkey inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant jumped excitedly.


    And when Ye Chen entered the Second Ancient Battlefield and saw the heaven-reaching giant blade ahead, Xiaojiu murmured in astonishment, "Heavens, this blade is an extremely celestial item! It must have been the Divine Blade of a powerful Sovereign Lord!"


    Moreover, Xiaojiu also recalled the memories infused by Lord Emperor Yan about which Sovereign Lord in the mountain of Divine Kingdom possessed a Divine Blade of such an extremely celestial level.


    Unfortunately, Ye Chen was unable to communicate with Xiaojiu; otherwise, he could have learned some information about this Divine Blade beforehand.


    However, Ye Chen was not in a hurry.


    Since he had been transported here, what was to happen next would naturally be revealed by the Six-Star Sovereign Lord overseeing the examination of the nine Divine Institutes when the time came.


    Thus, Ye Chen spent the following time sitting cross-legged under the giant blade, quietly cultivating.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Gradually, as more examinees, like Ye Chen, successfully eliminated a hundred opponents and entered the Second Ancient Battlefield, more and more people gathered around Ye Chen.


    Mo Yuan and Tianyu Beiling arrived under the giant blade as well.


    However, like Ye Chen, these people were also bound by an unknown force as soon as they were transported here, forced to sit in a fixed area, unable to freely move about in the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    This left Mo Yuan, who had wanted to meet Ye Chen after hearing the real rumors about him being the first to reach the Second Ancient Battlefield, helpless and stuck in place.


    Those in the field who saw the heaven-reaching giant blade also had expressions of shock on their faces.


    A few examinees with significant backgrounds seemed to think of something, their expressions changing.


    As more and more examinees passed the examination, the number of figures falling under the giant blade continued to increase.


    And when the first round of the examination ended, the figures under the giant blade had become densely packed, totaling over nine million people!


    When all those who passed the first round of the examination had arrived, the entire giant blade suddenly trembled, emitting ear-piercing roaring sounds, and shooting out dazzling divine lights.


    This great commotion caused Ye Chen and others who had arrived early under the giant blade to open their eyes and look towards it.


    Everyone understood that with the quivering of the giant blade, how the second round of the examination would proceed was likely to be announced soon.


    Indeed.


    After the giant blade trembled for a few breaths, a figure appeared in the void above.


    It was none other than the Six-Star Sovereign Lord who presided over the examination of the nine Divine Institutes.


    Upon appearing, the Six-Star Sovereign Lord¡¯s gaze swept over the nine million plus examinees below the giant blade.


    "First, I want to congratulate all nine hundred thirteen thousand of you for successfully passing the first round of the ¡¯Great Elimination,¡¯" said the Six-Star Sovereign Lord slowly.


    "Your performances in the first round were different."


    "Some of you took less than an hour to break into the second round." As he said this, the Six-Star Sovereign Lord looked directly at Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged at the very front of the crowd.


    Swish!


    All gazes turned towards Ye Chen.


    Among these gazes were those of the excited Little Provincial Princess, the ten true Goddesses from Divine Miao Peak who were curious about Ye Chen, the young True Gods from Mu King Mansion, the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain who were still shaken from nearly being eliminated by Ye Chen, Tianyu Beiling who was full of hostility towards Ye Chen, and people like Mo Yuan who wanted to compete with Ye Chen.


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    Being the focus of countless stares, Ye Chen could only smile wryly and winked back at the Little Provincial Princess and others.


    Originally, the first round of the Great Elimination did not involve rankings, and Ye Chen did not wish to attract such attention.


    Blame it on the True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts were fortunate for Qin Yuntian, the Sect Master of Divine Dragon Mountain, to not have heard; otherwise, Qin Yuntian probably would have spat blood from fury.


    After observing Ye Chen, the Six-Star Sovereign Lord continued, "Of course, there are also those who chose to pass all seven days of the examination and then advance to the second round, such a method of advancing."


    As he spoke, the Six-Star Sovereign Lord looked towards the Little Provincial Princess and the ten true Goddess maidens from Divine Miao Peak and others.


    These individuals chose not to engage in combat with other examinees but instead withstood the onslaught of ancient beasts for seven days, passing the first round of the examination.


    "No matter how you passed the first round, it¡¯s not important anymore. Because the first round was only a ¡¯Great Elimination¡¯ and didn¡¯t involve rankings."


    "However, from the second round on, we will truly start the ¡¯Ranking Matches.¡¯ The rankings of each round are absolutely important, affecting whether you can advance to the next round, whether you can be selected by the nine Divine Institutes!"


    "Next, I will announce the rules for the second round of the examination."


    As the Six-Star Sovereign Lord spoke, he pointed his finger towards the void, and the restrictions on the towering giant blade, one by one, began to dissipate.


    The full appearance of the heaven-reaching giant blade slowly emerged.

 Chapter 740 - 692: Ancient Tomb, War Soldier

    When the entire full view of the giant blade completely emerged, Ye Chen, who had been intently staring at the giant blade, suddenly had a flash of brilliance in his eyes.


    Ye Chen saw that the entire blade surface was blood-red in color, and atop the giant blade there were numerous, incredibly complex Divine Patterns. However, what drew the most attention was the countless Divine Patterns at the center of the blade.


    These countless Divine Patterns at the center of the blade actually directly formed four large characters¡ª"Blood Drinking Divine Blade"!


    "Blood Drinking Divine Blade?!"


    "Could it be, these four characters, are the name of this blade?!"


    "The name ¡¯Blood Drinking¡¯, what a formidable aura!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s heart was trembling.


    As Ye Chen¡¯s heart quivered, not far from where he was seated, Mo Yuan, Tianyu Beiling, the Little Provincial Princess, and other true deities with significant backgrounds from the Divine Kingdom, all experienced a surge of shock in their hearts.


    Originally, upon seeing this giant blade, they had thought of a powerful figure from the Divine Kingdom.


    And now, seeing the four characters of "Blood Drinking Divine Blade" on the blade¡¯s surface, their speculation instantly became a certainty.


    "It¡¯s indeed the blade of ¡¯Sovereign Feng Luo¡¯!"


    "Rumor has it, every time the nine great divine institutes hold assessments, the subsequent ranking battles are always related to a certain Sovereign who had participated in the ancient battle between the Divine Kingdom of Wanyi Mountain and the Nine Desolation Divine Kingdom."


    "And ¡¯Sovereign Feng Luo,¡¯ in that battle between the two great Divine Kingdoms, was one of the most outstanding beings. Could it be that this time, the rules for the remaining three rounds of the ranking battles are set according to some aspects of ¡¯Sovereign Feng Luo¡¯?"


    Mo Yuan, Tianyu Beiling, and others speculated amongst themselves.


    The great battle between the two Divine Kingdoms they were thinking of had occurred hundreds of thousands of years ago between the Divine Kingdom of Wanyi Mountain and the neighboring Nine Desolation Divine Kingdom.


    That battle took place precisely in the realm of this shattered ancient battlefield¡ªthe assessment ground of the nine great divine institutes.


    And the "Sovereign Feng Luo" they referred to was a famously distinguished Nine Stars Sovereign from the Wanyi Mountain Divine Kingdom who had participated in the battle!


    It was actually "Sovereign Feng Luo," along with three other Nine Stars Sovereigns, who emerged from their secluded cultivation to join the battle, enabling the Wanyi Mountain Divine Kingdom to completely suppress the Nine Desolation Divine Kingdom, ending a world-shaking war.


    Sovereign Feng Luo¡¯s reputation consequently soared even higher throughout the entire Wanyi Mountain Divine Kingdom!


    Later, Sovereign Feng Luo even broke through from the Sovereign Realm, becoming an existence that transcended Sovereigns, and left the Wanyi Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    As time passed, hundreds of thousands of years went by, and gradually, very few people knew of Sovereign Feng Luo¡¯s name.


    Only the descendants of some powerful Sovereigns were aware of such profound secrets.


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    These descendants of the Sovereign powers had not expected that, in this round of assessments by the nine great divine institutes, they would actually come across the Divine Blade of "Sovereign Feng Luo."


    It wasn¡¯t only these offspring of the Sovereign powers.


    Even many Sovereigns outside the ancient battlefield, watching the assessments of the nine great divine institutes, were taken aback.


    "My heavens, this assessment actually brought out ¡¯Senior Feng Luo¡¯s Divine Blade."


    "It seems that the rules of this assessment rank among the highest in so many assessments!"


    "Could it be because the Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King are paying attention to this assessment, that they brought out ¡¯Senior Feng Luo¡¯s Divine Blade¡¯? It¡¯s well known that Senior Feng Luo had a significant affiliation with the Northern Territory King¡¯s mansion. It¡¯s rumored that ¡¯Senior Feng Luo¡¯ left behind many things in the Northern Territory King¡¯s mansion, and this Divine Blade is probably one of the numerous treasures!"


    Thinking of this, the Sovereigns all looked towards the Northern Territory King.


    At this moment, the gaze of the Northern Territory King was fixed on the screen, looking towards Ye Chen amidst the crowd.


    "When ¡¯Senior Feng Luo¡¯ left behind countless treasures for my sister years ago, he had said that he left a legacy within the Divine Blade. Only a descendant with talent comparable to my sister¡¯s could take out this blade and unlock the legacy."


    "Unfortunately, over the years, only Li¡¯er could be said to have talent comparable to my sister¡¯s. But Li¡¯er is a young girl, utterly unsuitable for ¡¯Senior Feng Luo¡¯s legacy."


    "This Ye Chen, to be so highly praised by Li¡¯er, when I asked for this Divine Blade to be brought out using Ye Chen¡¯s experiences, I also successfully managed to bring this blade out."


    "Now it remains to be seen if Ye Chen can come across the opportunity to obtain that legacy..."


    The thoughts of the Northern Territory King were unknown to the other Sovereigns on the field; even Sovereign Xuechen only knew a little bit.


    Many people probably never anticipated that the Northern Territory King would place an inheritance of a nine-starred Sovereign within the assessment of the nine major godly academies.


    Though this particular inheritance wasn¡¯t the most valuable among the countless inheritances left by Sovereign Feng Luo, being only of the God King Level,


    it was still an inheritance left behind by an entity surpassing the Sovereign Realm.


    The value of this was by no means lesser than that of joining one of the nine major godly academies!


    If word got out, countless Sovereigns would likely desire this inheritance for their descendants!


    Ye Chen, however, had no idea that the Northern Territory King had specifically reserved this opportunity for him.


    Of course, even if Ye Chen had known, it was still uncertain whether he could seize this opportunity.


    After all, inheritances dubbed ¡¯opportunities¡¯ weren¡¯t something you could obtain just because you wanted to; it also depended on whether you truly had the fortune.


    Inside the Second Ancient Battlefield.


    As numerous onlookers saw the true form of the Divine Blade for the first time, the six-starred Sovereign presiding over the nine major godly academies¡¯ assessment eventually resumed speaking.


    This six-starred Sovereign continued, "The second round of the ranking battle is related to this Divine Blade!"


    "This Divine Blade was left by a being beyond the Sovereign Realm belonging to my Myriad Curtains Divine Kingdom, the senior Feng Luo."


    As this six-starred Sovereign explained the origin of the Divine Blade, those who knew of its background, such as Mo Yuan and Tianyu Beiling, couldn¡¯t help but have a flash of eagerness in their eyes. Ye Chen, hearing about the origin of the Divine Blade for the first time, was even more profoundly shaken.


    A Divine Blade left by a being beyond the Sovereign Realm!


    To Ye Chen, this was naturally a staggering revelation.


    Then, the Little Provincial Princess sent a voice transmission directly to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen, this senior Feng Luo is really remarkable. He once cultivated at ¡¯Heaven God Mountain¡¯, and after he left the Myriad Curtains Divine Kingdom, his place of cultivation became an infinitely powerful ruin... It is that place referred to by the second demand made of you by the senior Xuechen and the Northern Territory King¡ªthe ¡¯Heaven God Mountain¡¯."


    The Little Provincial Princess directly shared with Ye Chen what she knew about the affairs of Sovereign Feng Luo.


    As the Little Provincial Princess was voice transmitting to Ye Chen, the six-starred Sovereign hosting the assessment continued, "Senior Feng Luo¡¯s Divine Blade contains countless profound secrets, secrets of such a level that you true godly examinees naturally cannot get involved with, nor do you need to."


    "This second round of assessment only concerns a very small aspect of this Divine Blade, which is a Heaven-reaching Divine Art left by senior Feng Luo within the blade¡ªthe Bloodlight Blade Technique."


    "The second round of the assessment will last for one month."


    "During this month, you can comprehend this ¡¯Bloodlight Blade Technique¡¯ Heaven-reaching Divine Art beneath the Divine Blade."


    "Of course, merely comprehending this divine art is not the entirety of the assessment."


    "Within the Second Ancient Battlefield, there exists an ¡¯ancient tomb¡¯ meant for assessment, in which a large number of ¡¯combat puppets¡¯ have been crafted. Once you enter the ancient tomb for the assessment, all your offensive and defensive capabilities will be invalidated. The only means to attack and defend in battle will be the Heaven-reaching Divine Art ¡¯Bloodlight Blade Technique¡¯ from the Divine Blade."


    "Your score in the second round will be determined by the number of ¡¯combat puppets¡¯ you defeat."


    "The combat puppets in the ancient tomb vary, and so do the assessment points you get from defeating them!"


    "Eventually, the total accumulated assessment points earned from defeating combat puppets will determine the rankings."


    "From the over nine million of you who have entered the second round of assessment, in the end, only the top hundred thousand from the ranking battle will move on to the third round. Those with equal scores will go through an additional tiebreaker match. In summary, only a hundred thousand individuals will advance to the next round of assessment."


    "For the entire month of the second round of assessment, it¡¯s up to you to allocate your time¡ªhow much to use for the comprehension of the ¡¯Bloodlight Blade Technique¡¯ and how much to spend entering the ¡¯ancient tomb¡¯ to defeat ¡¯combat puppets¡¯ is your decision."


    "If you are defeated by a ¡¯combat puppet¡¯ within the ancient tomb, your Body-protecting Talisman will be automatically activated, ejecting you from the tomb. At that point, the assessment points you have obtained will be finalized."


    "Of course, if you are not eliminated, once the month of assessment time ends, everyone will be transported out of the ancient tomb, and the final tally of assessment points will be calculated for the rankings."


    At the end, the six-starred Sovereign also made a special reminder, "I need to stress to all of you,"


    "during this second round of assessment, you must allocate your cultivation time and combat puppet defeating time wisely."


    "If the cultivation time is too long, leaving too little time to defeat combat puppets, the number you defeat will naturally be minimal, resulting in a poor score. Of course, if the cultivation time is too short and your understanding of the ¡¯Bloodlight Blade Technique¡¯ isn¡¯t deep enough, you might quickly be eliminated by the combat puppets, leading to a bad result just the same."


    "This assessment will test not only your talents and insight in cultivation but also your combat abilities and strategic understanding."

 Chapter 741 - 693: The Ranking Competition Begins

    The Six-star Divine Venerable''s reminder made many faces turn solemn.


    Indeed.


    The second round of the exam had only one month''s time in total.


    How much time to spend on practicing the "Bloodlight Blade Technique," how much time to use for killing the "warriors," were indeed critical decisions to make.


    "A Heaven-reaching Divine Art left behind by an existence surpassing a Divine Venerable, is likely not so easily understood."


    "With just one month''s time, it''s very possible not even the basics of the blade technique will be comprehended, not to mention there isn''t time to devote solely to the blade technique, they must also kill warriors."


    Many are even more worried about the difficulty of comprehending the "Bloodlight Blade Technique."


    Heaven-reaching Divine Arts are created by Divine Venerables or powerful beings at the Venerable level.


    Most of the true gods present are the descendants of Divine Venerables or Venerables.


    They all have had the opportunity to come into contact with Heaven-reaching Divine Arts.


    Because they have come into contact with them, they are quite worried.


    The Heaven-reaching Divine Arts they practiced are often created by Divine Venerables, or just lower-tier Venerables, but even those arts are already very difficult to understand.


    Many have spent decades, even hundreds of years, without understanding much of a set of Heaven-reaching Divine Arts.


    And this "Bloodlight Blade Technique," being left behind by an existence surpassing Venerables, Feng Luo, is obviously going to surpass both in power and difficulty the Divine Arts created by ordinary Divine Venerables and Venerables.


    Yet, the time they are given to comprehend it is merely less than a short month, naturally causing great concern.


    If they cannot comprehend the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" deeply, then entering the "Adventure Ancient Tomb" will be extremely dangerous.


    The Six-star Divine Venerable hosting the nine divine academies'' exam said that once inside the ancient tomb, all attack and defense measures would become ineffective, and they could only rely on the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" for battle.


    If one fails in battle, or if too few warriors are killed, whether or not they will pass the exam of the nine divine academies becomes truly perilous.


    After all, out of more than 9 million people entering the second round of the exam, in the end, only the top hundred thousand will advance to the third round, naturally causing many to fear they will be eliminated.


    Even Mo Yuan, Tianyu Beiling, and others within the crowd became solemn.


    They hadn''t come into contact with the "Bloodlight Blade Technique," didn''t know the difficulty of the technique, and had no idea to what extent they could practice it, which inevitably made them somewhat anxious.


    However, after a bout of nervousness, their expressions calmed down once again.


    "Hmph, no matter how difficult the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' may be to practice, we all start at the same point, and my talent and understanding will definitely not lose to anyone."


    "I want to see who can surpass my performance in the end!"


    After pondering for a while, Tianyu Beiling''s gaze involuntarily drifted towards Ye Chen.


    At this moment.


    Ye Chen appeared calm, neither sad nor happy.


    Having come into contact with the "Nine Swords of Annihilation," a Heaven-reaching Divine Art created by the Nine-star Venerable Bitter Crossing Elder, Ye Chen wasn''t too worried about such art.


    At the same time, Ye Chen had absolute confidence in his own comprehension abilities.


    When he and Long Li were in the Nine Suns Ancient Land''s "Bottomless Fire Cave," comprehending the "Method of Fire Control" together, Ye Chen was able to keep pace with Long Li, matching her step for step.


    You have to understand, Long Li''s natural talent and understanding were called the first among the younger generation of the Divine Kingdom!


    Ye Chen, who could match Long Li, wasn''t going to feel faint-hearted about this round of the exam.


    His only thought was to see for himself just how extraordinary this blade technique, left behind by an existence surpassing Venerables, Feng Luo, really was.


    In the void.


    Having announced all the rules of the second round of the exam and specially reminding them of some matters, the Six-star Divine Venerable finally said, "Alright, the details of the exam I had to tell you about are all done."


    "I remind you that the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' is hidden within the ''Blood Drinking Divine Blade'' four characters Divine Pattern on the blade surface. Once I announce the start of the exam, the Divine Patterns will change, and you''ll be able to attempt to find the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique.'' Whether you can quickly locate the traces of the blade technique and enter into comprehension depends on your own abilities."


    "At the same time, I have also opened the transmission channel that leads to the ancient tomb of the exam. After you have finished your practice, and want to enter the tomb to kill warriors, go through the Teleportation Array."


    "Now," the Nine Great Divine Institutes'' second round of assessment, ''Ranking Competition,'' has officially begun!"


    Once the Six-Star Divine Venerable had finished speaking, with a fierce wave of his hand, a gigantic Teleportation Array suddenly appeared beside the Heaven-shocking Giant Blade.


    Meanwhile, thousands of miles away from the over nine million examiners at the edge of the realm, a vast ancient tomb also started to rumble and its seals began to unravel.


    This tremendous ancient tomb was none other than the Adventure Ancient Tomb where the examiners, after completing their study of the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique,'' were to enter to slay combat soldiers!


    At the same time, the four Divine Patterns inscribed on the Heaven-shocking Giant Blade also began to flow and transform wildly, as if infinite spaces were beginning to manifest within the divine blade!


    Whoosh!


    As soon as the Six-Star Divine Venerable announced the beginning of the assessment, all eyes turned toward the Heaven-shocking Giant Blade. Experience new tales on My Virtual Library Empire


    With only a month for cultivation and slaughter, everyone naturally had to race against time!


    "The ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' is hidden within the ''Blood Drinking Divine Blade'' written in Divine Patterns on the blade''s surface?"


    "Quick! Quick!"


    "I have to find the hiding place of the technique as soon as possible!"


    Everyone began searching among these Divine Patterns.


    After searching for a while, many even started to sweat with urgency.


    They had been searching for a long time but couldn''t find where the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' was hidden, which naturally made them anxious.


    After all, every moment it took to discover the technique meant less time for cultivation, and less time to slay combat soldiers.


    It meant they were falling behind!


    While many were frantically anxious, there were individuals who seemed to have discovered the hidden traces of the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' on the divine blade and began to close their eyes for cultivation.


    In the crowd.


    Tianyu Beiling''s gaze locked onto the ''Shen'' character in the ''Blood Drinking Divine Blade'' just a short while after the Six-Star Divine Venerable announced the start of the assessment, and his eyes suddenly gleamed brightly.


    "So, this technique is related to the ''Shen'' Divine Pattern and is hidden inside an independent space among these patterns!"


    "In just thirty-five breaths, I have found the entrance to this technique."


    "I would like to see who can compete with me!"


    The moment Tianyu Beiling found the hiding place of the ''Blood Drinking Divine Blade,'' he couldn''t help but glance at his rivals, especially Ye Chen.


    However, what he saw made his heart skip a beat.


    Tianyu Beiling could see that Ye Chen had already closed his eyes, as if he had entered into a state of cultivation and comprehension.


    "How is this possible?!"


    "Ye Chen found the hiding place of the ''Blood Drinking Blade Technique'' even faster than me?"


    Tianyu Beiling couldn''t believe it!


    "Impossible, this kid, he must be bluffing! How broad can the vision of a real god from a lower realm be?!"


    Tianyu Beiling was unwilling to believe it.


    At that moment, not far from Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan also began to close his eyes and cultivate.


    This further increased Tianyu Beiling''s pressure. Without bothering to investigate whether Ye Chen had truly found the place to cultivate the ''Blood Drinking Blade Technique,'' he hurriedly closed his eyes and began his own cultivation.


    What Tianyu Beiling didn''t know was that not only Ye Chen but the Little Provincial Princess as well had entered into cultivation twenty breaths ahead of him.


    Merely thirteen breaths after the Six-Star Divine Venerable announced the start of the assessment, Ye Chen had discovered the knack to the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique''!


    Ye Chen directly shared his discovery with the Little Provincial Princess through a whispered message.


    Having discovered some clues on her own, upon hearing Ye Chen''s message, the Little Provincial Princess''s eyes sparkled even more brightly: "Brother Ye Chen is so amazing, discovering the hidden place of the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' so quickly!"


    After giggling at Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess also immersed her divine consciousness in the Divine Patterns, starting to comprehend the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique.''

 Chapter 742 - 694: Ye Chen Makes a Move!

    Outside the assessment area.


    Witnessing the numerous assessors either in search of the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" or already embarking on their cultivation, countless warriors observing the exam engaged in heated discussions.


    Especially a few Sovereigns, who all revealed expressions of concern.


    A Female Sovereign with good relations with the Northern Territory King even couldn''t help but ask, "Northern Territory King Sister, the Heaven-reaching Divine Art left by ''Predecessor Feng Luo'' is extremely challenging for true gods to cultivate, isn''t it?"


    "I''m afraid in one month''s time, they might not even be able to completely master the first and second moves of this divine art. How are they supposed to use this cultivation gap to assess them?"


    Upon hearing the Female Sovereign''s words, the Northern Territory King shook her head and chuckled, "This ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' isn''t hard to start with. The first move, ''Bloodlight Twelve Strikes,'' is divided into twelve levels in total. Those with decent comprehension can strive to master this first move. Of course, the further one goes in this blade technique, the harder it becomes to cultivate. To truly master the subsequent ''Bloodlight Nine Strikes,'' ''Bloodlight Six Strikes,'' and ''Bloodlight Three Strikes,'' or even the fifth move, ''Bloodlight Primordial Transformation,'' will definitely not be easy for them!"


    The words of the Northern Territory King caused many to stir.


    The first move of the Bloodlight Blade Technique, named "Bloodlight Twelve Strikes," is actually divided into twelve levels.


    It seems that to distinguish a ranking within one month, it is very likely that the contenders will compete based on this first move.


    What these people didn''t know was that after finishing her statement, the Northern Territory King''s gaze fell upon Ye Chen, who was amidst his assessment.


    The Northern Territory King murmured to herself, "Mastering ''Bloodlight Twelve Strikes'' might secure a decent ranking in this assessment. Reaching ''Bloodlight Nine Strikes'' may even allow for a shot at first place in the second round of the ranking competition. However, for Ye Chen, that is far from enough..."


    "After all, Predecessor Feng Luo once said that to access his legacy, one must cultivate at least to the third move of the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique,'' ''Bloodlight Six Strikes.''"


    "It''s anybody''s guess whether Ye Chen can reach the third move of the Bloodlight Blade Technique in merely one month, let alone whether he will choose to enter the ancient tomb to battle the warriors instead of focusing his utmost efforts on cultivation."


    Though concerned, the Northern Territory King would certainly not voice a reminder to Ye Chen.


    Because Sovereign Feng Luo had once told her sister that when such an opportunity truly presents itself, no one should interfere, or else the chance may vanish.


    "Let''s see."


    "Let''s see how Ye Chen divides his one month between cultivation and battling the warriors."


    In the end, the Northern Territory King could only suppress her thoughts and turned her attention back to Ye Chen in the light screen.


    One month''s time may seem long for many, but for martial cultivators, it is extremely brief.


    As time passed steadily, more and more assessors gradually found the way to cultivate and began their practice.


    And on the eighth day, finally, the first assessor stood up from his cultivation and stepped into the Teleportation Array, transporting into the assessment ancient tomb to start his battle against the warriors!


    "Only the eighth day and this true god is already going to fight the warriors?"


    "I wonder to what level he has cultivated the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique,'' and how many warriors he can defeat?"


    As the first person commenced, the warriors outside watching the assessment grew excited.


    They saw that once someone began killing the warriors, the six-star Sovereign conducting the assessment for the nine Divine Kingdoms academies waved his hand mightily.


    A massive ranking light screen suddenly appeared in the void beside the ancient tomb.


    Clearly, this light screen was about to start recording the assessment scores!


    As the first person finished cultivating and entered the ancient tomb to battle the warriors, with the passage of time, one after another, the other contenders could not hold back any longer and stood up.


    "This Bloodlight Blade Technique gets harder to comprehend the further one goes. I''ve managed to grasp the first level of the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique,'' up to the ''Fifth Killing Blade,'' but I haven''t made the slightest breakthrough in the last few days."


    "I can''t wait any longer. If I keep waiting, I''ll have even less time to kill the warriors!"


    After weighing their options, some assessors darted straight into the Transmission Light Formation and into the ancient tomb.


    "In just ten days, I''ve mastered the ''Bloodlight Twelve Strikes'' up to the ''Eighth Killing Blade.'' That should be the best I can do in the shortest time."


    "For the remaining time, let the battle begin!"


    There were also assessors who, after standing up, confidently entered the ancient tomb to start the second phase of battling the warriors.


    The choices were different, the progress varied, and naturally, the actions of killing the warriors also differed.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    On the fifteenth day, while a large number of people were still cultivating, there were already individuals who had entered the ancient tomb to battle the warriors and were directly eliminated!


    "Someone has come out!"


    "Others are still cultivating, and this person has already completed the second round of the assessment. My goodness, I wonder how many warriors he has killed and how many Assessment Points he has scored."


    Countless people looked towards the first assessor emerging from the ancient tomb.


    Looking pale after being eliminated from the ancient tomb, his Protective Talisman flew directly towards the ranking light screen beside the tomb.


    Finally, a divine light flashed intensely on the screen, and the assessor''s score was promptly displayed.


    "Assessor ''Liao Luo'' from the Southern Territory warriors of the Divine Kingdom, killed one thousand and ninety-eight one-star warriors, thirty two-star warriors, final Assessment Score is one thousand three hundred ninety-eight points!"


    One thousand three hundred ninety-eight points.


    Upon seeing this score, many of the warriors watching the assessment were taken aback: "This score might not be so good, I''m afraid." Find your adventure at My Virtual Library Empire


    "Of course, it still depends on the results of the others."


    After this assessor''s score was revealed, one by one, those who entered the ancient tomb were also continuously eliminated.


    Their scores also appeared one after another.


    "Situ Xuankong, Northern Region warrior of the Divine Kingdom, killed one thousand nine hundred sixty one-star warriors, sixty-three two-star warriors, final Assessment Score is two thousand five hundred ninety points!"


    "..."


    "Xuan Ling... Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom... final Assessment Score is one thousand four hundred forty-seven points..."


    As soon as an assessor emerged, countless gazes immediately turned to the ranking screen.


    Gradually, more and more names appeared on the ranking screen, attracting the attention of the vast majority.


    At this moment, someone suddenly exclaimed, "My God, so many people have already started killing the warrior soldiers, and quite a number have finished killing the warrior soldiers, their scores are out, and there are still people training."


    Now, twenty days had passed, and in the training area under the giant Heaven-reaching Divine Sword, the number of people had dwindled to just a few thousand.


    Among the crowd, Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and those ten true Goddess warriors from Divine Miao Peak, were still in the midst of training.


    "The most promising assessors are all still training!"


    "Oh my, when will they go and kill the warrior soldiers? There''s not much time left!"


    When the second round of assessments reached the twenty-third day.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As if by agreement, three or four people stood up at the same time.


    Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and two of the true Goddess warriors from Divine Miao Peak were among them.


    "There are only seven days left; we must go kill the warrior soldiers now!"


    As soon as Tianyu Beiling stood up, she looked towards the other warriors in training.


    However, her eyes suddenly flashed with surprise, "Hmm, Ye Chen is still training?"


    "Hmph, I want to see how much longer he will train. Remember, there are only seven days left to kill the warrior soldiers!"


    Tianyu Beiling and the others did not hesitate, directly flying into the Transmission Light Formation and entering the ancient tomb.


    When the second round of assessments reached the twenty-fifth day, there were only a handful of people left in the training area.


    The Little Provincial Princess and the true Goddess warriors from Divine Miao Peak stood up, one after another.


    "With only five days left, why is brother Ye Chen still training?"


    "How much time does he plan to leave for killing the warrior soldiers?"


    The Little Provincial Princess looked at Ye Chen and even felt some concern.


    However, she didn''t dare disturb Ye Chen''s training and believed in her heart that her brother Ye Chen must have a plan for how to allocate his time.


    "This Ye Chen... He''s been training longer than all of us?"


    The true Goddess warriors from Divine Miao Peak also looked at Ye Chen with curiosity.


    In the end, they and the Little Provincial Princess all flew into the Transmission Light Formation, entering the ancient tomb to start killing the warrior soldiers.


    When the second round of assessments reached the twenty-seventh day.


    In the training area, only Ye Chen was left!


    Meanwhile, in the other part of the ancient tomb area, even millions of people had already finished killing the warrior soldiers and left!


    Millions of people''s scores came out one after another, and Ye Chen had not even started killing the warrior soldiers yet; this, of course, made numerous people following Ye Chen''s progress extremely anxious.


    "My God, how long does Ye Chen plan to train!"


    "There''s really not much time left!"


    "Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and those people have been killing warrior soldiers for several days; he''s fallen too far behind!"


    "If he continues to lag, the likelihood of catching up is very low, especially since the likes of Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan are not so easily eliminated by warrior soldiers!"


    Many people''s foreheads furrowed with concern.


    "There are only three days left; Ye Chen must stand up to kill the warrior soldiers!"


    As the last three days approached, many observers thought to themselves.


    Yet that day, Ye Chen remained as unshakable as Mount Tai, not moving an inch.


    "With only two days left, Ye Chen still hasn''t made a move and is still training?!"


    When there were only two days left in the second round of assessments, many couldn''t restrain themselves and stood up from among the spectators.


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has given up on the second round of assessments? With only two days left, no matter how fast he kills, he can''t catch up to those who have been killing warrior soldiers for many days!"


    "Besides, how much can he possibly improve in the last few days?"


    As the last day arrived, many even began to inwardly admire Ye Chen.


    If it were them, amidst such intense competition, they simply couldn''t calm their minds to train for such a long period without taking any action!


    "It''s the last day."


    "Surely, Ye Chen can''t go on without killing the warrior soldiers!"


    Amidst countless discussions, with a "boom," Ye Chen, who had been seated with his eyes closed in meditation, suddenly opened his eyes.


    The next moment.


    Ye Chen directly flew into the Transmission Light Formation.


    Ye Chen had moved.


    With only the last day remaining, Ye Chen finally began his action to kill the warrior soldiers!


    But, was it too late?

 Chapter 743: 695 Results Announcement

    When Ye Chen finally took action, many spectators of the ancient battlefield''s assessment couldn''t help but let out a long sigh of relief, for reasons unknown.


    "This young lad, Ye Chen, has finally started to make his move!"


    "I thought he had given up on the competition altogether!"


    Many people chuckled and shook their heads.


    "However, with only the last day left, even if he cultivates for a few more days than the others, with Heaven-reaching Divine Art, those few extra days of cultivation won''t enable him to comprehend it to any significant depth!"


    "But under these circumstances, he has far fewer days to kill the warrior soldiers than the others, which is a considerable disadvantage!"


    "If it were me, I would cultivate for at most twenty days and spend the rest of the time killing warrior soldiers!" Many more were worried about Ye Chen''s assessment performance.


    "Ye Chen must have his reasons for choosing this way."


    "Perhaps he has reached a critical period in his cultivation and couldn''t stop, which is why he spent so much time on it," some pondered the reasons for Ye Chen''s prolonged cultivation.


    However, virtually everyone had little hope for Ye Chen''s final results in the second round of the assessment.


    They even doubted that Ye Chen could make it into the top hundred of the rankings.


    After all, everyone relied on the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" to kill the warrior soldiers and accumulate their scores, and the time Ye Chen had left to do so was far too short.


    In the crowd.


    The leader of Divine Dragon Mountain, Qin Yuntian, kept shifting his gaze restlessly.


    A hundred of his top True God disciples had already been eliminated by Ye Chen in the first round of the knockout.


    With the remaining people, Qin Yuntian had lost hope for them achieving good results.


    Qin Yuntian''s biggest hope was for Ye Chen to encounter problems during the assessment.


    Now, seeing Ye Chen act only on the last day, a flicker of excitement arose in his heart, "Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan set off six days earlier than Ye Chen to kill the warrior soldiers."


    "Both of them are absolute geniuses of the Divine Kingdom. With Ye Chen already having slim hopes of surpassing them, he now has six fewer days to kill warrior soldiers."


    "I want to see just how far behind Ye Chen will be left in the end!"


    Qin Yuntian was convinced in his heart that Ye Chen would definitely fall far behind Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan.


    After all, Qin Yuntian knew that even if Ye Chen cultivated six days more than the two of them, it wouldn''t make much difference.


    But by being six days behind in killing warrior soldiers, Ye Chen would undoubtedly kill far fewer of them than Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan!


    High up in the void.


    Even Sovereign Xuechen couldn''t help but frown upon seeing Ye Chen taking action only on the last day.


    "Ye Chen... he''s acted too late."


    "He should have left at least three days to kill warrior soldiers. One day is simply not enough; even if he kills warrior soldiers without stopping for a full day, he won''t catch up."


    "Unless he can kill higher-level warrior soldiers... but with only a month''s cultivation time, the blade technique he has comprehended is unlikely to surpass others by much!"


    "It seems that this round will set Ye Chen back."


    Sovereign Xuechen heaved a sigh.


    What nobody knew was that at that moment, the Northern Territory King beside Sovereign Xuechen was already extremely excited.


    "Ye Chen... he has come into contact with the legacy of the predecessor Feng Luo?!"


    "In less than a month''s time, has he really cultivated the third form of the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique,'' Bloodlight Six Kills?!"


    The reason why the Northern Territory King was so excited was because, when Ye Chen stood up and flew into the Transmission Light Formation to enter the ancient tomb to kill the warrior soldiers,


    A voice simultaneously transmitted to the Northern Territory King from the astonishing giant blade.


    The voice declared, "The inheritance has been activated; the successor Ye Chen has entered the evaluation period!"


    ...


    Inside the ancient tomb.


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    Tianyu Beiling was in the midst of being besieged by a large group of warrior soldiers.


    Yet, at that moment, Tianyu Beiling showed no signs of disarray but instead had an extremely excited expression on her face!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With a flicker of divine light in Tianyu Beiling''s hand, countless blade shadows emerged, which directly slaughtered the entire group of warrior soldiers into a cloud of dust!


    "Seven days, a full seven days, I''ve been killing warrior soldiers!"


    "Moreover, the level of warrior soldiers I''ve killed has even reached that of three-starred warrior soldiers!"


    "Without any breaks, I''ve been consistently slaying warrior soldiers; I''d like to see who could surpass me now!"


    Boom!


    With her spirits high, Tianyu Beiling swept her divine gaze and charged towards another large group of warrior soldiers.


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    Without stopping, she slew them.


    Up until the last moment, she wouldn''t relent; with each additional warrior soldier she killed, her assessment points would increase, and she would naturally give it her all!


    Only when a divine light finally enveloped her, transporting her out of the ancient tomb, did Tianyu Beiling finally cease.


    Tianyu Beiling knew that the entire month of the assessment had come to an end.


    The time for slaying the combat soldiers had finally ended!


    Arriving outside the ancient tomb, Tianyu Beiling''s gaze immediately turned towards the others, searching for his challenger.


    Then, Tianyu Beiling saw Mo Yuan, saw Ye Chen!


    When he saw Ye Chen''s utterly calm appearance, Tianyu Beiling''s eyes flashed, and then he heard many people discussing, "It''s said that Ye Chen only entered the ancient tomb on the last day, killing combat soldiers for just one day."


    "What a pity, what a pity. Ye Chen is probably going to fall behind this time."


    Hearing that Ye Chen only killed for one day, Tianyu Beiling''s heart started pounding.


    Having witnessed Ye Chen in action during the first round of eliminations, he had already regarded Ye Chen as his greatest opponent.


    Initially, he had been worried that Ye Chen''s second-round performance would be quite good.


    But when he heard that Ye Chen had only killed for one day, Tianyu Beiling completely relaxed.


    Just one day?


    Tianyu Beiling knew that even if Ye Chen turned the world upside down, he couldn''t surpass him.


    "Hehe, I''m really looking forward to the moment the results are revealed!" Tianyu Beiling''s gaze turned towards the ranking screen, filled with immense anticipation.


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    As soon as Ye Chen emerged from the ancient tomb, the Little Provincial Princess, who had been teleported out almost simultaneously with him, spotted him at first glance and rushed towards him.


    "Brother Ye Chen, when I last set off, you were still cultivating. How long did you cultivate for, and when did you start killing the combat soldiers?" the Little Provincial Princess asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled and gently patted the Little Provincial Princess''s head, saying, "I only took action on the last day."


    "The last day?!" The Little Provincial Princess''s rosy little mouth was so shocked that she could hardly close it, "Brother Ye Chen, if you only have one day to kill the combat soldiers, it won''t be easy to accumulate a high score!"


    "What should we do, Brother Ye Chen?"


    The Little Provincial Princess was aware that if Ye Chen failed to complete the requirement of securing the first rank in the assessment by the nine Divine Kingdom''s academies, he would be imprisoned by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for ten thousand years.


    Of course, Ye Chen''s poor assessment performance was a cause for concern for the Little Provincial Princess.


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess''s furrowed brows, Ye Chen simply smiled, "It''s okay, don''t worry. My results this time should be quite good."


    Although the results were not yet announced, Ye Chen''s eyes were clear and brimming with absolute confidence.


    After all, while others didn''t know, Ye Chen was aware of his assessment process.


    Thinking back to the 23rd day of his cultivation when he suddenly heard a voice in his ear, Ye Chen still felt it was unbelievable.


    "The ''Blood Drinking Divine Blade'' actually contained a hidden inheritance? I can''t believe that by practicing the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' to the third level, I actually tapped into that inheritance."


    "However, the inheritance was probably correct. It led me to the fourth level of the ancient tomb to kill combat soldiers. The fourth level of the ancient tomb, it''s indeed quite suitable for me!"


    Ye Chen sighed inwardly.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s unworried expression, the Little Provincial Princess blinked her eyes. She was just about to ask Ye Chen some more questions when the Six-Star Sovereign, who was overseeing the academies'' assessments, had already flown into the void and began to speak.


    This Six-Star Sovereign pointed towards the ranking screen in the heavens above and announced, "The second round ''Ranking Competition'' has ended."


    "Eight million six hundred sixty-three thousand people were eliminated from the ancient tomb before the end of the assessment, and their scores are set."


    "Right now, only one hundred thousand names remain on the ranking screen, the current top hundred thousand!"


    "Of course, these top hundred thousand are not the final standings. After the scores of the more than four hundred ninety thousand people who lasted until the thirty-day deadline are recorded, those who were teleported out of the tomb will be the final top hundred thousand qualified to enter the third round of the assessment!"


    "Now, let''s record the final scores!"


    Boom!


    As the Six-Star Sovereign declared the recording of all results, countless examinees, as well as warriors observing from outside, all felt their hearts pound.


    Of course, many also looked at the results on the screen with despair.


    These were the people ranked below one hundred thousand as well as those at the very end of the top hundred thousand.


    Currently situated at the end of the top hundred thousand, they knew that once all the remaining results were tallied, they would surely be squeezed out.


    "The final tally of results will be conducted according to your assessment points, in order."


    "Of the last more than four hundred ninety thousand whose scores have not been recorded, only the top hundred will remain. The rest will have their scores directly entered into the ranking screen," announced the Six-Star Sovereign.


    As soon as the Six-Star Sovereign''s words finished, "whoosh whoosh whoosh" numerous sounds echoed through the air.


    In sight, countless Protective Talismans flew from the hands of the examinees into the ranking screen.


    Suddenly, the entire ranking on the screen underwent a massive change.


    After a flurry of divine light, the standings were finally settled.


    At that moment, no one cared to look at the ranking screen any longer, because they realized, from what the Six-Star Sovereign overseeing the assessment suggested, that the strongest top hundred scores were not yet entered.


    At this moment, the person ranked first on the ranking screen was someone who had just come out of the ancient tomb.


    His score was already ranked first, and the even stronger top hundred scores had yet to be entered. This clearly indicated that the real top hundred still held their Protective Talismans in hand!


    At this time, innumerable gazes shifted directly towards Ye Chen.


    When they saw that Ye Chen''s Protective Talisman hadn''t moved at all and hadn''t flown towards the ranking screen, meaning Ye Chen was also among the top hundred, many people were so astonished they nearly leaped up!


    "How is this possible!"


    "Ye Chen only killed for one day, yet he has stormed into the top hundred!"


    All who knew Ye Chen had cultivated up to the last day before entering the tomb to kill combat soldiers were completely in disbelief!

 Chapter 744 - 696: Tianyu Beilings Despair

    "Ye Chen actually made it into the top hundred?!"


    Outside the ancient battlefield, East Territory King Qin Yuntian saw that the protective talisman in Ye Chen''s hands had not moved, and his face suddenly darkened.


    "He must have killed warriors of higher ranks, raising his assessment points, I imagine."


    Through previous score records, Qin Yuntian knew that the warriors in the second round of the ancient tombs were divided into many levels.


    Killing a one-star warrior would only earn one assessment point, but killing a two-star warrior could gain ten points, and killing a three-star warrior could even earn a hundred points.


    Ye Chen managed to break into the top hundred in just one day, meaning he certainly couldn''t have accumulated such a score by killing only one-star warriors.


    Qin Yuntian speculated that Ye Chen must have achieved his rank by killing three-star warriors.


    "Humph, but what does breaking into the top hundred mean?"


    "If he can kill three-star warriors, Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan can certainly kill three-star warriors as well. Besides, they have had six more days to kill than Ye Chen."


    "Even if Ye Chen has entered the top hundred, he will be left far behind by Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan!"


    Qin Yuntian thought to himself.


    Outside the ancient tomb, in the contender''s area.


    When Tianyu Beiling saw that Ye Chen still held his body-protecting talisman, he was also stunned.


    But soon after, he shook his head and chuckled.


    "If Ye Chen hadn''t made it into the top hundred, it would have been quite disappointing."


    "Of course, my performance will ultimately leave him in despair!"


    Tianyu Beiling touched the protective talisman in his hand, full of absolute confidence.


    "Next, the one hundredth place''s score will be announced!"


    Amid the buzz of the crowd, the six-star sovereign presiding over the nine great divine institutes'' assessments once again spread his voice far and wide, and suddenly a law tablet appeared in his hand¡ªthe very gold law tablet that had previously activated numerous protective talismans.


    The six-star sovereign, holding the golden law tablet, gave it a slight shake, and immediately, a protective talisman flew out from the crowd.


    "It''s from Luo Mei''er of the Divine Kingdom''s Northern Region. She, she indeed has exceptional comprehension, being the one hundredth in this second round of competition!"


    When they saw that the owner of this protective talisman was a girl in green clothes, many people buzzed with discussion.


    Boom!


    The moment Luo Mei''er''s protective talisman flew into the ranking light screen, it immediately occupied the first spot.


    The ranking light screen read: "Luo Mei''er, martial artist of the Divine Kingdom''s Northern Region, has killed six hundred and ninety-eight two-star warriors and one hundred and twenty-three three-star warriors. Her final assessment score is 19,280 points!"


    When the crowd saw that Luo Mei''er had killed as many as one hundred and twenty-three three-star warriors, many martial artists'' faces drastically changed.


    "My god, Luo Mei''er actually killed as many as one hundred and twenty-three three-star warriors!"


    "I was eliminated because I entered the third layer of the ancient tomb to kill three-star warriors and was directly ousted by two three-star warriors!"


    "Indeed, three-star warriors are very difficult to deal with. I''ve trained the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' to the first style''s ''Ninth Killing Blade'' and still never killed one."


    "What''s the ''Ninth Killing Blade''? I''ve trained the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' to the first style''s ''Eleventh Killing Blade'' and still never killed a three-star warrior. Luo Mei''er being able to kill so many three-star warriors probably means she has fully mastered the first style of the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' and has entered into the realm of the second style!"


    "The second style of the Bloodlight Blade Technique? My god, she grasped the second style of the Bloodlight Blade Technique in less than a month? So powerful, too powerful, no wonder she made it into the top hundred!"


    The contenders, having personally gone through the process of cultivation and warrior slaying, of course knew the difficulty of the task!


    Luo Mei''er, the girl in green within the crowd, saw that she had successfully become the one hundredth in the second round of assessments and smiled.


    "This score should also be quite good. I''ll need to try a little harder later on in hopes to enter the Supreme Divine Institute of my dreams!"


    She cheered herself on.


    "Let''s see who else ranks behind me. I''m curious to know, who will be the first in this second round of assessments?"


    Having her score announced, Luo Mei''er felt relieved and, as a spectator, continued to look down the list.


    At that moment, the six-star sovereign presiding over the assessments announced, "Next, the ninety-ninth place''s score will be announced!"


    Ninety-ninth place, ninety-eighth place...


    Fifty-third place, fifty-second place...


    Gradually, as scores were announced one by one, fewer and fewer people in the field had their results revealed.


    When the ranking reached the tenth place, the tenth place''s assessment points had climbed to an astonishing 48,600 points!


    And what surprised countless people in the field even more was that they still hadn''t seen Ye Chen''s score announced!


    "My god, has Ye Chen actually made it into the top ten?!"


    "He''s only been killing warriors for one day, and he''s made it into the top ten? How is that possible?!"


    At this moment, countless people were unsettled.


    Even Tianyu Beiling, who had appeared utterly relaxed with his score also yet to be announced, started to feel uneasy.


    And outside the field, countless divine beings and sovereigns were likewise completely taken aback.


    They originally didn''t have high hopes for Ye Chen, after all, he had only spent one day killing warriors.


    But now Ye Chen had clearly broken into the top ten, which of course came as a huge surprise to them!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has killed many three-star warriors, or perhaps, he killed a four-star warrior?!"


    "Killing a four-star warrior? That seems unlikely. Judging by the rankings, it seems that in order to kill a four-star warrior, one must have mastered the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' to the third style within just one month, surpassing the celestial arts left by a sovereign being? That''s simply impossible!"


    In the crowd, the one with the ugliest expression was Qin Yuntian.


    He suddenly had a premonition that this youth, Ye Chen, with whom he had grievances, might just create another miracle!


    At this moment, the East Territory King, Mu Ling Mu Xiao, Lin Xiaowan, and others who cared about Ye Chen finally felt relieved.


    Originally, seeing Ye Chen acting only on the last day, they were worried about his results.


    But now, with Ye Chen having broken into the top ten, he had definitely proved himself, and of course, they were greatly relieved.


    Even if Ye Chen could not take first place, this was only the second round of assessment, and they all believed that Ye Chen could certainly surpass in the third and fourth rounds to vie for the final first place!


    Inside the Second Ancient Battlefield, by the side of an ancient tomb.


    When the results for the top ten were announced, all eyes converged on the last ten martial artists whose scores were yet to be revealed.


    At this time, the six-star honorable host announced, "Announce the score for the ninth place!"


    Boom!


    At the center of the arena, a True God girl from Divine Miao Peak''s Protective Talisman suddenly began to move.


    This True God girl was surprisingly one of the two little lolis among the ten True God girls of Divine Miao Peak who had only survived four tribulations.


    "Lan Ling''er, a martial artist from the Southern Territory Divine Kingdom, killed zero one-star war soldiers, killed zero two-star war soldiers, killed six hundred and forty-three three-star war soldiers. The final assessment score, sixty-four thousand three hundred points!"


    Although this little loli was of a lower True God realm, because everyone in the second round of assessment could only rely on the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" they had comprehended to kill the war soldiers without depending on realm strength,


    Breaking into the ninth place showed that this little loli''s comprehension was exceptional!


    Seeing her score announced, the little loli "Lan Ling''er" was thrilled and blinked excitedly.


    The ten girls from Divine Miao Peak who came together still had two whose scores were not announced, and she was very excited about possibly breaking into the top three of Divine Miao Peak.


    "Announce the eighth place score!"


    The eighth place was taken by a martial artist from the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    The seventh place went to another girl from Divine Miao Peak.


    The sixth place fell into the hands of the Little Provincial Princess!


    "Only got sixth place!" The Little Provincial Princess pouted in dissatisfaction, "What a pity I''ve cultivated for too long, and there was little time left for killing war soldiers, otherwise, I could have ranked even higher!"


    However, seeing that Ye Chen''s rank was still unpublished, the Little Provincial Princess''s eyes brightened again.


    She only wished to join the Supreme Divine Institute this time, not really aiming to take first place, after all, she was still very young.


    The only thing the Little Provincial Princess was hoping for was that her brother Ye Chen would score well.


    At this point, Ye Chen''s score remained unpublished, and naturally, she was full of anticipation.


    Following the Little Provincial Princess, the fifth place went to a young man from the Northern Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    The center of the arena was now left with only Ye Chen, Mo Yuan, Tianyu Beiling, and one girl from Divine Miao Peak whose scores had not been announced!


    At this time, Tianyu Beiling was also breaking out in a cold sweat.


    With the scores in the arena reaching this point, where everyone else had also killed three-star war soldiers, he had no advantage whatsoever.


    "No, in the last seven days, I''ve been focused solely on killing three-star war soldiers without any rest, my score must be the best!" Tianyu Beiling roared in his heart.


    But to his sudden shock, his expression darkened the next moment.


    Because, as the six-star honorable host announced the fourth place score, Tianyu Beiling was horrified to find his Body-protecting Talisman moving.


    The moving of the Body-protecting Talisman signified that he was the fourth place!


    Tianyu Beiling had been hoping his Body-protecting Talisman would be the last to move, but unexpectedly, not only was he not the last, there were still three people who had outperformed him!


    "My score, only fourth place? How could this be?!"


    Tianyu Beiling looked at the score of eighty-nine thousand six hundred points on the screen for his assessment and turned his eyes toward the remaining three, looking at Mo Yuan, the girl from Divine Miao Peak, and Ye Chen, unable to stay calm.


    "It''s acceptable that Mo Yuan surpassed me, but how did that girl become so strong as well, and Ye Chen, didn''t he only kill war soldiers for one day? How could he surpass me?!"


    While Tianyu Beiling was reluctant to believe it, the third place score was also announced.


    And the third place was actually the hot favorite for the championship, Mo Yuan!


    Seeing that even Mo Yuan was only third, all eyes gathered on the last remaining girl from Divine Miao Peak and Ye Chen.


    No one expected that the ever-mysterious Divine Miao Peak would once again produce a formidable girl.


    Even more so, nobody thought that Ye Chen, who had only been killing war soldiers for one day, could actually make it to the end!


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    At this time, the girl from Divine Miao Peak was also curiously looking towards Ye Chen.


    And Ye Chen was looking at this girl as well.


    Ye Chen knew that if this girl had made it to the final moment, she might very well be the strongest individual from Divine Miao Peak this time.


    If she truly was the strongest individual...


    Then the item given to him by the old man Suffering to pass on to Divine Miao Peak''s descendants might very well have to be given to this girl.


    While Ye Chen and the girl from Divine Miao Peak were sizing each other up, the honorable host finally began to announce the score for the second place.


    "It''s down to Ye Chen and sister Xue Ningning remaining, who will be the first?!"


    "Sister Ningning is the strongest one we Divine Miao Peak brought this time, also hailed as a peerless prodigy seen once in a hundred thousand years in our peak, could Ye Chen actually surpass sister Ningning?!"


    The other nine True God girls from Divine Miao Peak had their attention fully on Ye Chen and Xue Ningning.


    The next moment, they saw Xue Ningning''s Body-protecting Talisman move.


    Xue Ningning is second place?!


    This made everyone jump to their feet.


    This obviously meant that the only one in the arena whose score had not been announced, Ye Chen, was the winner of the second round of assessment!

 Chapter 745 - 697: Astonishing Results!

    Boom!


    When Xue Ningning''s body-protecting talisman flew up, it landed directly onto the ranking light screen, revealing her score.


    "Xue Ningning, warrior from Southern Territory Divine Kingdom, killed zero one-star warriors, killed zero two-star warriors, killed one thousand two hundred and thirty-nine three-star warriors. Her final Assessment Score, one hundred and twenty-three thousand nine hundred points!"


    One hundred twenty-three thousand nine hundred points was the first score to surpass one hundred thousand points!


    However, at this moment, no one cared to look at Xue Ningning or her score anymore, as all eyes, even Xue Ningning''s own gaze, were focused on Ye Chen.


    Because Xue Ningning ranked second, the only one left whose score hadn''t been announced was Ye Chen''s.


    Clearly, this meant Ye Chen had taken the first place in the second round of the assessment!


    First place, of course, attracted everyone''s attention!


    "Ye Chen is first?!"


    "How is that possible?!"


    "He only entered the ancient tomb to kill warriors on the last day, spending so many fewer days killing warriors than the others. How could he still overtake them and take first place?!"


    Countless watching warriors simply couldn''t believe it.


    They had witnessed Ye Chen''s cultivation and assessment process, and naturally, they found it inconceivable that Ye Chen, having killed warriors for only one day, ranked first.


    Among the assessors, Tianyu Beiling felt as if his eyes were about to pop out of his sockets.


    He originally wanted to use the assessment results to scorn Ye Chen thoroughly.


    Instead, he ranked fourth; three others ranked ahead of him, and what was more special, Ye Chen, who he originally wanted to scorn, actually ranked first!


    Slap in the face.


    Tianyu Beiling felt a burning pain on his face.


    Luckily, he hadn''t directly challenged Ye Chen, or else, as the loser now, he would probably be looking for a crack in the ground to crawl into.


    At this moment, Mo Yuan, who ranked third, was also shaken, "Ye Chen is first?"


    "Xue Ningning is stronger than me, killing more than a thousand warriors to obtain second place, so Ye Chen killed even more warriors than her?"


    "No, that''s impossible. Ye Chen only had one day to kill warriors; claiming he killed more than a thousand in a day is simply not possible."


    "Then there''s only one possibility; Ye Chen wasn''t killing three-star warriors, but four-star warriors instead!"


    At the thought of four-star warriors, a gleam flashed in Mo Yuan''s eyes.


    After entering the ancient tomb for the assessment, Mo Yuan also tried to kill four-star warriors but he wasn''t even a match for the moves of a four-star warrior.


    If it weren''t for his quick reaction and speedy retreat from the fourth layer of the ancient tomb where the four-star warriors were, he would have been killed and eliminated by a four-star warrior already!


    Having confronted four-star warriors, Mo Yuan was well aware of their formidable strength.


    Mo Yuan knew that probably only by cultivating the Bloodlight Blade Technique to the third move, and deeply understanding that move, could one hope to kill a four-star warrior.


    And if Ye Chen really took first place by killing four-star warriors, it clearly meant he could not only handle one four-star warrior but many of them in order to surpass Xue Ningning''s score.


    In that case, it would require Ye Chen to have an extremely deep understanding of the third move of the "Bloodlight Blade Technique."


    One month''s time.


    To comprehend Heaven-reaching Divine Art, a technique left by beings surpassing the Divine Venerable, to the third move, that was not only unimaginable for Mo Yuan but also unbelievable for countless True Gods across the Divine Kingdoms!


    Keep in mind, the warriors participating in the assessment for the nine major divine institutes are already extraordinarily powerful True Gods within the Divine Kingdoms.


    Even so, out of more than ninety hundred thousand True Gods, not a single one could comprehend the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" to the third move!


    Mo Yuan was impatient to see Ye Chen''s score.


    To see if Ye Chen truly had the capability to kill four-star warriors, to see if he truly had become the only one in the field who could take down a four-star warrior!


    It wasn''t just Mo Yuan who wanted to see Ye Chen''s score; the ten True God maidens of Divine Miao Peak, the little princess, and countless others had long fixed their gaze on Ye Chen, already eager to see Ye Chen''s final points.


    And the six-star Divine Venerable who presided over the assessment, as if sensing everyone''s eagerness, finally announced, "Next, the score of the one ranked first will be announced!"


    Boom!


    As the six-star venerable was speaking, his golden talisman moved, and the only protective talisman in the arena that had not recorded a score yet¡ªYe Chen''s¡ªfinally activated.


    Ye Chen, he''s really number one!


    Boom!


    Once Ye Chen''s protective talisman was set in motion, it flew straight towards the ranking light screen.


    With a "swoosh," a line of score text appeared at the very top of the ranking light screen!


    Ye Chen''s score, now occupying the first place, directly pushed everyone else''s scores down by one rank!


    All eyes turned to look at Ye Chen''s score.


    "Ye Chen, a martial artist from the lower planes of the Divine Kingdom..."


    When they saw that Ye Chen came from a lower plane and had set such an incredible record, many true gods from the lower planes were greatly stirred.


    These true gods had come from the lower planes to compete with those of the Divine Kingdom, and they had always felt psychologically inferior, even somewhat fearful of the true gods from the Divine Kingdom.


    But now, Ye Chen''s score served as a mighty inspiration to them.


    The martial artists from their lower planes were not inferior to those from the Divine Kingdom at all.


    Ye Chen, from their lower planes, had even seized the first place among all the martial artists from the Divine Kingdom!


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    Numerous lower-plane true gods looked at Ye Chen with eyes filled with admiration.


    They even began to see Ye Chen as the goal for their future martial arts cultivation!


    Meanwhile, the countless Divine Venerables and lords spectating outside the arena sighed deeply after seeing that Ye Chen came from a lower plane, "For warriors from the lower planes to make their way into the Divine Kingdom, it is indeed no small feat. Those Divine Kings who have risen from the lower planes are also each quite extraordinary."


    "However, even though they''re extraordinary, to rise in the large domain of the Divine Kingdom, they still have to expend countless efforts. Many Divine Kings from the lower planes, even after cultivating to the level of Heavenly Divine Venerable and Immortal Divine Venerable and even lord, only then begin to shine brightly in the Divine Kingdom!"


    "Someone like Ye Chen, who has stormed into the Divine Kingdom as a True God and accomplished such great feats, can be said to be one in tens of millions or even hundreds of millions of years!"


    "In the records of the Divine Kingdom, those who have achieved such miracles in the past and did not fall in their cultivation later became legends across the entire Divine Kingdom, becoming existences that transcended the lords!"


    "I wonder if Ye Chen can grow to that extent!"


    Amidst these emotional exclamations, all eyes once again moved to look beyond Ye Chen''s score.


    Everyone saw that behind Ye Chen''s name and origin, it was recorded that Ye Chen had killed zero one-star warriors, zero two-star warriors, and also zero three-star warriors.


    Seeing that even the three-star warriors were listed as zero slain, everyone sharply inhaled a breath of cold air.


    Ye Chen hadn''t killed any one-star, two-star, or three-star warriors; this evidently meant that Ye Chen had indeed killed four-star warriors!


    Whoosh!


    All eyes turned to look at the end of the list.


    And astonishingly, everyone saw that at the very end of the first line on the ranking light screen, it was written that Ye Chen had killed three hundred fifty-nine four-star warriors!


    Killing one one-star warrior would grant one Assessment Score; killing a two-star warrior would grant ten Assessment Scores; killing a three-star warrior would grant one hundred Assessment Scores.


    And for killing a four-star warrior, one would receive a thousand Assessment Scores.


    Ye Chen, having killed three hundred fifty-nine four-star warriors, had attained a final Assessment Score of: three hundred fifty-nine thousand points!


    Ye Chen not only killed four-star warriors but also killed as many as three hundred fifty-nine of them!


    This was simply unimaginable!


    Keep in mind that even a genius like Tianyu Beiling''s Mo Yuan, who killed warriors weaker than four-star warriors, did not average three hundred kills a day.


    Ye Chen had only spent one day killing warriors, and not only were the warriors he killed powerful to the level of four stars, but the number he killed was also so terrifying!


    Three hundred fifty-nine thousand Assessment points!


    That exceeded the second-ranked Xue Ningning by as much as two hundred thirty-five thousand one hundred points!

 Chapter 746 - 698: Wind Origin Tower

    ```


    Dead silence.


    As they saw the rows of scores on the ranking screen, especially the score of the number one ranked Ye Chen, a fleeting moment of dead silence enveloped the entire examination realm, inside and out.


    And after that brief moment, a buzzing explosion of sound filled the examination realm as everyone began to discuss animatedly!


    The nine great Divine Academy''s assessment was divided into four rounds.


    The first round, a major elimination, did not record scores, as long as one passed through smoothly that was enough.


    At that time, Ye Chen, as the first among more than fifty million true gods to pass the "major elimination" round and eliminate a hundred powerful true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, conquered countless people.


    The second round''s "ranking match," where the assessment ranking began, was even more crucial.


    No one expected that Ye Chen, who performed exceptionally well in the first round, would kill his way to the top again in the second round, seizing first place once more.


    And not just first place, Ye Chen''s current "ranking match" score was more than two hundred and thirty thousand assessment points ahead of the second place Xue Ningning, which obviously created a huge gap.


    As long as Ye Chen could maintain his lead, after the last two rounds of competition, it was indeed possible that Ye Chen could seize the first place in the nine great Divine Academy''s assessment!


    Everyone felt that Ye Chen was incredibly close to fulfilling one of the three requirements the two great Sovereigns set for him, the requirement to seize first place in the nine great Divine Academy''s assessment!


    Outside the ancient battlefield, at the highest point of the illusory heavens.


    The two Sovereigns who had posed three requirements for Ye Chen, Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, both nodded lightly.


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    The Northern Territory King fared a bit better; she knew about Ye Chen''s results through Sovereign Feng Luo''s "Blood Drinking Divine Blade" transmission and had already anticipated Ye Chen''s performance.


    Sovereign Xuechen, who had initially not thought highly of Ye Chen, after all, Ye Chen had only dedicated one day to killing the combat soldiers.


    However, Ye Chen surprised her by overcoming everyone with his performance of slaying four-star soldiers, shaking even Sovereign Xuechen.


    Sovereign Xuechen finally understood why her beloved disciple and proud daughter of heaven, Long Li, had become involved with Ye Chen and had not blamed him, even secretly harboring admiration for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s talent, his understanding, his combat power!


    Which young girl wouldn''t like, admire, or respect such qualities?!


    Even the ten true goddesses from Divine Miao Peak, who rarely ventured into the Divine Kingdom, cast different glances at Ye Chen now!


    "There are still two rounds left."


    After reflecting for a moment, Sovereign Xuechen''s gaze became clear again.


    "In the last two rounds, each of them could greatly change the ranks; I wonder if Ye Chen can hold on until the end, still occupying first place."


    The first two rounds of assessments had already passed.


    No matter how shocking, they had all become history, and Sovereign Xuechen was looking forward to Ye Chen''s performance in the coming rounds.


    "The next two rounds?"


    The Northern Territory King''s gaze also turned toward Ye Chen at this time.


    "He started the legacy examination from the Blood Drinking Divine Blade. The third round is the crux of the examination."


    "It might very well affect his very assessment in the third round!"


    "I wonder what choices Ye Chen will make, whether he will focus on the Divine Academy''s assessment as the priority, or also consider Sovereign Feng Luo''s legacy examination."


    "Now that he is so far ahead in the results, he does have a bit more leeway..."


    The thoughts of the Northern Territory King were unknown to everyone else.


    If others knew that Ye Chen, while striving for first place in the nine great Divine Academy''s assessment, had also entered another test left by Sovereign Feng Luo, they would probably all be astonished.


    Countless true gods were already struggling with just the Divine Academy''s assessment; Ye Chen, however, was also preoccupied with another matter!


    Among the examinees, Ye Chen looked at the ranking screen, his eyes shining with anticipation as well as expectation.


    "While pondering over the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique'' before, that voice reminded me that I had come into contact with a legacy, the God King Level inheritance left by the predecessor Feng Luo!"


    "In practicing the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique,'' I have comprehended the third form, which is merely the first phase of the examination of that legacy."


    "That voice said, in the next two rounds of competition, there would be two more phases of the examination hidden. What could be in the next round?"


    Ye Chen had already thought about the matter of the third round of assessments.


    Many people in the field were likewise thinking of the third round of assessments.


    Especially people like Tianyu Beiling Mo Yuan, who were ambitious about seizing first place in the nine great Divine Academy assessments, they were extremely eager for the third round of assessments to start soon.


    After the first two rounds of competition, they were far behind Ye Chen.


    ```


    They wanted to overtake in one fell swoop in the third round!


    After all, in the four rounds of the Divine Institute''s assessment, the last three were "ranking competitions," where rankings could change. Naturally, they were not willing to always rank behind Ye Chen.


    Above the void, the Sovereign who was presiding over the Divine Institute''s assessment cast his gaze over everyone.


    He first nodded to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s performance in the second round had, after all, even shaken this six-star Sovereign.


    If it weren''t for the numerous Sovereigns watching him preside over this assessment, he would have even wanted to descend and have a proper exchange with Ye Chen to get to know this genius.


    Seeing the six-star Sovereign treat Ye Chen exceptionally, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and others were consumed with envy, while others nodded in admiration.


    They recognized that Ye Chen''s performance deserved such special treatment!


    But when the six-star Sovereign''s gaze moved away from Ye Chen, his subsequent words brought great joy to some and deep sorrow to others.


    This six-star Sovereign said, "The second round of assessment has ended, and everyone''s scores have been published."


    "Now, as I mentioned earlier, out of the more than nine million participants in this round of assessment, only the top hundred thousand who passed the second round will remain. Everyone else will be eliminated from the ancient battlefield, moving to the elimination area outside!"


    A round of assessment eliminated a batch of contestants.


    The first round eliminated more than forty million people, and this second round similarly eliminated over nine million!


    Amidst the six-star Sovereign''s words, booming teleportation sounds echoed throughout the realm as one defeated figure after another was eliminated.


    In the end, only a hundred thousand remained in the arena.


    Seeing the hundred thousand people left in the arena, the Sovereign presiding over the assessment first said, "I would like to congratulate you, these hundred thousand people, for entering into the third round of the Divine Institute''s assessment."


    "At the same time, I want to remind you that the third round is the key to the entire four-round assessment."


    "This time, the nine Divine Institutes will recruit nine thousand new disciples. This third round will decide the top nine thousand from among you hundred thousand, who will all enter into the selection list for new disciples of the Divine Institutes. Those eliminated in the third round will not have the opportunity to enter the Divine Institutes!"


    Hum!


    The words of this six-star Sovereign made many in the arena who were excited about passing the second round assessment suddenly become tense.


    The third round of assessment would directly select the top nine thousand eligible for entry into the Divine Institutes!


    Success meant joining the Divine Institutes.


    Failure meant no association with the Divine Institutes.


    This naturally made many people extremely nervous!


    "The third round of assessment determines whether one can join the Divine Institutes. Then, the fourth round is probably about deciding which specific Divine Institute one can join."


    "The nine Divine Institutes are the strongest in the Divine Kingdom; joining any one would be good enough!"


    "I must stand out in the third round of assessment and advance into the top nine thousand!"


    The original plan for many in the arena was simply to join the Divine Institutes without considering, nor having the ability to consider, competing for entry into a specific institute.


    The last hurdle standing before them was this third round of assessment!


    Amidst extreme nervousness, countless eyes once again turned to the six-star Sovereign presiding over the assessment, waiting to hear how the third round would unfold.


    This six-star Sovereign didn''t waste any time. Looking at each expectant face, he went straight to the point, "The third round of assessment will take place within the Third Ancient Battlefield, an area of the shattered ancient battlefield!"


    "In the Third Ancient Battlefield, there is an ancient tower. Like the ''Blood Drinking Divine Blade'' from the second round, it is an entity that surpasses the Sovereigns, an ancient treasure left by our predecessor, Sovereign Feng Luo, named ''Wind Origin Tower.''


    "The ''Wind Origin Tower'' has a total of seven floors, filled with countless slaughters and numerous crises."


    "This third round of assessment will test your ability to pass through these trials!"


    "When the assessment begins, all of you will be teleported to the first floor of ''Wind Origin Tower,'' and then, you will have one month to fight your way from the first floor to the seventh floor. It''s in the seventh floor that you''ll find the exit from ''Wind Origin Tower.''"


    "The final assessment scores will be based on the time it takes for you to break out of ''Wind Origin Tower.''


    "Those who can break out from the Wind Origin Tower on the first day will directly receive three hundred thousand Assessment Score! Those who break out on the second day will get two hundred ninety-nine thousand Assessment Score. For each additional day taken to pass through the tower, the Assessment Score will decrease by one thousand. On the thirtieth day, those who break out of ''Wind Origin Tower'' will only get the minimum of ten thousand Assessment Score."


    "Those who take more than thirty days to successfully navigate their way out of ''Wind Origin Tower'' will be deemed failures, with zero Assessment Score!"


    "Finally, after the third round of assessment ends, everyone''s Assessment Score will be added to their second-round scores for a new ranking. The top nine thousand ranks will become Selected Disciples of the Divine Institutes and participate in the final fourth round, the ''Divine Institutes Selection Competition!''"


    Having said this, the six-star Sovereign looked directly at the hundred thousand participants in the arena.


    "Among you, some have scored well in the second round of assessment, while others did poorly, but that doesn''t matter. The third round is your chance to change your ranking!"


    "Although Ye Chen is currently number one on the ranking screen, with an astonishing score of three hundred fifty-nine thousand Assessment Score, if you can break out of ''Wind Origin Tower'' on the first day in the third round of assessment, your scores could rapidly close in on Ye Chen''s. Of course, if any of you have high enough scores, you might even have the chance to surpass Ye Chen in one stroke!"

 Chapter 747 - 699 Crisis and Choice

    Hearing these words from the six-star Sovereign, the eyes of Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan from the arena brightened instantly.


    In the second round, their assessment scores were eighty-nine thousand six hundred points and ninety-four thousand three hundred points, respectively, all within a thirty thousand point gap from Ye Chen.


    If they could break through the "Wind Origin Tower" on the first day of the third round of assessments, while Ye Chen only managed to break out in the last few days of the month, then they really had a chance to surpass him!


    However, as they considered this, both Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan couldn¡¯t help but sigh.


    Given Ye Chen¡¯s powerful performance in the first two rounds, to say that they could surpass him by more than twenty-eight or twenty-nine thousand points, breaking out of the "Wind Origin Tower" more than twenty days earlier in the third round, both knew it was virtually impossible.


    On the one hand, this required them to perform exceptionally well, passing through the "Wind Origin Tower" in the shortest amount of time; on the other hand, it also required Ye Chen to be slow in his tower challenge.


    If either of these conditions weren¡¯t met, they had no hope of surpassing Ye Chen.


    While striving to break through the tower and passing the "Wind Origin Tower" in the shortest time possible was within their control¡ªafter all, it was something they could manage¡ª


    the idea of Ye Chen performing poorly was not something they could decide upon.


    "However..."


    "It¡¯s always good to have hope."


    "Even if we can¡¯t surpass Ye Chen this round, closing the gap would make it easier to surpass him in the final battle of the fourth round!"


    In the end, both Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan came to harbor these thoughts.


    What they didn¡¯t know was that as the six-star Sovereign hosting the assessment explained the rules for the third round, another voice entered Ye Chen¡¯s mind.


    It was a voice emitted by an enigmatic blade shadow within the "Blood Drinking Divine Blade"!


    Upon hearing this voice, Ye Chen found himself in a very conflicted dilemma.


    Since the six-star Sovereign had mentioned that the third round of assessment would be based on the time it took to pass through the "Wind Origin Tower," Ye Chen naturally wanted to break through the Heavenly Origin Tower as quickly as possible to further secure his first-place ranking.


    However, the mysterious blade shadow in the "Blood Drinking Divine Blade" transmitted a message to Ye Chen, saying that to obtain the God King¡¯s Legacy left by Sovereign Feng Luo, he must enter a certain cultivation site on the sixth floor of the "Wind Origin Tower" during the third round of assessment.


    Moreover, he would have to spend a month there completing a cultivation assessment!


    A whole month.


    If he truly completed this cultivation assessment, it meant that the least amount of time Ye Chen would emerge from the "Wind Origin Tower" was an entire month, or even more, directly being ejected by the tower.


    It also meant that if Ye Chen wanted to pass the Divine King¡¯s Legacy assessment, his performance in the third round of the Nine Great Sacred Academies¡¯ assessment would certainly be very poor, directly leading to a significant loss of assessment points.


    Needless to say, this left Ye Chen extremely troubled.


    On one hand, Ye Chen desired that Divine King¡¯s Legacy.


    After all, this legacy was from an existence that transcended Sovereigns, left behind by the venerable Feng Luo!


    Although it was only at the God King Level, that mysterious blade shadow had told him that if Ye Chen obtained this legacy, there was a good chance he could become an invincible being within the God King Realm, unafraid even when facing mighty warriors at the Heavenly Divine Venerable level who could fight across realms.


    For Ye Chen, who might likely take part in the "Star Domain¡¯s Battle of the Divine Kings," the legacy was tremendously alluring!


    But on the other hand, Ye Chen faced another problem.


    That was, his participation in the Nine Great Sacred Academies¡¯ assessment also came with a demand from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King to clinch first place in the Nine Great Sacred Academies¡¯ assessment.


    If he lost a large number of points in this third round of assessment due to the Divine King¡¯s Legacy assessment, it could impact his final rush for first place in the Nine Great Sacred Academies.


    And if his rush for first place failed, then Ye Chen would be imprisoned by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for ten thousand years.


    This, of course, gave Ye Chen pause!


    "What should I do?"


    "Should I choose the ¡¯Divine King¡¯s Legacy assessment¡¯, or focus solely on the Nine Great Sacred Academies¡¯ assessment?"


    "Choosing the ¡¯Divine King¡¯s Legacy assessment¡¯ doesn¡¯t guarantee obtaining the legacy. Of course, on the other hand, although I may lose a significant amount of points in the third round, there¡¯s still the fourth round of assessment where I have the hope of reclaiming first place!"


    "If I choose to focus solely on the Nine Great Sacred Academies¡¯ assessment, then I¡¯ll miss out on the precious legacy left by Venerable Feng Luo."


    "That mysterious blade shadow had said, this precious legacy is hidden in ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain¡¯. After completing the three stages of assessment, I¡¯d receive help to enter ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain¡¯."


    "And the second demand of the two Sovereigns is that three years later, I must successfully enter ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain¡¯ and come out safely."


    "If I obtained the clue to Venerable Feng Luo¡¯s legacy, it would undoubtedly help my entry into ¡¯Heavenly God Mountain¡¯. And once I obtain that Divine King¡¯s Legacy inside, it would also be a great aid in the third demand the two Sovereigns have of me, the battle of the Divine Kings in the Star Domain¡¯s youngest generation."


    Considering the different benefits of the two choices, Ye Chen genuinely hesitated.


    While Ye Chen was wavering, the mysterious blade shadow from the "Blood Drinking Divine Blade," which had been transmitting the message, once again reached out to Ye Chen, "Contestant, you must make a decision before entering the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯."


    "You can choose to give up; in doing so, the trial of my master¡¯s inheritance will automatically end,"


    "If you choose to enter the trial, once you decide, regardless of whether you can complete the second phase of the cultivation trial within the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower,¡¯ you will be trapped inside for a month, unable to change your decision."


    "Examinee, I will give you ten breaths of time. Tell me, what is your choice!"


    Ten breaths, nine breaths, eight breaths...


    As the mysterious blade shadow finished speaking, like the pounding of a heartbeat, the time of ten breaths kept slipping away.


    After five breaths had passed, Ye Chen bit his teeth and made his decision directly.


    "I choose to participate in the trial of Senior Feng Luo!" Enjoy more content from novelhall.Co?m


    Boom!


    After Ye Chen made his decision, the mysterious blade shadow voiced its admiration, "Although participating in the trial does not guarantee success, if you do not even have the courage to attempt it, that would be truly disappointing. It would also be a waste since the Northern Territory King personally summoned my master¡¯s Divine Blade."


    "Examinee, since you have chosen to accept the trial, I will grant you the results of your successful cultivation of the Blood Slaying Blade Technique from the first phase of the trial. This ¡¯Blood Drinking Divine Blade¡¯ shadow will accompany you in the next part of the trial!"


    Boom!


    In that instant the mysterious blade shadow spoke, a divine and strange shadow, invisible to all the sovereigns present, flew directly into Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea.


    This shadow was, in fact, a miniature "Blood Drinking Divine Blade" shadow, as though the giant blade from the second ancient battlefield had shrunk countless times and entered into Ye Chen¡¯s Qi Sea.


    "Is this the ¡¯Blood Drinking Divine Blade¡¯ shadow?" Ye Chen looked at the mini blade shadow in his Qi Sea, his eyes lighting up.


    Ye Chen felt that after this mini blade shadow entered his Qi Sea, it carried the latter techniques of the "Blood Slaying Blade Technique," which he had not yet fully comprehended.


    This implied that Ye Chen would be able to continue practicing the Heaven-reaching Divine Art "Blood Slaying Blade Technique" in the future.


    Ye Chen had already witnessed the power of the "Blood Slaying Blade Technique" during his battles with the war soldiers.


    This blade technique was almost as powerful as his own "Nine Swords of Annihilation."


    Being granted such a blade technique to practice, Ye Chen was naturally overjoyed.


    At the same time, his anticipation for Senior Feng Luo¡¯s God King¡¯s Legacy became even greater.


    The mere Heaven-reaching Divine Art "Blood Slaying Blade Technique" was already extraordinary, which meant the God King¡¯s Legacy hidden within "Heavenly God Mountain" would be even more precious!


    At the same time, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze turned to the Northern Territory King.


    Just now, the mysterious blade shadow mentioned that the Northern Territory King had personally summoned this Blood Shadow God Blade.


    Ye Chen suddenly had a thought¡ªcould it be that the Northern Territory King brought out the Blood Drinking Divine Blade especially for him, giving him this chance to contact Senior Feng Luo¡¯s legacy?


    While Ye Chen was contemplating, he suddenly heard the voice of the Northern Territory King, whom he was contemplating.


    The Northern Territory King¡¯s voice was crisp, sounding as pleasant as beads dropping onto a jade plate.


    As if discerning Ye Chen¡¯s thoughts, the Northern Territory King sent a telepathic message, "Ye Chen, it looks like you have accepted the second phase of Senior Feng Luo¡¯s trial. Don¡¯t speculate, you¡¯re right, I did bring the ¡¯Blood Drinking Divine Blade.¡¯ I am quite aware of Senior Feng Luo¡¯s trial."


    "Use all your strength to strive for this legacy. Although you will lose a lot in the third round of the assessment because of this legacy, as long as you are capable, even if you fall behind temporarily, you can still come out on top in the final round!"


    Towards the end, there was even a hint of laughter in the Northern Territory King¡¯s voice, "I¡¯m glad you chose to take part in this trial. Otherwise, I would have been very disappointed in you. I wouldn¡¯t want Li¡¯er to fancy a young man who lacks the courage to seize opportunities!"


    The Northern Territory King¡¯s words caused a stir in Ye Chen¡¯s heart, and left him somewhat bemused.


    Ye Chen, of course, knew that the Northern Territory King was referring to Long Li when mentioning Li¡¯er, and hearing the Northern Territory King say that Long Li liked him made Ye Chen feel somewhat embarrassed.


    "Jiang Yao, Long Li...sigh..."


    Ye Chen then thought of those two exceptionally beautiful girls.


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen cast these thoughts aside.


    He was now amidst the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment and had entered Senior Feng Luo¡¯s trial. Ye Chen could not afford to take anything lightly.


    "To battle it is. For the third round of the assessment, I¡¯ll do my best to meet Senior Feng Luo¡¯s trial requirements, and in the fourth round, I¡¯ll fight for the first place in the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment!"


    "I can¡¯t relax in either task. Only by making the most of every opportunity will I be able to fulfill all three requirements in ten years, become powerful swiftly and see Jiang Yao again soon!"


    Ye Chen had decided to take part in Senior Feng Luo¡¯s trial because he wanted to seize every chance to become stronger and did not give up this precious opportunity!


    Even if there were losses in the third round of the assessment, he did not back down!


    Shortly after Ye Chen made his decision, the sovereign presiding over the Nine Great Divine Institutes¡¯ assessment finally announced, "Now, the third round of the assessment, braving the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower,¡¯ officially begins. All one hundred thousand examinees, prepare to be transported into the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯!"

 Chapter 748 - 700: Storming the Tower!

    While speaking, the six-star sovereign extended his large hand, and a teleportation array immediately materialized on the ground.


    Then the six-star sovereign continued, "Lastly, I remind you once again, your scores for the third round will be determined by the speed at which you clear the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯. Therefore, no matter what means you use, pass through the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ as quickly as possible!"


    "Once each of you enters the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯, you will be in an individual challenge space, so you do not need to worry about interference from others. In addition, your location within the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ will be displayed on the rankings screen."


    "Everyone, once you fly into the teleportation array, you will be transported to the first layer of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯."


    "Now, begin your assessment!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As soon as the words of the six-star sovereign fell, the hundred thousand martial artists participating in the third round of the assessment all moved at once, swarming into the teleportation array like locusts.


    The next moment, these figures disappeared from within the teleportation array and entered the seven-layer ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ located in the Third Ancient Battlefield.


    As the assessors entered the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ and officially started the third round of the assessment, the hundreds of millions of martial artists observing the assessment outside were all staring intently at the rankings screen.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Everyone saw that the instant the hundred thousand assessors disappeared from the teleportation array, the word "First Layer" appeared next to the name of each assessor on the rankings screen.


    Clearly, this indicated that the hundred thousand assessors were now in the first layer of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯, starting the competition!


    ...


    "Is this the first layer of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯?"


    Inside the Wind Origin Tower.


    Ye Chen surveyed the vast treasure palace he found himself in.


    Ye Chen saw that the patterns of countless ancient beasts were carved on the four walls, ceiling, and floor of the vast treasure palace.


    Just as Ye Chen was teleported into this vast treasure palace, he saw the ancient beast patterns begin to light up one by one.


    Following that, a resounding voice suddenly echoed throughout the entire palace, "Assessor, you are now in the first layer of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯."


    "To pass through this layer, you must kill a thousand ancient beasts."


    "If you fail to reach the kill count requirement or are defeated by an ancient beast, you will be trapped in this first layer until the assessment is over."


    "The killing of ancient beasts will officially start after thirty breaths. Now, assessor, prepare for battle!"


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    After the voice fell, a succession of sounds echoed throughout the vast treasure palace like a countdown.


    The ancient beast patterns also seemed to come alive, as if they were gathering signs of life.


    Watching the changes around him, Ye Chen thought to himself, "To pass through this first layer, I need to kill a thousand ancient beasts. It seems that the beasts I have to kill come from these ancient beast patterns."


    "To be able to refine ancient beasts into these patterns and fight separately against the hundred thousand assessors in different folded spaces¡ªsuch skills truly befit a great powerhouse like Senior Feng Luo!"


    After pondering for a moment, Ye Chen looked at the increasingly bright ancient beast patterns with a resolute gleam in his eyes.


    "I still need to go to the sixth layer for a month of inheritance training under senior Feng Luo, so I can¡¯t afford to waste time on the other layers."


    "This layer, I will clear it with the utmost speed!"


    As Ye Chen considered his course of action, the thirty breaths finally elapsed, and the ancient beast patterns became completely illuminated.


    At last, from within the brightly lit patterns, a frenzy of ancient beasts began to emerge!


    These ancient beasts were all ordinary Nine Tribulation True Gods.


    Having to kill a thousand of such beasts to enter the second layer might be troublesome for many True Gods, but for Ye Chen, it was exceedingly simple.


    Ye Chen¡¯s combat power at this point was such that he could even take on a high-ranking god king, let alone these ordinary Nine Tribulation True God ancient beasts.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    With merely a flip of his palm, Ye Chen sent out a flurry of sword light shadows sweeping across the entire palace.


    As these sword light shadows ravaged through, a vast number of ancient beasts were slaughtered.


    Almost in the span of a few breaths, the number of ancient beasts Ye Chen killed had reached a thousand.


    Boom!


    After Ye Chen successfully killed a thousand ancient beasts, a staircase leading to the second layer of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ appeared directly.


    Ye Chen stepped forward and entered the second layer of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯.


    Upon entering the second layer, Ye Chen immediately saw that it was also a vast treasure palace.


    And within the palace, there were dense and numerous giant spider webs everywhere.


    These spider webs even formed interwoven spider web formations, and within different positions of these formations, there were weirdly large Guardian Ancient Spiders.


    As Ye Chen examined the situation in the second layer, similar to the first, another voice came, "Assessor, to pass through the second layer and enter the third, you must slay ninety-nine Guardian Ancient Spiders."


    "The killing will start after thirty breaths."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Between the moments of that voice speaking, the giant spider Ancient Beasts atop the web array sprayed out shimmering threads from their mouths.


    These threads connected the giant spider Ancient Beasts to each other, and as the threads connected, the combat power of the spider Ancients Beasts rapidly soared.


    Ye Chen watched the spider Ancient Beasts beginning to transform within the array, yet his expression remained entirely unmoved.


    When the moment of battle arrived, "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" instantly flew from Ye Chen¡¯s forehead, slaughtering toward the giant spider Ancient Beasts atop the web array.


    Eight breaths later, Ye Chen, stepping over the carcass of the ninety-nine Guardian Ancient Spiders, advanced from the staircase that he had just descended, heading toward the third floor.


    Just like this.


    Inside the Wind Origin Tower, Ye Chen began a rapid spree of killing, a rapid surge forward. Experience new tales on novelhall.Co?m


    Not just Ye Chen, the other candidates were also beginning to push toward higher floors of the "Wind Origin Tower."


    Everyone wanted to be the first to climb to the top of the "Wind Origin Tower"!


    ...


    Outside the assessment area.


    Hundreds of millions of spectators were intently staring at the ranking screen.


    When they saw that all the names on the ranking screen still bore the label "first floor," and then, suddenly, "second floor" appeared, numerous people were shaken.


    "So fast, it¡¯s just been a few dozen breaths, and someone has entered the second floor of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ already!"


    All eyes then turned to the name in front of the "second floor" marking, and they directly saw that it was at the very top of the ranking screen, the first line, where "second floor" appeared.


    And the name at the very top of the first line was none other than Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen, first in the second round of assessment, and now in the third round, he is once again leading the charge!"


    "He has become the first person to enter the second floor of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯!"


    While these discussions were on-going, with a "swoosh," divine light flickered, and the "second floor" behind Ye Chen¡¯s name changed directly to "third floor."


    "My God."


    "Ye Chen has entered the third floor now!"


    "This, it¡¯s only been a few dozen breaths, and Ye Chen has climbed up another level!"


    When people saw that Ye Chen had entered the third floor, their attention also shifted to the motion below.


    "Ye Chen has reached the third floor, so Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and the second-ranked Xue Ningning from the second round of assessment are closely following behind; they, too, have broken into the second floor!"


    Not long after these words fell, a large group of people broke into the second floor.


    By then, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, Xue Ningning, and others had also burst into the third floor.


    "Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan have caught up with Ye Chen, they¡¯ve entered the third floor as well!"


    Many cried out in surprise.


    Before their cries of surprise had dissipated, the next moment, a burst of commotion erupted because the word behind Ye Chen¡¯s name had starkly become "fourth floor"!


    This signified that although the others had caught up with Ye Chen¡¯s progress, Ye Chen had once again widened the gap, charging into the "Wind Origin Tower" fourth floor first!


    Such a chase excited and even made some of the divine sovereigns and supreme lords in the audience nervous.


    No one knew how the attempt to conquer the "Wind Origin Tower" would ultimately end up.


    However, this intense competition began to slow down as soon as Ye Chen entered the fourth floor.


    Ye Chen stayed in the fourth floor for several hours, yet he did not break through to the fifth floor.


    Following Ye Chen, Tianyu Beiling and the others successively entered the fourth floor, but like Ye Chen, their speed also slowed down significantly on the fourth floor.


    Seeing such a scene, all the warriors watching the battle knew that the fourth floor of the "Wind Origin Tower" must have drastically increased in difficulty, which is why so many were stuck there.


    Only after two hours had passed did a figure break through to the fifth floor first¡ªand that figure was Ye Chen!


    This time, not long after Ye Chen entered the fifth floor, he didn¡¯t pause for long and surged into the "Wind Origin Tower" sixth floor in one go.


    The sixth floor, ah!


    Only one last floor remained before conquering the entire seven floors of the Wind Origin Tower!


    Seeing this, hearts of countless people in the arena lifted.


    "Ye Chen is ahead by more than two levels; the majority of the others are still trapped below the fourth floor, and even Tianyu Beiling and Xue Ningning, who are closest to Ye Chen, are stuck on the fourth floor with no progress."


    "But Ye Chen has entered the sixth floor!"


    "Could it be that Ye Chen is going to be first in the third round of assessments?!"


    "To conquer the Wind Origin Tower in one day would yield three hundred thousand assessment points. With his lead from the previous round, Ye Chen could completely dominate the ranking screen!"


    As countless people were discussing, they found that after entering the sixth floor, there had been no further movement from Ye Chen.


    Three days passed, and following Ye Chen, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, Xue Ningning, and others all broke into the sixth floor. Yet, there was still no movement from Ye Chen.


    Even on the fourth day, Tianyu Beiling was the first to emerge from the "Wind Origin Tower," earning two hundred and seventy thousand assessment points, while Ye Chen still remained on the sixth floor!

 Chapter 749 - 701: Polar Elemental God Bead

    ```


    Such a situation certainly surprised the countless Divine Lords and sovereigns watching from outside the ancient battlefield.


    "Ye Chen took the lead by so much to enter the sixth level, why did he suddenly stop on the sixth level?"


    "Could it be that he¡¯s trapped in the sixth level and can¡¯t get through?"


    "No, that shouldn¡¯t be the case. Judging by Ye Chen¡¯s performance in the previous levels, his ability to pass the trials seems much stronger than Tianyu Beiling. Now that Tianyu Beiling has come out of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower,¡¯ Ye Chen shouldn¡¯t still be stuck on the sixth level!"


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has encountered some kind of accident in the sixth level?!"


    The countless spectators all began to speculate.


    However, they could only guess; the "Wind Origin Tower" was created by the being Feng Luo who was beyond the sovereigns, and they simply could not see the specific situation of the challenges inside.


    While these people were full of doubts about Ye Chen staying still on the sixth level,


    Tianyu Beiling, who had finally made it out of the "Wind Origin Tower" after spending four days, was so pleasantly surprised that he almost jumped for joy when he saw he¡¯d become the first person to come out.


    "I, I¡¯m the first?!"


    Even Tianyu Beiling himself couldn¡¯t believe it.


    When he rubbed his eyes and saw that on the ranking screen above Void Heaven, which had already moved from the Second Ancient Battlefield to the Third Ancient Battlefield, it clearly showed that he had come out of the "Wind Origin Tower," while others were still trapped in different levels of the tower, Tianyu Beiling finally believed that he was first.


    Tianyu Beiling¡¯s gaze then turned towards Ye Chen¡¯s name, and when he saw that "sixth level" was still marked next to Ye Chen¡¯s name, he let out a long sigh of relief in his heart.


    By the end, Tianyu Beiling was even sneering repeatedly, "Hmph, Ye Chen, you might have been stronger than me in the second round, but in this third round¡¯s ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ competition, you are simply no match for me!"


    "I, Tianyu Beiling, am the first!"


    In the second round, Tianyu Beiling was fourth, having accumulated 89,600 points of combat merit.


    In the third round, after spending four days to make it out of the "Wind Origin Tower," he directly received 270,000 points of combat merit.


    Adding both rounds together, his points of combat merit had become 359,600.


    His assessment for the third round had ended, and his points were now directly reflected on the ranking screen.


    With the combined total of both rounds, Tianyu Beiling¡¯s points of combat merit leaped ahead of Ye Chen¡¯s 359,000 points and rose directly to the first place on the ranking screen!


    Seeing that even Ye Chen was behind by six hundred points, Tianyu Beiling was thrilled.


    Originally, he had been somewhat despairing about his second-round score, but now, he saw renewed hope for overtaking Ye Chen and seizing first place.


    Although this was not the final score, if Ye Chen were to come out from the Wind Origin Tower later and also receive points for the third round of assessment, it was very likely he would overtake him again. But at least, Tianyu Beiling had closed the gap with Ye Chen¡¯s score and now saw a hope of overtaking him.


    This naturally made Tianyu Beiling extremely excited!


    Tianyu Beiling was even silently praying that Ye Chen would get no points at all in this third round of assessment. Then, he would truly overtake Ye Chen¡¯s ranking!


    As if the prayer had taken effect,


    on the fifth day, when both Mo Yuan and Xue Ningning had come out from the "Heavenly Origin Tower," and Tianyu Beiling saw that Ye Chen was still on the sixth level and had not yet come out of the Heavenly Origin Tower,


    even though Xue Ningning¡¯s combined scores surpassed Tianyu Beiling¡¯s, seeing Ye Chen still inside, Tianyu Beiling was still extremely excited.


    And on the eighth day, when several more people had made it out from the "Heavenly Origin Tower," and Ye Chen was still trapped on the sixth level, Tianyu Beiling was almost incredulous in his excitement.


    Not just Tianyu Beiling, but Xue Ningning, Mo Yuan, and several other assessors who had come out of the Heavenly Origin Tower were all shocked to see Ye Chen still staying on the sixth level.


    "What¡¯s going on?"


    "The sixth level isn¡¯t much different in difficulty from the fifth level. Ye Chen should have been able to make it through the fifth level; he shouldn¡¯t be stuck on the sixth level for so long!"


    "It would be understandable if he were stuck on the hardest seventh level, but being stuck on the sixth level for such a long time is not a performance indicative of Ye Chen¡¯s abilities."


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has encountered some kind of accident in the Wind Origin Tower?"


    After the surprise, many looked on with cold eyes.


    After all, Ye Chen was their competitor, and although they admired Ye Chen¡¯s strength, they didn¡¯t feel too regretful about his mistakes.


    Only Xue Ningning, the few Divine Girls from Divine Miao Peak, and some others who truly acknowledged Ye Chen¡¯s strength, were genuinely concerned about what might have happened to Ye Chen inside the "Wind Origin Tower."


    When the fifteenth day of the third round of assessment had passed, the Little Provincial Princess also came out from the "Wind Origin Tower."


    Seeing that Ye Chen had not yet come out from the "Wind Origin Tower," the Little Provincial Princess was also full of doubt and concern.


    However, the more worried people like the Little Provincial Princess were, the more excited Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan became.


    Whatever Ye Chen had encountered,


    the later Ye Chen came out from the "Wind Origin Tower," the greater the benefit for them.


    After all, they were competing with Ye Chen for the first place in the nine great divine institutes¡¯ assessments, so naturally they hoped that Ye Chen¡¯s score in this round would be as poor as possible!


    And when the thirtieth day arrived, out of the hundred thousand who had entered the "Wind Origin Tower," more than ten thousand had already made their way out, Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan were so excited they wanted to shout out loud.


    ```


    This was already the last day of the third round of assessment, and Ye Chen still hadn¡¯t emerged!


    Even if Ye Chen successfully came out from the "Wind Origin Tower" later this day, he could only receive ten thousand assessment points, which wasn¡¯t much different from the rest of them.


    That meant they could have a real fight with Ye Chen for the first place in the last round of competition!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen won¡¯t be able to come out of the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ on the last day? Will he be forced out by the ¡¯Wind Origin Tower¡¯ after a full month has ended?"


    Seeing Ye Chen¡¯s name still displayed on the sixth layer, even Tianyu Beiling started to entertain this thought.


    It wasn¡¯t just Tianyu Beiling.


    The tens of millions of martial artists watching outside were completely taken aback.


    They had originally thought that Ye Chen would be the first to come out of the "Wind Origin Tower." Instead, Ye Chen had stopped at the sixth layer, and had been surpassed by people like Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and Xue Ningning, one after another.


    Even if a few people had surpassed Ye Chen, the watching martial artists believed that he wouldn¡¯t lag behind too many, and would soon come out of the "Wind Origin Tower."


    Given Ye Chen¡¯s lead from the second round, even if he came out a few days later, he could still hold the first place.


    To their complete surprise, Ye Chen had been stuck in the sixth layer without moving for nearly thirty days since he entered it.


    For those who had witnessed Ye Chen¡¯s miraculous performance in the first two rounds, this was simply unimaginable!


    Among the watching crowd,


    the ones whose hearts were clenched the tightest were those like the East Territory King, Mu Ling, Xiao Lin, Xiaowan, and others.


    They had originally hoped to see Ye Chen create another miracle, yet to their dismay, an unexpected turn of events occurred in this round for Ye Chen.


    "What on earth is happening inside the sixth layer?!" The East Territory King, Mu Ling, Xiao Lin, Xiaowan, and others wished they could fly into the sixth layer to see what Ye Chen was facing!


    The one who knew exactly what was happening was the Northern Territory King.


    The Northern Territory King, looking at the sixth layer of the "Wind Origin Tower" without a flicker of expression in her eyes, murmured internally, "Thirty days, Ye Chen has really persisted in the sixth layer for thirty days. I wonder if he has made the sacrifice worth it and passed the training examination set by Senior Feng Luo."


    Ye Chen was completely indifferent to everything happening outside.


    Just as the Northern Territory King had surmised, the reason Ye Chen stayed in the sixth layer was because he had entered a training examination left behind by a being beyond the level of a lord, Senior Feng Luo, which was unknown to others!


    On the first day of the third round of assessment, Ye Chen became the first among all to enter the sixth layer!


    And it took him less than half an hour to pass the assessment of the sixth layer, directly earning the qualification to proceed to the final layer of the "Wind Origin Tower."


    If not for this examination, Ye Chen could have come out of the "Wind Origin Tower" on the very first day and created another first place record!


    However, Ye Chen did not advance to the seventh layer but instead walked straight towards a strange painting hanging on the wall of the sixth layer.


    In the end, inside his isolated space, Ye Chen directly flew into this peculiar painting.


    And inside the painting, one could see a space filled with extremely rich Divine Light and the whole land was covered with numerous crystal-clear, fist-sized beads!


    This space was precisely the training examination space hidden within the "Wind Origin Tower" that the mini Blood Drinking Divine Blade in his Sea of Qi had hinted at!


    As soon as Ye Chen entered this space, a voice spoke to him, "Examinee, you have cultivated to the third layer of the ¡¯Bloodlight Blade Technique¡¯ within a month¡¯s time at the Blood Drinking Divine Blade, completing the first stage of the Divine King¡¯s inheritance examination."


    "In this space, you will undergo the second stage of examination."


    "The requirement of this second stage is that you must cultivate in this space for a month under the pressure of ten thousand ¡¯Polar Elemental God Beads¡¯!"


    "¡¯Polar Elemental God Beads¡¯ are these crystal-clear, fist-sized beads scattered across the land of this space!"


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    "These beads are incredibly heavy; not only do they pressure your physical body when they rest upon you, but they also oppress your True Qi and Divine Soul!"


    "This sensation is excruciatingly unbearable, as though training in hell itself!"


    "If you cannot endure for a month, you will fail this examination and lose the qualification to proceed with the Divine King¡¯s inheritance, severing the link to it forever!"


    "Of course, if you can persist in cultivating under the heavy pressure of ten thousand ¡¯Polar Elemental God Beads¡¯ for a month, not only will you pass the second stage of examination, it will also be incredibly beneficial to your own cultivation!"


    "Examinee, now listen carefully to the spell for mobilizing the ¡¯Polar Elemental God Beads¡¯ for cultivation!"


    After explaining the cultivation rules, the voice did not give Ye Chen any time to respond and spell after the spell was transmitted directly into Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense.


    Luckily, Ye Chen¡¯s Divine Sense was immensely powerful; had it not been, he might not have been able to remember the spells completely.


    After completing the transmission of the spell, the voice disappeared.


    Ye Chen¡¯s eyes immediately landed on the crysta-clear, fist-sized beads on the ground, known as the ¡¯Polar Elemental God Beads.¡¯


    The next moment, Ye Chen pinched a spell with his hand.


    Boom!


    The countless beads on the ground flew directly towards Ye Chen¡¯s body above, and even without directly pressing onto Ye Chen, the mere presence of these beads in the void above Ye Chen¡¯s body brought a pressure bearing down on him heavier than mountains themselves!

 Chapter 750 - 702 Nine Tribulations True God!

    It must be known that Ye Chen possesses the "Star Blue Divine Garment."


    The "Star Blue Divine Garment," a powerful defensive treasure forged from the prototype of extreme heavenly objects, could defend against any attacks below the level of Divine Sovereign.


    However, at this time, under the pressure of these "Polar Elemental God Beads," the "Star Blue Divine Garment" simply could not withstand this pressure.


    Clearly, the "Polar Elemental God Beads" left by "Sovereign Feng Luo" were also an extraordinary treasure!


    As soon Ye Chen activated numerous "Polar Elemental God Beads," the combined overwhelming weight could easily crush a continent of the Star Continent in the lower realm!


    Under such immense pressure without the defense of the "Star Blue Divine Garment," one can imagine the test Ye Chen faced!


    But Ye Chen was not afraid; on the contrary, he felt a surge of excitement in his heart.


    The fact that the "Polar Elemental God Beads" could break through the defense of the "Star Blue Divine Garment" meant that the stronger they were, the more it proved to Ye Chen the value of this test.


    This test was indeed difficult, but if he could pass it, he would likely receive the incredible benefits to his cultivation, just as the voice at the beginning of the test had said!


    The crushing weight that could crush a common Star Continent of the Divine Kingdom?


    Even without the defense of the "Star Blue Divine Garment," with Ye Chen¡¯s powerful physique from cultivating the Undying Divine Body, his terrifying true qi infused with "Stellar Power," and the strong Divine Soul transformed after overcoming the numerous challenges in the Little Extreme Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    Ye Chen¡¯s essence, qi, and spirit were stronger than countless nine-tribulations true gods and even many Divine Kings; of course, he could bear the pressure of the "Polar Elemental God Beads!"


    Roar!


    Ye Chen did not shrink back but instead roared loudly, triggering the method to control the "Polar Elemental God Beads" once more, causing countless beads to rise from the ground.


    As batches of "Polar Elemental God Beads" rose, the number of "Polar Elemental God Beads" hovering above Ye Chen in the void finally reached the required ten thousand for the test!


    Ten thousand "Polar Elemental God Beads"!


    These "Polar Elemental God Beads," if lacking special protection, could directly collapse a common Star Continent of the Divine Kingdom!


    And Ye Chen, who exerted his essence, qi, and spirit to the extreme and fully endured this pressure, directly felt that each time he withstood the weight of the "Polar Elemental God Beads" for a moment, a strange, warm current flowed from above into his body.


    Once these warm currents entered Ye Chen¡¯s body, they went directly into his Qi Sea and remained still.


    Obviously, it was not yet the time for these warm currents to take effect.


    Ye Chen knew that it must be what the voice of the second stage of the test had said; he had to endure one month of cultivation and testing to see a transformation.


    "A month of cultivation testing?"


    "Then so be it!"


    In his eyes a firm resolution, Ye Chen sat cross-legged in this space, allowing ten thousand "Polar Elemental God Beads" to press down upon him!


    Days passed by one after another.


    No matter how many people passed through the "Wind Origin Tower" outside, no matter how many people Ye Chen knew were ridiculing him for not having passed the "Wind Origin Tower," his determination did not waver in the slightest. Continue your journey on Freewebnovel


    He had made this choice to undertake the legacy cultivation test, and even if he would lose countless points for the round, Ye Chen would persist until the end!


    What was more terrifying was that as time went by, the pressure of the "Polar Elemental God Beads" seemed to grow even heavier.


    Even by the end, when Ye Chen was beginning to feel overwhelmed, he still clenched his teeth and persevered!


    The one-month test was not yet over; giving up would mean complete failure.


    As long as Ye Chen could continue to endure, he would never give up!


    As the twenty-eighth day of the third round of the test approached, Ye Chen could no longer sit serenely under the weight of the ten thousand "Polar Elemental God Beads"; he stood up to face the increasing pressure.


    By the twenty-seventh day of the third round of the test, the pressure of the "Polar Elemental God Beads" had surged again, and this time, Ye Chen could not even stand firm. His body bent under the pressure, but he still persisted!


    On the twenty-ninth day of the test, the pressure of the "Polar Elemental God Beads" even forced Ye Chen down to his knees, his hands supporting himself against the ground as he bore the heavy burden, blood seeping from his body, and signs of potential fracturing in his flesh, true qi, and Divine Soul. Yet, Ye Chen continued to withstand the pressure!


    The end of a month¡¯s cultivation was getting closer and closer.


    When Ye Chen¡¯s hands pressed against the ground and created numerous terrifying cracks, finally, time arrived at the thirtieth day of the cultivation test, the last moment of the test!


    This moment was also the last day of the third round of the "Wind Origin Tower" challenge!


    At this time, Tianyu Beiling outside was mocking Ye Chen for not having emerged from the sixth floor of the "Wind Origin Tower," when suddenly they all heard a long howl.


    "That howling sound... is it Ye Chen¡¯s voice?!"


    No one expected to hear Ye Chen¡¯s voice coming from the "Wind Origin Tower."


    And just as these people were still unable to react to what might have happened to Ye Chen inside the "Wind Origin Tower," the seven-story pagoda of the third ancient battlefield, above the void of the Wind Origin Tower, suddenly surged with layer upon layer of terrifying tribulation clouds!


    Eventually, all these tribulation clouds poured into the pinnacle of the "Wind Origin Tower."


    "Tribulation clouds? Could it be that someone at this moment is about to face a heavenly tribulation?!"


    "My God, the thickness of these tribulation clouds is even more terrifying than those of many Divine Kings facing their divine tribulations!"


    "Who is undergoing the tribulation, could it indeed be Ye Chen who we just heard howling?!"


    Countless onlookers stared at the tribulation clouds pressing down on the "Wind Origin Tower," speculating among themselves.


    "It must be Ye Chen."


    "No wonder he stayed on the sixth floor of the Wind Origin Tower for so long. It turns out he was sensing the arrival of the Celestial Tribulation!"


    "My God, Ye Chen is actually attempting to break through his cultivation level during the assessment!"


    "He is an Eight Tribulations True God. If he gets through this Celestial Tribulation, doesn¡¯t that mean he¡¯s going to become a Nine Tribulations True God?"


    "I¡¯ve heard that just half a year ago, Ye Chen had only just transformed from a Four Tribulations True God to an Eight Tribulations True God. Only a few months have passed, and now he¡¯s aiming for the Nine Tribulations True God?"


    "This speed of cultivation is just too terrifying!"


    The thought that Ye Chen might be challenging the Celestial Tribulation caused an uproar among countless people!


    At this time, Tianyu Beiling¡¯s face turned extremely ugly, "No, it can¡¯t be Ye Chen!"


    Tianyu Beiling was proud to have surpassed Ye Chen, but if Ye Chen had really been delayed in the Wind Origin Tower because of his cultivation, then he couldn¡¯t truly consider himself as having defeated Ye Chen.


    After all, to disregard assessment points and directly challenge a realm, even he did not have the courage to do such a thing!


    Tianyu Beiling refused to believe it was Ye Chen who had triggered the clouds of tribulation.


    However, someone outside the arena was absolutely certain that the Celestial Tribulation had been brought forth by Ye Chen.


    That person was none other than the Northern Territory King, who was very clear about Ye Chen¡¯s "God King¡¯s Legacy" assessment!


    When he saw the clouds of tribulation descend after the thirty days were up, even the usually composed Northern Territory King almost cried out in excitement.


    Because the arrival of the tribulation clouds clearly meant that Ye Chen had passed the thirty days of cultivation assessment!


    Only the immense help of the "Polar Elemental God Bead" in cultivation could allow Ye Chen to challenge the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation in such a short time!


    The Northern Territory King¡¯s speculation was not wrong.


    Shortly after the terrifying clouds of tribulation descended above the Wind Origin Tower, everyone saw Ye Chen¡¯s name on the ranking screen, which hadn¡¯t changed from "sixth floor" for many days, directly switch to "seventh floor".


    This clearly indicated that Ye Chen had entered the seventh floor of the Wind Origin Tower.


    And that wasn¡¯t the end.


    Under the gaze of countless eyes, Ye Chen took only the time of burning one incense stick to pass through the seventh floor!


    Keep in mind, none of the numerous previous challengers of the Wind Origin Tower had ever managed to break through the seventh floor in the time it takes an incense stick to burn!


    Seeing this, everyone understood how extraordinary Ye Chen¡¯s abilities were in overcoming the challenges.


    At that moment, everyone was even more convinced that Ye Chen had only been delayed in overcoming the challenges because he was breaking through his cultivation level!


    The next moment, everyone¡¯s guesses turned into reality.


    Because as soon as Ye Chen passed through the seventh floor and left the Wind Origin Tower, he immediately sat cross-legged in the void above, directly facing the massive clouds of tribulation.


    Ye Chen was truly facing the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation!


    "Brother Ye Chen is so amazing, he can actually overcome the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation so quickly!"


    "No wonder he stayed on the sixth floor for such a long time. If Brother Ye Chen wasn¡¯t preparing to overcome the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation, he would definitely have been the first to break through the Wind Origin Tower!"


    The Little Provincial Princess looked at Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged under the vast tribulation clouds in the void, preparing to challenge the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation, and cried tears of joy!


    Meanwhile, the ten True God maidens of Divine Miao Peak had all broken out of the Wind Origin Tower, they gathered together, and were all shocked as they watched Ye Chen beneath the tribulation clouds.


    The most formidable among the ten True God maidens, Xue Ningning, watched Ye Chen with sparkling eyes and murmured, "My God, overcoming Celestial Tribulation during the nine great divine academies¡¯ assessment... this... this has probably never happened before in the history of the Divine Kingdom¡¯s nine great divine academy assessments!"


    "Ye Chen, this young man, always surprises and delights people!"


    Ye Chen, high above in the Void Heaven.


    At this moment, he was not concerned about the countless discussions below, he looked up, staring straight at the terrifying tribulation clouds in the void.


    "The Ninth Heavenly Tribulation has finally arrived!"


    Ye Chen felt emotional.


    It was on this last day, in the assessment space of the sixth floor of the Wind Origin Tower, that he had finally completed the thirty-day assessment and passed right through the second stage!


    And to Ye Chen¡¯s great surprise, while he had been enduring the immense pressure from the "Polar Elemental God Bead" over the past month, the warm current that continuously flowed into his Qi Sea caused a mutation at the very last moment of the assessment!


    A small part of these currents transformed into a miniature "Polar Elemental God Bead", flying next to the mini Blood Drinking Divine Blade in his Qi Sea, acquired after passing the first stage of the assessment.


    Clearly, whether it was the "mini Blood Drinking Divine Blade" or this "mini Polar Elemental God Bead", as the products of Ye Chen¡¯s passing through the first two stages of the assessment, they would probably bring great help to Ye Chen in obtaining the "God King¡¯s Legacy" later!


    What excited Ye Chen the most was not the appearance of the "mini Polar Elemental God Bead", but another benefit from this month of cultivation.


    That was, the large part of the mutated warm currents, at the very moment the Polar Elemental God Bead detached from Ye Chen¡¯s body, directly caused Ye Chen¡¯s spirit, energy, and divine power to rapidly increase.


    It propelled Ye Chen to the peak of the Eight Tribulations True God, and triggered the arrival of the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation!


    Ye Chen had finally reached the brink of becoming a Nine Tribulations True God!

 Chapter 751 - 703: The Ultimate Showdown!

    "Nine Tribulations True God!"


    Above the Void Heaven, Ye Chen gazed at the tribulation clouds above with sparkling eyes.


    A year ago, Ye Chen was still in the late stage of Heavenly Saint, amidst the Lower Star Continent.


    But a year later, he had come to the Divine Kingdom and not only smoothly broke through to the True God Realm, but also, in just the span of one year, he surged to the threshold of the Nine Tribulations True God!


    As long as he passed this trial, Ye Chen would become a true Nine Tribulations True God, reaching the strongest degree of the True God Realm!


    This cultivation speed, even if placed in the Mountain Divine Nation, was a legend!


    Although Ye Chen¡¯s start was slow due to being born in the lower realm, his cultivation speed was absolutely unbelievably fast!


    Gazing at the vast tribulation clouds in the sky, Ye Chen wasn¡¯t thinking about his own cultivation speed at this moment.


    He thought of Jiang Yao, thought of the Divine King Realm!


    As long as he successfully assaulted the Nine Tribulations True God, he would be one step closer to the Divine King Realm, one step closer to the ability to reunite with Jiang Yao!


    "Whether it¡¯s the three demands of the two Sovereigns or meeting with Jiang Yao in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle or going to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to meet her, I will fulfill them all!"


    "Everything will start with the successful assault on the Nine Tribulations True God!"


    Looking at the tribulation clouds above his head, which were even more terrifying than many a Divine King¡¯s Divine Tribulation, Ye Chen¡¯s mind and spirit whirred, and he directly flashed into the void, charging into the tribulation clouds!


    Boom!


    When Ye Chen directly charged into the tribulation clouds, many True Gods at the scene cried out in surprise!


    Although many of these True Gods were Nine Tribulations True Gods, the tribulation clouds they faced when they advanced from the Eighth Tribulations True God to the Nine Tribulations True God paled in comparison to what Ye Chen was facing now.


    Even under those circumstances, many only dared to endure the successive strikes from the tribulation clouds below, not daring to charge into them.


    At this moment, seeing Ye Chen charge into tribulation clouds comparable to God King Level Divine Tribulation, of course, chilled many hearts, startling many!


    What followed next was a scene that made it all the more incredible for these onlookers.


    After charging into the tribulation clouds, Ye Chen was enveloped in the vast and terrible tribulation clouds that spanned hundreds of miles, and was struck by horrible lightning bolts, tens to hundreds of feet thick, slashing down continuously.


    Yet, everyone saw that Ye Chen was completely unharmed amidst the slashing of these terrifying tribulation clouds and lightning.


    Ye Chen stood aloft in the dense tribulation clouds and lightning, his hair flying wildly.


    He was directly enduring the onslaught of the tribulation clouds with his physical body!


    After Ye Chen withstood countless waves of tribulation clouds and lightning strikes, he raised his hand to slash through the void, and a blade light together with a sword shadow directly shattered countless tribulation clouds and lightning!


    That blade light, many recognized, was the Blood Slaying Blade Technique¡¯s blade light from the previous assessment! It was the third level of blade light that countless people in the field had failed to cultivate!


    And that sword shadow, although these people didn¡¯t know its origin, was clearly just as terrifying as the Blood Slaying Blade Technique!


    "Good heavens, Ye Chen possesses a powerful Heaven-reaching Divine Art comparable to the Bloodlight Blade Technique!"


    Amidst the shock of countless onlookers, after the tribulation clouds and lightning were shattered, another successive wave of even more powerful tribulation clouds and lightning struck, and Ye Chen, like standing in heavy rain, once again endured the baptism of countless tribulation clouds and lightning.


    After enduring enough baptism of tribulation clouds and lightning, Ye Chen employed the "Bloodlight Blade Technique," recognized by all, and the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" swordsmanship, unknown to many, shattering the tribulation clouds and calling forth even more potent tribulation clouds and lightning.


    Ye Chen¡¯s breakthrough of the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation lasted an entire two hours!


    In those two hours, no one dared to disturb Ye Chen¡¯s tribulation. Discover hidden stories at Freewebnovel


    Even the six-star Sovereign presiding over the assessment of the nine major Divine Institutes dared not make the slightest disturbance.


    Because, when Ye Chen¡¯s Heavenly Tribulation began, everyone in the whole world heard the Northern Territory King¡¯s faint voice.


    They heard the Northern Territory King ordering Ye Chen to peacefully undergo tribulation, and that no one should interfere!


    And watching Ye Chen¡¯s two-hour tribulation, countless True Gods couldn¡¯t believe their eyes.


    Ye Chen, under such a fearsome tribulation cloud assault, appeared as if it were nothing, showing not a trace of effort!


    Clearly, Ye Chen¡¯s assault on the Nine Tribulations True God was bound to succeed!


    The guesses of these people were not wrong.


    Ye Chen¡¯s current combat power could compete even with the Upper God Kings, so how could he fear the tribulation clouds of the Nine Tribulations True God, no matter how formidable? He could absolutely get through it without even needing the protection of the "Star Blue Divine Garment."


    When two hours had passed, the vast tribulation clouds finally dissipated.


    And on Ye Chen¡¯s body, Divine Light surged forth in streams, the hallmark of successfully advancing through the realm!


    Ye Chen finally stepped over the threshold into the Nine Tribulations True God, and his Divine Power once again underwent a qualitative change and tremendous enhancement!


    Nine Tribulations True God!


    From then on, Ye Chen was thoroughly a Nine Tribulations True God!


    "Nine Tribulations True God, so this is what it feels like!"


    Ye Chen closed his eyes to feel the changes in Essence, Qi, and Spirit within his Divine Body, nodded in satisfaction, and then reopened his eyes.


    Every successful assault on the Heavenly Tribulation causes a transformation in the three signs of life: Essence, Qi, and Spirit.


    And after advancing from an Eighth Tribulations True God to a Nine Tribulations True God, Ye Chen felt his combat power had increased several times over from before!


    What delighted Ye Chen even more was the progress in his cultivation of the "Primordial Chapter."


    Ye Chen had long since cultivated the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Primordial Chapter," to Great Accomplishment, but had been unable to reach Perfection, moving on to the fifth chapter.


    However, after the successful assault as a Nine Tribulations True God, Ye Chen suddenly felt an affinity with the "Primordial Chapter."


    This affinity signified that the moment Ye Chen would break through the "Primordial Chapter" and enter the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture would be when he broke through from a Nine Tribulations True God to the Divine King Realm!


    This sense of affinity directly informed Ye Chen of the timing to enter the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, naturally filling him with overwhelming joy!


    After quickly assessing the various changes in himself, Ye Chen looked up towards the six-star Sovereign waiting for him to complete his tribulation in the void and smiled.


    ```


    Then, Ye Chen¡¯s gaze moved to the countless True Gods below who were watching him, his eyes swept over Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and the others, finally settling on the Little Provincial Princess.


    After smiling, Ye Chen flew toward the Little Provincial Princess, who was so excited her cheeks were flushed.


    The third round of the Divine Institute¡¯s assessment continued.


    Ye Chen was the last person to come out from the "Wind Origin Tower" on the final day, acquiring only the minimum ten thousand Assessment Points.


    Even though he only secured ten thousand Assessment Points, in the second round of the ranking battles, Ye Chen had directly obtained the highest score of the entire field at three hundred and fifty-nine thousand Assessment Points!


    Adding both rounds together, Ye Chen¡¯s total Assessment Points were three hundred and sixty-nine thousand, still placing him second in the overall ranking projection!


    Despite being overtaken by Xue Ningning, who had earned twelve thousand three hundred and ninety Assessment Points in the second round and two hundred and sixty-thousand in the third round, totaling three hundred and eighty-three thousand, nine hundred Assessment Points.


    However, Ye Chen was still stronger than Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan!


    Tianyu Beiling, with a combined total of three hundred and fifty-nine thousand, six hundred Assessment Points from both rounds, was directly pushed down to third place by Ye Chen.


    Whereas Mo Yuan¡¯s combined score was three hundred and fifty-four thousand, three hundred Assessment Points, ranking him fourth.


    Seeing Ye Chen chatting and laughing with the Little Provincial Princess, several True God maidens from the Divine Miao Peak also gathered around to make small talk with Ye Chen, leaving Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan looking extremely unhappy.


    Because Ye Chen, due to his breakthrough in the second round, only secured ten thousand Assessment Points, yet still performed better than them, they too felt quite embarrassed.


    In the end, an obviously displeased Tianyu Beiling even let out a cold snort, "So what if I¡¯m behind?"


    "Ye Chen was way ahead of me earlier, yet isn¡¯t he almost caught up by me in the third round?"


    "Wait for the fourth round, the final real competition, I will continue to surpass him, not only overtaking him but also surpassing Xue Ningning. The first place ranking in the final Divine Institute assessment will definitely be mine!"


    Mo Yuan, although not as visibly perturbed as Tianyu Beiling, was also eagerly waiting for the fourth round to begin.


    Being ranked only fourth, he was not willing to accept this result!


    On the final day, Ye Chen successfully broke through the "Wind Origin Tower," and only a few dozen assessors managed to emerge after him by the time the last day¡¯s session ended.


    After all, during the previous twenty-nine days, those who could pass the assessment had already come out of the "Wind Origin Tower" in advance, those left behind were seldom able to pass successfully.


    Until the end of all thirty days of the third round of the assessment, the total number of people successfully emerging from the "Wind Origin Tower" reached over ten thousand.


    Out of the hundred thousand participants in the third round of the assessment, more than eighty thousand were still trapped inside the "Wind Origin Tower" and couldn¡¯t break through.


    In the end, these people were directly ejected by the "Wind Origin Tower," their third-round assessment scores amounting to zero.


    Once everyone had emerged, all assessment scores were re-evaluated and adjusted.


    In the flickering ranking projection floating in the Void Heaven, everyone¡¯s scores were displayed above.


    First place: Xue Ningning, Assessment Points: three hundred eighty-three thousand, nine hundred!


    Second place: Ye Chen, Assessment Points: three hundred sixty-nine thousand!


    Third place: Tianyu Beiling, Assessment Points: three hundred fifty-nine thousand, six hundred!


    Fourth place: Mo Yuan, Assessment Points: three hundred fifty-four thousand, three hundred!


    ...


    Twenty-sixth place: Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo, Assessment Points: two hundred thirty-nine thousand, eight hundred!


    ...


    Ninth-thousandth place, a Martial Artist from the Western Territory of the Mountain Divine Nation, Nie Feng, with twenty-three thousand, six hundred seventy Assessment Points!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Once everyone¡¯s scores were revealed, countless gazes were fixated on the ranking projection, especially on the top nine thousand ranks.


    Because, after the third round of the assessment ended, only the top nine thousand could advance into the fourth round.


    They were the only ones who could enter into the nine Divine Institutes!


    "I did it! I got into the nine Divine Institutes!" Nie Feng, ranked at nine thousandth, was so excited that he jumped up.


    Even though he was the last among the nine thousand, he still secured a spot in the nine Divine Institutes and was eligible for the fourth round of assessments, which was naturally a cause for immense joy!


    Not just Nie Feng, but countless others among the successful candidates were beyond thrilled.


    The nine Divine Institutes! Which True God from any Divine Kingdom wouldn¡¯t want to enter?


    Only Ye Chen, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and people like the Little Provincial Princess, who were certain of their entry into the Divine Institutes, could remain somewhat composed.


    Where there¡¯s joy, there¡¯s bound to be profound sadness too.


    Those ranked below nine thousand were all extremely dejected, with many even shedding tears.


    They had failed.


    They had all failed.


    Even if other powers might pick them up, they had missed this most precious opportunity to join the nine Divine Institutes.


    Especially the True God ranked nine thousand and one, who was so regretful that his fists were clenched till they bled!


    But there was no pill for regret to help him.


    In the end, all those who were eliminated were directly teleported out by the six-star Sovereign overseeing the Divine Institute assessment, eliminated from the competition!


    At last, only nine thousand people remained in the entire field, those who secured their spots in the nine Divine Institutes!


    At this moment, the six-star Sovereign finally announced to everyone, "You nine thousand individuals are the ones who will participate in the final round of competition!"


    "The last round, as I mentioned before, will determine which Divine Institute among the nine you will enter!"


    "This final round, will be your ultimate showdown!"


    ```

 Chapter 752 - 704: The Four Qilin Divine Beasts

    When the six-star Sovereign presiding over the exams of the Nine Great Divine Institutes finally began to announce the last round of the competition, all nine thousand candidates who had successfully advanced to the fourth round held their breath!


    The final round!


    The ultimate showdown!


    It pertained to which Divine Institute of the Nine Great Divine Institutes they would enter!


    Everyone, of course, was filled with both nervousness and anticipation!


    Amidst this tension and anticipation, countless were hoping to join the "Supreme Divine Institute," ranked first among the Nine Great Divine Institutes. Even if they couldn¡¯t join the best "Supreme Divine Institute," they at least wanted to be part of one of the top-ranked Institutes!


    "I wonder how this final round will be assessed?"


    All the candidates looked towards the six-star Sovereign who was hosting the exams.


    After sweeping his gaze across the faces of the crowd, the six-star Sovereign finally began to announce the rules of the last round of the exams.


    "The final round will consist of two parts."


    "The first part is the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection,¡¯ and the second part is the ¡¯Ultimate Ranking Battle.¡¯"


    "What is the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection¡¯? It¡¯s a competition that decides whether you have the qualifications to choose among the Nine Great Divine Institutes or not," the six-star Sovereign first explained the competition rules for the first part of the "Qualification Race for Institute Selection."


    "Although all nine thousand of you have entered the selection list for the Nine Great Divine Institutes, which Divine Institute you can join will depend on your performance in the first part, the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection.¡¯"


    "If you pass the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection,¡¯ then you will be able to choose the Divine Institute in which you wish to cultivate. However, if you don¡¯t pass the qualification race, then you will have to be chosen by one of the Nine Great Divine Institutes!"


    Upon hearing this, all the candidates finally understood why the "Qualification Race for Institute Selection" was arranged.


    The nine thousand candidates on the field, presumably, most wanted to join the strongest "Supreme Divine Institute," and the "Supreme Divine Institute" certainly wouldn¡¯t let everyone in at once.


    Thus, the "Qualification Race for Institute Selection" was a necessary competition.


    If you passed the "Qualification Race for Institute Selection," you could choose your Divine Institute.


    Experience more on Freewebnovel


    If you didn¡¯t pass the "Qualification Race for Institute Selection," then you could only wait to be chosen by a Divine Institute.


    "The competition for the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection¡¯ is quite simple," continued the six-star Sovereign, "Within the fourth-round assessment area, there is a ¡¯Qilin Divine Temple¡¯ that houses four Qilin Divine Beasts."


    "As long as you can defeat these four Qilin Divine Beasts, then you will pass the first part of the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection.¡¯ After that, you may choose to enter any Divine Institute you wish. Additionally, you will also be eligible to participate in the second part, the ¡¯Ultimate Ranking Battle.¡¯"


    "The Ultimate Ranking Battle will add to the previous ranking points accumulated on the Ranking Screen, ultimately determining your final ranks in the exams of the Nine Great Divine Institutes, deciding who will be among the top ten of the exams, and who will be first!"


    "Lastly, the top ten-ranked, especially the first place, will receive special rewards from the Nine Great Divine Institutes!"


    "As for the ¡¯Ultimate Ranking Battle,¡¯ I will explain it in detail to those who qualify after the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection¡¯ has ended. Now, everyone, follow me to the competition venue for the ¡¯Qualification Race for Institute Selection¡¯¡ªthe ¡¯Qilin Divine Temple¡¯!"


    After the six-star Sovereign had finished speaking, he waved his wide sleeve, and a staggering power enveloped all nine thousand candidates within it.


    A Sovereign Realm powerhouse indeed!


    Even Ye Chen couldn¡¯t resist being enveloped in the power of the six-star Sovereign.


    And in the next moment, as if the heavens and earth had spun, nine thousand people were instantly transported to an immense temple located in the depths of the ancient battlefield, far from where they originally stood.


    The six-star Sovereign¡¯s heaven-and-earth-spinning Divine Skill was truly astonishing!


    While the nine thousand candidates were still marveling at the six-star Sovereign¡¯s grand Divine Skill, they heard him point in the air, and the massive doors of the temple opened with a boom. Then the six-star Sovereign said to everyone, "Enter!"


    All nine thousand flew into the grand temple.


    It was called a grand hall, but upon entering, one could see that it was in fact an immense world!


    Clearly, there were profound space laws at work here!


    What was even more astonishing was that at the heart of this vast world, one could see four colossal Divine Beasts, each lying within glowing halos emanating divine light.


    These four awe-inspiring Divine Beasts were a red Qilin, a blue Qilin, a green Qilin, and a purple Qilin!


    Even more shocking was the fact that these four Qilins were all exuding the divine might of God King Level!


    Obviously, these four great Qilin Divine Beasts were all God King Level Divine Beasts!


    "My god, this round of ¡¯Selection for Divine Institute Eligibility¡¯ requires us to defeat these four Qilin Divine Beasts? These are God King Level Divine Beasts! Although I don¡¯t know whether they are Lower, Middle, or Upper God Kings, even a Lower God King Beast would be incredibly tough to handle!"


    Countless true gods, gazing at the four imposing Divine Beasts lying on the ground at the center of the world, all gasped in astonishment.


    Only a few true gods, like Ye Chen, Tianyu Beiling, and Mo Yuan, who possessed the absolute power to contend with God Kings, could remain somewhat composed.


    Seeing the fearful gazes of countless true gods, the six-star Sovereign scoffed and said, "The nine great Divine Institutes aren¡¯t simply for anyone who wishes to choose them. Most of you will only have to passively accept the Divine Institutes¡¯ selection!"


    "Moreover, I must tell you that although you¡¯ve definitely made it into the nine great Divine Institutes already, if your performance is subpar, you can just as well be expelled after joining. So from now on, show your best and strive to make the elders of the Divine Institutes watching remember you!"


    "These four great Qilin Divine Beasts, the red Qilin is a Fire Qilin; the blue Qilin is a Water Qilin; the green Qilin is a Wind Qilin; and the purple Qilin is a Thunder Qilin."


    "Due to their different attributes, these four Qilins have different combat styles, and this will truly test your fighting abilities."


    "Examinees, from now on, it¡¯s time to show your performance!"


    "This round, because it determines whether or not you can select a Divine Institute, we won¡¯t calculate ranking scores. However, the order of the assessment will follow the sequence displayed on the ranking screen. The one ranked last will be the first to go for the assessment, and the one ranked first will go last."


    "Now, Nie Feng, ranked nine thousandth, step forward!"


    When the voice of the six-star Sovereign fell, many gazes in the field directly turned toward a young true god.


    This young true god, dressed in brocaded robes, was the one from the Divine Kingdom¡¯s Western Territory currently ranked nine thousandth, Nie Feng.


    Hearing that he was to be the first to participate in the assessment, Nie Feng¡¯s palms began to sweat with nervousness.


    Although he had managed to stand out from the tens of millions of examinees to reach the ninth thousandth rank, facing the four God King Level Divine Beasts, he couldn¡¯t help feeling intimidated.


    However, being watched by the six-star Sovereign conducting the assessment, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and walk towards the four great Divine Beasts.


    "First, you will battle the first Qilin Divine Beast, the Fire Qilin!"


    The six-star Sovereign said to Nie Feng, "Relax and do your best in the battle. They all have a Combat Token on them. Whether it is you who is in danger of being killed or them, the Combat Tokens will take immediate effect."


    "If you are in danger of being killed, you will be eliminated, deemed to have failed this round of ¡¯Selection for Divine Institute Eligibility¡¯, and relegated to the selected area. If they are in danger of being killed, they will be deemed defeated, and you will pass the assessment."


    As the six-star Sovereign spoke, with a wave of his hand, divine light emanated from the giant halo of the first Fire Qilin, instantly sweeping Nie Feng into the large halo where the Fire Qilin was.


    Roar!


    Upon Nie Feng¡¯s arrival within the halo, the Fire Qilin, with its fiery red body, seemed to sense an intruder. It leaped up from its lying position, its fur standing on end like blazing flames, and its eyes flashing like lightning as it stared directly at Nie Feng.


    Being stared down by a ten-thousand-meter tall beast, akin to a giant mountain, even a Nine Tribulations True God like Nie Feng found his limbs going weak.


    Although as a Nine Tribulations True God he could easily shatter countless mountains, he was now facing a God King Level colossus.


    Of course, he felt fear!


    But without allowing Nie Feng much time to prepare, the Fire Qilin, after locking eyes with Nie Feng for a few breaths, suddenly shuddered its body and charged toward Nie Feng!

 Chapter 753 - 705 What situation!

    Boom!


    It happened in the blink of an eye; the Fire Qilin instantly charged to Nie Feng''s side.


    Nie Feng had just managed to release his Divine Power when he felt a strong force fling him aside, and he was transported out of the combat area amid a divine light.


    Eliminated!


    It took only one move.


    The Fire Qilin had defeated Nie Feng.


    Thankfully, it was just an assessment. If it were a real fight, it would mean Nie Feng had been instantly killed by the Fire Qilin.


    Nie Feng didn''t even have time to discern the Fire Qilin''s moves and realm!


    Seeing that he had been transported out of the combat area and eliminated, Nie Feng''s face turned ashen.


    He finally realized the gap between himself and a powerful God King Level Divine Beast; even though he performed well in the assessment of the nine Divine Institutes, he was still far from being a true powerhouse!


    "Nie Feng fails, proceed to the Selected Zone for the defeated, and after the ''Qualification Assessment'' is over, you''ll be assigned to one of the nine Divine Institutes."


    The six-star Venerable overseeing the assessment glanced indifferently at Nie Feng and, with a flick of his finger, transported Nie Feng to the nearby elimination area.


    Then, the six-star Venerable turned his attention to another True God: "Next up for the assessment, ranking eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, from the Divine Kingdom''s Northern Region, Feng Yuan."


    Whirr!


    Nie Feng''s instant defeat changed the expressions of the numerous True Gods who had not yet taken part in the assessment.


    They hadn''t anticipated that the Fire Qilin would be even more formidable than they imagined!


    And this was only the first of the Divine Beasts; not only did they have to contend with the Fire Qilin, but they also faced the subsequent challenge of three other Qilins.


    Following Nie Feng in the assessment lineup, the one ranked eight thousand nine hundred and ninety-nine, Feng Yuan, a Female True God clad in white Soft Divine Armor, was visibly trembling with nervousness.


    In the end, she had to muster her courage to focus her eyes on the Fire Qilin she was about to battle.


    Upon being teleported into the combat area, Feng Yuan quickly drew a golden Divine Spear.


    This Female True God, Feng Yuan, appeared petite but wielded a Divine Spear Weapon.


    Moreover, this Divine Spear Weapon was an extraordinary and supreme Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact!


    "It seems that this Feng Yuan has quite the background. Many Heavenly Divine Venerables aren''t even willing to equip their True God descendants with supreme Heaven-reaching Divine Artifacts,"


    Onlookers discussed among themselves as they watched Feng Yuan draw her Divine Spear.


    Outside the assessment area, among the countless martial artists observing the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment, an Immortal Divine Venerable grew a little nervous when he saw Feng Yuan preparing for her assessment.


    "Yuan''er is still young. Her ranking is low because she faced some setbacks while comprehending the ''Bloodlight Blade Technique.'' However, her combat strength is still formidable. Even if she doesn''t manage to withstand the four Qilin Divine Beasts, she ought to perform well," he said.


    While the Immortal Divine Venerable''s thoughts churned, inside the assessment grounds, the Fire Qilin in the combat area had already charged straight at Feng Yuan.


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, Feng Yuan''s figure vanished into thin air, and in the next moment, she reappeared above the Fire Qilin''s head.


    Then, the Female True God pinched a spell with her hands, and her golden spear suddenly expanded, transforming into a colossus spanning ten thousand meters.


    Next, the heaven-reaching Divine Spear turned sharply and stabbed straight at the Fire Qilin!


    Feng Yuan was not only extremely swift, but her combat skills were also incredibly formidable!


    Roar!


    Seeing Feng Yuan disappear, the Fire Qilin''s colossal body didn''t stop for an instant, rotating to face the incoming spear thrust head-on.


    The Fire Qilin exhaled a breath of flames, blocking the thrust from the Sky-shocking Longspear outright.


    When her first attack failed, Feng Yuan''s expression changed as she pinched her fair hand, and the golden spear split into two and then four, quickly multiplying into countless spears.


    Then, like a torrential sword rain from the heavens, they all plummeted down, targeting the massive Fire Qilin below.


    At this moment, the Fire Qilin let out a heavenward roar and chose not to breathe out flames to block the spears. Instead, its body shook violently, lighting up the divine glyphs that adorned it. The Fire Qilin directly met the rain of spears, and eventually charged through, closing in on Feng Yuan.


    Bang!


    With a flick of its colossal paw, the Fire Qilin flung Feng Yuan away at an unbelievable speed.


    The next moment, Feng Yuan was eliminated from the competition!


    Even after withstanding several moves, Feng Yuan was still eliminated!


    Whirr!


    Seeing Feng Yuan''s elimination caused many to sigh out loud.


    While watching Feng Yuan''s defeat, Ye Chen softly shook his head: "This Female True God, a pity she couldn''t fully activate the supreme Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact spear in her possession; otherwise, she needn''t have feared this Fire Qilin."


    "Nevertheless, her performance was quite remarkable, and given her youthful appearance, she should garner interest from the Divine Institutes."


    As Ye Chen reflected, in the external area for Divine Institute elders, a female elder from the Tai Qing Divine Institute turned her gaze toward Feng Yuan''s elder, the Immortal Divine Venerable, not far away.


    "The descendant of Heavenly Divine Venerable seems fairly talented for her age. Her performance was decent enough, and considering she wishes to join the Tai Qing Divine Institute, let''s give her a chance to cultivate there this time," she murmured to herself.


    Defeated, Feng Yuan, weak-kneed, was eliminated from the combat area.


    But she didn''t know that an elder from one of the nine great Divine Institutes had taken notice of her and that she had an opportunity to enter the institute of her choice.


    The assessment continued.


    Next, the more than eight thousand candidates took turns to battle against the four Divine Beast Qilins.


    The previous rankings, which generally reflected the combat power of the candidates, mostly meant that stronger candidates competed later.


    Of course, there were exceptions.


    Some True Gods who had made minor mistakes earlier and were ranked lower shone in this final "Institute Selection Qualifier," with a few ranked within two or three thousand managing to break through.


    Although their progress was difficult, since they passed the qualifier, they had the privilege of choosing their desired Divine Institutes, which naturally excited them greatly!


    However, such exceptions were few.


    By the time eight thousand nine hundred and ninety candidates had competed, only leaving ten left, only just over two hundred had passed through the "Institute Selection Qualifier."


    This highlighted the difficulty of defeating the four Divine Beast Qilins.


    After more than eight thousand battles, everyone could see that the Fire Qilin, Wind Qilin, and Water Qilin were all of Lower God King Level. Meanwhile, the Thunder Kirin was of the Middle God King Level.


    Even though the Thunder Kirin''s abilities were heavily restricted, its lightning attributes sometimes made it stronger than many other Middle God King level beasts.


    Many who defeated the Thunder Kirin and passed the "Institute Selection Qualifier" did so because their spells were specially tailored to counter it.


    As for the Little Provincial Princess who previously ranked twenty-sixth, her performance was also remarkably eye-catching.


    Being the daughter of the glorious Eight-Star Venerable, the East Territory King, she naturally drew countless gazes!


    Even the elders of the nine great Divine Institutes were considering that they would open their doors wide for the Little Provincial Princess, should she wish to choose their institute.


    Still quite young and only at the Three Tribulations True God level, the Little Provincial Princess could not confront the four Divine Beast Qilins, even though her profound comprehension of the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" earned her high assessment points and a high ranking.


    Even though she couldn''t defeat the Qilins, her performance in movement and combat techniques during the battle amazed many onlookers.


    They knew they couldn''t have achieved this at the Three Tribulations True God level!


    In the end, though the Little Provincial Princess was defeated, everyone knew she would definitely be admitted to the Supreme Divine Institute.


    That''s because the Six-Star Venerable overseeing the assessments from the nine Divine Institutes had personally invited her to cultivate at the Supreme Divine Institute as soon as she finished her assessment.


    After glancing at Ye Chen and seeing him nod in approval of her performance, she giggled and announced her choice.


    She wanted to join the Supreme Divine Institute¡ªthe same one Ye Chen was joining!


    Lastly, the most eye-catching battles were those of the top ten ranked candidates against the four Divine Beast Qilins.


    After all, those capable of entering the top ten were truly among the supreme elite within tens of millions of candidates!


    Moreover, all of them were at the Nine Tribulations True God level¡ªeven Ye Chen, who had originally been at the Eight Tribulations level, had broken through to the Nine Tribulations True God level during the earlier rounds.


    The battles of all ten Nine Tribulations True Gods against the four Divine King Level Qilins were the center of attention for countless onlookers.


    It seemed as though these top ten understood that the elders from the nine great Divine Institutes were watching, as each showcased their strongest abilities, vying to outperform the others against the Qilins.


    As the assessments proceeded, the audience was astonished to find that starting from the tenth place, these top contenders truly had the capability to battle across realms against Divine King level beasts¡ªand they did so with ease!


    The fourth-ranked Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan each only used one technique to defeat the first three Qilins and three techniques to easily defeat the last Thunder Kirin.


    The reason was that in this assessment, reaching the objective was sufficient, and the assessment points were not a factor.


    Otherwise, many speculated that none of the four Qilins taken together might match even a single move from Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan!


    But when the assessment reached the penultimate candidate, Ye Chen, who was second in ranking, not only did the on-site candidates hold their breath in anticipation.


    Even the Venerables who had shown scant interest in this round of "Institute Selection Qualifiers" sat up attentively.


    Ye Chen had shown exceptional performance in the previous rounds, was connected with the East Territory King, Northern Territory King, and Sovereign Xuechen, and had even provoked the Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master, Qin Yuntian. His assessment was naturally a focus for countless onlookers!


    Although it was known that Ye Chen would definitely make it through this round.


    Still, many were eager to see how he would overcome the opposition of the four Divine Beasts.


    What followed in Ye Chen''s challenge left everyone utterly astonished and feeling it was beyond belief!


    As soon as Ye Chen entered the Fire Qilin''s battle area, the beast, which had been ferociously aggressive toward all candidates and seething with killing intent even in defeat, instantly prostrated itself before Ye Chen and became as docile as a kitten.


    It willingly activated the combat token to signify its own loss and obediently cleared a path to the next battle ring for Ye Chen!


    As Ye Chen entered the battle areas of the subsequent three Qilins, without exception, not even the strongest Thunder Kirin dared to engage with him.


    They forfeited the fight without contesting!


    This scene shocked countless spectators into wondering, "What''s going on?!"


    Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan almost popped their eyes out; the four Qilins had fought them ferociously, almost as if they wanted to tear them apart, yet they behaved submissively like pets in front of Ye Chen.


    The disparity was simply too huge!

 Chapter 754 - 706: The Allegiance of the Divine Institute

    ```


    Although Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan both had successfully passed the challenge of the four Qilin Divine Beasts, even if they passed the challenge with ease, it simply couldn''t compare to Ye Chen, who passed the challenge without lifting a finger!


    Even though they had defeated the four Qilins, the Divine Beasts still dared to battle them, clearly viewing them as peers.


    But before Ye Chen, the four God King Level Qilins were as docile as could be, obviously regarding Ye Chen as a senior!


    This differential treatment naturally filled both Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan with disbelief, nearly causing them to spit out blood in frustration!


    They never imagined that Ye Chen''s passage through the challenge would result in this outcome.


    It once again made them feel as if they were a head shorter than Ye Chen in front of countless others!


    The area of the Divine Miao Peak where the ten True God maidens were located.


    At this moment, the ten maidens were staring with their rosy lips slightly agape, somewhat dazed.


    Except for Xue Ningning, who ranked first and had yet to battle the four Qilin Divine Beasts, the other nine maidens had already faced them in battle.


    They knew all too well that these Qilin Divine Beasts were no domestic cats; they couldn''t possibly be so submissive!


    The problem must lie with Ye Chen.


    It must be due to some reason related to Ye Chen that made the four God King Level Qilin Divine Beasts so fearful and so tame!


    "Ye Chen really is somewhat magical," Xue Ningning said, her beautiful eyes filled with curiosity.


    Even though she currently ranked first on the leader board, she knew that when it was her turn to face the four Qilin Divine Beasts, she couldn''t possibly perform better than Tianyu Beiling and the others, let alone reach the miraculous level of Ye Chen.


    The evaluators in the field were shocked, and many Sovereigns and Divine Venerables outside the field were similarly astonished.


    They knew that if it were them, only with the formidable combat power of a Divine Venerable would they be able to subdue the four Qilin Divine Beasts in such a manner.


    But Ye Chen was merely a Nine Tribulations True God, yet he managed to make four God King Level Divine Beasts so fearful. Could it be that Ye Chen possessed the awe-inspiring presence of a Divine Venerable''s level?


    That was simply impossible!


    Only a few truly supreme Sovereigns in the field, such as Sovereign Xuechen, the Northern Territory King, and the East Territory King, had their Divine Sens extended into the evaluation area. After carefully sensing the aura that made the four Qilin Divine Beasts fear Ye Chen, they finally understood the reason why the four God King Level Divine Beasts were so fearful.


    These Sovereigns detected an aura of "Qilin Divine Blood" in Ye Chen that was even purer than that of the four God King Level Qilin Divine Beasts!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has merged the Divine Blood of a Qilin Divine Beast that is even more powerful?"


    "Could it be at the level of a Divine Venerable or even a Sovereign''s? Such a high-level Qilin Divine Beast doesn''t even exist in the entire Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, so how could Ye Chen have merged with it?"


    The several Sovereigns exchanged glances, their hearts trembling.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, who was in the middle of the evaluation, felt no less shocked than anyone else.


    Others might not know why the Qilin Divine Beasts feared him, but Ye Chen was very clear about it.


    Indeed, on Ye Chen''s body was an aura of "Qilin Divine Blood," purer than that of any of the four God King Level Qilins present.


    That aura originated from one of the Five Great Divine Bloods that Ye Chen merged into his body when he cultivated the Primordial Star Scripture from the beginning!


    Initially, when Ye Chen cultivated the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, he merged five drops of Divine Blood from the Stars Tower, specifically the "Azure Dragon Divine Blood," "White Tiger Divine Blood," "Vermilion Bird Divine Blood," "Black Turtle Divine Blood," and "Qilin Divine Blood."


    And among them, the "Qilin Divine Blood," although just a single drop, had merged into Ye Chen''s body, making the four God King Level Qilin Divine Beasts before him extremely fearful!


    Ye Chen cultivated the Five Great Divine Bloods and later the Five Great Divine Arts, and eventually brought all the Divine Arts to their ultimate state, breaking through the Taiyuan Chapter and cultivating to the current Primordial Chapter.


    Ye Chen had never thought that the single drop of "Qilin Divine Blood" he obtained back then would be so extraordinary.


    "The Five Great Divine Bloods were left by the Zi Ji Star Lord."


    "Although there was only one drop for each, it was only for my cultivation of the Primordial Star Scripture. But probably the origin of this drop is absolutely unimaginable; otherwise, these Qilin Divine Beasts wouldn''t be so fearful!"


    Ye Chen guessed at the origins of the Qilin Divine Blood while feeling increasingly shaken by the power of Zi Ji Star Lord, a being who transcended Sovereigns.


    Just a single drop of Divine Blood left in the Stars Tower was enough to instill such fear in God King Level Divine Beasts.


    The actual strength of Zi Ji Star Lord himself was simply beyond imagination!


    However, despite the shock, the evaluation had to continue.


    When the four Qilin Divine Beasts didn''t dare to engage Ye Chen in battle, allowing him to walk out of the four evaluation rings with incredible ease, Ye Chen also looked towards the Six Star Sovereign in the void who was presiding over the evaluation.


    "Elder, I wonder if this counts as passing this round of the ''Institute Selection Contest''?" Ye Chen asked the Six Star Sovereign in the void.


    The Six Star Sovereign at this moment was still somewhat stunned.


    ```


    He knew the origins of these four Qilin Divine Beasts better than anyone else, and he had never seen them this docile before.


    Seeing the Six-Star Sovereign in a daze, Ye Chen spoke again, "Senior, if this doesn''t count as passing the assessment, I wouldn''t mind taking the test again. However, I''m afraid the subjects of the assessment will have to change since these Qilin Divine Beasts are simply unwilling to battle me."


    Ye Chen certainly wasn''t afraid of such an assessment and looked indifferently at the Six-Star Sovereign who was presiding over it.


    At this moment, the Six-Star Sovereign being stared at by Ye Chen also snapped out of his daze, glanced at Ye Chen, and then looked outside, as if seeking the opinion of several more powerful Sovereigns outside the assessment area.


    When he saw Sovereign Xuechen outside nod at him, the Six-Star Sovereign smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you''ve made the four Qilin Divine Beasts admit defeat in this round, you''ve certainly passed the assessment!"


    "Let''s wait for the ''Institute Selection Competition'' to finish completely before we start the final ''Ultimate Ranking Battle''!"


    Hearing what the Six-Star Sovereign had said, Ye Chen smiled and nodded before returning to the side of the Little Provincial Princess.


    "Big Brother Ye Chen." Seeing Ye Chen return, the Little Provincial Princess''s eyes shone like stars, "How did you manage to make those big guys so afraid?"


    The Little Provincial Princess quietly chatted with Ye Chen through Divine Sense.


    Ye Chen also completed the "Institute Selection Qualifying Assessment," and the only one who had not participated in this assessment was Xue Ningning from Divine Miao Peak, currently ranked first.


    When Xue Ningning went down to the field and saw the four Qilin Divine Beasts, the Fire Qilin, Water Qilin, Wind Qilin, and Thunder Qilin all launch attacks at her. Although Xue Ningning also easily defeated the four Qilin Divine Beasts, everyone once again realized that it wasn''t that the Qilin Divine Beasts had a problem, but rather due to Ye Chen''s Divine Marvel that the previous assessment for Ye Chen turned out that way!


    After Xue Ningning had passed her assessment, out of the nine thousand examiners, only two hundred and twenty-three people managed to pass the "Institute Selection Qualification."


    The remaining eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven people were not qualified to actively choose among the Nine Great Divine Institutes.


    Then, the Six-Star Sovereign presiding over the assessment spoke to all the examiners, "Now that you''ve completed the ''Institute Selection Competition,'' and the results are out."


    "Now, let''s determine everyone''s Divine Institute affiliation!"


    As he said this, the Six-Star Sovereign nodded gently towards the outside, and from the Nine Great Divine Institutes elders'' area, a Sovereign Realm Elder stood up and appeared beside the Six-Star Sovereign with a swift motion.


    The Six-Star Sovereign said to all the examiners, "These nine elders are the disciple recruitment elders of the Nine Great Divine Institutes. Now, let''s start by having these nine elders select the disciples they want from the eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven ''Institute Selection Competition'' losers!"


    "Let''s start with Elder Zhao from the Supreme Divine Institute making his selection!"


    Hearing that the elders of the Nine Great Divine Institutes were about to select disciples directly, more than eight thousand examiners who had not passed the "Institute Selection Competition" became nervous.


    Unlike Ye Chen and the other two hundred or so people who could choose their Divine Institutes, they could only wait for the elders of the Divine Institutes to select them.


    This situation naturally made them anxious.


    Elder Zhao, the disciple recruitment elder from the Supreme Divine Institute, was a Five-Star Sovereign. As Elder Zhao stepped forward, his gaze swept over the more than eight thousand examiners, "The Nine Great Divine Institutes will select disciples in rounds, with each taking turns to select ten people at first and then proceeding to the second and third rounds of selection."


    "This round, the disciples I choose are the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo, Luo Yuanfeng from the Southern Territory, Wang Chen from the Northern Region..." Elder Zhao directly named a list of ten people.


    When Fang Luo was selected to join the Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen patted the little head of the Little Provincial Princess beside him, smiling and nodding.


    After the Supreme Divine Institute''s Elder Zhao selected ten disciples, the other Great Divine Institutes such as Tai Gang, Tai Qing, Tai Wu, and so on each picked ten disciples in turn.


    Then, starting again with the Supreme Divine Institute, they continued to choose the disciples they wanted.


    After several rounds, the eight thousand seven hundred and seventy-seven disciples were finally allocated among the Nine Great Divine Institutes!


    Next, it was time for Ye Chen, Xue Ningning, Tianyu Beiling, and the other two hundred and twenty-three examiners who had the privilege to choose their Divine Institutes, to decide on their preferred Institutes.


    This process was even quicker.


    Everyone simply reported the Divine Institute they wished to join.


    Without much of a surprise, of the two hundred and twenty-three people in the arena, nearly one hundred and ninety chose to join the Supreme Divine Institute, ranked first among the Nine Great Divine Institutes!


    The remaining thirty or so chose other Great Divine Institutes with which they had some affiliation.


    Ye Chen, of course, joined the Supreme Divine Institute!


    In the end, the top nine thousand all had their Divine Institute affiliations settled.


    However, the entire assessment process of the Nine Great Divine Institutes hadn''t finished yet because the ultimate ranking and the final first place were yet to be determined!


    Ye Chen had not completely fulfilled the first request from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, which was to take first place in the Nine Great Divine Institutes assessment.


    Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan were also waiting for the final showdown with Ye Chen!


    At this moment, the Six-Star Sovereign presiding over the assessment looked at the two hundred and twenty-three people who had passed the "Institute Selection Competition," focusing on Ye Chen, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and others as he spoke, "Alright, now that everyone has decided on their Divine Institutes."


    "Next, let''s proceed to the final highlight of this Nine Great Divine Institutes assessment¡ªthe Ultimate Ranking Battle!"

 Chapter 755 - 707 Polar Star Tower and Star Card

    ```


    Ultimate Ranking Competition!


    Upon hearing these five words, among the more than two hundred people present, quite a few were noticeably invigorated.


    Many of them were exceptionally powerful Martial Artists among the tens of millions being assessed this time, and they had absolute confidence in their ability to join one of the nine great god academies.


    The previous assessments hadn''t worried them in the slightest.


    What they cared about most, of course, was this final ranking, the ultimate battle!


    After all, securing a good ranking in the nine great god academies'' assessment, especially being in the top ten or even first place, wasn''t just about the honor of joining the god academies, it was about making a name for oneself throughout the entire Divine Kingdom!


    Joining the nine great god academies was only the beginning.


    They naturally wanted to enter the god academies with an imposing presence and a formidable reputation, to ensure that even the senior disciples would not dare to underestimate them!


    In the crowd, Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan were the most excited.


    "It''s here, the final showdown has finally arrived."


    Tianyu Beiling''s eyes flickered as he glanced sidelong at Ye Chen.


    Although he had been profoundly shaken by Ye Chen''s performance, he was equally discontented, as he had not yet had the chance to face Ye Chen in combat.


    To concede defeat without even fighting was something Tianyu Beiling was unwilling to accept!


    He still remembered what his grandfather had told him, that if he took first place, he would receive a Supreme Heavenly Divine Treasure from Divine Dragon Mountain.


    A Supreme Heavenly Divine Treasure!


    Tianyu Beiling naturally wanted it!


    And to obtain this Supreme Heavenly Divine Treasure, he had to defeat Ye Chen, defeat everyone, and seize the first place!


    Mo Yuan, too, was more solemn than he had ever been before.


    The others might not know, but Mo Yuan was clear that his true strength had yet to be fully unleashed.


    In the prior assessments, whether it was comprehending the Bloodlight Blade Technique or braving the Wind Origin Tower, he hadn''t pushed himself to his limit.


    But in this final first-place battle, he would certainly hold nothing back.


    Because this was his only chance to show his true power!


    The one who attracted the most attention in the arena was Ye Chen.


    Because countless people knew that Ye Chen would definitely launch an all-out assault for the first place in the nine great god academies'' assessment.


    After all, this was the demand of both Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King.


    If others failed to take first place it might not mean much, but if Ye Chen didn''t secure first place, he would face confinement by the two Sovereigns for ten thousand years.


    This naturally brought numerous gazes to rest on Ye Chen.


    Quite a few even thought that if Ye Chen failed to take first place in the end, no matter how well he had performed before, it would all be for naught.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, who was seemingly under immense pressure, did not appear worried or flustered as others might have expected; instead, his expression remained calm, his eyes even more radiant with determination!


    Striving for first place in the nine great god academies'' assessment?!


    Ye Chen naturally had to compete for it!


    Not only because it was the first of the three demands made by the two Sovereigns, which he had to fulfill.


    But also because, unknown to everyone else, just as the six-star Sovereign announced the final ultimate ranking competition, Ye Chen had finally heard a voice.


    A voice regarding the third stage of the God King''s Legacy left behind by Sovereign Feng Luo!


    The God King''s Legacy had stated that Ye Chen would have to pass three stages of trials in this assessment to truly qualify for the God King''s Legacy.


    Ye Chen had already completed the first two stages of the trial, in the Blood Slaying Blade Technique training and the braving of the Wind Origin Tower, even acquiring two items in his sea of Qi: the miniature Blood Drinking Divine Blade and the miniature Polar Elemental Divine Bead.


    Ye Chen had been waiting for the third stage of the trial to commence.


    The selection for the god academies had passed without incident, so Ye Chen knew that the third stage of the trial must be related to the final battle of the nine great god academies.


    And just as Ye Chen had anticipated, the requirement of the third stage of the trial was that he had to take first place in the assessment of the nine great god academies!


    Only after he secured first place would he qualify to receive the God King''s Legacy left by Sovereign Feng Luo on Heavenly God Mountain.


    Whether it was the two Sovereigns'' demand or the requirement of the God King''s Legacy, Ye Chen had to take first place, and naturally, he would not give up; he was determined to claim that top spot!


    In the past, even when Ye Chen was only an eight-tragedy Martial Artist, he had this confidence.


    Now that he had transformed into a nine-tragedy Martial Artist, with his divine power many times stronger, Ye Chen was even more confident!


    At this time, many eyes were also focused on Xue Ningning, who was currently ranked first.


    ```


    Many were concerned whether Xue Ningning could maintain her position at the very top.


    Xue Ningning from the mysterious Divine Miao Peak was smiling lightly at this moment.


    It was unclear whether she was indifferent to being first, or if she had an inexplicable confidence in the upcoming struggle for first place among the nine divine academies.


    As the more than two hundred candidates harbored their own thoughts, the six-star Sovereign presiding over the nine divine academies'' examination resumed speaking, "Judging by everyone''s expressions, you must be greatly looking forward to the ultimate ranking competition."


    "Then I won''t keep you in suspense any longer and will announce directly how this ultimate ranking competition will proceed."


    "The ultimate ranking competition is quite simple, consisting of only two steps."


    "The first step is to determine the top ten, and the second step is to determine the first place!"


    "The way to carry out the first step is as follows: the top ten names currently displayed on the ranking screen in the arena will be the default placeholders for the top ten, and all the others can challenge any of the top ten."


    "Every individual has only one chance to challenge. If you win, you take their place, directly seizing the top ten position and the examination points. If you lose, you''re automatically eliminated and forfeit your chance to compete for the top ten."


    "Of course, if any of the current top ten are defeated and replaced, they too will have one chance to challenge others among the top ten."


    "Once everyone has completed their challenges, the top ten will be automatically determined. These ten individuals will be the top contenders of this divine academy examination!"


    "After the top ten have been decided, the battle for the first place will begin."


    "The method to contend for first place is for the top ten to fight in pairs. The victor directly obtains half of the examination points of the other party, while the loser forfeits half of their examination points. In the end, after all the top ten have faced each other, the examination points of every individual will be tallied, and the one with the most points will be the primary candidate for first place in the nine divine academies'' examination."


    "Why is it that the one with the most examination points is only the primary candidate for first place? Because the nine divine academies require an absolute first place, who must not lose a single battle in the earlier pairings. If someone did lose a match but still occupies the first place due to having more examination points, they cannot be considered the true first place of the nine divine academies'' examination, and can only be the primary candidate."


    "Only the one with an unbeaten record, defeating all of their opponents with absolute victory, can claim the true first place of the nine divine academies'' examination!"


    As he said this, the six-star Sovereign''s gaze swept over the crowd: "In the past, there have been many instances during the examination where contenders for the top ten achieved eight wins and one loss, becoming the primary candidate for first place, but not securing the true first place of the divine academy examination."


    "I hope that this time, one of you will emerge as the true first place!"


    As the Sovereign concluded, his gaze settled entirely on Ye Chen.


    Hearing the Sovereign''s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan also clenched their fists.


    They, of course, wanted to be the true first place, the one who triumphs in all the top ten battles!


    "Of course, the top ten ranking and the first place are not just about rankings. As I''ve mentioned before, those who make it into the top ten, and the true first place in the divine academy examination, will receive special rewards from the nine divine academies."


    "Now, I will announce what exactly these rewards are."


    The six-star Sovereign extended his hand as he spoke, and directly in his palm appeared eleven cards.


    As Ye Chen looked at these eleven cards, he saw that each card was inlaid with tiny Divine Beads, making the cards seem to emit a star-like glow.


    Even more astonishing was that ten of the cards were golden, while one was an incredibly mysterious shade of black gold!


    When they saw these eleven cards, many of the candidates'' eyes trembled, evidently recognizing the origin of these cards.


    And upon seeing the sole black gold card, the breathing of many became rushed.


    Certainly, this one black gold card had an unbelievable origin!


    "Many of you must recognize these cards," the six-star Sovereign said, holding the eleven cards out towards the crowd. "That''s right, these cards are the ''Star Cards'' that have a great effect on cultivation within the nine divine academies."


    Seeing that many didn''t know what these "Star Cards" meant, the Sovereign explained: "Within the nine divine academies, there is a realm for cultivation jointly created by the Elders of the divine academies'' Sovereign level called the ''Polar Star Tower.''"


    "Once you enter the nine divine academies, you will understand the marvels of the Polar Star Tower!"


    "This Polar Star Tower is extraordinarily precious, and naturally, the opportunity to cultivate within it is equally valuable. With so many disciples in the divine academies, it''s obviously not possible for everyone to train there every day."


    "And these ''Star Cards'' are the tokens required to enter the ''Polar Star Tower.''"


    "Every disciple of the nine divine academies will receive a white ''Star Card'' upon entry. Only by completing various cultivation tasks set by the divine academies can disciples earn ''Star Card Points'' to load onto their ''Star Cards.'' Each time one enters the ''Polar Star Tower,'' depending on the level they reach inside, a different amount of ''Star Card Points'' is consumed, and those with the white Star Cards can only enter the lowest three levels of the Polar Star Tower for cultivation."


    "Many disciples of the divine academies cannot accumulate enough ''Star Card Points'' in a whole year to enter the ''Polar Star Tower'' even once."


    As he spoke, the Sovereign took out one of the ten golden cards, "This golden card here comes with one hundred thousand ''Star Card Points'' already in it and grants access to the top nine levels of the Polar Star Tower! Just possessing it allows you many opportunities to cultivate within the Polar Star Tower."


    "This golden card is the reward for the top ten of this nine divine academies'' examination!"


    "Many Martial Artists who have cultivated for countless years in the divine academies do not have the means to obtain a golden Star Card. This card is incredibly precious, and you should all strive earnestly to earn it!"


    "Of course, the most precious is this ''Black Gold Star Card'' in my hand!"


    Finally, the Sovereign took out the single black gold card: "This Star Card does not contain any Star Card Points, because with it, one can enter the Polar Star Tower for cultivation at any time without the need to expend any points, without any restrictions at all, and it''s even possible to reach all eighteen levels for cultivation!"


    "Possession of this card means possessing a lifetime opportunity to cultivate in the Polar Star Tower!"


    "Only those who have made significant contributions to the divine academies or truly exceptional talents are awarded this card."


    "And this card is the exclusive reward for the true first place of this nine divine academies'' examination!"

 Chapter 756 - 708: The Ultimate Showdown

    Black Gold Star Card!


    When people saw those ten golden cards worth a hundred thousand Star Card Points each, many were already green with envy, but upon hearing that this "Black Gold Star Card" could grant a lifetime of cultivation opportunities at the Polar Star Tower, countless people couldn''t help but wish they could get their hands on the "Black Gold Star Card" right away!


    Owning this card meant a huge opportunity for their cultivation at the nine major Divine Institutes!


    Of course, everyone wanted it!


    Especially some of the individuals in the competition who were eager to claim the top spot in the Divine Institutes'' assessment, like Tianyu Beiling''s Mo Yuan and others, whose eyes were shining brightly.


    Being descendants of Divine Venerable powerhouses, they had certainly heard of the "Black Gold Star Card" and knew its value!


    "A Black Gold Star Card, rumor has it that not many have been issued throughout the nine Divine Institutes, and many powerful and extraordinary God Kings and even Divine Venerables don''t possess one."


    "Who would''ve thought it would be the exclusive reward for taking first place in the Divine Institutes'' assessment this time!"


    "The Divine Institutes are being all too generous this time!"


    "You know, in past years, the top prize for the Divine Institutes'' assessment wasn''t this precious. The best one would get is a golden card!"


    Tianyu Beiling''s Mo Yuan looked at the Black Gold Card in the six-star Sovereign''s hand, his eyes blazing with eagerness.


    Xue Ningning, who had not shown much interest in vying for the top of the Divine Institutes'' assessments, just smiled faintly all along.


    However, when she saw the Black Gold Card, Xue Ningning''s beautiful eyes also flashed keenly.


    "It''s the most precious cultivation card of the nine Divine Institutes ¡ª the Black Gold Star Card!"


    "It seems I really need to put in the effort for first place in this Divine Institute''s assessment."


    "If I can win this card, my cultivation will progress faster and returning to Divine Miao Peak will happen much sooner."


    "However, claiming first place won''t be easy. I''m not afraid of Tianyu Beiling or Mo Yuan, but Ye Chen... he always seems so inscrutable..."


    In the end, Xue Ningning''s gaze gently turned towards Ye Chen.


    At that moment, Ye Chen''s eyes were also fixed on the Black Gold Card in the six-star Sovereign''s hand.


    "Polar Star Tower?"


    "Star Card?"


    "I may not know much about many things in the Divine Institutes, but it seems their training competition is quite interesting!"


    Outside the arena.


    When they saw the exclusive reward for being first in this Divine Institutes'' assessment was actually a "Black Gold Star Card," many disciples from the nine Divine Institutes were stunned.


    Training in the Divine Institutes, they naturally knew the value of this "Black Gold Star Card"!


    They could never have imagined that such a treasured card would be given as a reward for the first place in the selection of new disciples!


    "Probably, this exclusive reward is related to Ye Chen."


    "After all, Sovereign Xuechen is the top expert in the Divine Institutes, and she has demanded that Ye Chen take first place in the assessment."


    "Perhaps because of Long Li, she specifically made this card available..."


    The disciples from the nine Divine Institutes, including Lin Xiaowan and Mu Ling, began to speculate.


    "A Black Gold Card?! When I obtained one through boundless effort and labor, the Divine Institutes now simply use one as a reward for being first in their assessment; how incredibly generous!"


    "That Ye Chen, he definitely cannot be allowed to get his hands on this card. Otherwise, if he enters the ''Polar Star Tower'' for cultivation, his growth will be even more rapid!"


    Yang Yun, who had become the first on the God King List following Long Li''s promotion to the Divine Venerable Realm and disappearance from the list, spoke resentfully.


    Considering Ye Chen an enemy, he certainly did not wish for Ye Chen to acquire this incredibly valuable card!


    "It must be at the request of Sovereign Xuechen or the Northern Territory King that the Divine Institutes have made a ''Black Gold Card'' the exclusive reward of the assessment!"


    "It definitely has to be for Ye Chen!"


    "Hmph, Ye Chen really has dog''s luck. If not for Long Li, I would never believe that two Divine Venerables would favor him so!"


    Yang Yun, who was beside Yang Yan, felt even more jealous when he thought of the beautiful and peerless Long Li having feelings for Ye Chen.


    "But even if the two Divine Venerables have offered up this priceless ''Black Gold Star Card,'' I''m sure Ye Chen won''t get it. I can''t believe he could get past both Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan!"


    Yang Yan''s eyes flickered as he silently spoke to himself.


    At that moment, Divine Dragon Mountain''s sect leader Qin Yuntian was also looking towards Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King.


    Clearly, he shared the same thoughts as Yang Yun and Yang Yan¡ª that the "Black Gold Card" was specifically intended for Ye Chen by the two Divine Venerables.


    "This kid, having found favor with two Divine Venerable masters, is indeed fortunate."


    "However, to acquire the ''Black Gold Star Card,'' he will still need to demonstrate his own skill!"


    In the end, Qin Yuntian''s gaze returned to Ye Chen, filled with enmity.


    His own kinsman Qin Feng had died at the hands of Ye Chen, and many real gods of Divine Dragon Mountain had been eliminated by Ye Chen in the assessment, causing Divine Dragon Mountain''s ranking in the Divine Institutes'' assessment to plummet, with only a few making it into the top two hundred.


    Divine Dragon Mountain had truly lost face this time.


    This naturally intensified Qin Yuntian''s hatred towards Ye Chen.


    Contrary to Qin Yuntian''s displeasure, at this moment, the East Territory King''s face was filled with smiles.


    The young princess smoothly entered the Divine Institute, and Ye Chen''s performance was also absolutely perfect. The East Territory King was completely satisfied.


    At this moment, the East Territory King was just looking forward to Ye Chen clinching the title of number one in the final ranking of the nine great institutes, ending the assessment of the nine great institutes perfectly.


    "The exclusive reward of the ''Black Gold Card''?"


    In the eyes of the East Territory King, it was already in the bag for Ye Chen.


    The East Territory King believed that Ye Chen could achieve this!


    At this time, Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, the focus of many gazes, remained utterly unmoved.


    They were the pinnacle figures of the entire divine nation, naturally they feared no idle gossip from anyone, and their decisions were like divine decrees from the heavens, beyond anyone''s reproach!


    The Northern Territory King merely looked at Ye Chen, muttering to himself, "Ye Chen, this time I have brought out the opportunity for the inheritance of our predecessor Feng Luo, and Sovereign Xuechen has brought out the ''Black Gold Card'' as well."


    "All this, is because Li''er is very fond of you and acknowledges you greatly."


    "You haven''t disappointed us so far, don''t let us down in this final test."


    Ten golden cards, and one most precious "Black Gold Card", the rewards for the top ten and the first place, once revealed, caused countless tremors inside and outside the assessment realm.


    Seeing that the incentives were effective, the six-star Venerable overseeing the assessment of the nine institutes nodded and put the eleven cards away once again.


    "These cards will be distributed after the assessment ends."


    "Now that all the rules for the assessment have been stated, let''s begin the final ultimate ranking battle!"


    As the six-star Venerable spoke, he waved his hand grandly, and immediately the sky roared as ten grand aerial platforms appeared out of thin air.


    "Now, persons ranked in the top ten in the ranking screen, as the current front ten placeholder, go first to the aerial platforms."


    "The remaining two hundred and thirteen who passed through ''qualifying battles'' and entered the last round ''ultimate ranking battle,'' follow the ranking order from lowest to highest, picking someone from the top ten to challenge, launching an assault on the top ten!"


    As the voice of the six-star Venerable fell, Ye Chen, Xue Ningning, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and other top ten on the ranking screen, immediately moved and arrived atop the ten aerial platforms.


    The rest of the two hundred plus who could participate in the ultimate ranking battle were directly below the platforms, and among them, the very last-ranked True God of Nine Tribulations, promptly stepped forward.


    The first step of the ultimate ranking battle, the fight for the top ten, had finally begun!


    The first Nine Tribulations True God to step forward for a challenge chose to battle the martial artist ranked tenth in the middle of the arena.


    As a result, after a very short duration of battle, this challenger directly suffered defeat.


    Then, the next person also stood up to initiate a challenge towards the top ten.


    As battles ensued one after another, countless people noticed that almost all challengers were opting to challenge those ranked tenth, ninth, and eighth in the top ten.


    There were exceedingly few challenges against the first few ranks.


    After all, those occupying the top ranks on the ranking screen, like Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, were extremely renowned figures. Those fighting for the top ten naturally didn''t dare to contend with such figures.


    Only a dozen or so martial artists who wanted to spar with Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan dared to challenge them a few times.


    And when all the challenges were over, and the final top ten were determined, everyone realized that not a single person had dared to challenge Ye Chen!


    Over two hundred challengers vying for the top ten, yet not one of them initiated a challenge against Ye Chen, which was certainly very eye-catching.


    However, upon careful consideration, everyone came to a realization.


    Ye Chen''s performance in the previous rounds was well-known to all ¨C whether in the first round of the "great elimination", where he eliminated a hundred true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain in one fell swoop, being the first to break into the second round showing formidable strength.


    Or his shocking comprehension of the Bloodlight Blade Technique during the second round "ranking battles", the sole person to make it to the fourth floor of the Assessment Ancient Tomb.


    Or during the third round''s charge through the Wind Origin Tower, where he broke into the sixth floor of the tower with the fastest speed, and in the end, reached the awe-inspiring pinnacle of becoming a Nine Tribulations True God!


    Everyone knew how formidable Ye Chen was!


    Compete for the top ten?


    Of course, they''d rather spar with Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, than dare to contest against Ye Chen!


    The awe for Ye Chen amongst countless assessors was written all over their faces!


    This made Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, who were also in the top ten, increasingly aggravated.


    However, as much as they were annoyed, they suppressed it, because with the top ten decided, the final battle for the ultimate ranking''s top place was about to begin.


    Competing for the number one from the top ten involved one-on-one combat, they all had a chance to face Ye Chen.


    Annoyed with Ye Chen?


    They could only prove themselves with their strength.


    Otherwise, any show of bitterness followed by defeat would only make them the laughingstock.


    At that moment, the six-star Venerable hosting the assessment from the nine institutes, seeing the more than two hundred challengers and the remaining ten standing on the platform of the top ten, declared, "Now, since the top ten have been decided, you ten will each receive a golden Star Card!"


    "Now, begin the pairwise battles to compete for the first place!"


    "I announce the first bout of contestants, Ye Chen versus Mo Yuan, Xue Ningning versus Tianyu Beiling..."


    As this six-star Venerable announced the first pairings for the battle to determine the winner of the nine institutes'' assessment, many people were astounded.


    They hadn''t expected that the battle would start with a peak confrontation among the four strongest members of the top ten!

 Chapter 757 - 709: Sweep!

    Ye Chen, Mo Yuan, Xue Ningning, Tianyu Beiling ah!


    Mo Yuan and Tianyu Beiling, descendants of two eight-star Venerables, were the most favored to win the championship before the start of the assessment by the nine great divine institutes!


    Xue Ningning, on the other hand, occupied the first ranking on the ranking screen and was the successor from the immensely mysterious Divine Miao Peak!


    And Ye Chen, he was the most closely watched young man throughout the entire assessment of the nine great divine institutes, whether it was the three demands made by the two great Venerables before the competition or his exceptional performance that surpassed countless others during the matches, he attracted countless attention.


    Many people originally thought that these four would face each other later in the tournament.


    Unexpectedly, at the start of the ultimate ranking match, they ended up facing each other in pairs!


    This also meant that after this round of combat, two of them would definitely be eliminated from the contention for first place in the assessment of the nine great divine institutes.


    After all, to become the true champion of the nine great divine institutes assessment, one must achieve victory in every battle, and among these four, two would decidedly be the losers!


    Ye Chen was to battle Mo Yuan, while Xue Ningning was to face Tianyu Beiling.


    Who would take the lead in the first battle, and who would lose hope of vying for first place after the first encounter?


    Countless people were fixated on the outcomes of these two pairings, completely ignoring the other three pairs in the top ten.


    Upon hearing who their opponents were, Mo Yuan and Tianyu Beiling''s eyes shone brilliantly, as they directly looked towards Ye Chen and Xue Ningning.


    Both of them were determined to win the first place, obviously knowing that in this battle, they had to triumph over their opponents!


    At that moment, Ye Chen and Xue Ningning, who were being stared at by Mo Yuan and Tianyu Beiling, were both calm, as if unaffected by who their opponents were, with no trace of distress on their faces.


    "Now, the five pairs of two-to-two opponents, please step onto the battle platforms and begin the duel!"


    "Xue Ningning and Tianyu Beiling, to platform number three! Ye Chen and Mo Yuan, to platform number two! Wang Chen and Sikong Ao, to platform number four..."


    The six-star Venerable hosting the assessment waved his hand, and suddenly five enormous spatial platforms appeared in the void.


    He didn''t give the top ten much time to prepare, as soon as he announced the match-ups, he allocated the battle platforms and announced the start of the combat.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The top ten instantly flew in pairs towards the five spatial platforms.


    Ye Chen and Mo Yuan were on the second platform from the left, while Tianyu Beiling and Xue Ningning were on the central platform number three of the five platforms.


    The five grand platforms spanned tens of thousands of zhang within the sky, spaced apart from each other.


    Nevertheless, almost all gazes were gathered on platforms two and three, on Ye Chen and Mo Yuan, and on Xue Ningning and Tianyu Beiling!


    And in the next moment, the top tens'' combat powers burst forth on the five platforms, commencing the first battles for the initial contest of strength.


    Before the matches began, everyone believed that in the battles between Ye Chen and Mo Yuan, and Xue Ningning and Tianyu Beiling, the odds of victory were evenly split.


    However, once the fierce battles truly commenced, everyone was astonished to find that their predictions were wrong.


    The two focus battles between Ye Chen and Mo Yuan, and Xue Ningning and Tianyu Beiling, turned out to be the first two of the five matches to conclude!


    Xue Ningning and Tianyu Beiling''s battle lasted for only thirty-some breaths before it ended!


    The result was that Tianyu Beiling, whom many people had regarded as the hot favorite to win the championship, lost directly to Xue Ningning, and it was evident that Xue Ningning won with remarkable ease!


    Although many had high hopes for Xue Ningning, as she was the one ranked first on the ranking screen, more people were betting on Tianyu Beiling; after all, Xue Ningning had attained first place by performing better than Tianyu Beiling in comprehending the "Bloodlight Blade Technique," but in the true test of combat power within the "Wind Origin Tower," Xue Ningning hadn''t progressed as quickly as Tianyu Beiling.


    Many believed that while Xue Ningning''s understanding was extraordinarily high, her combat power might be somewhat weaker than Tianyu Beiling''s.


    But what they didn''t expect at all was that Tianyu Beiling was no match for Xue Ningning!


    Of course, the surprise at that moment wasn''t about Tianyu Beiling''s defeat.


    Because relatively speaking, compared to Xue Ningning and Tianyu Beiling''s battle that lasted over thirty breaths, the other focus battle between Ye Chen and Mo Yuan had ended even sooner.


    The confrontation between Ye Chen and Mo Yuan was over in just ten breaths!


    And the actual results of the combat shook countless people.


    Mo Yuan, a hot favorite for the championship and legendary to be a match for many high-ranking God Kings, was utterly no opponent for Ye Chen; from the first move, Ye Chen completely suppressed him and in merely three moves, Mo Yuan was defeated!


    Moreover, it was evident to everyone that Ye Chen had not even used his full strength.


    Mo Yuan had already brought out his life-bound weapon, a glacial halberd, but Ye Chen did not even use a weapon, relying solely on his tremendous combat strength and an astonishing divine technique to overpower Mo Yuan with his bare hands!


    The two peak showdowns concluded with one-sided results.


    The two hot favorites before the match, Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, unexpectedly lost the fight for the true qualifications to be the number one of the nine great divine institutes!


    This had taken everyone by surprise.


    It left Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, who lost, with faces ashen with defeat!


    On the outside, it made the two eight-star Venerable elders of the two, as well as Qin Yuntian, the Lord of the Divine Dragon Mountain who held a grudge against Ye Chen, and Yang Yun and Yang Yan, ranked first and third on the God King Leaderboard, all feel a sudden constriction in their chests.


    These people wanting to thwart Ye Chen''s claim to first place, lost their confidence right at the first match!


    And in contrast to these dark expressions, the area where Lin Xiaowan, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Hong Ming, and Hong Yi, who were close to Ye Chen, stood, was full of cheers and jubilation!


    Ye Chen even took down Mo Yuan, many people saw that Ye Chen truly has the strength to compete for the first place in the nine great divine academies!


    It is unbelievably powerful!


    With just one move, the victor is instantly decided!


    Even several Venerables, the East Territory King, Southern Territory King, Sovereign Xuechen, and Northern Territory King, also rarely smiled and nodded their approval.


    At this time, the young ladies from Divine Miao Peak, seeing Xue Ningning win against Tianyu Beiling, also revealed sweet smiles on their pretty faces, "Ningning, you truly are formidable!"


    "Just as formidable as Ye Chen!"


    "It seems that the competition for the first place in the nine great divine academies will come down to who is stronger between Ningning and Ye Chen. I know that Ningning has not yet shown her full strength, and judging from his performance, Ye Chen also hasn''t used his full strength!"


    Meanwhile, the two absolute centers of the arena, Ye Chen and Xue Ningning, smiled and nodded to each other after seeing the results of the match.


    After the conclusion of two pinnacle battles, the three matches on the three stages below also successively came to an end.


    In the end, the first round of pairs among the top ten, with five victors and five losers, was determined!


    The victors directly took half of the assessment points from the losers.


    After winning half of Mo Yuan''s assessment points, Ye Chen''s total assessment points had reached an astonishing 546,150 points!


    Although still slightly behind Xue Ningning, who had taken half of Tianyu Beiling''s points reaching a total of 563,700 points, he had already put a sizable distance between himself and the others!


    This round of competition meant that the five victors still had hope to fight for the first place in the nine great divine academies, while the five losers had absolutely no chance. After all, to take first place in the assessment of the nine great divine academies, one must achieve total victory!


    They could only rely on their final assessment points to strive for a good ranking in the ultimate top ten!


    The first match was just the beginning, as the battle for the top ten continued with mutual pairings, a total of nine rounds would be conducted. Eight more rounds of competition remained.


    The competition continued.


    In the second match, Ye Chen faced off against the eighth-ranked True God of Nine Tribulations.


    Of course, there was no surprise, Ye Chen eliminated this True God of Nine Tribulations in just three moves!


    Moreover, these three moves, like his previous fight against Mo Yuan, were also because he wanted to see the True God''s moves before using his killer technique.


    Otherwise, Ye Chen could have eliminated this True God of Nine Tribulations in just one move!


    In the subsequent matches, Ye Chen''s victories could simply be described as "irresistible" and "unstoppable!"


    Not a single person, not any opponent, could withstand more than three moves against Ye Chen.


    When the nine rounds of matches in the top ten duals ended at eight, Ye Chen had achieved eight consecutive victories!


    Besides the last one, who was also Xue Ningning, who had likewise achieved eight consecutive victories and had yet to face Ye Chen, the rest of the top ten all lost to Ye Chen!


    Even Tianyu Beiling, like Mo Yuan, was defeated by Ye Chen within three moves!


    Powerful.


    Genuinely powerful!


    Everyone could see that Ye Chen and Xue Ningning were no longer on the same level as the other top ten.


    If it were any other nine divine academies assessment, perhaps Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, who could contest many higher-ranked God Kings, would still have a chance for first place.


    But this time, everyone could see that Ye Chen and Xue Ningning''s true fighting power was probably among the absolute pinnacle within the level of higher-ranked God Kings.


    Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan were far from being their match.


    Perhaps only those Transboundary God Kings who can fight against Earth Divine Venerable across realms would have a chance to suppress Ye Chen and Xue Ningning!


    After the eight matches concluded.


    Ye Chen swept through eight people, claiming eight consecutive victories!


    Xue Ningning similarly swept through eight people, achieving eight consecutive victories!


    Among the remaining contestants, the least successful were Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, with Mo Yuan losing two matches, falling to both Ye Chen and Xue Ningning. Tianyu Beiling lost one more than Mo Yuan, having been defeated by Mo Yuan as well. The others had lost four rounds or even more!


    At this moment, the fighting spirit of Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan was completely crushed.


    They could have claimed it was an accident to lose to one person, but losing repeatedly to both Ye Chen and Xue Ningning made them realize that they were truly no match for these two.


    This, of course, left them utterly disheartened!


    But now, no one was paying attention to Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan, who had no hope of contending for first place anymore.


    All eyes were focused on Ye Chen and Xue Ningning.


    For, with the end of the eight bouts, the last round of the ultimate ranking battle, and the match that would decide the first place of the nine divine academies assessment, was about to begin¡ªthe ninth face-off!


    Ye Chen and Xue Ningning were set to engage in their final battle.


    Both were at eight consecutive victories. Whoever won against the other would achieve nine consecutive victories and take the truly first place in the nine divine academies assessment! They would receive the exclusive, earth-shattering reward¡ª"black gold card"¡ªand the supreme honor of being "number one"!

 Chapter 758 - 710: Ice Flame, Black Armor, Purple Light

    When Ye Chen and Xue Ningning stood together on the same battle arena, all eyes were focused on them.


    Even the other four arenas beside them, where the other eight contenders with no hope of contending for the first place were having their last duels, had come to a halt.


    Their gazes were likewise concentrated on Ye Chen and Xue Ningning.


    Everyone wanted to know who between Ye Chen and Xue Ningning would be the ultimate number one!


    "Ye Chen, this time the first place winner among the nine divine institutes will be awarded a ''Black Gold Star Card.'' I really want that card, so I will definitely do my best to secure the first place. Make sure you don''t let your guard down," said Xue Ningning on the platform, smiling at Ye Chen.


    Xue Ningning, dressed in a snow-white divine robe with her hair flowing in the wind, was not as breathtakingly beautiful as Jiang Yao and Long Li, but she was quite attractive.


    Her graceful smile momentarily stunned many true gods who were watching her.


    Ye Chen, however, remained undisturbed in mind and spirit.


    Hearing Xue Ningning''s words, Ye Chen simply smiled and said, "Daoist Friend Xue, I likewise desire to be the first among the nine divine institutes. Let us determine the winner through our contest."


    Boom!


    Both contenders boasted eight consecutive victories and were powerful enough to vie for the first place of the nine divine institutes, both were top-tier prodigies.


    After a brief exchange before the battle, they stopped talking.


    The next moment, their astonishing divine powers burst forth!


    With her fair fingers forming a spell, Xue Ningning''s divine power surged out like a fearsome snow-white torrent, climbing to thousands of feet in height!


    The next moment.


    This divine power suddenly transformed, shooting out snow-white ice flames one after another. These ice flames burst incessantly within a ten-thousand-foot radius, looking like endless ice spears plummeting down ablaze!


    This was no ordinary snow-white ice flame.


    When they saw the terrifying ice flame technique unleashed by Xue Ningning, many divine venerables outside watching the grand battle inhaled sharply in shock, exclaiming, "Is this the ''Ice God Flame''?! The Heaven-reaching Divine Art that is rumored to be among the top three at Divine Miao Peak?!"


    "It''s said that many Upper God Kings have difficulty even grasping the basics of this divine art, yet Xue Ningning, at the True God Realm, has managed to comprehend it to such a degree?!"


    "Rumor has it that if ''Ice God Flame'' is cultivated to great accomplishment, a sky full of ice flames can descend and obliterate an entire Star Continent with ease! Although ''Xue Ningning'' has not perfected this Heaven-reaching Divine Art, the ice flames bursting incessantly within ten thousand feet are more than likely unstoppable even for many Upper God Kings."


    "Previously, Xue Ningning did not use this move against Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan; against Ye Chen, she suddenly resorted to such a fearsome Heaven-reaching Divine Art. It seems she sees Ye Chen as a real opponent!"


    "These ice flames, created by the sovereign powers specifically for the assessments, won''t be destroyed, but Ye Chen is only at the True God Realm; I wonder how he will defend against them!?"


    Innumerable people turned their eyes towards Ye Chen, who was completely enveloped by falling ice flames, curious to see how he would defend.


    At that moment, Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan also showed shocked expressions in their eyes.


    Being descendants of sovereign powers, they had naturally practiced Heaven-reaching Divine Arts. However, their strongest divine arts couldn''t compare to Xue Ningning''s "Ice God Flame."


    "Xue Ningning indeed has hidden methods!"


    "I couldn''t withstand her previous techniques, and this one is even stronger. Now, I want to see how that Ye Chen will defend!"


    Tianyu Beiling''s gaze also turned towards Ye Chen.


    Although he had no hope of contending for the first place anymore, he cursed in his heart for Ye Chen to lose.


    He would rather have Xue Ningning win first place than Ye Chen.


    After all, the fact that Ye Chen could be involved with the First Goddess from the Supreme Divine Institute, Long Li, had made Tianyu Beiling extremely jealous of Ye Chen!


    However, the true battle was about showing one''s own skills, not something that could be decided by cursing.


    Amidst countless attentive gazes, faced with the relentless onslaught of ice flames falling like a torrential downpour, Ye Chen''s expression turned serious.


    The next moment, Ye Chen waved his sleeve, and the endless divine power, along with the miraculous Star God Power cultivated from the fourth chapter "Primordial Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture, was released thunderously.


    Upon release, this divine power layered and spiraled around Ye Chen.


    At the same time, Ye Chen shot up into the void, and layers of black divine patterns began to shimmer across his body.


    These black divine patterns swiftly drew in all the divine power around Ye Chen''s body, and then his whole being charged like a Divine Beast directly towards the rain of ice flames, rushing head-on into the onslaught!


    Vroom!


    Seeing this scene, many divine venerables gasped.


    They knew the ferocity of the "Ice God Flame." While the divine venerables could hope to resist it, for a true god or a God King to directly charge into its fury without dodging was simply unbearable!


    After all, these "Ice God Flames" could penetrate many Star Continents!


    And many of the true gods and God Kings who lacked the insights of the divine venerables, also watching the battle between Ye Chen and Xue Ningning, cried out in astonishment.


    Many feared that Ye Chen would be defeated in this assault, grievously wounded!


    However, in the next moment, whether it was those divine venerables or the God Kings True Gods, their voices of alarm came to an abrupt halt.


    Because they saw, it was as if a Divine Beast had charged into the dense and unending Ice God Flames shooting towards Ye Chen, getting struck directly by countless flames. However, all the Ice God Flames, upon touching the black Divine Patterns markings on Ye Chen''s body, were repelled layer by layer.


    Ye Chen simply drew a straight line through the dense field of Ice God Flames, and not a single one could truly hurt him!


    Clearly, the defense of the black Divine Patterns markings on Ye Chen''s body was superior to the attack of the "Ice God Flame."


    The "Ice God Flame" could not harm Ye Chen at all!


    "How is this possible?!"


    Witnessing this scene, Tianyu Beiling''s eyes were so wide with shock they looked as if they were about to pop out.


    When he had previously lost to Xue Ningning, her attacks weren''t even as formidable as the "Ice God Flame," and he couldn''t defend against them.


    Now, Ye Chen had actually withstood this even more terrifying "Ice God Flame."


    This, of course, left Tianyu Beiling in utter disbelief.


    Mo Yuan, who was beside him, was also tremendously shaken, "There are only so many defensive Divine Body skills that True Gods can cultivate, and even fewer that can withstand an attack like ''Ice God Flame.'' And those Divine Bodies, without exception, are extremely difficult to comprehend."


    "Ye Chen, he actually managed to block ''Ice God Flame'' with his Divine Body! Could it be, he has cultivated a Divine Body that is far more powerful than ''Ice God Flame''?"


    Mo Yuan carefully examined the black Divine Patterns markings on Ye Chen''s body.


    As if he had thought of something, Mo Yuan exclaimed, "The Undying Divine Body, it''s the Undying Divine Body! Moreover, it''s at a very high level, at least he must have cultivated the Undying Divine Body to the fifth volume to reach this extent!"


    As Mo Yuan cried out in amazement, what he didn''t know was that, as soon as Ye Chen had used this move, many Sovereigns had already been deeply shocked.


    What was whispered in the hearts of these Sovereigns was also the four words "Undying Divine Body!"


    In the Divine Kingdom, the famous "Undying Divine Body," rumored to be the most powerful Divine Body below Divine Venerables, was of course recognizable to the Sovereigns!


    That Ye Chen had resisted Xue Ningning''s "Ice God Flame" attack was certainly due to the Undying Divine Body.


    After leaving the Nine Suns Ancient Land, during the few months that Ye Chen secluded himself in the East Territory King Mansion for cultivation, Heavenly Cloud Venerable had specifically gone to the East Territory King Mansion to bestow upon Ye Chen the later parts of the Undying Divine Body and the Nine Volumes of Formation Array.


    In the time that followed, Ye Chen thoroughly studied both the "Undying Divine Body" and the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," making great gains.


    In this examination of the nine major God Institutes, Ye Chen had yet to reveal his true Undying Divine Body skills.


    Because no one was worthy for him to use this technique.


    But now, facing the Heaven-reaching Divine Art "Ice God Flame" from Divine Miao Peak, Ye Chen finally unleashed his powerful divine body skills!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen passed through the endless Ice God Flames, they couldn''t harm him at all, and no matter how ceaselessly the flames burst forth, they couldn''t stop Ye Chen''s advance.


    The next moment, Ye Chen arrived at a place not far from Xue Ningning.


    Simultaneously, with a grab in the void, a startling sound of sword cry instantly resounded through the void!


    In an instant, the entire void began to shake violently.


    As the heavens and earth moved dramatically, the whole void seemed about to collapse!


    This signalled the beginning of Ye Chen''s counterattack!


    Now that Ye Chen had blocked Xue Ningning''s move, of course, he wouldn''t passively take hits. He was bound to use his ultimate move to meet Xue Ningning in battle!


    The move that caused the entire void to seem as if it would collapse, violently vibrating, was none other than Ye Chen''s fourth sword of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation"¡ª"Qiankun Shake!"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen''s attack, causing the whole world to seem twisted, many spectators outside the arena cried out, "It''s that move again, the very one that Ye Chen used in the grand elimination match, which left countless True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain stunned in the void!"


    "Back then, with that move, Ye Chen kicked a hundred True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain out of the elimination match, and now, he is using it against Xue Ningning again!"


    Although they were unaware of the renown of Ye Chen''s "Nine Swords of Annihilation," the countless observers who had witnessed its might knew that this move was undoubtedly a Heaven-reaching Divine Art beyond imagination!


    Perhaps even stronger than Xue Ningning''s "Ice God Flame" Heaven-reaching Divine Art!


    At this moment, the True Gods of Divine Dragon Mountain, who had been kicked out of the First Ancient Battlefield in the first round of eliminations by Ye Chen, were reminded of the terrifying spectacle of being stunned into dizziness by this move, with their Essence, Qi, and Spirit all shaken.


    Even though these True Gods of Divine Dragon Mountain had already been eliminated and were outside, they couldn''t help but tremble in their hearts, breaking out in cold sweat.


    Inside the examination area, amidst the void.


    At this juncture, when Xue Ningning saw that Ye Chen had evaded her "Ice God Flame" attack, a flash of brilliance crossed her eyes, and upon seeing Ye Chen also unleash his attack, she felt an inexplicable dizziness and shaking sensation sweeping over her entire body''s Essence, Qi, and Spirit, embedded within the vibration resonating throughout the heavens and the earth.


    Xue Ningning''s pretty face changed in an instant!


    She had an intuition that if she didn''t use a countermeasure to resist the vibrations affecting her Essence, Qi, and Spirit, the next moment she might lose her combat power.


    Without the luxury of further thought, Xue Ningning immediately took out her strongest trump card.


    Her fair fingers pinched together, and a divinely marvelous purple light suddenly swept out from within her, then transformed into a thousand-foot vast Purple Lotus Light Shadow, enveloping her whole person within the luminous shadow.

 Chapter 759 - 711: Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus

    This enormous Purple Lotus Light Shadow, exuding a mysterious sense of solemnity, brought tranquility to the entire sky upon its appearance.


    Even the fourth sword of Ye Chen''s "Nine Swords of Annihilation," the "Qiankun Shake," which had shaken the whole world, dissipated into nothingness when approaching the giant Purple Lotus Light Shadow and couldn''t get anywhere near it, let alone affect Xue Ningning inside.


    Xue Ningning had used her most powerful trump card, and blocked all of Ye Chen''s killer moves in one fell swoop!


    Upon seeing the mysterious and solemn Purple Lotus Light Shadow, the "Qiankun Shake" unable to cause the slightest tremor, Ye Chen narrowed his eyes and ceased his attacks.


    Ye Chen knew that this "Purple Lotus Light Shadow" might be an extraordinary divine object.


    Ye Chen did not recognize this Purple Lotus Light Shadow.


    However, as soon as Xue Ningning activated this treasure, countless God-Lords and even many Sovereigns present were shocked, and some even exclaimed, "Is that the ''Heavenly Decisive Divine Lotus''? Could it be Elder Tian Jue''s Supreme Heavenly Divine Treasure from Divine Miao Peak?!"


    "No, it can''t be possible. Never mind Supreme Heavenly Divine Treasures, even Mysterious Heavenly Divine Treasures can''t be mobilized by those in the True God Realm!"


    "But this appearance of the Purple Lotus Light Shadow is strikingly similar to the ''Heavenly Decisive Divine Lotus''; it''s just that its divine might seems weaker."


    These God-Lords and Sovereigns raced to guess the true origin of the "Purple Lotus Light Shadow" that enveloped Xue Ningning.


    And when the two most powerful beings present, the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen, saw the burst of purple light from Xue Ningning transform into an immense Purple Lotus Light Shadow, their eyes instantly narrowed.


    However, after scrutinizing the "Purple Lotus Light Shadow," the two Sovereigns shook their heads again.


    "No, this isn''t Elder Tian Jue''s Supreme Heavenly Divine Treasure ''Heavenly Decisive Divine Lotus.'' It''s an accessory generated by the ''Heavenly Decisive Divine Lotus,'' likely a treasure created from a nascent Supreme object."


    "Even so, a treasure forged from a nascent Supreme object is still incredibly precious. Its transformation into a genuine Supreme object in the future is not impossible."


    "This Xue Ningning, to have such an item on her, must have an inexplicable connection with Elder Tian Jue from Divine Miao Peak''s two Upper God Kings!"


    At this thought, the two Sovereigns looked towards Ye Chen, who had ceased his motions after seeing Xue Ningning unleash the Purple Lotus Light Shadow.


    "Ye Chen''s combat power, for someone in the True God Realm, is already unimaginable, and his defense from the Immortal Body technique is also unparalleled. Moreover, the Defensive Treasure he activated during the grand elimination round when he withstood the joint attack of a hundred True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain, must also be a treasure formed from a nascent Supreme object."


    The two Sovereigns thought of Ye Chen''s "Star Azure Divine Robe," and with their discernment, they could certainly see the grade of the "Star Azure Divine Robe."


    "Strong offensive power, equally strong defensive capability, it could have been said that Ye Chen was unbeatable in this competition of the nine divine institutes."


    "However, he surprisingly confronted Xue Ningning..."


    At this thought, the two Sovereigns sighed inwardly.


    "Although Xue Ningning''s attacks seem weaker than Ye Chen''s, this Defensive Treasure born from the ''Heavenly Decisive Divine Lotus'' is also unparalleled in defense."


    "Even if it''s just a nascent Supreme object that has not fully matured, it''s likely that not even God King Level attacks could penetrate it."


    "If both sides cannot breach the other''s defense, could it be that Ye Chen and Xue Ningning will end in a draw?"


    "If it comes to a draw, and since Xue Ningning has scored more Assessment Points previously, she will remain the top ranker, and Ye Chen can only be second!"


    "Is it destined that Ye Chen will fail this trial?"


    The two Sovereigns had once said that Ye Chen must fulfill their three demands.


    The first of these demands was to seize the true championship of the divine colleges'' assessment.


    Otherwise, he would be imprisoned for ten thousand years.


    Now, Ye Chen was at a deadlock with Xue Ningning, a situation that even the two Sovereigns had not anticipated.


    "To break the stalemate, unless... unless Ye Chen possesses a means surpassing God King Level combat strength. Only then, Xue Ningning''s nascent Supreme object forged Divine Lotus Treasure, would not be able to withstand."


    "But Ye Chen is only a Nine Tribulations True God!"


    "A Nine Tribulations True God possessing Upper God King combat strength is already an absolute genius! To have combat strength surpassing that of a God King, reaching God-Lord level, even the weakest Earth God-Lord Level, in the countless eons of the Divine Kingdom is a rarity!"


    "After all, the leap in realm and combat strength is too vast."


    Even though Ye Chen had already surprised the two Sovereigns many times, they dared not imagine that he could have more strength, that he could still breakthrough.


    As the two Sovereigns sighed and even pondered how to give Ye Chen a chance afterward,


    Countless others had noticed that Ye Chen''s attacks simply couldn''t penetrate Xue Ningning''s defense.


    At this moment, many were worried for Ye Chen,


    While others were excited enough to jump for joy.


    These people, who harbored hatred against Ye Chen, included the Sect Master of Divine Dragon Mountain and the top two God Kings on the God King Leaderboard, Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Through the Sovereign next to them, Yang Yun and Yang Yan had already learned about the origins of Xue Ningning''s "Purple Lotus Light Shadow" technique. When they heard the powerful Sovereign next to them admiring the "Purple Lotus Light Shadow," Yang Yun and Yang Yan were even more eager to see Ye Chen fail.


    "Good, good, truly worthy of a True God from Divine Miao Peak, certainly impressive!"


    "Haha, neither Tianyu Beiling nor Moyuan could stop Ye Chen. If Xue Ningning stops Ye Chen, that''s fine too. As long as Ye Chen doesn''t take first place, he will die a very ugly death!"


    The Sect Master of Divine Dragon Mountain, Qin Yuntian, had a gleam in his eye as he recognized that the treasure Xue Ningning was using was forged in the form of a prototype of a Supreme Heavenly Divine Treasure.


    "This treasure cannot be breached by any attacks below the level of a God Sovereign. I want to see how Ye Chen can launch an attack of that caliber!"


    "That Ye Chen does possess a powerful offensive Divine artifact that can break through defenses, the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' which he used to kill Feng''er. However, I''ve heard that Ye Chen cannot control the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' and if he uses it, he will definitely suffer a backlash."


    "And now, in the midst of battle, as long as Xue Ningning can withstand it for a moment, even two great Sovereigns will find it difficult to intervene and help Ye Chen. After all, Xue Ningning possessing this treasure probably has a lot to do with ''Elder Tian Jue.'' ''Elder Tian Jue'' herself is a nine-star Sovereign, and she will not sit idly by and let the contest of Divine Miao Peak''s successor be interfered with by two great Sovereigns!"


    "Even if Ye Chen wins in the end, the backlash he suffers during the battle will definitely make his plight visible to countless people and cause him great embarrassment!"


    "And if he doesn''t use the Blue Extreme Iceflame, he won''t be able to achieve the true first place in the assessment of the nine great Divine Institutes, and he will be imprisoned for ten thousand years! The three demands made by the two great Sovereigns had already spread throughout the Divine Kingdom. If they go back on their word, although no one would dare to openly criticize, their prestige would definitely suffer a big hit."


    "I am curious to see how Ye Chen will break out of this dilemma!" Qin Yuntian thought, and for the first time in a long while, he revealed a smile.


    Ever since a hundred True Gods from Divine Dragon Mountain were expelled from the assessment by Ye Chen, he had been wearing a cold face for a long time.


    Only now, seeing Ye Chen with no countermeasures available, did he let out a cold laugh again.


    In the assessment area, on the ground below the five great battle platforms,


    the Little Provincial Princess stood among the crowd of assessors. Seeing the astonishing Purple Lotus Light Shadow aura around Xue Ningning, and noticing that Ye Chen had stopped his attack, her little face was filled with worry.


    "Brother Ye Chen, you must win!"


    The Little Provincial Princess clenched her fists tightly.


    Meanwhile, the other nine True God maidens of Divine Miao Peak were also holding their breath.


    They had not anticipated that their Sister Ningning would fight Ye Chen to such an extent!


    When Ye Chen blocked Xue Ningning''s "Ice God Flame," they were shocked by Ye Chen''s strength. They knew then that Xue Ningning would probably have to use her trump card.


    And when they saw that Xue Ningning indeed used her trump card, their excitement was mixed with pity for Ye Chen.


    As True Gods of Divine Miao Peak, they certainly knew how powerful that Purple Lotus Light Shadow aura surrounding Xue Ningning was.


    That was a Divine artifact bestowed by their nine-star Sovereign of Divine Miao Peak!


    "Sister Ningning is impressive, and Ye Chen is impressive too!"


    "It''s a pity, only one of them can achieve the true first place. From the looks of it, if neither defeats the other, they might end up tied for first place. Tied for first, including the previous assessment points, Sister Ningning is definitely going to surpass Ye Chen!"


    "If Ye Chen fails, I heard he will be imprisoned for ten thousand years by the two great Sovereigns! It would be terrible if someone so powerful were to be imprisoned for ten thousand years."


    "But... but Sister Ningning can''t possibly let Ye Chen win. Not to mention the pride of a warrior that would prevent Sister Ningning from doing so, our rules at Divine Miao Peak would absolutely not allow Sister Ningning to do that!"


    "A warrior''s contest is about using one''s true abilities; that is the respect due to each other!"


    The two little loli sisters from Divine Miao Peak were frowning with worry for Ye Chen at this moment.


    The assessment area was filled with discussions both inside and outside.


    Above the Void Heaven, Ye Chen and Xue Ningning were at a standoff for a good ten breaths'' time.


    After those ten breaths, amidst the engulfing aura of the massive Purple Lotus Light Shadow, Xue Ningning called out to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I admire your strength."


    "However, my sect has demands, and I cannot relax in the slightest during combat."


    "So, even if we end up in a draw in this battle, I will fight with all my might!"


    "This ''Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus'' is already my strongest move. Whether you can defeat me depends on if you can break through this ''Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus''!"


    "Make your move, Ye Chen!"


    "Either make your move, or we end this battle right now!"


    Xue Ningning''s voice resonated throughout the empty space.

 Chapter 760 - 712 Defeat!

    ```


    Whoosh!


    Xue Ningning''s words drew everyone''s attention to Ye Chen.


    Everyone wanted to see what choice Ye Chen would make: would he give up the fight, or did he have some other tactic to make a last stand!


    At that moment, after staring at the thousand-foot-tall Purple Lotus Light Shadow around Xue Ningning for several breaths and hearing her words, Ye Chen clenched his fist fiercely.


    "I must win this battle!"


    "I cannot fall at the last hurdle in the contest for the top position among the Nine Great God Institutes!"


    "It seems I have no choice but to resort to that move, and if that fails, I must risk backlash and use the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame''!"


    After his Mind and Spirit turned as quick as lightning, the next moment, Ye Chen''s figure shot up to the Polar Heaven.


    Above in the Polar Heaven, Ye Chen suddenly closed his eyes. Even the tight grip of his fists and his solemn expression relaxed, and he entered an indescribable state.


    Just as Ye Chen seemed to be relaxing, the whole world suddenly started to whip up gusts of black Wind Blade Swords.


    At first, there were only dozens of these black Wind Blade Swords, circulating around Ye Chen''s body.


    But as time passed, these black Wind Blade Swords grew in number, becoming hundreds, then thousands, and eventually tens of thousands, and they were still multiplying.


    Furthermore, the area engulfed by the black Wind Blade Swords expanded from around Ye Chen and began to spread across the whole world


    Upon seeing this scene, everyone knew that Ye Chen had started to use a completely new offensive method.


    "What kind of attack is this?"


    "It feels like the power of this attack is still not enough, though. While the number of those black Wind Blade Swords is increasing, their Divine Might still can''t compare to that previous earth-shaking move of his."


    "With this kind of attack, there''s no way he can break through Xue Ningning''s ''Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus'' defense. What is Ye Chen doing?"


    Countless observers, after taking in the changes in the world brought about by Ye Chen''s new move, expressed their surprise.


    Some also said, "This new attack seems to still be charging up. Look down, maybe there''s a new change coming."


    Shortly after this person spoke, Ye Chen, who had been closing his eyes in the sky, suddenly opened them.


    And then everyone saw that from within Ye Chen, a flood of Divine Power like a great river surged out, pouring into the countless black Wind Blade Swords.


    The moment Ye Chen''s Divine Power infused the black Wind Blade Swords, their Divine Might suddenly increased tremendously, to the point where the Void itself began to burst apart!


    "This new move seems to have a crazy ability to absorb Divine Power. The great amount of Divine Power surging from within Ye Chen has all been absorbed by these black Wind Blade Swords."


    "However, the power of these black Wind Blade Swords is still not enough. It doesn''t seem to be on the level required to break the ''Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus''."


    "If Ye Chen doesn''t have much Divine Power left inside of him, I''m afraid that even draining all his Divine Power won''t be enough to elevate the might of these black Wind Blade Swords to a sufficiently powerful level!"


    Many people guessed the nature of Ye Chen''s new attack based on his actions.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Amidst the discussions of the crowd, the Divine Power inside Ye Chen continued to flow into the countless black Wind Blade Swords like a mighty river gone wild.


    It seemed endless!


    With no signs of slowing or stopping!


    After a few breaths, the amount of Divine Power Ye Chen had channeled into the black Wind Blade Swords far exceeded the Divine Power inside many of the True Gods undergoing Nine Tribulations on the battlefield, by more than tenfold ¡ª and it didn''t seem to be drying up.


    This spectacle left many of the True Gods who were watching Ye Chen''s and Xue Ningning''s fierce battle utterly astonished.


    "How vast is Ye Chen''s Divine Power!"


    "Heavens, he''s also a True God undergoing Nine Tribulations, just like me, yet his Divine Power is many times more than mine! It seems that each of his Heavenly Tribulations, like the Ninth Heavenly Tribulation he endured in the previous assessment, is incredibly high-level, absorbing heavenly and earthly Divine Power to an unimaginable degree!"


    "Otherwise, his Divine Power couldn''t possibly be so vast!"


    By the time Ye Chen had gathered his killing move for ten breaths, the amount of Divine Power that had surged from within him was even more than that possessed by many Lower God Kings!


    At that moment, the number of black Wind Blade Swords in the heavens and the earth had skyrocketed to hundreds of thousands. The black Wind Blade Swords kept getting smaller, but their Divine Might grew stronger and stronger.


    The Divine Might of these black Wind Blade Swords was now probably more than enough to effortlessly kill many Middle God Kings!


    But it was still not enough!


    "Ye Chen seems to be unleashing a move that he hasn''t fully mastered yet."


    "He probably isn''t even clear on the limits of this move."


    "It''s completely uncertain whether he can fully execute it!"


    Many Sovereigns outside the battlefield grew serious as they watched Ye Chen''s move.


    They too were unsure whether Ye Chen could unleash a move that surpassed its limits.


    In the midst of the Purple Lotus Light Shadow, Xue Ningning, seeing the increasingly powerful killing force Ye Chen was gathering, narrowed her eyes with rising excitement.


    "My attacks can no longer break Ye Chen''s defense."


    "Previously, Ye Chen couldn''t break my defense either. Now, it all depends on whether Ye Chen''s new move can breach my defenses."


    "If he can even break through my ''Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus,'' then I will be convinced by my defeat in his hands!"


    ```


    Xue Ningning didn''t retract the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus" at all.


    Given the limited space for battle, Xue Ningning certainly wouldn''t think of fleeing; this was a battle of competition, and she intended to rely on this powerful technique to fight Ye Chen to the end.


    Xue Ningning simply waited for Ye Chen''s final attack.


    If this last move was still not powerful enough, then she would be the victor.


    If this move broke through the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus," then Xue Ningning was willing to accept the outcome of Ye Chen''s victory.


    But just how potent could this attack be?


    No one knew!


    While all eyes were on Ye Chen, a sudden pause in the immense divine power inside his body caused an uproar throughout the heavens and earth.


    "Ah."


    "Could it be that Ye Chen has exhausted his divine power? But, with the divine power dispersed among so many black Wind Blade Swords, the divine might is still not enough!"


    Before the cries of surprise had died down, everyone saw an even more dazzling divine power light burst forth from Ye Chen.


    This new divine power light was indeed the glow of the Star God Power cultivated from the Primordial Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, stronger than True God Divine Power!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment this Star God Power light erupted from Ye Chen, all the black Wind Blade Swords suddenly shot out blindingly bright stellar hues.


    It was as if innumerable tiny star swords were twinkling throughout the entire heavens and earth centered around Ye Chen.


    When Ye Chen''s body emitted more Stellar Power than the previously unleashed True God Divine Power, many of the Divine Venerables and even Sovereigns present were astonished.


    "Ye Chen actually cultivates a special divine power!"


    "This special divine power looks even stronger than True God Divine Power! This must be a special divine power cultivated from an extraordinary Divine Art!"


    "Perhaps Ye Chen really does have a chance to unleash an incredible move!"


    In the midst of these shocked exclamations, Ye Chen, who had been channeling divine power, moved again.


    Ye Chen fiercely clenched a spell with his hands, and ninety-nine percent of the Star God Power churning within the Stellar Vortex within him flowed out, all of it pouring into the black Wind Blade Swords outside.


    He left only a tiny portion inside, just enough for Ye Chen to launch the attack.


    In the next moment, the "Crimson Fire," Ye Chen''s Life-bound Flying Sword from the Sword Palace Acupoint on his forehead, flew out directly!


    "Crimson Fire Flying Sword, it''s up to you now!"


    Ye Chen watched his Life-bound Flying Sword, his eyes shining with brilliance.


    The next moment, the Crimson Fire Flying Sword hovered in front of Ye Chen, rotating continuously, while the black Wind Blade Swords around him, which had been growing increasingly powerful, frenziedly surged into the "Crimson Fire."


    Ye Chen wasn''t planning to use the black Wind Blade Swords to attack Xue Ningning; he intended to infuse all the black Wind Blade Swords, with their ever-increasing divine might, into the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword!


    This infusion was completed in the blink of an eye.


    Then, everyone saw that the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword in front of Ye Chen had absorbed the divine might of countless black Wind Blade Swords emitting stellar light, and the entire sword sparkled with a blazingly magnificent stellar radiance!


    And in the next moment, the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword, carrying a momentum that seemed to annihilate everything, blasted toward the colossal Purple Lotus Light Shadow surrounding Xue Ningning!


    Watching his attack, which condensed all of his True God Divine Power and Stellar Power, Ye Chen''s expression remained neither sad nor joyful.


    "This move is the Fifth Sword of the ''Nine Swords of Annihilation'' that I''ve cultivated¡ªGreat Annihilation Killing Sword!"


    "Regrettably, I haven''t completely mastered this fifth move to perfection and can''t bring out the full divine might of a billion Divine Swords breaking and killing together."


    "However, I have a special aspect that no other True Gods possess¡ªStellar Power!"


    "Stellar Power, True God Divine Power, along with my superb Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact, the ''Crimson Fire'' Flying Sword¡ªall my powers combined, even if I can''t exert the strongest killing force of the ''Nine Swords of Annihilation,'' I might still be able to contend against Xue Ningning''s ''Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus.''"


    "Whether or not I can break her technique, it all comes down to this sword!"


    Ye Chen watched as the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword, unstoppable in its momentum, smashed into the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus," awaiting the final outcome!


    What Ye Chen didn''t know, was that as he had just channeled all his strength into the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword for this most powerful strike at the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus," all Sovereigns outside the arena were completely shaken.


    "This level of combat power, it''s Divine Venerable level... Divine Venerable level combat power?!"


    Just as this thought flashed through the minds of the Sovereigns, the tip of the "Crimson Fire" Flying Sword collided fiercely with the Purple Lotus Light Shadow of the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus."


    Then, everyone saw that the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus," which seemed capable of blocking all God King Level attacks, emitted a "crack, crack, crack" sound of fissures forming.


    And then, in the next moment, the entire colossal Purple Lotus Light Shadow simply shattered.


    Following that, even Xue Ningning within the Purple Lotus Light Shadow found herself unable to dodge in time and was directly eliminated from the battle, protected by her Body-protecting Talisman!


    Eliminated from the battle?


    This clearly indicated that Xue Ningning had lost the match!


    Even though Xue Ningning had sacrificed a Defensive Treasure forged from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object, the final result was still¡ª


    Ye Chen victorious, Xue Ningning defeated!

 Chapter 761 - 713: Reward and Killing Intent

    Bang!


    At the moment when Xue Ningning was eliminated, the rank display screen hanging high beside suddenly changed.


    Half of Xue Ningning''s assessment points directly went to Ye Chen, and Ye Chen''s rank soared from second to first immediately.


    Ye Chen had finished all nine of his matches, and all nine of his opponents among the top ten were defeated by him.


    This undoubtedly meant that Ye Chen had secured first place, and he was indeed the true first-place winner of the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment!


    In the rank display screen.


    Ye Chen, with nine wins and zero losses, was ranked first, having completed all his matches. His first-place rank was now firmly established!


    Xue Ningning, with eight wins and one loss, had also finished her matches, occupying the second-place position!


    As for the other eight, although they still had one match each, they had all lost to Ye Chen and Xue Ningning, and it was impossible for them to surpass Ye Chen''s and Xue Ningning''s assessment points now. They had no impact on the top two positions anymore!


    Silence, a deathly stillness.


    No one expected the fight between Ye Chen and Xue Ningning, which had twists and turns, to end so quickly.


    Nobody expected that after Ye Chen unleashed his strongest fighting force, he would truly defeat Xue Ningning and take first place!


    After a moment of silence, the entire assessment venue, both inside and out, erupted into waves of noisy discussions and cheers of surprise and delight from countless people.


    Ye Chen won!


    He had fulfilled the first request of the two Sovereigns, truly seizing the exceedingly precious first place in the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment!


    Inside the venue, the Little Provincial Princess and other warriors from the lower realm, like Ye Chen, naturally cheered for him.


    Outside the arena, those closely related to Ye Chen, such as the East Territory King, Mu Ling Mu Xiao, Lin Xiaowan, and others who were observing the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment, were of course even happier and prouder for Ye Chen!


    "Brother Ye Chen, you did it, you really did it!"


    At this moment, the Little Provincial Princess could no longer hold back. She darted next to Ye Chen, grabbed his hand excitedly, and her voice quavered continuously.


    While the Little Provincial Princess believed in Ye Chen''s ability to create miracles, she was still filled with worry until the results were truly in.


    Now, a huge weight was finally lifted from her chest.


    Ye Chen had secured first place in the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment, fulfilling the first of three requests made by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, and now he wouldn''t be imprisoned for ten thousand years!


    The Little Provincial Princess was even more confident that with the capabilities of her Brother Ye Chen, he would definitely be able to fulfill the second request "to brave the Heavenly God Mountain" and the third request "the Stellar Domain Genius Battle." Her Brother Ye Chen would surely complete them all!


    These three requests, which for others were insurmountable obstacles,


    For her Brother Ye Chen, however, they were the real opportunities to hone his edge and shine unrivalled!


    This naturally made the Little Provincial Princess incredibly excited.


    Ye Chen, seeing the excitement on the Little Provincial Princess''s face, couldn''t help but smile and gently patted her little head.


    Then, Ye Chen''s gaze shifted toward the rankings display screen, his eyes shining brightly, "This is only the first request. This request enabled me to break through to the Nine Tribulations True God. The next request, to go to the Heavenly God Mountain, I hope to step into the God King Realm and become extremely powerful within the God King Realm!"


    As his mind stirred, Ye Chen looked even deeper into his sea of qi.


    There, in the depths of Ye Chen''s sea of qi, next to the "miniature Blood Drinking Divine Blade" and "miniature Polar Elemental God Bead" that had entered his sea of qi after he passed the first two stages of the God King''s Legacy, a new object had appeared.


    This object was a "miniature little token."


    This little token was the special reward left behind by Sovereign Feng Luo that had entered Ye Chen''s sea of qi unnoticed after he completed the third stage of the God King''s Legacy and won first place in the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment.


    When the "Divine Blade, Divine Bead, and Token" these three items appeared together in Ye Chen''s sea of qi, he suddenly sensed a calling.


    A calling from a mysterious domain within the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom¡ª"Heavenly God Mountain"¡ªthe calling from a set of God King''s Legacy.


    Ye Chen also received numerous pieces of information about how to obtain this set of God King''s Legacy on the "Heavenly God Mountain."


    Heavenly God Mountain.


    Initially, it was the second request from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King to Ye Chen, for him to venture in and come out alive.


    At this time, there were still more than two years before the challenge of braving the Heavenly God Mountain.


    Ye Chen had not expected that he would obtain an opportunity within the "Heavenly God Mountain" during the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment.


    Ye Chen was eager to grow stronger within the next two years, to enter the Heavenly God Mountain once inhabited by the existence beyond a Sovereign, Sovereign Feng Luo. He wanted to have a good look at the Heavenly God Mountain!


    With more than two years of time,


    Ye Chen needed to make all preparations just like he did for this nine Divine Institutes'' assessment.


    After all, the rumored Heavenly God Mountain was extremely dangerous. If one in ten thousand who entered could survive, it would be impressive¡ª the mortality rate was too high.


    Compared to the requirements of the nine Divine Institutes'' assessment, which did not involve life-threatening danger, it was much more perilous.


    Ye Chen knew he needed to be fully prepared in order to emerge victorious and alive from Heavenly God Mountain, just as he had with Xue Ningning''s "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus."


    While Ye Chen was already contemplating the next challenge,


    the other eight contenders on the remaining four stages, urged on by the six-star Sovereign presiding over the nine Divine Institutes'' assessments, had also completed their final bouts.


    In the end, the top ten were all decided.


    Ye Chen and Xue Ningning still occupied the first and second positions, while Mo Yuan took third place. Tianyu Beiling ranked fourth, and a true god named Xue Ningjia broke into fifth...


    Until all the fights were over, Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan were still somewhat dazed.


    The final move with which Ye Chen defeated Xue Ningning had been too shocking, leaving them unable to wake from their astonishment.


    Much later, when Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan looked at Ye Chen again, their eyes no longer held hostility toward him.


    Because Ye Chen had become too powerful for them to dare to oppose!


    Both knew that from then on, even though they and Ye Chen would join the Supreme Divine Institute for cultivation, the gap between them and Ye Chen would only widen. Eventually, Ye Chen would likely remain someone they could only look up to forever!


    Tianyu Beiling and Mo Yuan had abandoned the idea of becoming adversaries with Ye Chen.


    However, at that moment, the hearts of the Divine Dragon Mountain sect leader Qin Yuntian and brothers Yang Yun and Yang Yan trembled.


    At the instant when Ye Chen defeated Xue Ningning, the three of them felt an overwhelming sense of suffocation.


    Ye Chen''s miraculous performance had already amazed them and put them on high alert, and in the end, he had displayed a killing power of a God King using the strength of a nine-tribulation true god, even shattering the nascent form of a supremely divine object, the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus."


    This ability to fight across realms had indeed filled the three with fear.


    Even though Ye Chen''s cross-realm combat power had reached the level of a lower-level Earthly God Sovereign, it was still far too weak compared to Yang Yun and Yang Yan, who could suppress Upper Earthly God Sovereigns and fight across realms, not to mention compared to the eight-star Sovereign Qin Yuntian.


    However, Ye Chen''s rate of improvement, his terrifying talent, and especially his endless array of methods had made both Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Yuntian shiver with fear.


    They all understood that if Ye Chen continued to grow and broke through to the God King Realm, he would likely catch up with Yang Yun and Yang Yan very quickly. Particularly if Ye Chen could control the backlash of the "Blue Extreme Ice Flame" and truly wield it, he could easily kill Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    If Ye Chen kept growing, he might even pose a threat to Qin Yuntian!


    Such a threat naturally made Yang Yun and Yang Yan very uncomfortable.


    No one knew that as soon as Ye Chen defeated Xue Ningning, Yang Yun''s face turned ashen for a moment before he began communicating with Yang Yan through transmitted messages.


    And shockingly, their conversation revolved around how to deal with Ye Chen!


    Although Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had issued Sovereign Orders, making it difficult for God Sovereigns and Sovereigns to act against Ye Chen, Upper God Kings who possessed the strength to match Earthly God Sovereigns could still take him on.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan feared the "Blue Extreme Ice Flame" on Ye Chen and dared not make a move themselves.


    But they had already thought of someone who could act on their behalf and had even come up with a way to counter the "Blue Extreme Ice Flame." They also considered opportunities to deal with Ye Chen after he arrived at the Supreme Divine Institute!


    Having already become enemies with Ye Chen, Yang Yun and Yang Yan would certainly not show him mercy!


    As for Qin Yuntian, who bore an even greater grudge against Ye Chen, his eyes flickered ominously, pondering his next move.


    While Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and Qin Yuntian were harboring murderous intentions towards Ye Chen, little did they know that Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had both glanced at the trio with imperceptible looks.


    However, the two Sovereigns said nothing.


    Perhaps they too regarded the trio''s murderous intent as another kind of test for Ye Chen!


    At that moment, within the assessment area, after the final ranks of the top ten had been settled and all the battles had concluded, the six-star Sovereign hosting the assessments of the nine Divine Institutes finally spoke again.


    "The nine Divine Institutes'' assessments, all four rounds, have now completely ended."


    "The new disciples for the nine Divine Institutes have been determined, and the ten top contenders, including the first place, have been finally decided!"


    "Now, the assessment awards will be distributed to the top ten!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As the six-star Sovereign spoke, the eleven Star Cards he had previously presented reappeared in his hands.


    Then, these eleven Star Cards flew directly towards the top ten.


    The most precious among them, the Black Gold Star Card, along with a Gold Star Card worth one hundred thousand Star Card Points, flew straight to Ye Chen!


    As Ye Chen grasped the two Star Cards and examined the most precious Black Gold Star Card, Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King also flew directly into the assessment area.


    At the same time, the elders from the nine Divine Institutes followed the two Sovereigns into the area.


    Upon entering the assessment zone, the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen both gave Ye Chen a rare, gentled smile.


    And Sovereign Xuechen loudly announced, "The nine Divine Institutes'' assessment has ended, the Divine Institute selection and ranking awards are complete. Ten days from now, all new disciples will report to their respective Divine Institutes!"


    "For the new disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute, at that time, in the Extreme Mang Continent, a grand ceremony for new disciple initiation will also be held especially for you!"

 Chapter 762 - 714: Long Li and Jiang Yao!

    ```


    After Sovereign Xuechen gave his instructions, the elders from the other Divine Institutes also conveyed some matters to their new disciples.


    Then, all the examiners were led out of the examination site and returned to the outside of the ancient battlefield.


    The "Nine Great Divine Institutes Examination," a significant event in the entire Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, had finally concluded!


    As the examination came to an end, some people gathered with the examiners who had just emerged from the examination site, talking excitedly about the events that transpired, while other spectators slowly dispersed.


    However, discussions about the Nine Great Divine Institutes Examination echoed amongst everyone!


    This four-stage examination of the Nine Great Divine Institutes could be said to be the most spectacular one in countless occasions.


    Especially Ye Chen, who attracted everyone''s attention!


    Whether it was Ye Chen eliminating a hundred true gods from Divine Dragon Mountain by himself in the first round of eliminations or his participation in the "Bloodlight Blade Technique" left by Sovereign Feng Luo in the second round, breaking through to the fourth layer of the ancient tomb to hunt battle soldiers and setting an incredible record!


    Moreover, in the third round within the Wind Origin Tower, he even broke through to become a Nine Calamities True God.


    Particularly in the fourth round, without fighting, he made four great Qilin divine beasts prostrate themselves, and in his final battle with Xue Ningning, he, as a Nine Calamities True God, managed to wield the combat power of an Earth Divine Venerable!


    All these performances were absolutely astonishing and became the focus of everyone''s discussions!


    Even Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and even Xue Ningning, who also performed well in the examination, were completely overshadowed by Ye Chen''s brilliance.


    Although Ye Chen was still a Nine Calamities True God, and even with his great power, he was still among the talented young generation in the Divine Kingdom.


    He was not yet comparabale to the true powerhouses like the Divine Kings, Divine Venerables, or even the Sovereign Lords.


    But everyone knew that the Divine Kingdom had produced another young genius!


    This Ye Chen, who had relations with Long Li, the first talent of the young generation in the Divine Kingdom, would probably become a myth of the entire Divine Kingdom as long as he grew.


    Amid the numerous discussions, Ye Chen walked toward the ten True God maidens of Divine Miao Peak and also approached Xue Ningning, whom he had defeated at last.


    "Ye Chen." Seeing Ye Chen walking over, Xue Ningning gave a gentle smile. She did not show any displeasure from losing to Ye Chen earlier, but instead, her eyes were filled with admiration for him.


    After all, Xue Ningning knew how powerful the "Heaven Decisive Nine-Turns Lotus" in her hands was.


    The fact that Ye Chen could break through her "Heaven Decisive Nine-Turns Lotus" at the realm of a True God naturally filled her with immense admiration!


    The other True God maidens of Divine Miao Peak were also curious as to why Ye Chen was approaching them, and they shyly greeted him.


    "Xue Ningning, I have come to discuss an important matter with you," said Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen approached Xue Ningning mainly for the task assigned by the elderly hermit.


    Back in the Undersea Divine Palace, the elderly hermit had given Ye Chen two inheritance beads, one green and one purple, instructing him to hand them over to the most outstanding performers from the Mu King Mansion and Divine Miao Peak successors during the Nine Great Divine Institutes Examination.


    The purple bead was meant for the successor of Divine Miao Peak.


    Ye Chen did not forget the charge the elderly hermit bestowed upon him.


    With the Nine Great Divine Institutes Examination finally over, Ye Chen also learned who was the best performer from the Mu King Mansion and Divine Miao Peak.


    He, of course, wanted to fulfill the hermit''s trust!


    "This bead is from a senior who asked me to pass it on to you," Ye Chen said, handing the purple bead to Xue Ningning.


    "A senior?" Xue Ningning curiously accepted the bead.


    As she immersed her Divine Sense into the bead and experienced the contents left within, Xue Ningning''s face became filled with shock.


    "It''s actually... it''s actually the legacy of the old South Territory King Mu, Elder Mu!"


    "My goodness, Ye Chen, you actually know Elder Mu!"


    "The technique within this bead is a Heaven-reaching Divine Art created by Elder Mu! Oh my... it''s too... too precious!"


    With the bead in hand, Xue Ningning looked at Ye Chen again, her eyes brimming with shock and joy.


    Ye Chen smiled at Xue Ningning, "Indeed, I have had the serendipitous fortune of meeting Elder South Territory King. Well, I have another item to pass on to someone from Mu King Mansion, so I won''t keep you any longer."


    With a wave of his hand, Ye Chen bid farewell to Xue Ningning and the other Divine Miao Peak True God maidens.


    "Ye Chen." As Ye Chen was about to leave, Xue Ningning and several other True God maidens couldn''t help but call out to him, "If you have the time, you can visit our Divine Miao Peak. Our Divine Miao Peak is a very special place in the Divine Kingdom!"


    Divine Miao Peak?


    Ye Chen turned back with a smile, "Sure, I''ve long heard that Divine Miao Peak is the most mysterious force among the four major powers. Given a chance, I will definitely visit and trouble you all."


    Leaving the area where the Divine Miao Peak True God maidens stood, Ye Chen headed straight for the gathering place of the True Gods from Mu King Mansion.


    "Ye Chen!"


    At this moment, Mu Ling, the little provincial princess of Mu King Mansion, and Mu Xiao, whom Ye Chen had met in the Ancient Land of Nine Suns, greeted him gleefully as they saw him approaching.


    After talking for a few moments with Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, Ye Chen also took out the other green inheritance bead.


    Ultimately, he handed over this bead to a somewhat wooden and naive young man who was the best performer of Mu King Mansion this time.


    This bead, being entrusted by the old South Territory King to Mu King Mansion, naturally caused quite a stir and excitement in Mu King Mansion.


    After a while, Ye Chen left the area of Mu King Mansion and returned to the little provincial princess and the East Territory King.


    "Ye Chen, congratulations on taking first place in the Nine Great Divine Institutes Examination!" The East Territory King chuckled as he patted Ye Chen''s shoulder, "There are only ten days left until we report to the Supreme Divine Institute, let''s go back to the East Territory King Mansion to prepare, and then I''ll take you and Luo''er to the Supreme Divine Institute together."


    "The Supreme Divine Institute, I''m finally going to the Supreme Divine Institute!" The little provincial princess, too, her face filled with anticipation, "Brother Ye Chen, once we get to the Supreme Divine Institute, let''s both strive to quickly cultivate to the Divine Venerable realm!"


    ```


    Ye Chen patted the Little Provincial Princess''s tiny head and nodded with a smile.


    The Supreme Divine Institute?


    Ye Chen was just as curious and eager about this legendary Divine Institute, said to be the strongest in the entire Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    At the same time, Ye Chen thought of someone else.


    Long Li.


    This little girl, the First Goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, was only a few years older than the Little Provincial Princess, with whom he had shared an exceptionally intimate relationship.


    "Long Li... I wonder if she''s in the Supreme Divine Institute now, how she is doing?"


    Considering this talented little girl who had forged a relationship with him and who had helped him without hesitation when he encountered the backlash of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," it was impossible for Ye Chen not to feel stirred.


    Perhaps he didn''t feel the same way about Long Li as he did for Jiang Yao.


    But still, there were some feelings.


    "Ye Chen, you have met our first demand, but remember, you have two more. The challenges of Heavenly God Mountain and the Star Domain talent battle are even tougher than the exams of the nine Divine Institutes," the voice of the Northern Territory King suddenly entered Ye Chen''s mind.


    Ye Chen looked over at the Northern Territory King and saw both him and Sovereign Xuechen nodding at him.


    "The Northern Territory King then said to Ye Chen, "Once you''re at the Supreme Divine Institute, everything will depend on you. We can''t help you with anything else; you must grow on your own!"


    "Finally, I have to tell you, Li''er heard about you and Jiang Yao, she''s worried Jiang Yao might misunderstand and has already gone to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to explain to her."


    "Li''er... She''s really too good to you. You don''t want to let Jiang Yao down, but don''t wrong Li''er, either!"


    After saying this, the Northern Territory King didn''t say anything more. With a ripple in the void beside her, she disappeared.


    And after looking at Ye Chen for a few moments, Sovereign Xuechen sighed, lightly waved his sleeve, and also vanished from the scene.


    Though the two sovereigns had disappeared, the words of the Northern Territory King caused Ye Chen''s thoughts to once again turn to Long Li and Jiang Yao.


    "Long Li went to find Jiang Yao?"


    Ye Chen muttered to himself, uncertain how to feel.


    ...


    The Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was a vast Star Domain even larger than Wanmu Mountain.


    At this moment, in the most mysterious "Ice Emperor Realm" of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, there was an ocean far larger than countless star continents.


    This ocean was enormously mysterious. The waters on its surface were flames intermingled with iceflame!


    In the depths of the endless flames and iceflame, a Zixuan-colored palace floated.


    If the lords of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain saw this palace, they would be utterly astonished.


    This palace was none other than the Zixuan Treasure Palace, infamous throughout the entire Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!


    The "Zixuan Treasure Palace" could be considered as the most mysterious and precious place in the whole Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. Without certain opportunities, even many sovereigns would not be able to find it and gain entry.


    Ye Chen would have been equally amazed if he saw this "Zixuan Treasure Palace."


    Because this "Zixuan Treasure Palace" was precisely the kind of mysterious place that Granny He had mentioned to him before, on par with the secretive ice caverns of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom!


    Probably nobody knew that such a "Zixuan Treasure Palace" lay hidden in the depths of the ocean in the Ice Emperor Realm of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    A glance inside the "Zixuan Treasure Palace" would offer another surprise, for inside, two young ladies could be seen!


    One of these girls was clad in a simple, elegant white dress, with waterfall-like black hair and a pair of small dimples on her stunning face.


    The other wore goose-yellow clothing, with snow-white skin and an undeveloped figure, yet at sixteen or seventeen, she possessed a beauty so breathtaking that it seemed to dim the very heavens and earth.


    These two girls were both peerless beauties in the world.


    And now they were both in the mysterious "Zixuan God Palace."


    If Ye Chen saw these two girls, he would likely be doubly astounded.


    Who else could these two girls be if not Jiang Yao and Long Li?!


    Right now, Long Li was under the huge heaven and earth with countless steps inside the "Zixuan God Palace," while Jiang Yao was on a large platform at the top of those countless steps.


    "It''s about time for the assessment of the nine Divine Institutes in Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom to have ended."


    "I wonder if Ye Chen... if he managed to win first place."


    A worried look appeared on Long Li''s small face.


    After muttering to herself, Long Li then looked up towards the large platform at the top of the steps, "I didn''t expect that coming to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to find Sister Jiang Yao would lead us to accidentally enter here."


    "This place must be like the mysterious cavern Granny spoke of in Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, part of the realms left behind by Star Lords who entered the Azure Sky Star Sea!"


    While Long Li murmured.


    Jiang Yao, who was cultivating on the platform, also opened her eyes, "Ye Chen was given three demands by two sovereigns for Long Li''s sake!"


    "No matter what, I can''t let him be in danger. I''m still too weak, I must grow stronger quickly and return to Ye Chen''s side!"


    "I have to get out of this ''Zixuan God Palace'' before the Star Domain talent battle begins!"

 Chapter 763 - 715 God King List

    Ye Chen had no idea that Long Li had already found Jiang Yao.


    Nor did he know that both young girls had entered the mysteriously profound "Zixuan Treasure Palace" in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!


    After the nine Great God Institutes'' assessment ended, Ye Chen returned to the East Territory King Mansion with the East Territory King, the Little Provincial Princess, and others to prepare for their journey to the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Meanwhile, Yang Yun and Yang Yan, who had returned to the Supreme Divine Institute, and Qin Yuntian, who had returned to the Divine Dragon Mountain, had each secretly spoken of certain matters with several incredibly powerful Upper God Kings.


    Ten days passed in the blink of an eye.


    Before they knew it, the day arrived for the Supreme Divine Institute to hold its ceremony welcoming new disciples, as mentioned by Sovereign Xuechen.


    Early in the morning, Ye Chen, together with the Little Provincial Princess and about a dozen other True God youths from the East Territory King Mansion, led by the East Territory King, set off for the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Other True Gods from the East Territory King Mansion who had joined different Divine Institutes were sent to their respective institutes by other Divine Venerables or Sovereigns.


    When the East Territory King tore through the starry sky and teleported to that special location where the Supreme Divine Institute was situated, he saw beneath him the eighteen massive Star Continents intertwining, forming the vast expanse of the Supreme Divine Institute''s territory. Ye Chen also couldn''t help but take a deep breath.


    "Supreme Divine Institute!"


    "This is the strongest Divine Institute ranked first by the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain!"


    Just by looking down from the endless starry space above, one could see countless Divine Mountains, deep ravines, towers, and palace buildings scattered across the eighteen Star Continents of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Mysterious, vast, majestic, and solemn¡ªthese were Ye Chen''s first impressions of the Supreme Divine Institute!


    At this time, the East Territory King began to tell Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, and the other young people who were visiting the Supreme Divine Institute for the first time about some matters of the institute.


    "The Supreme Divine Institute has a total of eighteen Star Continents, of which six are the continents where the disciples and elders live. The remaining twelve are various sealed continents where ruins and adventure sites are located."


    "Of those six living continents, based on the cultivation levels, they are divided into the True God Living Continent, the God King Living Continent, the Earth Divine Venerable Living Continent, the Heavenly Divine Venerable Living Continent, the Immortal Divine Venerable Living Continent, and the innermost Sovereign Living Continent."


    At this point, the East Territory King seemed to think of something and specifically said to Ye Chen, "On these six living continents, there are three particular ranking lists: the ''True God Ranking List,'' the ''God King List,'' and the ''Divine Venerable List.''"


    "These three ranking lists are jointly established by the nine Great God Institutes, categorized by Realm, and each ranking list only enumerates the top one thousand disciples, and it''s a ranking among all disciples of the nine Great God Institutes!"


    "For example, the ''True God Ranking List'' is occupied by the strongest one thousand True Gods of the nine Great God Institutes, while the ''God King List'' is occupied by the strongest one thousand God Kings of the nine Great God Institutes. The ''Divine Venerable List'' even ranks the strongest one thousand Divine Venerables from the nine Great God Institutes."


    "As for those above Divine Venerable, the Sovereign Realm, there is no ranking list because once one has cultivated to the Sovereign Realm, they''re already a renowned elder of the nine Great God Institutes, and there''s really no need for rankings."


    Upon hearing about the three ranking lists, the Little Provincial Princess curiously asked the East Territory King, "Daddy, why do the nine Great God Institutes jointly establish these three ranking lists?"


    "Long Li sister used to be the number one on the God King List of the nine Great God Institutes. Now, she has become an Earth Divine Venerable."


    The other True God youths of the East Territory King Mansion also looked towards the East Territory King with curiosity.


    The East Territory King smiled and said, "The higher one''s ranking on these three lists, the more precious cultivation resources they will obtain from the nine Great God Institutes."


    "Of course, not everyone has the opportunity to listen to the teachings of cultivation methods by the elders of the nine Great God Institutes. At such times, those with higher rankings naturally have more opportunities."


    "It''s not just about the chance to cultivate with the elders of the nine Great God Institutes but also the selection of one''s own Cultivation Cave Abode and the distribution of some resources, all of which are related to one''s ranking on the three lists."


    "Therefore, each of you must strive for a good position on the ranking lists!"


    Hearing the East Territory King''s words, the Little Provincial Princess chuckled, "In that case, we''ll all be competing for the ''True God Ranking List.'' But of course, the number one spot on the True God Ranking List will definitely belong to Brother Ye Chen!"


    The other young True Gods from the East Territory King Mansion also nodded in agreement with a smile.


    After all, Ye Chen''s performance had been too outstanding during the assessment of the nine Great God Institutes, even though there were many veteran True Gods already on the "True God Ranking List."


    But to reach the level of combat power of an Earth Divine Venerable like Ye Chen would probably be impossible for anyone!


    That kind of strength would likely be scarce even among Divine Kings, let alone True Gods.


    Hearing the Little Provincial Princess''s words, Ye Chen smiled and shook his head.


    He wasn''t too concerned about the "True God Ranking List"; he was more interested in the "God King List."


    After all, Yang Yun and Yang Yan, who had some grievances with him, were now at the top of the "God King List."


    Naturally, Ye Chen was more focused on the God King List.


    As for the stronger "Divine Venerable List," which was probably contested by the nine Great God Institutes'' Immortal Divine Venerables, Ye Chen felt he was still too far behind to even consider at the moment.


    At the same time, Ye Chen was also curious about why the East Territory King had specifically mentioned these three ranking lists to him, suggesting that he probably had something to tell him.


    Ye Chen asked the East Territory King, "East Territory King, is there a special connection between me and these three ranking lists?"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s inquiry, the East Territory King laughed and said, "Ye Chen, indeed I have something to tell you."


    "Luo''er believes you can claim the first place on the ''True God Ranking List,'' and I believe you can do it too. However, what''s more important for you is the ''God King List.''"


    "Because Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King''s second requirement for you is to enter the Heavenly God Mountain in just over two years. To enter Heavenly God Mountain, you first need to qualify."


    "After all, even though Heavenly God Mountain is extremely dangerous, where it''s already good if one out of ten thousand who enter comes out alive, the opportunities inside that can greatly increase one''s Realm make countless people desperate to get in."


    "The nine great Divine Institutes have a rule: only disciples of the nine great Divine Institutes who rank among the top hundred on the God King List, specially devised by the institutes, will have the opportunity to choose to enter Heavenly God Mountain after it opens."


    "The remaining slots are allocated to the God Kings from other forces in the Divine Kingdom."


    "Ye Chen, now that you are a disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute, if you want to enter Heavenly God Mountain, you must break into the top hundred of the ''God King List'' before the mountain opens to secure your slot!"


    The words of the East Territory King made Ye Chen''s expression turn serious.


    The God King List was a competitive ranking for the God Kings.


    Even though Ye Chen''s combat power could match many Divine Kings by now, he was still a Nine Tribulations True God, qualified to rank on the "True God Ranking List" and not on the "God King List."


    After all, he was not a true Divine King yet.


    And to enter Heavenly God Mountain, it was required of him to become a Divine King within a little over two years.


    This requirement alone would have been frightening enough for countless others.


    After all, Ye Chen had just broken through to the Nine Tribulations True God not long ago. Breaking through to the God King Realm in just over two years was easier said than done.


    And simply reaching the God King Realm wasn''t enough.


    To qualify for entry into Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen had to rank among the top hundred on the "God King List."


    Of course, this was also a tremendous challenge.


    Although Ye Chen could defeat countless Divine Kings with a combat power that even reached the level of a Lower Earth Divine Venerable, the nine great Divine Institutes naturally had countless Divine Kings capable of fighting across realms, whose combat powers had also reached the level of a Lower, Middle, or Upper Earth Divine Venerable.


    There were even the likes of Yang Yun and Yang Yan among the Divine Kings, who could fight with Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    With his current strength, Ye Chen wasn''t yet a match for immensely powerful Divine Kings like Yang Yun and Yang Yan, unless he could completely and freely control and use the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Ranking in the top hundred on the "God King List" was equally a challenge for Ye Chen.


    Just over two years.


    It was indeed a short span of time.


    Even the Little Provincial Princess herself became worried for Ye Chen when she heard the requirements for entering Heavenly God Mountain.


    "Brother Ye Chen, with just over two years, making an impact in the God King Realm, even with the time acceleration from the ''Life Origin Wheel'' for cultivation, will be quite difficult."


    Ye Chen nodded in agreement.


    It was indeed very hard.


    However, Ye Chen certainly would not give up!


    After arriving at Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, he had broken through from the Heavenly Saint Realm to the Nine Tribulations True God in just one year. Now, having joined the Supreme Divine Institute, ranked first, he had even more opportunities for cultivation.


    Though it was tough, Ye Chen was resolved to vigorously break into the God King Realm!


    Upon breaking through into the God King Realm, Ye Chen would be able to fully cultivate the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Primordial Beginning," and step into the fifth chapter.


    This naturally made Ye Chen impatient!


    Once he entered the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, with significant advancement in his realm combined with a new cultivation method from the Primordial Star Scripture, securing a rank among the top hundred on the God King List or even higher would not be impossible!


    Heavenly God Mountain.


    This was the second requirement placed upon him by the two Sovereigns, and within the mountain lay what Sovereign Feng Luo left behind for him¡ªthe God King''s Legacy.


    Ye Chen had to advance!


    Not only did he need to enter, but he also had to emerge alive, elevating his combat power to greater heights to prepare for the upcoming "Stellar Domain Genius Battle of the God Kings"!


    "Senior East Territory King, how much time remains before Heavenly God Mountain opens?" Ye Chen asked the East Territory King, "I will surely break into the top hundred of the ''God King List'' before then!"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s earnest expression, the East Territory King nodded and said, "Heavenly God Mountain will open in two years and three months."


    "I have great confidence in your talent, insight, and will, Ye Chen."


    "You also have the exclusive reward you won for placing first in the nine great Divine Institutes'' assessment¡ªthe Black Gold Star Card. This card will offer you plenty of cultivation opportunities within the very precious ''Polar Star Tower'' of the nine great Divine Institutes."


    "As long as you work hard, I believe that you will surely make it to the forefront of the God King List!"


    "Alright, you''ll learn more about the God King List once you join the Supreme Divine Institute. The land where the True God Life Continent, also the venue for this newcomer ceremony of the Great God Institute¡ªExtreme Mang Continent, is just ahead of us. Let''s go down and have a look."


    While the East Territory King spoke, Ye Chen saw that they had arrived above the Star Continent, which was the outer periphery of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    And at that moment, countless figures were soaring over the entire continent.


    All of these figures were flying toward the central, bustling part of the continent.


    That area was the grand venue for the Great Divine Institute''s newcomer ceremony.

 Chapter 764 - 716: Admission Ceremony

    When Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, and the others arrived at the venue for the induction ceremony, they discovered an immensely vast plaza, and at the very center of the plaza stood a majestic and imposing grand hall.


    What was even more special was that in front of the grand hall stood a stone stele, and at the very top of the stele were three glittering, golden characters¡ª"True God Ranking List".


    "The True God Ranking List!"


    "It seems this is the True God Ranking List that the East Territory King mentioned before, one of the three special ranking lists."


    Ye Chen''s gaze traveled down below the "True God Ranking List" and, as expected, saw the ranking records of a thousand disciples from the nine Divine Institutes.


    The Supreme Divine Institute truly deserved its rank as the number one Divine Institute among the nine.


    Of the top ten names on the "True God Ranking List," eight were occupied by disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute!


    "Lord East Territory King!"


    The moment Ye Chen and his group, led by the East Territory King, entered the Grand Ceremony Plaza, they immediately drew the attention of countless people.


    Three individuals dressed in the garments of the Supreme Divine Institute''s elders, who looked to be in charge of hosting the induction ceremony for the new disciples, hurried over to greet the East Territory King upon seeing him.


    There were many revered figures who had brought new disciples to the Supreme Divine Institute, but it was quite rare to see Venerables among them.


    And, as for a personage as famously renowned as the East Territory King within the Divine Kingdom, they were, of course, even more seldom seen!


    "Elder Yuan, Elder Donglin, Elder Fang." The East Territory King obviously recognized these three Venerables and also exchanged pleasantries with these three five-star Sovereigns with a smile.


    Many eyes lingered on the East Territory King.


    What was surprising, however, was that even more eyes were fixed on Ye Chen.


    Among these gazes were those of new disciples like Ye Chen, who had just been given the opportunity to join the Supreme Divine Institute after the examination of the nine Divine Institutes, coming here for the first time.


    And then there were many old disciples who had come to the plaza to witness the new disciples'' ceremony.


    "Ye Chen is here!"


    "I heard that the most important part of the new disciples'' induction ceremony is for the new disciples to try and break into the ''True God Ranking List.'' Ye Chen''s performance in the examination of the nine Divine Institutes was so extraordinary; it''s considered a miracle in the history of the examinations."


    "I wonder if he can strike to the first place on the ''True God Ranking List'' just after joining the Divine Institute."


    "Of course, he can. I bet that Ye Chen definitely has the strength to challenge the first place on the ''True God Ranking List''!"


    "Those older disciples may have joined the Supreme Divine Institute earlier, but they are still True Gods of the Nine Tribulations. They haven''t broken through to the God King Realm. In the True God Realm, Ye Chen is an absolutely incredible existence. He simply won''t be intimidated by those older True God disciples, unless it''s those older God King disciples who might possibly be more powerful than Ye Chen!"


    As soon as these new disciples caught sight of Ye Chen, many of them hurriedly approached to greet him, while even more stood at a distance, engaged in excited chatter.


    These new disciples, who had attended the examination of the nine Divine Institutes with Ye Chen, of course knew how formidable he was.


    The new disciples discussed animatedly among themselves, and many of the older Supreme Divine Institute disciples on the plaza narrowed their eyes when they saw Ye Chen.


    The older disciples of the God King Realm were slightly better off, but those of the True God Realm felt a strange sense of fear in their eyes when they saw Ye Chen.


    "Is this the legendary Ye Chen who took first place in this recent examination of the nine Divine Institutes?"


    "It''s said that at the end of the examination, he even shattered a magical treasure in the process of forming from an extreme celestial object, and his combat power even soared instantly to the level of a lower Earth Divine Venerable!"


    "Hiss! Terrifying, absolutely terrifying! This time the Supreme Divine Institute has really gained an extraordinary individual!"


    The older disciples of the True God Realm were all discussing Ye Chen''s strength.


    And those of the God King Realm were thinking about something else entirely.


    "This Ye Chen...is he the one who got involved with our Sister Long Li?!"


    "Our Supreme Divine Institute''s number one goddess, to think that she was actually embraced by this young man!"


    "I also heard that ''Qin Feng,'' who was ranked fifth on the God King List, was slain by this Ye Chen, which led him to bitterly antagonize the Divine Dragon Mountain among the four great forces, attracting the attention of Sovereign Xuechen¡ªthe number one power in our Supreme Divine Institute¡ªas well as the Northern Territory King from the four great Territory Kings, setting three demands in place!"


    "This Ye Chen, even though he is only of the True God Realm, has caused such a big stir. Truly amazing!"


    Most of these older God King Realm disciples secretly adored Long Li.


    Ye Chen had developed a relationship with Long Li.


    If it had been earlier, when Ye Chen brazenly came to the Supreme Divine Institute, probably many would be eager to kill Ye Chen to vent the frustrations in their hearts.


    However, now, Ye Chen''s miraculous performance in the examination of the nine Divine Institutes had made countless old God King Realm disciples not dare to trouble him at all.


    Especially these old disciples who had gathered around the plaza even before the ceremony started¡ªtheir strengths were not very strong.


    Of course, they dared even less to provoke Ye Chen!


    With countless gazes upon him and a multitude of whispers around, Ye Chen didn''t seem to mind whatsoever. Along with the Little Provincial Princess and the other True Gods from the East Territory King''s mansion, he curiously looked around the Supreme Divine Institute.


    In the future, this would be the place where he would cultivate for many years, so naturally, Ye Chen couldn''t help but observe.


    As time passed, more and more new disciples arrived at the Grand Ceremony Plaza, and the number of senior disciples from the Supreme Divine Institute who flocked to watch the excitement also increased.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Half an hour after Ye Chen arrived at the plaza, several familiar faces also made their way there, flying directly towards him.


    These familiar individuals were none other than Mu Ling, Xiao Hongming, Hong Yi, Lin Xiaowan, and others.


    A little while later, Yang Yun and Yang Yan, who bore some personal grudges against Ye Chen, also arrived at the Grand Ceremony Plaza, flanked by a large group of high-ranking God Kings.


    "Is that Ye Chen?"


    Nobody knew that among the group beside Yang Yun and Yang Yan, two high-ranking God Kings looked at Ye Chen with calm eyes, but their souls were greatly stirred at first sight of him!


    "Yang Yun (Yang Yan) has asked me to assassinate this Ye Chen, promising me a superior Xuan Tian magical treasure in return."


    "Although I am a high-ranking God King, my resources for cultivation simply cannot compare with those of the descendants of these venerable masters. A superior Xuan Tian magical treasure¡ªI must get it! I have no choice, I must seize this opportunity. Humph, Ye Chen, you can only blame yourself for provoking Yang Yun and the others!"


    "My combat power is such that I can even contend with a mid-ranking Earth Divine Venerable. I''ve heard you can touch the strength of a lower-ranking Earth Divine Venerable across realms? That is far from enough for me!"


    "With this item given by Yang Yun (Yang Yan) to protect against the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame,'' this time, I must find the opportunity to succeed!"


    Those two high-ranking God Kings caressed a blue item in their hands, with murderous intent blossoming in their hearts!


    They were the two high-ranking God Kings recruited by Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    While they were plotting in their hearts, what they didn''t know was that Ye Chen, though not looking in their direction, similarly felt a chill in his heart.


    Because the voice of Xiaojiu was transmitted directly into Ye Chen''s mind.


    "Ye Chen, there are two high-ranking God Kings beside Yang Yun and Yang Yan who are harboring murderous intent towards you. They may hide it deep, but as a Soul Beast, I am extremely sensitive to such sensations!" Xiaojiu said to Ye Chen.


    During the exams in the nine Divine Institutes, Xiaojiu had been confined by the inexplicable forces of the ancient battlefield within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and couldn''t help Ye Chen.


    After leaving the examination area, Xiaojiu finally could communicate with Ye Chen again.


    Upon discovering something unfavorable towards Ye Chen, Xiaojiu naturally had to inform him.


    "Murderous intent?"


    After hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen finally looked in Yang Yun and Yang Yan''s direction, his gaze casually drifting to the two high-ranking God Kings Xiaojiu had mentioned.


    "It seems that Yang Yun and Yang Yan haven''t given up on their grudge against me!"


    "The command of the venerable master restricts the God Venerables from making a move against me, so they have recruited God Kings."


    "Humph, back in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, they bore murderous intent towards me, and I hadn''t planned on letting them go either!"


    "These accounts, all shall be settled one by one!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled, his mind calculating countermeasures.


    About an hour after Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, and others arrived at the Grand Ceremony Plaza, the moment for the ceremony to begin finally arrived.


    Xue Ningning, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and several others whom Ye Chen had faced off against in the final round of the exams at the nine Divine Institutes also rushed to the plaza.


    By now, there were tens of thousands of martial artists gathered on the Grand Ceremony Plaza!


    Among them were eight hundred and ninety-three new disciples joining the Supreme Divine Institute, with the remainder being Divine Venerables who had escorted these new disciples, while the rest of the three to four thousand people were senior disciples and elders of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    This time, Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King had not shown themselves.


    Clearly, the entire ceremony for the new disciples joining the institute was left to the three five-star venerables to handle.


    After conversing with the East Territory King for a while, the three five-star venerables, seeing that all the new disciples had arrived and the time to start the ceremony had come, bowed to the East Territory King with cupped fists and then strode out.


    Among them, Elder Yuan, who had been referred to as "Elder Yuan" by the East Territory King, was the first to speak out, "This ceremony for the new disciples joining the institute will be presided over by us three elders!"


    "First, the eight hundred ninety-three True Gods newly joining the Supreme Divine Institute, proceed to stand in front of the ''True God Ranking List.'' I will inform you of the matters related to the ceremony that you all need to understand."


    Upon hearing "Elder Yuan''s" words, Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, Xue Ningning, and others exchanged glances and then, along with the other new disciples, stood in front of the enormous stone stele known as the ''True God Ranking List.''


    Skimming his gaze over the faces of the eight hundred ninety-three True Gods and confirming that these were all the new disciples, Elder Yuan continued, "Congratulations on joining the Supreme Divine Institute. From now on, you are disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute!"


    "The rules of the Supreme Divine Institute, new disciple induction items, and other essentials required for your cultivation at the Institute are all contained in this ''Supreme Spirit Jade Pendant.'' Each of you will receive one."


    As Elder Yuan spoke, with a wave of his hand, eight hundred ninety-three blue jade pendants, which had already been prepared, flew towards the new disciples.


    Ye Chen caught the jade pendant and immersed his Divine Sense in it, discovering it contained many things: some volumes, the attire of a True God disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute, and items such as jade tokens, Divine Stones, and Pills.


    While Ye Chen and the other new disciples were inspecting the items within the jade pendant, Elder Yuan added, "The basics have been distributed. Now, we come to the key items for the ceremony for new disciples."


    "These key items include your choices for cultivation abode and the evaluation of your access levels within the Supreme Divine Institute, among other things. These will all be determined by your results from challenging the ''True God Ranking List!''"

 Chapter 765 - 717: First Cave Mansion Area

    "The results of the ''True God Ranking List'' will be divided into four levels, Lower Level, Middle Level, Upper Level, and Unmatched Level." said Elder Yuan, addressing all the new disciples.


    "If one fails to make it into the ''True God Ranking List'', then their result is considered Lower Level. New disciples of this caliber will be concentrated in the ''Junior Disciples Area'' of the continent to study, cultivate, and reside. There, Divine Venerables dedicated to teaching you will guide you, and you will have your own designated living area, without the freedom to leave the ''Junior Disciples Area'' at will."


    "On the other hand, once you make it into the ''True God Ranking List'', ranking after the first hundred but before the thousandth, your result will be Middle Level. You will be able to open a cave mansion for cultivation in the Third Cave Mansion Area of the continent and will receive third-class cultivation resources every month. With these resources, you can go to various lands on the continent for cultivation or to the twelve other adventure continents of the Supreme Divine Institute."


    "And for those who make it into the ''True God Ranking List'' within the top hundred but not the top ten, your result will be Upper Level. You will have the opportunity to establish your own dedicated cave mansion in the Second Cave Mansion Area of this continent, and every month you will be allocated even more precious second-class cultivation resources."


    "Of course, if someone manages to make it directly into the top ten of the ''True God Ranking List'', then their result will be Unmatched Level! In which case, they can directly establish a cave mansion for cultivation in the most precious ''First Cave Mansion Area'' of the True God Continent! They will also receive the highest amount of first-class cultivation resources every month!"


    At this point, Elder Yuan looked at all the new disciples.


    "I want to remind you that the ''First Cave Mansion Area'' of the True God Continent, where many Divine Venerables established their cave mansions during their time in the True God Realm, is absolutely the best cultivation land for a True God. Everyone should strive for the opportunity to enter there."


    "Of course, the vast majority of you new disciples probably won''t be able to sprint into the ''True God Ranking List'', as it''s mostly composed of senior disciples who have cultivated for many years."


    "Even if you don''t make it into the ''True God Ranking List'' this time, you shouldn''t be discouraged. In the following months, you will have a chance each month to try to re-enter the list. As long as you make it into the top thousand, or top hundred, or top ten of the True God Ranking List, your treatment will instantly change, and you can leave the ''Junior Disciples Area'' directly!"


    Hearing Elder Yuan''s words, the vast majority of the several hundred new disciples revealed worried expressions.


    They understood.


    If they couldn''t enter the "True God Ranking List", they would have to remain as junior disciples, constantly cultivating and studying in the "Junior Disciples Area", which was obviously a very dull way to practice.


    But once they could enter the "True God Ranking List", they would have access to more cultivation resources and have more freedom to arrange their own cultivation.


    "Alas, it looks like we''ll be staying in the ''Junior Disciples Area'' at the Supreme Divine Institute for many years to come," many sighed.


    After all, the "True God Ranking List" only has a thousand spots, and they are not easy to get into.


    Even the Little Provincial Princess looked at Ye Chen with a pained expression on her small face, "Brother Ye Chen, you are definitely going to enter the ''First Cave Mansion Area''. I am only at the Three Tribulations of the True God Realm, and I''m afraid I will be stuck in the ''Junior Disciples Area'' until I reach the Eight or Nine Tribulations of the True God Realm."


    East Territory King, standing by, smiled and touched the Little Provincial Princess''s head upon hearing her words, "Luo''er, the Junior Disciples Area is meant to help you build a solid foundation. When your combat power improves in the future, you will naturally have the chance to travel to other lands."


    "As for that First Cave Mansion Area," the East Territory King then spoke to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, don''t hold back your strength. If you can rush into the top ten of the True God Ranking List, you must do so. The First Cave Mansion Area has many impressive cave mansions left behind by extraordinarily powerful Divine Venerables and beings who surpassed Divine Venerables during their time in the True God Realm. Once you choose one, you might find some opportunities inside."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Entering the top ten of the True God Ranking List would not only give him the chance to establish a cave mansion for cultivation in the First Cave Mansion Area but also grant access to first-class cultivation resources.


    With only a little over two years left before the opening of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen aimed to advance into the God King Realm before then; naturally, he had to seize this opportunity for cultivation and not waste time in the Junior Disciples Area.


    His strength was already beyond needing to linger in the Junior Disciples Area anymore!


    However, Ye Chen was somewhat curious about how one could challenge the "True God Ranking List". After all, the thousand ranking spots on it were shared by disciples from all nine Divine Institutes.


    How exactly would they compete for a spot?


    As if aware of the new disciples'' confusion, Elder Yuan spoke again, "As to how to challenge the ''True God Ranking List'', it''s related to the vast hall behind this ''True God Ranking List'' stone stele."


    A vast hall?


    At Elder Yuan''s words, everyone''s gaze shifted to the enormously majestic hall at the center of the Grand Ceremony Plaza.


    "This hall is known as the ''True God Temple''. The combat power values of all warriors in the top thousand of the ''True God Ranking List'' are recorded there."


    "And as these True Gods re-challenge the ''True God Ranking List'' every month, their rankings are constantly changing, with their combat power values fluctuating."


    "Challenging the True God Ranking List is simple. You just need to enter the ''True God Temple'' and record your combat power value through battle, which will then be compared with that of the current thousand warriors. In the end, your ranking will be directly determined."


    "Of course, if someone manages to break into the top thousand of the True God Ranking List, those originally within the top thousand may be kicked out at the same time."


    "Once kicked out from the True God Ranking List, the original treatment is revoked, and a new rank determines the treatment. Thus, every month is a chance and a test for everyone."


    "In cultivation, there is no standing still; you are either progressing or falling behind. It all depends on the effectiveness of your cultivation."


    "Now, all new disciples, enter the True God Temple and confirm your combat power values!"


    As soon as Elder Yuan''s voice faded, the great doors of the "True God Temple" behind the "True God Ranking List" were flung open wide.


    Ye Chen, Xue Ningning, Tianyu Beiling, Mo Yuan, and the Little Provincial Princess¡ªalong with the eight hundred and ninety-three new disciples from the Supreme Divine Institute¡ªtook a deep breath before flying toward the "True God Temple".


    And at this moment, it was not just the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Each of the other eight Divine Institutes in the nine major Divine Institutes also had a "True God Ranking List" and a "True God Temple" erected.


    At the same time, the new disciples from the other eight Divine Institutes also flew into their respective "True God Temples", ready to start their first record of combat power values after joining the ranks of the nine major Divine Institutes!


    When they saw these new disciples flying into the "True God Temple" to challenge the True God Ranking List, those who were ranked quite high didn''t worry too much.


    However, those older disciples whose rankings were lower became somewhat nervous.


    With their lower rankings, it was easy for them to be squeezed out of the True God Ranking List. Once squeezed out, they would lose their original cultivation resources and have to challenge the True God Ranking List again, which, of course, made them extremely anxious.


    The Nine Great Divine Institutes, with nine "True God Temples," saw all nine thousand new disciples of these institutes simultaneously challenging the True God Ranking List.


    However, the process was exceedingly quick.


    In just the time it takes one incense stick to burn, all new disciples had flown out of the "True God Temple."


    Inside the "True God Temple" were independent spaces, and determining the Combat Power Value didn''t take long, hence the rapid completion.


    Once everyone had flown out of the "True God Temple," countless gazes turned towards the True God Ranking List.


    After a short wait, when the Combat Power Values of all new disciples from the Nine Great Divine Institutes were determined, the one thousand radiant names on the True God Ranking List suddenly underwent frenzied changes.


    Among them, thirty-five names shone with a red divine light!


    This red divine light signified the names of the new disciples who had successfully entered the True God Ranking List!


    Although the Nine Great Divine Institutes were not located in the same region, at this moment, countless disciples of the institutes all turned their attention towards these thirty-five names on the True God Ranking List.


    They noticed that thirty-one of these thirty-five names were ranked after the one hundredth position.


    Yet, four new disciples had managed to break into the top one hundred in their very first attempt to challenge the True God Ranking List.


    What was even more astonishing was that among the four new disciples who broke into the top one hundred, three occupied the seventy-third, fifty-ninth, and twenty-fifth positions respectively, but one person had directly burst into the top ten!


    And within the top ten, they held the first place!


    When they saw the first position on the entire True God Ranking List occupied by a shining red name of a new disciple, the Nine Great Divine Institutes scattered across various regions of the Divine Kingdom were all struck by a wave of amazement.


    A new disciple taking first place on their first challenge of the True God Ranking List was indeed a rare event in the history of the Nine Great Divine Institutes!


    It was an occurrence that might happen only once every several hundred thousand years or even a million years!


    All gazes were now focused on this new disciple''s name in the first position, and just as many had guessed, this new disciple''s name was indeed Ye Chen!


    ...


    Half an hour later.


    Ye Chen, under the guidance of a Heavenly Divine Venerable elder, flew from the Grand Ceremony Plaza towards the northern direction of the Extreme Mang Continent.


    Thinking of the countless eyes that had been on him after the True God Ranking challenge, and the buzz of conversation across the entire Grand Ceremony Plaza, Ye Chen couldn''t help but shake his head with a wry smile.


    The ones who had broken into the top one hundred of the "True God Ranking" were naturally the four who performed the best in the Nine Great Divine Institutes'' examination: Ye Chen, Xue Ningning, Tianyu Beiling, and Mo Yuan.


    Tianyu Beiling ranked seventy-third, Mo Yuan fifty-ninth, and Xue Ningning, who couldn''t rely on the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus" for combat strength, surged to the twenty-fifth position.


    The three of them received the second-level cultivation resources and the opportunity to enter the Second Cave Mansion Area.


    As for Ye Chen, as the Little Provincial Princess of the East Territory King and many other new disciples had speculated, he shot straight to the first place on the True God Ranking List, secured the first-level cultivation resources, and earned the chance to establish a manor in the "First Cave Mansion Area"!


    Ye Chen was already powerful in combat, particularly as his Fifth Sword of the Nine Swords of Annihilation, designed to shatter the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus," was originally a combat technique, naturally helping him to record his combat strength.


    Ye Chen, whose combat strength had already reached the lower levels of the Divine Venerable, was an existence utterly beyond the reach of countless old true god disciples from the Nine Great Divine Institutes!


    Taking first place was of course a breeze for him!


    After capturing the top position, and learning about many things to heed during training at the Supreme Divine Institute from three elders'' advice, all new disciples were led by individual elders to arrange their subsequent matters.


    The Little Provincial Princess failed to challenge her way into the True God Ranking List and could only start by training and studying in the "Junior Disciples Area".


    After bidding farewell to the Little Provincial Princess of the East Territory King, Ye Chen set out for the "First Cave Mansion Area" under the guidance of a Heavenly Divine Venerable arranged by the Supreme Divine Institute, ready to find a manor for his cultivation.


    The Heavenly Divine Venerable leading Ye Chen was known as the "Elder Chifang."


    At this moment, as "Elder Chifang" led Ye Chen while flying, he couldn''t help scrutinizing him.


    Surprise.


    Even after countless years at the Supreme Divine Institute, Elder Chifang was profoundly astonished.


    After all, seeing a new disciple arrive at the Supreme Divine Institute and become the first on the True God Ranking List was absolutely unprecedented during his countless years of training!

 Chapter 766: 718

    "Ye Chen, I will take you for a flight over the entire ''First Cave Mansion Area'', look around and let me know wherever you''d like to establish your cave mansion,"


    "Besides creating your own cave mansion, there are many old ones from before. As long as they are unoccupied, you can choose one after taking a look."


    As they flew, the Red Square Honorable spoke to Ye Chen courteously.


    Even though the Red Square Honorable was a Heavenly Divine Venerable and a junior elder in the Supreme Divine Institute, he did not put on any airs in front of Ye Chen.


    What a joke.


    It wasn''t just that Ye Chen had attracted the attention of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King, or because of his close relationship with Long Li.


    Ye Chen''s own immense talent and unparalleled potential were definitely reasons for countless Heavenly Divine Venerables and even the Immortal Divine Venerable to not dare to take him lightly!


    Even though the Red Square Honorable was currently stronger than Ye Chen, back when he was a Nine Tribulations True God, he definitely could not match the combat prowess that Ye Chen possessed!


    Ye Chen just arrived at the Supreme Divine Institute and was able to top the "True God Ranking List" straight away. Given time, it would be very likely for him to achieve a powerful and extraordinary status as a Divine Venerable or even a Sovereign!


    Since the Red Square Honorable had no feud with Ye Chen, of course, he would try to get on good terms with him.


    The Red Square Honorable was polite to Ye Chen, so of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t be discourteous.


    Ye Chen smiled and said to the Red Square Honorable, "Then thank you for leading the way, Senior. I''ll be sure to make a good choice for my cave mansion."


    A cultivation cave mansion, concerning one''s ability to cultivate in peace and the environment for cultivation, was something Ye Chen naturally wanted to choose carefully.


    Especially since the First Cave Mansion Area was rich in Divine Power, cultivating in a good location would result in twice the progress with half the effort. Naturally, Ye Chen would be even more careful in making his choice.


    As Ye Chen surveyed the First Cave Mansion Area they were flying over, he also had Xiaojiu observe each region closely.


    Xiaojiu, being a Soul Beast, had a Divine Soul sensing ability much stronger than Ye Chen''s and was even more sensitive to various matters than many Divine Venerables, not to mention her knowledge was vast due to Lord Emperor Yan infusing her with countless information.


    At the critical moment of choosing a cave mansion, Ye Chen definitely needed Xiaojiu''s assistance.


    "Ye Chen, don''t worry, I will observe each region closely and help you choose the best cave mansion!" Xiaojiu said with a gentle smile to Ye Chen.


    The entire First Cave Mansion Area was located in the north of the True God Realm living continent, composed of countless gigantic mountain ranges.


    Just one of these massive mountain ranges was larger than the entire barbaric land Ye Chen knew in the lower realm!


    The total combined area of these colossal mountains was so vast it was extreme, far surpassing the combined total of the lower realm''s thirty-three continents and the minor celestial realms!


    It was truly worthy of being one of the six living continents of the Supreme Divine Institute. Just the territory of this First Cave Mansion Area alone would be completely unimaginable to warriors from the lower realms.


    It was only because Ye Chen had transformed into a Nine Tribulations True God with incredibly fast flying speed. If it were a celestial saint from the lower realm, just flying across all these territories would likely take several years!


    While flying,


    Whenever they passed some special mountain ranges, the Red Square Honorable would explain them to Ye Chen in detail.


    "This mountain range is called the ''Four Dimensions Mountain Range'', and the Divine Power inside is extremely suitable for cultivating the Divine Body. Many of our Supreme Divine Institute''s Sovereigns with powerful Divine Bodies had their cave mansions in this mountain range during their True God Realm stage."


    "This place, ''Grey Rock Mountain'', is very suitable for cultivating Divine Soul Power, especially offensive Divine Soul Magic!"


    "And this valley between two mountain ranges, if one''s Divine Power has reached a bottleneck, opening a cave mansion here for cultivation is also very good!"


    When they encountered some old cave mansions within the mountain ranges, the Red Square Honorable also explained to Ye Chen about the previous owners of these mansions.


    "This cave mansion is extraordinary; it was used by the great Sovereign Xuechen for cultivation during his True God Realm stage. However, Sovereign Xuechen has now sealed this mansion, not allowing others to enter for cultivation!"


    "And this cave mansion belonged to a currently famous eight-star Sovereign in the Divine Kingdom, it was opened during their True God Realm stage. This cave mansion is available for cultivation, but a disciple has already taken residence there."


    "This cave mansion is also not bad; it belonged to Sovereign Duo Yue in the past, it is currently empty, Ye Chen you might consider it..."


    The Red Square Honorable spoke earnestly to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen was also listening attentively.


    And Xiaojiu in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant was analyzing the pros and cons of various regions with Ye Chen.


    As they flew over the intersection of a deep black mountain range and a silvery-white mountain range in the "First Cave Mansion Area", Xiaojiu in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant was suddenly startled, "Ye Chen, this place is extraordinary!"


    Moved by the thought, Ye Chen looked ahead and saw where the two great mountain ranges met, there was a vast stretch of cliff and precipice.


    However, there were very few cave mansions on the grand cliff, incomparable to the other mountain range territories.


    At that moment, the Red Square Honorable also spoke to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, this region is a bit special. This deep black mountain range and the silvery-white mountain range actually belong to the same mountain range, but they represent the two poles of the same range."


    "And where they meet, forming this vast stretch of cliff, is the most core region of the mountain range."


    "This mountain range is called ''Primordial Magnetic Mountain''!"


    "Like all the great mountain ranges in the First Cave Mansion Area, this one formed naturally with the continent, just like the other seventeen continents, all of which are exceptionally unique. It is precisely because these lands are so unique that the Supreme Divine Institute chose to establish here."


    "And within this ''Primordial Magnetic Mountain,'' the Thunder Lightning God Power is especially violent! If you haven''t cultivated specific Thunder Lightning Magic, many God Kings can''t even stay here, not to mention True Gods."


    "Therefore, very few cave mansions have been opened up in this region."


    "There are a total of only seven cave mansions here. The most precious among them is the largest one located at the most central part of the cliff."


    "That mansion was opened by a mighty figure known as ''Sovereign Lei Fa'' during his time in the True God Realm and even after stepping into the Venerable Realm, he returned to this mansion to cultivate for a while."


    "However, for some unknown reason, ''Sovereign Lei Fa'' later suffered from mental backlash, went mad, and eventually left the Supreme Divine Institute. Rumor has it that he fell in a Thunder Domain of another Divine Kingdom."


    "Whether it was a curse or something else, ever since ''Sovereign Lei Fa'' went mad and left, any True Gods who entered his mansion to cultivate suffered significant backlash, with the minor case being stagnation in their realm, and more severe cases even leading to madness."


    "Had it not been for several Venerables from the Supreme Divine Institute who investigated and stated that ''Sovereign Lei Fa''s'' mansion was situated over the Primordial Magnetic Eye of Origin of ''Primordial Magnetic Mountain'' where the Thunder Lightning Power is most violent, causing much backlash if not suited for cultivation, this mansion would probably have been sealed up."


    "However, even though the Venerables reassured that there''s nothing wrong with the mansion, the True Gods who later entered the First Cave Mansion Area would no longer choose this mansion."


    "After all, they were afraid of not being able to withstand the terrifying power of Thunder Lightning and worried they might end up mad like ''Sovereign Lei Fa''..."


    "Ye Chen, you should not choose this mansion."


    When speaking of the legend of the mansion, Elder Red Square was like a river of words.


    However, in the end, he suggested that Ye Chen should consider looking at other places.


    At this moment, Xiaojiu, who had been carefully observing the sheer cliffs and precipices of "Primordial Magnetic Mountain," turned to Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, if I''m not mistaken, this place could greatly assist in advancing your ''Star Blue Divine Garment''!"


    "Your ''Star Blue Divine Garment,'' crafted from the nascent form of an object from the celestial extremes, can currently only withstand the attacks of God King Level, and requires additional materials for it to increase in power."


    "And the Thunder Lightning Power of Primordial Magnetic Origin within this ''Primordial Magnetic Mountain'' is an excellent substance for enhancing the might of the ''Star Blue Divine Garment''!"


    "Especially the most central mansion, if you cultivate the garment well there, it is not impossible for the might of the ''Star Blue Divine Garment'' to improve to the point of withstanding the attacks of an Earth Divine Venerable!"


    The mansion Xiaojiu was pointing to was none other than the very one Elder Red Square had spent so long warning about, the one left by the mad ''Sovereign Lei Fa''.


    The very mansion that Ye Chen was advised not to choose!


    "Ye Chen, you don''t have to worry about backlash. Others may suffer the backlash from Thunder Lightning God Power, but although you haven''t cultivated Thunder Lightning Magic, you have the Star Blue Divine Garment. The stronger the Thunder Lightning God Power, the better; it won''t harm you at all," Xiaojiu said directly to Ye Chen, having heard Elder Red Square''s words.


    Ye Chen was truly tempted this time.


    The "Star Blue Divine Garment," crafted from an embryonic celestial extreme object, was yet another trump card for Ye Chen besides the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Ye Chen certainly didn''t want the "Star Blue Divine Garment" to remain in its nascent stage forever; he wanted to nurture it into a true celestial extreme object as quickly as possible!


    And here, he found a direct way to enhance the might of the "Star Blue Divine Garment."


    Although it still couldn''t be improved to a celestial extreme object all at once, being able to withstand the assault of an Earth Divine Venerable would be a huge help to Ye Chen!


    After all, Ye Chen still had many enemies, like Yang Yunyang Yan and the Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Leader Qin Yuntian, who would definitely not show mercy.


    In a situation where Venerables cannot intervene, Ye Chen''s concern was about the God Kings with the power of Earth Divine Venerable and even Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    There are decidedly few God Kings with the power of a Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    What Ye Chen feared most were God Kings with the power of an Earth Divine Venerable.


    If he could advance the might of the "Star Blue Divine Garment" to resist attacks of Earth Divine Venerable Level, then Ye Chen''s chances of surviving dangerous situations in the future would significantly increase!


    "Fine, I''ll look at other places first and, if there is nothing better, I will choose this one!" Ye Chen communicated to Xiaojiu through a telepathic message.


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were conversing without letting Elder Red Square know of their plans.


    Elder Red Square thought Ye Chen had given up on the region and continued to fly Ye Chen to other places, introducing him to various other regions.


    After spending most of the day touring the entire "First Cave Mansion Area,"


    Elder Red Square finally asked for Ye Chen''s decision.


    And Ye Chen''s response startled Elder Red Square quite a bit.


    "Elder Red Square, I''ll choose the mansion left by ''Sovereign Lei Fa,''" Ye Chen said with a smile to Elder Red Square.

 Chapter 767: 719

    "You''re choosing the ''Sovereign Lei Fa''s'' cave mansion?!"


    Elder Red Square had recommended many cave mansions to Ye Chen and many suitable locations for establishing a new one.


    He never thought that, in the end, Ye Chen would choose the one that countless True Gods dared not pick.


    Quite a few had experienced backlash within Sovereign Lei Fa''s cave mansion, and they went mad!


    Even if they didn''t go insane, there was no significant progress in their realms.


    Nobody had ever heard of anyone gaining benefits in that cave mansion, only of the drawbacks.


    Such a choice, naturally, shocked Elder Red Square immensely!


    "Ye Chen, although ''Sovereign Lei Fa'' was formidable, once a Heaven''s Chosen with Eight Stars, there are also many cave mansions left by other Eight Stars Sovereigns! Besides, that cave mansion is rumored to be cursed, making it even less suitable for you."


    "Every True God who enters the First Cave Mansion Area has only one chance to choose a mansion, and to protect the First Cave Mansion Area, once you''ve chosen a mansion or established a new one, it cannot be changed, and you can only cultivate there in the future."


    "Ye Chen, don''t be impulsive!"


    Elder Red Square earnestly advised Ye Chen.


    If it were any other new disciple, Elder Red Square, being a Heavenly Divine Venerable, would not bother saying so much.


    But for Ye Chen, Elder Red Square naturally treated the matter with utmost seriousness!


    Should anything happen to Ye Chen in the Cultivation Cave Abode, Elder Red Square fretted over the trouble he might incur.


    Even if Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King would not blame him, Elder Red Square had heard about how "Long Li," the number one Heaven''s Chosen of the Supreme Divine Institute, cared for Ye Chen.


    Although Long Li had just advanced to the Lower Earth Divine Venerable, when Long Li was still in the Divine King Realm, she could fight a Heavenly Divine Venerable, not to mention now after her breakthrough.


    Elder Red Square had a premonition that he might not be a match for Long Li!


    He certainly did not dare provoke Long Li!


    Ye Chen had not expected Elder Red Square to think so far ahead.


    Ye Chen understood Elder Red Square''s good intentions.


    However, concerning the enhancement of the "Star Blue Divine Garment''s" might, Ye Chen of course would not give up on Sovereign Lei Fa''s cave mansion.


    "Elder Red Square, it''s fine, I''ll choose that cave mansion," Ye Chen said with a smile to Elder Red Square, "As for the backlash from the cave mansion, you''ve already mentioned it, but Ye Chen has his own strategies to cope."


    "But... But, Ye Chen, if... if something happens to you in the cave mansion, and that young girl Long Li finds out it was me who led you to choose it, she might come after me," Elder Red Square couldn''t help but express his worries.


    Hearing Elder Red Square''s words, Ye Chen didn''t know whether to laugh or cry.


    He hadn''t expected Long Li to be able to intimidate an elder of the Supreme Divine Institute!


    "It''s fine, when Long Li returns, I will tell her it was my own choice," Ye Chen reassured Elder Red Square, "Besides, I won''t let myself get into any trouble; there''s no benefit for me in that, so don''t worry, Elder Red Square!"


    Alas.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s determination, Elder Red Square could only nod his head: "Then let''s return to that cave mansion. I will hand over all matters, including the cave mansion''s activation token, to you."


    "I''ll also give you the cultivation resources allocated for you new disciples this month."


    Half an hour later, the two flew back to the "Primordial Magnetic Mountain" region, arriving at the colossal cliff formed by the intersection of the deep black and the silver-white mountain ranges.


    After a short while.


    Having arranged everything concerning the new cave mansion, Elder Red Square bade farewell to Ye Chen and turned to leave.


    Only after flying a great distance did Elder Red Square stop far away in the sky, looking back towards "Primordial Magnetic Mountain."


    "Let''s hope this genius Ye Chen really doesn''t encounter any trouble at ''Primordial Magnetic Mountain''."


    ...


    Ye Chen, unaware, had caused Elder Red Square much anxiety over the choice of the cave mansion.


    After Elder Red Square left, Ye Chen set up some Defensive Formations outside the cave mansion.


    Then, he returned inside the cave mansion and closed the massive doors.


    Afterwards, Ye Chen started examining the cave mansion where Sovereign Lei Fa had once resided.


    The cave mansion was indeed enormous, with its interior wholly carved out into a space tens of thousands of zhang in diameter, and divided into many chambers.


    There were specialized chambers for cultivation, as well as those for nurturing plants and Spirit Beasts, along with chambers for alchemy.


    All these chambers employed special Space Laws within them, essentially constituting separate worlds!


    Even more marvelously, the walls of the entire cave mansion were covered with pathways of thunder and lightning patterns, occasionally one could see the flash of lightning on the walls and hear the crackling sounds of electricity!


    "Xiaojiu, the power of thunder and lightning here is indeed very rich, and there''s an indescribable magnetic force that even stirs the Divine Power," Ye Chen said to Xiaojiu.


    After Elder Red Square had left, Xiaojiu had flown out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and now, transformed into a Little Spirit Sparrow, sat on Ye Chen''s shoulder, also observing the cave mansion.


    The more Xiaojiu observed, the brighter its eyes shone.


    "Ye Chen, that ''Sovereign Lei Fa'' truly deserves to be a Great Powerholder who cultivated to the Eight Stars Sovereign Realm. Even when he was in the True God Realm, he had the foresight to choose this region to establish a cave mansion!"


    "The Thunder Lightning Magnetic Force here is even richer and more precious than I imagined!"


    "And previously, ''Elder Red Square'' mentioned that after ''Sovereign Lei Fa'' achieved the Sovereign Realm, he specially returned to this Cultivation Cave Abode to cultivate for a period of time. I''ve always felt that this cave mansion isn''t as simple as it appears on the surface!"


    "However, I can''t seem to uncover any hidden profundities."


    By the end, Xiaojiu also felt somewhat helpless.


    "Still hiding some profundities?" Ye Chen was also taken aback.


    But soon after, Ye Chen smiled and said, "Didn''t they say that several Sovereigns from the Supreme Divine Institute inspected this cave mansion back in the day? If there were any profundities, those Sovereigns would have found them.


    "Let''s not worry about the profundities for now and see if the Primordial Magnetic Thunder Power inside this mansion really helps the ''Star Blue Divine Garment''."


    What Ye Chen cared about most at this moment was what Xiaojiu said about the mansion being able to enhance the Divine Might of the ''Star Blue Divine Garment''!


    Whoosh.


    With a light tap of his finger, Ye Chen''s body immediately sparkled with brilliant blue Divine Light.


    Following that, the hidden Star Blue Divine Garment on Ye Chen''s body floated out and transformed into an incredibly light, almost invisible garment, shining with a vast and mysterious glow like the starry universe, appearing in Ye Chen''s palm.


    When the "Star Blue Divine Garment" was taken off, Ye Chen immediately felt the rebounding force of the lightning in the entire cave mansion increase significantly.


    Only by channeling the Stellar Power within his body could Ye Chen suppress this sudden surge of lightning power.


    "Xiaojiu, how can we use the lightning power in this mansion to elevate the Divine Might of the ''Star Blue Divine Garment''?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu examined the divine garment and the densely packed lightning patterns on the walls of the mansion, and said, "Ye Chen, do you remember the method used to forge this garment in the beginning?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Initially, when I acquired the rudimentary form of the Extreme Heavenly Object, ''Tattered Cloth'', I used the Stellar Power I cultivated from the ''Primordial Chapter'' of the Primordial Star Scripture to slice open the ''Tattered Cloth'', and uncovered the hidden Divine Patterns within it."


    "In the end, by leveraging the methods of those Divine Patterns, I transformed the entire Tattered Cloth into the mysterious ''Star Blue Divine Garment''!"


    Xiaojiu smiled and said, "To further enhance the power of the ''Star Blue Divine Garment'', we need to do as was done in the beginning: decompose the garment back into the original Tattered Cloth with its Divine Patterns. Then, continually infuse it with that lightning power, allowing the entire Tattered Cloth to undergo a transformation."


    "After the transformation is complete, the garment can be reforged."


    "At that time, the Divine Might of the garment will naturally increase."


    "So that''s how it is," Ye Chen nodded, "That should be easy to handle!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes moved towards the "Star Blue Divine Garment" in his hand, and the garment started to flutter above his palm.


    Then, Ye Chen shaped a spell with his hands.


    With a loud ''boom,'' the entire garment suddenly burst into a sky full of exceptionally dazzling blue light!


    Next, as he manipulated the spell rapidly with his hands, that exceedingly brilliant blue light swiftly gathered and dispersed, expanded and contracted.


    Finally, after countless changes, it transformed back into the form of the Extreme Heavenly Object''s rudimentary Tattered Cloth that Ye Chen originally acquired.


    In that moment when the form of the rudimentary Extreme Heavenly Object appeared.


    Something astonishing happened.


    The entire Tattered Cloth seemed to sense the rich abundance of Primordial Magnetic Thunder Power in the mansion and began to spin in mid-air abruptly.


    As the Tattered Cloth spun, countless extremely dense strands of Primordial Magnetic Thunder Power from the mansion walls became visible streams of light and shadows, rapidly converging into the Tattered Cloth.


    This convergence even reduced the pressure of Primordial Magnetic Thunder Power on Ye Chen standing by the side!


    Ye Chen extended his Divine Sense throughout the entire mansion.


    He could see that not just the mansion but also the outside area around ''Primordial Magnetic Mountain'' was gathering endless Primordial Magnetic Thunder Power towards the ''Tattered Cloth''.


    This made Ye Chen overjoyed!


    "It really works!"


    "Xiaojiu, you are simply amazing!"


    Ye Chen praised Xiaojiu.


    If not for Xiaojiu, Ye Chen would have never known that the rudimentary form of the Extreme Heavenly Object could be forged in this way.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s praise, Xiaojiu was also overjoyed, "Ye Chen, seeing the intensity of this lightning power, it might take only about a month for the Tattered Cloth to transform. After that, the effect of this lightning power will diminish a bit, and the ''Star Blue Divine Garment'' can be reforged."


    "Eh, that''s not right..."


    While Xiaojiu was speaking, her gaze suddenly shifted to the ground of the mansion.


    "What is it?" Ye Chen also looked towards the ground of the mansion following Xiaojiu''s gaze.


    Then, both Ye Chen and Xiaojiu saw that the center of the normally unremarkable ground of the mansion had mysteriously begun to reveal intricate Formation Patterns.


    In the end, these Formation Patterns directly formed a Transmission Light Formation on the ground of the mansion.


    "This mansion actually contains a Transmission Light Formation!"


    "And it''s a very sophisticated Teleportation Divine Formation!"


    Ye Chen, who had studied the ''Nine Volumes of Formation Array,'' exclaimed in surprise as he saw the Transmission Light Formation that suddenly appeared on the ground after the Tattered Cloth absorbed the lightning power from the mansion!

 Chapter 768 - 720 Lightning Cave, Divine Script, Past Events

    The cultivation cave abode was originally intended for cultivation purposes.


    Suddenly, a teleportation formation appeared inside, and it was a high-level Teleportation Divine Formation, which of course astonished Ye Chen immensely!


    What shocked Ye Chen even more was that such a high-level Teleportation Divine Formation couldn''t have possibly been set up by a True God.


    Therefore, it definitely wasn''t the work of any of the True Gods who had cultivated in this cave abode in the past.


    It was very likely the work of the first owner of this cave abode, the "Sovereign Lei Fa," who must have set it up after returning here upon achieving the Sovereign Realm!


    "Sovereign Lei Fa" had actually set up a Teleportation Divine Formation in his cave abode?


    Where does this Teleportation Divine Formation lead?


    Ye Chen was full of doubts.


    At this moment, even Xiaojiu, looking at the Teleportation Divine Formation on the ground, had a flicker of movement in his eyes.


    "Ye Chen, I had a feeling earlier that this cave abode was not that simple and may hide some mysteries," Xiaojiu said. "It seems very likely that this Teleportation Divine Formation is the real mystery inside!"


    "I wonder if those Venerable Lords from the Supreme Divine Institute who explored this cave abode before failed to find this hidden Teleportation Divine Formation, or if they simply couldn''t discover it due to ''Sovereign Lei Fa''s'' high realm of the Eight Stars Sovereign."


    "It''s probably because you used the prototype of the Extreme Heavenly Object to absorb the Primordial Magnetic Thunder energy that some anomaly occurred, revealing this Teleportation Divine Formation."


    "This Teleportation Divine Formation should be safe and likely has something to do with ''Sovereign Lei Fa''s'' past cultivation in the cave abode. Ye Chen, let''s go inside the Teleportation Divine Formation and have a look."


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    He was equally curious about this "Teleportation Divine Formation" that had suddenly appeared in the cave abode.


    Ye Chen, who had studied the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array," could tell that this Teleportation Divine Formation was a Living Formation, not a Killing Formation. Besides, it was unlikely that Sovereign Lei Fa would set up a Killing Formation in his own Supreme Divine Institute cave abode.


    There was no need to worry about the danger from this Teleportation Divine Formation.


    However, to be cautious, Ye Chen still took Xiaojiu into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and wrapped himself tightly with Divine Power before stepping into the Teleportation Divine Formation.


    Boom!


    With a thunderous rumble, the Teleportation Divine Formation burst forth a beam of light that enveloped Ye Chen completely.


    Then, Ye Chen disappeared from the cave abode.


    The next moment, Ye Chen found himself in a cavern that was a thousand feet in size, supported by black and silver stones.


    In this cavern, the Thunder Lightning Power on the entire walls felt even more immense, but what was miraculous was that this power seemed to be bound to the walls and didn''t affect Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also saw that the cavern floor was littered with many broken and scattered items.


    No, they could not be called scattered items.


    Although these items were scattered and broken, they were incredibly precious!


    Ye Chen saw that a few items were Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, and a few even emitted the Divine Might of Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts!


    Upon seeing these items, Xiaojiu also exclaimed in amazement from within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, "Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts! Good heavens!"


    Both Ye Chen and Xiaojiu could tell that these were indeed Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts!


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts!


    Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts!


    Even if they were broken, if taken outside, they would definitely cause countless Divine Venerables to scramble for them, and even lower-tier Sovereigns would join the fray!


    Yet in this cavern, they were just casually thrown on the ground, which was absolutely astonishing to both Ye Chen and Xiaojiu!


    Clearly, the original owner of these items was definitely a Sovereign, and a tremendously powerful one at that.


    Otherwise, it would not have been possible to have so many treasures!


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu immediately thought that these items might be left behind by that Eight Stars Sovereign, "Sovereign Lei Fa!"


    Ye Chen, however, didn''t immediately collect these broken Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts.


    His current Realm was not yet capable of using these things.


    He could still use and activate items refined from the prototype of the Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact and Ultimate Heavenly Object.


    To activate Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts, the Divine Power required was simply beyond what Ye Chen could endure. He would likely be drained dry before even managing to activate such high-level Divine Artifacts!


    These Divine Artifacts were not like the Stars Tower, a special entity that surpassed the Sovereign and could summon Ye Chen inside.


    The backlash from acquiring the Ultimate Heavenly Object, "Blue Extreme Iceflame," was still vivid in Ye Chen''s memory.


    As he had not completely subdued the Blue Extreme Iceflame yet, Ye Chen was in no rush to collect all the treasures at hand!


    After all, this cavern was so hidden that no one would compete with him for these treasures.


    Ye Chen then walked around the cavern, looking towards other areas.


    As a result, Ye Chen saw several silvery, fist-sized, cone-shaped objects scattered on a corner of the cavern floor.


    He also saw that on the walls at the deepest part of the cavern, there were patches of dense text inscribed haphazardly here and there.


    These characters, glowing with divine light, it''s unclear how long they had been inscribed, yet their divine light remained unusually bright!


    It seems that these characters were left by the person who established this cave.


    "Ye Chen, quickly take a look at these divine scripts, after reading them, you should be able to unravel many mysteries," Xiaojiu said to Ye Chen as she turned her eyes toward the divine scripts.


    Ye Chen also turned his gaze to the divine scripts.


    The inscriptions of the divine scripts were chaotic, distributed across many large stones without any particular order.


    After looking at a few of them, Ye Chen realized that these characters were some self-talk of the cave''s owner, as if recording some of the cave owner''s feelings and affairs.


    As Ye Chen looked at more and more divine script inscribed on the giant stones, his expression gradually became serious.


    And after Ye Chen had read the writings on dozens of stones completely, sorting all of them in order, he let out a long sigh.


    "Who would have thought, this cave was indeed left behind by that Sovereign Lei Fa," Xiaojiu also sighed from within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and spoke out.


    Through the divine scripts on the giant stones, Ye Chen finally understood a lot about "Sovereign Lei Fa."


    As it turns out, this cave, named "Lightning Cave" by Sovereign Lei Fa, was located not far below the abode above, still within "Primordial Magnetic Mountain."


    "Sovereign Lei Fa" established a Teleportation Divine Formation specifically to this cave to cultivate more single-mindedly within.


    The cave was even closer to the core of "Primordial Magnetic Mountain" than the abode above, making it more convenient for Sovereign Lei Fa to practice his Secret Technique.


    The reason Sovereign Lei Fa practiced so arduously was precisely what made both Ye Chen and Xiaojiu sigh.


    Sovereign Lei Fa was desperately cultivating for the sake of a woman.


    Many stones were inscribed with the mental state of Sovereign Lei Fa: "Heavenly Divine Venerable, Immortal Divine Venerable, even the Sovereign Realm, are still not the limit."


    "Who would have thought, there are realms beyond the Sovereign!"


    "If you don''t break through to a higher realm, you will be forever trapped in the countless star domains of this universe, never able to leave!"


    "Originally, I didn''t want to leave either. This universe is vast enough, with innumerable Divine Kingdoms, innumerable Star Domains; I haven''t finished traversing them..."


    "But after she broke through to a realm beyond the Sovereign, she left this universe..."


    "She can return to this universe, back to the Cishan Divine Kingdom, but I can''t leave... I really hate this feeling!"


    "She said that beyond this universe, there are other universes, forming an even more vast ''Cosmic Sea''... She said that after her cultivation reached beyond the Sovereign Realm, she belonged to the supreme realm in Cishan Divine Kingdom, but in the ''Cosmic Sea,'' she was still too weak..."


    "..."


    "After a million years, she came back again. She said she was practicing under the ''Star Lord,'' the supreme being of the Cosmic Sea, who wanted her to retreat to deal with a great calamity..."


    "..."


    "She hasn''t come back for a long time, no, I can''t just wait for her here. I must also break through the Sovereign Realm, become an existence beyond the Sovereign, leave this universe, and enter the ''Cosmic Sea'' to find her!"


    "..."


    "I got some news that in a Divine Kingdom ''Cishan Divine Kingdom,'' far more than a dozen star domains away from Wanmu Mountain, there is a ''Thunder Domain.'' Several Seven-Star Sovereigns and I agreed to cultivate together until we become Eight-Star Sovereigns, and then we will venture into that ''Thunder Domain''..."


    "..."


    "Success! After the ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle'' and our ''Sovereign Fight,'' I finally broke through to an Eight-Star Sovereign! At last, I can go to the ''Thunder Domain''!"


    "Those Divine Artifacts were damaged in battle, so I''ll just leave them in the abode. The ''Xuan Divine Cone'' that was being crafted isn''t completely successful either, so I''ll have to wait until I return to finish it..."


    What was apparently inscribed on some of the last stones read: "Heading to the ''Thunder Domain,'' unless I break through to an existence beyond the Sovereign, I absolutely won''t return!"


    The reason for Ye Chen''s sigh was that both he and Xiaojiu had heard from "Red Square Honorable" that "Sovereign Lei Fa" ultimately died in the Thunder Domain.


    Sovereign Lei Fa died in the "Thunder Domain," but here were records of his many thoughts before heading to the "Thunder Domain."


    The divine scripts remained, but the man was gone.


    Of course, this was a great shock to Ye Chen.


    At this time, Ye Chen learned that "Sovereign Lei Fa" was not as others claimed, having gone mad from mental backlash.


    "Sovereign Lei Fa" was all immersed in cultivation for that person called "Sovereign Yinling," rushing to any place that might improve his cultivation without hesitation, completely falling into a mania for cultivation, which made many believe he had gone mad!


    "This ''Sovereign Lei Fa'' turns out to be someone deeply loyal to his affections," Xiaojiu reflected within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. "He cultivated so desperately just so he wouldn''t let ''Sovereign Yinling'' wander the Cosmic Sea alone."


    "Unfortunately, he is already dead. I wonder if ''Sovereign Yinling'' knows about it."


    The divine scripts on the giant stones left Ye Chen and Xiaojiu feeling sentimental, their mood somewhat depressed.


    After a while, Ye Chen lifted his head again, looking towards the divine scripts.


    Because some of the things mentioned in these divine scripts couldn''t help but capture Ye Chen''s attention.


    The scripts spoke of a vast Cosmic Sea beyond the countless Divine Kingdoms, beyond the countless Star Domains!


    The scripts even mentioned a title¡ªthe supreme "Star Lord" of the Cosmic Sea!


    Ye Chen, of course, paid attention to the term "Star Lord."


    After all, his Stars Tower and the Primordial Star Scripture were both left behind by the "Zi Ji Star Lord"!

 Chapter 769 - 721: Xuan Divine Cone

    "Star Lord!"


    "So beyond the countless Divine Kingdoms, there lies the Cosmic Sea! It turns out ''Star Lords'' are supremely exalted individuals in the Cosmic Sea!"


    "I''m afraid the only way I might see the ''Zi Ji Star Lord'' again is if I venture into the Cosmic Sea!"


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel emotional.


    Having come from the lower realm to the Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen was already astounded by the vastness of the Divine Kingdom.


    He had only explored a very small part of the Mountain Divine Nation so far, not to mention the countless other Divine Kingdoms he had never even visited.


    Now, from the Divine Script left by "Sovereign Lei Fa," Ye Chen suddenly learned of the world beyond countless Star Domains and Divine Kingdoms, the Cosmic Sea.


    This, of course, caused Ye Chen to be profoundly shaken!


    Especially since the Divine Script mentioned that one cannot enter the Cosmic Sea without becoming an existence that transcends a Sovereign.


    Even the Nine Star Sovereigns could only roam within the confines of the innumerable Divine Kingdoms, unable to enter the Cosmic Sea, which shows just how fearsome the Cosmic Sea is!


    "It seems that Lord Emperor Yan, as well as Zi Ji Star Lord that you have mentioned, Ye Chen, they are all beings from the Cosmic Sea!"


    "Moreover, that former Northern Territory King who became an existence beyond the Sovereign and left the Mountain Divine Nation, she must have entered the Cosmic Sea!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s reflections, Xiaojiu also spoke up.


    Although Xiaojiu was knowledgeable about countless things in the Divine Kingdom, she was unaware of the higher knowledge about the Cosmic Sea.


    It was unclear whether Lord Yan did not impart this knowledge to her or if it was sealed away.


    When Ye Chen initially inquired about the Zi Ji Star Lord, Xiaojiu had no clue.


    However, now with the Divine Script from "Sovereign Lei Fa," Xiaojiu finally understood the prowess of the Zi Ji Star Lord.


    To be known as a Star Lord!


    One can imagine that this "Zi Ji Star Lord" must surely be a dominant ruler in the Cosmic Sea.


    For Ye Chen to have received the legacy of such a remarkable individual filled Xiaojiu with joy.


    "Ye Chen, do you want to go to the Cosmic Sea, do you want to meet the Zi Ji Star Lord who left the Primordial Star Scripture?" Xiaojiu asked Ye Chen.


    "Yes, of course I do," Ye Chen nodded, "But to go to the Cosmic Sea, one must break through the Sovereign Realm and become an existence that transcends the Sovereigns."


    "I''m far too distant from that step, so I must work even harder!"


    Even the Eight Star Sovereign "Sovereign Lei Fa," who couldn''t enter the Cosmic Sea and died seeking a breakthrough in another Divine Kingdom.


    Ye Chen also knew how difficult it was to become an existence beyond Sovereigns.


    However, Ye Chen would not give up!


    The past stories in the Divine Script of "Sovereign Lei Fa" had a tremendous impact on Ye Chen.


    He understood the many actions of "Sovereign Lei Fa" all too well.


    "Sovereign Lei Fa" continually practiced hard to enter the "Cosmic Sea" to find "Sovereign Yinling." Without sufficient cultivation, he couldn''t even see the face of "Sovereign Yinling."


    Ye Chen, too, was faced with this dilemma.


    Jiang Yao had gone to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, which, though not as distant as the Cosmic Sea, was still out of reach for him due to his lack of cultivation!


    Ye Chen did not wish to remain separated from Jiang Yao forever!


    Ye Chen also didn''t want a day to come when Jiang Yao left for the Cosmic Sea, and he couldn''t follow her there!


    All of this demanded that he must improve his strength!


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen''s eyes became exceptionally bright.


    "The journey must be taken one step at a time. Right now, becoming an existence that transcends the Sovereigns feels too far away. The first key step is to break through from True God Realm to ''God King Realm''!"


    The greatest challenge Ye Chen currently faced wasn''t finding the Zi Ji Star Lord in the Cosmic Sea, but his upcoming journey to ''Heavenly God Mountain'' in two years and three months.


    He must break through to the God King Realm before then and enter the top one hundred of the "God King List!"


    He also needed to accumulate enough techniques to deal with the perils of "Heavenly God Mountain."


    "First, let''s sort out the items in this ''Lightning Cave,'' and then return to the cave dwelling above to consider my future cultivation more carefully!"


    Planning to leave the cave, Ye Chen first directed his gaze toward the silver, fist-sized, cone-shaped items in the corner of the cave that he had noticed earlier.


    Through the Divine Script left by "Sovereign Lei Fa," Ye Chen already knew the name of these items ¡ª Xuan Divine Cones!


    There were six Xuan Divine Cones in the corner of the cave.


    With a broad gesture, Ye Chen drew the Xuan Divine Cones towards him, and the six fist-sized cones rose from the ground, eventually hovering quietly in front of him.


    Seeing Ye Chen observing these "Xuan Divine Cones," Xiaojiu''s eyes also brightened.


    "Ye Chen, there''s not much left in this ''Lightning Cave'' by Sovereign Lei Fa, just some miscellaneous items he didn''t wish to take with him."


    "Those damaged ''Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts'' and ''Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts'' are of no use to you right now."


    "However, these ''Xuan Divine Cones'' are of great use to you!"


    Ye Chen nodded as well: "These ''Xuan Divine Cones,'' Sovereign Lei Fa said, are a kind of one-time attack weapon that he specifically forged. He originally made these items to use in the ''Thunder Domain,'' but he did not succeed completely in their forging."


    "Even though they were not completely perfected, these were still forged by an Eight Stars Sovereign!"


    "According to Sovereign Lei Fa, the current power of these ''Xuan Divine Cones'' can easily annihilate Heavenly Divine Venerables, and it''s not impossible to severely injure Immortal Divine Venerables!"


    "Such power may be insignificant to Sovereign Lei Fa, but I certainly value it highly!"


    Ye Chen, of course, valued them highly!


    Aside from his urgent need for a breakthrough to the God King Realm, he also faced a threat, that being the possible threat that Qin Yuntian and Yang Yun Yang Yan might pose against him.


    Qin Yuntian would not take action personally, and with Yang Yun Yang Yan''s sinister nature, he would not do so either.


    It was likely that they would find a God King with the combat power of an Earth Divine Venerable or a Heavenly Divine Venerable to deal with him.


    Previously, Ye Chen only had the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" as a trump card to respond with, but since he hadn''t fully controlled the backlash of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," he couldn''t use it at will.


    Ye Chen''s heart had always been on edge.


    Now, with these "Xuan Divine Cones," although they were one-time attack weapons and would be depleted after a single use.


    However, these "Xuan Divine Cones" did not require him to expend too much Divine Power to activate.


    What''s more, there were a full six "Xuan Divine Cones" here!


    This meant that Ye Chen had six opportunities to eliminate figures of the level of Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    For Ye Chen, that was already enough.


    Ye Chen believed that by the time he used up these six "Xuan Divine Cones," his own strength would certainly no longer fear these lurking threats!


    After inspecting the six "Xuan Divine Cones," Ye Chen carefully stored them close to his body.


    Then, Ye Chen looked towards the remaining damaged Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifacts in the cave.


    "Xiaojiu, what should be done with these items?"


    "If I take them directly, could it trigger their self-detonation and endanger me?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    Ye Chen didn''t know much about Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifacts, which were used by Divine Venerables and Sovereigns.


    The backlash from "Blue Extreme Iceflame" caused Ye Chen to be somewhat worried about these items.


    He could only ask Xiaojiu, who was quite knowledgeable.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s question, Xiaojiu chuckled: "Ye Chen, don''t worry. These Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifacts are not as volatile as that ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' which was an Extreme Heavenly Object not yet fully subdued; these artifacts have already been forged, so carrying them poses no danger."


    "Just make sure you don''t use them."


    "Your Divine Power is strong now, but still far from sufficient to activate these artifacts. Using them might easily drain all of your Divine Power."


    "Wait until you become a powerful Divine King, then consider whether you might use those Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, or find an opportunity to dispose of these artifacts."


    "Even though they are damaged, their outrageous value out in the open may allow you to exchange them for extremely precious items!"


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded, then with a sweeping gesture, he collected all the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifacts on the ground into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Looking around the now empty cave, only the Divine Script on the walls of giant boulders remained, Ye Chen bowed toward the cave.


    "Predecessor Sovereign Lei Fa, your residence here has indeed proved greatly beneficial to me."


    "If there comes a day when I can, I will visit that ''Thunder Domain'' where you perished to see if I can find your remains. If one day I can enter the Cosmic Sea and meet ''Sovereign Yinling'', I will surely tell her about you!"


    There was no one else in the cave, but Ye Chen spoke with utmost seriousness.


    Afterward, Ye Chen, following some information recorded by Sovereign Lei Fa on how to leave this Lightning Cave, reactivated a Divine Light, enveloped by it, he returned to the original dwelling.


    Back in the original dwelling and seeing that the "Star Blue Divine Garment" was still floating in the void, absorbing the vast Primordial Magnetic Thunder Power, slowly transforming, Ye Chen nodded.


    This unexpected venture into the concealed Lightning Cave beneath the dwelling resulted in enormous gains for Ye Chen.


    Not only did he learn about the existence of legacies such as the Cosmic Sea and Star Lords,


    He also acquired treasures like "Xuan Divine Cones" and "Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts"!


    This dwelling proved to be the right choice indeed, providing Ye Chen with such great surprises upon entering!


    After surveying his acquired treasures again, Ye Chen turned his gaze to Xiaojiu.


    "Xiaojiu, with just over two years left, is there any expedited way for me to break through from the Nine Tribulations True God to the God King Realm?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    In the dream within the "Creation Chess Board," Ye Chen had once cultivated to the level of an Upper God King, but that achievement had taken him hundreds of years in the dream world.


    Now, time was too short for Ye Chen; he simply couldn''t afford to cultivate as leisurely as before.

 Chapter 770 - 722: Tribulation Inducing Pill and Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion

    Although more than two years had passed, it was not required for Ye Chen to break through to the Upper God King Realm¡ªjust reaching the God King Realm and entering the top hundred of the God King List would suffice.


    However, this challenge was incredibly difficult.


    Even if Ye Chen trained desperately, he had a certain amount of confidence in successfully challenging the Lower God King Realm, but he did not have a hundred percent assurance.


    Xiaojiu had been infused with countless pieces of knowledge by a being surpassing the Sovereign, "Lord Emperor Yan."


    If she knew of a way to quickly break through to the God King Realm, that would indeed be an incredibly pleasant surprise!


    "To quickly break through from the Nine Tribulations True God to the God King Realm, there is indeed one method," Xiaojiu said after thinking for a moment when Ye Chen asked.


    "What method?" Ye Chen hurriedly asked.


    Xiaojiu smiled lightly, "A Nine Tribulations True God attempting to challenge the God King Realm needs to sense the arrival of the ''Divine Tribulation.''"


    "This sensation is something that many Nine Tribulations True Gods wait hundreds, thousands or even tens of thousands of years for without success, compelling many to exhaust their lifespans without being able to challenge the God King Realm."


    "Later on, a Great Powerholder concocted a type of pill that allows a Nine Tribulations True God to prematurely induce the ''Divine Tribulation''; this pill is known as the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill''!"


    "As long as one has the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'', they can advance and challenge the God King Realm ahead of time!"


    "Tribulation Inducing Pill?!" Ye Chen''s eyes widened, "There''s actually such a pill capable of inducing the Divine Tribulation!"


    Xiaojiu nodded, "The ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'' contains countless mysteries within it, and only a Sovereign Realm Great Powerholder can concoct it¡ªit''s extremely precious."


    "Even within the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain, only the major forces possess it."


    "However, as the foremost among the nine great Divine Institutes, the Supreme Divine Institute surely has ''Tribulation Inducing Pills'' in its possession."


    "Of course, although the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'' is extraordinarily precious, relying on it to challenge the God King Realm also presents two major issues."


    Before Ye Chen asked what the two major issues were, Xiaojiu directly explained, "The first major issue, naturally, is how to obtain the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill.''


    "In the Divine Kingdom, countless Nine Tribulations True Gods desire to break through to the God King Realm. Even if Sovereign Realm forces have ''Tribulation Inducing Pills,'' their concoction is not easy; they definitely won''t hand them out lightly."


    "Even if the Supreme Divine Institute has ''Tribulation Inducing Pills,'' Ye Chen, the conditions you need to meet in order to obtain one will likely be many."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He clearly understood the meaning behind Xiaojiu''s words.


    Taking the Supreme Divine Institute as an example, there were tens of thousands of Nine Tribulations True Gods. If every single one of them wanted a "Tribulation Inducing Pill," it would be impossible to distribute them.


    There was definitely a set of conditions that must be met in order to obtain a "Tribulation Inducing Pill."


    Nonetheless, regarding this first major issue, Ye Chen was mentally prepared.


    As long as the Supreme Divine Institute had "Tribulation Inducing Pills," that was enough. As for the conditions to obtain such a pill, if Ye Chen could fulfill them, he would definitely strive to do so.


    Ye Chen planned to inquire carefully afterwards about how exactly one could obtain the Supreme Divine Institute''s "Tribulation Inducing Pill."


    "Xiaojiu, then what is the second major issue?" Ye Chen asked again, turning to Xiaojiu.


    "The second issue with using the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'' to challenge the God King Realm," Xiaojiu said seriously, "is, of course, the issue of risk!"


    "After all, when a Nine Tribulations True God naturally senses the arrival of the Divine Tribulation, it is in accordance with the rules of heaven and earth¡ªa bottleneck sensation. To forcibly induce the Divine Tribulation ahead of time is to violate certain heavenly rules."


    "Under those circumstances, although it''s not life-threatening, the danger level of the Divine Tribulation is much greater!"


    "And those who prematurely induce the Divine Tribulation, many do so out of desperation to challenge the God King Realm. This cannot compare with the vast and solid foundation of the Divine Power of Nine Tribulations True Gods who naturally induce the Divine Tribulation. With the increased risk of the Divine Tribulation, the likelihood of demise greatly increases."


    "It''s said that of those who use the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'' to induce the Divine Tribulation and challenge the God King Realm, nine out of ten ultimately fall during the Divine Tribulation."


    "Only less than ten percent of people manage to successfully break through to the God King Realm with the help of the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill.'' Moreover, all these successful Nine Tribulations True Gods are powerful and have made thorough preparations!"


    "As for those below the Nine Tribulations True Gods, even if they induce the Divine Tribulation with the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill,'' in the end, they will all perish, failing to challenge the God King Realm!"


    "Therefore, later on, the Great Powerholders of the Sovereign Realm also made a rule: if you are not a Nine Tribulations True God, and especially not a powerful True God among them, you absolutely cannot use the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill!''"


    Xiaojiu''s expression was grave, and as she spoke, Ye Chen''s expression turned equally grave.


    Indeed.


    He had just entered the True God Realm of the Nine Tribulations. When it came to the solidity of his foundation, he naturally could not compare to the older True Gods who had resided in the realm for a long time.


    If the danger of the Divine Tribulation increased, it would indeed be exceedingly perilous for Ye Chen!


    However...


    Ye Chen was not yet ready to give up.


    With just over two years left to break through to the God King Realm, he had to break into the God King List before the opening of "Heavenly God Mountain" to secure his entry!


    If he couldn''t train his way to the God King Realm smoothly, then he would have to rely on the "Tribulation Inducing Pill!"


    As for the risk...


    For others who have just broken through to the Nine Tribulations True God, using the "Tribulation Inducing Pill" could indeed be extremely dangerous.


    But for Ye Chen, even if his foundation wasn''t as solid as it should be, he still had great confidence in facing the Divine Tribulation.


    Inside Ye Chen''s body resided the mysteriously powerful Star God Power cultivated from the "Primordial Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture. His combat power had long surpassed countless Nine Tribulations True Gods and even many Divine Kings. His combat power was incredibly formidable, having reached the level of a Lower Earth Divine Venerable!


    Just with his combat power alone, Ye Chen had confidence in dealing with an intensified Divine Tribulation!


    Moreover, Ye Chen possessed a special treasure on his person.


    That was the "Star Blue Divine Garment," which was currently being nurtured in this cave mansion.


    Once the "Star Blue Divine Garment" was further nurtured successfully, it could even allow Ye Chen to withstand attacks from an Earth Divine Venerable level, greatly aiding him in withstanding the Divine Tribulation!


    Besides, Ye Chen wasn''t going to rush into challenging the Divine Tribulation immediately.


    He needed to prepare for obtaining the "Tribulation Inducing Pill" on the one hand, and on the other, he could further enhance his own methods.


    By the time he truly challenged the Divine Tribulation, increasing his chances of success by several percent was not impossible!


    After some thought, Ye Chen said to Xiaojiu, "This ''Tribulation Inducing Pill,'' we must acquire it no matter what. Even if we don''t use it, we need to be prepared."


    Xiaojiu nodded her head, "Indeed, if you want to successfully break through to the God King Realm within the next two and a bit years, you must be prepared for any method. Ye Chen, I believe that even if you use the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill,'' you will definitely be able to overcome its dangers!"


    "However, how many ''Tribulation Inducing Pills'' do I need for one Divine Tribulation attempt?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu again.


    "You only need one. If the breakthrough is successful, you will naturally cross over into the God King Realm. If the attempt fails, even if you don''t perish, you''ll be seriously injured and won''t be able to use the Tribulation Inducing Pill again," Xiaojiu answered.


    "Just one?" Ye Chen nodded, "Then I''ll find out how to get a ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'' from the Supreme Divine Institute first."


    ...


    After discussing the matter of the "Tribulation Inducing Pill" with Xiaojiu, Ye Chen began tidying up the cave mansion.


    This cave mansion was left by "Sovereign Lei Fa," and some True Gods had lived here afterward.


    In recent years, due to the fear of the Primordial Magnetic Thunder power in this mansion as well as the rumored curse of the mansion, it had been uninhabited and had fallen into neglect for some time.


    Now that Ye Chen intended to dwell and cultivate here himself, he naturally wanted to tidy it up well.


    Having finished tidying up the cave mansion, Ye Chen then examined the cultivation resources left behind by Red Square Honorable when he had been sent here.


    This time, as the first-ranked individual on the True God Ranking List, Ye Chen had gained the privilege of cultivating in the First Cave Mansion Area and had obtained the most precious first-class cultivation resources among all True God disciples!


    When Ye Chen opened up the Storage Divine Ring containing first-class cultivation resources and took out the items, even Xiaojiu was excitedly surprised, "My god, unworthy of being the first-ranked Supreme Divine Institute among the nine divine institutes! Truly first-class cultivation resources, the resources provided in just one month are so plentiful!"


    Looking down at the cultivation resources that had fallen to the ground.


    One could see that there were six special Divine Robes shimmering with Divine Light!


    Even though the quality of these Divine Robes wasn''t as precious as the "Star Blue Divine Garment" that Ye Chen had refined with the aid of an Extreme Heavenly Object, their quality was clearly at the Heaven-reaching Divine Object level!


    You must understand that though the nine divine institutes provide Divine Robes to the disciples not listed on the "True God Ranking List," those are just ordinary True God Divine Robes.


    They couldn''t compare to the Heaven-reaching Divine Object level Divine Robes, not even one ten-thousandth!


    Just by wearing this kind of Divine Robe, Ye Chen would probably attract envious gazes from countless True God disciples as he moved around on this True God Disciple continent!


    After all, only the top ten on the "True God Ranking List" who had the opportunity to enter the First Cave Mansion Area and obtain the first-class cultivation resources had such formidable True Gods.


    Others, no matter how powerful their background, if they were not qualified, could not wear these Divine Robes!


    Of course, the Divine Robes were just a small part of the first-class cultivation resources. The other resources included precious cultivation Divine Stones and Divine Medicines for calming and focusing one''s spirit. There were many precious Divine Treasures and even exceptional Heaven-reaching Divine Arts!


    Although Ye Chen already had several sets of available Heaven-reaching Divine Arts, having more was still better!


    New Heaven-reaching Divine Arts would certainly give Ye Chen more options!


    Ye Chen read the instructions that came with the first-class cultivation resources so that he understood how to use these resources.


    Then, Ye Chen turned to look at the basic items issued by Elder Yuan during the True God Ranking List challenge, especially taking out some of the secret manuals.


    Although these secret manuals were basic items, they contained a lot of information about the Supreme Divine Institute and would greatly help Ye Chen in his cultivation at the institute.


    Afterward, Ye Chen spent his time reading these secret manuals.


    A night passed.


    Early the next morning, Ye Chen left the cave mansion and flew toward the center of the True God Disciple continent.


    Because, while reading the secret manuals, Ye Chen discovered a piece of information.


    That was, the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" at the center of the True God Disciple continent had a lot of information.


    If Ye Chen wanted to learn about the "Tribulation Inducing Pill," he could simply inquire at the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion."


    In addition to seeking information on the "Tribulation Inducing Pill," Ye Chen also had a few important matters to inquire about.

 Chapter 771 - 723 Provocation

    Ye Chen had just flown out of the Cultivation Cave Abode when he heard Xiaojiu speak to him, "Ye Chen, there is someone near this abode secretly watching you!"


    Xiaojiu directly relayed the situation she had detected to Ye Chen.


    "Hm?" Ye Chen halted in mid-air.


    Then, with the help of the Extreme Vision Divine Mirror, Ye Chen directly probed towards the direction Xiaojiu had mentioned!


    The Extreme Vision Divine Mirror was a powerful auxiliary Heaven-reaching Divine Artifact that Ye Chen had obtained in a treasure land left by the Icebound Divine King when he had just arrived in the Divine Kingdom.


    Xiaojiu was a Soul Beast, and her Divine Sense had a much wider range of investigation than Ye Chen''s.


    With his Divine Sense alone, Ye Chen still could not detect the person who was watching him that Xiaojiu had mentioned, so he used the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror."


    When Ye Chen, with the aid of the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror," probed towards the direction Xiaojiu had indicated, he directly saw in the light screen of the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror" a superior Divine King hidden in a very distant domain, watching his Cultivation Cave Abode.


    "Is it him?!"


    Ye Chen saw that this superior Divine King was one of the two superior Divine Kings who had followed Yang Yun and Yang Yan during the New Disciple Ceremony the day before.


    It was one of them who had revealed a murderous intent towards him!


    At that time, Xiaojiu had detected those two superior Divine Kings, prompting Ye Chen to be somewhat guarded against them in his heart.


    Ye Chen had not expected that one of these superior Divine Kings would actually lay in ambush, monitoring his abode!


    "It seems that Yang Yun and Yang Yan really do intend to deal with me!"


    "Even within the Supreme Divine Institute, they dare to pull all sorts of tricks!"


    "With the Sovereign Orders from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King limiting Divine Venerables and Sovereigns from acting against me, they turned to a Divine King. This superior Divine King, aware that I possess the methods of a lower-tier Earth Divine Venerable, still dares to show murderous intent towards me. It seems his combat power must have surpassed the level of a lower-tier Earth Divine Venerable!"


    "However, the Supreme Divine Institute does not allow disciples to engage in private battles. He is watching me like this, wondering how he plans to deal with me. Does he want to make use of that place..."


    Ye Chen''s eyes began to flicker.


    If this was a day ago, faced with such a hidden threat, Ye Chen would have been extremely cautious and contemplated countermeasures.


    Now, Ye Chen already had a means to respond!


    Touching something on his person, Ye Chen shifted his gaze away from the "Extreme Vision Divine Mirror," glanced towards the direction where the superior Divine King was hiding, then with a cold smile, continued to fly towards the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" at the continental center.


    "Did this Ye Chen discover me?!"


    On a giant peak tens of thousands of miles away from the mountain where Ye Chen''s abode was located, a black-clothed superior Divine King was startled by Ye Chen''s abrupt glance in his direction!


    He was one of the two superior Divine Kings who had accompanied Yang Yun and Yang Yan, Xue Xian by surname, a powerful Divine King with the combat power to contend with a mid-tier Earth Divine Venerable!


    After every new disciple''s abode is arranged, it is directly listed in a grand hall on the True God Continent.


    This "Xue Xian," having received information from Yang Yun about Ye Chen moving into the "Magnetic Suction Sky Mountain" abode, directly followed Yang Yun''s orders and covertly observed Ye Chen''s abode.


    The Supreme Divine Institute has orders forbidding entry into other people''s Cultivation Cave Abodes, let alone engaging in private battles.


    However, Xue Xian, after discussing with Yang Yun, had already thought of a way to deal with Ye Chen.


    He had been waiting for Ye Chen to come out of his abode.


    What Xue Xian did not expect was that Ye Chen would directly look toward the place where he was hidden.


    It certainly gave Xue Xian, who was secretly watching in the direction of Ye Chen''s abode and paying attention to him, quite a shock!


    Xue Xian was a superior Divine King, after all!


    His Divine Sense was cast over a vast range, and the area he chose to monitor was one he was confident Ye Chen would absolutely not detect him.


    Even if Ye Chen''s combat power had reached the level of a lower-tier Earth Divine Venerable, he wouldn''t be able to find him.


    So, when Ye Chen suddenly looked his way, it naturally gave him quite the fright!


    What Xue Xian did not realize was that even though Ye Chen might not have detected his surveillance, Xiaojiu was an extraordinary Soul Beast, no less than the Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor of the Soul Beasts!


    His spying on Ye Chen''s abode could not escape Xiaojiu''s notice!


    "Hmph, whether Ye Chen has discovered me or not, as long as he has left his abode, that''s good enough!" Startled for a moment, Xue Xian saw Ye Chen flying towards the continental center. He no longer cared to ponder whether Ye Chen had discovered him.


    He stood up decisively, "Let me confront this Ye Chen!"


    Whoosh!


    Xue Xian''s figure vanished from the giant peak where he stood.


    At the same time, two transmitted messages flew out from where he had disappeared, entering the void and vanishing without a trace.


    Moments later, on another cultivation continent, in the living abode of Divine King disciples, two superior Divine Kings seemed to sense something at the same time within their abodes. They pinched something between their fingers.


    Then, a divine light carrying a message instantly entered their palms.


    The next moment, the two upper-level Divine Kings suddenly lifted their heads to gaze upon the living continent of the Supreme Divine Institute''s true god disciples, a cold smile crossing their faces, "So Ye Chen has already emerged from his Cultivation Cave Abode?"


    "It seems he''s not staying put in the Supreme Divine Institute either!"


    "He''s flying towards the most populous middle area where the true god disciples gather? Perfect, heh heh, that place is just right for the method we discussed!"


    After muttering to themselves, these two upper-level Divine Kings vanished from their Cultivation Cave Abodes.


    And these two Divine Kings were none other than Yang Yun and Yang Yan!


    ...


    The middle region of the true god disciples'' living continent was the most bustling.


    Not only did this area house many of the true gods who hadn''t made it onto the "True God Ranking List", but it also featured many buildings and great halls related to the cultivation practice of the Supreme Divine Institute disciples.


    Places like the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" where Ye Chen intended to go to gather various pieces of information, the "True Martial Hall" where various disciple missions were assigned, and various "Divine Towers" for cultivation practice, including the most precious "Polar Star Tower," were all scattered throughout the middle region of the continent.


    After all, the true gods who had not made it onto the "True God Ranking List" could only live and practice cultivation in this area.


    These essential facilities related to cultivation practice were naturally located within their residential area, as they would otherwise be inaccessible to them.


    As for the true gods on the "True God Ranking List" living in other Divine Kingdoms, as well as the Divine Kings and Divine Venerables from other continents, and Sovereigns without movement restrictions, they could of course come to this residential area and use these buildings and great halls at will.


    As soon as Ye Chen flew into the middle area of the continent and landed near the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion", he saw thousands of figures moving about in this domain.


    Some were entering and exiting the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" while others were visiting different buildings and grand halls.


    When Ye Chen''s gaze examined the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion", he found it to be not very large, just a five-story building perched atop a high platform accessible by several hundred steps.


    Once in this area, one couldn''t just fly around freely.


    Ye Chen had to descend and walk up the steps toward the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion".


    Although Ye Chen was new to the Supreme Divine Institute, countless disciples had already recognized him from the new disciple induction ceremony and the earlier assessments across the nine Divine Institutes.


    When they saw Ya Chen approaching the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion", many Supreme Divine Institute disciples'' eyes lit up.


    "Look, that''s Ye Chen, who took first place on the ''True God Ranking List'' as soon as he arrived at the Supreme Divine Institute!"


    "I heard he went to the first Cultivation Cave Abode area to choose a cave, and even picked the one belonging to Sovereign Lei Fa!"


    "Many true gods dare not choose Sovereign Lei Fa''s Cultivation Cave Abode, but Ye Chen went straight for it. He''s truly no ordinary person, always full of surprises!"


    "Wonder what he''s here for? By the looks of it, is he going to the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion''?"


    "The ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion'' is the place to gather information. What kind of news is he trying to find out?"


    The Supreme Divine Institute disciples watched Ye Chen, buzzing with speculation.


    Upon seeing the brand-new Divine Robe that Ye Chen wore, the symbol of the first-class cultivation resources belonging to a true god disciple from the first Cultivation Cave Abode area, many of the older disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute became incredibly envious.


    Ye Chen paid no mind to the discussions of these disciples.


    He simply smiled lightly and continued walking up the steps.


    However, just after climbing a dozen steps, the space where Ye Chen had landed was abruptly torn open, and a figure appeared.


    This figure was precisely Xue Xian, the upper-level Divine King who had been eavesdropping on Ye Chen''s Cultivation Cave Abode, only to be discovered by Xiaojiu.


    As soon as Xue Xian revealed himself, he called out directly to Ye Chen, who was ascending the steps, "Ye Chen, halt!"


    Whoosh!


    Xue Xian''s loud shout immediately drew the attention of countless true god disciples who were watching Ye Chen.


    When they realized it was an upper-level Divine King calling out to Ye Chen, the disciples were startled, "Hmm, isn''t that ''Xue Xian'', ranked twenty-third on the Divine King Ranking List? What is he doing here instead of on the Divine King''s living continent?"


    "Judging by his tone, it doesn''t sound like he''s got a friendly relationship with Ye Chen. It''s quite cold, in fact. Could he be looking to trouble Ye Chen?"


    The true god disciples stopped walking, silently observing how the situation would unfold.


    Upon hearing Xue Xian''s shout, Ye Chen, far from surprised, stopped his ascent and turned to look at Xue Xian, "Sir, you''ve been watching my Cultivation Cave Abode for so long, and now you follow me here. It seems you indeed have something to do with me!"


    As Xiaojiu had been constantly informing Ye Chen about Xue Xian''s whereabouts, Ye Chen was well aware that Xue Xian had followed him here.


    Ye Chen had thought that Xue Xian would continue to follow him stealthily, but didn''t expect him to reveal himself so openly, which kindled a flicker of intrigue in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    "It seems you''ve got some skill, boy, to have detected me!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Xue Xian was inwardly shocked.


    However, he soon smirked coldly, having sensed two covert ripples in the surrounding void, and then spoke to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I''ve heard you won first place in the new disciple assessment of the nine Divine Institutes and even claimed the top spot on the ''True God Ranking List''. Quite impressive indeed."


    "I, Xue Xian, want to challenge you on the Platform of Life and Death!"

 Chapter 772 - 724 Platform of Life and Death

    ```


    Whoosh!


    The words of Xue Xian instantly stunned the countless people present in the arena!


    What was the Platform of Life and Death? As disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute, they were of course aware.


    The Supreme Divine Institute prohibited its disciples from fighting each other privately.


    However, when disciples harbored grudges against each other, suppressing them indefinitely without resolution was also problematic.


    Therefore, the Supreme Divine Institute set aside a special place where disciples with grudges could engage in Life and Death Battles¡ªan arena where private fighting among disciples was permitted. This place was none other than the "Platform of Life and Death."


    The Platform of Life and Death, just as its name implied, was a place where life and death were contended. On it, in many cases, two would go up to fight and only one would come down alive!


    The other would die right there on the battleground!


    Among the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute, only those with extreme grudges would choose to fight life-and-death battles on the "Platform of Life and Death."


    Now, this top-ranking Divine King named "Xue Xian" suddenly challenged Ye Chen to fight on the Platform of Life and Death, which of course shocked everyone immensely!


    "What grudge does this ''Xue Xian'' have with Ye Chen that he wants to fight him in a Life and Death Battle on the Platform of Life and Death?!"


    Countless True God disciples in the arena looked at Xue Xian and Ye Chen, their eyes filled with disbelief.


    Many even quietly informed other True Gods and Divine Kings who were not in the area, urging them to hurry over and see for themselves.


    It was evident to everyone that a major conflict was brewing between Xue Xian and Ye Chen.


    Not to mention that Xue Xian was a famous powerhouse on the God King List, just Ye Chen winning the first place in the Nine Great Divine Institutes'' entrance examination and the top spot on the True God Ranking List made this clash absolutely attention-grabbing.


    Naturally, they did not want the True Gods and Divine Kings they knew to miss out on this spectacle!


    At the same time, some True God disciples whispered, "Although Ye Chen is formidable, he is just a True God after all and definitely no match for Xue Xian."


    "Xue Xian is a top expert, ranked twenty-third on the God King List, with combat strength on par with a mid-ranking Earth Divine Venerable. Not to mention the possibility that he has other hidden tricks up his sleeve!"


    "Although rumors say that Ye Chen''s combat strength has reached the incredible level of a low-ranking Earth Divine Venerable, the gap to a mid-ranking Earth Divine Venerable is undoubtedly huge."


    "If he fights Xue Xian on the ''Platform of Life and Death,'' he''s bound to die!"


    "If I were Ye Chen, I would definitely not accept this ''Platform of Life and Death'' challenge. After all, while anyone can issue a ''Platform of Life and Death'' challenge to another, if one party does not accept, the challenge will not proceed."


    "However, if you don''t accept, there are some penalties..."


    These murmured discussions certainly did not escape the ears of the top-ranking Divine King Xue Xian.


    Hearing these one-sided discussions stating that if Ye Chen accepted the fight on the Platform of Life and Death, he would surely die by his hand, Xue Xian nodded with satisfaction.


    He dared to challenge Ye Chen because he was absolutely confident in his ability to kill Ye Chen!


    After all, he was a top-ranking Divine King, capable of battling a mid-ranking Earth Divine Venerable across realms. If he couldn''t deal with a mere True God, that would be a massive embarrassment!


    Even if Ye Chen had many trump cards, Xue Xian was invited by Yang Yunyang Yan to make a move, and naturally, he was prepared!


    As for the scenario where Ye Chen would refuse his challenge on the Platform of Life and Death...


    He was likewise prepared.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had not responded to his challenge, Xue Xian gave a cold laugh before saying, "What about it, Ye Chen, do you accept my ''Platform of Life and Death'' challenge?"


    "Of course, according to the rules of the ''Platform of Life and Death,'' if you don''t accept, I can''t force you. But as you know, the ''Platform of Life and Death'' also punishes those who refuse to fight. If you don''t dare to fight me, then you must agree to my three conditions..."


    The Platform of Life and Death was the place for two sides to fight to the death.


    If one party did not agree to the death duel, of course, no fight would ensue.


    However, the "Platform of Life and Death" also specified that if one party does not respond to a challenge, they must agree to three conditions set by the challenger.


    This rule was also meant to resolve the grudges between the parties.


    Of course, these three conditions could not be too outrageous, as elders in charge of the "Platform of Life and Death" would have to personally review them.


    In the past, within the Supreme Divine Institute, whenever there were two parties with life-and-death grudges and similar strengths, they would eventually end up fighting on the Platform of Life and Death.


    None of them was willing to step back, nor concede as the weaker party, after all, if you don''t dare to accept a challenge, you would have to agree to the three conditions set by the other party.


    Even if the three conditions would not be too excessive, agreeing to them would certainly indicate weakness.


    For the two parties involved in a life-and-death grudge, this was undoubtedly a tremendous humiliation.


    They all believed that they could take the life of their adversary!


    It was only in cases where the difference in strength between the two parties was great, such as when a True God disciple offended a Divine Venerable, and the Divine Venerable couldn''t attack the True God privately within the Supreme Divine Institute,


    that the Divine Venerable would issue a "Platform of Life and Death" challenge, which the True God disciple would naturally dare not accept.


    This would result in a "Platform of Life and Death" challenge not proceeding.


    At that time, according to the rules, the Divine Venerable could then set three conditions for the True God disciple.


    This was also seen as a punishment for the weaker party in a grudge and a sign of respect for the stronger party.


    At this moment, in the eyes of many onlookers, Ye Chen and this Xue Xian were one such pairing, with one party being weaker and the other much stronger.


    Therefore, many bystanders were convinced that Ye Chen would not accept this "Platform of Life and Death" challenge.


    ```


    Even agreeing to Xue Xian''s three conditions would be better than losing one''s life.


    Xue Xian looked at Ye Chen and said with a cold smile, "My three conditions are very simple."


    "First, prepare a banquet and invite all my friends to apologize to me."


    "Second, whenever you see me, if you are within three hundred zhang of me, automatically step aside and do not approach me!"


    "Third, loan me your cave dwelling for one month!"


    "What do you think? My conditions are reasonable, aren''t they? Compared to losing your little life on the ''Platform of Life and Death,'' it''s well worth it!"


    Whir!


    Xue Xian''s three conditions made the onlooking True God disciples all stunned.


    They could see that Xue Xian was humiliating Ye Chen, utterly and completely!


    Xue Xian suddenly proposed to challenge Ye Chen on the "Platform of Life and Death," clearly guessing that Ye Chen would not dare to agree. These three conditions he followed with were the real crux.


    His intent was to force Ye Chen to choose, to not dare to accept the challenge of a Life and Death Battle and hence be compelled to comply with these three conditions.


    It''s true that these three conditions, compared to dying on the Platform of Life and Death, didn''t amount to much.


    But, it all depends on who you''re talking about!


    These conditions were for Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen, the number one candidate of the nine major Divine Institutes'' examinations, was also the top ranked on the "True God Ranking List," and at this moment he was absolutely the most dazzling presence among all the True God disciples at the Supreme Divine Institute!


    Yet now, he was suddenly being coerced into agreeing to three conditions set by a senior God King.


    Moreover, these three conditions¡ªone to apologize, another to yield the way, and the third, which was even more excessive, to let someone else occupy the cave dwelling he lived in for a month.


    If Ye Chen agreed to these conditions, his reputation would be completely ruined!


    Even though many knew that Ye Chen, only a True God, had no choice but to agree because he couldn''t overcome a senior God King, this sort of humiliation would absolutely make it difficult for Ye Chen to hold his head up at the Supreme Divine Institute ever again.


    "This Xue Xian is truly vicious!"


    "If it were any other God King making these demands of a True God, agreeing to them would be one thing. But Ye Chen''s current reputation is the most prominent amongst True Gods. If he agreed, he would lose face completely!"


    "But what if he doesn''t agree? These demands are not excessive, even if submitted to the elders of the Platform of Life and Death, they would surely pass."


    "Unless Sovereign Xuechen personally intervenes in this matter. However, if Sovereign Xuechen intervenes, it will definitely lead many to say that Ye Chen relies on Sovereign Xuechen, which would also be a blow to Ye Chen''s reputation."


    "Ye Chen is in a tough spot now; will he lose his reputation, or lose his life?"


    The nearby True Gods whispered among themselves.


    "What do you say, Ye Chen, do you accept my ''Platform of Life and Death'' challenge, or do you agree to these three conditions?" Xue Xian, seeing everyone''s expressions, proudly smiled and pressed Ye Chen again, "Ye Chen, don''t tell me you''re scared stiff and can''t speak?"


    These three conditions took him and Yang Yunyang a long time to settle on.


    Their goal was to humiliate Ye Chen!


    They had planned everything in advance, not afraid of whatever tricks Ye Chen might come up with.


    Sigh.


    At this moment, however, Ye Chen just sighed and shook his head.


    Ye Chen''s gesture immediately attracted countless gazes.


    Those watching the excitement, as well as the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute who had heard the news and rushed over to this region, intent on seeing how Ye Chen would respond after learning what had transpired, all knew that Ye Chen was about to speak.


    "No use sighing, Ye Chen. You have to choose one of the two options," Xue Xian said mockingly, as if he had Ye Chen completely figured out.


    Ye Chen looked at Xue Xian, his expression unfluctuated, "I sigh because, as a senior God King, you have been dragged out to meet your death, and yet you babble on so much; it''s truly sad. If I really accepted the ''Platform of Life and Death'' challenge, it wouldn''t be long before you''d be a corpse."


    Whish!


    Ye Chen''s indifferent words caused an instant hush over the crowd.


    And the next moment, the entire area erupted into turmoil!


    Everyone thought they had heard wrong.


    What situation is this?


    Ye Chen saying that Xue Xian''s challenge would lead to his own death? That if he accepted a battle with Xue Xian on the Platform of Life and Death, Xue Xian would die?


    Xue Xian was a powerful warrior capable of contending with a mid-level Earth Divine Venerable. Although Ye Chen was the top-ranked on the "True God Ranking List," even if he crossed the boundary, it was absolutely impossible for his strength to reach the level of a mid-level Earth Divine Venerable.


    How could he possibly kill Xue Xian?!


    Many True Gods who admired Ye Chen had been very worried about him, but now seeing Ye Chen''s composed demeanor, utterly indifferent to Xue Xian''s rhetoric, they were thrilled and felt like jumping for joy, "Ye Chen, he always surprises us! Even Xue Xian''s challenge doesn''t concern him, it seems like he has some sure-kill method against Xue Xian!"


    "Xue Xian has been aggressive all this time, I want to see how he will end this!"


    "Ye Chen said it himself, if he dares to step up, he could kill him, and Xue Xian probably would never expect Ye Chen to not only dare accept the challenge to battle for life or death but also have the confidence to put him down!"


    "Haha, this is really going to be quite the show!"

 Chapter 773 - 725: Fight to the Death

    At this moment, Xue Xian''s face was flushed with a deep red.


    Slapped in the face.


    Severely slapped in the face!


    He had made a lengthy speech and even came up with three conditions for Ye Chen, which he assumed Ye Chen wouldn''t dare to accept after being challenged to a duel on the Platform of Life and Death. He waited proudly for Ye Chen to agree to those three humiliating terms.


    But Ye Chen completely ignored those conditions.


    What''s more, he bluntly stated that if Xue Xian dared to accept the duel on the Platform of Life and Death, he would kill him on the spot!


    Although Xue Xian wasn''t as powerful as the great figures like Yang Yun and Yang Yan from major forces, he was still a high-ranked God King with unparalleled combat strength!


    Otherwise, Yang Yun and Yang Yan wouldn''t have asked him to make a move against Ye Chen.


    But now, under the watchful eyes of everyone, he was being looked down upon by a True God.


    The feeling of being despised made him feel as if everyone in the crowd was laughing at him.


    Xue Xian felt a surge of stifled anger rising in his heart and nearly fainted on the spot.


    "Boy, you truly have a death wish!" After taking a deep breath, Xue Xian managed to suppress this inexplicable emotion.


    When he looked at Ye Chen again, the murderous intent in his eyes was no longer hidden.


    He now had to kill Ye Chen, otherwise others might think he really feared Ye Chen!


    "Originally, if you agreed to my three conditions, you could have lived a bit longer."


    "Since you''re so confident in your strength, then let''s see on the Platform of Life and Death, who lives and who dies!"


    Xue Xian said through gritted teeth, addressing Ye Chen directly.


    Seeing the murderous intent in Xue Xian''s eyes, Ye Chen''s gaze also turned cold.


    He had intended to give Xue Xian a chance, but since Xue Xian remained unrepentant, then...


    Let that murderous intent vanish forever!


    "Then let''s head straight to the Platform of Life and Death!" Ye Chen said calmly.


    Whir!


    Xue Xian showed no sign of backing down, and Ye Chen was ready to face him head-on.


    Everyone could tell that what Ye Chen had said was not just bravado; he truly dared to face Xue Xian in a battle to the death!


    This tensed up everyone present at the scene.


    The True God disciples from the Supreme Divine Institute, as well as many God Kings who had heard the news and arrived, were unsure who would survive if these two confident individuals actually faced off on the Platform of Life and Death.


    At that moment, Ye Chen''s gaze swept over to the void behind Xue Xian and he said, "Yang Yun and Yang Yan, you two have been hiding and watching for so long, it''s time for you to come out!"


    "Since you sent Xue Xian here to die, watch closely as I slay him!"


    "After I''ve dealt with him, I have some words for you as well!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, many of the Supreme Divine Institute disciples were taken aback.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan were there?


    Everyone turned their eyes to where Ye Chen was looking.


    And many God Kings were skeptical in their hearts.


    None of them had noticed Yang Yun and Yang Yan hiding, yet Ye Chen had; could it be that Ye Chen''s observational skills were far superior to theirs?


    The next moment, their skepticism turned into sheer shock.


    Because they saw that at the place Ye Chen was staring, the void was indeed ripped open, revealing two figures.


    Those two figures were indeed Yang Yun and Yang Yan!


    The hearts of these God Kings were shaken; Ye Chen should not be regarded as an ordinary True God. His observational ability was alarmingly strong, even more formidable than that of the God Kings!


    Now exposed, Yang Yun and Yang Yan were also somewhat surprised that Ye Chen had detected them.


    However, they didn''t think much of it.


    There were many auxiliary treasures that could help track someone''s trail. They had seen Ye Chen''s collection of treasures in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, so it was not impossible for him to possess something capable of detecting their presence.


    After Yang Yun and Yang Yan revealed themselves, they looked at Ye Chen with a sneer and said, "Ye Chen, it''s good to see you unharmed."


    "After the Nine Suns Ancient Land, you''ve continuously surprised people by not only securing first place in the Nine Great Divine Institutes'' assessment but also topping the True God Ranking List."


    "But this time, if you fight Xue Xian to the death, I''m afraid your renown will come crashing down! Because, in a fight with Xue Xian, you only have one path - death!"


    Hearing the words of Yang Yun and Yang Yan, Ye Chen scoffed, "Is that so? Then both of you watch closely!"


    "Once I''m done with this matter concerning Xue Xian, it''ll be time to settle our accounts!"


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan locked eyes with Ye Chen, both releasing their murderous intent.


    Back in the Nine Suns Ancient Land at the Heaven-reaching Ancient Tree, Yang Yun and Yang Yan had intercepted Mu Ling and Mu Xiao''s attempt to rescue Ye Chen, allowing Qin Feng to act against Ye Chen, which led to a deadly feud between Ye Chen and Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Later, when Yang Yun and Yang Yan spread the news that he had slain Qin Feng, it provoked several Sovereigns of Divine Dragon Mountain to appear outside the Nine Suns Ancient Land, intent on personally executing Ye Chen.


    If it hadn''t been for the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen''s intervention, even if Ye Chen could have escaped from the Divine Dragon Mountain''s Lord Qin Yuntian, those who rescued him, like the East Territory King, would have likely sustained some injuries.


    Understandably, Ye Chen harbored deep resentment towards Yang Yun and Yang Yan, who were meddling behind the scenes, and saw them as his mortal enemies.


    And on Yang Yun and Yang Yan''s side, their hatred for Ye Chen was bone-deep as well.


    Originally, their enmity toward Ye Chen was because he had obtained the first goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, Long Li, whom they had long dreamt of.


    Latter on, they grew even more envious of Ye Chen''s unparalleled genius, wishing they could kill him and be done with it.


    Subsequent conflicts with Ye Chen caused the animosity between them to escalate continuously.


    Ye Chen refrained from acting against them because he was not yet capable of facing them, whereas they feared the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" he possessed and dared not move against him personally.


    At this moment, both sides confronted each other directly, bringing their grudges to the forefront in the arena!


    Although they were not life-and-death enemies, everyone could see that the root cause of the upcoming life-and-death battle between Xue Xian and Ye Chen originated from Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    This made the atmosphere in the venue even more tense.


    Originally, the fact that Ye Chen was to battle Xue Xian had already astounded many Divine Institute disciples.


    They hadn''t expected that Ye Chen would also have a major feud with Yang Yun and Yang Yan!


    These people did not know what had happened between Ye Chen and Yang Yun and Yang Yan in the Nine Suns Ancient Land.


    However, they could infer that, since Yang Yun and Yang Yan did not dare to confront Ye Chen in person and only sent Xue Xian, Ye Chen must possess something that made them apprehensive.


    Instantly, the way the crowd looked at Ye Chen changed significantly.


    At this point, they no longer saw Ye Chen as just the unparalleled true god who secured first place in the new disciples'' examination of the Nine Divine Institutes and topped the True God Ranking List.


    They now fully regarded Ye Chen as someone who could stand up to the strongest God Kings!


    After all, Yang Yun and Yang Yan were none other than the first and third ranked existences on the God King List!


    Ye Chen dared to provoke them!


    And wasn''t the slightest bit afraid!


    The confrontation between Ye Chen and Yang Yun and Yang Yan sent a shiver down Xue Xian''s spine and even caused another high-ranking God King, who had been invited by Yang Yun and Yang Yan to confront Ye Chen and was hidden amongst the crowd, to feel fear.


    If Ye Chen wasn''t afraid of Yang Yun and Yang Yan, why would he fear them?


    Could it be that Ye Chen genuinely had the ability to annihilate them?


    Xue Xian, for a moment, even hesitated about stepping onto the Platform of Life and Death.


    However, Ye Chen''s keen eyes did not miss the change in Xue Xian''s expression.


    Looking at Xue Xian, Ye Chen sneered and said, "What, are you having second thoughts now? But it''s too late. If you don''t dare to step onto the Platform of Life and Death, then you must agree to my three conditions!"


    "Fight him to the death!" Before Xue Xian could speak, Yang Yun spoke directly to him.


    Yang Yun even transmitted his voice to Xue Xian, "Ye Chen dares to talk like this because he''s relying on that ''Blue Extreme Iceflame''; he must have thought of some way to deal with the backlash of the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame''."


    "But you can rest assured, the item I gave you can protect you from being killed by the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' for a few moments. During these moments, you can easily kill Ye Chen!"


    "Go to the ''Platform of Life and Death'' and kill Ye Chen, and I will hand over the supreme Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact as promised. I already have it with me, and once you kill him, the artifact is yours!"


    Yang Yun''s words caused Xue Xian''s gaze to flicker.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s gaze toward him and the numerous Divine Institute disciples around him eagerly discussing, Xue Xian gritted his teeth and fiercely said to Ye Chen, "Backing out? You wish! Let''s go to the Platform of Life and Death right now!"


    After saying this, Xue Xian swiftly flew toward the direction of the Platform of Life and Death.


    "It seems I can only go to the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion'' after this matter is settled."


    Seeing this, Ye Chen shook his head and also descended from the stairs leading to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion," following Xue Xian and flying toward the Platform of Life and Death.


    The Platform of Life and Death was not far from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" and was an immense stone platform.


    In just a moment, Ye Chen, Xue Xian, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and a large crowd of people swarmed toward the "Platform of Life and Death."


    A three-star Sovereign elder of the Supreme Divine Institute, responsible for the "Platform of Life and Death," was surprised when he heard that Ye Chen wanted to fight a life-and-death battle with Xue Xian.


    Clearly, this three-star Sovereign elder knew Ye Chen!


    This elder immediately sent a message to the deepest part of the land belonging to the institute, where Sovereign Xuechen resided, without anyone else''s knowledge.


    Instantly, he received a reply from Sovereign Xuechen, who allowed Ye Chen to participate in the life-and-death battle.


    Clearly, Sovereign Xuechen was aware of this event!


    Unknown to all, Sovereign Xuechen''s attention had been drawn to their location the moment Ye Chen and Xue Xian''s conflict arose.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s indifferent gaze, which was full of pressure when facing Xue Xian, Sovereign Xuechen was reassured.


    She had witnessed this kind of look in Ye Chen''s eyes during the Nine Divine Institutes examination.


    And whenever that look appeared in Ye Chen''s eyes, it signified that he was utterly confident in dealing with any crisis!


    Since Sovereign Xuechen had agreed to Ye Chen participating in the life-and-death battle, the three-star Sovereign elder naturally wouldn''t obstruct anything.


    After stating some conventional rules of combat on the Platform of Life and Death, Ye Chen and Xue Xian, the two who were to fight to the death, stepped onto the platform.


    When the many Divine Institute disciples below saw the two actually fighting on the Platform of Life and Death, they all realized that things had gone too far, and both parties were bound to engage in a genuine fight to the finish.


    "Brother Ye Chen, don''t participate in the life-and-death battle!"


    "Ye Chen, do not fight!"


    Just as everyone saw Ye Chen and Xue Xian standing on the platform, about to start the battle, they heard an extremely urgent shout coming from the void.


    Then, everyone saw the Little Provincial Princess, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and others, rushing frantically toward the Platform of Life and Death.

 Chapter 774 - 726: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey

    ```


    "My God."


    "It¡¯s Fang Luo, the beloved youngest daughter of the East Territory King, the Little Provincial Princess of the East Province!"


    "There¡¯s also the little princess and the third young master of the Mu Family from the Southern Territory King¡¯s estate!"


    "I¡¯ve long heard that Ye Chen befriended many people with significant backgrounds, and indeed, they all care deeply for Ye Chen. It seems like they have hurried over upon hearing about the conflict between Ye Chen and Xue Xian!"


    Seeing the Little Provincial Princess, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and Lin Xiaowan, among others, rushing over, everyone hurriedly cleared a path for them.


    As the Little Provincial Princess, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao and others came from the major forces of the Divine Kingdom and were on a level that many disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute usually couldn¡¯t even come into contact with, the crowd naturally felt a deep reverence from the bottom of their hearts upon seeing them.


    And towards Ye Chen, these disciples felt even greater admiration.


    They would consider themselves lucky just to make the acquaintance of a Territory King from the Divine Kingdom.


    Now, not only was Ye Chen connected to influential figures like the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen, but he was also involved with the East and Southern Territory Kings, naturally making many disciples envious of Ye Chen.


    On the Platform of Life and Death.


    When Xue Xian saw the Little Provincial Princess, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and others rushing over, his expression changed as well.


    Clearly, he was also aware of the background of individuals such as the Little Provincial Princess.


    However, thinking of Yang Yun and Yang Yan standing behind him, who were also from one of the four major forces of the Divine Kingdom, and considering that they were already on the Platform of Life and Death, where a duel to the death was inevitable, Xue Xian¡¯s expression relaxed once again.


    Xue Xian directly addressed the Little Provincial Princess, saying, "Princess Fang Luo, my fight to the death with Ye Chen has already begun, and it cannot be canceled now!"


    "Hmph, I don¡¯t care." The Little Provincial Princess glared at Xue Xian, "If you dare to harm my Brother Ye Chen, I will make sure my father kills you!"


    The father of the Little Provincial Princess is none other than the East Territory King.


    Hearing the Little Provincial Princess¡¯s words, even with the support of Yang Yun and Yang Yan, Xue Xian¡¯s heart still pounded fiercely.


    He was confident he could kill Ye Chen, but he could not withstand even a hint of the East Territory King¡¯s anger!


    At this moment, Yang Yun stood up without hesitation.


    He knew that if he didn¡¯t say something, Xue Xian might not dare to make a move against Ye Chen.


    Yang Yun looked directly at the Little Provincial Princess and said, "Little Provincial Princess, the ¡¯Platform of Life and Death¡¯ is the fairest fight in our Supreme Divine Institute, and Ye Chen and Xue Xian have both agreed to it. The elder in charge of the ¡¯Platform of Life and Death¡¯ has also agreed to the fight. You cannot intervene."


    "Moreover, let¡¯s not even mention the East Territory King, not even Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King have said that Divine Venerables can¡¯t move against Ye Chen because of the Qin Peak matter. They did not say that Divine Kings cannot take action."


    "We haven¡¯t violated any rules, and if the East Territory King wants to cause trouble, I¡¯m afraid he won¡¯t have a valid reason. Besides, if there¡¯s trouble, our ¡¯Taiyun Heaven¡¯ isn¡¯t afraid."


    The power behind Yang Yun and Yang Yan, "Taiyun Heaven," was one of the four major forces on par with the mansion of the East Territory King, and of course, they would not fear the East Territory King too much.


    "You..." The Little Provincial Princess was so choked up by Yang Yun¡¯s words that she didn¡¯t know how to respond.


    While feeling indignant, she heard Ye Chen¡¯s voice.


    Ye Chen smiled at the Little Provincial Princess, and to Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and the others beside her, saying, "Don¡¯t worry about me, this ¡¯Platform of Life and Death¡¯ fight is indeed something I agreed to. Since this Xue Xian is seeking his own death, I shall thoroughly resolve this trouble!"


    The confidence in Ye Chen¡¯s voice caused the Little Provincial Princess, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, Lin Xiaowan, and even the several true god girls from Divine Miao Peak, like Xue Ningning, who followed behind, to be taken aback.


    They felt as if they were seeing the invincible Ye Chen from the nine major god institute examinations once again.


    Even when facing the immensely powerful Xue Xian, a high-ranking Divine King, Ye Chen remained just as calm and collected, appearing to have a method to cope!


    "Brother Ye Chen, are you really okay?"


    The Little Provincial Princess looked into Ye Chen¡¯s eyes.


    Only after seeing Ye Chen nod solemnly to her did she finally let go of her worries.


    "Brother Ye Chen said he¡¯s fine, so he must be." The Little Provincial Princess muttered to herself, "Besides, this is the Supreme Divine Institute. Sovereign Xuechen and Sister Long Li must have sent people to look out for Ye Chen. They won¡¯t let anything happen to him."


    The Little Provincial Princess guessed correctly.


    Sovereign Xuechen indeed was paying close attention to every move Ye Chen made.


    Deep within the Supreme Divine Institute, in the living continent of the Divine Venerable, a goddess Divine Venerable was also observing Ye Chen on the Platform of Life and Death, from across countless realms.


    This goddess Divine Venerable¡¯s attention was so potent that not even the nine-tailed fox with its immensely potent divine consciousness was aware of it.


    If any senior disciples or elders from the Supreme Divine Institute were to see this goddess Divine Venerable, they would be utterly astounded.


    This goddess Divine Venerable was none other than the person ranking first on the "Divine Venerable List," the most prestigious of the three major lists of the nine god institutes, and she was also known as a young immortal Divine Venerable with talent only second to Long Li.


    Coming from the mansion of the Northern Territory King and having an extremely close relationship with Long Li, she was also a disciple of Sovereign Xuechen, the Divine Venerable Meng Yue!


    Meng Yue, the Divine Venerable, often secluded herself for rigorous cultivation and rarely showed herself in the Supreme Divine Institute.


    But what no one knew was that ever since Long Li left Wamu Mountain Divine Kingdom to search for Jiang Yao in the Beast Star Domain, Meng Yue had emerged from her seclusion.


    And what nobody knew was that the real reason Meng Yue came out of seclusion was that Long Li was worried about Ye Chen¡¯s safety in the Supreme Divine Institute and had asked Meng Yue to watch over Ye Chen!


    On the Platform of Life and Death.


    The minor interlude caused by the arrival of the Little Provincial Princess and others could not influence the life-and-death battle between Ye Chen and Xue Xian.


    ```

 Chapter 775 - 726: Killing the Chicken to Warn the Monkey_2

    After Ye Chen had soothed the Little Provincial Princess, he and Xue Xian finally took their places on the Platform of Life and Death.


    The next moment, an artifact in Xue Xian¡¯s hand began to surge with divine light.


    This artifact was none other than a bracelet strung with seven ice-blue beads.


    As the bracelet surged with divine light, waves of ice-blue radiance enveloped Xue Xian completely.


    While laughing heartily at Ye Chen, Xue Xian said, "Ye Chen, I know you¡¯re confident you can kill me, thinking you can rely on the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯."


    "Do you think that just because the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ is an extreme heavenly object, there¡¯s no way to block its harmful effects?"


    "Did you think we weren¡¯t prepared, knowing that you dare not use the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ carelessly, fearing backlash? We¡¯ve long been ready for you to use the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯ normally!"


    "My ¡¯Heavenly Mother Ghost Orchid Pearl¡¯ is specially designed to counter extreme heavenly objects. Even if it can¡¯t fully counter the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯, it¡¯s more than enough to block you for a few moments,"


    "And a few moments are enough for me to kill you ten thousand times over!"


    In his fit of laughter, Xue Xian¡¯s own divine light burst forth, forming a gigantic Black Python Dharma that was thousands of feet large in the void above.


    The colossal head of the Black Python Dharma, with a terrifying forked tongue flickering incessantly, seemed as though it would shoot out at any moment to execute Ye Chen in the middle of the Platform of Life and Death!


    Xue Xian did not launch an attack immediately; he wanted to see the look of fear on Ye Chen¡¯s face once his tactics were exposed.


    However, Xue Xian saw no trace of fear on Ye Chen¡¯s face.


    He even heard Ye Chen say, "Hmm, you think my trump card is the ¡¯Blue Extreme Iceflame¡¯? Sorry, I haven¡¯t resolved its backlash yet, and won¡¯t resort to using it."


    "As for what I¡¯ll use against you, there¡¯s no point in telling you, since you¡¯re about to be a dead man, and it would be useless to say!"


    "Make your move, or soon you won¡¯t have the chance to make one!"


    Ye Chen¡¯s words caused a jolt in Xue Xian¡¯s heart.


    If Ye Chen wasn¡¯t relying on the "Blue Extreme Iceflame", then what was he depending on?


    Even if it were some other method, it couldn¡¯t possibly break through the defenses of his "Heavenly Mother Ghost Orchid Pearl."


    "Hmph, bluffing even in the face of death, still daring to speak so boldly!"


    Xue Xian couldn¡¯t think of any other tactic Ye Chen might have and didn¡¯t wish to continue pondering.


    With a grim expression, he pinched a talisman with his hand, and the colossal Black Python Dharma that had formed above him in the void suddenly transformed into a solid black python that darted towards Ye Chen with unimaginable speed!


    "My God, it¡¯s Xue Xian¡¯s most fearsome move, the ¡¯Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python¡¯! With a single move, Xue Xian has brought out his most formidable skill; he¡¯s attempting to kill Ye Chen in one fell swoop!"


    "With Xue Xian¡¯s defense being the mysterious ¡¯Heavenly Mother Ghost Orchid Pearl¡¯ and his attack, the ¡¯Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python¡¯, can Ye Chen still hold out, and how will he defend himself?"


    In the instant the black python attacked, all eyes frantically turned to Ye Chen.


    But even the True Gods and Divine Kings, with their speed of sight, were not as fast as the "Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python", and at this moment, the Python¡¯s attack had already reached above Ye Chen¡¯s head!


    The Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python was a true spirit poisonous beast that Xue Xian had cultivated by gathering a thousand and one types of toxins and breeding ninety-nine True Spirit Poisonous Beasts, making them fight each other until one python was born, which he then nurtured.


    This Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python was frightening both in attack speed and killing power.


    It was with the support of this Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python that he was able to contend against mid-level Divine Sovereigns.


    At this moment, seeing the Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python bearing down on Ye Chen, Xue Xian seemed to have already foreseen Ye Chen being slaughtered into smoke and could not help but sneer smugly.


    But the next moment, Xue Xian¡¯s smirk abruptly ceased.


    Because Xue Xian saw that on Ye Chen¡¯s body, an unimaginably fast, shiny, conical object shot out.


    This conical object, which was only the size of a fist, was even faster than the "Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python." In just an instant, the conical object turned into an incredibly strange white lightning.


    Thud!


    Almost in the blink of an eye, this bolt of white lightning disintegrated the colossal "Heaven-Devouring Poisonous Python" into ash, and then, just as quickly, shot towards Xue Xian.


    Xue Xian, already stunned, felt coldness seep into him in an instant.


    However, thinking of the "Heavenly Mother Ghost Orchid Pearl" given to him by Yang Yun, Xue Xian¡¯s heart settled again.


    But just as this sense of security flashed through his mind, Xue Xian saw the protective lights of the "Heavenly Mother Ghost Orchid Pearl" around him fail to stop the incoming white lightning¡ªit was instantly pierced through!


    Following that, Xue Xian had no time to react before the white lightning straightaway disintegrated him, leaving not even a speck of ash behind!


    Snap.


    After that, the white lightning reverted to a conical shape and fell from the void.


    At this moment, the shiny light on the conical object had disappeared, as if its divine power was exhausted, turning into a useless object.


    The conical object landed on the Platform of Life and Death, and Xue Xian was killed in an instant, leaving only Ye Chen on the platform.


    Everyone had scarcely seen the battle between Ye Chen and Xue Xian when they saw Xue Xian dead on the Platform of Life and Death.


    Silence.


    For a moment, the entire area of the Platform of Life and Death was utterly silent!


    The three-star Sovereign elder in charge of the "Platform of Life and Death" stood there with his mouth agape in shock.


    Even as a three-star Sovereign, he had never seen the kind of white lightning cone that Ye Chen had just unleashed!


    And the others were completely stunned.


    They had considered the possibility that Ye Chen might win, and even more so had anticipated Ye Chen would be slain by Xue Xian.


    But they had never imagined that Xue Xian would not withstand even a single blow from Ye Chen and would be instantly slayed right there in the arena!


    Now the ones covered in a cold sweat were Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    They sensed that had they been the ones on the Platform of Life and Death, it might not have been Xue Xian who died, but them!


    Luckily they had sent Xue Xian to fight first; otherwise, they would have been the ones to perish!


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan couldn¡¯t believe that even without using the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Ye Chen still possessed such a terrifyingly lethal ability.


    Their fear of Ye Chen instantly soared, as if they were facing a powerful Sovereign.


    Because they had no idea how many more hidden cards Ye Chen might have!


    Amidst their intense unease, Ye Chen, who stood on the Platform of Life and Death, looked at them.


    Ye Chen spoke directly to Yang Yun and Yang Yan, "My issue with Xue Xian has been resolved."


    "As I said earlier, after settling things with him, it¡¯s time to settle things with you two."


    "This Platform of Life and Death is just perfect."


    "Yang Yun, Yang Yan, I hereby challenge you to a duel to the death here. Do you dare accept?!"

 Chapter 776 - 727: Use the Other鈥檚 Way, Return to the Other鈥檚 Body

    Yang Yun, Yang Yan, I challenge you here to a life-and-death battle. Do you dare accept?!


    Ye Chen¡¯s voice echoed throughout the entire Platform of Life and Death area.


    With a "swoosh," all eyes instantly fixed on Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    The disciples from the Supreme Divine Institute, who had earlier witnessed the conflict between Ye Chen and Yang Yun and Yang Yan,


    were primarily focused on the life-and-death battle between Ye Chen and Xue Xian and hadn¡¯t taken the issue with Yang Yun and Yang Yan into consideration.


    What they hadn¡¯t expected was for Xue Xian to be killed by Ye Chen in an instant.


    And Ye Chen immediately turned his spearhead towards Yang Yun and Yang Yan!


    To challenge them on the Platform of Life and Death.


    At this moment, no one believed Ye Chen lacked the cards to spar with Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    After all, the way Ye Chen had previously slain Xue Xian was too mysterious; they hadn¡¯t even gotten a clear look before Xue Xian was already dead.


    Even without a clear view, these people could feel that if Yang Yun and Yang Yan weren¡¯t prepared, Ye Chen genuinely possessed the means to execute them.


    "Challenge us?"


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan were still reeling from the chilling fear of Xue Xian being instantly killed by Ye Chen, not expecting that Ye Chen would direct his challenge at them.


    The two of them had come to see Ye Chen become a laughingstock.


    They wanted to see Ye Chen too afraid to accept Xue Xian¡¯s life-and-death challenge, having no choice but to agree to three exceedingly humiliating conditions.


    They never thought Ye Chen could kill Xue Xian in seconds, let alone that Ye Chen would challenge them.


    They were completely unprepared!


    Even though they had some exceptionally powerful treasures on them, they had no idea what thing Ye Chen had used to execute Xue Xian. How could they fight a life-and-death battle with Ye Chen?


    If they didn¡¯t accept Ye Chen¡¯s challenge, they would belong to those on the Platform of Life and Death too afraid to fight.


    According to the rules, that meant they would have to accept three conditions from Ye Chen.


    Indeed.


    While Yang Yun and Yang Yan were caught by surprise, Ye Chen looked at them and coldly smiled, "You two, if you don¡¯t dare to accept my ¡¯Platform of Life and Death¡¯ challenge, then it¡¯s simple, just agree to my three conditions according to the rules of the Platform of Life and Death!"


    "These three conditions, they aren¡¯t the least bit unreasonable."


    "The first condition is that you prepare a banquet, invite all my friends, and apologize to me!"


    "The second condition is that whenever you see me, you automatically step aside if you¡¯re within three hundred yards of me and cannot come closer!"


    "The third condition, I¡¯m not asking to take over your dwellings. I can¡¯t even enter the God King Cave Dwelling to cultivate. So just write an apology on a light screen and hang it outside your dwelling for a month!"


    Familiar.


    After hearing these three conditions, everyone felt an immense sense of familiarity.


    Weren¡¯t these three conditions exactly the same as those Xue Xian had proposed earlier to humiliate Ye Chen?!


    It was just the third condition that changed, as Xue Xian said Ye Chen wouldn¡¯t dare accept his life-and-death challenge and was expected to vacate his dwelling to let him occupy it for a month.


    As Ye Chen was still in the True God Realm and couldn¡¯t enter the God King Cave Dwelling to cultivate, he changed the requirement to having the two write an apology and hang it outside their dwelling.


    Everyone realized that Ye Chen was engaged in "paying back in kind."


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan had previously used Xue Xian to try to humiliate Ye Chen with these three conditions.


    Now, Ye Chen was using the same three conditions to humiliate Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Ye Chen¡¯s daring to challenge Xue Xian had spared him the humiliation of the three conditions.


    Now, everyone wanted to see whether Yang Yun and Yang Yan would accept the life-and-death challenge or suffer the three conditions turned back on them!


    "Ye Chen, do not go too far!"


    Hearing Ye Chen¡¯s three conditions, Yang Yun and Yang Yan¡¯s faces turned beet red!


    Humiliation.


    This was thorough humiliation indeed!


    They had set up conditions to humiliate Ye Chen, but now Ye Chen was turning it back on them, forcing them to agree.


    If they truly accepted, they would lose all face!


    If Ye Chen, who was in the True God Realm, agreed to those three conditions, he would be mocked; but for them, one being the first on the Divine King ranking and the other the third, to agree to these conditions in full public view would make them the Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s biggest joke.


    "I¡¯m going too far?" Ye Chen looked at Yang Yun and Yang Yan with a cold gaze, "I wonder who was the first to send Xue Xian to force these three conditions on me! Those who insult others, will be insulted in turn!"


    "If you don¡¯t dare accept these three conditions, then step onto the ¡¯Platform of Life and Death¡¯ and fight me!"


    As he spoke, Ye Chen didn¡¯t care about their dark expressions and turned to the three-star Venerable Elder in charge of the Platform of Life and Death.


    Ye Chen said to the three-star Venerable Elder, "Elder, here and now, I formally issue a Platform of Life and Death challenge to Yang Yun and Yang Yan!"


    "If they dare not accept, they must fulfill the three conditions I just mentioned!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen was clearly not just intimidating Yang Yun and Yang Yan. After he formally presented his challenge to the elder in charge of the Platform of Life and Death, it had to be executed.


    The disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute below could see that Ye Chen truly wasn¡¯t afraid of Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Just as he had said earlier, he was intending to settle accounts with Yang Yun and Yang Yan!


    The Three-Star Venerable Elder in charge of the "Platform of Life and Death" was also startled upon hearing Ye Chen¡¯s requests.


    Standing behind Yang Yun and Yang Yan was the "Tai Yun Heaven" force, one of the four great powers, yet Ye Chen was not afraid of them at all. This made the Three-Star Venerable Elder hold Ye Chen in even higher regard.


    But after thinking about some things, the Three-Star Venerable relaxed.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan had "Tai Yun Heaven" behind them, but Ye Chen was by no means weaker.


    The Three-Star Venerable Elder was aware of Sovereign Xuechen¡¯s interest in Ye Chen and had heard about the concern the Northern Territory King, East Territory King, Southern Territory King, and others had for Ye Chen.


    Although Yang Yun and Yang Yan were also the younger generation,


    compared to them, the power behind Ye Chen was in no way smaller than that of "Tai Yun Heaven"!


    And this Three-Star Venerable Elder, of course, respected Sovereign Xuechen far more than the people of "Tai Yun Heaven".


    With this in mind, the Three-Star Venerable Elder directly said to Yang Yun and Yang Yan, "Ye Chen¡¯s three conditions are indeed not unreasonable."


    "Since he has proposed a life-and-death challenge against you two, either accept the challenge or agree to those three conditions."


    "What will you two choose?"


    The words of the Three-Star Venerable Elder left Yang Yun and Yang Yan choked with anger.


    They really had no way out now.


    They had initially come up with those three conditions to humiliate Ye Chen, relying on the rules of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Now, Ye Chen was using those rules to his advantage, demanding they comply, and they didn¡¯t have any way to refuse.


    As for a life-and-death battle with Ye Chen?


    Although the two hailed from the significant force of "Tai Yun Heaven" and were core juniors within it, they were still only at the Divine King Realm and not yet Divine Venerables.


    And there were many more juniors like them.


    They were still under various observations and tests of "Tai Yun Heaven" and didn¡¯t have as many opportunities as Ye Chen did, nor did they possess the numerous trump cards in his hand.


    Even if they also had some extraordinary trump cards.


    But Ye Chen¡¯s several displays of force, whether it was slaughtering Qin Feng before their eyes in the Nine Suns Ancient Land or now executing Xue Xian on the Platform of Life and Death, had truly made them fearful.


    Having no absolute certainty that they could kill Ye Chen, why would they risk their lives against him?


    Being born into privilege, Yang Yun and Yang Yan cared greatly for their own lives!


    Yet, to save themselves, they had to agree to Ye Chen¡¯s three conditions, which rendered them unable to voice their opposition.


    At this moment, the Little Provincial Princess, seeing the changing expressions on Yang Yun and Yang Yan¡¯s faces and their reticence to speak, taunted them, "What¡¯s the matter, Yang Yun and Yang Yan? Don¡¯t tell me you don¡¯t even understand the rules of the Supreme Divine Institute¡¯s ¡¯Platform of Life and Death¡¯?"


    "I¡¯ve just arrived at the Supreme Divine Institute, and even I know the rules of the ¡¯Platform of Life and Death¡¯. Do you want me to explain the rules to you on behalf of Brother Ye Chen?"


    The Little Provincial Princess was by no means polite to Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    She had hurriedly come after finding out about their previous attempt to coerce Ye Chen through Xue Xian, and now that Ye Chen had finally got out of a crisis, she certainly wouldn¡¯t let Yang Yun and Yang Yan leave so easily.


    Provoked by the little princess and seeing that the Three-Star Venerable Elder in charge of the "Platform of Life and Death" was about to speak again, as well as witnessing the whispering and expressions of the surrounding Supreme Divine Institute disciples,


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan knew they couldn¡¯t escape the humiliation this time.


    With faces turning red, they said to Ye Chen, "Fine, Ye Chen, we admit defeat this time."


    "A life-and-death duel on the Platform? Our lives are far more valuable than yours!"


    "We agree to the three conditions."


    "Tomorrow we will set up a feast to apologize to you, and we will hang that apology light screen outside our cave!"


    Hmph!


    After stiffly saying these things, Yang Yun and Yang Yan slunk away like beaten dogs, dejected and disheveled.


    Seeing the two depart, Ye Chen flashed a cold glint in his eyes, "We will settle our score another time!"


    Just now, to kill Xue Xian, he had used one of the six "Xuan Divine Cones" found in the hidden Lightning Cave of Sovereign Lei Fa.


    He still had five Xuan Divine Cones left in his hand.


    It was indeed inappropriate to take action against Yang Yun and Yang Yan at the Supreme Divine Institute, and these five Xuan Divine Cones also served as a lifesaving trump card for Ye Chen, which he couldn¡¯t use lightly.


    But Ye Chen was determined in his heart that one day he would completely resolve these two threats from Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Today, they had found the "Heavenly Mother Ghost Orchid Pearl" to counter his "Blue Extreme Iceflame"; in the future, they might have other tricks to use against him.


    Ye Chen was not about to remain passive and take the hits forever.


    In addition to enhancing his strength and preparing more strategies, Ye Chen would also ensure all dangers were thoroughly dealt with.


    "It seems more necessary than ever to make a breakthrough to the God King Realm!"


    "This time was disrupted by Xue Xian and I couldn¡¯t visit the ¡¯Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion¡¯ to inquire about the ¡¯Tribulation Inducing Pill¡¯. Now that this matter is settled, I must hurry to obtain the ¡¯Tribulation Inducing Pill¡¯ and advance to the God King Realm as soon as possible!"


    Thinking this, Ye Chen leapt down from the "Platform of Life and Death", gave a nod to the Little Provincial Princess, Mu Ling, and Mu Xiao, then headed towards the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion".

 Chapter 777 - 728 Merit Points and Ni Shan God King

    ```


    Hearing that Ye Chen was going to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" to gather information, the Little Provincial Princess and the others certainly wouldn''t hinder him.


    They were also curious about what Ye Chen would inquire about, so several of them followed Ye Chen towards the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion".


    This time, there were no conflicts, and Ye Chen quickly climbed the hundreds of steps up to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion", reaching the first floor of the five-story building.


    This first floor of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" was different from other cultivation pavilions, as inside there was only a long table with two young boys standing behind it.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen entering, one of the young boys asked, "Senior Brother, you''re here at the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion'' to gather news, right? Show your token, and I will take you to the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Chamber'' where an elder will address your queries."


    Ye Chen, having understood many rules of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" from the introductory texts, certainly knew what the "Ten Thousand Spirits Chamber" was.


    After smiling lightly, Ye Chen took out his disciple token.


    When the two young boys saw that Ye Chen''s token represented the number one disciple of the "True God Ranking List", their little faces also revealed a look of shock.


    They were disciples of an elder of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" and were on duty on the first floor several days each month.


    Initially, upon seeing Ye Chen''s clothes indicating he was from the most precious first cave dwelling area, the two boys were somewhat taken aback.


    And upon seeing that Ye Chen, who was not much older than they were, was not only a resident of the first cave dwelling area but also the top-ranked within it, it naturally made the young boys'' hearts tremble.


    In the Supreme Divine Institute, there were tens of thousands of True God disciples, and here before them stood a youth who was around twenty years old and ranked first!


    "Senior Brother, based on your token''s level, you may enter the fourth floor''s ''Ten Thousand Spirits Chamber'' of the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion'', where an Immortal Divine Venerable elder will receive you!"


    After returning Ye Chen''s disciple token to him, the two young boys took out a pass token, handed it to Ye Chen, and guided him towards the fourth floor of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion".


    Ye Chen smiled and headed towards the teleportation array leading to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion''s" fourth floor.


    Through the introductory texts, Ye Chen knew that the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" was divided into five floors.


    The first floor was specifically for True God disciples to gather information.


    The second floor was for God King disciples to seek news.


    The third floor was the place for Divine Venerable disciples to seek out information.


    Naturally, there were exceptions; the top ten names from the three major lists - the True God Ranking List, the God King List, and the Divine Venerable List - could directly enter the fourth floor of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" to seek news.


    As for the fifth floor, only the elders and sovereigns of the Supreme Divine Institute could enter to seek information.


    The higher up one went, the wider the range information one could gather.


    As the number one of the "True God Ranking List", Ye Chen naturally had the privilege to enter the fourth floor of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion".


    Gathering information touched upon many secrets.


    Of course, it wouldn''t be in an open area.


    Everyone would enter an exclusive chamber for information, which in the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion", was the "Ten Thousand Spirits Chamber".


    Whoosh.


    Standing in the teleportation circle, amidst a surge of teleporting divine light, Ye Chen arrived in one of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Chambers" on the fourth floor of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion".


    And at this moment, clearly having heard the report from the young boys below, an Immortal Divine Venerable elder was already waiting in the chamber.


    "Are you the disciple here to seek information this time?"


    "I heard from the two young lads that you''re number one on the True God Ranking List. Could you be that Ye Chen?"


    The Immortal Divine Venerable elder looked at Ye Chen curiously.


    Obviously, he had also heard of Ye Chen.


    Within the Supreme Divine Institute, only those of Divine Venerable level or higher were qualified to join the institute as elders.


    Of course, some Divine Venerables preferred not to be elders, truly focusing on cultivation instead, and remained as disciples.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected his reputation to be so widespread; not only did the three-star sovereign elder from the "Platform of Life and Death" recognize him, but this "Ten Thousand Spirits Chamber''s" Immortal Divine Venerable had also heard about him.


    Ye Chen simply smiled at the Immortal Divine Venerable elder and replied, "Senior, I indeed am Ye Chen."


    "This time, I would like to seek information on three things."


    According to the rules of the Supreme Divine Institute, every disciple had the opportunity to seek information at the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" three times a year.


    Ye Chen was ready to use up all three opportunities at once.


    "Three pieces of information?" Hearing Ye Chen''s words, the Immortal Divine Venerable elder laughed, "Alright, if we have records of the matters you seek to inquire about in the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion'', you will be informed."


    "Of course, if there are no records, then your inquiry will be invalid, and it will count as a wasted opportunity. Ye Chen, you must make good use of these three opportunities to seek information."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He understood the rules.


    The three matters he was about to query were those that Ye Chen had considered for a long time.


    Even if the inquiries failed, Ye Chen wouldn''t regret it.


    If nothing else, he would simply seek other matters he wanted to know about the following year.


    "Senior, the first thing I wish to inquire about is whether the Supreme Divine Institute has the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'', and if so, how one can obtain it?"


    The first thing Ye Chen asked about was what he was extremely concerned about: the Tribulation Inducing Pill, a significant aid in breaking through to the God King Realm.


    "The Tribulation Inducing Pill?!"


    "Ye Chen, are you really planning to use the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'' to break through to the God King Realm?! That is extremely dangerous!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen inquire about the "Tribulation Inducing Pill," the Immortal Divine Venerable was taken aback.


    But soon after, as if realizing something, the Immortal Divine Venerable let out a sigh in his heart.


    "This Ye Chen had taken on the three demands of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King. The first demand, to be the first in the assessments of the nine Divine Institutes, he had already accomplished. The second demand is to go to ''Heavenly God Mountain'' and come out alive from within."


    "That ''Heavenly God Mountain'' is set to open in just over two years."


    "The time left for Ye Chen is not much."


    "If he is inquiring about the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill,'' he is probably aiming to break into the God King Realm sooner and snatch the quota for ''Heavenly God Mountain.'' After all, only those in the God King Realm have a chance to gain a quota to ''Heavenly God Mountain.''


    "Ye Chen is indeed under a lot of pressure!"


    After reflecting for a moment, seeing that Ye Chen continued to insist on asking about the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill,'' the elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable naturally did not fail to reply.


    The elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable flipped his palm, and a white crystal orb appeared in his hand.


    Then, the elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable placed his other palm on the crystal orb, closed his eyes, and began to sense something, as if searching for some information.


    Ye Chen curiously watched the white crystal orb in the hands of the elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable.


    "It is rumored that the reason why the Supreme Divine Institute''s ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion'' is able to hear countless pieces of news is because there are numerous former disciples who trained at the Divine Institute returning various pieces of information to the Supreme Divine Institute. Moreover, the Institute has countless Investigation Emissaries specifically collecting all sorts of news in the Divine Kingdom."


    "In the end, all these pieces of news are recorded within a marvel of the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion.''


    "It seems that this white crystal orb in the hands of the elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable is likely an item used to communicate with that treasure which stores countless messages."


    As Ye Chen was contemplating this,


    The elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable, as if he had finished his search, opened his eyes.


    He said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, there are indeed over a dozen ''Tribulation Inducing Pills'' left in our Supreme Divine Institute. If you want one, as long as you meet the conditions, you can go to the ''Divine Elixir Pavilion'' to obtain it."


    "As for the condition to get the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill,'' it''s not easy for you. According to the rules of the ''Divine Elixir Pavilion,'' only with ''one hundred thousand Merit Points'' can you exchange for a ''Tribulation Inducing Pill''!"


    One hundred thousand Merit Points?!


    Hearing this news, Ye Chen was shocked!


    Of course, he knew what "Merit Points" were.


    In the Supreme Divine Institute, disciples who complete the tasks of the Supreme Divine Institute can obtain "Merit Points."


    The use of these "Merit Points" is significant, as they can be exchanged for various cultivation resources, and even for Heaven-reaching Divine Art and Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art!


    Although the Supreme Divine Institute also provides disciples with basic cultivation resources, if one wants more resources, they must be exchanged for with "Merit Points."


    Ye Chen had just joined the Supreme Divine Institute and didn''t have a single Merit Point.


    Yet, he was expected to come up with "one hundred thousand Merit Points" to exchange for a "Tribulation Inducing Pill"!


    Ye Chen had heard that "Merit Points" were difficult to earn. To amass one hundred thousand Merit Points, one must complete the very challenging tasks assigned by the Institute!


    "Ye Chen, you''re inquiring about the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill,'' I can tell you everything about it."


    "To gather one hundred thousand Merit Points in a short time, you probably need to select a ''Level Five Mission'' from the Institute''s ''Merit Mission Pavilion'' to complete it. That ''Level Five Mission'' is normally something that only Earth Divine Venerables can accomplish!"


    The elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable spoke again.


    A task level that only Earth Divine Venerables could accomplish?!


    Ye Chen narrowed his eyes.


    From this level, Ye Chen could see how arduous and dangerous the task was.


    Ye Chen had seen in the records that many disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute had fallen while accomplishing the mission of the sect!


    And for him, a mission at the level of Earth Divine Venerable indeed carried an incredibly high risk of death!


    Ye Chen took a deep breath and committed to memory the first piece of information the elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable had shared with him.


    No matter what, he had to strive for the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill''!


    About the "Tribulation Inducing Pill" and the "Merit Points" needed to exchange for it, Ye Chen planned to go to the "Merit Mission Pavilion" and take a good look once he left the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion."


    But before that, he still needed to inquire about two other things.


    Ye Chen then said to the elder of the Immortal Divine Venerable, "Predecessor, I have finished asking about the first matter, now for the second matter, I would like to inquire about a person."


    "This person''s name is ''Ni Shan God King''!"


    Ni Shan God King.


    Ye Chen had never forgotten this name.


    Because it was this very person who had killed the Icebound God King, who had shown him great kindness!


    Ye Chen had obtained the legacy of the Icebound God King, and with the help of the Icebound guards Bing Shiyi to Bing Shijiu, as well as Bing Yi, Bing Wu, and Bing Qi, he had escaped from numerous crises.


    Ye Chen had promised the spirit of the Icebound Temple that, given the chance, he would definitely take revenge for the Icebound God King.


    Now, Ye Chen''s strength was such that he no longer feared countless superior God Kings.


    It was time for him to take revenge for the Icebound God King and for the master of Bing Yi and her companions!

 Chapter 778 - 729: Level 5 Mission

    "Ni Shan God King?"


    The Immortal Divine Venerable Elder was taken aback.


    He hadn''t expected that Ye Chen, with his identity, would spend the cost of one inquiry to ask about someone at the God King level whom he had never even heard of.


    "Perhaps, this ''Ni Shan God King'' has some connection to Ye Chen," he speculated.


    The Immortal Divine Venerable Elder smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Let me investigate."


    Having said that, the Immortal Divine Venerable Elder once again placed his palm on the crystal sphere, searching for news of the "Ni Shan God King."


    Seeing the movements of the Immortal Divine Venerable Elder, Ye Chen''s heart also began to race.


    So many years had passed, and Ye Chen didn''t know how the "Ni Shan God King" was faring now, or where he might be.


    If even the Supreme Divine Institute could not find any news of him, then the plan to take revenge for the Frozen God King would likely have to be postponed again.


    However, what the Immortal Divine Venerable Elder said next allowed Ye Chen to let go of the anxiety he was holding.


    "Hmm, there are records of this ''Ni Shan God King'' in the Supreme Divine Institute."


    "Senior, where is this ''Ni Shan God King'' now? And what is his current realm?" Ye Chen quickly asked.


    Although the Frozen God King and Ni Shan God King were both ordinary Upper God Kings, not the type with exceptional talents, and it had taken them countless years to break through to the Upper God King realm, it was unlikely they would advance quickly after that.


    Breaking through to the Earth Divine Venerable level would be impressive enough, and advancing to the Heavenly Divine Venerable level was almost impossible.


    Ye Chen, possessing the "Xuan Divine Cone," was not afraid of Ni Shan God King''s potential rise in realm.


    However, if Ye Chen was to deal with him, he would naturally need to thoroughly investigate all kinds of information about the man and be fully prepared.


    The Immortal Divine Venerable Elder took his hand off the crystal sphere and looked at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, this ''Ni Shan God King'' has appeared in some of the information collected by our Supreme Divine Institute. He is quite a minor character; I didn''t expect his information would be useful to you."


    "This person appeared three years ago in the Star Continent known as ''Snow Lotus Mountain'' within the ''Western Territory'' of the Divine Kingdom. At that time, this person was at the Mid Earth Divine Venerable realm."


    Western Territory? Snow Lotus Mountain in the Star Continent? Mid Earth Divine Venerable realm?


    Ye Chen nodded, his fist quietly clenched.


    Though he currently did not have the strength to kill a Mid Earth Divine Venerable on his own, with the "Xuan Divine Cone," not to mention a Mid Earth Divine Venerable, even an Upper Earth Divine Venerable could be slain directly!


    Ye Chen still had five "Xuan Divine Cones" left, and to use one to avenge the Frozen God King was something Ye Chen would not hesitate to do!


    "I need to get the ''Calamity Attracting Pill,'' and according to what the elder said, it seems I must accept a level five mission to do so."


    "And accepting a level five mission definitely means leaving the Supreme Divine Institute. Once I go out and complete this level five mission, I''ll find time to head to the Snow Lotus Mountain in the Western Territory and completely settle the matter with ''Ni Shan God King''!"


    Ye Chen pondered in his heart.


    The two pieces of information he had inquired about, the "Calamity Attracting Pill" and "Ni Shan God King," both had leads now.


    Ye Chen had one last inquiry opportunity left.


    At this moment, the Immortal Divine Venerable Elder also looked at Ye Chen and smiled, "Ye Chen, you have one final inquiry chance left for this year, are you sure you want to use it now?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Senior, I''m certain I want to use it."


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen spoke.


    "Senior, I''d like to inquire about the whereabouts of a group of people."


    "This group comes from a lower plane Star Continent called ''Celestial Spirit Star,'' descendants of an ancient tribe known as the ''Divine Phoenix Clan.'' Later, these people were taken away by someone named ''Black Crow God King,'' and there has been no word of them since. Senior, I''d like to know if there have been any sightings of them recently, as well as the whereabouts of that ''Black Crow God King''!"


    The third matter Ye Chen inquired about was the issue of Jiang Yao''s people, the "Divine Phoenix Clan!"


    This matter was also one that Ye Chen deeply cared about!


    Jiang Yao had always wanted to find her father, mother, her grandfather, her tribespeople.


    Originally, Mrs. He and several Sovereign-level experts had gone to track the whereabouts of ''Black Crow God King.'' They discovered that the ''Black Crow God King'' had disappeared with the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan into a mysterious ice cave, and since then, no trace of them was found.


    If even a nine-star Sovereign like Mrs. He could not find their trace, Ye Chen did not hold out much hope that the Supreme Divine Institute would be able to do so.


    However, though he was not hopeful, he must still ask!


    After all, more than a year had passed, and some clues might have surfaced!


    Even if there was a slim chance, Ye Chen wanted to help Jiang Yao seek news!


    Even if it meant using up a precious inquiry opportunity, Ye Chen would spare no expense!


    Upon hearing the unprecedented excitement in Ye Chen''s voice, the Immortal Divine Venerable elder knew that this member of the "Divine Phoenix Clan" must have a significant connection with Ye Chen.


    The Immortal Divine Venerable elder had heard that Ye Chen came from the lower plane of the Star Continent.


    It was probably this "Celestial Spirit Star" Star Continent that he was asking about!


    "Ye Chen, rest assured, I will thoroughly investigate all the news records of the Supreme Divine Institute to see if I can find out the information you''ve been asking for!"


    After speaking, the Immortal Divine Venerable elder put his hand on the crystal ball, his expression becoming exceedingly solemn.


    The matter that Ye Chen wanted to inquire about, of course, he would investigate with all his might, without a single omission!


    Thud! Thud! Thud!


    As time ticked away, seeing the Immortal Divine Venerable elder''s frown deepen more and more, Ye Chen''s heart gradually sank.


    After a long while, the Immortal Divine Venerable elder reluctantly removed his hand and shook his head at Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, I''m sorry."


    "According to the records of the Supreme Divine Institute, the earliest account of Black Crow God King was from over a hundred years ago at an auction he attended. After that, there was no more news of him."


    Over a hundred years ago?!


    That was clearly before the disappearance of the Black Crow God King in the mysterious ice cave.


    That time frame was of no use at all.


    Ye Chen let out a disappointed sigh.


    He knew that the matter concerning Black Crow God King and the Divine Phoenix Clan was not going to be as easy to resolve as the case with "Ni Shan God King."


    However, after sighing, Ye Chen''s eyes brightened again.


    Even though his search for information was unsuccessful this time, Ye Chen would not give up his inquiries. Every year from now on, he would ask, he would search!


    Until he completely found that "Black Crow God King" and located the members of the Divine Phoenix Clan!


    After his thoughts raced for a moment, Ye Chen stood up and bid farewell to the Immortal Divine Venerable elder.


    The three questions he had come to ask were now asked, with both gains and losses.


    Ye Chen left the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" with the Immortal Divine Venerable elder seeing him off.


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    The Little Provincial Princess, Mu Ling, Mu Xiao, and others were all still waiting for Ye Chen outside the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion."


    As Ye Chen came out of the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, the Little Provincial Princess ran directly in front of him.


    "Brother Ye Chen, what news were you inquiring about inside the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion''?"


    Hearing the Little Provincial Princess''s question, Mu Ling laughed and said, "Sister Fang Luo, according to the rules of the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion,'' the information inquired about cannot be disclosed so freely."


    Hearing Mu Ling''s words, the Little Provincial Princess helplessly patted her forehead: "Then I won''t ask Brother Ye Chen."


    "Brother Ye Chen, are you going back to the First Cave Mansion Area now, or are you headed somewhere else? I can only move around in the junior disciple area, and it''s really boring. If you have nothing else to do, come with me and wander around."


    Looking at the pitiful appearance of the Little Provincial Princess, Ye Chen laughed and said, "I still have to make a visit to the ''Merit Mission Pavilion.'' Once I''m out of there, I''ll accompany you."


    "Alright!" The Little Provincial Princess smiled happily and nodded, "Then I''ll accompany you to the ''Merit Mission Pavilion.''


    Hearing that Ye Chen was heading to the "Merit Mission Pavilion," both Mu Ling and Mu Xiao''s eyes flashed: "It seems that the information you inquired about is related to the ''Merit Mission Pavilion'' as well."


    "We two also plan to take on some missions and accumulate Merit Points soon, so it would be perfect for us to go and have a look together."


    The Merit Mission Pavilion was only tens of thousands of feet away from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion."


    Soon, Ye Chen and his companions arrived at the "Merit Mission Pavilion."


    This "Merit Mission Pavilion," unlike the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion" being a five-story pavilion, was a massive and immense hall.


    Many disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute went in and out, not only True God Disciples and God King Disciples but even disciples and elders from the Divine Venerable Realm were numerous.


    Looking toward the interior of the hall, one could see nine light screens on the walls, each representing a different level of mission, from the lowest level one to the highest level nine, which only those in the Sovereign Realm would undertake.


    "Ye Chen, we''re planning to look at level four missions, which level of missions are you planning to check?" Mu Ling asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled: "I''m going to look at level five missions."


    "Level five missions?!" Hearing this, both Mu Ling and Mu Xiao''s eyes went wide, "Ye Chen, those are tasks usually taken by Earth Divine Venerable, and they are extremely dangerous!"

 Chapter 779 - 730: Demon Tomb, Thunder Turtle

    Mu Ling and Mu Xiao were utterly shocked that Ye Chen intended to take on a fifth-level task.


    Even though they were both incredibly powerful within the Divine Kingdom, they only dared to take on fourth-level tasks. Though Ye Chen''s combat power during the slaying of Xue Xian had surpassed theirs, the two could see that was not his inherent strength; it was thanks to a rare item.


    At present, Ye Chen''s combat power was, at most, roughly the same as theirs.


    Yet fifth-level tasks were countless times more dangerous than the fourth-level ones!


    After all, fifth-level tasks were specifically designed for those at the Earth Divine Venerable level, and most tasks could only be hoped to be completed by someone with combat power of a high Earth Divine Venerable.


    Moreover, completing tasks is not the same as other trials. In many cases, a moment of inattention could result in death during the task.


    Without at least an eighty percent certainty of securing the task, disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute wouldn''t even consider accepting it.


    And even so, there have been numerous instances of disciples perishing while undertaking tasks in the past.


    In such circumstances, that Ye Chen would rashly opt for a fifth-level task was naturally inconceivable to Mu Ling and Mu Xiao.


    "Brother Ye Chen, I''ve heard that with combat power at the level of a low Earth Divine Venerable, it''s safer to take on fourth-level tasks. For fifth-level tasks, even those with a high Earth Divine Venerable level of combat power can''t be one hundred percent sure of success. It''s very dangerous."


    The Little Provincial Princess also expressed her concern upon hearing that Ye Chen intended to take on a fifth-level task.


    Ye Chen patted the Little Provincial Princess''s head and smiled at Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, "A fifth-level task involves something I need, so I must do it."


    "As for the dangers, I''ll be prepared for them."


    Ye Chen needed ten thousand Merit Points in a short time to exchange for the "Tribulation Inducing Pill", and only by undertaking fifth-level tasks could he achieve that.


    After all, the reward for completing a single fifth-level task was generally over ten thousand Merit Points, whereas completing a fourth-level task only yielded about ten thousand Merit Points.


    Moreover, the tasks assigned by the Supreme Divine Institute typically took a long time to complete.


    Under such circumstances, Ye Chen simply didn''t have the time to accumulate ten thousand Merit Points by undertaking fourth-level tasks.


    And of course, Ye Chen was aware of the dangers of fifth-level tasks.


    However...


    While Ye Chen''s combat power might not yet be at the level of a mid or high Earth Divine Venerable, it wasn''t as if he didn''t have methods and trump cards to handle danger.


    His Star Blue Armor was being nurtured in the cavern of Sovereign Jia Lan, and Xiaojiu had told him that in roughly a month''s time, he could nurture the Star Blue Armor to transformation successfully.


    By then, with the "Star Blue Armor," Ye Chen would possess the confidence to withstand threats at the level of an Earth Divine Venerable!


    Besides, Ye Chen still held five "Xuan Divine Cones," which could execute Heavenly Divine Venerables and severely injure Immortal Divine Venerables.


    He was quite confident about completing a fifth-level task.


    Seeing that Ye Chen hadn''t given up on selecting a fifth-level task, Mu Ling and Mu Xiao could only watch him with some concern, "Then Ye Chen, go and choose a task from the fifth-level task area, try to pick one with a higher safety rating."


    "We''re heading to the fourth-level task area."


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile, and after parting ways with Mu Ling and Mu Xiao, he and the Little Provincial Princess headed toward the fifth-level task screen.


    The Merit Mission Pavilion had nine screens, each corresponding to a different level of tasks.


    Beneath each screen was the respective task selection area.


    These nine levels of tasks, with first-level tasks being suited for those with True God level combat power to complete.


    Second to fourth-level tasks were designed for those with God King Level combat power.


    Fifth-level tasks were tailored for Earth Divine Venerables.


    Sixth-level tasks were for those with Heavenly Divine Venerable combat capabilities to undertake.


    Seventh-level tasks were even meant for Immortal Divine Venerables.


    And the highest, the eighth and ninth-level tasks, were exclusive to lower and higher Sovereign Venerables!


    At the moment, in the nine task areas, the most crowded were the second to fourth-level task areas, suitable for God King Level combatants to complete.


    After all, many of the True Gods in the Supreme Divine Institute were still confined to the junior disciple area to study and were simply not allowed to go out on tasks.


    It was the God King Realm disciples who had greatly increased freedom of movement, and most of them relied on undertaking tasks to accumulate Merit Points; hence, they were the main demographic of the Merit Mission Pavilion.


    As for the areas under the fifth, sixth, and seventh-level tasks, even fewer people were gathered.


    And the area for the eighth and ninth-level tasks, exclusive to the Sovereign Venerables, was almost deserted, with the occasional appearance of a powerful Sovereign who would look at the screen for a moment before quickly leaving.


    As Ye Chen approached the fifth-level task area, he saw that there were only dozens of people under this screen.


    And virtually all of these people were Earth Divine Venerables. Even if there were two God Kings, Ye Chen could guess that these two were likely powerful God Kings who were at least on par with mid or high Earth Divine Venerables, probably even within the top ten of the God King List, similar in level to beings like Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    These dozens of people were initially engrossed with the various tasks displayed on the screen, but when they saw Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess walk amongst them, they were taken aback.


    Two True Gods, coming to the fifth-level task area?


    And when they clearly saw the appearances of Ye Chen and the Little Provincial Princess, these Earth Divine Venerable and those two Divine Kings were all shocked in their hearts.


    "It''s the little daughter who is most beloved by the King of the Eastern Province, Princess Fang Luo!"


    "The other one is the new disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute who is now famous¡ªYe Chen!"


    "My god, are they here to choose a level-five mission?! Although they both have great reputations, they definitely can''t complete a level-five mission!"


    "Or are they just here to watch the excitement?"


    While being stared at by these people''s strange gazes, the Little Provincial Princess gave a light smile to the crowd, "I''m not yet qualified to go out on missions, but this time, it''s my brother Ye Chen who''s here to choose a level-five mission."


    Whoosh!


    The Little Provincial Princess''s words immediately made all eyes gather on Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen came to choose a level-five mission?


    He didn''t come to sightsee, he really came to choose a mission?!


    These Earth Divine Venerable and those two Divine Kings were unacquainted with Ye Chen, otherwise, they would have even been unable to resist chatting with him more, to ask him on what grounds he dared to select a level-five mission.


    As for the strange gazes of these Earth Divine Venerable and those two Divine Kings, Ye Chen didn''t care.


    He hadn''t forgotten that he had important business to attend to.


    Upon arriving at the area for level-five missions, Ye Chen looked directly at the information screen.


    At this moment, the screen listed more than a hundred missions.


    "Mission one: Execute the ''Blood Fiend Venerable'', who is ranked third on the ''God-killing List'' of middle-ranking Heavenly Divine Venerable. This mission is limited to disciples below the rank of Heavenly Divine Venerable. Upon completion, the reward is 200,000 Merit Points! Issuer: ''Punishment Court'' of the Supreme Divine Institute."


    Seeing the first mission on the screen, Ye Chen felt a deep shock in his heart.


    The first mission was actually to execute a Heavenly Divine Venerable!


    And it was restricted such that only disciples below the Heavenly Divine Venerable rank could complete this mission.


    This clearly demanded that those Earth Divine Venerable who accepted the mission absolutely had to have the confidence to kill a middle-ranking Heavenly Divine Venerable!


    At this time, Xiaojiu seemed to know Ye Chen''s thoughts and transmitted a message saying, "Ye Chen, many of the missions in the Merit Mission Pavilion are specifically issued by the Supreme Divine Institute to test the abilities of the institute''s disciples."


    "Like this task of executing a middle-ranking Heavenly Divine Venerable, the Supreme Divine Institute could easily execute this person by sending out any Heavenly Divine Venerable or Immortal Divine Venerable."


    "But they''ve restricted it to those below the Heavenly Divine Venerable rank in order to let the extraordinary geniuses below that rank have a chance to stand out and to gain astonishing rewards!"


    "Those capable of completing the mission will receive a huge reward and draw significant attention from the Supreme Divine Institute. Those who fail will be eliminated, and might even lose their lives!"


    "Such arduous missions, practical trials, are key for the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute to transform and grow."


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    Yes.


    The issuer, the "Punishment Court" of the Supreme Divine Institute, had taken the opportunity to execute the "Blood Fiend Venerable" and left it for the disciples, offering a reward of 200,000 Merit Points for it.


    With 100,000 Merit Points, one could exchange them for a "Tribulation Inducing Pill."


    With 200,000 points, without a doubt, once obtained, one could definitely exchange them for even more precious benefits!


    Ye Chen had no intention of undertaking the first mission though.


    Although he had the "Xuan Divine Cone" method to execute a Heavenly Divine Venerable, completing this mission was still fraught with extreme danger. If he were slightly careless and got hit, he didn''t have the ability to withstand an attack from a Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    Ye Chen''s gaze continued to move downward.


    "Mission two: Go to the ''Mu Xiao Manor'' in the Northern Region and participate in the forging of a mysterious treasure. This mission requires one to be of the Earth Divine Venerable rank, consume ten years of time, and possess divine treasure forging abilities. The reward for the mission is 150,000 Merit Points. The issuer is the ''Mu Xiao Manor'' of the Divine Kingdom of the Northern Region."


    Seeing the second mission, Ye Chen shook his head.


    This one didn''t seem highly dangerous, but it required ten years to complete.


    Not to mention that he didn''t have the divine treasure forging abilities, just the time expenditure alone was too much for him to commit to.


    Afterwards, Ye Chen''s gaze moved to other missions on the screen.


    While Ye Chen was selecting a mission, the shock other selectors felt about him choosing a level-five mission had dissipated somewhat, and they also started picking their own missions.


    Whenever a mission was selected, these people would directly go to one of the Heavenly Divine Venerable elders under the screen and receive the mission.


    Once a mission was accepted, it would disappear from the screen and a new mission would appear.


    But when Ye Chen saw the sixth mission on the screen, a flash of understanding sparked in his eyes.


    It read, "Mission six: Travel to the ''Demon Tomb'' in the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom to snatch a ''Thunder Turtle Egg'' from a high-ranking Earth Divine Venerable level ''Thunder Turtle''. The requirement is that the combat strength must reach the Earth Divine Venerable tier of Supreme Divine Institute disciples. The reward for the mission is 130,000 Merit Points. Issuer: Alchemy Master Sovereign Jia Lan of the Supreme Divine Institute."

 Chapter 780 - 731 The Land of the Western Region

    After looking at several missions, Ye Chen felt that the sixth one was the most suitable for him.


    On one hand, this mission only required combat strength at the level of an Earth Divine Venerable to accept, without the need to be in the Earth Divine Venerable realm, which was very suitable for Ye Chen''s situation.


    On the other hand, the reward for this mission was as high as 130,000 Merit Points. Ye Chen had noticed that many later missions were also around 100,000 Merit Points, but some only offered just over 90,000 points and were not enough to exchange for a "Tribulation Inducing Pill".


    These 130,000 Merit Points, however, were more than enough to exchange for a "Tribulation Inducing Pill"!


    What''s more, this mission was located in the western province of the Wan Mu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    As part of his plan, in addition to completing a level five mission, Ye Chen also had another matter to deal with, which was to resolve the issue with the Ice Sealed God King''s enemy, "Ni Shan God King", whom he had just learned about.


    That "Ni Shan God King", according to information gathered from the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, had appeared three years ago in the Star Continent at a place called Snow Lotus Mountain, located in the western province of the Divine Kingdom.


    And from the detailed description of the sixth mission, Ye Chen knew he would pass through the Snow Lotus Mountain in the Star Continent en route to that "Demon Tomb" land.


    If he took on this sixth mission, Ye Chen could first take care of the "Ni Shan God King" matter conveniently before dealing with the sixth mission!


    As for the requirement of the mission to take a "Thunder Turtle Egg" from a senior Earth Divine Venerable level "Thunder Turtle", that wasn''t too difficult for Ye Chen.


    "Let''s see if there are any other more suitable missions first," he thought.


    "If not, I''ll choose this sixth mission."


    After contemplating, Ye Chen continued to look at the other missions below the screen.


    After reviewing over a hundred missions on the screen, Ye Chen''s gaze returned to the sixth mission.


    Although some of the later missions were also very suitable for Ye Chen,


    when compared, the sixth mission was still the most appropriate.


    "I''ll choose this mission!" Ye Chen made his decision in an instant.


    Then, Ye Chen stepped towards the senior divine god serving as the elder in charge of the fifth mission area below the screen.


    When the Earth Divine Venerables below the screen saw Ye Chen''s movement, they quickly stopped looking at the screen and turned their attention to Ye Chen.


    Although these individuals were also selecting missions while Ye Chen was choosing his, they were curious to see which level five mission the nine calamities True God would pick.


    Now, seeing Ye Chen as if he had made his choice, they naturally wanted to see the outcome of his selection.


    "Ye Chen, have you already chosen the level five mission you''d like to undertake?" the senior divine god elder in charge of the level five mission screen asked with a smile.


    "Reporting back to the elder, I have selected my mission, which is the sixth one," Ye Chen replied to the elder.


    "The sixth mission?!" Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, the senior divine god elder''s eyes slightly trembled, "This mission requires taking a ''Thunder Turtle Egg'' from a senior Earth Divine Venerable level ''Thunder Turtle''. That ''Thunder Turtle'' is notoriously ferocious, and without complete suppression, there is no hope of obtaining a ''Thunder Turtle Egg''!"


    "Moreover, that ''Demon Tomb'' land is not a simple realm. It is filled with the corpses of many ancient demonic beasts, and although those beasts are dead, various calamities often occur in that realm."


    "That''s why this mission is ranked as the sixth, among the most challenging ones."


    "Ye Chen, you are indeed a genius, but after all, you are still in the True God Realm, and even if you choose a level five mission, it would be safer to choose those at the very bottom," the elder advised.


    "You must know that failing the mission can affect your opportunity to choose future missions!"


    "Of course, that''s not the most important thing to be concerned about. The minor issue is failing the mission; if you fall during the mission, there''s truly no regret medicine for that!" the senior divine god elder cautioned Ye Chen.


    This elder, who belonged to the lowest rank of junior elders among the elders of the Supreme Divine Institute, had a realm far surpassing Ye Chen''s. Yet, to a notable figure of the Supreme Divine Institute like Ye Chen, the elder was inclined to cultivate good relations with him.


    Ye Chen understood the elder''s good intentions.


    However, some of his methods were not something he could disclose to the elder.


    As for the elder''s mention of the unexpected events in the "Demon Tomb" land,


    Ye Chen had asked Xiaojiu about the "Demon Tomb" land when he was considering the sixth mission.


    Xiaojiu was indeed familiar with the "Demon Tomb" land.


    Xiaojiu also told Ye Chen that the "Demon Tomb" land, filled with the corpses of countless ancient demonic beasts and dense with Yin energy, could only be safely navigated with extreme Yang methods.


    Ye Chen''s "Star Blue Divine Garment" was a divine garment forged from the prototype of a supreme celestial object and, having absorbed the "Primordial Magnetic Thunder Force" from Sovereign Lei Fa''s domain, was particularly effective against Yin energy objects.


    To venture into the "Demon Tomb" land with it was an exceedingly suitable protective measure.


    It was for these reasons that Ye Chen ultimately chose the sixth mission.


    "Thank you for your kind advice, elder, but I will choose this mission. It is quite suitable for me," replied Ye Chen to the elder, without any hesitation.


    "This..." The venerated elder of the Heavenly Gods hesitated for a moment but ultimately nodded, "Ye Chen, if you choose this task, we cannot forcibly change it; however, you will need to leave the Supreme Divine Institute to complete it. Along the way, you must take great care."


    "Before I hand over the detailed mission scroll containing the specific information of the task, you must demonstrate that you have met the task''s requirement¡ªyour combat power must have reached the Earth Divine Venerable level."


    "Although I have heard that your combat power has reached the level of a lower Earth Divine Venerable, we still need to confirm it."


    Ye Chen smiled, "No problem."


    Then, Ye Chen placed his palm on the crystal used to test combat power that the venerated elder of the Heavenly Gods had taken out. The immense killing power of the "Silent Annihilation Nine Swords" fifth sword suddenly burst forth toward the crystal.


    In an instant, the light representing the combat power level of a lower Earth Divine Venerable blazed brightly!


    Many in the audience who had been paying attention to Ye Chen had long heard of his various miraculous deeds.


    However, many of them had not witnessed Ye Chen''s true capabilities.


    Now, seeing Ye Chen truly capable of eliciting the combat power of a lower Earth Divine Venerable at the Nine Tribulations True God Realm, even several Earth Divine Venerables took a shocked breath.


    Of course, these people were inside the Merit Mission Pavilion earlier and did not see the methods that Ye Chen used to execute Xue Xian on the "Platform of Life and Death" not long ago.


    Otherwise, these people would likely be even more astoundingly incredulous!


    Before long, Ye Chen, carrying the detailed information "Mission Scroll" for the sixth task, along with the Little Provincial Princess, and Mu Ling and Mu Xiao who had also chosen their tasks, left the "Merit Mission Pavilion."


    They left behind a crowd of Supreme Divine Institute disciples staring dumbfounded as they saw Ye Chen firmly choose the highly dangerous sixth task among the fifth-level tasks.


    ...


    Ye Chen did not know that after he accepted the sixth task, within a dwelling deep in the continent where the powerful masters of the Supreme Divine Institute resided, a female sovereign who had been sitting in meditation with closed eyes suddenly saw one of her treasures light up with beams of light.


    The female sovereign instantly opened her eyes.


    With a pale hand, she reached towards the treasure in front of her, and moments later, her eyes slightly shifted.


    "Oh, I need to refine the ''Return to Origin Extreme Pill'' and specifically released five tasks to the Merit Mission Pavilion for the Divine Institute. Among them, the main ingredient task has already been taken by two junior sovereigns."


    "I didn''t expect that one of the secondary ingredients, that ''Thunder Turtle Egg,'' would be taken by Ye Chen."


    "Ye Chen, looking at him, he''s the young man who''s involved with my sister Long Li! I had said I''d find an opportunity to meet this youngster, but I never thought he would take on my task!"


    "Based on the information from the ''Merit Mission Pavilion,'' Ye Chen actually possesses the combat power level of a lower Earth Divine Venerable!"


    This female sovereign, who usually remained in closed-door cultivation, was also mentally shaken.


    "However, the ''Ancient Demonic Beasts Graveyard'' is extremely dangerous. I really wonder if he will be able to complete the task..."


    "Oh well, we sovereigns should not interfere with the disciples'' tasks. Let the mission to the ''Ancient Demonic Beasts Graveyard'' serve as a test for Ye Chen, hoping he returns safely..."


    After muttering to herself, the female sovereign closed her eyes again.


    If any other sovereign of the Supreme Divine Institute were to see this female sovereign, they would certainly recognize her as the famously renowned master alchemist of the Institute, a figure at the Seven-Star Sovereign level, Sovereign Jia Lan!


    ...


    After leaving the "Merit Task Pavilion," Ye Chen bade farewell to Mu Ling and Mu Xiao.


    He then accompanied the Little Provincial Princess for a walk around the junior disciples'' area, not returning to his own dwelling until nightfall.


    Back at the dwelling, Ye Chen began to think through some matters concerning his upcoming departure.


    This trip to find out information about the "Tribulation Inducing Pill" led to an unexpected conflict with Xue Xian, and Ye Chen thoroughly intimidated both Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Ye Chen did not regret the use of a "Xuan Divine Awl" to kill Xue Xian.


    By taking action, he had effectively ''killed the chicken to warn the monkey.'' Not to mention deterring others from provoking him easily, even Yang Yun and Yang Yan would probably be scared enough not to offend Ye Chen lightly again.


    This also amounted to Ye Chen resolving some hidden dangers.


    As for the three matters he inquired about at the "Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion."


    Ye Chen finally had some clues about "Tribulation Inducing Pill" and Ni Shan God King.


    Finally, Ye Chen looked at the detailed information on the "Mission Scroll" from the "Merit Mission Pavilion" for the sixth task and read it carefully.


    A night passed.


    The next day, Ye Chen went directly to a realm where Yang Yun and Yang Yan, in accordance with the three conditions put forth by Ye Chen earlier, had set up a table of food and drink to formally apologize to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen did not take this matter too seriously.


    After all, his intention had been to intimidate Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Upon returning from the apologetic feast, Ye Chen plunged into preparing for the mission ahead in earnest.

 Chapter 781 - 732: Pinger and the Wanbao Convention

    This preparation time lasted a full month.


    During this month, Ye Chen visited many realms within the Supreme Divine Institute and even cultivated for a time in the sacred cultivation place of the "Polar Star Tower."


    During this period, Ye Chen once again entered the "Life Origin Wheel" and cultivated for a month at a hundred times the speed of time flow!


    However, sadly, Ye Chen still hadn''t reached the limit of the Nine Tribulations True God so quickly, nor had he sensed the approach of the Divine Tribulation necessary to break through to the God King Realm.


    This only made Ye Chen''s determination to obtain the "Tribulation Inducing Pill" even firmer!


    Nevertheless, the hard cultivation during this time did bear some fruits for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s True Qi became increasingly potent, and there were new breakthroughs in both the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" and the "Bloodlight Blade Technique," as well as the Nine Volumes of Formation Array and the Undying Divine Body!


    When the day came that the formative essence of the Extreme Heavenly Object¡ªthe tattered cloth which had been nurturing and transforming within the cave dwelling¡ªfinally completed its nurturing phase and transformed again into the Star Blue Divine Garment, donning itself on Ye Chen,


    Ye Chen, sensing the powerful defensive aura of the Star Blue Divine Garment, nodded with satisfaction before finally turning his gaze towards the lands beyond the Supreme Divine Institute, "It''s time to deal with that ''Ni Shan God King''s'' affair and the mission in the ''Demon Tomb''!"


    A day later.


    An incredible Divine Light flew out from the first cave dwelling of the Supreme Divine Institute and, after several flickers through the void, it arrived at the Teleportation Divine Formation leading to other continents in the Divine Kingdom.


    Before long, this figure stepped into the Teleportation Divine Formation that led to a continent within the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    When the figure reappeared from the Teleportation Divine Formation, it had already arrived on the land of the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    Here, after flying around the continent for a while, the figure came to a halt above the Extreme Heavenly skies, revealing itself to be Ye Chen.


    "According to the shortest route towards the ''Snow Lotus Mountain'' continent where Ni Shan God King has appeared, after using the Teleportation Divine Formations for more than a dozen times, I will arrive at that land."


    "However, before that, I must change my appearance."


    As he spoke, waves of Divine Light flickered on Ye Chen''s body. During those flickers, his stature, bone structure, and facial features all underwent changes, and even his True Qi Realm underwent significant alteration.


    Ye Chen transformed from a twenty-year-old youth at the Nine Tribulations True God level to a bearded giant who had just achieved the First Tribulation True God status.


    "Hehe, Ye Chen, with this appearance, I''m afraid many people won''t recognize you,"


    "This disguise should keep you off the radar, after all, a First Tribulation True God is quite unremarkable in the Divine Kingdom and attracts no special attention."


    "Approaching the mission like this also lowers the risk quite a bit."


    After Ye Chen changed his appearance, Xiaojiu''s voice sounded from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant which he carried with him,


    Ye Chen laughed, his voice turning noticeably rougher, "Xiaojiu, how many people''s scrutiny can this ''Shape-Shifting Divine Art'' evade?"


    This mission was different from Ye Chen''s usual cultivation experiences; though he had many techniques at his disposal, inattention could still lead to fatal dangers.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had a feud with Divine Dragon Mountain. Although he did not fear their attempts to kill him, the ''Xuan Divine Cones'' he had were limited, and Ye Chen was not inclined to waste them on people from Divine Dragon Mountain just yet.


    Thus, it was important for Ye Chen to make himself as ordinary-looking as possible.


    Therefore, before setting out, he specifically sought out a "Shape-Shifting Divine Art" and spent time mastering it.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s question, Xiaojiu laughed, "This ''Shape-Shifting Divine Art'', if their realm isn''t much higher than yours, absolutely cannot detect your change in appearance and realm."


    "I''m afraid only beings at the level of the Immortal Divine Venerable and the Heavenly Divine Venerable could see through to your true self."


    "However, the ''Snow Lotus Mountain'' continent you''re headed to is said to be governed at most by the level of Earth Divine Venerables, so you don''t need to worry about them discovering your ''Shape-Shifting Divine Art.''


    At this point, Xiaojiu added, "It''s a pity that such ''Shape-Shifting Divine Art'' can only alter your appearance and realm superficially. It''s said that beyond the level of Sovereigns, there exists a godly power so profound that it can truly grant the ability to ''Transform Easily,'' not only allowing an individual to completely change their appearance beyond recognition even by those much higher in realm but also to transform into various True Spirit Sacred Beasts, and once transformed, to possess the Divine Skills of those True Spirit Sacred Beasts!"


    "Such a technique is indeed an astounding Divine Power that seizes the natural essence of heaven and earth!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s explanation, Ye Chen was deeply stirred.


    Heaven.


    In such a case, wouldn''t that mean someone could undergo countless transformations?!


    Even using Divine Power to change himself, Ye Chen couldn''t achieve the level of making himself completely unrecognizable ¡ª let alone changing into a True Spirit Sacred Beast and having its Divine Skills!


    "Hopefully, one day I can gain access to such wondrous ''Transform Easily.''" Ye Chen muttered to himself.


    Xiaojiu smiled, "Ye Chen, your Primordial Star Scripture was established by Zi Ji Star Lord. According to the information left by Sovereign Lei Fa, Zi Ji Star Lord was considered an extremely prominent figure even among those exceeding Sovereigns in the Cosmic Sea."


    "The Primordial Star Scripture he left behind may well contain such incredible Divine Skills!"


    "Perhaps, they are within the later chapters of the scripture!"


    Xiaojiu''s speculative words greatly excited Ye Chen.


    Indeed.


    The Primordial Star Scripture, marvelously divine.


    Ye Chen, having only cultivated the fourth section, had already acquired the incredible Star God Power.


    If he continued to cultivate further, perhaps, as Xiaojiu mentioned, such Divine Skills might indeed appear!


    This made Ye Chen even more eager to cultivate the next section of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    "Unfortunately, one must step into the God King Realm to begin cultivating the next section."


    "I hope this trip will see the completion of my mission, to obtain the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'' and truly step into the God King Realm, stepping into the fifth section of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    "Now, I should head to the ''Snow Lotus Mountain'' on the Star Continent and find that ''Ni Shan God King''!"


    After his Mind and Spirit flickered, the burly bearded man that Ye Chen had transformed into vanished from the Void Heaven.


    A short while later, he reappeared at the Teleportation Divine Formation in this Western Territory Star Continent. After paying the required Black Divine Coins for the teleportation, he was on his way to the "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent.


    In the midst of continuous teleportations.


    Ye Chen also witnessed the countless realms of the Western Territory Divine Kingdom.


    The Western Territory Divine Kingdom was the place Ye Chen had the least contact with.


    He had already visited some areas in the Eastern Province and Southern Territory of the Divine Kingdom. Although he had never been to the Northern Region, Ye Chen had encountered the highest authority of the Northern Region, the Northern Territory King.


    But as for the Western Territory, Ye Chen had never set foot there, nor had he ever met the Western Territory King.


    Ye Chen''s only knowledge of the Western Territory was that his enemies, Yang Yun, Yang Yan, and others, were from one of the four major forces of the Western Territory, "Tai Yun Heaven."


    When Ye Chen was teleporting through the Star Continent of the Western Territory, he found that it was much more vast and barren compared to those of the Eastern Province and Southern Territory.


    It seemed like the Western Territory was more of a wild and desolate land.


    Xiaojiu also said to Ye Chen that the Western Territory Divine Kingdom was full of Ancient Demonic Beasts and was a realm filled with killing.


    After a dozen or so teleportations, Ye Chen finally arrived in the "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent.


    Upon arriving on this continent, Ye Chen was taken aback.


    The entire "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent was covered in thick snow, and the sky was dominated by towering snow-capped mountains.


    It seemed like the "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent was a world of ice and snow!


    As soon as he stepped into the "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent, Ye Chen began to search for news of the "Ni Shan God King."


    In just five days, Ye Chen had explored the entire "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent. He had even spent half a day observing the outside of a Sky-shocking Giant Mountain known as ''Divine Lotus Peak,'' before vanishing once again.


    On the seventh day of Ye Chen''s arrival at the "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent.


    That day.


    In a temple covered by thick snow, where a bonfire was burning, three figures emerged.


    One of these figures was an old man, a Five Tribulations True God.


    Another was a young girl donning goose-yellow clothes and carrying an ancient sword on her back, barely in her early teens and in the Heavenly Saint Realm, looking quite pretty.


    The third person was a burly bearded man.


    This burly bearded man, if not the disguised Ye Chen, then who else could it be?!


    At that moment, Ye Chen was looking at the young girl, listening to her and the old man''s conversation.


    "Grandfather, how many more days until we reach the ''Divine Lotus Peak'' where the Wanbao Convention is held?"


    "Ping''er, ''Divine Lotus Peak'' will open in seven days, and we can reach there in two or three days. The trip to ''Divine Lotus Peak'' is different from being in our Divine City, with a thousand families entering the ''Divine Lotus Peak'' realm to participate in the Wanbao Convention."


    "At that time, not only will there be numerous True Gods, but even the legendary Divine King powerhouses will be many, and even the Lower Earth God Sovereigns might appear, as well as our Worshiped Ancestor, the great Middle Earth God Sovereign!"


    "We definitely need to be careful when we get there."


    "If it weren''t for the help of our young friend Ye Chen, we would have already perished on the journey."


    Hearing what the old man said, the young girl''s starry eyes turned to look at Ye Chen.


    She smiled sweetly at Ye Chen, "Uncle Ye Chen, Ping''er thanks you for saving our lives. Are you joining us at the Divine Lotus Peak Wanbao Convention to meet our Worshiped Ancestor, or are you attending the trading fair?"


    Being called ''uncle'' by the young girl, Ye Chen couldn''t help but smile wryly in his heart.


    He said to the young girl, "Ping''er, I''m just tagging along for the excitement."


    Ye Chen''s encounter with this old man and the young girl was an accident.


    Originally, after arriving at the "Snow Lotus Mountain" Star Continent, Ye Chen was ready to expose the "Ni Shan God King."


    However, after scouring the entire Snow Lotus Mountain Star Continent, Ye Chen couldn''t find any trace of the "Ni Shan God King". It was only after gathering some information that Ye Chen learned that the "Ni Shan God King" had appeared on a Giant Mountain in this Star Continent, called ''Divine Lotus Peak''.

 Chapter 782 - 733 Gathering

    By the time Ye Chen had revisited Divine Lotus Peak, he discovered a vast hidden realm within, mysteriously sealed by some sort of prohibition that he could not breach.


    Ye Chen also learned that this realm was the place where several mid-level Earth Divine Venerables of the Star Continent would cultivate in worship, only opening up every three years for the Wanbao Convention.


    This made Ye Chen suspect that Ni Shan God King might be one of these mid-level Earth Divine Venerable worshippers.


    After all, according to the information gathered from the Ten Thousand Spirits Pavilion, Ni Shan God King was indeed at the mid-level Earth Divine Venerable state and had appeared three years ago.


    Ye Chen didn''t waste the Xuan Divine Cone to forcefully break open the realm.


    He had found out that in just over ten days, another Wanbao Convention would be convened.


    By then, he could easily enter Divine Lotus Peak to see if Ni Shan God King was really there.


    With more than ten days to spare, Ye Chen took the opportunity to travel around Snow Lotus Mountain of the Star Continent.


    Just a day earlier, while exploring, Ye Chen happened upon a pair of grandparents and their granddaughter, who were being pursued by several True Gods of the First Tribulation.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not stand by and watch them die.


    Though incidents of slaughter were common in the Divine Kingdoms and Ye Chen couldn''t possibly save everyone, he would help where he could when he encountered such situations.


    Especially since the little girl resembled Jiang Yao in her eyes and brows, Ye Chen was even less inclined to ignore their plight.


    With his divine powers, Ye Chen found it effortless to battle even lower Earth Divine Venerables.


    Let alone dealing with several True Gods of the First Tribulation.


    Despite having transformed into a burly man with the visage of a True God of the First Tribulation, his methods were something these True Gods had never seen before.


    Ye Chen merely used five divine arts of the True God level, which were enough to send these pursuers frantically fleeing!


    However, Ye Chen didn''t outright kill these True Gods of the First Tribulation.


    After all, he was currently posing as a True God of the First Tribulation, and it would have been too shocking to slay them instantly.


    Nevertheless, the elderly and the child were saved by Ye Chen were astonished and overflowing with gratitude towards him.


    Especially the little girl called Ping''er, who saw Ye Chen as a great hero!


    After conversing with the grandparents and their granddaughter, Ye Chen learned that they too were headed for Divine Lotus Peak to attend the Wanbao Convention.


    Thus, Ye Chen decided to accompany these two to Divine Lotus Peak.


    Since Ping''er''s eyes and brows reminded him of Jiang Yao, Ye Chen couldn''t protect her forever, but he could ensure her safety on this journey.


    Through his conversation with the two, Ye Chen gathered more details about the Wanbao Convention.


    It turned out that within the Snow Lotus Mountain region of the Star Continent, countless families were governed by several mid-level Earth Divine Venerable worshippers.


    Every three years, these worshippers would open their Divine Lotus Peak so that their subordinate families could deliver tribute.


    Delivering tribute was one aspect, but it was also an opportunity for these families to exchange treasures with one another.


    Hence, this triennial grand meeting was known as the Wanbao Convention.


    Ye Chen also heard that at the Wanbao Convention, there was another highlight where the mid-level Earth Divine Venerable worshippers would engage in combat to compete.


    Whoever won would gain sole enjoyment of all the families'' tributes.


    On the Star Continent, the most formidable figures were those of the mid-level Earth Divine Venerable status.


    Such esteemed individuals'' battles were a spectacle that countless people desired to witness.


    Ping''er''s family used to be a major clan on this continent but had fallen on hard times, slowly becoming a lesser family with her grandfather, a True God of the First Tribulation, as their strongest member.


    Nonetheless, they still retained the opportunity to offer tribute.


    Ping''er felt both excited and somewhat fearful about attending the Wanbao Convention at Divine Lotus Peak.


    She was excited to witness the great figures of her dreams, the powerful True Gods, the formidable Divine Kings, and the legendary Earth Divine Venerables.


    But she also feared because she was too weak, and even her grandfather, a True God of the First Tribulation, was ranked among the lowest within the numerous clans.


    In such a place, a moment''s carelessness could lead to their demise.


    However, Ping''er''s family was unwilling to forfeit this precious opportunity for her to gain experience. For safety''s sake, only her grandfather Ning Xuan, accompanied by Ping''er, made their careful way toward Divine Lotus Peak.


    But no matter how cautious they were, they still met with several life-threatening robberies along the way.


    If not for Ye Chen''s assistance, perhaps they would have fallen on this journey.


    This made the little girl Ping''er even more fearful, yet increasingly grateful to Ye Chen.


    As Ye Chen learned more about the innumerable details of the Wanbao Convention, his interest in witnessing the battles between those mid-level Earth Divine Venerable worshippers grew.


    While Ye Chen pondered about the matters of the Wanbao Convention at Divine Lotus Peak, the little girl Ping''er propped her chin with both hands, gazing curiously at him.


    Although she had been with Ye Chen for only one day, the little girl''s admiration for him had reached the extreme!


    With the cultivation of a First Tribulation True God, Ye Chen was actually more formidable than her grandfather, a Five Tribulations True God. He alone was enough to scare away several Five Tribulations True Gods and even her grandfather said that Ye Chen might possess the combat power of a Six Tribulations True God.


    A First Tribulation True God with the combat power of a Six Tribulations True God, stronger than the most powerful member of Ping''er''s family, naturally filled her with admiration for Ye Chen.


    What made Ping''er even more admiring of Ye Chen was that along the way, as she practiced her cultivation, Ye Chen casually gave a few pointers, enabling her to break through several cultivation bottlenecks that had troubled her for a long time.


    The little girl even had the premonition that she could successfully reach the True God Realm.


    Of course, this only increased her admiration for Ye Chen to the utmost!


    The only thing the little girl regretted was that her Uncle Ye Chen, with a full face of beard, looked too rough and rugged.


    The little girl thought to herself that if Uncle Ye Chen were a handsome young man, that would be perfect.


    After resting in the broken temple for one night, the three of them continued on their way to "Divine Lotus Mountain."


    Ye Chen did not reveal his true strength, and Ping''er and her grandfather still feared danger, carefully avoiding dangerous areas.


    Even so, it took the three of them four days to arrive at the foot of the giant mountain of Divine Lotus Peak.


    Now, unlike when Ye Chen had previously come to scout Divine Lotus Peak, several valleys at the foot of the mountain were already crowded with people.


    These people were the various families who had come to attend the "Wanbao Convention."


    Numerous True Gods were moving around near the giant mountain, and even Divine Kings, who were considered strong on this continent, had come in large numbers.


    However, Earth Divine Venerable-level powerhouses had hardly shown their faces yet.


    Where there were people, there was strife.


    Especially among these families, who already had various entanglements; the conflicts were even more abundant when they gathered together.


    In several places, conflicts had arisen, and scenes of battle were not rare.


    At the foot of "Divine Lotus Peak," in a valley, a beautiful woman in white and three burly middle-aged men were surrounded by a group of eight people.


    This woman in white was not weak in realm, being an Eight Tribulations True God.


    The three middle-aged men beside her were even Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    The eight people surrounding them were no less in realm.


    Aside from the brocade-clothed young man in the middle who was a Seven Tribulations True God, the other seven were all Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    At this time, these seven people surrounded the four in white with a menacing look, while the brocade-clothed young man''s gaze toward the woman in white was full of lecherous intent.


    "Bai Zhuer, in what way am I, Wang Cheng, not worthy of you that you keep avoiding me every day!"


    "Hmph, your Bai Family has fallen into a middle-class family over the past few years, whereas our Wang Family is a top-class family. Marrying into our Wang Family, marrying me, Wang Cheng, is your good fortune, yet you spurn it!"


    "I heard that this time you couldn''t even produce the offerings demanded by a top-class family. What, have you come to ''Divine Lotus Mountain'' now to find some treasures to offer to the ancestors?"


    "Hehe, since you''ve found some treasures, then bring them out for me to see! If not, I can help you put together a few treasures!"


    While he spoke, the brocade-clothed young man''s claws reached straight for the woman in white''s chest.


    "You''ve practiced for decades and are still just a Seven Tribulations True God. Dream on if you think I would marry you!" The woman in white, seeing the brocade-clothed young man''s action, was full of anger on her fair and beautiful face.


    Her palms danced, blocking the brocade-clothed young man''s indecent move and with a single slap, sent him reeling back dozens of steps.


    "Humph, Bai Zhuer, you really are a feisty one!" The brocade-clothed young man licked his lips and turned to the seven Nine Tribulations True Gods beside him, "You guys, grab her for me. I want to thoroughly search her to see just what treasures she''s carrying!"


    "Yes, young master!" Hearing the brocade-clothed young man''s command, the seven Nine Tribulations True Gods moved; three approached the three Nine Tribulations True Gods beside Bai Zhuer, while the other four directly attacked Bai Zhuer.


    Seeing the brocade-clothed young man and his group take action, the three Nine Tribulations True Gods beside Bai Zhuer''s expression changed dramatically, and one of them shouted, "Stop!"


    "What''s the matter, Uncle Bai Feng? Got something to say?" The brocade-clothed young man, Wang Cheng, waved his hand to stop his people and looked toward the Nine Tribulations True God who had spoken.


    "Wang Cheng, my respected nephew, if you want to see the treasure we brought this time, we will show it to you, there''s no need to lay a hand on my niece," Bai Feng said after taking a deep breath, speaking to Wang Cheng.


    "Second Uncle, don''t be polite with this treacherous fellow," Bai Zhuer, seeing Bai Feng compromise, stamped her feet in frustration.


    Bai Feng shook his head at Bai Zhuer, turned his palm over, and a top-grade divine artifact appeared in his hand.


    He then handed the artifact to Wang Cheng and said with a forced smile, "This treasure of ours, nephew Wang Cheng, is surely not to your liking, nor does it compare to the treasures the Wang Family is offering."


    Wang Cheng looked at the treasure in his hand and chuckled.


    Then, unexpectedly, Wang Cheng simply flipped his hand and pocketed the treasure himself.


    Seeing this, the four from the Bai Family changed their expressions, and Bai Feng said with indignation, "Wang Cheng, my respected nephew, what do you mean by this? Surely, with the status of your Wang Family, you do not intend to rob our Bai Family of our treasure?"


    Wang Cheng seemed not the least bit concerned by Bai Feng''s sarcastic words. Looking at Bai Feng, his gaze shifted towards the still indignantly heaving Bai Zhuer and he said with a smile, "This treasure is too poor, so I''ll just keep it for Uncle Bai Feng. Bai Zhuer, if you beg me, I can give you a better treasure to offer to the ancestors, maybe even get you some guidance from them."

 Chapter 783: 734

    "Beg me? In your dreams!"


    Bai Zhuer''s eyes reddened with anger.


    Ever since the downfall of her family''s strongest member, a Lower God King, her grandfather, the Bai Family''s status had plummeted.


    And the families that once had enmity with the Bai Family were targeting them in all sorts of ways.


    For the safety of the family, the Bai Family had exhausted all their foundation to seek refuge with a relatively larger family, managing to temporarily escape the crisis.


    However, after helping the Bai Family a few times, that large family had declared that besides settling previous disputes, they would no longer involve themselves in Bai Family''s affairs.


    This time, it was only after a member of their clan, a Ninth Tribulation True God, had taken out their Life-bound Treasure that they managed to gather the tribute for a few Middle Earth Gods, the revered ancestors of Snow Lotus Peak.


    They had hoped for a chance to get close to these esteemed ancestors and find an opportunity to help the family overcome the crisis.


    Yet now, the precious treasure had been directly snatched away by Wang Cheng.


    How could this not fill Bai Zhuer with extreme rage?!


    Back when her grandfather was alive, the Wang Family would have never dared to humiliate the Bai Family like this.


    Now, with the Wang Family boasting a Lower God King among their ranks, they brazenly snatched the treasure right before her eyes, utterly humiliating the Bai Family in public.


    Of course, Bai Zhuer would no longer swallow her anger.


    Boom!


    Instantly, the Divine Power within Bai Zhuer erupted, as she launched an attack on Wang Cheng.


    Seeing Bai Zhuer''s actions, the other three members of the Bai Family also knew that even if they showed weakness, the Wang Family would not spare them, understanding that only by fighting back could they make the Wang Family hesitate and preserve some dignity.


    The Divine Power within these three also surged wildly, and together with Bai Zhuer, they charged towards Wang Cheng and his group.


    Seeing the Bai Family''s four members take action, Wang Cheng sneered coldly, "Bai Zhuer, I was planning to toy with you a bit more, but since you can''t wait, then this young master will gladly entertain you!"


    With a wave of his hand, the few Ninth Tribulation True Gods behind Wang Cheng blocked the three Ninth Tribulation True Gods by Bai Zhuer''s side.


    Wang Cheng, with the help of four other Ninth Tribulation True Gods, launched an assault on Bai Zhuer.


    Although Bai Zhuer was an Eighth Tribulation True God, incredibly formidable,


    she might have been able to withstand two Ninth Tribulation True Gods if it were a one-on-two fight.


    However, under the joint assault of Wang Cheng and the other four Ninth Tribulation True Gods, she was utterly overwhelmed, her protective Divine Power consumed frantically.


    And Wang Cheng''s frivolous clawing hands were gradually becoming more than she could fend off.


    Looking at her uncles and elder relatives beside her, also being suppressed by the Ninth Tribulation True Gods of the Wang Family, they had no opportunity to assist her.


    Bai Zhuer''s face turned deathly pale.


    "Could it be that my Bai Family is truly doomed to fall? No, I, Bai Zhuer, would rather die than be disgraced by that vile Wang Cheng!" Determination flashed in Bai Zhuer''s eyes as she prepared to fight to the death.


    The great battle in this region had attracted the attention of many families.


    However, when it came to the strife between the Bai Family and the Wang Family, none of these families intervened.


    Not to mention that there was already much bloodshed among these families themselves; they simply did not want to get involved.


    Even if someone died right there, they knew the revered ancestors of the Snow Lotus Mountain would not care.


    Just as many couldn''t help but feel sorry for Bai Zhuer, they heard the voice of a young girl coming from one side of the valley: "Snatching others'' treasures and ganging up on a weak woman, the Wang Family has no shame!"


    Whoosh!


    The voice of the young girl immediately attracted a lot of attention.


    Soon after, everyone saw from the side of the valley, an old man and a young child, accompanied by a bearded brute, emerge.


    And the one who had spoken was the little girl, just around thirteen or fourteen years old.


    Wang Cheng who had been confident about defeating Bai Zhuer thoroughly and having his way with her, suddenly heard the mocking voice and stopped, especially when he realized it was coming from a young girl.


    When he looked toward the source of the voice, he saw a Heavenly Saint Realm girl mocking him, and next to her, an old man who was but a Fifth Tribulation True God, and the bearded brute who was just a First Tribulation True God. This infuriated Wang Cheng even more.


    "Little girl, are you seeking death?" Wang Cheng glared at the little loli, his eyes releasing killing intent.


    Facing Wang Cheng''s murderous gaze, the little girl was shaken inside, but remembering what the bearded brute beside her had previously told her, she mustered her courage, "If you don''t leave this sister alone and return her treasure, I won''t be polite to you!"


    "Not polite?" Wang Cheng seemed to have heard the funniest joke.


    He laughed heartily at the sky, "You few, surround Bai Zhuer and her group. I want to see how this little girl plans to be impolite to me!"


    "Yes, young master!" The other members of the Wang Family surrounded the four from the Bai Family. They stopped their assault and turned their gazes toward the little loli.


    Bai Zhuer had been on the brink of despair, but when she heard someone standing up for her, a glimmer of hope sparked. However, seeing that the person speaking up for her was a little girl from the Heavenly Saint Realm, and that the two people with her were also weak, Bai Zhuer sighed deeply inside.


    Now, seeing Wang Cheng turning his attention towards the young girl, Bai Zhuer felt a twinge of pity. She looked at the little loli and said, "Little sister, you can''t handle my affairs; don''t trouble yourself over it, lest you get dragged into this."


    Hearing Bai Zhuer''s words, Wang Cheng sneered coldly, "Bai Zhuer, you can hardly save yourself, and yet you worry about others."


    "This girl is insolent. I must teach her a lesson!"


    While speaking, Wang Cheng glared at the little loli, "Little girl, I won''t bully the young; you said you will be impolite to me, so I''ll let you have three moves. Let''s see how you plan to be impolite to me. After three moves, big brother here will have to teach you a lesson in manners!"


    With just a glare from Wang Cheng, the little Loli''s heart skipped a beat.


    After all, she was only at the Heavenly Saint level.


    The little Loli couldn''t help but telepathically whisper to the bearded man beside her, "Brother Ye Chen, can we really deal with these eight and nine Tribulation true gods?"


    This little Loli was, of course, Ping''er.


    And the bearded man beside her was none other than Ye Chen.


    They had come to "Divine Lotus Peak" and were waiting in this valley for the "Grand Treasure Convention" to begin, but, unexpectedly, they witnessed the conflict between the Wang Family and the Bai Family.


    Seeing Bai Zhuer being attacked by several people, Ping''er was very angry.


    However, being only of the Heavenly Saint Realm, she dared not intervene.


    While she was shaking with anger and couldn''t help but curse Wang Cheng, her Uncle Ye Chen beside her told her that if she truly wanted to help Bai Zhuer, she should just strike without worrying whether those people were eight or nine Tribulation true gods.


    In Bai Zhuer''s dire situation, Ping''er didn''t consider that her Uncle Ye Chen was only a First Tribulation true god and stood up to speak for Bai Zhuer.


    Now, under Wang Cheng''s intimidating glare, Ping''er came to her senses, realizing they were facing a group of eight and nine Tribulation true gods.


    Even if her Uncle Ye Chen was formidable and had repelled those five Tribulation true gods who had chased her in the past, he surely couldn''t handle so many nine Tribulation true gods.


    At this moment, Ping''er''s little face was filled with worry.


    Seeing Ping''er''s expression, Wang Cheng became even more triumphant, "What''s the matter, little girl, too scared to make a move? If you don''t take action, big brother here will have to step in and teach you a lesson."


    "Hmph, villain!" Just as Ping''er was filled with righteous anger, she heard Ye Chen''s voice again in her ear.


    Her Uncle Ye Chen''s voice was still so calm, "Ping''er, didn''t he allow you three moves? Just go ahead and strike."


    "I think, although he is an eight Tribulation true god, he is nothing but a scarecrow and definitely can''t withstand it."


    Really?


    Ping''er was stunned.


    Immediately after, the little girl gritted her teeth and, mustering all her strength, launched a palm strike at Wang Cheng.


    But what Wang Cheng and even everyone else failed to see was that the moment Ping''er made her move, Ye Chen beside her gently exhaled.


    Seeing a little girl from the Heavenly Saint Realm daring to attack him made Wang Cheng feel incredibly amused.


    He watched the seemingly insignificant Heavenly Saint technique approaching, neither dodging nor evading and directly faced it head-on, "Aha, let''s see just how powerful a junior stage Heavenly Saint little girl can be..."


    Before Wang Cheng could finish his sentence, he felt the palm wind slam into him.


    "Too weak," Wang Cheng thought to himself, but suddenly, he sensed an incredible force within the palm wind violently penetrating his body.


    Whoa!


    In an instant, Wang Cheng, an eight Tribulation true god, was blasted hundreds of feet away, spewing several mouthfuls of blood, his Divine Power rapidly weakening, unable to even get up!


    Silence.


    The entire area fell deathly silent in an instant.


    Nobody expected that a little girl from the Heavenly Saint Realm could hit an eight Tribulation true god like Wang Cheng so hard!


    Even little Loli Ping''er herself was astonished, her eyes wide with shock, "My goodness, I actually blew away an eight Tribulation true god!"


    "Could it be, as Uncle Ye Chen said, that this eight Tribulation true god is really just a scarecrow?"


    "But, when he was ganging up on that sister earlier, he certainly seemed very powerful!"


    "Could it be, it was because of Uncle Ye Chen..."


    "Young Master!" At that moment, seeing Wang Cheng knocked down and vomiting blood, the several nine Tribulation true gods from the Wang Family no longer cared about surrounding the four from the Bai Family and hurriedly rushed toward Wang Cheng.


    Seeing the chaos in Wang Cheng''s meridians and the severe loss of his Divine Power, the nine Tribulation true gods were also filled with shock.


    They had clearly seen the attack from the little girl was only of the Heavenly Saint Level, yet their young master was so gravely injured.


    What happened?!


    "Kill her, kill this little girl for me!"


    Right then, the fallen Wang Cheng was so frightened he felt as if his soul was about to fly out. He sensed his Divine Power, which he had cultivated arduously for decades, seemed to be evaporating, as if it would never come back.


    Of course, this made Wang Cheng both shocked and furious, and he couldn''t help but roar at the several nine Tribulation true gods beside him.


    Riled by Wang Cheng''s roar, the several nine Tribulation true gods around him stood up and turned their gaze towards Ping''er.


    However, hearing Ye Chen''s telepathy again, Ping''er was full of confidence.


    The little girl said to the several nine Tribulation true gods, "If any of you dare to make a move, like Wang Cheng, you''ll all be blasted to the ground by me!"


    In that instant,


    Ping''er even felt as though she were a Lower God King capable of directly confronting nine Tribulation true gods.


    "Uncle Ye Chen, it''s amazing, really amazing,"


    Ping''er thought to herself, with her starry eyes shining with brilliance.


    Because, as the several nine Tribulation true gods stood up, Uncle Ye Chen once again calmly transmitted to her, "Ping''er, if they dare to strike, just go ahead and do it."


    "I believe these several nine Tribulation true gods are just a bunch of scarecrows as well."

 Chapter 784 - 735: Senior, spare my life!

    "If any of you dare to make a move, you''ll end up flattened just like Wang Cheng!"


    Ping''er''s voice echoed in the middle of the field.


    A little loli from the Heavenly Saint Realm, saying such words to several Nine Tribulation True Gods, made the scene look extremely odd.


    Some of the onlookers even couldn''t help but laugh out loud.


    However, despite the laughter, countless people were filled with doubt.


    They had clearly investigated; this little loli was indeed a Heavenly Saint with a very young bone age, and she couldn''t possibly have the ability to defeat an Eight Tribulation True God.


    Yet Wang Cheng was definitely flattened by the little loli!


    Strange, really strange.


    These people also considered whether someone beside the little loli was helping her.


    However, looking at the old man and the big bearded man beside the little loli, the strongest among them was only a Five Tribulation True God, who didn''t appear to have the ability to deal with an Eight Tribulation True God at all.


    Unable to understand, these people didn''t wish to think any further.


    Anyway, it was none of their business; they just needed to enjoy the show from the sidelines.


    These people watched the excitement, and some even laughed out loud when they heard Ping''er''s words; however, these sounds, when they reached Wang Cheng''s ears, made his face turn red and then pale.


    Wang Cheng felt as if he were being ridiculed by everyone!


    The families in this valley were all weaker than his own, and he originally didn''t care about these people at all.


    Now, being ridiculed by them, how could he tolerate it?


    "I told you to act, why haven''t you acted yet?!"


    "A little girl playing tricks, are so many of us really afraid of her?!"


    Wang Cheng shouted again at the seven Nine Tribulation True Gods beside him.


    Upon hearing Wang Cheng''s words and taking another careful look at Ping''er and the two people beside her, the seven Nine Tribulation True Gods of the Wang Family glanced at each other and spoke in unison: "This little girl is a bit strange, let''s attack together and take her down completely, to avoid any further trouble."


    "Attack!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the tremendous divine power of these seven Nine Tribulation True Gods was suddenly released.


    The combined strength of seven Nine Tribulation True Gods attacking together was incredibly powerful.


    In such a situation, probably only someone in the God King Realm could contend against them.


    And in this valley, there obviously was nobody in the God King Realm.


    Seeing the seven Nine Tribulation True Gods from the Wang Family suddenly unleashing their astonishing divine power and launching their attack towards the little loli, the previously amused crowd quieted down, some anxiously looking towards Ping''er.


    They wanted to see if the little girl could really withstand the joint attack of these several Nine Tribulation True Gods.


    Then, something shocking happened once more.


    In the face of the onslaught by seven Nine Tribulation True Gods, the little girl in front of them appeared to be extremely nervous.


    Nevertheless, the little girl bit down her teeth and with all her might, launched seven palm strikes continuously at the seven Nine Tribulation True Gods.


    The seven palm strikes from the Heavenly Saint Realm, which many in the crowd didn''t take seriously, actually managed, once again, to send the seven Nine Tribulation True Gods flying!


    The seven Nine Tribulation True Gods were truly flattened just as the little girl had previously stated, like Wang Cheng, sent flying and spitting blood as they crashed to the ground!


    Once again, silence fell over the field in an instant.


    The same bizarre event had occurred again, and this time the little girl from the Heavenly Saint Realm was facing seven on her own!


    This was simply unimaginable!


    Everyone stared at Ping''er in shock, their eyes filled with astonishment.


    Even Bai Zhuer, who was standing by, was so surprised that she couldn''t close her mouth.


    She had had no expectations when Ping''er came out to help her, yet now, Ping''er had consecutively defeated Wang Cheng and the seven Nine Tribulation True Gods of the Wang Family.


    All of this felt like a dream to Bai Zhuer.


    "This..."


    "What on earth is going on?!"


    "This sister, she''s really not afraid of these Nine Tribulation True Gods?!"


    In the crowd, the most excited one was Ping''er herself.


    Facing the siege of seven Nine Tribulation True Gods, to say she wasn''t nervous would be impossible.


    If it weren''t for her utterly trusting Uncle Ye Chen beside her, she probably wouldn''t even have the courage to lift her hand to meet the attack.


    But her Uncle Ye Chen didn''t let her down.


    Just as her Uncle Ye Chen had said, she really flattened these several Nine Tribulation True Gods!


    At this moment, Ping''er also knew that all of this was because of the miraculous Uncle Ye Chen beside her.


    This made Ping''er admire Ye Chen even more while also being proud of her own "boldness."


    "Hehehe, I, Ning Ping''er, also managed to flatten seven Nine Tribulation True Gods in the Heavenly Saint Realm!"


    After praising herself for a bit, the little girl didn''t forget the matter at hand.


    She looked towards Wang Cheng, who was lying on the ground, placed her hands on her hips, and said to him proudly, "I told you I could flatten you guys, but you didn''t believe me!"


    "Now, time to return the things to this sister, right?"


    "Return, we''ll return!" At this point, Wang Cheng was far from his previous arrogant demeanor.


    He was simply terrified to the extreme of the little loli before him!


    It might have been nothing much for just him to be flattened by the little loli.


    But the seven Nine Tribulation True Gods beside him had all been flattened as well!


    Even if he couldn''t understand the background of the little loli, he knew that if it weren''t her, then someone very powerful was hidden beside her.


    This expert must possess the combat strength of a Lower God King to deal with them so effortlessly!


    Wang Cheng hurriedly pulled out the treasure previously swallowed by the Bai Family and returned it to Bai Zhuer.


    Seeing Wang Cheng capitulate, Ye Chen nodded.


    The matter was resolved by Ning Ping''er, and helping Bai Zhuer and her companions, whom she had only met by chance, could be considered a good deed.


    Ye Chen watched Ning Ping''er with her proud little loli demeanor and couldn''t help but find her amusing.


    This little girl, slightly resembling Jiang Yao in her eyes and eyebrows, was quite different from Jiang Yao''s gentle grace, more like a "fearless calf not afraid of tigers".


    Her "reckless" behavior was quite interesting.


    However, just when Ye Chen thought the incident was coming to a satisfactory conclusion, and while he was still smiling, he suddenly furrowed his brow and looked directly towards the horizon.


    At that moment, a figure crossed the void with unimaginable speed and descended into the valley.


    Once the figure settled, the shape of a brocade-clad elder was revealed.


    This brocade-clad elder exuded an extremely powerful aura, evidently a peak Lower God King!


    Upon seeing this brocade-clad elder, many True Gods in the area exclaimed, "It''s the Wang Family''s elder Divine King!"


    Wang Cheng, who had been in a sorry state, also cried out in surprise, "Grandfather!"


    "What happened?"


    As soon as the brocade-clad elder arrived in the valley and saw Wang Cheng covered in blood, and the other Wang Family''s seventh tribulation True Gods lying on the ground and groaning in pain, his brow furrowed immediately.


    In an instant, a heaven-shaking aura vibrated throughout the valley with a thunderous roar.


    The presence of a Lower God King was immensely powerful, especially when it was a furious peak Lower God King from the Wang Family!


    Other clan warriors present, all in the True God Realm, simply could not withstand such pressure and felt even their breathing become laborious in the blink of an eye.


    This caused the faces of everyone on the scene to change drastically!


    Even Ning Ping''er at this time rushed into Ye Chen''s embrace, her heart pounding "bang, bang, bang".


    God King Realm.


    For Ning Ping''er, it was akin to characters from myths!


    The sudden arrival of such a person, who also stood on Wang Cheng''s side, certainly made Ning Ping''er''s little face turn pale with fright.


    Seeing Ning Ping''er''s fearful expression, Wang Cheng, who was covered in dust, suddenly felt a surge of confidence.


    He had been unwilling to yield, forced into submission by the situation.


    Now, with his peak Lower God King grandfather here, he naturally didn''t want to lower his voice again.


    "It''s her!" Wang Cheng pointed directly at Ning Ping''er. "Grandfather, it was this girl who knocked us all down."


    "There must be a powerful ninth tribulation True God hidden by her side, or perhaps a Lower God King."


    "Grandfather, you must avenge us!"


    Wang Cheng couldn''t believe that a little girl, who he thought nothing of, would be able to make contact with someone important. She was just a little girl at the Heavenly Saint Realm, at most she would be able to reach a formidable ninth tribulation True God or an ordinary Lower God King.


    No matter what, she definitely couldn''t compare to his grandfather, a truly powerful Divine King who had cultivated for countless years!


    "This little girl managed to knock you all down?" Upon hearing Wang Cheng''s words, the brocade-clad elder''s divine eyes immediately turned towards loli Ning Ping''er.


    However, his gaze quickly moved past Ning Ping''er and directly onto the others.


    With his eyesight, he knew that this little girl, merely at the Heavenly Saint Realm, couldn''t possibly have the strength to deal with his Wang Family''s ninth tribulation True Gods.


    "Which fellow Daoist has bullied our Wang Family? Don''t hide anymore, come out."


    The brocade-clad elder''s divine eyes swept across everyone present. "If you don''t come forward, I will have to be unkind to this little girl!"


    Upon hearing the brocade-clad elder''s words, countless True Gods trembled.


    They looked at Ning Ping''er with eyes filled with sympathy.


    No matter how miraculous this little girl was, she couldn''t possibly handle a Lower God King!


    "That hidden expert has now done this little girl in."


    "She was able to deal with the Wang Family''s ninth tribulation True Gods, which was impressive enough, but she didn''t expect the old Divine King of the Wang Family to come as well!"


    "This old Divine King is rumored to be close to breaking through to the Middle God King realm soon, and his combat power is extraordinary, capable of fighting even many Middle God Kings!"


    "This is bad, this little girl hasn''t been able to help the Bai Family, but has dragged herself into trouble instead."


    "I''ve always said that one shouldn''t meddle in external conflicts lightly, or one might attract great misfortune at any time!"


    Countless True Gods bowed their heads, not daring to look at the brocade-clad elder, their thoughts racing, and some even took schadenfreude pleasure.


    At that moment, they heard a faint voice coming from the side of the little loli.


    "Take your Wang Family people and get lost. Oh, and from now on, don''t target the Bai Family anymore."


    All heads turned to look beside the little loli.


    It was the bearded man beside the little loli who had spoken!


    He was the one who had earlier come to the aid of the Heavenly Saint Realm loli?!


    He dared to speak to the Wang Family''s old Divine King like that?!


    Upon hearing these words, the brocade-clad elder became even more enraged, "It seems you''ve concealed your cultivation level, huh? You think you can make my Wang Family leave without showing your true combat power?"


    "It seems you are unwilling to comply," Ye Chen, disguised as the bearded man, shook his head.


    Ye Chen''s combat aura suddenly unleashed.


    Even though Ye Chen only released less than one percent of his combat aura, it caused the brocade-clad elder''s expression to go through a drastic change!


    The brocade-clad elder felt as if he had fallen into terrifying, tumultuous waves!


    Even when he faced Upper God Kings, he had never felt such terrifying pressure!


    In an instant, where the brocade-clad elder dared not show the slightest disrespect, he involuntarily knelt before Ye Chen and called out loudly, "Senior, spare my life! Senior, spare my life!"

 Chapter 785 - 736: Battle of the Three Ancestors

    The brocade-robed elder''s action petrified everyone present.


    No one expected that just a moment ago, the elder was confronting the bearded man face to face, and the next moment, he kneeled down on the ground.


    The combat aura Ye Chen emitted was only directed at the brocade-robed elder, nobody else felt it.


    But from the sheer terror on the face of the brocade-robed elder, and the way he cried out "elder" with reverence, a shock went through the crowd as their gaze towards Ye Chen underwent a dramatic change.


    Elder?!


    To make a God King of the Wang Family cry out elder, could it be, this bearded man who seemed to be just a First Tribulation true god, actually had combat strength surpassing that of this Lower God King at the pinnacle of his power?


    Could this bearded man possibly be the legendary Middle God King, or even an Upper God King?!


    "Grandfather!"


    At this moment, Wang Cheng was completely dumbfounded.


    He hadn''t expected that his grandfather, who was originally going to stand up for him, was now kneeling before a bearded man beside a little loli. Even if Wang Cheng was foolish, he knew this bearded man was a major figure whom even his grandfather wouldn''t dare to provoke.


    If his grandfather had even the slightest ability to resist, he would never have done so!


    "You unfilial creature!" Hearing Wang Cheng''s voice, the brocade-robed elder''s face turned, and he scolded back, "Kneel down! Kneel before the elder right now!"


    Snap!


    This time, without anyone else''s intervention, Wang Cheng and the other several nine-tribulation true gods of the Wang Family hurriedly knelt behind the brocade-robed elder.


    "Elder, I truly did not know you were here. Any disrespect was an unpardonable sin for the younger generation!"


    "I do not know where the elder hails from, are you a mighty Upper God King, or the legendary Earth Divine Venerable?"


    The brocade-robed elder kept apologizing to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen looked at the terror-stricken brocade-robed elder and said indifferently, "What, do you want to find out my identity to seek revenge on me?"


    "How would I dare?!" The brocade-robed elder jumped in fright at Ye Chen''s words.


    What a joke.


    Although he had only briefly encountered the combat aura of the elder in front of him, he had already felt an aura he absolutely could not shake.


    Even if he were a hundred times stronger, he would still be completely unable to disturb that aura!


    The brocade-robed elder had never sensed such an aura from any of the numerous family powerhouses who came to Divine Lotus Peak, which sparked some curiosity.


    But after hearing Ye Chen''s words, where would he dare to ask even half a word more.


    He simply bowed his head, not daring to utter another word, and continued to kowtow to Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen originally didn''t want to reveal his identity.


    However, with the arrival of this Lower God King, the loli''s identity could no longer cope with the situation.


    It was then that Ye Chen stood up.


    Having intimidated the group, Ye Chen no longer wished to bother with them.


    "You can leave now."


    "Remember what I said earlier, and make sure to keep your family members under control."


    Ye Chen directly issued the expulsion order.


    "Yes! Yes! The junior will definitely keep the family members in check!"


    The brocade-robed elder''s clothes were already soaked in cold sweat from fear, but upon hearing that Ye Chen wouldn''t hold them accountable anymore, he finally heaved a sigh of relief.


    Without an ounce of hesitation, he swept up Wang Cheng and the other seven nine-tribulation true gods into his sleeves.


    Like a terrified rabbit, they vanished in the blink of an eye.


    After the Wang Family members left, the entire area remained silent.


    Everyone was surreptitiously observing Ye Chen.


    Bai Zhuer was the most shaken.


    She had never believed that little loli Ping''er had saved her and knew for sure that there was a powerful figure aiding the little sister.


    She couldn''t have imagined that the person who helped was the First Tribulation true god bearded man she hadn''t paid much attention to before.


    Now, Bai Zhuer dared not treat the bearded man as a mere First Tribulation true god, for she understood he was undoubtedly an extraordinary figure.


    Hadn''t the old God King from the Wang Family also been utterly terrified?!


    Besides the deeply shaken Bai Zhuer, those who looked at Ye Chen the most were the grandfather and granddaughter beside him, Ping''er and her grandfather.


    When Ping''er had taunted the true gods of the Wang Family, her grandfather had been startled, but after hearing Ye Chen''s voice transmission telling him not to worry, he managed to calm down a little.


    He could never have expected that the man who had saved them back then was not only capable of handling an eight-tribulation true god or a nine-tribulation true god but even wasn''t afraid of a God King.


    This obviously indicated that the bearded man who had saved them from the five-tribulation true gods had concealed his real cultivation level.


    They had encountered a true powerhouse and savior!


    As for Ping''er, she looked at Ye Chen as if he were a great hero.


    Her sparkling eyes were practically glowing.


    "Ye Chen uncle told me not to worry, and he was right!"


    "Even if characters from myths as formidable as those in the God King Realm come, there''s no need to worry!"


    "Uncle Ye Chen, just what realm does he belong to?"


    The little girl didn''t dare to ask directly. At this point, she too had developed a sliver of awe for Ye Chen.


    She just kept scrutinizing Ye Chen''s face, wishing she could etch his appearance deeply into her heart.


    Ye Chen didn''t care about the gazes from the others.


    However, being constantly stared at by the grandfather and granddaughter who had accompanied him on his journey, Ye Chen felt somewhat helpless.


    He smiled towards Ping''er and her grandfather, "Alright, everything here has been settled. Let''s go and check out other places."


    "Mhm mhm." Hearing Ye Chen''s gentle words, Ping''er''s heart fluttered with joy.


    She hopped over to Ye Chen''s side, grasping his hand with her small one, "Uncle Ye Chen, with you by my side, I''m not afraid of anyone!"


    Ye Chen chuckled as he patted Ping''er''s little head and nodded towards the four members of the Bai Family before leading the grandfather and granddaughter away from the valley.


    It wasn''t until Ye Chen and his two companions had vanished from sight that the shocking discussion and astonishment truly erupted throughout the valley.


    In the days that followed, more and more families gathered at the base of Divine Lotus Peak.


    Of course, the conflicts that followed were incessant.


    However, Ye Chen and his two companions encountered no more provocations or attempts to meddle in disputes.


    In the blink of an eye, the day arrived when Divine Lotus Peak would officially open, and a thousand families would enter the interior of Divine Lotus Peak.


    When the day came, the mysterious restricted area Ye Chen had previously probed burst open with a thunderous sound, and the crowd below Divine Lotus Peak surged into the restriction like a swarm of locusts.


    "The Grand Treasure Convention is finally starting!"


    "Uncle Ye Chen, let''s hurry inside too!"


    "After this morning''s treasure exchange conference ends, we''ll be able to witness the battles of the Worshiped Ancestors who are cultivating inside."


    Amidst the crowd, Ping''er pulled both Ye Chen and her grandfather, her exhilaration palpable as they surged into Divine Lotus Peak.


    Ye Chen''s gaze toward the restrictive area inside Divine Lotus Peak also flashed with eagerness.


    Ye Chen wasn''t too interested in the treasure exchange convention of a thousand families that Ping''er mentioned.


    However, he was quite intrigued by the main event of the Grand Treasure Convention, the combat between several Middle God Kings of the Earth Divine Venerable ranking.


    On one hand, Ye Chen wanted to see if any of the few Middle Earth Divine Venerables, who were Worshiped Ancestors, were that very Ni Shan God King who had once persecuted the God King Realm''s Bingfeng.


    On the other hand, Ye Chen also wanted to witness a Middle Earth Divine Venerable''s battle.


    Currently, Ye Chen''s combat strength allowed him to contend with a Lower Earth Divine Venerable, but facing a Middle God King without the Xuan Divine Cone, he was still no match.


    Ye Chen wanted to observe the methods of Middle Earth Divine Venerables.


    When Ye Chen stepped into the secretive restricted area of Divine Lotus Peak, he discovered an immense mountain gate plaza within, and beyond the plaza, several towering peaks.


    The countless warriors from numerous families who had poured in were brimming with excitement, immediately starting the treasure exchange of the Grand Treasure Convention upon reaching the plaza.


    Yet Ye Chen''s eyes were trained directly on the peaks beyond the mountain gate plaza.


    "Xiaojiu, use your Divine Sense to sense around. Inside, are there any signs of Ni Shan God King?" Ye Chen communicated telepathically to Xiaojiu inside the ice jade pendant.


    Xiaojiu nodded and closed her eyes, her mighty soul force extending throughout the entire area within the restriction.


    "Ye Chen, there are dozens of God Kings within this restricted area, and eight Lower Earth Divine Venerables; these people are from various families."


    "Deep within that valley, there are three Middle Earth Divine Venerables. It seems they are the three Middle Earth Divine Venerable Worshiped Ancestors spoken of by these family warriors, those Worshiped Ancestors of the thousand families!"


    "Hmm? The one on the left!" Xiaojiu''s voice paused mid-assessment, "Right, it''s him!"


    "Ye Chen, that person might be the very Ni Shan God King whose appearance you shared with me!"


    At Xiaojiu''s thought, the scene she had sensed was directly transmitted into Ye Chen''s mind.


    Instantly, Ye Chen saw a withered-browed, yellow-robed old man.


    This withered-browed, yellow-robed elder bore an uncanny resemblance to the Ni Shan God King described by Bingfeng, the God King Realm being whose image Ye Chen had seen previously.


    The only difference was that this elder seemed even older, his aura more profound, having transcended from a former Upper God King to a true Middle Earth Divine Venerable.


    "It''s him!"


    Ye Chen''s mind flashed, his fist clenching tight in an instant.


    Having finally found this "Ni Shan God King," Ye Chen was at last prepared to avenge his senior, Bingfeng, from the God King Realm!


    "Ye Chen, shall we go now and execute him?" Xiaojiu asked Ye Chen.


    Xiaojiu knew that although Ye Chen''s own combat strength couldn''t directly kill this "Ni Shan God King," with the armor of the Star Blue Divine Garment, Ye Chen would not fear the attack of the "Ni Shan God King," and with the Xuan Divine Cone, killing the man would be effortless.


    Ye Chen also wished to directly kill the man.


    However, recalling Ping''er''s mention of combat between the Worshiped Ancestors, Ye Chen unclenched his fist.


    "Now that we''ve set our sights on him, he cannot escape," Ye Chen said.


    "Let''s first watch the battle between these three Worshiped Ancestors, then I''ll make my move after their fight ends, dealing with Ni Shan."


    Xiaojiu nodded, "Observing the battle of three Middle Earth Divine Venerables is also beneficial, as it will allow you to absorb more combat experience."

 Chapter 786 - 737: Battle of the Earth Divine Venerable

    Hidden deep within "Divine Lotus Peak," the three mid-tier Earth Divine Venerables likely never imagined that their whereabouts had already been discovered by Xiaojiu and relayed to Ye Chen.


    The "Ni Shan God King" would be even more surprised that he had been targeted by a descendant of a God King whom he had wronged and long since forgotten!


    The Treasure Exchange Event officially began.


    The plaza in front of the mountain gate was bustling with activity.


    This was the grand gathering that took place every three years for these one thousand clans, with nearly each family bringing out their treasures to continuously exchange with other clans.


    Even Ping''er and her grandfather brought out several treasured items from their family''s collection to exchange for some precious cultivation materials for Ping''er.


    The entire Treasure Exchange Event lasted the whole morning.


    The warriors in the field were still not satisfied.


    However, at this moment, they had all begun to put away their treasures.


    They knew there would be time later to exchange treasures, but now was the main event of the "Treasure Exchange Event," where the patron ancestors of the one thousand families would display their combat powers and fight each other!


    All eyes turned towards the void space beyond the mountain gate plaza.


    In those gazes, there was reverence, admiration, fear, and above all, anticipation.


    As these people were looking on, Ping''er quietly transmitted a message to Ye Chen, "Uncle Ye Chen, the ''Treasure Exchange Event'' offerings to the patron ancestors have been going on for thousands of years."


    "Over these thousands of years, many families have fallen, but new ones have risen, and there have always been one thousand families required by these patron ancestors to continually offer tributes."


    "Initially, some families were unwilling, but they were all brutally suppressed by the patron ancestors; later on, the offering throughout the ''Treasure Exchange Event'' became a tradition."


    "And every time, the battle among several patron ancestors at the ''Treasure Exchange Event'' serves as a deterrent. They want to show the one thousand families their powerful might, sufficient to dominate the entire continent!"


    Ping''er spoke with utmost seriousness.


    Clearly, these words must have been told to her by the elders of her family.


    Hearing Ping''er''s words, Ye Chen smiled and patted her head. Then, his gaze also turned towards the large mountains beyond the plaza at the mountain gate.


    "These three mid-tier Earth Divine Venerables sure know how to enjoy themselves, directly suppressing a whole Star Continent and demanding continuous offerings from the clans on the continent."


    "They are clever indeed, choosing only one thousand families and collecting tribute only once every three years; no doubt even the Western Territory King Mansion of the Divine Kingdom wouldn''t bother with them," he said.


    "However, small streams make a big river. Over the years, the tributes they have collected must amount to a staggering figure."


    "Merely through intimidation, they get to enjoy all manner of offerings¡ªa clever tactic indeed!"


    While Ye Chen was pondering, Xiaojiu chuckled and sent a telepathic message to him, "Ye Chen, since that ''Ni Shan God King'' has been serving as a patron ancestor for so many years, he must have accumulated quite a collection of treasures."


    "Although he is just an Earth Divine Venerable, and the offerings from below may not be too valuable, the total is probably still worth a considerable amount of Black Divine Coins."


    "After we deal with that ''Ni Shan God King,'' we can take those treasures, which will surely be of great help to your cultivation!"


    Upon hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, and he nodded in agreement.


    Just as Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were "scheming," laughter echoed across Void Heaven.


    "Time truly flies! Before you realize it, the day of the ''Treasure Exchange Event'' has arrived again!"


    "Ni Shan, Wanbo, I wonder if the two of you have made any progress during this period of seclusion!"


    "Master Liancheng, last time you claimed first place in the ''Tri-ancestor Fight'' and enjoyed a lot of offerings, but this time the offerings should fall to me, Wanbo!"


    "Fellow Daoists, I did not put forth my full strength when refining treasures before. However, this time I, Ni Shan, must take first place in the ''Tri-ancestor Fight.'' I have some matters that require the assistance of these little families down below!"


    Amidst the conversing voices echoing in all directions, the silhouettes of three mid-tier Earth Divine Venerables appeared as if out of nowhere, flying straight out from the giant mountain peaks behind the plaza.


    In an instant, they arrived above the extreme heavens of the mountain gate plaza!


    Then, the three mid-tier Earth Divine Venerables directly fixed their divine gaze on the countless warriors from the one thousand families below.


    "We greet the patron ancestors!"


    Seeing these three prominent mid-tier Earth Divine Venerables, numerous warriors from different families prostrated themselves on the ground.


    Many others were seeing these fabled mid-tier Earth Divine Venerables for the first time, completely stunned by their awe-inspiring presence in the field.


    Of course, Ye Chen had no intention of kneeling before these three individuals.


    Hidden among the crowd, Ye Chen had previously identified these three individuals through Xiaojiu''s investigation, and seeing them now, they were exactly as Xiaojiu had described.


    The leftmost one, with withered brows and clad in yellow robes, was the "Ni Shan God King."


    According to their conversation, the middle one, a gray-robed and rotund middle-aged man, must be the "Master Liancheng" who had won the previous Tri-ancestor Fight.


    The youngest looking one at the end was a long-haired youth clad in purple, known as "Master Wanbo."


    It was these three who occupied Divine Lotus Peak, held esteem on the Snow Lotus Mountain Continent, and enjoyed countless offerings!


    The three mid-rank Earth Divine Venerables of Void Heaven swept their gazes over the crowd below before shifting their attention away.


    To them, those below were mere small fries, endlessly providing tributes; they simply didn''t take them to heart.


    "Since the assembly has begun," said Master Liancheng among the three, "let us follow the usual rules of the competition. You two fight first to decide the victor, and then the winner can challenge me, the champion of the last session."


    "Hehe, haven''t moved a muscle in three years; I''m getting a bit itchy for action," said Master Wanbo, turning to look at Ni Shan God King upon hearing Master Liancheng''s words, "Ni Shan, let''s see the power of your ''Blood Puppet''."


    Ni Shan God King gave a noncommittal smile, waved his large hand downwards, and suddenly a shocking barrier enveloped everyone in the plaza below.


    "We will still follow the old rules; we cannot touch the barrier below, to avoid injuring these youngsters who submit their offerings to us. Let''s battle up here in Void Heaven."


    "Wanbo, make your move!"


    In an instant, Master Liancheng stepped aside.


    Ni Shan God King and Master Wanbo then faced each other directly in the void!


    "It''s started; the battle between the mid-rank Earth Divine Venerables is about to begin!"


    The countless onlookers were ecstatic.


    Many of them had come to submit offerings just to witness this world-shaking battle, just to behold the grandeur of the legendary mid-rank Earth Divine Venerables!


    "Uncle Ye Chen, are you as powerful as them?!" Ping''er was extremely excited, her curiosity getting the better of her as she suddenly sent a telepathic message to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen smiled and telepathically replied, "My own realm is not up to par with these individuals."


    "However, if it really came to a fight, I do have some methods up my sleeve to deal with them."


    "Really? Oh my, Uncle Ye Chen, you''re incredible!" Ping''er''s heart thumped wildly with excitement.


    She looked around stealthily as if afraid that someone would overhear, and seeing that no one was paying attention to her and her Uncle Ye Chen, she felt relieved and said, "Uncle Ye Chen, I know you must be concealing your strength on purpose. Don''t worry, Ping''er will definitely keep your secret."


    "Hehe, to think that I came to watch the battle between a couple of great figures, only to meet an even more formidable Uncle Ye Chen!"


    While Ping''er was somewhat excited, her grandfather glanced at her and said, "Ping''er, quickly watch the battle in the sky. The two venerated ancestors are about to fight. You''ve always wanted to see this, so don''t miss out on this world-shaking battle."


    Ping''er responded to her grandfather with a covert wink at Ye Chen.


    Then she, together with Ye Chen, watched the sky with a light chuckle.


    Above in Void Heaven.


    Ni Shan God King and Master Wanbo, standing opposite each other, didn''t mobilize their immense Divine Power like the battles of the True God Kings.


    They simply pinched their fingers to cast a spell, and each released a mysterious object.


    In front of Ni Shan God King appeared a Combat Puppet, vividly detailed with eyes, eyebrows, and mouth, clad in blood-red armor.


    Master Wanbo, on the other hand, summoned a palm-sized, dark-black mountain.


    The next moment, the Blood Puppet and the dark-black mountain in front of the two expanded dramatically, clashing at an unbelievable speed.


    The dark-black mountain transformed instantly into a mountain of a thousand zhang tall, ruthlessly bearing down upon the Blood Puppet below.


    The Blood Puppet also swelled to a titanic size in an instant and, with a swing of its fist, sent the imposing dark-black mountain flying tens of thousands of zhang away.


    The battle of this caliber between mid-rank Earth Divine Venerables was astoundingly inconceivable!


    Xiaojiu also telepathically said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, cultivating to the Earth Divine Venerable realm, one''s Divine Power surges to extreme heights. Their battles hinge more on the Life-bound Treasures they''ve been refining over time!"


    "Having undergone countless years of refinement, these Life-bound Treasures possess terrifying offensive power. Once fully unleashed, they can even far exceed the combat level of the Earth Divine Venerable themselves."


    "Don''t think that these two mid-rank Earth Divine Venerables are merely letting their Life-bound Treasures fight; if both artifacts unleash their full battle power, they could effortlessly shatter an ordinary Star Continent!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen''s heart was also stirred.


    Earth Divine Venerable battles were indeed different from those of Divine Kings, not only fighting themselves but also relying on a myriad of Life-bound Treasures.


    In such circumstances, owning a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact or the legendary Ultimate Heavenly Artifact would likely skyrocket one''s combat power to unimaginable levels!


    No wonder Ye Chen had heard that those in the Divine Venerable Realm and Sovereign Realm were all coveting the Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts.


    Ye Chen''s gaze was especially fixed on the Blood Puppet in front of Ni Shan God King. Ye Chen had used various Combat Puppets before, but their techniques were very rigid, capable only of manifesting part of the original master''s combat power.


    Just like the Combat Puppet left to him by the Frozen God King, it only had the combat power of a mid-rank Divine King, nowhere near the True God King''s actual strength.


    Yet at this moment, Ye Chen sensed a true mid-rank Earth Divine Venerable killing intent from the Blood Puppet of Ni Shan God King, and he felt that the puppet seemed to hold some unfathomable power yet to be utilized.

 Chapter 787 - 738: Blood Puppet!

    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were communicating telepathically, the battle in the sky underwent another change.


    The Blood Puppet, bloated and enlarged by Ni Shan God King, relentlessly bombarded Master Wanbo''s tens of thousands of feet tall, dark mountain peak, causing it to burst backward repeatedly.


    Clearly, Master Wanbo, with just the dark mountain peak artifact, couldn''t withstand Ni Shan God King''s attacks any longer.


    At this moment, Master Wanbo made a grasping motion in the air, and from his body, immediately burst forth a dazzling golden ring.


    The moment the dazzling golden ring shot out, it transformed into a colossally huge size, and instantly vanished from the spatial dimension.


    The next instant, the golden ring reappeared outside of the Blood Puppet''s body, and in a flash, completely bound the Blood Puppet within the ring.


    Upon seeing the sparkling golden ring, Master Liancheng, who was watching the battle from the side, was profoundly shaken.


    "A middle-grade Mystical Heavenly Artifact! Wanbo, have you truly fully refined the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring''?!"


    While Master Liancheng spoke, the golden ring emitted endless divine light, and started to shrink insanely fast.


    This constriction squeezed the bound Blood Puppet within, almost to the point of bursting!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The dazzling golden ring, still holding the Blood Puppet, suddenly plummeted from the sky toward the distant ground, shattering a vast expanse of land behind the mountain gate plaza.


    Seeing this scene, an initially stunned Master Liancheng then smiled, "It seems that after this ''Battle of the Three Ancestors'' concludes, we''ll need to thoroughly repair Divine Lotus Mountain once again."


    "However, first let''s see how Ni Shan breaks free from the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring''!"


    "If Ni Shan doesn''t take action soon, his Blood Puppet might just be crushed by the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring''!"


    Everyone looked toward Ni Shan God King.


    At this moment, Ni Shan God King showed no signs of worry, as if he had anticipated that Master Wanbo would resort to such tactics.


    After the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring'' bound the Blood Puppet and crashed it into the ground, Ni Shan God King waited for the ring''s divine light to flash again before suddenly clenching his hand to cast a spell.


    Poof! Poof! Poof!


    Instantly, the Blood Puppet, entrapped by the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring,'' transformed into two figures in a flicker and broke free from the ring.


    Witnessing this, Master Wanbo was greatly alarmed.


    Others might not be aware of the power of his middle-grade Mystical Heavenly Artifact ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring,'' but he was exceptionally clear about its capabilities.


    Indeed, once bound by the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring,'' unless the power level exceeded the ring, no matter how the item inside changed, expanded, shrunk, or shifted, it would absolutely have no chance of escaping the ring''s constraints.


    After all, the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring'' could bind anything within any space completely!


    Yet at this time, Ni Shan God King''s Blood Puppet had broken free from such restraints, which naturally shocked Master Wanbo enormously.


    On the ground.


    Ye Chen had noticed something was off with Ni Shan God King''s Blood Puppet earlier, and now seeing it suddenly burst out from the gleaming ring, its blood light intensely radiating, Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled with insight.


    "Looking at this, the Blood Puppet is actually a superior Mystical Heavenly Artifact!"


    "Ni Shan God King has managed to refine a superior Mystical Heavenly Artifact at the level of a mid-rank Earth God; you should know, many Heavenly Divine Venerables would possess artifacts of this caliber!"


    "Yes, it is indeed a superior Mystical Heavenly Artifact!" Xiaojiu, who was beside him, also said aloud.


    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were conversing, Ni Shan God King, who had unleashed the formidable power of his Blood Puppet, gave Master Wanbo a faint smile.


    "Wanbo, if you have no more tricks up your sleeve, you won''t be able to withstand my attacks!"


    Though he spoke, Ni Shan God King''s actions didn''t pause for an instant.


    With a clench of his hand, the now two-headed Blood Puppet split again¡ªone head charging once more toward the ''Crimson Gold Divine Ring'' and the other, even more directly, toward Master Wanbo himself.


    And the Blood Puppet, now split into two, attacked with a speed and power that had increased dozens of times from before!


    Seeing this, Master Wanbo was horrified.


    He slapped his hand down, and the dark mountain peak artifact immediately pressed down toward the Blood Puppet.


    At the same time, he continuously tapped at his waist, releasing several artifacts to intercept the Blood Puppet.


    Clearly, Master Wanbo had recognized the threat of the Blood Puppet; his dark mountain peak artifact was already inadequate against the original Blood Puppet, and it was even less effective against this even more powerful Blood Puppet.


    His only hope was to deploy his artifacts one after another, hoping to use their numbers to completely suppress the Blood Puppet that was assailing him.


    Upon witnessing Master Wanbo''s tactics, the Ni Shan God King let out a cold laugh, "Wanbo, I''ve always said that focusing on refining a single artifact is far stronger than being distracted by many."


    "Now, you can no longer withstand the attack of my Blood Puppet!"


    As the Ni Shan God King spoke, he pinched his magic formula again, and the Blood Puppet attacking Master Wanbo suddenly split into two, even the one confronting the Crimson Gold Divine Ring also divided.


    Effectively, the Ni Shan God King had unleashed four Blood Puppets instantaneously.


    After morphing into four Blood Puppets, their combat strength saw another rise, even slightly exuding the aura of an upper-rank Earth God.


    Boom!


    With just a single swipe,


    one Blood Puppet sent a gigantic dark mountain soaring tens of thousands of feet away!


    The next moment, another Blood Puppet crushed three of the magical artifacts that Master Wanbo had called forth behind him!


    And the two attacking the Crimson Gold Divine Ring even firmly grasped it in their hands!


    This situation clearly showcased the Ni Shan God King''s absolute advantage in the attack!


    At this point, Master Wanbo, with a drastically changed complexion, dared not launch anymore attacks, instead he screeched at the Ni Shan God King, "Ni Shan, I concede in this bout!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment Master Wanbo conceded, the four Blood Puppets driven by the Ni Shan God King vanished, and in the next instant, like four great celestial guardians, they appeared behind the Ni Shan God King.


    The Ni Shan God King smiled at Master Wanbo, "Well, Wanbo, let us consider this a victory for me!"


    Master Wanbo''s face turned a bit pallid, taking a deep look at the Ni Shan God King before nodding, "Ni Shan, you''ve won."


    At this moment, the Ni Shan God King turned his gaze towards Master Liancheng, who was observing the battle from the side.


    Master Liancheng''s expression was unsightly as well.


    He said to the Ni Shan God King, "Ni Shan, I didn''t expect that you would refine your Lifeblood Blood Puppet to such an extent!"


    "In the previous ''Tri-Ancestor Fights'', you never showed their full strength. It''s impossible that in just three years, you would have gone from a single Blood Puppet to the level of four Blood Puppets."


    "Ni Shan, tell me truthfully, have you now refined your Blood Puppets to the ultimate form of the Eight-Headed Blood Puppet?"


    "If you have, then I shall admit defeat automatically!"


    "Eight-Headed Blood Puppets, with the might equal to the finest Mystical Heavenly Artifacts, would allow you, an intermediate-rank Earth God, to fight against numerous Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    At Master Liancheng''s words, the Ni Shan God King simply smiled.


    He pinched his magic formula once more.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The four Blood Puppets behind him then transformed once again, turning into the true Eight-Headed Blood Puppets.


    The Eight-Headed Blood Puppets, gigantic and towering, each a hundred feet tall, now stood quietly behind the Ni Shan God King.


    In that moment, even Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo seemed insignificantly small in front of the Ni Shan God King!


    "Eight-Headed Blood Puppets, Ni Shan, have you really succeeded in refining them?!"


    Upon seeing the Eight-Headed Blood Puppets behind the Ni Shan God King, the faces of Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo drastically changed.


    In that instant, the two involuntarily flew together.


    Originally, the three of them were nearly equal in strength, and even if one was slightly stronger, the other two could join forces to suppress that one.


    This had kept the three in a delicate balance with one another.


    Now, with the Ni Shan God King''s successful refinement of the Blood Puppet miracle, that balance had been shattered in an instant, causing both Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo, the two intermediate-rank Earth Gods, to feel a sense of crisis.


    The pair even felt that if the Ni Shan God King harbored the intent to kill, even their united front may not withstand the attacks of the Eight-Headed Blood Puppets.


    After all, with the continued enhancement of the Eight-Headed Blood Puppets'' might, they truly could battle against Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    At this thought, the two suddenly had an ominous premonition.


    The Ni Shan God King had this time revealed all eight Blood Puppets, as if no longer wanting to conceal his power; perhaps he really intended to turn against them!

 Chapter 788 - 739: Nishans Fangs

    When Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo looked vigilant, Ni Shan God King was not at all surprised.


    He watched the two of them, a touch of disdain flashing in the depth of his eyes, yet his face bore a light smile as he said, "I''ve also been on this ''Snow Lotus Mountain'' of the Star Continent for thousands of years, and I''m a bit tired of it."


    "Now that my ''Blood Puppet'' has been fully refined, there''s really nothing left here worth clinging to. The only thing I would miss is the primordial lifeblood of you two brothers."


    Hearing Ni Shan God King''s words, Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo''s faces changed drastically.


    The two shouted almost simultaneously, "Brother Nishan, what do you mean by this?!"


    "What do I mean?" Ni Shan God King glanced at them sidelong, "Do you really think, after sharing tributes with you two on the Star Continent for thousands of years, that I''ve done it all for such trivial offerings?"


    "What I''m after is my life''s treasure¡ªthe ''Blood Puppet''!"


    "Now my ''Blood Puppet,'' as long as I find eight Virgin Essence Blood and devour the two of your essences, I can transform it into a true top-grade Mystic Heaven divine weapon!"


    "Brothers, we''ve been together for so many years. Can''t you two fulfill one last wish of this old brother?"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The words of Ni Shan God King exploded like thunderbolts, striking at the hearts of Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo.


    How could they not understand what Ni Shan God King meant?


    Ni Shan God King''s intention to have the Blood Puppet devour their lifeblood was clearly not going to be satisfied with just a little bit.


    Obviously, he aimed to take their lives!


    "Nishan, back then we saved your life from another Star Continent! The three of us became sworn brothers and came to this Star Continent. Now, do you really want to repay kindness with enmity?!"


    Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo angrily rebuked Ni Shan God King.


    "Repay kindness with enmity?" Ni Shan God King laughed coldly, "In this world, it''s the survival of the fittest. Back in the day, I had quite a few ''brothers,'' but alas, many of them contributed to me in the end. Otherwise, I would not have broken through to the Earth Divine Venerable realm so quickly."


    "Hehe, you two will soon join my ''old brothers''!"


    Ni Shan God King''s words clearly indicated that this wasn''t the first time he had engaged in such ''fratricidal'' acts!


    Upon hearing Ni Shan God King''s speech, Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo fully realized that there was no possibility of the Ni Shan God King in front of them letting them go.


    The two would not waste any more words, and were even less inclined to simply surrender.


    Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the two unleashed their life''s treasures, intercepting before them, while they themselves fled with unimaginable speed towards the distance.


    "Trying to flee?"


    "Under my eight great Blood Puppets, do you think you can escape?"


    Seeing the actions of Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo, Ni Shan God King sneered, then pointed his finger into the void.


    The eight huge Blood Puppets behind him suddenly vanished from sight.


    The next moment, the world was engulfed by an endless blood-red miasma.


    In just a few breaths, Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo, who were fleeing, were caught by six Blood Puppets and hurled back to their original location.


    Having refined eight great Blood Puppets, indeed Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo stood no chance of defense!


    "Nishan, if you dare to kill us, we will certainly curse you with a death filled with suffering!"


    At this moment, Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo were bound by layers of blood-red miasma, unable even to self-destruct their divine power, and shouted helplessly at Ni Shan God King.


    Hearing Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo''s curses, Ni Shan God King didn''t care at all.


    "Curse?"


    "If there really was such a curse, I would have died long ago."


    Ni Shan God King glanced at the two men, saying with a laugh, "After all, I''ve spent thousands of years with you two brothers. Rest assured, I won''t kill you so quickly. I''ll wait until I''ve collected those other eight Virgin Essence Blood."


    Virgin Essence Blood refers to the lifeblood of male and female martial artists who are virgins.


    While he spoke, Ni Shan God King''s gaze shifted from Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo, looking down at the countless martial artists among the thousand families below.


    At this point, the martial artists below were completely dumbstruck!


    They could never have imagined that this "Grand Treasure Convention" would turn out like this.


    They never expected that the three mid-rank Earth Divine Venerables, pillars of their families, could come into conflict with one another.


    Even less did they anticipate that this Ancestor Ni Shan would overpower the other two ancestors, clearly intending to kill the other two.


    Seeing this, the martial artists below were utterly shaken in spirit.


    Numerous individuals wanted to flee, yet they dared not make the attempt.


    If even the two mighty mid-rank Earth Divine Venerable ancestors couldn''t escape from this Ancestor Ni Shan, how could they possibly escape?


    All they could hope was that when Ancestor Ni Shan spoke of collecting eight Virgin Essence Blood, he would not turn his gaze upon them in the end.


    Seeing the silence on the ground below, and the martial artists struck with extreme fear, Ni Shan God King nodded in satisfaction.


    He relished this feeling of controlling everything!


    "Very good," Ni Shan God King looked down at everyone and said lightly, "You''re being so obedient, and that pleases me."


    "Rest assured, when I say I''ll only take eight Virgin Essence Blood, I mean I''ll only select eight people from among you."


    "The kid there, step forward," Ni Shan God King immediately pointed to a True God Realm youth.


    The True God Realm youth, upon hearing Ni Shan God King''s words, was completely petrified with fear.


    After a moment of shock, he cried out to his family nearby, "Dad, Grandpa, I don''t want to die, I don''t want to die!"


    The people beside him were also in tears.


    But they dared not show even the slightest sign of resistance.


    They were only in the True God Realm, and to them, this ancestor was like a divine being!


    They couldn''t resist at all!


    Seeing the extreme sorrow of the crying youth, Ni Shan God King just laughed, "Little kid, becoming a sacrifice for my ''Blood Puppet'' is your fortune, why cry?"


    "Don''t worry, there are others to accompany you. Didn''t you see, your two ancestors will soon join you!"


    Ni Shan God King''s gaze then shifted to the others.


    Wherever his gaze passed, the crowd hurriedly lowered their heads in fear.


    At that moment, Ni Shan God King caught sight of Ping''er, and his eyes lit up: "Now here''s a pretty little girl. Little girl, my second Virgin Essence Blood will be you."


    Hearing Ni Shan God King speak directly to Ping''er, her grandfather Ning Xuan nearly fainted with fear.


    Of course, he did not want his beloved granddaughter to be killed.


    Even though he was only a Fifth Tribulation True God, completely unable to stand against Ni Shan Ancestor in the sky, he stood up without hesitation, "Ancestor, my granddaughter is just a child, you can''t kill her!"


    "Sister!"


    At this time, Bai Zhuer, who was previously saved by Ping''er''s outcry, also stood up in an instant.


    She seemed to have struggled for a long time, but finally spoke resolutely to Ni Shan God King, "Ancestor, don''t harm this sister. If you want Virgin Essence Blood, let me replace her!"


    The other four members of the Bai Family were completely taken aback by Bai Zhuer''s actions and were greatly startled.


    They desperately tried to hold Bai Zhuer back, but she remained determined and unwavering.


    Observing the expressions of the people below, Ni Shan God King smiled faintly, "It seems we are not short of good Samaritans in our Divine Kingdom. Rest assured, I have chosen this little girl, and white-clothed maiden, I have chosen you too."


    "Grandpa, Sister Zhuer, you don''t need to plead with him!"


    At this moment, Ping''er was not at all frightened; her little hand gripping Ye Chen''s big hand, her little face filled with anger.


    Ping''er knew that her Uncle Ye Chen would not let her die at the hands of the wicked Ni Shan Ancestor.


    She had heard her Uncle Ye Chen say, he was not afraid of this man!


    Sigh.


    As countless martial artists knelt on the ground, Ye Chen shook his head with a smile, patted Ping''er''s little head, and, to the amazement of all present, stepped towards the void in the sky.


    As he moved, the aura around Ye Chen transformed.


    In an instant, Ye Chen reverted from the bearded man he had been disguised as to his original appearance.


    Seeing the change in Ye Chen and his actions, many were puzzled by his intentions.


    And Ping''er''s little mouth was agape in shock, "Uncle Ye Chen... he''s a brother?!"


    "A very handsome brother?!"


    Bai Zhuer''s beautiful face was also filled with surprise, "Is... is this the true face of the senior who drove away the Wang Family''s old god king? He''s so young, and it seems he''s even younger than me!"


    At this moment, Ni Shan God King himself was taken aback by Ye Chen''s actions, but when he saw Ye Chen''s aura shift from a First Tribulation True God to a Ninth Tribulation True God, although surprised, he still felt disdainful.


    "Who is this youth? Don''t you see that this old ancestor is selecting Virgin Essence Blood?"


    "Get down from here!"


    Ni Shan God King pointed at Ye Chen, intending to bring the brazen youth down from the sky.


    His pointing, casual as it was, still carried the power of a lower Earth Divine Venerable.


    Ni Shan God King had already anticipated that, in the next moment, this ''brash and rash'' youth who stood up would be obliterated.


    But then, something shocking happened.


    Ni Shan God King''s attack at the level of a lower Earth Divine Venerable, aimed at Ye Chen, was instantly repelled by a mysterious force, counterattacking towards Ni Shan God King himself.


    Caught off guard, Ni Shan God King almost suffered a minor setback but managed to extinguish the rebounding attack with another move.


    At this time, the way Ni Shan God King looked at Ye Chen had completely changed.


    He had realized that the youth before him was not as simple as he seemed on the surface.


    Now, Ye Chen, striding through the void, had already come directly to the high reaches of the Void Heaven, confronting Ni Shan God King face to face!


    Ye Chen, looking at Ni Shan God King, said calmly, "I was content to watch your shameless performance, but now, there is no need."


    "Ni Shan, do you remember an ''old brother'' of yours from the past, the Ice Sealing God King?"

 Chapter 789 - 740: Your Killer, Ye Chen, the Successor to the Icebound Divine King!

    "The Frozen Divine King?" Ni Shan God King was taken aback.


    However, he immediately seemed to recall something, and a cold smile crossed his face.


    "That guy, some of my Cultivation Techniques were learned from him. It''s a pity though, in the end I only managed to severely injure him, letting him escape."


    "But even if he did escape, I''m afraid he surely couldn''t have survived. It''s just a shame about the Treasures he had on him..."


    At this point, Ni Shan God King''s divine eyes fixed straight on Ye Chen, "What''s the matter, kid, do you have ties to that Frozen Divine King?"


    "Heh heh, don''t think just because you could block my recent move that you''re anything special."


    "I could deal with the Frozen Divine King back then, and I can deal with you now!"


    Pfft! Pfft!


    As he spoke, Ni Shan God King swept his palm, and two Blood Puppets pressed down on the feeble "Master Liancheng" and "Master Wanbo", while the other six Blood Puppets directly moved behind him, facing Ye Chen.


    Although Ni Shan God King verbally dismissed Ye Chen, deep down he was still a bit apprehensive about Ye Chen, who had suddenly stood up.


    After all, the young man before him had already seen him injure two mid-tier earthly Divine Venerables and still dared to stand up, he surely had some kind of ace up his sleeve.


    Ni Shan God King, a cunning person, of course, took the situation very seriously.


    Ye Chen, for his part, was indifferent to Ni Shan God King''s little maneuver.


    His gaze shifted toward the void space for a moment, pondering in his heart, "Frozen Divine King predecessor, I have found the culprit who harmed you. Today, I will help you take revenge!"


    The next moment, Ye Chen''s gaze fixed directly on Ni Shan God King.


    Ye Chen didn''t waste more words, and directly said to him, "Ni Shan, remember, the person who will kill you today, is the disciple of the Frozen Divine King¡ªYe Chen!"


    Ye Chen revealed his true self for the very purpose of avenging the Frozen Divine King in the persona of his disciple!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, the whole world shook.


    The countless martial artists below were completely taken aback; they never expected that in the aftermath of "Ancestor Ni Shan" revealing his true self and injuring two mid-tier earthly Divine Venerables, a young man would actually stand up, dare to confront this ancestor, and even boldly declare to execute him!


    In the crowd, a particular group of people were most shocked.


    This group was none other than those from the Wang Family.


    At this moment, Wang Cheng, looking up at Ye Chen in the Void Heaven, was so scared his eyeballs nearly fell out.


    Ye Chen had already astounded him when he had repelled his grandfather, a lower-tier Divine King at the peak of his realm.


    Now, Ye Chen was actually directly confronting a mid-tier earthly Divine Venerable!


    Clearly, this indicated that he had previously provoked someone who wasn''t even afraid of a mid-tier earthly Divine Venerable!


    Wang Cheng''s grandfather, the old Divine King of the Wang Family, the man in the brocade robe, was now trembling all over, "My God, this predecessor is even more powerful than I imagined. He... Could he not only possess the strength of an Upper God King, but could also execute a Heavenly Divine Venerable?"


    "Keep in mind that those Eight Great Blood Puppets of Ancestor Ni Shan can reach the strength of a Heavenly Divine Venerable!"


    At this time, the little girl Ping''er was clenching her tiny fists tightly with excitement.


    She looked at Ye Chen, her starry eyes sparkling with brilliance.


    Her Uncle Ye Chen, no, now the dashing Brother Ye Chen, was still as formidable as ever, still unstoppable.


    Previously, he had faced off against Eight Tribulations and Nine Tribulations True Gods, had scared away a Divine King, and now, he wasn''t even afraid of the big bad ancestor!


    "Brother Ye Chen, kill this big bad ancestor!"


    Ping''er raised her little fists and shouted towards the sky.


    "Master Liancheng" and "Master Wanbo," pressed down by two of the great Blood Puppets, had already lost all hope.


    They knew they couldn''t stand against the Eight Great Blood Puppets and were certain to die at the hands of "Ni Shan God King."


    Now, as Ye Chen had suddenly emerged, declaring to take revenge for someone called the "Frozen Divine King" who they had never heard of, a glimmer of hope flashed within them.


    If Ye Chen could truly kill Ni Shan God King, they could indeed escape from the jaws of death at Ghost Gate!


    The entire world was abuzz with discussions and unrest due to Ye Chen''s words.


    At this moment, "Ni Shan God King" had an extremely unsightly expression.


    "Kill me?" Ni Shan God King eyed Ye Chen, "Many have wished to kill me; let''s see if you''ve got what it takes!"


    Ni Shan God King was even more hesitant in his heart.


    It seemed he had heard the name "Ye Chen" before.


    But for the life of him, he couldn''t recall where he had heard it.


    Now wasn''t the time to ponder on it; while speaking with Ye Chen, Ni Shan God King had already secretly formed a spell with his hands.


    The six great Blood Puppets behind him vanished in an instant.


    The next moment, the six great Blood Puppets appeared behind Ye Chen, and a vast expanse of blood-colored light engulfed him completely!


    This "Ni Shan God King," even with the status of a mid-tier earthly Divine Venerable, had actually launched a sneak attack on Ye Chen!


    Seeing Ye Chen completely submerged by the blood-colored light, the countless martial artists below yelled out in shock.


    Ping''er, along with Bai Zhuer and others, were so anxious that they even stopped breathing for a moment.


    However, their anxiety was quickly relieved.


    Because they saw that Ye Chen, just engulfed by the blood-colored light, suddenly emitted an extremely mystical starlight where he had been standing!


    Amidst the flickering of endless starlight, Ye Chen''s figure reappeared.


    The blood-colored light from the six great Blood Puppets was completely repelled by the starlight surrounding Ye Chen!


    "You would need all eight Great Blood Puppets to take action to perhaps prevent me from withstanding,"


    "Six Great Blood Puppets cannot breach the defense of my ''Star Blue Divine Garment''."


    Enveloped in the glow of the stars, Ye Chen shook his head with a smile at the "Nishan God King."


    At this moment, seeing that Ye Chen could escape his confines, the "Nishan God King" had a drastic change in expression. He couldn''t bother to use two blood puppets to suppress "Master Liancheng" and "Master Wanbo" anymore. With a wave of his hand, those two great blood puppets flew out instantly, joining the other six and once again launching an assault on Ye Chen.


    Without the two great blood puppets to suppress them, "Master Liancheng" and "Master Wanbo," now feeble though they were, hastily retreated to the distant horizon before stopping to watch the match between Ye Chen and Nishan God King.


    In the meantime, as Ye Chen faced the attack of the eight great blood puppets, a cone-shaped item the size of a fist and gleaming with silver suddenly appeared in his hand.


    The Xuan Divine Cone!


    This was indeed Ye Chen''s formidable trump card, capable of slaying a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable and critically wounding an Immortal Divine Venerable¡ªthe Xuan Divine Cone!


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t let Nishan God King harm him.


    He had long kept a Xuan Divine Cone clasped in his hand!


    "Let''s end this."


    Ye Chen held the Xuan Divine Cone, his expression neither sad nor happy.


    The next moment, the Xuan Divine Cone in Ye Chen''s hand burst forth a beam of white lightning so extraordinarily splendid.


    What a magnificent bolt of white lightning it was!


    Thousands of warriors from countless families on the ground below gaped in awe.


    They had never seen such an incredible white lightning before!


    It was as if it were a divine object from the extreme heavens, a thousand, no, a million times more wondrous than real lightning!


    Then, everyone witnessed a scene they would never forget in their lifetime.


    The eight great blood puppets, which even two mid-ranking Divine Venerables couldn''t withstand, were, in the twinkling of this unearthly white lightning, as if slashed by numerous divine lights.


    Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!


    They instantly exploded into pieces, turning into chunks of wood completely devoid of divine power!


    And that white lightning, with its inconceivable speed, shot towards the eight blood puppets'' master, the "Nishan God King."


    Even if the "Nishan God King" saw something was wrong and tore open the void in a panic to escape into it,


    the white lightning still penetrated the void, striking within!


    The next moment, everyone heard an incredibly miserable scream, and they all saw the body of "Nishan God King" being pierced from the void and falling from it, plummeting down.


    In his dying breath, the "Nishan God King" managed to shout out a few words, "You are that Ye Chen, the peerless genius from the Supreme Divine Institute!" before he fell from the void and died.


    At the moment of his death, the Nishan God King finally remembered where he had heard the name Ye Chen.


    He had heard from some messages that had entered the "Snow Lotus Mountain" of Star Continent about the Supreme Divine Institute having enrolled a new peerless genius.


    A peerless genius who could eliminate a Divine King with the strength of a Divine Venerable while being at the True God Realm!


    Until his death, the Nishan God King would never expect that this peerless genius "Ye Chen" had any connection with the "Icebound God King" he once plotted against!


    Bang!


    The remains of the Nishan God King eventually fell to the earth, causing it to tremble upon impact.


    Then, the corpse was enshrouded with flashes of lightning and electromagnetic glows, disintegrating into nothingness with the tremor.


    Silence.


    All around was utter silence.


    Nobody had expected that the "Ancestor Nishan," who had bared his fangs, would meet such an end, utterly annihilated!


    This young man who had stepped forward had truly killed the "Nishan God King," the evil presence concealed for thousands of years!


    After a moment of silence, the whole land erupted in an earth-shattering cheer.


    Many had worried that the sinister Nishan God King would target them later on, but now, with the Nishan God King dead, they cheered without restraint!


    Amongst the cheers, numerous discussions also arose.


    "That Ancestor Nishan, in his last moments, said that this youth is from the Supreme Divine Institute, named Ye Chen?"


    "I think I''ve heard of Ye Chen from the Supreme Divine Institute!"


    Within the crowd, Ping''er felt the most incredulous.


    Right then, the little girl gazed at her brother Ye Chen in the Void Heaven, her starry eyes filled with disbelief.


    The little girl adored heroes.


    Even within "Snow Lotus Mountain" on Star Continent, she had heard of the legends from the Divine Kingdom, heard of the unmatched genius Ye Chen from the Supreme Divine Institute, whose fame was comparable to the institute''s foremost Divine Maiden "Long Li."


    When Ping''er first heard the name Ye Chen, she could never have imagined that this Ye Chen was the same Ye Chen from the Supreme Divine Institute.


    After all, there were far too many who shared the same name in the world.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen had the appearance of a bearded burly man.


    When Ye Chen reverted to his original appearance, the little girl was already astounded.


    Now, upon hearing that her brother Ye Chen was indeed the same Ye Chen whom she had so admired and had never met from the Supreme Divine Institute,


    the little girl''s heart seemed ready to leap out, "Brother Ye Chen!"


    "He is the Ye Chen from the Supreme Divine Institute!"

 Chapter 790 - 741: The Land of the Demon Tomb

    Half an hour later, Ye Chen had left "Divine Lotus Peak" and was flying toward the Teleportation Divine Formation of "Snow Lotus Mountain" on the Star Continent.


    Inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Xiaojiu smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, little Ping''er really didn''t want to part with you."


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen also smiled gently.


    On Divine Lotus Peak, after Ye Chen had directly used the Xuan Divine Cone to slay the Ni Shan God King, the whole world went into a frenzy!


    Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo were both extremely shocked and grateful toward Ye Chen.


    After all, Ye Chen had literally saved their lives from the hands of the Ni Shan God King!


    In the end, seeing that Ye Chen had no intention of dealing with the two of them, both mid-tier Earth Divine Venerables were tearfully grateful to Ye Chen.


    Having taken care of Ni Shan God King, he had avenged the senior Ice-bound God King and settled a score!


    Ye Chen''s journey on the Star Continent of Snow Lotus Mountain was finally and completely over.


    However, Ye Chen did not leave immediately; he remembered that Xiaojiu had told him that Ni Shan God King had dominated this region for thousands of years and certainly had accumulated many treasures.


    Ye Chen flew straight to the cultivation cave dwelling of Ni Shan God King and looted it thoroughly.


    Although it was a pity that the Blood Puppet was shattered in the great battle, the other treasures Ye Chen found were a pleasant surprise.


    The treasures that Ye Chen obtained from Ni Shan God King''s cave dwelling were worth as much as the fortunes of many upper-tier Earth Divine Venerables!


    Plus, Master Liancheng and Master Wanbo, grateful for Ye Chen saving their lives, offered him generous gifts.


    Now, Ye Chen had tens of billions of Black Divine Coins on hand, not to mention other treasures that could be exchanged for Black Divine Coins.


    Keep in mind that Ye Chen had previously only obtained ten million Black Divine Coins from the treasure trove of the Ice-bound God King.


    After spending on the Teleportation Divine Formation and purchasing treasures, he had already used quite a bit, and Ye Chen felt his finances were becoming tight.


    Now, suddenly acquiring wealth comparable to that of an upper-tier Earth Divine Venerable, Ye Chen wouldn''t have to worry about Black Divine Coins for a long time!


    An unexpected gain.


    This really was an additional unexpected gain after slaying Ni Shan God King and avenging the Ice-bound God King!


    Having finished looting Ni Shan God King''s treasures, Ye Chen didn''t want to delay any longer on the Star Continent of Snow Lotus Mountain.


    After all, he had a very important level-five mission to complete: obtaining the Thunder Turtle Egg from the "Land of Demonic Tombs".


    Before leaving, Ye Chen hadn''t forgotten about little Ping''er.


    Although his meeting with Ping''er was a chance encounter, Ye Chen felt a sense of affection for the little girl who reminded him of Jiang Yao.


    While Ye Chen was considering what to leave Ping''er, Master Liancheng, realizing the close bond between her and Ye Chen, swore in front of Ye Chen that he would take good care of Ping''er and look after her family.


    Master Liancheng, who had once, along with Master Wanbo, saved Ni Shan God King from another Subordinate Star Continent, was indeed not of bad character.


    Moreover, under the awe of Ye Chen''s reputation, they certainly wouldn''t dare harm Ping''er and would take great care to protect her.


    Ye Chen ultimately agreed to have Master Liancheng look after Ping''er and her family.


    Although Ping''er''s family had fallen into decline, with the strongest being on the Star Continent, the mid-tier Earth Divine Venerable Master Liancheng, looking after them, it was clear that their resurgence was just a matter of time!


    Upon hearing this news, Ping''er''s grandfather, Ning Xuan, was ecstatic beyond belief.


    Ning Xuan could never have imagined that this very dangerous journey to the Great Treasure Conference would bring such a tremendous reward, changing the destiny of his entire family!


    As for the little girl Ping''er, she wasn''t overly thrilled that Master Liancheng had agreed to look after her.


    She was quite reluctant to part with Ye Chen.


    In the end, it was Ye Chen who encouraged her, telling her to diligently cultivate and strive to enter the Supreme Divine Institute, which allowed the little girl to break free from the sadness of separation.


    "Brother Ye Chen, I will definitely get into the Supreme Divine Institute like you! When that time comes, I will see you again, right?"


    Ye Chen still remembered, when he left, the expression of Ping''er cheering herself on with her little fists raised.


    In addition to Ping''er, when Ye Chen saw Bai Zhuer from the Bai Family, he also explained to Master Wanbo to look after the Bai Family.


    After all, Bai Zhuer was prepared to step in and risk her life for Ping''er during a moment of crisis, which earned Ye Chen''s appreciation for the girl.


    Thinking about how the Bai Family had been humiliated by the King Family in the past, Ye Chen didn''t mind giving them a helping hand.


    With Ye Chen''s instructions, Master Wanbo readily agreed.


    He was regretting that he hadn''t spoken sooner than Master Liancheng in offering to help Ye Chen by taking care of Ping''er and holding onto Ye Chen''s "coat-tails".


    Now, hearing Ye Chen''s instructions, he was of course not the slightest bit reluctant, but rather overjoyed!


    After all, Ye Chen was an absolute genius with a great reputation in the Supreme Divine Institute, the top among the nine institutes of the Divine Kingdom!


    He was more than willing to do anything for Ye Chen!


    After settling various matters related to his journey on the Star Continent of Snow Lotus Mountain, Ye Chen spent another half an hour.


    Then, amidst Ping''er''s reluctant gaze and Bai Zhuer''s extremely grateful eyes, Ye Chen left "Divine Lotus Peak," flying once more toward the Teleportation Divine Formation on the Star Continent of Snow Lotus Mountain.


    In the sky.


    After reminiscing about the "Divine Lotus Peak" events, Ye Chen''s gaze shifted toward the distance.


    "Xiaojiu, how many more teleportations do we need to reach the location of that level five quest, the ''Demon Tomb Land''?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    After calculating for a while, Xiaojiu said, "Ye Chen, after about thirty more teleportations, we can reach that realm."


    "Looking at the time, there''s still enough of it!"


    Ye Chen nodded, taking a deep breath.


    He had already dealt with the matter of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant from the God King predecessor.


    Now, it was time to resolve his own level five quest and earn the merit points to exchange for the "Tribulation Inducing Pill"!


    Killing "Ni Shan God King" cost him another "Xuan Divine Cone."


    Ye Chen still had four "Xuan Divine Cones" left, which were steadily decreasing in number.


    Ye Chen did not wish to delay any longer; he was impatient to break through to the God King Realm and enhance his combat power and techniques further!


    ...


    The Demon Tomb Land.


    It was a very famous region in the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom.


    This place bordered the most dangerous "Ancient Demon Abyss" of the Western Territory, with countless majestic creatures from the "Ancient Demon Abyss" buried there.


    Due to the numerous cadavers of "ancient demonic creatures" and the extremely strong Yin energy, countless wondrous Divine Objects had also grown from this land in abundance.


    The entire "Demon Tomb Land" had become a paradise for numerous explorers.


    Not only were there countless tasks from the nine Supreme Divine Institutes related to the "Demon Tomb Land," but Earth Divine Venerables, Heavenly Divine Venerables, and even the Immortal Divine Venerables from other realms of the Divine Kingdom, would also often appear in this region.


    The core area of the "Demon Tomb Land" was even larger than the "Snow Lotus Mountain" on the Star Continent by more than tenfold.


    What''s distinct is that within the core region of the "Demon Tomb Land," from outside to inside, one can see nine "demon tombs" that are even larger than ordinary continents, each one taller than the last!


    These "demon tombs" are the truly dangerous areas of the "Demon Tomb Land"!


    Some "demon tombs" have a probability of only ten to twenty percent of warriors falling, but for others, even a Heavenly Divine Venerable or Immortal Divine Venerable would not be able to enter without special methods!


    Of course, there are basically no Sovereign Realm powerhouses in the "Demon Tomb Land"; those Sovereign powerhouses would explore even deeper and more dangerous regions like the "Ancient Demon Abyss."


    And the entire "Demon Tomb Land" was under the joint jurisdiction of the nine Supreme Divine Institutes and the Western Territory King Mansion.


    It would only open at special times each year, allowing people to enter for exploration.


    At other times, explorers could only stay on the Subordinate Star Continent outside the "Demon Tomb Land," waiting for the opening time to arrive.


    When Ye Chen arrived on the Subordinate Star Continent outside the "Demon Tomb Land," there was still more than a month before it would open.


    Even with over a month remaining, the warriors gathered on this Subordinate Star Continent, as roughly estimated by Ye Chen, probably numbered in the tens of millions.


    Not to mention the many who were hidden away in certain caves on this Subordinate Star Continent for cultivation and were not showing themselves outside.


    Possibly, the true number of warriors gathered on this Subordinate Star Continent could exceed a hundred million!


    These warriors gathered outside the "Demon Tomb Land" on the Subordinate Star Continent were at least of the true God Realm, not to mention the God King Realm warriors, who were the most numerous on the continent.


    High-ranking Earth Divine Venerables and Heavenly Divine Venerables were also plentiful, and Ye Chen even noticed several Immortal Divine Venerables!


    With so many warriors, the entire Subordinate Star Continent was bustling.


    There were trading fairs everywhere, and countless people were preparing for their entry into the "Demon Tomb Land."


    Similarly, brawls and disputes were endless.


    Ye Chen, however, did not join the hustle and bustle.


    Although he was extremely strong, he was not enough in front of many Heavenly Divine Venerables and Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Moreover, he only had four "Xuan Divine Cones" remaining.


    Ye Chen did not want to get entangled and waste one or two of them.


    He came to the "Demon Tomb Land" for the "Thunder Turtle Egg."


    Getting the "Thunder Turtle Egg" was Ye Chen''s main mission.


    "First, find a place to stay, cultivate quietly, and wait for the ''Demon Tomb Land'' to open."


    "I heard that this Subordinate Star Continent is specifically managed by the Western Territory King Mansion, and to find a quiet place to cultivate, one needs to spend Black Divine Coins to rent a realm at the management center."


    Ye Chen directly went to a management center run by an Immortal Divine Venerable from the Western Territory King Mansion and spent a million Black Divine Coins to rent a desolate mountain range, preparing to cultivate quietly.


    This desolate mountain range was located in the northwest of the Subordinate Star Continent, where the divine energy was the weakest on the continent, utterly deserted.


    Ye Chen chose this realm just for the sake of peace and quiet.

 Chapter 791 - 742 Assassination and Yin Spirit Ganoderma

    The entire Barren Mountain Range stretched for tens of thousands of miles.


    Upon arriving at this territory, Ye Chen laid out the Occupation Array provided by the Immortal Divine Venerable of the Western Territory King Mansion across the entire mountain range.


    This type of Occupation Array was something that every warrior who rented a living space in the territory would receive.


    Its purpose was to show that this territory had already been leased to someone, cautioning others not to enter carelessly and disturb the lessee.


    Even if someone did enter this territory, the lessee could sense it directly.


    This Barren Mountain Range, with the weakest divine power atmosphere in the entire Subordinate Star Continent, was undisturbed, evident from its vacancy.


    Clearly, ordinary people would not casually venture here.


    However, for the sake of safety, Ye Chen not only deployed the Occupation Array from the Western Territory King Mansion''s Immortal Divine Venerable but also personally set up some Defensive Formations.


    Having cultivated the "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" up to the fifth volume, Ye Chen could not yet lay out continent-spanning Transmission Divine Arrays, but setting up several Defensive Formations to protect himself was a breeze.


    After the arrays were set, Ye Chen surveyed the mountain range.


    He saw that the entire mountain was desolate, inhabited only by ordinary demons of the Rotating Pill Realm and Heavenly Saint Realm.


    Such low-level demons, of course, no longer caught Ye Chen''s attention.


    Ye Chen did not disturb these Little Demons, and instead, he chose a secluded area to establish his cave dwelling, where he began to meditate and rest, waiting for the day the "Demon Grave" would open.


    The days passed by one after another.


    When Ye Chen had been quietly cultivating in his cave dwelling for more than twenty days,


    he was unaware that in another cave dwelling on this subsidiary continent, rich in divine power atmosphere, a group of people was looking in the direction of his dwelling.


    The strength of this group was astonishing.


    There were a total of eight people, seven of whom were actually of the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable realm, and one was even of the Lower Immortal Divine Venerable realm!


    At that moment, the Immortal Divine Venerable frowned, "You''ve investigated, and that Spiritual Object is really within those Barren Mountains?"


    "Logically, such a high-level Spiritual Object should only appear in a territory with an abundant qi atmosphere like the one we have leased!"


    "That''s precisely why our ''Blood Sword Sect'' spent a fortune to lease this territory. You know, the rent for that barren range would be at most a million or so Black Divine Coins, but here, it costs a hundred million Black Divine Coins for a lease! That''s expensive because of that Spiritual Object!"


    "And a hundred million Black Divine Coins can only lease one out of the four spots with the richest qi atmosphere! The other three have all been leased by other forces!"


    "Now, we haven''t discovered that Spiritual Object in our territory, yet that barren mountain range has managed to attract it?"


    Upon hearing the words of the Immortal Divine Venerable, the faces of the other seven Heavenly Divine Venerables also showed surprise.


    One of them said, "Master, we also didn''t expect that the Spiritual Object would run off there."


    "If we had known earlier, we would have chosen that place!"


    "Today, as soon as I could trace the Spiritual Object, I took out the ''Blazing Sun Spirit Plate'' to search for it. To my surprise, it directly showed the trail leading to the most remote of the barren mountain ranges!"


    "Master, look!"


    As he spoke, this Heavenly Divine Venerable flipped his palm, and a palm-sized disc appeared in his hand.


    Then, he took out a pitch-black Spiritual Pearl and gently placed it on the disc.


    Next, a strange thing happened.


    The palm-sized disc emitted a burst of light as bright as the blazing sun, and a depiction of the Barren Mountain Range territory appeared within the disc.


    Looking closely at this portrayal of the Barren Mountain Range, one could clearly see that it was the same range that Ye Chen had rented!


    "It really is in that Barren Mountain Range!"


    Seeing this, the Immortal Divine Venerable''s eyebrows twitched.


    Then, he directly turned to the seven Heavenly Divine Venerables, "Did you say that mountain range has already been leased by someone?"


    "Master, yes, the mountain range has been rented by a True God," one of the Heavenly Divine Venerables answered.


    The Immortal Divine Venerable nodded, "It doesn''t matter if it''s a True God. Even if another Immortal Divine Venerable had rented it, for the sake of that Spiritual Object, we must fight for it!"


    "The Western Territory King Mansion may officially forbid interference with someone else''s leased cave dwelling, but that policy is nonbinding for our ''Blood Sword Sect''."


    "The Western Territory King Mansion wouldn''t trouble our ''Blood Sword Sect'' over a mere True God."


    With that, the Immortal Divine Venerable turned to the youngest of the seven Heavenly Divine Venerables and commanded, "Zhao Huan, go and fetch that Spiritual Object. As for the True God, if he discovers anything, just kill him on the spot!"


    This youngest Heavenly Divine Venerable, "Zhao Huan," was a youth in purple attire. Hearing the words of the Immortal Divine Venerable, he responded straightforwardly, "Understood, Master. He''s only a True God; he probably doesn''t even know the name of that Spiritual Object. I''ll handle him with ease!"


    As his voice fell, the Heavenly Divine Venerable "Zhao Huan" vanished.


    Seeing "Zhao Huan" disappear, the Immortal Divine Venerable turned his gaze to the others.


    "With Zhao Huan heading out, acquiring that Spiritual Object will indeed be as easy as turning one''s hand. Coupled with the other two Spiritual Objects we''ve found over the years, having three in total would allow us to transport three Heavenly Divine Venerables and thirty Earth Divine Venerables into that ''First Demon Tomb'',"


    "As for the ''First Demon Tomb'', Immortal Divine Venerables are not permitted to enter, only those at or below the Immortal Divine Venerable level can. As for who among you will enter, it truly puts your teacher in a difficult position!"


    Upon hearing the words of the Immortal Divine Venerable, the other Heavenly Divine Venerables'' expressions changed immediately, and they said to the Immortal Divine Venerable, "Master, send me in!"


    "I will surely obtain the Divine Milk within the ''First Demon Tomb'' for Master, and not fail your expectations!"


    When the words "Divine Milk" were spoken, the voices of these Heavenly Divine Venerables trembled slightly.


    Seeing the expressions of his disciples, the Immortal Divine Venerable smiled lightly, "I will decide on the candidate once we officially enter the ''Demon Tomb Land''. However, no matter who among you enters, rest assured, I will share thirty percent of the obtained Divine Milk with you."


    "Even if it''s just thirty percent, even just three drops, that will be more than enough for your use!"


    Hearing the words of the Immortal Divine Venerable, the Heavenly Divine Venerables exchanged glances, their eyes brimming with an intense fervor.


    Meanwhile.


    In another cave dwelling of the same level which was also filled with a dense divine aura, there was a group of people.


    At the top seat among this group sat a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable woman.


    This woman was adorned in a blue robe, with her long hair cascading down to her waist, her face bewitchingly enchanting.


    Beneath her sat five other women, all of whom were also at the level of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    As Zhao Huan from the ''Blood Sword Sect'' flew towards the Barren Mountain Range where Ye Chen was, this bewitching woman in blue seemed to sense Zhao Huan''s movments.


    She smiled faintly and said, "That ''Blood Sword Sect'', being one of the four major sects in the Western Territory, conducts itself so despicably."


    "They didn''t find the Yin Spirit Ganoderma within their chosen leased territory, yet they have the audacity to rob others of their territory''s treasures."


    "They say our ''Sky Fox Sect'' belongs to the Demon Sects, but I think they from the ''Blood Sword Sect'' are the true Demon Sects!"


    "Yes, Senior Sister, we would never snatch others'' treasures!" The women below responded with light laughter upon hearing the blue-robed woman''s words. "It''s just a pity for that little True God, he probably doesn''t even know what the Yin Spirit Ganoderma is and is about to lose his life to Zhao Huan from the ''Blood Sword Sect''."


    "Senior Sister, should we rescue that little True God?"


    "Little True God? Rescue him?" On hearing the words of the younger women, the woman in the blue robe''s divine eyes flickered, and she shook her head, "This person is not as simple as an ordinary True God!"


    "Do you know about a genius True God named ''Ye Chen'' who recently joined the Supreme Divine Institute?"


    "Ye Chen?" The women all shook their heads, "Senior Sister, we have been focusing on entering the Netherworld Land to search for the Yin Spirit Ganoderma lately, so we truly haven''t had the time to keep abreast of external news."


    "Who is this Ye Chen?"


    "Senior Sister has heard of him, could he be comparable to the legendary goddess ''Long Li'' of the Supreme Divine Institute?"


    Hearing the inquiries from the women, the woman in the blue robe''s eyes flickered, and she spoke slowly, "This Ye Chen is far from simple. Not only is he closely related to that goddess ''Long Li'', even Lord Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King have considerable connections with him."


    "Although I am not sure why he came to the ''Demon Tomb Land'', since he dared to come out alone, it''s improbable that he lacks protective means."


    "Zhao Huan''s attempt to kill him might not be as simple as it seems!"


    "He''s just a True God, how could he have the means to withstand a Heavenly Divine Venerable? Zhao Huan is a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable!" the women sitting below said in disbelief, upon hearing the blue-robed woman''s words.


    The woman in blue smiled faintly, her gaze drifting towards the direction of the Barren Mountain Range where Ye Chen was, and she said no more, her eyes shining with a hint of curiosity and anticipation.


    In the Barren Mountain Range.


    Ye Chen, who was quietly cultivating in the cave dwelling he had been working on, suddenly opened his eyes the next moment.


    "Hmm, has someone entered this region?"


    "And a Heavenly Divine Venerable?"


    Inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Xiaojiu''s expression changed, and he spoke to Ye Chen, "This person seems to have come to this area specifically. Ye Chen, I fear the visitor has ill intentions!"


    "Let''s go out and see," Ye Chen''s expression darkened.


    The next moment, Ye Chen disappeared from the cave dwelling.


    Boom!


    As soon as Heavenly Divine Venerable Zhao Huan stepped into the Barren Mountain Range, he noticed that a blinding light burst forth throughout the mountain range.


    Within this dazzling light, besides the greyish glow signifying the region''s Occupation Array, there was also an additional silver-white glow.


    Upon seeing the silver-white glow, Zhao Huan''s eyes flashed, "Hmm, a mere True God has even managed to lay down such a defense?"


    "Hmph, I intended to capture the Spiritual Object that ran into this area first before taking this True God''s life. It seems I must eliminate this troublesome True God first."


    With a ruthless look in his eyes, Zhao Huan pressed his hand through the void toward the earth.


    Thump!


    The expansive Defensive Formation which stretched tens of thousands of miles instantly shattered into ash!

 Chapter 792 - 743 Capturing the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma

    Seeing the entire mountain''s defense array destroyed in an instant, Zhao Huan let out a cold laugh.


    Just as he was about to burst into the mountain range to search for the owner of these mountains, that minor True God, the next moment, his figure suddenly came to a stop in midair.


    Because he discovered that just as he broke the defense array, a young figure had already appeared within the void inside the mountain range.


    "Who do you think you are, breaking into my rented territory and destroying my defense array? What are you trying to achieve?"


    The young man who appeared in the void within the mountain range was, of course, Ye Chen.


    As soon as he appeared, he immediately rebuked Zhao Huan out loud!


    Zhao Huan also hadn''t expected that the minor True God who rented this mountain range would appear so quickly.


    Though surprised, Zhao Huan merely sneered at Ye Chen with disdain.


    After all, he was a senior Heavenly Divine Venerable, and he did not care at all about a minor True God!


    Zhao Huan sneered at Ye Chen, "Little True God, if there''s anyone to blame, blame it on the Spiritual Objects that entered your territory, bringing upon you this great disaster."


    "Originally, I planned to capture those Spiritual Objects before considering how to deal with you. However, now that you''ve spotted me, I''ll just have to erase you first."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As he spoke, Zhao Huan pinched a hand gesture, and a terrifyingly powerful black divine light burst out from his body, bombarding towards Ye Chen.


    Zhao Huan, with just a word, directly sought Ye Chen''s life!


    Ye Chen''s heart was instantly filled with rage.


    This Heavenly Divine Venerable not only broke into his territory without permission but was also intent on taking his life casually.


    He clearly didn''t give a damn about Ye Chen''s life or death!


    It was obvious that this wasn''t the first or second time the Heavenly Divine Venerable had killed so heedlessly.


    Ye Chen was certainly not going to let this Heavenly Divine Venerable kill him just like that!


    Seeing the black divine light unleashed by Zhao Huan already bombarding towards him, Ye Chen instantly activated the "Xuan Divine Cone" he had been holding in his hand.


    Whoosh!


    In the next instant, Ye Chen''s Xuan Divine Cone shot out a bolt of white lightning even more terrifying than the black divine light!


    Xuan Divine Cone.


    A divine weapon capable of slaying a Heavenly Divine Venerable, gravely injuring an Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Unleashed directly by Ye Chen!


    In the blink of an eye, the white lightning from the "Xuan Divine Cone" completely annihilated Zhao Huan''s black divine light.


    And amidst Zhao Huan''s shocked expression, it shot towards him in an instant.


    Zhao Huan didn''t even have time to react before he was completely eradicated on the spot!


    Senior Heavenly Divine Venerable Zhao Huan, who had completely disregarded Ye Chen and had hardly thought twice about claiming Ye Chen''s life, died just like that!


    Not even ashes remained!


    Peace returned to the world, leaving only the ruined defense array and Ye Chen in the void with an extremely ugly expression on his face.


    The Xuan Divine Cone''s ability to slay a Heavenly Divine Venerable and its powerful killing power shook Ye Chen to the core.


    However, Ye Chen was also extremely frustrated!


    He had chosen this desolate mountain range to cultivate and quietly wait for the "Tomb of Demons" to open, wishing to avoid further trouble and spare the "Xuan Divine Cone."


    Yet, even so, he had still managed to attract a Heavenly Divine Venerable and a senseless threat to his life.


    Had he not possessed the "Xuan Divine Cone," he might have been doomed this time!


    As for killing this Heavenly Divine Venerable, Ye Chen felt not the slightest bit of regret.


    This person sought his life, so naturally, he would fight back.


    What Ye Chen regretted was the wastage of another "Xuan Divine Cone"!


    Of the six "Xuan Divine Cones" he had obtained from the cave of Sovereign Lei Fa, now only three remained!


    "Who did I even provoke..."


    After shaking his head, Ye Chen took a deep breath before casting aside his frustrations.


    "The Xuan Divine Cone has already been wasted, and the Heavenly Divine Venerable has also been killed. What is left most important is to consider why this Heavenly Divine Venerable suddenly found his way here," Ye Chen said.


    "Xiaojiu, when that person made his move earlier, he mentioned that some Spiritual Objects had run into my territory, which brought this huge disaster upon me."


    "What did he say about the Spiritual Objects?"


    "When I settled in this mountain range, I already searched through it thoroughly and there was nothing special!"


    Ye Chen turned to Xiaojiu and asked.


    Xiaojiu had also been extremely puzzled.


    However, as she pondered the words "Spiritual Objects" and thought of some rumors about ''the Land of the Demon Tombs,'' Xiaojiu''s expression suddenly changed.


    "Ye Chen, could it be that the Spiritual Object he mentioned is one of the several related to the Land of the Demon Tombs?"


    "The ones related to the Land of the Demon Tombs?" Ye Chen was somewhat puzzled.


    Seeing the confused look on Ye Chen''s face, Xiaojiu spoke, "Let''s hurry and search the mountain range again. After we finish searching, I will tell you about the rumors concerning these Spiritual Objects and the Land of the Demon Tombs."


    Whoosh!


    Xiaojiu flew out from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, her immense Divine Soul scanning ability swiftly sweeping across the entire mountain range.


    Ye Chen followed Xiaojiu, exploring the mountain in various directions.


    This desolate mountain range, only tens of thousands of miles wide, was exceedingly easy to thoroughly search with the scanning abilities of Ye Chen and Xiaojiu.


    In just a few moments, Xiaojiu revealed an expression full of surprise, "Ye Chen, there really are Spiritual Objects in this area!"


    "And it''s the most precious ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma,'' and there are even three of them!"


    "What''s going on? How did ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' appear in such a desolate mountain range?!"


    Xiaojiu directly transmitted the scene she had scanned with her Divine Soul into Ye Chen''s divine sense.


    Ye Chen saw, in a secluded spot within the desolate mountain range, not far from the terrain where he had established his cave dwelling, were three snow-white rabbits, fast asleep at a corner of a hillside.


    If he had seen these three little rabbits directly, Ye Chen might not have paid too much attention to them.


    However, since Xiaojiu had already identified them as a kind of Spiritual Object called something like ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma,'' Ye Chen immediately realized, chances were they weren''t simply real rabbits.


    It was very possible that this was some kind of deception.


    Ye Chen looked closely at the three snow-white little rabbits, and upon this examination, he too immediately noticed something was amiss.


    On the surface, these three snow-white little rabbits seemed to be perfectly normal Heavenly Saint Realm Little Demons, but upon closer inspection, it became apparent, deep within their bodies, they were harboring an inexplicable Divine Power, and it was an extremely dense black Divine Power!


    "Let''s go, Ye Chen, let''s secure these three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' first, and then I will explain to you what''s so special about this Spiritual Object," Xiaojiu suggested.


    Xiaojiu, who had originally taken the form of a palm-sized Little Spirit Sparrow, suddenly swelled back to her original form.


    She transformed back into her true form as the Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor!


    Together, Xiaojiu and Ye Chen flew towards the location of the three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma.''


    The next moment, Xiaojiu and Ye Chen arrived above the heads of the three soundly sleeping "snow-white little rabbits."


    At this time, these three "snow-white little rabbits" also sensed someone''s arrival, and they instantly flipped over, transforming into three streaks of light, attempting to flee.


    "You three Spiritual Objects have brought such trouble to Ye Chen, and you still want to run?"


    Xiaojiu smiled lightly.


    Her body shimmered with light, and with one grasp of her hand, she fiercely reached for the three streaks of light.


    Ye Chen watched as Xiaojiu captured the three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma.''


    What also astonished Ye Chen was that these three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma,'' which had transformed into "snow-white little rabbits" and tried to escape as streaks of light, couldn''t evade Xiaojiu''s pursuit and suddenly vanished into thin air.


    However, when Xiaojiu grabbed three ordinary-looking weeds from the ground that looked exactly like any other grass and sealed them in her hand, transforming them directly into three Spiritual Objects shaped like Ganoderma, Ye Chen understood.


    The "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" had tried transforming again to escape, turning into weeds to blur the lines of sight.


    Luckily, Xiaojiu was able to see through the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma''s" transformations, or else Ye Chen would have been deceived by these three Spiritual Objects.


    "It seems that these three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' are truly not simple!", Xiaojiu remarked.


    "Even with my current Divine Soul abilities, although not comparable to the real Earth Divine Venerable but surpassing countless Divine Kings quite easily, I was still deceived by them."


    "All for the sake of these small three items, did that Heavenly Divine Venerable come looking specifically for us?"


    Ye Chen took the three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' passed to him by Xiaojiu and began to examine them closely.

 Chapter 793 - 744: Rumors, Demon Tomb, Divine Liquid

    These three "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" were each only the size of a palm.


    At first glance, they seemed no different from ordinary Lingzhi, but upon closer inspection, one could see that every vein on them flickered with specks of divine light.


    What shocked Ye Chen the most was the intense, pitch-black Divine Power hidden deep within their bodies that Ye Chen had previously observed.


    Even though Ye Chen''s combat power was now enormously strong, he felt that he couldn''t eradicate this mysterious black Divine Power.


    The fact that such small "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" contained such strange black Divine Power naturally caused Ye Chen immense shock!


    "Xiaojiu, what exactly is this ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''? You mentioned earlier that this object is related to the legend of the ''Demon Tomb''¡ªwhat is the legend?" After examining the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" in his hand, Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu, at this moment, looked at the three "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" in Ye Chen''s hands with eyes full of immense surprise.


    "Ye Chen, this ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' is extraordinary!"


    "To speak of it, although it was a waste to use a ''Xuan Divine Cone'' to execute that Heavenly Divine Venerable, obtaining the news of the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' from him and successfully capturing these three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' was definitely a huge profit!"


    "Oh?" Hearing Xiaojiu speak like this, Ye Chen became even more curious about the legend of the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma."


    Xiaojiu continued, "To discuss this ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'', we must first talk about the ''Demon Tomb.''"


    "Ye Chen, you should have inquired about the ''Demon Tomb'' containing a total of nine ''Demon Graves,'' right?"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Xiaojiu said, "These nine ''Demon Graves,'' from the outside to the inside, are ranked from the ninth Demon Grave, the eighth, the seventh... all the way to the ''first Demon Grave.''"


    "These nine ''Demon Graves'' each contain different ranks of ancient demonic creatures. The further inside the graves are, the more precious they become, with more treasures of heaven and earth being born within them."


    "Of the nine ''Demon Graves'', the most precious is the ''first Demon Grave''!"


    "However, this ''first Demon Grave,'' along with the ''second'' and ''fifth Demon Graves,'' later underwent strange changes and became places one cannot enter at will."


    "To enter them, one must possess special spiritual objects, using the unique Divine Power of these objects to gain access to the corresponding Demon Grave."


    "And this ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' is the exclusive spiritual object required to enter the ''first Demon Grave''!"


    "It can be said that without the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma,'' even the outstanding figures among the Heavenly Divine Venerables wouldn''t be able to step into the ''first Demon Grave''!"


    "The ''first Demon Grave'' is the most precious of the nine great Demon Graves. It also has a strange energy that prevents anyone at the level of Immortal Divine Venerable or higher from entering, allowing only those below the Immortal Divine Venerable level to go inside."


    "Such a precious grave naturally causes countless Heavenly Divine Venerables to desperately want to gain entry, and the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' is the exclusive key to entering the ''first Demon Grave.'' Ye Chen, do you not find this object precious?"


    "Even if this item were to be traded to one of the prominent Heavenly Divine Venerables for some incredibly precious items, I am afraid those Divine Venerables would be more than willing!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen was immensely moved.


    These three little "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" were actually so precious?!


    "Xiaojiu, isn''t it said that the ''Demon Graves'' are incredibly dangerous? Since the ''first Demon Grave'' is the most precious, I fear the danger there must be the greatest. What exactly is inside that makes the Divine Venerables risk everything for a chance to enter?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    At this moment, Xiaojiu''s voice also trembled.


    "Ye Chen, inside the ''first Demon Grave'' there is something that gives the Heavenly Divine Venerables a great chance to break through their bottlenecks, and even helps Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables increase their chances of successfully advancing to Immortal Divine Venerable!"


    "Keep in mind, there are countless Heavenly Divine Venerables who ultimately remain stuck in the realm of Divine Venerable their whole lives, never able to step into the Immortal Divine Venerable realm!"


    "This kind of thing that can help break through realms, of course, will provoke numerous scrambles!"


    "Not only do the Divine Venerables desire this object, but even Immortal Divine Venerables are incredibly eager to get it. It is said that this object is of great use even for Immortal Divine Venerables trying to break through bottlenecks!"


    "If not for the restriction that prevents Immortal Divine Venerables from entering the ''first Demon Grave,'' probably countless Immortal Divine Venerables would wish to enter it!"


    "It is of great use for the Immortal Divine Venerables to break through bottlenecks?!" Ye Chen hurriedly asked, "Xiaojiu, what exactly is this marvelous object?"


    Xiaojiu replied, "This object is called ''Divine Milk.'' It is said that the ''Divine Milk'' was born in the heart of the ''first Demon Grave,'' and only by traversing numerous dangers can one arrive at the land of the ''Divine Milk.'' Moreover, even if one reaches the land of ''Divine Milk,'' each person can only obtain a maximum of ten drops of ''Divine Milk,'' and not a single drop more can be brought out!"


    "However, even just ten drops of Divine Milk are enough for many Heavenly Divine Venerables and Immortal Divine Venerables to break through their bottlenecks!"


    At this, Xiaojiu looked directly at Ye Chen, his voice filled with excitement, "Ye Chen, if you were to obtain ten drops of Divine Milk, just one drop would definitely allow you to break through from the Nine Tribulation True God to the God King Realm!"


    "Furthermore, the remaining Divine Milk could help you break through the Earth Divine Venerable and Heavenly Divine Venerable realms when you encounter bottlenecks in your cultivation later on!"


    Boom!


    Xiaojiu''s words set off an explosion in Ye Chen''s mind.


    Ye Chen had always wanted to break through to the God King Realm.


    This time he came to the "Demon Tomb Land" specifically to complete a level-five mission, to obtain the "Thunder Turtle Egg" in exchange for the "Tribulation Inducing Pill" to help himself overcome the divine tribulation and break into the God King Realm.


    Now, hearing that there was something like "Divine Milk" within the "Demon Tomb Land" that was not only greatly beneficial for breaking through to the God King Realm but also incredibly helpful for future breakthroughs at the Earth Divine Venerable, Heavenly Divine Venerable, and even the Immortal Divine Venerable bottlenecks.


    How could this not shake Ye Chen to the core?


    Ye Chen finally understood why the Heavenly Divine Venerable had charged directly into these mountains to slay him.


    It was probably because the Heavenly Divine Venerable did not want the news of the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" to get out and sought to silence him!


    "Ye Chen, I had originally not even considered the matters of the ''First Demon Tomb'' and the ''Divine Milk,'' after all, the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' is too hard to find."


    "Rumors have it that there are only two ways to obtain the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma.''"


    "One is to enter the ''Netherworld Land,'' not far from the ''Demon Tomb Land,'' to seek it out. However, the danger level of the ''Netherworld Land'' is not one bit less than the ''Demon Tomb,'' and the chances of finding a ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' are very slim."


    "Another method to get the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' is when the ''Demon Tomb Land'' is about to open, and it descends onto this subordinate continent, providing an opportunity to obtain it."


    "However, in the past, the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' have always appeared in those regions of this subordinate continent where the aura of Divine Power is extremely rich, and only one ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' would appear per region. And such regions are often occupied by major forces; not even other Heavenly Divine Venerables would have the chance to claim them."


    "This time, it''s extremely strange that the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' appeared in these desolate and remote mountains and suddenly, three of them appeared, which is truly incredible!"


    "Could it be that there''s something different about this ''First Demon Tomb'' that has caused the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' to appear in a different region?!"


    By the end, Xiaojiu herself was feeling incredibly puzzled.


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, "Let''s not worry about why the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' appeared here for now. Xiaojiu, what I''m curious about is, what''s the difference between having one ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' or three?"


    "After all, you only need one to enter the ''First Demon Tomb.''"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s confusion, Xiaojiu chuckled, "Of course there''s a huge difference between having one and three!"


    "Ye Chen, it is said that each ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' can allow one Heavenly Divine Venerable, ten Earth Divine Venerables, and a hundred below the Earth Divine Venerable realm to enter the ''First Demon Tomb.''"


    "The ''First Demon Tomb'' is incredibly dangerous, and obtaining the wondrous ''Divine Milk'' inside is even more tremendously challenging. Under such circumstances, of course, everyone hopes to have as many of their people enter the ''First Demon Tomb'' as possible. After all, the more people there are, the greater the chance of overcoming the dangers together and obtaining the Divine Milk!"


    "It''s a pity that it''s said that only at most a hundred ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' are ever transmitted outside, and the number discovered each time is only in the tens or even fewer."


    "Moreover, each time the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' are spread outside, if not used during the opening of the Demon Tomb Land, they will directly vanish afterwards. This indicates that the number of ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' that can be used each time is even fewer!"


    "Under these circumstances, each ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' is of course incredibly precious!"


    "Moreover, the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' have another special efficacy ¡ª that is the ability to help fend off some of the perils within the ''First Demon Tomb.'' Naturally, once the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' are used as a means of transport to send someone into the First Demon Tomb, their ability to fend off danger also disappears."


    "Generally, large forces are reluctant to use it to fend off danger and prefer to use it to transport more people inside."


    "But for individual persons, of course the more ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' they can get, the better. Not only can it ensure one''s smooth entry into the ''First Demon Tomb,'' but it also means having extra ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' to help fend off the dangers within, which greatly increases the safety."


    "Ye Chen, don''t you see how precious it is to suddenly obtain three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''?!"


    "I''m afraid many large forces cannot get so many ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' all at once!"


    Xiaojiu''s words genuinely stirred something deep within Ye Chen.


    This "Yin Spirit Ganoderma," it could actually help fend off dangers in the "First Demon Tomb"?


    When Ye Chen heard that the "First Demon Tomb" contained "Divine Milk," he too became interested in entering the "First Demon Tomb."


    However, he knew without a doubt that the "First Demon Tomb" would be fraught with extreme dangers. Even if characters at the Immortal Divine Venerable and Venerable Master levels could not enter, the place was probably filled with other formidable Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Not to mention the various intrinsic dangers of the "First Demon Tomb" itself.


    Even with the "Xuan Divine Cone" in his possession, entering it posed a huge risk for Ye Chen!


    However, if the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" could indeed help counteract the dangers inside, then Ye Chen became somewhat inclined to check out the "First Demon Tomb."


    After all, he wanted the "Divine Milk," which could help with breaking through realms, just as badly!


    And if the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" were not used, they would vanish by the next time.


    Ye Chen couldn''t possibly save them for later use when his own strength had increased.


    Whether he could get more "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" in the future was a complete unknown.


    Naturally, Ye Chen had to consider cherishing this opportunity to obtain the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma"!

 Chapter 794 - 745 Intercept and Kill

    Seeing Ye Chen''s intrigued expression, Xiaojiu said, "Ye Chen, you can consider venturing into the ''First Demon Tomb'' with these three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''. You have three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'', just use one to enter, and the other two can be used for self-defense."


    "Moreover, a single Yin Spirit Ganoderma can bring one Heavenly Divine Venerable, ten Earth Divine Venerables, and a hundred other individuals below the realm of Earth Divine Venerables, into the tomb. You might even be able to trade this entry spot for many valuable things."


    "Of course, if you consider the dangers inside the ''First Demon Tomb'' and don''t want to go in, simply trading these three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' will definitely fetch you lots of benefits."


    Xiaojiu offered Ye Chen two suggestions.


    Ye Chen nodded, a glint in his eyes.


    "Whether to go to the ''First Demon Tomb'' or not can be decided later!"


    "These ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' are so precious that I must store them away safely, especially since I got three of them at once¡ªI must not reveal this carelessly!"


    "Since the Heavenly Divine Venerable has come knocking, it is likely that others can sense that I have the Yin Spirit Ganoderma."


    "For now, putting these three Yin Spirit Ganoderma away is the priority!"


    "Xiaojiu, do you have a way to keep others from discovering that I''m concealing three Yin Spirit Ganoderma?"


    Xiaojiu thought for a moment then said, "Ye Chen, you just need to store these three ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant. I will then use a spell to mask their aura, and no one will be able to detect them!"


    Ye Chen nodded and flicked his finger slightly. The three "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" disappeared from his palm in an instant.


    The next moment, the three "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" appeared directly inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Xiaojiu also moved, returning into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    "I just killed that Heavenly Divine Venerable."


    "I don''t know if that Heavenly Divine Venerable had companions."


    "I''m afraid I can no longer linger in this realm carelessly."


    Ye Chen looked beyond the Barren Mountain Range, a gleam flashed in his eyes, and in the next moment, his figure vanished from the spot.


    And in just a few breaths of time, Ye Chen returned to the cave dwelling he had created in the Barren Mountain Range. After gathering his possessions, he left the mountain range and headed toward other realms of the adjacent Star Continent.


    From the time Ye Chen executed Heavenly Divine Venerable "Zhao Huan," discovered the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma," to the moment he left the Barren Mountain Range, it was all but a few dozen breaths of time.


    Not long after Ye Chen left the Barren Mountain Range, in the divine power-filled cave dwelling belonging to the Leftover Six Heavenly Divine Venerables and the Immortal Divine Venerable of the "Blood Sword Sect," these individuals began to sense that something was amiss.


    "What''s going on? Why hasn''t Zhao Huan returned after such a long time?"


    "With Zhao Huan''s status as a senior Heavenly Divine Venerable, locating that spiritual item and capturing it should have been incredibly easy! Even if he encountered the renter of that part of the Barren Mountain Range, that True God, eliminating him should have been effortless. Why is it taking so long?!"


    The several Heavenly Divine Venerables whispered among themselves.


    Hearing the words of those Heavenly Divine Venerables, the Immortal Divine Venerable sitting at the head frowned.


    He closed his eyes instantaneously and pinched a spell, as if sensing something.


    A few breaths later, the Immortal Divine Venerable suddenly turned pale with disbelief and exclaimed, "Zhao Huan... he... has fallen?!"


    What?!


    Upon hearing the words of the Immortal Divine Venerable, the six remaining Heavenly Divine Venerables of the "Blood Sword Sect" were all shocked and leapt up.


    Although Zhao Huan was the youngest among them, he was also a senior Heavenly Divine Venerable who had cultivated for countless years. Could something have gone wrong while he was just trying to capture the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" from a True God''s territory?


    It seemed impossible!


    But towards their master''s, the Immortal Divine Venerable''s words, they dared not doubt in the slightest.


    "Who killed Zhao Huan?"


    "Could it be that other forces discovered the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' too and killed Zhao Huan in the struggle for it?"


    "Master, we must go check it out!"


    That Immortal Divine Venerable''s eyes were twitching at this moment. After nodding, he disappeared from his spot instantaneously.


    The remaining six Heavenly Divine Venerables also looked at each other and then tore through the void, hurrying toward the Barren Mountain Range where Zhao Huan had fallen!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the next moment, the Immortal Divine Venerable and the six Heavenly Divine Venerables arrived at the place where Zhao Huan had perished.


    "Zhao Huan died here!"


    "He left behind only some traces of his presence but not even a corpse remains!"


    After sensing for a while, the Immortal Divine Venerable from the "Blood Sword Sect" grew even more grim.


    In an instant, he closed his eyes and a vast sensing power of the Immortal Divine Venerable spread to cover the entire mountain range.


    After sensing for a few breaths, the Immortal Divine Venerable suddenly changed expression, "Hmm, the renter of this Barren Mountain Range, that True God, has just left?"


    "And the feeling of the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' has completely vanished!"


    "There''s no trace of anyone else here."


    "Could it be that the True God killed Zhao Huan?!"


    "Did that True God kill Zhao Huan and take the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''?!"


    "A True God killing a senior Heavenly Divine Venerable?!" The rest of the Heavenly Divine Venerables couldn''t believe it, "If he really had that power, then why did he flee?"


    "Master, we must chase after this person immediately and avenge Zhao Huan, and we have to retrieve the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''!"


    Hearing the words of the disciples of the Heavenly Divine Venerables, the Immortal Divine Venerable of the "Blood Sword Sect" also had a solemn expression as he sensed the direction of Ye Chen''s escape.


    His killing intent also began to completely permeate the atmosphere.


    What he thought would be an effortless capture of the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" had flown away, and a disciple of the Heavenly Divine Venerable had died.


    How could this Immortal Divine Venerable not be extremely annoyed?!


    After sensing for a few moments, the Immortal Divine Venerable immediately focused on a direction, "Hmm, he fled that way?"


    "Let''s go, we''ll catch up and kill him!"


    As the Immortal Divine Venerable spoke, he touched something in his chest, "I want to see how this person managed to slaughter my disciple. You think you can escape? Before me, I''d like to see where you can escape to!"


    Boom!


    The Immortal Divine Venerable couldn''t even wait for the shuttle speed of the remaining Heavenly Divine Venerables behind him. With a great sweep of his hand, he grabbed the other six Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables and instantly took off with them at an inconceivable speed, chasing after Ye Chen.


    ...


    While the "Blood Sword Sect" members were making their large movements,


    In another cave dwelling filled with a rich presence of Divine Power,


    The blue-robed woman of the "Sky Fox Sect," an Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable who had previously investigated the Barren Mountain Range where Ye Chen was, seemed to sense something as well.


    Her beautiful eyes flashed with divine light, "Hmm, Zhao Huan has not returned for a while now, and those fellows from the ''Blood Sword Sect'' are all hurrying to that Barren Mountain Range?"


    "It looks like something unexpected has indeed happened!"


    "Ye Chen, truly worthy of the youth that caught the attention of Sovereign Xuechen and Lord Bei Junwang. I said it, he wouldn''t die so easily!"


    "With this in mind, I have even more reason to meet Ye Chen!"


    Amidst her contemplation, the blue-robed woman stood up from the highest seat in an instant.


    "Sister, what''s wrong?" The several women under her care were taken aback by her actions.


    The blue-robed woman smiled, "Dear sisters, let''s go. There will likely be an exciting scene soon, and we should go have a look."


    "An exciting scene?" While the women were still puzzled, they felt their sister release a wave of blue aura, wrapping them all up.


    Then, the group of women also vanished from within the cave dwelling.


    If anyone paid attention to the Divine Power shuttle speed of the "Sky Fox Sect" group compared to that of the "Blood Sword Sect" group, they would undoubtedly be extremely shocked!


    Because the shuttle speed of this Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable in blue robes leading her sisters was even faster than that of the "Blood Sword Sect''s" Immortal Divine Venerable leading his disciples!


    ...


    After flying away from the Barren Mountain Range, Ye Chen headed towards other territories of the Star Continent attached to this "Demon Tomb Land."


    In flight, Ye Chen didn''t know if the Heavenly Divine Venerable Zhao Huan he killed had companions or whether they would pursue him.


    But after flying for about ten breaths, Ye Chen heard Xiaojiu''s voice, "Ye Chen, this is bad, seven people are chasing after you!"


    "And among these seven individuals, six are Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables, and one is a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable!"


    Boom!


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen''s expression changed.


    With his current strength, he could handle an Earth Divine Venerable, but he was absolutely no match for a Heavenly Divine Venerable or an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    What he could rely on was only the mystical object, the "Xuan Divine Cone"!


    But now he had only three "Xuan Divine Cones" left in his hand!


    And those pursuing him were, according to Xiaojiu, six Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables and an Immortal Divine Venerable!


    If these seven people decided to besiege him, even the three "Xuan Divine Cones" he had wouldn''t be enough!


    It seemed he could only depend on the supreme artifact he couldn''t yet control, the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    However, firstly, Ye Chen was unable to control the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," and secondly, even using the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" might not be enough to deal with the entire group, especially since he couldn''t truly harness the killing power of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Crisis.


    This was a genuine crisis!


    Ye Chen had not expected that killing Zhao Huan would stir so many people into action!


    Boom!


    Ye Chen couldn''t afford to think any further, as he immediately stimulated his Divine Power to its peak, increasing his escape speed by several times!


    But even with his speed greatly increased, how could he, a mere Nine Tribulations True God, outrun the escape velocity of that Immortal Divine Venerable of the "Blood Sword Sect"?


    It only took a few breaths for Ye Chen to sense the seven people Xiaojiu spoke of chasing after him.


    Moreover, Ye Chen heard the wrath-filled voice of the Immortal Divine Venerable, "Little brat, you killed my disciple and dare to flee?!"


    "In the heavens and on the earth, let''s see where you can escape to!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The moment the Immortal Divine Venerable''s voice finished echoing in Ye Chen''s ears, the next moment, the void around Ye Chen was ripped open, and the Immortal Divine Venerable, along with the other six Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables, appeared and surrounded Ye Chen completely!

 Chapter 795 - 746: The Four Great Sects of the Western Territory

    Surrounded by the seven people, Ye Chen''s complexion drastically changed.


    In an instant, Ye Chen clenched the "Xuan Divine Cone" in his hand while the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" in his Qi Sea also began to surge, ready to burst forth at any moment.


    In such a situation, there was no way for Ye Chen to hide any of his abilities.


    An Immortal Divine Venerable, six Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    To escape from this predicament, he could only fight to the death!


    Seeing the dramatic change in Ye Chen''s expression, the Immortal Divine Venerable from the Blood Sword Sect''s eyes flashed with a razor-sharp glint as he looked at Ye Chen, "I''m quite curious, how a true god like you managed to kill a senior Heavenly Divine Venerable. It seems you have quite a few secrets on you!"


    "Originally, with my realm of Immortal Divine Venerable, I wouldn''t want to strike against a mere true god, but to be safe, I shall personally take action and kill you!"


    As the Immortal Divine Venerable spoke, a blood-red Divine Needle suddenly flew out from his body.


    The entire Divine Needle emitted a bloodthirsty and terrifying divine light!


    Seeing that in the next moment, the blood-red Divine Needle would likely shoot towards him, Ye Chen''s "Xuan Divine Cone" also started to flash with bright light.


    The Xuan Divine Cone could even severely injure an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    If the Immortal Divine Venerable dared to make a move, Ye Chen didn''t mind engaging in a mutually destructive fight!


    Just as both parties were in a standoff, ready to fight at the drop of a word, a charming voice of a woman suddenly came from the void.


    "The great Immortal Divine Venerable Ao Nu from the Blood Sword Sect''s four great sects of the Western Territory dares to strike at a true god. What an eye-opening spectacle!"


    Upon hearing this voice, the Immortal Divine Venerable from the Blood Sword Sect seemed to recognize the owner of the voice. His face changed color, and he abruptly retracted the blood-red Divine Needle that was about to be launched.


    He looked in the direction the voice came from.


    He saw the void being torn apart, and a woman in a blue robe accompanied by five beautiful women stepped out from the crack in the void.


    This woman in the blue robe, with her long hair falling to her waist and her figure beguilingly enchanting, her face extraordinarily charming, was none other than the senior Heavenly Divine Venerable from the Sky Fox Sect!


    This senior Heavenly Divine Venerable woman seemed to have no fear of the Immortal Divine Venerable Ao Nu from the Blood Sword Sect at all. Moreover, Ao Nu''s expression changed upon hearing her voice.


    Clearly, this woman was no ordinary character!


    Sure enough, the next moment, the Immortal Divine Venerable Ao Nu from the Blood Sword Sect directly called out the woman''s name: "I was wondering who it was, turns out it''s Fairy Luo Yun from the Sky Fox Sect. What, despite your extraordinary strength, does the Sky Fox Sect intend to interfere with the affairs of our Blood Sword Sect?"


    As the Immortal Divine Venerable spoke, the other six Heavenly Divine Venerables of the Blood Sword Sect also changed expressions dramatically upon hearing the four words "Fairy Luo Yun." They all hurriedly flew to their master''s side.


    Even though their realms were similar to Fairy Luo Yun''s, their demeanor suggested they feared her greatly!


    Seeing the arrival of the group from the Sky Fox Sect, the Immortal Divine Venerable from the Blood Sword Sect temporarily stayed his hand, and Ye Chen''s tightly-clenched "Xuan Divine Cone" finally quieted down.


    Ye Chen was also puzzled; who was this Fairy Luo Yun, who seemed to be speaking on his behalf?


    Then, Xiaojiu''s voice directly entered Ye Chen''s mind: "Ye Chen, both the Sky Fox Sect and the Blood Sword Sect are among the four major sects of the Western Territory."


    "In the Western Territory, apart from the Western Territory King Mansion and the four major forces of the Divine Kingdom, and ''Tai Yun Heaven'' being the most powerful, the next most prominent forces are the four great sects of the Western Territory!"


    "These four great sects of the Western Territory, the Sky Fox Sect, Blood Sword Sect, and also the Vajra Sect and Black Demon Sect, all have Sovereign Realm powerhouses within them! Although they do not have as many Sovereign Realm figures as the Western Territory King Mansion and ''Tai Yun Heaven,'' in the Divine Kingdom, they are also quite famous and powerful forces!"


    "As for why Fairy Luo Yun suddenly appeared and spoke for you, I do not understand this character."


    "However, considering how she has condensed her aura to the extreme, her combat power is definitely on par with an Immortal Divine Venerable! She''s also a genius capable of fighting across realms!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, a gleam of understanding shone in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Although he did not know why Fairy Luo Yun from the Sky Fox Sect had come, the presence of something happening gave Ye Chen, who was originally facing almost certain death, a slight chance of turning the situation around.


    Ye Chen also watched the development of events, ready to respond to any changes in the situation at any moment!


    At this moment, the blue-robed woman, Fairy Luo Yun, who was being stared at by the people of the Blood Sword Sect, did not immediately answer Ao Nu''s question. Instead, she first looked towards Ye Chen.


    Fairy Luo Yun even coyly nodded at Ye Chen with a smile, leaving him somewhat at a loss as to her intentions.


    Then, Ye Chen heard Fairy Luo Yun say to Ao Nu of the Blood Sword Sect, "Venerable Ao Nu, if you dare to make a move on this true god, of course, I wouldn''t mind interfering."


    "However, are you sure, are you daring enough to attack him?"


    "It seems that during the time you went to the Netherworld Land in search of Yin Spirit Ganoderma, you were completely unaware of the fame of this true god!"


    Fairy Luo Yun''s words sent a chill through Ao Nu''s heart.


    Could this little true god have a significant background?


    Ao Nu''s gaze focused intensely on Ye Chen.


    Previously, Ye Chen, who was suddenly approached by Zhao Huan during his cultivation, had not yet managed to change his appearance and was now in his original form. However, Ao Nu had not recognized him at all.


    Clearly, he did not know Ye Chen.


    It was then that Fairy Luo Yun spoke with a light smile: "This true god here is none other than Ye Chen, the latest rising star in the Divine Kingdom, and a disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute."


    "Ao Nu Divine Venerable, I fear you may not be aware that Ye Chen has received considerable attention and importance from Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King."


    "If the two nobles knew you sent the Heavenly Divine Venerable to kill him, and that so many others besieged him, I wonder how they would deal with you."


    The voice of "Fairy Luo Yun" was very calm, but as her words fell, the brain of the Immortal Divine Venerable Ao Nu seemed to explode with a loud "bang".


    The little True God before him, given such attention and importance by Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King?!


    Although Ao Nu lived in the Western Territory, he held an absolute fear for the peak existences in the Divine Kingdom like Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King!


    Ao Nu was aware that even the strongest figure in the Western Territory, the Western Territory King, would not dare to provoke Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King!


    "Master, we have heard of the ''Ye Chen'' before!"


    "It is said that this person has significant ties with the number one goddess of Supreme Divine Institute, ''Long Li'', who is also the girl that both Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King care about the most!"


    "We''ve heard that even Qin Yuntian, the sect leader of ''Divine Dragon Mountain'', one of the four major forces, whose descendants were killed by Ye Chen, did not dare to seek revenge. They were even subject to a ''Sovereign Order'' by the two Sovereigns, forbidding ''Divine Dragon Mountain''s Divine Venerables and Sovereigns from troubling Ye Chen!"


    "Although the ''Sovereign Order'' does not target us, with the involvement of the two great Sovereigns, the situation is indeed troublesome!"


    The two Heavenly Divine Venerables from "Blood Sword Sect" had also heard of Ye Chen''s name and were now hurriedly sharing what they knew about Ye Chen with Ao Nu.


    Now, Ao Nu genuinely felt fear rising within him!


    Even though he had lost a Heavenly Divine Venerable disciple, when compared to offending Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King, it mattered very little.


    Even if all his disciples were to die, he would not dare to provoke those two great figures!


    Ao Nu looked directly at Ye Chen, his voice trembling slightly, "Are you really that Ye Chen?"


    Ye Chen had not expected that his identity, even upon arriving in the Western Territory, would be able to intimidate an Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Caught in a difficult situation, Ye Chen indeed knew that leveraging the names of the two Sovereigns could well be a good choice to resolve this crisis.


    Ye Chen looked up at Ao Nu and said, "Indeed, I am Ye Chen, a disciple of Supreme Divine Institute."


    "Previously, I was cultivating in a realm I had rented, when that Heavenly Divine Venerable came to execute me, and I had no choice but to fight back and kill him."


    "Right and wrong will be judged accordingly!"


    Ye Chen spoke with neither humbleness nor arrogance.


    Ye Chen''s words caused Ao Nu''s expression to change over and over, so much so that he fell silent for dozens of breaths.


    Ye Chen did not speak either, just looking directly at the Immortal Divine Venerable.


    At this moment, the six Heavenly Divine Venerables from "Blood Sword Sect" were silent as if frozen, not daring to make the slightest sound.


    On the other hand, the girls from "Sky Fox Sect" looked curiously at Ye Chen, with "Fairy Luo Yun" showing no concern, smilingly watching the scene unfold.


    After the air seemed to solidify for a dozen breaths, the Immortal Divine Venerable Ao Nu of "Blood Sword Sect" managed to let go of his dark expression.


    He even put on a forced smile on his face, bowed to Ye Chen, and said, "Previously, my disciple was unaware that Your Excellency was a person of interest to the two Sovereigns, and offended you. Their death is well deserved!"


    "Let''s lay this matter to rest. I, Ao Nu, swear an oath to the two great Sovereigns that I shall no longer pursue this issue!"


    Caving in.


    This Immortal Divine Venerable, merely because of the names of Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King, was directly caving in front of Ye Chen!


    Seemingly conscious that his words could be somewhat embarrassing for himself, Ao Nu did not wish to linger any longer, let alone dare to inquire about the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" anymore.


    After he clasped his fists in farewell to Ye Chen, he promptly led the six Heavenly Divine Venerables away.


    The scene was then left with only Ye Chen and the six girls from Sky Fox Sect.


    Ye Chen had not expected such a great disaster to thus dissipate into nothingness.


    This made Ye Chen even more emotionally stirred.


    The mere names of Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King were enough to intimidate an Immortal Divine Venerable and avert a major crisis for him despite the billions of miles in distance.


    This further emboldened Ye Chen''s resolve to become an existence like Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King!


    Ye Chen also aspired to become a person who could deter others from all directions!


    Ye Chen knew that while in the Wan Mu Mountain Divine Kingdom, Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King could help him, in other Divine Kingdoms or against some covert tactics, he could only rely on himself.


    Only by becoming an absolute powerhouse could he fear nothing!


    "One day, I will become an existence like the two great Sovereigns!"


    "For now, it''s crucial to enter the God King Realm as soon as possible!"


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen turned to the smiling "Fairy Luo Yun" and clasped his fist, saying, "Thank you for your assistance, senior!"


    "Fairy Luo Yun" just smiled lightly, her eyes shining slightly as she said, "Ye Chen, there''s no need for thanks. I am more than willing to do little favors for the two great Sovereigns. If you do wish to thank me, actually, I have two requests, and I hope you can fulfill them."

 Chapter 796 - 747 Two Requests

    Two requests?


    Ye Chen''s mind raced as he instantly thought of one thing "Fairy Luo Yun" might ask for.


    "Senior, please say what you need. If this junior can help, I will certainly do so," Ye Chen said to "Fairy Luo Yun".


    Fairy Luo Yun''s beautiful eyes looked at Ye Chen, blinked playfully, and said with irresistible charm, "Ye Chen, you probably guess what my first request is."


    "Indeed, it''s about the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''."


    Ye Chen muttered to himself, certain it was indeed about that.


    Since the person from the Blood Sword Sect had discovered the barren mountains he had visited before contained Yin Spirit Ganoderma, it was not surprising that "Fairy Luo Yun", who seemed even stronger than Ao Nu, could also discover the presence of Yin Spirit Ganoderma in the same mountains.


    "Ye Chen, you should be aware of the uses of the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''," Fairy Luo Yun continued, "This time our ''Sky Fox Sect'' has come to the ''Demon Tomb'' primarily to enter the First Demon Tomb and obtain the ''Divine Milk''."


    "We already have a substantial amount of ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'', five pieces to be exact, allowing five of our six Heavenly Divine Venerables to enter. This can also allow numerous Earth Divine Venerables and God King True Gods to go in."


    "However, one can never have too much ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma''. Since you, Ye Chen, have also come across a piece, it just happens to be enough for our remaining Heavenly Divine Venerable to enter with us."


    "Ye Chen, since you are at the True God Realm, your entry will not consume a Heavenly Divine Venerable''s quota for the First Demon Tomb. My first request is that if you decide to enter the First Demon Tomb, please reserve the opportunity that allows one Heavenly Divine Venerable and ten Earth Divine Venerables to enter for our Sky Fox Sect, and we will be deeply grateful," requested Fairy Luo Yun.


    "Of course, if you don''t wish to enter, you can also sell the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' directly to us, and we will offer a satisfying price."


    Upon hearing Fairy Luo Yun''s first request, Ye Chen pondered it.


    This request was not at all difficult to agree to.


    After all, they only needed the quota to bring people with "Yin Spirit Ganoderma", and if Ye Chen himself were to enter the First Demon Tomb, he would need a piece of it anyway.


    Taking the Sky Fox Sect members along as well if he went was not an issue.


    Even if he didn''t enter the First Demon Tomb himself, selling the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" to the well-intentioned Sky Fox Sect was indeed a good option.


    In an instant, Ye Chen made his decision.


    Ye Chen smiled at "Fairy Luo Yun", "Senior has just spoken in my defense and saved me from a great disaster. This matter is easily settled, and Ye Chen agrees!"


    "However, I have not yet decided whether or not to enter the ''First Demon Tomb''. If I do enter, then the chance to bring others in will be reserved for the ''Sky Fox Sect''. Even if I do not enter the ''First Demon Tomb'', as you have just mentioned, I will sell the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' to the Sky Fox Sect."


    The other five Heavenly Divine Venerable women from Sky Fox Sect were overjoyed when they heard Ye Chen''s agreement.


    They had previously been one piece of "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" short to all enter the First Demon Tomb, and they had been worried that one of them might have to stay outside.


    Now, with Ye Chen''s promise, they could be certain that they would all be able to enter the "First Demon Tomb"!


    This made these Heavenly Divine Venerable women feel a surge of affection toward Ye Chen!


    "Fairy Luo Yun" also smiled at Ye Chen, "Then this first request is settled as such. Whether you enter the ''First Demon Tomb'' or not, take your time to think it over carefully; there''s no need to hurry."


    "Now, for my second request."


    "However, this second request can only be fulfilled by you if you enter the ''First Demon Tomb''."


    "Oh?" Ye Chen asked curiously, "What is it?"


    Though he had not yet decided whether to go to the First Demon Tomb, he was quite curious about what favor "Fairy Luo Yun" would ask of him.


    After all, he was only a True God; aside from the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma", he couldn''t offer much help to this exceptionally powerful Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    At that moment, "Fairy Luo Yun" gently extended her fair hand, and a red object appeared in her palm.


    The red object was a small Divine Sword.


    When Ye Chen saw it, a gleam flashed in his eyes.


    This little red Divine Sword was clearly forged from the fetus of an Extreme Heavenly Object, the same sensation it gave was identical to that of the Extreme Heavenly Object fetus-forged "Star Blue Divine Garment" he possessed!


    "Fairy Luo Yun" actually had a treasure forged from the fetus of an Extreme Heavenly Object!


    To know that treasures forged from the fetus of an Extreme Heavenly Object, although not as precious as the actual Extreme Heavenly Objects, were still extremely rare.


    After all, such treasures could potentially transform into a genuine Extreme Heavenly Object in the future.


    Even many Sovereign Realm beings yearned for such fetus-forged Extreme Heavenly Objects.


    Apart from his own "Star Blue Divine Garment", Ye Chen had only seen one fetus-forged Extreme Heavenly Object in the hands of Xue Ningning, a girl from Divine Miao Peak of the Tai Qing Divine Institute, during the competition among the nine great divine institutes¡ªone known as the "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus".


    But that "Heavenly Decree Nine Transformation Lotus" Xue Ningning possessed came from a nine-star Sovereign of Divine Miao Peak.


    Since Xue Ningning hailed from one of the four great powers of the Divine Kingdom, it was not surprising that she had such an item.


    Now, in the Western Territory, although the "Sky Fox Sect" is considered a first-rate force, it is obviously incomparable to one of the four great powers of the Divine Kingdom, "Divine Miao Peak."


    To have an artifact in her hands that was refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object, of course, left Ye Chen utterly surprised!


    "No wonder this ''Fairy Luo Yun,'' with the cultivation of a Heavenly Divine Venerable, could make someone like Ao Nu, an immortal Earth Divine Venerable, afraid. Seeing that she could bring out an item refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object, her background is probably quite astonishing," Ye Chen contemplated.


    "Fairy Luo Yun," who had just brought out the Extreme Heavenly Object prototype artifact "Red Divine Sword," smiled and said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you must have recognized that this item is refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object."


    "I would also ask you, Ye Chen, to bring out the artifact you have that has been refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object, so I too can have a look," she said.


    Boom!


    The words of "Fairy Luo Yun" truly caught Ye Chen off guard.


    "Fairy Luo Yun" had actually discovered that he also possessed an artifact refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object!


    Ye Chen had heard from Xiaojiu that the "Star Blue Divine Garment" could block the probing of divine senses, and even the divine senses of exceptionally powerful Divine Venerables could not detect it¡ªonly someone at the Sovereign Realm might be able to sense it on him.


    Now, "Fairy Luo Yun," with the status of a Heavenly Divine Venerable, had directly stated that he had an artifact refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object on him, utterly surprising Ye Chen!


    As if understanding Ye Chen''s confusion, "Fairy Luo Yun" smiled slightly and explained, "Ye Chen, I once cultivated in the ''Tai Qing Divine Institute'' of the Northern Region in the Divine Kingdom. By a lucky coincidence, I met the Northern Territory King and was even granted a treasure by him. This treasure allows me to detect various Extreme Heavenly Objects as well as artifacts refined from their prototypes."


    While speaking, "Fairy Luo Yun" moved her hand, and an ivory-colored seal appeared in her palm.


    When "Fairy Luo Yun" picked up the seal, Ye Chen noticed that it indeed bore the handwriting of the Northern Territory King.


    Although Ye Chen had never seen the Northern Territory King''s handwriting, he was very familiar with the divine power aura emanating from the characters.


    It was the same aura he had sensed during his assessment at the Nine Great Divine Institutes when he encountered the Northern Territory King!


    This seal truly was a gift given to "Fairy Luo Yun" by the Northern Territory King!


    At this moment, Ye Chen also finally understood why "Fairy Luo Yun" had been so cordial to him and offered her help after learning of his background.


    It turned out that this woman had some connection with the Northern Territory King!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen no longer concealed his possession.


    With a wave of his hand, the Star Blue Divine Garment flew directly off him, transforming into a garment that emanated a faint starlight, and appeared in the palm of his hand.


    When the other five female Heavenly Divine Venerables from the "Sky Fox Sect" saw Ye Chen truly bring out an artifact refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object, they were incredibly shocked!


    They were Heavenly Divine Venerables, yet none of them had such an item.


    Only their master sister of extraordinary origin had one.


    Now that Ye Chen, a True God, was able to bring out an artifact refined from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object, they were utterly stupefied!


    At this moment, "Fairy Luo Yun" paid no heed to the astonishment of the other sisters. Her gaze remained fixed on the "Star Blue Divine Garment" in Ye Chen''s hand.


    The more she looked, the brighter "Fairy Luo Yun''s" eyes became.


    "Excellent, Ye Chen, you have cultivated this item once while at the True God Realm, upgrading its prowess to resist attacks from an Earth Divine Venerable level!"


    "Although you haven''t completely enhanced it to become stronger, it will be of great help when combined with my ''Blood Departure Divine Sword.'' I now have quite a good chance of succeeding!" she said.


    With that, Fairy Luo Yun no longer hesitated and directly shared the specifics of the second matter she wanted to request from Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, my trip to the ''Demon Tomb'' area this time is not only to retrieve ''Divine Milk'' but also to enter a ''Demon Tomb'' and extract a treasure from its earthly domain."


    "To extract that treasure, it''s necessary to have either an Extreme Heavenly Object or an artifact refined from its prototype, otherwise, we will trigger a mutation of the Ancient Demonic Beast carcasses within that realm of the ''Demon Tomb.''


    "My confidence wasn''t high originally, but just now, I sensed that you too have the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object. If you help me, my chances of obtaining that treasure are as high as eighty percent," she explained.


    "Ye Chen, if you''re willing to help me, all the other treasures in that domain will be yours, and I only want that one item¡ªa white jade token!"


    Upon hearing "Fairy Luo Yun''s" words, Ye Chen''s thoughts raced.


    Retrieve a treasure from a "Demon Tomb"?


    Ye Chen had heard that each "Demon Tomb" in the "Demon Tomb" area contained numerous "Demon Tombs" where the carcasses of Ancient Demonic Beasts were buried.


    Some of these "Demon Tombs" were harmless, while others were terrifying beyond belief!


    If he were to agree to "Fairy Luo Yun''s" request, Ye Chen knew he must inquire about the danger level of this particular "Demon Tomb."


    "Senior, may I ask how confident you are in safely entering and then exiting the ''Demon Tomb'' you wish to enter?" Ye Chen asked.

 Chapter 797 - 748 The Opening of the Devils Tomb

    Hearing Ye Chen''s question, Fairy Luo Yun gave a charming smile.


    "I have entered the ''Demon Tomb'' once before, but because I lacked a treasure made from the prototype of an Extreme Heaven item to aid me, I was unable to retrieve the treasures inside."


    "The ''Demon Tomb'' might be incredibly dangerous for others, but for me, there is no danger at all."


    "Ye Chen, if you agree to help me, I swear on my heart that I will absolutely not let you suffer any harm from that ''Demon Tomb''!"


    Fairy Luo Yun''s words were filled with absolute confidence!


    Ye Chen nodded, a thought crossing his mind.


    If it was indeed absolutely safe, then he truly wouldn''t mind helping this fairy with the ''First Demon Tomb''.


    On one hand, he could repay her for saving him; on the other, if he could safely obtain some treasures, of course Ye Chen would be willing!


    "Since senior guarantees my safety, then junior will not refuse any longer," Ye Chen said with a smile to Fairy Luo Yun, "If junior goes to the First Demon Tomb, then I will definitely help senior retrieve the treasures from the ''Demon Tomb'' when the time comes."


    Fairy Luo Yun''s eyes sparkled with vitality upon hearing Ye Chen''s agreement.


    If Ye Chen truly helped her, she would have a great chance of obtaining the treasure she had longed for in her dreams!


    "Ye Chen, thank you," Fairy Luo Yun smiled at Ye Chen, "Now that you know my two requests, I will await your decision."


    "There are still a few days before the Demon Tomb opens. Once you have made your decision, let me know whether you will go to the ''First Demon Tomb''."


    After conversing a few more words with Ye Chen and leaving a way to contact each other, Fairy Luo Yun, accompanied by several other Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Sky Fox Sect, drifted away.


    In the void, only Ye Chen remained.


    Reflecting on what had just happened, Ye Chen felt as if he had experienced a series of dramatic twists and turns.


    First, he was pursued by the seven powerhouses of the Blood Sword Sect, then Fairy Luo Yun''s words frightened them off, and in the end, he also learned of Fairy Luo Yun''s two requests.


    Ye Chen also felt that he had walked through life and death.


    "First, I''ll explore other places in this Subordinate Star Continent. Since the people of the Blood Sword Sect are gone, the crisis of killing the Heavenly Divine Venerable is truly resolved."


    "Now, it is really time to consider whether or not to enter the ''First Demon Tomb''!"


    After contemplating for a while, Ye Chen''s figure shot forward as he flew off.


    In the remaining days, Ye Chen traveled throughout various regions of this Subordinate Star Continent.


    Ye Chen saw many true gods, god kings, and divine venerables swarming to this realm, preparing to enter the ''Land of the Demon Tomb'', and he also witnessed countless events unfold.


    In the end, one event truly touched Ye Chen, leading him to make a decision.


    It was on the fourth day after saying farewell to Fairy Luo Yun, while Ye Chen was in a mountain range of this Subordinate Star Continent, that he directly heard a series of wailing sounds.


    When Ye Chen arrived at that mountain range, he saw many people gathered there, engaged in a bustling discussion.


    Among the mountains, there were many Earth Divine Venerables crying around a mummified body!


    After inquiring about what had happened, Ye Chen finally understood the situation.


    It turned out to be an elderly Heavenly Divine Venerable who, knowing his end was near, planned to venture into the ''Land of the Demon Tomb'' seeking a final breakthrough, a last sliver of hope to extend his life. Alas, he did not survive until the opening of the ''Demon Tomb''; his lifespan exhausted, he withered away.


    This type of lifespan depletion and withering away kept happening in the Divine Kingdom.


    But for Ye Chen, it was the first time he had witnessed it with his own eyes!


    This gave Ye Chen a great shock!


    Ye Chen had heard that every realm had a lifespan limit, and once it was reached, no matter if you had lived for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years, you could not escape the fate of your lifespan depleting and withering away.


    Unless you could break through further and step into a new realm, this was the only way to extend your lifespan''s limit!


    Previously, Ye Chen hadn''t really considered this.


    After all, he was still very young in bone age, and to countless elders, he was just a twenty-year-old youngster.


    But now, the withered Heavenly Divine Venerable had made Ye Chen realize what ''time waits for no one'' truly meant!


    Any delay could mean missing the chance to ever make amends.


    Only by truly cherishing each opportunity could one continuously exceed the limits set by heaven and earth, surpass one''s own limits, and ultimately reach the legendary levels!


    "The path of Martial Arts is full of dangers!"


    "Only by facing the thorns can one be ready to deal with various crises!"


    "I do not wish to be in a state of panic when my lifespan nears its end!"


    Looking at the Ice Snow Jade Pendant with the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' and the ''Xuan Divine Cone'' inside, Ye Chen made up his mind: "Once the ''Land of the Demon Tomb'' opens, I''ll go into the ''First Demon Tomb'' to brave it out!"


    "I can keep two ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' on hand to help fend off danger, and with the remaining three ''Xuan Divine Cones'', in the ''First Demon Tomb'', I might just make a strike!"


    "Even if true danger comes, I won''t continue charging forward; at least there is absolute hope for survival!"


    "If I miss the opportunity inside the ''First Demon Tomb'', there will be no regret medicine to take!"


    Indeed, this time Ye Chen could choose to only complete a level-five mission, get the ''Thunder Turtle Egg'' from the Thunder Turtle, and not have to enter the more dangerous ''First Demon Tomb''.


    But in that case, Ye Chen would only be able to exchange for one "Tribulation Inducing Pill", and using it to undergo the Divine Tribulation to break through to the God King Realm would still be dangerous!


    Moreover, when Ye Chen aimed to break through to even higher realms in the future, he would face many bottlenecks.


    Compared to that, entering the "First Demon Tomb" was dangerous, but once he obtained the "Divine Milk", Ye Chen would not only be able to quickly ascend to the God King Realm, but it would also provide him with an ace for attacking the realms of Earth Divine Venerable, Heavenly Divine Venerable, and even Immortal Divine Venerable later on.


    This opportunity was coveted even by many Heavenly Divine Venerables and Immortal Divine Venerables, so after pondering, Ye Chen naturally did not want to give it up!


    "That ''Thunder Turtle'' is in the eighth Demon Tomb area, I''ll go there first to obtain the ''Thunder Turtle Egg'' and complete the level five mission. Even if I eventually do not exchange the merit points from the completed mission for the ''Tribulation Inducing Pill'', those merit points can still be useful in other ways."


    "Since I''ve come here, the level five mission still needs to be completed first!"


    "After completing the level five mission, I''ll enter the ''First Demon Tomb'' with ''Fairy Luo Yun'' and the others to take a look!"


    With the decision made, Ye Chen felt light all over.


    What remained was to make all sorts of preparations for this decision.


    Ye Chen didn''t continue to wander around this Subordinate Star Continent, but directly contacted "Fairy Luo Yun" and informed her of his decision.


    Then, Ye Chen truly began waiting for the day when the "Demon Tomb" would officially open.


    This wait did not last many days.


    On the third day after Ye Chen made his decision, the day for the "Demon Tomb" to open finally arrived.


    Early in the morning, Ye Chen gathered together with "Fairy Luo Yun" and others, flying towards the direction that led to the "Demon Tomb" from this Subordinate Continent.


    At that time, Ye Chen saw that the Martial Artists who poured into the Subordinate Star Continent''s borders numbered over a hundred million!


    Ye Chen also saw Ao Nu of the "Blood Sword Sect" and their group, as well as the "Blood Sword Sect" Martial Artists with them.


    Ye Chen, introduced by "Fairy Luo Yun", also met people from other major powers of the Western Territory, such as the Vajra Sect and the Black Demon Sect.


    He even encountered representatives from the Western Territory King Mansion and people from one of the four great powers of the Divine Kingdom, "Tai Yun Heaven"!


    Of course, the most numerous were the smaller forces and the independent Martial Artists.


    The whole sky was packed dense with crowds of people, like a swarm of locusts!


    In these crowds, true gods were few and far between, as not many true gods dared to venture into the hazardous Demon Tomb.


    The vast majority of the area consisted of Martial Artists at the God King Realm, while there were also numerous Earth Divine Venerables, Heavenly Divine Venerables, and Immortal Divine Venerables!


    As Ye Chen looked towards the direction of the "Demon Tomb", he could faintly see through the seal the outlines of tombs larger than ordinary Star Continents!


    The Nine Great Demon Tombs!


    At that moment, between the Nine Great Demon Tombs and the Subordinate Star Continent, there was still a huge void Prohibition separating them.


    When the moment to step into the "Demon Tomb" arrived, Ye Chen saw that outside of the Prohibition area, three six-star Sovereign Realm powerhouses appeared!


    These three Sovereign Realm powerhouses issued a divine light that simultaneously covered the entire Star Continent, heavily enveloping the void Prohibition outside the "Demon Tomb".


    Then, a spectacle that shocked the billions of Martial Artists on the Subordinate Star Continent occurred.


    It was as if the doors to the stars had been opened.


    Under the stimulation of the three Sovereign Realm powerhouses, the void Prohibition outside the "Demon Tomb" slowly dissipated, revealing the true scenery of the "Demon Tomb" within.


    Standing beside the people of "Sky Fox Sect", Ye Chen saw that inside the "Demon Tomb", dark light soared to the sky, malevolent energy permeated, and he could hear roar after roar that echoed throughout the stars, coming from deep within the "Demon Tomb".


    The fearsome land that entombed countless "Ancient Demonic Beasts" - the "Demon Tomb" was indeed no ordinary realm. The first feeling it gave off upon the opening of the Prohibition was enough to know the dangers within!


    At that moment, one of the three great Sovereign Realm powerhouses who had opened the Prohibition spoke out, "The Demon Tomb has been opened. No matter from what force you come, no matter what your realm is, once you step into the Demon Tomb, your life and death are in your own hands!"


    "Remember, the ''Demon Tomb'' is only open for one month."


    "After one month, you must come out from the ''Demon Tomb''. Otherwise, once the Prohibition is resealed, with the demonic aura at its strongest, even if your Divine Skills are astounding, you will certainly not survive."


    "Now, those who wish to enter the ''Demon Tomb'', go ahead!"


    The voice of the Sovereign Realm powerhouse resonated throughout the whole world.


    When the voice fell, he and the other two Sovereign Realm powerhouses vanished with a flash of divine light.


    What remained was the countless throng of Martial Artists ready to enter the "Demon Tomb".


    "With only one month''s time, let''s hurry in!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In an instant, countless Martial Artists, whether in groups of threes and twos or in larger parties, all consecutively summoned their Flying Boats.


    These Flying Boats were of divine artifact level, heavenly divine artifact level, and even more powerful were of Profound Heaven divine artifact level!


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    In the blink of an eye, the sky was full of Flying Boats.


    These Flying Boats charged directly towards the nine Demon Tombs.

 Chapter 798 - 749: Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire and Netherworld Thunder Turtle

    "Ye Chen, let''s go," came the voice from the Sky Fox Sect''s Fairy Luo Yun towards Ye Chen.


    At this moment, beside Fairy Luo Yun, apart from the five Heavenly Divine Venerable ladies Ye Chen had seen, there were also dozens of Earth Divine Venerables and hundreds of divine kings.


    No True Gods were to be seen.


    Evidently, the danger of the "Demon Tomb" had led the Sky Fox Sect not to send any True God to this place this time.


    All these Sky Fox Sect disciples were female.


    Ye Chen, a young man and the only True God in the arena, standing beside the numerous female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect, really stood out.


    Now, hundreds of female disciples from the Sky Fox Sect were also curiously sizing up Ye Chen.


    They had already inquired about Ye Chen''s background.


    When they heard that this young man was from the first-ranked Supreme Divine Institute of the Divine Kingdom and was quite famous even within the Institute, the female disciples from the Sky Fox Sect looked at Ye Chen with admiration and envy.


    The Supreme Divine Institute!


    Much stronger than their Sky Fox Sect!


    Even though these female disciples had higher realms than Ye Chen, they certainly did not dare to underestimate Ye Chen, who was merely at the True God Realm.


    Haven''t they seen that even Fairy Luo Yun, who held a special position in their sect and was leading the team this time, was being extremely courteous to Ye Chen?


    The female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect all carried a mysteriously alluring air about them.


    Feeling the weight of so many gazes upon him, Ye Chen too, felt rather embarrassed.


    Hearing Fairy Luo Yun''s words, Ye Chen quickly replied, "Senior, let''s go!"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s somewhat embarrassed demeanor, Fairy Luo Yun gave a charming smile. However, remembering the rumors about the goddess Long Li that had been involved with Ye Chen, Fairy Luo Yun did not dare to tease him.


    With a light laugh, Fairy Luo Yun''s fair finger gently tapped, and an exquisite Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact flying boat appeared directly in front of her in the void.


    "Let''s go. Everyone has flown toward the nine great Demon Tombs; it''s time for us to act."


    "First, we''ll head to the eighth Demon Tomb area. Ye Chen has a matter to handle. After resolving that, we''ll head next to the first Demon Tomb!"


    Swoosh!


    As soon as she finished speaking, Fairy Luo Yun was the first to fly onto the flying boat.


    Ye Chen, along with the hundreds of Sky Fox Sect''s female disciples, also flashed their figures and arrived on the flying boat.


    Then, the exquisite Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact flying boat took off at a speed dozens of times faster than Ye Chen''s own void traversal speed, flying towards the nine massive Demon Tombs looming ahead.


    As the flying boat left the subordinate Star Continent and entered into star space heading towards the "Demon Tomb,"


    Ye Chen saw the "Demon Tomb" lying ahead in the dark space, like a gargantuan beast sprawled across the starry expanse.


    And the sight of millions of glowing flying boats, swarming towards the "Demon Tomb" like locusts, was spectacular to behold!


    While Ye Chen was observing the outer space and the approaching Demon Tomb as well as the flying boats, Fairy Luo Yun next to him spoke up, "Ye Chen, the moment we enter the ''Demon Tomb,'' we''ll be stepping into a truly dangerous realm."


    "Even the safest of the nine great Demon Tombs, the ninth one, has a high risk of fatal danger if one is not careful."


    "However, I have been to the Demon Tomb several times already; we can easily avoid some of the common dangers."


    Fairy Luo Yun was in the midst of speaking when Ye Chen suddenly heard exclamations from the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect nearby.


    Many female disciples were even pointing directly ahead.


    Fairy Luo Yun''s voice stopped abruptly, and Ye Chen also looked forward.


    Then, Ye Chen saw a scene that made his heart race!


    He saw, from within the area of the "nine great Demon Tombs" that resembled giant beasts lying prostrate, abruptly wafted trails of pale blue flames.


    These pale blue flames appeared instantly between the subordinate Star Continent and the "Demon Tomb" and among the myriad of flying boats traversing the starry sky.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the blink of an eye, thousands of flying boats fell into those suddenly emerging pale blue flames.


    At a distance, these pale blue flames didn''t seem large, but their actual area was countless times larger than the flying boats.


    These pale blue flames were extremely terrifying.


    In just the blink of an eye, the flying boats that entered the pale blue flames were burned to ash without a trace!


    In an instant, probably more than ten thousand warriors died!


    They hadn''t even entered the Demon Tombs within the "Demon Tomb" and already ten thousand had perished. With the dreadful pale blue flames drifting, more and more flying boats failed to evade in time and were directly incinerated.


    This horrifying sight shocked many who were venturing into the "Demon Tomb" for the first time, igniting their screams!


    Many boat operators were so startled they flew erratically, throwing the boats into chaos.


    Only those flying boats controlled by individuals like Fairy Luo Yun remained stable and could dodge those terrifying pale blue flames.


    At this time, while controlling the flying boat to advance, Fairy Luo Yun spoke to Ye Chen, "Those pale blue flames are called ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire.''"


    "This ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire'' is a ghostly fire born from the carcasses of ancient demonic beasts buried within the Demon Tomb, tremendously terrifying!"


    "Even many of the Immortal Divine Venerables, if scorched by it, would likely fall!"


    "However, Ye Chen, you can rest assured. I have been to the Demon Tomb several times and have long since discerned the traces of these ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fires.'' I have also prepared something that can defend against them. Safely passing through this area of ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire'' attack should not be a problem."


    Even though "Fairy Luo Yun" spoke with ease, her complexion showed not the slightest relaxation.


    With Ye Chen aboard the flying boat, along with many disciples from the Sky Fox Sect, she certainly wouldn''t let them be endangered.


    Fairy Luo Yun still carefully maneuvered the flying boat, avoiding the "Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fires" as they flew forward.


    This process of navigating through countless dreadful ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fires'' lasted for about the duration of two sticks of incense.


    During this process, Ye Chen witnessed numerous flying boats engulfed by the ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire,'' their warriors reduced to ashes.


    This made Ye Chen even more wary in his heart.


    Ye Chen certainly did not want to perish here on this journey to the ''Demon Tomb.''


    Fortunately, Fairy Luo Yun indeed had the capability. Under her control, the top-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact flying boat finally passed through the area where the ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fires'' wafted, officially entering the space of the Demon Tomb!


    Upon entering the ''Demon Tomb,'' Ye Chen felt an inexplicable silence and palpitation envelop his entire mind.


    Even though one could intermittently hear terrifying roars emanating from within the ''Demon Tomb,'' Ye Chen still perceived a strange quietness in this place.


    It was as if this area was a realm forgotten by time.


    After all, this was the burial ground for ''Ancient Demonic Beasts,'' the Demon Tomb, with countless Demon Tombs within ¡ª it was always enveloped by a sense of eeriness.


    The first thing Ye Chen saw was the ninth Demon Tomb on the outermost boundary of the ''Demon Tomb.''


    This Ninth Demon Tomb area was extremely vast, almost equivalent to five times the size of Snow Lotus Mountain on Star Continent, a place Ye Chen had once visited!


    Ye Chen saw many flying boats that had safely passed through the ''Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire,'' all descending towards the interior of the Ninth Demon Tomb.


    Clearly, this relatively safer ''Ninth Demon Tomb'' was the destination of choice for many adventurers.


    Ye Chen and the entourage of the Sky Fox Sect, however, did not stop at the Ninth Demon Tomb.


    They headed straight toward the Eighth Demon Tomb area.


    In the Eighth Demon Tomb, lay the target of Ye Chen''s original visit to the ''Demon Tomb'' ¡ª the rumored upper-rank Earth Divine Venerable level Thunder Turtle.


    After flying for roughly half an hour more, Ye Chen finally entered the Eighth Demon Tomb area.


    Looking down from the sky, one could see various sizes of Demon Tombs within the Eighth Demon Tomb area.


    There were also countless abysses, canyons, and even black rivers flowing within it!


    Ye Chen was on a level-five mission to the ''Demon Tomb'' and, of course, came prepared.


    He directed Fairy Luo Yun to the location of the Thunder Turtle, and the flying boat flew towards the northwest direction of the Eighth Demon Tomb area.


    After flying for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Ye Chen saw from afar a vast, gloomy-looking, black giant sea, emerging ahead.


    "So this is the place!"


    "Ye Chen, this ''Netherworld Sea'' is said to have formed from the blood of countless ancient demonic beasts that were buried here in the Eighth Demon Tomb, which coalesced into an ocean."


    "After the appearance of this Eighth Demon Tomb, the ''Netherworld Sea'' also gave birth to numerous demonic beasts."


    "The Thunder Turtle you are looking for is likely one of them."


    "How about it? You mentioned the Thunder Turtle is of an upper-rank Earth Divine Venerable level. Do you want me to make a move and kill it for you so you can obtain the ''Thunder Turtle Egg''?"


    Fairy Luo Yun, within the flying boat, said to Ye Chen with a smile.


    Fairy Luo Yun, a powerful Heavenly Divine Venerable, could easily confront many Immortal Divine Venerables with ease.


    For her to slay a Thunder Turtle of an Earth Divine Venerable level was certainly easy.


    However, Ye Chen shook his head towards Fairy Luo Yun: "Senior, I prefer to handle it myself in obtaining the ''Thunder Turtle Egg'' from this creature."


    "After all, Supreme Divine Institute''s missions require each disciple to accomplish them personally."


    "The entire process of completing the mission, even to the extent that it must be recorded with an ''Inscribing Divine Stone,'' has to be submitted at the time of reporting the mission."


    "Senior, you just have to stop the flying boat at the edge of that ''Netherworld Sea.'' I have my own way of obtaining the ''Thunder Turtle Egg.''


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Fairy Luo Yun nodded with a smile.


    "It''s good for you to take action yourself."


    "I''d also like to see how the legendary supreme genius Ye Chen from the Supreme Divine Institute, with a True God Realm cultivation, faces off against an upper-rank Earth Divine Venerable level ''Netherworld Thunder Turtle.''"


    As Fairy Luo Yun spoke, the flying boat had already reached the edge of the ''Netherworld Sea,'' and she stopped the vessel right there.


    As the flying boat came to a halt, Ye Chen jumped down from the craft and hovered above the void of the ''Netherworld Sea.''


    Fairy Luo Yun knew that Ye Chen had even slain the Heavenly Divine Venerable Zhao Huan, so he certainly must have confidence in handling the ''Netherworld Thunder Turtle.''


    But the other disciples of the Sky Fox Sect had not seen Ye Chen in action, nor knew of his methods.


    At this moment, hundreds of female disciples, many filled with interest, watched every move of Ye Chen, while many others, harboring doubts and concerns, wondered how Ye Chen with his True God Realm power was going to obtain the ''Thunder Turtle Egg'' from an Earth Divine Venerable level Thunder Turtle.

 Chapter 799 - 750 Fierce Battle

    Above the void of the Netherworld Sea.


    Ye Chen gazed at the gloomy sky over the eighth Demon Tomb; the Netherworld Sea beneath appeared even more dark and sinister. He focused intently for a few moments.


    Then, with a movement of his finger, a plant half a meter in length appeared between them.


    This half-meter-long plant had a dark root, but on it were five sparkling silver leaves. What was even stranger was that at the tip of the plant there was a flower bud ready to bloom.


    Both the dark roots and the sparkling silver leaves radiated an inexplicable divine light and were filled with mysterious patterns.


    But what was most unique was the flower bud ready to bloom at the top.


    The flower petals, still bundled together, totaled more than a dozen, alternating in black and white, emanating an indistinct thunderous aura.


    Even at a great distance from Ye Chen, the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect on the flying boat could feel the immense thunderous aura emanating from the plant''s petals in Ye Chen''s hands.


    When "Fairy Luo Yun" saw Ye Chen take out the plant, her eyes lit up, "Heavenly Thunder Flower!"


    "Ye Chen has actually found this item¡ªit seems he has prepared thoroughly for the task of acquiring the ''Thunder Turtle Egg''!"


    "The ''Heavenly Thunder Flower'' is rumored to be the best thing to lure a Netherworld Thunder Turtle!"


    As "Fairy Luo Yun" murmured to herself, Ye Chen, who had taken out the "Heavenly Thunder Flower," gently pinched the magic formula in his hand.


    The half-meter-long "Heavenly Thunder Flower" plant burst forth from Ye Chen''s hands and drifted towards the Netherworld Sea below.


    Following that, something miraculous happened.


    As it floated, the "Heavenly Thunder Flower" began to grow larger and larger.


    In a moment, the original half-meter plant had morphed into dozens of meters long!


    Once its roots were first planted into the water of the Netherworld Sea, the entire flower bud floated above the water. From a distance, it appeared as if this huge "Heavenly Thunder Flower" had always grown atop the Netherworld Sea.


    Even more peculiar was that the entire "Heavenly Thunder Flower" plant was not stationary in the water. As soon as it fell into the Netherworld Sea, the entire plant began to spin.


    With the spinning, the bud of the "Heavenly Thunder Flower" that was meant to bloom began to unfurl, petal by petal!


    The flower, now dozens of meters wide, with its petals alternating black and white, let out a piercing sound as they unfurled and released an inexplicable divine fragrance. Instantly, from the "Heavenly Thunder Flower," the fragrance started sweeping around!


    At the same time, a shocking divine light surged right above the flower, reaching up to the heavens, which began to draw down swathes of dark thunderclouds from above.


    From afar, it looked as if the "Heavenly Thunder Flower" had triggered a thunder calamity!


    In an instant, the entire Netherworld Sea, with the "Heavenly Thunder Flower" at its center, erupted into chaos within a radius of thousands of miles!


    One could feel that below the Netherworld Sea, numerous terrifying demon creatures were stirring as if they wanted to swarm towards the "Heavenly Thunder Flower."


    But for some reason, even though the bottom of the Netherworld Sea was tumultuous, no demon creature truly surfaced.


    And as this turbulence continued for a dozen or so seconds, accompanied by the increasingly loud piercing noise of the "Heavenly Thunder Flower," the sea below suddenly fell eerily quiet.


    Seeing the quiet water below, Ye Chen''s expression suddenly turned serious.


    "It''s coming!"


    A glint flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    The next moment, the quietude of the Netherworld Sea was shattered as a colossal black Thunder Turtle, a thousand meters in size, first appeared as a gigantic shell, followed swiftly by the entire creature surfacing above the sea.


    As the Thunder Turtle emerged, its small eyes on its head immediately turned towards the "Heavenly Thunder Flower," radiating an intensely covetous light.


    In the blink of an eye, the Thunder Turtle disappeared, and in the next instant, it reappeared near the "Heavenly Thunder Flower," its head darting toward the flower like lightning, attempting to take a bite!


    Seeing the Thunder Turtle''s move, Ye Chen chuckled lightly from above the void, "I''ve gone through so much trouble to find the ''Heavenly Thunder Flower,'' and you think you can just swallow it so easily?!"


    "If you want this flower, it''s simple; exchange it with the ''Thunder Turtle Egg'' you''ve refined using your Thunder Lightning Magnetic Force!"


    As Ye Chen spoke, he pinched a magic formula with his hand, and for some reason, the "Heavenly Thunder Flower" floating on the Netherworld Sea burst toward Ye Chen with even greater speed, and eventually floated behind him calmly.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen faced the colossal black Thunder Turtle below directly!


    This black Thunder Turtle was a creature of the upper echelon of the God King Realm, having long become sentient.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words and seeing this tiny human daring to snatch away the "Heavenly Thunder Flower" that was almost in its mouth, the Thunder Turtle was furious.


    Roar!


    With a roar akin to a fierce beast, it suddenly shot up from the water, its massive body launching toward Ye Chen in an attempt to slam into him.


    Seeing the action of the "Netherworld Thunder Turtle," many female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect aboard the flying boat changed color dramatically.


    Especially the female disciples of the God King Realm and the Earth God Venerated Realm, even from a great distance, could feel the force of the collision from this Superior Earth God Venerated level "Netherworld Thunder Turtle."


    They could sense that this collision would probably shatter the divine power of countless Earth God Venerates, killing them instantly.


    And Ye Chen was merely a Nine Tribulations True God, not even at the God King Realm yet, how could he possibly withstand the charge of a Superior Earth God Venerate level Thunder Turtle?


    Just when many of the female disciples were so worried that they screamed out, the "Netherworld Thunder Turtle" had already slammed directly in front of Ye Chen!


    Then, a scene that caught all these female disciples off guard happened.


    Ye Chen simply waved his sleeve, and a myriad of divine lights suddenly burst out from his body, illuminating with the radiance of stars and intertwined with a marvelous silver-white hue, shooting up thousands of kilometers high!


    Within the shroud of divine light, Ye Chen didn''t dodge or evade and collided head-on with the Netherworld Thunder Turtle.


    But the result was not what the female disciples had predicted, that Ye Chen would be injured or even fall.


    Instead, the Superior Earth God Venerate level "Netherworld Thunder Turtle" was repelled as if struck by a heavy hammer, being blasted tens of thousands of kilometers away upon collision with Ye Chen!


    The Superior Earth God Venerate level Netherworld Thunder Turtle was, in fact, sent flying by Ye Chen!


    The hundreds of female disciples from the Sky Fox Sect aboard the flying boat were utterly dumbfounded.


    Even though they guessed that Ye Chen dared to confront the Netherworld Thunder Turtle head-on because he must have had a way to restrain it, they never imagined he would meet the Netherworld Thunder Turtle''s charge with a direct clash!


    Only "Fairy Luo Yun" in the field, upon seeing the divine light that rose thousands of kilometers high outside of Ye Chen''s body, exclaimed excitedly with eyes wide, "It''s that Divine Robe, Ye Chen''s Divine Robe is even more formidable than I imagined! It possesses such strong counterattacking power!"


    Above the Netherworld Sea, the Netherworld Thunder Turtle, after being blasted tens of thousands of kilometers away, crashed into the water, creating a massive plume that shot up into the sky as if triggering a tsunami!


    At that moment, the Netherworld Thunder Turtle emitted another furiously enraged roar, its body shook violently as it emerged from the water, and it took flight again, hovering in the void.


    Its eyes were fixed on the divine light surrounding Ye Chen, filled with astonishment, rage, and incredulity!


    Within that expression, there was a greed that surpassed even the sight of the "Heavenly Thunder Flower."


    "Hmm? It seems that my ''Star Blue Divine Garment,'' after being nourished by the Thunder Lightning Magnetic Force in Sovereign Lei Fa''s abode, also has a gravitational pull on this Thunder Turtle," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    "From the way it looks, it doesn''t want to snatch the Heavenly Thunder Flower but rather covets my ''Star Blue Divine Garment''?!"


    Ye Chen smiled lightly.


    The next moment, Ye Chen retracted the Heavenly Thunder Flower behind him, and with a movement of his body, cloaked in the divine light soaring thousands of kilometers high, he charged straight toward the Netherworld Thunder Turtle.


    Having been refined, the "Star Blue Divine Garment" was now capable of withstanding attacks of the Earth God Venerate level, let alone the Superior Earth God Venerate level Thunder Turtle, Ye Chen had no reason to fear.


    Roar!


    Seeing Ye Chen charging at it, the Netherworld Thunder Turtle also swiftly tucked its head and claws into its shell, and the entire shell emitted extremely dark divine light, charging back toward Ye Chen!


    An astonishing scene unfolded across the entire sky.


    A mere human, carrying divine light thousands of kilometers long, was colliding with a turtle shell of a kilometer in size at an inconceivable speed.


    A few breaths later, they crashed into each other.


    Bang!


    The collision almost shattered the space between them!


    The air emitted a sound of space shattering, and then, everyone saw that the kilometer-sized black turtle shell was once again sent flying backward by the impact, while Ye Chen stood firm, not retreating half a step!


    Even though everyone recognized that the Netherworld Thunder Turtle''s second collision was far more powerful than the first, Ye Chen still completely suppressed it!


    This excited and impressed the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect, showing on their charming faces.


    At their stage of Nine Tribulations True God, they definitely couldn''t have achieved such a feat!


    This Ye Chen from the Supreme Divine Institute, truly lived up to his reputation as the renowned youth within the institute, indeed impressive!


    And what Ye Chen did next made the pupils of these female disciples shimmer with excitement.


    They saw Ye Chen, after once again sending the Netherworld Thunder Turtle flying, soar toward the spot where it had plunged into the water like a ferocious human-shaped beast, diving straight into the Netherworld Sea!


    Then, waves after waves burst forth within the Netherworld Sea, with Ye Chen engaging in a fierce battle with the Thunder Turtle under the water!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This battle sent surges of water flying, and divine light burst forth in waves, making it impossible for the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect to see the actual fight.


    But just from the series of enraged roars from the Netherworld Thunder Turtle and the sky-high waves, one could imagine the ferocity of the battle!

 Chapter 800 - 751: The First Demon Tomb

    After tens of breaths of battle, the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect suddenly felt the sea water suddenly calm down, as if the battling parties had simultaneously stopped their assault.


    Following that, they saw the sea water fluctuating again, but this time it wasn''t due to the battle, but rather it seemed like both parties were simultaneously heading deeper into the sea!


    And after the fluctuations lasted for several breaths, they could no longer sense anything, and the entire Netherworld Sea''s water returned to calm.


    However, the figures of Ye Chen and that Netherworld Thunder Turtle had completely disappeared.


    "What happened?"


    "Who won between Ye Chen and the Netherworld Thunder Turtle?"


    "Ye Chen''s figure disappeared into the sea water, could something have happened to him?!"


    The female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect all looked towards "Fairy Luo Yun," even those five Heavenly Divine Venerable women looked at "Fairy Luo Yun."


    At this moment, "Fairy Luo Yun" seemed to have sensed something, her expression changed drastically for an instant before returning to calm.


    Her gaze towards the Netherworld Sea emitted a strange brilliance.


    Then, she turned her head toward the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect who were looking at her.


    "Fairy Luo Yun" smiled: "The waters of the Netherworld Sea can block Divine Sense probes. Just like you, I can only see what happens at the very shallow boundaries."


    Thinking of the breath at the last moment that made even her feel astonished, "Fairy Luo Yun" continued: "Nevertheless, Ye Chen should be fine. That Netherworld Thunder Turtle is definitely not his match, even if it has ascended to the Immortal Divine Venerable level, Ye Chen certainly has the power to severely injure it!"


    "Severely injure an Immortal Divine Venerable? How is that possible?" The female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect all exclaimed in shock.


    Their gaze incredulously turned towards the Netherworld Sea.


    If anyone else said these words, they would certainly not believe it, but said by their senior sister leader, of course, they had no doubts.


    "Is Ye Chen really that powerful?!" Countless female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect trembled with awe in their hearts.


    At this moment, "Fairy Luo Yun," who was looking back toward the Netherworld Sea, murmured: "Although the aura unleashed by Ye Chen at the last moment was largely blocked by the Netherworld Sea and I didn''t see what kind of aura it was, my feeling is absolutely correct, that thing, I myself can smash or even kill!"


    "Ye Chen, he is indeed a person greatly valued by the two Sovereigns, his trump cards seem to be even more than I thought."


    "Perhaps even if I didn''t intervene back then, facing ''Blood Sword Sect''s'' Immortal Divine Venerable Ao Nu, he would have had ways to handle it!"


    As "Fairy Luo Yun" was murmuring to herself, and the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect were incredulously looking towards the Netherworld Sea, after dozens of breaths, they suddenly sensed the fluctuations of the Netherworld Sea''s waters again.


    Following that, they saw a figure burst out from the water and soar into the sky.


    It was Ye Chen''s figure!


    A smile was on Ye Chen''s face, showing that he had gained a lot during the time he had disappeared.


    "Ye Chen, did you succeed?" Fairy Luo Yun stepped forward, stepping from the Flying Boat into the void, heading towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile: "I did!"


    He followed Fairy Luo Yun back inside the Flying Boat.


    Thinking about the battle with the Netherworld Thunder Turtle relying on the "Star Blue Divine Garment," Ye Chen was still a bit excited and regretful.


    With the powerful defensive and counterattack forces of the "Star Blue Divine Garment," he was indeed not afraid of the Netherworld Thunder Turtle at the higher level Earth Divine Venerable level.


    However, without an aggressive attacking method of a higher-level Earth Divine Venerable, Ye Chen did not have the real power to fight back when this Thunder Turtle tried to escape.


    In the end, having no choice, Ye Chen had to take out the "Xuan Divine Cone" to intimidate the Netherworld Thunder Turtle.


    Luckily, the Netherworld Thunder Turtle had a strong sense of crisis and unmatched spirit communication, and ultimately under Ye Chen''s intimidation, it dared not resist Ye Chen at all.


    It even obediently led Ye Chen to its cave, and took out a "Thunder Turtle Egg" to give to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had disappeared because he went with this Netherworld Thunder Turtle to its cave.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen''s gaze turned directly towards the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    It could be seen, within the space of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, a giant black egg, a hundred meters large, appeared on the ground.


    Thunder Turtle Egg!


    This was the target of Ye Chen''s level five mission!


    This Thunder Turtle Egg was not an egg of the Thunder Turtle, but rather a special object refined by the Thunder Turtle through the power of thunder and lightning.


    When Ye Chen obtained this Thunder Turtle Egg, he could also sense the vast Power of thunder and lightning within the Thunder Turtle Egg.


    After examining the "Thunder Turtle Egg," Ye Chen''s eyes lightened a bit as he left the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and returned to the Flying Boat.


    Having obtained the "Thunder Turtle Egg," Ye Chen had a heavy burden lifted off his shoulders.


    Even if he was to go to the "First Demon Tomb" later and couldn''t obtain the "Divine Milk," relying on the Thunder Turtle Egg, Ye Chen could still exchange it for a "Tribulation Inducing Pill" and have a chance to break through to the God King Realm.


    This made Ye Chen even more ready to venture into the "First Demon Tomb"!


    When Ye Chen''s gaze returned to the Flying Boat, he saw hundreds of Sky Fox Sect female disciples all looking at him.


    The female disciples all had an expression as if they were looking at a monster, causing Ye Chen to also be slightly taken aback.


    "Pfft!"


    At this moment, Fairy Luo Yun seeing Ye Chen''s appearance, laughed out loud.


    "Ye Chen, my junior sisters here are all stunned by you, if you were a disciple of the Sky Fox Sect, they would probably want to marry you right now!"


    "Sister!" Hearing Fairy Luo Yun''s teasing, a group of Sky Fox Sect female disciples all turned a deep shade of red.


    However, they no longer dared to stare so intently at Ye Chen.


    For the eighth Demon Tomb, there was only one task that Ye Chen needed to complete, the level-five task.


    After completing this task, Ye Chen and the people from Sky Fox Sect immediately left the eighth Demon Tomb and headed towards the first Demon Tomb.


    "Ye Chen, we were delayed a bit at the eighth Demon Tomb, I''m afraid many people have already reached the first Demon Tomb, and even entered it."


    "Let''s hurry over as well!"


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Fairy Luo Yun spoke while maneuvering the Flying Boat, heading towards the first Demon Tomb.


    High above the Polar Heaven, passing over the eighth Demon Tomb, the seventh Demon Tomb, the sixth Demon Tomb...


    After flying for a long time, even encountering several attacks like the previous "Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire" between the Demon Tombs, the Flying Boat finally arrived above the first Demon Tomb.


    However, they couldn''t see the situation inside the Demon Tomb from where they were.


    The entire "first Demon Tomb" seemed to be imprisoned by some mysterious force.


    Ye Chen had encountered this situation before when passing the fifth and second Demon Tombs; he knew that this was the unique aspect of these Demon Tombs, not allowing random entry, but needing specific spiritual objects to open the prohibition and enter them.


    When the Flying Boat stopped at an entrance of the first Demon Tomb, Ye Chen saw a group of people in front of them being teleported into the first Demon Tomb amidst the glow of "Yin Spirit Ganoderma".


    Seeing this, people of the Sky Fox Sect were understandably anxious.


    Though it''s not necessarily better the earlier they enter the first Demon Tomb, after all, to obtain the "Divine Milk" inside, they would have to navigate countless challenges, which wouldn''t be easy to retrieve.


    But being able to enter earlier might allow them to encounter good treasures sooner.


    At this moment, the usually calm Fairy Luo Yun also finally showed some excitement on her face.


    "We''re also preparing to enter the ''first Demon Tomb''."


    "As we''ve planned beforehand, each Heavenly Divine Venerable will take ten Earth Divine Venerables and a hundred God Kings in a team, heading towards ''Land of Divine Milk.''


    "Remember, to choose different routes to advance to avoid everyone being blocked in one area!"


    "I will go with Ye Chen to another realm first to look for something, then head towards the ''Land of Divine Milk.''


    "Everyone act on your own; be sure to protect yourselves! In the face of danger, prioritize your life, it''s okay if you can''t get the ''Divine Milk,'' don''t lightly lose your lives!"


    "If we don''t meet inside the first Demon Tomb, remember, on the last day before leaving ''Demon Tomb Land,'' make sure to teleport out via the Teleportation Formation! Then we''ll board the Flying Boat together and return!"


    After giving a few instructions, the people of the Sky Fox Sect left the Flying Boat under the leadership of Fairy Luo Yun.


    Ye Chen also flew down.


    After putting away the Flying Boat, Fairy Luo Yun stretched out her palm, and five "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" directly appeared above her hand.


    She then handed over these five "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" to the five Heavenly Divine Venerables of the Sky Fox Sect.


    At this time, Ye Chen also took out a "Yin Spirit Ganoderma".


    Fairy Luo Yun had also discussed the plan with Ye Chen for entering the "first Demon Tomb", and Ye Chen knew that the two of them would first go to the "Demon Tomb" Luo Yun had mentioned before.


    After the six "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" were ready, Ye Chen and the five Heavenly Divine Venerables of the Sky Fox Sect started to activate the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma", preparing for teleportation.


    Before coming to the "Demon Tomb Land", Ye Chen had already figured out how to activate the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" for teleportation.


    Ye Chen''s Divine Power surged towards the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" in his hand, and Divine Light enveloped Fairy Luo Yun; the entire "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" then started to burst apart.


    Following this, that strange black Divine Power that Ye Chen had sensed inside the "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" was directly activated.


    This black Divine Power instantly sensed Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun, enveloping them completely.


    Then, the entire black Divine Power formed into a thousand-feet-tall giant black snake, roaring with thunder and lightning.


    And the end of this giant black snake surged towards the prohibition of the "first Demon Tomb".


    Boom!


    The end of the black snake and the prohibition had instantly revealed swirling black vortexes.


    These black vortexes swelled continuously, enlarging and emitting a surging sound.


    Following this, a black light pillar suddenly burst from the prohibition of the "first Demon Tomb", swallowing up the black snake that held Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun.


    In an instant, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun disappeared.


    Meanwhile, each team led by a Divine Venerable of the Sky Fox Sect was also enveloped in a black light pillar and vanished.


    Instantly, Ye Chen and his group entered the first Demon Tomb through the successive impacts of six black light pillars!


    Dizziness.


    The first sensation Ye Chen felt during the teleportation was dizziness.


    Then, a pungent stench wafted over.


    A moment later, this stench suddenly disappeared and then, Ye Chen found himself in a void, with Fairy Luo Yun beside him.


    As for the other members of the Sky Fox Sect, there was no trace of them.


    Ye Chen wasn''t surprised at this, as Luo Yun had told him before entering the "first Demon Tomb" that each "Yin Spirit Ganoderma" carried a person and would teleport them to a random area in the first Demon Tomb.


    Of course, it wouldn''t be easy for everyone to be teleported to the same place.


    Ye Chen immediately began to look around.


    With this look, Ye Chen''s expression changed.


    And Fairy Luo Yun beside him also had a somewhat pale face.

 Chapter 801 - 752 Three Evils Sea

    At this moment, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun were located above a vast sea.


    This vast sea was as pitch-black as the Netherworld Sea of the Eighth Demon Tomb where Ye Chen had obtained the Thunder Turtle Egg.


    But what was even more eerie than the "Netherworld Sea" was that this sea within the First Demon Tomb was more vast and deadly silent than the "Netherworld Sea".


    Surprisingly, floating on the sea surface were small leaves, all shaped like skulls!


    Even more bizarre, patches of blood-red water would occasionally churn out from within this sea, as if there was an endless supply of fresh blood in the water!


    "Three Evils Sea!"


    Upon seeing this sea, Ye Chen immediately exclaimed these three words.


    Fairy Luo Yun also spoke with some disbelief: "We have actually been transported to the ''Three Evils Sea''!"


    Before coming to the First Demon Tomb, Fairy Luo Yun had inquired about various regions in the First Demon Tomb.


    She had ventured through the First Demon Tomb several times and knew it deeper than most others.


    Through Fairy Luo Yun''s introduction, Ye Chen was also extremely familiar with many places in the First Demon Tomb.


    The "Three Evils Sea" was known to both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun as a terrifying region.


    "Three Evils Sea" was rumored to be a place from which one could not fly out to any other place above or below, with only one sea route available.


    This sea route passes through three sea areas, each inhabited by three terrifying demon creatures!


    Each of these three fearsome demon creatures reportedly possessed the combat power of an Immortal Divine Venerable, and it was rumored to be at the level of an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!


    You should know that anyone who enters the First Demon Tomb is below the Immortal Divine Venerable Realm.


    Once entering the "Three Evils Sea," passing through the realms of those three fearsome demon creatures could result in any attack causing instant death!


    After all, there are very few Heavenly Gods who can achieve the level of an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable in terms of combat power!


    Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun had heard that the three demon creatures resident in the "Three Evils Sea" were extremely sensitive and almost impossible to sneak past unnoticed.


    Those who had been transported to the "Three Evils Sea" in the past almost never made it out, and from the frantic messages they sent out, it was known that they all perished under the attacks of these three demon creatures.


    In the entire history of venturing through the First Demon Tomb, only two people have ever made it out of the "Three Evils Sea," and even they emerged severely wounded.


    Thus, the "Three Evils Sea" was almost ranked as one of the top three deadliest places in the First Demon Tomb!


    The overall danger level was only second to the core area where the "Divine Milk" of the First Demon Tomb was placed.


    However, the core area where the First Demon Tomb''s most important "Divine Milk" was placed could still be ventured through by multiple people, with specific treasures available for use.


    This "Three Evils Sea," even if people are transported in, are scattered in twos and threes, making it impossible to venture together, and there are no specific treasures to counteract it, making it even more dangerous in terms of life and death crises than the core area of the "Divine Milk."


    Anyone entering the First Demon Tomb would not wish to be transported into the "Three Evils Sea" region.


    At this moment, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun found themselves unexpectedly transported to this region, which of course was a surprise and their expressions were grave!


    Luckily, both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun were no ordinary characters.


    After taking several deep breaths, the two forcefully suppressed the fear in their hearts.


    Fairy Luo Yun, looking at the bleak sea below with floating skull leaves and roiling blood, said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, this is bad."


    "Let alone this ''Three Evils Sea,'' the ''Demon Tomb'' that we were originally heading to is already far from here, and just this ''Three Evils Sea'' might be impossible for us to escape."


    "I am a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, and my strongest combat power is only capable of contending with a Mid-Level Immortal Divine Venerable. Even if I exert all my strength and even activate a forbidden cultivation technique, at most, I can only resist an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable for a short while."


    "These three Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level demon creatures of the ''Three Evils Sea,'' I definitely cannot kill them with my own strength!"


    "However, this time I have brought a curious item from the Sect, originally for obtaining ''Divine Milk'' to break through the barrier, which can at most kill one demon creature if used here."


    "Ye Chen, now is not the time to hide your cards. Do you have any means to contend with these three Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level demon creatures?"


    Fairy Luo Yun looked at Ye Chen full of hope.


    She could not forget the kind of power she had sensed from Ye Chen before, which had even made her a bit fearful.


    If Ye Chen also could not deal with these three Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level demon creatures, the likelihood of them getting out of the "Three Evils Sea" was indeed slim!


    Hearing Fairy Luo Yun''s words, Ye Chen hesitated for a few moments before finally speaking, "Senior, indeed I do have three trump card opportunities in my hand, capable of severely damaging an Immortal Divine Venerable."


    "However, once these trump cards are used up, I will no longer have the strength to deal with any other dangers."


    Ye Chen''s "Xuan Divine Cone" in his hand was capable of killing a Heavenly God and severely injuring an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    This was a unique item refined by Sovereign Lei Fa, directly inflicting damage on one''s realm that is not affected by fluctuations in combat power.


    Indeed, it was capable of facing the three Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level demon creatures in this Three Evils Sea.


    But Ye Chen only had three "Xuan Divine Cones" left in his hand.


    Using them right after entering the First Demon Tomb was definitely not good news for Ye Chen.


    But Ye Chen also knew that under these circumstances, he probably had no choice but to use the "Xuan Divine Cone."


    After all, the "Three Evils Sea" only had one way out through the territories of these three demon creatures, with no other exit!


    He could only confront these three demon creatures head-on!


    Hearing Ye Chen say that he had a trump card in his hand that could severely damage the Immortal Divine Venerable, Fairy Luo Yun''s face lit up with a surprised and delighted expression.


    The more trump cards Ye Chen had, the greater their chances of survival.


    "Never mind, Ye Chen, we can''t just stay here motionless, otherwise once the Demon Tomb''s seal is activated, we''ll only have a dead end! Let''s break out of this ''Three Evils Sea'' first!"


    "If you can severely damage those three Demon Creatures, coupled with my attack, it''s not impossible to kill them."


    "However, since your trump card only has three opportunities, let''s use mine first. At least I should leave you with one for self-defense."


    Fairy Luo Yun and Ye Chen discussed above the Void Heaven for the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.


    Finally, after discussing various strategies, they started moving towards the front of the "Three Evils Sea."


    As if it were the rule of this heaven and earth, everyone who was transmitted into the "Three Evils Sea" would be sent to a small safe zone, which could keep them temporarily safe.


    Moving forward from there, they would officially step into the dangerous sea area dominated by the three mighty Demon Creatures.


    After flying forward for about thousands of miles, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun entered a new sea area.


    Seeing that the skulls floating in this sea area had grown much larger and hearing the suppressed roars made Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun realize that their first major challenge had arrived!


    "The three Demon Creatures of the Three Evils Sea are said to constantly change their domains."


    "I wonder which Demon Creature is in this first sea area this time."


    Above this Polar Heaven, there is a Prohibition of the ''First Demon Tomb'', limiting them to only fly thousands of meters high.


    Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun chatted through voice transmission as they flew through the void at extreme speed.


    Although it''s rumored that the sensory abilities of those three Demon Creatures are extremely sharp, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun would not want to give up the slightest possibility of slipping away under their watch.


    However, the expectations of Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun were completely dashed within half a tea time after entering this first sea area.


    While they were shuttling through the void at extreme speed, suddenly an inexplicable force shattered the very void they were traveling through, exposing them right out of the Void Rift!


    This caused their expressions to change drastically, and a flash of Divine Light appeared in their eyes!


    Both of them knew that this was definitely an attack from one of the three mighty Demon Creatures!


    Right when their figures were exposed from the Void Rift, a horrifyingly long tentacle, thousands of miles long, shot out from the sea like lightning, sweeping towards Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun with unimaginable force.


    This frighteningly long tentacle was thousands of miles long and even tens of meters in diameter.


    In comparison, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun looked utterly insignificant!


    However, despite the tentacle''s high speed of attack, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun had previously discussed various countermeasures and were always on guard against any attacks.


    As soon as the attack arrived, Fairy Luo Yun immediately started her counterattack!


    Whoosh!


    A Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin flew out from Fairy Luo Yun.


    This Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin, once it flew out, instantly flashed with light and transformed into a tremendously imposing phoenix, burning with green flames.


    After calling out several times, the phoenix spread its wings and its claws reached out towards the shockingly huge tentacle attacking Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun.


    This grasp sent jets of dark black blood flying from the tentacle, which was immediately marked with two terrifyingly deep wounds!


    As if in pain, the shocking tentacle quickly retracted, flashing back into the sea.


    The burning green flame phoenix, crazily following the retreating tentacle, similarly plunged into the sea.


    Upon entering, the phoenix stirred up a huge swath of seawater, directly disturbing it.


    The green flames on the phoenix''s body even caused the black seawater to boil!


    As the phoenix plunged into the sea, Ye Chen saw deep within the water a tremendously gigantic Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish.


    This Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish had tentacles that were thousands of miles long, and its body region was similarly thousands of miles in size.


    More terrifyingly, on the grotesque head of this fish were three glowing, twinkling eyes!


    "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish, it''s the second-ranked among the three Demon Creatures!"


    "Who would have thought, this Demon Creature occupies the first sea area this time!"


    Seeing this immensely large Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish, Fairy Luo Yun''s expression changed.


    "My ''Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin'', crafted by a six-star Sovereign of the Sky Fox Sect, should easily kill this Demon Creature!"


    While Fairy Luo Yun was speaking, Ye Chen saw that the three twinkling eyes of the giant Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish below suddenly turned blood-red.


    Its eight shocking tentacles immediately entwined towards the phoenix that had flown into the sea.


    Simultaneously, its three glowing eyes shot out three beams of dark divine light.


    This dark divine light caused the phoenix transformed by the "Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin" to freeze in its movement momentarily, and at this moment, the tentacles of the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish had already entwined the entire huge body of the phoenix!

 Chapter 802 - 753: Sudden Change

    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Upon seeing the eight terrifying tentacles of the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish wrapping around itself, the phoenix transformed from the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin let out a fierce screech as green flames frantically burned towards those tentacles.


    In an instant, the surface of the eight tentacles was scorched pitch black, emitting a foul stench.


    However, the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish seemed not to feel any pain at all, its three glimmering eyes turning even bloodier, shooting out an even darker Divine Light.


    This time, the three beams of Divine Light had an outcome that left Fairy Luo Yun completely frozen in place.


    Just moments ago, Fairy Luo Yun had claimed that the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin could slay the demon creature, but the three beams of dark Divine Light that burst forth from the eyes of the creature extinguished countless flames on the transformed phoenix, its eight tentacles once again wrapping around the fiery bird.


    This time, even under the entanglement, there were fleeting signs that the transformed phoenix might revert back to the form of the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin.


    This truly caused Fairy Luo Yun''s complexion to drastically change.


    Fairy Luo Yun had heard from her master that the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin would only revert to its original form after completing a kill, otherwise, it would only revert if it was completely suppressed and its Divine Power dissipated.


    Now, seeing signs that the transformed phoenix might revert back to the hairpin, and without having slain the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish, did it not mean that the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin was completely suppressed?


    "The Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin is a Treasure crafted by my master, capable of slaying such demon creatures! How could it possibly be suppressed?!"


    Fairy Luo Yun''s complexion changed drastically, filled with disbelief.


    She even didn''t know if she should retract the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin now.


    If she retracts it, then the effort of killing the demon creature would be in vain, but if she doesn''t, there''s a chance that the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin would be completely destroyed by the creature.


    While Fairy Luo Yun hesitated, Ye Chen made a move.


    Swish!


    A Xuan Divine Cone from Ye Chen burst forth, aiming to strike down at the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish below.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s voice entered Fairy Luo Yun''s ears: "Senior, something''s not right!"


    "Look at the eyes of the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish!"


    "It''s said that it emits a greenish Divine Light from its eyes when facing enemies, but now, its eyes are blood red and emitting a dark Divine Light!"


    "It''s likely this kind of dark Divine Light that has tainted the Divine Might of the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin!"


    "Our previous plan won''t work anymore, I will also use my methods to deal with it!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s voice had just reached Fairy Luo Yun''s ears.


    The Xuan Divine Cone transformed into a piercing silver-white lightning, striking in front of the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish.


    At this point, the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish seemed to sense the danger.


    It immediately ceased its attack on the phoenix transformed from the Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin and its three eyes, bursting with Bloodlight, once again shot out a stronger dark Divine Light towards the white lightning of the Xuan Divine Cone.


    Its eight tentacles also wrapped towards the white lightning.


    However, this time, the white lightning of the Xuan Divine Cone was not hindered in the slightest.


    It slashed through the kilometres-long body of the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish in an instant.


    Awooo!


    The three blood-red eyes of the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish instantly revealed great fear.


    But it was already too late to escape.


    The white lightning of the Xuan Divine Cone penetrated through its flesh, piercing a gaping hole in its massive body!


    With a wretched howl, the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish was severely injured in an instant!


    At this moment, Fairy Luo Yun also snapped out of her stunned state.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s successful strike, Fairy Luo Yun could not let go of this once-in- a-lifetime opportunity.


    She pinched the spell in her hand and the green flames on the transformed phoenix revived with great Divine Light, shaking off all impact from the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish earlier on.


    Then, with a shrill cry, the phoenix once again flew towards the gigantic body of the Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish.


    The Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish, which had been seriously injured by the strike from the Xuan Divine Cone, was finally unable to put up any resistance.


    With a booming sound, its entire body was grabbed out of the seawater by the transformed phoenix and directly lifted into the Void.


    Then, this massive demon creature, with its kilometres-long tentacles and body, was immediately engulfed in raging green flames.


    No matter how it struggled, it couldn''t escape the grasp of the transformed phoenix, and ultimately, it was burned to ashes.


    Bang!


    Layers of black ash fell onto the surface of the sea, and this vast expanse of sea returned to its former quietness.


    Fairy Luo Yun, having just retracted her "Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin," finally let out a long sigh of relief after seeing the "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish" demon creature finally vanquished, nearly collapsing onto her seat in the void.


    After taking several deep breaths, Fairy Luo Yun then turned to look at Ye Chen.


    If it weren''t for Ye Chen''s calmness and decisive action earlier, the treasure in her hand might have been damaged by this "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish."


    Whether they could kill this demon creature afterwards was still an unknown.


    This gave Fairy Luo Yun a sense of having survived a calamity, and she managed a slight smile towards Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, I almost took a fall there. Thankfully, you took action."


    Ye Chen smiled and shook his head.


    However, his expression soon turned serious, and he asked Fairy Luo Yun, "Senior, has this ''Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish'' ever had its eyes turn blood red before? Something about this seems off."


    Recalling the earlier moment when the "Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin" was immobilized by the gaze of those three blood-red eyeballs, a flash of brilliance crossed Fairy Luo Yun''s eyes: "I''ve never heard of the ''Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish''s'' eyeballs turning red. Never heard they could taint my refined treasure either!"


    "Otherwise, I wouldn''t have said my treasure could kill it!"


    "It seems there''s been an unexpected change this time."


    "It''s uncertain whether it''s only this creature that has undergone an unexpected change, or if all the demon creatures of the entire First Demon Tomb have changed. If it''s the latter, that would be really bad news!"


    As she spoke, the color drained from Fairy Luo Yun''s face.


    Unbeknownst to Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun, trapped in the Three Evils Sea, such aberrations were happening throughout the First Demon Tomb!


    Before they were teleported into the Three Evils Sea, several others had been transported there as well.


    And those few had already perished at the hands of this horrifying "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish" demon creature!


    In the second sea area of the Three Evils Sea, which Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun had not yet entered, a patch of eerily sinister blood-red light appeared above the head of an Ink Jiao Dragon.


    Outside the Three Evils Sea, a group of disciples from Vajra Sect, one of the four Great Sects of the Western Territory, was walking through a Dark Forest.


    "We''re lucky to have been transported into this ''Dark Forest.''


    "The strongest demon creatures said to exist in the ''Dark Forest'' are of the Earth Divine Venerable level. With so many Earth Divine Venerables and our Brother Wang who is a Heavenly Divine Venerable, it''s exceedingly easy for us to make our way out of this forest."


    While they were talking, from beneath the shade of the trees next to them, a slew of emerald-green plant roots suddenly sprang forth.


    These emerald-green roots even had teeth-like serrations.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In an instant, hundreds of these emerald-green roots attacked the group from Vajra Sect.


    "Soul Devouring Demon Grass? Such a thing trying to harm us?"


    The Vajra Sect disciples scoffed lightly as they faced the emerald-green roots lashing towards them: "Don''t they know that Vajra Sect disciples are renowned for our strong physical bodies!"


    "What harm could such minor demon creatures do, even if you let them bite us?"


    In the midst of their laughter, a sudden change occurred.


    They didn''t see it coming¡ªthe roots had suddenly flashed a bizarre and sinister bloodlight at their bases.


    By the time the serrated teeth of the emerald-green roots sunk into the bodies of the Vajra Sect disciples, the roots that were previously unable to harm them now tore through their flesh in an instant.


    Just as the color began to drain from the disciples'' faces, they felt an inexplicable force surging into their bodies from their wounds.


    Almost in a blink of an eye, these Vajra Sect disciples were reduced to shriveled corpses, as if every ounce of their Essence Element had been corroded away.


    Only the sole Heavenly Divine Venerable among them, Brother Wang referred to by the disciples, managed to break free from the emerald-green roots by radiating Divine Light from his body and expelling a blood-red fluid from his wounds.


    Seeing the rest had perished, Brother Wang was scared out of his wits, his terror reaching the extreme as he frantically flew out of the area with the emerald-green plants!


    But just as Brother Wang took flight into the void, he was suddenly snatched up by a vast black bird flying straight at him, who bit him in one gulp, instantly swallowing him into its belly.


    The moment this giant black bird swallowed Brother Wang, its eyes also flashed with two eerily sinister blood-red glimmers!


    At the western edge of the "First Demon Tomb," the "Blood Sword Sect," which had experienced conflicts with Ye Chen in the past, was led by a Heavenly Divine Venerable accompanied by ten Earth Divine Venerables and numerous Divine Kings, walking through a valley.


    At that moment, a series of "puffing" sounds rang out from the ground.


    Following that, countless black rats burst out from beneath the ground.


    With their eyes gleaming red, the rats ferociously charged towards the people of the Blood Sword Sect.


    "Demon Rock Rats!"


    "That''s not right, aren''t they supposed to be extremely timid? Why are they attacking us?!"


    "Good heavens, their strength has increased so much. Why are their eyes red?!"


    The disciples only had time to scream before they were overwhelmed by the countless black rats.


    Literally within dozens of breaths, the valley was left only with cleanly gnawed white skeletons.

 Chapter 803 - 754 Demon Tomb

    The various strange changes within the first Demon Tomb had Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun, who were trapped in the "Three Evils Sea", feeling somewhat anxious, but they did not know that these changes had already occurred throughout the entire first Demon Tomb!


    At this moment, after having slain the "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish", the two of them did not relax in the slightest.


    Because among the three demon creatures of the "Three Evils Sea", they had only killed one, and there were still two remaining demon creatures ahead waiting for them.


    Meanwhile, Fairy Luo Yun''s "Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin" had already been used once and would need a long time to nurture before it could recover all of its divine might for another use.


    This was also the reason Fairy Luo Yun had previously mentioned that the treasure could only slay one demon creature.


    The transformation of the "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish" had not only wasted the opportunity to use the "Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin" but also consumed one of Ye Chen''s "Xuan Divine Cones."


    In Ye Chen''s hands, there were only two "Xuan Divine Cones" left!


    If Fairy Luo Yun had no other means to counter the enemy later on, they could only rely on the "Xuan Divine Cones" to severely injure the other two demon creatures of the "Three Evils Sea".


    Although it could be seen from their battle with the "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish" that the "Xuan Divine Cones" were effective even against demon creatures that had undergone mutations.


    But if they were all used on the remaining two demon creatures, then Ye Chen would no longer have any true powerful trump cards capable of slaying a Heavenly Divine Venerable or severely injuring an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    The risk of perishing would greatly increase while venturing through other regions of the first Demon Tomb!


    Under such circumstances, of course, the preliminary plans of Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun were greatly disrupted, and for the meantime, both paused in the sea territory of the "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish" and did not continue forward.


    "Ye Chen, what should we do?" Fairy Luo Yun''s complexion was somewhat pale, "I can still navigate the other regions of the first Demon Tomb with some ease, but this ''Three Evils Sea'', ranked among the top three in danger level, is really a life and death challenge for us!"


    Although Ye Chen had previously activated the "Xuan Divine Cone" to inflict heavy damage on the "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish", leaving Fairy Luo Yun remarkably shaken by this trump card.


    However, Fairy Luo Yun had also heard from Ye Chen that he could only use this method three times, and she did not wish for Ye Chen to waste all these methods in the "Three Evils Sea", leaving him without means to use later.


    "Otherwise, we stay here for a while, waiting for my ''Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin'' to nurture and fully recover its divine might before moving forward."


    "However, even if I nurture and recover the ''Green Malevolent Phoenix Hairpin'' continuously, it will still take twenty days. That way, we probably won''t have much time left to venture through the first Demon Tomb. For our goals, the Demon Tomb and the Divine Milk, we would only be able to go to one of the two places."


    "And if there are any further delays, we might miss out on the treasures from both places."


    Fairy Luo Yun kept pondering for ideas.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was also deep in thought with his eyes flickering, considering if there were any other methods.


    Suddenly, an idea struck Ye Chen.


    "Right, those items, though I cannot use them, I can lend them to Fairy Luo Yun to use."


    "She is indeed among the cream of the crop in the Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables, a formidable figure capable of dealing with a Middle Immortal Divine Venerable. Now, it''s just that she is being suppressed by three Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level demon creatures here in the ''Three Evils Sea''. If she had those items of mine, her combat power might explosively increase, potentially allowing her to slay the remaining two Upper Immortal Divine Venerable demon creatures!"


    When Ye Chen thought of those items, Xiaojiu in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant also gave Ye Chen a suggestion: "Ye Chen, use those items you found in the cave of Sovereign Lei Fa!"


    The items that came to Ye Chen''s mind, of course, were the damaged Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts that he had found in the cave of Sovereign Lei Fa, later stored in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and had their aura hidden by Xiaojiu using a special method!


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts may not be of much help to Fairy Luo Yun.


    But the Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts, even if damaged, would definitely be of shocking help to Fairy Luo Yun!


    With this in mind, Ye Chen composed himself and looked at Fairy Luo Yun: "Senior, I have a few items that I would like to show you."


    Seeing Ye Chen''s gaze, for some reason, Fairy Luo Yun felt her heart skip a beat: "Could it be that Ye Chen has a way to overcome this challenge?"


    Following that, Fairy Luo Yun witnessed a scene that she could hardly believe!


    Ye Chen simply had her relax her mind and Spirit, and then directly sent her into a Spatial Treasure.


    Then, in a region within this Spatial Treasure, Fairy Luo Yun saw several Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts laid out before her!


    Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts, oh!


    And there were as many as six of them!


    Although it was clear that these Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts were damaged, they still left Fairy Luo Yun so shaken that her breaths seemed to halt!


    To know, the most precious item that Fairy Luo Yun possessed was the "Blood Separation Divine Sword," a treasure forged from the prototype of an Extreme Heavenly Object.


    Yet Fairy Luo Yun herself did not have a single authentic Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifact!


    Let alone Fairy Luo Yun, even her master, the six-star Sovereign of the Sky Fox Sect, only had three Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts at her disposal.


    Now, Ye Chen had suddenly taken out six Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts, naturally leaving Fairy Luo Yun somewhat incredulous.


    It was also because Fairy Luo Yun was affiliated with the Northern Territory King and held Ye Chen in high regard. If it had been any other Heavenly Divine Venerable, they might have turned green with envy upon seeing these treasures and possibly even attacked Ye Chen!


    Of course, the confident Ye Chen dared to show these treasures to "Fairy Luo Yun", without worrying that she might harbor other intentions.


    Ye Chen smiled and said to Fairy Luo Yun: "Senior, what do you think, can you activate these Extreme Heavenly Divine Artifacts? With their divinity damaged, do you think their remaining Divine Might can slay the remaining two demon creatures in the ''Three Evils Sea''?"


    "Yes, yes, of course!" Fairy Luo Yun nodded continuously at Ye Chen''s words, "Ye Chen, I am a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, and the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Power I possess can activate the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact several times."


    "Ye Chen, I''ve never actually used a real Ultimate Heavenly Artifact before. Are you truly willing to lend me these treasures? Just by borrowing one offensive treasure, I''m confident in slaying the remaining two demon creatures, allowing us to safely escape the ''Three Evils Sea''!"


    By the end, Fairy Luo Yun''s voice had become noticeably excited.


    "Senior, I brought these things out with the intention of lending them to you."


    Ye Chen smiled.


    "These six damaged Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts, Senior, you may choose whichever you find most suitable. Once we escape the first Demon Tomb, you can return it to me."


    Upon hearing she could really borrow these Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts, Fairy Luo Yun was thrilled to the point of nearly jumping for joy!


    If Fairy Luo Yun didn''t know that Ye Chen had a relationship with Long Li, whom the Northern Territory King cherished deeply, she might have even been unable to resist giving Ye Chen a big kiss to express her excitement.


    After all, in the Divine Venerable Realm, to come into contact with a real Ultimate Heavenly Artifact is exceedingly rare!


    Whoosh!


    Suppressing her excitement, Fairy Luo Yun''s gaze turned directly to the six damaged Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts.


    Ultimately, her gaze settled on one of the sword-shaped treasures.


    "Ye Chen, my swordsmanship Divine Arts is my primary Divine Art, I''ll choose this Ultimate Heavenly God Sword."


    Ye Chen also looked at the sword-shaped Ultimate Heavenly Treasure chosen by Fairy Luo Yun.


    Ye Chen saw that it was a palm-sized silver-white sword placed within a sword box. Although the sword was broken in three places at the blade, the Divine Might it emitted was undeniably far superior to any intact Mysterious Heavenly Artifacts or even Extreme Heavenly Objects crafted as prototypes!


    "Since Senior has chosen this item, I will lend this treasure to you!"


    "Senior is skilled in swordsmanship Divine Arts, and I have also practiced some swordsmanship Divine Arts. After we pass through the ''Three Evils Sea'' danger, I hope to consult Senior on some swordsmanship Divine Arts matters."


    Now, with Fairy Luo Yun using the damaged Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts, their chances of crossing the "Three Evils Sea" had increased significantly, lightening the heavy burden in their hearts by a lot.


    Ye Chen was even able to talk and laugh about it with Fairy Luo Yun.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Fairy Luo Yun''s eyes lit up: "We''re not to the point of consulting; Ye Chen, although you are only at the True God Realm, you have already surprised me countless times."


    "Whether it''s the treasure you used to slay that ''Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish'' or the Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts you brought out now, if I hadn''t seen it with my own eyes, I would hardly believe they could be in the hands of a True God."


    "Ye Chen, for a genius like you, I couldn''t ask for more than to exchange cultivation experiences with each other!"


    By the end of her words, Fairy Luo Yun cast a flirtatious smile at Ye Chen, enchanting in its allure.


    Armed with new methods, the two no longer wasted time in the first sea area.


    Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun directly flew towards the second sea area of the "Three Evils Sea".


    What happened next brought a mix of surprise and concern for both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun.


    What was surprising was that with the help of the broken Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts, Fairy Luo Yun really succeeded in killing the remaining two demon creatures in the "Three Evils Sea"¡ªa giant Ink Jiao beast and a terrifying swordfish, allowing them to break through the "Three Evils Sea" together!


    What was concerning was that during the slaying of the last two demon creatures, both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun noticed that these two creatures, like the earlier "Eight-Clawed Soul Devouring Fish," also underwent a bizarre transformation, with their eyes turning completely blood-red and their combat power increasing manifold!


    Encountering three demon creatures like this certainly made Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun''s earlier suspicions more certain: something unfavorable was really happening within the first Demon Tomb!


    As Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun escaped the "Three Evils Sea" and headed towards the Demon Tomb they were targeting, their hearts grew heavier along the way.


    Because, they encountered more and more demon creatures undergoing strange transformations!


    The two even witnessed the remains of numerous martial artists who had died at the hands of these transformed creatures!


    This made both of them extremely worried for the safety of the others who had entered the first Demon Tomb.


    Especially Fairy Luo Yun, who was extremely concerned for the safety of the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect; under these circumstances, the risk of their falling was countless times greater than originally planned!


    "Ye Chen, let''s hurry up and resolve the matter with the Demon Tomb and head to the ''Divine Milk'' location quickly! We still have measures to protect ourselves, but my junior sisters are likely in great danger, we must hurry and save whoever we can!"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    The two swiftly flew in the direction of that Demon Tomb.


    "Three Evils Sea" was incredibly far from the Demon Tomb Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun were aiming for.


    Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun flew for four full days, slaying over hundreds of waves of demon creatures before finally standing at the boundary of that Demon Tomb''s territory.


    Upon seeing an ordinary-looking Demon Tomb, no more than a few hundred zhang in radius, Ye Chen''s heart skipped a beat.


    Because Xiaojiu''s voice suddenly transmitted into Ye Chen''s ears: "Ye Chen, there''s something wrong with this Demon Tomb; it seems like there''s some strange object inside!"

 Chapter 804 - 755: Three Coffins

    "What kind of odd thing?" Ye Chen hastily asked Xiaojiu, "Is it good or bad for us?"


    Xiaojiu is the Nine Spirit Sparrow Emperor, one of the most precious clans among soul beasts, with an exceptionally keen sense of perception.


    Of course, Ye Chen wanted to know more about the Demon Tomb from Xiaojiu.


    After all, he was about to venture into this Demon Tomb!


    However, Xiaojiu now shook his head: "I''m not sure what exactly it is. I merely have a faint feeling that the thing is of immeasurable value, and if you obtain it, it will probably be of great help to your cultivation!"


    "Once we enter the Demon Tomb, I''ll try to sense where that thing really is."


    Immeasurably valuable?


    Great help to cultivation?


    Ye Chen''s heart stirred.


    It seemed that after entering this Demon Tomb, he would have to thoroughly search for it.


    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were conversing telepathically, Fairy Luo Yun also spoke up to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, don''t judge the Demon Tomb by its appearance from the outside. It only spans several hundred zhang in circumference, quite ordinary, but it''s far from simple inside."


    "I also discovered a Secret Map by chance, which revealed the method to enter this Demon Tomb."


    "Let''s go, we''ll enter right now!"


    As she spoke, Fairy Luo Yun took the lead, flying down to a boundary on the side of the Demon Tomb.


    Ye Chen also landed where Fairy Luo Yun descended.


    Ye Chen noticed that in this side boundary, there were three odd black plants.


    Unlike other lush plants, these three black ones had not a single leaf on them, just bald trunks.


    Moreover, these trunks were engraved with many patterns that looked incredibly strange!


    Even though Ye Chen had studied the Nine Volumes of Formation Array, he could not decipher the meaning of these patterns.


    Yet Xiaojiu, upon seeing these patterns, was greatly shaken in mind and spirit: "Huh, it turns out to be the script of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' recorded by Lord Emperor Yan in the information he left me!"


    "Good heavens, that ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' is said to be much bigger and more powerful than the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain! And it''s far, far away from this Mountain Divine Nation! How could the script of that Divine Kingdom appear here? How could it appear outside this Demon Tomb?!"


    "Looking at the meaning of this script, is this Demon Tomb merely a subsidiary tomb? Is it just to guard a main tomb?"


    "Where is that main tomb, then?"


    Even Xiaojiu, who recognized the script on the trunk, was completely baffled by the scant information it conveyed.


    At that moment, Fairy Luo Yun reached out with her palm, and a gray tablet appeared in her hand.


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu both saw that the gray tablet also bore engravings of patterns remarkably similar to those on the tree trunks.


    However, the patterns on the tablet were denser and more complex, as if holding some underlying meaning.


    Seeing Ye Chen and Xiaojiu''s attentive eyes, Fairy Luo Yun smiled softly: "Ye Chen, this tablet contains the way to enter the Demon Tomb that I crafted following the Secret Map."


    "With it, we can open up this Demon Tomb."


    As she spoke, Fairy Luo Yun held the tablet, and with a sudden flash toward the leftmost of the three black odd plants, a "boom" echoed, and the left plant emitted a burst of hazy Divine Light.


    As the mystical plant emitted a hazy Divine Light, the Demon Tomb beside it also burst forth with a curious Divine Light.


    At that moment, Fairy Luo Yun grabbed Ye Chen''s hand, and at the same time, the strange Divine Light emanating from the Demon Tomb wrapped around Fairy Luo Yun and Ye Chen completely.


    The next instant, both of them disappeared from outside the Demon Tomb.


    When Ye Chen''s Divine Sense recovered clarity, he found himself suspended above the void of a vast lake.


    Looking downward, Ye Chen was shocked to discover three enormous Ice Coffins floating on the lake!


    Each Ice Coffin was over ten thousand feet long, with the central one being more than double the size of the two flanking it!


    Stranger still, these three Ice Coffins were all uncovered, as if they were meant to be open from the outset.


    However, white fog floated above the Ice Coffins, and even Ye Chen''s mighty Divine Sense couldn''t penetrate the fog to directly scrutinize the contents within.


    Clearly, this white fog served a powerful function in blocking Divine Sense from probing.


    "Ye Chen, these three Ice Coffins are the true treasures of this Demon Tomb,"


    "Once you really enter these Ice Coffins, you''ll know that they have stairs leading downward one after another."


    "However, currently, I can only descend to the bottom of the Ice Coffin on the left. As for the other two, even with my Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm, I simply can''t traverse those stairs and reach the very bottom!"


    "The Treasure I am seeking is at the bottom of the left Ice Coffin. Unfortunately, I can''t get to the bottoms of the other two; otherwise, I could see what lies beneath them."


    "I fear there must be something extremely precious down there!"


    Fairy Luo Yun''s eyes lingered on the three Ice Coffins above the vast lake as she conveyed her thoughts to Ye Chen through voice transmission.


    As Fairy Luo Yun''s voice fell, Xiaojiu also transmitted a message to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, I found where that strange thing I sensed before entering the tomb is."


    "It''s inside the central Ice Coffin!"


    Hearing the words of Fairy Luo Yun and Xiaojiu, a gleam flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Xiaojiu spoke of something precious inside the central Ice Coffin, while Fairy Luo Yun said she couldn''t reach the bottom of the central Ice Coffin even with her Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm, able to enter only the left Ice Coffin.


    It instantly dawned on Ye Chen that the mysterious object inside the central Ice Coffin must indeed be extraordinary to have even prevented Fairy Luo Yun of the Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm from reaching its depths.


    But while Fairy Luo Yun was stopped, Ye Chen had not yet tried to enter, so of course, he would not be deterred.


    Without personally venturing forth to seek out what Xiaojiu mentioned, Ye Chen would never give up!


    Considering this, Ye Chen addressed Fairy Luo Yun directly: "Senior, let''s first go and look for the Treasure you want inside the left Ice Coffin, and then we''ll try our luck with the other two afterward."


    "Try our luck?" Fairy Luo Yun chuckled. "Ye Chen, it seems you are quite interested in the other two Ice Coffins, just like I was before."


    "But once you go in, you''ll find out just how bizarre those two Ice Coffins are."


    "Alright, you will definitely not rest until you give it a try, so we''ll first retrieve the Treasure from the left Ice Coffin, and then we''ll have a look at the other two!"


    As she spoke, Fairy Luo Yun took the lead and flew towards the inside of the left Ice Coffin.


    Ye Chen also followed after Fairy Luo Yun, flying into the left Ice Coffin.


    Upon entering the Ice Coffin, Ye Chen indeed found, just as Fairy Luo Yun had said, that there were staircases extending downwards, one after another.


    Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun flew for the time it takes to drink half a cup of tea before they finally traversed these staircases and reached the very bottom of the Ice Coffin!

 Chapter 805 - 756: Retrieving the Treasure

    At the very bottom of the Ice Coffin, a huge Treasure Palace suddenly appeared!


    In the land of the Demon Tomb, where Ancient Demonic Beasts are buried, the emergence of three Ice Coffins was already strange enough, yet now, there''s a huge Treasure Palace hidden within the Ice Coffin; this surely made it all the more incredible.


    One must realize that the land of the Demon Tomb was designed to bury Ancient Demonic Beasts. Who would go to the trouble of building Ice Coffins and a Treasure Palace for Ancient Demonic Beasts?


    Ye Chen had heard that the Sovereigns who had hunted down the Ancient Demonic Beasts would simply toss their remains into the Demon Graves within the Demon Tomb.


    Ye Chen had never heard of such deliberately crafted Demon Graves!


    "Could it be that this is not simply a burial ground for Demon Creatures but contains some deeper Mysterious secret?"


    Whilst contemplating in his heart, Ye Chen looked towards the huge Treasure Palace that had appeared at the very bottom of the left Ice Coffin.


    Then, he directly saw two colossal tiger-headed humanoid Skeleton Guards with long tails standing outside the palace gate, each hundreds of feet tall.


    Although these two Skeleton Guards appeared to be lifeless, the black patterns revealed on their bones made it evident that they were the remains of the powerful Demon Creatures born in the "Ancient Demon Abyss" of the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom!


    Strange.


    Ye Chen felt something peculiar in his heart.


    In this place where Ancient Demonic Beasts were buried, the remains of two Ancient Demonic Beasts stood at the entrance.


    Shouldn''t they have simply been thrown into this tomb?


    Why did it seem as though these two long-tailed Demon Skeleton Guards were guardians at the gate of this vast hall?


    As Ye Chen pondered, Fairy Luo Yun beside him spoke, "Ye Chen, don''t be fooled by the dead appearance of these two Ancient Demonic Beasts'' skeletons. Once you get within a hundred zhang of them, they will awaken and launch an attack on the intruders."


    "I have entered this Treasure Palace before, and I have some experience bypassing these two Ancient Demonic Beasts'' Skeleton Guards. Just follow me."


    Ye Chen nodded his head.


    His main purpose in coming to this Demon Tomb was to help Fairy Luo Yun retrieve the Treasure she desired.


    Now that they had arrived at the location of the Treasure, it was natural to follow Fairy Luo Yun, who was familiar with this place.


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Fairy Luo Yun smiled lightly and flew towards the palace entrance.


    Fairy Luo Yun was, of course, completely at ease with Ye Chen.


    She had witnessed Ye Chen''s methods when he severely wounded the three Demon Creatures of the Three Evils Sea. Even their escape from the Three Evils Sea was greatly aided by a Treasure given to her by Ye Chen.


    Fairy Luo Yun even had a premonition that, in times of true crisis, she might perish in the Demon Tomb, but Ye Chen would probably remain unharmed.


    In the blink of an eye, Fairy Luo Yun had reached a hundred zhang from the entrance of the Treasure Palace.


    Ye Chen also followed close by Fairy Luo Yun''s side, arriving at the entrance of the Treasure Palace.


    At this moment, the two towering long-tailed Ancient Demonic Beasts'' Skeleton Guards that had been motionless suddenly made a "crack-crack-crack" sound as their bones began to move vigorously. Even the eye sockets flashed with a dim blue flame, awakening!


    As Fairy Luo Yun had previously said, these were not simply dead skeletons; they were indeed the guardians at the entrance of the Treasure Palace!


    Boom! Boom!


    Upon awakening, these two Skeleton Guards exhibited the formidable Combat Power that could instantly annihilate countless Lower Earthly Divine Venerables.


    At that moment, Fairy Luo Yun pinched a spell between her fingers, and her body suddenly shone with layers of radiant light, which enveloped both her and Ye Chen.


    The terrifying attacks from the two Skeleton Guards, upon encountering the radiant light emitted by Fairy Luo Yun, were dissipated instantaneously, not breaching the light in the slightest, let alone injuring Fairy Luo Yun and Ye Chen inside.


    Seeing that their attacks were ineffective, the two Skeleton Guards seemed to become even more enraged. They instantly conjured long swords in their hands and began charging towards Fairy Luo Yun and Ye Chen wielding their swords.


    At that moment, Fairy Luo Yun just smiled lightly, and the protective radiant light around her body suddenly burst forth with beams of light.


    These beams of light directly blasted the two Ancient Demonic Beasts'' Skeleton Guards into fragments!


    Then, Fairy Luo Yun and Ye Chen passed through the hindrance of the two Ancient Demonic Beast Skeletons and entered the grand entrance of the Treasure Palace.


    However, as Ye Chen looked back, something startling happened.


    The fragments of the two Ancient Demonic Beast Skeletons that Fairy Luo Yun had blasted to pieces started to reassemble in the air and eventually turned back into two intact long-tailed skeletons, once again standing guard at the entrance of the great hall.


    They did not attack Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun again.


    It was as if the two had now earned the right to enter the Treasure Palace.


    The fact that the two Ancient Demonic Beast Skeletons could be revived was already astonishing enough for Ye Chen, but seeing them revert to their original state was even more terrifying!


    Although these two Ancient Demonic Beasts appeared to have the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, it seemed as if they were powered by some inexplicable force behind them.


    Seeing the shock in Ye Chen''s eyes, Fairy Luo Yun seemed to understand what he was thinking.


    She said to Ye Chen, "This Demon Tomb is no ordinary tomb of Ancient Demonic Beasts. Although I don''t yet know what this Demon Tomb truly is, the one who is truly buried here would likely be much more frightening than the Ancient Demonic Beasts!"


    "The two Skeleton Guards at the entrance we just passed through are probably expressly created by the master of this Demon Tomb!"


    "Moreover, there are hundreds of such guards within the Treasure Palace. Last time, I made it all the way to the final group of guards and had even glimpsed the treasure trove inside the palace, only to be driven out by the guards at the end."


    "That last batch of guards had the combat power of an Immortal Divine Venerable!"


    Hearing Fairy Luo Yun''s words, a sense of gravity flashed through Ye Chen''s heart.


    "Someone capable of refining the corpses of hundreds of Ancient Demonic Beasts to guard this Demon Tomb? And among these Ancient Demonic Beasts, there are even those with the corpses of an Immortal Divine Venerable?"


    "Who has the audacity to undertake such a monumental task?!"


    "If it was a human Martial Artist, why would they choose to place their tomb within the Demon Tomb territory?"


    Caught between doubt and solemnity in his Mind and Spirit, Ye Chen followed behind Fairy Luo Yun as they continued towards the interior of the Treasure Palace.


    Indeed, just as Fairy Luo Yun had mentioned, the two encountered group after group of Skeleton Guards obstructing their way.


    The deeper they ventured into the Treasure Palace, the more formidable the Skeleton Guards they encountered.


    Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level, mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable, Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable...


    By the time the two had breached dozens of pathways within the Treasure Palace and entered its true inner sanctum, they had already bypassed the blockade of several hundred Ancient Demonic Beast Skeletons!


    Fortunately, Fairy Luo Yun was no ordinary person, possessing combat power on par with a Mid-level Immortal Divine Venerable and also knowing methods to subdue these Demon Creatures.


    Otherwise, although Ye Chen could also kill many of the Demon Creatures, exhausting his treasures in the process would likely prevent him from reaching the true inner sanctum.


    Upon arriving at the inner sanctum, Ye Chen immediately saw that this so-called inner sanctum was more like a dedicated secret chamber for storing treasures.


    Ye Chen saw dozens of treasures laid out on the ground within the inner sanctum at a glance.


    The "white jade token" that Fairy Luo Yun had previously mentioned, which she wanted, was particularly eye-catching.


    It was placed right at the core among these dozens of treasures!


    Although Ye Chen didn''t know what Fairy Luo Yun needed the jade token for, judging by its placement, it seemed to be an absolutely precious item among all these treasures.


    However, Ye Chen did not pay too much attention to this treasure.


    Firstly, he was still concerned about the strange thing detected by Xiaojiu inside the central Ice Coffin, something so astonishing that it might greatly aid Ye Chen''s cultivation.


    Secondly, the last batch of Demon Creature Skeleton Guards guarding this inner sanctum had already approached Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun!


    And this group of Demon Creature Skeletons was the very last batch of Immortal Divine Venerable level guards that Fairy Luo Yun did not get past the last time!


    Just by sensing roughly, Ye Chen could feel that among the last eighteen Demon Creature Skeletons, ten were of the Lower Immortal Divine Venerable level, five were of the Mid-level Immortal Divine Venerable, and three even reached the rank of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!

 Chapter 806 - 757: Red Bead and the Second Ice Coffin

    When he saw the last batch of demon skeleton guards charging towards him.


    Ye Chen instantly transmitted his voice to Fairy Luo Yun, "Senior, how should I use the ''Star Blue Divine Garment'' to help you restrain these demon creatures?"


    Last time, Fairy Luo Yun was driven out of the treasure-hiding place by this last batch of demon skeleton guards, missing the treasures inside.


    Fairy Luo Yun invited Ye Chen to help because she discovered something in Ye Chen that was crafted from the prototype of a Polar Heaven Object.


    Last time, Fairy Luo Yun had said that only things crafted from Polar Heaven Object prototypes or real Polar Heaven Objects could aid her in retrieving treasures.


    Ye Chen clearly understood that to deal with this last batch of demon skeleton guards, they would have to rely on Polar Heaven Treasures!


    "Ye Chen, you absolutely cannot directly attack these last batch of skeleton guards with combat power."


    "The more you attack, the more their skeletons will undergo ''mutations'', leading to an exponential increase in combat power, and eventually, it might even escalate to the level of a Sovereign!"


    "Last time, I attacked the lower Immortal Divine skeletal guards inside, causing their combat power to skyrocket to the level of a mid Immortal Divine Venerable."


    "Fortunately, I reacted quickly. By using the ''Blood Separation Divine Sword'' which was crafted from a Polar Heaven Object prototype in my hand, I tried to block them, just to find out that they dared not touch anything made from Polar Heaven Object prototypes, and I finally escaped that Demon Tomb."


    "This time, let''s not use combat power to attack them! I have the ''Blood Separation Divine Sword'' and your ''Star Blue Divine Garment'', along with the damaged Polar Heaven Object sword you lent me, and we absolutely have a strong chance to break through their barrier!"


    "Ye Chen, first activate the ''Star Blue Divine Garment'' to protect our bodies!"


    Fairy Luo Yun transmitted her Divine Sense extremely quickly.


    Upon hearing this, Ye Chen instantly activated the "Star Blue Divine Garment," and a swoosh of Divine Light fluctuated, enlarging the garment several times, enveloping both him and Fairy Luo Yun within the divine garment''s light.


    At this moment, the last batch of eighteen Immortal Divine Venerable level skeletons had already charged right in front of Ye Chen!


    His heart was beating wildly!


    Unable to attack these Immortal Divine Venerable level skeletons with combat power, and just relying on the barrier of the "Star Blue Divine Garment," facing the attacks of eighteen Immortal Divine Venerable skeletons, Ye Chen''s heart was undoubtedly racing!


    If Fairy Luo Yun''s judgment was mistaken, they might not have time to counter these Immortal Divine Venerable level skeletons, and if the "Star Blue Divine Garment" couldn''t restrain these demon creatures, it wouldn''t be able to withstand the combat power of an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    Then they could be severely injured or even killed!


    Not only was Ye Chen''s heart racing, but even Fairy Luo Yun, with her charming face, was extremely nervous.


    She also didn''t know if this garment, crafted from a Polar Heaven Object prototype by Ye Chen, could make these demon skeletons dare not touch it.


    This moment seemed to have lasted a very long time.


    The next instant, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun were almost startled into exclaiming with joy!


    The eighteen Immortal Divine Venerable level skeletons, among which there were three Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level demon skeletons, in the moment they struck in front of them, actually seemed to fear the "Star Blue Divine Garment" and instantly retracted their attack!


    Even though they were not willing to leave the surroundings of Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun, they didn''t dare to come close to the two!


    They just surrounded Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun!


    Seeing this, Ye Chen felt invigorated.


    Fairy Luo Yun was also overjoyed, activating the other two treasures she had earlier clenched in her hand: the ''Blood Separation Divine Sword'' crafted from a Polar Heaven Object prototype, and the damaged Polar Heaven Object divine sword Ye Chen had lent her.


    Then, something eerie happened!


    As Fairy Luo Yun took out the "Blood Separation Divine Sword", these total eighteen demon skeletons, sensing a great danger, suddenly backed away by three to four meters.


    And when Fairy Luo Yun took out the real Polar Heaven Divine Artifact¡ªthe "Somewhat Damaged Polar Heaven Divine Sword" lent by Ye Chen¡ªinstantly, countless demon creatures on these eighteen skeletons trembled wildly, and in a blink, they vanished without a trace!


    In the end, inside the treasure chamber, only Ye Chen, Fairy Luo Yun, and several dozens of treasures remained on the ground!


    "We did it, Ye Chen, we really did it!"


    Seeing the eighteen guardian demon creatures flee, Fairy Luo Yun was so overjoyed that she actually jumped up!


    Although she knew that there was a great chance of success in retrieving treasures with Ye Chen''s help this time.


    But at this moment of success, Fairy Luo Yun couldn''t completely hide her overwhelming excitement!


    Ye Chen also felt moved, and a smile appeared on his face.


    "Incredible, truly incredible."


    "I hadn''t expected that these Immortal Divine Venerable demon creatures, being attacked with combat power would only make their combat power surge, yet these ''Polar Heaven Object prototypes crafted treasures'' or real ''Polar Heaven Objects'', could make them so fearful!"


    "It seems that this Demon Tomb is indeed full of mysteries!"


    "Luckily, we are not short of Polar Heaven Treasures on us! Otherwise, I really don''t know how we could have passed this place!"


    While pondering in his heart, Ye Chen turned to Fairy Luo Yun with a smile: "Senior, let''s hurry and retrieve the treasures, lest any more twists occur."


    "Mhm." Fairy Luo Yun nodded with a smile.


    The two of them then walked together towards the treasure area of the chamber.


    In an instant, the two of them arrived in front of several dozen treasures.


    Fairy Luo Yun directly took the "white jade card" that was placed at the very core of these dozens of treasures into her hands.


    She said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I have finally obtained this treasure! This treasure is the crucial item recorded on the secret map regarding this Demon Tomb that I acquired."


    "With this treasure, there''s a chance to inherit the legacy of the owner of this Demon Tomb."


    "Ye Chen, I really owe you thanks for your help this time; otherwise, I might have perished at the Three Evils Sea, let alone obtaining this long-awaited treasure!"


    "You can take the rest of the treasures!"


    Hearing that the "white jade card" was related to the inheritance of the owner of the Demon Tomb, Ye Chen smiled.


    No wonder Fairy Luo Yun was so eager to obtain this treasure.


    However, Ye Chen was not particularly moved by the "white jade card."


    Though the owner of this Demon Tomb seemed formidable, his legacy could absolutely not surpass the "Primordial Star Scripture" passed down from Zi Ji Star Lord that Ye Chen held.


    It probably couldn''t even surpass the inheritance of Sovereign Feng Luo from the tests in the nine Divine Institutes!


    After all, even if the owner of this Demon Tomb were a Sovereign, he wouldn''t be too powerful, but Sovereign Feng Luo had eventually become an existence that surpassed a Sovereign!


    And not to mention Zi Ji Star Lord, who was definitely a top figure in the Cosmic Sea!


    Ye Chen congratulated Fairy Luo Yun on smoothly obtaining the treasure she wanted, then turned his gaze directly to the remaining treasures.


    The remaining treasures were some peculiar items, either some bells overflowing with Divine Light, some glossy red beads, or some black and white stones.


    Yet their uses were unknown.


    However, judging by the quality of these treasures, they were likely at least on the level of Divine Artifacts and Treasures, precious items that only many Divine Venerables could obtain!


    Otherwise, there wouldn''t be so many Immortal Divine Venerable Demon Creatures guarding this place!


    Ye Chen swept the treasures into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant with a flick of his sleeve.


    What Ye Chen didn''t know was that among the dozens of treasures he stored in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, especially when he took the two "glossy red beads," a great transformation occurred among the countless Demon Creatures within the First Demon Tomb¡ªbloody glows flashed in their eye sockets simultaneously!


    What Ye Chen also didn''t know was that outside this Demon Tomb, the three black exotic plants that had dropped to the ground when he and Fairy Luo Yun had entered the Demon Tomb, the incredibly strange patterns engraved on them suddenly started to move dramatically!


    These mysterious patterns, as recognized by Xiaojiu earlier, represented another Divine Kingdom, far more formidable than Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation¡ªthe script of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom!


    These texts noted that this Demon Tomb was merely an auxiliary tomb, serving to guard a main tomb.


    At that time, Xiaojiu didn''t understand what this meant, she was still researching it and hadn''t told Ye Chen.


    If Xiaojiu could see the changes in the three plants outside the Demon Tomb, and even the impact on the countless Demon Creatures in the First Demon Tomb after Ye Chen obtained the two "glossy red beads," she would probably want to explore the entire First Demon Tomb!


    What Xiaojiu and Ye Chen both didn''t know was that not only did these two "glossy red beads" impact the Demon Tomb, but in three other unknown locations within the First Demon Tomb, also hidden were three Demon Tombs with the dramatic movements of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" script!


    And as the text on all four Demon Tombs was dramatically triggering, deep underground at the core area of the First Demon Tomb, a hidden tomb, tens of times larger than the four outer Demon Tombs, also began to resonate thunderously!


    If anyone could see the changes in the tomb at this core area, they would be utterly astounded.


    Because, this hidden tomb''s realm was located directly below the most precious "Divine Milk" section of the First Demon Tomb!


    Of course, all of this was unknown to Fairy Luo Yun.


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were also unaware.


    At this time, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun, who had smoothly obtained the treasures, had already flown directly out of the Treasure Palace, returning to the area outside the left Ice Coffin.


    "Ye Chen, my purpose for this trip has been achieved, and I have no other plans now."


    "However, you mentioned earlier that you wanted to check the other two Ice Coffins; do you still want to go now?"


    In the void, looking down at the three Ice Coffins, Fairy Luo Yun asked Ye Chen with a smile.


    Ye Chen''s eyes were currently fixed on the middle Ice Coffin.


    He hadn''t forgotten that Xiaojiu had told him that there was something inside this middle Ice Coffin that could greatly aid his cultivation!


    "Elder, I am still very interested in checking out the other two Ice Coffins."


    "Since elder said that the bottom of the middle and right Ice Coffins can''t truly be reached, I want to see what exactly prevents one from reaching the bottom."


    "Let me first go and check inside this middle Ice Coffin, the second Ice Coffin!"


    While speaking, Ye Chen flew towards the second Ice Coffin.


    "Ye Chen truly is a brave young man, I said it was impassable, but he still wants to try."


    "However, perhaps he might actually be able to make it through, who knows."


    "It won''t take much time to explore anyway, let''s go and see."


    Fairy Luo Yun shook her head with a smile and also followed Ye Chen, flying towards the second Ice Coffin.

 Chapter 807 - 758: Big Surprise!

    When Ye Chen flew into the white mist above the second Ice Coffin, he immediately felt a completely different sensation from entering the first Ice Coffin.


    He easily flew into the first Ice Coffin on the left side.


    But with this second coffin in the middle, as soon as he flew to the top, Ye Chen felt a tremendous repulsive force.


    It was only through the surging of Divine Power in his body that he finally managed to stand firm on the steps at the top of the second Ice Coffin.


    Ye Chen discovered that the repulsive force in the air was countless times stronger than on the steps!


    Under these circumstances, he couldn''t fly at all and had to choose to walk down the steps.


    As Ye Chen walked down the steps inside the Ice Coffin, he found that the repulsive force increased several folds with each step down.


    After just a few dozen steps, Ye Chen was completely blocked by the massive repulsive force, unable to move even a half step further down!


    Looking downward, there were still countless steps below.


    He couldn''t see clearly what was at the bottom of the Ice Coffin!


    "Ye Chen, I wasn''t wrong, was I? The Prohibition in this middle Ice Coffin is clearly many times stronger than in the one on the left!"


    "With our strengths, we simply cannot reach the bottom."


    "Either there''s a special method to continue downward, or perhaps only those with incredible Combat Power will be able to reach the bottom."


    At this moment, Fairy Luo Yun, who followed Ye Chen into the Ice Coffin, sighed seeing that Ye Chen could not move further down, and spoke.


    Hearing Luo Yun''s words and feeling the immense repulsive force from the steps, Ye Chen also frowned.


    "There must be a way to go down."


    "Otherwise, they wouldn''t have left three Ice Coffins open here."


    "Just relying on Divine Power to resist the Ice Coffin''s repulsion doesn''t seem to work. Given the rate at which the repulsion is increasing, perhaps after a few dozen more steps, that repulsion might reach the level of an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!"


    "Just as treasures created from Extreme Heavenly Objects and their prototypes can counteract the Demon Skeleton Guard in the left Ice Coffin, there must be a special method to break the Prohibition of this middle Ice Coffin."


    "Just don''t know what that method is."


    As swift as lightning, Ye Chen began pondering, his gaze sweeping across the steps, searching for a way to move downward.


    At that moment, Xiaojiu''s voice suddenly entered Ye Chen''s mind.


    "Ye Chen, quickly check the Treasures you collected from the left Ice Coffin earlier!"


    Swoosh!


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s telepathy, Ye Chen immediately looked into his Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Then, Ye Chen witnessed a miraculous scene.


    The treasures he had collected from the treasure hall in the first Ice Coffin on the left, be they bells overflowing with Divine Light, stones black and white in color, or strangely shaped rings, started to float one by one!


    Other than two "lustrous and crystal-clear beads" that remained still, the dozens of other treasures collected by Ye Chen all floated in the half-air of the space within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen''s mind stirred: "Could it be, to get to the bottom of the second Ice Coffin, I need to use these treasures collected from the left Ice Coffin?"


    Mind whirling, Ye Chen began extracting the treasures one by one from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Then, something that shocked both Ye Chen and Luo Yun happened.


    Once all these dozens of treasures were extracted by Ye Chen, they floated before his body and started flashing with light.


    Following that, as if sensing something,


    One of the treasures, a black and white colored stone, suddenly flew straight forward.


    In the end, this stone landed directly not far ahead into the Void, flashed with Divine Light, and then vanished.


    And at the moment when this black and white stone flew forward and disappeared, Ye Chen felt the massive repulsive force under his feet instantly weaken a lot!


    He could continue to move forward again!


    "Is it really these treasures from the left Ice Coffin that allow us to enter this middle Ice Coffin?!"


    "The three Ice Coffins placed together, it seems there indeed exists a mysterious connection between them!"


    Overjoyed, Ye Chen quickly said to Luo Yun: "Senior, let''s quickly go down and see, and see if these treasures allow us to reach the bottom of the Ice Coffin smoothly!"


    As he spoke, Ye Chen started moving down the steps again.


    Luo Yun followed behind Ye Chen and also moved downward.


    When they found that indeed the repulsive force had weakened a lot, Luo Yun''s face lit up with excitement: "Ye Chen, it really works, these treasures can indeed help us move downward!"


    "Luckily you didn''t give up, otherwise, we might have missed the secrets of this middle Ice Coffin!"


    With the help of that black and white stone, this time Ye Chen and Luo Yun were able to walk down another forty or fifty steps before feeling a repulsion force that they could barely resist.


    This time, neither Ye Chen nor Luo Yun were as anxious as before.


    Their gazes once again fell on the dozens of treasures collected from the left Ice Coffin.


    And this time, another black and white stone flew out from before Ye Chen and fell downward.


    Following this, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun once again faced a reduced repulsive force, allowing them to continue moving downward!


    It was a stop-and-go journey.


    Every time they encountered an insurmountable repulsive force, a treasure would fly out, weakening the force and enabling them to continue their advancement.


    Eventually, when the dozens of treasures in Ye Chen''s hands all fell forward, transforming into Divine Light to help Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun reduce the repulsive force, the two successfully crossed thousands of steps and arrived at the very bottom of the largest Ice Coffin in the center!


    When Ye Chen saw the bottom of the second Ice Coffin, he was startled to find a Treasure Palace just like the one below the first Ice Coffin, sparking two doubts in his mind.


    The first doubt was about the treasures he had collected from the Ice Coffin on the left, which had all flown out to help him reach the very bottom, except for two "glossy red beads" that hadn''t moved at all.


    After all, these treasures were all stored together!


    While the other treasures had flown out, apparently made specifically for entering the second Ice Coffin, these two "red beads" seemed to serve a different purpose from those treasures.


    All the treasures from the previous Ice Coffin on the left, including the white Jade Pendant that Fairy Luo Yun had obtained, were inheritance items of the Demon Tomb''s master.


    And the other treasures helped the two smoothly descend to the bottom of this central Ice Coffin.


    What then, was the purpose of these two remaining "red beads"?


    Ye Chen still couldn''t understand.


    Confused about the "red beads," Ye Chen decided to put the matter aside for the time being.


    Ye Chen''s second puzzling issue was that, upon seeing the Treasure Palace at the very bottom of this second Ice Coffin, he found it unlike the Treasure Palace below the left Ice Coffin, which was guarded by Demon Skeleton Guards.


    The Treasure Palace at the bottom of this second Ice Coffin was completely empty, with nothing at all.


    "I wonder what''s inside this Treasure Palace of the second Ice Coffin."


    In the midst of pondering, Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu, "Xiaojiu, you mentioned earlier that there are things inside this middle Ice Coffin that would greatly aid my cultivation. Can you sense where they are now?"


    Xiaojiu looked downwards from inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Her gaze settled on the Treasure Palace at the bottom of the Ice Coffin.


    "Ye Chen, my Divine Sense cannot penetrate this Treasure Palace,"


    "But I have a premonition that it''s within this Treasure Palace!"


    "Be careful and check inside!"


    Having reached the bottom of the second Ice Coffin, both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun were certainly not going to give up.


    However, the fact that this bottom Treasure Palace had no Skeleton Guards made them even more cautious.


    Fairy Luo Yun even controlled an Earth Divine Venerable level Puppet to scout ahead.


    Yet, to their surprise, the Earth Divine Venerable level Puppet easily pushed open the grand doors of the Treasure Palace and entered without encountering any danger!


    "Could it be that this middle Ice Coffin, which seemed much harder to enter than the one on the left, actually has no dangers?!"


    Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun exchanged glances and then followed behind the scouting Puppet into the Treasure Palace.


    Continuing along the corridors of the Treasure Palace, both of them saw that everything was empty, indeed without any dangers as expected.


    After walking through dozens of corridors, the two reached the innermost great hall of the Treasure Palace.


    The innermost great hall, contrary to the previous emptiness, actually housed quite a few items.


    Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun directly saw at the head of the great hall, a painting being shielded by strands of Divine Light, rendering it unclear what was exactly depicted on it.


    Beneath the painting, there stood a stone platform with two incense stands on top, each containing two partially burned sticks of Divine Incense.


    Merely smelling the fragrance of this Divine Incense, Ye Chen felt the Divine Power within his body starting to surge excitedly!


    Clearly, this Divine Incense had an unbelievable and fantastic effect on the cultivation of Divine Power!


    At this moment, Fairy Luo Yun''s eyes, fixed on a stone pond in the corner of the great hall, widened in shock: "That... could it be?!"


    Ye Chen followed Fairy Luo Yun''s gaze towards the stone pond, directly seeing green Divine Liquid swirling and eddying within, overflowing with Divine Light.


    "What''s wrong, senior?"


    "Is there something amiss with that Divine Liquid?"


    Ye Chen asked Fairy Luo Yun.


    Fairy Luo Yun looked utterly incredulous, and after a moment of shock, she finally regained her composure and exclaimed to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, that pool''s Divine Liquid is the highly precious ''Divine Milk'' from the first Demon Tomb!"


    "Heavens, why would ''Divine Milk'' appear here?! Why here in this Demon Tomb?! We''re still far from the true ''Divine Milk Realm''!"


    Divine Milk?!


    Hearing Fairy Luo Yun''s words, Ye Chen was also deeply shocked!


    His trip to the first Demon Tomb was specifically for the legendary Divine Milk, rumored to greatly aid in breaking through realms.


    Both Xiaojiu and Fairy Luo Yun had mentioned that just a drop of this "Divine Milk" could help him break through the Nine Tribulations True God bottleneck and advance to the God King Realm!


    Ye Chen had never expected to encounter the immensely precious "Divine Milk" directly in this Demon Tomb!

 Chapter 808 - 759: The Person in the Picture

    "Is it really ''Divine Milk''?"


    Ye Chen''s figure flashed instantly, and he arrived beside the stone pool.


    Whoosh.


    With a light tap of his finger, a drop of azure Divine Liquid flew up from the stone pool and landed in the palm of his hand.


    Looking at the Divine Liquid in his palm, Ye Chen felt as if he was holding a green pearl!


    This Divine Liquid was extremely deep in color, and just by looking at it, one could feel a mysterious and tremendously powerful force contained within!


    While Ye Chen was examining the Divine Liquid, Fairy Luo Yun also flew to the side of the stone pool.


    With a tap of her finger, a milky-white stone appeared in the void, and this stone then absorbed a drop of Divine Milk directly from the stone pool.


    Following that, the entire milky-white stone began to turn a deep azure.


    "It is indeed ''Divine Milk''! This Secret Treasure of mine can distinguish the truth of Divine Milk; this is definitely the most precious Divine Milk from the first Demon Tomb!"


    "Ye Chen, this is great, we can find Divine Milk here, and we don''t need to venture into the most dangerous ''Land of Divine Milk'' in the first Demon Tomb anymore!"


    "After we collect this Divine Milk, we can directly find my junior sisters and leave this ''first Demon Tomb''."


    Fairy Luo Yun said excitedly.


    Ye Chen was also both surprised and astonished in his heart.


    The surprise was that he didn''t expect to find "Divine Milk" so quickly.


    With this Divine Milk, he no longer had to worry about anything when breaking through to the Divine King Realm!


    The astonishment was that the appearance of the most precious "Divine Milk" from the first Demon Tomb inside this Demon Tomb was somewhat unexpected.


    "Could it be that this Demon Tomb is connected to the core realm where the first Demon Tomb produced ''Divine Milk''?"


    As Ye Chen pondered, he began to collect the "Divine Milk".


    By his side, Fairy Luo Yun also smiled and said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, in the core realm ''Land of Divine Milk'' of the first Demon Tomb, each person can only collect ten drops of Divine Milk, and no more can be collected, it''s simply unattainable."


    "I don''t know if we can only collect ten drops here, or if we can collect more."


    While speaking, Fairy Luo Yun took out a white bottle she had prepared earlier, the mouth of the bottle directly facing the Divine Milk in the stone pool below and also absorbing the "Divine Milk" into the bottle.


    One drop, two drops, three drops...


    In an instant, the Divine Milk collected by both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun exceeded ten drops.


    At that moment, something miraculous happened.


    There was no special power preventing them from continuing to collect Divine Milk.


    This made Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun extremely delighted!


    "More than ten drops! There are no restrictions on collecting ''Divine Milk'' here!"


    "Ye Chen, let''s quickly collect all this ''Divine Milk''!"


    Fairy Luo Yun excitedly shouted to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s heart was also racing.


    The two of them once again frantically collected the "Divine Milk" from the stone pool, and in no time at all, they had completely emptied the stone pool of all "Divine Milk".


    By count, both of them obtained thousands of drops of "Divine Milk" each!


    Thousands of drops!


    Compared to the core area where the "Divine Milk" was born in the first Demon Tomb, where each person could only collect ten drops, it is now hundreds of times more!


    This, of course, made both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun find it utterly unbelievable!


    As far as we know, ten drops of Divine Milk, although enough for Ye Chen to break through from True God to Divine King, is also sufficient for many Divine Kings to break through to Divine Venerable, and even for Heavenly Divine Venerable to break through to Immortal Divine Venerable.


    But still, ten drops are too few!


    Used a few times, and it would be gone.


    "Divine Milk," this kind of marvelous substance that helps break through realm bottlenecks, of course, no one would find it excessive.


    This treasure, if taken out, could probably be exchanged for countless extraordinarily valuable treasures!


    Now, suddenly obtaining thousands of drops of "Divine Milk," apart from being sufficient for Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun to use themselves, they could also give away the vast majority to others, exchanging it for other items!


    "Ye Chen, we really made a huge profit this time! I bet no one would have imagined that there could be so much Divine Milk in this Demon Tomb, and that it could be collected so freely!"


    Fairy Luo Yun, looking at the thousands of drops of Divine Milk in the small white bottle in her hand, still murmured in disbelief.


    Ye Chen also smiled broadly at Fairy Luo Yun and nodded, meanwhile, he transmitted his voice to Xiaojiu: "Xiaojiu, was the thing you said would be of great help to my cultivation this ''Divine Milk''?"


    "Lucky for your sensing ability, otherwise, we might have missed such a precious thing in this second Ice Coffin!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen found that Xiaojiu was not speaking, but rather looked somewhat uneasy.


    "What''s wrong, Xiaojiu?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    But Xiaojiu''s eyes emitted a puzzled look: "Ye Chen, what I sensed earlier wasn''t this ''Divine Milk,'' but another kind of strange sensation."


    "However, since I entered this Treasure Palace, that strange sensation suddenly disappeared."


    "And now, I have this inexplicable feeling of crisis, as if something bad is about to happen to you!"


    Something bad?


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit shuddered.


    He was just about to ask Xiaojiu in detail when suddenly, the painting at the top of the hall, which was initially obscured by rays of Divine Light and utterly unclear, suddenly emitted a shocking booming sound.


    The sound from this painting immediately attracted the gaze of Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun, as well as Xiaojiu in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Then, they witnessed an unbelievable scene.


    In the midst of the booming sound, the Divine Light on the painting at the upper end of the hall dispersed, revealing the contents of the painting.


    The painting depicted a blue Divine Dragon spiraling and soaring through the clouds!


    What truly made Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun feel incredulous was that this blue Divine Dragon in the painting seemed to have awakened in the moment it revealed itself, directly opening its eyes and looking towards Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun.


    Being stared at by the blue Divine Dragon''s divine eyes, Ye Chen felt his Divine Power stagnate in an instant, and his whole body was bound.


    Not only Ye Chen, but even Fairy Luo Yun, whose cultivation reached the realm of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, felt her whole body similarly restrained, unable to move at all.


    This suddenly changed their expressions drastically.


    The two of them were shocked to discover that the blue Divine Dragon staring at them gave them the feeling of the oppressive aura of a Sovereign Realm power!


    Sovereign Realm.


    It was rumored that no one above the Immortal Divine Venerable and other realms could enter the first Demon Tomb!


    How could there be a Sovereign Realm power within this Demon Tomb?!


    As Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun stood horrified,


    At that moment, the blue Divine Dragon in the painting looking towards them, with a burst of Divine Light flashing, directly flew out of the painting, and in the flashing, turned into a middle-aged man in a blue robe stopping in the Void, looking towards Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun!

 Chapter 809 - 760 General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao

    This time, when the azure Divine Dragon transformed into a middle-aged man in blue robes, Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun immediately sensed the true oppressive might of this significant figure.


    This person was not only a powerful being in the Sovereign Realm but also a tremendously powerful Seven Star Sovereign!


    Seven Star Sovereign!


    Heaven.


    Individuals of such a Realm, even if placed in the entire Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain, undoubtedly belong to the very top echelon.


    It is known that even Fairy Luo Yun''s master, the strongest figure in the "Sky Fox Sect" among the four Great Sects of the Western Territory, is only a Six Star Sovereign.


    This Seven Star Sovereign, even more formidable than the top figure of the Sky Fox Sect, unexpectedly appeared in an ordinary Demon Tomb within the first Demon Tomb of the Western Territory, taking Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun by complete surprise.


    Both were uncertain whether this significant figure''s true form was human or the Divine Dragon from the painting they had just seen.


    They also didn''t know whether his appearance in this Demon Tomb signified he was already dead with only lingering Divine Sense manifesting, or if he was a powerful Sovereign living within the tomb.


    At this moment, both dared not contemplate further but were filled with puzzlement and fear about what this significant figure suddenly appearing intended to do to them.


    A Seven Star Sovereign figure.


    No matter how many trump cards they possessed, facing such a mighty figure, they absolutely had no chance of resistance!


    Sensing the reverential expressions of Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun, the middle-aged man in blue robes scrutinized them for several moments, finally speaking.


    "Unexpectedly, two martial artists from the Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain have come to my Demon Tomb all at once."


    "One Heavenly Divine Venerable, and even a Nine Tribulations True God?!"


    "To have passed the interception from my first Ice Coffin and obtained the Treasure, and then reached this second Ice Coffin, it seems you two are quite extraordinary indeed!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The words of the middle-aged man in blue robes greatly shocked Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun.


    From what the middle-aged man revealed, could he be the owner of this Demon Tomb?!


    The very person who arranged countless Ancient Demonic Beasts skeletons to guard the left-side Ice Coffin?!


    As Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun reeled from the shock, something even more unexpected occurred.


    The middle-aged man in blue robes lightly pointed at Fairy Luo Yun, who was then levitated into the Void, her body involuntarily emanating one beam of Divine Light after another.


    Amidst the Divine Light, the voice of the middle-aged man also directly transmitted, "Let me see if you two have anything to satisfy me!"


    Unknown means were used by the middle-aged man in blue robes, and he suddenly revealed much about Fairy Luo Yun!


    "Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, possessing combat power aura comparable to Mid-Tier Immortal Divine Venerable, her combat power is still passable."


    "Cultivated for three thousand two hundred and thirty-nine years, which is somewhat lengthy for a Heavenly Divine Venerable. Although cultivating to Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable in the Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain at this age is decent, it is somewhat lacking in my Divine Nation..."


    At this moment, Ye Chen was restrained on the ground, and Fairy Luo Yun, even more, was restrained in the Void, being scrutinized.


    Both of them couldn''t move at all.


    But they heard every word of the middle-aged man in blue robes perfectly clear.


    Upon hearing him mention "my Divine Nation," Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun instantly understood his implication.


    This middle-aged man in blue robes was not a Sovereign of the Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain but came from another Divine Kingdom!


    And from the implication of his words, their Divine Kingdom was much more powerful than the Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain!


    At this moment, Xiaojiu inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant was also instantly alerted, recalling the words "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" she had seen outside the Demon Tomb.


    "Could this person be from the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''?!"


    "Heaven, the records in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom mentioned earlier indicated that this Demon Tomb is merely an auxiliary tomb built to protect a main tomb. If this Seven Star Sovereign is merely the owner of this auxiliary tomb, what level would the owner of the main tomb be?"


    "Could it be a Nine Star Sovereign? Or someone even beyond a Sovereign?!"


    In shock, Xiaojiu relayed all this information to Ye Chen.


    When Ye Chen heard Xiaojiu mention the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" and the "auxiliary tomb main tomb," he was completely stunned.


    Ye Chen never expected this common-looking Demon Tomb to conceal such immense secrets!


    Ye Chen was even more clueless about what this Seven Star Sovereign intended by restraining him and Fairy Luo Yun here.


    Escape?


    The most powerful means left on Ye Chen''s body were the remaining two "Xuan Divine Cones."


    Those "Xuan Divine Cones" could perhaps deal with a Heavenly Divine Venerable or an Immortal Divine Venerable, but were absolutely ineffective against beings of the Sovereign Realm!


    Especially since this was a Seven Star Sovereign, almost as strong as "Sovereign Lei Fa" who left behind the "Xuan Divine Cones"!


    To harm him with the "Xuan Divine Cone" is also utterly impossible!


    As for Ye Chen''s other combat power means, they are even more useless in front of this Sovereign.


    Even the "Sovereign Order" left on Ye Chen by the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen, which used to resonate when Ye Chen faced other Divine Venerables, had no fluctuations now. It seemed as if the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen could sense his situation through the "Sovereign Order".


    However, the moment this seven-star sovereign in green robes appeared, Ye Chen felt as if even the "Sovereign Order" had no fluctuations, as if it was isolated by some unknown force!


    At this moment, Ye Chen felt like a lamb waiting to be slaughtered, utterly incapable of controlling his own life and death!


    Ye Chen hated this feeling immensely, but he was utterly powerless to change it.


    While countless thoughts flashed through Ye Chen''s mind and spirit, the green-robed middle-aged man had already finished investigating Fairy Luo Yun.


    Boom!


    The green-robed middle-aged man pointed a finger, and Fairy Luo Yun fell directly onto the ground, restrained once again.


    The green-robed middle-aged man shook his head at Fairy Luo Yun, "You had the fortune to enter my Demon Tomb, and from the white Jade Pendant on you, you also received my Inheritance Token. This is all part of your destiny, which I will not take away."


    "However, the ''Divine Milk'' you collected earlier is something my master specifically left to select a ''Curser.'' Your abilities are not yet sufficient to become a ''Curser'' and take them away."


    "Now, put the items back!"


    Shoo.


    Without any visible action from the green-robed middle-aged man, the white small bottle containing the "Divine Milk" on Fairy Luo Yun directly flew out.


    The small bottle opened by itself, and the "Divine Milk" flew back into its original stone pool.


    Seeing the "Divine Milk" she had obtained flying back into the stone pool, Fairy Luo Yun''s pretty face turned a bit bitter.


    However, she didn''t dare to say much more.


    Her life and death were still uncertain, and she didn''t know how this green-robed middle-aged man would deal with her; compared to preserving her life, the "Divine Milk" was secondary.


    As for this "Curser" and his "master" mentioned by the green-robed middle-aged man, Fairy Luo Yun had no idea what they entailed.


    However, just from the green-robed middle-aged man''s status as a seven-star Sovereign, one could tell.


    His master must be an even more formidable power, and the issues involving the "Curser" must undoubtedly not be simple!


    After investigating Fairy Luo Yun, the green-robed middle-aged man directly set his Divine Eyes on Ye Chen.


    Then, he pointed a finger, and Ye Chen too floated up into the void, emitting Divine Light.


    Just like he investigated Fairy Luo Yun, now the green-robed middle-aged man began investigating Ye Chen!


    "For a Nine Tribulations True God to reach my Demon Tomb is also somewhat unexpected for me."


    "However, this Realm is too low for my master''s requirements."


    The green-robed middle-aged man hadn''t finished his investigation and already shook his head.


    However, as he began his investigation, just a slight probe and this green-robed middle-aged man''s indifferent expression suddenly changed!


    "Hmm, only twenty years old yet cultivated up to the Nine Tribulations True God?! And able to combat at the level of Earth Divine Venerable?!"


    "This innate talent and cross-realm combat ability, even if placed in my Divine Kingdom, is absolutely powerful!"


    Suddenly, the expression of the green-robed middle-aged man became invigorated.


    His finger continuously pointed, and the Divine Light surrounding Ye Chen became increasingly intense.


    As if sensing something again, the green-robed middle-aged man''s expression changed once more: "Such powerful cultivation in the Divine Body and Divine Power, even the Divine Soul far exceeds nearly all Nine Tribulations True Gods!"


    "Young man, you absolutely have experienced great fortune!"


    "In your body, there''s even a Soul Beast, a ''Nine Spirits Sparrow Emperor''! How come I feel an aura similar to my master on this ''Nine Spirits Sparrow Emperor''? Could it be left by some notable figure?" When he detected the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on Ye Chen and sensed Xiaojiu inside, the green-robed middle-aged man''s expression changed once more.


    Lastly, seeing the numerous damaged Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts collected in the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, he was filled with disbelief.


    And when he attempted to investigate inside Ye Chen''s body, as soon as his Divine Sense touched Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, an inexplicable sense of danger immediately enveloped the entire body of the seven-star Sovereign.


    Before even seeing what was in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, the Divine Sense of this seven-star Sovereign was instantly repelled by some unknown power!


    This time, the seven-star Sovereign''s look at Ye Chen was completely different.


    As if realizing something.


    His look towards Ye Chen was filled with disbelief, and also a sense of inexplicable fear and respect.


    After a few moments, the green-robed middle-aged man finally looked towards Ye Chen, and spoke, "Young man, I didn''t expect your origins to be so extraordinary!"


    "You probably don''t understand my actions very well, but I will explain them to you one by one."


    "Now, let me first introduce myself. I come from another Divine Kingdom¡ª the great ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''. You can call me General Azure Dragon ''Long Xiao''!"

 Chapter 810 - 761: Divine Master and the Curse

    "General Azure Dragon ''Long Xiao''?"


    "This person really is from the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' mentioned by Xiaojiu!"


    Ye Chen was shocked by this person''s origin and understood why "Long Xiao" suddenly became fearful and respectful towards him.


    Fairy Luo Yun, standing beside him, couldn''t feel it, but Ye Chen himself sensed it crystal clear.


    Just now, when "Long Xiao" attempted to probe his Qi Sea, it was precisely the "Stars Tower" within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, containing the "Primordial Star Scripture," that emitted a mysterious power and repelled "Long Xiao''s" Divine Sense.


    Even as a Seven-Star Sovereign, "Long Xiao" couldn''t withstand the repelling force of the Stars Tower!


    Probably the mysterious power of the "Stars Tower" had truly frightened "Long Xiao"!


    "Senior, you come from the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''. Why have you appeared in the ''Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain'', and even within this remote Demon Tomb?"


    "Also, are you in your human form or the Divine Dragon form depicted in that painting?"


    "Is it your true body that has descended, or is it a manifestation of your Divine Sense?"


    After observing Long Xiao''s expressions, Ye Chen, with a quick turn of thoughts, posed several questions that he was immensely curious about.


    Fairy Luo Yun too was staring at the General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao", her eyes filled with complex and inexplicable emotions.


    Her previous probing by Long Xiao had made her aware that she was not a person of importance in the eyes of this great entity.


    Fairy Luo Yun had never imagined that Ye Chen, who had always shocked her, would once again deeply astonish this great entity.


    Especially the fearful and respectful demeanor that this Seven-Star Sovereign revealed in the presence of Ye Chen, even Fairy Luo Yun found it entirely unexpected.


    However, this was a good thing.


    Fairy Luo Yun also wanted to know the exact origin of Long Xiao and why he had appeared here.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s rapid-fire questions and seeing the puzzled look Fairy Luo Yun cast towards herself, Long Xiao sighed and said, "Our ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' is a Divine Kingdom where countless True Spirit Sacred Beasts converge."


    "The True Spirit Sacred Beasts in our ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' are not as weak as those in your ''Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain''. Many of the Divine Beasts here carry lower-tier bloodlines passed down from the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom.''


    "In our ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', the truly powerful ''True Spirit Sacred Beasts'' consist of countless Sovereign Realm beings, and the number of God King Level and Divine Venerable Level beings is innumerable."


    "In terms of the number of Sovereign Realm entities, the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' absolutely surpasses the ''Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain'' by tens of times!"


    "And I, I am from the Azure Dragon Race among the countless Divine Beast races of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', my true body is a Seven-Star Sovereign Realm Azure Dragon!"


    "Of course, what you see before you now is merely a wisp of my True Soul, my true body has been obliterated eons ago."


    The words of General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" left both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun utterly astonished.


    Even though Ye Chen had heard from Xiaojiu that the True Spirit Divine Kingdom was far more powerful than the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain, he had not imagined the extent of that power.


    The True Spirit Divine Kingdom actually has a number of Sovereign Realm powerhouses that is tens of times that of the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain!


    And the origin story told by Long Xiao only added to the doubts for Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun.


    Why would such a powerful being come from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom to the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain?


    And having perished eons ago, why leave behind only a wisp of True Soul here?


    As if aware of the doubts in Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun''s minds, Long Xiao continued, "Why I appeared here and why I initially wanted to probe you two, all these matters are related to my master."


    Master?


    Without waiting for Ye Chen to ask, Long Xiao had already said: "My master is an existence that surpasses the Sovereign Realm, a great ''Divine Master''!"


    Divine Master?!


    Boom!


    A blast sounded in Ye Chen''s mind.


    No wonder he felt no response from the "Sovereign Order" left by the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen when he faced Long Xiao.


    So this person was actually a subordinate of a "Divine Master"!


    The Divine Master, indeed, could leave behind methods that shield from the probing of Eight Stars and Nine Stars Sovereigns!


    Up until now, Ye Chen had only heard the term "Divine Master" a few times.


    Ye Chen had heard that the sister of the Northern Territory King, the former Northern Territory King, had broken through from the Sovereign Realm to the "Divine Master Realm" before finally leaving the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    Moreover, Ye Chen also learned from "Sovereign Lei Fa" about the immensely respected "Sovereign Yinling," who eventually broke through to the "Divine Master Realm" and went to the Cosmic Sea to become a disciple of a "Star Lord."


    The Divine Master Realm.


    That was an existence even more powerful than the Sovereign Realm, and although it did not compare to the top "Star Lords" in the Cosmic Sea, within the Divine Kingdom, it definitely commanded the awe of countless people!


    While Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit were shaken, Fairy Luo Yun was even more astonished by many magnitudes.


    Although Fairy Luo Yun had also heard that above the Divine Venerable Realm and the Sovereign Realm, there were legends of the Divine Master Realm.


    But she had never heard of any major figure in the Divine Master Realm.


    Now in the Western Territory of the Divine Kingdom, within the Demon Tomb, to encounter a subordinate of a Divine Master Realm great figure, how could it not astonish her immensely?!


    "If your master is such a great ''Divine Master,'' why did you fall, leaving only a wisp of True Soul here? Could it be, that your master, the great ''Divine Master,'' has also fallen, and thus could not protect you?" Fairy Luo Yun could not help but voice her inner doubts.


    "But how could a Divine Master fall within a Divine Nation? Such a figure from that Realm would be a major presence who dominates the wilderness and travels freely through countless worlds; no one in the Divine Kingdom could harm him!"


    Upon hearing Fairy Luo Yun''s words, Long Xiao also raised his voice: "My master, of course, is not an existence that can be killed or fall so easily!"


    "Not to mention Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, even countless Divine Kingdoms and Sovereigns would only be able to worship before my master!"


    By the end, Long Xiao seemed to remember something, and his voice grew solemn: "My master is a great Alchemist, who devoted his life to the research and refinement of various Divine Medicines."


    "Even the ''Divine Milk'' that drove countless people of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation mad was refined by my master!"


    "It was precisely because of my master''s obsession with alchemy that it ultimately led to his downfall."


    "''Divine Milk'' can help many God King Venerables breakthrough bottlenecks, but it isn''t much use to those in the Sovereign Realm, and even less so to the ''Divine Master Realm''."


    "My master wanted to refine an even more powerful ''Divine Milk'' and went around collecting medicinal herbs from various Realms. Eventually, he arrived at the ''Ancient Demon Abyss'' not far from here, the Demon Tomb."


    "Regrettably, he ultimately fell short, not only failing to refine a more potent ''Divine Milk'' but also suffering from the backlash of the medicines while testing them on himself. This triggered great chaos within the ''Ancient Demon Abyss,'' resulting in severe injuries leading to the near fall of my master and us four generals."


    "In the end, we insisted on escaping from the ''Ancient Demon Abyss,'' and we only had time to construct four secondary tombs for the four generals and one main tomb for the master before all our true forms perished, leaving only a wisp of lingering will within the tombs."


    "This lingering will was preserved only by sacrificing our last strength for our master''s final wish."


    "Till now, after countless years, our lingering wills are about to completely dissipate."


    At this point, the Azure Dragon General "Long Xiao" suddenly looked at Ye Chen with bright Divine Eyes: "However, I thought that even if our lingering will dissipates, we could not fulfill the master''s last wish, but this time, you successfully made it here, and young lad, you are so miraculous!"


    "Clearly, you are very likely to be the ''Curser'' that my master was looking for, someone who could help complete his final wish!"

 Chapter 811 - 762: Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death

    Curser?


    Help that "Divine Master" fulfill his last wish?


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit skipped a beat.


    Previously, when General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" was investigating Fairy Luo Yun, he also mentioned the term "Curser".


    He mentioned that the "Divine Milk" in this Ice Coffin was specifically left to select a "Curser", and since Fairy Luo Yun''s abilities were insufficient to become a "Curser", she was unable to take the Divine Milk here.


    Like Fairy Luo Yun, Ye Chen also didn''t know what exactly being a "Curser" entailed.


    However, just hearing the term made it feel like it was not something simple.


    As for helping the general''s master, the great "Divine Master" fulfill his last wish.


    The wishes of a Divine Master, one could imagine how difficult they are, not so easy to fulfill!


    Ye Chen, being merely a Nine Tribulations True God, certainly wouldn''t overestimate himself.


    Moreover, he had more important tasks to attend to.


    Ye Chen not only needed to quickly ascend the God King List to qualify for entering Heavenly God Mountain, but also needed to survive leaving it, to fulfill the second demand placed upon him by the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen.


    He also needed to prepare for the Stellar Domain Genius Battle!


    He probably wouldn''t have the time to fulfill that "Divine Master''s" wish.


    Thinking this, Ye Chen looked at Long Xiao and said: "Senior, I unintentionally intruded here, as for this ''Curser'' and the Divine Master Lord''s wish, I''m afraid I cannot complete them."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s refusal, General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" shook his head: "Young man, wait until I finish speaking, then you will know the whole reason behind this."


    "This matter is not as simple as wanting or not wanting to complete."


    "It''s not something you can refuse, you must participate!"


    At this point, Long Xiao took a deep breath and said: "When we four guardians retreated from the Ancient Demon Abyss with our master, after constructing the four auxiliary tombs and one main tomb, my true form perished, leaving just a solitary strand of willful spirit in the tomb."


    "This strand of willful spirit, especially the master''s willful spirit, laid down the specific requirements for selecting a ''Curser''."


    "Once someone meets the selection criteria, they must become a ''Curser'' and help fulfill the master''s wishes. Otherwise, they will fall directly into the ''Curse'', bringing unforeseen severe consequences!"


    Saying this, General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" pointed to the incense burner placed on the stone table beside him and the burning Divine Incense on top, and said: "From the moment you stepped into this Ice Coffin, smelled the Divine Incense here, and discovered the ''Divine Milk'' in the stone pool, the selection of the ''Curser'' began."


    "And my investigation is also part of the process of selecting a ''Curser''."


    "As for this Heavenly Divine Venerable." Long Xiao looked at Fairy Luo Yun, "she did not meet the criteria to become a ''Curser'', and later I will transport her out of this Ice Coffin, erasing all her memories about this Ice Coffin, making her completely unrelated to this affair."


    "But you, young man." Long Xiao''s gaze turned solemn as he looked at Ye Chen, "My earlier investigation has already determined that you meet many of the criteria to become a ''Curser''. You only need one final test, and then you will become the ultimate ''Curser''. There''s no way for you to refuse this selection process."


    "Once you refuse, the Divine Incense you inhaled into your body will directly throw your Divine Power into disarray, even the Ice Coffin''s prohibiting powers would launch an attack on you!"


    "This attack, set when this auxiliary tomb was constructed, not even my strand of spirit can change it!"


    "Thus, you cannot refuse the selection process for a ''Curser''!"


    Boom!


    The words of General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" made both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun''s expressions change.


    Neither of them expected the selection of the "Curser" to be mandatory, leaving no room for choice!


    Fairy Luo Yun was fine, with only her memories of this place being erased, although she would miss out on the "Divine Milk", there was no other danger.


    But Ye Chen had to undergo a test and inspection and could not resist, otherwise, he would be directly counterattacked by the "Curse"!


    Just knowing that General Long Xiao is a Seven-Star Sovereign, and his master is the great "Divine Master", Ye Chen knew that he absolutely could not withstand the counterattack of the "Curse"!


    "Ye Chen..." Fairy Luo Yun looked at Ye Chen worriedly.


    She didn''t expect that coming to this Demon Tomb would bring such great trouble to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s eyes flashed, and he nodded at Fairy Luo Yun.


    It wasn''t Luo Yun''s fault, after all, it was he who insisted on venturing here.


    Ye Chen didn''t expect to be trapped in this predicament either.


    After taking a deep breath, Ye Chen looked at "Long Xiao" and said: "Senior, since this ''Curser'' choice can''t be refused, please inform me about the specifics, I need to be well-prepared."


    Long Xiao nodded and said: "Young man, you don''t need to be nervous. Becoming a ''Curser'', while very risky, also brings great benefits."


    "My master initially set down rules, these four auxiliary tombs are specifically used for selecting a ''Curser''. Once someone becomes a ''Curser'', not only will they obtain the ''Divine Milk'' left inside the auxiliary tombs, but after fulfilling the master''s wish, they will also obtain the entire understanding of the master''s technique to refine Divine Milk¡ªa pharmacopoeia ''Divine Milk Refining Technique''!"


    "''Divine Milk Refining Technique''! Once you obtain this pharmacopoeia, you could, like my master, personally refine the ''Divine Milk''!"


    "Although this ''Divine Milk'' is not yet usable by those in the Divine Master Realm, and has little effect on the Sovereign Realm, it is greatly effective for those below the Sovereign Realm!"


    "If you master the ''Divine Milk Refining Technique'', just producing ''Divine Milk'' alone would be enough to trigger a frenzied scramble among countless divine beings from the Divine Kingdoms of God King Venerables! Relying on the ''Divine Milk'', you can exchange it for countless cultivation resources!"


    "The master will not let the ''Curser'' help him fulfill his wish for nothing; this is a great reward for the ''Curser''!"


    "And not only is there the benefit of the ''Divine Milk Refining Technique'', there are other benefits in the master''s principal tomb too. After you become a ''Curser'' and go to the master''s principal tomb, you will know!"


    Divine Milk Refining Technique!


    To personally refine Divine Milk!


    Hearing Long Xiao speak of the benefits of becoming a "Curser" and helping that great "Divine Master" fulfill his wish, both Ye Chen and Fairy Luo Yun exchanged glances with shocked expressions.


    The two came to the First Demon Tomb this time just for the "Divine Milk," and getting just a few drops of Divine Milk had already excited countless God Kings and Venerables tremendously.


    And to obtain the fundamental "Divine Milk Refining Technique," both knew how incredibly precious it was!


    "There are risks with rewards!"


    "I cannot become a ''Curser''. Although it guarantees safety, it also means I will miss out on the benefits left by the Divine Master."


    Fairy Luo Yun sighed inwardly, unsure whether this was a blessing or a curse.


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit stirred.


    The selection for "Curser" cannot be refused; if there were no benefits, he would certainly be greatly distressed; but now, learning of the rewards from Long Xiao somewhat eased his mind.


    However, everything still depends on understanding the specifics of the ''Curser'' selection and the Divine Master''s wish.


    If he fails the selection and cannot fulfill the wish, all this talk is in vain.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, Long Xiao continued: "As for the benefits of becoming a ''Curser,'' let''s not talk about it for now; once you become a ''Curser'', you will naturally understand."


    "For now, let me tell you the specifics of the ''Curser'' selection and the task of fulfilling the master''s wish."


    "These two matters can actually be combined and referred to as the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death''!"


    The Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death?


    Ye Chen looked at Long Xiao with puzzlement.


    Long Xiao explained: "The Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death mean that this process involves three life-threatening crises."


    "The first life and death gate is the ''Curser'' selection test, which is conducted in the rightmost Ice Coffin among three Ice Coffins."


    "Once you enter the rightmost Ice Coffin, you either die inside or come out alive as a ''Curser''; this is the first gate of the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death''."


    "The second gate of the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death'' is when you become a ''Curser'', you then need to enter the master''s principal tomb where you undergo an examination by a remnant soul left by the master in the tomb. If you fail the examination, you will die in the principal tomb. If you pass, you can directly obtain the object related to the master''s wish and start helping the master fulfill his wish. This is the second life and death gate."


    "As for the final life and death gate of the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death'', that is, of course, the process of helping the master fulfill his wish!"


    "I don''t know the specifics of the master''s wish, but I do know that fulfilling it may require a journey to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''¡ªa place much larger and more dangerous than the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom. One can imagine the life-threatening crises involved in going there to help the master fulfill his wish."


    "These three processes make up the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death''!"


    "Once all the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death'' are passed, the matters concerning the master are truly settled!"


    "By then, you will receive various benefits!"


    Completing the test in the rightmost third Ice Coffin?


    Going to that "Divine Master''s" principal tomb?


    Going to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" to help the Divine Master fulfill his wish?


    Hearing the specifics of the "Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death," Ye Chen felt a shock in his heart.


    Indeed, risks and benefits coexist.


    To obtain the benefits left by the Divine Master, the risks are truly tremendous; a slight mistake, just as Long Xiao said, could mean dying at one of the gates of the "Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death"!


    If he could refuse, Ye Chen would rather not take such risks.


    After all, he still has other matters to attend to, and he has enough cultivation resources to continue his cultivation.


    But he cannot refuse!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen could only look at Long Xiao and ask, "Senior, according to what you said, do I have no choice but to undergo the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death''?"


    Long Xiao looked at Ye Chen and nodded, "Precisely speaking, you are about to begin the first gate¡ªthe test in the right-hand Ice Coffin. If you can''t get through this first gate, there won''t be any opportunity to proceed to others."


    "And if you successfully come out from the right-hand Ice Coffin, all the Divine Milk inside the middle Ice Coffin will be yours, and I will also directly give you the items needed to enter the main tomb of the master, allowing you to go to the master''s principal tomb and meet the master''s remnant soul!"

 Chapter 812 - 763: Divine King! Divine King!

    "Young lad, are you ready to undertake the first challenge of the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death'' ¡ª the ''Curser''s Selection Test''?"


    After Long Xiao finished speaking, he fixed his exceptionally bright gaze on Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Before Ye Chen could speak, Fairy Luo Yun looked towards him, full of concern.


    The way General Azure Dragon described it was terrifying; if one couldn''t survive the test within the third Ice Coffin to the right, they would die inside. Despite her immense faith in Ye Chen''s strength, Fairy Luo Yun was extremely worried for his safety.


    Especially since she no longer qualified for the selection as a Curser, unable to render the slightest aid to Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen smiled and shook his head to reassure Fairy Luo Yun: "Senior, as this Venerable before us mentioned, your memory will be erased shortly and you will be sent away. You should head to the Land of Divine Milk first and find the others from the Sky Fox Sect."


    "But what about you?" Fairy Luo Yun frowned with concern, "Also, I have the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Treasured Sword you gave me. I should return it to you now."


    Ye Chen shook his head and stopped Fairy Luo Yun: "Senior, you should keep the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Treasured Sword for now. Since you cannot obtain the Divine Milk here, you may need it when trying to obtain Divine Milk in the Land of Divine Milk later on."


    "Should I pass this test and have the chance, I will come to find you in the Land of Divine Milk."


    "There''s no need to worry about my safety, Senior!"


    A flicker of determination shone in Ye Chen''s eyes: "It''s either a blessing or a curse; if it''s a curse, there''s no avoiding it. Since I cannot evade the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death'', I will do my utmost to meet the challenge!"


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense shifted towards the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    He wasn''t without trump cards to play.


    He used one Xuan Divine Cone in the Three Evils Sea, and still held two more, which should offer some assistance.


    He also concealed two pieces of Yin Spirit Ganoderma on his person, which were rumored to fend off perils from the first Demon Tomb; perhaps they would also be beneficial to him.


    Moreover, Ye Chen did not believe that the Divine Master selecting the Cursers would set challenges that were utterly impassable.


    After all, the Divine Master was looking for someone to fulfill his wishes!


    As long as it''s not absolutely impossible, Ye Chen would spare no effort to seize even the slightest chance!


    Had there been a choice, Ye Chen might consider opting out.


    But when there''s no choice and he must face what comes, then Ye Chen would only strive with all his might!


    The expression on Ye Chen''s face caught the eye of Xiaojiu inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Although Xiaojiu was deeply worried about Ye Chen''s safety, as a partner who had braved numerous dangers with him, Xiaojiu had absolute trust in Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen, perhaps this is a blessing in disguise," Xiaojiu telepathically communicated to Ye Chen. "Let''s not talk about the benefits that lie ahead; just by getting through the first challenge of the ''Curser''s Test'' in the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death'', you''ll obtain all the Divine Milk inside this Ice Coffin."


    "There are thousands of drops of this ''Divine Milk'' here! With just one drop, you can surmount the bottleneck of the Nine Tribulations True God and break through to the God King Realm!"


    "You''ve been looking forward to this for so long; finally, you can become a Divine King, and you''ll have plenty of Divine Milk left. Just for this, you must go all out to pass the ''Curser''s Test''!"


    Upon hearing Xiaojiu''s words, a glint sparked in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Indeed.


    The God King Realm.


    Wasn''t this the purpose of leaving the Supreme Divine Institute, to strive for the God King Realm?


    Just one step away.


    With the Divine Milk, stepping into the God King Realm was a certainty!


    "With no retreat available, there is no need to retreat!"


    "For the God King Realm, I''ll give it my all!"


    Ye Chen clenched his fists.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s resolve, the presence of the Seven-Star Sovereign, General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao", smiled and nodded: "Young lad, by your demeanor, you seem ready."


    "Let''s first send this Heavenly Divine Venerable out of this Ice Coffin, and then I''ll place you into the third Ice Coffin on the right!"


    ...


    A few breaths later.


    Fairy Luo Yun found herself outside the Demon Tomb once more.


    Her memories of the second Ice Coffin had been completely erased.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s disappearance beside her, Fairy Luo Yun was puzzled: "Hm? Wasn''t I going to the second Ice Coffin with Ye Chen? How did I end up outside of the Demon Tomb?"


    Fairy Luo Yun touched the white jade token she had acquired from the first Ice Coffin with great confusion.


    She furrowed her brows, lost in thought.


    As if sensing that her memories had been erased, or perceiving some fearsome matter, Fairy Luo Yun''s expression changed in a flash.


    "My memories seem to contain something untouchable, related to this Demon Tomb and Ye Chen!"


    "An inexplicable feeling is urging me to leave the Demon Tomb at once."


    "Ye Chen... I have a feeling that Ye Chen is still safe, but he might be entangled in things I cannot touch!"


    "It seems I must part ways with Ye Chen for now!"


    Fairy Luo Yun''s gaze settled firmly on the Demon Tomb.


    After a long while, she took a deep breath, then left the Demon Tomb and flew towards the core area of the first Demon Tomb, the Land of Divine Milk.


    ...


    As Fairy Luo Yun departed the Demon Tomb, inside the tomb, Ye Chen had already flown out of the second Ice Coffin and into the third Ice Coffin on the right.


    Previously, Fairy Luo Yun had mentioned that the third Ice Coffin was also inaccessible.


    This Ice Coffin was tied to the "Curser''s Test," so naturally, others couldn''t enter at will.


    But now, Ye Chen had entered the test; with Long Xiao''s help, he smoothly entered the third Ice Coffin.


    As he flew right beneath the third Ice Coffin, a sky filled with terrifying black insects swarmed towards Ye Chen, attacking ferociously.


    These black terrifying insects were precisely the first of the five major dangers in the "Curser''s Test" mentioned by Long Xiao when sending Ye Chen into the third Ice Coffin¡ªthe danger of the "Black Crow Heavenly Demon Worms"!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The sky teeming with these terrifying black insects formed a horrifying cloud of tens of thousands of insects.


    Although each insect only possessed the combat power of the God King Level, the sheer number of tens of thousands was terrifying to the extreme.


    Facing the onslaught of tens of thousands of "Black Crow Heavenly Demon Worms," Ye Chen, with an extremely solemn expression, released the "Crimson Fire" flying sword from the Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows with a "swoosh."


    Following that, the terrifying killing force of the "Nine Swords of Annihilation''s" Fifth Sword swept towards the sky-full "Black Crow Heavenly Demon Worms," rending and killing.


    ...


    At the beginning of Ye Chen''s "Curser''s Test," looking down from directly above the third Ice Coffin, one could see that the space below had turned pitch black.


    Above the void of the third Ice Coffin, the figure of General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" was suspended in mid-air.


    His Divine Eyes gazed below.


    "Over the years, countless people of destiny have entered our four deputy tombs. Some took some treasures and left, while others entered the selection of the ''Curser.''"


    "The vast majority did not pass the selection; some lost their qualifications at the beginning and were directly thrown out of the Demon Tomb with their memories erased."


    "Others fell during the selection, dying in the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death,'' with not even one person successfully passing the first two gates!"


    Upon saying this, Long Xiao''s gaze shifted toward Ye Chen, who was amidst endless dangers below the third Ice Coffin.


    "This young man, his background is definitely extraordinary!"


    "There is a breath within his Qi Sea that even I fear!"


    "That kind of breath is clearly from the Cosmic Sea! My master once entered the Cosmic Sea, and I recognize this breath!"


    "And that breath seems even stronger than my master''s!"


    "I really wonder what kind of thing he has on him!"


    "Alas, I am but a remnant soul and absolutely unable to investigate. Of course, even if my true body were still around, I probably couldn''t uncover it either!"


    "However... This gives us some hope. Perhaps this young man could truly fulfill my master''s wish and even successfully pass the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death!''"


    Thinking this, Long Xiao couldn''t help but sigh deeply!


    "For so many years, our remnant souls have remained for this very reason."


    "I hope this matter can be completely resolved before our remnant souls completely dissipate!"


    "Three days, this ''Curser''s Test'' will go through a full three days of terrifying dangers!"


    "Although these dangers will change according to this young man''s bone age, realm, and combat power, it is still extremely perilous!"


    "Let''s see whether this young man can still be alive after three days and come out from inside!"


    After mumbling to himself, Long Xiao fell silent, his eyes continuously watching below as if observing something.


    One day.


    Two days.


    Time passed bit by bit.


    Looking at the space below the third Ice Coffin, it was still a swath of pitch black.


    However, the sounds of fighting within never ceased!


    And Long Xiao, who had been watching intently below, had his eyes shine brighter and brighter.


    When the three days had completely passed, the elated Sovereign Long Xiao of the Seven Stars Sovereign Realm could not help but let out a loud howl.


    In the midst of his howling, a figure flew directly out of the pitch-black space below the third Ice Coffin!


    This figure, with somewhat tattered clothes and body covered in bloodstains, had piercingly bright eyes.


    This figure was, of course, Ye Chen!


    After three days passed, Ye Chen came out alive from the third Ice Coffin.


    This clearly signified that Ye Chen had passed the first trial of the "Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death," the crisis test of the "Curser''s Test," and successfully obtained the qualifications of a "Curser!"


    The reason why Long Xiao couldn''t help but howl was precisely because of this.


    No one had passed the "Curser''s Test" in the deputy tomb he was in charge of for a very long time!


    Now that Ye Chen had passed the "Curser''s Test," he had finally become another "Curser," possessing the opportunity to fulfill his master''s wish.


    And by observing Ye Chen''s testing process, Long Xiao had a premonition that perhaps this young man, who even he feared a bit, would be the first to help his master fulfill his wish!


    In the midst of Long Xiao''s racing Mind and Spirit, Ye Chen, who had emerged from the third Ice Coffin, directly came to his side.


    Ye Chen said to Long Xiao: "Senior, I have completed the ''Curser''s Test.'' Is the Divine Milk in the second Ice Coffin you mentioned before now mine?"


    Thinking of the three days of testing, Ye Chen still felt a lingering sense of dread inside.


    Terrifying.


    It was truly terrifying.


    The first batch of those "Black Crow Heavenly Demon Worms" he encountered was nothing much, but in the end, he even faced dangers at the Divine Venerable level!


    If it weren''t for his possession of the Xuan Divine Cone and the cultivation of the Undying Divine Body, he would have likely died during the test.


    However, despite the lingering dread, Ye Chen also felt a surge of excitement.


    That is, he had finally passed the test and could obtain the Divine Milk.


    He could finally start to officially strike towards the God King Realm!

 Chapter 813 - 764: Assaulting the God King Realm

    "Young boy, you have passed the ''Curser''s Test'' and can now be considered to have the identity of a ''Curser''!"


    "Furthermore, you will soon be able to represent this subsidiary tomb and go to the main tomb to meet the remnant soul of my master, embarking on the journey to fulfill my master''s ambition!"


    "The ''Divine Milk'' in this subsidiary tomb is now, of course, yours!"


    Whoosh.


    As he spoke, General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" pointed in the air, and droplets of Divine Milk immediately flew towards Ye Chen.


    These droplets of Divine Milk included both the Divine Milk that Fairy Luo Yun had earlier taken back into the stone pool and the Divine Milk that Ye Chen had initially taken and then had been retrieved by Long Xiao.


    A total of thousands of droplets of Divine Milk.


    Now, they all flew towards Ye Chen!


    Seeing Long Xiao truly give the "Divine Milk" to him, Ye Chen was overjoyed, and even the fatigue from the continuous three days of taking the "Curser''s Test" was swept away in an instant!


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Like receiving a priceless treasure, Ye Chen took out a small bottle from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and collected all of the "Divine Milk" into it!


    Thousands of droplets of Divine Milk!


    With this Divine Milk, not only did Ye Chen have absolute confidence in breaking through to the God King Realm, but he was also fully prepared for the various bottlenecks to reaching the Lower God King, Middle God King, and Upper God King, and even the Divine Venerable Realm in the future!


    At that time, this Divine Milk will be of great help!


    It can be said that this Divine Milk is more than sufficient for Ye Chen''s cultivation needs, with plenty to spare!


    Reward.


    Although this is not the entirety of the ''Curser risk'' rewards, at least, Ye Chen has already received a huge reward.


    Right now, what Ye Chen most urgently desires is to step into the God King Realm immediately.


    After all, there are great risks in this First Demon Tomb, and according to what Long Xiao said about going to the main tomb of that ''Divine Master,'' there are also significant risks.


    Ye Chen''s current realm of Nine Tribulations True God is far too weak.


    But once he steps into the God King Realm, although he still won''t be considered very strong, Ye Chen''s combat power will absolutely undergo a qualitative leap.


    Especially because...


    This is also related to an extremely important matter.


    That is the matter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Ye Chen has already been stuck in the fourth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Primordial Chapter," for a long time now, and the Stellar Vortex within him has long been fully opened, with his Star God Power condensed to the extreme.


    Ye Chen has been impatient to break through into the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, to enhance his abilities once more!


    As for the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen had sensed it long ago; only by stepping into the God King Realm can one truly succeed in the breakthrough.


    This, of course, makes Ye Chen even more eager to successfully break through to the God King Realm!


    Because this represents not only the elevation of Ye Chen''s realm but also the advancement of his cultivation level in the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Ye Chen also wants to see what the fifth chapter will be like, following the "Gang Yuan Chapter," "Primordial Chapter," "Taiyuan Chapter," and "Primordial Beginning Chapter" ¡ª what kind of cultivation methods it will reveal!


    "Senior, may I attempt to break through to the ''Divine King Realm'' right here?"


    "I am eager to become a Divine King as soon as possible!"


    Holding the "Divine Milk," Ye Chen asked Long Xiao.


    "Attempting to break through to the God King Realm now?" Long Xiao looked towards Ye Chen, his gaze lingering for a few breaths.


    Then, he nodded.


    "Your aura is exceptionally robust, and you possess combat power capable of transcending realms. With the help of ''Divine Milk,'' it is indeed possible to attempt the breakthrough to the God King Realm."


    "So be it, I had initially wanted you to visit the master''s main tomb as soon as possible, but since you wish to try for the God King Realm first, then go ahead."


    "After all, your realm is too low, which is somewhat beyond my expectations. I had thought that the ''Curser'' we chose would at least be a Divine Venerable, yet here you are, having reached this place as a Nine Tribulations True God."


    "Once you''ve successfully broken through to the God King Realm, you''ll have a greater chance of satisfying the master''s remnant soul when you meet it."


    Having said that, Long Xiao pointed at the void above the Demon Tomb and said to Ye Chen, "Since you want to challenge the God King Realm, do it in the space above these three Ice Coffins. This is the Demon Tomb I''ve created; no one will disturb you here, allowing you to concentrate fully on your breakthrough."


    "I won''t disturb you any further."


    After he finished speaking, Long Xiao''s figure moved and he disappeared outright.


    Seeing Long Xiao vanish, leaving only himself in the entire world, and the three enormous Ice Coffins below, Ye Chen tightly clenched his fist.


    "Xiaojiu, protect me."


    After transmitting a message to the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen wasted no further time and immediately sat cross-legged in the void.


    First of all, what Ye Chen needed to do was to bring himself to the best possible state.


    Having delved deep into the furthest right Ice Coffin, and having undergone the "Curser''s Test" for three days, Ye Chen was utterly exhausted.


    Needless to say, Ye Chen wouldn''t rashly challenge his realm straight away.


    After meditating and adjusting his breathing for two full hours, Ye Chen finally recovered from the fatigue of the test and the loss of Divine Power.


    Only then did Ye Chen truly enter the process of challenging his realm!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As a drop of "Divine Milk" flew out from the bottle and entered Ye Chen''s mouth, his entire body, inside and out, suddenly exploded with noises.


    Within Ye Chen''s body, all the Divine Power began to boil violently, pervading his entire body. His Essence, Qi, and Spirit, the three vital signs of life, all began a process of challenging a higher level.


    Outside of Ye Chen''s body, through the space of the Demon Tomb, the void outside rapidly gathered ominous clouds of tribulation.


    The tribulation clouds spread instantly, covering hundreds of feet, then thousands, and they continued to expand relentlessly!


    These were the tribulation clouds of the "Divine Tribulation" from the True God Realm challenging the God King Realm!


    On top of that, the circumstances of Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough were extraordinary from the start.


    The "Divine Tribulation" clouds were countless times more terrifying than the nine major Heavenly Tribulations Ye Chen had faced before, and at the very beginning, the clouds were flickering with a horrifying color mix of black and crimson!


    As Ye Chen sat for a longer time, approaching the crucial point for challenging the God King Realm, the color of the tribulation clouds gradually turned into a true crimson!


    After Ye Chen had been seated for an entire day, the entire tribulation clouds even became blood-red!


    And the area had expanded to thousands of miles!


    It was a good thing this was the land of the Demon Tomb, and the spatial division of the first Demon Tomb meant that the entering Martial Artists were scattered far apart. Otherwise, merely the sight of these tribulation clouds would have caused countless God Kings to be horrified beyond measure.


    This hardly seemed like the tribulation clouds for a True God challenging the God King Realm, but rather like those for a God King challenging the Divine Venerable Realm!


    When Ye Chen had been seated for one day and six hours, tens of thousands of fearsome blood-red tribulation clouds, spreading across thousands of miles and hundreds of feet thick, finally spawned bolts of Divine Tribulation thunder.


    These bolts of Divine Tribulation thunder, as thick as hundreds of feet, resembled huge pillars of lightning as they descended from the heavens, striking directly towards Ye Chen, who sat cross-legged in the void!

 Chapter 814 - 765 Divine King "Ye Chen

    These Divine Tribulation lightnings are all blood-red in color!


    From afar, it looks as though countless blood-red streaks of lightning are striking down towards the immensely small Ye Chen in Void Heaven.


    Instantly, Ye Chen is completely engulfed within the endless Divine Tribulation lightning.


    From the outside, it is impossible to see how Ye Chen defends against the tribulation lightning or how he is attempting to ascend to the realm of Divine King.


    One can only hear the continuous explosions emanating from the direction where Ye Chen is located.


    Within the Demon Tomb, inside the second Ice Coffin.


    General Azure Dragon "Long Xiao" looked up towards the Divine Tribulation clouds that filled Void Heaven and towards Ye Chen, who was submerged in the lightning strikes.


    He remained silent for a long time.


    But from his eyes, one could see that this seven-star Sovereign was inexplicably shaken.


    "Is this really a Divine Tribulation triggered by a Nine Tribulations True God attempting to ascend to the Divine King Realm?"


    "To think it''s blood-red in color! And the tribulation clouds are terrifying to such an extent!"


    "The Divine Tribulations of True Gods from my True Spirit Divine Kingdom striking towards Divine King aren''t able to elicit such extreme reactions. It seems, this young Ye Chen is truly extraordinary to the utmost degree! Otherwise, he couldn''t possibly trigger such terrifying tribulation clouds, comparable to those from a Divine King''s assault on Divine Venerable''s realm!"


    Long Xiao murmured to himself.


    "I wonder if he can overcome this Divine Tribulation. Once he does, by absorbing the endless power of this Divine Tribulation, transforming his Divine Power into Heaven-reaching Divine Power, his combat power might soar to an unimaginable level."


    "This young Nine Tribulations True God has been able to battle a Lower Earth Divine Venerable, so if he truly steps into the Divine King Realm, defeating a Lower and even a Middle Earth Divine Venerable might not be impossible!"


    Long Xiao, as a Sovereign, knew that the Divine Tribulation of a True God ascending to Divine King would last for a long time.


    He quietly waited.


    Waiting for Ye Chen to transform completely!


    And the subsequent process, just as Long Xiao predicted, viewed from the outside, an endless Divine Tribulation storm raged, creating an eerily calm chaos at its extreme core.


    Looking towards the center of the storm, one could see that after countless strikes of Divine Tribulation lightning, Ye Chen began to undergo waves of transformation.


    The Divine Power on Ye Chen continuously rose higher and higher until, at last, it surged up a thousand meters high, spiraling directly above the tribulation clouds like a tornado.


    Then, amidst the peals of blood-red lightning, it seemed to ascend through a layer of Divine Light before returning back into Ye Chen''s Qi Sea and spreading throughout his body.


    With each return, the levels and amounts of Ye Chen''s Divine Power explosively increased!


    Immediately after, this Divine Power burst forth from within Ye Chen again, enduring the entire Divine Tribulation''s refinement once more!


    The cycle repeated.


    It was like the circulation of the heavens.


    During this process, the Divine Tribulation lightning became increasingly terrifying and intense!


    Towards the end, even with the Star Blue Divine Garment and countless other techniques, Ye Chen could only shatter the tribulation lightning, allowing it to once again refine his Divine Power!


    The entire process lasted almost a day and a half.


    When Ye Chen''s essence, qi, and spirit were all exhausted to the extreme, immersed in the endless sea of Divine Tribulation lightning, feeling almost powerless.


    Suddenly, the process of Divine Tribulation came to an end!


    In an instant, above the Divine Tribulation and the Nine Heavens, a massive column of light, a thousand meters thick, suddenly shone down, completely enveloping Ye Chen within it!


    In an instant, all the tiredness on Ye Chen''s body vanished entirely, and his essence, qi, and spirit dramatically began stepping towards a higher level!


    In that moment, Ye Chen also rose from his seated position, his eyes looking towards the Nine Heavens, his robe flapping loudly, his black hair flying with the wind!


    After a few dozen breaths, the massive column of light suddenly disappeared.


    Along with the thousands of miles of terrifying Divine Tribulation clouds, they also completely vanished.


    All that remained in Void Heaven was Ye Chen alone.


    Ye Chen slightly closed his eyes, then suddenly opened them again, and immediately, his entire eyes were like Divine Eyes, shooting out two substantive rays of Divine Power, reaching tens of thousands of meters away, touching the edge of the Demon Tomb, exploding with a "thunderous" noise before disappearing into nothing!


    On Ye Chen''s body, furthermore, surged out bursts of astonishing Divine Power, like great rivers or seas, that instantaneously surged throughout the space, and one could see that these Divine Powers even carried a mysteriously profound light golden color!


    Boom!


    Ye Chen clenched his hands, and all this Divine Power instantaneously returned to his body.


    Divine Eyes like lightning, Divine Power changing color.


    These were indeed visions produced after the ascension in realm!


    This clearly signified that from this moment, Ye Chen had stepped into the realm of Divine King!


    Divine King!


    Divine King Ye Chen!


    At this time, the essence, qi, and spirit of Ye Chen had already transcended the level of a Nine Tribulations True God and genuinely entered the realm of Divine King, and even his Divine Power had transformed into an even higher level of Heaven-reaching Divine Power!


    From now on, Ye Chen was no longer merely a True God, but had truly become a "Divine King"!


    "Divine King Realm!"


    "I have finally stepped into the Divine King Realm! Becoming a Lower God King!"


    Ye Chen clenched his fists, feeling the surging Divine Power within him that made him feel capable of battling even the mighty Middle Earth Divine Venerable, his eyes sparkling with brilliance as he let out a long howl!


    "Ye Chen, congratulations on stepping into the God King Realm!"


    From within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Xiaojiu, who had witnessed the entire process of Ye Chen''s breakthrough into the God King Realm, exclaimed with great joy.


    Xiaojiu, along with the little monkey awakened by Ye Chen from the state of cultivation due to the impact on his realm, excitedly jumped around inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant!


    Although Ye Chen, at the age of twenty, had successfully broken through into the God King Realm, which was absolutely unthinkable in the Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain, it still paled in comparison to the likes of Long Li, the first Heaven''s Chosen of the younger generation in the Divine Nation.


    After all, Long Li was younger than Ye Chen and is already in the Earth Divine Venerable Realm.


    But, Xiaojiu knew, Ye Chen had truly entered the Divine Nation just over a year ago!


    A little more than a year ago, Ye Chen was a Heavenly Saint; now, he had not only smoothly broken through to the True God Realm but also surpassed the Nine Tribulations True God, stepping into the God King Realm and becoming a great Divine King.


    The cultivation speed of advancing from a Heavenly Saint to a Divine King in just over a year could indeed be regarded as the first person in the untold ages of the Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain!


    Of course, this made Xiaojiu extremely excited!


    "Ye Chen, my friend, congratulations!"


    "Not only have you successfully passed the ''Curser''s Test'', but you have also successfully broken through to the God King Realm. From now on, others must address you as Divine King ''Ye Chen''."


    Seeing that Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough had ended, Long Xiao also directly emerged from the void, smiling as he spoke to Ye Chen.


    His reference to Ye Chen had changed.


    From young boy, he changed to calling him friend Ye Chen.


    Clearly, the extraordinary phenomenon during Ye Chen''s realm breakthrough had once again made this Seven-Star Sovereign bow in respect.


    Ye Chen also smiled.


    There was a time when Ye Chen could hardly imagine reaching the God King Realm.


    Now, he had finally achieved this.


    Ye Chen also felt as if a huge weight had been lifted from his shoulders.


    After successfully breaking through to the God King Realm, once he returned to the Supreme Divine Institute, he could finally advance on the God King List of the nine great divine institutes to prepare for gaining entry to Heavenly God Mountain!


    This venture from the Supreme Divine Institute was not in vain!


    "Ye Chen, my friend, now that your realm breakthrough has been successful, you should also visit the main tomb of my master to meet his remaining spirit. I think, with such a peerless genius becoming a ''Curser'', my master will definitely be very pleased!" Long Xiao said to Ye Chen again.


    Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled with a flash of light.


    Meeting this master of Long Xiao, the "Divine Master," beginning the second of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death?


    Ye Chen knew that meeting the Divine Master was inevitable.


    But...


    Before that, Ye Chen had a crucially important task to attend to!


    "Senior, please wait a moment."


    "I have just successfully broken through the realm, and now I need to cultivate another Cultivation Technique."


    "However, it won''t take too long. Once the cultivation of the technique is complete, I will go and meet your master, the great ''Divine Master''!"


    Ye Chen said to Long Xiao.


    "Cultivating a Cultivation Technique?" Long Xiao was startled, but then he smiled, "That''s fine, my master''s main tomb is right here in the first Demon Tomb, it won''t take long to go there."


    "You go ahead and cultivate the technique first."


    Having waited for countless ages, Long Xiao obviously wouldn''t be in a rush at this moment.


    He highly regarded Ye Chen and was willing to give him ample preparation time.


    After speaking, Long Xiao returned to the second Ice Coffin.


    And Ye Chen sat down again.


    "I can finally enter the ''Starlight Tower'' again, to touch the even more precious fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!"


    The Cultivation Technique that Ye Chen referred to was, of course, the fifth chapter of the "Primordial Star Scripture" that one could begin to cultivate upon entering the God King Realm!


    Boom!


    As soon as Ye Chen sat down, suddenly, the numerous Stellar Vortices inside him vehemently spun, and the vast Star God Power rushed towards the Stars Tower in his Qi Sea.


    These Star God Powers, after Ye Chen''s successful breakthrough into the God King Realm, unexpectedly carried a faint golden color.


    At the moment the Star God Power touched the Stars Tower,


    A thrilling event occurred for Ye Chen!


    The Stars Tower suddenly emitted an unstoppable attraction, pulling Ye Chen''s entire Mind and Spirit once again into the Stars Tower.


    Just like the feeling Ye Chen had the previous times he entered the Stars Tower!


    And this time, the place Ye Chen entered in the Stars Tower was indeed the fifth level of the Pagoda,


    The place that housed the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!

 Chapter 815 - 766: Taiyi, Ten Thousand Spirits, Seven Stars

    In the first floor of the Starlight Tower, Ye Chen acquired the first chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Gang Yuan Chapter".


    The Gang Yuan Chapter directly caused Ye Chen''s Martial Arts cultivation to advance by leaps and bounds, and his combat power to dramatically increase!


    On the subsequent floors of the Starlight Tower¡ªthe second, third, and fourth floors, Ye Chen obtained even more powerful chapters: "Primordial Chapter", "Taiyuan Chapter", and "Primordial Beginning Chapter".


    Especially the fourth chapter, "Primordial Beginning Chapter", directly led Ye Chen to cultivate the "Stellar Divine Diagram" in the fourth floor of the tower, cultivating the Primordial Star, cultivating the Stellar Vortex, and cultivating the immensely powerful Star God Power!


    It was precisely because of this Star God Power that Ye Chen was able to compete against True Gods in the Heavenly Saint Realm, and even suppress countless Divine Kings in the True God Realm!


    While cultivating the fourth chapter, Ye Chen learned from the Primordial Star Scripture that starting from this chapter, he officially entered the middle stages of cultivation of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    This initial chapter of the middle stage was so incredibly powerful that Ye Chen could hardly wait to see what the fifth chapter would be like.


    Now, finally entering the fifth floor of the Starlight Tower, having the opportunity to come into contact with the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, how could Ye Chen not be immensely excited?!


    Ye Chen looked toward the fifth floor of the Starlight Tower.


    Upon looking, Ye Chen was immediately shocked.


    Unlike in the fourth floor of the tower, where he saw a "Stellar Divine Diagram".


    In the fifth floor of the Starlight Tower, Ye Chen actually directly saw a sparkling Spirit Ranking list and seven dazzling stars shaped like long spoons, appearing in the void of the fifth floor.


    The entire fifth floor looked like an incredibly mysterious cosmic space.


    Those seven dazzling stars, along with that sparkling Spirit Ranking list, appeared even more vast and mysterious than the "Stellar Divine Diagram" from the fourth floor!


    After all, the "Stellar Divine Diagram" from the fourth floor only cultivated a "Primordial Star" and countless stellar vortexes, but these seven dazzling stars and the sparkling Spirit Ranking list from the fifth floor were clearly many times higher in level than the "Primordial Star"!


    "What will be cultivated in this fifth floor?"


    Ye Chen''s gaze moved toward the sparkling Spirit Ranking list and those seven dazzling stars.


    Upon looking, these two immediately emitted endless starlight, enveloping Ye Chen entirely within it.


    It seemed as if Ye Chen was situated within a nebula!


    In a flash, countless mystical characters flew towards Ye Chen''s mind, and finally, they formed into a complete chapter of cultivation.


    This chapter of cultivation was precisely the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    "Taiyi Chapter"!


    "The fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture is actually called ''Taiyi Chapter''!"


    "Gang Yuan Chapter, Primordial Chapter, Taiyuan Chapter, Primordial Beginning Chapter, Taiyi Chapter... finally a third chapter related to ''Greatness'' has appeared!"


    With his mind and spirit trembling, Ye Chen then looked at the cultivation method of the "Taiyi Chapter".


    The more he looked, the more his mind and spirit trembled.


    At the end, Ye Chen even incredibly exclaimed: "Heaven, this ''Taiyi Chapter'' can actually transform all the Heaven-reaching Divine Power and Star God Power in my body into an even more powerful ''Taiyi Divine Power''!"


    "This Taiyi Divine Power not only has extraordinary attack power, it also possesses a profoundly mysterious Divine Skill ¡ª ''Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations''!"


    "Once all the divine power in my body is transformed into Taiyi Divine Power, I can change into the appearance of any person, and also transform into various types of True Spirit Sacred Beasts, cultivating and possessing the inherent Divine Skills of True Spirit Sacred Beasts! I could even transform into various types of non-human race cultivators!"


    "This transformation is not just a simple shape-shifting; it''s a fundamental change from the essence of the physique. Once the transformation is complete, even a Sovereign greatly surpassing my realm or even beyond the Sovereign''s existence won''t be able to detect my change!"


    "Isn''t this precisely the unparalleled Divine Art ''Transform Easily'' that Xiaojiu mentioned before, appearing in the presence of beings surpassing the Sovereign? It looks like the ''Taiyi Chapter'' not only has ''Transform Easily'', but is even more powerful than it. It even generates Taiyi Divine Power, massively boosting my attack power!"


    Ye Chen remembered, this time when leaving the Supreme Divine Institute, in order to avoid trouble, he had used the "Shape-Shifting Divine Art" to disguise himself as a bearded man.


    Back then, Xiaojiu had said that this kind of disguise could easily be seen through by others.


    Moreover, Xiaojiu mentioned that the "Shape-Shifting Divine Art" merely changes the appearance and realm superficially. Only a miraculous Divine Art available to beings surpassing the Sovereign can cause someone to undergo unique "Transform Easily," completely altering their appearance and guise so that even those far above their own realm would not realize the change.


    At that time, Ye Chen had been immensely eager to cultivate such an incredible Divine Art.


    Ye Chen had not expected that now, in the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, he would truly come into contact with this Divine Art!


    Ye Chen knew well the mystery of this Divine Art!


    Just the "Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations" alone could definitely allow Ye Chen to escape numerous crises, morphing into someone unrecognizable.


    Not to mention, transforming into a "True Spirit Sacred Beast" would also allow him to cultivate and possess the original Divine Skills of those beasts.


    Ye Chen knew how fearsome the "True Spirit Sacred Beasts" were!


    Like the encounter with General Azure Dragon Long Xiao, he was a seven-star Sovereign level Azure Dragon, clearly possessing the Azure Dragon Race''s incredible Cultivation Technique.


    If Ye Chen were in human form, it would likely be impossible to access the Cultivation Technique of the Azure Dragon Race.


    But once he can "Transform Easily" into a true member of the Azure Dragon Race, he might be able to learn Divine Arts from the Azure Dragon Race that humans could never otherwise access!


    And not just from the Azure Dragon Race...


    As long as he can employ a Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations, transforming into any race, he could access the secrets and Divine Arts of those species!


    Even if Ye Chen is not sneaking around to learn, this clearly gives Ye Chen a great tool and trump card!


    Suppressing his excited emotions, Ye Chen finished reading the entirety of the "Taiyi Chapter."


    Then, Ye Chen''s gaze fixed on the spirit-lit leaderboard that emerged in the void of the fifth floor of the Starlight Tower, along with those seven resplendently shining stars!


    "According to the ''Taiyi Chapter'', to cultivate the ''Taiyi Divine Power'', I have to rely on those seven resplendently shining stars."


    "And that spirit-lit leaderboard along with the seven stars has extra requirements for me!"


    "The full name of the spirit-lit leaderboard is¡ª''Heavenly Spirit Rankings'', created by the owner of Primordial Star Scripture, the great ''Zi Ji Star Lord'', who gathered information about the top ten thousand non-human powerful beings from countless Divine Kingdoms in the universe, ranking them in a list!"


    "The entire ''Heavenly Spirit Rankings'' has an area for high-level beings. This high-level area contains only one hundred beings, ranked in the top one hundred of the leaderboard!"


    Ye Chen looked towards the top of the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings."


    Directly seeing at the very top, it reads: "Moke Ancient Clan beings, residing within Moke Divine Country, these beings, flowing into this universe from the Cosmic Sea..."


    "These beings are immensely powerful, achieving True God level combat power upon reaching adulthood. Furthermore, beings surpassing the Sovereign level are most commonly born from this race!"


    "This ''Moke Ancient Clan'', even among the cosmic communities, is stronger than the human race!"


    "Even situated within a Divine Kingdom of this universe, there is no Divine Kingdom in the entirety of the universe that dares to provoke it!"

 Chapter 816 - 767 Additional Requirements

    Seeing the description of the "Moke Ancient Clan", Ye Chen was greatly shocked.


    To possess True God level combat power upon reaching adulthood?!


    This is simply too powerful.


    For human Martial Artists, this is something unimaginable!


    Ye Chen silently remembered the name "Moke Ancient Clan beings".


    If he continues to grow stronger, he will also have a great chance to encounter beings from this race.


    Ye Chen then looked below where the "Moke Ancient Clan beings" were listed, to the second being on the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings".


    The second being was described as: "Netherworld Ancient Clan beings, also a race that flowed into this universe from the Cosmic Sea..."


    "This race, though not as numerous as the Human Clan or Moke Ancient Clan, possesses a terrifying exclusive Divine Skill, which is the ''Netherworld Sacrifice'' Divine Skill!"


    "This ''Netherworld Sacrifice'' Divine Skill allows members of the Netherworld Ancient Clan to sacrifice their lives to others in their race, causing a substantial boost in the recipients'' strength, thus the Supreme Experts produced by this ''Netherworld Ancient Clan'' are terrifying to the extreme!"


    "Were it not for the unknown reasons keeping the population of the ''Netherworld Ancient Clan'' very limited and preventing arbitrary sacrifice, it''s feasible that the power of the ''Netherworld Ancient Clan'' would surpass the ''Moke Ancient Clan'' in this universe!"


    Netherworld Sacrifice?


    Can cause another clan member''s strength to undergo a substantial boost?!


    Ye Chen''s heart was shaken once again.


    He had not expected such mysterious and incredible races to exist in this universe.


    After looking at the top two beings listed, Ye Chen couldn''t help but look further down the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings".


    After viewing the higher-ranking beings of the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings", a gleam sparkled in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Out of the hundred top beings in the high-rank area, more than a dozen were not native to this universe but rather had streamed in reversal from the Cosmic Sea.


    And these beings from the Cosmic Sea into this universe, each race is incredibly powerful, possessing unbelievable intrinsic Divine Skills!


    On the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings", Lord Zi Ji Star Lord also specially mentioned that these races flowing into this universe only make up a tiny, tiny part of the entire Cosmic Sea.


    The groups in the Cosmic Sea are countless times more numerous than those in this universe!


    Among them are many races that are far stronger than Human Clan!


    This ignited in Ye Chen both awe and longing toward the mysterious and unfathomable Cosmic Sea.


    Unfortunately, he has not yet cultivated to surpass the Sovereign Realm, so he is unable to enter the Cosmic Sea.


    Otherwise, Ye Chen would be so eager to witness the Cosmic Sea!


    Of course, apart from the many beings that have flowed into this universe from the Cosmic Sea, Ye Chen also noticed many indigenous beings of this universe, which are equally extraordinary.


    Ye Chen also noticed that in the high-rank area of the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings", a total of five beings all reside within one Divine Kingdom¡ª the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom".


    True Spirit Divine Kingdom!


    It is the Divine Kingdom mentioned by General Azure Dragon, the birthplace of his master!


    If Ye Chen wants to help fulfill the wishes of General Azure Dragon''s master, the great Divine Master, he may very likely visit the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Now, seeing from the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings" that True Spirit Divine Kingdom actually has five beings ranked among the top hundred, naturally, Ye Chen was quite shocked!


    However, the Azure Dragon Race, where General Azure Dragon Long Xiao belongs, is not among these five types of beings, indicating that within the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, the Azure Dragon Race is not considered a very strong clan.


    "I wonder which clan the master of General Azure Dragon, the Divine Master, belongs to. Could he be from one of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s'' strongest five clans ¡ª the ''Blood Wing Clan'', ''Nine Flames Clan'', ''Wind God Clan'', ''Extreme Spirit Clan'', or ''Ten Thousand Blades Clan''?"


    Ye Chen pondered in his heart.


    This mystery might only be solved after he encounters the remnant soul of that Divine Master.


    After looking through the high-tier spirit beings section of the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings," Ye Chen turned his gaze toward the mid-tier and low-tier spirit beings sections.


    Eventually, he looked through all ten thousand types of beings and memorized them.


    Currently, though Ye Chen is only in the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, having seen the ten thousand types of beings living in this universe from the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings," he realized the vastness and mystery of this universe.


    Out of these ten thousand types of beings listed, the only ones he has actually encountered are the few clans such as the Nine Spirits Sparrow Clan, where Xiaojiu belongs, ranked in the high-tier spirit beings area of the Heavenly Spirit Rankings, and the Azure Dragon Clan to which Long Xiao belongs, ranked in the mid-tier spirit beings area.


    Ye Chen''s viewing of the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings" was not without reason.


    Because the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Taiyi Chapter," requires Ye Chen to meet an additional condition involving this ranking list!


    This extra requirement is for Ye Chen to obtain one hundred drops of Lifeblood from seven high-tier spirits listed in the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings," and to drip them into a Star Disk formed by seven dazzling stars on the fifth layer of the Starlight Tower.


    Only by fulfilling this condition can the Star Disk be activated, allowing Ye Chen to transcend the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Taiyi Chapter, and enter into the sixth chapter of cultivation in the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Obtain one hundred drops of Lifeblood from the seven high-tier spirits!


    Moreover, this requirement specifically mentions, three of these seven spirits must be of the Heavenly Divine Venerable level, two of the Immortal Divine Venerable level, and one of the Sovereign level!


    Just obtaining one hundred drops of Lifeblood is already extremely difficult!


    A drop or two of Essence Blood, perhaps Ye Chen might still have hope of obtaining from these top-ranked high-tier spirits.


    But, one hundred drops of Lifeblood, the impact on those beings themselves would be significant, making it nearly impossible for those beings to voluntarily give it.


    The difficulty of this requirement for Ye Chen is imaginable!


    And it''s not just getting one hundred drops of Lifeblood that''s incredibly difficult.


    What''s even more difficult is, the owners of this Lifeblood must be of Heavenly Divine Venerable, Immortal Divine Venerable, and Sovereign levels!


    If there wasn''t a requirement for the realm, then with Ye Chen''s strength, he might have been able to obtain Essence Blood from these beings of lower cultivation levels.


    But, since the requirement is for Heavenly Divine Venerable, Immortal Divine Venerable, and Sovereign levels, it''s absolutely difficult for Ye Chen.


    The Heavenly Divine Venerable level might still be manageable.


    With some cultivation, Ye Chen might still be able to contend.


    But for Immortal Divine Venerable and Sovereign levels, with Ye Chen in the Lower God King Realm, he absolutely cannot handle them!


    Especially the Sovereign level entities, those kinds of beings, born among the hundred strongest beings, one can imagine how terrifying they are.


    For Ye Chen to obtain one hundred drops of Lifeblood from such beings, it''s equivalent to an absolutely impossible task!


    Seeing this additional requirement, Ye Chen''s face became extremely solemn.


    Of course, he would like to have the opportunity to cultivate the sixth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    And if he cannot meet this requirement and cannot get the seven types of blood dripped into the Star Disk, then there is no chance to cultivate the sixth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture anymore!

 Chapter 817 - 768 Yin Divine Boat

    "The sixth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture will be cultivated eventually!"


    "If need be, I''ll just wait until my true combat power is enough to defeat those in the Sovereign Realm before fulfilling this additional requirement!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes gleamed with determination as he murmured to himself.


    That being said, Ye Chen certainly did not want the process to take too long.


    "It''s useless to think too far ahead, better to first completely master the Taiyi Chapter of the fifth section!"


    "I really want to see, after transforming the Heaven-reaching Divine Power and the Star God Power inside me into the ''Taiyi Divine Power,'' just how much my combat power will increase."


    "I really want to see, just how miraculous this Taiyi Chapter''s ''Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations'' truly is!"


    As Ye Chen contemplated, his gaze turned towards the seven dazzling stars on the fifth layer of the Starlight Tower''s void above.


    The moment Ye Chen activated the spell of the "Taiyi Chapter," those seven dazzling stars suddenly shed their magnificent light, enveloping Ye Chen''s entire mind and spirit.


    Inside the Starlight Tower, Ye Chen''s mind and spirit were shrouded in the light of the seven stars.


    Externally, the Divine Power in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea and throughout his physical body was undergoing inconceivable changes as well.


    Yet, looking at Ye Chen from the outside of the Demon Tomb, one would feel as if there were no perceivable changes in him; he just seemed to be sitting cross-legged in the void of the Demon Tomb, motionless.


    "What Cultivation Technique is this young lad, Ye Chen, practicing?"


    Inside the second Ice Coffin, General Azure Dragon Long Xiao gazed at the unmoving Ye Chen in the void, murmuring curiously.


    Even as a Seven-Star Sovereign, he could not sense even a trace of the unusual fluctuations from Ye Chen''s practice of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    ...


    One day later.


    Ye Chen''s figure suddenly shot out from the Demon Tomb.


    And as he flew out, the Demon Tomb was once again fully sealed.


    In the Void.


    Ye Chen held the two "lustrous red pearls" he obtained from the ice coffin on the left side of the Demon Tomb, murmuring to himself: "I didn''t expect these two pearls to be the key to entering the master''s burial site of the ''Divine Master Lord,'' predecessor of General Azure Dragon Long Xiao."


    "I originally thought that the white jade card Fairy Luo Yun obtained was predecessor Long Xiao''s legacy, and all the other treasures I got were used to enter the central Ice Coffin. I had no idea what these two red pearls were for, but it turns out, they are actually related to the master''s burial site!"


    "Even more unexpectedly, the master''s burial site of that Divine Master Lord is right at the core of the first Demon Tomb, the ''Land of Divine Milk''! The very existence of the ''Land of Divine Milk'' is related to that Divine Master Lord''s master''s burial site!"


    Ye Chen, having completed his cultivation of the "Taiyi Chapter," learned a lot from General Azure Dragon Long Xiao when he left the Demon Tomb.


    These revelations resolved many of Ye Chen''s doubts.


    What Ye Chen found even more inconceivable was that the numerous Demon Creatures in this first Demon Tomb had all undergone mutations, becoming bloodthirsty and explosively violent, which seemed to be related to that Divine Master Lord''s master''s burial site.


    According to General Azure Dragon Long Xiao, it was probably because their remnants could not persist for much longer, producing various side effects that caused anomalies throughout the entire first Demon Tomb.


    However, with these two red pearls in hand and having attained the identity of the ''Curser,'' Ye Chen now had the means to counteract these mutations and the ability to enter the master''s burial site of that Divine Master Lord!


    Ye Chen stowed away the two red pearls and then turned to look at the small bottle within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, which contained thousands of drops of Divine Milk.


    This expedition to the Demon Tomb had also yielded some gains.


    Fairy Luo Yun got what she wanted, and Ye Chen also obtained what he had long dreamed of.


    Not only did he successfully break through to the Divine King Realm, he also cultivated the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, and amassed so much Divine Milk.


    The only thing that made Ye Chen feel a bit dangerous and uncertain was fulfilling the wishes of that Divine Master Lord.


    Besides that, this Demon Tomb could truly be considered a treasure trove of great gains!


    Moving his gaze away from the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Ye Chen directly turned his attention to the depths of the first Demon Tomb.


    "Having been delayed for several days in this Demon Tomb, I must quickly make my way to the ''Land of Divine Milk''."


    "I''m sure that many people have already gathered there by now!"


    "They probably have no idea that beneath the ''Land of Divine Milk,'' there lies a master''s burial site of a Divine Master Lord hidden within!"


    "While inside the Demon Tomb, after cultivating the ''Taiyi Divine Power,'' it wasn''t convenient to test its Divine Might. However, during the journey, I can thoroughly test how my latest combat power fares!"


    With these thoughts in mind, Ye Chen burst forth, flying rapidly towards the depths of the first Demon Tomb.


    After Ye Chen had flown tens of thousands of miles, in the Void Heaven, a colossal Demon Beast Giant Bird with wings stretched out to thousands of feet long, its feathers black and glossy, and possessing fearsome dark talons, spotted Ye Chen flying across the sky and immediately swooped down towards him in a fierce attack.


    "Hmm? An Ancient Demonic Beast of the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level?"


    If it had been before stepping into the Divine King Realm, facing this Ancient Demonic Beast, Ye Chen might have only been able to rely on the "Xuan Divine Cone."


    With his own combat power, he wouldn''t have been able to contend at all.


    But now, not only had Ye Chen broken through to the Divine King Realm, he had also cultivated the latest fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Facing the soaring Demon Beast Giant Bird, Ye Chen now had the confidence to respond.


    Whoosh.


    In the instant that the terrifying Demon Creature attacked close to him, Ye Chen''s originally pale golden Divine Power aura suddenly changed, turning into a mysteriously intricate color interwoven with black and white.


    This was unmistakably the inherent color of the "Taiyi Divine Power"!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Ye Chen unleashed the "Taiyi Divine Power," his aura skyrocketed to a level that even startled the ancient Demon Beast Giant Bird of upper-level Earth Divine Venerable rank.


    The ancient Demon Beast Giant Bird seemed to sense something was amiss.


    The human youth before it was not a typical Divine King Realm martial artist, but a formidable figure who could pose a threat to it!


    The Demon Beast Giant Bird instantly wanted to flee.


    "So quick to pounce on me, and now you want to flee just as fast?"


    Ye Chen smiled.


    With a grand sweep of his hand through the void, the immense "Taiyi Divine Power" instantly formed a terrifying sky-supporting giant palm that grasped the thousand-zhang-long ancient Demon Beast Giant Bird in hand.


    Then, with a wave of the sky-supporting giant palm, the upper-level Earth Divine Venerable rank Demon Beast Giant Bird was flung tens of thousands of zhang away, "Bang!" it slammed into a distant mountain peak, shattering a large piece of the peak!


    The Demon Beast Giant Bird was nearly knocked unconscious by the impact!


    Following that, something even more unbelievable happened to the Demon Beast Giant Bird.


    The terrifying youth didn''t make another move against it, but upon glancing at it, his entire body suddenly burst with black and white Divine Light flickering madly.


    In an instant, the youth transformed into a thousand-zhang-long Demon Beast Giant Bird, identical to it, and flew away.


    The Demon Beast Giant Bird was filled with horror because, from its sensing, once the youth transformed into the same as itself, it could no longer detect any trace of human aura on the youth, as if the youth had really become a genuine ancient demonic beast like itself!


    This time, the Demon Beast Giant Bird was truly frightened into unconsciousness!


    Boom! Boom!


    Wings slashed across the sky, and in an instant, Ye Chen, now transformed into the astonishing Demon Beast Giant Bird, flew thousands of li away.


    Feeling the fierce wind blowing past his body and watching the mountains and rivers swiftly passing below, Ye Chen was deeply moved within his heart.


    "Marvelous."


    "The ''Taiyi Chapter''s'' Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations really are marvelous!"


    "After transforming into an ancient demonic beast, I''ve encountered ancient demonic beasts along the way, even those of Heavenly Divine Venerable rank and Immortal Divine Venerable rank, and they indeed could not sense anything wrong with me."


    "They seem to have accepted me as one of their own, not once attacking me!"


    "In this way, my journey to the core of the first Demon Tomb''s ''Land of Divine Milk'' will be much easier!"


    "This is only the first transformation I''ve experienced, in the future, the ''Taiyi Chapter''s'' miraculous Divine Skill of Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations will likely be continuously useful!"


    Aooo! Aooo!


    Thrilled, Ye Chen howled skyward, as if he was an ancient demonic beast roaring between the heavens.


    The next moment, he soared through the sky, flying towards the deepest part of the first Demon Tomb and vanished from this stretch of the heavens.


    ...


    The deepest part of the first Demon Tomb.


    The Land of Divine Milk is in fact a gigantic island floating above a dark sea.


    To acquire the Divine Milk, one must land on that gigantic island.


    However, the oddity is that to reach the island, one absolutely cannot travel there through void flight.


    Above the Land of Divine Milk''s gigantic island, as well as above the dark sea, lies a terribly powerful Prohibition that even Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable cannot fly across.


    Those at the Immortal Divine Venerable level cannot enter the first Demon Tomb, but even if they could, they would still be unable to fly in the Land of Divine Milk.


    And, attempting to swim through the sea waters to reach the island of the Land of Divine Milk is equally impossible!


    The sea waters too are under a terribly powerful Prohibition!


    There''s only one way to enter the island of the Land of Divine Milk, and that is to board a type of small boat that keeps drifting out of the island, giving one hope of reaching it.


    This type of boat is called the "Yin Divine Boat" by countless martial artists aspiring to reach the "Land of Divine Milk."


    It''s called the "Yin Divine Boat" because the entire boat is shrouded in black mist, making it impossible to discern the true appearance of the boat.


    And each boat can only carry one person.


    Once aboard the boat, there''s a chance to reach the island of the Land of Divine Milk, and a chance to obtain the mysterious Treasure hidden on the "Yin Divine Boat." However, there''s also a high likelihood of being carried by the boat straight into the depths of the dark sea, never to return.


    Clearly, stepping onto this small boat means either gaining the chance of the Land of Divine Milk or dying directly on the dark sea.


    Therefore, the boat, like a Netherworld Envoy, came to be known as the "Yin Divine Boat."


    Even with the "Yin Divine Boat''s" mysterious and ominous reputation, as the only means to the island of the "Land of Divine Milk," countless martial artists are still willing to risk their lives to board it.


    And the "Yin Divine Boat" only docks at two locations along the edge of the dark sea.


    These two places are usually dominated by major powers who enter the first Demon Tomb!

 Chapter 818 - 769: Stunned

    Sky Crow Ferry is one of the two places where the Yin Divine Boat stops along the edge of the black ocean.


    This place is currently occupied by the Vajra Sect and Black Demon Sect, two of the four major sects of the Western Territory.


    To pass through this area and set foot on the island of the Land of Divine Milk using the Yin Divine Boat, one must obtain the consent of both the Vajra Sect and the Black Demon Sect.


    At this moment, many Divine Kings and Earth Divine Venerables from the Vajra Sect and the Black Demon Sect are patrolling the Sky Crow Ferry.


    The two Heavenly Divine Venerables in charge of guarding this place, Qi Mo Honor of the Vajra Sect and Lan Yue Honor of the Black Demon Sect, are sitting cross-legged on two large boulders by the ferry, looking towards the black ocean ahead.


    Qi Mo Honor sighed deeply, his face also showing disappointment: "I never anticipated that an incident would occur during this expedition to the first Demon Tomb, causing many from our ''Vajra Sect'' to die on their way to the ''Land of Divine Milk''."


    "It was not easy for me to get here, being the first to find a ''Yin Divine Boat''. Although I successfully boarded the island of the ''Land of Divine Milk'', I didn''t even manage to obtain a single drop of Divine Milk. I almost got annihilated by a mechanism on the island; if it wasn''t for my quick decision to retreat from the exploration, I might have perished there!"


    How could Qi Mo Honor not be disappointed?


    He is one of the four Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Vajra Sect who came here this time.


    And his cultivation and combat power rank second among the four Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Yet, after finally reaching the first Demon Tomb, he didn''t manage to obtain even the most precious "Divine Milk".


    Once the attempt to obtain "Divine Milk" on the island fails, one loses any chance of returning to the island during this exploration of the Demon Tomb.


    In other words, he has completely lost his chance to compete for the "Divine Milk" this time.


    That''s why he is now responsible for helping the Vajra Sect guard this ferry.


    This certainly leaves him somewhat disheartened and listless in his speech.


    Contrastingly, another Heavenly Divine Venerable at this location, Lan Yue Honor from the Black Demon Sect, is all smiles.


    Lan Yue Honor, a Female Divine Venerable.


    She is currently grinning at Qi Mo Honor and said: "Fellow Qi Mo, the ''Divine Milk'' of the ''Land of Divine Milk'', is something that can be encountered but not sought. Otherwise, if everyone got Divine Milk every time, I''m afraid the Divine Milk here would have long been exhausted."


    Hearing Lan Yue Honor''s words, Qi Mo Honor felt even more indignant inside: "Fellow Lan Yue, you yourself obtained ''five drops of Divine Milk''. Your words obviously come easy, but I didn''t manage to obtain even a single drop!"


    At this point, Qi Mo Honor''s expression shifted, and he directly looked at Lan Yue Honor: "Fellow Lan Yue, since you obtained ''five drops of Divine Milk'' this time, could you perhaps share one or two drops with me? I could exchange a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact for it!"


    "Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact?" Lan Yue Honor did not hesitate at all to refuse, "Fellow Qi Mo, you are well aware, how rare the ''Yin Spirit Ganoderma'' required to enter the first Demon Tomb is, and the chance to then successfully obtain ''Divine Milk'' is even smaller."


    "Besides, with so many Heavenly Divine Venerables and even Immortal Divine Venerables from our four major sects of the Western Territory wanting to enter the first Demon Tomb."


    "The chance for me to go to the first Demon Tomb again, after obtaining five drops of Divine Milk this time, is unknown!"


    "Moreover, out of the five drops of Divine Milk I obtained, I have to give two drops to an Immortal Divine Venerable. I''m only left with three drops. These three, I certainly won''t exchange!"


    "I myself do not have enough for cultivation!"


    By the end of the conversation, Lan Yue Honor also smiled: "Fellow Qi Mo, there are other companions who have landed on the ''Land of Divine Milk'' island. If you want to exchange, wait for them to return and then ask them!"


    Although Qi Mo Honor knew that Lan Yue Honor wouldn''t easily agree to the trade, hearing her unequivocal refusal in person left him significantly disheartened.


    As for exchanging with others?


    Qi Mo Honor also knew, that something as precious as Divine Milk, likely no one would be willing to trade with him!


    Lan Yue Honor, however, didn''t care about Qi Mo Honor''s thoughts at this moment.


    She had obtained five drops of Divine Milk, achieving her goal this time!


    Even though she verbally claimed she didn''t have enough for herself, the joy in her heart was evident from her barely containable excitement.


    Right when these two Divine Venerables guarding the Sky Crow Ferry were in different moods.


    Both of them suddenly sensed a strange fluctuation coming from the Void Heaven above.


    In an instant, both of them looked up towards the Void Heaven.


    Upon seeing, both portrayed disbelief on their faces.


    Both directly saw a figure coming from the high reaches of the Void Heaven, flying towards the ferry directly overhead and then over the black ocean, ultimately heading towards the island of the Land of Divine Milk!


    Stunned.


    Qi Mo Honor and Lan Yue Honor were simply stunned and sprang to their feet!


    To know, because the space above this black ocean leading to the "Land of Divine Milk" island is strictly non-navigable, and even the ocean itself is laden with extremely severe prohibitions, both had been guarding this ferry!


    They had only heard that even the most powerful Heavenly Divine Venerable entering the first Demon Tomb couldn''t fly towards the island of the Divine Milk and had to rely on the "Yin Divine Boat" to reach the island.


    They had never seen anyone directly flying towards the black ocean and towards the island of Divine Milk!


    Now, seeing someone directly flying from the extremely high reaches of the Void Heaven into the black ocean above, and without any hindrance heading towards the island of the Divine Milk, naturally shocked them beyond belief, rendering their minds and spirits completely stunned!


    "My god."


    "Am I seeing things? Someone is flying? Heading towards the Land of Divine Milk?!"


    Not only the two Heavenly Divine Venerables were shocked, even the many Divine Kings and Earth Divine Venerables patrolling this ferry point were astounded looking up at the sky.


    Though the flying figure was enveloped in a strange red glow that obscured their appearance,


    under the watchful eyes of the crowd, there was no mistaking it.


    It was indeed a Martial Artist flying!


    "Could it be that the flight prohibition here has been disabled?"


    In disbelief, someone else took to the skies, charging towards the expanse above the black sea.


    With this flight, just as they touched the void above the black sea, the person felt as though struck by a heavy hammer, "boom," they were smashed down to the ground, creating a massive crater and spewing a mouthful of blood!


    They were lucky to have been smashed towards this side of the land.


    If they had been smashed towards the sea, they would likely have already died within the sea''s prohibitions!


    "The flight prohibition has not been disabled!"


    "Flying is still not allowed!"


    Seeing the tragic state of the person who attempted flying, the faces of the others drastically changed.


    The flight prohibition was still in effect, but the silhouette above Void Heaven was flying safely and gradually reached the airspace above the island of the Land of Divine Milk, seemingly about to successfully land on the island.


    This contrast, naturally, left the crowd at the ferry point, including the Martial Artists, shockingly astounded!


    "Could it be, a Sovereign of great powers has come to the ''Land of Divine Milk'', unafraid of the flying prohibition?"


    "However, that''s impossible. In the first Demon Tomb, those of the Sovereign Realm aren''t able to enter, not to mention those of the Immortal Divine Venerable level."


    "Who exactly is that flying figure?!"


    Seeing that his subordinate failed the flying attempt while that silhouette was still unharmed flying so far in the void, the Qi Mo Honor from the Vajra Sect exclaimed.


    At this moment, standing beside him, Lan Yue Honor also wore a shocked expression: "I don''t know, really don''t know who it is."


    "Heavens, to be able to fly here in the void, this is simply unheard of in the many years of exploring the Land of Divine Milk!"


    Two great Heavenly Divine Venerables, along with all other Divine Kings and Earth Divine Venerables patrolling the Sky Crow Ferry, all watched the figure flying above Polar Heaven.


    Even with two "Yin Divine Boats" docking at the ferry point, they were completely disregarded.


    Above Void Heaven.


    Feeling the howling hurricane coming from the black sea, Ye Chen''s eyes sparkled with light.


    He had finally arrived at this "Land of Divine Milk," and was about to enter the main burial ground of that Divine Master Lord!


    The figure flying above Void Heaven that astounded the two patrolling Heavenly Divine Venerables and countless Martial Artists, was naturally Ye Chen, who had left the Demon Tomb and rushed towards the Land of Divine Milk!


    Others could not fly here.


    But Ye Chen, having gained the identity of a Curser, was qualified even to enter the main burial ground hidden beneath the "Land of Divine Milk," let alone fly in this place.


    Others do not know the reason for the flight prohibition here.


    After obtaining the identity of a Curser, Ye Chen understood this place extremely well!


    This place, not to mention the "Land of Divine Milk," even the Divine Milk contained within was left by that Divine Master!


    It was precisely for this reason that he had formidable methods to prevent others from flying randomly in this place, forcing them to enter the Land of Divine Milk only by "Yin Divine Boat."


    It was also for this reason that the first Demon Tomb could only be accessed through Yin Spirit Ganoderma, and even Immortal Divine Venerables and Sovereigns could not freely enter!


    Because that Divine Master wanted to choose someone below the Immortal Divine Venerable Realm to fulfill his wish!


    "I don''t know if Fairy Luo Yun and the others have reached the Land of Divine Milk, or if they have obtained any Divine Milk."


    In the midst of Void Heaven, in a moment, Ye Chen had crossed the region above the black sea and flew above the island of the Land of Divine Milk.


    This time, however, he was not very interested in obtaining Divine Milk from the island of the Land of Divine Milk.


    While others were struggling for ten drops of Divine Milk, Ye Chen already had thousands of drops in his hands!


    Moreover, once he fulfills the wish of that Divine Master Lord, not only will he have thousands of drops, but he would also gain the method to refine Divine Milk.


    Ye Chen was naturally no longer interested in the Land of Divine Milk, which could only yield at most ten drops.


    He came here partly to see if the people from the Sky Fox Sect, who accompanied him to the first Demon Tomb, had obtained any Divine Milk, and also to enter the main burial ground to meet the remnant soul of that Divine Master Lord!


    In contemplation, Ye Chen descended onto the island of the Land of Divine Milk.

 Chapter 819 - 770: The Main Cemetery

    Upon landing, Ye Chen immediately stowed away the two rosy beads he had obtained from the ice coffin in the Demon Tomb.


    It was with these two rosy beads that he could fly through the air within the boundaries of the Land of Divine Milk!


    "Originally, General Azure Dragon Long Xiao intended to teleport me directly to the main tomb, to meet the residual soul of the Divine Master Lord."


    "However, I chose to make my own way in order to test the combat power of the ''Taiyi Chapter'' and the ''Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations'' techniques."


    "Fortunately, I didn''t experience any delay on the way here."


    After muttering to himself, Ye Chen smiled: "Let''s see how many people are still striving for the Divine Milk on this island, and whether Fairy Luo Yun and the others are here..."


    While speaking, Ye Chen performed a hand spell, and his body burst into black and white divine light, transforming into a lively little sparrow, flying towards the interior of the island.


    At the same time, the rosy beads that Ye Chen had put away began to emit strands of blood-red aura, enveloping and protecting the little sparrow that Ye Chen had become.


    After becoming a Divine King, Ye Chen''s flying speed was already extremely fast.


    As a sparrow, his flying speed increased inexplicably.


    In a moment, he had scouted an island of several hundred thousand miles in radius.


    "That place is probably the first checkpoint one must face when venturing through the ''Land of Divine Milk Island''¡ª''Falling Leaf Valley''."


    As the sparrow, Ye Chen directly saw in a vast canyon ahead, large falling leaves, each a hundred feet big, constantly fluttering from the sky to the ground, then from the ground back up to the sky.


    Among the falling leaves, there were dozens of figures trapped.


    And whenever these fluttering leaves got close to those figures, the leaves would burst out with combat power and launch attacks on the approaching figures!


    Even more marvellous was the fact that these leaves seemed to be able to morph into varying strengths of combat power based on the realm of the martial artists within.


    Ye Chen saw many people trapped in the deadly trap of "Falling Leaf Valley", bloodied all over. Ye Chen also noticed that a few of them were successfully advancing through Falling Leaf Valley, looking like they would be able to break out of the deadly situation.


    As a Curser, Ye Chen would no longer be trapped by the mechanisms and formations attached to the main tomb of the Divine Master Lord.


    With a light flap of his wings, he flew over this first checkpoint that one must pass to enter deeper into the Land of Divine Milk.


    Ye Chen''s flying speed was extraordinarily fast.


    The others who were caught in Falling Leaf Valley, busy dealing with the deadly attacks, had no time to notice Ye Chen''s movements. Even if a few did spot the silhouette of the little sparrow that Ye Chen had turned into, by the time they could react, Ye Chen had already flown out of the area!


    "I didn''t see anyone from the Sky Fox Sect here."


    Ye Chen had no intention of interfering with others trying to brave through Falling Leaf Valley.


    Before coming to the main tomb, General Azure Dragon Long Xiao had warned Ye Chen that the mechanisms of the main tomb were personally crafted by that Divine Master Lord.


    The purpose was to have people continuously attempt challenges to eventually obtain the Divine Milk, using its allure to draw countless people into the Demon Tomb, thereby allowing those with fate to enter the four sub-tombs and become candidates for the Curser selection.


    Long Xiao had told Ye Chen to make his own way there and not to interfere with others attempting the Land of Divine Milk.


    Therefore, regardless of whether the people who fell into the traps succeeded in breaking through or were caught up in the deadly situations, Ye Chen could only be an observer, watching their fate to see if they could pass the challenges.


    After flying over the first checkpoint "Falling Leaf Valley", Ye Chen flew for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, and arrived directly in the midst of a mountain peak shrouded in flames.


    Ye Chen also saw that there were many figures climbing this flame-filled mountain peak.


    Among them, there were three female disciples of the Earth Divine Venerable rank from the Sky Fox Sect!


    "Reaching the second checkpoint, many people are probably going to have a hard time getting through. The further you go, the harder the challenges become."


    "It''s even more difficult to successfully obtain the Divine Milk in the end."


    "No wonder those Heavenly Divine Venerables have exhausted their minds for just ten drops of Divine Milk. Luckily, I obtained so much Divine Milk in General Azure Dragon Long Xiao''s Demon Tomb; otherwise, after going through these levels one by one, even if I were to get ten drops of Divine Milk in the end, it would definitely deplete most of my energy."


    Ye Chen surveyed the situation of those figures attempting the second checkpoint of the Land of Divine Milk¡ª"Fire God Peak", and noticed that the three female disciples from the Sky Fox Sect seemed to be free of any great crisis.


    The sparrow he had become gave another flap of its wings and, wrapped in a red glow, flew over "Fire God Peak".


    After that, Ye Chen continued on his way.


    He also passed the third checkpoint of the Land of Divine Milk "Red-Refinement Snake Valley", the fourth checkpoint "Myriad Kill Illusion Realm"...


    FInally, at the fifth checkpoint "God Bridge of Isolation", Ye Chen saw a familiar figure¡ªFairy Luo Yun!


    At that time, Fairy Luo Yun was leading more than a dozen people from the Sky Fox Sect, attempting the "God Bridge of Isolation", heading towards the other side of the bridge.


    In addition to Fairy Luo Yun, Ye Chen also noticed that there were people from the other three Great Sects of the Western Territory and various other forces.


    The two Heavenly Divine Venerables of the Blood Sword Sect he had seen were here as well.


    However, the two Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Blood Sword Sect appeared to be exceedingly haggard at this time.


    The God Bridge of Isolation, stretching over ten thousand feet long, is the penultimate checkpoint to obtaining the final "Divine Milk".


    This Divine Bridge would continuously unleash Ancient Demonic Beasts from the abyss below, attacking the people on the bridge.


    Even for the two Heavenly Divine Venerables from Blood Sword Sect, it clearly wasn''t easy to pass this penultimate challenge.


    However...


    Fairy Luo Yun''s side seemed to be faring much better.


    On one hand, Fairy Luo Yun herself possesses exceptional combat power, far stronger than the average Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    On the other hand, Fairy Luo Yun also has at her disposal a damaged Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Treasured Sword lent to her by Ye Chen.


    With the help of the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact Treasured Sword, Fairy Luo Yun''s combat power soared even higher, so of course, she was confident in repelling those Ancient Demonic Beasts attacking her from beneath the God Bridge of Isolation!


    Not only was she challenging the bridge herself, but she also helped the other disciples of the Sky Fox Sect by her side to withstand many attacks.


    The group from the Sky Fox Sect continuously advanced towards the God Bridge of Isolation, and it seemed that surpassing this place was just a matter of time.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen, who had transformed into a little sparrow, let out a light chuckle in his heart.


    He did not greet Fairy Luo Yun and the others.


    He was currently in the "Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations" state of the "Taiyi Chapter." If he, as a little sparrow, greeted Fairy Luo Yun, he would probably startle her!


    Besides, he could not interfere with these people''s challenge.


    With a shake of his form, Ye Chen, who stayed but a moment beside Fairy Luo Yun, flew straight across the fifth checkpoint, the "God Bridge of Isolation," in his sparrow guise!


    "Hm?"


    "Why do I feel like that little sparrow that just flew past was staring at me?"


    Fairy Luo Yun, who was still challenging the God Bridge of Isolation, watched the sparrow fly past and mumbled to herself.


    A female disciple of the Earth Divine Venerable from the Sky Fox Sect also gazed at the little sparrow, her eyes filled with envy: "What a Divine Marvel that little sparrow is! We''re having such a hard time crossing this ''God Bridge of Isolation,'' and it just flew straight over!"


    "The Land of Divine Milk is indeed extraordinary; all Divine Objects within it are exceptional!"


    "..."


    The discussions of the female disciple of the Sky Fox Sect and Fairy Luo Yun''s astonishment were unbeknownst to Ye Chen.


    At this moment, he stood before the final challenge of the Land of Divine Milk ¡ª the "Gathering God Tower."


    The "Gathering God Tower" is a thirteen-story Pagoda.


    It is said that anyone who has made it through the previous challenges to arrive at this last one must enter the "Gathering God Tower" to struggle through it if they wish to obtain Divine Milk.


    Moreover, once inside the "Gathering God Tower," each person will be separated into an independent space, where they can only rely on their own strength to advance upwards.


    Only by passing through the first twelve floors can one finally enter the topmost thirteenth floor.


    There, lies the thing countless people desire ¡ª Divine Milk!


    Furthermore, the "Gathering God Tower" is incredibly mysterious and will allocate up to ten drops or less of Divine Milk based on the performance of the Martial Artists challenging it.


    This is also why countless people who enter the Demon Tomb can ultimately obtain a maximum of only ten drops of Divine Milk!


    After scrutinizing the thirteen-story Pagoda for a moment, Ye Chen stepped forward and flew into a nearby forest.


    Ye Chen wouldn''t waste time inside the "Gathering God Tower" where one can only obtain a maximum of ten drops of Divine Milk.


    If someone saw Ye Chen flying into the forest next to the Gathering God Tower, they would be greatly shocked.


    Because, in the eyes of many who strive in the Land of Divine Milk, that forest is considered an impenetrable Forbidden area!


    Inside the forest, Ye Chen returned from his sparrow form back to his own appearance.


    Then, with an outstretched palm, those two rosy crystalline beads flew out immediately.


    Next, one of the beads "boom" smashed onto the ground of the forest.


    An inconceivable scene unfolded.


    The seemingly serene forest erupted with a Divine Light Formation from the spot where the bead struck the ground the very moment it made contact.


    This Divine Light Formation was none other than the Teleportation Divine Formation leading into the main tomb of that Divine Master Lord!


    Eyeing the Divine Light Formation, Ye Chen''s gaze flickered brightly for a moment before he took a step and entered the Teleportation Formation.


    Then, the other floating rosy crystalline bead emitted rays of Divine Light, enveloping Ye Chen''s entire body.


    With a "swoosh," Ye Chen was whisked away by the Divine Light, disappearing from view!


    The next moment, when Ye Chen''s mind cleared, he found himself already inside a vast hall.


    The four walls of this hall were engraved with the same characters of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom that Ye Chen had seen outside General Azure Dragon Long Xiao''s Demon Tomb!


    As Ye Chen was observing these characters and the spacious hall, he heard a voice in his mind: "Finally, another ''Curser'' has arrived at my main tomb."


    "Hmm, such a young Martial Artist? Twenty years of bone age, in the Lower God King Realm?"


    Boom!


    As the voice penetrated Ye Chen''s mind, he saw an old man with a green robe, beard and mustache, and a pair of strange wings on his back, appear amid a burst of Divine Light in the air above the hall.


    After sizing up Ye Chen, the old man spoke again: "Young fellow, did you come here from that vice tomb of Long Xiao''s?"


    "First, let me introduce myself ¡ª I am the lingering spirit of ''Huyan Zhuo,'' the master of that Long Xiao. You may call me ''Huyan Divine Master!''"

 Chapter 820 - 771: General Yinsha

    Huyan Divine Master!


    A being surpassing the Sovereigns!


    Ye Chen gazed upwards into the void, looking at the bearded elder in a green robe bathed in Divine Light.


    Even though he knew that the person before him was now just a remnant soul and that this remnant soul had grown exceedingly weak over the countless years, Ye Chen could still feel that, despite its weakness, the presence of this Divine Master Lord was something he had never seen in any other powerful beings of the Sovereign Realm.


    The divine eyes of this bearded elder seemed as if they could pierce through everything, and the Divine Light emanating from his body seemed not to belong to this universe but rather as if it came from the mysterious and immense Cosmic Sea!


    This was the fifth existence Ye Chen had heard of that surpassed the Sovereigns, and the first he had seen with his own eyes!


    In the past, whether it was Zi Ji Star Lord, the former Northern Territory King, or Lord Emperor Yan, or Sovereign Lei Fa who mentioned "Sovereign Yinling," Ye Chen only knew of their titles and had never seen them in person.


    But now, the Divine Master before him, he was directly seeing his remnant soul!


    Ye Chen respectfully clasped his fist and bowed to the Huyan Divine Master, saying: "Junior Ye Chen, pays his respects to Huyan Divine Master Lord!"


    "Ye Chen?" Huyan Divine Master said with a light smile, "Although I am but a remnant soul, I can feel from you that you are entirely different from the other ''Cursers'' who have come to the main tomb in the past."


    "Perhaps, you really could become the first person to pass through the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, and go to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom to help me fulfill my wish!"


    As Huyan Divine Master spoke, a bright light shone in his eyes.


    Although he did not probe Ye Chen''s Qi Sea like General Azure Dragon Long Xiao did before and get startled, just with one look, he could see what set Ye Chen apart!


    As for what secrets Ye Chen actually had, Huyan Divine Master wasn''t too interested in finding out.


    Now that his true self was dead and only a remnant soul remained, the only thing he was interested in was finding someone who could help him fulfill his wish; as for everything else, it no longer caught the attention of his remnant soul.


    "The first person to pass through the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death?"


    Ye Chen''s eyebrows twitched.


    From General Azure Dragon Long Xiao at the Demon Tomb in the previous sub-tomb, Ye Chen had already learned about the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death.


    He had passed the "Curser''s Test" but had only gone through the first gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death.


    And this main tomb was where the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death was located!


    As for the third gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, that was going to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" to help the Divine Master Lord fulfill his wish.


    When this Divine Master Lord said Ye Chen might become the first to pass through the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, it was clear that all the "Cursers" who had passed the first gate and come to the main tomb before had eventually failed at the second gate.


    This certainly made Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit grow alert.


    Clearly, this second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death was not going to be easy to deal with!


    "Divine Master Lord Huyan!" Ye Chen asked the Divine Master, "I wonder how many ''Cursers'' have come here before, and more so, how should I go about with the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death?"


    Huyan Divine Master sighed: "Ever since I emerged severely wounded from the Ancient Demon Abyss and came to this first Demon Tomb, sealed this place, and made entrance accessible only by Yin Spirit Ganoderma, it has been more than twenty thousand years."


    "During this time, including you, from the four sub-tombs that have passed the first gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death and come to this main tomb, there have been a total of three hundred and twenty-five ''Cursers''."


    "Regretfully, the previous three hundred and twenty-four all perished at the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s mind shook, and his expression became extremely solemn.


    From General Azure Dragon Long Xiao, he had learned that once he set foot on the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, if he did not complete these three trials, there would be no chance of life, only a path to death.


    However, Ye Chen had not expected that there would have already been three hundred and twenty-four people who came to the main tomb and all of them died in the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death!


    This could be said to be a complete annihilation!


    Even with confidence in his own combat power, Ye Chen''s heart couldn''t help but hang in suspense.


    After all, he had no idea what the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death would test.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s solemn expression, Huyan Divine Master continued to speak: "I didn''t expect that the trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death I left behind after being gravely injured would be so difficult for the martial artists from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation."


    "But, it has to be this difficult!"


    "Because only those who successfully pass the trials of the first two gates of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death will have the ability to fulfill my wish and step into the final gate. Failing the earlier two gates would render it useless even if one went to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''!"


    Without waiting for Ye Chen to ask, Huyan Divine Master explained: "Because I come from the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', to help me fulfill my wish, one must go to a realm within the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''¡ªthe ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' occupied by the ''Extreme Spirit Clan''."


    "Moreover, as a non-member of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'', to go to the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'', one must pass the selection trial of the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land''. The setup of the second gate of the main tomb''s Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death is to test whether the ''Cursers'' have the capability to pass the selection trial of the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land''!"


    "So, to help me fulfill my wish, one must pass the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death! One must be confident in passing the selection trial of the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' to ensure future entry into the ''Extreme Spirit Sea''!"


    Huyan Divine Master''s explanation stirred Ye Chen''s mind and spirit.


    The "Extreme Spirit Sea" occupied by the "Extreme Spirit Clan"?


    Isn''t this "Extreme Spirit Clan" precisely one of the five strongest clans of living beings from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom that he had seen earlier on the fifth level of the Starlight Tower, on the ''Heavenly Spirit Rankings''?


    This "Extreme Spirit Clan" also ranks fourth among the five strongest clans of living beings in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    It also occupies the fifty-seventh position among the top ten thousand strongest clans of living beings in the entire universe listed on the ''Heavenly Spirit Rankings''!


    When Ye Chen had seen the top five strongest clans of living beings of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom on the ''Heavenly Spirit Rankings''¡ªthe Blood Wing Clan, the Nine Flames Clan, the Wind God Clan, the Extreme Spirit Clan, and the Ten Thousand Blades Clan¡ªhe wondered if this Divine Master could be from one of these five clans.


    Now it seems that he definitely has a significant connection with the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Even if not from the Extreme Spirit Clan, he must be intricately related to the Extreme Spirit Clan!


    "Divine Master Lord Huyan, are you a member of this ''Extreme Spirit Clan''?" Ye Chen asked Huyan Divine Master.


    Huyan Divine Master nodded: "Indeed, I am a member of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan.'' The Extreme Spirit Clan is a vast group with many branches."


    "To be precise, I belong to the ''Heavenly Eye Wing Branch'' of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan''."


    "Back then, I had five apprentices, and among them, my proudest apprentice ''Yinsha'' was just like me, also from the ''Extreme Spirit Clan''. She belonged to the ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'' of the Extreme Spirit Clan."


    "Among my five apprentices, four followed me out to gather herbs, and in the end, died here with me. You have also met one of those four apprentices, ''General Azure Dragon''."


    "As for ''Yinsha'', her title is ''General Yinsha.'' She was the only one among my five apprentices who did not follow me to the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation. She had matters to attend to and had to return to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' and after we parted ways, I never imagined that it would be a separation for eternity..."


    "Ye Chen, my wish is for you to find ''Yinsha'' and deliver some items to her. Only she, my most talented and proudest apprentice, has the capability to complete many of the subsequent tasks for me!"


    "And Ye Chen, your second trial at the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death is also related to ''Yinsha''!"

 Chapter 821 - 772: Battle on the Dead Star

    "General Yinsha."


    "My second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death has something to do with her?"


    Ye Chen was startled.


    Since Huyan Divine Master said that General Yinsha was the most powerful among his five disciples, it must mean that she is even more formidable than General Azure Dragon Long Xiao.


    If Long Xiao had already reached the Seven Stars Sovereign Realm, does that not mean that General Yinsha could very likely be at the Eight Stars Sovereign Realm or even the Nine Stars Sovereign Realm?


    What kind of trial would it be, related to such a character in the second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death?


    Ye Chen looked curiously at Huyan Divine Master.


    He heard Huyan Divine Master continue to say, "Back then, Yinsha was unruly, using a treasure known as Sun Spirit Ganoderma, which I used for concocting medicines, to create Combat Dolls corresponding to her various realms."


    "The second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death will be to battle with a Combat Doll of Yinsha at your corresponding realm."


    "You are at the Lower God King Realm, and therefore you must battle with Yinsha''s Combat Doll of the Lower God King Realm."


    "Yinsha is a genius that my Extreme Spirit Clan has only seen emerge once over countless eras. Even though the Combat Doll cannot display her entire combat power, if you can defeat the Combat Doll she left behind, when you go to the True Spirit Continent in the future, you will certainly have the capability to go through the Extreme Spirit Martial Land''s selection and meet her in person!"


    With that said, Huyan Divine Master turned to look at Ye Chen.


    "Back then, all three hundred twenty-four Cursers were defeated by the various realm Combat Dolls left by Yinsha."


    "The Combat Doll has been placed by me in a specially created void, and to truly test the strength of Cursers, I have set it up with a life-and-death battle method. So, if you are defeated by Yinsha''s Combat Doll, your death is certain."


    "Ye Chen, when Yinsha created these Combat Dolls, she was already at the Nine Stars Sovereign Realm. The Combat Doll she crafted at the Nine Stars Sovereign Realm is, of course, extremely responsive. You must be careful when you battle the Combat Doll later and treat it as though you are fighting with a real Martial Artist!"


    Hearing Huyan Divine Master''s reminder, Ye Chen had a solemn expression on his face and said, "Yes, Divine Master Lord Huyan!"


    Ye Chen, of course, needs to be exceedingly cautious!


    Although he didn''t know what kind of treasure the Sun Spirit Ganoderma that was used to craft the Combat Doll was, just hearing the name suggested a profound connection to the Yin Spirit Ganoderma he encountered in the first Demon Tomb.


    In addition, this item was crafted by a Nine Stars Sovereign of the powerful Extreme Spirit Clan from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Without question, considering how Divine Master Huyan praised Yinsha, she was probably even stronger than Sovereign Xuechen, who was also of the Nine Stars Sovereign Realm from the Supreme Divine Institute!


    Even if he was fighting against the "Lower God King Level Combat Doll" left by her, Ye Chen did not dare to be the slightest bit negligent.


    After all, this was not a Martial Artist from the Wanmu Mountain, but one from the Much stronger True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Ye Chen feared that the manner of the battle would be something he had never experienced before!


    "Divine Master Lord Huyan, where should I battle with General Yinsha''s Combat Doll?" Ye Chen inquired of Divine Master Huyan.


    Divine Master Huyan looked at Ye Chen: "Are you ready to fight now?"


    Ye Chen nodded his head.


    Since the second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death is unavoidable, there is no need to shrink away anymore.


    While he approached it with solemnity, there was no reason for further delay.


    Now was the time when Ye Chen had just entered the Lower God King Realm and had cultivated to the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture. His various techniques and his battle spirit were at their peak.


    To tackle the second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death now was the best timing!


    "Divine Master Lord Huyan, I have already arrived at this divine mausoleum. I presume you wouldn''t allow me extra time for further cultivation. Since that''s the case, let''s start the second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death now!"


    "It''s either death or survival. I also hope I can emerge alive sooner rather than later!"


    Ye Chen earnestly said.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Huyan Divine Master nodded with a smile: "Of course, even if I allowed you to rest, at most I could give you a couple of hours."


    "Since you''re ready now, let''s begin. Enter the battle space and fight with Yinsha''s Combat Doll!"


    As he spoke, Huyan Divine Master''s residual soul pointed towards the dome of the great hall.


    Boom!


    Divine lights burst forth above the dome, and a peculiar spatial fluctuation started to appear above the dome.


    "Ye Chen, step into the special space within the dome!"


    "There lies one of the Dead Star regions I fashioned in the past, originally meant for my disciples'' cultivation. Now, it can be utilized for you to undergo the second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death."


    "Remember, once you set foot in the Dead Star region, only by killing Yinsha''s Combat Doll can you escape from within."


    "I am now merely a remnant soul and cannot interfere with the battles inside, and even less can I rescue you. Thus, everything depends on you!"


    "Now, enter and fight!"


    Amidst the resounding voice of Divine Master Huyan, Ye Chen nodded.


    "Could this be a technique only possessed by a being that transcends the Sovereign ¡ª the great Divine Master?!"


    With his Mind and Spirit trembling, Ye Chen took a step and entered the strange space within the dome.


    With a "swoosh," as soon as he stepped into the space, he vanished from the dome.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen disappear, Huyan Divine Master''s Divine Eyes also gazed at the dome, his look filled with worry and hope.


    ...


    "Is this, could this be the land of the Dead Star?!"


    The moment before, Ye Chen had just disappeared from the special space of the dome in the main tomb, and in the next instant, he found himself standing upon a vast and grey Star Continent.


    This Star Continent was immensely vast, and equally dilapidated, completely lifeless and silent.


    What was even more terrifying was that this Star Continent seemed to float among the stars, and from afar, Ye Chen could see countless stars twinkling in the distant sky.


    If it wasn''t for Huyan Divine Master''s explanation that this was a specially forged space, Ye Chen might have believed he had truly arrived atop a Dead Star in the universe!


    Miraculous.


    The methods of a Divine Master are indeed full of miracles!


    As Ye Chen was observing this Dead Star, with a "boom," he saw a white figure shooting towards him from the far distance at an explosive speed.


    In the blink of an eye, the white figure stopped in the void thousands of zhang away from him.


    Ye Chen looked towards the white figure and saw it was an extraordinarily beautiful woman with an extremely delicate face.


    A faint silver watermark adorned her forehead, and behind her back were a pair of silver wings, giving her the appearance of a Moon Palace fairy.


    Her aura revealed that of a Lower God King.


    Seeing her bright eyes move, full of agility, Ye Chen realized that this incredible woman must be the Combat Doll forged by General Yinsha, as mentioned by Huyan Divine Master.


    "General Yinsha looks like this?"


    "Fair skin, a delicate face, eyes as bright and sparkling as pearls, and also wearing a pair of silver wings¡ªindeed, she is a breathtaking woman!"


    "It remains to be seen what kind of techniques this Combat Doll has."


    As Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit flickered, the white-clad Combat Doll''s eyes flashed with Spiritual Light as she turned her gaze to Ye Chen, and with her red lips slightly parting, she slowly said, "I''m about to make a move now, this battle is a fight to the death, the combatants, you either die or I die!"


    Boom!


    As she spoke, the white-clad Combat Doll pinched her fair fingers, and her whole figure burst upwards thousands of zhang high; meanwhile, as her silver wings behind her fluttered slowly, a long blade larger than her own body appeared in front of her.


    The next moment, the white-clad Combat Doll grabbed the long blade and with a "swoosh," the blade slashed down, covering tens of thousands of zhang around Ye Chen with a barrage of blade shadows!


    Such terrifying blade light!


    Ye Chen instantly felt that the killing force of this swordsmanship was no less than that of the supreme Heaven-reaching Divine Art "Bloodlight Blade Technique" he had practiced.


    Luckily, Ye Chen was already on guard for every move of the white-clad Combat Doll.


    In the very instant she made her move, his figure flashed out of the tens of thousands zhang radius zone he was previously standing in, flying into the void.


    Otherwise, he would have likely fallen into the dense web of blade shadows in an instant!


    Even though Ye Chen avoided the strike, he was still immensely shaken.


    Because the countless blade lights wielded by the white-clad Combat Doll had completely shredded the tens of thousands zhang radius zone where he had previously stood into smithereens.


    Terrifying.


    It was indeed fearsome!


    Seeing the power of her swordsmanship was beyond his expectations.


    However, the Dead Star was indeed an ideal place for battle, and since this area had been refined by Huyan Divine Master, it was especially unique.


    The large area of the domain that had been shredded into pieces by the white-clad Combat Doll''s blade lights miraculously restored to its original state within a few breaths, as if nothing had ever happened.


    At this moment, the white-clad Combat Doll, holding a long blade even larger than herself, vanished from the void; the next moment, she swung out countless blade lights, attacking towards the new area of the void where Ye Chen stood.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not just passively take hits.


    Swoosh.


    Ye Chen''s "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" in the Sword Palace Acupoint of his brow instantly flew out.


    Following that, the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" suddenly grew larger, one became two, two became four, four became eight, eight became countless...


    In an instant, the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" turned into a sky full of flying swords, and then, as the light from the flying swords quivered, they charged towards the blade lights of the white-clad Combat Doll to engage in combat.


    Ye Chen was not an ordinary Lower God King; his combat power was enough to suppress countless Earth Divine Venerables and even battle with Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    The white-clad Combat Doll was also not an ordinary Combat Doll; she was forged by the Nine Stars Sovereign Yinsha General, possessing numerous techniques from when Yinsha General was a Lower God King, she too was extraordinary and boasted combat power across realms!


    In the fight with Ye Chen, she was not the slightest bit inferior, even subtly gaining a bit of an advantage.


    Their battle on the Dead Star led to hundreds of exchanges within moments, and the area of their fight had moved tens of thousands of li in an instant.


    As the battle raged on, a domain of tens of thousands of li on the Dead Star was torn apart continually, and yet it kept being restored.

 Chapter 822 - 773 Devour! Annihilate!

    The more Ye Chen fought, the more alarmed he became.


    He never imagined that the White-Clothed Battle Doll refined by General Yinsha could be so strong!


    This White-Clothed Battle Doll hasn''t even reached the full combat power of General Yinsha''s true self when he was a Lower God King, could it be that he was even stronger when he was a Lower God King?


    No wonder she, was able to cultivate to the Nine-Star Sovereign.


    No wonder she, was the most valued by Huyan Divine Master, the mightiest among his five disciples!


    No wonder she, could be known as the "once in an aeon supreme talent" of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom!


    Seeing her like this, her true self must have been able to slay a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable during her Lower God King phase!


    As Ye Chen was astounded, in the main burial ground, Huyan Divine Master''s remnant soul seemed to perceive the battle between Ye Chen and the White-Clothed Battle Doll.


    At that moment, a worried expression appeared in Huyan Divine Master''s remnant soul''s eyes: "The strongest Battle Doll left by Yinsha belongs to her time in the Sovereign Realm. Next to that would be her form from the God King Realm."


    "Back then, Yinsha obtained several absolutely powerful techniques in the God King Realm."


    "The swordsmanship the Battle Doll is using now is one of those powerful techniques from back then. Right now, this swordsmanship hasn''t displayed its strongest combat power, but it won''t be long before it accumulates to unleash its mightiest moves."


    "If Ye Chen keeps this up, I''m afraid he absolutely won''t be able to withstand it!"


    "Although Ye Chen is also powerful, it''s clear that his techniques are far from matching those of the powerhouses of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom! Although his Divine Arts are top-notch Heaven-reaching Divine Arts, Yinsha''s swordsmanship is a genuine Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art!"


    While Huyan Divine Master was worried, on the Dead Star, Ye Chen and the White-Clothed Battle Doll refined by General Yinsha had already fought their way to the central region of the Dead Star.


    The exchange of blows between the two had also accumulated to a thousand moves.


    At this time, Ye Chen suddenly felt that the White-Clothed Battle Doll''s entire aura changed drastically, and even the Killing Force of the longsword in her hand seemed to undergo an unbelievable transformation.


    Then, something that shocked Ye Chen happened.


    With a fierce flap of the silver wings behind the White-Clothed Battle Doll, the color of the longsword in her hand suddenly changed from white to azure blue, and she, as if becoming "bloodthirsty," repeatedly slashed with the sword, as if possessing an endless killing force!


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    With every slash, there were countless blades of killing light.


    And the White-Clothed Battle Doll''s attacks were no longer one by one; the countless blades of killing light seemed relentless, as if she had slashed countless times without stopping!


    "Ye Chen, this is no longer just a Heaven-reaching Divine Art, this is definitely a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art!"


    Xiaojiu''s voice suddenly appeared in Ye Chen''s mind.


    "This Divine Art, even though I have never seen it before, I can feel that it must accumulate a certain momentum. Once the momentum is accumulated to the extreme, it can slash endlessly. The more it slashes, the more numerous the blades become, the faster the swordsmanship!"


    "It won''t stop until it has completely slain you under the sword!"


    "Ye Chen, your Heaven-reaching Divine Art will definitely not be able to withstand it, quick, use stronger techniques!"


    While Xiaojiu transmitted her message, Ye Chen also felt the tremendous pressure from the White-Clothed Battle Doll''s endless blades of light.


    Ye Chen''s expression changed instantly, and the Divine Power within his entire body also changed abruptly.


    He directly shifted from the original Heaven-reaching Divine Power to the "Taiyi Divine Power" that he had just cultivated from the fifth section of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Then, behind Ye Chen, a pair of wings also suddenly appeared.


    With a flash of the wings, Ye Chen blasted tens of thousands of feet backwards.


    Immediately after, Ye Chen pinched a spell with his hand, and a string of somewhat worn Divine Beads flew out from his body.


    This string of Divine Beads, originally seeming to have twelve beads, was somehow missing three, creating a gap, leaving only nine Divine Beads.


    These beads, exactly, were one of the numerous broken Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact Treasures that Ye Chen obtained from the cave of Sovereign Lei Fa!


    Ye Chen''s "Xuan Divine Cone" was completely consumed when he was striving for a breakthrough to the God King Realm during the Divine Tribulation.


    He no longer had the "Xuan Divine Cone" to use.


    However, stepping into the God King Realm, especially after stepping into the fifth section of the Primordial Star Scripture, Ye Chen''s Divine Power grew much stronger.


    He was finally able to wield some of the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts he obtained previously!


    Now, faced with the White-Clothed Battle Doll''s relentless attacks, Ye Chen took out this string of Divine Bead Treasures that he had refined from those Divine Artifacts after entering the God King Realm!


    Whoosh.


    As the string of Divine Beads flew out, the string that linked the beads suddenly vanished, and the nine beads scattered and floated in the void.


    Subsequently, these nine beads instantly inflated and enlarged, and in the blink of an eye, they turned into Sky-shocking Divine Beads larger than mountains!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The nine Sky-shocking Divine Beads crashed down from the sky, aiming at both the White-Clothed Battle Doll and her incessant slashing blades of light.


    Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud! Thud!


    These nine beads, while only appearing to be nine, when they crashed down, were like a downpour of astounding beads, possessing a similarly endless sensation.


    What''s even more terrifying is that these nine beads seem to be more formidable than the White-Clothed Combat Doll''s Mystic Heavenly Level Swordsmanship, as they shockingly force the White-Clothed Combat Doll into retreat.


    The White-Clothed Combat Doll promptly stowed away her longsword, which was even bigger than her own body, and explosively withdrew hundreds of thousands of zhang away, her vivacious eyes revealing a hint of terror.


    After the White-Clothed Doll retreated, those nine beads directly smashed the area where she had previously stood, completely and thoroughly piercing through it.


    If it weren''t for the Dead Star''s strong regenerative abilities, these nine beads could have likely caused the collapse of the central region of the Dead Star itself!


    Inside the main tomb.


    Initially, the Huyan Divine Master, who was filled with concern for Ye Chen upon seeing the endless streams of sword light from the White-Clothed Combat Doll, exclaimed in shock when he witnessed Ye Chen''s Divine Power suddenly become even stronger, driving out nine beads.


    This Huyan Divine Master cried out: "My heavens, medium-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!"


    "Ye Chen, he could actually wield a medium-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact at the Lower God King Realm! The power of his Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact looks to be even more formidable than General Yinsha''s Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art ''Limitless Blade Skills'' from those years!"


    "It seems that General Yinsha''s Combat Doll will have to resort to another one of her powerful techniques!"


    Huyan Divine Master, naturally, is exceedingly familiar with his disciple General Yinsha''s methods.


    Just as his gaze grew intense, the White-Clothed Combat Doll who had explosively retreated hundreds of thousands of zhang, seemed to have sensed that the nine Divine Beads activated by Ye Chen were not something that her longsword could contend with.


    Immediately, the White-Clothed Combat Doll formed a spell with her hands and her longsword vanished directly.


    In the next moment, the silver wings behind the White-Clothed Combat Doll flapped abruptly, and she once again flew to a tremendously high point in the Void Heaven.


    Following that, when the silver wings spread open again, a silver-white gauntlet magically appeared in the hands of the White-Clothed Combat Doll.


    Afterwards, with a clasp of her hands wearing the silver-white gauntlets, the Divine Power within her surged tumultuously toward the gauntlets in her hands.


    Instantly, the pair of silver-white gauntlets began to emit strands of dazzling silver light!


    Within the silver radiance, the body of the White-Clothed Combat Doll swelled to hundreds of zhang in height.


    As her body expanded and grew larger, she became even more delicately proportioned. However, Ye Chen could no longer afford to admire the exquisitely beautiful form of General Yinsha''s Combat Doll, for he felt a sky-shattering Killing Force aura surging throughout the entirety of General Yinsha''s body.


    "It''s the Battle Body!"


    "It seems like a special Battle Body of General Yinsha is being activated by those silver-white gauntlets in her hands!"


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit flashed with this thought just as it crossed his mind.


    The towering White-Clothed Combat Doll in the void made her move.


    She plunged toward the ground, and then her left fist fiercely smashed into the earth.


    In an instant, the terrain between the White-Clothed Combat Doll and Ye Chen, as well as the hundreds of zhang around Ye Chen, was struck with the terrifying force of her fist.


    Innumerable swathes of land roiled before finally transforming into an annihilating force that crushed everything in its path, bearing down upon Ye Chen in the heart of the earth!


    One fist.


    It was as if it could shatter a whole world in a second!


    The power of this one punch was even more fearsome than the Sky-shocking Giant Mountain-sized Divine Beads driven by Ye Chen!


    "Could this be a technique unique to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom?!"


    Ye Chen''s face paled as he sent the nine beads he had summoned flying towards the myriad forces bearing down on him, meanwhile his figure flickered in the Void, seeking to evade the crushing onslaught.


    The White-Clothed Combat Doll, of course, would not allow Ye Chen to dodge her killing strike so easily.


    A silver streak at the brow of the White-Clothed Combat Doll flashed sharply, and a suit of silver-white battle armor materialized over her body.


    The moment her silver wings fluttered behind her, she transformed into a sky-shaking, enormous silver bird swooping down on Ye Chen.


    This silver giant bird was unlike any colossal bird Ye Chen had seen before.


    In the feathers of this silver giant bird, Ye Chen saw mysterious totems that resembled vast oceans.


    "Extreme Spirit Clan, the Silver-eyed Wing branch!"


    "This must be General Yinsha''s true form; she''s no longer Transforming and has reverted to her original appearance!"


    "Surely, this is her strongest combat state!"


    Resembling both marine and aerial creatures, and clad in silver-white battle armor, the silver giant bird charged at breakneck speed towards Ye Chen in the skies.


    The earth-shattering punch from before had scattered all the large Divine Beads that Ye Chen had been fending with.


    All Killing Force was unified, converging from all directions towards the central Ye Chen, closing in for the kill.


    Ye Chen had no escape and found himself in a true life-and-death struggle!


    Just at this moment, Ye Chen gritted his teeth as if making a final decision.


    He formed a spell with his hands, and suddenly an earth-shaking howl emanated from his Qi Sea.


    Following this, a dazzling crystal blue flame soared out from Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, morphing into a crystal blue bird the size of a palm, which flew in front of Ye Chen.


    This Crystal Blue Bird radiated a misty crystal blue light that enveloped Ye Chen, shrouding him completely in the radiant aura.

 Chapter 823 - 774: The Might of Ice and Fire!

    An unbelievable scene unfolded.


    As the Crystal Blue Bird emitted a hazy crystal blue light that completely enveloped Ye Chen, all the killing force unleashed by the White-Clothed Battle Doll converged in front of Ye Chen.


    In an instant, the killing force exploded!


    In an instant, there was an explosion!


    As the earth-shattering explosion echoed through the entire Dead Star, the aura dissipated, revealing that all this killing force had not harmed Ye Chen in the slightest!


    Even the White-Clothed Battle Doll, transformed into her true form belonging to the branch of the Extreme Spirit Clan with silver eyes, wearing silver-white armor, was blasted hundreds of thousands of feet backwards by the hazy crystal blue light in the blink of an eye as she flew towards Ye Chen!


    And Ye Chen stood unscathed in the void, without a single injury!


    This result.


    Left the White-Clothed Battle Doll completely stunned in an instant!


    It also left the remnant soul of Huyan Divine Master, who was observing this battle from the main burial site, equally stunned!


    Huyan Divine Master even seemed to think of something incredible, and was about to exclaim in disbelief.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, looking at the radiant Crystal Blue Bird that had emerged from his Qi Sea, clenched his teeth and madly infused his Taiyi Divine Power, transformed from the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, into the Crystal Blue Bird.


    In an instant, Ye Chen seemed to have greatly weakened in strength.


    But the Crystal Blue Bird, as if it had consumed a great tonic, joyfully chirped towards the sky and then spread its wings and took off.


    The direction in which the Crystal Blue Bird flew was shockingly towards the White-Clothed Battle Doll, who had been blasted hundreds of thousands of feet backwards and was now frozen in the void!


    Seeing this, the White-Clothed Battle Doll was greatly startled, and with a spread of her silver wings, she tried to escape.


    However, the Crystal Blue Bird that had devoured Ye Chen''s "Taiyi Divine Power" was multiple times faster than the White-Clothed Battle Doll!


    Almost in an instant, the Crystal Blue Bird caught up with the White-Clothed Battle Doll.


    "Buzz"!


    With a soft sound, a wisp of crystal blue flame suddenly emerged from the body of the Crystal Blue Bird.


    This wisp of crystal blue flame instantly scorched the White-Clothed Battle Doll.


    Despite the fact that the White-Clothed Battle Doll''s earth-shattering punch could shatter a world!


    Despite the fact that the White-Clothed Battle Doll had transformed into her silver-eyed winged true form!


    Despite the immense might of the White-Clothed Battle Doll!


    In the instant the crystal blue flame touched her body, her divine power was completely burnt out, and finally, she transformed into an immensely large white Lingzhi mushroom, which was also burned into nothingness by the crystal blue flame with a flash of divine light.


    The White-Clothed Battle Doll, fallen!


    In the battle on Dead Star, she was defeated.


    Seeing the White-Clothed Battle Doll fall, Ye Chen exerted his last bit of strength and pointed at the Crystal Blue Bird mid-air.


    The Crystal Blue Bird chirped joyfully, opened its mouth and swallowed the wisp of crystal blue flame that had killed the White-Clothed Battle Doll.


    Following that, it instantly shot back in front of Ye Chen, transforming back into a mass of crystal blue flame, and flew back into Ye Chen''s Qi Sea.


    From Ye Chen''s confrontation with the White-Clothed Battle Doll to the final annihilation of the White-Clothed Battle Doll, the entire battle process was incredibly dynamic!


    First, the White-Clothed Battle Doll unleashed her increasingly fierce long-sword swordsmanship with ceaseless slashing, then Ye Chen activated the nine Divine Beads from the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact Treasure.


    Then the White-Clothed Battle Doll used a silver-white boxing glove to directly shatter a large piece of the continent and launched an attack on Ye Chen, combining her transformation into her silver-eyed winged true form.


    Finally, it was completely devoured by a small cluster of crystal blue flames unleashed by Ye Chen!


    If the previous battle was within the expectations of Huyan Divine Master, the crystal blue flames that Ye Chen used to annihilate the White-Clothed Battle Doll at the end completely caught Huyan Divine Master off guard.


    "It''s an Extreme Heavenly Object! By the looks of it, it seems to be a very famous kind of flame among Extreme Heavenly Objects ¡ª the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame''!"


    "Heaven."


    Ye Chen is just a Lower God King Realm, and it''s absolutely unbelievable that he can wield a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact! At his Lower God King Realm, it''s impossible for him to wield a true Extreme Heavenly Object!"


    "Even though this cluster of flame looks like a very small part of an Extreme Heavenly Object, and it''s not fully refined into an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact, it''s definitely beyond what a Divine King Realm can wield!"


    It seems that this young man, Ye Chen, truly harbors a big secret, he must have encountered a great opportunity!"


    Only when Ye Chen had slain the White-Clothed Battle Doll did Huyan Divine Master''s cry of astonishment finally come out completely.


    Huyan Divine Master was even filled with an extremely excited expression.


    He needs a powerful "Curser" to help him fulfill his wish, to go to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s Extreme Spirit Sea to see his disciple, Yinsha.


    Now, after tens of thousands of years, and after hundreds of Cursers had failed, he finally found a Curser who succeeded in defeating the Combat Doll.


    He could finally send this Curser to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom with his wish!


    Huyan Divine Master was shaken and excited.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen felt completely drained, and somewhat still in shock.


    The crystal blue flames he had used to kill the White-Clothed Battle Doll were exactly what Huyan Divine Master had predicted ¡ª the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    It was the Extreme Heavenly Object flame that he and Long Li had acquired in the Nine Suns Ancient Land!


    Originally, Ye Chen could not control the Blue Extreme Iceflame and the Heavenly Union Flame that he had acquired alongside it.


    However, what thrilled Ye Chen was that after stepping into the God King Realm, especially after entering the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the "Taiyi Chapter," and cultivating the Taiyi Divine Power, Ye Chen could finally control a very small portion of the Blue Extreme Iceflame and the Heavenly Union Flame.


    During this period, as Ye Chen was traveling, he was nurturing the part of the Blue Extreme Iceflame he could control with the Heavenly Union Flame.


    Originally, Ye Chen had no plans to use the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    Because, even though he could control this very small part of the Blue Extreme Iceflame with the help of Taiyi Divine Power, Ye Chen also tried it and found out that controlling it once almost exhausted all his Taiyi Divine Power.


    This kind of exhaustion took a long time for the Taiyi Divine Power to recover, and if he couldn''t kill with one strike, it would definitely pose a real danger to him.


    The state of being drained is very prone to being killed!


    However, facing the combat power of the White-Clothed Battle Doll crafted by General Yinsha, which was far beyond his expectations, Ye Chen had no choice but to use the Blue Extreme Iceflame for a life-threatening strike.


    Because, although he still had several moves he hadn''t used, none of those moves had the killing force of the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    Facing the imminent deadly situation, Ye Chen no longer had the margin to experiment further, he could only use his strongest method to compete with the White-Clothed Battle Doll!


    Luckily.


    His competition was successful in killing the White-Clothed Battle Doll, successfully passing the second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death!


    Above Dead Star.


    In the void.


    Ye Chen, with thoughts flashing through his Mind and Spirit, pinched a spell in his hand, and began to recover his "Taiyi Divine Power" inside his body.


    Once he recovered a small part that could allow him to act, Ye Chen spoke into the void, "Divine Master Lord Huyan, I have now passed the second trial of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, can I leave the space of Dead Star now?"

 Chapter 824 - 775: Gourd Sword

    Ye Chen knew that even if he was on Dead Star, speaking like this, Huyan Divine Master Lord could hear him.


    As expected.


    After Ye Chen finished speaking, the voice of Huyan Divine Master also rang in Ye Chen''s ears: "Ye Chen, you have already killed the Combat Doll. Just head to the Northern Polar Land of Dead Star, and you will directly see the Light Formation for transmission and departure!"


    Northern Polar Land?


    Ye Chen nodded slightly and instantly vanished from where he stood.


    Half a tea time later, in the Northern Polar Land of Dead Star, a light shadow flickered, and Ye Chen was directly transmitted out of the Dead Star space.


    When Ye Chen returned to the main burial ground, he immediately saw Huyan Divine Master, who was full of tremors and excitement!


    "Ye Chen, you have completed the second challenge of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death and become the first person who can go to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' to help me fulfill my wish!"


    Even as the remnant soul of a powerful Divine Master, Huyan Divine Master at this moment couldn''t help but be immensely excited.


    He still had many unfinished matters, which could only be completed with the help of his beloved disciple, "Yinsha."


    And to notify Yinsha of his death, he could only rely on the young man before him to deliver the message!


    Ye Chen, on the other hand, was not too surprised.


    The recent battle with the White-Clothed Battle Doll still left him somewhat with lingering fears.


    This battle also made Ye Chen realize that there were countless powerful Martial Artists in the world.


    Just the Combat Doll left by General Yinsha was almost enough to kill him; one could imagine just how much more dangerous it could be if he went to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," where he might face even more perilous situations than this battle.


    If it wasn''t for the fact that he was caught up in the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death and had to complete this task, Ye Chen would not even want to go to that "True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    Ye Chen''s expression, seen by Huyan Divine Master, also sobered up some of Huyan Divine Master''s excitement.


    Huyan Divine Master knew that the young man before him had been somewhat coerced by the "Curse Array" he had left behind.


    Huyan Divine Master sighed and looked at Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, I am also aware, although you have completed the first two gates of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, the third gate, heading to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' is extremely dangerous for you."


    "Had it not been for my severe injuries due to counter-effects from testing medicines, preventing my return to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, I would not have set up the ''Curser'' selection, dragging you into this crisis."


    "Of course, even though you have been thrown into danger, I will not let you take the risk in vain!"


    Upon saying this, Huyan Divine Master''s demeanor became very earnest.


    "Although I am only left with a wisp of a remnant soul with no Combat Power, I still have my vision."


    "Ye Chen, I watched your battle with the Combat Doll left by Yinsha. Your Combat Power and skills are indeed astonishing. Especially at the end, you being able to wield the Extreme Heavenly Object ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' deeply shocked me!"


    Ye Chen was not surprised that this Divine Master Lord recognized "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    After all, this is a Divine Master more formidable than a Sovereign!


    Ye Chen continued to listen to Huyan Divine Master speak, knowing that Huyan Divine Master mentioning his battle must have some important words to convey.


    At this time, Huyan Divine Master also continued to say: "Of course, I have also realized that it was not easy for you to wield the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame,'' only able to wield such a small cluster, and the duration was extremely short."


    "That being said, your opponent was a Lower God King level Combat Doll left behind by Yinsha. Should you battle even stronger Combat Dolls, or if the Combat Doll had some other skills to delay you for a moment, you might not be able to win the fight."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Indeed.


    Any further delay, and without extra Taiyi Divine Power to drive the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," would indeed lead to defeat.


    "Therefore, the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' can only be used as a trump card in the final moment, not to be frequently taken out for use!" Huyan Divine Master said, "The Divine Power within you is not enough to sustain its continuous use."


    "Under such circumstances, your other skills are extremely crucial!"


    "From what I''ve seen in your battle with the Combat Doll left by Yinsha, although the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact you used was good, it was also somewhat damaged. Additionally, your Divine Arts are only at the Heaven-reaching Divine Art level, and even your Divine Body is only at the God King Level."


    "Your current Combat Power is likely mainly against opponents like Heavenly Divine Venerables or even Immortal Divine Venerables. In such cases, Heaven-reaching Divine Arts and God King Level Divine Body are clearly not enough. You must have means to contend against Divine Venerables, at least you must have truly powerful Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts and truly powerful Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts!"


    Huyan Divine Master''s words made Ye Chen nod solemnly.


    Indeed.


    During his battle with the White-Clothed Combat Doll, when faced with the Combat Doll''s Heavenly Divine Artifact level Swordsmanship, his "Nine Swords of Annihilation," despite being a top-tier Heaven-reaching Divine Art, indeed was not sufficient.


    Without having cultivated Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts, he was immediately at a disadvantage.


    In the end, he had to resort to that damaged Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, the nine Divine Beads.


    And after utilizing that damaged Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, he was directly suppressed by the silver-white gloves driven by Yinsha''s White-Clothed Battle Doll and that fearsome Battle Body.


    Obviously, it was "Blue Extreme Iceflame" that kept Ye Chen at an advantage.


    In other aspects, he was no match for the Lower God King level Combat Doll left by Yinsha.


    "Divine Master Lord Huyan, indeed, I am lacking in Divine Arts and Divine Artifacts," Ye Chen looked at Huyan Divine Master, "Divine Master Lord has spoken so much, does that mean you intend to bestow upon me some Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts or Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts?"


    Ye Chen discerned these meanings from the words of Huyan Divine Master.


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact or Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art?!


    This, of course, filled Ye Chen with a sense of inexplicable anticipation!


    The most powerful Divine Arts he had on hand were the "Nine Swords of Annihilation" and the "Bloodlight Blade Technique," both Heaven-reaching Divine Arts left by figures of the Sovereign Realm. However, they were intended for his previous Combat Power.


    If he could acquire a more formidable Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art from this Divine Master Lord, that would naturally be even better!


    Even if he couldn''t get his hands on a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art, it wouldn''t be bad to obtain a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact.


    Although Ye Chen possessed Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, they were all damaged.


    And the Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts, Ye Chen was currently unable to activate.


    Even the Extreme Heavenly Object "Blue Extreme Iceflame," which had not yet been refined into an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact, he could only manipulate a tiny fraction of its power!


    In such a situation, getting his hands on a powerful Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact would undoubtedly be a great help in preserving Ye Chen''s life!


    Seeing the expectant look in Ye Chen''s eyes, Huyan Divine Master smiled and nodded: "I''ve said that I wouldn''t let you take the risk of facing the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death in vain."


    "Although I am but a remnant soul, my true self died here, so of course I have quite a few treasures on hand!"


    "Originally, for ''Cursers,'' I would only award the ''Divine Milk Refining Technique'' to refine ''Divine Milk'' after you complete all the tasks of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death."


    "However, over the years, more than three hundred ''Cursers'' have failed, yet you have successfully fought your way out of the second gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, which has greatly surprised me. I would not want you to encounter mishaps on your journey to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' due to a lack of treasures, ultimately affecting the fulfillment of my wish."


    "Ye Chen, you can''t use the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact right now, but I promise you, if you can fulfill my wish, when you return here in the future, I will leave a powerful Ultimate Heavenly Artifact for you!"


    "Until then, I will bestow upon you a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact for your use!"


    "This Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact is named ¡ª ''Gourd Sword''!"


    Gourd Sword?


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit were stirred.


    Could it be a Treasure related to swords or swordsmanship?


    As Ye Chen speculated, he directly saw Huyan Divine Master''s remnant soul pointing towards a location in the main mausoleum hall.


    In an instant, a beam of light shot out from a place Ye Chen was fundamentally unable to detect.


    As the beam of light approached him, Ye Chen saw a palm-sized gourd hovering between him and Huyan Divine Master.


    "Ye Chen, I saw your battle with the Combat Doll. You mainly cultivate sword-related Divine Arts, and you have also refined flying swords."


    "In such a case, this top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact ''Gourd Sword'' is exceedingly suitable for you."


    "You may not be able to fully activate a top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, but within this gourd of the ''Gourd Sword,'' there are a total of one thousand flying swords. You can gradually increase the number of flying swords you can manipulate according to your Combat Power."


    "Furthermore, you can nurture your primary Life-bound Flying Sword within the gourd, using it as the core flying sword to control the ''Gourd Sword,'' enabling your original flying sword to evolve. At the same time, you will be more adept at handling such a Treasure!"


    "Also, the ''Gourd Sword'' corresponds to a set of Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art for driving this Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact ¡ª the ''Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills,'' which I will also impart to you!"


    As he spoke, Huyan Divine Master pointed a finger, and the palm-sized gourd, the top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Gourd Sword," flew towards Ye Chen.


    Simultaneously, with another poised gesture in the air, a white jade token flew straight out, and Huyan Divine Master, holding the token, sent stream after stream of Divine Light into it.


    This Divine Light was the cultivation method for the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills"!


    After recording the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art, Huyan Divine Master also handed the jade token to Ye Chen.


    Looking at the palm-sized gourd and the small white jade token in his hands, Ye Chen''s breathing became rapid.


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!


    Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art!


    These were intact Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, and Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts imparted by Huyan Divine Master himself!


    Once he completely masters this Divine Art and controls this Divine Artifact, his Combat Power would likely rise once more.


    He finally had another significant card up his sleeve!


    Ye Chen pulled the stopper from the gourd and directly saw numerous Sword Shadows twinkling within.


    Ye Chen knew that this must be the thousand flying swords within the "Gourd Sword" as mentioned by Huyan Divine Master.


    "My Life-bound Flying Sword ''Crimson Fire'' can also be nurtured within this ''Gourd Sword,'' acting as the core to control this Treasure. First, I''ll let the ''Crimson Fire Flying Sword'' enter for nurturing, then after thoroughly comprehending this Treasure, I''ll see how to make it the core flying sword!"


    After examining the "Gourd Sword" in his hands for a moment, Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit moved, and the "Crimson Fire Flying Sword" from within the Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows flew out and into the gourd for nurturing.


    At that moment, Huyan Divine Master''s voice once again entered his ears: "That''s enough, Ye Chen. I won''t give you any more treasures. To improve your divine body skills and other techniques, you still have to rely on yourself to find other ways to acquire them."


    "Now, let''s discuss your journey to the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' in the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' to find my disciple Yinsha, and help me fulfill my wish!"

 Chapter 825 - 776 Curse and Orange Seal

    Hearing the Huyan Divine Master speak of going to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" to fulfill his last wish, a matter concerning the third challenge of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, Ye Chen hurriedly stored away the "Gourd Sword" and the jade token of the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills".


    "Divine Master Lord Huyan, may I know by when I must go to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', and how long will it take to fulfill your wish?" Ye Chen asked.


    Ye Chen still had two important matters to attend to.


    One was the affair at "Heavenly God Mountain" that would occur before long, and the other was the affair concerning the "Stellar Domain Genius Battle".


    These two matters were the latter two of the three requests made by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King to him, and he must complete them.


    Naturally, Ye Chen wanted to inquire whether the time limit to go to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" would conflict with the completion of these two matters.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, Huyan Divine Master said, "What, do you have other important affairs to attend to?"


    Ye Chen nodded: "Divine Master Lord Huyan, within these ten years, I have two equally crucial tasks I must complete."


    "Ten years?" Huyan Divine Master frowned and shook his head, "No, my lingering soul is already weak, I''m afraid it won''t last much longer."


    "And I cannot spend all the time on you, in case you are unable to fulfill my wish, I still have to find another ''Curser'' to go to ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''."


    "Ye Chen, I can only give you five years. Within these five years, if you can fulfill my wish, go to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' to find my disciple ''Yinsha'', as long as ''Yinsha'' follows you back to this main burial ground or if Yinsha hands over her ''Silver Bell Pendant'' to you as a token, bringing it back to the main burial ground, the ''curse'' influence on you will be completely lifted, and your life will no longer be in danger."


    "If you fail to fulfill my wish within five years, the ''curse'' on you will erupt, and by then, even if you don''t perish on the journey to fulfill my wish, you will die under the devastation of the ''Curse Power''!"


    "Ye Chen, this ''Curse Power'' has already been revolving around you ever since you inhaled those Divine Incense in the secondary tomb; after you entered this main burial ground, the influence of the ''Curse Power'' has intensified even more. Don''t blame me, this was left by my original self before death, once you are trapped in the ''Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death'', it is inevitable!"


    "At the same time, do not even think of relying on someone else to remove the ''Curse Power''. My original self was not only a Divine Master but also a great Alchemist. Even if you find another Divine Master, it is almost impossible to break this curse power."


    "So, if you want to survive, within five years'' time, you must complete the third challenge of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death, find Yinsha or bring back the token of Yinsha, back here!"


    "Going to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', and entering the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' to find Yinsha, even if things go smoothly, it will probably take a year or two. You must be fully prepared without any delay!"


    Huyan Divine Master''s words made Ye Chen''s expression change again and again.


    Indeed, fortune and disaster are interdependent.


    He was able to obtain the "Gourd Sword," and this danger was indeed inevitable!


    As for the "Curse Power" mentioned by Huyan Divine Master, Ye Chen could not detect it on himself at all.


    However, Ye Chen did not doubt the words of this Divine Master Lord at all.


    This Divine Master wishes to fulfill his last wish, so surely he would not be negligent in this matter.


    "Five years, that''s too short!"


    "To go to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' first, and then to enter ''Heavenly God Mountain'', it might not be in time!"


    "Judging by this time frame, I''m afraid I have to first resolve the ''Heavenly God Mountain'' matter in just over a year, and then quickly head to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' after coming out of Heavenly God Mountain..."


    Ye Chen frowned and pondered in his heart.


    Huyan Divine Master no longer spoke; he knew that Ye Chen was probably thinking about completing the third challenge of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death.


    He was willing to give Ye Chen some time to think it over properly.


    The entire main burial ground hall became quiet as neither Ye Chen nor Huyan Divine Master spoke anymore.


    However, this silence was broken after Ye Chen frowned and pondered for a moment.


    Ye Chen looked at Huyan Divine Master and said, "Divine Master Lord Huyan, I have a doubt, and I''m not sure whether I should express it."


    "Doubt." Huyan Divine Master smiled, "As the ''Curser'' helping me to fulfill my wish, you should ask away with any doubts you have."


    Ye Chen nodded: "Divine Master Lord Huyan, since you are a great Divine Master of Divine Master Realm, a being surpassing Sovereigns, you must be exceedingly powerful! Even if you were seriously injured, you should have sufficient power to return to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom. After all, you did not perish directly; you left behind this main burial ground and four secondary burial grounds and also left behind a lingering soul."


    "Even if your original self has perished, the lingering soul should still be able to return to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, right?"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Huyan Divine Master gave a wry smile and shook his head: "Ye Chen, this thought of yours is wrong."


    "It is true that I am of the Divine Master Realm, but precisely because I am of this realm, the backlash I suffered in the ''Ancient Demon Abyss'' back then was even more severe. By the time I was mortally injured from the backlash and my original self would soon perish, neither I nor my four disciples, who were also injured, had any way to travel to other domains; we probably would have died en route if we had left ''Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu''."


    "As for our lingering souls, they cannot leave our original self''s burial ground. This is due to the influence of the powers of heaven and earth. Once our original self has died, if the lingering soul moves away from the original self by any distance, it will directly vanish between heaven and earth."


    "Therefore, we could only rely on the last bit of strength to leave behind the main burial ground and four secondary burial grounds, hoping to select suitable ''Cursers'' to help fulfill my wish."


    "As for my original self and those four disciples, once dead, they are indeed gone and can no longer return..."


    At the end of his words, Huyan Divine Master was filled with sorrow.


    Ye Chen''s feelings became even more complex.


    He felt both sympathy and gratitude towards this Divine Master Lord, whose cemetery allowed him to smoothly break through to the God King Realm and enter the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    At the same time, Ye Chen held some resentment towards them for setting up this "Curse Killing Trap."


    "This is destiny, I suppose..."


    Ye Chen let out a long sigh, harboring these complex emotions in his heart.


    Now is not the time for sentimentality; the urgent task at hand is to properly confront the third challenge of the "Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death" and to face the inevitable journey to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    "Huyan Divine Master Lord, since I must fulfill this wish, I have another question to ask."


    "That is, how can I travel to this ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' and where exactly is it located?"


    Ye Chen had never ventured beyond the borders of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    And the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," far more potent than Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, was likely an immeasurable distance away.


    "Since I have asked you to go to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' I will surely tell you how to get there," Huyan Divine Master said, "There are two methods to travel from one Divine Nation to another."


    "One method is, of course, traversing the starry sky. This approach demands certain inherent strengths; if one is not sufficiently powerful, it is easy to perish during the journey through space¡ªfor both the countless dangers in the stars and the myriad of wanderers in space are incredibly fearsome!"


    "Furthermore, this method is only suitable between nearby Divine Nations. If the distance is too great, it would be very difficult to traverse without the power of a mighty Sovereign or higher."


    "The True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' is a good half the universe away from ''Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation,'' rendering the first method entirely impractical!"


    "If you must travel to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' you can only use the second method."


    "The second method involves ''Teleportation Star Formations,'' similar to Divine Arrays that transport individuals from one area to another within a Divine Nation. These ''Teleportation Star Formations'' are linked to each other. They enable travel to any Divine Nation in this cosmos, the only question being the number of teleports required!"


    "I have already prepared a ''Teleportation Star Map'' for you. With this map, you will know how to utilize the ''Teleportation Star Formations'' to travel from Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom.''"


    As he spoke, Huyan Divine Master gestured in the air with his hand.


    A scroll flew directly from him, heading towards Ye Chen.


    Clearly, he had prepared this map for a long time.


    Ye Chen looked at the Teleportation Star Map, which was filled with countless names of Divine Nations and delineated numerous teleportation routes.


    In an instant.


    Ye Chen saw three Divine Nations.


    The Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation he resided in, the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" Huyan Divine Master asked him to visit, and another Divine Nation located between them¡ªthe Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Nation!


    The "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Nation" governs the Star Domain where Jiang Yao resides!


    Moreover, Ye Chen knew that Long Li had also ventured to the Star Domain where Jiang Yao was and has yet to return.


    In the past, Ye Chen lacked the strength to travel to Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Now, having stepped into the God King Realm and entered the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, and with this "Teleportation Star Map" in hand,


    Ye Chen was, without a doubt, eager to visit Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to see Jiang Yao!


    "Once the issues at Heavenly God Mountain are resolved, before heading to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' I will first make a trip to the ''Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes scanned the "Teleportation Star Map," and his mind was made up.


    "Ye Chen, the ''Teleportation Star Formation'' of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation is located in the central region of the Divine Nation, where the nation''s leader resides," the Divine Master explained.


    "This type of ''Teleportation Star Formation'' can only be used by countless grand figures of the Divine Nations and their descendants. Normally, others cannot use the ''Teleportation Star Formation'' to travel to other Divine Nations."


    "However, I am a Divine Master, and my four disciples were powerful Sovereigns! We possess ''Star Seals'' that can be used to activate the ''Teleportation Star Formation.''


    "I cannot directly give you my ''Star Seal,'' but I can give you one of my disciples'' seals. The remaining ones, if you fail to fulfill the wish, will remain for the next ''Curser'' to use."


    During this conversation, Huyan Divine Master handed over an "orange seal" to Ye Chen.


    "The ''Star Seals'' are classified into five colors based on their level: green, blue, red, orange, and purple."


    "An Orange Seal is second only to the highest-level ''Purple Seal'' used by those who surpass Sovereigns. With this Orange Seal, you can use the ''Teleportation Star Formations'' of almost all Divine Nations in this universe without any cost, except for the most unique few Divine Nations."


    "And the routes I have drawn for you to ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' pass through Divine Nations that are all within your capacity to freely use the ''Star Seal''."

 Chapter 826 - 777: Missing, Escaping

    Ye Chen held the "Orange Seal," his eyes flickered with brilliant light.


    He did not care about those few most special Divine Kingdoms that the Orange Seal could not reach.


    What he cared about was that as long as he could go to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" and the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Kingdom", that was enough!


    Ye Chen looked towards the "Teleportation Star Map," and saw that the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Kingdom" was among the Divine Kingdoms involved in the routes leading to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    According to what Divine Master Huyan had said, all the Divine Kingdoms involved in the routes to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" could be freely teleported to using the "Orange Seal."


    This clearly meant that with the "Orange Seal," Ye Chen could truly go to the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Kingdom"!


    "Jiang Yao."


    In an instant, the figure of that most beloved exquisite beauty emerged in Ye Chen''s mind.


    The exquisite beauty had a graceful and moving figure, with black hair like a waterfall cascading down her waist.


    That fair delicate beautiful face, those star-bright clear and lucid eyes, and the small dimples on her little face, were unforgettable sights.


    Ye Chen missed Jiang Yao immensely.


    Since their parting on the Barbaric Wilderness Continent over a year ago when Mrs. He took her away, more than a year had passed.


    A day apart felt like three seasons.


    In this year of not seeing her, Ye Chen''s concern for Jiang Yao reached the ultimate extent.


    Especially since so many things had happened over this past year.


    He also wanted to have a good talk with Jiang Yao...


    "In the future, I must come out of ''Heavenly God Mountain'' alive! After finishing the matters of ''Heavenly God Mountain'', and when setting off towards the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', I will go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to see Jiang Yao!" Ye Chen thought to himself.


    While missing Jiang Yao, the figure of Long Li also flashed through Ye Chen''s mind...


    After all, this cold little girl who had become intimate with him had also gone to the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain" to find Jiang Yao.


    Perhaps, she was right by Jiang Yao''s side...


    Seeing Ye Chen holding the "Orange Seal" and falling into deep thought, Divine Master Huyan smiled slightly and said, "Ye Chen, you have passed the second of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death in the main tomb. Now, whether you want to leave the main tomb or continue to cultivate here is up to you."


    "As I understand, your expedition in the Demon Tomb lasts for a total of one month, and there is still plenty of time left. If you wish to stay here, I can indeed provide some guidance on your Cultivation Technique."


    Upon hearing Divine Master Huyan''s words, Ye Chen was startled and snapped out of his thoughts about Jiang Yao and Long Li.


    Ye Chen smiled at Divine Master Huyan and said, "Senior, the mission for my trip to the Demon Tomb was to hunt for a ''Thunder Turtle Egg'', which has already been accomplished."


    "The Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death was actually an additional task to help another senior that I got involved with."


    "Since I have no other pressing matters, I might as well cultivate here. To receive guidance from Divine Master Lord Huyan, I cannot miss this opportunity!"


    "Also, I would like to consult senior further on the matters of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' and the ''Gourd Sword''."


    Seeing Ye Chen willing to stay, Divine Master Huyan also smiled, "Then let''s have a good talk in the main tomb."


    ...


    The one month exploration time in the Demon Tomb soon passed.


    When the day to leave the Demon Tomb arrived, multiple figures flew out from the nine great Demon Tombs, then groups of them boarded Flying Boats, flying out of the Demon Tomb site.


    It could be seen that at the beginning, over a hundred million Martial Artists had entered the nine great Demon Tomb areas, but when they came out, most of them were obviously gone.


    Clearly, numerous people had perished in the terrifying Heavenly Fiend Ghost Fire that fell from the sky upon entering the Demon Tomb.


    During this month of exploration, countless Martial Artists also died in various places in the nine great Demon Tombs.


    Over a hundred million people entered the Demon Tomb for the adventure.


    If several million managed to come out alive, they should consider themselves extremely lucky!


    However, most of the Martial Artists who survived and came out of the nine great Demon Tombs had expressions of having survived a catastrophe and being immensely surprised on their faces.


    Clearly, they had significant gains from this exploration trip in the Demon Tomb!


    Among the survivors, the majority who flew out from the outermost ninth Demon Tomb were the most.


    Many, upon boarding the Flying Boats, looked at the fewer number of Flying Boats coming from the deeper eight Demon Tombs and said, "Luckily, we spent this month in the ninth Demon Tomb, increasing our chances of survival greatly."


    "Looking at the other Demon Tombs, more people died there than here!"


    Someone excitedly said, "Haha, this time in the ninth Demon Tomb, I finally obtained a few items I''ve been dreaming of. With these items, my Combat Power has risen a level, and it''s absolutely easy now!"


    "Hehe, I didn''t collect any treasures, but I cultivated in the ''Spirit Communication Mountain'' of the ninth Demon Tomb. This time, I finally broke through a bottleneck and advanced to the Middle Earth God Divine Venerable Realm in one fell swoop!"


    The people who came out alive from the ninth Demon Tomb were all abuzz with discussion.


    People from the other eight Demon Tombs were also whispering to each other, discussing the events of the past month in their respective Demon Tombs while driving the Flying Boats out of the "Demon Tomb" site.


    In the deepest area of the nine great Demon Tombs, the first Demon Tomb.


    Accompanied by flashes of Spiritual Light, figures also emerged from the first Demon Tomb.


    The number of people who had initially entered the first Demon Tomb was the fewest among the nine great Demon Tombs.


    After all, entry into the first Demon Tomb required "Yin Spirit Ganoderma".


    Only tens of thousands of people entered the first Demon Tomb.


    After the anomaly in the first Demon Tomb, many people also died there.


    This time, only about two thousand people came out alive!


    Among them, many had seen the perils of the first Demon Tomb and hid in safe places, narrowly escaping death!


    After these people were teleported out of the first Demon Tomb, most of them had heavy expressions on their faces, and eventually, groups of three or five gathered and flew away from the area of the first Demon Tomb.


    Clearly, the danger of the first Demon Tomb this time was completely disproportionate to the gains!


    In the crowd, there were also people from the four major sects of the four territories.


    When a group of people from Blood Sword Sect of the four great sects flew out from the first Demon Tomb, their expressions were equally grim: "We knew that the chance of obtaining treasure from the first Demon Tomb was extremely low, but for the sake of Divine Milk, we still risked our lives to break in. Unexpectedly, this time, ninety percent of our sect members died inside, and in the end, only one person got ''three drops'' of Divine Milk!"


    A Heavenly Divine Venerable from Blood Sword Sect clenched his teeth with hatred.


    Another Heavenly Divine Venerable looked straight at the figures of several female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect who flew out after them, his eyes filled with intense jealousy and envy: "This time, the Sky Fox Sect is probably the sect with the greatest harvest from the first Demon Tomb!"


    "I wonder where their leader, Fairy Luo Yun, obtained an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!"


    "Fairy Luo Yun was already immensely powerful, and with the aid of that Ultimate Heavenly Artifact, she''s even more formidable, like a tiger given wings. Thanks to her, the Sky Fox Sect had the smallest casualties and the greatest harvest!"


    "From what I know, six of them managed to break into the deepest part and obtained Divine Milk!"


    "And later, after coming out from the Land of Divine Milk, they together ventured into other realms, and I heard they also made many gains!"


    Although they were extremely envious, when the Blood Sword Sect people saw the figure of Fairy Luo Yun, the leader of the "Sky Fox Sect", they dared not act rashly, let alone try to seize her treasures.


    Not to mention that the "Sky Fox Sect" was originally one of the four major sects in the Western Territory, on par with the "Blood Sword Sect".


    The mere fact that Luo Yun''s combat power rivaled that of an Immortal Divine Venerable sent chills down their spines.


    Not to mention, Fairy Luo Yun was holding an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact that they, as Heavenly Divine Venerables, didn''t even dare to dream of!


    The people from Blood Sword Sect, amidst their immense envy, gloomily gathered the surviving sect members and finally left the first Demon Tomb.


    However, the female disciples of the "Sky Fox Sect" did not leave at all.


    All the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect who came out from the first Demon Tomb were gathered around Fairy Luo Yun in the middle.


    "Sister, we owe it to you that we could safely come out of the first Demon Tomb this time."


    "You said, the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact in your hand was lent to you by Ye Chen?!"


    Many female disciples looked at the Ultimate Heavenly Divine Sword in Luo Yun''s hand, their eyes filled with disbelief even though the sword was damaged.


    Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!


    It''s a treasure usually wielded only by Sovereign Realm powerhouses.


    Heavenly Divine Venerables, let alone borrowing one, even seeing an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact was considered an absolute stroke of luck!


    Even though they knew Luo Yun''s master was a Sovereign, they were also aware that even Luo Yun couldn''t obtain an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact from her master.


    Now, she actually had an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact that Ye Chen lent her, which naturally astonished all the female disciples.


    Thinking back to when they entered the Demon Tomb with Ye Chen and saw Ye Chen snatch the "Thunder Turtle Egg" from the terrifying Thunder Turtle, these female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect were still somewhat shaken.


    That young boy left a very deep impression on them!


    "Of course, this sword was lent to me by Ye Chen," Fairy Luo Yun''s eyes looked towards the first Demon Tomb, filled with concern, "Initially, Ye Chen and I were teleported to the ''Three Evils Sea'', and without the help of Ye Chen''s Ultimate Heavenly Artifact, I would have probably perished in the ''Three Evils Sea'', let alone obtained eight drops of Divine Milk later!"


    "However, later when Ye Chen and I went to that Demon Tomb I''ve always wanted to visit, I suddenly got separated from Ye Chen. I don''t know where he went after that."


    "Ye Chen still hasn''t come out until now; I hope nothing happened to him!"


    Fairy Luo Yun had many memories about the Demon Tomb erased by General Azure Dragon Long Xiao, and she faintly felt that Ye Chen had fallen into trouble.


    This made her increasingly worried about Ye Chen''s safety.


    Hearing Fairy Luo Yun worrying about Ye Chen, the other female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect also showed their concern.


    "It''s okay, today is the last day to leave the Demon Tomb area, and there is still a lot of time; Ye Chen is so powerful, he will definitely come out safely," a female disciple who was an Earth Divine Venerable from the Sky Fox Sect said.


    Other disciples echoed, "Right, we''ll wait for him here; he will definitely come out!"


    "Yes, if it weren''t for the treasure Ye Chen gave to our sister, we might have already died in the first Demon Tomb, so we must wait for Ye Chen, and then we''ll leave together!"


    Not a single female disciple of the Sky Fox Sect urged to leave anxiously.


    All of them were waiting for Ye Chen outside the first Demon Tomb.


    As the deadline to leave the Demon Tomb area approached, and they still hadn''t seen Ye Chen come out,


    the hearts of all the female disciples of Sky Fox Sect became increasingly heavy and worried.


    All the female disciples of the Sky Fox Sect suddenly heard Fairy Luo Yun''s excited voice: "Ye Chen has come out!"


    Then, all the female disciples'' gazes turned towards the first Demon Tomb.


    Following that, they saw Ye Chen''s figure, accompanied by a flash of Spiritual Light, appearing outside the first Demon Tomb.


    They also heard Ye Chen''s voice reaching their ears: "Fairy Luo Yun, my fellow Daoists, thank you for waiting!"

 Chapter 827 - 778: Return to the Supreme Divine Institute

    An hour later, the Sky Fox Sect''s Flying Boat, carrying a group of female disciples and Ye Chen, flew out of the Demon Tomb!


    After another half an hour, with the conclusion of the adventure in the Demon Tomb, Ye Chen bid farewell to the disciples of the Sky Fox Sect and embarked on his journey back to the Supreme Divine Institute alone.


    Ye Chen''s figure moved across the sky, flying towards the Teleportation Divine Formation on the Subordinate Star Continent of the Demon Tomb.


    Xiaojiu transformed into a little sparrow, settling on Ye Chen''s shoulder.


    "Heehee, Ye Chen, those girls from the Sky Fox Sect, especially Fairy Luo Yun, seemed very reluctant to let you go!"


    "Especially Fairy Luo Yun, from the way she acted, if she weren''t afraid of causing a misunderstanding with Divine Lady Long Li, she probably would have thrown herself at you. After all, she obtained eight drops of Divine Milk and also inherited from General Azure Dragon Long Xiao in the Demon Tomb. She knows well you helped her immensely!"


    Xiaojiu teased Ye Chen playfully.


    "Xiaojiu, stop talking nonsense," Ye Chen said with an amused glare at Xiaojiu.


    Having Jiang Yao and also being involved with Divine Lady Long Li, he did not want to get entangled with other women.


    After all, he did not want a repeat of being noticed by two Sovereigns and being bound by three demands.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Xiaojiu chuckled and stopped teasing him.


    Changing the topic, Xiaojiu said, "Ye Chen, I didn''t expect Fairy Luo Yun to be so straightforward, returning the Extreme Heavenly Divine Sword to you just like that, without even taking up your offer to let her keep using it for a while."


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded, looking at the Extreme Heavenly Divine Sword inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    "Perhaps, Senior Fairy Luo Yun was afraid of causing misunderstandings. Besides, when she returns to her Sect, it''s not suitable for her to carry the Extreme Heavenly Divine Sword openly; otherwise, it might bring her even more trouble."


    "Considering her combat power, once she advances further in her realm, she could very well obtain a complete and even stronger Ultimate Heavenly Artifact compared to my damaged one!"


    Xiaojiu nodded, "Let''s not talk about Fairy Luo Yun anymore. Ye Chen, you must be careful about the third gate of the Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death and the upcoming journey to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''."


    "That True Spirit Divine Kingdom is much stronger than the Mountain Divine Nation. Inside, there are many more Divine Venerables and Sovereigns, and it''s said that beings surpassing Sovereigns also often return there from the Cosmic Sea."


    "The number of beings surpassing Sovereigns from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom also far exceeds those from the Mountain Divine Nation by countless times!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu mention the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," Ye Chen''s expression became extremely serious.


    "I must fulfill the task given by Huyan Divine Master Lord within five years, or else the ''Curse Power'' will annihilate me!"


    "The urgent matter at hand is to prepare for the journey to ''Heavenly God Mountain'' in a year, and then to get ready for the trip to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''!"


    "Both tasks are fraught with danger. Whether it''s ''Heavenly God Mountain'' where it''s almost impossible to come out alive, or the journey to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', I can''t afford to be careless!"


    "It seems that I must further enhance my abilities!"


    Xiaojiu nodded, "Yeah, you have entered the God King Realm, and for your age, that''s quite an achievement. However, to the countless powerhouses in this universe, it''s still not enough."


    "Luckily, you have reached the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, possessing the ''Taiyi Divine Power'' and ''Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations''. Especially that ''Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations'' Divine Skill, it will definitely help you avert numerous crises."


    "If you also refine the Gourd Sword, this Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact well, and be careful along the way, your chances of success in the journeys to ''Heavenly God Mountain'' and the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' will be greatly increased!"


    Ye Chen looked into the vast void ahead and nodded, "Once I return to the Supreme Divine Institute, I will first aim for the God King List in order to secure a place for ''Heavenly God Mountain'', and then collect some methods to enhance my combat power..."


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu conversed as they continued on their way.


    Shortly after, they arrived at the Teleportation Divine Formation on the Subordinate Star Continent of the Demon Tomb.


    After paying the Black Divine Coins, Ye Chen stepped into the Teleportation Divine Formation along with Xiaojiu.


    After tens of transmissions, Ye Chen finally returned to the Supreme Divine Institute!


    Looking at the all-too-familiar Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen was filled with a myriad of emotions.


    When he left the Supreme Divine Institute, he was at the Nine Tribulations True God Realm, still figuring out how to quickly break into the God King Realm.


    However, this trip to the "Demon Tomb" saw him directly stepping into the God King Realm and even reaching the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    The journey of these past months drastically transformed Ye Chen!


    Though he got involved in the troublesome Three Mysterious Gates of Life and Death.


    Nevertheless, Ye Chen gained thousands of drops of "Divine Milk" and also secured the Gourd Sword, an exquisite Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, along with the corresponding Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art!


    All things considered, it could indeed be called an exceedingly rewarding journey!


    Upon returning to the Supreme Divine Institute, the first thing Ye Chen did was go to the Merit Mission Pavilion to submit his task.


    Even though he no longer needed to exchange for Tribulation Inducing Pills after entering the God King Realm, Ye Chen would not waste the reward of 130,000 Merit Points awarded for completing a level five mission.


    After all, those Merit Points were enough for him to exchange for many important items in the Supreme Divine Institute!


    When Ye Chen handed over the Thunder Turtle Egg to an elder of the Divine Institute at the Merit Mission Pavilion, the elder checked the mission scroll and looked at Ye Chen in amazement.


    "Ye Chen? You really completed this mission?!"


    "According to the mission scroll, when you took this mission, you were at the Nine Tribulations True God Realm. Now, you have stepped into the God King Realm?!"


    "It seems that your journey to the perilous Demon Tomb has indeed yielded great rewards!"


    The Heavenly Divine Venerable elder looked at the youth before him, with a tumultuous surge in his heart.


    If it had been any other disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute, perhaps he wouldn''t have recognized him.


    But this Ye Chen before him was definitely someone whose background he knew!


    After all, a Ye Chen who had caught the attention of the strongest of the Supreme Divine Institute, Sovereign Xuechen, had been noticed by the Northern Territory King, had relations with the First Goddess Long Li of the Supreme Divine Institute, and had taken first place during the admission assessment of the nine major divine institutes, it would be impossible for him not to know!


    Exactly because he knew of Ye Chen''s background, this Heavenly Divine Venerable elder was shocked.


    He had heard that Ye Chen had only stepped into the Nine Tribulations True God Realm for a short time, yet now, just a few months later, he had already become a Divine King.


    How could such a rate of cultivation not astound him immensely?


    After taking a deep breath, this Heavenly Divine Venerable elder calmed his turbulent emotions and then said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, take out your disciple token. I will grant you the Merit Points awarded for completing this level-five mission."


    Ye Chen nodded and pulled out his disciple token.


    Seeing that the token was still that of a True God Disciple, the Heavenly Divine Venerable elder chuckled, "Ye Chen, you are now a Divine King. As long as you go to the ''Advancement Hall'', you can directly upgrade this token to a God King Disciple token and even move to the God King Disciples'' cultivation continent."


    "Of course, these Merit Points can still be directly added to the token. The upgrade to a God King Disciple token will not affect them."


    While speaking, the Heavenly Divine Venerable elder held a black token in his hand, and with a flash of Divine Light, granted one hundred and thirty thousand Merit Points into Ye Chen''s disciple token.


    "Thank you, elder." Ye Chen took the token, swept his Divine Sense inside, saw that the indicated Merit Points had increased, safely stored the token, and bowed in gratitude to the Heavenly Divine Venerable elder.


    Concerning the elder''s mention of upgrading to a God King Disciple token, Ye Chen also spoke up: "Elder, the matter of the God King Disciple token is not urgent."


    "I would like to inquire when the God King List will next open to conduct assessments?"


    Hearing Ye Chen ask about the God King List, the Heavenly Divine Venerable elder was stunned.


    "The God King List? Ye Chen, you want to challenge the God King List?"


    "You''ve just stepped into the God King Realm, and you want to challenge the God King List?"


    As if thinking of something, the Heavenly Divine Venerable elder slapped his forehead: "Haha, I''d forgotten, even when you were at the Nine Tribulations True God level, it was rumored you could fight against warriors with Lower Earth Divine Venerable level combat power. Now that you''ve entered the God King Realm, you could indeed challenge the God King List!"


    "You might even make it into the upper ranks!"


    "You''re in such a hurry to challenge the God King List ¨C it must be for the sake of Heavenly God Mountain, right?"


    This Heavenly Divine Venerable knew about the three conditions set by Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for Ye Chen, with the second condition being entry to Heavenly God Mountain.


    Ye Chen nodded, "The senior has guessed correctly, indeed I must challenge the God King List to secure a spot for the journey to Heavenly God Mountain in over a year!"


    "To earn a spot on Heavenly God Mountain, you must rank in the top hundred of the God King List." The Heavenly Divine Venerable elder frowned, "Moreover, the rankings of the God King List change monthly, and those at the back can easily be pushed down. To ensure a spot on Heavenly God Mountain, you probably need to break into the top fifty to have a definite chance!"


    "Ye Chen, you are formidable, but it''s going to be extremely difficult to break into the top fifty of the God King List!"


    "The top fifty are mostly dominated by the strongest Upper God Kings from the nine major divine institutes. Those Upper God Kings generally possess combat power that can confront Upper Earth Divine Venerables, and the ones at the very top can even fight against Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    "They are said to be disciples of the nine major divine institutes, but actually, their difference from us elders isn''t much!"


    Even though this Heavenly Divine Venerable elder had heard of Ye Chen''s power to fight against Lower Earth Divine Venerables, he wasn''t optimistic that Ye Chen, who had just broken through to the God King Realm, would have the capability to make it into the top fifty in the God King List.


    "It''s fine, elder. Anyway, there''s still plenty of time. I''ll first try challenging the God King List." Ye Chen said with a smile to the Heavenly Divine Venerable elder.


    Of course, he would not tell this Heavenly Divine Venerable elder that he had not only stepped into the God King Realm but had also cultivated the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, leading to a qualitative leap in his combat power.


    At this moment, he was far beyond merely having the power to confront Lower Earth Divine Venerable level warriors!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, the Heavenly Divine Venerable elder didn''t press any further.


    Indeed, as Ye Chen said, now that he was in the God King Realm, if he wished to challenge the God King List, he could do so, even if he failed this time, he could continue to challenge again next time.


    "Ye Chen, the God King List and the True God Ranking List are updated monthly as well."


    "The date for this month''s update of the God King List is in two days."


    "If you want to see what rank you can achieve on the God King List, in two days, you can simply go to the God King List Test Hall to participate in the combat power assessment!"


    Two days later?


    Ye Chen''s eyes flashed with a sharp light, and he nodded.

 Chapter 828 - 779: Assault on the God King List

    After leaving the Merit Mission Pavilion, Ye Chen went straight back to his own cave mansion in the First Cave Mansion Area.


    Ye Chen was not in a rush to go to the "Advancement Hall" to upgrade his disciple token from the True God Token to the God King Token¡ªit was something he planned to do when he was about to challenge the God King List two days later.


    Ye Chen returned to his cave mansion first to rest and recuperate from the fatigue of the journey back to the Supreme Divine Institute. At the same time, he reflected on the gains and losses of his trip to the Demon Tomb.


    Time passed.


    In the blink of an eye, two days passed like the snap of fingers, and the day for the monthly challenge to enter the God King List finally arrived.


    Early in the morning, Ye Chen''s figure disappeared from the cave mansion.


    ...


    The Supreme Divine Institute has a total of eighteen living continents, among which six are inhabited by disciples and elders, and the other twelve are sealed continents with various relics and places of adventure.


    Among the six living continents, the most populous is the "God King Living Continent"!


    The reason why the "God King Living Continent" has the most people is because there are the most disciples in the God King Realm in the entire Supreme Divine Institute!


    This is easy to understand.


    After all, those who pass the assessments of the Eight Great Divine Institutes and then join the Supreme Divine Institute are basically extremely powerful figures of the Eighth Tribulations True Gods or Nine Tribulations True Gods.


    It''s exceedingly rare for someone like the Little Provincial Princess to join the Supreme Divine Institute as a Three Tribulations True God.


    And those who stand out from the assessments of the Eight Great Divine Institutes to join the Supreme Divine Institute as Eighth Tribulations True Gods or Nine Tribulations True Gods definitely have exceptional talents and perceptiveness.


    In such cases, after joining the Supreme Divine Institute for some time, whether it be a few years or several decades, with the exception of those who fall during the Divine Tribulation, almost all of them can step into the God King Realm!


    As a result, there is an incredibly large number of God King Realm disciples accumulated within the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    The difficulty of cultivating from the God King Realm to the Divine Venerable Realm increases countless times over. This also means that the number of disciples who remain in the God King Realm within the Supreme Divine Institute is even more substantial.


    Many disciples have cultivated for thousands of years in the Supreme Divine Institute and are still in the God King Realm.


    And once they break through to the Divine Venerable Realm, aside from a very small number of people who continue to cultivate in the Supreme Divine Institute, others either opt to become junior elders of the Eight Great Divine Institutes or choose to leave the Supreme Divine Institute to forge their own paths and establish powers elsewhere in the Divine Kingdoms.


    Overall, the number of Divine Venerable Realm figures in the Supreme Divine Institute is far less than that of God King Realm disciples.


    In the entire Supreme Divine Institute, the number of people in the God King Realm is the highest, followed by the True God Realm, then the Divine Venerable Realm, and the Sovereign Realm powerhouses are the least.


    Under such circumstances, it goes without saying that the "God King Living Continent" is the liveliest of the six living continents of the Supreme Divine Institute!


    And the liveliest day on the "God King Living Continent" is the day each month when the challenge for the "God King List" takes place!


    The "God King List" is a ranking list jointly established by the Eight Great Divine Institutes and only includes the top one thousand ranked within the God King Realm.


    The God King Realm disciples of the Eight Great Divine Institutes total several million.


    Just the Supreme Divine Institute alone has hundreds of thousands of God King Realm disciples.


    Given this situation, the competition for the thousand spots on the "God King List" is, of course, extremely fierce.


    When the day to challenge the "God King List" arrives, countless God Kings with recent breakthroughs, or those not in closed-door cultivation, would gather outside the "God King Hall" where the list is located.


    Some come to challenge the God King List themselves; others come to watch the challenge play out.


    After Ye Chen upgraded his disciple token to the "God King Token" at the True God Life Continent''s "Advancement Hall," he arrived outside the "God King Hall" on the God King Living Continent, where he found the exterior of the hall already packed with a crowd of over a hundred thousand people!


    This is still with many of the Supreme Divine Institute''s God King Realm disciples in closed-door cultivation or out on missions.


    If everyone were to come here, the number of people present would likely multiply many times over!


    A sight of hustle and bustle and boiling excitement covered the square outside the "God King Hall," and a smile appeared on Ye Chen''s face: "The rumors are true; the God King Living Continent is indeed bustling with excitement."


    "Just the Supreme Divine Institute alone has so many people crowded here to challenge the ''God King List.'' Presumably, the other Eight Great Divine Institutes also have countless disciples right now gathered outside their own ''God King Halls,'' preparing to challenge the ''God King List'' as well."


    The day when the nine great Divine Institutes challenge the "God King List" each month is the same day.


    This is also to ensure that the rankings of the nine Divine Institutes on the God King List are updated at the same time, making it fairer.


    Ye Chen''s guess was correct.


    Apart from the Supreme Divine Institute, the other Divine Institutes including the Tai Qing Divine Institute, Tai Wu Divine Institute, and Tai Lin Divine Institute also had hundreds of thousands of people crowded in the squares outside their "God King Hall," ready to challenge the God King List.


    All nine Divine Institutes had sent elders from within the institute to preside over the challenge ceremony for the "God King List."


    The one responsible for presiding over the ceremony at the Supreme Divine Institute was an elder of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level.


    The deployment of an elder of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable rank clearly shows the great importance the Supreme Divine Institute places on the "God King List."


    As soon as the Immortal Divine Venerable elder announced the official start of this month''s challenge to the God King List, the gates of the "God King Hall" opened, and a hundred individuals eager to test their God King combat power entered the God King Hall at once.


    Just like with True God disciples challenging the "True God Ranking List," this kind of combat power test is extremely fast.


    In less than a moment, all one hundred individuals had exited the "God King Hall."


    However, the "God King List" hanging outside the "God King Hall" showed virtually no changes!


    After all, breaking into the top one thousand of the God King Realm across all nine Divine Institutes and making it onto the God King List is not an easy feat!


    It was only after a dozen or so batches of challengers that three names on the God King List changed their rankings.


    But the rankings at the very top of the God King List did not budge in the slightest.


    Clearly, these individuals are the absolute powerhouses among the God King Realm of the nine Divine Institutes, and no one is capable of shaking their positions!


    Following the flow of the crowd in the square, Ye Chen slowly made his way forward, while his gaze also drifted towards the top rankings on the God King List.


    The name ranked first on the God King List was a name Ye Chen was extremely familiar with¡ªYang Yun!


    The name ranked third on the God King List was also one Ye Chen knew all too well, none other than Yang Yan!


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan bore a grudge against Ye Chen, even sending an Upper God King to assassinate him in the past; Ye Chen ultimately killed that Upper God King with the "Xuan Divine Cone" and severely deterred the two of them.


    In the end, Yang Yun and Yang Yan even set up a banquet and offered Ye Chen an apology, swearing that if they ever encountered Ye Chen again, they would steer clear from him.


    After that, Ye Chen headed to the "Demon Tomb," and never saw Yang Yun and Yang Yan again.


    Now, seeing the names of the two hanging at the very top of the God King List, a glimmer of sharpness flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Before going to the "Demon Tomb," Ye Chen would have been very concerned about these two.


    After all, without the "Xuan Divine Cone," he probably wouldn''t have had any way to deal with them.


    But now, Ye Chen had successfully made a breakthrough to the God King Realm, stepped into the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, and was even able to mobilize a small mass of the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    At this moment, even if Yang Yun and Yang Yan took action themselves, Ye Chen was unafraid!


    His gaze sliding over the names of Yang Yun and Yang Yan, Ye Chen''s attention settled on the name in the second spot on the God King List.


    Written there was: Mu Qingxue, Middle God King, from the Tai Qing Divine Institute!


    This person ranked second on the "God King List" was shockingly not from the Supreme Divine Institute but a disciple from the Tai Qing Divine Institute among the nine great Divine Institutes!


    Even more special was that this person managed to reach the second rank on the "God King List" while in the Middle God King Realm.


    Ye Chen noticed that the entire top fifty of the God King List were basically dominated by Upper God Kings.


    Except for "Mu Qingxue" seizing the second rank as a Middle God King, there was only one other Middle God King who had broken into the forty-sixth rank.


    And there was not a single Lower God King among the entire top fifty!

 Chapter 829 - 780: Ye Chens Name

    "It seems that this ''Mu Qingxue'' is extraordinary. To be able to rise to the second place on the God King List, she clearly has the combat power to contend with ordinary Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    "What''s more valuable is that she is a Middle God King. For a Middle God King to be this formidable, her future is boundless."


    Ye Chen murmured as he looked at the name Mu Qingxue.


    "More than just boundless!"


    "This Mu Qingxue is just like the First Goddess of our Supreme Divine Institute, Divine Lady Long Li, hailed as a Heaven''s Chosen of Tai Qing Divine Institute! Moreover, rumors say that her relationship with our institute''s First Goddess Long Li is very good, and she is also a little girl who is very young."


    While Ye Chen was talking to himself, a God King standing next to him heard what he said and directly spoke to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen turned to look at this God King and saw that the man was rotund and plump, with a physique thrice the size of Ye Chen''s, an Upper God King with an exceptionally large frame.


    Having cultivated to the God King Realm, one has the ability to alter their physique with Divine Power.


    Most God Kings shape themselves to be leaner, but this person chose to maintain such a chubby appearance, which is somewhat peculiar.


    It is uncertain whether he favors this look or if it is connected to the Cultivation Technique he practices.


    Ye Chen, however, does not pay too much attention to this person''s physique. Instead, he becomes curious about the affairs of Mu Qingxue mentioned by the God King.


    The Mu Qingxue who ranked second on the God King List actually has a good relationship with Long Li?


    "Senior brother, from your tone, it seems you are quite familiar with this Mu Qingxue?" Ye Chen smiles at the rotund God King and inquires aloud.


    The Fat God King surreptitiously winks at Ye Chen and whispers, "Of course, I, ''Ling Feng,'' am very well-acquainted with the famous female disciples from the nine great Divine Institutes!"


    ...very well-acquainted with the famous female disciples from the nine great Divine Institutes...


    This...


    Ye Chen is taken aback by the Fat God King''s remark.


    And what Ye Chen did not expect was that this Fat God King actually pulled out a booklet and quickly flipped through it for Ye Chen.


    With a quick glance, Ye Chen noticed that this thick booklet recorded the name of a Female Martial Artist on every page, along with a lot of information about their deeds. The booklet had thousands of pages, with each page bearing a different name!


    This Fat God King is indeed... a unique individual.


    What left Ye Chen speechless was that the name of Long Li directly appeared on the first page of this booklet, while Mu Qingxue''s name was also on the second page.


    After quickly flipping through the booklet for Ye Chen, the Fat God King proudly winked at Ye Chen.


    It seems he is extremely satisfied with his collection.


    Then, the Fat God King turned to the first page of the booklet and said to Ye Chen, "Junior brother, seeing you''re a newcomer, you must have just arrived from the True God Living Continent to the God King Living Continent, right?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Yes, I''ve only recently advanced to the God King Realm, and have just arrived on the God King Living Continent."


    Ye Chen is not surprised that this person does not recognize him.


    With tens of thousands of God Kings in the Supreme Divine Institute, only a few thousand had seen him during the examinations and the induction ceremony at the nine great Divine Institutes. It is not surprising that other God King disciples do not recognize him.


    Hearing that Ye Chen had just arrived at the God King Living Continent, the Fat God King''s interest visibly piqued.


    Seeing that there were many others queuing to challenge the God King List to test their combat power, he lowered his head and continued speaking to Ye Chen: "Junior brother, it''s fortuitous that you arrived on the God King Living Continent and met me. I am very familiar with many Goddess Kings and can introduce them to you properly."


    While talking, he pointed to the name of Long Li on the first page of the booklet in his hand, "This page details information about the First Goddess Long Li of our Supreme Divine Institute. Long Li, even if you haven''t seen her, you must have heard of her, right?"


    Ye Chen nods and touches his nose.


    Long Li...


    He has not only seen her...


    If this Fat God King knew that not only had he seen Long Li but also had a relationship with her, he would probably drop his jaw in shock!


    Ye Chen''s thoughts drifted to the stunningly beautiful girl Long Li, and he became momentarily preoccupied.


    The Fat God King beside him continued eagerly, "Long Li is truly a peerless beauty. I once caught a distant glimpse of her, and I''ve never seen a more beautiful woman. Especially her aloof temperament, as though she were a Cold Palace Fairy, makes one feel shabby in comparison!"


    "What''s even more impressive is that her combat power is incredibly strong. While she was in the God King Realm, she defeated many Heavenly Divine Venerables, and some of them were truly formidable!"


    "She''s a legend on the God King List, a legend of the Supreme Divine Institute!"


    "Rumor has it that she only challenged the God King List once when she was a Middle God King and has occupied first place ever since. No one has been able to replace her position, until she stepped into the Earth Divine Venerable Realm and vanished from the God King List."


    "To this day, no one knows how incredibly powerful she truly is!"


    When it came to Long Li, the Fat God King was full of animation and spoke incessantly.


    However, as if struck by a thought, he frowned with regret, "Unfortunately, such a rare beauty like the Goddess Long Li has been claimed by someone else. I only just emerged from seclusion when I heard that Long Li has taken a liking to a True God named Ye Chen."


    "When I have time, I definitely want to see what this Ye Chen looks like to have captured Long Li''s heart!"


    "Alas, let''s not talk about her; it just makes me sad. How could such an extraordinary beauty fall for a True God? I''m an Upper God King and still couldn''t win the heart of the goddess, such a pity, truly a pity..."


    The forlorn look on the Fat God King, along with his clearly envious demeanor of Ye Chen, who won Long Li''s heart, left Ye Chen himself somewhat bemused.


    Ye Chen''s eyes moved to the information on Long Li contained in the booklet held by the Fat God King.


    He saw that it indeed recorded a lot of detailed information.


    It documented when Long Li joined the Supreme Divine Institute, when she challenged the God King List, and the secret realms she visited for cultivation...


    However, Ye Chen had heard about these events from Long Li herself, so it didn''t surprise him.


    Just as Ye Chen had scanned the information about Long Li, the Fat God King next to him snapped out of his self-pity.


    He turned to the second page of the booklet and, pointing at the information about Mu Qingxue, said to Ye Chen, "Junior brother, there''s no hope for me with Long Li''s affection, but..."


    "I''ve decided, from now on, my goal as ''Ling Feng'' is to pursue Mu Qingxue!"


    "Once I step into the Divine Venerate Realm, I''ll go to the Tai Qing Divine Institute to find Mu Qingxue. I must not miss the opportunity with her again!"


    Hearing this oath from the Fat God King ''Ling Feng,'' Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    His gaze then shifted towards the information about Mu Qingxue recorded on the booklet in Ling Feng''s hands.


    Ye Chen saw the booklet stated: "Mu Qingxue, a disciple of the Tai Qing Divine Institute, about the same age as Long Li, only sixteen years old."


    "Rumors suggest she comes from one of the four great forces of the Divine Kingdom, the Northern Region''s ''Danxia Valley''..."


    When Ye Chen saw Mu Qingxue was from "Danxia Valley," he was intrigued: "Hmm, someone from Danxia Valley? No wonder she has a good relationship with Long Li."


    Ye Chen knew that among the four great forces of the Divine Kingdom, Danxia Valley was completely subservient to the Northern Territory King, and the person most cherished and cared for by the Northern Territory King was Long Li.


    It was unsurprising that Long Li and Mu Qingxue from Danxia Valley would get along well.


    Ye Chen continued to read the booklet.


    "After joining the Tai Qing Divine Institute, Mu Qingxue only challenged the God King List three times. The first time she challenged it was right after stepping into the God King Realm, where she directly entered the top fifty, ranking forty-third."


    "Her second challenge to the God King List was before attaining the Middle God King status. That time, she directly surged into the top ten!"


    "Once she stepped into the Middle God King Realm, the third time she challenged the God King List, she went straight to the third place!"


    "When Long Li stepped into the Earth Divine Venerable Realm and disappeared from the God King List, Mu Qingxue naturally assumed the second place on the list!"


    "Mu Qingxue hasn''t challenged the God King List in over a year. Next time she challenges it, it''s quite possible she''ll surpass Yang Yun and aim for the first place!"


    After reading all the information about "Mu Qingxue," Ye Chen found this little girl who had a good relationship with Long Li to be quite astonishing.


    To achieve such distinctions at only sixteen was indeed extraordinary.


    Seeing Ye Chen finish reading the information about Mu Qingxue, the proud Fat God King Ling Feng turned to Ye Chen and said, "How about that, Junior Brother? The information I''ve collected isn''t bad, right?"


    "Once I challenge the God King List this time, I''ll travel to the nine Divine Institutes. I''m sure I''ll gather even more information!"


    "Oh right, Junior Brother, you probably aren''t aware of my ranking yet. I am ranked eight hundred thirty-second on the God King List, the eight hundred thirty-second among the millions of God Kings in the nine Divine Institutes, impressive, right?"


    Hearing Fat God King Ling Feng''s words, Ye Chen looked at the God King List and indeed saw the name Ling Feng in the eight hundred thirty-second position.


    "Being able to enter the top one thousand on the God King List indeed is quite good!" Ye Chen said to Ling Feng with a smile.


    "What do you mean ''quite good''?" Ling Feng glared at Ye Chen, "It''s very impressive, okay!"


    "Junior Brother, you''ve just stepped into the God King Realm, you don''t realize how hard it is to challenge the God King List. It took me seventeen tries to achieve this result!"


    "Once you challenge it, you''ll understand just how difficult it is. Don''t worry, when the time comes, I, your senior brother, won''t laugh at you. Just take it slow."


    At the end, Ling Feng patted Ye Chen''s shoulder and spoke reassuringly.


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile.


    The two of them continued to chat quietly as they moved forward.


    From time to time, Ling Feng would flip open the booklet again to introduce the female martial artists to Ye Chen.


    Unconsciously, the two of them arrived at the front of the queue.


    After a short wait, both the Fat God King and Ye Chen were chosen to enter the "God King Hall" to challenge the God King List with a hundred others.


    "Let''s go, to challenge the God King List!"


    Seeing that they were finally about to challenge the God King List, the Fat God King raised his fist excitedly, his flesh quivering: "This time, I must break into the top eight hundred!"


    After greeting Ye Chen, the Fat God King flew straight into the "God King Hall."


    Ye Chen glanced at the deep hall of the "God King Hall" and then stepped in.


    The challenge of the one hundred in the God King Hall for the God King List was conducted individually in separate spaces to test combat power.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The test duration was extremely short.


    Soon after, one figure after another flew out.


    The Fat God King Ling Feng was among the ninetieth-something people to fly out. When he did, he immediately looked at the God King List.


    Seeing his ranking jump from eight hundred thirty-second to seven hundred forty-fifth on the "God King List," Ling Feng leaped up excitedly.


    "I''ve succeeded, I''ve advanced by many ranks!"


    His gaze then swept around, intending to find Ye Chen whom he had been talking to all along, so he could boast about his achievement, but he didn''t see Ye Chen after a long while.


    "Could that little Junior Brother still have not finished the test?"


    "Is it his first time challenging the God King List, and he''s yet to understand the rules?"


    "I''ll have to comfort him when he comes out."


    Fat God King Ling Feng thought to himself.


    Just as he was smacking his forehead, he heard a series of incredulous gasps around him.


    "My god, a newcomer has broken into the top ten of the God King List! And it''s a Lower God King!"


    "Ye Chen? Is his name Ye Chen?"


    "Don''t tell me, it''s the Ye Chen related to Long Li?"

 Chapter 830 - 781: Nine Great Divine Institutes Tremble

    Hearing the surrounding discussions, the Fat God King Ling Feng was also taken aback.


    Ye Chen?


    Ling Feng looked directly at the God King List.


    With one look, his plump face contorted as his eyes bulged out roundly!


    He saw that the seventh position on the God King List was shimmering with a Divine Marvel of golden Divine Light.


    This kind of golden Divine Light only appears when someone makes their first entry into the God King List.


    To claim the seventh position upon the first entry into the God King List, throughout the countless ages of history in the Nine Great Divine Institutes, it''s an incredibly rare occurrence!


    When he saw that beneath the golden Divine Light, the golden script read "Ye Chen, Lower God King, Supreme Divine Institute," the Fat God King Ling Feng was filled with utter disbelief.


    Someone really managed to break into the top ten of the God King List on their first attempt!


    And it was a Lower God King at that!


    If an Upper God King made it into the top ten, that would still be acceptable.


    But for a Lower God King to make it into the top ten, that was something Ling Feng, the Fat God King, could not even fathom.


    After all, previously, not a single Lower God King was among the top fifty of the entire God King List!


    The Fat God King Ling Feng also thought of something.


    "The God King List just changed, obviously, this Ye Chen who has taken the seventh spot, is someone who was in the same batch of tests as me."


    "From the hundred people we were testing with just now, only that junior was a Lower God King Realm martial artist."


    "Could it be that he is the Ye Chen who entered into the seventh position?!"


    "That junior also said that he had just stepped into the God King Realm and was making his first attempt at the God King List. To break into the seventh position on his first try, how is that possible?!"


    With this thought flashing through his mind, an incredulous expression appeared on Fat God King Ling Feng''s face.


    What shocked him even more was that this junior was also named Ye Chen.


    The Fat God King clearly remembered, with absolute clarity, that the youth who was involved with the First Goddess of the Supreme Divine Institute, the one he secretly admired, was named Ye Chen!


    Could it be that he was the junior brother he had been talking to for so long?


    If it really was him...


    Thinking of how he had discussed Long Li and Mu Qingxue at length with this junior brother, Ling Feng couldn''t help but feel a strange sensation in his heart.


    He had actually discussed Long Li with the very person Long Li was fond of!


    And recalling how he had mentioned to this junior brother that he was ranked 832nd on the God King List, and that junior brother had commented that it was "not bad," Ling Feng felt he had been patronized by the junior brother not realizing the difficulty of the God King List.


    Now, compared to this achievement of seventh place, being called "not bad" for ranking 832nd was a great honor.


    His achievement was utterly eclipsed by this junior brother!


    Just as the Fat God King Ling Feng was still shaking and in disbelief, he saw the young man he had been chatting with throughout his journey, flying out from the "God King Hall," and this junior brother was also shining with the same golden Divine Light as the divine script on the God King List!


    The golden Divine Light representing a first-time entry into the God King List!


    In an instant, Ling Feng realized that this junior brother he had been talking to was indeed the one ranked seventh on the God King List¡ªYe Chen!


    At that moment, all the Fat God King Ling Feng could feel was sheer astonishment.


    Meanwhile.


    In the plaza outside the "God King Hall," many among the crowd of God Kings were also able to clearly recognize Ye Chen''s face.


    Suddenly, several hundred voices called out from all around the plaza: "It''s that Ye Chen, the very same youth involved with Long Li! It really is him who broke into the top ten of the God King List!"


    Originally, there were over a hundred thousand God Kings trying to challenge the God King List, coming and going, with everyone''s focus on the God King List itself.


    No one was paying any attention to Ye Chen.


    But now it was different. The top of the God King List, which previously had no changes, suddenly showed a transformation in the top ten, especially the unprecedented shift of a first-time entry into the top ten.


    The gleaming golden Divine Light alone, symbolizing this first-time breakthrough into the top ten, was enough to draw countless eyes towards Ye Chen.


    Now, of course, those who had seen Ye Chen before quickly recognized his identity!


    When the God Kings from different places confirmed that this junior brother was indeed that Ye Chen, whom even Long Li fancied, the Fat God King Ling Feng''s jaw dropped open in shock: "It really is him, he''s the one who won Long Li''s heart!"


    "Heavens, I even discussed the topic of female martial artists from the Eight Great Divine Institutes with him!"


    Seeing the Fat God King Ling Feng gape in astonishment, and hearing the surrounding exclamations and discussions, Ye Chen could only give a helpless smile.


    It seemed that his arrival on the God King Living Continent had instantly made him known to many.


    However, Ye Chen wasn''t particularly concerned about hiding his identity.


    Compared to concealing his identity, the challenge to the God King List was the most important thing!


    After all, this was about whether he could secure a spot to go to the Heavenly God Mountain.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen looked up, his gaze directly at the seventh place on the God King List.


    Earlier, when entering the "God King Hall" to test his combat power, he didn''t hold back much in order to ensure a strong position on the God King List and lay a solid foundation for his bid for the Heavenly God Mountain spot.


    Apart from not using such terrifying and astounding combat power means as the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Ye Chen unleashed all his other combat power means.


    Originally, after Ye Chen stepped into the God King Realm and mastered the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, he definitely had the strength to fight with ordinary Heavenly Divine Venerables. Under such circumstances, breaking into the seventh place on the God King List is not considered a surprise.


    The seventh.


    This definitely guarantees a spot to enter the Heavenly God Mountain!


    As for the first place...


    Ye Chen''s gaze turned directly towards the top of the God King List, where names like Yang Yun and Mu Qingxue were listed.


    If he were to use a trump card like the Blue Extreme Iceflame, it might not be impossible for him to challenge for the first place on the God King List.


    However, Ye Chen would not easily resort to using such a lifesaving tactic just for the vain glory of being first.


    After all, being able to use the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" in the God King Realm was something that even Huyan Divine Master found astonishing, and no one in the Supreme Divine Institute knew about it.


    It''s better to keep such an ace up one''s sleeve a secret.


    One day, when he can reach first place on the God King List with his normal capabilities, that will be the achievement Ye Chen strives for!


    While Ye Chen was looking at the God King List with flickering brilliance in his eyes,


    The entire "God King Hall" plaza of the Supreme Divine Institute was in a stupefied shock over Ye Chen''s achievement.


    Yet, Ye Chen was unaware that his feat had caused such a tremendous shock throughout all nine Divine Institutes.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Divine Light streaked out the very moment Ye Chen''s score appeared on the "God King List," unseen by all, flying towards the reclusive Sovereign Realm within the deepest depths of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    The changes on the God King List would normally not capture the attention of the Sovereign powers of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    However, managing to break into the top ten of the God King List on the first try is a rarity even in the Supreme Divine Institute, and the one who created this miracle was but a Lower God King.


    Placing in the top ten of the God King List, as decided by the nine Divine Institutes, as a Lower God King Realm, is definitely big news.


    Of course, this caused the prohibition of the God King Hall to be triggered, immediately transmitting the news from the God King Hall into the ears of the Sovereign Realm powers of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    When they heard that the one who created this miracle was Ye Chen, whom Sovereign Xuechen paid extraordinary attention to, for a moment, many Sovereigns of the Supreme Divine Institute were stunned on the spot.


    "This Ye Chen, hasn''t he just joined the Supreme Divine Institute recently?"


    "It''s said that he stepped into the True God Realm just over a year ago, and now he''s already become a God King?!"


    The Sovereigns found it almost inconceivable.


    This speed of cultivation was simply too fast!


    So fast that even they, as Sovereigns, found it unbelievable.


    Among these Sovereigns, there was a Seven-Star Female Sovereign who, looking at an object in her hand, turned her gaze towards the direction of the God King Hall.


    She muttered to herself: "It looks like it''s time to meet this Ye Chen."


    Just like the disturbance within the Supreme Divine Institute,


    The other eight Divine Institutes among the Nine Great Divine Institutes could also see the changes on the God King List.


    They, too, saw the miracle of Ye Chen breaking into the seventh spot on the God King List as a Lower God King.


    This news, not only causing a stir among the God Kings watching the "God King List" within the eight Divine Institutes, spread like wildfire throughout them.


    In an instant, countless figures, including many who occupied the top fifty or even the top twenty on the God King List, were roused from their cultivation.


    Those occupying the highest places on the God King List do not challenge the God King List every month.


    Because they know that it is difficult for anyone to easily shake their positions.


    This time, someone surpassed them and broke directly into the seventh place, naturally causing a huge commotion among the God Kings, compelling them to personally fly to the God King List to see for themselves.


    Not only these formidable God Kings but many Divine Venerables and even Sovereigns from the Nine Great Divine Institutes, upon hearing the news, rushed towards the God King Hall.


    Tai Qing Divine Institute.


    It is a Divine Institute of unmatched level within the Nine Great Divine Institutes, second only in prestige to the Supreme Divine Institute.


    In a secluded cultivation area of the Tai Qing Divine Institute, a valley blooming with flowers,


    Just as Ye Chen broke into the seventh place on the God King List and the news spread, a petite young girl''s figure appeared in the void above the flower-filled valley.


    This delicate young girl, wearing a white Training Outfit, looked pure and elegant, incredibly young in appearance.


    If any God King, Divine Venerable, or Sovereign of the Tai Qing Divine Institute saw this young girl, they would certainly recognize her as the most powerful God King in the Tai Qing Divine Institute, Mu Qingxue, who occupied the second spot on the God King List, even though she was only at the Middle God King Realm.


    The moment Mu Qingxue appeared in the void, her eyes turned towards the direction of the Tai Qing Divine Institute''s God King Hall.


    She murmured softly to herself: "Hmm, Ye Chen made it to the seventh on the God King List?"


    "He has broken into the God King List even faster than I expected, and his rank is even higher than I imagined, landing at the seventh place on his first try!"


    Smiling lightly, the petite young girl Mu Qingxue said: "Sister Long Li said Ye Chen would surely fulfill the three requirements of the two Sovereigns."


    "When he successfully completed the assessment of the Nine Great Divine Institutes and took first place, I knew that he would definitely break into the God King Realm within two years and secure a spot for the Heavenly God Mountain journey to fulfill the second requirement of the two Sovereigns. I did not expect it to come so quickly!"


    "I will also participate in the next Heavenly God Mountain expedition."


    "Then I''ll have the chance to meet this Ye Chen."


    With that, anticipation gleamed in Mu Qingxue''s eyes: "I really want to see for myself what''s so special about this young man who has caught Sister Long Li''s heart and broke into the seventh place on the God King List on his very first entry as a Lower God King."

 Chapter 831 - 782 Arrival of Guests and the New Cave Abode

    Ye Chen had no idea just how much of a stir his first attempt to rank on the God King List had caused in the nine Great Divine Institutes.


    He was also unaware that Mu Qingxue, who had been inquiring about him for half a day, seemed to know quite a lot about his affairs.


    At this time, having finished the challenge for the God King List and seeing the crowd around the plaza increasing, Ye Chen had no intention of staying any longer in the God King Hall Plaza.


    He had many important matters to attend to; now that the God King List challenge was over, there was no need to waste any more time here.


    Having nodded and bid farewell to the Fat God King Ling Feng with a smile, and after receiving a token representing the top ten from the hands of the Immortal Divine Venerable¡ªa Supreme Divine Institute elder overseeing the God King List tests¡ªYe Chen was ready to head to the First Cave Mansion Area on the God King Living Continent.


    Like the True God Life Continent.


    On the God King Living Continent, there are also several major areas.


    If it''s a general disciple from the Supreme Divine Institute who steps into the God King Realm from the True God Realm and doesn''t break into the top thousand of the God King List, they can only establish a cave dwelling for cultivation in the ordinary areas of the God King Living Continent.


    However, once one breaks into the God King List, they can establish a cave dwelling in the special areas of the God King Living Continent.


    Among them, the most precious special area is the First Cave Mansion Area of the God King Living Continent, where only those in the top ten of the God King List are entitled to establish a cave dwelling!


    Originally, when Ye Chen upgraded his disciple token to a God King Token at the "Advancement Hall," he obtained a quota to open a cave dwelling in the ordinary areas of the God King Living Continent.


    However, now that he has secured a spot in the top ten of the God King List, this ordinary quota is no longer needed, and he can directly establish his cave dwelling in the First Cave Mansion Area.


    On the True God Life Continent, Ye Chen has already witnessed the preciousness of the First Cave Mansion Area.


    It was there that he selected the cave dwelling left by "Sovereign Lei Fa," from which he obtained the exceedingly precious Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact and Ultimate Heavenly Artifact, as well as the "Xuan Divine Cone."


    Those "Xuan Divine Cones" really helped Ye Chen!


    Whether it was slaying Xue Xian, who challenged him on the Platform of Life and Death at the behest of Yang Yun and Yang Yan, or avenging the enemy of the Ice Seal God King, "Ni Shan God King," the Xuan Divine Cone played a significant role!


    Especially during the journey in the Demon Tomb, the Xuan Divine Cone lent a great deal of support in the "Three Evils Sea" and when Ye Chen broke through to the God King Realm.


    One could say that if it were not for his entry into the First Cave Mansion Area on the True God Life Continent, where he chose a fine cave dwelling, he might not have advanced to the God King Realm as smoothly and swiftly.


    In such a situation, facing the newly entered God King Living Continent and the opportunity to select a cave dwelling once again, Ye Chen naturally wanted to seize the opportunity well.


    "On the True God Life Continent, I chose a good cave dwelling."


    "Unfortunately, now that I have come to the God King Living Continent, I can no longer use that dwelling and have to choose another cave dwelling on this continent."


    "However, my ''Star Blue Divine Garment'' has undergone another transformation, and I am already privy to the secrets of the cave dwelling of Sovereign Lei Fa. Although leaving that cave dwelling is regrettable, it is not something I cannot accept."


    "Now, it''s time to see if there are any suitable new cave dwellings to choose from in the First Cave Mansion Area of the God King Living Continent."


    With his mind made up, Ye Chen was ready to follow the guidance of the Immortal Divine Venerable elder, holding the token representing the top ten of the God King List, to find the elder responsible for arranging cave dwellings on the God King Living Continent, to select a new cave dwelling.


    At this moment, something unexpected happened to Ye Chen.


    Before Ye Chen could leave the "God King Hall" plaza, two voices enveloped the entire God King Hall plaza and reached Ye Chen''s ears.


    "Ye Chen, congratulations on making it into the top ten of the God King List!"


    "Junior Brother Ye Chen, you are truly as remarkable as Sister Long Li mentioned!"


    Boom! Boom!


    Following that, the curtain of Void Heaven above the God King Hall Plaza was torn apart, and a female Sovereign wearing a purple Divine Robe, with a dignified appearance, accompanied by a female Divine Venerable in a blue misty robe, appeared above Void Heaven.


    Upon seeing these two arrivals, especially the female Sovereign, due to the news of a Lower God King breaking into the top ten of the God King List and the rush to the God King Hall Plaza, many figures from the Supreme Divine Institute at the Divine Venerable and Sovereign level were all taken aback.


    Those Divine Venerable figures directly bowed in greeting to the Female Sovereign and Female Divine Venerable.


    And those of the Sovereign level, also somewhat unexpectedly gave a fist-and-palm salute to this Female Sovereign, saying: "Sovereign Jia Lan, you came too?!"


    At the same time, addressing the Female Divine Venerable: "Divine Venerable Meng Yue, you actually emerged from seclusion!"


    When hearing these Sovereigns call out the names "Sovereign Jia Lan" and "Divine Venerable Meng Yue," many God Kings in the God King Hall square were visibly shaken.


    "Sovereign Jia Lan? Divine Venerable Meng Yue? These are two greatly prestigious figures from our Supreme Divine Institute!"


    "Sovereign Jia Lan is an Alchemy Grandmaster from our Supreme Divine Institute, and also a major figure at the Seven Star Sovereign Realm!"


    "Divine Venerable Meng Yue, although not yet having stepped into the Sovereign Realm, is nevertheless the most formidable Immortal Divine Venerable of our Supreme Divine Institute, and also the top name on the ''Divine Venerable List'' of the nine great Divine Institutes!"


    "They''ve actually come here together!"


    "From their tone, it seems they are here to congratulate Ye Chen on his assault on the God King List. Ye Chen is actually so familiar with these two major figures?"


    Meanwhile, some disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute whispered: "You may not know, but Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue both followed ''Sovereign Xuechen'' in their cultivation, so they are technically Long Li''s senior sisters."


    "Perhaps it''s because of Long Li that they are so familiar with Ye Chen and treat him so specially!"


    "It seems like Long Li really considers Ye Chen something special; otherwise, these two prestigious figures wouldn''t be so courteous to him!"


    The buzzing discussions around them, of course, did not escape the ears of Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue.


    However, the two of them did not care about these discussions and smiled at Ye Chen, saying: "Ye Chen, you have completed your assault on the God King List, and next you probably need to choose a Cave Mansion, right?"


    "Come on, the two of us will accompany you to select a Cave Mansion. Just so happens, there''s one that is exceptionally suitable for you."


    With that said, the two women looked at each other and smiled, revealing some mischievous looks.


    Accompany me to choose a Cave Mansion?


    Ye Chen was momentarily stunned.


    He had never met this "Sovereign Jia Lan" or "Divine Venerable Meng Yue."


    Why did they act as if they were very close to him?


    Could it really be, as the others discussed, because of Long Li?


    "Sovereign Jia Lan, this name sounds quite familiar." Ye Chen felt that the name of Sovereign Jia Lan was very familiar indeed.


    In an instant, it came to him.


    The person who posted that Level 5 task in the Merit Task Pavilion, which was to go to the "Demon Tomb" to snatch the "Thunder Turtle Egg"¡ªwasn''t it Sovereign Jia Lan?


    Ye Chen did not expect to encounter this Female Sovereign here.


    As for "Divine Venerable Meng Yue," Ye Chen had neither seen her before nor even heard her name.


    But unexpectedly, she turned out to be the number one name on the most formidable "Divine Venerable List" among the three lists of the nine great Divine Institutes!


    Nevertheless, although Ye Chen was surprised by the invitation from these two major figures,


    he would not refuse.


    Ye Chen smiled, nodded to the two women, and stepped into the void to arrive beside Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue.


    Ye Chen was even more curious about which Cave Mansion these two prestigious figures said was exceptionally suited for him.

 Chapter 832 - 783: Panic, Outrage, Surprise

    Seeing Ye Chen arriving in the Void, Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue both smiled slightly.


    Following that, with a swoosh of Sovereign Jia Lan''s sleeve, the three of them disappeared from above the Void of the God King Hall square.


    After the three of them disappeared, the entire square boiled over with excitement.


    Without the deterrent of Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue, the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute erupted into loud discussions.


    And what they discussed most was the miracle Ye Chen created on the God King List, as well as Ye Chen''s relationship with Long Li!


    In the crowd, the most stunned was Fat God King Ling Feng, who felt dizzy watching the figures of Ye Chen, Sovereign Jia Lan, and Divine Venerable Meng Yue disappearing: "My heavens, Long Li actually likes Ye Chen to this extent, she left the Supreme Divine Institute, and her two sister masters even especially came to see Ye Chen."


    "Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue, both are famously cold beauties from the Supreme Divine Institute. Now, in full view of everyone, they are so intimate with Ye Chen."


    "When will I ever have such blessings..."


    Fat God King Ling Feng is now absolutely filled with envy and admiration towards Ye Chen.


    Some people are envious, some admire, some are stirred, some are jealous.


    But among the crowd, there are two people who are shivering all over, filled with immense fear.


    These two people are Yang Yun and Yang Yan, ranked first and third on the God King List.


    Both of them were cultivating in their own cave mansions.


    When they heard about the "God King List" undergoing huge changes, and Ye Chen as a Lower God King breaking into the seventh position, both of them were so startled that they immediately jumped up!


    They knew better than everyone what it meant for Ye Chen to occupy the seventh spot on the God King List.


    Initially, when they first met Ye Chen, he was just a Four Tribulations True God.


    In just a short period of time, Ye Chen broke through to an Eight-Tier True God in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, and later, he even cultivated to become a Nine Tribulations True God. Now, in just a few short months, he had stepped into the God King Realm!


    What''s more terrifying is that every time Ye Chen experienced a realm breakthrough, the increase in his combat power was enough to instill fear in them.


    Initially, when Ye Chen was a Four Tribulations True God, he was a nobody in their eyes, yet, as a Nine Tribulations True God, he possessed combat power capable of fighting an Earth Divine Venerable.


    Now, having just entered the Lower God King Realm, he even stormed into seventh place on the God King List!


    The seventh on the God King List is definitely capable of opposing ordinary Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    Even Yang Yun and Yang Yan only had Ye Chen''s current combat power when they broke through to the Upper God King Realm. Now, while Ye Chen is still a Lower God King, his combat power has reached such levels, how could they not be terrified?


    Given time, if Ye Chen breaks through to the Middle God King or even Upper God King Rank, he would surely leave them far behind!


    Especially since after they arrived at the God King Hall square and saw Ye Chen''s name indeed appearing as seventh on the God King List, they saw even more clearly how Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue cared about Ye Chen.


    At this moment, they deeply regretted having ever been enemies with Ye Chen.


    Initially, they were jealous when they thought of Ye Chen being with Long Li, but now it seems that only Ye Chen is worthy of such a peerless Heaven''s Chosen like Long Li.


    "We cannot be enemies with Ye Chen anymore."


    "In the future, the further away from this Ye Chen, the better!"


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan exchanged a look, and both made up their minds.


    When Ye Chen was still a Nine Tribulations True God, he had Xue Xian, who had been instigated against him, killed on the Platform of Life and Death, and even issued a challenge of life and death against the two of them.


    At that time, Yang Yun and Yang Yan were both scared off by the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" that Ye Chen possessed and dared not make a move.


    Eventually, they had agreed to Ye Chen''s three conditions.


    Whether it was setting up a feast to apologize to Ye Chen, keeping a distance of no less than three hundred zhang from him, or hanging an apology light screen outside their cave mansion, these three conditions had greatly embarrassed Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    Back then, they still had thoughts of seeking revenge against Ye Chen.


    Now, seeing Ye Chen break into the God King Realm and soar to seventh on the God King List, their thoughts of revenge had completely dissipated.


    As a joke.


    Before, they could look down on Ye Chen.


    Now, they absolutely dare not look down on him but can only treat him with the utmost solemnity.


    Moreover, considering the endless tricks up Ye Chen''s sleeve.


    They wouldn''t dare to hold any grievances against Ye Chen anymore!


    With terrified looks, Yang Yun and Yang Yan cast one more glance at the God King List before fleeing from the Void with pale faces.


    The two of them hid far away from the God King List, and now as they left, the God Kings on the square were completely unaware.


    If the God Kings knew that the seventh-ranked Ye Chen on the God King List could instill such terror in Yang Yun and Yang Yan, ranked first and third, the respect for Ye Chen among the people present would probably increase even more.


    However, the way the two of them miserably left did not escape the eyes of some Divine Venerables and Sovereigns.


    Seeing the state of Yang Yun and Yang Yan, and thinking about the rumored enmity between them and Ye Chen, these Divine Venerables and Sovereigns looked in the direction where Ye Chen disappeared, their gazes becoming more solemn.


    Yang Yun and Yang Yan completely abandoned their grudge against Ye Chen


    However, there was one person who did not give up.


    This person is Qin Yuntian, the master of Divine Dragon Mountain from one of the four major forces in the Divine Kingdom!


    The news of Ye Chen breaking into the seventh position on the God King List spread quickly from the Supreme Divine Institute to Divine Dragon Mountain.


    Upon hearing this news, the Divine Venerables of Divine Dragon Mountain were equally shaken.


    Some Sovereigns even advised Qin Yuntian that he should not make any more enemies with Ye Chen.


    After all, just the protection from Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King alone was enough to put significant pressure on Divine Dragon Mountain. Moreover, Ye Chen himself has shown absolute talent and has even broken through to the God King Realm.


    Many in Divine Dragon Mountain felt that it was not worth it to continue making an enemy of Ye Chen, a peerless genius, over the deceased Qin Feng.


    This advice, however, infuriated Qin Yuntian immensely.


    The fury of Qin Yuntian at this moment was not just because his direct descendant, Qin Feng, had been executed.


    Originally, killing Ye Chen was supposed to be a trivial matter for him.


    Later, because he was blocked by the East Territory King and didn''t want to lose face in front of him, he felt compelled to kill Ye Chen.


    Then, due to the "Sovereign Order" from Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King, Qin Yuntian truly grew to hate Ye Chen.


    Becuase of Ye Chen, he, an Eight Stars Sovereign, lost face in front of countless people in the Divine Kingdom.


    Whenever people talked about Ye Chen, they would say how he, one of the four major powers holder in the Divine Kingdom, couldn''t deal with a mere Ye Chen.


    How could Qin Yuntian accept this?


    Even if Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King explicitly forbade him from taking action, he was still determined to kill Ye Chen in secret, to let the world know that Divine Dragon Mountain could indeed kill whom they wanted!


    Even though Ye Chen has now broken through to the God King Realm, this wouldn''t stop him!


    "Don''t try to persuade me anymore!" Qin Yuntian waved his hand and interrupted the words of those Divine Dragon Mountain Sovereigns trying to advise him to hold back.


    "This boy is an extraordinary demon, he already holds a grudge with our Divine Dragon Mountain. If we let him continue to grow, it will definitely be a big problem for us."


    "Even if we hold back, can you guarantee that he won''t cause trouble for our Divine Dragon Mountain in the future?"


    Qin Yuntian''s words left the Divine Dragon Mountain Sovereigns showing expressions of dilemma.


    One of the protectors said to Qin Yuntian, "Leader, but there''s both ''Sovereign Xuechen'' and ''Northern Territory King''s'' Sovereign Order. Under the situation where our Divine Venerable and Sovereign cannot make a move, we simply can''t handle Ye Chen."


    "The animosity will only grow more profound if we keep antagonizing without the ability to kill him."


    "Leader, you''ve previously sent several people to secretly deal with Ye Chen, however, those Divine Kings couldn''t even find a trace of him. Now, Ye Chen has broken through to the God King Realm and ranks seventh on the Great God Institute''s God King List. Probably there''s no God King in the world able to contend against him."


    "How then, do we deal with him?"


    Hearing this protector''s words only increased the fury in Qin Yuntian''s heart.


    At the Supreme Divine Institute, it was not appropriate for him to make a move against Ye Chen, so he handed over the task of dealing with Ye Chen to Yang Yun and Yang Yan.


    However, Qin Yuntian also heard that the helpers recruited by Yang Yun and Yang Yan were directly executed by Ye Chen.


    Just when the news of Ye Chen leaving the Supreme Divine Institute came out, Qin Yuntian planned to have God Kings ambush Ye Chen on the road, but again, they couldn''t even find a trace of Ye Chen.


    Qin Yuntian did not know that when Ye Chen left the Supreme Divine Institute and headed to the "Demon Tomb," he had changed his appearance in advance, wary of him.


    "It''s indeed a pity that I didn''t kill him before."


    "Now that he has reached the God King Realm, he''s even harder to deal with."


    Qin Yuntian gritted his teeth.


    "However, now that Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King are preoccupied with the upcoming Stellar Domain Genius Battle and have left with the Sovereign of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation to the ''Splendid Star Sea,'' even the East Territory King who looks after Ye Chen has left with them."


    "Although we can''t make a move because of the Sovereign Order, lest we leave handles that could cause Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King to fire up at us."


    "But soon, there will be a heaven-sent opportunity that could allow us to find another chance to deal with Ye Chen!"


    "What kind of heaven-sent opportunity?" asked the Divine Dragon Mountain Sovereigns.


    Qin Yuntian narrowed his eyes and remained silent.


    But the Divine Dragon Mountain Sovereigns did not know that Qin Yuntian had already secretly answered in his heart: "This heaven-sent opportunity, it''s ''Heavenly God Mountain''!"


    "That ''Heavenly God Mountain'' that can block all prodigious explorations. Once Ye Chen enters, whether it''s the intrinsic dangers of Heavenly God Mountain or other people''s assassination attempts, even if Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King have shocking Divine Skills, they absolutely cannot help Ye Chen!"


    "Although only God Kings can enter Heavenly God Mountain, typically, a few God Kings from various Divine Nations would accompany the God Kings of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation into Heavenly God Mountain."


    "This time, I can focus on a few formidable God Kings from other Divine Nations and have them deal with Ye Chen on Heavenly God Mountain!"


    Qin Yuntian''s eyes flickered, pondering in his heart.


    Little did Ye Chen know, at this moment, Qin Yuntian was again contemplating eliminating him while he was still within the God King Realm.


    At this time, accompanied by Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue, Ye Chen had arrived at the First Cave Mansion Area on the God King Living Continent.


    With Sovereign Jia Lan, a Seven Stars Sovereign by his side, and Divine Venerable Meng Yue, the top-ranked figure on the Divine Venerable List responsible for managing the First Cave Mansion Area of the God King Realm, the senior elder of the Heavenly Divine Venerable naturally dared not hinder them in the slightest.


    After respectfully checking Ye Chen''s God King top ten token, the elder watched as the three of them entered the First Cave Mansion Area.


    Ye Chen found that the First Cave Mansion Area on the God King Living Continent was even larger than the First Cave Mansion Area on the True God Life Continent.


    Despite only the top ten on the God King List being qualified to reside here, this First Cave Mansion Area was still incredibly vast!


    The Cave Mansions left from history were incredibly far apart from each other, suggesting that cultivation here was basically undisturbed.


    Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue, however, led Ye Chen to the depths of a snow mountain outside the First Cave Mansion Area.


    This snow mountain, covering tens of thousands of miles, was completely forbidden.


    Outside the forbidden area, Ye Chen could see Divine Light flashing. Examining the Divine Light revealed text: "This area is the cultivation ground of Long Li. Without Long Li''s permission, no one from the Supreme Divine Institute may enter!"


    Being brought to the cultivation grounds of Long Li by Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue was truly unexpected for Ye Chen.

 Chapter 833 - 784: Long Lis Letter

    "Long Li has already become an Earth Divine Venerable and should have moved to the living continent of Earth Divine Venerables."


    "Could this be the residence of her Cave Mansion when she was in the God King Realm?"


    "However, since she has left, the prohibitions on her Cave Mansion should be lifted and available for others to choose, why is it still in a completely sealed state?"


    "Also, Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue brought me here, could it be, the Cave Mansion they previously mentioned that''s perfect for me, is actually Long Li''s Cave Mansion?"


    In immense surprise, Ye Chen turned his head to look at Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue.


    Without waiting for Ye Chen to ask, Sovereign Jia Lan smiled and said, "Ye Chen, this Cave Mansion was specifically reserved for you by your junior sister."


    "Originally, a Cave Mansion cultivated by a junior sister, just like the ones cultivated by our master Sovereign Xuechen, would never allow others to enter. But it''s different for you. When junior sister left Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, she specifically left the Cave Mansion''s Prohibition Token to Meng Yue to hand over to you."


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue also looked at Ye Chen and nodded: "Yes, she predicted you would soon step into the God King Realm, and she even said that you were so formidable that once you enter the God King Realm, you would definitely make it to the First Cave Mansion Area."


    "Back then, she insisted that I transfer the Cave Mansion''s Prohibition Token to you."


    "I originally didn''t believe that you could make it into the top ten of the God King List as a Lower God King, but indeed, you did it! It seems that junior sister really understood you well."


    Towards the end, Divine Venerable Meng Yue also showed an astounded expression.


    Although she is a major figure ranked first on the Divine Venerable List, when she was a Lower God King, she never made it to the top ten on the God King List.


    Compared to her, Ye Chen now, is much more impressive than she was at that time.


    Hearing that this Cave Mansion was indeed left for him by Long Li impressed an image of Long Li on Ye Chen''s mind.


    This seemingly cold and aloof young girl, indeed, treated him exceedingly well.


    Be it during their Fire Control Skills competition in the Nine Suns Ancient Land or when they fell into the Heavenly Union Flame, Long Li never held any grudges against him. On the contrary, she bravely rescued him when he was adversely affected by the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    Though Ye Chen''s favorite was Jiang Yao.


    But to say he had no affection for Long Li, the young girl with whom he had built a close relationship, was simply impossible.


    Now, Long Li leaving her Cultivated Cave Mansion for him to live in made Ye Chen feel deeply touched.


    Ye Chen fell into an indescribable mood, while Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue thought Ye Chen was hesitant to accept Long Li''s Cave Mansion.


    Both had heard about Ye Chen and Jiang Yao''s affair.


    Sovereign Jia Lan glanced at Divine Venerable Meng Yue, then said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, junior sister said, just live in this Cave Mansion, she won''t disturb you in the future as she has now established a new Cave Mansion on the continent of the Earth Divine Venerables."


    "When junior sister first arrived at the Supreme Divine Institute, she followed our master to cultivate until reaching the God King Realm before she went out to establish her first Cave Mansion, which is here. She specifically left it for you, don''t let her down."


    "Yes," echoed Divine Venerable Meng Yue, "this Cave Mansion was specifically left for you by junior sister, and she also left a letter inside, apparently she has something to tell you."


    "Now junior sister has not yet returned from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, if you don''t enter the Cave Mansion, you won''t get the letter she left."


    While Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue were still persuading, Ye Chen looked up at the two women.


    He smiled and said, "Seniors, I understand your intentions and know Long Li''s kindness. I''ve decided, I''ll choose Long Li''s Cave Mansion for my cultivation."


    Ye Chen wouldn''t neglect Long Li''s intentions just because of his own pride."


    He knew and appreciated Long Li''s kindness toward him.


    All he could do was to return the favor a hundredfold to those who treated him well!


    In the First Cave Mansion Area, there were countless Cave Mansions.


    No matter which Cave Mansion it was, he certainly wouldn''t deliberately avoid it just because it was Long Li''s.


    Especially when Divine Venerable Meng Yue mentioned about the letter Long Li left.


    It had been months since Long Li went to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and had not returned. Ye Chen was also concerned about Long Li and the situation of Jiang Yao in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    He wanted to know about some things from before Long Li departed through the letter.


    Hearing Ye Chen finally agreed to stay in the Cave Mansion left by Long Li, both Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue felt relieved.


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue smiled at Ye Chen and took out a white Prohibition Token, handing it to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, this is the token for this place."


    "This Cave Mansion was left to you by junior sister, we won''t enter."


    ...


    After talking with Fairy Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue for a while, the two women said goodbye, and Ye Chen, holding the Cave Mansion Prohibition Token, looked towards the Cave Mansion''s Prohibition Divine Light in front of him.


    However, Ye Chen''s mind was still filled with the conversation he had with the two women earlier.


    He had asked about some matters, and only then did Ye Chen learn that during the few months since he topped the assessment of the Nine Great God Institutes and joined the Supreme Divine Institute to travel to the Demon Tomb, some events had also occurred in the Supreme Divine Institute.


    The sovereign of the first rank of the Supreme Divine Institute, Sovereign Xuechen, along with the Territory Kings of the four provinces, including the ruler of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, have now left Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation and gone to a place called "Splendid Star Sea."


    It was said that they would meet the powerhouse


    There''s another thing, which concerns Ye Chen even more.


    It''s about Long Li going to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!


    Previously, Ye Chen heard from Sovereign Xuechen that Long Li went to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to find Jiang Yao, to explain some things about herself and avoid any misunderstandings.


    Now, from Sovereign Jia Lan, Ye Chen learned that Long Li had reached the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain several months ago and had sent back messages a few times.


    However, it''s been a long time since the last message.


    According to Sovereign Jia Lan, the last message sent by Long Li said that she along with Jiang Yao was going to enter a secret realm together!


    Now, more than four months have passed since they entered the secret realm, and still no message has come back, which of course fills Ye Chen with concern for the safety of Jiang Yao and Long Li!


    Even though Fairy Jia Lan said that Long Li definitely wouldn''t encounter any accidents.


    And in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, with powerhouses like Mrs. He taking care of Jiang Yao, Ye Chen believes Jiang Yao would be safe as well.


    But with no messages for such a long period, Ye Chen couldn''t help but worry about the safety of Jiang Yao and Long Li.


    After all, these are the two girls closest to him.


    They absolutely cannot encounter any mishaps!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen couldn''t bear to just stand outside the mansion''s prohibition any longer; he wanted to immediately enter the mansion to see what Long Li had written in the letter she left before leaving.


    Although the likelihood of the letter mentioning the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was minimal, Ye Chen wanted to learn more about the circumstances before Long Li went to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Thinking this, Ye Chen holding the mansion prohibition token, suddenly raised it towards the void prohibition, and with a "swoosh", a huge crack appeared right before Ye Chen in this tens of thousands of miles wide snowy mountain''s sealed area.


    Ye Chen''s figure moved and he flew into the prohibition!


    Long Li''s mansion was built at the summit of this snowy mountain.


    When Ye Chen flew into the mansion, he saw that outside was the snowy white of the mountain, but inside was a scene of early spring full of spiritual energy.


    The mansion inside was actually a specially crafted cultivation space.


    Inside, there were various exotic spiritual plants growing, making the space''s divine energy atmosphere incredibly dense.


    And at the core cultivation area, which was indeed a place for girls to cultivate, there were countless small ornaments cleanly arranged, also possessing a refined sense.


    But Ye Chen''s gaze instantly fell upon a letter on the cultivation stone platform.


    Ye Chen knew, this must be the letter that Divine Venerable Meng Yue mentioned, left for him by Long Li.


    Upon opening the letter, beams of divine light gently flickered.


    It was as if Long Li was gently speaking into Ye Chen''s ear.


    After reading the entire letter, Ye Chen let out a soft sigh.


    Long Li, aware that Ye Chen was going to the Heavenly God Mountain, told him in the letter about her own experience there years ago and what she had heard about the Heavenly God Mountain...


    Long Li also specifically mentioned in her letter that after Ye Chen steps into the God King Realm, he should engage in the cultivation of even stronger Cultivation Techniques. She had also specially collected many Divine Arts tomes and placed them in the mansion''s library, although she had already screened them once, she still let Ye Chen further select the Cultivation Techniques that most suited him.


    Even...


    Knowing Ye Chen couldn''t use the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact yet, Long Li had especially left three Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts for Ye Chen!


    Along with other items.


    The entire letter was about the preparations Long Li made for Ye Chen, she didn''t have the time to mention her own trivial matters.


    She didn''t even mention what Ye Chen most wanted to know about, the matters of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    At that moment, Xiaojiu was perched on Ye Chen''s shoulder.


    She also saw the letter Long Li wrote to Ye Chen.


    After reading it, Xiaojiu also remarked, "Ye Chen, this young girl Long Li really treats you well!"


    "Just like how Sister Jiang Yao treats you!"


    This was something Xiaojiu had said years ago when Long Li saved Ye Chen from the backlash of the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    At that time, Xiaojiu even joked with Ye Chen to just marry both Jiang Yao and Long Li, since many powerful individuals in the Divine Kingdom often have multiple wives and concubines.


    At that time, Ye Chen just gave Xiaojiu a blank stare.


    But this time, Ye Chen didn''t interrupt Xiaojiu''s words.


    Currently, Ye Chen was not concerned about his relationship with Jiang Yao and Long Li; he was more worried about their safety.


    "Xiaojiu, you also heard the message just now, Long Li went to find Jiang Yao, and the last message said they were going to enter a secret realm. Now, it has been over four months without any messages coming back."


    "Originally, I wanted to wait until the matter of Heavenly God Mountain was resolved before going to find them. Now, however, I want to go immediately to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to check on them."

 Chapter 834 - 785: Star Formation and Star Seal

    "Go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain right now?" Xiaojiu paused, "You just got back to the Supreme Divine Institute, and you''re leaving again?"


    Ye Chen nodded: "Originally, there was still over a year before the trip to ''Heavenly God Mountain'', I planned to stay at the Divine Institute to cultivate first, and then go find Jiang Yao and Long Li after visiting ''Heavenly God Mountain''."


    "But now, there has been no news from them for a long time, how can I rest assured?"


    "Over a year is not enough time to go to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom to help Huyan Divine Master fulfill his wish and then rush back to Heavenly God Mountain, but over a year is enough for me to go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain first to look for Jiang Yao and the others."


    "Especially now that I have the ''Star Seal'' given by Huyan Divine Master, it is more convenient to go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, under such circumstances, I must first find Jiang Yao and Long Li to ensure their safety!"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s determined expression, Xiaojiu nodded her head.


    "Going to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain first is alright, I also miss Sister Jiang Yao and my younger sister Shuang''er."


    Originally the two Nine Spirits Sparrow Emperors, Xiaojiu and Shuang''er, Xiaojiu followed Ye Chen, while Shuang''er followed Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen and Jiang Yao haven''t met for a long time, nor have Xiaojiu and Shuang''er seen each other for a long time.


    However, while agreeing with Ye Chen''s decision to go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Xiaojiu also said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, even if you are going to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, don''t rush this moment, Long Li left you so many things, you can first check what treasures are usable, and what Cultivation Techniques can be cultivated."


    "Even if you go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, you can also comprehend the suitable Cultivation Techniques left by Long Li on the road, and get accustomed to those treasures."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    After looking at Long Li''s letter for a moment longer, he then proceeded with Xiaojiu to the room where Long Li had left the items.


    One day later.


    Ye Chen''s figure flew out from the Supreme Divine Institute and in an instant, disappeared into the Void of the Supreme Divine Institute, unknown to anyone.


    ...


    Wanmu Mountain Divine City, is the capital of the entire Mountain Divine Nation.


    This Divine City, is also the largest among countless divine cities within the Wanmu Mountain Domain.


    This city alone occupies ninety-nine extremely large Star Continents.


    Moreover, the whole Wanmu Mountain Divine City stands in the very center of Wanmu Mountain Domain, surrounded and personally governed by the territories of East Provincial, West Territory, Southern Territory, and Northern Region!


    There is a jurisdiction in Wanmu Mountain Divine City that is the most mysterious place of all.


    This is because, there lies an extremely Mysterious object from Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation to other Divine Kingdoms¡ªcapable of inter-domain teleportation¡ªthe Teleportation Star Formation!


    Inter-domain teleportation.


    This is unlike the teleportation between divine cities within the Divine Kingdom.


    One Star Domain is so immensely vast, containing innumerable divine cities, and the distance between two Star Domains is millions of times that between divine cities!


    In such cases, setting up a "Teleportation Star Formation" is of course millions of times as complex as setting up a "Teleportation Divine Formation"!


    It is said that to erect Teleportation Divine Formations between divine cities in a Divine Kingdom, a Sovereign Realm or even a Divine Venerable Realm Formation master can achieve it.


    But to set up a Teleportation Star Formation between Star Domains, it requires a being who is beyond the Sovereign Realm, and moreover, a powerful figure beyond the Sovereign Realm to accomplish it!


    Moreover, using the "Teleportation Star Formation" to travel to other Star Domain Divine Kingdoms is also a very prestigious matter in the Mountain Divine Nation.


    Many Martial Artists have never left the Mountain Divine Nation in their entire lives, nor have they seen a "Teleportation Star Formation," let alone seen other Divine Kingdoms.


    Only those in the Divine Kingdom who have status, the God King Venerables, possess a mysterious item like the "Star Seal", can use the "Teleportation Star Formation" to visit other Divine Kingdoms.


    Ye Chen spent four days, many Black Divine Coins, and underwent dozens of Divine Formation teleports, to finally arrive from the Supreme Divine Institute to the capital of the Mountain Divine Nation, to the jurisdiction where the "Teleportation Star Formation" is located.


    Upon arriving at this jurisdiction, Ye Chen saw that from the direction where the "Teleportation Star Formation" is located, countless Divine Lights shot out reaching up to Polar Heaven. That span of Polar Heaven turned into an intensely bright rosy light.


    Although he didn''t see the actual appearance of the "Teleportation Star Formation", just from seeing the Sky-Piercing Divine Light from afar, one can feel the mysteriousness and mystique of the "Teleportation Star Formation".


    Upon arriving at the teleportation area, Ye Chen also saw that there was a very long queue, stretching from where the "Teleportation Star Formation" was located to the outermost part of the teleportation area.


    From the looks of it, there are tens of thousands of people waiting to use the "Teleportation Star Formation" to go to other Divine Kingdoms!


    It makes sense.


    Even though the "Teleportation Star Formation" requires a "Star Seal" to operate, and the "Star Seal" is only available to those of status within the Divine Kingdom.


    But this place is after all the capital of the Divine Kingdom, and after all, the number of people with status in the entire Mountain Divine Nation is countless.


    It''s understandable to gather tens of thousands of people at once to go to other Divine Kingdoms.


    Ye Chen, upon arriving at the place where the line was forming, followed the crowd and queued at the very end.


    "With such a long queue, even if teleportation is extremely fast, it might take half a day or even a whole day for my turn," Ye Chen sighed as he looked at the long queue.


    Ye Chen also noticed that those in line to enter the "Teleportation Star Formation" had taken out their Star Seals.


    These Star Seals varied in colors, some were blue, some were green, some were red.


    Ye Chen heard from Huyan Divine Master that the Star Seals are divided into five colors: "green, blue, red, orange, purple."


    The Star Seal that Ye Chen possesses was one of the deceased Great General''s disciples under Huyan Divine Master, specifically the "Orange Seal."


    Ye Chen noticed that even though there are five colors of Star Seals, he scanned around and everyone in the forefront had only "green, blue, red" Star Seals. Not a single "Orange Seal" was in sight, let alone a purple one.


    "No wonder Huyan Divine Master Lord said the Orange Seal is incredibly precious, only second to the Purple Seal that only those who surpass the Sovereign can possess. Probably only the powerful Eight Stars Sovereign and Nine Stars Sovereign would own an Orange Seal. It''s said that Star Seals are exclusive, and only through the death of their holder can they be passed on for reclamation by others. I''m lucky to have obtained the Orange Seal through the disciple of Huyan Divine Master."


    As Ye Chen was reflecting,


    he saw an Immortal Divine Venerable, who was in charge of maintaining order in the "Teleportation Star Formation" queue, fly directly up to him.


    This Immortal Divine Venerable, seeing that Ye Chen didn''t display his Star Seal, frowned and shouted at him: "Is this your first time here? Everyone entering the Teleportation Star Formation must present their Star Seal for inspection to prevent any unauthorized entries!"


    "Present your Star Seal!"


    "Without a Star Seal, I will have to expel you from the queue!"


    At this moment, several people had lined up behind Ye Chen, some of whom were Martial Artists who, like Ye Chen, were visiting the bounds of the Teleportation Star Formation for the first time.


    Hearing the words of this Immortal Divine Venerable, they hurriedly pulled out their Star Seals.


    "Indeed those from the capital are fierce,"


    Ye Chen thought with a laugh, not minding the situation, and pulled out his own Orange Seal as well.


    Then, something unexpected happened.


    The previously fierce Immortal Divine Venerable, upon seeing the "Orange Seal" in Ye Chen''s hand, suddenly had an expression of utter fascination.


    There was immense surprise, and even a hint of fear and panic in his eyes.


    This Immortal Divine Venerable quickly said to Ye Chen, "Young brother, may I check your Star Seal, please?"


    Seeing the previously fierce Immortal Divine Venerable suddenly putting on a smile, Ye Chen was also stunned.


    However, he didn''t object to this Immortal Divine Venerable checking his Star Seal.


    This Star Seal, given to him by Huyan Divine Master, had already recognized him as its owner; thus, it truly belonged to him now, so of course, he wasn''t afraid of any inspection.


    Ye Chen directly handed over the Star Seal to the Immortal Divine Venerable.


    After inspecting for a while, the cheeks of this Immortal Divine Venerable twitched, and he, chagrined, returned the Orange Seal to Ye Chen and bent forward saying, "Young brother, your hand holds an Orange Seal, no need to queue at all, just go straight to the front of the ''Teleportation Star Formation'' to teleport!"


    Orange Seal?


    Upon hearing these words of the Immortal Divine Venerable, "swoosh swoosh swoosh", numerous people in the queue suddenly turned to look at Ye Chen.


    Seeing that the Star Seal in Ye Chen''s hand was indeed the extremely precious Orange Seal, these people were even more astonished and cried out.


    "An Orange Seal, it really is an Orange Seal!"


    "My god, only the immensely powerful Eight Stars Sovereigns and Nine Stars Sovereigns can possess an Orange Seal, a seal that allows almost unrestricted teleportation across all Divine Kingdoms in our universe!"


    "How could such a precious Orange Seal be in the hands of a God King?"


    "Even if an Eight Stars Sovereign or Nine Stars Sovereign were to fall, their original Orange Seals would usually be bestowed upon their powerful successors or Divine Venerable inheritors. How could it end up with a God King?"


    "Could it be that this young man has a significant background? Only truly top-tier great powers can have surplus Orange Seals to possibly bestow upon Late Generations within the God King Realm!"


    At this thought, countless people looked at Ye Chen with a starkly different gaze.


    Though they held positions of status, the thought of possessing an Orange Seal passed down from an Eight Stars or Nine Stars Sovereign was unthinkable for them.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was also quite surprised.


    No need to queue, direct teleportation?


    He didn''t know that the Orange Seal carried such a privilege.


    Relieved to hear no queuing was needed, Ye Chen sighed with relief as this would save him a considerable amount of time, allowing him to reach the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain sooner.


    "No need to queue? Then, elder, I''ll head straight to the front," Ye Chen said to the Immortal Divine Venerable maintaining order.


    "Not at all, not at all, how could I dare call myself your elder when you possess an Orange Seal?" By now, the fierce demeanor of this Immortal Divine Venerable had completely vanished, and he said with a smile, "Let''s go, young brother, I''ll take you to the very front."


    After saying this, the Immortal Divine Venerable personally led the way.


    Ye Chen did not expect that an Orange Seal would command so much respect and awe from this Immortal Divine Venerable.


    Indeed, it was befitting of something bestowed by Huyan Divine Master, a significant figure from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, truly impressive.


    Following a smile, amidst numerous envious and reverent gazes, Ye Chen flew to the front of the queue.


    And when the person at the very front completed their teleportation, he followed and was the first to step into the Teleportation Star Formation.

 Chapter 835 - 786: Shocking News

    Only upon truly stepping into the Teleportation Star Formation did Ye Chen catch a glimpse of its entirety, hidden within the brilliance of sparkling light.


    At this moment, he was lifted by an inexplicable force onto a massive array with a diameter of hundreds of thousands of feet.


    This was an array countless times more complex than any Teleportation Divine Formation he had seen before, grander and more mysterious than any he had ever encountered.


    Even though Ye Chen had studied the Nine Volumes of Formation Array, just a glance at a minuscule portion of the Star Formation made his head spin.


    Furthermore, in an instant, his Divine Sense was repelled by the Teleportation Star Formation beneath his feet!


    This shock took Ye Chen by surprise.


    The pressure exerted by this "Teleportation Star Formation" on his Divine Sense was no less intimidating than the pressure he once felt from Huyan Divine Master''s residual spirit.


    Teleportation Star Formation!


    Indeed worthy of a peculiar Star Formation capable of crossing Divine Kingdoms and Star Domains.


    Truly deserving of being created only by a Great Powerholder whose might extends beyond a Sovereign.


    It truly was extraordinary!


    After his Divine Sense was bounced out of the Teleportation Star Formation, Ye Chen also saw that at each of the eight corners of this gigantic, octagon-shaped Star Formation, there was a figure stationed.


    Those eight figures were actually eight Sovereigns!


    Even the weakest among them was a five-star Sovereign, while the strongest was a seven-star Sovereign!


    Ye Chen had heard that whether it involved operating a Divine Array or a Star Formation for teleportation, the operators only needed to activate the Prohibition, without the need for the operators themselves to exert any effort.


    Normally, the operation of a Teleportation Divine Formation between Divine Cities could be handled by a Divine King, and only larger Divine Formations would require a Divine Venerable.


    Now, this "Teleportation Star Formation" was directly operated by Sovereigns¡ªand not just one but eight Sovereigns collaboratively. How could that not astonish Ye Chen immensely?!


    Indeed, the Teleportation Star Formations between Divine Kingdoms are orders of magnitude higher than the Teleportation Divine Formations between Divine Cities!


    "Teleporter, which Divine Kingdom is your destination?"


    Amidst Ye Chen''s amazement, one of the eight Sovereigns operating the Teleportation Star Formation asked him.


    Ye Chen steadied his Mind and Spirit, and said, "I want to go to the ''Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain''."


    Unexpectedly to Ye Chen, upon hearing the four words "Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain," all eight Sovereigns suddenly lifted their heads to look at him, and almost simultaneously said to Ye Chen, "The Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain is currently not a place one can go to!"


    Not to go?


    What''s going on?!


    A foreboding feeling suddenly surfaced in Ye Chen''s mind.


    At this moment, the first Sovereign who had spoken to him said, "The Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain is currently embroiled in a great war with another Star Domain Divine Kingdom. Although other Divine Kingdom''s people are not yet forbidden from entering, once you go there, it is fraught with extreme danger!"


    "Especially since you''re a Divine King, any slight mishap could lead to your death in the great war between two Divine Kingdoms!"


    Boom!


    The words of this Sovereign made Ye Chen''s heart leap within his chest.


    The Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain has fallen into a great war with another Divine Kingdom?


    A great war between Star Domain Divine Kingdoms?!


    Ye Chen knew that the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom also once waged a great war with other Divine Kingdoms, where the clash between two great Divine Kingdoms even obliterated countless Star Continents into nothingness, while more Star Continents were shattered into fragments.


    Even the ancient battlefield where Ye Chen had taken part in the examination for the nine Great God Institutes was left behind as a result of a great war between two Divine Kingdoms.


    Now, hearing about the ongoing great war in the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain, how could Ye Chen not be immensely shaken?


    His heart raced even more: "Could it be that Jiang Yao and Long Li have not sent back any news because of the great war between two Divine Kingdoms? Could something have happened to them during the war?"


    With this thought, Ye Chen wished he could immediately teleport to the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain to find out what was happening!


    As for the dangers of the great war between two Divine Kingdoms...


    Now, with the lives of Jiang Yao and Long Li unknown, how could Ye Chen only care about his own safety?


    Go.


    Even if the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain was in the midst of a great war, he must go there and clarify the situation regarding Jiang Yao and Long Li!


    With that resolve, Ye Chen directly looked at the Sovereign who had spoken to him and said aloud, "Senior, I must go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain. Please assist me with the teleportation."


    "Additionally, if it''s convenient for the seniors to disclose, please tell me which Divine Kingdom is at war with the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s insistence on going to the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain, the eight Sovereigns exchanged glances.


    The leading Sovereign who spoke to Ye Chen said, "The one at war with the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain is the ''Ferocious Beast Star Domain''!"


    "The ''Ferocious Beast Star Domain'' and the ''Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain'' originally stemmed from the same source but became mortal enemies due to different paths of life evolution. Practically every few hundred thousand years, the two Star Domains wage a great war."


    "During each war, both Star Domains suffer countless losses among their mighty warriors and the destruction of innumerable realms."


    "Of course, it is said that each Star Domain gives rise to even mightier warriors after every war, which is also why both Star Domains are unwilling to stop fighting."


    "Because of this, their battles are incredibly brutal, with slaughter sprawling across every part of the two Divine Kingdoms."


    "Transporter, under these circumstances, are you sure you want to teleport into the midst of such an incredibly chaotic battlefield?"


    Ferocious Beast Star Domain in a great battle with Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?


    Ye Chen had not heard of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain mentioned by the Sovereign, but from the Sovereign''s description alone, he could tell that the battle between these two Divine Kingdoms might be even more brutal than the great war in Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom of past years.


    However, even if it were more brutal and perilous, Ye Chen would not retreat.


    Although he was only in the God King Realm, very few people knew that his combat power was on par with a Heavenly Divine Venerable, and with this kind of cross-realm combat power, it''s very likely that many would underestimate him, helping him evade countless dangers.


    Additionally, he had his trump card, the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," at his disposal.


    Plus his "Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations" Divine Skills from the "Taiyi Chapter."


    Being a bit more cautious, he need not fear the chaotic situations of a Divine Kingdom''s great war.


    For Jiang Yao and Long Li, he definitely had to go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Ye Chen reaffirmed to the eight Sovereigns, saying, "Esteemed seniors, I am determined to go to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s unyielding insistence, the eight Sovereigns finally nodded in agreement.


    "During this period, indeed hundreds have wanted to travel to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, all of whom we persuaded to turn back."


    "However, since you are determined to go and have already entered the Teleportation Star Formation, we certainly will not stop you."


    "But, traveling from Wanmu Mountain Star Domain to Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, one needs to go through other Divine Kingdoms'' intermediary teleportation. There are five relatively convenient teleportation routes, which one do you want to take?"


    Ye Chen immediately said, "I choose the next Divine Kingdom for teleportation¡ªZimu Divine Kingdom!"


    Ye Chen had a "Teleportation Star Map" given to him by Huyan Divine Master, and he had already thoroughly researched the routes to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. Upon the eight Sovereigns'' inquiry, he promptly made his decision.


    "Zimu Divine Kingdom?" Hearing Ye Chen''s decision, the eight Sovereigns nodded, "Then we will teleport you to Zimu Divine Kingdom, from there you can head to Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, only needing to pass through four more Divine Kingdoms, which is indeed convenient."


    "Now, sit cross-legged on top of the Star Formation, and prepare to accept the teleportation!"


    Hearing the words of the eight Sovereigns, Ye Chen nodded, his expression grave as he sat cross-legged atop the Star Formation.


    The eight Sovereigns then simultaneously extended their palms, and an octagonal token engraved with the words "Zimu" appeared directly in their hands.


    Following that, the Sovereigns cast a spell with their hands, and their tokens flashed with an extremely dazzling light.


    These eight beams of light then shot towards the Teleportation Star Formation beneath Ye Chen.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    In an instant, the Teleportation Star Formation beneath Ye Chen lit up even more brilliantly, and the Divine Patterns on it began to circulate in a profoundly mysterious manner.


    Finally, with a "click" of a resonating sound, the circulation of the Divine Patterns in the Teleportation Star Formation beneath stopped, mysterious and numerous characters surfaced upon the formation, followed by a beam of light soaring to the sky, completely enveloping Ye Chen within the column of light.


    Ye Chen, sitting cross-legged within the column of light, spun around three times before disappearing from the Teleportation Star Formation with a "buzz."


    ...


    The teleportation between Divine Kingdoms using a Star Formation is countless times farther than that between Divine Cities with a Divine Array.


    However, this teleportation did not bring Ye Chen any sense of dizziness at all, and it felt even more effortless than the short-distance transport between Divine Cities.


    Ye Chen only felt that after a brief moment, he appeared on top of another Teleportation Star Formation.


    And this Teleportation Star Formation, while largely resembling the one from Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom had some minor differences.


    Ye Chen knew that he had now arrived within a new Divine Kingdom, inside of the Teleportation Star Formation of Zimu Divine Kingdom!


    At this time, outside the Teleportation Star Formation of Zimu Divine Kingdom, there were also eight Sovereigns overseeing the teleportation.


    Seeing Ye Chen arrive, the eight Sovereigns directly asked him, "Are you coming to Zimu Divine Kingdom, or are you traversing through Zimu Divine Kingdom to continue teleporting to another Divine Kingdom?"


    Ye Chen answered directly, "I am heading to the ''Ten Thousand Beasts Domain,'' passing through Zimu Divine Kingdom. Esteemed seniors, please transport me to the next Divine Kingdom¡ª''Crane Mountain Divine Kingdom!''"


    ...


    The more he teleported, the heavier Ye Chen''s heart became.


    Although the teleportation time was short, and the Sovereigns overseeing the transport through the various Divine Kingdoms did not trouble him,


    Every time he mentioned that he was heading to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, it brought shock and dissuasion from those presiding over the Star Formation teleportation.


    Without exception, these Sovereigns all said that the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was in a great battle with the Ferocious Beast Star Domain and that he would do well not to enter.


    Even though Ye Chen insisted on teleporting.


    This repeated persuasion also made Ye Chen truly gather all his Mind and Spirit.


    It seemed that the great battle between the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Ferocious Beast Star Domain was indeed an extremely brutal fight; he needed to be extremely careful when going to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!


    ...


    After five teleportations, Ye Chen finally arrived at the long-awaited Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Kingdom!


    When they saw a God King Realm individual arriving at the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, and not one from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain at that, the eight Sovereigns overseeing the Teleportation Star Formation of Ten Thousand Beasts Domain were extremely surprised.


    And when Ye Chen emerged from the Teleportation Star Formation of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and arrived above the central capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Void Heaven, a distant scene left him standing stunned in mid-air.


    In the distance, the sky seemed separated by a huge dome of light, and outside the dome, there was an endless mass of colossal beasts ferociously tearing at the light barriers!

 Chapter 836 - 787: Evil Transformation and Transcendence Light

    These gigantic beasts, varied in appearance but all bearing pitch-black color, looked exceptionally ferocious.


    Some of them were flying giants with huge black wings and sharp spikes on their bodies, while others were eight-hoofed behemoths sporting terrifying blotches on their dark forms, capable of gliding through the skies even without wings.


    There were also colossal beasts coated in disgustingly sticky slime, and creatures with fur that exuded dark, smoky miasma...


    Despite their diversity, these menacing black beasts acted in unison, frantically lunging towards the protective shield, clawing and pecking at it with their sharp talons and beaks, tearing and biting into it.


    However, Ye Chen noticed that no matter how fearsome these creatures appeared, they could not breach the barrier of the shield, constantly being kept at bay on the outside of the immense barrier above the Polar Heaven, unable to penetrate the space where Ye Chen was located.


    Ye Chen also took note that the great barrier above Polar Heaven would occasionally emit bursts of blinding light, which would transform into torrents of blue water columns that cascaded onto the dark ferocious beasts, instantly freezing them in place.


    With crackling "pops", those black ferocious beasts encased by the blue pillars of ice were instantly slain, falling from above the Polar Heaven down to the separated area outside the barrier, eventually fading into nothingness.


    Ye Chen''s gaze trembled.


    The vast barrier above Polar Heaven spanned tens of thousands of miles, and the number of black ferocious creatures attacking it might be in the tens of millions or even hundreds of millions.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen had the feeling that these beasts had at least the combat power of a God King, and it was not unlikely that there were creatures among them with the strength of a Divine Venerable.


    Such a multitude and extraordinary power of terrifying beasts were being slain in an instant by the barrier!


    The destructive power of the barrier was truly alarming!


    What Ye Chen found even more unexpected was that as countless black ferocious beasts were killed in an instant, outside the quarantine zone, endless new black ferocious beasts re-emerged, once again attacking the barrier, desperately tearing and biting at it.


    It seemed as though, despite the barrier''s astonishing lethality, the outside black ferocious beasts were seemingly endless.


    Ye Chen waited for some time until it seemed the barrier had accumulated enough energy, once again freezing and slaying the swarming black ferocious beasts.


    And then, countless more black ferocious beasts emerged, once again surging towards the barrier.


    It looked as if they had fallen into an endless loop!


    It was uncertain whether the barrier would first kill off the apparently inexhaustible black ferocious beasts until none were left or whether it would not withstand their relentless assault and ultimately break apart.


    In any case, Ye Chen observed for the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, and both were still engaged in an intensely anxious standoff.


    This truly stunned Ye Chen.


    Both the might of the barrier and the relentless and sustained onslaught of the continuous wave of black beasts filled him with shock and awe.


    Although his own strength was considerable, the forces of these two adversaries far surpassed what he was currently capable of withstanding.


    If he were to be engulfed by that terrifying horde of black ferocious beasts, even if he could slay tens of thousands, he would likely be overwhelmed by the remaining beasts, ultimately devoured to the point of leaving no bones behind.


    Ye Chen took note.


    The enormous barrier above Polar Heaven, spanning tens of thousands of miles, was isolating just a small part of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain capital that he had just arrived at.


    Limited by the range of his Divine Sense, Ye Chen didn''t know whether the rest of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain had fallen into the occupation of black ferocious beasts, or whether there were similar barriers outside in other territories, resisting these black ferocious creatures.


    In any event, just by observing such a scene, Ye Chen understood that the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was really unsettled, truly engulfed in an extremely terrifying battle situation.


    This made Ye Chen enormously worried.


    He had heard from Mrs. He that the Feathered Spirit Clan where she belonged did not reside in the center of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain capital but in a territory called Feather God Mountain on the northern side of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    If the capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was already in such a dire battle situation.


    Ye Chen was immensely concerned about how Feather God Mountain, where Mrs. He resided, was faring now, and whether the people of the Feathered Spirit Clan as well as Jiang Yao and Long Li were safe!


    Beside Ye Chen, there were also many Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, their expressions varying from sheer astonishment to extreme concern as they watched the black ferocious beasts attacking outside the giant barrier. Of course, some seemed used to it, paying no attention to the barrier and continuing with their activities across various territories within the tens of thousands of miles.


    Ye Chen directly turned to a blue-robed young Martial Artist beside him and asked, "Fellow Daoist, is the battle outside that barrier the one rumored to be waged by the ''Ferocious Beast Star Domain'' against the ''Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''?"


    "Also, do you know of a clan in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain named ''Feathered Spirit Clan''? How are they faring now?"


    The young man in blue robes was an Upper God King.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s queries and after surveying him from top to bottom, he responded with some curiosity, "You are not from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?"


    Ye Chen nodded and said, "Yes, I am from the Wanmu Mountain Star Domain. I have just arrived in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain."


    "People from the Wanmu Mountain Star Domain?" Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, the young man in a blue robe exclaimed in surprise, "That Wanmu Mountain Star Domain, if rumors are to be believed, is very far from our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. You''ve actually come all this way to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?"


    "And, given that you are aware of the ''Ferocious Beast Star Domain,'' you probably also know that the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain is currently at war with the Ferocious Beast Star Domain. In such a situation, you still dared to come to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?!"


    The words of the young man in the blue robe caused many people around him to gather closer.


    Many of them spoke up, "Young man, if you can come to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, you must have some abilities. However, it is indeed extremely dangerous now!"


    "Outside, it is indeed the Ferocious Beast Star Domain that is launching an attack on our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!"


    "Look at those black, fierce giant beasts; those are the siege demons raised by martial artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, specifically used for attacking cities!"


    "It is only because many Sovereigns in our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain have refined many treasures that piece by piece, they have sealed and protected our capital, preventing those beasts from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain from breaking through our defenses."


    "This giant light dome above us in the Supreme Heavens is an avatar of a Heavenly Divine Artifact known as ''Cilan''! This treasure belongs to ''Great Lord Meng Xuan,'' one of the Nine-Star Sovereigns of our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. Great Lord Meng Xuan''s primary Heavenly Divine Artifact has turned into countless such domes, safeguarding a vast expanse of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s capital and countless lands on the Star Continent, which is why we can remain safe and sound for now!"


    Heavenly Divine Artifact "Cilan"!


    Hearing that this light dome is an avatar of a Nine-Star Sovereign''s Heavenly Divine Artifact, Ye Chen was also taken aback.


    Indeed worthy of being a Heavenly Divine Artifact, even its avatar is so powerful!


    At the same time, Ye Chen asked curiously, "Since there are many Sovereigns in the capital of your Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, why do they only block the beasts from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, and not actively go out and completely annihilate them? Could it be that the Ferocious Beast Star Domain has many Sovereigns lurking outside as well?"


    "Why not annihilate them?" A martial artist from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain replied, "Every so often, we organize a large group of God Kings and Venerables to go out and slaughter those demons from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, seizing the territories they have occupied."


    "Of course, just as you expected, the reason why our Sovereigns seldom take action is that there are indeed Sovereigns hidden in the Ferocious Beast Star Domain. Once our Sovereigns take action, they will respond in kind."


    "By then, the battle situation will become even more terrifying. However, if things continue this way, a full-scale battle will inevitably break out sooner or later, a battle among countless beings of the Sovereign Realm!"


    Ye Chen felt a chill in his heart.


    It turns out that the situation was still in a probing phase, where God Kings and Venerables occasionally entered the fray, but the real battle between Sovereigns had yet to begin.


    But just from the dreadful sight outside, Ye Chen knew that once a battle of Sovereigns erupted, the scene would be unimaginably more horrific.


    "Things are relatively okay here," another martial artist from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain said to Ye Chen, "This is the capital territory, defended by many powerful Sovereigns. Those beasts from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain won''t be able to breach it easily!"


    "However, it''s different for other regions in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. It''s said that countless territories have fallen and been occupied by the forces of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain!"


    "Of course, just like they have waged war against us, we won''t let their homeland stay at peace either. Countless warriors from our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain have also gone to the territories of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, launching attacks and occupying most of their lands!"


    Another martial artist sighed, "A Great Divine Kingdom war is also a great calamity. I''m afraid countless warriors will fall in this battle."


    "We have fought the Ferocious Beast Star Domain many times, and each time we are pretty much evenly matched, but the casualties are countless. It''s only at the end, after innumerable deaths and injuries on both sides, that the mightiest Sovereigns will negotiate according to the war situation and re-divide the territories of the Divine Kingdoms."


    "Who knows how many people will perish in this great war..."


    Hearing this, Ye Chen also sighed inwardly.


    A battle where one side is stronger than the other already results in countless casualties. In such a war where the strengths are evenly matched, it''s easy to imagine that the ferocity and casualties would multiply even further.


    "If the war ends with both sides making peace, why do the two Great Divine Kingdoms have to fight at all?" Ye Chen couldn''t help but ask.


    Although the Sovereign who was in charge of the Teleportation Star Formation had told Ye Chen en route to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain that every time the two Great Divine Kingdoms waged war, it would give rise to peerless powerhouses, Ye Chen did not believe that, just for the sake of breeding powerhouses, such a terrible Divine Kingdom level war would be waged.


    After all, those who die are countless warriors from both Great Divine Kingdoms!


    A martial artist from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain looked at Ye Chen and said, "This matter isn''t really a secret, so there''s no harm in telling you."


    "Our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Ferocious Beast Star Domain are mortal enemies. In fact, the clans of our two Star Domains originated from the same ancestor group and evolved into different directions thereafter. The two Star Domains we live in are actually located within the same star river."


    "And this star river, every once in a while, will produce something terrible that stimulates the martial artists of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain to launch an attack on the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. We call this phenomenon ''Evil Transformation.'' Only after a certain number of deaths do the ''Evil Transformation'' states of the martial artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain disappear, allowing for the possibility of negotiations for a truce."


    "Of course, after each ceasefire, the star river will also produce a ''Transcendence Light,'' which draws a large number of Sovereigns into the star river''s Secret Ground. In the end, from among them, beings that surpass the Sovereigns will emerge."


    "Unfortunately, living in this star river, both our Great Divine Kingdoms must accept the disaster and fortune it brings. It''s unavoidable!"

 Chapter 837 - 788: Nine Elements Valley

    Hearing the words of this Martial Artist, Ye Chen''s heart shook greatly.


    It turned out that it was because of the galaxy where these two Divine Kingdoms resided that caused the great war between the two great Divine Kingdoms!


    To cause all warriors of a Divine Kingdom to undergo an "Evil Transformation" and unavoidably launch a war.


    Even more so, to give birth to the "Transcendence Light," allowing Sovereign Realm powerhouses to transform into beings that surpass the Sovereign!


    What mysterious power does this galaxy have that could cause such bizarre events?!


    Ye Chen once again recognized the mystery of this universe.


    Even now as a Divine King, he could not grasp the numerous mysteries of this universe.


    Ye Chen also understood that since the great war was inevitable, a certain number of deaths must occur for the "Evil Transformation" to disappear and for the great war to stop.


    Obviously, the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Ferocious Beast Star Domain would definitely kill as many of each other''s Martial Artists as possible!


    Ye Chen similarly knew that since the "Transcendence Light" from the galaxy would eventually draw a large number of Sovereigns into an unknown territory, the Sovereigns from the two great Divine Kingdoms would certainly kill each other.


    After all, the more opponents'' Sovereigns die, the greater their chances of being drawn into the mysterious realm by the "Transcendence Light," and the greater their chances of becoming beings that surpass the Sovereign.


    In such a situation, from the level of Sovereign Realm Martial Artists and below, it was simply unavoidable for the two Divine Kingdoms to enter a state of extremely tragic battle!


    "Since beings that surpass Sovereigns are constantly emerging from your two great Divine Kingdoms, can''t these beings understand the reasons why the galaxy develops ''Evil Transformations'' and ''Transcendence Light''?" asked Ye Chen to the Martial Artists of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, "After all, if those beings are sufficiently powerful, they should be able to unravel the secrets of this galaxy and help both Divine Kingdoms resolve the crisis of constant war and depletion, right?"


    The Martial Artists of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain all shook their heads: "Indeed, both our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and our adversaries, the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, can continually produce existences that surpass the Sovereign."


    "It is said that once these existences break through the Sovereign Realm, they all enter the Cosmic Sea."


    "But for some unknown reason, once they enter the Cosmic Sea, they rarely return. Even if they do return, they would never mention anything about this galaxy, as if they too cannot interfere with the influence of this galaxy on the two great Divine Kingdoms."


    Ye Chen nodded and sighed.


    The galaxy''s secrets are too profound; he is completely unable to fathom them, let alone solve them.


    Ye Chen speculated that the galaxy could very well be like the "Great Purge Catastrophe" of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation; it might be nature''s way of survival of the fittest, or perhaps, there might be beings of higher realms orchestrating this situation.


    No matter the case, Ye Chen currently has no means to help the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    More than the great war between the Divine Kingdoms of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, Ye Chen was more concerned about what happened to Mrs. He''s Feathered Spirit Clan, Jiang Yao, and Long Li!


    Ye Chen asked the Martial Artists once again: "Fellow Daoists, I have understood the matter of the two great Divine Kingdoms'' battle. What I am still concerned about is the situation of the ''Feathered Spirit Clan'' located at the northern border of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?"


    "Feathered Spirit Clan?" Many of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Martial Artists'' eyes lit up, "That is a very powerful tribe within our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain!"


    "The Feathered Spirit Clan has always had a Nine-star Sovereign, and it is said that recently another Nine-star Sovereign has returned to the clan. With several Nine-star Sovereigns, they should be safe!"


    Hearing these people mention that a Nine-star Sovereign had recently returned to the Feathered Spirit Clan, a notion struck Ye Chen.


    He knew that the person they were probably talking about was Mrs. He who returned to the Feathered Spirit Clan just over a year ago!


    Hearing these people speculate that the Feathered Spirit Clan was safe, Ye Chen felt relieved.


    The Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain should understand the severity of the great war. As they said, the Feathered Spirit Clan could fend off the attack from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, it was highly likely that they were safe.


    While it could not be absolutely certain, the weight on Ye Chen''s heart had lessened a lot.


    "Thank you, fellow Daoists, for resolving my doubts!" Ye Chen bowed towards the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Martial Artists he was conversing with, "I have another question to ask, I need to go to the Feathered Spirit Clan and wonder where is the Teleportation Divine Formation to go to their territory from here?"


    In the countless Divine Cities of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, there are Teleportation Divine Formations.


    Ye Chen was certain that within the different territories of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Kingdom, there must also be Teleportation Divine Formations.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s inquiry about how to get to the Feathered Spirit Clan, many of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Martial Artists shook their heads: "Previously, it was convenient to go to the Feather God Mountain where the Feathered Spirit Clan is located, only requiring several transports through Teleportation Divine Formations to reach there."


    "But now the situation is different! Ever since the outbreak of the great war between the Ferocious Beast Star Domain and the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, all the Teleportation Divine Formations between territories have been sealed off, and transportation can no longer be conducted!"


    "The reasons for this are, first, to prevent the constant transportation of the Teleportation Divine Formations from causing confusion among the number of Martial Artists across the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain territories. Second, to prevent any territory, should it be breached by the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, from affecting other territories through the Teleportation Divine Formation!"


    "Our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Nine-star Sovereigns have decided that, as with previous great wars, the entire Divine Nation''s Teleportation Divine Formations will be sealed off. Each territory will fight their own battles and ensure the safety of their own territories to respond to the attacks from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain!"


    "Even if the Sovereigns need to adjust the battle situation in different regions, they can personally attend and quickly adjust the Martial Artists to different territories. They would definitely not open the Teleportation Divine Formations, to avoid them falling into the hands of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, as well as to avoid causing confusion!"


    The Teleportation Divine Formation has been sealed?!


    Hearing what these Martial Artists said, Ye Chen was startled, and quickly asked: "Then how should I go to the ''Feathered Spirit Clan''? Do you mean I have to directly fly across countless territories and the numerous continents of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain from the nation''s capital to reach the Feathered Spirit Clan territory in the north of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?"


    To traverse half of a Star Domain from the capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to the northern Feathered Spirit Clan.


    Just like traveling from the East Province to the Western Territory of Wanmu Mountain, one would know without thinking that it is a tremendously long distance that Ye Chen, as a Divine King, wouldn''t be able to reach in a short time by merely flying.


    Let alone now during the great war between the two Divine Kingdoms!


    If he were to cross the territories of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and fly towards the Feathered Spirit Clan, he would likely die amidst the chaotic battlegrounds of the great war!


    "The capital is located in the central territory of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, to go from the capital to the northern Feathered Spirit Clan is simply impossible under these circumstances. One would certainly die on the way there!" said one of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Martial Artists.


    His words weighed heavily on Ye Chen''s heart.


    However, a martial artist''s words sparked a glimmer of hope in Ye Chen.


    This martial artist said: "Of course, even though the Teleportation Divine Formation is sealed, it''s impossible for the martial artists of the Divine Kingdom to be completely immobile; there are still ways to travel to other domains."


    "Of course, this method is dangerous, but compared to traveling alone, it is much safer."


    "What method?" Ye Chen quickly asked.


    No matter how dangerous, as long as there was some hope, Ye Chen would definitely rush to the Feathered Spirit Clan!


    The martial artist said to Ye Chen: "As we discussed earlier, every once in a while, the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain organizes a battle with the warriors from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain. At this moment, when combat power is amassed for the battle, it is also the best opportunity for many martial artists to travel to other domains."


    "In our region, there''s a place called ''Nine Elements Valley''. Anyone willing to go to other domains gathers there. If there are others with the same destination, they will form a group and set out together, which is also safer."


    "When forming teams, if there are strong warriors among us, traveling aboard their Flying Boats can also speed up the journey!"


    "The Feathered Spirit Clan is a vast domain, and there must be many people heading there. If you are determined to go to the Feathered Spirit Clan, you might want to try ''Nine Elements Valley'' to see if there are any companions for the journey."


    "This will definitely be safer than embarking on an adventure on your own."


    "According to the schedule, there are four more days until the next great battle between the two sides. By now, Nine Elements Valley must have already gathered a considerable number of people planning to leave the Divine Capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. You should go there and take a look."


    "Of course, even with a team, the risk involved is substantial. A slight mishap could lead to an encounter with a large troop from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, which could potentially result in total annihilation."


    "If there''s no urgent need to leave the Divine Capital, it''s better to stay here. After all, even though the Divine Capital faces the fiercest attacks, it also has the most Divine Kings and Divine Venerables. Relatively speaking, this is a safer place!"


    The gathering place, Nine Elements Valley?


    A spark of determination flickered in Ye Chen''s eyes as he nodded and asked, "Fellow Daoists, do you know where exactly this ''Nine Elements Valley'' is located?"


    ...


    Nine Elements Valley was situated tens of thousands of miles to the west of the region that Ye Chen was in, all within the range covered by a vast protective light barrier.


    These tens of thousands of miles of land were crucial to the Divine Capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, brimming with a multitude of martial artists.


    Even if the vast majority of people would not leave lightly, there were still thousands gathered in "Nine Elements Valley" at this time, waiting for the next great battle to seize the opportunity to leave the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Divine Capital for other domains.


    As Ye Chen arrived at the "Nine Elements Valley", he found that the Nine Elements Valley was a small valley spanning dozens of miles, surrounded by nine low mountains.


    The name "Nine Elements Valley" likely originated from this feature.


    After Ye Chen settled in the "Nine Elements Valley", he saw various banners fluttering throughout the valley.


    These banners bore the names of places like "Luoshen Mountain", "Sky Crossing Territory", "Eastward Territory", and other various domains.


    Under each named banner, there ranged from a few individuals to dozens or even hundreds gathered.


    Ye Chen understood that the names on these banners must be the destinations these gathered people intended to travel to together.


    Ye Chen''s gaze swept across the valley, and instantly, he spotted a banner labeled with "Feather God Mountain"!


    Indeed, there were people intending to go to the "Feather God Mountain" in the domain of the Feathered Spirit Clan!


    Ye Chen saw that there were already sixty-eight people gathered under the "Feather God Mountain" banner.


    This number was quite significant compared to other gathering places in the area.


    It seemed to be just as those martial artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain had said ¨C Feather God Mountain was an important domain, frequented by many.


    Among the people gathered under the banner, the lowest realm was the God King Realm, and there was not a single True God among them.


    It''s likely that martial artists at the True God level didn''t dare take the risk to travel to other places during the great battle!


    Among these sixty-eight people, there were forty-two in the God King Realm, eleven in the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, and fifteen were Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    As for the Immortal Divine Venerables and those at the Sovereign level, not one was present!


    Indeed, someone of the Sovereign level intending to travel to other domains probably would not join others in a group journey.


    As for the Immortal Divine Venerables, there likely weren''t many who would want to travel with others either.


    After surveying the group, Ye Chen directly flew down and joined the folks under the "Feathered Spirit Clan" banner.


    Originally, the sixty-eight people under the banner were pleased to see someone else flying in.


    After all, the more people joined to move as a team, the greater the chances of safely reaching the destination. Naturally, they hoped for as many people as possible.


    However, upon realizing that Ye Chen was merely a Lower God King, their faces showed disappointment.


    A Lower God King was considered the lowest realm among this group of people.


    Adding him to the group, they knew, wouldn''t significantly contribute to the team''s safety.

 Chapter 838 - 789: Old Acquaintance

    Under the blanket of disappointment, when Ye Chen arrived, no one came forward to welcome him.


    These sixty-eight people were either conversing with each other or sitting and resting, each continuing with their own matters, seemingly completely oblivious to Ye Chen''s arrival.


    Ye Chen saw the change in their eyes from anticipation to disappointment and shook his head with a smile.


    He knew that these people looked down on him simply because they saw that he was of the Lower God King Realm.


    However, Ye Chen didn''t mind this in the slightest.


    These people were strangers to him, and he was entirely unfamiliar with them. He was here only to accompany them together to the "Feathered Spirit Clan", and nothing else mattered.


    Ye Chen had no intention of engaging in conversation with these people; he instead chose to sit down directly under the flag of the "Feathered Spirit Mountain" to meditate and cultivate.


    Ye Chen was very composed.


    But Xiaojiu, hidden inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on Ye Chen, was pouting discontentedly about Ye Chen being ignored: "Ye Chen, these people are really blind!"


    "They underestimate you just because you are a Lower God King."


    "If they had any idea about your real combat power, that you could even battle against many Heavenly Divine Venerables, hmph, let''s see if they dare to look down on you!"


    Xiaojiu''s indignation almost made Ye Chen want to pinch her cute little face.


    Now, in her human form, Xiaojiu''s pretty face flushed red with anger, adding a touch of charm to her.


    Ye Chen sent a telepathic message to Xiaojiu with a smile: "Keep it low-profile, Xiaojiu. As long as we can safely reach the Feathered Spirit Clan, that''s fine. Everything else is not important."


    "Besides, my current strength is still quite insignificant compared to countless Sovereign and Immortal Divine Venerables emerging amidst the grand battles between the two great Divine Kingdoms."


    "Yeah, forget about them," Xiaojiu murmured, understanding that Ye Chen didn''t want to readily expose his combat power, and nodded slightly.


    However, her gaze towards Ye Chen was filled with determination, "Ye Chen, even if the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain has countless Sovereign and Immortal Divine Venerables, in my eyes, they don''t compare to you! When you reach their age, your combat power will definitely surpass theirs, and perhaps by then, you''d have already entered the Cosmic Sea!"


    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were silently communicating, more and more people continued to fly towards Nine Elements Valley.


    Among them, when a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable approached the gathering area under the flag of "Feathered Spirit Mountain", unlike the previous indifference towards Ye Chen, this time, a good half of the Martial Artists stood up with smiling faces to welcome the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    Clearly, the arrival of an Earth Divine Venerable would surprise and delight these people, not to mention the emergence of a Heavenly God Realm powerhouse. Naturally, these people were very eager to greet the Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    They showed disdain for Ye Chen, but for a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, a good half of them came forward to welcome him.


    In contrast, Xiaojiu was even more upset.


    However, remembering Ye Chen''s words, Xiaojiu held her peace.


    Xiaojiu thought to herself, "Hmph, wait until you truly witness Ye Chen''s combat power, then you will understand how formidable he is!"


    There were only four days left until the next grand battle outside the capital territories between the great Divine Kingdoms of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, and likewise, only four days until the gathered assembly in "Nine Elements Valley" would break through to other territories.


    Four days were, of course, incredibly precious.


    Ye Chen had yet to cultivate the "Gourd Sword" and "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" that he had obtained from Huyan Divine Master, as well as an important Cultivation Technique left by Long Li in his cave dwelling. Seizing the time, Ye Chen was engrossed in cultivation while waiting for the departure.


    As the day to head to the other territories drew closer, more and more people gathered at "Nine Elements Valley".


    By the last day before departure, the number of people assembled at "Nine Elements Valley" had swelled from a few thousand to nearly ten thousand!


    Under the flags indicating departure to various territories, crowds thronged with excitement.


    In some regions, the number of people heading there had even surged to four or five hundred!


    And the number of those bound for "Feather God Mountain" had also increased from over sixty to more than two hundred and forty at this moment.


    The majority of these people were Divine Kings and Earth Divine Venerables, and although there were fewer Heavenly Divine Venerables, their number had increased to twenty-seven.


    All in all, this was considered a team with considerable strength. If they did not encounter the main force of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, they should be able to smoothly travel from the national capital to Feather God Mountain.


    What exhilarated everyone gathered under the "Feather God Mountain" flag was that, as the departure time drew closer, two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables even joined their team in the end!


    Immortal Divine Venerables, oh.


    Figures second only to the Sovereign Realm.


    Their arrival truly transformed the combat power of the team.


    Under such circumstances, as long as they carefully avoided dangerous regions, they were assuredly very likely to reach "Feather God Mountain" safely!


    When the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables arrived, almost everyone under the "Feather God Mountain" flag was overjoyed, standing up to welcome these two Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Even martial artists from other regions, upon seeing two Immortal Divine Venerables joining the team headed for "Feather God Mountain," were filled with immense envy.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, too, had awakened from his cultivation.


    Seeing the arrival of Immortal Divine Venerables, Ye Chen also felt a surge of joy within him.


    After all, with Immortal Divine Venerables in the team, they were surely equipped with high-grade Flying Boats, which would significantly increase the speed of their journey!


    That way, Ye Chen could also reach the Feathered Spirit Clan sooner to find Jiang Yao and Long Li!


    But what Ye Chen had not anticipated came later.


    When the day of the great war arrived.


    The tremendous dome of light that enveloped tens of thousands of miles suddenly revealed numerous light portals, from which millions upon tens of millions of figures ascended from the capital, as countless God Kings and Venerables flew out following the portals¡ªthe massive war between the two Great Divine Kingdoms had erupted!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    At this time, the number of people gathered in Nine Elements Valley had reached over ten thousand. These more than ten thousand people also stood up, excitedly exclaiming, "The great war has started!"


    "The time has finally come for us to break through and travel from the capital to other regions!"


    "Let''s go, take advantage of the great war and hurry to leave! The main focus of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain is on the war; they will not put much effort into chasing and killing us!"


    In an instant, underneath each flag, a powerhouse brought out a Flying Boat. Martial Artists flew onto the Flying Boats, following the millions of figures, through the light portals on the great dome of light, flying outwards.


    Among the team bound for "Feather God Mountain," where Ye Chen was, one of the two great Immortal Divine Venerables also directly activated a top-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat.


    Ye Chen, along with the other two hundred or so people headed for Feather God Mountain, all flew onto the Flying Boat.


    The entire Flying Boat was preparing to break out and hasten toward Feather God Mountain.


    Just then, an incredibly beautiful female figure suddenly appeared above the Void in Nine Elements Valley. This extremely beautiful woman cast her gaze downward and saw the Flying Boat about to rush to "Feather God Mountain."


    With a flicker, she landed within the Flying Boat bound for "Feather God Mountain."


    When the breathtakingly beautiful woman suddenly appeared inside the Flying Boat, all the two hundred and forty or so passengers displayed ecstatic expressions.


    And Ye Chen himself showed an incredible look of delight!

 Chapter 839 - 790: The Great Battle and Breakthrough

    "Yu Ling!"


    Ye Chen directly called out to this exceptionally beautiful woman!


    This exceptionally beautiful woman was none other than one of the nine Female Divine Venerables Ye Chen had previously met at the Undersea Divine Palace alongside Jiang Yao, accompanying Mrs. He¡ªan Upper Immortal Divine Venerable¡ªFeather Spirit Divine Venerable!


    Back then, when Ye Chen and Jiang Yao met Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables, Jiang Yao called them "aunt," and Ye Chen followed suit.


    Ye Chen could never have imagined that he would encounter Feather Spirit Divine Venerable here in Nine Elements Valley!


    "Ye Chen!"


    The exceptionally beautiful woman, "Feather Spirit Divine Venerable," seemed to have rushed to Nine Elements Valley due to some urgent matters.


    She only came aboard the Flying Boat because she saw it was headed to "Feathered God Mountain."


    When she heard someone calling her name, she was slightly puzzled, but as she turned to look at the person calling her, seeing it was Ye Chen, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was just as astonished as Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen, weren''t you going to Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation? How did you end up in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain?"


    "Also, when we parted, you were just a Heavenly Saint. How have you broken through to the God King Realm in just a little over a year?"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s face was filled with a look of pleasant surprise.


    She immediately flew to Ye Chen, her fair hands grabbing his, her beautiful eyes incredulously surveying him up and down.


    At this moment, the other two hundred forty-odd people on the Flying Boat continuously glanced back and forth at Ye Chen and Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, their hearts thundering like a storm.


    What''s going on?!


    The reason they were originally thrilled when Feather Spirit Divine Venerable came aboard was because they realized that she was a powerfully formidable Upper Immortal Divine Venerable.


    Moreover, many of them recognized her ¨C the greatly renowned "Feather Spirit Divine Venerable" from the Feathered Spirit Clan!


    An Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!


    She could indeed be considered a Supreme Expert in the Divine Venerate Realm, second only to those in the Sovereign Realm!


    In situations where those in the Sovereign Realm rarely intervened, an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable could be said to be the strongest force in the wars between the two great Divine Nations.


    Under these circumstances, with Feather Spirit Divine Venerable boarding the Flying Boat and seemingly about to travel with them, it naturally made these people ecstatic.


    Among them, the two strongest individuals on the Flying Boat previously, the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables, were also incredibly delighted to see Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was quite a significant figure.


    Ever since her return to the Feathered Spirit Clan, almost the entire clan recognized her.


    These two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables naturally recognized Feather Spirit Divine Venerable as well.


    Upon seeing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable arrive, they instantly stood up from their meditative postures on the Flying Boat and respectfully greeted Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    With Feather Spirit Divine Venerable accompanying them, their anxious hearts also completely relaxed.


    What completely astounded these two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables, along with the other two hundred forty-plus people on the Flying Boat, was that they had not noticed an ordinary Lower God King directly calling "Feather Spirit Divine Venerable" as "Aunt Yu Ling."


    Even more unexpectedly, the high and mighty "Feather Spirit Divine Venerable" even recognized this young Lower God King.


    Without paying attention to anyone else, she flew directly in front of the young man, grabbed his hands, displaying an extraordinarily caring attitude!


    Clearly, the relationship between Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and this young man was absolutely extraordinary!


    In an instant.


    Many people''s hearts skipped a beat.


    Some of them had previously intentionally slighted Ye Chen, but now it seemed that this young man had quite a significant background!


    And when they heard what "Feather Spirit Divine Venerable" said to Ye Chen, these people''s eyes widened in disbelief.


    What?


    This young man isn''t from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain but had gone to Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation?


    Moreover, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said he was a Heavenly Saint just over a year ago?


    For the martial artists of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, this was simply unbelievable!


    To progress from the Heavenly Saint Realm to the God King Realm in just over a year, crossing over the Nine Tribulations of a True God.


    Even in the countless years of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, they had never heard of such fast cultivation achievements!


    Under the watchful eyes of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, and the over two hundred forty incredulous gazes surrounding them, Ye Chen only had one thought¡ªhe wanted to ask Feather Spirit Divine Venerable about Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen knew that given the affection that Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and the nine Female Divine Venerables, along with Mrs. He, had for Jiang Yao, she must know Jiang Yao''s situation in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    However, by this time, the Flying Boat had already flown into the void, and the great battle outside was about to begin, marking the best opportunity to break through.


    Ye Chen took a deep breath, suppressing the urge to talk with Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, and said to her, "Aunt Yu Ling, we should prioritize leaving here first, and we can discuss the rest on our way to the ''Feathered Spirit Clan.''"


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable also came back to her senses.


    She glanced at Ye Chen, smiling lightly and nodding her head.


    She then turned her head to look at the other two hundred-odd people on the Flying Boat, her gaze finally resting on the other two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Seeing that Feather Spirit Divine Venerable noticed him, the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables hurriedly knelt before Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, saying, "Your humble servant ''Mengyan'' (Mengkuo) pays respect to Feather Spirit Divine Venerable!"


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable nodded slightly towards the two men and said, "Whose Flying Boat is this?"


    Divine Venerable Mengyan hurriedly responded, "It belongs to the younger generation!"


    "Hmm, steer the Flying Boat well, leave the range of the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact ''Cilan'', and head towards ''Feather God Mountain''!" Feather Spirit Divine Venerable instructed Mengyan.


    "Yes!"


    Divine Venerable Mengyan dared not disobey the command of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    Not to mention that Feather Spirit Divine Venerable is a truly powerful Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, far surpassing him who had just broken through to the Lower Immortal Divine Venerable stage.


    Merely the rumors about Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, who had been an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable countless years ago and had followed the most powerful Nine Stars Sovereign, Mrs. He, of the Feathered Spirit Clan, were enough to keep Divine Venerable Mengyan from having any thoughts of defiance!


    Divine Venerable Mengyan immediately focused all his attention on steering the Flying Boat.


    The Flying Boat, along with countless others, left the Nine Elements Valley Void, and flew away from the immense light dome above Polar Heaven.


    When the Flying Boat flew through the light hole above the immense light dome and arrived outside it, the sight before Ye Chen involuntarily plunged him into shock.


    It could be seen.


    Outside the giant light dome, there was a vast expanse of heaven and earth, seemingly without end.


    At this moment, within this vast expanse, tens of millions of figures were engaged in fierce combat.


    These tens of millions of figures were split into two factions, one side had an ominous aura, fierce eyes, and also looked very brutal¡ªthese must be the Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain!


    The other side consisted of Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    At this moment, a great battle erupted, with countless Martial Artists from these two Divine Nations embarking on another deadly battle!


    A battle involving tens of millions of people, and everyone was of God King Level or Divine Venerable Level in combat.


    This scene was absolutely unprecedented for Ye Chen.


    What shocked Ye Chen even more was that, as the Flying Boat flew at high speed, passing over the battlefield, Ye Chen looked into the distance and could continuously see huge light domes above Polar Heaven. At the same time, he could also see two armies fighting outside the huge domes!


    Clearly, the battles between the Ferocious Beast Star Domain and the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain were not only happening in one place¡ªthey were happening in many parts of the Divine Country''s capital!


    What was even more shocking to Ye Chen was.


    Ye Chen vaguely sensed that although both sides featured God King Level and Divine Venerable Level fighters in battle, he felt that there must be Sovereign Level figures, lurking in even more mysterious realms, overseeing and commanding the battles.


    These Sovereign Level figures were definitely not just one!


    And, the Sovereign Level figures from both the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Ferocious Beast Star Domain definitely existed!


    Although this was only one battlefield in the capital region of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, by analogy, Ye Chen could imagine how staggering the overall battle situation of the two Great Divine Nations was.


    Spreading across the territories of the two Great Divine Nations, these battlefields were likely countless!


    In such shocking circumstances, individual Combat Power seemed extremely insignificant.


    Even though Ye Chen''s combat power was now at the Heavenly Divine Venerable level, if he were to be thrown into this battle situation, he feared his own fate could not be controlled.


    What relieved Ye Chen''s mind was that not knowing whether it was the commanders of the battles in the Ferocious Beast Star Domain focusing all their attention on the War with the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, or fearing the hidden Sovereign powers of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Even though they could see that many Flying Boats were flying in all directions to escape to other realms of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain during the battles, they did not pursue them.


    Instead, they focused all their attention on the ongoing battle between the two armies!


    In such circumstances, the Flying Boat that Ye Chen was on, after flying for about the time it takes to drink two cups of tea, finally left the battleground of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain capital, arriving at a desolate and uninhabited area.


    And Divine Venerable Mengyan, the one steering the Flying Boat, must have already looked up the safe routes to "Feather God Mountain".


    Once they left the capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, he immediately steered the Flying Boat, speeding through gaps between countless Star Continents.


    Only when the capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was no longer visible did the more than two hundred people on the Flying Boat finally breathe a long sigh of relief.


    Even though they had yet to reach their destination.


    But at least their escape so far had been safe and uneventful.


    At this point, Ye Chen could no longer hold back, and he directly transmitted a message to Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, who was sitting beside him, asking, "Aunt Yu Ling, how is Jiang Yao now?"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s extremely worried expression, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was also taken aback.


    It seemed she thought of something, and smiling, she said, "Ye Chen, do you miss Yao''er that much, rushing to find her as soon as you break through to the Divine King Realm?"


    "You haven''t even told me how you managed to break through to the Divine King Realm so quickly!"


    Seeing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s relaxed demeanor, Ye Chen''s heart relaxed.


    If Feather Spirit Divine Venerable could be so relaxed, then surely Jiang Yao could not be in any trouble.


    Otherwise, given Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s affection for Jiang Yao, she would not be so relaxed.


    However, Ye Chen still wanted to know about Jiang Yao''s situation, he quickly said to Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, "Aunt Yu Ling, indeed I went to Wanmu Mountain Star Domain, and later successfully joined the Supreme Divine Institute. In several opportunities, I smoothly broke through to the Divine King Realm and even obtained a ''Star Seal'' that allowed me to travel across Star Domains, which is how I could come here to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain."


    "A Star Seal?!" Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s beautiful eyes trembled, "Ye Chen, it seems you''ve encountered no small opportunities! You''re nearly on par with Yao''er!"

 Chapter 840 - 791: News of the Two Women

    Hearing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable mention Jiang Yao again, Ye Chen hurriedly asked: "Aunt Yu Ling, there was a young girl named Long Li from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation who came to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain looking for Jiang Yao, do you know about this?"


    "Long Li used to frequently send messages back to the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation. She also mentioned that she was with Jiang Yao," she said.


    "But, for quite a long time recently, Long Li hasn''t sent any news about her and Jiang Yao. I was very worried, so I hurried to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to look for them."


    "Aunt Yu Ling, Jiang Yao, she''s okay, right?"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s worried expression, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable gently smiled.


    She said: "Yao''er, she''s fine."


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s gaze drifted to the front, her tone filled with absolute confidence: "Ye Chen, don''t worry. In the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, with Grandma''s protection, even the Sovereign of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Divine Nation would not be able to harm Yao''er in the slightest!"


    "Even if it''s the midst of a grand battle between the two great Divine Nations, even if the Ferocious Beast Star Domain sends countless Sovereigns to invade our ''Feathered Spirit Clan'', Grandma would not let them harm Yao''er!"


    The words of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable finally let Ye Chen''s suspended heart completely relax.


    The affection Mrs. He and the nine Female Divine Venerables had for Jiang Yao, he had once experienced at the Undersea Divine Palace. Now, hearing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s protective remarks for Jiang Yao, Ye Chen could feel that Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s words were absolutely not exaggerated.


    It''s likely that even if the Sovereign of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s Divine Nation really had a conflict with Jiang Yao, Mrs. He would turn against the Sovereign to look after Jiang Yao!


    Of course.


    That is just an assumption.


    Ye Chen knows how gentle Jiang Yao is; she wouldn''t just casually cause trouble for Mrs. He and the others.


    With his heart at ease, a smile also appeared on Ye Chen''s face.


    He then asked Feather Spirit Divine Venerable: "Aunt Yu Ling, Jiang Yao is in the Feathered Spirit Clan, right? I haven''t seen her for a long time. I can finally meet her this time!"


    At this time, however, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable shook her head: "Ye Chen, Yao''er, she is not currently in the Feathered Spirit Clan."


    "Not in the Feathered Spirit Clan? Where did she go?" Ye Chen was startled.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said: "In this past year, although I left the ''Feathered Spirit Clan'' due to an important matter and have been staying in the capital all this time, I have kept in touch with Grandma and the others."


    "Grandma said that after Yao''er came to ''Feather God Mountain'', she has been diligently cultivating."


    Upon saying this, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable also looked at Ye Chen and smiled: "Yao''er has been cultivating so hard, she must also want to meet you sooner."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He knew Jiang Yao''s intentions. When he and Jiang Yao parted, the reluctance in Jiang Yao''s eyes almost melted his heart.


    At that time, both of them made an oath to diligently cultivate and reunite at the earliest!


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable continued: "Originally, Yao''er was cultivating at ''Feather God Mountain''. Later, the girl you mentioned called ''Long Li'' came to find her. I don''t know what Long Li told Yao''er, but the two youngsters then went together to the most precious cultivation spot of ''Feather God Mountain'' to cultivate."


    "Later on, the two of them left ''Feather God Mountain'' together and went to the incredibly mysterious realm in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain¡ª''Ice Emperor Realm''!"


    "According to Grandma, that girl named Long Li has a very mysterious background! She seems to have no ill intentions towards Yao''er. In fact, her arrival probably brought Yao''er some good fortune!"


    "Based on Grandma''s use of the Great Divine Power to deduce, the reason why there''s been no news from those two girls could very likely be that they have entered the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace''!"


    Zixuan Treasure Palace?!


    Upon hearing this term, Ye Chen''s face showed shock.


    At this moment, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable also said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, from your expression, it seems you remember what the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace'' is, right?"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He would certainly not forget what the "Zixuan Treasure Palace" is!


    Originally, in the Minor Spirit Realm, after he and Jiang Yao had together braved the great calamity of the Undersea Divine Palace, Mrs. He, the East Territory King and Elder Ku Du, the three Sovereigns, joined forces trying to help Jiang Yao investigate the disappearance of the Divine Phoenix Clan. They found that "Mysterious Ice Cave".


    However, they did not find any trace of the missing members of the Divine Phoenix Clan.


    At that time, Elder Ku Du and the East Territory King said that the "Mysterious Ice Cave" was the Supreme Secret of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, related to the secret left by an existence that surpasses the Sovereign level!


    And at that time, Mrs. He also mentioned, just like the "Mysterious Ice Cave" in the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, in the "Ten Thousand Beasts Domain", there was also the extremely mysterious "Zixuan Treasure Palace".


    This "Zixuan Treasure Palace", just like the "Mysterious Ice Cave", cannot be entered without fated opportunity, but once someone enters, it is said they could obtain something left behind by an existence that surpasses the Sovereign!


    At the time when Ye Chen heard about the "Zixuan Treasure Palace", he knew this palace, just like the "Mysterious Ice Cave", must be one of some secret places left by a powerful existence such as the Zi Ji Star Lord!


    Ye Chen never imagined that after Jiang Yao came to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, she would enter the "Zixuan Treasure Palace" with Long Li?


    Doesn''t this mean not only are the two of them safe and sound, but they might also encounter a life-changing opportunity?


    Ye Chen is aware of Long Li''s mystery.


    His "Stars Tower" only began to resonate when he encountered Long Li.


    Later, Long Li told him that she possessed a mysterious object, also left by an existence that surpasses the Sovereign, which was the¡ª"Star Luo God Ring"!


    Just the "Star Luo God Ring" being able to cause the "Stars Tower" to resonate was enough for Ye Chen to realize, the person who left the "Star Luo God Ring" for Long Li is definitely no weaker than the Zi Ji Star Lord.


    Now, Ye Chen already knows that the Zi Ji Star Lord is an absolutely pinnacle "Star Lord" level existence in the Cosmic Sea.


    Thus obviously, standing behind Long Li, there must be at least one "Star Lord" level great figure!


    Under such circumstances, for Long Li and Jiang Yao to obtain the opportunity to enter the "Zixuan Treasure Palace" is not out of the question.


    "Yu Ling, are you sure that Jiang Yao and Long Li entered the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace''? Could it be that they encountered some other danger, which is why there has been no news?"


    Even though Mrs. He said there was a great possibility that the two women had entered the "Zixuan Treasure Palace," since it wasn''t one hundred percent certain, Ye Chen still couldn''t help but worry.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s concern for Jiang Yao, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was also quite pleased in her heart.


    However, upon hearing that Ye Chen was also repeatedly mentioning Long Li, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable felt slightly curious; she did not know what kind of relationship Ye Chen had with Long Li.


    In her communication with Mrs. He, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable also learned that Long Li was an exceptionally beautiful little girl even younger than Jiang Yao and highly regarded by Mrs. He as well.


    Although curious about the relationship between Ye Chen and Long Li, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable did not ask directly.


    With a cultivation level as profound as Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, her experiences were already extraordinary. She understood that matters concerning young people like Ye Chen were not something she should meddle with.


    As long as Ye Chen did not let Jiang Yao down, she would not say anything.


    In response to Ye Chen''s inquiries, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable answered with a smile: "Ye Chen, in terms of concern for Yao''er''s safety, Grandmother''s worry is definitely not any lesser than yours."


    "Although Grandmother does not dare to guarantee that Yao''er has definitely entered the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace,'' Grandmother does say that Yao''er is certainly one hundred percent safe!"


    "Moreover, Grandmother mentioned that with that little girl Long Li together with Yao''er, there is even less reason to worry. Even if beings surpassing the Sovereign encountered them, I''m afraid they wouldn''t be able to inflict any harm on them!"


    Hearing this, Ye Chen was deeply shocked.


    He had not expected Mrs. He to hold Long Li in such high regard!


    Could Mrs. He have also learned about something left on Long Li by the ''Star Lord,'' or did Mrs. He sense some secret about Long Li?


    Ye Chen, of course, had an absolute understanding of Long Li''s strength.


    Even though his current combat power enabled him to fight with a Heavenly Divine Venerable, he was still far inferior to Long Li.


    Ye Chen had heard that when Long Li was in the God King Realm, she defeated not a few Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    Now that she has broken through to the Realm of Earth Divine Venerable, she is probably even able to confront an Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Especially since Ye Chen knew that Long Li''s control over the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' far surpassed his own. It was precisely because of this that Long Li was able to save him from the backlash of the Blue Extreme Iceflame in the past.


    The Blue Extreme Iceflame definitely also greatly enhanced Long Li''s combat power!


    It''s not just about Long Li''s own combat power anymore.


    Ye Chen always felt that there were even deeper secrets about Long Li.


    After all, the fact that figures like the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen were so fond of her, and that the two Sovereigns were at ease letting Long Li come to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain by herself, showed that Long Li surely had exceedingly powerful means of protecting herself!


    Thinking this, Ye Chen finally completely relaxed in his heart.


    Mrs. He could guarantee that Jiang Yao and Long Li were now one hundred percent safe, and with Long Li''s strong combat power, plus Ye Chen''s understanding of Long Li who had relations with him, and had come to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain wishing to explain things to Jiang Yao.


    With Long Li''s temperament, she would surely protect Jiang Yao in every possible way and wouldn''t harm Jiang Yao in the slightest.


    Under these circumstances, there was indeed nothing that could threaten them.


    "However, I have already come here, so I still want to make an effort to see them."


    "After I go to the Feather Spirit Clan to pay my respects to Mrs. He and several aunts, I will then head to the ''Ice Emperor Realm'' mentioned by Aunt Yu Ling to find Jiang Yao and the others!"


    Ye Chen made up his mind.


    ...


    In the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, within the vast depths of the ocean of the Ice Emperor Realm, a purple Xuan-colored Treasure Palace drifted.


    At this moment, Jiang Yao and Long Li, whom Ye Chen was concerned about, were inside this purple Xuan-colored Treasure Palace!


    Within the internal world of the Zixuan Treasure Palace, there was a place with countless steps and cultivation platforms. After every tens of thousands of steps, there was a platform, and above each platform, there were more steps leading to even higher platforms.


    Right now, Long Li was seated cross-legged and cultivating below countless steps.


    Jiang Yao, on the other hand, had already stood on the thirtieth-level high platform!


    The aura of the realm upon Jiang Yao had long since transformed from the Heavenly Saint Realm to the level of a Nine Tribulations True God!


    Jiang Yao continued to climb higher without ceasing!


    There was an unyielding resolve in the girl''s eyes; the image of the young man in her heart inspired her never to give up, continuously advancing in this mysterious place!


    "Ye Chen, wait for me to come out!"


    Jiang Yao''s murmuring voice carried absolute hope and determination!


    ...


    From the capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to Feather God Mountain, even with the top-quality Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat provided by Divine Venerable Mengyan, it still required a full half-month of flight.


    Along the way, Ye Chen and his companions remained safe and sound.


    Even when encountering small squads from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, under the watch of three Immortal Divine Venerables, especially with Feather Spirit Divine Venerable as the powerful Upper Immortal Divine Venerable present, Ye Chen and his group faced no danger at all.


    Along the way, they frequently encountered powerful Ancient Beasts from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain pursuing the flying boat. Some of these Ancient Beasts were handled cleanly by Heavenly Divine Venerables and Earth Divine Venerables without the need for the Immortal Divine Venerables to take action.


    After eleven days of flight, the group finally arrived at a place known as the "Black Crow Continent."

 Chapter 841 - 792: Black Crow Refining Wing Beast

    Aboard the Flying Boat.


    Gazing at the "Black Crow Continent" obscured beneath layers of dark clouds ahead, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, the regions surrounding this continent are somewhat dangerous. Relatively speaking, passing through from the ''Black Crow Continent'' is the safest route."


    "However, even if it''s relatively safe, navigating through this ''Black Crow Continent'' can be quite troublesome."


    "Feather Spirit Auntie, what kind of trouble can it be?" Ye Chen inquired curiously.


    Ye Chen noticed that at this moment, many of the Divine Kings aboard the Flying Boat were getting restless, as if they were very familiar with this region.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable also noticed the expressions of those Divine Kings and said with a smile, "This ''Black Crow Continent'' is home to a kind of flying Ancient Beast known as ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts''."


    "Once these flying Ancient Beasts detect a Flying Boat or a Martial Artist intruding into the ''Black Crow Continent,'' they will attack in swarms."


    "Furthermore, the stronger the intruding Martial Artist, the more numerous the ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' that will launch an attack!"


    "Only by slaying a sufficient number of ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' can one break free from their harassment. Otherwise, one will be relentlessly pursued and killed by the swarms of ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' until devoured."


    "In addition, this ''Black Crow Continent'' has always been a ''God King Training Continent'' for our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. The ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' here are mostly of God King Level combat power, though a small portion possesses the combat power of an Earth Divine Venerable."


    "Along the way here, our Immortal Divine Venerable, Heavenly Divine Venerable, and Earth Divine Venerable have all taken action. It''s just that the God Kings have yet to make a move. Now that we''ve arrived at the ''Black Crow Continent,'' I suppose the Divine Kings would also want to try their hands."


    As she said this, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s eyes sparkled while looking at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, having not truly seen your combat power for over a year, this is a good opportunity. With so many of us here, it won''t take too much time to eradicate the ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts.'' Let the God King Realm take action, and by the way, I''ll see how much your strength has increased."


    Hearing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s words, Ye Chen touched his head and nodded with a smile, "If Feather Spirit Auntie wants to see me take action, then I''ll confront these ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts.''


    "I also want to see what''s so special about the flying Ancient Beasts of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain."


    Seeing Ye Chen''s relaxed demeanor, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable became even more curious about his true combat power.


    She laughed and said, "Back then, in the Undersea Divine Palace, you could go head-to-head with a True God while at the Heavenly Saint Realm level. I assume that even though you are a Lower God King now, you should be strong enough to confront an Upper God King and even a Lower Earth God Sovereign."


    "However, among these ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts,'' there are also some with the combat power of a Middle Earth God and even Upper Earth God Sovereign level Ancient Beasts; you must be careful if you encounter them!"


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable wasn''t afraid of Ye Chen facing a life-threatening danger.


    With her here, these "Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts" definitely couldn''t harm Ye Chen!


    She just wanted to witness Ye Chen''s combat power, and if he truly faced danger, she would certainly intervene.


    "Feather Spirit Auntie, you can rest assured," Ye Chen said, winking at Feather Spirit Divine Venerable with a smile.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was momentarily stunned and murmured to herself, "Could it be that I have still underestimated Ye Chen''s combat power?"


    With this thought, she smiled inwardly, her curiosity growing even stronger.


    Of course, she hoped that Ye Chen would become as powerful as possible!


    After nodding at Ye Chen full of anticipation, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s voice reached the entire Flying Boat: "Let the Divine Kings take charge of clearing the obstacles of the ''Black Crow Continent''!"


    Upon hearing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s words, the more than one hundred and thirty Divine Kings on the Flying Boat cheered with excitement!


    They had long wanted to showcase their skills in front of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    Unfortunately, they hadn''t had much of an opportunity to exert any strength along the way, but now, they could finally demonstrate their prowess.


    "Feather Spirit Venerable, rest assured, we will definitely clear these ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' very quickly."


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    One by one, the Upper Divine Kings all stood up.


    Middle Divine Kings and a few Lower Divine Kings also stood up, both excited and nervous.


    At this moment, the Flying Boat had completely flown into the territory of the Black Crow Continent, and then, a series of piercing and sharp noises erupted from all around.


    Ye Chen saw that hordes of black flying beasts, each hundreds of feet long, seemed to have discovered the Flying Boat and swarmed towards it, clearly aiming to block the vessel''s flight.


    These black flying beasts looked like bats, but they had three heads and nine eyes. Especially their wings, which flickered with black and red Divine Patterns, appeared exceedingly bizarre.


    As the sharp noises rose, thousands of these black flying beasts gathered in the sky, making it dark as if shrouded by their massive numbers.


    And as if sensing the power of the Flying Boat, the cries of these black flying beasts grew louder and their numbers increased rapidly.


    If these flying beasts were not slaughtered, even the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat would face considerable hindrance in its flight.


    Of course, Ye Chen and his companions would not let these black flying beasts attack and impede the Flying Boat''s journey.


    "Attack!"


    "Haha, it''s been a long time since I came to the Black Crow Continent to kill Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts, let''s meet them again today!"


    Upon seeing the vast swarm of flying beasts approaching, the Divine Kings aboard the Flying Boat, already itching to move, instantly flew out.


    In a flash, more than a hundred figures directly confronted the large group of black flying beasts.


    Whoosh.


    Ye Chen''s figure flickered as he shot from the side of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, soaring into the Void Heaven.


    "So these are the ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts''?"


    Ye Chen stood in the void, watching the fierce battle between the flying beasts and the Divine Kings, his eyes flashing with a sharp gleam.


    Roar!


    At that moment, three Middle Divine King level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts, seeing Ye Chen standing in the void, flapped their massive wings and the trio of colossal beasts joined forces to charge towards Ye Chen.


    "Young brother, be careful!"


    From aboard the Flying Boat, the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables, Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo, couldn''t help but call out a warning to Ye Chen.


    Observing the close relationship between Ye Chen and Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, they naturally worried about Ye Chen getting hurt.


    However, seeing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable watching Ye Chen with a calm smile, clearly very confident in him, the two Immortal Divine Venerables restrained themselves from intervening to help Ye Chen.


    Next, something that shocked the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables happened.


    They saw the young Lower Divine King, who had a profound connection with Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, facing the combined attack of three Middle Divine King level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts without dodging or evading.


    On this young man''s body, a divine power aura erupted in an instant, even more formidable than the combat power of the three Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts.


    It was like a storm swirling!


    With a booming sound of Divine Light, the divine power aura from the young man transformed into countless rays of sword light that instantly shredded the three Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts into pieces, falling towards the ground below!


    These three Middle Divine King level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts were not even a match for a single move from this young Lower Divine King!

 Chapter 842 - 793: Eternal God Body

    "This young brother is not an ordinary Lower God King."


    "He has the ability to battle across realms, to see him killing these three Middle God King level ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' with a single move; his true combat power, I''m afraid, is sufficient to even fight an Upper God King!"


    Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo exchanged a glance, feeling quite surprised in their hearts.


    Both of them had originally thought that Ye Chen wasn''t very powerful, assuming he was only close to Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, but they hadn''t expected this young lad to be so formidable.


    A Lower God King able to contend with an Upper God King would also be considered a talent in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Within the Void Heaven.


    Ye Chen, who had just shredded three ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' to pieces with a single move, set his sights directly on the densely packed swarm of ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' within the Void Heaven.


    "Weak ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'', battling with them provides no help to me at all, not even a slight boost in my battle comprehension."


    "Better to find some more formidable ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' to fight!"


    Whoosh.


    Ye Chen''s figure flickered as he actively rushed towards the few Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts at the very back of the swarm.


    The few Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts at the back totaled six, all of which were Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts.


    Five of them were at the Lower Earth Divine Venerable level, and one was at the Middle Earth Divine Venerable level.


    The battle in the field had been between God King Martial Artists and God King level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts; those six Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts were merely driving the God King level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts to besiege the Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, without making a move themselves.


    Ye Chen suddenly burst forth.


    Not only did it give the Martial Artists in the field a huge shock, but the six Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts were also alarmed and suddenly started to fly.


    No one expected Ye Chen, a Lower God King, to actively charge toward the six Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts!


    "Good heavens, has he gone mad?"


    "I''m an Upper God King, and I wouldn''t dare to face six Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts alone!"


    Above the Void Heaven, many Upper God Kings engaged in a brutal fight with the Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts were so surprised that their actions slowed down, and they couldn''t help but turn their gaze towards Ye Chen.


    And those Middle God Kings and Lower God Kings were even more shocked.


    These Middle God Kings and Lower God Kings, facing the onslaught of Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts, were already somewhat overwhelmed, with precarious situations occurring from time to time.


    Although they knew that there were Divine Venerables watching the battle from the Flying Boat who wouldn''t let them get hurt, they most certainly did not possess the capability to actively challenge stronger level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts.


    Now, Ye Chen, deemed the lowest in realm among them, had actively launched an attack on the Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts, targeting those at the Earth Divine Venerable level in the rear; this had genuinely given a huge scare to those Middle God Kings and Lower God Kings!


    Not just these battling God Kings were shocked.


    Those Earth Divine Venerables and Heavenly Divine Venerables on the Flying Boat, even the three Immortal Divine Venerables, were also astounded.


    Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo exclaimed in surprise: "Could it be that this young brother is not only capable of battling Upper God Kings but is also unafraid of Middle Earth Divine Venerables?!"


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, looking at Ye Chen''s actions, her beautiful eyes shone even brighter.


    She couldn''t help but stand up: "Ye Chen isn''t a reckless young man; if he dares to make this move, he absolutely has the confidence to deal with these Earth Divine Venerable Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts!"


    "A Lower God King against six Earth Divine Venerable beasts, one of which is a Middle Earth Divine Venerable beast, this kind of cross-realm combat power is definitely that of a true unparalleled talent!"


    "Ye Chen trained in the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu [Ten Thousand Beasts] without any regression; on the contrary, he has become even stronger!"


    The shock of everyone present was all spawned in an instant.


    And at this moment, Ye Chen had already charged into the midst of the ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts''.


    Howl!


    Howl!


    Each ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beast,'' upon seeing Ye Chen kill towards their leader, grew even angrier.


    Their shrill cries grew frenzied, as a few hundred ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' attacked Ye Chen.


    And those six Earth Divine Venerable level ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' at the very back, were even more enraged upon being startled.


    How could they tolerate being targeted and assailed with killing intent by a Lower God King?


    Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts are naturally slaughterous flying creatures, not only do they attack Martial Artists passing by the "Black Crow Continent," but they also constantly fight among themselves.


    At this moment, seeing Ye Chen actively provoking them, these six Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts suddenly flapped their wings, emitting a sharp cry, shockingly repelling the hundreds of God King Level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts that were besieging Ye Chen.


    And, astoundingly, these six Earth Divine Venerable level flying beasts took it upon themselves to confront Ye Chen!


    Howl! Howl!


    The combat power of an Earth Divine Venerable level is truly terrifying.


    In an instant, the entire sky for thousands of miles around turned completely dark.


    With a single flap of the wings of these six Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts, there were even dozens of yards thick black lightning bolts striking down from the Void Heaven, aiming to kill Ye Chen, who was trapped in the middle!


    These "Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts" could actually invoke thunder and lightning!


    Seeing over a hundred of these yard thick black lightning bolts attacking him, Ye Chen''s face did not show the slightest hint of fear.


    Amidst the roaring thunder, the flashing lightning, and the howling violent wind, Ye Chen''s black hair fluttered against the wind, his eyes exceptionally bright.


    "I''m not even afraid of Heavenly Divine Venerables; dealing with these Earth Divine Venerable level ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'' doesn''t require me to use my true abilities."


    "Let''s use them to test the Cultivation Technique left by Long Li that I''ve recently learned!"


    "Although I have only just learned the first of the Divine Patterns of that Cultivation Technique, it should be enough to handle them."


    Ye Chen suddenly clenched his fists, and his entire being burst forth towards Void Heaven, charging towards the hundreds of black lightning bolts that were cleaving at him.


    "What is he doing?"


    "He''s facing the lightning attacks of Earth Divine Venerable level with his Physical Body, is he planning to resist with his Physical Body?!"


    Countless eyes trained on Ye Chen all flickered with shocked expressions.


    Meanwhile, Xiaojiu inside Ye Chen''s Ice Snow Jade Pendant was excitedly saying, "It seems that Ye Chen is going to test his newly cultivated¡ª''Eternal God Body''!"


    Amidst countless astonished gazes, and amidst Xiaojiu''s excited words.


    Ye Chen''s body directly charged into the center of those hundreds of black lightning bolts.


    And those hundreds of black lightning bolts, as if they had a target, in an instant, all simultaneously struck at Ye Chen''s body!


    In that moment, Ye Chen was completely engulfed by the black lightning, his entire body and even the surrounding void for ten thousand yards were filled with a dazzling lightning glow!


    This sight left those aboard the Flying Boat with mouths agape, and Heavenly Divine Venerables were even more wide-eyed.


    The Feather Spirit Divine Venerable also showed a look of concern between her eyes.


    But this expression was fleeting.


    Because, the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable saw that in an instant, within that blinding lightning glow, a black vortex appeared, resembling a leaf-shaped vortex, which instantly swallowed all of the sky''s lightning glow.


    Ye Chen''s body reappeared in Void Heaven!


    On Ye Chen''s body, there was an extraordinary leaf-shaped mysterious Divine Pattern light shadow!


    Facing the attack of the six Earth Divine Venerable level "Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts," facing the combined force of hundreds of yards thick black lightning strikes, Ye Chen remained completely unharmed!


    Not only unharmed, but Ye Chen even seemed to gain greater strength after being struck by the black lightning. With a flash of his body, he appeared in front of the most powerful Middle Earth God level Black Crow Refining Wing Beast among the six.


    Following that, Ye Chen''s palm suddenly grabbed out, and a giant palm shadow appeared, directly grasping the several hundred-yard giant Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beast within it.


    Then, with a "boom," Ye Chen actually crushed the Middle Earth God level Black Crow Refining Wing Beast to death!


    The tremendous hand shadow dissipated.


    This Black Crow Refining Wing Beast had also perished!


    This scene not only left the watching crowd in awe, but even the numerous Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts in the sky truly felt the danger, crying out mournfully, each one frantically scattering and fleeing in all directions.


    Even the remaining five Lower Earth Divine Venerable level Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts did not dare to launch another attack on Ye Chen, fleeing even faster than those God King Level beasts!


    In an instant, all the Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts that were besieging the Flying Boat fled.


    The entire sky was left with countless stunned God Kings and Ye Chen in Void Heaven, his eyes still bright!

 Chapter 843 - 794: 18 Misty Mountains

    When Ye Chen and the battling Divine Kings returned to the Flying Boat, everyone''s gaze towards Ye Chen had drastically changed.


    Initially, since Ye Chen was a Lower God King, everyone simply ignored him completely.


    Later, due to the arrival of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and her affection towards Ye Chen, many started to notice him.


    However, even those who noticed Ye Chen did so solely because of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, without any real recognition of Ye Chen himself.


    But now, Ye Chen''s performance in slaying the "Black Crow Refining Wing Beast" truly shocked everyone fundamentally!


    A Lower God King.


    Unafraid to face the six Ancient Beasts of Earth Divine Venerables!


    Able to instantly kill a Middle Earth Divine Venerable!


    This level of combat power was simply unimaginable to the Martial Artists from Ten Thousand Beasts Domain on the Flying Boat.


    This performance alone, even placed in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, could be called a "God King Realm" myth.


    Even within the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, there has never been a Lower God King who could achieve this.


    Now, when everyone looked at Ye Chen again, it was no longer just because of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable. Not only did the Divine Kings look at Ye Chen with awe, even the Earth Divine Venerables and Heavenly Divine Venerables present had some fear in their hearts.


    Only Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo, the two Immortal Divine Venerables, were somewhat calmer.


    But even in their calmness, these two Immortal Divine Venerables knew that in terms of potential, Ye Chen far surpassed them both.


    Amidst countless awestruck and reverent gazes, Ye Chen returned to the side of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    In Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s beautiful eyes, there was also an expression of immense surprise.


    "Ye Chen, you''ve really surprised me!" Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said with a smile, "If Grandma were to know you''ve become so powerful, she would definitely be immensely surprised as well!"


    "Ye Chen, tell me, has your true combat power reached the level to confront a Heavenly Divine Venerable?"


    From Ye Chen''s previously composed confrontation against the six Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts of Earth Divine Venerable level, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable knew Ye Chen''s true strength was definitely not just what he had shown.


    Ye Chen quietly transmitted to Feather Spirit Divine Venerable: "Aunt Yu Ling, I should be able to combat a Heavenly Divine Venerable."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s confirmation, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s beautiful eyes even more radiantly gleamed with an indescribable brilliance.


    "It seems Yao''er''s judgement was indeed very good. This ability of yours to battle across realms, placed in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, absolutely belongs to the top of the younger generation!"


    "Not just the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, probably even among countless star domains you could rank among the very forefront of the younger generation. To say there might be those who surpass you, it would only be those truly powerful beings from Divine Kingdoms of various clans."


    Being an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable had traveled through star domains alongside Mrs. He in her time.


    She knew much about the mysteries of the countless Divine Kingdoms in this universe.


    Ye Chen also agreed with what Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said.


    For him, a Lower God King, to be able to battle against a Heavenly Divine Venerable, indeed places him among the stunning achievements of Wanmu Mountain Domain and even Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    However, Ye Chen also did not become arrogantly self-important, believing himself to be the strongest among the younger generation in this universe.


    Not to mention others.


    Just when Ye Chen obtained the fifth chapter of "Primordial Star Scripture," the "Taiyi Chapter," and ascended to the fifth layer of the "Stars Tower", he knew from the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings" there that this universe contained countless clans far stronger than humans.


    Like the "Moke Ancient Clan," ranked first on the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings."


    Its people possess True God level combat power upon coming of age, and the frequency of births exceeding Sovereign status is also the most in the whole universe; they even originated from the Cosmic Sea to this universe.


    It goes without saying that the Divine Kings of the "Moke Ancient Clan" would undoubtedly have combat power far surpassing countless Divine Kingdoms'' Divine Kings in this universe!


    Not only the "Moke Ancient Clan," but also the "Netherworld Ancient Clan," ranked second on the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings," and even the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," which Ye Chen intends to visit in the future.


    These Divine Kingdoms and Ancient Clans are obviously among the truly powerful forces of this universe.


    In front of such forces, Ye Chen is still very insignificant.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t undervalue himself either.


    Although his combat power may not be the strongest among the younger generation in this universe, he also possesses many things others do not have.


    Such as the "Stars Tower" and "Primordial Star Scripture" left by Zi Ji Star Lord!


    And the various Cultivation Techniques he continuously cultivates!


    Should he continue to grow stronger, there''s no certainty he couldn''t match the warriors of the mightiest clans of the younger generation in this universe!


    "In just over eight years, the ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle'' that countless Divine Kingdoms of this universe participate in will take place. By then, I might even be able to encounter the elites from powerful Divine Kingdoms across this universe. Perhaps during the ''Battle of the God Kings,'' I might even match swords with Divine Kings from powerful ancient clans like the ''Moke Ancient Clan!''"


    The "Battle of the God Kings" in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle was the third requirement given to Ye Chen by Sovereign Xuechen and Northern Territory King.


    The two Sovereigns demanded Ye Chen to at least break into the top one hundred of the "Battle of the God Kings" in the "Stellar Domain Genius Battle."


    Whereas Ye Chen''s own expectations for himself were even higher; he aspired to break into the top fifty, even top ten or top three among even the most powerful Divine Kings across the entire universe!


    He is still a Lower God King now and has a long time to cultivate and accumulate!


    The Flying Boat continued to fly forward.


    While Ye Chen was conversing with Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, his mind and spirit turned rapidly.


    At that moment, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable seemed to have thought of something, and then said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, the way you resisted those six Earth Divine Venerables'' ''Black Crow Refining Wing Beasts'', was it by using a powerful divine body skill¡ª''Eternal God Body''?"


    "Yu Ling, you know about the ''Eternal God Body'' too?" Ye Chen nodded, "The technique I used just now was indeed the ''Eternal God Body'', but only the first of the Divine Body Patterns."


    When Feather Spirit Divine Venerable heard that it indeed was the "Eternal God Body", her expression instantly turned solemn.


    "Ye Chen, this ''Eternal God Body'', renowned across the universe, can be cultivated and used even by mighty ones at the Sovereign Realm."


    "This divine body''s skills are extremely hard to find, and many Divine Venerables and even Sovereigns find it difficult to get started. I didn''t expect that you would get these divine body skills and even began cultivating them successfully."


    "However, even though you have started cultivating it, it is said that this divine body has a total of five great Divine Body Patterns, and the further you go, the harder it is to cultivate. You must be fully prepared mentally."


    The words of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable made Ye Chen also nod solemnly.


    This "Eternal God Body", as Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said, is hard to find the skills for, yet Ye Chen obtained it from Long Li.


    Long Li left many cultivation techniques in the God King Cave Dwelling, among them dozens of types of divine body techniques, specially selected for Ye Chen.


    When Xiaojiu saw the "Eternal God Body," she immediately excitedly reminded Ye Chen to strive to successfully cultivate this divine body.


    Xiaojiu said that even the "Undying Divine Body" is considered the basic level of the "Eternal God Body".


    The "Undying Divine Body" can be called the strongest divine body below the Divine Venerable Realm, whereas the "Eternal God Body" can be ranked among the top ten divine bodies at the Sovereign Realm!


    Especially if one can fully cultivate the "Eternal God Body" to Great Accomplishment, its power could arguably be the strongest divine body at the Sovereign Realm.


    Of course, the message from Long Li, as well as what Xiaojiu also mentioned to Ye Chen, highlighted the difficulty of cultivating this "Eternal God Body".


    It is said that those who obtained the "Eternal God Body", even Eight or Nine Stars Sovereign, no one has heard of anyone who completely succeeded in cultivating this divine body.


    This "Eternal God Body" requires cultivating five types of Divine Patterns: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Chaos.


    The further you go, the harder it is to cultivate, and cultivating this divine body also requires countless materials, whose preciousness could even exhaust many Sovereigns'' fortunes.


    The "Eternal God Body" is strong enough, but the difficulty of cultivation is also high enough.


    Originally, Xiaojiu thought that Ye Chen might hesitate, and even Long Li prepared many types of divine bodies, fearing he would not want to cultivate this particular one.


    But upon seeing the "Eternal God Body," Ye Chen immediately decided that he would cultivate this divine body!


    Not only because his previously cultivated "Undying Divine Body" could be converted into a foundational cultivation base for the "Earth Divine Pattern" of the "Eternal God Body".


    But also because Ye Chen always felt a mysterious affinity with this divine body, out of many divine bodies, he set his sights on this one at first glance.


    In the three major Signs of Life ¡ª Essence, Qi, and Spirit ¡ª Ye Chen''s method of the "Qi" life sign has already the Primordial Star Scripture; and for the "Spirit" life sign, he recently acquired the Exquisite Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Gourd Sword" and the accompanying "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills", which are soul-attacking Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts.


    It''s only in terms of divine body techniques where Ye Chen''s methods are the weakest, still at the God King Level.


    With the "Eternal God Body", Ye Chen could fundamentally resolve the issue of the strength of his divine body technique.


    Even if he ultimately cannot completely cultivate this divine body to Great Perfection, the cultivation technique itself states that cultivating the five Divine Patterns to Minor Accomplishment is powerful enough, and to Great Accomplishment is sufficient to counter countless attacks.


    "I am now only at the God King Realm, far from the Sovereign Realm."


    "With such a long time, surely I can prepare all the materials and successfully cultivate this divine body!"


    Ye Chen thought to himself.


    The Flying Boat passed over the "Black Crow Continent", and in the following days, there wasn''t much delay in their flight.


    Along the way, even if they encountered some ancient beasts chasing them, with Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo helping Feather Spirit Divine Venerable manage affairs, the Flying Boat had a smooth journey.


    During this time, Ye Chen also took the opportunity to ask Feather Spirit Divine Venerable many questions about cultivation.


    Not only about some confusions regarding cultivation of the "Gourd Sword", but also about the materials for beginning cultivation of the first Divine Pattern "Earth Divine Pattern" of the "Eternal God Body", Ye Chen asked if the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain had them.


    Ye Chen was pleasantly surprised to learn that some materials for cultivating the "Eternal God Body''s Earth Divine Pattern" were indeed available in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, especially two very precious main materials, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable mentioned that they were available within the "Feathered Spirit Clan", and once reaching the "Feathered Spirit Clan" they would try to find them for him.


    To cultivate the first type of "Earth Divine Pattern" of the Eternal God Body, a total of thirty-six main materials and seventy-two auxiliary materials are required.


    During his time at the Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen had collected some information and found some leads for the materials, and he did not expect to also find a great bounty this time in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    The Flying Boat continued its flight.


    Days passed by one after another.


    Originally, Ye Chen thought that this calm flight would continue all the way to their destination, "Feather God Mountain".


    But unexpectedly, when the Flying Boat entered a territory called the "Eighteen Mist Mountain",


    just two or three days away from reaching "Feather God Mountain", the usually calm Feather Spirit Divine Venerable suddenly sensed something and her face greatly changed.

 Chapter 844 - 795: Ambush

    "What''s wrong, Aunt Yu Ling?"


    Seeing the change in Yu Ling''s expression, Ye Chen, who was sitting next to her, hurriedly spoke out and asked.


    Whoosh!


    In an instant, Yu Ling pointed her finger and Divine Light entirely covered the Flying Boat, and another Divine Light enveloped both her and Ye Chen separately.


    The actions of Yu Ling startled the other God King Venerables on the Flying Boat.


    "Lady Yu Ling!"


    "What happened?"


    The God King Venerables quickly looked towards Yu Ling, but their figures were obscured by another Divine Light and couldn''t be seen clearly.


    Within that additional Divine Light, Yu Ling directly said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, I''m afraid a great trouble is about to befall us soon."


    Without waiting for Ye Chen to ask, Yu Ling lifted her hand and interrupted him.


    "Ye Chen, there is no time, listen closely to me now."


    "I have enveloped our surroundings with my Divine Sense and discovered a large troop from ''Ferocious Beast Star Domain'' racing towards us, including even three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables!"


    "Their target is most likely me!"


    "You are a Divine King; they probably won''t pay attention to you. When I manage to create chaos later, you must seize the opportunity to escape and go to ''Feather God Mountain'' to find Grandma to save me!"


    "And this, you must deliver it into Grandma''s hands; they must be targeting me because of this item!"


    While speaking, Yu Ling handed an "Octagonal Stone Seal" with a seal to Ye Chen and also gave him a Flying Boat the size of a palm.


    "Also take this ''Heavenly Primordial Extreme Spirit Boat.'' When no one is paying attention, use this Flying Boat to rush to ''Feather God Mountain.'' With the speed of this Flying Boat, one day is enough for you to reach ''Feather God Mountain.'' As long as you find Grandma, I will definitely be safe!"


    Hearing Yu Ling''s words, Ye Chen''s heart skipped a beat.


    A large troop from Ferocious Beast Star Domain?


    Including three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?


    Ye Chen knew it wasn''t the time to ask questions. He moved his hand and stowed the two items Yu Ling gave him into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and also took the Jade Pendant into the Sword Palace Acupoint on his forehead to avoid detection.


    At the same time, Ye Chen said to Yu Ling: "Aunt Yu Ling, if those people are really targeting you, you must be careful!"


    "I have many damaged Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts here; see if there''s anything you can use, and use them."


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    With a flip of his palm, Ye Chen presented over a dozen Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts before Yu Ling.


    Yu Ling didn''t expect Ye Chen to possess so many Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts.


    However, she shook her head.


    "There''s no time, Ye Chen. Keep these Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts safe; I already have my own primed Ultimate Heavenly Artifact to use."


    "Although those three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables are of the same Realm as me, they won''t be able to slay me in a short time."


    Hearing Yu Ling''s words, Ye Chen was about to speak when a loud boom came from outside the Flying Boat.


    Ye Chen''s complexion changed. After exchanging a glance with Yu Ling, he flipped his hand and collected all the Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts from the ground.


    At this moment, Yu Ling also pointed her finger, causing the Divine Light that enveloped her and Ye Chen to dissipate.


    When the boom sounded from outside the Flying Boat, the Martial Artists from Ten Thousand Beasts Domain aboard the vessel grew even more anxious. Now, seeing Yu Ling and Ye Chen''s figures finally reveal themselves, everyone surrounded Yu Ling, hurriedly asking: "Lady Yu Ling, what exactly happened?"


    "People from ''Ferocious Beast Star Domain'' have come to assassinate us."


    Yu Ling''s first sentence made everyone''s face on the Flying Boat change drastically.


    They had encountered people from Ferocious Beast Star Domain before on their journey, but Yu Ling had always been completely calm.


    Now, with Yu Ling''s solemn expression, everyone on the Flying Boat knew that the people coming this time were no ordinary opponents.


    Possibly even Yu Ling didn''t have confidence in dealing with them.


    In this situation, a slight carelessness could lead to their total annihilation!


    Some God Kings were already trembling with fear at this point.


    At this moment, Yu Ling waved her hand to stop the frightened murmuring of the crowd.


    Yu Ling said: "They have ambushed us in the ''Eighteen Mist Mountains'' territory. It seems they had been prepared for a while. This ''Eighteen Mist Mountains'' is known for being difficult to explore with Divine Sense and it tends to cause a lot of interference in battle."


    "However, now that we have reached this situation, there isn''t much to say."


    "Later, I will try my best to hold them off, and you all should try to break through the siege and escape with your lives as best you can!"


    Bang!


    As Yu Ling''s voice fell, she pointed her finger, and the Divine Light covering the Flying Boat directly dissipated.


    Suddenly, a voice that enveloped the Heavens descended upon everyone in the Flying Boat.


    "Haha, Yu Ling, you hurried back from the capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to Feather God Mountain, even hiding within such a small Flying Boat. It seems, just as our Sovereign master predicted, you acquired that Treasure in the capital!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As soon as that voice sounded, Ye Chen and everyone on the Flying Boat saw a vast troop appear above the Polar Heaven.


    This large contingent, numbering over five hundred people, included not only three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables but also two Middle Immortal Divine Venerables and four Lower Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Additionally, the presence of Heavenly Divine Venerables, Earth Divine Venerables, and even Divine Kings was far superior to the Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain aboard the Flying Boat.


    These troops were twice as large as the Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain, with their foreheads covered in black patterns, and their eyes emitting a terrifying, blood-red vicious light.


    Ye Chen had already encountered people with such appearances in the great battle outside the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain''s national capital.


    Who else could these people be if not the Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain?


    At this moment, upon seeing the strength of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain''s large contingent, every one of the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain Martial Artists aboard the Flying Boat changed their expressions drastically.


    Whether they were Immortal Divine Venerables, Heavenly Divine Venerables, Earth Divine Venerables, or even Divine Kings, their numbers were absolutely overwhelmed.


    In such a situation, how could they remain calm!


    Seeing the Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain turn pale, many from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain''s contingent sneered coldly.


    The leading individual among the three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, dressed in black armor with a two-horned battle helmet, set his gaze directly onto Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    He was the one who had previously spoken.


    Now, he continued, "Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, let''s talk openly without mincing words. Hand over the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal,'' and I will spare you a path to life."


    Before he could finish speaking, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable interrupted him, "It is rumored that ''Sovereign Chi Jiu'' has three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables under his command, responsible for battling the ''Luo Feng Divine Mountain'' region north of our Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain. I did not expect you three to leave ''Luo Feng Divine Mountain'' and come here to ambush us."


    "Mysterious Morning, stop the useless chatter. I have also heard many rumors about you, and I have never heard that you would spare the lives of our Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain troops."


    "If you want the treasure in my hands, just make your move. I want to see just how much the combat power of a Ferocious Beast Star Domain Immortal Divine Venerable can increase after undergoing an Evil Transformation!"


    Even when faced with the large troop from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s momentum did not weaken in the slightest.


    "Good, good!" Hearing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s words, Mysterious Morning from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain smiled while clapping his hands, "I always say there''s no need for pointless talk with someone like you, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable."


    "Since that''s the case, let us see the truth under our hands!"


    "My master said that you, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, have been a renowned Upper Immortal Divine Venerable for countless years. He originally wanted to personally take that treasure, but unfortunately as a Sovereign, it''s inconvenient for him to show himself for fear of being noticed by the Sovereigns of your Divine Kingdoms. Therefore, he specially sent us three to face you in combat. Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, don''t say we underestimate you!"


    During the speech, Mysterious Morning from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain waved his hand back and coldly said, "Mysterious Endurance, Mysterious Bearing, join me in encircling and attacking Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, while the rest of you find your own opponents."


    "Remember, not a single one must escape, we must annihilate them all here!"


    Seeing that his guile was ineffective, Mysterious Morning now directly bared his fangs.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, over five hundred people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain dispersed, and the aura of divine power surged towards the heavens, darkening the sky in a moment.


    In a flash, the three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain simultaneously attacked Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    The two Middle Divine Venerables exchanged a glance and directly engaged the two remaining Lower Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain, Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo.


    The rest from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, amidst sneers, began their assault on the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain''s people.


    "Everyone, break through individually, don''t waste your lives here in vain!"


    Seeing that the people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain clearly had stronger combat power, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s expression darkened, and with a flip of her fair hand, a snow-white whip appeared in her palm.


    Whoosh!


    The originally three-foot-long snow-white whip instantly extended endlessly, and with a sweep of its tip, it lashed out at all of the five hundred plus people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    With this instantaneous move, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable single-handedly halted the actions of the over five hundred people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain!


    At this moment, how could the Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain dare to linger?


    They knew that Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was buying them time, and in this critical moment of life and death, they would only have an instant as Feather Spirit Divine Venerable couldn''t possibly hold off so many people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain for long.


    "Run!"


    "We must escape quickly!"


    Instantly, the over two hundred people from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain dispersed in all directions, abandoning the Flying Boat and fleeing.


    The people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain did not expect Feather Spirit Divine Venerable to be so strong, managing to stop everyone with a single divine whip. Seeing the people from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain escaping, they certainly would not let them get away.


    The expressions of the three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain darkened, and each summoned a golden cold blade in their hands. With a flick of their fingers, the three golden blades slashed towards Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s snow-white whip.


    At the same time, their voices spread to every troop of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, "Split up and pursue, let no one escape!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Although the combined attack of the three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables did not sever Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s divine whip, it created a momentary pause in the whip''s attack.


    At that moment, the remaining five hundred plus people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain flashed past the whip''s encirclement, and began a frenzied pursuit of the over two hundred scattering people from the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain.


    "Aunt Yu Ling!"


    Within the crowd, Ye Chen felt a surge of warmth in his eyes as he looked at Feather Spirit Divine Venerable being attacked by the three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    Ye Chen wanted to stay and fight side by side with Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    But he knew better; it was the worst strategy!


    His combat power was utterly inconsequential against Upper Immortal Divine Venerables!


    The only thing he could do, just as Feather Spirit Divine Venerable had said, was to quickly escape the pursuit of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain''s people and head to "Feather God Mountain" to find Mrs. He.


    Only Mrs. He could save Feather Spirit Divine Venerable from this situation!

 Chapter 845 - 796: Escape!

    "Let''s get out of here first!"


    "I must rush to ''Feather God Mountain'' at the fastest speed to seek assistance from Mrs. He!"


    Upon thinking, Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit activated and his body blended into the crowd, bursting towards the outside of "Eighteenth Mist Mountain".


    At this moment, with a flick of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s Divine Whip, she single-handedly held back three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables and two Middle Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    However, from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain side, there were still four Lower Immortal Divine Venerables leading over five hundred, including Heavenly Divine Venerables, Earth Divine Venerables, and Divine Kings, frantically pursuing the two hundred fleeing individuals from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    The combat power of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain troops still held an absolute advantage!


    Thump.


    In just a blink of an eye, more than a dozen of the two hundred people fleeing from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain were killed on the spot.


    Roar!


    Seeing their comrades killed beside them, the Martial Artists of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain''s eyes turned red, and they roared madly, wanting to attack the Martial Artists of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain to avenge their companions.


    But facing opponents who were vastly superior in both number and strength, they had absolutely no chance of resistance.


    Every individual was completely overwhelmed in a one-to-many fight!


    In such a situation, after gritting their teeth fiercely, those who were still alive knew they could not fight head-on.


    With their eyes red with rage, they could only suppress the urge to slaughter and frantically flee in all directions.


    Seeing her people from her Divine Kingdom killed, the heart of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable pounded as if drums were being struck.


    But at this moment, she was also powerless.


    Being an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, holding back three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables and two Middle Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain was already enormously pressurizing, and she had no spare capacity to attend to others!


    At this moment, Ye Chen too was completely powerless and his heart was pounding erratically.


    If he still had the "Xuan Divine Cone", he wouldn''t be afraid of these people.


    But his five "Xuan Divine Cones" had already been depleted during the expedition in the Demon Tomb.


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s own combat power could only handle opponents at the level of the Heavenly Divine Venerable, and even that was limited to one or two Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables; he wasn''t confident in defeating a Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    After all, whether it''s the "Gourd Sword", "Eternal God Body" or "Blue Extreme Iceflame", he hadn''t mastered their full powers.


    His Realm was just too low.


    Now among those pursuing them, there were even Lower Immortal Divine Venerables!


    In such a scenario, let alone rescuing others, Ye Chen wasn''t even sure about saving his own life.


    Ye Chen could only try his best not to draw the attention of those Immortal Divine Venerables.


    After all, he had exceedingly important tasks to complete; he had to deliver the item entrusted by Feather Spirit Divine Venerable to Mrs. He and ask Mrs. He to save Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    He must survive and get away!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Ye Chen was escaping through the void, at the same time controlling not to expose too much of his strength.


    Just occasionally staying ahead of the three Middle God Kings who were chasing him.


    A dozen breaths later, Ye Chen had already flown to the edge of the Fifth Mist Mountain of "Eighteenth Mist Mountain".


    In a little while, he would be able to escape the boundaries of "Eighteenth Mist Mountain"; when that happened, without the mountains obstructing, it would be even easier to escape!


    The three Middle God Kings chasing behind Ye Chen had initially thought that killing this seemingly minor Lower God King would not take much effort.


    However, every time they neared Ye Chen, he would manage to pull away again.


    However, the distance they pulled away was not too far, forcing them to summon their Divine Power and chase Ye Chen even faster.


    After chasing for dozens of breaths, these three Middle God Kings also sensed something was amiss.


    No matter how they increased their speed, this Lower God King youth in front of them always managed to stay a step faster.


    Clearly, this Lower God King youth was not as simple as he appeared to be!


    "We can''t catch up to him!"


    "We can''t keep chasing like this, if we do, he will surely escape! The elders instructed to kill all the Martial Artists from the ''Ten Thousand Beasts Domain'', not letting a single one escape!"


    Seeing that, if this continued, Ye Chen would soon escape the range of "Eighteenth Mist Mountain", the expressions of these three Middle God Kings changed.


    Howl!


    Howl!


    These three people actually stopped their pursuit, tilted their heads back to the sky, and let out sounds resembling the roars of demons.


    The sound waves traveled at an extremely fast speed, spreading towards the interiors of "Eighteenth Mist Mountain".


    "Hmm, someone is calling for help?"


    "It''s coming from the direction of Ao Chen!"


    Five Earth Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, who had just killed two Earth Divine Venerables from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, heard the calls for help from the three Middle God Kings.


    Instantly, their figures flashed, and they burst towards the direction of those three Middle God Kings.


    The speed of the Earth Divine Venerables was tens of times faster than that of the Middle God Kings.


    In just a moment, these five individuals caught up with the previously mentioned three Middle God Kings from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, and they also saw the fleeing Ye Chen ahead.


    "King God Guard, Wu God Guard, this kid has been hiding his strength all this time, his Escaping Speed is much faster than ours, we''ve taken a lot of time and still haven''t caught up to him."


    "If this continues, he will escape. Divine Guards, please take action and kill him immediately!"


    Seeing their own five Earth Divine Venerates arriving, three Middle God Kings from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain quickly called out.


    In this invasion of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain by the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, God Kings are merely called Divine Soldiers, while Earth Divine Venerables get the title "Divine Guard."


    And "Heavenly Divine Venerables" receive the designation "Divine Leader," and as for Immortal Divine Venerables, they are the "Divine Generals" of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain''s grand army!


    In the eyes of these three Middle God Kings, Ye Chen could escape from them but definitely could not escape from the pursuit of the Divine Guards.


    The five Earth Divine Venerates saw Ye Chen''s escaping figure and also had a glint in their eyes.


    One of the dark-skinned brawny men coldly snorted, "Hmph, such a minor Lower God King can''t even be caught up to, you three Middle God Kings are really useless!"


    "I alone will take him down!"


    Before his words even fell, the Middle Earth God Venerable with dark skin had already disappeared in a flash, and in the next moment, the distance that initially separated him from Ye Chen by tens of thousands of Zhang had closed to just a hundred Zhang.


    Just as he waved his hand to strike Ye Chen down.


    This Middle Earth God Venerable with dark skin was shocked to find that the young man in front of him unexpectedly increased his speed again, pulling the distance apart once more to tens of thousands of Zhang!


    This truly left the dark-skinned brawny man dumbfounded.


    "My God."


    "When a few of us Middle God Kings chased him earlier, he was already tens of thousands of Zhang ahead of us, and now, even an Earth God Venerable of the Middle Realm chasing him has still been left tens of thousands of Zhang behind!"


    "Could it be, his strength is even greater than that of a Divine Guard?"


    "How could such a young Lower God King be so powerful?"


    The three Middle God Kings, upon seeing that the dark-skinned man had not managed to kill Ye Chen in one strike, cried out in astonishment.


    Seeing something was amiss, the other four Earth Divine Venerates looked at each other and then all burst forth, chasing after Ye Chen together.


    The more they chased.


    The more astonished these Earth Divine Venerates became.


    Just like those three Middle God Kings, they fundamentally could not get close to Ye Chen!


    The dark-skinned brawny man along with the four following Earth Divine Venerates finally understood the earlier mindset of the three Middle God Kings.


    Powerlessness.


    Absolute powerlessness.


    The young man ahead was definitely no ordinary person!


    "It won''t work."


    "We need to call for help, quickly call for the ''Divine Leader'' of the Heavenly Divine Venerates!"


    The five Middle Earth God Venerates, originally coming fiercely, saw Ye Chen nearly escaping the range of the "Eighteen Mist Mountains" and quickly shrieked for help.


    Following that, a more piercing transmission sound than the previous three Middle God Kings reverberated towards the area where warriors from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain were concentrated within the "Eighteen Mist Mountains."


    At this moment, Ye Chen flying ahead also clenched his fists tightly.


    Originally, facing the pursuit of the three Middle God Kings behind him, he had long been unable to resist the urge to kill these people.


    But Ye Chen knew that now was not the time to act.


    If he killed these people, it might draw even more attention.


    It could even possibly attract the attention of the Immortal Divine Venerables!


    He could only choose not to act but to rely solely on speed to escape.


    Even though he had now drawn the attention of the Earth Divine Venerates, and even though these Earth Divine Venerates would likely attract Heavenly Divine Venerates later, Ye Chen still could not make a move.


    He had to completely widen the distance, to a point where even the Immortal Divine Venerates wishing to come would be too late, then he could strike down those pursuing him and completely escape.


    With this mindset, seeing the five Earth Divine Venerates calling for reinforcements behind him, Ye Chen no longer concealed his Escaping Speed.


    His Escaping Speed was directly elevated, rising to its strongest level of 70%-80%, instantly shaking off the five Earth Divine Venerates by hundreds of thousands of Zhang, millions of Zhang!


    Finally, in the blink of an eye, he widened the distance to tens of thousands of miles!


    In just a little more time, about the duration it takes to finish a cup of tea, Ye Chen was confident, with the Flying Boat given by the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable,] he could completely escape the probing range of those Ferocious Beast Star Domain warriors.


    Letting those Immortal Divine Venerates chase but still be too late to catch him!


    Inside the "Eighteen Mist Mountains", nearly ninety percent of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain warriors who had yet to escape the range of the "Eighteen Mist Mountains" had all been killed by people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain right at the scene.


    More than two hundred figures fell in an instant, nearly one hundred and ninety people!


    Only a mere handful of tens of people, who had taken out their last-resort trump cards that they had never used, dealing with the pursuit while still fleeing at extreme speed.


    Among them, the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo, had not yet fallen and directly attracted the attention of the four Lower Immortal Divine Venerables of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    The four Lower Immortal Divine Venerables of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain were chasing Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo, while those two Middle Immortal Divine Venerables and three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables were together dealing with Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    All Immortal Divine Venerables were engaged in battle.


    Thus, it was the Heavenly Divine Venerates who had completed their killing tasks, now gathering in groups of twos and threes, looking towards other warriors of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain who had not yet been dealt with, tracking down the closest escapees to pursue.


    When the cries for help from those five Earth Divine Venerates reached the ears of the two closest Heavenly Divine Venerables, these two Heavenly Gods vanished in a flash, appearing in front of them in an instant.


    When they heard that these five Earth Divine Venerates along with the three Middle God Kings had been unable to catch up to a mere Lower God King, these two Heavenly Divine Venerates were also somewhat shocked.


    And the next moment, these two Heavenly Divine Venerates instantly saw Ye Chen, who was escaping tens of thousands of miles ahead.


    The cold light in their eyes flashed, and they instantly disappeared from where they were.

 Chapter 846 - 797: Miserable Blood

    Upon seeing the disappearance of the two Heavenly Divine Venerables, the five Earth Divine Venerables and three Middle God Kings from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain said resentfully, "Now, let''s see how that young Lower God King can escape!"


    "Both ''Lord Zhao Shenling'' and ''Lord Sun Shenling'' are Heavenly Divine Venerables. Moreover, they are both Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    "That young Lower God King might be able to match a God King, or even an Earth Divine Venerable, but it''s absolutely impossible for him to match a Heavenly Divine Venerable."


    "Even in our ''Ferocious Beast Star Domain'', we''ve never heard of a Lower God King who could battle a Heavenly Divine Venerable."


    "This time, this lad is undoubtedly doomed!"


    The five Earth Divine Venerables and three Middle God Kings from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain harbored an extreme hatred towards Ye Chen.


    How could they not hate him?


    They failed to kill Ye Chen, and after the siege ended, they would surely be punished by their superiors.


    Especially since their realms far surpassed that of a Lower God King, yet they couldn''t catch a Lower God King, which made them feel utterly humiliated, as if they had been slapped in the face.


    Ahead.


    As the two Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain disappeared, Ye Chen, who was fleeing, suddenly heard Xiaojiu''s extremely anxious voice: "Ye Chen, this is bad, two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables are chasing after you!"


    Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    A shock went through Ye Chen''s heart!


    If it had been two Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables, he would still be confident of defeating them.


    But with Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables, let alone two, even one would be uncertain for him to achieve a complete victory.


    What to do?!


    Not only was Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit rapidly flashing, thinking of a way.


    Even the little monkey, who had been quietly cultivating within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, felt that something was wrong after hearing Xiaojiu''s anxious voice and became just as anxious as Xiaojiu.


    Both the little monkey and Xiaojiu, one in the Heavenly Saint Realm and the other in the True God Realm, although each possessed their own Divine Skills, could not confront a Heavenly Divine Venerable, nor could they assist Ye Chen.


    All they could do was watch Ye Chen with deep concern!


    "If I still had the ''Xuan Divine Cone'', not to mention two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables, even Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables I could kill!"


    "It seems, I can only use the ''Heavenly Primordial Extreme Spirit Boat'' given by Aunt Yu Ling and boost my speed to the extreme!"


    "I am already quite distant from the Eighteen Mist Mountain, in a little while, even the Immortal Divine Venerable won''t be able to detect my tracks, as long as I can shake off these two Heavenly Divine Venerables, I can smoothly head towards ''Feather God Mountain''!"


    In a flash of his Mind and Spirit, Ye Chen made up his decision.


    A shoot of Divine Light from the Sword Palace Acupoint between his eyebrows, and the Flying Boat given to Ye Chen by the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable burst forth in front of him.


    This Flying Boat burst forth in an instant, from a speck of Divine Brilliance to the size of a palm, then continuing to transform into several hundred zhang in size.


    With a flash, Ye Chen moved onto the Flying Boat.


    Following that, Ye Chen directly followed the Activation Skills taught by Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, driving the Flying Boat, thereby increasing his Escaping Speed by more than ten times, rapidly flying forward.


    One moment ago, Ye Chen just disappeared from the territory he was set foot in.


    The next moment, the two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables chasing Ye Chen appeared where Ye Chen had just disappeared.


    These two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables, seeing that Ye Chen was already aboard a Flying Boat and flying, and with each flash of the boat, the distance between them was getting increasingly bigger, disbelief flashed across their eyes.


    Following that, the disbelief turned into a cold glint!


    "A Lower God King, yet possessing a top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact level Flying Boat."


    "And earlier even the Earth Divine Venerables couldn''t catch up to him."


    "This person must have many secrets on him; killing him might reveal some extraordinary secrets!"


    With this thought, one of the two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables waved a hand, and a high-quality Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact Flying Boat appeared beside them.


    Both figures flashed, landing on the Flying Boat, which then chased after Ye Chen''s Flying Boat at an extreme speed.


    Although Ye Chen was driving a top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact Flying Boat, his limited combat power meant he couldn''t fully unleash the boat''s ultimate speed.


    The Flying Boat of the two Heavenly Divine Venerables behind him, though not as good as his, was not slower than Ye Chen''s under their combined power, and even slightly faster.


    In such a chase, the two Flying Boats had long left the realm of "Eighteen Mist Mountain", flying millions of li forward!


    The edge of the Eighteen Mist Mountain.


    At this moment, seeing that their two Heavenly Divine Venerables had chased Ye Chen for half a day and yet hadn''t returned, the five Earth Divine Venerables and three Middle God Kings also felt a tremble in their hearts.


    "Why haven''t ''Lord Zhao Shenling'' and ''Lord Sun Shenling'' killed that lad and returned? Could something have happened?" one of the Middle God Kings asked.


    Another Middle God King also spoke, "Maybe, should we seek help from the ''Divine Generals'' in the Immortal Divine Venerable Realm?"


    Before the words of these two Middle God Kings could finish, they were sternly glared at by the five Earth Divine Venerables beside them.


    "A ''Divine General'' of the Immortal Divine Venerable Realm is not someone we can casually seek help from," one said.


    "Also, I just saw that several Divine Generals are dealing with the Immortal Divine Venerable from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, they really can''t be bothered with such trifles."


    "Besides, with the capabilities of ''Lord Zhao Shenling'' and ''Lord Sun Shenling'', how could something possibly go wrong?"


    "Just wait, it won''t take long before the two Lords will kill that lad and bring back his head!"


    Chided by the five Earth Divine Venerables, the three Middle God Kings from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain quickly bowed their heads.


    However, the longer they waited, the more their eyes filled with concern.


    For some reason, they felt that the fleeing Lower God King youth was too peculiar, peculiar to the extent that even if he was pursued by Heavenly Divine Venerables, they couldn''t guarantee that the youth would definitely perish.


    Ye Chen was unaware of the thoughts of those Divine Kings and Earth Divine Venerables who had previously chased him.


    At this moment, all his thoughts were focused on operating the Flying Boat.


    Yet, even so, Ye Chen could feel that as the flight continued further, the distance between him and the Flying Boats driven by those two Heavenly Divine Venerables was closing.


    "This can''t continue!"


    "Being chased by these two, it''s a huge problem just having them tailing me, let alone whether they can catch up or not."


    "I definitely won''t be able to reach ''Feather God Mountain'' in a short time!"


    "If I delay any longer, and those Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain notice something amiss and rush here using the position of these two Heavenly Divine Venerables, I''ll undoubtedly die."


    Ye Chen''s gaze swept around.


    At this moment, he had flown into a Star Continent within the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, filled with Ancient Beasts, sufficiently far from the previous "Eighteen Mist Mountains."


    Ye Chen suddenly made up his mind.


    "Right here, I will decide on a life-or-death battle with these two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    "Only by killing them and completely erasing any traces can I escape; otherwise, all other options lead to certain death."


    "I must kill these two people!"


    After making up his mind, even knowing that there was no chance of victory in this battle, Ye Chen clenched his teeth, withdrew the Flying Boat, and stood directly in the Void.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Seeing Ye Chen''s actions, Xiaojiu understood his decision.


    Xiaojiu didn''t say much, her face also showing a determined expression: "Ye Chen, when you fight later, I will pour all my Divine Soul Power into your body, boosting your combat power as much as possible!"


    Even the monkey from the Heavenly Saint Realm, just like Xiaojiu, firmly said to Ye Chen: "I will also infuse my combat power into you!"


    Looking at the two companions beside him.


    Thinking of the more than two hundred Martial Artists from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain who may have already died in the encirclement within the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    A trace of desolation, and a hint of warmth, flashed through Ye Chen''s heart.


    No matter what, he still had these two companions with him, steadfastly by his side even in life or death!


    "Xiaojiu, little monkey, don''t worry, I won''t die so easily!"


    "None of us will die!"


    Ye Chen gave Xiaojiu a smile, his eyes turning resolute.


    Then, he turned his gaze towards the direction of the opposite Void.


    Boom!


    The Void opposite shook, and the Flying Boats of the two chasing Heavenly Divine Venerables directly descended.


    The two Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain withdrew their Flying Boats and appeared in the Void Heaven.


    "Little brat, not running anymore?"


    Seeing that Ye Chen was no longer fleeing and had stopped, the two Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain coldly smirked: "Since you''ve stopped running, then come meet your end!"


    Their gaze towards Ye Chen revealed a trace of greed.


    These two were not only interested in the top-notch Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boat on Ye Chen, but even more so in how Ye Chen, at the God King Realm, could escape so quickly.


    The two Heavenly Divine Venerables even decided that even if they killed Ye Chen, they wouldn''t directly annihilate his Divine Body, but rather thoroughly search Ye Chen''s secrets and take all his treasures for themselves!


    The cold and greedy eyes of these two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables couldn''t escape Ye Chen''s notice.


    Ye Chen knew that these two had a determined intent to kill him.


    Ye Chen also stopped wasting words, he pinched a spell in his hand, and a vast Divine Power surged out; Ye Chen shouted at the two Heavenly Divine Venerables: "Make your move, it''s either you die or I perish!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, the two Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain glanced at each other, burst out laughing heartily: "What a joke!"


    "A Lower God King daring to be so presumptuous in front of us Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    "Since you want to die sooner, we''ll grant you your wish!"


    Although the Divine Power surging from Ye Chen wasn''t at the Divine King level, and even exceeded the aura of countless Earth Divine Venerables, leaving these two Heavenly Divine Venerables in disbelief, as Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables, they didn''t regard Ye Chen as a threat at all.


    After their words fell, one activated a blood-colored long spear, and the other a black tower; the two Divine Weapons instantly flashed with Divine Light, growing tremendously and slashing towards Ye Chen.


    Bang!


    The attack of the Heavenly Divine Venerables was indeed incredibly fast, and even though Ye Chen was prepared and dodged one of the long spears, the black tower, which had transformed into a thousand-zhang-tall structure, directly hit him.


    This strike directly sent Ye Chen flying like a shooting star, crashing towards the Star Continent below, and he violently spat out several mouthfuls of blood, staining his clothes red.


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen was plummeting towards the Star Continent below, the black tower grew even larger, smashing down and aiming to crush Ye Chen directly into pieces!

 Chapter 847 - 798: Fight to the Death

    Such earth-shattering commotion early on had already startled countless ancient beasts on the Star Continent below, causing them to take flight one after another.


    The ancient beasts of this Star Continent are all rather weak, with the majority being merely True God level ancient beasts, with the strongest only being of the God King level.


    Nevertheless, the sight of countless ancient beasts being startled and taking flight was astonishing beyond measure. It was as if millions of ancient beasts had surged out like locusts from the ground, frantically fleeing towards all corners of the skies and earth.


    Above in the Void Heaven, the Heavenly Divine Venerable who unleashed the Divine Weapon spear, upon seeing Ye Chen dodge his attack, was already furious. Observing these chaotically fluttering ancient beasts, his anger found a place to vent.


    With a mighty slam of his palm towards the earth below,


    A towering surge of airwaves, with a "buzz", enveloped the entire Star Continent; the terrifying killing force even spun out millions of vortexes.


    In an instant, millions of the ancient beasts that had surged out on the Star Continent were all slain on the spot!


    One palm strike killed millions of ancient beasts!


    This is the power of the Heavenly Divine Venerable!


    Far exceeding the power of those True God level and God King level ancient beasts!


    In that moment, rivers of blood flowed across the Star Continent, the entire continent enveloped in a bloody, dark atmosphere, transforming into a land of bloody massacre.


    After annihilating those millions of hurriedly fleeing ancient beasts with one palm, the Ferocious Beast Star Domain Heavenly Divine Venerable wielding the spear showed no change of expression. His gaze turned back to Ye Chen.


    Then, he pointed his finger and the spear turned into a dazzling rainbow, slashing towards Ye Chen once again!


    Having been hit by the black tower, Ye Chen had already spat out several mouthfuls of blood. Under the rapid plummet, he was continuously attacked by the tower and the spear, even blocking an attack from the Heavenly Divine Venerable that killed countless ancient beasts. Ye Chen deeply felt the power of a mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable!


    Although he had killed a Heavenly Divine Venerable before, it was with the aid of the "Xuan Divine Cone".


    It was now, truly relying on his own combat power to confront the Heavenly Divine Venerable, that Ye Chen profoundly realized the formidable strength of the Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    Mere Divine Power aura was absolutely insufficient to confront such level of powerhouses!


    Seeing the black tower now transformed into a massive tower thousands of feet high pressing down on him, and the spear even faster than the tower, piercing like an arrow, Ye Chen wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, staunchly stopping the tremendous plummeting force.


    Simultaneously, Ye Chen pinched a spell in his hand.


    A gourd the size of a palm, flew out from within his body.


    Following that, from within this gourd, dozens of flying swords burst forth.


    Each flying sword instantly transformed into countless sword rains, with dozens of swords combined, a sky full of sword rain surged forth abruptly.


    This sword rain did not fall downwards, but instead met head-on the small tower and the spear attacks coming from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain''s two great Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the sky full of sword rain collided with the small tower and the spear.


    A tremendous explosion sound immediately reverberated throughout the heavens and earth, and the terrifying airwaves tore apart piece after piece of the void, creating countless horrifying spatial rifts!


    Ye Chen''s counterattack momentarily halted the Divine Weapons of the two great Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    However, following that, the two Divine Weapons violently shook, shattering the sky full of sword rain back into dozens of flying swords.


    Clearly, these flying swords were still unable to withstand the attack from the two great Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    Nonetheless, even a momentary blockade was sufficient for Ye Chen to catch his breath and dodge.


    In that instant, Ye Chen completely changed from his plummeting state; with a flash of his figure, he appeared above in another area of the Polar Heaven. Simultaneously, he reached out and grabbed, pulling the dozens of flying swords shot from the gourd back and they returned to the gourd before him.


    Seeing Ye Chen actually withstand the joint attack from these two mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerables, even if only for a moment, the two great Heavenly Divine Venerables of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain were taken aback, showing a mixture of shock and even ecstasy.


    "Attacking Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!"


    "For a mere lower God King like you to possess such treasure!"


    How could these two mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerables not be immensely shocked?


    Even they didn''t possess Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, not to mention the most precious attacking Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts!


    Their Flying Boats were only superior Mysterious Heavenly Divine Armament Flying Boats.


    And their small tower and spear Divine Weapons were only mid-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    In their astonishment, the two great Heavenly Divine Venerable were overjoyed.


    Their elation was because, if they could kill Ye Chen, then the supreme attacking Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts would fall into their hands!


    "Kill this person."


    "As long as he''s killed, the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact Flying Boat on his person, and this attacking Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, will all be ours!"


    In their excitement, the Divine Power of the two great Heavenly Divine Venerables surged countless times, their fingers pinched a spell, and countless Divine Powers flowed towards the small tower and the spear.


    In an instant, the Divine Light on the small tower and the spear became even more brilliant, and their Combat Power greatly surged.


    In a flash of Divine Light from both Divine Weapons, even more terrifying than before, they bombarded towards Ye Chen.


    "It won''t work, my ''Gourd Sword'' hasn''t been fully refined yet, I can''t hold on!"


    Seeing the attack from the two great Heavenly Divine Venerables coming once again, Ye Chen clenched his teeth.


    The gourd and flying swords he had wielded before were precisely the supreme Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Gourd Sword" he obtained from Huyan Divine Master.


    Unfortunately, even the "Gourd Sword" could not withstand the attacks of these two great Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    There''s also Ye Chen''s Divine Body "Eternal God Body," if it weren''t for this Divine Body, he might have already died under the joint strike of those two Heavenly Divine Venerables earlier, and it wouldn''t have been as simple as just spitting out a few mouthfuls of blood.


    However, Ye Chen could also feel that he, who hadn''t even fully cultivated the first type of Divine Patterns of the "Eternal God Body," could not withstand the combined attack of these two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    What should he do!


    Seeing that their killer moves were coming again, Ye Chen knew in his heart that there was only one way out.


    That is, to rely on the strongest means currently on him¡ªthe "Blue Extreme Iceflame"!


    Boom!


    Instantly, the endless "Taiyi Divine Power" surged out of Ye Chen, and at the same time, with a stretch of his hand, that strand of "Blue Extreme Iceflame" he could successfully control appeared in his hand.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s actions, Xiaojiu and Xiaohou inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant also knew that Ye Chen was making a last-ditch effort.


    The two companions did not hesitate at all and poured all their strength into Ye Chen''s body.


    Xiaojiu''s Soul Power, as well as Xiaohou''s Heavenly Saint Power!


    Feeling the power of his two companions rushing into his body, Ye Chen''s eyes welled up even more, and with gritted teeth, the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" in his hand instantly blazed fiercely, turning into a hundreds of feet tall flame that completely enveloped his entire body.


    Ye Chen, enveloped by the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," seemed like a fire person, charging towards the two incoming Divine Weapons, the black tower and the blood-colored spear.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    It was as if heaven and earth were splitting apart.


    Like three meteors colliding.


    This collision sent Ye Chen flying tens of thousands of feet away, and the two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerable''s combined attack Divine Weapons were also knocked tens of thousands of feet away!


    This clash of moves even made Ye Chen appear equal to these two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    "Still not enough!"


    "Blue Extreme Iceflame, I can only control a very small part of it, not even one ten-thousandth of the true power of the Blue Extreme Iceflame!"


    "Relying on this bit of Blue Extreme Iceflame, I still can''t kill these two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    From one clash, Ye Chen''s expression changed drastically.


    Meanwhile, the two great Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain were like seeing a ghost.


    They had not expected that Ye Chen still had a trump card, and this trump card seemed to be even more powerful than the earlier offensive supreme Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!


    Instantly, the two thought of one thing.


    A Polar Heaven Object!


    "It''s a Polar Heaven Object flame!"


    Thinking of this kind of object, the two even had the thought of running away.


    However, in the next moment, they regained their senses.


    "No, although it is a Polar Heaven Object flame, this Lower God King can only control a very small part, he can''t fully control the real Polar Heaven Object!"


    Realizing this, the two Heavenly Divine Venerables almost went mad.


    A Polar Heaven Object!


    Even for a Sovereign Realm powerhouse, it has an irresistible attraction, let alone for them.


    In that instant, they even had the impulse to seize Ye Chen''s Polar Heaven Object at all costs!


    The two of them didn''t even talk anymore, their expressions became grim, and although they didn''t know how the two would split the spoils afterwards or if they might even fight each other.


    But at this moment, both of them had only one thought in mind, and that was to kill Ye Chen first!


    With grim expressions, these two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerables held nothing back, their entire Divine Power burst forth, and moreover, they even took out their two lifebound Divine Artifacts!


    One was a blood-colored flying knife, and the other was another white small mountain!


    The two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerables, even bringing these two lifebound Divine Artifacts, charged together towards Ye Chen.


    The full Divine Power of two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    Together with four Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    Under such an attack, just the shockwaves alone caused the Star Continent below to crack piece by piece, and instantly, their core attack had already bombarded right in front of Ye Chen.


    In that instant, Ye Chen truly felt the threat of death.


    Ye Chen felt even more that just this strand of "Blue Extreme Iceflame" in his hand definitely could not stop the desperate fight of these two middle-level Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    No time to react.


    Ye Chen almost subconsciously activated all the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" within his body.


    Boom!


    Instantly, a flame countless times larger than the one he previously controlled surged out from Ye Chen''s Qi Sea.


    This cluster of flames turned into an endless blaze of fire which instantly enveloped both Ye Chen and the two Heavenly Divine Venerables.

 Chapter 848 - 799: Finally Reaching Feather God Mountain

    When the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" descended.


    The two mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, who were earlier brimming with killing intent towards Ye Chen, screamed in terror in an instant.


    They could feel that the flames Ye Chen was invoking now were countless times more powerful than the wisp he had previously summoned!


    This time the flames were obviously the full power of a true Extreme Heavenly Object flame!


    The two mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerables had no idea why a Lower God King could possess the flames of an Extreme Heavenly Object.


    They found it even harder to imagine that this Lower God King would dare to fully release the flames of the Extreme Heavenly Object.


    Could it be that this young Lower God King did not fear backlash?


    From the fact that this young Lower God King only dared to manipulate a tiny wisp of flame earlier, they could tell that the youth had not fully controlled the Extreme Heavenly Object flame.


    Under such circumstances, forcefully stimulating it, backlash could very likely claim the young man''s life!


    However, at this moment, the two had no time to ponder the potential fate of this young man. Faced with the true Extreme Heavenly Object "Blue Extreme Iceflame," their hearts'' murderous thoughts had already vanished.


    There was only one thought in their minds: escape! Escape! Escape!


    An Extreme Heavenly Object was something that could genuinely kill them!


    In an instant.


    These two mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerables not only completely withdrew the Divine Power they were using to attack, but applied it to themselves to escape, and even disregarded their injuries, they fully unleashed even the forbidden powers of cultivation!


    Instantly, their escaping speed could even compare with a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable or some Immortal Divine Venerables.


    But their idea to flee was nothing but a pipe dream.


    Under the burning of the Extreme Heavenly Object "Blue Extreme Iceflame," they had nowhere to run!


    Even in the instant they turned to flee, from the endless radiance of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," two crystal blue firebirds flew out, directly rushing towards and annihilating them.


    These two mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerables did not even have a chance to cry out before they were completely burned into nothingness!


    Not only did they perish instantly.


    Even their Divine Weapons, the black tower and the crimson spear, along with the subsequently engaged white tower and crimson flying knife¡ªall four Mysterious Heavenly Objects¡ªwere reduced to ashes in the endless radiance of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    If Ye Chen saw these four Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts being destroyed, he would likely feel extremely regretful.


    However, Ye Chen currently had no time to worry about these Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    Because, Ye Chen, who had just forcefully stimulated the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," was about to face a situation he had previously encountered, which was the backlash of the Blue Extreme Iceflame!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    After the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" killed the two Heavenly Divine Venerables targeting Ye Chen, it flew straight back towards Ye Chen''s body.


    Instantly, it entered Ye Chen''s Qi Sea and the powerful force of the flames caused a boiling tumult within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea!


    It was not just the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" in turmoil; even the "Heavenly Union Flame" that nurtured the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" also began to rage.


    Although Ye Chen had already subdued the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and became its master, he was still unable to fully control the power of this Extreme Heavenly Object.


    The instant backlash turned Ye Chen''s body completely crimson!


    As if he was burning in the flames!


    It was only because Ye Chen was the master of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" that he was not killed outright.


    However, if it goes on like this, just like with the previous backlash, if not resolved, he would certainly suffer irreversible severe injuries and even jeopardize his cultivation in the future!


    "Ye Chen!"


    Xiaojiu from within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, after pouring all her strength into Ye Chen, had become extremely weak.


    When she saw Ye Chen finally, in absolute desperation, stimulate the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," Xiaojiu knew that the two Heavenly Divine Venerables were sure to die.


    But at the same time, Xiaojiu also knew that Ye Chen was definitely going to encounter the backlash of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" again!


    Last time, in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, Ye Chen annihilated Qin Feng, which triggered the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" backlash. In the end, it was Long Li who rushed back to save Ye Chen''s life.


    If there was a backlash this time, and Long Li was not by his side, what should be done?


    Xiaojiu was extremely anxious, and the little monkey within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant was also stunned.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, whose entire Essence, Qi, and Spirit seemed to be aflame, let out a loud cry to the sky.


    Ye Chen controlled all the Taiyi Divine Power within his body, desperately suppressing the turmoil of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and the "Heavenly Union Flame."


    At the same time, Ye Chen followed the method left by Long Li after being rescued from the backlash, doing his utmost to contain the spread of backlash.


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense had not completely vanished as it did during the previous backlash.


    After all, his realm had increased countless times since then, and he had also been continuously practicing control over the "Blue Extreme Iceflame." Although he had only gained very minimal control, he still had some power over it.


    In such a state, his mind retained a brief period of clarity and did not fully succumb to the stupor of backlash.


    But even with this brief lucidity, Ye Chen knew that if he didn''t figure out a solution soon, he would completely lose consciousness like the last time, succumbing to madness.


    "There''s only one way, I must hurry and find Mrs. He!"


    "With her status as a Nine-Star Sovereign, she can definitely help me suppress the backlash from the Blue Extreme Iceflame!"


    Last time, in the Nine Suns Ancient Land, being in a Forbidden Realm, he couldn''t ask for a Sovereign''s assistance and had to rely on Long Li for rescue.


    But this time was different; he was outside.


    As long as he found a powerful Sovereign to help, there was hope to suppress the Extreme Heavenly Object.


    Not only did Ye Chen think of Mrs. He, but Xiaojiu, in her extreme worry, also thought of Mrs. He.


    Xiaojiu instantly transmitted her spiritual message to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, hold on!"


    "You have already entered the ''backlash'' state, and you definitely won''t last long. Traveling under normal circumstances using the Flying Boat, you definitely won''t make it in time to the ''Feather God Mountain''."


    "Use all the flame power from the backlash to fuel the Flying Boat. Under these circumstances, you will definitely be faster than the time it initially took according to what Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said¡ªracing one full day. With the power of the Extreme Heavenly Object''s flames, perhaps you can reach Feather God Mountain within two hours or even in a matter of a few incense sticks'' time."


    "You must endure it, do not let your Divine Sense slip into unconsciousness, you must reach Feather God Mountain¡ªMrs. He will definitely be able to save you!"


    Xiaojiu didn''t know whether Ye Chen could hold on until they reached Feather God Mountain.


    But this was the only viable method!


    Ye Chen also knew that this was the only way.


    At this moment, he couldn''t care about anything else. With his Essence, Qi, and Spirit completely flaring like a fiery blaze, and only a trace of clarity left in his mind, Ye Chen slammed his hands down, and the "Heavenly Primordial Extreme Spirit Boat" bestowed by Feather Spirit Divine Venerable burst forth, taking Ye Chen away from the expanse of Void Heaven.


    At the same time, Xiaojiu also hurriedly began to recuperate her Soul Power.


    Xiaojiu decided in her heart that even if Ye Chen couldn''t hold on, she must take Ye Chen to "Feather God Mountain"!


    ...


    After the Flying Boat departed, this part of the Star Continent returned to tranquility.


    A cup of tea''s time later, the figures of two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain appeared at the site of the earlier battle between Ye Chen and the two Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Upon seeing the blood sea below on the Star Continent and all the Ancient Beasts slain upon it, the eyes of these two Immortal Divine Venerables trembled with shock.


    "This is the place!"


    "Those two ''Divine Leaders'' must have fought here with the Lower God King who had escaped, as described by those Divine Guards."


    "Unexpectedly, a Lower God King was able to battle against a Heavenly Divine Venerable from our Ferocious Beast Star Domain."


    As their Divine Sense swept across the battlefield, the two Immortal Divine Venerables became even more astonished.


    "Can''t sense any of their presence?"


    "Could it be, those two Divine Leaders have fallen?"


    "How could they have fallen while dealing with a Lower God King?"


    "Also, was that Lower God King killed or not?"


    These two Immortal Divine Venerables were filled with confusion and shock.


    But despite their half-day investigation, they could not discover anything.


    The annihilating burn of the Extreme Heavenly Object "Blue Extreme Iceflame" was simply beyond their ability to investigate.


    In the end, after thoroughly searching this part of the Star Continent and its surrounding millions of miles without finding anything, the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables could only frown and turn to leave.


    After all, their leader was still battling with the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. They had rushed to the site after hearing about the disappearance of Heavenly Divine Venerables, and now, finding nothing, they had to return to help their leader take down that Feather Spirit Divine Venerable!


    ...


    Feather God Mountain, though named after a mountain, was in fact the vital ground where the entire "Feather Spirit Clan" practiced and lived, forged by combining thirty-three Star Continents into a stunningly vast and peerless Divine Land.


    The peripheries of the thirty-three continents that make up Feather God Mountain were all completely sealed off, leaving only one immense mountain gate for entry and exit.


    This huge mountain gate is the "Feather Spirit Clan''s" portal¡ª"Mountain Gate Heaven".


    Divine Venerable Luo Yu is a well-known Female Divine Venerable of the "Feather Spirit Clan".


    Not only has her cultivation reached the realm of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, her master is one of the Seven-Star Sovereigns of the "Feather Spirit Clan", ranked high among the Sovereigns of the clan.


    At this moment, outside the towering gate of "Mountain Gate Heaven", Divine Venerable Luo Yu was leading a squad of immortal Divine Venerables on patrol.


    Divine Venerable Luo Yu had a tall figure and extraordinary temperament. However, her beautiful face was filled with coldness. Her furrowed brows alone made it difficult for her Immortal Divine Venerable subordinates to even breathe heavily.


    These Immortal Divine Venerables could only communicate through spiritual transmission: "During Captain Luo Yu''s patrol period, let there be no mishaps!"


    "Our ''Feather Spirit Clan'' has three nine-star Sovereigns sitting in place. Even after the Ferocious Beast Star Domain attacked our ''Feather God Mountain'' once, they did not dare to provoke us again and are only stationed far away, monitoring us."


    "In the last major battle, Captain Luo Yu''s sister was injured. She despises the martial artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain to the bone. She definitely doesn''t want to make any mistakes during her patrol, allowing any suspicious person to enter ''Mountain Gate Heaven''. We also have to be vigilant and absolutely prevent the martial artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain from infiltrating our ''Feather God Mountain''!"


    As if sensing the spiritual communications of her subordinates, Divine Venerable Luo Yu glared at them.


    At the same time, she raised her voice and said, "This is a critical period of the great battle between the Ferocious Beast Star Domain and our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. During the patrols led by previous captains, there were always spies from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain trying to infiltrate our Feather God Mountain, with a few even succeeding. Although they were eventually caught by our Sovereign, we must absolutely make no mistakes!"


    "Every visitor who is not from the Feather Spirit Clan must be thoroughly screened."


    "Yes, Captain!" Upon Divine Venerable Luo Yu''s command, the patrolling squad of Immortal Divine Venerables all shouted in response.


    Divine Venerable Luo Yu nodded solemnly with her pretty face.


    As she continued to lead the patrol outside "Mountain Gate Heaven", Divine Venerable Luo Yu''s expression suddenly changed.


    Because she saw a Flying Boat rushing toward them at an inconceivable speed.


    "Who is it?"


    "How dare they intrude upon ''Feather God Mountain''!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Seeing this, Divine Venerable Luo Yu led her squad of Immortal Divine Venerables to rapidly take flight, intercepting the Flying Boat.


    What Divine Venerable Luo Yu did not expect at this moment was that the Flying Boat abruptly halted in front of them, and a young man with even his hair turned completely red, as if he were about to ignite into flames, leaped down from the Flying Boat.


    The young man paid no heed to their Immortal Divine Venerable squad. He glanced at the giant gate of "Mountain Gate Heaven" and took out a command token.


    The youth, seemingly on the verge of madness, exhausted all his strength to pour Divine Power into the command token at hand. Following that, amid the flashing light of the token, the youth shouted towards the token: "Grandma!"

 Chapter 849 - 800 Supreme Divine Light

    "Grand Ancestor HE!"


    This shout only carried a few hundred meters at most.


    However, as soon as the shout was made, Divine Venerable Luo Yu and her Immortal Divine Venerable subordinates were shocked to find that a token in the young man''s hand had moved.


    This token looked like an ordinary black one.


    But in an instant, this token radiated a Supreme Divine Light that even Divine Venerable Luo Yu had never seen before.


    This Supreme Divine Light instantly surged from the young man''s hand, transforming into a Sky-Piercing Light Pillar that shot up to the heavens, reaching an infinite height!


    This Sky-Piercing Light Pillar emitted an odd sound that not only created ripples on the massive gate of Mountain Gate Heaven, which even Luo Yu had never seen before, but under its agitation, this sound spread throughout the entire territory of the Feather God Mountain!


    This shocking phenomenon instantly shook the entire Feather God Mountain.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In an instant, multiple figures flew up from various parts of the Feather God Mountain, these figures being True Gods, Divine Kings, Divine Venerables, and even beings of the Sovereign Realm.


    This astonishing phenomenon also alarmed a large army stationed tens of thousands of miles outside the Feather God Mountain in the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    In this large squad, countless Divine Kings, Divine Venerables, and even Sovereigns took flight, turning their gaze towards the direction of the Feather God Mountain.


    Divine Venerable Luo Yu had not expected such an event to occur while she was patrolling; this sudden arrival of the young man could shake the entire Feather God Mountain.


    What felt even stranger to Luo Yu was that she was unaware that there were such odd ripples hidden on the huge gate of Mountain Gate Heaven.


    And yet, these ripples could be activated by this young man.


    However, at this moment, there was no time for Luo Yu to think further; she immediately drew her Divine Weapon and sternly demanded from the young man before her: "Who are you?"


    "What are you doing?!"


    Instead, Luo Yu noticed that the young man''s eyes had become dim, and the temperature emanating from his body had suddenly increased manifold, making her feel as if she was being scorched by fierce flames.


    Seeing that the young man in front of her did not respond to her question and instead grew even stranger, Luo Yu flicked her wrist, preparing to have her subordinates capture the young man.


    Just then, she heard a voice: "Luo Yu, do not be disrespectful!"


    Following that, Luo Yu saw her grandmaster, the Seven-Star Sovereign of the Feathered Spirit Clan, "Immortal Ni Feng" flying out from the Feather God Mountain.


    "Master, what''s happening?"


    Upon seeing her grandmaster flying out, Luo Yu quickly called out to inquire.


    However, after her grandmaster flew out to stop her, she just respectfully stood in midair, gazing towards the deepest parts of the Feather God Mountain territory.


    Her grandmaster only said one sentence: "This Supreme Divine Light is the Divine Light of ''He''!"


    Luo Yu''s heart skipped a beat.


    She knew who her master''s mention of "He" referred to.


    That was none other than her Great Ancestor, the legend of the entire "Feathered Spirit Clan", rumored to have disappeared for millions of years, only to return to the Feathered Spirit Clan a year ago in the Nine-Star Sovereign Realm as a Great Powerholder, now the strongest entity within the entire "Feathered Spirit Clan"¡ªGrand Ancestor HE!


    Although Grand Ancestor HE had rarely made public appearances since her return to the Feathered Spirit Clan, from just the three times Luo Yu had seen Grand Ancestor HE, she knew just how powerful her Great Ancestor was.


    The first appearance was shortly after Grand Ancestor HE''s return to the "Feathered Spirit Clan".


    Then, the ruler of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, also a giant of the Nine-Star Sovereign Realm, personally came to Feather God Mountain to seek out Grand Ancestor HE, and even Luo Yu noticed that the ruler of Ten Thousand BeastsDomain was extremely courteous to Grand Ancestor HE!


    During the second appearance, it was even for a supremely beautiful girl that Grand Ancestor HE had brought back.


    Luo Yu remembered that the supremely beautiful girl was named "Jiang Yao".


    Then, the transcendent forces of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, also containing two Nine-Star Sovereigns from "North Cold Palace," saw their Sovereign of the North Cold Palace personally seeking an audience with Grand Ancestor HE, coming there to propose marriage for his descendant.


    At that time, Grand Ancestor HE didn''t even bother with the Sovereign of the North Cold Palace, and with a single palm strike, she sent even the Nine-Star Sovereign sprawling out of the territory of Feather God Mountain!


    By then, Luo Yu knew that this long-lost Great Ancestor was an absolutely transcendent figure even among those in the Nine-Star Sovereign Realm!


    And Grand Ancestor HE''s third appearance shocked Luo Yu even more.


    That appearance wasn''t too long ago; it was during the last attack on the Feather God Mountain by the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    At that time, amidst intense battle and considerable casualties on both sides, it was said that the retreating Grand Ancestor HE was disturbed and she directly came out of seclusion.


    Grand Ancestor HE merely appeared and spoke a few words to the Sovereign Realm powerholders of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, and they directly retreated their forces.


    Since then, the Ferocious Beast Star Domain had not dared to launch another attack on the Feathered Spirit Clan, only stationing themselves far away to monitor Feather God Mountain.


    Hearing that the young man before her was related to Grand Ancestor HE, how could Luo Yu not be utterly astonished?


    Luo Yu then saw that the Sovereigns of Feather God Mountain who had been disturbed, seemed to recognize the "Supreme Divine Light" emitted from the token in the young man''s hand, each of them respectfully sitting in midair, gazing towards the deepest parts of Feather God Mountain.


    "It''s rumoured the Great Ancestor is in seclusion."


    "I wonder if the Great Ancestor could hear this Divine Light and sound activated by this young man."


    As this thought flashed through Luo Yu''s mind, the next moment, she saw a burst of extreme light flying out from the deepest parts of Feather God Mountain and in an instant, a figure appeared in the void.


    This figure, who else could it be if not the familiar Grand Ancestor HE to all warriors of the "Feathered Spirit Clan"?


    As soon as Grand Ancestor HE appeared.


    His eyes were fixed directly on the young man standing beside Divine Venerable Luo Yu.


    Upon seeing the young man seemingly engulfed in flames, his eyes dull, as if plunging into insanity, Divine Venerable Luo Yu was surprised and shocked, even her always composed Grand Ancestor He showing a change of expression.


    "Ye Chen!" Divine Venerable Luo Yu also heard Mrs. HE call out the young man''s name.


    Ye Chen?


    Divine Venerable Luo Yu felt as though she had heard this name before, apparently related to Jiang Yao, the stunning young girl brought back by Grand Ancestor He.


    However, at this moment, Divine Venerable Luo Yu had no time to ponder further, as she noticed her rarely seen Grand Ancestor He suddenly making a move, a shocking Divine Power completely enveloping the young man by her side.


    Under this Divine Power, the fiery red hue swiftly receded from the young man''s body, even his eyes clearing up.


    Divine Venerable Luo Yu then heard the young man, upon regaining consciousness, loudly calling out to Mrs. He: "Grandma, quickly go save Aunt Yu Ling!"


    This young man, of course, was Ye Chen.


    He finally managed to meet Mrs. He before completely entering a state of backlash-induced madness!


    ...


    Within the Eighteen Mist Mountains.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was feeling her Divine Power draining away rapidly.


    She did not expect that those who came from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain to besiege her were so well-prepared, with such numerous methods!


    Even though she was among the stronger Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, facing the combined assault of three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, two Middle Immortal Divine Venerables, and four Lower Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, she was completely at a disadvantage.


    Especially those four Lower Immortal Divine Venerables, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable noticed, they were originally pursuing the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables, Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Now, having returned and joined the siege against her, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable felt a heaviness in her heart.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable had a premonition that the return of these four meant that Divine Venerable Mengyan and Divine Venerable Mengkuo were likely in grave danger.


    With these four joining in, the already immense pressure on Feather Spirit Divine Venerable intensified, and she was completely overwhelmed in the assault.


    If it wasn''t for her possession of the protective Miraculous Treasure "Heaven Releasing Cover," she might have already perished at their hands.


    Seeing her Divine Power about to deplete for the third time, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable gritted her teeth and released the "Heaven Releasing Cover" once again.


    In an instant, a hundred-meter-wide light shield appeared around Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    The moment the light shield formed, it completely repelled the people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain besieging her, leaving only Feather Spirit Divine Venerable within the shield.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable then hurriedly positioned herself within the light shield, rapidly recovering her Divine Power.


    Even those Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain could not penetrate the repulsion of the "Heaven Releasing Cover," which was clearly an immensely powerful defensive Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!


    Outside the light shield.


    Seeing themselves being repelled again, the leading Upper Immortal Divine Venerable "Mysterious Morning" from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain clenched his teeth in frustration.


    "Let''s quickly activate the ''Essence Piercing Awl''! The previous two times, we almost managed to break this light shield with the ''Essence Piercing Awl,'' but each time Feather Spirit recovered her Divine Power and retracted the shield."


    "This time, we must destroy the shield and kill her before she can recover her Divine Power!"


    In the midst of speaking, Mysterious Morning waved his hand, producing a snow-white Divine Needle in his palm.


    With a pinch of a spell in his hand, this snow-white Divine Needle instantly transformed into a hundred meters long, radiating a terrifying cold light.


    Seeing the snow-white Divine Needle launched, the other Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain hurriedly infused their Divine Power into the Divine Needle.


    The snow-white Divine Needle instantly released a brilliant Divine Light, furiously attacking the "Heaven Releasing Cover" enveloping Feather Spirit Divine Venerable!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Each attack from the snow-white Divine Needle made the "Heaven Releasing Cover" tremble, but after a few flashes of Divine Light on the shield, it restored its calm.


    Apparently, the snow-white Divine Needle could not break the "Heaven Releasing Cover" in a short period.


    "The master took out the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact ''Essence Piercing Awl,'' and we couldn''t kill this Feather Spirit and obtain the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal.'' The master will definitely be furious with us!"


    "The previous attempts with various methods could not break the shield completely. This time, we must not hesitate; everyone, use the Taboo Skills!"


    Upon hearing the words "Taboo Skills," the faces of the several Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain changed.


    "But Taboo Skills will consume Lifeblood, causing major detriment to the Life Origin!" someone unwillingly voiced.


    "Hmph, if you can''t complete the master''s task, you might not even survive, so why worry about life being consumed?!"


    "Act quickly!"


    Under the furious command of the leading "Mysterious Morning," he was the first to execute the Taboo Skill.


    Seeing this, the other several also bit their teeth and spewed out several mouthfuls of Essence Blood, their bodies instantly blazing with Bloodlight.


    When all nine Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain deployed the Taboo Skills, their surged Divine Power increased by fifty to sixty percent, and as this power was channeled into the snow-white Divine Needle, the Divine Needle instantly pounded the "Heaven Releasing Cover" to keep caving in!


    Even though the "Heaven Releasing Cover" quickly resumed its original shape, its recovery speed couldn''t keep up with the speed it was being pounded inward.


    Given how things were going, it was just a matter of time before the "Heaven Releasing Cover" would be shattered!

 Chapter 850 - 801: Wrath of Heaven and Earth

    Hearing the rapid "thump thump thump" of attacks above her head, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, who was inside the "Heaven Releasing Cover" restoring her Divine Power, immediately felt a surge of urgency.


    She knew that the people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain would not let her recover her Divine Power in peace, and they would definitely try every possible method to break the "Heaven Releasing Cover" and kill her on the spot.


    Just from the sound of the attacks right now, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable could tell that this time, she probably wouldn''t be able to fully recover her Divine Power before the "Heaven Releasing Cover" was breached.


    But there was nothing Feather Spirit Divine Venerable could do about it.


    If she went out now, with her Divine Power not yet recovered, she would also be undoubtedly doomed.


    "Restore my Divine Power as quickly as possible!"


    "Restore as much as I can before the ''Heaven Releasing Cover'' is breached!"


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable gritted her teeth, pinched her spell with both hands, and the Divine Light on her body shone even more brilliantly.


    On one side, outside the "Heaven Releasing Cover," three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, two Middle Immortal Divine Venerables, and four Lower Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain¡ªa total of nine Immortal Divine Venerables¡ªwere crazily driving the "Essence Piercing Awl" to attack.


    On the other side was Feather Spirit Divine Venerable inside the "Heaven Releasing Cover," rapidly restoring her Divine Power.


    This tense situation made the onlooking Martial Artists of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain around them become anxious as well.


    They did not know whether Feather Spirit Divine Venerable could withstand the siege of their Immortal Divine Venerables, nor did they know if, after spending so much time, their Immortal Divine Venerables could successfully kill Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    After this anxious wait had continued for a little over two incense sticks'' worth of time, those onlooking Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain unexpectedly cried out in surprise.


    Because, under the relentless assault of their nine Immortal Divine Venerables, using "Taboo Skills" and expending Essence Blood to drive the "Essence Piercing Awl," they finally, in a frenzied attack, caused the "Heaven Releasing Cover" to cave in completely, and in an instant, completely pierced through the "Heaven Releasing Cover."


    Boom!


    The breached "Heaven Releasing Cover," as if it were wounded, rapidly shrank and turned into a strand of Divine Light, flying into Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s body.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, who was sitting in meditation inside the "Heaven Releasing Cover" and restoring her Divine Power, was once again exposed to the siege of the nine Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s face instantly turned pale.


    At this moment, she had only just recovered sixty percent of her Divine Power.


    Her depleted Divine Power was far from fully restored, and her combat power would be greatly diminished.


    All her Mind and Spirit, immersed in the rapid restoration of Divine Power, had never anticipated that the "Heaven Releasing Cover" would be breached so quickly!


    The nine Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain were unexpectedly overjoyed.


    They looked at the pale face of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and let out cold laughs, but their leader, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable "Mysterious Morning," smiled coldly towards Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and said, "Yu Ling my friend, this time, let''s see how you will resist our siege."


    "If you know what''s good for you, hand over the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal,'' and we might let you keep your whole corpse. Otherwise, we won''t mind turning you to dust!"


    "In your dreams!" Feather Spirit Divine Venerable certainly would not sit and wait for death; she immediately took out her Combat Divine Weapon, a white Divine Whip, looked at "Mysterious Morning" and others, and coldly said, "Even though my Divine Power is not completely restored, you couldn''t kill me before, and you still can''t kill me now!"


    "You are bold indeed, my ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' is to be given to my mentor, the great Nine-Star Sovereign ''Mrs. He''! You even dare to make a move to snatch it!"


    "I have already sent someone to notify my mentor about your siege; once Mrs. He arrives, she will surely execute you all!"


    The words of Feather Spirit Divine Venerable only made the crowd from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain burst into loud laughter.


    The leading Immortal Divine Venerable "Mysterious Morning" even scoffed at Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and said, "We dare to ambush you because we''re not afraid of your mentor."


    "After we kill you and take the Treasure into our possession, we will destroy all the evidence, and your mentor won''t know you died here."


    "As for sending someone to send a message? Hmph, those who fled from your side have all been killed by us, including the two Lower Immortal Divine Venerables at your side!"


    "Your deaths will be unknown to gods and ghosts alike, let''s see who will find out it was our doing!"


    Mysterious Morning had already been briefed on the results of the earlier encirclement by his subordinates.


    On the side of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, all were dead, clear and simple, besides a Lower God King youth whose fate between life and death was unknown.


    As for that Lower God King youth whose fate was unknown...


    "Mysterious Morning" did not take it to heart at all.


    On one hand, he was told by his subordinates that that Lower God King had most likely perished alongside their two Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    On the other hand, being just a Lower God King, even if he escaped, he wouldn''t affect the overall situation.


    In his eyes, even if Feather Spirit Divine Venerable sent someone for help, she would not send a Lower God King, she would definitely send at least someone of the Heavenly Divine Venerable or Immortal Divine Venerable level.


    And those Heavenly and Immortal Divine Venerables had all been killed.


    Under such circumstances, Mysterious Morning naturally was not worried about Mrs. He coming after them; he had already regarded Feather Spirit Divine Venerable as a dish ready to be served!


    Hearing Mysterious Morning say that those who escaped had all been killed, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s heart skipped a beat.


    Could it be, Ye Chen also died at the hands of these men?


    As soon as this thought flashed through her mind, it was cast aside by Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    "No, Ye Chen will definitely not die; such a miraculous youth, and with a Lower God King Realm concealing combat power means, those men definitely can''t catch him."


    "I believe Ye Chen can definitely make it to Feather God Mountain, to find Mrs. He!"


    With this belief, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable became even more determined to live on.


    She was resolved to hold out until Mrs. He arrived, for as long as she possibly could!


    "Since Yu Ling insists on a dying struggle, let''s end her journey sooner!"


    Seeing the determined look on Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, "Mysterious Morning" no longer wished to waste time with her. With a grand wave of his hand, he issued orders directly to the several Immortal Divine Venerables beside him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The nine Immortal Divine Venerables of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain simultaneously surged with astonishing Divine Power.


    In an instant, they launched another joint attack on Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    They had already shattered Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s "Heaven Releasing Cover," and even at the cost of expending their Lifeblood. Under such circumstances, they naturally wanted to kill the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable sooner rather than later to return and claim their rewards.


    The assault from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain side was unrelentingly fierce, and the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, clutching at her last hope, turned her wrist over and unleashed all her combat power means, resisting the attack of the nine combined forces.


    A battle between ten Immortal Divine Venerables was beyond terrifying.


    The conflict was so intense that the entire heavens and earth seemed to shatter.


    The Group of Heavenly God Venerables, Earth Divine Venerables, and Divine Kings spectating in the Ferocious Beast Star Domain quickly distanced themselves far away, not daring to get close to the battleground at all.


    From afar, these spectators were filled with indescribable sentiment.


    They never expected that the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, also an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, would be so powerful that she could withstand such a long onslaught from the nine Immortal Divine Venerables. Even now, with her Divine Power not fully recovered, she could still withstand the joint attack of the nine.


    Meanwhile, they also felt a sense of lamentation.


    This time, the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable was truly going to fall.


    As they watched the battle, they could clearly sense the shift in the battlefield.


    In previous encounters, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable could counterattack even when at a disadvantage, thanks to the "Heaven Releasing Cover" aiding her recovery of Divine Power. But this time, without fully recovering her Divine Power, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable no longer had any strength to counter and could only resist an endless barrage of lethal moves.


    A passive defense.


    In such a state, once her Divine Power was exhausted, there would certainly be no possibility of survival!


    "Although Feather Spirit Divine Venerable is formidable, her death is certain!"


    "I bet, in no more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, Mysterious Morning and the others will slay her," said the Martial Artists of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain amidst the audience, even making mocking bets.


    The others, though they felt some sentiment towards the dying Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, were after all people of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, in the midst of an evil transformation, with unstoppable murderous intent.


    Seeing such a powerful Immortal Divine Venerable from the opposing Ten Thousand Beasts Domain about to die, and hearing the jokes and bets around them, these people also sneered and were ready to enjoy the spectacle.


    Even when "Mysterious Morning" launched a fierce attack with the "Essence Piercing Awl" that sent Feather Spirit Divine Venerable flying backwards for hundreds of meters, causing her to vomit mouthfuls of blood, those Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain began to clap and cheer loudly.


    However, their applause and cheers came to an abrupt halt in that very moment.


    Because they suddenly heard a clear, angry snort emanating from Void Heavenabove.


    It was this very snort that made the spectating Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain feel an intense chill encompassing their bodies.


    All of them, hundreds in number, seemed to be instantly frozen in place, unable to move a muscle!


    To their shock, they discovered that the nine Immortal Divine Venerables who were attacking Feather Spirit Divine Venerable seemed as if they had been struck by a heavy hammer and simultaneously flew backward thousands of meters, emitting extremely miserable screams!


    What was happening?


    This really sent shivers through their Divine Souls!


    Meanwhile, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, who had been sent flying and vomiting blood from the attack, already despairing and feeling that her life was lost, suddenly noticed something amiss and lifted her head sharply.


    The next moment, her beautiful eyes filled with overwhelming surprise and joy!


    Because she saw an old crone descending from the sky with a young man.


    It was the Mrs. He she had been so fervently hoping to arrive! And Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen is still alive, he really made it to Feather God Mountain!"


    A myriad of thoughts flipped through Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s mind in an instant, and all the weariness in her body seemed to vanish in that very moment.


    Her eyes brimming with tears, she looked up towards the heavens and called out, "Grandma!"


    Then, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable found herself wrapped in a warm Divine Power and instantly transported beside Mrs. He and Ye Chen.


    She heard Ye Chen''s voice: "Aunt Yu Ling, I have completed the task you entrusted me with."


    She also heard Mrs. He''s words: "Yu Ling, take a moment to recuperate. Leave the rest to me."


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable nodded vigorously, unable to contain her excitement.


    At this moment.


    Boom!


    Mrs. He''s divine eyes directly gazed upon the nine Immortal Divine Venerables of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, as well as the hundreds of Martial Artists spectating from the Star Domain. With a grand gesture, she reached out into the void.


    All the nine Immortal Divine Venerables from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, along with everyone else, were apprehended by a force they couldn''t possibly resist and brought before Mrs. He in the void.


    All of them involuntarily knelt within the void!

 Chapter 851 - 802: Sovereigns Punishment

    The nine immortal Divine Venerables of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain were shivering with cold, struck to the core with utmost horror!


    How could they have imagined their meticulously prepared and flawless plan would have such an oversight?


    To think that they had brought upon themselves such a fearsome figure!


    How could this be possible?


    Their battle with the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable hadn''t even lasted a day; how could Mrs. He of Feather God Mountain possibly know about it and make it here in such a short time?


    The nine immortal Divine Venerables immediately noticed Ye Chen standing beside Mrs. He.


    A Lower God King youth?


    An image flashed through their minds.


    It seemed that this youth was the very one who had fled beside Feather Spirit Divine Venerable on the Flying Boat earlier.


    However, back then they didn''t even take notice of such a trifling Lower God King, thinking that any Divine King or Earth Divine Venerable under their command could kill such an insignificant figure.


    Now seeing this youth alive, the nine immortal Divine Venerables suddenly thought of something.


    They thought of that Lower God King youth who had been pursued by one of their Heavenly Divine Venerables and had ultimately vanished.


    Could it really be him?


    They had assumed that the Lower God King youth was dead, but unexpectedly, he had appeared right beside Mrs. He.


    It must have been him who found Mrs. He, surely it was he who told her about what happened here!


    In an instant, realization dawned upon the nine immortal Divine Venerables like an epiphany.


    However, even with this realization, the nine immortal Divine Venerables remained completely baffled.


    How could a mere Lower God King kill two Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables?


    How could he have arrived at the incredibly distant Feather God Mountain in such a short time to find help?


    While these nine were awakened and deeply perplexed, among the ranks of Heavenly Divine Venerables, Earth Divine Venerables, and Divine King Martial Artists in the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, several of them also wore expressions of utter disbelief.


    Among these individuals were three Middle God Kings and five Earth Divine Venerables, who were precisely those who had previously pursued Ye Chen.


    After two Heavenly Divine Venerables took up the pursuit of Ye Chen, they had ceased their own chase.


    Seeing that the two Heavenly Divine Venerables hadn''t returned, their hearts were pounding. Later, when they heard the investigating immortal Divine Venerable strongmen say that the Lower God King youth was likely to have perished together with the two Heavenly Divine Venerables, they couldn''t believe it.


    No matter what, they never expected that the two pursuing Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables would be the ones to die, while this youth remained unharmed, even managing to bring over a Nine-Star Sovereign!


    Oh heavens!


    Could it be that this Lower God King youth has the power to slay Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables?


    Even now, despite knowing they have caused a calamity of epic proportions, they couldn''t believe this situation would actually occur.


    Their panic, disbelief, and even extreme terror were plainly visible to Ye Chen, yet his heart was utterly undisturbed.


    How these people would be dealt with was up to Mrs. He''s decision!


    Ye Chen harbored not the slightest sympathy for these individuals.


    Not to mention that they had killed so many Martial Artists in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, he himself had nearly perished by their hands.


    Thinking of the backlash from the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," he almost couldn''t endure it, and still felt a residual fear.


    Even after Mrs. He intervened to dispel the backlash of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," calming it down, Ye Chen dared not casually invoke the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" again.


    Mrs. He herself had said that the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" was too terrifying and that without the strength of a truly powerful Sovereign, it would be difficult to suppress.


    Ye Chen, on this occasion, was fortunate to encounter Mrs. He during the backlash, thus resolving the crisis.


    But if the next backlash happened without Mrs. He present or without anyone else''s help, if it truly backlashed and he suffered irreversible damage to his Life Origin, it could indeed harm him.


    A wound to the Life Origin would absolutely affect his cultivation in the future and even prevent him from ever advancing to a higher Realm! To remain forever within the Divine King Realm!


    Hearing such frightful outcomes, Ye Chen was naturally extremely fearful.


    Ye Chen knew that invoking the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" previously was a necessity, in a moment of life-threatening danger, unavoidable.


    But Ye Chen also knew that in the future, he must make further preparations, to avoid the "Blue Extreme Iceflame''s" backlash from reoccurring time and again.


    He had already experienced the backlash twice.


    Once he was saved by Long Li, and this time, by Mrs. He.


    If there were to be a third time, he might not be so lucky in solving the backlash!


    Right after being rescued from the backlash by Mrs. He, who had informed him of its severity, Ye Chen firmly decided that, on one hand, he should not casually make use of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," and on the other hand, he needed to master the entirety of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" quickly to eliminate any potential threats.


    To fully master the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," he could only rely on advancing his Realm and the cultivation of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Long Li mastered her portion of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" entirely with the Cultivation Technique within the "Star Luo God Ring," along with her formidable Realm.


    Ye Chen believed he too could soon reach this level!


    The thoughts flashing through Ye Chen''s mind lasted but a moment.


    At this moment, Mrs. He, who had completely subdued the several hundred members of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain and made them kneel in the void, did not pay any attention to these people at all.


    Mrs. He''s gaze was directed towards the Nine Heavens not far away.


    Following that, with a flick of her finger in the air, the void hundreds of feet around the Nine Heavens instantly shattered, revealing a vast black hole.


    Within the black hole, it seemed as if endless Divine Light was shimmering, its mysterious nature unknowable.


    Mrs. He directly addressed the black hole in the Nine Heavens with a cold voice, "''Chi Jiu,'' you sent so many people to ambush my disciple, and now that I have arrived here, aren''t you going to show yourself?"


    "Could it be that you want me to personally drag you out from Luo Feng Divine Mountain?"


    Chi Jiu?


    Upon hearing Mrs. He mention this name, Ye Chen felt a stir in his heart.


    He had previously heard from Feather Spirit Divine Venerable that the leader of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain Martial Artists who were ambushing them was a disciple of someone called "Sovereign Chi Jiu."


    Ye Chen had not expected that Mrs. He would stand here and seemingly speak directly to this "Sovereign Chi Jiu!"


    If Ye Chen could see an even greater scene, he would be even more astounded.


    As Mrs. He shattered the void above her into a black hole in the Nine Heavens, in a place unimaginably far from their position, a vast black hole also appeared in the void near Luo Feng Divine Mountain in the northern part of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    And Mrs. He''s words, despite the immense distance, directly passed through that black hole to the territory of Luo Feng Divine Mountain, shocking everyone there.


    Especially outside Luo Feng Divine Mountain, in the large army of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, a seven-star Sovereign clad in a green robe, changed color dramatically.


    This green-robed seven-star Sovereign was indeed that "Sovereign Chi Jiu."


    The master of the three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables who were responsible for the ambush on Feather Spirit Divine Venerable!


    "It''s over, we''ve been exposed!"


    Upon hearing Mrs. He''s transmitted words, Sovereign Chi Jiu panickedly glanced at the three Sovereigns beside him.


    Finally, gritting his teeth and with a few flickers in his gaze, he vanished from his position.


    As Sovereign Chi Jiu disappeared, the three Sovereigns next to him also furrowed their brows and vanished from sight.


    At the same time, inside the Luo Feng Divine Mountain, two other Sovereigns of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, having heard Mrs. He''s transmission and sensing the disappearance of these Ferocious Beast Star Domain Sovereigns, also vanished from within Luo Feng Divine Mountain.


    In the Mountains of Eighteen Mists.


    Shortly after Mrs. He finished speaking, the void vibrated and surged.


    Sovereign Chi Jiu, along with the other three Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, indeed appeared in the void as summoned by Mrs. He''s cold command.


    "Master!"


    The several hundred Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain who had resigned themselves to death were overjoyed to suddenly see four Sovereigns arrive on their side.


    And their leader, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable "Mysterious Morning," exclaimed in surprise.


    Bang!


    Just as he cried out, before his master Sovereign Chi Jiu could respond, Mrs. He''s Divine Eye directly gazed at him, and without any apparent action from Mrs. He, "Mysterious Morning" had one arm instantly severed, spraying blood and flesh!


    "Did you think the arrival of your master would save your lives?"


    "I called him here to properly settle this account!"


    Mrs. He''s voice directly reached "Mysterious Morning," terrifying him so much that his screams abruptly stopped.


    At this moment, Sovereign Chi Jiu''s expression changed as he flew in front of "Mysterious Morning" and the others, his facial muscles uncontrollably twitching as he looked at Mrs. He.


    Finally unable to restrain himself any longer, he spoke up, "He, in front of me, you''ve cut off my disciple''s arm, have you forgotten the agreement that Sovereigns cannot interfere in conflicts and battles of those beneath the Sovereign Realm, as ordained by our two Great Divine Kingdoms?"


    As he spoke, the three Sovereigns who had accompanied him also flew to his side.


    Two of these Sovereigns were seven-star Sovereigns, and one was an eight-star Sovereign.


    Now, this eight-star Sovereign spoke as well, "He, isn''t this a case of bullying by the strong?"


    Looking at the demeanor of these few Sovereigns, although they somewhat feared Mrs. He, they now seemed to be banding together to confront Mrs. He, exerting pressure on her.


    "What, only the Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain are numerous?"


    Boom! Boom!


    As the four Sovereigns were confronting Mrs. He head-on, two voices came from the void.


    The two Sovereigns from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain who had disappeared along with them also revealed themselves, and after bowing to Mrs. He, stood behind her, glaring at the four Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    These two factions were originally opponents in the battle for Luo Feng Divine Mountain between the two divine nations, so naturally, they were now in sharp opposition!


    Mrs. He raised her hand, then looked towards another point in the void, directly addressing them, "Since so many friends have shown themselves, Chi Wu, you five Sovereigns responsible for monitoring my Feather God Mountain, having followed me all this way, why hide? Show yourselves!"


    After Mrs. He''s words fell, robust laughter echoed through the void, "I said, we cannot hide from He Senior''s detection."


    "He Senior, excuse our rudeness."


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Suddenly, five figures descended. These five figures were indeed five Sovereigns from the side of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, one of whom, like Mrs. He, was a nine-star Sovereign of great power.

 Chapter 852 - 803: Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal

    This nine-star Sovereign of immense power is none other than "Chi Wu," referred to by Mrs. He¡ªthe renowned "Sovereign Chi Wu" from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain!


    With the arrival of these five Sovereigns, the number of master Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain has increased to nine.


    In contrast, on the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain side, there are only Mrs. He and the two Sovereigns from "Luo Feng Divine Mountain," totaling three Sovereigns.


    Yet, Mrs. He''s expression remained unchanged.


    As if even if the number of Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain who had arrived were three times that of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, she didn''t hold them in the slightest regard.


    Mrs. He could remain indifferent.


    But at the scene, whether it was Ye Chen or the divine kings and venerable Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, they were all shocked to their core.


    They never expected that an assassination attempt would draw so many influential figures!


    And these were no ordinary influential figures.


    The dozen or so Sovereigns present included even the least powerful among them being seven-star Sovereigns, and even two of the most powerful nine-star Sovereigns had arrived.


    Normally, it would be impossible for them to encounter so many influential individuals at once!


    As they were astonished, at the same time, a glimmer of hope emerged in the hearts of the martial artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    Their side''s master Sovereigns clearly had the upper hand, which significantly increased their chances of survival.


    However, to their surprise, even after all the master Sovereigns had appeared, facing nine Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, Mrs. He did not show any sign of weakness.


    Mrs. He simply swept her Divine Eye over everyone present and openly declared: "Now that everyone who has come here has shown themselves, let''s settle this matter completely and cleanly!"


    "Yu Ling is my disciple. In the past, following me through the universe, we accidentally trespassed into the ''Star Death Realm,'' which led her to be delayed outside for millions of years, even having her realm sealed as an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable for those millions of years!"


    "Otherwise, she would have already stepped into the Sovereign Realm by now, and her cultivation might even be higher than some of yours!"


    "So, I owe an apology to my disciple Yu Ling!"


    Hearing Mrs. He''s words, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable beside Ye Chen hurriedly spoke out: "Grandma, Yu Ling does not blame you. If we hadn''t gone to the ''Star Death Realm,'' we wouldn''t have met ''Lord Emperor Yan,'' let alone Yao''er and Ye Chen."


    "Although it delayed my cultivation, the enlightenment over those millions of years has steadied my mind, and I am sure that I will reach the Sovereign Realm one day!"


    Mrs. He stopped Feather Spirit Divine Venerable from continuing to speak and looked at the nine great Sovereigns of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, saying: "I am saying this to make it clear that even though there is an agreement between the Sovereigns of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and the Ferocious Beast Star Domain that during major battles between the two Divine Kingdoms, Sovereigns should not interfere in conflicts below the level of Sovereign Realm, but this time, someone went after the Treasure held by my disciple, tried to assassinate my disciple, and in doing so, hundreds of innocent lives were lost. I will avenge my disciple and those hundreds of deceased!"


    "Whoever disagrees, feel free to confront me."


    "I want to see who can stop me!"


    Dominance.


    Even facing the nine great Sovereigns of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, Mrs. He was still unparalleled in her dominance.


    This made Ye Chen''s heart surge with emotion.


    Ye Chen had not expected that Mrs. He, usually so composed, would have such an authoritative side!


    This must be the absolute confidence that comes with absolute strength!


    Upon hearing Mrs. He''s words, more than five hundred people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain kneeling in the Void were filled with sheer terror.


    The leading Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, "Mysterious Morning," shouted out loud: "Master save us, Chi Wu, you must save us!"


    "Our Ferocious Beast Star Domain has always been mortal enemies with the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain, it''s no big deal to kill more of them!"


    This "Mysterious Morning" was still yelling, relying on the fact that their side had nine great Sovereigns present.


    But in the next moment, an earth-shattering beam of Supreme Divine Light instantly flashed before him.


    Thud.


    Before his words even finished, he was instantly pierced through by this Divine Light and killed on the spot!


    The corpse of "Mysterious Morning" instantly had its Divine Power dissipated, became withered, and plummeted toward the ground below, where it was smashed into nothingness by the howling winds.


    This sudden turn of events left everyone near "Mysterious Morning" with hair standing on end.


    Although they did not see clearly who had struck, it was clear that it must have been Mrs. He who made the move.


    Even with nine great Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain present, Mrs. He dared to kill "Mysterious Morning" on the spot?


    Indeed.


    After "Mysterious Morning" had died, Mrs. He''s last words to him directly entered the ears of the martial artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain: "You say killing them is no big deal, so me killing you is no big deal either."


    Boom!


    This truly struck terror into the hearts of those people to the extreme.


    "He, do you really dare to disregard all of us?"


    Seeing that Mrs. He killed his disciple right in front of everyone, "Sovereign Chi Jiu," the teacher of "Mysterious Morning," felt as if he had been harshly slapped in the face in front of everyone.


    He turned to Mrs. He, his face red with rage, and shouted.


    At the same time, Sovereign Chi Jiu was also shocked to his core.


    Even though he was standing right in front of "Mysterious Morning," he did not sense Mrs. He''s attack at all and by the time he did, "Mysterious Morning" was already dead before him.


    This made "Sovereign Chi Jiu" shiver all over.


    He felt that, although he was a seven-star Sovereign and had seen the methods of nine-star Sovereigns, none were as strong as Mrs. He.


    Even as a seven-star Sovereign, he probably couldn''t withstand a single move from her!


    Sovereign Chi Jiu could only bolster his courage with his side''s numerical advantage, and he even called out to the strongest amongst them, also a nine-star Sovereign, "Sovereign Chi Wu": "Brother Chi Wu!"


    Clearly, he wanted Sovereign Chi Wu to speak up for him.


    But to Sovereign Chi Jiu''s surprise, Sovereign Chi Wu didn''t even pay him any mind; instead, he turned his head towards Mrs. He and said with a smile, "Mrs. He, however you wish to deal with these people, feel free to proceed."


    Boom!


    This statement from Sovereign Chi Wu struck the hundreds of Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain like a bolt from the blue.


    Obviously, their strongest power from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain, "Sovereign Chi Wu," didn''t want to offend Mrs. He and had given up on them.


    Sovereign Chi Jiu was also full of disbelief.


    Disbelief that "Sovereign Chi Wu" would show such weakness to Mrs. He.


    However, these Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain did not know that at this moment, "Sovereign Chi Wu" was also incredibly frustrated.


    Of course, he had wanted to stand up for the side of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    But "Sovereign Chi Wu" knew far better than anybody else the formidable strength of Mrs. He.


    After all, in the past, Mrs. He had fought with the master of this "Sovereign Chi Wu" and even defeated his master.


    Back then, his master''s Combat Power was much stronger than his current strength.


    Under such circumstances, it was clear to "Sovereign Chi Wu" that he was no match for Mrs. He.


    Therefore, when he led his troops to attack Feather God Mountain, he immediately ceased the combat as soon as Mrs. He intervened, just monitoring Feather God Mountain thereafter, daring not to wage war again.


    Although the "Evil Transformation" affected all Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain and required a sufficient number of Martial Artist deaths to quell it,


    For an existence like "Sovereign Chi Wu," the influence of the "Evil Transformation" was extremely low. They instigated the great war between the two Great Divine Kingdoms more for the benefits after the war¡ªthe chance to ascend beyond the Sovereign Realm that would be born from this galaxy after the great war.


    Under these circumstances, "Sovereign Chi Wu" was of course not going to confront Mrs. He directly and incur her deadly enmity.


    Even if there is no war here, other regions of the two Great Divine Kingdoms are engaged in fierce battles, which will naturally reach the required death toll to end the "Evil Transformation."


    All he had to do was wait for the war to end.


    Now that "Sovereign Chi Wu" no longer spoke up for those hundreds of Martial Artists, the remaining Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain naturally sensed something amiss and quietened as well.


    This filled the two Sovereigns from Luo Feng Divine Mountain, standing beside Mrs. He, with uncontainable excitement and pride.


    Although their side only had three Sovereigns, with Mrs. He supporting them, they managed to silence the opposing nine Sovereigns from voicing any objections, which was incredibly satisfying!


    The two Sovereigns from Luo Feng Divine Mountain even purposefully asked, "Mrs. He, how do you plan to deal with these people from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain?"


    Indeed.


    How to deal with them?


    At this moment, the Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain also pondered over how Mrs. He would completely resolve this issue.


    And the one most panicked at heart was "Sovereign Chi Jiu."


    Those hundreds of Martial Artists, who had killed so many from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, were probably doomed, but "Sovereign Chi Jiu" was also the dark hand behind the orders to assassinate Feather Spirit Divine Venerable.


    Seeing that "Sovereign Chi Wu" no longer spoke up for them, "Sovereign Chi Jiu" had already abandoned any hope of protecting his subordinates; all he hoped for now was to avoid Mrs. He''s retaliation.


    However, his calculations came to naught.


    After the Sovereigns from Luo Feng Divine Mountain questioned, Mrs. He directly stated, "The ones who ambushed my warriors from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain earlier, of course, must pay with their lives!"


    "And you, Sovereign Chi Jiu, this entire disaster stems from you; you should take your own life to show an example to the world."


    Take one''s own life?


    Hearing Mrs. He''s words, the several Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain were all shocked, and even "Sovereign Chi Wu" raised his eyebrows.


    But he held back and did not intervene, only saying, "This disaster is indeed because of ''Chi Jiu''; I just heard it was all for the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' that prompted this ambush."


    "Chi Jiu, ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal,'' even I only managed to attain one by an extremely fortunate chance; what makes you think you can covet such a treasure?!"


    "Had it been for the great war of the two Great Divine Kingdoms, I would have spared your life, but for the sake of your own selfish gains, you must bear this consequence yourself!"


    The words of Sovereign Chi Wu put an end to any remaining hope Chi Jiu might have held.


    In a sudden frenzy, he exclaimed, "Take my own life? In your dreams! As a Seven-Star Sovereign, how could I commit suicide?"


    In his raving shouts, he flashed through the Void in an instant, escaping to the boundless distance.


    But in the next moment, everyone saw Mrs. He gently shake her head.


    And from that boundless distance, a pitiful scream was heard.


    Following that, the entirety of heaven and earth fell into a deep silence.


    ...


    Sovereign Chi Jiu fell.


    Subsequently, all of the five hundred plus Martial Artists from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain who were involved in the ambush of the Flying Boat from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain were also executed.


    All the major Sovereigns from both sides, their Mind and Spirits shaken, carried their thoughts and dispersed.


    Ye Chen followed Mrs. He and Feather Spirit Divine Venerable as well, heading back to Feather God Mountain.


    On the return journey, Ye Chen was still deeply moved by the thought of Mrs. He suppressing nine great Sovereigns single-handedly and avenging Feather Spirit Divine Venerable''s grudge.


    Ye Chen also looked forward to the day when he could possess such an unmatched and domineering strength!


    At this moment, he heard Mrs. He speaking to him, "Ye Chen, do you know why ''Chi Jiu'' wanted to seize the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' from Yu Ling''s hands?"

 Chapter 853 - 804: Ancestral God Temple and Polar Star Fragment

    Yes.


    Why did Sovereign Chi Jiu dare to risk offending Mrs. He to snatch the Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal?


    Ye Chen remembered that those who ambushed Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and caught the Flying Boat demanded the Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal from Feather Spirit Divine Venerable right away.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable also anticipated that these individuals were after the treasure, which is why she specifically arranged for Ye Chen to take it and escape, to deliver it first to Mrs. He.


    When Ye Chen handed over the treasure to Mrs. He, he also examined it; the Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal appeared to be just an ordinary octagonal stone seal, showing nothing miraculous.


    However, from the attitude these people held towards the Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal, and what Sovereign Chi Wu from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain previously mentioned¡ªthat even he happened upon one by a chance coincidence, and said that Sovereign Chi Jiu dreamed in vain of touching this treasure¡ªYe Chen knew there must be something mysteriously significant behind it.


    Now, hearing Mrs. He''s words, Ye Chen was immensely curious.


    What exactly is this Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal?


    "Grandma, I can''t guess why Sovereign Chi Jiu would want to seize this treasure."


    "Just for this object, so many from the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain died in vain, and both Aunt Yu Ling and I nearly perished. What is so extraordinary about this treasure?"


    Ye Chen asked Mrs. He.


    Mrs. He gently extended her palm, and the Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal that Ye Chen previously handed her appeared in her hand.


    Looking at the object, Mrs. He sighed lightly and spoke, "This ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'', is, of course, not simple; it came from the Cosmic Sea!"


    The first sentence from Mrs. He sent a shock through Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit.


    Something that came from the Cosmic Sea?!


    That Cosmic Sea, only beings "beyond Sovereigns" can enter.


    The origins of this object must be incredibly precious!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, Mrs. He was somewhat surprised, "Ye Chen, have you heard of the ''Cosmic Sea''?"


    In Mrs. He''s eyes, Ye Chen was still in the God King Realm and should not have access to the secrets of something at the level of the Cosmic Sea.


    Ye Chen nodded and said, "Grandma, at the Supreme Divine Institute, I entered a predecessor''s cave, and in the inscriptions he left behind, there was mention of the ''Cosmic Sea''."


    "That predecessor said that only existences ''beyond Sovereigns'' can enter the Cosmic Sea."


    "The Cosmic Sea is a boundary even more mysterious than our universe with countless Divine Kingdoms!"


    Mrs. He nodded and said, "Indeed, the Cosmic Sea is on a higher plane than our universe, it is immensely mysterious; those not beyond Sovereigns simply cannot enter it."


    "Although I haven''t entered the Cosmic Sea, from the scriptures left by those in my clan who are beyond Sovereigns and from what I learnt from Lord Emperor Yan, who I met in the past, I also know quite a lot about the Cosmic Sea."


    "It is said that in the ''Cosic Sea'' there are countless races and clans, even more than those in our universe."


    "The strong beings of our universe must reach the realm beyond Sovereign to enter the Cosmic Sea. However, the groups originally living in the ''Cosmic Sea'' are said to also have normal True Gods, Divine Kings, Divine Venerables, and even Sovereigns; of course, existences beyond Sovereigns are even more numerous!"


    "There, it is a vaster heaven and earth!"


    "In this universe, reaching the Sovereign Realm is already the strongest realm; this universe can no longer allow existences beyond Sovereigns to enhance their Combat Power. So, once a Sovereign breaks through to the existence beyond Sovereign, they will enter into the Cosmic Sea, which is a higher-level realm."


    "Ye Chen, you might not know, but the rulers of all Divine Kingdoms in our universe, in fact, are appointed by a major power within the Cosmic Sea."


    "Only those appointed by this major power can become rulers of the various Divine Kingdoms. Even the upcoming ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle'' in our universe is arranged by this power!"


    "Now, the rulers of various Divine Kingdoms, along with some powerhouses, have entered the ''Splendid Star Sea'' to prepare for the ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle''. Even the rulers of the Divine Kingdoms of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and Ferocious Beast Star Domain, who are currently at war, are actually not in their kingdoms. They have all gone to the ''Splendid Star Sea'', as this matter is summoned by that major power."


    Hearing Mrs. He''s words, Ye Chen was surprised once again.


    All the rulers of the Divine Kingdoms in this universe were appointed by a major power in the Cosmic Sea?


    Ye Chen had never heard such rumors about the rulers!


    As for the ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle'' and the rulers'' journey to the ''Splendid Star Sea'' that Mrs. He mentioned, Ye Chen was aware of it.


    He would also participate in that ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle''.


    And now, the rulers of Ten Thousand Beasts Domain as well as the East Territory King, Northern Territory King, have all gone to the ''Splendid Star Sea''.


    Ye Chen had never thought that all these matters were influenced by that major power from the Cosmic Sea.


    "What kind of power is it that can control the arrangements of countless Divine Kingdom rulers in this universe and so many affairs?" Ye Chen asked Mrs. He, "Also, Granny, you suddenly mentioned this major power, does that mean the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' you possess is related to that power?"


    Mrs. He nodded.


    She said, "This major power, known as the ''Ancestral God Temple'', is extremely famous in the Cosmic Sea and is ruled by the grand ''Star Master Yuan Wu'', a dominator of the Cosmic Sea."


    "Every being in our universe, who surpasses the Sovereign, upon entering the Cosmic Sea, gets transported into the realm governed by ''Star Master Yuan Wu''. Therefore, it is quite normal for the ''Ancestral God Temple'' to oversee our universe."


    "As for this ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' in my possession, it is actually a boon granted by the ''Ancestral God Temple'' to our universe."


    "According to the scriptures, the ''Ancestral God Temple'' sends a ''Polar Star Fragment'' into our universe at regular intervals."


    "At the same time, numerous ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' are also dispersed."


    "Only with the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' can one enter the ''Polar Star Fragment'' crafted by the ''Ancestral God Temple''."


    "Ye Chen, do not underestimate these ''Polar Star Fragments''. They are crafted by the ''Ancestral God Temple'' and contain countless treasures and wonders, all of which are unique to the Cosmic Sea!"


    "It is said that some who have entered the ''Polar Star Fragment'' have directly obtained a jug of Divine Wine meant for Divine Masters, instantly breaking through three realms, transforming from a six-star Sovereign to a nine-star Sovereign in a moment!"


    "There are also rumors of someone who entered a cave within the ''Polar Star Fragment'' where Divine Melody resonated, and after listening, they transformed from a nine-star Sovereign to a being surpassing Sovereign, and upon emerging from the ''Polar Star Fragment'', directly entered the Cosmic Sea!"


    "Countless rumors circulate about the ''Polar Star Fragment''..."


    "And every rumor speaks of great gains."


    "What''s more precious is that it''s rumored the ''Ancestral God Temple'' left no dangers within the ''Polar Star Fragment'', only sealed all treasures and wonders with special prohibitions. Anyone destined to break these prohibitions can obtain its treasures."


    "Such a place, free of dangers and only requiring breaking prohibitions to obtain treasures, naturally attracts countless people!"


    "Once the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' for entering the ''Polar Star Fragment'' appears, naturally, everyone wants to snatch it!"


    At this point, Mrs. He looked at the "Octagonal Stone Seal" in her hand and said, "I never imagined that during this great battle between two Divine Kingdoms, the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' would appear again, and even Yu Ling got one."


    "Based on the shape displayed by this stone seal and contrasting it with the scriptures, in another eight years, the ''Polar Star Fragment'' should be opening again."

 Chapter 854 - 805 Responsibility

    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, who was nearby, also spoke up, saying, "It was quite a coincidence that I obtained this ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal''."


    "I was originally storming the ''Multi-Spirit Secret Realm'' with the other Immortal Divine Venerables in the capital, when I inadvertently discovered this ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' within the secret realm."


    "The moment I saw this seal, it reminded me of the ''Ancestral God Temple'' that my grandmother had told me about. After the exploration of the ''Multi-Spirit Secret Realm'' ended, I hurriedly left the capital to present this treasure to my grandmother, but unexpectedly, this matter came to the knowledge of ''Sovereign Chi Jiu''... "


    Mrs. He sighed and said, "Presumably, when you obtained the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'', you caught someone''s eye, which then provoked the greed of Chi Jiu."


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and Mrs. He were discussing matters about the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal''.


    But at that moment, Ye Chen''s mind and spirit stirred suddenly.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable mentioned offering the treasure to Mrs. He, while Mrs. He had previously brought up rumors surrounding the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal,'' which stated that those who entered the ''Polar Star Fragment'' with it made great gains, were also high-profile figures at the Sovereign Realm.


    Just like those who obtained the Supreme Divine Liquor intended for a Divine Master, one was a six-star Sovereign who, aided by the ''Divine Wine,'' instantly advanced to a nine-star Sovereign.


    There were also those who, upon hearing the Divine Melody, evolved directly from a nine-star Sovereign to a being surpassing the Sovereign status.


    Could it be that the opportunities linked with the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' and the ''Polar Star Fragment'' are exclusive to Sovereigns? Are they cultivations specially designed by the ''Ancestral God Temple'' for Sovereigns?


    Mrs. He told him so much about the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal''; could it be that she''s trying to tell him something?


    While Ye Chen was contemplating, Mrs. He looked at him again.


    She said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I''ve told you so much because there''s something I need to discuss."


    "Please speak, Grandma," Ye Chen listened intently.


    Mrs. He sighed and said, "This matter also involves Yao''er."


    "Originally, I wanted to take care of Yao''er until she cultivated to an extremely profound realm. However, she has always wanted to advance to a high-level True God soon, solidify the foundations of the Cultivation Technique I taught her, and then go to the Wanmu Mountain Star Domain to find you."


    "Over this past year, she has been practicing painstakingly at Feather God Mountain every day, and her hard work pains me to see."


    "Of course, her efforts were not in vain. I thought it would take her decades or even a century to reach a high-level True God, but Yao''er has entered the True God Realm within just one year! Moreover, she has completely solidified the foundations of the Cultivation Technique I taught her!"


    "Now, she and that girl, Long Li, have a great chance of entering the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace'', possibly gaining an unimaginable opportunity, and might have already broken through to the Eighth Tribulations True God, Nine Tribulations True God, or even higher!"


    Hearing Mrs. He mention Jiang Yao, Ye Chen too became excited.


    His trip to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was precisely to find Jiang Yao!


    Previously, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable had mentioned that Jiang Yao might have entered the most mysterious ''Zixuan Treasure Palace'' in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, and later, in his haste to rescue the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, Ye Chen had no time to ask Mrs. He about Jiang Yao''s situation.


    Now that Mrs. He brought up the high likelihood of Jiang Yao entering the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace,'' how could Ye Chen not be profoundly excited?


    "Grandma, isn''t it good that Jiang Yao cultivates quickly?"


    "I would hope she advances to Eighth Tribulations True God or Nine Tribulations True God sooner and returns to my side."


    Ye Chen said with a smile."


    Jiang Yao''s talent and comprehension power have always been almost as good as Ye Chen''s.


    She just didn''t have as many opportunities as Ye Chen before."


    Now, with the help of Mrs. He, and the potential opportunity from the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace'', it wasn''t impossible for her to advance to Eighth Tribulations True God or Nine Tribulations True God within a bit more than a year."


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable said from the side, "It''s good for Yao''er to advance to Nine Tribulations True God sooner, and even better to step into the Divine King Realm! Ye Chen, Grandma has said so much because she can''t bear parting with Yao''er."


    Mrs. He nodded, "Yao''er had wanted to find you before; now, once she comes out of that ''Zixuan Treasure Palace'', she will surely go to find you."


    "Originally, I couldn''t bear to let Yao''er leave just like that."


    "However, given the current situation, I too might not be able to take care of Yao''er anymore. Lately, I''ve been feeling a call, a summons from the ''Cosmic Sea''."


    "I have a premonition that at most, in ten years, I will break through the Sovereign Realm and step into the ''Divine Master Realm'', entering the Cosmic Sea."


    "Originally, I thought it might be because of the ''Transcendence Light'' following the great war between the two Divine Kingdoms, which would lead me to a mysterious realm in this galaxy and let me break through to the ''Divine Master Realm''."


    "Now that Feather Spirit has obtained the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'', it''s very likely that I''ll rely on this ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' to enter the ''Polar Star Fragment,'' where I might achieve the ''Divine Master Realm''!"


    "Of course, although the Polar Star Fragment is an opportunity exclusive to Sovereigns, I could choose not to go to the Polar Star Fragment. However, many Sovereigns from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain must have also obtained the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'', and they will certainly rely on it to enter the ''Polar Star Fragment''."


    "Just like ''Sovereign Chi Wu'', who is a nine-star Sovereign; he also holds an ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal'' and will definitely enter the ''Polar Star Fragment''."


    "Once a Sovereign from the Ferocious Beast Star Domain breaks through to a being surpassing a Sovereign in the ''Polar Star Fragment,'' it will be a catastrophe for the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. Before they head to the Cosmic Sea, they will definitely conduct a Blood Sacrifice of countless Martial Artists from Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to help their fighters from their Divine Kingdom survive the ''Evil Transformation'' and end the war."


    "Though beings surpassing a Sovereign generally do not intervene in matters of ''Evil Transformation'', that only happens after they proceed to the Cosmic Sea. If one Divine Kingdom sees its warriors achieve a status surpassing a Sovereign during the war between the two Divine Kingdoms, the other Divine Kingdom will suffer great losses, as the occurrence of the ''Evil Transformation'' requires enough deaths of warriors; they definitely will kill more fighters from the opposing side, unwilling to have more of their own Divine Kingdom''s warriors die."


    "In such circumstances, I must strive to break through to a being surpassing a Sovereign as early as possible, to ensure that our Ten Thousand Beasts Domain does not suffer losses in the great war."


    "Therefore, I must make use of the ''Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal,'' and I have to go to the ''Polar Star Fragment''."


    At this point, Mrs. He looked towards Ye Chen with an extremely solemn expression: "No matter whether I breakthrough to the Divine Master Realm in the ''Polar Star Fragment'' or after the great battle between the two Divine Kingdoms ends, in that mysterious boundary of the starry river, I have a feeling that I will soon step into the Divine Master Realm."


    "Although I can still return after stepping into the Divine Master Realm, even if I go to the Cosmic Sea, I won''t be able to take care of Yao''er like I do here in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain."


    "Therefore, Ye Chen, I''m afraid that after I leave, Yao''er will come back looking for you even more. I''m telling you all this because I want to entrust you with taking good care of Yao''er!"


    Hearing Mrs. He''s words, Ye Chen finally understood what Mrs. He was truly worried about.


    It turns out, Mrs. He was reluctant to part with Jiang Yao, but she also foresaw that she might have to leave the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain for the Cosmic Sea within ten years. Hence, she was concerned about Jiang Yao''s future and entrusted Ye Chen with her care.


    Regarding Mrs. He''s request, Ye Chen firmly waved his hand and said: "Grandmother, you don''t need to say it, I will take good care of Jiang Yao."


    "I care about her even more than you do!"


    Mrs. He nodded her head, "Of course I know the relationship between you and Yao''er. What worries me is that your strength is too weak to properly protect her."


    "After I leave, although Yu Ling and the others are Immortal Divine Venerables, they are still no match for the Sovereign Realm powerhouses."


    "Under such circumstances, many matters and pressures will have to be borne by you alone!"


    Mrs. He''s words shook Ye Chen''s mind and spirit.


    Ye Chen suddenly felt the weight of responsibility on his shoulders grow even heavier.


    Indeed.


    As Mrs. He said, without her to take care of Jiang Yao, the most crucial responsibility of looking after Jiang Yao would fall on him.


    Although he is extraordinarily powerful compared to others at the same realm, he is still too weak in this vast universe.


    More importantly, Mrs. He does not even know about the many issues he is facing.


    Whether it is the matter of Heavenly God Mountain or his journey to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom to fulfill Huyan Divine Master''s wish.


    If he cannot resolve these two issues, he might directly lose his life!


    Under such circumstances, how could he take care of Jiang Yao?


    "No, I must survive and become even stronger!"


    Ye Chen clenched his fists tightly.


    He and Jiang Yao had promised to venture through countless Star Domains together, and since Jiang Yao was working hard, he must strive even harder!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen looked directly at Mrs. He and solemnly said: "Grandmother, rest assured, within these ten years before you leave, I will enhance my strength even further. No matter any storm, I will shoulder it with Jiang Yao and venture together!"


    Seeing the seriousness in Ye Chen''s expression, Mrs. He nodded.


    She said, "Ye Chen, I''ve said so much because I hope you will not be satisfied with your current achievements and neglect your cultivation."


    "As for the safety of Yao''er, and your own safety, you need not worry too much!"


    "Although I will be going to the Cosmic Sea in the future, I can still come back! If anyone bullies you and Yao''er, just seek out your Aunt Yu Ling and the others, the most important thing is to survive."


    "If there are any grievances that cannot be resolved, wait for me to return from the Cosmic Sea, and I will help you resolve them!"


    Mrs. He''s words warmed Ye Chen''s heart.


    But Ye Chen thought to himself that he could not always depend on his elders.


    Only by becoming strong himself was the key!


    "Grandmother, once we return to Feather God Mountain, I will meet with the other aunts and then go find Jiang Yao and the others."


    "Aunt Yu Ling said that Jiang Yao went to the ''Ice Emperor Realm,'' I will also go there to take a look."


    Ye Chen said to Mrs. He.


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable then spoke, "Ye Chen, if Jiang Yao is in the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace,'' you might not be able to find her."


    Mrs. He also looked at Ye Chen, "''Zixuan Treasure Palace'' is like the ''Mysterious Ice Cave'' of your Ten Thousand Beasts Domain; only those destined can enter. I have calculated that there''s a ninety-nine percent chance that Yao''er has entered the ''Zixuan Treasure Palace'', it will indeed be very difficult for you to find them."


    Ye Chen nodded, "Even if I can''t find her, I still want to go to the ''Ice Emperor Realm'' to feel a bit more at peace."


    Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and Mrs. He both nodded and didn''t try to dissuade him further.


    They knew Ye Chen missed Jiang Yao and was determined to find out for himself.


    Just like Mrs. He in the past, who also searched extensively in the Ice Emperor Realm before she was completely assured of Jiang Yao''s safety.


    At this moment, Feather Spirit Divine Venerable seemed to think of something and said to Ye Chen, "Right, Ye Chen, the materials needed for your cultivation of the ''Eternal God Body'' are available in Feather God Mountain."


    "If you really are going to the ''Ice Emperor Realm,'' I will collect the materials for you in the meantime, and when you come back from the Ice Emperor Realm, I will give them to you."

 Chapter 855 - 806: Slaughter Field

    This time, Ye Chen ultimately did not meet Jiang Yao and Long Li.


    After going to "Feather God Mountain" with Mrs. He, the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, the next day, Ye Chen set off alone for the "Ice Emperor Realm" in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    In the end, after spending ten days scouring the "Ice Emperor Realm," Ye Chen still did not catch a glimpse of Jiang Yao and Long Li.


    On the seventh day of searching for the two ladies, Ye Chen used the "Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations" divine skill from the fifth chapter, "Taiyi Chapter," of the "Primordial Star Scripture," transforming into a swimming fish. In the depths of a vast ocean within the "Ice Emperor Realm," he found a floating palace tinged with the color of Zixuan. Ye Chen realized that this might well be the "Zixuan Treasure Palace" of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Ye Chen had a premonition that Jiang Yao and Long Li were possibly inside this "Zixuan Treasure Palace"!


    But Ye Chen had no fate with this "Zixuan Treasure Palace," and simply could not enter it.


    In the end, Ye Chen could only silently keep company outside the "Zixuan Treasure Palace," where Jiang Yao and Long Li were likely to be, for three days before leaving.


    Although he did not meet Jiang Yao and Long Li.


    But this trip to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain was still a considerable gain for Ye Chen.


    He learned that not only were Jiang Yao and Long Li not in any danger, but they had also entered the "Zixuan Treasure Palace," which completely eased his worried mind.


    More importantly, Ye Chen knew that the reunion with Jiang Yao was just a matter of time.


    In no more than ten years, he could stay with Jiang Yao forever!


    At the same time, another great gain for Ye Chen was that he had unexpectedly gathered most of the materials for cultivating the "Eternal God Body" during this trip to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Originally, he had planned to first gather the materials for cultivating the "Earth Divine Pattern," the first Divine Body Pattern of the "Eternal God Body."


    Mrs. He, the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable, had also previously agreed to help him find the two main materials for cultivating the "Earth Divine Pattern" within Feather God Mountain.


    However, after learning that he wished to cultivate the "Eternal God Body," Mrs. He took special efforts to collect materials for him. Aside from a dozen special materials, Mrs. He provided Ye Chen with almost all of the materials needed for cultivating the five Divine Patterns of the "Eternal God Body" in one go.


    Mrs. He said that this was also a little help for Ye Chen in his cultivation before she set off for the Cosmic Sea.


    For Mrs. He, it was just a little help, but for Ye Chen, it was an absolute surprise!


    One should know that aside from being extremely difficult to cultivate, another major challenge for the "Eternal God Body" was the difficulty in preparing the materials.


    To collect all the materials for cultivating the five Divine Patterns of the "Eternal God Body," many Sovereign Realm experts might spend their entire fortunes and still not be able to procure them.


    It''s only for someone like Mrs. He, a nine-star sovereign of peak status, that these costly materials would not be a concern.


    Ye Chen had been worried about gathering the materials, but with Mrs. He''s provided materials, although there were still about a dozen special materials not yet found, he no longer needed to worry too much about materials for cultivating the "Eternal God Body."


    The most important thing was that the thirty-six main materials and seventy-two auxiliary materials required for cultivating the first "Earth Divine Pattern" had all been collected this time.


    The missing dozen or so special materials were needed for cultivating the later Divine Patterns.


    Under these circumstances, after this trip to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Ye Chen could finally commence the full cultivation of the "Earth Divine Pattern" of the "Eternal God Body"!


    "To cultivate the ''Eternal God Body,'' one must cultivate the ''Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Chaos'' five Divine Body Patterns, and only after the previous one is fully cultivated can the next one be cultivated."


    "Now that the materials for the ''Earth Divine Pattern'' have been prepared, I will first succeed in cultivating this Divine Pattern. In the process, I can also search for the special materials needed for the later patterns."


    "I aim to cultivate the ''Earth Divine Pattern'' to the Great Accomplishment Realm before heading to ''Heavenly God Mountain''!" Ye Chen contemplated in his heart.


    The power of the "Eternal God Body," as mentioned by both the Feather Spirit Divine Venerable and Long Li, even at the level of Sovereign, belongs to the strongest.


    It''s said that succeeding in cultivating all five Divine Patterns is impossible for many sovereigns.


    But Ye Chen would not be striving for what was beyond his grasp; he planned to cultivate step by step and progress as far as he could.


    It was said once the "Earth Divine Pattern" was successfully cultivated, the power of the "Eternal God Body" would be able to withstand the attacks of many Heavenly God Sovereigns.


    Naturally, Ye Chen intended to turn this weakness into a strong aspect of his cultivation before entering "Heavenly God Mountain"!


    ...


    After returning from the "Ice Emperor Realm," Ye Chen then proceeded to "Feather God Mountain."


    Since Jiang Yao and Long Li were not in "Feather God Mountain," Ye Chen could not stay there for long.


    After all, he had to prepare for the journey to "Heavenly God Mountain" that would start in a little over a year.


    Once Mrs. He had all the materials ready for Ye Chen, she escorted him back to the capital of the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. Finally, with the help of the "Teleportation Star Formation," he returned to the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Ye Chen only spent a little over ten days from leaving the Supreme Divine Institute to venture into the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and then returning to the Institute.


    In all of these ten days, many were even unaware that Ye Chen had taken a trip out, and that he had even ventured to another Divine Kingdom and experienced a grand battle between two great Divine Kingdoms!


    Once Ye Chen returned to the Supreme Divine Institute, he started to seriously contemplate how to utilize the final year before the trip to the Heavenly God Mountain to enhance his combat power once again.


    He spent an entire day researching various cultivation grounds of the Supreme Divine Institute and discussing with Xiaojiu, finally formulating a comprehensive cultivation plan.


    ...


    The Supreme Divine Institute consists of eighteen Star Continents, six of which serve as living continents like the "True God Continent" and "Divine King Continent".


    The remaining twelve are sealed continents designed for explorations of various relics and lands!


    The Slaughter Field.


    It is a notorious part of the twelve sealed continents!


    Here, based on combat power, the entire continent is divided into different zones.


    For example: True God combat power battlefield, Lower, Middle, and Upper God King combat power battlefields, Lower, Middle, and Upper Earth Divine Venerable combat power battlefields, and even Lower, Middle, and Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power battlefields are present, as well as Immortal Divine Venerable and Sovereign combat power battlefields.


    Every disciple and elder from the Supreme Divine Institute is allowed to enter the "Slaughter Field" to fight.


    What''s more, the Slaughter Field is enveloped by a profoundly mysterious Array crafted by the high-ranking Sovereigns of the Supreme Divine Institute, allowing fighters to battle with all they have without fear of death.


    Once defeated, facing imminent death during combat, the Slaughter Field can instantly teleport the loser off the battle platform.


    In such circumstances, of course, everyone who enters the Slaughter Field can truly bring all their combat power to the fight!


    And it is the battle between life and death that can stimulate countless potentials and insights within a martial artist.


    Therefore, this "Slaughter Field" sealed continent has also become the favorite destination among disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute!


    Ye Chen''s cultivation plan started with engaging in countless fights within the "Slaughter Field", especially using the "Eternal God Body" and "Gourd Sword" to accumulate combat insights.


    After enough battling, he would convert these insights into cultivation knowledge, immersing himself in practice, striving to continuously breakthrough with the "Eternal God Body" and "Gourd Sword".


    On the third day after returning to the Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen directly flew towards the "Slaughter Field" sealed continent.


    Upon arriving at the "Slaughter Field" sealed continent, Ye Chen found that the entire land was completely sealed off, with only a Teleportation Divine Formation left outside of the continent.


    While Ye Chen observed the continent, countless figures of the Supreme Divine Institute''s disciples and elders could be seen holding a special token, passing through the Teleportation Divine Formation and flying into the "Slaughter Field" sealed continent.


    Ye Chen, however, did not immediately fly in but instead swiftly moved to a grand palace beside the Teleportation Divine Formation.


    Inside the grand palace, a five-star Sovereign presided, with plenty of Immortal Divine Venerable elders bustling about.


    When an Immortal Divine Venerable elder saw Ye Chen enter, he approached and asked directly, "Is this your first time coming to the Slaughter Field?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Yes, senior. I read in the Sect''s archives that to enter the ''Slaughter Field'' for combat, one must first exchange for a ''Slaughter Token'' here, which is why I''ve come."


    This Immortal Divine Venerable elder nodded, "Indeed, only by holding a ''Slaughter Token'' can one be teleported into the different combat zones within the Slaughter Field. Additionally, each battle in the ''Slaughter Field'' consumes ''Slaughter Points''."


    "These Slaughter Points can be exchanged with Mission Merit Points. Of course, upon leaving the ''Slaughter Field'', you can also come here to exchange your ''Slaughter Points'' back into Mission Merit Points."


    "Are you prepared with the Merit Points needed to exchange for the ''Slaughter Token'' and ''Slaughter Points''?"


    Ye Chen directly took out his disciple token and said to the Immortal Divine Venerable elder, "Senior, I am prepared. I want to exchange for a ''Slaughter Token'' to enter the ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field''. I have 130,000 Merit Points; deduct the cost of the Slaughter Token, and exchange the rest for ''Slaughter Points''."


    Ye Chen had already learned from the Sect''s archives that in any "Slaughter Field" combat, both parties decide on a "Slaughter Point" stake for the duel, with the victor directly winning the opponent''s "Slaughter Points".


    Without "Slaughter Points" in hand, one would even struggle to find a combatant.


    Previously, Ye Chen completed a level five mission of hunting for a "Thunder Turtle Egg", precisely holding 130,000 Battle Merit Points as a reward, which could be used for battling in the "Slaughter Field".


    When they heard Ye Chen wanted to enter the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field", the several Immortal Divine Venerable elders in the hall were taken aback, even the five-star Sovereign presiding over the grand palace was astonished.


    "Your realm is merely at the Lower God King Realm, why not choose the ''God King combat power Slaughter Field'' to battle, but instead, you wish to enter the ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power'' Slaughter Field? Could it be that you possess the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable?"


    The 130,000 Battle Merit Points in Ye Chen''s possession wouldn''t surprise these elders.


    After all, though 130,000 points might be a lot for a Divine King, it''s merely the reward for a mission from an Earth Divine Venerable, and is considered quite minimal for the Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field.


    But for Ye Chen, a Lower God King, to claim he will fight in the "Heavenly Divine Venerable" level Slaughter Field, this most certainly shocked the elders!

 Chapter 856 - 807: Endless Challenges

    When the Immortal Divine Venerable elder probed into Ye Chen''s disciple token with his Divine Sense.


    "God King List Number Seven?"


    "You''re that Ye Chen?!"


    This Immortal Divine Venerable elder apparently had heard Ye Chen''s name before, and his gaze became more intense when he looked at Ye Chen again.


    "Ye Chen?"


    "He''s that Ye Chen? The youth whom Lord Xuechen and the Northern Territory King pay attention to? The youth who got involved with the Goddess Long Li?"


    "The youth who, just over a year since arriving at the Supreme Divine Institute, successfully broke through to the God King Realm, even storming to the seventh rank on the God King List?"


    At this time, there weren''t many people coming to exchange for the Slaughter Token, and thus the rest of the elders, hearing Ye Chen''s name, gathered around as well.


    Previously they had only glanced at Ye Chen casually, but this time, they were scrutinizing him carefully.


    To Ye Chen''s surprise, even here in the "Slaughter Field Sealed Continent," there were still many who recognized him.


    It appeared that the reputations of Sovereign Xuechen, the Northern Territory King, and Long Li were indeed very resounding.


    Being associated with them, it was difficult not to attract attention.


    However, Ye Chen was already accustomed to such shock, and looking at these elders, he said with a smile: "Senior Elders, I am indeed Ye Chen."


    Hearing Ye Chen admit his identity, everyone exclaimed in surprise once more.


    At this moment, the Immortal Divine Venerable elder holding Ye Chen''s disciple token took a deep breath, then looked at Ye Chen and said solemnly, "Ye Chen, it''s indeed extraordinary that you managed to reach the seventh rank on the God King List within a little more than a year. You can be said to be an outstanding figure in the history of the Supreme Divine Institute!"


    "However, while your talent is high, the ''Slaughter Field'' is a test of combat power!"


    "Indeed," another elder spoke up, "Although warriors in the top ten of the God King List can have combat power comparable to ordinary Heavenly Divine Venerables."


    "But that''s just comparable. Defeating an ordinary Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable is decidedly not easy!"


    "Especially here in the ''Slaughter Field'', those who can enter the ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field'' - which one doesn''t have the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable?"


    "Not only are there many real Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables in there, but there are also many Earth Divine Venerables with the combat strength of Heavenly Divine Venerables who can fight across realms! Those Earth Divine Venerables with the ability to cross realms are truly difficult to deal with!"


    "After all, they are also individuals with exceptional talent and the ability to fight across realms. More importantly, they are closer to the Heavenly God Realm compared to God Kings like you who can also fight across realms, giving them a much bigger advantage."


    "Usually, there are God Kings from the top ten of the God King List who enter the ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field'' to fight, but most of them lose the majority of their matches, with very few victories."


    "Each battle there stakes Slaughter Points. Ye Chen, you only have 130,000 Merit Points. After deducting the 10,000 Slaughter Points cost for the Slaughter Token, you''re left with only 120,000 Slaughter Points."


    "If you lose a few matches, it''s very likely that all these Slaughter Points will be gone in no time!"


    The other elders also nodded in agreement: "Yes, these Slaughter Points are all exchanged with Mission Merit Points. Ye Chen, as a God King, it wasn''t easy for you to obtain these Merit Points. It''s better to use them to exchange for Cultivation Techniques and Pills rather than losing them all here - such a waste!"


    Even with Ye Chen''s prominent reputation among God Kings, these elders did not have high hopes for him in the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field".


    They all believed he was bound to lose.


    After all, Ye Chen was going to be fighting against others with the same level of combat power here, and those opponents would certainly have a higher realm than him.


    Ye Chen also understood the kindness of these elders.


    The Slaughter Field is also a betting arena, where one stakes "Slaughter Points".


    These elders were worried that he would waste all his "Slaughter Points" in no time, which Ye Chen also understood.


    However, Ye Chen came here to fight in order to accumulate more combat experience.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had confidence in his own combat power.


    Although he couldn''t claim that he could defeat all the strong practitioners with Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power, he was still confident that he could defeat the vast majority!


    More importantly, this was the Supreme Divine Institute. Where else could one find such a good fighting place as the "Slaughter Field", facing so many disciples of the Divine Institute?


    Battle.


    He must fight here!


    Forget about the possibility of not losing all the Slaughter Points, even if he did, Ye Chen was determined to test the abilities of the various powerhouses here!


    With that in mind, Ye Chen looked at the elders and spoke up: "Senior Elders, I''ve decided to take a look at the ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field''."


    Seeing Ye Chen still persisting, the elders shook their heads and sighed.


    After the five-star Sovereign sitting in the hall nodded in agreement, the Immortal Divine Venerable elder exchanged the "Slaughter Token" and "Slaughter Points" for Ye Chen.


    As Ye Chen left the hall holding the Slaughter Token, the elders started talking among themselves again.


    "Ah, the impetuosity of youth."


    "It''s all good, let him go to the Slaughter Field and hit a wall. After he loses all these Slaughter Points, he might then cultivate more steadily."


    "120,000 Slaughter Points, given the number of bets in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, I''m afraid he''ll lose them all in less than half a day."


    ...


    Ye Chen was unaware that the elders were still discussing him.


    After leaving the hall, Ye Chen flew to the side of the Teleportation Divine Formation of the "Slaughter Field Sealed Continent".


    With the Slaughter Token in hand, Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit were stirring.


    "Finally, I''m about to enter the Slaughter Field!"


    "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, where everyone possesses combat power at the level of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, just like me."


    Ye Chen''s gaze was immediately drawn to the Slaughter Points within the Slaughter Token.


    "Just exchanging for the Slaughter Token has already cost me ten thousand Merit Points."


    "Only one hundred and twenty thousand Slaughter Points left for the fight."


    "This amount, I''m afraid, would be considered little for those in the Heavenly God Divine Venerable level Slaughter Field. I''ll need to be frugal once inside."


    After muttering to himself, Ye Chen''s gaze shifted toward the "Teleportation Divine Formation" and, along with the surrounding disciples from the Supreme Divine Institute who were continuously flying toward the Teleportation Divine Formation, he instantly entered it.


    ...


    Noisy.


    Deafening!


    This was Ye Chen''s first impression upon entering the "Lower Heavenly God Divine Venerable level Combat Power Slaughter Field".


    The moment he stepped into the Teleportation Divine Formation, Ye Chen found himself on a huge light podium and there were countless such podiums standing around him.


    Looking out from the podium, one could see a Slaughter Field that spanned tens of thousands of miles with hundreds of battle arenas within it.


    Around the entire Slaughter Field, numerous Spectator Platforms were also built.


    The ear-splitting noise was emanating from those Spectator Platforms.


    With a sweep of his Divine Sense, Ye Chen saw that there were at least tens of thousands of Martial Artists on those Spectator Platforms!


    "So many people in just the Lower Heavenly God Divine Venerable level Combat Power Slaughter Field?"


    Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Withdrawing his gaze, Ye Chen looked at the light podium he was standing on.


    Then, he directly saw two screens within the Void of the light podium.


    One of the screens displayed the top one hundred ranking of the combat win rates within this Slaughter Field.


    The so-called win rate is a ranking based on the number of wins minus the number of losses.


    The number one rank''s achievements took Ye Chen by surprise.


    "First place in the Lower Heavenly God Divine Venerable level Combat Power Slaughter Field: Beiling Xiaoxiao, Lower Earth Divine Venerable disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute, thirteen thousand three hundred and twenty-four victories, fifty-six defeats."


    The person ranked first turned out to be a disciple of a Lower Earth Divine Venerable.


    Of course, Ye Chen wasn''t too surprised since even he, a Lower God King, could possess Lower Heavenly God Divine Venerable level combat power; it wouldn''t be impossible for an Earth Divine Venerable to have it either.


    What truly shocked Ye Chen was that Beiling Xiaoxiao actually won over thirteen thousand bouts, losing only fifty-six times, making her net victories over thirteen thousand¡ªhorrifyingly high!


    And, based on the name, she seemed to be a girl.


    A girl battled so many times; could she be a battle maniac?


    Moreover, Ye Chen knew that this must not have been accumulated over a considerable period, because talents with cross-realm combat power like this would not stay in one combat level for long. Such a rapid accumulation of victories in such a short time reveals how formidable this person was.


    Ye Chen''s gaze then moved on.


    It didn''t take long for Ye Chen to finish reviewing the top one hundred win rate rankings in the Lower Heavenly God Divine Venerable level Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    Ye Chen memorized the names of these people in his heart.


    Following that, Ye Chen looked toward the second screen.


    This screen displayed the status of everyone currently in the Slaughter Field.


    When Ye Chen looked toward this screen, a stream of Divine Light directly entered his mind.


    In an instant, Ye Chen understood the rules of fighting in this place.


    It turns out that by simply aligning one''s "Slaughter Token" with the screen, one''s information will also appear on it, and at the same time, one could be transported into the spectator seats of the Slaughter Field.


    If someone challenges you, or you challenge someone and they agree, you can immediately set up a battle. When it''s your turn, you can enter the Slaughter Arena and start the fight!


    Seeing this, Ye Chen no longer hesitated. He leaned his Slaughter Token toward the second screen.


    In an instant.


    Ye Chen''s information appeared on the screen, and at the same time, it appeared in every Martial Artist''s Slaughter Token in the Slaughter Field.


    "Supreme Divine Institute Lower God King disciple Ye Chen, zero victories, zero defeats, Slaughter Points, one hundred and twenty thousand."


    Simultaneously.


    Ye Chen''s entire being felt a buzzing sensation, and he was teleported from the light podium into the spectator seats of the Slaughter Field.


    Upon arriving at the spectator seats and getting a closer look at the Slaughter Arena ahead, the ear-splitting cheers were even more intense than what he felt earlier on the podium.


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s Slaughter Token started vibrating continuously.


    When Ye Chen''s Divine Sense looked into the Slaughter Token, his eyes widened.


    In just a moment, countless streams of Divine Light were sent into his Slaughter Token.


    These lights were from other Martial Artists who were challenging Ye Chen through their Slaughter Tokens.


    With a scan of his Divine Sense, Ye Chen discovered there were already more than five hundred people challenging him, and the number was still increasing as he observed.


    Seeing the Divine Light jumping and increasing inside the Slaughter Token, Ye Chen chuckled to himself: "It seems my arrival as a rookie to this Slaughter Field combat has turned me, a Lower God King, into an attractive target for these people eager to earn Slaughter Points."

 Chapter 857 - 808: The First Battle

    Of course, it''s a coveted opportunity.


    Indeed, while many enter the "Slaughter Field," not many actually step into battle.


    After all, every battle wagered "Slaughter Points," and without confidence, no one would easily choose to fight.


    But now, seeing Ye Chen''s information appearing in the "Slaughter Token," many people''s eyes instantly lit up.


    A Lower God King with zero wins and zero losses.


    This situation clearly indicated someone who had just exchanged for a "Slaughter Token" and come to the Slaughter Field for the first time.


    Such a person was, of course, the easiest to deal with!


    Unlike those who frequently battle in the Slaughter Field, who are very cunning.


    Although it is known that anyone who can come here must have the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable,


    For a Lower God King to possess the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable was indeed surprising.


    Moreover, many people in the arena had also heard of Ye Chen''s name and deeds.


    But what of it?


    Those who entered the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field," didn''t each of them possess the power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable?


    Ye Chen''s reputation could intimidate some True Gods, Divine Kings, and some ordinary Earth Divine Venerables, but it definitely couldn''t scare them.


    In fact, many who knew of Ye Chen''s identity harbored the thought of giving this youth, who became renowned upon arrival at the Supreme Divine Institute, a good lesson.


    Therefore, there was an overwhelming number of people challenging Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen watched the "Slaughter Token" vibrating continuously and emitting Divine Light, and he could not help but smile wryly.


    Within the "Slaughter Token," there were two types of information: one was the information of martial artists challenging him, and the other was information of other martial artists in the "Slaughter Field" whom he could choose to challenge.


    Ye Chen decided to pick an opponent from these challengers first.


    However, upon seeing the "Slaughter Points" wagered by these challengers, Ye Chen was astonished.


    He had a total of one hundred and twenty thousand Slaughter Points, and the majority of the hundreds challenging him were betting all one hundred and twenty thousand Slaughter Points in one go.


    Did these people want to win all his Slaughter Points in one fell swoop?


    Were they really that confident in defeating him?


    Ye Chen shook his head and chuckled.


    He didn''t care about how many Slaughter Points were wagered; Ye Chen was more concerned about the strength of these challengers.


    Unexpectedly, although the number of challengers had increased to over eight hundred in a short while, the one with the highest win rate among them was a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable named Hong Tu.


    This person had won over a thousand battles, but had also lost over nine hundred, leaving a net total of only over two hundred victories, which clearly indicated he was not a particularly formidable character.


    And the win rates of the others were even worse.


    This made Ye Chen shake his head helplessly.


    Obviously, being a novice in the Slaughter Field meant that those attracted to challenge him were all bottom-dwellers within the arena.


    Real powerhouses, such as Beiling Xiaoxiao, who ranked in the top one hundred for victories in the Slaughter Field, would disdain to challenge him.


    Even Beiling Xiaoxiao had set a basic requirement for those who wanted to challenge her: to hold at least one hundred million Slaughter Points in their possession!


    And this was just a basic condition; even with one hundred million Slaughter Points, it was not guaranteed she would accept the challenge.


    If Ye Chen wanted to challenge a figure like Beiling Xiaoxiao, with his current reputation and the Slaughter Points he held in the Slaughter Field, he was far from qualified.


    "It seems I need to build up my reputation first."


    "Only by proving my strength will stronger experts challenge me! That way I can accumulate my Slaughter Points faster and choose to challenge better opponents actively."


    "Since that''s the case, let''s pick this one..."


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense surged out, rushing towards the challenge information in the "Slaughter Token," and eventually, he accepted the challenge from the strongest challenger, Hong Tu.


    Hong Tu was a sturdy-looking Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    The spectator area where he was seated was also filled with people, all of whom were roughly as powerful as Hong Tu.


    Almost all of these people also challenged Ye Chen.


    Once they issued a challenge, their gaze was glued to their own Slaughter Token, eager to see if they would be chosen by Ye Chen.


    When they saw Ye Chen choose to fight with Hong Tu, and their battle was queued up in the waiting line for the combat arena, all these people let out sounds of immense regret.


    "What a pity, Brother Hong Tu has hit the jackpot. That Lower God King Ye Chen, has actually chosen to fight with Brother Hong Tu!"


    "Now, all of Ye Chen''s 120,000 Slaughter Points will belong to Brother Hong Tu!"


    These people sighed, feeling regretful that Ye Chen hadn''t chosen them.


    In their eyes, a rookie like Ye Chen who was visiting the Slaughter Field for the first time was simply there to give away Slaughter Points, such a pity they missed the chance to make an easy fortune.


    At this moment, "Hong Tu," the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable selected by Ye Chen for a slaughter battle, was laughing heartily, brimming with pride.


    "Your achievements are not as good as mine, that''s why you weren''t caught in Ye Chen''s eyes."


    "I actually thought that little lad didn''t dare to pick me, but it turns out he does have some guts."


    Hearing what Hong Tu said, the others were even more disgruntled: "Ye Chen sure is arrogant but useless, looking down on us? Which one of us hasn''t won hundreds of battles in the Slaughter Field?"


    "Brother Hong Tu, you too have fought many times as a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable. If you can''t take down this Junior God King within the time it takes an incense stick to burn, you''ll be disgracing yourself."


    Hong Tu lifted his head: "The time of an incense stick? That''s underestimating me too much. Although this Junior God King has exceptional combat power beyond his realm, he is after all a rookie here at the Slaughter Field. Just wait and see, I''ll defeat this Junior God King within ten moves!"


    As he spoke, Hong Tu was already warming up his fists and palms, eager for the fight.


    Ye Chen was unaware that his selection had sparked such disdain and regret among many others.


    At this time, while observing battles on various Slaughter Arenas, he also awaited the start of his own fight.


    A battle at the center of the several hundred Slaughter Arenas directly captured Ye Chen''s attention.


    Being assigned to fight at the central Slaughter Arena clearly indicated the strength of the two combatants.


    And when Ye Chen looked at the battle information of the two fighters through the "Slaughter Token," he was even more taken aback.


    The two people currently fighting in the central Slaughter Arena were indeed ranked among the top hundred in win rate throughout the entire Slaughter Field.


    It was a battle between the twenty-third and the twenty-fifth ranked combatants.


    Furthermore, the Slaughter Points at stake in this battle also shocked Ye Chen, as the two had bet a staggering 10 million Slaughter Points on this fight!


    10 million Slaughter Points.


    That''s nearly a hundred times more than all the Slaughter Points Ye Chen currently possessed!


    Just these Slaughter Points alone would probably require the completion of dozens of level five missions to exchange for.


    Of course, while these Slaughter Points seemed like a lot to Ye Chen, they weren''t much for the two fighting.


    Being ranked within the top thirty in win rate, these two had obviously won many battles and many Slaughter Points in the field, and Ye Chen noticed that the remaining Slaughter Points behind both their names were still in the hundreds of millions!


    "Comparing with others can be infuriating."


    "If I accumulated hundreds of millions of Slaughter Points, I reckon with those exchanged into Mission Merit Points, I could definitely trade for many precious Pill Divine Weapons or even Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts outside!"


    The battle of these two combatants also greatly impressed Ye Chen.


    As expected of individuals who were ranked within the top thirty in win rate, observing just their fighting skills and Skill and Divine Skills gave Ye Chen many insights.


    However, the battle was extremely tense, and before Ye Chen could finish watching, over a hundred battles had concluded across the other Slaughter Arenas, and finally, it was his turn to enter the arena.


    Ye Chen immediately leaped into action and flew towards Slaughter Arena number five hundred and sixty-four located on the periphery of the field, as designated to him.


    "Haha, it''s my turn to compete!"


    "Watch me take down this fight in ten moves!"


    On the other side, after laughing heartily next to the people around him, Hong Tu also flew out from the Spectator Platform towards Slaughter Arena number five hundred and sixty-four.


    In an instant, both of them were standing ready on the Slaughter Arena.

 Chapter 858 - 809 Win! Win! Win!

    This Slaughter Arena spans ten thousand feet in diameter.


    What''s more special is that both the platform of the Slaughter Arena and its surroundings are placed under intense prohibitions by the Sovereigns of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Once the battle begins between the two challengers in the Slaughter Arena, neither can flee beyond the ten thousand feet boundary; they must fight within this confined circle.


    The prohibitions are only lifted when one is defeated and eliminated from the Slaughter Arena.


    For a Martial Artist with the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, a true fight could traverse tens of thousands of miles in an instant.


    However, being confined to fight within this small circle of ten thousand feet, it evidently makes even dodging difficult, forcing them to engage fiercely with every move.


    Unable to evade freely across a large area, the victory or defeat can be determined quickly if there is significant difference in strength.


    Upon stepping into the Slaughter Arena, the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Hong Tu looked at Ye Chen and arrogantly said: "Ye Chen, for a Lower God King like you to enter a combat area of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable strength is indeed impressive."


    "But alas, you''re unlucky to face me. I have fought here for days that likely outnumber your days of cultivation! With just ten moves, I will have you eliminated from the Slaughter Arena."


    Hearing Hong Tu''s words, Ye Chen scoffed: "Strength is not determined by mere words."


    "Enough nonsense, make your move. Don''t waste my time."


    Joking.


    Ye Chen, due to having too few Slaughter Points, couldn''t meet the challenge requirements of those highly ranked individuals and could only choose opponents among those who challenged him actively.


    Ye Chen was by no means concerned about this Hong Tu.


    It''s not that he could defeat all individuals with the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, but he was quite confident in defeating the vast majority.


    Facing some like Hong Tu, who ranks at the lower echelons among those with the power of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, Ye Chen certainly felt no pressure.


    Hong Tu looked down on him.


    He equally didn''t take Hong Tu seriously.


    In Ye Chen''s eyes, these individuals were merely there to help him accumulate Slaughter Points.


    Hong Tu initially intended to boast at length before defeating Ye Chen within ten moves. But he was curtly interrupted by Ye Chen right after speaking one sentence.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen tell him to make a move and not waste time.


    Hong Tu was instantly furious.


    Me fighting with you, and speaking a few more words is wasting your time?


    You this young lad, even more arrogant than me!


    I want to see, after winning all your Slaughter Points and rendering you unable to fight, how you will waste time then!


    Amidst these thoughts, with fury surging within him, Hong Tu, with Divine Power wildly active, wielded a Divine Saber shining with Divine Light and struck at Ye Chen.


    Although Ye Chen didn''t concern himself with Hong Tu.


    When it truly came to battle, he was utterly serious no matter who the opponent.


    Sensing the Killing Force from Hong Tu, Ye Chen instantaneously dodged, and in the next moment, he grabbed, taking hold of Hong Tu''s Fierce Fire Treasure Saber.


    Following that, with Taiyi Divine Power combined with the power of the Eternal God Body enhancing his palm, Ye Chen tightly clamped Hong Tu''s Fierce Fire Treasure Saber, rendering it immobile!


    This instantly caused Hong Tu''s complexion to drastically change.


    Hong Tu did not expect Ye Chen''s strength to be so formidable, clearly surpassing his own.


    For a Lower God King to reach the combat power level of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable was already terrifying; now it seems, this Lower God King not only reached but seemed to belong to the powerful within this tier!


    At this time, even though Ye Chen and Hong Tu were at the edge of the Slaughter Arena, the looks toward them were sparse.


    But Hong Tu knew many people in his circle were definitely watching him.


    Just with one move being controlled by Ye Chen this disgraceful event, how could Hong Tu accept it?


    With a thought, three Cold Light Flying Knives, divine artifacts from his cultivated Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, flew out from within him towards Ye Chen, who was clamping his divine saber.


    "Withdraw your hand!"


    At the same time, Hong Tu also bellowed.


    "Withdraw?"


    Ye Chen smiled slightly: "Then as you wish, I''ll release your divine saber and end this fight!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In a flash, Ye Chen''s body emitted an intensely bright Divine Light, which directly repelled the three Cold Light Flying Knives attacking him backward.


    Simultaneously, a tremendous surge of strength whirled from Ye Chen''s wrist, passing through the saber and striking right into Hong Tu.


    With a loud "bang", Hong Tu along with his saber were thrown backward and finally slammed against the Slaughter Arena''s Prohibition Light Cover.


    This impact even directly eliminated Hong Tu from the competition!


    Boom!


    Divine Light flickered.


    Merely within two moves, only Ye Chen remained standing on the Slaughter Arena.


    While Hong Tu was directly transported to the defeated area.


    Seeing himself transferred to the defeated area, Hong Tu''s face turned pale instantly, and it took him a long while to regain his senses. He felt so ashamed that he dared not return to his previous watching spot, worried that those around him might scoff.


    After securing the Treasure, Hong Tu immediately lowered his head and flew out of the Slaughter Field.


    Meanwhile, in the watching area where Hong Tu had been, those Martial Artists who also challenged Ye Chen but were not selected by him were no longer concerned about whether Hong Tu left or not, as each of them stood agape.


    After they took to the field with Hong Tu, they were all focused on the Slaughter Arena where Hong Tu was battling Ye Chen.


    What none of them expected was that Hong Tu didn''t have the slightest ability to resist in front of Ye Chen.


    This Ye Chen, who they previously looked down on as a mere newcomer, turned out to be so strong!


    Thinking back to how regretful they felt for not being chosen by Ye Chen before, their faces flushed with embarrassment.


    Luckily, Ye Chen didn''t choose to engage in slaughter battles with them, otherwise those who would have lost and forfeited their Slaughter Points, would have been them!


    In the Slaughter Arena.


    After finishing the battle, Ye Chen saw that the Slaughter Points within his "Slaughter Token" had increased from one hundred twenty thousand to two hundred forty thousand points.


    The agreed upon Slaughter Points from his victory over Hong Tu were transferred directly into Ye Chen''s slaughter token.


    Doubling the Slaughter Points in one go, Ye Chen also felt somewhat joyful in his heart.


    "It seems that earning Slaughter Points in the Slaughter Field is easier than doing tasks outside!"


    Fortunately, no one else in the Slaughter Field heard Ye Chen''s reflections.


    Otherwise, many would have vomited blood.


    Ye Chen found it easy to earn Slaughter Points because he was strong enough. For many people who enter the Slaughter Field, they often return with severe losses.


    After all, if someone wins, then someone surely loses!


    "Two hundred forty thousand Slaughter Points, compared to those people who usually have around hundreds of millions at the top of the Slaughter Victories Leaderboard, it''s still too little."


    "Let''s keep fighting and keep winning Slaughter Points!"


    Ye Chen stood on the Slaughter Arena, openly making his challenge available again, ready to accept more challenges from others.


    By then, the information on Ye Chen''s Slaughter Token had changed to one win, zero losses, and a total of two hundred forty thousand Slaughter Points.


    Rules of the Slaughter Arena.


    The winner of the fight can choose to continue fighting or leave the arena.


    Most people after a fight, either due to heavy exhaustion or many insights to ponder, leave the Slaughter Arena.


    People like Ye Chen who choose continuous fighting are quite rare.


    When Ye Chen made his challenge available, although Hong Tu was defeated by him, many still continued to challenge Ye Chen.


    After all, a record of one win and zero losses still appeared, in many people''s eyes, as an easy target.


    The second person to agree to fight was a Female Martial Artist who had won one thousand two hundred fights and lost over eight hundred, with a net win of over four hundred battles.


    This time, the Slaughter Points at stake in their deathly duel rose to two hundred forty thousand points.


    The subsequent battle, however, did not have much of an upset.


    In less than the time it takes half an incense stick to burn, Ye Chen directly eliminated this Female Martial Artist as well!


    Ye Chen''s Slaughter Points had become four hundred eighty thousand, and his record had changed to two wins and zero losses.


    These two battles were of lower tier, and did not cause much depletion to Ye Chen.


    Under the practice of "Taiyi Divine Power", Ye Chen''s divine force recovery ability was astonishing, and he only breathed a few moments before all the depletion was completely restored.


    Also, the two battles did not provide much benefit in terms of combat insights for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen stood directly on the arena and once again made the slaughter challenge available.


    The following battles can be described as completely one-sided.


    The third battle, bet four hundred thousand Slaughter Points, win.


    The fourth battle, bet four hundred thousand Slaughter Points, win.


    The fifth battle, bet six hundred thousand Slaughter Points, win!


    After going through twenty-nine consecutive fights, although later many people were reluctant to bet too many Slaughter Points after seeing Ye Chen''s series of victories.


    Nevertheless, after twenty-nine battles, the Slaughter Points accumulated in Ye Chen''s Slaughter Token reached eighteen million points.


    And Ye Chen''s record had become an astonishingly unbelievable: twenty-nine wins, zero losses!


    Although such a record, compared to some at the top of the Slaughter Field ranking who have won over ten thousand battles, isn''t too outstanding.


    But winning twenty-nine in a row has also drawn attention from a large group of people.


    Suddenly, the strength and numbers of those challenging Ye Chen surged dramatically.


    But the results of the following fights were still win! Win! Win!


    When Ye Chen''s record reached one hundred three wins and zero losses, Ye Chen''s Slaughter Points had also accumulated to ninety-eight million points.


    This time, even those ranked within the top one hundred in the overall Slaughter Field win rate took notice of Ye Chen.


    Winning one or two battles doesn''t mean much.


    Even winning a dozen or twenty to thirty battles, also doesn''t count for much.


    But winning over a hundred in a row without a single loss.


    This definitely catches the attention of countless people!


    This obviously indicates that the person who keeps winning has a strength far surpassing a large portion of those Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level fighters!


    In this situation, many powerful people naturally feel tempted and want to fight with Ye Chen to stop his winning streak.


    When Ye Chen made the challenge available, even a Martial Artist ranked ninety-third in the Slaughter Field win rate initiated a challenge against Ye Chen.

 Chapter 859 - 810: Just Seeking One Defeat!

    When Ye Chen saw that the martial artist ranked ninety-third was a Middle Earth God, a flash of brilliance gleamed in his eyes: "Finally, a genius capable of fighting across realms has challenged me."


    What is a cross-realm battle?


    In the cultivation of martial arts, Great Powerholders determine a range of combat power values for the majority of people in each realm.


    For example, for the True God Realm, the combat power range for the vast majority of True Gods is defined as True God level combat power.


    However, the realm does not determine actual combat power.


    The same True Gods, those with exceptional talents, can comprehend stronger cultivation techniques and divine skills. Even though they are also in the True God Realm, their combat power surpasses that of most True Gods and can match some Divine Kings and even Divine Venerables. Such people are the ones capable of cross-realm combat.


    All disciples who enter the Supreme Divine Institute are extraordinarily talented.


    But, the higher the realm, the fewer the number who can fight across realms.


    Almost all disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute are stronger than the vast majority of True Gods in the entire Divine Kingdom when they are in the True God Realm, and the same goes when they are in the Divine King Realm, nearly all are capable of fighting across realms.


    However, when reaching the Divine Venerable Realm like Earth Divine Venerable, Heavenly Divine Venerable, and Immortal Divine Venerable, compared to the Divine Venerables of other forces within the Divine Kingdom, the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute do not have much of an advantage anymore.


    Those who can fight across realms become even rarer.


    After all, even geniuses exhaust their potential in the later stages, and it is not possible for them to always fight across realms.


    If someone can exceed the combat power range of most people at every realm level, then they are definitely true geniuses.


    And the higher the realm they reach while still capable of fighting across realms, the more they stand out as geniuses among geniuses.


    Those Ye Chen previously fought were all Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    And their combat power also remained at the level of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Such people are considered ordinary among Heavenly Divine Venerables, their potential already exhausted, not counting as any real opponents.


    But now, this person challenging Ye Chen is just a Middle Earth God, yet he possesses the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable. Clearly, a martial artist who can fight across realms must hold many powerful trump cards.


    Such an opponent, naturally piqued Ye Chen''s interest instantly.


    Ye Chen immediately agreed to this person''s challenge.


    Boom!


    The next moment, this martial artist ranked ninety-third in the Slaughter Field''s win rate soared onto the arena where Ye Chen stood.


    This was a young man adorned in brocade robes, who nodded towards Ye Chen, then stretched out his hand and a black spear appeared in his palm.


    The young man in brocade robes then spoke to Ye Chen: "One hundred and three victories, zero defeats. Ye Chen, you''re incredible!"


    "A Lower Divine King possessing the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, your talent far exceeds mine."


    "However, I will not harbor the slightest fear in this battle."


    "After all, the current fight is not about innate talent, but our current combat power situation. Both of us hold Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power, so let''s see who is stronger!"


    The young man in brocade robes spoke politely, and Ye Chen responded with a courteous smile: "My fellow cultivator, there''s no need for reservations, let''s reveal our true abilities in combat."


    "I intend to win over these five million Slaughter Points through this wager."


    This Slaughter duel, set at a stake of five million Slaughter Points by this Middle Earth God, was accepted by Ye Chen.


    A fight worth five million Slaughter Points.


    In the entire "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level Slaughter Field", it definitely counts as astonishing.


    Even those ranked in the top thirty usually fight wagers around ten million points per match.


    It is only someone like Beiling Xiaoxiao, ranked first in victory rate in the Slaughter Field, who dares to set a wager of one hundred million points for a single match.


    This is also understandable.


    After all, those who rank in the front have several billion Slaughter Points on them.


    But they do not dare to claim they will win every match, and in such cases, they certainly won''t gamble away all their Slaughter Points in one go.


    Several million to about ten million points for a wager is still an acceptable level for them.


    Based on the five million points wager of this match with Ye Chen and involving someone ranked in the top hundred in the Slaughter Field win rate, the battle could have been held on a central Slaughter Arena.


    However, since Ye Chen had never left the arena, the two of them were still going to fight on the arena at the edge.


    But even on the edge, this battle still attracted the attention of most of the observers in the Slaughter Field.


    Everyone wanted to see who would win this lavish bet of five million Slaughter Points.


    Is it Ye Chen, with a streak of one hundred and three victories without a single defeat?


    Or the young man in brocade robes, ranked ninety-third in the Slaughter Field''s win rate?


    "Battles that engage characters from the top hundred truly test one''s mettle."


    "Those who challenged Ye Chen before were not too strong. If Ye Chen can defeat someone ranked ninety-third, that would be fearsome."


    Someone voiced their opinion.


    Amidst these discussions, Ye Chen and the young man in brocade robes on the Slaughter Arena had already made their moves.


    The young man in brocade robes, true to his reputation of winning over a thousand clean victories, was formidable.


    His attack speed was more than thrice as fast as those of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables Ye Chen had previously fought.


    In one move, he even utilized three different Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    The first Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact was shaped like a bell.


    With a light shake, the bell flew into the void, and at the same time, a terrifying deathly sound enveloped Ye Chen.


    The second Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact unleashed by the young man''s attack was a string of snow-white beads.


    As the snow-white beads spun, the entire Slaughter Arena was engulfed in extreme cold, as if even the air had been sealed in ice.


    And the final Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact the robed youth attacked with was the same black spear he had previously summoned.


    The first two Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts were only ordinary mid-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    But this black spear had reached the quality of a superior Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!


    The joint attack of the three Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts included a sonic attack, an ice seal attack, and even a lethal attack bound to his life essence.


    In the blink of an eye, they had reached just in front of Ye Chen.


    This time, Ye Chen didn''t just mobilize the "Eternal God Body" and a portion of the "Gourd Sword" flying swords.


    Ye Chen suddenly started maneuvering all fifty-two flying swords within the "Gourd Sword" that he could control.


    In an instant, the entire Slaughter Arena became a terrifying battlefield.


    The fifty-two flying swords Ye Chen commanded turned into thousands of sword lights in the blink of an eye, shattering all the frost-bound power directed at him instantly.


    Moreover, the bell Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact''s sonic attack didn''t have the slightest effect on Ye Chen, who was completely enveloped by the "Taiyi Divine Power."


    Amidst the wild tremors of the "Taiyi Divine Power," Ye Chen, driving not only his life-bound flying sword "Crimson Fire" but also the illusory thousand sword lights of the fifty-two flying swords, directly attacked the robed youth''s black spear.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In a flash, the void above the vast arena burst into fragments.


    Astonishing divine lights flickered as if ready to tear apart heaven and earth.


    It''s only because the Sovereigns of the Supreme Divine Institute personally forged this Slaughter Arena that a Heavenly Divine Venerable level battle couldn''t affect the arena in the slightest.


    If this happened on a normal continent of the Star Continent, such an assault would probably have torn the continent apart with earth-shattering force!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    In the midst of the crazy explosions, Ye Chen''s fifty-two flying swords sent the robed youth and his black spear flying backwards.


    This caused the robed youth''s complexion to change.


    With the surge of divine power in an instant, the youth stabilized his retreating form and seized the bell and the snowy pearl Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts he had previously summoned back to himself.


    At the same time, divine power vibrated in his hands, and the black spear in his hand suddenly transformed into a blood-red color.


    Clearly, the robed youth knew that ordinary treasures were no match for Ye Chen and decided to bring out his truly powerful methods.


    When the black spear turned to blood color, Ye Chen felt that the killing force emanating from the robed youth seemed to have increased dramatically; even more terrifying was that a series of spear shadows layered upon one another, finally converging into a shocking bloodlight that directly aimed murderously at Ye Chen.


    Confronted with such a terrifying attack, Ye Chen could definitely defeat the robed youth if he deployed the small portion of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" that he could control.


    However, Ye Chen didn''t plan to reveal his trump card under the watchful eyes of the public.


    With a shift of his mind and spirit, the fifty-two flying swords returned to Ye Chen''s side, and with a pinch of the spell in his hand, these swords transformed into a revolving Flying Sword Storm with dual directions.


    This was none other than the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" that corresponded to the exquisite Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Gourd Sword" ¨C the powerful move known as "Thousand Extremes Two Lines"!


    Even though Ye Chen was currently unable to manoeuvre all of the flying swords from the "Gourd Sword," the fifty-two swords alone, under the surge of "Thousand Extremes Two Lines," turned into a twirling Flying Sword Storm that completely annihilated the earth-shattering bloodlight created by the robed youth''s spear.


    The swords vibrated once more, sending the robed youth flying backwards again!


    The robed youth had not anticipated Ye Chen''s moves to be so formidable. Gritting his teeth, he waved his spear transformed into a blood color and unleashed a sky-full barrage of spear shadows once more towards Ye Chen.


    And Ye Chen''s Flying Sword Storm continued to clash with the sky-full barrage of spear shadows.


    The entire Slaughter Arena instantly turned into a sea of sword glimmers and spear shadows.


    Only after hundreds of moves, and the deployment of the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills'' second killer move ¨C "Thousand Extremes Yin Yang Slash" ¨C transforming the fifty-two swords into a formidable yin and yang dual-colored black light that devoured everything, did Ye Chen finally completely defeat the robed youth!


    Once the robed youth was defeated and transported out of the Slaughter Arena, Ye Chen also began to gasp for breath.


    This battle had cost Ye Chen a lot.


    Of course, Ye Chen''s gains were similarly immense. The confrontation with the robed youth and his spear skills also allowed Ye Chen to gain many insights into his own swordsmanship.


    Ye Chen was catching his breath, but at this moment, the viewing area outside was completely going wild.


    One hundred and four victories!


    Now, Ye Chen had defeated even the martial master ranked 93rd in terms of victory rates in the Slaughter Field, directly securing one hundred and four wins.


    And Ye Chen''s Slaughter Points had also accumulated to an astonishing 103 million points!


    "One hundred and four wins!"


    "Slaughter Points skyrocketed from 120,000 to 103 million!"


    "This Ye Chen is just too powerful. Even those at the very top ranks of victory rates in the Slaughter Field, aside from a few people like Beiling Xiaoxiao, no one else has been able to achieve more than a hundred consecutive victories!"


    "And these hundred battles, he fought continuously without rest, without any time to recuperate!"


    "This is a legend of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat strength in the Slaughter Field!"


    "I wonder if Ye Chen will fight again or if he will continue to extend his legendary streak of victories?"


    Numerous viewers were looking at the Slaughter Arena with excited hearts and spirits.


    However, at this moment, everyone saw Ye Chen flying down from the Slaughter Arena.


    "Is Ye Chen not going to fight anymore today?"


    As numerous people exclaimed, someone suddenly said: "Look at the Slaughter Token, Ye Chen has set his challenge rules, and he''s not allowing just anyone to challenge him like before."


    Hearing this, everyone turned their divine sense towards their own Slaughter Tokens to look at the name that belonged to Ye Chen.


    And then, everyone saw a new set of challenge rules appear after Ye Chen''s name.


    "Today''s battle was fought, and no opponent was met. A month later, come and challenge again."


    "Fifty million Slaughter Points per match, seeking only defeat! Who dares to fight, a month from now, feel free to come and battle!"

 Chapter 860 - 811: Aftermath

    Fifty million Slaughter Points per match, aiming for nothing but defeat!


    Who dares to battle, a month from now, just come and fight!


    The challenge rules left behind by Ye Chen on the "Slaughter Token" triggered huge waves throughout the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable''s combat power Slaughter Field.


    "Heaven."


    "Fifty million Slaughter Points for one match, and to challenge this Ye Chen, it costs fifty million Slaughter Points for a single fight?"


    "Is Ye Chen this arrogant? Confident enough to bet so much, certain he can win?"


    "And he said he''s only seeking defeat? Though he has won one hundred and four consecutive matches, which indeed is a legend, the most formidable opponent he has faced is only ranked ninety-third in victory rate. Such arrogance in laying down these challenge rules, those ranked higher must be dissatisfied and definitely want to teach him a harsh lesson."


    "A month from now, many experts will probably gather at the Slaughter Field."


    The entire Slaughter Field was buzzing with discussions.


    Ye Chen, who had just stepped down from the Slaughter Arena, also heard these discussions, slightly smiled without paying attention, and directly flew towards the exterior of the Slaughter Field.


    Ye Chen clearly understood that the challenge rules he had set, seemingly very arrogant, would surely attract countless people''s attention, causing many true strong fighters to want to slap his face.


    Actually, Ye Chen did this on purpose.


    Only by doing this, would it be possible to get those ranked highest in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field to all gather at the Slaughter Field a month later.


    This battle also revealed to Ye Chen that the truly top-ranked individuals were not in the Slaughter Field.


    Only such a gimmick could attract them all.


    Ye Chen couldn''t remain and keep slowly battling with those ranked in the nineties and eighties.


    This time withdrawing, on one hand, was because after over a hundred consecutive battles, he had accumulated a lot of combat insight that needed to be digested.


    On the other hand, from fighting, Ye Chen also knew his techniques needed further enhancement to truly face those top-ranked in victory rate.


    Leaving a month''s time was just perfect for cultivation.


    Also, it was perfect for letting this event ferment, drawing in more attention.


    "Let''s see how many strong fighters will come after a month?"


    "Hope those characters whose victory rates rank in the top few would all come to the Slaughter Field, to properly measure their strength against him."


    Ye Chen''s eyes were bright, filled with anticipation.


    When Ye Chen flew out of the "Slaughter Field" and returned to the Teleportation Divine Formation outside the "Slaughter Field Sealed Continent," to Ye Chen''s surprise, the two Immortal Divine Venerable elders he had previously met in the hall when exchanging the Slaughter Token were waiting outside.


    The faces of these two Immortal Divine Venerable elders still showed shock.


    How could they not be shocked?


    Let alone these two Immortal Divine Venerable elders, all the Immortal Divine Venerable elders in the hall along with that five-star Sovereign seated in the hall were all astonished.


    Previously, when Ye Chen exchanged the "Slaughter Token," they all advised Ye Chen not to enter the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field," to prevent losing all his Slaughter Points.


    When Ye Chen insisted on entering the Slaughter Field, they were even more certain that Ye Chen would not last long and would lose all his Slaughter Points.


    As the elders responsible for the "Slaughter Field," they could see everything happening inside the Slaughter Field through the scenes displayed in the hall.


    Once Ye Chen entered the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field, they focused their attention on this arena.


    Resultingly, Ye Chen''s performance in the Slaughter Arena shocked everyone!


    One hundred and four consecutive victories.


    Once stationed in the Slaughter Arena, he never stepped down, directly achieving one hundred and four consecutive victories!


    And his Slaughter Points, moreover, from a previously pitiful twelve million, jumped to now a hundred and three million.


    This speed of earning Slaughter Points is nothing short of legendary!


    In utter astonishment, upon seeing Ye Chen about to leave the Slaughter Field, the elders responsible for the Slaughter Field came out to welcome Ye Chen.


    On one hand, they wanted to ask Ye Chen how he planned to manage the Slaughter Points, and on the other hand, they also wanted to apologize for their previous underestimation of Ye Chen.


    At this moment, these elders already knew, Ye Chen was not just a God King capable of crossing realms in battle, but at his own level of combat power, he belonged among the genuinely powerful.


    "Ye Chen, we previously said you would lose all your Slaughter Points, but unexpectedly, you suddenly won over a hundred million Slaughter Points. This time, we were all mistaken, truly embarrassing!"


    The two elders bowed fist to Ye Chen and sincerely said.


    Ye Chen quickly returned the gesture with a fist bow: "Elders, please don''t flatter this junior too much. This battle didn''t involve any real strong opponents, it counts for nothing."


    Seeing Ye Chen not becoming arrogant despite a hundred and four consecutive wins, both elders smiled and nodded.


    Both asked Ye Chen: "Slaughter Points can be exchanged back into Mission Merit Points. Ye Chen, do you want to exchange your Slaughter Points? After switching to Mission Merit Points, you can go to the Divine Weapon Pavilion and Divine Elixir Pavilion in the Supreme Divine Institute to exchange all sorts of precious things."


    "One hundred million Merit Points is enough to exchange for many precious treasures."


    Ye Chen smiled: "I will exchange ten million Slaughter Points into Mission Merit Points then."


    "Exchanging so little?" Both elders were somewhat surprised, "Even if you exchange them all, any Merit Points left unused can later be exchanged back into Slaughter Points after returning to the Slaughter Field."


    However, Ye Chen shook his head, his gaze revealing a confident expression: "Just these few Slaughter Points, exchanging them back and forth is too troublesome. Wait until I accumulate over one billion Slaughter Points, then I will make an exchange!"


    Accumulate to one billion Slaughter Points?


    The two elders exchanged glances, once again astonished by Ye Chen''s confidence.


    In the end, Ye Chen, carrying the "Slaughter Token" along with "ninety-three million Slaughter Points" and "ten million Merit Points", left the Slaughter Field.


    Afterwards, Ye Chen directly returned to the cave dwelling left to him by Long Li on the God King Living Continent, beginning to comprehend combat insights from one hundred and four battles.


    While Ye Chen was contemplating combat insights in the cave dwelling, his performance in the "Slaughter Field" and the final challenge rules he had left spread throughout the Supreme Divine Institute''s Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Martial Artists.


    Earth Divine Venerable Living Continent, Heavenly Divine Venerable Living Continent, many were discussing this matter.


    In a secluded cave dwelling, a white-robed youth saw a letter in his hand, frowned and muttered: "Hmm, a Lower God King dares to utter such boastful words? Claiming to seek only defeat?"


    The white-robed youth grabbed the letter, and with a "boom", the letter was instantly burned to ashes by a Divine Flame.


    "Even I, Bai Chen, ranked second in combat victory rate in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field, would not dare say seeking only defeat. Yet, a mere Lower God King dares to be so arrogant!"


    "Hmph, this Lower God King, I heard he''s the youth extremely close to Long Li... In that case, let him know a month from now, that one hundred and four consecutive victories, one hundred and three million Slaughter Points are nothing in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat arena!"


    Not only Bai Chen was annoyed by Ye Chen''s arrogant words.


    The top twenty ranked in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field victory rates, upon hearing the news about Ye Chen, became eager to challenge him.


    "Seeking only defeat?"


    "This kid is indeed quite arrogant."


    "Then a month later, I will grant him that defeat!"


    In a cave dwelling on the Earth Divine Venerable Living Continent, three women were seated and chatting.


    One woman in green clothes looked at another woman in white clothes and said with a smile: "Xiaoxiao, your ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat arena'' has some big news."


    "I heard that the youth related to Long Li, Ye Chen, has entered the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat arena, achieving one hundred and four consecutive victories, claiming to have met no match and seeking only defeat."


    Another woman in yellow clothes also smiled: "These words, even Xiaoxiao as the top ranked in the ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat arena'', would not dare to say. This Ye Chen is really bold."


    Hearing the laughter of the two women, the woman in white clothes also smiled gently: "Ye Chen said such, he must want all the strong ones to challenge him, so he can meet all the strong Martial Artists at the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level."


    "Listening to that tone, Xiaoxiao, do you also want to test your strength against Ye Chen?" the woman in green clothes teased the woman in white.


    This woman in white, if seen by others from the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat arena, would definitely recognize her as Beiling Xiaoxiao, the top ranked in victory rate.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao shook her head upon hearing the green-clothed woman''s words: "It has been a long while since I last fought. Although Ye Chen has been surrounded by miraculous rumors since coming to the Supreme Divine Institute, it''s still too soon for me to personally act."


    "Let''s wait until no one ahead of the rankings can defeat him, then I will make a move."


    Ye Chen''s actions in the Slaughter Field not only stirred up numerous Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level characters, but even some Immortal Divine Venerables and Sovereigns were alarmed.


    The next day after Ye Chen returned to the cave dwelling to comprehend combat insights, Divine Venerable Meng Yue, ranked first in the entire "Divine Venerable List", visited Ye Chen''s cave dwelling to find him.


    Ye Chen did not expect Divine Venerable Meng Yue to seek him out.


    Seeing Divine Venerable Meng Yue outside the cave dwelling asking to meet, Ye Chen quickly welcomed her: "Predecessor Meng Yue, what brings you here?"


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue smiled gently: "Ye Chen, you have caused such a stir in the Slaughter Field, I have heard about it."


    Ye Chen smiled and shook his head: "Such a small matter, how can it compare to Predecessor Meng Yue? Even the mightiest in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field is just at the Heavenly Divine Venerable level, not even close to a Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable."


    "Predecessor Meng Yue is ranked first amongst all the Divine Venerables in the nine Great God Institutes, countless Immortal Divine Venerables are no match for you!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s response, Divine Venerable Meng Yue waved her hand amicably.


    She looked at Ye Chen with concern and asked: "I heard you''ve set a gamble of fifty million Slaughter Points per challenge in a month, how confident are you to win against all challengers?"


    Ye Chen shook his head: "To say I have ninety percent confidence is possible, but to say confidence to defeat everyone might be a bit premature."


    Ye Chen plans to not use the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" in the Slaughter Field, which would significantly reduce his combat power. With his current other skills, it truly is unlikely to sweep across all figures at the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level.


    "Lacking confidence yet you left such rules, isn''t this just provoking others and inviting them to challenge you," teased Divine Venerable Meng Yue with a laugh.


    Ye Chen also smiled: "If not done this way, those ranked ahead wouldn''t pay attention to a minor figure like me."

 Chapter 861 - 812 Earth Fiend Cultivation Room

    Ye Chen made a bold statement to attract more powerful figures and to push his own potential further, compelling himself to train harder to account for the countless formidable enemies.


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue, being who she was, instantly grasped Ye Chen''s thought process.


    "Ye Chen, how do you plan to cultivate this month?" Divine Venerable Meng Yue asked, "One month is too short to advance your combat power by a step, it''s not easy."


    Ye Chen smiled and replied, "Senior Meng Yue, during this month, I intend to rigorously cultivate the ''Eternal God Body'' and the Divine Arts associated with my superior Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!"


    Hearing about Ye Chen possessing a superior Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact did not surprise Divine Venerable Meng Yue.


    However, hearing that Ye Chen wanted to cultivate the "Eternal God Body" genuinely shocked her.


    "Eternal God Body! Ye Chen, where did you obtain the cultivation mantra for the Eternal God Body?" Divine Venerable Meng Yue asked in surprise.


    Ye Chen pointed to the cave dwelling behind him.


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue was stunned, "Was it left to you by Junior Sister Long Li, this Divine Body?!"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    Without Long Li, he indeed would not have had access to such a precious Divine Body.


    "Junior Sister Long Li indeed could have acquired the Eternal God Body," nodded Divine Venerable Meng Yue, "However, the ''Eternal God Body'' is extremely difficult to cultivate! It''s not just hard to cultivate, even preparing the required materials takes a great deal of effort."


    As the top-ranked individual on the Divine Venerable List, Divine Venerable Meng Yue naturally had heard of the Eternal God Body.


    She was even more aware of the difficulties involved in its cultivation.


    She had once prepared to cultivate this Divine Body, but eventually, part because this Divine Body was exceedingly difficult to cultivate, and the materials were hard to gather, and partly because the body was more suitable for male Martial Artists.


    Thus, ultimately, Divine Venerable Meng Yue chose to cultivate another type of Divine Body.


    Hearing now that Ye Chen wished to cultivate the Eternal God Body, the first difficulty Divine Venerable Meng Yue thought of was how Ye Chen would prepare the required cultivation materials.


    Ye Chen blinked his eyes and said to Divine Venerable Meng Yue, "Senior, for the cultivation of the first Divine Body Pattern ''Earth Divine Pattern'' of the ''Eternal God Body,'' I have already prepared all the materials."


    "All prepared?" Divine Venerable Meng Yue was once again surprised, "It is said that cultivating the ''Earth Divine Pattern'' requires thirty-six primary materials and seventy-two auxiliary materials. Your ''Eternal God Body'' mantra was left in this cave dwelling by Junior Sister Long Li, right? You have only been here for a couple of weeks, how did you manage to prepare all the materials so quickly?"


    Originally, it was Divine Venerable Meng Yue and Sovereign Jia Lan who brought Ye Chen to this God King Cave Dwelling of Long Li.


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue couldn''t possibly imagine how, in just a few days, Ye Chen had managed to prepare all the materials.


    "Could it be that Junior Sister Long Li prepared all the materials for you? Impossible, she probably didn''t know you would certainly decide to cultivate this Divine Body, she must have left you many Divine Bodies to choose from, and in that case, it''s impossible she prepared the materials specifically for you."


    "Besides, even if it was Junior Sister Long Li, it''s not possible for her to have prepared all the materials for the ''Eternal God Body'' all at once."


    "Could it be that my mentor left the materials for you?"


    "That''s not possible either; my mentor has gone to the ''Splendid Star Sea'' and hasn''t returned."


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue continued guessing.


    Ye Chen smiled and said, "It''s neither Long Li nor Lord Sovereign Xuechen. My materials were prepared by another Nine-Star Sovereign."


    The materials for Ye Chen were prepared by Mrs. He.


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue would never have guessed that within these few weeks, Ye Chen had made a trip to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain and had such a harvest.


    "Another Nine-Star Sovereign?!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Divine Venerable Meng Yue was profoundly shocked.


    A Nine-Star Sovereign was no ordinary sovereign; even in the Mountain Divine Nation, there are no more than ten Nine-Star Sovereigns in total.


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue could never have imagined that Ye Chen also knew another Nine-Star Sovereign besides Sovereign Xuechen!


    And that this Nine-Star Sovereign had prepared the materials for Ye Chen in such a short time!


    "Ye Chen really cannot be judged by common standards."


    "The young man admired by the Junior Sister always surprises people."


    Knowing that Ye Chen had all the cultivation materials ready, Divine Venerable Meng Yue no longer dwelled on the issue of materials.


    She suddenly thought of something and turned to Ye Chen, asking: "Ye Chen, where do you plan to cultivate the ''Earth Divine Pattern'' of the ''Eternal God Body''?"


    Ye Chen replied, "Right here in the cave dwelling. Senior Meng Yue, is there an issue?"


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue shook her head repeatedly, "To cultivate the ''Earth Divine Pattern'', there is an exceptionally suitable place, much better than cultivating here in the cave dwelling."


    Hearing Divine Venerable Meng Yue''s words, Ye Chen''s heart leapt with joy.


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue knew far more about the Supreme Divine Institute than he did; if she said there was a good place for it, it certainly meant it would be greatly beneficial for his cultivation of the Eternal God Body.


    Ye Chen hurriedly asked, "What place?"


    Divine Venerable Meng Yue pointed in the direction of the twelve Sealed Continents of the Supreme Divine Institute and said, "There is a Sealed Continent called ''Ruins Continent'', within it is a place called ''Earth Fiend Cultivation Room'', which is extremely suitable for cultivating the Earth Divine Pattern."


    Ruins Continent?


    Earth Fiend Cultivation Room?


    Ye Chen''s eyes lit up.


    ...


    Early the next morning, Ye Chen, equipped with his cultivation materials, flew towards the Ruins Continent as mentioned by Divine Venerable Meng Yue.


    Like the "Slaughter Field Sealed Continent," the entire "Ruins Continent" was also under complete seal.


    Ye Chen, in the guard hall outside the "Ruins Continent," directly approached the elder in charge of guarding the "Ruins Continent" to inquire about the situation of the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room."


    "You want to go to the ''Earth Fiend Cultivation Room''?" an elder responsible for guarding the "Ruins Continent" looked at Ye Chen.


    "The Earth Fiend Cultivation Room actually corresponds to the entire ''Earth Fiend Area'' of the ''Ruins Continent''."


    "That Earth Fiend Area, the natural underground rocks below, possess a ''Killing Force'' far surpassing the other Star Continents''. Not to mention other things, just the gravity itself is tens of thousands of times stronger than other Star Continents!"


    "Many God Kings would probably be unable to even fly in the ''Earth Fiend Area''!"


    "After the Supreme Divine Institute acquired this continent, they even transplanted countless precious rocks from other stars into the ''Earth Fiend Area'', making the ''Killing Force'' there even greater."


    "To cultivate in the ''Earth Fiend Cultivation Room'', even in the most inferior ''God King Level'' cultivation room, one would definitely suffer greatly."


    "Additionally, outside the ''Earth Fiend Cultivation Room'' in other parts of the ''Earth Fiend Area'', lives a type of ''Fiend Beast'', which is used to test the cultivation achievements of cultivators in the ''Earth Fiend Cultivation Room''. This ''Fiend Beast'' is extremely fierce, and to truly forge the abilities of cultivators, the institute did not implement any protection."


    "Once attacked by the ''Fiend Beast'', you could very likely die within the ''Earth Fiend Area''."


    "Are you sure you want to enter the ''Earth Fiend Cultivation Room'' for cultivation?"


    The elder informed Ye Chen about the circumstances of the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room."


    Ye Chen had heard some of these details from Divine Venerable Meng Yue, and although he was somewhat astonished by the rumors of the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room" and "Fiend Beast", he certainly wouldn''t give up just like that.


    Ye Chen said to the elder decisively, "I''m sure about entering!"


    The elder looked at Ye Chen deeply and then nodded, "Entering the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room costs 100,000 merit points per day. How many days do you plan to cultivate?"


    Ye Chen said, "Let''s go for twenty-eight days!"


    ...


    When Ye Chen arrived at the "Earth Fiend Area" of the "Ruins Continent", he truly realized that the elder was not exaggerating.


    The gravity of this area was terrifyingly strong!


    Ye Chen''s flying speed was already extremely fast, but upon entering this area, he felt as if his entire body was filled with lead, extremely heavy.


    Not only did his escaping speed drastically decrease, but even his flying height could only maintain a few hundred feet!


    And this was only because Ye Chen''s strength was sufficiently powerful.


    If it were any other God Kings, they probably wouldn''t even be able to fly at all in the "Earth Fiend Area"!


    Ye Chen was directly teleported outside the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room" in the "Earth Fiend Area".


    There were individual cultivation chambers, each marked with "God King Level", "Lower Earth Divine Venerable Level", "Middle Earth Divine Venerable Level"...


    Ye Chen looked at the vacant cultivation chambers and directly walked in, picking one after another.


    Eventually, Ye Chen settled in a "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level" cultivation chamber.


    "This ''Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level'' Earth Fiend cultivation chamber, due to the region''s Killing Force, is even more terrifying than fighting numerous Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables."


    "Let''s cultivate here, this place is suitable for me!"


    Once he selected a cultivation chamber, Ye Chen immediately opened the prohibition of the chamber''s door, setting it as a chamber in use.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen surveyed the situation inside the chamber.


    The chamber had an area of several thousand feet, filled with a brownish air, where the gravity was even stronger than outside; moving inside, Ye Chen''s actions were much slower.


    The chamber contained cultivation platforms and also decorations like plants and stone pools.


    Ye Chen also noticed that there was a stone door leading directly to the outside "Earth Fiend Area" corresponding to the chamber, where continuous roars of beasts came from.


    "It seems that the roars outside come from those ''Fiend Beasts''."


    "The Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Earth Fiend cultivation chamber is matched with Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Fiend Beasts."


    "After some cultivation, I''ll properly compare my skills against these ''Fiend Beasts''."


    After surveying the chamber, Ye Chen directly sat down on the cultivation platform.


    Simultaneously, he took out all the materials for the first Divine Body Pattern "Earth Divine Pattern" of the "Eternal God Body" cultivation and placed them on the platform.


    "There are twenty-eight days left, that''s exactly a month until the agreed day of challenge!"


    "During this time, I aim to complete the cultivation of the ''Earth Divine Pattern''!"


    Ye Chen, settled in meditation with his spirits high, began his first day of cultivation in the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room".

 Chapter 862 - 813: One Month Later

    From this day on, Ye Chen was completely immersed in arduous cultivation.


    During this period, Ye Chen only left the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room" twice.


    Once was on the twentieth day after Ye Chen entered the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room," where he went through the secret chamber''s stone door, directly into the corresponding Earth Fiend area outside, engaging in battle with over a hundred "Fiend Beasts."


    And in this particular battle, Ye Chen used only one technique: the "Earth Divine Pattern" of the "Eternal God Body."


    Even with just this single method, Ye Chen gained the upper hand in the battle against over a hundred "Fiend Beasts," not a single one of which was his match!


    Clearly, Ye Chen had made incredible progress in cultivating the "Earth Divine Pattern."


    The second time Ye Chen left the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room" was on the last day of his cultivation there, when he truly delved deep into the Fiend Beast territory, leaping over a thousand Fiend Beasts, all the way into the core of the Fiend Beast herd.


    And in the end, with the flying sword''s light from the "Gourd Sword" flashing, he struck down several core Fiend Beasts.


    Time flew by swiftly.


    Before he knew it, the day of battle, one month later, that Ye Chen had set a date for with Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power in the Slaughter Field, had finally arrived.


    Roar! Roar!


    In the midst of the Fiend Beasts'' frenzied howling, Ye Chen, who was engaged in fierce fighting, moved in a flash and flew into the void above the "Earth Fiend area."


    At that moment, it seemed as if the terrible "Earth Fiend Force" of this region could no longer impede Ye Chen''s flight.


    Ye Chen reached out in the void and with a grand gesture summoned over a hundred flying swords, transforming into over a hundred beams of sword light, shooting back into the gourd-shaped Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact in front of him.


    At the same time, over a dozen Fiend Beasts fell onto the ground.


    Ye Chen''s gaze then turned directly toward the outside of the "Earth Fiend area."


    "Has the day of the one-month challenge finally arrived."


    "Then let''s go meet those who are angered and wish to challenge me, those individuals at the forefront of the victory rate ranking!"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen flashed and disappeared from the void.


    ...


    Early on the day of the challenge, one month later, countless figures rose up from all corners of the living continent of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables and Earth Divine Venerables at the Supreme Divine Institute and flew straight towards the "Slaughter Field Sealed Continent."


    In less than a moment, the number of Martial Artists gathered in the stands of the "Slaughter Field" exceeded forty thousand!


    Almost all individuals with Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power from the Supreme Divine Institute were converging towards the Slaughter Field.


    Obviously, these people all wanted to witness the battle between Ye Chen and the many strong contenders, which was bound to cause a major uproar in the Slaughter Field.


    Boom!


    In a flash of Divine Light, a purple figure burst into the Spectator Platform area of the "Slaughter Field."


    Seeing this purple figure, many who had arrived early at the Slaughter Field screamed: "It''s Chen Beixuan, ranked seventh in the victory rate in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field. He must have heard Ye Chen''s challenging words and indeed rushed over in person!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Just as Chen Beixuan''s figure settled at the central position of the Spectator Platform, three more figures flew in simultaneously, triggering another wave of screams.


    "It''s the Three Brothers of the Murong Clan, ranking fifth, ninth, and thirteenth in the victory rate! They''ve arrived too!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the end, the screaming became continuous.


    Individuals ranked in the top thirty of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power in the Slaughter Field victory rate had almost all arrived at the scene.


    Even Bai Chen, who was ranked second only to Beiling Xiaoxiao, had come to the Slaughter Field.


    Upon seeing Bai Chen arrive, many strong individuals immediately gathered around him.


    "Brother Bai Chen, you''re actually here too?"


    "You''re here for Ye Chen as well, aren''t you?"


    Bai Chen nodded slightly: "Hmph, I heard that lowly Lower God King Ye Chen has the audacity to claim he has yet to meet his match and is seeking defeat. That is an insult to all of us here in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field!"


    "Such an arrogant young man. If those of us who are ranked higher don''t crush his spirit, he''ll likely dismiss all of us."


    "When he arrives later, those of you with lower rankings should challenge him first. It would be best if you can take him down. If you can''t, I will make my move."


    Hearing that Bai Chen would personally take action, many people in the crowd exclaimed: "Even if Ye Chen is strong, he only defeated a nobody ranked ninety-third. How could he possibly compare to Brother Bai Chen?"


    "For Brother Bai Chen to defeat him would be as easy as slaughtering a chicken!"


    One after another, the powerful came forth and the Slaughter Field became lively.


    However, everyone noticed that Beiling Xiaoxiao, who was ranked first in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Slaughter Field based on win rate, was nowhere to be seen in the Slaughter Field.


    Could it be that Beiling Xiaoxiao doesn''t care about this challenge at all?


    Countless people speculated in their hearts.


    Indeed, who is Beiling Xiaoxiao? She''s the formidable individual ranked first in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field, with a record extending over ten thousand victories and accumulated Slaughter Points exceeding ten billion!


    Her net victory count is even more than seven thousand above the second-ranked Bai Chen, leaving him far behind!


    It''s understandable that she would not regard Ye Chen''s combat power as worthy.


    The strong ones present, including Bai Chen, were certain that without needing Beiling Xiaoxiao to make a move, they would be able to defeat Ye Chen and fully grant his wish of seeking defeat!


    When the number of people in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field swelled to nearly fifty thousand, the entire field was bustling with excitement.


    But this time, nobody took the stage to challenge; everyone was waiting for Ye Chen''s arrival.


    They knew that today''s main event wasn''t anyone else''s battle of slaughter, but Ye Chen''s fight for fifty million Slaughter Points!


    However, after waiting for one stick of incense time, then two, they still hadn''t seen Ye Chen arrive.


    Many people started whispering among themselves: "Hmm, why hasn''t Ye Chen come yet?"


    "Could it be that he got cold feet and didn''t dare to show up?"


    In the center area of the Slaughter Field''s Spectator Platform, a group of people centered around Bai Chen also laughed upon hearing the buzzing discussions.


    "Haha, all that ''who dares to fight, come battle after a month''. It seems to me that Ye Chen knew he had stirred up a hornet''s nest and doesn''t dare to show his face!"


    Bai Chen also waved his hand nonchalantly: "It doesn''t matter if Ye Chen doesn''t come. Being disgraced in front of everyone, if he did come, is worse than not showing up at all. He might as well play the turtle and draw in his head."


    As these people were discussing, they suddenly heard a wave of surprised exclamations from around them: "Ye Chen has come, it''s that Ye Chen, the one who boasted so confidently a month ago!"


    "We were just saying he didn''t dare to come, and yet, he really did show up!"


    Boom!


    In an instant, the gazes of Bai Chen, the Three Brothers of the Murong Clan, Chen Beixuan, and other strong people swiftly turned towards a figure that had just been teleported to the Spectator Platform.


    A figure that drew the attention of countless eyes!


    The strong individuals noticed that this figure was a young man dressed in green robes.


    This young man, upon seeing the countless gazes focused on himself, shot up into the void with a ''whoosh''.


    He then proclaimed loudly to everyone with a laugh: "A month ago, I said whoever wishes to challenge me can do so at the price of fifty million Slaughter Points per fight."


    "I did not expect so many of you to come today. It seems quite a few are eager to challenge me."


    "Since that''s the case, then challengers, please come forth!"

 Chapter 863 - 814: Defeat Me? Youre Not There Yet!

    Whoosh.


    The moment Ye Chen''s voice sounded, everyone noticed that within the "Slaughter Token," Ye Chen had initiated the challenge option.


    This meant that finally, Ye Chen could be challenged!


    "A Lower God King dares to declare his desire for just one defeat?"


    "I, Sun Wuji, shall challenge you!"


    Boom.


    A burly man with a beard shot up from the Spectator Platform and stood opposite Ye Chen.


    "It''s Sun Wuji who is ranked 32nd in the victory rate of the Slaughter Field. Unexpectedly, such a strong contender has come forth to face Ye Chen at the start."


    The Spectator Platform was abuzz with discussions.


    Bai Chen and his group nodded when they saw Sun Wuji rise: "Sun Wuji, ranked 32nd? Hmm, it''s good to let him measure Ye Chen''s actual prowess."


    Hearing the chatter around him, Ye Chen turned his attention to the bearded man Sun Wuji who had challenged him.


    Ye Chen noted that the man''s hair and beard were fiery red, a clear sign that he cultivated a formidable Fire Element Cultivation Technique or possessed Flame Divine Power.


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense simultaneously checked the information on Sun Wuji within the Slaughter Token.


    "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable with combat power ranked 32nd in the Slaughter Field, Sun Wuji, a disciple of an Upper Earth Divine Venerable from the Supreme Divine Institute, has won 3,463 matches and lost 1,024 matches."


    Ye Chen murmured: "Hmm, a net victory count of 2,439. Looks not bad, but still somewhat weak."


    However, Ye Chen noticed that after Sun Wuji stood up and challenged him in public, no one else issued a challenge towards him.


    Clearly, the others wanted to wait and see the outcome of his fight with Sun Wuji before acting.


    "Since that''s the case, let''s start with fighting this man first."


    As Ye Chen was contemplating this, Sun Wuji on the other side was already becoming impatient: "What''s the matter, Ye Chen boy, are you scared to accept my challenge because I''m ranked 32nd?"


    "You''re regretting having to lose 50 million of your hard-earned Slaughter Points at once, aren''t you?"


    Listening to Sun Wuji''s provocative words, Ye Chen just smiled lightly: "I''m not declining your challenge because you''re ranked 32nd, but rather, I find this rank a bit too low!"


    "However, since no one else is challenging me at the moment, I''ll just defeat you first, rank 32, as a warm-up."


    Having said that, Ye Chen directly accepted Sun Wuji''s challenge through the "Slaughter Token" and, seeing that he was assigned to the "number 8" Slaughter Arena, he flew towards it immediately.


    In an instant, Ye Chen stood upon the Slaughter Arena.


    Ye Chen was already on the arena, while Sun Wuji was still amidst the Void of the Spectator Platform.


    At this moment, Sun Wuji''s beard almost seemed to quiver with rage.


    "This Ye Chen, he dares to say my rank of 32nd is too low to challenge him?"


    "He even says defeating me is just a warm-up?"


    Sun Wuji''s face turned crimson with humiliation as he was belittled in front of tens of thousands.


    In his rising fury, a "boom" rang out, and a Flame Divine Blade appeared in his hand.


    Sun Wuji took a heavy stomp towards the Void, and in the next moment, he shot explosively towards the spot opposite Ye Chen on the number 8 arena.


    Sun Wuji, wielding the Flame Divine Blade, pointed at Ye Chen''s nose and said, "You little brat, I really want to see how you''re going to warm up with me. In a moment, I won''t just defeat you; I''m going to beat you up until you''re looking for your teeth all over the ground!"


    Even before the battle started, the air was already filled with the smell of gunpowder.


    On the spectator platform, the crowd of martial artists added fuel to the fire, yelling, "Stop talking and start practicing, whoever among you is stronger should just make a move and quickly settle the victory or defeat to find out!"


    In the area where Bai Chen, the Three Brothers of the Murong Clan, and Chen Beixuan, and others were located, the people who heard what Ye Chen previously said to Sun Wuji also had a flash of brilliance in their eyes.


    "This Ye Chen, really arrogant. He has only ever defeated the one ranked ninety-third at most, yet he dares to say that the thirty-second rank challenging him is too low."


    "I really want to see what kind of skills he has to be so audacious."


    Atop Arena Number Eight.


    Hearing the crazy shouts from the spectator platform, and seeing Sun Wuji''s red face, Ye Chen smiled faintly and said, "Make your move, if you don''t do it now, you won''t get another chance."


    "To defeat me, you''re not capable enough, stop wasting time."


    Provoked by Ye Chen again, where could Sun Wuji endure restraint, with a "boom," a shocking crimson divine light of flames surged from his body.


    Enveloped by the divine light, he appeared like a god of slaughter ablaze with flames.


    "You little brat, I''ll let you taste my power!"


    Sun Wuji and his Flame Divine Blade turned into a terrifying flame that covered a hundred yards in the roar of anger, a "buzz" and a flash of light, he shot towards Ye Chen with killing intent.


    "It''s Sun Wuji''s signature move, ''Sky-Burning Fierce Flames'' from the top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art! I didn''t expect that he would use his trump card right from the start, it seems that he was really infuriated by Ye Chen!"


    "The top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art ''Sky-Burning Fierce Flames'', I heard that Sun Wuji hasn''t fully mastered it to Great Accomplishment, but even if it hasn''t reached that level, it''s definitely enough to give Ye Chen a tough time!"


    Many people in the spectator platform recognized Sun Wuji''s move and were discussing spiritedly.


    However, their discussions were cut short in an instant, because they were shocked to see Sun Wuji, who had turned into a terrifying flame covering a hundred yards attacking Ye Chen, was repelled back instantly upon contact with Ye Chen, the flames being blown back wildly and directly hitting the Prohibition Light Cover around the Slaughter Arena, resulting in his immediate elimination and transport to the loser''s area.


    Defeated?


    Everyone had not clearly seen how Ye Chen made his move before they witnessed Sun Wuji being eliminated.


    This literally made everyone''s jaws drop.


    The thirty-second ranked Sun Wuji, was he not even a match for a single move from Ye Chen?


    These people didn''t see that, in the instant the terrifying flame that Sun Wuji had become touched Ye Chen, there was a flash of brown Earth Spike Divine Body Patterns on Ye Chen''s body.


    That was clearly the attack pattern of the "Eternal God Body''s" first Divine Pattern, "Earth Divine Pattern"!


    Ye Chen, after a month''s arduous cultivation, had fully mastered the "Earth Divine Pattern" to Great Accomplishment.


    If he couldn''t handle a mere thirty-second ranker, then his month-long arduous cultivation in the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room" would have been in vain!


    He wasn''t afraid of several hundreds of Fiend Beasts, let alone Sun Wuji.


    Ye Chen had intentionally provoked Sun Wuji earlier just to see if this man had any cunning and to scope out how deep his skills were.


    Someone who could be provoked so easily was simply not worthy of Ye Chen''s consideration.


    Ye Chen glanced at Sun Wuji in the loser''s area, who was as pale as death, then stood directly on Arena Number Eight, turning his gaze to the spectator area.


    His voice carried over to everyone in the spectator area, "Next challenger, make your move!"

 Chapter 864 - 815: The Methods of the Earth Divine Pattern

    Ye Chen''s voice echoed throughout the entire Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    However, at this moment, the spectator area fell into an eerie silence.


    Although countless people were shocked beyond belief by Ye Chen''s previous record of 104 consecutive victories with no losses, they could still accept it.


    After all, the most powerful opponent Ye Chen had faced was only ranked 93rd in win rate.


    But now, after achieving 105 consecutive victories, even though he has only won one more battle, everyone''s perception of Ye Chen had completely changed.


    Because this time, Ye Chen had defeated a strong contender ranked 32nd in win rate!


    Ranked 32nd in win rate, that person definitely belonged to the truly powerful ones in the entire Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    The fact that Ye Chen could defeat even such a character clearly showed everyone that his 105 consecutive victories were not due to luck, but real strength!


    What was even more terrifying was that nobody had been able to see clearly the moves Ye Chen used to defeat Sun Wuji.


    This made many hesitant to challenge him lightly.


    It was for this reason that after Ye Chen spoke up, for a moment, no one else stepped forward to challenge him.


    "Could it be that no one dares to challenge me anymore?"


    "The strong contenders of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field can''t possibly have such little courage."


    Ye Chen said with a laugh.


    Ye Chen had only fought one battle, and the arena had quieted down.


    He hadn''t even warmed up yet.


    This forced Ye Chen, who wished for a hearty battle, to resort to using reverse psychology to prompt someone eager to fight to step forward.


    "I''ll take you on!"


    With a "swoosh," finally another challenger stepped into the void.


    Seeing this challenger, Ye Chen''s eyes brightened.


    This person was one of the two main characters in the focal battle that Ye Chen saw when he first came to the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    It was the battle between the ones ranked 23rd and 25th in the win rate of the Slaughter Field.


    That battle directly wagered ten million Slaughter Points and took place in the middle of the Slaughter Arena.


    Back then, the ten million Slaughter Points wager on a single battle had shocked Ye Chen immensely.


    After all, at that time Ye Chen only had 120,000 Slaughter Points on him.


    Unexpectedly, Ye Chen had now accumulated 1.43 billion Slaughter Points so quickly.


    Now, this person ranked 23rd would finally have a battle with him!


    The upcoming battle between the two of them was even for a stake of fifty million Slaughter Points per battle!


    "It is indeed hard to predict the ways of the world."


    "Back then, the battle between this ''Xiao Feng'' ranked 23rd and ''Luo Bei'' ranked 25th made a deep impression on me. The technique ''Xiao Feng'' excels in is a kind of divine body skill."


    "I didn''t finish watching their battle back then; now, at last, I can have a go with him. Let''s pit my divine body skill against his and see who comes out on top!"


    With thoughts flashing through his mind and spirit, Ye Chen immediately accepted Xiao Feng''s challenge through his Slaughter Token.


    Boom!


    Seeing the Divine Light flashing in his own Slaughter Token, Xiao Feng then leapt up, arriving on Slaughter Arena number eight where Ye Chen was located.


    This time, the onlookers below were no longer discussing among themselves.


    Because even they didn''t know who would emerge victorious between Ye Chen and Xiao Feng this time.


    In the area where the second-ranked in win rate Bai Chen was located.


    At this moment, watching Ye Chen and Xiao Feng, Bai Chen''s eyes also flashed with brilliance: "I had intended to make a move myself, but I haven''t yet figured out the technique Ye Chen used earlier."


    "Let Xiao Feng take the lead; it gives me a good chance to see exactly what technique Ye Chen used to eliminate Sun Wuji in one fell swoop."


    Many shared the same thoughts as Bai Chen, and thus almost everyone''s divine eyes shone brightly, focusing on the battle between Ye Chen and Xiao Feng on arena number eight.


    Ye Chen and Xiao Feng didn''t talk much; after a fist salute to each other, the next moment, they plunged into fierce battle.


    Xiao Feng specialized in a divine body skill known as the "Golden Xuan Shocking Body."


    Once the Divine Power surged through his body, his entire physique, including his clothing, turned crimson gold in color.


    Boom!


    Xiao Feng stomped fiercely on the arena with his feet, throwing a punch directly at Ye Chen, blasting the void outright with this one strike.


    The Golden Xuan Shocking Body is said to require one to undergo three major stages to reach Great Accomplishment: the Iron Xuan Shocking Body, the Copper Xuan Shocking Body, the Silver Xuan Shocking Body, and only then can one practice the Golden Xuan Shocking Body.


    Practicing this divine body skill is similarly extraordinarily difficult; it is said that each stage of the divine body requires one to strike their own physical body ten million times with a Divine Artifact in order to temper out strand by strand of Divine Patterns. If any single Divine Pattern breaks, the cultivation of this divine body skill will be ruined.


    Ultimately, only when all Divine Patterns completely envelop the physical body does the divine body skill reach Great Accomplishment.


    Out of ten thousand who cultivate this divine body, fewer than ten can successfully reach Great Accomplishment!


    Of course, this divine body is also exceptionally powerful.


    Once successfully cultivated, both the defensive power and attack power become terrifyingly strong.


    Xiao Feng reached the twenty-third rank in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field precisely by relying on such a divine body.


    Among the spectators, many recognized Xiao Feng''s "Golden Xuan Shocking Body." When they saw him launching an attack on Ye Chen, with both fists turning into a shade of crimson gold, a lot of them clenched their fists tightly out of sheer nervousness.


    They had no idea what means Ye Chen would use to counter Xiao Feng''s attack at the next moment.


    This tension only lasted for a fraction of a blink.


    In the next instant, everyone saw that Xiao Feng''s pair of crimson-gold fists had already directly struck Ye Chen''s chest.


    At that moment, on Ye Chen''s chest, suddenly emerged several leaf-shaped Divine Patterns shining brightly, and eventually, all the leaf Divine Patterns transformed into an extremely dense cyan Divine Light.


    This cyan Divine Light shook, and astonishingly sent Xiao Feng''s pair of crimson-gold fists, along with his entire person, retreating dozens of steps backward.


    Even the attack known for its extraordinary Attack Power from the "Golden Xuan Shocking Body" couldn''t break through Ye Chen''s defenses.


    "That attack isn''t enough, come at me again!"


    Ye Chen, who repelled Xiao Feng''s attack, didn''t counterattack but instead spoke provocatively towards him.


    Seeing his attack repelled and hearing Ye Chen''s words, Xiao Feng''s complexion changed. His whole body shot out towards Ye Chen again, and at the same time, with a tremor of the Void, dozens of golden fist shadows bombarded Ye Chen all at once.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    However, the outcome was astonishing to all; Xiao Feng, whose Attack Power increased to dozens of golden fist shadows, was once again completely blocked by the mysterious leaf Divine Pattern light on Ye Chen''s body, and once again bounced back.


    "Still not enough. Unleash your attacks at their strongest extent!" Ye Chen urged once more.


    Xiao Feng, whose attacks were repeatedly ineffective, now had a reddened face from exertion. Finally, he no longer held back, unleashing the strongest attack skills of the "Golden Xuan Shocking Body."


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the entire arena area, spanning thousands of feet, was completely enveloped by golden fist light.


    The sky filled with fist shadows pounded unceasingly, with each one seemingly possessing the power to shatter an entire Star Continent!


    Within the defenses of the arena crafted by Sovereign great powers, this force didn''t spread but instead all bombarded Ye Chen, who stood at its center.


    "Terrifying!"


    "This is the ''Golden Xuan Shocking Body''s'' attack, with enough power to tear the earth apart and shatter the sky!"


    "It''s been a long time since we''ve seen Xiao Feng unleash all his power."


    "I wonder if that Ye Chen can still withstand it."


    Countless people discussed animatedly.


    Amidst the buzzing chatter, everyone saw that the sky full of fist shadows constantly bombarding the center of the arena, abruptly exploded with a loud "bang."


    Following that, Ye Chen''s figure emerged, and Xiao Feng was once again sent flying.


    Even Xiao Feng, giving his all, still couldn''t breach Ye Chen''s defenses.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, having blocked several consecutive attacks from Xiao Feng, simply smiled lightly. He leapt up and soared into the void.


    Ye Chen looked towards Xiao Feng and directly said, "Your divine body is said to be the ''Golden Xuan Shocking Body,'' rumored to have extremely strong defense and attack."


    "I''ve already seen your attacks just now, and it seems that''s the strongest you can do. Now, let me see the power of your defense."


    As the words of Ye Chen fell, his hands formed a spell, and the divine body light all over him suddenly shifted from cyan into brown.


    Following that, Ye Chen suddenly flashed from the Void, and at the next moment, he swung his fist towards Xiao Feng.


    This punch, when unleashed, seemed like thousands of Earth Spikes thrusting out, charging at Xiao Feng in a thunderous manner.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Xiao Feng had already spurred the Divine Light on his body to flare up. His entire body shimmered in crimson gold, as if he had erected thousands of layers of a golden bell barrier around himself.


    But even this multilayered golden bell barrier shattered like glass before the thousands of Earth Spikes from Ye Chen''s punch.


    With a single punch, Ye Chen shattered all of Xiao Feng''s protective Divine Light, and the fist sent Xiao Feng flying backward like a meteor. Finally, amidst a harsh scream, Xiao Feng was blasted to the brink of life and death, and the arena''s protective prohibitions declared him defeated, eliminating him from the combat zone.


    Defeat.


    Xiao Feng was defeated.


    His Attack Power couldn''t break through Ye Chen''s defenses.


    His defensive power was even more vulnerable!


    In the contest with Ye Chen, Xiao Feng''s divine body skills, no matter which kind, were utterly outclassed!


    Following Xiao Feng''s defeat, Ye Chen''s Slaughter Points soared to 193 million points, and Ye Chen''s battle record reached a terrifying 106 consecutive victories with no defeats!


    Silence.


    Once again, the entire spectator area fell into silence.


    But the next moment, incredible cries of astonishment and several deeply shaken shouts spread to every corner of the Slaughter Field.


    Among these shouts, even Bai Chen''s voice could be heard.


    "It''s the ''Eternal God Body''s'' ''Earth Divine Pattern'' attack method!"


    "Ye Chen has actually cultivated the ''Eternal God Body''!"

 Chapter 865 - 816: The Battle of the Peak

    The great name of the Eternal God Body is known by many Heavenly Divine Venerables and Earth Divine Venerables of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    However, they basically have never seen anyone cultivate it.


    Because they had long heard about the difficulty of cultivating this Divine Body, in terms of difficulty, the Eternal God Body is countless times more challenging than the "Golden Xuan Shocking Body" cultivated by Xiao Feng.


    The spectators had never expected that they would see the methods of the "Eternal God Body" on Ye Chen!


    At this moment, Bai Chen''s face was twitching: "It is rumored that the first Earth Divine Pattern of the Eternal God Body has four major methods. ''Green Leaf Glow'' is a defensive method, ''Earth Spike'' is an offensive method, and the equally powerful ''Void Earth Fissure'' is a speed method, and the final move ''Earth Collapse'' is a critical strike method."


    "I wonder if Ye Chen has successfully cultivated all these four methods. If he has perfected them all, then the first Divine Pattern ''Earth Divine Pattern'' of the ''Ancient Undying Divine Body'' would be completely cultivated, and that would be terrifying!"


    "In that case, I am probably the only one among the present crowd who could battle with Ye Chen."


    While Bai Chen was contemplating in his mind whether to step out and challenge Ye Chen, another person stood up and issued a challenge to Ye Chen.


    This person''s ranking has even increased to the thirteenth place in terms of combat power in the Slaughter Field among Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    This person is none other than the notorious youngest of the "Three Brothers of the Murong Clan" in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field ¡ª "Murong Ao."


    Not only did "Murong Ao" stand out, but even the number one and number nine ranked eldest brother "Murong Bo" and the second brother "Murong Fang" among the "Three Brothers of the Murong Clan" were somewhat excited.


    As Murong Ao stood up, he directly said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, you have actually cultivated the ''Eternal God Body,'' impressive, impressive!"


    "Our master always said that our divine body skills are no match for the Eternal God Body. Since you have cultivated such a divine body, we must fight you to see if we are truly inferior to you."


    Murong Ao''s elder brothers "Murong Bo" and "Murong Fang" also spoke up: "If the youngest can''t do it, we will also take up the fight!"


    Seeing that the ranks fifth, ninth, and thirteenth "Three Brothers of the Murong Clan" were all challenging him.


    Ye Chen also raised his voice and laughed: "Good, I was also thinking of properly testing the real power of my divine body skills; I accept the challenges from all three of you!"


    With "Murong Ao''s" challenge beginning, Ye Chen''s one hundred and seventh battle in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field also finally commenced.


    Murong Ao''s strength in holding the thirteenth rank in the Slaughter Field of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power is much stronger than Xiao Feng who Ye Chen previously fought.


    He cultivated a divine body called "War God Body."


    This divine body''s fighting spirit grows stronger as one battles more, and it can even combine with True Qi Technique and Divine Soul skills to form a type of divine body armor and a killing spear attack consisting of Essence, Qi, and Spirit.


    However, what surprised the spectators was that this time, the speed at which Ye Chen defeated "Murong Ao" was even quicker than when he defeated the twenty-third-ranked Qin Feng.


    It took just a dozen breaths before Ye Chen directly eliminated "Murong Ao" from the competition!


    The reason Ye Chen did not test moves and fully burst out like he did when defeating Qin Feng is that he had also previously seen the "War God Body" Divine Body Skills that Murong Ao deployed.


    This set of Divine Body was one of the several options left to him by Long Li at the beginning.


    At that time, Ye Chen had compared the "War God Body" with the "Eternal God Body" and ultimately abandoned the weaker "War God Body" and chose the "Eternal God Body" to cultivate.


    Knowing the "War God Body" very well, Ye Chen certainly did not wish to waste time with Murong Ao.


    This Murong Ao had only cultivated the "War God Body" to the Minor Accomplishment stage; even if he launched an attack on Ye Chen together with his True Qi Technique and Divine Soul skills, he was no match for Ye Chen.


    After defeating Murong Ao, Ye Chen''s record of victories reached one hundred and seven consecutive wins!


    And it didn''t stop there.


    Indeed, as the "Three Brothers of the Murong Clan" had previously stated, after one falls, the others would continue to challenge.


    After the thirteenth-ranked "Murong Ao" was defeated by Ye Chen, the ninth-ranked "Murong Fang" and the fifth-ranked "Murong Bo" also consecutively initiated challenges to Ye Chen.


    Eventually, these two, just like their younger brother, were all defeated by Ye Chen.


    After defeating the fifth-ranked Murong Bo, Ye Chen''s victory streak reached one hundred and nine consecutive wins, and the Slaughter Points accumulated to the astonishing amount of three hundred and forty-three million points!


    By this time, those defeated by Ye Chen included the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field win-rate ranks of the ninety-third, thirty-second, twenty-third, thirteenth, ninth, and fifth, totaling six strong contenders from the top one hundred.


    Especially after defeating the fifth-ranked "Murong Bo", everyone in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field spectating area was astounded.


    They had already realized that Ye Chen''s combat power was definitely capable of ranking within the top three of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, and even challenging for the second or first place was possible.


    It was just that Ye Chen had just arrived at the Slaughter Field and had only fought a little over a hundred battles, so his net wins were very few.


    If he had enough time fighting in the Slaughter Field, breaking the records of Bai Chen and even Beiling Xiaoxiao was not impossible!


    "No way around it."


    "Even the fifth-ranked Murong Bo has fallen, and he fell decisively. There probably isn''t anyone in the field who could be a match for Ye Chen."


    "Unexpectedly, within a span of a month, this Ye Chen has become even more formidable!"


    "The only one who could still battle with Ye Chen, is probably the second-ranked Bai Chen."


    Shua.


    All people in the Spectator Platform had the same thought emerge in their minds, and they unanimously looked towards Bai Chen.


    At this moment, Bai Chen''s expression also turned very serious.


    Bai Chen hadn''t anticipated that the Junior God King Ye Chen, whom he had previously looked down on and even wanted to teach a lesson, had become this powerful.


    At this moment, even he couldn''t quite grasp Ye Chen''s true limit, unsure if he could defeat Ye Chen.


    Of course, with all eyes on him at this moment, Bai Chen certainly wouldn''t back down.


    Seeing that everyone was looking forward to his battle, Bai Chen smiled and stood up from the spectator seats.


    "One hundred and nine consecutive victories."


    Bai Chen clapped towards Ye Chen, "A Lower God King, possessing the combat power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable, and yet reaching such a level at this stage of power."


    "Indeed, this is quite unexpected."


    "However, Ye Chen, your streak of one hundred and nine consecutive victories is about to end."


    "Because I, Bai Chen, am entering the arena!"


    Boom!


    As Bai Chen spoke, he took a step and appeared in the void.


    His gaze was directly fixed on Ye Chen, who was still on the number eight arena, as a powerful fighting intent began to surge within him.


    Even though Bai Chen couldn''t see where Ye Chen''s limit was, as the second-ranked character in combat power of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable in the Slaughter Field, Bai Chen certainly wouldn''t be afraid of Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had his techniques, but Bai Chen also had powerful techniques of his own.


    As he prepared to challenge Ye Chen, Bai Chen displayed his imposing aura.


    Dominating the opponent with absolute presence has always been Bai Chen''s usual method.


    Even in the void, Bai Chen looked down at Ye Chen and directly said, "You just fought consecutively in five battles, your Divine Power must have depleted considerably."


    "Don''t say that I, Bai Chen, am bullying you. Ye Chen, you meditate and recuperate. Wait until all your Divine Power is restored, then I will fight you."


    "Don''t say that your Divine Power was depleted after I defeat you. I, Bai Chen, won''t take such an advantage."


    "Of course, even if your combat power is fully restored, if I say I can defeat you, then I will absolutely defeat you!"


    Bai Chen''s voice echoed throughout the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field, eliciting cheers and screams from many martial artists.


    "Brother Bai Chen is making a move."


    "Handsome, so handsome! When the Three Brothers of the Murong Clan challenged Ye Chen earlier, they didn''t have much confidence, but look, how confident Brother Bai Chen is!"


    "Brother Bai Chen is the second highest in win rate, of course, he is confident! Brother Bai Chen''s net victories have won over five thousand matches, he is only second to Beiling Xiaoxiao in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field."


    "Even if Ye Chen could defeat Murong Bo, he definitely wouldn''t dare to be arrogant in front of Brother Bai Chen."


    "With Brother Bai Chen in the field, who dares to compete!"


    Many people already stood up in excitement.


    They wanted to see, in the upcoming pinnacle battle between Bai Chen, ranked second, and the dark horse Ye Chen, who would emerge as the true winner.


    Hearing Bai Chen''s words, Ye Chen also instantly flew to the void of the number eight arena, facing Bai Chen in the void above the spectator platform.


    Ye Chen, of course, would not be overwhelmed by Bai Chen''s aura.


    He shook his head with a smile and directly said to Bai Chen, "In the previous battles, I did not consume any Divine Power. Feel free to challenge me if you wish!"


    "You are not yet the target I wish to fight against, so my winning streak will not end by your hand."


    Whoosh.


    As Ye Chen''s words fell, the entire spectator area erupted.


    Everyone could see that even when facing Bai Chen, who was ranked second, Ye Chen showed no signs of weakness.


    "Ye Chen said Bai Chen is not his intended target, could it be that the person Ye Chen truly respects is only Beiling Xiaoxiao, who ranks first?"


    "He also said Bai Chen cannot end his winning streak, could it be, this Ye Chen is confident he can beat Brother Bai Chen too?"


    Tit for tat.


    Everyone was shaken in their hearts, Bai Chen wanted to press Ye Chen with his aura, but Ye Chen was equally unyielding and confronted Bai Chen directly.


    To decide who wins and who loses, they could only rely on battle.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Bai Chen no longer hesitated; he smiled coldly, "Ye Chen, since you claim your Divine Power isn''t depleted, then don''t say I took advantage of you after you lose. You want to continue your winning streak, but I am determined to end it."


    "Talk is cheap. Let''s see the truth beneath our hands!"


    Bai Chen directly issued a challenge to Ye Chen from his Slaughter Token.


    And Ye Chen also directly accepted Bai Chen''s challenge.


    Instantly, both of them moved from the spectator platform and the arena''s void, transitioning to facing each other in the void above the number eight arena.


    The next moment, Bai Chen''s vast Divine Power burst forth wildly, transforming into a towering flame soaring thousands of feet high.

 Chapter 866 - 817 Beiling Xiaoxiao Arrives

    In the terrifying Divine Power flames tens of thousands of feet high, Bai Chen stands, resembling the Master of Void Heaven.


    He did not, like Xiao Feng and the Three Brothers of the Murong Clan, confront Ye Chen''s "Eternal God Body" with the strongest divine body skills.


    What Bai Chen is best at is activating the Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact Treasure.


    As the vast Divine Power surged forth, a small, fiery red flying knife appeared directly in front of Bai Chen.


    This small flying knife, only the size of a palm, trembled lightly under the surging aura of Bai Chen''s Divine Power, continuously slashing through the void in front of him.


    Void Heavenly Slaying Blade.


    This flying knife, immensely famous, was a top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact passed to him by one of Bai Chen''s elders.


    After activating the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade," the next moment, Bai Chen pointed his finger, and the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade," as if it had a life and sentience of its own, burst forth towards Ye Chen.


    And Ye Chen, in an instant, disappeared from the void where he had been standing.


    The next moment, terrifying Divine Patterns of light, resembling Earth Fissures, appeared in every part of the arena''s void.


    Ye Chen''s figure immediately floated out from these Earth Fissures, appearing right in front of Bai Chen.


    At this moment, another shadow of the flying knife burst forth in front of Bai Chen, strikingly it was the previously launched "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade"!


    Ye Chen''s speed was terrifyingly fast.


    The speed of this flying knife was also terrifying!


    It directly pursued Ye Chen again!


    Seeing this, Ye Chen did not directly attack Bai Chen but instead tried to compete with the flying knife in speed, his figure once again vanishing into the Divine Pattern light of the Earth Fissures in the arena.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    Following that, all the spectators witnessed a scene that made their mouths gape open.


    Ye Chen''s figure continuously appeared in various parts of the wide arena, and each time he appeared, Bai Chen''s "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" instantly arrived, striking at Ye Chen.


    Following that, Ye Chen disappeared and reappeared again; the flying knife struck at him once more.


    One person, one knife, the scene was even faster than Extreme Lightning, casting dazzling trails of light across the entire arena!


    "Fast."


    "Too fast!"


    "This is probably already the speed limit that a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable''s combat power can achieve!"


    "I did not expect Ye Chen''s speed to reach such a level, not even slightly inferior to the ''Void Heavenly Slaying Blade''."


    Many were deeply shocked in their hearts.


    "It''s the first Divine Pattern of the ''Eternal God Body,'' the ''Earth Divine Pattern'' and its speed skill¡ªthe ''Void Earth Fissure''!"


    "We did not realize when Ye Chen fought against us before that he had not used this tactic."


    The Three Brothers of the Murong Clan on the Spectator Platform, each of them was astounded.


    When they were earlier defeated by Ye Chen, he had only used the Earth Divine Pattern''s attack and defense skills, without using any speed skills.


    And just like that, he had defeated the three of them.


    Now seeing Ye Chen revealing a new skill, how could they not be profoundly shaken?


    Clearly, Ye Chen''s strength was much stronger than when they first fought against him!


    "However, although the ''Void Earth Fissure'' skill is fast enough, the ''Void Heavenly Slaying Blade'' is also extraordinarily fast. Under these circumstances, it''s difficult for Ye Chen to launch an attack against Bai Chen."


    "Could it be that they will just keep chasing each other like this?"


    Murong Bo, ranked fifth in win-rate, muttered while watching the constantly flashing lights on the eighth arena.


    At this moment, Bai Chen in the void of the arena, watching Ye Chen being relentlessly chased by the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" and unable to attack him, a cold smile appeared on his face: "Having known that you possess the ''Earth Divine Venerable'' skill of the ''Eternal God Body,'' I was prepared."


    "I want to see how you can successfully attack me under the interference of my ''Void Heavenly Slaying Blade.''"


    "If you dare to attack me despite the ''Void Heavenly Slaying Blade,'' it will definitely break through your defense and eliminate you!"


    While Bai Chen was feeling pleased with himself, he suddenly heard Ye Chen''s voice by his ear: "Not bad, not bad, this top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact level flying knife is indeed interesting."


    "It seems I have to use my own top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact as well."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Bai Chen was stunned.


    "Hmm, does this Junior God King Ye Chen also possess a top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact?"


    While he was still in a daze, the next moment, he saw Ye Chen''s figure appear directly, confidently walking in the void.


    Even as the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" found and struck at Ye Chen, he no longer concealed his form.


    Following that, Bai Chen saw that Ye Chen''s body suddenly burst forth with an extremely blinding light.


    Within the light, a gourd-shaped treasure appeared directly in front of Ye Chen, and from within the gourd, dozens of flying swords were released.


    "It''s those flying swords!"


    Bai Chen''s heart suddenly burst with a cold sneer.


    "These flying swords, which Ye Chen used during his first visit to the Slaughter Field, were only capable of suppressing those with much lower win rates. Trying to use these flying swords to block my ''Void Heavenly Slaying Blade''? Dream on!"


    Bai Chen had watched the battle screen footage of Ye Chen in the Slaughter Field given to him before, and had already seen Ye Chen''s flying swords. Such combat power of flying swords was truly negligible in Bai Chen''s eyes.


    Thus, when he saw Ye Chen taking out the flying swords now, he didn''t care at all.


    However, in the next moment, Bai Chen''s eyes suddenly widened.


    Bai Chen found that the dozens of flying swords activated by Ye Chen merged into a storm that strangled everything, colliding head-on with his "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade".


    And with this collision, his "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" and those flying swords were both knocked back simultaneously.


    The two Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts were evenly matched, with neither gaining the upper hand!


    "How is this possible?!"


    Bai Chen was greatly shocked.


    He had seen the killing force of Ye Chen''s flying swords before, and it was definitely not at this level.


    What Bai Chen did not know was that when Ye Chen first used the flying swords in the Slaughter Field, he hadn''t undergone a month of rigorous training and had not truly specialized in the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" corresponded to the "Gourd Sword".


    Now, after a month of hard training in the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room", Ye Chen''s Eternal God Body had made great gains, and the power of the "Gourd Sword" had also greatly enhanced!


    "Gourd Sword", a top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact given to Ye Chen by Huyan Divine Master, after mastering some spells of the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills", Ye Chen naturally did not fear the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade".


    Using the dozens of flying swords from the "Gourd Sword" to repel the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade", Ye Chen pointed his finger, and the dozens of flying swords struck towards the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" once more. At the same time, Ye Chen flashed and his body appeared in front of Bai Chen, directly reaching out a large hand to grasp Bai Chen in the air.


    As a person ranked second in the winning ratio among the combatants with Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable strength in the Slaughter Field, Bai Chen certainly had more techniques than just the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade".


    While the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" got entangled by Ye Chen''s flying swords, seeing Ye Chen''s body grasping towards him, Bai Chen flashed in the void, directly dodging Ye Chen''s attack.


    At the same time, he pinched a spell in his hand and a purple flying dagger appeared in front of him.


    Although this flying dagger was not as good as the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" in terms of top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, it was still an upper-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact dagger.


    Once this dagger appeared, it instantly turned into thousands of blades of light, surrounding Bai Chen''s entire body, and then, Bai Chen emitted an extremely fierce aura of killing force, counter-attacking towards Ye Chen.


    Seeing Bai Chen daring to attack him proactively, Ye Chen also smiled. Without dodging, he reached out a big hand, and endless Earth Spike Divine Patterns appeared in the void around him.


    Earth Divine Patterns, attack technique¡ªEarth Spike Attack!


    Ye Chen directly used the Earth Spike Attack, striking towards Bai Chen who was surrounded and attacked by the purple flying dagger.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Following this, the flying dagger on Bai Chen''s body and the vast Divine Power collided with Ye Chen''s Divine Body Strength of the Earth Spike, creating a loud explosion.


    Amidst the explosions of Divine Power, both were knocked back, and in the next moment, they clashed again.


    The entire Number Eight Slaughter Arena was now a scene of extreme intensity.


    On one side, the continuous combat between the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" and the "Gourd Sword" flying swords.


    On the other side, it was a confrontation between Ye Chen himself and Bai Chen.


    Under the stimulation of both strong fighters'' techniques and their Divine Power impacts, it formed an indistinguishable intense situation at the arena.


    In this intense situation, both parties had launched hundreds of attacks in an instant!


    This made the martial artists below also hold their breaths.


    "Peak battle, truly a peak battle!"


    "Unexpectedly, Ye Chen and Bai Chen could fight to such an extent!"


    "The last time I saw such an intense duel was when Beiling Xiaoxiao took action!"


    Many people exclaimed in shock in their hearts.


    While these people were extremely excited watching the battle, they didn''t notice that a figure had appeared at the corner of the Spectator Platform of the Slaughter Arena for those with Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable strength.


    This figure was none other than Beiling Xiaoxiao, who ranked first in the winning ratio at the Slaughter Field for the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable strength!


    In the midst of the grand battle between Ye Chen and Bai Chen, Beiling Xiaoxiao had arrived quietly.


    And what everyone else didn''t notice was that as soon as Beiling Xiaoxiao appeared, although she concealed her figure from everyone, she had a sound transmission directly into Ye Chen''s ears.


    "Ye Chen, you haven''t yet used your full strength against Bai Chen."


    "If you want to fight with me, defeat Bai Chen within ten breaths!"


    The moment this voice entered Ye Chen''s ears, it made his heart tremble.


    "Beiling Xiaoxiao?!" Ye Chen directly looked towards the white-clothed woman hidden in the void.


    Seeing the woman nod slightly towards him.


    Ye Chen smiled: "Since Beiling Xiaoxiao has arrived, let''s end this battle!"


    Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen, who was evenly matched with Bai Chen, suddenly exploded dozens more flying swords from his body, directly slaughtering towards Bai Chen.


    They were still the flying swords from the "Gourd Sword"!


    The dozens of flying swords tussling with the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade" were certainly not the limit of the "one thousand and one" flying swords Ye Chen controlled of the "Gourd Sword".


    Now, wanting to fight with Beiling Xiaoxiao, Ye Chen directly increased the number of the flying swords he manipulated to a hundred and eight!

 Chapter 867 - 818: The Top-Ranked Battle

    One hundred and eight flying swords struck simultaneously.


    Forty-three of which were battling against the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade," while the remaining sixty-five, together with Ye Chen''s "Eternal God Body" technique, blasted towards Bai Chen.


    In an instant, Bai Chen, who had been evenly matched with Ye Chen, was completely overwhelmed.


    Bai Chen was forced into retreat time and again by the "Eternal God Body''s" "Earth Spike" and the sixty-five flying swords, and at the same time, his Mind and Spirit were shocked to the extreme.


    He had never imagined that Ye Chen was concealing so many flying swords without using them.


    The reason Ye Chen had been fighting on par with him was actually because he was still holding back his strength.


    Now that Ye Chen was no longer holding back, he was thoroughly unable to resist.


    In his panic, Bai Chen quickly retracted the "Void Heavenly Slaying Blade," switching to a defensive stance.


    However, even with a full defense, he only lasted four moves before being directly defeated by Ye Chen, eliminated from the number eight Slaughter Arena.


    Until his defeat, even as fifty million Slaughter Points were deducted from his Slaughter Token, disbelief was still evident in Bai Chen''s eyes.


    Not just Bai Chen.


    At that moment, countless people in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field spectating area equally couldn''t believe their eyes.


    They had not anticipated that what was originally a battle of equals would suddenly become a one-sided fight.


    Yet again, it was Ye Chen who had the last laugh!


    "How could Ye Chen have so many flying swords?!"


    "And each of his flying swords is of a quality that doesn''t fall short of the ''Void Heavenly Slaying Blade.'' Bai Chen''s ''Void Heavenly Slaying Blade'' is an ultimate Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact! Could it be that each of Ye Chen''s flying swords is also an ultimate Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact?"


    "My god."


    "To collect so many flying swords of ultimate Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact level, it''s simply unbelievable!"


    "All these ultimate Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact level flying swords combined could probably be called the strongest Divine Weapon right below the ''Ultimate Heavenly Artifact''!"


    Now, after Bai Chen was defeated, Ye Chen grasped with a big hand and all one hundred and eight flying swords he had unleashed shot back to his side, hovering in the void in front of him.


    Looking at the one hundred and eight flying swords in front of Ye Chen, numerous Martial Artists were inwardly shaken.


    And it wasn''t just the flying swords that caused their shock.


    There was also Ye Chen''s "Eternal God Body"!


    "Ye Chen''s Flying Sword Skills are unimaginable, and his ''Eternal God Body'' is equally incredible. He has now displayed three kinds of techniques from the ''Earth Divine Pattern,'' which is one of the Five Great Divine Patterns of the ''Eternal God Body'': offensive, defensive, and speed techniques. It''s unknown whether he has mastered the fourth technique of the ''Earth Divine Pattern,'' the critical strike technique."


    "It''s a pity that even Bai Chen was defeated, and no one else could continue to push Ye Chen to his true limits. Unless Beiling Xiaoxiao arrives..."


    The Martial Artists in the spectating area were all lamenting.


    But they knew that their lamentations were useless, as they had already observed that among the experts who came to challenge Ye Chen, there was no sign of Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    "Could it be that once again, Ye Chen is going to leave undefeated?"


    "After defeating Bai Chen, who ranked second, Ye Chen now has a streak of one hundred ten consecutive victories. His Slaughter Points have increased to a total of three hundred and ninety-three million!"


    Just when everyone thought that Ye Chen had defeated all challengers and was about to leave the number eight arena and conclude the competition.


    They saw that Ye Chen didn''t step down from the number eight arena; instead, he turned to face a corner of the spectating area''s void and said aloud, "Bai Chen has been defeated by me. Beiling Xiaoxiao, it''s your turn now!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, everyone was stunned.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao?!


    Was Ye Chen speaking to Beiling Xiaoxiao? When did Beiling Xiaoxiao arrive at the Slaughter Field?


    As the Martial Artists in the spectating area were still in shock, the next moment, they saw that indeed, in the corner of the spectating area''s void where Ye Chen was looking, a figure of a woman in white emerged.


    It was the figure of Beiling Xiaoxiao!


    Simultaneously, everyone looked down at their own "Slaughter Tokens," and indeed, they saw in the Slaughter Ranking, which had long been without the presence of Beiling Xiaoxiao, her name listed.


    First place in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field, Beiling Xiaoxiao, with thirteen thousand three hundred twenty-four victories and fifty-six defeats.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao, the top figure of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field, had finally arrived!


    Boom.


    The next moment, everyone saw that Beiling Xiaoxiao directly issued a challenge to Ye Chen.


    And Ye Chen, in turn, accepted Beiling Xiaoxiao''s challenge straightaway.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao swiftly moved, using Instantaneous Movement to appear right above the number eight arena, facing Ye Chen who stood in the Void.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao then spoke to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you were indeed holding back your strength. I just told you not to hold back, to defeat Bai Chen within ten breaths, yet you took only three breaths to defeat him."


    "It seems that your true ultimate strength is beyond my expectations."


    The words of Beiling Xiaoxiao astonished all the Martial Artists in the spectating area.


    What?


    The reason why Ye Chen erupted in an instant and defeated Bai Chen was because after talking with Beiling Xiaoxiao, he no longer held back his strength?


    When did these two great experts talk?


    The Martial Artists had not seen Beiling Xiaoxiao and Ye Chen converse at all.


    Keep in mind, Ye Chen was battling Bai Chen just moments ago.


    In such a situation, how could Ye Chen still have discovered Beiling Xiaoxiao, whom everyone else had failed to notice, and even managed to engage in conversation with her?


    Indeed, he is worthy of the man who defeated Bai Chen. This tactic once again astonished everyone present.


    Not only were the spectating Martial Artists shocked, but even Bai Chen, who had just been defeated by Ye Chen and fell to the elimination area, had his mind thundering: "So it was because Beiling Xiaoxiao arrived that Ye Chen no longer wished to waste time with me and thus defeated me."


    Upon realizing this, Bai Chen felt utterly unwell in his heart.


    He had originally thought that his strength was on par with Ye Chen''s, and he even believed there was a possibility of defeating Ye Chen.


    But it turned out that he had greatly overestimated himself.


    Boom!


    While everyone in the audience had their own thoughts, on the No. 8 arena, Ye Chen, facing Beiling Xiaoxiao, revealed true battle intent in his eyes for the first time.


    "Beiling Xiaoxiao, the rumors of you being a legend in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat strength Slaughter Field with over ten thousand victories and barely fifty losses are indeed terrifyingly strong."


    "I hope that in our upcoming battle, your top-ranked combat power will truly impress me."


    Ye Chen''s gaze surged with battle intent.


    He sensed that Beiling Xiaoxiao might not be someone he could easily defeat.


    Ye Chen yearned to witness Beiling Xiaoxiao''s truly powerful tactics, in order to enhance his own Martial Arts comprehension.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao, looking towards Ye Chen, shared a solemn gaze: "Ye Chen, it has been a long while since I have taken the initiative to challenge someone. You are the only one I''ve actively challenged since claiming the top victory rate in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat strength Slaughter Field."


    "I too hope that your ultimate combat power will force out my own limit."


    "Go ahead, Ye Chen."


    "Defeat me, and you will be recognized as the first person of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat strength Slaughter Field!"


    Boom!


    After Beiling Xiaoxiao finished speaking, a terrifying aura of Divine Power burst forth from her body like a storm, swirling and surging upward tens of thousands of feet in just moments.


    What''s more divine is that Beiling Xiaoxiao''s aura exhibited the color of a dazzling blue sea, in which flashed specks of golden light.


    Clearly, just from the aura of the Divine Power, one could see that the Divine Power Beiling Xiaoxiao cultivated was unlike that of ordinary people.


    Not just Beiling Xiaoxiao''s Divine Power was out of the ordinary.


    Once Beiling Xiaoxiao drove her Divine Power forth, on the other side, Ye Chen stood in the void, likewise activating his "Taiyi Divine Power."


    Facing Beiling Xiaoxiao, of whom he was not certain he could defeat, Ye Chen too showcased his real tactics.


    When the Taiyi Divine Power, swirling with the divine and unique black and white colors, soared up tens of thousands of feet high and became visible to everyone, countless people in the venue once again widened their eyes in shock.


    This was the first time they saw Ye Chen fully display the colors of the Taiyi Divine Power. Previously, even when Ye Chen activated the Taiyi Divine Power, he would disguise its true colors.


    Now, suddenly seeing the intertwining black and white Divine Power colors, a myriad of spectators were stunned.


    They had never seen Divine Power of black and white shades before!


    And simply from the color of the Divine Power, one could see that Ye Chen''s Divine Power appeared even more divine than Beiling Xiaoxiao''s.


    At this time, Beiling Xiaoxiao''s gaze was also trembling.


    She too could see that Ye Chen''s Divine Power was out of the ordinary.


    It should be noted that her true Realm is that of a Middle Earth Divine Venerable Realm, while Ye Chen is a Lower God King. Although both have the combat power of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables, in terms of realm, she had the advantage over Ye Chen.


    Under such circumstances, logically speaking, her Divine Power should be stronger than Ye Chen''s, but now, Beiling Xiaoxiao felt that Ye Chen''s Divine Power was not the slightest bit weaker than hers.


    "It seems that what comes next will indeed be a tough battle."


    The more she felt the pressure, the more excited Beiling Xiaoxiao became.


    She had not faced a worthy opponent in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat strength Slaughter Field for a long time and longed for a strong adversary.


    After a quick turn of her Mind and Spirit, in the next moment, Beiling Xiaoxiao''s fair fingers violently pinched a spell, and her original body instantly transformed into hundreds of identical figures. Every one of these figures bore a blue battle armor, and each emitted a terrifying giant dragon shadow thousands of feet long.


    The hundreds of thousand-foot-long dragon shadows roared to the skies, unleashing endless Killing Force that shook the void and then hurled towards Ye Chen, who was surrounded at the center.


    "Heavenly Dragon Battle Body!"


    "This is the most powerful among the three Divine Bodies cultivated by Beiling Xiaoxiao. She usually uses this battle body only at the end, but now she''s brought it out in her first attack."


    In the spectating area, seeing Beiling Xiaoxiao''s move, countless people stood up, brimming with excitement.


    They knew that they were about to witness a great battle between the first and second-ranked individuals in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat strength Slaughter Field!


    Who truly holds the title of the first? This battle will directly determine the answer!

 Chapter 868 - 819 True Limit

    Under the gaze of countless eyes, the "Heavenly Dragon Battle Body" driven by Beiling Xiaoxiao unleashed the formidable shadows of hundreds of dragons, thousands of meters in length, that finally struck down in front of Ye Chen.


    Then, everyone saw that once again, leaf-shaped Divine Patterns emerged around Ye Chen''s body.


    This was decidedly the defensive maneuver of the "Earth Divine Pattern": the "Green Leaf Glow"!


    Faced with Beiling Xiaoxiao''s terrifying attack, Ye Chen once again deployed the "Earth Divine Pattern" defensive skills of the "Eternal God Body".


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Then, everyone witnessed the shadows of the hundreds of immense dragons driven by Beiling Xiaoxiao all crashing into the Green Leaf Protective Divine Light surrounding Ye Chen.


    The thunderous explosion rang out instantly, vibrating the eardrums of all the warriors in the spectator area.


    But everyone was no longer concerned with the dreadful roaring sound; their eyes widened, all staring at Ye Chen amidst the tumultuous noise of the explosion.


    They all wanted to know if Ye Chen''s defensive measures could withstand the attack from Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    When the airwaves and Divine Light dissipated, everyone saw that at the very center of the fearsome explosion, Ye Chen still stood proudly upright.


    Ye Chen had blocked it!


    Under the assault of Beiling Xiaoxiao''s "Heavenly Dragon Battle Body," Ye Chen had managed to withstand the attack using the "Eternal God Body" without his defenses being breached!


    "The ''Eternal God Body'' is indeed extremely powerful, truly worthy of the legend that even great beings among the Divine Venerables find it difficult to cultivate."


    "Just this first ''Earth Divine Pattern'' defensive measure alone is so strong."


    Feelings of admiration arose in countless people.


    At this time, Beiling Xiaoxiao''s expression did not change in the slightest.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao certainly knew that she could not breach Ye Chen''s defenses with a single move, and she was well-prepared for this.


    After the ineffective strike, the hundreds of identical clones conjured by Beiling Xiaoxiao''s true body did not pause for a moment before launching another attack.


    This time, every body clad in a green battle armor unleashed another terrifying dragon-shaped light.


    In an instant, hundreds more dreadful dragon-shaped shadows, exuding an even more potent killing force than before, blasted towards Ye Chen once again.


    It seemed that Beiling Xiaoxiao was not giving Ye Chen any chance to catch his breath, continuously bombarding him with dragon strikes with the intention of depleting his defensive power.


    But how could Ye Chen let her have her way?


    How could he continue to be passively struck?


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After blocking the dragon strike once more, Ye Chen immediately utilized the speed skill of the "Earth Divine Pattern," the "Void Earth Fissure", and his figure vanished in an instant from the Slaughter Arena.


    The next moment, when Ye Chen reappeared, he had already arrived directly in front of Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    Ye Chen slapped out with a hand, and a terrifying attack ensued, causing the very void in front of Beiling Xiaoxiao to collapse. This collapse of the void was even compressed in one place, creating a fearsome power akin to a meteor-like force of Void rupture, hurtling directly in front of Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    This force of impact was even stronger than Ye Chen''s previous "Eternal God Body" Earth Divine Pattern attack maneuver, the "Earth Spike".


    What he used was a technique Ye Chen had not deployed before, the fourth kind of "Eternal God Body" Earth Divine Pattern technique, also as known as the most dreadful in attack power ¨C the critical strike "Earth Collapse"!


    "Earth Spike" has a broader attack range but lacks focused power.


    However, "Earth Collapse" can concentrate power into a very small area, releasing a wild and mighty blow.


    Rumor has it that once the "Earth Divine Pattern" critical strike "Earth Collapse" is deployed, even piercing through an ordinary star is extremely easy!


    Even if Arena Eight has been specially refined by powers of the Sovereign Realm, making it billions of times more robust than the usual Star Continent, and cannot be directly shattered, the power emanating from the Void during Ye Chen''s critical strike "Earth Collapse" still caused an uproar of force that smashes everything, directed entirely at Beiling Xiaoxiao at the center.


    Upon seeing this move, many warriors familiar with the "Eternal God Body" exclaimed: "The critical strike, it''s the "Earth Divine Pattern" critical strike!"


    "Ye Chen has indeed successfully cultivated this technique; he has mastered all four major skills of the "Earth Divine Pattern"!"


    These people could not help but be astonished.


    Previously, in Ye Chen''s battles, they had already witnessed the "Earth Divine Pattern" defense skill "Green Leaf Glow", the attack skill "Earth Spike", and the speed skill "Void Earth Fissure".


    At that time, they wondered if Ye Chen had mastered the final critical strike skill of the "Earth Divine Pattern".


    Regrettably, even Bai Chen was defeated at the hands of Ye Chen, and no one could force Ye Chen to use more techniques.


    Now, seeing that Ye Chen had used the critical strike against Beiling Xiaoxiao, the multitude of warriors were both thrilled and staggered.


    The thrill came from finally witnessing the terrible power of the "Eternal God Body" "Earth Divine Pattern''s" critical strike.


    The shock was that Ye Chen had actually succeeded in cultivating all four major skills of the "Earth Divine Pattern"!


    Wasn''t it rumored that the "Eternal God Body" was very difficult to cultivate? How could Ye Chen master the first kind of Divine Pattern to such an extent?!


    Above the arena.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao, feeling the assault of Ye Chen''s "Earth Collapse" critical strike technique, also had a drastic change in her expression.


    With a pinch of her finger, "whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh whoosh," in almost an instant, the hundreds of figures she had conjured all returned to her true body, and at the same time, a blindingly bright battle armor emerged upon Beiling Xiaoxiao''s delicate body.


    With a solemn demeanor, Beiling Xiaoxiao unleashed a dazzling green light from her armor, and within that light, she threw a punch to meet the oncoming force of the "Earth Collapse."


    In a flash, it was visible.


    In the void, Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao, where their palm and punch met, two unbelievable powers collided with each other.


    In the midst of the collision, Beiling Xiaoxiao radiated a heaven-reaching glow, her hair growing dozens of feet longer, billowing behind her with the explosive gusts of wind.


    Moreover, on Beiling Xiaoxiao''s delicate body, a gigantic Divine Dragon shadow, tens of thousands of feet tall, roared skyward!


    Beiling Xiaoxiao exerted all her strength to withstand Ye Chen''s attack, not retreating an inch! Even blasting back at Ye Chen!


    On the other side, Ye Chen, too, did not retreat.


    As divine power surged through his palms, Ye Chen continuously intensified the "Earth Collapse" critical strike technique, incessantly hammering his endless power towards the opposing Beiling Xiaoxiao, his clothes and black hair fluttering amid the explosive shockwaves.


    Both great fighters attacked with all their might.


    They knew that whoever could not withstand the assault might be blasted out of the arena by the opponent in the next moment, to be eliminated and defeated.


    In such circumstances, neither stepped back, but the forces they unleashed diffused from the center of their confrontation, spreading across the entire Slaughter Arena.


    In the end, as the ferocious powers could not disperse from the Slaughter Arena, they all hammered against the protective prohibition outside the arena.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Within the bombardment of these two great powers, the protection prohibition patterns clearly emerged outside the eighth Slaughter Arena.


    These were none other than the protection prohibition patterns left by Sovereign Realm powerhouses when they forged the Slaughter Arena!


    No one had ever caused these protective prohibition patterns to appear.


    Now, in the clash between the two formidable fighters, Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao, all protective prohibition patterns around the arena were displayed!


    "Terrifying."


    "Far too terrifying!"


    "We thought the battle between Ye Chen and Bai Chen was a pinnacle fight. Now it seems, the battle between Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao is the true pinnacle fight!"


    "Only the power of both parties reaching the very limits of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level could cause all the protection prohibition patterns of the Slaughter Arena to emerge. Their powers are simply much stronger than everyone else''s!"


    "What to do, if the two continue this intense contest, could it be that they will fight until one side''s power is exhausted before this intensity stops?"


    Just as the audience in the viewing area thought that the two would continue to pit their Divine Bodies against each other until they were drained, Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao, who were directly confronting each other in the void, shared a glance and, without prior agreement, simultaneously withdrew the divine powers that filled the entire Slaughter Arena.


    In an instant, the turbulent Slaughter Arena once again calmed down.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao looked towards Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, your ''Eternal God Body'' is more formidable than my ''Heavenly Dragon Battle Body,'' but you have only cultivated the ''Eternal God Body'' to the first Divine Pattern, while I have achieved Great Accomplishment with my ''Heavenly Dragon Battle Body.''


    "Under these circumstances, neither of us can overcome the other."


    "Now, let''s not just contend with Divine Body Strength. Let''s put all our techniques on the table!"


    On the other side, Ye Chen also smiled, "That''s exactly what I intend."


    Boom.


    As their words fell, the eighth Slaughter Arena, which had just quieted down for a few moments, once again became stormy.


    This time, what they both unleashed was not just Divine Body Strength. Beiling Xiaoxiao directly summoned one of her life-bound treasures, a pristine little bottle.


    The moment the bottle appeared, a fearsome white mist burst from the mouth of the bottle, instantly enveloping the entire Slaughter Arena within the mist.


    Simultaneously, Ye Chen also drove out his Gourd Sword once more.


    Amid the continuous surge of the Gourd Sword''s divine light, the mist sweeping towards Ye Chen was also constantly dispersed.


    And in the next moment, within the mist that filled the entire Slaughter Arena, water droplets began to condense. The droplets that formed immediately darted towards Ye Chen''s flying swords.


    Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!


    In an instant, the sound of the flying swords colliding with the water droplets thundered throughout the entire lower Heavenly God combat power Slaughter Field.


    The mist continued to pour endlessly from the pristine little bottle, the droplets it condensed growing more numerous and powerful.


    Meanwhile, the flying swords Ye Chen unleashed to counter the droplets were also increasing, from dozens to the 108 that had defeated Bai Chen, and finally, even reaching 186 in number.


    The two magical treasures contended, even more terrifying than the previous clash of their Divine Body skills, turning the entire Slaughter Arena into a whirl of divine light and howling killing force.

 Chapter 869 - 820: Trembling and Defeat

    Seeing Ye Chen''s Flying Swords increase in number to a total of one hundred and eighty-six, the martial artists in the spectator area were once again astonished.


    They had not expected that the one hundred and eight Flying Swords Ye Chen previously unleashed to defeat Bai Chen were not his limit, still having more Flying Swords he had not used.


    Now, even with one hundred and eighty-six Flying Swords, these martial artists could tell that it still did not seem to be the limit of the Flying Swords at Ye Chen''s disposal.


    Meanwhile, the white bottle wielded by Beiling Xiaoxiao was equally surprising to the countless martial artists in the arena.


    "What kind of treasure is this white bottle, and how do the water droplets formed by the mist inside manage to clash with Ye Chen''s top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact-level Flying Swords?"


    "Beiling Xiaoxiao has fought in over ten thousand battles in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, but never have we seen her use this treasure."


    Only a woman in yellow, standing in a corner of the spectator area, revealed a knowing expression in her beautiful eyes upon seeing Beiling Xiaoxiao''s white bottle: "Xiaoxiao has finally decided to bring out that treasure."


    "It seems she is truly intent on contending with Ye Chen, determined to win this battle, otherwise, she wouldn''t have possibly brought out this treasure."


    "This ''Heavenly Mist Xuambo Bottle'' is already terrifying on the level of a top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact; what''s more frightening is what Xiaoxiao has infused onto the bottle herself. If Xiaoxiao ultimately unleashes that thing, Ye Chen is doomed to be defeated without a doubt."


    "I really wonder whether Ye Chen can push Xiaoxiao to use that thing in the end..."


    The woman in yellow looked towards the white bottle wielded by Beiling Xiaoxiao, with a mix of anticipation and fear in her gaze.


    Above the Slaughter Arena.


    As Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao unleashed their treasures, Ye Chen''s one hundred and eight Flying Swords clashed incessantly with the water droplets formed by the mist of the white bottle, while at the same time, Ye Chen''s figure also continuously attacked Beiling Xiaoxiao''s true body.


    Both were not only wielding their treasures in battle, but also personally engaged in combat.


    In less than a moment, across the ten-thousand-zhang expanse of the Slaughter Arena, the mist from Beiling Xiaoxiao''s white bottle had become like a raging river, and the released water droplets multiplied many times over, becoming even more densely packed than before.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen''s controlled Flying Swords also reached the maximum number he could manage at this moment¡ªtwo hundred and twenty-three Flying Swords!


    The Divine Light of water droplets exploded, and the Sword Light of the Flying Swords flickered endlessly.


    Amidst the Divine Light of both great treasures, there were also the glimmers of combat from Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao''s Divine Bodies, and even the surge of their True Qi Power and Divine Soul Power!


    Employing their physical skills, True Qi techniques, and Divine Soul attack methods, both unleashed their variety of powerful techniques rooted in their Essence, Qi, and Spirit to settle their scores.


    The more they fought, the more shocked both became.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected Beiling Xiaoxiao''s true strength to be even greater than he had imagined.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao''s combat experience, as well as the proficiency in utilizing the techniques of Essence, Qi, and Spirit, far surpassed his own.


    This Beiling Xiaoxiao, worthy of being the contender who ranks first in victory rate within the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, is truly deserving of leaving the second-ranked Bai Chen far behind.


    Ye Chen felt that if Beiling Xiaoxiao advanced another level in her realm, her combat prowess could leap dramatically to the level of a Middle Earth God or even a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable!


    While Ye Chen was amazed, Beiling Xiaoxiao was equally astonished.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao also had not expected that, despite deploying all of her techniques, she still couldn''t get the upper hand over Ye Chen.


    Especially her top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact-level "Heavenly Mist Xuambo Bottle"¡ªa treasure passed down to her by her great grandfather, which she had cultivated for a long time and feared no other top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts¡ªyet, it seemed ineffective against Ye Chen''s Flying Swords.


    After all, Ye Chen was of a much lower realm than she was.


    Truly speaking, although the battle was evenly matched, it essentially meant she was on the losing side!


    After all, Ye Chen, at the God King Realm level, could match her, currently at the Middle Earth God Divine Venerable Realm, in combat strength and capability. So once Ye Chen reached the Middle Earth God Divine Venerable Realm, he would undoubtedly leave her current combat power far behind in the dust.


    "Ye Chen, fitting to be a youth even Goddess Long Li is fond of, has such unparalleled talent and numerous techniques!"


    "However, even though his innate ability surpasses mine, at this current level of combat power, I absolutely must not lose to him!"


    "I still have to defend the dignity of ranking first in victory rate in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field!"


    Even as her admiration for Ye Chen grew amidst the battle, the pride of the strong kept Beiling Xiaoxiao from giving up¡ªin fact, her resolve to win against Ye Chen only intensified.


    In an instant, the ferocity of Beiling Xiaoxiao''s attacks on Ye Chen multiplied several times over.


    This increase in her assault''s intensity also brought Ye Chen immense pressure, but with it came unparalleled gains.


    Ye Chen felt that every move Beiling Xiaoxiao made allowed him to substantially enhance his comprehension of combat.


    "It seems that the number of slaughter battles I have engaged in is still not enough. True experience in combat can''t compare with someone like Beiling Xiaoxiao, who has fought more than ten thousand battles."


    "Battling such a formidable opponent is the true battle that allows one to progress!"


    Ye Chen, wanting to continuously learn from Beiling Xiaoxiao''s combat experience, naturally would not allow himself to be easily defeated.


    With a surge of Taiyi Divine Power within his body, his Flying Sword skills, divine body skills, and Divine Soul attack methods were once again fully mobilized.


    Under the circumstances where neither Ye Chen nor Beiling Xiaoxiao wished to be defeated, their battle grew increasingly intense and rapid. Eventually, all the watching martial artists could only discern countless divine lights flickering over the Slaughter Arena.


    However, after the battle raged on for the duration of two incense sticks, the two combatants still had not determined a victor!


    Moreover, at this point, both their divine powers were greatly depleted, but Beiling Xiaoxiao''s divine power was diminishing even faster in comparison!


    "I can''t drag this out any longer. My rate of divine power depletion is even faster than Ye Chen''s. He must cultivate a special kind of divine power that recovers much quicker than mine,"


    "If this continues, I''ll undoubtedly be defeated."


    "I have no choice but to use that move!"


    Beiling Xiaoxiao gritted her teeth, and with a surge of divine power, she sent Ye Chen flying hundreds of feet away. At the same time, Beiling Xiaoxiao pointed her finger towards the continuously erupting pure white bottle.


    With a booming sound, the originally pure white bottle suddenly revealed a cluster of flaming red patterns.


    It was as if a fiery red blossom was inlaid onto the surface of the bottle.


    The moment this fiery red pattern appeared, the substance expelled from the tiny white bottle was no longer mist but became blazing flames that poured forth from the bottle.


    In the blink of an eye, the entire Slaughter Arena, with a radius of tens of thousands of feet, turned into a sea of fire!


    Upon witnessing the transformation of the Slaughter Arena into a fiery inferno, although the prohibitions protected the arena, leaving it unharmed, countless martial artists in the viewing area gaped in shock.


    Because they could see that the prohibitions around the Slaughter Arena were trembling continuously under the terrifying burning of the flames.


    Clearly, the power of these flames was even stronger than the joint attack of Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao from earlier!


    In a corner of the viewing area, the woman in yellow clothes who was aware of Beiling Xiaoxiao''s white bottle technique, upon seeing the flower-like fire pattern emerge on the bottle and endless flames pouring out, finally sighed, "Sister Xiaoxiao has ultimately resorted to using such a thing."


    "Ye Chen is going to be defeated..."


    Defeated?


    When the pure white bottle underwent its transformation, turning the entire Slaughter Arena into a sea of endless flames, Ye Chen indeed felt that he was truly on the verge of defeat.


    What shocked Ye Chen even more was that he recognized what the fiery red blossom-like pattern that appeared on Beiling Xiaoxiao''s white bottle was.


    It was the power of an Extreme Heavenly Object in embryonic form, after being refined into the white bottle!


    Ye Chen also possessed an embryonic form of an Extreme Heavenly Object.


    His "Star Blue Divine Garment" was refined from the embryonic form of an Extreme Heavenly Object.


    However, despite Ye Chen''s "Star Blue Divine Garment" undergoing transformation through the Thunder Lightning Power in the Lightning Cave, it was merely at the level of the Earth Divine Venerable. But now, Ye Chen could sense that Beiling Xiaoxiao''s embryonic blossom of an Extreme Heavenly Object was refined to be even stronger than his "Star Blue Divine Garment"!


    In such a circumstance, although it had not fully transformed into a true Extreme Heavenly Object yet, it was already something that Ye Chen couldn''t withstand.


    Even when Ye Chen recalled all his flying swords, turning the 223 flying swords into an airtight Sword Shadow barrier, the burning flames were still continuously ripping through the barrier, threatening to burn all the way to him.


    Even the defenses of Ye Chen''s "Eternal God Body" represented by the Earth Divine Pattern "Green Leaf Glow" showed signs of shattering under the scorching force of the flames.


    In an instant, the terrifying threat of the burning flames even caused a slight stir within the true Extreme Heavenly Object inside Ye Chen¡ªthe "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    The true Extreme Heavenly Object!


    That was far more powerful than Beiling Xiaoxiao''s embryonic Extreme Heavenly Object by countless magnitudes.


    What Ye Chen didn''t know was that at the moment the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" stirred within him, Beiling Xiaoxiao''s entire divine soul experienced a startling tremor.


    It was the tremor of a true threat of death!


    In an instant, Beiling Xiaoxiao realized that Ye Chen must possess an unbelievable treasure, one that even her embryonic Extreme Heavenly Object, the "Flame Blossom," couldn''t compare with!


    This revelation left Beiling Xiaoxiao utterly astonished: "What kind of treasure does Ye Chen possess that is even more terrifying than my ''Flame Blossom''?!"


    As Beiling Xiaoxiao was struck with astonishment, that soul-shaking terror disappeared in the blink of an eye.


    Because Beiling Xiaoxiao realized that Ye Chen hadn''t even brought out the treasure that caused her alarm.


    Instead, she heard Ye Chen''s voice: "I am defeated. Beiling Xiaoxiao, you are indeed more formidable than me."


    Boom!


    Immediately after, amidst a surge of divine light, Ye Chen was teleported out of the number eight Slaughter Arena.

 Chapter 870 - 821: Retreat and the Visitor

    Until she secured victory, Beiling Xiaoxiao still couldn''t believe it: "Why didn''t Ye Chen bring out his treasure?"


    "That treasure could have definitely defeated me!"


    However, Beiling Xiaoxiao did not know that Ye Chen would never use the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" in the Slaughter Field.


    That''s because Ye Chen had already decided that he would absolutely not utilize his bottom line ace, the Extreme Heavenly Object, unless he was truly facing a threat to his life.


    The Slaughter Field, after all, is just a battle for victory or defeat, not a fight for life and death.


    In his battle with Beiling Xiaoxiao, Ye Chen gained a tremendous harvest; losing the fight did not matter much¡ªit was just a loss of fifty million Slaughter Points. For Ye Chen, who currently had three hundred and ninety-three million Slaughter Points, it was insignificant.


    Ye Chen would not expose his trump card just for the vain title of the strongest in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    What''s more, once he used the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," even if it was a minuscule portion, that would undoubtedly surpass the combat power level of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    In that case, it would be an unfair fight against Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    After all, even if Beiling Xiaoxiao utilized a nascent magical treasure from the Extreme Heavenly Objects, it was still a means within the scope of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable''s combat power.


    "A single victory or defeat is not significant."


    "What''s critical is that this battle has enlightened me on many things. I need to enhance my Divine Power and, at the same time, I must become more proficient in the application of various methods!"


    "Once I train for a period of time, surpassing Beiling Xiaoxiao¡ªeven without resorting to the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' method¡ªis something I can absolutely achieve!"


    Divine Sense flickered within Ye Chen''s heart.


    Unarrogant in victory, unwavering in defeat.


    This is Ye Chen''s style.


    At this moment, Ye Chen only had one thought, and that was to return to the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room" to train and to continue fighting against the "Fiend Beasts" to accumulate more combat experience!


    With this thought in mind, Ye Chen gave Beiling Xiaoxiao a fist salute from the defeated area, then took his leave and exited the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    Once Ye Chen left the Slaughter Field, Beiling Xiaoxiao also flew back from the Number Eight Arena to the spectating area.


    Instantly, countless Martial Artists converged on Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    "Beiling Xiaoxiao is still the most powerful!"


    "Indeed, Beiling Xiaoxiao is deserving of being the number one in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field. Even Ye Chen, as terrifyingly strong as he is, is no match for Beiling Xiaoxiao!"


    Even Bai Chen, who was ranked second, flew to Beiling Xiaoxiao''s side and started to congratulate her: "Beiling Xiaoxiao, it seems only you could defeat Ye Chen."


    All eyes looked at Beiling Xiaoxiao with admiration.


    At this moment, what nobody expected was for Beiling Xiaoxiao to shake her head.


    Her gaze followed Ye Chen''s figure as he flew out of the Slaughter Field.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao spoke slowly: "You are all mistaken; if it were a real battle to the death, I would definitely not be Ye Chen''s match!"


    After she made this statement, Beiling Xiaoxiao nodded to the yellow-robed woman waiting for her in the corner of the spectating area, and the two of them, like Ye Chen, immediately left the Slaughter Field.


    Until Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao had disappeared, the countless Martial Artists in the spectating area still hadn''t recovered.


    What?


    Beiling Xiaoxiao said she was definitely not Ye Chen''s match?


    But, she clearly defeated Ye Chen.


    Everyone was completely baffled.


    However, a thought flashed across the minds of these Martial Artists, that Ye Chen was probably not as simple as he appeared.


    Otherwise, the extraordinarily proud Beiling Xiaoxiao wouldn''t have made such a statement.


    ...


    Ye Chen didn''t know about the thoughts of the people in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    He was even more unaware that Beiling Xiaoxiao, despite winning, would openly admit that she was not his match in a life-or-death struggle.


    Now, having left the Slaughter Field, Ye Chen exchanged the remaining three hundred and forty-three million Slaughter Points for one hundred million Merit Points. Keeping the rest of the Slaughter Points, he immediately returned to his own cave mansion in the God King Living Continent.


    After resting for a day, he continued his journey to the "Ruins Continent" and the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room.


    This time, Ye Chen even spent over fifty million Merit Points to secure one and a half years of training time in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room!


    There is only about a year and six months left before the opening of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Ye Chen plans to spend this time training in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room!


    He aims to break through from the initial stage of the Lower God King Realm all the way to the peak of the Lower God King, or perhaps even the Middle God King Realm.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen made a firm decision to master the "Earth Divine Patterns" of the "Eternal God Body" more proficiently, and at the same time, completely cultivate the Bloodlight Blade Technique and the Nine Swords of Annihilation swordsmanship to Perfection Level. Through this, he aimed to gain a deeper understanding of the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills and aspire to master it at a much profounder level!


    Upon arriving at the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room, Ye Chen, as he did the last time, directly chose a "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level" cultivation chamber.


    Last time, one month of cultivation hadn''t satisfied Ye Chen.


    This time, he had exchanged for a whole year and a half of cultivation time, and he could thoroughly immerse himself in training.


    As soon as he entered the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level" cultivation chamber, Ye Chen began meditating and regulating his breath, digesting the insights from the several battles he had in the Slaughter Field.


    Especially the insights from battles with Bai Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    Afterward, Ye Chen began his new training regimen.


    Days went by one after another...


    While cultivating in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room, Ye Chen rarely left the chamber. The only few times he did, he went to the Earth Fiend area to battle with the Fiend Beasts.


    However, after eight months of cultivation in the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level" chamber, Ye Chen left the chamber and directly entered a higher-level "Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Level" cultivation chamber.


    Once he entered, six months passed and Ye Chen didn''t leave the "Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Level" chamber at all.


    After spending an entire year and two months in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room, Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged in the "Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Level" cultivation chamber, suddenly opened his eyes.


    Now, after more than a year of cultivation, the aura of Divine Power on Ye Chen was tens of times stronger than when he fought Beiling Xiaoxiao.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had already progressed from just entering the Lower God King Realm to the pinnacle of the Lower God King Realm!


    One more step and he would seamlessly perceive the breakthrough barrier, propelling towards the Middle God King Realm.


    "A year and two months have passed, and I''ve gone from the initial discomfort of entering the ''Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Level'' chamber, where I was even oppressed by the immense Earth Fiend strength to the point of crawling on the ground, to now being able to move freely within it!"


    "During this time, I have also entered the ''Life Origin Wheel,'' taking advantage of the Time Flow Rate to cultivate for a month!"


    "Now, my Combat Power is such that I can handle Beiling Xiaoxiao with ease, and even within the ''Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power'' Slaughter Field, I could probably fight against countless Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable level individuals!"


    Ye Chen gave a gentle smile and nodded in satisfaction.


    If anyone knew that Ye Chen, in just over a year, had rushed from entering the Lower God King Realm to the peak of the Lower God King, countless people would have been astounded!


    This speed of cultivation was simply too fast!


    You have to understand that advancing from Lower God King to Middle God King is countless times harder than moving up from the True God Realm to the Lower God King Realm.


    Otherwise, there wouldn''t be so many stuck at the Lower God King level.


    Even many who also utilize Time Flow Rate for cultivation couldn''t possibly rise from just stepping into the Lower God King Realm to reaching the peak of the Lower God King Realm so quickly.


    Being able to spend decades or even a hundred years to reach the peak of the Lower God King, countless others would be extremely grateful.


    Even true geniuses would probably need several years or even more than a decade to do so.


    Only top geniuses like Ye Chen and Long Li could elevate their realm levels so quickly!


    Plus, Ye Chen was different from Long Li.


    The Divine Power Ye Chen cultivated was the Taiyi Divine Power from the fifth volume of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    This kind of Divine Power was terrifyingly strong, and thus even harder to enhance; being able to increase the quantity of Taiyi Divine Power by tens of times in just over a year is a legend in itself for those practicing the Primordial Star Scripture!


    "I''ve trained for such a long time, it''s now the right moment to have a battle with the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable level Fiend Beasts."


    Ye Chen smiled lightly and stepped out towards the Fiend Beast area corresponding to the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable level cultivation chamber.


    In the following months, Ye Chen was constantly engaged in fierce combat with Fiend Beasts.


    The number of Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable level Fiend Beasts that perished under his hand reached a staggering figure.


    Over the past year, Ye Chen had been cultivating non-stop in the Ruins Continent and hadn''t appeared on several other Living Continents. The legend he created at the Supreme Divine Institute was gradually being forgotten by many as he continued his absence.


    During this time, several things happened.


    The first was that the Little Provincial Princess, who joined the Supreme Divine Institute along with Ye Chen, had smoothly advanced from the Three Tribulations True God level to the Nine Tribulations True God level in this past year. She burst into the fifth rank of the True God Ranking List, earning a chance to live in the First Cave Mansion Area of the True God Life Continent.


    However, excitedly heading to the First Cave Mansion Area in search of Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess found out that Ye Chen had long ago entered the God King Realm and moved to the God King Living Continent. She pouted and resentfully said, "Brother Ye Chen is always surpassing me. No, I must hurry and cultivate to the God King Realm and find Brother Ye Chen on the God King Living Continent!"


    Another event was that Beiling Xiaoxiao, who had once fought against Ye Chen, finally had her Combat Power break through to the Middle Heavenly God Divine Venerable level. Leaving the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, she entered the higher Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field to commence battle.


    The day the Heavenly God Mountain opened was fast approaching.


    On this day, the tranquil life at the Supreme Divine Institute was suddenly disrupted.


    That''s because countless Divine Kings from the other four Great Divine Kingdoms suddenly surged into the Supreme Divine Institute.


    These countless Divine Kings from the four Great Divine Kingdoms were the ones who, along with the countless Divine Kings of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, were preparing to enter the Heavenly God Mountain!

 Chapter 871 - 822: Wrecking the Place

    The God Kings from the four great Divine Kingdoms that poured into the Supreme Divine Institute are from "Qianjue Divine Kingdom," "Snow Desert Divine Kingdom," "Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom," and "Lancang Divine Kingdom."


    Among these four Divine Kingdoms, in terms of overall strength, except for "Lancang Divine Kingdom" which is comparable to "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation," the other three are much more powerful than "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation."


    This is also easy to understand, after all, "Heavenly God Mountain" is an exclusive territory of "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation."


    If people from other Divine Kingdoms want to enter, they must engage in a benefit exchange with "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation."


    If the strength is not greater than "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation," there will be little that the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation would value enough to exchange Heavenly God Mountain entries for benefits.


    The reason "Lancang Divine Kingdom''s" Divine Kings could come to "Heavenly God Mountain" is because they exchanged an entry opportunity suitable for the Earth Divine Venerables of their Divine Kingdom to explore with "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation."


    As for "Qianjue Divine Kingdom," "Snow Desert Divine Kingdom," and "Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom," they offered adventure entries meant for Sovereign level characters and hence "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation" agreed to let these three great Divine Kingdoms come to "Heavenly God Mountain."


    This time, each of the four great Divine Kingdoms dispatched one hundred thousand God Kings to "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation," preparing to enter "Heavenly God Mountain."


    With four hundred thousand God Kings pouring into the Supreme Divine Institute at once and being arranged to reside in the God King training continent of the institute, it made the place extraordinarily lively.


    In addition to sending one hundred thousand God Kings each, the four Divine Kingdoms also dispatched three Sovereign-level powers to lead the teams.


    Among them, the highest-ranked sovereign power sent by "Lancang Divine Kingdom" is a Seven Stars Sovereign, while the other three Divine Kingdoms even sent Eight Stars and Nine Stars Sovereigns.


    From the strength of these leading Sovereigns, one can see how much these Divine Kingdoms value the expedition to "Heavenly God Mountain" of "Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation."


    No wonder.


    Heavenly God Mountain is the most mystical realm that the God Kings of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation can enter.


    Once inside, if one can survive and come out alive, they will certainly elevate their realm and obtain countless benefits.


    Although "Heavenly God Mountain" is extremely perilous, and it would be considered good if even one out of ten thousand could survive, the God Kings from these four great Divine Kingdoms are also numerous, and despite the dangers, countless individuals eagerly vie to tackle "Heavenly God Mountain."


    After all, just by entering, they can absolutely elevate their realm within a year, which holds tremendous allure for every God King.


    Moreover, each of these God Kings possesses some abilities, and none of them believe that they will be the ones to perish in the end, so they all cling to a stroke of luck and the prospect of hitting it big.


    This is especially true for the top God Kings among these four great Divine Kingdoms; they would not pass up the opportunity to challenge "Heavenly God Mountain."


    In their eyes, this represents an excellent chance for swift realm advancement.


    Perhaps other people, upon entering "Heavenly God Mountain," would have a ninety-nine percent chance of falling, and the odds of miraculously obtaining vast fortune are slim.


    But for the supreme geniuses from these four great Divine Kingdoms, they firmly believe that they will not meet their end in Heavenly God Mountain.


    As soon as the God Kings from these four Divine Kingdoms arrived at the Supreme Divine Institute, the news of the arrival of these top-level God King prodigies from the four great Divine Kingdoms quickly spread throughout the Institute.


    The spread of this news, on one hand, was because the visitors from the four Divine Kingdoms did not conceal their presence and even flaunted it in front of the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    On the other hand, it was also due to the well-informed disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute who investigated and compiled the information.


    In the end, they even listed the ten truly Demon Level God Kings among the four hundred thousand God Kings from these four Divine Kingdoms.


    Among them, the God King ranked first is named "Hua Xuelian." This individual is in the Upper God King Realm, and it''s said that his combat power is capable of slaying many Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level beings. This God King also comes from the most powerful "Qianjue Divine Kingdom" among the four great Divine Kingdoms.


    The second-ranked God King comes from "Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom" and is named "Lin Shan." Just like "Hua Xuelian," he is also in the Upper God King Realm, and his combat power is likewise able to slay many Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level beings. It is said that this person is quite mysterious, acts infrequently, and thus is less well-known, which is why he is ranked after "Hua Xuelian."


    The third-ranked God King is from the "Snow Desert Divine Kingdom" and is named "Sima Liao." He is only in the Middle God King Realm, but his combat power has reached the level of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, and he is said to be very powerful even among those at that level. Although he hasn''t slain as many Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables as "Hua Xuelian" and "Lin Shan," who are ranked first and second, he has also killed many of them.


    What''s more special is that "Sima Liao" is a member of the "Snow Liao Tribe," the most powerful clan in the "Snow Desert Divine Kingdom."


    This "Snow Liao Tribe" is said to be a well-known high-level sentient race throughout this universe, possessing incredible Innate Divine Abilities.


    Following "Sima Liao," ranks fourth to tenth are basically dominated by the God Kings from "Qianjue Divine Kingdom," "Snow Desert Divine Kingdom," and "Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom," with only the eighth belonging to a God King from "Lancang Divine Kingdom."


    These Demon Level God Kings ranked fourth to tenth can also confront figures at the level of Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables with their God King Realm abilities. Although they are not as strong as the top three "Hua Xuelian," "Lin Shan," and "Sima Liao," their combat power is said to be extraordinarily formidable among those at the level of Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable.

 Chapter 872 - 822 Smashing the Place_2

    When the infamous names of the top ten God Kings from these four great Divine Kingdoms spread throughout the Supreme Divine Institute on the God King Living Continent, each God King disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute felt shocked and awed.


    "These four great Divine Kingdoms, including Qianjue Divine Kingdom, Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, and Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, are indeed much stronger than our Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation. They actually have so many terrifying God Kings!"


    "You have to know, our Supreme Divine Institute''s first in the God King List, ''Yang Yun'', can only deal with Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables, and can''t even handle Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables."


    Countless God King disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute felt a bitter taste in their mouths.


    After all, as the strongest disciples of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation''s Supreme Divine Institute, they were always proud. Now, their first in the God King List couldn''t even squeeze into the top ten of these foreign great Divine Kingdoms, let alone themselves, they probably couldn''t compare with a great number of God Kings from these four Divine Kingdoms. This, of course, was a great embarrassment for them.


    "Originally, our most powerful ''Goddess Long Li'' of the Supreme Divine Institute, she is a talent that comes once in countless ages. Her strength even surpasses the strongest figures among these four great Divine Kingdoms, those ''Hua Xuelian'', ''Lin Shan'', and ''Sima Liao''."


    "Hua Xuelian, Lin Shan, and Sima Liao have slain many Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables. ''Goddess Long Li'', when she was a Middle God King, had slain many extremely formidable Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables."


    "Unfortunately, Goddess Long Li has already broken through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm and is no longer considered a God King, no longer able to support our Supreme Divine Institute''s ranks of God Kings. Although Yang Yun has replaced Goddess Long Li''s ranking and taken the first place on the God King List, his strength is far inferior to hers. He may still be formidable within the Supreme Divine Institute and even among the nine great Divine Institutes, but compared to the prodigious talents of the four great Divine Kingdoms, he is far from their equal!"


    "Alas, this time, our Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation has completely lost any top talents that could compare with the peerless demon-level God Kings of these four great Divine Kingdoms."


    "Even Lancang Divine Kingdom, whose strength is similar to ours, has produced a peerless demon who ranks eighth!"


    At this point, someone suddenly mentioned Ye Chen.


    "Right, we still have one God King, a real demon! That''s Ye Chen, who had a relationship with Goddess Long Li."


    "Ye Chen is also terrifyingly powerful. He had just stepped into the God King Realm and shot up to seventh place in the God King List! It is said that he later went to the Slaughter Field and even achieved a streak of one hundred twenty consecutive victories in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, only to be defeated by Beiling Xiaoxiao, who ranks first in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field!"


    "Even though he is not first on the God King List, his true strength might very well be more formidable than that of the first-place Yang Yun!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s name, many people''s eyes lit up.


    However, the vast majority still shook their heads: "Ye Chen is indeed powerful, as a Lower God King, he managed to become the second most formidable individual in the Lower Heavenly God Realm Slaughter Field, which is truly extraordinary. Unfortunately, his realm is too weak. If he were a Middle or even Upper God King, he might be able to compete with the top ten demon-level God Kings from these four great Divine Kingdoms."


    "After all, he only managed to slaughter in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level Slaughter Field. Those top ten demons from the four great Divine Kingdoms can at least slaughter among Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables, and are even very powerful among those with Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power."


    "Yes, it''s too bad. Ye Chen''s talent is comparable to those, but he falls short in terms of realm. He is still not their equal."


    While these people shook their heads, there were still some who continued to believe in Ye Chen''s strength.


    "Don''t you know? Ye Chen has not been seen for more than a year, it''s said that he has been in arduous training all this time."


    "Over a year ago, he was already so formidable. Now, after more than a year, perhaps he has long been capable of contending with Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables, and even holds substantial strength among them!"


    Hearing these words, many people shook their heads repeatedly: "How is that possible? No matter how much power is improved, it can''t be by much in just over a year."


    "Who knows, maybe Ye Chen is still not able to defeat Beiling Xiaoxiao."


    Those who believed in Ye Chen then said decisively: "What do you know! Keep in mind, Ye Chen only took a little over a year to advance from the Heavenly Saint Realm to the God King Realm, his cultivation speed is not like ordinary people!"


    "I guarantee, the moment he shows up after being away for so long, it will definitely shock countless people!"


    The God King Disciples from the Supreme Divine Institute had various opinions as they whispered among themselves.


    Meanwhile, the God Kings from those four Great Divine Kingdoms who had arrived at the Supreme Divine Institute settled down quickly and began cultivating quietly under the guidance of their leading Sovereign powerhouses.


    Their goal was Heavenly God Mountain, and they were wholeheartedly preparing for the Charge Heaven Divine Mountain, so they hadn''t caused any major disturbances at the Supreme Divine Institute.


    However, this peace was disrupted on a day when the God Kings from the four Great Divine Kingdoms were resting.


    On that day, a Lower God King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom traded a treasure for one hundred thousand Slaughter Points with a disciple of a Heavenly Divine Venerable from the Supreme Divine Institute, and then directly entered the "Slaughter Field" of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    As a guest at the Supreme Divine Institute who claimed to just be visiting the "Slaughter Field" to have a look, the elders in charge of the "Slaughter Field" naturally did not stop him.


    Unexpectedly, this Lower God King went straight into the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power Slaughter Field for combat.


    What''s more terrifying is that this Lower God King continually emerged victorious, just like Ye Chen did in the past in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat strength Slaughter Field, achieving over one hundred consecutive wins in just one day!


    The next day, the Lower God King entered the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field again, and in the end, directly challenged the top ten experts on the rank list for win rates at the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field, eventually defeating all of them!


    A Lower God King from another Divine Kingdom, yet reigning supreme in the Supreme Divine Institute''s Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power Slaughter Field ¡ª this news sent shockwaves throughout the Institute.


    What shook them even more was that after sweeping through the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power Slaughter Field, this Lower God King directly challenged Beiling Xiaoxiao, who had previously topped the win rate ranking in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field and had since moved on to the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field.


    The grounds for the challenge by this Lower God King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom towards Beiling Xiaoxiao were that he had long admired the Goddess Long Li, yet heard that she had taken a liking to Ye Chen.


    He wanted to prove to Long Li that he was stronger than Ye Chen.


    If Ye Chen could once sweep through the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power Slaughter Field, he wanted to show that he, too, could sweep through the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power Slaughter Field.


    Ye Chen lost to Beiling Xiaoxiao back then, but he wanted to prove that he could even defeat Beiling Xiaoxiao.

 Chapter 873 - 823: Beiling Xiaoxiao Accepts the Challenge

    When Beiling Xiaoxiao heard of the challenge from the Lower God King of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, she pondered for a long time before finally accepting the challenge.


    On one hand, this Lower God King had already swept through the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    As the former number one figure of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, Beiling Xiaoxiao had to defend the honor of the Supreme Divine Institute no matter what.


    On the other hand, this Lower God King was provoking Ye Chen, and Beiling Xiaoxiao felt a deep admiration for Ye Chen from the bottom of her heart.


    After all, even though this Lower God King, like Ye Chen, could sweep through the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field at the Lower God King Realm.


    But Beiling Xiaoxiao had heard that this Lower God King of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom had been in the Lower God King Realm for many years, and was now at the peak level of Lower God Kings.


    Whereas when Ye Chen swept through the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, he had just stepped into the God King Realm not long ago, and had cultivated for much less time than this Lower God King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom.


    In this comparison, the miracle created by Ye Chen was much greater than that of the Lower God King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom.


    Naturally, Beiling Xiaoxiao admired Ye Chen even more!


    What''s more, Beiling Xiaoxiao had once felt a real threat from Ye Chen, which made her aware that Ye Chen''s real strength was even greater than what he showed.


    Under these circumstances, Ye Chen was being provoked by this Lower God King of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom.


    Of course, Beiling Xiaoxiao wanted to defeat this Lower God King and foil his plan to challenge Ye Chen.


    Beiling Xiaoxiao wanted to prove that although she was not as good as Ye Chen, she could defeat this provocateur, which would indicate that Ye Chen was even more formidable than him!


    When the news of Beiling Xiaoxiao''s acceptance of the challenge spread, the entire Supreme Divine Institute was abuzz.


    Everyone wanted to see what the outcome of this battle would be.


    When the time for the agreed-upon battle arrived, the chosen battlefield, the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field" was flooded with countless Martial Artists coming to watch.


    Among them, there were not only disciples and elders from the Supreme Divine Institute, but also many God Kings from the other four Great Divine Kingdoms staying at the Institute.


    The elder in charge of the Slaughter Field, after consulting with the Elders'' Council of the Supreme Divine Institute, specially opened up a viewing platform for God Kings of the four Great Divine Kingdoms to observe the battle without needing Slaughter Points to enter.


    In the words of the elders of the Supreme Divine Institute''s Elders'' Council, since a God King from another Divine Kingdom was challenging a disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute, the Supreme Divine Institute would certainly not yield without a fight.


    Whether to win or to lose, they might as well have an open and fair contest!


    In such an atmosphere, an hour before the big battle began, more than eight hundred thousand people had poured into the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field".


    Even the powerful Immortal Divine Venerables and Sovereigns of the Supreme Divine Institute, who hardly ever appeared in the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field", had arrived in numbers.


    And the Sovereigns from the four Great Divine Kingdoms and that renowned Demonic Level genius God King who had already made a name for himself in the Supreme Divine Institute, had all arrived.


    "Sima Liao, your Snow Desert Divine Kingdom''s Lower God King ''Xuan Chong'' is so arrogant, not satisfied with sweeping through the Supreme Divine Institute''s Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, he even challenges Beiling Xiaoxiao. After all, we are now within the Supreme Divine Institute''s territory, being so high-profile is not good," said a handsome young man in white clothes to a robust young man in red with an imposing aura, speaking through a transmission.


    This handsome youth in white was none other than ''Hua Xuelian'', the top-ranked among the ten Demonic Level genius God Kings from the four Great Divine Kingdoms, an Upper God King from "Qianjue Divine Kingdom".


    And the robust youth in red being addressed was Sima Liao, ranked third, from the "Snow Desert Divine Kingdom".


    Hearing Hua Xuelian''s words, Sima Liao waved his hand dismissively and smiled casually: "That ''Xuan Chong'' just loves to stir up trouble. If he wants to fool around like that, let him be. We just need to enjoy the show."


    "Fooling around? I think not," Hua Xuelian looked at Sima Liao with an indistinct meaning in his eyes. "Who doesn''t know that this ''Xuan Chong'' is your die-hard little brother and only listens to you?"


    "Sima Liao, you let that Xuan Chong provoke Ye Chen, that''s one thing. However, I advise you not to have other schemes in mind. Whether it be Xuan Chong or yourself, you must not harm Ye Chen."


    "You might not be aware, but the Northern Territory King from Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation is quite fond of Ye Chen."


    "If you anger the Northern Territory King, even if you are the genius God King of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom with a Sovereign standing behind you, it won''t help!"


    Upon hearing Hua Xuelian mention the Northern Territory King, Sima Liao''s expression changed.


    However, he then smiled at Hua Xuelian and said, "Brother Hua, you''re overthinking it. I have no acquaintance with Ye Chen and, of course, would not harm him. As for the Northern Territory King, she is the sister of an existence surpassing the Sovereigns, and naturally, I would not provoke her."


    "That''s for the best." Hua Xuelian nodded and chose not to say more.


    At this moment, Sima Liao''s eyes narrowed, and a hint of murderous intent quietly emerged from the depths of his gaze.


    The Supreme Divine Institute disciples'' observation area.Although the Little Provincial Princess Fang Luo is only a Nine Tribulations True God, this battle is related to Ye Chen, so she also found a way to come to the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field to watch the fight.


    While waiting for the battle to begin, the Little Provincial Princess muttered: "Hmph, this ''Xuan Chong'' from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, a Lower God King, actually dares to provoke Brother Ye Chen!"


    "Isn''t Brother Ye Chen a hundred times more formidable than you?!"


    "Now that they say Brother Ye Chen is in retreat cultivating, you can only challenge other people. Wait until Brother Ye Chen comes out of his retreat, and watch as he beats you to a pulp!"


    Not only was the Little Provincial Princess present at the arena, but even "Divine Venerable Meng Yue" and "Sovereign Jia Lan," who had taken Ye Chen to the Long Li Cave Manor before, also came to the Slaughter Field to watch the battle.


    At the moment, the two women were also conversing through voice transmission.


    "This ''Xuan Chong'' does not come with good intentions! Regrettably, he is a Divine King, and both of our levels are far too superior to his, making it inconvenient for us to fight him."


    "Ye Chen is currently cultivating in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room and won''t be coming out anytime soon."


    "If Xuan Chong is defeated by Beiling Xiaoxiao, it''s still acceptable. But if he wins against Beiling Xiaoxiao, he will definitely claim that he is stronger than Ye Chen in all aspects. By then, it would be embarrassing for Ye Chen if he does not accept the challenge."


    "I hope that Beiling Xiaoxiao can defeat Xuan Chong and not disturb Ye Chen''s cultivation."


    Amidst the numerous discussions of the crowd, both challengers finally arrived in succession.


    That ''Xuan Chong'' from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom is a tall youth with wings on his back and a pair of sharp fangs; his wings and fangs are both of an eerie blood-red color.


    Upon seeing the wings and blood-colored fangs on ''Xuan Chong''s'' back, many people exclaimed in surprise: "This Xuan Chong is from the ''Snow Liao Tribe'' of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom!"


    "This ''Snow Liao Tribe'' is the most powerful creature clan in the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom! Even in this universe, the ''Snow Liao Tribe'' is well-known as a high-level creature clan."


    "In this Snow Desert Divine Kingdom''s Divine Kings, the renowned ''Sima Liao'' is also from the ''Snow Liao Tribe,'' just like Xuan Chong."


    "No wonder ''Xuan Chong'' could sweep through the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field while at the Lower God King Realm. Turns out he is from the Snow Liao Tribe; it is said that members of the Snow Liao Tribe have extraordinary innate divine abilities, which is probably why his combat power is so exceptional!"


    When Beiling Xiaoxiao arrived and saw "Xuan Chong," her expression also changed.


    She had never fought against someone of such strange appearance, let alone someone from another Divine Kingdom, another clan.


    However, even with her shocked heart, Beiling Xiaoxiao''s combat readiness would not be affected.


    After greeting "Xuan Chong" with a fist salute, the two began their battle.


    The Slaughter Arena where the two were fighting was no longer just an ordinary arena of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    After all, both of their combat powers could be said to have surpassed the "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power," so an ordinary arena obviously could not withstand their fight.


    The arena they were fighting on was specially moved from the "Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field" by the elders of the Supreme Divine Institute. Even if the two fought until heaven and earth shattered, it would not be damaged.


    When the two truly began fighting, the terrifying scene of battle indeed astonished all the Divine Kings present.


    Whether it was Beiling Xiaoxiao''s Heavenly Dragon Battle Body or her life-bound treasure, both were eye-catching.


    And that Xuan Chong was indeed extraordinary, effortlessly overpowering Beiling Xiaoxiao regardless of what treasure she utilized.


    Even when Beiling Xiaoxiao finally used her ace up her sleeve, the spark refined from the embryo of an Extreme Heavenly Object that turned the entire Slaughter Arena into a sea of fire, Xuan Chong directly activated a blood-colored treasure, eradicating the endless sea of fire.


    In the end, after a prolonged battle lasting over two incense sticks of time, Beiling Xiaoxiao was defeated by Xuan Chong.


    The moment she failed, Beiling Xiaoxiao''s complexion was incredibly pale.


    The Martial Artists from the lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field of the Supreme Divine Institute were all in disbelief, unable to accept that the once top-ranked formidable person was defeated by Xuan Chong.


    The Divine Kings from the four great Divine Kingdoms who were watching the battle cheered for Xuan Chong''s victory at this time!


    But everyone saw that after Xuan Chong defeated Beiling Xiaoxiao, he did not leave the Slaughter Arena.


    He directly addressed a leading elder Sovereign of the Supreme Divine Institute: "Senior, I have now defeated everyone in your institute''s Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, including Beiling Xiaoxiao, who had defeated Ye Chen before."


    "At this moment, I have enough qualifications to say that I have surpassed your institute''s genius ''Ye Chen''!"


    "If Ye Chen is not convinced, he can come here and battle me."


    "If he is scared, then from now on, he must admit in front of everyone that he is inferior to me!"

 Chapter 874 - 824: Ye Chen Arrives

    Xuan Chong''s words caused an uproar in the crowd.


    Especially the disciples and elders of the Supreme Divine Institute, their faces looked extremely ugly.


    After all, Ye Chen is a prominent figure in the Supreme Divine Institute, and he is even a youth who caught the attention of the Sovereign Xuechen, the strongest in the Supreme Divine Institute. Yet he was provoked by Xuan Chong, a person from another Divine Kingdom. This was a slap in the face to everyone in the Supreme Divine Institute!


    The Little Provincial Princess could not restrain herself first; although she was only at the True God Nine Tribulations level, she was not afraid of Xuan Chong at all.


    The Little Provincial Princess immediately jumped up from the Spectator Platform and said to Xuan Chong, "Boasting shamelessly, my brother Ye Chen is much more powerful than you!"


    "Powerful? How is he more powerful than me?" Xuan Chong looked at the Little Provincial Princess, sneered coldly, "He had defeated countless people in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field back then, I have done the same too."


    "Even Beiling Xiaoxiao, whom he could not defeat, I have defeated now."


    "Tell me, how is he better than me?"


    The Little Provincial Princess''s face turned pale with anger from Xuan Chong''s words, "My brother Ye Chen is only twenty-one years old this year. How old are you? You must be over two hundred years old in bone age!"


    "Moreover, my brother Ye Chen just entered the God King Realm and was able to defeat countless people of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level. Your realm was much higher than my brother Ye Chen''s back then, already at the peak of the Lower God King Realm."


    "If my brother Ye Chen reaches the peak of the Lower God King Realm, he would definitely far surpass you!"


    The Little Provincial Princess''s words made Xuan Chong''s expression dark as well, "Hmph, his achievements can''t compare to me, that means he can''t compare to me, whatever else you say is pointless!"


    "I could defeat Beiling Xiaoxiao, but he lost to Beiling Xiaoxiao. That''s the solid proof I am stronger than him!"


    When Xuan Chong kept emphasizing his victory over Beiling Xiaoxiao, everyone finally understood why Xuan Chong wanted to challenge Beiling Xiaoxiao first.


    By defeating Beiling Xiaoxiao, indeed, he put Ye Chen in an awkward position.


    This meant Ye Chen had to either personally fight him to see who was better, or just admit he was inferior.


    If Xuan Chong hadn''t challenged Beiling Xiaoxiao first, Ye Chen could straight refuse to fight him, but now, even refusing seemed hardly an option.


    What nobody expected at that moment was Beiling Xiaoxiao, who had been defeated, directly say to Xuan Chong, "King Xuan Chong, you''re wrong."


    "Ye Chen didn''t lose to me before, he didn''t even use his real tactics, his true combat power is much stronger than mine, I''m absolutely not his match!"


    Wow!


    Beiling Xiaoxiao''s statements surprised many people.


    At the same time, the martial artists who had seen the battle between Ye Chen and Beiling Xiaoxiao in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field also stated, "Indeed, Beiling Xiaoxiao did say back then during their life-and-death fight, she was no match for Ye Chen."


    "Although we do not know what techniques Ye Chen had not used, with the situation at that time, indeed Ye Chen still had reserves."


    Hearing these words, Xuan Chong sneered, "All this you say is useless."


    "He lost to Beiling Xiaoxiao back then, there is a record."


    "Moreover, you say he is powerful, just let him fight me then. If he can defeat me, naturally it proves he''s powerful, if he can''t defeat me, all else is futile speculation!"


    "Ye Chen has been out of sight for so long, he wouldn''t be thinking of being a shrinking turtle, right!"


    "Haha." Many Divine Kings from the Four Great Divine Kingdoms laughed loudly upon hearing Xuan Chong''s words.


    Hearing these laughter and Xuan Chong''s provocative words, "Divine Venerable Meng Yue" and "Sovereign Jia Lan" both looked solemn.


    Boom!


    Sovereign Jia Lan even had divine power surge out instantly, she looked at Xuan Chong and said, "King Xuan Chong, you better watch your mouth."


    Sovereign Jia Lan is a Seven Star Sovereign, her imposing presence is tremendously powerful.


    In an instant, with her fury, even Xuan Chong, who was mocking, hurriedly stopped his laughter, his expression changing dramatically.


    At this moment, an Eight Star Sovereign from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom leading the team brushed his hand, distancing Sovereign Jia Lan''s imposing presence far away, this Eight Star Sovereign looked at Sovereign Jia Lan smiling, "Fellow Daoist Jia Lan, why get angry over the matters of the younger generation?"


    "Besides, I''ve always heard that Ye Chen is exceptionally powerful, since that''s the case, why not let him show up to demonstrate his strength properly."


    As this Eight Star Sovereign spoke, the Sovereigns from the Supreme Divine Institute also flew next to Sovereign Jia Lan, calming down the about-to-explode Sovereign Jia Lan.


    With an Eight Star Sovereign backing him, Xuan Chong straightened his back.


    Moreover, countless Divine Kings from the other Four Great Divine Kingdoms also took the opportunity to join in the teasing, "Yes, yes, we''ve long heard how powerful Ye Chen is, to be favored by Goddess Long Li, he must be extraordinary."


    "We all want to witness this!"


    Hearing these teasing voices, the Little Provincial Princess could no longer restrain herself.


    She stamped her foot and said, "My brother Ye Chen is currently in closed-door cultivation, hmph, the way you talk about him, I''m going to find him now!"


    Saying this, the Little Provincial Princess directly flew into the void.


    Just at this moment, everyone then heard a voice transmitted into the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, "Luo''er, no need to stoop to the level of these people."


    "Since he wants to fight me, I will give him a fight!"


    Boom!


    As the voice fell, a youthful figure flew directly into the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field.


    This youthful figure was unmistakably Ye Chen''s!


    No, at this point Ye Chen could no longer be called a youth, although by the age measures of this universe, he is still a youth.


    But having undergone over a year of arduous cultivation, Ye Chen''s physique had become even more upright, even his facial features had grown much more resolute.


    He had truly matured into an extraordinary young man!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "It''s Ye Chen who has arrived!"


    "Has his closed-door cultivation ended?!"


    Swoosh.


    As soon as Ye Chen flew into the Slaughter Field, countless gazes instantly turned towards him, and the disciples and elders of the Supreme Divine Institute all revealed extraordinarily surprised expressions.


    If there were any Divine King who could potentially battle Xuan Chong, it would only be the miraculously incredible Ye Chen in the entire Supreme Divine Institute!


    With Ye Chen''s arrival, there was still a chance for everything!


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    The Little Provincial Princess had not seen Ye Chen for a long time, and there was no moment when she wanted to see him more than now.


    Seeing that Ye Chen had really come to the Slaughter Field, the Little Provincial Princess immediately threw herself into Ye Chen''s arms.


    Ye Chen smiled and patted the back of the Little Provincial Princess, then nodded towards Sovereign Jia Lan, Divine Venerable Meng Yue, and others before his gaze finally rested directly on Xuan Chong.


    Upon seeing the figure of Xuan Chong from the Snow Liao Tribe, everyone was unaware, but Ye Chen''s eyes secretly brightened.


    "Is it you who has always claimed to be stronger than me and provoked me variously?" Ye Chen looked at Xuan Chong and spoke lightly.


    In Ye Chen''s light words, there carried a tone of contempt from the bottom of his heart.


    Yes.


    Contempt.


    It could even be heard in his voice; even though Xuan Chong had defeated Beiling Xiaoxiao, Ye Chen had never truly considered him as an equal opponent.


    Seeing this expression, Xuan Chong became furious, but he kept his face unchanged and instead raised his eyebrow, responding to Ye Chen, "Yes, I am provoking you, so what about it?"


    "Ye Chen, both of us are in the Lower God King Realm, do you dare to fight me in a battle to conclusively determine the victor and loser?"


    Ye Chen gazed around at the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power Slaughter Field, noticing numerous Divine Kings and the Sovereigns leading them from the four Great Divine Kingdoms were all watching him.


    The countless disciples and elders from the Supreme Divine Institute were also watching him.


    Ye Chen gently smiled, turned his head back, and looked at Xuan Chong, smiling as he said, "I just told Luo''er that if you wish to battle me, then I will give you that battle."


    "However, since we are here in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level Slaughter Field, our battle, of course, should involve a bet."


    "You''re so certain that you can beat me, then why don''t you propose the wager?"


    Hearing Ye Chen mention "a wager" and seeing his calm demeanor, Xuan Chong felt a sudden jump in his heart.


    Could it be that Ye Chen really had the confidence to battle him?


    But seeing that Ye Chen was also merely in the Lower God King Realm like him, and recalling that he had defeated Beiling Xiaoxiao without even giving his full effort while Ye Chen had lost to Beiling Xiaoxiao, even if he had improved, he couldn''t possibly be stronger than himself¡ªespecially considering the trump card in his possession, Xuan Chong felt somewhat reassured.


    Xuan Chong directly gave Ye Chen a cold smile: "You want a wager? Well, people usually bet Slaughter Points here in the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable stage Slaughter Field, but Slaughter Points are useless to me."


    "Ye Chen, do you dare to bet an ''Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact''?"


    "Whoosh." While speaking, Xuan Chong stretched out his hand and an Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact fell into his palm.


    "If I lose, this Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact will be yours; if you lose, you also concede to me an Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact, how about that?"


    Hearing the bet on the "Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact," many Divine Kings in the arena were shocked.


    It was known that an "Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact" was desired by many Immortal Divine Venerables, and yet these two Lower God Kings were making such a huge wager.


    Everyone was even more curious as to whether Ye Chen had an Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact and whether he dared to bet.


    At this moment, to everyone''s surprise, Ye Chen flipped his palm, and instantly, a Divine Artifact appeared in front of him.


    As soon as this Divine Artifact appeared, it even made many Sovereign Great Powers in the arena change their expressions.


    "A Polar Heaven Divine Artifact, surpassing the Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact, a treasure not possessed by many Sovereign Great Powers!"


    >p>"Ye Chen actually has a Polar Heaven Divine Artifact? With his current realm, he can''t fully control a Polar Heaven Divine Artifact!"


    Not only these Sovereigns, but even those ten demon-level genius Divine Kings from the four Divine Kingdoms also changed their expressions; they didn''t expect Ye Chen to have a Polar Heaven Divine Artifact.


    Sima Liao watched the Polar Heaven Divine Artifact in front of Ye Chen with a shocked look, but soon, he narrowed his eyes and said, "It''s not a complete Polar Heaven Divine Artifact, just a damaged one."


    Hua Xuelian beside Sima Liao then said, "A damaged Polar Heaven Divine Artifact is still much more precious than an Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact. Ye Chen taking this out, is he planning to wager this item?"


    "Even if he wants to wager it, Xuan Chong couldn''t possibly bring out a similarly damaged Polar Heaven Divine Artifact to bet against him, could he?"


    Following this, Ye Chen''s subsequent words shocked everyone in the arena once again.


    Ye Chen looked at Xuan Chong and said directly, "Since you are so certain of your victory, why only bet a single Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact? If we are to bet, let''s make it significant."


    "If I lose to you, this Polar Heaven Divine Artifact will directly belong to you."


    "If you lose to me, I won''t ask you to compensate with a similar level Polar Heaven Divine Artifact, but you will give me one hundred drops of your Essence Blood."


    "Your one hundred drops of Essence Blood are far less valuable than my Polar Heaven Divine Artifact."


    "Xuan Chong, what do you say?"


    "Do you dare to bet, do you dare to fight?!"

 Chapter 875 - 825 Beating Up

    "Xuan Chong, what do you say?"


    "Do you dare to wager, dare to battle?!"


    Ye Chen''s voice echoed throughout the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable combat Slaughter Field, stunning everyone.


    No one expected that it was originally Xuan Chong who challenged Ye Chen, asking him if he dared to wager a battle.


    Now, not only had Ye Chen accepted the challenge, but he also dramatically increased the stakes, turning the tables to ask Xuan Chong if he dared.


    Instantly, all eyes were on Xuan Chong.


    Everyone wanted to see if Xuan Chong would dare to take on Ye Chen''s wager.


    If Xuan Chong didn''t dare to take up the wager in turn, he would become the laughingstock of all!


    "Wager my hundred drops of Essence Blood?!"


    "This Ye Chen is simply going too far!"


    For Martial Artists, Essence Blood is equivalent to the Life Origin; it requires tremendous effort to recover once depleted, and sometimes, it might never completely recover.


    True, Xuan Chong''s hundred drops of Essence Blood may not be worth as much as the "Ultimate Heavenly Artifact", but Ye Chen''s proposal to wager Essence Blood directly made Xuan Chong feel enormously humiliated.


    At this moment, under the watchful eyes of all, Xuan Chong could not possibly decline Ye Chen''s wager. Otherwise, not only the disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute might laugh at him, but even the Divine Kings from the four Great Divine Kingdoms might look down on him.


    After all, it was he who provoked this situation!


    In the end, Xuan Chong thought bitterly, "A wager then, a wager it shall be. I''ve cultivated for so many years, how could I be afraid of you, Ye Chen?"


    "I''ll make sure you neither get my Essence Blood nor will you retain your Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!"


    With that in mind, a surge of eagerness welled up in Xuan Chong.


    The Ultimate Heavenly Artifact, oh!


    Even a damaged one, if he could obtain it, he would certainly make a fortune.


    With this thought, Xuan Chong directly challenged Ye Chen: "A bet then, a bet it is. Ye Chen, do you really think I''m afraid of you?!"


    Hearing Xuan Chong''s agreement, a glint of sharpness flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes as he thought to himself: "Done!"


    Wow.


    At this moment, the spectating area erupted into hubbub.


    Countless people were incredibly excited.


    After all, they were about to witness another thrilling fight!


    Boom!


    Having set the wager, Ye Chen''s figure dashed and he directly flew onto the Slaughter Arena, taking his place amidst the void, standing opposite Xuan Chong from afar.


    As the real battle was about to commence, Xuan Chong''s vanity became even more pronounced. He licked his lips and sneered at Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, you were defeated by Beiling Xiaoxiao, yet I triumphed over her."


    "Since we''re going to battle, I''ll let you make the first move, don''t say I''m bullying the weak!"


    Xuan Chong was showing off his battle achievements once more.


    In his heart, Xuan Chong thought by letting Ye Chen make the first move and then counterattacking, he could defeat Ye Chen instantly and show his formidableness even more.


    Xuan Chong was indulging in a beautiful dream.


    At that moment, after hearing Xuan Chong''s words, Ye Chen responded with a smile, "Are you sure you want me to make the first move?"


    "Let you take the first move? So what?" Xuan Chong still spoke disdainfully.


    As his words fell, Ye Chen didn''t say more, directly stating: "Alright, if you''re looking for a beating, you can''t blame me!"


    Boom!


    In an instant, as Xuan Chong had wished, Ye Chen made the first move.


    The moment Ye Chen took action, Xuan Chong immediately realized something was wrong.


    He found that with just a simple wave of the hand, a terrifying palm strike like an overwhelming tidal wave was crashing down on him.


    Under the onslaught of this terrifying palm strike, Xuan Chong even felt as if there was nowhere to escape.


    Bang!


    Indeed, there was nowhere to escape. Even though Xuan Chong mobilized all his Divine Power trying to dodge Ye Chen''s attack, he couldn''t avoid it at all and was instantly struck down onto the Slaughter Arena by Ye Chen''s palm.


    The Slaughter Arena where the two fought was a battle platform specially moved by the power of the Sovereign of the Supreme Divine Institute from the "Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable combat Slaughter Field" for the previous battle between Xuan Chong and Beiling Xiaoxiao. It was incredibly solid.


    When Xuan Chong was struck onto the Slaughter Arena by that palm, the platform was unscathed, but Xuan Chong''s entire body felt as though it was going to break apart.


    The more exciting part was yet to come.


    Xuan Chong, whose body almost felt shattered by that palm strike, couldn''t even scream before Ye Chen''s subsequent assault followed one after another.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Terrible palm strikes rained down on Xuan Chong incessantly.


    Before Xuan Chong could get up from the Slaughter Arena, he was bombarded back onto the ground of the platform.


    He was simply being thrashed by Ye Chen, without even a chance to fight back.


    In the end, Xuan Chong couldn''t even manage a counterattack and was directly blasted to the brink of life and death by Ye Chen, eventually being eliminated from the Slaughter Arena.


    Defeat.


    The outcome of the battle between Xuan Chong and Ye Chen was a one-sided terrible defeat for Xuan Chong!


    At this moment, the spectating area was filled with shock; no one expected Xuan Chong to be defeated so miserably.


    Now, letting Ye Chen take the first action seemed like a joke.


    Ye Chen took initiative and before Xuan Chong could even retaliate, he was already beaten!


    Everyone could see that Ye Chen''s combat power was much greater than Xuan Chong''s, who was no match for Ye Chen at all!


    At this moment, even the few behind the top ten Demon Level prodigies of the four Great Divine Kingdoms were all agape.


    These Demon Level talents felt that Ye Chen''s combat power might not be much weaker than theirs, and it was even possible that they were on par with them!


    Sima Liao, ranked third, was also shocked: "Xuan Chong couldn''t even fight back; he''s a combatant who is considered to have stepped into the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level. Has Ye Chen''s combat level also reached the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level? And is he an absolute powerhouse within this level?!"


    Although Sima Liao sensed that Ye Chen hadn''t stepped into the combat level of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable like himself, the way Ye Chen thrashed Xuan Chong made Sima Liao believe that Ye Chen''s strength was indeed extraordinary.


    Hua Xuelian, who was by Sima Liao''s side, also exclaimed with shock at this moment: "This Ye Chen definitely has the strength to rank in the top ten among the four hundred thousand Martial Artists coming from our four Great Divine Kingdoms this time, although he might not necessarily be able to defeat us. However, he is absolutely not weaker than the last few in the top ten!"


    The numerous Martial Artists from the four Great Divine Kingdoms were all shaken.


    Meanwhile, the disciples and elders of the Supreme Divine Institute were overjoyed, with many even cheering excitedly.


    The Little Provincial Princess''s face flushed with excitement as she shouted at the defeated Xuan Chong: "I said you couldn''t beat my brother Ye Chen, and you didn''t believe me! Now you can''t even handle a single move from my brother Ye Chen!"


    Beiling Xiaoxiao, along with the Martial Artists from the Slaughter Field who had seen Ye Chen''s power before, were extremely surprised at this moment.


    They had thought that Ye Chen''s strength would improve after over a year of arduous cultivation.


    But they had never imagined that Ye Chen''s strength would improve to such an extent!


    Especially Beiling Xiaoxiao, she had always been looking forward to Ye Chen using that Treasure, which even she feared, to defeat Xuan Chong. But what Beiling Xiaoxiao did not expect was that, without using that Treasure, Ye Chen could beat Xuan Chong so miserably!


    Obviously, at this moment, using just his normal abilities, Ye Chen''s combat power far exceeded hers!


    Right now, Ye Chen was no longer at the level he was when he fought against her in the Slaughter Field of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable; it was as if his combat power had increased countless times!


    Sovereign Jia Lan and Divine Venerable Meng Yue exchanged glances at this moment, their eyes filled with a mix of surprise and delight.


    "Who would have thought, after more than a year, Ye Chen''s strength has improved so much!"


    "It seems that his arduous cultivation in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room has brought him an enormous harvest!"


    The elders of the Supreme Divine Institute, at this moment, each felt a sense of exhaling and lifting their eyebrows in satisfaction.


    Previously, Xuan Chong had swept through the Slaughter Field of the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable with his power, and also defeated Beiling Xiaoxiao, which had greatly suppressed their spirits.


    Now, Ye Chen has helped them, and the entire Supreme Divine Institute, regain their dignity!


    An Eight Star Sovereign elder from the Supreme Divine Institute even deliberately said to the Sovereign who had previously intervened to stop Sovereign Jia Lan from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom: "How about it, Elder Xue, didn''t you say you wanted to see Ye Chen''s strength? Isn''t Ye Chen''s strength quite something?"


    "Ye Chen, just like your Divine Kingdom''s Xuan Chong, is in the Lower God King Realm. Besides, Ye Chen has spent much less time cultivating than Xuan Chong. Unexpectedly, Xuan Chong was defeated so miserably, tsk tsk..."


    The elder from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom had previously ridiculed the Supreme Divine Institute overtly and covertly on various occasions. Now, the elders of the Supreme Divine Institute finally found an opportunity to throw those taunts back at them.


    It was indeed payback!


    The Eight Star Sovereign elder from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, on hearing the words of the elder from the Supreme Divine Institute, trembled with anger.


    "Useless, Xuan Chong is too useless!"


    "Actually unable to withstand a single move from Ye Chen! If you can''t resist, then don''t show off. Now you''ve lost face badly, making our Snow Desert Divine Kingdom lose face along with you!"


    In his rage, the Eight Star Sovereign elder glared at Xuan Chong, wishing he could slap Xuan Chong to death on the spot.


    At this moment, Xuan Chong was not at all aware of the glaring eyes of his Divine Kingdom''s leading elder; his heart was filled with disbelief and unwillingness: "No, how could I be defeated by this Ye Chen?!"


    "The Ultimate Heavenly Artifact is mine, it''s mine!"


    "It''s just because Ye Chen took action first and I didn''t notice that is why I lost, it must be so!"


    As he said this, Xuan Chong''s head abruptly raised as he shouted towards Ye Chen: "I don''t accept this, Ye Chen, I do not! If I take the first move, I will definitely defeat you!"


    Xuan Chong''s refusal to admit defeat even after losing caused a commotion among the spectators.


    "Shameless!"


    "To lose and not admit it, and you were the one who let brother Ye Chen make the first move, every word was yours, how about you just ascend to heaven!"


    The Little Provincial Princess was even amused to the point of laughter by Xuan Chong''s shamelessness.


    Others also started cursing at Xuan Chong vigorously.


    However, Xuan Chong ignored all these curses; he was just looking at Ye Chen.


    Because he knew, only if he shamelessly got another chance to fight Ye Chen could he regain his face!


    Ye Chen, hearing Xuan Chong''s words, of course knew what Xuan Chong''s silly act was all about.


    However, Ye Chen didn''t care about his tricks.


    Ye Chen directly said to Xuan Chong indifferently: "Not convinced? Fine, then I''ll let you make the first move."


    Hearing that Ye Chen really agreed to fight him again, Xuan Chong hurriedly flew back to the Slaughter Arena from the defeated area.


    As if afraid that Ye Chen would change his mind, Xuan Chong didn''t say another word and immediately launched an attack at Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, Xuan Chong unleashed all his formidable techniques; he released all his Divine Power, and even brought out his precious Life-bound Treasure.


    However.


    When Xuan Chong launched his initial attack on Ye Chen, what followed was a scene that surprised everyone once again.


    Just like before, Ye Chen struck with an earth-shattering palm, completely scattering all of Xuan Chong''s attacks.


    Then, the huge palm force once again slammed Xuan Chong to the ground!


    Finally, amidst endless blows, Xuan Chong was once again brutally defeated and Eliminated!


    A crushing defeat.


    A merciless beating!


    This time, Xuan Chong still ended up miserably crushed and savagely defeated.


    After this defeat, the color drained from Xuan Chong''s face.


    He knew that he indeed could not defeat Ye Chen no matter what.


    Even though he could sweep through the Slaughter Field of Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables, and even defeat Beiling Xiaoxiao, his combat power was only at the level of a common Mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable. But Ye Chen''s combat power was obviously many times stronger than his!


    At this moment, Xuan Chong didn''t even dare to look at Ye Chen or anyone else any longer.


    After all, he had lost a lot of face.


    Regretful of his insistence and having lost again, his reputation was completely tarnished.


    Xuan Chong even thought about sneaking out of the Slaughter Arena.


    But Ye Chen was not going to let him get his wish.


    Ye Chen directly said to Xuan Chong: "How about it, are you convinced now? If you''re still not convinced, I don''t mind beating you up once more."


    "If you are convinced, then honor your bet - one hundred drops of Essence Blood, and pay up!"

 Chapter 876 - 826 Bloodletting

    No one knows why Ye Chen wagered a hundred drops of Essence Blood with Xuan Chong.


    No one knows why upon hearing Xuan Chong accepting the bet, Ye Chen couldn''t help but say "Success" in his heart.


    Indeed, Xuan Chong was the one who provoked first.


    To clear his name and uphold the dignity of the Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen would defeat Xuan Chong.


    On the way from the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room" to the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Combat Power Slaughter Field, Ye Chen had made this decision.


    At that time, Ye Chen did not even think about the stakes, he just focused on defeating this provocateur.


    However, the moment Ye Chen saw Xuan Chong, an expression of immense surprise surged in his heart.


    Because, Xuan Chong came from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom and was a tribesman of the "Snow Liao Tribe".


    Many spectators knew that the "Snow Liao Tribe" from this universe is a famous high-level spirit clan with potent innate divine abilities.


    Yet, they did not know that Ye Chen precisely needed the Lifeblood of high-level spirit clans!


    The fifth chapter of the "Primordial Star Scripture" Ye Chen cultivated, the "Taiyi Chapter," required Ye Chen to find seven high-level spirit clan tribesmen and obtain a hundred drops of Essence Blood from each.


    Then, to drop them into the star disks formed by the seven dazzling stars on the fifth level of the Stars Tower.


    Only then, Ye Chen could proceed to the sixth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    For this purpose, the fifth level of the Stars Tower even reserved for Ye Chen a "Heavenly Spirit Rankings" that records ten thousand powerful spirit beings in the universe.


    Back then, upon seeing the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings," Ye Chen had memorized the ten thousand powerful spirit clans in his heart.


    He even engraved deeply into his mind, the "hundred high-level spirit clans" useful for his breakthrough to the sixth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    This was the reason he recognized Xuan Chong as someone from the high-level spirit clan "Snow Liao Tribe" at first glance!


    According to the requirements of the "Taiyi Chapter," Ye Chen needed to find one hundred drops of Essence Blood from three Heavenly Divine Venerable level, two Immortal Divine Venerable level, and one Sovereign level high-level spirit clan individuals.


    Out of the seven Essence Blood requirements, only one position can be used to find Essence Blood from below the Heavenly Divine Venerable realm of high-level spirit clans.


    Originally, Ye Chen planned to look for the opportunity to gather Essence Blood after completing the requests of Huyan Divine Master in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom after coming out from Heavenly God Mountain.


    After all, there are many high-level spirit clans in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    But now, having unexpectedly encountered Xuan Chong, a tribesman from the "Snow Liao Tribe" here, Ye Chen certainly would not miss this closer opportunity!


    Although Xuan Chong is just a Divine King, he is a tribesman of a high-level spirit clan, meeting one of Ye Chen''s requirements for seeking the seven major bloods.


    Ye Chen certainly wants to obtain Essence Blood from Xuan Chong!


    Once he obtains the Essence Blood and drips it into the Stars Tower to activate one of the seven star disks, it will greatly aid the potency of his "Taiyi Chapter"!


    Especially since Ye Chen is about to enter Heavenly God Mountain, and also to help Huyan Divine Master fulfill his wish in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Both of these matters do not afford any mistakes.


    If there are, it would mean Ye Chen could die!


    Of course, Ye Chen hopes for his power to be enhanced sooner rather than later.


    Now, having the chance to obtain Xuan Chong''s Essence Blood, and having the opportunity to activate a star disk before entering Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen would certainly not miss this godsend!


    Xuan Chong has no idea that Ye Chen''s wager with him, by setting a bet on Essence Blood, involves such deep reasons!


    Xuan Chong is even more unaware that while he intended to shame Ye Chen, he ended up unwittingly aiding him!


    When Ye Chen asked for the wager to be paid, Xuan Chong''s face turned successive shades of red and white, and he even stood still looking towards Sima Liao as if seeking help.


    However, at that moment Sima Liao did not heed Xuan Chong''s plea for help.


    It''s a joke, Sima Liao isn''t foolish.


    He knew that Xuan Chong''s defeat, not conceding but losing again, had already brought him great embarrassment, and if he did not even pay up the bet, that would be utterly indefensible.


    Moreover, Sima Liao had seen that when Ye Chen demanded Xuan Chong to pay up the bet, the elders of the Supreme Divine Institute were all eagerly watching Xuan Chong.


    It seemed like if Xuan Chong dared to renege, they would personally enter the fray to catch him and force him to pay the bet.


    In this situation, Sima Liao could not help Xuan Chong anymore.


    He even directly transmitted a message to Xuan Chong: "It''s just a hundred drops of Essence Blood, if he wants it, just give it to him! It''s still better than you compensating with a more valuable Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!"


    "After returning to Snow Desert Divine Kingdom from Heavenly God Mountain this time, I will search for treasures to help you recover your Life Origin and replenish your Essence Blood!"


    Even Sima Liao said this, leaving Xuan Chong no choice but to gloomily fly back to the Slaughter Arena.


    He extended his arm towards Ye Chen and said, "I will force the Essence Blood into the meridians of my arm; you need to take one hundred drops, so hurry up and take them."


    Having been defeated under the watchful eyes of the public and now about to be bled in the same manner, Xuan Chong thought to himself that he had truly bad luck for several lifetimes.


    If he had known how powerful Ye Chen was, he would have never provoked him, not even if he was beaten to death.


    Even if it was Sima Liao who secretly instigated him to provoke Ye Chen, he would have asked Sima Liao to find someone else!


    Xuan Chong''s regretful feelings were of course unknown to Ye Chen.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was not about to pay any heed to Xuan Chong''s feelings.


    Upon hearing Xuan Chong agree to "bleed," Ye Chen extended his finger, and a flash of sword light directly sliced upon Xuan Chong''s arm.


    Instantly, drops of "green-tinged" "Essence Blood" began dripping down towards the ground.


    With another tap of Ye Chen''s finger, a small white bottle caught those falling drops of Essence Blood.


    One drop, two drops, three drops...


    In a moment, a hundred drops of Essence Blood had all fallen into the small white bottle.


    Ye Chen checked it over once and, seeing that they were indeed true Essence Blood, sealed the little white bottle, flipped his palm, and stowed the bottle on his person.


    "One hundred drops of Snow Liao Tribe Essence Blood obtained," Ye Chen was in a very good mood.


    He even smiled at Xuan Chong and said, "Divine King Xuan Chong, thank you very much."


    Being thanked by Ye Chen made Xuan Chong even more infuriated to the point of almost spitting out blood.


    He thought to himself: "Do you think I wanted to give you my Essence Blood?!"


    Xuan Chong didn''t wish to speak another word to Ye Chen, nor did he want to stay in this humiliating place any longer, having already paid the stake, he directly flew away from the Slaughter Field without turning back.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, the Little Provincial Princess, Divine Venerable Meng Yue, and Sovereign Jia Lan among others stayed and talked for a while longer, and then also left the Slaughter Field.


    The crowd slowly dispersed.


    However, the incident where Ye Chen had a great battle with Xuan Chong, ultimately beating Xuan Chong so badly that he couldn''t even retaliate, remained a topic of discussion among the spectators for a long time.


    Eventually, through these people''s accounts, the news spread to the ears of all disciples and elders in the Supreme Divine Institute.


    Among the crowd.


    However, no one noticed that Sima Liao of Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, while watching Ye Chen leave the Slaughter Field, had a mysterious cold glint hidden deep within his eyes.


    "Unexpectedly, having Xuan Chong try to test Ye Chen turned out this way."


    "Well then, at least it has reaffirmed that Ye Chen''s capabilities are still within my expectations!"


    "It appears, as Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master Qin Yuntian said, killing Ye Chen on Heavenly God Mountain is going to require some effort. I need to prepare a few trump cards!"


    The thoughts weighing on Sima Liao''s mind revealed a shocking piece of information.


    This person, ranked third among the top ten demon-level genius Divine Kings from the four major Divine Kingdoms and possessing combat power fierce enough to defeat countless Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables¡ª"Sima Liao"¡ªwas actually affiliated with Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master Qin Yuntian.


    Originally, Qin Yuntian had said he would find someone among other strong Divine Kings from various Divine Kingdoms entering Heavenly God Mountain to deal with Ye Chen; unexpectedly, this Sima Liao was the candidate he had found!


    Having left the Slaughter Field, Ye Chen directly returned to his own cave dwelling.


    He did not continue to practice in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room.


    Ye Chen simply sat cross-legged in his cave dwelling, looking at the small white bottle in front of him containing one hundred drops of Xuan Chong''s Essence Blood.


    "There''s barely over a month left before entering ''Heavenly God Mountain''. Now, with so many Divine Kings from the four major Divine Kingdoms coming to enter Heavenly God Mountain along with the Divine Kings from Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, the competition will definitely be intensely fierce!"


    "Not only must I enter Heavenly God Mountain and also return alive from it, I have another task to accomplish. It seems I need to prepare even stronger techniques."


    "During the past year in the Earth Fiend Cultivation Room, my techniques have greatly improved. In the remaining month or so, I''ll use it to properly cultivate the ''Taiyi Divine Power''!"


    "First, let''s activate one of the seven stars in the Star Disk using Xuan Chong''s one hundred drops of Essence Blood!"


    Whoosh.


    At the thought from Ye Chen, his Divine Soul once again entered the Stars Tower.

 Chapter 877 - 827: Creating My Own Divine Arts

    When Ye Chen reached the fifth layer of the Stars Tower and dropped the one hundred drops of Snow Liao Tribe essence blood into the star disk formed by seven resplendent stars in the void of the fifth layer.


    Boom!


    One of the resplendent stars suddenly emitted a pale golden halo.


    This halo also projected a beam of light, enveloping Ye Chen entirely within it.


    In an instant, Ye Chen felt the Taiyi Divine Power within him boil and surge violently.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had already reached the peak level of a Lower God King, and the divine power within him had reached the limit of that level. To further increase the quantity of divine power, he would need to elevate his realm.


    However, while enclosed in the light column projected by the dazzling star emitting the golden halo within the Stars Tower, Ye Chen discovered that although the quantity of his Taiyi Divine Power remained unchanged.


    The quality of the Taiyi Divine Power within him, however, had undergone a new transformation and elevation.


    When Ye Chen had a thought, his originally "black and white intertwined" Taiyi Divine Power turned into a pale gold color, and at the same time, mysterious divine script information flew directly into his mind.


    After Ye Chen had read through this divine script information, he showed an expression of both surprise and peculiar curiosity.


    "The Primordial Star Scripture''s ''Taiyi Chapter'' says that for every star lighted in the star disk, the quality of the ''Taiyi Divine Power'' can be elevated by one level, indeed it''s not an unfounded assertion!"


    "The Taiyi Divine Power is already much more powerful than the Heaven-reaching Divine Power of those Divine Kings; it is precisely because I have fortified my divine body and divine arts with Taiyi Divine Power that I possess the combat power to defeat countless middle-ranking Heavenly Divine Venerables."


    "But now, having lighted one of the stars in the star disk, I can directly draw upon the Starry Origin power of the seven stars with my ''Taiyi Divine Power''."


    "Just like right now, as long as I transform the ''Taiyi Divine Power'' into the quality of pale gold, I can directly draw on the origin power of that dazzling star, which is radiating a pale golden halo!"


    "According to the ''Taiyi Chapter'', the Starry Origin power within these seven stars is boundless, and the quality definitely surpasses that of normal Taiyi Divine Power. Once I utilize this origin power in my cultivation techniques, my combat power may well soar tremendously once again, possibly even reaching the level where battling a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable is not impossible!"


    The reason for Ye Chen''s excitement was indeed the ability to draw on even more powerful forces!


    The strange expression on Ye Chen''s face was because the origin power of these seven stars cannot be used casually.


    To be precise, it''s not something that can readily be applied to divine body skills and divine arts.


    Even the "Eternal God Body" that Ye Chen cultivates with "Taiyi Divine Power" cannot utilize the Starry Origin power of the seven stars.


    "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" is the same; even if Ye Chen could draw on the Starry Origin power, he still couldn''t release it through the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" from within the Stars Tower.


    The only way to truly draw on the Starry Origin power, according to that divine script information, is only by creating "one''s own unique Divine Arts" within the Starry Origin power.


    Only by creating exclusive Divine Arts can the Starry Origin power be drawn upon for attacks.


    Furthermore, the stronger the self-created Divine Arts, the more of the origin power that can be drawn upon.


    Seeing that he needed to create Divine Arts himself, Ye Chen was naturally filled with a sense of oddity!


    The "Divine Arts," "Heaven-reaching Divine Arts," "Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts," and even more powerful "Polar Heaven Divine Arts," that Ye Chen and other martial artists practice, were all created by higher-level martial artists after countless trials and summarizations.


    Ye Chen had also thought about creating Divine Arts that suited him personally.


    However, on one hand, he had far too few experiences, and on the other hand, his realm was not high, so it was naturally better to create his first unique Divine Art when he had a profound understanding.


    But now, to use the even more powerful "Starry Origin Power," he must create his own Divine Arts, which meant Ye Chen had to contemplate creating his very first Divine Art!


    "The divine script information says that the seven dazzling stars involved in the Taiyi Chapter can create a unique Divine Arts creation scene, which is highly suitable for creating Divine Arts."


    "No time to lose, then I shall start creating in that Divine Arts creation scene!"


    With a thought from Ye Chen, all the Taiyi Divine Power in his body transformed into a pale golden color. Simultaneously, he sent a fierce surge towards the dazzling star emitting a pale golden halo in the star disk above him.


    The next moment, Ye Chen''s entire divine soul entered into an indescribable world.


    "This is the Divine Arts creation scene projected by the pale golden star."


    Ye Chen looked at this world; this world seemed vast and empty, with only a pale golden fog between heaven and earth.


    "According to the divine script information, in this world, I can imagine any scene at will, and this world will transform into that scene to facilitate my reflection and creation."


    With this thought in mind, Ye Chen''s mind and spirit moved.


    "Then let it become a world of heavy rain!"


    Whoosh.


    As soon as Ye Chen''s mind and spirit moved, the pale golden mist in this world suddenly trembled. Then, as the heavens and earth shifted, Ye Chen heard the sound of a "torrential downpour" falling around him. He was now in an endless world of heavy rain.


    "Marvelous, truly marvelous!"


    "In this world of heavy rain, it''s much easier for me to create rain-related divine arts. I can continuously observe the various attacking and operating patterns of the rain."


    "Let''s try the next world transformation¡ªturn it into a ''world of heavy snow''!"


    Whoosh.


    With a thought from Ye Chen, the initially endless rain-soaked world instantly turned into a world covered with snow, where large snowflakes continuously fell from the sky.


    "Flame World!"


    "Frost World!"


    "Gale World!"


    After that, each time Ye Chen thought of a new world construct, in an instant, the world around him transformed into that envisioned world.


    This feeling.


    It''s as if Ye Chen is the master of this world.


    The entire heavens and earth are under his control!


    He is the creator of this world!


    After experimenting for a long time, Ye Chen stopped experimenting and started to truly begin the creation of his own divine arts.


    After all, transforming worlds only served as an auxiliary function for creating his divine arts; he couldn''t forget the most important thing.


    "To create divine arts, I''ve actually had some ideas for a while."


    "But there''s no rush at this moment. I will first revisit my entire cultivation experience to find the most suitable divine arts for myself."


    Divine Arts.


    The more suitable for oneself, the better.


    And divine arts created by oneself, naturally must be tailored from the aspects most suited to oneself.


    With a move of Ye Chen''s mind and spirit, the world he was in instantly transformed into the scene of his cultivation days at Qingyun Sect.


    Ye Chen began to revisit every step of his cultivation.


    Starting from defeating Zhao Jing and Bai Kun in Qingyun Sect, to breaking into the Thousand Lotus Cave Abode, to obtaining the flying sword with Jiang Yao...


    From entering the Ancestral Land to killing the Three Great Rogue Cultivators of Wan Ya Mountain, and then entering the Taixuan Sect...


    Numerous fragments of cultivation rapidly changed in this world.


    Finally, it continued until Ye Chen arrived at the Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain... until encountering Long Li in the Nine Suns Ancient Land... right up to Ye Chen''s current level of cultivation...


    After revisiting all of his experiences, Ye Chen sat cross-legged in this world, beginning the creation of his very first self-developed divine art.


    ...


    While Ye Chen was immersed in the creation of his cultivation technique.


    Time passed day by day.


    The days until the opening of Heavenly God Mountain went from over a month to just over twenty days, then over ten days.


    Finally, the day when Heavenly God Mountain opened arrived.


    Early in the morning, Sovereign Jia Lan flew to the outside of Ye Chen''s cave abode.


    With a "swoosh," Sovereign Jia Lan sent a divine sense transmission directly flying towards Ye Chen''s cave abode.


    Ever since Ye Chen defeated Xuan Chong, he had been cultivating in his cave abode. Many Divine Venerables who had come to greet him after hearing of his victory over Xuan Chong had not seen Ye Chen.


    Fairy Jia Lan came to remind Ye Chen that the day to explore Heavenly God Mountain had arrived, lest Ye Chen, immersed in cultivation, missed the time for the adventure.


    After Sovereign Jia Lan''s transmission entered Ye Chen''s cave abode, dozens of breaths later, the entrance to Ye Chen''s cave opened, and he directly flew out from it.

 Chapter 878 - 828 Heavenly God Mountain Opens

    "Ye Chen, why do I sense a particularly unusual aura about you, like sword force, yet like blade force, and even more so like a terrifying thunder lightning slaughter power?"


    As soon as she noticed Ye Chen landing in front of her, Sovereign Jia Lan immediately voiced her observation.


    However, while she was speaking, this sensation disappeared, and Ye Chen''s special aura completely dissipated, leaving no trace of abnormality.


    "Sovereign Jia Lan, you truly live up to your reputation as a Seven-Star Sovereign. Your senses are incredibly sharp," said Ye Chen with a smile, "I have been cultivating a Divine Art recently and, in my haste, it seems the killing force from the Divine Art has not fully dispersed, which is why you could sense it."


    "Cultivating a Divine Art?" Sovereign Jia Lan nodded.


    "This Divine Art of yours must be extraordinary. I only sensed it for an instant, but I felt an indescribably strange impression, as if it''s a killing force not belonging to our universe''s Divine Arts."


    Ye Chen smiled and said, "I''m not sure how powerful this Divine Art actually is, but it should be quite decent. Perhaps after entering Heavenly God Mountain, I''ll have a chance to try it out!"


    Sovereign Jia Lan''s intuition was not wrong.


    The aura of the Divine Art revealed by Ye Chen just now was indeed the result of the Divine Art he had created over the past month in the Stars Tower.


    Sovereign Jia Lan said she felt that the aura of this Divine Art was as if it did not belong to this universe, because it was a self-created Divine Art by Ye Chen. Furthermore, this self-created Divine Art was designed specifically to wield the Starry Origin power of those seven dazzling stars.


    The Starry Origin power was left by the creator of the Primordial Star Scripture, "Zi Ji Star Lord," originating from the Cosmic Sea and, of course, does not belong to this universe!


    Creating this Divine Art in just over a month is quite a short time.


    Ye Chen has dubbed his self-created Divine Art "Origin Slash," and in this past month, he has just begun to create the first move.


    Ye Chen designated this first move as "Origin Slash First Form."


    This first form may not yet be called a fully-formed Divine Art, but when executed with the Starry Origin power, it has become yet another trump card in Ye Chen''s arsenal.


    Ye Chen has already tested the power of this first form, and among all his techniques, it ranks second only to the Divine Might of the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," making it the second most powerful in Ye Chen''s multitude of methods.


    It''s even more formidable than Ye Chen''s current "Eternal God Body Earth Divine Pattern" technique and the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" technique!


    After all, the Eternal God Body Earth Divine Pattern technique and the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills technique can only be executed with normal "Taiyi Divine Power."


    But for Ye Chen''s self-created "Origin Slash First Form," the power exerted surpasses normal Taiyi Divine Power, utilizing the far mightier Starry Origin power!


    With this new trump card, Ye Chen even feels he might contend against true Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Moreover, with "Blue Extreme Iceflame" at his disposal, defeating all Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables might not be impossible!


    In such circumstances, Ye Chen feels an even greater confidence in venturing to Heavenly God Mountain.


    After all, Ye Chen heard that among the Divine Kings from the four Great Divine Kingdoms presently here, the strongest top three Demon Level Divine Kings possess combat power at the level of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Even if they are exceedingly powerful among those with Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable-level combat power, they probably won''t be a match for Ye Chen at his full strength.


    As Ye Chen contemplated, Sovereign Jia Lan smiled and said to him, "Let''s go, Ye Chen. It''s time to meet up with the others who are heading to Heavenly God Mountain."


    Ye Chen nodded, sealed up his dwelling, and then followed Sovereign Jia Lan to the gathering point.


    ...


    The gathering point for this trip to Heavenly God Mountain is located in the very heart of the Divine King Disciples'' residential continent at the Supreme Divine Institute.


    At this moment, four hundred thousand Divine Kings from the four Great Divine Kingdoms have already converged on this central realm.


    Apart from these Divine Kings from the four Great Divine Kingdoms, the local Martial Artists from the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain are also gathered here.


    Apart from the top one hundred on the Great God Institute''s God King List who earned the qualifications to go to Heavenly God Mountain, with over seventy people ready to explore, there are countless other Divine Kings from numerous other forces across Star Continent chosen by the nine Divine Institutes also granted the opportunity to go to Heavenly God Mountain.


    The number of local Martial Artists from Wanmu Mountain''s Mountain Divine Nation heading to Heavenly God Mountain is not less than any of those from the four Great Divine Kingdoms, with over one hundred twenty thousand Divine Kings from Mountain Divine Nation gathered here alone.


    Together with the Divine Kings from the four other Great Divine Kingdoms, the total exceeds five hundred twenty thousand!


    This crowd virtually packed the central realm to the brim, teeming with figures everywhere.


    One small force from Mountain Divine Nation known as "Heavenly Dragon Sect" has brought three Divine Kings.


    Among these three Divine Kings, two are Upper God Kings, while the other is a Middle God King.


    As a smaller force within Mountain Divine Nation, the three currently find themselves squeezed at the periphery of the central realm.


    After all, only the top hundred disciples from the Great God Institute''s God King List and the formidable prodigies of other Great Divine Kingdoms, as well as Mountain Divine Nation''s powerful forces, are able to stay in the core area of the central realm''s void.


    Or it''s the brilliant Divine Kings from the other powerful forces of Mountain Divine Nation.


    As a small power from the Mountain Divine Nation of Wanmu Mountain, the "Heavenly Dragon Sect" unexpectedly obtained quotas to travel to Heavenly God Mountain, with reservations that they could only squeeze in at the very edge.


    One of the three God Kings from the "Heavenly Dragon Sect," an Upper God King, said, "We don''t know if this trip to ''Heavenly God Mountain'' will bring us fortune or misfortune."


    "Though the chance to venture to Heavenly God Mountain is coveted by countless people, and our Sect received these three quotas seemingly by chance after helping an important person of the Divine Nation, it is said that out of ten thousand people who go, it is already good if even one survives."


    "Given that over five hundred and twenty thousand people have gathered this time, I fear that less than fifty will live to leave ''Heavenly God Mountain'' alive!"


    "The vast majority will become cannon fodder, perishing within Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "As a Junior God King from a small power like ours, we surely cannot compare to the disciples on the God King List from the nine Great God Institutes. I''m afraid we will become the cannon fodder!"


    Another Upper God King, however, shook his head and said, "It cannot be said like that. Although the nine Great God Institutes sent only a little more than seventy people this time, far fewer than the combined forces of other powers from the Mountain Divine Nation, the majority of those who survive will undoubtedly be the talented God Kings from the Great God Institutes and those from other Divine Nations."


    "But every time, there are God Kings from small powers who stumble upon astonishing fortunes and make great gains within Heavenly God Mountain. Perhaps this time, the great fortune will fall upon us!"


    "This opportunity to explore ''Heavenly God Mountain'' is extraordinarily precious, and we didn''t obtain it easily. We must cherish it, even if we end up becoming cannon fodder and dying on Heavenly God Mountain, we must not give up!"


    These words from the Upper God King caused the first Upper God King who spoke to nod in agreement: "I will certainly not give up on this chance, even if the possibility is slim, I must give it a try!"


    "I just mean that, though the institutes sent fewer people, each one is an elite. Furthermore, the rumors say that among the four other Great Divine Kingdoms there are Demon Level exceptional talents amongst the God Kings. Most likely, those who ultimately survive will be the strong among them, leaving us with very slim hopes."


    "Yes, this is also true," the other Upper God King agreed with a nod.


    The two Upper God Kings from the Heavenly Dragon Sect kept talking, but the Middle God King beside them remained silent all along.


    Upon noticing the silence from the Middle God King, the two Upper God Kings turned to him and asked, "Yan Nong, Junior Brother, why are you so quiet?"


    "Junior Brother, don''t worry about the journey to Heavenly God Mountain. Although you are only at the Middle God King Realm, you came to the Divine Nation from the lower realm, and were personally taken as a disciple by the leader of our Heavenly Dragon Sect. In just beyond two years, you have broken through from a Lower God King to a Middle God King. Perhaps this time you too could gain a great opportunity!"


    Hearing the words of the two Upper God Kings, the Middle God King named Yan Nong spoke, "God King Mo Li, God King Fang Han, I''m not worried. After all, whether one can come back alive from Heavenly God Mountain depends on luck."


    "I''ve been quiet because I wonder if there''s a chance to see an old acquaintance at the Supreme Divine Institute."


    "An old acquaintance?" Upon hearing Yan Nong''s words, the God Kings Mo Li and Fang Han beside him were both taken aback, "What? Yan Nong, Junior Brother, you have an old acquaintance in the Supreme Divine Institute?"


    Yan Nong nodded, "Yes, this old acquaintance of mine came to the Divine Nation from the lower realm a few years ago, just like me."


    "Moreover, he is much younger than me and even more amazing. Back in the lower realm, I heard he would join one of the nine Great God Institutes."


    "Before I came to the Divine Nation, I learned that he had successfully entered the strongest Supreme Divine Institute, and I saw his name on the God King List of the nine institutes."


    "I don''t know if the name is really his, or if it just happens to be someone with the same name!"


    "When we parted a few years ago, he was at the Heavenly Saint Realm. If he''s joined the Supreme Divine Institute, he must have reached the True God Realm by now. But just in a few years to say he has entered the God King Realm, and even ranked among the top few on the God King List, it all seems quite unbelievable!"


    Yan Nong''s words caused his companions to shake their heads repeatedly, "Coming to the Divine Nation from the lower realm a few years ago and being only a Heavenly Saint?"


    "Even if he joined the Supreme Divine Institute, it must have been a strain, let alone climbing to the top ranks of the God King List. Don''t bother looking; that influential figure among the top ranks of the God King List must be someone with the same name as your acquaintance, not the person you knew!"


    God Kings Mo Li and Fang Han beside Yan Nong were definitive in their opinion.


    Yan Nong sighed, "It''s a pity that our Heavenly Dragon Sect is a small power and cannot get too much information about the nine Great God Institutes. We have only a copied God King List, so we know the ranking."


    "Even the information about my acquaintance joining the Supreme Divine Institute was told to his family by an influential figure who went to the lower realm, which is how I knew."


    "But given his wonder back in the lower realm, perhaps, he really could create such a miracle in the Supreme Divine Institute!"


    As the three of them were talking, they saw a disturbance in the core area in front.


    Even the formidable God Kings seated in the most central area of the void were all standing up as if on cue.


    The trio also heard a wave of noisy voices reaching their ears: "Ye Chen is here!"


    "Brother Ye Chen has finally arrived!"


    "It''s been a long time since we''ve seen Brother Ye Chen; he must be even more formidable now!"


    "It''s said that the strongest God King of the entire Mountain Divine Nation is him now, and that even the exceptional talents among the top ten God Kings from the other four Great Divine Kingdoms may not be stronger than him!"


    In these noisy voices, the name "Ye Chen" was mentioned frequently and in unison.


    "The old acquaintance I spoke of is called Ye Chen, has he arrived?" Yan Nong hurriedly looked in the direction where everyone standing was gazing.


    Mo Li, the God King beside him, and Fang Han, the God King were both momentarily stunned and then hastened to look over: "This Ye Chen, could it be the person ranked seventh on the God King List? But he''s only in the seventh position, why are almost everyone saying he is the strongest God King of the Mountain Divine Nation?"

 Chapter 879 - 829 Old Friend

    After Sovereign Jia Lan flew Ye Chen to the gathering site, she temporarily parted ways with him, heading directly toward the void where the leading Sovereigns of this expedition were located.


    This time, the God Kings from the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain, along with those from four other great Divine Kingdoms, are joining forces to charge Heavenly God Mountain, with each kingdom dispatching three Sovereigns to lead the team.


    Among the three leading Sovereigns from the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain was Sovereign Jia Lan from the Supreme Divine Institute, who had just brought Ye Chen to the gathering site.


    The other two are from the Territory King Mansion of the Northern Territory and the capital of the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain.


    The leading Sovereign from the Territory King Mansion of the Northern Territory has a higher realm even than Sovereign Jia Lan and higher than the Northern Territory King himself, being a Nine Stars Sovereign! This Sovereign is known as "Sovereign Tian Mei," a Female Sovereign.


    It is said that both the current Northern Territory King and the previous one, who has become an "existence surpassing a Sovereign," were raised by Sovereign Tian Mei.


    Sovereign Tian Mei has not appeared in the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain for a long time, and this time she volunteered to be the leading Sovereign heading to Heavenly God Mountain, which stirred immense shock among the countless Sovereigns of Wanmu Mountain.


    Even the leading Sovereigns from the other four great Divine Kingdoms were surprised beyond measure.


    After all, it was rare for Wanmu Mountain''s Divine Kingdom to have a Nine Stars Sovereign take the lead.


    The countless Sovereigns of Wanmu Mountain vaguely guessed that Sovereign Tian Mei''s request to lead, just like Sovereign Jia Lan''s, must be influenced by the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen, both powerful figures.


    Sovereign Jia Lan is a disciple of Sovereign Xuechen, and Sovereign Tian Mei is the peak individual who raised the Northern Territory King. With their arrival, numerous Sovereigns speculated that they probably came for Ye Chen''s sake!


    Although, on the surface, it might appear to be supervising Ye Chen to fulfill the second demand of the two great Sovereigns: "to charge into Heavenly God Mountain and come out alive."


    But in reality, all the Sovereigns knew they must be there to protect Ye Chen!


    To shield Ye Chen from the influences of the leading Sovereigns from the other four great Divine Kingdoms, as well as those from the Divine Kingdom of Wanmu Mountain!


    To allow Ye Chen to wholeheartedly charge into Heavenly God Mountain!


    At this time, the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen had both gone to the Splendid Star Sea, so they dispatched their closest and most trusted formidable Sovereigns to take care of Ye Chen in their stead.


    Otherwise, all Sovereigns guessed that the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen might have personally shown up!


    Just like when Ye Chen fulfilled the first demand of the two great Sovereigns: "to obtain the first place in the examination of the nine Great God Institutes," the two great Sovereigns would personally provide support for Ye Chen!


    Just as countless Sovereigns had guessed.


    When Sovereign Jia Lan arrived with Ye Chen, as soon as she reached the void where the leading Sovereigns were, Sovereign Tian Mei nodded to her and sent a telepathic message: "Is Ye Chen ready?"


    "He''s ready, and Ye Chen is quite confident!" Sovereign Jia Lan replied to Sovereign Tian Mei with a smile.


    Sovereign Tian Mei smiled and turned her gaze towards Ye Chen.


    In her heart, Sovereign Tian Mei murmured, "Is this the youngster Li''er fancies? Not bad, he indeed possesses an extraordinary temperament!"


    "On this journey, I must protect this youngster! Otherwise, those two girls will probably blame this old lady to death!" she silently mused.


    As the murmuring in her heart came to a close, a supremely confident expression emerged in Sovereign Tian Mei''s eyes.


    It''s unclear whether she can enter Heavenly God Mountain.


    But outside of Heavenly God Mountain, with her present, absolutely no one can mistreat Ye Chen, not even other Nine Stars Sovereigns!


    Sovereign Tian Mei had this absolute confidence!


    ...


    Sovereign Jia Lan flew to where the leading Sovereigns were located, while Ye Chen set off towards the gathering place of the God Kings.


    Woosh.


    As soon as Ye Chen arrived, the countless God Kings on the outside voluntarily stepped aside, opening up a pathway for Ye Chen to the most central area.


    "Senior Brother Ye Chen!"


    "Senior Brother Ye Chen!"


    Many God Kings, regardless of whether they knew Ye Chen or not, excitedly shouted his name.


    Ye Chen glanced around and soon spotted many familiar figures in the central area.


    There were the formidable God Kings listed on the God King List of the Supreme Divine Institute, demon-level individuals like Hua Xuelian, Lin Shan, Sima Liao from the four great Divine Kingdoms, and even at the periphery of the central area was Xuan Chong, whom he had defeated before.


    Xuan Chong, after being depleted of a hundred drops of Essence Blood and even his Life Origin suffering damage, still managed to rank highly among the four hundred thousand God Kings of the four great Divine Kingdoms.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen''s gaze turning his way, Xuan Chong''s face changed.


    He both hated and feared Ye Chen.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s glance, his neck involuntarily shrank back in fear.


    Hua Xuelian, ranked first among the ten demon-level unparalleled geniuses of the four great Divine Kingdoms, instead smiled at Ye Chen and even nodded in greeting.


    As for Lin Shan, ranked second, he was a bald man dedicated to his cultivation, still in meditative practice, seemingly oblivious to the countless people around him.


    Regarding Sima Liao, his eyes flickered as he watched Ye Chen, though it was unclear what he was thinking.


    Ye Chen noticed that the individuals from the God King List of the Supreme Divine Institute like Yang Yun and Yang Yan were not present this time.


    Presumably, they have either already entered Heavenly God Mountain, or they simply had no intention of going in.


    Ye Chen also noticed in the central area a graceful and elegant young girl in a white dress curiously sizing him up.


    This young girl even transmitted a message to Ye Chen: "Are you Ye Chen, whom Sister Long Li mentioned? My name is Mu Qingxue, nice to meet you."


    Mu Qingxue?


    Ye Chen was startled!


    Was this young girl the genius ranked second on the God King List from the Tai Qing Divine Institute?


    When Ye Chen was challenging the "God King List," he had heard the Fat God King praise Mu Qingxue''s capabilities for quite a while.


    Ye Chen was even more aware that this young girl, about the same age as Long Li and on good terms with her, came from the Northern Region of the Divine Kingdom and was exceptionally powerful even within the Middle God King Realm.


    Ye Chen didn''t expect that upon meeting this young girl for the first time, she would act as if she already knew him and even took the initiative to greet him.


    Ye Chen also nodded and smiled back at Mu Qingxue before turning his attention to the others.


    The God Kings from other regions and forces of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom gathered in the venue were almost all strangers to Ye Chen.


    However, when Ye Chen''s gaze fell upon the three God Kings from the "Heavenly Dragon Sect" at the corner of the gathering place, particularly the Middle God King Yan Nong, an expression of utter surprise appeared on his face.


    "Ancient Emperor Senior!"


    Ye Chen''s face lit up with joy.


    He immediately flew towards the corner of the venue.


    ...


    God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han were simply shocked to the extreme!


    Being situated at the edge of the gathering area and coming from a minor force as Junior God Kings, when they squeezed their way to the edge, almost no one noticed them.


    But when Ye Chen flew towards them, the two God Kings could feel that nearly all the tens of thousands of God Kings in the venue were looking at them!


    The two of them also felt that even the Divine Senses of powerful and extraordinary Sovereigns were sweeping over them!


    They had never been the focus of so many figures before.


    "Good heavens, could it be that this Ye Chen truly is a friend of Junior Brother Yan Nong?!"


    "How is this possible, to change from a Heavenly Saint to a God King in just a few years, and to be such a formidable God King at that¡ªhow can this be?!"


    God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han both opened their mouths wide in astonishment.


    The two of them knew that they had attracted so much attention solely because of this Ye Chen!


    At this moment, Yan Nong''s eyes were also filled with a mixture of surprise and joy!


    This Yan Nong was the very Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan from the Minor Spirit Realm.


    Soon after Ye Chen arrived in the Divine Kingdom, Yan Nong, who had just advanced to the God King Realm, was spotted by a Divine Venerable and taken as a disciple and brought to the Divine Kingdom.


    Later on, he joined the "Heavenly Dragon Sect," a sect managed by that Divine Venerable, and cultivated there.


    The Heavenly Dragon Sect was located in a minor place within the Southern Territory of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan seldom heard major news of the Divine Kingdom; he only found out that "Ye Chen" was ranked seventh on the God King List when he received a copied scroll of the list.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan never expected that the Ye Chen who was seventh on the God King List was the same Ye Chen he knew!


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had even less anticipated that Ye Chen, only a little over three years into the Divine Kingdom, would make such a name for himself in the Supreme Divine Institute, ranking first among the nine Divine Institutes!


    This reputation was clearly beyond that of the seventh rank on the God King List; clearly, the rank of seventh on the God King List alone wouldn''t cause so many people to look at Ye Chen with respect.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan knew that Ye Chen must have achieved countless miraculous feats unknown even to him!


    "In just over three years, he has made such a name for himself in the Divine Kingdom!"


    "Ye Chen, he truly lives up to the reputation of a remarkably talented genius! Whether in the lower realm or in the Divine Kingdom, he still shines like a star, brightly without parallel!"


    In the midst of his emotion, Ye Chen had already flown before him.


    "Ancient Emperor Senior, long time no see! I didn''t expect to find you here in the Divine Kingdom!"


    Encountering the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan here, Ye Chen was utterly astonished to the core!


    He could never have imagined that among the crowd gathered for the trip to Heavenly God Mountain, he would encounter the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan¡ªa figure from his past with whom he had much interaction!


    At this time, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was also exceptionally excited, with numerous questions pouring out.


    "Ye Chen, you''ve broken through to the Lower God King Realm?!"


    "And how could a Lower God King Realm manage to break into the God King List?!"


    "Ye Chen, please tell me about your experiences in the Divine Kingdom. I''m certain they must be absolutely magical!"


    Ye Chen smiled: "Senior, I too was just thinking about learning some news from our homeland."


    Ye Chen then directly discussed with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan the events that had happened to each of them since they parted.


    "Who is that Middle God King?"


    "How could he make Brother Ye Chen actually fly over and talk to him?"


    When people saw that Ye Chen did not head towards the core area of the gathering place but flew down to the side where a Middle God King was, many started inquiring about the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    When they learned that this God King named Yan Nong, like Ye Chen, came from the lower realm, many were taken aback.


    "Brother Ye Chen is a Martial Artist from the lower realm? My goodness, that he could be so formidable coming from the lower realm is incredible!"


    The vast majority of the people in the venue were aware of Ye Chen''s power.


    However, very few knew that Ye Chen came from the lower realm.


    At this moment, the eyes of these God Kings widened.


    ...


    Ye Chen was conversing with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    God Kings who had not yet arrived at the gathering area eventually came one after another.


    When the time for the gathering to end came around, the number of God Kings going to Heavenly God Mountain had reached five hundred and thirty thousand.


    All the God Kings who had obtained slots to challenge Heavenly God Mountain were present!


    At this time, one of the three leading Sovereigns of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, from the capital of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation and an Eight Stars Sovereign, gave a fist salute to Sovereign Tian Mei and Sovereign Jia Lan, and then nodded to the other four Great Divine Kingdom team-leading Sovereigns before stepping forward.


    This Sovereign was called "Sovereign Zeyang."


    His gaze swept across the faces of countless God Kings.


    In the end, his voice reached everyone: "Now that everyone has arrived, I will inform you of the matters to pay attention to when attempting to ascend Heavenly God Mountain."


    Hearing Sovereign Zeyang''s words, Ye Chen and all the others stopped their conversations and turned their attention toward Sovereign Zeyang.

 Chapter 880 - 830: Domain of Sin and Heavenly God List

    Sovereign Zeyang nodded his head as he looked at the countless gazes fixed on himself.


    He said aloud, "Heavenly God Mountain is a mountain of opportunity, but also a mountain of death!"


    "Among the 530,000 of you who can enter Heavenly God Mountain this time, based on past experience, if even 50 of you come out alive, that would be quite impressive!"


    "In other words, the vast majority of you will lose your lives upon entering Heavenly God Mountain!"


    Even though they had long known about the high mortality rate of Heavenly God Mountain, hearing Sovereign Zeyang say it again still made countless God Kings turn solemn.


    At this moment, Sovereign Zeyang continued: "Of course, while the death rate is indeed terrifying, whether you can come out alive also depends on strength and especially fortune. Therefore, each of you has the opportunity to be the last survivor."


    "Once you become a survivor, you will obtain unimaginable benefits. I dare not speak of other treasures or opportunities, but at the very least, each of you will be able to raise your realm by one level, and some may even jump several levels directly!"


    "Many of those who survived in the past have stepped directly from the God King Realm into the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, and some have even rushed from the Upper God King Realm up to the Upper Earth Divine Venerable Realm and even the Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm!"


    Boom!


    The words of Sovereign Zeyang immediately excited the many God Kings who had been solemn up to now.


    They risked great dangers to charge into Heavenly God Mountain precisely for this groundbreaking opportunity to continuously enhance their realms!


    Outside, most of them could not improve their realm until death, or would straight up be killed by Divine Tribulation while attempting to break through realm bottlenecks.


    After all, to break through from God King to Divine Venerable Realm is an even lower probability than one in ten thousand!


    But entering Heavenly God Mountain, as long as you survive and break out, you will definitely be able to raise your realm!


    Not to mention the countless precious treasures and opportunities rumored to be within Heavenly God Mountain.


    These combined are worth the great risks they''re willing to take!


    Ye Chen also eagerly anticipated this in his Mind and Spirit.


    He is currently at the "Lower God King''s peak realm," and breaking through again would surely allow him to become a Middle God King or even an Upper God King.


    Even if he becomes a Middle God King, it will absolutely increase Ye Chen''s combat power once again.


    After all, with every realm breakthrough, Ye Chen could greatly increase the amount of Taiyi Divine Power, which is far more terrifying than other people''s improvement in combat power when they break through a realm!


    Now, Ye Chen was confident that he could kill individuals at the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level, and if his realm rises again, it might even become possible to confront the Immortal Divine Venerable!


    As Ye Chen longed for the new realm, someone could no longer restrain themselves and inquired towards Sovereign Zeyang, "Senior, may I ask what dangers we will encounter this time as we charge into Heavenly God Mountain? And how can we obtain the opportunities within Heavenly God Mountain?"


    The others also voiced out, "Yes, it is said that each time Heavenly God Mountain is challenged, the situations faced are different. Before Heavenly God Mountain opens, Divine Stones fly out from within, clarifying many things about the challenge of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Those seniors who guard the outside of Heavenly God Mountain must have obtained Divine Stones and know many details about this time''s Heavenly God Mountain. Senior, you must have obtained news as well, please enlighten us!"


    Seeing that the crowd could no longer hold back their questions about the specifics of Heavenly God Mountain and didn''t wish to listen to more idle talk, Sovereign Zeyang went straight to discussing the important matters concerning Heavenly God Mountain.


    "Indeed, I have received some news this time about challenging Heavenly God Mountain."


    At this point, Sovereign Zeyang''s expression turned serious.


    "Heavenly God Mountain, according to past occurrences, is divided into four layers, from bottom to top."


    "Although each time the four layers change, but the structure of having four layers absolutely does not change."


    "Moreover, the higher the world, the more precious the benefits gained, and in the end, only by finding the exit from the fourth layer can one come out of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Regarding the situations in the next few layers, the Divine Stones did not detail, but how to challenge the first layer was indeed elaborated in the Divine Stones."


    "I must tell you that this time, the danger level of the first layer world might belong to the absolute danger category among the historical challenges of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Because this time, Heavenly God Mountain''s first layer will be connected with countless ''Domains of Sin'', and numerous dangerous individuals will flood into the first layer. The number of these dangerous individuals will be several dozen times more than you! Also, they will be your adversaries in your challenge of the first layer."


    When people heard the words "Domain of Sin," many of their faces changed color.


    Those who had not heard of the "Domain of Sin" also hurriedly asked what this place was.


    At this point, Sovereign Zeyang explained directly: "I''m afraid many people don''t know what the Domain of Sin is, let me clarify."


    "Within Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, there exist countless places where Divine Sense probes are obscured and combat power is impacted. These places have become the hideouts for countless desperate assassins or evildoers wanted by major forces."


    "Such places dense with assassins and wrongdoers are referred to as ''Domains of Sin''."


    "Because ''Domains of Sin'' can help conceal one''s trails, more and more assassins and evildoers have flocked there, with individuals of various strengths."


    "It''s unknown what method ''Heavenly God Mountain'' used this time to connect with countless ''Domains of Sin''. It''s said that Heavenly God Mountain also sent Divine Stones to all major Domains of Sin, issuing them the ''Divine Pardon Order'' recruitment command."


    "It is said that once you people enter ''Heavenly God Mountain'', you will be placed on a list called ''Heavenly God List'' according to combat power ranking."


    "And at the same time, Heavenly God Mountain will draw in countless deadly assassins and evildoers from the connected ''Domains of Sin'' to target and hunt you down."


    "Once they complete the assassination of you, they can meet the requirements of the ''Divine Pardon Order'', receive the Divine Light bestowed by Heavenly God Mountain, and no longer have to hide within the Domain of Sin. They can regain their freedom and return to the Divine Kingdom."


    "Our Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation will also abide by the rules of Heavenly God Mountain, no longer pursuing their past misdeeds. All of their previous sins will be erased with one stroke. If anyone violates this, the ''Divine Pardon Order'' will also help them resolve the crisis."


    "The feeling of living anxiously within the Domain of Sin is not pleasant, and under such circumstances, one can imagine that those assassins and villains will definitely go all out to complete their assassination mission. Therefore, you are surely in extreme danger!"


    "Although the people who will be targeting you are likely to be matched with your level of combat power, those assassins and villains from the Domain of Sin are not to be underestimated; even outside their mission, they may decide to kill you if they take a dislike to you."


    "This adds a further layer of death risk, beyond the mission itself."


    "And you can''t always hide, because, depending on your combat power, there are different requirements for you on the ''Heavenly God List''."


    "Heavenly God Mountain''s requirement for those assassins and villains is to assassinate you, while Heavenly God Mountain''s requirement for you is to assassinate those assassins and villains."


    "Only by fulfilling the ''Heavenly God List'' requirements can you enter the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s world to face new trials!"


    Sovereign Zeyang''s explanation on the situation of venturing through the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain made all the Divine Kings in the audience reveal expressions filled with both tension and anticipation.


    Originally, the mission for the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain is to engage in mutual assassination with the evildoers from the Domain of Sin!


    Everyone is curious about where they will rank on the ''Heavenly God List'', what requirements will be set for them by the ''Heavenly God List'', and who among the assassins and villains of various levels will be targeting them.


    "It seems that we will only find out after entering the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "However, since Sovereign Zeyang said that the ''Heavenly God List'' is ranked according to combat power, then I''m afraid the level of assassins and villains targeting figures like ''Hua Xuelian'', ''Lin Shan'', ''Sima Liao'', and ''Ye Chen'' will be the highest."


    "Correspondingly, for people like Hua Xuelian to complete their mission, the assassins and villains they must target will also be of the highest level."


    Countless people speculated.


    After all, since the ''Heavenly God List'' ranks based on combat power, everyone has a premonition that the level of the mission will definitely also be related to combat power.


    At this time, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan next to Ye Chen said to him, "Ye Chen, you are a master on the God King List, those targeting you must be experts similar to you, you must be cautious!"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He must overcome Heavenly God Mountain, let alone its first layer.


    He definitely cannot allow himself to fall at the hands of those assassins and villains of the first layer.


    Ye Chen also said to the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, "Senior, you must be careful too, we will move together depending on the situation!"


    Ye Chen''s combat power is now much stronger than the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and he would certainly help the Ancient Emperor if he could lend a hand.


    God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han next to the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan also rejoiced when they heard Ye Chen''s words.


    Having the formidable figure Ye Chen acting with them, their safety would be much more assured!


    As the crowd buzzed with discussion, Sovereign Zeyang waved his hand and declared, "Let''s go, now we Sovereigns shall take you to Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Heavenly God Mountain is an incredibly mystical realm within Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation. Whether you can come out alive depends on your own fate!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With these words.


    Sovereign Zeyang, Sovereign Tian Mei, Sovereign Jia Lan, and the leaders of the four Great Divine Kingdoms, with a sweep of their large sleeves, took their respective Divine Kings of their Divine Nations onto a Flying Boat and then, everyone flew towards Heavenly God Mountain.


    ...


    Heavenly God Mountain is located at the edge of the Southern Territory within the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    It does not border the entire governed region of the Southern Territory, being a territory beyond the boundary!


    When Ye Chen and his party were brought to Heavenly God Mountain, the first sight of Heavenly God Mountain shook the hearts of countless people!


    Heaven.


    This Heavenly God Mountain actually sat within a vast sea of stars, resembling a towering Divine Mountain, floating directly above the ocean.


    From the outside, Heavenly God Mountain was already unimaginably high, merely gazing at it from afar was larger than the combined eighteen continents of the Supreme Divine Institute.


    And inside, Ye Chen and the others knew, it would likely be even more massive.


    After all, there are four layers of the world inside!


    As Ye Chen and the other 530,000 Divine Kings flew towards Heavenly God Mountain.


    In numerous Domain of Sin territories of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, there were vast starlit circles, and at this moment, countless people were already flying into these circles.


    These people were none other than the assassins and villains hiding in the Domain of Sin.


    They all looked up, waiting for the descent of the ''Heavenly God List'', the issuance of their missions, and even more so, to be pulled into the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain to assassinate the prodigies venturing Heavenly God Mountain and to obtain their Divine Pardon Light!

 Chapter 881 - 831: Divine Light, Investigation, Divine List

    The assassins and villains from the Domain of Sin didn''t have to wait long.


    For upon arriving in the Heavenly God Mountain territory, the 530,000 Divine Kings from the five great Divine Kingdoms - Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, Qianjue Divine Kingdom, Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, Lancang Divine Kingdom - were finally about to officially enter the "Heavenly God Mountain"!


    The five Flying Boats driven by the Sovereigns leading the five Divine Kingdoms stopped just outside the Divine Light Halo at the foot of the Sky-supporting Giant Mountain known as "Heavenly God Mountain".


    Stepping into this Divine Light Halo will officially take you into the first layer of the world at the very bottom of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Leading Sovereign Zeyang finally instructed everyone, "The entire process of challenging the ''Heavenly God Mountain'' will last one year. After one year, the ''Heavenly God Mountain''s'' fourth-layer world will open the Teleportation Divine Formation for leaving Heavenly God Mountain. By then, as long as you make it to the Divine Array, you will be able to come out of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "I won''t say much else; all the regulations for the challenge are explained within Heavenly God Mountain itself. Now, everyone, prepare to begin entering Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "I hope more of you in this group will survive, and even more so, I wish that all of you will find great fortune, stepping up from the God King Realm to the Divine Venerable Realm!"


    "Divine Kings are innumerable in every Divine Kingdom, but Divine Venerables directly form the backbone of a Divine Kingdom, becoming core figures. I hope all of you will rise to the next level!"


    "Go on, fight for your future!"


    The voice of the leading Sovereign Zeyang thundered out.


    Following this, the Sovereigns of the various Divine Kingdoms also gave their own instructions to the Divine Kings of their nations.


    Sovereign Jia Lan and Sovereign Tian Mei, although they didn''t say much to Ye Chen, one could tell from the way they looked at him that they too were concerned about his safety inside Heavenly God Mountain.


    Heavenly God Mountain is a profoundly mysterious Divine Mountain, once home to several significant figures, everything about it is beyond belief.


    Even though both knew Ye Chen was extraordinarily powerful, they were unsure if he could successfully conquer Heavenly God Mountain.


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s gaze was fixed on the upper part of the Sky-supporting Giant Mountain in front of him.


    Standing at the foot of Heavenly God Mountain, he couldn''t catch sight of the top of the mountain at all, and could only see a small part at the base of Heavenly God Mountain.


    However, in Ye Chen''s heart, there surged a belief.


    "Challenging Heavenly God Mountain is the second requirement from Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King; I must complete it!"


    "Also, back when I took the entrance examination for the nine Great God Institutes, I received an opportunity for the God King''s Legacy from a being ''beyond the Venerable level'' - ''Senior Feng Luo'' who had once resided on Heavenly God Mountain! His legacy opportunity is within the third layer world of Heavenly God Mountain, and I must find it!"


    As Ye Chen spoke, his gaze directly turned inward to his Qi Sea.


    What no one knew was that within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, there floated a miniaturized Blood Drinking Divine Blade, a miniaturized Polar Elemental God Bead, and a tiny Inheritance Token!


    These three items were an opportunity Ye Chen had received during his assessments at the nine Divine Institutes.


    As soon as he got these three things, Ye Chen felt a calling from Heavenly God Mountain.


    Unfortunately, at that time, Heavenly God Mountain was sealed, and he couldn''t enter.


    But now, he was finally able to enter Heavenly God Mountain. Moreover, after arriving at the base of Heavenly God Mountain, he felt even more the call was coming from the third-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Once he enters the third layer world of Heavenly God Mountain, he is very likely to gain the legacy left by Senior Feng Luo!


    Obtaining the opportunity left by Senior Feng Luo, even if it''s merely a God King Level legacy, being something left by a being beyond the Venerable level, it will definitely greatly assist Ye Chen!


    The superb Heaven-reaching Divine Art "Bloodlight Blade Technique" left by Senior Feng Luo had already been of great help to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen was also curious to see what the even more precious God King''s Legacy would hold!


    While Ye Chen was pondering, the instructions from the various Sovereigns finally concluded.


    Whoosh!


    After the Sovereigns waved their hands, all 530,000 Divine Kings flew towards the Divine Light Halo at the foot of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In a moment, all 530,000 people had entered the first layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Once these Divine Kings had entered Heavenly God Mountain, the fifteen leading Sovereigns of the five great Divine Kingdoms directly sat cross-legged in the Void below Heavenly God Mountain, quietly waiting.


    The time for the challenge of Heavenly God Mountain lasting a year was, for figures at the Sovereign Realm level, nothing at all.


    At their level, a moment of enlightenment could take thousands to tens of thousands of years.


    A year-long wait was merely a brief period for meditation and cultivation for them.


    ...


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Countless streams of Divine Light surged, and the next moment, the 530,000 Divine Kings who had entered Heavenly God Mountain found themselves in a vast and empty great hall.


    "Is this the ''first layer world of Heavenly God Mountain''?"


    While everyone was curiously examining the great hall they were in with surprise.


    Suddenly, the void within the entire hall erupted with a blinding black Divine Light, which instantly enshrouded everyone.


    This envelopment was inescapable, even for powerhouses like Ye Chen, Hua Xuelian, and Sima Liao, let alone the other Divine Kings.


    In an instant, everyone was engulfed by the black Divine Light!


    This caused all the Divine Kings to change their expressions.


    Heavenly God Mountain, mysterious and profound, indeed possessed power beyond their ability to resist.


    As 530,000 Divine Kings stood unsure of the purpose of this black Divine Light that had wrapped around them, a voice devoid of emotion suddenly rang out in the hall.


    "Adventurers, welcome to Heavenly God Mountain. Now, ''The Heavenly God List'' will be drawn based on the strength of each one of you."


    "When the ''Heavenly God List'' is completed, your tasks on the first layer world of Heavenly God Mountain will also be issued to you individually!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When this voice fell, everyone felt the black divine light encircling their bodies begin to probe towards the sources of divine power throughout their entire bodies.


    Ye Chen also felt the black divine light on his body instantly stimulate his Eternal God Body skills, Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills, and other various skills. This inexplicable black divine light even wanted to probe into his Qi Sea!


    Ye Chen distinctly felt that the three mini inheritance tokens left in his Qi Sea by Sovereign Feng Luo, and even his Blue Extreme Iceflame, seemed somewhat unable to block the probing of this black divine light!


    This made Ye Chen''s expression change.


    If all of his skills were probed, wouldn''t that mean all of his techniques would be exposed within the mysterious Heavenly God Mountain?


    Ye Chen didn''t know much about Heavenly God Mountain, only that it is one of the most mysterious regions within the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation, where even beings surpassing Sovereigns had cultivated before.


    Now, seeing even the Extreme Heavenly Object Blue Extreme Iceflame being affected, Ye Chen realized that Heavenly God Mountain might be even more mysterious than rumored!


    However, to Ye Chen''s surprise, just as the black divine light emitted by Heavenly God Mountain attempted to probe into Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, the most mysterious "Stars Tower" within his Qi Sea directly blocked this power!


    Ye Chen also felt that the "Stars Tower" seemed to sense the invasion of the black divine light as if it slightly revealed only a small portion of the powers like his Taiyi Divine Power and Blue Extreme Iceflame in his body, causing the black divine light to immediately leave his body.


    Ye Chen did not know why the "Stars Tower" did this, but he knew it should be the "Stars Tower" protecting him from being probed by unknown powers.


    At the same time, Ye Chen further realized that no matter how mysterious Heavenly God Mountain was, in terms of skills, it definitely could not compare with the divine marvel of the Stars Tower within him!


    After all, the "Stars Tower" inside him was left by "Zi Ji Star Lord."


    "Zi Ji Star Lord", an absolute overlord in the Cosmic Sea, Heavenly God Mountain might be mysterious, but its power could not possibly reach the level of Zi Ji Star Lord!


    As Ye Chen underwent changes, the Divine Kings who were probed by the black divine light also changed their expressions drastically.


    Even powerful figures like Hua Xuelian, Sima Liao, and Lin Shan had extremely ugly expressions on their faces.


    Clearly, all their secrets were exposed under the probing of the black divine light!


    Afterward, the black divine light left everyone''s bodies and gathered into the void within the grand hall where everyone was located, eventually forming a giant Divine List.


    This list was none other than the Heavenly God List!


    As everyone looked towards the Heavenly God List, they all let out incredibly shocked exclamations.


    Because the entire Heavenly God List was divided into seven major areas.


    And the names and rankings of each area were different from what most people expected!


    At the very top of the Heavenly God List was written: "The Heavenly God List shall rank you based on the combat power level sensed after probing all of your techniques."


    "Even the external objects concealing your skills will be included in the probing results!"


    "The higher the ranking, the stronger the strength, and the corresponding Heavenly God Mountain tasks will also be more difficult."


    The seven major areas divided by the Heavenly God List are "Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area," "Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area," "Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area," "Superior Earth Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area," "Middle Earth Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area," "Lower Earth Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area," and "God King Level Combat Power Area."


    The first area is the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area, where the three names that appeared were those of three powerful figures well-known in the four Great Divine Kingdoms for their combat power at the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level¡ªHua Xuelian, Lin Shan, and Sima Liao.


    To everyone''s astonishment, these three people''s rankings were completely different from what was previously known.


    Originally, Hua Xuelian was ranked first among the three, Lin Shan second, and Sima Liao third.


    Now, the rankings of the three have directly changed to Lin Shan first, Sima Liao second, and Hua Xuelian third.


    This clearly shows that Lin Shan and Sima Liao have both been hiding their strength; their true power is far more formidable than what they have revealed!


    At this time, under the probing of the black divine light, their true strengths were finally exposed.


    "Brother Lin Shan, Brother Sima, I never expected the two of you to have stronger hidden power than me. It seems you both truly do not show your depth!"


    At this moment, Hua Xuelian''s gaze toward Lin Shan and Sima Liao clearly showed a trace of fear.


    The Heavenly God List is incredibly mysterious.


    It has revealed that Lin Shan and Sima Liao''s combat power is stronger than his.


    Which means that in a real battle, he could very likely die at the hands of Lin Shan and Sima Liao!


    Fortunately, the Heavenly God List has probed and exposed all techniques; otherwise, he might die at their hands without being prepared!


    At this time, the expressions of both Sima Liao and Lin Shan were very ugly as well.


    They were certainly not willing to have their strengths exposed!


    Even if it showed that their power was the strongest among everyone, this would be inconvenient for their actions, as others would surely guard against them.


    Especially Sima Liao, his expression turning cold, his gaze surreptitiously shifted towards Ye Chen.


    "This is bad; now Ye Chen will be even more wary of me!"


    "This will make it even more troublesome to kill him!"


    However, within his somber expression, Sima Liao finally let go completely: "But it''s also good if the Heavenly God List can fully probe the strength."


    "I''ve never been able to see through Ye Chen, but now, at long last, I know his strength!"


    "His power is far inferior to mine."


    "When I find a place no one is paying attention to, I will definitely be able to kill him!"


    Sima Liao''s gaze directly turned to the second major area of the Heavenly God List¡ª"Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area."


    At this time, Ye Chen''s name ranked at the top of this second major area.


    Even if he is remarkably powerful, it is still obviously not as strong as Sima Liao being listed "second in the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable Level Combat Power Area"!


    Sima Liao probably couldn''t imagine that the black divine light of the Heavenly God List, which probed all his skills clearly, actually could not even enter Ye Chen''s Qi Sea.


    Let alone probe and reveal Ye Chen''s true strength!

 Chapter 882 - 832: The Slaughter Begins

    "Ye Chen, you are truly formidable."


    "To think that you rank only after Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Hua Xuelian¡ªthree major figures with Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level combat power¡ªsecuring the first place in the ''mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level'' on the Heavenly God List!"


    In the midst of countless exclamations about the Heavenly God List, even the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was profoundly shaken when he saw Ye Chen''s name at the very top.


    Originally, Ye Chen''s position at rank seven on the God King List had already surprise him greatly.


    Now, the combat power that Ye Chen has displayed is far stronger than that of the seventh on the God King List, and even surpasses most of the top ten demon level geniuses among the other four Divine Kingdoms, which shocked the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan to the core.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan could hardly imagine how, in just a few years, Ye Chen could have grown to this extent!


    At this moment, God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han standing beside the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan were also extremely shocked in their hearts.


    They had been wondering why Ye Chen, ranked seventh on the God King List, could make so many people show such reverence in their eyes.


    Now, they finally understood the reason.


    It turns out that Ye Chen had such incredible hidden abilities, that he was even countless times more powerful than Yang Yan, who was first on the God King List!


    That Yang Yan is only capable of dealing with opponents at the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable level of combat power, but Ye Chen can now suppress all those within the mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable level of combat power, ranking first in that category!


    At this moment, the God Kings from Qianjue Divine Kingdom and the other four great Divine Kingdoms, as well as those demon level genius God Kings, were each greatly shaken in their hearts.


    After Ye Chen defeated Xuan Chong, they already had a feeling that Ye Chen was extraordinarily strong.


    But they had not anticipated that Ye Chen''s strength would be second only to Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Hua Xuelian, placing him fourth among the 530,000 God Kings of the five great Divine Kingdoms.


    This made many God Kings who were originally dissatisfied with Ye Chen no longer dare to show any disrespect to him.


    At this moment, the young girl Mu Qingxue, who was second on the God King List, was also somewhat shocked when she saw Ye Chen''s name.


    "A little over a year ago, Ye Chen had just entered the God King List, ranking seventh."


    "I didn''t expect that in just over a year, his strength has already far surpassed the seventh on the God King List."


    "Although I''ve also been hiding my strength, I did not expect Ye Chen to be even more powerful than me!"


    At this time, Mu Qingxue''s name was also among the ''mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level'', which equally astonished the many God Kings who had heard of Mu Qingxue.


    But obviously, even though Mu Qingxue was hiding her true strength, she was still not as strong as Ye Chen.


    Great changes took place on the Heavenly God List.


    The astonishment was not limited to Sima Liao, Lin Shan, Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, and others; virtually countless God Kings had their public rankings differ from their actual rankings.


    This time, on the Heavenly God List, the combat power of innumerable people was laid bare without a doubt!


    After being stunned for dozens of breaths, everyone couldn''t help but look towards the tasks issued by the Heavenly God List and those concerning the individuals they were interested in.


    Ye Chen also looked towards his own "Heavenly God List" task.


    It was written on the Heavenly God List: "Ye Chen, you must kill ten ''Blue Light Assassins and Villains'', and three ''Purple Light Assassins and Villains''!"


    There was also an annotation next to the Heavenly God List.


    Those so-called Purple Light Assassins and Villains, Blue Light Assassins and Villains, refer to the assassins and villains who will be brought into the "Domain of Sin," the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s world.


    Like the 530,000 God Kings of the five Divine Kingdoms in the Heavenly God List, who are divided into seven battle power zones, these assassins and villains are also classified into "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, violet" seven levels.


    The most powerful "Purple Light Assassin" is on the same level as the top-ranked "Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Hua Xuelian" on the Heavenly God List, all belonging to the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level.


    As for the "Blue Light Assassin," it is at the same level as the combat power that Ye Chen has currently shown on the Heavenly God List, belonging to the mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level.


    Now, the Heavenly God List requires Ye Chen to kill ten "Blue Light Assassins and Villains" and three "Purple Light Assassins and Villains", which is no small feat.


    To know, according to the strength recorded for Ye Chen on the Heavenly God List, he is only at the mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable level, yet he is asked to kill those Purple Light Assassins and Villains at the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level of combat power, which clearly exceeds the strength tier on the Heavenly God List.


    And it''s not just Ye Chen.


    Everyone on the Heavenly God List has been tasked with killing individuals who are above their combat power level.


    Those at the very top, "Lin Shan, Sima Liao, Hua Xuelian," are not only required to kill ten Purple Light Assassins and Villains at their same level, but they have also been assigned a special slaughtering task indicating that there are higher-leveled Lower Immortal Divine Venerable tier ''Golden Light Assassins and Villains'' who will be entered into an exclusive area of the first layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    They must go to that exclusive area and kill at least three "Golden Light Assassins and Villains" each to qualify for advancing to the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Everyone''s tasks exceed their current combat power level, causing countless individuals to have a drastic change in their expressions.


    According to their current strength, it is absolutely impossible to complete these tasks.


    However, the Heavenly God List also specifies that based on the current strength of everyone on the list, it is indeed difficult to complete the tasks. Therefore, the adventure time for the entire first layer world of Heavenly God Mountain is set at half a year.


    Only after half a year will the second layer world of Heavenly God Mountain be opened.


    In the span of half a year, everyone can cultivate in the safe zone of "Heavenly God Mountain''s First Realm," enhancing their strength.


    Of course, one can also leave the safe zone to seek opportunities for strength enhancement.


    However, once you leave the safe zone in search of opportunities, although you may reap significant gains, you will also truly fall into danger.


    For the assassins and villains from the Domain of Sin will be ejected out of the safe zone, waiting at any moment to confront the Divine Kings venturing out in search of opportunities!


    For a time, all Divine Kings watching the Heavenly God List fell into contemplation.


    They pondered whether to stay within the safe zone to cultivate or to go out and seek opportunities to enhance their strength.


    The Divine Kings also knew that merely staying in the safe zone to cultivate definitely wouldn''t do; using the entire half-year for cultivation might still not be enough to enhance their strength.


    To rapidly enhance strength, one could only leave the safe zone and seek opportunities outside.


    But once leaving the safe zone, one would certainly face immense danger and could even potentially lose their life.


    This was precisely the reason for the dilemma facing countless Divine Kings.


    While countless people were in a dilemma, the cold, emotionless voice that had been heard earlier in the great hall spoke again: "The safe zone of Heavenly God Mountain''s First Realm is this very grand hall you are in."


    "Once you leave this grand hall, you will enter the dangerous and opportunistic regions of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Whether to go or to stay, the decision is yours to make."


    "After half a year, only those who have completed the task will be able to enter the Second Realm. For those who fail, the protection of the safe zone will directly vanish, and all the remaining martial artists will be confined within the First Realm. At that time, countless Ancient Beasts will come to cleanse this world, and being confined within the First Realm with no way out will almost certainly result in death!"


    "Now, the task of Heavenly God Mountain''s First Realm for the duration of half a year officially begins!"


    After the voice fell, a Light Gate leading to the outside world directly appeared in the grand hall where the 530,000 martial artists were situated.


    Stepping through the Light Gate, one would enter into the real and challenging First Great Realm of Heavenly God Mountain, full of opportunities and threats!


    Looking at the Light Gate, countless people''s eyes shimmered.


    Many people even spoke out, saying: "Let''s gamble, we came to Heavenly God Mountain for the opportunities; we definitely can''t just hide and cultivate in the safe zone. Merely normal cultivation will not allow us to break through within half a year and complete the task!"


    "I want to go and venture in the outside world, although the assassins and villains are extremely terrifying and outnumber us by tens of times, Heavenly God Mountain''s First Realm is rumored to be vast beyond measure. All of us scattered could mean that we won''t necessarily encounter a villain capable of taking my life."


    "As long as I enhance my strength, I will definitely not fear those people!"


    After these words, these people did not hesitate to rush towards the Light Gate, and in an instant, they completely disappeared from sight.


    ...


    At the same time as the Heavenly God List was successfully drawn and the task for the 530,000 martial artists was announced,


    In the countless Domains of Sin, those many assassins and villains eager to enter Heavenly God Mountain for battle also saw a list from the Heavenly God List appear in the vast stellar circles of the Void, as well as the hit orders for villains of various levels.


    Subsequently, tens of millions of assassins and villains emitted various kinds of light from their bodies.


    These lights were the seven colors of "red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet," in addition to fifty special golden lights!


    Then, these tens of millions of assassins and villains vanished from the Domains of Sin in an instant.


    These people were all transported toward the First Realm of Heavenly God Mountain.


    The moment they disappeared, the sound of their crazed laughter continued to echo.


    "I am a ''Blue Light Assassin and Villain''; as long as I assassinate three lower-level Heavenly Divine Venerables and seize the three Death God Lights released by them after death on Heavenly God Mountain, I will obtain a Divine Pardon Order after half a year."


    "During these six months, I must kill these three targets at all costs. Even if I can''t, we assassins and villains can also snatch the Death God Lights from each other''s hands. If someone kills my targets, I must take the Death God Light from them!"


    "Haha, I am a ''Purple Light Assassin'', and this time around, those Junior God Kings will not stand a chance against my onslaught!"


    ...


    As countless assassins and villains were transported into the First Realm of Heavenly God Mountain,


    In the safe zone''s grand hall,


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han all looked towards Ye Chen and asked him, "Ye Chen, do you plan to cultivate in the safe zone first or go straight to venture into the greater First Realm outside?"


    Ye Chen chuckled and said, "Opportunities in the great First Realm are limited; we cannot let others steal a march. Let''s go, we''ll head out and venture into it directly!"


    "It is said that assassins and villains of our same level outnumber us by dozens of times. This means there are at most only a few hundred Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level assassins and villains. The First Realm outside is so vast that the chances of encountering these few hundred experts is extremely low."


    Ye Chen did not say more than necessary.


    In truth, Ye Chen wasn''t afraid even if he were to encounter Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level assassins and villains.


    After all, his true strength was much more formidable than what the Heavenly God List had detected!

 Chapter 883 - 833: Encounter

    Hearing that Ye Chen planned to venture out on his own, God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han both hurriedly bowed to Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, then we will join you in venturing outside."


    "When that time comes, we will be counting on Ye Chen to look after us."


    Ye Chen glanced at the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, then turned his gaze towards God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s gaze directed at them, the hearts of God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han thumped violently.


    They were afraid that Ye Chen would not agree to look after them.


    Without the protection of a strong figure like Ye Chen, relying solely on themselves would mean facing countless times more danger while adventuring in the first layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    While the two were anxiously waiting for Ye Chen''s decision, they heard Ye Chen''s voice, light with a smile, "Since both of you friends and Predecessor Ancient Emperor are fellow disciples, then let''s act together."


    "Wherever I can lend a hand, I will help."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s promise, both God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han were so overjoyed they almost shouted out loud!


    They knew that with Ye Chen''s assistance, outside, they needn''t fear anyone else except for those most powerful assassins and villains!


    At this moment, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan also fist saluted Ye Chen, saying, "Ye Chen, this journey will trouble you greatly."


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan knew that Ye Chen''s willingness to watch over God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han was all because of their acquaintance with him.


    Of course, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan would remember this kindness.


    Ye Chen smiled back at the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, "Predecessor Ancient Emperor, no need for formalities."


    In Ye Chen''s heart, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had once been of great help to him. The "Ancient God Tower" left by the Ancient Emperor had significantly increased his strength. It was due to the help of the "Ancient God Tower" that he could resolve many later crises.


    Naturally, Ye Chen would not forget the Ancient Emperor''s past care.


    To watch over God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han a bit, so that the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan could have more people speak for him within the "Heavenly Dragon Sect" in the future, was just a small effort for Ye Chen; of course, he would not refuse.


    Deciding to leave the safe zone, of course, the sooner, the better.


    After a brief discussion, Ye Chen left the hall together with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the two God Kings, Mo Li and Fang Han, and entered the Light Gate leading to the first layer world of the outside Heavenly God Mountain.


    After Ye Chen''s departure, other people too left in twos and threes.


    Mu Qingxue had even left earlier than Ye Chen.


    The young girl, upon seeing that Ye Chen''s combat power surpassed hers, seemed to harbor a strong intention to surpass Ye Chen.


    And Sima Liao, upon seeing Ye Chen''s retreating figure, had a flicker in his eyes.


    "Hmph, within the vast first layer world, there are many observers; it would not be wise to make a move on this Ye Chen."


    "Fine, I have my own missions to accomplish. I''ll spare him for a while, and after my affairs are dealt with, I''ll find an opportunity to strike at him."


    "I hope this Ye Chen has some dog''s luck and holds on longer. It would be disappointing if he died at the hands of those assassins and villains before I get my chance."


    After sneering in his heart, Sima Liao also flew out of the safe area.


    In the end, in the hall of the safe area, there remained only a few thousand God Kings who had not yet left.


    ...


    After Ye Chen, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han, the four of them, stepped through the Light Gate, in the next moment, as the Divine Light of the Light Gate flashed, the four found themselves transported to the top of a vast mountain.


    "Is this the world of the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain where the adventure takes place?"


    "Those who left the safe area before us are not here!"


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan looked around and, besides the four of them, did not see anyone else.


    It seems that all those who left the safe area were sent to different regions due to the differing times of their departure.


    "Nor are there any signs of those assassins and villains from the Domain of Sin."


    "It seems, for now, the area is safe."


    God King Mo Li smiled as well.


    "Indeed, the world on the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain is truly vast and immense. It seems that whether it is the God Kings venturing from our five Great Divine Kingdoms, or those assassins and villains, all are quite scattered." Without discovering any adversaries, God King Fang Han also felt a sense of relief.


    Ye Chen then said with a smile, "Best if there are no threats. Let''s quickly search around and see if there are any fortunate opportunities on this mountain."


    Immediately after, the four of them started to explore various parts of the vast mountain.


    Nothing troubled Ye Chen and his party for the time being.


    But as more than half a million God Kings were sent to various regions, naturally, a portion of them encountered danger right away.


    A squad of seven God Kings from the Lancang Divine Kingdom had just left the safe zone when they immediately saw, not far from them, a valley where a cloaked elder exuding blue light sat cross-legged, meditating with eyes closed.


    "It''s a Blue Light assassin and villain! A Blue Light Level assassin and villain of a mid-ranked Heavenly Divine Venerable!"


    Seeing the blue light on the cloaked elder matching exactly with the Blue Light Assassin and Villain recorded on the Heavenly God List, the faces of the seven-member squad changed drastically.


    These seven were at the bottom level of the "Heavenly Divine List''s" seven regions, capable at most, of facing God King Level opponents.


    Now, they had suddenly come across a Mid-ranked Heavenly Divine Venerable Level assassin and villain, and how could they not be in a state of great panic?!


    In a flurry of silent transmissions, the seven did not dare to make the slightest noise, only quietly retreating to try and escape.


    However, just as the seven had retreated a few hundred yards, the meditating Blue Light Assassin and Villain in cloaks suddenly opened his eyes.


    In an instant, his gaze turned towards the seven trying to flee.


    Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu! Pu!


    The robed elder didn''t need any movement as seven rays of Divine Light shot out towards the seven-person squad.


    The seven God Kings from Lancang Divine Kingdom didn''t even have a chance to scream before they were killed on the spot.


    Then, seven "crimson" rays of Death God Light rose from the bodies and flew towards the hand of the robed elder.


    After glancing at the corpses of the seven God Kings, the elder smirked coldly, "Merely seven little ants, and you thought to escape from my grasp?"


    "Hmph, unfortunately, killing them does not aid my mission, which is to kill those God Kings with the combat power of mid-rank Heavenly Divine Venerables in the second region of the Heavenly God List."


    "Only by obtaining the Blue Death God Light from them will it be useful to me!"


    As he spoke, the robed elder casually waved his hand and discarded the seven "crimson" rays of Death God Light onto the ground.


    After that, he closed his eyes and began to meditate.


    In a valley at this moment, dozens of God Kings from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom were kneeling on the ground, shuddering with cold.


    In front of them stood a young man emanating purple Divine Light.


    This purple Divine Light indicated that he was one of the most powerful Purple Light Assassins and Villains, a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level assassin from the Domain of Sin!


    The dozens of God Kings from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom had never anticipated that upon entering the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s vast world, they would encounter such a formidable opponent and be captured by his first move.


    "Spare us, great one!"


    At this moment, the dozens of God Kings from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, with ashen faces, kept begging for mercy from the purple-light young man.


    This purple-light young man glanced at the kneeling God Kings of Snow Desert Divine Kingdom with a sneer, "Don''t worry, I, Quan Luo, am in a good mood today, I won''t kill indiscriminately."


    "Just tell me what you know about the top-ranked masters on the Heavenly God List, and whoever satisfies me with their information, I will spare!"


    Hearing the words of the purple-light young man, the dozens of God Kings from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom understood that his mission was likely to assassinate the top fighters on the Heavenly God List.


    Facing the threat to their lives, the God Kings from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom couldn''t afford to hesitate.


    They competed to be the first to say to the purple-light young man: "Great one, among the people here this time, Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Hua Xuelian are the strongest."


    "Right, there''s also Ye Chen, he''s extraordinarily powerful; he''s the fourth great figure on the Heavenly God List!"


    Upon hearing the names Lin Shan, Sima Liao, Hua Xuelian, and Ye Chen, the purple-light young man''s eyes narrowed.


    "Hmph, I know these four are masters, and I''ve seen the Heavenly God List, I want to know exactly what tricks they have and their deeds, tell me quickly!"


    The words of the purple-light young man frightened the dozens of God Kings from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, causing them to shudder all over.


    Fearing that their words would no longer satisfy the purple-light young man, leading to their doom, they all racked their brains even more frantically to share what they knew.


    "That Sima Liao is one of us from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, it''s rumored he owns three Secret Treasures as lifelines..."


    "And that Ye Chen, he even defeated Xuan Chong, a powerful figure from our Divine Kingdom, while he was only at Lower God King Realm, his strength is unimaginably potent..."


    The more he heard, the darker the young man''s eyes became.


    He muttered: "Sima Liao, Lin Shan, Hua Xuelian, Ye Chen? It seems my chances are high if I take action against Hua Xuelian and Ye Chen..."


    Of course, the encounter of the God Kings from the Great Divine Kingdoms with the assassin villains from the Domain of Sin was not always to the disadvantage of the Great Divine Kingdoms.


    At the edge of an ocean within the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s grand world.


    Lin Shan, the number one ranked figure on the list of God Kings of the five Great Divine Kingdoms, who had been immersed in ascetic cultivation, was now looking deeply at the vast ocean ahead.


    Beneath his feet laid the bodies of hundreds of people, strewn all over.


    These bodies still bore traces of crimson, green, and even blue light.


    These deceased were various ranks of assassin villains from the Domain of Sin, some even being Blue Light Assassins and Villains!


    Having killed hundreds, Lin Shan''s expression remained unchanged.


    Looking towards the vast ocean ahead, he murmured, "So many assassins from the Domain of Sin here indicates the ocean ahead might not be ordinary; I need to conduct a careful search!"


    "I must break through this first layer within half a year."


    "My target is the cave dwelling left behind by an existence that transcends the Sovereign on the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    With a solemn gaze, Lin Shan''s figure vanished instantly on the edge of the ocean.


    Peace once again returned to the ocean edge.


    Only the bodies of the hundreds of assassins from the Domain of Sin still lay on the sandy beach beside the sea.


    Fortune, of course, is not so easy to come by.


    Ye Chen and his companions had been searching throughout the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s grand world for three days, without any findings.


    On the fourth day as the group entered a valley, Ye Chen, who was leading the way, suddenly stopped.


    With a faint smile, Ye Chen muttered, "No chance encounters with fortune, yet we''ve come across assassins from the Domain of Sin."


    "Indeed, there are three Blue Light Assassins!"


    As Ye Chen smiled lightly, three streaks of blue light burst forth from the valley ahead, and then three hideous Heavenly Divine Venerables, shrouded in blue light, appeared before Ye Chen and his companions.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen, these three grotesque Heavenly Divine Venerables showed greedy looks in their eyes: "Hehe, it seems we''ve finally found a target!"


    "We three need nine rays of Blue Death God Light. This boy has been sensed to be from the second region of the Heavenly God List, let''s kill him and claim our first ray of Blue Death God Light from him!"

 Chapter 884 - 834 The Shocked Three Divine Kings

    The moment Mind and Spirit took action, the three grotesquely ugly Heavenly Divine Venerables flashed their figures, forming an encirclement, trapping Ye Chen and his group of four within.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han were scared out of their wits.


    Just a moment ago, they had seen three figures appear; the next moment, those three figures surrounded them, and upon closer inspection, they realized that all three were at the mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable realm, with their bodies even radiating the level of Divine Light characteristic of assassins from the Domain of Sin.


    And they were Blue Light Assassin and Villains!


    How could this not terrify the three of them?!


    With their strength, they could handle ordinary Upper God Kings at most, but only figures at the lower Earth Divine Venerable level.


    Now, they were surrounded by three mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable assassins.


    For them, this was an absolutely indefensible situation!


    If not for the presence of the powerful Ye Chen beside them, the three of them might already have been scared to the point of turning pale.


    Even now, with Ye Chen at their side, their hearts were pounding fiercely.


    Although Ye Chen''s combat power was ranked first in the second region of the Heavenly God List, clearly not afraid of mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerables, what they were faced with now were three mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    If there was only one, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the two God Kings truly believed Ye Chen could definitely handle it.


    But with the three of them together, they simply didn''t know whether Ye Chen could withstand them or not.


    At this moment, the three grotesquely ugly Heavenly Divine Venerables who had encircled Ye Chen and company didn''t even glance at the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, or God King Fang Han.


    In their eyes, these three God Kings were mere underlings, not worthy of their concern at all.


    All three of them looked towards Ye Chen, with one of them letting out a ghastly laugh aimed at Ye Chen, saying, "Little brat, encountering the three of us Daoists is your bad luck, just obediently commit suicide and present the Death God Light that you possess, we may then leave the four of you with intact corpses."


    "Dare to resist, and make the three of us Daoists waste our efforts, the four of you will be utterly annihilated!"


    These three grotesquely ugly Heavenly Divine Venerables, right from the start, didn''t conceal their murderous intent.


    "Ye Chen."


    "Fellow Ye Chen!"


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han looked towards Ye Chen with immense worry, uncertain of how he would react next.


    All three of them were instantly filled with guilt, blaming their own weakness for not being able to help Ye Chen; if the four of them could take on a mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable, then Ye Chen''s chances of winning would be much higher.


    Now, they were utterly powerless to contribute anything.


    Amidst their concern, they saw Ye Chen give a gentle smile and wave his hand at them.


    Following that, Ye Chen directly addressed the three grotesquely ugly Heavenly Divine Venerables, "It''s not my bad luck that you''ve encountered me ¡ª it''s your own bad luck."


    "My mission is to slay ten Blue Light Assassins and three Purple Light Assassins. I was just worried about not finding killers of your two levels, and yet you''ve delivered yourselves to my doorstep."


    "Honestly, I don''t want to waste any effort either, so why don''t you three just obediently commit suicide!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words enraged the three Blue Light Assassins.


    They had told Ye Chen to commit suicide, but now he was in turn telling them to do so; this was clearly a slap in their face, making a mockery of the three of them.


    As assassins who lived on the edge and were ruthless and ferocious, they were already brimming with killing force, so how could they possibly endure this situation?


    "You''re quite arrogant, little brat!"


    "You ask the three of us Daoists to commit suicide; we''d like to see just what abilities you have to be so bold as to make such an outrageous statement!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The three Blue Light Assassins were unwilling to waste more words with Ye Chen and instantly surged with alarming Divine Light, while a terrifying aura of slaughter also pervaded the entire area.


    In the next moment, they launched themselves toward Ye Chen, poised to kill.


    All three struck out with massive palms, seemingly intent on crushing Ye Chen and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the four of them to death right there on the spot!


    The combat power of a mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable was exceedingly fearsome, let alone when three of them joined forces.


    The moment the killing force struck, even before reaching the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, the fearsome pressure made it impossible for the three of them to breathe.


    In an instant, the trio felt as if their physical bodies were going to disintegrate into ash!


    Their mouths agape, eyes bulging roundly, they tried to scream, but couldn''t make even the slightest sound.


    Just then.


    They suddenly felt a powerful and warm force enveloping them, a massive circular barrier of light appeared outside their bodies, protecting them in its midst.


    It was Ye Chen who had taken action!


    "Ye Chen!"


    "It''s Ye Chen who''s protected us!"


    Inside the barrier of light, with the terrifying pressure now completely gone, the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan took deep, excited breaths as they looked to their side.


    What they saw was Ye Chen, facing the joint attack of the three Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables with a faint smile, his hands clasped behind his back, showing no concern against the overwhelming assault.


    The next moment, the earth-shattering triple strikes of the three Heavenly Divine Venerables landed directly on the light barrier outside the bodies of the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, striking upon Ye Chen himself.


    Then, something shocking happened.


    Under the joint attack of the three Heavenly Divine Venerables, not a single crack appeared on the light barrier surrounding the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan; it remained intact. The attacks of the three Heavenly Divine Venerables couldn''t even shake the barrier in the slightest!


    Overjoyed, the three Ancient Emperors quickly turned to look at Ye Chen, only to see that amidst the ferocious assault, he too remained completely still, unaffected by the attack of the three Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    "It''s blocked."


    "Ye Chen has blocked the attack of the three Heavenly Divine Venerables!"


    "Even though they are Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables, Blue Light Assassin and Villains, they are no match for Ye Chen!"


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han were so overjoyed that they nearly jumped up inside the barrier.


    They had been worried before, but now after just one exchange, they knew that these three assassin villains were no match for Ye Chen!


    Their Ye Chen was indeed an overwhelmingly powerful individual!


    At this moment, the three exceedingly ugly Heavenly Divine Venerables seemed as though they had seen a ghost.


    The attack they had just launched was intended to obliterate Ye Chen and his companions in one fell swoop, and they had exerted their full power!


    And yet, it was blocked.


    They hadn''t even seen how Ye Chen had made his move!


    This instant made the three realize that Ye Chen''s strength was far superior to theirs.


    "Incredible strength!"


    "He must not be an ordinary person from the second region of the Heavenly God List. He likely ranks at the very top in the second region of the Heavenly God List!"


    "Run!"


    "Quick, run!"


    The three grotesque Heavenly Divine Venerables share a horrified look and unanimously retreat frantically.


    "Trying to flee?"


    "Don''t you think it''s too late now?"


    Ye Chen, smiling faintly, sweeps his robe and in the next moment, he appears in the Void Heaven.


    Looking at the three grotesque Heavenly Divine Venerables trying to scatter into the Void Heaven, Ye Chen still has one hand behind his back. He stretches out the other hand and casually taps three times towards the Void.


    Thump! Thump! Thump!


    In an instant, three unrivaled beams of sword light cross the heavens, striking the fleeing trio with unbelievable speed and power.


    The three Blue Light Assassin and Villains from the Domain of Sin let out a scream and are pierced on the spot!

 Chapter 885 - 835: Four Fruits

    Fallen.


    In an instant, three Mid-Level Heavenly Divine Venerables of the Blue Light Assassin and Villain class directly fell in the middle of the battlefield!


    Until the three of them died, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han still hadn''t recovered from their shock.


    It was only after a dozen or so breaths that God King Mo Li came to his senses first, and he stammeringly said to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen... Ye Chen, you are truly amazing!"


    "Three Mid-Level Heavenly Divine Venerables, and you managed to kill them all with a single move?!"


    At this moment, to God King Mo Li, Ye Chen felt just like a true Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    Perhaps only a personage of the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level could so easily exterminate Mid-Level Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    Seeing the stunned expressions of God King Mo Li and the others, Ye Chen smiled and said: "Putting down these three was nothing extraordinary; their strength wasn''t much stronger than Xuan Chong of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom."


    What vision Ye Chen possessed.


    The moment those three Blue Light Assassins appeared, he had already discerned the level of their combat power.


    Although they belonged to the Blue Light Assassins and were ranked at the Mid-Level Heavenly Divine Venerable tier, they were only at the average level of that tier.


    Xuan Chong, who was roughly at the same level as these three, was once beaten by Ye Chen without the slightest ability to fight back.


    These three people could naturally cause no waves in the presence of Ye Chen.


    Having endured over a year of arduous cultivation in the "Earth Fiend Cultivation Room," and especially after reaching the pinnacle of the Lower God King Realm, Ye Chen''s "Eternal God Body" and "Taiyi Divine Power" among other abilities had greatly increased in might.


    Not to mention a few ordinary Mid-Level Heavenly Divine Venerables, even if extraordinary beings of the Mid-Level Heavenly Divine Venerable rank attacked him in unison, Ye Chen would not be afraid!


    Even if Ye Chen fully unleashed his might, releasing the "Starry Origin Power" and his own created move "Origin Slash First Form," which were his real trump cards, he could easily obliterate even Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    He waved his hand, stopping the shock of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the others.


    Ye Chen looked up and gazed into the distance: "Let''s go, the first layer of the world in Heavenly God Mountain is very vast, we must continue on our quest to complete the mission!"


    What the three from the Yan Clan didn''t know was that after Ye Chen had slain those three exceptionally ugly Blue Light Assassins and Villains, he directly heard a voice: "Ye Chen, your mission is to kill ten ''Blue Light Assassins and Villains'' and three ''Purple Light Assassins.'' You have now completed the killing of three ''Blue Light Assassins and Villains''."


    Right after Ye Chen killed the three Blue Light Assassins, a voice made him aware of it.


    This made Ye Chen even more intrigued by the mystery-filled Heavenly God Mountain.


    Ye Chen couldn''t wait to complete the tasks of the first great world and dive into the subsequent layers to see what kind of mysterious force was controlling everything in Heavenly God Mountain!


    Once Ye Chen started focusing on the mission, the Assassin and Villains from the Domain of Sin who he encountered were out of luck.


    On the fifth day of the four entering Heavenly God Mountain.


    In a vast plain, dozens of Assassin and Villains from the Domain of Sin were frantically fleeing ahead, with the three from the Yan Clan chasing them down, while Ye Chen watched the battle between the two sides from the void.


    This group of Assassins and Villains belonged to the lowest tier of the seven levels of Assassins and Villains¡ª the Red Light Level Assassins.


    Originally, when these dozens of people discovered Ye Chen and his companions, it was they who first surrounded and attacked Ye Chen and his four companions.


    However, as soon as Ye Chen revealed his combat power at the level of a Mid Heavenly Divine Venerable, he immediately scared the dozens of Red Light Assassins into a state of utter terror!


    Faced with a Mid Heavenly Divine Venerable expert of considerable stature, these lowest-rank Red Light Assassins with merely the combat power of God Kings did not dare to act rashly.


    They instantly took to their heels and fled!


    Although these Red Light Assassins were no help to Ye Chen in completing his mission, they were extremely useful for the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan in completing theirs.


    Ye Chen then smiled at the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan and told them to exert themselves fully and slay these dozens of Red Light Assassins from the Domain of Sin.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan were overjoyed.


    The three of them certainly understood that what Ye Chen meant was for them to focus on finishing their assassination task at ease; all dangers would be countered by Ye Chen''s protection.


    As a result, the situation between the two parties changed in an instant.


    Initially, dozens of people from the Domain of Sin were surrounding and attacking the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, but now, it was these dozens of people fleeing for their lives while the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan were in pursuit to kill them.


    The roles of prey and hunters had completely reversed because of Ye Chen!


    Seeing the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan in pursuit, some of the dozens of Red Light Assassins from the Domain of Sin gave a cold glance and were about to join forces to eliminate the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan.


    But at the moment they were going to join forces, they immediately heard Ye Chen''s voice: "Join forces? Do you wish to perish directly?"


    Ye Chen''s interjection directly frightened those dozens of Red Light Assassins who had contemplated resistance; they dared not entertain the idea of joining forces and could only turn their heads and continue their desperate flight.


    However, they found that they were mysteriously restrained within a range of thousands of miles, able only to fly within this area and utterly unable to soar beyond the limit of thousands of miles.


    In an instant, these Red Light Assassins knew that it was Ye Chen who was blocking them!


    Ye Chen didn''t allow them to escape too far!


    This was to guard the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan from behind as they battled!


    Unable to escape the range of thousands of miles, and terrified to join forces in an attack.


    At this moment, these dozens of assassins from the Domain of Sin felt incredibly stifled and utterly indignant!


    As assassins and villains, they had never suffered such humiliation; countless True God Kings had perished at their hands, and if it were any ordinary day when they encountered the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, they could eliminate the three within minutes under their combined attack.


    But now, with a person of Mid Heavenly Divine Venerable combat power level present, they were completely restrained, like pitiful young creatures chased by ferocious beasts!


    Fortunately, they found that Ye Chen did not intervene in their one-on-one battle with the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan.


    For a while, these dozens of Red Light Assassins were successively embroiled in a fierce fight with the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan.


    The three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan did not disappoint Ye Chen.


    Although they were all individuals of God King Level, after enduring a series of bloody battles which lasted for most of the day, they finally managed to slaughter all the dozens of Red Light Assassins on the field.


    The three of them had completed more than half of their tasks!


    When the battle-hardened Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, covered in bloodstains, returned to Ye Chen''s side, all three of them clasped their fists to express their gratitude to Ye Chen.


    They knew that if Ye Chen made a move, he could easily help them kill these weakest Red Light Assassins.


    However, Ye Chen did not take the initiative to strike. Instead, he restrained these assassins, allowing them to take action on their own.


    This gave the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan a true opportunity to showcase their strength.


    If they had simply stood by watching, they would have certainly felt like they were holding Ye Chen back.


    Now, it was different. They could also contribute their share of effort to their tasks!


    What surprised the three even more was that after completing their assassinations, Ye Chen shared his observations of the battle with them and even gave some guidance on their Divine Arts.


    The three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan each possessed God King Level combat power, while Ye Chen''s strength was at the Heavenly Divine Venerable level, a whole two major realms above theirs.


    Receiving guidance from a mighty expert like Ye Chen was, of course, immensely beneficial to them.


    After some deep contemplation, all three significantly enhanced their comprehension of battle.


    And so it went...


    Ye Chen, the Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han began their adventurous days in the first layer of the vast world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    The foursome searched for various realms for opportunities, and upon encountering people from the Domain of Sin, they completed the task of killing.


    After roaming the first layer of the great world of Heavenly God Mountain for over a month, the four had also discovered some minor opportunities.


    While these minor opportunities were not particularly beneficial for Ye Chen, they significantly benefited the Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, who all saw a considerable improvement in their combat power over this month.


    During their encounters with the assassins from the Domain of Sin, Ye Chen personally took down the targets related to his task.


    When encountering targets that were of a lower level and related to the tasks of the Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, Ye Chen watched from the side, letting the three of them handle the actual combat.


    Ye Chen would only intervene if the three were in danger. Otherwise, he let them finish the kills on their own.


    The first layer of the great world of Heavenly God Mountain was immensely vast. In over a month''s time, the realms explored by Ye Chen and his companions were not too extensive, and the number of assassins from the Domain of Sin they encountered was not large.


    In terms of the truly formidable Purple Light Assassins, the four of them had not encountered even one.


    As for the Blue Light Assassins, they had only come across four more.


    In the end, all four of these assassins were killed by Ye Chen.


    Adding to the three extraordinarily ugly Heavenly Divine Venerables that he had previously slain, Ye Chen finally completed seven out of the "ten Blue Light Assassins" task, although he still hadn''t come across an opportunity to "kill three Purple Light Assassins."


    Unlike Ye Chen.


    The lower-level assassins from the Domain of Sin were much more numerous compared to the Blue Light Assassins.


    On the thirty-eighth day of their entry into the first layer of the great world of Heavenly God Mountain, after another reversal of pursuit that resulted in a mass assassination of the villains from the Domain of Sin, the Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, God King Mo Li, and God King Fang Han, one after another, completed their tasks!


    Each of them had killed ten Red Light Assassins and three Orange Light Assassins.


    Upon completion of their tasks, the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan were incredibly grateful to Ye Chen!


    Completing their tasks meant that they had the opportunity to advance into the second layer of the great world of Heavenly God Mountain!


    Within only a little over a month, they completed their half-year tasks and also experienced a soaring increase in strength. All three knew that all of this was the result of Ye Chen leading them on their journey.


    Without Ye Chen, it would have been impossible for them to enhance their strength so rapidly, and they would not have found those minor opportunities.


    Without Ye Chen, it would also have been impossible for them to kill the assassins from the Domain of Sin so smoothly and complete their tasks!


    They were, of course, extremely thankful to Ye Chen.


    And when the three of them had altogether completed their tasks, that cold voice echoed again throughout the first layer of the great world: "Mo Li, task completion in the first layer of the great world!"


    "Yan Nong, task completion in the first layer of the great world!"


    "Fang Han, task completion in the first layer of the great world!"


    As the completion of the three''s tasks was announced throughout the first layer of the great world of Heavenly God Mountain, reaching the ears of the journeying God Kings, they were all shocked to their core.


    They never expected that the first ones to complete the tasks would be the relatively unknown Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan!


    You see, the others hadn''t completed their tasks yet. Those weaker God Kings, without the care of an expert on Ye Chen''s level, simply couldn''t challenge and overcome assassins beyond their strength so swiftly.


    As for the stronger God Kings, like Ye Chen, they too had not yet encountered a sufficient number of adversaries.


    This directly made the Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan the first group to complete their tasks.


    However, when they heard the names of the Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan, many came back to their senses.


    "It''s those three individuals accompanying Ye Chen!"


    "That Yan Nong, Mo Li, and Fang Han, they all follow Ye Chen. Their swift task completion must certainly be with Ye Chen''s help!"


    Many guessed the truth.


    But at this time, Ye Chen and his companions were not concerned with the thoughts of the God Kings journeying through various realms.


    For, after Yan Nong, Mo Li, and Fang Han, the three God Kings, had completed their tasks, they surprisingly received clues leading to a Great Secret Land all at the same time.


    In the end, following the clues, all three of them, along with Ye Chen, arrived beside a frigid pond.


    And in the pond, there stood a grand tree with four fruits hanging from its branches¡ªfruits identical in appearance!


    Four fruits, matching exactly the number of people, Ye Chen and his three companions, who had come to the pond.


    It was unclear whether this was a coincidence or a deliberate act by the mystical Heavenly God Mountain.

 Chapter 886 - 836: Fate Fruit and Death Fruit

    These four fruits, each only the size of a fist.


    They were all born with a deep azure hue, and the surface of the fruits overflowed with Divine Light, clearly no ordinary objects at first glance.


    After completing their tasks, Yan Nong, Mo Li, and Fang Han were guided to the Great Secret Land, yet they discovered such four fruits in this Secret Ground.


    Without thinking, one would know that the secret of this Great Secret Land must lie within these four fruits.


    "What kind of fruits are these four?"


    Ye Chen and the others exchanged looks, then walked toward the Cold Pool Fruit Tree, observing the four fruits as they went.


    In the past month or so, Ye Chen and his companions also searched many places in the first level of the Heavenly God Mountain''s vast world, finding some small fortunes.


    But those were just small fortunes, after all.


    Now, the three Divine Kings who had completed their tasks, all clues pointed to this Great Secret Land; clearly, the fortune hidden here was no small matter.


    It might even contain incredibly precious treasures!


    In their journey, Ye Chen and his companions were also extremely cautious.


    While they were full of anticipation for the opportunities in the Great Secret Land, they were also careful to guard against any possible dangers.


    After all, this was the perilous Heavenly God Mountain!


    In the process of obtaining their fortunes, they had encountered several crises. It was precisely because of their caution that they had been safe.


    Even now, Ye Chen and his companions wouldn''t let their guards down.


    As a result, when Ye Chen and the group reached the edge of the Cold Pool and came within several dozen yards of the big tree in the pool, they hadn''t noticed anything abnormal.


    Even more so, with a sweep of Ye Chen''s Divine Power, he easily plucked the four fruits from the great tree.


    In an instant, Divine Sense from Ye Chen, Yan Nong, Mo Li, and Fang Han surged towards the fruits.


    However, after all four examined them, they found that besides the flesh of the fruit being filled with Divine Light, there were no other dangers.


    "It seems we''ve been overly cautious. Perhaps, these four fruits are a reward specially bestowed upon our team by the Heavenly God Mountain for completing the task."


    Mo Li said with a light smile to Ye Chen: "Since there are exactly four fruits, why don''t we each take one and study the mystery of these fruits?"


    When Mo Li said this, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Fang Han both nodded repeatedly.


    The three of them then said to Ye Chen: "Friend Ye Chen, thanks to you, we were able to complete the task, so please be the first to choose a fruit."


    Ye Chen was also interested in studying this mysterious fruit.


    The appearance of these four fruits in the clues of the Great Secret Land gave Ye Chen the feeling they were extraordinary.


    After nodding his head, Ye Chen randomly pointed at a fruit and said: "It looks like the four fruits are the same, we might as well pick one at random."


    With a sweep of Ye Chen''s Divine Power, he brought one of the fruits to float in front of him in the Void.


    Whiz! Whiz! Whiz!


    The remaining three fruits were quickly chosen by Mo Li, Yan Nong, and Fang Han.


    The four of them were now carefully examining the fruits floating in the Void in front of them.


    Without understanding what exactly the fruit was, of course, they would not consume it as a normal fruit.


    All of them used Divine Sense to probe the fruit, and after not finding anything, they proceeded to use Divine Power to investigate it.


    As a result of this investigation, they all felt a rich Divine Power emanating from within the fruit.


    Even across the Void, they could feel a rich, extreme Divine Power surging directly into their bodies.


    In an instant, all of them felt as if they were bathing in the aura of immortality!


    "What a good item!"


    "The Divine Power inside this fruit is countless times purer than the Divine Power we practice; it must be a good thing!"


    Feeling the Divine Power flowing out from the fruit and into their bodies, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the others expressed their surprise joyfully.


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit stirred: "Indeed, it is a very peculiar Divine Power, it seems, it is somewhat similar to the Starry Origin Power inside the seven dazzling stars where I cultivate the Taiyi Divine Power."


    "Could it be that these four fruits are marvels born from the Cosmic Sea?"


    Ye Chen pondered in his heart.


    Regrettably, after entering the Heavenly God Mountain, the Divine Sense of Xiaojiu and the little monkey inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant was completely isolated due to the Prohibition, preventing Ye Chen from communicating with Xiaojiu.


    Otherwise, Ye Chen could have asked Xiaojiu if it had seen such a fruit.


    As Ye Chen was pondering, and as the three Ancient Emperors of the Yan Clan were carefully examining the fruits, sensing the peculiar Divine Power emanating from within.


    Something shocking happened.


    Before Ye Chen and the three others could even react, a terrifyingly powerful Divine Light suddenly burst forth from the fruits in front of each of them, instantly sucking all four into the fruits!


    The fruits were only the size of a fist, yet they were able to suck in Ye Chen and the others, which seemed simply inconceivable!


    Clearly, there was a special small world space hidden within these fruits!


    It was rumored that the fourth layer of the Heavenly God Mountain often concealed special spatial worlds.


    It was unexpected that these four fruits were four incredibly Divine Marvels among countless small worlds!


    Even Ye Chen had not previously discovered the small world hidden inside the fruit or noticed the anomalies within the fruit!


    But after Ye Chen and the three others were absorbed into the four fruits, the fruits remained motionless in the air, as if they had not absorbed the four at all.


    However, at the moment the four were absorbed by the fruits, the entire Great Secret Land where the Cold Pool Fruit Tree resided suddenly became completely sealed by itself.


    It was evident that after Ye Chen and the others were absorbed into the fruits, the entire Great Secret Land underwent a transformation.


    It was as if the four had entered into some mysterious mechanism within the Secret Ground!


    At this time, inside the fruits, the small world space where Ye Chen and the three others found themselves were all distinct, and at this moment, their expressions were also entirely different.


    Some were wildly overjoyed.


    Others were horror-stricken and pale!


    And some looked extremely ugly!


    The one who was wildly overjoyed was the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Upon being sucked into the fruit, he discovered that he had arrived inside a cave dwelling with nothing else in it but a stone platform.


    On the stone platform, there was a green bottle.


    Next to the bottle, there was also a jade tablet with Gold-Luster Divine Script engraved on it.


    Seeing the Divine Script on the jade tablet, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan jumped with excitement.


    Because the tablet indicated that the fruit he had entered was the Heavenly God Mountain''s extremely precious "Fate Fruit".


    And inside this green bottle in the small world of the fruit was a "Fate Divine Pill" unique to the Heavenly God Mountain!


    Once this "Fate Divine Pill" is consumed, it could at the very least elevate one''s Realm by one layer, and for higher-ups, even by several layers.


    How could this not make the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan ecstatically overjoyed?!


    Only now did the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan truly understand why anyone who could break through the Heavenly God Mountain was guaranteed a rise in their Realm. So it was because there were heaven-defying items like the "Fate Divine Pill" within the Heavenly God Mountain!


    As for the miraculous effects of the "Fate Divine Pill", the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan did not doubt them at all.


    Because this was a Divine Pill hidden within the mysteriously profound Heavenly God Mountain, and the Divine Scripts within this fruit''s small world could not possibly deceive him!


    When the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan followed the Refinement method written in the Divine Script, consumed the Divine Pill and started the Refinement, he truly felt his middle God King Realm''s bottleneck began to loosen.


    He was actually beginning to charge towards a higher Realm!


    At the moment of the Realm breakthrough, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was stirred in his Mind and Spirit: "Fate Fruit! So, the four fruits of this Great Secret Land are Fate Fruits, containing Fate Divine Pills!"


    "Now, Ye Chen and the three of us can all advance our Realm by at least one layer!"


    In his excitement, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan dared not be distracted any longer. He grasped this rare opportunity and began cultivating.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had obtained the Fate Fruit.


    He even guessed that Mo Li, Fang Han, and Ye Chen, like himself, had also received Fate Fruits and the chance to surge through their Realms.


    However, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was completely wrong.


    At this time, Mo Li and Fang Han, both Divine Kings who had also entered the fruit''s small world, were already so terrified that their faces had lost all color, and even the immensely powerful Ye Chen looked extremely troubled.


    Because the small world of the fruit that Ye Chen, Mo Li, and Fang Han had entered into was nothing like the cave dwelling of the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan; let alone having Fate Fruits in it.


    The small world space of the fruits they entered was a terrifying blood-colored world.


    Although these blood-colored terrifying worlds varied in size, they were extremely horrifying at a glance!


    In front of them, stood a giant blood-colored stele, inscribed with the same message: "Heaven and earth give birth to fortune, Fate is supreme, Death Fruit, only death without life!"


    The fruits that Ye Chen, Mo Li, and Fang Han had entered were actually the complete opposite of the Fate Fruits; they were Death Fruits!

 Chapter 887 - 837: Murderous Intent, Demise, Madness!

    The Fate Fruit could bring great fortune to those who enter.


    But the Death Fruit only brings endless peril!


    As Ye Chen, Mo Li, and Fang Han were looking at the blood-colored stele in front of them with drastically changed expressions, "swoosh swoosh swoosh," suddenly, hundreds of terrifying Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures appeared right in the blood-colored world each of them was in.


    And as soon as these demonic creatures appeared, they frenziedly lunged to attack the three!


    The hundreds of Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures attacking Mo Li and Fang Han were each as powerful as Mo Li and Fang Han''s combat power level on the Heavenly God List. They all belonged to the demonic creatures of the seventh region of the God King Level on the Heavenly God List.


    However, the hundreds of Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures attacking Ye Chen were even more terrifying.


    These creatures, also matching the combat power level of Ye Chen on the Heavenly God List, belonged to the God King Level demonic creatures of the second region!


    In the two separate Worlds of the Death Fruit where Mo Li and Fang Han were located.


    When they saw an overwhelming number of demonic creatures, hundreds of times their own, coming to kill them, Mo Li and Fang Han''s souls nearly flew out of their bodies in fright.


    The moment their Divine Sense made contact with these creatures, they discerned that the combat power of every single one of these creatures was definitely no weaker than their own when they first entered Heavenly God Mountain!


    Although their strength had increased over time, the increase wasn''t significant. If they faced a few or even dozens of creatures, they could still handle them.


    But suddenly facing hundreds of attacking creatures, they truly didn''t know if they could withstand them.


    However, whether they could withstand or not, they had to resist!


    Trapped in the World of the Death Fruit, the dire situation didn''t give Mo Li and Fang Han any time to hesitate.


    When hundreds of creatures attacked them, the Divine Power in their bodies exploded, and they brought out all their means.


    Kill! Kill! Kill! Kill!


    With every move they made, a few Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures were slain.


    When both of their Divine Powers were nearly exhausted, they had only killed off more than half of these creatures when suddenly, a "boom" resounded throughout the entire World of the Death Fruit.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Then, innumerable demonic creatures of the same level appeared anew, assaulting them once again.


    This time, the newly emerged demonic creatures were even more numerous than the ones Mo Li and Fang Han had killed before.


    Seeing the number of creatures swell, Mo Li and Fang Han, two Divine Kings, showed a look of utter despair in their eyes.


    If they could kill them all, they were willing to fight to the death to do so!


    But with their Divine Power nearly depleted and the number of creatures growing instead of diminishing, the last bit of hope faded away completely.


    "The Death Fruit."


    "Truly only a one-way path to death!"


    "I shouldn''t have been curious to observe this Death Fruit!"


    Amidst immense regret, Mo Li and Fang Han had just lunged to attack these creatures when they were overwhelmed by the sheer number of them.


    In an instant, after the demonic creatures retreated like a tide, Mo Li and Fang Han had completely vanished from the world.


    They were devoured by the creatures without even leaving ashes behind.


    Fallen!


    Out of Ye Chen''s four-person exploration team that entered the Death Fruit, two had perished!


    Now, within the three Death Fruits, only Ye Chen was still alive!


    Inside the Death Fruit where Ye Chen was situated.


    Just like Mo Li and Fang Han, Ye Chen too faced hundreds of Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures rushing to kill him.


    The World of the Death Fruit that Ye Chen was in was countless times larger than Mo Li''s and Fang Han''s, and the demonic creatures attacking him were also countless times more formidable.


    But unlike Mo Li and Fang Han''s despair, although Ye Chen''s complexion was incredibly grave, he had not fallen into despair.


    Without fighting with his all, Ye Chen simply wouldn''t despair!


    Who says one must surely die in the Death Fruit?


    Ye Chen didn''t believe it!


    He was going to control his own fate!


    When hundreds of the Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures all lunged at Ye Chen, he didn''t panic and fight in haste like Mo Li and Fang Han did.


    Ye Chen simply stood in the void, his vast Divine Power surging, the Eternal God Body''s defensive power of the Earth Divine Pattern went into operation.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, hundreds of the creatures charged in front of Ye Chen, furiously colliding with the defensive power of the Eternal God Body.


    But then, something astonishing happened.


    No matter how the hundreds of creatures kept striking at Ye Chen, they couldn''t shake his defensive power in the slightest!


    Ye Chen stood proudly in the void, immovable, with his hair flying about.


    Ye Chen simply disregarded the assaulting creatures, his Divine Body resisting while he simultaneously recovered his Divine Power. Between defense and recovery, his Divine Power wasn''t even depleted in the slightest!


    Ye Chen even raised his eyes to observe the Void Heaven within the World of the Death Fruit.


    In the end, Ye Chen even began to fly and observe at the same time.


    For a while, the World of the Death Fruit that Ye Chen was in presented a bizarre scene.


    Ye Chen flew ahead, with hundreds of Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures constantly rushing at him, only to be sent flying upon touching the protective divine light around Ye Chen, and then they kept on charging at him.


    Wherever Ye Chen passed, it was as if he were flying with hundreds of sky-shocking demonic creatures!


    After half a cup of tea time spent in flight, Ye Chen had entirely traversed the World of the Death Fruit.


    "The World of the Death Fruit is an entirely enclosed mini-world."


    "Although it is said on the blood-colored stele that ''Death Fruit, there is death without life,'' this mini-world is evidently artificially created."


    "If it''s artificially created, there must definitely be a method to break the enclosure and leave!"


    After a flash of brilliance in his eyes, Ye Chen first looked towards the hundreds of sky-shocking demonic creatures that kept pouncing at him relentlessly.


    "The method of leaving must be either on these demonic creatures or on the mini-world itself."


    "First, let''s see if there''s anything special about these sky-shocking demonic creatures!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With that thought in mind, Ye Chen suddenly reached out with a giant hand, and a sky-supporting giant palm appeared, grabbing a demonic creature hundreds of Zhang tall right in front of him!


    Under the binding of Ye Chen''s divine power, even if the creature was of the mid-rank Heavenly Divine Venerable level, it couldn''t resist at all!


    These demonic creatures were born according to the combat power listed on Ye Chen''s "Heavenly God List," and with the blocking of the Stars Tower, the creatures possessed not even one-tenth of Ye Chen''s own combat power.


    Ye Chen''s true combat power is actually enough to sweep across Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables without fear!


    How could he care about a few hundred mid-rank Heavenly Divine Venerable creatures?!


    Ye Chen observed the sky-shocking demonic creature held by the giant hand for a long time but discerned nothing. Then, with a "bang," he directly crushed the creature to death.


    In an instant, the sky-shocking demonic creature was killed on the spot!


    But he didn''t stop there.


    Ye Chen wanted to find out the method to leave the World of the Death Fruit from these sky-shocking demonic creatures. Naturally, he had to see what would happen after slaying them.


    Thus, Ye Chen held back no longer.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Ye Chen waved his sleeve, and over three hundred flying swords burst out from within him like a sudden torrential rain.


    Following that, the terrifying Taiyi Divine Power in Ye Chen''s body poured directly into these flying swords, and he unleashed the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills".


    Pffft! Pffft! Pffft! Pffft! Pffft!


    In the blink of an eye, hundreds of sky-shocking demonic creatures were all slain by Ye Chen on the spot!


    If Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Mo Li, and Fang Han had still been with Ye Chen, they would have been utterly astonished. Ye Chen''s full-strength outburst was even more fearsome than when they had watched him kill three mid-rank Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Hundreds of mid-rank Heavenly Divine Venerable creatures were annihilated by Ye Chen in an instant!


    If other Divine Kings who entered Heavenly God Mountain saw this move of Ye Chen, they would probably be even more shocked. The combat power displayed by this one move from Ye Chen was not at all the combat power shown in the second region rank one on the "Divine List".


    The combat power displayed by this move from Ye Chen wasn''t even a bit weaker than the strongest in the first region of the Divine List¡ªLin Shan, Sima Liao, and Hua Xuelian!


    After slaying hundreds of sky-shocking demonic creatures, Ye Chen''s Divine Eye swept across, looking towards various parts of the World of the Death Fruit.


    Then, Ye Chen''s gaze suddenly narrowed.


    Because Ye Chen discovered that even more sky-shocking demonic creatures had appeared within this scarlet world of death.


    The previous attacking creatures numbered over three hundred. This time, the quantity had increased to over seven hundred!


    "Slaying these sky-shocking demonic creatures resulted in even more appearing."


    "Could it be, these sky-shocking demonic creatures will endlessly increase? If so, this mini-world could indeed be called a world of death!"


    If they truly increased endlessly, then even if Ye Chen continued to kill these creatures, eventually, it would be impossible to withstand the combined onslaught of the creatures once their numbers reached a climax.


    "Let''s try one more time. If after killing these sky-shocking demonic creatures, their numbers still increase and new ones emerge, then this path of slaying the demonic creatures is definitely not viable!"


    At this thought, a hint of madness flickered in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    To survive in a situation where death is certain, of course one must be mad!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This time, Ye Chen''s divine power once again surged out, and over three hundred flying swords slashed towards the seven hundred plus sky-shocking demonic creatures once again.


    After a few dozen breaths, the ground was covered with the corpses of these seven hundred plus sky-shocking demonic creatures.


    And at this moment, something that caused Ye Chen''s pupils to shake once again occurred.


    Ye Chen''s guess was correct; these sky-shocking demonic creatures were indeed unending. After the seven hundred plus were killed, over a thousand creatures of the same rank appeared within this blood-colored world.


    These creatures truly could endlessly multiply!


    At this moment, the bloodthirsty killing intent surged within Ye Chen.


    "If killing these sky-shocking demonic creatures won''t work, then I''ll try to break apart this mini-world!"


    Boom!


    At that moment, Ye Chen''s figure shot upwards towards Void Heaven, directly reaching the heights of Polar Heaven.


    He stood atop the extreme heights of Void Heaven, with eyes tightly closed and his expression immediately turned to one of neither sorrow nor joy.


    Meanwhile, the "Taiyi Divine Power" within Ye Chen''s body turned into a pale gold color, and this pale golden Taiyi Divine Power crazily surged towards the Stars Tower within his Qi Sea.


    Ye Chen was going to invoke the marvelously divine Starry Origin Power within the Stars Tower!


    Moreover, Ye Chen was preparing to unleash his mightiest move¡ªthe self-created Divine Art "Origin Slash First Style"!


    To shatter this mini-world in one fell swoop!

 Chapter 888 - 838 Shatter the Minor World!

    In an instant, within the first activated star in the Star Disk of the fifth level of the Divine Tower, endless Starry Origin Power was drawn by the faint golden Taiyi Divine Power and surged wildly within the fifth level of the Divine Tower.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, standing at the immense height of the Void Heaven, suddenly formed a spell with his hands.


    The initiating move of his self-created Divine Art "Origin Slash First Style" was immediately activated.


    Ye Chen''s palms thrust downward, assuming the pose of grasping a sword in the void.


    The next moment, the Starry Origin Power driven by the Taiyi Divine Power was transmitted directly from the Divine Tower to Ye Chen.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, the protective divine light around Ye Chen''s body, as if infused by a brilliant golden radiance, immediately turned into a shade of Crimson Gold!


    The aura and pressure from Ye Chen surged, becoming more than ten times mightier!


    Most notably, countless Starry Origin Powers directly converged within the hand Ye Chen held in the air, forming a golden Divine Sword.


    Then, holding this golden Divine Sword, Ye Chen fiercely slashed towards the heavens of this World of the Death Fruit.


    An astounding event occurred.


    In that instant, a horrifying aura beam, tens of thousands of zhang in length, emanated from the tip of the golden Divine Sword, formed by the Starry Origin Powers in Ye Chen''s hand.


    These aura beams were also condensed from the Starry Origin Power!


    The Starry Origin Power is even more powerful than the Taiyi Divine Power cultivated from the fifth chapter "Taiyi Chapter" of his Primordial Star Scripture.


    After these beams were slashed out, the entire void shattered wave after wave, and what''s more terrifying is that, within these shattered voids, the power formed by the Starry Origin Power did not dissipate at all, continuing to shoot towards the heavens like polar lightning.


    Finally, this unmatched golden aura beam penetrated infinite distances, striking a spot upon the Void Heaven fiercely.


    In an instant, a series of terrifying sounds "boom boom boom" erupted, making this entire World of the Death Fruit where Ye Chen was located tremble uncontrollably as if it couldn''t withstand the immense force of the Starry Origin Power.


    This strike from Ye Chen made the entire realm of the Death Fruit tremble!


    Seeing this, Ye Chen was overjoyed inside.


    If even his most powerful, Starry Origin Power invoking self-created move couldn''t shake this World of the Death Fruit at all, then he truly would be powerless.


    However, now, since the small world was trembling, it indicated that Ye Chen indeed had a possibility to shatter this small world!


    Thinking of this.


    Ye Chen did not hesitate any longer.


    Between gritted teeth, Ye Chen drew out all the Starry Origin Power he could muster, eventually gathering another wave of sky-shocking Divine Light, slashing toward the heavens of this small world.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    This sword slash was even more terrifying than the previous one.


    Merely the horrifying aura it emitted caused the thousand Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures besieging Ye Chen to scatter in terror, fleeing in all directions.


    And within this sword, the ultimate killing power of wind, fire, rain, and thunder were all condensed, finally converging into a streak of lightning, forming the terrifying "Origin Slash."


    Finally, this sword directly struck at the prohibition area of the heavens in this World of the Death Fruit.


    Thunderous rumbling.


    This time, the degree to which this small world violently trembled was even more intense than before, even causing the ground to roll out countless soils due to the terrifying vibrations.


    Some realms even directly cracked open with terrifying ravines tens of thousands of zhang long!


    But, it was useless.


    This World of the Death Fruit still did not shatter, regardless of how violently it shook, it still withstood the attack of Ye Chen''s strongest "Origin Slash First Style"!Moreover, after Ye Chen withdrew his attack, the entire World of the Death Fruit returned to its original state, as if it possessed some unknown restorative function!


    "It''s not working."


    "Still not working."


    "My ''Origin Slash First Style,'' can shake this World of the Death Fruit, but still cannot break it."


    Ye Chen''s eyes flashed with a sharp glint as he looked up at the heavens, muttering to himself.


    Although this strike failed, there was no trace of frustration on Ye Chen''s face at this moment.


    On the contrary, the light of anticipation in Ye Chen''s eyes grew even stronger!


    "Although it failed, the previous strike has already proven that I am not far from breaking this little world."


    "If I can invoke even more Starry Origin Power for attack, if I can create an even more powerful ''Origin Slash Second Style'', perhaps I could shatter this world! And escape this deadly trap of the Death Fruit!"


    When there''s hope, go for it.


    Even if you can''t reach the goal now, as long as you strive, there will always be a moment when you can reach the goal!


    "The first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s large world, I have half a year''s time to venture."


    "Over a month has passed, and there are a little over four months left."


    "I must leave the World of the Death Fruit within these next four months; otherwise, even if I manage to leave here, failing to complete the tasks of the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World will result in being forever sealed within it."


    "I have hopes of breaking the World of the Death Fruit, but I absolutely cannot break through the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World, not even if I become a Sovereign!"


    "Under such circumstances, I must strive to enhance the power of ''Origin Slash'' and increase the starry origin power I can harness within these four months! I need to leave here earlier to complete the tasks of the first layer of the Great World!"


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen could not afford to waste any time.


    The four months were incredibly short, especially for creating a stronger form of his self-developed technique, "The Second Style of Origin Slash."


    Ye Chen naturally would not waste a single moment.


    In an instant, Ye Chen directly sat cross-legged in the void, completely ignoring the sky-shocking giant beasts that kept lunging at him, immersing all his Mind and Spirit in creating a stronger technique.


    These mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable level sky-shocking giant beasts could not affect Ye Chen''s cultivation.


    The hands return to the heart; the heart unifies as one.


    Ye Chen, under constant attack by over a thousand Sky-shocking Demonic Creatures and deep within the perilous World of the Death Fruit, swiftly entered a state of exceedingly calm cultivation and comprehension.


    Days passed one by one...


    In a blink, Ye Chen had been in the World of the Death Fruit for over a month. Thus, counting altogether the 530,000 God Kings who entered the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World, three months had passed.


    In these three months, other than God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han who perished within the Death Fruit, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was still in the midst of a breakthrough in his cultivation.


    And the fate of the other God Kings in various parts of the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World differed, just like Ye Chen''s team.


    A large number of them had already perished at the hands of the assassins in the Domain of Sin.


    Similarly, some had already completed the tasks listed on the Heavenly God List by killing enough assassins from the Domain of Sin, merely waiting for half a year to pass to step into the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World.


    Naturally, many others were still amidst the process of seeking opportunities while completing their tasks.


    Among these, a large number had fallen into the deadly traps set by Heavenly God Mountain itself, just like God King Mo Li and God King Fang Han, losing their lives.


    Those who had significant breakthroughs were few and far between!


    After three months had passed, out of the 530,000 God Kings who entered the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World, only slightly more than 360,000 remained.


    After four months, even fewer survived, with only over 100,000 God Kings left!


    Ye Chen was unaware of the chaotic changes outside, nor did he have the capacity to know.


    When it came time for the fifth month of everyone entering the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World, Ye Chen had already been comprehending for over three months within the Death Fruit!


    On this day.


    Ye Chen, who was sitting cross-legged over the Void Heaven of the World of the Death Fruit, suddenly stood up from his seated position.


    He reached out with his immense hand into the void, and an endless oppressive force surged out like massive waves, roaring towards the entire realm of the World of the Death Fruit.


    The mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerable sky-shocking giant beasts that had been attacking Ye Chen for over three months, this time, were even more terrified than when Ye Chen had previously executed "The First Style of Origin Slash."


    Instantly, the Sky-shocking giant beasts assaulting Ye Chen were terrified into disappearing without a trace by the dreadful oppressive power emanating from him!


    At this moment, however, Ye Chen did not care about these giant beasts. Standing up, his eyes once again looked towards the Polar Heaven above this small world.


    "Over three months."


    "Finally, I have summarized and created a new style of killing technique."


    "If the previous ''The First Style of Origin Slash'' was my use of countless cultivation techniques merged with the powers of wind, fire, rain, thunder, all infused into the Extreme Electric Killing Power, forming a single killing technique."


    "Then this new style I''ve added a new force¡ªthe power of Yin and Yang!"


    "Let''s try this move and see if it can break through this World of the Death Fruit!"


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s hand made a grasping motion, and a golden Divine Sword once again appeared in his palm.


    At the overlap of this golden Divine Sword, a shadow of a dark Divine Sword was also visible.


    This dark Divine Sword shadow clearly represents the "Dark Side of Yin" in "Yin and Yang."


    Ye Chen''s new killing technique shockingly displayed two completely different Divine Swords representing Yin and Yang!


    Following this, the two great Divine Swords shuddered, unleashing boundless Starry Origin Power, which was emanated from the brightly illuminated star within the Star Disk of the Stars Tower inside Ye Chen''s body.


    The Starry Origin Power emitted this time was three times more than the previous one!


    After over three months of intense cultivation, the Starry Origin Power that Ye Chen could harness had experienced a qualitative improvement.</p

 Chapter 889 - 839: The Voice from the Depths of Heavenly God Mountain

    One sword shatters the mini world!


    The World of the Death Fruit is now broken; this mini world can no longer trap Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen''s months of grueling cultivation have finally paid off. His relentless perseverance has finally paid off.


    He will no longer die within the World of the Death Fruit.


    "That blood-colored stele said, ''Death Fruit, death without life.'' It seems that it''s not truly death without life!"


    At the moment of the shattering of the World of the Death Fruit, Ye Chen''s gaze was directed towards the blood-colored stele he had seen earlier.


    At that glance, Ye Chen''s eyes narrowed.


    Behind the sixteen-character Divine Script on the original blood-colored stele "Heaven and Earth create, fortune is the apex; Death Fruit, death without life!" another sixteen characters had emerged.


    These sixteen characters were startlingly: "Combat power undefeated, fighting spirit unextinguished; reversing fortune, transcending life and death!"


    Right after Ye Chen murmured these sixteen characters, the entire World of the Death Fruit collapsed completely, and along with this blood-colored stele, vanished without a trace.


    The next moment.


    Ye Chen found that, after leaving the World of the Death Fruit, he had not returned to the vicinity of the Cold Pool Fruit Tree where he entered before the Death Fruit, but appeared in the midst of a hall complex overflowing with Divine Light.


    In the middle of this hall complex was an immense square, and at this time, Ye Chen was at the center of it.


    Ahead was the main hall of this hall complex, to the left, right, and behind lay the three regions of the Sub Palaces.


    "Breaking out of the World of the Death Fruit, I didn''t return to the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s great world?"


    "Where is this place?"


    Ye Chen''s complexion changed dramatically as he surveyed the surrounding hall complex.


    If he were to be trapped in yet another mini world for several months, then he truly wouldn''t have the time to complete the tasks of the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s great world.


    While Ye Chen''s face showed sudden change, within this hall complex radiating Divine Light, a beam of Divine Light flew straight towards him; with a speed Ye Chen simply could not evade, it shot directly into his mind.


    This beam of Divine Light was actually a transmission of Divine Sense.


    A Divine Sense transmission containing the information about this hall complex!


    After reading through the Divine Sense transmission, Ye Chen''s expression became one of extreme joy: "The Abandoned Land, it is indeed The Abandoned Land!"


    ...


    As Ye Chen shattered the World of the Death Fruit and entered another mysterious secret ground.


    Ye Chen did not know that deep within Heavenly God Mountain, in a place in the fourth layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s great world not meant for exploration, mystical sounds of surprise were emerging.


    These sounds of surprise were not from one individual alone.


    The first to speak was an extremely aged voice: "It''s been a long time since anyone trapped in Death''s Mini World could be reborn. Even more peculiar is the means this youngster used to break the mini world!"


    Another hoary voice also said: "Compassionate Divine Master, you''ve also noticed something off, that youngster''s method seems to be ''origin power''!"


    "A Lower God King Realm, actually able to wield ''origin power''?" The third aged voice revealed an incredulous tone, "Could it be, this youngster, is the heir of which major figure from the Cosmic Sea?"


    "He definitely is the heir of some major figure!" affirmed the first aged voice, "Moreover, that youngster''s ''origin power'' must have been left to him by that major figure. Otherwise, with his Divine King Realm, it''s impossible for him to directly cultivate ''origin power''."


    Hearing these words, the third aged voice took a deep breath and added: "For a Lower Divine King to exhibit such a level of origin power, that major figure''s Realm must be extremely high, most likely at the pinnacle of the ''Cosmic Emperor Realm''! And even more so, it might be an existence of the ''Star Lord Realm'' which surpasses the ''Cosmic Emperor''!"


    "''Star Lord Realm''? Impossible?!"


    Several voices that had not spoken before now resounded in turn: "That''s a true dominant figure in the Cosmic Sea, how could their legacy enter into this small Divine Kingdom?"


    The second aged voice also spoke: "Whether it''s a ''Great Emperor'' or a ''Star Lord'', these two levels of great figures are definitely not ones that we, as mere Divine Masters, can provoke. Forget it, we''ve been ordered by the Ancestral God Temple to guard Heavenly God Mountain, and must not interfere with any matters of trial within Heavenly God Mountain. Regardless of which level that youngster is an heir to, we should not disturb him."


    The remaining voices chimed in: "Indeed, we must not disturb him. Had he not shattered Death''s Mini World, it wouldn''t have even drawn our attention."


    "Now that he has entered ''The Abandoned Land,'' that in itself is a reward for shattering Death''s Mini World, let''s see how much fortune he can gain from it."


    "Hmm, let''s watch."


    After this exchange, silence returned to this mysterious secret ground.


    ...


    Ye Chen had no idea that Heavenly God Mountain was hiding a group of special characters.


    Even more unbeknownst to him, these special characters had mentioned a realm he had never heard of, the "Cosmic Emperor Realm," and they speculated that he was the heir of a "Star Lord" figure, paying even greater attention to his adventures in The Lost Land at this moment.


    Now, all of Ye Chen''s energy was focused on the group of palaces radiating with Divine Light before him.


    According to the Divine Sense message that had entered his mind earlier, this palace complex was an abandoned cultivation site of a being who surpassed even the Sovereigns.


    An existence that surpasses the Sovereigns!


    Even an abandoned site was bound to have wondrous things left behind in these palaces.


    After all, even the items deemed trivial by an existence that surpassed the Sovereigns were absolutely invaluable to a Divine King like Ye Chen, let alone the even more powerful Divine Venerables and Sovereigns.


    "Only three days'' time!"


    "According to the Divine Sense message, only those who have shattered the Death''s Mini World can enter such an abandoned place to search for opportunities, and they only have three days to do so," said Ye Chen.


    "After three days, one will be directly transported back into the first layer of the grand world of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "What kind of gains one can make in these palaces abandoned by ''an existence that surpasses the Sovereigns'' will depend on these three days of achievement!"


    Thinking this, how could Ye Chen hesitate any longer?


    Whoosh.


    With a flicker of his figure, he flew straight towards the palace at the very forefront of the palace complex.


    This was the main hall of the palace complex.


    The main hall was clearly the most precious place in the abandoned realm left behind by "the existence that surpasses the Sovereigns."


    However, before Ye Chen even reached the entrance of the main hall, he felt a powerful repelling force coming at him.


    When Ye Chen was still over fifty yards from the entrance of the main hall, he was directly repelled by the powerful force and couldn''t advance any further!


    It seems that even though this palace complex was an abandoned land, it still retained some prohibitions.


    Of course, Ye Chen didn''t want to leave empty-handed.


    Boom!


    In an instant, Ye Chen stretched out his hand, and a slash akin to lightning struck towards the prohibition in front of him.


    Though it was a casual attack from Ye Chen, this lightning slash was powerful enough to kill a being of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable rank on the outside.


    But when this slash attacked the prohibition in front, it was directly repelled by an even stronger repelling force, even blasting Ye Chen hundreds of yards backwards!


    Ye Chen''s complexion changed dramatically.


    His figure flashed again, reappearing at the place he was blocked before, and without any hesitation, he used "Origin Slash First Form" as his attack.


    The Origin Slash First Form was so powerful that it could shake the World of the Death Fruit from before.


    However, when it attacked the prohibition of the main hall in front, it had no effect whatsoever, similarly repelled by the powerful force and finally reflecting back on Ye Chen himself.


    Ye Chen was blown away once again!


    Ultimately, even after Ye Chen used countless techniques, none of them had any effect on the prohibition of the main hall.


    Ye Chen remained barred over fifty yards outside the main hall''s gate.


    "It seems that with my power, I can''t enter the main hall of this Lost Land," he reasoned.


    A disappointed look appeared on Ye Chen''s face.


    However, Ye Chen was not someone who didn''t understand the idea of choosing wisely.


    He had only three days to explore this abandoned land.


    Unable to enter the main hall, Ye Chen no longer wasted time and, with a flash of his figure, flew straight towards the Sub Palace on the right side of the palace complex.


    Outside the Sub Palace, there were also formidable prohibitions.


    But this time, when Ye Chen used the "Origin Slash First Form," he successfully broke the Sub Palace''s prohibition and directly flew to the entrance.


    Ye Chen had thought that the Sub Palace entrance might also be barred by prohibitions, but to his surprise, this time, he was able to effortlessly push open the door of the Sub Palace.

 Chapter 890 - 840 Meditation Cushion, Gong, Divine Incense

    As Ye Chen pushed open the door to the Sub Palace, the first sight that met his eyes was a vast, empty hall.


    Ye Chen observed that apart from a few objects in this grand hall, there were none other besides several meditation cushions scattered across the floor.


    These cushions varied in size, with the foremost one being slightly larger and the twenty-five others smaller in comparison.


    "It seems this hall is a place dedicated to quiet cultivation."


    "One large meditation cushion, and twenty-five smaller ones. Could it be that the master of this ''Abandoned Land''¡ªthe one known as the ''supreme existence''¡ªhad twenty-five disciples who meditated here often?"


    Ye Chen speculated that if the ''supreme existence'' had only cultivated alone, it would not be likely to have twenty-five additional smaller cushions placed here.


    Regardless of how many people might have lived in this ''Abandoned Land,'' what mattered most to Ye Chen now was what could be useful to him.


    Ye Chen walked directly toward the largest cushion, examining the others as he moved.


    These cushions were crafted from unknown materials, emitting an unparalleled fresh fragrance along with a dense aura of Divine Power.


    Simply standing in this hall made Ye Chen feel incredibly comfortable.


    However, once Ye Chen sat cross-legged on the largest cushion, he was even more delighted to find torrents of incredibly potent Divine Power surging into his body.


    Had he not already cultivated to the peak level of the Lower God King Realm, unable to absorb any more Divine Power before a breakthrough, he would have been able to accelerate his cultivation here by dozens of times compared to ordinary circumstances!


    Ye Chen even felt that cultivating on this large cushion might allow him to sense the bottleneck to break from the Lower God King to the Middle God King Realm¡ªand achieve a breakthrough in one stroke!


    "It''s a pity I can only stay in this ''Abandoned Land'' for three days, and during this time, I must hunt for treasures rather than focusing on cultivation."


    Ye Chen sighed softly.


    Yet, a glint of determination flashed across his eyes.


    If he couldn''t cultivate here, he could take the cushion with him instead! Then, he could cultivate once he left this Abandoned Land!


    Thinking so, Ye Chen promptly stood up from the cushion and reached out with his hand to grab the larger cushion, attempting to store it in his Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    But to Ye Chen''s surprise, his effort to grab the cushion resulted in no movement, as though it was being anchored by an incomprehensible force!


    Ye Chen''s grip wasn''t the kind you would take lightly¡ªhis sheer strength could effortlessly lift a towering Giant Mountain, even with minimal effort.


    Yet, he found himself unable to move a single "tiny" cushion, leaving him baffled.


    Ye Chen turned his palm over and applied greater force toward the cushion, but still, the large cushion seemed rooted to the spot.


    Finally, even after pouring all of his Divine Power into his grip, the cushion remained immovable.


    Frustration.


    This was the second time Ye Chen had felt the sting of failure since entering this Abandoned Land.


    First, he had been denied entry into the Main Hall, and now he couldn''t even claim a meditation cushion.


    This deepened Ye Chen''s reverence for the Abandoned Land belonging to the ''supreme existence,'' while also giving him greater clarity about his own combat power.


    "Though I am already considered overwhelmingly strong by the standards of many Heavenly Divine Venerables, I still pale in comparison to the supreme existence!"


    "Even the abandoned relics of this supreme existence defy my attempts to claim them."


    After his moment of reflection, Ye Chen turned his gaze toward the twenty-five smaller cushions.


    If he couldn''t take the large cushion, perhaps he could retrieve the smaller ones.


    "I wonder if these smaller cushions will be as difficult to claim."


    Ye Chen reached for a smaller cushion and immediately felt a tremendous resistance against his grip, challenging him to exert more force. Only after using ninety percent of his strength did the cushion finally rise.


    Ye Chen''s face lit up with delight.


    Success.


    He could retrieve it!


    Once the cushion levitated from the ground, it became unexpectedly lightweight, and holding it felt as though it were as light as a feather.


    With the cushion in hand, Ye Chen sensed waves of Divine Power flowing into his body.


    While its effect couldn''t compare to the largest cushion, its potency was still ten times faster than Ye Chen''s regular cultivation speed.


    "A fine treasure nonetheless!"


    Ye Chen smiled and with a flash of Divine Light, he stored the small cushion in his Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Next, Ye Chen proceeded to collect the remaining twenty-four smaller cushions from the ground.


    By the end of his efforts, the hall that once housed the cushions now contained only the largest one.


    Gazing at the nearly barren hall, Ye Chen took a step toward a corner passage leading to the Side Hall.


    This corridor connected to twenty-five rooms.


    Using Divine Sense, Ye Chen scanned the area and confirmed¡ªthere were indeed twenty-five rooms.


    It seemed likely these rooms once housed the disciples of the supreme existence.


    All the doors were tightly shut, and Ye Chen couldn''t probe their interiors with Divine Sense, so he pushed the first door open.


    This room was meticulously clean, containing only a bed frame without any bedding.


    "It appears that these disciples took all their valuable possessions with them when they left."


    Ye Chen shook his head.


    As for the bed frame...


    Ye Chen discovered that its effects were similar to the cushions he had just collected. Since he now had twenty-five cushions, he didn''t find the bed frame particularly enticing.


    Exiting the first room, Ye Chen proceeded to investigate the rest.


    The second room¡ªempty.


    The third room¡ªalso empty.


    It wasn''t until Ye Chen reached the thirteenth room that his eyes finally gleamed with excitement.


    This room wasn''t utterly barren; it contained several items.


    Aside from the bed and a cushion similar to those he''d collected earlier, Ye Chen noticed a copper gong hanging on the wall and a mysterious wooden hammer placed on the floor beside it.


    Neither the gong nor the hammer emitted a trace of Divine Light, resembling mundane items, but Ye Chen knew better¡ªthey were treasures!


    After all, relics left behind by the disciples of a ''supreme existence'' were unlikely to be ordinary.


    Without hesitation, Ye Chen picked up the copper gong along with the hammer.


    Both were staggeringly heavy, as if holding two Giant Mountains in his hands!


    Even more shocking, the instant Ye Chen grasped the hammer, his Divine Power began pouring into it like a raging river.


    If Ye Chen hadn''t reacted swiftly by tossing the hammer away, he might have been completely drained of his Divine Power within two breaths!


    Despite his quick actions to halt the flow, the hammer had already absorbed eighty percent of his Divine Power in mere moments.


    As Ye Chen''s expression changed drastically, the discarded hammer began radiating Divine Light and autonomously struck the copper gong.


    A deep, resonant "dong" reverberated through the room.


    Immediately, Ye Chen felt the entire room sealed by an invisible force, and even the remaining twenty percent of his Divine Power was rendered inert.


    This oppressive restriction reminded Ye Chen of the overwhelming aura of a Sovereign Realm entity!


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit trembled violently.


    "Incredible."


    "What kind of relics are this gong and hammer?!"


    "Even with eighty percent of my Divine Power drained, I couldn''t imagine a mere hammer creating a Sovereign Realm-like restriction. Could it be that the hammer and gong amplify the absorbed Divine Power to produce higher-level effects?!"


    For an entire half-cup of tea''s time, Ye Chen remained imprisoned by this restrictive force.


    Once the effects finally dissipated, Ye Chen wasted no time sitting down to recover the Divine Power drained from him.


    When his energy was fully restored, Ye Chen cautiously examined the copper gong and hammer again.


    "These relics are undoubtedly an extraordinary treasure!"


    "With these items at my disposal, I might even be able to immobilize an Immortal Divine Venerable for a while!"


    "And this is merely my current capacity. If I had more Divine Power to pour into the hammer, its restrictive force and duration might grow even stronger!"


    After further scrutiny, Ye Chen carefully stored the gong and hammer into his Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    These relics, he decided, would require thorough study once he left the Abandoned Land.


    Judging from their latent potential, Ye Chen suspected they might become his ultimate trump card.


    Now was not the time for an in-depth exploration though; the time spent recovering his strength had already been substantial. Ye Chen grabbed the small cushion in the room and left.


    Moving onward, Ye Chen investigated the remaining rooms.


    However, most of the remaining rooms yielded nothing, just like the earlier ones.


    It wasn''t until the penultimate room that Ye Chen discovered an incense burner and a partially burned Divine Incense.


    Even as Ye Chen found the Divine Incense still lit, the room bore no other clues about the time that had passed since the Abandoned Land was deserted, nor how long the incense had burned.


    Upon smelling it, Ye Chen immediately felt the Divine Incense''s effects on cultivation were even greater than those of the cushions.


    Ye Chen extinguished the Divine Incense and discovered that it could be reignited by channeling Divine Power. After testing this property briefly, he packed away both the incense burner and the Divine Incense.


    With this done, Ye Chen stepped into the final room.


    The last room, like many before it, was barren.


    Having searched all twenty-five rooms and thoroughly combed the Sub Palace without uncovering anything further, Ye Chen left the right side of the Sub Palace and emerged into the plaza.


    A flicker in the air marked Ye Chen''s swift movement as he headed toward the Side Hall on the left.


    With the Main Hall inaccessible and the right Side Hall fully explored, Ye Chen wouldn''t miss the opportunity to seek treasures in the left Side Hall¡ªor the rear Side Hall, for that matter.

 Chapter 891 - 841: Mysterious Herb Garden

    After breaking through the protective barrier of the left side hall, Ye Chen stepped directly into the side hall.


    Inside this left side hall, there were rows upon rows of bookshelves. Judging by the appearance, this place seemed to be the Secret Pavilion of Martial Arts and Divine Skills belonging to the entity "beyond the Sovereign."


    The Secret Pavilion of Martial Arts and Divine Skills should logically be the most precious place in a strong cultivator''s residence.


    However, at this moment, as Ye Chen entered the left side hall, his face was full of disappointment.


    The cultivation technique and divine arts scriptures on the bookshelves had already been moved away, leaving all the shelves completely empty!


    Evidently, the entity "beyond the Sovereign" had taken all the scriptures when abandoning this great hall.


    Ye Chen searched through the dozens of rooms within the left side hall but did not find a single discovery¡ªthoroughly, he had come back empty-handed!


    When he exited the left side hall and returned to the plaza, Ye Chen sighed, "Abandoned Land indeed, so little has been left behind."


    "The main hall is inaccessible, the right side hall yielded some discoveries, yet this left side hall brought nothing at all. There''s only one last side hall corresponding with the main hall in the rear left to search."


    "Hopefully, this last side hall won''t leave me empty-handed again!"


    Speaking, Ye Chen stepped forward toward the rear side hall behind the plaza.


    The precious three-day treasure hunt time was Ye Chen''s well-earned reward for escaping from the World of the Death Fruit alive.


    Although he had already discovered valuable "meditation cushions," the mysterious "bronze gong and wooden mallet treasure," and the uniquely special "divine incense" in the right side hall, proving to be sizable rewards,


    Ye Chen naturally wasn''t satisfied to stop there and undeniably sought even more treasures.


    With anticipation and tension in his heart, Ye Chen broke through the protective barrier of the rear side hall and flew into the final hall.


    Once inside, Ye Chen saw rows of empty rooms again, just as bare.


    Having searched through dozens of rooms with not a single gain, Ye Chen was deeply disappointed¡ªbut then came the hall''s remaining corner, which made Ye Chen call out in surprise.


    Sure enough, after passing through dozens of rooms, within an empty space surrounded by corridors emerged a vast medicinal garden.


    The garden had been divided into eight sections, three of which had already been harvested. However, five sections remained filled with treasures of divine medicines glowing brilliantly!


    Even more exceptional, Ye Chen''s eyes were directly drawn to two sections of the garden.


    Because, within these sections, dozens of plants he recognized so well were precisely the materials he had been searching for¡ªa portion of the ingredients required for crafting the remaining law patterns for the Eternal Immortal Divine Body!


    To cultivate the Eternal Immortal Divine Body requires mastering five divine body law patterns: "Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Chaos."


    Back in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Mrs. He had prepared nearly all of the materials needed for these five divine body patterns, allowing Ye Chen to successfully cultivate the first "Earth Divine Pattern."


    However, the materials for the remaining four¡ª"Fire, Water, Wind, and Chaos Divine Patterns"¡ªwere still incomplete.


    It is well-known that within the Eternal Immortal Divine Body, the later divine patterns grow increasingly powerful. Even with just the Earth Divine Pattern, Ye Chen''s divine body stood unmatched, and naturally, he sought to master the remaining patterns.


    But beyond the immense difficulty of cultivation, simply lacking the required materials already halted Ye Chen''s progression entirely.


    Now, finding the necessary materials in the medicinal garden within the Abandoned Land naturally left Ye Chen overjoyed!


    "Purple Bellflower¡ªthis is the essential material to craft the ''Fire Element Divine Body Law Pattern!''"


    "Cold Wind Grass¡ªthis is one of the seventy-two main ingredients for crafting the ''Wind Element Divine Body Law Pattern!''"


    "And, Crystal Spirit Profound Leaf, Heavenly Wound Flower, Redwood Root..."


    "There are as many as twenty-eight materials here that I need!"


    "Moreover, these materials are all in their mature phase, with even higher ages than the minimum required for refining the Eternal Immortal Divine Body¡ªthese far exceed expectations!"


    Ye Chen meticulously counted the medicinal plants he recognized one by one and eagerly gathered them.


    After collecting these materials, Ye Chen assessed the inventory of his stored materials, and his mind and spirit shook.


    "With these materials from the medicinal garden, I''ve gathered all the ingredients for the Wind Divine Pattern for the Eternal Immortal Divine Body. Now, only Fire, Water, and Chaos remain lacking."


    "Does this mean that after cultivating the Earth Divine Pattern, I can now proceed with cultivating the Wind Divine Pattern?!"


    How could Ye Chen not be utterly thrilled?


    The Wind Divine Pattern of the Eternal Immortal Divine Body ranks second only to the Chaos Divine Pattern among the five divine patterns.


    Being able to gather the materials for such a critical divine pattern naturally left Ye Chen deeply satisfied.


    Once he mastered this pattern, the capabilities of his Eternal Immortal Divine Body would grow exponentially stronger!


    After a surge of joy and excitement, Ye Chen shifted his attention to the remaining unharvested plants in the medicinal garden.


    Cultivating the Wind Divine Pattern for the Eternal Immortal Divine Body cannot be accomplished in an instant, and with only three days allotted for the treasure hunt, Ye Chen clearly wouldn''t begin cultivation then.


    His priority was to locate and secure all valuable treasures first!


    However, besides the plants that Ye Chen could identify, there were many medicinal plants remaining that Ye Chen could not recognize at all.


    "Judging by the distribution of the medicinal garden, the closer to the center, the more precious the medicinal plants appear."


    "Those three sections harvested by the entity ''beyond the Sovereign'' belonged to the innermost areas, whereas the sections containing the materials for the Eternal Immortal Divine Body were on the outermost edges."


    "I suspect the remaining unidentified medicinal plants might be even more extraordinary than those for the Eternal Immortal Divine Body."


    With a swift movement, Ye Chen first gathered all unidentified plants in the two sections containing the materials for the Eternal Immortal Divine Body.


    Next, he approached the plants cultivated in the last three sections.


    Each of these three sections contained one unique type of medicinal plant.


    It was unclear whether the entity "beyond the Sovereign" had left these plants behind due to their immaturity or if they were perpetual producers, harvested from time to time, with fresh growth always emerging.


    Ye Chen first examined the plants in the first section.


    These were golden flowering plants, with each plant bearing a fully bloomed golden flower.


    Within the section, Ye Chen counted a total of ninety-eight plants, each carrying ninety-eight golden flowers.


    Although Ye Chen wasn''t sure of their uses, simply observing the divine light emitted by these golden flowers made it clear they were no ordinary objects!


    When Ye Chen attempted to harvest them, he discovered that the stalks of these plants were incomparably sturdy, far tougher compared to the plants needed for the Eternal Immortal Divine Body.


    Ultimately, Ye Chen summoned the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills to sever the stems, collecting the golden flowers into the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Unknown to Ye Chen, after he stored the ninety-eight golden flowers inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, Xiaojiu¡ªa spirit within¡ªrevealed an expression of profound shock.


    With disbelief etched across Xiaojiu''s face, it muttered, "These are Primordial Gold Divine Flowers! How could Ye Chen possibly discover Primordial Gold Divine Flowers?!"


    Ever since entering Heavenly God Mountain, Xiaojiu''s divine sense had been restricted within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, rendering it unable to communicate with Ye Chen.


    Otherwise, Xiaojiu would have eagerly told Ye Chen just how exceptional these Primordial Gold Divine Flowers were!


    Back in the medicinal garden,


    Ye Chen, oblivious to Xiaojiu''s reaction, continued harvesting the ninety-eight golden flowers.


    After finishing, he attempted to gather the roots and stems of these plants but found them impossible to collect. He then proceeded to the next section of the medicinal garden.


    Adjacent to the golden flowers was a section filled with three-foot-tall green plants, bearing small red fruit about the size of peach pits.


    When Ye Chen plucked one of the red fruits, it astonishingly shriveled in his hand, withering into nothingness until even the seed dissolved into thin air.


    "Could it be that they can''t be picked directly?"


    Ye Chen tapped into his divine power to envelope the fruit, but the outcome was the same¡ªonce detached from the plant, the fruit collapsed into the void.


    This astonished Ye Chen endlessly!


    These red fruits seemed impossible to gather.


    Ye Chen tried numerous methods, from spatial treasures to divine soul power, yet nothing proved effective. Each fruit dissolved as soon as it left the host plant.


    At last, Ye Chen even tried uprooting the entire plant, only to find the plant, along with its fruits, disintegrating into nothingness the moment it left the soil of the medicinal garden.


    Ye Chen stood helpless¡ªthough he was sure these red fruits were extraordinary, he remained unable to claim them.


    What Ye Chen didn''t know, however, was that within the mystical realm deep within Heavenly God Mountain, voices of aged guardians were speaking.


    One voice chuckled, "This Abandoned Land seems to have been left behind by the Thousand Agriculture Divine Monarch."


    "The boy may easily gather most things here, but he''d need the monarch''s legendary Jade Striker to harvest the Heavenly Fate Fruit¡ªwithout it, it''s impossible."


    Another laugh echoed, "Indeed, the Heavenly Fate Fruit is exceptional. Even in the Cosmic Sea, it remains highly prized for us Divine Masters. For mortals of this universe, eating even one Heavenly Fate Fruit would extend their lifespan by ten thousand years and render them gods overnight!"


    "Alas, as Heavenly God Mountain''s guardians, we cannot claim the treasures hidden here, nor can this boy. This fruit remains beyond both our reach."


    Ye Chen was entirely unaware of the sentinels'' dialogue nor the profound significance of the uncollectable red fruits.


    After exhausting all possibilities for collecting the fruits, Ye Chen advanced toward the final section of the medicinal garden.


    In this section grew plants resembling green scallions. The top half was brilliant jade-green, while the bottom half gleamed with spotless white.


    When Ye Chen used his divine power to dig out the plant, tendrils of interwoven green and white threads suddenly emerged from the plant, tightly enveloping his divine power and swiftly devouring it.


    When Ye Chen used the techniques of his Eternal Immortal Divine Body and reached out directly to grab one of the plants, the green-white threads wrapped tightly around his hand, dangerously entangling his divine body.


    Reacting swiftly, Ye Chen activated the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills to cut through the threads¡ªonly narrowly averting being completely ensnared by the strange plant strands.

 Chapter 892 - 842: The Astonished Hua Xuelian

    The more troublesome thing is that the green and white threads emitted by these plants seem endless.


    Ye Chen cut off some, but then more threads burst out.


    In the end, Ye Chen spent more than two days to successfully excavate two such plants and sealed them in two medicine boxes, storing them inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Considering the time left before leaving the "Abandoned Land," Ye Chen decided not to continue digging for more of these plants.


    What Ye Chen didn''t know was that these two plants, which he spent so much effort to collect, would bring him the greatest fortune from this trip to the "Abandoned Land!"


    Of course, that''s a story for another time.


    At this moment, Ye Chen doesn''t know the use of these plants.


    After searching the entire medicine garden and the sub-palace at the back one more time without any new discoveries, Ye Chen flew back to the square in the center of the great hall clusters.


    "The three days for treasure hunting are almost over."


    "Soon, I''ll be able to leave this ''Abandoned Land'' and return to the first layer of the Great World of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    Standing in the void above the square, Ye Chen''s eyes flashed with sharp light.


    In these three days of treasure hunting, he had great gains.


    He found over twenty meditation cushions that can improve cultivation speed, a "copper gong and wooden mallet" that can absorb divine power and even emit Sovereign-level binding power, and divine incense that is greatly beneficial for cultivation.


    Additionally, he discovered Eternal God Body cultivation materials in the medicine garden, the mysterious ninety-eight golden flowers, and those two green onion-like plants.


    The discovery of the Eternal God Body cultivation materials alone made Ye Chen''s trip to the "Abandoned Land" worthwhile!


    However, this was not the time to consider these treasures.


    Ye Chen had more important matters awaiting him.


    That is, to complete the task of the first layer of the Great World of Heavenly God Mountain!


    "Having been delayed in the World of the Death Fruit for some time, there are only twenty days left to complete the task of the first layer of the Great World."


    "I haven''t completed my task yet!"


    Ye Chen''s task in the first layer of the Great World requires him to kill ten Blue Light Assassins and Villains and three Purple Light Assassins and Villains.


    At this point, he has only killed seven Blue Light Assassins and Villains, and not even one Purple Light Assassin and Villain.


    This added a lot of pressure on Ye Chen, who originally felt he was not under much pressure to complete the task.


    After all, if he couldn''t complete the task and was sealed in the first layer of the Great World, it would be over for him.


    "Once I leave this ''Abandoned Land,'' I''ll focus on completing the task first, regardless of other matters!"


    "Now, for me, never mind Blue Light Assassins and Purple Light Assassins, I can even handle stronger enemies like the Lower Immortal Divine Venerable-level Golden Light Assassins."


    Ye Chen spent months trapped in the World of the Death Fruit, not in vain.


    He created the "Origin Slash Second Style," capable of slicing through the World of the Death Fruit, so how could he fear the small fry Blue Light and Purple Light Assassins?


    He must complete his task!


    Time quickly passed.


    The moment came for Ye Chen to leave the "Abandoned Land" and return to the first layer of the Great World of Heavenly God Mountain.


    ...


    Chaotic Wind Sea Area.


    It is a huge sea area located on the west side of the first layer of the Great World of Heavenly God Mountain.


    The name "Chaotic Wind Sea Area" was given by some Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom.


    This is because violent hurricanes continuously sweep across the sea surface and void, making the entire sea area seem to be in eternal chaos!


    At this moment, in the void of the Chaotic Wind Sea Area, more than thirty figures are frantically fleeing, while behind them, seven figures exuding purple divine light leisurely pursue the group of thirty-something people.


    The seven figures do not rush to overtake the thirty-something figures ahead but instead seem to toy with them, maintaining a leisurely speed so they are neither distanced nor caught up quickly.


    The faces of these seven figures wear mocking smiles, appearing completely relaxed.


    But the thirty-something figures fleeing in front are drenched in sweat, their clothes soaked, and their divine power has been significantly depleted!


    A glance at their garments reveals, to great shock, that these fleeing figures are actually over thirty Divine Kings from the strongest Qianjue Divine Kingdom among the five competing in the Heavenly God Mountain this time.


    Among them, even Hua Xuelian, a top expert ranked in the first area of the "Heavenly God List," is included!


    Led by Hua Xuelian, more than thirty Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom are being chased into a frantic escape by just seven people?


    A look at the seven figures chasing the Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom reveals they are the seven Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable-level Purple Light Assassins from the Domain of Sin!


    Moreover, these seven Purple Light Assassins seem no weaker than Hua Xuelian; otherwise, Hua Xuelian would not be forced to a last-ditch escape.


    At this moment, Hua Xuelian and the thirty-five Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom are filled with immense regret!


    Originally, they were exploring the first layer of the Great World of Heavenly God Mountain. After gathering, they found their tasks almost complete.


    Then they accidentally discovered a Secret Ground in the "Chaotic Wind Sea Area."


    Of course, they ventured into the Secret Ground to seek treasures.


    Accordingly, the group of thirty-six from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom, led by Hua Xuelian, headed towards the "Chaotic Wind Sea Area."


    After months of effort, this group finally managed to gain some benefits from that Great Secret Land, only to be targeted by seven Purple Light Assassins shortly after leaving.


    Initially, with a heavyweight like Hua Xuelian, ranked third on the "Heavenly God List", the people of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom were not afraid of ordinary Purple Light Assassins.


    But unexpectedly, only two of the Purple Light Assassins engaged, and Hua Xuelian was already at a disadvantage.


    This deeply shocked the group from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom.


    Clearly, these seven Purple Light Assassins are top-level experts among the Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    If Hua Xuelian cannot withstand them, only death awaits them!


    In the end, the seven Purple Light Assassins said their task was completed, and they''d play with the Qianjue Divine Kingdom people for a bit. They gave the Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom ten days to escape their grasp and promised to spare them if they succeeded.


    This is the only reason the group of thirty-six from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom didn''t meet a sudden death.


    But even as they fled, the people of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom realized they couldn''t escape the clutches of the seven Purple Light Assassins.


    They have been fleeing for seven days now and still haven''t shaken off their pursuers.


    The group from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom also realized they were nothing more than playthings for these Purple Light Assassins, reduced to humiliation by the ridicule of their pursuers.


    Towards the end, many even contemplated giving up.


    After all, death seemed inevitable, and they refused to be toyed with by these Assassins like cats with mice.


    Only Hua Xuelian insisted on not giving up until the last moment, and it was his persistence that kept the group from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom flying on.


    In the midst of the escape.


    A Divine King from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom transmitted a voice to Hua Xuelian, saying, "Brother Hua, what do we do? We can''t keep this up; we''re not going to get away!"


    Hua Xuelian''s face was grim, but he gritted his teeth and said, "We have to keep fleeing! Hang in there for two more days. I previously encountered Lin Shan and the others. If we have more help, we might escape the encirclement of these Purple Light Assassins!"


    Of course, Hua Xuelian knew that this idea had very slim chances for survival.


    On one hand, he was not sure if Lin Shan and the others would still be in the area he had previously encountered them.


    On the other hand, even if he met Lin Shan and the others, they might not be a match for these seven Purple Light Assassins unless Lin Shan, ranked first on the Heavenly God List, had made a new breakthrough in cultivation.


    However, Hua Xuelian would not give up even the slightest chance of survival.


    Facing certain death versus a sliver of hope, he would obviously choose the latter.


    Even knowing that the seven Purple Light Assassins were deliberately toying with them, he intended to seize this opportunity!


    "Flee!"


    "Keep fleeing!"


    "Keep fleeing until we reach the eastern boundary of the ''Chaotic Wind Sea Area'' where we have been before!"


    Hua Xuelian communicated to the thirty-five Divine Kings by his side, all of whom gritted their teeth, continued to restore divine power, and kept fleeing desperately.


    Behind these Divine Kings, one of the seven Purple Light Assassins spoke to their leader, a black-bearded man: "Boss Yao, it seems these people''s goal in fleeing is quite serious."


    Another Assassin chuckled: "Let them flee, let them seek help from other adventurers. The more people we encounter and kill, the more treasures we can take."


    "Furthermore, those they seek help from are likely among the top few on the Heavenly God List, which means our harvest could be even greater."


    The leader of the seven Purple Light Assassins, Boss Yao, his eyes flashing keenly, sneered: "Humph, we completed our task early and even had an unexpected gain, causing our combat power to soar. I am now no weaker than the Golden Light Assassins who entered the first layer of the Great World of Heavenly God Mountain. Why would I fear these little adventurers!"


    "Let them seek help. We should seize the opportunity to gather more treasures before we leave the Heavenly God Mountain after completing the task!"


    These seven Purple Light Assassins didn''t let the group from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom escape by intention.


    On one hand, they wanted to toy with these people; on the other hand, they harbored greater greed, wanting to draw in more adventurers to kill them all at once!


    Amidst both sides harboring their own intentions, one fleeing and the other pursuing.


    Both sides suddenly noticed a shocking Divine Light rising from the vast sea ahead.


    Subsequently, the already violent winds in the sea area intensified to even more frightening levels, enough so that many Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom couldn''t withstand the sudden surge in power and wanted to change direction.


    At this moment, everyone saw that the shocking Divine Light ahead suddenly split into two, and then, amidst the Divine Light and the violent winds, appeared a figure of a young man with flying black hair.


    When Hua Xuelian saw the face of this figure, he exclaimed in surprise, "Ye Chen!"

 Chapter 893 - 843: Terrifying the Soul

    After entering the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World, Hua Xuelian had separated from Ye Chen.


    Hua Xuelian never thought he would encounter Ye Chen here.


    Thinking of Ye Chen as one of the formidable figures on the "Heavenly God List," ranking just below him, Hua Xuelian''s heart lifted with delight.


    If Ye Chen had made a breakthrough, then perhaps there was indeed a chance he could help him and the Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom escape their crisis.


    However, after Hua Xuelian probed Ye Chen''s aura, his expression instantly changed.


    He discovered that Ye Chen remained at the Lower God King Realm he had first encountered him in, without the slightest hint of a breakthrough.


    Ye Chen''s previous ranking on the "Heavenly God List" was already below his; now, without advancing in realm, the seven elite Purple Light Assassins that even he couldn''t contend with were evidently beyond Ye Chen''s ability to handle.


    Hua Xuelian''s heart was consumed with anxiety¡ªhe hadn''t waited for a savior but instead might drag Ye Chen into calamity!


    Thinking of this, Hua Xuelian dared not hesitate any longer. Without considering why Ye Chen had appeared here, he hastily shouted toward him, "Ye Chen, run! There are seven formidable Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable-level Purple Light Assassins behind us, we can''t fight them. If we don''t flee now, it will be the end of us!"


    While shouting at Ye Chen, Hua Xuelian led the fleeing Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom in Ye Chen''s direction.


    At this moment, the countless Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom also noticed that Ye Chen''s realm hadn''t advanced, and each couldn''t help but show a bitter smile.


    They realized they hadn''t waited for a powerful rescuer.


    While Ye Chen was strong, he still couldn''t save them.


    The Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom were flying desperately.


    Ye Chen gazed at the fleeing Hua Xuelian and the thirty-five Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom, then at the seven Purple Light Assassins chasing them. He was momentarily stunned.


    "What a coincidence: I leave the ''Abandoned Land,'' get transmitted back to the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World, and actually run into Hua Xuelian and his group?"


    "Are they being hunted down?"


    "Seven Purple Light Assassins, huh? If even Hua Xuelian is fleeing from them, these individuals must rank among the strongest of the Purple Light Assassins."


    Despite having just left the ''Abandoned Land'' and appearing amidst this boundless sea domain, Ye Chen''s mind swiftly grasped the situation.


    However, Ye Chen did not follow Hua Xuelian''s urgent appeal nor join the fleeing members of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom. Instead, he continued standing in the void.


    In an instant.


    Hua Xuelian and the thirty-six others reached Ye Chen''s side.


    Seeing that Ye Chen hadn''t fled, Hua Xuelian hurriedly grabbed Ye Chen by the arm. "Ye Chen, run quickly!"


    But Ye Chen simply waved him off with a smile. "No need to panic, Hua Daoist."


    With those words, Ye Chen turned his gaze directly toward the seven Purple Light Assassins.


    Ye Chen''s calm demeanor left Hua Xuelian stunned. He hesitated, unconsciously halting beside Ye Chen. The thirty-five Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom also couldn''t understand his composure.


    Could it be that Ye Chen feared nothing, not even these seven Purple Light Assassins?


    Or had he simply been scared senseless?


    But judging by his serene smile, he didn''t seem frightened at all.


    While the Divine Kings of Qianjue stood beside Ye Chen, the seven Purple Light Assassins had closed in as well, stopping at a distance of several hundred meters from Ye Chen.


    The leader of these Assassins, a black-bearded man known as Boss Yao, squinted his eyes and stared at Ye Chen.


    Seeing Ye Chen as only a Lower God King, coupled with hearing Hua Xuelian call his name, Boss Yao''s eyes gleamed as he spoke toward Ye Chen, "So, you must be Ye Chen, ranked fourth on the ''Heavenly God List''?"


    "To reach fourth place while still at the Lower God King Realm¡ªimpressive. But you''re unlucky to cross paths with us today. Hand over your treasures obediently, and we''ll leave you a whole corpse."


    "Being suddenly transmitted into this sea domain, it appears you''ve just exited some secret realm. I''m sure your body carries some fine goods."


    As he spoke, Boss Yao licked his lips greedily.


    He had allowed Hua Xuelian''s group to flee earlier just to encounter more challengers. Now that Ye Chen had appeared, they would take care of him first, snatch his treasures, and then move on to their next victim!


    As Boss Yao spoke, the remaining six Purple Light Assassins laughed oddly and surrounded Ye Chen.


    One of them, a scar-faced Assassin, sneered at Ye Chen, "Little brat, we let them escape but made no promise to spare whoever showed up after them. ''Heavenly God List'' fourth place? We''ve slain plenty of challengers, but never someone ranked in the top. This should be fun."


    As killers of the Domain of Sin, infamous for their countless murders, they obviously spared Ye Chen no mercy.


    Seeing these seven deadly Assassins targeting Ye Chen, the Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom were in shock.


    Hua Xuelian''s heart sank even further.


    Yet after hesitating for a few moments, he still stood firmly by Ye Chen''s side.


    "Hua Senior Brother?"


    "Hua Senior Brother!"


    The Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom, who had considered fleeing further, were now dissuaded by Hua Xuelian''s stance. Instead, they dared not retreat.


    After all, without Hua Xuelian leading them, fleeing would still lead to death.


    Some Divine Kings even secretly blamed Ye Chen for not escaping with them.


    Was he planning to drag them into death as well?


    Seeing Hua Xuelian''s stance, Boss Yao chuckled coldly. "What''s this? You want to stand and fight alongside Ye Chen?"


    "Ha! You were already defeated by us before. Now you dare challenge us again? If you''re not running away, leave your life here!"


    With that, Boss Yao waved his hand and instructed two Assassins, "Bai Lin, Bai Shang, you two, kill them."


    Responding instantly, the scar-faced Assassin and a bald-headed Assassin stepped forward.


    The two sneered as they cracked their knuckles. "Two little fellows, time to die!"


    Feeling the overwhelming aura emitted by the duo¡ªmuch stronger than the previous Assassins he had faced¡ªHua Xuelian''s heart tightened. He called out to Ye Chen in alarm, "Ye Chen, be careful!"


    At this moment, Hua Xuelian heard Ye Chen''s calm voice, "Hua Daoist, I still need to kill three Purple Light Assassins to complete my mission in the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World. These two, don''t take them from me."


    "I''ll handle them myself."


    With those words, Ye Chen stepped forward, positioning himself in front of Hua Xuelian.


    What?


    Hua Xuelian was dumbfounded by Ye Chen''s declaration.


    These two Assassins, whom even Hua Xuelian and Ye Chen together stood no chance against, were now being claimed by Ye Chen to fight alone? Had Ye Chen lost his sanity?


    Hua Xuelian had stepped in to stall for time, intending to make Ye Chen recognize the futility of fighting back so they could flee together.


    He had never considered actually engaging in combat!


    The Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom, watching from a distance, were similarly stunned by Ye Chen''s bold words.


    Meanwhile, Bai Lin and Bai Shang¡ªthe two Purple Light Assassins¡ªlaughed loudly at the remark. "Ha! This brat has gone mad!"


    "He thinks his rank of fourth on the ''Heavenly God List'' makes him untouchable? Even the first-ranked would not dare spout nonsense in front of us!"


    They were about to mock him further when Ye Chen interrupted, "Quiet. I''ll give you ten seconds to leave your last words."


    Last words?


    As elite Purple Light Assassins, Bai Lin and Bai Shang had slain countless mighty figures. Never before had they suffered such insolence.


    They were enraged beyond measure by Ye Chen''s words!


    "Brat, we initially only planned to kill you. Now, we''ll make sure to dismember you completely!"


    "Let''s see who gets spared to leave last words!"


    Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, Bai Lin and Bai Shang erupted with overwhelming auras.


    Their power levels, nearly at that of the Immortal Divine Venerable Realm, marked them as peak existences within the Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable tier!


    Without pause, Bai Lin and Bai Shang ignored Hua Xuelian entirely and lunged toward Ye Chen.


    They intended to destroy Ye Chen utterly!


    Seeing Bai Lin and Bai Shang closing in on Ye Chen, the thirty-five Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom trembled in terror before their terrifying aura.


    Even Hua Xuelian involuntarily staggered backward under the oppressive pressure.


    In this dire moment, as the Divine Kings of Qianjue were paralyzed with fear, Ye Chen faced Bai Lin and Bai Shang''s joint attack without the slightest intention to retreat.


    Instead, he stepped forward through the void, his right hand assuming the motion of grasping an invisible sword.


    "The first stance of the Origin Slash."


    Ye Chen''s quiet voice echoed.


    At that instant, all eyes witnessed a pale golden Divine Sword manifest in Ye Chen''s hand before unleashing a sky-piercing sword beam.


    The beam burst forth in a flash, slashing wildly toward Bai Lin and Bai Shang.


    Then, a moment that would utterly astonish everyone present unfolded.


    The two elite Purple Light Assassins¡ªone step away from the Immortal Divine Venerable Realm, peak entities among the Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable tier¡ªfailed to even reach Ye Chen.


    Instead, Ye Chen''s single sword beam directly split Bai Lin and Bai Shang into halves!


    Instantaneously, their life force dissipated, and their lifeless corpses plummeted into the ocean below.


    What?!


    Nobody could have imagined that Ye Chen''s seemingly effortless strike would wield such immense power!


    What was even more terrifying:


    The residual energy from Ye Chen''s sword beam nearly obliterated another nearby Assassin, who was watching and waiting with amusement.


    Had it not been for his swift reaction to dodge in the nick of time, he might have perished alongside Bai Lin and Bai Shang!

 Chapter 894 - 844 1 vs 5

    Shock.


    The entire crowd instantly plunged into shock.


    No one could have imagined that the two infamous Purple Light Assassins, whom even Hua Xuelian couldn''t handle, would both perish simultaneously in one strike by Ye Chen''s hand!


    At this moment, the thirty-five Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom were on the verge of ecstatic shouts.


    Earlier, they hardly believed that Ye Chen could save them.


    Some even resented Ye Chen for not escaping with them, blaming him for dragging them down.


    But now, these Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom realized that the Ye Chen standing before them was no longer the one ranked fourth on the "Heavenly God List," weaker than Hua Xuelian.


    The current Ye Chen appeared to be far, far more powerful than Hua Xuelian!


    Hope began to surge within them. Ye Chen might very well become their savior!


    Hua Xuelian''s shock at this moment was even greater than that of the other Divine Kings.


    Having faced off against these Purple Light Assassins himself, he knew better than anyone how terrifying they were. Yet now, Ye Chen had slain two of them in an instant¡ªthis felt unreal to Hua Xuelian, like a dream.


    Hua Xuelian simply couldn''t believe that Ye Chen, whose realm had not even broken through, had a combat power this formidable!


    As the Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom were reeling from shock and joy, the remaining five Purple Light Assassins on the other side froze with terror.


    "What kind of technique is this?"


    "What kind of swordsmanship is this? What kind of divine arts?!"


    The remaining Purple Light Assassins had never seen such killing techniques from Ye Chen. Yet in an instant, two of them had already perished at his hands.


    The rest were utterly stunned.


    Even their leader, the bearded man Boss Yao, felt an overwhelming sense of danger in that moment.


    Despite his exceptional strength, even Boss Yao could not discern the origins of Ye Chen''s killing move nor gauge Ye Chen''s limits.


    For an instant, Boss Yao even entertained the thought of fleeing.


    However, just as this thought arose, Ye Chen''s voice cut through the air.


    "I need to kill three Purple Light Assassins. I''ve already killed two. Among the rest of you, who wants to come forward?"


    Boss Yao''s eyes flickered as Ye Chen''s fearless gaze locked onto his own.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s piercing gaze swept across the other Purple Light Assassins.


    "Boss!"


    "Boss!"


    The remaining Purple Light Assassins, none anywhere near as strong as Boss Yao, were utterly incapable of standing up to Ye Chen.


    When they heard Ye Chen''s words, none dared step forward¡ªthey all turned to Boss Yao for help.


    They knew that if Boss Yao abandoned them, they were likely the next ones to fall!


    Boss Yao''s eyes flickered briefly before directly addressing Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, if we send out one more person for you to kill, will you stop after that?"


    Surrender.


    Boss Yao''s tone suggested that he had no intention of opposing Ye Chen further; he was prepared to offer someone up and reconcile with him.


    Boss Yao''s words caused the hearts of the remaining four Purple Light Assassins to sink.


    But they understood well¡ªbeing hardened criminals of the Domain of Sin, if the situation were reversed, they too would rather send someone to die than take the risk themselves.


    However, now it seemed that the one sent to die might be them, which deeply unsettled them.


    Meanwhile, the Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom were practically leaping for joy.


    Not only had Ye Chen slain two Purple Light Assassins, but now even Boss Yao was considering yielding to him.


    If Ye Chen agreed, their survival would be assured!


    "Is this the pressure of a true powerhouse?"


    "With just one move, he''s killed two opponents, and the remaining five are too terrified to fight!"


    The Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom were now filled with unparalleled admiration and gratitude toward Ye Chen.


    Many even hoped Ye Chen would accept Boss Yao''s proposal, killing just one more and avoiding any further risks.


    However, they saw Ye Chen shake his head after hearing Boss Yao''s words.


    Ye Chen''s gaze fixed directly on Boss Yao as he said, "You want me to kill one person and stop? When did I ever say I''d stop after killing just one?"


    "If you had fled as soon as you encountered me, perhaps I would''ve only slain three of you. But now? I have no such intention!"


    No such intention.


    The meaning behind Ye Chen''s words was clear¡ªeven if he slew one more, he would not stop there.


    These heinous assassins of the Domain of Sin were mortal enemies of challengers entering the Heavenly God Mountain, their hands stained with the blood of countless challengers.


    Not to mention the crimes they committed before entering the Domain of Sin.


    Ye Chen had no reason to let them go!


    Boss Yao''s face twisted in fury. "Ye Chen, are you mocking us?!"


    "Do you really think I''m afraid of you?!"


    Boss Yao had initially planned to resolve the situation by sacrificing one person, as he couldn''t fathom Ye Chen''s capabilities and wanted to avoid taking risks.


    However, Ye Chen''s words solidified his resolve for a decisive battle to the death.


    Ye Chen had no intention of stopping.


    Thus, the five remaining Purple Light Assassins resolved to surround and kill Ye Chen.


    "Let''s attack together! Kill him!"


    With a wave of his hand, Boss Yao called his four companions to action.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The remaining four immediately unleashed their surging aura and surrounded Ye Chen in formation.


    Of the seven Purple Light Assassins, two had already fallen, leaving five.


    If no one was to be sacrificed, then the best chance was to act together as one.


    With Boss Yao joining the fray, the remaining four naturally would give their all to fight Ye Chen.


    In their minds, their odds of winning were greater!


    Seeing these five assassins surround Ye Chen, Hua Xuelian''s mind stirred, and he flew forward, saying, "Ye Chen, I''ll assist you."


    But Ye Chen merely smiled and shook his head, "Hua Daoist, just help me hold the line. If I can''t handle them, then we act together."


    Hua Xuelian hesitated, asking uncertainly, "Ye Chen, are you truly confident facing all five of them alone?"


    Ye Chen nodded, "Ninety percent confident."


    What Hua Xuelian didn''t know was that Ye Chen''s confidence actually reached a hundred percent.


    After months of reflection in the World of the Death Fruit, Ye Chen had now mastered an even greater portion of the Starry Origin Power, enabling him to unleash the second stage of Origin Slash.


    With Origin Slash''s second stage, Ye Chen could even kill a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, so the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables were negligible by comparison.


    What''s more, Ye Chen still had aces up his sleeve, such as the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    Rather than letting Hua Xuelian intervene prematurely and disrupt his flow, it was better for Ye Chen to settle things directly through a one-on-five face-off!


    Upon hearing Ye Chen confidently say "ninety percent," Hua Xuelian, though stunned, nodded and retreated.


    On the other side, led by Boss Yao, the five assassins were enraged, laughing coldly, "One person against the five of us, claiming ninety percent certainty?"


    "Even a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable wouldn''t dare make such arrogant claims!"


    Boss Yao suddenly raised his palm and commanded the other four, "Don''t hold back¡ªunleash your full power and eradicate Ye Chen at once!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Boss Yao''s words fell, all four Purple Light Assassins unleashed an overwhelming combat presence, frenziedly activating their Divine Weapons and Artifacts.


    Among their arsenal was a Chill Light Divine Hook, a Pitch-Black Divine Spear, and even a Blood Bead Treasure.


    Boss Yao himself no longer masked his aura, which immediately surged to the level of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable.


    Simultaneously, Boss Yao clasped his hands together and summoned a blood-colored battle armor!


    The next moment, all five assassins¡ªdivine hooks, spears, treasures, and their murderous intents combined¡ªcharged at Ye Chen in a frenzied assault.


    Upon seeing Boss Yao emit the aura of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, the Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom were once again terrified.


    Some even gasped aloud: "This Purple Light Assassin has been hiding his strength¡ªhe must have broken through recently! A Lower Immortal Divine Venerable''s combat power¡ªthat''s something only Golden Light Assassins possess!"


    Nobody expected this unexpected twist.


    Hua Xuelian, likewise stunned, couldn''t tell if Ye Chen could withstand this assault.


    As the Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom showed panicked expressions, Boss Yao laughed menacingly: "Now you understand my true strength? Too late."


    "I didn''t intend to fight further, but now that I''ve started, not only will I kill Ye Chen, but I''ll also use your blood as tribute!"


    The Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom shrank back in fear, and some even considered fleeing again.


    Yet, when they looked at Ye Chen, they saw that despite facing Boss Yao''s aura of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, Ye Chen showed not a trace of fear.


    Ye Chen''s brow furrowed slightly: "Hmm, it seems there is indeed an expert among them."


    Without waiting for the Divine Kings to decide whether to flee or stay and watch, Ye Chen took his first action.


    Whoosh.


    In an instant, an overwhelming aura erupted from Ye Chen, a radiant golden aura belonging only to the Starry Origin Power¡ªinfinitely stronger than what he had displayed earlier against Bai Lin and Bai Shang.


    Next, Ye Chen flipped his hand, and a golden Divine Sword materialized in his grasp.


    Simultaneously, overlapping with the golden sword, a second appeared¡ªa dark Divine Sword.


    Yin and Yang Divine Swords!


    Ye Chen was preparing to unleash the second stage of Origin Slash!


    Whoosh.


    As soon as the two Divine Swords emerged, they vibrated, and an unmatched surging Starry Origin Power poured into them. Then, Ye Chen slashed toward Boss Yao and his companions.


    What an awe-inspiring strike!


    This sword had already been unleashed once before.


    Back then, Ye Chen had annihilated an entire small world with it.


    Now, as Ye Chen struck again, it was equally astonishing and extraordinary.


    With one slash, the sword''s brilliance spread outward in waves. The immediate range of ten thousand zhang surrounding Ye Chen was entirely consumed by the shredding Divine Light.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    In an instant, the Divine Weapons and Artifacts facing Ye Chen¡ªwhether Chill Light Divine Hook, Pitch-Black Divine Spear, or Blood Bead Treasure¡ªwere pulverized into dust.


    Even the remaining four Purple Light Assassins were obliterated within the endless radiance, reduced to fragments and then swallowed by the void.


    Even more terrifying, the sheer cutting power in that range of ten thousand zhang annihilated not only the massive ocean''s waters but even the raging hurricanes atop it, leaving behind a colossal cavity in the sea.


    As the four assassins died, Boss Yao was overcome with terror. Even with the combat power of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, he felt utterly inadequate against Ye Chen''s strike.


    In his shock, Boss Yao''s blood armor shattered instantly, and both his arms were severed in the blink of an eye.

 Chapter 895 - 845: Sweeping Through the Valley of the Wicked

    This sent Boss Yao into utter panic!


    Seeing the seemingly endless force of annihilation about to completely shatter his vitality, Boss Yao could no longer care about his crushed Blood Armor and severed arms.


    He cried out in desperation to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, spare me! Spare my life! I''m willing to offer up all my treasures; just let me go!"


    Bang.


    Amid Boss Yao''s frantic pleas, Ye Chen made a casual grasp in the Void. That immeasurable destructive force formed a storm capable of obliterating everything, howling around Boss Yao, yet it did not directly finish him off.


    It was clear, however, that if Ye Chen wished, he could kill Boss Yao on the spot in an instant!


    Looking at the pathetic and begging Boss Yao, Ye Chen snorted coldly, "Treasures? If I kill you, I can naturally take all your treasures. Why would I need you to offer them?"


    As he spoke, Ye Chen reached downward. Following his gesture, the Spatial Treasures dropped from the slain Purple Light Assassins and Villains flew out from the storm and landed in his hands.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s expression, Boss Yao''s face turned pale with fright.


    At this moment, he could no longer think about anything else.


    This was no joke.


    Earlier, he dared to oppose Ye Chen, but after just one exchange, Boss Yao realized that even with combat power at the level of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, he had no chance of surviving before Ye Chen. How could he dare resist any further?


    Boss Yao had only one thought now: No matter the cost, his priority was to stay alive.


    "Ye Chen, most of my treasures are stored in another area and not with me. Spare my life, and I will take you to that location and offer you all my treasures!"


    "Rest assured, although that area is filled with countless assassins and villains, none of them are as strong as me. They won''t pose any threat to you."


    Worried that Ye Chen might not want to take the risk, Boss Yao hastily added more explanation in a panicked tone.


    Hearing Boss Yao''s words, Ye Chen fell silent, deep in thought.


    Thump! Thump! Thump!


    As Ye Chen pondered, every second felt like an eternity to Boss Yao.


    His fate was now entirely in Ye Chen''s hands. He didn''t even dare to breathe heavily, terrified that the next moment, Ye Chen would take his life.


    However, Ye Chen''s next statement finally allowed Boss Yao''s tightly held breath to relax just a little.


    Looking at Boss Yao, Ye Chen asked, "You mentioned that the location of your treasures also has other assassins and villains?"


    Boss Yao nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes! That place is what we call the ''Valley of the Wicked.'' All the assassins and villains tasked with killing you challengers are gathered in that valley."


    "Most of them are Red Light, Orange Light, and Yellow Light Assassins and Villains. Assassins like me, Purple Light class, are rare."


    Hearing Boss Yao''s explanation, Ye Chen nodded. "Very well. Lead the way. If there are treasures there worth my attention, sparing your life is not out of the question."


    Although Ye Chen had not outright promised to spare his life, Boss Yao was already beyond caring about such details.


    As long as there was even the slightest chance for survival, he wouldn''t give it up.


    He hurriedly responded, "I will take you to the ''Valley of the Wicked'' immediately."


    Ye Chen''s decision to temporarily spare Boss Yao wasn''t solely about the treasures Boss Yao had mentioned.


    What Ye Chen cared more about was the information Boss Yao had shared: that the Valley of the Wicked hosted a sizable gathering of assassins and villains.


    At present, Ye Chen had already slain seven Blue Light Assassins and Villains and six Purple Light Assassins and Villains. To complete his task, he still needed to eliminate three more Blue Light Assassins.


    With the existence of such a valley, Ye Chen naturally preferred not to waste further time hunting for Blue Light Assassins elsewhere.


    He could simply head to the Valley of the Wicked and complete his task there!


    Furthermore, Ye Chen didn''t mind the idea of completely leveling the so-called Valley of the Wicked.


    After all, the assassins and villains gathered there were undeniably heinous individuals. In carrying out their missions, they had slaughtered countless challengers, likely including Divine Kings from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    Given the opportunity, Ye Chen saw no reason not to avenge those fallen Divine Kings!


    As for whether Boss Yao might take the opportunity to stab Ye Chen in the back, Ye Chen was unconcerned.


    This time, the highest-ranking assassins who had entered the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain world were the Golden Light Assassins, and they had been confined to a dedicated area for the top three contenders on the Heavenly God List. Other assassins'' strongest were still only at Boss Yao''s Purple Light level.


    Against these assassins, Ye Chen had no doubt he could handle them.


    However, Ye Chen did not have Boss Yao lead the way immediately. Instead, he turned to Hua Xuelian and the thirty-five Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom.


    "Hua, fellow cultivators, what do you intend to do next? I''m preparing to head to this ''Valley of the Wicked.'' Would you like to come along?"


    Hua Xuelian and the thirty-five Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom were completely stunned at this moment!


    They hadn''t yet recovered from the shock of how the battle had unfolded!


    No one could have anticipated that Ye Chen, facing five opponents alone, would kill four of them in an instant.


    Even more unexpected was seeing the once-overbearing Boss Yao of the Purple Light Class grovel and beg for mercy before Ye Chen!


    It wasn''t until Ye Chen spoke to them that their Mind and Spirit finally registered the situation: "We... survived?!"


    "Those seven Purple Light Assassins have been slain¡ªsix are dead, and the last one is gravely injured. We''re finally out of danger, finally alive!"


    Several Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom even knelt before Ye Chen directly.


    After all, it was Ye Chen who had truly saved their lives!


    Hua Xuelian also looked at Ye Chen in utter disbelief.


    She couldn''t fathom how Ye Chen had grown so strong.


    Even with Boss Yao''s combat power elevated to the level of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, he was no match for Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen isn''t simply fourth on the Heavenly God List¡ªhe''s leagues beyond even the first, Lin Shan. Even if Lin Shan further increased his strength, he still wouldn''t be Ye Chen''s match!"


    When asked by Ye Chen whether they wanted to join, Hua Xuelian immediately nodded eagerly, "Ye Chen, I''ll come with you. I also have something important to give you along the way!"


    ...


    In the end, Hua Xuelian, along with thirty-five Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom, set out with Ye Chen, led by Boss Yao, toward the Valley of the Wicked.


    Those Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom were unwilling to part ways from Ye Chen and Hua Xuelian. Even if they had to leave, they would only do so once they found a safer area.


    While on the journey, Hua Xuelian took out a small white jade vial and handed it to Ye Chen.


    This was the "important thing" Hua Xuelian had mentioned earlier.


    "What is this?" Ye Chen looked at the vial, uncertain of its contents.


    Hua Xuelian smiled, "Inside is a Fate Divine Pill that can help break through realms. Ye Chen, you saved our lives. Words cannot express our gratitude. Earlier, in a Secret Ground, we obtained several Fate Divine Pills. This one shall be your reward for saving us."


    Hua Xuelian didn''t mention that during their expedition to the Chaotic Wind Sea Area, they had acquired a total of only four Fate Divine Pills.


    Yes, only four¡ªeach one precious beyond measure, capable of breaking through realms. Naturally, every single pill was invaluable!


    Originally, their group of thirty-six was supposed to divide them evenly. But now, as Ye Chen had saved their lives, everyone unanimously decided that one pill must be gifted to him.


    Even with just four pills, they resolved to offer one.


    On one hand, it was to repay Ye Chen for saving their lives. On the other, the Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom hoped to build goodwill with someone as powerful as Ye Chen.


    After all, in future dire situations, Ye Chen''s casual intervention might save their lives.


    Compared to their lives¡ªand considering they might not even receive a Fate Divine Pill during the split¡ªthey were more than willing to offer one up.


    "Ye Chen, you must accept this!"


    "This Divine Pill is shared among us, and it must constitute our gratitude for saving our lives."


    As Hua Xuelian spoke, the other Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom voiced their agreement.


    Hearing their words, and especially realizing this Divine Pill could help break through realms, Ye Chen''s heart shook with emotion.


    With this pill, wouldn''t that mean he could advance to the Middle God King realm?!


    That was more valuable than any treasure!


    Ye Chen did not put on false modesty. After giving the group a deep bow, he stored the Fate Divine Pill in his Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    As a gesture of reciprocity, Ye Chen distributed treasures from the slain Purple Light Assassins and Villains to the Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom.


    These treasures were of minimal use to someone like Ye Chen, who even had Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts. However, for the Divine Kings, these were treasures of immense value.


    After all, these were items belonging to Purple Light Assassins at the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level. Naturally, they were incredibly precious to the Divine Kings.


    As Ye Chen, Hua Xuelian, and the rest conversed during their journey, before they knew it, they had left the Chaotic Wind Sea Area behind and arrived at an immense valley.


    This valley, as Boss Yao had described, was the gathering place for countless assassins and villains¡ªthe Valley of the Wicked.


    At that moment, two Blue Light Assassins were patrolling just outside the valley.


    Upon seeing Boss Yao, both arms severed, leading the way with dozens of Divine Kings following behind, the two Blue Light Assassins were startled.


    They recognized Boss Yao as well.


    "Boss Yao, how did you get so badly injured?!"


    "Who are these people?!"


    Swish! Swish!


    The two Blue Light Assassins flew to the Void several thousand feet before Ye Chen and his group, questioning Boss Yao while cautiously holding a transmission artifact in their hands. Clearly, they were prepared to report to the valley at the slightest hint of trouble.


    Boss Yao dared not make any move on his own.


    He looked to Ye Chen and asked, "Ye Chen, should I take you directly into the valley to retrieve the treasures, or what do you wish to do?"


    Ye Chen glanced at Boss Yao, then at the two Blue Light Assassins whose faces were filled with vigilance, and finally at the immense Valley of the Wicked, which spanned hundreds of miles.


    Ye Chen smiled, "Since we''re already here, let''s summon all the assassins and villains in the Valley of the Wicked."


    As he spoke, Ye Chen raised his hand and struck the Void with his palm.


    A titanic palm shadow instantly filled the sky, completely enveloping the entire Valley of the Wicked.


    Then, with a deafening roar, the massive palm shadow descended and slammed into the valley.


    With Ye Chen''s overwhelming combat power, even without unleashing a killing move, his strike aimed merely to force the assassins and villains to surface. Yet, it still flattened the entire Valley of the Wicked spanning hundreds of miles.


    The massive valley collapsed entirely, leaving countless deep craters scarring the earth.


    Simultaneously, clouds of dust erupted like a storm, engulfing the entire land in a furious shroud of chaos.


    "What''s happening?!"


    "Who dares attack our Valley of the Wicked?!"


    Amid the chaotic dust storm, one figure after another shot out from the ruins of the valley in panic. In an instant, the air above the Valley of the Wicked was densely packed with a swarm of figures.

 Chapter 896 - 846 Bloodbath

    Countless figures soared into the sky, numbering no less than seventy to eighty thousand.


    As soon as these people ascended into the void, they immediately spotted Ye Chen''s group and their leading guide, Boss Yao.


    "Boss Yao, what happened to you?!"


    Among the seventy to eighty thousand, there were nearly a dozen Purple Light Assassins, hundreds of Blue Light Assassins, and the rest were assassins and villains of varying ranks: red, orange, yellow, green, and blue.


    Seeing that both of Boss Yao''s arms had been severed, the strongest Purple Light and Blue Light Assassins present narrowed their eyes sharply.


    They knew very well how formidable Boss Yao was.


    It could be said that Boss Yao''s strength was at the pinnacle of the hierarchy within the Valley of the Wicked.


    Among the seventy to eighty thousand assassins in the Valley, only three other Purple Light Assassins were on par with Boss Yao''s power. The rest were unequivocally weaker.


    Now, with both of Boss Yao''s arms severed, these powerful assassins and villains were utterly shocked.


    Who could possibly defeat Boss Yao?


    Then, everyone''s gaze landed on Ye Chen, who stood beside Boss Yao.


    When they saw Ye Chen''s demeanor and the respectful attitude Boss Yao displayed toward him, an incredulous thought arose in their minds.


    Could it be that this young man, merely at the Lower God King Realm, had severed Boss Yao''s arms?!


    A mere Lower God King able to subdue Boss Yao, a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable¡ªdid this mean this young man was a terrifying combatant capable of crossing vast realm boundaries?


    Now, this demon-like figure had stepped into the Valley of the Wicked. What could he possibly want?


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Despite their cautiousness toward Ye Chen, the assassins of the Valley, with their overwhelming numbers, still held little true fear. The Purple and Blue Light Assassins leading the masses harbored wariness but not submission.


    After all, Ye Chen''s group numbered barely over thirty, while they commanded seventy to eighty thousand strong!


    Especially since there were three individuals in the Valley whose strength rivaled Boss Yao''s. They believed that no matter how formidable Ye Chen was against Boss Yao, he could never suppress every assassin in the Valley.


    In an instant, the three strongest Purple Light Assassins flew to the forefront, glaring at Ye Chen''s group and shouting, "You wanderers, how dare you boldly burst into the Valley of the Wicked!"


    "If you don''t state the reason for your intrusion, don''t blame us for being merciless!"


    These words were delivered cautiously, more out of wariness of Ye Chen than true restraint.


    Otherwise, wandering adventurers who stumbled into this land would normally have been eradicated on sight.


    As the three Purple Light Assassins questioned them, the seventy to eighty thousand assassins gathered behind them erupted into chaotic shouts, unleashing a torrential killing force. The sheer pressure turned the skies and earth ominously dim.


    The gods of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom, having never encountered such an overwhelming army of assassins, found many of their knees trembling.


    Through the cacophony of chaos, Ye Chen''s voice rang clearly in everyone''s ears: "Our purpose for coming here? Simple¡ªseize treasures and slaughter!"


    "By treasures, I''m referring to the ones held by Boss Yao beside me, and the ones all of you are carrying."


    "As for slaughter, I intend to exterminate every assassin and villain here in the Valley!"


    Ye Chen''s brazen and unfiltered words shocked the assassins, eliciting a simultaneous surge of rage.


    "Arrogant!"


    "Reckless!"


    "A mere Lower God King dares claim he will slaughter us all?"


    "Utter nonsense! You''re courting death!"


    A handful of impetuous assassins, oblivious to Ye Chen''s might, roared furiously and charged fiercely toward him.


    "The god-kings I''ve slain are countless in number."


    "Today, I''ll simply add a few more to the tally!"


    These thirty or so assailants reached Ye Chen in an instant.


    But Ye Chen simply stretched out his hand, pointing lazily toward the void.


    Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt! Splurt!


    Dozens of sword lights suddenly erupted from Ye Chen''s fingertips, piercing straight through the attackers'' bodies.


    They were utterly powerless to resist.


    In just one move, these thirty assailants were slaughtered on the spot!


    As the corpses of the assassins plummeted to the earth, disbelief filled the Valley''s ranks of seventy to eighty thousand assassins and villains.


    They couldn''t believe that this young man dared openly kill their companions before their very eyes.


    Terror, awe, fury, and blood-lust erupted in waves within the hearts of the assassins.


    Before they could act, Ye Chen turned and addressed Hua Xuelian and the divine kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom behind him:


    "We didn''t come here to negotiate peacefully with these assassins and villains."


    "I''ll handle the Purple and Blue Light Assassins. For those of you who haven''t completed your mission, go ahead and kill as many of them as you need to. For those who''ve completed it, wipe out the remaining assassins from the Valley!"


    As he spoke, a pale-golden Divine Light surged from Ye Chen''s body.


    The unmatched radiance burst forth, enveloping the area, completely suppressing all the Purple and Blue Light Assassins in the Valley.


    "Attack!"


    At Ye Chen''s command, Hua Xuelian''s eyes gleamed sharply as she darted toward the restrained Purple Light Assassins.


    Hua Xuelian had both seen and heard of god-kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom falling at the hands of these assassins in the Domain of Sin.


    To adventurers, these assassins were mortal enemies, warranting no mercy!


    "Kill! Kill! Kill!"


    "Complete your missions!"


    "Exterminate these assassins from the Valley of the Wicked!"


    With Ye Chen and Hua Xuelian leading the charge, and the most powerful foes already constrained, the thirty-five god-kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom were instantly ignited with fervor.


    Wielding their divine weapons, they charged into the fray, shouting as they plunged into battle against the assassins.


    Seeing their rivals attack, the assassins of the Valley retaliated, drawing their divine weapons and counterattacking.


    In a moment, violent sounds of battle reverberated through the entire Valley of the Wicked.


    Amid the gruesome slaughter...


    A cold, detached voice¡ªone belonging to the mission monitor of the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain¡ªechoed through the Void Heaven.


    "Xuan Shan, mission for the first layer of the world completed!"


    "Wang Ming, mission for the first layer of the world completed!"


    "..."


    Xuan Shan, Wang Ming, and others¡ªall god-kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom¡ªhad only needed to kill a few more assassins to fulfill the requirements for their missions. Now, with Ye Chen and Hua Xuelian suppressing the strongest foes, they''d easily completed their tasks by slaying their targets.


    As the cold voices announcing missions completed echoed one after another...


    The seventh voice resounded: "Ye Chen, mission for the first layer of the world completed!"


    While restraining the Purple and Blue Light Assassins, Ye Chen had also slain three Blue Light Assassins, finishing his own mission entirely!


    Half an hour later...


    Thirty-seven figures soared out of the Valley of the Wicked.


    And within the Valley, nothing but endless corpses remained.

 Chapter 897 - 847: Breakthrough and Astonishment

    In the void a hundred miles away from the Valley of the Wicked.


    "Haha, exhilarating, absolutely exhilarating!"


    "With Ye Chen and Hua Senior Brother, two top experts holding the line, those assassins and villains of the Valley of the Wicked stood no chance of posing a life-or-death threat to us. This bloody battle has finally annihilated them completely!"


    At this moment, the thirty-five Divine Kings of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom were all covered in blood, and their divine power was heavily depleted. Some were even slightly injured, yet every face was brimming with unparalleled excitement.


    After all, the ones they had killed were seventy to eighty thousand assassins and villains of the Valley of the Wicked!


    Even though the most powerful assassins were dealt with by Ye Chen and Hua Xuelian,


    managing to slay the remaining assassins was still an exhilarating achievement for everyone.


    They were mortal enemies of those assassins and villains from the Domain of Sin, so the more they killed, the better!


    Ye Chen and Hua Xuelian''s eyes gleamed with sharp determination, their thoughts filled with mixed emotions.


    Though they had both spent some time in the Secret Ground small world, they had rarely heard the sound announcing challengers completing their missions. Compared to the 530,000 people who entered Heavenly God Mountain, only tens of thousands had completed their missions thus far.


    This indicated that a large portion likely met their deaths at the hands of the assassins and villains from the Domain of Sin.


    It wasn''t hard to imagine that many of the deceased were Divine Kings from Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation and Qianjue Divine Kingdom among the five great Divine Kingdoms.


    Both of them naturally wished to kill more assassins, partly to avenge the fallen challengers and partly to prevent the surviving Divine Kings of the five great Divine Kingdoms from facing further life-threatening dangers.


    Amid their sentiments, Hua Xuelian said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, even Boss Yao had it rough; he was ultimately killed directly by those three Purple Light Assassins. Luckily, we cleared out the Valley of the Wicked in the end and retrieved all their treasures. Otherwise, it would''ve been a pity to lose Boss Yao''s treasures."


    During the recent battle,


    Boss Yao had been hiding on the sidelines, too scared to fight or flee.


    Initially, he hoped Ye Chen would spare him, but in the end, while Ye Chen was fighting the three Purple Light Assassins, those assassins¡ªwho were on par with Boss Yao in terms of level¡ªsuddenly attacked him, resulting in his death.


    The reason those three were so determined to kill Boss Yao was their belief that he had brought Ye Chen and his group to the Valley of the Wicked, causing its downfall.


    Although Ye Chen could have blocked them, he chose not to intervene in the end.


    Boss Yao wasn''t a good person anyway.


    To perish at the hands of other assassins and villains was his own fault.


    Unwilling to dwell on matters of the Valley of the Wicked, Ye Chen turned to Hua Xuelian and the Divine Kings of Qianjue Divine Kingdom and said, "Fellow cultivator Hua, everyone, do you have any plans now?"


    "I plan to enter secluded cultivation directly and wait until the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain opens before reemerging."


    Ye Chen had obtained the Fate Divine Pill, and with over twenty days left in the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain, he planned to spend that time breaking through to the Middle God King Realm!


    Hearing that Ye Chen was going to cultivate, Hua Xuelian and others, who initially wanted to keep exploring with him, all showed regretful expressions.


    Soon, they cupped their hands toward Ye Chen and said, "Since Fellow Daoist Ye Chen is going to cultivate, we won''t disturb you."


    "Our missions are all completed, so it''s time we enter secluded cultivation ourselves, to prepare for the unforeseen challenges of the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    After some brief conversation, Ye Chen bid farewell to the Qianjue Divine Kingdom members and flew away.


    The thirty-six members of Qianjue Divine Kingdom, including Hua Xuelian, also parted ways, scattering in small groups toward different locations.


    Half a day later.


    In a secluded mountain range within the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Ye Chen''s figure appeared from the distant Void Heaven, instantly landing in the skies above the mountain range.


    Scanning with his Divine Eye, Ye Chen quickly selected a spot within the mountains. With a mighty grab, "boom," a pillar-like mountain segment was ripped out by Ye Chen''s hand.


    Rumble!


    Tossing the massive pillar-like mountain segment to the ground, it created a massive, cylindrical pit in the mountain range.


    Ye Chen then sealed the entire mountain from the outside and stepped into the massive pit.


    Soon after, with a sweep of his sword light, Ye Chen carved out a cultivation cave abode within the mountain in moments.


    Taking out a meditation cushion he had obtained from the Abandoned Land, Ye Chen seated himself atop it.


    With a flick of his sleeve, he brought forth a small bottle containing the Fate Divine Pill, which appeared on the ground.


    Simultaneously, he pointed with his finger, summoning a few drops of Divine Milk he had retrieved from the Demon Tomb to hover in the void.


    Gazing at the Fate Divine Pill and the Divine Milk, Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    "It''s time to break through to the Middle God King Realm!"


    Ye Chen harbored an insatiable desire for cultivation breakthroughs.


    In the five months he had spent in the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen had faced numerous dangers, especially in the World of the Death Fruit, where he had nearly been trapped to death!


    Though he had escaped danger and slain many enemies, acquiring a plethora of treasures, his mind and spirit remained unyielding.


    After all, if his strength hadn''t been sufficient, he wouldn''t have shattered the World of the Death Fruit, and his death would have been certain.


    If he hadn''t been far stronger than Boss Yao and the assassins of the Valley of the Wicked, he would have still been the one dead.


    Ye Chen had too many goals to achieve.


    He certainly didn''t want to die.


    This time, his strength allowed him to escape peril. Naturally, Ye Chen wished to possess enough strength to evade danger in the future as well.


    Thus, increasing his power was of utmost importance!


    Ye Chen was already at the peak of the Lower God King Realm, unlike others who obtained a Fate Divine Pill and needed time to refine it to reach the peak before breaking through,


    Ye Chen could directly attempt to break through to the Middle God King Realm!


    In the mountain cave,


    after a few deep breaths and completing all his preparations, Ye Chen calmed his mind and officially entered the state of breakthrough.


    Time passed day by day.


    The mountain range where Ye Chen was cultivating remained undisturbed by his sealing technique.


    The mountains stayed utterly tranquil.


    Only occasionally would the cold voice of the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain resound, announcing the names of challengers who had completed their missions.


    As the time reached five months and twenty-four days since the 530,000 challengers entered the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain, leaving only six days until the half-year mission deadline,


    that day, the previously silent mountain range erupted with endless thunderous sounds!


    Before this, vast tribulation clouds had gathered above the mountains.


    As the mountain range roared, the tribulation clouds above began to collapse at great speed.


    This change startled nearby challengers and assassins from the Domain of Sin, forcing them to notice the anomaly in the remote mountain range.


    "Could it be someone undergoing a Divine Tribulation, attempting a breakthrough?!"


    "To think someone would choose such a remote mountain range to undergo tribulation!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Countless figures flew toward the mountain range, eager to explore the situation.


    Soon, they discovered a formidable prohibition emanating from the mountains, repelling any who attempted to enter far away.


    Even challengers from the second region of the Heavenly God List and elite Blue Light Assassins couldn''t breach the prohibition.


    This astonished everyone present.


    "No one should rashly intrude into these mountains. Whoever is cultivating within must be extremely powerful, or else their prohibition wouldn''t be able to stop so many of us!"


    "Judging by the clouds, this person is about to complete their breakthrough. Let''s wait here and see who it is!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Unable to enter the mountains, the rest retreated to a distance, observing and closely monitoring any movements within.


    At this time, the number and strength of challengers and assassins in the area were evenly matched, and for the moment, both sides paused their conflict, forming two opposing factions, their gazes fixed on the mountains.


    After dozens of breaths, the entire mountain range exploded with endless gales and divine light.


    The gales and divine light howled through the mountains for two whole days!


    With only four days remaining before the opening of the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain,


    the roaring gales and shining divine light, which had raged for so long, abruptly vanished as if swallowed by a massive serpent, retreating into the mountains in an instant.


    Then, with a deafening "boom," the entire mountain range split in two along the retreating divine light.


    A figure shot out from the rift, hovering in the void.


    He floated there with eyes closed, but the aura emanating from him unmistakably belonged to a Middle God King!


    "A Middle God King?!"


    "Someone went from a Lower God King to a Middle God King? To trigger such commotion, and his prohibition was even impenetrable to us!"


    On one side of the mountains, the gathered assassins and villains of the Domain of Sin were all filled with dread and disbelief.


    "It''s Ye Chen."


    "That man is ranked fourth on the Heavenly God List¡ªYe Chen!"


    "To think it was him cultivating here!"


    On the other side of the mountains, the challengers from the five great Divine Kingdoms exclaimed in recognition.


    These challengers, who had entered Heavenly God Mountain alongside Ye Chen, naturally recognized this formidable individual.


    Amidst the shock of both parties, Ye Chen, who was seated in the sky, gradually opened his eyes.


    His face bore a faint smile.


    With the assistance of the Fate Divine Pill and the Divine Milk, his breakthrough had been incredibly smooth.


    He had finally advanced from a peak Lower God King to the Middle God King Realm, officially becoming a Middle God King!


    From now on, Ye Chen was truly a Middle God King!


    With a subtle smile, Ye Chen also noticed the two groups outside the mountains staring at him in astonishment.


    To the challengers from the five Divine Kingdoms, Ye Chen smiled and nodded slightly.


    But toward the assassins and villains of the Domain of Sin, Ye Chen showed no mercy: "I''ve just completed my breakthrough and need to stabilize my realm, so I''ve no wish for bloodshed."


    "Domain of Sin individuals, leave at once. Otherwise, I won''t hesitate to ensure your corpses join those of the assassins of the Valley of the Wicked."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, these killers and villains were struck with a profound sense of alarm.


    During this time, rumors of the complete annihilation of seventy to eighty thousand assassins at the Valley of the Wicked had spread throughout the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Though none of the assassins knew the identity of the perpetrator behind such a massive slaughter,


    now, upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, this group of assassins and villains immediately realized the truth.


    It was Ye Chen who caused the massacre!

 Chapter 898 - 848: Heavenly God Mountain Level 2

    After learning that it was Ye Chen who swept through the Valley of the Wicked, the assassins and villains of the Domain of Sin no longer dared to remain anywhere near the mountains.


    Within the blink of an eye, everyone frantically scattered in all directions.


    They only wished to get as far away from this harbinger of doom as possible, before Ye Chen¡ªhaving just broken through and still needing to stabilize his realm¡ªdeveloped any intent to kill.


    In an instant, no trace of an assassin or villain could be seen across the entire expanse of the world.


    With just a few words, countless powerful beings were driven away!


    The Divine Kings of the five Great Divine Kingdoms near the mountains looked at Ye Chen with completely transformed gazes.


    "I had heard about the matter of the Valley of the Wicked."


    "Seventy to eighty thousand assassin villains perished in the Valley of the Wicked, among them even over a dozen Purple-tier assassin villains and several hundred Blue-tier assassin villains. When I first heard of this, I clapped and cheered."


    "I never imagined that it was Ye Chen who accomplished this!"


    One of the Divine Kings from the five Great Divine Kingdoms spoke up.


    "I had heard of this long ago, and it was none other than a Divine King from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom who disclosed it to me."


    "That Divine King of the Qianjue Divine Kingdom said that during that battle, Ye Chen singlehandedly suppressed all the powerful opponents. Ye Chen was like an Immortal Divine Venerable-level figure! That Divine King from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom also participated in the Valley of the Wicked battle and has the utmost admiration for Ye Chen. He even cautioned me not to speak of the matters of the Valley of the Wicked without Ye Chen''s consent. That''s why I abstained from mentioning it earlier. Now that Ye Chen has revealed it himself, I can share what I know!"


    Another Divine King spoke up as well.


    Upon hearing this Divine King''s words, others were visibly shaken, their gazes toward Ye Chen now filled with utter disbelief.


    "One man suppressing over a dozen Purple-tier assassin villains and hundreds of Blue-tier assassin villains?! Surely that level of combat power would require an Immortal Divine Venerable!"


    "To think, after just a few months, Ye Chen''s combat power has reached such heights! Doesn''t this mean he is likely now the top figure on the Heavenly God List?"


    "It''s been over twenty days since the Valley of the Wicked battle, and Ye Chen has just undergone another major breakthrough. Now, how much stronger could he have become?!"


    Amid their astonishment, someone transmitted a message quietly: "Let''s depart as well. The opening of the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain is imminent, and only four days remain. Let Ye Chen solidify his breakthrough in peace without interruption."


    "Indeed, we mustn''t disturb him. A powerhouse like Ye Chen deserves our utmost respect!"


    "Let''s go. We''ve completed our task, and it''s time to make preparations to challenge the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain."


    Such transmissions gradually spread among the nearby Divine Kings of the five Great Divine Kingdoms surrounding the mountain.


    Finally, these individuals clasped their fists in respect toward Ye Chen and left the surrounding mountain area one by one.


    At last, the entire mountain range and its surroundings were left to Ye Chen alone.


    Watching the crowd disperse, Ye Chen withdrew his gaze and shook his head with a smile.


    He did not leave the mountain''s void but instead began meditating right there, reflecting on the differences of the recently attained Middle God King Realm. He focused on the transformations brought by the Taiyi Divine Power and the improvements to various techniques due to his realm''s ascension.


    Four days passed in the blink of an eye.


    The half-year duration allocated for tasks in the first-layer world had finally come to an end.


    The moment to venture into the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain had finally arrived!


    As this moment arrived, all challengers and assassin villains still in the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain looked up to see massive light portals appearing in the void.


    Simultaneously, a cold voice announced the results of the task once again.


    "The second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain is now open."


    "All challengers who have completed their tasks may enter any void light portal to travel to the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Now, all challengers who have completed their tasks, proceed to the second layer!"


    "The assassin villains of the Domain of Sin who have completed their corresponding tasks will be sent out of Heavenly God Mountain and granted Divine Light of pardon."


    "As for those who have not completed their tasks, whether challengers or assassin villains of the Domain of Sin, all will be sealed within the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    When this proclamation ended, countless people within the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain revealed expressions of despair.


    These were the challengers and assassin villains who had failed to complete their tasks.


    These individuals understood that being sealed within the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain marked their failure to ascend further, leaving them forever trapped.


    Among the waves of despair, there were also countless thrilled individuals.


    These were the ones who had successfully completed their tasks¡ªboth challengers and assassin villains.


    Those assassin villains were finally granted the pardon Divine Light they had longed for, enabling them to return to their respective Divine Kingdoms.


    Meanwhile, the challengers who had completed their tasks could now venture into the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain!


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    As soon as the cold voice ceased, tens of thousands of challengers took to the skies, heading toward the vast void light portals.


    Moments later, these figures had completely vanished into the void.


    In the secluded portion of the void above the mountains, Ye Chen finally rose to his feet.


    After four days, he had roughly stabilized his newly attained realm as a Middle God King to eighty percent.


    Although he had yet to completely familiarize himself with all the changes of his new realm, the eighty percent stabilization was sufficient for Ye Chen to wield even more powerful Divine Power as he entered the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    "I wonder how the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and the others are faring in that fruit pocket world."


    "If they encountered the same Death Fruit as I did, their chances would be slim."


    "I hope their situation is not as perilous as the one I faced. I hope to see them again in the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    Murmuring softly to himself, Ye Chen joined the crowd of challengers who had completed their tasks and soared toward the void''s light portals.


    Moments later, Ye Chen had completely vanished from the first-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    ...


    Countless beams of Divine Light glowed, carrying figures into a brand-new world¡ªHeavenly God Mountain''s second-layer world.


    Upon arriving in the second-layer world, everyone''s eyes widened in amazement.


    Even Ye Chen, who was transported into the new world by the Divine Light, appeared utterly stunned.


    "This... is this truly the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain?!"


    Looking around.


    The challengers who entered the second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain numbered roughly ninety thousand.


    At this moment, all ninety thousand challengers stood on the edge of a vast ocean.


    The entire second-layer world of Heavenly God Mountain was made up of boundless ocean, except for this edge.


    But this was no ordinary ocean¡ªits waters seemed to be composed of lightning, glittering with mysterious arcs of silver light.


    Above the ocean floated purple mist, where clusters of purple-silver pearls rose and fell amidst the waves and fog.

 Chapter 899 - 849: Sea of Mist, Purple Silver Pearl

    "This second layer world of Heavenly God Mountain, why does it look like this?"


    "It''s all seawater. Does this mean our trial in this second layer has to take place within the ocean?!"


    The over 90,000 challengers who entered the second layer world of Heavenly God Mountain looked at the scene before them with indescribable astonishment.


    Of course, no one dared to act rashly and fly into the ocean to explore.


    After all, this is the Heavenly God Mountain. Rumor has it that the higher you climb, the more dangerous it becomes. Without knowing the trial rules of this mysterious second layer world, naturally, no one dared to venture blindly.


    The challengers'' attention was initially drawn to the strange features of this second layer world. Only after dozens of breaths did they begin cautiously observing one another.


    Ye Chen''s gaze also swept across the crowd.


    As he looked, he immediately locked eyes with numerous individuals among the over 90,000 figures.


    Among these gazes, many looked at him with joyful and familiar expressions, nodding in acknowledgment.


    These included God Kings from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, as well as those from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom whom he had saved in the past, and individuals like Hua Xuelian.


    Ye Chen noticed that at this moment, Hua Xuelian was still at the Upper God King Realm. While it seemed Hua Xuelian possessed a "Fate Divine Pill," breaking through from the God King Realm to the Divine Venerate Realm was no easy feat, and he had not completed the breakthrough yet.


    However, despite Hua Xuelian not achieving a breakthrough, the fact that he could enter the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain clearly indicated that he had completed his assigned task.


    After all, Hua Xuelian''s task included slaying three infamous Golden Light Assassin evildoers. That he succeeded showed his combat power had greatly advanced during this period.


    While Hua Xuelian had not advanced his realm, there were already two individuals present who had directly broken through from the God King Realm to the Divine Venerate Realm, becoming Earth Divine Venerates.


    These two were none other than the top two ranked figures on the "Heavenly God List"¡ªLin Shan and Sima Liao!


    At this moment, Sima Liao had already transformed into a Lower Earth Divine Venerate.


    Meanwhile, Lin Shan was even more formidable, having made a breakthrough to the Middle Earth Divine Venerate Realm!


    As mutual observations continued, not only did Ye Chen notice Lin Shan and Sima Liao''s advancement, but gradually, the other God Kings also recognized the two''s breakthroughs.


    These two had already been outstandingly powerful. Now, with their advancements, no one could fathom just how terrifying their combat power had become!


    At this moment, the way Sima Liao and Lin Shan gazed at the rest of the group was distinctly different.


    There was a subtle air of superiority in their looks.


    It was no wonder their gazes bore such airs. While everyone had entered Heavenly God Mountain at the God King Realm, now only these two had ascended to Earth Divine Venerate status, leaving the others still at the God King level. Naturally, this caused them to unconsciously perceive themselves as superior!


    Sima Liao''s gaze, at this time, discreetly landed on Ye Chen.


    Upon noticing that Ye Chen''s realm had also improved, Sima Liao''s eyes narrowed slightly.


    "So, Ye Chen''s realm has also advanced."


    However, in the depths of Sima Liao''s eyes, a glimmer of contempt flickered: "Though his realm has advanced, it''s merely from a Lower God King to a Middle God King. Compared to my breakthrough from God King to Divine Venerate, he''s still far behind!"


    "Back then, I could suppress him on the Heavenly God List. Now, I can completely crush him!"


    "When the opportunity arises, I''ll ensure that Ye Chen is eliminated entirely, completing the task given to me by the Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master, Qin Yuntian!"


    As Sima Liao''s thoughts churned, Lin Shan''s gaze, on the other hand, wasn''t focused on the crowd. Instead, he was looking up into the void, as if something even more enticing awaited him higher up the Heavenly God Mountain.


    Though the two new Earth Divine Venerates present appeared out of reach, many God Kings couldn''t resist approaching them with flattering smiles.


    "Congratulations, Daoist Sima!"


    "Congratulations, Daoist Lin Shan!"


    "I''ve long heard that Heavenly God Mountain offers unimaginable good fortune; God Kings who survive can continuously break through their realms, even reaching the Upper Earth Divine Venerate Realm, or perhaps even greater before leaving!"


    "To think that after only the first layer, the two of you have already progressed so far, especially Daoist Lin Shan, who has even reached the Middle Earth Divine Venerate Realm!"


    The God Kings offered their congratulations to Sima Liao and Lin Shan, their voices full of envy and reverence.


    Amid the lively crowd, however, Ye Chen no longer paid attention to Sima Liao and Lin Shan.


    True, these two were incredibly strong.


    But Ye Chen felt no particular fear toward them.


    Before he advanced to the Middle God King Realm, he had already slain a Lower Immortal Divine Venerate. Now that he had achieved the Middle God King Realm, his mastery of Taiyi Divine Power and Blue Extreme Iceflame had greatly improved, and his combat power had naturally taken another leap forward.


    Although his realm hadn''t yet matched theirs, in a true battle, the outcome was far from certain!


    After glancing away from Sima Liao and Lin Shan, Ye Chen''s eyes were drawn to a figure on the edge of the crowd.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan!


    Upon seeing the Ancient Emperor, Ye Chen''s eyes were filled with stunned surprise.


    "Senior Ancient Emperor!"


    With a flash of his figure, Ye Chen appeared before the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    Previously, Ye Chen had assumed that, like him, the Ancient Emperor had entered the World of the Death Fruit and met with almost certain doom.


    Yet now, seeing the Ancient Emperor alive in the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain was an unexpected surprise.


    "Senior Ancient Emperor, didn''t you enter the ''Death Fruit''? And what about Daoist Mo Li and Daoist Fang Han? I didn''t see them in this second layer world¡ªcould it be that they''ve already fallen?"


    Since being absorbed into one of four fruit worlds, the group of four had been separated. Ye Chen had numerous questions for the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    The Ancient Emperor paused at Ye Chen''s words. "Death Fruit? What Death Fruit? I entered the ''Fate Fruit,'' which was filled with treasures and hardly dangerous. Ye Chen, did you not enter the Fate Fruit?"


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had always assumed that Ye Chen, Mo Li, and Fang Han had entered the Fate Fruit alongside him.


    Initially, after finding Ye Chen, he had found it strange that he hadn''t seen Mo Li or Fang Han. Hearing Ye Chen''s words now, the Ancient Emperor suddenly sensed something wasn''t right.


    Perhaps, from the very beginning, the group of four had been sent to entirely different fruit worlds!


    "Senior Ancient Emperor, I didn''t enter the ''Fate Fruit''¡ªI was drawn into the ''Death Fruit.'' It was incredibly perilous, and I barely escaped with my life..." Ye Chen recounted his experiences in the Death Fruit to the Ancient Emperor.


    The Ancient Emperor, in turn, shared what he had encountered inside the Fate Fruit.


    Through their exchange, the two finally understood.


    The four of them had indeed been sent to separate fruit worlds.


    If Mo Li and Fang Han had failed to reach the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain, it was likely because they had perished within their respective fruit worlds.


    Among the four who had entered together, two had fallen. This realization filled Ye Chen with a heartfelt sigh of sorrow.


    Ye Chen had already noticed that only 90,000 challengers had successfully made it to the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    In the beginning, a total of 530,000 God Kings from the Five Divine Kingdoms had entered the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    This meant over 400,000 had either perished or were trapped within the first layer.


    "Charging through Heavenly God Mountain truly is a trial of both opportunity and danger."


    "While many fail, those who succeed reap immense rewards."


    Amidst his reflections, Ye Chen looked at the over 90,000 survivors who had successfully made it to the second layer.


    Many among them had seen advancements in their realms or a significant surge in their auras. Clearly, surviving the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain had granted them considerable gains.


    "Successfully reaching the second layer doesn''t mean the end of the journey. Ahead lie the third and fourth layers, and only those still alive at the very end can be considered true victors."


    "Out of these 90,000 survivors, how many will make it in the end?"


    Both Ye Chen and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan sighed as they thought about Mo Li and Fang Han''s fate.


    Knowing there were still three more layers of the Heavenly God Mountain to face, they grew even more cautious.


    "Ye Chen, congratulations on breaking through to the Middle God King Realm."


    While Ye Chen was conversing with the Ancient Emperor, Mu Qingxue floated over to him with a cheerful smile.


    Unlike most of the crowd, who swarmed around Lin Shan and Sima Liao, Mu Qingxue chose to approach Ye Chen instead to offer her congratulations.


    Ye Chen looked at the petite girl before him, whose stature only reached his shoulder. Seeing that her realm had also advanced¡ªshe had gone from a Middle God King to an Upper God King Realm¡ªYe Chen smiled at her. "Daoist Qingxue, I should also congratulate you on your breakthrough."


    "Hehe, mutual congratulations it is." Mu Qingxue''s eyes gleamed with laughter as she playfully blinked. "Ye Chen, with three more layers of trials ahead, you''ll need to be careful. Sister Long Li is surely waiting to hear of your success once you emerge from the Heavenly God Mountain."


    Mu Qingxue, a close friend of Long Li, couldn''t help but mention her.


    Upon hearing Long Li''s name, Ye Chen''s expression tensed, and he clenched his fists.


    That''s right.


    He had to make it through Heavenly God Mountain.


    For Long Li, and for Jiang Yao.


    The last time he went to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, he didn''t encounter Long Li or Jiang Yao.


    Ye Chen was still waiting for the day he could leave Heavenly God Mountain and return to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to see if they had emerged from the Zixuan Treasure Palace.


    The over 90,000 challengers who reached the second layer engaged in scattered conversations. Unnoticed by many, an incense stick''s time had quietly passed.


    Suddenly, a cold voice rang out across the second layer world of Heavenly God Mountain.


    The voice was the same one that had announced the trial rules for the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain.


    The moment the voice sounded, all conversations ceased, and everyone pricked up their ears to listen.


    Every challenger knew that the rules for the second layer trial were about to be revealed.


    Indeed.


    Only the cold voice could be heard: "Congratulations to all challengers who have successfully completed the tasks of the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain and made it to the second layer."


    "The second layer of Heavenly God Mountain, this vast ocean, shall be known as¡ª''Sea of Mist.''"


    "The silver-purple beads drifting within the misty seawater are called¡ª''Purple Silver Beads.''"


    "Your ability to pass through the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain depends entirely on this ''Sea of Mist'' and these ''Purple Silver Beads.''"

 Chapter 900 - 850: The Secret of the Purple Silver Pearl

    Sea of Mist?


    Purple Silver Pearl?


    Does charging into the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain World have something to do with these two things?


    Upon hearing the words of the cold voice, over ninety thousand challengers all simultaneously turned their gazes toward the boundless ocean before them, looking at the purple mist above the seawater and the purple silver pearls darting amidst arcs of silver lightning in the sea.


    At this moment, the cold voice continued, "Now, I will activate the challenge rules. ''Sea of Mist'' will be divided into three distinct zones."


    "They are: The outermost ''Green Light Safe Zone,'' the second part ''Yellow Light Danger Zone,'' and the innermost ''Red Light Death Zone.''"


    Rumble.


    As the cold voice spoke, all the challengers noticed that the boundless ocean ahead of them was transformed.


    The ocean originally consisted of seawater emanating mysterious arcs of silver lightning and layers of purple mist floating above.


    However, now the entire ocean radiated three different colors of Divine Light, dividing it into three strikingly distinct zones.


    The nearest zone to the challengers was surrounded by green Divine Light, spanning about several hundred miles wide, encircling the outermost layer of the sea.


    The middle zone was the Yellow Light Zone, roughly several thousand miles wide, forming a vast ring.


    Further inward was the largest zone, the Red Light Zone. Apart from the outer Green Light and Yellow Light Zones, which occupied less than one percent of the ocean''s area, the rest was entirely Red Light Zone!


    As the challengers examined these three zones, the cold voice explained, "Each of these zones carries its own dangers. Relatively speaking, the outermost zone is the safest. The Green Light Safe Zone offers the least danger, the Yellow Light Danger Zone has more, and the Red Light Death Zone... you must absolutely not enter it, as doing so will guarantee certain death."


    "Your task is to venture into the ''Sea of Mist'' to collect ''Purple Silver Pearls.'' In these three zones, the Green Light Safe Zone contains the fewest number of ''Purple Silver Pearls,'' making collection opportunities slim."


    "Although the Yellow Light Danger Zone is perilous, the probability of encountering ''Purple Silver Pearls'' is greater, increasing your chances of collection."


    "As for the innermost Red Light Death Zone, it is the area where ''Purple Silver Pearls'' are most concentrated, and theoretically the best place for collection. But regretfully, you are forbidden from entering it."


    "The duration for the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain challenge is three months. After three months, only those who submit one thousand ''Purple Silver Pearls'' will be allowed to progress to the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain World."


    "Whether to stay in the safer Green Light Zone with fewer ''Purple Silver Pearls,'' or venture deeper into the more dangerous Yellow Light Zone with higher chances of collection, is for you to decide."


    "However, I must remind you, you are prohibited from gifting ''Purple Silver Pearls'' to others. Should this happen, both parties will immediately face death as decreed by the Heavenly God Mountain''s rules."


    "Every ''Purple Silver Pearl'' you collect belongs to you alone!"


    "In addition, no killing is allowed in the Green Light Safe Zone. You may not kill others to take their ''Purple Silver Pearls.'' Of course, in the Yellow Light Danger Zone, such restrictions are lifted. If you have the ability to kill someone and take their ''Purple Silver Pearls,'' that would purely depend on your skill."


    "That said, if you wish to take ''Purple Silver Pearls,'' you must kill your opponent. Simply taking them without killing will be deemed gifting, which will also lead to immediate death by the Heavenly God Mountain''s rules."


    This extensive list of rules from the cold voice caused all the challengers to instinctively adopt grave expressions.


    Charging into the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain World turned out to be solely about collecting ''Purple Silver Pearls''!


    Moreover, you must gather at least one thousand ''Purple Silver Pearls'' to qualify for entry into the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain World!


    Ninety thousand challengers couldn''t help but notice that most of the ''Purple Silver Pearls'' floating within the ocean appeared in the forbidden Red Light Death Zone.


    Those that emerged in the Green Light Safe Zone and Yellow Light Danger Zone were extremely sparse.


    Their appearances seemed entirely without pattern.


    Under such circumstances, collecting ''Purple Silver Pearls'' was clearly no simple task!


    And with the prohibition against mutual gifting, it became clear that everyone would have to rely solely on their own skills to obtain the ''Purple Silver Pearls.''


    Furthermore, because the Yellow Light Danger Zone allowed killing, the risk of death there was undoubtedly heightened.


    The Yellow Light Danger Zone was already more treacherous, but the allowance of deadly combat made it even more daunting. Those lacking confidence in their strength likely wouldn''t dare set foot in the Yellow Light Zone.


    However, remaining within the Green Light Safe Zone might mean it would be almost impossible to complete the task. Whether one could manage to collect enough ''Purple Silver Pearls'' would largely depend on luck.


    As the challengers contemplated their choice of zone for collecting ''Purple Silver Pearls,'' the cold voice delivered a final declaration: "There is one more thing I need to tell you."


    "These ''Purple Silver Pearls'' are not only your test but also a bestowed opportunity."


    "Because ''Purple Silver Pearls'' are a universal currency within this universe. Holding ''Purple Silver Pearls'' grants you the ability to purchase items in any Divine Kingdom in the universe, or exchange them for any other Divine Kingdom''s exclusive currency!"


    "Thus, the more ''Purple Silver Pearls'' you collect, beyond the one thousand needed to enter the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain, the greater wealth you will attain."


    "Take for example the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom. A single ''Purple Silver Pearl'' can be exchanged for a full one billion ''Black Divine Coins,'' the currency of Wanmu Mountain! If you manage to gather several dozen, you could become fabulously rich."


    Boom!


    These words from the cold voice caused an instant uproar among the ninety thousand challengers.


    The ''Purple Silver Pearls'' were not merely the key to progressing to the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain but were also a universal currency of this cosmos!


    Each ''Purple Silver Pearl'' held extraordinary value!


    One single pearl equated to a billion Wanmu Mountain Black Divine Coins¡ªessentially the fortune of many Earth Divine Venerables.


    If one could collect hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of pearls, wouldn''t they achieve the wealth of Heavenly Divine Venerables, Immortal Divine Venerables, or even Sovereigns?!


    "I remember now! The ''Purple Silver Pearls'' are indeed a type of top-tier currency for this universe!"


    Within the crowd, a Divine King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom exclaimed.


    "I remember meeting a senior who possessed ''Purple Silver Pearls.'' He mentioned that while traveling between Divine Kingdoms, carrying one''s own currency was useless, but ''Purple Silver Pearls'' could be used universally. Moreover, he said that ''Purple Silver Pearls'' are items owned only by immensely powerful Immortal Divine Venerables or Sovereigns, and are exceedingly rare for anyone else."


    "I can''t believe we now have a chance to access such Divine Objects!"


    "The Heavenly God Mountain is remarkable! To host a universal currency of the cosmos here! I suspect other Divine Kingdoms that contain areas capable of presenting such currency are equally shrouded in mystery."


    A Divine King chimed in, "I''ve also heard that ''Purple Silver Pearls'' are not merely currency but are also Miraculous Treasures for cultivation. They contain a unique Divine Soul Power that, once absorbed, can greatly enhance the vitality of one''s Divine Soul signs!"


    "Many formidable warriors use ''Purple Silver Pearls'' for cultivation when they acquire them. It''s one reason despite occasional discoveries, they often exist in limited circulation."


    Amidst the fervent discussions, Ye Chen''s eyes gleamed as he focused on the dancing Purple Silver Pearls in the Sea of Mist.


    "I didn''t expect these ''Purple Silver Pearls'' to have such profound uses!"


    Ye Chen had once ventured beyond the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain Divine Kingdom. During that time, he relied on the Star Seal rather than using currency for transportation.


    Ye Chen had yet to encounter the universal currency shared by countless Divine Kingdoms within the cosmos.


    Now, he was thrilled to have the opportunity to interact with such valuable objects in the Heavenly God Mountain.


    Beyond Ye Chen, every other challenger was immensely captivated by the ''Purple Silver Pearls.''


    This was not merely a compulsory mission to enter the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain; it was a hidden treasure trove they absolutely had to pursue!


    Everyone was waiting¡ªwaiting for the cold voice to announce the beginning of the task.


    Finally.


    After elaborating further on the ''Sea of Mist'' and ''Purple Silver Pearls,'' the cold voice officially declared the start of the three-month challenge period for the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    As the cold voice finished speaking¡ª


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    In an instant, all ninety thousand challengers flew straight into the Sea of Mist.


    "What a stifling sensation!"


    "This ocean feels so peculiar. My Divine Power and Divine Sense probing abilities are severely hindered, and even my flight speed has slowed dramatically!"


    The initial zone the challengers entered was naturally the nearby Green Light Safe Zone.


    But even in the safest zone, the moment they entered, everyone sensed anomalies.


    The participants charging into the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain were no ordinary figures; many were Divine Kings or Divine Venerables, capable of traversing tens of thousands of miles in an instant outside the Sea of Mist.


    Yet upon stepping into the Sea of Mist, everyone felt constrained, their flight speeds reduced to a fraction¡ªonly managing about a hundred feet per few breaths.


    Those hoping to utilize their Divine Sense to locate the Purple Silver Pearls also realized their probing range had been diminished to only a few hundred feet, severely limiting their scope.


    Even the most formidable among them¡ªLin Shan, Sima Liao, and Ye Chen¡ªnoticed the peculiar restrictions.


    While their speeds and probing ranges were comparatively superior to others, they too were heavily hindered by the Sea of Mist''s mysterious forces.


    "Don''t cluster together. If we stay packed tightly, there''s no way we''ll collect enough ''Purple Silver Pearls.''"


    "Spread out. This ocean is vast¡ªeveryone should find their own patch for collecting ''Purple Silver Pearls.'' Whether you come across them is entirely up to fate."


    Noticing the abnormalities, the challengers quickly understood that remaining in groups wasn''t an option¡ªthey had to operate individually.


    In no time, everyone scattered in all directions, flying toward vacant regions ahead.


    Among the group, Lin Shan and Sima Liao immediately traversed through the Green Light Safe Zone and headed straight for the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    Neither of them had any intention of staying in the Green Light Safe Zone to gather ''Purple Silver Pearls.'' They didn''t fear others killing them for their pearls¡ªin fact, others would be lucky if they avoided being killed by them.

 Chapter 901 - 851: Gathering and Threat

    The Sea of Mist is truly vast.


    Even with over ninety thousand challengers flying into it, as they scattered, it was like stones sinking into the ocean¡ªmany figures quickly disappeared from view.


    Encased in Divine Light, the seawater of the Sea of Mist didn''t touch Ye Chen in the slightest. He even stepped directly onto the waves, gazing at the eerie, mysterious Sea of Mist ahead.


    "Ye Chen, which area are you planning to venture into to collect the ''Purple Silver Pearl''?"


    Mu Qingxue, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and Ye Chen had entered the Sea of Mist together.


    As they prepared to disperse, Mu Qingxue asked Ye Chen this question.


    Ye Chen looked toward the three main zones of the Sea of Mist and said, "Let''s try the ''Yellow Light Danger Zone.'' Qingxue, senior Ancient Emperor, where do the two of you plan to go?"


    Mu Qingxue smiled faintly. "I''m also planning to head to the ''Yellow Light Danger Zone.''"


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan hesitated, then sighed. "I''ll start with the ''Green Light Safe Zone'' and find an unoccupied area to explore. If I can''t find any Purple Silver Pearls there, I''ll consider heading to the ''Yellow Light Danger Zone.''"


    Although the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had successfully broken through to the Upper God King Realm with the help of the Fate Divine Pill, he still couldn''t compare to strong figures like Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue. Thus, he didn''t dare tread into the danger zones lightly.


    Hearing the Ancient Emperor''s words, Ye Chen didn''t say much.


    The appearance of Purple Silver Pearls within the Sea of Mist was utterly unpredictable. No one knew which part of the sea they might emerge from. Even Ye Chen couldn''t guarantee he''d collect enough Pearls, especially as they couldn''t be gifted to one another.


    Even if he wanted to help the Ancient Emperor, it wouldn''t do much.


    Ultimately, it all came down to individual luck and fortune.


    "Whether it''s the Green Light Safe Zone or the Yellow Light Danger Zone, it''s just a difference in the probability of Purple Silver Pearls appearing. In the end, whether one can obtain the Pearls depends on luck."


    "Now that we''ve decided on our zones, let''s act quickly and find a spot to begin our search for the Purple Silver Pearls."


    Ye Chen addressed Mu Qingxue and the Ancient Emperor.


    The two nodded.


    The Ancient Emperor promptly flew within the Green Light Safe Zone, heading toward an unclaimed area.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue, like Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and others, crossed the Green Light Safe Zone directly, flying further into the sea toward the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    As the two hadn''t yet fully exited the Green Light Safe Zone,


    suddenly, a beautiful purple-silver pearl the size of a cherry appeared right next to Ye Chen.


    "A Purple Silver Pearl?!"


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit stirred, and with a gentle sweep of Divine Power, the exquisite pearl landed in his palm.


    Mu Qingxue and several nearby individuals also noticed Ye Chen''s actions.


    Upon seeing the breathtaking Purple Silver Pearl in Ye Chen''s palm, their minds trembled. "It''s really a Purple Silver Pearl!"


    Mu Qingxue''s beautiful eyes widened as she exclaimed to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, your luck is incredible! You''ve found a Purple Silver Pearl so quickly!"


    It should be known that while many stood at the edge of the Sea of Mist and had spotted Purple Silver Pearls flying within,


    most of those Pearls were located in the untouchable Red Light Death Zone!


    The chances of finding Pearls in the Green Light Safe Zone and the Yellow Light Danger Zone were incredibly slim.


    If that weren''t the case, the exploration rule for the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain¡ªcollecting a thousand Purple Silver Pearls within three months¡ªwouldn''t have been established.


    If someone could collect a dozen Pearls in a single day, it would already be considered a stroke of immense luck.


    Now, Ye Chen had obtained a Purple Silver Pearl right upon entering the Sea of Mist, which naturally left countless people envious.


    Hearing the astonished murmurs around him, Ye Chen smiled faintly and thought to himself, "Could it be that my luck was disastrous in the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain, but it''s now turning around in the second layer?"


    Previously, in the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen had entered the most dangerous World of the Death Fruit.


    If it weren''t for his immense strength, he would''ve perished there long ago!


    Compared to the fortunes of figures like the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan or Hua Xuelian, Ye Chen indeed had remarkably bad luck back then.


    As he reflected, Ye Chen closely examined the Purple Silver Pearl in his hand.


    Upon holding the Pearl, he felt an exceptionally cooling sensation. The Pearl shimmered with purple and silver hues, clearly an extraordinary item. Ye Chen suspected that even with his full strength, he wouldn''t be able to crush it!


    Of course, Ye Chen had no intention of trying to crush the Pearl. Even the rumored mystical divine soul power within¡ªwhich nourished the Divine Soul¡ªwas left untouched by him.


    After all, he only had one Purple Silver Pearl in his possession, and was still far from the thousand required to complete the task. Ye Chen wouldn''t risk unnecessarily damaging one.


    After examining the peculiar Pearl for a moment, and showing it briefly to the curious Mu Qingxue, Ye Chen stowed the Pearl and continued toward the Yellow Light Danger Zone with Mu Qingxue.


    Upon entering the Yellow Light Danger Zone, Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue noticed that few had dared venture this far.


    Along their way, they encountered no more than a few thousand challengers.


    It seemed the majority of the ninety thousand challengers were reluctant to enter the perilous Yellow Light Sea.


    "Ye Chen, let''s split up here to search for the Purple Silver Pearls individually."


    "I hope we both not only find a thousand Purple Silver Pearls, but surpass that number and strike it rich."


    After reaching a sparsely populated area, Mu Qingxue bid Ye Chen farewell, ready to search on her own.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded. "Qingxue, be careful in the Yellow Light Danger Zone."


    Ye Chen felt a certain fondness toward this young girl.


    After all, she was a friend of Long Li.


    "Don''t worry. Among the challengers here, aside from the few at the top of the Heavenly God List, no one poses any threat to me," Mu Qingxue smiled faintly. Waving to Ye Chen, she vanished in a flash, flying deeper into the vast Yellow Light Sea.


    Watching Mu Qingxue''s figure disappear, Ye Chen turned back to survey the area ahead.


    This part of the sea was now sparsely populated, with everyone spreading out widely to search for Purple Silver Pearls.


    As Ye Chen flew, he kept an eye on his surroundings.


    Though the divine mist of the Sea of Mist interfered with the detection range of Divine Sense, making it hard for most to see beyond a few hundred feet,


    Ye Chen''s power far surpassed others'', enabling him to perceive as far as several thousand feet.


    However, for the next hour, Ye Chen didn''t come across another Purple Silver Pearl.


    Just as Ye Chen lamented that his luck might have run out, he noticed several purple-silver glimmers flickering roughly two thousand feet ahead.


    Ye Chen''s figure darted forward toward the spot over the sea.


    But Ye Chen arrived too late. Two figures were already there.


    These two individuals also noticed the cluster of purple-silver gleams and were overjoyed, acting immediately. By the time Ye Chen reached them, they had collected a total of six Purple Silver Pearls in their hands.


    "Six Purple Silver Pearls! We''ve hit the jackpot, finding six so quickly!"


    These two were Upper God Kings from the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, one of the Five Great Divine Kingdoms.


    Each of them held three Purple Silver Pearls, their faces full of delight¡ªuntil they saw Ye Chen approaching.


    "Ye Chen!"


    When they recognized Ye Chen, their minds jolted with fear.


    They knew very well how formidable Ye Chen was.


    Given that this was the Yellow Light Danger Zone where killings weren''t forbidden, the two instantly grew concerned that Ye Chen might covet their Pearls and seize them by force.


    After all, their strength was absolutely no match for Ye Chen''s.


    Were Ye Chen to kill them, he could obtain six Purple Silver Pearls in one fell swoop. They weren''t sure whether Ye Chen would act on such an opportunity.


    Noticing Ye Chen''s gaze on their Purple Silver Pearls, their faces turned pale as they forced out smiles worse than crying, and stammered nervously, "Ye Chen... Ye Chen... Fellow Daoist, these Pearls were discovered by us first."


    Reading their terrified expressions, Ye Chen immediately understood their thoughts.


    "They''re afraid I''ll kill them and take their Pearls," Ye Chen thought with a wry smile.


    Ye Chen had been drawn to the Purple Silver Pearls'' glow but had no intentions of killing or plundering.


    Six months still remained.


    He had no reason to kill for just six Pearls.


    Ye Chen calmly addressed the duo from the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, "Fellow Daoists, there''s no need to panic. I was just passing by."


    With that, Ye Chen waved his hand and flew away.


    Even after Ye Chen''s figure vanished from sight, the two Black Dragon Mountain God Kings were still in disbelief.


    "Ye Chen really spared us?!"


    The two exchanged glances, their eyes filled with the relief of surviving a calamity. "It seems someone as powerful as him wouldn''t care about a few Purple Silver Pearls in our possession."


    The duo''s hearts were filled with newfound admiration for Ye Chen.


    At the same time, their sense of urgency intensified. "From now on, we need to be extra cautious and search for Pearls in areas even more isolated from others. This time, we were fortunate that Ye Chen let us go. If someone else notices us with Purple Silver Pearls in hand, we may not have the same luck."


    Unbeknownst to Ye Chen, these two Black Dragon Mountain God Kings fled far away before resuming their search for Purple Silver Pearls.


    Meanwhile, having flown to the left side of the Yellow Light Danger Zone, Ye Chen began to understand why it was deemed a danger zone.


    As he arrived at this area, Ye Chen witnessed an alarming scene: five God Kings from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom were traveling together as they searched for Purple Silver Pearls.


    Suddenly, a sea monster with five heads, resembling a coiled serpent, burst out from the waters unannounced.


    In an instant, it swallowed all five God Kings whole!


    The beast dove back into the sea, disappearing without a trace within moments.


    The entire process¡ªfrom the five flying challengers to the sea monster''s attack and retreat¡ªtook less than a single breath!


    Not only did the five victims have no time to react, but even Ye Chen, watching from afar, couldn''t intervene to save them.


    If Ye Chen hadn''t been paying close attention, no one would have even known about these five deaths.


    The Sea of Mist.


    This birthplace of Purple Silver Pearls was far from a benevolent land¡ªit was the mainland of chance and peril, surpassing the dangers of the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain. Truly, the second layer was an unforgiving realm.

 Chapter 902 - 852: Slaughter! Windfall! Seizure!

    Of course, it''s not a peaceful place.


    As the collection of Purple Silver Pearls began, the entire Sea of Mist was engulfed in hidden surging currents!


    The Green Light Safe Zone, known as the safest of the three major regions in the Sea of Mist, was now experiencing terrifying events.


    In the left sea area of the Green Light Safe Zone, three Divine Kings from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom were initially preparing to act separately when suddenly, a Purple Silver Pearl flew straight towards them.


    One of the Divine Kings, overjoyed, immediately reached out to grab the Purple Silver Pearl.


    As soon as the Pearl landed in his hand, the next moment, the Divine King suddenly felt a tremendous force beneath his feet.


    In an instant, his entire being was seized and dragged towards the seawater by an inexplicable power!


    When he looked down, he was shocked to discover that his foot had been unknowingly entwined by a blood-red tentacle.


    Despite his combat power, he was completely unable to resist the tentacle''s pull.


    Boom!


    In an instant, amidst horrifying screams, the Divine King was dragged into the seawater.


    The other two Divine Kings beside him, who had been joyous and slightly jealous of their friend for acquiring a Purple Silver Pearl, were suddenly alarmed when they saw him being pulled into the sea.


    Boom! Boom!


    The two immediately dove into the seawater, attempting to rescue their friend.


    Then, something chilling happened.


    At first glance, the sea surface showed no silver lightning sparks or glimmers, but upon diving into the water, the two discovered a massive, terrifying blood-red demon over a hundred meters long lurking in the sea below them.


    This horrifying creature, hundreds of meters long, had numerous blood-red tentacles. At that moment, one of its tentacles was directly wrapped around the foot of their friend.


    Their friend had already been dragged to a depth of several dozen meters underwater.


    Seeing this, the two Divine Kings didn''t dare hesitate any longer. Their Divine Power flared instantly, and each activated a Divine Weapon, charging at the blood-red demon.


    Underwater, their Divine Power was heavily impacted, yet these two were formidable.


    In their joint attack, they managed to sever many of the demon''s blood-red tentacles.


    The tentacle gripping their friend was also cut off, finally freeing the Divine King with the Purple Silver Pearl.


    The three scarcely had time to react to the sudden turn of events when the blood-red demon, now missing several tentacles, seemed to recognize the danger posed by the trio. It let out a piercing scream and fled.


    However, as it escaped, the blood-red demon spewed out a massive amount of ink-like blood, instantly turning a vast area of seawater into crimson.


    The trio barely had time to react before this blood-ink substance stained their bodies.


    As soon as they were tainted, the three were horrified to discover their protective divine light eroding at an unimaginable speed. Eventually, several parts of their bodies were pierced through by the blood-ink.


    Under these circumstances, the trio dared not stay underwater any longer. Desperate, they swam frantically towards the surface.


    Only after reaching the Void above and expelling the blood-ink from their bodies while healing their injuries did the trio''s lingering fear subside.


    They were lucky¡ªencountering such a creature in the Green Light Safe Zone meant it wasn''t overly deadly.


    Otherwise, all three might have perished here!


    Even though they survived, their Divine Power was greatly depleted, especially as the blood-ink had pierced through much of their bodies. Despite channeling Divine Power to heal themselves, their Life Essence suffered significant loss.


    This incident completely deterred the trio from acting separately again.


    Next time, should they encounter such peril without aid, luck would not suffice!


    Meanwhile, on the right side of the Green Light Safe Zone, a group of over ten Divine Kings was battling a sea demon with bizarre teeth.


    This sea creature had already flown out of the water into the Void.


    Its physical body was enormous, spanning a thousand meters and resembling a leopard-like monster. Its abrupt appearance in the open Void drew the attention of several Divine Kings searching for Purple Silver Pearls from afar.


    The battle commenced as soon as the bizarre-toothed monster emerged from the sea, engaging directly with the ten Divine Kings nearby.


    As the conflict progressed, the Divine Kings grew increasingly alarmed at the creature''s terrifying combat power. Despite being outnumbered, it managed to tear through several of them fiercely, leaving blood splattered everywhere!


    Realizing the dire situation, Divine Kings from other regions flew over to join the fray, ultimately managing to slay the bizarre-toothed sea monster.


    However, by then, three Divine Kings had already fallen to the monstrous creature.


    The Divine Kings had inadvertently provoked the monster by entering its territory, drawn by the lure of over a dozen Purple Silver Pearls, each emitting a pungent odor.


    Blinded by greed, they ignored the stench that signified the area belonged to the sea monster!


    After this deadly confrontation, even within the Green Light Safe Zone, no one dared to relax their vigilance.


    Many began forming teams after thoroughly discussing future Pearl distributions, avoiding solo ventures.


    If the Green Light Safe Zone was unsettling, then the Yellow Light Danger Zone was utterly perilous.


    Many Divine Kings with fortunate luck had already collected some Purple Silver Pearls.


    Others, like the five Divine Kings Ye Chen had encountered earlier, had already perished amid treacherous ambushes in the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    Some met their ends in battles against sea demons lurking beneath the waves.


    Others were mercilessly swept away and killed by sudden supernatural storms and tsunamis.


    More terrifying still was human greed.


    Divine Kings who obtained Purple Silver Pearls became targets, and some ended up murdered for their treasures.


    Near the area where the Yellow Light Danger Zone bordered the Green Light Safe Zone, a Divine King from Qianjue Divine Kingdom was being relentlessly pursued by another from Snow Desert Divine Kingdom.


    The fleeing Divine King''s arm had already been severed.


    Desperately, he fled toward the Green Light Safe Zone, knowing he could survive once he crossed into its no-kill boundaries.


    His pursuer, the Snow Desert Divine King, had witnessed him collecting over twenty Purple Silver Pearls and refused to let him escape.


    Fuelled by unbridled greed, the Snow Desert Divine King unleashed every ounce of his Divine Power in this frantic chase.


    Finally, when the fleeing Qianjue King crossed into the Green Light Safe Zone, the Snow Desert King reluctantly halted his pursuit, glaring ferociously before leaving.


    After all, the Green Light Safe Zone strictly prohibited murder¡ªa law of the Heavenly God Mountain''s second world he dared not defy.


    Safely escaped, the Qianjue King, now missing an arm, vowed never to return to the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    The three-month period for collecting Purple Silver Pearls had begun.


    From the very first day in the Sea of Mist, countless calamities unfolded.


    Ye Chen, of course, was not spared.


    Venturing into the Yellow Light Danger Zone, Ye Chen also encountered attacks by sea monsters during the subsequent four days.


    The pan-snake sea monster with five heads that had killed five Divine Kings earlier reappeared in his path on the second day within the Heavenly God Mountain''s second world.


    Ye Chen was unsure whether it was the same monster from before or another one.


    This creature''s speed was terrifyingly swift¡ªhad Ye Chen''s strength faltered, he would have been devoured like those five Divine Kings.


    Through mastery of the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills and use of his flying sword, Ye Chen ultimately slew the creature.


    Following this battle, Ye Chen encountered seven more sea monsters of various kinds.


    Every one of those creatures possessed Heavenly Divine Venerable-level combat power, most in the Lower tiers¡ªtwo even reached the Superior tier.


    Only Ye Chen could slay these beasts; anyone else encountering them would face near-certain death.


    Indeed, the abundance of dangers Ye Chen faced was partially due to his own choices.


    While other challengers cautiously explored small regions of the sea, Ye Chen boldly scoured vast areas at high speeds.


    This increased the probability of encountering perilous foes.


    Yet, the expansive searches provided clear advantages¡ªYe Chen had far greater opportunities to find Purple Silver Pearls.


    In just four days, Ye Chen successfully collected 103 Pearls, inching closer to the thousand needed for advancing to the next tier.


    That said...


    Ye Chen wasn''t the top collector of Purple Silver Pearls.


    The highest collector turned out to be Mu Qingxue from Tai Qing Divine Institute of Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, who had separated from Ye Chen earlier.


    On the fourth day in the Sea of Mist...


    Mu Qingxue was sitting quietly near a secluded sea area.


    Unlike Ye Chen, she didn''t frantically search across various regions.


    After parting ways with Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue spent half a day flying to this specific area, guided by an inexplicable intuition that Purple Silver Pearls would appear here. She decided to wait.


    Mu Qingxue''s intuition proved remarkably accurate.


    Over the next four days, she discovered incredible successes: on the first day alone, she found over 30 Purple Silver Pearls; on the second day, more than 50. On the third day, she stumbled upon a small cluster of Pearls numbering over 200!


    These substantial rewards thrilled Mu Qingxue beyond measure!


    Then, on the fourth day, as she meditated and observed the surrounding seas, a mysterious purple storm suddenly emerged.


    Though the storm blew fiercely against her, Mu Qingxue endured it with her impressive combat power.


    As it subsided, Mu Qingxue was astonished to discover a large pile of Purple Silver Pearls floating not far from her.


    Far larger than the cluster of over 200 Pearls she had collected earlier, this heap was the size of a basin.


    At first glance, Mu Qingxue screamed in excitement, "So many Purple Silver Pearls!"


    She darted toward the heap, collecting it speedily. Upon counting, she realized it contained a staggering 3,693 Purple Silver Pearls!


    Holding these jewels, shimmering with purple-silver divine light, Mu Qingxue was overwhelmed with elation!


    These Pearls not only fulfilled the thousand-piece requirement needed to ascend to the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain but exceeded it by over 2,000.


    Each surplus Pearl was worth one billion Black Divine Coins. Collectively, these two thousand Pearls equated to over two trillion Black Divine Coins¡ªa fortune rivaling even some Immortal Divine Venerables!


    A divine windfall!


    This was undoubtedly an unfathomable treasure! Mu Qingxue''s delight soared through the heavens for amassing such wealth in merely four days!


    Amid her exhilaration, Mu Qingxue was storing the Pearls in her spatial storage when the surroundings suddenly grew eerily quiet.


    The next moment, Mu Qingxue noticed a figure in the Void, staring at her with unmistakable greed in his eyes.


    This figure was none other than Sima Liao, ranked second on the Heavenly God List and recently advanced to Lower Earth Divine Venerable!


    Mu Qingxue''s actions in harvesting the colossal heap of Purple Silver Pearls had inadvertently drawn Sima Liao''s attention!

 Chapter 903 - 853: Pursuit

    "Sima Liao?!"


    Mu Qingxue''s heart sank.


    Seeing the greedy look in Sima Liao''s eyes, Mu Qingxue instantly understood that he had already noticed the small pile of Purple Silver Pearls she''d collected and had developed murderous intent to seize her treasure.


    As expected.


    The words that came next from Sima Liao made Mu Qingxue clench her fists tightly.


    Sima Liao looked at Mu Qingxue and sneered coldly, "I didn''t expect your luck to be this good, acquiring thousands of ''Purple Silver Pearls'' at once. But luck comes as quickly as it goes, and now I''ve witnessed this scene. If it were just a few, I might''ve let you off. Thousands, though? There''s no way I won''t take them!"


    In these four days, Sima Liao himself had only managed to collect ninety-five Purple Silver Pearls.


    He was still far from the thousand-Pearl target he needed to meet.


    Moreover, considering the incredible value of the Purple Silver Pearl.


    Whenever he encountered others collecting over a hundred Purple Silver Pearls, he could barely resist the urge to snatch them¡ªlet alone Mu Qingxue''s haul of thousands.


    Sima Liao''s envy knew no bounds!


    At this moment, in Sima Liao''s eyes, Mu Qingxue was already a dead person, and the Purple Silver Pearls in her possession were already his.


    The thought of that small, radiant pile of Purple Silver Pearls made Sima Liao''s breathing grow heavy.


    As one of the only two challengers to have broken through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, and as the second-ranked individual on the Heavenly God List, he had absolute confidence that he could sweep away all other challengers outside of Lin Shan!


    After all, the Heavenly God List had already tested the combat power means of everyone, and except for Lin Shan, no one could compare to him before.


    Now that some time had passed, and he had broken through to Earth Divine Venerable, his combat power had increased significantly; he was even more confident he could dominate any other opponent!


    Per the rules of the Sea of Mist for gathering Purple Silver Pearls, combat was not forbidden in the Yellow Light Danger Zone. However, to take another person''s treasure, one must kill them first.


    This also meant that Sima Liao, declaring he would take Mu Qingxue''s thousands of Purple Silver Pearls, had already formed a killing intent toward her.


    At this moment, Mu Qingxue''s knuckles were whitening from how tightly she was clenching her hands.


    Had it been anyone else, she wouldn''t feel fearful.


    But facing Sima Liao, the second-ranked on the Heavenly God List and someone who had successfully broken through, Mu Qingxue felt her Mind and Spirit sinking entirely.


    She knew she absolutely stood no chance of defeating Sima Liao.


    However, to sit back and wait for death? That was not something Mu Qingxue was willing to do.


    "Sima Liao, do you really think you can kill me?"


    "Indeed, my combat power may not match yours, but killing me easily won''t be so simple!"


    Knowing Sima Liao wouldn''t let her go, and that she wouldn''t surrender herself either, Mu Qingxue wasted no more words. The tremendous aura of Divine Power around her erupted, and her entire figure shot toward the Void above the Sea of Mist.


    Only in the Void, where the influence of the sea mist lessened, could her flight speed increase, giving her a better chance to flee toward the Green Light Safe Zone during her encounter with Sima Liao.


    Mu Qingxue was well aware that only by reaching the Green Light Safe Zone would Sima Liao be unable to attack her anymore¡ªher only chance for survival.


    Boom!


    Instantly, Mu Qingxue soared hundreds of feet into the Void above the Sea of Mist, then sped rapidly towards the Green Light Safe Zone.


    Within the sea mist below, affected by its strange properties, flight speed was reduced to just one hundred feet per second.


    However, once she reached the Void, her speed increased vastly, flying over one thousand feet forward in a single second!


    Unfortunately, in the next moment, Mu Qingxue abruptly sensed a deadly Killing Force slicing toward her in mid-flight.


    Sima Liao had made his move!


    "Trying to flee to the Green Light Safe Zone?"


    "No one escapes in front of me!"


    Sima Liao''s cold laughter echoed through the Void, exposing that he had seen through Mu Qingxue''s escape attempt.


    Boom!


    Divine Power burst magnificently from Sima Liao''s body, and his speed exceeded even Mu Qingxue''s. He appeared directly in her flight path, wielding a Divine Sword that he swung ruthlessly at her.


    As the second-ranked individual on the Heavenly God List, Sima Liao''s reaction speed and combat power were indeed extraordinarily formidable.


    The sword strike was about to land on the rapidly fleeing Mu Qingxue. At the very last moment, she forcibly twisted her body to narrowly avoid the kill.


    Mu Qingxue was far from weak. In the First Layer Great World of Heavenly God Mountain, she had successfully broken through from the Middle God King to the Upper God King Realm. While others recognized her breakthrough Realm, they didn''t know she had also obtained a few special treasures from a Secret Ground.


    At this moment, unwilling to engage Sima Liao in combat and focusing solely on fleeing, it was impossible for Sima Liao to kill her swiftly.


    Dodging Sima Liao''s sword, Mu Qingxue countered with a wave of her hand, unleashing a beam of white Divine Light toward him.


    Sima Liao''s eyes glinted as he tried to avoid the white light.


    Oddly, the beam of white Divine Light moved faster than Sima Liao''s reaction speed. In an instant, the white light morphed into a massive web, ensnaring him completely.


    Seeing Sima Liao trapped, Mu Qingxue''s heart surged with joy.


    Determining her direction, she resumed flying toward the Green Light Safe Zone.


    After seven or eight seconds of flight, Mu Qingxue''s expression changed. She sensed that Sima Liao, whom she had ensnared, was once again closing in on her.


    "Even the ''Heavenly Unique Enigmatic Spider Silk'' couldn''t hold him!"


    "It''s a pity I can only use the white ''Heavenly Unique Enigmatic Spider Silk'' right now. Its binding power is the weakest. If I could harness the stronger green variant, I wouldn''t have to worry about him catching up!"


    Frustrated, Mu Qingxue flung another beam of white Heavenly Unique Enigmatic Spider Silk Divine Light at Sima Liao while flying at high speed.


    Sima Liao was no longer willing to be trapped again.


    Caught off guard earlier, he had let Mu Qingxue gain some distance. Seeing her trying to use the same tactic against him, Sima Liao let out a cold snort.


    Instantly, blood-red flames erupted around his body. As the white light began morphing into a web in front of him, the flames burned intensely, annihilating the white Heavenly Unique Enigmatic Spider Silk into Void.


    "Petty tricks!"


    "Let''s see what else you have to slow me down!"


    Sima Liao''s gaze turned icily cold. Enveloped in blood-red flames, he resembled a figure of fire as he pursued Mu Qingxue with even greater speed.


    Seeing her tactic fail, Mu Qingxue''s expression darkened.


    However, her pace didn''t falter. As she continued fleeing, Mu Qingxue suddenly clasped a spell in her hands. A pair of snow-white wings materialized behind her.


    The snow-white wings flapped powerfully, instantly increasing her Escaping Speed, allowing her to pull further away from Sima Liao once more.


    "What is that?!"


    Sima Liao was startled upon seeing Mu Qingxue wielding a treasure capable of heightening her speed. Gritting his teeth, he summoned a pair of blood-red wings from the flames surrounding him.


    The blood-red wings flapped, significantly boosting Sima Liao''s speed as well.


    Soon, an astonishing scene unfolded in the Void.


    A petite young woman, surrounded by the glow of snow-white wings, was fleeing for her life, while behind her, a flaming figure with blood-red wings was relentlessly pursuing her at high speed.


    The two streaked across tens of thousands of feet of the Sea of Mist''s Void, shooting toward the horizon.


    This spectacle startled many challengers who were searching for Purple Silver Pearls over the Sea of Mist.


    "What''s that..."


    Seeing the high-speed chase in the air, the challengers below gaped in amazement.


    Among them, some recognized Mu Qingxue and Sima Liao and were utterly shocked.


    "That''s Mu Qingxue, the prodigy and goddess from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation!"


    "She''s actually being pursued by Sima Liao."


    "Could it be that Mu Qingxue found some kind of treasure that even Sima Liao covets?"


    Shocked, the witnesses couldn''t resist trailing after the fleeing pair, eager to spectate the drama.


    However, they kept a safe distance. Both Sima Liao and Mu Qingxue were among the most famous figures in this round of challengers, and no one dared interfere in their conflict.


    Soon, a large group of spectators began following behind the fleeing Mu Qingxue and the relentless Sima Liao.


    When members of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation among them realized what was happening, several God Kings from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation were alarmed.


    "Mu Qingxue is in trouble!"


    "I heard Mu Qingxue is a friend of Long Li and an elite of the Tai Qing Divine Institute. If something happens to her, Long Li will never let Sima Liao off!"


    "Not necessarily. The rules in Heavenly God Mountain don''t forbid killing in the Yellow Light Danger Zone. Even if Sima Liao makes a move here, Long Li can''t intervene. And if she does, the powerful figures from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom supporting Sima Liao won''t just stand by."


    "After all, Sima Liao isn''t breaking the rules of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "Then are we just going to watch Mu Qingxue get killed like this? Judging by her condition, although her speed is incredibly fast, activating those snow-white wings seems to consume a lot of energy. In just a little while, she''ll likely be caught by Sima Liao!"


    "What else can we do? Sima Liao is one of the top figures among the challengers this time. If he wants to kill someone, who can stop him?"


    Amid countless discussions, the God Kings from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation began relaying the news of Mu Qingxue being pursued by Sima Liao to others.


    "Finally, another thirty-two ''Purple Silver Pearls.''"


    In the southern region of the Yellow Light Danger Zone, Ye Chen smiled faintly as he pocketed the thirty-two floating Purple Silver Pearls from the sea surface.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected such a pleasant surprise when he entered a new section of the sea.


    "Combined with the one hundred and three Purple Silver Pearls I found earlier, I now have a total of one hundred and thirty-five Purple Silver Pearls. A bountiful day indeed."


    Nodding in satisfaction, Ye Chen prepared to continue searching the area.


    Just then, Ye Chen noticed six figures hurrying toward his location and speeding past him, heading further south.


    "Fellow Daoists, why the rush? Is there a powerful sea monster ahead?"


    With a flash of movement, Ye Chen intercepted one of the figures and asked.


    The six hurried individuals turned out to be five God Kings from the Lancang Divine Kingdom.


    They immediately recognized Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen?"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s inquiry, one of the six who had been stopped spoke up: "It''s not a sea monster. We just received news that Sima Liao is chasing down a young girl, and we''re heading to watch the spectacle."


    "By the way, Ye Chen, that girl appears to be from your Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation. Her name is Mu Qingxue."


    Hearing this, Ye Chen''s initially calm expression darkened abruptly.


    Mu Qingxue?


    Being hunted by Sima Liao?


    Ye Chen''s face turned icy cold in an instant.

 Chapter 904 - 854: Ye Chen Arrives!

    Among the 530,000 challengers entering the Heavenly God Mountain this time, Ye Chen was most concerned about the Upper God Kings of the Supreme Divine Institute, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and Mu Qingxue.


    Mu Qingxue was a good friend of Long Li.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t sit by and watch her get into trouble!


    "Do you know the direction where Sima Liao is pursuing Mu Qingxue?" Ye Chen asked the six people.


    The six nodded, "We have companions following Sima Liao and Mu Qingxue. The location sent by those companions isn''t far from here."


    Hearing this, the tension in Ye Chen''s heart eased slightly.


    If it was too far, it would be troublesome not to make it in time, but since it''s not too far, there''s hope to reach Mu Qingxue before any mishap occurs.


    Ye Chen quickly said to the six, "Tell me the direction, I''ll take you there faster."


    Faster?


    The six hadn''t grasped it yet.


    The next moment, they felt enveloped by a sky-shattering divine power, instantly transported to an extremely high point in the void.


    This instantaneous velocity was dozens of times faster than their flying speed!


    At this moment, the six finally understood that Ye Chen intended to use his faster escaping speed to take them to that pursuit area.


    "How does it seem Ye Chen is even more powerful than the rumors say!"


    "I fear even with the combat power of a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, there''s no escaping speed this fast!"


    In their amazement, the six also noticed Ye Chen''s anxious expression.


    They quickly informed Ye Chen of the continuously guided location from the messages.


    Then, with a booming sound, Ye Chen took the six of them and instantly vanished into the void.


    If anyone saw Ye Chen''s escaping speed with the six, they''d truly be astounded!


    Even with six people, Ye Chen''s escaping speed was still much faster than Sima Liao''s pursuit of Mu Qingxue!


    "Too fast."


    "This escaping speed is truly too fast!"


    The six Upper God Kings from Lancang Divine Kingdom, shrouded by Ye Chen''s divine power, witnessed the Sea of Mist''s expansive sea regions passing by in astonishment.


    They could hardly imagine anyone flying this fast in the mysterious Sea of Mist.


    What surprised them even more.


    During their swift flight, an enormous Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable-level beast abruptly emerged from the ocean below, seemingly detecting them, and charged toward them in an intercepting attack.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, carrying them, didn''t slow down at all, and with a wave of his hand, a sword light slashed out.


    Their eyes widened instantly.


    This colossal beast at the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable level was directly slain by Ye Chen with just one sword light!


    Now, their minds were completely shocked.


    Flying.


    Flying at an extreme speed!


    Ye Chen felt fortunate in his heart; he circled around the Sea of Mist and luckily wasn''t too far from the route Mu Qingxue was fleeing on.


    More fortunately, he encountered six people who knew about Mu Qingxue''s situation.


    Now, in Ye Chen''s mind, there was only one thought, which was hoping Mu Qingxue could hold on until he arrived.


    With urgent thoughts flashing, Ye Chen, like a streak of light, carried the six Upper God Kings from Lancang Divine Kingdom across the endless void of the Sea of Mist.


    On the other side.


    Enveloped in white divine light and fleeing, Mu Qingxue''s face was already extremely pale.


    Though the white wings she activated greatly increased her escaping speed, they also consumed a significant amount of divine power.


    This was why she hadn''t used them earlier.


    Though using them now prevented Sima Liao from catching up, her divine power was slowly dwindling, causing her speed to decrease.


    Moreover, dodging Sima Liao''s continuous divine arts, she couldn''t flee directly toward the Green Light Safe Zone, altering her flight path multiple times.


    At this point, it was still several hundred miles away from the Green Light Safe Zone!


    Outside the Sea of Mist, she could fly over in less than a second.


    But within the Sea of Mist, it seemed an insurmountable gap.


    Seeing the distance between her and her pursuer, Sima Liao, shrinking, Mu Qingxue''s heart grew heavier. She knew that this time, she might not reach the Green Light Safe Zone.


    "What do I do? What do I do?!"


    "Sima Liao is in the Divine Venerable Realm, while I am in the Divine King Realm. His divine power is inherently more vast. At this rate of divine power depletion, I''m at a disadvantage."


    "If he catches up, I won''t even have the divine power to resist. It''ll be over!"


    "But facing him directly, I have no chance of victory!"


    With her mind racing, Sima Liao''s cold voice came from behind her.


    "Escape?"


    "I want to see how much longer you can run!"


    As he spoke, Sima Liao''s speed didn''t diminish. Instead, the flame divine force on his body burned even more fiercely.


    Thousands of feet, hundreds of feet, dozens of feet!


    As the distance closed, Sima Liao suddenly slapped his hand, sending a shocking palm shadow toward Mu Qingxue.


    Boom!


    The impact of the slap exploded the void.


    Racing to escape, Mu Qingxue hurriedly deployed a white shield-like divine artifact in defense, but even then, she was sent flying toward the sea, a trace of blood at the corner of her mouth.


    Mu Qingxue barely halted her backward trajectory, and the next moment, Sima Liao took a step in the void, appearing ten feet in front of her with a cold smile.


    Farther away.


    The people who had been following Sima Liao and Mu Qingxue to watch the spectacle were gasping for breath and falling farther behind the two.


    If more God Kings hadn''t joined the pursuit along the route, the initial group would have lost track completely.


    When Mu Qingxue and Sima Liao halted their confrontation for several seconds, the crowd finally caught up, remaining a thousand feet behind them in the sky.


    "They stopped flying?"


    "Looks like Mu Qingxue''s done for. She seems injured and doesn''t have the strength to widen the gap anymore!"


    Seeing the situation clearly, many people''s expressions changed.


    At this moment, Sima Liao ignored the spectators.


    He originally watched Mu Qingxue like a predator viewing prey. But seeing so many arrivals, he finally lowered his arms.


    "Mu Qingxue, you did well escaping so far from me. You should be proud."


    "Now, pay with your life!"


    Sima Liao sneered, tightening a spell, sending hundreds of knife-like divine lights to rain down on Mu Qingxue.


    "Taking my life isn''t so easy!"


    Mu Qingxue, her breath unsteady from Sima Liao''s earlier strike, didn''t completely give up.


    Determination flashed in her eyes as she resolved to fatally wound Sima Liao, even if it meant her death, so he wouldn''t get away unscathed!


    With determined mind and spirit, Mu Qingxue erupted in golden radiance.


    Within the light, her delicate body donned a golden armor, with a massive red cape appearing behind her.


    Golden armor, red cape.


    At this moment, Mu Qingxue discarded her elegant demeanor, resembling a warrior goddess.


    "Sword, come!"


    Mu Qingxue''s pale hand reached out, and a cyan Divine Sword appeared.


    The sword''s blade glinted, sending hundreds of sword lights to meet Sima Liao''s incoming deadly lights.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Instantly, a thunderous explosion rang in the void above the Sea of Mist.


    Wielding golden armor, a cape, and Divine Sword, Mu Qingxue successfully blocked Sima Liao''s attack.


    "Hmm?"


    Seeing Mu Qingxue still able to defend, Sima Liao''s face darkened. "Looks like your gains on the first level of Heavenly God Mountain were significant. Otherwise, with your rank on the Heavenly God List, you couldn''t have blocked my killing strike."


    "But it doesn''t matter; you''re still going to die!"


    A moment''s delay invites change.


    Sima Liao didn''t wish to risk further unexpected developments and no longer held back.


    Instantly, a world-shattering blood-red divine light surged from Sima Liao, within which countless blood skeleton phantoms flickered in and out.


    "Great Devouring Ghost-killing Divine Light."


    "Annihilate her for me!"


    Sima Liao shouted, and from the bloody divine light came countless ghastly wails.


    Soon, a bloody silhouette engulfed heaven and earth, turning the entire Void Scarlet.


    In the scarlet, myriad skull phantoms flew from Sima Liao, transforming into vast-mouthed evil spirits, lunging at Mu Qingxue.


    "This is Sima Liao''s true power? At this magnitude, it seems he''s reached the peak of the Lower Immortal Divine Venerable level!"


    "He once had the combat power of a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable at just the Upper God King level, but after transforming to an Earth Divine Venerable, he''s immediately ascended to the peak of the Lower Immortal Divine Venerable!"


    Even the God Kings watching from afar felt the chilling lethal force, retreating in fright.


    Within the Great Devouring Ghost-killing Divine Light''s encasement, Mu Qingxue''s face changed drastically.


    Mu Qingxue realized her divine power was being gradually melted by the blood-red shadows, making it impossible to fend off the impending skull phantoms.


    "Could this be the end?"


    "I wish to fatally wound Sima Liao even if it costs me my life. Can I not even withstand this strike?!"


    Mu Qingxue couldn''t believe it and refused to accept it.


    With a fierce determination, she exhibited a sorrowful expression.


    In a moment of resolve, Mu Qingxue thought of many people.


    She thought of her parents in the Northern Region of the Mountain Divine Nation, thought of her friend Long Li, and recalled recently parting ways with Ye Chen.


    "If..."


    "If I hadn''t parted with Ye Chen, the two of us together might have had the power to stand against Sima Liao."


    As a myriad of thoughts flashed through her mind, Mu Qingxue grit her teeth, prepared to burn her lifeblood for a final desperate strike.


    At that moment, Mu Qingxue suddenly heard a voice: "Friend Qingxue, don''t panic."


    This voice?


    Mu Qingxue was stunned, her mind tensing instantly.


    It was Ye Chen''s voice!


    The next moment, Mu Qingxue witnessed an unbelievable sight.


    The countless skull phantoms lunging at her exploded and dissipated, and even the scarlet blood shadows seemed to tear open, revealing a vast expanse of the original Void.


    Following that, Mu Qingxue saw Ye Chen alongside six unfamiliar figures appearing in the sky.


    Ye Chen had arrived!


    Just now, it was Ye Chen who saved her!

 Chapter 905 - 855: Tyranny

    "Ye Chen."


    "It''s Ye Chen, ranked fourth on the Heavenly God List!"


    "He''s stepped in to help Mu Qingxue!"


    Mu Qingxue was shocked to see Ye Chen, and the other observing God Kings likewise exclaimed in surprise.


    They were filled with a sense of incredulity.


    They knew Ye Chen''s strength, but they never expected that he could block even Sima Liao''s killing move¡ªSima Liao, ranked second on the Heavenly God List!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen''s combat power has reached the level of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable?!"


    "When he entered Heavenly God Mountain, he only had combat power at the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable level on the Heavenly God List. How could he have made such progress in just a few months?!"


    Some of them thought of one thing: "It''s said that in the first layer of the Great World within Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen single-handedly saved dozens of God Kings from Qianjue Divine Kingdom and swept through the Valley of the Wicked, slaying countless assassins and evildoers."


    "It seems undeniable¡ªYe Chen truly lives up to being Wanmu Mountain''s unparalleled talent. Though he''s the youngest and his realm is inferior to Sima Liao''s, his actual combat strength doesn''t fall short. His speed of improvement even surpasses everyone else!"


    The observing God Kings were moved with admiration.


    Sima Liao in the Void Heaven also spotted Ye Chen.


    In an instant, killing intent erupted in Sima Liao''s eyes.


    Originally, Sima Liao harbored murderous intent toward Ye Chen, but he refrained from making a move earlier as it was inconvenient.


    Now, Ye Chen had ruined his plans, making him wish to kill Ye Chen immediately to vent his hatred!


    "Ye Chen, you court death!"


    "This is the Yellow Light Danger Zone within the Sea of Mist¡ªit doesn''t forbid fighting. Don''t think that having several Sovereigns watching over you will stop me from killing you!"


    This time, Sima Liao no longer concealed his murderous intent toward Ye Chen.


    Seeing Sima Liao''s stern killing intent, the countless observing God Kings were all alarmed.


    They knew Ye Chen had angered Sima Liao, and this time, he might be in serious trouble.


    Though Ye Chen was powerful, in their eyes, he was still no match for someone like Sima Liao.


    "Ye Chen!" Mu Qingxue also trembled, flying to Ye Chen''s side.


    Despite being astonished by Ye Chen''s earlier display of combat strength, the young woman still didn''t believe Ye Chen could hold his own against Sima Liao.


    Noting Mu Qingxue''s worried expression and her action of standing beside him as if to fight alongside him, Ye Chen smiled and gestured gently, "Qingxue, leave this matter to me."


    Then, Ye Chen turned to the six God Kings from Lancang Divine Kingdom beside him and said, "Thank you for guiding me."


    Finally, Ye Chen strode forward directly, facing Sima Liao, and said aloud: "You say I court death?"


    "Go ahead and try."


    "We''ll see who truly courts death."


    Ye Chen''s casual words echoed through the Void Heaven of the Sea of Mist, leaving countless observers in shock and disbelief.


    The gathering God Kings who had come to watch could clearly see that Ye Chen had no fear of Sima Liao whatsoever!


    "Go ahead and try. We''ll see who truly courts death."


    In fact, Ye Chen''s words seemed to indicate he wasn''t merely unafraid of Sima Liao but was even confident in his ability to kill him!


    This stunned everyone deeply.


    After all, Sima Liao was one of only two individuals among countless God Kings entering Heavenly God Mountain who had already advanced to the Divine Venerable Realm.


    Although Ye Chen had also broken through his realm, his advancement from Lower God King to Middle God King couldn''t compare to Sima Liao''s leap from Upper God King to Lower Earth Divine Venerable.


    Moreover, Sima Liao''s combat power was already ranked higher than Ye Chen''s on the Heavenly God List.


    The Heavenly God List measured every possible facet of one''s power; it couldn''t have allowed Ye Chen to conceal anything.


    Thus, where did Ye Chen''s confidence come from to disregard Sima Liao?


    These people didn''t know that, while the Heavenly God List could assess others'' abilities, it couldn''t fully uncover the secrets of Ye Chen, who possessed the Stars Tower.


    Neither did they know that Ye Chen''s cultivation of Taiyi Divine Power made his breakthrough from Lower God King to Middle God King far more impressive than Sima Liao''s advance from Upper God King to Lower Earth Divine Venerable!


    Ye Chen had never feared Sima Liao.


    At this point, with his realm elevated further, Ye Chen was absolutely confident he could defeat Sima Liao.


    The two formidable figures stood face-to-face in the Void Heaven.


    One was Wanmu Mountain''s Heaven''s Chosen God King.


    One was Snow Desert Divine Kingdom''s extraordinary prodigy.


    The awe-inspiring aura emanating from these two was enough to strike fear into the hearts of countless challengers.


    The challengers sighed in admiration¡ªthese were the true elites among the fifty-three thousand competitors!


    The top-tier talents!


    At this moment, the two faced off, neither willing to back down an inch. Everyone eagerly awaited the ultimate clash between Ye Chen and Sima Liao to determine who truly proved stronger.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Watching Ye Chen standing in front of her, shielding her from Sima Liao, Mu Qingxue''s enchanting eyes sparkled.


    Ever since hearing Ye Chen''s name from Long Li, Mu Qingxue had been curious to meet Ye Chen.


    From the moment she first encountered Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue had been awed by his strength. Now, seeing Ye Chen shielding her from harm, Mu Qingxue genuinely felt a deep respect for him from the bottom of her heart.


    "No wonder Sister Long Li is fond of Ye Chen."


    "He truly is an exceptional talent¡ªthe only one worthy of Sister Long Li!"


    Ye Chen''s remark turned what seemed to be Sima Liao''s overwhelming advantage into a balance of power between the two.


    Seeing countless observers anticipate the outcome of their clash angered Sima Liao.


    How could he willingly share equal footing with Ye Chen?


    To Sima Liao, only he was stronger; Ye Chen was unfit to challenge him.


    Others hoping to see a competitive fight insulted him.


    From his perspective, any fight with Ye Chen could only end in one result: Ye Chen defeated, Ye Chen dead!


    Fed up, Sima Liao decided he wouldn''t waste more words with Ye Chen.


    The blood-red Divine Light surging from his body expanded across the sky.


    "Ye Chen, you and Mu Qingxue must die!"


    Sima Liao''s cold proclamation barely finished when, instead of activating his Divine Artifact for a killing move, his entire body erupted, manifesting seven thousand-foot tall blood-red bear projections.


    The seven colossal bear projections roared in unison, and Sima Liao''s body grew exponentially larger, enveloped in a massive bear-like radiance that made him appear as an indomitable giant.


    With a ferocious burst of speed, Sima Liao charged directly at Ye Chen.


    When they saw Sima Liao''s seven blood-red bear projections, many God Kings felt a chill: "Could this be the ''Sky-Extinguishing Eight Bear God Body''? This Divine Body is said to be one of the most formidable melee combat Divine Bodies, ranking among the very top even within Divine Venerable-grade physiques."


    "Seven blood-red bear projections¡ªthis clearly indicates the Sky-Extinguishing Eight Bear God Body has reached Great Accomplishment!"


    "I''ve never heard of Sima Liao cultivating this God Body; he hid it well."


    "It''s probably thanks to mastering this God Body that he surpassed Hua Xuelian on the Heavenly God List!"


    As the God Kings marveled, Sima Liao¡ªnow resembling a towering giant or a mighty divine bear¡ªhad already lunged at Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen, however, did not dodge. Instead, his body radiated a terrifying halo of black and white Divine Light.


    This was the true form of Taiyi Divine Power!


    Boom.


    In an instant, Taiyi Divine Power infused Ye Chen''s physical form.


    Compared to any previous activation of Taiyi Divine Power, this surge was far more overwhelming¡ªproof of the power Ye Chen could unleash after advancing to the Middle God King rank.


    With the black and white Divine Light of Taiyi Divine Power coursing through him, Ye Chen charged straight at the incoming Sima Liao.


    Ye Chen was choosing to engage in close-quarters combat directly with Sima Liao!


    As the two powerhouse figures prepared to clash, countless observing challengers felt their hearts leap into their throats.


    Some even turned pale and exclaimed: "It''s known that Ye Chen cultivates the ''Ancient Undying Divine Body'', which is rumored to be among the strongest Sovereign-grade Divine Bodies."


    "But Ye Chen is said to have only mastered the first tier, the Earth Divine Pattern, of the Ancient Undying Divine Body."


    "If he had reached the third tier of the five Divine Patterns, he would easily counter Sima Liao. But with only one Earth Divine Pattern, he likely can''t withstand Sima Liao''s Great Accomplishment-level Sky-Extinguishing Eight Bear God Body!"


    Even as these words of alarm rang out, they abruptly fell silent.


    The observers caught sight of the two mighty figures colliding, their Divine Body strengths intertwining with terrifying force.


    The outcome was utterly beyond anyone''s expectations!


    Sima Liao, who had displayed an overwhelming aura¡ªespecially with the seven towering bear projections that enveloped him¡ªclearly seemed far more imposing than Ye Chen.


    But Ye Chen, wrapped in a black and white Divine Light, landed a single punch that sent Sima Liao''s gigantic, expanded frame flying backward!


    Even more frightening, Ye Chen showed no intention of stopping. Stepping forward into the Void Heaven, he pursued the retreating Sima Liao, unleashing punch after punch with such devastating force that the Void shattered around them.


    These punches were none other than the Earth Divine Pattern''s signature move¡ªEarth Collapse!


    The punches resembled enormous hammers, each one landing violently on Sima Liao.


    Sima Liao couldn''t even mount a defense; Ye Chen''s relentless strikes ultimately drove him crashing into the Sea of Mist.


    Silence.


    Everyone was stunned into silence.


    The countless spectators, many of whom understood the Earth Divine Pattern''s techniques, had never imagined Ye Chen''s mastery over them could be so powerful.


    Ye Chen had completely overwhelmed and smashed Sima Liao, who had activated the Great Accomplishment-level Sky-Extinguishing Eight Bear God Body, leaving him utterly defenseless!


    "It''s the special Divine Light emanating from Ye Chen¡ªit''s enhanced his Ancient Undying Divine Body''s power!"


    "It''s precisely that unique Divine Light, fused with the Ancient Undying Divine Body, which has made his Earth Divine Pattern techniques so terrifyingly strong!"


    Someone uncovered the secret, their gaze falling upon Ye Chen''s extraordinary black and white Divine Light, filled with astonished dread.

 Chapter 906 - 856: Miraculous Treasure

    At this moment, Mu Qingxue''s delicate lips opened wide in astonishment.


    Initially, she was worried that Ye Chen would not be able to stand against Sima Liao. Even after Ye Chen reassured her, she still considered whether she should act alongside him.


    But now, as soon as Ye Chen made his move, Mu Qingxue felt completely relieved.


    From a single glance, Mu Qingxue could tell that regardless of the techniques Ye Chen employed, he showed no fear toward Sima Liao.


    Earlier, Ye Chen had already helped her break Sima Liao''s "Great Devouring Ghost-killing Divine Light," and now he even thoroughly suppressed Sima Liao''s Great Accomplishment-level "Sky-Extinguishing Eight Bear God Body!"


    Amid Mu Qingxue''s overwhelming joy and the stunned expressions of countless spectating Divine Kings¡ª


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Sima Liao, who had been hammered into the Sea of Mist below, caused a massive pit in the waters upon impact. In the next moment, an enormous surge of seawater erupted from the pit, and Sima Liao''s figure leapt out of the Sea of Mist once again.


    This time, Sima Liao emerged disheveled, his hair wild and his eyes bloodshot, resembling a vengeful ghost.


    Clearly, having been suppressed by Ye Chen and even struck down into the Sea of Mist earlier had deeply embarrassed him. Now, his fury and killing force had intensified to their absolute peak!


    BOOM!


    With a thunderous detonation, Sima Liao, who had shot out from the Sea of Mist, stood in the Void once again.


    Disheveled and wild-haired, Sima Liao fixed his chilly gaze on Ye Chen and said grimly, "Ye Chen, you''ve forced me to this point."


    "Originally, I had intended to leave you an intact corpse. But now, I will utterly annihilate you to dust and ashes!"


    As he spoke, Sima Liao abruptly reached out with his large hand, and a palm-sized white skull materialized in his grasp.


    "This is a miraculous treasure I obtained in the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s grand world. Accept your death!"


    With an abrupt motion, Sima Liao pointed his other hand at the white skull, and in an instant, a drop of his lifeblood flew into the skull.


    In that moment, the otherwise unremarkable white skull suddenly emitted two ghostly blue flames from its eye sockets.


    In the blink of an eye¡ª


    The entire skull radiated an extraordinary, scorching power. This force instantly caused countless places in the Void to explode, while below, countless waves in the Sea of Mist evaporated into nothingness.


    What was more horrifying, as this scorching force surged outward, two beams of piercing white light shot out of the ghostly blue flames within the skull, heading directly for Ye Chen like certain death.


    Upon witnessing these two beams of white light and feeling the intense, oppressive power they carried, countless spectating Divine Kings were stricken with fear.


    They couldn''t help but sense that this miraculous treasure seemed completely foreign to their realm, carrying an eerily extreme killing force!


    At this moment, facing the encroaching white beams, Ye Chen''s expression abruptly shifted.


    Yet, Ye Chen did not show any signs of panic.


    Instead, with a furrowed brow, the black-and-white Divine Power around Ye Chen rapidly transformed into a pale golden Divine Power, surging toward his Qi Sea.


    Instantly, streams of pale golden energy enveloped Ye Chen''s entire body.


    Ye Chen''s posture shifted into that of wielding a sword in the Void, whereupon two shadows of Yin-and-Yang Divine Swords appeared in his hands.


    This was none other than Ye Chen''s most powerful killing technique, capable of channeling the Starry Origin Power¡ªhis self-created ultimate move: the second style of Origin Slash!


    In the past, this technique had shattered an entire small world.


    Now, as Ye Chen unleashed it in response, two peerless sword lights shot forth, colliding directly with the two white beams from the skull treasure wielded by Sima Liao.


    From Sima Liao''s deployment of the treasure to Ye Chen''s counterattack, it all transpired within a fraction of a blink.


    In that instant, everyone saw the beams and sword lights clashing violently.


    BANG! BANG! BANG!


    A series of earth-shattering explosions erupted as the four divine lights collided, unleashing terrifying shockwaves that triggered monstrous tsunamis in the Sea of Mist below. Even the surrounding spectators were hurled far away.


    When the spectating challengers managed to steady themselves and fly back, they saw that Sima Liao and Ye Chen, both at the epicenter of the clash, had been blasted several thousand feet away, yet they still faced each other directly!


    Even though Sima Liao had erupted in fury and aimed to obliterate Ye Chen entirely, Ye Chen had managed to withstand Sima Liao''s killing strike!


    "Impossible!"


    Sima Liao was utterly shocked.


    He couldn''t believe that Ye Chen had managed to block his miraculous treasure, one so fearsome that even he approached it with trepidation, obtained from the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s grand world!


    At this moment, Sima Liao appeared deranged.


    He had been summoned by Divine Dragon Mountain Sect Master Qin Yuntian to deal with Ye Chen, harboring the intent to kill him from the start. All along, he believed Ye Chen was no match for him.


    Now, with his own killing strikes being suppressed and even his newly acquired overwhelming power proving ineffective, this revealed one undeniable truth: he was entirely inferior to Ye Chen.


    How could Sima Liao possibly accept such a result?


    With madness in his bloodshot eyes, Sima Liao stared at the white skull in his hands as if making a desperate decision.


    Gripping the skull tightly, streams of fresh blood suddenly flowed from his hands.


    In moments, the thick blood soaked the white skull entirely, dyeing it crimson red.


    Then, something truly horrifying occurred.


    The white skull abruptly flew out of Sima Liao''s hands, hovering in the Void and spinning rapidly.


    The ghostly blue flames in the skull''s eye sockets then shot out, like eerie eyes locking onto Ye Chen.


    In the next instant, these two ghostly blue flames surged toward Ye Chen like infernal fire.


    Previously, the white beams emitted by the flames had already forced Ye Chen to counter with his strongest killing technique. Now, as the flames advanced entirely, their killing force was undoubtedly greater.


    What countermeasure could Ye Chen employ?


    "These flames are likely Immortal Divine Venerable-level Mystic Heavenly Fire, and among flames of its rank, it''s extraordinarily powerful!"


    "The ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' I possess is definitely stronger than these ghostly blue flames. However, the current power of the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' I can harness may not be sufficient to block these flames."


    "And besides, these flames and the skull seem to be treasures from the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s grand world, carrying a trace of profound strangeness. ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' is my ultimate card, and I should avoid using it if possible."


    "It looks like I''ll have to resort to that peculiar relic!"


    In an instant, Ye Chen''s mind flashed with calculations, yet he did not hesitate.


    A copper gong and a wooden mallet suddenly appeared in his hands.


    The moment the objects materialized, Ye Chen''s Taiyi Divine Power surged like a waterfall into the wooden mallet.


    Then, with a single strike, the mallet collided with the copper gong, producing a deep, resounding "Dong."


    In that instant, something astonishing occurred.


    The faint sound reverberated through the battlefield, and all present¡ªwhether Sima Liao, Mu Qingxue, or the countless spectating Divine Kings¡ªfelt their Divine Power within their Divine Bodies entirely frozen.


    Even the two blue flames about to burn through Ye Chen were forcibly frozen in the Void, suspended and unable to advance an inch closer.

 Chapter 907 - 857 Sudden Change (1st Update)

    "What sort of treasure is this?!"


    "My divine power... it''s been completely frozen!"


    "Even the terrifying flames that Sima Liao unleashed against Ye Chen have been completely sealed as well!"


    At the moment Ye Chen revealed the mysterious artifact of the copper gong and wooden hammer, everyone''s own divine power was immediately frozen. Even the ghostly blue flames emitted by the white skeleton were suspended in midair¡ªan astounding sight that left the gathered onlookers utterly terrified.


    They couldn''t fathom what kind of treasure could possess such divine might.


    Could it... could it be an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact?!


    But with Ye Chen''s current realm, it was impossible for him to wield such a thing!


    Or perhaps this artifact, like the white skeleton, didn''t even belong to this cosmic plane¡ªsomething far more extraordinary and otherworldly?


    In their horror-stricken awe, Mu Qingxue and the countless observing Divine Kings felt a bit more at ease, knowing that Ye Chen wouldn''t harm them.


    But for Sima Liao, this moment was an absolute nightmare filled with terror!


    Sima Liao had never anticipated that, despite injuring his own Life Origin to forcefully activate the power of the white skeleton, not only had he failed to kill Ye Chen, but he had provoked Ye Chen into using a treasure even more frightening than the skeleton.


    This artifact gave Sima Liao the overwhelming sense that he was facing a Sovereign!


    To have his entire divine power utterly frozen...


    He was completely incapable of controlling the energy within his body.


    Wasn''t this equivalent to turning him into a lamb awaiting slaughter?


    Even the ghostly blue flames in the eye sockets of the skeleton, which he had placed so much hope on, were entirely sealed, unable to harm Ye Chen in the slightest¡ªleaving him completely at a loss for what to do.


    In the midst of this wave of panic,


    Ye Chen calmly extended his hand, and a surge of Void sword light emerged within his palm.


    Everyone had been frozen in place.


    But Ye Chen was completely unaffected, moving with unrestrained ease!


    "The copper gong and wooden hammer¡ªthis treasure is truly heaven-defying."


    Clutching the Void sword light, Ye Chen couldn''t help but marvel.


    When he first discovered this artifact in the "Abandoned Land," though he managed to activate it successfully, his own divine power was also frozen alongside everyone else''s.


    If everyone''s divine power remained frozen, the artifact offered no advantage to its wielder.


    After all, if his divine power was likewise sealed, he would pose no threat to anyone else.


    But after leaving the "Abandoned Land," Ye Chen pondered deeply. Since this artifact was left behind by an existence that transcended the Sovereign Realm, it couldn''t be so limited and trivial in its effect.


    There had to be deeper mysteries hidden within!


    In the time following, Ye Chen devoted himself not only to cultivation but to unraveling the mysteries of this artifact as well.


    Finally, before departing the first world layer of the Heavenly God Mountain, he unlocked the method to truly wield its power.


    Understanding the secret behind this artifact, Ye Chen was now able to control it so that it would freeze the divine power of others, while leaving his own untouched.


    Under this configuration, as long as he wasn''t confronting a Sovereign, his divine power could endure the artifact''s drain, allowing him to use it against his enemies!


    "With this copper gong and wooden hammer, at a cost of thirty percent of my divine power, I can freeze all Sovereign Realm and below cultivators within ten breaths in a radius of ten thousand feet."


    "At eighty percent divine power depletion, I can even freeze Sovereign Realm and below cultivators for a full half-quarter of an hour!"


    "The risk of using eighty percent is far too high, but with thirty percent and ten breaths'' time, it''s enough for me to kill my foes!"


    His thoughts racing, Ye Chen raised his hand, and the Void sword light shot straight at Sima Liao.


    The ten breaths would vanish in an instant; Ye Chen had to seize the opportunity to finish Sima Liao.


    Sima Liao''s earlier killing intent toward him¡ªand toward Mu Qingxue¡ªwas something Ye Chen would never forget.


    If not for his arsenal of methods, he could very well have perished at Sima Liao''s hands.


    Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t leave Sima Liao alive as a threat for the future!


    From the moment Ye Chen activated the treasure and froze everyone''s divine power to the point he unleashed the Void sword light against Sima Liao, only a single breath had passed.


    Seeing the Void sword light striking toward Sima Liao, everyone knew he was doomed.


    After all, Sima Liao had already failed to best Ye Chen previously. Now, with his divine power completely sealed, it was impossible for him to withstand this deadly strike.


    Just as everyone was certain Sima Liao''s fate was sealed, disaster struck suddenly.


    A violent purple storm erupted out of nowhere, instantly extinguishing the Void sword light that Ye Chen had sent hurtling toward Sima Liao.


    The abrupt turn of events shocked everyone: "Could this be a new trick of Sima Liao''s?"


    But within moments, that notion was discarded.


    The gathered Divine Kings quickly realized that the purple storm wasn''t limited to a single area¡ªit was an endless wave of purple storms.


    The storms swept through with an unstoppable force, seizing everyone present¡ªSima Liao, Mu Qingxue, Ye Chen, and all others alike!


    It wasn''t Sima Liao''s secret weapon.


    It was the Sea of Mist itself undergoing an upheaval.


    No one could have foreseen that, at the critical juncture of Ye Chen and Sima Liao''s battle, such a catastrophe would unfold.


    Amid the purple storm''s relentless assault, those with frozen divine power were utterly defenseless, and even Ye Chen, whose divine power remained unaffected, was powerless to resist.


    All were swept up into the depths of the unstoppable purple storm!


    When the ten breaths of time elapsed and the divine power of the observing Divine Kings returned to normal, they still found themselves helpless¡ªcarried along in the storm''s unyielding current above the Sea of Mist.


    "What''s happening?"


    "What''s happening?!"


    The situation sent countless Divine Kings into a frenzy of screams.


    Even Ye Chen felt a tremor of fear in his heart; he hadn''t anticipated such a sudden twist.


    Could this be the inherent danger of the Yellow Light Danger Zone of the Sea of Mist?


    If so, then the force of these storms was far too horrifying, even for someone of his strength!


    Fortunately, at the moment the storm erupted, Ye Chen managed to store away the copper gong and wooden hammer artifact, preventing it from being blown away.


    The only regret was failing to kill Sima Liao.


    Yet in the midst of this calamity, Ye Chen had no time to worry about Sima Liao¡ªfiguring out the situation took precedence.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Swept along in the chaos of the storm, Mu Qingxue was blown close to Ye Chen. Trying to make sense of what was happening, her fair and delicate face betrayed a hint of panic.


    "Is that¡ªthe ''Purple Silver Pearls''?!"


    Amidst her fear and confusion, Mu Qingxue spotted a massive cluster of "Purple Silver Pearls" being carried toward her by the storm.


    This cluster seemed to contain tens of thousands of Purple Silver Pearls!


    Tens of thousands! The sheer amount was astronomical!


    If not for the dire circumstances of the purple storm, Mu Qingxue might have been overcome with ecstatic joy.


    "This..."


    As she gazed at the overwhelming quantity of Purple Silver Pearls amidst the raging storm, a realization dawned upon Mu Qingxue''s mind, and she spoke hurriedly to Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, do you know why Sima Liao hunted me down?"


    Understanding there was no time for idle questioning, Mu Qingxue continued urgently: "Earlier, in the area I was in, a purple storm had swept through, and after it passed, I found a small cluster of thousands of Purple Silver Pearls."


    "It was because Sima Liao witnessed me discovering those thousands of Purple Silver Pearls that he pursued me relentlessly."


    "Now, there''s another purple storm, but this one is far stronger, and there are far more Purple Silver Pearls than before¡ªtens of thousands of them!"


    "Could these two occurrences be connected?"


    Mu Qingxue''s words sent a jolt through Ye Chen''s heart.


    Purple storms, Purple Silver Pearls?


    Was there truly a connection between them?


    As Ye Chen waved his hand, signaling Mu Qingxue to collect the Pearls rushing toward her amidst the storm, he noticed another massive cluster being carried toward him.


    The number was similarly in the tens of thousands!


    With a thought, Ye Chen activated his divine energy, reaching out to gather the incoming Pearls.


    Though he couldn''t resist the storm''s pull, the task of collecting the Purple Silver Pearls posed no challenge.


    "So many Purple Silver Pearls!"


    "What exactly is happening within this Sea of Mist?!"


    If a single person suddenly stumbled upon tens of thousands of Purple Silver Pearls, one could chalk it up to sheer luck.


    But now both he and Mu Qingxue had acquired tens of thousands of Pearls, and Ye Chen could see that many other Divine Kings caught in the storm were also harvesting similar amounts.


    Such a phenomenon was undeniably strange!


    What Ye Chen didn''t yet know was that the purple storms and the flood of Purple Silver Pearls weren''t confined to his current area alone. The entirety of the Yellow Light Danger Zone within the Sea of Mist was experiencing the same upheaval.


    Every Challenger in the Yellow Light Danger Zone was swept up in the purple storms and deluged by the abundance of Purple Silver Pearls.


    Their reactions were a mixture of hysteria and jubilation.


    The hysteria came from their uncertainty about where the storms would ultimately deposit them.


    The jubilation stemmed from their possible survival, which would mean a leap forward in completing their Heavenly God Mountain second-layer objectives. Many had already gathered far more than the thousand-plus Pearls required.


    Among these frantic, exhilarated challengers, the most relieved was Sima Liao.


    He had been moments away from death, only for the purple storm to erupt and save him from certain doom at Ye Chen''s hands.


    For now, although swept up by the storm with his fate uncertain, Sima Liao at least remained alive. To his astonishment, he even managed to collect tens of thousands of Purple Silver Pearls.


    How could this not leave Sima Liao brimming with joy?


    However, Sima Liao''s euphoria was short-lived. As the storm carried him onward, he began to realize he was being pulled toward the "Red Light Death Zone" of the Sea of Mist.


    Finally, he was swept straight into the "Red Light Death Zone," and with a deafening roar, he was dragged beneath the waves of the Sea of Mist.


    But Sima Liao wasn''t alone; one by one, every Challenger within the Yellow Light Danger Zone was taken by the endless purple storms and swept into the Red Light Death Zone, disappearing amidst the sea.


    Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue did not escape this fate.

 Chapter 908 - 858: Explosive Purple Silver Beads (2nd Update)

    When all the challengers originally in the Yellow Light Danger Zone were swept into the Red Light Death Zone by the purple storm, the Yellow Light Danger Zone gradually returned to tranquility.


    After a long while.


    Some challengers who had been in the Green Light Safe Zone finally ventured back into the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    Upon entering, these challengers were instantly stunned.


    Because, the entire Yellow Light Danger Zone was eerily quiet, devoid of a single figure!


    "Where is everyone?"


    "Weren''t there thousands of people who entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone earlier? Why is there not a single soul now?"


    These newly arrived challengers explored the Yellow Light Danger Zone extensively but saw no traces of anyone. The only people they encountered were also newcomers to the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    The thousands of people who had entered before them had completely vanished without a trace.


    This left the new arrivals feeling a chill down their spines.


    The previous entrants¡ªdid they all disappear?


    Or could it be that they had all perished within the Yellow Light Danger Zone?


    That couldn''t be right.


    The new arrivals were well aware that among the thousands who had previously entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone, there were formidable individuals such as Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Ye Chen.


    It was impossible that all of them, including someone of Lin Shan''s level, fell simultaneously.


    If that were true.


    That would be terrifying!


    Standing amidst the eerie silence of the Yellow Light Danger Zone, the newly arrived challengers were completely in the dark about what had transpired and felt a cold dread creeping up their hearts.


    Some even turned around and fled back toward the Green Light Safe Zone.


    The Yellow Light Danger Zone was far too sinister; they dared not linger.


    The disappearance of the earlier entrants indeed sent shockwaves of terror through the later arrivals.


    Meanwhile, those thousands who had disappeared were no longer concerned with any other zones. Forced by circumstance, they had already fallen into the most perilous region of the entire Sea of Mist and Wind¡ªthe "Red Light Death Zone"!


    These people vividly recalled the chilling voice from when they first arrived in the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain, which warned that the Red Light Death Zone was absolutely forbidden: entering it was as good as certain death.


    They hadn''t intended to enter, of course.


    But they were swept into the Red Light Death Zone by the sudden eruption of an endless purple storm, left without any choice!


    Now, having entered the Red Light Death Zone, the thousands of people finally understood why it was dubbed the "Death Zone."


    The moment they were swept into the Red Light Death Zone''s ocean, although the sinister purple storm vanished, everyone immediately sensed much greater restrictions than they had in the Yellow Light Danger Zone!


    Not only did their Divine Power deteriorate drastically, causing their combat capacity to drop multiple levels, their Divine Sense exploration range shrank, and even their flying speed became much slower.


    But what was even more horrifying¡ªthis Red Light Death Zone contained an unknown special force that pulled everyone downward toward the ocean floor.


    No one could resist this downward force!


    Not even Lin Shan, Sima Liao, or Ye Chen!


    Moreover, this downward force was even more dreadful than the pulling power of the earlier purple storm.


    As the relentless descent dragged on, some Divine Kings¡ªunable to endure the immense pulling force¡ªwere directly torn apart into pieces, dying instantly within the Red Light Death Zone!


    Adding to the horror, countless Purple Silver Beads existed in this Red Light Death Zone, but these beads weren''t like those in the Yellow Light Danger Zone, which were easier to collect.


    In the Red Light Death Zone, every Purple Silver Bead moved at incomprehensible speeds.


    They were frantically shooting across like projectiles!


    Initially, the challengers felt unaffected by these rapidly flying beads, unable to collect them and unaware of their threat.


    But when the beads started speeding directly toward them, the challengers¡ªpulled downward by the immense force¡ªfound it impossible to dodge the explosive projectiles. And tragedies began to unfold.


    Some challengers who didn''t succumb to the downward pulling force were instead pierced through by the explosive Purple Silver Beads. Some were pierced hundreds of times, turning their bodies into sponges before dying instantly.


    At this point, the Purple Silver Beads seemed less like treasures of immense value and more like instruments of death!


    Out of the thousands swept into the Red Light Death Zone, several hundred died from the pulling force, while over a thousand perished under the barrage of explosive Purple Silver Beads.


    As the descent continued deeper into the Red Light Death Zone, the death toll kept climbing, while fewer and fewer survivors remained.


    The Red Light Death Zone was vast beyond measure.


    The thousands swept inside had been widely scattered.


    At this moment, Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, and several dozen Divine Kings were pulled to the western section of the Red Light Death Zone.


    As the immense downward force dragged them deeper, eight individuals from Ye Chen''s group perished almost immediately.


    And as they descended further, more than ten others were killed by explosive Purple Silver Beads.


    By the time the group had descended for the duration of a cup of tea, only twenty-three people remained, including Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue.


    Based on their estimation, they had likely fallen over ten thousand zhang in the Red Light Death Zone!


    As they continued descending.


    Suddenly, thousands of Purple Silver Beads converged into a massive wave of Divine Light, shooting straight toward Ye Chen''s group.


    And this time, the projectiles were aimed squarely at Ye Chen himself.


    "Ye Chen, watch out!"


    Mu Qingxue cried out in alarm as she saw thousands of Purple Silver Beads hurtling toward Ye Chen at terrifying speeds. The other Divine Kings widened their mouths in horror.


    Previously, even with just dozens or hundreds of these Purple Silver Beads shooting toward them, more than a dozen people in their group had died.


    Now, thousands of beads were converging on Ye Chen alone, each moving as fast as a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable. Everyone feared for Ye Chen''s life.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, those thousands of Purple Silver Beads collided directly with Ye Chen.


    The impact slightly shifted Ye Chen''s downward trajectory.


    Yet, to everyone''s shock, a formidable black and white Divine Light erupted from Ye Chen upon impact, blocking the deadly barrage of thousands of beads.


    Each Purple Silver Bead was deflected by the overwhelming force emanating from Ye Chen, ricocheting off into other directions.


    Ye Chen had survived this crisis!


    This outcome astounded the Divine Kings present.


    Anyone else would''ve been reduced to a corpse by now.


    What shocked the Divine Kings even more was that after entering the Red Light Death Zone, all of their Divine Power had been heavily depleted, unable to resist the sheer number of Purple Silver Beads.


    But Ye Chen¡ªdespite the loss of Divine Power¡ªhad managed to withstand thousands of attacks moving as fast as Lower Immortal Divine Venerables.


    This was frightening.


    If Ye Chen could endure such attacks with depleted Divine Power, how mighty could he be at full strength?


    Could it be at the Mid Immortal Divine Venerable level?


    Even though they had seen Ye Chen battle Sima Liao before, they couldn''t imagine Ye Chen''s combat power reaching such a level.


    Yet, the Divine Kings had guessed incorrectly.


    While Ye Chen''s power was indeed unimaginable to them, the crux of his strength lay in his Taiyi Divine Power.


    Ye Chen had discovered that, although his Taiyi Divine Power couldn''t resist the downward pulling force, it had barely been depleted within the Red Light Death Zone!


    "My Taiyi Divine Power was cultivated from the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, the Taiyi Chapter, which is the legacy of Zi Ji Star Lord, one of the Cosmic Sea''s supreme forces."


    "Previously, the Heavenly God List revealed that the mysterious levels of Heavenly God Mountain were still inferior to Zi Ji Star Lord."


    "Otherwise, the Stars Tower wouldn''t have been able to conceal itself from the Heavenly God List''s detection."


    "With that said, it''s understandable that Taiyi Divine Power can resist the energy-draining forces of the Red Light Death Zone."


    The fact that his Taiyi Divine Power was barely diminished gave Ye Chen a glimmer of hope for navigating the treacherous Red Light Death Zone.


    Though the chilling voice had stated that entering the Red Light Death Zone meant almost certain death.


    As long as there was even a sliver of possibility, Ye Chen would not give up.


    He was determined not to perish in the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain; he still had aspirations to conquer its summit!


    Falling.


    More falling.


    Shooting.


    The Purple Silver Beads continued their barrage.


    Even though the trajectory of their attack was unpredictable, during the subsequent descent, five more individuals from Ye Chen''s group perished.


    By the end, only eighteen survivors remained, including Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue.


    However, as they descended to a depth of approximately fifty to sixty thousand zhang, the relentless barrage of Purple Silver Beads abruptly ceased. No more beads threatened them.


    Although they were still being dragged downward by the vast pulling force, their lives were no longer at immediate risk.


    Finally, as Ye Chen and the remaining eighteen survivors looked through the endless seawater of the Sea of Mist and Wind, they saw the outline of undersea mountain peaks below. At last, they exhaled a collective sigh of relief.


    They also felt the intensity of the downward pulling force diminish.


    Finally, Ye Chen''s group landed upon the mountain peaks located at the western depths of the Red Light Death Zone, tens of thousands of zhang below the surface.


    "From our original group of seventy to eighty individuals, only eighteen survived."


    "As for the other challengers swept into other regions by the purple storm, we don''t know how many of them still live."


    The eighteen survivors exchanged glances, their faces showing lingering fear.


    But their expressions didn''t reveal complete relief.


    Because they were still trapped within the ocean floor of the Red Light Death Zone, with no clear way out.


    Even when Ye Chen and the others attempted to ascend toward the surface, as soon as they left the vicinity of the mountain peaks, the immense pulling force would drag them back down.


    There was no way for them to escape the area around the mountain peaks.


    This predicament turned Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, and the eighteen survivors deeply somber.


    After all, according to the rules for challenging Heavenly God Mountain revealed by the chilling voice, participants in the second layer''s Sea of Mist and Wind had a total of three months. After three months, they were required to return to the outer edge of the Sea of Mist and Wind and pay a thousand Purple Silver Beads to access the third layer.


    If they remained trapped in the Red Light Death Zone of the Sea of Mist and Wind, they might never make it out alive!

 Chapter 909 - 859: 9 Big Pits (First Update)

    "Search the area thoroughly and see if there''s any other way out."


    Unable to ascend to the surface of the sea, Ye Chen could only carefully explore the undersea mountain region to find an alternative exit.


    The area of the undersea mountain region where Ye Chen and the other seventeen were trapped spanned several hundred miles.


    Originally, Ye Chen intended for the eighteen to split up and search for clues to escape, but the other God Kings dared not stray far from Ye Chen and absolutely refused to explore the perilous depths of the Red Light Death Zone alone.


    In the end, Ye Chen had no choice but to lead everyone to move together.


    After Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, and the other sixteen God Kings thoroughly searched the entire mountain region spanning hundreds of miles, they discovered that not only could they not ascend to the surface, but they couldn''t exit the mountain range from below either.


    Whenever they tried to leave the mountainous zone, an inexplicable force would pull them back inside the mountain region.


    Clearly, this hundred-mile range of mountain territory had become a confined domain that restricted all of their movements.


    Ye Chen had no idea about the fate of the other challengers who were swept away by purple storms into different regions, but he could imagine that being trapped in the Red Light Death Zone would not make escaping easy. They were likely also confined within other undersea mountain zones.


    Eventually, with no other choice, Ye Chen and the seventeen others returned to a specific location within the mountain region.


    After scouring hundreds of miles of the undersea mountain range, Ye Chen discovered that most areas of the region were unremarkable, except for the one they had now returned to.


    This particular area was located on the midsection of the undersea mountain, and within it lay nine colossal pits.


    Each pit was a thousand feet wide.


    Earlier, while searching for an exit, they had merely glanced at the nine massive pits, noted their strange nature, and moved on. With no way out now, the eighteen of them decided to carefully study these nine colossal pits.


    The rest of the mountain region exhibited no peculiarities, except for the abrupt appearance of the nine enormous pits. Ye Chen had a hunch that if an exit existed, it was likely tied to these pits.


    "What do you think? Could the exit be inside these nine colossal pits?"


    "Could it be as simple as jumping into one of them to leave?"


    One God King gazed at the pits and spoke up.


    Heavenly God Mountain was renowned as a unique domain of challenging divine mountains.


    Even in the second layer of its Great World, amidst the perilous Sea of Mist, and specifically the hazardous "Red Light Death Zone," everyone still held the belief that there must be a way to leave¡ªit couldn''t be entirely inescapable.


    "Jump into these nine colossal pits?"


    As the suggestion was made, several God Kings immediately shook their heads in disagreement. "These pits are incredibly deep and mysterious. Even our Divine Sense cannot penetrate them. I wouldn''t dare jump in!"


    The nine colossal pits before them were akin to yawning black holes that swallowed everything. Looking down with the naked eye revealed nothing but darkness; even utilizing Divine Sense yielded only pitch blackness, making it impossible to see the bottom.


    Given such circumstances, despite the suspicion of something unusual about these pits, nobody dared to act rashly.


    "Then what do we do? Just sit here and wait to die?"


    The God King who suggested jumping into the pits was visibly hesitant himself, yet the thought of being stuck here indefinitely gnawed at his pride and will to survive.


    Eventually, all eyes turned to Ye Chen. "Ye Chen, you''re the strongest among us. What do you think we should do?"


    Mu Qingxue also deferred to Ye Chen for leadership. "Ye Chen, have you thought of a way to escape?"


    Ye Chen surveyed the underwater mountain terrain with a solemn gaze, then shook his head.


    "Whenever we try to leave this mountain, an intense pulling force drags us back inside. Escaping directly is only possible if we can resist this force."


    "I''ve tried my maximum combat strength¡ªit couldn''t counteract the pull that drags us back into the mountain. I suspect even reaching Sovereign Realm might not suffice to resist the pull and ascend back to the Sea of Mist''s surface."


    Ye Chen''s words struck hard, leaving everyone else pale with despair.


    Even the Sovereign Realm couldn''t guarantee escape?


    Not to mention they only had three months to explore the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain¡ªachieving Sovereign Realm in three years, thirty years, or even three hundred years seemed equally unattainable.


    The notion that even Sovereign Realm cultivators couldn''t leave shattered any remaining hope of escaping beyond the mountain boundaries.


    Ye Chen continued, "Our only remaining hope likely lies with these nine colossal pits within the mountain."


    "However, recklessly jumping in is far too dangerous."


    "Unless we''re at the very brink of hopelessness, it''s better to exhaust other possibilities first."


    "For now, having just arrived here, we still have time to investigate the strange nature of this underwater mountain and these nine colossal pits."


    "Rather than jumping in directly, we can use ''Combat Puppets,'' ''Exploration Artifacts,'' and other methods to probe what''s inside."


    Following Ye Chen''s suggestion, the other God Kings were stirred into action.


    "Yeah, we can try other methods to explore!"


    With a swish, one God King retrieved a pitch-black Combat Puppet.


    "This Combat Puppet is Upper God King-level. Let''s have it test one of the pits."


    Swoosh.


    The God King piloted the Combat Puppet and sent it flying toward one of the nine colossal pits.


    All the others watched on with nervous anticipation.


    But in mere moments, the piloting God King''s expression shifted drastically.


    "No good!"


    "The pits contain some kind of unfathomable force. As soon as my Combat Puppet entered, it was obliterated into nothingness!"


    The Combat Puppet carried a faint trace of the God King''s Divine Sense.


    With the annihilation of the puppet, this trace of Divine Sense also vanished, leaving the God King visibly shaken.


    "Let me try!" declared another God King, stepping forward. "I possess a more powerful Combat Puppet¡ªlet''s see how it fares."


    Swoosh.


    The new God King sent forth a Combat Puppet at Earth Divine Venerable-level toward the pit.


    Moments later, his face fell just as dramatically¡ªhis puppet met the same fate, obliterated upon entry into the pit.


    "I''ll give it a shot!"


    "Me too!"


    Faced with survival at stake, the rest began deploying all kinds of efforts, ranging from Combat Puppets and exploration tools to Divine Weapons powered by Divine Sense, launching them into the massive pits.


    Even Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue joined in the endeavor.


    Ye Chen unleashed his strongest combat power by crafting a Sword of Divine Light and fired it into one of the pits.


    However, without exception, everything that entered the colossal pits was completely annihilated.


    The chilling realization hit all eighteen of them like a wave¡ªthey had narrowly avoided their own deaths by not leaping rashly into the pits.


    With all resources and methods futile, everyone slumped to the ground in despair.


    Some muttered bleakly, "It''s over. The Red Light Death Zone truly lives up to its name¡ªwe''re doomed to remain trapped here forever."


    Among the eighteen, only Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue managed to keep their composure.


    After exhausting all options for exploring the pits, Ye Chen sat down cross-legged and began cultivating.


    "This undersea mountain territory¡ªaside from preventing escape¡ªappears to pose no immediate danger."


    "If we can''t find a method to leave, then let''s focus on cultivation. Let''s strengthen ourselves and explore further opportunities!"


    "Even if three months here turns into three years, or even three centuries¡ªso long as we don''t fall, we''ll keep cultivating until we finally break free!"


    Ye Chen steeled his resolve, preparing for the worst.


    Even if he failed in this challenge of Heavenly God Mountain, he wouldn''t succumb to despair. He would persist, growing stronger until even the underwater mountain itself couldn''t confine him!


    Ye Chen''s calm determination had a contagious effect on Mu Qingxue.


    Mu Qingxue gazed pensively at the mountainous region before sitting beside Ye Chen, joining his cultivation.


    Eventually, following their lead, the other God Kings overcame their despondency. One by one, they rose from their languished state and sat down to cultivate.


    Thus began an uninterrupted day of cultivation.


    The eighteen initially believed they might remain trapped indefinitely in the mountain domain.


    But evidently, the Red Light Death Zone was not meant to remain that quiet¡ªnot meant for such serene cultivation!


    About two days later, a thunderous explosion shook the domain, forcing all eighteen to snap out of their cultivation.


    "It came from the nine colossal pits!"


    Hearing the deafening noise originating from the pits, the eighteen immediately became alert and all rose to their feet.


    Before they could fully react, a torrent of blinding purple Divine Light erupted from the nine pits, shooting upward and outward in all directions, piercing through the ocean water above.


    Ye Chen narrowed his gaze on the spectacle and was taken aback. Amidst the streaks of purple Divine Light were countless "Purple Silver Pearls!"


    "Could it be that the Purple Silver Pearls scattered throughout the Sea of Mist originate from pits like these?"


    "When we fell into this region a day ago, we encountered Pearl explosions¡ªdid the nine pits erupt with Pearls then as well?"


    These thoughts raced through Ye Chen''s mind.


    But there wasn''t much time to dwell. Though most of the Purple Silver Pearls were shooting up toward the ocean''s surface, many were also hurtling toward the eighteen figures gathered around the pits.


    At this close proximity, these Pearls were traveling with deadly speed and destructive force.


    If Ye Chen and the others couldn''t defend themselves in time, the incoming outburst would surely claim all their lives!

 Chapter 910 - 860: Great Change of Taiyi! (Second Update)

    "Get behind me now!"


    As countless Purple Silver Pearls explosively shot toward them, the Taiyi Divine Power within Ye Chen surged forth, transforming into a massive black-and-white Light Shield, which he planted firmly in front of them.


    At the same time, Ye Chen reached out with one large hand, directly pulling Mu Qingxue and several others around him behind his back.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s urgent shout, the other people also panicked and rushed toward him desperately.


    However, the speed at which the Purple Silver Pearls were shooting was terrifyingly fast.


    While Ye Chen could surpass their deadly speed, most others didn''t have such rapid reflexes.


    In an instant, five people were pierced through by countless explosively fired Purple Silver Pearls, their bodies riddled with holes. Even their Divine Power was obliterated, and they were killed on the spot.


    Only the few Ye Chen had saved, along with some quick-reacting Divine Kings, managed to hide behind him in time. Ye Chen''s massive black-and-white Light Shield, formed from his Taiyi Divine Power, blocked the storm of Purple Silver Pearls directed at them, sparing them from certain death.


    Yet, out of the original eighteen survivors, only thirteen remained.


    Those who sought refuge behind Ye Chen were fortunate enough to keep their lives, but all of them were pale with fear and shock.


    None of them ever imagined encountering such a terrifying outburst of Purple Silver Pearls inside an undersea mountain peak!


    Now, they didn''t even dare to breathe loudly, worried it might disrupt Ye Chen''s concentration.


    This was because an unending torrent of Purple Silver Pearls continued to shoot out from nine gigantic crater-like openings, bombarding them relentlessly. Meanwhile, Ye Chen was still using his Taiyi Divine Power to resist the onslaught.


    The people huddled behind Ye Chen were left questioning: Could Ye Chen endure the prolonged attack of these endlessly firing Purple Silver Pearls?


    Try hiding elsewhere?


    Both the mountain peak itself and the ocean above were enveloped in the overwhelming barrage of Purple Silver Pearls. Where could they possibly hide?


    "Ye Chen, do you need my help?"


    Among the people behind Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue was undoubtedly the strongest.


    Watching Ye Chen stand alone against the Purple Silver Pearls, Mu Qingxue grew increasingly anxious. She couldn''t help but offer her aid.


    Although Mu Qingxue wasn''t confident she could resist the storm of Purple Silver Pearls, she couldn''t allow Ye Chen to bear the burden alone.


    "I''m fine. I can still handle these Purple Silver Pearls," Ye Chen said to Mu Qingxue calmly.


    The tranquility in Ye Chen''s voice sent a tremor through Mu Qingxue''s Mind and Spirit. At the same time, it brought relief to the hearts of the other Divine Kings behind him.


    Thankfully, Ye Chen was among them. Without him, they would have already perished under the relentless barrage of Purple Silver Pearls.


    The nine craters spewed Purple Silver Pearls for nearly an hour before they gradually ceased firing.


    As the mountain peak returned to a state of eerie quiet, the thirteen survivors finally dared to catch their breath.


    Looking at the now-silent nine massive craters, a Divine King spoke up in astonishment, "Heavens, so the Purple Silver Pearls were shooting out from these nine gigantic craters!"


    "During that last hour, it''s likely that billions of Purple Silver Pearls were released. How could these nine craters have held so many?"


    Another Divine King, surveying the surrounding mountain peaks, turned to Ye Chen and exclaimed, "Ye Chen, take a look! Earlier, many Purple Silver Pearls were flying toward other sections of the mountain. But now, they''ve completely vanished!"


    "There''s not a single Purple Silver Pearl to be seen anywhere across the mountain!"


    Turning his gaze, Ye Chen confirmed what they''d said. The entire mountain peak was utterly devoid of any Purple Silver Pearls.


    Ye Chen murmured, "The Purple Silver Pearls erupt from these nine craters. Those shot into the seawater above could have dispersed across the Sea of Mist¡ªthat would explain why the Sea of Mist is filled with them."


    "But as for the ones that hit the mountain... why did they disappear? Could it be that this mountain can actually reabsorb the Purple Silver Pearls?"


    A thought struck Ye Chen, and he slashed his sword toward a section of the mountain.


    A resounding "clang," like the clash of metal, echoed through the air.


    Despite Ye Chen''s powerful strike, not a single mark was left on the mountain where his sword landed!


    This sight left Ye Chen with a puzzled expression.


    "The explosive force of the Purple Silver Pearls should be weaker than my sword strike; otherwise, I wouldn''t have been able to block them."


    "But if the Purple Silver Pearls can disappear into the mountain, why can''t my sword leave even a scratch on it?"


    "Is it the Purple Silver Pearls that are special, or is there something unique about this mountain?"


    While Ye Chen pondered, Mu Qingxue spoke up beside him, "Ye Chen, did you notice? Although the Purple Silver Pearls are tremendously strong, their power doesn''t surpass yours; that''s why you''ve been able to block them."


    "But what''s strange is this: even you couldn''t escape the massive gravitational pull earlier, yet the Purple Silver Pearls were able to shoot freely into the seawater above. Why is that?"


    Mu Qingxue''s words made Ye Chen nod in agreement.


    He had indeed noticed this anomaly.


    Clearly, neither the Purple Silver Pearls'' ability to break through to the seawater above nor their disappearance into the mountain had anything to do with mere force. There must be something extraordinary about the Purple Silver Pearls themselves.


    As this realization struck him, Ye Chen suddenly conceived an audacious idea.


    Turning to Mu Qingxue and the remaining eleven Divine Kings, Ye Chen said, "It seems the Purple Silver Pearls possess some unique, wondrous properties. I''ll test it myself and find out what they are."


    "My friends, I have a technique that allows me to transform into a Purple Silver Pearl. When I do, please don''t be alarmed."


    Transform into a Purple Silver Pearl?


    Hearing this, the others were left dumbfounded.


    As Divine Kings, some of them had practiced Transformation Divine Arts, but those techniques only changed outward appearances, not the essence of an object.


    Even if someone transformed into a Purple Silver Pearl, it wouldn''t carry the properties of the real thing. What would be the point of such a transformation?


    While they were still confused, Ye Chen''s Divine Light flashed brightly. In an instant, he vanished completely, and in his place, a single "Purple Silver Pearl" appeared in the void.


    This "Purple Silver Pearl" was identical to the ones they had just seen. Moreover, it exuded the same Divine Light and carried an aura that could nourish their Divine Souls!


    "This is... Ye Chen transformed into a ''Purple Silver Pearl''?!"


    "Heavens, what kind of Divine Skill is this?! It''s nothing like the Transformation Divine Arts we know¡ªit''s a full transformation into the essence of a Purple Silver Pearl!"


    The group exclaimed in shock, while Mu Qingxue''s face reflected profound astonishment.


    She suddenly recalled something and said breathlessly, "I once heard of an existence beyond Sovereign who created a peerless Divine Skill. It allows one to transform into anything¡ªcompletely, down to its essence¡ªand even gain the properties and abilities of that thing. This unparalleled Divine Skill is called ''Transform Easily''! Could it be that Ye Chen has mastered such a legendary Divine Skill?!"


    As Mu Qingxue exclaimed in disbelief, the Purple Silver Pearl that Ye Chen had transformed into shot directly away from the undersea mountain peak.


    What happened next left everyone utterly stunned.


    Previously, anyone who tried to leave the undersea mountain peak was dragged back by an immense force. Yet now, the Purple Silver Pearl that Ye Chen had become appeared completely unaffected by the pulling force. In mere moments, it had flown hundreds of meters away. Soon after, it traveled thousands of meters farther, until it completely vanished from sight.

 Chapter 911 - 861: Ye Chens Choice (First Update)

    "Ye Chen... he succeeded?!"


    "He actually managed to break free from the immense pulling force of the undersea mountain peak and escape this trapped land. It seems the secret to escaping this place truly lies in the ''Purple Silver Pearl''!"


    Seeing Ye Chen completely vanish from sight, the remaining dozen or so God Kings were utterly shocked.


    They also wanted to leave this place of entrapment.


    But unfortunately, none of them had Ye Chen''s breathtaking ''Changeable'' divine skills and could not transform into the ''Purple Silver Pearl'' to escape the pulling force.


    "Will Ye Chen... come back?"


    At this moment, a God King fearfully asked aloud.


    Earlier, amidst the eruption of countless Purple Silver Pearls from nine massive pits, it had been Ye Chen who saved him.


    This God King was worried that if Ye Chen did not return, then if another eruption of Purple Silver Pearls occurred, he would be killed directly within the undersea mountain peak.


    "I fear he won''t come back..." Several other God Kings sighed and shook their heads.


    In their eyes, Ye Chen had barely managed to escape this perilous region, and if it were them, they would absolutely never return.


    At this thought, these God Kings suddenly felt a wave of fear.


    If Ye Chen truly did not return, they would lose their greatest source of support in this treacherous undersea mountain peak.


    In the crowd, Mu Qingxue''s beautiful eyes stared at the spot where Ye Chen had disappeared, her gaze filled with complex emotions.


    She was both happy that Ye Chen had escaped and worried for herself, still trapped within the undersea mountains, with an uncertain future.


    Finally, Mu Qingxue murmured softly, "Ye Chen, you''d better not return. It''s enough that you made it out. If you come back and encounter danger again, it would be troublesome."


    "As for me, I won''t give up searching for a way out!"


    Mu Qingxue clenched her fists tightly.


    The minds of everyone present were filled with conflicting thoughts.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, transformed into the ''Purple Silver Pearl,'' was rushing toward the surface of the Sea of Mist''s Red Light Death Zone.


    Whoosh!


    The explosive speed of the ''Purple Silver Pearl'' was taken to an extremely high level.


    And as he surged upward, Ye Chen''s heart was filled with boundless joy: "It works! Using the ''Primordial Star Scripture,'' Fifth Chapter, ''Taiyi Chapter'' with its Changeable Divine Skills to transform into the ''Purple Silver Pearl'' can indeed break free of the immense pulling force of the undersea mountain!"


    The method Ye Chen had just used to ''transform'' into the ''Purple Silver Pearl,'' was none other than the techniques of the Taiyi Chapter.


    When he first accessed the Taiyi Chapter, Ye Chen had already experimented with the fascinating Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations within the Demon Tomb.


    He never expected that this divine skill would now save his life in this Sea of Mist!


    His mind brimming with joy, Ye Chen''s speed did not slow in the slightest, and within moments, he had soared ten thousand feet toward the surface.


    Within the span of a cup of tea, he successfully ascended another fifty to sixty thousand feet, breaking free to the sea surface of the Red Light Death Zone!


    Clink.


    As the ''Purple Silver Pearl'' into which Ye Chen had transformed floated above the surface of the Red Light Death Zone, Ye Chen''s heart surged with exhilaration, and he could barely resist letting out a long exclamation of joy.


    The feeling of escaping danger, of the sea breeze brushing against him once more, was simply indescribable!


    Ye Chen also had a strong intuition¡ªhaving unlocked the ability to transform into the ''Purple Silver Pearl,'' the Sea of Mist might no longer pose any threat to him.


    He finally had the means to comprehensively explore this mysterious Sea of Mist!


    ...


    "This young lad keeps surprising us!"


    "''Changeable Divine Skills!'' He must undoubtedly be the disciple of some major figure in the Cosmic Sea. Otherwise, it would be impossible for him to cultivate divine skills of this caliber while still in the God King Realm."


    As Ye Chen transformed into the ''Purple Silver Pearl'' and surged toward the sea surface of the Red Light Death Zone, soft voices echoed within the mysterious region of the Fourth Layer World of Heavenly God Mountain.


    These voices were the same mysterious voices Ye Chen had heard deep within Heavenly God Mountain during his trial in the First Layer World, when he shattered the World of the Death Fruit.


    At that time, those mysterious voices had revealed themselves to be stationed in Heavenly God Mountain under orders from the Ancestral God Temple and called each other Divine Masters.


    These Divine Masters had taken notice of Ye Chen when he used Starry Origin power to shatter the World of the Death Fruit.


    Now, seeing Ye Chen break free from the undersea depths of the Red Light Death Zone, these Divine Masters were once again astonished!


    "I thought this time the young lad was doomed¡ªsucked into the Red Light Death Zone by the once-in-millennia eruption of the Sea of Mist storm and trapped there. Even if he did manage to escape, I expected it would be through entering the Purple Ore Mystery Realm and unlocking the secrets of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain. Who would have thought he''d escape using such ''Changeable Divine Skills''? Truly unexpected!" one aged Divine Master exclaimed.


    "Indeed, entirely unexpected," another Divine Master agreed. "I recall this young lad had already collected tens of thousands of Purple Silver Pearls before being pulled into the Red Light Death Zone. Now that he''s escaped, the requirement of one thousand Purple Silver Pearls for the second-layer trial of Heavenly God Mountain is fulfilled."


    "It seems the next challenge he''ll face will be in the Third Layer World of Heavenly God Mountain. The trial here in the Second Layer World is no longer relevant to him."


    As this Divine Master spoke, another voice interjected, "That might not be certain. The young lad seems to have a connection with that girl still trapped in the Number 205 Undersea Mountain Region. Perhaps he''ll return to save her rather than merely escaping."


    These Divine Masters had witnessed Ye Chen rescuing Mu Qingxue from Sima Liao earlier.


    The girl they mentioned was indeed Mu Qingxue.


    "Return to the undersea mountain?" Hearing this suggestion, several Divine Masters chuckled lightly. "The Red Light Death Zone may be the deadliest territory¡ªa near-certain death trap. However, if one can grasp the hidden opportunities within, they might uncover treasures more valuable than the Purple Silver Pearls."


    "If the young lad dares to return to the undersea mountain region, it might not be a bad move."


    "Let''s see what choice he makes!"


    After this brief exchange, the Divine Masters guarding Heavenly God Mountain fell silent once more.


    ...


    Above the sea surface of the Red Light Death Zone in the Sea of Mist.


    Ye Chen remained in his ''Purple Silver Pearl'' transformation.


    However, instead of leaving the Red Light Death Zone and returning to the Yellow Light Danger Zone or the Green Light Safe Zone, Ye Chen continued to roam within the Red Light Death Zone.


    "Perhaps those God Kings still trapped are wondering if I''ve abandoned them to escape on my own."


    Ye Chen let out a faint chuckle.


    "How could I give up exploring such a wondrous place as this Sea of Mist so easily?"


    Since discovering that transforming into the Purple Silver Pearl could break the immense pulling force of the undersea mountain, Ye Chen had no intention of abandoning those trapped or escaping alone.


    Ye Chen still aimed to fully unravel the mysteries of this enigmatic Sea of Mist!


    Especially since the trial period for exploring the Second Layer World of Heavenly God Mountain had only lasted five days so far, and there were nearly three months remaining¡ªhe had no reason to stop prematurely.


    Moreover, Mu Qingxue was still trapped underwater.


    Mu Qingxue, being Long Li''s friend, could not be abandoned¡ªYe Chen did not wish to face Long Li later and admit that he''d left Mu Qingxue behind, choosing his own escape.


    Unless rescuing her was truly impossible, Ye Chen was determined to dedicate time to studying the Sea of Mist''s mysteries and finding a way to help Mu Qingxue escape!


    With that resolve, Ye Chen''s transformed ''Purple Silver Pearl'' released the Purple Silver Pearls he had collected earlier, spreading them out to hover in front of him.


    Inspecting the pearls, Ye Chen counted each one carefully.


    "Including the hundred-plus Purple Silver Pearls I gathered earlier, all of these together amount to fifty-six thousand nine hundred forty-four Pearls!"


    "Subtracting the thousand Pearls required to access the Third Layer World of Heavenly God Mountain, I''ll still have fifty-five thousand nine hundred-plus Pearls left! This quantity is an astonishing fortune¡ªit could rival the wealth of powerful Immortal Divine Venerables or even ordinary Sovereigns!"


    With a thought, Ye Chen collected all the Purple Silver Pearls again.


    "The Purple Silver Pearl collection task is complete. Now, the real questions remain: first, to investigate the source of the eruptions in those nine massive pits beneath the mountain; second, how to help Mu Qingxue escape from the depths!"


    Mu Qingxue could not, like Ye Chen, transform into the Purple Silver Pearl and flee from the undersea depths. Furthermore, the Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations divine skills of the Taiyi Chapter required the Stars Tower for cultivation, making it impossible for Mu Qingxue to learn them.


    Ye Chen had to think of a different solution to help Mu Qingxue.


    "Perhaps the escape method also lies in those nine massive pits. Over the remaining two-plus months, I''ll thoroughly investigate those pits and the Purple Silver Pearls that erupt from them!"


    With this plan in mind, Ye Chen''s ''Purple Silver Pearl'' form surged downward once more, heading back into the Red Light Death Zone and toward the undersea mountain peak where he had previously been trapped.


    Ye Chen did consider exploring other underwater areas of the Red Light Death Zone to check on other challengers who had been dragged into danger by the purple storm.


    However, after some thought, he dismissed the idea. On the one hand, he needed to focus on saving Mu Qingxue; on the other, he didn''t wish to risk entering unknown dangers within the Red Light Death Zone.


    After the span of a cup of tea.


    Ye Chen returned to the original undersea mountain region.


    Seeing the ''Purple Silver Pearl'' fly back and transform once more into Ye Chen, the previously despairing eleven God Kings jumped up with joy: "Ye Chen, you returned?!"


    Mu Qingxue''s beautiful eyes also revealed an expression of unexpected surprise: "Ye Chen, why did you come back?"


    Looking at the eleven God Kings, Ye Chen could tell from their eyes that they hoped for his return. Clearly, they saw him as their source of support, believing their chances of survival depended on him.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded at them.


    He understood their desire to live.


    As for Mu Qingxue''s words, Ye Chen could sense that she wasn''t happy about his return¡ªrather, she seemed worried.


    Evidently, Mu Qingxue feared his return would plunge him into danger once more.


    Ye Chen directed a smile at Mu Qingxue: "How could I just leave you trapped here at the undersea mountain? If I meet Long Li in the future, she might blame me for abandoning you!"


    "With over two months left, I''ll see what I can do to get all of you out of the undersea mountain!"

 Chapter 912 - 862: The Corpse from 50,000 Years Ago (Second Release)

    Hearing that Ye Chen intended to rescue them, the remaining eleven Divine Kings finally felt relieved.


    As long as Ye Chen hadn''t abandoned them, they still had hope to survive!


    At this moment, Mu Qingxue''s beautiful eyes lit up as she gazed at Ye Chen. "Ye Chen, the method you used to transform into a ''Purple Silver Pearl'' is something we cannot replicate. Apart from that, have you thought of another way to leave the ''Undersea Mountain Peak''?"


    Ye Chen shook his head. "For now, I haven''t thought of anything else."


    "However, there''s no need to rush."


    "As I charged back to the sea''s surface earlier, I considered the phenomenon of countless ''Purple Silver Pearls'' suddenly erupting¡ªit certainly isn''t ordinary. If such eruptions occurred daily, the entirety of the Sea of Mist would likely be filled with ''Purple Silver Pearls'' by now."


    "Whether it''s the sudden eruption of the violet storm or the consecutive bursts of Purple Silver Pearls over the past two days, there must be a pattern."


    "Once we understand this pattern, we might be able to find a way to escape."


    As he spoke, Ye Chen''s gaze directly shifted to the entirety of the undersea mountain peak.


    "A day ago, we searched this section of the mountain and discovered nine massive pits. After a day had passed, the pits erupted with Purple Silver Pearls again."


    "Following this pattern, it seems unlikely that any Purple Silver Pearls will erupt in the short term. If there is another eruption, it will likely be a day from now."


    "That being said, there''s one place I must investigate thoroughly!"


    Seeing Ye Chen scrutinizing the whole mountain, Mu Qingxue''s Mind and Spirit stirred. "Ye Chen, are you planning to examine inside the mountain itself?"


    "Inside the mountain?" The other Divine Kings also grew excited. "That''s right! Yesterday when we searched this section of the mountain, we couldn''t get inside the mountain. The entire structure was impenetrably solid."


    "But just now, the Purple Silver Pearls that erupted and shot towards the mountain immediately disappeared upon contact with its surface."


    "If that''s the case, Ye Chen, by transforming into a ''Purple Silver Pearl,'' may also be able to enter the mountain and investigate thoroughly!"


    Ye Chen nodded. "Yes, that''s my plan."


    "When I transformed into a ''Purple Silver Pearl'' earlier, I successfully freed myself from the pull of the undersea mountain peak. I''ve already studied the method of ascending via the Pearls."


    "But I still don''t understand what happens to the Pearls that disappear into the mountain. Now, I must find out!"


    "Everyone, stay alert and wait here for a while. I''ll investigate inside the mountain."


    Seeing Ye Chen prepare to explore again, this time, the Divine Kings no longer worried about him abandoning them. They knew he was trying to uncover the truth about the Sea of Mist.


    The Divine Kings collectively hoped Ye Chen would succeed in his investigation.


    Mu Qingxue also called out to Ye Chen. "Ye Chen, if you''re going to explore inside the mountain, be careful."


    Ye Chen nodded and then, channeling his Mind and Spirit, transformed into a "Purple Silver Pearl" once again and shot toward the mountain body of the undersea peak.


    Watching Ye Chen in motion, the remaining Divine Kings held their breaths nervously.


    They had no idea whether Ye Chen would succeed this time.


    A moment later, cries of surprise and joy erupted among them.


    Because the "Purple Silver Pearl" that Ye Chen had transformed into behaved exactly like the other Pearls¡ªthey disappeared instantly upon contacting the mountain''s surface.


    "Ye Chen has successfully entered the mountain!"


    The Divine Kings exchanged excited looks, wondering what Ye Chen might discover inside the mountain.


    Mu Qingxue, staring at the spot where Ye Chen disappeared, felt her delicate face tense up with worry. "This mountain is full of peculiarities. I hope Ye Chen can return safely from his investigation."


    The thoughts and emotions of Mu Qingxue and the Divine Kings were unknown to Ye Chen.


    At that moment, Ye Chen had already entered an utterly pitch-dark world!


    "So, this is the interior of the undersea mountain peak''s body?"


    "Yet, with my Divine Power and Divine Sense, I can''t see anything¡ªnot even the Purple Silver Pearls that should have entered."


    "What could be hidden here?"


    Ye Chen moved through the pitch-black void, flying for nearly an hour before he suddenly felt his whole body lighten.


    Finally, he laid eyes upon an incredible sight.


    Before him stretched a blindingly radiant expanse of light.


    Flying closer to it, Ye Chen couldn''t suppress his exclamation¡ªthis dazzling expanse was entirely comprised of Purple Silver Pearls.


    All of the Pearls were converging in a massive pit, slowly flowing into it and disappearing.


    Ye Chen roughly estimated that there might be tens of millions¡ªor even billions¡ªof Purple Silver Pearls within the pit!


    Evidently, this pit was likely the gathering point for all the Pearls that had previously shot into the mountain.


    "Could it be that all the Pearls which vanished into the mountain ended up here, only to flow onward to some other location?"


    Ye Chen''s gaze locked onto the enormous pit, watching as the Pearls slowly trickled into its depths.


    Still, Ye Chen refrained from letting his transformed Pearl form be carried into the pit alongside the others.


    He didn''t dare delve deeper into the pit for now, not knowing its implications.


    Instead, Ye Chen scanned his surroundings within this radiant inner mountain world.


    What he saw next made his heart jolt.


    Earlier, Ye Chen had only noticed the massive pit overflowing with Purple Silver Pearls.


    However, as his gaze moved away from the pit, he discovered yet another enormous area behind it.


    What caught Ye Chen''s attention most was that this secondary area was a cemetery!


    A cemetery filled with tombs!


    "Tombs? A cemetery?"


    "Could it be that people are buried here after death?!"


    "Who perished here and were buried in this place?"


    "It can''t be the challengers outside who were slaughtered by the eruption of Purple Silver Pearls, can it? Those individuals were killed on the spot¡ªthere was no one to bury them!"


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit stirred as his Pearl form streaked past the huge pit, heading directly toward the cemetery.


    Soon, Ye Chen spotted gravestones erected near the tombs within the cemetery.


    What he saw engraved on one of the gravestones shocked him deeply.


    On the gravestone was written: "The Tomb of Xuan Feng, Fellow Daoist of Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, East Province."


    Next to the main inscription, smaller text was carved: "Fellow Daoist Xuan Feng and I entered the Red Light Death Zone during an outbreak of the Sea of Mist''s storm and eventually got swept into the deadly undersea depths."


    "Ultimately, we were the only two survivors to break through the Three Great Killing Formations of the deadly sea bottom and enter the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm.''


    "Sadly, after tens of thousands of years spent refining ''Purple Silver Pearls,'' we failed to unravel the mysteries of the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' or escape."


    "In the end, Fellow Daoist Xuan Feng passed away before me."


    "As his friend, I erected this gravestone to commemorate my fallen companion."


    At the bottom of the gravestone text was a signature: "Sovereign Mo Chen of Xingmeng God Kingdom."


    Seeing the text on the gravestone was like experiencing the collapse of heaven and earth for Ye Chen.


    According to the gravestone, the deceased and the one who erected the gravestone were just like him¡ªthey had also been swept into the Sea of Mist''s violet storm and pulled into the Red Light Death Zone below.


    The revelation deeply unsettled Ye Chen. Could it be that such events had occurred before?


    What shocked Ye Chen even more was the mention of successfully getting through the Three Great Killing Formations of the deadly sea bottom and entering a place called the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm."


    What were the Three Great Killing Formations? Could they be related to the erupting Purple Silver Pearls?


    And what was the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm?"


    Furthermore, the gravestone noted that they refined "Purple Silver Pearls"¡ªdid this imply the Pearls were man-made? And that comprehending the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" was key to escaping the deadly sea bottom?


    The gravestone text introduced numerous secrets that Ye Chen had never known.


    Secrets that likely hinted at the massive mysteries hidden within the Red Light Death Zone of the Sea of Mist!


    What struck Ye Chen even harder was seeing the signature mention "Xingmeng God Kingdom."


    From his research prior to joining the Heavenly God Mountain expedition, Ye Chen had learned that other Divine Kings from various Divine Kingdoms, including Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, had participated in past explorations.


    Just like this time, where Divine Kings from Qianjue God Kingdom, Snow Desert God Kingdom, Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, Lancang God Kingdom, and Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom embarked on this expedition together.


    Yet the "Xingmeng God Kingdom" was recorded to have joined a Heavenly God Mountain expedition fifty thousand years ago alongside Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    That expedition reportedly led to total annihilation for Xingmeng God Kingdom''s Divine Kings, prompting them to cease collaborating with Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom and halt their exploration endeavors of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Now, here in this mysterious internal world within the undersea mountain, Ye Chen had stumbled upon words left by someone from Xingmeng God Kingdom etched onto a gravestone in the cemetery. How could he not be utterly astonished?


    Ye Chen began speculating.


    It seemed likely that Xuan Feng and Sovereign Mo Chen of Xingmeng God Kingdom were among those who participated in the expedition fifty thousand years ago.


    Ultimately, they failed to escape from Heavenly God Mountain.


    It was likely that they faced the same dilemma as Ye Chen¡ªentrapped in the undersea depths of the Red Light Death Zone.


    Moreover, these two seemed to have ventured far deeper than his current progress. Clearly, they endured long enough to uncover the true mysteries of the Sea of Mist¡ªsuch as the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" and the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain."


    Perhaps, the Xingmeng God Kingdom''s Sovereign Mo Chen, who had remained behind to engrave this gravestone, was still alive.


    Initially entering Heavenly God Mountain as a God King, it was entirely possible that he had ascended to the Sovereign Realm after being trapped within Heavenly God Mountain all these years!


    The words carved into the gravestone left Ye Chen trembling.


    And this cemetery did not contain only one tomb or gravestone.


    As Ye Chen continued examining other gravestones, his astonishment grew multiple times over.


    Within the scope of the cemetery there were hundreds of tombs and gravestones, and the events inscribed upon them spanned various eras.


    The earliest tomb dated back millions of years!


    And all those who lay buried shared one common connection: they had been swept into the undersea depths of the Red Light Death Zone and ultimately broke through the Three Great Killing Formations to enter the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" and "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain," where they refined Purple Silver Pearls.


    In the end, none of them managed to escape Heavenly God Mountain. Ultimately, they perished, and those who had been similarly trapped buried them here in remembrance.

 Chapter 913 - 863: Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast (First Update)

    """


    Looking at the hundreds of tombs, hundreds of tombstones, and the life stories recorded on the tombstones.


    Ye Chen had a strong intuition.


    That intuition was that within this second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain, there must be others apart from this batch of challengers.


    Those others were the individuals who had challenged Heavenly God Mountain in previous cycles, eventually trapped in the Sea of Mist''s Red Light Death Zone, but somehow survived!


    Those others were the ones who buried so many deceased individuals!


    Those others were the ones who refined countless "Purple Silver Pearls"!


    Those others very well might still be alive, hidden in locations they could not yet discover.


    If Ye Chen managed to break through the so-called Three Great Undersea Killing Formations, he might be able to meet them!


    Ye Chen''s gaze swept across the cemetery tombs and the giant pit outside filled with Purple Silver Pearls.


    At this moment, Ye Chen understood that if he transformed himself into a "Purple Silver Pearl" and flew into this giant pit, he might be able to follow the path of these Purple Silver Pearls and find the individuals hidden away who were refining them.


    However, after a moment of mental calculation, Ye Chen abandoned this idea.


    After all, he had eleven Divine Kings around him, along with Mu Qingxue. If he ventured alone to the place where the Purple Silver Pearls disappeared, it might be difficult to return.


    Furthermore, according to the text on these tombstones, entering the deadly sea bottom would mean facing the Three Great Killing Formations.


    Ye Chen still didn''t know which three killing formations they were.


    But regardless of which killing formations, without his aid, it was very possible that the eleven Divine Kings together with Mu Qingxue would perish within them.


    In an instant, Ye Chen made his decision.


    "It''s better to first return to the undersea mountain peaks outside."


    "Since the Three Great Killing Formations exist, as long as I can break through them, I should be able to reach the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' and the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.'' By then, I might encounter those previous challengers who potentially still live¡ªand learn all the secrets."


    "For now, the urgent priority is surviving the Three Great Killing Formations!"


    Ye Chen''s mind stirred as he prepared to fly back to the entrance of this world.


    However, just before leaving, Ye Chen abruptly thought of something.


    His gaze landed on the countless Purple Silver Pearls slowly flowing away in the massive pit.


    "Since I''ve already come this far, I can''t miss out on these Purple Silver Pearls."


    "These Purple Silver Pearls, used either as currency in this universe or for nourishing Divine Souls, are incredibly valuable. I can''t leave this treasure mountain empty-handed!"


    In a flash of inspiration, the "Purple Silver Pearl" form Ye Chen had transformed into suddenly emitted a surge of Divine Light.


    This beam of Divine Light shot directly towards the flowing mass of Purple Silver Pearls in the enormous pit.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    What followed was a scene of jaw-dropping astonishment.


    The countless Purple Silver Pearls in the pit flowed like a waterfall toward the "Purple Silver Pearl" form of Ye Chen, ultimately being absorbed into it.


    Only after collecting a full several million Purple Silver Pearls did Ye Chen stop.


    Several million!


    One single Purple Silver Pearl was equivalent to billions of Wanmu Mountain Black Divine Coins.


    The value of several million Purple Silver Pearls was astronomical!


    If this treasure were revealed to the world, countless Divine Kingdom elites would be utterly shocked!


    Many prominent Sovereigns, despite their vast wealth, wouldn''t have so much as a million Purple Silver Pearls in their possession!


    Of course, compared to the astonishing number of Purple Silver Pearls within the pit, several million wasn''t much¡ªno more than a fraction, less than one percent.


    What Ye Chen collected amounted to just a minor dent in the pit.


    Satisfied, Ye Chen nodded and took one last look at the giant pit and the cemetery beyond it. Then, he flew back along the same path.


    After an hour.


    With a flash of Divine Light, Ye Chen returned from a pitch-black world to the undersea mountain peaks outside.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen, Dao Friend!"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen return, transformed back into human form and landing before them, Mu Qingxue and the others who had been staring at the mountain peaks hurriedly gathered around him.


    "Ye Chen, you disappeared for two hours¡ªdid you discover anything?" Mu Qingxue asked urgently.


    The other Divine Kings also looked at Ye Chen with anticipation.


    Ye Chen nodded.


    The moment he nodded, Mu Qingxue and the eleven Divine Kings exclaimed in delight, "Ye Chen, could it be you''ve found another way to leave this undersea mountain peak?"


    Raising his hand to calm their excitement, Ye Chen said aloud, "I entered the inside of the mountain earlier, and I did make a shocking discovery."


    "That discovery is that, very likely, we aren''t alone in this undersea world; there are others here as well."


    Others here?


    Ye Chen''s words sent shockwaves through those around him. "Who? Where are they?"


    Could others exist in this desolate undersea world?


    The Divine Kings found themselves unsettled.


    Ye Chen spoke gravely, "I don''t know where they are, but I''m certain they exist."


    "Moreover, if we can survive here on these undersea mountain peaks, we might meet them."


    "For us to survive, however, we must break through the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations!"


    "The Three Great Killing Formations?" The Divine Kings exchanged uneasy glances. "Which three killing formations?"


    Ye Chen shook his head. "I don''t know either. But there will undoubtedly be three formations¡ªeveryone must stay vigilant."


    "From what I can theorize, the explosive Purple Silver Pearls are likely one of the three killing formations. Besides that, there may be other dangers awaiting!"


    Ye Chen''s words drained the color from the faces of the eleven Divine Kings and Mu Qingxue.


    The explosive Purple Silver Pearls alone were already immensely hazardous. If additional formations existed, could they even hope to overcome them?


    "For now, the most critical thing is thorough preparation. Any improvement in strength will increase your survival chances when danger strikes."


    Ye Chen looked around at the group and spoke firmly, "Everyone must''ve already collected plenty of ''Purple Silver Pearls.'' Their ability to nourish Divine Souls is invaluable. If no other methods exist to quickly increase your combat strength, then tap into the Divine Soul Power contained within the ''Purple Silver Pearls'' and strengthen your Divine Souls as much as possible!"


    "A stronger Divine Soul will lead to elevated combat power!"


    After speaking, Ye Chen nodded to Mu Qingxue and, without bothering further about the group''s pale expressions, sat down to begin his own cultivation.


    The Divine Kings around Ye Chen understood his point¡ªdanger was inevitable, and the best course was preparation.


    Their expressions flickered with unease but, in the end, each of them found a spot to sit and began meditating as well.


    These moments passed peacefully.


    However, when the third day under the undersea mountain peaks arrived, events repeated themselves: just like the day before, Purple Silver Pearls shot forth in explosive waves, hurtling towards them.


    Fortunately, Ye Chen and the others had prepared in advance. Thanks to Ye Chen''s defensive efforts, all thirteen survived this time without a single casualty.


    Ye Chen observed that this new wave of explosive Purple Silver Pearls was fewer in number and weaker in intensity compared to those on the day they had first fallen, as well as those encountered within the mountain peaks.


    This gave Ye Chen a suspicion¡ªcould it be that the Purple Silver Pearl explosions were gradually weakening?


    The following days confirmed Ye Chen''s theory.


    Over the next few days, Ye Chen and the group faced four subsequent waves of Purple Silver Pearl explosions, bringing the total to seven waves over seven days.


    With each wave, the intensity lessened and the number of Purple Silver Pearls decreased.


    When seven days passed, the explosions finally ceased altogether.


    But before Ye Chen and his group could relax at the end of the Purple Silver Pearl explosions, they faced a new threat on the eighth day!


    By then, Ye Chen had already speculated that the Purple Silver Pearl explosions might cease entirely, given how sparse the pearls from the nine massive pits had become the previous day.


    Instead of another wave of Purple Silver Pearls at the usual time, Ye Chen was shocked to see¡ªemerging from the nine massive pits¡ªdozens of Exotic Beasts glowing with purple-silver light, shaped like lions and bearing one purple and one silver horn!


    Upon the sight of these beasts, a Divine King from the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom screamed, "It''s the ''Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast,'' a Soul Beast notorious for its devastating killing power!"


    "We''ve seen such beasts in the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, but who could have guessed they''d be here within these nine pits in the undersea mountain peaks!"


    The Divine King''s outburst startled Ye Chen.


    Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast?


    Soul Beast?


    Ye Chen himself owned a Soul Beast¡ªthe Nine Spirits Sparrow, called Xiaojiu!


    Xiaojiu hailed from the illustrious Nine Spirits Sparrow lineage among Soul Beasts!


    Ye Chen understood the unique Divine Soul powers of Soul Beasts but had not expected to encounter another breed of Soul Beast here in the undersea mountain peaks.


    "Could it be that these ''Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts'' are the second of the Three Great Killing Formations? The threat after the explosive Purple Silver Pearls?"


    "Soul Beasts! The nourishing properties of Purple Silver Pearls for Divine Souls likely explain why these Soul Beasts have grown so powerful!"


    In the blink of an eye, as Ye Chen''s mind raced, the dozens of Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts, their Divine Eyes gleaming, discovered his group.


    The beasts let out deafening roars before charging at Ye Chen and the others.


    These Soul Beasts were indeed exceptional.


    Even with Ye Chen''s Divine Power observation, their realms were impossible to discern.


    Yet when they all attacked, Ye Chen, attempting to fend off the assault, was blasted backward by their combined power.


    Each Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast possessed mid-tier Immortal Divine Venerable-level killing power, and Ye Chen alone couldn''t possibly withstand the onslaught of all these beasts!


    """

 Chapter 914 - 864: Undersea Blood Battle (Second Update)

    Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!


    After colliding into Ye Chen and sending him flying, several dozen Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts had seven of their kind charge at him once more.


    The remaining Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts turned their heads, setting their sights on Mu Qingxue and the other eleven God Kings. With a deafening roar, they raged toward Mu Qingxue and the others, intent on slaughter.


    Mu Qingxue and the eleven God Kings turned pale with fear.


    The moment the Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts had slammed into Ye Chen, they had already gauged these beasts'' combat power.


    Each of these beasts carried the strength of a Middle Immortal Divine Venerable. How could they possibly resist such monstrous creatures?


    Boom!


    Even as they unleashed their full combat power, it was clear to them¡ªwithin the next instant, their lives would be claimed by these Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts!


    As the beasts attacked Mu Qingxue and the eleven God Kings, and the seven others pounced toward Ye Chen, two treasures suddenly materialized in Ye Chen''s hands.


    Surprisingly, it was the bronze gong and the wooden mallet!


    At this dire critical moment, Ye Chen finally chose to unveil these treasures.


    Whoosh.


    In an instant, Taiyi Divine Power surged wildly from Ye Chen into the wooden mallet. As Ye Chen expended nearly thirty percent of his Divine Power, the mallet struck the bronze gong with an abrupt, resonating chime.


    In a moment, a strange, Forbidden Treasure Power rippled across the entire heavens and earth.


    The scores of charging Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts froze mid-air just as they reached Mu Qingxue and the eleven God Kings.


    The seven charging at Ye Chen also came to a sudden halt.


    With thirty percent of his Divine Power expended, Ye Chen was able to freeze all Sovereign Realm and below combatants in place for ten breaths'' time.


    Ye Chen intended to use these ten breaths to resolve as many of the Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts as he could!


    And then, something truly shocking occurred.


    All in the scene¡ªpeople and Exotic Beasts alike, whether Mu Qingxue, the eleven God Kings, or the dozens of Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts¡ªwere completely immobilized in the Void.


    The lone exception was Ye Chen, who retained his ability to move.


    Without hesitation, Ye Chen sprang into action. With a sweeping motion of his hand, his Divine Power transformed into faint golden Starry Origin energy. With a flash, the "Second Form of Origin Slash" was unleashed in a strike.


    Splatter!


    With one swing, Ye Chen annihilated a single immobilized Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast in an instant.


    As soon as the Origin Slash struck the beast, it burst apart into two halves before exploding with a "boom," leaving behind countless glimmers of purple-silver light that swiftly faded away.


    To slay one Middle Immortal Divine Venerable-level Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast with a single move¡ªsuch combat prowess would terrify countless Challengers!


    Yet Ye Chen''s expression darkened.


    This was because, with that one strike, his original intention to slay three or four of the beasts at once had failed. If he continued at this rate, the ten breaths'' time wouldn''t be enough to slay them all.


    Ye Chen hadn''t accounted for the beasts'' extraordinary defensive power, even while immobilized.


    Having expended thirty percent of his Taiyi Divine Power to wield the treasures, the resulting Starry Origin energy was insufficient. The strike that should have killed three or four beasts only managed to take down one!


    "At this rate, I''ll only be able to kill fifteen of these Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts within ten breaths'' time¡ªfar from slaying them all!"


    "What''s worse, I can''t afford to spend another thirty percent of my Divine Power to wield the gong and mallet again. If I do, even immobilizing these beasts won''t leave me enough strength to kill them!"


    Ye Chen''s heart sank.


    But there was no time for overthinking or hesitation.


    Ten breaths¡ªhe had to make them count, striking down as many beasts as possible to buy breathing room for the others!


    No matter what¡ªevery second, every opportunity, had to be seized!


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    Boom!


    Without stopping, Ye Chen slashed his sword once more. With a flip of his palm, the Yin Yang Twin Divine Swords blazed with dazzling sword light.


    Once again, faint golden Star God Power surged forward as he swung fiercely at another Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast.


    Splatter!


    His second strike cleanly obliterated another Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast.


    Then came the third strike, the fourth, the fifth...


    A multitude of sword beams gleamed as one by one, the Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts burst apart and disintegrated.


    When ten breaths'' time elapsed, Ye Chen had slain sixteen Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts in total¡ªone more than he had expected!


    However.


    The ten breaths expired, and the immobilizing effect dissipated.


    Though Ye Chen had slain sixteen of the beasts, thirty-five still remained.


    Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar!


    Even while immobilized, the beasts had witnessed Ye Chen slaughtering their kin.


    Now freed, they cast a cautious glance at Ye Chen, their ferocity momentarily checked.


    As if recognizing Ye Chen''s terrifying strength, they no longer dared to surround him. Instead, they directed their bloodthirst toward Mu Qingxue and the other eleven God Kings.


    Mu Qingxue and the God Kings had seen Ye Chen''s display of treasure-wielding prowess.


    Initially, they were beyond exhilarated by the miraculous might of his killing moves. But realizing that even Ye Chen¡ªdespite his extraordinary prowess¡ªcouldn''t vanquish all the beasts at once, their hope turned to utter despair.


    Now, as thirty-five Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts swarmed toward them, the God Kings wore expressions of sheer hopelessness.


    At this moment, Ye Chen also felt utterly helpless.


    Ye Chen understood that this time, he couldn''t save everyone.


    His only choice was to save Mu Qingxue!


    "Fellow Daoists, you''ll have to fend for yourselves. I''ll do my best to kill these Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts. Hold on as long as you can!"


    Ye Chen shouted to the God Kings before hurtling toward Mu Qingxue.


    Whoosh.


    At the same time, an icy blue flame roared into life within Ye Chen''s palm.


    This flame was none other than the Extreme Heavenly Object¡ª"Blue Extreme Iceflame"!


    Having repeatedly unleashed the gong and mallet treasures alongside the Second Form of Origin Slash, Ye Chen was already significantly drained. To rescue Mu Qingxue, he could no longer rely on these two powerful techniques.


    Ye Chen had to resort to the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" instead!


    Thankfully, Ye Chen''s cultivation within the Middle God King Realm now allowed him to control greater amounts of the Blue Extreme Iceflame.


    Where once he could only control a small wisp, now he could manipulate an entire small cluster of the flames!


    By the time Ye Chen unleashed the Blue Extreme Iceflame, three Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts had already reached Mu Qingxue.


    Ye Chen flashed forward, positioning himself as a shield before Mu Qingxue.


    With a surge of the Blue Extreme Iceflame in his hands, the fiery energy morphed into an ice-blue Firebird and shot toward one of the beasts.


    Boom!


    In a deafening fiery eruption.


    No matter how impeccable the Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast''s defenses were, under the searing power of the Blue Extreme Iceflame, it was incinerated to ash in an instant.


    The Firebird, still ablaze, darted toward the remaining two beasts.


    With two more "booms,"


    the last two Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts near Mu Qingxue met the same fiery fate, their forms consumed entirely!


    At that moment, a flash of elation swept across Mu Qingxue''s pale face¡ªa joy born from surviving death''s grasp.


    In her beautiful eyes, however, astonishment also welled¡ªa disbelief tinged with awe.


    Mu Qingxue had seen Ye Chen wield the gong and mallet treasures, and she had witnessed his Origin Slash technique.


    But she had never imagined that Ye Chen had yet another even more formidable technique¡ªa fiery method utilizing an Extreme Heavenly Object!


    "It''s the Blue Extreme Iceflame!"


    "This flame must be the Blue Extreme Iceflame!"


    Mu Qingxue thought back to something Long Li had told her.


    "Sister Long Li once mentioned that she and Ye Chen had obtained a flame called the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' together. I never expected that Ye Chen, already at the Middle God King Realm, could now control parts of this Extreme Heavenly Object flame!"


    For a fleeting moment, Mu Qingxue was overwhelmed with sheer disbelief.


    But the very next moment, her thoughts were interrupted.


    It was the agonizing screams that jolted her back to reality!


    Mu Qingxue turned to look and saw that, though Ye Chen had saved her, he had already moved to engage more of the Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts. However, despite his incredible strength, he was only one man.


    By now, five God Kings had already been killed by the other Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts right there on the battlefield!


    The source of those chilling screams was the dying cries of the five fallen God Kings!


    Their deaths were horrifying beyond description.


    They stood no chance against the Middle Immortal Divine Venerable-level Purple-silver Horned Lion Beasts. Some were torn into shreds, their blood painting the ground red.


    Others were devoured alive¡ªswallowed whole into the beasts'' massive jaws, their bodies crushed as blood streamed grotesquely down the creatures'' mouths.


    Still others had been bitten into several pieces, their remains disappearing into the beasts'' bellies in a grisly, terrifying feast!

 Chapter 915 - 865: Bead Refining Diagram (First Update)

    Seeing the five Divine Kings who had died tragically, Mu Qingxue''s Mind and Spirit trembled.


    If Ye Chen hadn''t saved her just now, she would very likely have met the same tragic fate!


    At this moment, Mu Qingxue couldn''t afford to indulge in grief or emotion. This was the critical juncture of the great battle. Even if she couldn''t kill the purple-silver horned lion beast, she had to do her utmost alongside the others to resist it, minimizing casualties!


    In an instant.


    Mu Qingxue flew toward a Divine King under attack by a purple-silver horned lion beast and joined the fight against the beast.


    However, amidst this entire battlefield, the Divine Kings were clearly at a complete disadvantage.


    The battlefield was divided into three main sections.


    The first was Ye Chen, activating the "Blue Extreme Iceflame." After saving Mu Qingxue, he moved on to other purple-silver horned lion beasts, saving two more people.


    The second section was Mu Qingxue, teaming up with two other Divine Kings, still struggling to hold their ground.


    The third section witnessed two more Divine Kings being killed right there amidst the chaos!


    At this moment, the battlefield had been reduced to only Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, and four other Divine Kings.


    Yet there were still as many as twenty-two purple-silver horned lion beasts remaining!


    Gazing at the roaring, gnashing purple-silver horned lion beasts and the blood-soaked ground, the remaining Divine Kings felt their Minds and Spirits quake in fear.


    They knew this was the pivotal moment in their blood battle for survival.


    All their hopes rested on Ye Chen. If he couldn''t save them, they would meet the same fate as those who had already perished, dying at the claws of the purple-silver horned lion beasts!


    "You group together to fend off the purple-silver horned lion beasts. Leave the rest of them to me!"


    Ye Chen didn''t waste time talking. Activating the Blue Extreme Iceflame, he slew over a dozen purple-silver horned lion beasts in succession before charging at the remaining ones.


    "Hold the line!"


    "We''ll fight to the death to hold them off!"


    In this life-and-death moment, seeing Ye Chen throw himself into the battle with reckless abandon, the other Divine Kings knew they too had to give it their all to survive. Everyone unleashed their ultimate powers, even resorting to the life-draining Taboo Skills when they could no longer hold out!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    On one side, Ye Chen drove the Blue Extreme Iceflame, relentlessly burning and killing the purple-silver horned lion beasts.


    On the other, the purple-silver horned lion beasts howled as they encircled Mu Qingxue and the four remaining Divine Kings!


    Finally, after yet another Divine King fell, this bloody battle came to an end with Ye Chen slaying the last purple-silver horned lion beast.


    Out of the original thirteen survivors, only five now remained¡ªYe Chen, Mu Qingxue, and three other Divine Kings.


    Gazing upon the blood-soaked ground and the now-vanished purple-silver horned lion beasts, two of the three remaining Divine Kings broke down, covering their faces and bursting into tears as the overwhelming pressure lifted.


    This battle had cost eight lives.


    The surviving Divine Kings now fully understood that in the perilous Red Light Death Zone of the Sea of Mist, their strength was woefully inadequate!


    Ye Chen''s expression was somber as well.


    "The Three Great Undersea Killing Formations: the Explosive Purple Silver Beads were likely the first formation, and these purple-silver horned lion beasts constitute the second formation."


    "The threat posed by the purple-silver horned lion beasts is indeed more terrifying than the Explosive Purple Silver Beads!"


    "The Explosive Purple Silver Beads lasted for seven full days of explosions. Who knows how many days these ''purple-silver horned lion beasts'' will continue to attack."


    With this thought in mind, Ye Chen turned to the survivors, saying, "Don''t dwell on your sorrow. We need to prepare for the battles ahead."


    "This batch of purple-silver horned lion beasts is wiped out, but if another batch appears tomorrow, we must still be ready to face them!"


    Ye Chen''s words made Mu Qingxue, who was standing closely beside him, clench her fists tightly, and caused the three remaining Divine Kings to shiver in realization.


    That''s right.


    They were not out of danger yet.


    If they didn''t prepare well, even if they survived this time, there was no guarantee they''d survive next time!


    "Ye Chen, do you have any good strategies?"


    "If these purple-silver horned lion beasts keep appearing for days like the Explosive Purple Silver Beads, we might not be able to hold out much longer!"


    Among the remaining three Divine Kings, two were from the Lancang Divine Kingdom, and one from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    All of them looked anxiously to Ye Chen for answers.


    Ye Chen pondered for a moment before speaking. "If the pattern of the Explosive Purple Silver Beads weakening over time holds true, the later batches of purple-silver horned lion beasts may decrease in number, which would be some good news for us."


    "However, this is just speculation. To prepare for the purple-silver horned lion beasts, we must take other precautions as well."


    "First, we can''t stay near the nine massive pits anymore. This location is far too close to where the purple-silver horned lion beasts emerge. We need to find a more defensible area, further away."


    Now that it was clear their opponents were purple-silver horned lion beasts and not Explosive Purple Silver Beads, they had to tailor their defense strategies accordingly.


    "Second, we must keep training and improving our strength!"


    "Most importantly, if we have any Defensive Divine Artifacts that can be set up together, we need to deploy them all!"


    As the pillar of support for this group, Ye Chen''s remarks earned unanimous nods from the remaining survivors.


    No time could be wasted.


    After their discussion, the five survivors quickly departed from the vicinity of the nine massive pits. They found a defensible area within the undersea mountain peaks, where they set up their defenses.


    Then, everyone began cultivating once more.


    This time, as Ye Chen sat cross-legged, he took out tens of thousands of Purple Silver Pearls.


    Through the battle with the purple-silver horned lion beasts, Ye Chen realized that while he could handle the threats directly, protecting everyone else was a short-term impossibility.


    This realization fueled Ye Chen''s driving need to enhance his strength further.


    Previously, Ye Chen had been reluctant to overuse the Purple Silver Pearls, since they were incredibly valuable and could nourish the Divine Soul.


    But now, he no longer hesitated. To boost his power, he absorbed as much Divine Soul Power from the Purple Silver Pearls as possible, strengthening his Divine Soul techniques and elevating his combat ability!


    It wasn''t just Ye Chen.


    Mu Qingxue and the three remaining Divine Kings also recognized that this was no time to worry about saving Purple Silver Pearls. Survival was their paramount concern now!


    Thus, everyone brought out their Purple Silver Pearls and began cultivating with all their might.


    A single day passed.


    When the next day arrived, coinciding with the time when the purple-silver horned lion beasts would again emerge from the nine great pits, Ye Chen and the others, despite their distance, could still hear the beasts'' roars.


    "As expected, the purple-silver horned lion beasts don''t appear for just one day!"


    "They''ve returned!"


    "I wonder if they''ll find us here!"


    The survivors stood tensely as the roars grew closer.


    Soon, they realized there was no escaping fate¡ªthe purple-silver horned lion beasts had indeed located them!


    However, this time, bolstered by Ye Chen''s plan and a day of preparation, the remaining five were no longer thrown into utter chaos like the day before.


    Yesterday''s attack consisted of fifty-one purple-silver horned lion beasts.


    This time, the number had dropped to forty-three, and their combat power had also slightly diminished.


    When these purple-silver horned lion beasts rushed toward Ye Chen and his group''s hiding spot beneath the undersea mountain peak, Mu Qingxue and the other three Divine Kings immediately activated four Defensive Divine Artifacts, forming a massive Defensive Light Shield. Utilizing the mountainous terrain, they temporarily held off the beasts.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, no longer burdened by the need to protect others, was finally free to focus entirely on combat!


    Although it was impossible to kill all forty-three purple-silver horned lion beasts at once, these creatures had no chance of defeating Ye Chen either.


    And as long as Ye Chen survived, he could launch his counterattack!


    One beast, two beasts, three beasts...


    Divine Power surged wildly from Ye Chen as he slew the purple-silver horned lion beasts one by one with his arsenal of skills.


    After half an hour, all forty-three purple-silver horned lion beasts lay dead, with Ye Chen emerging completely unscathed!


    Even Mu Qingxue and the three others, protected within their Defensive Divine Artifacts, had not suffered any harm!


    For the first time, all five survivors had made it through the onslaught of the purple-silver horned lion beasts without any casualties!


    "Brother Ye Chen, this method works! We finally survived the threat of the purple-silver horned lion beasts this time!"


    After this hard-earned victory, the three remaining Divine Kings were filled with admiration for Ye Chen.


    Time and again, it was Ye Chen who had saved them!


    Hearing their joyful voices, Ye Chen allowed himself a moment of relief.


    Yet his tone remained serious: "The purple-silver horned lion beasts'' Killing Formation might be something we can survive."


    "However, based on my explorations, there are a total of three Killing Formations. We''ve only encountered the Explosive Purple Silver Beads and the purple-silver horned lion beasts so far. Even if we survive the beasts, we still have to guard against the third and final Killing Formation!"


    On the third day, yet another wave of thirty purple-silver horned lion beasts emerged from the nine massive pits, tracking and assailing Ye Chen''s group.


    Once again, Ye Chen managed to annihilate them entirely.


    By the fourth day, their numbers had decreased to just nineteen purple-silver horned lion beasts, which Ye Chen also eliminated!


    Afterward, the number of beasts dwindled even further, dropping to seven or eight, with their combat power reduced to only the level of Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    Eventually, even Mu Qingxue and the three remaining Divine Kings abandoned defense and joined the battle against the purple-silver horned lion beasts.


    Seven days later, Ye Chen and the other four survivors finally triumphed over the threat of the purple-silver horned lion beasts'' Killing Formation.


    Yet none of them relaxed.


    Because, following the established pattern, the third Killing Formation was imminent.


    On the fifteenth day since Ye Chen''s group entered the undersea mountain peak, the third Killing Formation finally appeared before them.


    That day began with a voice echoing across the entire undersea mountain peak where Ye Chen and his companions stood.


    "Challengers trapped in the deadly sea bottom: if you can comprehend the designated portions of this ''Bead Refining Diagram'' within the allotted time, you will be transported out of the deadly sea bottom and into a new realm!"


    Boom!


    Following the announcement, Ye Chen and the others looked up to see an enormous, breathtaking diagram materializing in the sky above the undersea mountain peak.

 Chapter 916 - 866: Red Soul Cultivation Skills (2nd Update)

    "Bead Refining Diagram?"


    "Could this be the legendary third Killing Formation?"


    "How exactly does one comprehend this diagram?"


    The Divine Kings standing beside Ye Chen all looked up at the towering, earth-shaking image above the undersea mountain peak and murmured.


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit stirred as well. "''Explosive Purple Silver Beads,'' ''Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast,'' ''Bead Refining Diagram''¡ªsure enough, this is exactly the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations mentioned on that mausoleum tombstone at the Deadly Sea Bottom!"


    "The voice claimed that by comprehending the designated parts of the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' we can leave the Deadly Sea Bottom and enter a whole new realm. That realm might very well be the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' and the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' noted on those tombstones!"


    "If we can break through this last Killing Formation, we''ll finally uncover the hidden secrets of this undersea world!"


    Deep down, Ye Chen had a hunch. This so-called ''Bead Refining Diagram'' might just be the Secret Map method for refining the ''Purple Silver Pearl''!


    While Ye Chen and the others pondered, that voice resounded once more: "You have seven days to comprehend the ''Bead Refining Diagram.'' The entire diagram is divided into four major sections, and you must at least comprehend the second section to pass."


    "Comprehending the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' is extremely perilous. One misstep, and your Divine Soul will be obliterated."


    "You need only merge your Divine Soul Power into the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' to begin comprehension. Each individual will enter their own exclusive comprehension space, during which their physical body will be protected, so there''s no need to worry about interference from others."


    "Now, begin your seven-day comprehension. Remember, only by comprehending the second section can you leave the Deadly Sea Bottom. Should you fail, once the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' vanishes, an unstoppable Killing Force will sweep through the Deadly Sea Bottom, and those challengers who have not completed the task will be directly exterminated!"


    After these words, the voice disappeared entirely.


    The implications of its message left the faces of the Divine Kings ashen with dread.


    Seven days to comprehend at least two sections of the ''Bead Refining Diagram.''


    A slight misstep during comprehension could lead to the obliteration of one''s Divine Soul.


    Failure to complete the task by the end of the allotted time would still result in death.


    Did this not mean they were already at the brink of despair?!


    Either they would manage to escape the Deadly Sea Bottom, or they would meet their deaths here. There was no third option¡ªnot even staying in the Deadly Sea Bottom was feasible anymore!


    And they were completely in the dark about the difficulty of the ''Bead Refining Diagram''!


    "What should we do?"


    The Divine Kings hesitated, not daring to recklessly use their Divine Soul Power to merge into the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' and start comprehending. After all, the voice had warned them¡ªcomprehension could lead to destruction of the Divine Soul, and they had no assurance that their souls wouldn''t collapse within the ''Bead Refining Diagram.''


    Seeing the fear in their eyes, Ye Chen spoke up: "This third Killing Formation is undoubtedly dangerous beyond measure."


    "But no matter how dangerous it is, we have to face it!"


    "If you don''t attempt it, the only path left is death. If you do, there''s at least a slim chance of survival. After all, others before us have completed the three Killing Formations and successfully fled the Deadly Sea Bottom. That alone is proof of hope."


    "You''d best make use of these seven days!"


    Ye Chen''s words stirred a struggle within the Divine Kings.


    They knew Ye Chen was right, but the sheer peril of the first two Killing Formations¡ªwhether it was the Explosive Purple Silver Beads or the Purple-silver Horned Lion Beast¡ªstill sent shivers down their spines.


    Clearly, this third Killing Formation wouldn''t be any easier than the first two, leaving them hesitant and afraid.


    In the crowd, it was Mu Qingxue who first made up her mind.


    She looked at Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, I''ve decided to comprehend the ''Bead Refining Diagram.'' You''ve already helped me with the two prior Killing Formations. Whether I survive this last one or not depends on my own fate¡ªI doubt you could assist me further."


    "So, for this last Killing Formation, prioritize your safety above all else. There''s no need to look out for me anymore."


    "Even if I perish within the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' you''ve already done your utmost to help me. Sister Long Li would never blame you, and I imagine she treasures you too much to try."


    "And, Ye Chen, thank you for everything."


    Understanding that this time, comprehending the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' was a matter of life and death, Mu Qingxue poured her feelings into her words.


    Mu Qingxue was well aware that Ye Chen had chosen to remain at the undersea mountain primarily to help her.


    Otherwise, with Ye Chen''s astounding and unpredictable Divine Skills, he could long have departed the Deadly Sea Bottom.


    Seeing Mu Qingxue''s resolute expression, Ye Chen also realized she had steeled herself for a desperate final attempt.


    "Friend Qingxue, be careful," Ye Chen said to her.


    After all, with everyone entering their personal comprehension space to tackle the third Killing Formation, ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' he wouldn''t be able to assist her even if he wanted to.


    Mu Qingxue nodded at Ye Chen, then sat down cross-legged. Moments later, a surge of Icebound Divine Light enveloped her, freezing her physical body entirely.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen knew that Mu Qingxue had already merged her Divine Soul with the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' and her physical body was now being preserved by the powers of this realm.


    Ye Chen no longer concerned himself with the choices of the remaining three Divine Kings.


    He focused his Mind and Spirit, seated himself cross-legged, and merged his Divine Soul into the ''Bead Refining Diagram.''


    Indeed, Ye Chen could have left the undersea mountain then and there, avoiding the perils of the ''Bead Refining Diagram.''


    But his curiosity about the secrets of the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' was far stronger¡ªparticularly the connections to the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' and ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' described on the mausoleum tombstones.


    Ye Chen also wanted to uncover whether countless challengers from eons past might still be concealed in this mysterious region of the Sea of Mist!


    Thus, tackling the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' was a challenge he couldn''t turn away from.


    Having seen the inscriptions on those tombstones, Ye Chen knew many had succeeded in overcoming the Three Great Killing Formations, and he firmly believed he could too.


    His confidence was absolute!


    Even if he failed to comprehend the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' Ye Chen had full confidence in his ability to leave the Deadly Sea Bottom unscathed.


    With his ability to transform into a Purple Silver Pearl, he had already transcended the constraints of this deadly undersea labyrinth and secured his survival.


    With this thought, Ye Chen cleared his mind entirely and sent his Divine Soul surging into the colossal ''Bead Refining Diagram'' hanging in the void.


    Boom!


    In that instant, Ye Chen''s physical body also entered a state of Ice Seal.


    Seeing that both Mu Qingxue and Ye Chen had begun comprehending the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' the other three Divine Kings hesitated for a long time before gritting their teeth in resolve and sitting down cross-legged as well.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Divine Light descended, the three also entered a state of Icebound Divine Soul Comprehension.


    The five of them began their attempt to comprehend the ''Bead Refining Diagram.''


    What Ye Chen didn''t know was that, in this Red Light Death Zone of the Deadly Sea Bottom, there were undersea peaks similar to theirs all across the area.


    Among the thousands of challengers swept into this zone by the violet storm, most had been scattered across these peaks.


    By now, nearly all of these challengers were dead.


    Of the thousands who had entered the Red Light Death Zone of the Deadly Sea Bottom, only eight were still alive¡ªYe Chen''s group of five, and three others in a separate location.


    These three survivors were Lin Shan, ranked first on the Heavenly God List, Sima Liao, who had narrowly escaped with his life after a shocking encounter with Ye Chen, and a Divine King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom.


    The three of them happened to be on the same undersea mountain.


    Their survival had relied on the exceptional strength of Lin Shan and Sima Liao, combined with the considerable abilities of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom''s Divine King. The trio had managed to endure so far by working together.


    Now, Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and the Snow Desert Divine King all looked up at the sky above their undersea peak.


    There, too, loomed a colossal, earth-shaking ''Bead Refining Diagram''!


    Having survived the first two Killing Formations, they had no choice but to face this third one as well.


    After staring at the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' for several moments, all three of them began their individual comprehension of it.


    In the Red Light Death Zone of the Deadly Sea Bottom, the original number of thousands had dwindled. Only eight remained, facing the ultimate challenge of the third Killing Formation.


    Meanwhile, in the regions outside the Red Light Death Zone...


    Six to seven thousand challengers still lingered in the Green Light Safe Zone and the Yellow Light Danger Zone, collecting Purple Silver Pearls.


    Among them were the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Hua Xuelian.


    These individuals had been fortunate enough to avoid entering the Yellow Light Danger Zone during the violet storm''s onset, narrowly escaping disaster.


    Rumors now ran rampant among those in the Green Light Safe Zone and Yellow Light Danger Zone: the thousands who had ventured into the Yellow Light Danger Zone were likely all dead.


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Hua Xuelian fell silent for a long time when they heard this.


    In their hearts, however, they found it difficult to believe that Ye Chen, Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and the others would have all perished in the Sea of Mist.


    They had a persistent feeling that Ye Chen was still alive.


    They believed his disappearance within the Yellow Light Danger Zone of the Sea of Mist must be due to some extraordinary circumstance.


    ...


    "Bead Refining Diagram!"


    "It really is the Secret Map method for refining the ''Purple Silver Pearl''!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul had entered the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' and he found himself in an utterly silent, boundless void.


    Within this space, a giant purple-silver mountain loomed before him.


    Two manuals floated toward Ye Chen as soon as he entered the ''Bead Refining Diagram.''


    Taking them, Ye Chen noticed the titles¡ªone read "Red Soul Cultivation Skills," while the other was labeled "Purple Silver Bead Mining Method."


    The prefaces of both manuals stated that to complete the first section of the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' one must successfully cultivate ''Red Soul Cultivation Skills'' and use ''Purple Silver Bead Mining Method'' to extract a thousand Purple Silver Pearl ore blocks from the purple-silver mountain nearby!

 Chapter 917 - 867: Ye Chens Transformation (1st Update)

    After seeing the comprehension requirements of the first part of the "Bead Refining Diagram," Ye Chen took a deep breath and began browsing through the entirety of the two manuals.


    One cup of tea''s time later, Ye Chen closed the two books.


    At this moment, Ye Chen did not appear tense; on the contrary, his eyes gleamed brightly.


    "According to the ''Red Soul Cultivation Skills,'' there is a method to determine Divine Soul strength, which categorizes everyone''s Divine Soul strength into five levels below the Sovereign realm."


    "These five levels of Divine Soul strength are: ''Ordinary Divine Soul,'' ''Red Divine Soul,'' ''Green Divine Soul,'' ''Blue Divine Soul,'' and ''Purple Divine Soul.''"


    "To mine a thousand Purple Silver Pearl ores from that purple-silver giant mountain, one''s Divine Soul strength must reach the level of ''Red Divine Soul.'' Because of this, the ''Red Soul Cultivation Skills'' are included within the Bead Refining Diagram."


    "However, this set of ''Red Soul Cultivation Skills'' isn''t a simple method to gradually strengthen the Divine Soul. Instead, it uses an approach not of this universe, directly flooding immense Divine Soul power into the cultivator''s Divine Soul. As long as one''s Divine Soul can endure this influx, their strength will increase directly, completing the ''Red Soul Cultivation.''"


    "But if the Divine Soul cannot endure this forceful infusion, it will collapse and disintegrate completely!"


    "For this reason, the voice earlier mentioned that cultivating the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' is dangerously treacherous."


    This method of directly boosting Divine Soul strength through infusions of power felt completely novel to Ye Chen.


    At the same time, Ye Chen grew even more curious about the strength of his own Divine Soul.


    Regarding the three major signs of life¡ªEssence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªbecause of cultivating the "Primordial Star Scripture," all three of Ye Chen''s surpassed those of Martial Artists in his realm by far.


    In addition, Ye Chen had practiced many Divine Soul attack methods.


    Especially during his time within the undersea mountain peak¡ªwhere to enhance his Divine Soul Combat Power, he had refined over 8,000 Purple Silver Pearls. This made Ye Chen feel that his Divine Soul was unlike any other.


    Ye Chen also wanted to verify whether the strength of his Divine Soul had reached the level of a "Red Divine Soul"!


    After pondering for a few breaths, Ye Chen followed the methods outlined in the "Red Soul Cultivation Skills" and sat cross-legged in the eerily boundless void.


    Then, clenching a spell with his hand, an endless stream of purple-silver-infused energy surged forth, rushing toward Ye Chen seated on the ground.


    Whoosh.


    As the purple-silver energy engulfed him, Ye Chen instantly felt as though a mysterious force had ignited within his Divine Soul.


    In what seemed like the blink of an eye, a beam of crimson Divine Light rose from Ye Chen''s Divine Soul¡ªRed Divine Light!


    According to the "Red Soul Cultivation Skills," this unmistakably signified that his Divine Soul strength had already reached the level of "Red Divine Soul"!


    "Hmm?"


    "I didn''t even undergo the Divine Soul power infusion, yet my Divine Soul has already reached the ''Red Divine Soul'' level."


    "Could it be that my prior cultivation had already elevated my Divine Soul strength to this level?"


    Ye Chen had long felt that his Divine Soul power far surpassed others, granting him that horrifying ability to battle beyond his realm.


    Now, by testing against the five-tiered strength system, his Divine Soul revealed its "Red Divine Soul" level instantly, thrilling Ye Chen to no end.


    "Moreover, I sense that the ''Red Divine Soul'' might not even be my Divine Soul''s strongest form. However, to determine whether it has reached the more formidable ''Green Divine Soul'' level, I must complete the first part of the Bead Refining Diagram and acquire the ''Green Soul Cultivation Technique'' to verify."


    "In that case, I''ll first fulfill the requirements for the first part of the ''Bead Refining Diagram''!"


    Since the "Red Soul Cultivation Skills" required achieving a "Red Divine Soul," Ye Chen accomplished this without requiring Divine Soul power infusions. To complete the first part of the "Bead Refining Diagram," he now needed only to mine 1,000 Purple Silver Pearl ores from the nearby purple-silver giant mountain using the "Purple Silver Bead Mining Method."


    With this thought, Ye Chen''s eyes flashed as he gazed at the purple-silver giant mountain ahead.


    Next, Ye Chen extended his Divine Soul toward the purple-silver giant mountain for exploration.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Ye Chen immediately felt his Divine Soul pierce through the layers of resistance of the purple-silver giant mountain, delving into its depths.


    Following this, Ye Chen used the "Purple Silver Bead Mining Method" to uncover¡ªforbidden within the core¡ªpieces of fist-sized Purple Silver Pearls that met the requirements.


    With a sweep of his Divine Soul power, the Purple Silver Pearls flew out of the mountain one by one, assembling in front of Ye Chen.


    In less than half a cup of tea''s time, a collection of 1,000 Purple Silver Pearls¡ªthe first part''s requirement of the "Bead Refining Diagram"¡ªwas piled up before Ye Chen!


    "That easy?"


    "I''ve already completed the first part of the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' comprehension process?"


    The mission''s smooth completion left Ye Chen somewhat incredulous.


    It was worth noting that the third Killing Formation¡ªthe ''Bead Refining Diagram''¡ªonly required challengers to comprehend at least the first two parts.


    Did this mean that Ye Chen needed only to complete the second part to pass the "Bead Refining Diagram" trial and meet the requirements for clearing the Three Great Killing Formations all at once?


    As this thought ran through Ye Chen''s mind, his emotions stirred.


    While the 1,000 Purple Silver Pearls lay stacked before him, two new manuals emerged, flying directly toward Ye Chen.


    These two manuals were, without a doubt, the resources needed to comprehend the second part of the "Bead Refining Diagram": "Green Soul Cultivation Technique" and "Purple Silver Pearl Smelting Technique"!


    Simultaneously, a massive furnace¡ªseveral dozen feet in radius¡ªmanifested before Ye Chen.


    "New manuals?"


    "And a smelting furnace?"


    Ye Chen''s mind stirred as he turned toward the newly acquired manuals.


    ...


    Ye Chen spent less than two cups of tea completing the first part of the "Bead Refining Diagram," finding it astonishingly simple.


    If this scene were witnessed by other challengers attempting the "Bead Refining Diagram," they would surely be left dumbfounded and seething with envy!


    Meanwhile, among the eight challengers who entered the third Killing Formation of the "Bead Refining Diagram," aside from Ye Chen, the others were all suffering immensely.


    Everyone else was still cultivating according to the "Red Soul Cultivation Skills," channeling the Diagram''s Divine Soul energy into their own.


    This infusion could only be described as excruciating!


    The Divine Soul, inherently the most fragile among the three major signs of life, was now subjected to immense external forces. Any lapse in concentration risked its total collapse.


    Even though the Divine Souls of the remaining seven had not yet completely disintegrated, the constant tearing and expansion left them wailing in agony.


    "It hurts!"


    "This method of strengthening with the Red Soul Cultivation Skills is simply horrific!"


    Among Ye Chen''s cohort, three Divine Kings were crying out in misery.


    At this rate, they doubted whether they could last through the second part of the cultivation.


    Similarly, another Divine King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, training beside Lin Shan and Sima Liao, was visibly tormented.


    The occasional spasms on his face indicated the depth of his suffering.


    Among the remaining challengers, the stronger individuals¡ªLin Shan, Sima Liao, and Mu Qingxue¡ªappeared to be gritting their teeth in perseverance, though it seemed only a matter of time before their screams of pain escaped them too.


    Lin Shan and Sima Liao, despite their impressive combat strength, had relatively weak Divine Souls, and this ordeal of cultivating their souls was surely an unforgettable torment.


    ...


    The seven other challengers continued their "Red Divine Soul" cultivation.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen had advanced into the cultivation of the "Green Divine Soul."


    After thoroughly grasping the comprehension of the two new manuals, Ye Chen once again assumed a seated position and began pushing his Divine Soul toward the "Green Divine Soul" level.


    This time, while his Divine Soul did not immediately emit the radiance indicative of the "Green Divine Soul," it began exuding mysterious signs of immense strength, heralding its approach to the next level.


    This suggested that Ye Chen was not far from fully reaching "Green Divine Soul" strength.


    Failing to attain peak "Green Divine Soul" strength immediately, the celestial forces once again poured Divine Soul energy into Ye Chen.


    Despite some minor discomfort, Ye Chen''s immensely powerful Divine Soul was able to endure it without succumbing to agony.


    After half a day of effort,


    Ye Chen''s Divine Soul had been elevated by the influx of energy to the "Green Divine Soul" level!


    Having achieved the "Green Divine Soul," Ye Chen immediately invoked the "Purple Silver Pearl Smelting Technique," channeling his Divine Soul power into the massive furnace before him.


    Boom!


    The enormous furnace, seemingly ignited by Divine Soul power, turned blazing red as blue flames erupted within.


    With a sweep of his Divine Soul power, Ye Chen directed the 1,000 Purple Silver Pearls beside him into the furnace.


    Crackle! Crackle!


    Under the blue flames, the Purple Silver Pearls began to melt within the furnace.


    After most of a day, drops of purple-silver liquid formed in the furnace.


    The Purple Silver Pearl Solution was produced.


    This signified that Ye Chen had also successfully completed the second part of the "Bead Refining Diagram" requirements: smelting the Purple Silver Pearls into a solution using the Green Divine Soul!


    In just about one day of the "Bead Refining Diagram''s" seven-day comprehension period, Ye Chen had completed the first two parts required to pass!


    And the evolution of Ye Chen''s Divine Soul was not yet over.


    After completing the second part of the "Bead Refining Diagram," two more manuals flew toward him.


    One of these was an even higher-level Divine Soul cultivation manual¡ªthe "Blue Soul Cultivation Technique."


    The other described the third step in refining the Purple Silver Pearls¡ªthe "Solution Condensing Pearl Skills."


    Having met the basic requirements of the "Bead Refining Diagram," Ye Chen finally relaxed. Adjusting his mind and spirit, he began studying the fifth and sixth manuals.

 Chapter 918 - 868: Reunion (2nd Update)

    Ye Chen didn''t care much about how to refine the Purple Silver Pearl.


    However, the more powerful "Blue Soul Cultivation Technique" intrigued Ye Chen immensely.


    In just one day, due to the influx of Divine Soul Power, his Divine Soul had transformed to the level of a Green Light Soul. Although Ye Chen was still unsure how this transformation would affect his combat power,


    he had already sensed the benefits of the Divine Soul''s evolution!


    Ye Chen had long noticed that since his Divine Soul was elevated to the Green Light Soul level, its overall power had grown significantly, and his reaction speed had also accelerated greatly.


    Even the top-notch divine soul technique he had been struggling to grasp¡ªthe "Gourd Sword Technique," which corresponded to the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills"¡ªYe Chen suddenly experienced a much stronger understanding.


    Ye Chen even had the feeling that if he left the "Bead Refining Diagram," he could cultivate the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" with remarkable ease, advancing from controlling more than three hundred flying swords to mastering seven or eight hundred.


    This change naturally filled Ye Chen with expectations for an even more powerful "Blue Light Soul."


    If he could successfully cultivate the "Blue Light Soul," fully mastering the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" would likely become a reality!


    Now that the "Blue Soul Cultivation Technique" was right before him, Ye Chen was determined to seize the time to cultivate diligently. Utilizing the influx of Divine Soul power, he aimed to further strengthen his soul!


    On the second day of entering the "Bead Refining Diagram," Ye Chen began cultivating the "Blue Soul Cultivation Technique."


    This time, a Divine Soul power far greater than that of the Red Light Soul and Green Light Soul surged toward Ye Chen.


    For the first time, Ye Chen truly experienced the agony of increasing soul strength.


    Yet, no matter how painful it was, Ye Chen gritted his teeth and pushed through!


    Because Ye Chen knew that once he endured this phase, his soul would achieve an extraordinary transformation!


    The process of cultivating the "Blue Light Soul" with the "Blue Soul Cultivation Technique" also took far longer than developing the Red Light Soul and Green Light Soul.


    Even with the continuous influx of Divine Soul power, Ye Chen spent a full five days to completely cultivate the "Blue Soul Cultivation Technique" and reach the strength level of the "Blue Light Soul!"


    At this point, including the day spent cultivating the Green Light Soul earlier, Ye Chen had already spent six days within the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    Ye Chen did not rush to begin comprehending the third refining method of the Purple Silver Pearl¡ª"Solution Condensing Pearl Skills"¡ªto quickly finish the third part of the "Bead Refining Diagram" and move on to its more valuable fourth part.


    With only one day left, Ye Chen realized he likely wouldn''t have enough time to begin cultivating the fourth part of the "Bead Refining Diagram" thoroughly.


    He also didn''t feel an urgent need to examine the fourth part''s "Purple Soul Cultivation Technique," corresponding to the "Purple Light Soul."


    At this moment, after his soul had transformed into the "Blue Light Soul," Ye Chen had a sudden epiphany.


    He finally understood why there were five levels of soul strength within the Heavenly God Mountain.


    After reaching the strength level of the "Blue Light Soul," Ye Chen sensed as if a grand door had opened to him.


    This door was the gateway to surpass the realm of the Sovereign.


    This door was the path to the Cosmic Sea!


    Although Ye Chen was still far from "transcending the Sovereign Realm," on the matter of Divine Soul life vital signs, he could sense it clearly¡ªthat to achieve "transcending the Sovereign Realm," his soul strength must reach "Purple Light Soul."


    Moreover, it had to be cultivated to the level of Great Perfection!


    Without achieving this, even if his realm reached the Nine-Star Sovereign Realm, he would never overcome the barrier between the Sovereign Realm and the Divine Master Realm!


    This realization stemmed from the intrinsic elevation of his Divine Soul, granting him a perception of the essence of greater worlds.


    A vast world began to take shape within Ye Chen''s Divine Sense. As soon as his Essence, Qi, and Spirit reached their ultimate limits, he could transcend the boundaries of this universe and enter the Cosmic Sea!


    "In terms of physical skills, I possess the ''Eternal God Body!''


    "In terms of True Qi techniques, I likewise have the invaluable ''Primordial Star Scripture,'' which serves as the foundation. The ''Primordial Star Scripture'' can even enhance both my physical body and my Divine Soul."


    "Now, for soul techniques, I''ve come into contact with the five-tiered soul strength classification!"


    "At last, in my realm cultivation, I have no weakness!"


    Ye Chen quietly reflected upon the transformations brought about by the evolution of his soul.


    He calmly absorbed the life-altering elevation that soul evolution gifted him.


    Then, on the final day of the seven-day timeframe within the "Bead Refining Diagram," Ye Chen began condensing the solution in the furnace into the initial Purple Silver Pearl.


    By midday, he fulfilled the requirements of the third part of the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    Following this, Ye Chen gained access to the final and most mysterious fourth part''s manuscripts¡ªthe "Purple Soul Cultivation Technique" and the final steps for refining the Purple Silver Pearl, the "Purple Silver Pearl Formation Method."


    Ye Chen merely memorized these two manuscripts before the seven days concluded, and he was then expelled from the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    As he was expelled, Ye Chen''s body became imbued with an exclusive Divine Light from the "Bead Refining Diagram"¡ªthe Purple Silver Divine Light!


    During these seven days,


    Ye Chen had already accessed the fourth part of the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    But the other seven participants were nowhere near as strong!


    By now, several had already perished while attempting to comprehend the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    From Ye Chen''s group of five, he had far surpassed the requirements of the "Bead Refining Diagram," even completing its third part.


    Mu Qingxue, too, had successfully comprehended the first two parts of the "Bead Refining Diagram," meeting the requirements to pass the Third Killing Formation.


    However, the other three Divine Kings had all perished during their cultivation of the Green Soul Cultivation Technique, unable to withstand the overwhelming influx of Divine Soul power.


    In the group that accessed the "Bead Refining Diagram," only four individuals survived.


    Though the survival rate looked decent,


    it was important to note that the survivors¡ªLin Shan, Sima Liao, and Ye Chen¡ªwere the three strongest on the Heavenly God List!


    Truly, the only weaker individual to survive was Mu Qingxue.


    From this, one could understand the terrifying nature of the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Amid flashes of Divine Light, Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, Lin Shan, and Sima Liao were expelled from the "Bead Refining Diagram," their souls returning to their original physical bodies.


    In the undersea mountain area where Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue were located,


    as soon as their Divine Souls returned, they stood up from meditation, only to see the bodies of the other three Divine Kings beside them burst apart and vanish.


    This phenomenon clearly signified the complete obliteration of their Divine Souls, leading to the ultimate destruction of their Divine Bodies.


    Witnessing this tragic end, Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue instantly understood that the three individuals who arduously endured the first two Killing Formations had perished within the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    Though these three had benefitted from Ye Chen''s aid to survive up to this point, in the end, their own lack of strength sealed their fates.


    Watching the three lifeless bodies, Ye Chen couldn''t help but sigh deeply.


    Turning his head to find Mu Qingxue still alive, Ye Chen finally felt a sense of relief.


    As long as Mu Qingxue hadn''t perished within the "Bead Refining Diagram," there was still hope of escaping the Sea of Mist.


    "Ye Chen,"


    Mu Qingxue, seeing that Ye Chen was unharmed, relaxed visibly, her beautiful eyes softening.


    The two exchanged a glance, but before they could say much, a familiar voice reverberated throughout the undersea mountain area: "Challengers who have passed the Three Great Killing Formations, you will now enter the ''Purple Mine Labyrinth,'' where tasks and fortuitous opportunities await you."


    "Complete the tasks, and you may emerge from the ''Purple Mine Labyrinth'' early, possibly continuing your journey across Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Fail to complete the tasks, and you risk being trapped in the ''Purple Mine Labyrinth'' for tens of thousands, hundreds of thousands, or even millions of years!"


    Boom!


    This voice resounded in the undersea mountain area where Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue stood, as well as the corresponding area for Lin Shan and Sima Liao.


    As the four individuals processed these words, the nine enormous pits within their respective undersea mountain areas erupted with boundless Divine Light.


    When this Divine Light surged, the Purple Silver Divine Light emanating from the four participants also lit up, and simultaneously pulled them toward the nine immense pits.


    Moments later, all four figures vanished into the pits.


    The Void flashed violently.


    Boundaries shifted.


    As the Purple Silver Divine Light carried him through the enormous pits, Ye Chen felt an indescribably wonderful sensation.


    It was as if he were traveling to an entirely different world.


    Ye Chen also had the distinct impression that, had he jumped into the pits recklessly without possessing the Purple Silver Divine Light, he might have been eradicated by the forces within the pits.


    At this moment, amidst the traversal, Ye Chen clearly sensed a terrifying boundary power surrounding him. Without the protection of the Purple Silver Divine Light, he might have already perished during the journey.


    "Having passed the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations, I finally enter the ''Purple Mine Labyrinth''!"


    As he traversed, Ye Chen''s mind raced.


    Earlier, in the Mausoleum Graveyard, Ye Chen had learned about the existence of the "Purple Mine Labyrinth" and something called the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain."


    Ye Chen also knew that within the "Purple Mine Labyrinth" there might still be challengers from past eras who entered Heavenly God Mountain.


    Now, as he traveled toward the "Purple Mine Labyrinth," he was likely about to meet challengers from tens of thousands or even hundreds of thousands of years ago¡ªa thought that made Ye Chen''s heart pound with excitement.


    "It seems the individuals still within the ''Purple Mine Labyrinth'' are those who failed to complete their tasks and became trapped."


    "If failing tasks traps one for tens of thousands of years, what kind of tasks does the ''Purple Mine Labyrinth'' impose?"


    As Ye Chen pondered, a thunderous explosion suddenly echoed, and soon, Ye Chen discovered that he had completed his traversal and arrived in a new realm.


    This realm was incomparably magnificent.


    The first sight that greeted him was a series of massive purple-silver mountains, identical to those Ye Chen had encountered within the "Bead Refining Diagram."


    Within the "Bead Refining Diagram," Ye Chen had only seen one gargantuan purple-silver mountain. Yet here, amidst this new domain, purple-silver mountains stretched endlessly in every direction.


    Not only had the number of purple-silver mountains multiplied, but their size had also increased severalfold, forming a sprawling mineral world of interwoven purple-silver veins!


    As Ye Chen surveyed his surroundings, he noticed Mu Qingxue standing nearby. Beside them, Sima Liao and Lin Shan were gazing at them in astonishment.


    "You two also fell into the deadly sea floor? And survived the ''Bead Refining Diagram''?" Lin Shan asked in surprise upon seeing Ye Chen and Mu Qingxue.


    "Ye Chen, you actually escaped death!" Sima Liao''s eyes flared with a blend of terror and unease.


    Sima Liao had assumed that once he split from Ye Chen, their paths wouldn''t cross again.


    But now, after surviving the Three Great Killing Formations of the deadly sea floor, he''d once again encountered Ye Chen.

 Chapter 919 - 869: Five Great Commanders (First Update)

    "Death? You didn''t die, so why would I?"


    Running into Sima Liao here was somewhat unexpected for Ye Chen.


    But soon enough, Ye Chen came to a realization.


    Though Sima Liao''s combat power was inferior to his, he was nonetheless one of the top figures on the Heavenly God List, with strength at the level of a Mid-Ranked Immortal Divine Venerable. Surviving the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations was, in a way, understandable.


    "Sima Liao, you barely escaped with your pathetic life during the Purple Storm''s outbreak. Now then, let''s see where you''ll run this time."


    Recalling Sima Liao''s earlier pursuit of Mu Qingxue, a cold glint appeared in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    He had missed his chance to kill this man earlier. Now that they crossed paths again, it was obvious¡ªYe Chen wasn''t going to leave any loose ends behind.


    Seeing the killing intent in Ye Chen''s eyes, Sima Liao staggered back several steps in fear, his hands trembling as he desperately turned to Lin Shan for help, "Lin Shan, my friend, save me!"


    Clearly, Sima Liao didn''t dare confront Ye Chen.


    Let alone the fact that he had almost lost his life to Ye Chen back in the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    Even now, after barely passing the requirements to survive the Three Great Killing Formations, his minor boost in Divine Soul Power was nothing compared to what Ye Chen must have achieved by also passing through the Formations.


    Against Ye Chen, he still held not a single advantage.


    When he heard that Ye Chen intended to strike again, fear seized him completely.


    Observing Sima Liao''s terrified state, Lin Shan was utterly frozen on the spot.


    What was going on?


    Why would Sima Liao, ranked second on the Heavenly God List, be so afraid of Ye Chen, ranked only fourth?


    Unaware of the earlier battle between Ye Chen and Sima Liao, Lin Shan had no way of knowing Ye Chen''s true capabilities.


    Yet from the sheer terror in Sima Liao''s eyes, Lin Shan could infer one thing: Ye Chen undeniably possessed the power to kill Sima Liao.


    Otherwise, Sima Liao wouldn''t behave this way, not even daring to muster resistance.


    As for Sima Liao''s plea for help...


    Lin Shan pondered silently, refraining from making a sound.


    After all, he didn''t share any close ties with Sima Liao, and considering Ye Chen''s evident strength¡ªit wasn''t worth offending Ye Chen on Sima Liao''s behalf.


    Seeing Lin Shan remain silent, Sima Liao sank into utter despair.


    As despair gripped him, Ye Chen turned slightly, nodding toward Mu Qingxue, then stepped forward, preparing to strike and kill Sima Liao.


    Suddenly, from deep within the world of the Purple-Silver Vein, a brilliant Divine Light shot forth.


    Within the light emerged a gray-robed elder.


    The elder seemed to cover the distance in a single step, suddenly standing before the four of them.


    Seeing the arrival of this gray-robed elder, even Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit trembled in shock.


    This gray-robed elder was actually a Seven-Star Sovereign!


    "Could this man be one of the challengers from previous trials who, after being trapped in the Death Killing Formation, managed to survive?"


    "And now remains trapped within the Heavenly God Mountain?"


    With this unexpected arrival, unsure of the elder''s intentions, Ye Chen paused his assault on Sima Liao and turned his gaze toward the man.


    Only then did Sima Liao''s trembling form regain a shred of composure.


    He knew¡ªif it weren''t for the countless bizarre interruptions caused by the Sea of Mist, he would already have died by Ye Chen''s hand.


    "May more oddities keep occurring."


    "Hopefully, Ye Chen meets his end, or perhaps I''ll gain overwhelming power to surpass him and finally eliminate him!"


    Having been spared twice due to unexpected events, Sima Liao''s belief in his luck and fortune only swelled.


    A strange thought began to creep into Sima Liao''s mind: Could it be that the Sea of Mist was his place of destiny, protecting him all this while?


    At this rate, if he encountered another opportunity, perhaps the roles would reverse, and he could finally cut Ye Chen down!


    Sima Liao burned with silent hope.


    The killing tension between Ye Chen and Sima Liao dissipated due to the gray-robed elder''s presence, as both turned their attention to him.


    Mu Qingxue beside Ye Chen, as well as Lin Shan near Sima Liao, also cast their gazes upon the elder.


    Having been transported from the deadly sea to this new realm, they were now seeing their first human figure in this strange land. Naturally, they were eager to uncover the secrets of this so-called "Purple Ore Mystery Realm," as well as the identity of the elder, and the tasks that awaited them.


    The gray-robed elder glanced briefly at the four, showing little interest in engaging them in conversation.


    He simply commanded, "You four, come with me. I will take you to meet the Great Commanders."


    The Great Commanders?


    Mu Qingxue, Lin Shan, and Sima Liao were all taken aback.


    Previously, they hadn''t expected this Purple Ore Mystery Realm to harbor anyone at all. Now, hearing that the place not only had inhabitants but also respected figures referred to as "Great Commanders" was an additional shock.


    Ye Chen, however, nodded internally.


    Having seen the concealed mausoleum earlier, he had surmised that many challengers from previous trials had been trapped in this Purple Ore Mystery Realm. The elder''s words only confirmed his theory.


    After speaking his piece, the gray-robed elder didn''t bother lingering and instead started descending toward the world below, where the expansive veins of purple-silver ore glistened.


    The four quickly followed.


    In this unfamiliar domain, lacking any concrete knowledge, they dared not wander off on their own.


    Thankfully, though the gray-robed elder was a Seven-Star Sovereign, he wasn''t flying at full speed, instead moving at a steady pace to lead the four of them. This allowed Ye Chen and his companions to keep up.


    After a period roughly equivalent to the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the elder and the four arrived at the base of a massive mountain within the Purple-Silver Ore Vein.


    There, a shimmering door of light suddenly appeared on the Giant Mountain.


    "Go in," the elder instructed, glancing at the four.


    Ye Chen studied the door of light briefly before stepping inside first.


    Mu Qingxue, Lin Shan, and Sima Liao quickly followed.


    Once all four had entered, the gray-robed elder also vanished into the door, which then closed behind them, sealing off all traces of their presence.


    The Purple-Silver Vein World returned to its previous tranquility, as if no one had ever come.


    Upon entering the door of light, Ye Chen found himself in a massive hall.


    What shocked him most was that the entire hall appeared to have been built from countless Purple Silver Pearls, with walls made entirely out of the shimmering gems.


    Amazing.


    How many Purple Silver Pearls would this have taken?!


    But even more striking than the design of the hall were the figures seated within it.


    Ye Chen immediately noticed that two to three hundred people were gathered here, all seated cross-legged!


    Every single one of them was a Sovereign!


    "All Sovereigns!"


    "These must be challengers from previous trials! Based on the inscriptions I saw in the Mausoleum Graveyard, some of them have been trapped here for tens of thousands of years. Given their talents and the fact that they survived the Three Great Killing Formations, it''s no wonder they''ve all reached the Sovereign Realm after so many years!"


    Ye Chen''s thoughts raced.


    He had long suspected something like this.


    But for Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Mu Qingxue, this sight was a complete shock!


    Only recently swept into the Death Storm and barely surviving the undersea killing traps, they had no idea what the so-called "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" entailed when they were transported here.


    Now, within the depths of the Heavenly God Mountain, discovering such a gathering of Sovereigns was utterly mind-boggling.


    Even in the Five Great Divine Kingdoms, encountering so many Sovereigns in one place would''ve been nothing short of extraordinary.


    Moreover, the power of these Sovereigns was undeniable. Most were Five-Star Sovereigns and above. Some were Eight-Star or even Nine-Star Sovereigns!


    While Ye Chen observed these Sovereigns calmly, Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Mu Qingxue could only feel shock and awe.


    At the same time, the Sovereigns in the hall began murmuring amongst themselves as they noticed the arrival of these four newcomers.


    "It''s been tens of thousands of years, and the Death Storm has erupted once more, bringing in four new faces."


    "Two Divine Kings and two Earth Divine Venerables. Sigh, seeing them reminds me of when I first escaped the Death Killing Formation, barely clinging to life."


    "Of the five who passed with me back then, only three of us are left alive now."


    A Six-Star Sovereign sighed heavily.


    An Eight-Star Sovereign chuckled and added, "Sovereign Mo Chen, you may have only been trapped since the last trial, but I''ve been here for twelve cycles! I''ve been stuck in this Purple Ore Mystery Realm for a total of 660,000 years!"


    Other Sovereigns joined in the lamentation. "Indeed, who isn''t the same?"


    "Failing the tasks of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, unable to achieve the Divine Master Realm¡ªwe can only remain trapped here."


    "I often wonder if we''ll perish here in this Heavenly God Mountain like many of our comrades, or if there''s still hope for escape someday."


    The murmurs and reflections of the Sovereigns left Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Mu Qingxue deeply unsettled.


    Before arriving at the Purple Ore Mystery Realm, they had heard that failing the Realm''s tasks meant being trapped for tens of thousands¡ªor even hundreds of thousands¡ªof years. They hadn''t fully believed it, but now the evidence was overwhelming.


    And these were all past challengers? Trapped to perish here within the Heavenly God Mountain?


    Looking at these Sovereigns, they couldn''t help but sense the overwhelming power. Given how long these individuals had been trapped, what were the chances for them as new arrivals to succeed?


    Ye Chen, however, set his eyes on the first Sovereign who had spoken¡ªthe Six-Star Sovereign.


    "That Eight-Star Sovereign called him Sovereign Mo Chen. Could this be the same Sovereign Mo Chen whose epitaph I saw in the mausoleum? The one who hailed from Xingmeng God Kingdom?"


    Ye Chen recalled the time he had transformed into a Purple Silver Pearl to slip into the Undersea Mountain Peak and discover the Mausoleum Graveyard within. The very first monument he noticed had been dedicated to Sovereign Mo Chen, a past challenger from Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    Seeing the living, breathing Sovereign Mo Chen before him now felt uncanny.


    While the Sovereigns in the hall exchanged their thoughts loudly, the gray-robed elder glanced at Ye Chen and the others and commented, "Why haven''t the five Great Commanders arrived yet?"


    "Explaining the matters of the Purple Ore Mystery Realm and tasks related to the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, as well as assigning mission locations¡ªthese responsibilities fall to the Great Commanders. We mustn''t overstep."


    The mere mention of the "Great Commanders" caused instant silence throughout the massive hall.

 Chapter 920 - 870: Purple Ore Mystery Realm and Purple Crystal Divine Mountain (Second Update)

    Seeing the two to three hundred Sovereigns in the grand hall suddenly fall silent, Ye Chen felt a jolt in his heart and mind.


    "Could it be that those Commanders are beings who surpass the Sovereign Realm?!"


    When the gray-robed elder mentioned the Commanders earlier, Ye Chen was still speculating whether these Commanders might be Nine-Star Sovereigns.


    But now, in this grand hall filled with many Nine-Star Sovereigns, those same Sovereigns exhibited extreme reverence when the gray-robed elder mentioned the Commanders, none daring to utter a word.


    At that moment, Ye Chen realized instantly that these Commanders must be at a realm far higher than that of the Nine-Star Sovereigns.


    And to surpass the realm of a Nine-Star Sovereign, the only possibility left would be beings beyond the Sovereign Realm!


    Although Ye Chen had already guessed that the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" gathered numerous Challengers from previous generations,


    he never imagined that there could be beings who surpassed the Sovereign Realm present!


    Divine Master Realm experts?


    As for beings more powerful than those of the Sovereign Realm, Ye Chen had only ever encountered the lingering soul of the deceased Huyan Divine Master.


    He had never met a truly living Divine Master!


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel the urge to see for himself¡ªwhat did these Divine Masters truly look like?


    Beside Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue was similarly stunned, her beautiful eyes flashing with shock when the gray-robed elder mentioned the Commanders and the grand hall fell silent.


    Her radiant eyes sparkled brightly.


    Evidently, the peculiar nature of this "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" once again left Mu Qingxue completely astonished.


    As for Lin Shan and Sima Liao, upon seeing so many Sovereigns and then hearing about even more powerful Commanders, their eyes flickered, as if contemplating something unknown.


    At that moment, a Nine-Star Sovereign spoke up, "The Great Commander is currently in secluded cultivation and will not come this time."


    "As for the other four Commanders, they just headed toward the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain. They should be arriving soon."


    Before his words had even faded, four beams of Divine Light shot into the grand hall from one of the passages.


    Ye Chen had already noticed earlier that this grand hall, seemingly constructed from Purple Silver Pearls, had six passages within it.


    One passage was the largest, while the other five were slightly smaller, each leading to different directions.


    These four shooting beams of Divine Light all emerged from the largest passage.


    "Could it be that these four beams of Divine Light are the so-called four Commanders?"


    As the thought flashed through Ye Chen''s Divine Sense, the four beams of Divine Light dissipated, revealing the forms of four individuals within.


    Among them were three men and one woman. The men were strikingly handsome and formidable, while the woman appeared dazzlingly beautiful, though none exuded any hint of Divine Power, appearing as ordinary as common folk.


    Yet, as the four entered the hall, the two to three hundred Sovereigns who had been sitting all simultaneously stood up with a loud "whoosh" and bowed deeply, saying, "Greetings to the Four Commanders, My Lords!"


    These four individuals were indeed four of the Five Great Commanders here!


    At this moment, one of the Commanders¡ªa male clad in black¡ªwaved his hand lightly, signaling the bowing Sovereigns to rise.


    Immediately, his gaze turned toward Ye Chen and the other three.


    The instant this black-robed Commander''s gaze landed on Ye Chen, Ye Chen felt the Stars Tower in his Qi Sea suddenly emit a flash of Divine Light, as though shielding itself just like it had previously blocked the Heavenly God List''s investigations.


    At this moment, the Stars Tower seemed to once again block the black-robed Commander''s probing gaze, only revealing some irrelevant methods of Ye Chen''s cultivation.


    The black-robed Commander seemed to find nothing unusual. His gaze lingered on Ye Chen for just a moment before sweeping over to Mu Qingxue, Lin Shan, and Sima Liao.


    Finally, he addressed the four: "To have survived crossing the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations of the Deadly Sea and to arrive here, you all seem truly extraordinary."


    "Allow me to introduce myself first. You can call me ''Qing Shan Divine Master'' or the Second Commander."


    The black-robed Commander then gestured toward the graceful woman by his side. "This is the Third Commander here, ''Mu Ling Divine Master.''"


    He next introduced the young man in yellow robes. "This is the Fourth Commander, ''Divine Master Huafeng.''"


    And finally, he motioned to the green-robed man. "This is the Fifth Commander, ''Jiuyuan Divine Master.''"


    As Ye Chen heard the introductions, his heart trembled.


    These Commanders... they were truly Divine Masters!


    Ye Chen''s gaze lingered on the four Commanders. Yet no matter how hard he focused, he failed to discern any of their methods. Not even the faintest trace of Divine Power could he detect.


    Clearly, the Divine Master Realm was far too high a level¡ªso lofty that it was utterly beyond his comprehension!


    At this moment, upon hearing that these individuals were Divine Masters, legendary beings who surpassed the Sovereign Realm, Sima Liao was so taken aback that he hurriedly knelt and bowed toward them, saying, "Greetings, Esteemed Divine Masters!"


    Even Sima Liao hadn''t expected to encounter such mighty Divine Masters here.


    In his mind, if he could form connections with these Divine Masters, he need no longer fear Ye Chen in the slightest!


    Seeing Sima Liao bow, Lin Shan hesitated before also attempting to kneel.


    Yet at that moment, the graceful Third Commander, Mu Ling Divine Master, cast her sparkling eyes on Mu Qingxue, then briefly glanced at Sima Liao. With a flick of her sleeve, she repelled Sima Liao from his kneeling posture with an invisible force and prevented Lin Shan from bowing further.


    Mu Ling Divine Master spoke directly, "There''s no need for formalities from you all. Let''s first get to the important matters."


    She then turned her gaze to the black-robed Commander. "Since the Great Commander is absent, Qing Shan, why don''t you quickly explain the matters regarding the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' and ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' to these youngsters? I still have cultivation waiting for me after I pick my candidate."


    The Second Commander, Qing Shan Divine Master, looked at Mu Ling Divine Master, then briefly at Mu Qingxue with a chuckle. "It seems, Mu Ling, you''ve already found someone you''re interested in."


    "Very well. Since the Great Commander isn''t here, I''ll wrap this up quickly."


    As he spoke, Qing Shan Divine Master''s expression turned grave.


    He looked at Ye Chen and the other three and said, "You must be wondering why we Divine Masters are here, alongside so many Sovereigns in this grand hall."


    "Now, I''ll explain everything to you."


    "This Heavenly God Mountain is, in fact, a Divine Mountain brought into this universe by a powerful force from the Cosmic Sea!"


    "Inside Heavenly God Mountain, there are even more powerful Divine Masters overseeing its affairs. Those stronger Divine Masters belong to that very faction of great might."


    "As for us, we''re merely responsible for overseeing the hidden ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' in the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s greater world. We don''t even have the qualifications to officially join that great force."


    "Heavenly God Mountain was originally bestowed by that force from the Cosmic Sea as a land of opportunity for the Divine Kings of this universe. Not just for the Divine Kings, that force has also left countless sites of fortune across this universe for Divine Venerables and even Sovereigns to utilize in their cultivation."


    "If you ever have the chance to enter the Cosmic Sea, you''ll learn the name of that great force¡ªit is called the ''Ancestral God Temple!''"


    Ancestral God Temple?


    At the mention of these three words, Mu Qingxue, Lin Shan, and Sima Liao, though unfamiliar with the name, deduced from the reverence shown by the Divine Masters that it was undoubtedly a force of extraordinary power.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen was utterly shaken to his very core.


    "So, Heavenly God Mountain is a land of fortune brought into this universe by the Ancestral God Temple, specifically for Divine Kings!"


    "No wonder I came across a site left behind by a being beyond the Sovereign Realm during my traversal of the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain''s greater world. The Ancestral God Temple must have countless such beings surpassing the Sovereign Realm!"


    Ye Chen, of course, had heard of the Ancestral God Temple before!


    Back when he ventured into the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain, Mrs. He had mentioned the Ancestral God Temple to him.


    It was due to the "Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal" that the Ancestral God Temple had brought into this universe that he and Feather Spirit Divine Venerable were hunted by members of the Ferocious Beast Star Domain.


    That "Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal" was precisely an opportunity left by the Ancestral God Temple for the Sovereigns of this universe.


    At that time, Ye Chen had merely envied Mrs. He for being able to partake in the mysterious opportunities of the "Extreme Heavenly Supreme Seal."


    Never had he imagined that the "Heavenly God Mountain" he was now in would also be one of the opportunities left behind by the Ancestral God Temple.


    Recalling how Mrs. He had remarked upon the Ancestral God Temple''s control over myriad affairs in this universe, even overseeing the appointment of every Divine Kingdom Ruler, Ye Chen found himself yearning even more for the mysteries of the Ancestral God Temple and the Cosmic Sea!


    Of course, despite being utterly shaken inside, Ye Chen maintained outwardly the same astonished expression as Lin Shan, Sima Liao, and Mu Qingxue, as though hearing the name "Ancestral God Temple" for the first time.


    Qing Shan Divine Master, after mentioning the Ancestral God Temple, continued, "Normally, the Heavenly God Mountain left by the Ancestral God Temple operates with the rules of a four-layer greater world."


    "However, changes often arise within each layer of these greater worlds."


    "For the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain, the change lies within the Sea of Mist."


    "The original rule of the Sea of Mist required Challengers to gather a thousand Purple Silver Pearls to pass through. However, every few tens of thousands of years, a Death Storm erupts, sweeping all those outside the Green Light Safe Zone into the Deadly Sea Bottom."


    "It seems you were unfortunate enough to encounter this Death Storm."


    "As you know, being swept into the Deadly Sea Bottom is essentially a killing trap set by the Heavenly God Mountain. Of course, as a domain left by the Ancestral God Temple, there is a thread of life granted to the Challengers. Hence, by overcoming the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations, you made it here."


    "The numerous Sovereigns gathered in this hall, as well as many deceased Challengers from previous generations, similarly encountered Death Storms during their attempts to traverse Heavenly God Mountain. They too overcame the Three Great Killing Formations and ended up here."


    "However, even though you''ve escaped the dangers of the Death Killing Formation and no longer face an immediate threat to your life, you still face a grave crisis."


    "That crisis is being eternally trapped within this ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm!''"


    "To escape this crisis, there are only two paths."


    "The first is to cultivate to a level surpassing the Sovereign Realm, in which case you can directly leave Heavenly God Mountain."


    "The second is to complete the designated tasks of ''Refining Purple Silver Pearls'' and conquering the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' within the three-month exploration period of the second layer greater world of Heavenly God Mountain!"

 Chapter 921 - 871: 5 Blood Stones (1st Update)

    At this point, Qing Shan Divine Master paused for a moment.


    "The task of ''refining the Purple Silver Pearl'' is not too difficult. Since you''ve passed the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' Killing Formation, you''ve already grasped at least the first two steps of crafting the ''Purple Silver Pearl.'' As long as you smelt the mineral water for the Pearl daily as instructed, you''ll be fine."


    "However, completing the task of conquering the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' is exceptionally challenging. Over countless years, among those who passed the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations of the Deadly Sea Bottom to arrive at the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm,'' very few have managed to conquer the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' within the stipulated time!"


    "Thus, in all likelihood, the four of you will spend the entire three months of exploration in the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain unable to complete the task of the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.'' In the end, just like the Sovereigns trapped within this hall, you too will remain confined here¡ªeither dying amidst endless Divine Tribulations or cultivating until you surpass the Sovereign Realm to finally leave!"


    "Of course, being trapped here isn''t entirely worrisome. Besides completing your daily task of refining the ''Purple Silver Pearl,'' the rest of the time can be devoted to cultivation."


    Boom!


    Qing Shan Divine Master''s words caused Mu Qingxue, Sima Liao, and Lin Shan to change expressions drastically.


    They had never imagined that, after barely overcoming the life-threatening dangers of the Deadly Sea Bottom to enter this ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm,'' they might still end up trapped here indefinitely.


    The voice they had heard earlier was right!


    Although being stuck in the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' wasn''t as perilous as the constant life-or-death threats at the Deadly Sea Bottom...


    ...the thought of being trapped here for tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of years, was unbearable!


    After all, breaking through to surpass the Sovereign Realm was supremely difficult. It was highly probable that they would fail in their lifetimes, remaining confined here until they died.


    Such a fate was something they naturally refused to accept!


    "Divine Master Lord, it has already been nearly a month since we entered the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain. Does that mean we have just over two months left to conquer the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain''?" Sima Liao asked Qing Shan Divine Master anxiously.


    Qing Shan Divine Master nodded. "To be precise, you have sixty-five days left to tackle the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.''"


    "Does that mean if we fail to conquer the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' within this three-month timeframe, we won''t be able to leave even after completing it later?" Lin Shan, ranked first on the Heavenly God List, also asked hurriedly.


    Qing Shan Divine Master shook his head. "Of course not. The ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' can only be conquered within the three months the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain is open. Beyond that, you won''t even be able to enter the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain,'' let alone attempt to conquer it. The only exception is if you cultivate to my level¡ªthe Divine Master Realm. Naturally, if you achieve the Divine Master Realm, you won''t have to worry about leaving; Heavenly God Mountain will allow you to leave directly."


    "Remember, to return to the outer world of the Heavenly God Mountain''s second layer, you must conquer the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' within the remaining sixty-five days!"


    "Fail, and you''ll simply join the ranks of previous challengers trapped here, becoming irrelevant to the trials of the Heavenly God Mountain''s fourth layer this time!"


    Qing Shan Divine Master''s words crushed countless hopeful ideas in the minds of Sima Liao and Lin Shan.


    Both understood that their only option was to give their utmost effort in conquering the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' within the remaining sixty-five days.


    Their sole hope was that the trial of the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' wouldn''t be as insurmountable as Qing Shan Divine Master described.


    Mu Qingxue''s expression took a dramatic turn but eventually calmed down.


    She realized that it was highly likely she wouldn''t be able to leave. More than likely, she would be like the Sovereigns trapped here, forced to cultivate endlessly in the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm.''


    After all, Qing Shan Divine Master wouldn''t exaggerate to scare them; the difficulty of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain was evidently overwhelming.


    "I may not be able to leave, but at least I''m still alive."


    "If I were still at the Deadly Sea Bottom, I might already be dead. Here, even if I can''t leave, at least I can continue cultivating."


    "Perhaps, one day, I''ll break through to a realm beyond the Sovereigns!"


    "When that day arrives, I will naturally be able to leave!"


    Mu Qingxue had already prepared herself for the worst outcome in her heart.


    After finding inner peace, she looked toward Ye Chen and sent him a mental message: "Ye Chen, no matter what, I want to thank you for bringing me here. You saved my life!"


    "If I can''t leave, I''ll immerse myself in cultivation here. With so many Sovereigns and even Divine Master Lords, perhaps it''s easier to train here than in the outside world!"


    "Ye Chen, however, I believe you will leave. You surely have countless things to accomplish and cannot stay confined here indefinitely, can you?"


    Mu Qingxue had guessed correctly.


    Though the matters in the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' fascinated Ye Chen...


    ...he, of course, wasn''t willing to be trapped here for tens or hundreds of thousands of years!


    Even if Ye Chen felt confident that he wouldn''t need such an extended time to train to the Divine Master Realm while confined here, he was still unwilling to spend centuries or millennia trapped.


    On one hand, Ye Chen didn''t want to be separated from his loved ones for so long, worrying them.


    On the other hand, Ye Chen had critical tasks waiting to be accomplished.


    The Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen''s three tasks were secondary concerns. Even failing to complete them would merely result in being trapped by the two Sovereigns for a millennium¡ªhardly different from being confined in the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm,'' a prospect Ye Chen didn''t mind much.


    However, the ''Curse Power'' left on him by Huyan Divine Master was an urgent issue he absolutely had to resolve!


    When leaving the Demon Tombs, Huyan Divine Master had warned Ye Chen that if he failed to fulfill his wish and deliver a message to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom within five years, the ''Curse Power'' would kill him.


    Now, more than a year had passed. Ye Chen had just over three years left to fulfill Huyan Divine Master''s wish in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    He simply couldn''t spare any extra time lingering in the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm''!


    Although several Divine Masters were present here, Ye Chen didn''t know them well and couldn''t count on them to help dispel the curse.


    After all, the one who had inflicted the ''Curse Power'' was none other than a Divine Master himself¡ªHuyan Divine Master!


    "I must leave!"


    "No matter what!"


    "Once I understand the intricacies of the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' and the obstacles of the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain,'' I''ll find a way to depart¡ªeven if it means utilizing transformation and Divine Skills to disguise myself as a Purple Silver Pearl!"


    A decision solidified in Ye Chen''s heart.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen directly asked Qing Shan Divine Master, "Divine Master Lord, how does one go about challenging the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain''?"


    Since the ''Purple Silver Pearl'' task was relatively easy to complete, Ye Chen naturally focused on the daunting ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' challenge.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s question, Sima Liao, Lin Shan, and Mu Qingxue also turned their attention to Qing Shan Divine Master.


    Though Qing Shan Divine Master seemed convinced they had little chance of succeeding, they all wanted to try their best first!


    Seeing the eager enthusiasm in their eyes, Qing Shan Divine Master chuckled. "''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' contains a ''Purple Crystal Divine Path.'' To pass the trial, you must walk from the base of the mountain to its peak."


    "I''ve said it''s an exceptionally difficult path, and you won''t believe me until you experience it yourselves. Very well, let''s first allocate your affiliations, and then the commanders responsible for you will take you to see the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.''"


    Allocations?


    Did this mean they would be assigned to different commanders?


    The four of them felt puzzled.


    At this moment, Ciling Divine Master laughed and explained: "Everyone entering the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' is assigned to one of the five commanders."


    "If you conquer the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain,'' your commander will receive contribution points as a reward. If you fail, and remain trapped here, the daily production of ''Purple Silver Pearls'' will still earn contribution points for your commander. Eventually, even if you transcend the Sovereign Realm and leave, they''ll receive contribution points for your success."


    "As for us Divine Masters here, we''ve willingly taken on the responsibility of managing the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' partly to enhance our cultivation, as training with Purple Silver Pearls aligns with our methods. But more importantly, accumulating contribution points gives us the chance to join the ''Ancestral God Temple.''"


    "So, of course, we''re eager to recruit new members into our jurisdiction."


    "The Sovereigns stuck here are already divided among us five commanders. Once you four are assigned, we''ll individually take you to the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.''"


    After hearing Ciling Divine Master, Ye Chen finally understood why five Divine Masters had come to the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm.'' It was for the Ancestral God Temple''s contribution points and cultivation benefits!


    Nearby, Qing Shan Divine Master followed up, "Previously, the Great Commander picked several individuals, but this time, he doesn''t plan to choose anyone and has left the task to us. It''s convenient, as there are four of you, and we can each choose one."


    With that, Qing Shan Divine Master looked toward Ciling Divine Master, Huafeng Divine Master, and Jiuyuan Divine Master, smiling, "Fellow Daoists, how should we go about making our selections?"


    The three commanders smiled back, "Let''s continue the order from last time, and let Qing Shan go first."


    Qing Shan Divine Master nodded, his gaze sweeping over Ye Chen, Sima Liao, Lin Shan, and Mu Qingxue.


    Under Qing Shan Divine Master''s scrutiny, Ye Chen remained calm.


    Given his resolve to leave the realm, he cared little about which commander he would be assigned to, knowing it wouldn''t affect his goals.


    However, Lin Shan and Sima Liao were visibly anxious.


    Among the five commanders, the Great Commander wasn''t present, and the Second Commander¡ªQing Shan Divine Master¡ªwas undoubtedly the most powerful. Naturally, both wanted to be chosen by the strongest Divine Master.


    After all, even if conquering the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' proved impossible, they would surely benefit immensely from training under such a powerful figure''s command.


    Mu Qingxue, on the other hand, felt more inclined toward Ciling Divine Master, a female Divine Master. As a Goddess King, she naturally preferred the mentorship of another woman.


    Of course, their personal preferences mattered little now.


    The four of them had no say in the matter; their fates would be determined by the four commanders present.


    After examining the group briefly, Second Commander Qing Shan Divine Master took out a peculiar diamond-shaped stone, luminous with five distinct colors of Divine Light.


    "I''m not concerned about your strength. If you''re trapped here, I won''t compel you to produce excessive ''Purple Silver Pearls'' daily. However, I practice a unique cultivation method requiring specific auxiliary bloodlines. If any of you have the required lineage, you''ll join me."


    "If none of you are compatible, I''ll choose randomly."


    "Now, place your hands on the ''Five Blood Stone'' in turn, so I can determine if your bloodlines suit my cultivation method."

 Chapter 922 - 872: Belonging (2nd Update)

    Seeing Qing Shan Divine Master take out this peculiar rhombic stone emanating divine light of five colors, the remaining three Great Commanders were not surprised.


    Ciling Divine Master smiled and transmitted to Qing Shan Divine Master, saying, "Qing Shan, you''re still not giving up. So many batches of challengers have come here. Each time, you bring out the ''Five Blood Stone'' to test, and so far you''ve only found three suitable auxiliary bloodline martial artists."


    "I think there''s no need to put more effort into it. Once we complete this rotation task and leave Heavenly God Mountain, you''ll naturally have time to gather the auxiliary bloodline martial artists."


    Ciling Divine Master''s words made Qing Shan Divine Master shake his head, "I don''t want to wait that long. If we could freely leave Heavenly God Mountain, and if I hadn''t created this cultivation technique only after coming here, I wouldn''t have to worry about bloodline martial artists."


    "I''ll try again. If I find someone, great. If not, I''ll wait for the next batch of challengers to test. I''ll eventually find enough!"


    Beside him, Jiuyuan Divine Master, the Fifth Commander, smiled, "The more bloodline martial artists assist in Qing Shan''s cultivation technique, the more he can advance. When Qing Shan gathers the five types of auxiliary bloodlines and cultivates this technique to great accomplishment, he might directly break through to the Fourth Divine Master Realm!"


    Divine Master Huafeng, the Fourth Commander, looked at Sima Liao and remarked, "This challenger seems to be from a high-level spirit clan in this universe ¡ª a member of the ''Snow Liao Tribe.''"


    "Maybe his bloodline can become one of the auxiliary bloodline martial artists."


    Huafeng Divine Master''s words made Qing Shan Divine Master smile, "I noticed this little one a while ago, but I haven''t tested his bloodline yet, so I''m not sure if it''s suitable."


    The Divine Masters conversed via transmission, their gazes occasionally flickering over Sima Liao.


    Sima Liao had long since noticed that Qing Shan Divine Master, Ciling Divine Master, and others had been paying attention to him.


    This made Sima Liao inwardly delighted, "Could it be that I''ve caught the attention of these Divine Masters?!"


    Sima Liao always thought that the Divine Masters were more focused on Lin Shan or Ye Chen, and definitely not on him.


    But now, seeing the Divine Masters'' eyes skim over him, he was overjoyed!


    Long had Sima Liao desired to catch the attention of these Divine Masters, to cling to the legs of such great figures!


    In Sima Liao''s excitement and nervousness, Qing Shan Divine Master turned his gaze toward Lin Shan, who had the highest realm among the four.


    "You first," Qing Shan Divine Master said to Lin Shan.


    Lin Shan nodded, placing his hand on the ''Five Blood Stone'' with some excitement.


    But after several breaths, the ''Five Blood Stone'' showed no change.


    Qing Shan Divine Master shook his head, "Your bloodline isn''t suitable to assist in my cultivation technique."


    Immediately, he shifted his gaze to Sima Liao, "Next, it''s your turn."


    When Qing Shan Divine Master looked at Sima Liao, Sima Liao noticed a hint of tension in his eyes.


    Qing Shan Divine Master''s gaze at him differed markedly from his gaze at Lin Shan!


    "Could it be that my high-level spirit clan bloodline attracted the Divine Master''s attention?"


    "This Divine Master seeks a bloodline martial artist for assistance... Yes, bloodline assistance! Though I''m not as strong as Ye Chen and Lin Shan, they don''t possess my unique bloodline. My bloodline is that of a high-level spirit clan!"


    "If selected by this Second Commander to assist in his cultivation, it would mean helping the Divine Master greatly. In that case, wouldn''t I be highly valued by the Second Commander?! And getting his protection would be so easy!"


    "With the Divine Master''s protection, I wouldn''t need to fear Ye Chen anymore. I might even use the Divine Master''s hand against Ye Chen!"


    Thinking this, Sima Liao''s hand trembled with excitement.


    In his nervous excitement, he placed his hand on the ''Five Blood Stone.''


    After several breaths, an astonishing scene unfolded, shocking many present.


    Only to see that after several breaths, where Sima Liao''s palm touched the ''Five Blood Stone,'' a strange blood-red light suddenly radiated.


    This light was one of the five colors of the ''Five Blood Stone''!


    Seeing the light bloom, Qing Shan Divine Master tightened his grip on the ''Five Blood Stone'' in an excited instant.


    How could he not be excited?


    The five lights blooming indicated that Sima Liao''s bloodline was suitable for assisting him in cultivating his technique!


    Not only suitable, but Sima Liao''s bloodline also filled the gap of a missing auxiliary bloodline among the five. It didn''t overlap with the three auxiliary martial artists'' bloodlines he''d found.


    This made Qing Shan Divine Master''s gaze toward Sima Liao wholly different.


    Laughing heartily, he said, "Excellent, excellent. What''s your name? From now on, you''ll be under my jurisdiction, following me in cultivation!"


    Success?


    Hearing Qing Shan Divine Master''s words, Sima Liao momentarily couldn''t believe it but then burst with joy.


    He immediately bowed to Qing Shan Divine Master, "Junior Sima Liao is willing to serve the Divine Master!"


    Qing Shan Divine Master relished Sima Liao''s deference with a pleased nod.


    The other three Divine Masters hadn''t expected Qing Shan Divine Master to indeed find another suitable auxiliary bloodline martial artist this time.


    All three congratulated Qing Shan Divine Master.


    Ciling Divine Master laughingly added, "Qing Shan, you have a great harvest this time. Why not try the other two? If someone else can assist you in cultivation, we wouldn''t mind giving you the spot."


    Divine Master Huafeng and Jiuyuan Divine Master nodded, "Indeed."


    Qing Shan Divine Master didn''t hold back; after all, he didn''t want to miss any suitable bloodline martial artists.


    Next, he let Mu Qingxue and Ye Chen have a go.


    But to his disappointment, neither Mu Qingxue nor Ye Chen could make his ''Five Blood Stone'' emit any strange light.


    The two weren''t suitable to assist in his cultivation.


    "Alright, only this ''Sima Liao'' is suitable for me, so he will be under my jurisdiction."


    Finally, Qing Shan Divine Master declared his choice.


    Sima Liao heard the affection in Qing Shan Divine Master''s words and eagerly ran to stand obediently behind him.


    However, his eyes showed a mix of pride and disdain when they swept over Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, things are bad now. We''ve failed to kill Sima Liao multiple times, and now he''s gotten close to the Divine Master!" Mu Qingxue said with a slightly grim expression to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen was also somewhat surprised.


    He hadn''t expected Sima Liao to attract the Second Commander''s attention with his ''Snow Liao Tribe'' bloodline.


    "The ''Snow Liao Tribe'' bloodline is indeed a high-level spirit clan bloodline. Initially, I used the ''Snow Liao Tribe'' essence blood from Xuan Chong of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom to successfully activate one of the seven stars on the Star Disk. And now, Qing Shan Divine Master can use the ''Snow Liao Tribe'' bloodline for cultivation as well!"


    Though wary of Sima Liao''s smug look, Ye Chen didn''t pay it much mind.


    What the Divine Masters didn''t know was that when his hand touched the ''Five Blood Stone,'' Ye Chen felt as though the Stars Tower in his Qi Sea was about to crush the ''Five Blood Stone''!


    Though this sensation vanished instantly, Ye Chen sensed the Stars Tower might have immense suppressive power over the ''Five Blood Stone''!


    Ever since coming to Heavenly God Mountain, the Stars Tower had shown signs of peculiar phenomena.


    Evidently, the Heavenly God Mountain from the Cosmic Sea seemed to activate something within the Stars Tower.


    Although Sima Liao had the support of Qing Shan Divine Master now, Ye Chen felt if Qing Shan Divine Master truly threatened him, the Stars Tower might undergo another transformation!


    This brought a hint of tranquility to Ye Chen''s mind.


    There''s no telling if Qing Shan Divine Master would support Sima Liao against him, but if he did, Ye Chen might be able to resist!


    Ye Chen''s thoughts flashed past.


    After Qing Shan Divine Master selected his subordinate, it was Ciling Divine Master''s turn.


    She didn''t use any treasures but directly invited Mu Qingxue, "Little girl, you belong under my command. Our Third Command District has many Female Sovereigns."


    As Ciling Divine Master spoke, many Female Sovereigns in the hall smiled gently.


    These people were evidently under Ciling Divine Master''s jurisdiction.


    Mu Qingxue was also quite satisfied with being chosen by Ciling Divine Master; she bowed respectfully and nodded to Ye Chen before joining Ciling Divine Master''s side.


    In the end, Divine Master Huafeng, the Fourth Commander, chose the higher-realm Lin Shan, while Ye Chen fell under Ciuyuan Divine Master, the Fifth Commander''s jurisdiction.


    Once the four newcomers were assigned, the respected Sovereigns followed their respective commanders into different passages.


    Those belonging to the jurisdiction of the Great Commander walked alone down another passage.


    There were six passages in the great hall, five leading to different commander districts, and another leading to the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.''


    Over thirty Sovereigns surged in front of Ye Chen and Jiuyuan Divine Master, curiously scrutinizing Ye Chen.


    Jiuyuan Divine Master, wearing green robes, had delicate features and bore a purple divine pattern between his brows.


    Yet he showed little interest in Ye Chen.


    As the last to choose this time, Jiuyuan Divine Master was left with only Ye Chen, which didn''t particularly excite him.


    Though Ye Chen, at the Middle God King Realm, managed to break through the Three Great Undersea Killing Formations, evidently extraordinary, as a Divine Master, Jiuyuan Divine Master had seen countless exceptional martial artists.


    Of the Sovereigns still alive at his side, hadn''t all successfully navigated the Three Great Killing Formations? Weren''t they all renowned when charging Heaven Divine Mountain?


    Even so, they''re trapped here.


    In Jiuyuan Divine Master''s eyes, if Ye Chen could avoid falling to Divine Tribulation before entering the Sovereign Realm, it would be a pleasant surprise.


    "Come, let''s return to the Fifth Commander District. I''ll show you our jurisdiction and inform you of the ''Refine the Purple Silver Pearl'' task."


    "Afterward, I''ll take you to see the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.''"


    Jiuyuan Divine Master calmly said to Ye Chen.

 Chapter 923 - 873: Showing Off (1st Update)

    Along a passageway at the very edge of the grand hall, Ye Chen followed Jiuyuan Divine Master and a group of Sovereigns, arriving at a vast mining zone.


    To call it a mining zone would not do it justice¡ªit was more like an expansive, awe-inspiring world of Purple Silver Pearls.


    Countless roads crisscrossed the entire area, leading to giant mountains shimmering with a purplish-silver hue, each harboring rich veins of Purple Silver Pearls.


    To the right of the mining zone stood colossal furnaces, each towering more than tenfold larger than the ones Ye Chen had seen in the "Bead Refining Diagram." On the left were piles upon piles of dazzling Purple Silver Pearls, stacked as tall as formidable mountains, alongside innumerable heaps of Purple Silver Pearl ores.


    Clearly, this was the designated refining zone for Purple Silver Pearls, managed by the Fifth Commander sector.


    Ye Chen also noticed that houses made entirely of Purple Silver Pearls surrounded the mining area. These looked like residences meant for the Fifth Commander and the Sovereigns to use during their cultivation.


    After surveying his surroundings, Ye Chen''s attention was immediately drawn to the towering mounds of Purple Silver Pearls on the left.


    Earlier, when he had seen tens of millions¡ªand potentially even billions¡ªof Purple Silver Pearls in that massive pit near the Mausoleum Graveyard, Ye Chen had been utterly astonished.


    Now, with just a cursory glance at the piled treasures in this mining zone, Ye Chen estimated there were no fewer than several trillion Purple Silver Pearls here, perhaps even more!


    "Heavens."


    "There are actually this many Purple Silver Pearls here!"


    "And this is just the Fifth Commander sector. How many in total could there possibly be across the entire ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm''?!"


    "One Purple Silver Pearl outside is worth at least one billion Black Divine Coins. Such a priceless treasure, yet here it''s piled up in mountains!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes were filled with shock.


    The Sovereigns standing nearby couldn''t help but chuckle at Ye Chen''s astonished expression.


    They relished seeing Ye Chen''s overwhelmed demeanor.


    They themselves had experienced a similar sense of awe and disbelief their first time entering the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm."


    At this point, Jiuyuan Divine Master turned to Ye Chen and said, "We lack many things here, but ''Purple Silver Pearls'' are not one of them. Refining Purple Silver Pearls is one of the tasks assigned to us by the ''Ancestral God Temple.''"


    "At designated intervals, we are required to submit a batch of Purple Silver Pearls, which are then distributed from the Heavenly God Mountain to the countless Divine Kingdoms across this cosmic region. Of course, the specific quantities to be distributed are determined and controlled by the more powerful Divine Masters stationed at the Heavenly God Mountain."


    "As for us, in addition to submitting the required batch of Purple Silver Pearls, any surplus we refine can be used for our own cultivation purposes."


    Ye Chen asked, "Constantly refining Purple Silver Pearls must deplete the Purple Silver Pearl mines here. Are these mines truly inexhaustible?"


    Jiuyuan Divine Master scoffed, "Ye Chen, your realm is far too low, and you know far too little about the Cosmic Sea and its Great Powerholders."


    "These Purple Silver Pearl mines exist precisely to produce Purple Silver Pearls for cosmic trade across the countless Divine Kingdoms in this region. The Great Powerholders of the ''Ancestral God Temple'' would not allow the mines to be depleted. If the mines ever run low, those Powerholders can easily use the origin power of the Cosmic Sea to forge infinite new mines and transport them into this cosmic region."


    Jiuyuan Divine Master''s words sent a shudder through Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit.


    He couldn''t help but look forward to learning more about the enigmatic Cosmic Sea and the mighty beings and factions that resided within it.


    "Alright, there''s no need to elaborate further. You''ll naturally come to understand in time as you remain here," Jiuyuan Divine Master said dismissively, unwilling to waste more words on Ye Chen. "Now, let me outline your task."


    "Your very first task is to meet the refining quota for Purple Silver Pearls during the remaining sixty-five days of time you have to explore the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "You have two options for completing this quota: either mine one million pieces of Purple Silver Pearl ores..."


    "Or refine thirty batches of Purple Silver Pearl Mineral Water."


    "Once you complete this task, you may proceed to attempt the challenge of the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.'' If you fail and remain trapped here, I will assign you a new routine task to continue refining Purple Silver Pearls."


    "Since you passed the Three Great Killing Formations, you must have completed the second stage of comprehension in the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' and cultivated the ''Blue Soul Technique.'' Either of these tasks is within your capabilities."


    "Naturally, the second option will save you more time, but it places higher demands on your Divine Soul. If you''re uncertain about succeeding, choose the first option instead."


    At this moment, however, Ye Chen abruptly asked, "Is there another option? For instance, could I directly refine Initial Purple Silver Beads? That would save even more time, wouldn''t it?"


    Ye Chen had no intention of wasting precious time on refining Purple Silver Pearls. He was eager to move on to the challenge of the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain."


    Jiuyuan Divine Master was startled by Ye Chen''s question. "Directly refine Initial Purple Silver Beads? That requires you to have mastered the ''Blue Soul Technique'' and completed the third stage of the ''Bead Refining Diagram.'' You''re merely in the God King Realm, so there''s no need to be overly ambitious. Once you''ve spent more time here and your Divine Soul Power has improved, you can attempt such an endeavor."


    The Divine Soul was a profound and mysterious aspect of being, and as Ye Chen had concealed his true abilities, not even Jiuyuan Divine Master could detect the strength of his Divine Soul.


    Clearly, Jiuyuan Divine Master did not believe Ye Chen could have mastered the ''Blue Soul Technique'' or attained a proficiency in line with the third stage of the diagram at his current Middle God King Realm.


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel a bit exasperated at Jiuyuan Divine Master''s dismissive assumptions.


    "This Divine Master likely considers me the weakest of the four newcomers."


    "It seems they''re unaware of what''s happening beyond the Purple Ore Mystery Realm."


    "Never mind. I''ll reveal a bit of my capability now. There''s no need to waste further time."


    With his Mind and Spirit composed, Ye Chen spoke directly to Jiuyuan Divine Master: "Commander, I''ve already mastered the third stage of the ''Bead Refining Diagram.'' My Blue Divine Soul is strong enough, and I should meet the requirements to refine Initial Purple Silver Beads."


    What?


    What did he just say?!


    As Ye Chen''s words landed, the thirty-plus Sovereigns under the Fifth Commander''s authority immediately surged toward him.


    "Young one, you''re just at the Middle God King Realm. How could you possibly have mastered the third stage of the ''Bead Refining Diagram''?"


    "When we were in the ''Bead Refining Diagram,'' even the most talented of us had barely started to grasp the third stage. We didn''t finish it, not until much later after being in the Purple Ore Mystery Realm for a long time, and after our Divine Souls had advanced to the Blue Divine Soul level!"


    The five levels of Divine Soul were: Ordinary, Red, Green, Blue, and Purple.


    The Blue Divine Soul was already considered a formidable level of proficiency.


    One had to understand, beyond Blue Divine Souls was the even rarer Purple Divine Soul, which paved the way for transcending the Sovereign Realm. Those who reached this stage had a tangible chance of stepping into higher, near-unattainable planes of existence.


    Typically, only exceptional Immortal Divine Venerables or the rare One-Star and Two-Star Sovereigns could achieve the level of Blue Divine Soul strength.


    Although the ''Bead Refining Diagram'' allowed rapid advances in Divine Soul Power through its unique cultivation feedback, these Sovereigns still harbored disbelief that someone at the Middle God King Realm like Ye Chen could withstand such powerful feedback without their Divine Soul collapsing.


    Even Jiuyuan Divine Master himself now regarded Ye Chen with a mix of astonishment and doubt.


    Among all the years he had overseen the Purple Ore Mystery Realm, not once had he seen a Middle God King Realm cultivator reach the level of Blue Divine Soul.


    The few select prodigies who had entered the realm with an inherent Blue Divine Soul strength had all eventually challenged the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain successfully or, at the very least, broken through to transcend their Sovereign confines and left the Heavenly God Mountain altogether.


    If what Ye Chen said was true, then could this final choice of his turn out to be the most extraordinary of them all?


    With that thought, Jiuyuan Divine Master urgently said to Ye Chen, "Quick, prove it! Show me the strength of your Divine Soul!"


    If Ye Chen indeed possessed a Blue Divine Soul, the implications would be monumental¡ªnot just for Ye Chen''s breakthrough to surpass the Sovereign Realm, but also for Jiuyuan Divine Master''s Contribution Points reward.


    A transcendent talent was infinitely more valuable than someone who merely refined Purple Silver Pearls endlessly, grinding their days away in the Purple Ore Mystery Realm.


    At this shift in Jiuyuan Divine Master''s attitude, Ye Chen inwardly sighed to himself. Everywhere in this cosmos, it was strength that earned respect.


    Ye Chen no longer held back.


    Whoosh.


    Extending his hand, Ye Chen''s colossal Divine Soul Power burst forth. As he activated the display technique of the ''Blue Soul Technique,'' his Divine Soul began emanating a mystical blue radiance.


    Blue Soul Divine Light!


    This was none other than the Blue Soul Divine Light that could only be demonstrated after fully mastering the ''Blue Soul Technique.''


    The thirty-plus Sovereigns nearby were left utterly dumbfounded by the sight of this radiant Blue Soul Divine Light.


    Even though many of them had already reached the level of Blue Divine Soul strength themselves, and some were even at the Purple Divine Soul level, none of them had been anywhere near Ye Chen''s level of achievement when they were at his age and standing where he was now.


    At that moment, the Sovereigns clearly recognized that an extraordinary newcomer had arrived.


    This newcomer¡ªbased on the unparalleled progress he showed in the Divine Soul Life Vital Sign¡ªwould undoubtedly surpass them in every conceivable way in the future.


    And since the Divine Soul Life Vital Sign was the most challenging among the three great life vital signs to cultivate, this newcomer''s future accomplishments were almost guaranteed, with a likelihood exceeding ninety-nine percent.


    Their previous scornful and dismissive attitudes toward Ye Chen instantly vanished, their gazes now filled with admiration and recognition.


    Meanwhile, Jiuyuan Divine Master''s eyes lit up like blazing torches as he exclaimed, "A Blue Divine Soul¡ªit''s truly a Blue Divine Soul!"


    "Excellent! Excellent!"


    "Who would''ve thought that my final choice would turn out to be a gem!"


    Jiuyuan Divine Master no longer harbored even the smallest doubt or disregard for Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, since your Divine Soul strength has reached the level of Blue Divine Soul, your task for ''refining Purple Silver Pearls'' will jump to the third stage¡ªcondensing Initial Purple Silver Beads. You''ll only need to complete one batch of Purple Silver Pearl Solution to achieve this, which will take the least amount of time!"


    "Come now; we''ll delay this task for later. For now, I''ll take you to see the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.''"


    "Put all your strength into challenging the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain and aim to clear it in one go. If you succeed, you''ll be able to leave, and I''ll earn the most Contribution Points possible."


    The highest rewards for the Fifth Commander came from leading someone to conquer the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.'' The second-highest rewards came from guiding a cultivator to surpass the Sovereign Realm and leave the Heavenly God Mountain. Merely supervising someone as they performed routine refinements offered the meagerest rewards.


    Having recognized Ye Chen''s potential, Jiuyuan Divine Master now regarded him as a once-in-a-lifetime treasure. Gone was the earlier indifference, replaced by a warm, almost eager expression.

 Chapter 924 - 874: Breaking into the Mountain and Lurking Danger (Second Update)

    Divine Master Jiuyuan was courteous to Ye Chen, and naturally, Ye Chen felt a bit more at ease.


    He certainly didn''t want a Divine Master powerhouse to always look down on him with indifference.


    Under the guidance of Divine Master Jiuyuan, the two exited the Fifth Commander''s area and returned to the grand hall from earlier. Then, they proceeded along the largest central pathway ahead.


    After walking for roughly the time it takes to brew a pot of tea, Ye Chen suddenly saw a towering purple mountain appear before him!


    "Is this the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain''?"


    "Why didn''t I see this mountain earlier outside the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm''?"


    Ye Chen looked up at the towering purple mountain ahead, utterly shocked in his heart.


    Ye Chen could sense that, even from afar, the massive mountain emanated an endless Divine Soul Power, as if the entire mountain was composed entirely of incredibly potent Divine Soul energy.


    At this moment, Divine Master Jiuyuan turned to Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, this is the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' that you must cross. If you fail to pass through it, you will be forever trapped within the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm,'' unless you break through to the Divine Master Realm to leave."


    "Let''s go. I''ll explain the specifics of crossing the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' when we reach its base."


    Swoosh.


    Under Divine Master Jiuyuan''s lead, Ye Chen flew directly toward the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain ahead.


    From a distance, the entire "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" appeared to be an immense purple mountain. But as Ye Chen approached it, he realized that from the foot of the mountain stretched countless purple steps, ascending continuously to the mountain''s peak!


    The number of steps was no less than tens of thousands!


    "Divine Master, is this what the Second Commander referred to earlier as the ''Purple Crystal Divine Path''?" Ye Chen asked Divine Master Jiuyuan.


    Previously, the Second Commander Qing Shan Divine Master had mentioned that crossing the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" meant traversing the "Purple Crystal Divine Path" within it. As long as one could ascend from the mountain''s base to its peak, they would be considered to have passed through the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain."


    Looking at these steps, Ye Chen didn''t notice anything particularly unusual about them.


    "That''s correct. These thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three purple steps collectively form the ''Purple Crystal Divine Path.'' If you can traverse all these steps, you will reach a spatial gateway that will directly return you to the Green Light Safe Zone in the Sea of Mist."


    "However, don''t assume the ''Purple Crystal Divine Path'' is so easy to cross. Ye Chen, you can try stepping onto the first step to see for yourself."


    Hearing this, Ye Chen grew even more curious about the so-called "Purple Crystal Divine Path."


    He took a deep breath and stepped forward onto the first purple step.


    Instantly.


    Ye Chen felt a terrifying storm sweep toward the depths of his Divine Soul.


    This storm did not harm his physical body or True Qi but directly targeted his Divine Soul.


    It was a genuine Divine Soul attack!


    Ye Chen was extremely familiar with Divine Soul Attack Methods.


    The "Nine Swords of Annihilation" and "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" that he practiced were both Divine Soul Attack Methods. However, Ye Chen''s methods utilized Divine Soul Power to attack opponents, which could also harm their physical bodies and True Qi.


    But Ye Chen noticed that the Divine Soul attacks of the "Purple Crystal Divine Path" were purer in nature, seemingly aimed at utterly extinguishing his Divine Soul, with all the attack power focused solely on annihilating his soul.


    Fortunately, Ye Chen had already cultivated his Divine Soul to the strength of the "Blue Divine Soul" level, and his inherent Divine Soul Power was immensely strong. He barely managed to withstand the terrifying assault of the Divine Soul storm.


    Even so, standing on only the first step, he wavered slightly.


    This made Ye Chen''s expression change drastically.


    If even the first step could make him tremble, and with over thirty-thousand steps remaining, each progressively more perilous, could he possibly pass through?


    Ye Chen lifted his foot and moved toward the second step.


    As soon as he stepped forward, the storm attacking his Divine Soul became even more terrifying. Ye Chen''s soul perceived a destructive black storm surging toward him as if it could obliterate everything in its path.


    This time, standing on the second step, Ye Chen didn''t just tremble¡ªhe was directly overpowered by the storm and sent hurtling back down to the first step, barely regaining his balance.


    At this moment, Divine Master Jiuyuan''s laughter rang out beside him: "Ye Chen, don''t force your way upward."


    "This ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' serves as both a test from the Heavenly God Mountain and a fortune bestowed upon you. The test won''t kill you. At most, you''ll fail and remain trapped here."


    "The fortune lies in learning the two Secret Skills hidden within the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.'' Once you master them, you can pass through the mountain with ease. These two Secret Skills are also highly beneficial for your Divine Soul cultivation."


    Two Secret Skills?


    Ye Chen turned to Divine Master Jiuyuan and asked, "There are specific Divine Skills to learn within this ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain''?"


    Ye Chen had originally thought he would need to rely solely on his current strength to cross the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain." He didn''t expect that the true test involved mastering two Secret Skills.


    Divine Master Jiuyuan explained, "The Heavenly God Mountain doesn''t set obstacles without reason. The fact that you''ve already passed through the Three Great Killing Formations is impressive, so the Heavenly God Mountain will give you a chance."


    "After all, the stronger you become, the greater the likelihood of entering the Cosmic Sea one day. This universe is under the jurisdiction of the ''Ancestral God Temple.'' When you enter the Cosmic Sea, you''ll also fall under their territory. Naturally, they hope that more powerful individuals emerge from this universe."


    "Thus, the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' offers an opportunity for Heaven''s Chosen ones. If you can master those two Secret Skills and pass through the mountain, you will gain this fortune. Once you leave, it will significantly accelerate your growth. If you fail to learn the skills or cross the mountain, Heavenly God Mountain will not consider you an exceptional Heaven''s Chosen worthy of leniency. You''ll remain here and continue cultivating through the refining of Purple Silver Beads."


    Divine Master Jiuyuan''s explanation made Ye Chen nod in understanding.


    From the perspective of the "Ancestral God Temple," this approach was indeed logical.


    "Divine Master, where can I find these two Secret Skills?" Ye Chen asked.


    Divine Master Jiuyuan pointed toward another direction. "Follow me; I''ll take you there."


    When Ye Chen and Divine Master Jiuyuan flew to a location not far from the "Purple Crystal Divine Path," they saw numerous inscriptions carved into a section of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    These inscriptions were divided into two parts: one detailed the "Amethyst Soul Protection Skills," a Divine Soul Defense Cultivation Technique, and the other described the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills," a Divine Soul Attack Cultivation Technique.


    Ye Chen began committing all the spells to memory.


    "The only individuals capable of mastering these two techniques in a short time are Heaven''s Chosen with extremely strong Divine Souls."


    "Ye Chen, now that you''ve seen the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain,'' focus on completing the ''Purple Silver Pearl Refining'' task first. Afterward, you can dedicate yourself to mastering these techniques before attempting the mountain again."


    Once Ye Chen memorized the techniques, Divine Master Jiuyuan led him back to the Fifth Commander''s area.


    Ye Chen then began his first task: refining Purple Silver Beads.


    Since Ye Chen opted for the quickest method of refining basic Purple Silver Beads, it only took him three days to successfully refine a batch of raw mineral water into initial Purple Silver Beads, completing the task with ease.


    However, Ye Chen did not immediately return to the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" to train. Instead, he stayed in the Fifth Commander''s area to cultivate.


    This area had an abundance of Purple Silver Beads available for cultivation, so Ye Chen naturally made the most of it.


    His enhanced Divine Soul strength even left Divine Master Jiuyuan impressed, granting him unrestricted access to the resources.


    For the next several days, Ye Chen absorbed the immense Divine Soul Power within the Purple Silver Beads to further enhance his soul, while simultaneously studying the two Secret Skills of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    At the same time, Ye Chen took the opportunity to delve deeper into his top-tier Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art, the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills."


    Previously, Ye Chen could control only about 300 flying swords.


    Now, with his Divine Soul having reached the Blue Divine Soul level and after absorbing countless Purple Silver Beads, his soul was far stronger than when he first entered Heavenly God Mountain.


    Ye Chen was able to gain full mastery over the 1,001 flying swords stored within the "Gourd Sword." In just one day, he brought the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills" to Great Accomplishment.


    Previously, Ye Chen''s combat power had already reached the level of a Mid-Tier Immortal Divine Venerable. Now, he sensed that he had become a standout figure among even the Mid-Tier Immortal Divine Venerables, and he might even stand a chance in battle against Upper Immortal Divine Venerables!


    With the treasures in his possession, Ye Chen no longer feared opponents in the Divine Venerable Realm, regardless of whether they were Earthly Divine Venerables, Heavenly Divine Venerables, or even Immortal Divine Venerables!


    A Divine King who could stand against Divine Venerables without fear.


    This was Ye Chen''s current state!


    After mastering the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills," Ye Chen fully shifted his focus to the two Secret Skills of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    These Secret Skills, granted as a fortune by the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, also formed the key to its challenge. Ye Chen naturally wouldn''t slack off.


    In a chamber made entirely of Purple Silver Beads, arranged by Divine Master Jiuyuan, Ye Chen began his intensive cultivation.


    This training lasted for another sixteen days.


    By this point, Ye Chen had been in the Fifth Commander''s area for a total of twenty days.


    With forty-five days remaining until the end of the allotted three months for exploring the second world of Heavenly God Mountain, the "Sea of Mist," Ye Chen had less than forty-five days left to conquer the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain!


    While Divine Master Jiuyuan and the Sovereigns of the Fifth Commander''s area were pondering whether Ye Chen would master the two Secret Skills and pass through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain¡ª


    On his twenty-first day in the Fifth Commander''s area, Ye Chen emerged from his cultivation chamber and flew out.


    After notifying Divine Master Jiuyuan, Ye Chen followed him toward the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain once more.


    "Ye Chen, do you truly have the confidence to challenge the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain now?" Divine Master Jiuyuan looked at Ye Chen with a mixture of doubt and amazement.


    To Divine Master Jiuyuan, it seemed almost impossible to master the two Secret Skills in such a short period.


    Ye Chen smiled faintly. "Divine Master, I haven''t fully mastered them yet. However, I plan to continue refining my understanding of the techniques directly at the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain. I believe I can give it a try."


    Ye Chen had reached a critical stage in cultivating the techniques. He needed to challenge the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain to further understand how to apply the skills and continue his progress.


    Hearing this, Divine Master Jiuyuan nodded with anticipation.


    As long as Ye Chen dared to challenge the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, it was promising!


    As Divine Master Jiuyuan and Ye Chen passed through the largest passageway in the grand hall en route to the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, a Sovereign from the Second Commander''s area gleamed with a sharp light in his eyes.


    "The Second Commander requested I keep an eye on when Ye Chen attempts the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain. It seems he''s ready now. I''d better inform the Second Commander immediately!"


    Moments later, the Sovereign reported the news of Ye Chen heading toward the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain to the Second Commander Qing Shan Divine Master.


    After the Sovereign departed, Qing Shan Divine Master immediately summoned Sima Liao to his side.


    "Sima Liao, are you truly planning to deal with Ye Chen?" Qing Shan Divine Master asked, staring at Sima Liao.

 Chapter 925 - 875: Astounding Wealth (First Update)

    Sima Liao gritted his teeth in hatred and nodded, saying, "Divine Master Lord, that Ye Chen almost killed me. If I don''t kill him, I cannot erase the heart demon and can''t support you with peace of mind!"


    "Even if I can''t kill him, defeating him will also remove my heart demon!"


    Having latched onto the Qing Shan Divine Master''s advantage, Sima Liao certainly wouldn''t let Ye Chen off easily.


    He knew that his strength was far inferior to Ye Chen''s. Even if he managed to cultivate under the Qing Shan Divine Master, he might not surpass Ye Chen in the future. It would be better to use Qing Shan Divine Master''s hand to completely eliminate Ye Chen, eradicating future troubles!


    Qing Shan Divine Master cast a deep gaze at Sima Liao. Being in the Divine Master Realm, he could naturally see through Sima Liao''s little schemes.


    However, over the past twenty days, Sima Liao had assisted him in cultivating several times, yielding significant results, and he didn''t want to chill Sima Liao''s heart.


    Qing Shan Divine Master nodded, saying, "A newcomer, even if he''s somewhat talented as you say, if he dies, he dies. I wouldn''t care too much."


    "However, in the Purple Ore Mystery Realm''s five commander zones, killing is prohibited. If you wish to kill him here, it''s impossible. I wouldn''t act against him either. If other Divine Masters noticed, or if those residing in the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain found out, the consequences would be more severe!"


    "However, the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain'' area doesn''t prohibit killing, so you can make your move there."


    "I will grant you a few treasures based on how you described Ye Chen''s way of attacking. Whether you can kill him depends on your own fortune. Regardless of whether you succeed or not, you must settle down and assist me in my cultivation afterward, without making further demands!"


    As he said this, Qing Shan Divine Master''s face turned solemn.


    He could give Sima Liao some benefits that did not affect his fundamental interests, but he would not allow Sima Liao to get carried away and affect his cultivation!


    Upon hearing Qing Shan Divine Master''s words, Sima Liao hurriedly bowed down, "Divine Master Lord, this junior wouldn''t dare. I have tried before but couldn''t pass through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain; I only have this small wish. Once this matter is resolved, I will stay here wholeheartedly to assist you!"


    Qing Shan Divine Master nodded. With a wave of his hand, three treasures appeared in his palm.


    He gave detailed instructions to Sima Liao.


    ...


    Purple Crystal Divine Mountain!


    Purple Crystal Divine Path!


    Returning to the foot of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, his eyes gleamed as he looked at thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three stairs.


    Last time, he didn''t know how to break through the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain,'' but now, having trained under two sets of secret skills, he had great confidence in crossing it.


    Even though he hadn''t fully mastered the two secret skills yet, he was confident that in the remaining forty-five days, he could definitely master them and cross this mountain!


    "Ye Chen, are you planning to cultivate at the mountain''s base or train while breaking through the ''Purple Crystal Divine Path''?" Jiuyuan Divine Master asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen glanced at the Purple Crystal Divine Path, "I''ll train while breaking through the ''Purple Crystal Divine Path''!"


    Jiuyuan Divine Master nodded, "That works too, breaking through the ''Purple Crystal Divine Path'' can exert immense pressure on your divine soul, making the dual approach more effective."


    At these words, Jiuyuan Divine Master directly stretched out his palm, and a palm-sized bag appeared within it.


    "Ye Chen, you might break through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain directly this time."


    "For the sake of our acquaintance, regardless, you remain under my jurisdiction. I have two things here as parting gifts for you."


    Jiuyuan Divine Master tossed the small bag to Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen was stunned.


    Although he demonstrated some strength and changed Jiuyuan Divine Master''s attitude towards him.


    He never expected that a big figure who had reached the Divine Master Realm would proactively give him gifts.


    "Divine Master Lord..."


    Ye Chen didn''t know what to say, but Jiuyuan Divine Master just laughed, "Ye Chen, although you''re merely a Middle God King Realm, your potential makes me take notice."


    "Given time, it''s not impossible for you to surpass me one day."


    "These small gifts are investments for you. If you surpass me, help me if you can."


    Jiuyuan Divine Master was half-joking, half-serious as he spoke.


    If people saw how courteous Jiuyuan Divine Master was to Ye Chen, many would be shocked!


    A Divine Master placing such importance on a small God King could be considered a great honor for Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen was also surprised by Jiuyuan Divine Master''s actions, his mind and spirit flickered for a moment, and he accepted the gifts, saying to Jiuyuan Divine Master, "Your Excellency is too polite. If there comes such a day, this junior will certainly do my best."


    Seeing Ye Chen accept his gifts, Jiuyuan Divine Master was delighted, nodding with a wide smile.


    Though these gifts weren''t much, making connections with a promising youngster was certainly worthwhile.


    Ye Chen glanced at the small bag from Jiuyuan Divine Master, immediately surprised.


    Not to mention that the small bag itself was an unimaginable spatial treasure; the two items inside surprised him even more.


    The first item, Ye Chen was very familiar with, was the "Purple Silver Pearl"!


    Inside the small bag was an immense pile of Purple Silver Pearls, like a mountain, which Ye Chen roughly estimated to be at least billions!


    Heavens.


    Ye Chen initially collected millions of Purple Silver Pearls from that giant pit in the mausoleum graveyard, feeling he had gained a tremendous fortune, but now, bestowed with tens of billions of Purple Silver Pearls, this was no longer a mere fortune but wealth enough for him to use freely across this universe!


    Even the nine-star Sovereigns of this universe probably didn''t have such a vast reserve of Purple Silver Pearls in their possession!


    The other treasure also surprised Ye Chen: a purple-silver set of battle armor made from "Purple Silver Pearls."


    Even though Ye Chen hadn''t tried it on, he could tell that this battle armor was extraordinary, likely equivalent to a Polar Sky Level armor!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s shocked expression, Jiuyuan Divine Master chuckled, "These Purple Silver Pearls can be used for expenses once you leave, and more importantly, provide a constant source of divine soul power for cultivation."


    "As for this ''Purple Silver Battle Armor,'' once you master the two secret skills from the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, using it paired with the armor will be greatly beneficial."


    After hearing Jiuyuan Divine Master''s words, Ye Chen solemnly bowed, "These two grand gifts, senior, indeed greatly benefit this junior!"


    Especially the Purple Silver Pearls, Ye Chen, who gained the "Purple Soul Cultivation Technique," although not yet fully mastered, knew that to cultivate his divine soul to the "Purple Divine Soul" level, he would need a vast amount of divine soul power.


    Receiving such a large amount of "Purple Silver Pearls" solved Ye Chen''s worries at once!


    Only in the source of these "Purple Silver Pearls," under the Divine Master Command, can there be such generous actions!


    Ye Chen carefully put away the gifts, exchanged a few more words with Jiuyuan Divine Master, and prepared to head towards the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" to embark on his journey through it.


    At that moment.


    Boom! Boom!


    Two loud noises erupted, and Ye Chen noticed the Second Commander Qing Shan Divine Master, who he had seen upon entering the Purple Ore Mystery Realm, suddenly appear, flying towards his location.


    Beside Qing Shan Divine Master was someone Ye Chen knew very well ¡ª Sima Liao!


    Seeing these two approach, especially Sima Liao''s smug look directed at him, Ye Chen had a bad feeling.


    He had a hunch that these two were coming specifically for him!


    Ye Chen didn''t care much for Sima Liao, but the Second Commander Qing Shan Divine Master demanded enormous attention!


    At this moment, Jiuyuan Divine Master also noticed Qing Shan Divine Master and Sima Liao and smiled at him, "Qing Shan brother, are you bringing your subordinate to break through the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain''?"


    "Isn''t this person especially suited to assist your cultivation techniques? It would be a shame if he passes through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain and leaves."


    Initially, Jiuyuan Divine Master envied Qing Shan Divine Master for acquiring a satisfactory candidate, but now, knowing Ye Chen''s uniqueness, he no longer envied Qing Shan Divine Master, instead priding himself on his good fortune.


    To Jiuyuan Divine Master''s surprise, Qing Shan Divine Master shook his head, "My new subordinate isn''t here for the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain,'' but for an enemy."


    Enemy?


    Jiuyuan Divine Master was taken aback, and then his face changed color as he noticed Sima Liao''s gaze towards Ye Chen.


    He quickly flew in front of Ye Chen, gazing at Qing Shan Divine Master, "Qing Shan brother, this joke isn''t funny. Besides, the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' prohibits these little ones from mutual slaughter!"


    Qing Shan Divine Master did not think Jiuyuan Divine Master would protect Ye Chen to this extent.


    When Jiuyuan Divine Master first chose Ye Chen, he appeared dissatisfied; how had his view changed so much in twenty days?


    However, Qing Shan Divine Master wouldn''t really care what Jiuyuan Divine Master thought; he just assumed it was a protective instinct.


    He looked at Jiuyuan Divine Master with a faint smile, "Jiuyuan brother, the five commander zones in the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' indeed prohibit fighting, but the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, as a place meant to be fought through, never had such a prohibition."


    "But we can''t just sit by and watch these juniors fight and kill each other!" Jiuyuan Divine Master protested.


    Seeing Jiuyuan continually obstructing, Qing Shan Divine Master''s face turned stern, "Jiuyuan brother, my subordinate has a grudge against yours. If unresolved, it affects my cultivation support. Are you deliberately trying to affect my cultivation?"


    "Besides, if the juniors make a move, I won''t interfere, so why trouble my subordinate? Let them fight based on their abilities!"


    Qing Shan Divine Master''s words made Jiuyuan truly change his expression.


    Although both were in the Divine Master Realm, as the Fifth Commander, his strength was far inferior to the Second Commander, Qing Shan Divine Master.


    He was usually very respectful towards Qing Shan Divine Master and didn''t expect him to speak so sternly for the sake of a subordinate martial artist.


    While Jiuyuan Divine Master was unsure whether to intervene, Ye Chen spoke up behind him.


    Ye Chen first addressed Jiuyuan, "Senior, let Sima Liao make his move. He doesn''t have what it takes to deal with me!"


    Then Ye Chen glanced at Qing Shan Divine Master and turned to Sima Liao.


    Ye Chen coldly stated, "Sima Liao, do you think that by clinging to a big shot, you can kill me?"


    "Utterly courting death!"

 Chapter 926 - 876: The Battle of the Purple Crystal Mountain (2nd Update)

    Originally, Ye Chen had intended to eliminate Sima Liao.


    Later, when Sima Liao joined the Second Commander Zone under the Qing Shan Divine Master, it became inconvenient for Ye Chen to act, so he suppressed his killing intent for Sima Liao.


    Now, however, Sima Liao had turned around to try and kill him instead.


    So how could Ye Chen possibly be afraid?!


    Even though he knew Sima Liao must have gained numerous techniques from Qing Shan Divine Master to dare to attack him, Ye Chen still felt no fear at all!


    After all, Sima Liao wasn''t a Divine Master, but merely a small Earth Divine Venerable. Even if he borrowed treasures, he couldn''t fully unleash their true combat potential.


    On the other hand, Ye Chen''s methods far exceeded Sima Liao''s by countless measures!


    As long as Qing Shan Divine Master himself didn''t intervene, Ye Chen had nothing to fear!


    Even if Qing Shan Divine Master did step in, Ye Chen would ensure it wouldn''t go smoothly for him!


    This was because Ye Chen had clearly noticed that, when Qing Shan Divine Master looked at him coldly, his Qi Sea''s Stars Tower trembled faintly again.


    It seemed as though it was prepared to defend its master!


    This even sparked a thought in Ye Chen''s mind¡ªhe was almost tempted to let Qing Shan Divine Master make a move, just to see what sort of miraculous transformation the Stars Tower left behind by the Zi Ji Star Lord would undergo before the Cosmic Sea''s mighty figures!


    Ye Chen''s chilling words exploded in the scene like a clap of thunder.


    Jiuyuan Divine Master hadn''t expected that, even when facing Qing Shan Divine Master, Ye Chen would remain seemingly fearless and still dare to act so tough.


    Even Qing Shan Divine Master appeared somewhat startled.


    He hadn''t expected that Ye Chen would dare to be so brazen in front of him, even going so far as to declare his subordinate''s provocation as courting death.


    However, at this moment, Qing Shan Divine Master''s gaze toward Ye Chen was already that of someone staring at a dead man.


    Bound by the rules, of course, he wouldn''t directly strike at a junior. But he had given Sima Liao three treasures¡ªdisposing of this junior before him would be effortless!


    As for Sima Liao, he was utterly infuriated, his face twisted in rage.


    "Courting death? You say I''m courting death?"


    Sima Liao was so angry that he laughed.


    Previously, he''d always been overshadowed by Ye Chen, and the mere sight of Ye Chen had even made him feel fear. But now, after finally securing the backing of Qing Shan Divine Master, he was still being belittled by Ye Chen¡ªhow could he accept this?


    "Ye Chen, let''s see who''s courting death¡ªyou or me!"


    Boom!


    Sima Liao moved, and waves of divine power surged from his body, rushing at Ye Chen like a raging beast.


    Seeing Sima Liao''s sudden action, Jiuyuan Divine Master instinctively wanted to intervene.


    At that moment, Qing Shan Divine Master moved, blocking his path and placing a hand on his shoulder. "Jiuyuan, my good brother, let''s just enjoy the show here."


    "You have confidence in your follower, don''t you? Then why worry?"


    With Qing Shan Divine Master''s hand on his shoulder, Jiuyuan Divine Master finally stopped moving.


    Although he held Ye Chen in the highest regard, it was clear Qing Shan Divine Master would not allow him to interfere, leaving him no choice.


    "We can only count on Ye Chen now."


    "I''m here, so Qing Shan won''t step in, but he''s definitely armed his subordinate with treasures. I wonder if Ye Chen can withstand them."


    Jiuyuan Divine Master anxiously turned his gaze toward Ye Chen.


    By then, Sima Liao had already closed in on Ye Chen.


    In Sima Liao''s hands appeared a sharp, deadly conical spine-like Divine Weapon.


    "That''s the Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact, the ''Primordial Crystal Divine Spine.'' Qing Shan, you actually bestowed a Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact upon Sima Liao!" Jiuyuan Divine Master was visibly angered, even foregoing courteous terms to address Qing Shan Divine Master. He was truly furious to see such a Polar Heaven Treasure given to Sima Liao.


    Though the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine was a discarded treasure of Qing Shan Divine Master,


    Jiuyuan Divine Master understood that superior treasures would be beyond Sima Liao''s ability to wield. However, the part-functionality of the Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact would still pose an immense threat to a God King Realm cultivator like Ye Chen!


    Jiuyuan Divine Master only knew Ye Chen possessed extraordinary Divine Soul Power, but he was unaware of Ye Chen''s other capabilities, making him deeply concerned for Ye Chen!


    While Jiuyuan Divine Master seethed, Qing Shan Divine Master smiled faintly. "Is it not proper for me to reward my subordinates with treasures? That junior you call Ye Chen is also your subordinate¡ªyou could give him treasures too."


    Jiuyuan Divine Master was momentarily speechless.


    If he had known Qing Shan Divine Master''s subordinates would target Ye Chen, he would have surely armed Ye Chen with defensive treasures.


    But now, with the battle begun, how could he still have time to give Ye Chen anything?


    As the two Divine Masters sparred verbally, the match between Sima Liao and Ye Chen reached the moment of truth.


    As the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine neared Ye Chen, Sima Liao smirked smugly. Yet at that moment, he suddenly saw Ye Chen retreating swiftly, raising his hand to summon a copper gong and wooden mallet before him.


    Then, Ye Chen directed his Taiyi Divine Power into the mallet, which immediately struck the copper gong!


    Whoosh.


    In an instant, a binding force surged toward Sima Liao and his Primordial Crystal Divine Spine.


    But Sima Liao sneered coldly. "Ye Chen, back in the Yellow Light Danger Zone, this was the same trick you tried to kill me with. Did you really think you could restrain me again?"


    Sima Liao activated a second treasure, a small white bracelet that emitted a flash of Divine Light, enveloping him in white radiance.


    When the white light surged, the binding force from the gong and mallet immediately lost its effect on Sima Liao.


    Undeterred, Sima Liao pressed his assault on Ye Chen, the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine also free of restraint.


    As a Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact,


    Ye Chen''s copper gong and mallet were capable of binding objects or beings beneath the Sovereign Realm, but they could not affect the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine of the Polar Heavenly Level.


    Sima Liao and the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine continued their attack on Ye Chen.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen remained calm and composed.


    He had anticipated that Sima Liao would bring trump cards to the fight and was fully prepared.


    As the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine approached, Ye Chen quickly discerned its status as a Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact.


    With a swift motion, he summoned a gourd-shaped treasure with a "whoosh."


    Then, as Ye Chen formed a complex spell with his hands,


    whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!...


    In a blink, 1,001 flying swords burst forth from the gourd, raining down like torrents of a swordstorm, meeting the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine head-on.


    This was none other than Ye Chen''s premium Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, "Gourd Sword," paired with the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills!


    Having elevated his Divine Soul to the level of "Blue Light Soul," Ye Chen had perfected these techniques. This was the first time he used them together in battle.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    A clash erupted between the fully mastered techniques of a premium Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact and part-functional attacks of the Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact.


    The Divine Instruments collided, and mighty explosions reverberated through the battlefield.


    The immense force sent Ye Chen and Sima Liao flying backward, each retreating hundreds of feet!


    Yet neither seemed harmed.


    Through this exchange, Ye Chen''s premium Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact "Gourd Sword" held its ground against the Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact''s onslaught!


    Sima Liao''s astonishment was palpable.


    He couldn''t fathom how Ye Chen had managed to block a Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact!


    Even Qing Shan Divine Master and Jiuyuan Divine Master were visibly shocked.


    The two Divine Masters hadn''t predicted that Ye Chen could withstand the power of a Polar Heavenly Divine Artifact with a Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact, despite Sima Liao''s inability to fully wield the former''s power.


    "It''s that Divine Power!"


    "Not only is Ye Chen''s Mysterious Heavenly Artifact and technique astoundingly powerful, but his Divine Power also seems rather... unique."


    Qing Shan Divine Master observed Ye Chen''s Taiyi Divine Power but couldn''t pinpoint its origins. He merely sensed its extraordinary nature.


    At that moment, Ye Chen fixed his gaze on the retreating Sima Liao, his expression hardening. "So even with techniques borrowed from your master, this is all you''ve got?"


    Boom!


    Ye Chen stretched out his hand, and immediately, the 1,001 flying swords of the Gourd Sword returned to hover around him, radiating power. With a mere point of his finger, the swords shot out once more, aiming straight for Sima Liao.


    Clearly, Ye Chen intended to rely on his overwhelming Taiyi Divine Power to deplete Sima Liao completely.


    Seeing Ye Chen launch another attack, Sima Liao activated the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine once more to counter, and the two clashed again.


    Their battle raged on without respite.


    As the fight continued, Sima Liao grew more and more uneasy.


    He had assumed that after neutralizing Ye Chen''s gong and mallet, Ye Chen would pose no further threat. Yet, even in this evenly matched duel, his own Divine Power was gradually depleting, whereas Ye Chen''s strength showed no signs of diminishing.


    Even with his Lower Earth Divine Venerable realm, he felt his Divine Power inferior to Ye Chen''s!


    Eventually, Sima Liao''s expression shifted drastically. Realizing that maintaining his attacks with the Primordial Crystal Divine Spine could leave him powerless to kill Ye Chen,


    he muttered to himself, "I have no choice but to use my strongest move!"


    "Luckily, I''ve been cautious, and Qing Shan Master prepared one last trump card for me!"


    With a flash of determination, Sima Liao channeled his divine energy, unleashing a burst of purple flame toward Ye Chen.


    Upon seeing the flame, Jiuyuan Divine Master gasped in shock. "''Purple Luo Divine Flame,'' Qing Shan, you actually gave that to Sima Liao?!"


    The Purple Luo Divine Flame, a rare and deadly fire born from Purple Mines in the Purple Ore Mystery Realm, could severely harm Divine Souls, surpassing even ordinary Polar Heavenly Divine Artifacts in its terrifying power.


    Jiuyuan Divine Master couldn''t fathom that Sima Liao possessed such a thing!


    Amid Jiuyuan Divine Master''s cries of alarm, the Purple Luo Divine Flame hurtled toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen immediately sensed the peculiar threat from the flame, his expression hardening.


    In a split second, Ye Chen summoned forth his "Blue Extreme Iceflame," which surged out to meet the flame. At the same time, his hands flashed, producing two more artifacts.


    One was a radiant, blade-like purple light.


    The other¡ªa pair of purple wings!

 Chapter 927 - 877: Slaying (First Update)

    After the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" was unleashed, it transformed into a crystalline blue firebird and darted directly toward Sima Liao.


    The dazzling purple blade light, resembling knife-like wings, and the pair of purple wings split into two actions¡ªone slashing toward the "Purple Luo Divine Flame" attacking Ye Chen and the other spreading wide to layer upon layer protect Ye Chen.


    From the moment Sima Liao commanded the "Purple Luo Divine Flame" to attack Ye Chen to Ye Chen countering, it happened in the blink of an eye.


    In the next moment, the attacks from both sides collided right before them.


    What surprised the two Divine Masters nearby was how the "Purple Luo Divine Flame," renowned for its devastatingly lethal effects on Divine Souls and aimed at Ye Chen, was directly cleaved into two by the radiant purple blade light Ye Chen summoned.


    Although it was split into two, the "Purple Luo Divine Flame" still rushed toward Ye Chen, yet just as it reached him to burn, it was completely extinguished, dismantled layer by layer by the enveloping purple wings that guarded Ye Chen.


    The strongest treasure gifted to Sima Liao by the Sky-supporting Divine Master¡ª"Purple Luo Divine Flame"¡ªfailed even to harm Ye Chen!


    "This is... the two Great Accomplishment-grade secret skills of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, ''Amethyst Soul Protection Skills'' and ''Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills''!"


    "Impossible! It''s only been twenty days! How could you possibly cultivate both secret skills to the Great Accomplishment-grade?!"


    The Qing Shan Divine Master stared at the dazzling purple knife-like wings and the purple protective wings surrounding Ye Chen, his voice filled with shocked disbelief!


    No matter how hard he racked his thoughts, he couldn''t fathom how Ye Chen managed to cultivate those two secret skills to such an advanced stage in such a short time!


    These two secret skills, exclusive to the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, are training methods focused on refining the Divine Soul. Once cultivated to Great Perfection, they allow one to directly pass through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain and provide exceptional assistance in both attack and defense regarding the Divine Soul.


    Even though Ye Chen hadn''t cultivated them to the Great Perfection stage, the Great Accomplishment-grade was already sufficient to withstand the soul-slashing attack "Purple Luo Divine Flame" from Sima Liao!


    If the Qing Shan Divine Master had known earlier about the power Ye Chen possessed in Divine Soul cultivation, he would never have handed Sima Liao the soul-attack-oriented treasure "Purple Luo Divine Flame."


    It turned out to be a treasure specifically restrained by Ye Chen''s abilities!


    The Qing Shan Divine Master was astounded.


    The Jiuyuan Divine Master, however, leapt with joy.


    When traveling to the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain alongside Ye Chen, the Jiuyuan Divine Master had speculated on how proficient Ye Chen was in cultivating these two secret skills.


    But Ye Chen had always remained tight-lipped, merely saying he hadn''t yet fully mastered them.


    At the time, the Jiuyuan Divine Master assumed that when Ye Chen said he hadn''t fully mastered them, he meant he had only reached the entry or Minor Accomplishment stage.


    Never in his wildest dreams did he guess that Ye Chen managed to cultivate both secret skills to Great Accomplishment-level in such a brief period of time!


    Great Accomplishment-grade!


    And these were no ordinary cultivation techniques. They were the special Divine Soul secret skills of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    To reach Great Accomplishment-level in just twenty days¡ªthis speed of cultivation was unquestionably the fastest compared to all other challengers throughout the limitless Purple Ore Mystery Realm!


    Given this pace, Ye Chen would undoubtedly be capable of further cultivating both secret skills to Great Perfection-grade within the remaining forty-five days, enabling him to pass through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain without question.


    How could this not bring overwhelming excitement to the Jiuyuan Divine Master?


    Amidst the shock from one Divine Master and the delight from another, a cry of agony suddenly echoed from the direction where Sima Liao was.


    The two Divine Masters were immediately taken aback, quickly deducing that although Ye Chen had successfully thwarted Sima Liao''s assault, Ye Chen had simultaneously unleashed a flame attack against Sima Liao. Absorbed in watching Ye Chen, neither had yet paid attention to Sima Liao''s predicament.


    At this moment, as the cry pierced the air, they wondered aloud, "Could Sima Liao have failed to defend against Ye Chen''s flame strike?"


    When the two Divine Masters turned their attention toward Sima Liao, they saw the firebird formed from the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" unleashed by Ye Chen had already flown directly in front of Sima Liao.


    The "Blue Extreme Iceflame," a Polar Sky-class flame, had grown even more potent after Ye Chen had advanced to the Middle God King Realm.


    Such an intense attack, coupled with a flame of Polar Sky-level power, was beyond Sima Liao''s capacity to resist.


    From the moment the firebird lunged toward him, Sima Liao felt his entire being enveloped in a palpable aura of mortal peril.


    In an urgent panic, he activated the white bracelet previously used defensively against Ye Chen''s spatial confinement ability. The bracelet emitted white light that surrounded him.


    However, this white bracelet was specifically intended to counter spatial confinement; it had no ability to resist the burning power of a Polar Sky-level flame.


    Even as the white light was triggered, it was pierced layer by layer by the firebird formed from "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    As the firebird bore down on him, Sima Liao could no longer hold his composure and let out a heart-wrenching scream.


    Witnessing Sima Liao''s misery, the Qing Shan Divine Master was gripped with chills coursing down his spine.


    The Qing Shan Divine Master never expected that, despite lending Sima Liao three treasured artifacts, Sima Liao still couldn''t stand against Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen appeared not merely like a Middle God King but rather like an overwhelmingly powerful Immortal Divine Venerable¡ªor even stronger¡ªarmed with techniques surpassing those of an Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Against Ye Chen, Sima Liao seemed utterly vulnerable!


    Initially, the Qing Shan Divine Master hadn''t been concerned about Sima Liao''s fate, convinced that Sima Liao could easily annihilate Ye Chen. Now, however, Ye Chen remained unscathed, while Sima Liao faced imminent death under Ye Chen''s Polar Sky-level flame. How could this not leave the Qing Shan Divine Master appalled?


    To think, Sima Liao was painstakingly selected as his auxiliary bloodline martial artist for cultivation purposes. If Ye Chen killed him here, all of his years of meticulous effort would go to waste!


    Realizing the dire stakes, the Qing Shan Divine Master barked toward Ye Chen, "Ye Chen! Halt your attack against Sima Liao!"


    Simultaneously, the Qing Shan Divine Master flew forward to interfere in the battle between Ye Chen and Sima Liao.


    However, noticing the Qing Shan Divine Master''s actions, the Jiuyuan Divine Master promptly intervened.


    Boom!


    The Jiuyuan Divine Master surged ahead, blocking the Qing Shan Divine Master. "Brother Qing Shan, if you dare meddle in the skirmish between these youngsters, although I might not be able to defeat you, I will report this matter to the Divine Masters of the Ancestral God Temple on the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "Those esteemed Divine Masters won''t let this go lightly, and they might even punish you under the charge of interference, with execution not out of the question."


    "Are you truly prepared to intervene?"


    The Jiuyuan Divine Master''s words caused the Qing Shan Divine Master''s advancing motion to halt abruptly.


    Though he ranked among the five Great Commanders as the Second Commander, he wasn''t fearless.


    The words of the Jiuyuan Divine Master struck a chord of caution within him.


    Nonetheless, while reluctant to intervene directly, the Qing Shan Divine Master glared coldly at Ye Chen and said, "Ye Chen, withdraw your attack! Although I''m restrained now, don''t blame me for taking action against you in the future!"


    The Qing Shan Divine Master resorted to threatening Ye Chen with his unrivaled authority in the Divine Master Realm.


    Hearing this, the Jiuyuan Divine Master''s thoughts churned anxiously. "Qing Shan is cunning. Such threats might indeed intimidate Ye Chen into swallowing his pride and resentments."


    "After all, offending a Divine Master is extremely unwise."


    Yet, amidst the Qing Shan Divine Master''s chilling words and the Jiuyuan Divine Master''s apprehensive reflections, another voice rang out¡ªYe Chen''s.


    "Withdraw my attack?"


    "When Sima Liao came after me, why didn''t you, Qing Shan Divine Master, call for him to stop? Do you truly think Ye Chen can be so easily bullied?!"


    "Today, Sima Liao must die!"


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen spoke, the two Divine Masters witnessed the firebird formed from "Blue Extreme Iceflame" not being suppressed¡ªinstead, its flames intensified. Within mere moments, it pierced the last layers of the white light protecting Sima Liao.


    The crystalline blue firebird emitted a sharp cry and, without hesitation, lunged at Sima Liao.


    With an explosive, fiery detonation, Sima Liao''s entire body was consumed by flames.


    Finally, in full view of the two Divine Masters, Sima Liao was reduced to nothingness under the firebird''s unrelenting incineration.


    After completing its fatal task, the firebird let out a triumphant cry as it turned and flew back toward Ye Chen, eventually reabsorbed into his body.


    Dead!


    Sima Liao had truly been killed by Ye Chen!


    The Qing Shan Divine Master stared at the scene in disbelief. Never could he have anticipated that, even after his intervention, Ye Chen would boldly slay Sima Liao right before his eyes.


    Ye Chen¡ªa fearless audacity!


    Boom!


    All at once, blazing fury erupted from the Qing Shan Divine Master as his overwhelming Divine Master aura exploded forth.


    The terrifying aura forced the nearby Jiuyuan Divine Master to be blasted back tens of thousands of feet.


    The horrifying aura also bore straight toward Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, you''re audacious beyond belief!" The Qing Shan Divine Master glared at Ye Chen, his eyes emanating killing intent.


    "No!" In that moment, the Jiuyuan Divine Master moved again, determined to intervene.


    However, facing the Qing Shan Divine Master''s wrath, Ye Chen remained unfazed. Instead, taking one bold step forward, he ascended into the void.


    At the same time, the boundless cosmic power of the Starry Origin surged from Ye Chen''s body, transforming into Yin Yang dual Divine Swords, which he held firmly.


    None present knew that within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, the Stars Tower trembled and quaked incessantly.


    Confronting the Divine Master Realm powerholder''s daunting threat, Ye Chen countered defiantly, "Qing Shan Divine Master, if you wish to strike me, then do so!"


    "I promise you''ll live to regret it!"


    In the void, two formidable figures faced off.


    One was an exalted Divine Master Realm entity, transcendent beyond the Sovereign realm.


    The other was merely a tiny God King of far inferior standing.


    If this scenario transpired elsewhere, no one would even believe it.


    However, here it unfolded vividly at the foot of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain!


    Even against a Divine Master, Ye Chen displayed not even a shred of fear!


    Ye Chen''s unwavering confidence stunned the Jiuyuan Divine Master, who was momentarily rendered speechless. The Qing Shan Divine Master, too, momentarily arrested by wrath, suddenly regained clarity.


    For an instant, the Qing Shan Divine Master sensed that this God King might possess even greater hidden resources than he had imagined¡ªotherwise, how could he dare voice such arrogance?


    As his gaze fell upon the cosmic Starry Origin power emanating from Ye Chen''s body, the Qing Shan Divine Master''s complexion turned pale.


    As someone hailing from the Cosmic Sea, he instantly recognized the significance of this power source. Moreover, he himself cultivated using origin powers.


    However, a minor God King exhibiting cosmic origin power was a revelation that shocked him deeply, leading him to realize one undeniable fact: This seemingly insignificant God King must have backing from an unfathomably formidable figure.


    And that figure was certainly someone he dared not provoke!

 Chapter 928 - 878: A Cup of Wine (Second Update)

    Back then, the great figures stationed at the fourth layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Secret Ground immediately recognized Ye Chen''s origin power when they saw him shatter the "Death Fruit" micro-world using it.


    Although Qing Shan Divine Master was not on par with those great figures of the fourth layer, he too understood what it meant for a Divine King to wield origin power.


    If it were a Sovereign possessing origin power, it wouldn''t be surprising, as even he himself could instruct Sovereigns in origin power.


    But for a mere Divine King to possess origin power and even drive it forth¡ªthis was something that even his greatest prote?ge?s could never accomplish!


    The one capable of enabling such a feat would undoubtedly be an existence of realms far beyond his own.


    It could very well be one of the pinnacles of the Cosmic Sea¡ªfigures of the "Cosmic Emperor" Realm, or even the "Master of Numerous Stars" Realm!


    Whether "Great Emperor Realm" or "Star Lord Realm," they were absolutely not entities he could provoke.


    At that realization, Qing Shan Divine Master no longer dared to target Ye Chen; even his anger diminished entirely.


    He remained rooted in the Void, at a loss for how to proceed.


    At this moment, a beam of Divine Light streaked toward the location where Ye Chen, Qing Shan Divine Master, and Jiuyuan Divine Master stood.


    The Divine Light was so fast that it reached them in an instant.


    When the Divine Light descended, a voice resounded directly in Qing Shan Divine Master''s ears: "Qing Shan, stand down at once!"


    Boom!


    As the voice echoed, Ye Chen saw a figure of unparalleled beauty, dressed in purple robes, suddenly appear in the Void.


    Just the presence of this purple-robed figure struck Ye Chen as even more terrifying than that of Qing Shan Divine Master or Jiuyuan Divine Master!


    When Qing Shan Divine Master heard the voice, his entire body trembled, and he cried out, "Great Commander?"


    Jiuyuan Divine Master, standing to the side, also showed a look of sheer astonishment. Bowing toward the purple-robed woman, he said, "Great Commander, weren''t you in seclusion? Why have you come out?"


    Great Commander?


    Upon hearing the words of Qing Shan Divine Master and Jiuyuan Divine Master, Ye Chen''s gaze shifted toward the purple-robed woman.


    To his surprise, this woman turned out to be the Great Commander among the five Great Commanders whom he had never met before!


    The appearance of the Great Commander had aligned precisely with the moment of his confrontation with Qing Shan Divine Master.


    Noticing Ye Chen''s gaze upon her, the purple-robed woman actually smiled at him.


    However, when she turned back toward Qing Shan Divine Master and Jiuyuan Divine Master, her expression darkened: "If I hadn''t ended my seclusion, I reckon those esteemed figures of the ''Ancestral God Temple'' would have personally intervened by now!"


    "Those adults from the ''Ancestral God Temple'' contacted me and informed me that we have a Commander who''s on the verge of breaking the rules. They asked me to come to Purple Crystal Divine Mountain. Do you realize what this implies?"


    The purple-robed woman''s words caused Qing Shan Divine Master to tremble uncontrollably.


    Heavens.


    His targeting of Ye Chen had alarmed those several Divine Masters of the "Ancestral God Temple"?


    Though he, too, was in the Divine Master Realm like those figures, he dared not provoke any of them.


    The mere fact that they were part of the "Ancestral God Temple," not to mention their overwhelming power, placed them far beyond him.


    While Qing Shan Divine Master was at the third phase of the Divine Master Realm, the aforementioned figures were in the ninth phase, on the brink of advancing to the "Domain Master Realm" as Great Powerholders!


    Now, Qing Shan Divine Master no longer harbored the slightest thought of resentment toward Ye Chen.


    Seeing Qing Shan God King trembling from head to toe, the purple-robed Great Commander cast him a sidelong glance before turning her attention to Ye Chen.


    At this moment, the purple-robed woman meticulously examined Ye Chen.


    She had no choice but to pay attention to him.


    While in seclusion, she had abruptly received transmissions from those figures of the "Ancestral God Temple," revealing the events unfolding at the base of Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    Seeing Ye Chen being targeted by Qing Shan Divine Master, and hearing the instructions from those figures to resolve the matter, had greatly shocked her.


    The purple-robed woman could discern the tone of interest those figures held toward the young man before her.


    For individuals seated in the "Ancestral God Temple" to regard someone so closely¡ªwhat kind of person could he possibly be?


    As she observed the Starry Origin Power emanating from Ye Chen''s body, the purple-robed woman finally understood why those figures were paying attention to an event as seemingly minor as this.


    She, too, recognized what the origin power on Ye Chen represented.


    "This youth¡ªcould he be the protege? of some Great Emperor, or an even more extraordinary Star Lord?"


    Even as the Great Commander, the purple-robed woman couldn''t discern Ye Chen''s background.


    And she certainly wouldn''t dare to pry into his origins.


    After carefully inspecting Ye Chen for a few moments, she turned to him and said, "I am Fang Xuan Divine Master, the Great Commander among the five Great Commanders of the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm.'' Young man, what is your name?"


    "Respected Senior Fang Xuan, this junior''s name is Ye Chen," Ye Chen replied courteously.


    Seeing Qing Shan Divine Master''s evident fear, Ye Chen knew his entanglement with Sima Liao had come to an end; Qing Shan Divine Master would not dare trouble him again.


    Fang Xuan Divine Master nodded. "Ye Chen, worry not. Commanders are forbidden from taking action against challengers. I will ensure Qing Shan is dealt with appropriately."


    Ye Chen smiled lightly. "You are too kind, Senior!"


    Sima Liao had met his end by his own doing, and Ye Chen had no qualms about it.


    As for Qing Shan Divine Master¡ªif he chose to provoke Ye Chen, so be it. If not, Ye Chen would gladly accept peace.


    With the Great Commander now present, Ye Chen saw no reason to hold any grudges with Qing Shan Divine Master.


    His most pressing concern now was to conquer Purple Crystal Divine Mountain; everything else could wait.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s calm demeanor as he retracted his techniques, clearly uninterested in dragging out the matter, Fang Xuan Divine Master smiled at him. "Though Qing Shan hadn''t made a move, the mere suspicion of violations on our part as Commanders necessitates compensation."


    "Ye Chen, take this ''Crystal Spirit Fine Wine'' as an apology."


    As she spoke, Fang Xuan Divine Master''s delicate hand turned over, producing a white jade winecup. Then, with another turn of her hand, a white jade bottle appeared.


    Smiling faintly, Fang Xuan Divine Master tilted the bottle, allowing a single drop of "purple-gold liquid" to fall into the jade winecup.


    Though it seemed like just a tiny droplet, as it landed inside the cup, it rippled outward into a full vessel of radiant wine and Divine Light.


    Clearly, this was no ordinary substance.


    "Crystal Spirit Fine Wine?"


    Even with several feet between them, Ye Chen could sense the extraordinary nature of the purple-gold droplet in the winecup.


    Qing Shan Divine Master and Jiuyuan Divine Master were even more shocked. Upon hearing the words "Crystal Spirit Fine Wine," their eyes widened in disbelief.


    They had not expected Fang Xuan Divine Master to bring out such a treasure.


    "The Great Commander... She''s clearly trying to befriend Ye Chen! ''Crystal Spirit Fine Wine''¡ªit''s a miraculous substance that even the Great Commander herself seldom uses!"


    Jiuyuan Divine Master couldn''t help but swallow hard.


    Watching Ye Chen stare at the winecup, Fang Xuan Divine Master smiled gently. "What''s the matter, Ye Chen? Do you doubt me and dare not drink it?"


    Ye Chen did not hesitate for a moment, taking the winecup directly from her hands. "How could I possibly refuse a fine wine bestowed by Senior? My deepest thanks."


    Ye Chen could tell Fang Xuan Divine Master harbored no malice toward him; rather, she had perhaps granted him a profound fortune.


    Raising the winecup, Ye Chen drank the purple-gold liquid in one gulp.


    Initially, he speculated on the wonders of this "Crystal Spirit Fine Wine."


    But the moment he drank it, he understood the unparalleled marvel of this treasure!


    The instant the wine touched his throat, an incredible surge of origin power flooded his body.


    This origin power wasn''t of the Starry Origin''s destructive nature but instead embodied the Life Origin tied to Essence, Qi, and Spirit¡ªthe three vital signs of life!


    Merely drinking this single cup, Ye Chen felt all three aspects of his life force grow significantly, as though his very essence had evolved to a higher tier!


    Although the transformation didn''t directly advance his Realm, Ye Chen knew it was far more valuable than a mere leap in Realm!


    For now, Ye Chen didn''t fully grasp the significance of Life Origin, but he could sense that this cup of wine had bestowed a fortune of Cosmic Sea proportions.


    This fortune could very well play a crucial role in helping him transcend the Sovereign Realm in the future!


    "Many thanks for your divine wine, Senior!" Ye Chen expressed his gratitude once more, bowing deeply this time.


    Ye Chen understood that Fang Xuan Divine Master had presented the wine ostensibly as an apology, but what reason did a being of the Divine Master Realm have to apologize to him? This was, in truth, an intentional act of aid.


    Grateful for her help, Ye Chen committed this act to memory.


    Even though he knew Fang Xuan Divine Master''s favor stemmed from noticing the Starry Origin Power he wielded, his gratitude was no less genuine.


    After all, help¡ªeven with underlying motives¡ªwas still help.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s demeanor, Fang Xuan Divine Master smiled faintly.


    Much like how Jiuyuan Divine Master had gifted Ye Chen treasures earlier, Fang Xuan Divine Master sought to forge a bond with him. Establishing a connection with someone who might be a protege? of a Great Emperor or Star Lord was worth the cost of the "Crystal Spirit Fine Wine."


    "Ye Chen, you''ve come to Purple Crystal Divine Mountain to challenge it, I presume?"


    "Don''t mind us¡ªcarry on with your endeavor!"


    Fang Xuan Divine Master encouraged Ye Chen.


    Challenging Purple Crystal Divine Mountain!


    At this moment, with the invigorating Life Origin from the "Crystal Spirit Fine Wine" coursing through him, Ye Chen turned his gaze toward the imposing mountain.


    Indeed, it was time to begin his ascent of Purple Crystal Divine Mountain and return to the vast world of the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain, the "Sea of Mist"!


    Bowing to Jiuyuan Divine Master and Fang Xuan Divine Master, and sparing Qing Shan Divine Master a final glance, Ye Chen strode purposefully toward Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.

 Chapter 929 - 879: The Final Step (1st Update)

    A few moments later, Ye Chen lifted his foot and stepped onto the first tier of the "Purple Crystal Divine Path."


    Back when Ye Chen first came to the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" with Jiuyuan Divine Master, even though his Divine Soul Power was strong, he hadn''t yet practiced the mountain''s two great secret skills. The moment he stepped on the first tier, his figure trembled uncontrollably, and upon reaching the second tier, he was instantly blasted off by the terrifying Storm Divine Soul Killing Force.


    But this time, as Ye Chen stood on the first tier, his figure didn''t shake in the slightest!


    On the first tier, the horrifying storm-like Divine Soul attacks still surged toward the depths of his soul.


    However, Ye Chen had already undergone a metamorphosis of his Divine Soul and was entirely unafraid of such attacks!


    During this time of cultivation, Ye Chen had refined countless Purple Silver Pearls, further enhancing his Divine Soul. He had even mastered the two secret skills, "Amethyst Soul Protection Skills" and "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills," to the level of Great Accomplishment.


    Why would he fear the first tier of the steps?


    Ye Chen didn''t even activate the two secret skills. Despite being under the onslaught of Storm Divine Soul attacks on the first tier, he remained as immovable as a Giant Mountain!


    "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, Purple Crystal Divine Path, a total of thirty-three thousand three hundred thirty-three tiers."


    "Let me see how many tiers I can climb in one breath this time!"


    Ye Chen looked toward the summit of the mountain, his gaze resolute.


    In the next instant, Ye Chen lifted his foot and strode onto the second tier.


    The second tier, the third tier, the fourth tier...


    Ye Chen''s ascension showed no signs of stopping. After barely half a tea''s time, Ye Chen had already climbed over eight thousand tiers, still steadily advancing!


    At the foot of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    Watching Ye Chen''s figure ascending without pause, Fang Xuan Divine Master''s eyes shone brightly, "Ye Chen''s foundation truly is strong. Even at the eight thousand six hundred thirty-second tier, he hasn''t needed to showcase the two secret skills."


    "It seems likely that he''ll manage to climb over twenty thousand tiers!"


    Jiuyuan Divine Master, absolutely thrilled, exclaimed, "Ye Chen will definitely pass through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain!"


    It was understandable that Jiuyuan Divine Master was ecstatic.


    Since managing the Fifth Commander District within the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm," no one under him had passed through the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" within the prescribed timeframe.


    Now, Ye Chen was about to become the first in the Fifth Commander District to achieve this feat.


    This wasn''t merely an enormous honor for the Fifth Commander District¡ªit would also bring Jiuyuan Divine Master the most substantial reward in Contribution Points.


    Among the three Divine Masters present, only Qing Shan Divine Master seemed unsettled.


    At this moment, Qing Shan Divine Master had abandoned any thoughts of pursuing the matter of Ye Chen killing Sima Liao. His sole concern was whether the eminent figures of the Ancestral God Temple would punish him, and what actions the Great Commander might take.


    Fang Xuan Divine Master noticed Qing Shan Divine Master''s expression and turned to speak, "Qing Shan, although you didn''t strike against Ye Chen, the intention to do so was clear. If I don''t handle this, the eminent figures of the ''Ancestral God Temple'' will surely be displeased."


    "I have prepared two methods of resolution. Are you willing to accept them?"


    How could Qing Shan Divine Master dare refuse?


    He didn''t even dare to inquire what the two methods entailed.


    What a joke.


    Although he was the Second Commander among the five, he was nowhere near comparable to Fang Xuan Divine Master, the Great Commander standing before him.


    Qing Shan was merely at the third-tier Divine Master Realm, whereas Fang Xuan Divine Master had already reached the seventh-tier Divine Master Realm and was the supreme leader overseeing the entire "Purple Ore Mystery Realm."


    Forget that there were "Ancestral God Temple" figures observing the situation¡ªQing Shan didn''t even dare defy Fang Xuan''s orders on their own merit.


    "I will follow the Great Commander''s arrangements completely," Qing Shan Divine Master immediately replied.


    Fang Xuan Divine Master nodded and declared Qing Shan''s punishment.


    "The first method: the next supply of Purple Silver Pearls due from the Five Commander Districts shall be entirely provided by the Second Commander District."


    Hearing this, Qing Shan Divine Master''s complexion immediately soured.


    Even if this task was feasible for him, it would deplete a tremendous amount of his energy and likely aggravate many of the Sovereigns under his jurisdiction.


    Yet, he could only nod in acceptance.


    Fang Xuan Divine Master continued, "The second method: for the next three batches of Challengers entering the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm,'' your selection rights for subordinates will be revoked. You can only resume these choices starting with the fourth batch."


    Upon hearing this, Qing Shan Divine Master felt as though his mind had been struck by lightning.


    This punishment effectively meant losing three chances to pick new subordinates.


    His plan to find Martial Artists with auxiliary bloodlines to help his cultivation had already been disrupted with Sima Liao''s death. With three selection chances now canceled, his vision for cultivating these aids would wither away.


    Qing Shan Divine Master nodded in acceptance of Fang Xuan Divine Master''s two judgments.


    But regret overwhelmed him.


    He regretted ever listening to Sima Liao''s instigations and provoking Ye Chen.


    If he had known that such terrifying figures supported Ye Chen... if he had known that the Ancestral God Temple''s eminent figures were watching Ye Chen, he wouldn''t have dared to go near him, not even if someone forced him!


    Qing Shan Divine Master was utterly filled with remorse.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Fang Xuan and Qing Shan were talking, and Ye Chen was scaling the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, four streaks of light zoomed toward the mountain.


    The four figures turned out to be two other Challengers, Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan, along with their respective Divine Masters, Ciling Divine Master and Divine Master Huafeng.


    Ciling and Huafeng Divine Masters had heard the news that the Great Commander had abruptly emerged from seclusion and rushed to Purple Crystal Divine Mountain. The news had surprised both, prompting them to hastily bring their subordinates to investigate what had transpired.


    Descending swiftly, Ciling Divine Master approached Fang Xuan Divine Master for inquiries, and Fang Xuan explained the situation, supplemented by Jiuyuan Divine Master.


    Upon learning that Ye Chen had killed Sima Liao, Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan were astonished.


    Mu Qingxue was shocked because, even with Sima Liao at Qing Shan Divine Master''s side, Ye Chen had still managed to kill him. She hadn''t imagined such results.


    Lin Shan, however, was struck by the realization of Ye Chen''s terrifying prowess, surpassing even Sima Liao, the powerful warrior favored by Qing Shan Divine Master.


    What truly stunned both Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan, along with their Divine Masters, was seeing the Great Commander herself emerging from seclusion all for Ye Chen.


    And for Ye Chen''s sake, the Great Commander was punishing Qing Shan Divine Master!


    Ciling and Huafeng Divine Masters were slightly less surprised, as Fang Xuan had only mentioned the rule that Commanders couldn''t act against Challengers, without elaborating on the influence of the Ancestral God Temple''s eminent figures.


    Meanwhile, Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan, realizing the attention Ye Chen had drawn even while still in the God King Realm, were completely astounded.


    When they turned their gaze toward Ye Chen ascending the "Purple Crystal Divine Path," they were more shocked than ever.


    By this point, Ye Chen had already reached the midsection of the Purple Crystal Divine Path, seemingly having climbed over ten thousand tiers.


    "Ye Chen... he''s really going to pass the ''Purple Crystal Divine Mountain''!"


    Mu Qingxue''s eyes sparkled with excitement.


    She knew that Ye Chen had risked himself entering the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" to save her.


    While she wasn''t entirely certain of escaping unscathed, her life had at least been preserved, leaving her deeply grateful to Ye Chen and hopeful for his success.


    Now, Ye Chen genuinely had a chance of escaping. How could Mu Qingxue not feel overjoyed?


    Lin Shan, watching Ye Chen climbing higher and higher, found himself seeing the first-ranked Challenger from the Heavenly God List, the only one amongst them who had broken into the Middle Earth God Realm, developing a newfound respect for Ye Chen.


    Lin Shan knew that no matter what, he couldn''t achieve Ye Chen''s composure in climbing the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    The four newly-arrived Challengers.


    Sima Liao was dead, but Ye Chen, Mu Qingxue, and Lin Shan all gathered at the foot of the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    Initially, after inquiring about the Great Commander''s purpose for coming, Ciling and Huafeng Divine Masters intended to escort Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan back.


    However, seeing Ye Chen''s incredible ascent inspired them both to decide to stay and train alongside him at Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    Thus, the remaining three Challengers began their own attempts at conquering the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    This period saw Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan also diving into the mountain''s two great secret skills.


    Clearly, neither had cultivated these skills to Ye Chen''s level of Great Accomplishment.


    Lin Shan only managed to reach the two thousand three hundred-plus tier before being overwhelmed by the terrifying Storm Divine Soul attacks, stopping to train further.


    Although Mu Qingxue''s Realm was lower than Lin Shan''s, her Divine Soul potential far surpassed his.


    She successfully climbed to the fifth thousand four hundred sixty-second tier before halting her progress to refine the two secret skills.


    While the two newcomers stopped ascending the "Purple Crystal Divine Path," Ye Chen continued moving upward.


    By this moment, Ye Chen had reached the nineteen thousand eight hundred sixty-fifth tier, finally activating both secret skills.


    Climb! Climb! Climb!


    The brilliant purple blade-like wings of the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" fiercely sliced through the incoming Storm Divine Soul attacks.


    The protective purple wings of the "Amethyst Soul Protection Skills" shielded Ye Chen entirely.


    Ye Chen kept climbing, reaching the thirty-one thousand one hundredth tier before pausing for the first time.


    His progress exceeded even Fang Xuan Divine Master''s earlier expectations, entirely driven by his mastery of the two Great Accomplishment-level secret skills.


    All three of the remaining Challengers began refining their abilities atop the Purple Crystal Divine Path.


    The four Divine Masters stayed at the mountain''s base, watching over Ye Chen and the others.


    As days passed, the time for challenging the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain grew closer to its end.


    When there were only five days left for this challenge, Ye Chen, who had been sitting cross-legged in cultivation, stood up once again.


    Ye Chen resumed his attempt to conquer the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain!


    This time, Ye Chen climbed to the second-to-last tier of the Purple Crystal Divine Path before stopping.


    Only one more tier remained before Ye Chen could completely pass through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain and return to the Green Light Safe Zone in the Sea of Mist.


    Although Ye Chen hadn''t yet stepped onto the final tier, the four Divine Masters at the mountain''s base could tell he had more than enough strength to do so.


    He was waiting.


    Indeed, Ye Chen was waiting¡ªfor Mu Qingxue.


    If Mu Qingxue could pass through the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, Ye Chen would gladly return with her.


    At this point, Mu Qingxue, despite far surpassing Lin Shan in her climb, had only reached the twenty-three thousand two hundred twenty-third tier. She remained seated in cultivation.


    Five days remained, but Mu Qingxue still had over ten thousand tiers left to climb.

 Chapter 930 - 880: Return to the Sea of Mist (First Update)

    Ye Chen stood on the second-to-last step of the stairway, neither rushing nor interrupting, simply waiting quietly.


    Time flew by in an instant.


    As the final day of the three-month adventure in the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain approached, while Ye Chen continued to wait silently, Mu Qingxue finally rose from her cultivation.


    It seemed Mu Qingxue was also aware that time was running short.


    She made one last attempt to ascend further on the "Purple Crystal Divine Path."


    Unfortunately, Mu Qingxue could only reach the twenty-eight thousand five hundred and fifty-sixth step. Unable to cultivate her two secret skills to the level of perfection, she ultimately failed to fully traverse the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain."


    In the end, Ye Chen didn''t get to witness Mu Qingxue succeed.


    "Sigh."


    Mu Qingxue let out a soft sigh, her eyes carrying a hint of heartbreak but also a trace of relief.


    She was heartbroken because, despite her countless efforts, she still couldn''t escape the torment of being trapped in the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm."


    She was relieved, however, that at least she had escaped the threat of the underwater Death Killing Formation. Trapped in the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm," her life was no longer in danger.


    Failing to conquer the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" allowed her to abandon any other thoughts.


    Now Mu Qingxue had a single thought left: to break through to a level beyond Sovereign and leave the Heavenly God Mountain in another way someday!


    Mu Qingxue, having given up on further trials of the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain," stood on the twenty-eight thousand five hundred and fifty-sixth step and looked upward. She immediately saw Ye Chen, who was waiting for her.


    "Ye Chen."


    Mu Qingxue gently shook her head at Ye Chen, her gaze calm and without any trace of sorrow or joy.


    Ye Chen, too, let out a sigh. His figure moved as he descended to stand in front of Mu Qingxue.


    With the "Purple Crystal Divine Path" posing no obstacle for him, Ye Chen naturally descended to converse with Mu Qingxue.


    Mu Qingxue said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, although the details of the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm'' cannot be leaked, I still hope you can tell my family that I am not dead¡ªI am merely trapped in the Heavenly God Mountain and will surely find a way to leave one day!"


    Upon entering the Five Great Commanders'' territory, Ye Chen and the others were informed of numerous rules regarding the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" by their respective commanders.


    Even if Ye Chen had conquered the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain," he could not reveal anything about the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" or the "Purple Silver Pearl."


    At most, he could convey a simple message of peace to Mu Qingxue''s family.


    That was considered fortunate.


    In previous attempts to conquer the Heavenly God Mountain, those who became trapped in the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" never managed to escape, and not even a message of peace could be sent back¡ªtruly a pitiable fate.


    Ye Chen nodded gently at Mu Qingxue and took the items she handed him¡ªseveral sound-transmission jade tokens she had just inscribed.


    After chatting with Mu Qingxue for a while, Ye Chen was preparing to leave when he noticed Lin Shan beckoning to him from over ten thousand steps below.


    "Lin Shan?"


    Ye Chen had already noticed several Divine Masters flying towards him but didn''t expect Lin Shan to summon him as if he had something to say.


    After some thought, Ye Chen nodded towards Lin Shan and descended further.


    Mu Qingxue followed Ye Chen and walked down to Lin Shan''s position.


    At this point, Lin Shan, too, had let go of all hope and completely abandoned his plans of conquering the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain."


    He had only made it past ten thousand steps, still far from succeeding in overcoming the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    "Ye Chen," Lin Shan said to Ye Chen. "Of the four of us trapped in the ''Purple Ore Mystery Realm,'' Sima Liao has died. Mu Qingxue and I are imprisoned here, left with no choice but to stay under our respective commanders to cultivate and hope we can break through to a level beyond Sovereign to leave Heavenly God Mountain."


    "You''re the only one who can leave here unscathed."


    Lin Shan looked at Ye Chen with deep envy in his eyes.


    Ye Chen shook his head and replied, "Lin Shan, did you summon me to relay a message to your family?"


    Lin Shan sighed, gazing up at the sky. "I had hoped to enter the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain, but I didn''t expect to end up trapped here instead."


    As he spoke, his eyes flashed with determination. "Ye Chen, indeed, I have something to ask of you. Please help me with this request¡ªit''s of utmost importance!"


    Ye Chen nodded. "Go ahead, Lin Shan. I''m listening."


    Having no enmity with Lin Shan and having shared a journey of trials together, Ye Chen wasn''t inclined to reject Lin Shan''s plea for help.


    "Ye Chen, my purpose in coming to the Heavenly God Mountain was not just to break through realms¡ªI had another crucial goal: to enter a ''Cultivation Cave Abode'' in the third layer and retrieve a specific item."


    Lin Shan raised his hand, revealing three tokens¡ªa key and two small rings, one blue and one white.


    "These three tokens were acquired by chance. From them, I learned that I could use them to enter a predecessor''s cave abode in the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Inside that cave abode is a Divine Pill called the ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill!''"


    "The ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill'' is extremely important for my younger sister!"


    "Originally, I intended to retrieve the ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill'' myself to save my sister. But now that I am trapped here, Ye Chen, I must rely on you to retrieve it in my stead to save her."


    "You need not worry¡ªthese tokens will grant you safe access to the cave abode. I simply ask for your help in this matter. The other treasures inside the predecessor''s cave abode will be yours to keep!"


    Lin Shan explained everything about the cave abode, the pill, and his sister to Ye Chen without reservation.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected Lin Shan to have such an important mission when he came to the Heavenly God Mountain.


    Even more surprising was the fact that Lin Shan sought a predecessor''s cave abode in the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain¡ªjust as Ye Chen did. He also held three tokens, intending to seek out Feng Luo''s predecessor''s cave abode.


    During the entrance exams for the Nine Great Divine Institutes, Ye Chen had obtained three tokens belonging to Feng Luo, all still stored in his Qi Sea. Feng Luo himself had left a cave abode in the third layer.


    This sparked a thought in Ye Chen: Could it be that the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain contained numerous cave abodes left by predecessors?


    Otherwise, why would both he and Lin Shan possess tokens for predecessors'' cave abodes?


    While speculating, Ye Chen did not decline Lin Shan''s request.


    Lin Shan explained that his sister, Lin Fei''er, was suffering from a strange illness and needed the "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill" to save her life.


    Upon hearing about Lin Fei''er, Ye Chen felt compassion for the young woman he had never met. Willing to lend her a helping hand, Ye Chen didn''t refuse Lin Shan''s plea.


    "Lin Shan, if all goes well, I''ll ensure the ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill'' reaches your sister," Ye Chen promised.


    Lin Shan was overwhelmed with gratitude upon hearing Ye Chen agree.


    If not for Ye Chen''s ability to leave, Lin Shan''s sister would have been doomed. Ye Chen''s help offered him a glimmer of hope at last.


    After bowing deeply to Ye Chen, Lin Shan told him all the details about his family.


    Ye Chen memorized everything carefully.


    Once Ye Chen had finished speaking with Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan, it was finally time for him to leave the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain."


    At that moment, those who had been standing by, including Fang Xuan Divine Master and others, approached Ye Chen to bid him farewell and offer words of encouragement.


    With their blessings, Ye Chen headed once more toward the pinnacle of the Purple Crystal Divine Path.


    This time, Ye Chen finally stepped past the final step and vanished completely from the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain.


    ...


    On the shoreline of the Sea of Mist, at the edge of the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain.


    As the final day to leave the second layer approached, many who had collected a thousand Purple Silver Pearls returned to the shoreline.


    Of course, tens of thousands who hadn''t collected enough pearls were still scrambling in the Green Light Safe Zone and Yellow Light Danger Zone within the Sea of Mist.


    On the shore, excitement ran high among those who had succeeded.


    "Haha! These three months have been fruitful¡ªI''ve managed to collect over fifteen hundred Purple Silver Pearls! After forfeiting the required thousand pearls, I''ll still have over five hundred left¡ªit''s a significant fortune!"


    "I was lucky this time, managing to gather over two thousand pearls. I heard Brother Mu Yue was even luckier, collecting seven to eight thousand!"


    These individuals not only earned the chance to enter the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain but gained substantial unexpected wealth as well, filling them with joy.


    Yet, within the crowd, there was a group of individuals wearing troubled expressions.


    Among them were the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Hua Xuelian.


    Both the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Hua Xuelian had successfully completed their tasks, yet they showed no sign of enthusiasm. They hadn''t seen any sign of Ye Chen.


    "There are rumors that the thousands who first entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone all vanished¡ªYe Chen, Sima Liao, and Lin Shan were among them. Could it be that even these powerful figures perished?"


    Recalling Ye Chen''s past assistance, neither the Ancient Emperor nor Hua Xuelian could accept the idea of Ye Chen''s demise.


    "No, Ye Chen is too formidable to meet such a fate!"


    "Until the last moment comes, I believe he will return!"


    Hua Xuelian gazed out at the Sea of Mist. Time to leave the second layer of the Heavenly God Mountain was running out, and his heart grew heavier by the second, but he couldn''t allow himself to believe Ye Chen was gone.


    At Hua Xuelian''s side, several Divine Kings from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom who had completed their mission were also watching the Sea of Mist, searching for any sign of Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had saved them from ruthless assassins and evildoers, earning their gratitude. They, too, couldn''t bear to see Ye Chen''s story end in tragedy.


    "Ye Chen must be fine!"


    "He must be fine!"


    While many people continued their frantic search for Purple Silver Pearls, and while excitement filled the shoreline for some and dread consumed others like the Ancient Emperor and Hua Xuelian¡ª


    Suddenly.


    From within the Green Light Safe Zone of the Sea of Mist, a blinding Divine Light erupted into the sky.


    The immense Divine Light drew everyone''s eyes, including those still searching for Purple Silver Pearls in both the Green Light Safe Zone and the Yellow Light Danger Zone.


    Then, they all saw a figure emerge from the Divine Light.


    When the figure became clear, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Hua Xuelian, standing ashore, leaped for joy. "It''s Ye Chen!"


    "It''s Brother Ye Chen!"

 Chapter 931 - 881: Life Cavity, Death Cavity, Secret Inheritance (Second Update)

    Amidst the divine light.


    Under the gazes of countless eyes.


    Ye Chen looked at the familiar Sea of Mist and took a deep breath: "I''m back!"


    Back when he first entered the Sea of Mist, Ye Chen would never have imagined that the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain hid not only the Undersea Killing Formation, but also the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm," the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain," and countless challengers from past eras, along with a number of formidable Divine Masters!


    Returning to the Sea of Mist now, Ye Chen felt as if a lifetime had passed.


    This unexpected journey had yielded substantial rewards for Ye Chen.


    Not only had he acquired tens of billions of Purple Silver Pearls¡ªan amount sufficient to shake countless nine-star Sovereigns across the universe¡ªbut he had also gained a purple-silver armor gifted by the Jiuyuan Divine Master and Divine Wine from Fang Xuan Divine Master that greatly enhanced his Life Origin!


    The most precious reward, however, was the transformation of his Divine Soul, which directly ascended to the level of a "Blue Light Soul." This didn''t just elevate his soul by countless magnitudes but also granted him two sets of extraordinarily profound Divine Soul Secret Skills!


    The only regret was that this ordeal had claimed the lives of thousands of challengers and left people like Mu Qingxue and Lin Shan trapped.


    Ye Chen let out a sigh.


    No matter what, the trial of the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain was now over.


    He now had to prepare to face the challenges of the third layer and ultimately the final layer of Heavenly God Mountain!


    This was for himself, to fulfill the mission of conquering Heavenly God Mountain,


    and also to bring back safe news of Lin Shan and Mu Qingxue!


    With his mind composed, Ye Chen restrained his emotions and, under the countless astonished gazes, directly flew out from the Green Light Safe Zone to the edges of the coastline.


    As soon as he reached the edge, Ye Chen was immediately surrounded by the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Hua Xuelian, and the Divine Kings of the Five Divine Kingdoms.


    "Ye Chen, you truly made it out alive!" Hua Xuelian''s voice trembled with excitement.


    "Ye Chen, where have you been during this time?" The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan was equally exhilarated.


    The other Divine Kings also raised their voices one after another: "Senior Brother Ye Chen, we heard that the thousands of people who first entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone have all disappeared. Why did none of them return except you? What on earth happened in the Yellow Light Danger Zone?"


    Voices of inquiry erupted in a cacophony.


    Ye Chen first nodded slightly toward the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Hua Xuelian, and others. Then, addressing the Divine Kings, he said, "Previously, an unexpected event occurred in the Yellow Light Danger Zone. Almost everyone perished. I barely managed to escape the crisis alive."


    As for the matter of the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" and the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain," Ye Chen refrained from revealing it to them due to certain obligations, offering only a simplified account of the situation.


    Though Ye Chen spoke in a straightforward manner, everyone else gasped in shock.


    An accident?


    Almost everyone dead?!


    Only Ye Chen managed to escape the jaws of death?


    The Divine Kings were astounded. Among those who entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone earlier were Lin Shan, ranked first on the Heavenly God List, and Sima Liao, ranked second. Could it be that even they failed to escape the clutches of death?


    Many Divine Kings felt a profound sense of relief.


    Thankfully, they hadn''t entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone prematurely. Otherwise, they might have also perished in the Sea of Mist!


    At this moment, Ye Chen was reluctant to dwell on the topic of the deadly crisis.


    He turned to Hua Xuelian and said, "Hua Xuelian, my friend, I thought you had entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone with us, becoming ensnared in the deadly trap and falling as well."


    "I didn''t expect to see you again."


    Seeing Hua Xuelian unharmed genuinely surprised Ye Chen.


    He knew the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had not entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone at the time. But given Hua Xuelian''s strength, it hadn''t occurred to Ye Chen that Hua Xuelian wouldn''t have been there.


    Hua Xuelian, hearing about the calamities faced by those who had entered the Yellow Light Danger Zone earlier, felt his heart pound wildly and patted his chest in lingering fear: "Ye Chen, I was incredibly lucky this time to have narrowly avoided such a great catastrophe!"


    As it turned out, Hua Xuelian had been in the Yellow Light Danger Zone but had retreated to the Green Light Safe Zone shortly before the devastating purple storm erupted, while chasing after some Purple Silver Pearls.


    When Hua Xuelian returned to the Yellow Light Danger Zone, everyone else had already vanished without a trace.


    He had been utterly shocked at the time.


    Now hearing Ye Chen confirm what had happened, he realized how narrowly he had escaped disaster!


    Hua Xuelian couldn''t help but feel a deep sense of unease.


    After all, even Sima Liao and Lin Shan hadn''t been able to escape the deadly crisis. If it had been him, he likely wouldn''t have survived either.


    Seeing Hua Xuelian safe and also having collected enough Purple Silver Pearls, Ye Chen turned to inquire about the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan''s experience in the Sea of Mist.


    As Ye Chen and the others talked, the final moments of the trial in the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain slipped away.


    Boom!


    When the time expired, a Void Light Formation dozens of meters wide abruptly appeared at the edge of the Sea of Mist.


    Simultaneously, the voice that had earlier announced the rules of the second layer echoed once again.


    "The three-month trial in the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain is now officially over."


    "All who have completed their tasks may, within the next quarter-hour, surrender the required one thousand Purple Silver Pearls into the Void Light Formation to be transported into the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Those who fail to complete the task will, like those who failed in the first layer, be permanently trapped in the second layer!"


    "The time to surrender Purple Silver Pearls begins now!"


    Whoosh.


    As the voice faded, those at the edge who had completed their tasks fell silent.


    One by one, they began shooting their collected Purple Silver Pearls into the Void Light Formation.


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    As these people handed over the required one thousand Purple Silver Pearls, they were immediately enveloped in divine light and whisked into the Void Light Formation, vanishing from sight.


    For every success, there were inevitable failures.


    Of the initial five hundred and thirty thousand who entered the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain, only ninety thousand advanced to the second layer.


    This time, over fifty thousand of the ninety thousand perished in the Sea of Mist due to various Exotic Beasts and fatal mishaps.


    Additionally, more than twenty thousand failed to complete their tasks and now wore expressions of utter despair.


    Only a little over ten thousand successfully completed their tasks.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In a matter of moments, most of those ten thousand successful challengers were transported into the Void Light Formation.


    Amid the shifting crowd, Hua Xuelian turned to Ye Chen and asked, "Ye Chen, you''ve collected enough Purple Silver Pearls this time, right?"


    Hua Xuelian was worried that Ye Chen, having narrowly escaped disaster, might not have gathered enough Purple Silver Pearls, which would spell disaster.


    Ye Chen chuckled lightly: "Don''t worry, I''ve collected enough."


    He could not discuss matters regarding the Purple Silver Pearls with Hua Xuelian and the others.


    If he could, it would undoubtedly shock Hua Xuelian and countless other Divine Kings who had completed their tasks!


    These Divine Kings were delighted just to have a few hundred or even a few thousand extra Purple Silver Pearls after completing their tasks.


    What they didn''t know was that not only had Ye Chen collected enough Purple Silver Pearls, but he also carried tens of billions of surplus Purple Silver Pearls gifted by Jiuyuan Divine Master!


    Having survived unimaginable perils, Ye Chen''s haul of Purple Silver Pearls alone was enough to make countless Sovereigns green with envy!


    With a faint smile, Ye Chen, along with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Hua Xuelian, and others, handed over their required Purple Silver Pearls.


    After casting a final glance at those remaining in the Sea of Mist who had failed their tasks, Ye Chen sighed deeply before stepping into the Void Light Formation, vanishing completely from the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    ...


    The first layer of Heavenly God Mountain was a slaughterhouse against assassins and villains.


    The second layer of Heavenly God Mountain was a test of collecting Purple Silver Pearls and surviving the Sea of Mist''s perils.


    When Ye Chen and the others¡ªnumbering over ten thousand¡ªarrived in the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen found himself wondering whether the task of the third layer would involve traces of the ancestral estates of ancient predecessors.


    What greeted them was a vast giant peak that they had all been transported atop.


    Looking down from the peak, the entirety of the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain stretched out before them, dotted with countless beams of divine light shooting up into the skies.


    Upon closer inspection, it became clear that these beams of divine light emanated from what appeared to be sealed ruins scattered across the land.


    As Ye Chen stood in awe, he felt a peculiar sense of summoning emanating from certain locations among the ruins below, resonating with the three tokens left in his Qi Sea by Feng Luo and the three given to him by Lin Shan.


    Just as Ye Chen''s heart was stirred, a voice echoed into the ears of the more than ten thousand challengers atop the giant peak.


    "Challengers, welcome to the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "The third layer of Heavenly God Mountain is called the ''Life and Death Caverns World.''"


    "Within this layer lies countless ruins. Some of these ruins are true death zones, where entry almost guarantees a one-way path to oblivion."


    "These regions fraught with mortal dangers are known as Death Caverns."


    "Conversely, there are also numerous Life Caverns. While containing their share of tests and hazards, they are relatively safer, and the rewards within them are substantial. These Life Caverns hold the ruins of estates left behind by Sovereign-level beings or those who surpassed the Sovereign realm in ancient times."


    "Those who can explore the Life Caverns may uncover immense fortune and even gain the Secret Inheritances that transcend the Sovereign level!"

 Chapter 932 - 882: Passing Light of the God (First Update)

    Here''s the complete translation:


    The third layer of Heavenly God Mountain, the World of Life Cavities and Death Cavities!


    Entering the Death Cavity realm almost always leads to certain death.


    Entering the Life Cavity realm, however, offers the hope of obtaining immense fortune, even secret inheritances surpassing the level of Sovereigns!


    The words of this voice shook the minds and spirits of the more than ten thousand challengers upon the towering peak.


    Every gaze turned toward the countless beams of Divine Light erupting into the sky from the ground below the peak.


    They understood that each beam of Divine Light might signify a Death Cavity realm or a Life Cavity realm.


    Of course, all challengers hope not to end up in a Death Cavity realm.


    And naturally, they all hope to gain astounding fortune and secret inheritances from the Life Cavity realms!


    "I wonder what''s required to pass through the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain?"


    "And how can we enter the fourth and final layer of Heavenly God Mountain?"


    The challengers knew that since this voice mentioned the Life Cavity and Death Cavity realms, succeeding in the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain must somehow be connected to them.


    Yet, they could not guess what that connection might be.


    This voice seemed to sense the thoughts of the crowd and continued, saying: "To have reached the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain means you''ve already made it halfway through the trials of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "And the challenges in the second half will be even more perilous!"


    "You have two months to attempt the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain."


    "The requirement for passing the third layer is that within this two-month period, you must successfully enter three Life Cavity realms. Each Life Cavity realm contains a ''Passing Light of the God.'' Only by collecting three ''Passing Lights of the God'' will you be deemed to have completed the trials of the third layer and qualify to enter the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "And the peril I mentioned lies in the following: First, in this ''World of Life Cavities and Death Cavities,'' there are no markings to indicate which realms are Life Cavities or Death Cavities. In other words, it''s entirely up to your luck to navigate through. To locate three Life Cavity realms amidst countless Death Cavity realms will be extremely difficult."


    "A single moment of carelessness may trap you in a Death Cavity realm, leading to instant death!"


    "This is the first great peril."


    "The second great peril is that even if you successfully enter three Life Cavity realms, each Life Cavity realm presents its own trial. Some ''Passing Lights of the God'' may be easy to obtain, while others might be exceptionally challenging. Whether you can ultimately collect all three and earn entry into the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain is also fraught with danger."


    "If you fail to gather three ''Passing Lights of the God,'' you will still be sealed within the third layer, unable to leave, and the result will almost certainly be death!"


    "So, challengers, treasure your two months of trial time; head down to the ''World of Life Cavities and Death Cavities,'' and seek your fortune and opportunities¡ªto find your three ''Passing Lights of the God!''"


    "Remember, each Life Cavity or Death Cavity realm can only be entered by one person. Once entered, regardless of whether the entrant survives or perishes, that realm will be sealed permanently."


    "Thus, you can only rely on yourselves to search, choose, and attempt the challenge!"


    With these final words, the voice vanished, leaving the more than ten thousand challengers staring blankly.


    Heaven.


    At this moment, fear gripped the hearts of these challengers.


    They had long heard that the four layers of Heavenly God Mountain grew increasingly difficult as one ascended.


    Now, they finally understood that this was no idle rumor!


    A quick glance below revealed that there were likely tens of thousands of Life Cavity and Death Cavity realms. Finding the Life Cavity realms without being ensnared by the Death Cavity realms was an unimaginably daunting challenge.


    Not to mention the trials within the Life Cavities themselves to obtain the "Passing Light of the God" as described by the voice.


    At this moment, countless challengers set aside thoughts of the precious secret inheritances hidden within the Life Cavities. Surviving and securing three "Passing Lights of the God" would be a miracle worth celebrating!


    Even Ye Chen, who stood among them, did not have complete confidence in passing this third layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Ye Chen looked at the two inheritance tokens in his possession and pondered: "I have Sovereign Feng Luo''s inheritance token and the set of tokens given by Lin Shan. According to the voice, these locations correspond to Life Cavity realms, meaning I can successfully enter two Life Cavity realms."


    "However, to collect three ''Passing Lights of the God,'' I must find a third Life Cavity realm as well."


    "This search for the third realm will rely entirely on my luck. If I make a mistake and enter a Death Cavity realm, the dangers inside will surely surpass those of the ''World of the Death Fruit!''"


    The World of the Death Fruit, after all, was merely one of the perilous trials of the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    It definitely pales in comparison to the dangers of the Death Cavities in this third layer.


    As Ye Chen pondered, some challengers finally lost their patience and began to fly toward the World of Life Cavities and Death Cavities below the towering peak.


    Despite overwhelming anxiety, one challenger spoke resolutely: "With only two months to challenge the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain, we must act swiftly!"


    "No amount of hesitation will solve anything; we must locate three Life Cavity realms as quickly as possible. The only way forward is to seize the time and test our luck and judgment!"


    Boom!


    As the words were spoken, the challenger immediately descended from the peak, flying past numerous beams of Divine Light. Finally, after a brief hesitation, they entered a particular Divine Light relic.


    No one knew whether this individual had entered a Life Cavity realm or a Death Cavity realm.


    Yet, with someone taking the lead, others could no longer hold back. Immediately, they flew down to the ground below.


    Ye Chen exchanged glances with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Hua Xuelian, and the others before speaking: "Let''s move as well!"


    Ye Chen currently had clues to two Life Cavity realms.


    One of these Life Cavity realms was related to Lin Shan''s entrusted task, and the other corresponded to Sovereign Feng Luo''s inheritance token.


    Ye Chen was determined not to miss them.


    Of course, Ye Chen was equally unable to assist others.


    For one, both of these tokens represented tasks he was obligated to complete¡ªSovereign Feng Luo''s token resided directly in his Qi Sea and could not be handed to anyone else. Meanwhile, Lin Shan''s token was tied to Lin Shan''s request.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had no assurance of finding the third Life Cavity realm himself, let alone aiding others.


    It would all come down to individual luck and effort.


    After hearing Ye Chen''s words, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, Hua Xuelian, and the others hesitated no longer.


    They understood this was a challenge where everyone must rely on their own fate, and prompt action was essential.


    "Everyone must rely on their luck."


    "Let''s hope we all return safely in the end!"


    After exchanging glances, they all descended.


    Then, amid the flying Divine Lights, the group gradually split, each heading toward the beam of Divine Light they had set their sights on.


    After parting ways with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Hua Xuelian, Ye Chen followed the guidance of his two inheritance tokens and headed toward the closest relic site.


    This nearby site lay deep within the countless Divine Light relics.


    Ye Chen flew for nearly the span of two tea brews before finally arriving at this location.


    This site was precisely where Sovereign Feng Luo''s inheritance token pointed.


    As Ye Chen arrived and saw the relic vaguely visible amidst a surge of Divine Light ahead, he felt three items within him¡ªminiature versions of the Blood Drinking Divine Blade, the Polar Elemental God Bead, and the miniature token obtained during the assessment at the Great God Institute¡ªbegin to resonate and stir.


    Without hesitation, Ye Chen leapt into the Divine Light.

 Chapter 933 - 883: The 7-tiered Waterfalls and the Heavenly Wind Cave (2nd Update)

    Crash! Crash! Crash!


    As soon as he flew in, Ye Chen immediately saw that the real world inside the Divine Light was actually a massive waterfall.


    The entire waterfall cascaded from top to bottom, forming seven distinct layers¡ªthe Sevenfold Waterfall!


    At this moment, Ye Chen was standing at the bottommost layer of the Sevenfold Waterfall.


    Apart from this Sevenfold Waterfall, the rest of the area was completely sealed off, impossible to explore. Even the flowing water of the waterfall disappeared into the unknown depths of the Sealed Land.


    "What a mystifying cultivation sanctuary!"


    "Is this the place where Senior Feng Luo once cultivated?"


    "There''s only this ''Sevenfold Waterfall'' here!"


    Senior Feng Luo was someone who had cultivated beyond the Sovereign Realm. Ye Chen had no idea how such an expert, still in the Sovereign Realm at the time, had managed to enter the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain and carve out a cave abode for cultivation.


    Ye Chen speculated that it might be related to the "Ancestral God Temple" that left behind Heavenly God Mountain.


    However, this was not the time to dwell on such matters. Ye Chen needed to find the "Passing Light of the God" from the Sevenfold Waterfall quickly and obtain the God King''s Legacy that Senior Feng Luo had left behind in order to continue toward the ruins Lin Shan had guided him to.


    After all, all the other challengers were seeking the Life Cavities of this realm.


    Although the location marked by Lin Shan''s cave token was deeper within, Ye Chen noticed that no challengers seemed to have ventured this far.


    Still, Ye Chen dared not waste time.


    If someone else entered that cave abode, regardless of whether they could attain its opportunities, it would inevitably become sealed, and he would lose access.


    That would jeopardize Ye Chen''s mission to help Lin Shan fulfill his wish and rescue his sister.


    There was no way Ye Chen would go back on his word!


    With this thought, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, and the three relics left by Senior Feng Luo within his Qi Sea shot out.


    The miniature Blood Drinking Divine Blade, the miniature Polar Elemental God Bead, and the miniature token floated directly into the air.


    Ye Chen did not know their exact purpose; all he knew was that they were tied to the legacy left behind by Senior Feng Luo.


    While Ye Chen was observing these three relics, trying to discern their function, something unexpected occurred.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Suddenly, three figures emerged from the second, third, and fourth layers of the Sevenfold Waterfall and landed before Ye Chen.


    These three figures were all youthful, charming girls, with divine patterns identical to Ye Chen''s three relics etched vividly on their brows.


    At first glance, Ye Chen knew that these three girls were not human.


    He immediately sensed the aura of artifact spirits emanating from them.


    The three girls were none other than the artifact spirits of the three Divine Artifacts!


    As Ye Chen studied these three artifact spirit girls, they, in turn, sized him up.


    The girl with the miniature token''s divine pattern on her brow was the first to speak: "Welcome, Inheritor. Since you have obtained our master''s three relics, according to the rules he left behind, all treasures within the lower three layers of the Sevenfold Waterfall are yours."


    "As for the four upper layers, since you do not possess the corresponding relics, you cannot directly enter those spaces to claim their treasures. You must pass the respective trials to gain access."


    The artifact spirit girl''s words set Ye Chen''s heart alight.


    Hmm?


    Having these three relics allows me to directly access the lower three layers of the Sevenfold Waterfall?


    It seems likely that the God King''s Legacy mentioned by Senior Feng Luo resides in those layers!


    What Ye Chen was even more curious about was the location of the "Passing Light of the God."


    If the "Passing Light of the God" was within the lower three layers, that would save him considerable effort; he wouldn''t need to challenge the upper four layers.


    After all, Ye Chen was eager to leave this place quickly in order to explore the next ruins site.


    With this thought, Ye Chen turned to the three artifact spirit girls and asked, "Do you know anything about the ''Passing Light of the God''?"


    The three artifact spirit girls, clearly brilliant and well-versed in the rules of the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain, exchanged sly giggles before one of them¡ªthe girl with the miniature God Bead''s divine pattern¡ªsaid, "Congratulations! The ''Passing Light of the God'' is in the second layer of the Sevenfold Waterfall. You can claim it directly."


    Rumble!


    Her words sent a tremor through Ye Chen''s mind.


    He hadn''t expected to gain such straightforward access to this Life Cavity territory just because he held the relics!


    "Could it be that after the ordeals I faced in the Deadly Sea Bottom, fortune is finally smiling upon me?"


    Ye Chen chuckled to himself.


    Without further ado, Ye Chen asked the three girls to lead him to the lower three layers.


    The first layer''s waterfall space contained only a modest number of treasures. Ye Chen found three excellent Heaven-reaching Divine Arts manuals and three supreme Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts manuals.


    While the latter had some utility for Ye Chen, the former offered little benefit. He collected them anyway, intending to gift them to the Little Provincial Princess back at the Supreme Divine Institute.


    In the second layer, Ye Chen quickly located the "Passing Light of the God," just as one of the girls had mentioned.


    It was a pale blue light. Guided by one of the artifact spirit girls, Ye Chen reached out to capture the light, and a pale blue mark appeared on the back of his hand.


    The first "Passing Light of the God" was now his!


    Besides the "Passing Light of the God," the second layer also contained numerous storage rings. Using his Divine Sense, Ye Chen scanned their contents and discovered tens of thousands of Purple Silver Pearls inside.


    For a God King, such a treasure trove of Purple Silver Pearls was akin to striking gold. Senior Feng Luo''s generosity in leaving all these pearls behind was extraordinary.


    However, for Ye Chen, who had emerged from the Purple Ore Mystery Realm with billions of Purple Silver Pearls, this amount was merely a pleasant bonus.


    With a grin, Ye Chen stored all the pearls and proceeded to the third layer of the spaces tied to the three relics.


    Treasures were rarer in this layer, but they were undeniably the most valuable. Ye Chen discovered a flower called the "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" and a stone known as the "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone."


    As the artifact spirit girls explained their significance, Ye Chen was overwhelmed with delight.


    The "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" was the nascent form of an Extreme Heavenly Object, and the "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone" could nurture such a flower''s growth.


    What thrilled Ye Chen most was not the flower itself but its ability to enhance the nascent Extreme Heavenly Object "Star Blue Divine Garment" he already possessed!


    He recalled Xiaojiu mentioning numerous rare materials that could improve the "Star Blue Divine Garment," and now, to his surprise, he found two of them in Senior Feng Luo''s cave abode!


    With these, the quality of the "Star Blue Divine Garment" could advance further!


    Previously, Ye Chen had enhanced the "Star Blue Divine Garment" in Sovereign Lei Fa''s cave, imbuing it with thunder and lightning to make it tough enough to withstand attacks from an Earth Divine Venerable.


    Now, with the "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" and the "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone," his garment might even resist Heavenly Divine Venerables or Immortal Divine Venerables, possibly reaching the Polar Sky Level!


    Of course, all this would require confirmation from Xiaojiu once Ye Chen left Heavenly God Mountain.


    Nonetheless, this discovery filled Ye Chen with joy!


    After all, the current quality of the Star Blue Divine Garment couldn''t withstand the attacks Ye Chen now faced¡ªits transformation into a true Extreme Heavenly Object couldn''t come fast enough!


    Whoosh.


    In high spirits, Ye Chen extended his hand and collected the "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" and "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone."


    With that, Ye Chen had claimed all the treasures tied to Senior Feng Luo''s three relics.


    Be they cultivation manuals, Purple Silver Pearls, or the invaluable flower and stone, these treasures were rare fortunes for any God King.


    Even for Ye Chen, the last two items were immensely significant.


    Ye Chen nodded appreciatively to the three artifact spirit girls.


    At this point, the girls asked him, "Inheritor, do you wish to challenge the upper four layers of the Sevenfold Waterfall? The treasures there are even more precious."


    Ye Chen pondered their question.


    When the girls inquired, Ye Chen replied, "Do you know how much time it would take to challenge the upper four layers?"


    The three artifact spirit girls answered in unison, "Without the corresponding relics, even these lower three layers would have been exceptionally difficult to access. The upper four layers are far more challenging. Each layer would take at least a month to conquer."


    A month per layer?


    Ye Chen shook his head.


    That was far too long; he couldn''t afford to linger.


    After all, the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain allowed challengers only two months to explore, and Ye Chen still needed to find two more "Passing Lights of the God."


    "Forget it; I shouldn''t be too greedy."


    "I''ve already gathered plenty of treasures here. For now, my priority should be obtaining the ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill'' to help Lin Shan rescue his sister!"


    Having made up his mind, Ye Chen bid farewell to the three artifact spirit girls and departed from the Life Cavity of the Sevenfold Waterfall.


    From entering the Sevenfold Waterfall to leaving, Ye Chen had spent less than an incense stick''s duration.


    Meanwhile, other challengers were busy exploring their own territories, dealing with either Life Cavities or Death Cavities.


    With a sweep of his gaze, Ye Chen flew toward the next Divine Light ruins site guided by the three relics Lin Shan had provided.


    This journey took nearly an hour of flight before Ye Chen finally arrived at the second Divine Light ruins site.


    To Ye Chen''s relief, this site was in the deep recesses of the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain, untouched by any challengers.


    As before, Ye Chen flew straight into the Divine Light.


    Unlike the Sevenfold Waterfall, this time Ye Chen found himself inside a grand hall.


    Taking out the three relics Lin Shan had given him¡ªa key and two tiny rings, one blue and one white¡ªYe Chen waited.


    The moment the relics appeared, three more artifact spirit girls materialized within the hall.


    They addressed Ye Chen in unison, "Inheritor, welcome to the ''Heavenly Wind Cave''!"

 Chapter 934 - 884: The Tsundere Artifact Spirit Girls (1st Update)

    "Heavenly Wind Cave?"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    "So this is the name of the cave dwelling left behind by that existence who surpassed the Sovereign, as mentioned by Lin Shan? Quite unique, I must say."


    Ye Chen raised his gaze toward the three Artifact Spirit Girls, noticing that, just like the ones in the "Sevenfold Waterfall" cave dwelling earlier, these three also had Divine Rune Seals on their foreheads identical to the three Inheritance Tokens he held.


    One was the Artifact Spirit Girl with the small Key Divine Rune, while the other two possessed the Blue Ring and White Ring Divine Runes.


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but speculate: Could all the relic cave dwellings in this "Life Cavity and Death Cavity Great World" be guarded by Artifact Spirit Girls?


    However, Ye Chen, having only explored this cave so far, wasn''t certain about his guess.


    What Ye Chen was more concerned about was the "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill" Lin Shan tasked him to find¡ªwhere exactly was it?


    And the "Passing Light of the God" he was obligated to obtain¡ªwhere could that be?


    Ye Chen wasted no time and directly inquired with the three Artifact Spirit Girls.


    Hearing his question, the three Artifact Spirit Girls giggled, "Successor, having obtained three tokens, you are qualified to receive three inheritances left by our master."


    The Artifact Spirit Girl with the Key Divine Rune Seal spoke directly, "The ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill'' you asked about is one of the pills from the ''Divine Pill Heritage,'' which is one of Master''s inheritances."


    "I can take you to the First Wind Cave right now to choose this pill."


    Hearing this, Ye Chen''s heart stirred with excitement.


    Finding the "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill" would finally put his mind at ease. With this pill, once he left the Heavenly God Mountain and made his way to the Divine Kingdom where Lin Shan resided, he could save Lin Shan''s sister.


    Under the guidance of the Key Divine Rune Artifact Spirit Girl, Ye Chen followed her down a passage beside the grand hall, eventually arriving in a circular cave dwelling.


    As soon as he stepped into the cave, Ye Chen saw countless medicine boxes arranged neatly within. With a brief glance, he estimated there were over a thousand.


    The Key Divine Rune Artifact Spirit Girl spoke again, "Successor, based on the inheritance level granted to you, you can choose ten bottles of pills from the ''Divine Pill Heritage'' here."


    "The ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill'' you asked for is among them. If you choose this pill, you can still select nine more bottles in addition."


    Whoosh.


    As the girl spoke, a medicine box flew toward Ye Chen. With a tap from the girl, the lock on the box clicked open, revealing a white jade bottle inside.


    Ye Chen saw the words "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill" written on the bottle. Additionally, within the box was a jade plaque detailing the pill''s usage instructions.


    "The Nine Transformation Ice God Pill is a Polar Sky Level Divine Pill. It holds immense efficacy for Martial Artists cultivating Ice System Divine Arts. Even Sovereign-level individuals injured while practicing Ice System Divine Arts can rely on this pill to recover..."


    Reading the description, Ye Chen''s heart skipped a beat.


    Could it be, as Lin Shan mentioned, that his sister was gravely injured while practicing Ice System Divine Arts?


    Ye Chen memorized the effects of the Nine Transformation Ice God Pill and then examined the descriptions of the other pills present.


    Finally, he opened the white jade bottle to inspect the pills inside.


    Within the bottle, Ye Chen found dozens of pills, each exuding a misty, icy aura that looked profoundly mystical.


    "According to the instructions for the Nine Transformation Ice God Pill, if Lin Shan''s sister is below the Divine Venerable Realm, just one pill should suffice to save her. With a full bottle here, it should be more than enough."


    After carefully examining the Nine Transformation Ice God Pill, Ye Chen placed the bottle back into the medicine box and stored the box in his Spatial Treasure.


    He then turned his attention to the other medicine boxes.


    As per the Artifact Spirit Girl, he could select nine more bottles of pills.


    The mystical nature of just the Nine Transformation Ice God Pill left Ye Chen curious and eager to see what the other nine bottles had to offer.


    However, Ye Chen was unfamiliar with the other pills. The boxes offered no clue to their contents, and unlike Lin Shan, who had undergone the inheritance trials and learned about these pills, Ye Chen was entirely in the dark.


    When he asked the Artifact Spirit Girls for guidance, they merely advised him to rely on his intuition and provided no further pointers.


    In the end, Ye Chen randomly pointed to nine medicine boxes.


    Seeing his selections, the Artifact Spirit Girl tapped her fingers, and each of the nine boxes opened, flying to Ye Chen''s side.


    "Gold Vanquishing Divine Pill: This pill is extremely detrimental to those practicing Gold Element Divine Arts. In fact, it is considered a superb Polar Sky Level Divine Pill for countering Gold Element Divine Arts. Administering this pill to someone cultivating Gold Element Divine Arts can incapacitate them with self-imposed seals for days or even months..."


    The first pill''s description shocked Ye Chen.


    He hadn''t anticipated that the pills in this cave could not only save lives but also harm others!


    Ye Chen turned his attention to the remaining medicine boxes.


    Among the remaining selections were pills such as the "Ten Thousand Flames God-Destroying Pill," "Heaven''s Destiny Life-Continuing Pill," and "Nine-Level Sky Devouring Pill."


    Their effects ranged from healing and harming to even extending the lives of those on the brink of death!


    Ye Chen carefully stored all the medicine boxes.


    He couldn''t help but marvel at how just ten bottles of pills had such miraculous effects. With thousands of bottles in the cave, the variety of effects must be astounding!


    Even more astonishing to Ye Chen was the idea that the cave''s owner had managed to refine so many pills.


    Could it be that the existence who surpassed the Sovereign was an extraordinary Alchemist?


    As Ye Chen speculated, the Key Divine Rune Artifact Spirit Girl smiled and said, "Successor, you''ve completed selecting all the items allowed by the inheritance token you hold. Now, you can follow the other two Artifact Spirit Girls to choose the items they oversee."


    Ye Chen''s heart stirred, and he asked the Artifact Spirit Girl, "Is there any way to allow me to select a few more bottles of pills? For example, by taking on additional trials and earning higher privileges?"


    The Key Divine Rune Artifact Spirit Girl pouted slightly and replied, "By obtaining the inheritance token from our master, you''ve already participated in the ''Divine Pill Heritage'' trial. The token''s level determines that you can select only ten bottles, with no opportunity for a second trial."


    The girl''s response left Ye Chen sighing inwardly.


    It seemed Lin Shan hadn''t performed too well during the trial; otherwise, he would have left a better token. Now, Ye Chen had no choice but to settle for what he had.


    Still, Ye Chen soon felt at ease.


    If not for Lin Shan''s token, he wouldn''t have had the opportunity to enter this cave dwelling in the first place, let alone witness its treasures.


    Accompanied by the Key Divine Rune Artifact Spirit Girl, Ye Chen returned to the grand hall.


    Then, following the Blue Ring and White Ring Artifact Spirit Girls, he entered two other circular cave dwellings. In the Blue Ring Girl''s cave, he chose ten herbs useful for healing, while in the White Ring Girl''s cave, he selected ten unique herbs suited for harming enemies.


    Upon returning to the grand hall, Ye Chen''s mind was still filled with images of the thousands of medicine boxes in the pill cave and the innumerable herbs in the Blue and White Ring caves.


    By now, Ye Chen was certain: the owner of this "Heavenly Wind Cave" was undoubtedly a remarkable Alchemist!


    Ye Chen had heard of Alchemists before.


    In the Demon Tomb, he had encountered Huyan Divine Master, who was also an Alchemist.


    Huyan Divine Master had even refined the extraordinary "Divine Milk"!


    Moreover, even after death, Huyan Divine Master had left behind the formidable Curse Power on his remains.


    Back then, Ye Chen had obtained the valuable Divine Milk from Huyan Divine Master but also faced the peril of the Curse. To resolve it, he would eventually have to go to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom and fulfill Huyan Divine Master''s wish.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected to encounter another Alchemist who surpassed the Sovereign here in the Heavenly God Mountain and to gain so many life-saving and destructive pills and herbs in the process.


    By now, Ye Chen had already reaped significant rewards.


    However, two lingering regrets remained in his heart.


    Firstly, he could only select ten items from each of the three branch caves. Compared to the endless array of treasures within, his haul felt too small.


    Secondly, despite exploring the three branch caves, he still hadn''t found the "Passing Light of the God"!


    All three Artifact Spirit Girls told him the Passing Light of the God wasn''t in their respective caves.


    "Then how can I obtain the Passing Light of the God?"


    "Could there be a fourth branch cave?"


    Ye Chen questioned the three Artifact Spirit Girls.


    The three girls giggled, "That''s right, there is indeed a final branch cave¡ªthe Fourth Branch Cave! The Passing Light of the God is within the fourth branch cave. It''s also the hardest to enter and the most precious of all!"


    "Back then, our master didn''t release the trial requirements for the fourth cave to the outside world, so you still have a chance to attempt it."


    "However, based on the level of the inheritance tokens you''ve obtained from us, you stand no chance of entering the fourth branch cave."


    Well then.


    The three Artifact Spirit Girls had effortlessly belittled Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen decided not to explain.


    He certainly couldn''t reveal that the tokens he held weren''t his own. Otherwise, if the tokens were confiscated, he''d be in trouble.


    Ye Chen simply smiled at the three girls and said, "Since there''s a branch cave left to attempt, please lead me to it. Who knows? I might succeed by sheer luck."


    The three Artifact Spirit Girls exchanged a glance and began leading the way.


    Ye Chen followed them, flying down another passage from the grand hall.


    Soon, Ye Chen saw boundless stormy skies ahead. In that space, it seemed as though countless hurricanes were raging¡ªa veritable world of storms!


    As Ye Chen and the three Artifact Spirit Girls arrived at this stormy world, yet another Artifact Spirit Girl emerged from it, flying toward them.


    The Divine Rune on this girl''s forehead was shaped like a tome.


    Without sparing Ye Chen a glance, she first addressed the other three girls, asking, "Which level of inheritance did this challenger complete in your three caves?"


    The three girls replied, "To report to Elder Sister, this person came here using an inheritance token obtained outside. He only achieved the lowest, first-level inheritance."


    Finally, this fourth Artifact Spirit Girl shifted her gaze to Ye Chen.


    Her first words nearly made Ye Chen cough up blood: "First-level inheritance? Pathetic. With that level, don''t even think about entering the fourth branch cave. You''ll die in the trials instantly."

 Chapter 935 - 885: What a Nice Place! (Second Update)

    "Sister, we already tried to persuade him not to challenge the Fourth Branch Cave Mansion, but he insisted on coming. We couldn''t stop him."


    Upon hearing the fourth Artifact Spirit Girl''s words, the other three Artifact Spirits chimed in as well.


    This time, the fourth Artifact Spirit Girl looked at Ye Chen with more than just disdain; her gaze involuntarily carried a trace of contempt.


    In her mind, Ye Chen wasn''t just weak in strength but also reckless and ignorant of danger.


    Her fellow spirit sisters had clearly said that the Fourth Branch Cave Mansion was almost impossible to conquer, yet he still insisted on coming. Wasn''t he courting death?


    The "Heavenly Wind Cave" left behind by their master was notorious for its difficulty!


    However, although this Artifact Spirit Girl despised Ye Chen in her heart, she was quite kind at her core since she had long since developed Spirit Communication. She thus said to Ye Chen, "Challenger, the Fourth Branch Cave Mansion is the hardest cave among the ''Heavenly Wind Cave'' trials. In previous generations, those who insisted on entering have all perished in the tests. None have succeeded."


    "I advise you, it''s best not to try."


    Ye Chen detected both the contempt in her eyes and the good intentions in her advice.


    Ye Chen understood that this Artifact Spirit Girl probably regarded him as someone who was both courageous and foolish but lacked true strength.


    Ye Chen didn''t argue further. He simply smiled and said, "I didn''t find anything dangerous in the first three cave mansions. This fourth one shouldn''t pose a threat to me either."


    The Artifact Spirit Girl smacked her forehead helplessly at Ye Chen''s words. "That''s only because you obtained Master''s three tokens outside, so you didn''t have to face the trials of the first three cave mansions. Otherwise, you''d have had a hard time."


    "Fine. If you insist on challenging it, I won''t stop you. But the test in this cave consists of five layers of storm trials. I suggest you exit as soon as you complete the first layer. Otherwise, it might already be too late if you decide to turn back later."


    "After all, since you''ve entered the ''Heavenly Wind Cave,'' this is the only chance for your generation to do so. No one else will get to re-enter. It''s all up to your own fate now."


    "If by chance, you have the luck to pass the first storm trial, you can obtain the first-tier inheritance that Master left within the Fourth Branch Cave Mansion, along with the ''Passing Light of the God.''"


    "As for the later storm trials, I don''t think there''s any way you''ll pass through them! It''s best you don''t even try!"


    The other three Artifact Spirit Girls also spoke simultaneously: "We don''t think you''ll make it either!"


    They turned to Ye Chen and said, "You''d better listen to our elder sister. Don''t try it!"


    Ye Chen found their reactions both amusing and exasperating.


    He hadn''t expected that the master of the "Heavenly Wind Cave," a powerhouse beyond the Sovereign level, could create such intelligent and sentient Artifact Spirit Girls who now looked down on him.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t let these Artifact Spirit Girls'' words affect him.


    He also understood, from their tone, that the test in this fourth cave mansion would definitely be exceedingly difficult.


    But Ye Chen wasn''t entirely without a plan.


    After all, he wasn''t Lin Shan. He was countless times stronger than Lin Shan, who had undertaken the tests left by the cave''s master!


    Ye Chen was incredibly curious about the treasures inside this most valuable fourth cave mansion. Though he didn''t necessarily intend to obtain everything, the "Passing Light of the God" was something he absolutely aimed to acquire!


    After all, this place was a Life Cavity. Even though danger lurked, there was still a chance to make it through. It was far better than a Death Cavity!


    With these thoughts in mind, Ye Chen directly asked the four Artifact Spirit Girls, "How do I start the trial? Do I just fly into the stormy world ahead?"


    The fourth Artifact Spirit Girl nodded. "Yes, the stormy terrain ahead grows fiercer the further you go. There are five layers of storms in total."


    "The farther you progress through the storm, the higher the level of inheritance you can earn."


    "Each storm layer spans ten thousand zhang. You must at least complete the first layer''s ten thousand zhang to qualify for choosing a first-tier inheritance in the Fourth Branch Cave Mansion."


    After listening to the Artifact Spirit Girl''s explanation, Ye Chen nodded to her, not wasting any more words. He immediately stepped into the storm.


    Watching Ye Chen enter the trial storm, the four Artifact Spirit Girls all shook their heads.


    The Artifact Spirit Girl with the Key Divine Pattern on her forehead said, "Sisters, how far do you think he''ll make it?"


    "I bet at most eight or nine thousand zhang. The difficulty here is far greater than the previous trials," said the Artifact Spirit Girl marked with the White Ring Divine Pattern on her forehead.


    However, the Blue Ring Divine Pattern Artifact Spirit Girl looked at Ye Chen''s retreating figure and said, "This challenger seems so confident as he strides forward. Maybe he recently gained some fortuitous encounter and grew stronger, which is why he''s so determined. If that''s the case, he might just make it past the first storm layer."


    The fourth Artifact Spirit Girl, bearing the Artifacts Divine Pattern insignia, finally spoke, "At most, he''ll complete the ten thousand zhang distance of the first storm layer. Let''s see where he decides to turn back."


    The four Artifact Spirit Girls continued watching Ye Chen, waiting to see the outcome of his trial.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen heard none of their discussion.


    Upon entering the storm-ravaged world, Ye Chen instantly felt the entire realm enveloped in stormy winds, like frenzied wind blades slicing toward him.


    This terrifying storm would make it impossible for an ordinary Divine King to take even a single step forward!


    Even someone like Lin Shan, with combat power at the Divine Venerable level, would need to employ powerful methods just to progress slightly and wouldn''t get very far.


    Yet now, Ye Chen, engulfed in the endless storms, seemed entirely unfazed.


    "These storms are indeed powerful, but with my ''Eternal God Body,'' my physical body alone is enough to withstand winds of this caliber."


    "Let''s keep moving and see how strong the storms ahead are."


    Determined, Ye Chen took another bold step forward.


    With that single stride, Ye Chen instantly traversed the ten thousand zhang distance of the first storm layer.


    Yet Ye Chen''s movements showed no signs of halting, and his expression remained completely relaxed as he continued forward.


    "He passed the first storm layer''s ten thousand zhang already? That fast?!" the Key Divine Pattern Artifact Spirit Girl exclaimed in shock.


    "Sister, he''s entered the second storm layer and keeps moving forward. He ignored your warnings, and now he''s doomed!" the White Ring Divine Pattern Artifact Spirit Girl shrieked.


    "No, something''s off. He hasn''t used any techniques yet. He''s relying solely on his physical body to pass the first storm layer. It seems this inheritor has made significant progress recently!" the Blue Ring Divine Pattern Artifact Spirit Girl observed.


    Even the Artifact Spirit Girl presiding over the Fourth Branch Cave Mansion couldn''t hide the shift in her gaze.


    Still, she pursed her lips and said, "So what if he passes the first storm layer? At best, he''ll obtain Master''s first-tier inheritance."


    "Remember, the most valuable treasure in the Fourth Branch Cave Mansion, the ''Skywind Medical Scripture,'' requires more than a first-tier inheritance to even begin. Anyone stopping at the first-tier receives only the prologue, not even the real introduction!"


    "He disregarded my warning and entered the second storm layer. If he wants to leave now, he won''t find it so easy."


    As she spoke, the Blue Ring Artifact Spirit Girl nudged her. "Sister, look quickly! He''s about to pass the second storm layer!"


    The second storm layer?


    How could that be possible?


    And even if it were, it shouldn''t happen so quickly!


    At her sister''s urging, the fourth Artifact Spirit Girl hurriedly gazed into the storm.


    Sure enough, she spotted Ye Chen already striding past twenty thousand zhang, entering the third storm layer!


    What''s more, Ye Chen remained composed, as if no pressure weighed on him at all.


    This stunned not just the fourth Artifact Spirit Girl, but the other three as well, leaving them momentarily speechless.


    Meanwhile, within the storm-swept terrain, Ye Chen had entered the third storm layer.


    Here, the storms were no longer the same. The black winds howled ferociously, and the wind blades possessed power at the level of a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Yet, even at this stage, these winds posed no threat to Ye Chen.


    Although his "Eternal God Body" techniques and Earth Divine Pattern defenses were finally beginning to falter under the storm''s intensity, Ye Chen evoked his overwhelming Divine Power, which surged forth and transformed into layers of protective divine light shrouding his entire form. With this, Ye Chen continued striding forward, unimpeded.


    In mere moments, under the disbelieving gazes of the four Artifact Spirit Girls, Ye Chen passed the third storm layer and entered the fourth!


    Upon stepping into the fourth storm layer, Ye Chen immediately sensed a dramatic transformation.


    The storm''s killing force now ascended to the level of a Middle Immortal Divine Venerable, and the winds seemed to carry an endless array of Storm''s Profound Meaning!


    Every gust of wind exuded an extraordinary essence, as though countless supreme cultivation techniques had been fused into the very fabric of these storms!


    Though Ye Chen couldn''t fully comprehend the profound meanings hidden within these storms, he could feel certain materials from his cultivation of the "Eternal God Body" and the "Wind Divine Pattern" beginning to radiate Divine Light from his body.


    Ye Chen instantly knew that this fourth storm layer could prove extremely beneficial to his cultivation of the Wind Divine Pattern.


    Ever since gathering the materials for the Wind Divine Pattern on the first floor of the Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen hadn''t yet seized the opportunity to train.


    Now, discovering such a suitable place for cultivation thrilled him to no end.


    As Ye Chen gazed at the countless profundities swirling within the fourth storm layer, his eyes gleamed brightly, and he sighed in admiration, "What an incredible place! I''ll cultivate right here!"


    And just like that, under the astonished eyes of the four Artifact Spirit Girls, Ye Chen simply sat down in the midst of the boundless storms and began his cultivation.

 Chapter 936 - 886: Powerful Wind Divine Pattern (First Update)

    Seeing Ye Chen stop within the Fourth Layer Storm, the girl with the White Ring Divine Pattern mark on her brow patted her chest in relief.


    "He''s finally stopped. To think he charged straight to the Fourth Layer Storm without a moment''s pause¡ªit''s just terrifying."


    The girl with the Key Divine Pattern mark on her brow, however, gazed intently at Ye Chen''s figure and murmured, "Has he reached his limit?"


    "Judging by the way he seems to be cultivating after stopping, could it be that he''s unable to advance further, or has he stopped because of an epiphany?"


    The Blue Ring Divine Pattern girl and the fourth spirit girl had their eyes trembling at this; they both spoke simultaneously, "This challenger is absolutely not stopping because he can''t proceed. He has had a major insight and is cultivating an extraordinary technique."


    "Look! The Fourth Layer Storm can''t even approach within several dozen feet of him!"


    "With this level of resistance, passing the Fourth Layer Storm''s trial should be completely effortless! He clearly has the strength to walk out of the Fourth Layer Storm right now, but he simply chooses not to!"


    Hearing the words of the Blue Ring girl and the fourth spirit, the girl with the White Ring Divine Pattern turned her gaze toward Ye Chen. What she saw confirmed their statements¡ªthose terrifying Fourth Layer Storms had indeed been repelled several dozen feet away the moment Ye Chen sat down cross-legged!


    Her little mouth opened wide in shock.


    She had assumed Ye Chen stopped because he couldn''t move forward, but now, hearing her sisters'' words, it was apparent that this challenger was more formidable than she had expected!


    The girl with the Key Divine Pattern, the one who first guided Ye Chen in choosing his materials, was also stunned. "This youth carrying a first-level Inheritance Token¡ªjust how has he become so powerful?!"


    Under the watchful eyes of the four artifact spirit girls,


    Ye Chen sat cross-legged within the heart of the Fourth Layer Storm. Yet, all the raging winds could only howl futilely around the boundary several dozen feet around his body, unable to touch him in the slightest!


    The omnipresent Profound Meanings of the storm were left at Ye Chen''s mercy, allowing him to observe and comprehend without hindering his cultivation!


    At this moment, Ye Chen moved his palm. "Shu, shu, shu." One after another, precious cultivation materials materialized before him.


    Cold Wind Grass, Heavenly Wound Flower, Wind Spinning Fruits...


    Seeing the seventy-two main materials and one hundred and eight auxiliary materials required for cultivating the Wind Divine Pattern¡ªthe most formidable of the "Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, and Chaos" Five Divine Body Patterns of the Eternal God Body apart from the Chaos Divine Pattern¡ªYe Chen''s heart surged with excitement.


    The Wind Divine Pattern was one of the core patterns of the Eternal God Body, with power second only to the Chaos Divine Pattern.


    Currently, Ye Chen had only completed the Earth Divine Pattern, and now he was about to tackle the even more potent Wind Divine Pattern. How could he not be overwhelmed with anticipation and exhilaration?


    Ye Chen couldn''t wait to see how much his Divine Body''s combat strength would be elevated after successfully cultivating the Wind Divine Pattern.


    He scrutinized the materials before him for a long time, and then gazed for a while at the infinite storm that remained several dozen feet away. At last, he stretched out his hand and, with a mighty grasp, collected all the materials at once. Following the prescribed refinement methods, he transformed them into Divine Liquid to temper his body. Then, according to the prescribed cultivation order, he absorbed them into himself.


    Thus, Ye Chen began his complete cultivation of the Wind Divine Pattern, a crucial part of the Eternal God Body, right in the midst of the Fourth Layer Storm.


    This session of cultivation lasted for more than half a month.


    Sitting cross-legged amidst the Fourth Layer Storm, Ye Chen''s figure did not waver even slightly.


    Yet the fearsome divine radiance that constantly erupted from Ye Chen''s body made it evident to the four spirit girls watching him that Ye Chen had made tremendous progress in his cultivation.


    The four Artifact Spirit Girls did not know how long this round of cultivation would take Ye Chen.


    As the guardians of the Heavenly Wind Cave, they could not interfere with Ye Chen''s trials or cultivation; all they could do was wait quietly.


    ...


    While Ye Chen was cultivating and enduring trials in the Heavenly Wind Cave, more than ten thousand challengers who had entered the third world layer of the Heavenly God Mountain were also venturing into various Life Cavities and Death Cavities.


    Those who had entered the Life Cavities were relatively fortunate. Even if they could not obtain the Passing Light of the God, they generally avoided life-threatening danger as long as they proceeded cautiously.


    Some individuals had already successfully claimed the Passing Light of the God and were making considerable gains within the Legacy Caves of the Life Cavities.


    But others were not so fortunate.


    In one glimmering territory on the southern edge of the Life and Death Cavity World, a Divine King from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom¡ªranked among the top twenty of the Heavenly God List¡ªcarefully selected what appeared to be a relatively safe Legacy Cave bathed in divine radiance.


    With great caution, he stepped across the boundary of the divine light.


    However, as soon as he set foot inside, a harrowing scream tore from his lips.


    The challenger had barely entered before he was engulfed by countless streaks of silvery cold gleams cutting through the air.


    In mere moments, he was shredded into pieces by the silver light, reduced to nothingness, and killed outright within the territory.


    The challenger had believed he was entering a Life Cavity, but little did he know that he had stepped into one of the most perilous Death Cavities within the entire Life and Death Cavity World¡ªthe domain of the Extreme Killing Divine Light!


    From the outside, there was no discernible difference between a Life Cavity and a Death Cavity.


    Like this ill-fated expert from the Heavenly God List, countless other challengers were similarly unfortunate, stumbling into the Death Cavities.


    Some, upon entry, failed to notice anything amiss¡ªuntil they ventured deeper into the territory and were suddenly swarmed by countless flying insects, devoured to the last scrap of their flesh.


    Others, walking upon solid ground, found themselves plunged into sudden sinkholes. From beneath, a tremendous force surged forth, dragging them below. Even formidable Divine Kings stood no chance against the overwhelming power, succumbing to the pull and vanishing beneath the earth. Afterward, the ground returned to its pristine state, as though nothing had happened at all.


    Yet others were lured by treasures gleaming within the territory, mistakenly believing they had entered a Life Cavity. But as they reached for the treasure, it detonated with unfathomable killing power, obliterating them entirely on the spot.


    The Death Cavities were rife with a myriad of horrifying and treacherous dangers.


    As the Heavenly God Mountain''s third-layer rules had declared, entry into a Death Cavity indeed almost always meant certain death. Now, all challengers who had ventured into the Death Cavities had perished without exception!


    Of the more than ten thousand challengers who had entered the third world layer of the Heavenly God Mountain, the number of survivors dwindled rapidly¡ªfrom nine thousand, to eight thousand, to six thousand... decreasing by the day.


    Of course, the Life and Death Cavity territories varied for each challenger, and those who survived had no way of knowing that over half of their peers had already perished within just half a month!


    ...


    In the other Life and Death Cavities, challengers continued to vie for Passing Light of the God and their opportunities. Some met their end, while others secured great rewards.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen remained sitting in meditation within the Fourth Layer Storm of the Heavenly Wind Cave.


    The only difference from half a month earlier was that, on the twenty-third day of his cultivation within the Fourth Layer Storm, the previously repelled storm suddenly surged toward Ye Chen as if the barrier had dissolved. It seemed intent on slicing him apart.


    Seeing this, two of the Artifact Spirit Girls couldn''t help but cry out in alarm.


    They worried that Ye Chen might no longer be able to fend off the relentless storm.


    However, in the next moment, their cries subsided as they observed closely. While Ye Chen no longer resisted the storm, the terrifying Fourth Layer Storm seemed to be influenced by an invisible force. In one instant, it transformed into massive wind wings; in another, it formed radiant wind shields; and in yet another, it scattered into countless snowflake-like wind blades.


    The two spirit girls, along with their silent companions, immediately understood. This phenomenon unmistakably demonstrated one thing¡ªYe Chen was beginning to master the storm!


    Mastery.


    The thought of this left the four Artifact Spirit Girls visibly shaken.


    Their master was an existence far beyond the realm of a Sovereign. Though the trials left within the Heavenly Wind Cave were designed for the challengers of the Heavenly God Mountain and did not reach the transcendent level of their master, they were still terrifying challenges for any challenger.


    Under such conditions, merely resisting the storm was considered an immense feat.


    For Ye Chen to directly master and manipulate the trial''s storm¡ªthis was unprecedented in the countless years of the Heavenly Wind Cave''s history!


    "This challenger is cultivating an extraordinary wind-element secret skill. Judging by appearances, it''s likely a Wind Element Divine Body Secret Technique!"


    By now, the condescension and disdain previously visible on the fourth spirit girl''s face had entirely vanished.


    All that remained was pure astonishment.


    The girl even wondered silently to herself, "Could it be that the master''s incredibly precious ''Medical Canon'' will finally find someone capable of fully inheriting it?"


    Amidst the girl''s awe, another three days passed.


    On the twenty-sixth day of Ye Chen''s trial in the Heavenly Wind Cave, he finally rose from his seated position.


    As Ye Chen stood, the terrifying storm that had circled him abruptly erupted outward with a thunderous "boom," dispersing several miles away as though blasted by an immense force!


    The area within several miles of Ye Chen became an absolute void!


    Then, raising his gaze, Ye Chen looked beyond the Fourth Layer Storm and into the Fifth Layer Storm ahead.


    In the span of a single moment, a green divine pattern emerged on Ye Chen''s body. The pattern transformed into a massive pair of emerald wings.


    With one powerful flap, Ye Chen crossed the thousands of feet separating him from the edge of the Fourth Layer Storm in the blink of an eye, advancing into the final trial¡ªthe Fifth Layer Storm!


    Throughout countless attempts to endure this trial, challengers could only proceed cautiously, stepping forward bit by bit in the face of the storm''s ferocity.


    No one had ever flown across an entire boundary in one leap, as Ye Chen just had!


    Witnessing this, the four Artifact Spirit Girls rose to their feet in astonishment.


    They had waited a long time, but it was now evident¡ªthe challenger before them had completed his cultivation and was ready to advance further.


    Moreover, from the fact that he could fly unhindered within the Fourth Layer Storm, they could tell this challenger had undoubtedly achieved great gains.

 Chapter 937 - 887 Skywind Medical Scripture (Second Update)

    The four artifact spirit girls had foreseen correctly.


    Indeed, Ye Chen had reaped tremendous rewards!


    His "Eternal God Body" cultivation technique, left behind by Long Li, was supremely complete in its training methods. Furthermore, most of the materials had been prepared by Mrs. He, while the rest were rare treasures Ye Chen had collected himself from the precious herb garden on the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain, surpassing the basic requirements by a wide margin in quality.


    Under such circumstances¡ªcoupled with the Storm''s Profound Meaning left behind by a transcendent existence in the "Heavenly Wind Cave"¡ªit was only natural for Ye Chen to successfully cultivate the "Wind Divine Pattern" of the Eternal God Body!


    Following the "Earth Divine Pattern," Ye Chen had finally mastered the second of the Divine Body Patterns of the Eternal God Body.


    The first Divine Body Pattern, the "Earth Divine Pattern," contained four techniques: the offensive technique "Earth Spike," defensive technique "Green Leaf Glow," mobility technique "Void Earth Fissure," and critical-strike technique "Earth Collapse."


    With just the techniques of the "Earth Divine Pattern," Ye Chen was already formidable enough to contend against powerhouses of the Heavenly Divine Venerable level.


    Now, having successfully cultivated the "Wind Divine Pattern," which surpassed the "Earth Divine Pattern" in strength, Ye Chen''s Divine Body techniques alone had elevated him to the level where he could challenge even mighty Immortal Divine Venerables!


    With the addition of his other powers, such as the "Blue Extreme Ice Flame," "Copper Gong Wooden Hammer," and "Origin Slash," Ye Chen now feared no Divine Venerables¡ªbe they at the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level or stronger!


    Similar to the "Earth Divine Pattern," the "Wind Divine Pattern" also comprised four techniques: the offensive technique "Limitless Wind Blade," defensive technique "Heavenly Wind Shield," mobility technique "Extreme Wind Wings," and the critical-strike technique "Extreme Wind Blast."


    As the second most powerful Divine Body Pattern of the Eternal God Body, Ye Chen sensed that the four techniques of the "Wind Divine Pattern" were exponentially stronger than those of the "Earth Divine Pattern."


    Yet, with Ye Chen''s current Divine Body foundation, he was unable to fully unleash the "Wind Divine Pattern''s" maximum combat power. The full might of the "Wind Divine Pattern" could even reach the Sovereign Realm!


    To forcefully exhibit its full power would cause Ye Chen''s Divine Body to collapse. He needed to strengthen his Divine Body foundation further before he could achieve this. For now, he would utilize only the power he could safely wield.


    The harvest was significant.


    But Ye Chen would not become complacent.


    He still faced numerous challenges, all of which required even greater strength to overcome!


    Whether it was navigating the latter stages of Heavenly God Mountain, fulfilling his promise to assist Huyan Divine Master in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, or competing against the powerful elites of countless divine nations in the upcoming "Stellar Domain Genius Battle," Ye Chen needed as many techniques and resources as possible.


    Though Ye Chen was already able to dominate Divine Venerables while still in the God King Realm, he was far from reaching the Sovereign Realm. And compared to the even more powerful Divine Master Realm, the gap was immense.


    Heavenly God Mountain was manageable.


    But the True Spirit Divine Kingdom was a renowned Great Divine Kingdom in this universe, infinitely more powerful than the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation. Within its borders, there were likely not just numerous Sovereigns but also entities beyond the Sovereign Realm.


    Once Ye Chen left Heavenly God Mountain, his next destination was the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    There, to find General Yinsha as requested by Huyan Divine Master, it was highly probable that Ye Chen would encounter threats from Sovereign-level and even beyond-Sovereign-level beings.


    Ye Chen would never allow himself to grow complacent; instead, he would strive to broaden his arsenal, preparing for all unforeseen dangers!


    "My current realm has already reached the Middle God King Realm. To advance further, once I accumulate enough to reach the peak of the Middle God King Realm, I can either rely on ''Divine Milk'' to break through to the Upper God King Realm or seek out items like the ''Fate Divine Pill'' that can boost my realm during the breakthrough."


    "As for my cultivation base, it''s a process of daily accumulation and searching for opportunities."


    "Regarding Divine Body techniques, I am currently cultivating the ''Eternal God Body.'' Out of its Five Great Divine Patterns, I''ve completed two. However, to cultivate the most powerful ''Chaos Divine Pattern,'' I must first finish mastering the ''Earth, Fire, Water, and Wind'' Divine Patterns as a prerequisite."


    "For the remaining three Divine Patterns, I still lack some materials, so I''ll need to continue collecting them later."


    "Fortunately, I already possess countless Purple Silver Pearls. As long as I can track down leads on the required materials, I can certainly gather them all eventually."


    "As for Divine Soul techniques, I have mastered two secret skills from the Purple Crystal Divine Mountain, in addition to my unparalleled Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills¡ªall exceptional Mysterious Heavenly Divine Arts. There are no deficiencies in this area."


    "Moving forward, I simply need to follow the ''Purple Soul Cultivation Technique'' and strive to elevate my Divine Soul to the strength of a Violet Divine Soul!"


    "And most importantly, the cultivation of the ''Primordial Star Scripture!'' Lighting up seven stars on the Star Disk will allow me to ascend to the sixth chapter of the scripture. Using the essence blood I''ve obtained from the Snow Liao Tribe, I''ve already lit up one star. Now, I must seek out the remaining six types of essence blood from other advanced lifeforms."


    "When I leave Heavenly God Mountain and enter the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, I must actively work on this. The kingdom is home to five advanced lifeform clans. I may be able to find the essence blood of the next type from among them."


    Although still exploring the "Heavenly Wind Cave," Ye Chen was already planning for the many tasks ahead.


    This kind of foresight had allowed Ye Chen to continuously grow and survive countless deadly crises.


    Without it, Ye Chen would have long perished in catastrophes like the "Undersea Divine Palace Purge" and the menace of the "Death Fruit."


    Lost in thought, Ye Chen shifted his gaze forward again.


    "For now, I''d better focus on obtaining the ''Passing Light of the God''!"


    Standing within ten thousand meters of the Fifth Layer Storm, his vast "Extreme Wind Wings" fluttering atop his Divine Body, Ye Chen felt the immensely powerful storm, whose killing power was nearly at the Sovereign level. He simultaneously employed the speed technique of the "Wind Divine Pattern" and unleashed offensive and defensive techniques in unison.


    When the offensive technique "Limitless Wind Blade" was activated, Ye Chen''s Divine Body shuddered, with Divine Patterns surfacing on his body and influencing the surrounding storm.


    While Ye Chen couldn''t completely control the entirety of the Fifth Layer Storm, he could command numerous strands of the storm''s energy to form endless wind blades, slicing through the parts of the storm that were beyond his control.


    It was as if two opposing storms were colliding. Ye Chen''s massive Body-protecting Wind Shield shimmered continuously as he kept flying forward within the Fifth Layer Storm.


    Finally.


    After dozens of breaths, despite obstacles, Ye Chen broke through the most difficult challenge in the "Heavenly Wind Cave," passing all five layers of the storm!


    In the next moment, Ye Chen found himself entering a circular cave dwelling.


    This circular cave dwelling was a sight Ye Chen was familiar with; he had seen it three times in the past. The items collected by the three other artifact spirit girls were each placed in separate circular branch cave dwellings.


    Now, this fourth cave dwelling was also circular in shape, as anticipated!


    While observing the fourth branch cave dwelling, Ye Chen searched for the "Passing Light of the God."


    After all, beyond helping Lin Shan obtain the "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill" needed to heal his sister Lin Fei''er, the most crucial task here was securing the second "Passing Light of the God."


    As Ye Chen discovered the "Passing Light of the God" in a corner of the cave dwelling, the fourth artifact spirit girl¡ªmarked by Artifacts Divine Patterns on her forehead¡ªappeared directly before him.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s focused gaze on the "Passing Light of the God," she smiled and said, "Challenger, you have passed the trial. That ''Passing Light of the God'' is yours now."


    "Furthermore, just like in the previous three cave dwellings, having passed the trial, you will also receive a unique reward."


    "This time, for completing the highest-level trial, you will obtain the most precious reward: the complete ''Skywind Medical Scripture'' left behind by my master in this cave."


    Unlike her previous tone, the fourth artifact spirit girl now spoke to Ye Chen with polite respect and even offered a sweet smile.


    The disdain and scorn from earlier were now entirely gone.


    Ye Chen grinned lightly at the change in her demeanor.


    He understood that in any place, strength was the key to earning respect.


    His performance in clearing the five-layer storm was sufficient to ensure that this artifact spirit girl no longer dared to belittle him!


    However, Ye Chen didn''t care too much about her change in attitude. He was more intrigued by what she had said about the "Skywind Medical Scripture."


    "Could it be that my earlier guess was right? Was the owner of this ''Heavenly Wind Cave'' truly a remarkable alchemist?"


    Judging by the pills and medicinal herbs he had obtained in earlier trials, Ye Chen had suspected the identity of the cave''s owner. Now, with the artifact spirit girl''s mention of the "Medical Scripture," Ye Chen''s conjecture seemed even more plausible.


    Even so, the Medical Scripture could wait for later. While the artifact spirit girl retrieved the "Skywind Medical Scripture," Ye Chen went straight to the corner housing the "Passing Light of the God" and securely claimed it.


    With the "Passing Light of the God" he had previously obtained at the "Sevenfold Waterfall," Ye Chen now possessed two of them. Only one more remained to fulfill the requirements for venturing into the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Looking at the two pale blue marks left by the "Passing Light of the God" on the back of his hand, Ye Chen nodded and smiled.


    At this moment, the fourth artifact spirit girl returned with the "Skywind Medical Scripture" in hand, presenting it to him.


    This ancient-textured scripture carried a sense of timelessness.


    Ye Chen couldn''t determine the material used to craft this text, but he could sense its indestructibility. Even with his extraordinary combat power, tearing a single page from the scripture seemed impossible.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t commit such wasteful destruction.


    Taking the "Skywind Medical Scripture" in hand, Ye Chen opened it and began reading attentively.


    As he read, the fourth artifact spirit girl spoke beside him: "''Skywind Medical Scripture'' is the masterwork medical text of my master, the ''Skywind Divine Master.'' Not only was my master unparalleled in cultivation, but they also achieved tremendous accomplishments in the field of medicine!"


    "If you can fully comprehend this ''Skywind Medical Scripture,'' not only will you be able to heal yourself, but you''ll also be able to save countless lives. Moreover, following many methods within it, you could even achieve unparalleled killing power!"


    A healer''s skill could both save and harm.


    This truth, Ye Chen understood well.


    The deeper Ye Chen delved into the "Skywind Medical Scripture," the brighter his eyes shone.


    Although it appeared to be a simple, compact text, it was actually boundless in scope. Each section within had been imbued with a separate spatial construct, containing countless volumes of medical scripture.


    With a mere glance, Ye Chen felt as though an entirely new world had opened to him.

 Chapter 938 - 888: Heavenly God Mountain Level 4 (3rd Update)

    In the past, Ye Chen had also studied supplementary cultivation techniques, such as formations.


    At that time, the cultivation of formations greatly benefitted Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen naturally was willing to learn "medicine", another supplementary secret technique.


    After all, Ye Chen wanted to uncover more secrets of cultivation, secrets of the Divine Body, and secrets of the Divine Soul, all of which were detailed in the "Skywind Medical Scripture" contents.


    Even more, Ye Chen aspired to master medicine at an extremely profound level. In doing so, he could someday help countless people he wished to protect¡ªhis father, mother, and other loved ones!


    The more understanding he could gain, the better he could care for those around him.


    Thinking of his father and mother, Ye Chen recalled something else.


    When he first arrived in the Divine Kingdom, he didn''t bring his father and mother along because his cultivation realm at the time was far too low.


    Now, he had already crossed from the Heavenly Saint Realm into the God King Realm, and his combat power had risen to a level where he could sweep away Immortal Divine Venerables.


    While he couldn''t yet count himself as a true prominent figure in the Divine Kingdom, he could already be considered a strong contender.


    "Once I overcome the crises of Heavenly God Mountain and resolve the matters in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, I will return to the Barbaric Wilderness Continent and bring my parents and loved ones to the Divine Kingdom!"


    Ye Chen made his decision.


    With this resolution, Ye Chen felt a heavy pressure weighing upon him.


    To protect his family and ensure their peaceful life in the Divine Kingdom, he had to grow even stronger!


    He first needed to overcome the crises in Heavenly God Mountain and the True Spirit Divine Kingdom!


    "I must first conquer Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "This ''Skywind Medical Scripture'' isn''t something I can fully comprehend in a short period. I''ll study it carefully after leaving Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Previously, I spent over twenty days cultivating within the Fivefold Storm, and we only have two months to traverse the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain. With roughly a month left, I must acquire another ''Passing Light of the God''!"


    "For now, I should hurry and find another Life Cavity cave dwelling!"


    With his intentions set, Ye Chen packed away the "Skywind Medical Scripture."


    Then, Ye Chen bid farewell to the four Artifact Spirit Girls within the "Heavenly Wind Cave" and left.


    Returning to the outside, he looked down at the two "Passing Light of the God" marks on his hand. His gaze slipped toward the countless Life Cavity and Death Cavity realms illuminated by divine light.


    He had already successfully obtained the "Passing Light of the God" from the two areas granted by his tokens.


    For this final area, he would have to rely on his luck.


    "Hopefully, I won''t end up in a ''Death Cavity realm''; otherwise, I may face another troublesome ordeal."


    On the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen had encountered the crisis of the "Death Fruit".


    On the second layer of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen was drawn into the Red Light Death Zone, barely making it out alive.


    Ye Chen refused to believe that his luck would always be so dismal on every layer.


    Ye Chen hoped this time would go smoother.


    After flying for half a day in the "Life Cavity and Death Cavity Great World", Ye Chen trusted his instincts and finally chose to enter the third Divine Light Heritage Cave Dwelling.


    Upon entering¡ª


    To Ye Chen''s surprise, this time, he managed to avoid misfortune and did not stumble into another severe crisis.


    This time, within the third Divine Light Heritage Cave Dwelling, Ye Chen had indeed chosen a "Life Cavity realm."


    What excited him further was that this "Life Cavity realm" was far simpler than previous ones, like the "Sevenfold Waterfall" or "Heavenly Wind Cave." Ye Chen didn''t undergo any significant trials and directly acquired the third "Passing Light of the God."


    Though this third Life Cavity realm held little other treasure due to its low danger level¡ª


    Ye Chen was more than satisfied.


    After all, securing the "Passing Light of the God" was the priority!


    Ye Chen already possessed innumerable treasures. Compared to the unpredictable dangers of the "Death Cavity realm", Ye Chen naturally preferred safely obtaining the "Passing Light of the God", even if it meant forgoing any other treasures.


    After converting the third "Passing Light of the God" into a pale blue mark, Ye Chen completed the task of traversing the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain ahead of schedule.


    Next, Ye Chen faced two options.


    One option was to continue braving danger, exploring another "Life Cavity realm" or "Death Cavity realm," risking further peril but possibly reaping new rewards.


    The other option was to use the remaining time wisely for cultivation.


    Looking at the countless "Life Cavity and Death Cavity realms," Ye Chen ultimately decided against further exploration, choosing cultivation instead.


    If all the realms belonged to "Life Cavity realms," Ye Chen might still test his luck despite possible dangers. However, with so many "Death Cavity realms" present, which were difficult to distinguish, Ye Chen was unwilling to waste time here.


    After all, greed often leads to great misfortune.


    "Instead of gambling on risks with the remaining time, I''ll focus on cultivation, solidify my current techniques, and prepare for breaking into the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain!"


    With that thought, Ye Chen flew out of the countless realms within the "Life Cavity and Death Cavity Great World," heading back toward the massive peak where he had first arrived at the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Once he returned to the giant peak, Ye Chen noticed that no one else had come back early.


    Equipped with two tokens, Ye Chen had successfully entered two Life Cavities, and the final Life Cavity he had personally chosen proved extraordinarily simple.


    Others hadn''t been so fortunate in completing their tasks.


    "I''d better start cultivating first."


    "I''ll practice while waiting for the rest to return."


    Sitting cross-legged atop the giant peak, Ye Chen sensed the surging divine power energy coursing through the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain and began cultivation.


    Day by day, time passed.


    The deadline for completing the two-month traversal of the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain drew closer.


    Some challengers entered heritage cave dwellings and never emerged.


    Others successfully navigated through a cave dwelling, then promptly entered another to attempt more challenges.


    Still, others¡ªlike Ye Chen¡ªmanaged to collect three "Passing Light of the God" marks and returned early to the giant peak.


    When the two-month time limit finally arrived, out of over fifty-three thousand challengers, only thirteen hundred or so safely returned.


    The rest likely perished during their adventures in the "Life Cavity and Death Cavity realms."


    As the surviving challengers gradually gathered, Ye Chen ceased his cultivation.


    Scanning the crowd, Ye Chen felt a sense of relief seeing the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had been lucky once again and survived.


    Hua Xuelian had also successfully acquired three "Passing Light of the God" marks and returned unharmed.


    When the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan and Hua Xuelian saw Ye Chen already waiting atop the giant peak, they eagerly approached him to recount their experiences in the "Life Cavity realms."


    Both had made substantial gains this time.


    Hua Xuelian, in particular, had even managed to break through to the Middle Earth Divine Venerate Realm!


    As Ye Chen, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and Hua Xuelian conversed, other returning challengers were also excitedly exchanging tales.


    Those who successfully obtained three "Passing Light of the God" marks all had varying achievements.


    What caught Ye Chen''s attention was that among the crowd, a few God Kings had managed to directly break through from the Upper God King Realm into the Upper Earth Divine Venerate Realm. One God King from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom had even ascended to the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerate Realm!


    This left Ye Chen truly astonished.


    He had previously believed his own gains to be substantial, but he hadn''t expected others to progress even faster!


    It seemed the rumors about Heavenly God Mountain, where some could breakthrough multiple realms at once, were indeed true!


    Ye Chen was deeply curious about how these individuals had managed to leap from Upper God King to Earth Divine Venerate Realm, then break through to Lower Heavenly Divine Venerate Realm.


    Ye Chen recalled acquiring the "Fate Divine Pill," though it hadn''t produced such dramatic effects.


    Could it be that these people had obtained other items that could enhance their cultivation realms?


    Intrigued by this mystery, Ye Chen directly summoned the challengers who had made significant breakthroughs.


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    "Brother Ye Chen!"


    Despite their ascension to the Upper Earth Divine Venerate Realm and even the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerate Realm, these challengers dared not act arrogantly before Ye Chen.


    At Ye Chen''s call, they hurried over to speak with him.


    Their respect for Ye Chen was well-founded.


    Though their realms had advanced, realm alone does not equate to actual combat ability. They had yet to reach a stage where their realm could significantly outclass Ye Chen.


    Even the challenger who had broken through to the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerate Realm possessed combat power only sufficient to contend with a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    But all of them had heard rumors that back in the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen had managed to eliminate the Golden Light Assassins¡ªa group of Immortal Divine Venerable-level villains.


    Evidently, even with their breakthroughs, none of them were likely Ye Chen''s match!


    This only deepened their respect and apprehension toward Ye Chen!


    Once they arrived before Ye Chen, these challengers quickly answered his questions.


    They explained how, after completing the trials of the "Life Cavity realms," they had entered a peculiar pool.


    Within that pool, their cultivation realms underwent transformations.


    "A peculiar pool?"


    Ye Chen nodded in understanding.


    So it wasn''t the "Fate Divine Pill."


    The mysterious pool might very well be an even rarer realm-enhancing artifact hidden within Heavenly God Mountain!


    Though Ye Chen hadn''t entered that pool to advance his realm, he wasn''t overly bothered.


    After all, each person has their own fortunes.


    Ye Chen felt content with what he had gained.


    "Brother Ye Chen, now that we''ve completed the tasks of the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain, we''ll soon enter the final layer."


    "Of the fifty-three thousand people who entered Heavenly God Mountain earlier, only about thirteen hundred people remain. Who knows how many will survive after the fourth layer."


    "If there''s an opportunity for help, we hope Brother Ye Chen can look out for us."


    These challengers, whose realms had drastically improved, politely requested assistance from Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen nodded, saying, "If I am able, and have the capacity, I will definitely help."


    With that, Ye Chen''s gaze shifted toward the Void Heavenly skies.


    Ye Chen had no idea what awaited them in the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    As Ye Chen and the challengers conversed, the traversal of the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain officially came to an end.


    In that fleeting moment, all challengers bearing "Three Paths Passing Divine Country" marks were enveloped by a force, wherever they stood. It swept them into a Void Teleportation Array.


    With a burst of divine light, they vanished from the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    All of them were transported to the final layer¡ªHeavenly God Mountain Fourth Layer Great World!

 Chapter 939 - 889: Myriad Blood Lantern and the Quintessential God Pool (4th Update)

    "Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World!"


    "As long as we can pass this layer, we''ll be able to successfully make it out of the Heavenly God Mountain!"


    Upon arriving at the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World, all the challengers who had successfully passed the previous three gates shared the same thought.


    Indeed.


    As long as they could pass this layer, they could return to their respective Divine Kingdoms.


    At this moment, everyone had gained quite a bit.


    They all hoped to return safely.


    However, they also understood, given the increasingly perilous challenging rules of the Heavenly God Mountain, it was impossible for everyone present to return safely. Most of them were likely to fall in the upcoming trials.


    Still, having made it through the first three layers, many believed they might be the lucky ones to make it out.


    After all, judging by the rules of the first three layers, while strength provided an advantage, luck played a decisive role in most situations.


    Look at Lin Shan and Sima Liao, the first and second-ranked figures on the Heavenly God List¡ªdidn''t they both fail miserably?


    And remember, an ordinary Upper God King from earlier had already managed to break through to the Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm!


    Everyone was hoping to be the lucky one in the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain!


    With anticipation in their hearts, everyone turned their gazes to the newly entered Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World.


    What they saw made them freeze in shock.


    They saw that the place where they were standing was an enormous valley.


    The things within the valley seemed ordinary, but the void was filled with tens of thousands of floating lanterns engraved with strange patterns!


    "Lanterns?"


    "What are these lanterns? Could it be that they''re related to the Fourth Layer challenges of the Heavenly God Mountain?"


    A group of challengers curiously began to probe the lanterns.


    Their probing quickly led to shock.


    At this moment, all the lanterns were extinguished, appearing lifeless.


    However, as soon as their Divine Sense touched the lanterns, it was rebounded instantly; they couldn''t investigate these lanterns in the slightest!


    Even Ye Chen''s expression changed.


    Even with his abilities, Ye Chen couldn''t examine the interior of these lanterns.


    Ye Chen gazed further beyond the valley.


    He recalled that in the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm," the overseers had mentioned that the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World was overseen by the Divine Master Lords stationed in the Ancestral God Temple.


    Ye Chen wanted to investigate where those Divine Master Lords might be located.


    But Ye Chen was disappointed to find that his Divine Sense was completely confined within the valley; he couldn''t extend his perception beyond it.


    Even when Ye Chen attempted to fly out of the valley, he found himself unable to leave.


    It was as if they were all sealed within the valley!


    "It seems meeting those Divine Master Lords is impossible after all."


    "We can only face the Fourth Layer challenge here within the valley."


    Ye Chen mulled over his situation.


    As Ye Chen pondered and everyone curiously examined their surroundings, a voice resonated through the air.


    Just like the previous three layers, the voice began to explain the challenging rules of the Fourth Layer.


    "Challengers, welcome to the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World!"


    "Allow me to wish you success in this challenge, for once you succeed, you will be able to take your gains from the Heavenly God Mountain and leave directly!"


    The first two sentences of the voice instantly stirred the hearts and spirits of the 1,300-plus challengers present.


    The voice continued, "Of course, the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World is not easy to pass."


    "Everything depends on your luck and strength!"


    "Raise your heads and look at the lanterns floating in the void of the valley. These lanterns are called ''Myriad Blood Lanterns,'' and they are directly tied to the trials you must face to pass the Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain!"


    Myriad Blood Lanterns?!


    Upon hearing this name, everyone immediately turned their gaze to the tens of thousands of lanterns floating in the void.


    "These small lanterns¡ªwhat kind of trial do they hold? Could it be that each contains a separate crafted world?"


    Amidst the crowd''s confusion, the voice continued, "The Myriad Blood Lanterns contain various slaughter scenes. Once you enter one, you must kill all the slaughter entities within to successfully activate the Myriad Blood Lantern and make it fly toward the exit of the Heavenly God Mountain."


    "Additionally, I must warn you: merely killing all the slaughter entities is not enough. You must do so as quickly as possible."


    "Only the first thirty people to activate their Myriad Blood Lanterns and reach the exit of the Heavenly God Mountain will successfully leave."


    "Even the thirty-first person to arrive will be deemed a failure and permanently sealed within the Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "In other words, at most, only thirty of you will emerge as the final survivors!"


    "Of course, if all of you perish within the Myriad Blood Lanterns, then none of you will leave!"


    Boom!


    The voice''s declaration left everyone visibly shaken.


    At most, only thirty people would make it out of the Heavenly God Mountain?


    There was even a risk of total annihilation?!


    Everyone now recalled the rumors: it was said that for every ten thousand people who entered the Heavenly God Mountain, only one would emerge alive.


    With fifty-three thousand participants, and a maximum survival count of thirty, the odds were even worse than one in ten thousand!


    Indeed, the Heavenly God Mountain offered great opportunities, but its dangers were equally immense!


    Some challengers couldn''t help but ask, "What is the level of difficulty within the Myriad Blood Lanterns? What kind of combat power do the slaughter entities possess inside?"


    It was only natural to be concerned.


    If the slaughter entities within were overwhelmingly powerful, survival might be impossible for most.


    The voice appeared to hear their concerns and directly responded, "The difficulty within the Myriad Blood Lanterns is unknown to anyone. It could be extremely easy, or it could be monstrously difficult."


    "Everything depends on your luck and which lanterns you choose!"


    "Additionally, let me remind you."


    "Not only must you strive to be among the first thirty people to activate their Myriad Blood Lanterns and reach the exit, but also compete for the highest ranks!"


    "At the Heavenly God Mountain''s exit, you will find five ''Divine Transformation Pools'' of varying degrees of rarity, ranked from most precious to least. Entering these pools can guaranteedly allow you to advance at least one realm, and possibly several!"


    "The rarer the pool, the greater its benefits. Beyond advancing your realm, these ''Divine Transformation Pools'' can enhance and modify your Life Origin itself!"


    "I''ve noticed some of you have already experienced breakthroughs in your realms, likely due to entering the ''Lower-Level Divine Transformation Pool'' in the Third Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain. Let me clarify that the five pools at the Fourth Layer''s exit are countless times more precious than the Lower-Level Pool from the Third Layer!"


    Upon hearing this, Ye Chen''s heart began pounding wildly.


    He realized that the mysterious pools described to him earlier were Lower-Level Divine Transformation Pools.


    Now, at the Fourth Layer''s exit, there were five even more valuable pools!


    Previously, Ye Chen had missed the chance to enter the Divine Transformation Pool. This time, he was determined to experience its marvels and discover the extent of its power!


    After all, both advancing his realm and enhancing his Life Origin were immensely enticing to him.


    Ye Chen had previously benefited greatly from the "Crystal Spirit Fine Wine" bestowed upon him by Fang Xuan Divine Master in the Second Layer''s "Purple Ore Mystery Realm," which significantly nourished his Life Origin. Naturally, Ye Chen was eager to taste similar improvements once more.


    Even if these Divine Transformation Pools weren''t as miraculous as Fang Xuan Divine Master''s Crystal Spirit Fine Wine, Ye Chen wouldn''t miss the chance.


    "It seems that, to leave, I must not only strive to be among the first thirty to reach the exit but also aim for the top five, or even the first!"


    "This challenge is one where relaxation is utterly forbidden!"


    Judging by the combat power of those present, Ye Chen undeniably held the strongest advantage.


    Yet, the varying difficulties within the Myriad Blood Lanterns meant that even Ye Chen couldn''t guarantee being the first to exterminate all the slaughter entities inside and activate his lantern to fly toward the exit.


    If he encountered entities far beyond his strength, survival itself might become an uncertainty.


    Moreover, the notion of assisting other challengers, which had been considered earlier, now seemed entirely unrealistic under the current Myriad Blood Lantern rules.


    Each lantern held a unique trial, making it impossible for Ye Chen to help anyone else.


    Who among them would be one of the thirty survivors? That would entirely depend on their individual luck!


    As Ye Chen and the others mulled over their thoughts, the voice continued, "The Fourth Layer of the Heavenly God Mountain''s Great World allows for a total of one month''s challenge time!"


    "Within one month, those who reach the exit first¡ªthe top five individuals¡ªwill be granted the remaining time to cultivate within the Divine Transformation Pools. The sixth to thirtieth individuals will directly receive the basic reward of advancing one realm!"


    "If none of you manage to activate your Myriad Blood Lantern and reach the exit within one month, then all of you will be deemed failures!"


    "Now, the one-month challenge time begins!"


    "Choose the Myriad Blood Lantern you wish to challenge and begin your trial!"

 Chapter 940 - 890: The Swift 10,000 Blood Lanterns

    The month-long trial begins.


    Select the "Myriad Blood Lantern" you wish to enter and commence your test!


    As the voice faded, over 1,300 challengers in the valley all noticed that the extinguished lanterns in the void now emitted a faint glow.


    It was as if they were waiting eagerly for them to choose and enter.


    Everyone also heard a message coming directly from the "Myriad Blood Lanterns."


    The message clearly stated that as long as they activated the three "Passing Light of the God Marks" obtained earlier from the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain on their selected lantern, they could enter the lantern and begin their trial immediately.


    Boom!


    Upon sensing the message, one challenger immediately activated the three faint blue Passing Light of the God Marks on their hand toward a lantern.


    As soon as the activation occurred, the previously dim lantern brightened with a "bang" and began to emit blood-red light.


    At the same time, the challenger was sucked into the lantern in an instant.


    Soon thereafter, the lantern started to tremble.


    It was evident that the challenger had entered the "Myriad Blood Lantern" and was now battling the slaughter entities inside.


    This fourth layer of trials in Heavenly God Mountain serves as a race for the top five, a competition for the top thirty, and a desperate bid for progress.


    Seeing someone already dive into a "Myriad Blood Lantern," no one else wanted to wait.


    Everyone picked out their desired "Myriad Blood Lantern" and, like the first person, activated their three Passing Light of the God Marks, entering the lanterns one after another.


    In mere seconds, over 1,200 out of the 1,300-plus martial artists entered the "Myriad Blood Lanterns."


    The remaining participants, including Ye Chen and those closely connected to him, exchanged brief farewells before also entering their chosen "Myriad Blood Lanterns."


    The total time it took for all the martial artists to enter the "Myriad Blood Lanterns" was less than three breaths.


    At this moment, in the void.


    Out of tens of thousands of "Myriad Blood Lanterns," more than 1,300 had already lit up.


    Among the myriad lanterns, these stood out strikingly.


    "Is this the slaughter scene inside the ''Myriad Blood Lantern''?"


    After entering the lantern, Ye Chen found himself standing in a grand hall shrouded in blood-red chilling light.


    As soon as he stabilized his stance, dozens of black puppets at the level of Middle Earth Gods charged at him, wielding diverse divine weapons.


    "These must be the slaughter entities mentioned by that voice. I wonder if this is just the first wave or if all of them are already here," Ye Chen mused.


    Seeing just dozens of Middle Earth Gods-level black puppets, Ye Chen''s expression remained unchanging.


    With a flick of his hand, "plop, plop, plop, plop," dozens of sword rays, precisely matching the number of black puppets, slashed out.


    In an instant, all the black puppets were annihilated.


    Immediately, the blood-red chilly grand hall began rumbling, "crack, crack, crack," and dozens of blood-colored shapeshifting demons roared as they rushed toward Ye Chen.


    These blood-colored shapeshifting demons were all at the level of Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Ye Chen didn''t even blink. Raising his palm again, he wiped out these dozens of blood-colored demons.


    While Ye Chen was eliminating the slaughter entities within the "Myriad Blood Lantern,"


    the other martial artists who had entered were also battling their respective slaughter entities.


    One martial artist who had recently broken through to the Middle Divine Venerable Realm encountered three slaughter demons as soon as they entered their "Myriad Blood Lantern."


    Upon sensing the slaughter demons'' strength, their expression changed drastically.


    Although there were only three demons charging toward them, all three demons were at the level of Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    This martial artist, who had struggled for a breakthrough after the first three layers of Heavenly God Mountain, stood no chance against Upper Immortal Divine Venerables-level demons.


    Boom!


    In just a breath, the martial artist was torn to shreds by the three demons.


    The lantern they had entered, which had once glowed brightly, immediately dimmed again with a "bang."


    The lantern dimmed, the person perished.


    This martial artist became the first to die on the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Like this unfortunate participant, most challengers faced slaughter entities that were at least comparable to their combat power levels from when they first entered Heavenly God Mountain.


    Even if they could handle them, they couldn''t remove all traces of the slaughter entities in a short period.


    For the moment, not a single lantern was flying toward the exit.


    Everyone remained locked in intense battles with the slaughter entities.


    Of course, while some individuals faced sheer misfortune, others enjoyed strikingly favorable circumstances.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    One challenger who recently broke through to the Upper Earth Divine Venerable Realm found themselves surrounded by hundreds of martial artist warriors as soon as they entered their "Myriad Blood Lantern."


    To their delight, these warrior shadows only had combat power at the ordinary God King Level.


    God King Level beings had never posed a threat to this challenger even before their recent breakthrough, let alone now.


    The Upper Earth Divine Venerable raised a hand, utterly destroying the swarm of warrior shadows.


    Then, a second batch of warrior shadows charged toward them.


    The challenger noticed, delightedly, that this second batch still had combat power at the ordinary God King Level, and their numbers had decreased significantly.


    Smiling, they destroyed the second batch of shadows.


    They then noticed that the third wave had an even smaller number, with the same combat power level remaining unchanged.


    The Upper Earth Divine Venerable''s heart nearly jumped out of their chest: "Could this ''Myriad Blood Lantern'' I entered be the easiest one?"


    "These God King Level slaughter entities can''t harm me in the slightest!"


    "And their numbers keep dwindling."


    "It''s highly likely that as soon as I reduce their numbers to zero, I will pass the ''Myriad Blood Lantern'' test and fly straight to the exit!"


    Heart pounding with excitement, the challenger annihilated the third batch of slaughter entities with a swift gesture.


    When the fourth batch arrived, their numbers had dwindled to merely a few dozen.


    The Upper Earth Divine Venerable knew that based on this progression, they wouldn''t need much more time to complete the "Myriad Blood Lantern" trial!


    The situation played out exactly as they had anticipated.


    From entering the "Myriad Blood Lantern" to eliminating all fifteen waves of slaughter entities inside, this Upper Earth Divine Venerable spent less than fifty breaths.


    When they had finished eliminating all fifteen waves, they observed that their lantern stopped producing slaughter entities and instead began flying forward.


    Seeing this, the challenger felt an immense surge of joy.


    They had succeeded!


    They had officially cleared the fourth layer of trials in Heavenly God Mountain!


    "I might be the first to finish!"


    "My luck is unbelievable. This slaughter challenge posed no difficulty at all!"


    As their lantern flew forward, the challenger''s spirit soared.


    They confidently assumed they must be first.


    Unfortunately, the challenger could not see the situation outside their lantern.


    From the view in the valley, however, many lanterns remained stationary, signaling that their occupants were either battling or had perished, their lanterns extinguished.


    While the lantern carrying the Upper Earth Divine Venerable indeed accelerated toward the exit, it wasn''t the first one to do so.


    Ahead of their lantern was another one already flying toward the exit!


    And the lantern in the lead had taken merely thirty breaths to light up and begin moving¡ª10 breaths faster than the lucky challenger''s forty-plus breath timeframe.


    Inside the lead lantern was none other than Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen had cleared the trial faster than even the challenger who had encountered the "easiest task."


    Inside the lantern, sensing its movement toward the exit, Ye Chen wore a faint smile: "Although the slaughter entities I faced this time were quite strong, fortunately, none surpassed my combat level."


    "Let''s hope I can reach the exit ahead of everyone else."


    Ye Chen spoke lightly, but the slaughter entities he faced would have terrified anyone else.


    This time, Ye Chen battled through five waves of slaughter entities, with each succeeding wave growing stronger.


    The last wave even featured three Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level slaughter entities.


    This level of enemy, had it appeared in another "Myriad Blood Lantern," would have spelled death for any other challenger.


    After all, no one except Ye Chen could withstand Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level slaughter entities!


    Only Ye Chen could effortlessly eliminate such foes in an instant.


    Only Ye Chen could emerge as the first to complete the trial under such challenging circumstances!


    Swoosh.


    Ye Chen''s lantern flew toward the exit.


    Soon after, the Upper Earth Divine Venerable''s lantern followed.


    Following these two lanterns, more rushing sounds echoed as additional lanterns began leaving the valley, heading forward.


    A stick of incense''s time later, among the illuminated lanterns, nearly sixty "Myriad Blood Lanterns" had flown toward the exit.

 Chapter 941 - 891: Lin Feiers Waiting

    Boom.


    When the "Myriad Blood Lantern" where the Superior Earth Divine Venerable-level challenger resided finally stopped.


    The challenger''s expression brightened: "The exit has arrived?"


    In the next moment, the Superior Earth Divine Venerable-level challenger felt a massive repelling force within the "Myriad Blood Lantern," directly ejecting him out.


    As he was expelled, he shouted internally, "I made it! I''m the first! I must be the first to arrive!"


    His gaze swiftly fixed ahead.


    Then, he directly saw a massive spatial exit ahead.


    That must be the exit to leave Heavenly God Mountain!


    The challenger also noticed, next to the exit, there were five divine pools radiating with shimmering Divine Light¡ªnone other than the "Divine Transformation Pools," capable of bringing a breakthrough in one''s realm!


    However, the moment his eyes fell upon the five "Divine Transformation Pools," his delighted smile instantly froze.


    "Ye Chen... Senior Brother Ye Chen!"


    What caused his smile to freeze was the fact that, contrary to his belief that he was the first to arrive, he saw a figure he knew all too well in one of the Divine Transformation Pools¡ªYe Chen, sitting cross-legged and cultivating with his eyes closed!


    "Senior Brother Ye Chen got here faster than me!"


    The Superior Earth Divine Venerable-level challenger found it utterly unbelievable.


    "Could it be that Senior Brother Ye Chen, like me, also encountered incredibly weak slaughtering entities?"


    The thought quickly made him want to approach Ye Chen and ask what level of entities Ye Chen had faced.


    But in the next moment, the challenger dismissed the idea altogether.


    Because, right outside Ye Chen''s "Divine Transformation Pool," a radiant screen suddenly displayed Ye Chen''s results within the "Myriad Blood Lantern."


    Ye Chen, in the Myriad Blood Lantern, slaughtered five waves of entities, totaling: 89 Middle Heavenly God-level entities, 56 Superior Heavenly God-level entities, 28 Lower Immortal Divine Venerable-level entities, 16 Middle Immortal Divine Venerable-level entities, and 3 Superior Immortal Divine Venerable-level entities!


    "Superior Immortal Divine Venerable-level entities?! Three?!"


    Upon seeing Ye Chen''s results, the challenger stood completely stunned.


    It took dozens of breaths before he finally recovered from his shock.


    This time, he dared not disturb Ye Chen at all, without even a flicker of an idea to inquire about his experience.


    What a joke.


    Someone who could even slaughter Superior Immortal Divine Venerable-level entities!


    How could he dare to interrupt such a Senior Brother Ye Chen?


    Even the earlier thought of comparing himself to Ye Chen now seemed utterly laughable in his own mind!


    At last, after letting out a deep sigh, the challenger followed the Divine Light''s guidance, located the second-ranked "Divine Transformation Pool" among the five, and entered it, beginning his own state of cultivation, just like Ye Chen.


    Not long after.


    A third challenger successfully arrived.


    When this third challenger saw that Ye Chen and the Superior Earth Divine Venerable had already arrived ahead of him, he, too, was taken by surprise.


    And upon seeing the slaughter scores displayed outside Ye Chen''s and the Superior Earth Divine Venerable''s "Divine Transformation Pools."


    The results of the Superior Earth Divine Venerable instantly made this third challenger envious of his good fortune.


    As for Ye Chen''s results, they sent this third challenger into prolonged shock once more!


    The fourth, the fifth, the sixth...


    More challengers continued arriving at the exit.


    Each of these later arrivals, upon seeing the combat accomplishments of those who preceded them to the exit, voiced either astonishment or sighs of resignation.


    The top five challengers who made it through also entered the respective Divine Transformation Pools, beginning their cultivation.


    The sixth challenger to arrive, upon discovering all five pools were already occupied, was left utterly frustrated at having fallen short.


    However, in the end, he accepted the outcome.


    Although he failed to make it into the top five, he still placed in the top thirty, and this time, he could safely leave Heavenly God Mountain with substantial gains.


    Moreover, even though he couldn''t enter the wondrous "Divine Transformation Pool," merely being among the top thirty gave him the opportunity to increase his realm by one level.


    Upon being the sixth arrival, a Divine Light descended upon him. In momentary brilliance, this challenger directly broke through from the Middle Earth Divine Venerable realm to the Superior Earth Divine Venerable realm!


    Now, he only awaited the final opening of the exit to leave with a three-tier realm jump and a bounty of treasures from Heavenly God Mountain!


    Inside the first-ranked Divine Transformation Pool where Ye Chen resided.


    At that moment, Ye Chen remained completely unaware of how fast or how many others were reaching the exit after him.


    He didn''t even notice the Superior Earth Divine Venerable who had been the second to arrive after him.


    Because, upon entering the "Divine Transformation Pool," Ye Chen immediately sensed the isolating energy within the pool engulfing him, shielding him inside and blocking his Divine Sense from the outside world.


    Ye Chen had no way of perceiving what was happening beyond the pool.


    All he could feel was the torrential Life Origin power and boundless Divine Power surging into his body.


    Under such circumstances, Ye Chen had no time to think of anything else.


    He knew he had only one month to absorb the benefits of the "First Divine Transformation Pool."


    He had to seize every moment to draw on the energy within!


    ...


    Within Heavenly God Mountain, the final sprint was well underway, as the countdown to departure loomed.


    At this time, the Sovereigns who had led the five Divine Kingdoms'' 530,000 challengers to Heavenly God Mountain were growing visibly anxious.


    "I wonder how those youngsters have fared in their trials?"


    "Although most of them will perish, those who survive will surely reap astonishing rewards!"


    A Sovereign from the Lancang Divine Kingdom voiced his thoughts aloud.


    A Sovereign from the Qianjue Divine Kingdom, eyes gleaming, added: "I don''t care about the fate of the others, but in our kingdom, Hua Xuelian is the one I have the highest hopes for. He''s already exceptionally powerful, and if he breaks through to either the High-tier Earth Divine Venerable or the Heavenly Divine Venerable level here, it''ll be a monumental gain for the Qianjue Divine Kingdom!"


    "After all, in the outside world, it''d take hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of years to reach the Heavenly Divine Venerable realm in cultivation, whereas here in Heavenly God Mountain, as long as one has luck, it could be accomplished in an instant!"


    The words of the Qianjue Sovereign drew nods of agreement from two other Sovereigns of the same Divine Kingdom.


    Meanwhile, the three Sovereigns accompanying the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom maintained calm composure, replying: "There''s no need for concern. Whether Hua Xuelian, Lin Shan, or our own Sima Liao, all possess immense strength and are unlikely to face significant issues."


    "We simply need to wait for their exit!"


    "We''re particularly curious to see how much progress Sima Liao will achieve. If his advancements are substantial, we''ll prioritize cultivating him further. After all, the ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle'' in a few years awaits, and we''re counting on him to represent the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom then!"


    Among the five Divine Kingdoms, the Snow Desert, Qianjue, and Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdoms stood out as the strongest trio.


    Their confidence was palpable, leaving the sovereigns of the weaker Lancang Divine Kingdom heaping praises on them: "The disciples of the Snow Desert Kingdom are undoubtedly exceptional."


    These flattery remarks brought smiles to the faces of the three Snow Desert Sovereigns.


    In contrast, within the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, the Sovereigns Tian Mei and Jia Lan wore solemn expressions.


    Unlike the other Sovereigns who harbored high hopes for their disciples but didn''t dwell overly on their survival, these two were deeply concerned.


    After all, among this group of challengers, there was one individual they deeply cared about¡ªYe Chen!


    Sovereign Tian Mei had been entrusted by the Northern Territory King to look after Ye Chen, while Sovereign Jia Lan had been tasked by Sovereign Xuechen. Both held nothing but earnest hopes for Ye Chen''s safety.


    Although they knew Ye Chen was extraordinarily powerful, neither Tian Mei nor Jia Lan could rest easy until the very moment all survivors returned from Heavenly God Mountain.


    ...


    Of course, those who closely monitored the trials within Heavenly God Mountain weren''t limited to the Sovereigns waiting outside.


    Far away, within their respective Divine Kingdoms, others also eagerly awaited the conclusion of this expedition.


    In the Ice Emperor Realm within the Ten Thousand Beasts Star Domain, inside the Zixuan Treasure Palace where Jiang Yao and Long Li resided.


    Jiang Yao, usually immersed in painstaking cultivation, now found herself unable to focus entirely on her training.


    "Long Li said Ye Chen must fulfill three tasks set by the two Sovereigns. This is his time to complete the second task¡ªcharging through Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "Ye Chen, you''ll surely succeed!"


    "This Zixuan Treasure Palace only allows cultivation and prohibits leaving without completing training tasks. Otherwise, I''d have... found a way to see you!"


    "Ye Chen, in a few more years, I''ll surely leave this place!"


    Atop one of the countless steps within the Zixuan Treasure Palace, Jiang Yao meditated deeply.


    Down below, the young girl Long Li also seemed lost in thought.


    A certain figure that lingered in her mind refused to fade away.


    "Ye Chen."


    "I believe in you. Heavenly God Mountain won''t pose a challenge you can''t overcome..."


    Long Li, lost in her thoughts for a long while, finally clenched her tiny fists tightly.


    ...


    In the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, a neighboring realm to the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    Located in its Northern Region was Frost God City, an ordinary divine city.


    There resided the Lin Family, a humble clan whose strongest member had only reached the Middle Earth Divine Venerable realm.


    Yet despite its modest stature, the Lin Family of Frost God City was widely respected throughout the city.


    For one thing, a prodigious talent named Lin Shan had emerged from the Lin Family, gaining admission to the famed Black Dragon Divine Palace as one of its disciples.


    For someone to rise from an ordinary divine city like Frost God City and ascend to the ranks of a Black Dragon Divine Palace disciple was an exceedingly rare accomplishment in the city''s history.


    This alone earned the Lin Family widespread admiration among countless martial artists in Frost God City.


    Furthermore, the Lin Family''s renown was also tied to another reason¡ªa peerless young beauty in the family, Lin Shan''s equally talented sister, Lin Fei''er, who once stirred awe throughout Frost God City with her unparalleled aptitude on par with Lin Shan''s.


    Tragically, Lin Fei''er had fallen gravely ill several years ago, halting her cultivation and even regressing in her realm.


    Though Lin Fei''er had once been destined to follow in Lin Shan''s footsteps and enter the prestigious Black Dragon Divine Palace, that dream now seemed entirely out of reach.


    In the Lin Family''s residence within Frost God City.


    Inside a private chamber, a pale but stunning sixteen-year-old girl lay on a bed.


    Beside her were her father and mother, their faces filled with concern.


    "Fei''er, how are you feeling? You must hold on! Your brother will return soon, and he''ll surely bring back the pills to cure your Cold Poison!"


    The elderly couple''s eyes glimmered with anxious care as they watched their frail daughter.


    But the girl only shook her head weakly. "Father, Mother, I only wish for Brother to return safely. As for my illness, I know there''s probably no cure."

 Chapter 942 - 892: The Transformation of Starlight Tower (Update 1)

    "Silly girl, don''t let your thoughts run wild!" Hearing the young woman''s despairing words, the two elders looked even more panicked. "Your brother is a disciple of the Divine Palace. He said he can save you, so he will definitely save you!"


    The young woman saw the worried expressions on her parents'' faces and gave a bitter smile as she shook her head. Even so, she refrained from saying anything further that might add to their concern.


    However, in her heart, the young woman murmured to herself, "I used to believe my brother could cure me, but over these past few days, that ''Ice Crystal Leaf'' seems increasingly to be devouring my life force. My brother said he would find pills to suppress the ''Cold Poison,'' but I fear they won''t be able to deal with this Ice Crystal Leaf."


    As the young woman spoke, if one were to peer deep into her Qi Sea, they would see a leaf of icy, snow-white color radiating a dazzlingly cold aura, floating within.


    At this moment, the young woman''s Qi Sea had withered significantly, but the snow-colored leaf appeared more vibrant and brimming with vitality!


    The Lin Family was shrouded in gloom due to the young woman''s illness.


    Meanwhile, in another household in Frost God City¡ªspecifically the foremost family in Frost God City, the Zuo Family¡ªa Heavenly Divine Venerable youth was staring intently in the direction of the Lin Family.


    Beside him stood an Immortal Divine Venerable in a grey robe.


    The youth withdrew his gaze toward the Lin Family and turned to the grey-robed elder, saying, "Master Xuan, in a few days'' time, I will need to trouble you to make an attempt to cure Lin Fei''er."


    Upon hearing the youth''s words, the grey-robed elder nodded and chuckled. "Zuo Yan, you seem very concerned about that little Lin Family girl. You even made the effort to return to Frost God City all the way from the Black Profound Cultivation Holy Land. I''ve heard her beauty is unparalleled¡ªdon''t tell me you''ve taken a liking to her?"


    "And besides, it''s been said that Lin Fei''er''s genius brother, Lin Shan, has traveled to Heavenly God Mountain. He''ll likely find the medicinal treasure to cure her illness, so you might not even need me to intervene."


    The grey-robed elder''s words caused a sharp glint to flash in the youth''s eyes.


    He shook his head. "Heavenly God Mountain may be extraordinary, but the likelihood of Lin Shan finding a remedy for Lin Fei''er''s condition is slim."


    "If there''s even the slightest chance she doesn''t recover, Master Xuan, I will still need your assistance."


    As the youth spoke, his gaze fell on an ice crystal fruit stored within one of his spatial treasures.


    In his heart, the youth sneered coldly, "Master Xuan thinks I fancy Lin Fei''er, but he doesn''t realize that my effort to treat her serves a far greater purpose."


    "As long as I can gain Lin Fei''er''s trust, everything will fall within my grasp!"


    While his cold sneer lingered, a subtle flicker of greed and fiery ambition flashed deep within the youth''s eyes, almost imperceptible to anyone who might look.


    ...


    Heavenly God Mountain, fourth layer.


    The final day to leave Heavenly God Mountain was drawing closer.


    Sitting within the "Divine Transformation Pool," Ye Chen had yet to emerge.


    It had now been twenty-seven days since Ye Chen entered the Divine Transformation Pool.


    During these twenty-seven days of cultivation, the four others in nearby Divine Transformation Pools had each achieved significant progress. Some had advanced two realms, while others had broken through three realms, even reaching the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm!


    Clearly, being able to cultivate within such a miraculous location capable of aiding realm breakthroughs was already a tremendous blessing for all four.


    However, if anyone were to observe Ye Chen, they would be astounded.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had only progressed from the Middle God King Realm to the Upper God King Realm¡ªa single realm breakthrough.


    One must understand that Ye Chen had entered the most precious of the five Divine Transformation Pools!


    Furthermore, Ye Chen was undeniably the most gifted individual among the five!


    Yet, his realm breakthrough was inferior to that of the others¡ªa detail that would shock anyone to their core!


    Looking toward Ye Chen, however, one would see that, despite his seemingly meager breakthrough, Ye Chen was brimming with joy and excitement instead of disappointment.


    "Upper God King!"


    "This time in Heavenly God Mountain, successfully rising to Upper God King Realm is an unexpected delight."


    "However, I didn''t expect that this ''Divine Transformation Pool'' would offer me an even greater reward!"


    At this moment, inside Ye Chen''s body¡ªwhich no one could detect, not even the Divine Master Lords overseeing Heavenly God Mountain¡ªthe "Stars Tower" had begun showing faint signs of change throughout Ye Chen''s twenty-seven days of cultivation.


    In the past, Ye Chen could only enter the Stars Tower while practicing the Primordial Star Scripture.


    Even then, he could only comprehend the techniques within the Primordial Star Scripture and had no interactions with the Stars Tower itself.


    Yet during these days of cultivation within the Divine Transformation Pool, Ye Chen felt as if he was gradually sensing an inherent divine power within the Stars Tower.


    Now, Ye Chen could even utilize the first ability of the Stars Tower¡ªits spatial storage power¡ªwhere he could directly store his treasures within the first five layers he had previously accessed!


    This unexpected transformation completely astonished Ye Chen.


    Indeed, Ye Chen was certain the Stars Tower was no ordinary artifact. It likely exceeded the Divine Venerable grade of Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts, reaching Sovereign-grade Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts¡ªundoubtedly a high-level existence even within the Cosmic Sea!


    Under such circumstances, to activate even a fraction of the unique powers of such an artifact was beyond what Ye Chen had imagined!


    "Life Origin!"


    "It must be the enhancement of my Life Origin that has altered my control over the Stars Tower!"


    Ye Chen''s gaze shifted toward the Divine Transformation Pool he was in.


    He could see that the divine liquid within the pool had paled significantly; over ninety percent of the divine liquid had been absorbed by Ye Chen!


    Ninety percent.


    An utterly staggering figure.


    One must understand that the four challengers in the other Divine Transformation Pools had only absorbed less than one-thousandth of the divine liquid, yet they achieved significant realm breakthroughs.


    Yet Ye Chen had absorbed over ninety percent of the divine liquid!


    "The divine liquid I absorbed¡ªonly a minuscule portion contributed to my realm breakthrough. The vast majority of the divine liquid''s power was instead converted into things that enhanced my Life Origin."


    "So much divine liquid power, yet all it achieved was allowing me to activate the Stars Tower''s most basic spatial storage capability."


    "Does this mean that to master more of the Stars Tower''s powers, I need to continue seeking ways to enhance my Life Origin?"


    As this thought struck, Ye Chen''s eyes gleamed with determination.


    If he could indeed discover the means to manipulate the Stars Tower, if he could master just one or two devastating divine powers within it...


    For Ye Chen, this possibility was absolutely earth-shattering.


    After all, the Primordial Star Scripture alone had already allowed Ye Chen to witness the unparalleled skills wielded by Star Lord-level figures.


    If he could also harness divine powers comparable to those of the Primordial Star Scripture residing within the Stars Tower itself, this would undoubtedly elevate Ye Chen''s combat abilities in unimaginable ways!

 Chapter 943 - 893: Finally Leaving Heavenly God Mountain (Second Update)

    After a moment of contemplation, Ye Chen calmed his mind and resumed absorbing the divine liquid power from the "Divine Transformation Pool."


    In the blink of an eye, the final three days passed quietly.


    The month-long exploration of the fourth layer of Heavenly God Mountain came to an official end.


    The entire one-year journey through Heavenly God Mountain also concluded completely!


    As the final moment arrived, the five individuals still inside the "Divine Transformation Pool," including Ye Chen, were abruptly propelled out by a tremendous force, ascending from within the pool.


    The five figures in flight immediately caught the attention of over a hundred challengers already gathered at the exit.


    When the onlookers realized that among the five who had entered the "Divine Transformation Pool," two had ascended to become Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables, one had progressed to the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable level, and another had attained the Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable rank¡ªproducing a total of four individuals at the Heavenly Divine Venerable level¡ªthe crowd was overwhelmed with extreme envy and awe toward these four cultivators.


    All the while, the crowd''s attention keenly focused on Ye Chen.


    Though Ye Chen''s realm at that moment fell short compared to the other four who had emerged from the "Divine Transformation Pool," merely at the Upper God King level,


    everyone could perceive an otherworldly aura emanating from Ye Chen.


    It was an aura seemingly transcendent, as if surpassing the presence of everyone else in the scene!


    Although this extraordinary aura quickly withdrew into Ye Chen''s body after his exit from the "Divine Transformation Pool," the brief glimpse left no doubt in everyone''s minds: despite Ye Chen not experiencing a significant breakthrough in realm, his true harvest was likely greater than anyone could imagine!


    "Senior Brother Ye Chen!"


    "Senior Brother Ye Chen!"


    The four Heavenly Divine Venerables standing beside Ye Chen were equally astonished as they turned their gazes toward him.


    These four individuals had entered Heavenly God Mountain alongside Ye Chen, and even though they had now ascended to the Heavenly Divine Venerable level, they still addressed Ye Chen with utmost respect as "Senior Brother," not daring to show the slightest sense of superiority.


    Because all four of them had noticed something unusual about Ye Chen''s "Divine Transformation Pool."


    After the four of them emerged, the respective pools they had drawn power from still shimmered with divine light, indicating that the minor fraction¡ªbarely one-thousandth¡ªof divine energy they had absorbed had hardly affected their pools.


    However, they saw that Ye Chen''s "Divine Transformation Pool" had nearly been depleted of its divine liquid and power¡ªan astonishing ninety-nine percent had vanished!


    This meant that Ye Chen had absorbed ninety-nine percent of the divine liquid and power from his pool!


    Moreover, Ye Chen''s pool was ranked first, more precious than the pools they had accessed.


    Under such circumstances, for Ye Chen to deplete ninety-nine percent of that supreme pool''s divine liquid and power¡ª


    this was simply jaw-dropping for the four onlookers!


    They had only absorbed a fraction of the weaker divine liquid and power, yet their realms had advanced this dramatically.


    They couldn''t fathom what Ye Chen had done with the immense amount of power he had absorbed, given that his realm had only advanced one step. What had the rest of that boundless energy been transformed into?


    "Could it be that the transcendent aura that just flashed from Senior Brother Ye Chen''s body is the result of the additional divine power absorbed from the ''Divine Transformation Pool''?"


    "This transcendent aura¡ªI''ve never sensed anything like it, not even from Sovereigns!"


    "It feels like the essence of life itself, or perhaps a higher-tier existence beyond this universe!"


    The four speculated silently in their hearts.


    Amidst murmurs of discussion, Ye Chen nodded slightly toward the four individuals beside him and then looked toward the others at the exit.


    In the crowd, Ye Chen saw Hua Xuelian and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan.


    "Daoist Hua Xuelian, Senior Ancient Emperor, did you make it into the top thirty?" Ye Chen asked them aloud.


    Though there were over a hundred people gathered near the exit, only the top thirty were granted the right to leave Heavenly God Mountain, and Ye Chen was genuinely concerned about their chances of leaving.


    However, their smiles in response eased Ye Chen''s worries.


    Hua Xuelian laughed and said, "Brother Ye Chen, I was the seventh to arrive at the exit. Though it''s a pity I didn''t enter the ''Divine Transformation Pool,'' I did earn the qualification to leave Heavenly God Mountain."


    The Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan also exhaled deeply and said, "Ye Chen, I was incredibly fortunate this time¡ªI made it as the twenty-ninth to reach the exit. If I had faced a more formidable killing entity inside the ''Myriad Blood Lantern,'' I might never have escaped Heavenly God Mountain!"


    Both Hua Xuelian and the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan had successfully secured their qualifications to leave Heavenly God Mountain.


    Along with Ye Chen, twenty-eight others could also depart.


    However, the remaining eighty or so individuals on the field weren''t as fortunate and were overcome with despair.


    Though they had survived the trial of the "Myriad Blood Lantern" and avoided death within it, they remained unable to claim one of the thirty spots needed to exit, ultimately becoming the final losers.


    They attempted to rush toward the exit multiple times,


    but the formidable power guarding the portal rebuffed them instantly, sending them hurtling back into the confines of Heavenly God Mountain.


    These challengers understood with sorrow that they would never leave Heavenly God Mountain again and would soon turn into desiccated bones, perishing within its depths.


    Observing their dejected, hopeless expressions, Ye Chen let out a long sigh.


    Heavenly God Mountain.


    A land of great fortune.


    The thirty people who succeeded in escaping undoubtedly reaped incredible rewards, whether through realm advancements or acquiring treasures¡ªprogress within a single year that would be unimaginable in the outside world!


    At the same time, Heavenly God Mountain was a land of immense slaughter.


    Ye Chen reflected on how, at the journey''s beginning, a staggering five hundred and thirty thousand had entered.


    Yet so many perished facing the bloodlight killers on the first layer, countless more fell in the Sea of Mist on the second, while even powerhouses like Lin Shan and Mu Qingxue were trapped in the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm."


    The trials of the "Life and Death Cavern World" on the third level and the "Myriad Blood Lantern" test of the fourth likewise eliminated innumerable challengers.


    "This is the brutality of competition."


    "Heavenly God Mountain offers immense fortune, but in the end, only a small fraction can seize it."


    "The majority become mere cannon fodder."


    "I pray the day never comes when I share their fate."


    Ye Chen mused introspectively.


    Though he had succeeded in this harrowing challenge, the crises surrounding the "Death Fruit" and "Three Great Undersea Killing Formations" during his journey instilled in him a sharp sense of urgency.


    Ye Chen realized deeply that only by becoming even stronger could he prevent himself from becoming a name on the list of fallen challengers in the future.


    As these thoughts swirled through Ye Chen''s mind, the exit of "Heavenly God Mountain" began to radiate divine light.


    This light, imbued with an indescribable sentience, enveloped Ye Chen and the other top thirty challengers before propelling them toward the exit.


    Ye Chen only managed one final glance at those left behind before he, alongside Hua Xuelian, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and others, was completely transported out of Heavenly God Mountain.


    "They made it out!"


    "They''ve emerged!"


    As soon as Ye Chen exited Heavenly God Mountain, he heard the exclamations from the Sovereigns of the Five Great Divine Kingdoms waiting outside, followed by figures flying toward him swiftly.


    "Ye Chen!"


    Among the voices, he recognized those of Sovereign Jia Lan and Sovereign Tian Mei, their expressions brimming with excitement as they approached him.


    "Ye Chen, it''s such a relief to see you unharmed!" Sovereign Jia Lan rushed to Ye Chen''s side, examining him from head to toe.


    Meanwhile, Sovereign Tian Mei observed Ye Chen with a pleased smile and inwardly mused, "He''s become an Upper God King? And the aura he radiates suggests a fundamental transformation in his very essence. Excellent¡ªrealm advancement isn''t paramount in Heavenly God Mountain; the elevation of one''s methods and insights is far more crucial!"


    "Back when Li''er entered Heavenly God Mountain, she only emerged as an Upper God King, yet her gains far surpassed those who rose to the Heavenly Divine rank!"


    Seeing Ye Chen safe brought immense relief to the two Sovereigns, who had been entrusted by the Northern Territory King and Sovereign Xuechen to oversee his well-being.


    They shifted their attention to the surviving challengers from Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, engaging them in conversation.


    On the other side, among the challengers from the other Four Great Divine Kingdoms, voices filled with disbelief came forth.


    "Sima Liao didn''t make it out?!"


    The three Sovereigns from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom were utterly shocked!


    They had placed their highest hopes on Sima Liao and couldn''t fathom how he, of all people, had failed to emerge from Heavenly God Mountain. The realization struck them like a hammer to the heart.


    They cared little about the loss of other God Kings, but losing a prodigy like Sima Liao was absolutely unacceptable!


    Similarly, the three Sovereigns of the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom exclaimed in alarm, "Lin Shan didn''t make it out either?!"


    "How could he possibly be trapped in Heavenly God Mountain? Could he have encountered some unprecedented crisis?"


    Of the once-renowned figures from the other four Divine Kingdoms¡ªLin Shan, Sima Liao, and Hua Xuelian¡ªonly Hua Xuelian had safely returned, a conclusion so jarring the Sovereigns of the Four Great Divine Kingdoms struggled to process it.


    In past expeditions through Heavenly God Mountain, rarely had the most outstanding combatants fallen at such an alarming rate.


    The Sovereigns quickly turned to the surviving God Kings from their respective Divine Kingdoms, questioning them about the events transpiring within the mountain.


    Upon learning that Lin Shan and Sima Liao had vanished alongside Ye Chen, and that none of the others knew the details of their fates,


    the three Sovereigns from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom locked their gazes onto Ye Chen. One of their Nine-Star Sovereigns could no longer contain his anger and demanded, "Ye Chen, explain everything about the situation that led to you, Sima Liao, and the others falling into danger. Leave nothing out!"


    "Oh?" Hearing the commanding tone of the three Sovereigns, Ye Chen raised his eyebrows slightly.


    Before Ye Chen could even respond, Sovereign Tian Mei and Sovereign Jia Lan stepped forward, shielding him and glancing sharply at the three Sovereigns from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom. "Are you attempting to interrogate him?"


    Sovereign Tian Mei then turned back to Ye Chen with a smile and said, "Ye Chen, you don''t need to answer their questions if you don''t wish to. I''d like to see how they intend to force you!"


    Sovereign Tian Mei''s words left the three Sovereigns from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom fuming.


    They hadn''t expected her to guard Ye Chen so staunchly, to the point of disregarding their dignity as fellow Sovereigns.


    And then, Ye Chen''s next words made the three Sovereigns of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom utterly livid.


    Ye Chen said nonchalantly, "Sima Liao from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom has long since died. As for how he died, if you have the ability, you can consult the entities within Heavenly God Mountain. I have no interest in discussing it further with you."


    On the other hand, Ye Chen turned to the three worried Sovereigns from the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom and said sincerely, "Respected Seniors, Lin Shan is trapped in a secret ground within Heavenly God Mountain but is not in mortal danger. He still has a chance to escape in the future."


    Having said this, Ye Chen ignored the three Snow Desert Divine Kingdom Sovereigns, visibly enraged and pale-faced from his dismissiveness, and focused his mind toward the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    If the three Sovereigns from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom had approached politely, Ye Chen might have shared some information with them.


    However, their arrogant and domineering attitudes left him utterly disinclined to engage with them further.


    Besides, Ye Chen was more eager to chat with Xiaojiu, whom he hadn''t connected with in some time.


    Why should he waste time on the haughty Sovereigns of the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom?


    They truly thought they could do as they pleased on Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom''s territory?


    As Ye Chen''s Divine Sense entered the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, he immediately heard Xiaojiu''s voice: "Ye Chen, I saw the entire process of your journey through Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "Ye Chen, you''ve obtained innumerable treasures this time, especially the ninety-eight ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' you collected from the medicinal garden on the first layer of Heavenly God Mountain. They will be immensely useful!"

 Chapter 944 - 894: The Use of the Primordial Gold Divine Flower (First Update)

    Xiaojiu''s words startled Ye Chen.


    Then, Ye Chen recalled the items he had discovered back when he explored the "Abandoned Land" within the medicinal garden on the first layer of the Heavenly God Mountain.


    At that time, Ye Chen broke through the miniature world of the Death Fruit and entered the "Abandoned Land" left behind by a being who had surpassed the Sovereign Realm.


    Ultimately, he harvested dozens of materials required for cultivating the "Eternal God Body" from a medicinal garden. The materials for cultivating "Wind Divine Patterns" had already been used by Ye Chen, successfully allowing him to complete the cultivation of the "Wind Divine Patterns" of the Eternal God Body in the third layer of Heavenly God Mountain.


    Aside from cultivation materials, Ye Chen also discovered ninety-eight golden flowers and two green-colored plants that could emit green and white threads.


    Ye Chen had never understood what these items were.


    At this moment, upon hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen immediately realized that Xiaojiu had recognized the origin of those ninety-eight golden flowers.


    "Primordial Gold Divine Flowers?"


    "Those ninety-eight golden flowers are called ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers''?"


    "Xiaojiu, what are they used for?"


    Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu while glancing at the ninety-eight golden flowers stored in the corner of the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    By now, Xiaojiu had already transformed into human form. She picked up one of the golden flowers from inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    Xiaojiu said to Ye Chen, "These ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' are very special and extraordinary blooms that grow in the Cosmic Sea."


    "Such ''flowers'' are the perfect items for nurturing Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects."


    "Many influential figures in the Cosmic Sea use these flowers for feeding their Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects. Ye Chen, regarding the ''Abandoned Land'' you visited back then, the existence who left it behind must be incredibly powerful; otherwise, they wouldn''t have been able to cultivate ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' on their own."


    Listening to Xiaojiu''s explanation, Ye Chen''s mind stirred.


    Feeding Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects?


    He indeed possessed Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects.


    His constant companions, Xiaojiu and the little monkey, weren''t they Spirit Beasts?


    As for Spirit Insects, Ye Chen had once obtained a batch of mutated Spirit Insects, the Scarlet Ming Ants, within the Five Elements Mountain. However, he had yet to find a way to accelerate their growth and rarely had a chance to use the Scarlet Ming Ants.


    At this moment, learning of the Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' great value for Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects gave Ye Chen an idea. Perhaps he could further cultivate the Scarlet Ming Ants and also assist Xiaojiu and the little monkey in raising their realms!


    With this thought, Ye Chen turned directly to Xiaojiu and asked, "Xiaojiu, since these ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' are used by influential figures of the Cosmic Sea to nurture Spirit Beasts and Spirit Insects, can these ninety-eight flowers be used for your growth, the little monkey''s advancement, and the cultivation of the Scarlet Ming Ants I once collected?"


    Right now, Ye Chen couldn''t help but worry that ninety-eight Primordial Gold Divine Flowers might not be sufficient.


    Xiaojiu glanced at the golden monkey sleeping soundly on the Ice Snow Jade Pendant and laughed, "I, as a Soul Beast, am rather special. These ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' are beneficial to me but not to a significant extent. However, for the little monkey, they can indeed be used for cultivation."


    "The influential figures in the Cosmic Sea use ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' to nurture Spirit Beasts at the Divine Master level. Right now, the little monkey is still too weak. One single flower is enough for it to cultivate for a long time!"


    "Perhaps after absorbing the energy of just one ''Primordial Gold Divine Flower,'' it could break through to the Sovereign Realm, though it would likely take a considerable amount of time."


    "As for the Scarlet Ming Ants that you obtained back then, they can likewise be cultivated with ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers.'' Using five or six flowers would be sufficient to develop a group of Sovereign-level Scarlet Ming Ants."


    "Ye Chen, you obtained ninety-eight ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' this time¡ªmore than enough for the little monkey and those Scarlet Ming Ants, with plenty left to spare!"


    "In the future, when they reach realms beyond the Sovereign level, these flowers could still be of use!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen was overjoyed.


    He hadn''t expected that the ninety-eight ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' he had unintentionally found in the ''Abandoned Land'' left by a being beyond the Sovereign Realm would have such tremendous value!


    But soon, Ye Chen understood.


    The materials for cultivating the "Eternal God Body" that he had obtained within that medicinal garden had been growing along the fringes, while the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' were located at the center of the garden.


    Clearly, the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' were even more precious than the materials needed for the cultivation of the Eternal God Body.


    "Finally, I can help the little monkey take another step forward!"


    The little monkey was Ye Chen''s earliest companion, having started following him back in the Ancestral Land of the Barbaric Wilderness Continent.


    Over time, Ye Chen had been unable to help the little monkey locate Heavenly Saint Di Kong or find the True Spirit who had entrusted Di Kong to care for the little monkey.


    The little monkey had stayed by Ye Chen''s side and, although it had grown to the Heavenly Saint Realm, it was still far behind Ye Chen, who had reached the Upper God King level.


    Ye Chen had always felt that he owed the little monkey.


    Now, finding something that would be of great help to the little monkey''s growth made Ye Chen incredibly happy.


    Ye Chen activated his mind and gently woke the golden little monkey, rousing it from its slumber.


    The little monkey, initially dazed from waking, rubbed its eyes with its tiny fingers. Upon seeing Ye Chen smiling at it, the little monkey grew excited, "Eeya! Ye Chen, you''re back from Heavenly God Mountain?!"


    Ye Chen nodded with a smile and shared the discovery of the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' with the little monkey.


    Learning that the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' originated from the Cosmic Sea, the little monkey''s youthful face showed utter astonishment.


    Although still young, the little monkey had spent time with Ye Chen and Xiaojiu and had come to understand that the Cosmic Sea was a higher-dimensional existence.


    Now, such a rare treasure capable of nurturing Spirit Beasts lay before it, filling the little monkey with disbelief: "Ye Chen, are you saying you want me to use this ''Primordial Gold Divine Flower'' for cultivation?"


    Observing the little monkey''s stunned expression, Ye Chen chuckled. With a flick of his finger, ten ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' floated toward the little monkey.


    "Take these ten ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' and cultivate with them first. Xiaojiu said that absorbing the energy from just one flower might help you break into the Sovereign Realm. The rest can serve as a reserve; if you need more, I''ll provide them."


    Having allocated ten ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' to the little monkey, Ye Chen then flicked another ten toward Xiaojiu.


    "Xiaojiu, though you mentioned that these ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' aren''t hugely useful for you, it''s still better to use them if they help boost your cultivation minimally!"


    Ye Chen was extraordinarily generous to his companions, Xiaojiu and the little monkey.


    At this moment, Ye Chen also remembered another matter.


    "Xiaojiu, you said the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' weren''t highly applicable for you. What about the ''Purple Silver Pearl''? Could you cultivate with it?"


    The Purple Silver Pearl was exceptionally effective for cultivating the Divine Soul.


    Ye Chen himself had harnessed the Divine Soul energy within the Purple Silver Pearl for cultivation.


    As Xiaojiu was a Soul Beast, Ye Chen speculated that she might be even more suited for cultivating with the Purple Silver Pearl.


    When he had first obtained the Purple Silver Pearls, Ye Chen had considered Xiaojiu''s cultivation needs and now brought the issue up.


    Xiaojiu hadn''t expected Ye Chen to give her ten ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers.'' However, their long companionship had made them exceedingly close, so Xiaojiu accepted the flowers without reservation or polite refusal.


    Xiaojiu grinned and took the ten ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' happily.


    As she heard Ye Chen ask about the Purple Silver Pearls, Xiaojiu nodded: "The Divine Soul energy within the Purple Silver Pearls is indeed beneficial for both me and the little monkey."


    "That''s great!" Ye Chen, now rather wealthy, waved his hand generously, sending tens of millions of Purple Silver Pearls toward Xiaojiu and the little monkey.


    "Xiaojiu, you and the little monkey can use these Purple Silver Pearls for cultivating the Divine Soul. Let me know when you run out, and I''ll give you more."


    With tens of billions of Purple Silver Pearls in his possession, Ye Chen was far wealthier than countless nine-star Sovereigns and wasn''t particularly concerned about the consumption.


    Seeing the vast pile of Purple Silver Pearls flying her way, Xiaojiu protested: "Ye Chen, neither the little monkey nor I need such a massive number of Purple Silver Pearls. Even after centuries of cultivation, we may only use around hundreds of thousands."


    Ye Chen, however, didn''t retrieve the pearls. He simply piled tens of millions of Purple Silver Pearls beside Xiaojiu and the little monkey.


    "Whether you use them all or not, keep them for now!"


    Xiaojiu, knowing Ye Chen''s abundance of Purple Silver Pearls, grinned and said nothing further.


    To her, Ye Chen''s resources were essentially her own, so there was no need to be overly meticulous.


    Having arranged cultivation items for Xiaojiu and the little monkey, Ye Chen placed a single petal of the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flower'' before the Scarlet Ming Ants.


    The mutated Scarlet Ming Ants, upon sensing the extraordinary nature of the petal, instantly flocked toward it, eagerly absorbing its energy.


    At this point, Ye Chen turned again to Xiaojiu and asked, "The uses of these ninety-eight ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers'' are now clear to me. Xiaojiu, do you know what those two green stalk-like plants capable of emitting green and white threads are?"


    Ye Chen retrieved the medicine box containing the two plants and showed it to Xiaojiu.


    These two plants grew in an even better position within the medicinal garden than the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flowers,'' which suggested they might be more precious.


    Yet this time, Xiaojiu shook her head: "Ye Chen, I don''t know the uses of these two plants either. The knowledge imparted to me by Lord Emperor Yan doesn''t include records of them. However, I feel that they might be the ultimate treasures of that medicinal garden. If they hadn''t been immature back then, they would likely have been taken away by the being who created the garden."


    "You should store them for now and investigate their origins in the future."


    Realizing Xiaojiu also couldn''t identify these items, Ye Chen nodded and stored them back in the medicine box.


    Then, Ye Chen began discussing the ''Purple-Blue Thunder Flower'' and ''Purple-Blue Thunder Stone,'' items he had retrieved from the "Sevenfold Waterfall" in the third layer of the Heavenly God Mountain, which could be used to cultivate the "Star Blue Divine Garment."


    Ye Chen engaged Xiaojiu in conversation about his discoveries within Heavenly God Mountain.


    Meanwhile, the three Sovereigns from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom, chastised by Sovereign Tian Mei''s cold gaze, finally gave up their intention to confront Ye Chen.


    They knew Sovereign Tian Mei''s status and were equally aware that Sovereign Tian Mei was backed by the Northern Territory King of Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation.


    Even as Nine-Star Sovereigns, they dared not provoke the Northern Territory King lightly.


    Their Divine Kingdom''s Sima Liao had failed to emerge from Heavenly God Mountain, and they saw little reason to risk angering the Northern Territory King for a dead man.


    In the end, the three Sovereigns from the Snow Desert Divine Kingdom reluctantly assembled the four successful returnees from Heavenly God Mountain and prepared to return to their Divine Kingdom.


    At this moment, three Sovereigns from the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom approached Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had earlier mentioned that Lin Shan was still alive, merely trapped in a certain Secret Ground. This made the three Sovereigns concerned about Lin Shan''s predicament.

 Chapter 945 - 895: Despair and Hope (2nd Update)

    One incense stick of time later.


    The leading Sovereigns of the five Divine Kingdoms, together with challengers who safely emerged from Heavenly God Mountain, departed from its domain and returned to their respective Divine Kingdoms.


    Ye Chen, the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, and six other challengers who safely emerged from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom were led by Sovereign Zeyang, Sovereign Tian Mei, and Sovereign Jia Lan, flying back to the Supreme Divine Institute.


    In the flying Divine Light of Sovereign Tian Mei, Ye Chen let out a long sigh.


    He recalled his earlier conversation with the three Sovereigns of the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    The three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns wanted to know what had happened to Lin Shan inside Heavenly God Mountain.


    However, regarding the matter of the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm," Ye Chen could not reveal anything.


    Ye Chen could only inform the three Sovereigns that Lin Shan was trapped in a certain location within Heavenly God Mountain and could only escape after becoming an existence surpassing a Sovereign.


    Upon hearing this news, Ye Chen immediately saw the three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns reveal expressions of disappointment.


    The three Sovereigns even remarked, "We''ve heard before that Heavenly God Mountain has various Secret Grounds. One might survive while trapped there in the short term, but escaping is absolutely no simple matter. Lin Shan would need to cultivate to surpass a Sovereign to break free? That''s essentially impossible."


    From their tone, Ye Chen could discern the three Sovereigns had completely abandoned any hope for Lin Shan''s escape¡ªthey had utterly given up on him.


    It wasn''t surprising the three Sovereigns of the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom thought this way.


    After all, when Lin Shan entered Heavenly God Mountain, he was merely a Divine King. Even if he gained something within the mountain, he barely broke through to the Earth Divine Venerate Realm¡ªa gap too vast to bridge to ascend beyond a Sovereign.


    The path to cultivating from Earth Divine Venerate to an existence beyond a Sovereign entails crossing the barriers of Earth Divine Venerate, Heavenly Divine Venerate, Immortal Divine Venerate, all the way to Supreme Sovereign Realm.


    Failing to overcome any of these stages would result in immediate death!


    Even among the three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns present¡ªranked as Eight-Star and Nine-Star Sovereigns¡ªnone dared to claim they could break through and become an existence surpassing a Sovereign.


    In comparison, Lin Shan''s chances of reaching that level were hardly one in a billion.


    This naturally led the three Sovereigns to completely lose faith in Lin Shan''s escape.


    They even outright considered Lin Shan as already dead within Heavenly God Mountain.


    In their eyes, even if Lin Shan someday managed to achieve the status surpassing a Sovereign and escaped Heavenly God Mountain, it would be an unknown number of years before that came to pass. By then, these three Sovereigns would either have already broken through to the Divine Master Realm or perished, and they would have no connection to Lin Shan.


    Thus, in the end, the three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns inquired no further about Lin Shan, merely shaking their heads.


    Seeing the expressions of the three Sovereigns, Ye Chen knew they had utterly abandoned Lin Shan.


    This allowed Ye Chen to deeply experience the meaning of the phrase "the warmth and coldness of human relationships."


    If Lin Shan had successfully escaped Heavenly God Mountain as Ye Chen did this time, the three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns would likely have treated Lin Shan as a treasure, fostering him with utmost care.


    Yet, now that Lin Shan was trapped, he was entirely abandoned.


    This is reality!


    Ye Chen could even foresee that the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom would stop concerning itself with Lin Shan''s affairs in the future, or even with those of his family.


    Being trapped in Heavenly God Mountain was virtually equivalent to death; they wouldn''t wait idly for tens or hundreds of thousands of years for an uncertain hope.


    "Though I have little connection with Lin Shan, he entrusted me with something that granted me the precious ''Skywind Medical Scripture.''"


    "No matter what, I must fulfill Lin Shan''s entrustment and rescue his sister, Lin Fei''er."


    After leaving Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen planned to use the "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" and "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone" to cultivate the "Star Blue Divine Garment" as quickly as possible.


    After that, he intended to embark on his journey to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom to fulfill Huyan Divine Master''s wishes by finding General Yinsha!


    The journey would be perilous, so he had to prepare thoroughly!


    On the way to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen planned to first visit Lin Fei''er in the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom to ascertain the nature of her severe illness.


    Lin Shan had mentioned Lin Fei''er''s condition wasn''t immediately life-threatening, granting Ye Chen some flexibility with his timing.


    Originally, Ye Chen intended to adequately prepare for his journey, then head to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to check whether Jiang Yao and Long Li had emerged from the "Zixuan Treasure Palace." Only afterward would he visit Lin Fei''er and finally proceed to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    However, the expressions of the three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns made Ye Chen realize they likely wouldn''t even bother visiting Lin Shan''s homeland or his family. Their actions might be limited to merely conveying Lin Shan''s demise in Heavenly God Mountain to the Lin Family.


    Ye Chen could imagine how devastated the Lin Family would be upon hearing this news.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen promptly drafted a letter, entrusting the three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns to deliver it to Lin Shan''s family.


    In the letter, Ye Chen stated his identity and clearly indicated that he intended to rescue Lin Fei''er.


    With this letter, it would at least offer some hope to the Lin Family, a flicker of hope for Lin Fei''er.


    Furthermore, Ye Chen adjusted his plans.


    After cultivating the "Star Blue Divine Garment," he would immediately set out to find Lin Fei''er.


    According to Xiaojiu, cultivating the "Star Blue Divine Garment" would take around three days.


    First resolving Lin Fei''er''s matter, then heading to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to check on Jiang Yao and Long Li, before moving on to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    This way, the Lin Family''s worry would be alleviated sooner!


    The three Black Dragon Mountain Sovereigns, out of regard for Sovereign Tian Mei, agreed to deliver Ye Chen''s letter to the Lin Family.


    However, they made it clear they were doing this for Sovereign Tian Mei''s sake, not Lin Shan''s, deepening Ye Chen''s sympathy for Lin Shan, trapped within Heavenly God Mountain.


    Within Sovereign Tian Mei''s flying Divine Light, Ye Chen gazed toward the distant horizon: "If one day, I too am trapped and doomed somewhere, would my own family face the same despair and helplessness?"


    "No, I must continue to grow stronger! Even if I am doomed someday, I will ensure countless people will never dare to disregard my family or my loved ones!"


    Determined, Ye Chen clenched his fists.


    Having completed his endeavor at Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen successfully broke through to the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerate Realm, honed the Wind Divine Pattern of the "Eternal God Body" to Great Accomplishment, cultivated his Divine Soul to a Blue level, and obtained countless treasures. He had decisively fulfilled Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King''s second requirement.


    Despite his immense gains, Ye Chen''s heart remained tense without a shred of relief.


    Two major tasks still awaited him!


    One was fulfilling Huyan Divine Master''s wish, and the other was meeting the final requirement¡ªthe "Stellar Domain Genius Battle"¡ªset forth by the two Sovereigns.


    Of particular importance was accomplishing Huyan Divine Master''s wish.


    Currently, Ye Chen was still afflicted by the Curse Power left behind by Huyan Divine Master. With less than two and a half years left within the five-year deadline to fulfill the Divine Master''s request, failure to locate General Yinsha in time would result in his death from the Curse Power!


    This left Ye Chen no room for relaxation whatsoever!


    Ye Chen still hoped to bring his parents into a Divine Kingdom in the future; he certainly didn''t want them to worry about him like Lin Shan''s family, nor to be plunged into despair!


    As Ye Chen''s mind raced, Sovereign Tian Mei, Sovereign Zeyang, and Sovereign Jia Lan finally returned with Ye Chen and the seven others to the Supreme Divine Institute.


    After conversing briefly with the Ancient Emperor of the Yan Clan, who departed the Supreme Divine Institute to return to his Sect, Ye Chen returned to his own cavern residence to begin cultivating the "Star Blue Divine Garment" and preparing for his impending journey to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    As news of Ye Chen''s safe return from Heavenly God Mountain spread, countless disciples of the Supreme Divine Institute learned of his exploits. Back when Ye Chen was merely a Lower Divine King, he had swept away numerous rivals.


    Now, having returned from Heavenly God Mountain after breaking through to the Superior Divine King Realm, his power had likely reached an unfathomable level.


    Instantly, countless disciples sought to visit Ye Chen.


    Pressed for time, Ye Chen politely declined all these visits.


    He only met briefly with the Little Provincial Princess, gifting her three sets of elite-level Mysterious Heavenly Divine Art that he had acquired within the "Sevenfold Waterfall."


    Then, Ye Chen plunged himself into seclusion.


    Three days later, after successfully cultivating the "Star Blue Divine Garment," Ye Chen departed the Supreme Divine Institute once more, teleporting directly to the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom where Lin Fei''er resided.


    ...


    Within Frost God City in the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom, numerous Martial Artists were abuzz with a rumor.


    "Have you heard? Lin Shan, the prodigy from our city who went to train at the Black Dragon Divine Palace, failed to return from Heavenly God Mountain!"


    "What? Lin Shan didn''t make it out of Heavenly God Mountain? He died there?!"


    "According to information from the upper echelons of the Divine Kingdom, Lin Shan didn''t perish outright but is trapped indefinitely within Heavenly God Mountain. His death seems inevitable; in any case, he won''t be coming out!"


    "What?! When I heard Lin Shan went to Heavenly God Mountain, I thought the Lin Family was finally catching a stroke of luck, producing an extraordinary figure. Who would''ve thought it would end this way!"


    "The Lin Family''s Lin Shan trapped in Heavenly God Mountain, their Lin Fei''er fallen gravely ill with her cultivation regressed¡ªhow tragic for the Lin Family."


    "Speaking of Lin Fei''er, she really is a stunning little maiden. Such a pity, such a pity..."


    Amid the chatter, the Lin Family of Frost God City was engulfed in despair.


    The Lin Family had naturally heard the news about Lin Shan being trapped in Heavenly God Mountain.


    Upon hearing these words from a Heavenly Divine Venerate who delivered the news, Lin Shan''s parents fainted on the spot.


    How could two elders possibly bear such a blow?


    Not only was Lin Shan their deeply cherished son, but they couldn''t accept the outcome of him being trapped forever in Heavenly God Mountain.


    Even their hope for Lin Shan to return with the pills to cure Lin Fei''er had been dashed.


    With Lin Shan in trouble and Lin Fei''er also gravely ill, the two elders were absolutely devastated.


    The Heavenly Divine Venerate delivering the news merely handed the Lin Family a letter and then left.


    From the letter and the news brought by the Heavenly Divine Venerate, the Lin Family learned that a Superior Divine King named Ye Chen intended to rescue Lin Fei''er.


    But the Lin Family didn''t believe a Superior Divine King could save Lin Fei''er.


    Previously, Lin Shan had invited an Immortal Divine Venerate, yet even that figure had been unable to rid Lin Fei''er of her Cold Poison!


    How could a mere Superior Divine King hope to achieve such a feat?


    The Lin Family was shrouded in sorrow.


    Meanwhile, in her sickbed, Lin Fei''er clutched Ye Chen''s letter, her small hand trembling as she thought of her brother Lin Shan, her face streaked with tears.

 Chapter 946 - 896: I Am Not Willing! (Third Update)

    The Lin family was shrouded in gloom, immersed in sorrow.


    Some lamented the tragedy befalling the Lin family.


    Others, however, were filled with joy at the moment.


    The Zuo family, the foremost family in Frost God City, had once consulted with a gray-robed elder of Immortal Divine Venerable rank about saving Lin Fei''er. Zuo Yan, the young Heavenly Divine Venerable of the Zuo family, now sat within a secret chamber, holding a messaging token in his hand.


    Mere moments later, Zuo Yan crushed the token, and his eyes shone with a sharp brilliance.


    "Lin Shan of the Lin family, trapped within Heavenly God Mountain?"


    "Even Black Dragon Divine Palace has abandoned him?!"


    "Excellent, truly excellent!"


    "Originally, I planned to wait until Lin Shan returned from Heavenly God Mountain, failing to save Lin Fei''er. At that point, I''d invite Master Xuan to take action, awakening Lin Fei''er, earning the Lin family''s favor, and winning Lin Fei''er''s admiration¡ªthen scheming to seize her ''Ice Spirit Celestial Body.''"


    "But now, with Lin Shan dead, everything simplifies!"


    "Without Lin Shan or Black Dragon Divine Palace to rely on, the strongest figure in the Lin family is merely a middling Earth Divine Venerable¡ªinsignificant in my eyes."


    "They must be in utter despair by now. When I step in to save Lin Fei''er, won''t the Lin family be grateful to me beyond measure? Coupled with my status, they would surely even welcome the idea of Lin Fei''er marrying me. By then, acquiring her ''Ice Spirit Celestial Body'' will be effortless!"


    As these thoughts raced through his mind, flames of greed and fervor flickered in Zuo Yan''s eyes.


    His palm moved, summoning an icy crystalline fruit into his hand.


    "Hmph, the Lin family doesn''t even know, nor does Lin Fei''er, that her illness is caused by the side effects of the ''Ice Spirit Celestial Body.''"


    "The ''Ice Spirit Celestial Body'' is a treasure beyond measure¡ªfinding someone born with such a physique is an unparalleled rarity."


    "If I hadn''t read about this Divine Body in an ancient tome and matched the description to Lin Fei''er''s condition, I might have missed this extraordinary opportunity!"


    "Once I obtain the life core of her ''Ice Spirit Celestial Body'' and combine it with this ''Wave Origin Ice Crystal,'' it''s very likely I can refine a supreme Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!"


    Unable to restrain himself any longer, the young Heavenly Divine Venerable, Zuo Yan, stored the ice crystal fruit safely. With a sharp motion, he stood up from the secret chamber.


    Then, he flew out of the chamber and into the courtyard of the Zuo family estate.


    Zuo Yan spoke to a servant, "Go, invite Master Xuan. I have urgent matters to attend to!"


    ...


    The Lin family patriarch, Lin Fei''er''s grandfather, was named Lin Xiao.


    He was also the Lin family''s strongest member, a martial artist of the middling Earth Divine Venerable rank.


    At this moment, Lin Xiao had gathered all the core members of the Lin family for a clan meeting in the discussion hall.


    "Shan is the most outstanding talent of our Lin family. Now, trapped within Heavenly God Mountain, whether or not he can ever return remains uncertain¡ªat present, we''ve lost our greatest hope."


    "Fei''er originally had remarkable aptitude as well, but her severe illness has left her unable to continue cultivating."


    "What''s urgent now is that we must cultivate a new generation of promising disciples, giving our Lin family renewed hope!"


    The gathered members of the Lin family all sighed at Lin Xiao''s words.


    Lin Fei''er''s uncle, Lin Yuanhua, second in strength to Lin Xiao among the Lin family and possessing the rank of a Lower Earth Divine Venerable, spoke up, "Father, our Lin family doesn''t have much talent among its members. Over the years, we''ve only produced two prodigies¡ªShan and Fei''er. The younger generation''s strongest in cultivation is Lin Fang, who''s just an Eighth Tribulations True God. Cultivation requires both aptitude and resources, and we lack both. Cultivating new hope won''t be easy!"


    "Indeed." Others chimed in, "We''ve always been a modest family in a common Divine City. Only Shan and Fei''er have given us glimpses of hope."


    "It seems we won''t be able to further elevate our family."


    "Considering us elders, breaking through our cultivation realms further is infeasible. The younger generation hasn''t risen yet, either. Alas, is it the destined end of our Lin family?"


    "Fortunately, our Lin family hasn''t offended other forces, so this time we''ve weathered the impact reasonably well. Moving forward, we can only gradually nurture our descendants."


    Amid the sighs, Lin Xiao raised his hand, halting the conversation: "Low aptitude is immutable¡ªwe can only hope future generations will produce new talents. However, in terms of resources, we''ve gained a bit this time."


    "With Shan trapped inside Heavenly God Mountain, Black Dragon Divine Palace didn''t say much initially. Yet, for some reason, they sent someone yesterday with some items they claimed were reparations for our loss due to Shan. They also declared that this formally ends our connection with Black Dragon Divine Palace resulting from Shan''s involvement."


    "Though these items are inconsequential to Black Dragon Divine Palace, they are of significant value to the Lin family."


    Upon hearing Lin Xiao''s words, the Lin family members could hardly contain their joy, exclaiming, "Really? What kind of resources?"


    Though saddened by Lin Shan''s inability to escape Heavenly God Mountain and disappointed by the severing of ties with Black Dragon Divine Palace, they had to look forward and address the needs of their family''s development.


    Lin Xiao spoke up, "The resources include cultivation pills and techniques. Many of the pills are suitable for True God Kings and Earth Divine Venerables, and the techniques surpass the quality of those in our family''s archives¡ªexceptionally beneficial for laying strong foundations in the younger generation."


    Turning to Lin Yuanhua, he added, "Yuanhua, take a portion of the pills and distribute them among the clan members, prioritizing those with the potential to progress further."


    "Yes, Father!" Lin Fei''er''s uncle, Lin Yuanhua, responded with haste.


    This clan meeting brought a modicum of good news, allowing the family members to momentarily breathe a sigh of relief amidst their sorrows.


    As the Lin family continued discussing other matters, a youthful member of the family rushed inside, full of urgency.


    "Fang''er, why are you so flustered?" Lin Yuanhua reprimanded the youth.


    This boy, Lin Fang, was the third strongest in cultivation within the Lin family after Lin Shan and Lin Fei''er.


    Hearing Lin Yuanhua''s rebuke, Lin Fang hastened to respond, "Uncle, Grandpa, Zuo Yan of the Zuo family has arrived to pay his respects."


    "Zuo Yan?"


    The Lin family members froze in astonishment.


    Lin Xiao furrowed his brow, "Our Lin family has no dealings with the Zuo family, the foremost family in Frost God City. What brings Zuo Yan here?"


    Lin Fang explained, "He claims to have come to save Fei''er. He even brought an Immortal Divine Venerable-ranked Alchemy Grandmaster along."


    "To save Fei''er?"


    The Lin family''s surprise grew even more palpable.


    "Zuo Yan is older than Shan by considerable years. While his aptitude doesn''t surpass Shan''s, the Zuo family''s resources have supported him well. He''s also considered a minor prodigy and was admitted into Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom''s sacred training grounds. I''ve heard he''s already achieved the Heavenly Divine Venerable realm."


    One member remarked, "If he specifically came to save Fei''er, he might truly succeed."


    Another speculated, "Zuo Yan has attained Heavenly Divine Venerable rank, exceeding even the patriarch''s power. Why would he make a special effort to save Fei''er¡ªcould it be that he admires her?"


    These musings prompted speculative, peculiar expressions among the Lin family members.


    Should Zuo Yan indeed harbor feelings for Lin Fei''er, it might not be a bad thing for the Lin family.


    For one, Lin Fei''er could potentially recover from her illness.


    For another, the Lin family would tie itself to the Zuo family¡ªgaining a connection to Frost God City''s foremost family and aligning with a Heavenly Divine Venerable-rank figure.


    Such an alliance would provide substantial support to the struggling Lin family presently.


    The peculiar expressions of the Lin family members did not escape Lin Xiao''s notice, causing a maelstrom of thoughts to stir within him.


    Still, he suppressed his chaotic thoughts, resolving to await signs of Zuo Yan''s ability to save Lin Fei''er before contemplating further.


    With this in mind, Lin Xiao stood and walked toward the exit, "Let''s go and meet Zuo Yan. If he truly can save Fei''er, such a deed would be a significant favor to our Lin family."


    Though Zuo Yan technically belonged to the same generation as Lin Shan and Lin Fei''er, his attainment of the Heavenly Divine Venerable realm and his purposeful visit to save Lin Fei''er rendered the Lin family hesitant to regard him as a junior.


    Lin Xiao and the Lin family members treated Zuo Yan and the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-ranked Master Xuan accompanying him with great ceremony, ushering them into the Lin estate.


    Zuo Yan offered the Lin family members bustling in reception a polite smile before addressing Lin Xiao, "Patriarch Lin Xiao, I''ve long wished to visit you, but my cultivation efforts in the sacred grounds kept me occupied until now."


    Lin Xiao and the Lin family interpreted Zuo Yan''s tone of respect as indicative of his affections for Lin Fei''er.


    Lin Xiao softened his own tone, replying amicably, "Zuo Yan, can you truly save Fei''er? Her cold poison defeated even an Immortal Divine Venerable called upon from Black Dragon Divine Palace by Shan..."


    Concern tinged Lin Xiao''s voice.


    Zuo Yan smiled, "Patriarch Lin Xiao, I''ve brought Master Xuan for this very reason. Master Xuan, an Alchemy Grandmaster, is certain to have a solution for Sister Fei''er''s condition."


    Beside Zuo Yan, the gray-robed elder Master Xuan inclined his head in quiet affirmation.


    Hope blossomed in the hearts of the Lin family members as they regarded Zuo Yan and Master Xuan.


    One of the Lin elders commented, "Zuo Yan, if you can help cure Fei''er''s cold poison, you would be the Lin family''s great benefactor."


    "Indeed, indeed!" concurred other family members.


    Their effusive gratitude filled Zuo Yan''s heart with triumph.


    His calculations had been correct; his status and strength placed the beleaguered Lin family firmly under his thumb.


    "Might I trouble Patriarch Lin Xiao to lead the way so we can promptly examine Sister Fei''er''s condition?" Zuo Yan proposed.


    Lin Xiao smacked his forehead, "Ah¡ªhow could I forget the matter at hand!"


    Without delay, he led the way, followed closely by Zuo Yan, Master Xuan, and a throng of Lin family members concerned for Lin Fei''er''s welfare, all converging upon Lin Fei''er''s quarters.


    Lin Fei''er lay reclining upon a sickbed. Impeccably graceful with striking beauty, the frailty and pallor induced by her prolonged illness imbued her presence with an extra touch of heart-wrenching delicacy.


    Upon seeing Lin Fei''er, Zuo Yan instinctively gulped.


    He had encountered her some years ago when Lin Fei''er was still young, yet her current appearance exceeded any expectations he''d held¡ªher beauty had become intoxicating.


    "Originally, I only desired Fei''er''s ''Ice Spirit Celestial Body'' life core. Now, it seems I must obtain her entirely!"


    An imperceptible flash of avaricious divine light crossed Zuo Yan''s eyes.


    From her sickbed, Lin Fei''er registered the sudden influx of visitors.


    Upon hearing her grandfather''s transmitted message explaining Zuo Yan and Master Xuan''s purpose, Lin Fei''er directed her gaze toward them.


    Her eyes lingered on Zuo Yan for merely a moment before she stunned the assembly with words of adamant refusal.


    "They wish to save me?"


    "Grandfather, I refuse!"

 Chapter 947 - 897: Fangs (Part 4)

    I refuse!


    Lin Fei''er''s voice echoed through the room, leaving the Lin Family completely stunned.


    What is going on?


    Zuo Yan and Master Xuan have come all this way to save Fei''er. Why is Fei''er herself rejecting their help? Could it be... she doesn''t want to be rescued, doesn''t want to escape the danger of the Cold Poison?


    The Lin Family members all looked at Lin Fei''er in confusion.


    At this moment, Zuo Yan stared at Lin Fei''er in disbelief.


    During his journey here, he''d imagined many scenarios¡ªhow the Lin Family would treat him with overwhelming flattery, how they would surely beg him to save Lin Fei''er.


    The events leading up to now had confirmed his predictions.


    The Lin Family was indeed extremely courteous to him.


    Zuo Yan had further imagined how, after he saved Lin Fei''er from the grasp of the Cold Poison, she would undoubtedly be grateful, even worshipful toward him.


    However, Zuo Yan never anticipated this: as soon as he arrived at Lin Fei''er''s side, she outright refused his help.


    "I refuse."


    These three sharp words were unbearably harsh, clearly showing that Lin Fei''er didn''t trust him at all!


    This made the smile on Zuo Yan''s face instantly awkward. It took him several moments of shock before he managed to overcome the embarrassment.


    Zuo Yan forced out a smile towards Lin Fei''er. "Fei''er, you must think I''m incapable of saving you, right? Do not worry. I''ve brought Master Xuan, a renowned Alchemy Grandmaster from our Holy Land. His medical skills are extraordinary and will surely cure you."


    Beside him, Master Xuan chimed in at Zuo Yan''s cue, "I have deep expertise in the study of Cold Poison. As long as I investigate the symptoms and pinpoint its signs, I can prescribe the appropriate cure. Young lady, rest assured, I''m ninety percent confident I can resolve the Cold Poison afflicting you."


    Hearing Zuo Yan and Master Xuan''s assured statements, the other members of the Lin Family also spoke up one after another, "Exactly, Fei''er, don''t be afraid. Since they are confident, we should at least give it a try, shouldn''t we?"


    "Isn''t it worth hoping for a chance at recovery?"


    Lin Fei''er''s eldest uncle added, "Zuo Yan is a prominent figure in Frost God City, Fei''er. You don''t need to worry."


    Despite the various attempts at persuasion, Lin Fei''er continued shaking her head.


    The young girl reached out for the letter placed next to her, written by Ye Chen, and said, "My brother told this ''Big Brother Ye Chen'' everything about my situation. Big Brother Ye Chen promised to come save me. I''ll wait for him."


    Lin Fei''er did not reveal all her thoughts.


    While the other members of the Lin Family didn''t notice anything suspicious about Zuo Yan, Lin Fei''er felt a hidden and sinister flash of greed¡ªand even an intent to kill¡ªemanating from Zuo Yan the moment he stepped into the room.


    Faced with someone harboring both greed and murderous intent toward her, how could Lin Fei''er trust him at all?


    Lin Fei''er trusted her intuition completely.


    Just as when she received the letter Ye Chen had someone deliver to her, and saw his handwriting on it. Although Ye Chen wrote only briefly about how he came to know Lin Shan, how Lin Shan had entrusted him, and promised little else apart from saying he would come quickly to rescue her...


    Lin Fei''er had a gut feeling.


    This "Big Brother Ye Chen," whom she had never met, would absolutely keep his word. He would definitely arrive soon to help her recover!


    Purely relying on this intuition alone,


    Lin Fei''er trusted Ye Chen far more than she trusted Zuo Yan, who was standing right beside her!


    Unable to explain her perception of Zuo Yan''s true nature to the Lin Family, Lin Fei''er could only express that she was waiting for Ye Chen.


    The Lin Family took her words as a sign of shyness and continued urging her persistently.


    Finally, Lin Fei''er could no longer contain herself. She struggled to shout loudly, "I don''t want it means I don''t want it! Even if I die, I won''t accept their help!"


    Due to her severe Cold Poison, Lin Fei''er''s outburst left her delicate hair disheveled and beads of sweat forming on her pale forehead.


    "Fei''er!"


    Lin Fei''er''s loud declaration startled her father and mother, who were resting in a nearby room.


    They had fainted multiple times upon hearing the news of Lin Shan''s death on Heavenly God Mountain and had been bedridden since, recuperating quietly over the past few days.


    Upon hearing Lin Fei''er''s voice, they rushed over immediately.


    After understanding the situation and seeing the determined gleam in their daughter''s eyes, both of them unhesitatingly turned to Zuo Yan and Master Xuan and said, "Thank you for coming all this way. Since Fei''er doesn''t consent, that''s the end of the matter. We must respect her decision."


    The other members of the Lin Family, deeply loving Lin Fei''er, also followed suit.


    Although they wished for Zuo Yan to save Lin Fei''er¡ªand even contemplated establishing ties with Zuo Yan¡ª


    they wouldn''t force Lin Fei''er to cooperate when her refusal was so adamant.


    Lin Xiao stepped forward apologetically and cupped his hands toward Zuo Yan and Master Xuan. "Young friend Zuo Yan, Master Xuan, we deeply apologize. If you wouldn''t mind moving to the guest hall, we''ll host a proper banquet to express our gratitude. As for Fei''er, it seems the heavens will decide her fate. It''s likely she isn''t destined to receive your aid."


    The other Lin Family members nodded solemnly, no longer trying to persuade her.


    At that moment, as he caught the faint look of disgust in Lin Fei''er''s bright eyes, Zuo Yan''s heart surged with boundless rage!


    He hadn''t anticipated that his carefully crafted plan would fall apart at the very last step because of Lin Fei''er!


    "Am I really so repulsive to you? You''d rather perish than let me save you!"


    Instantly, malice sprouted in his heart.


    Zuo Yan had come for Lin Fei''er''s unique "Ice Spirit Mysterious Body" in the first place, and he wouldn''t allow himself to fail now.


    "Originally, I wanted to save you, then let you feel grateful, so I could slowly plot to take your ''Ice Spirit Mysterious Body.'' Since you won''t let me help, there''s no need to waste time pretending!"


    "After all, it''s just a small Middle Earth God family. If I want something, who can stop me?"


    As Zuo Yan''s thoughts churned, a formidable killing intent emanated from him.


    Zuo Yan, a Heavenly Divine Venerable, carried with him an aura of immense ferocity. As it spread through the room, the members of the Lin Family began trembling uncontrollably.


    Everyone in the Lin Family realized that something was wrong. With fear in their eyes, they turned to Zuo Yan.


    Lin Xiao''s heart sank with dread. He hurriedly addressed Zuo Yan, "Young friend Zuo Yan, please don''t misunderstand! Fei''er bears no ill will toward you. There''s no need to take offense!"


    "Offense?" Zuo Yan no longer felt the need to conceal his true intentions. Laughing coldly, he didn''t bother wasting further pleasantries. "Hah! Of course I won''t take offense."


    "But regardless of anything, I''m taking Lin Fei''er away today!"


    "Whether or not she accepts my aid, she''s coming with me!"


    "Anyone who dares to obstruct me will die!"


    *Gasp.*


    Zuo Yan''s words left the Lin Family in complete disbelief.


    They couldn''t fathom how the once-gentlemanly Zuo Yan had revealed such a monstrous side.


    Was he really planning to battle the entire Lin Family?


    And the expression on his face when he said he''d take Lin Fei''er¡ªit wasn''t one of love or admiration. It was as if he were preparing to devour her!


    The Lin Family''s earlier guilt over Fei''er rejecting Zuo Yan vanished entirely.


    They now realized that Zuo Yan''s offer to save Lin Fei''er had never been sincere to begin with!


    Upon being refused, he had bared his fangs!


    Understanding this, the Lin Family''s collective Divine Power surged mightily.


    Regardless of Zuo Yan being a Heavenly Divine Venerable, or whether Master Xuan was an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable,


    if they intended to take Lin Fei''er by force, the Lin Family would resist with all their might¡ªeven if it meant leaving their corpses behind!

 Chapter 948 - 898: Ye Chen? (5th Update)

    "Up ahead is Frost God City of the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom?"


    After teleporting out from a Teleportation Divine Formation on a piece of Star Continent, Ye Chen flew northward for a long while and finally saw a huge divine city covered in thick white snow from afar.


    Ever since leaving the Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen''s journey had been quite smooth.


    In his hand was the orange Teleportation Star Seal granted by Huyan Divine Master, allowing him to freely use almost all "Teleportation Star Formations" between divine kingdoms in this universe.


    The Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom was not too far from the Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    After four transmissions, Ye Chen smoothly arrived at the capital of the Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom.


    Then, Ye Chen quickly reached the Star Continent where Frost God City was located through the "Teleportation Divine Formation" between the capital of Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom and the Star Continent where Frost God City was located.


    And then, within Ye Chen''s void shuttle, he finally arrived at the domain where Frost God City was located.


    Looking at the huge divine city ahead, Ye Chen smiled faintly.


    "I never thought I''d have a chance to come to such an ordinary Star Continent."


    "If not for Lin Shan, I might never have had the chance in this lifetime to come here."


    Ye Chen marveled at the mystery of the world.


    All movements in life are unpredictable indeed.


    "Back then, Lin Shan mentioned that his family, the Lin Family, is to the west of Frost God City."


    Ye Chen''s divine sense directly glanced toward the west of Frost God City.


    However, instantly, Ye Chen furrowed his brow.


    "Hmm, wasn''t it said that on this ordinary Star Continent, the strongest martial artist would only be at the Heavenly Divine Venerate Realm? Why do I sense an Immortal Divine Venerate class martial artist here?"


    Ye Chen investigated further.


    "The domain where that Immortal Divine Venerate martial artist is located is actually the domain Lin Shan mentioned, where the Lin Family is located. There is an Immortal Divine Venerate class martial artist within the Lin Family, and moreover, an Upper Immortal Divine Venerate!"


    "Hmm, and there is a Mid-level Heavenly Divine Venerate as well?"


    When Ye Chen''s divine sense swept into the Lin Family, seeing the scene of confrontation between the Lin Family members and Zuo Yan, and another Upper Immortal Divine Venerate standing beside Zuo Yan.


    Ye Chen''s complexion instantly changed.


    His gaze instantly turned cold.


    "It seems the Lin Family is in some trouble!"


    ...


    At this moment, the mind and spirit of the Lin Family members were all trembling.


    They wouldn''t let Zuo Yan take Lin Fei''er, yet facing a Heavenly Divine Venerate level figure, they too felt an immense pressure.


    Especially seeing Master Xuan, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerate at Zuo Yan''s side, give a sinister laugh after seeing Zuo Yan''s actions: "Zuo Yan, it turns out your interest in this little girl is beyond what I anticipated!"


    "No matter, whether you want to take this girl away for whatever reason, I''ll lend you a helping hand!"


    "Had I known you wanted to take this girl by force, I wouldn''t have even brought some drugs. Killing these Earth Divine Venerates and God King True Gods doesn''t take the slightest effort!"


    Master Xuan''s gaze, revealing cold chilling intent, left the Lin Family members feeling their hearts turn to ash.


    Hearing Master Xuan''s words, Zuo Yan sneered coldly.


    His mentor was a close friend of this Master Xuan, so he wasn''t worried that Master Xuan would oppose him.


    Originally, he wanted to handle things simply; now he had to take action, and he swiftly made his decision.


    "Master Xuan, do these small fry think they can stop me? They''re merely ants trying to shake a tree!"


    "You just cover for me, I want to see how they plan on stopping me!"


    Boom!


    Zuo Yan grabbed forcefully, reaching toward Lin Fei''er lying on the sickbed.


    Seeing Zuo Yan''s move, the Lin Family members all screamed, "No!"


    They all surged to block Zuo Yan!


    As for Lin Fei''er, facing this life-and-death crisis, she instead displayed a determined calmness, looking at Zuo Yan and saying, "I knew you weren''t a good person!"


    "It seems you saw through my intentions for coming all along. No wonder you refused my treatment!"


    "Too clever a woman isn''t good, Lin Fei''er. Once I''ve taken you with me, I''ll be sure to educate you well!"


    Zuo Yan''s grab toward Lin Fei''er showed no hesitation. Seeing the Lin Family''s attempts to intercept him, he swung his large hand, launching surging divine power that sent the Lin Family members flying, crashing through the house''s walls and flinging them dozens of meters away.


    The next moment, Zuo Yan''s claw hand was about to reach Lin Fei''er.


    Seeing that all their combined power wasn''t even a match for Zuo Yan''s single move of this Heavenly Divine Venerate, and with another Upper Immortal Divine Venerate eyeing them from the side.


    The Lin Family members were in utter despair.


    "Is the heavens going to annihilate our Lin Family?!"


    "First it was Shan''er who got into trouble, and now, out of nowhere, a Heavenly Divine Venerate is clashing with our Lin Family!"


    "Fei''er!"


    Amid countless cries, many Lin Family members no longer dared to watch Zuo Yan''s claw reaching for Lin Fei''er.


    Lin Fei''er''s parents became deathly pale at this moment, desperately rushing towards Lin Fei''er, but they had been flung dozens of meters away earlier and couldn''t reach in time to save her.


    Just as Lin Fei''er was about to fall into Zuo Yan''s claw, amid the Lin Family''s numerous screams, everyone suddenly heard a voice: "A Heavenly Divine Venerate dares to be this arrogant."


    Then, all the Lin Family members suddenly felt a powerful force enveloping them, protecting them within.


    Following that, everyone saw Zuo Yan''s claw hand reaching for Lin Fei''er, encountering an incredible force which pulled violently upward.


    Following this, Zuo Yan himself was completely lifted up in an instant and with a "boom," was pulled out from the rooftop, flying into the sky.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The roof was pierced through and debris fell down, but at this moment a mysterious black and white divine light enveloped Lin Fei''er, preventing any tile from hurting her.


    This scene left the Lin Family members completely dumbfounded.


    Who was it?


    Who saved Fei''er?


    Who saved them?!


    This scene left Zuo Yan utterly stunned and Master Xuan beside him equally shocked!


    Being pulled by an immense force toward the sky, Zuo Yan yelled out loud, "Master Xuan, save me!"


    Seeing this, Master Xuan moved to fly towards Zuo Yan, intending to retrieve him. However, Master Xuan suddenly felt a force also binding him, pulling him toward the sky.


    Even he, in the Upper Immortal Divine Venerate Realm, seemed unable to resist this power!


    "Heavens!"


    "Which great one has arrived?"


    "It must be a lord in the Sovereign Realm!"


    Filled with immense shock, as he was pulled into the sky, Master Xuan hurriedly glanced around.


    But he saw no figure.


    At this time, the Lin Family members also flew into the sky, looking around.


    Even Lin Fei''er on the sickbed, recovering some strength under the magical black and white divine light enveloping her, seemed to think of something.


    Disbelief and immense joy filled her face.


    Despite her illness, she struggled and flew out of the house, into the sky.


    Amid everyone''s gazes.


    In the void heaven, a massive heavenly curtain was directly torn open, and a young figure emerged.


    This young figure was no more than twenty-one or twenty-two, but with giant airy wings behind him, he emanated an aura vast enough to strike fear into countless Immortal Divine Venerates.


    This vast aura even stirred the entire Frost God City, with countless Martial Artists flying out from the divine city, hurriedly glancing in the direction of the sensed aura.


    When these Martial Artists saw Zuo Yan and Master Xuan seemingly suspended there, countless eyes filled with utter shock.


    Even the old gray-robed Upper Immortal Divine Venerate was no match at all for this emerging youth from the void!


    What sort of personage was this young figure? What kind of existence was he!


    Why was it that he only showed an Upper God King Realm, yet exuded such frightening aura?!


    Among the crowd, many Martial Artists from the Zuo Family, the first family of Frost God City, also saw Zuo Yan and Master Xuan, and they were all shocked to the extreme.


    "What''s going on!"


    At this time, everyone saw that the young figure paid no attention to the suspended Zuo Yan and Master Xuan, but took a step into the void and walked down from the void heaven.


    From hundreds of meters away, he asked Lin Fei''er, "Are you Lin Shan''s sister, Lin Fei''er?"


    Hearing this warm voice and looking at the young figure not much older than herself, Lin Fei''er''s face flushed with excitement.


    She looked at this young figure, and cautiously, with a trace of hope, she asked, "Are you, Brother Ye Chen?"

 Chapter 949 - 899: Shock (First Update)

    "Are you... Brother Ye Chen?"


    Lin Fei''er''s words reached the ears of the Lin family members, and they all looked in disbelief toward the young man in the sky.


    They suddenly remembered that they had previously received a letter. The letter was sent by a God King named Ye Chen, claiming that he would come to the Lin family to cure Lin Fei''er.


    At the time, almost everyone in the Lin family disregarded the letter entirely.


    No one thought that when even the Immortal Divine Sovereign invited by Lin Shan failed to heal Lin Fei''er, how could a mere God King possess such ability?


    Some even believed that the God King Ye Chen must be delusional.


    But now, when they heard Lin Fei''er declare that the young man before her was indeed the very same God King Ye Chen, the Lin family turned their eyes toward him, and sure enough, he was undeniably at the Upper God King Realm.


    "Heavens! A mere God King Realm can somehow restrain an Upper Immortal Divine Sovereign!"


    "Does this mean his combat strength surpasses the Immortal Divine Sovereign Realm?!"


    "He... he is the God King Ye Chen?!"


    The Lin family members felt unprecedented astonishment, unable to believe or even fathom the sight.


    They had never heard of a God King being strong enough to overpower an Upper Immortal Divine Sovereign.


    Even the mightiest God King from their Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom had never achieved such a feat!


    "He simply cannot be the God King Ye Chen."


    "A God King would absolutely be incapable of achieving this."


    "Perhaps he is a Sovereign-tier expert deliberately concealing his cultivation under the guise of a God King Realm!"


    Such was the contemplation among the Lin family members.


    Meanwhile, as they wrestled with these thoughts, they saw the young man in the sky nod in response to Lin Fei''er''s question. "Yes, I am Ye Chen, the one who wrote to you."


    Indeed, it was Ye Chen, hastily arriving in Frost God City, who subdued Zuo Yan and Master Xuan earlier.


    Though Ye Chen was still at the God King Realm...


    After the battle of Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen''s combat strength had grown to sweep away Immortal Divine Sovereigns.


    Rescuing the Lin family from Zuo Yan and Master Xuan''s grasp was naturally effortless.


    By this stage, Ye Chen had already eclipsed the legends of Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom, surpassing even Long Li¡ªwho had once defeated the Heavenly Divine Sovereign as a God King¡ªand establishing an entirely new height of combat prowess within the God King Realm.


    When the young man admitted to being the very figure who had sent the letter...


    The Lin family was wholly stunned and deeply shaken.


    "God King Realm... It really is the God King Ye Chen."


    "A God King capable of overwhelming an Upper Immortal Divine Sovereign¡ªthat''s practically a myth!"


    "This Ye Chen''s strength might have already surpassed countless God Kings across the universe. Aside from the very strongest God Kings of the most powerful Divine Kingdoms, no one can likely compare to him!"


    "It''s also plausible that Ye Chen has an extraordinary figure backing him¡ªperhaps a Nine-Star Sovereign or even someone exceeding the Sovereign Realm! Otherwise, how could someone at the God King Realm cultivate such unfathomable combat strength?"


    The Lin family patriarch, Lin Xiao, was trembling with excitement.


    He realized that Ye Chen must be an elite genius far beyond his usual scope of contact.


    If not for Ye Chen''s sudden arrival, the Lin family would have met their doom at Zuo Yan''s hands.


    At this moment, Ye Chen not only subdued Zuo Yan and Master Xuan but also brought newfound hope to the Lin family.


    After all, a God King of such unimaginable ability might indeed be able to cure Lin Fei''er''s cold poison.


    The countless members of the Lin family now turned their hopeful gazes toward the void where Ye Chen stood.


    They speculated how Ye Chen might deal with Zuo Yan and Master Xuan.


    Even more, they wondered what methods Ye Chen would use to save Lin Fei''er.


    Having exchanged brief words with Lin Fei''er, Ye Chen turned his gaze to Zuo Yan and Master Xuan.


    The moment Ye Chen''s eyes landed on them, both Zuo Yan and Master Xuan began to tremble uncontrollably.


    Held captive by Ye Chen, they felt the sheer magnitude of his power far more deeply than anyone else.


    Especially Master Xuan.


    An Upper Immortal Divine Sovereign, he had never encountered a God King capable of standing up to someone of his caliber!


    When Master Xuan and Zuo Yan saw Ye Chen speaking so warmly to Lin Fei''er, their hearts pounded even harder. They feared what terrifying fate Ye Chen might have in store for them.


    Fixing his cold gaze upon them, Ye Chen asked Lin Fei''er, "Why has your Lin family ended up in conflict with these two?"


    Lin Fei''er quickly recounted how Zuo Yan had insisted on treating her, then lashed out when she refused, revealing how she sensed his murderous intent.


    Upon hearing this, Ye Chen''s eyes locked onto Zuo Yan. "Lin Fei''er is just a young girl. Why target her so relentlessly?"


    At this moment, Zuo Yan''s heart raced incessantly, leaving him unable to formulate a coherent answer.


    Nor did he dare reveal his knowledge of Lin Fei''er''s Ice Spirit Physique.


    Finally, Zuo Yan forced himself to stay composed and said, "I only wished to save Lin Fei''er. She refused my treatment, and in a moment of frustration, I acted impulsively. I truly didn''t harbor any malicious intent!"


    "Esteemed cultivator, I am a disciple of Black Profound Sea Training Sanctuary. I ask for your mercy!"


    Toward the end, Zuo Yan invoked the name of his sect, Black Profound Sea Training Sanctuary, attempting to intimidate Ye Chen into letting him go.


    How could such a petty scheme escape Ye Chen''s insight?


    As for the so-called Black Profound Sea Training Sanctuary, Ye Chen hadn''t even heard of it and dismissed it entirely.


    His only focus was to help Lin Fei''er resolve this calamity.


    Seeing Zuo Yan failing to reveal the truth, Ye Chen had no patience for further discourse. Raising his hand, he sent Zuo Yan hurtling toward him.


    Ye Chen''s hand hovered above Zuo Yan''s head as he activated the Soul Searching Secret Technique to extract his memories.


    Mere moments later...


    Ye Chen discarded Zuo Yan, leaving him suspended in the void.


    At the same time, an ice crystal emerged from Zuo Yan''s body and flew into Ye Chen''s palm.


    That ice crystal turned out to be none other than the Wave Origin Ice Crystal, which Zuo Yan had intended to refine into a supreme Ultimate Heavenly Artifact by exploiting Lin Fei''er''s innate Divine Body.


    Gazing at the ice crystal in his hand, Ye Chen''s eyes shimmered with brilliance. "Wave Origin Ice Crystal, Ice Spirit Physique... so Zuo Yan came for Lin Fei''er''s unique divine constitution? Lin Fei''er actually possesses a special innate Divine Body?"


    "An Ice Spirit Physique capable of transforming such a small ice crystal into a peerless Ultimate Heavenly Artifact?"


    Of course.


    Though the revelations hidden in Zuo Yan''s memories were astonishing...


    Ye Chen would never emulate Zuo Yan by scheming against Lin Fei''er''s Ice Spirit Physique.


    No matter how tempting the possibility of obtaining a peerless Heavenly Artifact might be, Ye Chen would never stoop to harming the innocent.


    Ye Chen casually flipped his hand, storing the Wave Origin Ice Crystal, and then turned to Xiaojiu to inquire more about the Ice Spirit Physique.


    Meanwhile, his penetrating gaze fell once again upon Zuo Yan and Master Xuan.


    After uncovering Zuo Yan''s plot, Ye Chen knew he had to deal with the aftermath for the Lin family''s sake.


    If he saved Lin Fei''er but failed to punish Zuo Yan, the Lin family could still face disaster after his departure.


    Ye Chen understood he must establish his prestige.


    Only by making Zuo Yan, Master Xuan, Zuo Yan''s family, and all of Frost God City understand that neither he nor the Lin family could be trifled with, could he truly protect them.


    With this thought, Ye Chen stopped suppressing his aura, letting his true presence fully unfold.


    Whoosh.


    In an instant, an overwhelming aura erupted across all of Frost God City''s skies and voids!


    This aura was akin to that of a Sovereign-tier expert!


    Such an aura had never before appeared in Frost God City!


    The entire city¡ªits land, heavens, and people¡ªseemed consumed by a wild, chaotic energy, leaving everyone trembling uncontrollably.


    Countless martial artists across Frost God City even fell to their knees before Ye Chen involuntarily.


    Especially Zuo Yan, Master Xuan, and countless warriors from the Zuo family¡ªfaces frozen in sheer terror.


    They had already recognized Ye Chen''s formidable strength earlier, but they could never have foreseen how much more terrifying he could be when unleashing his full power!


    Then, Ye Chen''s voice resounded across the void.


    "I am Ye Chen of Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom''s Supreme Divine Institute, a friend of Lin Shan! Lin Shan may be trapped in Heavenly God Mountain, but his Lin family is not to be bullied!"


    "Anyone who bullies the Lin family challenges Lin Shan and stands against me, Ye Chen!"


    Whoosh.


    Ye Chen''s words sent the martial artists of Frost God City into collective shock, many gasping audibly.


    "So he came for Lin Shan''s family!"


    "There were rumors that Lin Shan was trapped and doomed in Heavenly God Mountain. I thought the Lin family would fall into decline, but they still have such a powerhouse watching over them!"


    "The Lin family is untouchable!"


    "Zuo Yan must have offended the Lin family and provoked this young man!"


    Earlier, countless martial artists in Frost God City had pitied and lamented for the Lin family...


    But now, those same people felt nothing but envy.


    After all, not every family has the immense fortune of being sheltered by such a peerless genius!


    "Shan''er."


    "This Ye Chen is here for Shan''er, to safeguard our Lin family."


    The Lin family members were overwhelmed with emotion, tears wetting their eyes.


    They thought of Lin Shan, still trapped in Heavenly God Mountain...


    And they realized their family was no longer alone or helpless.


    Having the attention and care of such an extraordinary talent could bring unimaginable fortune to the Lin family.


    With someone like Ye Chen looking out for them, no one would dare provoke the Lin family without first weighing the consequences.


    "Brother Ye Chen, how do you plan to deal with Zuo Yan and Master Xuan?"


    Lin Fei''er asked, her delicate face filled with exhilaration. She had a strong sense that this unfamiliar elder brother might truly be able to cure her.


    Lin Fei''er was sharp and perceptive.


    She understood that Ye Chen''s earlier statement was meant to establish his authority and protect the Lin family.


    And so, she followed his lead and posed the question aloud.

 Chapter 950 - 900: 8 Sovereigns (Second Update)

    "How should we deal with these two?"


    Upon hearing Lin Fei''er''s words, Ye Chen directly turned his gaze toward Zuo Yan and Master Xuan.


    Under Ye Chen''s gaze, Zuo Yan and Master Xuan felt a bone-chilling cold spread throughout their bodies.


    They understood that the young man before them possessed the absolute power to take their lives.


    Their fate now hung entirely in the hands of this young man.


    Zuo Yan was filled with regret at this very moment. Had he known someone as formidable as Ye Chen stood behind the Lin family, he wouldn''t even dream of coercing the Lin family out of desperation.


    As for Master Xuan, his regret was even more profound.


    He had never imagined that doing a minor favor for Zuo Yan in a seemingly ordinary Divine City would result in such a monumental calamity!


    Ye Chen fixed his gaze upon Zuo Yan and Master Xuan for several moments before finally speaking, "The two of you attempted to harm the Lin family members. Even though you weren''t able to truly harm them, your intention deserves death."


    The words "deserves death" sent a chilling wave through Zuo Yan and Master Xuan''s hearts.


    A sinister premonition arose within both¡ªwas Ye Chen intent on killing them?


    At this moment, the head of the Zuo family, the foremost family of Frost God City, along with other martial artists, had heard Ye Chen''s words and were struck with terror.


    The Zuo family had painstakingly raised such an outstanding descendant like Zuo Yan. If he were killed, it would be an immense loss for their family!


    "My lord, have mercy!"


    "Zuo Yan acted impulsively. We implore you to understand and spare him!"


    The martial artists of the Zuo family prostrated themselves before Ye Chen, pleading earnestly.


    After their pleas, they didn''t dare utter another word. They only waited nervously for the decision of the powerful young man before them.


    After all, Ye Chen''s combat power was equivalent to that of a Sovereign; they dared not provoke him, nor could they defy him. Their only choice was to plead for mercy and await his verdict.


    Observing the trembling Zuo Yan, Master Xuan, and the gathered Zuo family members, Ye Chen spoke impassively, "Kill them? Killing them would be the simplest solution, but I have no plans to do so."


    As he said this, two divine lights surged forth from Ye Chen''s hand, directly piercing into Zuo Yan and Master Xuan''s bodies.


    Hearing Ye Chen say he didn''t intend to kill them brought a brief relief to Zuo Yan and Master Xuan¡ªuntil they suddenly felt the divine lights penetrate their bodies, startling them.


    Both men immediately turned their focus inward to examine the divine lights entering their bodies. What they found made their hearts sink.


    They could sense that the divine lights were like parasites lodged deep in their physical bodies, resembling deadly imprints that could claim their lives at any moment.


    The two realized that these mysterious divine light imprints undeniably had the power to kill them effortlessly!


    "The divine light imprint within your bodies is my unique ''Poisonous Curse Mark,''"


    "While I have no intention of killing you, you must accept punishment,"


    "Since you previously threatened the Lin family members, your punishment will be to protect their safety for one hundred years. During this time, I will periodically visit the Lin family. Should anything happen to them, I will evaluate the situation and punish you accordingly¡ªeven taking your lives if necessary!"


    "Do not delude yourselves into thinking you can break the ''Poisonous Curse Mark'' within your bodies. Allow me to tell you the truth: this mark cannot be undone, not even by a powerful Nine-Star Sovereign!"


    A burst of astonishment arose among the martial artists of Frost God City who overheard Ye Chen''s words.


    Poisonous Curse Mark?


    Not even a mighty Nine-Star Sovereign could undo it?


    The gathered martial artists were overwhelmed by the thought that the Divine King before them possessed such terrifying capabilities!


    Meanwhile, Zuo Yan and Master Xuan felt ice seep into their very souls.


    Although Ye Chen hadn''t killed them outright, the mark he left ensured their lives would remain precariously tethered to protecting the Lin family for the next century.


    Moreover, they couldn''t guarantee the Lin family members'' safety for a hundred years.


    Even if they dared not harm the Lin family themselves, that didn''t mean external dangers wouldn''t arise.


    Nevertheless, they dared not defy Ye Chen''s orders. Both hurriedly nodded in response: "We will follow your commands and ensure the Lin family''s safety!"


    "However, my lord, should the Lin family endanger themselves or face obstacles we cannot handle, we would be powerless..."


    Zuo Yan and Master Xuan were cut off abruptly as Ye Chen interjected, "Whether you adhere to my orders or harbor other thoughts, I will know. You better hope the Lin family remains safe during these hundred years!"


    Turning to Zuo Yan, Ye Chen added sternly, "Zuo Yan, I am fully aware of your schemes. Lin Fei''er''s Divine Body¡ªI will personally help her unlock its cultivation method. You should understand that once that Divine Body is cultivated, it will no longer be susceptible to external exploitation."


    Ye Chen''s warning caused beads of sweat to pour down Zuo Yan''s face.


    He knew that Ye Chen had uncovered his plans to exploit Lin Fei''er''s "Ice Spirit Mysterious Body" through soul searching.


    "I understand, my lord. I would never dare entertain that desire again!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen affirm his ability to unlock the cultivation method for Lin Feier''s Divine Body, Zuo Yan realized any hopes of using the Ice Spirit Mysterious Body were lost to him forever.


    Zuo Yan was convinced the young man before him had the ability to fully unlock the cultivation method of Lin Fei''er''s Divine Body.


    Moreover, Zuo Yan understood that once the Ice Spirit Mysterious Body was cultivated, it would no longer suffer from cold poison backlash. Its Life Core would completely fuse within the martial artist, rendering it inaccessible to external manipulation.


    Adding to his misfortune, the treasure he''d painstakingly acquired, the "Wave Origin Ice Crystal," had already fallen into Ye Chen''s hands. He was utterly powerless to pursue the Ice Spirit Mysterious Body further.


    At this moment, Zuo Yan felt an even deeper pang of regret.


    He had lost everything¡ªhe''d failed to obtain the Ice Spirit Mysterious Body, he was forced to protect the Lin family for a century, he forfeited his treasure, and even his life hung in someone else''s grasp.


    Having finalized his punishment for Zuo Yan and Master Xuan, Ye Chen turned his attention away from them, fixing his gaze upon the Lin family members and Lin Fei''er.


    Ye Chen had determined his course of action out of thorough consideration¡ªchoosing not to kill Zuo Yan and Master Xuan outright.


    After all, Ye Chen had countless matters to attend to and could not remain stationed to protect the Lin family permanently.


    Killing Zuo Yan and Master Xuan might have resolved things unequivocally, but extracting protection from a Heavenly Divine Venerable and an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable was infinitely more beneficial.


    Moreover, Ye Chen was confident that Zuo Yan and Master Xuan would not dare defy his commands or entertain ulterior motives.


    As long as they wanted to survive, they would have no choice but to comply.


    The Poisonous Curse Mark Ye Chen had mentioned¡ªclaiming it was beyond even a Nine-Star Sovereign''s ability to remove¡ªwas no exaggeration.


    This Poisonous Curse Mark was derived from the Skywind Medical Scripture left by the Skywind Divine Master within the Heavenly Wind Cave¡ªa Dharma Seal created by a figure at the Divine Master level!


    Although Ye Chen himself couldn''t yet imprint this seal onto Sovereign-level individuals, applying it to Divine Venerables ensured it remained unbreakable by Sovereigns.


    As long as the Poisonous Curse Mark remained, Zuo Yan and Master Xuan dared not harbor dangerous thoughts.


    Of course, Ye Chen would not entrust the Lin family''s safety entirely to Zuo Yan and Master Xuan''s protection.


    Ye Chen extended a finger, and a black-and-white divine light burst forth. A massive light formation spanning dozens of meters in radius unfolded outside the Lin family estate.


    Within this vast array, endless divine light shimmered, and a potent swordsmanship killing force pulsed through.


    Addressing the Lin family members, Ye Chen announced, "This formation can be called the ''Thousand Swords Killing Formation.''"


    "I will give you the method to activate this formation,"


    "This ''Thousand Swords Killing Formation'' will also serve to protect the Lin family. Should anyone attack the Lin family, you may use this formation to counter them."


    "Any threat below Sovereign-level combat power can be vanquished by this formation!"


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words filled the Lin family members with unbounded joy.


    They hadn''t expected Ye Chen to order Zuo Yan and Master Xuan to protect the Lin family while also leaving behind such a powerful defensive formation.


    At this moment, the Lin family members were overwhelmed with gratitude for Ye Chen.


    "Thank you, Brother Ye Chen!"


    Lin Fei''er deeply bowed toward Ye Chen.


    "Thank you, my lord!"


    The Lin family''s martial artists gazed at Ye Chen with immense gratitude.


    "Big brother, your kindness will never be forgotten by the Lin family!"


    The younger members of the Lin family, including Lin Fang and other youths, looked toward Ye Chen with admiration and thankfulness.


    Seeing the expressions of the Lin family members brought Ye Chen''s thoughts back to his own youth.


    Years ago, he had looked upon the cultivation method left in his family''s Ancestral Land by "Heavenly Saint Di Kong" with endless gratitude¡ªat the time, unaware of the senior''s name or identity.


    Ye Chen had never imagined that one day, he would also grant another family such an opportunity.


    "Lin Shan, you''ve allowed me to obtain the Skywind Medical Scripture; in return, I''ll extend care to the Lin family. After I''ve healed Lin Fei''er, we''ll be even." Ye Chen murmured softly while gazing upon the ''Thousand Swords Killing Formation.''


    Recalling Lin Shan, Ye Chen turned back to address the Lin family members aloud, "Ultimately, regardless of the measures I leave behind, your family''s strength must grow through its own efforts."


    "After all, only by becoming strong yourselves can you truly take control of your destiny."


    Ye Chen''s words resonated deeply with Patriarch Lin Xiao and the Lin family members.


    They understood Ye Chen was encouraging them not to stagnate, even under the protection he had provided.


    "All right, the matter here is settled. Lin Fei''er, now it''s time to address your treatment. Come, let''s enter Lin Mansion. I''ll explain your condition to you in detail."


    Having consulted Xiaojiu, Ye Chen now had deeper insights into Lin Fei''er''s Ice Spirit Mysterious Body, along with a clear plan for her treatment and cultivation.


    Lin Fei''er nodded softly.


    Her thoughts lingered on the conversation between Ye Chen and Zuo Yan earlier.


    "Brother Ye Chen said Zuo Yan wanted to harm me because of my Divine Body? My Divine Body? What Divine Body?"


    "Could it have something to do with that snow-colored leaf that appeared in my body two years ago?"


    While pondering, Lin Fei''er joined the Lin family members in leading Ye Chen into Lin Mansion.


    Zuo Yan and Master Xuan, now freed from their bindings, stole a glance at Ye Chen in fear before shifting their focus to the Poisonous Curse Marks within their bodies. Without lingering in front of the Lin Mansion, they slunk away alongside the martial artists of the Zuo family.


    Meanwhile, the martial artists of Frost God City remained gathered in the skies above the Divine City, fervently discussing what had transpired.


    A Divine King suppressing both a Heavenly Divine Venerable and an Immortal Divine Venerable, singlehandedly safeguarding an entire family¡ªwhat they had witnessed seemed more like legend than reality, leaving them unable to stop marveling in awe and endlessly debating the event.


    At the same time, neither Ye Chen, the Lin family members, nor the martial artists of Frost God City were aware that, within the Endless Star Domain above the Polar Heaven of Star Continent, eight powerful Sovereigns were gazing toward the direction of Frost God City.


    These eight Sovereigns, initially intent on passing through this modest Star Continent without stopping, had been drawn to Frost God City the moment Ye Chen activated the "Thousand Swords Killing Formation" and the black-and-white divine light radiated outward!

 Chapter 951 - 901: An Invitation (First Update)

    The eight powerful Sovereigns consisted of seven men and one woman.


    Their lowest cultivation level was at the Seven-Star Sovereign Realm, while the highest among them included two at the Nine-Star Sovereign Realm!


    When the gazes of these eight Sovereigns fell upon the "Thousand Sword Killing Formation" shimmering with black and white divine light that Ye Chen had set up in Frost God City,


    the Nine-Star Sovereign dressed in white, lean and carrying a divine sword on his back, brightened his eyes, "Hmm, what an impressive display of the ''Supreme Mystical Sword Technique.'' A mere God King Realm youth able to set up such a formidable swordsmanship killing formation¡ªhe is truly remarkable!"


    Upon hearing the words of the white-robed Sovereign, another Nine-Star Sovereign, an old man leaning on a cane and carrying a wine gourd on his back, chuckled, "Lu Daoist Friend, your eyes always light up at the sight of exceptional swordsmanship. Are you perhaps considering taking another disciple?"


    "Among the eight of us, you''ve taken quite a number of nominal disciples throughout the years of traveling this universe!"


    "Taking a disciple?" The white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign smiled faintly, "Just based on the extraordinary nature of this killing formation alone, I do have the intention of taking him as a disciple."


    "Moreover, his peculiar divine power fascinates me even more."


    "This youth in the God King Realm might very well be the strongest God King we''ve ever encountered throughout our countless years of exploration!"


    The other Sovereigns were astounded by the high evaluation their Lu Daoist Brother gave to a mere God King.


    Throughout their endless travels across the universe, they had rarely encountered anyone who warranted such praise.


    All seven turned their attention to the "Thousand Sword Killing Formation" below and also focused on Ye Chen.


    Upon closer examination, they too recognized its extraordinary nature.


    "Indeed, it is a remarkably wondrous swordsmanship killing formation. Despite traveling through numerous Divine Kingdoms, we''ve never seen anything like it."


    "And that unique divine power¡ªit seems entirely unfamiliar."


    "Furthermore, that young God King seems to have managed to restrain an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable. His combat prowess is without a doubt exceptional!"


    "It appears that, except for the strongest Divine Kingdoms we have yet to visit, no other God Kings in countless Divine Kingdoms could rival him!"


    The sole Eight-Star Female Sovereign among them spoke to the white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign, "This young God King is indeed extraordinary. Lu Daoist Brother, you have even more reason to take him under your wing."


    "If you won''t act, then may I make the first move? Such a disciple is one I greatly desire!"


    The Eight-Star Female Sovereign''s words elicited chuckles from the other seven.


    While traveling the universe and cultivating, all eight were fond of exceptional talents.


    Though they wouldn''t take full disciples to keep by their side, they often took nominal disciples, granting them some opportunities and fortunes.


    At this moment, having recognized Ye Chen''s unmatched potential, not only did the Female Sovereign express interest in taking him as a disciple, but several others also showed their eagerness.


    However, the white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign shook his head toward the Female Sovereign and laughed, "I would be delighted to take him as my pupil, but, Daoist Friend He, I''m afraid none of us will get the chance."


    "From my discernment, this young God King, despite his current status, has been taught by someone whose power vastly exceeds mine!"


    The white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign''s keen insight was sharp indeed.


    He had recognized the extraordinary origin of Ye Chen''s "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills," inherited from Huyan Divine Master!


    "Someone with power that far surpasses yours taught him this swordsmanship?" The Female Sovereign, surnamed He, was startled, "Could it be that the one who taught him is beyond the Sovereign level¡ªis it a Divine Master?"


    The white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign nodded, "Without doubt, it''s someone of Divine Master caliber!"


    "Consider this: even a Divine Master would pass down such techniques to him. Although our cultivation realms are quite high, it''s unlikely he would consider us worthy."


    The other Sovereigns nodded in acknowledgment.


    Indeed.


    Even though they were at the Seven-Star, Eight-Star, and Nine-Star Sovereign Realms, they paled in comparison to a Divine Master.


    A young prodigy capable of securing the guidance of a Divine Master was unlikely to settle for Sovereign teachers.


    In an instant, they all abandoned the thought of taking Ye Chen as a disciple.


    However.


    Though they had given up the notion of accepting him as a disciple, the eight did not intend to leave just yet.


    "Encountering such an intriguing young God King is, in itself, a rare opportunity."


    "Shall we descend and meet him?"


    "It would be a meaningful interaction, wouldn''t it?"


    The old Nine-Star Sovereign with the wine gourd suggested.


    The other seven Sovereigns chuckled in agreement, "I''m truly curious about this young friend."


    "Let''s go."


    "It would be good to meet him."


    The eight powerful Sovereigns exchanged glances, and without any visible movement, their figures vanished from the Endless Star Domain.


    ...


    As the eight Sovereigns disappeared, Ye Chen, along with the members of the Lin family, had already entered the Lin Mansion.


    Previously, when Zuo Yan attacked the Lin family, and Ye Chen subdued Zuo Yan and Master Xuan, Lin Fei''er''s chambers had been damaged. Thus, they welcomed Ye Chen into the mansion''s meeting hall.


    The meeting hall could only accommodate a limited number of people, so most lower-level martial artists and juniors remained outside, while Ye Chen, Lin Fei''er, Lin Xiao, Lin Fei''er''s parents, and about ten others entered the hall.


    "Ye Chen, can you truly cure me?"


    In the meeting hall, Lin Fei''er gazed at Ye Chen with anticipation in her bright eyes.


    The Lin family members also looked at Ye Chen with hope.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded at Lin Fei''er, "Rest assured. I have already investigated your condition and found a solution."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Lin Fei''er''s heart raced with excitement.


    She had never dared to imagine that her illness could be cured.


    "Ye Chen, what you mentioned earlier about my Divine Body¡ªwhat exactly is that? I''ve never cultivated a Divine Body before."


    Lin Fei''er finally spoke up to ask.


    Ye Chen looked at Lin Fei''er''s delicate and beautiful face and replied, "Have you suddenly experienced outbreaks of cold poison in the past two years, with the condition worsening over time?"


    "Additionally, has a snow-colored leaf suddenly appeared within your body?"


    "Ye Chen, how do you know this?" Lin Fei''er exclaimed in shock.


    Ye Chen flipped his palm, and a "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill" appeared in his hand.


    "When Lin Shan mentioned your cold poison, I specifically sought out a miraculous cure¡ªthe ''Nine Transformation Ice God Pill.'' It can neutralize all cold poison arising from ice-system Divine Arts."


    "However, upon probing Zuo Yan''s divine soul earlier, I discovered why he targeted you. It turns out he had noticed your innate ice-system Divine Body¡ªthe ''Icy Spirit Mysterious Body.''"


    "This ''Icy Spirit Mysterious Body,'' if not actively cultivated, will eventually produce cold poison strong enough to claim the host''s life. Only when fully cultivated can the cold poison be transformed into a usable force."


    "Moreover, the unreleased Life Core of the ''Icy Spirit Mysterious Body,'' that snow-colored leaf within you, is an unparalleled material for refining treasures. That''s why Zuo Yan had planned to seize you and extract your Life Core."


    "Had he succeeded, not only would you have perished, but he could have refined the Life Core into a supreme-grade Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!"


    "But don''t worry now. I have figured out a way to incorporate your Divine Body into cultivation. Once you begin, you will be safe."


    As he spoke, Ye Chen flipped his palm again, and a blank jade token appeared in his hand.


    Holding the token to his forehead, he imbued it with the cultivation method for the "Icy Spirit Mysterious Body."


    Ye Chen had learned this cultivation method from Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu''s knowledge transfer from Lord Emperor Yan contained detailed records regarding the "Icy Spirit Mysterious Body."


    While Ye Chen inscribed the method into the jade token, the Lin family members, including Lin Fei''er, were utterly astonished.


    They had never realized that Lin Fei''er''s illness stemmed from her innate Divine Body!


    They had been entirely unaware of her Divine Body all this time.


    Now, they understood why Zuo Yan had attacked so suddenly.


    Zuo Yan had been trying to use the "Icy Spirit Mysterious Body" to refine a supreme-grade Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!


    My heavens.


    A Life Core from a Divine Body capable of being refined into such an artifact was unimaginable in its potency.


    The Lin family members knew well what an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact represented¡ªsomething that countless high-level Sovereigns lacked.


    A Life Core capable of refining such a treasure clearly signified the sheer greatness of this Divine Body.


    Luckily, Ye Chen had stated that cultivating the Divine Body would make its Life Core unusable for treasure refining. Otherwise, the Lin family would forever worry about others coveting Lin Fei''er''s "Icy Spirit Mysterious Body."


    At this moment, Lin Fei''er, seeing Ye Chen inscribing the cultivation method for her, felt deeply grateful.


    "Thankfully, Ye Chen not only found the method to treat my illness but also helped me resolve the plight of my Divine Body and even gave me a new path for cultivation!"


    "How extraordinary he is! How does he possess such vast knowledge, even understanding how to cultivate the ''Icy Spirit Mysterious Body''¡ªsomething I didn''t even know about myself!"


    As Lin Fei''er marveled, Ye Chen finished engraving the cultivation method.


    He removed the jade token from his forehead and handed it to Lin Fei''er.


    Along with it, he also gave her the "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill."


    "Take this pill first. Though your cold poison stems from the Divine Body, this item will help neutralize it and facilitate your cultivation."


    "This will also provide an opportunity for you to immediately integrate your Life Core into your body, ensuring no one else will covet it in the future."


    Ye Chen explained.


    Fully trusting Ye Chen, Lin Fei''er took the jade token and studied the cultivation method. One tea''s time later, she swallowed the "Nine Transformation Ice God Pill" and began to integrate her Life Core and initiate the cultivation process for the "Icy Spirit Mysterious Body."


    Seeing Lin Fei''er wholly absorbed in cultivation, Ye Chen finally felt relieved.


    At this moment, Ye Chen suddenly heard a commotion outside.


    When Ye Chen extended his Divine Sense outward, he saw countless martial artists in Frost God City''s Void Heaven with their mouths agape, staring at a particular void.


    Ye Chen also saw eight powerful Sovereigns suddenly materialize in that void.


    As his Divine Sense scanned the eight Sovereigns, they seemed to sense him as well, offering him a faint smile.


    The leading white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign even called out to him, "Young God King, your character is commendable to recognize the secret of the ''Icy Spirit Mysterious Body'' and refrain from seizing the Life Core. Instead, you helped that young girl cultivate it."


    "So, young friend, would you be interested in sharing a drink with the eight of us?"

 Chapter 952 - 902 Warning (2nd Update)

    "What do you think, young friend? Would you be interested in sharing a drink with the eight of us?"


    The words of the white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign echoed from the void, reverberating in all directions and landing in Ye Chen''s ears.


    At this moment, countless martial artists in Frost God City, along with the members of the Lin family who had been startled out of their quarters, were utterly shocked to the core.


    They had never imagined that such a seemingly ordinary Divine City would see the appearance of eight Sovereigns!


    And these were not ordinary Sovereigns either.


    Among the eight, two were Nine-Star Sovereigns, four were Eight-Star Sovereigns, and two were Seven-Star Sovereigns.


    A lineup of such high-ranking Sovereigns appearing not just in Frost God City but even in the capital of any Divine Kingdom would undoubtedly cause an uproar.


    What astonished these people even more.


    Was that these eight Sovereigns had personally extended an invitation to Ye Chen.


    Earlier, everyone had already discerned Ye Chen''s extraordinary nature, but they never expected that this remarkable God King youth would attract eight such Sovereigns, and that they would treat him with such respect!


    "Lord Ye Chen!"


    At this moment, the members of the Lin family turned their anxious gazes toward Ye Chen.


    Although they could see that the eight Sovereigns harbored no apparent hostility toward Ye Chen, the mere presence of such high-ranking beings still filled them with dread.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, who was the focus of the eight Sovereigns'' attention, felt a twinge of shock himself.


    He had not expected that during the short span in which he was treating Lin Fei''er, eight high-ranking Sovereigns would descend upon Frost God City.


    Of course, Ye Chen was no stranger to such encounters.


    Back when he visited Heavenly God Mountain, he once ran into leading Sovereigns from five different Divine Kingdoms. At that time, there had been even more Eight-Star and Nine-Star Sovereigns assembled than there were now, and Ye Chen hadn''t been intimidated then¡ªhe certainly wouldn''t be now.


    Glancing back at Lin Fei''er, immersed in cultivating her Innate Divine Body with her senses closed and undisturbed, Ye Chen gave a slight nod.


    Then, turning to the members of the Lin family, he offered them a gentle smile.


    With that, Ye Chen stepped out of the Lin Mansion, taking a single stride into the void, moving toward the eight Sovereigns.


    "With such an invitation from the eight esteemed seniors, how could Ye Chen possibly decline?"


    Greeting the eight Sovereigns with a cupped fist salute, Ye Chen''s tone was respectful, yet his demeanor remained composed.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s calm and collected expression, the eight Sovereigns exchanged glances and nodded with smiles.


    "Impressive. Truly, a hero emerges in his youth!"


    "Even his bearing alone is unparalleled among the God Kings we''ve seen!"


    As Ye Chen stepped forward to stand before the eight Sovereigns, they waved their sleeves, and in the void suddenly appeared a large round table and nine stone stools.


    One of the Sovereigns, clad in blue, made a simple gesture, and a treasure shaped like a basket appeared in his hand. The Blue-Robed Sovereign retrieved an assortment of fine food and wine from the basket, placing them upon the round table.


    These eight Sovereigns had indeed prepared a banquet for Ye Chen in mid-air.


    "Young friend, let me first introduce you to the company. This here is Sovereign Li; you may address him as Elder Tieguai."


    After seating Ye Chen at the round table, the white-robed Nine-Star Sovereign began introducing the other seven Sovereigns.


    He began with an elderly Nine-Star Sovereign leaning on a cane and carrying a wine gourd on his back.


    He then moved on to introduce the remaining six.


    "This is Sovereign Cao, this is Sovereign Zhang, and this one here, responsible for the spread, is Sovereign Lan..."


    "And this lady here is Sovereign He."


    Finally, he introduced himself. "You may call me Immortal Lu, or Sovereign Lu, as you wish."


    "Seniors Lu, Tieguai, Cao..." Ye Chen cupped his fists again toward the eight Sovereigns. "Might I ask what task the eight seniors wish to entrust to this junior?"


    Sovereign Tieguai Li chuckled heartily. "Let''s discuss it over drinks."


    Sovereign He also smiled. "Sovereign Lan has brought out his treasured Divine Food Jade Liquor, and I, too, have a few lotus pods gathered from the ''Cave Heaven Lotus Pond.'' Young friend, why not give them a try?"


    With that, Sovereign He presented three clusters of lotus pods.


    Ye Chen noticed that each lotus seed within the pods emanated a faint divine brilliance¡ªit was clearly no ordinary item.


    As Ye Chen consumed a seed, he immediately felt a surge of powerful origin energy flooding into his entire body.


    Although this origin energy didn''t quite match the Crystal Spirit Fine Wine he''d once drunk from Sovereign Fang Xuan on Heavenly God Mountain, nor did it approach the Divine Light and Liquid from the Divine Transformation Pool at the mountain''s exit,


    it was still unquestionably a rare treasure of great value among Sovereigns.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that Sovereign He, a complete stranger, would willingly share such a precious item with him.


    Drinking the Jade Liquor provided by Sovereign Lan and sampling the divine foods on the table, Ye Chen felt a warm and potent energy flow into his physical body, nourishing his Divine Body with care.


    The offerings from Sovereign Lan, too, were undoubtedly extraordinary!


    While Ye Chen was savoring the food and drink, the eight Sovereigns finally revealed the reason for inviting him.


    "Young friend, the eight of us hail from the Heavenly Splendor Divine Kingdom. Bound by a common love for travel, we roam the cosmos pursuing adventures and training."


    "We chanced upon the sword-killing formation you set up and were drawn here to meet its creator."


    "Might we ask, young friend, which school you belong to? Are you by chance a native of Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom?"


    Ye Chen finally understood why the eight Sovereigns had come after hearing this question.


    He glanced at the Thousand Swords Killing Formation he had established outside the Lin family''s grounds.


    "So the eight seniors were drawn here by that sword-killing formation."


    Ye Chen suspected that it was the techniques he had learned from Huyan Divine Master¡ª"Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills"¡ªthat had caught their eyes.


    "This junior, Ye Chen, is not from Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom. I am a disciple of the Supreme Divine Institute of Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom. I passed through here while fulfilling a companion''s request."


    When Ye Chen mentioned that he was from Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom''s Supreme Divine Institute, Sovereign He''s eyes lit up as she asked him, "Could it be that young friend Ye Chen has just returned from Heavenly God Mountain?"


    "How did senior know I have just come from Heavenly God Mountain?" Ye Chen was taken aback.


    Sovereign He''s expression shifted with astonishment upon hearing Ye Chen''s response.


    "Not long ago, the eight of us concluded an expedition to Qianjue Divine Kingdom. While visiting an old friend, I encountered his disciple Hua Xuelian, who had just returned from Heavenly God Mountain. I heard much about recent events there, and your name came up repeatedly."


    "To think you are indeed the Ye Chen that Hua Xuelian so greatly praised!"


    "Word has it that you were the first God King to complete all the trials at Heavenly God Mountain and step into the legendary first Divine Transformation Pool!"


    Sovereign He marveled, her admiration evident.


    Hua Xuelian?


    "I didn''t expect senior to be acquainted with Hua Xuelian," Ye Chen remarked, somewhat surprised.


    At this moment, Sovereign Lu asked, "Could it be that young friend Ye Chen left Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom right after returning from Heavenly God Mountain?"


    "Do you have important matters to attend to, or is this journey purely coincidental?"


    Ye Chen''s heart stirred at these words.


    The eight Sovereigns traveled across the cosmos and might have visited the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Ye Chen knew little about the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Aside from some leads regarding General Yinsha provided by Huyan Divine Master, his understanding was limited.


    After all, Huyan Divine Master had been isolated for millennia, and the True Spirit Divine Kingdom may have undergone significant changes in that time.


    As he intended to journey there, Ye Chen thought it prudent to gather as much information as possible from these Sovereigns.


    Though he couldn''t disclose his mission for Huyan Divine Master, there was no harm in inquiring about the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Taking a deep breath, Ye Chen said to the eight Sovereigns, "This junior has departed Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom to travel to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom. My stop here at Black Dragon Mountain Divine Kingdom is merely a stopover."


    "Seniors, given your extensive travels, might you have visited the True Spirit Divine Kingdom?"


    "You''re heading for the True Spirit Divine Kingdom?!" The eight Sovereigns clearly hadn''t anticipated that Ye Chen''s destination was the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    "We have indeed visited the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, spending several decades there some five hundred years ago," Sovereign Lu said, his expression turning solemn. "Young friend Ye Chen, the True Spirit Divine Kingdom is far more powerful than Wanmu Mountain and even our Heavenly Splendor Divine Kingdom."


    "In the vast cosmos, the True Spirit Divine Kingdom ranks among the top twenty!"


    "Moreover, it is fraught with peril. Comprising countless True Spirit Sacred Beast clans, the kingdom is rife with danger. Though you are formidable, as a mere God King, you may risk total annihilation with the slightest misstep!"


    Ye Chen''s countenance grew gravely serious upon hearing Sovereign Lu''s warning.


    He had long known that the True Spirit Divine Kingdom was incredibly powerful.


    Huyan Divine Master and General Long Xiao had both remarked upon its strength, noting that its vast number of True Spirit Sacred Beast clans hosted a population of Sovereigns that dwarfed Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom''s by dozens of times.


    The number of high-ranking Sovereigns there was also significantly greater.


    Ye Chen also recalled reading about the True Spirit Divine Kingdom in the Heavenly Spirit Rankings of the fifth floor of the Stars Tower.


    The kingdom''s five major True Spirit Sacred Beast clans¡ªthe Blood Wing Clan, Nine Flames Clan, Wind God Clan, Extreme Spirit Clan, and Ten Thousand Blades Clan¡ªall ranked atop the Heavenly Spirit Rankings as supreme elite clans.


    For one kingdom to host five such elite clans underscored its tremendous strength!


    The General Yinsha Ye Chen sought belonged to one of these clans¡ªthe Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Still, despite knowing how treacherous the True Spirit Divine Kingdom was, Ye Chen had no choice but to brave it!


    After all, the curse left by Huyan Divine Master remained upon him. To lift it, Ye Chen had to fulfill the Divine Master''s final wish.


    "Seniors, could you share specifics about the True Spirit Divine Kingdom with this junior?" Ye Chen took a deep breath and earnestly inquired of the eight Sovereigns.


    Sovereign He spoke up first. "Let me tell you a bit about the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, young friend Ye Chen."


    "This kingdom differs greatly from others. While it''s still possible to use the Teleportation Star Formation to travel into its capital from other kingdoms,


    moving between the regions within the True Spirit Divine Kingdom is completely different. Unlike many other kingdoms, you cannot rely on regional Teleportation Divine Arrays to traverse its various locales."


    "To venture anywhere within the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, one must traverse the regions by flight, step by arduous step."


    "But these regions are rife with dangers. Even the eight of us encountered numerous crises during our attempt to pass through the entire kingdom."


    "Young friend Ye Chen, if you truly must go to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, I advise you to remain within the capital''s bounds. Avoid crossing deeper into its territories, for the dangers you may face are beyond comprehension!"

 Chapter 954 - 904: Recruitment (2nd Update)

    The eight sovereigns and Ye Chen all flew into the Lin Mansion.


    Upon seeing this scene, countless martial artists from the families of Frost God City were filled with extreme envy toward the Lin Family.


    "The Lin Family has latched onto the leg of Ye Chen, the Divine King."


    "Because of Divine King Ye Chen, they''ve now drawn the attention of eight high-ranking sovereigns."


    "From now on, I dare say no family in Frost God City will dare provoke the Lin Family lightly!"


    Amid the whispers of the crowd.


    Inside the Lin Mansion, Lin Fei''er, who had been cultivating for a long time, finally opened her eyes.


    When she saw Ye Chen, Lin Fei''er excitedly exclaimed, "Brother Ye Chen, I succeeded!"


    But when her gaze landed on the eight high-ranking sovereigns beside Ye Chen, Lin Fei''er was startled and asked, "Brother Ye Chen, who are they..."


    At that moment, Sovereign He smiled gently at Lin Fei''er and said, "Young girl, would you be willing to take me as your master?"


    ...


    An hour later.


    The eight sovereigns flew out of the Lin Mansion, each of them wearing a smile. Moments later, they merged into the void and disappeared entirely.


    Awhile later, Ye Chen also emerged from the Lin Mansion, surrounded by Lin Family members.


    At this moment, the Lin Family members were utterly consumed by joy.


    They never imagined that not only would Lin Fei''er be fully cured by Ye Chen, but she would also awaken the innate divine body they hadn''t known she possessed. Moreover, just now, the Eight-Star Female Sovereign had even accepted Lin Fei''er as her disciple and specifically left behind numerous cultivation manuals and treasures for Lin Fei''er and the Lin Family.


    The Lin Family members all understood one thing.


    Everything they now had was brought to them by Ye Chen.


    Though Lin Shan remained trapped and perished within the Heavenly God Mountain, the arrival of Ye Chen brought a glimmer of hope for the rise of the Lin Family!


    Now, hearing that Ye Chen planned to leave after the departure of the eight sovereigns, the Lin Family was filled with both gratitude and reluctance.


    "Brother Ye Chen, where are you going?" Lin Fei''er, more than anyone else, couldn''t bear to part with Ye Chen.


    The young girl knew that her very life had been saved by Ye Chen.


    Her fate had been altered, all because of him.


    If not for Ye Chen stating that he had matters requiring him to travel alone, Lin Fei''er would have wanted to stay by his side to cultivate.


    Looking at the young girl''s reluctant gaze and the grateful eyes of the Lin Family members, Ye Chen softly chuckled and said, "Fei''er, my friends, there''s no need to see me off. I shall now set out for another divine kingdom. If fate wills it, we will meet again."


    Without another word, Ye Chen waved to the Lin Family members, his figure moving instantly, darting straight into the void.


    In the next moment, he vanished entirely from Frost God City.


    Long after Ye Chen''s departure, the Lin Family continued to stand outside the mansion.


    Lin Fei''er stared after Ye Chen''s disappearing figure and murmured, "Brother Ye Chen, we will meet again."


    "I will diligently cultivate, using the methods you''ve passed on to me and those taught by my master. When I grow stronger, I will seek out my brother and, above all, find you, Brother Ye Chen!"


    Determination surged in the young girl''s eyes, exuding an unshakable resolve.


    ...


    As he reached the heights of Polar Heaven, Ye Chen looked back one last time at Frost God City before turning his gaze to the distant horizon.


    "The matter entrusted to me by Lin Shan has finally reached its perfect conclusion."


    "Next, it''s time to head to the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain to check on whether Jiang Yao and Long Li have emerged from the Zixuan Treasure Palace."


    "And after that, I''ll proceed to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom!"


    As he spoke, Ye Chen glanced at the "True Spirit Atlas" given to him by the eight sovereigns, his fist clenching tightly.


    ...


    Haotian Divine City is the capital of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom and its most majestic giant city.


    The entirety of Haotian Divine City occupies an unfathomably vast stretch of the Star Continent, with countless towering spires and soaring stone statues.


    These stone statues depict figures with extraordinary characteristics¡ªsome bearing divine wings, others wreathed in perpetual flames, and still others of monstrous size, radiating bloodlight.


    Each figure immortalized here is a renowned historical legend of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom!


    The martial artists within Haotian Divine City number in the tens of billions. Among them, the numbers of God Kings, Divine Venerates, and Sovereigns far surpass those of any Divine City within the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation!


    On this day, outside a massive mansion located in the southwestern area of Haotian Divine City, the atmosphere was lively and charged.


    Looking up at the signboard above the mansion''s gate, four grand characters gleaming with divine brilliance came into view¡ª"Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion"!


    At that moment, tens of thousands of martial artists jostled outside the Medicine Pavilion''s estate.


    These martial artists, at minimum, were at the God King Realm, with some even reaching the realm of the Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Among them, an elderly man clad in yellow robes, exuding the aura of a Heavenly Divine Venerate, stood at the center of attention.


    The elderly man raised his voice and said, "Everyone, please don''t crowd! Please don''t push!"


    "Today marks our annual recruitment day at the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion. Everyone has the chance to join our herbal procurement team, but it all depends on your abilities."


    Hearing the elderly man''s words, one of the martial artists immediately shouted, "We heard that this year the Medicine Pavilion plans to venture into regions like the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain to gather spiritual herbs. Is that true, Steward Huang?"


    Steward Huang nodded and replied, "Indeed. Not only will we head to the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain this time, but the young mistress herself will personally lead the team!"


    At the mention of "young mistress," many of the younger martial artists among the crowd grew visibly excited. "The young mistress is finally leading the team to gather divine medicine again?"


    "I heard that last time, the young mistress managed to collect a Heaven Spirit Torma Divine Flower from the Wuxuan Holy Mountain and used it to cure a high-ranking sovereign!"


    "If the young mistress is leading, I absolutely have to join!"


    "It just so happens that I, too, am headed toward the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain. Following the Medicine Pavilion will undoubtedly be the safest option!"


    Another voice rang out eagerly, "What level of combat power is required to participate in this year''s recruitment?"


    "Steward Huang, please announce it quickly! We''re all waiting to begin the selection process and secure our spots!"


    Amid the clamoring crowd, Steward Huang chuckled loudly. "The eight regions we''ll be venturing into for herb collection this time are not especially dangerous, and with the young mistress leading, the requirements aren''t too stringent. As long as your combat power meets the Heavenly Divine Venerate level, you''ll have a chance to qualify."


    "I will be conducting the preliminary selection here."


    "However, the final decision will still rest with the young mistress herself."


    "For the preliminary test, it''s quite simple¡ªif you can defeat the Heavenly Divine Venerate Black Flame Puppet from our Medicine Pavilion, you''ll pass the first round."


    "Now then, those interested, please form an orderly line and participate in the selection one by one!"


    As soon as Steward Huang finished speaking, the chaotic crowd of tens of thousands began to rush forward, quickly forming a long queue.


    Toward the rear of the line, a young man gazed at the Medicine Pavilion''s signboard before shifting his attention to the bustling crowd, nodding lightly to himself.


    "It seems this Medicine Pavilion is indeed highly sought after."


    "And as expected, they plan to head to the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain."


    "The information I''ve gathered since arriving in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s capital is indeed accurate."


    "I intend to head to the Extreme Spirit Sea, and coincidentally, passing through the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain aligns perfectly with my route. Traveling alone in this unfamiliar divine kingdom would be immensely perilous, but joining the Medicine Pavilion''s team offers a much safer alternative."


    As he turned his gaze to the young man, the figure was none other than Ye Chen, who had journeyed to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom to fulfill Huyan Divine Master''s final wish of finding General Yinsha!


    After departing from Frost God City, Ye Chen had directly headed toward the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain.


    Unfortunately, he still hadn''t encountered Jiang Yao or Long Li during this visit.


    Thus, Ye Chen did not linger in the Ten Thousand Beasts Domain. Spending countless teleportations and traversing nearly half the divine kingdoms in the cosmos, he finally arrived at the capital of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom¡ªHaotian Divine City.


    Upon reaching the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s capital, Ye Chen refrained from hastily heading toward the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    He still remembered the words of caution from the eight sovereigns resounding in his ears.


    Ye Chen wasn''t about to act recklessly.


    He spent several days exploring the capital, familiarizing himself with the people and environment of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom while gathering intelligence and searching for the safest means to reach the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    During this time, Ye Chen learned about the Medicine Pavilion.


    The Medicine Pavilion was renowned throughout the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, with branches spread across the land. It was said that the pavilion''s master was a formidable practitioner who had reached the Nine-Star Sovereign Realm.


    Moreover, the core members of the Medicine Pavilion were comprised of the True Spirit Sacred Beasts of the Nine Flames Clan, one of the five high-ranking life clans of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom. Their reputation was unparalleled within the kingdom.


    Every year, the Medicine Pavilion dispatched teams to various mysterious regions within the kingdom to gather divine medicine.


    These teams included both their own members and recruited martial artists from outside.


    For the Medicine Pavilion, this was a way to harness additional manpower for herb collection.


    For martial artists, the Medicine Pavilion offered generous rewards. Moreover, as their teams were known for their safety, many martial artists headed to other destinations would opt to join them temporarily. Upon reaching their desired location, they could part ways with the team.


    As such, the Medicine Pavilion''s annual recruitment events were always incredibly popular.


    Martial artists seeking the pavilion''s lucrative rewards or those planning to travel toward its collection sites would flock to these recruitment events.


    Upon hearing about the Medicine Pavilion, Ye Chen became intrigued.


    Particularly after learning that the eight regions they planned to explore this time were all situated in a southerly direction from the capital¡ªen route to the Extreme Spirit Sea, where General Yinsha of the Extreme Spirit Clan awaited¡ªYe Chen resolved to accompany them.


    "The Nine Lotus Holy Mountain is situated about a third of the way between the kingdom''s capital and the Extreme Spirit Sea."


    "If I can travel with the Medicine Pavilion''s team to the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain, I''ll have completed a significant portion of my journey in one go."


    "The recruitment requirement this time is Heavenly Divine Venerate-level combat power? That shouldn''t be a problem."


    He murmured to himself as he waited in line.


    While Ye Chen queued, deliberating his plans, the recruitment selection ahead of him had already begun.


    Ye Chen''s gaze landed on the combat puppet deployed by the Medicine Pavilion for their selection process¡ªa humanoid black puppet.


    Facing off against it was a martial artist over two meters tall, with scales covering large sections of his head.


    As the black puppet began its battle with the recruit, Ye Chen''s eyes lit up.


    The Heavenly Divine Venerate-grade black puppet erupted into roaring black flames during the fight.


    The opposing martial artist shouted, his body growing several meters taller. His exposed skin became entirely covered in scales, leaving only his eyes visible. In his hands, he wielded two fish-shaped halberds that gleamed with piercing light.


    "So this is one of the True Spirit Sacred Beasts of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom. Their combat transformations are utterly distinct from the martial artists of the Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation."


    Ye Chen watched with fascination as the battle unfolded.

 Chapter 955 - 905: Challenge (First Update)

    The black puppet at the Heavenly Divine Venerable level originally possessed combat power equivalent to that of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable. However, when its entire body was consumed by fiercely burning black flames, its combat power instantly rose to the level of a Mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    Even more terrifying was that the black flames seemed to enhance its speed significantly.


    In an almost instantaneous flash, the black puppet appeared right before the opposing martial artist. Its fiery hands reached out, blazing with intense flames, for the martial artist.


    The martial artist, whose entire body was covered in scales, was originally quite formidable, possessing the power of a Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable. However, against the black puppet, whose combat power surged so dramatically, he quickly fell to a disadvantage.


    The scaled martial artist hastily raised his hands to block with two fish-shaped treasures gleaming with icy brilliance.


    But the black flames on the puppet''s hands instantly spread onto the fish-shaped treasures.


    Then, a shocking event occurred.


    The fish-shaped treasures, clearly of a High-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact level, were burned into nothingness by the black flames in mere moments!


    This sight caused the scaled martial artist to truly lose his composure and panic in both mind and spirit.


    He staggered backward in desperation, retreating a few steps, but the black puppet immediately lunged forward again with a claw-like grasp, catching the martial artist entirely in its hands and spinning him around fiercely.


    The martial artist was flung dozens of meters away, crashing heavily onto the ground outside of the combat circle, resulting in his failure in the recruitment selection battle.


    Even after his defeat, the scaled martial artist remained covered in the black flames.


    The fire seemed to spread further, threatening to consume him completely and reduce him to ashes in an instant. A yellow-robed elder¡ªa recruiter¡ªflashed to the martial artist''s side, extending his large hand which erupted with green flames. With a gentle sweep, the black flames on the martial artist were completely extinguished.


    "I''ve lost!"


    "The ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion,'' under the dominance of the Nine Flames Clan among the five Supreme Clans, is indeed formidable!"


    After his defeat, the scaled martial artist stood dazed in lingering fear for a while before finally rising and clasping his fists toward the yellow-robed elder, speaking loudly.


    A wave of chatter instantly broke out among the crowd.


    "This puppet was definitely refined by a master from the Nine Flames Clan. The flames on its body must surely be one of the divine flames cultivated by them!"


    "Without the power of a Mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable, there''s no way to defeat it!"


    Amid the discussion, many Divine Kings and Lower Heavenly Divine Venerables displayed signs of hesitation and trepidation.


    Only the Immortal Divine Venerables and Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables managed to remain composed.


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen, who had been watching the battle closely, focused on the black flames enveloping the puppet and the green flames unleashed by the yellow-robed elder. His mind stirred: "Hmm, these two kinds of flames are truly peculiar. They feel so different from my natural-born Blue Extreme Iceflame, as if they were cultivated artificially."


    "Could it be that the Nine Flames Clan has the ability to cultivate countless divine flames after birth?"


    "Artificially cultivated flames, with such power? It rivals even some Top-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts!"


    Ye Chen grew increasingly intrigued by the Nine Flames Clan, the second-ranked advanced Spirit Clan in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    The recruitment trials continued.


    Among the tens of thousands of martial artists present, many were deterred by the black puppet''s sheer power, but there were still plenty willing to take up the challenge.


    The second challenger was a slender young girl.


    She possessed the combat strength of a Mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable, equivalent to that of the black puppet.


    As soon as she engaged in battle with the black puppet, a sudden transformation occurred¡ªshe morphed into a miraculous white mink-like divine beast.


    Even more astonishing was that this small white mink had a pair of white wings on its back.


    Ye Chen had never seen a divine beast of such form!


    What amazed Ye Chen even further was that, despite the black flames enhancing the puppet''s speed to a phenomenal level, this winged mink''s speed, once transformed, exceeded that of the black puppet. It sped through the combat circle like a streak of white lightning.


    The black puppet could not even approach the transformed young girl by a fraction.


    During the rapid pursuit and flashing movements, the "white mink-like divine beast" opened its mouth and spat out a golden, glowing sword.


    The sword struck repeatedly with sharp buzzes, slicing the black puppet into fragments in mere moments.


    From her initial strike to her ultimate victory over the black puppet, the young girl completed everything in less than three breaths.


    After leaping out of the combat circle, the girl reverted to her human form.


    She gave the yellow-robed elder a gentle smile and said, "Senior, have I passed the recruitment selection''s initial stage?"


    The yellow-robed elder smiled as he nodded: "The Wind Feather Mink tribe lives up to their reputation for extraordinary speed. The life-bound magic treasure you''ve refined is equally impressive."


    "Since you''ve defeated my black flame puppet, you''re certainly qualified to pass the preliminary selection."


    The yellow-robed elder gestured for her to step into the victor''s area beside him.


    "So she''s from the Wind Feather Mink tribe!"


    "The Wind Feather Mink tribe may not rank amidst the five Supreme Clans, but they are undoubtedly one of the High-tier races within the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s countless species."


    "I bet she hasn''t even revealed all her innate divine abilities yet!"


    The crowd burst into spirited discussion.


    Ye Chen, too, mused inwardly: "True Spirit Divine Kingdom indeed surpasses Wanmu Mountain Divine Nation in terms of strength, with not only countless elites but also endless varieties of miraculous True Spirit Sacred Beast clans."


    "My journey through the True Spirit Divine Kingdom promises to be an eye-opening experience."


    And indeed, it was thrilling and eye-opening.


    As the recruitment challenges continued, one challenger after another entered the fray.


    Though many suffered defeat, a significant number succeeded in clearing the preliminary selection stage.


    Throughout the battles, Ye Chen witnessed firsthand the stunning transformations and unique divine abilities of True Spirit Sacred Beast clans across the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Of course, not all challengers hailed from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Quite a few, like Ye Chen, had traveled from other divine kingdoms to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s capital city.


    Many of these challengers also excelled, successfully passing the recruitment trials.


    However, most of the warriors from other kingdoms were Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables or Immortal Divine Venerables. Few, like Ye Chen, came as Divine Kings to venture into the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    If Divine Kings did arrive, it was often under the guidance of powerful elders, and ultimately, most would face defeat in the recruitment selection.


    This outcome was hardly surprising.


    After all, crossing between divine kingdoms, whether through Star Seal teleportation or by traversing vast star domains, was typically achievable only by warriors of immense power.


    Weaker martial artists usually depended on senior guardians.


    Given such circumstances, their lack of adequate strength was understandable.


    As the recruitment tests progressed steadily, it was finally Ye Chen''s turn to enter the battle arena.

 Chapter 956 - 906: Keep a Low Profile (2nd Update)

    As Ye Chen stepped into the combat circle, "shua," countless gazes turned toward him.


    "Hmm, an Upper God King? And so young?"


    "For someone at the God King Realm to pass the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable recruitment trial, it is extremely difficult. Among all the God Kings who attempted earlier, only a dozen or so were true genius God Kings possessing the combat power of a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable or an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, and they managed to pass the test."


    "This person might not find it so easy to pass the recruitment selection."


    "Did anyone notice? This God King isn''t from the True Spirit Sacred Beast race of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom; he''s human."


    "I wonder which Divine Nation he came from to reach the True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    "I don''t know either."


    "Let''s see what methods he has."


    Numerous voices discussed as many scrutinizing eyes surveyed Ye Chen.


    Amidst all the chatter, Ye Chen''s gaze was sharp as he stood in the combat circle and looked toward the yellow-robed elder.


    The yellow-robed elder didn''t waste any words and directly activated the black puppet for the fight.


    The black puppet towered at over three zhang, several times taller than Ye Chen.


    Standing in front of this Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable-level black puppet, Ye Chen became increasingly aware of the mystique surrounding the roaring black flames on the puppet.


    However, Ye Chen felt no panic in his heart.


    What a joke.


    Given Ye Chen''s current combat power, tearing through Upper Immortal Divine Venerables would be effortless¡ªwhy would he fear a mere Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable-level puppet?


    Forget Heavenly Divine Venerable-level; not even Immortal Divine Venerable-level could harm him in the slightest!


    Everyone assumed Ye Chen had been brought to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom by some Immortal Divine Venerable or Sovereign to broaden his horizons, but they didn''t know Ye Chen had traversed half the universe by himself to reach the True Spirit Divine Kingdom!


    At this moment, standing in the combat circle, Ye Chen was deliberating. Having just arrived at the True Spirit Divine Kingdom and facing such a spectacle, he saw no need to genuinely reveal his full strength.


    Passing the recruitment test was sufficient; the rest could be handled discreetly.


    After all, the higher profile he maintained, the more attention he''d attract¡ªwhich might bring a heap of troubles.


    "The Blue Extreme Iceflame cannot be used; otherwise, it would easily burn the black puppet into nothingness."


    "The Origin Slash, which uses starry origin power, is too overwhelming. It might attract the notice of the Sovereign-level experts in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    "The wind-patterned divine power of the Eternal God Body¡ªdefeating the black puppet with it would be overkill too..."


    With scores of overpowering techniques at his disposal, Ye Chen pondered which relatively weaker method he should employ.


    If the martial artists in the arena knew Ye Chen''s current thoughts, most of them would be utterly shocked!


    Many of them lacked even the ability to battle the black puppet.


    Yet Ye Chen was deliberating on which less-than-optimal method to use to make his move!


    After some thought, Ye Chen decided.


    "I''ll use the simplest foundational technique of the Eternal God Body¡ªEarth Divine Pattern."


    "And add to it some basic moves from the Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills..."


    Ye Chen''s contemplative expression was taken by the surrounding martial artists as fear upon facing the black puppet.


    Some burst into laughter, mocking, "Little God King, run away quickly! That black puppet is about to attack!"


    As these voices rang out, the black puppet''s blazing black flames surged outward¡ªit lunged straight for Ye Chen.


    "Watch out!"


    Seeing this, several young ladies from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom cried out in alarm.


    These girls seemed genuinely worried about Ye Chen.


    After all, Ye Chen was imbued with a mysterious allure stemming from his repeated transformations of life origin. Coupled with his identity as a human, this naturally captured the attention of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s maidens.


    Even the young True Spirit Sacred Beast girl from the Wind Feather Mink clan, who had transformed into winged mink form and won her recruitment trial earlier, cast concerned glances toward Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen''s attraction to so many young women made quite a few male martial artists from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom jealous.


    "Hmph, just a human with good looks¡ªand he gets this much attention?"


    "Good looks mean nothing. Strength is what matters."


    "I reckon he''ll be eliminated in less than ten seconds."


    These mocking remarks drew dissatisfied glances from the female martial artists, but they only made the men more bitter as they eagerly anticipated Ye Chen''s defeat by the puppet.


    However, their expectations were swiftly dashed.


    Though Ye Chen seemed unimpressive, the black puppet struggled to get close to him as he continued to evade.


    Ten seconds passed¡ªYe Chen had not been eliminated.


    Thirty seconds passed¡ªYe Chen appeared to have grasped the black puppet''s movement patterns and even started countering it.


    After fifty seconds, Ye Chen summoned a flying sword, persistently striking at the black puppet.


    Finally, after a duration equivalent to one cup of tea, Ye Chen successfully slew the black puppet in the arena.


    "He won?"


    Many who had doubted Ye Chen hadn''t anticipated this outcome.


    If Ye Chen had crushed the black puppet with overwhelming power, they might have begrudgingly accepted it.


    But they had clearly watched Ye Chen slowly wear down the puppet¡ªand yet, he passed the test. This left the martial artists who had hoped for his defeat somewhat resentful.


    "Just sheer luck."


    "This is only the initial recruitment test. When the young lady personally selects people, he''ll certainly get eliminated."


    They could only console themselves this way.


    Meanwhile, several young female martial artists casting their attention toward Ye Chen secretly breathed sighs of relief.


    "Pretty decent strength."


    "For a God King to fight a Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable-level puppet, he could be called talented."


    "He''s a human genius."


    Amid the varied reactions of the crowd, Ye Chen wiped his forehead, jumped out of the combat circle, and grinned at the yellow-robed elder. "Senior, I''ve passed the initial recruitment test, haven''t I?"


    The yellow-robed elder, unable to discern Ye Chen''s concealed strength, plainly saw him perform as though evenly matched with the black puppet. He nodded in response. "Little one, you''ve passed."


    "However, you must remain cautious. Even if you''re ultimately selected to accompany our Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion to gather medicinal herbs, don''t wander recklessly¡ªit could endanger you."


    "For a God King Realm martial artist to possess Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable-level combat power is commendable. But amidst the many dangers of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, this is still insufficient, so be vigilant."


    Ye Chen cupped his hands respectfully toward the yellow-robed elder. "Rest assured, Junior will take care."


    With that, he moved to the victory circle under the elder''s instructions.


    "Hehe, Ye Chen, this steward is rather kind, even showing concern for you. If he knew you didn''t even use ten percent of your combat strength to defeat the black puppet¡ªthat even defeating him, a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, would be effortless¡ªhe would be terrified!"


    From the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on Ye Chen''s body, Xiaojiu''s voice chimed in.


    Ye Chen smiled faintly and transmitted back to Xiaojiu, "Low-key, low-key."


    After Ye Chen stepped into the victory circle, many eyes turned toward him.


    Of course, several exceptionally capable martial artists¡ªthose with Immortal Divine Venerable-level combat power¡ªmerely glanced at him with disdain before redirecting their attention to the ongoing trials.


    Ye Chen remained unbothered by their attitudes.


    His purpose was solely to blend into the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''s team for smooth passage to the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain. Once there, he would devise plans to continue his journey to the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    These individuals were mere fleeting acquaintances, and Ye Chen didn''t care how they perceived him.


    Yet, though Immortal Divine Venerable-level martial artists might disdain Ye Chen, a number of Heavenly Divine Venerable-level martial artists showed curiosity toward him.


    Especially several Heavenly Divine Venerable-level martial artists from other Divine Nations.


    A slightly plump youth squeezed his way to Ye Chen, striking up a conversation as if they were old friends. "Fellow cultivator, which Divine Nation are you from?"


    "I''m from the Qi Yue Divine Nation. My name is Kuang Meng. I''m an Upper God King with the combat power to defeat Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables. In my Divine Nation, I''m considered the number one God King!"


    "You must also be quite skilled; I''m guessing you could rank within the top ten God Kings of your Divine Nation."


    "Once we''re selected for the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''s herb-gathering team, let''s stick together."


    Ye Chen hadn''t anticipated this overly friendly fat God King to say so much in a single breath.


    He smiled at Kuang Meng. "My name is Ye Chen, and I''m from a very distant Divine Nation. Working together? Sounds good."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s response, Kuang Meng gleefully patted his shoulder, confidently assuring him, "Ye Chen, don''t worry. When we travel together, I''ll watch out for you. The Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''s herb-gathering team is said to be quite safe. Just don''t wander recklessly, and you''ll have nothing to fear."


    "I''ve even befriended a few other Heavenly Divine Venerable fellow cultivators. Let''s all stick together later¡ªI''ll introduce you to them."


    With that, Kuang Meng pulled Ye Chen to meet several other Heavenly Divine Venerable martial artists in the victory circle.


    While Ye Chen and Kuang Meng engaged in conversation, the recruitment trials continued outside.


    After several more hours, all battles concluded.


    Among the tens of thousands of martial artists who had arrived, many God Kings opted to forgo the test.


    Of the over eight thousand participants, only about six thousand passed the initial recruitment trial.


    "This time, we''ll be recruiting three thousand martial artists to join our Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''s team to collect divine medicine across the eight regions."


    "Next, those of you who passed the preliminary selection, follow me to meet the young lady. She will finalize the roster."


    After the results were confirmed, the yellow-robed elder addressed the victors in the circle.


    With that, he took the lead and guided the group toward the interior of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.


    "The young lady?"


    "It''s rumored the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''s young lady belongs to one of the true Five Major Ancestor Tribes, the Nine Flames Clan. Her own power is said to be extraordinarily formidable! Though very young¡ªonly twenty-one or twenty-two years old¡ªshe has already achieved the Earth Divine Venerable Realm. It''s said her combat strength even rivals Middle Immortal Divine Venerables!"


    "Also, it''s said the young lady is exceedingly beautiful."


    Numerous martial artists who had passed the initial test murmured among themselves.


    In the crowd, Ye Chen''s intrigue was piqued.


    "A genuine member of the Nine Flames Clan?"


    "Does that mean the steward isn''t¡ª? Hmm, I wonder what a lady of the Nine Flames Clan looks like."

 Chapter 957 - 907: Cai Menger and Cai Xiaoer

    The Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion was incredibly vast, with pavilions and corridors scattered throughout, resembling a small city.


    The martial artists, including Ye Chen, who had passed the initial recruitment and selection, were led by an elder in yellow robes, winding through for quite some time, finally arriving at a cultivation courtyard within the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.


    "This is our ''Refining Fire Pavilion'' within the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''. Our martial artists frequently train here. Please wait here for a moment while I invite the young lady to come over."


    After speaking, the elder in yellow robes walked out of the cultivation courtyard.


    At this time, the six thousand martial artists who passed the initial test were curiously observing the cultivation courtyard.


    With this observation, the six thousand martial artists were instantly shocked.


    These martial artists discovered at the corners of the cultivation courtyard numerous flames sealed within arrays, with such sealed flames numbering in the hundreds.


    More terrifyingly, these flames were all of different colors and shapes, and their quality had all reached the level of "Mystic Heavenly Level" flames!


    "So many Mystic Heavenly Level flames?!"


    "It''s very difficult to collect even one cluster of flames, yet in this cultivation courtyard alone, there are so many ''Mystic Heavenly Level'' flames."


    "Could these all be for the martial artists of the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' to train with?"


    Numerous martial artists were incredibly surprised.


    It was rumored that the core members of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" were clansmen from the True Spirit Sacred Beast tribes of the Five Major Supreme Clans, particularly the "Nine Flames Clan".


    The "Nine Flames Clan" was famous for their ability to control Divine Flames.


    These martial artists were astounded, realizing that if the flames for training alone were so numerous, one could only imagine how terrifying the actual collection of Divine Flames in the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" was.


    Undoubtedly, not only "Mystic Heavenly Level" flames, but even "Extreme Heavenly Level" flames must exist within the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion"!


    At this moment, Ye Chen was also gazing at clusters of sealed flames in the corners of the cultivation courtyard.


    "These flames, along with the black puppet and the flames on Steward Huang earlier, all seem to be artificially cultivated."


    "To reach such a level with artificially cultivated flames, the ''Nine Flames Clan'' is really formidable."


    "Moreover, I feel that within this ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'', no fewer than ten clusters of ''Extreme Heavenly Level'' flames are sealed!"


    At this moment, in Ye Chen''s Qi Sea, his "Blue Extreme Iceflame" was drifting gently.


    Relying solely on the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'', he couldn''t sense other "Extreme Heavenly Level" flames; however, when Ye Chen ventured to explore the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion", though there were powerful divine sense barrier arrays isolating outsiders'' explorations, Ye Chen managed to clearly sense Divine Flame fluctuations similar to his ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' through his Taiyi Divine Power.


    The fluctuation of these Divine Flames was subtle, but Ye Chen could already feel that these Divine Flames were absolutely "Extreme Heavenly Level" flames!


    No fewer than ten clusters of "Extreme Heavenly Level" flames.


    This was simply unimaginable.


    It''s known that "Extreme Heavenly Objects" are incredibly difficult to find, with naturally occurring "Extreme Heavenly Flames" being extremely difficult to find, like the "Blue Extreme Iceflame", which Ye Chen only obtained half of after Long Li discovered it.


    That the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" actually held so many "Extreme Heavenly Level" flames was truly shocking to Ye Chen.


    This gave Ye Chen a deeper understanding of the powerful "True Spirit Divine Kingdom".


    Just as many martial artists were discussing among themselves, and while Ye Chen was still in shock, a lively voice was heard coming from outside the cultivation courtyard: "Are they in this courtyard?"


    "Yes, Young Miss." Steward Huang''s voice followed.


    Upon hearing these two voices, everyone knew that the young lady of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion had arrived.


    Swoosh.


    Instantly, the gazes of over six thousand martial artists turned towards the outside of the courtyard.


    At this sight, everyone saw a girl about twenty-one or twenty-two years old, dressed in white, with a graceful figure, a red mark on her forehead, and an exceptionally beautiful face, walking in slowly.


    This girl had a face of utmost purity, moving gracefully, like a celestial maiden walking on waves, yet her aura bore an enchanting and alluring quality.


    The girl''s gaze swept directly towards the people in the courtyard.


    Upon this glance, the martial artists in the courtyard felt as if they had fallen into an illusion realm filled with blooming flowers, with flowers floating within their divine senses.


    In an instant, the floating flowers suddenly transformed into countless terrifying clusters of flames, as if they intended to incinerate their divine souls.


    The martial artists were startled.


    In the next moment, they felt the entire illusion realm instantly dissipate, and before them was still this extremely beautiful girl watching them.


    This time, not only were the present Divine Kings, Earthly Divine Venerables, and Heavenly Divine Venerables astonished, even the Immortal Divine Venerables were all greatly surprised.


    They could feel that the young lady in front of them hadn''t actively initiated an illusion, but they had instinctively fallen into her illusion realm.


    Merely falling into it instinctively nearly made them lost in the illusion; if this young lady had actively initiated the illusion, they probably wouldn''t have been able to see through the terrifying illusion and would have been trapped within, suffering injuries or even death!


    "The Nine Flames Clan members indeed are impressive!"


    Countless martial artists silently praised in their hearts.


    At this moment, within the crowd, Ye Chen''s eyes shone bright.


    Ye Chen''s divine soul was a "Blue Divine Soul", and he was cultivating a "Purple Divine Soul", having absorbed immense divine soul power from numerous "Purple Silver Pearls", so he certainly would not get lost in the gaze illusion of this young lady.


    Nonetheless, Ye Chen did not want to stand out abruptly.


    When the young lady looked over, Ye Chen''s divine soul was controlled to a weak state, and he also sensed this special illusion.


    This gave Ye Chen a deeper appreciation of the "Nine Flames Clan".


    "It''s said that the ''Nine Flames Clan'' evolved from a kind of ''Nine-Colored Sky-Swallowing Python'', originally being ''Nine-Colored Sky-Swallowing Python''. Rumor has it that the ''Nine Flames Clan'' possesses nine innate divine abilities."


    "Perhaps this illusion transformation is one of those innate divine abilities."


    "But this young lady''s human form looks almost identical to us humans, except for an innate red dot on her forehead."


    Emotionally, Ye Chen''s eyes fell on the young lady.


    Ye Chen had an illusion that the young lady''s gaze seemed to linger on him longer, albeit barely noticeable.


    "Could it be that my hidden divine soul strength was discovered by this young lady?"


    Ye Chen''s mind was alert, and he paid more attention to this young lady.


    At this moment, the young lady did not take any extra actions. After surveying everyone in the yard, she spoke: "Our ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' will dispatch a thousand pavilion members to collect herbs this time, and we will also recruit an additional three thousand martial artists from outside to accompany us in collecting herbs."


    "There are over six thousand of you here, but I can only select three thousand from among you, so I hope those not chosen won''t hold a grudge."


    "Everything is up to the young lady''s discretion." The martial artists all replied politely.


    The young lady chuckled lightly: "Since you are not from our ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'', there''s no need to call me ''young lady'' like that. My name is ''Cai Meng''er'', you may address me as ''Cai Meng''er Daoist''. "


    Cai Meng''er?


    Ye Chen remembered this name.


    After saying the previous words, Cai Meng''er walked directly to the person farthest to the right.


    She examined this person for a few moments before moving on to the second person.


    When she reached the fifth person, she finally said, "You can join our herb collection recruitment team."


    Upon hearing Cai Meng''er''s words, the fifth person was overjoyed.


    However, the first four were suddenly stunned.


    Were they disqualified just like that?


    Was there not even a shred of selection testing? Was it purely based on the young lady''s intuition?


    The first four felt disgruntled internally.


    But since Cai Meng''er had advised not to hold a grudge if unselected, coupled with this being the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion", these martial artists dared not act recklessly, and the four could only sigh.


    Cai Meng''er''s selection continued.


    Following her finger pointing, she chose quite a few more martial artists.


    When Cai Meng''er was about to reach Ye Chen and the Fat God King Kuang Meng, who had been talkative and confident earlier, Kuang Meng was a little nervous.


    He found no discernable pattern in Cai Meng''er''s picking.


    Even Immortal Divine Venerables had been unselected, while Divine Kings were chosen.


    At this moment, Fat God King Kuang Meng didn''t know if he would be chosen or not.


    He had bragged earlier that when accompanying the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' to gather herbs, he would take care of Ye Chen; if he were passed over, it would be disgraceful.


    Nevertheless, after Cai Meng''er looked at Kuang Meng for a few moments, she nodded at him, picking him to join the herb collection recruitment team.


    When he heard Cai Meng''er confirmed him, the large rock in Kuang Meng''s heart finally fell.


    At this moment, Kuang Meng watched as Cai Meng''er walked up to Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen barely defeated that Heavenly Divine Venerable''s black puppet, making him one of the weakest among our over six thousand people. Would he be passed over by Cai Meng''er?" Kuang Meng felt concerned.


    At this time, Kuang Meng saw that Cai Meng''er''s beautiful eyes looked at Ye Chen, and without any hesitation, she said directly: "You also join our herb collection team."


    Cai Meng''er even went as far as to tell Ye Chen: "Perform well when the time comes. If you collect good herbs, our ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' will compensate you with corresponding purchase prices."


    At this moment.


    Not only Kuang Meng was stunned, but many other martial artists were also left surprised.


    None of the chosen martial artists, previously, had heard Cai Meng''er speak like this, just that they were selected, and it ended.


    Why did Cai Meng''er specifically say a few extra words to Ye Chen?


    "Hmph, this guy really attracts the notice of female martial artists; earlier, during the initial recruitment outside, quite a few female martial artists paid attention to him. Now, this young lady in particular seems focused on him!"


    "Can you really be that popular with female martial artists just by having a slightly better aura?!"


    Many male martial artists, especially those who were unselected, looked at Ye Chen with envy.


    After speaking to Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er continued to pick others.


    Under countless glances, Ye Chen felt rather upset.


    Ye Chen understood that it wasn''t as the other martial artists speculated; this young lady paid attention to him because of his aura or human race identity.


    Ye Chen was certain that this young lady must have discovered something from him!


    As Ye Chen pondered whether the young lady harbored any malice towards him, he suddenly heard a voice in his ear: "There''s no need to worry, big brother. My sister harbors no ill intentions towards you."


    "But, big brother, how can you possess an ''Extreme Heavenly Level'' flame when you''re just a Divine King?"


    Boom!


    This unexpected voice startled Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen noticed no one else had heard this voice.


    Following the direction of the voice, Ye Chen saw an eleven or twelve-year-old girl outside the courtyard, blinking her large eyes curiously at him.


    This little girl seemed tiny and cute, yet even the disembodied senses of Immortal Divine Venerables present did not detect her!


    "Big brother, my name is ''Cai Xiao''er''; I have some matters to attend to, but I''ll come to chat with you properly in a few days!"


    The young girl, seeing Ye Chen had noticed her, smiled and winked playfully at him, and with a flicker, her figure disappeared without a trace.

 Chapter 958 - 908 Beating Up (First Update)

    Seeing the little girl vanish without a trace, Ye Chen''s heart was utterly shaken to the core!


    This little girl actually discovered the "Polar Heaven-grade" flame he had hidden on his body!


    What was even more terrifying was that, even after she appeared, not even the Immortal Divine Venerable present noticed her.


    "Cai Xiao''er? She called Cai Meng''er ''sister.'' Could it be that she''s Cai Meng''er''s younger sister?"


    "This little girl looks only eleven or twelve years old, and her realm is merely at the Nine Tribulations True God Realm¡ªnot even at the God King Realm. Yet why does she give me an even stranger feeling than Cai Meng''er?"


    Ye Chen raised his head to glance at Cai Meng''er, but it seemed she too hadn''t noticed Cai Xiao''er''s earlier arrival¡ªnor had she realized that Cai Xiao''er had spoken to him.


    At the moment, Cai Meng''er was still selecting recruits.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen made a deep note of that little girl in his heart.


    "Cai Xiao''er said she has other matters for now? That she''d come looking for me in a few days?"


    "Fine, in a few days, let''s see exactly what she wants from me."


    As Ye Chen was contemplating this, a voice from Xiaojiu, housed within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant on his body, rang out: "Ye Chen, that little girl just now was quite peculiar. She seemed to possess a divine skill far beyond her realm¡ªsomething that didn''t even seem to originate from the Nine Flames Clan."


    Upon hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen''s mind stirred, and he transmitted his thoughts back to Xiaojiu: "Xiaojiu, you woke up from your cultivation? Have you heard of this little girl''s divine skill before?"


    Ever since Ye Chen had handed over the Purple Silver Pearl and the Primordial Gold Divine Flower to Xiaojiu and the little monkey, the two had been immersed in cultivation.


    Ye Chen hadn''t anticipated that the arrival of this little girl would awaken Xiaojiu.


    "I only woke up when she was speaking to you and sensed a peculiar fluctuation," Xiaojiu explained, "As for her strange divine skill, I''ve never heard of it, but I can tell¡ªit''s absolutely extraordinary."


    "Moreover, I have a sense¡ªa gut feeling, Ye Chen¡ªthat this little girl harbors no ill intentions toward you. On the contrary, she seems inexplicably drawn to you."


    "Maybe, when she comes to find you again, the reasons will become clear."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He too felt that the little girl had no malice toward him; in fact, it seemed she had much she wanted to say to him.


    "Xiaojiu, continue cultivating. For now, let''s wait and see what happens when Cai Xiao''er comes looking for me again."


    At this moment, Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel a strange anticipation toward their next encounter with Cai Xiao''er.


    The Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''s recruitment of accompanying martial artists was still ongoing.


    After spending the time it takes for about half a cup of tea, Cai Meng''er finally chose the last martial artist.


    Not one more nor one less. Coupled with the ones she''d previously selected, a total of three thousand recruits were chosen.


    First, Cai Meng''er cupped her fists and offered heartfelt apologies to the martial artists who weren''t selected, instructing Steward Huang to escort these people out of the Medicine Pavilion.


    Then, Cai Meng''er turned to the remaining three thousand recruits, including Ye Chen, and announced, "You three thousand will serve as the extra personnel recruited for accompanying us on this expedition to gather spiritual medicines."


    Ye Chen was calm at the moment.


    However, many of the martial artists couldn''t help but breathe a long sigh of relief, their faces lighting up with joy.


    Cai Meng''er continued, "I chose you because I sensed that you either possess great strength or have exceptional divine skills uniquely suited for gathering spiritual medicines."


    "Our Nine Flames Clan, especially the martial artists of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion, are rarely mistaken in such judgments."


    As she spoke, a gentle smile graced Cai Meng''er''s face.


    The other martial artists suddenly had a realization: it turns out this was the reason Cai Meng''er had chosen them.


    At this moment, Cai Meng''er continued, "Since you''ve all opted to participate in our Medicine Pavilion''s recruitment for accompanying martial artists, you should already be familiar with the rules of our spiritual medicine gathering expeditions."


    "Still, I will reiterate them."


    "Our Medicine Pavilion''s permanent members are the main force in gathering medicines; you extra recruits are merely supplementary, meant to help gather some additional spiritual medicines."


    "As such, the constraints on you will be minimal from our side."


    "For this expedition, all you''ll need to do is gather three stalks of lower-grade Mystic Heavenly-level spiritual medicines to meet the basic requirement. Afterward, you are free to leave our team if you wish."


    "Even if you fail to meet the quota of three lower-grade Mystic Heavenly-level spiritual medicines but still wish to leave, you simply need to pay a small fee, and you can depart freely."


    "After all, bringing you along to faraway places requires significant effort on our part, so certain conditions are necessary¡ªI hope everyone understands this."


    All three thousand recruited martial artists nodded in agreement, expressing their understanding.


    Indeed, the Medicine Pavilion would expend effort and resources to bring them along. Only requiring them to hand in three lower-grade Mystic Heavenly-level spiritual medicines was a very lenient condition.


    Most of them had chosen to accompany the Medicine Pavilion precisely for its protection and the lucrative rewards of medicine gathering.


    Ye Chen silently nodded in his heart.


    Providing three lower-grade Mystic Heavenly-level spiritual medicines posed no difficulty for him whatsoever.


    Even if he couldn''t find suitable materials, offering a small portion of the Purple Silver Pearl would easily enable him to leave the Medicine Pavilion team smoothly. To follow them all the way to the Nine Lotus Holy Mountain¡ªthis minor expenditure was well worth it.


    Cai Meng''er continued, "Of course, following us to gather spiritual medicines won''t leave you at a disadvantage."


    "In addition to the basic requirement of three lower-grade Mystic Heavenly-level spiritual medicines, any extra or higher-grade spiritual medicines you wish to sell will be purchased by us at market price."


    "If you prefer to keep them for yourselves, we will not force you to give them up."


    Cai Meng''er''s words garnered praise from the martial artists.


    Many of them had joined the Medicine Pavilion''s recruitment because of this rule.


    The Pavilion only required three basic spiritual medicines, and any additional ones would be bought at market value, offering great prospects for profit.


    This setup promised mutual benefit: they could reap substantial rewards, while the Medicine Pavilion could acquire rare spiritual medicines. A win-win scenario.


    Several martial artists were already looking forward to showcasing their skills in the eight major medicine-gathering zones!


    "That''s all I have to say for now," Cai Meng''er concluded.


    "Our expedition will commence tomorrow morning at dawn. Gather outside the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion at that time."


    "Steward Huang, distribute the tokens for accompanying members."


    "Yes, Young Lady," Steward Huang replied, taking out three thousand tokens inscribed with "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" and handing them to everyone.


    Afterward, Steward Huang escorted Ye Chen and the three thousand recruits out of the Pavilion.


    Once Ye Chen and the others departed, Cai Meng''er watched their retreating figures, murmuring to herself, "Whenever we embark on medicine-gathering expeditions, the core efforts always lie with our Pavilion members. These recruited martial artists are chiefly supplementary, meant to contribute some extra medicines."


    "Yet this time, among the recruits, there''s an unbelievably powerful individual!"


    "That God King, despite appearing to be about my age, gives me an incomparably dangerous feeling."


    "It''s as if my combat power, capable of rivaling an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, pales utterly before him. If he wanted to kill me, it would be effortless!"


    "Even among the recruited martial artists, those few Upper Immortal Divine Venerables didn''t give me such a sense of danger!"


    "Could it be that his strength surpasses those Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?"


    As she pondered this, a trace of surprise surfaced on Cai Meng''er''s flawless face.


    The figure filling her thoughts was none other than Ye Chen!


    "I wonder why such a powerful God King would hide his strength and join our Pavilion''s expedition team."


    "Could he be targeting our Pavilion? No, that''s unlikely¡ªespecially since we''ll have a Sovereign attending this expedition."


    "Could it be that he simply wants to leverage our Pavilion''s operations to reach other regions smoothly?"


    Cai Meng''er''s mind was riddled with questions.


    Finally, she shook her head and muttered, "Forget it. As long as he behaves according to our guidelines, it doesn''t matter."


    "This expedition''s centerpiece is that one Heavenly Pond Divine Lotus on Nine Lotus Holy Mountain!"


    "The restriction on the mountain only allows those below the Sovereign Realm to enter. Careful planning will be needed."


    Lost in thought, Cai Meng''er turned and walked back toward her bedroom in the Medicine Pavilion.


    Outside the Pavilion.


    Once Steward Huang had sent out the three thousand recruits, they scattered immediately.


    The fat God King Kuang Meng, standing beside Ye Chen, spoke: "Ye Chen, I need to return and inform the seniors of our Qi Yue Divine Nation about my selection as a recruit for the Medicine Pavilion. We''ll meet again tomorrow."


    "But don''t worry¡ªI promised we''d collaborate, and I meant it. I''ll keep an eye on you during the expedition."


    Kuang Meng''s words prompted a helpless smile from Ye Chen.


    This God King, someone like him who had traveled from a different Divine Nation to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, was genuinely warm-hearted.


    "Alright, Kuang Meng, see you tomorrow then."


    After parting ways with Kuang Meng, Ye Chen wandered the streets of Haotian Divine City, the capital of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Since arriving at the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, Ye Chen had spent several days in Haotian Divine City.


    Knowing he was soon leaving the city for the Extreme Spirit Sea, Ye Chen wasn''t sure if he''d ever return here.


    Thus, he strolled idly, hoping to take in the sights and appreciate the city properly.


    As he continued wandering, Ye Chen smiled faintly to himself: "Those guys following me¡ªthey were participants in the recruitment process who didn''t get selected, just like me."


    "They''ve been trailing me all this time, thinking I wouldn''t notice?"


    "Looks like they''re jealous that I was chosen by Cai Meng''er, while they weren''t."


    Ye Chen''s expression remained unperturbed as he kept walking.


    After a dozen or so breaths, Ye Chen suddenly felt the entire world quiet down. It was as if the surrounding void had been sealed entirely.


    Before long, four martial artists from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom appeared in front of him.


    They cracked their knuckles and sneered, moving threateningly toward Ye Chen.


    "Human brat, huh? Looks like your pretty face is quite popular with the female martial artists!"


    "Cai Meng''er actually chose you¡ªa mere martial artist who barely defeated the black puppet¡ªand didn''t pick us!"


    "Well, we brothers are going to see what you look like after we mess up that handsome face of yours! Let''s see if you''ll still be so ''charming'' afterward!"

 Chapter 959 - 909 Dark Swamp Stars (2nd Update)

    Chapter 959: Chapter 909 Dark Swamp Stars (2nd Update)


    These four True Spirit Divine Kingdom martial artists were all of the Upper Heavenly Divine Venerate Realm.


    They were extremely rugged in appearance, each towering several zhang in height, with muscles rippling like coiled dragons. Their foreheads were marked with lion-shaped patterns, and in addition to the usual two eyes, a golden eye rested in the middle of their brows. Their hair was a chaotic mess.


    Ye Chen recalled that during the initial recruitment selection, someone seemed to have mentioned that these four were from the race of "Three-Eyed Divine Lions," a clan of True Spirit Sacred Beasts.


    "Trouble has really come knocking, huh!"


    Ye Chen sighed inwardly.


    These four individuals from the "Three-Eyed Divine Lion" race had commented that he looked "handsome," leaving Ye Chen at a loss for words.


    Among human martial artists, Ye Chen could be described as an extraordinary youth of outstanding temperament and elegant bearing, traits that were hardly connected to the descriptor of "delicate."


    However, comparing his refined presence against the ruggedness of the four "Three-Eyed Divine Lions," it could perhaps grudgingly be said that he looked "handsome."


    "A beating for me?"


    "This time, it seems I can¡¯t keep a low profile even if I wanted to."


    Ye Chen naturally wouldn¡¯t allow the likes of four mere Heavenly Divine Venerates to bully him without retaliation.


    Ye Chen glanced around the void, noticing that the four had set up a screen barrier array. It was evident they wanted to keep their bullying under wraps.


    "No one will see, huh? That suits me just fine."


    Without making a single move, Ye Chen observed a sight that went unnoticed by the four "Three-Eyed Divine Lions." Outside the screen barrier array they had erected, another screen barrier array, tens of times stronger, had silently materialized!


    The entire region where Ye Chen and the four "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" were standing was now enveloped by a mysterious spatial force, forming an isolated special space!


    At this moment, seeing Ye Chen surveying his surroundings, the four "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" sneered at him. "Human Junior God King, stop looking around."


    "Just behave and accept your beating. Even if you scream your lungs out, no one will hear you."


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As they spoke, the four began cracking their knuckles and smirking coldly as they closed in on Ye Chen.


    One of them spoke first, stepping forward. "I¡¯ll take the first shot; you three can go after me."


    "Hmph. After being disqualified for no reason by the ¡¯Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion,¡¯ I¡¯ve been holding in a lot of anger. It¡¯s time to vent it out properly!"


    The other three, seeing this one take the initiative, shook their heads resignedly. "Pao Long, sure, you go first. Just be careful not to kill this little human outright."


    "We need to blow off some steam too!"


    "Besides, we don¡¯t bear any real grudge against him¡ªjust a bit of a lesson will suffice."


    Hearing this, Pao Long chuckled and said, "Don¡¯t worry. I¡¯ll only rough up his face. I promise I won¡¯t kill him."


    The four "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" were engaged in animated discussion when suddenly, Ye Chen¡¯s voice interrupted them.


    "You all are quite amusing."


    "Alright, since you ambushed me, I was tempted to wipe you out entirely. But since you don¡¯t harbor murderous intent and only wish to rough me up, I suppose I¡¯ll return the favor and rough you up instead."


    Ye Chen¡¯s calm and indifferent tone immediately made the four, especially Pao Long, freeze in confusion.


    Then, all four burst into raucous laughter.


    "This little human¡ªcould it be that being chosen by Cai Meng¡¯er has driven him mad with excitement?"


    "He struggled even to defeat a mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerate level black puppet after a prolonged fight, and now he thinks he can rough up all four of us Upper Heavenly Divine Venerates?"


    Pao Long took a few steps closer to Ye Chen and said mockingly, "Come, come, little human Junior God King. Let¡¯s see how you¡¯ll rough me up."


    Ye Chen smiled faintly. "Such a reasonable request. As you wish, then. Watch closely."


    Boom!


    With that faint smile, Ye Chen casually extended his hand toward Pao Long.


    To the shock of Pao Long and the other three "Three-Eyed Divine Lions," something astonishing happened.


    The figure of Pao Long, like a towering giant, was sent flying backward by the casual grasp of the seemingly inconsequential Junior God King.


    With a loud "bang," Pao Long found himself grabbed in mid-air by Ye Chen, as if plucked out of the void!


    Pao Long struggled wildly, only to discover, to his horror, that he couldn¡¯t escape Ye Chen¡¯s grasp in the slightest.


    The binding force emanating from this Junior God King before him was even mightier than what he had experienced from Lower Immortal Divine Venerates!


    "Heavens."


    "Could it be... his power exceeds mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerate combat strength?!"


    As this unthinkable thought flashed through Pao Long¡¯s mind, he saw Ye Chen¡¯s fist shadows growing larger as they smashed toward him.


    In despair, Pao Long heard Ye Chen¡¯s voice ring out: "I, too, am curious¡ªwhat does a ¡¯Three-Eyed Divine Lion¡¯ look like after being beaten black and blue?"


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    The fierce impact of Ye Chen¡¯s fists landed squarely on Pao Long¡¯s lion-patterned face.


    In mere moments, Pao Long¡¯s once-fearsome visage swelled up grotesquely under the barrage.


    After a few breaths¡¯ time, even the other three "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" could no longer recognize Pao Long¡ªhe resembled nothing more than an inflated lion head!


    Boom.


    Only after pummeling Pao Long mercilessly with dozens of punches, leaving his face unrecognizable, did Ye Chen casually toss him to the ground.


    Hearing the thud of Pao Long¡¯s massive body hitting the earth, and seeing Ye Chen¡¯s gentle, smiling gaze turn toward them, the remaining three "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" felt a chill run down their spines!


    At that moment, they understood clearly: the human youth before them was an existence they should never have provoked!


    Luckily for them, this person had not chosen to end their lives outright; otherwise, they would surely be dead by now!


    "He¡¯s concealing his strength!"


    "Earlier, when he fought the black puppet, he wasn¡¯t even giving it his all!"


    "Heavens, we¡¯ve bitten off more than we can chew!"


    Panic-stricken, the three "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" no longer dared to face off against Ye Chen. Instead, they scrambled toward the void, desperate to escape.


    But just then, they felt a powerful barrier rise up in the void, slamming them back down to the ground with great force.


    "He set up a screen barrier array too!"


    Thrown to the earth by the massive repelling force of the screen barrier array, the "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" transformed in their panic. Each turned into a massive divine lion, spanning several dozen zhang in length and radiating brilliant divine light as they stared at Ye Chen with mortal terror.


    Ye Chen, observing these three transformed True Spirit Sacred Beast "Three-Eyed Divine Lions," chuckled and said, "Relax; I¡¯ll merely rough you up a bit. It¡¯s no use screaming¡ªno one will hear you."


    Bam! Bam! Bam!


    With a casual sweep of his hand, the three massive divine lions were lifted into the air. Thereafter, a relentless storm of fist shadows rained down on their faces.


    The confined void echoed with their piercing cries of anguish.


    Feeling their swollen faces expand further with each blow, the three "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" were filled with utter frustration.


    The humiliation was unimaginable: they had intended to disfigure Ye Chen, only to find their own appearances utterly ravaged by his strikes!


    Though they were Heavenly Divine Venerates, the sheer violent strength of Ye Chen¡¯s punches ensured their injuries would require several days to heal. Such a long recovery was an irrecoverable loss of face!


    And they had taunted earlier that not even screaming at the top of his lungs would help Ye Chen.


    Ironically, the tables had turned; they were now the ones beaten senseless, their cries falling on deaf ears in the sealed space.


    At this moment, all three hoped to end the beating quickly, as Pao Long had before them.


    Thankfully, they got their wish.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    After another dozen or so breaths, the three "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" were left as unrecognizable as Pao Long, their bruised and swollen faces slumping lifelessly to the ground alongside him.


    "Human martial artist, with such power, why conceal your strength?!"


    Sprawled on the ground in agony, the four "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" couldn¡¯t resist asking Ye Chen as they saw him turn to leave.


    Even their voices were now slurred and unclear.


    Ye Chen glanced at them and replied with a wry smile, "I merely wanted to keep a low profile. Who knew you four would come looking for me."


    "Remember, don¡¯t let anyone else know about me roughing you up. Otherwise, I might pay you another visit."


    With that, Ye Chen dismantled his screen barrier array and left leisurely.


    Only after Ye Chen had vanished did the four battered "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" struggle to their feet with anguished groans.


    "Low profile?"


    "Heavens, human martial artists are truly devious!"


    The minor skirmish with the four "Three-Eyed Divine Lions" was but an interlude.


    After teaching them a lesson, Ye Chen continued to wander around Haotian Divine City.


    A single day flashed by like the snap of a finger.


    Exploring part of Haotian Divine City he hadn¡¯t visited yet, Ye Chen eventually returned to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" just in time for the mission to gather spirit medicines in the "Eight Great Regions."


    At his current level, Ye Chen could go without rest for an entire day without feeling the slightest bit of fatigue.


    He remained energetic and radiant.


    By now, the other recruited martial artists had also convened outside the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion."


    Seeing Ye Chen approaching, Fat God King Kuang Meng waved enthusiastically at him and pulled him closer.


    As the group chatted, Cai Meng¡¯er emerged from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion," leading their team of spirit herb gatherers.


    Ye Chen noticed the little girl Cai Xiao¡¯er, who had appeared before in a mysterious manner and exchanged a few words with him, holding Cai Meng¡¯er¡¯s hand and walking beside her.


    When she saw Ye Chen looking over, Cai Xiao¡¯er blinked her bright eyes and smiled sweetly, nodding at him.


    Ye Chen also observed that the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" had dispatched five Sovereigns to oversee the operation.


    Among them were three Four-Star Sovereigns and two Seven-Star Sovereigns.


    Such a lineup for a mere herbal collection mission demonstrated to Ye Chen once more the formidable power of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion."


    Seeing three thousand recruited martial artists waiting outside, Cai Meng¡¯er nodded slightly in acknowledgment.


    Then, a Seven-Star Sovereign beside her waved his arm, summoning a mystical Ultimate Heavenly Artifact flying boat into the void.


    Cai Meng¡¯er¡¯s voice resonated in everyone¡¯s ears. "The annual spirit herb gathering expedition of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion officially begins!"


    "Now, we set forth for the first gathering region¡ªthe ¡¯Dark Swamp Stars¡¯!"

 Chapter 960 - 910: Arrival (First Update)

    After Cai Meng''er finished speaking, she led Cai Xiao''er, the five Sovereigns, and the Martial Artists of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" toward the Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat.


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    The recruited Martial Artists who were not part of the Medicine Pavilion also flew toward the Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat suspended in the void.


    Amidst the crowd in motion, Ye Chen gazed at the Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat driven by the Seven-Star Sovereign in the void, his eyes glimmering brightly.


    Polar Heaven-grade Divine Artifact.


    This was Ye Chen''s first time encountering a completely intact Polar Heaven-grade Divine Artifact!


    Although Ye Chen also carried Polar Heaven-grade Divine Artifacts, those were damaged ones obtained from the cave dwelling of "Sovereign Lei Fa."


    Ye Chen also possessed the Extreme Heavenly Object "Blue Extreme Iceflame," but the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" had not truly been refined into a Polar Heaven-grade Divine Artifact.


    At this moment, as he looked at the intact Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat, Ye Chen genuinely felt the sheer power of the artifact.


    This was the most extraordinary Flying Boat Ye Chen had ever laid eyes on!


    It was countless times more beautiful and magnificent than the Heaven-reaching Flying Boat he had acquired before.


    From the outside, the entire vessel shimmered with a silver-white hue, emanating radiant Divine Light.


    Although it appeared to be no more than a few dozen meters in size, upon entering, it revealed itself as a vast realm for cultivation.


    The Divine Power inside was exponentially more concentrated than the world outside!


    What awed Ye Chen the most were the countless carved Divine Patterns on the hull of the Flying Boat.


    These Divine Patterns were spread across the vessel, forming numerous Arrays, each possessing its own unique Divine Might, yet intricately interconnected to form a complete Grand Formation of Divine Power.


    The array formations inscribed on this Flying Boat far surpassed the formations described in Ye Chen''s "Nine Volumes of Formation Array" manual!


    Ye Chen instinctively felt that no matter how he attacked, he wouldn''t be able to break through the Flying Boat''s defenses.


    The vessel was definitely fortified with Sovereign-level defenses and even concealed Sovereign-level offensive capabilities.


    "The Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat is truly the best means of transportation."


    "I only possess a Heaven-reaching Flying Boat. It seems I must find a way to obtain a higher-grade Flying Boat."


    "If I had a Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat, traveling to the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' would be much more convenient."


    As Ye Chen stared at the Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat, he couldn''t help but sigh internally.


    Once inside the Flying Boat''s inner space, Ye Chen discovered that he could easily see everything outside.


    The external scenery was reflected clearly upon the Flying Boat''s spatial light screen.


    Ye Chen, along with the three thousand recruited Martial Artists, was arranged on one side of the Flying Boat.


    The Martial Artists from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" occupied the other side.


    The two groups of people did not interfere with each other.


    Once everyone had settled in, the Polar Heaven-grade Flying Boat finally departed from the capital city "Haotian Divine City" of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," heading toward the boundless Star Domain and advancing toward their first gathering zone¡ªthe "Dark Swamp Stars."


    At this moment, the previously talkative Fat God King, Kuang Meng, who sat beside Ye Chen among the recruited Martial Artists, had fallen silent.


    Everyone was now focused on the external starry scenery displayed on the Flying Boat''s internal light screen.


    The vastness of the Star Domain and the infinity of the Star Sea were mesmerizing.


    As they watched the Flying Boat cutting swiftly and silently through the pitch-black and tranquil cosmos, crossing one stretch of space after another, leaving behind one Star Continent after another and heading toward new ones, everyone was captivated by the mystery of the starry sky.


    Ye Chen, too, gazed at the outer cosmos, his Mind and Spirit surging with emotion.


    His vision swept over countless stars and multiple Star Continents.


    Some Star Continents were lifeless, mere Dead Stars with no trace of inhabitants.


    On other Star Continents, as the Flying Boat passed by, Ye Chen could distinctly sense signs of life.


    Ye Chen also saw many unique stars.


    There were stars spewing endless flames, and others entirely cloaked in snow...


    Ye Chen whispered to himself, "These are just stars within the Star Domain of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' yet there are already so many. I truly wonder how vast the entirety of the cosmos must be, and what the indescribable expanse of the ''Cosmic Sea'' might look like."


    The Flying Boat propelled itself forward with unparalleled speed, gliding along in utter silence.


    Clearly, the Sovereign from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" piloting the Flying Boat had been to the "Dark Swamp Stars" before, as the route was expertly familiar, avoiding any dangers and steering clear of potential threats to the vessel.


    "According to the ''True Spirit Atlas'' provided by the eight Sovereigns, there are indeed several perilous zones between ''Haotian Divine City'' and the ''Dark Swamp Stars.''


    "It seems this Sovereign maneuvering the Flying Boat deliberately bypassed those hazardous areas."


    Ye Chen estimated the Flying Boat''s pace, finding it to be dozens of times faster than his own flight capabilities.


    "At this speed, it would likely only take three to four days to reach the ''Dark Swamp Stars.'' If I were traveling solo, it might take months, and even then, I wouldn''t be guaranteed a safe arrival."


    "Joining the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' for this expedition was definitely the right choice."


    After observing the outside for a while, Ye Chen shifted his focus back to the interior of the Flying Boat.


    Ye Chen noticed that the area occupied by the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" Martial Artists was shrouded in Divine Light, making it impossible for his Divine Sense to probe into their situation.


    He didn''t see Cai Xiao''er coming over to seek him either.


    That little girl had mentioned she had matters to attend to and would talk to him in a few days, but it seemed those matters had not yet been concluded.


    In the end, after familiarizing himself with the Flying Boat''s interior and exterior, Ye Chen closed his eyes and began internal cultivation within the Flying Boat.


    When Ye Chen finished his cultivation and reopened his eyes, more than three days had passed.


    By now, the Flying Boat was finally approaching its destination¡ªthe "Dark Swamp Stars."


    All the passengers inside the Flying Boat saw that, up ahead, a massive black star was suspended in the starry sky.


    From a distance, the star didn''t seem enormous.


    Yet the closer they flew, the more its immense scale became apparent.


    When the Flying Boat officially hovered above this star, it revealed an incomprehensibly vast continent that stretched farther than the Star Continent hosting "Haotian Divine City" of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    As everyone looked down at the "Dark Swamp Stars," Cai Meng''er led the Martial Artists of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" toward the three thousand recruited Martial Artists.


    Ye Chen noticed the presence of five Sovereigns among them, but Cai Xiao''er was absent¡ªwhat exactly was that little girl up to?


    Once Cai Meng''er approached the crowd, she immediately announced, "We''ve arrived at the ''Dark Swamp Stars.'' Next, we must descend and start gathering medicinal herbs."


    "Before we begin, I will share the classifications of our ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' Divine Medicine and inform you of the probable Divine Medicines we may find on this star."


    Swish!


    With a wave of Cai Meng''er''s hand, a massive list materialized in the void beside her.


    Ye Chen saw that the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" categorized Divine Medicine into four major levels: "Polar Heaven-grade," "Mystic Heavenly-grade," "Heaven-reaching-grade," and "True God-grade," with each level further divided into four ranks¡ªsupreme, high, middle, and low.


    Any herbs below the "True God-grade" were clearly excluded from the scope of this gathering.


    Aside from these classifications, Ye Chen also noticed the numerous Divine Medicines listed on the enormous chart.


    "Polar Heaven-grade Supreme Divine Medicine¡ªHeavenly Purity Spirit Pearl!"


    "Polar Heaven-grade Supreme Divine Medicine¡ªNine-Colored Lotus Seed!"


    "Polar Heaven-grade Supreme Divine Medicine¡ªEarth God''s Root!"


    "..."


    Among the Divine Medicines, those likely to be found on the "Dark Swamp Stars" were highlighted with special Divine Light.


    "Polar Heaven-grade Supreme Divine Medicine¡ªYin Polar Five Mystic Fruit!"


    "Polar Heaven-grade Supreme Divine Medicine¡ªDark Origin Water!"


    "Polar Heaven-grade Supreme Divine Medicine¡ªFlawless Precious Moss!"


    "..."


    As Ye Chen recognized a number of these Divine Medicines, he felt his Mind and Spirit shaken.


    Many of them were recorded in the "Skywind Medical Scripture" he had retrieved from the "Heavenly Wind Cave" earlier.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" to have gathered so much information on medicinal herbs.


    What astonished Ye Chen most, however, was realizing that this "Dark Swamp Stars" harbored six medicinal herbs he personally needed.


    Among these, some were Polar Heaven-grade Divine Medicines, and others were Mystic Heavenly-grade Divine Medicines¡ªall necessary for honing the "Water God Pattern" of his "Eternal God Body''s" Five Great Divine Patterns!


    "I''ve already found all the resources necessary to cultivate the ''Earth God Pattern'' and ''Wind God Pattern'' and successfully mastered both patterns."


    "To think that this place contains the materials required for the ''Water God Pattern''!"


    "That Polar Heaven-grade Supreme Divine Medicine, ''Dark Origin Water,'' is one of the eighteen main materials for cultivating the ''Water God Pattern,'' and it''s an especially vital component that I lack!"


    "Along with ''Floating Pearl Fruit'' and five other materials!"


    "It seems this trip to the ''Dark Swamp Stars'' won''t just facilitate my journey to the ''Extreme Spirit Sea,'' but also enable me to gather crucial resources!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen was filled with vigor and motivation.


    After displaying the medicinal information, Cai Meng''er addressed the crowd with instructions: "The central region of the ''Dark Swamp Stars'' is a vast dead zone, incapable of sustaining any medicinal herbs."


    "Through our previous explorations, we''ve determined that the viable areas for herb growth are located at this star''s polar regions."


    "For this operation, the Martial Artists of the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' will search for Divine Medicines in the southern polar region, while the recruited Martial Artists will be responsible for the northern polar region."


    "The search will last a total of seven days. After seven days, the Flying Boat will traverse both zones to retrieve everyone back to the vessel."


    Cai Meng''er also issued a warning to everyone: "The Dark Swamp Stars differ greatly from other stars; peculiar phenomena abound here. Once you enter the continent, both your Divine Sense and Divine Power will be significantly weakened."


    "Additionally, hidden dangers lurk on this star, especially the presence of ''Dark Ancient Demons'' dwelling underground. Exercise extreme caution when searching for medicinal herbs in the ''Dark Swamp.''"

 Chapter 961 - 911: Divine Medicine and Ancient Demon (Second Update)

    After a brief reminder, Cai Meng''er began explaining the price collection for all grades of divine medicine by the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" to the recruited Martial Artists. Then, she ordered the Seven-Star Sovereign to steer the Flying Boat and deliver three thousand recruited Martial Artists to the northern region of the "Dark Swamp Stars."


    Afterward, the Flying Boat carried the Pavilion''s own group of Martial Artists toward the southern region.


    As they watched the Flying Boat belonging to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" disappear into the distance, the three thousand recruited Martial Artists turned their gazes toward the vast northern region of the "Dark Swamp Stars" below. Soon, with the sound of "whoosh, whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," the three thousand Martial Artists descended one after another.


    The more they descended toward the land of the "Dark Swamp Stars," the stronger the sense of immense pressure weighed down on them.


    When they were several thousand feet above the surface, the divine power and Divine Sense of countless Immortal Divine Venerables were forcibly compressed within tens of thousands of feet.


    Even Ye Chen felt his Divine Sense could only probe a radius of several hundred thousand feet.


    It was worth noting that, in the normal Star Continent, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense could typically sweep across tens of thousands of miles. This meant that the "Dark Swamp Stars" had compressed Ye Chen''s probing ability by hundreds of times!


    Cai Meng''er wasn''t exaggerating¡ªthe "Dark Swamp Stars" were indeed extraordinarily strange!


    The nearby Fat God King, Kuang Meng, exclaimed at the same time, "Such overwhelming pressure! If an ordinary True God descended to the land below, their body would likely be instantly crushed!"


    "Even I, a God King with combat power capable of defeating a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, feel quite affected."


    Kuang Meng glanced at Ye Chen and added, "Ye Chen, are you okay? Do you need me to shield you a little?"


    In Kuang Meng''s eyes, Ye Chen''s combat power was only equal to a Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable. Under such extreme pressure, even if Ye Chen could endure, he likely wouldn''t have it easy.


    Upon hearing Kuang Meng''s suggestion, Ye Chen smiled lightly. "I''m fine."


    "Ye Chen, don''t push yourself too hard. If there''s any trouble, just let me know¡ªI said I''d look after you, and I will." Kuang Meng patted his chest solemnly.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded.


    "This Fat God King Kuang Meng, though a bit overly familiar and conceited, has a good heart. If he''s ever in trouble, I''ll make sure to help him," Ye Chen mused inwardly.


    If Kuang Meng realized that the Ye Chen he kept claiming to protect was someone powerful enough to crush Immortal Divine Venerables, he would likely be utterly stunned!


    And if Kuang Meng knew that he had been marked for protection by Ye Chen¡ªsomeone capable of sweeping through Upper Immortal Divine Venerables¡ªhe would undoubtedly be thrilled beyond measure!


    But Ye Chen had no intention of exposing his strength easily, and Kuang Meng would remain unaware of his prowess.


    At the moment, Kuang Meng was still energetically recruiting various Heavenly Divine Venerables, including Ye Chen, to join him in exploring the swamp for medicinal plants.


    "We three thousand Martial Artists can''t stick together; we need to separate to find the divine medicine efficiently."


    "This entire northern region spans billions of miles¡ªit''s vast enough for three thousand people to disperse!"


    "Ye Chen and fellow companions, let''s move together in a group of ten or so!"


    Kuang Meng addressed Ye Chen and the Heavenly Divine Venerables he had previously recruited. After receiving nods from the group, they parted from the main crowd and flew further north.


    Meanwhile, other recruited Martial Artists also formed smaller groups of five, six, or ten people, scattering throughout the northern territory.


    In moments, the endless northern stretches of the "Dark Swamp Stars" swallowed up the three thousand Martial Artists like raindrops dissolving into the sea.


    Across the Dark Swamp Stars, the surface was shrouded in black swamps.


    The murky swamps were pitch-black, concealing the unseen depths below.


    Among Ye Chen''s group, excluding him, all were Heavenly Divine Venerables, whose combat prowess and probing abilities were weaker than Immortal Divine Venerables¡ªthey could only scan ranges of one or two thousand feet around them.


    To uncover the divine medicine possibly hidden within the dark swamps, these Heavenly Divine Venerables had no choice but to descend closer to the ground.


    They finally halted at a height of just tens of feet above the swamp''s surface.


    They dared not dive lower.


    After all, there was no telling what lurked beneath the black swamp¡ªand they certainly dared not step foot on the swamp''s muddy surface.


    "Let''s search like this," said one of the Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Others nodded in agreement.


    Kuang Meng turned to Ye Chen. "Ye Chen, why don''t you stay near me? That way, I can always keep an eye on you and ensure your safety."


    Ye Chen shook his head and smiled gently. "Kuang Meng, that''s not necessary. Don''t worry; there''s nothing in this area capable of harming me."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s confident words, Kuang Meng froze for a moment.


    Then, as if recalling something, he chuckled. "Ye Chen must be worried that staying near me will hamper his search for divine medicine. Fine, just be cautious¡ªand if you find yourself in danger, don''t hesitate to call for help."


    "Let''s exchange messaging tokens among ourselves."


    "Come on, fellow Heavenly Divine Venerables, let''s all exchange them."


    At Kuang Meng''s urging, this group of ten or so people exchanged messaging tokens.


    Ye Chen split his Divine Sense into several strands, embedding them into spare jade plates before distributing them to the group.


    However, the group''s attitude was revealing¡ªthose with higher combat levels didn''t take Ye Chen seriously. They stowed the tokens he offered among those from weaker Martial Artists without much thought.


    Observing this, Ye Chen smiled inwardly.


    By handing out these messaging tokens, Ye Chen offered them hope for rescue.


    If they didn''t seek his help, he wouldn''t force the matter.


    Once the exchange was complete, Ye Chen, Kuang Meng, and the Heavenly Divine Venerables dispersed, each seeking divine medicine in different areas of the swamp.


    After traveling several thousand feet away from the others, Ye Chen unveiled his hidden power, and with a loud roar, his speed surged to tens of times greater than before!


    Within seconds, Ye Chen had swept across an area spanning several hundred thousand feet!


    Ye Chen''s caution was only reasonable. Navigating the True Spirit Divine Kingdom alone while fulfilling Huyan Divine Master''s desires required utmost vigilance.


    He would only reveal his true strength if absolutely necessary.


    "I wonder if I''ll find the six materials needed for cultivating the Eternal God Body''s Water God Pattern here."


    Flying swiftly, his Divine Sense scanning wide areas, Ye Chen pondered silently.


    Boom!


    As he soared, Ye Chen suddenly spotted a silver-flowered plant sprouting amidst the murky swamps below.


    "Hmm, a Low-grade Heaven-reaching Level divine medicine¡ªthe Silver Bell Flower."


    Ye Chen instantly identified the plant, which Cai Meng''er had mentioned among the countless medicinal items.


    Stretching out his hand, Ye Chen summoned the "Silver Bell Flower" from the muck, lifting it into the air toward him.


    While Ye Chen examined the flower, a massive tentacle as thick as a barrel surged out of the mud, whipping toward him with astonishing speed.


    "It''s said that some medicinal plants have protective demons nearby. Could this tentacle belong to the guardian of the Silver Bell Flower?"


    Unfazed by the attack, Ye Chen raised his hand and grasped at the massive tentacle through the void. The tentacle froze mid-air, unable to move closer to him.


    With a sharp pull, Ye Chen dragged the entire creature out of the swamp. What emerged was a peculiar demon resembling a grotesque black fish with two enormous tentacles, spanning hundreds of feet.


    The demon flailed in sheer panic, but its efforts were futile against Ye Chen''s grip. It could do nothing but wail like a distressed infant.


    "Hmm? A common God King Level little demon."


    "Its spiritual intelligence seems rather immature."


    "This must be one of the ''Dark Ancient Demons'' Cai Meng''er mentioned hidden within the Dark Swamp Stars."


    Holding the Silver Bell Flower in one hand, Ye Chen addressed the demon. "I''ll take this flower. Consider yourself lucky¡ªI''ll spare you this time. But don''t attack other Martial Artists again."


    With that, Ye Chen released his grip, and the demon''s colossal form plummeted back into the swamp.


    The demon, though lacking intelligence, appeared to understand Ye Chen''s mercy. It floated above the swamp and bowed several times before vanishing into the muck with a "whoosh."


    Watching its actions, Ye Chen couldn''t help but chuckle.


    Focused again, he inspected the Silver Bell Flower briefly and vanished into the air.


    Ye Chen continued searching tirelessly, locating over a dozen Heaven-reaching Level divine medicines scattered across the northern region.


    However, high-grade divine medicines from the Mystic Heavenly Level were exceptionally rare, and Polar Sky Level divine medicines appeared to be virtually nonexistent¡ªhe hadn''t found a single one.


    Much less the materials needed for the Water God Pattern of the Eternal God Body.


    "No matter. Seven days remain for the search; I can take my time."


    "If this area yields nothing, I''ll move elsewhere. There''s always a glimmer of hope."


    Ye Chen, undeterred, resumed his exploration.


    As he searched, one of the messaging tokens in his possession suddenly lit up.


    Recognizing it as a token left by one of the Middle Heavenly Divine Venerables who had traveled with him, Ye Chen furrowed his brows and disappeared instantly.


    Luo Shan was overwhelmed with terror!


    As a companion to Kuang Meng and Ye Chen, Luo Shan¡ªa Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable¡ªinitially found no trouble after parting ways with the group. That changed as he approached a particular area and discovered a Middle-grade Mystic Heavenly Level divine medicine.


    Overjoyed, Luo Shan attempted to seize the plant, but from the swamp erupted a massive black toad, attacking him ferociously.


    The toad''s apparent realm was Middle Heavenly Divine Venerable, but its combat power rivaled many Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    Severely hampered by the swamp''s oppressive force, Luo Shan could not match the creature''s strength.


    Had it not been for a few protective treasures, he would''ve perished under the toad''s assault.


    Desperate and believing he was outmatched, Luo Shan activated the messaging token to request aid from nearby allies.


    To his relief, just as his defenses began to falter, an Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable arrived to assist him.

 Chapter 962 - 912 Suppressing

    Upon seeing the face of the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, Luo Shan was overjoyed.


    "Qiudi!"


    Luo Shan recognized this person as Qiudi, one of the most powerful individuals among their dozen or so companions, ranking highly even within the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    With Qiudi''s arrival, there was indeed a strong chance that they could suppress the black toad.


    "Qiudi, quick, save me!" Luo Shan immediately called out to Qiudi.


    At this moment, Qiudi also noticed the attacking black toad and the medium-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicine it was guarding.


    When his gaze landed on the medium-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicine, Qiudi''s eyes flashed brilliantly.


    It was worth noting that a medium-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicine was equivalent to tens of billions of "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" currency. Calculated using the universal currency of this cosmic region, the "Purple Silver Pearl," its value was equivalent to dozens of such pearls.


    The value of dozens of Purple Silver Pearls was something even a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable like Qiudi couldn''t resist!


    All of Qiudi''s accumulated wealth combined was roughly equivalent to hundreds of Purple Silver Pearls.


    Even from the perspective of completing the mission, this medium-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicine was absolutely invaluable.


    After all, following the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" on this eight-region herb gathering expedition, their assignment was merely to turn in three lower-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicines.


    And this one medium-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicine was equivalent to ten lower-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicines.


    If he could obtain this medium-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicine, not only would his task be completed prematurely, but there would also be a substantial surplus. For the remaining herb-gathering time, and even in exploring the other seven regions, any findings would entirely be his.


    This was undoubtedly an immense allure for Qiudi!


    Thinking this through, Qiudi looked at Luo Shan, who was asking for help, and said outright, "Luo Shan, I can save you, but this Divine Medicine will belong to me."


    Hearing Qiudi''s words, Luo Shan''s heart sank.


    He had planned to split the proceeds from the Divine Medicine with Qiudi after being rescued, but now Qiudi insisted on taking it all!


    "Qiudi is shamelessly exploiting the situation!"


    However, seeing the black toad attacking him again, Luo Shan didn''t dare hesitate anymore.


    After all, although they were traveling together, they had little camaraderie. If he refused to hand over the Divine Medicine, Qiudi might very well let him perish¡ªor worse, silence him.


    By this point, Luo Shan''s protective magical artifacts were already faltering.


    He had no choice but to fly toward Qiudi while pretending nonchalance and said, "If Qiudi lends a hand, this Divine Medicine naturally belongs to you!"


    "Good!" Seeing Luo Shan''s agreement, Qiudi rejoiced internally.


    Then, his eyes fell upon the immense black toad, and with a dismissive tone, he said, "This Little Demon, leave it to me!"


    Boom!


    Qiudi''s body erupted with Divine Light as he charged toward the black toad.


    In Qiudi''s eyes, the mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable-level black toad was insignificant.


    In his estimation, his attack would easily crush the black toad into pieces!


    But the next moment left Qiudi utterly dumbfounded.


    His Sky-supporting Divine Force palm, reaching for the black toad, was shattered entirely by the toad''s fierce collision.


    The black toad, seeing Qiudi''s move, roared furiously and darted toward him at unimaginable speed.


    Immediately, Qiudi''s face turned pale as he realized the black toad was not just a regular mid-tier Heavenly Divine Venerable monster; its combat power rivaled¡ªif not exceeded¡ªhis own!


    "No wonder Luo Shan called for help. This Demon truly has some strength."


    This time, Qiudi didn''t dare be careless. He soared into the Void, then quickly pinched a spell, causing a bell-shaped magical treasure to appear before him.


    Once summoned, the bell-like magical treasure rapidly expanded, emitting a chillingly powerful sound that could disorient the Divine Souls.


    Simultaneously, the enlarged bell aimed to suppress the giant black toad.


    "This is my life-bound magic treasure¡ªthe ''Soul-Subduing Xuan Bell,'' a superior Mystic Heavenly Divine Artifact. Let''s see how you, Little Demon, withstand this!"


    "Shake!"


    Qiudi roared, and the bell-like treasure flew toward the black toad.


    But Qiudi''s face quickly paled further.


    The colossal black toad below seemed utterly unaffected by the bell''s sound, maintaining its speed. Unfazed by the suppression, it collided fiercely against the large bell, sending the superior Mystic Heavenly treasure flying!


    At the same time, the black toad''s tongue shot out hundreds of meters long, instantly wrapping around Qiudi.


    Both Qiudi and Luo Shan froze in terror!


    Even Qiudi, a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, was no match for this black toad!


    As Qiudi was about to be pulled back by the toad''s tongue and devoured, and as Qiudi screamed while Luo Shan''s heart chilled, they suddenly heard a sound from the Void.


    Someone else was approaching!


    "Fortunately, I didn''t only seek help from Qiudi but also from others nearby!"


    Luo Shan looked toward the newcomer in surprise, Qiudi struggling to lift his gaze toward the sky.


    But what they saw made their hearts sink.


    The arrival was Ye Chen, the weakest in their group, both in realm and combat power. During recruitment, he had barely passed the puppet trials.


    Were it not for Kuang Meng''s insistence, the Heavenly Divine Venerables wouldn''t have teamed up with Ye Chen.


    Seeing Ye Chen now, both felt a surge of despair.


    Qiudi had lost all hope.


    Out of kindness, Luo Shan shouted while escaping, "Ye Chen, run! Even Qiudi is no match for the monster¡ªyou certainly can''t fight it. Save yourself!"


    Hearing Luo Shan''s words, Qiudi felt like vomiting blood.


    Originally aiming to slay the black toad and seize the Divine Medicine from Luo Shan, Qiudi now found himself on the brink of death, unwittingly buying Luo Shan time to flee.


    "I shouldn''t have been blindsided by greed!" Desperate, Qiudi let out a mournful cry.


    At this moment, both the surrendering Qiudi and the fleeing Luo Shan heard Ye Chen say, "Don''t worry."


    "Leave this monster to me."


    Don''t worry?


    Could it be that Ye Chen, who struggled even against recruitment puppets, intended to take on the black toad that defeated Qiudi?


    Luo Shan stared in disbelief at Ye Chen.


    And then he saw Ye Chen extend a finger toward the toad''s retracting tongue.


    Whoosh!


    A radiant sword light, magnificently dazzling, appeared in the Void, slicing through space, slicing toward the black toad''s tongue.


    An unimaginable scene unfolded.


    The same black toad''s tongue that resisted countless attacks from Qiudi, including Divine Light and treasures, was cut cleanly in two by Ye Chen''s sword light!


    The portion coiling Qiudi fell away instantly.


    Freed from the toad''s control, Qiudi shook off the grip of the severed tongue.


    Qiudi was out of immediate danger!


    Boom!


    Emerging from his brush with death, Qiudi was overwhelmed with joy.


    Sweat soaked his garments as his Divine Power surged while he ascended into the Void.


    He was so close.


    So close to being devoured by the peculiar black toad!


    Qiudi turned to Ye Chen.


    His gaze was filled with disbelief.


    This Ye Chen, who he had hardly regarded before, had just saved his life!


    "Ye Chen, thank you!" After a few moments of shock, Qiudi recovered and offered Ye Chen a deep bow.


    Luo Shan was equally stunned, gaping at Ye Chen: "Wasn''t Ye Chen supposed to be weaker than me¡ªhow could he be this powerful?"


    In Qiudi''s offer of thanks and Luo Shan''s astonished silence, Ye Chen smiled lightly at both.


    "Let me handle the monster, then we can speak further."


    Speaking this, Ye Chen focused on the black toad below.


    The toad, with part of its tongue severed, now seemed to understand Ye Chen''s power. It no longer roared with rage but instead displayed unease and fear.


    Yet it seemed to be guarding something, unwilling to flee outright.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen clasped one hand behind his back and extended the other hand.


    Endless sword light surged beneath his outstretched palm.


    Ye Chen said to the black toad, "You possess some skill, but I''ll suppress you for seven days. Once we herb gatherers leave, I''ll release you¡ªno need to harm anyone else!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As Ye Chen''s words fell, the endless sword light in his hand transformed into a massive cage-like Light Formation, instantly imprisoning the black toad.


    The cage-like Light Formation, carrying the black toad, sank into the blackened marsh below.


    Within moments, the black toad was completely gone!


    From Ye Chen''s initial strike to sever the tongue and save Qiudi, to containing the Demon¡ªit all happened in mere seconds.


    Luo Shan and Qiudi never anticipated that the black toad they couldn''t handle was utterly no match for Ye Chen!


    Was Ye Chen hiding his true strength all along? Was his real power beyond a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable?!


    "Ye Chen, you defeated the Demon¡ªthe medium-grade Mystic Heavenly Divine Medicine should belong to you. Please go and claim it," Luo Shan said respectfully to Ye Chen.


    Earlier, Qiudi had tried to exploit the situation to seize the Divine Medicine, filling Luo Shan with resentment.


    Now, Luo Shan felt fully willing for the Divine Medicine to go to Ye Chen.


    If he couldn''t obtain it himself, he certainly didn''t want Qiudi to have it.


    Compared to Qiudi, the mysterious and powerful Ye Chen was undoubtedly the better choice.

 Chapter 963 - 913 Monster Bug and Stealth

    Hearing Luo Shan''s words, Qiudi, standing by the side, was utterly frustrated.


    Originally, in his eyes, that mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine should have been his. But he wasn''t a match for that black toad and couldn''t acquire the medicine.


    Now, with Luo Shan offering the Divine Medicine to Ye Chen, his chance of obtaining it was utterly gone.


    Compete with Ye Chen?


    Just by witnessing Ye Chen effortlessly suppress the black toad moments ago, it was evident that Ye Chen''s strength far surpassed his own.


    Even if Qiudi had the courage of eight lions, he wouldn''t dare to snatch something from Ye Chen''s grasp!


    Though Qiudi was infinitely unwilling, he didn''t dare show the slightest hint of dissent. Instead, he forced a sycophantic smile and said, "Ye Chen, your Divine Might shakes the heavens. This mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine rightfully belongs to you!"


    Seeing Luo Shan and Qiudi repeatedly casting longing glances at the mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine, Ye Chen understood its immense allure to the two.


    After all, a mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine was worth as much as dozens of Purple Silver Pearls.


    For Ye Chen, who possessed tens of billions of Purple Silver Pearls, this was insignificant.


    But to Luo Shan and Qiudi, mere Heavenly Divine Venerables, this medicine likely represented a tenth of their total wealth!


    Though the mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine was valuable, it wasn''t a cultivation material Ye Chen sought, nor did he wish to fight these two over it.


    "I won''t be taking this Divine Medicine," Ye Chen said to Luo Shan and Qiudi. "Whoever discovered it first between the two of you, take it."


    What?!


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, both Luo Shan and Qiudi looked at him in utter disbelief.


    This was a mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine!


    A Divine Medicine worth as much as dozens of Purple Silver Pearls!


    With the demon now vanquished, it could be taken without hindrance, yet Ye Chen didn''t want it? He even intended to let them have it?


    Ye Chen... didn''t care at all for a Divine Medicine worth dozens of Purple Silver Pearls?


    Luo Shan felt an overwhelming joy in his heart.


    Ye Chen said whoever discovered it first should claim it. That meant the Divine Medicine would belong to him. This turn of events brought a feeling of lost fortunes rediscovered!


    "Ye Chen, are you sure you don''t want such a precious Divine Medicine?"


    Even though thrilled, Luo Shan didn''t dare to take it outright and cautiously asked Ye Chen once more.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded. "It looks like you were the first to find this Divine Medicine, Luo Shan. Go ahead and take it."


    Only then did Luo Shan believe Ye Chen genuinely didn''t care about the medicine.


    He respectfully cupped his hands toward Ye Chen, then walked over to the Divine Medicine. Picking up the seven-leaf clover-shaped mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine, he stored it in his spatial storage device.


    Seeing Luo Shan claim the Divine Medicine, Qiudi felt unparalleled frustration.


    Just like that, he had missed out on dozens of Purple Silver Pearls.


    With Ye Chen as a witness, Qiudi abandoned any thought of snatching the Divine Medicine from Luo Shan.


    The Divine Medicine was effectively a gift from Ye Chen to Luo Shan. If Qiudi dared to steal it and anger Ye Chen, it would undoubtedly cost him his life¡ªsomething he certainly wouldn''t risk!


    Qiudi forced a smile and said, "Now that this matter is settled, Ye Chen, what are your plans? Will you continue searching for medicines alone, or join us for the journey?"


    Qiudi earnestly hoped to travel with someone as unfathomably strong as Ye Chen¡ªit would significantly improve his safety.


    At that moment, Luo Shan also looked expectantly at Ye Chen.


    However, Ye Chen shook his head and said, "I''ll continue on my own."


    Ye Chen still needed to search for the material to craft the Eternal God Body, the "Water God Pattern." Naturally, he was unwilling to travel with others, as it would slow his search.


    Nevertheless, Ye Chen didn''t leave right away.


    He had a strong intuition that this place wasn''t ordinary.


    Earlier, he clearly had the ability to completely destroy the black toad. The creature had sensed this too, yet it didn''t flee. Instead, it seemed to be guarding something.


    Ye Chen couldn''t shake the feeling that it wasn''t simply guarding a mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine.


    Given the black toad''s true strength, the mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine wouldn''t have been something it cared much about.


    While Ye Chen was pondering, Luo Shan remarked from the side, "That black toad was indeed strange earlier. Even with Ye Chen being so powerful, it didn''t escape and ended up being subdued."


    "Then again, even if it tried to flee, Ye Chen would never have let it get away!"


    Luo Shan also sensed something amiss, further strengthening Ye Chen''s resolve to investigate this place further.


    Extending his Divine Sense toward the depths of the black swamp, Ye Chen soon realized that, as with other areas, his Divine Sense was entirely cut off upon entering the swamp below.


    It was evident that the subterranean world beneath this black swamp couldn''t be probed with Divine Sense.


    "Xiaojiu, try exploring below," Ye Chen called out to the spirit residing within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant.


    When Xiaojiu attempted to investigate, her Divine Soul Power was also completely blocked by the black swamp.


    "It seems Divine Soul probing alone won''t work," Ye Chen muttered. "In that case, I''ll dig up this swamp mud to see what lies within!"


    Having made up his mind, Ye Chen wasted no time. With a flick of his finger, the Wine Gourd known as the "Gourd Sword" appeared, and dozens of flying swords shot out from it.


    Invoking the "Mysterious Spirit Thousand Sword Skills," Ye Chen began commanding the flying swords to excavate the swamp mud across a ten-thousand-foot radius.


    Luo Shan and Qiudi, who were initially about to leave after Ye Chen declined their offer, were taken aback by his sudden action.


    They stared in surprise and asked, "Ye Chen, what are you doing?"


    Ye Chen, however, ignored their questions, his gaze fixed on the ever-churning black mud as the flying swords tirelessly excavated.


    Seeing this, Luo Shan and Qiudi didn''t dare interfere, instead intently watching Ye Chen''s every move.


    "Could Ye Chen have discovered something hidden beneath the swamp mud?"


    The same thought crossed both their minds.


    At the same time, the two also noticed the swords Ye Chen wielded.


    "Top-grade Mystic Heavenly Level flying swords!"


    "And dozens of them, all top-grade Mystic Heavenly Level!"


    "No wonder Ye Chen doesn''t care about the mid-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine. Just judging by the quality of these swords, his wealth is undoubtedly astronomical!"


    Luo Shan and Qiudi were awestruck.


    What they didn''t realize was that the dozens of flying swords were only a fraction of the thousand housed within Ye Chen''s Gourd Sword.


    If they knew Ye Chen possessed a thousand top-grade Mystic Heavenly Level flying swords, as well as countless treasures even more precious, they would likely faint from shock!


    As Luo Shan and Qiudi watched, Ye Chen continued driving the flying swords to unearth more of the swamp mud.


    The black swamp churned within the ten-thousand-foot radius.


    Gradually, Ye Chen dug to a depth of hundreds of feet... thousands of feet.


    Still, nothing was unearthed.


    Just as Luo Shan and Qiudi began doubting whether Ye Chen''s instincts had been off, Ye Chen persisted unwaveringly.


    In fact, his expression grew increasingly grave.


    While Luo Shan and Qiudi lacked the combat power and Divine Soul strength to detect anything amiss, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul had already reached "Blue-Grade Divine Soul" strength¡ªmore than enough to sense the abnormalities in the buried mud below.


    "The deeper the mud, the more it conceals a mysterious Divine Origin!"


    "There''s definitely something down there!"


    Hundreds of feet...


    Thousands of feet!


    Ye Chen kept digging deeper.


    Finally, at a depth of nearly three thousand feet, Ye Chen''s eyes lit up.


    At the same time, Luo Shan and Qiudi''s expressions drastically changed¡ªthey suddenly heard an onslaught of incomprehensible Divine Soul Killing Force assailing their minds!


    "There''s something down there!"


    "And it''s terrifying¡ªlikely an Immortal Divine Venerable-level demon!"


    An Immortal Divine Venerable-level being.


    To Luo Shan and Qiudi, this was something entirely beyond their power to contend with.


    As the two cried out in panic, they noticed Ye Chen glance back at them. With a motion of his hand, a black-and-white Divine Light surged forth, forming a protective barrier around them.


    The instant the barrier enveloped their bodies, the horrifying Divine Soul Killing Force was entirely nullified.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Does this mean he can take on not only the terrifying black toad but also an Immortal Divine Venerable-level being?"


    "Unbelievable!"


    "But he''s just an Upper God King!"


    As Luo Shan and Qiudi looked on in shock, hundreds of massive, basin-sized black monster bugs suddenly flew up from the underground depths.


    Each of these black monster bugs radiated the Killing Force of an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!


    "Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level black monster bugs!"


    "So these were the source of the Divine Soul Killing Force earlier!"


    "We''re doomed! Completely doomed!"


    Faced with hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level monster bugs, Luo Shan and Qiudi turned ashen.


    Just one of these bugs would be far beyond their ability to resist, let alone hundreds!


    "Ye Chen has gotten himself into huge trouble this time!"


    "He''s likely concealing power, and his combat strength might rival a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, but he surely didn''t anticipate confronting Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level bugs!"


    In despair, Luo Shan and Qiudi turned to Ye Chen.


    And what they saw left them utterly stunned.


    Instead of fleeing in fear at the sight of the hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level monster bugs, Ye Chen looked thrilled!


    "Could it be that Ye Chen doesn''t fear even Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level monster bugs?"


    Luo Shan and Qiudi were completely bewildered.


    Ye Chen could hardly contain his excitement.


    The presence of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level monster bugs underground clearly indicated the existence of something exceedingly valuable below.


    "What could it be down there?"


    "A top-grade Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicine, or perhaps a Polar Sky Level Divine Medicine?"


    As for the hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level black monster bugs that terrified Luo Shan and Qiudi, Ye Chen paid them little mind.


    His combat strength had long since surpassed that of ordinary Immortal Divine Venerables, so there was no need to worry about these bugs.


    As the hundreds of black monster bugs emerged from the subterranean depths, Ye Chen extended his hand, summoning a treasure¡ªthe "Bronze Gong Hammer."


    Channeling his Divine Power into the hammer, he struck the gong. Instantly, the hundreds of black monster bugs that Luo Shan and Qiudi couldn''t hope to contend with were trapped within Void Heaven!

 Chapter 964 - 914: Flawless Precious Moss

    Seeing hundreds of black celestial insects imprisoned within the Void Heaven, Ye Chen followed up with a powerful grasp of his hand.


    Countless terrifying wind blades instantly formed within the Void Heaven, spiraling toward the hundreds of black celestial insects.


    What happened next shocked Luo Shan and Qiudi within the black-and-white barrier.


    The endless, fearsome wind blades driven by Ye Chen directly shredded the hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level black celestial insects into pieces. Finally, amidst the turbulence of the violent wind, their remains dissipated into the void!


    Ye Chen, relying on the "Copper Gong Wooden Hammer" treasure and a powerful killing move, annihilated hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level celestial insects in one strike!


    "What kind of treasure is that?!"


    "And what is that terrifying wind blade technique?!"


    At this moment, Luo Shan and Qiudi felt cold sweat running down their spines.


    They had never seen a treasure that could imprison hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level creatures in one move.


    Could this be the legendary Ultimate Heavenly Artifact?


    What terrified Luo Shan and Qiudi even more was Ye Chen''s fearsome wind blade technique.


    They initially thought Ye Chen was only capable of defeating Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables, but now it seemed that Ye Chen could even defeat Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    A mere Upper God King capable of defeating Upper Immortal Divine Venerables¡ªhundreds of them, no less¡ªthis could only mean one thing: this Upper God King possessed the combat power to sweep through Immortal Divine Venerables!


    Even in the mighty True Spirit Divine Kingdom, Luo Shan and Qiudi had never heard of a God King capable of such a feat.


    As Luo Shan and Qiudi shivered in fear and stared in stunned silence at Ye Chen,


    Ye Chen''s gaze, however, was already fixed on the depths beneath the churned-up, pitch-black swamp mud.


    "The Eternal God Body''s ''Wind Divine Pattern'' is truly remarkable."


    "This killing technique, the attack from the ''Wind Divine Pattern'' known as ''Limitless Wind Blade,'' combined with the ''Copper Gong Wooden Hammer,'' can result in a massive destructive force. Anyone below the Sovereign Realm simply wouldn''t stand a chance."


    "Having shredded these Dark Ancient Demons, it''s time to investigate what''s hidden below."


    The presence of hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level celestial insects clearly indicated that what lay below was far from ordinary.


    At this moment, Ye Chen was filled with anticipation.


    Following the crevice in the churned mud, he flew downward.


    When Ye Chen had descended over a thousand feet, he suddenly sensed an exceptionally pure and potent energy wafting toward him.


    At that moment, Xiaojiu, within the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, spoke out excitedly: "Such pure energy!"


    "Ye Chen, there must be a remarkable treasure down below!"


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, a sharp gleam flashed in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Instantly, the "Wind Divine Pattern" surfaced on his body, and its speed-enhancing attribute manifested as two massive "Extreme Wind Wings," each tens of feet in size, fluttering into existence behind him.


    Swoosh!


    The enormous "Extreme Wind Wings" flapped, propelling Ye Chen swiftly downward at an astonishing speed.


    When he finally reached nearly three thousand feet underground, Ye Chen was greeted by an unforgettable sight.


    In the depths, countless patches of black mud were still piled everywhere, along with a massive pit that his flying sword had carved out earlier.


    Yet, neither the pit nor the black mud could hold Ye Chen''s attention anymore.


    His gaze locked onto a domain radiating with blinding white light.


    There, no black mud could draw near.


    There, it was as though an immaculate, untouched world had taken form.


    And in the center of it all, a white treasure moss, about several feet in size and as pure as jade, emanating warm and radiant white light, slowly drifted in the air.


    Upon seeing this white treasure moss, Ye Chen gasped in astonishment: "This is... the Extreme Heaven-tier premium divine medicine¡ª''Flawless Precious Moss''?!"


    "Yes, that''s ''Flawless Precious Moss''!" Xiaojiu''s voice rang out, trembling with excitement.


    Extreme Heaven-tier premium divine medicine!


    Ye Chen had imagined the possibility of finding premium Mystic Heavenly-level divine medicine below or perhaps even Extreme Heaven-tier divine medicine.


    But he had never dared to dream of discovering an Extreme Heaven-tier premium divine medicine.


    To realize, an Extreme Heaven-tier premium divine medicine wasn''t just classified as a divine medicine; its status as an Extreme Heavenly Object meant it was supreme beyond comparison. Although not specifically used to forge Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts, it was an indispensable material for treating severely injured high-level Sovereigns!


    Its value rivaled that of Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts!


    In fact, for many injured high-level Sovereigns, it could be even more precious than an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact!


    Each Extreme Heaven-tier premium divine medicine could be worth tens of thousands, even millions of Purple Silver Pearls!


    Even for the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion, the odds of stumbling across an Extreme Heaven-tier premium divine medicine during expeditions were astronomically low.


    And now, to have found the legendary ''Flawless Precious Moss'' here, how could Ye Chen not reel from the shock?


    Without hesitation, Ye Chen extended his hand toward the ''Flawless Precious Moss.''


    The pure and unblemished domain surrounding the ''Flawless Precious Moss'' was incredibly firm.


    Evidently, even the hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level black celestial insects Ye Chen had slain were never able to breach this protective domain and truly touch the ''Flawless Precious Moss.''


    As Ye Chen reached for the ''Flawless Precious Moss,'' he immediately felt an enormous repelling force emanating from its protective barrier.


    In the end, it took Ye Chen unleashing the ''Extreme Wind Blast'' from his ''Wind Divine Pattern,'' coupled with the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame,'' to break through the protective barrier and seize the ''Flawless Precious Moss.''


    When the ''Flawless Precious Moss'' finally landed in his palm,


    Ye Chen could feel its warm texture and incomparably pure divine energy, and he still found it hard to believe.


    It was unbelievable that he had obtained an Extreme Heaven-tier premium divine medicine just like that.


    "How is it that a divine medicine of this caliber is guarded by merely a few Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level creatures?"


    "By all rights, it should at least be guarded by Sovereign-level creatures!"


    Ye Chen voiced his doubts to Xiaojiu.


    Xiaojiu took a deep breath and replied, "Ye Chen, whether it''s an Extreme Heavenly Object or an Extreme Heaven-tier divine medicine, such things of the Extreme Heaven-tier defy logic."


    "Maybe there''s nothing around them at all."


    "Or maybe there are dangers that surpass even the Sovereign level!"


    "Whether one can obtain an Extreme Heavenly treasure all comes down to fate."


    "Just like when you and Long Li acquired the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame,'' while there was some danger, it wasn''t insurmountable."


    "I suspect that this ''Flawless Precious Moss'' originally had no protectors at all. The black celestial insects likely grew stronger by absorbing traces of divine energy that leaked from the ''Flawless Precious Moss.'' They aren''t guardians of the moss itself."


    "Even that black toad you encountered before probably stayed here because it received some benefits. That mid-tier Mystic Heavenly-level divine medicine you found earlier may have been nurtured out of an infinitesimal fraction of the ''Flawless Precious Moss''s'' leaked energy."


    Xiaojiu''s explanation made Ye Chen nod repeatedly.


    Ye Chen recalled the events surrounding his and Long Li''s capture of the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame.''


    Indeed, acquiring Extreme Heavenly treasures is never a matter of reason.


    On the one hand, finding them requires luck and keen insight. On the other, whether danger surrounded the treasure greatly depends on the characteristics of the treasure itself.

 Chapter 965 - 915: The Ascending Divine Light

    "I never expected that, in coming here to rescue someone, I would gain such a harvest."


    After learning about the Heaven Grade Divine Medicine, Ye Chen did not hesitate further. Stowing the "Flawless Precious Moss," he shot upwards from nearly three thousand zhang deep underground.


    The medicinal properties of this "Flawless Precious Moss" were also recorded in the "Skywind Medical Scripture."


    Whether to sell this medicine to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" or keep it for his own use, Ye Chen decided to wait and assess the situation later.


    A moment later, as the massive "Extreme Wind Wings" flapped, Ye Chen returned to the surface.


    With a thought, Ye Chen retracted the "Extreme Wind Wings," and the "Wind Divine Pattern" of his Eternal God Body immediately vanished into his Divine Body.


    At the same time, with a flick of his finger, the dozens of flying swords excavating the Dark Swamp mud returned in streaks of light.


    Even while digging through the mud of the Dark Swamp, these flying swords were surrounded by Divine Light, with no filth adhering to them. Their blades remained spotlessly clean.


    Once they reached Ye Chen, he tapped the palm-sized gourd of the "Gourd Sword," and the flying swords returned into the gourd.


    Then, Ye Chen turned his gaze toward Luo Shan and Qiudi, who were protected by the Black and White Divine Light.


    With a sweep of his hand, Ye Chen dispelled the protective barrier around Luo Shan and Qiudi, and the shroud of black and white light dissipated completely.


    "Ye Chen... Ye Chen!"


    At this moment, when Luo Shan and Qiudi looked at Ye Chen again, they could no longer maintain their composure.


    While they had earlier dared to converse with him as equals, now they looked at Ye Chen as if he were a Sovereign.


    Their eyes were filled with reverence and awe!


    After all, what had just transpired was far too astonishing.


    They had witnessed with their own eyes as Ye Chen annihilated hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level Monster Bugs!


    Such Divine Might was unparalleled among the three thousand recruited Martial Artists of their expedition, with no one else capable of such a feat!


    Though they hadn''t seen Ye Chen''s actions in retrieving the "Flawless Precious Moss" from thousands of zhang underground, they could imagine that he had likely made an astonishing discovery below.


    However, neither dared to ask Ye Chen about it.


    Let alone whether it was their concern or not¡ªthey wouldn''t dare snatch anything from Ye Chen, even if it did involve them.


    If Ye Chen wanted to take everything they possessed, they wouldn''t dare to object!


    Seeing the combined fear and awe in Luo Shan and Qiudi''s gazes, Ye Chen sighed softly.


    He understood that the strength he had revealed had shaken the two deeply.


    Ye Chen''s gaze shifted to a far-off direction, sensing that three figures were heading their way.


    He then addressed Luo Shan and Qiudi, "Fellow Daoists, my business here is done, so I''ll take my leave first."


    "However, I hope that the matter of me slaying the Immortal Divine Venerable Monster Bugs remains confidential."


    Luo Shan and Qiudi caught Ye Chen''s underlying meaning; clearly, he didn''t want his hidden strength exposed.


    They quickly nodded, "Yes, yes, we won''t say a word!"


    Ye Chen gave them one last glance before his figure flickered and vanished into the Void Heaven.


    Only when Ye Chen had disappeared thoroughly did Luo Shan and Qiudi finally let out a long breath of relief.


    They exchanged glances, the lingering astonishment still evident in their eyes.


    However, the two tacitly avoided mentioning Ye Chen again. Since Ye Chen didn''t want the information disclosed, they dared not discuss it further.


    Just as they were about to part ways and continue their search for Spiritual Medicines, three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables appeared in the sky.


    These were the three individuals Ye Chen had detected earlier, flying toward this area.


    Unaware of Ye Chen''s abilities, the three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables swiftly approached Luo Shan and Qiudi.


    Once they landed before the pair, one of them asked, "A moment ago, was it Luo Shan Daoist who sent out a request for help?"


    "Judging by your state, has the crisis already been resolved?"


    The three had received Luo Shan''s distress signal.


    However, being farther away, they had arrived later than Qiudi and Ye Chen.


    Luo Shan and Qiudi exchanged a look before Luo Shan spoke, "Thank you, fellow Daoists, for coming to our aid. The crisis has indeed been resolved."


    "Resolved, then that''s good," the three nodded and turned to Qiudi. "Judging by the situation, it must have been Qiudi Daoist who dealt with it."


    One of the three glanced around and chuckled, "I saw in the messaging token that the Upper God King Ye Chen also responded and promised to come. Why is he nowhere to be seen?"


    "Could it be that he turned tail at the last moment?"


    The other two laughed aloud, "With Qiudi Daoist here, what need is there for that little God King? Letting him back out is no big loss!"


    The trio''s teasing about Ye Chen made Luo Shan and Qiudi deeply uneasy.


    Heavens.


    If not for Ye Chen forbidding them from revealing the earlier events, they would''ve wanted to shout down these three Heavenly Divine Venerables!


    These three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables¡ªhow dare they mock Ye Chen?


    Recalling Ye Chen effortlessly slaying hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level Monster Bugs, Luo Shan and Qiudi found their breathing quickening.


    Finally, Qiudi hastily interrupted the trio''s ridicule. With an unsteady voice, he said, "Enough. Let''s get back to finding the Divine Medicines. We only have seven days, so we must hurry."


    The trio noticed the odd expressions on Luo Shan and Qiudi''s faces, finding it puzzling.


    However, they couldn''t have imagined that the very person they had been mocking¡ªYe Chen¡ªwas the one who had utterly overwhelmed Luo Shan and Qiudi.


    At Qiudi''s suggestion, the three nodded, "Let''s continue the search."


    "Fellow Daoists, which areas have you already explored earlier?"


    ...


    Ye Chen wasn''t aware that after his departure, these three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables had spoken about him.


    Of course, even if he had known, Ye Chen would not have cared about the comments of these Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    By now, Ye Chen had already traveled tens of thousands of miles away from where he found the "Flawless Precious Moss," continuing his quest for medicines elsewhere.


    In the "Dark Swamp Stars," there were merely seven days allocated for gathering medicinal herbs, and time was precious.


    Yet it seemed that finding such a rare and exceptional Heaven Grade Divine Medicine as the "Flawless Precious Moss" might have burnt through all of Ye Chen''s luck.


    In the subsequent days, Ye Chen made constant discoveries, but they were all Heaven-reaching Level medicines at best.


    After five days passed, apart from locating two inferior Mystic Heavenly Level Divine Medicines, he hadn''t even found a single medium-quality Mystic Heavenly Level medicine, let alone another Heaven Grade one.


    Ye Chen remarked to Xiaojiu, "This Dark Swamp Stars is truly enigmatic."


    "It appears that finding Divine Medicines here is all about luck. Many of them must be hidden within the swamp mud just like the ''Flawless Precious Moss.''"


    "There''s no way we can flip over all the mud in the Dark Swamp; it all comes down to serendipity."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s somewhat frustrated tone, Xiaojiu giggled, "Ye Chen, don''t worry. After all, you''re not relying on finding Divine Medicines to earn rewards from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.''"


    Ye Chen chuckled, "True enough."


    Xiaojiu added, "You''re already incredibly wealthy with tens of billions of Purple Silver Pearls, richer than countless Nine-Star Sovereigns. Even if the materials needed to cultivate the Eternal God Body''s Water Divine Pattern can''t be found in the Dark Swamp Stars, it''s no big deal. You can just buy them from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.''"


    "Even if the Medicine Pavilion doesn''t have them, you can always find the materials elsewhere with enough Purple Silver Pearls."


    Xiaojiu''s cheerful demeanor made Ye Chen want to pinch her cheeks.


    This girl really knew how to cheer someone up!


    Indeed, Xiaojiu''s words hit the mark for Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen had already considered trading for materials with the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion."


    However, he hadn''t yet encountered the right opportunity.


    "That Cai Xiao''er said she''d come find me in a few days, but it''s been quite some time already. I wonder if she''s forgotten what she said back then."


    "Though their Medicine Pavilion''s flying boat has already traveled to the southern region of the Dark Swamp Stars, far from our northern area. I wonder if she''ll still seek me out."


    After some thought, Ye Chen resumed moving through the Dark Swamp to continue his search.


    It was now the fifth afternoon of the herb-gathering period in the Dark Swamp Stars. As Ye Chen flew to a new area, digging up another Heaven-reaching Level Divine Medicine from the swamp mud, he suddenly saw an awe-inspiring beam of Divine Light erupt in the distance.


    Judging by the distance, it seemed to be tens of thousands of miles away!


    "That Divine Light..."


    Staring at the light shooting up from afar, Ye Chen''s eyes flickered with astonishment.


    Were this any other place, seeing a Divine Light tens of thousands of miles away wouldn''t have shocked him. After all, in other regions, his Divine Sense already covered such ranges.


    What astonished Ye Chen was that he was currently within the "Dark Swamp Stars"!


    Here, even someone like him could only extend Divine Sense across a range of several tens of thousands of zhang.


    Now, to witness Divine Light visible from tens of thousands of miles away¡ªhow could Ye Chen not be deeply puzzled?!


    This clearly signified that the source of the Divine Light was no ordinary entity!


    "A Divine Light revealing itself!"


    "And of such a caliber!"


    "This must be an extraordinary ''Heaven Grade artifact''!"


    "Ye Chen, if a Heaven Grade artifact were completely silent, it might remain as inconspicuous as the ''Flawless Precious Moss'' or the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame.'' But when it manifests so conspicuously, it''s bound to trigger intense conflict!"


    "Let''s take a look from a distance, but don''t harbor any thoughts of claiming it. Such an object, clearly attracting so much attention, must not be easy to subdue. It''s likely to bring calamity! Let''s just watch from afar!"


    Xiaojiu''s voice rang in Ye Chen''s ear.


    "A Heaven Grade artifact?"


    "What kind of artifact could differ so much in appearance from the ''Flawless Precious Moss'' and ''Blue Extreme Iceflame''?"


    Nodding toward Xiaojiu, Ye Chen felt a spark of curiosity ignite in his heart.


    He had no reason to doubt Xiaojiu''s insight, as all her knowledge came from Lord Emperor Yan himself.


    "Let''s go take in the excitement."


    "The commotion is bound to draw countless Martial Artists."


    With a sudden flick of his sleeve, Ye Chen and Xiaojiu vanished from the spot.


    Indeed, Ye Chen was not mistaken¡ªthe Divine Light had attracted countless Martial Artists!


    By now, not only those from nearby regions but all within the northern expanse of the "Dark Swamp Stars," spanning billions of miles, had caught sight of the erupting Divine Light.


    "What is that?!"


    "Heavens, the Divine Light reaches me even from so far away!"


    Stirred into action, countless figures streaked through the sky toward the source of the celestial phenomenon.


    Meanwhile, closest to the emanating Divine Light, a group of onlookers could only gape in shock, utterly dumbfounded by the sight before them.

 Chapter 966 - 916: Get Lost!

    These few people are precisely members of Kuang Meng''s team among the dozen or so people who had grouped up with Ye Chen!


    At this moment, Kuang Meng and the six Heavenly Divine Venerables beside him were utterly stunned.


    They had been acting separately, and just a short while ago, one of their team discovered a superior Mystic Heavenly Grade Divine Medicine guarded by a formidable lower Immortal Divine Venerable-level Dark Ancient Demon.


    The Heavenly Divine Venerable found himself overpowered by the lower Immortal Divine Venerable-level Dark Ancient Demon and had to call for help from nearby allies.


    Kuang Meng and the other five Heavenly Divine Venerables quickly rushed to assist.


    With the combined effort of seven people, they finally managed to eliminate the Dark Ancient Demon.


    Initially, they thought that after taking the superior Mystic Heavenly Grade Divine Medicine, everything would return to normal. However, to their surprise, as soon as they retrieved the divine medicine, it was as though they had activated the formation''s nucleus at that location. Immediately, an infinite surge of divine light erupted from below the divine medicine''s position.


    The boundless divine light burst forth, its terrifying power alone sending all seven of them flying back several thousand feet in alarm!


    When the seven finally steadied themselves and looked at the spectacle in the surge of divine light ahead, they were completely dumbfounded.


    Amidst the eruption of divine light, an endless array of black droplets appeared, and above the black droplets floated a fiery red cauldron.


    The black droplets coalesced, forming a vast water surface spanning tens of meters.


    The fiery red cauldron, which burned as though engulfed in flames, stood about half a human''s size and had three legs. Its surface was engraved with images of nine unknown divine beasts.


    The nine divine beasts'' heads pointed upward, biting firmly onto the tightly closed lid of the cauldron. There was no way to discern what lay inside.


    Neither Kuang Meng nor the six Heavenly Divine Venerables could have imagined that such astonishing divine light would erupt from beneath the superior Mystic Heavenly Grade Divine Medicine, revealing those black droplets and the mysterious fiery red cauldron!


    Upon glimpsing the black droplets, Kuang Meng and the six Heavenly Divine Venerables immediately recognized them. These black droplets turned out to be none other than the "Dark Origin Water," an extreme-grade Polar Sky-level divine medicine previously revealed by the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion!


    If Ye Chen were here to see this "Dark Origin Water," he would undoubtedly be shaken to the core, as the "Dark Origin Water" is one of the eighteen primary materials he has been desperately seeking to refine the Water God Pattern for his Eternal God Body.


    "Dark Origin Water, extreme-grade Polar Sky-level divine medicine... how could it emerge automatically?!"


    "Furthermore, this Dark Origin Water has formed a water surface spanning tens of meters. Could there be several million droplets here?!"


    "Even stranger, the extreme-grade Polar Sky-level ''Dark Origin Water'' seems merely secondary, intended to set off that fiery red cauldron. What exactly is this fiery red cauldron?!"


    "Could it be that this fiery red cauldron is even more precious than the extreme-grade Polar Sky-level divine medicine ''Dark Origin Water''?!"


    Kuang Meng and the six Heavenly Divine Venerables stared at the two treasures amidst the divine light ahead, their hearts pounding uncontrollably.


    They had a premonition that they might have inadvertently triggered an unfathomable event of divine artifact revelation.


    One of the Heavenly Divine Venerables couldn''t resist flying towards the ascending divine light, intending to acquire the "Dark Origin Water" and the "fiery red cauldron" for himself.


    "This divine light ascending to the heavens appears to be radiating toward the vast northern heavens. It''s bound to attract countless others to this spot."


    "We must secure these two treasures before others arrive to snatch them away!"


    Boom!


    As the Heavenly Divine Venerable spoke, divine power erupted from his body, and he charged toward the infinite divine light.


    However, just as he reached the edge of the divine light, a tremendous force struck him backward, sending him hurtling several thousand feet away.


    He couldn''t approach the divine light barrier by even the slightest margin!


    "Don''t act recklessly."


    "These are extreme-grade Polar Sky-level artifacts; they won''t be so easily obtained!"


    Kuang Meng''s fiery gaze remained fixed on the "Dark Origin Water" and the "fiery red cauldron" within the boundless divine light. Despite his intense desire, he managed to keep his composure.


    "What do we do, then? We can''t just let these two treasures remain exposed¡ªwe have to figure out a way to obtain them!" the Heavenly Divine Venerable who had been knocked back said to the group.


    A Heavenly Divine Venerable standing beside Kuang Meng suggested, "We should approach this the same way we dealt with the lower Immortal Divine Venerable-level Dark Ancient Demon to obtain the superior Mystic Heavenly Grade Divine Medicine earlier. Let''s combine our forces again to see if we can break through this divine light and secure the treasures inside. If we succeed, we can distribute them afterward."


    The other Heavenly Divine Venerables naturally couldn''t bear to let treasures sit idly before them, so they nodded enthusiastically: "Alright, let''s do it. Even when Daoist Chen tried approaching the divine light earlier, he was merely repelled and not harmed. We should give it another attempt."


    Seeing that everyone was itching to act, Kuang Meng''s eyes gleamed sharply: "Very well, let''s join forces!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    All seven of them unleashed their utmost divine power.


    Kuang Meng was an Upper God King with combat capabilities exceeding those of an Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable, while the other six Heavenly Divine Venerables were all Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables. Collectively, their combined strength was enough to contend with an Immortal Divine Venerable.


    As their peak powers converged and charged toward the ascending divine light formation, it seemed as though another beam of light was shooting up to clash against the towering column of divine light.


    But to their disappointment¡ª


    Their combined assault didn''t even manage to budge the divine light formation, let alone access the treasures within the barrier.


    "No use, the seven of us alone aren''t enough!"


    "We need more help!"


    After the futile attempt, all seven of them realized the towering divine light formation before them was beyond their ability to penetrate. The group immediately looked toward other areas.


    "Quick, summon the rest of our team to come here¡ªget everyone to join us. The more people, the better."


    "If even everyone''s combined strength can''t break the light formation, we''ll reassess the situation then."


    "Agreed."


    "Call for the others."


    The seven decisively activated their communication tokens, sending out a signal for reinforcements.


    As the seven continued to helplessly gaze at the treasures they couldn''t access and waited for backup, the other members of Ye Chen''s team, who weren''t near the treasure site, received their distress signals.


    These individuals were already heading toward the ascending divine light when they noticed the distress signals'' proximity to the divine light. They were stunned.


    "Could it be that the ones sending the distress signals are right where the divine light is erupting?"


    "Did they trigger this incredible divine light somehow?"


    Surprised, these individuals hastened their flight toward the ascending divine light.


    Among them were Luo Shan, Qiudi, and three other Heavenly Divine Venerables whom Ye Chen had previously saved. They, too, sped toward Kuang Meng and his team.


    Ye Chen, however, was the furthest away.


    Having flown far in search of medicine earlier, Ye Chen was separated by a distance of several hundred thousand miles from the team.


    At the same time, Ye Chen also received the distress signal from Kuang Meng and the six Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    Seeing that Kuang Meng''s location coincided with the ascending divine light, Ye Chen, like the others, was surprised.


    "Kuang Meng and his group are right there."


    "Looks like I definitely need to head over and check this out!"


    On the move, Ye Chen''s enormous "Extreme Wind Wings" flapped once, propelling him thousands of miles forward!


    The distressed Kuang Meng and his team noticed responses from the absent members of their group, all returning signals and heading toward them. Their hearts raced in anticipation.


    They had no idea whether everyone''s arrival would allow them to break the defensive barrier of the ascending divine light.


    While they waited anxiously, it didn''t take long for several others to arrive, leading some of them to yell out excitedly, "They''re here¡ªthey''ve arrived!"


    Boom!


    At their words, three Heavenly Divine Venerables abruptly surged from the void, shooting toward their location.


    "Daoist Fang, Daoist Luo, Daoist Hua!"


    Kuang Meng and his team rushed to greet the three.


    Upon seeing the ascending divine light behind Kuang Meng and the "Dark Origin Water" and "fiery red cauldron" within it, the three were visibly shocked.


    They hadn''t expected two divine artifacts to lie within the divine light formation!


    "Three Daoists, there''s no time for detailed explanations," Kuang Meng said, rushing to address the newcomers. "We need to act together immediately and see if we can break the defensive barrier guarding the treasures inside!"


    The three quickly grasped Kuang Meng''s reasoning.


    It was clear now: they sought treasure but couldn''t retrieve it and were calling for reinforcements.


    "Understood. Let''s act together!"


    The three joined forces with Kuang Meng''s seven team members.


    Now, ten individuals launched a combined assault against the light column.


    But once again, their attacks were futile.


    Even with the power of ten individuals combined, they couldn''t even slightly shake the ascending divine light column.


    Expressions of disappointment appeared on the faces of all ten. At this point, it became clear that even if every remaining member of their team arrived, it was unlikely they''d break through the light column.


    "What now?"


    "What should we do?!"


    Of course, none of them were willing to leave the treasures behind.


    "We can only wait for the rest to arrive and try again."


    The ten anxiously resumed their wait.


    This time, before reinforcements from their team appeared, a booming sound reverberated through the void above them.


    Clearly, someone of extraordinary power was racing toward them with unparalleled speed.


    The ten all turned to look up at the Void Heaven.


    What they saw made their faces pale instantly.


    Four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables materialized out of the void.


    At this moment, the new arrivals stared greedily at the ascending divine light and at the "Dark Origin Water" and "fiery red cauldron" within.


    It was evident that they, too, had noticed the unparalleled magnificence of the two treasures!


    Then, the four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables noticed the ten nearby, beside the ascending divine light.


    One of the Immortal Divine Venerables coldly glared at Kuang Meng''s group and said, "Get lost!"


    "These treasures are ours to claim. Leave immediately!"

 Chapter 967 - 917: Gathering Clouds

    "Get lost!"


    "The treasures here are ours to take. Move aside immediately!"


    The words of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable echoed in the void and reached Kuang Meng and his group''s ears, causing their ten faces to change drastically.


    They hadn''t expected that, before their teammates could arrive, they''d have to face four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables instead.


    From the tone of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, it was clear he intended to monopolize the treasures, leaving them no chance to claim even a fragment.


    Kuang Meng''s group, who were the first to discover the treasures, were now being yelled at to leave. How could they not feel utterly frustrated?


    Should they resist?


    Should they rebel?


    With four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables present, even facing just one would be a surefire death wish.


    The combined combat power of their group of ten could only contend with a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable at best.


    To defy an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable would be complete folly!


    "Retreat!"


    "We''ll fall back!"


    Though their hearts burned with frustration, not one of the group dared to show a hint of dissatisfaction. They complied obediently, retreating ten thousand zhang away.


    "Move even further away!"


    As Kuang Meng''s group backed off ten thousand zhang, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable barked yet another command.


    "You..." The ten of them nearly coughed up blood in rage.


    Even after retreating ten thousand zhang, they were still berated by the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable. It was like being utterly humiliated.


    This is the power of strength.


    Without sufficient strength, they couldn''t even muster the courage to argue with an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable.


    "Let''s step farther back then."


    Utterly disheartened, the group reluctantly retreated even further, until they reached seventy to eighty thousand zhang away. Only then did the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable stop glaring at them.


    From a distance of seventy to eighty thousand zhang, Kuang Meng looked at the towering Divine Light and sighed heavily. "Looks like we won''t have any chance to claim the ''Dark Origin Water'' or the ''Fiery Red Cauldron'' this time."


    The others also shook their heads in despair. "Indeed, even if those four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables can''t get them, many more martial artists will likely arrive later. In the end, it will undoubtedly fall into the hands of the powerful."


    "It won''t be for us."


    As the ten lamented their fate, the four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables turned their attention back to the shining Divine Light, focusing on the treasures inside: the "Dark Origin Water" and the "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    One of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables spoke up, "This is the Polar Sky-level supreme Divine Medicine ''Dark Origin Water''! And there are so many drops of it!"


    "And floating above the ''Dark Origin Water'' is the ''Fiery Red Cauldron.'' From its appearance, it might be even more valuable than the ''Dark Origin Water''!"


    The other three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables also reacted visibly, their expressions filled with greed. "Since the four of us arrived together, these two treasures must be distributed among us."


    "Should we work together, or will one of us try first?"


    "I''ll go first," said the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable who had earlier driven Kuang Meng''s group away.


    He activated his Divine Light, and a cone-shaped Divine Artifact instantly appeared. With a sharp "swish," he cast a spell, sending the artifact hurtling furiously toward the towering pillar of light.


    Boom!


    In the next moment, an earth-shattering crash resounded from the edge of the light pillar.


    Following this, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable''s face darkened as he realized his cone-shaped artifact hadn''t managed to even scratch the pillar of light. Instead, his artifact suffered heavy damage, covered in countless cracks.


    Not wanting to disgrace himself in front of the other three Immortal Divine Venerables, he clenched his hand again, summoning his life-bound treasure¡ªa black Mystic Heavenly-level supreme-grade small sword.


    Boom!


    Driving the Mystic Heavenly-level sword, he launched another ferocious attack on the light pillar.


    This time, the black Mystic Heavenly-level sword was forcibly rebounded by the pillar and sent flying!


    The Upper Immortal Divine Venerable himself was also propelled backward by the reaction from his life-bound artifact, flying hundreds of zhang before regaining his footing.


    This time, not only did the attacking Immortal Divine Venerable''s expression turn grim, but the other three also grew visibly concerned.


    "It seems these two Divine Objects won''t be easily claimed."


    "No wonder those ten people earlier couldn''t acquire them."


    "Let''s work together. Acting alone won''t get us anywhere."


    "Together then!"


    At once, all four reached an agreement.


    Each deployed their strongest treasures, launching simultaneous attacks toward the towering light pillar.


    But just as it had repelled Kuang Meng''s group''s combined efforts earlier, even the joint assault of four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables failed to break through the pillar''s defenses or touch the treasures within.


    Frustration gripped the four Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Meanwhile, from their distant vantage point, Kuang Meng''s group watched as the futile efforts of the four unfolded under the towering Divine Light, sneering at their misfortune.


    "We can''t take the ''Dark Origin Water'' or the ''Fiery Red Cauldron''."


    "Looks like even Upper Immortal Divine Venerables can''t claim them either!"


    "They''re no different from us¡ªthey''ll just have to wait for others to arrive."


    Indeed.


    The four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables could only wait beside the shining pillar of Divine Light for further arrivals, just as Kuang Meng''s group had done earlier.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The dazzling Divine Light attracted even more figures flying in.


    The nearest fighters arrived first.


    Within moments, over a dozen individuals had already flown in.


    Among them were many Heavenly Divine Venerables and a few Earth Divine Venerables.


    Seeing the four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables guarding the area, these incoming Heavenly and Earth Divine Venerables immediately hesitated, unwilling to approach the pillar. They stood at a distance and watched instead.


    The four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, however, paid no attention to the newcomers. They didn''t acknowledge them, let alone suggest a joint attack.


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Waves of arrivals continued, swelling the crowd.


    Among them were Luo Shan and Qiudi, whom Ye Chen had previously saved, along with the three Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables who had earlier mocked Ye Chen.


    Upon arrival, Luo Shan''s group noticed Kuang Meng''s team standing seventy to eighty thousand zhang away from the pillar of light.


    "Kuang Meng!"


    "Friends!"


    They immediately flew to join Kuang Meng''s team.


    "What''s going on here?"


    "Weren''t your reinforcement signals sent near the Divine Light? Why are you standing so far away now?"


    As Luo Shan''s group witnessed the treasures within the glowing pillar and grasped the sheer might radiating from them, they also looked at Kuang Meng''s distant position with confusion.


    Kuang Meng shook his head, stifling his frustration.


    A nearby Upper Heavenly Divine Venerable whispered to Luo Shan''s group, "We were the first to discover the treasures in the Divine Light, but those four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables arrived and forced us out."


    "Hmph, and they couldn''t even acquire the treasures. Now they''re just standing around staring at them."


    Forced out?


    As the meaning of this sank in, the three Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables with Luo Shan''s group instinctively shrank back. "Upper Immortal Divine Venerables are indeed not to be provoked."


    Seeing their trepidation, Luo Shan and Qiudi subtly scoffed internally. "You three, who earlier mocked Ye Chen as weak during a rescue attempt, are now scared of these four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables."


    "If Ye Chen were here, he wouldn''t fear these four Immortal Divine Venerables in the slightest."


    Neither Luo Shan nor Qiudi could forget the earlier ridicule the three Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables had directed at Ye Chen, nor could they forget Ye Chen single-handedly annihilating hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level monster bugs.


    They knew that even if there were ten or a hundred of these Upper Immortal Divine Venerables present, they wouldn''t stand a chance against Ye Chen''s hidden might!


    "Why hasn''t Ye Chen arrived yet?"


    Luo Shan and Qiudi scanned the surroundings, eagerly anticipating Ye Chen''s arrival.


    They knew, once Ye Chen arrived, their group would no longer have to fear anyone!


    Noticing their constant glances around, someone asked, "Friends, who are you waiting for?"


    "Almost everyone in our group is here."


    "Unfortunately, even united, we wouldn''t be able to seize the treasures from the hands of the Immortal Divine Venerables."


    The three Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables also noticed Ye Chen''s absence and began teasing again, "Oh, not everyone is here yet. That Junior God King Ye Chen is still missing."


    "But he wouldn''t matter anyway. As someone in the God King Realm, what help could he possibly offer?"


    "You might not know this, but when Luo Shan was in danger earlier and sent out a rescue call, we rushed over, only to find Ye Chen hesitating and not showing up at all."


    Listening to their banter, Luo Shan and Qiudi wished they could reveal Ye Chen''s strength, slapping these three figures with the truth of their ignorance.


    But with Ye Chen not yet there, neither dared to speak out.


    Kuang Meng also noticed Ye Chen''s absence and commented, "Friends, why focus on Ye Chen? Ye Chen, as an Upper God King, already has the battle power of a Mid Heavenly Divine Venerable¡ªthat''s remarkable."


    "Once Ye Chen arrives, we can simply observe here. There''s no need for us to compete for the treasures."

 Chapter 968 - 918: The 99 Blood Ignition Grand Formation

    Upon hearing Kuang Meng''s words, the three Upper God Kings beside Luo Shan chuckled but did not bring up Ye Chen again.


    However, deep down, the three grew increasingly disdainful of Ye Chen.


    In their view, Ye Chen had merely latched onto Kuang Meng''s coattails to join their group; they had always looked down on him.


    The crowd continued to be captivated by the radiating Divine Light, drawing more and more recruited martial artists toward its source.


    However, the group from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" who had ventured to the southern part of the "Dark Swamp Stars" still did not appear.


    It was unclear whether they were situated too far away on the opposite side of the "Dark Swamp Stars" to notice the sudden change on this side, or if there was another reason.


    Amid the continuously surging crowds, martial artists of the Immortal Divine Venerable level finally began to arrive.


    As soon as they entered the area, they quickly pieced together what had transpired through the chatter of others and understood why the two divine objects in the soaring Divine Light had drawn so many people.


    These Immortal Divine Venerables immediately gathered around the four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables to discuss.


    A stark division of power quickly formed within the area.


    The Immortal Divine Venerables clustered closest to the ascending Divine Light, with the strongest individuals standing nearest to it.


    The Heavenly Divine Venerables, Earth Divine Venerables, and God Kings stood further outward, ranked by strength.


    Every newcomer swiftly found their place within the appropriate power circle and territory.


    When over five or six hundred people had gathered, Luo Shan and Qiudi finally saw the figure they had long been anticipating.


    A silhouette slowly flying toward the crowd.


    It was Ye Chen!


    "Ye Chen, my friend."


    "Ye Chen is here!"


    Luo Shan and Qiudi, unable to contain their excitement, almost shouted in joy upon seeing Ye Chen''s arrival!


    The two exchanged glances, their exhilaration barely controllable.


    They eagerly wanted to observe how Ye Chen, who had effortlessly destroyed hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level demon bugs, would change the dynamics of the scene!


    "It''s good that Ye Chen is here."


    "With him here, we no longer need to fear those Immortal Divine Venerables."


    Luo Shan and Qiudi''s eyes lit up as these thoughts raced through their minds.


    In the void above, Ye Chen also spotted Luo Shan, Qiudi, and Kuang Meng''s group.


    Ye Chen gave a slight nod to Luo Shan and Qiudi, before shifting his gaze toward the soaring Divine Light.


    When he saw the water surface formed by millions of drops of "Dark Origin Water," spanning dozens of feet, and the fiery red cauldron floating above it, Ye Chen''s eyes flashed with a sharp brilliance!


    Ye Chen and Xiaojiu had speculated from tens of thousands of miles away that Polar Sky-level divine objects would appear in the Divine Light''s locale.


    But Ye Chen hadn''t anticipated the presence of not one but two divine objects here.


    And among them was the very thing he had been searching for ¡ª the "Dark Origin Water"!


    "Originally, Xiaojiu advised that the Polar Sky-level items in the soaring Divine Light would be difficult to tame and recommended observing from afar."


    "I had only planned to come and watch the chaos unfold."


    "But since this involves the ''Dark Origin Water,'' I must approach this with utmost seriousness. If possible, I must claim it!"


    The "Dark Origin Water" was crucial for Ye Chen''s cultivation of the Eternal God Body "Water God Pattern," which he had been seeking tirelessly. Seeing it here now, Ye Chen naturally longed to acquire it!


    However, as Ye Chen gazed at the two divine objects, he refrained from acting recklessly.


    It wasn''t the Immortal Divine Venerables surrounding the objects that held him back.


    Ye Chen hardly viewed those Immortal Divine Venerables as threats.


    What concerned Ye Chen was the inherent danger of the Polar Sky-level divine objects, as Xiaojiu had forewarned.


    Given Ye Chen''s immense combat power, he could tell that the Immortal Divine Venerables present were entirely incapable of shaking the soaring Divine Light or challenging the abilities of the two divine objects within it.


    Ye Chen could also sense that, even with his strength, retrieving treasures from the Divine Light was currently unfeasible. All he could do was observe and await further changes in the soaring Divine Light.


    "Should any anomaly arise or changes occur in the soaring Divine Light, only then will I consider extracting the ''Dark Origin Water.''"


    Ye Chen contemplated within his mind and spirit.


    As Ye Chen deliberated, Xiaojiu spoke to him: "Ye Chen, you and I both recognize the ''Dark Origin Water.'' But I don''t recognize the fiery red cauldron floating above it."


    "However, I can sense that this object is definitely a Polar Sky-level divine artifact, and not just any divine artifact¡ªit''s an elite-grade Polar Sky-level divine artifact!"


    "Moreover, unfathomable danger lies within this divine artifact, so you must exercise caution!"


    Xiaojiu''s words prompted Ye Chen to narrow his eyes as he scrutinized the two divine objects.


    Could the fiery red cauldron truly be an elite-grade Polar Sky-level divine artifact?


    Ye Chen understood that once a Polar Sky-level object is refined into a Polar Sky-level divine artifact, it must undergo continuous nurturing and strengthening. The most powerful Polar Sky-level divine artifacts ultimately become elite-grade Polar Sky-level divine artifacts.


    Even many Nine-Star Sovereigns lacked elite-grade Polar Sky-level divine artifacts.


    For such an artifact to appear here and now, Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel astonished.


    And Xiaojiu''s warning about the fiery red cauldron''s concealed dangers only heightened Ye Chen''s vigilance.


    Ye Chen had already refrained from directly seeking treasures due to sensing danger.


    Now, knowing the fiery red cauldron was an elite-grade Polar Sky-level divine artifact, his caution only deepened.


    After all, this artifact was something even countless Sovereigns would vie for!


    While Ye Chen studied the two divine objects, Kuang Meng and the others finally followed Luo Shan and Qiudi''s gaze to notice Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, my friend!"


    Kuang Meng eagerly approached Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, my friend, why did you arrive so late?"


    "Have the past few days of seeking medicine been trouble-free?"


    "No trouble," Ye Chen replied, tearing his gaze away from the two divine objects to look at Kuang Meng and his dozen teammates, smiling slightly. "I journeyed farther than I intended earlier, so I only just arrived."


    With a swift motion, Ye Chen joined Kuang Meng amid the crowd.


    Due to both being God King Realm cultivators from outside the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," Kuang Meng was very warm toward Ye Chen.


    However, the others, apart from Luo Shan and Qiudi, were noticeably less friendly toward Ye Chen.


    In particular, the three Heavenly Divine Venerables beside Luo Shan, who had mocked Ye Chen before, now looked at him with even greater disdain and barely spared him a glance.


    They hadn''t forgotten how Ye Chen "deserted before battle" when helping Luo Shan and Qiudi earlier.


    Witnessing their expressions, Ye Chen merely chuckled to himself, while Luo Shan and Qiudi were visibly annoyed. They immediately transmitted their thoughts to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, my friend, after saving us earlier, you left quickly. These three Upper Heavenly Divine Venerables thought you were too scared to back us up and have been saying you chickened out."


    "They talked about you in front of large groups of people!"


    "Little do they know, you could crush them with a single finger!"


    "Ye Chen, my friend, why not show them your power and make them realize who the true master is!"


    Luo Shan and Qiudi, who knew of Ye Chen''s strength, wished Ye Chen would display his abilities immediately to intimidate everyone.


    That way, they could boast about witnessing Ye Chen slay hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level demon bugs earlier!


    Ye Chen naturally understood Luo Shan and Qiudi''s intent.


    However, he had no intention of flaunting his strength over the opinions of three Heavenly Divine Venerables.


    A true master wouldn''t let petty slights or insults provoke them into action.


    When the time came, those people would naturally be left speechless!


    At present, Ye Chen''s focus remained solely on the "Dark Origin Water" and the "Fiery Red Cauldron." He transmitted to Luo Shan and Qiudi: "Ignore the others; prioritize observing the divine objects in the Divine Light."


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s directive, Luo Shan and Qiudi hurriedly transmitted back: "Yes, yes, we''ll follow your lead, Ye Chen!"


    The two grew increasingly excited.


    From Ye Chen''s words, they could sense that, while he hadn''t moved yet, he was highly attentive to the two divine objects.


    They knew if the Immortal Divine Venerables attempted to vie for the artifacts, an extraordinary spectacle would undoubtedly unfold.


    Following Ye Chen''s arrival, martial artists lured by the soaring Divine Light from distant areas continued to converge through flight.


    Ultimately, barring those recruited martial artists who had died searching for medicine earlier, nearly everyone ended up at the Divine Light''s location.


    In total, around 2,800 people had gathered!


    And as people trickled in, the Immortal Divine Venerables incessantly launched attacks at the soaring Divine Light.


    From groups of six or seven cooperating, to groups of a dozen, and eventually to nearly every Immortal Divine Venerable in the area pooling their efforts.


    Yet, despite their collective assaults, they still couldn''t shake the Divine Light.


    This sparked a cacophony of discussions among the crowd!


    The leading four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, joined by another two who had arrived later, grew increasingly desperate.


    They held the highest realms in the gathering and desired the two divine objects the most.


    By now, several hours had passed since the explosion of the soaring Divine Light, and the "Seven Day Medicine Hunt" stipulated by the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" was nearly complete ¡ª over four days had elapsed.


    If they remained empty-handed when the seven days ended and the Medicine Pavilion''s Sovereigns arrived, all advantages would slip from their grasp.


    These Upper Immortal Divine Venerables had no intention of watching the treasures slip away or fall into the Medicine Pavilion''s hands.


    After all, as recruited martial artists, they held no allegiance to the Medicine Pavilion and could benefit greatly by seizing the artifacts and fleeing without a trace.


    "We can''t waste any more time."


    "We must find a way to claim these treasures!"


    "Even securing a portion of the ''Dark Origin Water'' would suffice!"


    Seeing that brute force wasn''t working, the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables began exploring alternative methods.


    At this moment, one of them suddenly narrowed their eyes, seemingly making up their mind.


    Glaring with determination, he addressed the other five Upper Immortal Divine Venerables: "I know a kind of taboo skill that exceeds the combined strength of all us Immortal Divine Venerables here. It may be worth a shot."


    "What kind of taboo skill?" The other five''s minds stirred at his words. They quickly pressed him for details.


    This Upper Immortal Divine Venerable explained: "The skill is called ''Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Formation.'' It involves combining the power of all our Immortal Divine Venerables, but it also requires an additional eighty-one participants to burn their Essence Blood to amplify the formation''s might."


    "However, those eighty-one people who burn their Essence Blood will definitely experience a drop in their realm afterward."


    "I doubt anyone here would volunteer to be one of the auxiliary participants."

 Chapter 969 - 919: Intimidating All Directions

    "No one would be willing to become the one assisting in burning essence blood?" Another Upper Immortal Divine Venerable''s eyes gleamed coldly. "With us here, do they really think they get to decide whether they''re willing or not!"


    "Chi Wu, are you sure your ''Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Formation'' will have greater divine might?"


    The Upper Immortal Divine Venerable who proposed the idea of the ''Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Formation'' was named Chi Wu.


    He nodded and said, "''Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Formation'' is the strongest Forbidden Skill I''ve cultivated. As long as someone cooperates, once it''s fully activated, its combat power can sweep across Immortal Divine Venerables, and even reach the sovereign-level combat power tier without an issue."


    "Good!" Hearing this statement, the other Upper Immortal Divine Venerables immediately made their decision: "Whether this method works or not, we must give it a try."


    "As for the candidates, Chi Wu, you will pick the most suitable ones. With us six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables present, I''d like to see who dares rebel!"


    "The chosen ones¡ªso what if their realms fall? Once we obtain the Divine Object, we can compensate them with something. If anyone dares fight back, don''t blame us for being merciless!"


    Anyone capable of reaching the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable Realm is undoubtedly decisive in their intentions.


    Faced with the allure of immense benefits, they had no qualms sacrificing the essence blood of others.


    After concluding their discussion, the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables stood up and cast their eyes over the gathered crowd of 2,800 recruited Martial Artists.


    Shua! Shua! Shua!


    When the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables suddenly fixed their gaze upon them, the recruited Martial Artists present immediately felt a chill in their hearts.


    They understood that the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables were about to make an announcement.


    At this moment, one of the four Upper Immortal Divine Venerables who had arrived first, the one who had previously scorned Kuang Meng and company, stepped forward and addressed the crowd: "Everyone, listen up. We have a formation that requires some of you to cooperate."


    "All those selected by Chi Wu, step forward!"


    The Upper Immortal Divine Venerable named Chi Wu also stepped forward at this point, surveying the crowd. "My formation requires not just our Immortal Divine Venerables to work together but also eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists for support."


    "I won''t hide this from you. While the primary offensive power of this formation comes from the Immortal Divine Venerables and will not harm us, the eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists will need to burn essence blood during the process to amplify the formation''s might, which will result in some damage."


    "Burning essence blood may cause a slight drop of one or two minor levels in your realm, or in the worst cases, the loss of one or two major levels."


    Hua!


    Upon hearing Chi Wu''s explanation, countless Martial Artists in the crowd instantly went pale.


    Becoming an auxiliary Martial Artist would mean burning essence blood to power the formation?


    And it would lead to a drop in their realm?


    Of course, none of the recruited Martial Artists wanted to do such a thing.


    Their realms were painstakingly cultivated over time, and once lost, reclaiming them would require unimaginable effort¡ªand might even harm their Life Origin!


    But the recruited Martial Artists also understood that the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables had deliberated on this matter for a long time and were unlikely to change their decision now.


    Even if they did not want to be auxiliary Martial Artists, these six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables certainly wouldn''t spare them!


    "Don''t pick me."


    "There are 2,800 people here. Only eighty-one will be chosen. Don''t pick me!"


    Many began praying inwardly in panic.


    As chaos spread through the crowd and countless faces turned pale, another Upper Immortal Divine Venerable stepped forward.


    His tone carried both a warning and a threat as he said, "Chi Wu has explained things clearly¡ªit''s for your own good. Regardless of who is chosen, you must follow Chi Wu''s arrangements and cooperate with us!"


    "Otherwise, it won''t just be a simple realm drop anymore. If you mess with our attempt to obtain the treasure, we''ll wipe you out completely!"


    "Of course, if those chosen cooperate well, we won''t mistreat you. As long as we obtain the treasure, you''ll surely receive some compensation."


    The words of this Upper Immortal Divine Venerable caused a heavier burden to weigh on everyone''s hearts.


    The recruited Martial Artists all knew that this situation was inevitable.


    As for the compensation promised by the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?


    The Martial Artists knew that no amount of compensation could make up for the loss of realms.


    What''s more, the promised compensation was contingent on obtaining the treasure¡ªsomething far from guaranteed. If the treasure wasn''t secured and their realms dropped without recompense, it would be disastrous!


    Nevertheless, even if their hearts were filled with reluctance, none of the Martial Artists dared to object.


    No one wanted to be the one to stand out!


    If they drew attention from the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables by speaking up, they''d be in deep trouble.


    By staying silent, there was still a chance they wouldn''t be chosen.


    With such thoughts, the atmosphere in the crowd turned suffocating.


    Among those with modest combat power, only Luo Shan and Qiudi remained unconcerned.


    Both knew that with Ye Chen present, even if he didn''t protect the others, their small squad would be entirely safe.


    To Luo Shan and Qiudi, Ye Chen was far stronger than these six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables!


    Not to mention six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables¡ªeven when facing hundreds of Upper Immortal Divine Venerables'' monster bugs, they had witnessed Ye Chen annihilate them!


    "Ye Chen, how should we handle these matters raised by the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?" Luo Shan and Qiudi couldn''t hold back their curiosity and sent Ye Chen a voice transmission.


    Ye Chen''s eyes flashed coldly at this moment.


    He hadn''t expected that, unable to deal with the sky-piercing light pillar, these Upper Immortal Divine Venerables would come up with such a cruel plan.


    "For a formation with no hope of success, they aim to drain the life essence blood of eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists."


    "Such ruthless methods."


    Ye Chen was adamant; he wouldn''t just protect his small squad.


    He had already discerned that these Immortal Divine Venerables wouldn''t be able to shake the sky-piercing light pillar no matter what they did. Naturally, he couldn''t allow such a cruel scheme to proceed, nor let the lives of eighty-one Martial Artists be wasted.


    Even if they somehow succeeded, Ye Chen wouldn''t sit idly by!


    Ye Chen transmitted his voice to Luo Shan and Qiudi: "Relax. With me here, no one will be forced to burn their essence blood."


    "Let them choose first. I want to see what kind of personnel their Bloody Great Formation requires."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Luo Shan and Qiudi were elated.


    They knew Ye Chen was finally going to act.


    As Luo Shan and Qiudi''s excitement grew, and amidst the trepidation of countless Martial Artists, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable "Chi Wu" began selecting the eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists.


    "My ''Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Formation'' requires individuals from various realms. Naturally, those with robust vitality will be most suited."


    Shua!


    Chi Wu''s gaze fell directly on one Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable.


    "You, step forward!"


    Being selected, that Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable''s legs buckled.


    Despite his fervent prayers, he ended up being the first chosen!


    "Masters, please don''t choose me!" The Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable protested desperately.


    "No nonsense!" Another Upper Immortal Divine Venerable waved his hand, instantly dragging the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable to their side.


    "You!"


    "And you!"


    Chi Wu didn''t pause as he selected several more individuals.


    This time, Chi Wu''s finger pointed at one of the three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables standing by Luo Shan.


    This Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable, who had previously mocked Ye Chen, now found himself on the receiving end of cruel fate.


    Before he could complain, he was abruptly seized and placed among the selected auxiliary Martial Artists.


    Following this, Chi Wu picked individuals from the Intermediate Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm, Lower Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm, and Earth Divine Venerable Realm.


    Lastly, he began selecting God Kings.


    "You, come here!"


    Shua!


    Chi Wu directly pointed at Kuang Meng.


    Kuang Meng, whose combat power exceeded that of typical Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables despite being in the Upper God King Realm, was naturally chosen by Chi Wu.


    Kuang Meng had anticipated this outcome; hearing his name called, his face turned pale, his mind starting to spin.


    "It''s over!"


    "Being strong doesn''t mean much¡ªI''ve ended up as cannon fodder for these Upper Immortal Divine Venerables!"


    In despair, Kuang Meng was dragged toward the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    At this moment, however, he suddenly heard Ye Chen''s voice transmission: "Kuang Meng, don''t worry. You won''t be harmed."


    "Ye Chen?" Kuang Meng was stunned by the transmission, descending into the ranks of the chosen auxiliary Martial Artists all the while.


    Even as he joined the others, he remained puzzled by Ye Chen''s words.


    "Ye Chen says I won''t be harmed? Could Ye Chen really have a way to save me?"


    "But his combat power is only at the Intermediate Heavenly Divine Venerable level!"


    After Kuang Meng was selected, more God Kings followed.


    Each selected God King was an exceptional cross-realm powerhouse.


    As for Ye Chen, Chi Wu''s selection did not extend to him¡ªYe Chen had concealed his true combat power, presenting only an Intermediate Heavenly Divine Venerable level. How could even Upper Immortal Divine Venerables see through his disguise?


    Within a brief span, the eighty-one individuals were chosen.


    Once the selection was complete, the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables nodded in anticipation, eager to attempt the ''Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Method.''


    Meanwhile, the eighty-one selected Martial Artists wore expressions of utter despair.


    "Now, let''s begin activating the formation!"


    The six Immortal Divine Venerables ignored the chosen individuals'' feelings and immediately began organizing amongst themselves.


    At this moment, Ye Chen stepped out from the crowd and declared loudly, "Hold it!"


    Hold it?


    No one expected someone would suddenly speak up.


    Instantly, with a loud shua, all eyes turned toward Ye Chen.


    "God King?"


    No one expected that, as the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables prepared to activate the formation, a mere God King would step forward.


    "Ye Chen?"


    "What does he intend to do?"


    Even the small squad of a dozen around Ye Chen was completely stunned.


    Among the selected individuals was the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable who had earlier sneered at Ye Chen¡ªnow, he too was left utterly dumbfounded.


    He never anticipated that Ye Chen would dare voice opposition to the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables. Even he, despite being forced into the ranks of auxiliary Martial Artists, didn''t dare utter a single word!


    At the same time, Luo Shan and Qiudi''s hearts were pounding wildly.


    Inwardly, they shouted in excitement: "Ye Chen! He''s finally stepping up!"

 Chapter 970 - 920: Overpowering

    Under countless gazes, the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables also turned their eyes to Ye Chen.


    "Hold it!"


    The Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, who had earlier driven Kuang Meng and the others tens of thousands of feet away, narrowed his eyes at Ye Chen and said coldly, "Junior God King, are you speaking to us?"


    Though the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable spoke softly, everyone could hear the chilling edge in his tone.


    Indeed.


    For the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables to act, only to be interrupted by a mere Junior God King¡ªit was enough to stir the discontent of even the Lesser and Heavenly Divine Venerables present.


    "This Junior God King is too audacious!"


    "To dare speak recklessly in such a situation!"


    "Offending an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable is courting death!"


    Voices of discussion erupted all around.


    Standing beside Ye Chen, his dozen or so teammates shuddered upon hearing the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable speak. One of them couldn''t help but tug at Ye Chen''s sleeve, whispering nervously, "Ye Chen, don''t say anything reckless..."


    Ye Chen, however, waved his hand dismissively, then looked directly at the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable. His tone calm, he said, "That''s right, I am speaking to you."


    Ye Chen pointed to the eighty-one auxiliary martial artists, who had been restrained. "Release them. If you want to attack the Divine Light, I won''t interfere, but if you harm innocent others, I cannot sit idly by."


    As Ye Chen''s calm words fell upon the crowd, they were like a thunderclap on a clear day, leaving everyone utterly stunned!


    What was happening?!


    A Junior God King was threatening Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?!


    Did he really claim he "cannot sit idly by"?


    A mere God King Realm practitioner, attempting to meddle in the affairs of six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?!


    The crowd''s gazes at Ye Chen brimmed with disbelief.


    They thought Ye Chen must be mad. They could never have imagined that Ye Chen, even as an Upper God King Realm practitioner, would dare to show no fear in facing Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    The crowd broke into chaos!


    Amid the uproar, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable who had spoken earlier heard Ye Chen''s words and, enraged, burst into a cold laugh. "You cannot sit idly by?"


    "A mere Junior God King dares such arrogance."


    "Our affairs¡ªhow could they be meddled in by a junior like you?"


    "It seems you won''t learn your place without a proper lesson!"


    This Upper Immortal Divine Venerable was never known for patience. After all, he hadn''t hesitated to chastise and expel Kuang Meng and the others upon arrival.


    Feeling the provocation in Ye Chen''s tone, how could he tolerate it now?


    The Upper Immortal Divine Venerable reached out with a massive hand, and a tempestuous surge of Divine Power surged toward Ye Chen like a violent torrent.


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    The violent power sent countless Heavenly Divine Venerables and Earthly Divine Venerables in its path flying.


    It formed a massive claw, aiming to crush Ye Chen into fragments with a single grasp!


    The might of an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable was terrifying. Even a casual gesture could instill fear in every Martial Artist present.


    Those who hadn''t been blasted away immediately scrambled to flee and take cover in a panic.


    As the claw neared Ye Chen, many onlookers averted their eyes, unable to bear witnessing what they believed would be his tragic demise.


    Everyone thought this "hotheaded God King" was doomed.


    Even among Ye Chen''s teammates, all but Luo Shan and Qiudi became pallid with fear and tried to retreat in desperation.


    Yet at that moment, what astonished everyone was this: Ye Chen, facing the overwhelming attack of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, showed no sign of panic. On the contrary, he calmly stepped forward.


    With his hands still clasped behind him, Ye Chen made no move to defend himself.


    But to everyone''s surprise, the monstrous claw attack, which had swept away countless Heavenly and Earthly Divine Venerables on its path, disintegrated into the Void as soon as it reached Ye Chen, as though encountering a power far more formidable.


    Not a single scratch appeared on Ye Chen.


    The Junior God King whom countless onlookers had underestimated stood unscathed, with a faint, steady smile!


    A stunned silence enveloped the scene.


    "What..."


    The Martial Artists among the Heavenly and Earthly Divine Venerables and God Kings could not believe what they had just seen.


    "Could it be that this God King possesses the combat power to rival Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?!"


    As this thought surfaced, many drew sharp breaths.


    They hailed from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom or other Divine Kingdoms.


    Yet never had they heard of an Upper God King rivaling an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable. Such a phenomenon was wholly unprecedented in their worlds!


    It was natural for these Martial Artists to be struck with disbelief and awe.


    Even the eight Sovereigns, who had journeyed across countless Divine Kingdoms, had praised Ye Chen as the strongest God King they had ever encountered.


    The Sovereigns proclaimed that, aside from the Universe''s most mysterious and powerful Divine Kingdoms, no other Divine Kingdom harbored a God King comparable to Ye Chen.


    Those present were far less experienced than the Sovereigns and had never witnessed such a scenario¡ªa God King who could stand unflinching against an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!


    But no one was more shocked than the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables themselves.


    Most notably, the one who had attacked Ye Chen was pale with disbelief.


    He sensed Ye Chen''s immense power.


    However, Ye Chen had yet to unveil his full capabilities.


    With so many eyes watching, the Divine Venerable could not afford to lose face.


    "God King, it seems you do have some strength. No wonder you dared to speak up."


    "But do you truly think, with your God King Realm, you can challenge our Upper Immortal Divine Venerable Realm?"


    As this Upper Immortal Divine Venerable spoke, the other five stared down Ye Chen as well.


    Though they remained silent, their collective aura pressed down heavily on Ye Chen.


    They were determined to execute the Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Formation and would not allow Ye Chen to interfere!


    As all six turned their focus on Ye Chen, every gaze in the crowd fell upon him. None among the Heavenly, Earthly Divine Venerables, or God Kings knew how Ye Chen would respond to such overwhelming odds.


    "Surely he can''t possibly face all six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables at once, can he?!"


    Even after witnessing Ye Chen''s astounding power, no one dared to entertain such a possibility.


    The next words from Ye Chen, however, threw the crowd into yet another uproar.


    Looking squarely at the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, Ye Chen''s tone remained calm and fearless. "I told you to release those eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists."


    "As for the rest, I have no interest in getting involved."


    Ye Chen''s composed words stung like open defiance to the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, fueling their rising frustration.


    Here stood a Junior God King, demanding they release the auxiliary Martial Artists as though he were their Sovereign!


    As if he could disregard the authority of Immortal Divine Venerables!


    "Fine... fine... fine!"


    "Never before have I encountered such an ''audacious'' God King. It seems we six must test your so-called strength!"


    Exchanging glances, the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables'' sleeves whipped violently as boundless Divine Power surged into the skies.


    The six joined forces, unleashing a devastating combined attack toward Ye Chen.


    This was the power of six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables striking as one.


    While incapable of shaking the Sky-Piercing Divine Light, such an attack aimed at a single Martial Artist could render the heavens and earth chaotic with fury!


    Rip! Rip! Rip!


    In an instant, the Void between Ye Chen and the six Divine Venerables was shredded to tatters.


    The violent blast swept the nearby Martial Artists, tossing them tens of thousands of feet away once more!


    The Black Swamp''s ground heaved as sludge and mud churned from the impact, leaving behind a massive chasm!


    The combined power ripped the Void, directing its overwhelming might toward Ye Chen.


    Yet, Ye Chen merely grunted lightly. Extending a hand, he enveloped Luo Shan, Qiudi, and their companions in a shield of Black and White Divine Light.


    Then, Ye Chen pointed his palm forward decisively.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Endless Wind Blades materialized before him.


    The Wind Blades were none other than Ye Chen''s "Limitless Wind Blade" technique¡ªa skill imbued with the second most potent of his Eternal God Body''s Five Great Divine Patterns, the Wind Divine Pattern!


    The Limitless Wind Blades surged forth, shredding the six Divine Venerables'' combined attack to utter nothingness.


    What happened next was even more terrifying.


    Ye Chen raised his palm and struck downward.


    It felt as though the very heavens quaked.


    A colossal and ferocious wind pillar materialized above the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, slamming down upon them with devastating force.


    The six scrambled to muster the entirety of their combat power.


    Yet it was futile. The wind pillar crushed them into the swampy depths of the Black Swamp below.


    In the next moment, Ye Chen flicked his fingers. A tornado erupted from the swamp, extracting the six from the depths and hurling them back into the Void.


    By now, the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables were ghastly pale.


    They finally understood Ye Chen''s overwhelming combat power.


    This was a God King who could truly dominate them.


    The Chi Witch, who sought to initiate the Ninety-Nine Blood Burning Great Formation, was even more horrified. He could feel with certainty that not even their combined strength, aided by the eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists, could stand against Ye Chen!


    "My lord!"


    "Mercy, my lord!"


    The six, their faces ashen, begged Ye Chen for mercy. They feared Ye Chen might unleash another calamity upon them.


    But Ye Chen merely shook his head. He neither responded to their pleas nor launched further attacks.


    Ye Chen''s aim had always been to rescue the eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists. He harbored no other intentions.


    With a flick of his finger, the Divine Light restraining the auxiliary Martial Artists dissipated.


    Ye Chen turned to Kuang Meng among the liberated group and smiled. "Kuang Meng, I told you¡ªyou''d be fine."

 Chapter 971 - 921: Chaos between Heaven and Earth

    Kuang Meng was still in a daze as he flew back to Ye Chen''s side.


    "Ye Chen, did you save me?"


    "Ye Chen, he... he actually suppressed the combined attacks of six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables?!"


    "He possesses combat power that surpasses Immortal Divine Venerables!"


    All along, Kuang Meng had believed that he was stronger than Ye Chen.


    Along the way, he kept asserting that he would take care of Ye Chen.


    Even when Ye Chen said he could seek medicine alone without any risks, claiming no one could harm him, Kuang Meng had thought Ye Chen was merely posturing to save face.


    Now, Kuang Meng finally understood¡ªYe Chen wasn''t exaggerating at all.


    Ye Chen truly possessed strength that feared no one present!


    "I, Kuang Meng, am the number one Divine King of Qi Yue Divine Nation, owning the power to defeat a Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable."


    "But Ye Chen, he has the ability to overcome Upper Immortal Divine Venerables! He''s infinitely stronger than I am!"


    "Could such a powerful Divine King truly exist in the world?!"


    Kuang Meng suddenly recalled something.


    Back when they visited the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion to meet Cai Meng''er, she hadn''t treated the recruited Martial Artists with any special regard¡ªexcept Ye Chen. She had spoken to him specifically in private.


    At the time, Kuang Meng and the others thought Cai Meng''er had been drawn to Ye Chen''s demeanor.


    Looking back now, it was likely that the young mistress of the Medicine Pavilion had already discerned Ye Chen''s extraordinary nature!


    "Ye Chen, aren''t you just too incredible!"


    After flying to Ye Chen''s side, Kuang Meng stood dumbfounded for a long pause before finally speaking his first words to Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen!"


    Not only Kuang Meng, but more than a dozen other team members also swarmed toward Ye Chen.


    At that moment, they craved nothing more than to cling to Ye Chen''s leg!


    After all, anyone capable of suppressing six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables was someone they would naturally want to rely upon!


    Of all the people present, the three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables who had been standing beside Luo Shan earlier were the most embarrassed.


    They had continuously ridiculed Ye Chen, accusing him of cowardice in battle.


    Now, reflecting on the peculiar expressions Luo Shan and Qiudi had shown multiple times, they suddenly realized¡ªit must have been Ye Chen who saved Luo Shan back then!


    Ye Chen wasn''t retreating out of fear; he possessed immense power but had simply chosen not to reveal himself earlier!


    Amid the awkwardness of the three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables, Luo Shan and Qiudi finally spoke.


    The two glanced at the trio and said, "Fellow Daoists, surely there are no more misconceptions about Ye Chen now."


    "Ye Chen is not someone we can even compare ourselves to."


    Under Luo Shan and Qiudi''s reproach, the three Superior Heavenly Divine Venerables grew even more awkward. They cautiously addressed Ye Chen, saying, "Ye Chen, we misunderstood you earlier. We hope you will not hold it against us."


    Looking at the respectful yet apprehensive expressions of the crowd, Ye Chen sighed inwardly.


    He knew that after putting his strength on full display, these people would no longer treat him as a regular teammate.


    "Fellow Daoists, there''s no need for this," Ye Chen said aloud.


    Kuang Meng, perceptive as ever, sensed that Ye Chen disliked the atmosphere and quickly changed the subject, asking, "Ye Chen, with your strength, why don''t you simply retrieve the Divine Objects in the Sky-Piercing Divine Light and instead let the Immortal Divine Venerables continue their attempts?"


    As Ye Chen and Kuang Meng conversed, others couldn''t help but edge closer to Ye Chen.


    Even the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables that Ye Chen had suppressed earlier were silently listening in.


    These individuals were equally curious as to why Ye Chen hadn''t directly claimed the treasures.


    Ye Chen lifted his gaze toward the crowd. He understood their doubts.


    He then turned his eyes to the Sky-Piercing Divine Light, as well as the "Dark Origin Water" and "Fiery Red Cauldron" within it.


    "It''s not that I don''t wish to claim the treasures, but I''ve long sensed that the Divine Light''s protection is beyond my current capabilities. Even with my strongest techniques, I cannot pierce through the defenses of this Sky-Piercing Divine Light."


    "We can only wait to see if the Divine Light changes further. Right now, it''s simply impossible to acquire those two Divine Objects."


    Ye Chen''s words made the recruited Martial Artists once more turn their attention to the Sky-Piercing Divine Light.


    "That Divine Light is this formidable?!"


    "Could it be that only a powerful Sovereign can retrieve the treasures within?"


    No one doubted Ye Chen''s words.


    Ye Chen''s overwhelming strength had deeply shaken these people. They all knew that Ye Chen''s power and insight far exceeded anyone else present!


    After all, for a Divine King to achieve such combat prowess, one could only imagine what an extraordinary being Ye Chen must be!


    The six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables finally realized that Ye Chen hadn''t targeted them maliciously. He truly had acted to save the eighty-one auxiliary Martial Artists from burning their Essence Blood in vain.


    "Lord Ye Chen!"


    The six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables bowed deeply toward Ye Chen. "We were wrong earlier!"


    "Had we known you foresaw issues with the Divine Light, we wouldn''t have acted so recklessly!"


    Seeing that Ye Chen had refrained from dealing with them harshly, the six quickly offered explanations.


    Ye Chen waved his hand dismissively at them.


    He then turned to all the recruited Martial Artists and said, "Judging by this Divine Light''s current state, there likely won''t be any changes for some time. We still have over three days left of the seven-day window to gather medicine. Those who wish to continue gathering herbs may do so; there''s no need to stay here."


    "Of course, if anyone wants to remain here to observe the Divine Light''s changes, I wouldn''t object either."


    Kuang Meng asked Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, are you planning to leave or stay here?"


    Ye Chen looked at the "Dark Origin Water" within the Divine Light for a few moments before replying, "I''m not too pressed about gathering herbs; I''ll remain here."


    "Then, I''ll stay too!" Kuang Meng declared.


    "Me too!"


    "There are eight total regions to gather medicinal herbs. It doesn''t matter if we don''t collect more from the Dark Swamp Stars!"


    "Figuring out what will happen with the Divine Light is far more crucial!"


    "We might never encounter such a divine phenomenon again in our lives!"


    Luo Shan, Qiudi, and others shared similar sentiments.


    Eventually, only a small group chose to leave, while the majority decided to remain near the Divine Light to witness its changes.


    Seeing that most people didn''t want to leave, Ye Chen said little more. Instead, he simply warned, "This Sky-Piercing Divine Light could bring danger. If you choose to stay, be vigilant."


    Xiaojiu had warned more than once that the "Fiery Red Cauldron" concealed great peril.


    Ye Chen had been cautious all along and now issued a reminder to the others as well.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s warning, the remaining individuals adopted a more serious demeanor. After some contemplation, a few more chose to leave, while those who stayed remained on high alert for potential changes.


    Time passed.


    Unknowingly, more than half a day had gone by since the Sky-Piercing Divine Light appeared.


    As the Light''s presence neared a full day, Ye Chen''s brows furrowed tighter and tighter.


    Gradually, he began to sense something amiss.


    Although the surrounding Dark Swamp Stars seemed unchanged, Ye Chen''s intuition told him that something significant was on the horizon.


    Even Xiaojiu started sensing the same unease.


    When the Sky-Piercing Divine Light had fully manifested for a whole day, the unsettling premonition finally culminated. Ye Chen abruptly stood up from his meditative posture in Void Heaven.


    He immediately turned his gaze toward the Divine Light.


    At that moment, Ye Chen saw the "Fiery Red Cauldron" floating atop the "Dark Origin Water" within the Light suddenly tremble.


    An extraordinary sound¡ªlike the tolling of a colossal bell¡ªresonated from within the Divine Light.


    This sound, grand and majestic, akin to the surging of immense rivers and seas, carried an enigmatic primeval aura, spreading across the heavens and earth.


    Upon hearing this sound, Ye Chen felt a faint tremor within his "Stars Tower."


    "This sound..."


    Others near the Divine Light were also startled, rising from their meditative states as they noticed Ye Chen stand up.


    Though the sound was inexplicably strange, it didn''t harm anyone present.


    However, just as everyone was bewildered by the sound, a sudden change occurred.


    The distant heavens and the Dark Swamp Earth below seemed to be drawn by an inexplicable force. Suddenly, they both tore apart as if being slashed open!


    The sky fractured, countless Void Rifts erupting!


    The swampy earth churned and collapsed, forming gaping cracks!


    Then, countless shadowy figures emerged¡ªfrom the far horizons and the depths of the Dark Swamp alike.


    When the recruited Martial Artists looked closer at the shadows, they were immediately horrified.


    The figures, some tens of meters tall and others hundreds or even thousands, were unmistakably "Dark Ancient Demons"!


    Previously, these creatures had only occasionally appeared while gathering Divine Medicine. No one could have expected that now, an endless horde of Dark Ancient Demons would suddenly surface!


    In the next moment, their expressions turned even graver.


    The newly emerged Dark Ancient Demons were numerous beyond calculation¡ªlikely numbering in the millions or tens of millions. Worse still, as soon as they spotted the recruited Martial Artists, they charged toward them in a frenzy.


    These Demons ranged from True God level to God King, Earthly Divine Venerable, Heavenly Divine Venerable¡ªand even Immortal Divine Venerable levels.


    The sheer flood of Dark Ancient Demons left the Martial Artists utterly petrified!


    "Heaven and earth are in chaos! The Demons are surging! They aim to slaughter us all?!"


    "Are these Demons drawn here by the Sky-Piercing Divine Light?!"


    Screaming in panic, the Martial Artists frantically fought to fend off the charging Dark Ancient Demons, all the while casting desperate, pleading glances at Ye Chen.


    They knew full well they stood no chance against the onslaught, not even the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables among them.


    After all, they could see with their own eyes that there were countless Dark Ancient Demons at Upper Immortal Divine Venerable levels within the horde!

 Chapter 972 - 922 Transform Easily

    In this situation, they could only turn to Ye Chen for help.


    Only Ye Chen, even stronger than the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, stood any chance of saving them!


    At this moment, Ye Chen caught sight of the tide-like wave of "Dark Ancient Demons" surging toward them, and his expression changed.


    Ye Chen wasn''t afraid of these "Dark Ancient Demons," but he knew that apart from himself, no one else could withstand the onslaught and encirclement of so many "Dark Ancient Demons."


    "All of you, quickly enter my spatial treasure and do not face these ''Dark Ancient Demons'' head-on."


    Whoosh.


    Ye Chen pointed his finger, and the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, along with Xiaojiu, Little Monkey, and the treasures within it, were all transferred to the first floor of the "Stars Tower" by Ye Chen.


    The "Stars Tower," ever since Ye Chen''s life force surged within the "Heavenly God Mountain," became something he could fully manipulate with its divine power of spatial storage.


    Ye Chen needed to free the Ice Snow Jade Pendant to rescue the recruited martial artists, so he naturally transferred the important Xiaojiu, Little Monkey, and his treasures into the "Stars Tower."


    At the same time, Ye Chen launched the now-vacant "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" into the air.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s directive to enter the spatial treasure, many hesitated.


    After all, martial artists could indeed enter a spatial treasure.


    But once inside, constrained by the cosmic laws, their lives would depend on the owner of the treasure.


    Furthermore, if the spatial treasure were destroyed, those inside would suffer catastrophic consequences, potentially dying alongside it.


    For this reason, few ever willingly entered a spatial treasure to take shelter.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, many were momentarily indecisive.


    And in just that moment of hesitation, over a dozen martial artists failed to hold back the "Dark Ancient Demons" that charged at them and were instantly slaughtered on the spot.


    This sight sent shivers down the spines of everyone else!


    The remaining martial artists could no longer worry about whether Ye Chen might harm them or whether he could protect the spatial treasure; they all rushed toward the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" propelled by Ye Chen.


    Seeing their hurried actions, Ye Chen waved his sleeve, unleashing an overwhelming surge of divine power to repel the countless Dark Ancient Demons, buying time for the martial artists to retreat into the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant."


    In the blink of an eye, the two thousand-plus martial artists present¡ªexcept for the dozen or so killed¡ªhad all entered the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant."


    Seeing this, Ye Chen extended his hand, grabbing the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" and retrieving it back onto himself.


    Within the spatial expanse of the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant," over two thousand martial artists looked out nervously with their divine senses.


    They had no idea how Ye Chen planned to face so many "Dark Ancient Demons."


    At this moment, with the other martial artists hidden inside the Ice Snow Jade Pendant, the vast battlefield had only Ye Chen remaining. The attention of the countless "Dark Ancient Demons" was now fixed entirely on him.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    An immeasurable number of demons surged toward Ye Chen with killing intent.


    Ye Chen extended his hand, unleashing a torrent of sword light that sliced through several dozen "Dark Ancient Demons" in an instant.


    Yet, as more "Dark Ancient Demons" continued charging at him without the slightest fear, Ye Chen furrowed his brow.


    Turning, he cast his gaze toward the towering divine light surrounding the "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    "Why are these ''Dark Ancient Demons'' attacking me specifically?"


    "Earlier, the ''Fiery Red Cauldron'' trembled and emitted a peculiar sound, after which these ''Dark Ancient Demons'' suddenly appeared. Is there a connection?"


    As Ye Chen pondered, he raised his hand and eradicated hundreds more of the ancient demons.


    Among them were even some Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level Dark Ancient Demons.


    Witnessing this, the countless martial artists within the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant," including the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, were utterly shaken.


    Seeing Ye Chen standing alone against the horde of demons without a trace of fear only deepened their awe of his immense power!


    "Ye Chen truly possesses the strength to sweep away all power below the Sovereign level!"


    "Our survival through this monumental catastrophe lies entirely in Ye Chen''s hands!"


    "Thankfully, no Sovereign-level ''Dark Ancient Demons'' have appeared. Ye Chen should be able to hold them off, right? However, with so many Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-level ''Dark Ancient Demons,'' the prolonged engagement might dangerously deplete Ye Chen''s divine power, putting him at risk of annihilation."


    The six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, Kuang Meng, Luo Shan, Qiudi, and the rest of Ye Chen''s companions¡ªall the recruited martial artists¡ªcould only feel increasingly anxious for Ye Chen.


    After all, at this moment, their lives hung entirely in Ye Chen''s hands.


    Having considered it for a moment and slain hundreds of "Dark Ancient Demons," Ye Chen finally decided on another approach.


    "If I keep killing these ''Dark Ancient Demons,'' they might seem endless, and I''d only be wasting divine power."


    "Instead, I should figure out why these ''Dark Ancient Demons'' were drawn out and why they''re targeting me."


    Whoosh.


    At this thought, a surge of Taiyi Divine Power erupted from Ye Chen''s body, followed by a profound transformation.


    One moment, Ye Chen flickered and disappeared into the void.


    The next, amidst the countless rampaging "Dark Ancient Demons," a new "Dark Ancient Demon" appeared.


    This "Dark Ancient Demon" was identical in appearance to one of the winged demons Ye Chen had defeated earlier, a result of Ye Chen using the "Thousand Changes and Ten Thousand Transformations" divine skill from the Taiyi Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture to transform himself.


    Ye Chen decided to turn into a "Dark Ancient Demon" to sense the shifts within this realm.


    At the instant Ye Chen transformed into a "Dark Ancient Demon," the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" also shrank into a glimmer of divine light, merging into the scales of the demonic form Ye Chen had assumed.


    Inside the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant," the warriors were dumbfounded.


    They could never have imagined that Ye Chen would transform into a "Dark Ancient Demon."


    What kind of divine skill was this?!


    "This isn''t the ''Transformation'' skill many martial artists practice. If it were, the other ''Dark Ancient Demons'' would immediately detect something amiss and continue attacking Ye Chen."


    "Now, the ''Dark Ancient Demons'' don''t seem to notice Ye Chen among them and have stopped attacking him. This suggests that Ye Chen''s aura has become identical to theirs. I''ve never even heard of a divine skill capable of such complete transformation!"


    One of the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables exclaimed in disbelief.


    Even Kuang Meng and Ye Chen''s other teammates were stunned: "A new divine skill! Fellow Daoist Ye Chen not only possesses extraordinary divine power but also commands such unfathomable divine skills!"


    Even Luo Shan and Qiudi, who had long known of Ye Chen''s power, now wore expressions of sheer astonishment.


    The two of them had never seen Ye Chen use such a divine skill before!


    Yet, amidst their shock, the martial artists hiding within the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" were overjoyed.


    Because after Ye Chen''s transformation into a "Dark Ancient Demon," the others stopped attacking him, meaning they no longer had to fear his continued solo battle against the horde.


    While the martial artists in the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" were filled with turbulent thoughts, the transformed Ye Chen began analyzing the peculiarities of the surrounding realm.


    Ye Chen finally understood why the "Dark Ancient Demons" had been assaulting him.


    "After transforming into a ''Dark Ancient Demon,'' I could immediately sense a killing sound that influences the divine soul. This sound was imperceptible in human form but clearly audible as a ''Dark Ancient Demon.''


    "This murderous sound seems to compel the ''Dark Ancient Demons'' to kill all beings not native to the ''Dark Swamp Stars,'' which is why they launched their assault on us."


    "And this sound... it''s emanating from the ''Fiery Red Cauldron''!"


    In his "Dark Ancient Demon" form, Ye Chen''s eyes gleamed with divine light as he locked onto the source of the sound¡ªthe "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    "I wonder if this sound''s influence extends only to this area or across the entirety of the ''Dark Swamp Stars''?"


    "If it affects the entire ''Dark Swamp Stars,'' then the martial artists from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' on the other side are likely under attack by countless ''Dark Ancient Demons'' as well."


    Ye Chen''s thoughts churned.


    He also had a sinking feeling that the martial artists who had left this location earlier were likely now dead, killed elsewhere by "Dark Ancient Demons."


    Yet at this moment, Ye Chen had no time to spare for other regions, nor could he rush to the southern area of the "Dark Swamp Stars" where the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" warriors might be.


    For now, Ye Chen needed to focus on what would happen once the "Fiery Red Cauldron" drove the "Dark Ancient Demons" to annihilate all non-native life on the "Dark Swamp Stars."


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen observed as, with all the martial artists hiding in his "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" and himself transformed into a "Dark Ancient Demon," the other demons lost their target. They began aimlessly roaming through the surrounding void.


    Ye Chen moved among the other "Dark Ancient Demons," drifting through the void as they did.


    This meandering continued for over half an hour before the towering divine light underwent a new transformation.


    This time, to Ye Chen''s astonishment, the divine light dispersed entirely, revealing two divine objects¡ªthe "Dark Origin Water" and the "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    Once the two treasures appeared, the killing sound that influenced the "Dark Ancient Demons" disappeared without a trace.


    All the "Dark Ancient Demons" went berserk, rushing madly toward the "Dark Origin Water" and "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    Without the murderous sound compelling them, the "Dark Ancient Demons" seemed to recognize the incredible value of the two treasures and began fighting to claim them.


    Amid the horde, Ye Chen in his "Dark Ancient Demon" form remained unmoving.


    Cautious of these two enigmatic treasures¡ªespecially the "Fiery Red Cauldron"¡ªYe Chen had been on guard from the start. He certainly wasn''t going to act rashly at their sudden appearance.


    It was better to let the "Dark Ancient Demons" test the situation first!


    But what happened next made Ye Chen narrow his eyes.


    From his vantage point, he saw it clearly.


    As the "Dark Ancient Demons" fought their way toward the "Dark Origin Water" and "Fiery Red Cauldron," any that approached the vicinity of the "Dark Origin Water" were instantly incinerated by a terrifying burst of firelight from the "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    Countless demons were reduced to nothingness in an instant!


    By the time thousands of "Dark Ancient Demons" had died, the two divine treasures still floated effortlessly in the void, untouched by any of the demons.

 Chapter 973 - 923: Primordial Water and Ancient Token

    At this point, not only did Ye Chen retreat several thousand feet backward, but even those frenzied "dark ancient monsters" finally sobered up, looking fearfully at the two divine objects in the void.


    In the end, after a few roars, the "dark ancient monsters" no longer dared to vie for the two divine objects, instead turning to escape back to their origin.


    In a blink, the sky full of "dark ancient monsters" vanished completely.


    Between heaven and earth, the only "dark ancient monster" remaining was the one Ye Chen had transformed into.


    Ye Chen was utterly bewildered at this moment.


    From the appearance of the divine light soaring to the sky, to the emergence of two divine objects inside, to the numerous martial artists who wanted to seize the divine objects but failed, finally to the transformation of the divine light, the "fiery red cauldron" causing chaos in heaven and earth, inciting countless "dark ancient monsters" to rampage and slaughter the martial artists inside "dark swamp stars."


    Now, with great difficulty, the divine light that finally soared to the sky disappeared, and although the two divine objects appeared in the world, they still remained out of reach of the "dark ancient monsters", scaring away countless "dark ancient monsters."


    Even Ye Chen himself felt that if he attempted to take the two divine objects like those "dark ancient monsters", he would also be incinerated to nothingness by the dreadful fire light emitted by the "fiery red cauldron"!


    Ye Chen could not understand why these two divine objects appeared and why they were so difficult to obtain after being revealed to the world!


    Ye Chen looked towards the suspended water surface of several dozen feet formed by the "dark origin water" in the void, towards the "fiery red cauldron" floating on the water, half the size of a person, in the shape of a tripod, engraved with the images of nine inexplicable divine beasts.


    With no obstruction from the divine light soaring to the sky, these two divine objects became more clearly visible than ever.


    However, the clearer he saw them, the more Ye Chen felt the terrifying nature of these two divine objects.


    As Xiaojiu said, these divine objects triggered astonishing divine light and harbored grave danger, making them difficult to obtain!


    "I have no assurance that I can safely acquire these two divine objects either."


    "It seems there''s no chance to obtain the ''dark origin water'', let alone understand and acquire the ''fiery red cauldron''."


    Ye Chen sighed.


    However, Ye Chen could accept this outcome.


    There are numerous divine objects in the world, and it''s impossible for him to obtain them all.


    As for the ''dark origin water'', which is involved in cultivating the eternal god body with ''water god pattern'', he will have to think of another way later.


    "Let''s leave this troublesome place first."


    "My main reason for coming to the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' this time is to reach the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' and find General Yinsha. Safely arriving at the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' territory is the most important thing; everything else is secondary, focusing on safety first!"


    "Let''s leave here and see how the people from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' are doing."


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen planned to fly away from the bottom of the "dark swamp stars".


    Feeling the sounds of slaughter diminish, the "dark ancient monsters" would no longer attack the martial artists.


    Ye Chen''s body flashed with divine light instantly, transforming back into his human form.


    At the same time, Ye Chen again launched the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" into the void, allowing the recruited martial artists hiding inside to come out.


    Then, Ye Chen put away the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant", re-transporting Xiaojiu, the little monkey, and his treasures from the "Stars Tower" into the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant".


    After completing all this, Ye Chen said to everyone, "Fellow daoists, I don''t plan to collect herbs in the northern end of these ''dark swamp stars'' anymore. I''m going to the southern end to look for the people from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''. These two divine objects are too peculiar; it''s better to leave early."


    "As for fellow daoists, whether to stay or leave is up to you to decide."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, the recruited martial artists flying out from the "Ice Snow Jade Pendant" sighed in relief and gathered around Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, are you leaving?"


    "If you go, we will all go!"


    "It''s too dangerous here, indeed can''t stay long!"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s intention to leave, none of the recruited martial artists dared to stay in this northern region.


    It''s a joke.


    They had witnessed firsthand the terrifying nature of the "dark ancient monsters" that previously surrounded them.


    If not for Ye Chen, they would probably all be dead at the hands of the "dark ancient monsters" by now.


    Of course, they wouldn''t dare to casually stay here any longer.


    Otherwise, if the "dark ancient monsters" rampaged again and Ye Chen was gone, they would be doomed with nowhere to call for help.


    As for the two divine objects¡ªthe "dark origin water" and the "fiery red cauldron"?


    Although the recruited martial artists wanted to get their hands on them, even Ye Chen couldn''t obtain them, not to mention they witnessed with their own eyes how the two divine objects instantly annihilated thousands of "dark ancient monsters" trying to seize them.


    Even if given more courage, they wouldn''t dare to covet these two divine objects anymore.


    All the recruited martial artists only hoped for a smooth exit from this area.


    "In that case, let''s fly towards the southern end of the ''dark swamp stars''."


    "Such a major upheaval occurred in the northern end; I wonder about the situation in the southern region where the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' people are staying."


    Ye Chen said to everyone.


    While speaking, Ye Chen nodded towards Kuang Meng and the others, then led the charge to shoot towards the Supreme Heavens.


    Kuang Meng, Luo Shan, Qiudi, and other members of Ye Chen''s team, along with the six upper immortal divine venerables and other recruited martial artists, seeing Ye Chen move, also swiftly took flight.


    Just when everyone had completely given up the thought of obtaining the two divine objects.


    Just as everyone was flying towards the Supreme Heavens.


    Something unexpected happened.


    After the divine light soaring to the sky dissipated, the two divine objects that appeared in the world, "dark origin water" and "fiery red cauldron", underwent a new transformation.


    This time, it didn''t emit strange sounds, urging numerous "dark ancient monsters" to attack Ye Chen and the others again.


    This time, the lid of the tightly closed "fiery red cauldron" suddenly lifted, and eighteen spiritual lights flew out directly.


    As each spiritual light flew out, it was wrapped in tens of thousands of drops of "dark origin water", forming a divine light cluster.


    Then, these divine light clusters started flying directly towards Ye Chen and the others!


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The speed of these divine light clusters was awfully fast, even faster than the flying escape speed of the most powerful among them, Ye Chen!


    In an instant, the divine light clusters caught up with Ye Chen and the others heading towards the Supreme Heavens.


    Ye Chen and the others also noticed the new mutation of the "fiery red cauldron" at this time.


    Upon seeing these divine light clusters, many martial artists were frightened and scattered, but these divine light clusters were not something they could avoid.


    Eighteen divine light clusters instantly radiated a fiery red halo, enveloping more than two thousand people, including Ye Chen.


    Then, Ye Chen, Kuang Meng, the six upper immortal divine venerables, and all recruited martial artists felt as if a special divine light inside this fiery red light shield was probing them.


    This probing was unavoidable by others.


    Ye Chen also felt that this probing was just like when entering the Heavenly God Mountain, where the "Heavenly God List" probed everyone''s strength. This special divine light also seemed to want to explore all his secrets!


    At this moment, an unexpected event for Ye Chen occurred.


    The "Stars Tower" in his Qi Sea gently shook, isolating this special divine light''s probing, but the "Stars Tower" didn''t shield the "blue extreme iceflame" within Ye Chen''s Qi Sea.


    At this moment, within this probing, the "blue extreme iceflame" unexpectedly produced a special response.


    This response gave Ye Chen the feeling that the divine light clusters emitted by the "fiery red cauldron" and the "blue extreme iceflame" seemed to originate from the same source!


    This greatly shocked Ye Chen''s mind and spirit.


    What surprised Ye Chen even more was that the moment the "blue extreme iceflame" produced a response, one of the eighteen divine light clusters flying out of the "fiery red cauldron" flew directly towards him.


    Finally, this divine light cluster landed directly in Ye Chen''s hands.


    At the moment it landed in Ye Chen''s hands, a wisp of firelight from the "blue extreme iceflame" inside Ye Chen''s body spontaneously moved without Ye Chen''s direction and flew into the divine light cluster.


    This firelight directly merged into the divine light cluster.


    Then, Ye Chen felt this divine light cluster, as if recognizing its master, generating an incredibly intimate feeling with him.


    "Could it be that this ''divine light cluster'' from the ''fiery red cauldron'' has some connection to the ''blue extreme iceflame''?"


    "I recognized the ''blue extreme iceflame'', and now, this ''divine light cluster'' has also recognized me?"


    Feeling the changes of the divine light cluster and knowing some secrets of controlling it, Ye Chen was aware that it seemed like the object had acknowledged him as its owner.


    At the command of his mind and spirit, the divine light cluster broke open directly, revealing tens of thousands of drops of "dark origin water" forming the divine light cluster, along with a fiery red token wrapped inside.


    "Dark origin water, which would directly kill any dark ancient monster who touched it with the fiery red cauldron, now fell into my hands in so many drops without harm?!"


    Ye Chen could hardly believe it.


    What drew Ye Chen''s attention more was the fiery red token wrapped in the dark origin water.


    Ye Chen noticed the front of the token was engraved with a cluster of burning flames. These flames shone with shifting divine light, one moment red, another moment blue, and then green, constantly changing colors, exuding boundless divine marvel!


    The back of the token had nine inexplicable divine beast patterns, similar to the motifs engraved on the outside of the "fiery red cauldron".


    Ye Chen couldn''t recognize the origin of this thing.


    "Xiaojiu, do you know what this token is?" Ye Chen asked Xiaojiu.


    Within the ice snow jade pendant, Xiaojiu, hearing Ye Chen''s inquiry, looked at the token in Ye Chen''s hand, but also shook his head.


    "I haven''t heard of this object either."


    "However, it must be related to the ''fiery red cauldron'', and perhaps involves some major secret."


    Seeing that Xiaojiu was also unsure, Ye Chen could only store away the fiery red token, as well as the tens of thousands of drops of "dark origin water".


    No matter what the fiery red token represented, acquiring tens of thousands of drops of "dark origin water" had already delighted Ye Chen immensely, especially since he had completely given up on obtaining the "dark origin water" earlier.


    Getting tens of thousands of drops now, even though it was not enough to fully gather the amount of a hundred thousand drops needed to cultivate the eternal god body with the "water god pattern," having a portion was still a small achievement.


    Ye Chen then turned his gaze towards the other divine light clusters.


    A total of eighteen divine light clusters were divided, with one falling into Ye Chen''s hand. Ye Chen was also curious to see who would obtain the remaining seventeen.

 Chapter 974 - 924: Ye Chen

    However, what surprised Ye Chen was that it seemed as if the Divine Light Clusters had scanned all the other individuals and failed to find anyone satisfactory.


    In the end, the remaining seventeen Divine Light Clusters all flew directly toward Ye Chen, just like the one that had already chosen him.


    Ultimately, they all hovered around Ye Chen.


    Yet, these seventeen Divine Light Clusters did not, like the first one that acknowledged him, automatically prompt the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" to recognize him as its master.


    Ye Chen could not control the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" to actively acknowledge him, nor could he even break open the light clusters to see what was inside.


    "Could it be that among the eighteen Divine Light Clusters from the ''Fiery Red Cauldron,'' only one can recognize a master? And the others can no longer belong to me?"


    "Then why did they all fly to me?"


    Ye Chen pondered, unable to make sense of the situation.


    At this moment, more than two thousand recruited Martial Artists also gathered before Ye Chen.


    "Ye Chen, what''s going on?!"


    Seeing the seventeen Divine Light Clusters floating before Ye Chen, these Martial Artists couldn''t conceal their astonishment.


    When the eighteen Divine Light Clusters initially shot out, it had frightened them completely; they even felt the Clusters probing them.


    That kind of inescapable examination filled their hearts with extreme dread.


    These recruited Martial Artists hadn''t expected all eighteen Divine Light Clusters to eventually gather around Ye Chen, and one of them had even been broken open by Ye Chen to reveal what was inside.


    The recruited Martial Artists felt that these eighteen Divine Light Clusters undoubtedly hid a profound secret!


    Quite likely, they had already been eliminated from partaking in this grand secret.


    Only Ye Chen had the opportunity to uncover it!


    "Dark Origin Water! Earlier, when those Dark Ancient Demons merely touched the Dark Origin Water, they were instantly killed. Now, tens of thousands of drops have peacefully landed in Ye Chen''s hands."


    "And there''s also the ''Fire Red Token.'' What could it possibly signify?!"


    All the recruited Martial Artists stared at Ye Chen, recalling the two items he had collected, still in a state of shock.


    The crowd was frozen in astonishment.


    Ye Chen then turned his gaze toward Kuang Meng.


    "Kuang Meng, give it a try¡ªsee if you can take one of the Divine Light Clusters hovering here," Ye Chen said, pointing to the seventeen Divine Light Clusters floating beside him.


    Kuang Meng hadn''t expected Ye Chen to give him such an opportunity. He had watched as Ye Chen interacted with the Light Clusters earlier, clearly showing that they were not dangerous yet concealed some exceptional secret.


    For a chance to try, of course, Kuang Meng eagerly agreed!


    Though the Divine Light Clusters had not voluntarily flown toward him earlier, acquiring even one by other means would be a welcome surprise!


    "Alright, I''ll give it a shot!" Kuang Meng nodded, his expression filled with both anticipation and excitement as he looked at the Divine Light Clusters near Ye Chen.


    Then, he reached out to grab one of the Divine Light Clusters.


    As soon as he tried, the Cluster emitted an immense force of rejection that instantly sent Kuang Meng flying tens of thousands of meters away!


    Kuang Meng''s face changed, and he quickly flew back.


    Finding direct capture ineffective, he tried various methods to access the Clusters, including using Divine Sense and Divine Power to infiltrate them.


    But in the end, all attempts were in vain!


    Kuang Meng couldn''t make any impact on the seventeen remaining Divine Light Clusters.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen''s expression shifted slightly as he reached out to grab one of the Clusters himself.


    Almost effortlessly, Ye Chen grasped one of the Divine Light Clusters in his hand.


    Though he still couldn''t make the Cluster acknowledge him, what shocked everyone was that while Kuang Meng couldn''t touch the Clusters at all, Ye Chen could easily handle them.


    "Could it be that only I can control these Divine Light Clusters?"


    "Perhaps they really are connected to the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' within me."


    With this thought, Ye Chen invited one of the six Upper Immortal Divine Venerables to try.


    However, just like Kuang Meng, the Immortal Divine Venerable was unable to interact with the Clusters.


    Finally, every recruited Martial Artist stepped forward to give it a shot, but without exception, every single one failed.


    The recruited Martial Artists were filled with disappointment, yet their gaze toward Ye Chen became increasingly reverent.


    "Ye Chen truly is remarkable!"


    "None of us can obtain these Divine Light Clusters, yet he can alone¡ªand he even broke one open!"


    "Could he have achieved this simply because his strength is beyond compare?!"


    By now, the entire group admired Ye Chen wholeheartedly and completely abandoned any hope of acquiring the Divine Light Clusters.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen ceased experimenting.


    With a sweep of his sleeve, he collected all seventeen remaining Divine Light Clusters into his storage space.


    "It doesn''t matter whether these seventeen Divine Light Clusters can eventually recognize me as their master."


    "Storing them away first is never a bad idea."


    Above the Void Heaven, Ye Chen, now possessing one master-recognized Cluster and seventeen unclaimed Clusters, turned his attention again to the "Fiery Red Cauldron" below.


    The more Ye Chen thought about it, the more he felt the "Fiery Red Cauldron" was enigmatic and unfathomable.


    Even now, after the eighteen Clusters had emerged, the "Fiery Red Cauldron" remained beyond his ability to influence.


    "Let''s go."


    "We should continue heading south, toward the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' and its members."


    After this brief detour, Ye Chen said to the recruited Martial Artists.


    This time, as the group resumed their flight, the "Fiery Red Cauldron" remained motionless below, quietly hovering.


    Within moments, Ye Chen and two thousand others reached the Star Extreme Heaven.


    As they proceeded to fly toward the southern region of the stars, after about only half a tea time, they spotted a flying boat of Ultimate Heavenly Divine Artifact quality rapidly approaching their location.


    This Heavenly Flying Boat was none other than the one that had previously transported them to the "Dark Swamp Stars"¡ªthe Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''s Flying Boat!


    "The people from the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion are finally here?!"


    "Could their southern location have faced a similar unusual event, or did they sense changes from our side?!"


    Initially, Ye Chen and the recruited Martial Artists had arranged to reunite with the Medicine Pavilion group after seven days.


    Up until now, their tasks in the northern area¡ªincluding their attempt to harvest medicines and obtain items from the erupting Divine Light¡ªhad only taken just over five days.


    Encountering the Medicine Pavilion Flying Boat en route was definitely not without reason.


    The entire group halted their flight and stared at the approaching Flying Boat.


    The Flying Boat swiftly closed in, stopping before Ye Chen and the others.


    Surprisingly, none of the other members of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion were aboard¡ªonly a Seven-Star Sovereign and the little girl, Cai Xiao''er, emerged from the Flying Boat.


    At this moment, Cai Xiao''er''s face lit up with joy as her gaze landed on Ye Chen, seemingly sensing something.


    She called out to Ye Chen, her voice filled with excitement, "I guessed it right, Ye Chen! You''ve truly encountered the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation!''"


    "And Ye Chen, you''re indeed incredible¡ªyou not only escaped the dangers of the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation,'' but you even obtained the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order!''"

 Chapter 975 - 925: Ancient Forbidden Grounds and Ancient Temple Spirit Fire

    Cai Xiao''er was only eleven or twelve years old, still a little girl.


    She wore a purple dress. Although young, with her figure still showing hints of childishness, her fair skin, rosy lips, pearl-like teeth, and bright, spirited eyes already made her a budding beauty.


    Between her brows was the distinct crimson mark unique to the "Nine Flames Clan," one of the five supreme clans of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom." Her large eyes and long fluttering lashes gave her an especially lively charm whenever she blinked playfully at Ye Chen.


    At this moment, Ye Chen gazed at Cai Xiao''er, utterly shocked!


    Firstly, Ye Chen had been deeply impressed by this little girl the first time he met her.


    Back then, at the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion," none of the recruited martial artists¡ªwhether even the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables¡ªnoticed her presence, except Ye Chen.


    At that moment, Cai Xiao''er pointed out that Ye Chen possessed "Polar Sky Level" flames.


    It must be noted that no one else had discovered the flames he carried, yet Cai Xiao''er, merely a martial artist at the True God Realm, managed to identify them¡ªan observation which had astonished Ye Chen immensely.


    Ye Chen felt that this little girl was even more peculiar than her elder sister, Cai Meng''er.


    Since then, Ye Chen had kept an eye on this strange little girl.


    Cai Xiao''er told him back then that she would find him in a few days, only to never follow through, leading Ye Chen to assume she''d forgotten.


    Who would have thought she''d suddenly appear at this moment?


    Even more surprising were her words.


    "I guessed correctly, Ye Chen brother. You all indeed encountered the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation''!"


    "Moreover, Ye Chen brother, you''re truly impressive, to not only escape the crisis of the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation'' but also obtain the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order''!"


    The mention of the "Heavenly Cauldron Transformation" caused Ye Chen to immediately recall that "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    As for that "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order," it was most likely the "Fire Red Token" he obtained from the Divine Light Cluster!


    By this time, Ye Chen had already flown away from the northern region where the "Fiery Red Cauldron" resided, keeping the "Fire Red Token" inside his Ice Snow Jade Pendant. Yet now Cai Xiao''er referred to both objects, suggesting she knew the true secret of the "Fiery Red Cauldron" and had somehow identified the "Fire Red Token" hidden on him!


    This naturally filled Ye Chen with extreme astonishment.


    As Ye Chen was still processing his shock, Cai Xiao''er stepped out from the flying boat, giggling, and directly flew toward him.


    The little girl was just tall enough to reach Ye Chen''s chest.


    Seeing Ye Chen''s slightly surprised expression, she smiled and said, "Ye Chen brother must have many questions. Let me settle some things first, and then I''ll explain everything to you properly."


    After that, Cai Xiao''er turned her gaze toward the two thousand recruited martial artists gathered behind Ye Chen.


    "Something big has happened."


    "Our ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' plans to gather herbs across the eight regions have been canceled entirely. If anyone wishes to return to the Divine Kingdom''s capital, ''Haotian Divine City,'' Elder Yao will help escort you back."


    "If you want to act independently instead, you may do so now."


    As Cai Xiao''er spoke, the seven-star sovereign Elder Yao, who had arrived along with her on the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact flying boat, also spoke up, "Anyone returning to the capital, board the flying boat now."


    Boom!


    Both Cai Xiao''er''s and Elder Yao''s declarations sent waves of shock among the group of recruited martial artists.


    Something big had truly happened?


    The herb-gathering mission was abruptly canceled?!


    All of them had been prepared to follow the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" to the eight regions¡ªwhether to journey further or earn some rewards.


    Who would have thought the plan would terminate at the very first herb-gathering site?


    Many of the martial artists instinctively linked Cai Xiao''er''s words to the explosive emergence of Divine Light in the sky and the "Fiery Red Cauldron!"


    However, with a seven-star sovereign present, none dared to probe deeper.


    Those wishing to return to Haotian Divine City headed toward the flying boat, while others hesitated briefly before flying off alone.


    "Ye Chen companion, what plans do you have?" Kuang Meng asked after some deliberation, walking up to Ye Chen with a questioning look.


    Ye Chen glanced toward Cai Xiao''er and smiled. "Kuang Meng companion, this is where we part ways. I probably have other matters to attend to."


    Cai Xiao''er mentioned she would soon clarify all the details.


    No matter what this little girl intended to say, now that the herb-gathering plan was terminated, Ye Chen could no longer accompany the group to reach his desired "Nine Lotus Holy Mountain." Thus, he would have to find a way to travel solely toward the direction of the "Extreme Spirit Sea."


    Returning to the Divine Kingdom''s capital? Ye Chen dismissed the idea.


    He had to either act on his own or discover what Cai Xiao''er truly had in store.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s thoughts, Kuang Meng glanced at both Cai Xiao''er and the seven-star sovereign before stepping forward and saluting Ye Chen with a fist bow. He then returned to the flying boat.


    Kuang Meng recognized that this remarkable "Ye Chen companion" he''d encountered by chance would likely remain an elusive figure in the future.


    Not just Kuang Meng¡ªseveral other recruited martial artists also bid farewell to Ye Chen with respectful gestures before departing.


    Ye Chen had previously saved their lives, and now, at the moment of parting, they felt reluctance as well.


    The martial artists'' reverence for Ye Chen did not escape Cai Xiao''er''s notice. Her sparkling eyes shone a little brighter.


    Moments later, over two thousand martial artists either left independently or boarded the flying boat.


    Finally, the seven-star sovereign piloted the flying boat, heading directly back to Haotian Divine City.


    In the vast sky, only Ye Chen and Cai Xiao''er remained.


    "Little girl, can you now tell me what you know?"


    "Also, where are your elder sister Cai Meng''er and the other martial artists from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion?'' Why didn''t they return with you? Where are they now?"


    Ye Chen questioned the little girl standing before him.


    Cai Xiao''er stood on her tiptoes and looked up at Ye Chen, smiling gently. "Ye Chen brother, do you have seventeen Divine Light Clusters? Did you recognize one of them and reveal a ''Fire Red Token''?"


    Staring at the little girl''s eyes, Ye Chen nodded. "Little girl, it seems like you really know something about the Fiery Red Cauldron."


    "I''ve been wondering what the ''Fire Red Token'' represents and how to utilize the remaining seventeen Divine Light Clusters."


    Extending his palm, Ye Chen summoned forth the seventeen Divine Light Clusters he stored, which hovered before him. Even the "Fire Red Token" appeared amidst them.


    Ye Chen sensed an innate closeness from Cai Xiao''er¡ªthus chose not to hide anything from her regarding the Divine Light Clusters.


    As the seventeen Divine Light Clusters unfolded before Ye Chen, Cai Xiao''er''s radiant eyes exuded an even greater brilliance. "Amazing! I never expected this ''Dark Swamp Star'' to produce two ''Heaven Cauldrons!''"


    "Ye Chen brother, your seventeen Divine Light Clusters offer our ''Nine Flames Clan'' seventeen additional opportunities to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds!''"


    "Ancient Forbidden Grounds?!" Ye Chen exclaimed in shock.


    Ye Chen was no stranger to the term "Ancient Forbidden Grounds!"


    Back in the Lin Family, eight sovereigns had entrusted Ye Chen with a "True Spirit Atlas."


    The atlas¡ªcreated as those eight sovereigns traversed the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom"¡ªmapped its territories in detail.


    Ye Chen had reviewed it previously. On the route from the Divine Kingdom''s capital to his destination¡ªthe "Extreme Spirit Sea"¡ªthree of the eight deadly forbidden zones and two of the nine holy mountains stood marked.


    The "Nine Lotus Holy Mountain," where "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" originally planned their herb gathering mission, was among the two holy mountains along the way.


    The "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" referenced by Cai Xiao''er was one of the three deadly forbidden zones along the route toward his destination!


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected the abrupt cancellation of their herb-gathering plan would steer the conversation toward the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds!"


    "Doesn''t this ''Fire Red Token'' grant entry into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''?"


    "And yet, the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' is widely recognized as one of the eight deadly forbidden zones in the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom.'' In the ''True Spirit Atlas,'' the eight sovereigns clearly advised never to attempt entry. They warned even nine-star sovereigns risk falling there¡ªa reputation that earned the zone its label as a deadly forbidden land! Could it be that the ''Nine Flames Clan'' possesses methods for entering this land safely?"


    "Is this somehow tied to the ''Fire Red Token'' I obtained?"


    Ye Chen deliberated inwardly.


    As Ye Chen speculated, Cai Xiao''er finally began explaining everything in detail to him.


    "Ye Chen brother, our ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' consists of five advanced life clans: ''Blood Wing Clan,'' ''Nine Flames Clan,'' ''Wind God Clan,'' ''Extreme Spirit Clan,'' and ''Ten Thousand Blades Clan.'' Surely Ye Chen brother knows this, right?"


    Ye Chen nodded.


    He had already learned about the Divine Kingdom''s five advanced clans from the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings" and knew the "General Yinsha" he sought belonged to the "Extreme Spirit Clan."


    Cai Xiao''er carried on, "These five clans form the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s'' five supreme clans, controlling countless resources throughout the realm."


    "My sister and I belong to the ''Nine Flames Clan,'' ranked second among the five supreme clans."


    "Although my family is merely a branch of the ''Nine Flames Clan,'' my father, a nine-star sovereign, holds considerable influence in the clan, granting us significant resources."


    "For instance, the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' and our herb-gathering mission cover eight exclusive regions. Aside from the ''Nine Lotus Holy Mountain,'' seven regions are solely controlled by our clan¡ªallowing us unparalleled access to places like the ''Dark Swamp Star'' for harvesting spiritual medicines."


    "Of course, our clan''s resources extend far beyond these seven herb-gathering zones to many other planetary domains."


    "However, the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' I mentioned is a unique territory¡ªit belongs to no clan or faction!"


    "To the masses of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' it is a deadly forbidden land. Even seven-star or nine-star sovereigns risk perishing in its depths."


    "Yet what remains unknown to many is the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' conceal a tremendous secret. Our ''Nine Flames Clan'' and the top-ranked ''Blood Wing Clan'' alone hold the methods enabling safe access!"


    "Both the ''Nine Flames Clan'' and ''Blood Wing Clan'' share natural ties to ''Divine Fire.''"


    "Within the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' Divine Fires are abundant¡ªeven at the Mystic Heavenly Level, and there''s an impressive collection of Polar Sky Level fires too."


    "Most famed among them is the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire.'' Since its emergence, it has ranked third on the universe''s ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,'' and yet nobody has claimed it!"

 Chapter 976 - 926: Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List

    Cai Xiao''er''s words sent a tremor through Ye Chen''s mind and spirit.


    "The Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List?"


    "What kind of ranking is that?!"


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but ask aloud.


    Cai Xiao''er''s eyes sparkled with brilliance, "Ye Chen Gege, this ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List'' represents the ultimate rankings of the strongest divine flames of the Polar Sky level throughout this entire universe!"


    "Every divine flame born from heaven and earth possesses varying levels of strength. Even among Polar Sky-level divine fires, there are differences in power."


    "The vast majority of Polar Sky-level divine fires can''t even make it onto the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List.'' Only the top one hundred most powerful Polar Sky-level divine fires can be ranked on it! Furthermore, whenever a stronger divine fire emerges and enters the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,'' the entire ranking will shift accordingly."


    Boom!


    As she spoke, Cai Xiao''er waved her hand.


    A cluster of flames suddenly flew from Cai Xiao''er''s body, surging into the Void Heaven above, and eventually formed a massive ranking board.


    Ye Chen noticed that the top of the ranking board displayed the five large characters: "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List."


    Ye Chen''s attention was quickly drawn to the names of the top one hundred divine fires on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List."


    "First on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List: Ice Extinction Flame! Already owned, owner information unknown!"


    "Second on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List: Supreme Dark True Fire! Already owned, owned by the ''Moke Ancient Clan''!"


    Ye Chen observed that the names of the divine fires already claimed had turned red on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List," while those that had no owners remained in white text.


    The Moke Ancient Clan, which had obtained the second-ranked Supreme Dark True Fire, left a strong impression on Ye Chen.


    This was a clan Ye Chen had long heard of on the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings." According to rumors, they were the foremost non-human advanced clan in the universe. Upon reaching adulthood, they already possessed combat power at the True God level, and they had birthed more Sovereign-level beings than any other race in this cosmos!


    To think that the second-ranked divine fire ended up in the hands of such a clan.


    What shocked Ye Chen even more was that if the Moke Ancient Clan only managed to obtain the second-ranked divine fire, then who could have possibly claimed the number one-ranked Ice Extinction Flame?


    The "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" stated that the owner of the Ice Extinction Flame was unknown. Without a doubt, whoever possessed such a flame would surely be an extraordinary being of unparalleled might!


    At the third rank on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List," Ye Chen saw the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," which Cai Xiao''er had mentioned earlier.


    The board read: "Third on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List: Ancient Temple Spirit Fire! Recently emerged and currently unclaimed, still in an unowned state!"


    The list did not mention that the Ancient Temple Spirit Fire resided in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Evidently, this information was known only to the "Nine Flames Clan," to which Cai Xiao''er belonged, and the top clan of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, the "Blood Wing Clan."


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that Cai Xiao''er would directly reveal this secret to him.


    Ye Chen glanced further down the list.


    Bone Spirit Ghost Fire, Extreme Evil True Flame, Great Pavara Divine Flame...


    The names of the flames further down the list also broadened Ye Chen''s horizons.


    After reading through the names of all one hundred divine fires on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List," Ye Chen''s mind reeled.


    Surprisingly, he did not find the name of his own "Blue Extreme Iceflame" on the list!


    Ye Chen had long been aware of the immense power of the Blue Extreme Iceflame in his possession.


    Even though he hadn''t fully mastered it, with this divine fire alone, he was already capable of sweeping through numerous Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Ye Chen had a hunch that if he ever completely mastered the Blue Extreme Iceflame, it might be enough to contend against many Sovereigns!


    Yet, even so, the Blue Extreme Iceflame did not make it onto the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List," which spoke volumes about the power of those top one hundred divine fires.


    It seemed that every divine fire ranked on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" was an entity of transcendent existence.


    They were either owned by powerful Nine-Star Sovereigns or monopolized by major clans!


    As Ye Chen pondered, Cai Xiao''er''s wide eyes turned to him.


    The little girl said, "Ye Chen Gege, you''re probably wondering why your Polar Sky-level flame isn''t on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,'' right?"


    "Of the one hundred divine fires listed, sixty-nine have already been claimed. Even our ''Nine Flames Clan,'' which has deep ties to divine flames, has only obtained two listed flames: the thirteenth-ranked ''Heavenly Ghostly Fire'' and the forty-seventh-ranked ''Nine Mysterious Cold Fire.''"


    "Both of these divine fires are under the control of powerful figures in our clan. Even though my father is a Nine-Star Sovereign, he doesn''t possess a divine fire from the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List''¡ªhe only wields some ordinary Polar Sky-level flames."


    "Ye Chen Gege, for you, as a human, to command a Polar Sky-level flame in the God King Realm¡ªeven if it''s an unranked divine flame¡ªit''s already astounding enough!"


    "And I can sense that your abilities aren''t limited to just Polar Sky-level flames; you have something even more impressive!"


    Cai Xiao''er looked at Ye Chen with clear admiration.


    The little girl''s words made Ye Chen think of something.


    He couldn''t help but ask aloud, "Little girl, how did you know I possess a Polar Sky-level flame?"


    "Logically, extreme heavenly objects shouldn''t be detectable unless their owners reveal them, especially since you''re only in the True God Realm."


    "Ye Chen Gege, I can sense the Polar Sky-level flame within you because I have an extremely rare Divine Body from our ''Nine Flames Clan''¡ªthe ''Nine Spirits Divine Body''! With the innate divine ability of my Divine Body, even Sovereign-level figures can''t hide their divine flames from my eyes."


    "In fact, because of my ''Nine Spirits Divine Body,'' I''ve been able to refine Polar Sky-level divine flames even in the True God Realm!"


    Cai Xiao''er blinked her big eyes proudly at Ye Chen. "Ye Chen Gege, aren''t I amazing?"


    Seeing the little girl''s prideful demeanor, Ye Chen chuckled, "Indeed, you are incredible."


    Ye Chen finally understood why Cai Xiao''er was able to detect his "Blue Extreme Iceflame"¡ªit was due to her unique Divine Body.


    Glancing at the "Fire Red Token" in his hand, Ye Chen asked, "By the way, little girl, what exactly is this ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation'' and ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' you mentioned earlier? Is this ''Fire Red Token'' really an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order''? And are they truly connected to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''?"


    "Also, why was I the only one to obtain this token? None of the other recruited martial artists received one. Could it be because I possess a Polar Sky-level divine flame?"


    Cai Xiao''er nodded, "Ye Chen Gege, you''re absolutely right! The token you obtained from the Divine Light Cluster is indeed an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order''! Only individuals with Polar Sky-level divine flames are qualified to receive an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' and gain entry into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' to collect other divine flames within!"


    "As for the other recruited martial artists, since they don''t possess Polar Sky-level divine flames, they naturally lack the qualifications to obtain an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.''"


    As she said this, Cai Xiao''er''s gaze turned towards the distant horizon. The little girl seemed to be lost in memories. "My father once told me that whenever an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' appears, the opportunity to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' officially begins."


    "Each time an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' manifests, it will descend upon any nine designated territories among countless marked zones. After our ''Nine Flames Clan'' and the ''Blood Wing Clan'' learned of the existence of the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order,'' we collectively seized control over all the marked zones and divided them between ourselves."


    "But who could have imagined that this time, an ordinary star like the ''Dark Swamp Star'' managed by our clan would be one of the nine designated locations where an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' materialized!"


    "Not only that, but this time, we discovered one ''Heavenly Cauldron'' at the southern end of the ''Dark Swamp Star'' and acquired eighteen ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders.'' Meanwhile, you also encountered another ''Heavenly Cauldron'' at the northern end and obtained eighteen ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders,'' making it a total of thirty-six tokens between us!"


    "Ye Chen Gege, each person can only bind one ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.'' You have seventeen unbound Divine Light Clusters left. Would you consider selling them to our clan?"


    "If you do, it would be a tremendous favor to our clan. And if you''d like to join us in entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' our ''Nine Flames Clan'' will certainly ensure your safety!"


    By the end of her speech, the little girl stared longingly at the seventeen unbound Divine Light Clusters in Ye Chen''s hand.


    Seeing Cai Xiao''er''s expectant gaze, Ye Chen smiled and, with a slight move of his fingers, "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," sent the seventeen Divine Light Clusters flying directly toward her.


    "Little girl, no need to talk about selling. These seventeen Divine Light Clusters are a gift to you."


    "However, I hope your clan can agree to two conditions for me."


    The Divine Light Clusters, containing the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders,'' were no doubt highly valuable. From Cai Xiao''er''s words, Ye Chen could tell how precious the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' were.


    Yet Ye Chen didn''t place much value on them.


    On the one hand, he had an abundance of Purple Silver Pearls and cared little for wealth.


    On the other hand, Cai Xiao''er''s ''Nine Flames Clan'' was one of the five supreme clans of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom. The fact that Cai Xiao''er hadn''t sought help from powerful figures in her clan to forcibly seize the Divine Light Clusters from him but instead requested to buy them earned his appreciation for both Cai Xiao''er and her clan.


    If the ''Nine Flames Clan'' had wanted to take the Divine Light Clusters by force, Ye Chen''s incredible abilities would still be no match for the countless Sovereigns from a mighty clan.


    Since Cai Xiao''er treated him with respect, he didn''t mind giving away the seventeen Divine Light Clusters.


    After all, he already owned one ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.'' The rest were redundant to him; rather than keeping them as useless items, it was better to use this opportunity to secure two things he wished for.


    When the seventeen Divine Light Clusters flew toward her, Cai Xiao''er''s eyes widened in astonishment. "Ye Chen Gege... You, you''re just giving them to me like that?"


    "These Divine Light Clusters are the essential tools for entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' and their value rivals even extreme heavenly objects! If I inform my father, he''ll definitely offer you a price that will satisfy you!"


    Ye Chen waved his hand dismissively and smiled, "No need for any price. Little girl, as I said earlier, as long as your clan can promise me two things, that will suffice."


    "What two things?" Cai Xiao''er asked eagerly, "If it''s within our ability, our ''Nine Flames Clan'' will surely agree."

 Chapter 977 - 927: The Decision

    Ye Chen''s eyes gazed toward the boundless firmament.


    "The first matter is this: the Divine Light Cluster is formed by the ''Dark Origin Water'' encasing the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.'' If you retrieve the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order,'' could you give me the ''Dark Origin Water''? I need one hundred thousand drops of ''Dark Origin Water'' for cultivation."


    Ye Chen was cultivating the Eternal God Body''s ''Water God Pattern,'' which required one hundred thousand drops of ''Dark Origin Water.'' Previously, he had already obtained over twenty thousand drops of ''Dark Origin Water'' from the Divine Light Cluster he had bonded with, but it still wasn''t enough.


    If the clansmen of the Nine Flames Clan could bond with the remaining Divine Light Clusters, they could obtain additional ''Dark Origin Water.'' Thus, Ye Chen proposed this request.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, the little girl nodded without hesitation and said, "Ye Chen, brother, this request is too easy! If you want ''Dark Origin Water,'' our Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion has plenty. Even if you want a million drops of ''Dark Origin Water,'' that wouldn''t be a problem!"


    "No need for a million; one hundred thousand will suffice," Ye Chen said with a smile.


    However, Cai Xiao''er''s words reminded Ye Chen of something he had planned for some time.


    "Moreover, little girl, I have another deal to propose¡ªlet''s see if your Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion would be interested."


    "Of course, even if you''re not, it won''t affect the two matters I just mentioned."


    "What deal?" Cai Xiao''er asked curiously.


    Ye Chen replied, "I''m cultivating a type of Divine Body, but some materials are still missing. I wonder if your Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion has them. If you do, I''d be willing to purchase them."


    As he spoke, Ye Chen focused his mind and spirit, engraving the list of materials required for the remaining three Divine Patterns into a jade plaque, which he handed to Cai Xiao''er.


    The Eternal God Body currently had its ''Earth Divine Pattern'' and ''Wind Divine Pattern'' fully cultivated, but the materials for ''Fire God Pattern,'' ''Water God Pattern,'' and ''Chaos Divine Pattern'' were still incomplete.


    If Ye Chen could acquire some materials from the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion, it would make this trip to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom all the more rewarding.


    Although Cai Xiao''er was still only an eleven- or twelve-year-old girl, as a member of the Nine Flames Clan, one of the Five Supreme Clans in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, her insight was exceptionally sharp.


    Upon seeing the materials Ye Chen provided, Cai Xiao''er immediately recognized them: "Ye Chen, brother, aren''t these materials required for cultivating the Eternal God Body?"


    "Could it be, Ye Chen, brother, that you also cultivate the Eternal God Body?!"


    Cai Xiao''er''s gaze toward Ye Chen was now filled with astonishment.


    The little girl knew very well what kind of difficulty the Eternal God Body entailed. It wasn''t just that the cultivation process for the Eternal God Body was extraordinarily challenging; even gathering materials for the five Divine Patterns was known to be incredibly arduous.


    Even her Nine Flames Clan didn''t dare claim to have someone who could assemble all the materials needed for the Eternal God Body in one go!


    The girl also noticed that Ye Chen''s list of materials didn''t include anything for the Earth Divine Pattern or Wind Divine Pattern.


    This made the little girl think of an extraordinary possibility.


    Could it be that Ye Chen, brother, before her had already completed cultivation of these two Divine Patterns, and therefore no longer needed materials for them?


    "Ye Chen, brother, to what extent have you cultivated the Eternal God Body?"


    "Furthermore, although you listed many missing materials, there are still plenty of other materials you didn''t mention. Could it be that you''ve already gathered those?"


    Cai Xiao''er posed several questions in quick succession.


    Seeing the disbelief sparkling in the little girl''s wide eyes, Ye Chen chuckled, "Indeed, I have been cultivating the Eternal God Body, and with the help of some predecessors, I''ve managed to collect the materials for the Earth Divine Pattern and Wind Divine Pattern. I''ve successfully completed the cultivation of these two Divine Patterns. As for the materials for the remaining three Divine Patterns, I''ve managed to gather part of what''s required."


    The materials for the Eternal God Body were indeed incredibly difficult to acquire.


    Ye Chen had managed to gather some thanks to Mrs. He, a Nine-Star Sovereign, as well as materials he collected from Heavenly God Mountain during his earlier explorations.


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s words were calm, but they resonated within Cai Xiao''er''s mind like thunderclaps, leaving her little head spinning with dizziness.


    Looking at Ye Chen, her eyes were glowing brighter than ever: "Ye Chen, brother, you''re amazing! Your cultivation of the Eternal God Body puts you among the top-tier Sovereigns, and you''ve already completed two Divine Patterns!"


    Thinking about the materials Ye Chen mentioned needing, Cai Xiao''er chimed in, "Since Ye Chen, brother, needs cultivation materials, our Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion will certainly assist wherever possible."


    "Ye Chen, brother, you gifted me seventeen Divine Light Clusters, so I can directly agree on my father''s behalf: any materials our Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion has can certainly be given to you. There''s no need for a trade¡ªthe value of the Divine Light Clusters you gave me already outweighs the material costs. Even if the cost isn''t fully offset, my father would still willingly provide the materials. He enjoys befriending young geniuses, especially ones as exceptional as Ye Chen, brother!"


    "Rest assured, while we may not be able to gather all your missing materials, we can certainly collect a portion of them!"


    Cai Xiao''er made her promise to Ye Chen straightforwardly.


    Watching the little girl''s confident expression, Ye Chen nodded in acknowledgment, choosing not to push the matter of a trade further.


    He could sense Cai Xiao''er''s genuine fondness for him and could discern her father''s personality¡ªthe figurehead of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion¡ªfrom her words.


    Forging a connection with such a Nine-Star Sovereign could prove more significant than merely acquiring materials.


    While Ye Chen was considering this, Cai Xiao''er spoke up again, "Ye Chen, brother, we''ve already agreed to the first matter you brought up regarding cultivation materials."


    "Earlier, you mentioned hoping we could agree to two matters. What''s the second one?"


    Seeing Cai Xiao''er''s eager expression as she awaited his answer, Ye Chen smiled: "The second matter isn''t something urgent."


    "Before mentioning it, I want to ask¡ªas for the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order,'' how long will it take for all of them to fully emerge? Once they emerge, how soon will you go to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''? And how long will you stay there? What can one find inside?"


    Cai Xiao''er responded, "Ye Chen, brother, every time the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' appears, it will emerge in nine regions overseen by our Nine Flames Clan and the First Supreme Clan, the Blood Wing Clan."


    "This time, the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' has appeared in our Dark Swamp Stars. Following the pattern, it''s certain that it has also appeared in the other eight regions!"


    "At this point, I imagine all the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' have already emerged, and might soon be in someone''s possession!"


    "Earlier, we obtained eighteen tokens at the southern edge of the stars. My sister has already sent word to the clan, and she and others are guarding the area, monitoring for further developments and waiting for the arrival of clan experts."


    "I only came to the northern edge on a whim, thinking Ye Chen, brother, might be nearby. Unexpectedly, I bumped into you retrieving the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.''"


    "Regarding your question, Ye Chen, brother, once the clan experts arrive, it won''t take long before we head to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    "Although the journey to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' is far, with Nine-Star Sovereigns like my father leading the way, it will only take a day to arrive!"


    "In the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' we can stay for a month by relying on the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.'' After a month, we''ll be ejected by the Order."


    "However, obtaining treasures depends on luck¡ªthose fortunate may find priceless Polar Sky Level Divine Fires or rare Divine Objects; those less fortunate might even face death within the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''"


    "While the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' allows safe entry into the grounds without danger during the initial phase, the treasure-seeking phase will still be fraught with peril."


    Cai Xiao''er looked to Ye Chen again and added, "Of course, Ye Chen, brother, if you choose to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' my father would undoubtedly protect you. As long as you avoid certain extremely dangerous areas, you''d remain fairly safe!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes glinted at her words: "Little girl, are you saying your father will also go to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''?!"


    With Nine-Star Sovereigns leading the way, combined with the Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order granting entry, the safety factor would indeed increase significantly.


    Cai Xiao''er explained, "Ye Chen, brother, not only will my father go, but many Nine-Star Sovereigns from the clan may enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' this time!"


    "Of course, the final arrangement will depend on the clan''s decisions."


    "What''s certain, however, is that a significant number of Nine-Star Sovereigns will enter¡ªand so will many from the Blood Wing Clan."


    "After all, the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' contain the third-ranked Divine Fire on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List¡ª''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire.'' Neither our Nine Flames Clan nor the Blood Wing Clan possess Divine Fires of this caliber, so both clans will undoubtedly attempt to seize this fire once more."


    "Even though our two clans have entered the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' multiple times and failed to obtain the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' this time, no one will pass up the opportunity to try again!"


    Cai Xiao''er''s words prompted Ye Chen to nod slightly.


    He then spoke: "Little girl, my questions have been answered. My second matter is that I hope to join you and the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion in heading to the Ancient Forbidden Grounds to explore it myself."


    Initially, Ye Chen hadn''t planned to enter the Ancient Forbidden Grounds.


    But now that he had learned about it, and considering it lay along his route to the Extreme Spirit Sea, he was willing to join the expedition.


    With Nine-Star Sovereigns capable of leading the party to the Ancient Forbidden Grounds within a single day, they would save Ye Chen a significant amount of travel time. Spending a month exploring the grounds seemed worthwhile.


    Though Ye Chen knew the third-ranked Divine Fire on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List, the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' was almost certainly beyond his reach¡ªthe combined efforts of countless Nine-Star Sovereigns from two Supreme Clans had already failed to claim it¡ªit didn''t diminish his desire to see what the Ancient Forbidden Grounds held.


    Even if obtaining the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' was out of the question, there was a chance he could acquire other Polar Sky Level Divine Fires or rare Divine Objects, which would make his possession of the Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order all the more rewarding.

 Chapter 978 - 928 Meteor! Meteor!

    When Ye Chen mentioned that the second matter was to go to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" together with the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion," Cai Xiao''er jumped up with excitement.


    "Ye Chen, that''s great! I''ve been wanting to go to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' with you. As for this matter, our ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' has no objection!" Cai Xiao''er exclaimed directly.


    Ye Chen smiled and nodded: "So, little girl, it seems you''ve also obtained the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' (Ancient Ding Token)."


    Earlier, Cai Xiao''er had mentioned that she possesses a special "Nine Spirits Divine Body" from the "Nine Flames Clan," allowing her to sense the presence of Divine Fire and directly cultivate Heaven Grade Divine Fire.


    Additionally, she had previously mentioned that eighteen "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders" were discovered in the southern region of the "Dark Swamp Stars."


    At that time, Ye Chen already surmised that the little girl in front of him must have obtained one of them.


    Now, hearing her say that she wants to accompany him to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," it was evident that she indeed possessed one of the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders."


    "Hehe, Ye Chen, look at my ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.''" Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Cai Xiao''er smiled brightly, her big eyes curving into crescents. She extended her small palm, revealing an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' identical to the one Ye Chen had previously bound to.


    At the same time, more than twenty thousand drops of "Dark Origin Water" appeared in mid-air.


    "Ye Chen, let me give my ''Dark Origin Water'' to you first."


    "As for the remaining ''Dark Origin Water,'' and the Eternal God Body cultivation materials you need, I''ll send a message to my father. When he comes here, he will bring them along."


    Shu!


    With a light tap of her fingertip, the more than twenty thousand drops of "Dark Origin Water" she had acquired flew straight toward Ye Chen.


    Moreover, the little girl took out a messaging Divine Order, pressed it to her forehead, and after a few breaths, the Divine Order emitted a brilliant Divine Light, shooting straight into the endless starry skies.


    While Cai Xiao''er sent her message to the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion," Ye Chen carefully stored the twenty thousand plus drops of "Dark Origin Water" she had given him.


    With the addition of Cai Xiao''er''s "Dark Origin Water," the total quantity Ye Chen now possessed had reached roughly fifty thousand drops.


    To cultivate the Eternal God Body''s "Water God Pattern," which required a total of one hundred thousand drops of "Dark Origin Water," half had already been acquired!


    "Little girl, shall we wait here for the arrival of the strongest members of the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion''?"


    The starry skies were silent.


    At this moment, in the supreme heavens of the "Dark Swamp Stars," only Ye Chen and Cai Xiao''er occupied this region.


    With everything clarified, Ye Chen began to ponder their next steps.


    Upon hearing his inquiry, Cai Xiao''er turned her gaze toward the northern region of the "Dark Swamp Stars," where recruited martial artists had previously been.


    "Ye Chen, my sister is guarding that ''Heaven Cauldron'' in the south."


    "Should we also head north to check out the ''Heaven Cauldron'' you encountered earlier?"


    "I suspect that before my father arrives, that ''Heaven Cauldron'' will trigger a transformation in the entire ''Dark Swamp Stars!''"


    "The Heaven Cauldron triggering transformations in the Dark Swamp Stars? What kind of transformation?"


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit stirred as he asked Cai Xiao''er.


    But this time, Cai Xiao''er kept him guessing: "Ye Chen, I won''t tell you now. You''ll find out soon enough. That transformation is quite extraordinary!"


    Shu! Shu!


    After their conversation, Ye Chen and Cai Xiao''er turned into beams of Divine Light, flying back toward the northern region of the "Dark Swamp Stars."


    During their flight, Ye Chen sighed deeply.


    Originally, he had abandoned the idea of unraveling the secrets behind the "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    Yet, to his surprise, not only had he uncovered its mysteries, but he was also headed to its source¡ªthe "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Ye Chen and Cai Xiao''er flew at an incredible speed.


    Previously, when Ye Chen led recruited martial artists southward, the journey took about the time needed to steep a cup of tea.


    Now, as Ye Chen and Cai Xiao''er returned northward, it took only half that time to reach the northern region of the "Dark Swamp Stars."


    This made Ye Chen gain further insight into Cai Xiao''er''s "Nine Spirits Divine Body."


    No wonder this little girl, who was only in the Nine Tribulations True God Realm, could cultivate Heaven Grade Divine Fire. No wonder she exuded a more extraordinary aura than her older sister, Cai Meng''er.


    A truly rare possession even among high-tier Spirit Clans like the "Nine Flames Clan"¡ªher "Nine Spirits Divine Body" was extraordinary!


    "Little girl, what level of combat power can your ''Nine Spirits Divine Body'' achieve?"


    "And about your sister¡ªwhat kind of Divine Body does she have? Why doesn''t she feel quite as special as you?"


    Ye Chen inquired.


    Cai Xiao''er giggled: "Ye Chen, my original combat power can barely rival a Divine King, but by using my ''Nine Spirits Divine Body'' to wield several Heaven Grade Divine Fires, I can even kill many Immortal Divine Sovereigns."


    "As for my sister, she''s not a ''Nine Spirits Divine Body'' but a ''Seven Spirits Divine Body.'' In the ''Nine Flames Clan,'' the rarer the spirits-grade Divine Body, the fewer the individuals who possess it. I''ve heard that, including me, there are fewer than ten young people with the ''Nine Spirits Divine Body.''


    "Although my sister''s ''Seven Spirits Divine Body'' is also powerful, it only allows her to cultivate one exclusive Heaven Grade Divine Fire, unlike me¡ªI can cultivate multiple types, and I can sense the presence of Divine Fires."


    Moved by Cai Xiao''er''s explanation, Ye Chen nodded.


    While they conversed, they flew toward the northern terrain.


    As before during the herb-gathering, the closer they got, the greater the oppressive force exerted by the "Dark Swamp Stars."


    However, with Ye Chen''s unparalleled combat power and Cai Xiao''er enveloped in an ethereal blue flame, they encountered no major obstacles and smoothly descended onto the northern terrain of the "Dark Swamp Stars," reaching the location where the dazzling Divine Light had soared earlier.


    By now, the Divine Light that had once soared skyward had vanished, leaving the "Fiery Red Cauldron" and "Dark Origin Water," two Divine Objects, suspended in the void.


    "Heaven Cauldron!"


    "It truly is the Heaven Cauldron!"


    Upon seeing the "Fiery Red Cauldron," Cai Xiao''er''s eyes gleamed with Divine Light.


    She turned to Ye Chen and exclaimed, "Ye Chen, it''s said that the regions where the nine ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' appear typically contain only one Heaven Cauldron. The odds of finding two Heaven Cauldrons are vanishingly small, yet here in the ''Dark Swamp Stars,'' we''ve discovered two!"


    "Two Heaven Cauldrons! I suspect the transformations they bring to the ''Dark Swamp Stars'' will create the most intense upheaval amongst these nine regions!"


    Intrigued once again by the mention of Heaven Cauldrons triggering transformations across the "Dark Swamp Stars," Ye Chen turned his curious gaze toward the Fiery Red Cauldron.


    "What transformation will this Fire Cauldron cause?"


    "Little girl keeps teasing me with mysteries, but I''ll have to wait and see for myself!"


    Ye Chen''s wait wasn''t long.


    Approximately an hour later, the "Fiery Red Cauldron" floating above the "Dark Origin Water" finally began to exhibit signs of transformation.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    The "Fiery Red Cauldron"¡ªreferred to by Cai Xiao''er as the "Heaven Cauldron"¡ªbegan to tremble violently.


    During its tremors, not only did the "Dark Origin Water" beneath it begin roiling like boiling waves, but the entire terrain of the "Dark Swamp Stars" shook uncontrollably.


    It seemed as though the entire landmass of the star would soon erupt and overturn!


    Witnessing this phenomenon, Cai Xiao''er grew even more excited. She turned to Ye Chen and shouted, "Ye Chen, it''s starting¡ªthe transformations caused by the ''Heaven Cauldron'' across the ''Dark Swamp Stars'' have begun!"


    "Come on, let''s ascend a bit higher to get a clearer view."


    "Things are about to get spectacular!"


    Moved by her words, Ye Chen nodded and ascended slightly with Cai Xiao''er.


    As they rose, the quaking below intensified until, at last, Ye Chen saw a deafening explosion unfold.


    With a resounding "boom," the land surrounding the "Fiery Red Cauldron" was blown apart, radiating torrents of black light that surged madly toward the "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    What an astonishing scene!


    Wherever Ye Chen''s gaze fell, the entire terrain of the "Dark Swamp Stars" shattered and black light surged.


    The fragmented land masses transformed into raging black streams that resembled colossal black dragons, pouring frenziedly into the "Fiery Red Cauldron."


    In this surge, the ground thinned while the "Fiery Red Cauldron" grew larger!


    Initially the size of half a person, the "Fiery Red Cauldron" gradually expanded amid the explosions and surging black light, growing as large as a house, then a mountain.


    By the end, the northern terrain of the "Dark Swamp Stars" had been entirely consumed by the raging black light, leaving the "Fiery Red Cauldron" to swell to a staggering size of tens of thousands of meters, hovering mid-air and blazing with crimson flames like a fierce sun!

 Chapter 979 - 929: Storm Brewing

    Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel a surge of astonishment.


    Two "Heavenly Cauldrons," each standing as tall as half a man, could actually devour an entire "Dark Swamp Star," transforming it into meteor streaks that shot across the skies!


    The scene was truly awe-inspiring.


    One must understand, with Ye Chen''s combat power, destroying an ordinary star wasn''t too difficult.


    But to dismantle a colossal star like the "Dark Swamp Star" was entirely impossible, let alone to consume it whole.


    The fact that the "Heavenly Cauldrons" could achieve this feat clearly meant they concealed unbelievable power within!


    This further amplified Ye Chen''s anticipation for his journey to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Just the "Heavenly Cauldron" associated with the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order" was already so extraordinary¡ªimagine what wonders might lie within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    As Ye Chen stood there, filled with shock and awe, the young girl Cai Xiao''er also had her sparkling eyes fixed brightly on the meteor streaks formed by the departing Heavenly Cauldrons.


    "Ye Chen," she said, "they really are heading toward the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''"


    "Not only the meteors formed in our domain will travel to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''; the other eight regions where ''Heavenly Cauldrons'' have appeared will also have their domains devoured by the cauldrons, forming meteors that will fly toward the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''"


    "Eventually, these meteors will land inside the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' triggering its unique changes. At that time, armed with the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order,'' we''ll be able to enter the corresponding region within the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds!''"


    As Ye Chen and Cai Xiao''er observed the two departing meteors, elsewhere in the starry skies, Cai Meng''er and a group from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" also witnessed the meteors streaking past Ye Chen''s location.


    When the "Dark Swamp Star" disappeared and two meteors emerged, Cai Meng''er was utterly shocked.


    "Two meteors?! Could it mean that two ''Heavenly Cauldrons'' appeared within the ''Dark Swamp Star''?!"


    "From the northern region¡ªthe meteors are coming from the northern region."


    "My sister and Elder Yao had previously gone to the northern region to escort the recruited martial artists. Could it be that ''Heavenly Cauldrons'' transformations have occurred in the north?!"


    Stunned, Cai Meng''er and the group from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" immediately activated their flying boats and sped toward the northern region.


    Finally, as they reached the region where the "Dark Swamp Star" had been devoured, Cai Meng''er and the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion group caught sight of Ye Chen and Cai Xiao''er standing amidst the starry skies.


    "Xiao''er!"


    "Ye Chen?!"


    Upon noticing the seventeen unclaimed Divine Light Clusters by Cai Xiao''er''s side, Cai Meng''er exclaimed with excitement, "Divine Light Clusters?!"


    "So the northern region really did experience the transformation of the Heavenly Cauldrons!"


    ...


    As Cai Meng''er''s group and Ye Chen converged, and as the two Heavenly Cauldrons of the "Dark Swamp Star" devoured the star and transformed into meteors heading to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds,"


    just as Cai Xiao''er had mentioned,


    within the entire Star Domain of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," there were eight other regions where eight more Heavenly Cauldrons had similarly appeared.


    These Heavenly Cauldrons devoured their respective domains and turned into eight meteors, all heading toward the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Add to them the two meteors from Ye Chen''s domain, and there were a total of ten meteors speeding toward the southern reaches of the Star Domain.


    Ten meteors streaked across the various regions of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" Star Domain, all directed to the same destination.


    "Meteors."


    "Meteors are streaking across the heavens."


    Countless martial artists across various planets noticed the passing meteors.


    Most martial artists assumed they were ordinary meteors, unaware of their deeper significance.


    Only a select few prominent figures who encountered the meteors along the way understood their true meaning.


    Beneath the boundless starry skies, on a desolate Dead Star devoid of any signs of life, lay a colossal skeletal frame of a dragon spanning ten thousand meters, crouched within a solitary region of the star.


    This enormous skeletal dragon showed no signs of vitality, appearing completely lifeless as though its physical body had long decayed and vanished.


    Yet, as a meteor formed from a "Fiery Red Cauldron" streaked across the star''s skies, the skeletal dragon''s vacant eye sockets suddenly glowed with an eerie Divine Light.


    In an instant, fierce gusts of wind erupted across the entirety of the Dead Star.


    Amid the swirling winds, flesh reappeared on the skeletal dragon, pulsating with life. The once lifeless dragon skeleton transformed into a towering True Dragon spanning ten thousand meters!


    The colossal True Dragon soared into the skies, radiating an earth-shattering Nine-Star Sovereign aura!


    The Nine-Star Sovereign True Dragon gazed intently at the meteor streaking past.


    "A meteor born from the ''Heavenly Cauldron.''"


    "It seems another chance to claim the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' opportunity tied to the ''Blood Wing Clan'' and ''Nine Flames Clan'' has arrived."


    "While I am of the ''Wind God Clan'' and possess no ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order,'' I have no means of entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.'' However, after they return from the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' in a month''s time, I may negotiate a deal with them."


    "For now, it''s better to continue cultivating."


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    After muttering a few words to himself, the True Dragon stirred the winds once more, transforming back into the skeletal frame and settling back onto its previous resting spot.


    Nobody would imagine that what appeared to be a lifeless skeletal dragon could "return to life"!


    Nobody would suspect that an ordinary Dead Star concealed a Nine-Star Sovereign-level figure!


    Even more inconceivable was that this figure belonged to one of the five Supreme Clans of the "True Dragon Divine Country"¡ªthe "Wind God Clan."


    Elsewhere in the starry skies, within a deep, dark region, an elder with hair and beard as white as snow sat cross-legged in meditation.


    Beneath him, three youths were also meditating.


    When a meteor formed from a "Fiery Red Cauldron" streaked past their dark region, the elder abruptly opened his eyes and stood up from his seated position.


    The sudden movement startled the three youths from their cultivation.


    "Master, what happened?" the three youths quickly asked.


    The white-haired elder grinned with a meaningful expression, "Good news, splendid news!"


    "I''ve waited for so long, and finally, another chance to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' has come!"


    "The Ancient Forbidden Grounds?" The elder''s words shocked the three youths for a moment before their gazes were drawn to the streaking meteor, "Could that meteor be formed by a ''Heavenly Cauldron''? Has the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' reappeared?"


    Realizing the implications, the three youths beamed with excitement, "Master''s divine skills are unparalleled, and his mana is limitless. This time, upon returning to the clan, you will surely claim an ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' and enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    "May Master''s journey to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' yield the ultimate treasure, the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire''!"


    "Ha-ha-ha!" The elder laughed heartily at their words, his face glowing with vigor as he said, "Let''s go! We''re heading back!"


    Bang!


    In a flash, the elder unleashed an awe-inspiring burst of Divine Power, transforming into a gigantic, blood-red-winged bat-like Exotic Beast measuring ten thousand meters!


    The three youths similarly morphed into smaller variants of blood-winged bat-like Exotic Beasts.


    As the elder in his Exotic Beast form spread his wings, he carried the three smaller beasts away, disappearing from the dark region.


    If martial artists of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom saw this elder and the three youths, they would instantly recognize them as the members of the number one Supreme Clan¡ªthe "Blood Wing Clan!"

 Chapter 980 - 930 Gathering of Heroes

    Blood Mist Thirteen Stars is the strongest branch location of the "Blood Wing Clan" aside from their core territory.


    A Great Powerholder of the "Blood Wing Clan" used overwhelming power to refine thirteen immense stars together, forming the base of the "Blood Mist Thirteen Stars".


    When the "meteors" formed by ten "Heavenly Cauldrons" flew across the starry sky towards the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds", the two meteors flying from the "Dark Swamp Stars", where Ye Chen was located, happened to pass above the Blood Mist Thirteen Stars.


    Upon seeing these two passing meteors, five Nine-star Sovereigns immediately flew out from the Blood Mist Thirteen Stars!


    "They are the meteors heading towards the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    "It seems the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' has opened again!"


    The eyes of these five Nine-star Sovereigns became incredibly bright in an instant.


    "I wonder how many ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' have appeared this time. However, last time the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' opened, our branch missed out on the distribution of the ''Orders''. This time, it''s finally our First Branch''s turn!"


    "Let''s go, to the clan territory, and secure the largest distribution quota for our branch!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As they spoke, these five Nine-star Sovereigns instantly flashed with Divine Light and transformed into five enormous blood-red winged bats, flying into the vast cosmos.


    Not only those who saw the "meteor" reacted strangely.


    As the news of the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders" appearance spread, countless transmissions began to circulate across the numerous territories of the "Blood Wing Clan" and the "Nine Flames Clan", the two Supreme Clans.


    Almost all Nine-star Sovereigns from the two great clans outside their clan territories were alarmed and hurried to their respective clan territories.


    Nine Flames Divine City, located in the central region of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, is the core territory of the "Nine Flames Clan".


    Originally, Nine Flames Divine City was home to the most clan members of the "Nine Flames Clan".


    And when the news of the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders" spread, the powerholders of the "Nine Flames Clan" living outside swiftly flew back to Nine Flames Divine City, greatly increasing the number of experts within the city.


    And after two hours since the ten meteors flew towards the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds", more than twenty Nine-star Sovereigns had gathered in the conference hall of the Nine Flames Divine Palace in Nine Flames Divine City!


    Twenty Nine-star Sovereigns.


    That number is truly astounding.


    Know this, even in the Mountain Divine Nation where Ye Chen was, all the Nine-star Sovereigns combined wouldn''t exceed twenty.


    And now, in just one clan, the Nine Flames Clan of the five Supreme Clans in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, the number of Nine-star Sovereigns exceeds twenty.


    Back when Huyan Divine Master mentioned to Ye Chen, the True Spirit Divine Kingdom is much stronger than the Mountain Divine Nation, with an uncountable number of powerholders, it was indeed no exaggeration!


    Once the Nine-star Sovereigns gathered at the Nine Flames Divine Palace, the distribution of the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders" for entering the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" formally began.


    Elder Tianhuo, recognized as the foremost powerhouse of the Nine Flames Clan, was also the leading Nine-star Sovereign among them.


    The Nine Flames Clan commanded two Divine Fires listed on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List, including the Heavenly Ghostly Fire ranked thirteenth, which resided with Elder Tianhuo.


    Elder Tianhuo bore a golden Fire Rune between his brows, appearing exceedingly aged, yet his Divine Power remained immensely robust, exuding profound vitality.


    At this moment, he addressed the assembled Nine-star Sovereigns: "According to the transmissions received from various locations, our Nine Flames Clan has a total of three territories where a ''Heavenly Cauldron'' has appeared this time."


    "Only three territories with ''Heavenly Cauldrons''?" Many Nine-star Sovereigns furrowed their brows, "Each time the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' opens, there are nine territories where the ''Heavenly Cauldrons'' appear. Does this mean that the other six territories with ''Heavenly Cauldrons'' are all under the control of the ''Blood Wing Clan''?"


    "The ''Blood Wing Clan'' was already stronger than our clan. After entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', vying for the Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire will also be a competition with the ''Blood Wing Clan''. With more territories having ''Heavenly Cauldrons'' in their domain, they''ll hold more ''Ancient Orders'', meaning more individuals entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', putting our clan at a significant disadvantage!"


    Elder Tianhuo also sighed: "Indeed, it seems this time, our two clans will face yet another great dispute within the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''."


    "However, although our clan has only three territories with ''Heavenly Cauldrons'', one territory managed by Daoist Cai Meng appeared with two ''Heavenly Cauldrons'', making up for the gap of one territory."


    Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!


    As Elder Tianhuo said this, the eyes of many Nine-star Sovereigns immediately turned to a middle-aged man in luxurious robes in the crowd.


    This middle-aged man bore many resemblances to both Cai Xiao''er and Cai Meng''er.


    This individual was the father of Cai Xiao''er and Cai Meng''er, the Overseer of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion, Nine-star Sovereign¡ªCai Meng!


    Seeing everyone''s gaze, Cai Meng smiled: "Normally, the probability of a single territory appearing with two Heavenly Cauldrons is extremely low. Out of many openings of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', only twice has a single territory had two Heavenly Cauldrons."


    "And both times occurred within the ''Blood Wing Clan''s'' territories."


    "Unexpectedly, this time our clan had a territory with two ''Heavenly Cauldrons''.


    "Moreover, as my younger daughter Xiao''er mentioned, another Heaven Cauldron was discovered by a young Divine King, a genius not from the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom.'' Not only did he keep one ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' for himself, but he also gave the rest to our clan, which is indeed a stroke of good fortune for us."


    Cai Meng''s words instantly stirred discussions in the crowd.


    "What, another Heaven Cauldron discovered by a young Divine King genius from outside the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''?!"


    "Consider the terrifying ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation'' brought about by the appearance of the ''Heaven Cauldron,'' and yet a single Divine King managed to withstand the fatal situation posed by the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation''?!"


    "It seems that this young Divine King is truly extraordinary!"


    Cai Meng''s eyes also flashed with a sharp light: "According to Xiao''er, that young man is indeed extraordinary; otherwise, he couldn''t have obtained the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.'' She mentioned that the young man is also interested in visiting the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.'' Once the meeting is over, I''ll seek him out. To be honest, I''m quite eager to meet this young man as soon as possible."


    The Elder Tianhuo in the crowd also nodded: "In the past, powerhouses passing by the territories of our two clans accidentally obtained the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order.'' According to tradition, our two clans would allow those who acquired the Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.'' Taking that young man along this time should pose no issue."


    Speaking of this, Elder Tianhuo looked at all the Nine-Star Sovereigns present: "The matter of this young man is secondary. Our primary goal in entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' this time is the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' ranked third on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List''!"


    Upon hearing the four words "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," all the Nine-Star Sovereigns present began to breathe rapidly.


    "The divine fires on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List'' possess infinite Divine Might. Although the overall strength of our clan does not match ''Blood Wing Clan,'' our clan possesses the ''Heavenly Ghostly Fire'' ranked thirteenth, whereas the strongest divine fire owned by the ''Blood Wing Clan'' is only ranked eighteenth, inferior to ours."


    "For this reason, our strongest friend, Tianhuo, is stronger than the strongest of the ''Blood Wing Clan,'' the ''Elder Xueya.'' The ''Blood Wing Clan'' dares not provoke us lightly."


    "If we can obtain the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' ranked third this time, our clan''s greatest strength will rise to a new level! Regardless, we must strive to acquire the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' and even if we fail to obtain it, we must ensure it does not fall into the hands of the ''Blood Wing Clan''!"


    "Yes!"


    "Since the discovery of the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' we have failed to obtain it on several occasions. Given the extended preparation time this time, the ''Blood Wing Clan'' likely has new plans just as we do, and we must prevent the ''Blood Wing Clan'' from acquiring the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire''!"


    "Tianhuo, this time, you must lead the team!"


    The Nine-Star Sovereigns present all turned their attention to the most powerful Elder Tianhuo in the room.


    Elder Tianhuo''s gaze also turned solemn as he nodded: "Although ''Cai Meng'' discovered two Heaven Cauldrons over there, combined, our three territories only have a total of four Heaven Cauldrons. Meanwhile, the Blood Wing Clan, with six territories, has at least six Heaven Cauldrons."


    "This means we have a total of only seventy-two ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders,'' granting us seventy-two slots to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''"


    "The Blood Wing Clan, however, has as many as one hundred and eight slots to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''"


    "Although, according to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' Laws, only eighteen Sovereign-level figures can enter, allowing nine from each of our clans, we have far fewer candidates below the Sovereign Realm."


    "Therefore, this time, we must carefully select the candidates to enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    "Cai Meng, Luo Yan, Hua You, in the territories under your jurisdiction where Heaven Cauldrons have appeared, according to clan regulations, half of the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' you obtained can be allocated freely by you, while the remainder will be allocated by the clan."


    "In your half of the allocation slots, besides the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' that have already been claimed, the remaining ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' must also be given to the strongest below the Sovereign Realm to claim."


    Elder Tianhuo''s words made three Nine-Star Sovereigns, including Cai Meng, nod directly.


    Then, Elder Tianhuo turned to the others.


    "As for the allocation of slots shared by the clan, for now, we should first establish the Nine-Star Sovereign candidates besides Cai Meng, Luo Yan, and Hua You, and then select the strongest members from each branch to allocate them!"


    In the Nine Flames Divine Palace, the more than twenty Nine-Star Sovereigns began discussing the allocation of slots.


    After half a cup of tea''s time, the candidates for the "Nine Flames Clan" to enter the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" were finally determined.


    According to the law of ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' only eighteen Sovereigns may enter.


    The Blood Wing Clan and Nine Flames Clan had long agreed that each would select nine Sovereigns to enter.


    Of course, these nine Sovereigns from each clan would indeed be the strongest, Nine-Star Sovereign-level figures.


    This time, the nine Nine-Star Sovereigns dispatched by the ''Nine Flames Clan'' included three Nine-Star Sovereigns governing the territories where the ''Heaven Cauldrons'' had appeared, with the remaining six being renowned powerholders of the ''Nine Flames Clan,'' led by Elder Tianhuo.


    The remaining slots could only be filled by individuals below the Sovereign Realm, and the Nine Flames Clan allocated it all accordingly.


    Once all allocations were complete, the more than twenty Nine-Star Sovereigns began gathering their respective selected individuals to prepare for entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''


    While the "Nine Flames Clan" was finalizing the allocation of slots to enter the Ancient Forbidden Grounds,


    the "Blood Wing Clan," ranked first among the five Supreme Clans of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," likewise completed the allocation of entry slots for the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''


    In the "Blood Wing Divine City," the "Blood Wing Divine Palace" meeting hall of the Blood Wing Clan''s core land.


    The leading Nine-Star Sovereign of the "Blood Wing Clan," Elder Xueya, dressed in a gray robe, looked at everyone present with utmost excitement.


    Surprisingly, seated above him was another elder who emanated an overwhelmingly terrifying "Divine Master" aura!

 Chapter 981 - 931: Peerless Elegance

    Blood Wing Clan, this time there is truly an existence that "exceeds Sovereign"¡ªa strong figure in the "Divine Master Realm" within the clan!


    At this moment, Elder Xueya said, "This time the ''Heavenly Cauldron'' has appeared, the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' opened, coinciding with our Master''s return from the Cosmic Sea, heaven truly assists our Blood Wing Clan!"


    "This time, we must get our hands on that ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire''!"


    In the Blood Wing Divine Palace, over thirty Nine Star Sovereigns of the Blood Wing Clan stood, each one tremendously excited.


    Especially the few Nine Star Sovereigns selected to go to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," who spoke directly: "This time our Blood Wing Clan has six territories where the ''Heavenly Cauldron'' appeared, releasing a total of one hundred and eight ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders,'' whereas the ''Nine Flames Clan'' only has three territories with the ''Heavenly Cauldron,'' how could they compare to us?"


    "Indeed! Not only do we have many more ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders,'' but with the Cosmic Sea treasures bestowed to us by our Master, this time, the ''Nine Flames Clan'' is absolutely no match for us. The ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' can only be obtained by us!"


    "The ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' is ranked third on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List.'' The ''Nine Flames Clan'' has never been as strong as us, relying solely on their strongest clan members who possess the extremely powerful 13th ranked ''Heavenly Ghostly Fire,'' held by Elder Tianhuo, to slightly surpass our clan at the peak of Nine Star Sovereigns."


    "Once we acquire the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' we can firmly suppress the ''Nine Flames Clan'' even more!"


    Among these speaking Nine Star Sovereigns, earlier noticeably overjoyed at seeing shooting stars, was the elderly man, whose hair and beard were white, training three young cultivators. Also included were a few Nine Star Sovereigns from the Blood Mist Thirteen Stars, the Blood Wing Clan''s most formidable branch. They all obtained qualifications to go to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" this time.


    The Blood Wing Clan and Nine Flames Clan are the top-ranked supreme clans of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, constantly engaged in open and secret battles. This time, heading to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," the Blood Wing Clan undeniably holds the advantage, arousing excited discussions among the Nine Star Sovereigns.


    Amidst a clamor of discussions, the elder in the Divine Master Realm, seated at the highest position in the Blood Wing Divine Palace, finally spoke.


    This elder emitted no trace of divine power; appearing ordinary, yet when he spoke, an inexplicable pressure enveloped the entire Blood Wing Divine Palace, rendering the hall instantly silent.


    The Divine Master Realm exceeds the level of Sovereign, capable of entering the more mysterious realm of the Cosmic Sea; Nine Star Sovereigns can be easily eliminated with a snap of the fingers¡ªdespite the power not being revealed¡ªhe is undeniably extraordinary!


    Beside the elder stood two individuals¡ªa man and a woman, both around twenty years old¡ªand both were in the Upper God King realm.


    The elder looked at everyone, speaking: "This time, the ''Nine Flames Clan'' only had three territories with the ''Heavenly Cauldron,'' added to what I have bestowed upon you, after going to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' to compete against them, they should not be a concern."


    "However, if you wish to successfully obtain the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' you must not be careless in the slightest!"


    The elder''s words made Elder Xueya, the leading Nine Star Sovereign of Blood Wing Clan, promptly nod: "Yes, Master, we will definitely not be negligent!"


    Elder Xueya truly knew the might of his master, known by the title ''Blood Origin Divine Master''.


    His master, ''Blood Origin Divine Master,'' is the strongest Divine Master in the current "Divine Master Realm" of Blood Wing Clan within the Cosmic Sea.


    It was heard that even within the Divine Master Realm, he has cultivated to the exceedingly powerful "Eighth Divine Master" level, and has also been heard to join the powerful Cosmic Sea force "Ancestral God Temple."


    With such a powerhouse''s admonishment, how could they not heed?


    "Master, we will certainly be cautious and strive to seize that ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire!''"


    The other Nine Star Sovereigns also spoke up one after another.


    Seeing the respectful appearances of the Nine Star Sovereigns in the center, the elder nodded slightly.


    He continued: "Regarding the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' I explored a bit after entering the Cosmic Sea."


    "Numerous relics within this universe are associated with the ''Ancestral God Temple.'' However, the eight great forbidden lands of our True Spirit Divine Kingdom are an exception, even within the Ancestral God Temple, I have not discovered their origins."


    "Upon returning this time, I specifically went to survey each forbidden land. I also ventured into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.'' Even I, as an ''Eighth Divine Master,'' sensed an exceedingly powerful and terrifying force of repulsion when approaching ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''"


    "It seemed as if were I to dare enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' that power would directly annihilate me!"


    "I have the feeling that even if I possess the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order,'' I absolutely cannot step into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds!''"


    Wow.


    The elder''s words caused everyone present to change expressions dramatically, even the young man and woman beside the elder''s eyes sharply narrowed.


    The Nine Star Sovereigns of Blood Wing Clan had already heard that many Divine Master Realm experts returning from the Cosmic Sea had ventured into the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," yet little news spread afterwards.


    They had thought those Divine Master Realm experts took no interest in the treasures within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Now they realize it wasn''t that they took no interest¡ªthey simply couldn''t enter the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" at all!


    No wonder for so many years, the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' still remains unclaimed within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds!"


    No wonder for so many years the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" still remains known as Deadly Forbidden Lands!


    The elder''s words raised their reverence for the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" even higher.


    Although they had already visited the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" several times, they only succeeded by relying on the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' and aligning their realm with the rules of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''.


    Upon hearing of the power of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," already surpassing the divine might of an ''Eighth Divine Master,'' naturally, they felt increasingly the unfathomable nature of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''


    The crowd''s expressions fell into the gaze of the ''Blood Origin Divine Master,'' whose eyes grew more profound: "Inside the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' lie absolute great secrets, even surpassing secrets beyond the Divine Master Realm!"


    "Therefore, once you enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' this time, not only strive to acquire the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'', but also endeavor to explore ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' deeper, attempting to uncover several secrets contained within."


    "The ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' though an extreme heaven-grade divine fire, ranking third on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,'' its divine might will even aid you in the future as you step into the Divine Master Realm further."


    "Furthermore, I feel that the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' is not the most precious thing in the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.'' You have also mentioned that during your past explorations of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' you only managed to explore a very small part, while the rest remained inaccessible. I sense that other areas hold even more valuable treasures! Perhaps they might be of significant use to us Divine Masters!"


    "Therefore, using the items I provided to you, you must strive to explore other areas!"


    At this point, the elder looked towards the young man and woman beside him.


    "Ling Chan, Fei Yan, both of you are the young talents our clan is focusing on cultivating. Over the years, I''ve sent countless items for your cultivation from the Cosmic Sea, previously instructing you to hide your strength and cultivate within the clan. This time, you also need to venture into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.'' This is your first opportunity to showcase your strength, so do not disappoint me!"


    The young man beside the elder spoke arrogantly, "Even though I am only at the God King Realm, under the upbringing of our great ancestors, no youth can rival me."


    "Rest assured, great ancestor, the young talents from the ''Nine Flames Clan'' won''t fare well against me this time. I will certainly strive to explore every corner of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    The young woman beside the elder had extremely beautiful features, yet her narrow eyes bore a naturally cold expression that made people uncomfortable.


    She spoke coldly at this moment, "Great ancestor, your ''Blood Refining Nine Nether Divine Skills'' have long granted Fei Yan the power to sweep away all Immortal Divine Venerables, and possesses numerous unique Divine Skills beyond this universe. The ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' Fei Yan will surely help you to thoroughly explore!"


    The words of this young man and woman caused the elder to nod in satisfaction.


    The "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" has a rule allowing only eighteen people from the Sovereign Realm to enter, with the rest permitted from realms below the Sovereign Realm.


    Such specific rules make the elder feel that the secrets hidden within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" must be linked to the Sovereign Realm and those below it.


    In the Sovereign Realm, the nine Nine-Star Sovereigns that the Blood Wing Clan is dispatching to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," the elder felt assured.


    Now, for those below the Sovereign Realm, with his focus on cultivating Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, he finally felt completely reassured.


    "Alright, the quota for entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' is confirmed. Prepare yourselves further, and then go venture into that ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    Finally, the words of the Blood Origin Divine Master echoed within the "Blood Wing Divine Palace," resonating continuously.


    ...


    As the "Nine Flames Clan" and "Blood Wing Clan" finished arranging their personnel to enter the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    The ten Heaven Cauldron ''meteors,'' which had devoured nine domains, finally traversed countless distances and flew into the well-known deadly forbidden lands of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom"¡ªthe "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Looking towards the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," one could see an enormous black vortex standing tall in the starry sky, surrounded entirely by darkness, larger than countless stars!


    Only occasionally does Divine Light shoot out from the black vortex, allowing one to faintly discern countless ridges, abysses, and ghostly seas emerging within.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Once the ten Heaven Cauldron ''meteors'' flew within the black vortex range of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," they were immediately engulfed, disappearing into the grounds.


    After devouring the ten ''meteors,'' the black vortex above the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" appeared with a fiery red pattern.


    From afar, it appeared to be a pattern on the black vortex.


    But upon closer inspection, it was indeed a fiery red pathway laid onto the black vortex.


    This fiery red pathway is precisely the "Ancient Heavenly Path" that can be accessed with the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order" to enter the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds"!


    Looking from the "Ancient Heavenly Path" into the black vortex of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," one could see at its outer perimeter, a giant, sky-reaching peak atop which stands an ancient temple.


    The back of the ancient temple was shrouded by endless smoke and clouds, rendering it impossible to see what lay beyond.


    If supreme experts from the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan who once visited the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" saw this ancient temple, they would certainly recognize it, as inside lies the Treasure they longed for but couldn''t obtain¡ªthe "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire"!


    At this moment, neither Ye Chen, the Nine Flames Clan, nor the Blood Wing Clan realized that those ten meteors which flew into the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" all arrived in the void outside the ancient temple and started spinning wildly.


    Amidst the wild spinning, the previous scenario of Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er and others resisting the "Heavenly Cauldron Transformation" to acquire the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order" began showcasing throughout the entire void.


    The scenes of others resisting the "Heavenly Cauldron Transformation" didn''t stir much change.


    However, the scene where Ye Chen exterminated countless Dark Ancient Demons and eventually transformed himself into one immediately triggered a bizarre transformation within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As if a curtain was being torn open.


    Just when Ye Chen''s scenario of obtaining the Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order appeared within the void, the domain behind the ancient temple, shrouded in endless smoke and clouds, instantly cleared, revealing an array of even taller peaks.


    And these peaks, similar to the one holding the ancient temple, also had ancient temples erected upon them, each taller than the last.


    Altogether, a total of eighteen ancient temples.


    These peaks with ancient temples stretched from the outskirts of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" to its deepest core!


    And within the deepest ancient temple of the entire "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," an extraordinary, unparalleled woman sat cross-legged within.


    At the moment Ye Chen''s scenario of acquiring the Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order emerged.


    This woman seemed to sense something and abruptly opened her eyes.

 Chapter 982 - 932: Arrival

    This woman, clad in white, was immaculate and pure, with an unparalleled aura, as if she were not of this universe.


    Her black hair cascaded like a waterfall, reaching down to the ground where she sat cross-legged, each strand faintly emanating dazzling starlight.


    If the "Blood Origin Divine Master" of the "Blood Winged Clan" were to see this woman, he would surely be terrified and prostrate himself on the ground.


    He would surely recognize that the realm of this woman was far beyond his reach!


    Far surpassing the "Divine Master Realm"!


    At this moment, the woman opened her eyes and looked at the outermost of the eighteen ancient temples, where Ye Chen''s figure, acquiring the Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order, appeared in the void above the temple.


    Her eyes revealed a look of disbelief: "This young man, why does he have a sensation of my mentor''s divine origin?"


    "Could he be the successor of my mentor?"


    "My mentor is the pinnacle of the Cosmic Sea. When I left the Cosmic Sea, she was resisting the great enemy of the Cosmic Sea alongside other Star Lords¡ªthe ''Starry Sky Demon''. My mentor always said she wouldn''t take any more disciples, but now this young man has the sensation of my mentor''s divine origin; could there have been changes with my mentor?"


    Considering that change, whether good or bad, the extraordinary woman also showed signs of anxiety in her eyes.


    "Unfortunately, by my mentor''s order, I am suppressing the ''Eye of the Demon'' here and cannot leave. The power of the ''Eye of the Demon'' beneath this ancient temple has grown increasingly strong lately; I cannot act recklessly, lest a single mistake occur."


    "Otherwise, I could inquire this young man thoroughly and even return to the Cosmic Sea to investigate!"


    Peering into the ancient temple at the deepest part of the Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Grounds where the woman sat, one could see rows of divine chains emanating from her, a total of eighty-one chains, locking down the entire ground beneath the ancient temple.


    And in the places bound by the eighty-one divine chains, black light frequently surged as if trying to break free from the chains; each time the black light surged, the chains emitted blinding white light, suppressing the black light back into disappearance.


    Clearly, this woman was within a mysterious grand formation, manipulating a suppression formation.


    "These eighteen ancient temples were built countless years ago by a mighty being. Each temple conceals divine might, and ultimately, the endless divine might converges inside the temple I guard, above the ''Eye of the Demon''. Coupled with my divine chains guarding it, I can ensure that the ''Eye of the Demon'' here remains foolproof, ensuring that the ''Starry Sky Demon'' cannot use the ''Eye of the Demon'' here to invade this universe."


    "However, the mighty being who left behind the eighteen ancient temples also left countless dangers and opportunities within this ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', and it is unknown what purpose those dangers and opportunities serve."


    "As I guard the ''Eye of the Demon'' here, I must rely on the divine might of the ancient temple, and cannot recklessly destroy the dangers and opportunities here. Everything must be left to happen naturally."


    "Seeing that young man achieving the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'', it seems they are again attempting to enter the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', stepping into the opportunities and dangers left by the mighty being who left the temples. Previously, they couldn''t even break through the outermost temple, so the crises they faced were minimal. However, lately, I have faintly felt changes occurring within the temples, and the opportunities and dangers outside have also changed."


    "I fear that this time, those entering the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' will encounter completely different circumstances than before, facing even harsher and unpredictable threats."


    Thinking of this, the woman also showed a trace of concern.


    "That young man seems to be entering the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Grounds''; I hope he doesn''t get harmed amid the changing crises... Unfortunately, I cannot leave this place, nor can I interfere and warn him of the ancient temple..."


    "Everything must rely on him... Since he has the sensation of my mentor''s divine origin, he should also have some of my mentor''s techniques, which would make him a bit safer."


    The extraordinary woman sighed as she concluded her thoughts.


    "I must continue to cultivate."


    "If I can break through from the ''Cosmic Emperor Realm'' to the ''Star Lord Realm'', I will be able to completely seal the ''Eye of the Demon'' here."


    "At that time, I can ask this young man why he has my mentor''s divine origin! At that time, I can return to the Cosmic Sea to see what has happened with my mentor!"


    The woman muttered to herself, her eyes flashing with brilliance.


    Finally, she closed her eyes once more.


    Moments later, the deepest ancient temple where the woman sat, along with the mountain peaks of other temples outside, once again vanished into the endless smoke and clouds.


    As before, only the outermost temple mountain where the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' was present stood alone outside the smoke and clouds.


    ...


    If Ye Chen heard the woman''s words, he would be extraordinarily shocked.


    This woman actually recognized the starry origin induced by his ''Taiyi Divine Power''!


    And from her words, it seemed she has a significant connection with the "Zi Ji Star Lord" who left the starry origin!


    More astonishingly, this woman is said to be in the "Cosmic Emperor Realm".


    It must be noted that in the Cosmic Sea, the "Cosmic Emperor Realm" is only second to the "Star Lord Realm", an above any "Divine Master Realm", powerful countless times over.


    In this "True Spirit Divine Kingdom", it''s truly unbelievable that there exists a strong being of the "Cosmic Emperor Realm"!


    Moreover, from the information revealed by the woman, it''s clear that the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" aren''t as simple as they seem on the surface. Otherwise, there wouldn''t be a "Cosmic Emperor" specifically guarding it.


    Of course, all these matters regarding the secrets of the "Cosmic Emperor" and even the "Star Lord" are far distant from Ye Chen.


    What the woman mentioned, however, is that this time, the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" will be drastically different from previous times, posing greater dangers and crises, making it closely relevant to Ye Chen and others who are about to enter the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds".


    Unfortunately, Ye Chen is completely unaware that the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" will be drastically different.


    The people from the "Nine Flames Clan" and the "Blood Wing Clan" chosen to enter the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" are equally unaware that they will encounter a terrible situation this time.


    At this moment, all the confirmed candidates set to enter the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" are eagerly flying towards it from various places.


    Ye Chen, who had gathered with Cai Meng''er, had been waiting for a long time before finally seeing the people from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" led by Cai Meng, the father of the Cai sisters Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er!


    This was a few hours after Ye Chen had gathered with Cai Meng''er.


    Ye Chen was talking with Cai Xiao''er when he suddenly caught sight of a flying boat much more phenomenal than the Seven Star Sovereign flying boat he had previously boarded, gliding across the starry sky towards them.


    When Ye Chen saw this flying boat, the little girl Cai Xiao''er beside him also saw it.


    The little girl excitedly jumped up, "Ye Chen, my daddy''s here!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the instant Cai Xiao''er spoke, the flying boat traversed the starry sky and arrived before the group.


    Following this, over twenty figures flew down from the flying boat.


    Leading them was the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" Overseer¡ªthe Nine Star Sovereign Cai Meng, who had appeared in the Nine Flames Divine City before.


    Upon descending, Cai Meng immediately recognized Ye Chen standing among the members of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion with Cai Xiao''er and Cai Meng''er.


    He put away the flying boat and cheerfully smiled at Ye Chen, "This must be the young friend Ye Chen mentioned by Xiao''er!"


    "Younger Ye Chen greets the elder!"


    Hearing the words from the Nine Star Sovereign Cai Meng, Ye Chen felt a jolt in his heart and bowed with cupped fists towards Cai Meng.


    At this moment, Cai Xiao''er flew directly to Cai Meng''s side, looked at her father, and asked, "Daddy, did you bring the training materials Ye Chen brother needed?"


    Cai Xiao''er hadn''t forgotten her promise to Ye Chen. As soon as her father arrived, she inquired straightaway.


    "Brought them, brought them." Cai Meng lovingly patted Cai Xiao''er''s little head and then looked at Ye Chen, "Young friend Ye Chen, we ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' only had part of what you needed, and I gathered some more from other friends. Don''t mind if it''s not much."


    As he spoke, Cai Meng flicked his finger, and a storage ring flew directly towards Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen took the storage ring and looked inside, and he was overjoyed.


    He originally thought the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" would only manage to gather a dozen or so of the materials he needed for the Eternal God Body''s remaining three Great Divine Patterns.


    But unexpectedly, there were over a hundred kinds of materials inside the ring!


    Looking carefully at these materials, Ye Chen discovered that everything needed for his training''s "Water God Pattern" was now complete, and even the materials for the "Fire Divine Pattern" and "Chaos Divine Pattern" were more than half complete!


    This was simply an unexpected delight!


    This meant that after training in the "Earth Divine Pattern" and "Wind Divine Pattern", Ye Chen could now begin training in the "Water God Pattern" of the Eternal God Body. He was getting closer to completing the Five Great Divine Patterns of the Eternal God Body.


    "Elder, the value of these materials is too precious."


    The materials Cai Meng gave were far more valuable than the seventeen Divine Light Clusters Ye Chen had given to Cai Xiao''er, making Ye Chen feel a bit embarrassed.


    "How about I give you some ''Purple Silver Pearls'' in exchange for these materials..."


    Just as Ye Chen mentioned "Purple Silver Pearls", Cai Meng waved his hand, smiled, and said, "Young friend Ye Chen, no need to be polite. While these materials are valuable to you, we ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' specifically collect many materials, so it''s not much for us. By comparison, I believe those seventeen Divine Light Clusters are even more precious."


    As he spoke, Cai Meng admired Ye Chen even more.


    Cai Meng knew that "Purple Silver Pearls" were hard currency in this universe, possessed by many Sovereign-level beings. Ye Chen''s mention of "Purple Silver Pearls" indicated that someone of Sovereign-level or beyond was supporting the young man.


    His little daughter had said Ye Chen was remarkable, and upon meeting him, Cai Meng could see Ye Chen''s extraordinary presence!

 Chapter 983 - 933: News of Yinsha

    Upon hearing that Cai Meng didn''t want the "Purple Silver Pearl," Ye Chen''s heart stirred, and something else appeared in his hand.


    "I have some ''Divine Milk'' here, which can help a Martial Artist at the peak of a certain realm break through the realm. I''ll give it to the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.''"


    Ye Chen initially obtained thousands of drops of Divine Milk from within the "Land of Demon Tombs."


    Just a couple of drops of Divine Milk are of great use to a Divine Venerable, and he directly divided hundreds of drops, handing them to Cai Meng.


    "Divine Milk? Could it be the legendary breakthrough miracle from the ''Mountain Divine Nation''?" This time, Cai Meng did not refuse and accepted the small bottle containing Divine Milk from Ye Chen.


    When he saw that it truly contained the Divine Milk he had heard of, Cai Meng''s face showed an expression of excitement.


    The ''Divine Milk'' may not be useful to him, a Nine-Star Sovereign, but it is of great use to the God Kings and Divine Venerables of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion." It could be used by his two daughters, Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, in their future breakthroughs!


    "Great, this ''Divine Milk'' is indeed a valuable thing, I will accept it!" Cai Meng laughed heartily and collected the hundreds of drops of Divine Milk.


    "Young friend Ye Chen has such a good thing as ''Divine Milk.'' Could it be that young friend Ye Chen is from the ''Mountain Divine Nation''?" Cai Meng asked Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected the fame of "Divine Milk" to have spread from the "Mountain Divine Nation" to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    He smiled and replied to Cai Meng, "Senior, indeed junior comes from the ''Mountain Divine Nation.''"


    However, as he smiled, Ye Chen suddenly felt a shock in his heart, and his expression changed.


    He thought of something extremely urgent!


    Since the name of "Divine Milk" has been heard by this Nine-Star Sovereign Cai Meng, logically, other strong practitioners of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" should have heard it too.


    If that''s the case, then the "General Yinsha" whom he was looking for in the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" should also have heard of the fame of "Divine Milk."


    Moreover, "Divine Milk" is the miraculous object refined by "Huyan Divine Master," the teacher of "General Yinsha." If "General Yinsha" hears that "Divine Milk" spread from the "Mountain Divine Nation," she should certainly think that her master, "Huyan Divine Master," is there in the "Mountain Divine Nation."


    With "General Yinsha''s" strength, she surely could find the Land of Demon Tombs and locate where "Huyan Divine Master" fell.


    But in these many years, "General Yinsha" has never gone to the Land of Demon Tombs; rather it was "Huyan Divine Master" who sent him to find "General Yinsha."


    Then there''s only one possibility, that "General Yinsha" simply hasn''t heard about "Divine Milk," and thus hasn''t gone to find "Huyan Divine Master."


    "General Yinsha" is in the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" yet hasn''t heard about "Divine Milk." It''s very likely that something happened to "General Yinsha" after returning to True Spirit Divine Kingdom that prevented her from hearing outside news!


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen felt a chill in his heart.


    He must help Huyan Divine Master find "General Yinsha," as it is related to his life and safety, especially since he still carries the curse left behind by "Huyan Divine Master."


    If "General Yinsha" indeed encountered trouble, then his chances of finding "General Yinsha" could be slim.


    The change in Ye Chen''s expression was noticed by Cai Meng, who was stunned: "What''s wrong, young friend Ye Chen?"


    Ye Chen took a deep breath.


    He asked Cai Meng, "Senior, you are a strong Nine-Star Sovereign; have you heard of a senior in the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' called ''General Yinsha''?"


    "That senior is a Female Sovereign and also a Sovereign of one of the five Supreme Clans in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom¡ªthe ''Extreme Spirit Clan.''"


    Regarding "Huyan Divine Master," Huyan Divine Master had instructed not to divulge, so Ye Chen couldn''t tell Cai Meng all the details; he could only inquire if he knew "General Yinsha."


    "Sovereign of the Extreme Spirit Clan? General Yinsha?" Cai Meng wrinkled his brow, falling into deep thought.


    A few breaths later, he seemed to recall something, saying to Ye Chen: "The Extreme Spirit Clan is in the southernmost part of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' in the Extreme Spirit Sea area, with very little interaction with the other tribes, so their information is also sparse."


    "However, the title ''Sovereign Yinsha'' I''ve heard of, but that''s something from tens of thousands of years ago. Tens of thousands of years ago, I heard she apprenticed to a Divine Master and cultivated with them, but later, there was no news."


    "Why, does young friend Ye Chen know someone from the Extreme Spirit Clan?"


    Cai Meng''s words jolted Ye Chen''s heart.


    Things from tens of thousands of years ago.


    Ye Chen heard "Huyan Divine Master" say that he and General Yinsha parted ways also tens of thousands of years ago, at that time General Yinsha had urgent business to return to "True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    Could it be, after returning to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, General Yinsha hasn''t made an appearance for tens of thousands of years?


    Something must have happened!


    Ye Chen didn''t expect, when General Yinsha returned to the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," she avoided the death threat from "Huyan Divine Master," not dying alongside "Huyan Divine Master" in the Land of Demon Tombs, yet she seemed to be caught up in another trouble.


    "It seems, I will face quite a few twists and turns in finding ''General Yinsha.''


    Ye Chen felt heavy-hearted.


    He originally thought finding General Yinsha wouldn''t be too difficult; he hadn''t expected so many obstacles to arise out of nowhere.


    "Luckily, there''s still more than two years. When I go to the ''Extreme Spirit Clan,'' I will surely find out the reason why General Yinsha hasn''t appeared for tens of thousands of years!"


    "During these more than two years, I also need to diligently study the ''Skywind Medical Scripture'' I obtained at Heavenly God Mountain. The ''Skywind Medical Scripture'' is left by the ''Skywind Divine Master,'' who is also an alchemy grandmaster in the Divine Master Realm. Perhaps there is a way to lift the curse power left by ''Huyan Divine Master.''


    "If, in the end, I cannot find ''General Yinsha,'' using the ''Skywind Medical Scripture'' to lift the curse power might be the only option!"


    Ye Chen suppressed many thoughts in his heart.


    He could only take one step at a time!


    Thinking of Cai Meng''s question, Ye Chen steadied his mind and replied, "Senior, I don''t know anyone from the Extreme Spirit Clan, but I do have some connections with them. Later, I will also be heading to the Extreme Spirit Clan."


    From Ye Chen''s expression, Cai Meng, the Nine-star Sovereign, could also tell that Ye Chen certainly had significant ties with the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    "Ye Chen, my young friend, if you''re heading to the Extreme Spirit Clan, I''ll take you there after we come out from the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land,''" Cai Meng said to Ye Chen.


    "Thank you, Senior!"


    If Cai Meng, a Nine-star Sovereign, truly escorted him, Ye Chen could indeed save a lot of travel time.


    This naturally delighted Ye Chen, serving as a piece of good news among the bad.


    After chatting for a while, when Ye Chen and Cai Meng finally finished their conversation, Cai Xiao''er beside them could hardly wait: "Dad, Brother Ye Chen, if you have anything to say, say it on the road. We must hurry to the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.''


    Cai Xiao''er''s words caused Cai Meng to let out a surprised smile.


    He nodded, his eyes looking towards the direction of the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land'': "Yes, we must hurry to the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.'' By now, many from our clan and the ''Blood Wing Clan'' have likely already reached the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.''


    "Now, I''ll decide who will go to the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land,'' and then we''ll set off!"


    After half a cup of tea, two flying boats lifted off from the ground.


    One headed towards the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land,'' while the other flew towards another site managed by the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.''


    On the flying boat heading to the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land,'' there were Cai Meng, Ye Chen, Cai Xiao''er, Cai Meng''er, and more than a dozen Immortal Divine Venerable-level martial artists from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' that Cai Meng had brought.


    Ye Chen obtained eighteen divine light clusters, and Cai Meng''er also obtained eighteen divine light clusters.


    Besides Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er, and Cai Xiao''er, who recognized three ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders,'' the other ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' had not yet been recognized.


    Without Cai Meng''s arrangement, others dared not randomly claim ownership.


    Even the few Sovereigns who had followed Cai Meng''er initially, upon seeing the outbreak of the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation,'' voluntarily avoided the area where the divine light of the ''Heavenly Cauldron'' shone, leaving only Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er to obtain the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders.''


    According to the regulations of the ''Nine Flames Clan,'' only nine Sovereigns of the ''Nine Flames Clan'' may enter the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.'' Naturally, others dared not violate clan rules and disrupt personnel arrangements.


    At the same time, Cai Meng also had to submit half of the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders'' to the clan for collective distribution, keeping only the remaining half for himself.


    Therefore, Cai Meng arranged for those divine light clusters he could use to be claimed by those powerful martial artists below the Sovereign Realm in the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' before taking Ye Chen and others to fly toward the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.''


    The remaining people from the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' were led by a Seven-star Sovereign to another domain to complete other assignments for the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.''


    As Cai Xiao''er had said.


    Under the leadership of Cai Meng, their speed towards the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land'' was indeed swift.


    Approximately half a day later, Ye Chen traversed countless distances and saw from afar an enormous black whirlpool in the cosmic starry sky, larger than countless stars.


    "Brother Ye Chen, that is the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land''!"


    The little girl Cai Xiao''er exclaimed excitedly beside Ye Chen.


    It was also Cai Xiao''er''s first time truly coming to the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.'' She had only ever heard its name, but now, at last, she saw what the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land'' truly looked like.


    "Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land."


    Ye Chen also looked at the enormous black whirlpool, noticing the shadows of countless ridges, abysses, and dark seas faintly transpiring above it.


    Ye Chen further noticed the fiery red patterned channel above the black whirlpool.


    "That should be the ''Celestial Ancient Road'' that Senior Cai Meng mentioned, the path into the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.''"


    While Ye Chen''s eyes gleamed brightly, Cai Meng looked in a direction outside the ''Celestial Ancient Forbidden Land.''


    Many people had already gathered there.


    Among them, the Sovereign Realm individuals were all Nine-star Sovereigns, and those below the Sovereign Realm were all extraordinarily strong in divine power.


    Among them were familiar faces from the ''Nine Flames Clan'' and even the ''Blood Wing Clan,'' the old rivals of the ''Nine Flames Clan'' and the first-ranked of the five Supreme Clans in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Boom!


    Cai Meng drove the flying boat, bringing Ye Chen and the others directly to that gathering area.


    "Friend Cai Meng!"


    When Cai Meng flew down from the flying boat, a few Nine-star Sovereigns who arrived first from the Nine Flames Clan came to greet him.


    Ye Chen also flew down from the flying boat.


    At this point, Ye Chen noticed that not only were the people of the ''Nine Flames Clan'' curiously observing him, but even many from the ''Blood Wing Clan'' glanced at him with deep and pensive looks.

 Chapter 984 - 934 Abnormalities

    Ye Chen discovered that besides the few Nine Star Sovereigns, the clansmen from the "Nine Flame Clan" and "Blood Wing Clan" that arrived were mostly Immortal Divine Venerables, and all of them were Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Occasionally, there were several Earthly and Heavenly Divine Venerables, and their combat power evidently reached the level of Immortal Divine Venerables.


    "Brother Ye Chen, these people certainly did not expect that you, someone not from our two clans, would come to the ''Ancient Forbidden Land.'' They surely don''t know your prowess!" whispered the little girl, Cai Xiao''er, beside Ye Chen, "Only eighteen Sovereigns can enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Land.'' Our clan and the Blood Wing Clan will each have nine Sovereigns entering; presumably, both clans have chosen Nine Star Sovereigns to enter."


    The remaining candidates can only be those below the Sovereign Realm.


    Other than ones like me and my sister, who have obtained the ''Heavenly Cauldron Ancient Order'' ourselves, the remaining candidates are likely the most powerful Immortal Divine Venerables selected by various branches of the clans; hence, there are so many Upper Immortal Divine Venerables present.


    However, I feel that none of these Upper Immortal Divine Venerables are as formidable as Brother Ye Chen!


    The little girl Cai Xiao''er knew well enough that Ye Chen, on his own power, countered the "Heavenly Cauldron Transformation" and obtained eighteen Divine Light Clusters.


    Unlike her sister''s side, which required her, her sister, and several Sovereigns'' help to withstand the "Heavenly Cauldron Transformation."


    Even though the clans have selected the strongest Immortal Divine Venerables, in Cai Xiao''er''s eyes, those who can single-handedly contend against countless Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level demons during the "Heavenly Cauldron Transformation" likely number very few.


    Ye Chen gently nodded at this moment.


    On the way here, he had already heard the Nine Star Sovereign Cai Meng mention the entry rules of the "Ancient Forbidden Land."


    Those eighteen Nine Star Sovereigns about to enter the "Ancient Forbidden Land," Ye Chen definitely could not match.


    However, as for the remaining candidates below the Sovereign Realm, Ye Chen is entirely unafraid.


    Let alone Ye Chen''s current combat power already capable of sweeping through figures at the Immortal Divine Venerable level, having long reached the limits of Immortal Divine Venerable level combat power, Ye Chen has countless means like the "Copper Gong and Wooden Hammer," leveraging the prototype of the Extreme Heavenly Object "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" and the "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone" which brought a new transformation to the "Star Blue Divine Garment," all of which can absolutely restrain all figures below the Sovereign Realm!


    Moreover, there are Ye Chen''s techniques such as "Taiyi Divine Power," "Great Change of Taiyi," and "Starry Origin Power," "Blue Divine Soul," among other means!


    It can be said that others may not know all of Ye Chen''s methods, but Ye Chen himself has absolute confidence, that besides the Nine Star Sovereigns in the arena, he can definitely defeat all figures below the Sovereign Realm!


    This is Ye Chen''s absolute confidence!


    This is also Ye Chen''s reason for daring to venture into the "Ancient Forbidden Land"!


    Although Ye Chen has absolute confidence, at this moment, in the eyes of members from both the "Nine Flame Clan" and the "Blood Wing Clan," the perspective isn''t quite the same.


    Particularly the old adversary of the "Nine Flame Clan," the "Blood Wing Clan," among which many Upper Immortal Divine Venerables exhibited derisive expressions, secretly messaging the familiar Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the "Nine Flame Clan": "A mere Junior God King dares to come to the ''Ancient Forbidden Land''? And he''s not even from our ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''?"


    "Which branch of your ''Nine Flame Clan'' does he have ties with? At this level, coming to the ''Ancient Forbidden Land,'' isn''t that courting death?"


    "That Cai Meng''er is at the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, Cai Xiao''er although at the True God Realm, is rumored to possess a special Divine Body, her combat power surpasses many Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, plus they are the daughters of Cai Meng Sovereign; it''s understandable they obtained the ''Heavenly Cauldron Ancient Order'' to come here."


    "A mere Junior God King tagging along with the ''Nine Flame Clan'' to this place, the ''Nine Flame Clan'' certainly is becoming more and more unimpressive."


    Such derisive remarks from the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan fell upon the ears of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Nine Flame Clan, reddening their faces.


    They too did not know why Ye Chen, the Junior God King, would come along with the group from the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion."


    Although Cai Meng had informed the Nine Star Sovereigns of the "Nine Flame Clan" about Ye Chen obtaining the ''Heavenly Cauldron Ancient Order,'' the Nine Star Sovereigns of the "Nine Flame Clan" naturally wouldn''t communicate these matters to those below.


    In these Immortal Divine Venerables'' view, they truly thought Ye Chen relied on Cai Meng''s connections to obtain a ''Heavenly Cauldron Ancient Order.''


    "This Junior God King is probably connected to Cai Meng Sovereign somehow, and after encountering the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation'' alongside Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, managed to obtain a ''Heavenly Cauldron Ancient Order.'' Alas, since it''s Cai Meng Sovereign''s business, we dare not interfere excessively, but if this Junior God King gets into trouble in the ''Ancient Forbidden Land,'' it''ll certainly reflect poorly on our Nine Flame Clan, as he''s come with us!"


    A thought shared by many Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Nine Flame Clan.


    The individuals below the Sovereign Realm not only assessed Ye Chen but also sized up other personnel, speculating on each other''s strength.


    After all, eighteen Nine Star Sovereigns are undoubtedly superior to their level, while these figures below the Sovereign Realm will certainly see conflicts below such realms.


    By this time, the arrived Nine Star Sovereigns began conversing among themselves.


    Of course, the Nine Star Sovereigns wouldn''t concern themselves with the matters of those below the Sovereign Realm; they brought these individuals due to the rules of the "Ancient Forbidden Land."


    For them, these Nine Star Sovereigns are the absolute main force of the "Ancient Forbidden Land," and their focal point is on how to obtain the third-ranked "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List!"


    As everyone continued observing, amidst discussions among the several Nine Star Sovereigns, new Nine Star Sovereigns continued arriving with their teams.


    The personnel outside the "Ancient Forbidden Land" steadily increased.


    And when the strongest from both clans, Elder Tianhuo of the Nine Flame Clan and Elder Xueya of the Blood Wing Clan, arrived with the final batch of individuals, the atmosphere in the arena reached its peak directly!


    At this moment, all nine Nine Star Sovereigns of the Nine Flame Clan had arrived.


    And all nine Nine Star Sovereigns of the Blood Wing Clan had similarly arrived!


    Bang! Bang!


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya exchanged glances; the eye contact between these two leading figures bore a particularly significant meaning.


    Both knew that for the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" within the "Ancient Forbidden Land," a bout of rivalry was unavoidable.


    Beside Elder Xueya were Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, both drawing the gaze of many Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan.


    Although Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, like Ye Chen, are in the Upper God King realm, they dare not underestimate these two as they did with Ye Chen.


    They already learned from their clan''s strong members that these two were formidable figures cultivated by someone beyond a Sovereign, the "Blood Origin Divine Master," making them the strongest among those below the Sovereign Realm in this mission!


    Even the Immortal Divine Venerates of the Nine Flames Clan could tell the extraordinariness of these two young individuals, a man and a woman standing beside Elder Xueya.


    However, Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan seemed indifferent to the countless gazes.


    Xueling Chan coldly surveyed the two clans'' members below the Sovereign Realm with a look of disdain, while Blood Flying Yan closed her eyes as if everything was irrelevant to her.


    Once everyone gathered, Elder Xueya from the Blood Wing Clan and Elder Tianhuo from the Nine Flames Clan began collecting and distributing the unclaimed "Divine Light Clusters" to recognize their masters.


    In the crowd.


    Ye Chen''s gaze turned towards the eighteen Nine Star Sovereigns of the two clans.


    Seeing eighteen Nine Star Sovereigns at once, even the powerful Ye Chen was somewhat shaken.


    After all, Ye Chen had never seen so many Nine Star Sovereigns at one time!


    Ye Chen once again recognized the power of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom."


    "Alright, now that everyone is here, we should enter the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''."


    Once all the Divine Light Clusters recognized their masters, the leader of the Blood Wing Clan, Elder Xueya, glanced at Elder Tianhuo of the Nine Flames Clan, saying, "Tianhuo, please go ahead!"


    Elder Tianhuo also smiled gently, "Xueya, after you!"


    Though the leaders were very polite, everyone knew it was just superficial politeness. Within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," to fight for the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" and other Polar Sky Level Divine Fires and objects, conflict and even killing were inevitable.


    At this moment of moving forward, other Nine Star Sovereigns swiftly flew back to their respective groups.


    Cai Meng approached Ye Chen and the members of the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion," saying to Ye Chen and others, "Once inside the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' stay by my side! Do not act alone unless I instruct you."


    "Yes, Pavilion Master!" The Immortal Divine Venerates of the Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion all nodded.


    Ye Chen also nodded.


    "Now, remember the spell I taught you, activate the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order,'' and follow the main group into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''" Cai Meng transmitted this message to everyone.


    As Cai Meng transmitted the message, other Nine Star Sovereigns also communicated with their subordinates.


    Finally, after the transmission, led by Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya, members of both clans started along the "Ancient Heavenly Path" towards the massive black vortex of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    In no time.


    The two clans'' eighteen Nine Star Sovereigns and one hundred and sixty-two individuals below the Sovereign Realm completely entered the black vortex of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    From outside the starry sky, they were no longer visible.


    Walking on the "Ancient Heavenly Path," protected by the spell to activate the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order," Ye Chen found himself seemingly walking through a sea of fire.


    Everything around was unclear, and even other people became invisible once entering the "Ancient Heavenly Path."


    Cai Meng had already explained this to him, so Ye Chen wasn''t worried.


    Ye Chen knew that after walking for approximately two hours, they would reach a Teleportation Divine Formation and be directly transmitted into the internal world of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" to regroup.


    Ye Chen continued moving.


    After two hours, he indeed saw a Teleportation Divine Formation.


    Ye Chen stepped into the Teleportation Divine Formation, and upon activating his "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order," he vanished from the array.


    The next moment, as Ye Chen regained consciousness, he found himself in a vast valley.


    With a glance, Ye Chen was suddenly startled, realizing that he was the only one in the entire valley!


    "What''s going on?"


    "Didn''t Senior Cai Meng say that once everyone enters the internal world of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' they will be transmitted together, and then proceed towards the giant peak where the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' is located? Why am I the only one here?!"


    Ye Chen wasn''t the only one shocked.


    At this moment, everyone who entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," whether it was Elder Tianhuo, Elder Xueya, or other individuals below the Sovereign Realm, all had their expressions drastically change.


    Because everyone discovered that upon entering the internal world of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," they appeared alone in one location without anyone else around!


    "This is not good; this situation is different from any previous occurrence!"


    "There is a change inside the Ancient Forbidden Grounds!"


    "It''s different now!"


    Elder Tianhuo, looking at the vast ocean before him, and Elder Xueya, staring at the ice-cold snow-capped peak he stood on, both exclaimed in shock!

 Chapter 985 - 935: Nine Beasts Cauldron and Nine Profound Threads

    Not only were Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya shocked.


    All the Nine-Star Sovereigns who had once entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" were astonished.


    When they entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" back then, they gathered together in a large canyon.


    But now, their current locations are completely different from before!


    Even the ancient temple peak, which contained the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" and was visible from afar, is now unseen.


    No one knows where they are or how to proceed towards the mountain peak where the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" resides.


    Looking down from the Void Heaven over the entire "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    One can see that countless locations previously deemed forbidden grounds have been opened.


    Currently, eighteen Sovereigns from the "Blood Wing Clan" and "Nine Flames Clan" are scattered across eighteen different areas.


    And outside the areas where the eighteen Sovereigns are located, one hundred and sixty-two personnel below the Sovereign Realm, just like Ye Chen, are scattered across various valleys.


    Cai Meng''er, Cai Xiao''er, Xueling Chan, Blood Flying Yan, and others are each in their own valley.


    At this moment, not only did Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er''s complexions change drastically, but even the always composed Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan looked utterly astonished.


    After all, they initially thought they would be with the Nine-Star Sovereigns, but now they find themselves alone in a valley, uncertain of what events might unfold next.


    Just when everyone who entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" had dispersed and didn''t know how to act, nor dared to act rashly.


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    Suddenly, thunderous sounds emanated from above the Void Heaven in every location where everyone stood.


    The one hundred eighty personnel, including the eighteen Nine-Star Sovereigns who entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," all looked up towards the Void Heaven, and right then, they saw a gigantic Ancient Stele descending directly from the sky, arriving at the location where they stood.


    "There are words on this Ancient Stele!"


    Once the Ancient Stele was embedded in the ground of their respective locations, everyone cautiously approached the Ancient Stele in their area.


    In Ye Chen''s valley.


    Ye Chen also saw the Ancient Stele descending from the sky and noticed the words on it.


    "Ye Chen, be cautious,"


    Seeing Ye Chen approaching the Ancient Stele, Xiaojiu''s voice directly appeared in Ye Chen''s mind.


    At this time, Ye Chen was alone in the valley, accompanied only by Xiaojiu and the little monkey, the two Spirit Beasts following him.


    Ye Chen nodded and walked to the side of the Ancient Stele.


    Then, Ye Chen began to examine the words on the Ancient Stele.


    The more he read, the more Ye Chen''s brows furrowed. By the time he finished reading the words on the Ancient Stele, Ye Chen finally understood what was happening.


    The beginning of the Ancient Stele stated: This instance of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" is entirely different from before!


    The Ancient Stele explicitly stated that all who came to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" would soon receive a "Nine Beasts Cauldron," and in the upcoming trials, everyone would encounter attacks from nine different Exotic Beasts.


    Only by killing the Exotic Beasts and capturing the "Beast Spirits" of the nine different Exotic Beasts, and placing them into the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," can the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" be truly activated.


    With an activated "Nine Beasts Cauldron" in hand, one can finally step into the Ancient Temple possessing the Unsurpassed Divine Fire.


    The Ancient Stele specifically mentioned that this time, those of the Sovereign Realm and below would face their crises separately.


    The Sovereign Realm personnel would face the assaults from the nine Exotic Beasts individually. If they could overcome the assault and activate the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," these Sovereign Realm personnel would meet finally in an Ancient Temple.


    Whereas those below the Sovereign Realm would initially be scattered in different areas, but as they ventured further, they would congregate. Eventually, all who survive till the end and activate the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" below the Sovereign Realm would enter another Ancient Temple.


    Furthermore, the Ancient Stele mentioned an item named ¡ª "Nine Mystic Threads."


    The Nine Beasts Cauldron is merely the token for everyone to slay Exotic Beasts and enter the Ancient Temple.


    However, the "Nine Mystic Threads" is the key to ultimately acquiring the Unsurpassed Divine Fire hidden within the Ancient Temple.


    The Ancient Stele stated that "Nine Mystic Threads" would appear separately after the nine Exotic Beasts appear, with varying grades, and it depends on one''s insight and strength to find the right grade of "Nine Mystic Threads."


    The higher the grade of "Nine Mystic Threads," the greater the likelihood of acquiring the Unsurpassed Divine Fire hidden within the Ancient Temple.


    Upon seeing this, the eighteen Nine-Star Sovereigns were utterly shocked!


    They finally understood why they had never been able to acquire the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire." It turns out, one must rely on the "Nine Mystic Threads" to retrieve the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire."


    Even more shocking for the Nine-Star Sovereigns was that the Ancient Stele mentioned the subdivision of those in the Sovereign Realm and below into two different Ancient Temples.


    Two Ancient Temples!


    It must be known that when these Nine-Star Sovereigns had come to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" before, they only discovered one Ancient Temple, and after seeing the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" inside, it emerged in the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List."


    Now, the Ancient Stele surprisingly states there are two Ancient Temples. Could there be another Unsurpassed Divine Fire yet to appear?!


    Is the other undiscovered Divine Fire stronger or weaker than the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" that ranks third on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List?


    No one knows.


    "I wonder if our Sovereign finally entered the ancient temple where the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' resides, or another ancient temple we have never seen before."


    "No wonder the rules of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' restrict the entry of individuals in the Sovereign Realm and below. It turns out there will be different encounters for two groups of people in the end!"


    The Nine-Star Sovereigns pondered in their hearts.


    The Sovereigns knew that under these circumstances, they could only act on their own, striving to activate the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" to obtain the "Nine Profound Threads" as preparation for entering the ancient temple to acquire the Divine Fire in the future.


    As for those below the Sovereign Realm, it all depends on their fortune.


    "Fortunately, even though the Sovereigns and those below them separated to take action, our ''Blood Wing Clan'' has Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan. They are top talents specially cultivated by our ancestral master. When they compete with those below the Sovereign Realm from the ''Nine Flames Clan,'' they''re absolutely not afraid!"


    "As long as Ling Chan and Flying Yan survive the onslaught of the nine Exotic Beasts, activate the ''Nine Beasts Cauldron,'' and obtain the ''Nine Profound Threads,'' ultimately, the Divine Fire from the other ancient temple is most likely to fall into their hands!"


    The leading figure of the Blood Wing Clan, Elder Xueya, thought to himself.


    Meanwhile, on the Nine Flames Clan''s side, Elder Tianhuo frowned tightly: "Sovereigns face crises alone, depending on their respective strengths. But as those below the Sovereign Realm venture further, they will increasingly gather together, and in that case, there will certainly be mutual slaughter."


    "In the past, although our ''Nine Flames Clan'' and the ''Blood Wing Clan'' had enmity and conflict, with the Sovereigns present, no one dared to act rashly. But this time, with no Sovereigns around, it''s likely people from both sides will have no scruples and will fight to the death to seize the supreme Divine Fire inside the ancient temple."


    "Even though our clan has many powerful individuals below the Sovereign Realm, so does the Blood Wing Clan. Plus, with the nine Exotic Beasts attacking, who knows how many will survive this time."


    Among the Nine-Star Sovereigns, the most worried one was Cai Meng.


    This time, he brought his two daughters, Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''


    If he had known earlier that the Sovereigns and those below would be separated, he wouldn''t let his two daughters take such a risk, even if it meant risking his own life!


    "Although Xiao''er''s realm is lower than Meng''er''s, she has the ''Nine Spirits Divine Body'' and has cultivated many Polar Sky Level Divine Fires, making her strength somewhat superior to Meng''er. I am most worried about Meng''er."


    Cai Meng''er is in the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, with actual combat power only able to match the mid-level Immortal Divine Venerable tier, making her one of the weakest among the many individuals below the Sovereign Realm this time.


    How could Cai Meng not worry?


    "And there''s Ye Chen."


    "I originally promised to look after him, and now that we''re separated, I don''t know if he can withstand the onslaught of the nine Exotic Beasts."


    "Xiao''er says he''s very formidable, and he managed to survive the ''Heavenly Cauldron Transformation'' on his own. I hope he can withstand this crisis too."


    Cai Meng worried about his two daughters, about Ye Chen, and about the Immortal Divine Venerables of the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion.''


    At this moment, Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, in their respective valleys, both had faces full of tension.


    They didn''t know whether the nine Exotic Beasts they would face were formidable.


    They didn''t know if they would survive to the end.


    "Father."


    "Sister."


    Cai Meng''er furrowed her delicate brows, murmuring softly.


    "Sister, you must be careful and strive for us to meet early."


    "And Brother Ye Chen, Brother Ye Chen is so powerful. He will definitely overcome countless crises. I hope to meet Brother Ye Chen soon. It would be great to have him by my side then."


    "Father is a Nine-Star Sovereign, facing the nine Exotic Beasts alone. In the end, we will not enter the same ancient temple. I''m afraid we''ll only be able to meet Father when we leave the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' and I don''t know if Father can be safe, or if we can be safe."


    Little lass Cai Xiao''er, countless thoughts flashed in her mind.


    At this moment, what Elder Xueya thought about Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, they both saw the words on the Ancient Stele, their eyes gleaming with excitement.


    Although they didn''t know what level the nine Exotic Beasts were, since there was a crisis test set up for those below the Sovereign Realm here, both of them were absolutely strong in that category and felt confident they could overcome the crisis.


    What mattered more in their minds was the other ancient temple mentioned on the Ancient Stele and the Divine Fire inside it.


    Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan both knew of the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" and the ancient temple where it resided. Now, since the Sovereigns and those below were moving separately and would enter different ancient temples, both of them were determined¡ªthey must seize the supreme Divine Fire within the temple meant for individuals below the Sovereign Realm!


    That kind of Divine Fire is very likely the Ancient Temple Spirit Fire, or even another undiscovered Divine Fire more powerful than the Ancient Temple Spirit Fire!


    Thinking of this, Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan looked at their respective valleys with different eyes.


    Both couldn''t wait to slay the nine Exotic Beasts and reach that ancient temple meant for them as soon as possible!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    As all the Sovereigns and those below the Sovereign Realm, upon seeing the Ancient Stele, had various thoughts.


    Soon, the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" mentioned on the Ancient Stele flew directly from the stele into everyone''s hands.


    As the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" flew out, everyone sensed a feeling.


    The first kind of Exotic Beast they would face was about to appear!

 Chapter 986 - 936: 9 Spots

    The valley where Ye Chen was located.


    When the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" landed in Ye Chen''s hands, he found that the cauldron was only the size of a palm, yet it was engraved with the images of nine exotic beasts.


    Seeing these images, Ye Chen narrowed his eyes; these nine exotic beast engravings were exactly the same as the nine-headed exotic beasts he had seen earlier on the "Heaven Cauldron"!


    Though he couldn''t recognize what these nine exotic beasts were, it was clear that they had a great connection with the "Heaven Cauldron" and the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds"!


    At this moment, of the nine images on the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," eight were of normal colors, but one exotic beast image suddenly started to flicker, emitting a mysterious cold light.


    Ye Chen looked at this exotic beast image and saw it was a wolf-like creature.


    However, unlike a normal wolf beast, this wolf-like exotic beast had three heads, revealing six terrifying fangs, and also had a pair of serrated wings.


    "Fire Winged Tusked Beast."


    As Ye Chen studied this exotic beast image that suddenly emitted a cold light, an inexplicable message emanated from the "Nine Beasts Cauldron."


    Ye Chen''s heart shook, and he immediately knew that the first kind of slaughter beast he had to face was probably this "Fire Winged Tusked Beast."


    Awooo! Awooo! Awooo!


    Just as Ye Chen flipped over his hand and put away the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," he heard the sound of wolf howls coming from the front of the valley.


    In the next moment, as many as thirty-six wolf-like exotic beasts flashed out from the front, appearing before Ye Chen.


    From the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," the "Fire Winged Tusked Beast" was shown as just a small image.


    But when these thirty-six "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts" appeared before Ye Chen, he discovered that each of these exotic beasts was over a hundred feet tall.


    Their three heads and six terrifying fangs all emitted a cold light, and more notably, their serrated wings were like two blazing flames, radiating a fiery red glow.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    As Ye Chen observed these "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts," they spread their wings and flew up from Void Heaven, rushing towards Ye Chen.


    Seeing the thirty-six "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts" forming a siege and charging at him, Ye Chen remained unperturbed.


    He pointed his finger at these "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts."


    Pft! Pft! Pft! Pft!


    Thirty-six sword lights, like thirty-six bolts of lightning, directly struck these thirty-six "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts."


    In an instant, these thirty-six "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts" were slain by Ye Chen on the spot!


    "This first exotic beast is only at the ''Lower Immortal Divine Venerable'' level of battle power, posing no threat to me."


    "It seems that the initial exotic beasts in this Nine Beasts onslaught are not too formidable."


    Ye Chen''s figure flickered, and he arrived beside the corpses of these thirty-six "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts."


    However, next, Ye Chen frowned.


    Because Ye Chen did not find the "Beast Spirit" mentioned on the Ancient Stele on these "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts" corpses.


    According to the Ancient Stele, only by obtaining the "Beast Spirit" of nine different exotic beasts and placing them into the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" can the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" be activated, allowing entry into the Ancient Temple with the Unsurpassed Divine Fire.


    Now, the absence of a "Beast Spirit" from the first exotic beast clearly indicated that Ye Chen had not completed the task of slaying the first exotic beast.


    "It seems acquiring a ''Beast Spirit'' isn''t that easy. There must be other places with these ''Fire Winged Tusked Beasts''."


    Ye Chen''s figure shook and disappeared from where he stood.


    In the next moment, he appeared in another area of the vast valley, and Ye Chen saw three "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts" lying in that area.


    This vast valley was about tens of thousands of miles across.


    But curiously, the valley was filled with fiery red fog, significantly affecting Divine Sense detection. With Ye Chen''s Divine Soul strength, his Divine Sense detection in the valley could only cover a few hundred miles.


    After Ye Chen flew across ten different areas and killed over two hundred "Fire Winged Tusked Beasts," he finally found the "Beast Spirit" described on the Ancient Stele on one "Fire Winged Tusked Beast''s" corpse¡ªa beast soul shadow identical to the "Fire Winged Tusked Beast," but in the form of mist.


    Ye Chen directly grabbed the "Beast Spirit," flipped his hand, and the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" appeared in his hand; he then placed the first "Beast Spirit" into the "Nine Beasts Cauldron."


    Swoosh!


    At the moment the "Fire Winged Tusked Beast" Beast Spirit was placed into the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," the cold light on the "Fire Winged Tusked Beast" image vanished, replaced by the image turning from normal black to fiery red.


    This clearly indicated that the task of the first exotic beast had been completed by Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen also noticed that after completing the task of the first exotic beast, the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" emitted an inexplicable guidance.


    A direction pointing towards the "Ancient Temple."


    Ye Chen understood that with this guidance, he could enter the next area to face the next exotic beast.


    "According to what was said on the Ancient Stele earlier, those below the Sovereign Realm will gradually converge, so perhaps in the next area, I will encounter others."


    "But there''s no rush to head directly to the next area."


    "The Ancient Stele mentioned that when the nine kinds of exotic beasts appear, the ''Nine Profound Threads,'' which can collect the ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' from the ''Ancient Temple,'' will also appear separately."


    "The higher the grade of the ''Nine Mystic Threads'', the greater the probability of obtaining the ''Legendary Divine Fire'' in the Ancient Temple."


    "Now, however, we must search for the best first type of ''Nine Mystic Threads'' in this initial area!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen slayed the ''Firewing Fang Beast'' and obtained the ''Beast Spirit'', having only covered about a tenth of the initial area''s space.


    There were still many areas he hadn''t explored.


    The next moment, Ye Chen disappeared from the spot once more.


    About an hour later, Ye Chen finally walked out of this first gigantic valley and entered into a massive canyon.


    In Ye Chen''s hand was a strand of "fire red silk thread," which he continuously examined.


    "Nine Mystic Threads."


    "This is what the Ancient Stele described as the first type of Nine Mystic Threads¡ªthe ''Fire Red Nine Mysteries Silk''."


    "I''ve searched every part of the gigantic valley, and found hundreds of these Nine Mystic Threads, yet the strand in my hand is the most mystical."


    "And this strand of ''Nine Mystic Threads'' was the hardest to acquire. It was hidden in a mysterious stone cave space. If not for my strong Divine Soul, I might not have discovered it."


    "I don''t even know what grade this ''Nine Mystic Threads'' has reached."


    Ye Chen discovered that the strand of "Fire Red Nine Mystic Threads" in his hand was engraved with nine spots.


    Ye Chen speculated that this probably represented the grade of the ''Fire Red Nine Mystic Threads''.


    ...


    What Ye Chen didn''t know was that at this time, in other valleys, many martial artists below the Sovereign Realm had also obtained the ''Fire Red Nine Mystic Threads''.


    The first type of Exotic Beast, the ''Firewing Fang Beast'', all had Lower Immortal Divine Venerable level combat power. For the members of the Blood Wing Clan and Nine Flames Clan who entered, they posed no threat, allowing everyone to slay them smoothly and ultimately obtain the ''Beast Spirit''.


    However, the ''Fire Red Nine Mystic Threads'' that everyone obtained varied greatly.


    Some searched all the valley areas and finally found what they considered the most precious ''Fire Red Nine Mystic Threads''.


    Others were obstructed by many areas within the valley, unable to enter, and could only search within the range they could traverse, ultimately seizing the best ''Nine Mystic Threads'' they could find.


    If Ye Chen could see all the Nine Mystic Threads in everyone''s hands, he would surely find that everyone''s first type of Nine Mystic Threads was red in color, with spots engraved on them.


    But unlike the nine-spotted ''Fire Red Nine Mystic Threads'' he acquired, most of the other people''s Nine Mystic Threads had fewer than six spots, with only a little over twenty percent having more than six spots.


    Like Ye Chen, only eight people obtained the nine-spotted ones.


    Among them, the little girl Cai Xiao''er, and the Blood Wing Clan''s top trainees Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, all obtained nine-spotted ''Fire Red Nine Mystic Threads''.


    "Fortunately, my ''Nine Spirits Divine Body'' can sense things related to fire, allowing me to discover this strand of ''Nine Mystic Threads''." Cai Xiao''er nodded her little head in satisfaction as she looked at the Nine Mystic Threads in her hand.


    Then she looked ahead on her path.


    In front of her, like Ye Chen, she also faced a vast canyon area.


    Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan both stood outside two gigantic canyons at this moment.


    As they looked at the ''Nine Mystic Threads'' they just obtained from the first area, a gleam flashed in their eyes: "Nine is a special number. These nine spots most likely represent the highest grade of the ''Nine Mystic Threads''."


    "My power allowed me to thoroughly search all areas of the first valley. With my unique Divine Skills, I didn''t miss even the hidden areas."


    "There''s no way anyone found a Nine Mystic Threads better than mine!"


    "Hmph, in total, nine types of Exotic Beasts must be slain to obtain nine types of Nine Mystic Threads. Later on, I''ll definitely find the other eight most precious Nine Mystic Threads as well."


    "In the end, the Legendary Divine Fire in the Ancient Temple will definitely be mine!"


    Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan both carried absolute confidence.


    ...


    Upon entering the second area¡ªthe gigantic canyon, Ye Chen immediately felt that his Divine Sense was being suppressed more severely, only able to probe a few dozen miles around.


    Ye Chen also noticed that the second pattern on the ''Nine Beast Cauldron'' emitted a chilling light.


    This second pattern depicted an Exotic Beast resembling a spider, but unlike normal spiders, its body was engraved with a special flame spiral, looking extremely bizarre.


    "Flame Devouring Demon Spider."


    Ye Chen also sensed the name of this Exotic Beast from the ''Nine Beast Cauldron''.


    As Ye Chen walked about a few hundred feet deep into the second area¡ªthe gigantic canyon, suddenly, an enormous spider web over a hundred feet wide descended from the sky, attempting to completely ensnare Ye Chen within it.


    Looking up through the web, he saw an enormous spider over dozens of feet tall with eight legs emerging.


    This giant spider''s body displayed a special flame spiral on its stomach and back.


    Even from below, Ye Chen could clearly see that these were bizarre flame spirals of a dark blue color.


    Ye Chen also found out that this giant spider''s combat power was slightly stronger than the first type of Exotic Beast, the ''Firewing Fang Beast'', reaching the Mid Immortal Divine Venerable level directly.

 Chapter 987 - 937 Encounter

    However, even though this "Flame Devouring Demon Spider" is stronger than the "Fire Winged Tusked Beast," for Ye Chen, it poses no pressure at all.


    Middle-ranked Immortal Divine Venerable?


    Even if countless upper-ranked Immortal Divine Venerable demons attacked together, Ye Chen would not fear them in the slightest, let alone this single middle-ranked Immortal Divine Venerable demon.


    Seeing the enormous web of over a hundred feet wide descending from the sky, Ye Chen stood below, neither dodging nor evading.


    With a flick of his sleeve, the attack method "Limitless Wind Blade" of the Eternal God Body''s "Wind Divine Pattern" was unleashed.


    In an instant, the entire area within ten thousand feet of the canyon where Ye Chen was located was completely engulfed by endless violent wind blades!


    The Flame Devouring Demon Spider''s web, which was extremely difficult for others to break, instantly turned to dust in the endless violent wind blades, and the Flame Devouring Demon Spider, which had reached the middle-ranked Immortal Divine Venerable combat power, was directly slain by Ye Chen in the void with a piercing scream!


    This "Flame Devouring Demon Spider" did not even have the slightest power to retaliate and was killed instantly!


    Ye Chen glanced toward the place where the "Flame Devouring Demon Spider" died, but he did not see any trace of the "Beast Spirit."


    "It seems that to obtain the ''Beast Spirit'' in this second area, just like in the first area, I need to slay more of these Exotic Beasts to find it."


    Ye Chen''s Divine Sense surged, while carefully searching for the "blue Nine Profound Threads" that might appear in the second area, he activated the speed method "Extreme Wind Wings" of the Eternal God Body''s "Wind Divine Pattern" and began to fly forward.


    In this second area, the gigantic canyon was extremely long, with countless intersecting canyons.


    After Ye Chen had slain over thirty "Flame Devouring Demon Spiders" and found a few strands of "blue Nine Profound Threads" that bore five spots, two canyon routes appeared to the left and right in front of him.


    Ye Chen used his Divine Sense to explore tens of miles to both sides, then moved into the new large canyon on the left.


    After navigating four or five intersecting canyon junctions, Ye Chen finally obtained the "Beast Spirit" after slaying the seventy-eighth "Flame Devouring Demon Spider."


    When the "Beast Spirit" was placed in the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," the second pattern¡ªthe pattern of the "Flame Devouring Demon Spider," also finally lit up on the "Nine Beasts Cauldron."


    At the same time, Ye Chen, through the guidance of the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," sensed the third area ahead in the routes of countless canyons was calling to him.


    However, Ye Chen did not head directly to the third area.


    He still had to find the highest quality "Nine Profound Threads"!


    "Continue forward."


    "The ''Six Spots'' Nine Profound Threads in my hand now are stronger than the four spots and five spots Nine Profound Threads I found before, indicating that these spots likely represent the grade of the Nine Profound Threads."


    "In the first ''Fire Winged Tusked Beast'' area, I found the ''nine spots'' of ''Fire Red Nine Mysteries Silk.'' In this second ''Flame Devouring Demon Spider'' area, I''ve only found the six spots ''blue Nine Profound Threads,'' which is far from enough!"


    Ye Chen shot forward again.


    After passing several intersecting canyon junctions, as Ye Chen was using his Divine Sense to explore the front at a junction, his eyes suddenly brightened: "Hmm? Finally encountered others, could it be her?"


    ...


    Cai Meng''er was both panicked and anxious at the moment.


    What was panicking was, her combat power was at the middle-ranking Immortal Divine Venerable level, and her father, "Nine Star Sovereign Cai Meng," was supposed to look after her, yet from the beginning, she got separated from her father. She was venturing alone, and as soon as she arrived in the second area, the Exotic Beasts she faced were already at the middle-ranking Immortal Divine Venerable level.


    Even though she hadn''t encountered danger yet, Cai Meng''er couldn''t suppress her panic, for if more such Exotic Beasts came, she would be at risk of losing her life at any moment!


    Moreover, according to the rules of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," the further forward, the more likely it is to encounter other participants. If she encountered a "Blood Wing Clan" enemy, that would also pose a life-threatening crisis!


    This, of course, kept Cai Meng''er in constant fear and anxiety!


    What worried Cai Meng''er was that now she faced a problem.


    On the cliff wall of the canyon before her was a sealed cave. Inside, she distinctly saw a strand of "blue Nine Profound Threads" marked with seven spots, yet she couldn''t break the seal to obtain the "Nine Profound Threads" inside.


    Seven spots!


    Currently, the best "blue Nine Profound Threads" in Cai Meng''er''s possession was marked with only four spots. If she could obtain the seven spots blue Nine Profound Threads, it would undoubtedly enhance the quality of her second Nine Profound Thread to a whole new level.


    Just as Cai Meng''er faced the "seven spots blue Nine Profound Threads" in a quandary, unable to obtain it and unwilling to leave, she suddenly sensed that someone had intruded within the range of her Divine Sense!


    "Someone is coming?!"


    Cai Meng''er''s heart jolted.


    It''s important to know that among those entering the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" this time, her strength was nearly the weakest. If she encountered a formidable opponent, especially a member of the Blood Wing Clan, she would indeed face great danger!


    Cai Meng''er suddenly looked toward the direction of the intruder.


    At this sight, Cai Meng''er cried out in surprise: "Ye Chen, is it you?!"


    Who came before Cai Meng''er was, of course, Ye Chen, who was also venturing in the second area.


    Cai Meng''er''s Divine Sense exploration range was suppressed within a few miles, so she discovered Ye Chen quite late. However, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense exploration range was tens of miles around, much broader than Cai Meng''er''s. He had noticed Cai Meng''er as early as the canyon intersection.


    Ye Chen flew directly to Cai Meng''er''s side.


    "Miss Meng''er, what''s going on?"


    Ye Chen, having noticed that Cai Meng''er had been standing in this territory, asked her as soon as he landed by her side.


    Looking at Ye Chen before her, Cai Meng''er felt truly excited in her heart.


    Others might not know how formidable Ye Chen is, but she certainly does!


    The first time she met Ye Chen at the "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion," she sensed that Ye Chen''s combat power far surpassed hers. Later, Ye Chen alone acquired eighteen Divine Light Clusters from another Heaven Cauldron on the Dark Swamp Stars.


    In Cai Meng''er''s eyes, she had already regarded Ye Chen as the absolute pinnacle figure at the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable combat power tier!


    Encountering Ye Chen meant that Cai Meng''er''s dangers were greatly reduced.


    Although her father wasn''t there to protect her, as long as she had Ye Chen with her in this area below the Sovereign Realm, she didn''t have to fear countless others!


    Hearing Ye Chen''s question, Cai Meng''er quickly pointed to the cave on the canyon wall where the Nine Profound Threads were sealed and said, "Ye Chen, there are ''Nine Profound Threads'' there."


    "A blue Nine Profound Thread with seven spots?"


    At this moment, Ye Chen also noticed the strand of Nine Profound Threads sealed inside the cave atop the canyon.


    He finally understood why Cai Meng''er had been staying here without leaving; obviously, this young girl was unwilling to give up on retrieving the Nine Profound Threads inside the cave.


    "Let me give it a try."


    Ye Chen moved in a flash and flew up to the void outside the cave.


    Watching Ye Chen''s actions, Cai Meng''er''s heart was filled with anticipation.


    She had always heard about Ye Chen''s prowess, even learning about Ye Chen capturing the eighteen Divine Light Clusters in the Heaven Cauldron through her sister, Cai Xiao''er.


    Cai Meng''er hadn''t yet seen Ye Chen in action.


    She couldn''t wait to see Ye Chen''s truly extraordinary methods.


    "The seal on that cave, I''m afraid only combat power at the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level could break it. I wonder what methods Ye Chen will use to inspire such power."


    Amid Cai Meng''er''s anticipation, she saw that Ye Chen, facing the cave''s seal, didn''t deploy any grand strategy, but simply pointed a finger lightly at the seal.


    Puff!


    Suddenly, a flash of sword light burst out like lightning, directly striking the seal with raw power, where the sword light made contact, a blinding light flared.


    Amid the flashing light, the cave''s seal that Cai Meng''er couldn''t break despite countless efforts, was utterly shattered by Ye Chen''s single move, revealing the strand of blue Nine Profound Threads with seven spots inside the cave!


    Ye Chen reached out and grabbed the strand of blue Nine Profound Threads with seven spots.


    "Miss Meng''er, please take this strand of Nine Profound Threads." Ye Chen handed the Nine Profound Threads to Cai Meng''er.


    Even as Ye Chen handed over the Nine Profound Threads, Cai Meng''er''s head was still in a bit of a daze.


    She looked at Ye Chen, her beautiful eyes full of disbelief, her rosy lips slightly parted: "Ye Chen, you broke the seal with just one move!"


    Seeing in person is believing.


    Even though she already knew Ye Chen was formidable, seeing Ye Chen truly in action for the first time, Cai Meng''er was utterly shocked.


    Ye Chen looked at the girl before him and nodded with a smile.


    Cai Meng''er, clad in white, with a graceful figure, had a dot of cinnabar on her forehead. Her face was extremely beautiful, with the natural allure of the Nine-Colored Sky-Swallowing Python from the Nine Flames Clan, her face showing a look of surprise was quite cute.


    "This Nine Profound Thread, you want to give it to me?" Startled, seeing the Nine Profound Thread Ye Chen handed over, Cai Meng''er came to her senses and quickly shook her head, "Ye Chen, this Nine Profound Thread was obtained by you, it should belong to you."


    Ye Chen, however, pulled Cai Meng''er''s soft hand, directly placing the Nine Profound Threads into her hand.


    "You keep it first, we''ll divide it later when we find better Nine Profound Threads."


    Ye Chen looked towards the front of the canyon.


    "Better Nine Profound Threads?"


    Cai Meng''er looked at Ye Chen, then towards the region ahead, the second area she hadn''t yet ventured into, and the young girl nodded.


    She knew with Ye Chen''s strength, he would definitely find better Nine Profound Threads!


    The two of them flew forward together.


    "Miss Meng''er, have you obtained the second ''Beast Spirit'' yet?" Ye Chen asked.


    Cai Meng''er shook her head dejectedly, "I''ve slain over thirty ''Flame Devouring Demon Spiders'', but still haven''t found a ''Beast Spirit''."


    "Then let''s search for Nine Profound Threads while slaying the Flame Devouring Demon Spiders to find Beast Spirits," Ye Chen said with a smile.


    With Ye Chen by her side, Cai Meng''er finally knew how delightful it was to travel with a mighty companion!


    Originally, dealing with mid-level Immortal Divine Venerable level "Flame Devouring Demon Spiders" alone would have taken Cai Meng''er a long time considering her combat power.


    But with Ye Chen beside her, even just his released aura scared numerous "Flame Devouring Demon Spiders" into prostrating on the ground, not daring to move!


    And for Cai Meng''er, slaying the "Flame Devouring Demon Spiders" became much easier.


    After flying through three canyon sections, Cai Meng''er successfully obtained the Beast Spirit from the "Flame Devouring Demon Spider."


    The tasks for the two of them in this second realm were only left with finding higher-level blue Nine Profound Threads.

 Chapter 988 - 938: Killing Intent Emerges

    Continuing forward, Ye Chen suddenly stopped below a cliff in the gorge.


    "What''s wrong, Ye Chen?" Cai Meng''er asked Ye Chen.


    A flash of essence in Ye Chen''s eyes: "This area should contain the exceedingly precious ''blue nine-spot silk.''


    "Exceedingly precious blue nine-spot silk?" Cai Meng''er was stunned.


    The young lady knew that even when they gathered seven-spot blue silk earlier, Ye Chen did not say it was extraordinarily precious.


    Could it be that there is eight-spot or even nine-spot blue silk here?!


    "But, I haven''t discovered anything." Cai Meng''er looked around, wondering aloud.


    The girl looked toward Ye Chen, wanting to see how he would act.


    At this moment, Ye Chen simply sat down cross-legged. With a "boom," his divine soul power shook, and an immense divine soul force began to meticulously search the surroundings.


    As Ye Chen was searching with his divine soul, Cai Meng''er felt a shock in her heart. She could sense that a mysterious pressure from his divine soul was making her mind and spirit tremble.


    "Such powerful divine soul force!"


    "Ye Chen''s divine soul is surprisingly strong!"


    Just standing nearby, she could feel the intense divine soul pressure. This was without Ye Chen targeting her. If he were to actually use a divine soul attack, Cai Meng''er felt she wouldn''t be able to withstand Ye Chen''s assault.


    It''s important to know that this wasn''t about divine body skills or divine power methods; it was divine soul techniques.


    To countless martial artists, divine soul attack methods are considered the weakest and hardest to cultivate. Yet Ye Chen''s divine soul was developed to such an extent.


    This astonished Cai Meng''er.


    What Cai Meng''er didn''t know was that Ye Chen''s divine soul had already undergone a qualitative leap during his exploration in the "Purple Ore Mystery Realm" of the Heavenly God Mountain, elevating to the strength of a "blue divine soul." Ye Chen had also mastered the powerful secret skills "Amethyst Soul Protection Skills" and "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills."


    At this moment, Ye Chen was using the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" to invoke his divine soul power for searching, naturally causing Cai Meng''er to feel enormous pressure!


    Amid Cai Meng''er''s shock, Ye Chen focused his entire divine soul on searching the cliff in the gorge within a range of tens of thousands of feet.


    Earlier, as Ye Chen passed by this area, he directly sensed an indefinable aura.


    The aura of the nine-spot silk!


    Had his divine soul not been strong enough, this inexplicable aura would likely have been easily overlooked. Although this aura flashed briefly and quickly disappeared, Ye Chen had a feeling that this aura absolutely belonged to the special nine-spot blue silk!


    And when Ye Chen looked around, unable to immediately ascertain the direction it emanated from, it strengthened his determination.


    If it weren''t for the nine-spot blue silk, it couldn''t evade his basic reconnaissance.


    That''s why Ye Chen started using his "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" for a meticulous search!


    Swoosh.


    Instantly, the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" swept across a large section of the gorge cliffs.


    If anyone could see the way Ye Chen''s divine soul explored, they would be horrified. The entire cliff within several thousand feet was directly scanned by Ye Chen''s divine soul force!


    The depth of this investigation was simply unbelievable!


    After Ye Chen meticulously searched five or six sections of cliff, his gaze directly locked onto a direction on the right cliff.


    "It''s there!"


    Boom.


    Ye Chen''s eyes focused on that area, and instantly the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" activated.


    Earlier, Ye Chen had only used the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" to invoke divine soul power for searching, not attacking. Now, as he truly displayed the attacking method of the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills," a blade-like purple glow swiftly appeared in the void, slashing toward the area Ye Chen found.


    The "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" driven divine soul power formed a dazzling purple blade light, which appeared in Cai Meng''er''s eyes as she widened her beautiful eyes.


    Cai Meng''er couldn''t believe that divine soul force alone could be condensed into such a level of killing power!


    Even combining all her essence, qi, and spirit methods and power together wouldn''t reach this level of killing strength!


    What shocked Cai Meng''er even more was that as the dazzling purple blade light Ye Chen drove reached the cliff, it seemed to penetrate directly without visible collision, as if the purple blade light "seeped" into the cliff, but in this penetration, the cliff shattered instantly into powder.


    Bang!


    The entire cliff, visibly in a flash, was transformed into a huge circular pit, penetrating several thousand feet deep!


    Following that, as if drawn by Ye Chen''s divine soul force, a bolt of lightning-like light shot directly from the pit, trying to flee.


    At that moment, Ye Chen reached out with a large hand, grasping the lightning-like light out of the blue.


    When Cai Meng''er looked at his hand, she clearly saw it wasn''t lightning light, but rather a thread exuding blue divine light.


    Furthermore, it was adorned with nine spots.


    Nine-spot blue nine-silk!


    Ye Chen had truly found the immensely precious nine-silk!


    "Wow."


    "Hidden within thousands of feet deep in the cliff, and it''s blue nine-silk with nine spots."


    "This likely isn''t easily discovered by anyone else; even the top among the upper immortal divine venerables might not necessarily find it!"


    Cai Meng''er''s heart shook as she whispered.


    As Cai Meng''er was in shock, Ye Chen directly handed the nine-spot blue nine-silk over to her.


    Just as Cai Meng''er froze, not believing Ye Chen would give her the nine-spot blue silk, Ye Chen drove the dazzling purple blade light again toward that section.


    Moments later, two more deep pits, each thousands of feet deep, were blasted open, and two more lightning-like lights flew out.


    Finally, it transformed into two strands of blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots.


    Ye Chen not only found the blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots, but, with the one in Cai Meng''er''s hand, he had found three strands of blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots!


    "Three strands!"


    "This... this..."


    At this moment, Cai Meng''er was completely speechless.


    In the first realm, the most precious fire-red Nine Profound Threads she found had only eight spots, which had made her extremely excited at that time.


    Later, when she teamed up with Ye Chen, she heard that Ye Chen found the fire-red Nine Profound Threads with nine spots in the first realm.


    Cai Meng''er couldn''t have imagined that now, in the second realm, Ye Chen had found the blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots, and had found three of them at once!


    "Could it be that in the end, Ye Chen will be able to collect all nine types of ''nine spot'' Nine Profound Threads?!"


    "If that''s the case, then he might have the greatest hope of obtaining the Ancient Temple Divine Fire!"


    Cai Meng''er thought to herself.


    Three strands of blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots were enough for Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er to share.


    However, Ye Chen still did not head directly to the third realm.


    Ye Chen wanted to see if there might be blue Nine Profound Threads that exceeded the nine spots.


    After Ye Chen continued searching for half a day, traversing countless canyon realms without further discovery, he finally suspected that, just as he had predicted, nine spots might be the highest grade of Nine Profound Threads.


    "In nine realms, there are a total of nine types of Nine Profound Threads."


    "Now, it''s getting hard to find the second type of blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots in the second realm. Later, the other seven types of highest-grade Nine Profound Threads might be even harder to find."


    Although he successfully obtained two types of Nine Profound Threads with nine spots, Ye Chen remained cautious.


    Just as Ye Chen had suspected.


    In the second realm, in the canyons not connected to Ye Chen''s location, other Martial Artists below the Sovereign Realm from the Nine Flames Clan and the Blood Wing Clan also kept discovering blue Nine Profound Threads in the canyons.


    However, it wasn''t as easy to find as it was in the first realm.


    In the first realm, as many as eight people obtained the fire-red Nine Profound Threads with nine spots, but in the second realm, in the end, only four people found the blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots.


    Among these four, besides Ye Chen, there was only one person from the Nine Flames Clan, and the two from the Blood Wing Clan, Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan.


    Moreover, the clan member from the Nine Flames Clan, Xueling Chan, and Blood Flying Yan, all relied on a special secret treasure to discover the existence of the second type of blue Nine Profound Threads with nine spots.


    They made their way to the second realm.


    In the search for the Nine Profound Threads, the distance between Martial Artists continued to widen!


    ...


    "Let''s go."


    "Now that we''ve found the Nine Profound Threads in the second realm, it''s time to go to the third realm."


    Ye Chen said to Cai Meng''er.


    At this moment, Cai Meng''er was completely following Ye Chen''s lead and nodded repeatedly upon hearing his words.


    Both of them now had the guidance of the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" and directly identified the direction, flying towards the third realm.


    As they were about to reach the exit, they encountered another figure.


    It was a member of the Blood Wing Clan.


    And it was an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable of the Blood Wing Clan!


    This Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, just passing through from another canyon, also spotted Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er at this time.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen was at the Upper God King Realm and Cai Meng''er was at the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable of the Blood Wing Clan showed a trace of murderous intent in his eyes.


    "Hmm?"


    Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er landed and looked directly at this Upper Immortal Divine Venerable of the Blood Wing Clan.


    Ye Chen''s expression showed no fear.


    Cai Meng''er also moved closer to Ye Chen, looking at this Upper Immortal Divine Venerable of the Blood Wing Clan.


    However, after scrutinizing Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er for a few moments, this Upper Immortal Divine Venerable deeply concealed the murderous intent in his eyes, snorted coldly, and then flew towards the exit first.


    Finally, he disappeared at the exit.


    "Ye Chen." Cai Meng''er tugged at Ye Chen''s sleeve, "This person clearly showed murderous intent earlier. Why did he let us go in the end?"


    Cai Meng''er did not believe this person left because he discovered Ye Chen''s strength.


    If that were the case, he wouldn''t have dared to show any intent to kill, let alone snort coldly at the end.


    Daring to reveal murderous intent means he had already harbored a killing intention.


    "I''m afraid this person is very cautious and won''t make a move without absolute confidence," Ye Chen said to Cai Meng''er.


    Ye Chen had stopped earlier just to see what this Blood Wing Clan member intended to do.


    If this person dared to attack him and Cai Meng''er, Ye Chen wouldn''t mind eliminating him right there!


    "According to the rules of the Ancient Stele, everyone can only reach the third realm at most before the ninth day, and can proceed to the fourth realm on the tenth day. In that case, we''ll probably stay in the third realm for a long time, increasing the likelihood of encounters among those who enter."


    "I''m afraid once people gather in the third realm, real conflicts might arise."

 Chapter 989 - 939: Overwhelming

    Ye Chen''s prediction was correct.


    When the sub-Sovereign Realm members of the Blood Wing Clan and the Nine Flames Clan gradually entered the third area, the fierce battles indeed began to break out continuously.


    Unlike the first area where everyone was scattered across different valleys, by the second area, people started to encounter one another.


    Upon entering the third area, according to the Ancient Stele''s explanation, there are ten parallel spaces within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    It''s important to know that there are precisely 162 sub-Sovereign Realm members who entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    This means that, even if 162 people were evenly distributed into the ten parallel spaces of the third area, each one would have sixteen or seventeen people meeting each other.


    Of course, in reality, the distribution is not even. Some parallel spaces have many people entering, while others have few, which also results in differing strengths of the Blood Wing Clan and Nine Flames Clan members entering each parallel space.


    In one of the parallel spaces, as the participants gathered, nine Blood Wing Clan members eventually converged, while the Nine Flames Clan had only three members.


    Among those nine from the Blood Wing Clan was Xueling Chan, who was specially nurtured by the Blood Origin Divine Master, along with three extraordinarily strong Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    In contrast, the three from the Nine Flames Clan were significantly weaker, with two being formidable Upper Immortal Divine Venerables but unable to contend against the combined forces of the nine from the Blood Wing Clan; the other was merely a Lower Immortal Divine Venerable, completely no match for the enemy.


    As a result, under the leadership of Xueling Chan, when the nine from the Blood Wing Clan discovered the three from the Nine Flames Clan, Xueling Chan immediately and mercilessly slaughtered the three from the Nine Flames Clan on the spot!


    In the end, in this parallel space of the third area, only the nine from the Blood Wing Clan survived.


    In several other parallel spaces of the third area, the Blood Wing Clan similarly held the upper hand.


    This time, the Blood Wing Clan obtained 108 Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Orders from the six Heaven Cauldrons, with significantly more sub-Sovereign Realm members entering than the Nine Flames Clan, giving them a numerical advantage.


    After gaining the upper hand in these parallel spaces, the Blood Wing Clan similarly engaged in slaughter, resulting in many deaths on both sides, but with more Blood Wing Clan members surviving in the end.


    Of course, the Nine Flames Clan was not outmatched in every parallel space.


    In a parallel space in the center of the third area, twenty participants entered, including thirteen from the Nine Flames Clan and only seven from the Blood Wing Clan.


    In this place, the Nine Flames Clan laughed last.


    The little girl Cai Xiao''er was rather fortunate.


    Although she did not encounter Ye Chen like her sister Cai Meng''er, when she entered the parallel space of the third area, the strength of the gathered Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan members in that space was quite balanced.


    Both sides were wary of each other, so a fierce conflict did not occur.


    In the end, both sides acted separately, each seizing "Beast Spirits" and "Nine Profound Threads."


    ...


    The slaughter in the third area led to the continuous death of sub-Sovereign Realm members from both the Blood Wing Clan and the Nine Flames Clan.


    If someone could see the situation in all ten parallel spaces, they would certainly notice that in less than three days, over thirty people had already died in the slaughter!


    Moreover, as time passed, the death toll continued to rise.


    At this time, in the parallel space where Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er were located, the two sides similarly began a frontal clash!


    The parallel space in the third area where Ye Chen was located was a vast forest area.


    As soon as they entered the forest area, Cai Meng''er left the distinctive Nine Flames Clan contact signals everywhere.


    Two or three days later, five other Nine Flames Clan members who entered this area also joined up with Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er.


    At this point, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable from the Blood Wing Clan who had previously shown killing intent toward Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er also gathered with thirteen others from the Blood Wing Clan.


    Initially, both sides were still acting independently after gathering, but when the two parties explored the edge of a gigantic lake in the forest area, they suddenly saw each other!


    On the side of the Nine Flames Clan, there were a total of seven people, including Ye Chen.


    But on the side of the Blood Wing Clan, there were fourteen people in total, twice the number of the Nine Flames Clan!


    Additionally, there was Ye Chen, an Upper God King, and Cai Meng''er, an Earth Divine Venerable, two individuals with lower realms in the Nine Flames Clan''s team, which made the overall strength of the Nine Flames Clan appear much weaker.


    Whereas on the side of the Blood Wing Clan, they were all Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    The Blood Wing Clan had an overwhelming advantage over the Nine Flames Clan!


    "Nine Flames Clan people!"


    "Haha, only seven people. It seems, in this parallel space, we have the upper hand here."


    Upon seeing the seven from the Nine Flames Clan, the fourteen from the Blood Wing Clan brightened up, "Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh," and instantly, all fourteen flew toward Ye Chen and the others.


    Upon seeing their movements, Ye Chen remained calm; knowing Ye Chen''s strength, although Cai Meng''er felt a bit anxious inside, she also managed to maintain her composure.


    But the remaining members of the Nine Flames Clan were visibly shaken.


    Originally, the strength gap between the two clans'' powerhouses entering the Ancient Forbidden Grounds wasn''t too large, so when the other side had more people, it was easy for them to gain the upper hand.


    Seeing the fourteen from the Blood Wing Clan charging toward them, several members of the Nine Flames Clan immediately had thoughts of fleeing.


    Boom! Boom!


    They rushed back as their Divine Power surged.


    "Ye Chen," Cai Meng''er looked at Ye Chen worriedly.


    Seeing Ye Chen merely frown without making a move, Cai Meng''er also didn''t move.


    "Trying to escape?"


    The fourteen from the Blood Wing Clan, seeing that some of the Nine Flames Clan members were escaping, laughed out loud.


    They noticed the fear in their opponents'' expressions, which boosted their confidence even more.


    When they saw that Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er hadn''t moved, four of them charged directly at Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er, while the remaining ten chased after the five fleeing members.


    Among those advancing toward Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er was the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable from the Blood Wing Clan that Ye Chen had encountered in the second area.


    "These two, are they scared stiff?" one person said.


    "I met them before, and I refrained from acting then to avoid trouble, and because I was in a hurry to get to the third area. Now, with the four of us Upper Immortal Divine Venerables acting together, it will be easy to kill them!" The Upper Immortal Divine Venerable who had met Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er before laughed coldly.


    However, his cold smile did not last long; in the next moment, a look of astonishment appeared on his face.


    Because he saw that the young Upper God King opposite him had produced a strange magical treasure in his hand.


    Then, the Divine King Youth simply tapped that magical treasure lightly.


    He became completely frozen in the void!

 Chapter 990 - 940: Follow Ye Chen!

    What shocked this Upper Immortal Divine Venerable even more was that he discovered, not only was he confined in the void, but so were the other three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan flying beside and in front of him!


    Looking further away, even the ten Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan who were hunting down the other five clan members of the Nine Flames Clan were similarly confined in the void!


    At this moment, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable who had previously encountered Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er was stunned.


    The other Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan were also stunned.


    Even the five clan members of the Nine Flames Clan who were desperately fleeing noticed something was wrong behind them, and seeing that the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables chasing them were confined, they were completely stunned.


    These five members of the Nine Flames Clan immediately saw Ye Chen, whose hands were emitting the Divine Light from the treasure, and instantly realized it was Ye Chen who had confined these fourteen Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan!


    The five were filled with disbelief.


    They had always thought that Ye Chen, this Upper God King, had come to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" under the shelter of Cai Meng Sovereign, and had always considered Ye Chen to be the weakest among them.


    They could not imagine that Ye Chen could single-handedly confine fourteen Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    What kind of magical treasure is this?


    What kind of combat power is this?!


    They recognized that the opponents were not ordinary Upper Immortal Divine Venerables; among them were several extraordinarily powerful figures from the Blood Wing Clan, all confined, making the five want to bow and worship Ye Chen.


    If they had known Ye Chen was so formidable, they would never have fled!


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In an instant, the five flew down in front of Ye Chen.


    Previously, when they met Ye Chen, they had looked down on him somewhat, calling him a foreign kid in their hearts.


    Now, these five spoke respectfully to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen... Ye Chen, was it you who dealt with them? ... You, you''re amazing!"


    The one who took on the fourteen Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan could be none other than Ye Chen!


    The magical treasures driven by Ye Chen were the two miraculous treasures he had obtained in the Abandoned Land of the Heavenly God Mountain¡ªCopper Gong and Wooden Hammer.


    The Copper Gong and Wooden Hammer were miraculous treasures left behind by an existence surpassing the Sovereign.


    Even though Ye Chen couldn''t fully mobilize the full Divine Might of the miraculous treasures, he could easily confine personnel below the Sovereign Realm combat power with these two treasures.


    Previously, Ye Chen had even once confined over a thousand upper-level Immortal Divine Venerables of Demon level at once; now it''s only fourteen Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan, so there was certainly no problem!


    Seeing the five members of the Nine Flames Clan fly in front of him, Ye Chen had something to say to them.


    "These people can''t move for a while."


    "How to deal with them, you decide for yourselves."


    Ye Chen had no personal enmity with the Blood Wing Clan, so whether these people were slain or not didn''t concern him.


    However, the five members of the Nine Flames Clan were entirely different from Ye Chen.


    The Nine Flames Clan and the Blood Wing Clan had always been fighting openly and secretly; there had been countless slaughters in private. Now, having seen the killing intent from the other side in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds", they were even less willing to let them go.


    "These people wanted to kill us, so naturally, we will kill them to avoid future trouble if they are let go."


    "Ye Chen, leave it to us to kill them!"


    "Yes, Ye Chen, you don''t need to take action!"


    Whoosh! Whoosh!


    Divine light flashed.


    The five members of the Nine Flames Clan all drew their top-notch Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    Although they had fled before, it didn''t mean they were weak; they were outnumbered.


    Now that the opponents were confined, killing them posed no problem whatsoever.


    Bang!


    A member of the Nine Flames Clan slashed down with a Flame God Sword, directly beheading an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable from the Blood Wing Clan on the spot.


    The other Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan, seeing the five from the Nine Flames Clan killing their own and their companions falling, were utterly horrified; they never expected their side to fall from a dominant position to this outcome.


    They wanted to break free from the confinement but could not escape, and within a few seconds, they were all slaughtered.


    In the parallel space where Ye Chen was, in the end, all fourteen members of the Blood Wing Clan were killed!


    When the five members of the Nine Flames Clan finished killing their opponents and flew back to Ye Chen, they looked at Ye Chen with even more shock.


    They once again realized Ye Chen''s power, and the power of the Copper Gong and Wooden Hammer in his hands!


    If in the outside world, in a one-on-one battle, it would take them endless effort to kill an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable.


    Yet, they easily killed fourteen Upper Immortal Divine Venerables now with hardly any effort.


    This was all thanks to Ye Chen!


    Ye Chen, meanwhile, also looked down at the Copper Gong and Wooden Hammer in his hands.


    For truly combating wide-ranging opponents, these two Divine Objects were indeed infinitely useful.


    After staring at the Copper Gong and Wooden Hammer for a few moments, Ye Chen put these two Divine Objects away again, then looked into the distance.


    "The third region is divided into ten parallel spaces."


    "In our space, there was killing; in other places, there will also be killings."


    "It''s likely many others have already fallen elsewhere as well."


    Ye Chen sighed.


    His words startled Cai Meng''er, who had been admiringly watching him the entire time.


    Cai Meng''er thought of her sister Cai Xiao''er.


    "I wonder how Xiao''er is doing; if she encounters many members of the Blood Wing Clan, it will be dangerous!" Cai Meng''er frowned, clenching her fair fists tightly.


    The other five members of the Nine Flames Clan also frowned: "This time, more members of the Blood Wing Clan entered the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' than us, we''ll definitely suffer."


    "We managed to avoid a crisis here thanks to Ye Chen; we don''t know if our clan members can avoid crises elsewhere."


    "Fortunately, we were seven against fourteen here, and we killed them all, so there should be fewer Blood Wing Clan members elsewhere."


    Ye Chen also worried about the little girl Cai Xiao''er.


    He didn''t want that little girl to get hurt.


    However, he was equally powerless.


    The ten parallel spaces in the third region are mutually independent, and even with Ye Chen''s power, he couldn''t go to other parallel spaces.


    "I hope the little girl can enter a parallel space with fewer opponents, escape safely, and meet up with me soon."


    Ye Chen muttered.


    After a while of silence, Ye Chen looked ahead.


    He said to Cai Meng''er and the other six beside him, "Let''s go, we can''t influence what happens elsewhere; we can only hope to meet them later."


    "Now, the urgent task is to complete the missions of ''Beast Spirit'' and ''Nine Profound Threads'' in this third region."


    In the third region, there appeared a type of exotic beast called a "Heart-piercing Rat" and a type of "Brown Nine Profound Silk."


    For the past few days, Ye Chen searched through countless areas in this forest region but never encountered a "Heart-piercing Rat" or a "Brown Nine Profound Silk."


    Finally finding this huge lake area within the forest, Ye Chen encountered the Blood Wing clan people again.


    Now that the Blood Wing people were all killed, it was time to continue to other regions to find the "Heart-piercing Rat Beast Spirit" and the third type of Nine Profound Threads¡ªthe "Brown Nine Profound Silk."


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Cai Meng''er also snapped out of her concern for Cai Xiao''er.


    "The further we go, the more people entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' will meet up with each other."


    "In this third region, everyone is split into ten parallel spaces. By the fourth region, there will be only five parallel spaces, and in the fifth region, there will be just three."


    "By the sixth region, there will only be one parallel space, where all survivors will encounter each other!"


    "Xiao''er, you must survive and meet with us soon!"


    With these thoughts weighing on her heart, Cai Meng''er walked to Ye Chen''s side.


    Since Ye Chen wanted to continue venturing, Cai Meng''er would, of course, follow Ye Chen to venture further.


    Meanwhile, the other five members of the Nine Flames Clan also moved to Ye Chen''s side.


    One of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerables spoke to Ye Chen: "Ye Chen, you are the most powerful; we will follow you. Whatever orders you have, just give them, and we will comply!"


    The others all nodded: "Follow Ye Chen."


    "Obey Ye Chen''s commands!"


    "Please, Ye Chen, lead us!"


    With one action, Ye Chen had already made these people from the Nine Flames Clan, just like Cai Meng''er before, fully rally behind Ye Chen.

 Chapter 991 - 941: Heart-piercing Rat and God-Devouring Caterpillar

    Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er, and five other members of the Nine Flames Clan continued onward.


    After crossing the vast lake region where they killed fourteen members of the "Blood Wing Clan," a dense, dark forest appeared ahead of them.


    Looking at the thick forest, Ye Chen said to the six people beside him: "Although the ''Blood Wing Clan'' members who entered this parallel space have been eliminated, everyone still needs to be cautious."


    "We''ve been here for so long without encountering the third kind of Exotic Beasts here¡ªthe ''Heart-piercing Rat'' mentioned by the ''Nine Beasts Cauldron.'' I suspect the ''Heart-piercing Rat'' won''t be easy to deal with."


    One of the six, named "Chi Yan," an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, nodded and said: "Yes, in the first region, we faced the Lower Immortal Divine Venerable level combat power of the ''Fire Winged Tusked Beast.'' In the second region, we encountered the Middle Immortal Divine Venerable level power of the ''Flame Devouring Demon Spider.''


    "This third region might involve encountering Exotic Beasts with Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level combat power."


    "Even if it is Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level power, we are not sure to what extent it reaches. Perhaps only Ye Chen can confidently handle it, but we can''t claim absolute certainty."


    The rest nodded in agreement.


    Cai Meng''er added worriedly: "We have to kill a total of nine Exotic Beasts. This is just the third region. If the Exotic Beasts have already reached Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level combat power, then in the subsequent fourth, fifth regions and up to the ninth region, how powerful will the Exotic Beasts become?!


    "Could they surpass the Immortal Divine Venerable level and reach the Sovereign Realm level?!"


    As Cai Meng''er spoke, everyone furrowed their brows even more.


    After all, their goal is to pass through nine checkpoints to explore the unspeakable Divine Flame within the mysterious Ancient Temple.


    Even reaching the eighth checkpoint and failing to pass the ninth would be futile.


    Current circumstances raise doubts about whether they can reach the subsequent fourth, fifth, or sixth regions.


    Amidst everyone''s worries, Ye Chen shook his head: "It''s unlikely that the nine Exotic Beasts here will reach the Sovereign Realm level. After all, this place is for those below the Sovereign Realm to venture, and combating Sovereign Realm combat power when below it is extremely difficult."


    "Even with my methods to counter combat power below the Sovereign Realm, if it ever reaches that level, I fear I can''t get past."


    "Since the ''Nine Beasts Cauldron'' and ''Nine Profound Threads'' requirements are set within this Ancient Forbidden Grounds, it likely won''t lead us all to annihilation."


    Ye Chen''s words provided some reassurance to the six beside him.


    "However," Ye Chen added, "even if the nine Exotic Beasts don''t break into Sovereign Realm combat power, it''s expected that their combat power intensifies the further we go, and their attack modes become more terrifying."


    "As of now, we just reached the third region, and our Divine Sense probing has been increasingly suppressed. I fear that moving forward, the suppression will be more severe, further decreasing the probing range, reducing our reaction time to danger significantly, and increasing the likelihood of getting killed."


    "In conclusion, don''t relax vigilance. Be cautious!"


    "Yes!"


    "Yes!"


    Cai Meng''er and the others all nodded and drew closer to Ye Chen.


    Led by Ye Chen, the group of seven finally advanced into the dark forest.


    Upon entering the third region, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense probe only reached over a thousand yards.


    For the remaining six, the probing range was further compressed to just within a hundred yards.


    All seven extended their Divine Sense in all directions, observing the disturbances throughout.


    Thus, Ye Chen''s group of seven wandered through the dark forest for over a day without any new discoveries.


    The nine days allotted to pass through the first three regions were coming to an end.


    On the sixth day in the third region, the group ventured far into the depths of the Endless Forest, the dark forest.


    The giant trees ahead reached thousands of yards in height.


    What shocked Ye Chen''s group further was when they tested the trees; even Cai Meng''er and two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables couldn''t leave a mark on them.


    The defensive power of the giant trees had reached the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level!


    Only Ye Chen and three other Upper Immortal Divine Venerables could destroy the giant trees in the forest.


    This increased the group''s alertness.


    Whizz! Whizz-whizz!


    On the sixth day, after traversing half the day, the group suddenly heard a peculiar sound.


    Although very faint, the sound in the silent dense forest quickly grabbed their full attention.


    "Something''s amiss."


    "It could be the region where the ''Heart-piercing Rat'' appears!"


    "Everyone, be careful!"


    Ye Chen alerted the six.


    As soon as Ye Chen finished speaking, a brown light suddenly flashed before the group.


    Poof!


    Amidst the flash, as the others just prepared to make a move, Ye Chen raised his finger, sending a sword light slicing toward the brown light.


    The brown light fell instantly to the ground.


    Seven people looked down, seeing the brown light was a rat-like Exotic Beast, roughly several feet in size, emitting brown Divine Light, with nine long whiskers.


    Heart-piercing Rat.


    The seven quickly recognized the demon as the Exotic Beast of the third region, the "Heart-piercing Rat!"


    Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Without a chance to speak with Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er and the rest heard increasingly violent chaotic sounds surrounding them.


    They then witnessed an unbelievable scene.


    Suddenly, countless brown rays flickered in the region ahead, and probably more than a thousand Heart-piercing Rats emerged from underground.


    Once these Heart-piercing Rats appeared, some of them shot straight like lightning into the giant trees in the forest.


    Then, you could see that the giant trees which Cai Meng''er and the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables couldn''t destroy, started melting visibly once these Heart-piercing Rats drilled into them.


    In less than a few breaths, several thousand-foot-tall giant trees turned to dust.


    Only then did the Heart-piercing Rats that had burrowed into the giant trees show themselves again.


    This scene caused everyone present to gasp in shock.


    They secretly felt relieved in their hearts that these Heart-piercing Rats drilled into the giant trees and not their bodies.


    If they really burrowed into their bodies, few could withstand the terrifying force of this Melting Corrosion!


    "Heart-piercing Rat, drills into the heart, incinerates the whole body. I guess that''s how the name ''Heart-piercing Rat'' came about," Cai Meng''er said with a quivering voice.


    But Ye Chen''s eyes flashed with insight.


    Others hadn''t discovered how the Heart-piercing Rats "melted" the giant trees, but Ye Chen''s Blue Divine Soul was extremely powerful and saw everything clearly.


    He saw that once these Heart-piercing Rats burrowed into the giant trees, brown flames directly erupted from their bodies.


    It was exactly those brown flames that caused the giant trees to melt instantly!


    "The brown flames inside the Heart-piercing Rats are probably no weaker than my Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    "However, once these Heart-piercing Rats die, the flames within them dissipate immediately. Otherwise, collecting this kind of flame would be quite the profit."


    Ye Chen turned his gaze to the Heart-piercing Rat he had slain.


    While everyone''s mind and spirit were filled with different thoughts, the Heart-piercing Rats, whether they were the ones burrowing into the trees causing them to "melt," or those rapidly flash-killing towards Ye Chen''s group of seven, had already crazily surrounded them.


    At the next moment, the seven of them were about to be encircled by thousands of Heart-piercing Rats.


    Ye Chen once again drove out two divine objects: the Copper Gong and Wooden Hammer.


    With a "dong" sound, the thousands of Heart-piercing Rats, like the fourteen Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan before, were directly imprisoned in the void, all revealing their appearances!


    "Swiftly slay them."


    Ye Chen''s voice, like thunder, resonated in the ears of Cai Meng''er and the other six.


    Cai Meng''er and the six others woke up as if from a great dream and hurriedly wielded their divine weapons or trained divine flames, attacking the imprisoned Heart-piercing Rats.


    To the surprise of Cai Meng''er and the two weaker Upper Immortal Divine Venerables present, even though the Heart-piercing Rats were entrapped, their body''s defensive power remained astonishingly formidable.


    Despite their unrelenting attacks, they couldn''t even penetrate the Heart-piercing Rats'' fur.


    Ultimately, it was after Ye Chen first injured these Heart-piercing Rats that they were able to slay them.


    After repeatedly killing several batches of Heart-piercing Rats, all seven of Ye Chen''s group gathered the third kind of Beast Spirit from the Heart-piercing Rats.


    But by this time, Cai Meng''er had completely abandoned the idea of going to the ancient temple to witness the Unsurpassed Divine Fire.


    She knew that without Ye Chen, she probably wouldn''t even be able to reach the third region.


    Now, upon arriving at the third region, she had to rely on Ye Chen''s assistance to kill the Exotic Beasts inside. Later, she feared that relying on her own abilities to kill other Exotic Beasts would be even more hopeless.


    "Anyone below the Sovereign Realm will enter an ancient temple and witness the Unsurpassed Divine Fire inside."


    "The Unsurpassed Divine Fire is only a single flame and surely won''t belong to me. I always rely on Ye Chen''s help, so there''s no way I could compete with Ye Chen for the Divine Fire, nor would I succeed."


    "I hope Ye Chen can make it to the end. I hope the Unsurpassed Divine Fire belongs to Ye Chen."


    "My goal is just to encounter my sister and see her safe and sound."


    Cai Meng''er made up her mind.


    As long as she met Cai Xiao''er, the two of them would follow the Ancient Stele''s instructions, waiting safely until the end of this Ancient Forbidden Grounds expedition.


    She had no other thoughts.


    The increasingly difficult situation had already made her give up the struggle for the Unsurpassed Divine Fire.


    "I wonder how my sister is doing now."


    After experiencing the Heart-piercing Rats'' encirclement, Cai Meng''er became even more worried about Cai Xiao''er.


    What Cai Meng''er didn''t know was that, in the parallel space where Cai Xiao''er was, Cai Xiao''er and eight other members of the Nine Flames Clan were also caught in the Heart-piercing Rats'' encirclement. However, the number of Heart-piercing Rats they faced was much fewer, with each group only having a few dozen.


    By jointly activating a Flame Divine Formation focused on defense, Cai Xiao''er''s group spent several days finally exterminating the batches of Heart-piercing Rats and survived.


    However, not everyone in other parallel spaces was so fortunate.


    "Poof."


    Someone carelessly had a Heart-piercing Rat directly burrow into their body, instantly feeling the Heart-piercing Rat delve into their heart.


    In mere seconds, their entire being began to "melt," finally becoming a pile of dust!


    This scene terrified their companions, causing them to scream in horror.


    Many Dominion Realm members from both the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan either perished in mutual massacre or were slain by the Heart-piercing Rats.


    Fewer and fewer people survived.


    And those determined to seize the Unsurpassed Divine Fire grew fewer as well.


    After slaying the Heart-piercing Rats, Ye Chen''s group spent several more days finally gathering the third kind of brown Nine Profound Threads.


    All seven finally entered the fourth region on the tenth day of entering the Ancient Forbidden Grounds.


    Upon entering the fourth region, the Nine Beasts Cauldron warned them that the Exotic Beast of the fourth region was called¡ªGod-Devouring Caterpillar!

 Chapter 992 - 942 Terrifying Monster Bug

    "God-Devouring Caterpillar, what kind of Exotic Beast is it?!"


    Upon hearing the four words "God-Devouring Caterpillar," several Immortal Divine Venerables from the Nine Flames Clan beside Ye Chen secretly shuddered with fear.


    From the three preceding regions they traversed, it was evident that the Exotic Beasts they encountered were becoming more formidable.


    The "Heart-piercing Rat" in the third region was terrifying to the extreme. Without Ye Chen''s help, they would have been hard-pressed to get through it entirely.


    The "God-Devouring Caterpillar" they were about to encounter now was clearly going to be even more formidable than the "Heart-piercing Rat."


    Could they handle it?!


    The Immortal Divine Venerables all looked at Ye Chen.


    Even Cai Meng''er wore a worried expression: "That ''Heart-piercing Rat,'' with its powerful ''Melting'' ability, was frightening. I''m afraid it really could pierce the heart and kill. Now the fourth Exotic Beast is named the ''God-Devouring Caterpillar,'' devouring gods... Does it mean devouring our Divine Power and Divine Body or Divine Soul?"


    The two words "God-Devouring" were too terrifying.


    Whether they were Divine Kings or Divine Venerables, if their Divine Body, Divine Power, or Divine Soul were devoured, it would be a dreadful outcome.


    Apart from noticing from the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" that the fourth Exotic Beast, the "God-Devouring Caterpillar," was an extremely strange creature, Ye Chen didn''t understand it either.


    When he asked Xiaojiu, Xiaojiu hadn''t heard of such an Exotic Beast.


    From observing the increase in combat power in the previous three regions, Ye Chen couldn''t afford to be careless.


    Ye Chen solemnly instructed Cai Meng''er and the other six: "Everyone, take out all your defensive measures, be wary of anything unusual."


    "Divine Sense probes must continually scan the surroundings, without any relaxation!"


    The others nodded in response.


    Whether it was the Defense Divine Cloth, protective divine light, or defensive-type Divine Artifacts, everyone activated them. Each person was engulfed by divine lights, cautiously probing everything around them with Divine Sense.


    At this moment, Ye Chen glanced at Cai Meng''er.


    Among everyone, Cai Meng''er was the weakest, and because she hadn''t anticipated being separated from Cai Meng Sovereign, she hadn''t prepared special treasures for protection, making her defensive measures distinctly weaker than the others.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen moved with his Divine Sense, and the "Star Blue Divine Garment" from his Ice Snow Jade Pendant flew out and landed on Cai Meng''er.


    "Ye Chen, this is..." Watching the shimmering star-blue light fall on her, resembling an ethereal Divine Robe, Cai Meng''er was stunned.


    Cai Meng''er sensed that although this Divine Garment was not a true Ultimate Heavenly Artifact, its defensive power was immensely strong! It could probably resist threats below the Sovereign Realm!


    The more she interacted with Ye Chen, the more astonished Cai Meng''er became.


    Whether it was Ye Chen''s combat power or his various Divine Skills, they left her in awe.


    Now, even Ye Chen''s treasures opened her eyes.


    Amidst Cai Meng''er''s astonishment, Ye Chen smiled: "This is one of my Divine Robes; you use it for now. Return it to me after the danger has passed."


    The "Star Blue Divine Garment" now was entirely different from before.


    Originally, the "Star Blue Divine Garment" was crafted from the prototype tattered cloth of an Extreme Heavenly Object. Later, after undergoing another refinement with the Power of Thunder and Lightning in Sovereign Lei Fa''s cave, its defensive power improved greatly. Just before Ye Chen arrived at the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," he obtained two strange items, the "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" and "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone," from the Skywind Divine Master''s cave on Heavenly God Mountain.


    After further nurturing by the "Purple-Blue Thunder Flower" and "Purple-Blue Thunder Stone," the current "Star Blue Divine Garment," though not capable of defending against all threats below the Sovereign Realm, could resist most.


    With the protection of the "Star Blue Divine Garment," Cai Meng''er, who had previously the weakest defense, suddenly became second only to Ye Chen in defensive power, surpassing even the top-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact defenses of the nearby Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Ye Chen himself directly activated "Taiyi Divine Power" and both the Wind Divine Pattern and Earth Divine Pattern defensive methods from the "Eternal God Body", thoroughly protecting himself.


    With everything prepared, Ye Chen led the Six from the Nine Flames Clan, officially venturing into the interior of the fourth region.


    The fourth region was a place resembling ruins.


    Everywhere lay broken walls and scattered stones, with countless half-collapsed ruins visible in the distance.


    It appeared as if this area once contained numerous palaces and pavilions, all subsequently destroyed.


    Ye Chen led Cai Meng''er and the other six, cautiously advancing while searching for the fourth type of "Gray Nine Profound Threads," and defending against the sudden attack from the "God-Devouring Caterpillar."


    They had advanced for most of the day without any anomalies.


    Yet none of the seven dared to relax for even a moment, despite their Divine Sense depleting severely. None hurried rashly; they waited for complete recovery before continuing.


    When the seven reached a location resembling a plaza, the scene before them startled them.


    Up ahead, they saw nine people with expressions of terror, strewn across the ground.


    Their physical bodies appeared unchanged, but judging by their life force, they had all clearly perished in this place!


    What truly shocked Ye Chen and the seven was that these nine people were familiar to them; they were from the Blood Wing Clan, nine individuals below the Sovereign Realm who entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" with them!


    "The third region is divided into ten parallel spaces, the fourth region is divided into five. This means we will definitely encounter people from another parallel space."


    "The nine from Blood Wing Clan came to the fourth region here; does it mean that in the third region''s parallel space, their Blood Wing Clan survived entirely, while our Nine Flames Clan perished?!"


    "Additionally, they reached here like us, why did they die so quickly? Was it the ''God-Devouring Caterpillar'' that killed them?!"


    "Even in death, there should have been some struggle before dying, right? Looking at them, it seems they suddenly encountered something incredibly terrifying and couldn''t resist; they perished instantly!"


    The deceased Blood Wing Clan nine showed no signs of battle, yet were dead.


    Fearful expressions remained on their faces, their bodies scattered across the area, frightening to behold.


    Ye Chen and the seven cautiously approached the nine corpses.


    One of the Immortal Divine Venerables couldn''t resist using Divine Power to touch a corpse, wishing to see how the person had died.


    Then, something unexpected occurred.


    The originally preserved corpses suddenly collapsed into countless powder as soon as the Immortal Divine Venerable touched them with Divine Power.


    Upon inspecting the powder, no remnants of any physical substance could be found; it resembled mere dirt! It appeared that the deceased Blood Wing Clan person''s Divine Body, Divine Power, and Divine Soul had been wholly drained!


    "The ''God-Devouring Caterpillar,'' it must be the ''God-Devouring Caterpillar'' that devoured all his signs of life, killing him!"


    This complete disappearance of all Divine Objects frightened the Immortal Divine Venerable, causing him to cry out.


    Ye Chen wished to stop his shouting, but it was too late.


    As the Immortal Divine Venerable''s yell spread, the remaining eight corpses from the Blood Wing Clan were impacted by the small sound and collapsed into powder much like the previously touched corpse.


    The eight others similarly had their Divine Body, Divine Power, and Divine Soul completely drained!


    The astonishment did not end there.


    As the innermost corpse collapsed, a gust of gray eerie wind flew from within.


    This gust of eerie wind swept towards Ye Chen and the seven with great speed!

 Chapter 993 - 943: The Ruined Palace

    This demon wind swept in at an incredible speed!


    Upon closer inspection, Ye Chen was startled to find that this demon wind was composed of tiny glowing insects!


    God-Devouring Caterpillars.


    Ye Chen knew that these little insects were definitely the exotic beasts of this fourth territory¡ª"God-Devouring Caterpillars"!


    These God-Devouring Caterpillars flew out from the corpses of the deceased Blood Wing Clan members. It was clear that the nine deceased Blood Wing Clan members were truly killed by the "God-Devouring Caterpillars"!


    Ye Chen observed rapidly.


    The demon wind composed of countless God-Devouring Caterpillars swept in just as swiftly.


    By the time others could barely react, this demon wind had already swept right in front of them.


    "Be careful!"


    In that fleeting moment, Ye Chen didn''t have time to activate the two divine objects, the "Copper Gong" and the "Wooden Hammer." He could only manage to shout this warning, as countless "God-devouring Demon Pests" bit into the protective divine light of everyone present.


    A horrifying scene unfolded.


    Among the group, two of the weakest members of the "Nine Flames Clan" had their protective divine light bitten through by numerous "God-Devouring Caterpillars." With a buzzing sound, these demon bugs abruptly flew into their bodies.


    Subsequently, the two crashed to the ground with a roar, the divine light on their bodies quickly vanishing. In the end, just as the vitality in their bodies disappeared, countless demon insects once again flew out from within them.


    In a blink of an eye, two out of Ye Chen''s group of seven were killed on the spot.


    The way these two died was identical to that of the nine previously deceased Blood Wing Clan members, their faces filled with terror!


    And the "God-Devouring Caterpillars" that flew out from their bodies shone even more brightly.


    After killing two people, these bugs flew towards others, joining their brethren to attack everyone else!


    On Cai Meng''er''s side, over ten thousand of the grain-sized "God-Devouring Caterpillars" were swarming and gnawing at her.


    Originally, Cai Meng''er''s defensive power wasn''t even stronger than those two who died. If not for Ye Chen''s "Star Blue Divine Garment" for defense, she would likely already be a corpse!


    Fortunately, the "Star Blue Divine Garment," refined from countless divine objects, boasted extraordinarily powerful defense, so strong that even "God-Devouring Caterpillars," which could destroy the divine body, divine power, and divine soul of an upper immortal divine venerable, couldn''t break through its defenses at all.


    Every time the "Star Blue Divine Garment" gently shook, it would shake off tens of thousands of "God-Devouring Caterpillars."


    In her immense panic, Cai Meng''er remained unharmed.


    But the other members of the Nine Flames Clan were chilled to the bone!


    They witnessed their two companions die before their eyes, and the manner of their deaths was terrifying. This plunged them into the ultimate horror!


    What froze them even more was the realization that, although their defenses had not yet been penetrated by the "God-Devouring Caterpillars," their protective divine light was growing weaker.


    If things continued this way, they would all eventually die at the hands of the "God-Devouring Caterpillars."


    Just when they were about to scream in horror, they noticed a series of incredibly divine celestial lights targeting the "God-Devouring Caterpillars" gnawing at them.


    Each streak of celestial light left in its wake the carcasses of "God-Devouring Caterpillars" falling to the ground, and upon those carcasses flickered a strange gray flame that burned them into the void.


    After several dozen breaths, the over hundred thousand grain-sized "God-Devouring Caterpillars" attacking Cai Meng''er and the other three members of the Nine Flames Clan were all slain!


    Cai Meng''er and the surviving three looked towards the source of the stellar light, and saw that it was none other than Ye Chen who had rescued them!


    Although Ye Chen hadn''t initially had time to activate the "Copper Gong" and "Wooden Hammer" to restrict these "God-Devouring Caterpillars," by activating the stellar power from the fifth layer of the Stars Tower and executing the Origin Slash, he was still able to rapidly kill all those "God-Devouring Caterpillars!"


    Regrettably, two people still perished.


    "Ye Chen."


    "Ye Chen!"


    Escaping death, the remaining few flew to Ye Chen''s side, still in shock.


    Seeing the bodies of their fallen companions nearby, all their eyes turned red: "Daoist Ning Mang and Daoist Chi Lian have fallen!"


    This was the first time, since they''d ventured into the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," that companions beside them had fallen, and it was in such a manner. This was a profound shock to them.


    "Ye Chen, what should we do? After these ''God-Devouring Caterpillars'' died, no ''beast spirit'' appeared, which means we haven''t completed the task to obtain the ''God-Devouring Caterpillar'' beast spirit. That means there are still ''God-Devouring Caterpillars'' here!"


    Thinking of this, chills ran through their bodies.


    They encountered only a small swarm of "God-Devouring Caterpillars," yet nine Blood Wing Clan members and two of their companions died thereafter.


    If they encounter more "God-Devouring Caterpillars," they cannot imagine the consequences.


    Ye Chen''s expression turned exceedingly solemn: "This fourth territory might not be as easy to traverse."


    "Not only are these ''God-Devouring Caterpillars'' extremely fast, but it''s impossible to prepare in advance against them, you can only rely on personal defense to resist their bites."


    "What''s even more terrifying is, I discovered that the more these ''God-Devouring Caterpillars'' devour the divine body, divine power, and divine soul within a Martial Artist, the brighter their bodies shine. Precisely because they shine, we can clearly see them."


    "It''s very likely that these ''Divine Devouring Moths'' are inherently ''invisible entities''. If they''ve never devoured a Martial Artist''s divine power, they might be undetectable. In that case, encountering these ''Divine Devouring Moths'' would be even more dangerous!"


    Ye Chen''s words made the remaining few shiver in mind and spirit.


    They were already struggling to fend off the visible ''Divine Devouring Moths''. If they truly couldn''t see the original forms of the ''Divine Devouring Moths'', it would be even more perilous. If they were careless, the ''Divine Devouring Moths'' might drill into their bodies.


    The consequences of being infiltrated by the ''Divine Devouring Moths'' were dire, as they had witnessed. It would devour all of their Divine Body, Divine Power, and Divine Soul!


    "What should we do?!"


    "Ye Chen, what should we do?!"


    The few asked Ye Chen anxiously.


    Ye Chen fell silent.


    If he could detect these ''Divine Devouring Moths'' earlier, he would have already activated his means to annihilate them promptly.


    However, the earlier deaths of the two from the Nine Flames Clan had made Ye Chen realize that this fourth type of Exotic Beast, the ''Divine Devouring Moths'', was not so easily dealt with. While he had the power to protect himself, he couldn''t be certain of saving others in the blink of an eye from the sudden attacks by the ''Divine Devouring Moths''.


    "Here''s the thing." Ye Chen thought for a moment and then spoke up, "We''ve come this far. Everyone should see by now that obtaining the ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' from that ancient temple is no easy feat. It''s very likely that everyone might return empty-handed, or worse, die on the path through the nine domains."


    "If you''re not absolutely confident in advancing, it''s best to leave the adventuring area quickly and head to a safe area."


    Upon entering the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land'', the ancient stele that everyone encountered made it clear that advancing would involve facing attacks by nine types of Exotic Beasts in nine domains.


    If they were not confident in their exploration, they could activate the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' in their possession. The ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' would instantly teleport them to a safe area, and when the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land'' closed, those in the safe area would be automatically transported out.


    At this moment, Ye Chen prompted the few from the Nine Flames Clan beside him to begin making their choice.


    The few hesitated.


    To leave just like that, they were not willing.


    In past visits to the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land'', with the care of nine-star Sovereigns, they might have obtained one or two Divine Objects.


    This time, the abnormal changes in the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land'' were entirely different from previous explorations.


    Having come this far, they hadn''t obtained any useful Divine Objects, so leaving like this would mean missing out on this opportunity in the ''Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land''.


    Of course, they were unwilling to give up.


    However, the thought of continuing to venture filled them with immense fear.


    Even at the fourth domain, the danger was already so grave, and they had no idea how much further they could go.


    Finally, an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable cautiously spoke to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, just now we managed to hold off the ''Divine Devouring Moths'' for a moment, thanks to your assistance. We managed to escape the crisis."


    "This shows we have a brief moment of resistance against the ''Divine Devouring Moths''.


    "How about... you lead us a little further, giving us a hand when it matters? Once we truly can''t manage or if we find one or two Divine Objects, we''ll immediately withdraw."


    Ye Chen glanced at the other two members of the Nine Flames Clan, who were also looking at him and nodded with some anticipation.


    Looking at their expressions, Ye Chen knew they were not willing to leave just like that.


    Ye Chen then looked at Cai Meng''er, who seemed to be entirely willing to follow Ye Chen''s arrangements.


    "Alright, since everyone isn''t ready to leave yet, let''s keep moving."


    "However, let me say this up front: if you''re attacked by the ''Divine Devouring Moths'' and I can''t assist on time, should you be killed, don''t blame me," Ye Chen warned.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, the remaining few changed their expressions, but eventually, they all nodded.


    "If we truly die here, it''s due to our greed, and we definitely won''t blame Ye Chen," they said.


    Ye Chen sighed inwardly.


    Ye Chen''s party originally had seven members, with two having perished, leaving five.


    The five continued on their journey.


    Ye Chen looked around the plaza, where many had perished. He noticed that the surroundings of the plaza were filled with numerous ruined temples.


    After searching several temples and finding nothing unusual, Ye Chen approached the tallest ruined temple near the plaza.


    As soon as they neared the ruined temple, dozens of gusts of fierce wind suddenly blew towards them.


    They could only feel the blowing winds but saw nothing within them. Nevertheless, Ye Chen''s expression changed drastically.


    Because, at this moment, an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable by his side had his protective divine light torn apart by the winds, and he fell to the ground, screaming.


    Ye Chen knew these fierce winds were definitely composed of the ''God-devouring Demon Pest''!


    Moreover, this time, there were dozens of times more ''Divine Devouring Moths'' than they had previously encountered!


    And these ''Divine Devouring Moths'', having not yet devoured anyone else''s Divine Body Power, were completely invisible and moved even faster than those Ye Chen had killed before!

 Chapter 994 - 944: Divine Object and Nameless Mantra

    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    Ye Chen had no time to warn others as innumerable "God-Devouring Caterpillars" formed a demonic wind that had already reached Cai Meng''er and the other two surviving Immortal Divine Venerables, relentlessly attacking them.


    In this life-and-death moment, they could only rely on their own ability to withstand the instantaneous attack of the "God-Devouring Caterpillars," whose numbers had increased dozens of times!


    Boom!


    In an instant, following the previous Nine Flames Clan Immortal Divine Venerable who screamed and collapsed, another Immortal Divine Venerable was bitten to death by the "God-Devouring Caterpillars" on the spot!


    Previously, these individuals could withstand the "God-Devouring Caterpillars" for several breaths, but with their numbers now skyrocketing, two people were instantly killed.


    Only Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er, and the Nine Flames Clan Upper Immortal Divine Venerable named "Chi Yan" were left in the field.


    After killing two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, a huge swarm of "God-Devouring Caterpillars" emerged from their corpses.


    Having devoured the Divine Body Power and Divine Soul of the deceased, the "God-Devouring Caterpillars" finally emitted that cold Divine Light so familiar to Ye Chen and the others.


    It truly was the "God-Devouring Caterpillars."


    These demonic winds were indeed composed of "God-Devouring Caterpillars"!


    The glowing "God-Devouring Caterpillars" that emerged from the two deceased joined the insidious wind of God-Devouring Caterpillars, more violently biting towards Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er, and Chi Yan.


    Cai Meng''er''s pretty face was already full of horror.


    She hadn''t expected to be attacked by the "God-Devouring Caterpillars" so soon after just escaping a previous assault.


    Now, two more people had died.


    The only slight relief Cai Meng''er felt was that the "Star Blue Divine Garment" Ye Chen had given her still managed to withstand the attack of the "God-Devouring Caterpillars," whose numbers had grown tens of times.


    Cai Meng''er quickly glanced at Ye Chen and then at Chi Yan beside her, who was still alive.


    At this moment, both Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan heard Ye Chen''s voice: "Quickly rush into the crumbling temple; these ''God-Devouring Caterpillars'' dare not enter inside!"


    Simultaneously, they finally felt Ye Chen''s rescuing Divine Power surging towards them.


    In this moment of life and death, Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan dared not hesitate. Upon hearing Ye Chen''s voice, they rushed desperately towards the crumbling temple.


    As they charged forward, they felt the terrifying demonic winds surrounding them being blocked by Ye Chen''s power.


    Two breaths later, the two of them rushed directly into the crumbling temple.


    In the next moment, Ye Chen also dashed inside.


    Then, the three of them saw the countless "God-Devouring Caterpillars" forming a demonic wind continuously swirling outside the crumbling temple. However, as if fearing something, they did not dare to touch the temple.


    After hovering for dozens of breaths, the demonic wind composed of "God-Devouring Caterpillars" seemed to finally abandon the chase of Ye Chen and the others, abruptly dissipating outside the temple.


    It was only then that Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan finally breathed a sigh of relief.


    "Ye Chen."


    "Ye Chen Daoist!"


    Both looked towards Ye Chen.


    Their hands and feet were still trembling with fear.


    They hadn''t expected Ye Chen''s earlier warning to be true, that the fourth domain indeed hid the unseen "God-Devouring Caterpillars," and in such a multitude.


    Fortunately, with Ye Chen''s help, they managed to dash into the crumbling temple; otherwise, they, too, might have perished under the claws of the "God-Devouring Caterpillars."


    Even though they survived by a stroke of luck, two companions had perished.


    If those two had known this would be the outcome, they might never have dared to proceed further, preferring to be transported to a safe zone with nothing to show.


    Regrettably, there''s no remedy for regret in the world.


    Even if their combat power reached the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level, once fallen, they would truly cease to exist.


    While Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan were still in shock, Ye Chen looked grimly around the dilapidated temple.


    With two more dead, Ye Chen also felt unsettled inside.


    But he had advised before; others were unwilling to leave, which couldn''t be helped, and now they must accept this outcome.


    The most crucial thing now was what lay ahead.


    "This dilapidated temple is the largest hall in this area."


    "Moreover, I noticed earlier that those ''God-Devouring Caterpillars'' forming the demonic winds didn''t dare to touch the walls of the temple ¡ª there''s something strange about this temple!"


    "Otherwise, with the temple being so ruined and having so many openings, those ''God-Devouring Caterpillars'' could easily have flown inside."


    While observing, Ye Chen''s Divine Sense also spread out in all directions within the temple.


    A few breaths later, Ye Chen''s expression changed, and he called out to Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan, "Come quickly!"


    Then, Ye Chen led the way towards the depths of the temple.


    When Ye Chen called, Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan snapped to their senses. Seeing Ye Chen moving, they quickly followed him into the depths of the temple.


    After walking about a few dozen feet deep and passing through several corridors of the great hall, the three of Ye Chen entered the innermost chamber of the dilapidated hall.


    The chamber door is directly open.


    Upon entering the chamber, the hearts of Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan suddenly clenched.


    They saw that the chamber contained dozens of Divine Lights, protecting dozens of Divine Objects, displayed within!


    "Divine Objects!"


    "These are the hidden Divine Objects of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    Chi Yan couldn''t help but exclaim!


    Chi Yan immediately noticed that among the dozens of Divine Objects wrapped in Divine Light, there were Heavenly Divine Fires!


    Having wandered through various realms, this was his first discovery of Divine Objects.


    Meanwhile, Cai Meng''er looked at Ye Chen with shock.


    Although she had previously used Divine Sense to scan the surroundings and found no chamber, she couldn''t imagine Ye Chen had directly discovered such a precious place from the outside!


    At this moment, amidst Chi Yan''s joyous cry and Cai Meng''er''s startled gaze, Ye Chen was heading toward a corner of the chamber.


    On the wall in that corner were engraved countless lines of small text.


    Ye Chen looked at these small texts, and Cai Meng''er followed, standing beside Ye Chen, also looking at this text.


    Eventually, Chi Yan also came over.


    After the three of them read the small texts, they finally realized.


    The lines of small text clearly corresponded to the dozens of Divine Objects in the chamber, serving as activation skills for these Divine Objects.


    "A total of twenty-eight Divine Objects, with twenty-eight activation skills. According to the text on the wall, each person can only pick one Divine Object from here." Chi Yan turned back to look at those Divine Objects.


    At this moment, Cai Meng''er was eyeing the last line of the small text.


    "The twenty-eight lines above are activation skills for the Divine Objects, yet there is one last line, which is written as some ''mysterious mantra''; it doesn''t reveal what it''s used for."


    There are a total of twenty-nine lines of text on the wall.


    The final line, however, had no indicated use and appeared extremely chaotic, seeming like an "anonymous mantra", without any apparent meaning.


    Ye Chen also focused his gaze on the last line of text.


    "This ''anonymous mantra'' wouldn''t appear here meaninglessly; it must have some hidden meaning."


    Ye Chen quietly memorized this last line of mantra.


    Cai Meng''er glanced at Chi Yan, who was fixated on the Divine Objects in the chamber, then looked to Ye Chen and spoke, "Ye Chen, everyone can choose one Divine Object here. We''ve survived and reached here, all thanks to you. You should be the one to pick first from these Divine Objects."


    Cai Meng''er''s words snapped Chi Yan out of his daze, and he quickly said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, indeed you should pick the Divine Object first!"


    Ye Chen chuckled, "There are twenty-eight Divine Objects here, which seem to be of similar value. There''s no need for excessive formality; choose whatever you want freely."


    Ye Chen had already surveyed these Divine Objects, and they were all typical Ultimate Heavenly Artifacts; even the two clusters of Heavenly Grade Divine Fire didn''t seem more precious than his "Blue Extreme Iceflame."


    These Divine Objects hadn''t surprised Ye Chen significantly.


    "This is only the fourth realm, the first appearance of Divine Objects, probably not very precious. There should be more valuable Divine Objects later." Ye Chen thought.


    With ample treasures on him, Ye Chen remained calm, while Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan stared at the Divine Objects in the chamber with shining eyes.


    Cai Meng''er, although the daughter of Cai Meng Sovereign, a Nine-Star Sovereign, found it hard to acquire an Ultimate Heavenly Artifact. She was naturally excited to obtain one now.


    Meanwhile, Chi Yan, a talented Upper Immortal Divine Venerable from a branch of the Nine Flames Clan, lacked a handy Divine Object, and was even more thrilled with the opportunity for one.


    After consulting Ye Chen several times, both Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan finally began their selection.


    Cai Meng''er chose a defensive Divine Object resembling a "bracelet."


    Chi Yan chose a defensive "Divine Robe."


    Evidently, the earlier assault by the "God-Devouring Caterpillar" had frightened them considerably, leading them to prioritize selecting defensive Divine Objects.


    After making a full circuit, Ye Chen''s gaze finally settled on a cluster of cold snow flame known as the "Cold Snow Flame," which was a Heavenly Grade Divine Fire.


    Though this Divine Fire wasn''t as good as the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," he was willing to acquire another piece of Divine Fire. Moreover, the wall still held the activation skill to claim it.


    Once all three had chosen a Divine Object, they left the chamber and proceeded to other places.


    After thoroughly searching other areas without new discoveries, the three returned to the original great hall.


    This time, without needing Ye Chen''s reminder, Chi Yan directly said to Ye Chen, "Ye Chen, I dare not go to other places anymore. We''ve managed to get a Divine Object without losing our lives, and it''s thanks to you!"


    "I''m preparing to directly use the ''Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order'' to teleport to a safe area; otherwise, greed might lead me to the same fate as those fallen friends!"


    After saying this, Chi Yan bowed deeply to Ye Chen and, regardless of Cai Meng''er and Ye Chen''s decisions, directly activated the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order," being enveloped by Divine Light and transported to the safe zone of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Inside the great hall, only Ye Chen and Cai Meng''er remained.

 Chapter 995 - 945 Encounter

    Ye Chen looked at Cai Meng''er, wanting to see how she would choose.


    Cai Meng''er hesitated as well.


    Cai Meng''er knew that with her real strength, she actually shouldn''t have made it to the fourth region. It''s all thanks to Ye Chen that she could reach here.


    Going further, Cai Meng''er has no confidence at all.


    And now, she has obtained a defensive artifact, which makes the trip to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" worthwhile.


    Cai Meng''er''s only concern is that she hasn''t met her sister Cai Xiao''er yet. Otherwise, she would have already teleported to the safety zone.


    After hesitating for a long time, Cai Meng''er finally made up her mind: "Staying here won''t help; to meet Xiao''er, I might not even find her in the fifth region, perhaps only in the sixth region. It''s also possible that Xiao''er has already teleported to the safety zone and is no longer exploring other parallel spaces."


    "Continuing on won''t help Xiao''er but will unnecessarily burden Ye Chen, making him constantly distracted looking after me. If we encounter danger ahead, it might even implicate Ye Chen."


    "I should leave and see if Xiao''er is outside."


    Having thought about it, Cai Meng''er took off the "Star Blue Divine Garment" and returned it to Ye Chen, saying softly, "Ye Chen, thank you for taking care of me along the way. I''m preparing to leave; I dare not explore the fourth region further."


    Hearing Cai Meng''er''s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    In Ye Chen''s heart, he didn''t want Cai Meng''er to continue the risky adventure.


    Cai Meng''er hesitated for a few moments and looked at Ye Chen with her beautiful eyes: "Ye Chen, once I leave, you''ll be the only one left in this parallel space of the fourth region. You must be careful."


    "I know your strength is not just what we see; you might be the most hopeful candidate to obtain the Unsurpassed Divine Fire in the ancient temple. But, the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' are mysterious and unpredictable, you still need to be cautious."


    "When you come out, I hope you won''t rush to that ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' so we can meet again."


    Saying this, Cai Meng''er became somewhat sentimental.


    Although the girl hadn''t spent much time with Ye Chen, she had a special attachment to him.


    Cai Meng''er''s words made Ye Chen smile gently: "Don''t worry, I will definitely come out safely. Besides, I''m still waiting for Cong Meng Sovereign to send me to the Extreme Spirit Sea of the Spirit Clan."


    "Okay." Cai Meng''er nodded gently, "I''ll wait for you outside."


    The words were as they said.


    However, in the girl''s heart, there was an ominous feeling that perhaps once she leaves, it would be difficult to meet Ye Chen again.


    After a brief melancholy of parting, the Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order in Cai Meng''er''s hand shimmered, finally teleporting her out of the fourth region, into the safety zone.


    When Cai Meng''er arrived at the safety zone, she noticed it was surprisingly clusters of Divine Light floating in the void.


    She didn''t know where these Divine Light clusters were located in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    At this time, quite a few people were already inside those Divine Light clusters, including the Immortal Divine Venerable Chi Yan who had left before her, in a nearby Divine Light cluster.


    There were also quite a few people from the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan.


    It seems these people feared the dangers of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" and left early.


    Among the crowd, Cai Meng''er spotted a figure.


    "Xiao''er!" Cai Meng''er shouted directly.


    The figure Cai Meng''er saw was of a pretty little girl, who was none other than her sister Cai Xiao''er, whom she had been worried about!


    Cai Meng''er wanted to fly towards Cai Xiao''er but found herself restrained within the Divine Light cluster, unable to move freely. It seemed this Divine Light cluster was protecting them while also restricting their movements.


    At this time, Cai Xiao''er also heard Cai Meng''er''s voice and saw her.


    The little girl shouted with surprise: "Sister, why did you come out so late?! I thought you were in trouble, worried for a long time!"


    Seeing Cai Xiao''er safe and sound, Cai Meng''er was completely relieved, and she said to Cai Xiao''er, "I was able to come out safely thanks to Ye Chen''s help."


    "Sister, did you meet Ye Chen?" Cai Xiao''er felt a burst of excitement upon hearing Ye Chen''s name, "I struggled to the fourth region but didn''t encounter Ye Chen, and finally dared not go further and came out."


    "Sister, will Ye Chen continue to explore?"


    Cai Meng''er gazed at the vast "Ancient Forbidden Grounds"; now that she was teleported to the safety zone, she didn''t know where Ye Chen was anymore.


    She could only look at the vast expanse and nod to Cai Xiao''er: "Yes, Ye Chen will keep exploring."


    "I fear he won''t stop until he''s reached the Ancient Temple land."


    ...


    In the ruined hall.


    After Chi Yan and Cai Meng''er left, Ye Chen was the only one left in the entire ruined hall.


    At this time, Ye Chen was unaware that Cai Meng''er had met Cai Xiao''er in the safety zone, and the two were talking about him.


    Now, Ye Chen''s thoughts were entirely focused on what''s ahead.


    "I just exterminated two batches of ''God-Devouring Caterpillars,'' but couldn''t obtain the ''Beast Soul.'' Seems I''ll need to continue exploring the fourth region."


    "And must strive to obtain the fourth kind of Nine Profound Threads!"


    "Now, let''s continue the action!"


    Boom!


    With this thought, Ye Chen''s body flashed with divine light and flew straight out of the shattered hall.


    Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!


    As soon as Ye Chen flew out of the ruined hall, countless "God-Devouring Caterpillars" waiting outside transformed into terrifying dozens of storms, rushing towards Ye Chen aggressively.


    But this time, without the concern of needing to protect others or the worry of completely exposing his strength, Ye Chen acted alone, which felt much more liberating.


    Swoosh.


    Seeing the storms composed of dozens of "God-Devouring Caterpillars" swirling towards him, Ye Chen let out a long howl, and the speed technique "Extreme Wind Wings" and attack technique "Limitless Wind Blade" from his Eternal God Body''s "Wind Divine Pattern" erupted directly.


    At the same time, Ye Chen''s Taiyi Divine Power drew the stellar power from the Stars Tower, unleashing the Origin Slash.


    Only to see, as Ye Chen''s giant wings behind him flapped, endless killing light enveloped his entire body.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Ye Chen did not dodge but instead rushed towards the dozens of "God-Devouring Caterpillars" storms, attacking fiercely.


    In an instant, Ye Chen devastated all the "God-Devouring Caterpillars" within the storms.


    Moments later, without stopping for a breath, Ye Chen dashed towards other places in the fourth realm!


    Two days later.


    Ye Chen emerged from the fourth realm with the fourth "Beast Spirit"¡ªthe "God-Devouring Caterpillar''s" "Beast Spirit," and the fourth Nine Profound Threads, also achieving the nine spots "Gray Nine Profound Threads."


    In these two days, Ye Chen searched through numerous ruined halls in the fourth realm and encountered hundreds of attacks from "God-Devouring Caterpillars."


    There were over a dozen batches of "God-Devouring Caterpillars" even more formidable than those he had met before.


    Had Cai Meng''er and Chi Yan not left, they might have perished in those encounters.


    Continuing his search, Ye Chen also found several halls hiding divine objects.


    In the end, Ye Chen acquired several divine objects, including several types of fire element materials useful for cultivating his Eternal God Body''s "Fire Divine Pattern."


    What puzzled Ye Chen most was that in the halls where he found divine objects, he also discovered that "Unnamed Mantra."


    In these divine object halls, the divine objects differed, with each hall allowing only one divine object to be taken, but strangely, the final mantra in all the halls was the exact same "Unnamed Mantra."


    "All these halls leave the same ''Unnamed Mantra,'' this ''Unnamed Mantra'' must have special significance!"


    "However, the ''Unnamed Mantras'' seem incomplete; there is always a feeling that something is missing. The fourth realm only has this kind of ''Unnamed Mantra,'' could there be other ''Unnamed Mantras'' in the subsequent realms?"


    Ye Chen pondered intently.


    After thinking for a long time without understanding, Ye Chen decided not to dwell on it.


    "It''s more important to continue to the fifth realm."


    "The fourth realm is divided into five parallel spaces. The fifth realm is divided into three parallel spaces, which implies I might encounter other people ahead."


    "If I encounter the ''Blood Wing Clan'' members, there''s still something I need to do..."


    While contemplating, Ye Chen strode out of the fourth realm''s exit, stepping into the fifth realm.


    As Ye Chen entered the fifth realm, he didn''t realize that a day later, three individuals would step into the same parallel space within the fifth realm from another parallel space exit in the fourth realm.


    Looking at these three, it''s clear they all belong to the Blood Wing Clan.


    Among them, Xueling Chan, whom the Blood Wing Clan prioritized for cultivation and even the "Blood Origin Divine Master" taught some divine skills, is one of the three!


    Next to Xueling Chan are two formidable upper immortal divine venerables of the Blood Wing Clan.


    At this moment, as the three looked at the newly entered fifth realm, one said: "The fifth realm is only divided into three parallel spaces. I wonder whom we''ll encounter in our parallel space."


    "It would be interesting to meet members of the Nine Flames Clan."


    Another upper immortal divine venerable chuckled, "Haha, with Ling Chan joining us this time, we''re practically invincible! Whenever we met the Nine Flames Clan members, they were all slaughtered on the spot by us."


    "The Nine Flames Clan better pray not to meet us in this parallel space, or they''ll be in big trouble."


    Amid the conversation between the two, Xueling Chan raised an eyebrow disdainfully: "Hmph, the Nine Flames Clan members don''t deserve to be our opponents."


    "Encountering them and casually dealing with them is no more than a trivial matter."


    "The key in this fifth realm is finding the fifth type of ''Silver Nine Profound Threads''!"


    "Moreover, we must locate the nine spotted ''Silver Nine Profound Threads!''"


    Upon hearing Xueling Chan''s words, the two upper immortal divine venerables nodded repeatedly, "With Ling Chan''s strength, the unsurpassed divine fire in this realm''s ancient temple definitely belongs to Ling Chan."


    "I fear only Ling Chan has obtained four types of nine spotted Nine Profound Threads so far."

 Chapter 996 - 946: Ice Pool, Snow Toad

    Thinking about how Xueling Chan obtained four types of Nine-Spotted Nine Profound Threads, these two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Bloodwing Tribe were both envious and jealous.


    Originally, they also possessed one type of Nine-Spotted Nine Profound Threads, but in the second, third, and fourth realms, they failed to acquire the other three top-level Nine Profound Threads.


    Yet, right under their noses, Xueling Chan obtained them.


    This comparison made them realize that in the competition for the Unsurpassed Divine Fire in the ancient temple, they had already lost ground to Xueling Chan.


    Coupled with Xueling Chan''s formidable combat power, the two had given up on competing for the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" and now only wanted to cooperate with Xueling Chan to get some benefits.


    Their words of flattery were indeed well appreciated by Xueling Chan.


    Xueling Chan smiled smugly and looked toward the vast sky of the fifth realm, "It''s not entirely true. For someone else to consecutively achieve what I did in acquiring all four types of Nine-Spotted Nine Profound Threads from different realms is nearly impossible. However, there is one person who could achieve this."


    "Who?" the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables beside Xueling Chan hastily asked.


    Xueling Chan snorted coldly, "It''s none other than Blood Flying Yan, who came to the Ancient Forbidden Grounds with me."


    "Blood Flying Yan?" The two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables were shocked, "That woman can actually rival Daoist Ling Chan?!"


    They recalled the cold woman who accompanied Xueling Chan. Previously, they only noted Blood Flying Yan''s cold demeanor but hadn''t realized her combat power could be so extraordinary!


    "Hmph, Blood Flying Yan rarely shows herself, but like me, she was specially nurtured. From what I understand, her methods are far more ruthless and powerful than mine. If we''re talking about competing for the Unsurpassed Divine Fire, she might be my greatest opponent."


    Thinking of Blood Flying Yan, Xueling Chan''s expression turned grim.


    Although both were from the Bloodwing Tribe, when it came to such a precious item as the Unsurpassed Divine Fire, he certainly wouldn''t give it up easily; he had to fight for it fiercely.


    The two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Bloodwing Tribe couldn''t quite grasp Xueling Chan''s mindset. They laughed and said, "Regardless, both Daoist Ling Chan and Daoist Fei Yan are from our tribe. As long as the Unsurpassed Divine Fire ends up with our tribe, that''s fine. Just as long as those from the Nine Flames Clan don''t get it!"


    The conversation among the three touched upon the Bloodwing Tribe, the Nine Flames Clan, the Nine-Spotted Nine Profound Threads, and Blood Flying Yan.


    However, they never once mentioned Ye Chen.


    They could never have imagined that Ye Chen, who they hadn''t paid any attention to, also obtained four types of Nine-Spotted Nine Profound Threads in the previous four realms!


    They were even less aware that just as they were entering the fifth realm, Ye Chen had already found the key location in the fifth realm and was making efforts to acquire the fifth type of Nine-Spotted Nine Profound Threads!


    The fifth realm was a world of snow-covered space.


    As soon as Ye Chen entered this space, he received a message from the Nine Beasts Cauldron that the Exotic Beast corresponding to this fifth space was called the "Snowflame Toad."


    He must obtain the Beast Spirit of the "Snowflame Toad" in this fifth realm.


    The Nine Profound Threads corresponding to the fifth realm were the "Silver Nine Profound Threads."


    After receiving this information from the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," Ye Chen began his search for the "Snowflame Toad" and "Silver Nine Profound Threads" in the snow-covered space.


    Yet, in this snow-filled world, he found nothing, complete silence.


    Ye Chen searched for a long time and finally discovered a total of nine spaced-apart Ice Pools in this snow-covered world.


    These nine Ice Pools increased in size from the edges toward the center.


    The outermost Ice Pool was only a few zhang in diameter, a small pond with melting snow emitting cold air.


    But the central Ice Pool was several hundred zhang wide, and the cold air emanating from this central Ice Pool was many times colder than the surrounding snowy landscape and the other Ice Pools!


    Ye Chen noted that as he approached the center, the coldness of these nine Ice Pools became more terrifying; with his combat power, he could barely stand beside the central Ice Pool without freezing.


    Ye Chen had a premonition that if it were any other average Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, they would likely freeze to death upon approaching the central Ice Pool!


    The mere cold was enough to kill an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, illustrating the horror of this Ice Pool.


    Beneath the Ice Pool, there was likely even greater peril!


    Upon discovering the nine Ice Pools, Ye Chen had a feeling that the "Snowflame Toad" and "Silver Nine Profound Threads" he''d been searching for were probably within these Ice Pools.


    However, after observing the Ice Pools for a long time, Ye Chen still didn''t detect any movement from the "Snowflame Toad." When Ye Chen tried using his Divine Sense to probe the inside of the Ice Pools, he was astonished to find that even with his Divine Soul having reached the "Blue Divine Soul" level, he couldn''t probe inside these Ice Pools at all.


    Even for the marginal Ice Pool with the weakest cold, he was unable to explore its internal situation!


    This left Ye Chen both surprised and intrigued.


    "These nine ice pools surely contain some profound mysteries."


    Ye Chen pondered in his mind.


    As Ye Chen was contemplating various ways to probe the ice pools, an anomaly occurred.


    Bang.


    Suddenly, from the ice pool in the center, a crisp sound was heard, followed by a ray of Divine Light shooting out from the ice pool, flying towards Ye Chen.


    Startled, Ye Chen quickly used his Divine Sense to envelop the Divine Light, only to discover that the object flying towards him was a long wooden block.


    On the long wooden block, many characters were inscribed.


    Ye Chen then used his Divine Power to bind the long wooden block in the void, and proceeded to read the text on it.


    After a few breaths, Ye Chen moved the wooden block into his hand with a thought.


    Holding the wooden block, Ye Chen murmured, "So that''s how it is. No wonder I''ve been here for half a day and haven''t noticed any sign of the ''Snowflame Toad'' or ''Silver Nine Profound Threads''. It turns out that ''Snowflame Toad'' only appears at special times."


    "Indeed, within these nine ice pools, there are ''Snowflame Toads'' and ''Silver Nine Profound Threads''!"


    According to the instructions on the long wooden block, each of the nine ice pools hides nine levels of Silver Nine Profound Threads and nine levels of ''Snowflame Toads''.


    Only by slaying the lower-level ''Snowflame Toads'' can their bodies be used to lure out the higher-level ''Snowflame Toads''.


    Of course, if one dares not confront the higher-level ''Snowflame Toads'', then collecting the bodies of nine lower-level ''Snowflame Toads'' would trigger the appearance of a Silver Nine Profound Thread within the corresponding ice pool.


    Ye Chen''s goal is to obtain the nine-spotted Silver Nine Profound Threads.


    According to the instructions on the block, the nine-spotted Silver Nine Profound Threads are in the central ice pool. The central pool is also the highest-level ice pool.


    To acquire the nine-spotted Silver Nine Profound Threads, this implies not only needing to slay the lower-level ''Snowflame Toads'' in the first eight ice pools, using their bodies to draw out the highest-level ''Snowflame Toad'' in the central pool, but also having to kill at least nine highest-level ''Snowflame Toads'' to trigger the appearance of the nine-spotted Silver Nine Profound Threads.


    Initially, one must start by slaying the ''Snowflame Toads'' from the lowest-level ice pool.


    "The block says the ''Snowflame Toad'' in the leftmost ice pool is the weakest, and this weakest ''Snowflame Toad'' will only appear after the water in the leftmost ice pool completely turns silver."


    Ye Chen gazed towards the leftmost ice pool, noticing that the water inside was still a normal faintly transparent color, with no trace of silver.


    "The block says that every three days, the color of the water in the leftmost ice pool changes. It seems that just before I arrived here, the color of the ice pool had just changed, so I''ll need to wait a while longer."


    Ye Chen began to wait by the leftmost ice pool.


    More than half a day later, Ye Chen noticed a hint of silver light appearing in the corner of the leftmost ice pool, and the water was gradually turning silver.


    This delighted Ye Chen, who had been waiting all this time.


    "It looks like it will take just over a day for the water in the leftmost pool to completely turn silver."


    Finally witnessing the change in the pool water''s color, Ye Chen was in no hurry and continued to patiently wait.


    However, Ye Chen was unaware that while he waited for the color of the leftmost ice pool to change, Xueling Chan and two other Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan, who had also entered the fifth location space, were gradually approaching the area with the ice pools where he was located after traversing extensive territories!


    Meanwhile, in two other parallel spaces in the fifth location, one parallel space astonishingly had four people led by Blood Flying Yan of the Blood Wing Clan taking actions together, while the other parallel space had three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Nine Flames Clan.


    After the perilous excursions through the previous four locations, only eleven people, including Ye Chen, had entered the fifth location.


    These eleven individuals were all formidable experts!


    The others either perished in the previous four locations or exited the exploration area and were transported to the safe boundary.


    As Xueling Chan''s group of three were closing in on Ye Chen in his parallel space, in the other two parallel spaces, Blood Flying Yan''s group and the three from the Nine Flames Clan were also gradually approaching their area with the nine ice pools.


    And in the safe zone, when the last eleven individuals completely entered the fifth location, Cai Meng''er, Cai Xiao''er, and others in the safe zone noticed that a gigantic light screen appeared directly in the void of the safe zone.


    The moment the light screen emerged, it flickered for an instant then quickly vanished.


    Yet all personnel in the safe zone saw that the light screen indicated that only eleven people remained in the fifth location, and only eleven people still qualified to compete for the Unsurpassed Divine Fire in the Ancient Temple!

 Chapter 997 - 947: 3 vs 1

    "Eleven people, only eleven people have entered the fifth region!"


    "The fifth region is divided into three parallel spaces. I wonder how many of them will encounter each other, and how many will survive the conflicts and battles within the fifth region to finally break through to the sixth region?"


    More than twenty people in the safety zone, who are no longer eligible to compete for the ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire,'' were softly discussing while looking at the place where the light screen disappeared.


    In the crowd, the sisters Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er exchanged a glance and began to communicate telepathically.


    Cai Meng''er said worriedly, "In our parallel space, only Ye Chen entered the fifth region. I wonder whom he will encounter there?"


    "If he encounters the group from the Blood Wing Clan that has entered the fifth region, it will be troublesome."


    Although the little girl Cai Xiao''er was also a bit worried, she remained calm. "Brother Ye Chen is so powerful, he will surely be fine."


    "Although all those who managed to survive the ''God-Devouring Caterpillar'' attacks in the fourth region and entered the fifth region are definitely the most formidable individuals, I believe Brother Ye Chen is the most mysterious and powerful of them all!"


    Cai Xiao''er''s words made Cai Meng''er nod unconsciously. "Just worried that the Blood Wing Clan might have hidden trump cards... However, Ye Chen also has many methods he hasn''t used yet. He said he''s not afraid of others, so he should be fine!"


    While Cai Xiao''er and Cai Meng''er were contemplating Ye Chen''s situation, many individuals from the Nine Flames Clan and the Blood Wing Clan were also pondering who from their clans had finally entered the fifth region.


    Especially the Blood Wing Clan, who knew of the prowess of Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, felt sure of themselves. "Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan are the ones our clan focuses on nurturing. The two of them must be among the eleven individuals in the fifth region, and they definitely have the strength to continue advancing."


    "No need to worry about them. Whoever opposes them is courting death!"


    "Let''s see if Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan can make it to the final ninth region. The fifth region is absolutely no problem for them."


    Just as Cai Xiao''er trusted in Ye Chen''s strength, these individuals from the Blood Wing Clan also had complete faith in the capabilities of Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan!


    While those in the safety zone were discussing the emergence of the final eleven people on the light screen,


    Ye Chen was waiting at the edge of the ''Ice Pool,'' anticipating the transformation of the first pool''s water into silver.


    In the space where Ye Chen was located, Xueling Chan and two other Upper Immortal Divine Venerables had been flying for more than half the day, gradually closing in on Ye Chen.


    A few thousand miles, a few hundred miles, a few dozen miles...


    When Xueling Chan and the other two flew to about eight miles from Ye Chen, who was silently observing the transformation of the Ice Pool''s water, his eyes suddenly gleamed!


    Ye Chen had detected Xueling Chan and the other two!


    Upon entering the fifth region, the exploration range of Ye Chen''s Divine Sense had been compressed to a radius of eight miles.


    Yet, despite the suppression, Ye Chen was the first to discover Xueling Chan and the others, while they failed to notice him.


    Under the same suppression of Divine Sense, Xueling Chan''s search range was only a radius of five miles, and the other two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables could only search three miles, far less than Ye Chen!


    At this time, they continued to fly near Ye Chen''s position, searching all around, unaware that Ye Chen had already spotted them.


    "These three are indeed from the Blood Wing Clan."


    "The Blood Wing Clan, worthy of being the top-ranked of the five major advanced life clans of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' could get three people here together."


    Ye Chen squinted his eyes, pondering inwardly.


    "Judging by their actions, they will eventually discover these ''Ice Pools'' and me as well... If they don''t interfere with me and acquire the ''Nine Profound Threads'' from the ''Ice Pool'' normally, then there''s nothing to worry about... But if they aim to snatch something from me, well, perhaps I can prepare to acquire that item I''ve always wanted!"


    As Ye Chen pondered, Xueling Chan and the other two flew ever closer to him.


    In the fifth region, while Divine Sense is suppressed, flight speed also slowed considerably; each breath covered only a few hundred feet.


    Although their flight path wasn''t directly towards Ye Chen, after a while, they finally entered within a five-mile radius of Ye Chen.


    At this time, Xueling Chan immediately discovered Ye Chen!


    "Huh?"


    Xueling Chan''s Divine Sense swept towards Ye Chen, and upon seeing the nine sudden ''Ice Pools'' that emerged beside Ye Chen, his eyes brightened sharply.


    "Nine Ice Pools here!"


    Without hesitation, Xueling Chan changed course, flying directly towards Ye Chen and the Ice Pools.


    "Fellow Daoist Ling Chan," said the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables beside Xueling Chan, stunned by his actions.


    The two of them knew that Xueling Chan must have discovered something, so they immediately followed Xueling Chan and flew up.


    When they flew to a spot three miles away from Ye Chen, they also spotted Ye Chen and the nine ice pools.


    "Someone is actually in this fifth territory, and it''s a Divine King?! Isn''t this Divine King the one who entered the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' with the Nine Flames Clan? He could actually break through to the fifth territory?!" The two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables were stunned.


    They had a rather deep impression of Ye Chen.


    After all, Ye Chen, who was not from the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, joined the expedition into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', attracting everyone''s attention.


    But they absolutely did not expect Ye Chen to appear here.


    They thought that Ye Chen, being a Divine King, would be lucky to break through to the second territory.


    "And those ice pools, there are actually nine of them appearing next to that Divine King! It seems that those nine ice pools certainly have some oddity!"


    Upon discovering Ye Chen, their attention swiftly shifted to the nine ice pools beside him.


    In an instant.


    Xueling Chan and the other two flew down to a void dozens of feet away from Ye Chen.


    "So cold."


    The chill emanating from the nine ice pools made the faces of the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables change, but the two were strong enough to follow Xueling Chan into the fifth territory, so they ranked among the top in the Blood Wing clan''s Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Even though the chill surprised them, they could withstand it.


    After adjusting to the ice pool''s chill, the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables focused their gaze on Ye Chen.


    They transmitted their voices to Xueling Chan, "Ling Chan, this Divine King could also break through to the fifth territory, and even discovered the nine ice pools before us."


    "Judging by the looks, he entered the fifth territory before us."


    "These nine ice pools must have peculiar traits; I wonder if he got his hands on any treasures by arriving early."


    Upon hearing them mention treasures, Xueling Chan''s eyes instantly flashed with brilliance, and his gaze on Ye Chen carried a touch of hostility.


    As someone who wishes to dominate the ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'', Xueling Chan naturally doesn''t want valuable things to fall into others'' hands or let Ye Chen take the lead with the treasures of the fifth territory!


    "Treasure? Even if he got his hands on it first, do you think he can keep it?" Xueling Chan transmitted his voice to them disdainfully.


    Upon hearing Xueling Chan''s words, the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables felt excited inside, knowing Xueling Chan was provoked and wouldn''t let treasures easily fall into others'' hands. However, they were still somewhat hesitant, "Ling Chan, although he is a Divine King, he must be extraordinary to break into the fifth territory; we cannot take him lightly."


    "A Divine King? Extraordinary?" Xueling Chan sneered, "No matter how extraordinary he is, can he be more extraordinary than me?"


    Xueling Chan''s words made the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables feel assured!


    "Indeed, Ling Chan, you have been trained by the ''Blood Origin Divine Master'', this Divine King, no matter how extraordinary, is indeed no match for Ling Chan!"


    Saying this, they looked at Ye Chen with an unrestricted gaze, which had shifted from initial surprise to boldness.


    Seeing the expressions of the three, Ye Chen seemed to sense their intentions.


    Ye Chen sighed and stood up from his seated spot at the edge of the pool.


    Just as Ye Chen stood up, Xueling Chan''s frigid voice directly entered Ye Chen''s ears, "Kid, what did you find by the pool? Quickly report to the three of us."


    Xueling Chan''s voice carried a hint of disdain and disregard.


    He was indeed surprised that a Divine King such as Ye Chen could break into the fifth territory, yet as he claimed, he had been taught divine skills by the ''Blood Origin Divine Master'', believing that no matter how strong Ye Chen may be as a Divine King, he could certainly not surpass himself.


    Moreover, by his side were two other Blood Wing clan Upper Immortal Divine Venerables who were not much weaker than him.


    He certainly would not take Ye Chen, who was alone, seriously.


    Nor would he consider Ye Chen''s thoughts.


    He directly ordered Ye Chen!


    Xueling Chan''s cold words made Ye Chen raise an eyebrow.


    Looking at Xueling Chan''s expression, then at the two Blood Wing clan Upper Immortal Divine Venerables beside, eagerly awaiting a show, Ye Chen shook his head and smiled gently, "I believe I don''t know the three of you, why should I tell you what I know?"

 Chapter 998 - 948: Earth-shattering Battle

    Swish.


    Ye Chen''s casual words shocked the two upper Immortal Divine Venerables beside Xueling Chan, nearly causing them to fall from the void.


    The two never expected that Ye Chen would respond this way under Xueling Chan''s command.


    Did this God King still believe he could handle Ling Chan?


    Not just Ling Chan; even though they felt Ye Chen was somewhat extraordinary to have reached the fifth realm, any one of them could also reach the fifth realm alone. They did not believe Ye Chen was superior to them.


    The three of them were here, intimidating this God King, yet he remained so composed. The two upper Immortal Divine Venerables thought Ye Chen must be crazy.


    "This God King must either be crazy, lacking experience, thinking he''s invincible with some strength."


    "Or, he might have special tricks, unique confidence."


    The two upper Immortal Divine Venerables thought.


    "There''s probably more chance of the first possibility."


    "To be safe, let''s leave it to Ling Chan to deal with him. Ling Chan can handle him without any issues."


    Thinking this, the two upper Immortal Divine Venerables shrank back towards Xueling Chan.


    Xueling Chan immediately guessed their thoughts.


    Xueling Chan smirked coldly at the two beside him, saying, "Are you two scared of this God King?"


    "Fine, leave this person to me."


    Boom!


    As he spoke, Xueling Chan took a step closer to Ye Chen from the Void Heaven.


    He looked down at Ye Chen by the ice pool and sneered, "Boy, you seem to have some confidence to dare speak to me like this!"


    Xueling Chan''s words made Ye Chen smile, "You are an upper God King realm, and so am I. Why can''t I speak to you like this?"


    "Truly an arrogant boy! Can a God King be equal to another God King?"


    "Some God Kings only possess the combat power of ordinary God Kings, while others have the combat power of Earth Divine Venerables, Heavenly Divine Venerables, and Immortal Divine Venerables, a huge difference!"


    "And me, as a God King, I am at a level you can only look up to!"


    After scoffing at Ye Chen, Xueling Chan didn''t want to waste more words with Ye Chen: "Since you refuse to report honestly, I''ll kill you first and conduct a soul search; naturally, I''ll find out everything then!"


    Bang.


    While speaking, Xueling Chan''s body suddenly emitted divine light, and amidst the soaring divine light, he pointed a finger, sending a sky-splitting blood-red spear shadow slashing towards Ye Chen.


    Even though the fifth space suppressed divine power and divine sense, the blood-red spear shadow Xueling Chan unleashed was tens of meters long.


    And the speed of this spear shadow was unparalleled!


    In an instant, it approached Ye Chen.


    Seeing the blood-red spear shadow coming to kill, Ye Chen, already prepared, showed no panic. His expression darkened, and his Eternal God Body "Wind Divine Pattern" combat technique "Limitless Wind Blade" instantly activated.


    Swish. Swish. Swish.


    A Blade Storm rushed to meet the sky-shattering blood-red spear shadow head-on.


    Boom!


    When the Blade Storm collided with the blood-red spear shadow, a deafening explosion resounded in the void.


    This move showed Ye Chen with no weakness, directly shattering Xueling Chan''s attack!


    Meanwhile, the pair of massive wings formed by the Eternal God Body''s "Wind Divine Pattern" speed technique "Extreme Wind Wings" behind Ye Chen suddenly flapped.


    Ye Chen also soared into the void, directly facing Xueling Chan head-on!


    Above the Void Heaven.


    On one side was Ye Chen, on the other was Xueling Chan and his two companions.


    Xueling Chan didn''t expect Ye Chen actually dared to engage him. Seeing Ye Chen shatter his attack with a move and the massive wings behind Ye Chen, Xueling Chan''s eyes gleamed: "Eternal God Body''s Wind Divine Pattern technique!"


    "No wonder you dared to speak to me that way, you actually cultivated the Eternal God Body!"


    "The Eternal God Body was created for cultivation, why should I not cultivate it?" Ye Chen gazed calmly at Xueling Chan, "What, you don''t dare to make another move?"


    "Afraid?" Xueling Chan laughed to the sky, "You cultivating the Eternal God Body merely surprised me, seeing your ''Wind Divine Pattern'' attack power, you haven''t fully cultivated the Eternal God Body; what do I have to fear?"


    "Earlier I was merely testing you, since you seek death, I''ll send you on your way!"


    As he spoke, Xueling Chan''s expression suddenly turned cold, he reached out and a treasure shaped like a small pagoda appeared in his hand.


    "Suppression!"


    Xueling Chan shouted, and the palm-sized Pagoda in his hand vanished instantly. The next moment, above Ye Chen''s head, a thousand-yard behemoth Divine Tower appeared.


    This Divine Tower oppressed Ye Chen heading down!


    As the Divine Tower suppressed him, Ye Chen felt a mysterious binding force emanating from the Divine Tower, aiming to bind him directly, crushing him to death with the tower!


    If it were anyone below the Sovereign Realm, they might not withstand the Divine Tower''s binding and suppression, but Ye Chen is no ordinary person.


    Ye Chen''s Taiyi Divine Power suddenly shook, and the binding force coming from the Divine Tower was directly dispersed by Ye Chen, and the massive wind wings behind Ye Chen flapped, allowing him to instantly flash out from beneath the Divine Tower.


    At the same time, Ye Chen clasped his palm, and the Gourd Sword gifted to him by Huyan Divine Master in the Demon Tomb appeared directly in his hand.


    At this moment, Ye Chen had long been able to fully drive all the flying swords in the Gourd Sword.


    With a thought of Ye Chen''s mind and spirit, all one thousand flying swords in the Gourd Sword, along with Ye Chen''s life-bound flying sword Crimson Fire, a total of one thousand and one flying swords, burst out of the gourd!


    The Gourd Sword contains one thousand flying swords, all of which are top-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts!


    Moreover, they were crafted by Huyan Divine Master!


    Ye Chen''s life-bound flying sword was specially crafted by Huyan Divine Master and nurtured in the gourd as the main divine artifact of this set of flying swords; it has naturally already been elevated to the level of a top-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifact!


    One thousand and one top-grade Mysterious Heavenly Divine Artifacts.


    And they are divine objects crafted by the Divine Master.


    To Ye Chen, this was more useful than the Ultimate Heavenly Artifact he couldn''t yet fully control!


    When Ye Chen drove the one thousand and one flying swords, they instantly transformed into sword shadows as mighty as giant dragons, rushing toward the Divine Tower driven by Xueling Chan.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Countless flying swords bombarding the Divine Tower were causing earth-shattering blasts in the void and emitted blinding collision divine light!


    Xueling Chan''s Divine Tower was no ordinary artifact; the flying swords could not shatter it.


    However, under the bombardment of one thousand and one flying swords, the Divine Tower was still incessantly forced to fly backward!


    This scene genuinely made the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables beside Xueling Chan change their complexion dramatically.


    The two could see that despite Xueling Chan using powerful means, the God King on the opposite side could still confront Xueling Chan head-on and resist directly!


    This frightened them so much that they dared not stay close to Xueling Chan, involuntarily retreating several hundred zhang further.


    Their fearful expressions, combined with Ye Chen''s continual suppression, enraged Xueling Chan fiercely.


    At this moment, Xueling Chan no longer cared about those two Blood Wing Clan Upper Immortal Divine Venerables; he only wanted to kill Ye Chen sooner, completely kill him!


    Boom!


    Instantly, Xueling Chan pointed his finger at the Divine Tower, which whirled and suddenly changed from its original cyan color to a blood red.


    The color-changing Divine Tower seemed to have greatly increased its defensive power, directly blocking the frontal impact of the Gourd Sword''s one thousand and one flying swords in the void.


    The two divine objects became locked in a heated stalemate!


    At this moment, Xueling Chan''s eyes flashed with bloodlight, his body releasing an outburst of divine power, and instantly he transformed from human form into his Blood Wing Clan form¡ªa giant bat!


    Transformed into his original form, Xueling Chan''s combat power continued to rise and rise, instantly hitting the pinnacle of the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable!


    His colossal bat wings flapped violently as he charged directly at Ye Chen to kill him!


    The Blood Wing Clan was originally the most powerful life lineage in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Xueling Chan was specially nurtured by the Blood Origin Divine Master!


    After his transformation, Xueling Chan was quite extraordinary; every part of his body emitted blood-colored rays like sword blades.


    He was like a bat-shaped divine artifact designed to kill everything!


    If the Blood Origin Divine Master saw the bloodlight on Xueling Chan, he''d surely recognize that Xueling Chan had directly implemented the divine skill imparted by him from the Cosmic Sea¡ªHeaven-Slicing Earth-Cleaving Myriad Forms Divine Skill!


    At the moment, with a killing intent entirely focused on Ye Chen, Xueling Chan released the divine skill imparted by the Blood Origin Divine Master!


    Seeing Xueling Chan transformed to attack, with a killing force sharp to the extreme, Ye Chen''s expression became extremely serious.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit moved instantly, his Taiyi Divine Power was invoked toward the Stars Tower.


    Instantly, the Stellar Power on the fifth floor of the Stars Tower surged out from within him like starlight, and finally, all infused into Ye Chen.


    Starring Divine Power flickered around Ye Chen, making him seem like a supreme god not belonging to this cosmos!


    Ye Chen clutched with his large hand, the Stellar Power converged directly into a Star Divine Sword.


    Ye Chen wielded the Divine Sword, activating the Origin Slash, moving to meet the transformed Xueling Chan in battle!


    One was a prodigy with divine skills taught by the Divine Master.


    The other possessed the Supreme Divine Art from the Cosmic Sea, a power among the strongest passed down by the Star Lord.


    The fact that Ye Chen had just cultivated the fifth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture, even though he hadn''t fully completed the fifth chapter, and could only ignite the Stellar Power of one star among seven doesn''t matter.


    Facing the Blood Origin Divine Master''s teachings, the Blood Wing Clan''s specially nurtured Xueling Chan, Ye Chen was fearless, daring to confront head-on!


    Moreover, Ye Chen steadily maintained the upper hand!


    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s Origin Slash continually struck, causing Xueling Chan heart-wrenching pain repeatedly! The stellar power surging through Ye Chen''s body enabled him to directly engage in physical combat, suppressing Xueling Chan and sending him flying backward!


    The two fought hundreds of moves in the void in an instant, forcing Xueling Chan to retreat tens of thousands of zhang!

 Chapter 999 - 949: The Second Type of Divine Blood!

    This situation utterly terrified the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan standing by!


    They could never have imagined that Xueling Chan, who had been carefully nurtured by the Blood Origin Divine Master and the Blood Wing Clan, was no match for this Divine King before them.


    If Xueling Chan had not only been at a disadvantage without any signs of already being defeated, the two might have already fled!


    Just as their hands and feet were turning cold with fear, they heard Xueling Chan''s anxious voice: "The two of you, join in!"


    "Let''s join forces and kill him together!"


    "I still have my trump card that I''ve yet to use. If the three of us strike together, we can surely kill him!"


    To their surprise, Xueling Chan sought help from the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, asking them to join him in besieging Ye Chen!


    Hearing Xueling Chan''s words, the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan were momentarily stunned and hesitated for a split second, but Xueling Chan''s subsequent words immediately piqued their interest.


    Xueling Chan said, "This Divine King has such power at his realm, he must have many treasures. After killing him, I''ll let you each pick three items from him first!"


    "We get to choose the treasures first?"


    "Picking treasures from this mysterious Divine King?!"


    Their minds and spirits were stirred.


    They exchanged a glance and instantly decided: "Let''s do it! We''ll strike together!"


    "If things go wrong and we can''t defeat this Divine King, given Xueling Chan''s current state, he can still hold on for a while, giving us a chance to escape and teleport to a safe area!"


    "If the three of us, along with Xueling Chan''s trump card, successfully kill this Divine King, it would be a huge gain!"


    "Let''s do it!"


    With this thought, the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan unleashed their divine power, rolling out like waves of smoke.


    Both belonged to the top ranks in the Blood Wing Clan among Upper Immortal Divine Venerables, not ordinary beings.


    They had even slain many other powerhouses before.


    Having decided to act, they certainly aimed for a kill shot!


    In an instant, both unleashed their strongest means.


    Both transformed into their most powerful combat forms, while one unleashed a divine artifact resembling a scythe, and the other launched several divine beads that seemed ready to explode.


    The next moment, both flashed toward Ye Chen.


    At the same time, continuously being blasted backward by Ye Chen''s attacks, Xueling Chan''s eyes flashed with divine light, gritting his teeth, a third eye appeared on his large bat-like head. A golden flash appeared within it, from which a blood-red divine needle flew out directly aiming to kill Ye Chen.


    Instantly, Ye Chen was surrounded by the onslaught of the three powerful Blood Wing Clan members!


    Under such circumstances, if it were anyone else, their face would surely change dramatically.


    But Ye Chen seemed to have anticipated this situation.


    And the method Ye Chen had not yet used, this time, he finally brought it out.


    This method was none other than the "Copper Gong Mallet" technique!


    Bam.


    The copper gong flashed, and the wooden mallet struck.


    Something astonishing happened to Xueling Chan and the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan.


    The two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables charging towards Ye Chen, along with the divine artifacts in their hands, were instantly and completely immobilized in the void as the copper gong mallet struck!


    Even Xueling Chan was immobilized in the void!


    The Copper Gong Mallet was a divine object Ye Chen had obtained from the Abandoned Land of the prominent figures of the Heavenly God Mountain, and even though he couldn''t fully wield all its divine might, it was still incredibly effective against the joint assault of the three!


    Ye Chen had not brought out this technique sooner as he wanted to see what Xueling Chan could do as a Divine King. Now surrounded by their combined attack, he finally unleashed it!


    Being immobilized by Ye Chen, Xueling Chan and the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Blood Wing Clan were utterly horrified, their spirits crushed.


    They had thought that if they couldn''t defeat Ye Chen, they could at least hold out for a moment and use the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order" to teleport to safety.


    But they never anticipated that Ye Chen had such a powerful technique to immobilize them directly.


    At this point, they couldn''t move, let alone use the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order" to teleport away.


    If they had known it would turn out like this, those two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan would never have helped Xueling Chan against Ye Chen!


    If Xueling Chan had known it would turn out like this, he would never have tried to kill Ye Chen for treasures in the fifth realm!


    "It''s over, we''re finished."


    Xueling Chan and the other two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables were instantly filled with despair.


    Yet at this moment, Ye Chen did not immediately kill the three of them but instead focused his gaze on the blood-red divine needle that was Xueling Chan''s last attack.


    At that moment, even though Xueling Chan was immobilized, the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables were immobilized, and even the Divine Tower, contending with a thousand and one flying swords, was immobilized.


    However, the blood-red Divine Needle managed to remain unfazed, continuing its assault toward Ye Chen!


    "This Divine Needle is somewhat peculiar."


    For this Divine Object that Xueling Chan revealed at the last moment and could escape the control of the copper gong and wooden hammer, Ye Chen couldn''t help but take a few more glances.


    Yet, although he felt peculiar, Ye Chen remained calm in the face of the blood-red Divine Needle coming at him.


    At that moment, with Xueling Chan immobilized, the Divine Needle seemed affected as well. Despite continuing its assault toward Ye Chen, its force was insufficient to cause Ye Chen any harm.


    With Stellar Power surging within Ye Chen, he quickly suppressed the blood-red Divine Needle, binding it within the void.


    Then, with a surge of Divine Soul Power, Ye Chen erased the owner recognition Divine Sense left by Xueling Chan within the blood-red Divine Needle.


    The blood-red Divine Needle turned into an unowned object.


    Ye Chen then temporarily stored away the blood-red Divine Needle.


    Time was limited with the copper gong and wooden hammer''s immobilization, and he still needed to quickly deal with Xueling Chan and the two Upper Immortal Divine Venerables from the Blood Wing Clan, along with completing an important task.


    Exploring the Divine Might of the blood-red Divine Needle would have to wait.


    With this in mind, Ye Chen''s gaze turned directly towards Xueling Chan and the other two immobilized in space.


    A stick of incense later.


    Xueling Chan and the two had completely vanished from this world, leaving behind a variety of items in front of Ye Chen.


    During this time, Ye Chen had eliminated Xueling Chan and the two on the spot, using "Blue Extreme Iceflame" to burn their remains to ash.


    However, before executing them, Ye Chen first looted their belongings and performed a Soul Search on them.


    The items now arrayed before Ye Chen were the Divine Objects he retrieved from the three of them.


    Among these were items they originally carried with them before coming to the Ancient Forbidden Grounds, as well as Divine Objects they scavenged from the ruins in the fourth domain.


    These were quite valuable treasures.


    But Ye Chen''s attention wasn''t on these items; instead, it was on a small, crystalline bottle.


    Contained within this small, crystalline bottle were a hundred drops of Divine Essence Blood.


    If anyone saw this Essence Blood, exuding unique Divine Light, they would immediately recognize it as Essence Blood unique to the Blood Wing Clan, the top-ranked among the five advanced life groups of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom!


    These hundred drops of Essence Blood were the very ones Ye Chen extracted from Xueling Chan!


    Ye Chen had significant use for these hundred drops of Blood Wing Clan Essence Blood!


    The "Primordial Star Scripture" fifth chapter, "Taiyi Chapter," required Ye Chen to gather Essence Blood of corresponding combat power levels from seven types of advanced life groups to activate the seven stars within the Star Disk on the fifth layer of the Stars Tower, thereby entering the sixth chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture.


    This required seven different advanced life groups'' Essence Blood, with stipulations for Essence Blood from one being below the Heavenly Divine Venerable level, three at the Heavenly Divine Venerable level, two at the Immortal Divine Venerable level, and one at the Sovereign level.


    Previously, at the Supreme Divine Institute, Ye Chen defeated Xuan Chong from the advanced life group "Snow Liao Tribe" and obtained the first Snow Liao Tribe''s Heavenly Divine Venerable level Essence Blood.


    It was precisely this first drop of Snow Liao Tribe''s Essence Blood that activated one of the seven stars, enabling him to draw upon the Stellar Power within.


    Now, Ye Chen could finally use the second type of Essence Blood¡ªImmortal Divine Venerable level combat power Essence Blood from the Blood Wing Clan¡ªto activate the second star within the Star Disk!


    Earlier, although Ye Chen had encountered members of the Blood Wing Clan, he was with Cai Meng''er and others at the time, making it inconvenient to draw blood.


    Now, being alone in this domain, Ye Chen had no qualms and promptly acquired the Blood Wing Clan Essence Blood!


    "The deeper into the Ancient Forbidden Grounds I go, the more dangerous it becomes. It seems I need to activate the second star sooner to access more Stellar Power."


    "The more Stellar Power I draw, the more potent my combat power will become, aiding me in breaching the more perilous domains ahead!"


    Although Ye Chen successfully killed Xueling Chan in battle,


    he remains ever vigilant.


    On one hand, Xueling Chan''s combat power is not vastly inferior to his, prompting Ye Chen to stay wary of others; on the other hand, the blood-red Divine Needle acquired from Xueling Chan makes Ye Chen aware that the copper gong and wooden hammer at their current stage can''t immobilize everything.


    Encountering something that can evade the immobilization of the copper gong and wooden hammer and is more formidable than the blood-red Divine Needle, the copper gong and wooden hammer alone won''t suffice; other means will be necessary.


    Thus, increasing "Stellar Power" is, of course, Ye Chen''s most effective current strategy!


    "Through Soul Search within Xueling Chan''s memories, I learned that his Divine Needle was a gift from a significant figure known as the ''Blood Origin Divine Master.''


    "This gifted him with numerous means, allowing him to withstand me for a moment."


    "Moreover, according to Xueling Chan''s Divine Soul memories, there''s another Blood Wing Clan woman named Blood Flying Yan who also received teachings and a Divine Artifact from the Blood Origin Divine Master, and she''s even stronger than Xueling Chan."


    "Likely, I''ll encounter Blood Flying Yan in the sixth domain."


    "Clearly, I must further enhance my capabilities before completing my mission!"


    Ye Chen murmured as he gazed at the first Ice Pool, not yet fully turned silver.

 Chapter 1000 - 950: 2 People

    Acting immediately.


    Seeing that the water of the first Ice Pool has completely transformed into silver, but still needs some time, Ye Chen calmed his mind and directly arrived at the fifth floor of the Stars Tower once again.


    Then, Ye Chen directly dripped the hundred drops of "Essence Blood of the Bloodwing Tribe" that arrived with his Divine Soul onto the Star Disk composed of seven stars in the void on the fifth floor.


    Boom!


    The familiar situation occurred once again.


    When he first dripped the "Heavenly Divine Venerable-grade Essence Blood of the Snow Liao Tribe," Ye Chen directly triggered a faint golden star among the seven stars to emit an aura.


    This time, after dripping the "Upper Immortal Divine Venerable-grade Essence Blood of the Bloodwing Tribe" into the Star Disk, Ye Chen finally triggered the second star in the Star Disk¡ªa "purple-gold" star!


    This star emitted a purple-gold aura, completely enveloping Ye Chen within it.


    Ye Chen had activated the Star Disk before and knew that once a star is activated, it can directly cause the "Taiyi Divine Power" in his body to undergo special changes, thereby triggering the Starry Origin within the corresponding star.


    The more stars activated, the higher the quality of Taiyi Divine Power becomes, and the more powerful the Starry Origin it can trigger.


    The last time he activated the first star, Ye Chen directly elevated the quality of his Taiyi Divine Power to a faint golden color, enabling him to trigger the Starry Origin within the star that emitted a faint golden aura.


    This time, illuminated by the purple-gold star''s aura, Ye Chen''s Taiyi Divine Power began adding a second color¡ª"purple-gold color"¡ªto the faint golden hue.


    Once the infusion was complete, Ye Chen found that he could indeed simultaneously mobilize the Starry Origin within both stars.


    Especially with the newly accessible second "purple-gold star," Ye Chen discovered, perhaps due to the stronger Divine Blood absorbed by this star, that the Starry Origin within the second "purple-gold star" was several dozen times more powerful than the Starry Origin within the first faint golden star!


    This made Ye Chen utterly ecstatic!


    After adjusting himself to the accessible Starry Origin, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul returned to his body directly.


    Sitting cross-legged, Ye Chen opened his eyes directly!


    "Just like the Starry Origin in the first star, the Starry Origin in the second star cannot be used freely; it must be wielded through self-created techniques."


    "Luckily, back then, in order to use the Starry Origin within the first star, I specifically created the ''Origin Battle Three Forms,'' which can also drive the second type of Starry Origin!"


    "Let''s try and see how much my combat power has increased!"


    Thinking of this, the Taiyi Divine Power within Ye Chen directly directed itself toward the Starry Origin within the "purple-gold star" in the Stars Tower.


    Instantly, purple-gold light enveloped Ye Chen entirely.


    Ye Chen flew into the void, his hand making a slight grip, and a Divine Sword composed of purple-gold Starry Origin materialized directly in his grasp.


    Ye Chen wielded the Divine Sword, starting his trial of techniques.


    Origin Slash First Form, Origin Slash Second Form, Origin Slash Third Form...


    The first time, Ye Chen only used the Starry Origin from the second star to drive it, while the second time, Ye Chen harnessed the Starry Origin from both the first and second stars.


    After a long while, Ye Chen finally ceased his trial.


    "With the Starry Origin from the second star, I feel my combat power has increased several dozen times; combined with the Starry Origin from the two stars, it''s even more!"


    "I have a feeling that under these circumstances, my combat power might have surpassed the level of the Immortal Divine Venerable, and could probably contend with an ordinary one-star Sovereign!"


    Ye Chen had a suspicion in his heart.


    This suspicion brought Ye Chen great joy.


    Although Ye Chen hadn''t yet fought with a true one-star Sovereign, he could clearly feel the enhancement in his combat capabilities.


    This enhancement made Ye Chen feel even more assured in confronting the unknown "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Ye Chen did not know.


    At the time he experimented with the new Starry Origin, in the deepest part of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," the eminent woman in the eighteenth Ancient Temple, who noticed him before he arrived at the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," opened her beautiful eyes once again while still seated.


    This eminent woman, although she had continuously cultivated in the eighteenth Ancient Temple, had simultaneously left a trace of Divine Sense, observing Ye Chen''s adventure in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    At this moment, upon seeing the second type of Starry Origin on Ye Chen''s body, the eminent woman joyfully exclaimed, "That''s the feeling of Master''s Divine Origin, another kind of Master''s Divine Origin has appeared on this boy!"


    "This boy is definitely Master''s heir!"


    Thinking of this, the eminent woman''s breath became rapid: "No, something must have happened to Master, otherwise she couldn''t have transmitted her Divine Skills to this universe, nor directly accepted a new heir!"


    "No, I must quickly break through to the ''Star Lord Realm,'' for only by breaking through to the ''Star Lord Realm'' can I completely seal the ''Eye of the Demon'' here, leave this place, and go find this Divine King boy for answers, and then return to the Cosmic Sea to see Master!"


    The eminent woman deeply breathed a few times before glancing at Ye Chen in the fifth territory several times, then, as if resolving herself to something, her entire cultivation level altered drastically.


    This eminent woman even recalled the trace of Divine Sense she used to observe Ye Chen, immersing herself entirely in a mysterious state of cultivation!


    Ye Chen did not know that deep in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" lay eighteen Ancient Temples, nor did he know that within the temple was an eminent woman of "Cosmic Emperor Realm" that could shock the universe.


    He also did not know that this woman had a significant connection to him and to the "Zi Ji Star Lord!"


    At this moment, Ye Chen, having experimented with the star power origin, frowned: "The first three forms of the Origin Slash I created are somewhat inadequate in fully utilizing the dual star power origins. It seems that I need to continue creating further moves for the Origin Slash based on the situation of the star power origin."


    With a thought, Ye Chen''s divine soul returned to the Stars Tower to begin a new bout of cultivation.


    More than half a day later, Ye Chen woke up from his cultivation.


    Touched by the sensation, he sensed the water in the leftmost ice pool had completely turned silver, prompting him to emerge from his state of cultivation.


    "The water in the ice pool turning silver means that the weakest class ''Snowflame Toad'' is finally about to appear!"


    With a thought, Ye Chen stood up from his seated cultivation position and directed his gaze towards the leftmost ice pool.


    This time, Ye Chen didn''t have to wait long before a peculiar, palm-sized silver toad shot out from the ice pool, charging at him.


    "Just what I wanted!"


    Ye Chen''s combat power was already enough to kill the ''Snowflame Toad'', and now his battle strength had further increased.


    As soon as the ''Snowflame Toad'' flew out, spitting a ball of silver flame toward him, Ye Chen directly pointed a finger, and a sword light of Origin Slash instantly shredded both the ''Snowflame Toad'' and its silver flame on the spot!


    Then, Ye Chen threw the corpse of the weakest level ''Snowflame Toad'' into the second ice pool.


    Next, a second weakest level ''Snowflame Toad'' spat out a slightly fiercer silver flame and flew from the second ice pool to attack Ye Chen.


    And so on.


    Half a day later, Ye Chen completed the task of the nine ice pools, killing the ''Snowflame Toad'' that appeared in the highest level middle ice pool.


    Moreover, he consecutively killed nine!


    Following this, Ye Chen threw the corpses of the nine highest-level ''Snowflame Toads'' into the middle ice pool.


    Not long after, the fifth type of Nine Profound Threads awaited by Ye Chen¡ªthe silver Nine Profound Thread with ''Nine Spots''¡ªfinally flew out from the ice pool and landed in his hand.


    "The fifth exotic beast ''Snowflame Toad'' is indeed more formidable than the fourth exotic beast ''God-Devouring Caterpillar'', especially the highest-level ''Snowflame Toad'', whose spouted silver flame is much stronger than my ''Blue Extreme Iceflame''!"


    "However, it posed no threat to me; even without activating the second star, I could still pass this place."


    "Successfully slayed several ''Snowflame Toads'', acquiring the fifth Beast Spirit and the fifth type of Nine Profound Threads."


    "It''s time to prepare for the sixth domain."


    "The fifth domain was divided into three parallel spaces, while the sixth domain will only have a single space. All those who reach the sixth domain will encounter each other!"


    "I wonder how many people can enter the sixth domain!"


    "Once I further comprehend a newly self-created form of the Origin Slash, I''ll enter the sixth domain!"


    After completing the tasks of the fifth domain, Ye Chen murmured to himself and began cultivation anew.


    A day later, Ye Chen left the fifth domain and officially entered the sixth domain.


    In the other two parallel spaces.


    In the parallel space of the Three Upper Immortal Divine Venerables of the Nine Flames Clan, things weren''t as smooth as for Ye Chen.


    Even though they were considered absolute Upper Immortal Divine Venerables elites in the Nine Flames Clan, when they dealt with the ''Snowflame Toad'' in the eighth ice pool, they felt tremendous pressure!


    Moreover, the strongest-level ''Snowflame Toad'' directly killed one of the three, severely injuring the other two in the battle!


    If they hadn''t rushed out of the vicinity of the ice pool, and the few ''Snowflame Toads'' hadn''t pursued them, the remaining two might have died in this parallel space!


    In the end, the remaining two of the Nine Flames Clan were dejectedly transmitted to the safe zone, completely giving up competing for the ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire''.


    No one from this parallel space entered the sixth domain.


    Besides this parallel space and Ye Chen''s parallel space, the third parallel space was occupied by Fei Yan and the four Blood Wing Clan member''s parallel space.


    The four were similarly slaughtering ''Snowflame Toads''.


    However, each of the four faced attacks from a ''Snowflame Toad'', and in the end, only ''Blood Flying Yan'' managed to kill the strongest level ''Snowflame Toad'', successfully completing the tasks of obtaining the Beast Spirit and the Nine Profound Threads.


    Interestingly, even when ''Blood Flying Yan'' injured several ''Snowflame Toads'', allowing the other three to complete their tasks, it seemed they couldn''t help each other; once the ''Snowflame Toads'' turned to face the others, they immediately regained their full combat power!


    In such circumstances, the other members simply couldn''t cope.


    Moreover, the ''Snowflame Toads'' slain by Blood Flying Yan didn''t count toward the others.


    In the end, these few were unable to obtain the Beast Spirit of the ''Snowflame Toad'', preventing them from being transmitted into the sixth domain.


    Finally, in this parallel space, only Blood Flying Yan entered the sixth domain, while the others reluctantly retreated back to the safe zone.


    When Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan entered the sixth domain, after others either died or were transmitted back to the safe zone, all in the safe zone once again saw the screen flash; this time, it clearly stated that only two people had entered the sixth domain!

 Chapter 1001 - 951: Ye Chen vs. Blood Flying Yan

    "Only two people have entered the sixth region!"


    Everyone in the safe zone looked at the number on the light screen, their mind and spirit shaken.


    This time, there were as many as one hundred sixty-two people at or below the Dominion Realm who entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    At this moment, only over forty people feared the danger and chose to teleport to the safe zone, while only two others continued to roam in the sixth region.


    This means that all the missing people have died in the earlier regions.


    Over a hundred elite warriors have perished!


    "So many have died!"


    The surviving members of the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan felt a deep and complex mix of emotions.


    They knew that these people either died from the inherent dangers of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" or in the mutual slaughter between the clans.


    In any case, these were all elite members of the clans, who have thus fallen.


    At this time, the surviving forty-plus people were more concerned with one thing: who are the only two who broke into the sixth region?


    Only those two who are still exploring have any hope of contending for the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire!"


    "The two who ventured into the sixth region must be our ''Blood Wing Clan''s'' Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan!" declared a confident strongman from the Blood Wing Clan.


    His words made many familiar with the prowess of Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan nod repeatedly.


    But just those who had been with Blood Flying Yan, yet in the end, only Blood Flying Yan could reach the sixth region, while they could only teleport back to the safe zone, directly shouted: "Blood Flying Yan entered the sixth region!"


    "The three of us were just in the same parallel space in the fifth region with her. We saw with our own eyes her being teleported to the sixth region!"


    The words of these three people caused many in the field to take a deep breath.


    Three people witnessed it, so it must be true.


    The identity of one of the two who entered the sixth region was confirmed: Blood Flying Yan!


    "Who is the other person?" an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable from the Nine Flames Clan frowned and asked.


    The people looked toward the last two from the Nine Flames Clan who had come out from the fifth region.


    These two, with bleak expressions, shook their heads: "We had a total of three people enter a parallel space in the fifth region, but ''Huoxu'' died directly at the hands of the exotic beast ''Snowflame Toad'' in the fifth region, and only the two of us managed to escape!"


    "In our parallel space, one died, two escaped, and no one entered the sixth region."


    The words of these two once again caused a stir in the field.


    The Blood Wing Clan people shouted: "The fifth region is divided into three parallel spaces in total. Just now, Ling Chan said they four entered one parallel space, and only Blood Flying Yan entered the sixth region. Nine Flames Clan also had three people enter another parallel space, ultimately resulting in one death and two escapes, with no one entering the sixth region."


    "This means that the other person who went into the sixth region is from the third parallel space!"


    "Is there anyone who came out of the third parallel space?"


    Everyone looked solemn and shook their heads.


    "Xueling Chan wasn''t seen in the two parallel spaces of the fifth region, so he must have entered the third parallel space and finally broke into the sixth region from this parallel space, it must be him!"


    Analyzing the distribution of entrants in the fifth region, a member of the Blood Wing Clan shouted.


    The words of the Blood Wing Clan member made the faces of everyone in the Nine Flames Clan change drastically.


    "Could it be that the people who entered the sixth region are indeed the two great powerhouses of the Blood Wing Clan?!"


    The people of the Nine Flames Clan were reluctant to believe it.


    However, they had no choice but to accept it.


    Their most formidable members had all returned with broken wings in a parallel space of the fifth region; others basically had no chance of reaching the sixth region.


    And the two strongest masters of the Blood Wing Clan¡ªXueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan¡ªhad not appeared yet, indeed increasing the likelihood that they are the ones who entered the sixth region!


    In the crowd, Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er exchanged a glance, both thinking of something.


    "Ye Chen definitely entered the fifth region, but he didn''t encounter our three clansmen or the group of four with Blood Flying Yan, which means he most likely entered that third parallel space!"


    "The Blood Wing Clan said that formidable Xueling Chan also entered the third parallel space, so it''s very likely that Ye Chen encountered them!"


    The Blood Wing Clan people believed that it was Xueling Chan who emerged triumphantly from that parallel space and broke into the sixth region.


    But Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, the two sisters, had a feeling that the one who fought his way out of the third parallel space was probably Ye Chen!


    "I believe it was Ye Chen who broke into the sixth region!"


    "Even if the Blood Wing Clan says Xueling Chan is formidable, they do not know that Ye Chen is even more formidable. If Xueling Chan and Ye Chen meet, Ye Chen will not lose!"


    Cai Xiao''er clenched her little fists tightly.


    Cai Meng''er looked with her beautiful eyes towards the vast world of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds": "Ye Chen said he would be fine, and I also believe it''s him still breaking through!"


    ...


    The Blood Wing Clan members are certain that Blood Flying Yan and Xueling Chan are the two who ventured into the Sixth Region.


    Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, on the other hand, believe that Ye Chen must have charged into the Sixth Region.


    However, what they don''t know is that Xueling Chan had already died at Ye Chen''s hands, and Ye Chen had entered the Sixth Region even earlier than Blood Flying Yan.


    Indeed, just as Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er believed, it was Ye Chen who charged into the Sixth Region!


    Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan became the only two still adventuring!


    ...


    Upon entering the Sixth Region, Ye Chen discovered that he had arrived on a massive platform.


    The platform was black, engraved with countless strange, dark red patterns.


    After Ye Chen took a full circuit around this enormous platform, he shockingly found that the space he could move within the Sixth Region was only this massive black platform spanning a hundred thousand feet!


    It was as if the rest of the Sixth Region was sealed!


    "Could it be that the Sixth Region is to be adventured here?!"


    "According to the Nine Beasts Cauldron''s guidance, upon reaching the Sixth Region, one must face the attack of the sixth type of exotic beast¡ªa beast known as the ''Burning Fire Crow''."


    "Furthermore, the item to obtain in the Sixth Region is the ''Black Nine Mysteries Silk''!"


    "How should the ''Burning Fire Crow'' and the ''Black Nine Mysteries Silk'' be obtained?"


    Ye Chen gazed at the Nine Beasts Cauldron in his hand, where the sixth diagram, an unusual crow exotic beast pattern, was emitting an inexplicable cold light.


    Yet Ye Chen was not in a hurry; with the experience of dealing with the "Snowflame Toad" in the Fifth Region, Ye Chen knew that regardless of changes, the sixth exotic beast would appear sooner or later.


    Ye Chen decided to continue moving around the massive black platform and wait.


    "According to the ancient stele''s instructions, the first three regions have nine days of exploration time, and the tenth day allows entry into the Fourth Region."


    "The exploration time for the Fourth Region to the Sixth Region is limited from the tenth day to the eighteenth day, the nineteenth day allows entry into the Seventh Region."


    "For the final part from the Seventh Region to the Ninth Region, exploration is possible from the nineteenth day to the twenty-seventh day."


    "The remaining three days are for retrieving the ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' from the ancient temple."


    "The month-long exploration time in the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' allocates three regions every nine days, completing nine regions within twenty-seven days, leaving three days for entry into the ancient temple. This arrangement is quite ingenious."


    "Since entering the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' it''s the fourteenth day, so there are still four to five days available for use in the Sixth Region."


    Ye Chen then looked at the "Beast Spirit" and "Nine Mysteries Silk" already in hand.


    From the First Region to the Fifth Region, he successively obtained the "Fire Winged Tusked Beast Spirit" and "Fire Red Nine Mysteries Silk," "Flame Devouring Demon Spider Beast Spirit" and "Blue Nine Mysteries Silk," "Heart-piercing Rat Beast Spirit" and "Brown Nine Mysteries Silk," "God-Devouring Caterpillar Beast Spirit" and "Gray Nine Mysteries Silk," and "Snowflame Toad Beast Spirit" and "Silver Nine Mysteries Silk."


    All five Beast Spirits are in possession!


    All five Nine Spots Nine Mysteries Silks have been acquired!


    Only four Beast Spirits and four Nine Mysteries Silks remain to be obtained.


    Having completed most of the task, Ye Chen felt a great sense of accomplishment in his heart.


    "The sixth exotic beast ''Burning Fire Crow'' and the sixth Nine Mysteries Silk ''Black Nine Mysteries Silk,'' I wonder in what manner they will appear."


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but ponder again.


    As Ye Chen moved about, pondered, and waited, several hours later, a divine light suddenly flashed in one corner of the massive black platform.


    Ye Chen immediately gathered his mind and looked towards that corner.


    At this moment, Ye Chen saw a woman appearing in that corner.


    This woman was extremely beautiful, but her eyebrows were narrow and long, carrying a naturally chilling demeanor that made others very uncomfortable.


    Although Ye Chen had never seen this woman, he immediately recognized her.


    Blood Flying Yan!


    This woman was indeed the person Ye Chen learned from Xueling Chan''s soul-search memory, trained by the "Blood Origin Divine Master," another member of the Blood Wing Clan!


    The woman whom Xueling Chan feared!


    "Blood Flying Yan indeed ventured into the Sixth Region," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    Just as Blood Flying Yan transmitted from the Fifth Region to the Sixth Region, she saw herself appearing on a large black platform and showed a look of surprise.


    Then, she noticed Ye Chen examining her.


    "Hmm? A foreign race''s divine king, able to enter the Sixth Region like me?!" Seeing Ye Chen here truly shocked Blood Flying Yan.

 Chapter 1002 - 952: Furnace, Black Crow, Malice

    Blood Flying Yan had considered encountering Xueling Chan or other formidable figures at the sixth realm.


    Yet she never anticipated meeting a Foreign Divine King she had hardly noticed before.


    "This Foreign Divine King is definitely extraordinary!"


    "Otherwise, he absolutely couldn''t have reached the sixth realm!"


    Blood Flying Yan, being rather calculating, quickly regained her composure from surprise, suppressing her astonishment. She managed a slight smile at Ye Chen, nodding slightly.


    However, she wasn''t familiar with Ye Chen and didn''t initiate conversation with him.


    Upon seeing Blood Flying Yan''s expression, Ye Chen also nodded at her. Naturally, Ye Chen wouldn''t proactively converse with this Blood Flying Yan either.


    On one hand, Ye Chen felt no affinity for the Blood Wing Clan, and on the other hand, he had come to understand from Xueling Chan''s Divine Soul memory that Blood Flying Yan was incredibly ruthless. He wasn''t swayed by Blood Flying Yan''s smile and had been wary of her since first sight.


    After the two individuals who entered the sixth realm acknowledged each other with nods, they began examining the massive platform''s surroundings.


    Soon, the changes within the sixth realm that Ye Chen was waiting for finally arrived.


    As if sensing the arrival of those capable of entering, an earth-shattering roar suddenly emerged from the void above the hundred-thousand-zhang enormous black platform.


    Swish! Swish!


    Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan abruptly halted their steps, directing their gaze towards the void.


    Upon arriving, Blood Flying Yan discovered that moving through the void was similarly obstructed by a mysterious power, allowing flight in only a small area. Previously, she hadn''t noticed anything special in the void, but now the changes had originated from the void.


    Ye Chen had certainly inspected the expanse above Void Heaven as well.


    At this moment, he closely watched the thundering void, eyes glittering.


    As they both focused on the void, an anomaly occurred.


    The entire void above the hundred-thousand-zhang enormous black platform seemed to be violently torn apart. Amidst blinding light so terrifying that even Ye Chen trembled, with two resounding bangs, two gigantic objects, each a hundred-zhang high, fell from the void, eventually landing precisely on the massive platform, standing dozens of zhang apart!


    At the moment these enormous objects fell, Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan recognized them as two gigantic furnaces!


    The two furnaces were entirely dark in color, matching the enormous platform''s hue. Unlike the platform, which bore countless strange dark red patterns, the furnaces were engraved with numerous dark red demon motifs.


    Upon closer inspection, Ye Chen realized these demon motifs were none other than the "Burning Fire Crow" patterns depicted on the nine beasts cauldron.


    "Could it be that the ''Burning Fire Crow'' patterns on these furnaces will unleash the ''Burning Fire Crow'' Exotic Beasts to attack us?" Ye Chen wondered.


    Blood Flying Yan also pondered, "Is it that this sixth realm requires dealing with the Exotic Beasts emerging from these patterns?"


    However, both thoughts were incorrect.


    From the hundreds of "Burning Fire Crow" patterns spread across the hundred-zhang high furnaces, no "Burning Fire Crow" Exotic Beast attacked them. Instead, each furnace emitted a mysterious Divine Light, enveloping Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan respectively.


    The speed of this mysterious Divine Light was incredibly fast!


    Even with the exceptional combat power of Blood Flying Yan and Ye Chen, there was no time to evade. In an instant, they were enveloped by the Divine Light!


    After a long while, the two clusters of Divine Light gradually dissipated, revealing the figures of Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan once more.


    Their eyes flashed with intense gleams.


    In those moments encased by the Divine Light, they finally understood how to slay the "Burning Fire Crow" and seize the Beast Spirit in this sixth realm, and how to obtain the "black nine-string silk."


    Those Divine Lights that respectively enveloped them were, in fact, conveying information about this realm.


    "So, everything in the sixth realm is connected to the giant furnaces before us!"


    "Just now, the Divine Light transmitted a method for refining the ''black nine-string silk''. This sixth type of ''black nine-string silk'' must be refined by oneself within the furnace!"


    "Throughout the refining process, one''s entire Divine Soul will face continuous assault from the ''Burning Fire Crow'' within the furnace, and the attacks will become increasingly fierce. Only by enduring three straight days of ''Burning Fire Crow'' attacks can the highest level nine-spotted ''black nine-string silk'' ultimately be refined."


    "During the process, if the ''Burning Fire Crow'' attacks cannot be endured, the Divine Soul might be extinguished directly on the spot. Should one prematurely abandon refining the ''black nine-string silk'', the highest level nine-spotted ''black nine-string silk'' will absolutely not be attained."


    "Without the nine-spotted ''black nine-string silk'', it is impossible to enter the seventh realm from the sixth realm."


    "To enter the seventh realm, one must withstand all attacks from the ''Burning Fire Crow'' and thoroughly refine the nine-spotted ''black nine-string silk''!"


    Understanding the rules of the sixth realm, Ye Chen directed his gaze toward one of the two furnaces nearest to him.


    Meanwhile, Blood Flying Yan also looked toward the other furnace.


    Before commencing the refining of "black nine-string silk", Blood Flying Yan surprisingly spoke to Ye Chen.


    Blood Flying Yan said to Ye Chen, "Fellow Daoist, since refining the nine-spotted black nine-string silk is necessary to pass, how about we each rely on our abilities to venture through without interference from each other?"


    Ye Chen glanced at Xue Feiyan, smiled faintly, and nodded: "That''s good."


    Seeing Ye Chen agree, Xue Feiyan also smiled: "Then, fellow Daoist, you can refine at the furnace closer to your left, and I will refine at the furnace on the right."


    Ye Chen nodded.


    The two furnaces were identical, so it made no difference where they were.


    Seeing Ye Chen nod, Xue Feiyan stopped speaking and first sat cross-legged by the furnace on the right.


    Ye Chen also sat down cross-legged by the furnace on the left.


    The two were separated by dozens of feet, each facing a massive black furnace a hundred feet high in front of them.


    In an instant, the two entered their respective refining states.


    On Ye Chen''s side.


    Although he agreed to Xue Feiyan''s proposal of non-interference, Ye Chen certainly would not completely trust Xue Feiyan.


    Not to mention that he already knew from Xueling Chan''s divine soul memory that Xue Feiyan was a scheming person who must be guarded against; even if they were strangers, Ye Chen could not fully trust the other party.


    Ye Chen directly split a part of his divine sense to guard outside, even in a way that Xue Feiyan was completely unaware of, deploying a divine object to protect himself.


    Then, Ye Chen allowed his divine soul to immerse into the furnace.


    On the other side.


    As Xue Feiyan sensed Ye Chen entering the refining state, a cold smile emerged from deep within her mind: "My target is the ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire''; no matter what, this Divine King must not contend with me."


    "For him to reach the sixth domain, he must be extraordinary, so ordinary methods surely won''t work against him."


    "I must find the best opportunity to strike! I definitely can''t let him acquire the Nine Profound Threads with nine spots!"


    "The refining of the Nine Profound Threads in this sixth domain furnace, dealing with the attacking Burning Fire Crows, all largely relate to divine soul power. Others do not know, but my strongest methods are divine soul techniques!"


    From the start, Xue Feiyan indeed never planned on mutual non-interference with Ye Chen.


    Deep down, her intent was directly inclined towards attacking Ye Chen!


    Both remained prepared, gradually entering the refinement of the ''Black Nine Profound Threads.''


    The moment Ye Chen''s divine soul entered the furnace, he felt innumerable fire rune arrays within the furnace.


    "Burn!"


    Ye Chen used the method gained from the Divine Light to activate the entire furnace.


    When Ye Chen''s divine soul activated the fire rune arrays inside the furnace according to a specific pattern, with a "boom," numerous flames burst forth from the fire rune arrays, instantly filling the entire furnace with burning black flames!


    Ye Chen''s divine soul was immediately engulfed in the black flames!


    The intensity of these flames was terrifying. If it were an ordinary upper Immortal Divine Venerable, or even a powerful upper Immortal Divine Venerable, they would likely be unable to withstand the burning power of these flames, let alone refine the ''Black Nine Profound Threads.''


    But Ye Chen''s divine soul was extremely powerful.


    Even though he had split some divine soul power to guard against the outside, the divine soul that entered the furnace was unmatched by others!


    After all, back at the Heavenly God Mountain, Ye Chen absorbed divine soul power from countless ''Purple Silver Pearls'' and elevated his divine soul to an unbelievable ''Blue Divine Soul'' level, moving towards the final step of ''Purple Divine Soul'' cultivation!


    In terms of divine soul strength alone, Ye Chen was not weaker than many Sovereigns!


    The burning flames in the furnace had no effect on Ye Chen at all.


    In mere moments, Ye Chen''s divine soul controlled the black flames within the furnace, using the methods taught by the Divine Light to draw out flame power from the black flames, compressing it to form the ''Black Nine Profound Threads.''


    Gah! Gah! Gah! Gah!


    While Ye Chen was condensing and refining the ''Black Nine Profound Threads,'' strange sounds suddenly resonated within the furnace walls, followed by the sight of eight Burning Fire Crows, each several feet in size, flapping wings engulfed in black flames, attacking Ye Chen.


    "Burning Fire Crows?!"


    Ye Chen, while refining the ''Black Nine Profound Threads'' with his divine soul, noticed the eight Burning Fire Crows attacking him. He remained unaffected and, with a swift motion of his divine soul, unleashed the ''Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills'' learned in the Purple Ore Mystery Realm of the Heavenly God Mountain towards these Burning Fire Crows.


    The ''Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills'' were immensely powerful divine soul attack methods. Even by stimulating only a thousandth of its full power, Ye Chen instantly obliterated the eight Burning Fire Crows within the furnace!


    In the moment they were slain by Ye Chen, the bodies of the Burning Fire Crows vanished immediately, but strands of black threads separated from them and fused into the ''Black Nine Profound Threads'' Ye Chen was refining.


    With the convergence of black flame strength and the black threads released upon the death of the Burning Fire Crows, the first wisp of faint ''Black Nine Profound Threads'' began to take shape.

 Chapter 1003 - 953 Counterattack!

    At this moment, the "black nine-mystery silk" didn''t have a single spot on it. Obviously, it was still far from becoming "one-spotted" black nine-mystery silk, let alone the highest level "nine-spotted" black nine-mystery silk.


    "This is just the beginning."


    "One must endure the onslaught of ''flame black crows'' for three full days and also refine the ''black nine-mystery silk'' for three full days!"


    Ye Chen was in no hurry, continuing to use the methods from the Divine Light information to refine the "black nine-mystery silk".


    On the other side.


    Blood Flying Yan also entered the refining process of "black nine-mystery silk".


    This woman was indeed someone of key cultivation by the Blood Wing Clan, taught divine skills by the Blood Origin Divine Master, her divine soul power was truly extraordinary.


    In the furnace she faced, when eight ''flame black crows'' attacked her divine soul, countless threads of bloodlight erupted instantly, immediately slaying the eight ''flame black crows'' in the furnace!


    Blood Flying Yan merely let out a cold laugh in her heart and then immersed herself in the refining of the "black nine-mystery silk".


    A day passed in the blink of an eye.


    Looking at the furnace Ye Chen faced, one could see that the "black nine-mystery silk" in Ye Chen''s hand had now turned into a "four-spotted" black nine-mystery silk!


    At this moment, the entire furnace was filled with the increasingly dense and numerous attacks of "flame black crows" on Ye Chen. Each batch consisted of dozens to hundreds of them!


    Even more terrifying was that the soul-killing force of each of these "flame black crows" far exceeded that of the "God-Devouring Caterpillar" and "Snowflame Toad" that Ye Chen faced earlier, as if numerous flames scorching towards Ye Chen''s divine soul relentlessly!


    If someone weaker were in this position, they would have long screamed in madness, or even their divine soul would have been severely injured.


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen was not affected in the slightest.


    No matter how many ''burning fire crows'' came, Ye Chen instantly slew as many!


    At the same time, the refinement of the "black nine-mystery silk" in Ye Chen''s hand continued unabated!


    Moreover, there was something even Blood Flying Yan did not know, at this moment, Ye Chen''s divine soul in the furnace began to constantly strengthen!


    "Marvelous, truly marvelous!"


    "This furnace actually bears some resemblance to when I trained my divine soul in the Heavenly God Mountain back then. My divine soul transitioning from a ''blue divine soul'' to a ''purple divine soul'' can actually progress in this furnace!"


    Ye Chen couldn''t help but be amazed.


    Back then, the Heavenly God Mountain was left by the colossal force of Cosmic Sea, the Ancestral God Temple, which even had great figures of the Divine Master Realm within, all so extraordinary.


    Now it seemed that the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" were in no way inferior to the "Heavenly God Mountain", and in fact, appeared even more mysterious!


    "This is just the sixth ordinary domain outside the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' and it can already aid in enhancing my divine soul!"


    Enhancing the divine soul sounds simple, but achieving it is immensely difficult.


    Under normal circumstances, upgrading from a "blue divine soul" to a "purple divine soul" would take hundreds to thousands of years of cultivation and require great fortunes!


    This is why even many "Nine-Star Sovereigns" have not been able to raise their divine souls to the "purple divine soul" level.


    Yet Ye Chen, ever since elevating his divine soul to the level of "blue divine soul" in the "Heavenly God Mountain", hadn''t been able to further enhance it.


    Now, in this sixth domain''s "furnace" within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds", Ye Chen had unexpectedly found a breakthrough!


    "At the start of the second day of refining ''black nine-mystery silk'', my divine soul also advanced. Judging by this, once I complete the three days of refining ''black nine-mystery silk'', I might increase my divine soul strength by seven to eight per mille, saving hundreds of years of soul cultivation time!"


    However, enhancing the divine soul strength is also an enormously painful process.


    Initially, Ye Chen''s divine soul was not much affected.


    But by the third day of Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan''s refining of "black nine-mystery silk", not only had the attacks of "flame black crows" become dozens of times more intense on Ye Chen, but even his entire divine soul seemed to stir and blaze within the furnace!


    From the outside, looking at Ye Chen''s body, one could see countless beads of sweat dripping down, making him appear drenched.


    To Blood Flying Yan, who''d been secretly observing Ye Chen, this scene carried a completely different implication.


    "Hmm? Is this foreign divine king starting to falter?"


    "Indeed, it''s already the third day of refining ''black nine-mystery silk'', even I am gradually struggling with the relentless attacks from ''flame black crows'', this divine king, no matter how special, mustn''t find it easy either."


    Blood Flying Yan''s mind stirred, harboring the intent to make a move on Ye Chen.


    She''d been waiting for this opportunity!


    However, Blood Flying Yan was indeed a person with calculating thoughts, even though she thought it was a great opportunity, she didn''t immediately take action, but continued to wait, waiting for the optimal moment!


    Time continued to pass.


    When it reached the afternoon of the third day of refining "black nine-mystery silk", both Ye Chen and Blood Flying Yan had refined the "black nine-mystery silk" to the level of "eight-spotted" black nine-mystery silk.


    At this moment, Blood Flying Yan was merely refining the "black nine-mystery silk" and slaying "flame black crows".


    But Ye Chen, not only was refining "black nine-mystery silk" and slaying "flame black crows", his divine soul''s cultivation towards a "purple divine soul" had also reached the critical juncture.


    Outside, Ye Chen''s body was completely soaked with sweat, leaving a large wet mark on the ground beneath.


    In the furnace, Ye Chen''s divine soul emitted a blinding firelight!


    From the outside, it seemed as if Ye Chen could not withstand the trial of the fire furnace and was at a moment of extreme difficulty.


    However, inside the furnace, Ye Chen''s Divine Soul seemed to want to roar!


    No matter how painful it was, Ye Chen genuinely felt the increase in his Divine Soul strength, which made him almost unable to resist letting out a long howl!


    At this moment.


    On the other side, Fei Yan''s mind and spirit suddenly stirred.


    "It''s now!"


    "This is the moment when the ''Black Nine Profound Threads'' progresses from ''Eight Spots'' to ''Nine Spots''. This foreign race Divine King has become like this and absolutely cannot spare any attention to defend against my attack!"


    Swoosh!


    Thinking of this, eight golden and shining Divine Nail-like objects instantly erupted from Fei Yan''s body!


    This was surprisingly a Divine Soul attack marvel given to Fei Yan by the Blood Origin Divine Master ¡ª "Falling Divine Nail".


    Each "Falling Divine Nail" could degrade an opponent''s combat power by one level through a Divine Soul attack. With all eight together, Fei Yan was confident to directly degrade Ye Chen''s combat power from the level of an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable to an ordinary person, or even annihilate Ye Chen''s combat power entirely!


    Fei Yan truly had a mind of relentless malice.


    In such a situation of refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads" inside the furnace, even dropping Ye Chen''s combat power by just one level was enough to make him unable to withstand the trial of the fire furnace, causing his Divine Soul to completely disintegrate.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The attack of the "Falling Divine Nail" was extremely swift.


    They seemed to shuttle through the void, vanishing the instant Fei Yan launched them, and in the next moment, they were already piercing towards Ye Chen!


    At this time, Ye Chen still seemed immersed in the process of refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads" inside the furnace!


    What Fei Yan didn''t know was that at the moment she launched the "Falling Divine Nail" towards Ye Chen, the Divine Soul of Ye Chen in the furnace emitting blinding flames suddenly moved vigorously.


    Instantly, Ye Chen''s exterior body also moved dramatically.


    "As expected, couldn''t resist attacking me?!"


    A voice emerged from Ye Chen''s Divine Soul.


    In an instant.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    At the moment the eight "Falling Divine Nails" struck Ye Chen, a dazzling purple-silver Divine Light suddenly erupted from his body.


    Amid the purple-silver Divine Light, a mysterious battle armor surfaced directly on Ye Chen''s body.


    Purple Silver Battle Armor!


    This armor was, unsurprisingly, a Polar Sky Level armor called "Purple Silver Battle Armor" created from "Purple Silver Pearl" and given to Ye Chen by the Jiuyuan Divine Master during his expedition in the "Purple Crystal Divine Mountain" at Heavenly God Mountain!


    Upon the emergence of the "Purple Silver Battle Armor", Ye Chen''s Divine Soul defensive skill "Amethyst Soul Protection Skills" was also directly activated.


    Even the Divine Nail, a Divine Object given to Fei Yan by the Blood Origin Divine Master, was directly deflected by Ye Chen''s "Purple Silver Battle Armor"!


    Seeing this scene, Fei Yan, who originally expected to kill Ye Chen, suddenly went from great joy to great shock.


    Fei Yan did not expect that the seemingly drenched Ye Chen, who appeared unable to withstand the trial of the fire furnace, exploded with Divine Soul defensive power that even chilled her to the core at the moment of her attack!


    "You!" Fei Yan exclaimed in shock, but to her surprise, something unexpected happened.


    Ye Chen did not waste any words with her and launched a counterattack directly towards her.


    Boom!


    From Ye Chen''s body, the "Purple Silver Battle Armor" unleashed a powerful Divine Soul attack method, the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills".


    Inside the furnace, Ye Chen used the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" to slay countless "Burning Fire Crows", and now, outside the furnace, Ye Chen also used this technique to attack Fei Yan.


    Repaying her attack in kind.


    Though Ye Chen initially did not intend to attack Fei Yan, since she intended to kill him, he naturally retaliated against this malicious woman without hesitation!


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    How powerful was the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills", this Divine Soul Attack Secret Technique!


    As soon as Ye Chen initiated it, countless blade-like purple radiances, dazzling like knife wings, counterattacked towards Fei Yan.


    An extraordinary scene unfolded.


    Mere moments ago, it was Fei Yan who launched eight "Falling Divine Nail" attacks at Ye Chen, but moments later, the "Falling Divine Nail" was deflected, and it was Ye Chen launching countless purple blade radiances of the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" towards Fei Yan!


    Originally, even if Fei Yan wasn''t refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads" inside the furnace, it would not have been easy for her to resist Ye Chen''s attack, let alone now, when she had to split her attention between defending against both the attacks of the "Burning Fire Crows" inside the furnace and Ye Chen''s "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills".


    Instantly, Fei Yan found herself at a life-or-death moment!

 Chapter 1004 - 954: The Last Person!

    At this moment, for Blood Flying Yan, continuing to refine the "Black Nine Profound Threads" while resisting Ye Chen is absolutely impossible.


    The only choice before her is to swiftly withdraw her soul from the furnace and fully engage in battle against Ye Chen''s attack!


    Yet even so, she might not be able to block it!


    "It''s over."


    Blood Flying Yan''s expression changed drastically, falling into deep regret in an instant.


    She never expected that in attempting to suddenly assassinate Ye Chen, she would be counter-killed by Ye Chen instead.


    In this situation, she has no choice but to withdraw her soul from the furnace and resist with all her might. This means, even if she successfully blocks Ye Chen''s attack, she will completely lose the opportunity to refine the "Black Nine Profound Threads."


    After all, once the soul withdraws from the furnace''s refinement state, the previous efforts would be wasted entirely. Even if she tries to refine it again later, there wouldn''t be enough time!


    This means that, no matter what, she is completely fated to miss out on the "Nine Spots Black Nine Profound Threads."


    Without the "Nine Spots Black Nine Profound Threads," she simply cannot proceed to the seventh territory, let alone seize the final "Unsurpassed Divine Fire!"


    "Survival is crucial!"


    In a life-and-death moment, Blood Flying Yan couldn''t afford to think too much.


    She was a person with a sinister mind, decisive and resolute. Knowing there was no other choice but to confront, she instantly withdrew her soul from the furnace completely.


    She abandoned the "Black Nine Profound Threads" which had been refined to eight spots.


    With a loud "boom," as Blood Flying Yan''s soul withdrew, the furnace she was facing, where the "Black Nine Profound Threads" had reached eight spots, instantly vaporized in the burning flames.


    However, Blood Flying Yan couldn''t care about the furnace anymore, because Ye Chen''s attack had already reached her!


    Whah! Whah! Whah! Whah! Whah!


    Blood Flying Yan gritted her teeth suddenly, as an endless Divine Light surged, her body erupted with unmatched blood-colored Divine Light. Within this blood-colored Divine Light, she hastily mobilized all her Divine Body Power, Divine Soul Combat Power to fend off the countless "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" purple blade lights coming from Ye Chen.


    However.


    Even though Ye Chen''s soul still had a large portion in the furnace refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads," only a part had been diverted to attack Blood Flying Yan, this attack alone forced her, who was defending with all her might, to be struck back several hundred meters away.


    Moreover, the countless purple blade lights from Ye Chen''s "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" showed no signs of stopping, continuously surging towards the retreating Blood Flying Yan.


    This truly terrified Blood Flying Yan to the core!


    Blood Flying Yan could sense that if Ye Chen hadn''t been focusing on refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads," but instead attacked her with full force, she definitely wouldn''t be able to withstand it!


    The foreign Divine King before her was even more terrifying than she had anticipated!


    "How can this foreign Divine King be so powerful?!"


    Blood Flying Yan was in complete disbelief.


    What she didn''t know was that Ye Chen''s original combat power was enough to overwhelmingly suppress both her and Xueling Chan, and after Ye Chen slew Xueling Chan earlier, he had acquired the second type of Divine Blood, activating the second Stars within the Stars Tower, thus Ye Chen''s current combat power far surpassed hers many times over!


    Just with soul attacks, enhanced by even the slightest enhancement from the furnace, Ye Chen, originally already with a "Blue Soul," was way beyond her comparison!


    "No, I cannot wait for him to finish refining the ''Black Nine Profound Threads'' and then unleash his full-powered attacking techniques, otherwise I will surely die!"


    Retreating swiftly, Blood Flying Yan noticed Ye Chen''s attacks relentlessly coming at her and made a decision instantly.


    She shouted loudly towards Ye Chen: "I have already given up on refining the ''Black Nine Profound Threads.'' If you continue to attack me, I will destroy your refining of the ''Black Nine Profound Threads,'' even if you kill me, I will ensure you cannot enter the seventh territory!"


    "Spare me, and I can overlook what happened before!"


    Blood Flying Yan resorted to threatening Ye Chen by sabotaging his refinement of the "Black Nine Profound Threads!"


    In Blood Flying Yan''s eyes, although Ye Chen''s combat power was frightening, if Ye Chen tried to multitask by both refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads" and attacking her, she believed she could definitely sabotage Ye Chen''s refinement even if she was at a disadvantage.


    Blood Flying Yan hoped to threaten Ye Chen, making him pause to preserve his refinement of the "Black Nine Profound Threads."


    That way, she would have a chance to escape, and perhaps even seize the opportunity to further disrupt Ye Chen!


    However, Blood Flying Yan''s threat was completely ineffective on Ye Chen.


    The countless purple blade lights from Ye Chen''s "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" continued to launch a frenzied attack on Blood Flying Yan without the slightest pause.


    Under such circumstances, Blood Flying Yan couldn''t even activate the "Ancient Heavenly Cauldron Order" to escape.


    Moreover, Ye Chen''s voice also came coldly to Blood Flying Yan: "If you wish to sabotage my refinement of the ''Black Nine Profound Threads,'' then go ahead and try. I am curious if you have that capability."


    On Ye Chen''s side, the furnace was still ablaze, clearly indicating that Ye Chen was still in the process of refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads" without the slightest disturbance!


    Seeing Ye Chen''s attack still coming at her and hearing his cold words, Blood Flying Yan realized that the foreign Divine King before her had no intention of sparing her.


    Blood Flying Yan instantly developed a resolve of mutual destruction!


    A fierce determination flashed in her eyes: "Let''s see if you can protect the ''Black Nine Profound Threads''!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In an instant, Blood Flying Yan''s Divine Power burst forth once again, confronting the endless "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills" purple blade lights. Simultaneously, Blood Flying Yan''s form transformed dramatically into her Blood Wing Clan true form, and even from her body, three special Divine Objects, bestowed by the Blood Origin Divine Master, flew out!


    Blood Flying Yan is truly prepared to fight to the death!


    Her entire divine power and body transformation are once again blasted back amidst Ye Chen''s "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills," but the three divine objects she drove forth continue to assault the furnace before Ye Chen without pause.


    The Blood Flying Yan is truly intent on sabotaging Ye Chen''s refining of the "Black Nine Profound Threads"!


    Upon seeing the three divine objects attack the furnace, the portion of divine soul Ye Chen retained outside his body let out a subtle sigh.


    Then, from Ye Chen''s body, ceaseless Stellar Divine Light erupted forth!


    Purple-gold Divine Light!


    This was clearly the divine light brought about by the starry origin power from the second star Ye Chen had recently activated.


    Confronting Blood Flying Yan''s desperate attack, Ye Chen finally brought out a stronger method beyond the "Amethyst Soul Slaying Skills."


    Boom!


    Once the purple-gold divine light gushed from Ye Chen''s body, it instantly formed a hundred-foot-tall purple-gold towering giant hand.


    On this giant hand, countless terrifying slashing forces resembling sword radiance continuously erupted.


    This was evidently Ye Chen''s newly created latest move from the "Origin Slash"¡ªthe fourth style of the Origin Slash!


    Even if this style was not yet fully matured, with the starry origin power from the second star of the Stars Tower additional support, it absolutely reached the Sovereign level of combat power, incomparable to Blood Flying Yan.


    Just witnessing, as the purple-gold towering giant hand swept across, the three divine objects driven forth by Blood Flying Yan were immediately swept to the ground just like the previous eight "Falling Divine Nails."


    And the purple-gold towering giant hand didn''t stop, it thunderously grasped, flashing through the void, directly capturing Blood Flying Yan, who was being bombarded and retreating repeatedly!


    Blood Flying Yan screamed in horror.


    But before she could scream twice, the hundred-foot-tall towering giant hand, with its erupting purple-gold sword radiance slashing forces, completely obliterated her vitality, directly slaying her within the towering giant hand!


    After activating the second star of the "Stars Tower," in mere moments, Ye Chen slew Blood Flying Yan on the field!


    Divinity extinguished, life perished.


    Boom.


    When Blood Flying Yan''s corpse fell again from the void, utterly lifeless, the purple-gold towering giant hand finally dissipated again.


    On the sixth region boundary, two furnaces still stood tall, but at this moment, only Ye Chen remained in front of the furnace.


    After slaying Blood Flying Yan, Ye Chen completely ignored Blood Flying Yan''s corpse, nor did he bother with the treasures she dropped on the ground.


    Ye Chen still continued the refinement of the "Black Nine Profound Threads."


    Still short of three complete days, his "Nine-Spotted Black Nine Profound Threads" had not yet been completely refined.


    Ye Chen directly activated the starry origin power of the second star, instantly killing Blood Flying Yan for this very reason.


    He didn''t wish to be entangled too deeply with this ferocious woman, his more crucial mission was to complete the task of the sixth region boundary!


    Swoosh.


    This time, after Blood Flying Yan perished, Ye Chen''s divine soul entirely entered into the furnace.


    He once again began slaughtering the "Burning Fire Crow," refining the "Black Nine Profound Threads," and enhancing the cultivation of his divine soul!


    Without realizing it, the entire three-day period in the sixth region boundary finally passed.


    Boom!


    When Ye Chen withdrew his divine soul again from the furnace, he directly brought out the beast spirit of the "Burning Fire Crow," along with a strand of black nine profound threads he personally refined, reaching nine spots!


    "Finally completed."


    At this moment, as his divine soul returned to his body, Ye Chen finally opened his eyes.


    Placing the "Burning Fire Crow" beast spirit into the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," while storing the "Black Nine Profound Threads," Ye Chen finally looked at Blood Flying Yan''s corpse.


    With a flick of his finger, "whoosh whoosh whoosh," the items on Blood Flying Yan flew off her corpse.


    Then Ye Chen pointed again, and a wisp of "Blue Extreme Iceflame" directly flew onto Blood Flying Yan''s body, completely incinerating her into void.


    Finally, Ye Chen''s gaze focused on the "Falling Divine Nails" scattered on the ground and the three divine objects last driven by Blood Flying Yan.


    A little over a day later, the eighteenth day of ventures in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" finally elapsed, marking the moment to set foot into the seventh region boundary.


    Ye Chen, guided by the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," alone, stepped into the seventh region boundary of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds!"


    Ancient Forbidden Grounds, Safe Zone.


    When Ye Chen stepped into the seventh region boundary of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," the awaited display showing the number of adventurers in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" finally returned.


    This time, the display on the light screen shocked everyone present.


    The light screen directly stated: only one person left entering the seventh region boundary!

 Chapter 1005 - 955 Heavenly Flame Mountain

    Only one person remains.


    This means that only one person has entered the seventh territory.


    But at this moment, no one has come out from the sixth territory. Earlier, there were two people who ventured into the sixth territory. Could it be that one of them has died?!


    Thinking of this possibility, the people of the Blood Wing Tribe were shocked.


    They believed that it was Blood Flying Yan and Xueling Chan who had entered the sixth territory together.


    Could it be that one among Blood Flying Yan and Xueling Chan has died?!


    "No, impossible. They are both from the same tribe; would they kill each other?"


    "Or did they attack each other to seize the chance to enter the seventh territory?!"


    Everyone in the Blood Wing Tribe was immensely anxious.


    After all, the death of either Blood Flying Yan or Xueling Chan would be a significant loss to the Blood Wing Tribe.


    At this time, the people of the Nine Flames Clan also showed surprise.


    They did not expect that only one person could enter the seventh territory, nor did they expect the difficulty of venturing through the nine territories of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" to be so great.


    Among the crowd, the ones whose hearts were pounding the most were the sisters Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er.


    Now, only one person has entered the seventh territory, and Ye Chen, Blood Flying Yan, and Xueling Chan haven''t come out. This means that two of the three must have died.


    Even if Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er most likely believed that the person who survived and entered the seventh territory was Ye Chen, they couldn''t help but feel a slight worry deep inside.


    Just when everyone in the field was startled by the news that "only one person has entered the seventh territory," another unexpected event happened.


    A flicker appeared on the light screen, vaguely showing a silhouette.


    The light screen indicated that this was the final silhouette to enter the seventh territory.


    Even though this silhouette quickly disappeared with the light screen, everyone staring at the screen saw this silhouette.


    The people of the Blood Wing Tribe were utterly horrified, chills running down their spines.


    Because they realized that this silhouette was not of Blood Flying Yan or Xueling Chan, whom they were sure would make it to the seventh territory, but someone else.


    At this moment, Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er were so overjoyed that they exclaimed directly: "Ye Chen, the person who is still alive is Ye Chen!"


    The seventh territory.


    As soon as Ye Chen stepped into this territory, he immediately found himself standing on the mountainside of a giant mountain ablaze with flames.


    This time, without waiting, he discovered a giant Flame Stele standing not far from him, with numerous inscriptions on it.


    Ye Chen swept his divine sense over it and looked towards the Flame Stele.


    The stele was inscribed with information about venturing into the seventh territory.


    Soon, Ye Chen understood the rules for venturing in the seventh territory.


    Previously, from the "Nine Beasts Cauldron," Ye Chen already knew that in the seventh territory, the beast to be confronted was named the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent," and the Nine Profound Threads to be collected were the "Green Nine Profound Threads."


    Now, from the additional information on the Flame Stele, Ye Chen understood that the giant mountain he was in was named "Heavenly Flame Mountain." To pass through this territory, he had to ascend from the mountainside to the mountain''s summit, and only upon reaching a fiery cave at the summit could he advance.


    Entering that fiery cave would lead to the eighth territory.


    And along the way, he needed to slay the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" to obtain its beast spirit.


    Meanwhile, he also had to try to find the "Green Nine Profound Threads."


    The Flame Stele further explained that this "Heavenly Flame Mountain" is also a Treasure Mountain.


    Within this Treasure Mountain, many divine objects are hidden, and whether one could obtain them depended on the venturer''s skills.


    Seeing this, Ye Chen''s heart stirred.


    Ye Chen recalled the location where he obtained divine objects last time¡ªthe fourth territory!


    At that time, in the fourth territory, many ruined halls had divine objects hidden within them. After slaying the exotic beast "God-Devouring Caterpillar" of the fourth territory, Ye Chen found many divine objects in the halls.


    Now the seventh territory is also declared a Treasure Mountain.


    This led Ye Chen to speculate whether each passage of three territories leads to a Treasure Land?


    The first three territories required nine days of venturing, and upon stepping into the fourth territory, he entered a territory rich with divine objects.


    Similarly, the middle three territories also took nine days of venturing, and now entering the seventh territory, he again steps into a Treasure Land.


    Following that, venturing through the last three territories would directly lead to the Ancient Temple, which houses the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire," surely another Treasure Land.


    This comparison of situations sent a shock through Ye Chen''s heart.


    Ye Chen thought of one more thing.


    Back then, besides obtaining a divine object in the fourth realm, he also acquired something even more mysterious than the divine object¡ªan "unnamed mantra" present in every treasure hall.


    At that time, Ye Chen was speculating whether more "unnamed mantras" would appear later.


    Now, having arrived at a treasure land similar to the fourth realm, Ye Chen couldn''t help but speculate about this seventh realm.


    Is there an "unnamed mantra" here?


    Standing on the hillside contemplating for a moment, Ye Chen took large strides toward the summit.


    At this time, after activating the second type of divine blood in the fifth layer of the Stars Tower, leveraging the power of the Starry Origin, Ye Chen''s combat power had already broken through to the Sovereign level.


    Although the gigantic flame mountain "Heavenly Flame Mountain" in this seventh realm was exceedingly scorching, the entire giant mountain was ablaze, it posed no interference to Ye Chen.


    Previously, his divine sense was severely suppressed in the sixth realm.


    But after strengthening his divine soul in the sixth realm''s furnace, Ye Chen''s current divine soul detection range was much larger than in the sixth realm.


    Now, with a sweep of his divine sense, Ye Chen could probe a range of several thousand feet around!


    Ye Chen thus continued to probe as he walked up the giant "Heavenly Flame Mountain".


    After walking about several hundred meters, with a swift glance, Ye Chen''s eyes were directly drawn to a flower on a rock next to the giant mountain.


    While the entire giant mountain was burning like crimson flames, the green flower appeared rather special.


    Of course, there were many other such green flowers along the way, none of which Ye Chen stopped for.


    Yet this time, he stopped at this particular flower, clearly having found something amiss.


    The next moment, Ye Chen reached out a large hand toward this green flower, and something unexpected happened.


    With a "bang," the flower shattered upon contact, and as it did, a treasure light swiftly fled away.


    Seeing the escaping treasure, Ye Chen smiled faintly and raised his hand to grab it.


    Like being pulled back by an immensely powerful force, the treasure light, struggling constantly, was instantly pulled in front of Ye Chen.


    Ye Chen extended his hand, and the treasure light landed straight into his palm.


    Looking at his palm, one could see a small green ring.


    Ye Chen examined it, and though it appeared unremarkable, it was actually a Polar Sky-level Storage Divine Ring!


    Although upon probing the inside of the divine ring with his divine sense, Ye Chen found the vast space within devoid of other items, it was an ownerless divine object that delighted him immensely.


    A Polar Sky-level Storage Divine Ring!


    He had never acquired such a quality ring before.


    "Hehe, Ye Chen, after your divine soul strengthened in the furnace, your divine soul detection ability is even stronger than mine as a soul beast."


    As Ye Chen admired the Polar Sky-level divine ring, the playful voice of Xiaojiu also reached Ye Chen''s ears.


    At this moment, with no one accompanying him, Xiaojiu had awakened from cultivation and joined Ye Chen upon his entry into the seventh realm.


    Hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen also smiled, "Xiaojiu, your divine soul power has always been stronger than mine. Though I''ve now temporarily improved some, with your continuous cultivation using the ''Primordial Gold Divine Flower'' and ''Purple Silver Pearl,'' it''s only a matter of time before your divine soul power surpasses mine again."


    Originally in the Heavenly God Mountain, the "existence beyond the Sovereign" Ye Chen acquired was used to nurture spirit beasts with the "Primordial Gold Divine Flower," which he gave to Xiaojiu, the little monkey, and the "Scarlet Ming Ants" for cultivation.


    He also provided Xiaojiu and the little monkey with many Purple Silver Pearls to strengthen their divine souls.


    Currently, the little monkey and the Scarlet Ming Ants, still immersed in cultivation, had long evolved to True God level.


    This speed of transformation amazed even Ye Chen!


    After all, he hadn''t given the little monkey and the Scarlet Ming Ants the Primordial Gold Divine Flower for long, yet it had such a significant effect.


    "Primordial Gold Divine Flower" is indeed a strange treasure used by the "existence beyond the Sovereign" to cultivate spirit beasts!


    Even though Ye Chen later saw that after they broke through to True God level, the advancement speed of the little monkey and the Scarlet Ming Ants slowed considerably, he was still incredibly shocked by the marvelous use of the "Primordial Gold Divine Flower."


    Meanwhile, Xiaojiu, who was already a True God, had now advanced further than the little monkey and the Scarlet Ming Ants, already breaking through to God King level.


    Although still only a Lower God King, there were many "Primordial Gold Divine Flowers" and "Purple Silver Pearls" left unused; with these two things, Xiaojiu''s growth was more than assured!


    Unfortunately, the "Primordial Gold Divine Flower" could only be used by spirit beasts. Xiaojiu, as a soul beast, had already reduced its potency, and for Ye Chen as a human, the "Primordial Gold Divine Flower" had no effect.


    Otherwise, Ye Chen might have been able to use the "Primordial Gold Divine Flower" to continuously break through.


    After all, Xiaojiu had said that the "Primordial Gold Divine Flower" could be used all the way to the Divine Master Realm!


    "Hehe, Ye Chen, let''s continue to explore; we''ve just started and already obtained a divine object. Maybe we can find more good things later." Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Xiaojiu said with a giggle.


    Ye Chen nodded, stored away the newly acquired Polar Sky-level divine ring, and then took steps heading further up the "Heavenly Flame Mountain".

 Chapter 1006 - 956, Second Section Mantra

    The location where Ye Chen is situated is still tens of thousands of feet away from the summit of "Heavenly Flame Mountain."


    With his divine sense suppressed, Ye Chen couldn''t even glimpse the summit of "Heavenly Flame Mountain"; he could only see that the flames on the giant mountain burned more fiercely the higher he went.


    Moreover, Ye Chen had to meticulously search for the "Green Nine Profound Threads" and slay the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" to obtain its beast spirit, so he couldn''t proceed too quickly.


    He could only investigate each area while slowly advancing toward the summit.


    After Ye Chen had walked about three to four hundred meters farther, this time, instead of discovering a divine object, he suddenly saw an exotic beast tens of feet long; yet it was as thin as a finger, like a thread of lightning, shooting at him.


    This exotic beast was surprisingly the exotic beast of the seventh realm, the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent."


    Looking at this "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent," not only was its body thin and long like a thread, giving it an odd appearance, but its tiny eyes emitted a greenish eerie glow.


    As for its outer skin, it was fiery red, resembling the burning of the giant mountain "Heavenly Flame Mountain," and the entire "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" also had flames faintly burning on it.


    Red snake skin, green eyes, burning flames, a small yet exceedingly long body, coupled with the extreme speed of its assault, this was the first "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" Ye Chen faced.


    Before this "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" approached Ye Chen, he sensed that its combat power might be even stronger than the "Xueling Chan" he had killed.


    However, Ye Chen was now far beyond what he was before.


    Having activated the second star within the "Stars Tower," his combat power had taken a qualitative leap; let alone "Xueling Chan," even "Blood Flying Yan" paled in comparison to him by countless times.


    Seeing the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" assaulting him, Ye Chen didn''t dodge; the purple-gold stellar power merely covered his body. The next moment, he saw the fangs of the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent," aiming to bite him at the instant, directly shattered.


    Even the flames on its body couldn''t even touch Ye Chen; instead, they were all instantly extinguished by the purple-gold light.


    Then, Ye Chen grabbed with his hand and captured the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent"!


    Squeak! Squeak!


    The "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent," caught by Ye Chen, struggled and twisted relentlessly, emitting an exceedingly strange sound.


    No matter how it struggled, it couldn''t escape from Ye Chen''s grasp at all.


    Looking at the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" in his hand, Ye Chen murmured, "The creator of these ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' must be significantly linked to fire. Not only is there ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' here, but even the exotic beasts within are related to fire."


    "There are untold Polar Sky Level Divine Fires that even the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan desperately desire."


    "I wonder what realm the creator of this place is at. Looking at it, it seems they might not be any weaker than a Great Powerholder of the Divine Master Realm."


    From the challenges of nine realms, from the explanations in the ancient stele, and from the legendary ancient temple hidden deep within the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds.''


    Ye Chen could sense that the current state of these "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" was not naturally formed, but surely created by someone.


    The further he ventured, the more Ye Chen felt the various mysteries of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" and perceived the strength of the person who forged it.


    After pondering for a moment, Ye Chen turned his gaze back to the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" in his hand.


    This time, the purple-gold stellar power in Ye Chen''s palm suddenly surged, and the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" was directly slain within the stellar power.


    Subsequently, the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" vanished, yet Ye Chen did not see the "Beast Spirit" appear.


    Ye Chen nodded unsurprisingly.


    Obtaining a "Beast Spirit" by slaying the first "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" was highly improbable, so Ye Chen wasn''t disappointed at all.


    He continued to climb further up "Heavenly Flame Mountain."


    As he progressed with intermittent pauses.


    Either Ye Chen was finding divine objects hidden within "Heavenly Flame Mountain,"


    Or Ye Chen was encountering attacks from the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent,"


    Or Ye Chen was discovering traces of the "Green Nine Profound Threads."


    After Ye Chen had traversed more than twenty thousand feet, Ye Chen had slain a total of three to four thousand "Azure-eyed Fire Serpents," and even stumbled upon several serpent cave realms, encountering an onslaught of a large group of "Azure-eyed Fire Serpents," slaying several hundred of them at once.


    This broad-scale slaying of exotic beasts certainly yielded considerable rewards.


    At over ten thousand feet, Ye Chen successfully obtained the beast spirit of the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent."


    Though further slaying of the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" yielded no benefits, Ye Chen had to kill them when attacked.


    Of course, apart from slaying the "Azure-eyed Fire Serpent" and obtaining the beast spirit, Ye Chen recently found dozens of Nine Profound Threads and obtained a strand of the "Nine Spots" Green Nine Profound Threads.


    This meant that before reaching the summit of "Heavenly Flame Mountain," Ye Chen had already completed the seventh realm''s task.


    Seven realms, seven beast spirits, seven kinds of Nine Spots Nine Profound Threads, all acquired!


    Not to mention the dozens of divine objects obtained along the way.


    Anyone else would likely be thrilled, but Ye Chen always felt something missing in the seventh realm.


    This feeling continued until Ye Chen finally reached the summit realm and saw the fire-breathing cave mentioned on the Flame Stele, several hundred feet high ahead.


    Looking at the fire-breathing cave up ahead, one could see that the cave resembled a giant crater, still spewing red-hot magma.


    The lava roiled continuously, releasing terrifying heat, with endless flames burning within the magma.


    This volcanic fire-breathing cave stretched several dozen feet wide.


    When Ye Chen sensed this heat, he felt that if it were any other Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, as soon as they jumped into this cave, they would instantly be incinerated by the magma into nothingness!


    Even Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, these two powerful figures, might not enter the volcanic crater unharmed.


    Ye Chen also saw that outside the crater, floating in mid-air, was a massive, dark, fire-filled cloud. A large swath of fire rain continuously fell from the fire cloud, completely shrouding the path leading to the volcanic crater in endless fire rain.


    The giant gaping volcanic crater spewing fire!


    The fire rain incessantly pouring down from the sky!


    This was the sight at the summit of "Heavenly Flame Mountain."


    Now, according to the instructions on the Flame Stele at the mountainside, Ye Chen only needed to jump into the giant crater to enter the eighth realm. However, Ye Chen didn''t directly leap past the range of the endless fire rain and into the cave.


    Instead, Ye Chen walked into the fire rain, looking up at the continuously falling raindrops.


    Crack! Crack! Crack!


    The fire rain fell, striking the ground of "Heavenly Flame Mountain," becoming clusters of blazing flames.


    Ye Chen stood amidst the endless fire rain, surrounded entirely by burning flames, as if he were amidst a fiery inferno!


    This scene, falling into Xiaojiu''s eyes, made Xiaojiu feel somewhat strange.


    Xiaojiu asked, "Ye Chen, why did you stop? Why aren''t you heading directly to the cave in the crater?"


    Ye Chen looked up at the fire rain dripping from above and said to Xiaojiu, "With my increased combat power, obtaining the Azure-eyed Flame Serpent Spirit and the Green Nine Profound Threads has become much easier."


    "But all along, I''ve felt that there''s still something in this seventh realm that I haven''t found."


    "I''ve searched everywhere else, and now, only the fire rain area remains."


    "The sudden appearance of endless fire rain at this volcano''s opening must have some reason."


    For others, they might think the fire rain is a test of the seventh realm and would choose to pass through it as quickly as possible.


    But Ye Chen is different; he always felt the appearance of the fire rain was peculiar, not just simply to block the challengers'' path.


    Of course, only a strong figure like Ye Chen, with high skills and boldness, dared to stand directly amidst the fire rain and observe.


    Even with the endless fire rain falling and the countless flames burning, they had no effect on Ye Chen, as these flames were directly isolated by the purple-golden Divine Light on him, unable to touch him.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Xiaojiu also began observing the fire rain, but Xiaojiu found nothing: "Ye Chen, aside from its extremely terrifying killing force, there is nothing strange about this fire rain."


    Ye Chen smiled and waved his hand, "No need to rush."


    In just half a day, Ye Chen had explored the previous "Heavenly Flame Mountain" realm, but he stood beneath the fire rain, observing it for more than half a day.


    As one day passed, Ye Chen remained observing the changes in the fire rain.


    The endless fire rain seemed infinite, continuously falling and incessantly dripping onto "Heavenly Flame Mountain."


    After observing it for another half day, Ye Chen''s eyes suddenly shone bright.


    "There''s indeed something special here!"


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    Quietly standing, Ye Chen suddenly moved, his body rushing into the fire rain with unbelievable speed.


    Only the sight of a Divine Light flickered, darting through the fire rain, and with it, one drop after another was caught in the hands of Ye Chen.


    Finally, Ye Chen captured thousands of drops of fire rain!


    Strangely, the rain droplets caught by Ye Chen were indeed extraordinary!


    The other fire rain droplets were bright crimson, but those caught by Ye Chen had a faint, nearly undetectable green hidden within the crimson hue.


    Other fire rain, once fallen, instantly became clusters of burning flames.


    Yet the thousands of raindrops captured by Ye Chen did not turn into flames; instead, they flashed with inexplicable Divine Light.


    The next moment, something unexpected happened to Ye Chen.


    The raindrops spontaneously drilled into Ye Chen''s mind.


    Instantly, a mysterious mantra appeared in Ye Chen''s mind.


    "Nameless Incantation!"


    Ye Chen was shocked.


    This mysterious mantra was as inexplicable as the first "Nameless Incantation" he obtained in the fourth realm.


    Moreover, finally, this time, these mysterious incantations were different from the first "Nameless Incantation" he had discovered in the fourth realm.


    "Another piece of the ''Nameless Incantation''!"


    Ye Chen''s Mind and Spirit trembled, deeply imprinting this second mysteriously appearing "Nameless Incantation" in his heart.


    If the first Nameless Incantation made Ye Chen feel a bit strange.


    This second Nameless Incantation added together made Ye Chen realize there was definitely a big secret within!

 Chapter 1007 - 957: Divine Fire and Divine Fire

    Ye Chen''s expression changed, catching Xiaojiu''s eye and surprising him immensely.


    "Ye Chen, have you really discovered something?!" Xiaojiu asked excitedly, "Nameless mantra? Is it the same nameless mantra from the fourth realm?"


    Ye Chen nodded and transmitted the divine sense of the "Nameless Mantra" that appeared in his mind to Xiaojiu.


    Earlier, Xiaojiu had learned from Ye Chen about the first segment of the "Nameless Mantra" that appeared in the fourth realm, and now seeing a new segment of the "Nameless Mantra" appear, Xiaojiu was just as shocked as Ye Chen, stunned for a while.


    "A big secret!"


    "This ''Nameless Mantra'' definitely wouldn''t appear suddenly; there must be a big secret within it!"


    Xiaojiu confidently said to Ye Chen.


    At this point, Ye Chen''s gaze directly focused on the fiery rain covering the sky.


    After acquiring the "Nameless Mantra," the fiery rain in the sky still continued to fall ceaselessly.


    Ye Chen''s heart stirred, but he did not leave immediately.


    He wanted to see if, after acquiring this second segment of the "Nameless Mantra," any new nameless mantra would appear.


    However, Ye Chen waited for a long time without discovering anything new.


    It seemed as if the thousands of drops of faint green fiery rain hidden within the crimson fiery rain had vanished entirely.


    Ye Chen wasn''t anxious and continued to wait.


    After waiting another day, his eyes suddenly lit up once more as he saw the "Mnemonic Fire Rain" hidden in the fiery rain of the sky.


    Ye Chen instantly moved, again collecting thousands of drops of "Mnemonic Fire Rain" into his hands.


    This time, these fiery rain drops once again entered Ye Chen''s mind, forming a segment of a mantra.


    However, this time the mantra was identical to the second segment that had previously entered Ye Chen''s mind, without any change.


    Ye Chen''s eyes flashed with thought.


    "It seems that in the seventh realm, there is only this one segment of mantra."


    "Unlike the situation in the fourth realm where the same first segment appeared in the great hall, here, every so often, the same second segment appears."


    "Unfortunately, even after acquiring two segments of the ''Nameless Mantra'' consecutively, I still haven''t understood its true meaning. It seems the time to decipher the ''Nameless Mantra'' hasn''t arrived yet."


    Ye Chen muttered to himself for a while and then watched the fiery rain in the sky for a moment before finally deciding not to linger in the seventh realm.


    With the gains from the seventh realm in hand, he strode across the fiery rain realm to the volcano mouth of the Fire Spout Cave.


    "Once I jump into this volcano mouth, I will enter the eighth realm."


    "I have already spent nearly three days in the seventh realm; I need to hurry to the subsequent realms."


    "According to the ''Nine Beasts Cauldron,'' the eighth realm will be faced with an attack by the eighth type of exotic beast, the ''Magma Fire Bug,'' and the nine profound threads corresponding to the eighth realm are ''Purple Nine Profound Threads''!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes gleamed with intense light, and he leapt into the fiery, fierce magma of the volcano mouth within the Fire Spout Cave.


    In the next moment, the rolling magma erupted, engulfing Ye Chen and rushing him endlessly forward.


    At the instant Ye Chen entered the eighth realm.


    All members of the Nine Flames Clan and the Blood Wing Clan who remained in the safety zone finally awaited the reappearance of the light screen.


    When they saw the words on the light screen reading: "Entering the eighth realm, only one person remains," and saw the faint figure that emerged, still the same one that had earlier entered the seventh realm.


    The remaining members of the Nine Flames Clan and the Blood Wing Clan were greatly shocked.


    "This person has again traversed the seventh realm and entered the eighth realm!"


    Moreover, this time, everyone clearly saw who the figure really was.


    The remaining members of the Blood Wing Clan and the Nine Flames Clan exclaimed, "This person is, unexpectedly, the Divine King from the foreign race!"


    The Blood Wing Clan members now fully understood that Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, in whom they had placed great hope, were truly dead inside the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds"; otherwise, they would have appeared by now, and an unfamiliar person could not possibly enter the subsequent realms!


    Meanwhile, the Nine Flames Clan members turned their gaze to Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er.


    They remembered that this foreign race Divine King who was still venturing forward was the one who came with Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er.


    At this moment, Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er had eyes bright with delight.


    "Ye Chen is indeed continuing on, even alone, he successfully reached the eighth realm!"


    "Ye Chen, you are truly the most formidable!"


    Both women exclaimed joyfully.


    However, the greater joy was still to come.


    After another two days passed, the light screen that appears whenever someone enters a new realm finally arrived once again.


    This time, the light screen directly read: "Entering the ninth realm, only one person remains!"


    In the light curtain, Ye Chen''s figure appeared for the third time.


    Seeing this situation, everyone in the safe zone covered their mouths in astonishment.


    Because they understood that this clearly represented that Ye Chen, the Exotic Beasts Divine King they didn''t know much about, had already reached the final step of the nine domains faced by those below the Sovereign Realm!


    ...


    The Ninth Region is a vast lake that stretches beyond sight.


    The lake water appears a deep blue, looking utterly tranquil.


    At this moment, on the lake, there is a light boat drifting, and standing atop it is Ye Chen, who has just broken through the Eighth Region and been transmitted into the Ninth Region.


    Ye Chen never expected that after wandering for two days in the endless lava of that flame-spewing cavern in the Eighth Region, successfully completing the task of slaying the "Magma Fire Bug" and obtaining the "Magma Fire Bug Beasts'' Souls", and acquiring the "Purple Nine Profound Threads", he would suddenly be transported from the violent lava to such a serene lake world, arriving on a light boat.


    The Ninth Region indeed.


    Standing in this tranquil lake world, knowing this is the last domain to explore, Ye Chen couldn''t help but feel a sense of peace in his heart.


    Next, Ye Chen''s gaze turned to the light boat he was on and the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" in his hand.


    On the light boat, many crystalline characters were inscribed, and the "Nine Beasts Cauldron" also provided Ye Chen with some information about the Ninth Region.


    Integrating the characters on the light boat and the information from the "Nine Beasts Cauldron", Ye Chen finally understood the rules of this last exploration domain thoroughly.


    And after understanding it, a touch of awe involuntarily appeared in Ye Chen''s eyes.


    Because the rules of the Ninth Region are surprisingly greatly related to the final "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" and also significantly associated with what the strong ones of the Sovereign Realm face regarding the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire"!


    When Ye Chen and all the personnel below the Sovereign Realm, as well as eighteen Nine-Star Sovereigns, first arrived at the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds", they saw the explanation on the Ancient Stele in the first domain.


    It stated that the personnel below the Sovereign Realm and Sovereign Realm personnel would explore separately, corresponding to an Ancient Temple each, and would separately compete for two types of "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" within the two Ancient Temples.


    The personnel below the Sovereign Realm would increasingly gather together as they explored.


    Meanwhile, those eighteen Nine-Star Sovereigns would individually explore the nine domains and would only meet in the Ancient Temple at the end.


    Initially, Ye Chen thought his exploration had nothing to do with those Nine-Star Sovereigns.


    However, the rules of the Ninth Region now told Ye Chen: There is also a hierarchy between the two Ancient Temples, as well as a hierarchy among the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" within them.


    What made Ye Chen feel shocked is, he had long heard of it¡ªthat highly ranked third on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List", desperately sought by the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan, the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire"¡ªis actually not the stronger "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" of the two Ancient Temples.


    The rules of the Ninth Region clearly mention that the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" is only within the first Ancient Temple, whereas in the second Ancient Temple, there exists a stronger kind of "Unsurpassed Divine Fire".


    Earlier, Ye Chen had been speculating which of the two "Unsurpassed Divine Fires" was stronger.


    Unexpectedly, the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" that had not yet appeared would be stronger than the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" seen by the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan, ranked third on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List!


    And the rules of the Ninth Region further clarify that it''s not definite that only the strong ones of the Sovereign Realm can enter the second Ancient Temple to obtain better Divine Fire, while those below Sovereign Realm can only access the first, weaker Ancient Temple.


    Despite the separate exploration of the two groups, there is mutual competition.


    The true competition is in this Ninth Region!


    The rules explicitly state that the last kind of Nine Profound Threads¡ª"Gold Nine Profound Threads" will appear in the Ninth Region.


    And this "Gold Nine Profound Threads" is the hardest to find and hardest to obtain among all the Nine Profound Threads!


    Ultimately, whose "Gold Nine Profound Threads" quality is higher, among the strong ones of the Sovereign Realm and those below, will enter the better Ancient Temple to obtain the better "Unsurpassed Divine Fire".


    Moreover, the rules further specify that the probability of finding a "Gold Nine Profound Threads" with nine spots is extremely slim. Just obtaining one with eight or seven spots is considered a significant achievement!


    Of course, the rules also state that if the "Gold Nine Profound Threads" found by the personnel below the Sovereign Realm and the strong ones of the Sovereign Realm are of the same grade, then those with higher realms will enter the better Ancient Temple.


    Even though these rules are advantageous for the strong ones of the Sovereign Realm, they have also shocked the still-exploring Nine-Star Sovereigns.


    In the domains explored by the Nine-Star Sovereigns, it can be seen that, at this moment, only two of the eighteen Nine-Star Sovereigns remain exploring.


    The rest of the Nine-Star Sovereigns, having lost three in previous explorations, realized something was amiss and chose to quit exploring, transmitting themselves to the other safe zone designed for the Sovereign Realm personnel.


    Among them are those familiar to Ye Chen, Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er''s father, Cai Meng Sovereign, who is within the safe zone.


    And the two Nine-Star Sovereigns still exploring are, strikingly, the strongest two Sovereigns of the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan¡ªElder Xueya and Elder Tianhuo!


    At this moment, Elder Xueya and Elder Tianhuo, like Ye Chen, each stand upon a serene lake in a light boat, their faces marked with shock upon seeing the rules.


    Although the exploration for the Sovereign Realm and those below involves nine domains, the difficulty is vastly different. The Nine-Star Sovereigns face Sovereign-level challenges, and even as Nine-Star Sovereigns, they barely made it to the Ninth Region.


    What Elder Xueya and Elder Tianhuo didn''t anticipate is that the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" they so eagerly want isn''t the stronger "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" appearing this time.


    Elder Xueya was stunned in his heart: "That yet-to-appear Unsurpassed Divine Fire is stronger than the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire''?! If it appears, what rank would it occupy on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List''?!"


    Even with the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire", he had no assurance of acquiring it, and now another, stronger Divine Fire might appear, which tremendously shocked Elder Xueya.


    Similarly, Elder Tianhuo of the Nine Flames Clan was equally astonished: "Among our Sovereigns and the personnel below the Sovereign Realm, whoever acquires better Gold Nine Profound Threads in the Ninth Region will enter the better Ancient Temple?"


    "How many of those below the Sovereign Realm have reached the end?!"

 Chapter 1008 - 958: Bone Fire Spirit Fish, Ice Flame Cave

    After a moment of shock, the two Nine-Star Sovereigns turned their focus to the task in the Ninth Region.


    After all, no matter how shocked they are, they must first complete the task in the Ninth Region.


    If they can''t even complete the task, it''s too unrealistic to talk about the "unsurpassed divine fire" in the ancient temple afterward.


    The region where Ye Chen is located.


    Ye Chen also devoted himself to studying the task of the Ninth Region.


    Elder Tianhuo, Elder Xueya, Ye Chen, two Nine-Star Sovereigns, one person below the Sovereign Realm, all three began to study the task in different places.


    According to the rules of the Ninth Region, they must find the "golden nine-mystic silk," and the exotic beast they face is a beast called the "bone-fire spirit fish."


    However, unlike facing exotic beasts head-on in previous regions, the exotic beast "bone-fire spirit fish" in this Ninth Region will not appear directly but must be fished using a rod on a light boat.


    Once the "bone-fire spirit fish" is caught, it will attack the angler, and only by defeating the "bone-fire spirit fish" with absolute power can one obtain a special flame.


    And this special flame born from the "bone-fire spirit fish" has great utility!


    Every special flame of the "bone-fire spirit fish" corresponds to a mystical cave hidden beneath the lake in this Ninth Region, known as the "ice-flame cave."


    There are countless "bone-fire spirit fish" in the lake.


    Under the lake, there are also countless "ice-flame caves."


    Only by relying on the special flame from the "bone-fire spirit fish" can one enter the corresponding "ice-flame cave."


    And the "golden nine-mystic silk" is hidden in some of the "ice-flame caves."


    What grade of "golden nine-mystic silk" can be obtained, and how many "ice-flame caves" can be entered, depends on the number of "bone-fire spirit fish" caught and killed.


    Want to jump into the lake directly to find the "ice-flame cave"?


    That is absolutely impossible!


    According to the rules, without the protection of the special flame from the "bone-fire spirit fish," even a Divine Master jumping into the lake will surely die!


    This explanation startled Elder Tianhuo, Elder Xueya, and Ye Chen!


    Through previous adventures, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya had already noticed the extraordinariness of the "ancient forbidden grounds," and Ye Chen had long been guessing the strength of the creator of this world. Now, seeing the rules stating that even a Divine Master jumping into the lake without the protection of the "bone-fire spirit fish" flame would surely die, the three gasped again.


    This clearly indicates that the creator of these nine regions of the "ancient forbidden grounds" is far superior to a Divine Master!


    Otherwise, it would be impossible for a region to be set up that could kill a Divine Master!


    Of course, this makes the three even more expectant of the "unsurpassed divine fire" hidden in the ancient temple.


    On the light boat where Ye Chen resides.


    After pondering the task''s rules, his eyes fell on the fishing rod placed on the boat.


    This fishing rod looks ordinary, with a crystal-clear fishing line hanging from it, attached to a hook.


    With such a set, the exotic beast "bone-fire spirit fish" in the Ninth Region is to be fished.


    Furthermore, there''s not even bait on the light boat!


    After a careful study for half a day, Ye Chen''s gaze became solemn: "This ''ancient forbidden grounds'' is too mysterious. I really don''t know what underlying meaning these variety of rules have."


    "However, since the rules state that this rod can catch ''bone-fire spirit fish,'' then this rod must have some divine skills above it."


    "As for what kind of ''bone-fire spirit fish'' can be caught and what kind of ''ice-flame cave'' can be entered, it probably depends on fortune and combat power."


    "With just over three days left, it is imperative to catch ''bone-fire spirit fish.'' The more ''bone-fire spirit fish'' caught, the more ''ice-flame caves'' can be entered, and the higher the probability of obtaining ''golden nine-mystic silk.''


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen''s mind moved, and he picked up the fishing rod.


    Whizz.


    He gently swung the rod, and the line with the hook flew into the lake, leaving only a tiny float quietly suspended on the water''s surface.


    Ye Chen had long discovered that coming to the Ninth Region, divine sense was completely unaffected above the lake, but trying to probe below with divine sense was entirely impossible.


    This left Ye Chen only able to rely on the float and his senses to use the rod to fish for "bone-fire spirit fish."


    While Ye Chen was in action, in the region where the Sovereign resides, Elder Xueya and Elder Tianhuo also began their actions.


    All three had started competing for "bone-fire spirit fish" and "golden nine-mystic silk"!


    This competition will officially end after the twenty-seventh day of their entry into the "ancient forbidden grounds."


    On Ye Chen''s side.


    Ye Chen stood on the light boat, holding the fishing rod with his arm completely still, and even his mind and spirit were entirely calm.


    Even though he knew it was a race against time, Ye Chen understood that he couldn''t rush at this moment; otherwise, he would alert the "bone-fire spirit fish" and waste half a day without catching one, which would waste more time.


    ```


    Ye Chen was unaware that beneath the lake he couldn''t see, the hook lacking even bait was emitting a strange, misty golden light.


    This golden light directly attracted many "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" swimming beneath the lake.


    However, these "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" swam around the hook for a long time without biting. It wasn''t until Ye Chen waited for about an hour that finally, a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," several meters long, suddenly lunged at the hook.


    The next moment, Ye Chen on the small boat saw the float move greatly.


    An immense force suddenly pulled towards his hand.


    This force was even stronger than the combat power Blood Flying Yan used when they fought!


    Yet, the seemingly ordinary translucent fishing line showed no sign of breaking under this massive pulling force.


    All the strength was transmitted to Ye Chen''s arm.


    If it were anyone else, being pulled by the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" from beneath the lake might have directly pulled them into the lake.


    One must know, without the flames protecting one after a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" dies, falling into the lake would undoubtedly mean death!


    However, at this moment, Ye Chen on the small boat felt the force coming, and instead of panicking, his expression brightened.


    Ye Chen knew a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" had taken the bait!


    This massive pulling force might be unstoppable for others, but for Ye Chen, it posed no problem.


    Ye Chen had prepared everything long ago. At the moment the massive force reached his arm, the purple-gold Stellar origin power within him was infused into his body.


    With a surge of Divine Power from Ye Chen, not only did the small boat not sway even a little under the immense force, but Ye Chen even directly dragged the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" below upward to the lake''s surface using the fishing line.


    This fishing method is a contest of strength between the angler and the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," forgoing the various skills of normal fishing.


    It would be much more dangerous for someone with insufficient combat power.


    But for Ye Chen, it was much easier.


    Not worried about the fishing line breaking, with combat power far exceeding the strength of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" below, Ye Chen gave a shake of his arm and pulled the several-meter-long "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" up from beneath the lake.


    Wow.


    With a great flip of its body, the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" was immediately dragged out of the lake.


    Then, with a sudden grab of his large hand, Ye Chen directly confined the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" in the void.


    The "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" even prepared to spew flames to attack Ye Chen, but both the flames and the fish were confined by the purple-gold Stellar power!


    Ye Chen finally saw the appearance of this Exotic Beast in the Ninth Region.


    The "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" looked as though its entire body consisted only of bones, yet eerily, the bones were not covered in fish flesh but rather wrapped in clusters of golden flames.


    The golden flames flickered, becoming occasionally transparent, allowing one to clearly see the internal bones of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish."


    What struck Ye Chen as peculiar was that mysterious sigils were carved on the bones of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," as if they held some profound mystery.


    Ye Chen enveloped the sigils with his Divine Sense, remembering them in his mind.


    After completing his observation, Ye Chen extended his finger, and a purple-gold sword light suddenly shot out, slaying the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" confined in the void on the spot.


    According to the rules of the Ninth Region, only by slaying the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" can one obtain the special flames to enter the "Ice Flame Cave."


    After slaying the fish, Ye Chen immediately looked towards its position.


    There, he saw a golden flame flying directly towards him.


    On this golden flame were also inscribed various sigils, and Ye Chen found that these sigils matched exactly the ones he had remembered on the bones of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" earlier.


    They were simply many times larger in length.


    In an instant, the golden flame enveloped Ye Chen, and through the golden flame, Ye Chen sensed the location of the "Ice Flame Cave" below the lake.


    Without hesitation, Ye Chen, wrapped in the golden flame, leaped into the lake.


    Mysteriously, upon entering the lake, Ye Chen could not swim in any other direction but was instead pulled by an unknown force directly towards the sensed "Ice Flame Cave."


    He couldn''t even observe the condition of other places in the lake.


    This pulling speed was extremely fast, and in about ten breaths of time, Ye Chen flew to the front of a secret cave under the lake.


    Looking at this secret cave, a circular archway was revealed.


    Ye Chen noticed that this archway wasn''t open; it was formed by clusters of terrifying, white icy flames.


    Just looking at these white icy flames, Ye Chen could feel that they were much stronger than any Polar Sky level flames he had acquired.


    However, Ye Chen did not employ the method to obtain this icy flame.


    After a moment of observation, he was directly pulled into the "Ice Flame Cave."

 Chapter 1009 - 959 Discovery

    Inside this "Ice Flame Cave," it is roughly several hundred feet large.


    According to the rules of the Ninth Region, after entering the corresponding "Ice Flame Cave" using the special flame from the deceased "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," there is a maximum of an hour to search.


    Of course, if one doesn''t want to waste time searching within the "Ice Flame Cave," simply walking to the exit of the cave will allow the special flame to immediately carry the challenger back to the lake''s surface.


    Upon entering the several hundred feet-large interior of the "Ice Flame Cave," Ye Chen immediately saw that the cave was empty. There was not a trace of "Golden Nine Mystical Silk," nor any other objects.


    All that could be seen were the walls of the "Ice Flame Cave," seemingly stacked with ice bricks.


    With limited time to find the "Golden Nine Mystical Silk," Ye Chen certainly wouldn''t spend an hour searching this small space of several hundred feet.


    After all, this wasn''t the only "Ice Flame Cave" to look for.


    Of course, Ye Chen wouldn''t just leave without any attempt simply because nothing was found upon entry.


    Seeing that there were no "Golden Nine Mystical Silk" in this "Ice Flame Cave," Ye Chen turned his attention to the structures resembling ice bricks on the cave walls.


    Ye Chen used his Divine Sense to probe these "ice bricks."


    To Ye Chen''s astonishment, several dozen of these "ice bricks" emitted a flame-like heat, yet transformed into intense cold instantly.


    Amidst this juxtaposition of heat and cold, Ye Chen sensed some pattern changes within these several dozens of "ice bricks."


    Ye Chen looked carefully at these "patterns" and, after observing for a while, was shocked.


    The patterns inside these ice bricks were exactly the same as those on the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" he had previously slain, and in their transformation, they slowly formed into characters.


    Moments after the characters formed, they scattered back into patterns. Before long, they reformed into characters, repeating this cycle over and over.


    After observing these patterns and characters for a long time, Ye Chen discovered the law within them.


    Specific patterns directly corresponded to specific characters!


    The patterns on the entire "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" were distributed within these "ice bricks," forming more than twenty irregular characters.


    After he observed it all, Ye Chen had a flash of inspiration in his mind, as if he vaguely grasped something crucial.


    However, this feeling faded quickly, and he did not hold on to this fleeting insight.


    Ultimately, Ye Chen, with questions lingering, walked to the exit of the "Ice Flame Cave" after his observations.


    Rumble!


    Upon reaching the exit, the special flame of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" on Ye Chen''s body instantly carried him out of the "Ice Flame Cave," into the lake water, and finally sped him towards the lake''s surface.


    After a dozen breaths, Ye Chen returned to the small boat.


    As he returned to the boat, the first cluster of special flame from the first "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" he had slain finally dissipated.


    Without hesitation, Ye Chen picked up the fishing rod and started fishing for another "Bone Fire Spirit Fish."


    This time, after two cups of tea worth of time, Ye Chen caught another "Bone Fire Spirit Fish."


    Then, Ye Chen killed this "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" and obtained a second cluster of special flame, once again being taken into a second "Ice Flame Cave."


    In the second "Ice Flame Cave," nothing was present either.


    The "Golden Nine Mystical Silk" still did not appear.


    However, inside the structures forming the walls of this "Ice Flame Cave," Ye Chen once again discovered those special patterns.


    The special patterns in this second "Ice Flame Cave" were identical to those on the second "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" he had just slain.


    Moreover, they were also continually forming into characters.


    Upon seeing a pattern forming the character "Capture," Ye Chen''s mind and spirit jumped!


    This character "Capture" was also seen in the first "Ice Flame Cave."


    The patterns on the first and second "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" were vastly different, with only a single similarity, and that similarity formed the same character "Capture"!


    The flash of insight that had brushed past Ye Chen''s mind reappeared instantaneously.


    This time, Ye Chen finally understood what he was thinking earlier.


    "Patterns, characters, there is a special connection between these two!"


    "Every pattern corresponds to a character!"


    "It''s as if a Great Powerholder shattered the characters into patterns, hiding them within the ''Bone Fire Spirit Fish'' bodies!"


    "And matching patterns correspond to the same character!"


    "These characters must hold a special rule, perhaps the rule for finding the ''Golden Nine Mystical Silk''!"


    The innumerable "Ice Flame Caves" below the lake, Ye Chen refused to believe that finding the "Golden Nine Mystical Silk" was just about getting lucky by exploring caves; he believed there must be a pattern to it!


    After noting down the character-pattern correspondences in the second "Ice Flame Cave," Ye Chen left it and returned to the small boat.


    In two "Ice Flame Caves," tens of patterns were observed, and apart from the common character "Capture," the other characters differed.


    Ye Chen had recorded all the pattern-character correspondences.


    Then, Ye Chen once again started fishing for another "Bone Fire Spirit Fish."


    After Ye Chen''s combat power broke through to the unbelievable Sovereign level, even though the Ninth Region exotic beasts are the most powerful exotic beasts across the nine regions, Ye Chen felt no pressure.


    Kill! Kill! Kill!


    The number of Bone Fire Spirit Fish Ye Chen killed increased.


    The number of Ice Flame Caves he entered with the special flames obtained after the death of the Bone Fire Spirit Fish also increased.


    The rune text that Ye Chen discovered corresponding to the patterns became more frequent!


    After half a day, when Ye Chen killed the thirty-ninth Bone Fire Spirit Fish and entered the thirty-ninth Ice Flame Cave, his eyes lit up.


    This time, inside this Ice Flame Cave, Ye Chen finally saw a strand of golden Nine Profound Threads placed at the center of the cave.


    It was a strand with five golden spots!


    After carefully collecting this strand of golden Nine Profound Threads, Ye Chen did not leave but continued to explore the ice bricks forming the cave walls.


    Then, Ye Chen saw more text corresponding to the patterns.


    This time, Ye Chen was so shocked that he jumped!


    He saw that the text formed by the patterns inside the ice bricks spelled out a sentence: "Pardon, Infinite, Profound, Exotic, Accomplish, Nine, Spirit..."


    The sentence seemed random, yet Ye Chen knew it intimately.


    It was clearly a sentence from the first unnamed mantra that he had obtained in the Fourth Region!


    Boom!


    In an instant, a divine light flashed through Ye Chen''s mind.


    He seemed to understand everything!


    "The unnamed mantra corresponds to the golden Nine Profound Threads?!"


    "If the text formed from the patterns on the Bone Fire Spirit Fish matches a sentence from the unnamed mantra, then there will be golden Nine Profound Threads within the corresponding Ice Flame Cave?!"


    Thinking of this possibility, Ye Chen''s mind and spirit were stirred, and he immediately left the Ice Flame Cave and returned to the light boat.


    Then, Ye Chen began fishing again.


    He needed to verify this hypothesis!


    Fishing, fishing, and more fishing!


    As time passed, the rune text Ye Chen deciphered became more frequent, and he entered more Ice Flame Caves.


    When he fished the fifty-fifth Bone Fire Spirit Fish and entered the fifty-fifth Ice Flame Cave, Ye Chen found another strand with three spots of golden Nine Profound Threads.


    This time, in the cave possessing the golden Nine Profound Threads, Ye Chen once again discovered the text corresponding to the patterns inside.


    And to Ye Chen''s delight, these characters matched a sentence from the unnamed mantra!


    His hypothesis was correct.


    Indeed, if the text formed by the patterns on a Bone Fire Spirit Fish matched a sentence from the unnamed mantra, then the corresponding Ice Flame Cave would have golden Nine Profound Threads!


    Moreover, Ye Chen found that the further the corresponding sentence was in the unnamed mantra, the more precious the golden Nine Profound Threads in the Ice Flame Cave.


    Thinking this, a thought flashed through Ye Chen''s mind.


    If he were to understand all the text corresponding to the patterns on Bone Fire Spirit Fish, wouldn''t he be able to avoid wasting time entering Ice Flame Caves and simply check the text on the Bone Fire Spirit Fish to see if it matched the unnamed mantra?


    After fishing fifty-five Bone Fire Spirit Fish, Ye Chen noticed the same text appeared more frequently, indicating a finite number of rune patterns, and he could truly understand all the text corresponding to the patterns.


    Wow.


    The special flame flickered, and Ye Chen returned to the light boat again.


    This time, as soon as Ye Chen caught another Bone Fire Spirit Fish, he did not rush to slaughter it.


    He directly examined the text on the Bone Fire Spirit Fish.


    Most of these patterns, he had seen before on other Bone Fire Spirit Fish.


    "Seeking, Exceeding, Cold, Sound, Long, With..."


    Ye Chen distinguished these patterns, using the text corresponding to the patterns observed earlier, and directly deduced the possible corresponding text from this Bone Fire Spirit Fish.


    "These texts do not match any sentence from the unnamed mantra, and the few unknown patterns do not complete a full sentence."


    "It seems the Ice Flame Cave corresponding to this Bone Fire Spirit Fish will not contain any golden Nine Profound Threads."


    To confirm his hypothesis, Ye Chen killed this Bone Fire Spirit Fish and entered the new Ice Flame Cave using the special flame obtained from its death.


    Sure enough, there were no golden Nine Profound Threads inside.


    Sure enough, within the ice bricks forming the Ice Flame Cave walls, he saw the text he had guessed: "Seeking, Exceeding, Cold, Sound, Long, With..." and the corresponding text from the unknown patterns: "Arrange, Kui, Long..."


    This time, Ye Chen''s mind and spirit were calm.


    He finally discovered the pattern to locate golden Nine Profound Threads!

 Chapter 1010 - 960: The Final Competition

    When Ye Chen returned to the small boat, his gaze was exceptionally bright.


    Zing.


    He flicked the fishing rod, and the line with the hook flew into the lake once again.


    Ye Chen began fishing once more.


    This time, it didn''t take long before he caught another "Bone Fire Spirit Fish."


    However, this time, after confining the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" in the void, Ye Chen took just a glance at the patterns on the fish''s body before directly killing it.


    Then, although the special flame generated by the death of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" flew onto Ye Chen, he didn''t choose to use the flame to venture into the corresponding "Ice Flame Cave."


    Because on this "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," Ye Chen did not find any pattern resembling the "Unnamed Spell."


    In this situation, there was no need to waste time searching for the "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" in the "Ice Flame Cave."


    To Ye Chen''s surprise.


    After not jumping into the lake in dozens of breaths, using the special flame to go to the corresponding "Ice Flame Cave," the special flame from the dead "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" dissipated from Ye Chen''s body.


    Ye Chen pondered, thinking that the special flame must have sensed his abandonment of the search for the "Ice Flame Cave," hence it automatically dissipated.


    From then, Ye Chen rapidly fished for "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" using this method.


    Unless the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" displayed an unseen pattern or a sentence from the "Unnamed Mantra" further back, he would venture into the "Ice Flame Cave" to explore.


    With the discovery of the link between the "Unnamed Mantra" and the "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk," Ye Chen spent less and less time looking for the "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" and got larger yields.


    In the end, after two days, Ye Chen even summed up nearly ten thousand corresponding pattern sentence words, with hardly any unfamiliar pattern sentence words left.


    Under these circumstances, Ye Chen would only act when he caught a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" with sentence patterns from the "Unnamed Mantra." Then, he would investigate the corresponding "Ice Flame Cave."


    This approach greatly accelerated Ye Chen''s search for the "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk!"


    Two days passed, and he found a few strands of "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" with seven spots!


    With one and a half days remaining before the end of the twenty-seven-day timeframe specified for exploring all regions, Ye Chen stood on the small boat, gazing into the distance over the vast lake.


    After uncovering the connection between the "Unnamed Mantra," the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" patterns, and the "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk," Ye Chen successfully found the seven-spotted "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk."


    The Ninth Region rules previously mentioned that finding the nine-spotted "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" was nearly impossible, and discovering the eight-spotted or seven-spotted "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" would already be considered a great gain.


    Ye Chen had already found the seven-spotted "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk," which was, logically, a good outcome.


    Yet, Ye Chen was not satisfied.


    To him, seven-spotted "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" was far from enough!


    After all, he wanted to compete with Dominion Realm Sovereigns in other regions; only if the quality of his "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" was superior could he enter a better Ancient Temple.


    Seven-spotted "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk" wasn''t enough to give Ye Chen confidence in surpassing the Sovereign figures'' gains in the Ninth Region.


    "Finding the nine-spotted Golden Nine-Patterned Silk is almost impossible; only this level of silk provides a significant hope in having an edge in competition with Dominion Realm figures!"


    Ye Chen''s eyes shone brightly with determination, resolved to strive for the nine-spotted Golden Nine-Patterned Silk.


    In a competition, strive for the best!


    Knowing the Unsurpassed Divine Fire within the second Ancient Temple surpassed the Ancient Temple Spirit Fire ranked third on the Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List, Ye Chen naturally wanted to win it.


    Even in competition with Dominion Realm figures, he would not give up!


    ...


    In the region where Dominion Realm Sovereigns were present.


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya raced against time to fish for "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," searching for "Golden Nine-Patterned Silk."


    These two, as the most formidable nine-star Sovereigns of the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan, certainly had exceptional vision.


    Ye Chen discovered the secret of the connection between the internal patterns in the "Ice Bricks" within the "Ice Flame Cave," and these two nine-star Sovereigns discovered this secret as well.


    Ye Chen had obtained the first part of the "Unnamed Mantra" at the Fourth Region, and these two Sovereigns also discovered the first part of the "Unnamed Mantra."


    They also found the connection between the "Unnamed Mantra" and the patterns on the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish!"


    However, back then, Ye Chen, through immense patience and special intuition, discovered the second part of the "Unnamed Mantra" at the Seventh Region, and within these two Sovereigns, Elder Xueya of the Blood Wing Clan never found the second part of the "Unnamed Mantra."


    Only the Elder Tianhuo of the Nine Flames Clan, like Ye Chen, also obtained the second part of the "Nameless Mantra".


    And Ye Chen, in his search for the seven-spotted "Golden Nine Profound Threads", had already used a line from the second part of the "Nameless Mantra".


    It was upon discovering that this line was linked to the patterns on the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" that Ye Chen decisively entered the "Ice Flame Cave" and acquired the seven-spotted "Golden Nine Profound Threads".


    Elder Xueya, not having acquired the second part of the Nameless Mantra at all, couldn''t use it to match and find the pattern text, thus falling significantly behind Ye Chen and Elder Tianhuo!


    When Ye Chen discovered the seven-spotted "Golden Nine Profound Threads", Elder Tianhuo, with both sharp sight and fortune, found a strand of eight-spotted "Golden Nine Profound Threads".


    On the other hand, Elder Xueya, after two days, found only the most precious Golden Nine Profound Threads with five spots.


    This made Elder Xueya extremely anxious!


    However, he also had his advantages.


    Although Elder Xueya''s strength was not as great as "Elder Tianhuo''s", before coming to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds", the "Blood Origin Divine Master" of the Blood Wing Clan gave him several Divine Treasures for acquiring the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire", as well as Divine Treasures to resolve danger.


    Among them was a miraculous object to recover combat power.


    In the Ninth Region, the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" Ye Chen dealt with had Supreme Combat Power at the level of an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, whereas the ones Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya dealt with were at the extreme combat power of a Nine-Star Sovereign.


    Ye Chen, due to the "Starry Origin Power", surpassed the combat threat of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish".


    But Elder Xueya and Elder Tianhuo were different; every battle they engaged in with the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" required a considerable expenditure of energy.


    In these circumstances, Elder Xueya relied on the miraculous object bestowed by the "Blood Origin Divine Master" to recover combat power, which saved him a lot of time. In fact, he managed to kill more "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" than "Elder Tianhuo".


    Elder Tianhuo had the advantage of the second part of the "Nameless Mantra", while Elder Xueya had the advantage of the Divine Objects bestowed by the Divine Master.


    Although "Elder Tianhuo" used fortune and sight to first find the eight-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads, Elder Xueya, without the second part of the Nameless Mantra, often had to check the "Ice Flame Cave", but on the third day, his luck exploded and he suddenly found a strand of seven-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads.


    The time left for the exploration of the Nine Major Regions was getting shorter and shorter.


    The competition between Ye Chen, Elder Tianhuo, and Elder Xueya also reached its final stage!


    ...


    When there was only half a day left, Ye Chen, Elder Tianhuo, and Elder Xueya all successfully obtained the "Beast Spirit" of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish".


    What lay before them was only the final task, finding the most precious "Golden Nine Profound Threads"!


    When only four hours remained, the most precious "Golden Nine Profound Threads" Elder Tianhuo found were still eight spots, and for "Elder Xueya" and Ye Chen, the most precious "Golden Nine Profound Threads" they found still remained at seven spots.


    At this point, Elder Xueya was already a bit flustered.


    When only three hours remained, the three still had no new gains, even Elder Tianhuo was frowning.


    After all, the "Golden Nine Profound Threads" not only concerned the competition for better "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" among Sovereign Realm and below but also related to using the nine types of Nine Profound Threads to take out the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" from the Ancient Temple.


    In the previous eight regions, Elder Tianhuo had obtained the most precious Nine-Spots Nine Profound Threads, but in this Ninth Region, even though he obtained the eight-spots Golden Nine Profound Threads, he was not confident he could smoothly acquire the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" with eight types of Nine-Spots and one type of Eight-Spots Nine Profound Threads.


    By then, even if he won the competition against those below the Sovereign Realm and entered a better Ancient Temple, if he couldn''t acquire the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire", it would all be in vain.


    This made him completely uneasy!


    When only two hours remained, on Ye Chen''s side, standing on a single-leaf boat, Ye Chen suddenly made up his mind.


    During more than three days, Ye Chen had fished countless "Bone Fire Spirit Fish", even switching several lake regions to fish, yet could only get the seven-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads, which didn''t satisfy him at all.


    With time running short, Ye Chen felt that at this rate, he would be lucky to find an eight-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads, and the chance of finding a nine-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads was exceedingly slim.


    In these circumstances, Ye Chen thought of one last method!


    Transformation!


    The "Changeable Divine Ability" from the "Taiyi Chapter" of the Primordial Star Scripture!


    Ye Chen contemplated that if he used the "Changeable Divine Ability" to transform into a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish", perhaps he could enter the lake to search for other "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" and discover the most precious one.


    Of course, this idea carried enormous risks.


    After all, the rules of the Ninth Region stated that even Divine Masters would surely perish if they entered the lake without special flame protection.


    And if using special flame protection, one would be taken directly to the corresponding "Ice Flame Cave" by the special flame, making it impossible to observe other areas.


    There was still immense death risk in transforming into a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish"!

 Chapter 1011 - 961: Ownership of the Ancient Temple!

    Finally, as time runs out, Ye Chen considers that the Zi Ji Star Lord who left behind the "Primordial Star Scripture" is a prominent figure at the pinnacle of the Cosmic Sea.


    The divine skills left behind, even though the creator of this "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" may be powerful, it''s unlikely they surpass the Zi Ji Star Lord. The possibility of seeing through the changeable divine ability of the "Taiyi Chapter" is also extremely small.


    Fortune favors the bold.


    Now at the ninth region, Ye Chen is certainly unwilling to give up the potential gains. Once he obtains the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire," ranked among the top three on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List," it would greatly enhance his abilities.


    Later, Ye Chen will head to the "Extreme Spirit Sea" to find "General Yinsha." Ye Chen has already judged from various situations that there may be issues with General Yinsha, which will make his journey to the "Extreme Spirit Clan" increasingly uncontrollable.


    In such a situation, the more strategies, the better!


    Moreover, Ye Chen does not wish to leave the treasure land empty-handed.


    This mysterious "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," with its most precious Ancient Temple at the end, he is certainly eager to enter.


    Ye Chen even has a vague feeling that perhaps the mysteries inside the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" are not just limited to the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire."


    Otherwise, the creator who left behind the nine regions would not have designed such complex rules.


    In the end, Ye Chen finally made up his mind to bravely give it a try!


    Of course, even though bravely risking it, Ye Chen would not leave no way out, would not recklessly disregard the danger to his life.


    Ye Chen dares to take this risk because there''s something that reassures him greatly, which is the "Stars Tower" left by the Zi Ji Star Lord!


    Right now, Ye Chen can control the storage divine power of the "Stars Tower."


    If he really encounters a life-threatening situation after transforming and entering the lake, he would immediately draw his entire self into the "Stars Tower" to escape the crisis!


    Based on Ye Chen''s understanding of the "Stars Tower," even if this lake can kill a Divine Master, it probably cannot destroy the "Stars Tower."


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen gritted his teeth, and once the changeable divine ability of the "Taiyi Chapter" from the Primordial Star Scripture was activated, his whole person transformed into a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish."


    This is the changeable divine ability of the "Taiyi Chapter," and now Ye Chen is identical to a real "Bone Fire Spirit Fish."


    Even the patterns on the bones and the golden flames outside the bones are exactly the same as those of the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" he once caught but did not take to the "Ice Flame Cave"!


    The next moment, transformed into a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," Ye Chen leaped into the lake!


    Splash.


    With the water rolling, Ye Chen completely disappeared into the lake.


    ...


    Safety zone of the Sovereigns.


    Among the eighteen Nine Star Sovereigns who entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," three died during the exploration of the nine regions, while Elder Xueya and Elder Tianhuo were still exploring the ninth region. The remaining thirteen, who have been teleported to the safety zone, silently waited.


    It''s getting closer.


    The twenty-seven-day time limit to finish exploring the nine regions was getting nearer.


    The hearts of the thirteen Nine Star Sovereigns were in suspense!


    Previously, they had already seen through the light screen that the leading figures of the two clans, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya, had barged into the ninth region.


    Soon, they were about to witness which of these two mighty figures would cross the ninth region and enter the Ancient Temple to seize the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire"!


    Bang! Bang! Bang!


    An hour left, half an hour left...


    Even the knowledgeable Nine Star Sovereigns found their hearts pounding as time drew near.


    After all, this exploration of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" involved two types of "Unsurpassed Divine Fire," which could possibly change the power of their entire clan. Of course, they cared immensely!


    Another safety zone for individuals below the Sovereign Realm.


    At this time, Cai Meng''er, Cai Xiao''er, the members of the Nine Flames Clan, and the Blood Wing Clan all had their hearts in their throats as well.


    They were also awaiting the final moment.


    Waiting to see if Ye Chen, who ventured into the ninth region, could break into the Ancient Temple!


    Time passed, and the wait in the two safety zones finally came to an end.


    The twenty-seven-day exploration time of the nine regions also finally ended.


    Splash.


    At the moment the twenty-seven days ended, in the safety zone where individuals below the Sovereign Realm were, Cai Meng''er, Cai Xiao''er, and others immediately saw the previous light screen reappear.


    And this time, what shocked them was that this time two screens appeared.


    The figure in one light screen was extremely familiar to them, none other than Ye Chen.


    And the figure in the other light screen was also extremely familiar, surprisingly the strongest figures of the two clans¡ªElder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya.


    At this moment, as the time to enter the two Ancient Temples arrived, individuals below the Sovereign Realm not only saw Ye Chen entering the Ancient Temple, but also saw Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya of the Sovereign Realm enter the Ancient Temple.


    Meanwhile.


    In the safety zone for Sovereign Realm individuals, the thirteen Nine Star Sovereigns not only saw Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya, but also Ye Chen, whom they had never seen before.


    They saw with their own eyes, the image of Ye Chen appearing on the light screen¡ªYe Chen who had entered the Ancient Temple!


    What shocked everyone in the two safe zones the most was.


    Two light screens, one high and one low, the one where Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya were was at the lower position, while the one Ye Chen was in was at the higher position.


    At the same time, the light screen also stated: The only person below the Sovereign Realm to enter the Ancient Temple, performing better in the Ninth Region, will enter the better second Ancient Temple!


    There are two Sovereign Realm personnel, who will enter the slightly inferior first Ancient Temple!


    These three people will respectively try to obtain the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" in their respective Ancient Temples!


    Upon seeing this, everyone in the two safe zones couldn''t believe it.


    Couldn''t believe that someone below the Sovereign Realm would defeat Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya in the competition, entering a better Ancient Temple.


    Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, the two sisters, were completely stunned.


    ...


    Bang! Bang!


    Amidst two flashes of Divine Light, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya directly appeared in an Ancient Temple.


    Upon seeing this Ancient Temple, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya exclaimed simultaneously: "The Ancient Temple I entered is actually the one with the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire''!"


    The two of them had entered this Ancient Temple before and had seen the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," of course, they recognized it at a glance.


    And the reason they exclaimed was that they previously learned from the rules of the Ninth Region that the Ancient Temple with the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" was not as good as the other Ancient Temple.


    At this point, they arrived in the Ancient Temple housing the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," which clearly indicated that they were on the losing side in the competition against someone below the Sovereign Realm.


    "Who is it?!"


    "Which person below the Sovereign Realm? Entered a better Ancient Temple, about to witness a better ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire''?!"


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya were deeply shocked.


    They couldn''t see the situation elsewhere and had no idea which person below the Sovereign Realm had entered a better Ancient Temple.


    Moreover, Elder Xueya had a bad premonition.


    Previously, he was convinced that among those below the Sovereign Realm, the two experts, Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan, from the Blood Wing Clan he belonged to, would not lose to the others in competition.


    But now, Elder Xueya no longer dared to think so.


    Because he knew, even Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan could not surpass his achievements!


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya even temporarily forgot to compete for the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire."


    They simultaneously took out the Divine Object recording the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" that they carried with them.


    Because they knew that once that person below the Sovereign Realm entered a better Ancient Temple and saw a Divine Fire stronger than the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," that Divine Fire would manifest in reality.


    If that were to happen, that flame would undoubtedly ascend to the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" and surpass the position of the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire"!


    They were eager to see what name the better "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" would be given!


    ...


    In the two safe zones, even two Nine-Star Sovereigns were astounded by the "Ancient Temple allocation" event.


    Yet, Ye Chen directly appeared inside an Ancient Temple.


    This Ancient Temple was indeed the better second Ancient Temple!


    In the previous competition for the "Golden Nine Profound Threads," the achievements Ye Chen secured surpassed those of Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya!


    Now, standing inside the great hall of the Ancient Temple, Ye Chen still felt his heart pounding when recalling the scene of transforming and then diving into the mysterious lake earlier.


    A few hours ago, operating the "Taiyi Chapter of the Primordial Star Scripture" transformability divine skill, turning into a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," Ye Chen entered the lake and immediately felt the lake water pressing towards him.


    However, to his delight, his prediction was correct, and after completely transforming into a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," Ye Chen became an unrecognizable "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," completely unnoticed by the lake.


    The lake didn''t kill transformability-empowered Ye Chen.


    In this situation, Ye Chen was, of course, ecstatic. The "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" he transformed into swam beneath the lake just like other "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," continuously moving.


    However, unlike other "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" who simply swam, Ye Chen observed the patterns on the other "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" while swimming, comparing them with the "Nameless Spell", memorizing distinct patterns.


    Under these circumstances, Ye Chen discovered that the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" with patterns similar to the "Nameless Spell" wordings swam much faster.


    Soon, Ye Chen noticed a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" with patterns corresponding to the penultimate line of the second segment of the "Nameless Spell," which probably corresponded to a "Golden Nine Profound Threads" with eight spots.


    However, Ye Chen was not impulsive.


    He continued searching for the most precious one corresponding to the last lines of the "Nameless Spell"; that "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" would give him the utmost assurance of the "Golden Nine Profound Threads" with nine spots.


    Racing against time beneath the lake, Ye Chen''s swimming area was tens of times greater than the areas searched by Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya combined!


    Finally, Ye Chen found the "Bone Fire Spirit Fish" he sought, and he directly took it to fly fast toward the lake''s surface.


    After successfully dispatched this "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," in the extremely secluded "Ice Flame Cave," Ye Chen finally found the trace of a nine-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads he had longed for!


    It was precisely with this nine-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads that he defeated Elder Tianhuo''s eight-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads and Elder Xueya''s seven-spotted Golden Nine Profound Threads, entering the second Ancient Temple.


    Came before the even more precious "Unsurpassed Divine Fire"!

 Chapter 1012 - 962 Heavenly Forbidden Flame

    Recalling the previous experience of venturing into the Ninth Region, Ye Chen''s gaze directly shifted towards the temple hall.


    Ye Chen immediately noticed a massive void in the center of the hall, resembling a deep well right at the center.


    Swoosh!


    Ye Chen moved swiftly, arriving beside the enormous void.


    Then, Ye Chen looked directly into the void.


    The abyss within the void was deep, truly resembling a deep well. However, Ye Chen''s gaze was entirely drawn to a golden flame hovering several hundred feet below, suspended in the void!


    Upon seeing this flame, its name instantly imprinted itself into Ye Chen''s mind.


    Heavenly Forbidden Flame!


    Ye Chen immediately realized that this golden flame must be another type of "Unsurpassed Divine Fire," even stronger than the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire"!


    Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!


    What Ye Chen didn''t know was that the moment he saw the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," it marked its emergence in the world.


    This emergence of the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" attracted the attention of countless strong cultivators in the universe involved in Divine Fire cultivation!


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya, who had been constantly observing the movements of the Divine Object recording the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List, directly saw a blaze transform into a flame, soar out before them, and form a new list.


    It''s understood that unless the Divine Object proactively reveals the list, only when new Divine Fire enters the list and alters its ranking will the Divine Object actively display the list.


    Observing the Divine Object automatically displaying the list now, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya were startled, having a premonition that the emergence of another "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" from the ancient temples led to changes in the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List!


    The two nine-star Sovereigns instinctively looked at the list before them.


    Their eyes went straight to the top three positions.


    Bang!


    Upon seeing, the two were shocked nearly to the point of fainting.


    Previously, the top three of Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List were: first "Ice Extinction Flame," second "Supreme Dark True Fire," and a very familiar third "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire."


    But at this moment, the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" was directly squeezed to fourth, even the previously second-ranked "Supreme Dark True Fire" was relegated to third.


    And a new Divine Fire directly occupied the second position on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List.


    The two nine-star Sovereigns saw that this new Divine Fire was named ¨C "Heavenly Forbidden Flame"!


    "Heavenly Forbidden Flame! Ancient Forbidden Grounds! This newly listed Divine Fire must be the superior ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' within another ancient temple!"


    Even though they were aware that another type of Divine Fire was stronger than the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya did not expect this new fire to surpass the "Supreme Dark True Fire," ranking second.


    They were aware that the "Supreme Dark True Fire" was a Divine Fire obtained with extreme difficulty by the highest-ranking group in all advanced cosmic life forms, the "Moke Ancient Clan."


    Moreover, they had heard about the power of the "Supreme Dark True Fire."


    They did not expect a newly emerged Divine Fire from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" to surpass the "Supreme Dark True Fire," directly taking the second position on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List!


    Only slightly weaker than the top-ranked "Ice Extinction Flame!"


    While Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya were shocked within the first ancient temple, countless Sovereigns and those below the Sovereign Realm in two major safe zones also felt their Divine Objects recording the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List "bang bang bang" activating, revealing the list.


    Upon seeing the newly appeared second-ranked "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," dozens of people in these two safe zones had their mouths wide open in amazement.


    Moke Extreme Origin Star is a star where the core clan land of the Moke Ancient Clan is located.


    A several-thousand-feet cliff on Moke Extreme Origin Star had the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List hanging high.


    Clan members of the Moke Ancient Clan frequently trained below the cliff.


    Typically, they would look at the second-ranked name on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List, "Supreme Dark True Fire," to motivate themselves to practice hard.


    Because the "Supreme Dark True Fire" is the clan''s "Unsurpassed Divine Fire," only the strongest Sovereign within their clan can use it!


    On that day, Moke Ancient Clan members were quietly training when suddenly they heard a roaring sound from the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List.


    This roaring sound signified a change in the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List.


    The typical sound of change had been heard before by the clan members training below the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List, causing only minor surprise, not real shock.


    However, when they looked up at the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List, it was a "whoosh," and everyone stood up in shock.


    Because they saw this time was no small change!


    This time, the second position on the Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List, which they were so familiar with, was occupied by a new name!


    The second line changed directly to: Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List Second: Heavenly Forbidden Flame! Emerged in the world, yet still unowned and in a masterless state!


    The "Supreme Dark True Fire" previously ranked second owned by their clan, directly dropped to third place!


    This change astonished the members of the Moke Ancient Clan to the extreme.


    These clan members promptly sent messages within the clan.


    In no time, countless members of the Moke Ancient Clan gathered below the cliff towering tens of thousands of feet high.


    Among them were not only many Nine-Star Sovereigns, but also several Dominion Realm figures who had returned from the Cosmic Sea to the Moke Ancient Clan!


    The great figures of the Dominion Realm were not too surprised by the changes in the Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List. After all, while the divine fires on the list were of some use to them, they were not very significant.


    They were only slightly startled for a moment when they saw the new second-ranked Unsurpassed Divine Fire.


    However, the Nine-Star Sovereigns of the Moke Ancient Clan were greatly shocked!


    The divine fires on the Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List were truly of great use to them!


    "A newly emerged Unsurpassed Divine Fire!"


    "Heavenly Forbidden Flame!"


    "Yet unowned by anyone!"


    The Nine-Star Sovereigns of the Moke Ancient Clan couldn''t help but want to search for this new divine fire.


    Unfortunately, this universe is vast beyond measure; even a Divine Master cannot claim to explore all regions. As Nine-Star Sovereigns, it''s even less likely for them to discover the location of this newly listed Unsurpassed Divine Fire!


    Not only the Moke Ancient Clan, but countless Ancient Clan and Divine Kingdom experts specializing in divine fires were also actively speculating at this moment.


    Everyone was guessing about the whereabouts of the newly emerged "Heavenly Forbidden Flame".


    True Spirit Divine Kingdom, Blood Wing Clan territory.


    When the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" emerged, the Blood Origin Divine Master similarly noticed the change in the "Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List".


    With a swish, the Blood Origin Divine Master stood up directly.


    "Xueya and the others are exploring the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', considering time, it hasn''t been long since it''s been a month, those ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' being a place where divine fires are born, could it be that the newly emerged ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame'' is related to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''?!"


    "Have Xueya and the others seen this ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame''?!"


    If not for the immense power of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'', even as a Divine Master, the Blood Origin Divine Master would have been tempted to fly into the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' himself to find out!


    After a while, the Blood Origin Divine Master calmed down.


    Looking at the "Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List" record list divine object in his hand, he sighed, "Divine Master, respected among countless Divine Kingdoms in this cosmic realm, yet too weak in the Cosmic Sea, blocked by just one ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''."


    "These divine objects that record new Unsurpassed Divine Fires as soon as they appear on the ''Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List'' were casually crafted and scattered into this universe by that Cosmic Emperor who created the List. If I had the strength of that Cosmic Emperor, discovering the locations of various Unsurpassed Divine Fires would just be easy!"


    "Too weak, still too weak."


    After a bout of sighing, the Blood Origin Divine Master looked again at the second position of the "Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List", the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame".


    An insight flashed in his eyes: "The appearance of a new ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' indicates someone has seen it, which means that ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame'' must have already been encountered by someone!"


    "Now, without a master yet, indicates that person hasn''t successfully claimed the ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame'', much like the unclaimed ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire''!"


    "Let''s see, whether the person who encountered this ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame'' will claim it!"


    The Blood Origin Divine Master vigilantly watched the "Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List", wanting to see if further details about the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" would change.


    Elsewhere, members of the Moke Ancient Clan and countless Divine Kingdom divine fire cultivators were also observing changes in the "Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List".


    Everyone knew that the first few days after an ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' emerges are the most likely for it to be claimed. They too wanted to see if this "Heavenly Forbidden Flame", which debuted at second place on the Extreme Heavenly Divine Fire List, would have a master appear!


    In the first ancient temple, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya saw the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" was still unclaimed and similarly thought the personnel below the Sovereign Realm might still not have claimed this divine fire.


    At this point, they also realized they were beside the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire", and they needed to claim the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" as well.


    This time, they both had the "Nine Profound Threads" for claiming divine fire and could once again try to claim the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire".


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya exchanged a glance and simultaneously flew to the side of the huge tunnel where the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" was located!


    Meanwhile, standing in the second ancient temple, Ye Chen saw the appearance of the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" and finally took out the nine kinds of Nine Spots Nine Profound Threads he had found across nine regions.


    Ye Chen was finally going to claim the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame"!

 Chapter 1013 - 963: List Changes and Forbidden Changes

    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya''s side.


    The two nine-star Sovereigns almost simultaneously flew to the giant cave where the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" was located.


    "Fellow Tianhuo, do you want to have a contest with me first to determine a winner before taking the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire,'' or do we each try to take the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire'' with our skills and then have a contest?" Elder Xueya looked at Elder Tianhuo, sneering as he spoke.


    Although Elder Xueya''s combat power wasn''t as strong as Elder Tianhuo''s, he had no fear of Elder Tianhuo at this moment due to the Treasures bestowed upon him by the "Blood Origin Divine Master."


    Seeing Elder Xueya''s expression, a glint flashed and disappeared in Elder Tianhuo''s eyes.


    As if having thought of something, Elder Tianhuo smiled at Elder Xueya and said, "Since fellow Xueya says so, it seems you are quite confident in claiming the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire.''


    "Then go ahead, fellow Daoist, you should try first."


    Elder Tianhuo generously waved his hand, signaling for Elder Xueya to take action.


    Elder Tianhuo understood that since neither of them might succeed in claiming the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," they could do nothing.


    Yet if either of them managed to take the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," the other would definitely not let it be taken away easily.


    A great battle is inevitable then.


    Therefore, the order of who takes it first does not matter.


    For Elder Tianhuo, watching Elder Xueya make his move while acting afterward might not be a bad idea.


    Seeing Elder Tianhuo''s expression, Elder Xueya seemed to understand what was on Elder Tianhuo''s mind.


    However, he coldly snorted and looked down at the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" under the giant cave.


    In Elder Xueya''s mind, if he still couldn''t take the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" this time, he definitely wouldn''t let Elder Tianhuo succeed, so he had no reason to care about Elder Tianhuo''s thoughts.


    Immediately, standing by the giant cave, Elder Xueya began his action directly.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    In an instant, Elder Xueya took out all the Nine Profound Threads he found earlier in the nine regions.


    Among these nine types of Nine Profound Threads, apart from the "Gold-colored Nine Profound Thread" with seven spots from the Ninth Region, the remaining eight had nine spots!


    Then, Elder Xueya directly shook his hand, and the nine strands of Nine Profound Threads in his hand enveloped the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" hundreds of feet deep under the giant cave.


    The event that made Elder Xueya invigorate occurred.


    Previously, he had tried several times to collect the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," yet each time, regardless of the Treasure he used for collection, once it entered the cave, it got burned into Void.


    During those attempts, he couldn''t even shake the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" by a fraction!


    But this time, with nine types of Nine Profound Threads moving together, these threads firing into the cave became exceptionally long, intertwining to form a web-like network of fire threads and directly enveloping the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," successfully pulling it up after just a dozen breaths!


    This sight made Elder Xueya rejoice.


    Beside him, Elder Tianhuo''s face changed, and he slightly clenched his fists within his sleeves.


    Pulling up, pulling further up.


    Under the tug of the nine types of Nine Profound Threads, the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" slowly rose, getting closer to the cave''s opening.


    When it rose from hundreds of feet deep to about fifty or sixty feet from the cave''s opening, Elder Xueya, initially showing a joyful expression, suddenly widened his eyes.


    At the same time, the last strand of the seven-spotted Gold-colored Nine Profound Thread in his hand suddenly snapped!


    With this ninth thread broken, the web of fire threads formed by the nine types of Nine Profound Threads instantly shattered, causing the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," painstakingly pulled up, to drop down!


    In a moment of panic, Elder Xueya couldn''t help but try to continue pulling the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" with the remaining eight Nine Profound Threads, but to his dismay, after managing to lift it only ten feet this time, the remaining eight threads simultaneously snapped.


    Ultimately, the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" fell back down, returning to the hundreds of feet deep floating position!


    Fell short at the last step!


    Seeing this scenario, Elder Xueya''s expression turned incredibly grim.


    Whereas Elder Tianhuo''s secretly clenched fist subtly relaxed.


    "Fellow Xueya, it seems you failed," Elder Tianhuo smiled at Elder Xueya, "Now it''s my turn."


    Elder Xueya glared at Elder Tianhuo: "Hmph, fellow Tianhuo, we both failed in the competition against the personnel below the Sovereign Realm, which transmitted us to this first Ancient Temple; this shows that you definitely don''t have the nine-spotted Gold-colored Nine Profound Thread."


    "Otherwise, you would''ve been transmitted to the second Ancient Temple."


    "Since you don''t have the nine-spotted Gold-colored Nine Profound Thread, you have at most eight spots. Since I failed now, do you think you can succeed?"


    Elder Xueya''s words made Elder Tianhuo''s face subtly change.


    But then, Elder Tianhuo smiled and said: "After all, eight-spotted Gold-colored Nine Profound Thread is stronger than seven-spotted ones. Maybe, just a bit more, and I''ll succeed."


    Elder Tianhuo''s words made Elder Xueya increasingly displeased, but Elder Xueya didn''t back down: "I still want to try."


    As he spoke, Elder Xueya patted his waist, and a storage ring flew out directly.


    Following it, three Divine Objects flew out from the storage ring.

 Chapter 1014 - 963: List Changes and Forbidden Changes_2

    Looking at these three divine objects, one could see that they were three large, shiny spiders, each about thirty feet long!


    "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders!"


    "Exotic Beasts of the Cosmic Sea!"


    When Elder Tianhuo saw these three enormous shimmering spiders, his expression changed: "I didn''t expect, Xueya, that you managed to obtain such great things. It seems that your Blood Wing Clan has a Divine Master returning to the clan, and quite a formidable one at that!"


    Even though he couldn''t go to the Cosmic Sea himself, as the first sovereign of the Nine Flames Clan, Elder Tianhuo knew many Divine Masters from the clan who traveled to the Cosmic Sea, of course, he had heard many stories about it and knew of the extraordinary nature of these "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders."


    It was rumored that the webs spun by mature "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders" were incredibly tough, even more so than many Divine Artifacts used by Divine Masters!


    Judging by the appearance of the three "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders" in front of him, they had undoubtedly reached maturity.


    Elder Tianhuo knew that these were definitely treasures Elder Xueya had prepared to collect the "Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire" before coming to the "Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land."


    While Elder Tianhuo was shocked, Elder Xueya was equally expectant as he watched the three "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders."


    Then, he took out something that looked like a blue crystal and shone it on the three "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders," prompting them to crawl towards the entrance of the giant cave where the "Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire" was located.


    The three "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders" formed a triangular formation and crouched at the entrance.


    At this sight, the blue crystal in Elder Xueya''s hand emitted an even brighter divine light, and as if driven by the light, the three "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders" began to spin webs downwards.


    Elder Xueya watched the scene below the giant cave with immense anticipation.


    In past attempts to collect the "Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire," he had obtained rare oddities at the Divine Master Realm brought back from the Cosmic Sea by the clan''s powerful figures, but all had been in vain.


    This time, the three "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders" were brought back by the Blood Origin Divine Master, the strongest of the Blood Wing Clan in the Cosmic Sea, so he was full of hope for a miraculous result.


    However, what happened next left Elder Xueya in shock.


    The webs spun by the three mature "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders," which were tougher than many Divine Artifacts driven by Divine Masters in the Cosmic Sea, were all incinerated into nothingness upon entering the cave''s entrance below.


    This giant cave below could even burn the webs of the "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders!"


    If the incinerating power inside the cave wasn''t targeted only at the cave''s interior, perhaps these three "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders" crouched at the entrance would have been killed!


    This truly shocked Elder Xueya to the core.


    He had never imagined that even the "Heavenly Demon Ancient Spiders" found by the Blood Origin Divine Master would fail this time.


    "Could it be that only with the nine best Nine Profound Threads can the ''Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire'' be collected?" Elder Xueya muttered in frustration.


    After two consecutive failures, he could only step aside reluctantly.


    This time, it was Elder Tianhuo''s turn.


    Seeing Elder Xueya fail twice, Elder Tianhuo became extremely serious.


    He took out all nine types of Nine Profound Threads he had acquired.


    Indeed, his other eight types of Nine Profound Threads had nine spots, just like Elder Xueya''s, but his final golden Nine Profound Thread was better than Elder Xueya''s seven spots, having eight spots.


    Without much hesitation, Elder Tianhuo directly drove the nine types of Nine Profound Threads to envelope the "Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire" below the giant cave.


    This time, Elder Tianhuo pulled up the "Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire" to a higher level than Elder Xueya previously did, even coming within twenty-odd feet from the cave entrance.


    Yet in the end, his golden Nine Profound Thread with eight spots still broke!


    Failure.


    Elder Tianhuo also completely failed.


    The two Nine Star Sovereigns thoroughly understood that when this "Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land" said only the nine types of Nine Profound Threads could collect the "Unsurpassed Divine Fire," it probably referred to the nine types with nine spots.


    They were only missing a bit, and it was all for naught!


    The terrifying incinerating force within the cave made them not dare to put anything else inside, as anything or anyone entering would be doomed!


    Their attempt to collect the "Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire" ended in failure again!


    While the two Nine Star Sovereigns were utterly dejected, the divine object they wore¡ªwhich recorded the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List¡ªtransformed into a flame, revealing two "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" rankings.


    The rankings on the two "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire Lists" displayed the second position as: Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List second: Heavenly Forbidden Flame! Already owned, owner information unknown!


    Seeing this, how could the two Nine Star Sovereigns not understand that while they struggled in vain to collect the "Ancient Temple Spiritual Fire," someone below the Sovereign Realm who entered an even better ancient temple collected the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame!"


    Although the owner of an "Unsurpassed Divine Fire" could choose to hide their information if others hadn''t seen them use the fire, they knew someone had entered the second ancient temple, so they knew it was that person below the Sovereign Realm who had collected the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame!"


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    When Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya saw the changes on the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List, others in various regions who possessed the Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List also saw the changes.


    When everyone saw that the newly appeared second-ranked Unsurpassed Divine Fire had already found an owner so quickly, their mouths hung open for a long time, unable to speak.


    In the second ancient temple.


    Ye Chen looked at the Unsurpassed Divine Fire in his hand called "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" and murmured: "I didn''t expect that acquiring the nine types with nine spots of the Nine Profound Threads and following the method described on the Ancient Stele to collect this ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame'' would be so easy."


    If Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya heard Ye Chen''s musings, they would probably be so infuriated they''d cough up blood!


    "Having successfully collected the ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame,'' I''ve come to understand many things about it. However, like the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame,'' though I have collected this fire, I cannot fully wield it yet, only a part of its power."


    "For now, I''ll keep it safe and study it thoroughly later."


    While in the second ancient temple, Ye Chen couldn''t shake off the feeling that there were other things inside, and he naturally wanted to explore thoroughly.


    However, when Ye Chen turned his head and looked deeper into the ancient temple, it wasn''t long before his eyes widened.


    He saw the "Nameless Incantation" on the wall inside the ancient temple again.


    It was indeed a third section of the "Nameless Incantation," different from the previous first and second sections!


    At the instant Ye Chen saw this third section of the "Nameless Incantation," something even more unexpected happened.


    The first two sections of the "Nameless Incantation" he had seen earlier transformed into visibly clear characters, which flickered into the void.


    Meanwhile, the third section of the "Nameless Incantation" engraved in the ancient temple also transformed into visible characters and flew into the void together.


    In the next moment, the three sections of the "Nameless Incantation" combined together.


    Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!


    If Ye Chen could see the situation elsewhere at this moment, he would be astonished. All eighteen ancient temples within the "Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land" were emitting strange lights, not only the two in which he and Elder Tianhuo and the others were located, but even the sixteen hidden temples behind them.


    Moreover, other than the "Heavenly Ancient Forbidden Land," the other seven Forbidden Lands across the True Spirit Divine Kingdom were also emitting strange lights!

 Chapter 1015 - 964: Where is this?

    The mysterious light from all the regions converged at an unbelievable speed towards the three segments of "nameless mantra" within the second Ancient Temple where Ye Chen was.


    Even the other seven forbidden grounds scattered across True Spirit Divine Kingdom, separated by countless miles, gathered as well.


    It seemed as though the other seven forbidden grounds were inexplicably connected to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    However, this mysterious light was invisible to people from all regions.


    Even those who flew over countless continents of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" from the other seven forbidden grounds saw nothing.


    Within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya did not see the mysterious light flying from the first Ancient Temple.


    But there was one exception.


    That exception was the exceptionally graceful woman located in the deepest part of the eighteenth Ancient Temple.


    The moment the mysterious light emitted from the eighteenth Ancient Temple, the graceful woman who was immersed in cultivation suddenly opened her eyes.


    Instantaneously, she seemed to witness the scene of the mysterious light emitted from all eighteen Ancient Temples within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," including Ye Chen and the strange "nameless mantra" characters before him in the second Ancient Temple.


    The graceful woman''s beautiful eyes widened suddenly, as if she had thought of something.


    At the moment the mysterious light from the eighteenth Ancient Temple flew towards the second Ancient Temple where Ye Chen was, a strand of hair from the graceful woman''s head flew out, transformed into an additional trace of mysterious light, merging with the existing light.


    Then, she closed her eyes again as she watched the mysterious light fly away.


    Her red lips murmured softly, "The linkage of the eighteen Ancient Temples indicates that this change may have some connection with the person who once left these eighteen temples. Since I came here to suppress the ''Eye of the Demon,'' that person vanished without a trace. I don''t know the reason behind this change."


    "However, judging by the situation, this change will eventually fall upon that young man greatly linked with my master, and I must pay close attention."


    "Although I need to guard the ''Eye of the Demon'' here and cannot leave freely, with my ''strand of hair'' involved in this change, I can be aware of all variables and keep an eye on subsequent developments."


    After murmuring softly, the graceful woman settled down once more.


    This peerless "Cosmic Emperor" hidden within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," a supreme presence even within the Cosmic Sea, resumed her attempt to advance to the "Star Lord Realm."


    Inside the second Ancient Temple.


    Ye Chen stood with his mouth agape, watching the sudden change in the three segments of "nameless mantra."


    "I thought the first segment and the second segment of the ''nameless mantra'' were set for the ''Golden Nine Profound Threads.'' Unexpectedly, there''s a new change!"


    "The second Ancient Temple actually contains a third segment of ''nameless mantra,'' which is significantly connected to the first two segments!"


    "Now that these three segments of ''nameless mantra'' are converged together, what are they going to do?!"


    Ye Chen only perceived the characters formed by the three segments of the "nameless mantra" flying into the void, without seeing the mysterious light from other regions converging towards these segments.


    Nor did he witness the mysterious light, after tens of breaths, merging into the "nameless mantra" segments, whether it came from the other seven forbidden grounds or from the eighteen Ancient Temples within the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Ye Chen only felt that, after tens of breaths, the merged "nameless mantra" characters brightened somewhat.


    However, even more unexpected developments were forthcoming for Ye Chen.


    Once the three segments of the "nameless mantra" brightened, they suddenly converged entirely, forming a strange "rune," which shot directly towards Ye Chen''s forehead.


    Ye Chen felt a peculiar object enter his body, and the next moment, he felt his whole being in a dizzying blur, as if he had entered into some unknown spatial teleportation.


    This darkness all around, but with the sensation of being teleported, caused Ye Chen''s heart to race with horror!


    Ye Chen had heard that the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" had no Teleportation Divine Formation, even nine-star Sovereigns and Divine Masters returning from Cosmic Sea could only rely on flight to reach other regions.


    For this reason, he followed the Nine Flames Clan all the way to the Ancient Forbidden Grounds to find General Yinsha at the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    Now, finding himself in a state of teleportation, Ye Chen was alarmed, thinking that perhaps the mighty power carried by the mysterious object entering his body exceeded that of the Divine Master?!


    To where was this immense power going to transport him from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds"?!


    As he looked towards the second Ancient Temple.


    While Ye Chen was in the unknown teleportation state, he could see that the second Ancient Temple was entirely vacant, and Ye Chen had vanished from it entirely.


    ...


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya were the first to come out of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    After their failure to acquire the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire" in the first Ancient Temple, the two departed directly via the method recorded in the temple, instantly transported outside the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    At this time, there were still more than two days left until the one-month exploration of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" concluded, and personnel from the other two safe zones had not yet emerged.


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya could only wait outside.


    The longer they waited, the more uneasy their hearts became.


    This adventure in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" was unprecedentedly different, especially with the separation between Sovereign Realm individuals and those below that realm during exploration, making them realize as leading figures that both clans might suffer significant casualties.


    The only comfort was that they obtained many Divine Objects in the fourth and seventh regions. They speculated that other Sovereigns and individuals below the Sovereign Realm likely acquired Divine Objects there too, counting this as the sole gain from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" exploration.


    Yet, compared to their failure in acquiring the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire," they remained exceedingly dejected.


    Currently, they had two primary concerns.


    Firstly, to see how many of the people they brought remained alive.


    Secondly, to find out which individual below the Sovereign Realm seized the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," more precious than the "Ancient Temple Spirit Fire!"


    Thinking about the person who acquired the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," they felt both anticipation and apprehension.


    They hoped someone from their clan had obtained the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," ensuring the treasure remained within the clan, which would constitute the greatest gain!


    But simultaneously, they feared that the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" might have been claimed by someone from the opposing clan, as they lacked confidence that anyone from their clan below the Sovereign Realm could achieve this.


    "Who exactly obtained the ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame''?"


    The chosen ones are among those who previously entered the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds." The two of them knew that the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" had no other exits. As long as these people acquired it, they would eventually see it.


    "Could it be that an even stronger hidden force has emerged among our clan?"


    "Or is it possible that someone exceptionally fortunate has crossed through the nine domains and reached the end?"


    Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya pondered in their minds.


    The waiting time passed in a flash.


    When the month-long venture through the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" finally ended, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya''s expressions changed simultaneously.


    Because they had not seen someone from below the Sovereign Realm come out from the second ancient temple!


    It was known that the person obtained the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame." Logically, using the method passed down within the ancient temple, they should have been able to come out, right?


    Now that neither of them had seen this person, could it be that something went wrong?


    As for that person coming out before them, that was even more impossible!


    The two of them had left the ancient temple immediately when the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" showed that person obtaining the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame." They were afraid that person would come out early, and they used their Great Divine Power at the Nine-star Sovereign Realm to probe around, but they did not see anyone.


    The two could confirm that when they left, that person was still in the ancient temple!


    "What''s going on?!"


    With their changing expressions, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya couldn''t think about it any longer.


    Because they had already seen two groups of people emerging from the safe zone.


    The first group was none other than Cai Meng Sovereign and thirteen other Nine-star Sovereigns!


    The second group was Cai Meng''er, Cai Xiao''er, and others below the Sovereign Realm!


    Upon seeing only thirteen Nine-star Sovereigns come out, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya''s expressions drastically changed. They immediately noticed the absence of three Nine-star Sovereigns.


    "Sovereign Tian Mei has actually fallen!"


    "Xuechen and Xue Feng, did they die inside the nine domains?!"


    It felt as if a massive hammer struck the chests of Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya, leaving them short of breath.


    One must understand, Nine-star Sovereigns were the pinnacle figures of their two clans. Losing one (or two) in such a manner had never occurred in their previous explorations of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds"!


    Then, the gazes of Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya turned toward the surviving individuals below the Sovereign Realm.


    Upon noticing that many clan members had died and that Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan were not among the crowd, Elder Xueya''s expression suddenly shifted again.


    Trembling slightly, he asked, "Do you know who ventured into the ancient temple corresponding to those below the Sovereign Realm?"


    Elder Tianhuo also looked tensely at his clan members.


    "It''s that foreign Divine King who followed the Nine Flames Clan to the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds''!"


    "It''s that Ye Chen!"


    "It''s Ye Chen!"


    Without any hesitation, the members of the Blood Wing Clan and the Nine Flames Clan all shouted in unison.


    "In the safe zone, we could see the light curtain of those exploring the nine domains. The last person shown entering the ancient temple was Ye Chen!"


    "According to the light curtain display, the ancient temple he entered was even better than the one you elders entered!"


    "Elders, did you obtain the ''Ancient Temple Spirit Fire''?"


    The remaining Nine-star Sovereigns also spoke up one after another.


    "Did that foreign Divine King obtain the ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame''?"


    "How is that possible?!"


    Hearing the voices coming from all directions, Elder Tianhuo and Elder Xueya were in utter disbelief.


    They couldn''t even attend to the Sovereigns'' questions, quickly turning their gaze back toward the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," but they still did not see the figure of that foreign Divine King.


    Meanwhile, others present also noticed that the foreign Divine King had not appeared.


    "Why hasn''t Ye Chen come out yet?"


    "Where is Ye Chen?!"


    Originally relieved to see their father safely return from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er felt their hearts tightening again.


    The surviving members of the Nine Flames and Blood Wing Clan also fell into a daze.


    They had a thought in their minds: had the foreign Divine King who acquired the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" encountered some mishap and died in the Ancient Forbidden Grounds?


    After all, according to the rules of past ventures, not coming out of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" within a month definitely meant certain death!


    ...


    Wow.


    When Ye Chen opened his eyes again, he found himself above an endless ocean.


    Around him, waves of rainbow-colored halos flickered ceaselessly on the sea''s surface.


    Looking at the scene before him, only one thought remained in Ye Chen''s mind.


    "Where am I?!"

 Chapter 1016 - 965: Forbidden Sea of Taboo

    "Where is this?!"


    Ye Chen stood on a boundless ocean, his mind and spirit trembling.


    Ye Chen didn''t know that after he disappeared through mysterious transportation and obtained the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," he caused a great stir among the two supreme clans, Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan, for not appearing outside the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Later, when the news that both Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan died in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" and the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" was taken by him reached the ears of Blood Origin Divine Master, the powerful eightfold Divine Master even searched hundreds of star continents around the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds!"


    When still finding nothing, the members of Blood Wing Clan really thought he had died inside the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    The Blood Wing Clan sent strong individuals to guard outside the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" for several dozen days, eventually giving up.


    Ye Chen was even more unaware that his continuous absence from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" deeply worried Cai Meng''er and Cai Xiao''er, two sisters who also guarded outside the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" for a long time.


    Until Cai Meng Sovereign forcibly took them away, both women couldn''t help but feel worried and concerned about Ye Chen.


    Everything that happened in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," Blood Wing Clan, and Nine Flames Clan was temporarily irrelevant to Ye Chen, as he was too preoccupied to consider much, because at that moment all of Ye Chen''s focus was on the new place he arrived at, in his thoughts: "Where is this?!"


    Indeed.


    He was brought to such a vast ocean by a mysterious object comprised of three segments of "unnamed mantras," and it seemed the strange object that entered his body had disappeared after bringing him here, making him unable to sense it within his being, which obviously made him incredibly alarmed.


    Just as Ye Chen''s mind and spirit trembled, Xiaojiu''s voice suddenly came to him.


    "Ye Chen, take a good look at this ocean, it... it seems to be the ''Sea of Taboo''!"


    Upon hearing Xiaojiu''s words, Ye Chen quickly examined the surrounding sea carefully.


    "Sea of Taboo?"


    When he saw a series of colorful halos appear over the surrounding sea and noticed the ocean, boundlessly stretched out before him, turning from blue to black intermittently accompanied by these halos, and looking up towards the sky, where eight blazing suns seemed to shine upon this ocean in endless void, Ye Chen was struck with a sudden shock.


    Eight Shas illuminate the sea, sealing off the forbidden grounds!


    This indeed seems to be the "Sea of Taboo" he had heard of!


    "The ''Sea of Taboo'' is like the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' one of the Eight Great Forbidden Lands of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom.'' Moreover, the ''Sea of Taboo'' is extremely close to the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' where the General Yinsha I seek is located, it could be said that the ''Sea of Taboo'' is a forbidden land exclusive to the ''Extreme Spirit Clan''!"


    "It is said that if you head out from the ''Sea of Taboo'' along the direction of the fifth largest sun of the eight blazing ones, and pass through an ''Extreme Spirit Barrier,'' you can directly enter the realm of ''Extreme Spirit Sea.''


    "Did I just teleport instantly into the ''Sea of Taboo'' outside the ''Extreme Spirit Sea''?!"


    Ye Chen was practically shocked speechless!


    According to his plan from the capital of True Spirit Divine Kingdom to ''Extreme Spirit Sea,'' even if taken by the ''Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion'' for travel, one-third of the journey would take at least several months.


    And the distance from "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" to "Sea of Taboo" is even more remote than from the capital of True Spirit Divine Kingdom to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Yet now, after such a brief transportation, he had crossed such immense distances to arrive outside the "Sea of Taboo," which naturally shocked Ye Chen to the extreme!


    What startled Ye Chen even more was why he was transported to the "Sea of Taboo" outside the "Extreme Spirit Sea."


    If said that some unknown force knew he wanted to come to the "Extreme Spirit Clan," it was basically impossible.


    There was only one possibility, which was that there must be some inexplicable connection between the "Sea of Taboo" and "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," which is why he suddenly appeared here.


    Alas.


    The strange object that brought him here could no longer be sensed, leaving Ye Chen unaware of the reason behind it.


    Ye Chen could only focus on the immediate concerns.


    "No matter the reason, since I''ve arrived at the ''Sea of Taboo,'' the key point is to quickly head towards the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' to find ''General Yinsha.''


    "This weird transportation saved me a great deal of travel time and should not be wasted!"


    Ye Chen can''t forget his primary mission for coming to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    The prior "Ten Thousand Spirits Medicine Pavilion" operation and "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" journey were mere side notes, and his main objective in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom is to fulfill the task given by Huyan Divine Master - to locate "General Yinsha!"


    This is a matter concerning Ye Chen''s life and safety.


    Checking the time, it''s one year and a little over a month until the deadline set by Huyan Divine Master to complete the mission. If by then he still hasn''t found "General Yinsha," the curse killing force Huyan Divine Master left within him will erupt, potentially killing him instantly.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen quickly recollected matters concerning the "Sea of Taboo."


    Only by understanding the "Sea of Taboo" can he swiftly exit it.


    Information about the "Sea of Taboo" was indeed recorded in the "True Spirit Picture Guide" left by the eight Sovereigns he had encountered before coming to the True Spirit Divine Kingdom.


    Unlike the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," where no one can enter freely without facing almost certain death, only the Nine Flames Clan and Blood Wing Clan have special methods to enter at specific times.


    The "Sea of Taboo" allows entry.


    However, the "Sea of Taboo," which is as renowned as the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" within the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s "Eight Great Forbidden Lands," is certainly not an ordinary place and is filled with immense peril.


    According to the "True Spirit Compendium," this "Sea of Taboo" has an annual "period of extreme peril" lasting eight months, during which entering even the shallow areas of the "Sea of Taboo" is highly risky.


    And entering the deep sea during the "period of extreme peril" is almost guaranteed death!


    Only with extraordinary luck or supreme dive skills can one safely enter and exit the deep sea during the "period of extreme peril" within the "Sea of Taboo."


    Due to this, the "Extreme Spirit Clan," which occupies the "Sea of Taboo," has established the rule that during the eight-month "period of extreme peril," the entire "Sea of Taboo" is restricted.


    Without a special order from the "Extreme Spirit Clan," not even the shallow areas of the "Sea of Taboo" can be entered.


    As for the "deep sea area," no one may enter.


    Upon thinking of this, Ye Chen suddenly realized: he was currently inside the "Sea of Taboo," and judging from the surroundings, it matched the description of the deep sea area of the "Sea of Taboo" depicted in the "True Spirit Compendium."


    So, is it currently the "period of extreme peril" within the "Sea of Taboo"?


    If it is, then he is in an exceedingly dangerous situation.


    After all, entering the deep sea during the "period of extreme peril" is almost certain death, with the odds of survival being slim to none!


    With this realization, Ye Chen hurriedly discerned direction and flew towards the edge of the deep sea area.


    As he flew, Ye Chen''s heart sank deeper.


    On his journey, he actually hadn''t encountered a single "Extreme Spirit Clan" member!


    If it''s not the "period of extreme peril" right now, logically, there should be many "Extreme Spirit Clan" members exploring the "Sea of Taboo." Since he hasn''t met anyone, the only possibility is that it truly is the "period of extreme peril," so the clan members don''t dare to come to the deep sea!


    Boom!


    Just as Ye Chen sensed something amiss and had flown out for roughly a dozen breaths'' time, suddenly, an earth-shattering tentacle emerged from the ocean below.


    This towering tentacle, with unimaginable speed, lashed towards him.


    Ye Chen could sense that the killing force of this tentacle undoubtedly reached the level of at least a two-star Sovereign''s combat power.


    A two-star Sovereign''s combat power, with Ye Chen''s recent activation of the second star in the Stars Tower, capable of channeling the "golden-purple starry origin power," suggested that he had a chance to battle.


    However, Ye Chen dared not fight against this mysterious titanic tentacle.


    This tentacle was deadly at the two-star Sovereign level, but in this boundless ocean, there could be hidden forces exceeding the five-star Sovereign, nine-star Sovereign, or even surpassing Sovereign realm levels.


    If he rashly engaged in combat here, it would certainly be suicide!


    With this thought, Ye Chen instantly activated the Changeable Divine Ability from the Taiyi Chapter at the moment the tentacle reached him, transforming into a drop of seawater and swiftly plunging into the ocean below.


    Previously, in the Ninth Region of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," he transformed into a "Bone Fire Spirit Fish," and even the creator of the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" couldn''t detect his transformation.


    Ye Chen felt that the killing entities in the "Sea of Taboo," especially the titanic tentacle, should also be unable to detect his transformation.


    Indeed, as Ye Chen had anticipated.


    As he transformed into a drop of seawater, the tentacle that lashed out at him seemed to lose its target, pausing momentarily in the void before retracting and diving back underwater.


    Thus, as Ye Chen transformed into a drop of seawater, he also plunged into the ocean.


    Upon entering the ocean, Ye Chen directly observed the true form of the titanic tentacle that had attacked him¡ªbeneath the water lay a colossal black octopus measuring a thousand feet, probing the surroundings.


    And this black octopus, Ye Chen could sense, indeed had a two-star Sovereign realm!


    What surprised Ye Chen further was that within the surrounding waters, there were countless octopuses swirling, among which Ye Chen sensed several at least nine-star Sovereign levels!


    Evidently, he had entered the realm of the octopus sea monsters.


    Alarmed, Ye Chen dared not delay further; as a drop of seawater, he drifted with the ocean currents, gradually escaping the octopus territory.


    Fortunately, the ocean currents in this area moved quickly, and roughly half an hour later, Ye Chen finally exited the dominion of the octopies.


    Yet, Ye Chen did not revert to human form and maintained his "drop of seawater" state.


    After discerning direction, he continued rapidly towards the outside of the "Sea of Taboo," heading for the "Extreme Spirit Clan."

 Chapter 1017 - 966 Yin Linger

    Along the way, Ye Chen directly spread his Divine Sense, probing ahead.


    When encountering a sea monster beast in front, he would directly avoid it.


    In places without sea monster beasts, Ye Chen transformed into the state of "a drop of seawater," and his speed reached an incredible level.


    It was almost in the blink of an eye that he had flashed across tens of thousands of miles!


    Of course, no matter how much Ye Chen avoided, along the way, he still encountered dozens of sudden appearances of sea monster beasts, and the legendary "fierce outbreak period" was indeed terrifying; almost all the sea monster beasts Ye Chen encountered had high-level nine-star Sovereign in their midst!


    Fortunately, his transformation into "a drop of seawater" did not catch the attention of these sea monster beasts, and he passed through with some narrow escapes.


    And as he encountered more and more various sea monster beasts, Ye Chen became increasingly cautious.


    Especially when transformed into the state of "a drop of seawater" flying beneath the ocean, Ye Chen also discovered many extraordinary aspects of this "Sea of Taboo." He even saw that many parts of the seabed seemed to hide strange caves.


    It''s very possible that these strange caves contain opportunities within them.


    However, under careful vigilance, Ye Chen chose not to enter these strange caves but simply looked at them before deciding to leave directly.


    Luckily, Ye Chen was not greedy.


    He did not know that the "Sea of Taboo" was currently in a "fierce outbreak period," and many strange caves inside were in their most dangerous states. The hidden killing force within was not something he could contend with.


    If he had rashly intruded, he might have suffered a significant loss or even died inside!


    Thus, Ye Chen continued to fly from the deep sea area of the "Sea of Taboo" towards the outside.


    Even though the "Sea of Taboo" was located in the southernmost part of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," composed of countless Star Continent, forming a vast Prohibition Sea, Ye Chen, despite tireless flight, flew for about five to six days before gradually emerging from the deep sea area.


    ...


    The Shallow Blue Sea Area is one of the seven shallow sea regions of the "Sea of Taboo."


    Unlike the deep sea areas of the "Sea of Taboo," where colorful halos emanate from the surface, in the seven shallow sea regions, each shallow sea region emits only one color halo.


    And the "Shallow Blue Sea Area" is a shallow sea region emitting a blue glow.


    Although it''s just one of the seven shallow sea regions of the "Sea of Taboo," the "Shallow Blue Sea Area" is equally vast to the extreme; if an ordinary Immortal Divine Venerable were to fly through it, it would likely take months to cross this sea area!


    At this time, above the sea surface in the center of the "Shallow Blue Sea Area," a figure was hurriedly flying ahead, and behind this figure, another figure was pursuing at extreme speed.


    Looking at these two figures, one could see that the figure ahead was an exceptionally beautiful young girl, with a faint silver water pattern on her forehead, bright eyes and white teeth, charming and alluring, with two beautiful silver wings on her back.


    The one pursuing this girl was a young man.


    The young man had a faint gray water pattern on his forehead, and on his back were a pair of gray wings that appeared extraordinarily robust.


    In the pursuit, the young man looked at the girl ahead with a gaze full of malevolent greed, as if wanting to swallow the beautiful girl whole.


    Yin Ling''er was incredibly flustered at this moment!


    She hadn''t expected that after finally persuading the branch task elder to agree, allowing her to venture in the shallow sea areas during the "fierce outbreak period."


    And for this adventure, she had prepared for a long time, even quietly leaving her branch clan to avoid others knowing, but now she was being targeted in what should be an unlikely place for others to roam, the "Shallow Blue Sea Area"!


    The one targeting her was someone she knew, none other than a Heavenly Divine Venerable youth from the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch," named Luo Chen, of her "Extreme Spirit Clan."


    Yin Ling''er, known for being a stunning beauty in the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch" of the Extreme Spirit Clan, was a top-tier genius among the God King Realm of the clan. She had numerous admirers not only within the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch" but also in other branches of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Luo Chen of the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch" was one of them.


    In the Extreme Spirit Clan, various branches do not live together, and as someone devoted to cultivation, Yin Ling''er never showed any interest in her admirers, especially not in Luo Chen of the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch," whom she had outright rejected without ever responding.


    But she hadn''t expected that during this secretive outing for a task, under the guise of searching for something in the "Shallow Blue Sea Area," she would be targeted by Luo Chen.


    And this Luo Chen, who always appeared extremely proper when visiting the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch," revealed his true colors upon their encounter in the "Shallow Blue Sea Area." He directly tried to capture her, intending to forcibly take her and extract her Origin Yin Blood!


    In such circumstances, how could Yin Ling''er be willing!


    Even though Luo Chen''s realm was much higher and his power much stronger, as a genius of the Extreme Spirit Clan younger than Luo Chen, she utterly despised him.


    But while she was unwilling, Luo Chen would not relent.


    He audaciously tried to grab her by force.


    Unfortunately, Yin Ling''er''s combat power was less than Luo Chen''s, and during this "fierce outbreak period," there wasn''t anyone else in the entire "Shallow Blue Sea Area" to seek help from.


    After Luo Chen''s attempt, Yin Ling''er found herself in an extremely dangerous situation.


    If not for a few trump cards she had up her sleeve, she might have already fallen into Luo Chen''s hands.


    But even though Yin Ling''er wasn''t an ordinary God King, as time passed, she was gradually unable to withstand Luo Chen''s pursuit.


    While Yin Ling''er was in a panic, flying at extreme speed, Luo Chen behind her grew more and more pleased.


    Thinking of soon possessing the most beautiful flower of the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch," Luo Chen''s blood almost boiled in excitement.


    Finally, he even shouted loudly at the Yin Ling''er in front, "Ling''er sister, you needn''t waste your energy fleeing; between you and me, I''ve already set up the ''Sky Kui Void Formation'' to mask our flight traces. Even if we encounter others, unless they are of the Sovereign level, they won''t find us."


    "Moreover, during now''s ''fierce outbreak period'' with restricted entry, how many do you think, like you, have specifically requested to come to the shallow blue region?"


    "Just surrender obediently; don''t worry, I like you so much, I will surely be incredibly gentle with you..."


    Luo Chen''s smug laughter reached Yin Ling''er''s ears and almost disgusted her to the point of throwing up.


    She yelled angrily at Luo Chen, chasing behind, "In your dreams! I would rather die than let you have your way!"


    "Luo Chen, even though we''re from different branches, if you commit this act and the clan finds out, the clan elders will surely let you be struck dead by the ''Haotian Punishment Thunder''! My beloved ''Elder Yinbing'' in the ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'' will personally oversee the punishment and will certainly not give you any chance to escape justice!"


    The mention of "Elder Yinbing" in Yin Ling''er''s words made Luo Chen''s face change too.


    But immediately, as if he thought of something, Luo Chen''s heart steadied. His face suddenly became gloomy: "Hmph, now''s the ''Sea of Taboo'' restricted entry period, by clan rules, except for the resident sovereigns, the clan''s other sovereigns have also gone into the ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' for cultivation, and the resident sovereigns have their tasks; do you think they''d come to this ''Shallow Blue Sea Area''?"


    "Hmph, even if I take you by force and then kill you, no one will know!"


    "I came out under the pretense of going to the ''Shallow Orange Sea Area'' this time."


    "By then, the elders of your ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'' will just think you were too weak and died during the ''fierce outbreak period,'' and will never suspect me!"

 Chapter 1018 - 967 Extreme Spirit Clan

    Luo Chen''s words made Yin Ling''er even paler.


    The young girl knew that this shameless "Grey-eyed Wing Branch" member Luo Chen wasn''t wrong; if she died in the "Forbidden Sea," no one would ever find out the cause of her death.


    "Is it true that I will die here?"


    "Had I known it would turn out like this, I shouldn''t have risked coming to the ''Shallow Blue Sea Area'' for the ''Nine Blue Mystical Plant''!"


    Yin Ling''er also knew that regret was useless, and in her extreme despair, her Mind and Spirit became resolute.


    "Even if I must die, I absolutely cannot be humiliated!"


    "I''d rather perish in self-detonation than let Luo Chen have it easy!"


    As Yin Ling''er wrestled with her emotions, the chase continued for thousands of miles.


    Although the thousands of miles and even the tens of thousands of miles ahead were but a small area compared to the vastness of the "Shallow Blue Sea Area," seeing Yin Ling''er still unwilling to surrender, Luo Chen''s face gradually turned anxious.


    This place is the "Sea of Taboo."


    Even though they were only in the shallow sea area, which was not as dangerous as the deep sea area, continued pursuit could lead to big trouble.


    Thinking about this, Luo Chen''s expression grew fierce.


    "Stubborn girl, refusing a toast only to take a penalty drink!"


    "Let''s see how I''ll torment you once I catch you!"


    Bang!


    As his Mind and Spirit flickered, Luo Chen''s grey wings suddenly flared with energy, and his entire being seemed to ignite. He had unleashed the Divine Power Exhausting Secret Skills to raise his Combat Power to a higher level!


    Though Luo Chen was at the Superior Heavenly Divine Venerable Realm, he was considered a talent in the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch," possessing the ability to fight across levels, with Combat Power reaching the Mid-level Immortal Divine Venerable.


    But Yin Ling''er, very young, was only at the Lower God King Realm. Even though her talent was among the best in the entire Extreme Spirit Clan God King Realm, her Realm was too low, and her actual Combat Power was merely Lower Immortal Divine Venerable level.


    Faced with Luo Chen using the Divine Power Exhausting Secret Skills to enhance his Combat Power, her Escaping Speed suddenly fell far behind Luo Chen''s.


    In an instant, Luo Chen closed the distance to within hundreds of meters!


    Then, he flipped his hand, and a flag-like Divine Treasure appeared in his hand.


    As Luo Chen crushed a spell in his hand, the flag Divine Treasure instantly vanished, and in the next moment, ninety-nine flags appeared surrounding Yin Ling''er, aiming to trap her completely within the flag formation!


    "Profound Locking God Flag!"


    Seeing the shape of this flag Divine Treasure, Yin Ling''er turned pale, the young girl seemingly aware of the flag formation''s terrifying power, she instantly revealed a mirror-like Divine Treasure in her hand.


    As the mirror Divine Treasure shone on her, Yin Ling''er immediately disappeared from within the flag formation, and in a flash of Divine Light, she appeared outside the flag formation.


    Seeing Yin Ling''er still able to escape, Luo Chen''s face darkened further, slapping his waist repeatedly.


    In an instant, three more Divine Treasures flashed out.


    These three Divine Treasures were a rope gleaming with Divine Light, a fish spear-like Divine Treasure, and a net-like Divine Treasure.


    Luo Chen first pointed at the flag formation, enveloping the "Profound Locking God Flag" towards Yin Ling''er, then the newly appeared net-like Divine Treasure covered even a broader area.


    When Yin Ling''er again used the mirror Divine Treasure to escape, Luo Chen seemed to sense Yin Ling''er''s escape direction, sending the other two Divine Treasures¡ªthe rope shimmering with Divine Light and the fish spear-like Divine Treasure¡ªtowards the direction Yin Ling''er fled.


    Even though Yin Ling''er, as a Lower God King, possessed Heavenly Divine Skills, under Luo Chen''s prepared assault, she struggled to cope.


    In the end, Yin Ling''er dodged the "Profound Locking God Flag," avoided the net-like Divine Treasure, and evaded the fish spear Divine Treasure, yet she was still bound by the rope shimmering with Divine Light in the Void!


    Seeing Yin Ling''er finally caught, Luo Chen rejoiced.


    He instantly moved in front of Yin Ling''er.


    Looking at Yin Ling''er''s exquisite and unparalleled face, which due to anger and fear appeared even more captivating, Luo Chen couldn''t help but swallow his saliva, staring at Yin Ling''er, lights gleaming from his eyes: "Escape? Ling''er sister, I wonder how you will escape again?!"


    Luo Chen couldn''t resist rubbing his palms together, seemingly unable to contain himself!


    Yin Ling''er, at this moment, was already ashen-faced; when bound by the rope shimmering with Divine Light, she couldn''t escape. With the current situation, to avoid humiliation, she only had the path of self-destruction!


    At that instant, Yin Ling''er surprisingly calmed down.


    She gritted her teeth hard, flashing Divine Light from her body intending to trigger all her Divine Power for self-detonation!


    As the most stunning young girl of the Extreme Spirit Clan''s "Silver-eyed Wing Branch," as an unparalleled genius with principles, she absolutely wouldn''t allow herself to be humiliated by the disgusting Luo Chen!


    Even if she should die in self-detonation, she would never accept it!


    As the self-detonation Divine Light emanated from Yin Linger''s body, Luo Chen was taken aback.


    He hadn''t expected Yin Linger to be so resolute, preferring death by self-detonation than letting him gain any advantage!


    Luo Chen never expected that under the constraint of the Divine Treasure rope, Yin Ling''er still possessed the ability to self-destruct!


    He tried to stop her, but it was already too late.


    Just as Luo Chen''s expression changed drastically, just as Yin Ling''er embraced the certainty of death and self-destructed, in the next moment, a soft sigh echoed through the void.


    Following that, Yin Ling''er, whose self-destructing Divine Light had already triggered, suddenly felt her entire Divine Power being locked up; she couldn''t self-destruct even if she wanted to.


    Even those self-destructing Divine Lights dispersed instantly.


    Yin Ling''er was shocked; she didn''t know whether this was the doing of Luo Chen. If Luo Chen could stop even her self-destruction, she would be hard to escape humiliation.


    Yet Yin Ling''er had a feeling that the sudden force that locked up her entire Divine Power, causing the self-destructing Divine Lights to disappear instantaneously, was impossible for Luo Chen to possess.


    Luo Chen could not have such a level of power!


    "Could it be someone else has arrived?"


    "The power at this level can only be achieved by combat power at the Sovereign level!"


    "Could there be a Sovereign in the ''Shallow Blue Sea Area''?!"


    Thinking of this possibility, Yin Ling''er, who was ready to die, suddenly felt a sliver of hope; even if she embraced death, she naturally didn''t wish to die like this if she could live.


    Yin Ling''er couldn''t help but look towards the direction of the faint sigh she had heard earlier.


    Next, she saw a young man suddenly appearing in the void, not far from her and Luo Chen.


    This young man didn''t look very old, but his demeanor was exceptionally uncommon, and he was clearly not from the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Yin Ling''er even felt that this young man wasn''t much older than her, yet he gave her the feeling of facing a Sovereign!


    The young man who suddenly appeared was, of course, Ye Chen, who had spent quite a lot of time and effort to escape from the deep sea region of the ''Sea of Taboo''!


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected that after coming from the deep sea region to the shallow sea area, he would witness such an incident of pursuit and escape.


    Moreover, the two people involved were exactly the ones he was planning to visit from the two branches of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan''.


    Especially this little girl being pursued; Ye Chen immediately discovered she was from the ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'' where the ''General Yinsha'' belonged.


    Back in the Demon Tomb, Ye Chen had heard from Huyan Divine Master that the Extreme Spirit Clan was divided into seven major branches.


    They included Huyan Divine Master''s former ''Heavenly Eye Wing Branch'', General Yinsha''s ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'', and the ''Black-eyed Wing Branch'', ''Grey-eyed Wing Branch'', ''Ice-eyed Wing Branch'', ''Thunder-eyed Wing Branch'', and ''Green-eyed Wing Branch''.


    Ye Chen further learned from the ''True Spirit Atlas'' given by Eight Sovereign that, unlike the ''Blood Wing Clan'' or the ''Nine Flames Clan'' where the clans united as one, although the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' was one of the five Supreme Clans, each branch was involved in countless disputes and occasionally even erupted into internal frictions.


    Ye Chen had never expected that upon exiting the ''Sea of Taboo'', he would witness such a pursuit between two major branches.


    While Ye Chen was observing Yin Ling''er and Luo Chen, Luo Chen had already trapped Yin Ling''er.


    Seeing Yin Ling''er preferring to self-destruct rather than be humiliated by Luo Chen, Ye Chen could not stand by and do nothing.


    He couldn''t just watch as a young girl like Yin Ling''er died because of such a situation!


    Especially since Yin Ling''er was from the same branch as ''General Yinsha''!


    Ye Chen''s combat power was extraordinary, and he could even stand against Two-Star Sovereigns if calculated truly!


    In the instant he took action, he directly bound Yin Ling''er''s Divine Power and dispelled her self-destructing Divine Light.


    Ye Chen''s sudden appearance saved Yin Ling''er, but it startled Luo Chen immensely!


    "Who are you?!"


    Luo Chen was shocked to the extreme.


    Logically, he had used the ''Sky Kui Void Formation'' to obscure both him and Yin Ling''er, making them undetectable by anyone below Sovereign level.


    Now, this young man, who seemed much younger than him, suddenly appeared and effortlessly saved Yin Ling''er, who was about to self-destruct.


    Luo Chen had an incredible thought, could it be this young man, who appeared younger than him, was actually a Great Powerholder in the Sovereign Realm?!


    "Who are you?!"


    In a state of shock and terror, Luo Chen couldn''t help but ask Ye Chen, his voice trembling.


    Ye Chen merely glanced at Luo Chen sideways.


    Having watched the chase between the two, he already understood Luo Chen''s intentions.


    He had no inclination to associate with scum who intended to humiliate a young girl.


    Ye Chen didn''t even wish to utter a word to him; he simply pointed his finger, causing a thunderous boom as if Luo Chen was struck by a gigantic force of lightning, instantly writhing and crouching painfully in the void!

 Chapter 1019 - 968: Divine Milk and Yinsha

    With a casual gesture from Ye Chen, Luo Chen was struck and cried out in pain!


    Inside, Luo Chen was even more shocked to the extreme.


    He could feel that the young man who attacked him definitely had the level of combat power that he had to look up to, a level that could kill him with ease!


    Feeling the threat to his life at this moment, his earlier minor desire to possess Yin Ling''er had long vanished into thin air. At this moment, Luo Chen had only one thought, which was not to be killed by this formidable figure before him!


    Thinking of this, Luo Chen even disregarded the excruciating pain of the blow and began to plead with Ye Chen: "Spare my life, senior! Spare my life, senior!"


    Watching Luo Chen, who earlier was gleefully triumphant with his schemes, now crying and pleading on the ground, Ye Chen found himself increasingly disgusted with this person.


    "It''s a pity this man is a member of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan.'' I need to go to the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' to find General Yinsha, and I must pass the selection of the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' to enter the ''Extreme Spirit Sea.'' And according to Huyan Divine Master, the selection at ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' includes a check on whether any foreign race has killed a member of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan.'' If so, they absolutely cannot enter the ''Extreme Spirit Sea.''"


    "If it weren''t for this reason, then encountering such scum, exterminating him in the blink of an eye would be the right path!"


    Ye Chen sighed inwardly.


    Of course, Ye Chen felt it was a pity that, in front of Yin Ling''er, the young girl, it was inconvenient for him to spill Luo Chen''s blood.


    Otherwise, he could have gathered the divine blood of the third advanced life tribe.


    "Well, there''s no rush for the third kind of divine blood. Since I''ve arrived at the ''Extreme Spirit Clan,'' I''ll eventually acquire it."


    "Let''s deal with this person first!"


    Ye Chen frowned slightly and pointed his finger once more toward Luo Chen.


    Without seeing Ye Chen activating any divine treasures, Luo Chen''s entire body was bound by an inexplicable force into a ball.


    He could not even muster the killing force that reached the level of Middle Immortal Divine Venerable!


    Let alone breaking free, he couldn''t even muster a trace of divine power!


    After binding Luo Chen, Ye Chen directly said to Yin Ling''er: "Miss, I''ll leave this person for you to deal with."


    Due to the reason of entering the ''Extreme Spirit Sea,'' Ye Chen was unwilling to kill a member of the Extreme Spirit Clan. But whether this young girl wanted to kill him or hand him over for punishment, Luo Chen couldn''t escape being dealt with.


    After being bound by Ye Chen, he had no chance of escaping.


    Ye Chen''s actions effectively helped the young girl eliminate future worries.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s words, Yin Ling''er was startled.


    This was the first sentence Ye Chen spoke after saving her, and Yin Ling''er quickly said to Ye Chen: "Senior... Thank you, senior, for your great life-saving grace!"


    "This Luo Chen, I''ll hand over to the clan for them to deal with!"


    Speaking, Yin Ling''er even deeply bowed to Ye Chen!


    It was impossible for Yin Ling''er not to be extremely respectful to Ye Chen.


    Yin Ling''er just felt that the extraordinary moves of the young senior before her were simply unimaginable.


    The previously formidable Luo Chen had no ability to resist at all in front of this young senior.


    Yin Ling''er even felt that this young senior definitely possessed Sovereign-ruler level combat power!


    Moreover, this young senior had saved her life.


    No matter how indifferent Yin Ling''er usually was to others in the ''Extreme Spirit Clan,'' her feeling was completely different towards her lifesaver.


    Seeing Yin Ling''er being extremely respectful, addressing him loudly as senior, Ye Chen smiled: "You don''t need to call me senior, in terms of bone age, I''m not much older than you."


    "Moreover, I''m just like you, also in the God King Realm, but I''m in the Upper God King Realm."


    Not much older than me?


    Upper God King Realm?


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Yin Ling''er stared at Ye Chen incredulously.


    Seeing Yin Ling''er''s disbelieving look, Ye Chen smiled and displayed his bone age and realm.


    When she saw the young senior before her, truly had a bone age only three years older than herself and was indeed in the Upper God King Realm, Yin Ling''er''s rosy lips opened wide in shock.


    She had never heard of someone so young possessing such combat power!


    She had never heard of anyone in the Upper God King Realm possessing such combat power!


    Not to mention the ''Extreme Spirit Clan,'' even in the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s'' other four supreme clans, Yin Ling''er had never heard of a God King possessing Sovereign-ruler level combat power!


    While Yin Ling''er was completely immersed in her surprise, Ye Chen said to her again: "My name is Ye Chen, you can just call me Ye Chen. By the way, are you from the ''Silver-eyed Wing branch'' of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan''?"


    Ye Chen''s question jerked Yin Ling''er from her astonishment.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s question, Yin Ling''er quickly replied: "Yes, yes, I''m from the ''Silver-eyed Wing branch.'' Senior... No, Ye Chen brother, are you really so powerful? How did you cultivate to have Sovereign-ruler level combat power?"


    "Big Brother Ye Chen, I... I''m called Yin Ling''er, you can call me Linger."


    At this moment, knowing Ye Chen''s age and realm, Yin Ling''er''s admiration for Ye Chen didn''t decrease but increased.


    After all, a senior and someone about the same age having senior-level combat power, the latter surely moves her more.


    At this moment, the look Yin Ling''er cast at Ye Chen was already filled with brilliance.


    If those admirers of Yin Ling''er from the "Extreme Spirit Clan" saw Yin Ling''er''s gaze, they would surely be extremely shocked, for Yin Ling''er, who was usually engrossed in cultivation, displayed a little girl''s adoration ¡ª a look they''ve never seen before!


    Even Yin Ling''er, who normally wasn''t much of a talker, had spoken far more than usual at this moment.


    It seemed she had countless questions to ask Big Brother Ye Chen before her!


    Not only did Yin Ling''er admire Ye Chen immensely at this moment, but the bound Luo Chen beside her was also shocked to the extreme.


    He hadn''t expected that he, a dignified Heavenly Divine Venerable, would fall into the hands of a God King.


    Even more unexpected was that this God King actually possessed Sovereign-level combat power!


    "Where did this God King come from? He is definitely not from our ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', as the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' absolutely doesn''t have such a powerful God King!"


    Ye Chen wasn''t too concerned about Luo Chen''s expression.


    But the worshipful look in Yin Ling''er''s eyes, as if wanting to inquire about everything, made Ye Chen shake his head with a smile.


    Seemingly recalling something, Ye Chen continued to ask Yin Ling''er, "Linger, then I''ll call you Linger. I came from elsewhere along the way, judging by the looks, now is the ''Furious Spirits Eruption Period'' of the ''Sea of Taboo''. It''s said that during this period, your ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' forbids clansmen from entering the ''Sea of Taboo''. Why are you here?"


    When Ye Chen mentioned he came from elsewhere, Yin Ling''er assumed Ye Chen had come from other areas beside the shallow sea territories, and didn''t pay much attention.


    If she knew Ye Chen had traversed all the way from the deep sea areas of the "Sea of Taboo", her level of astonishment would probably increase drastically.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s question, Yin Ling''er didn''t hide anything and quickly replied, "Big Brother Ye Chen, as you can see, I''m currently at the peak level of a ''Lower God King'', but unable to break through the bottleneck and step into the ''Middle God King'' realm. So I came to the ''Shallow Blue Sea Area'' to search for a treasure to aid in my breakthrough."


    "Although the clan has rules that prohibit entering the ''Sea of Taboo'' freely during the ''Furious Spirits Eruption Period'', the actual regulation targets the deep sea area. If permitted, one can enter the shallow sea area."


    Yin Ling''er''s words made Ye Chen nod.


    He finally understood why this young girl appeared in this shallow sea area of the "Sea of Taboo", and why she was being pursued by others.


    Presumably, the news of her venturing out to seek a breakthrough treasure was known by this young man, which triggered this calamity.


    Thinking that Yin Ling''er said she came to seek a breakthrough treasure, Ye Chen''s mind stirred.


    He asked Yin Ling''er, "Have you found the treasure for breakthrough?"


    Yin Ling''er shook her head in disappointment, "The danger of the area where that treasure was far exceeded my expectations. I failed, and on my way back, I encountered Luo Chen''s pursuit, and finally met Big Brother Ye Chen."


    Upon hearing Yin Ling''er mentioning her failure in treasure hunting, Ye Chen made a slight movement with his fingers, and a small vial appeared in his hand.


    Ye Chen directly tossed this small vial to Yin Ling''er and said, "I happen to have something here to help break through the bottleneck. I''ll give you these ten drops of ''Divine Milk''."


    Yin Ling''er was startled upon catching the small vial thrown by Ye Chen. Upon hearing the term "Divine Milk", she was taken aback.


    "''Divine Milk''?! Big Brother Ye Chen, you have ''Divine Milk'' in your hand?!"


    Yin Ling''er hurriedly looked into the vial, and upon seeing that it indeed contained what was known as the legendary "Divine Milk", she was simply in disbelief.


    "I''ve heard that ''Divine Milk'' is a rare marvel from a divine kingdom extremely far from the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''. Our ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' elders painstakingly obtained only a few hundred drops, and it''s only granted to the junior members on special occasions. Big Brother Ye Chen, you''re giving me ten drops of ''Divine Milk'' all at once, this... this is too precious!"


    Yin Ling''er couldn''t help but try to decline.


    Ye Chen, however, waved it off and directly asked Yin Ling''er to accept it.


    But Yin Ling''er''s words made Ye Chen furrow his brows.


    The reason he offered the "Divine Milk" was partly to help this fateful young girl he encountered, and partly to see if Yin Ling''er knew its origin.


    Now, although Yin Ling''er seemed to know the origin of the "Divine Milk", her words implied that she learned about "Divine Milk" through other means, not knowing it was crafted by General Yinsha''s mentor, the Huyan Divine Master.


    When he encountered Cai Meng Sovereign of the Nine Flames Clan before, Ye Chen thought of a question.


    If General Yinsha were still within the "Extreme Spirit Clan", he would surely have heard that "Divine Milk" appeared in the "Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom", realizing it came from Huyan Divine Master within the kingdom.


    And once General Yinsha learned of this, it was likely the "Extreme Spirit Clan" would also know about it, and about the situation involving Huyan Divine Master.


    Now, not only was there no information from General Yinsha, but the "Extreme Spirit Clan" also didn''t know about the connection of "Divine Milk" to Huyan Divine Master, assuming it was a mere local specialty of the "Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom".


    This indicates one possibility: the "Extreme Spirit Clan" is entirely unaware that Huyan Divine Master created "Divine Milk", and General Yinsha likely didn''t have time to inform the "Extreme Spirit Clan" before something unexpected happened.


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen''s heart grew tense.


    He could no longer restrain himself and directly asked this "Silver-eyed Wing branch" young girl, Yin Ling''er, "Linger, I have something to ask you. Do you know if there''s a senior named ''Yinsha'' in your branch?"


    "Is she currently in the ''Extreme Spirit Clan''? Has anything happened to her recently?"

 Chapter 1020 - 969 Extreme Spirit Martial Land

    Hearing Ye Chen suddenly mention the words "Yinsha," Yin Ling''er couldn''t help but be stunned.


    "''Senior Yinsha''?"


    "From our ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch''?"


    Yin Ling''er quickly recalled the various seniors in her branch.


    Seeing Yin Ling''er''s reminiscing look, Ye Chen hurriedly said, "This ''Senior Yinsha'' was already a Nine-star Sovereign tens of thousands of years ago. Back then, she even took a Divine Master from your ''Heavenly Eye Wing Branch'' of the Extreme Spirit Clan as her master..."


    When Ye Chen mentioned these, Yin Ling''er''s eyes instantly brightened.


    She thought of a senior mentioned in clan legends!


    "''Senior Yinsha,'' yes, that senior was indeed called Yinsha." Yin Ling''er''s beautiful eyes looked at Ye Chen and hurriedly said, "Big brother Ye Chen, our ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'' indeed had a Nine-star Sovereign known as ''Senior Yinsha''."


    "What happened to her?" At this time, Ye Chen''s heart was pounding wildly.


    Ye Chen felt that he was getting closer and closer to knowing about the "General Yinsha."


    Regarding Ye Chen suddenly mentioning "Senior Yinsha," and appearing a bit anxious, Yin Ling''er also felt a little strange. However, since Ye Chen was the one who saved her life, and the news of "Senior Yinsha" wasn''t something forbidden in the clan, Yin Ling''er hastily told Ye Chen what she knew.


    "Big brother Ye Chen, the rumors about ''Senior Yinsha,'' I learned about them from the clan''s archives. But indeed, this senior achieved the ''Nine-star Sovereign'' status tens of thousands of years ago, yet she hasn''t appeared in the clan for tens of thousands of years."


    "I''ve never seen this senior."


    "I heard from the clan elders that this ''Senior Yinsha'' was a true prodigy of our ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch,'' even considered a prodigy of the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom.'' The clan was confident she could eventually step into the ''Divine Master Realm''!"


    "But it was said that ''Senior Yinsha'' was traveling outside tens of thousands of years ago, suddenly returned to the clan, and after returning, she immediately left, and since then, the clan has never seen her again."


    Boom!


    Yin Ling''er''s words made Ye Chen''s mind roar.


    "I was right, ''General Yinsha'' is indeed not in the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' and indeed something happened to her!"


    When the news of the Divine Milk spread in the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' but there was no news from ''General Yinsha,'' Ye Chen suspected something happened to ''General Yinsha,'' which was why she didn''t seek ''Huyan Divine Master.'' Now it seemed his guess was correct, ''General Yinsha'' indeed encountered an accident.


    "I heard from ''Huyan Divine Master'' that General Yinsha hurried back to the clan to deal with something after they parted ways. Now it seems, as soon as she returned to the clan, she went to handle that matter, and that matter has kept General Yinsha from appearing ever since."


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen hurriedly asked Yin Ling''er, "Ling''er, do you know what ''Senior Yinsha'' went to deal with after returning to the clan?"


    "Big brother Ye Chen, I don''t know that," Yin Ling''er shook her head.


    Yin Ling''er''s words made Ye Chen sigh deeply.


    Indeed, it''s highly unlikely this young girl in front of him would know such things.


    After all, she wasn''t even born tens of thousands of years ago.


    Hearing Ye Chen''s sigh, for some reason, Yin Ling''er felt a pain in her heart, as if she thought of something, and hurriedly said to Ye Chen, "Big brother Ye Chen, although I don''t know what happened to ''Senior Yinsha'' tens of thousands of years ago, there are still some elders from back then remaining in the clan."


    "If we ask them, maybe they know the truth of the matter and what ''Senior Yinsha'' went to handle."


    Yin Ling''er''s words rekindled a glimmer of hope in Ye Chen''s heart.


    Indeed.


    Yin Ling''er doesn''t know, but someone important in the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' must know.


    He had already prepared himself, knowing that coming to the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' might be challenging, and it seems he would truly face some challenges now.


    "It seems, I must enter the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' and ask those Sovereigns who know the truth of that year." Ye Chen clenched his fists in his sleeves.


    "Big brother Ye Chen, did you come to the territory of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' this time for ''Senior Yinsha''?"


    "However, big brother Ye Chen, you are from foreign races, so to enter our living ''Extreme Spirit Sea,'' you must go through the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection.''


    "But with your strength, big brother Ye Chen, there should be no problem passing the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection.''


    "Big brother Ye Chen, if you''re eager to know about ''General Yinsha,'' I can take you to the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' now..."


    Yin Ling''er looked at Ye Chen with her beautiful eyes and said a lot.


    At this time, Ye Chen also came back to his senses from thinking about General Yinsha''s matters.


    Upon hearing Yin Ling''er''s words, Ye Chen smiled, "I have also heard of the matters concerning the Extreme Spirit Martial Land."


    "Since people from foreign races need to enter the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' by passing through the selection of the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'', let''s participate in that selection."


    "Ling''er, I really need you to lead the way; I actually don''t know where that ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' is."


    A dozen breaths later.


    Yin Ling''er led the way at the front.


    Ye Chen then reached out his hand and grabbed the restrained "Luo Chen" with a sweep of his hand into the air.


    The three of them crossed the boundary of the "Shallow Blue Sea Area" and flew towards the direction of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    ...


    The Extreme Spirit Martial Land is located within an "Extreme Spirit Barrier" between the "Sea of Taboo" and the "Extreme Spirit Sea".


    Although it is called an "Extreme Spirit Barrier," inside it is an extremely vast defensive area, which the "Extreme Spirit Clan" has laid with layers of prohibitions to protect the "Extreme Spirit Sea".


    In a corner of this defensive area, there is a region spanning tens of thousands of miles known as the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land".


    Anyone from other tribes wanting to go to the "Extreme Spirit Sea" will be brought to the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" upon entering the "Extreme Spirit Barrier".


    Every three months, a selection is held in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land", choosing those with strong combat power who hold no grudges against the Extreme Spirit Clan from among the foreign race individuals wishing to enter the "Extreme Spirit Sea".


    Of course, foreign race individuals who want to enter the "Extreme Spirit Sea" cannot move freely there even after passing the selection.


    Even if these foreign race individuals pass the selection of the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," upon entering the "Extreme Spirit Sea," they must join the "Extreme Spirit Mission Team" to complete certain tasks for the "Extreme Spirit Clan" to accumulate "Merit Points".


    The higher the Merit Points, the greater the respect they receive from the "Extreme Spirit Clan" and the greater their freedom in the "Extreme Spirit Clan".


    It is even rumored that practitioners from small clans in the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" come specifically to participate in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection, completing many tasks for the "Extreme Spirit Clan" to accumulate Merit Points, and eventually becoming esteemed guests of the "Extreme Spirit Clan", gaining significant status within it!


    Ye Chen certainly did not come with the purpose of cultivating in the "Extreme Spirit Clan".


    However, he wanted to meet those in the Sovereign Realm of the "Extreme Spirit Clan" and learn about the matters of "General Yinsha" from them. On one hand, he had to pass the selection of the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" to enter the "Extreme Spirit Sea". On the other hand, he needed to make a name for himself within the "Extreme Spirit Clan" so that those Sovereign Realm powerhouses would recognize him.


    Only then would it be easier for him to enter the field of vision of the strong ones of the "Extreme Spirit Clan" sooner.


    Otherwise, just by relying on Yin Ling''er to convey messages, the Sovereign Realm beings of the "Extreme Spirit Clan" would not pay attention to him, let alone inform him about the matters of the past immediately.


    After all, the matters concerning "General Yinsha" might well be the core secrets of the "Extreme Spirit Clan"!


    Upon arriving at the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," Ye Chen learned from Yin Ling''er that the tri-monthly selection of the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" had been more than a month since the last one, and he needed to wait over a month to participate in the next one.


    Ye Chen then settled down directly in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" to wait.


    When Ye Chen arrived at the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," thousands of strong individuals from other tribes had already gathered there, including not only True Gods, Divine Kings, Divine Venerables but even foreign Sovereign Realm powerhouses.


    After Ye Chen settled in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," more strong individuals from foreign races continued to arrive there over time.


    The Extreme Spirit Clan is indeed one of the five supreme clans of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, attracting other tribes greatly. The vast majority of those who came to the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" were there to join the "Extreme Spirit Clan" for cultivation.


    People like Ye Chen, who came for special reasons, were quite rare.


    During the wait for the next selection of the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" to start, Ye Chen began the cultivation of the "Eternal God Body" Water God Pattern in a room he was residing in at the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land".


    Initially, he had obtained a considerable amount of materials for cultivating the Water God Pattern, and later, the "Cai Meng Sovereign" of the Nine Flames Clan gathered the remaining materials he was missing. Ye Chen had long been able to start cultivating the Water God Pattern of the "Eternal God Body".


    However, having been occupied with adventures in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" before, he had no time to cultivate the Water God Pattern of the "Eternal God Body".


    Now, during the waiting time for the next selection of the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," he finally had some peace to cultivate for a while.


    However, what Ye Chen didn''t know was that while he waited quietly in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," news about him was gradually spreading in a small circle within the "Extreme Spirit Clan".


    The events began when Yin Ling''er returned with Luo Chen to the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch" and informed the Punishment Elder in the branch about Luo Chen''s attempt to harm her.


    When the news of Luo Chen''s attempt to assault and harm Yin Ling''er spread within the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch," many people there were furious. If most of the Sovereigns in the clan hadn''t been away for cultivation in the "Haotian Ancient Stream" making it inconvenient to punish Luo Chen immediately, the Punishment Elder of the Silver-eyed Wing Branch would have wanted to execute Luo Chen on the spot!


    And as Luo Chen was detained waiting for the clans'' Sovereigns to return and handle the situation, another piece of news gradually spread in the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch".


    This news was that Yin Ling''er had been rescued by an extraordinarily powerful upper-ranking Divine King youth!


    Moreover, this upper-ranking Divine King youth likely possessed combat power on the level of a Sovereign!

 Chapter 1021 - 970 Exchange Skills

    When this news spread, the people of the Silver-eyed Wing Branch were simply in complete disbelief.


    And Yin Ling''er, as the absolutely renowned beautiful little girl of the "Silver-eyed Wing Branch," had a large number of admirers, many of whom were from other branches.


    Gradually, many from other branches of the "Extreme Spirit Clan" also learned about a young Upper God King who rescued Yin Ling''er from Luo Chen''s hands.


    They learned that this young Upper God King possibly possessed sovereign-level strength!


    Of course, the vast majority held doubts about this claim; they simply couldn''t believe that an Upper God King could have sovereign-level strength.


    However, as Yin Ling''er came out to confirm the claim, and a single Immortal Divine Venerable couldn''t even unravel the divine power shackles Ye Chen put on Luo Chen, with it taking a sovereign to do it, many from the Extreme Spirit Clan began to believe that Ye Chen truly had sovereign-level strength.


    An Upper God King, possessing sovereign-level strength.


    Plus, this Upper God King rescued the beautiful little girl Yin Ling''er.


    This buzz quickly attracted many from the Extreme Spirit Clan to the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," wanting to see this Upper God King, and quite a few even wanted to spar with him to see if he was really as formidable as the rumors claimed!


    Extreme Spirit Martial Land.


    The foreign personnel waiting to participate in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection" were all arranged by the Extreme Spirit Clan officials stationed at the venue in accommodations similar to caves.


    Meanwhile, at the guards'' quarters outside the residential area, a large group of Extreme Spirit Clan members were surrounding a sovereign, speaking loudly.


    "Senior Lei Bo, hasn''t that ''Jiang Li'' come out of the house where he''s been cultivating?"


    "Senior Lei Bo, have you heard that this ''Jiang Li'' saved Yin Ling''er of the ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'' this time, and it''s said that even though he''s an Upper God King, he possesses sovereign-level strength!"


    "We''re all here looking for him, Senior Lei Bo, can you call him out? We want to face him and see if he''s truly as formidable as people say!"


    The Upper God King "Jiang Li" they referred to was actually Ye Chen.


    Before Ye Chen was about to arrive at the Extreme Spirit Martial Land from the "Shallow Blue Sea Area," he directly used the "Transform Easily" divine skill to slightly alter his appearance and changed his name from "Ye Chen" to "Jiang Li."


    The name "Jiang Li" was taken from the names of two women closest to Ye Chen, Jiang Yao and Long Li, with the character "Li" from Long Li slightly modified to appear more masculine.


    Ye Chen changed his appearance and name because of previous events.


    Previously, in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," he had killed Xueling Chan and Blood Flying Yan of the Blood Wing Clan, and took the most precious "Heavenly Forbidden Flame."


    The Blood Wing Clan, as the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s number one Supreme Clan, had countless powerful sovereigns, and evidently, many divine masters capable of traveling the cosmic sea had been born in their clan.


    Even if Ye Chen teleported from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" across numerous regions to the Extreme Spirit Sea, this miraculous teleportation was something the Blood Wing Clan probably wouldn''t expect, as they likely believed he was still in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," with the "Extreme Spirit Sea" lying in the southernmost region of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" star domain, far from the Blood Wing Clan.


    But just in case, Ye Chen didn''t want to casually disclose his appearance and name, fearing the Blood Wing Clan might come looking for him.


    After all, if Ye Chen appeared in the Extreme Spirit Clan under his own name, given his terrifying combat power and the need to make a name for himself in the Extreme Spirit Clan to meet the sovereign-level figures there, it wouldn''t be impossible for the information to eventually reach the Blood Wing Clan!


    In this case, naturally, it was better to change his name and alter his appearance!


    When Ye Chen changed his appearance and name, and instructed Yin Ling''er not to disclose his original name, Yin Ling''er was also surprised.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s explanation about the inconvenience due to other clans, Yin Ling''er, who was already filled with admiration and gratitude towards Ye Chen, immediately agreed not to disclose Ye Chen''s original name and appearance.


    After all, since Ye Chen dared to venture into the various tests of the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," it was clear he held no hostility towards the Extreme Spirit Clan, so naturally, Yin Ling''er agreed to this small request from Ye Chen.


    Before Ye Chen altered his appearance, he directly knocked Luo Chen unconscious, and even used divine soul skills to change Luo Chen''s memory of his original appearance.


    Once everything was arranged, Ye Chen entered the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" as "Jiang Li."


    At this moment, the guards'' quarters at the Extreme Spirit Martial Land were noisy with many calling to see "Jiang Li," which made Lei Bo, the six-star sovereign responsible for the Extreme Spirit Martial Land, feel at a loss as to whether to laugh or cry.


    During this period, people kept coming, and Lei Bo gradually learned much about this "Jiang Li," whom Yin Ling''er brought to the Extreme Spirit Martial Land.


    He was also shocked for quite a while at the idea of an Upper God King possessing sovereign-level strength, and could hardly believe it.


    He too wanted to see this Upper God King "Jiang Li" in action.


    However, he couldn''t directly agree to the Extreme Spirit Clan members'' requests to call out the Upper God King "Jiang Li."


    Because once he arrived at the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," "Jiang Li" locked himself in his residence to begin cultivation, and as a sovereign, Lei Bo naturally couldn''t interrupt others'' cultivation casually.


    In the end, Lei Bo could only say to the members of the Extreme Spirit Clan: "I understand your thoughts. ''Jiang Li'' is currently cultivating. Once he completes his cultivation and comes out, I will relay your thoughts. As for whether he agrees to accept your challenge matches, it depends on him."


    "A guest from afar deserves courtesy, and we can''t force it."


    With Sovereign Lei Bo saying this, the members of the Extreme Spirit Clan gathered at the Extreme Spirit Martial Land could say no more.


    Of course, letting them give up the idea of seeing Ye Chen and dueling with him was also impossible.


    Many would come daily to check if Ye Chen had finished cultivating and emerged from seclusion, and as the news of Yin Ling''er being rescued spread more widely, rather than decreasing, the number of people flocking to the Extreme Spirit Martial Land waiting for Ye Chen to come out of seclusion actually increased.


    Among those planning to spar with Ye Chen were even a few one-star sovereigns!


    During this time, Yin Ling''er of course came to find Ye Chen several times.


    Seeing her idol "Brother Ye Chen," now known to all as "Jiang Li," always in closed-door training, Yin Ling''er waited silently for half a day each time in the Extreme Spirit Martial Land.


    This sight of Yin Ling''er made many members of the Extreme Spirit Clan, who admired her immensely, heartbroken.


    These admirers had never seen Yin Ling''er so concerned about a person.


    "That Upper God King saved Yin Ling''er."


    "Rumor has it he''s that powerful!"


    "Beauties love heroes; Yin Ling''er must have special feelings for that Upper God King."


    Thinking of this possibility, many members of the Extreme Spirit Clan felt both jealous and resentful towards Ye Chen.


    The desire to challenge Ye Chen and test his strength grew even stronger!


    On this day, after more than half a month, Ye Chen finally completed the training of the third Divine Pattern of the "Eternal God Body"¡ªthe "Water God Pattern"¡ªand walked out of the dwelling to relax for a moment. When he reached the plaza outside the dwelling, he was immediately surrounded by a group of foreign martial artists.


    "Are you the ''Jiang Li'' brother who recently came to the Extreme Spirit Martial Land?"


    Several foreign martial artists directly asked Ye Chen.


    Seeing the crowd surrounding him, Ye Chen was slightly surprised, then smiled and nodded, "Yes, I am ''Jiang Li.'' Is there something the matter?"


    Hearing Ye Chen admit that he is the one whose fame has spread during this time and who, as an Upper God King, possibly possesses Sovereign-level combat power, the foreign martial artists surrounding Ye Chen all exclaimed.


    "''Jiang Li'' brother, you''ve become famous recently!"


    "The matter of you saving Yin Ling''er has reportedly spread within the Extreme Spirit Clan, and many clan members came looking for you, wanting to spar with you to see if you''re truly that powerful."


    "Rumor has it that as an Upper God King, you possess Sovereign-level combat power?!"


    "To be honest, although we are not members of the Extreme Spirit Clan, we came to the Extreme Spirit Martial Land for the selection, just like Brother, and even we want to see your strength!"


    As the foreign martial artists voiced their opinions, the news of Ye Chen coming out from closed-door training spread outside.


    Many Extreme Spirit Clan members who were stationed outside all flocked to the dwelling''s plaza.


    "Is he the Upper God King who saved Yin Ling''er?"


    Whoosh!


    As these members flooded in, they saw Ye Chen surrounded by the crowd.


    Countless gazes focused on Ye Chen.


    Even six-star Sovereign Lei Bo followed in from the back of the crowd, looking at Ye Chen from afar.


    Surrounded by so many people and under such scrutiny, Ye Chen was momentarily surprised.


    But recalling the words of the foreign martial artists earlier, Ye Chen finally understood the situation.


    "I''m sure that little girl Ling''er knew I wanted to meet some influential figures of the Sovereign Realm in the Extreme Spirit Clan and needed to boost my reputation, so she didn''t conceal my combat power."


    "An Upper God King possessing Sovereign-level combat power would indeed cause a sensation and draw this many people¡ªit''s not surprising."


    "That''s fine. I''ve changed my name anyway. Boosting my reputation like this will quicker alert the Sovereign Realm figures of the Extreme Spirit Clan, helping me investigate ''General Yinsha'' sooner..."


    After pondering for a moment, Ye Chen showed no change in expression, smiling gently at the crowd surrounding him.


    At this moment, an eager voice from an Extreme Spirit Clan member called out to him, "Are you the Upper God King who saved Yin Ling''er?"


    "They say you possess Sovereign-level combat power. I am Lei Yuan from the ''Thunder-eyed Wing Branch'' of the Extreme Spirit Clan. My combat power also reaches the ultimate level of Lower Immortal Divine Venerable. I don''t believe a God King can possess Sovereign-level combat power. I want to challenge you."


    "Are you willing to spar with me? Accept my challenge?"


    Ye Chen looked at the person challenging him¡ªa Lower Immortal Divine Venerable with a pair of wings.


    Unlike Yin Ling''er''s silver wings of the Silver-eyed Wing Branch or Luo Chen''s gray wings of the Grey-eyed Wing Branch.


    This Lei Yuan from the Thunder-eyed Wing Branch of the Extreme Spirit Clan bore a pair of wings shimmering with purple lightning.


    Upon hearing Lei Yuan''s challenge, Ye Chen smiled and said, "Spar? Certainly, no problem."


    "However, there are so many of you here, it seems many wish to spar with me, doing it one by one would waste time."


    "Let''s do this, I''ll agree to three bouts."


    "As long as it''s someone with combat power below two-star Sovereign, I''m willing to spar."


    "You all decide who the three contenders will be."

 Chapter 1022 - 971: Battle of the Extreme Spirit

    Boom!


    Ye Chen''s words immediately set the entire arena ablaze.


    This Upper God King in front of them actually agreed to a sparring challenge?!


    Moreover, he accepted a battle power below the Two-Star Sovereign Level? Does this not mean that he is confident of at least defeating an ordinary One-Star Sovereign?


    Could the earlier rumors be true, that this Upper God King really possesses Sovereign Level combat power?


    Amidst the clamor, the key question facing the Spirit Clan people now is¡ªwhich three will step forward to fight.


    In an instant, the Spirit Clan people gathered together to discuss, and some even sent messages to those not present, telling them about what was happening at the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land."


    Before the battle participants were finalized, many who received the news had already flown out from the "Extreme Spirit Sea" to the territory of the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land."


    Among them, the most attentive to Ye Chen''s news was Yin Ling''er, who was also in the crowd rushing over.


    The young girl, upon arriving, immediately spotted Ye Chen surrounded by the crowd. She quietly transmitted to Ye Chen, "Big Brother Ye Chen, I heard you accepted three sparring challenges? And you even agreed to fight a Sovereign Level one?"


    Even though she knew Ye Chen was formidable, considering his earlier suppression of Luo Chen was merely at the mid-level Immortal Divine Venerable combat power, Yin Ling''er couldn''t help but feel a bit worried upon hearing Ye Chen was truly going to demonstrate Sovereign-level combat.


    Seeing the worried look on Yin Ling''er''s beautiful face, Ye Chen smiled and transmitted back, "Don''t worry, since I''m here at the Spirit Clan, I should perform well."


    "Otherwise, how can I make the important figures in your clan notice me."


    Ye Chen''s light and easy tone made Yin Ling''er''s heart unknowingly relax.


    Yin Ling''er could feel that the big brother in front of her, who was only a few years older, had an inexplicable aura.


    Just like he could create a miracle of having Sovereign Level combat power as an Upper God King, he must have countless miracles hidden in him.


    Perhaps, the three battles are indeed no problem for him.


    While Yin Ling''er and Ye Chen were communicating silently, the Spirit Clan people who rushed over also gathered to discuss the battle slots.


    Though the initial purpose of this sparring was for the Spirit Clan people to see if Ye Chen was truly as powerful as the rumors said.


    But since it was going to be a battle and one side was a foreigner while the other side was the Spirit Clan, the battle would certainly involve the face of the Spirit Clan, and the battle participants should be carefully chosen.


    Meanwhile, other foreigners like Ye Chen, who also wished to gain entry into the "Extreme Spirit Sea" through the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," could only stand by and wait for the situation to unfold.


    Some of them also wanted to spar with Ye Chen.


    But since Ye Chen mentioned only three slots, these foreigners knew the Spirit Clan would not give them the slots.


    Finally.


    After discussions among those who rushed to the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," the Spirit Clan people finalized three slots.


    The first to fight was the one who initially issued the challenge to Ye Chen, from the Thunder-eyed Wing Branch, Lei Yuan, who had reached the upper limits of Upper Immortal Divine Venerable combat power.


    The second participant was, like Yin Ling''er, from the Spirit Clan''s Silver-eyed Wing Branch, a powerhouse named Yin Meng whose realm was Upper Immortal Divine Venerable but had combat power reaching the One-Star Sovereign Level.


    The last participant was from the Grey-eyed Wing Branch, the same branch as Luo Chen, whom Ye Chen suppressed earlier, and was a genuine Sovereign, a One-Star Sovereign, whose combat power was very close to the Two-Star Sovereign level!


    The Spirit Clan chose these three to engage in sparring with Ye Chen, specifically in varied tiers.


    If Lei Yuan, with Upper Immortal Divine Venerable combat power, could defeat Ye Chen, there would be no need for the next two to take action.


    Of course, if the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable level wasn''t enough, they would try the initial One-Star Sovereign combat power, and if that still wasn''t enough, they would increase to the strongest combat power below the Two-Star Sovereign that Ye Chen requested¡ªthe peak One-Star Sovereign combat power!


    Wow!


    Once the participants were decided, Ye Chen, the Spirit Clan people, and the foreigners watching the Extreme Spirit Martial Land all moved to a special battle site within the Extreme Spirit Barrier.


    This was a massive battle space specially crafted by the Spirit Clan''s Nine-Star Sovereign, sufficient for Ye Chen and others to use for battle.


    As soon as the three factions entered this battle space, Lei Yuan from the Thunder-eyed Wing Branch, the first to battle Ye Chen, directly stepped forward.


    Everyone else retreated to the side.


    The central battle area now only had Ye Chen and Lei Yuan.


    Lei Yuan looked at Ye Chen and said, "Friend Jiang Li, our Thunder-eyed Wing Branch is different from other branches; our strongest combat means lie within our physical bodies themselves, and we are extremely good at cultivating the Divine Body."


    "Today, I will see you with my strongest divine body skills!"


    Even though Lei Yuan was determined to compare skills with Ye Chen, as there was no enmity between them, he was very courteous to Ye Chen in his speech.


    Hearing Lei Yuan''s words, Ye Chen also smiled, "Friend Lei Yuan, I''ve just completed training in a divine body skill, and I''m eager to test its power. Since your divine body skill is formidable, let''s have a good sparring session."


    "Please, Friend Jiang Li."


    "Please, Lei Yuan, my fellow Taoist."


    The two exchanged polite words, but the moment the battle truly commenced, both were intently serious.


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    First to transform was Lei Yuan of the Thunder-eyed Wing Branch. As a unique purple water pattern shimmered between his brows, a set of purple armor shimmered into existence over his body.


    Simultaneously, Lei Yuan''s form shifted, transforming into a gigantic purple lightning-colored roc, launching himself fiercely towards Ye Chen.


    This purple lightning-colored roc spanned several thousand feet in size. More frightening was the countless flickering thunder lights across its body, roaring with terrifying purple thunder power.


    Indeed, this was the combat true form of the Thunder-eyed Wing Branch of the Extreme Spirit Clan!


    When Lei Yuan charged, Ye Chen''s eyes brightened, yet he remained unshaken.


    Not to mention that Ye Chen''s combat power had long surpassed the God King Level and had reached the Sovereign Level, making Lei Yuan no match for him.


    Even if Ye Chen hadn''t reached the Sovereign Level, he would still have been at the pinnacle of the Divine Venerable Level, at the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable Extreme Level, and definitely not weaker than Lei Yuan.


    Besides, Ye Chen had previously battled members of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Back in the Demon Tomb when he encountered Huyan Divine Master, he also fought the Combat Doll left behind by General Yinsha.


    Ye Chen had long been familiar with the true form combat methods of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Seeing Lei Yuan charge, Ye Chen moved, with his entire body erupting in extraordinarily special divine light.


    Azure water pattern glow!


    The Spectators of the Extreme Spirit Clan, watching Lei Yuan''s true form combat, some who knew of Lei Yuan''s methods, clenched their fists tightly.


    They knew that once Lei Yuan entered the fray, he immediately utilized his strongest divine body skill, the Nine-Thunders Sky Bombarding Battle Body.


    Many people were eager to see how Ye Chen would respond.


    Yet when the azure water pattern glow flashed over Ye Chen, many of the Extreme Spirit Clan members'' eyes widened.


    Even among the foreign races, some shouted out in excitement.


    Even Lei Bo, the six-star Sovereign responsible for guarding the Extreme Spirit Martial Land, took a deep breath and said in shock, "Eternal God Body? Water God Pattern?"


    Indeed.


    The method Ye Chen prepared to battle Lei Yuan was precisely the Eternal God Body Water God Pattern he had just completed cultivating.


    Ye Chen had long completed the cultivation of the Earth and Wind Divine Patterns among the Five Great Divine Patterns of the Eternal God Body.


    This time, he didn''t directly deploy the mightier Wind Divine Pattern, but chose to first test the power of the newly trained Water God Pattern.


    Boom!


    As Ye Chen activated the Eternal God Body Water God Pattern, countless towering feet of divine light surged up around him, flickering with the protective means of the Eternal God Body Water God Pattern ¡ª the Thousand Water Shields.


    From a distance, Ye Chen seemed encased layer upon layer, endlessly surrounded by azure water shields, which appeared capable of defending against any impact.


    On one side was Lei Yuan, with a body of flickering lightning energy charging mightily several thousand feet large.


    On the other was Ye Chen, whose body, though not as massive, emitted divine light no weaker.


    The next moment, the two immense figures collided thunderously.


    Activating his true form and unleashing his strongest divine body skill, the Nine-Thunders Sky Bombarding Battle Body, Lei Yuan recognized the origins of the Eternal God Body as soon as Ye Chen activated the Water God Pattern.


    After all, the Eternal God Body is known throughout the universe as a highly difficult divine body for even sovereign powerholders to cultivate successfully, ranking third among the Sovereign Level divine bodies.


    Because he recognized it, Lei Yuan''s attack had no restraint.


    As he crashed towards Ye Chen, he unleashed the ultimate Divine Bombardment Power of the Nine-Thunders Sky Bombarding Battle Body, a full bombardment of nine thunders!


    When the nine thunders combined, the impact shattered one layer after another of the Thousand Water Shields encasing Ye Chen, penetrating hundreds of feet deep.


    This scene caused the assembled audience to exclaim in shock.


    Meanwhile, Yin Ling''er, who had been intently watching Ye Chen, turned pale with worry.


    The young girl knew of Ye Chen''s power, but this time, Ye Chen had only mentioned using his divine body skills. She didn''t know if he could suppress Lei Yuan''s full force attack with just this one technique.


    However, in the next moment, Yin Linger''s tense face suddenly relaxed.


    For she observed that even though Lei Yuan shattered layer after layer of the Thousand Water Shields surrounding Ye Chen, penetrating hundreds of feet deep, soon enough, more light from Ye Chen''s divine body surged forth.


    This quickly restored layer upon layer of the Thousand Water Shields. Lei Yuan barely had time to break through all of Ye Chen''s water shields before being blasted away by the rapidly regenerating shields, sent flying tens of thousands of feet!

 Chapter 1023 - 972: Divine Fire vs. Divine Water

    The defensive technique, "Thousand Water Shields," of Ye Chen''s Eternal God Body Water God Pattern can deflect Lei Yuan, indicating that Ye Chen''s Water God Pattern combat power is not inferior to Lei Yuan''s Nine-Thunders Sky Bombarding Battle Body!


    When Lei Yuan was blown tens of thousands of feet away by Ye Chen, the people of the Extreme Spirit Clan erupted in amazement.


    And among those who have heard of the Eternal God Body''s divine might, their eyes suddenly sparkled: "Heavens, just relying on the defensive technique of the Eternal God Body''s Water God Pattern can withstand Lei Yuan''s strongest attack from the Nine-Thunders Sky Bombarding Battle Body. This Upper God King can likely unleash fifty to sixty percent of the Water God Pattern''s might!"


    No wonder these people are shocked.


    After all, the Eternal God Body is an extraordinarily powerful divine body even for Sovereigns.


    Even though it''s extremely rare for anyone below the Sovereign Realm to cultivate it, it''s definitely not easy to activate its full divine might.


    After all, unleashing its full divine power can truly contend with Sovereign powers!


    Not to mention activating its full divine might, even activating a fraction of it is already considered impressive.


    And Ye Chen now directly activates fifty to sixty percent of the strongest divine might of the Water God Pattern, ranked third among the Five Great Divine Patterns of the Eternal God Body, which is certainly a shocking feat!


    What these people don''t know is that Ye Chen has not only cultivated the Eternal God Body''s Water God Pattern but has also mastered the other two Divine Patterns: Earth Divine Pattern and Wind Divine Pattern.


    The Wind Divine Pattern is ranked higher than the Water God Pattern among the Five Great Divine Patterns: Earth, Fire, Water, Wind, Chaos.


    Back when Ye Chen successfully cultivated the Wind Divine Pattern in the Heavenly God Mountain, he could only unleash a small portion of its might. Even with that, he was capable of battling the extreme combat power of Upper Immortal Divine Venerables.


    Now, Ye Chen has made qualitative leaps in his Essence, Qi, and Spirit, especially after harnessing the starry origin power from the second star. His entire life''s level has been elevated significantly.


    This elevation in life''s level, even without directly applying it to divine power, greatly enhances Ye Chen''s control over the divine body.


    Ye Chen is now capable of driving around forty percent of the Wind Divine Pattern''s might, allowing him to attempt battling a one-star Sovereign.


    And as for the Water God Pattern, which is somewhat weaker than the Wind Divine Pattern, Ye Chen can naturally unleash even more might, reaching about sixty percent of its divine power.


    And about sixty percent of the Water God Pattern''s divine power is enough for Ye Chen to completely suppress Lei Yuan''s extreme combat power of Upper Immortal Divine Venerables!


    As everyone was amazed, Ye Chen, who had used the defensive technique "Thousand Water Shields" to deflect Lei Yuan, the divine light of the Water God Pattern flashed on him and transitioned from defense to attack.


    Ye Chen directly charged at Lei Yuan, who was deflected.


    At the same time, Ye Chen unleashed the Eternal God Body''s Water God Pattern''s attack technique¡ªBlack Origin Water Wave.


    Crash! Crash! Crash!


    At the instant this attack technique was deployed, the divine pattern light on Ye Chen immediately transformed into black, as thousands of feet of black divine light surged around his body.


    In the divine light, as if heavy black water waves were undulating, these black water waves seemed to move with Ye Chen''s divine body and annihilate everything!


    As Lei Yuan just stopped his retreating form, Ye Chen, who had activated the Black Origin Water Wave, had already charged to his front.


    Lei Yuan directly felt a massive shadow, like a black mountain peak, following Ye Chen''s fierce strike, pressing down directly upon him.


    Lei Yuan hurriedly dodged aside.


    And Ye Chen''s divine body attack technique''s strike directly hit the ground.


    A frightening thing occurred.


    Just this single strike, Ye Chen''s divine body strength exploded, directly shattering the ground into a giant pit tens of thousands of feet in diameter!


    Even though this special space refined by a nine-star Sovereign has incredible restorative ability, in the moment Ye Chen rose from the ground again to charge at Lei Yuan, the giant pit had already resumed its original form. Yet Ye Chen''s beast-like divine body attack still sent chills down the spines of many present.


    Those in the arena with weaker combat power could sense that if they were to bear Ye Chen''s divine body attack, they would likely be crushed into pulp, completely dead from this move!


    Everyone took a deep breath.


    When they raised their heads to look at Ye Chen again, their gaze towards him was entirely different.


    If earlier they had any doubts about Ye Chen''s strength, now they all realized that this Upper God King truly possesses the fabled ability to battle across realms.


    Even if not the rumored capability to completely cross into Sovereign-level combat power, it certainly belongs to the true elites within the divine Sovereign-level combat power!


    Bear in mind, the further one progresses, the more challenging it is to fight across realms.


    True Qi Realm, Spirit Sea Realm, Rotating Pill Realm, Heavenly Saint Realm, True God Realm, God King Realm, Divine Venerable Realm, Sovereign Realm.


    Within these realms, battling a realm higher from the Spirit Sea Realm to face a Heavenly Saint is rare but not unheard of across countless Divine Kingdoms.


    But reaching the God King Realm, let alone battling a full realm higher into the Divine Venerable Realm and challenging Sovereigns, even battling Immortal Divine Venerables within the Divine Venerable Realm is largely nonexistent across many Divine Kingdoms.


    Only powerful Divine Kingdoms like the True Spirit Divine Kingdom have such characters.


    Whereas a God King possessing Sovereign-level combat power is truly a standout among the countless God Kings in this universe across Divine Kingdoms.


    In this universe, perhaps only in divine kingdom groups like the Moke Ancient Clan and the Netherworld Ancient Clan, which are ranked among the top in the countless Divine Kingdoms of this universe, can there be such a Divine King!


    Now, witnessing with their own eyes a formidable Divine King who might not be weaker than a Divine King from the top clans of this universe standing before them, how could the Spirit Clan members not be shaken in mind and spirit?


    Amidst the shock, in the sky above, the battle between Ye Chen and Lei Yuan had reached a critical moment.


    The two had exchanged hundreds of moves in an instant, and in the vast majority of cases, it was Lei Yuan who was oppressed by Ye Chen, frantically dodging, with few opportunities for direct confrontation between the two.


    The Spirit Clan members had already realized that Lei Yuan was no match for the Upper God King before them.


    As these people anticipated.


    After Ye Chen and Lei Yuan clashed for more than half an incense stick of time, Lei Yuan''s evasive movement technique was completely seen through by Ye Chen, and Lei Yuan gradually struggled to withstand Ye Chen''s repeated attacks.


    Finally, when Ye Chen utilized the Eternal God Body''s "Water God Pattern" strike technique "Spiral Water Fury" with a fierce blow, he directly knocked Lei Yuan from the void, smashing him down to the ground, creating a massive crater with a radius of tens of thousands of feet!


    Then, Ye Chen pointed his finger, and countless "Water God Pattern" Divine Pattern Lights formed a giant sword measuring ten thousand feet long, extending from Ye Chen''s hand in the void to Lei Yuan''s neck on the ground!


    And Lei Yuan was completely powerless to evade!


    Defeat.


    This meant that if it were a life-and-death struggle, Ye Chen could have killed Lei Yuan, and since this was a sparring match, not meant to harm lives, it also signified that Ye Chen had outright defeated Lei Yuan!


    Lei Yuan, however, was a good man.


    Losing is losing, and he accepted it with poise.


    Lei Yuan looked towards Ye Chen, his gaze shaken, finally saying slowly, "I lost, Daoist friend Jiang Li, I am sincerely convinced of my defeat at your hands."


    Wow.


    The outcome of the first battle, although many had anticipated it, still caused an uproar when it happened before their eyes.


    After all, many present knew of Lei Yuan''s prowess.


    Now, the Upper God King before them had defeated Lei Yuan using only divine body skills, which clearly meant that this Upper God King hadn''t even used his full strength, and his real combat power could only be stronger!


    Amidst the excitement, Lei Yuan stepped down, and for the second match, "Yin Meng," possessing one-star Sovereign Realm combat power from the "Silver-eyed Wing branch," stepped forward.


    "Yin Meng" was tall and burly, and as he looked at Ye Chen, his eyes brimmed with fighting spirit.


    He cupped his fists towards Ye Chen, saying, "Daoist friend Jiang Li, take a moment to regulate your breath and recover your depleted divine body combat power, then ''Yin Meng'' will fight you!"


    "In our battle, no matter who wins or loses, I will respect you, Daoist friend, for I possess one-star Sovereign Realm combat power only at the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable Realm, whereas you, Daoist friend, are still an Upper God King yet can fight me, which means that purely in terms of realm difference, you are already stronger than me!"


    "Moreover," Yin Meng looked at Yin Ling''er not far off, "I am extremely grateful to you, Daoist friend, for saving the people of my branch!"


    Even before the battle, Yin Meng was extremely courteous to Ye Chen.


    This was partly because Ye Chen''s earlier displayed strength convinced him, and also because Ye Chen had rescued people from the Silver-eyed Wing branch.


    Seeing Yin Meng''s courtesy, Ye Chen smiled as well.


    "Then please wait a moment, Daoist friend, I will recover my energy shortly and come to spar with you."


    After saying that, Ye Chen sat cross-legged in the void and began regulating his breath.


    Others thought Ye Chen needed some time to recover, but unexpectedly, before half an incense stick of time had passed, Ye Chen stood up and said to Yin Meng, "Alright, Daoist friend, let''s start the second sparring match."


    "So soon?"


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Yin Meng, waiting on the side, was startled, and everyone else was buzzing with astonishment.


    It''s important to note that although Ye Chen was completely dominating in his earlier battle with Lei Yuan, it was by no means not intense. Those present believed that Ye Chen''s depletion must have been significant and that he couldn''t possibly have recovered completely in such a short time.


    They didn''t expect that Ye Chen had recovered so quickly.


    What they didn''t know was that if it weren''t for fear of scaring them, Ye Chen could have resumed fighting even faster, or even fought without needing recovery.


    After all, having only used the "Water God Pattern" to fight for a moment earlier, there was hardly any depletion for someone like Ye Chen with such extraordinary signs of life.


    Amongst the shock, seeing that Ye Chen''s aura was indeed at its peak state, Yin Meng didn''t hesitate further.


    He took a step forward, coming into the void to face Ye Chen head-on.


    And when the battle between the two began, Yin Meng, unlike Lei Yuan earlier, did not directly transform into his Combat True Form, but remained in human form with feathered wings, holding a divine treasure resembling a "Water Droplet" in his hand.


    When Yin Meng activated the divine treasure resembling a "Water Droplet," Ye Chen similarly did not use divine body skills again; he lightly stretched out his palm, and a cluster of Divine Fire directly appeared in his palm!

 Chapter 1024 - 973 Battle the Sovereign!

    Back in the "Demon Tomb," when Ye Chen fought with the Combat Doll left by General Yinsha, Ye Chen knew that the Extreme Spirit Clan''s "Silver-eyed Wing Branch" was particularly skilled in using Divine Treasures to battle.


    Now facing the "Water Droplet"-shaped Divine Treasure wielded by Yin Meng, he surely planned to use a Divine Treasure to counter it after a brief thought.


    In the first battle, Ye Chen and Lei Yuan were Divine Body against Divine Body.


    In this second battle, Ye Chen and Yin Meng were Divine Treasure against Divine Treasure.


    The "Water Droplet"-shaped Divine Treasure in Yin Meng''s hand was indeed no ordinary object; it was a Polar Sky Level "Divine Water."


    Although not like the Polar Sky Level "Divine Fire," where celestial beings used supreme Divine Skills to create the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" recording numerous powerful Divine Fires in the universe, the Polar Sky Level "Divine Water" did not have an "Extreme Heaven Divine Water List."


    However, something that could be called Polar Sky Level "Divine Water" was still incomparable to ordinary Divine Treasures.


    This Polar Sky Level "Divine Water" in Yin Meng''s hand was a marvelous object obtained from the "Sea of Taboo" by a Sovereign of the Silver-eyed Wing Branch, later given to Yin Meng by a stroke of luck.


    After Yin Meng summoned this "Water Droplet" Divine Treasure, the combat power he released indeed reached an astounding one-star Sovereign level.


    One-star Sovereign level, although the weakest among Sovereign levels, still, it is Sovereign level!


    When this combat power was unleashed, all eyes focused on Ye Chen.


    Everyone wanted to see if this Upper God King before them truly had the combat power at the "Sovereign Level" to match Yin Meng!


    However, the result of Ye Chen''s battle with Yin Meng shocked countless people.


    At first, the spectators thought Ye Chen would either lose or be entangled with Yin Meng for a long time, but unexpectedly, Ye Chen completely defeated Yin Meng in less than a hundred breaths.


    This speed was even faster than when Ye Chen defeated Lei Yuan in the first match!


    The scene of Ye Chen defeating Lei Yuan further amazed the Extreme Spirit Clan members and foreign race individuals in the audience.


    They saw Ye Chen simultaneously unleash three kinds of Polar Sky Level "Divine Fire" to fight Yin Meng!


    One must know, even discovering and successfully obtaining just one kind of Polar Sky Level "Divine Fire" is not easy by any means; Ye Chen had actually gathered three types of Polar Sky Level "Divine Fire" in the God King Realm, which truly astonished everyone!


    What these people did not know was that Ye Chen obtained not merely three types of Polar Sky Level "Divine Fire" during his recent journey through the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds."


    Counting the ones he acquired himself and those he retrieved from Blood Flying Yan and Blood Ling Chan after defeating them, he had as many as eight!


    Among them was a cluster Ye Chen hadn''t even used, and it ranked second on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" ¡ª the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame."


    If Ye Chen were to bring out the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," its ranking of second on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" would definitely astonish the entire Extreme Spirit Clan!


    Of course, Ye Chen hadn''t fully understood the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" yet, so he wouldn''t bring it out.


    He only utilized three kinds of Polar Sky Level "Divine Fire," including the "Blue Extreme Iceflame," to directly defeat Yin Meng under the assistance of Ye Chen''s immense Taiyi Divine Power and the control of the "Blue Divine Soul."


    The second battle match again ended with Ye Chen''s victory!


    At this point, all of the Extreme Spirit Clan members present no longer had any doubts about Ye Chen''s combat power.


    This time, they had witnessed with their own eyes an Upper God King exhibiting Sovereign Level combat power!


    Among the crowd, Yin Ling''er looked at Ye Chen with eyes full of excitement.


    Although Ye Chen defeated a member of the Silver-eyed Wing Branch, the match was merely a friendly competition that caused no harm, and Ye Chen''s demonstration of absolute strength made Yin Ling''er believe that it wouldn''t be long before her brother Ye Chen''s fame would spread throughout the entire Extreme Spirit Clan!


    Being someone whose life Ye Chen saved, thus receiving a tremendous debt of gratitude, Yin Ling''er naturally hoped that Ye Chen''s quest to find Senior Yinsha would succeed as quickly as possible, and hoped for Ye Chen''s renown to be acknowledged by the clan''s influential figures promptly!


    "There''s still the last match."


    "Brother Ye Chen will fight with ''Sovereign Wumang'' from the ''Grey-eyed Wing Branch.''


    "The Grey-eyed Wing Branch and my Silver-eyed Wing Branch have never gotten along, and since Brother Ye Chen captured Luo Chen to save me, even though Luo Chen was at fault first, ''Sovereign Wumang'' as Sovereign of the ''Grey-eyed Wing Branch,'' might also find Brother Ye Chen displeasing."


    "It''s said that although ''Sovereign Wumang'' is a one-star Sovereign, his combat power is incredibly close to two-star Sovereign level, only just needing a chance to breakthrough to two-star Sovereign power. If Brother Ye Chen fights ''Sovereign Wumang,'' without a definite two-star Sovereign power, it might indeed be a real fierce battle!"


    Thinking of the upcoming final battle, a trace of worry also appeared in Yin Ling''er''s beautiful eyes.


    Though Ye Chen defeated Yin Meng, who had one-star Sovereign combat power, Yin Meng was not truly a Sovereign, with power only just reaching the initial stage of one-star Sovereign, of course not comparable to the "Sovereign Wumang" taking the stage next.


    At this moment, the battle space suddenly fell silent.


    The others also knew that the coming fight was indeed the main event.


    Even Ye Chen, standing in the void, became extremely solemn in Mind and Spirit.


    Although Ye Chen was confident in his combat power, he had not truly fought against a Sovereign before. Of course, he wouldn''t boast of certain victory before the battle even began.


    In the midst of the silence, the third person to challenge Ye Chen, Sovereign Wumang of the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch," also stepped forward directly.


    This Sovereign Wumang was an extremely lean middle-aged man.


    The faint grey water pattern between his brows and the pair of extraordinary grey wings on his back were remarkably similar to those of Luo Chen, whom Ye Chen had encountered before.


    As someone who had stepped into the Sovereign Realm, Sovereign Wumang truly lived up to his reputation. As soon as he appeared, without making any visible moves, he was already facing Ye Chen in the void.


    Then, with a gentle flick of his great sleeve, a terrifying giant serpent''s void shadow, several thousand zhang in size, appeared behind him. This serpent shadow immediately formed an oppressive force that shook heaven and earth!


    When the oppressive force emanated, the other Sovereigns present remained unaffected, but the observers below the Sovereign rank were all visibly shaken.


    These people could feel that even though Sovereign Wumang''s pressure wasn''t directed at them, their mind and spirit were still uncontrollably agitated!


    "The pressure of a Sovereign!"


    "This is the true pressure that only a Sovereign can exert!"


    Just standing on the sidelines made their hearts race uncontrollably, and the people present couldn''t help but look towards Ye Chen, who stood opposite Sovereign Wumang in the void.


    These spectators knew that the Upper God King opposite Sovereign Wumang was the one truly bearing the full weight of the Sovereign pressure.


    They wanted to see how this Upper God King, who had shown divine marvel in the previous two rounds of battle, would fare in the face of true Sovereign pressure.


    Upon observation, they noticed that Ye Chen was entirely different from how he was when battling Lei Yuan and Yin Meng earlier.


    If the Upper God King initially merely displayed exceptional combat power, now the observers felt that the Upper God King standing before them no longer seemed like a God King; he seemed to have transformed into a Sovereign himself.


    Even his body began to emit a purple-golden glow that no one had ever seen before!


    To the Extreme Spirit Clan spectators and other foreign race onlookers, this Upper God King did not seem any less imposing than Sovereign Wumang.


    It seemed as if this moment was the true demonstration of the Upper God King''s trump card!


    Their perception was not wrong. Facing the true Sovereign Realm figure, Sovereign Wumang, Ye Chen finally revealed his most formidable technique¡ªthe Starry Origin Power technique.


    The Starry Origin Power technique originated from the "Stars Tower," a power from the Zi Ji Star Lord. When Ye Chen unleashed this power at the "Heavenly God Mountain" and "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," it directly caught the attention of the Divine Master and even that stunningly unparalleled Female Universe Great Emperor!


    At this moment, though those present could not recognize this power, they could sense its extraordinary nature!


    In the void, facing Ye Chen directly, Sovereign Wumang''s eyes also flickered with astonishment.


    As a Sovereign, he naturally perceived the sense of crisis more acutely.


    Sovereign Wumang could feel that the power of this God King before him definitely surpassed his Sovereign-level Divine Power. It was only because the God King''s Realm was too weak to fully wield all the might of this power that it seemed like this now.


    This feeling made Sovereign Wumang''s fighting spirit surge wildly.


    As a Sovereign of the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch," he had heard about the incident where Luo Chen was captured by this God King. Even though Sovereign Wumang despised Luo Chen''s attempt to harm Yin Ling''er, Ye Chen had nonetheless tarnished the Grey-eyed Wing Branch''s reputation, so Sovereign Wumang wanted to teach Ye Chen a lesson.


    Of course, he only intended to teach him a lesson and wouldn''t really harm Ye Chen.


    After all, the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch" was indeed at fault here.


    Now, he felt inferior to the Upper God King before him, which was hard for Sovereign Wumang to accept, and he desired a true and satisfying battle!


    Swish.


    With that thought, Sovereign Wumang did not hesitate any longer. His Divine Eye glanced at Ye Chen, and he directly said, "Let''s begin the battle!"


    Ye Chen looked at Sovereign Wumang, his eyes burning with fighting spirit as well: "Then let''s begin the battle!"


    Ye Chen also wanted to have a good fight with Sovereign Wumang of the Sovereign Realm.


    After the two exchanged a fist salute before the battle, in the next moment, their combat power was not merely a pressure but fully unleashed!


    At the moment the battle began, Sovereign Wumang''s whole body shot into the massive serpent''s void shadow behind him, several thousand zhang in size.


    A shocking event occurred.


    This enormous serpent''s void shadow slowly solidified the instant Sovereign Wumang shot into it, and it underwent a transformation, becoming a strange flying serpent with wings!


    It seemed as if it had merged with the combat true form of the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch" and the serpent!


    The mutated flying serpent suddenly roared angrily at the sky. Then, with a glance from its serpent eyes at Ye Chen, two electric-like beams of killing force directly shot out from the serpent''s eyes, blasting toward Ye Chen!

 Chapter 1025 - 974: The Change of the Divine Treasure!

    The lethal beams shot from the eyes of the enormous flying giant serpent, stretching thousands of meters, were unbelievably fast!


    These were truly Sovereign-level speeds, far surpassing the Sovereign Divine Skills that Yin Meng previously achieved with the help of a Divine Treasure.


    Moreover, these lethal beams were incredibly large, like two gigantic bolts of Extreme Lightning, slicing through the Void, aiming at Ye Chen, who appeared as tiny as an ant.


    Seeing the next moment, Ye Chen''s figure about to be completely engulfed in the lethal lightning, the purple-gold aura on Ye Chen started to flare wildly.


    This purple-gold aura instantly formed a light shield hundreds of meters large, floating around Ye Chen!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    Next, a dazzling spectacle unfolded.


    The two lethal beams shot from the eyes of Sovereign Wumang, transformed into a giant flying serpent, all struck the purple-gold light shield.


    This scene of beams striking the shield lasted for a dozen breaths.


    The spectators could clearly hear the thunderous sound of collision between beam and shield.


    To the amazement of the spectators, even though the lethal beams from the flying serpent continued for a dozen breaths, they couldn''t shake Ye Chen''s purple-gold shield the slightest!


    In the next moment, Sovereign Wumang, transformed into the serpent, seemingly realized the ineffectiveness of the lethal beams. He turned his form, and the enormous serpent mouth opened wide, forming a gigantic mouth, aiming to engulf the shield and Ye Chen within it!


    Even knowing it would be engulfed, given the power of the purple-gold Starry Origin, the flying serpent could not obliterate the shield at all.


    But Ye Chen, engaged in battle with Sovereign Wumang, certainly didn''t want to be swallowed just like that.


    Ye Chen wanted to fight head-on and truly defeat this one-star Sovereign!


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    The serpent''s devouring speed was extremely fast, but Ye Chen''s speed was even faster.


    Ye Chen squeezed a spell, and his body vanished in the Void, appearing moments later thousands of meters away in another part of the Void.


    Evasive from the serpent''s devouring, Ye Chen wouldn''t stay passive. He squeezed another spell, while his body still floated in the Void, the purple-gold Starry Origin forming a gigantic purple-gold hand, grasping at the giant serpent in the Void.


    Ye Chen was directly with the Dharma Embodiment transformed from Starry Origin power, fighting Sovereign Wumang.


    This gigantic purple-gold hand was larger than the serpent formed by Sovereign Wumang, yet despite its size, its speed was not slow at all, even faster than Sovereign Wumang''s serpent-mouth devouring speed.


    A surprise to the Spirit Clan and Foreign Race spectators occurred.


    Ye Chen''s grab actually caught the serpent formed by Sovereign Wumang!


    "Heavens."


    This astonishing battle of Dharma Embodiment and Incarnation shocked everyone below the Sovereign Realm.


    No one anticipated that not gaining an advantage over Ye Chen, Ye Chen instead suppressed Sovereign Wumang.


    "Sovereign Wumang was captured."


    "Can he escape the grasp? Or will he be directly defeated?"


    Everyone focused tightly on the serpent formed by Sovereign Wumang held by the giant hand.


    Sovereign Wumang''s heart was racing, equally shocked by Ye Chen''s rapid counterattack.


    Nevertheless, Sovereign Wumang, as a person who stepped into the Sovereign Realm, of course, didn''t only have one serpent attack.


    Just as Ye Chen caught him with the purple-gold hand, in another part of the Void thousands of meters away, another shadow of Sovereign Wumang appeared.


    This shadow solidified instantly, while the serpent caught in the purple-gold hand vanished simultaneously.


    Witnessing this Divine Skill, even the six-star Sovereign Lei Bo nodded: "External Incarnation Divine Skill, Wumang is remarkable, having truly understood this skill."


    "External Incarnation, a skill that forms another body from Divine Soul''s shadow, merging anywhere in the Void, escaping danger by appearing where the External Incarnation is."


    "Wumang, after understanding this skill, unless the Upper God King ''Jiang Li'' can locate Wumang''s External Incarnation, it''s impossible to completely capture Wumang."


    Lei Bo, with his six-star Sovereign Realm, could see through all this, but others with weaker realms couldn''t understand.


    They only felt amazed by the means and unparalleled wonder seeing Wumang appearing swiftly elsewhere.


    Ye Chen, witnessing Sovereign Wumang escape, his eyes flashed with insight.


    "External Incarnation?"


    Ye Chen had heard of such sovereign-level divine skills.


    "Do you think with your external incarnation, I can''t completely capture you?"


    Swish.


    Ye Chen, without hesitation, pinched the spell in his hand, and the purple-gold Starry Origin power formed another sky-shattering giant palm, once again grabbing towards Sovereign Wumang''s location.


    At the same time, in a place invisible to others, Ye Chen directly extended his entire "blue Divine Soul" probing power, enveloping an area of hundreds of thousands of meters around!


    At this moment, seeing Ye Chen grabbing again, Sovereign Wumang''s eyes turned cold: "Do you think I can be captured by you again?"


    Sovereign Wumang instantly flickered, using the divine skill of external incarnation to appear in another location.


    While dodging Ye Chen''s grasp, Sovereign Wumang took out a divine treasure at the same moment.


    However, before Sovereign Wumang could activate this divine treasure, he heard shocked exclamations from the observing crowd below.


    Following that, Sovereign Wumang saw another purple-gold giant palm grabbing at the location of his newly appeared external incarnation.


    Sovereign Wumang also saw that the purple-gold giant palm aimed at his previous position had not dissipated yet.


    Sovereign Wumang was momentarily stunned. Could it be that this Upper God King he was fighting already knew where he would land and had prepared a second attack on him?


    Thinking of this, Sovereign Wumang couldn''t drive his divine treasure anymore. He could only use the external incarnation to flicker to another location of the Divine Soul''s shadow again.


    But just as he avoided there, a third purple-gold giant palm was already grabbing at him.


    For a moment, the entire battle void formed a jaw-dropping scene.


    One could see Sovereign Wumang''s figure flickering continuously in mid-air, while countless purple-gold giant palms also appeared endlessly in the sky, all grabbing towards the flickering Sovereign Wumang.


    This scene seemed as if no matter how Sovereign Wumang evaded, he couldn''t escape Ye Chen''s purple-gold giant palms!


    Sovereign Wumang could only flee desperately!


    This situation greatly shocked Sovereign Wumang.


    He knew that if this continued, his only outcome was to be captured by the Upper God King in front of him!


    "No."


    "I haven''t even had the chance to use my divine treasure, yet I''m being forced to flee like this. I''m a Sovereign!"


    Feeling immensely humiliated, a decisive thought seemed to flash in Sovereign Wumang''s mind and spirit.


    He unexpectedly stopped dodging, allowing the sky-shattering giant palm driven by Ye Chen to capture him in one grasp.


    However, the moment Ye Chen captured him, Sovereign Wumang unexpectedly closed his eyes, and the faint gray watermark between his eyebrows began to flash violently.


    Seeing Sovereign Wumang''s action, the observing crowd was completely bewildered.


    "What''s happening?!"


    Even Ye Chen noticed something amiss. He sensed Sovereign Wumang''s determination to fight for his life, but Ye Chen didn''t know what exactly Sovereign Wumang intended to do in his desperate struggle.


    Ye Chen could only drive the sky-shattering giant palm, fiercely squeezing towards Sovereign Wumang in his grip; as long as he crushed Wumang''s protective divine light, he could defeat Wumang.


    Ye Chen wouldn''t kill Sovereign Wumang; merely defeating him would suffice.


    At this moment, only the six-star Sovereign Lei Bo seemed to notice some signs.


    Sovereign Lei Bo''s eyes suddenly widened, blurting out, "Could it be that Wumang intends to forcibly activate the second kind of Divine Might of that treasure? But it''s said he hadn''t comprehended that second kind of Divine Might!"


    Just as Lei Bo said this, as Ye Chen drove the sky-shattering giant palm fiercely towards the protective divine light of Sovereign Wumang, the layers of divine light outside Wumang shattered one by one, seemingly unable to hold on. But in the next moment, the space between Wumang''s eyebrows erupted with dazzling divine light.


    Amid the dazzling divine light, the divine treasure Sovereign Wumang had long been holding in his hand also began to emit radiant divine light.


    This divine treasure unexpectedly formed a grayish powerful shockwave in an instant, with a "buzz" sound it suddenly shook out from Sovereign Wumang''s palm.


    The powerful shockwave then directly shattered layers of the giant power grasp driven by Ye Chen, which held Sovereign Wumang!


    In the end, the purple-gold giant palm''s divine power dissipated, flying back towards Ye Chen.


    And upon looking at Sovereign Wumang''s palm, one could see that the divine treasure previously emitting silver light had turned into a greyish hue.


    This divine treasure flickered to appear in front of Sovereign Wumang, revealing its true form.


    It was surprisingly a wedge-shaped bone spur-like divine treasure!

 Chapter 1026 - 975: Admit Defeat!

    The "Bone Spur" shaped divine treasure shattered the violet-gold giant palm, saving Sovereign Wumang, revealing its true form.


    For a moment, all eyes were fixed on the "Bone Spur" divine treasure in front of Sovereign Wumang.


    This "Bone Spur" divine treasure, about half a zhang long, seemed like a piece of bone taken from some fierce beast. Moreover, atop the "Bone Spur," two divine rings flickered, exuding an aura of profound mystery.


    "This is..."


    People from the "Grey-eyed Wing Branch" stared intently at this "Bone Spur" divine treasure, as if they suddenly remembered something.


    Meanwhile, several sovereigns who knew the origin of the "Bone Spur" divine treasure couldn''t help but exclaim: "This divine treasure is the bone spur of the ''Tianjue Divine Beast''!"


    "Long ago, the ''Grey-eyed Wing Branch'' hunted down a five-star sovereign level ''Tianjue Divine Beast'' in the ''Sea of Taboo,'' obtaining a total of seventy-two ''bone spurs.'' Among them, the ''Sovereign Wu Meng'' received three bone spurs directly."


    "He rewarded the smallest ''bone spur'' to his disciple ''Wumang,'' which is the ''bone spur'' now in the hands of ''Sovereign Wumang.''"


    "The ''Tianjue Divine Beast'' is a renowned divine beast in the Sea of Taboo, and even though it has fallen, the ''bone spurs'' on its body still retain the origin divine power of heaven and earth."


    "Even though the ''bone spur'' in the hands of ''Sovereign Wumang'' is relatively weaker among the seventy-two bone spurs, it''s rumored that if all the divine might on it is fully activated, it can absolutely reach the combat strength of a four-star sovereign."


    "Reportedly, ''Sovereign Wu Meng'' once refined four divine rings on this bone spur, and activating each ring can unleash a divine might at the sovereign level."


    "It was said that in the past, ''Sovereign Wumang'' could only activate one divine ring, releasing a one-star sovereign level divine might from this divine treasure. But now, with two rings lit, could it be that ''Sovereign Wumang'' had new insights from the recent battle, having realized this divine treasure''s second divine might?!"


    When these few sovereigns said this, many people gasped.


    A second divine might?


    According to what these sovereigns said earlier, activating each divine ring can unleash a divine might at the sovereign level. Now, with two rings activated, doesn''t that suggest this second divine might has reached the level of a two-star sovereign?!


    One must know, that previously no matter how strong ''Sovereign Wumang'' was, he was only at the pinnacle of one-star sovereign level.


    The gap between a pinnacle one-star sovereign level and a two-star sovereign is a chasm-like disparity.


    Now, with ''Sovereign Wumang'' suddenly possessing two-star sovereign divine might techniques, this means ''Sovereign Wumang'' has surpassed Ye Chen''s initial pre-battle requirements.


    Previously, Ye Chen explicitly stated that he would only accept challenges below the combat strength of a two-star sovereign.


    Thinking of this, everyone''s eyes shifted to the void where ''Sovereign Wumang'' and Ye Chen stood.


    They wanted to see if ''Sovereign Wumang'' would still want to battle this Upper God King.


    Moreover, they wanted to see if this Upper God King, who had been suppressing ''Sovereign Wumang'' into constant evasion at the one-star sovereign level, would still dare to fight in the face of Sovereign Wumang''s sudden surge in combat power!


    Among the onlookers, Yin Ling''er also worriedly gazed at Ye Chen with her beautiful eyes.


    Yin Ling''er didn''t expect such a change would occur in the final battle.


    Her fists quietly tightened.


    She wanted to warn Ye Chen, but was afraid of disturbing him during the fight.


    Beads of sweat formed on Yin Ling''er''s tense and lovely face.


    At this moment, with countless eyes on the void, ''Sovereign Wumang'' was the first to speak.


    ''Sovereign Wumang'' was beyond excited at this moment.


    He hadn''t expected that while being oppressed by Ye Chen, at the very instant of his decisive determination, he would have a special insight with the divine treasure in his hand.


    This insight completely activated the second type of divine might that had troubled him for so long.


    This allowed him to suddenly grasp a stronger second divine might of the divine treasure in his hand!


    One must know, if he had normally gained this insight, it might have taken years, even decades to succeed.


    Now, having suddenly succeeded in gaining insight into the second-tier divine might equivalent to a two-star sovereign level, how could he not be extremely excited?


    Moreover, the little bit of hostility he harbored towards Ye Chen due to Luo Chen being captured, changed to immense gratitude.


    Sovereign Wumang knew that if Ye Chen hadn''t exerted such immense pressure on him, he would never have had the breakthrough insight during the battle!


    At this point, Sovereign Wumang didn''t even care about the outcome of the sparring anymore.


    This breakthrough was already his greatest gain from coming to the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land"!


    Thus, Sovereign Wumang directly spoke to Ye Chen: "Friend ''Jiang Li,'' as you can see, the divine treasure in my hand has undergone a new transformation."


    "At this point, I can now wield the combat strength of a two-star sovereign."


    "According to the rule you mentioned earlier, I have already exceeded the sparring requirements. If you don''t wish to continue, I can stop right here."


    Buzz!


    The words of Sovereign Wumang caused a buzz among the onlookers below.


    The viewers, though understanding that Sovereign Wumang''s insightful breakthrough during the battle indeed diverged from the pre-match agreement, felt immensely regretful about the fight stopping midway.


    After all, they hadn''t yet seen the true limits of this Upper God King in front of them!


    Amidst the buzz, many from the Extreme Spirit Clan also thought Ye Chen would leave it at that.


    But to their surprise, Ye Chen in the void directly responded: "Since the battle isn''t over, there''s no need to stop halfway."


    "A two-star sovereign level divine might and treasure?"


    "Then let me take a look at the two-star sovereign level divine might!"


    Ye Chen still had one more powerful technique that he hadn''t yet used.


    Originally, he didn''t intend to use it. However, with the sudden transformation of ''Sovereign Wumang''s'' divine treasure, Ye Chen now wanted to try out that technique he had not truly tested in real combat yet.


    Ye Chen also wanted to see if that technique, initially estimated to contend with two-star sovereign level, could indeed compete against the combat strength at the two-star sovereign level.


    Ye Chen''s words floated in the void, and the entire battle space instantly became silent!


    The spectators hadn''t expected that this Upper God King, facing the strengthened combat power of "Sovereign Wumang", would still choose to continue the battle.


    Moreover, looking at his demeanor, it seemed as if "Sovereign Wumang''s" enhanced combat power posed no threat to him.


    This made the hearts of the spectators leap wildly.


    Could it be that this Upper God King''s combat power had already reached the level of a two-star Sovereign?!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    In the void, upon hearing Ye Chen''s intention to continue fighting, Sovereign Wumang was momentarily stunned, but then, he looked at Ye Chen with shining eyes.


    Since Ye Chen agreed to continue the battle, Sovereign Wumang was naturally willing as well.


    He also wanted to test the power of the second Divine Might of "Bone Spur" he had just comprehended.


    "Good, good, good!"


    Sovereign Wumang nodded deeply toward Ye Chen.


    "Friend, your choice to continue fighting, regardless of who wins or loses, your magnanimity will absolutely earn Wumang''s admiration!"


    "You can be said to be the most magnanimous God King I''ve ever seen. In our entire ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'', there is definitely no God King who can compare to you!"


    "Since you choose to fight, let''s have a thoroughly exhilarating battle!"


    Swish! Swish! Swish!


    While Sovereign Wumang spoke, he swung the "Bone Spur" in his hand, and the Divine Power surging from the "Bone Spur" instantly enveloped Sovereign Wumang, making him go gray with Divine Light!


    Meanwhile, Ye Chen continued to flash with purple-gold light, channeling the starry origin power into his body.


    The next moment, the two sides clashed once again!


    Earlier, whether Sovereign Wumang transformed into a giant serpent or used the "External Incarnation" technique, he was suppressed by Ye Chen infused with purple-gold starry origin power.


    But this time, with the enhancement of Divine Treasure Divine Might, Sovereign Wumang indeed saw a significant increase in power, and he was able to contend with Ye Chen''s purple-gold starry origin power, with both sides advancing and retreating mutually.


    Within a few dozen breaths, Ye Chen and Sovereign Wumang had already exchanged more than a hundred moves.


    Each time they struck at each other, their attacks created void rifts stretching tens of thousands of feet in the void.


    And when the force of their battle transmitted to the ground, it created vast pits tens of thousands of feet across.


    Were it not for the battle space being crafted by a nine-star Sovereign, possessing extreme recuperative ability, this space might already be in ruins even if not completely destroyed!


    The breathtaking battle between Sovereign Wumang and Ye Chen stirred the blood of the onlookers below.


    This was a battle truly at the level of a two-star Sovereign.


    The spectators never expected that even after Sovereign Wumang had a breakthrough in understanding his Divine Treasure, further elevating his combat power, he still could not suppress that Upper God King.


    When they saw the fight tearing and churning the space and ground for millions of feet, the spectators held their breath.


    They knew, in this situation, whoever had further moves would likely win this final battle.


    At this point, Sovereign Wumang had no further moves left, although he had other techniques, none of them reached the strength of his two-star Sovereign level Divine Treasure technique.


    Sovereign Wumang was now without trump cards.


    But Ye Chen had not reached his limit yet!


    Ye Chen still had cards to play!


    Therefore, Ye Chen had a greater chance of victory!


    Boom!


    Just as the battle reached a stalemate, all the spectators saw the Upper God King they were watching suddenly released an ominous Divine Light from his body.


    Pale golden Divine Light!


    This pale golden Divine Light unexpectedly merged swiftly with the existing "purple-gold Divine Light" on his body.


    In an instant, the aura of this Upper God King underwent a new enhancement!


    Seeing this second Divine Light, even Lei Bo, the six-star Sovereign watching from a distance, was shocked.


    He hadn''t anticipated that after Ye Chen used the purple-gold Divine Light power, which even amazed him, Ye Chen actually wielded a second pale golden Divine Light power.


    Sovereign Lei Bo naturally did not know that the "purple-gold Divine Light" Ye Chen used was merely the starry origin power of the second star; before this starry origin power, Ye Chen could already wield the pale golden starry origin power of the first star.


    Now, at the final juncture of the battle, Ye Chen finally unleashed both starry origin powers!


    Boom! Boom! Boom!


    With both starry origin powers simultaneously reinforced, the Divine Light flashing on Ye Chen was dazzling to the extreme.


    He instantly executed the "Origin Slash Third Form" he comprehended to wield the two starry origin powers.


    Wow! Wow! Wow!


    Just seeing Divine Power rolling in the void, endless sword light surged within a giant hand that towered to the sky, brimming with purple-gold and pale golden hues, it was even more formidable than any purple-gold giant hand Ye Chen had previously deployed!


    Especially the endless sword light erupting from the giant hand, it seemed almost capable of slicing through everything.


    As this power swept toward Sovereign Wumang, Sovereign Wumang immediately felt that his newly comprehended second Divine Might "Bone Spur" Divine Treasure definitely couldn''t withstand this final terrifying attack.


    Sovereign Wumang was even worried whether his "Bone Spur" Divine Treasure would be damaged while fending off this move.


    Thinking to this point, facing the endless sword light erupting from the towering giant hand, Sovereign Wumang retreated explosively backward, while shouting toward Ye Chen: "Friend, I concede!"

 Chapter 1027 - 976: Stars in the Extreme Spirit Sea

    "Fellow Daoist, I surrender!"


    The loud shout of Sovereign Wumang drifted through the void, reaching the ears of Ye Chen, and also those of the innumerable members of the Extreme Spirit Clan and the foreign race spectators below.


    "Surrender?"


    In the void, Ye Chen gently nodded.


    With a flick of his finger, the terrifying purple gold and light gold lethal move aimed at Sovereign Wumang was directly withdrawn.


    The two divine lights of mystical purple gold and light gold that surrounded Ye Chen also retracted back into his body.


    Then, Ye Chen smiled at Sovereign Wumang, and the two who had ended the battle walked down from the Void Heaven.


    At this time, the two sides of the battle were calm, but the spectators below were completely in a frenzy!


    The spectators did not expect that the last skirmish of the three matches would end with this outcome!


    Even though Sovereign Wumang had elevated his combat power to the two-star Sovereign level during the battle, he was ultimately suppressed and forced to surrender.


    And they had doubted the strength of this Upper God King before the match, yet he was even able to defeat Sovereign Wumang with two-star Sovereign-level combat power!


    The spectators, whether they were from the Extreme Spirit Clan or those foreign contenders who came to participate in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection, were both excited and full of respect at this moment.


    They were excited because they had the rare chance to witness an Upper God King completely surpass the "Divine Venerable Realm", entering the Sovereign-level combat power, and this was the two-star Sovereign level.


    This kind of scene is something others might never witness in their lifetime!


    And their respect, of course, was directed towards Ye Chen, the central figure of this battle.


    An Upper God King, who could surpass the three sub-realms of "Earth Divine Venerable, Heavenly Divine Venerable, and Immortal Divine Venerable", stepping into the combat power of the "Sovereign Realm". This naturally garnered respect from everyone present.


    Even some sovereigns present could not achieve such a level of combat power crossing when they were at the God King Realm!


    Amidst the fervor, the viewing area below was filled with noisy discussions.


    At this moment, no one was more excited than Yin Ling''er in the crowd.


    The young girl''s beautiful eyes were shining brightly.


    "He won, Ye Chen won all three skirmish battles!"


    "He defeated Lei Yuan of the ''Thunder-eyed Wing Branch'', our elder Yin Meng of the ''Silver-eyed Wing Branch'', and even Sovereign Wumang with two-star Sovereign-level combat power of the ''Grey-eyed Wing Branch''!"


    "Now, I''m afraid Ye Chen''s name will not only be known to a few people in the clan for saving me. Now, I''m afraid all major branches in the clan will know Ye Chen!"


    "After all, an Upper God King possessing Sovereign-level combat power and proven through real battle! This is definitely an event that will attract the attention of the entire Extreme Spirit Clan!"


    In the midst of Yin Ling''er''s excitement, Ye Chen, who had walked down from the void, moved beside her.


    ...


    Just as Yin Ling''er predicted, after Ye Chen finished the skirmish with the three members of the Extreme Spirit Clan, the discussions and astonishment about these three battles began to spread across the seven branches of the "Extreme Spirit Sea" as the clan members returned from the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" to the "Extreme Spirit Sea".


    Gradually, almost all Martial Artists of the seven branches of the "Extreme Spirit Sea" knew a miraculous Upper God King had arrived in the "Extreme Spirit Clan" to participate in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection.


    And at this time, the Sovereign Realm big figures remaining in the "Extreme Spirit Clan" knew more than the ordinary clan members.


    These Sovereign Realm big figures had learned from the words passed by Yin Ling''er for Ye Chen that this Upper God King, who saved Yin Ling''er, came to the Extreme Spirit Sea to seek an audience with the old Sovereigns who had seen Sovereign Yinsha back then to ask some questions!


    Extreme Spirit Sea.


    The domain where the people of the Extreme Spirit Clan lived.


    This ocean was facing the "Sea of Taboo" across the "Extreme Spirit Light Curtain".


    If Ye Chen could see the whole "Extreme Spirit Sea" and the scene of the Extreme Spirit Clan living within it, he would surely be astounded.


    The "Extreme Spirit Sea" was completely different from the "Sea of Taboo" Ye Chen had traversed.


    Sea of Taboo is a special territory of immense size, covering a large area in the southern end of the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom", filled with terrifying Divine Beasts, fiend beasts, numerous ancient relics, and cave mansions, with nothing else besides.


    Just the eight blazing suns hanging high over the "Sea of Taboo" seem a bit mysterious.


    However, the "Extreme Spirit Sea" is entirely different from the "Sea of Taboo".


    The "Extreme Spirit Sea", more than ten times larger than the "Sea of Taboo", contained countless spherical stars inside, some were under the control of the seven branches of the "Extreme Spirit Clan", and others were mysterious territories governed by the "Extreme Spirit Clan".


    Countless stars were hidden within the ocean.


    One can imagine how vast and grand this "Extreme Spirit Sea" is!


    And these spherical stars submerged by the seawater, under the continuous pressure of the seawater and the constant changes of heaven and earth, underwent mysterious transformations, forming a true star-filled world within the waters of the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    Rumor has it that the Extreme Spirit Sea, this vast ocean, originally did not exist, and within the territory of the Extreme Spirit Sea were once countless normal stars.


    But one unknown day, a torrent of seawater surged from the Star Domain, inundating these countless stars within it!


    Finally, this created the "Extreme Spirit Sea" floating amidst the starry sky!


    And after the formation of the "Extreme Spirit Sea," only then did the people of the Extreme Spirit Clan enter the ocean, discovering innumerable stars hidden within it, eventually settling on the many stars deep in the ocean.


    Of course, all of this dates back to an immensely remote era, and even the legend of the origin of the "Extreme Spirit Sea" is but sparsely recorded in the ancient texts of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    After countless ages of development, the present "Extreme Spirit Clan" has completely adapted to life within the ocean''s stellar world.


    "Ancient Water Planet" is a renowned star within the "Extreme Spirit Sea."


    This star serves as the central meeting place for the seven branches of the "Extreme Spirit Clan."


    At this moment, within the council hall of the "Ancient Water Planet," five Sovereigns are gathered in conversation.


    Among them, four are Eight Stars Sovereigns, while one is a Nine Stars Sovereign.


    At this moment, the nine-star Sovereign named "Heilun" speaks to the other four Sovereigns: "Now, except for the Sovereigns tasked with guarding each branch, the remaining Sovereigns have customarily gone to the ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' for training, so during this phase, clan matters fall to us."


    "I summoned everyone this time to discuss an important issue with you, esteemed friends."


    Heilun Sovereign had just finished speaking when another Eight Stars Sovereign directly said, "Did Heilun summon us here to discuss the matter of the Upper God King ''Jiang Li'' who suddenly came to our clan?"


    Lately, nothing major has occurred in the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    The only event that stirred clan discussions was Ye Chen defeating three strong members of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Thus, this Eight Stars Sovereign immediately thought of this matter.


    Hearing the words of this Eight Stars Sovereign, Heilun Sovereign nodded and said, "Indeed, it is about that ''Jiang Li''.


    "At that time I also heard ''Yin Fang'' mention that this person saved Yin Ling''er of the Silver-eyed Wing Branch. Furthermore, Yin Ling''er asked Yin Fang to report to the clan, saying that the Upper God King wanted to meet some of the elder Sovereigns of our clan to inquire about our ''Sovereign Yinsha'' from tens of thousands of years ago."


    "Those elder Sovereigns have all gone to ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' for training and are not in the clan. Moreover, how could we casually discuss the matters of ''Sovereign Yinsha'' with outsiders?"


    "Therefore, when I first heard the news, I didn''t pay much attention and told ''Yin Fang'' not to worry about it for now."


    As the Nine Stars Sovereign "Heilun" said this, Sovereign Yinfang from the Silver-eyed Wing Branch, also present, nodded and said, "I indeed mentioned this to Heilun before."


    "So, has Heilun now changed his mind?"


    Heilun Sovereign nodded, "Previously we could ignore that Upper God King, but now, we can no longer afford to ignore him."


    "Look here!"


    Swish.


    With that, Heilun Sovereign waved his arm, and a Divine Light appeared in the void of the great hall.


    As soon as the Divine Light appeared, sounds of combat emanated from it.


    Looking into the Divine Light, one could see that it displayed the scene of Ye Chen sparring with three members of the Extreme Spirit Clan!


    Heilun Sovereign, staring at the scene within the Divine Light, explained to the other four Sovereigns, "This reflective Divine Light was reported to me by the Six Stars Sovereign Lei Bo, who is responsible for the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land.''"


    "When the Upper God King fought with our clan''s three members, Lei Bo was present and specifically recorded the battle situation of that Upper God King."


    While Heilun Sovereign spoke, the other four Sovereigns couldn''t help but look at the scene within the Divine Light.


    They had all heard about the extraordinary tale of the newly arrived Upper God King in the Extreme Spirit Clan, but had not yet witnessed this God King''s methods of attack. Now, they were all intensely curious about Ye Chen''s abilities.


    Seeing this, Heilun Sovereign fell silent and joined the four Sovereigns in watching.


    As the entire scene of Ye Chen''s fierce battle with the Extreme Spirit Clan members Lei Yuan, Yin Meng, and Wumang unfolded to its end in the Divine Light, the four remaining Sovereigns simultaneously inhaled deeply in astonishment, unable to stop themselves from exchanging glances!


    "Having seen the conclusion, I trust everyone now understands why I have changed my thinking."


    Heilun Sovereign finally continued, "I was already astonished that the Upper God King could battle two-stars sovereign-level Combat Power and win with only a God King Realm."


    "After watching this battle scene, I finally realized that this Upper God King is unquestionably of extraordinary origin!"


    "His final attack on Wumang with that Purple Gold Divine Light and Light Gold Divine Light undoubtedly carries a great history! It even looks more special than my Nine Stars Sovereign''s Divine Power!"


    "Heilun." The four other Sovereigns also had a glint of keen light in their eyes, "Are you suggesting that behind this Upper God King stands a Divine Master? Is that why he possesses such special Divine Power?"


    Heilun Sovereign shook his head: "No, I fear it''s more than just a Divine Master!"


    "We have seen many Divine Masters, and even when our clan members returned from the Cosmic Sea, they passed on Divine Skills to our people, but have you ever seen anyone with such terrifying Combat Power?!"


    "Behind this Upper God King stands undoubtedly a figure more formidable than a Divine Master!"

 Chapter 1028 - 977 Refining the Divine Fire Again

    "Someone even more formidable than a Divine Master?!"


    This time, the other four Eight Stars Sovereigns simultaneously showed drastic changes in their facial expressions.


    As they are about to step into the Cosmic Sea, they are naturally aware of the hierarchy within the Cosmic Sea, and they certainly understand what someone more formidable than the Divine Master represents.


    "Could it be that behind this Upper God King, there stands a ''Master''?"


    "Or perhaps someone even more terrifying than a ''Master,'' such as a ''Great Emperor'' or ''Star Lord''?!"


    "No, it couldn''t be a ''Great Emperor'' or ''Star Lord.'' Beings of such stature are absolutely transcendent within the Cosmic Sea. Why would they come to this part of the universe to take a minor God King as their disciple?"


    Sovereign Heilun also nodded at this time and said, "It shouldn''t be a ''Great Emperor'' or ''Star Lord.'' It is very likely that behind this Upper God King, there stands a ''Master.''"


    "However, even though a ''Master'' isn''t as terrifying as a ''Great Emperor'' or ''Star Lord,'' they are definitely incomparably superior to a Divine Master!"


    "When a Divine Master returns from the Cosmic Sea, the rulers of Divine Kingdoms may respect them, but they don''t necessarily go to pay homage. After all, many rulers of Divine Kingdoms are formidable Nine Stars Sovereigns, and even further advancement could mean entering the Divine Master Realm; their respect may not be overwhelmingly strong."


    "But the situation with a Master is entirely different!"


    "In a single Divine Kingdom, many individuals breakthrough to the Divine Master Realm and venture into the Cosmic Sea, but among these Divine Masters, a ''Master'' may not necessarily be born. We are fortunate in this part of the universe to have produced many ''Masters'' among those who have ventured into the Cosmic Sea, but in some smaller universes, it is rumored that there isn''t even a single ''Master'' in the Cosmic Sea!"


    "If a ''Master'' were to suddenly appear in a universe, then all the rulers of the Divine Kingdoms must come to pay homage! If they anger the ''Master,'' it''s entirely possible for the ''Master'' to dethrone or even unhesitatingly kill a ruler of a Divine Kingdom!"


    "After all, no matter the status of a ruler of a Divine Kingdom in the Star Domain, within the Divine Kingdom, or even in a universe, they are nothing in front of a ''Master'' in the Cosmic Sea!"


    At this point, Sovereign Heilun''s tone became extremely solemn: "If behind this Upper God King there truly is a ''Master,'' then even if the inquiry about Sovereign Yinsha''s matter has nothing to do with the ''Master,'' and might just be the personal affair of this God King, we must still show face to the ''Master'' and deal with this matter properly."


    "Therefore, since we know now that there likely is a Master-level entity behind this Upper God King, we can''t play ignorant. Regarding his request to meet several elder sovereigns of our clan, we must report this to those elders!"


    The other four Sovereigns nodded one after another: "Yes, that''s essential!"


    "We must report it!"


    Among them, Sovereign Yinfang of the Silver-eyed Wing branch spoke up: "To be honest, at the time of the ''Sovereign Yinsha'' incident, although I was already a Six Stars Sovereign, I also didn''t know what exactly happened. At the time, ''Sovereign Yinsha'' was the one with the strongest combat power among the sovereigns of our clan, and yet she returned hastily only to leave just as quickly, ending in disappearance."


    "In the past, although Sovereign Yinsha followed a Divine Master Lord from our clan to cultivate and frequently traveled across various universes, she would return once every century."


    "But this time, such a long time has passed without any return!"


    "I am also quite curious about where Sovereign Yinsha has gone."


    The rest all shook their heads, and even Sovereign Heilun spoke: "Back then when Sovereign Yinsha returned, she only met with three elder sovereigns before she hurriedly left. Most likely, the events of that day are but lightly known by those three elder sovereigns."


    After a sigh, Sovereign Heilun once again focused on Ye Chen''s request to meet the elder sovereigns.


    He said, "Since everyone has no objections to the matter of Upper God King ''Jiang Li'' requesting a meeting, I will send a ''Communication Signal'' notifying the sovereigns going to ''Haotian Ancient Stream,'' asking them to report to the elder sovereigns."


    "Send the signal, Heilun Brother!" The other four nodded.


    Sovereign Heilun was already prepared. He took out a dark blue bead, held it against his forehead for a moment, then suddenly infused Divine Light from his hand into the bead. With a "whoosh," the dark blue bead transformed into a streak of light, flying out of the hall.


    Seeing the streak of light fly away, Sovereign Heilun sighed, "We have already sent the ''Communication Signal.'' Whether or not to meet that God King depends on the elder sovereigns. Counting the time, over four months remain, and the sovereigns who went to ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' to cultivate should return by then. Before that, the five of us must ensure we handle the affairs of various branch clans well within our confines."


    "As for the Upper God King, until the elder sovereigns respond, he should remain in the ''Extreme Spirit Ancient Land,'' waiting for the selection test in ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land.'' Yinfang, you can inform your clan''s Yin Ling''er, asking her to send a message to the Upper God King, telling him that his request has been reported, and there will be a response in due course, so he need not worry."


    "No problem," Sovereign Yinfang nodded in agreement.


    The Sovereigns are still waiting for a response.


    However, unbeknownst to them, when the Communication Signal streak of light flew out from the "Ancient Water Planet," heading to the deep ocean trench to the north of "Extreme Spirit Sea," namely "Haotian Ancient Stream," it was stopped by a massive black barrier as soon as it reached the shore of "Haotian Ancient Stream," lingering outside the barrier.


    And upon looking at this black barrier, one can see that it completely shelters the "Haotian Ancient Stream," which is larger than many Star Continents!


    Previously, when Extreme Spirit Clan''s Sovereigns entered "Haotian Ancient Stream," such a black barrier has never appeared.


    Clearly, this time, "Haotian Ancient Stream" is distinctly different from before.


    Something unusual seems to have transpired inside!


    ...


    Extreme Spirit Martial Land.


    The room where Ye Chen resides.


    It has been three days since Ye Chen''s sparring match with the three members of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    During these three days, many people within the clan heard about Ye Chen and specifically came to the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" to see what he looked like.


    Feeling like an outsider being watched, Ye Chen had no choice but to shut his room once more, refusing visitors and resuming his training.


    Just now, Yin Ling''er came to see him, and he had a conversation with her.


    Thinking of what Yin Ling''er said, Ye Chen touched his chin.


    "I didn''t expect that asking Ling''er for a little help this time not only made progress with those things but also brought back another good piece of news."


    After the battle with the three Extreme Spirit Clan members, Ye Chen approached Yin Ling''er for a specific purpose¡ª"to search for the cultivation materials for the remaining two Divine Patterns of the Eternal God Body, ''Fire Divine Pattern'' and ''Chaos Divine Pattern.''


    At this moment, Ye Chen had already completed the cultivation of the ''Earth, Water, and Wind'' three Divine Patterns of the Eternal God Body, and had found some materials for the remaining ''Fire Divine Pattern'' and ''Chaos Divine Pattern.''


    Upon arriving at the territory of the True Spirit Divine Kingdom''s five supreme clans, including the Extreme Spirit Clan, he certainly wouldn''t miss the opportunity to search for materials.


    Ye Chen heard from Yin Ling''er that there is a special market in the "Extreme Spirit Sea" within the Extreme Spirit Clan. One can trade treasures there while concealing all personal information.


    Currently unable to enter the Extreme Spirit Clan, Ye Chen entrusted several Divine Objects to Yin Ling''er to trade at the market for the necessary materials.


    The Divine Objects given to Yin Ling''er were either rare items obtained from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" or Divine Treasures acquired from other places. Although these were of little use to Ye Chen, who possesses countless Treasures, they were extremely precious to the members of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Yin Ling''er did not let Ye Chen down, successfully exchanging those items for several missing cultivation materials for the "Fire Divine Pattern."


    Of course, the other good news Ye Chen mentioned was not about the cultivation materials for the Eternal God Body.


    This good news came from the Sovereigns of the Extreme Spirit Clan, who had Yin Ling''er inform Ye Chen that they had reported his request for an audience to the old Sovereign heading to the "Haotian Ancient Stream," and that he should await a response.


    Upon hearing this news, Ye Chen was pleasantly surprised.


    This clearly indicated that his search for "General Yinsha" had progressed further!


    "Indeed, after proving my strength, I quickly gained the attention of the high-level Sovereigns of the Extreme Spirit Clan."


    "It''s not urgent to wait for the message as there''s still about a year left. Regardless of whether the old Sovereign decides to meet me or not, they should provide an answer."


    Ye Chen finally felt a slight relief in his heart.


    "However, during the waiting period, it''s necessary to participate in the selection through the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' to reach the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' early. Then, I won''t need Ling''er''s help to attend the trade market and search for materials myself, as well as explore other treasures."


    "There are still more than twenty days until the selection at the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' begins."


    "During this time, it''s also appropriate to thoroughly study the ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame''!"


    With this in mind, Ye Chen moved with determination. Stretching out his hand, he immediately set up a defensive concealing Grand Formation, thoroughly sealing off his entire room.


    Then, Ye Chen pointed with his hand once more.


    The green Polar Sky Level storage ring obtained in the "Heaven Forbidden Ancient Land" appeared in his hand.


    This Polar Sky Level storage ring contained a vast world inside, and Ye Chen could, of course, enter it.


    To study the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," Ye Chen wouldn''t choose to do it directly in the Extreme Spirit Clan''s room. After all, the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" was ranked second on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List" as an Unsurpassed Divine Fire, so he couldn''t afford to casually reveal any information about it.


    Ye Chen planned to study it inside the Polar Sky Level storage ring. With the natural isolation of the recognized Polar Sky Level storage ring, along with the Formation shield he left outside, he had no worries about anyone seeing him study the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame."


    No sooner said than done.


    Taking out the green Polar Sky Level storage ring, Ye Chen''s mind and spirit shifted, and he transformed into a stream of light, flying into the interior of the Polar Sky Level storage ring.


    Sitting cross-legged within the world inside the Polar Sky Level storage ring, Ye Chen finally took out the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame."


    The "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," having been bound to Ye Chen in the Ancient Temple of the "Heaven Forbidden Ancient Land," remained quiet even though he hadn''t fully mastered this Unsurpassed Divine Fire.


    If it hadn''t been bound, with the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame''s" formidable rank as the second on the "Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List," the storage space of this Polar Sky Level ring could never withstand its presence.


    It''s likely that once released, it would immediately incinerate the entire Polar Sky Level storage ring into nothingness!


    Within the ring''s world, Ye Chen probed into the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" with his Divine Sense, pondering the flame for a whole day.


    Then, Ye Chen began further refinement of the strongest Divine Fire in his possession!

 Chapter 1029 - 978 Selection Arrives

    The golden "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" floated in front of Ye Chen.


    With each day of refinement, the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" seemed to undergo a subtle transformation. Though outwardly, it remained a golden fire, internally, its connection with Ye Chen grew ever closer!


    During the refinement process, Ye Chen even brought out the "Blue Extreme Iceflame" and seven other Extreme Heavenly Divine Fires.


    In the end, unexpectedly, Ye Chen, using an unknown method, managed to drive the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" to completely devour the other seven Extreme Heavenly Divine Fires!


    In the blink of an eye, more than twenty days had passed.


    On the day before the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection began, Ye Chen, who had been sitting and refining the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," finally opened his eyes.


    Ye Chen pointed a finger, and the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" hovering in front of him flashed with a burst of golden light, transforming into a golden firebird.


    The golden firebird flew through the void, performing various marvelous attack moves. Its magical feathers unfolded gently, erupting with terrifying golden flames.


    After gazing at the golden firebird for a few breaths, Ye Chen seemed to sense something, nodding in satisfaction. Then, with a pinch of a spell, the firebird transformed back into its original flame form.


    Ye Chen then opened his mouth and inhaled, drawing the entire "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" into his body!


    Yet, peering into Ye Chen''s body, no trace of the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" could be found!


    "Not bad, not bad."


    "The ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame,'' truly worthy of being the second-ranked ''Unsurpassed Divine Fire'' on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,'' I thought it would be difficult to refine. Little did I expect that its high rank would mean an extremely strong resonance with its master. In just over twenty days, I managed to refine a tenth or so of this ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame.''


    "Moreover, by harnessing the devouring might of this ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame,'' I fully integrated several other acknowledged divine fires into this cluster of the ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame,'' significantly improving my control over it. Not only can I fully unleash the power of a tenth of the refined ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame,'' but I can also absorb it into a nameless space within my body, completely undetectable by anyone!"


    "With the tenth of the attack power of this second-ranked ''Heavenly Forbidden Flame'' on the ''Extreme Heaven Divine Fire List,'' I''ve gained another trump card!"


    Although Ye Chen has yet to truly utilize the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" in a confrontation, he can sense that even a tenth of its attack power is definitely on par with the "Starry Origin Power" methods triggered by the two stars within his most powerful Stars Tower.


    Additionally, due to the unique nature of the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame," Ye Chen would never casually reveal it in front of others unless absolutely necessary, and he plans to further enhance its refinement.


    When the time comes for him to actually wield this divine fire in a critical moment, it will undoubtedly provide him with immense support!


    After properly securing the "Heavenly Forbidden Flame" and sensing it within his body once more, Ye Chen then looked beyond the space of the extreme heaven-grade divine ring.


    "Just one more day until the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection, and over half a month has passed without word from the elder Sovereigns of the ''Extreme Spirit Clan.'' I wonder when they will respond." Ye Chen frowned.


    "Oh well, let''s first get through the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection and enter the ''Extreme Spirit Sea,'' where the ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' resides." Ye Chen murmured to himself as he closed his eyes to cultivate within the extreme heaven-grade divine ring.


    When the second day arrived, the day of the Extreme Spirit Martial Land selection, Ye Chen flew directly from the extreme heaven-grade divine ring back to his room early in the morning.


    When Ye Chen deactivated the formation defense barrier, unblocked the prohibitions, and opened the door, he found the young girl, Yin Ling''er, already waiting outside his door.


    This time, Yin Ling''er was dressed in a white robe, which complemented her fair complexion, making her appear even more delicate.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen, the young girl beamed with crescent-shaped eyes, her bright eyes twinkling as if she had great news. She excitedly called out to Ye Chen, "Brother Ye Chen!"


    Upon a closer look at Yin Ling''er, Ye Chen immediately understood the source of her joy.


    In just over twenty days, Yin Ling''er had advanced from the Lower God King Realm to the Middle God King Realm.


    "Ling''er, you''ve made a breakthrough in your cultivation." Ye Chen smiled at Yin Ling''er as he stepped out of the room.


    "I''ve broken through, Brother Ye Chen, I''ve broken through!" Yin Ling''er chirped excitedly, her hands folded behind her back as she jumped in front of Ye Chen, "Thanks to the ''Divine Milk'' you gave me, I took it and immediately broke through the bottleneck, advancing to the Middle God King Realm!"


    "If it weren''t for you, Brother Ye Chen, without finding anything in the ''Shallow Blue Sea Area'' to break through, I don''t know how long I would have been stuck in the Lower God King bottleneck!"


    Seeing Yin Linger''s excitement, Ye Chen couldn''t help but smile as well, "While the ''Divine Milk'' does help in breaking through bottlenecks, it also requires one to cultivate to the peak of a minor realm and sense the bottleneck approaching. Your breakthrough is mainly due to your good foundational cultivation."


    "However, Ling''er, though you''ve advanced to the Middle God King, don''t become complacent. The journey from the Middle God King to the Upper God King is also a lengthy one, and you''ll need to continually refine your tactics."


    "Mm." Listening to Ye Chen''s guidance, Yin Linger quickly nodded, "Brother Ye Chen, I definitely won''t slack off."


    "Brother Ye Chen, you''re only three years older than me, yet you''re already at the Upper God King Realm. Moreover, Brother Ye Chen, your tactics are so powerful, you can even defeat a Two-Star Sovereign. Such mastery must take a lot of time to cultivate; Brother Ye Chen, your level of combat power is something Ling''er is far from reaching."


    "With you as an example, Brother Ye Chen, Ling''er doesn''t dare to slack off at all!"


    The young girl''s words brought a smile to Ye Chen''s heart.


    "Ling''er probably doesn''t know how many crises I''ve gone through, how many fortuitous encounters I''ve experienced to reach my current stage. Otherwise, breaking through from Lower God King to Middle God King would take at least several decades to a hundred years, and breaking through from Middle God King to Upper God King would take an even longer time."


    Ye Chen''s breakthrough to the God King Realm mainly happened in the "Heavenly God Mountain." The Heavenly God Mountain is an opportunity left by the power of the "Ancestral God Temple" in the Cosmic Sea, an opportunity that is extremely rare in this universe.


    "However, breaking through from Upper God King to the ''Earth Divine Venerable'' in the God Venerable Realm is another major hurdle."


    It has been several months since Ye Chen broke through to the Upper God King Realm at the Heavenly God Mountain, and he has been steadily advancing towards the pinnacle of the Upper God King.


    Compared to other God Kings, Ye Chen''s cultivation speed is extraordinarily fast.


    But the process of breaking through from Upper God King to Earth Divine Venerable, even with Ye Chen''s rapid speed, is still a major hurdle moving from the "God King Realm" to the "Divine Venerable Realm." It is not possible to complete in just a few months or a year or two.


    Ye Chen has yet to sense the arrival of the breakthrough bottleneck.


    "Back then, Long Li broke through from Upper God King to Earth Divine Venerable because we merged the ''Blue Extreme Iceflame'' in the ''Nine Suns Ancient Land,'' aided by the ''Heavenly Union Flame'' and a special training between us, which led to a successful breakthrough."


    "Such a breakthrough opportunity is just like when I trained in the ''Divine Transformation Pool'' at the ''Heavenly God Mountain,'' these are circumstances one cannot force."


    "There''s no rush to reach the ''Divine Venerable Realm,'' actually."


    "In a few years, I will represent ''Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom'' as a God King for the ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle'' in this universe. Before participating in the ''Stellar Domain Genius Battle,'' even if I reach the peak bottleneck of the God King Realm, I will refrain from using the ''Divine Milk'' to break through, stay in the God King Realm stage, and strive for excellent results in the ''Battle of the God Kings'' for the ''Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom'' first!"


    Participating in the "Stellar Domain Genius Battle" is the third requirement of Sovereign Xuechen and the Northern Territory King for Ye Chen.


    Although Ye Chen breaking through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm before the Stellar Domain Genius Battle won''t draw any objections from both sovereigns, it was originally due to him that Long Li advanced early to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm and could not represent "Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom" in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle''s "Battle of the God Kings."


    The results of the Stellar Domain Genius Battle are also related to resource distribution between the "Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom" and other divine kingdoms.


    Ye Chen certainly has the obligation to complete this task for Long Li!


    Once he breaks through to the Earth Divine Venerable Realm, although his combat power will undoubtedly reach a higher level, competing in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle''s "Battle of Divine Venerables" and becoming one of the leading figures among all the "Divine Venerables" in this universe will not be an easy feat.


    Ye Chen knows that many "Divine Venerables" from powerful clans are certainly capable of battling a Sovereign, possessing high-level sovereign combat power!


    With confidence representing the God King Realm in the fight, Ye Chen is certain he can at least secure a top position in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle''s "Battle of the God Kings"!


    This would far exceed the initial requirement mentioned by the two sovereigns for him to reach the final round of the Stellar Domain Genius Battle''s "Battle of the God Kings"!


    "Currently, whether it''s a great divine kingdom like the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' or relatively smaller divine kingdoms like the ''Wanmu Mountain Divine Kingdom,'' there should be no God King who can compare to me. The ones potentially stronger than me are only from the most powerful clans in this universe¡ªthe ''Moke Ancient Clan,'' ''Netherworld Ancient Clan,'' such clans of God Kings!"


    Ye Chen knew from the "Heavenly Spirit Rankings" on the fifth floor of the Stars Tower that high-level life forms such as the Moke Ancient Clan and the Netherworld Ancient Clan are clans transmitted to this universe from the Cosmic Sea.


    In the Cosmic Sea, the Moke Ancient Clan is even stronger than the human race.


    With the human race capable of producing strong figures like the "Zi Ji Star Lord," the Moke Ancient Clan certainly also has strong "Star Lord" figures.


    It''s possible there are God Kings among those ancient clans who obtained "Star Lord" inheritances.


    Even if Ye Chen''s current combat power could transcend the major realm of "Divine Venerable Realm," Ye Chen would never be arrogant enough to claim he could surpass all the God Kings in this universe.


    Even though he decided to restrain his realm before the Stellar Domain Genius Battle''s "Battle of God Kings," Ye Chen would never slacken for even a moment. He is determined to enhance his combat power as much as possible within the God King Realm, striving to face any opponent in the Stellar Domain Genius Battle''s "Battle of God Kings"!


    "Brother Ye Chen, Brother Ye Chen..."


    Yin Ling''er''s white hand waved in front of Ye Chen''s face, bringing him back from his thoughts.


    "Brother Ye Chen, what are you thinking about?" Yin Ling''er asked curiously.


    Ye Chen smiled, "It''s nothing, just thinking about some matters concerning the God King Realm."


    Looking outside, quite a few people from foreign races were heading towards the selection area, and many were greeting him, Ye Chen nodded back at them.


    Then, Ye Chen said to Yin Ling''er, "Ling''er, let''s go. It''s about time to see what the selection at the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' is like."

 Chapter 1030 - 979: Photographing Spirit Mirror and Unexpected Event

    The Extreme Spirit Martial Land selection process is carried out in a special selection realm.


    This selection realm is just like the Battle Space where Ye Chen once sparred with three members of the Extreme Spirit Clan; both were created by a Nine Star Sovereign of the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    Inside the selection realm, it''s extraordinary in size and incredibly solid.


    When Ye Chen and Yin Ling''er arrived at this realm, hundreds of thousands of people had already gathered and more continued to stream in.


    Among them, aside from tens of thousands who, like Ye Chen, came to participate in the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection'' as foreign races, the vast majority were from the seven branches of the Extreme Spirit Clan, coming to watch the bustle.


    Upon entering, Ye Chen and Yin Ling''er were both surprised by the sea of people and the bustling scene.


    "Ye Chen, big brother, usually the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection'' mainly attracts outsiders participating in the selection. Our Extreme Spirit Clan rarely shows interest in watching such selections, apart from a few people. I didn''t expect so many would come this time."


    "The number this time is more than ten times that of previous events!"


    Amidst exclamations, Yin Ling''er quickly deduced why so many clan members came here.


    "Ye Chen, big brother, with so many people here this time, most are probably here to watch you participate in the selection!"


    "After all, your reputation has spread throughout the Extreme Spirit Clan. Most people missed your previous spar with the three of our clan members, and now they want to see what you truly look like!"


    Saying this, Yin Ling''er giggled.


    The young girl found it quite amusing to see so many coming for the spectacle.


    "Ye Chen, big brother, you are indeed very charming!"


    Yin Ling''er thought quietly to herself.


    As Ye Chen and Yin Ling''er moved towards the crowd from the entrance, countless gazes focused on Ye Chen.


    "Look!"


    "The Upper God King ''Jiang Li'', he''s here!"


    "Wow, so young, is he really that powerful?"


    For many of the Extreme Spirit Clan, it was their first time seeing Ye Chen, and they were all amazed.


    Hearing the countless discussions and feeling himself become the center of attention, coupled with the teasing glance from the young girl Yin Ling''er beside him, Ye Chen could only smile helplessly.


    In this selection realm, there are designated selection areas.


    After bidding farewell to Yin Ling''er, Ye Chen headed directly towards the selection area.


    Before reaching the selection area, many foreign participants began greeting Ye Chen.


    "''Jiang Li'', my friend!"


    "Brother ''Jiang Li''!"


    These foreign participants lived with Ye Chen in the residential area of the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land''. Many had personally witnessed Ye Chen''s three epic battles and worshipped him to an extreme degree.


    Ye Chen also waved at these people with a smile, then walked into the center of the crowd.


    "Chi Xuan, my friend, in this ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection'', what kind of tests will there be?" Ye Chen asked a burly Upper Immortal Divine Venerable nearby.


    This Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, Chi Xuan, is from a mid-tier tribe in the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, the Chiyou Clan.


    The Chiyou Clan is proficient in the ''Earth Escape'' Divine Skills, and in appearance, they are very similar to the human tribes, except their skin is layered in an earthy brown color and their heads are rather long and pointed.


    Although Ye Chen has mostly been cultivating since arriving at the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'', spending little time outside, he lives quite close to Chi Xuan, the Upper Immortal Divine Venerable of the Chiyou Clan, so they are quite familiar with each other.


    Upon Ye Chen''s inquiry, Chi Xuan, though an Upper Immortal Divine Venerable, showed no hint of looking down upon Ye Chen, a Divine King.


    Chi Xuan had personally witnessed Ye Chen''s prowess!


    "''Jiang Li'', my friend, while you were busy cultivating these past days, I managed to gather a fair amount of information," Chi Xuan said quietly to Ye Chen, "I heard that every time the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection'' comes around, the tests are different, and this time is no exception."


    "Apart from the first stage, which checks if the participating foreign races harbor hostility towards the Extreme Spirit Clan or have any malicious intent to infiltrate the Extreme Spirit Sea by using the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' test as before, the remaining selection rounds will all be new and completely different from previous times."


    "Furthermore, until the selection officially begins, no one except the high-ranking Sovereigns of the Extreme Spirit Clan who set the selection rules knows what the actual selection methods will be!"


    Hearing Chi Xuan''s words, Ye Chen nodded.


    "What Chi Xuan said aligns with what Ling''er told me, as well as what the Huyan Divine Master mentioned to me in the past at the Demon Tombs. It seems that aside from the first ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' test, no one really knows about the other selection methods."


    Even though he wasn''t aware of the exact selection process, Ye Chen did not feel any apprehension.


    Back at the Demon Tombs, Ye Chen had already fought with a combat doll left by General Yinsha on a dead star, where Huyan Divine Master assured him that Ye Chen would surely pass the combat power evaluation for the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection''.


    As for the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' test to determine if any participant harbors hostility towards the Extreme Spirit Clan, Ye Chen was even less worried.


    He held no hostility towards the Extreme Spirit Clan whatsoever.


    Thinking about the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'', Ye Chen grew curious...


    "What kind of miraculous treasure is this ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' that it can test whether participants in the selection process hold resentment towards the Extreme Spirit Clan? Is it possibly a type of divine soul testing treasure?"


    Though Ye Chen had heard the name ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'', he had never seen it and knew nothing about its origins.


    "All will become clear once I see the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' and experience its testing method," Ye Chen thought to himself.


    As they waited in the crowd, the start time for the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection'' drew nearer.


    In the end, the number of people pouring into the selection heaven and earth reached as many as a million!


    What surprised Ye Chen and the others the most was that just before the selection was about to begin, three high-ranking Sovereigns of the Extreme Spirit Clan entered the selection heaven and earth, among which there was even a Nine Star Sovereign!


    "A Nine Star Sovereign?! Could it be that this time a Nine Star Sovereign will preside over the selection?"


    Ye Chen found it hard to believe.


    After all, he had heard from Yin Ling''er that this kind of "Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selection" was always presided over by the Six Star Sovereign responsible for guarding the Extreme Spirit Martial Land, and he had never heard of anyone beyond the Six Star Sovereign presiding over a selection.


    Moreover, the Sovereigns of the Extreme Spirit Clan were said to have gone to the "Haotian Ancient Stream" for cultivation, leaving only one Nine Star Sovereign in the clan.


    Ye Chen heard from Yin Ling''er that the Nine Star Sovereign was called "Sovereign Heilun".


    Could it be that this Nine Star Sovereign in person is that "Sovereign Heilun"?


    At this moment, seeing a Nine Star Sovereign bringing an Eight Star Sovereign, along with the Six Star Sovereign Lei Bo responsible for the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" whom many people in the field were familiar with, entering the selection space, not only Ye Chen was shocked, but even many clansmen of the Extreme Spirit Clan were extremely surprised and started discussing among themselves.


    Quite a few clansmen of the Extreme Spirit Clan who recognized the Nine Star Sovereign and the Eight Star Sovereign even called out directly.


    "Elder Heilun!"


    "Elder Yin Fang!"


    The Nine Star Sovereign and the Eight Star Sovereign were surprisingly the Sovereign Heilun and the Sovereign Yinfang of the Silver-eyed Wing branch, which were previously discussed to help Ye Chen transmit a message to the elderly Sovereign who went to the "Haotian Ancient Stream".


    Hearing the surprising voices around, Sovereign Heilun smiled at the crowd and waved his hand.


    Immediately, his gaze penetrated the crowd, looking at Ye Chen in the selection area.


    "This must be young brother ''Jiang Li''."


    "I came here this time not to preside over the selection, but to talk about something with young brother ''Jiang Li''. The matter of presiding over the selection is still left to Lei Bo, my young brother."


    Boom!


    Sovereign Heilun, being a Nine Star Sovereign.


    Although his voice was not loud, it clearly reached everyone''s ears.


    With a "swish", all eyes turned to Ye Chen, as everyone was evidently not expecting the Nine Star Sovereign "Elder Heilun" to come personally to see the miraculous Divine King and to speak with this Upper God King.


    "Heilun Senior!"


    "Yin Fang Senior!"


    Hearing Sovereign Heilun''s words, Ye Chen quickly cupped his fists and bowed to Sovereign Heilun and Sovereign Yinfang.


    He already knew from Yin Ling''er passing the message that these two helped him greatly in seeking a meeting with the elderly Sovereign of the Extreme Spirit Clan, and the commotion among the crowd also made him aware of their titles.


    While saluting the two sovereigns, Ye Chen''s heart skipped a beat.


    He thought of something.


    More than twenty days ago, Ye Chen heard Yin Ling''er mention that the two sovereigns had already sent Divine Sense messages to the "Haotian Ancient Stream".


    During this period, Ye Chen had been waiting for news.


    Logically speaking, with the Extreme Spirit Clan''s method of transmitting messages, twenty days should be more than enough time for a response to come back.


    Now seeing Sovereign Heilun coming personally to say there was something to be said, Ye Chen immediately had a premonition, could it be that there was some unexpected situation with the message sent to "Haotian Ancient Stream"?


    While Ye Chen was speculating, Sovereign Heilun''s voice had already directly transmitted through the secret Divine Sense into his ears.


    This time, Sovereign Heilun did not reveal the words for others to hear.


    Only hearing Sovereign Heilun say to Ye Chen: "Young brother Jiang Li, regarding your request to see my clan''s elderly Sovereign, I am already aware and have reported it to the elderly Sovereign, however, there was a slight unexpected situation with this matter..."


    Sure enough.


    Just hearing this first sentence caused Ye Chen''s expression to change.


    Ye Chen''s gaze turned to Sovereign Heilun, wanting to hear what more he had to say.


    Sovereign Heilun continued: "The Divine Sense message sent to the ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' never received a response, and just a few days ago, I too felt something was amiss, so I specifically went to the ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' once, and as a result, I saw that the Divine Sense message was blocked outside the ''Haotian Ancient Stream'', and never entered the ''Haotian Ancient Stream''."


    "No wonder there was no response from the elderly Sovereigns cultivating within the ''Haotian Ancient Stream''!"


    "Moreover, I discovered that the entire ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' was shrouded by a powerful force, temporarily impossible to enter the ''Haotian Ancient Stream''."


    The Haotian Ancient Stream is shrouded by a powerful force?


    Unable to enter it?


    The Divine Sense message blocked outside?


    Hearing this news, Ye Chen''s heart skipped a beat, could it be that something happened to those Extreme Spirit Clan Sovereigns who went into the ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' to cultivate?


    If something happened to those elderly Sovereigns, then he might not even be able to find out the last bit of information about General Yinsha.


    However, the next moment, Sovereign Heilun''s words made Ye Chen''s heart relax a little.


    "However, young brother Jiang Li, you don''t have to worry too much, the force shrouding the entire ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' is precisely the power of our clan''s Sovereigns, rather than any other special force."


    "Although it appears that something unexpected happened at the ''Haotian Ancient Stream'', there are many of our clan''s powerful Sovereigns there, and they deliberately used Divine Power to shroud it, there must be special reasons, plus with so many powerful Sovereigns of our clan present, there is no need to worry too much about their safety."

 Chapter 1031 - 980 Secret Patterns

    "I left that divine message outside of the ''Haotian Ancient Stream.'' Once the formidable powers of my clan remove the divine power''s concealment, they will naturally discover the message, and then there will surely be a response."


    Sovereign Heilun said finally.


    Sovereign Heilun''s words made Ye Chen nod.


    Indeed, almost ninety-nine percent of the Sovereigns of the Extreme Spirit Clan went to the "Haotian Ancient Stream" this time. As one of the five great Supreme Clans in the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom," the strength of the Extreme Spirit Clan is not much weaker than that of the Blood Wing Clan and the Nine Flames Clan. The clan has more than twenty Nine Star Sovereigns, and countless Sovereigns below the Nine Star Lord realm.


    At this moment, only Sovereign Heilun, a Nine Star Sovereign, remains in the clan to oversee clan affairs. Just entering the "Haotian Ancient Stream," there are more than twenty Nine Star Sovereigns.


    With so many Nine Star Sovereigns, it seems virtually impossible for anything to happen in the cultivation ground "Haotian Ancient Stream."


    However, given the unusual events occurring there, Ye Chen was not willing to sit idly by.


    After all, this concerns his important task of finding General Yinsha and lifting the curse of the "Huyan Divine Master"!


    Ye Chen transmitted to Sovereign Heilun, asking: "Senior Heilun, is there any way I could go to ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' and see for myself?"


    As if already anticipating Ye Chen''s question, Sovereign Heilun smiled and said: "I know, young friend Jiang Li, that you come from an extraordinary background and have countless means. However, ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' is a crucial cultivation land for our Extreme Spirit Clan, and it''s difficult even for ordinary members of our clan to enter, let alone people from foreign races."


    "For young friend Jiang Li to cultivate inside ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' is practically impossible. Even to just have a look outside the ''Haotian Ancient Stream,'' you must help the Extreme Spirit Clan complete missions, accumulate ''merit points'' to achieve ''first-class merit,'' and become someone of great contribution to our Extreme Spirit Clan."


    Realizing that entering to cultivate in the "Haotian Ancient Stream" is indeed impossible for him as a non-member of the Extreme Spirit Clan, Ye Chen thought that to be able to check outside and assess the situation of the "Haotian Ancient Stream" would already be acceptable.


    "Afraid helping the Extreme Spirit Clan with missions and accumulating ''merit points'' to reach ''first-class merit'' isn''t easy, is it?" Ye Chen asked Sovereign Heilun, "I only have a year to stay here at the Extreme Spirit Clan."


    He doesn''t have that much time to complete missions slowly and accumulate merit points at the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    If within half a year there are no clues about General Yinsha, he will have to find another way to remove the curse left by the "Huyan Divine Master" within him.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s words, Sovereign Heilun seriously replied, "It is indeed not easy to accumulate merit points to reach ''fixed merit'' in the Extreme Spirit Clan. This requirement not only demands achieving the highest grades in the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection, but also to be directly selected into the best ''Extreme Spirit Mission Team'' to complete missions for the Extreme Spirit Clan, and even face the most dangerous tasks during the process to accumulate enough merit points in a short time to reach ''first-class merit'' and gain the greatest freedom in the Extreme Spirit Clan."


    "If your results in the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection are not good, and you are selected into a weaker ''Extreme Spirit Mission Team,'' the missions will be much less dangerous, and the accumulation of merit points will be much slower."


    Ye Chen nodded, pondering in his heart: "Looks like I need to prepare two strategies."


    "First one is to wait inside the Extreme Spirit Clan for news from the old Sovereigns about General Yinsha, and ideally have the chance to visit ''Haotian Ancient Stream'' as soon as possible."


    "This means I must achieve top grades in this ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection."


    "According to Ling''er''s explanations of past ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection rules, regardless of the selection methods, my combat power should be enough for top grades, as long as I don''t hold back too much."


    "Okay, then let''s really go for it in the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection! After all, I''m going to spend some time here at the Extreme Spirit Clan and want to look for treasures in those trade fairs to cultivate the Eternal God Body. The more merit points I accumulate, the greater freedom I can gain in the Extreme Spirit Clan."


    "Of course, the second preparation is also very critical."


    "With just about a year left from the time limit set by ''Huyan Divine Master'' to find General Yinsha, if I can''t find General Yinsha during this time period, I''ll have to rely on other methods to dispel the curse danger left by ''Huyan Divine Master'' inside my body."


    "The curse left by the Divine Master can only be removed by finding someone more powerful than the Divine Master, or trying to find a way to solve the curse power from the ''Skywind Medical Scripture'' left by the ''Skywind Divine Master''."


    Ye Chen''s mind and spirit flickered, and he made an instant decision.


    Seeing the change in Ye Chen''s expression, as his face gradually grew resolute, Sovereign Heilun realized that this extraordinary Divine King probably already had many ideas in mind.


    As for why this Divine King was searching for Sovereign Yinsha, Sovereign Heilun was not particularly concerned.


    He cared that this Divine King, possibly with a great personage backing him, came to the Extreme Spirit Clan, and he must be treated kindly without leaving any grievances.


    This was also why he, a Nine Star Sovereign, came to the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," to explain to Ye Chen the reasons behind the changes in the "Haotian Ancient Stream."


    Finally, Sovereign Heilun said to Ye Chen: "Young friend Jiang Li, these are the matters I wanted to convey. If any more news comes from the ''Haotian Ancient Stream,'' I will inform young friend Jiang Li."


    "I will take my leave now as there are still many matters to attend to in the clan."


    "I wish young friend Jiang Li success in achieving satisfying results in the ''Extreme Spirit Martial Land'' selection."


    This final statement clearly signaled his departure. Sovereign Heilun didn''t telepathically message Ye Chen again; instead, his voice once more resonated in the selection space.


    Hearing the courteous tone of Sovereign Heilun''s words, many people from the Extreme Spirit Clan and the foreign race participants in the Extreme Spirit Martial Land selection were greatly surprised.


    They knew Ye Chen was formidable.


    But they didn''t expect Sovereign Heilun, a great figure in the Nine Star Lord realm, to be so polite to Ye Chen!


    "This Upper God King ''Jiang Li'' seems to have a background even more extraordinary than we imagined!"


    "Otherwise, Elder Heilun (Sovereign) wouldn''t be so courteous to him!"


    "What did Elder Heilun (Sovereign) say to him?!"


    For a moment, everyone''s gaze toward Ye Chen became markedly different.


    Ye Chen also knew that Sovereign Heilun intentionally let those words spread, giving him some face, showing the crowd his regard for him.


    Ye Chen was quite grateful in his heart for Sovereign Heilun coming specifically to speak.


    Ye Chen cupped his fists toward Sovereign Heilun and said, "I understand your intentions, senior."


    "Senior, please go about your duties. After the selection at Extreme Spirit Martial Land finishes, when I can enter the Extreme Spirit Sea, I''ll certainly visit you again!"


    Sovereign Heilun smiled, patted Ye Chen on the shoulder, then nodded to Sovereign Lei Bo beside him before swiftly leaving the selection realm.


    The nearby Sovereign Yinfang also exchanged polite words with Ye Chen before departing.


    The scene returned to the normal state of the selection process.


    At this time, Sovereign Lei Bo, responsible for overseeing the selection of "Extreme Spirit Martial Land," finally announced the beginning of this "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection and began to announce the official rules.


    ...


    According to Sovereign Lei Bo, this "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection will be divided into four rounds.


    The first round is the "Photographing Spirit Mirror" test, which solely assesses whether the foreign participants harbor hostility towards the Extreme Spirit Clan or have special intentions of infiltrating the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    The test results are simply pass or fail, not involving other scores.


    However, starting from the second to the fourth round, each selection process will result in four grades: Upper Level, Middle Level, Lower Level, and Eliminated.


    If any round in the later stages results in the worst grade of "Eliminated," there will be no chance to pass the selection to enter the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    Simultaneously, Sovereign Lei Bo also mentioned that the better the scores achieved by foreign participants in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection, the higher the level of assignments they will be given after entering the Extreme Spirit Clan, and the better the treatment they will receive.


    Ye Chen considered these factors during his conversation with Sovereign Heilun.


    In the next three rounds, Ye Chen will strive to achieve Upper Level scores; if he achieves Upper Level in all three rounds, it will be the best result in this selection, facilitating his swift accumulation of merit points.


    After Sovereign Lei Bo announced the selection rules, the tens of thousands of foreign participants in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land" selection were taken to the first selection location¡ª the "Photographing Spirit Mirror" area.


    This was a location at the far right of this selection realm.


    Here, there was a massive circular blue light sphere, thousands of feet large, towering above the earth.


    Sovereign Lei Bo said to the tens of thousands of foreign participants, "Inside this blue light sphere is the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' space. All participants must fly into this space to partake in the test."


    "At that time, everyone will enter a separate ''mirrored world'' within the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' to undergo testing."


    "The test duration will last for an hour."


    "If, during this hour, you are repelled by the blue light sphere, it means the test is not aligned, indicating there are certainly some issues with you and the Extreme Spirit Clan. Those who don''t qualify should leave on their own."


    "Of course, the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' is a miraculous treasure of our clan. If anyone harbors great enmity or malicious intentions towards us, the blue light sphere will alert us as it repels you. At that time, don''t blame our clan for being merciless."


    Sovereign Lei Bo''s words were stern, causing many foreign participants to hurriedly nod.


    Regarding the "Photographing Spirit Mirror," these foreign participants had already gathered information; those who truly came here would not dare risk their lives to offend the Extreme Spirit Clan.


    After everyone understood, Sovereign Lei Bo waved his hand, allowing the participants to fly into the blue light sphere to formally begin the first round of the "Photographing Spirit Mirror" test.


    Whizz! Whizz! Whizz!


    The tens of thousands of foreign participants, like a swarm of locusts, flew into the blue light sphere, each entering different testing spaces.


    Among the crowd, Ye Chen also spent a few moments observing the blue light sphere.


    Then, without any visible movement, he flashed into the blue light sphere.


    Once inside the blue light sphere, Ye Chen found himself in a small space where everything above, below, and around, except for the spot he stood, was filled with gleaming mirrors.


    These mirrors did not reflect Ye Chen''s image; instead, they were inscribed with special patterns.


    Upon Ye Chen''s entry into this space, these special patterns began emitting bright silver light, and in an instant, all the light shone upon Ye Chen.

 Chapter 1032 - 981: Terrifying Power

    In the other testing spaces, they were also entirely filled with brightly shining mirrors.


    The special engravings on these mirrors emitted extremely bright silver light, shining upon all members of the foreign races.


    At the moment the light shone, these people were immediately confined by an unknown force within the testing space.


    An extraordinary soul investigation began to unfold directly within their divine souls!


    An hour of "Photographing Spirit Mirror" testing time.


    Clearly, these mirrors in the space are the so-called "Photographing Spirit Mirrors."


    As time passed, among the tens of thousands being tested, hundreds were directly rejected by the blue light sphere.


    Each of the ones rejected felt immense fear in their hearts.


    They didn''t harbor a significant enmity towards the Extreme Spirit Clan, and they had unintentionally killed members of the clan during previous explorations thinking such hidden matters wouldn''t be detected by the "Photographing Spirit Mirror," but unexpectedly, the mirror could uncover these incidences, directly rejecting them!


    Fortunately, they personally did not have deep hatred against the Extreme Spirit Clan; they did not intentionally kill clan members back then, and were not specially marked by the "Photographing Spirit Mirror." Otherwise, being here for the selection process, they might have directly faced retaliation and death from the clan members!


    Seeing they couldn''t pass the test at the "Photographing Spirit Mirror," these rejected foreign members didn''t have the face to linger further in the "Extreme Spirit Martial Land''s selection space."


    With pale expressions, they respectfully saluted the indifferent Sovereign Lei Bo observing them from the side, and left dejectedly.


    At this time, almost everyone was caught in the soul investigation of the "Photographing Spirit Mirror."


    However, there was someone who was an exception.


    That person was Ye Chen!


    While other testers were restrained by the enigmatic force of the "Photographing Spirit Mirror" within the testing space to undergo soul testing, Ye Chen felt that the moment the rays emitted by the mirror''s special engravings reached him, it was as if a fuse triggered something else.


    Instantly, Ye Chen felt a strange object directly manifest within him.


    When he saw this peculiar object, it was as if a thunderous explosion went off in Ye Chen''s mind.


    This peculiar object was undoubtedly the mysterious "rune seal" from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" that once transported him to the "Sea of Taboo!"


    Formed by the three segments of unnamed mantras Ye Chen received in the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds," this bizarre "rune seal"!


    Back then, this strange "rune seal" transported Ye Chen from the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" to the "Sea of Taboo," then vanished silently.


    Ye Chen thought it had directly disappeared from him.


    But Ye Chen didn''t expect the mysterious "rune seal" was still within him, and during this round of the "Photographing Spirit Mirror" test, it revealed itself!


    What shocked Ye Chen even more was that upon its manifestation, this strange "rune seal" lightly trembled.


    That subtle tremor.


    Ye Chen felt as if an earth-shattering, fearful power was sealed within this mysterious "rune seal."


    This power gave Ye Chen the impression that it far surpassed the feeling he had when facing the Huyan Divine Master.


    This power felt as if it was countless times stronger than even a Divine Master.


    As if, should Ye Chen command this power, he could crush millions of stars in this universe with just a twist of his hand!


    How could Ye Chen not be astonished?


    Hidden within him, was such a peculiar "rune seal," revealing a terrifying force, which was truly shocking.


    Ye Chen intended to carefully inspect this odd "rune seal," but after a tremble, it absorbed all the rays aimed at him from the "Photographing Spirit Mirror" and subsequently, the brightly shining mirrors in Ye Chen''s testing space dimmed, and the special engravings ceased emitting light, as the bizarre "rune seal" within Ye Chen disappeared again.


    This time, even though the peculiar "rune seal" vanished, Ye Chen knew it was thoroughly hidden within him, hidden somewhere unknown.


    "This ''rune seal,'' definitely harbors a huge secret!"


    "What is its purpose in taking me from the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' to the ''Sea of Taboo''?"


    "Containing such terrifying power, seemingly a force countless times more dreadful than a Divine Master, what is its motive hiding within me?!"


    "Why was I never able to detect this ''rune seal,'' but it appeared momentarily here at the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror,'' could it be, that there''s some connection between the ''rune seal'' and the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror''?"


    Inside the testing space, Ye Chen could no longer focus on the "Photographing Spirit Mirror," his mind raced contemplating all these questions.


    "Luckily, this ''rune seal'' and its power, seemingly doesn''t intend to harm me."


    "Otherwise, with this force, not just myself, but destroying the entire ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom'' with ease would be simple!"


    Thinking of this, Ye Chen''s mind eased slightly.


    Yet, having such an explosive element hidden within him, felt unusual to Ye Chen.


    "The fact that an entity as powerful could form a ''rune seal'' in the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' indeed shows its uniqueness."


    "Divine Masters can''t teleport within the ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom,'' but this bizarre ''rune seal'' transferred me from ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' to ''Sea of Taboo.''


    "I initially speculated that the creator of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' might be more formidable than a Divine Master, and surely enough, the secrets of the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' remain unclear for the whole ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom.''


    "Moreover, the inexplicable connection between the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' and the ''Sea of Taboo''!"


    These speculations were inevitable for Ye Chen.


    After all, the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" and the "Sea of Taboo" were both mystical places within the "True Spirit Divine Kingdom" the countless martial artists couldn''t comprehend among the eight great forbidden lands!


    If Ye Chen knew the peculiar "rune seal" hidden within him was formed from absorbing the strange rays emitted by the eight great forbidden lands, he would be even more astonished.


    This "rune seal" not only relates to the "Ancient Forbidden Grounds" and "Sea of Taboo" but also intertwines with the other six major forbidden lands!


    Ye Chen was further unaware of the hidden strand of hair from the stunningly regal female "Great Emperor" within this peculiar "rune seal."


    Given his realm, he certainly couldn''t decipher the concealment method of such an existence.


    Within the testing space, only after the peculiar "rune seal" vanished for a long time, did Ye Chen recover from his shock.


    Seeing no continuation of testing from the "Photographing Spirit Mirror," he wasn''t in a hurry to leave the testing space.


    After all, according to the test''s rules, leaving before the allotted time would result in disqualification, which was undesirable.


    Ye Chen contemplated while patiently waiting in the testing space.


    Time flowed, and the hour-long test duration finally ended.


    When time elapsed, each testing space''s "Photographing Spirit Mirror" brightened once again, flashing blue light to expel those tested.


    The testing space Ye Chen was in also emitted this blue light, though this time it didn''t trigger the peculiar "rune seal" for another anomaly, and Ye Chen exited along with the others from the "Photographing Spirit Mirror" test.


    Upon exiting, Ye Chen heard Sovereign Lei Bo''s voice addressing them.


    "All of you have successfully passed the first round of ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' testing, prepare immediately for the second selection round."


    After speaking, Sovereign Lei Bo readied to lead the group towards the second selection area.


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s figure flickered, arriving beside Sovereign Lei Bo.


    Ye Chen transmitted his voice to ask Sovereign Lei Bo, "Senior Lei Bo, do you know from where the Extreme Spirit Clan obtained the ''Photographing Spirit Mirrors''? Can you share some insight about them with the junior?"

 Chapter 1033 - 982 Fate Tribulation Cave

    The foreign participants in the selection, upon seeing Ye Chen instantly flash to Sovereign Lei Bo''s side, were quite startled.


    Sovereign Lei Bo was also momentarily stunned upon hearing Ye Chen''s question.


    "The ''Photographing Spirit Mirror''?" Sovereign Lei Bo, worthy of being a Six-Star Sovereign, quickly regained his composure.


    If other foreign participants suddenly asked him, Sovereign Lei Bo might not respond at all, or even reprimand them.


    But Ye Chen is no ordinary person.


    Even the current nine-star sovereign within the Extreme Spirit Clan, "Sovereign Heilun," is highly courteous to Ye Chen. Sovereign Lei Bo wouldn''t fail to notice that Ye Chen''s background is extraordinary.


    Upon hearing Ye Chen''s inquiry, Sovereign Lei Bo smiled and replied to Ye Chen, "The matter of the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' is not particularly confidential, so telling you, ''Jiang Li,'' is permissible."


    "This treasure was invented by a prominent figure in our clan who comprehended a unique ''secret pattern'' from the ''Sea of Taboo'' and refined it using our clan''s divine skills."


    "Rumor has it that the place where the ''secret pattern'' resides is in a special cave within the ''Sea of Taboo''. That cave is said to be terrifying beyond measure, and none of our clan''s great figures have been able to fully explore it..."


    Sovereign Lei Bo shared all he knew about the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' with Ye Chen.


    When Sovereign Lei Bo mentioned the words "secret pattern," Ye Chen suddenly remembered the special patterns on the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' during the previous test.


    "These patterns, are they really from the ''Sea of Taboo'' secret patterns?"


    "Previously, it was this light emitted by the secret patterns that triggered the strange ''rune'' within me."


    "The ''rune'' condensed by the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds,'' the ''secret pattern'' appearing in the ''Sea of Taboo,'' and my sudden teleportation from the ''Ancient Forbidden Grounds'' to the ''Sea of Taboo''... It seems this strange ''rune'' has a special connection with the ''Sea of Taboo.''


    "Perhaps to crack the mystery of the strange ''rune,'' it''s really necessary to return to that ''Sea of Taboo'' to investigate further!"


    As Ye Chen was contemplating, Sovereign Lei Bo suddenly spoke to him, "By the way, ''Jiang Li,'' I heard you were inquiring about a powerful predecessor of our clan¡ªa ''Sovereign Yinsha'' who reached the nine-star sovereign realm several tens of thousands of years ago?"


    "Actually, the prominent figure who left the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' secret patterns was believed to be the ''Yinsha senior'' of that time!"


    Boom!


    Sovereign Lei Bo''s words struck Ye Chen''s mind with a shock.


    General Yinsha?!


    General Yinsha invented the ''Photographing Spirit Mirror'' by comprehending ''secret patterns'' within a terrifying cave in the ''Sea of Taboo''?


    Could it be that his current search for General Yinsha has some unknown connection with the ''Sea of Taboo''?


    Ye Chen''s mind flashed with realization; he felt he might be unknowingly linked to some special events.


    Perhaps this special event will help him find General Yinsha.


    Seeing Ye Chen deep in thought, Sovereign Lei Bo led the crowd, continuing to fly toward the site of the second round of selection.


    After pondering for a while, Ye Chen also kept some thoughts in his mind.


    He followed the team, flying toward the site of the second round of selection.


    Upon arriving at the location for the second round of selection, Ye Chen was utterly surprised that this site turned out to be a continuous, endless giant mountain. At this moment, they all stood at the foot of the giant mountain, at the entrance of a cave.


    Sovereign Lei Bo addressed the crowd, "Starting from the second round of selection, it is time to determine the different achievement ratings of the selection."


    "As I mentioned earlier, the ratings are divided into four categories: ''Upper Level,'' ''Medium Level,'' ''Lower Level,'' and ''Eliminated.''


    "The location for this second round of selection is called ''Fate Tribulation Cave.''


    "Let''s go; everyone follows me into the cave, and I''ll inform you about the method of selection in the ''Fate Tribulation Cave.''


    The crowd proceeded in line, entering the cave within the giant mountain.


    Upon entering, Ye Chen discovered that the cave was unimaginably vast, providing ample space for all tens of thousands of participants.


    At the innermost part of the cave, three entrances, each several tens of meters in diameter, surrounded by divine light, were revealed.


    Sovereign Lei Bo pointed at those three entrances and spoke to the crowd, "Those three entrances are the places for this second round of selection¡ªthe ''Fate Tribulation Cave''!"


    "The so-called ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' means this cave might be a fortuitous opportunity or a dire trial for you, depending on your strength and perceptive skills."


    "The three entrances, from left to right, correspond to the difficulty levels: ''Upper Level,'' ''Medium Level,'' and ''Lower Level.'' Naturally, you all have different combat power, and after entering the same difficulty level of ''Fate Tribulation Cave,'' the selection method you face will be different."


    "In this round of selection, you must choose the entrance you wish to enter. If you succeed in passing the ''Upper-Level Difficulty'' of the ''Fate Tribulation Cave,'' you will achieve an ''Upper Level'' rating. If you pass the ''Medium-Level Difficulty,'' you will achieve a ''Medium Level'' rating, and likewise, succeeding through the ''Lower-Level Difficulty'' results in a ''Lower Level'' rating."


    "However, failing within the ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' results in elimination, granting an ''Eliminated'' rating, thereby getting disqualified from this round of selection."


    "I must remind you that although you can choose which ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' to enter, do not wish for things beyond your reach. If you lack absolute confidence in your combat power, avoid rashly entering the ''Upper-Level Difficulty'' of the ''Fate Tribulation Cave,'' or you may find that instead of earning a ''Medium Level'' rating, you may be eliminated at the ''Upper-Level Difficulty'' and directly disqualified, which would be a significant misstep!"


    Sovereign Lei Bo''s explanation of the "Fate Tribulation Cave" selection method caused a buzz among the audience.


    Everyone was surprised that this round of selection required them to decide the difficulty level themselves.


    For those wanting to practice in the "Extreme Spirit Clan," of course, they all hoped to achieve the highest level rating.


    To achieve such a rating, one must enter the "Upper-Level Difficulty" of the "Fate Tribulation Cave" to earn it.


    But indeed, as Sovereign Lei Bo mentioned, if one is eliminated in the upper-level "Fate Tribulation Cave," there won''t be another chance to try other difficulty levels of the "Fate Tribulation Cave."


    At that time, unable to obtain an upper-level rating while being directly eliminated, would certainly be extremely disappointing.


    "What should we do?"


    "Which ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' should we choose to brave?"


    All at once, everyone''s eyes started scanning the entrances of the three ''Fate Tribulation Caves.''


    Sovereign Lei Bo wouldn''t give everyone much time to think.


    He addressed the group of participants, "Now, the second round of selection officially begins. The entire process lasts two hours. If you cannot emerge from your chosen ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' in that time, you will fail."


    "Encountering unavoidable deadly danger during the venture will also result in you being transmitted out by the cave''s protective prohibition, which equally counts as a failure."


    "Now, start your venture!"


    Once Sovereign Lei Bo finished speaking, surprisingly, no one flew into the ''Fate Tribulation Cave.''


    Even the Dominion Realm experts among the foreign races hesitated for a moment.


    After all, these caves have different selection methods corresponding to different levels of combat power; even if they reached the Dominion Realm, they can''t be sure to conquer the ''Upper-Level'' difficulty.


    Amidst this hesitation, a figure from the crowd flew toward the ''Upper-Level'' difficulty of the ''Fate Tribulation Cave.''


    In a flash, the figure entered the leftmost cave with ''Upper-Level'' difficulty.


    When the participants saw this figure clearly, they were stunned.


    "It''s the Upper God King, Jiang Li!"


    "He chose the ''Upper-Level'' difficulty cave without hesitation!"


    "Even though he''s extremely powerful, the selection method inside the cave is based on combat power. Among Dominion Realm powers, the ''Upper-Level'' difficulty is undoubtedly the hardest. Does he have the confidence to pass through?"


    Amidst the commotion, Sovereign Lei Bo also nodded as he watched Ye Chen''s disappearing figure.


    This second round of ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' selection not only tests combat power but also courage.


    If one doesn''t possess the courage to choose the ''Upper-Level'' cave initially, they certainly won''t achieve ''Upper-Level'' scores.


    Of course, besides courage, one needs strength, to conquer their chosen challenge.


    "This Upper God King, Jiang Li, reaching Dominion Realm power as an Upper God King speaks of an extraordinary background. His choice suggests he has the confidence to face any danger and pass through."


    After contemplating for a while, Sovereign Lei Bo turned his gaze to the other foreign participants still hesitating.


    Sovereign Lei Bo''s cold voice reached these people''s ears, "Only two hours for selection. The more you hesitate, the less time you''ll have inside the ''Fate Tribulation Cave.''


    "Don''t blame me for not warning you. The distance inside the cave is quite long. If time isn''t sufficient, you may not get through by the end."


    Sovereign Lei Bo''s words startled the yet undecided foreign participants.


    Suddenly, countless participants clenched their teeth, making their final decisions.


    Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!


    The crowd continuously shot into the ''Fate Tribulation Cave.''


    However, in terms of chosen caves, over eighty percent of the tens of thousands of participants opted for the ''Medium-Level'' difficulty cave.


    It seems these people are aiming for safety.


    The remaining ten percent, like Ye Chen, chose the ''Upper-Level'' difficulty cave.


    As for the ''Lower-Level'' difficulty cave with ''Lower-Level'' scores, perhaps everyone deemed it too poor to accept, as not a single person chose it.


    After several dozens of breaths.


    Tens of thousands of foreign participants entered into the second round of tests within the ''Fate Tribulation Cave.''


    Selection observatory area.


    A huge void light screen appeared in the void.


    All Spirit Clan members gathered to watch, fixing their eyes on the gigantic screen in the sky.


    Upon seeing Ye Chen, the first to enter the ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' selection, a wave of cheers erupted from the observatory area.


    "That''s the Upper God King!"


    "He chose the ''Upper-Level'' difficulty!"


    Most Spirit Clan spectators came to watch Ye Chen. Seeing him go for the highest difficulty brought out a wave of cheers.


    They were here for the spectacle, naturally hoping for as much excitement as possible.


    If this rising Upper God King chose ''Medium-Level'' or ''Lower-Level'' difficulty, even if he passed the cave, they would be immensely disappointed.


    In the crowd, Yin Ling''er watched Ye Chen''s figure vanish at the cave entrance, her beautiful eyes shining.


    "Two hours of venture time."


    "Ye Chen, how long will he take to pass through this ''Upper-Level'' difficulty ''Fate Tribulation Cave''?"

 Chapter 1034 - 983: Divine Statue and Flawless Divine Skills

    After tens of thousands of candidates had entered the "Fate Tribulation Cave," the enormous light screen in the void of the viewing area suddenly changed, revealing three exits of the "Fate Tribulation Cave."


    Additionally, below the three exits, there was a special elimination exit for each.


    All the members of the Extreme Spirit Clan watching the selection were intently staring at the three exit points; of course, the vast majority of their attention was fixed on the "Fate Tribulation Cave" exit with "Upper-Level Difficulty."


    "It''s a pity that the enormous light screen doesn''t show the specific situation of the candidates inside the ''Fate Tribulation Cave.'' We can only see who comes out from these exits first."


    Many members of the Extreme Spirit Clan felt it was a shame.


    Everyone waited quietly, expectantly.


    The two hours of trial reckoning for the waiting persons felt like nothing at all.


    While the members of the Extreme Spirit Clan awaited, the Sovereign Lei Bo, responsible for the selection, also turned his figure in a twirl and disappeared from the entrance.


    In the next moment, he appeared at the exit position on the other side of the endless chain of giant mountains at the second selection boundary.


    Sovereign Lei Bo was also waiting outside.


    Just when everyone was waiting, roughly after more than twenty breaths, the first ray of light flashed at the exit point.


    Swish!


    Instantly, everyone''s gaze turned towards that beam of light.


    "Someone is out!"


    "So quickly?!"


    "Who came out?"


    "It seems it''s from the Upper-Level Difficulty exit!"


    In a wave of excitement, the crowd issued a collective sigh of "Ohh."


    "Ah, it wasn''t a successful passage, but an elimination! The first figure to appear was eliminated! He came out from the elimination exit of the Upper-Level Difficulty, not from the normal upper exit!"


    All eyes turned to the figure that had been eliminated, and when they saw it was a two-star Sovereign from a foreign race, many were surprised.


    "A Sovereign got eliminated!"


    "I remember this Sovereign entered the ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' of Upper-Level Difficulty shortly after the Upper God King ''Jiang Li.'' How could he be eliminated after only more than twenty breaths?"


    "Is the ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' of Upper-Level Difficulty that terrifying?"


    Amid the discussions, Sovereign Lei Bo at the exit also looked at the eliminated foreign Sovereign.


    "You failed the second round of the ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' trial, leave now," Sovereign Lei Bo sighed, addressing the foreign two-star Sovereign.


    At this time, the eliminated foreign Sovereign''s face was still pale.


    Others couldn''t see the specific trial situation inside the "Fate Tribulation Cave," but this foreign Sovereign couldn''t forget the scene of failure just now!


    He entered the "Fate Tribulation Cave" only to find himself in a vast world of mountain rocks, and he immediately sensed that the exit direction of the "Fate Tribulation Cave" lay straight ahead.


    In the immense world of mountain rocks, countless strange stones stood everywhere, with dangers lurking in unforeseen places.


    This foreign Sovereign, having chosen Upper-Level Difficulty, proceeded with utmost caution.


    He protected his body all over with protective divine light, while also bringing out several of his powerful divine artifacts.


    However, what the foreign Sovereign didn''t expect was that despite his caution, a massive rain of Void Flying Swords suddenly fell from the void of the mountainous realm just after he flew for a few breaths.


    The Void Flying Swords descended from the sky, sheer terror to the utmost degree.


    This foreign Sovereign was also startled. He dodged the barrage of falling swords in a flash but hadn''t yet caught his breath when something eye-popping happened.


    A flying sword abruptly appeared in front of him, skewering his Divine Body with a single strike!


    If not for the special protective prohibition within the "Fate Tribulation Cave," this foreign Sovereign knew that one strike would have likely killed him!


    In the next moment, he was eliminated.


    Upon reaching the outside of the "Fate Tribulation Cave," the foreign Sovereign still couldn''t believe such a deadly flying sword could appear during the selection inside the "Fate Tribulation Cave."


    He hadn''t even had time to activate his divine artifact, as the suddenly appearing flying sword shattered all his protective divine light.


    This kind of killing speed surpassed even his reaction speed!


    "Too terrifying!"


    "Too terrifying!"


    "I''m afraid even at my peak strength, I might not be able to pass this Upper-Level Difficulty. Is the Upper-Level Difficulty that tough?!"


    The defeated foreign Sovereign was left in disarray.


    He didn''t even hear Lei Bo Sovereign''s words asking him to leave.


    Bang!


    While the foreign Sovereign was stunned, another flash of divine light appeared at the exit next to him.


    Another figure emerged.


    This figure also came from the direction of the Upper-Level Difficulty.


    Looking towards the Upper-Level Difficulty direction, it was apparent that this figure, too, emerged from the corresponding lower elimination exit of the Upper-Level Difficulty.


    This second person to come out was also someone who had been eliminated in the Upper-Level Difficulty "Fate Tribulation Cave"!


    Time flowed by.


    The further along it went, the more figures emerged.


    However, whether it was the members of the Extreme Spirit Clan watching or Sovereign Lei Bo presiding over the selection, they all realized that everyone coming out initially was someone who had been eliminated.


    Moreover, the majority of them were those who entered the Upper-Level Difficulty "Fate Tribulation Cave."


    "Out of tens of thousands of personnel, more than ten percent entered the Upper-Level Difficulty ''Fate Tribulation Cave,'' and it''s only been a short while, yet hundreds have been eliminated from the Upper-Level Difficulty ''Fate Tribulation Cave.'' Is the difficulty inside that challenging?!"


    "It seems like those who chose the ''Medium-Level Difficulty,'' the more than eighty percent, made the right choice."


    Seeing the terrifying elimination rate, the perspectives of the Extreme Spirit Clan members watching also started to shift.


    At this moment, many were worried for Ye Chen.


    They remembered that their most concerned Upper God King also entered the ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' with Upper-Level Difficulty.


    "Among those eliminated, there are even two-star and three-star Sovereigns."


    "This indicates that having strong combat power alone is not enough to navigate out of the ''Upper-Level Difficulty'' Fate Tribulation Cave. There must be other trials inside, possibly assessing reaction speed, Divine Soul Power, or even defensive power."


    "That Upper God King''s combat power is reportedly extraordinary, but how strong is he in other aspects? Will he end up like those foreign two-star and three-star Sovereigns, entering the wrong ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' and ultimately facing regretful failure?"


    Even Yin Ling''er in the crowd showed signs of worry in her eyes at this time.


    Not a single person had successfully come out yet; all those who emerged were eliminations.


    Not knowing the selection method within the "Fate Tribulation Cave," even Yin Ling''er began to worry if Ye Chen could make it through.


    ...


    Inside the Fate Tribulation Cave.


    At this moment, in a vast mountain terrain space, Ye Chen was continuously observing a gigantic divine statue thousands of feet high.


    Moments earlier, Ye Chen had navigated through a frightening sea of fire, a valley inhabited by countless fierce beasts, and a space of slaughter with relentless blade dances.


    Relying on numerous methods and his powerful "Blue Divine Soul" probing abilities, Ye Chen had successfully made it through all the obstacles.


    While flying towards the exit, Ye Chen suddenly sensed a region on the right where divine light shimmered. Being audacious, he flew directly towards the divine light and eventually discovered the colossal divine statue now before him.


    Ye Chen noticed that the statue was surrounded by mysterious divine light, which even his formidable Divine Soul couldn''t probe clearly.


    However, Ye Chen found that all around the statue''s body were carved countless mantras, which turned out to be a special cultivation technique called "Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill."


    "The Fate Tribulation Cave has both tribulations and opportunities. It seems that the mantras left by this statue are an opportunity."


    Ye Chen''s thoughts swept around, and after circling the statue, he committed to memory the set of Polar Sky Level mantras.


    Then, after finding no other anomalies, Ye Chen continued to fly towards the exit.


    Should we glance towards the trial space of other candidates,


    we''d see such a divine statue standing tall within each trial space.


    However, very few could overcome the layers of danger to discover the statue.


    And even fewer dared to deviate from their original flight path, spending time flying towards the statue.


    As the selection time elapses,


    slowly, the moment of selection ending after nearly two hours was finally approaching.

 Chapter 1035 - 984 Lord Yan

    As the time approached the end of the second round of selection, finally it wasn''t only the eliminated ones coming out.


    At last, someone succeeded in breaking out from the "Fate Tribulation Cave."


    "It''s a one-star Sovereign from a foreign race!"


    "He chose the ''Medium Difficulty'' Fate Tribulation Cave and came out successfully!"


    Upon seeing the first successful figure emerge, many members of the Extreme Spirit Clan watching the selection shouted out.


    Before these voices faded, more and more people successfully broke through.


    "A Divine Venerable has succeeded."


    "A Divine King, this Divine King who chose ''Medium Difficulty'' also managed to break through."


    It seemed like this time was about when people could break out from the "Fate Tribulation Cave," and suddenly, the number of successful people increased dramatically.


    Yet all the Extreme Spirit Clan members watching noted that even though many succeeded in breaking out of the "Fate Tribulation Cave," all those who succeeded chose ''Medium Difficulty.''


    The "Upper-Level Difficulty" exit, however, hadn''t seen a single successful person!


    Those who came out from there were all eliminated from the lower elimination exit!


    This situation increased the astonishment of everyone towards the difficulty level of the "Upper-Level Difficulty."


    The participants who successfully broke out from the medium difficulty exit also sensed something amiss, and they too were shocked: "Not a single person has succeeded in breaking out of the ''Upper-Level Difficulty'' level of the ''Fate Tribulation Cave'' yet?"


    "Oh my god, I thought medium difficulty was hard enough. It seems upper-level difficulty is unbelievably terrifying!"


    Each of those who broke out from the medium difficulty exit breathed a sigh of relief, feeling a sense of fortune: "Luckily, I didn''t choose ''Upper-Level Difficulty.'' I heard Sovereigns from other races failed. If I had chosen ''Upper-Level Difficulty,'' I might have also failed in this second round."


    When there was still a cup of tea time left until the end of the two-hour breakthrough time, no one had successfully emerged from the "Upper-Level Difficulty" Fate Tribulation Cave, while the number of people eliminated from it had reached thousands.


    It''s likely that not many were left striving in the "Upper-Level Difficulty" Fate Tribulation Cave.


    Seeing this situation, many Extreme Spirit Clan members watching the selection had an incredible thought emerge in their hearts: "Could it be that all who entered the ''Upper-Level Difficulty'' Fate Tribulation Cave will fail this time?!"


    Some of them had seen previous "Extreme Spirit Martial Land Selections."


    Of course, each selection method was different. A selection method like the "Fate Tribulation Cave" hadn''t appeared before.


    However, these people remembered that previous selections also had extremely difficult methods, where daring to enter high-difficulty trials resulted in complete failure.


    "Could it be the same this time?" These people mused.


    However, the crowd noticed that even though thousands were eliminated from the "Upper-Level Difficulty" Fate Tribulation Cave, possibly constituting the majority, they did not see the figure of the Upper God King they were watching for among the eliminated.


    "That Upper God King Jiang Li hasn''t been eliminated, which means he is still striving in the ''Upper-Level Difficulty'' Fate Tribulation Cave."


    "However, there''s not much time until the end of the two-hour time limit. If he doesn''t get out soon, he will also be deemed as failed!"


    "It looks like this upper-level difficulty is indeed incredibly tough."


    Amidst the discussions, young girl Yin Ling''er, standing up from her seated position watching the battle, fixed her beautiful eyes on the void''s light screen.


    As each minute passed, her heart tightened more.


    "Ye Chen, there''s not much time. Please come out fast!"


    The young girl prayed silently in her heart.


    Ye Chen had saved her life; she didn''t want to see her Ye Chen fail to even enter the Extreme Spirit Sea!


    Just when only half a cup of tea time remained until all time ended, and as Yin Ling''er was so nervous that she could barely breathe, suddenly, she saw a familiar figure flash out of the upper-level difficulty exit.


    Yin Ling''er was instantly in a daze, then rubbed her eyes rapidly.


    She finally confirmed that this figure that just appeared was indeed her well-known "Ye Chen!"


    "Ye Chen has come out! He came out of the upper-level difficulty exit! He is the first to successfully emerge from the upper-level difficulty exit!" Yin Ling''er jumped up excitedly in the viewing area.


    It wasn''t just Yin Ling''er.


    Others in the viewing area also saw Ye Chen successfully coming out of the upper-level difficulty exit.


    This was the first person to successfully emerge from the upper-level difficulty exit, and it was the Upper God King they focused on. How could this not make everyone excited?


    Instantly, the entire viewing area was filled with a mixture of excited discussions and joyful exclamations!


    At the exit location of the second selection area, others who successfully broke out were waiting outside for the time to end. When they saw Ye Chen successfully emerge from the upper-level difficulty exit, all these foreign race members who had broken out from the medium difficulty exit widened their eyes.


    "Someone successfully broke out from the upper-level difficulty exit?!"


    "It''s the Upper God King Wang Jiang Li!"


    "Oh my god, he has surprised us once again!"


    In an instant, a group of people gathered around Ye Chen, asking him about the situation inside the Upper-Level Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave.


    Through their inquiries, Ye Chen also learned that he was the first to successfully pass through the Upper-Level Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave.


    When Ye Chen told them he had gone through thirteen zones of slaughter tests in the Upper-Level Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave, which not only tested his combat power to the limit but also included several unpredictable surprise attacks, those who chose the Medium Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave and succeeded patted their chests and exclaimed with relief.


    After Ye Chen emerged from the Upper-Level Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave, the people who came out afterward almost all emerged from the Medium Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave or were eliminated.


    Only in the final moments before the two-hour selection time ended did two Sovereigns from Foreign Races and three Divine Venerables manage to emerge from the Upper-Level Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave.


    Finally, when the two-hour mark arrived, all who had not yet emerged were engulfed by Divine Light and transported out, marking the end of the second-round elimination results.


    When those who passed the second selection gathered again, the group found that this round had eliminated more than half of the participants!


    Those eligible to continue with the selection numbered just over ten thousand.


    Among them, the vast majority had chosen the Medium Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave and succeeded, earning medium scores for the second selection.


    Only six people had managed to break out from the Upper-Level Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave!


    Only these six obtained the highest "Upper-Level Score" in the second selection!


    Immediately, the results of this second selection began to widen.


    At this point, the responsible Six-star Sovereign Lei Bo nodded with a smile at Ye Chen, then addressed the remaining candidates: "Alright, regardless of the outcome, the second round of selection is over."


    "At least you can still continue on, while the others have been eliminated."


    When Sovereign Lei Bo said this, the Foreign Race candidates expressed their regrets.


    Indeed.


    Regardless of the results, they at least still had the hope of entering the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    The others this time had no chance to enter the Extreme Spirit Sea.


    Sovereign Lei Bo gestured to stop the discussions, his gaze shifting to the north of the selection world: "Now, proceed to the places for the third and fourth rounds of selection."


    "Both the third and fourth round selection places are located in the same area, and there is some connection between them."


    When Ye Chen and the others followed Sovereign Lei Bo to the selection area for the last two rounds, Ye Chen finally understood why Sovereign Lei Bo said these two rounds of selection were in the same area.


    The third and fourth round selection location was unexpectedly situated on a vast platform tens of thousands of square miles in size within the selection world.


    Here, the remaining candidates would undergo the final two rounds of selection.


    What surprised Ye Chen was that in the center of this immense platform, he saw a familiar divine statue¡ªthe enormous thousand-foot-high divine statue he had seen in the Fate Tribulation Cave!


    Back then, in the Fate Tribulation Cave, Ye Chen discovered a special cultivation technique named "Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill" from the divine statue, though he didn''t know what its use was¡ªhe merely recorded the mantra.


    Ye Chen hadn''t expected to see the divine statue again at the site of the last two rounds of selection.


    And now, Ye Chen noticed that around the divine statue, the mantra for the "Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill" was nowhere to be found.


    As Ye Chen stared at the familiar divine statue in surprise, two other people were also taken aback.


    These two individuals had also seen the divine statue in the Upper-Level Difficulty Fate Tribulation Cave and recorded the mantra for the "Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill." They were two Sovereigns from the Foreign Races.


    As for the others, they hadn''t noticed the divine statue during the second round of selection¡ªthis was their first time seeing it.


    Just as everyone was puzzled about what the vast platform and the towering divine statue represented.


    Sovereign Lei Bo spoke up.


    Sovereign Lei Bo first bowed to the divine statue, then said to Ye Chen and the others: "This divine statue is the original form of ''Lord Yan''¡ªa legendary figure who once helped our clan ¡ªsomeone even more formidable than the Divine Master!"


    "The upcoming two rounds of tests are related to the legacy left by ''Lord Yan''!"


    Lord Yan?


    Someone even more formidable than the Divine Master?!


    Upon hearing Sovereign Lei Bo''s words, countless eyes turned to the divine statue but found themselves unable to discern its features.


    However, everyone held their breath, knowing that a figure more formidable than the Divine Master must be beyond their imagination.


    At this moment, Ye Chen''s eyes suddenly narrowed.


    He noticed the word "Yan" engraved below the divine statue.


    "Lord Yan?! The word ''Yan''..."


    Just as Ye Chen seemed to be on the brink of realizing something, Xiaojiu''s voice suddenly echoed in his mind: "Ye Chen..."


    "I... I have a feeling that ''Lord Yan,'' who once helped the Extreme Spirit Clan, might be the same as ''Lord Emperor Yan,'' who imparted a wealth of knowledge to me!"


    "Previously, when I saw that divine statue in the second selection area, the Fate Tribulation Cave, I wasn''t sure¡ªbut upon seeing this statue and the word ''Yan'' below, I suddenly have this feeling!"

 Chapter 1036 - 985 Demon Polluted Beast

    Xiaojiu''s words startled Ye Chen even more.


    Earlier, Ye Chen vaguely linked the character "Yan" to the "Lord Emperor Yan" he had heard of, as the character was quite rare.


    Now Xiaojiu''s words further confirmed his suspicion.


    Lord Emperor Yan!


    Both Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were extremely familiar with this being.


    Back when Ye Chen faced the "Great Cleanse Catastrophe of the Undersea Divine Palace" in the Minor Spirit Realm, he received the "Emperor Yan''s Triple Flash Triple Kill" technique left by "Lord Emperor Yan," which helped him navigate many crises during the catastrophe.


    Later, Ye Chen obtained the "Eye of the Divine Sea" from the "Undersea Divine Palace," which allowed him to participate in the Nine Divine Institutes assessment at the "Mountain Divine Nation."


    Although Ye Chen had never met Lord Emperor Yan, indirectly, Lord Emperor Yan had helped him grow significantly.


    At the time, Ye Chen heard that Lord Emperor Yan was an unparalleled existence, surpassing countless Lower Star Continents and numerous Upper Realm Divine Kingdoms, traversing numerous Star Domains.


    Then, Ye Chen only knew that "Lord Emperor Yan" was more powerful than the Sovereign Realm, someone who transcended the Sovereign Realm.


    Now, Ye Chen has learned about the "Divine Master Realm" that surpasses the Sovereign Realm, but he clearly feels that even a strong "Divine Master Realm" cannot traverse countless Star Domains.


    Ye Chen knows that Lord Emperor Yan is definitely stronger than a "Divine Master Realm" expert!


    This also aligns with what Sovereign Lei Bo said about the owner of the statue "Lord Yan," who he affirmed is a figure more powerful than a Divine Master.


    "Could it be that this ''Lord Yan'' is truly the ''Lord Emperor Yan'' I heard of back then?!" Ye Chen was shaken to his core.


    As the Soul Beast clan "Nine Spirits Sparrow," left behind in the Undersea Divine Palace by "Lord Emperor Yan," in principle, Xiaojiu should know more about "Lord Emperor Yan" than Ye Chen.


    However, when Xiaojiu was born in the Undersea Divine Palace, Lord Emperor Yan had already left the Undersea Divine Palace countless years ago. Although Xiaojiu was infused with countless knowledge by Lord Emperor Yan because of the "Nine Spirits Sparrow" clan, she never saw Lord Emperor Yan in person.


    It was only through a subtle sense of the grandeur in the knowledge infused by "Lord Emperor Yan" that Xiaojiu felt that the divine statue of "Lord Yan" of the Extreme Spirit Clan might indeed be linked to "Lord Emperor Yan."


    With their suspicions, Ye Chen and Xiaojiu viewed the statue in a completely different light.


    If Ye Chen and Xiaojiu indeed encounter the miracles left by "Lord Emperor Yan" here in the Extreme Spirit Clan, it would be an unexpected delight.


    While Ye Chen and Xiaojiu were communicating mentally, on the side, Sovereign Lei Bo continued to introduce matters about the original form statue of "Lord Yan."


    "Countless ages ago, our Extreme Spirit Clan lived in the ''Extreme Spirit Sea'' and were peaceful for many years."


    "However, later on, a great crisis almost led to the destruction of our entire ''Extreme Spirit Clan!''"


    When Sovereign Lei Bo spoke of this, his expression became extremely serious.


    And all the foreign martial artists, hearing Sovereign Lei Bo''s words, collectively gasped.


    A great crisis that almost wiped out the entire "Extreme Spirit Clan"?!


    What kind of crisis?


    In the True Spirit Divine Kingdom, they had never heard of such things!


    "The ''Extreme Spirit Clan'' is one of the five Supreme Clans of our ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom''; what crisis could annihilate such a great clan?!" The foreign clan members were all shocked in their hearts.


    "That great crisis was due to a terrifying Exotic Beast appearing in the Extreme Spirit Sea!" Sovereign Lei Bo''s voice trembled slightly.


    "This Exotic Beast is named the ''Demon Polluted Beast!''


    "The ''Demon Polluted Beast'' not only reproduces at an astonishing rate, its strength grows rapidly, but most terrifyingly, it emanates a ''Demon Pollution'' that seems not to belong to this universe. If a martial artist comes into contact with this ''Demon Pollution,'' even a Sovereign, their divine strength would be corroded!"


    "Once its divine strength is corroded, it can even affect the martial artist''s realm itself; at best, the realm decreases, and at worst, the martial artist''s divine strength can be completely polluted, causing its complete disappearance and leading to instant death."


    "Those ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' would use the polluted divine strength to boost their own power after they corrupt a martial artist''s divine strength."


    "When the ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' suddenly appeared in the Extreme Spirit Sea, they initially hid. When their numbers increased, and many nine-star Sovereign Realm ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' emerged, even our Extreme Spirit Clan gradually could not resist."


    "Combined with the bizarre attack and hiding methods of the ''Demon Polluted Beasts,'' the Extreme Spirit Clan soon fell into a downhill position."


    "If these ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' were allowed to develop unchecked, they could destroy our entire Extreme Spirit Clan and potentially spread throughout the entire ''True Spirit Divine Kingdom!''"


    "Just when our Extreme Spirit Clan couldn''t resist any longer and was about to seek help from other Supreme Clans, ''Lord Yan'' appeared!"


    "''Lord Yan'' personally exterminated all the ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' in the Extreme Spirit Sea, helping our Extreme Spirit Clan avert a great crisis!"


    "However, although that batch of ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' was eradicated, ''Lord Yan'' also warned us that the ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' were formed from the aura emitted by an even more terrifying Exotic Beast not belonging to this universe."


    "That most terrifying Exotic Beast is something even more dreadful than the ''Demon Polluted Beasts,'' something that, even in the Cosmic Sea, terrifies countless powerhouses of the Cosmic Sea!"


    "Even ''Lord Yan'' could not completely eliminate that even more terrifying Exotic Beast."


    "Therefore, that more terrifying Exotic Beast might still emit aura, forming ''Demon Polluted Beasts,'' and the threat to the Extreme Spirit Clan has not disappeared."


    "Before ''Lord Yan'' left, eighteen domains were created in the Extreme Spirit Sea to absorb that frightening aura, causing the ensuing ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' to appear in those eighteen domains. ''Lord Yan'' reminded us always to monitor the formation of ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' and to constantly kill the ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' inhabiting these eighteen domains to prevent their excessive reproduction."


    "To this end, ''Lord Yan'' left our clan a cultivation technique called the ''Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill,'' which is immensely useful in repelling the ''Demon Polluted Power'' of the ''Demon Polluted Beasts.''


    "Recently, our Extreme Spirit Clan has observed unusual activity in the ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' within the eighteen domains, with a sign of significant increase, so the third and fourth rounds of your selection are related to the ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' and the ''Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill'' left by ''Lord Yan!''


    "In the third round, everyone will sit below the original form statue of ''Lord Yan'' and receive the Divine Light Infusion of the ''Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill.'' This Divine Light Infusion is a specific method left by ''Lord Yan.'' The more affinity you have with the ''Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill,'' the more Divine Light Infusion you will receive, and the stronger your cultivation results will be."


    "The results of the third round of selections will be decided based on the level of ''Divine Light Infusion'' you receive!"


    "In the fourth round of selection, you will be directly transported to one of the eighteen domains of the ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' to start exterminating them. The more ''Demon Polluted Beasts'' you kill within the time limit, the better the result!"


    "Ultimately, your final selection level will be determined based on your results across the four rounds!"


    "I must tell you that after entering the Extreme Spirit Sea, most tasks you will help the Extreme Spirit Clan with will be related to slaying ''Demon Polluted Beasts!''


    "Thus, you must strive hard to cultivate the ''Immaculate Body-Protecting Divine Skill'' and receive as much Divine Light Infusion as possible in the third round!"


    Sovereign Lei Bo''s words left many of the selection participants with their mouths agape.


    This was their first time hearing of such a creature as the "Demon Polluted Beast!"


    A horrifying Exotic Beast that can corrupt and erode divine strength, with such beasts still present within the "Extreme Spirit Sea," how could this not alarm everyone immensely?


    What was even more inconceivable was that the "Demon Polluted Beast," which was terrifying enough, was formed by the aura of an even more frightening Exotic Beast.


    What exactly was that more terrifying Exotic Beast?


    Thinking of what Sovereign Lei Bo mentioned, that even more terrifying Exotic Beast that even countless powerhouses of the Cosmic Sea feared, several selection participants shuddered all over.


    They could imagine that if they encountered that more terrifying Exotic Beast, the beast could likely obliterate their lives with just a breath!


    "Apparently, this universe is not so peaceful."


    "Even the Cosmic Sea is not peaceful."


    "Countless realms conceal hidden dangers."


    "If it weren''t for beings like ''Lord Yan'' protecting us from dangers, many Divine Kingdoms might have already perished, not to mention the countless other dangers that might exist, which are fended off by even more powerful figures. It is only because of them that we can calmly cultivate in the Divine Kingdoms!"